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Home »Resources »Disability News Service »NEWS 8 December 2016
Watchdogs snubbed by minister after raising concerns over UN 'violations' report
Four human rights and equality watchdogs have been snubbed by the minister for disabled people after raising serious concerns about how her government dismissed a report that found it guilty of "grave or systematic" violations of the UN disability convention.
The UN's committee on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) said last month that the UK government had discriminated against disabled people across three key parts of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
But the government responded to the report by dismissing its conclusions and all 11 of its recommendations.
Now the UK's official independent mechanism (UKIM) for monitoring implementation of the convention – the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the Scottish Human Rights Commission – has called on the UK government to "urgently reconsider" its response to the UN report.
It has written to Penny Mordaunt, the minister for disabled people, to express its concerns about both the findings of the report, and the government's response.
But a DWP spokeswoman refused even to acknowledge the letter, after being asked for a comment by Disability News Service.
Instead, the spokeswoman said that "everything the government has to say about the UN inquiry is contained in its comprehensive official response [to the CRPD report]".
In its analysis of the government's response to the inquiry, UKIM says it has failed to show that it is giving "due regard to the need to promote the equality of disabled people or their broader human rights, when developing new law and policy".
It says in the letter: "We welcome the publication of the inquiry report, and we are concerned by its conclusion that the UK Government's programme of social security reform since 2010 has resulted in grave or systematic violations of disabled people's human rights.
"Of even greater concern is the UK Government's response, which suggests that it will not be taking action on any of the recommendations."
The letter calls on the government to reconsider its position in the light of the "continuing impact on disabled people's lives".
The four commissions defend the way that CRPD researched the report, which they say was "robust and comprehensive" and "based on a rigorous review of the available evidence".
UKIM itself contributed "detailed evidence" to the committee for its report.
This contrasts with comments made by work and pensions secretary Damian Green, who last month described the report as "patronising and offensive".
UKIM points out that "similar concerns" to those outlined by CRPD have been raised in previous reports by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and in a letter from the UN special rapporteurs on housing, disabilities, poverty and food.
It calls on the government to "enhance the status" of the convention in UK law, and introduce a way to scrutinise policy and legislation to ensure it complies with UNCRPD.
And it calls on the government – like many other organisations before, including grassroots organisations of disabled people such as the WOWcampaign and Pat's Petition, and EHRC itself – to "urgently" carry out a "human rights-based" assessment of the cumulative impact on disabled people of all of the social security reforms brought in since the coalition took power in 2010.
The four commissions also call on the UK government to take "urgent steps" to provide "sufficient independent living funding to each [local authority] to meet the needs of disabled people in their area", following the closure of the Independent Living Fund.
And they say the government should provide councils with guidance on how to fulfil their duties to meet the convention's independent living duties, and ensure that every local authority can report on independent living funding in its own areas.
The commissions also urge the UK government to commission independent research on the impact of its legal aid reforms on disabled people, and "take concrete steps to mitigate any adverse impacts identified".
Linda Burnip, co-founder of Disabled People Against Cuts, the grassroots network of disabled people that persuaded the UN to carry out its inquiry, welcomed the UKIM intervention.
But she said: "DPAC tried working with EHRC in 2011 in an attempt to get them to challenge the government's actions, which were eroding the rights of disabled people so badly.
"Therefore we're very pleased to see some action at last, even if it is five years too late."
Meanwhile, a new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has found that – once account is taken of the higher costs faced by disabled people – half of people living in poverty are either disabled or are living with a disabled person in their household.
The report says that there are 4.2 million disabled people in poverty, and 7.1 million people in poverty who are either disabled themselves or live in a household with a disabled person.
Disability Rights UK said the JRF report was "a damning indictment of government policy towards disabled people".
Big disability charities 'are selling out disabled people' by seeking DWP contracts
The country's largest disability charities have been accused of "selling out" disabled people, as they look set to play a significant role in providing back-to-work services under the government's new Work and Health Programme.
Disability News Service (DNS) has contacted seven of the largest disability charities – most of which are not user-led – and none of them has ruled out seeking contracts from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Disabled activists say this means the charities will be unable to campaign effectively on welfare reform, because of the size of contracts on offer.
All seven – the group that in past years were known as the "big seven" disability charities – insist that any contracts they win from the government will have no impact on their campaigning work, including whether they speak up about social security reform, including cuts to disability benefits and back-to-work policies for disabled people.
But their generally supportive responses to the government's work, health and disability green paper – which was published on 31 October – could suggest otherwise.
One of the seven – Mind – has already been caught lying about its interest in seeking DWP contracts under the Work and Health Programme.
Paul Farmer, Mind's chief executive, told protesters on 31 October that the charity had "no contracts with DWP" and that he was "not interested in future contracts at this stage".
His lies were exposed when a disgruntled employee leaked internal documents showing that Mind was applying to join a DWP framework that would allow it to bid for contracts.
Last month, the charity's policy and campaigns manager, Tom Pollard, joined DWP on secondment as a senior policy adviser.
Asked whether winning DWP contracts would impact on its campaigning work, Mind told DNS last week that it "always speaks out about the issues that we believe impact on people with mental health problems, and we don't enter into financial relationships which would prevent us from doing this".
The DNS investigation comes as the Charity Commission confirmed that it has written to Mind's trustees following a complaint about the charity's close links with the government – and about Farmer's lies – by Dr Minh Alexander, an NHS whistleblower and former consultant psychiatrist.
She told the commission that she was "concerned that Mind's independence has been compromised through collaboration with the government which goes beyond constructive joint working".
A Charity Commission spokesman told DNS: "The Charity Commission can confirm that a concern was raised with us regarding the charity Mind.
"The commission is in correspondence with the trustees to highlight the concern and to request more information.
"We have provided the trustees with the appropriate guidance and we are awaiting a response which we will consider in due course."
But there are also concerns about the future independence of the other six charities.
Leonard Cheshire Disability said that it already provides services under the government's Work Choice programme, but refused to say if it was seeking contracts under the Work and Health Programme, or if any such contract would impact on its campaigning work.
RNIB said that it was "exploring" possible involvement in the Work and Health Programme as a "specialist sub-contractor", although only if any programme was "entirely voluntary" because "we don't support the sanctioning of individuals' benefits if they do not attend a programme".
An RNIB spokeswoman said: "We will continue to represent and campaign on behalf of people with sight loss as part of our constructive dialogue with the DWP."
Action on Hearing Loss said that it "may consider DWP contracts in the future", but denied that this would impact on its campaigning work.
Scope said that it had "yet to make a decision regarding upcoming opportunities to deliver employment support but hope to make an announcement in the new year".
A Scope spokeswoman said: "We have been and will continue to speak out on the issues that matter to disabled people.
"We believe that the work capability assessment is fundamentally flawed and doesn't accurately identify the barriers disabled people face in entering or staying in work and will continue to speak out against this."
Disability Rights UK (DR UK) said it was too early to say if it would bid for contracts, but if it did "it would likely be in partnership with other disabled people's organisations", and that it would "never compromise on being able to speak out about issues of welfare reform".
Mencap's head of employment, Mark Capper, said the charity was "disappointed" to see that the framework for the main contracts "appears to favour large businesses rather than third sector providers who can offer specialised support", and that it would not want to be involved "unless significant changes were made to involve third sector providers".
But a Mencap spokesman said the charity "may" consider smaller contracts "if we believe they will allow third sector providers to support people with a learning disability into employment".
Capper said that Mencap wanted to "ensure disabled people receive the support they need to realise their ambitions, and that the government meets its commitment to halve the employment gap experienced by disabled people".
He added: "Whether this is achieved by working with the government or speaking out against them when we believe they are failing, we will continue to do both."
But Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) dismissed the suggestion that the charities would speak out strongly against DWP if they won multi-million pound contracts under the new programme.
Linda Burnip, DPAC co-founder, said: "It is clear to everyone that organisations taking money from the government to provide services of any kind will not be in a position to campaign in any effective way against the policies on welfare reform.
"These contracts are rumoured to be worth between £2 million and £30 million and once part of propping up the system, any independence to criticise it will be lost.
"It is shameful that organisations supposedly existing to benefit disabled people are willing to sell them out in such an abhorrent way."
Freedom of information responses secured by DNS show that six of the "big seven" were invited to DWP's national launch of its green paper, while the seventh – Scope – hosted the event. Five of the six, plus Scope, attended the event.
The freedom of information response also shows that the government's guest list of 79 organisations included just six disabled people's user-led organisations, five of which, including DR UK, attended the launch event.
The green paper includes the possibility that DWP could in future force all sick and disabled people on out-of-work disability benefits to take part in "mandatory" activity, including those in the employment and support allowance (ESA) support group.
But despite this measure – and the horrified response from many disabled people – the reactions of the "big seven" to the green paper last month were generally positive.
Scope even welcomed the green paper's publication in DWP's own press release, allowing work and pensions secretary Damian Green to claim in the House of Commons that criticism of the government's plans was "completely out of touch with those who represent disabled people".
Leonard Cheshire Disability also welcomed the green paper, and said the government had taken "an important first step towards reducing the disability employment gap".
RNIB said it welcomed the government's "aim to tackle the barriers that disabled people face in employment", although it said that "the proof of the pudding will be in the eating".
Action on Hearing Loss – formerly RNID – also welcomed the green paper, praising the "collaborative focus of the Department of Work and Pensions and the Department of Health on integrated support for work and health".
The other three charities were more critical, although none of them could be said to have attacked the green paper.
Disability Rights UK criticised elements of the green paper, pointing to its failure to announce any new incentives or requirements on employers, calling for more enforcement of the Equality Act, and warning that the government appeared to be cutting funding for employment support.
Mencap welcomed much of the green paper but was critical of the planned £30-a-week cuts to ESA, and said that the possible changes to the support group "could cause deep concern to sick and disabled people".
Mind also welcomed parts of the green paper but, like Mencap, was critical of the support group measure, while it also criticised the government's failure to consider "a fundamental rethink of the way conditionality and sanctions are used".
Murder of disabled man tortured to death by 'friend' was not hate crime, says judge
A judge has failed to treat the murder of a disabled man who was imprisoned and tortured to death by his killer as a disability hate crime, raising fresh concerns about flawed legislation that is supposed to ensure higher sentences for such offences.
Newcastle Crown Court heard during an eight-week trial how James Wheatley, 29, of Studdon Walk, Kenton Bar, Newcastle, repeatedly kicked, punched and stamped on Lee Irving in attacks that took place over nine days, leaving him with multiple broken bones and other injuries.
Irving, 24, who had learning difficulties, thought Wheatley was his friend and was living in his house at the time of the attacks.
But Wheatley and his co-defendants targeted Irving for his money and possessions, with Wheatley signing him up to online banking so he could empty his account.
After the final attack that led to his death, Irving's body was taken on a pushchair through a housing estate and dumped on a patch of grass near the A1.
Gerry Wareham, chief crown prosecutor for the north-east, said after the trial that Wheatley had "exploited the friendship of Lee Irving in the worst way imaginable".
He said: "Lee only wanted friendship but, instead, became the target of Wheatley's aggression.
"After the attacks on Lee Irving, the defendants made every effort to hide what they had done: sedating and imprisoning him in their home, moving his body after death and removing key evidence.
"Even those defendants not directly involved in the attacks would have recognised that the extent of his injuries required immediate medical attention. Not one of them tried to assist Lee or to prevent further injury to him."
Wheatley was found guilty on Friday (2 December) of murder, and sentenced to life in prison, where he will have to serve a minimum of 23 years.
But the offences Wheatley committed were not treated as hate crimes by the judge, Mr Justice Soole, under section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act.
If they had been, he would have had to serve at least 30 years in prison.
Three other defendants – Wheatley's mother Julie Mills, 52, girlfriend Nicole Lawrence, 22, and lodger Barry Imray, 35 – were convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, as was Wheatley, and of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult, and all three were jailed.
Both Northumbria police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had treated Irving's death as a hate crime, but Mr Justice Soole, in sentencing Wheatley, decided there was not enough evidence to prove the killing was motivated by disability-related hostility.
Lee Irving's death now becomes the latest in a lengthy line of brutal crimes in which disabled people have been targeted because of their impairment, but which have not been acknowledged as disability hate crimes because of the flawed criminal justice system.
One of them was the murder of Brent Martin, another man with learning difficulties, who was killed in nearby Sunderland by three young men who took turns to see which of them could knock him out for a £5 bet.
But his killing in 2007 was never treated as a disability hate crime by Northumbria police, the same force that investigated Lee Irving's death, or by the courts.
In July this year, CPS was criticised for failing to treat as a disability hate crime a case in which a man with learning difficulties was forced to live in a shed for 35 years, and work for a pittance, and was beaten if he failed to work hard enough.
And last year, the criminal justice system was again criticised after a court failed to treat the brutal murder of Peter Hedley as a disability hate crime, when again the judge merely took account of Hedley's "vulnerability" in sentencing.
The failure to sentence Lee Irving's murderer under disability hate crime legislation will provide further fuel for disabled campaigners who have been pushing the government for years to ensure that it takes the issue seriously.
Northumbria police had failed to comment by noon today (8 December).
But a CPS spokesman confirmed that its lawyers had treated Lee Irving's murder as a disability hate crime.
He said in a statement: "We always apply to increase sentences where disability is an aggravating factor but ultimately it is the court's decision.
"The proportion of sentence uplifts applied in 2015-16 was the highest it has ever been and we are working with the judiciary and the courts in support of their consistent application."
CPS said that where there was not enough evidence of disability hostility for a section 146 uplift, but disability was a factor in another way – such as the victim's perceived "vulnerability" – it can present evidence to the court of these other "aggravating" factors that can increase the seriousness of the offence and the sentence.
A public consultation on CPS's policy on prosecuting crimes against disabled people is due to end on 9 January 2017.
'Grave and systematic violations' minister branded 'offensive' after UN rights pledge
A minister partly responsible for the UK being found guilty of "grave or systematic violations" of the UN disability convention has been branded "highly offensive" after announcing that her government would try to become a "world leader" on disability.
Priti Patel was employment minister for more than a year while the UN's committee on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) was investigating her government for breaches of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), as a result of its social security reforms.
When the UN committee published its report last month, concluding that the UK government had breached disabled people's human rights across three key parts of the convention, her government dismissed its work, with work and pensions secretary Damian Green describing it as "patronising and offensive".
But Patel has now pledged commitment to the convention in a bid to be seen as a global leader on disability.
On Saturday, Patel – now the international development secretary – used the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) to publish plans to "lead a step-change in the world's efforts to end extreme poverty by pushing disability up the global development agenda".
A new paper published by her department says the UK government will "drive action to improve the lives of people with disabilities".
It says: "By upholding our commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we will ensure people with disabilities are systematically and consistently included in, and benefit from, international aid and humanitarian assistance."
The new paper adds: "We will continue to invest in social protection systems in order to increase their coverage, quality and sustainability.
"For too long, decision makers have overlooked people with disabilities – we will work to change this.
"We will strengthen our work on disability and establish [the Department for International Development] as the global leader in this neglected and under-prioritised area."
Only last month, CRPD was concluding that the UK government's social security reforms had "disproportionately affected persons with disabilities and hindered various aspects of their right to live independently and be included in the community".
Linda Burnip, co-founder of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), the grassroots network of disabled people that persuaded the UN to carry out its inquiry, said: "The thought of the Department for International Development led by Priti Patel fighting to improve the rights of disabled people around the world is laughable, given her previous track record as minister for employment.
"The thought that someone who was part of a government condemned by the UN for the grave or systematic violation of disabled people's human rights in the UK having the remotest interest in improving the life chances of any disabled person is highly offensive."
Patel visited the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) as part of her efforts to use IDPD to promote her department's new paper.
Disability News Service asked LCD whether it had any concerns about the UK government being found guilty by CRPD of "grave or systematic violations" of the UNCRPD, and then claiming it wants to be a global leader on disability, but the charity had not commented by noon today (8 December).
Meanwhile, Remploy, the formerly government-owned disability employment business, now mostly owned by the scandal-hit US company Maximus, marked IDPD by holding a social media question and answer session… and then blocking disabled activists who tried to take part.
Remploy – which the Department for Work and Pensions has given Disability Confident Leader status as part of its newly-relaunched disability employment scheme – advertised the session with four of its disabled "ambassadors" on Twitter with the hashtag #AskUsAnything.
But when disabled campaigners took the four ambassadors at their word and started asking questions about Maximus's links to the government's welfare reforms – including carrying out work capability assessments (WCAs) – and the deaths of benefit claimants, they were blocked by Remploy.
One campaigner, @dinogoldie, was blocked after asking a series of questions including: "Is not a #disability employment service owned by a #disability denial factory a conflict of interest? #wca."
@dinogoldie later added: "I asked @RemployPP some legitimate questions so they blocked me. Not very #DisabilityConfident."
DPAC itself was blocked after asking: "How does it feel to work for a company owned by Maximus who make money from persecuting disabled people? #WCA #AskUsAnything."
Another disabled campaigner, @otivar55, was blocked after asking: "Why did those poor people die during sanctions?"
Other than those put by anti-cuts activists, there appear to have been few questions asked of Remploy's "ambassadors".
A Remploy spokeswoman said that a "small number of people" were blocked on Twitter.
She said: "The Twitter Q&A on Friday was led by a group of Remploy disability ambassadors who were keen to share their lived experience on [IDPD], and support employers to create equality in employment opportunities.
"The Remploy disability ambassadors had a really productive, well-engaged discussion and we look forward to continuing to support disabled people to find sustainable employment.
"A small number of Twitter users were blocked from our account only because the questions they asked took the focus away from sharing experiences and helping employers create a more inclusive environment.
"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."
Meanwhile, Shaping Our Lives, the national network of service-users, marked IDPD by launching a new "charter for change" it has developed alongside the British Association of Social Workers.
The charter – produced following 18 months of discussions – aims to ensure all disabled adults and social workers work together to tackle barriers to independent living and to improve wellbeing.
Among its pledges, the charter says that both disabled people and social workers will "act like people, and not just follow mechanistic processes", and that they will "have conversations rather than being bound by forms and procedures".
And it says: "We will continue to work to overcome power imbalances between disabled adults and social workers leading to equal relationships and co-producing solutions."
There is also reference to the crisis in social care funding, with the charter pledging that both disabled people and social workers will "be aware of the impact of policies across central and local government, and health and other services on disabled adults' lives".
Ann Nutt, a service-user and co-chair of Shaping Our Lives, said the charter "brings clarity and focuses on the development of a partnership strategy between disabled people and social workers".
Joanna Matthews, chair of the user-led charity Unlimited Oxfordshire, said: "Some of our members have already faced cuts in their budgets or struggled to get a timely assessment.
"It really matters to have a good relationship with your social worker, so that in these times of cuts and hardship we can all work together to make a little go a long way."
Another user-led organisation to mark IDPD was the Norfolk-based disabled people's organisation Equal Lives, which linked with DPAC to hold a protest outside an inaccessible building in Norwich that is used by the government contractor Atos as an assessment centre for disabled people claiming personal independence payments.
Scottish government lays out 93 actions to help country meet UN obligations
The Scottish government has described the 93 actions it believes will help Scotland meet its obligations under the UN disability convention, and address some of the harm caused to disabled people by the UK government's "austerity economics" policies.
It published its five-year plan, A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People, on the eve of the UN's International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and less than a month after the UN's committee on the rights of persons with disabilities found the UK government was guilty of "grave or systematic violations" of the convention.
The 93 actions are grouped under five headings: independent living; "decent incomes and fairer working lives"; accessibility; legal rights; and "active participation" in society.
The delivery plan was described by Dr Jim Elder-Woodward, the disabled chair of the Scottish Independent Living Coalition, as a "sterling start" towards ensuring that the UN convention had a positive impact on the lives of disabled people in Scotland.
Among the 93 actions, the Scottish government said it would extend the Independent Living Fund scheme it set up in the wake of the closure of the UK-wide version of the fund, offering it to new members for the first time with the help of £5 million-a-year of new funding, in addition to £47.2 million-a-year for its 2,700 existing Scottish users.
It pledged a shift towards care that focuses on achieving independent living, and said it would also improve the "portability" of care – the ease with which a disabled person can take their support package with them when they move between local authority areas.
The plan also includes a pledge to halve the disability employment gap, a similar promise to that made by the UK government, although with no date to match the 2020 target set – and then dropped – by ministers in Westminster.
It promises a one-year transition to a "voluntary and person-led" employment scheme that will support disabled people from April 2018.
And it promises to set up – thanks to new powers devolved to Scotland to control part of the social security budget – a welfare system that "treats people with dignity and respect while applying for, being assessed for, and receiving disability benefits".
New social security experience panels will involve at least 2,000 people with recent experience of receiving benefits to "help to design and test the new system to ensure it works for them".
On accessibility, it promises to ensure that each local authority sets a "realistic target" for building wheelchair-accessible housing, and reports annually on its progress.
On legal rights, it will abolish fees for employment tribunals, and ensure that the seven main criminal justice organisations carry out audits of their buildings to "identify any physical access barriers that need to be removed".
The Scottish government also promises to extend its Access to Elected Office Fund (Scotland) to the Scottish parliamentary elections in 2021.
The pledge contrasts with the UK government's version of the fund, which has been lying dormant since the 2015 general election while its effectiveness is supposedly being reviewed.
The Scottish version was set to expire in 2017, but the new plan promises to use an evaluation of the fund to "make any necessary improvements to ensure it works for disabled people", and then extend it until 2021.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said the fund would be available for disabled people who want to stand in all Scottish national and local elections between 2017 and 2021, including by-elections, although not candidates standing at UK parliamentary elections, which she said were "the responsibility of the UK government".
Dr Sally Witcher, chief executive of Inclusion Scotland, welcomed the new document.
She said: "This plan sets out a positive direction of travel towards a fairer Scotland for disabled people, based on a firm foundation of human rights.
"Specific commitments on funding for internships, to promote volunteering and to help address the under-representation of disabled people in politics and public life are particularly welcome.
"But the challenge now is to transform ambitions into actions that will, in turn, transform disabled people's lives and the country we live in.
"There is much to be done and no time to lose."
Among other disabled people welcoming the plan was campaigner Chris Baird, who said: "Disability hate crime has sky-rocketed in the last few years, as we've been stigmatised and demonised by UK politicians and much of the media.
"This disability plan, together with the new social security system, is a chance to put right some of the wrongs and treat people better."
Jamie Szymkowiak, founder of the user-led, cross-party campaign One in Five – which wants to see the number of disabled politicians in Scotland reflect the proportion of disabled people in society – said the extension of funding for the access to elected office scheme was "fantastic news".
He said: "An early announcement confirming financial support for aspiring disabled politicians is exactly what we at One in Five were calling for.
"Safe in the knowledge that the financial barrier to elected office has been removed, this early commitment provides disabled people with plenty of time to develop into political representatives of the future."
Social security minister Jeane Freeman, who launched the plan on Friday (2 December) in Glasgow, said: "Over a million disabled people contribute to Scotland's communities and add talent, diversity and richness to our society.
"Our goal is for every one of that million to have choice, control, dignity and freedom to live the life they choose with the support they need to do so."
She added: "At a time when the UK government is undermining the human rights of disabled people with its programme of austerity and welfare cuts and a blatant disregard for the impact it has on disabled people's lives, we are committing to furthering rights.
"Given that the UN declared last month that there was evidence of 'grave or systematic violations' of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it's no wonder disabled people feel this is an assault on their wellbeing, and makes the need for change more pressing."
Discussions with disabled people and their organisations early next year will lead to the Scottish government setting priorities for action and timescales, followed by a Fairer Scotland progress report in 2019.
Disabled people's panels will be set up to cover each of the plan's five areas, providing advice on implementation of key actions and how to measure progress.
A survey of disabled people in mid-2018 will gather evidence on the impact of the actions, while annual disability summits will look at progress, with a "major" disability summit in 2020.
A progress report will be laid before the Scottish parliament in early 2021 to determine where the government needs to focus its efforts during the 2021-26 parliamentary session.
Disabled people face institutional disablism from employers, says damning report
Disabled people are facing "institutional disablism" at the hands of both public and private sector employers, according to a new parliamentary report that examines how the government can meet its pledge to halve the disability employment gap.
The report by the all-party parliamentary group on disability (APPGD) – which has cross-party support – concludes that it will take almost 50 years for the government to achieve its pledge at its current rate of progress.
It suggests that the government will only be able to halve the gap by taking a far tougher stance on dealing with employers that discriminate against disabled staff and would-be employees.
The report, Ahead Of The Arc – which is supported by MPs and peers from seven political parties – calls on the government to drop its opposition to regulatory action that would force employers to take action.
It says: "It is time to consider abandoning a voluntary-only approach towards requiring employers to measure and to increase disability employment."
Evidence suggests that the failure of public and private employers to provide appropriate support to disabled people in the workplace and to offer fair access to start-up funds, business advice and business networks amounts to "institutional disablism", the report says.
Professor Victoria Wass, of Cardiff Business School, one of the report's authors, said there were "parallels" between the institutional disablism facing disabled people and the conclusions of the Macpherson report in 1999, which concluded that the Metropolitan police and other police forces were institutionally racist.
The APPGD report suggests that employers found to have discriminated against disabled people should face lesser penalties if they have "substantive" equality policies in place.
And it says the government needs "a tighter legal framework" to ensure that disabled employees are no longer "managed out of the workplace" by their employers, something that is happening to an estimated 35,000 to 48,000 disabled people every year.
At current rates of progress, the report warns, the disability employment gap will not be halved until 2065.
It says the "size and endurance of the employment gap reflects multiple and repeated failures of public and private sector organisations to address discrimination and disadvantage against disabled people".
The government needs to pay less attention to cutting the social security bill and more to ensuring disabled people have access to the labour market, the report says.
And it warns that economic growth alone will not deliver the government's commitment to halving the gap – the difference between the rates of non-disabled people (currently 80 per cent) and disabled people (currently 48 per cent) in jobs – which is currently 32 percentage points.
It calls instead for the government to take a "new, innovative and multi-dimensional approach combining incentives, persuasion, funding and legislation".
It calls for action in six broad areas: self-employment; the availability of government business loans and grants to disabled people; securing support from mainstream and specialist business networks; taking advantage of the large sums of government money spent on public procurement; spreading best practice; and offering employers incentives such as tax breaks, but also imposing new regulations.
The report says the government must ensure that public sector contracts are only awarded to organisations with a good track record on employing disabled people.
It says the £242 billion the government spends on buying goods and services every year is "largely a missed opportunity to use that influence and help redress disability-related employment disadvantage".
This could mean that "inclusive recruitment and retention policies are standard clauses in public sector contracts", with targets monitored by the organisations commissioning those contracts.
The report adds: "Organisations must learn to collect, record and analyse the disability status of their users, employees or applicants as a routine procedure."
It also calls on the government to provide a new right to return to work for newly-disabled workers within a year of acquiring a "major disability or long-term health condition".
But just hours after the report was published, there were signs that the minister for disabled people, Penny Mordaunt, had already dismissed the months of work invested in the report by disabled people, user-led organisations, academics, charities, MPs and peers.
When asked for a response to Ahead Of The Arc, a Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman refused to comment on its contents, instead emailing a statement from the minister that made no reference to the report.
Dr Lisa Cameron, the SNP MP who chairs the APPGD, told Disability News Service that the minister's response was "extremely disappointing".
And she said Mordaunt had already ignored an earlier request she made in parliament for a meeting to discuss the report.
Cameron told a parliamentary meeting held to launch Ahead Of The Arc that current government policy "quite simply will not halve the gap".
There were also doubts raised about the government's much-criticised Disability Confident scheme, which is supposed to encourage employers to do more to retain and recruit disabled people.
Johnny Mercer, the Tory vice-chair of the APPGD, said many employers were "very quick to put Disability Confident on their company logos" but "unless it means something it becomes sort of worthless".
He said there was a need for "drastic measures" to halve the disability employment gap, but insisted that the issue was one of prime minister Theresa May's "key areas" and was "part of her agenda".
Philip Connolly, policy manager of Disability Rights UK – which provides the secretariat for the APPGD – and another of the report's authors, said it provided an "aspirational agenda" which "takes the government at its word that it wants to cut the disability employment gap by half".
But he said the government's work, health and disability green paper was flawed because of its failure to suggest any measures aimed at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and because it contained "almost nothing about future industrial strategy".
He said their investigations had "found deficiencies in all forms of government support" as well as institutional disablism.
Connolly said: "We cannot be cutting people's benefits if we are not offering them the opportunity to get employment."
The disabled crossbench peer Lord [Colin] Low said the report was "a valuable contribution to halving the disability employment gap".
He said: "Economic growth alone will not deliver the government's manifesto commitment to having the disability employment gap."
He said that using public sector procurement was "an extraordinarily powerful lever" to get disabled people into work.
But he warned that the government's plans to cut payments to new claimants of employment and support allowance (ESA) placed in the work-related activity group by £30-a-week from April would be "counter-productive" to the government's target of halving the gap.
He said: "It's really disabling people's ability to apply for jobs and get into the workforce."
Labour MP Neil Coyle, secretary of the APPGD, cast doubt on Mordaunt's suggestion last week that she would be able to cut disabled people's costs by £120 per month to compensate for the ESA cut.
He said: "I don't believe that is possible. People in this room will… make their own judgement on that."
Tory MP Heidi Allen, a key backbench critic of the ESA cut, said: "I do happen to believe that she means it. Whether she can deliver it practically is another debate.
"It's an incredibly ambitious target. Let's give her the chance, but if it's not there, remind her."
Mayor invests £200 million in making more tube stations accessible
London's new mayor has announced a significant increase in investment in making stations on the capital's largely-inaccessible tube network step-free.
At present, only 70 of 270 stations on the London Underground network are step-free to all platforms.
But Sadiq Khan, who was elected as Labour mayor of London in May's election – following eight years of Tory rule under Boris Johnson – promised this week to spend £200 million by 2021-22 on making at least 30 more stations step-free.
He said this would be the "biggest boost to step-free access on the Underground in the network's 153-year history".
His office said that TfL would use "the latest technology and knowledge from the wider transport industry to speed up the delivery of making the world's oldest network more accessible".
In his election manifesto, he had promised "a more ambitious approach to step-free access in London Underground and TfL-run stations".
Faryal Velmi, director of the user-led charity Transport for All, which campaigns for accessible transport in the capital, welcomed the new funding.
She said: "Transport for All is delighted that the mayor has announced plans to direct funding into making our Underground network more accessible for disabled and older Londoners.
"We look forward to 30 more stations being made step-free over the next five years as this will unlock parts of the Underground that have been unusable for us since the tube was created.
"A more accessible tube will mean more travel options and greater opportunity for us to enjoy our great capital city."
The mayor said: "As part of making London's transport system one of the very best in the world, we must ensure it is accessible for all Londoners.
"It's simply not right that for people with disabilities, parents with young children and many older people, many of our stations are still very difficult to use.
"I promised in my manifesto that we needed to be more ambitious with our approach to step-free access, and today I'm confirming that £200 million will be invested on the Underground over the next five years.
"We're also announcing plans to bring forward the delivery of step-free access at outer London stations at Harrow on the Hill and Newbury Park.
"Work is now set to get underway at these busy stations next year.
"As part of building a modern and affordable transport system, I'm determined to make sure all Londoners can get around London safely and easily."
Ruth Owen, chief executive of the disability charity Whizz-Kidz, and herself a wheelchair-user, said: "Public transport is a lifeline for disabled people, but we know that accessibility can be a major barrier for wheelchair-users who, like anyone else, just want to get from A to B.
"We therefore warmly welcome the mayor of London's plans to invest in making the Underground more accessible, and his clear commitment to making the city more inclusive for the many disabled people who live and work there."
Agency lied over bus operators flouting access laws, FoI response reveals
A government transport agency lied when it claimed it had no evidence of transport operators using a loophole to avoid legal obligations to ensure their buses were accessible to disabled people, new evidence has proved.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) – which is responsible for ensuring that bus and coach operators comply with regulations on transport accessibility – had previously told Disability News Service (DNS) that it had "no evidence" that such practices were taking place.
But now DVSA's response to a freedom of information request submitted by disabled campaigner Doug Paulley has proved that the agency did know of such cases.
Access laws state that all buses and coaches have to meet the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) – which date back to 2000 – but coaches have until January 2020 to comply, while all single-deck buses have had to comply since January this year.
The regulations require vehicles to have a wheelchair space and boarding facilities, priority seating, colour-contrasting step edges, and other features "to enable disabled passengers to travel in comfort and safety".
But one of the ways that companies are dodging the regulations is by simply removing the hanging straps in buses, placing "no standing" signs in their vehicles, and then applying for new carrying capacity certificates to authorise them to operate as coaches rather than buses.
DVSA has now been forced to pass Paulley an internal email in which a senior manager says a colleague has told him that DVSA "has no evidence to suggest that operators are trying to circumvent the rules in this way.
"Recent formal communications with the trade have also maintained this line."
But he then adds: "We are aware of a few vehicles being modified and having VTP5s [forms notifying DVSA of an alteration to a public service vehicle] submitted to have standing capacity removed (by removal of hanging straps and stanchions) to avoid PSVAR, but not in significant numbers.
"We don't keep specific statistics unfortunately."
DVSA had previously told DNS that the agency had "no evidence to suggest that operators are flouting PSVAR" in this way.
This week, a DVSA spokesman said: "DVSA has no evidence to suggest that operators are trying to avoid complying with Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.
"We will investigate all reports and take action against any operator who does not adhere to the rules."
When DNS asked how she justified saying this when DVSA's own freedom of information response made it clear that there was some evidence of such activity by bus operators, Sarah Maddock, DVSA's head of corporate communications, said the information in the email was just the "personal view" of a member of staff.
Paulley said: "It is sad to see a government agency being so transparently disingenuous. One has to wonder what they are attempting to gain by this approach."
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com


Welcome to Lawals Around the World! We get around!
We're the Lawals and we are excited that you've stopped by our page. We are a family of four–three awesomely cool boys and one spectacular mom. In the summer of 2018 we decided to sell our home and travel abroad.
On this site, we'll share blogs, videos, information and updates on all of our adventures. Some days it will be fun and other days…meh. Either way, we hope you enjoy life through our eyes.


Records of the Foreign Missionary Association of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1921-1953, include its Minutes (1882-1921) as well as the records of its Executive Board (1883-1923), International Committee (1918-1924), Young Women's Auxiliary and other Miscellaneous reports and correspondence (1883-1923). Also included are records from the Committee's Branches at Downingtown, Germantown, Haverford, Moorestown, Philadelphia and West Chester Meetings.
Originally named the "Women's Foreign Missionary Association", the group was organized in 1882. The constitution adopted in that year defined the Association's responsibility "to promote the knowledge of the Gospel among women and children in heathen lands, and to assist in the Christian education, as ability and qualification are given by the Lord." As the statement suggests, the Association was concerned primarily with spreading Christianity, but also with more general schooling in the case of uneducated women.
By the turn of the 20th century, the "Foreign Missionary Association of Friends" had extended its scope to include men and its duties to several countries as it worked cooperatively with the efforts of PYM's Mission Board and Japan Committee.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Society of Friends: 1676- : Delaware County, Pa.).
Foreign Missionary Association Records. Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/repositories/9/resources/5717 Accessed April 20, 2019.


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black and white canvas art
"Bringing life to your walls with black and white canvas art!"
2 Exploring the History of Black and White Canvas Art
3 How to Create a Striking Black and White Canvas Art Piece
4 The Benefits of Black and White Canvas Art for Home Decor
5 The Impact of Black and White Canvas Art on Modern Art
6 The Different Styles of Black and White Canvas Art
Black and white canvas art is a timeless and classic form of art that has been around for centuries. It is a simple yet powerful way to express emotion and create a mood. Black and white canvas art can be used to create a minimalist look or to create a dramatic statement. It can be used to create a sense of calm or to evoke a feeling of intensity. Black and white canvas art can be used to create a modern look or to evoke a feeling of nostalgia. No matter what the desired effect, black and white canvas art is a great way to add a unique touch to any space.
Exploring the History of Black and White Canvas Art
Once upon a time, there was a great debate between two art forms: black and white canvas art. On one side, there were those who argued that black and white art was the only true form of art, while on the other side, there were those who argued that color was essential to creating a masterpiece.
The debate raged on for years, with both sides passionately defending their beliefs. The black and white art supporters argued that the stark contrast of the two colors created a powerful visual impact that could not be achieved with color. They argued that the lack of color allowed the viewer to focus on the composition and the message of the artwork.
Meanwhile, the color supporters argued that color was essential to creating a work of art that was truly captivating. They argued that color could evoke emotion and create a sense of depth and texture that could not be achieved with black and white.
The debate continued for years, with no clear winner in sight. Until one day, a brilliant artist had a revolutionary idea: why not combine the two? The artist created a masterpiece that combined the stark contrast of black and white with the emotion and depth of color.
The result was a work of art that was truly captivating. It was a masterpiece that could be appreciated by both sides of the debate. The artist had finally found a way to bring together the best of both worlds.
And so, the debate between black and white canvas art and color canvas art was finally settled. Both sides could now appreciate the beauty of both forms of art, and the world of art was forever changed.
How to Create a Striking Black and White Canvas Art Piece
Are you ready to create a stunning black and white canvas art piece that will have your friends and family in awe? Then you've come to the right place! Here's how to make a masterpiece that will have everyone talking:
1. Gather your supplies. You'll need a canvas, black and white paint, a few paintbrushes, and a few other items like a ruler, pencil, and eraser.
2. Start by sketching out your design. Use the ruler to draw straight lines and the pencil to draw curves. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect – you can always erase and start over.
3. Once you're happy with your design, it's time to start painting. Use the black paint to fill in the areas you want to be black and the white paint to fill in the areas you want to be white.
4. Once the paint is dry, you can add some finishing touches. You can use a thin brush to add details like dots or lines. You can also use a thicker brush to add texture to the canvas.
5. Finally, hang your masterpiece up and admire your work! You've just created a striking black and white canvas art piece that will be the envy of all your friends. Congratulations!
The Benefits of Black and White Canvas Art for Home Decor
When it comes to home decor, black and white canvas art is the perfect way to add a touch of sophistication and style to any room. Whether you're looking to create a modern, minimalist look or a classic, timeless feel, black and white canvas art is the perfect way to do it.
For starters, black and white canvas art is incredibly versatile. It can be used to create a variety of different looks, from abstract and contemporary to traditional and classic. Plus, it's easy to mix and match different pieces to create a unique look that's all your own.
Another great thing about black and white canvas art is that it's incredibly affordable. You can find pieces that fit any budget, so you don't have to break the bank to get the look you want. Plus, it's easy to find pieces that are both stylish and affordable.
Finally, black and white canvas art is incredibly easy to maintain. All you need to do is wipe it down with a damp cloth every now and then to keep it looking its best. Plus, it's incredibly durable, so you don't have to worry about it fading or becoming damaged over time.
So if you're looking for a way to add a touch of sophistication and style to your home decor, black and white canvas art is the perfect choice. It's versatile, affordable, and easy to maintain, making it the perfect way to spruce up any room. So go ahead and give it a try – you won't be disappointed!
The Impact of Black and White Canvas Art on Modern Art
The impact of black and white canvas art on modern art is undeniable. It's like the classic little black dress of the art world – timeless, elegant, and always in style.
From the stark, minimalist works of Piet Mondrian to the bold, abstract expressionism of Mark Rothko, black and white canvas art has been a major influence on modern art. It's a style that has been embraced by artists of all genres, from street art to fine art.
But it's not just the look of black and white canvas art that has made it so popular. It's also the way it can evoke emotion and create a sense of drama. The contrast between the two colors can be used to create a sense of tension, or to draw attention to a particular element of the painting.
And of course, there's the fact that black and white canvas art is incredibly versatile. It can be used to create a range of different looks, from the minimalist to the abstract. It can be used to create a sense of calm or to create a sense of chaos.
So, if you're looking for a way to add a touch of drama to your art, or to create a unique look, then black and white canvas art is definitely the way to go. It's a timeless classic that will never go out of style.
The Different Styles of Black and White Canvas Art
1. The Monochrome Masterpiece: This style of black and white canvas art is for the artist who wants to make a bold statement. With its stark contrast and dramatic composition, this style of art is sure to make a lasting impression.
2. The Minimalist: This style of black and white canvas art is perfect for the artist who wants to make a subtle statement. With its simple lines and muted tones, this style of art is sure to add a touch of sophistication to any room.
3. The Abstract Expressionist: This style of black and white canvas art is for the artist who wants to make a statement without saying a word. With its bold shapes and dynamic composition, this style of art is sure to make a statement without saying a word.
4. The Pop Art: This style of black and white canvas art is perfect for the artist who wants to make a statement with a bit of humor. With its bright colors and playful composition, this style of art is sure to bring a smile to any room.
5. The Photorealist: This style of black and white canvas art is for the artist who wants to make a statement with a realistic image. With its detailed composition and lifelike tones, this style of art is sure to bring a sense of realism to any room.
Black and white canvas art is a timeless and classic way to decorate any space. It can be used to create a modern, minimalist look or to add a touch of sophistication to a room. Whether you choose a bold abstract piece or a more subtle landscape, black and white canvas art is sure to make a statement. With its versatility and timelessness, black and white canvas art is a great choice for any home.
portrait artist of the year

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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La Coppa UEFA 1985-1986 è stata la 15ª edizione dell'omonima competizione. Venne vinta dal  nella doppia finale contro il .

Formula
Sulla base del ranking UEFA 1984, l'Italia e il Portogallo guadagnarono un 3º posto, come accadde anche all'Unione Sovietica e ai Paesi Bassi per la spartizione dei posti revocati agli inglesi, mentre la Grecia guadagnò un 2º posto a discapito della Danimarca. Torna a gareggiare l'Albania.

Trentaduesimi di finale

Sedicesimi di finale

Ottavi di finale

Quarti di finale

Semifinali

Finale

Andata

Ritorno

Classifica marcatori

Voci correlate
 Coppa dei Campioni 1985-1986
 Coppa delle Coppe 1985-1986

Collegamenti esterni

Calcio nel 1985
Calcio nel 1986
Edizioni della Coppa UEFA

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e the surprise EV of the English manufacturer in Geneva
The luxury car house Bentley has managed to reach the Geneva Motor Show without the media discovering its star concept. Before the Swiss appointment opened its doors we already knew with what news the house of the "B" would go, however the surprise that has given us with the presentation of the Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e has been very pleasant.
This two-seater roadster would be the company's first hundred percent electric car and speaks very well of how fast it could be to expand its range to this type of propellers. With the EXP 12 Speed 6e, the firm wants to probe its customers, investors and enthusiasts in the event they decided to launch a vehicle powered exclusively by batteries.
The design of this car is captivating and sensual. Its fluid and uncharged lines make it look like the roadster it had several decades ago. Its front and rear headlights very well keep the air with its brothers of range and the proportions that has shown that to make an electric convertible does not have to be in conflict with the design and the elegance.
What stands out most of its design is that it has a symbol in white with the letters 6e that illuminates up when the driver starts the car. Moreover, this model can incorporate elements as sophisticated as headlights with led technology and a front grille that would be made of silver and copper. In addition, in its interior you will find top quality materials as well as technological gadgets of last batch.
For now, the makers of the brand have not disclosed the power that would develop the engine of this model or kilometers that could travel when their batteries are full of load. What we do know is that Bentley's first 100 percent electric car could be rolling through the streets of half world as early as 2021.
We will have to wait for the Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e to make its way through the halls of the world, to know what the English firm will do when it comes to making a decision about their future.
Tags: Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e, EXP 12 Speed 6e
Previous McLaren 720S: When everything is changed so nothing changes
Next New Citroen C5 Aircross, ready for the Shanghai Show
New Lotus Evora GT430: Special edition limited to 60 units
New Citroen C5 Aircross, ready for the Shanghai Show
McLaren 720S: When everything is changed so nothing changes


Take your vacation in Thailand which is among the top tourist destinations in the world. Thailand is packed with great attraction sites. Visit the Erawan falls; get to see the water monitor lizard in this seven tiered falls. Get to see the ancient Chiang Mai city where orange dresses monks cross your path. Get to visit the beautiful beaches in Thailand with crystal blue waters. Enjoy the beach parties graced with a mix of great food and culture of the people.  Visit the historical parks in Thailand that date back centuries ago. Make memories as you cruise through the several islands along the coastline.
Malaysia also known as the Pristine Malaysia is the top-notch site to visit and enjoy your vacation according to Malaysia travel. Get into a stupor from eating too much of their delicious food, from the island with the best cuisine in South East Asia. Enjoy the warm waters by diving into the finest waters of the Pacific Ocean. Get lost in the culture of the people portrayed in their hip museums and art galleries. Take an excursion through the zoos and theme parks in the island. Before your trip is over make sure you have a private tour through the enchanted forest to get a good dose of the island's serene nature.
Visit Singapore explains that Singapore is notorious for being expensive and having high-end luxurious shopping sites. You will however be surprised at what else the country has to offer. It is a modern yet green country well equipped with the best food, beautiful landscapes and culture that would impress any traveller. Despite being expensive the country has quite a lot to offer from over 50 city parks, mega shopping malls, mysterious museums, and unique accommodation spots. Singapore is the right place for explorers, shoppers, foodies and collectors as this is where new experiences are created every day. It is said that you could try out a new restaurant in Singapore every day and still not explore all the different cuisines the country has to offer. Reside in the high-end accommodation options and shop in world class shopping sites in Singapore then later take a trip through mangrove forests in the North East.
The Eastern definitely has a lot to offer the traveller. Choose the package that suits your needs from romantic getaways to fun filled family excursions and solo vacations. Get your vacation custom made from Tour East Holidays and make memories that will last a lifetime.
Been to all three and couldn't agree more, they're 3 of my favourite Asian countries! I especially love the food, I don't think food gets better than South-east Asian cuisine!


Mercedes Sprinter Symbol Ru Ef Bf Bdpartikelfilter is free HD wallpaper. This wallpaper was upload at April 22, 2019 upload by admin in .You can download it in your computer by clicking resolution image in Download by size:. Don't forget to rate and comment if you interest with this wallpaper.


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1. Murray Bartlett
Actor | The White Lotus
Murray Bartlett is an Australian actor. His roles include Dominic "Dom" Basaluzzo in the HBO comedy-drama series Looking, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the Netflix revival of Tales of the City, and Armond in the HBO satire comedy series The White Lotus, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award ...
2. Ruby Rose
Actress | Orange Is the New Black
Ruby Rose Langenheim (born 20 March 1986), better known as Ruby Rose, is an Australian model, DJ, boxer, recording artist, actress, television presenter, and MTV VJ. Rose emerged in the media spotlight as a presenter on MTV Australia, followed by several high-profile modelling gigs, notably as the ...
3. Hassie Harrison
Actress | Yellowstone
Hassie Harrison is an American actress. She was born in Dallas, Texas. She is known for Yellowstone, Tacoma FD and The Iron Orchard. Harrison was born in Dallas, Texas. Her mother was heavily involved with the children's theater in Dallas, where Harrison found her love in acting. She started ...
4. Freema Agyeman
Actress | Doctor Who
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is known for playing Martha Jones in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2007-2010), Alesha Phillips in crime procedural drama Law & Order: UK (2009-2011), Amanita Caplan in the Netflix science fiction drama Sense8 (2015-2018), and Dr. Helen Sharpe in ...
5. Holly Hunter
Actress | Broadcast News
Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Opal Marguerite (Catledge), a homemaker, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time sporting goods company representative and farmer with a 250 acre farm. She is the youngest of seven children. Her parents encouraged her talent at an early age, and her first...
6. David Thewlis
Actor | Naked
David Thewlis was born David Wheeler in 1963 in Blackpool, Lancashire, to Maureen (Thewlis) and Alec Raymond Wheeler, and lived with his parents above their combination wallpaper and toy shop during his childhood. Originally, he came to London with his band Door 66, however he changed his plans and...
7. William Hurt
Actor | A History of Violence
William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (McGill) and Alfred McChord Hurt, who worked at the State Department. He was trained at Tufts University and The Juilliard School and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his ...
8. Neta Garty
Actress | The Debt
Neta Garty was born on March 20, 1980 in Tel Aviv, Israel. She is an actress, known for The Debt (2007), Fauda (2015) and Love Life (2007). She has been married to Peter Roth since May 18, 2007.
9. Michael Rapaport
Actor | Deep Blue Sea
A true New Yorker through and through, Michael Rapaport was born on March 20, 1970, in Manhattan, to June Brody, a radio personality, and David Rapaport, a radio program manager. He is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish descent.
Rapaport moved to Los Angeles to try stand-up comedy following high ...
10. Leila George
Actress | Mortal Engines
Leila George D'Onofrio is an Australian actress. George was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to actor and producer Vincent D'Onofrio and actress Greta Scacchi, and raised by her mother in Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom. She has three younger half-brothers. In 2008, she took acting...
Director | Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...
12. Hal Linden
Actor | Barney Miller
A familiar name thanks to his handsome, brush-mustachioed titular cop on a popular 70's TV show, Bronx-born actor/singer/musician Hal Linden (né Harold Lipschitz, March 20, 1931) was the son of Lithuanian immigrant Charles Lipshitz and his wife Frances Rosen. He had one older brother, Bernard, who ...
13. Christy Carlson Romano
Actress | Kim Possible
Romano has had a long relationship with Disney ABC Television Group by starring in hit series and movies for the Disney Channel and ABC Family including: Cadet Kelly, The Even Stevens franchise, Campus Confidential, Taking Five, The Cutting Edge 2: Going for the Gold, and The Cutting Edge ...
14. Elizabeth Bourgine
Actress | Cours privé
Elizabeth Bourgine was born on March 20, 1957 in Levallois-Perret, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. She is an actress and assistant director, known for Private Tuition (1986). She is married to Jean-Luc Miesch. They have one child.
15. Tommy Martinez
Actor | Good Trouble
Tommy Martinez was born on March 20, 1992 in Venezuela. He is an actor, known for Good Trouble (2019), Hunters (2020) and Riverdale (2017).
16. Carl Reiner
Writer | The Dick Van Dyke Show
Carl Reiner is a legend of American comedy, who achieved great success as a comic actor, a director, producer and recording artist. He won nine Emmy Awards, three as an actor, four as a writer and two as a producer. He also won a Grammy Award for his album "The 2,000 Year Old Man", based on his ...
17. Michael Cassidy
Actor | Zoom
Michael Cassidy is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Zach Stevens on The O.C. and as Tyler Mitchell on the TBS comedy Men at Work. He portrayed Jonathan Walsh on comedy People of Earth from the show's start in 2016 until its 2018 cancellation.
18. John de Lancie
Actor | Crank: High Voltage
John de Lancie was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Kent State University where he won a scholarship to Juilliard. John's father was a professional oboist with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. de Lancie is probably best known for his portrayal as Eugene Bradford on Days of Our ...
19. Theresa Russell
Actress | Spider-Man 3
Theresa Russell, named one of the "100 sexiest stars in film history" (Empire Magazine), was born in San Diego, California. She was discovered by a photographer at the age of 12, and made her film debut in Elia Kazan's The Last Tycoon (1976), opposite Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson and Robert ...
20. Xavier Dolan
Actor | J'ai tué ma mère
Xavier Dolan was born on March 20, 1989 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for I Killed My Mother (2009), Tom at the Farm (2013) and Heartbeats (2010).
21. Stacy Martin
Actress | Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
Stacy Martin was born on March 20, 1990 in Paris, France. She is an actress, known for Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013), All the Money in the World (2017) and The Serpent (2021).
22. Marc Warren
Actor | Wanted
Marc Warren is an English actor, known for his British television roles. His roles have included Albert Blithe in Band of Brothers, Danny Blue in Hustle, Dougie Raymond in The Vice, Dominic Foy in State of Play, Rick in Mad Dogs, the Comte DE Rochefort in The Musketeers and the Gentleman in ...
23. Nick Blood
Actor | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Blood was born on March 20, 1982 in London, England, UK. Nick is an actor and director, known for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013), Babylon (2014) and Him & Her (2010).
24. Jane March
Actress | L'amant
March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese. March has one brother.
At age 14, March won a local "Become a Model" contest. She signed with Storm Model ...
25. Amy Aquino
Actress | Working Girl
Born in New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, veteran actress Amy Aquino stars in the Amazon hit series "Bosch." Aquino plays Lt. Grace Billets, immediate superior and close friend of homicide detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) at LAPD's Hollywood Division. The series returns for its sixth ...
26. Bianca Lawson
Actress | Save the Last Dance
Bianca Lawson was born on March 20, 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Save the Last Dance (2001), The Feast of All Saints (2001) and Rogue (2013).
27. Paula Garcés
Actress | On My Block
Paula Garces was born in Medellin, Colombia. Her father was a fisherman, and her mother was a schoolteacher. At age 7 she relocated with her parents to New York City, where she resided primarily in Harlem. She she started acting in commercials hired by agent Diego Santiago, her father's best friend...
28. Stephen Sommers
Producer | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Stephen Sommers was born on March 20, 1962 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, he attended St. John's University and the University of Seville in Spain. Afterward, Sommers spent the next four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout ...
29. Edgar Buchanan
Actor | Shane
At the age of seven, he and his family moved to Oregon. After studying at the University of Oregon, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a dentist, graduating from North Pacific Dental College. From 1929 to 1937, he practiced oral surgery in Eugene, Oregon. He then moved his practice to...
30. Karen Steele
Actress | Marty
Karen Steele was born on March 20, 1931, in Honolulu, Hawaii. A former cover girl and model, she was one of the most strikingly beautiful actresses to ever work in film and television. She went to the University of Hawaii and to Rollins College in Florida before gracing our film screens with her ...
31. Emma Fitzpatrick
Actress | Take Back the Night
Emma Fitzpatrick was born on March 20, 1985 in Marion, Ohio, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Take Back the Night (2021), The Social Network (2010) and In Time (2011).
32. Kathy Ireland
Actress | Loaded Weapon 1
Kathy Ireland was born on March 20, 1963 in Glendale, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), Alien from L.A. (1988) and Necessary Roughness (1991). She has been married to Dr. Gregory P. Olsen since August 20, 1988. They have three children.
33. Jessica Lundy
Actress | Single White Female
Jessica Lundy made her film debut in the film Bright Lights, Big City (1988), and soon appeared in Vampire's Kiss (1988), Caddyshack II (1988), and many others. She also starred as Gloria Utz on the NBC sitcom Hope & Gloria (1995). She attended NYU and began her career writing and acting in ...
34. Barrett Doss
Actress | Iron Fist
Barrett Doss was born on March 20, 1989 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for Iron Fist (2017), Station 19 (2018) and 30 Rock (2006).
35. Robb Wells
Actor | Trailer Park Boys
Robb Wells was born on October 28, 1971 in Moncton, New Brunswick and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia since the age of 8. His father was a Forensic Expert with The RCMP. Robb later went to high school with Mike Clattenberg and John Paul Tremblay. The three were always pulling practical jokes on ...
36. Linda Larkin
Actress | Aladdin
Linda Larkin was born on March 20, 1970 in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Aladdin (1992), Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Runaway Bride (1999). She has been married to Yul Vazquez since May 18, 2002.
37. Mikey Day
Actor | Saturday Night Live
Mikey Day was born on March 20, 1980 in Orange County, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Saturday Night Live (1975), Terminator: Termination (2012) and Brother Nature (2016).
38. Jake Hoffman
Actor | Sam & Kate
Jake Hoffman was born on March 20, 1981 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Sam & Kate (2022), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Irishman (2019).
39. Jerry Reed
Soundtrack | Smokey and the Bandit
Tall, blond haired country & western singer / songwriter from Atlanta Georgia, who usually appears in films portraying good humored Southern type characters. Reed was already writing and singing music in high school, and was signed by Capitol Records to a three-year contract in 1955. However, in ...
40. Liza Snyder
Actress | Yes, Dear
Liza Snyder was born on March 20, 1968 in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Yes, Dear (2000), Pay It Forward (2000) and Sirens (1993).
41. Kangana Ranaut
Actress | Queen
Kangana was born on 20 March 1987 in Bhambla, near Manali, which is in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Her dad Amardeep is a businessman and her mom Asha is a schoolteacher. She has two sisters and a younger brother. Her grandfather was an IAS Office. She spent her childhood in Dehra Dunand...
42. Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway was born on March 20, 1957 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Coming to America (1988), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) and Daylight (1996). She has been married to Tony Calloway since September 3, 1988. They have two children.
43. Natalie Gumede
Actress | Titans
Natalie Gumede was born on March 20, 1984 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK. Natalie is an actor, known for Titans (2018), C.B. Strike (2017) and Doctor Who (2005).
44. Cedric Yarbrough
Actor | The 40 Year Old Virgin
Cedric Yarbrough is a multi-hyphenate performer who just wrapped production on the new AMC series, "Lucky Hank," starring opposite Bob Odenkirk and Mireille Enos. Cedric stars "Paul Rourke," a poetry professor at Railton College who self-identifies as the rival to Odenkirk's "Hank." He also shot ...
45. Lawrence Makoare
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lawrence Makoare was born on March 20, 1968 in Bastion Point, Auckland, New Zealand. He is an actor, known for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Die Another Day (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
46. Dominique Jackson
Actress | Pose
Dominique Jackson was born on March 20, 1975 in Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago. She is an actress and producer, known for Pose (2018), In Every Dream Home and Chick Fight (2020). She was previously married to Al Jackson.
47. Amy Huberman
Actress | The Stag
Amy Huberman was born on March 20, 1979 in Dublin, Ireland. She is an actress and writer, known for The Bachelor Weekend (2013), Finding Joy (2018) and Threesome (2011). She has been married to Brian O'Driscoll since July 2, 2010. They have two children.
48. Jack Kruschen
Actor | The Apartment
Canadian-born Jack Kruschen entered films after years on the stage, and became a dependable character actor both in movies and on television. Often cast as ethnic comedy relief, Kruschen occasionally landed a role as a villain, but was more often the volatile, emotional Italian or Jewish neighbor ...
49. Erica Luttrell
Actress | Westworld
Erica Luttrell was born on March 20, 1982 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is an actress, known for Westworld (2016), Salvation (2017) and David Makes Man (2019).
50. Dean Geyer
Actor | Glee
Dean Geyer was born in Johannesburg South Africa and immigrated to Australia when he was 15 years old, commencing his schooling in Australia at Melbourne High School.
Geyer's family has a strong connection to martial arts. His grandfather Stan Schmidt was credited with formally introducing karate ...


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The Hateful Eight: Tarantino's 70MM Western Will Rake In More Than A Fistful of Dollars | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"
For some reason I thought Quentin Tarantino had directed MORE than a paltry eight films in his career. But I think I was including stuff he didn't direct directly in that number plus some TV work he's had a hand in. Whatever. The Hateful Eight is looking fine and grim and chilly as it packs in some of the director's favorite actors into a snowbound winter cabin and lets them chew the scenery. I'm expecting a bit of back-stabbery and gun-shootery bits with the trademark Tarantino touches wrapped up in an all new score by Ennio Morricone. As the film takes place a few years after the Civil War, I'd not expect to see any modern in-jokes here. But I'll expect some of the characters in the film to get in references to some of their previous work.
Of course, I'm only basing that on Kurt Russell seemingly making a nod to his MacReady character from John Carpenter's still fantastically freaky 1982 remake of The Thing. Hey, I don't look for this stuff in trailers, folks. It. Finds. Me. I think. Anyway, The Hateful Eight is out in a limited 70MM Panavision release this Christmas Day with a wider release set for January 8th, 2016 "everywhere else". I guess the roadshow version is for the Academy folks to check out before they get to that Oscar balloting stuff they do. I saw some fine actors doing their thing, but didn't see anything "award winning" in that too-brief trailer. But with Tarantino films, you really need to see the whole thing before making any judgments for or against them.
This entry was posted in 2015, Commentary, DAF, Humor, Updates and tagged Christmas, Coming Soon, Mature, Movie Trailers, Movies, Not For The Kiddies!, Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight, The Weinstein Company, Violence Is A Very Horrible Thing, YouTube by geelw. Bookmark the permalink.


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Le Sokos Wiklund est un grand magasin situé dans le quartier VI du centre-ville de Turku en Finlande.

Présentation
Le Sokos Wiklund est la propriété de Turku Osuuskauppa (TOK) est à la chaîne de grands magasins Sokos du groupe S.

Le nom du grand magasin remonte au marchand Axel Wiklund , qui fonda en 1907 sa première quincaillerie en bordure de la place du marché de Turku.
Le bâtiment actuel du grand magasin a été achevé en 1957 sur le site de l'ancienne maison Lindblom, tandis que la tour d'angle de huit étages au coin d'Eerikinkatu et de Kauppiaskatu a été achevée en 1963.
La conception des deux bâtiments a été réalisée par Ole Gripenberg et Bertel Gripenberg .
SOK a acheté l'entreprise d'Oy Wiklund Ab à la famille Wiklund en 1958.

Accès

Les bus passant à proximité du Sokos Wiklund sont : 14, 220, 300, 301, 302, 56, 6, 7 et 702.

Commerces et services
Les enseignes présentes en 2022 sont:

 Boutiques
  Alko
 Eurokangas
 Hyvä olo
 Vivahde
 S-Pankki
 Cordonnier
 Tokmanni
 W herkku
 Pharmacie
 Couturière
 Cybernet , Jeux d'arcade
 Europark

 Restaurants
 Coffee House
Trattoria
 Bar Walo
 Bar à vin Axel W
 Hesburger

 Hôtel
 Hôtel Sokos Wiklund

Références

Voir aussi

Liens externes

Liens internes

Bâtiment à Turku
Centre commercial à Turku
Quartier VI (Turku)


Hi, Thanks for taking time to look at my website, I hope that you enjoy the images.
I'm a freelance photographer based in South Cumbria.
During the winter months I focus on landscape photography, shooting mainly in the Lake District.
Each summer I swop the wide open, quiet spaces of Cumbria for the UK music festival scene. Over the past ten years I have covered most of the UK's major festivals, working as a music photographer and reviewer and shooting a host of internationally renowned bands and performers.


Gagaku (Japanese court music) and Buddhism share some commonalities: both were imported into Japan from the Asian continent; both have a long history in Japan; and both were parts of the lives of the nobles of the Imperial court. But the history of gagaku and Buddhism also involves interconnection and interaction between the two, something that has yet to be discussed in English scholarship. This presentation will provide a brief introduction to gagaku and the relationship between gagaku and Buddhism in different points of Japanese history.
LeRon Harrison is a visiting assistant professor at the University of Oregon who researches Japanese court poetry and its appropriations of Chinese poetics. He also has been playing gagaku (Japanese court music) for 11 years and researches the history of the music in Japan and its importation and growth in America.


Once the most popular spirit on the planet Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, a variation of what we now know was first documented around the 12th Century. It is believed the origins of whiskey lie in the Mediterranean techniques for distilling perfume. Adapted and modified, Irish monks then began producing a drinkable spirit. Prohibition of the 1920s all but destroyed the Irish Whiskey market, so much so that currently only a handful of distillers remain in operation in Ireland.
Characteristically Irish Whiskey is smoother than its Scottish cousin, it is distilled three times compared to twice, there are of course exceptions to every rule and the peated Irish malts are the exceptions. It is likely you know more Irish whiskies than you think with huge names like Jameson and Bushmills taking centre stage.


Engbo is a residential center of 20 living units for the physically and mentally disabled. The complex is shaped like a square with an opening to a common courtyard in the center which marks the main entrance. Each unit has its own private garden facing away from the courtyard.
From early in the process, the intention was to emphasize each unit individually within its architectural expression. In this way, each unit has its own gabled roof of varying pitches for differentiation, creating a reading of the complex as a cluster of houses instead of one large institutional building.
One can enter the living units in two ways, either through individual private gardens facing outward, or through the common and service areas facing into the courtyard. Thus the complex can facilitate residents with all levels of ability and need for service and aid.


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Holy Cross to induct six in Athletic Hall of Fame
Six former competitors and a coach have been named to the College of the Holy Cross Athletic Hall of Fame the Holy Cross Varsity Club has announced.
They will be formally inducted at the Varsity Club's annual dinner May 4 in the Hogan Campus Center.
They are Charles R. Doyle, Class of 1986, football; Patrick J. Kelly, Class of 1987, lacrosse; Glenn Williams, Class of 1989, basketball; Ariadys V. Confesor, Class of 2004, football; Stacey N. Hochkins, Class of 2012, ice hockey; Megan K. Lynch, Class of 2012, volleyball, and Barry Parenteau, honorary, swimming coach.
Mr. Doyle, now managing director of Business Capital, played fullback from 1982 to 1985. He scored 23 touchdowns, rushed for 1,620 yards and was blocking back for Gil "The Thrill" Fenerty, all-time leading leading rusher with 3,680 yards.
Mr. Kelly, now managing director of global sales at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., was a two-time USILA Colonial League All Star, all New England his senior year, and played in the New England East-West All Star game. He is the Crusader career leader in assists and points.
Mr. Williams, now president and owner of Steve Angeline Sales, was star point guard for the Crusaders from 1985 to 1989. He totaled 714 assists, a Holy Cross record, and scored 638 points. He earned All Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honors as a senior.
Mr. Confesor, now wide receiver coach and pass-game coordinator for his alma mater, was a two-time All America pick and first team All New England his junior and senior years. He holds single-season records with 2,352 receiving yards, 2,267 kick-return yards and 5,370 all-purpose yards.
Ms. Hochkins, now an executive mortgage banker for Quicken Loans, was a four-time first team All-ECAC East selection and made All America and All New England three times. She is the Holy Cross all-time leader in goals (103), assists (86) and points (189).
Ms. Lynch, now a senior account executive at USI Insurance Services, was a three-time All-Patriot League selection and was named to the Patriot League 25th Anniversary team. She was the only player in Holy Cross history to break the 1,000 mark in kills (1,486) and digs (1,108).
Coach Parenteau, who retired last spring, led the Holy Cross women's swimming and diving team from 1976 to 2918, and the men's team from 1996 until 2018. As women's coach he was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year three times. His men's and women's teams won a combined 241 victories. He coached eight swimmers and divers who have been inducted into the H.C. Hall of Fame, including Callie Taffe, Class of 1981, an All American.


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Burger restaurant study misleads consumers about antibiotic use in beef production
Rachel Gabel
for The Fence Post
In a report titled "Chain Reaction IV: Burger Edition," only two hamburger restaurants, California-based Shake Shack and Florida-based BurgerFi, earned A grades based on their public policy of sourcing meat raised without antibiotics.
The report was co-authored by Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Consumer Reports, Center for Food Safety, FACT: Food Animal Concerns Trust, and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, all of which were called public interest organizations working to eliminate the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.
The restaurants earning A grades both currently serve only beef raised without antibiotics and claims that because the chains are expanding from the small number of current locations, that "their responsible sourcing practices — including serving beef raised without antibiotics — are paying off."
The Wendy's chain received a D- grade on the report because in 2018, the chain began to purchase 15 percent of its beef supply from producers that have "reduced the use of one medically important antibiotic, tylosin, by 20 percent."
Tylosin, approved and most commonly used for the treatment of shipping fever, falls under the Veterinary Feed Directive though the report gives no details about the stage of production in which the drug is being reduced.
While the report insists that the two top rated companies are the only ones demonstrating "real-world progress in sourcing meat raised without the routine use of antibiotics," only seven of the 25 restaurants listed returned the survey that the report is based upon. That means, 18 restaurants chose not to participate in the survey and received a failing grade, a move the report calls "leaving their customers in the dark regarding antibiotic use practices."
Food Safety Inspection Service Acting Deputy Under Secretary Carmen Rottenberg commented on an earlier article published in Consumer Reports, one of the publications behind this report, reminding producers to continue talking about the safety of the U.S. beef supply. Conversation about the carcass by carcass inspection and the robust food safety program, she said, should fill the space rather than allowing the space to be filled with the scare tactic narrative.
"There are government controls in place to verify that and if there are ever any banned or violative substances found in a product, that product can not go into commerce," she said.
Kathryn Miller, a consumer advocate and meat salesman said the judicious use of antibiotics should be a concern for anyone advocating on behalf of animal welfare, namely beef producers.
"The pendulum swing of the radical anti-antibiotic movement is dangerous to animal health and well-being and limits the proactive measures the industry is responsible in taking to ensure animal comfort and care within agriculture," Miller said. "Consumer miseducation campaigns on behalf of radical anti-agriculture groups are attempting to undermine consumer confidence in food safety by fear mongering."
ANTIBIOTIC USE
The careful monitoring and heavily regulated use of antibiotics and the policies in place, Miller said, promote both animal health and food safety.
The report said burger chains, with McDonald's being the single-largest purchaser of beef in the country, play a crucial role in reducing antibiotic use. The report goes on, calling for policymakers to only allow beef producers to use medically important antibiotics under the guidance of a licensed veterinarian, and to treat animals diagnosed with an illness or to control a verified disease outbreak.
That, Lora Bledsoe, DVM, is exactly the judicious manner in which antibiotics are being utilized by producers.
"That's how antibiotics are utilized and we're following withdrawal periods," Bledsoe said. "The Veterinary Feed Directive is on the books and it's preventing most of those concerns in terms of medically important antibiotic use is now highly regulated."
Injectible antibiotics commonly used in feedyard scenarios, she said, are not typically medically important to humans. Subscribing to the philosophy, she said, that we pump everything full of antibiotics, is untrue and it is inhumane to allow sick animals to suffer without the benefit of necessary medication.
"It's unethical to force producers through a financial incentive into not medicating animals that are sick," she said. "Animals are going to get sick and need to be treated appropriately rather than bribing producers into not treating them."
By law, drugs administered through feed must be used according to the approved labeling. In addition, the extra-label use of approved drugs in animals by or on the lawful order of licensed veterinarians is limited to situations where the health of an animal is threatened or suffering or death may result from failure to treat.
The FDA said they have been working closely with the American Veterinary Medical Association, other veterinary associations, and animal producer organizations, as well as holding listening sessions around the country to hear concerns from both producers and veterinarians.
According to the FDA's website, based on this outreach, they are confident that animal producers and veterinarians understand the role that they play in ensuring that these important drugs are used appropriately and judiciously.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association released this statement regarding antibiotic use:
"Cattlemen, and the entire livestock community, are working together to continuously improve the way antibiotics are used in animals, because they care about how their practices impact cattle health as well as antibiotic safety and efficacy. The beef industry promotes the judicious use of antibiotics to keep potential risk of developing antibiotic resistant bacteria extremely low. In addition, the beef community has invested significantly in research and education programs like Beef Quality Assurance to maintain high standards of animal care and health."
Read the report at https://consumersunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ChainReaction4_Report_FINAL.pdf.


text:
Careers & People
<i>In Appreciation</i>: Howard A. Schmidt
Former cybersecurity coordinator to President Obama, and renowned veteran of the security industry, passed away Thursday.
Howard A. Schmidt
The security industry is mourning the loss of Howard A. Schmidt, 67, who served under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama as their top cybersecurity advisors after holding top security posts at Microsoft and eBay.
Schmidt's post under Obama, from 2009-2012, was the very first White House cybersecurity coordinator.
His distinguished career spans public service and private sector posts, including more than 26 years of military service starting with the US Air Force and later serving as an Army Reserve Special Agent with the Criminal Investigation Division's Computer Crime Unit. He served as President and CEO of the Information Security Forum, and later as the executive director of SAFECode, and was a partner in Ridge-Schmidt Cyber, an executive services firm.
Uniting government and private-industry security expertise was the underlying theme of much of Schmidt's efforts as Obama's cybersecurity czar. In an interview with Dark Reading in 2011, Schmidt stressed the need for the feds to help private industry by sharing attack intelligence. "We are able to coalesce intelligence ... the government has information that comes from its unique position, so part of this is taking that information and [showing] we care about putting the bad guys in jail," he said. "We want to make sure we are sharing with our private-sector partners."
On Schmidt's watch in the Obama administration, the White House announced its National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), as well as the establishment of an international cyberstrategy on how the US would respond and defend itself in the face of cyberattacks by adversaries. He once warned of the "cascading effects" of targeted malware attacks against nation-states.
Schmidt was well-respected and revered as a dedicated public servant and leader in the cybersecurity realm and his former colleagues and friends today remembered him with tributes on social media.
Steve Lipner, the current director of SAFECode and friend and former colleague of Schmidt's said today in an interview with Dark Reading that Schmidt was a "real leader in the industry" and "very committed to public service."
The two first met while working at Microsoft in the late 1990s, where Schmidt helped shape Microsoft's game-changing shift to software security. "The focus on security at Microsoft was ramping up in late 2001, 2002, in large measure because of the things he [Schmidt] drove behind the scenes," Lipner said.
Schmidt left Microsoft after being called up by the Bush White House to serve as its cybersecurity advisor in 2001. "He left to go join the White House because he felt that was a higher calling, something he ought to do," Lipner said.
"He was a very practical, down-to-earth guy. He was very dedicated to security and doing security right," Lipner said. "He was also just a good person ... a friend. And a nice guy."
Schmidt was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed riding his Harley-Davidson and spending time with his family, including eight grandchildren.
Schmidt passed away this morning, March 2, at his home in Muskego, Wisconsin, following a long battle with cancer.
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Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer
Redefining the CISO-CIO Relationship
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