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Residents want answers: Why are Brightline's 'quiet zones' not so quiet?
Ryan DiPentima
rdipentima@pbpost.com
Turns out the recently enacted quiet zones designed to muzzle the blaring sounds of those oncoming 80 mph Brightline trains in Palm Beach County are really more like 'sometimes' quiet zones.
Residents from West Palm to Delray Beach and Boca Raton were looking forward to the peace and quiet, but the locomotion commotion hasn't ceased on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.
Train horns will still sound during emergencies and construction, said Ali Soule, spokeswoman for Brightline.
That was the case Monday in West Palm Beach and two weeks ago in Delray Beach where workers are doing signal maintenance along the tracks.
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West Palm officials received so many phone calls asking why the horns were still deafening along the tracks between 15th Street and Forest Hill Boulevard, the city issued a statement clarifying the situation and emphasizing it was not aware of the construction in that area.
"FEC has indicated that, as a result of their maintenance of tracks and switches, train engineers may blow their horn if workers are near the tracks," spokesperson Kathleen Walter said in a statement. "This construction may last for up to 90 days.
CLICK HERE for The Post's full coverage of Brightline
"As the City does not have oversight over the railway, the schedule for construction and maintenance activities along this corridor is controlled exclusively by the railroad. Still, the City felt strongly that this information was important to share with our community, as neither the City nor our residents had been made aware of the construction activities."
Routine construction along the FEC tracks is frequent so the noise is still as piercing.
West Palm is the first of seven cities in Palm Beach County to establish the quiet zone along Brightline's route. Two weeks ago, Delray residents were also griping about the blasts.
"I heard (the horns) three times in the morning and I left the house at 9:30 a.m.," said Patty Ennis-Stone, who lives near the tracks at Lindell Boulevard and Dixie Highway. "It's annoying as all hell."
Some of the early confusion regarding the continued use of train horns seems to have been born out of unrealistic expectations of what quiet zones really mean.
"Just because there's a quiet zone doesn't mean you'll never hear a train horn again," Soule said. "If there's an emergency situation, or if it is outlined in the federal law, a locomotive engineer is required to blow the horn."
In Boca Raton, officials have also seen confusion on social media regarding the noise near the Broward-Palm Beach boarder, but haven't received the volume of phone complaints like West Palm Beach.
RELATED: Delray quiet zones in effect, so why are residents still hearing train horns?
"It's a 'quiet zone' because it's a heck of a lot more quiet than it was with 20 trains going by a day, but we just do a lot of education with people to let them know that doesn't mean you're not going to hear a horn," said Chrissy Gibson, a spokeswoman for Boca Raton.
With hundreds of miles of track running from Miami to West Palm Beach, there are bound to be projects to upgrade signals or maintain tracks and switches, officials say. The work isn't a 24-hour process and train engineers only have to blow the horn when workers are present in the corridor.
"For us, it's important because it's a quality of life issue, so I think it's important that our citizens are well aware of what's transpiring along this corridor," said Scott Kelly, assistant city administrator for West Palm Beach.
Gibson said the full elimination of horns would not happen and that was made clear during news conferences about the quiet zones.
Some members of the community still see benefit in the sounding of train horns.
Mike Pikney, a supervisor at The Salvation Army Northwest Community Center located near railroad tracks in West Palm Beach, said he has noticed how quiet the trains have become but worries they may be too quiet.
"I think it's almost too quiet, because we have kids and we constantly have to tell them to be careful around the tracks because you just don't hear the train coming," said Mike Pikney, a supervisor at The Salvation Army Northwest Community Center in West Palm Beach, located near railroad tracks. "A lot of kids today wear headphones and stuff like that, so the well-being of the children of the community is more my concern."
All Aboard Florida, which operates Brightline, is owned by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, a global investment management firm. Fortress Investment Group LLC is contracted to manage and advise New Media Investments Inc., which owns GateHouse Media, the parent company of The Palm Beach Post.
Follow Palm Beach Post reporter Ryan DiPentima on twitter at @Ryan_DiPentima


IMPORTANT: Compatibility and software information can be found in the operating instructions that came supplied with your unit. We recommend that you check the manual for the specific system requirements needed for your unit. Manuals are posted on your model support page.
NOTE: Your model must be shown as compatible in both of the following sections for full compatibility.
One section is for the recorder itself.
One section is for the file-editing software that comes bundled with some of the recorders.
64-bit versions of the Windows® XP operating system are not supported.
Operating system compatibility varies by model.


text:
Binnen het schaken is er een classificatie in de schaakopeningen gemaakt. Binnen de hoofdcategorie van de koningspion openingen vallen de halfopen spelen. Binnen een halfopen spel is het weer mogelijk om een gambiet te spelen.

Hieronder staat een lijst met gambieten in halfopen spelen.

halfopen spel

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Glamorous Girl 2014: 4 Year Blog Birthday!
Today marks the fourth year that little old Glamorous Girl 2014 has been around.
I began this blog in the summer before my freshman year of high school and now I'm sitting here as a high school graduate still posting away, albeit less frequently, on this site. I never knew if people would read what I had to say, much less interact with me when I began posting, but I am so glad that I stuck with blogging. I've met so many great readers and fellow bloggers. The kind words have often been enough to get me through a difficult day and put a smile on my face.
I'm grateful to have documented the past four years of my life. I love knowing that I can look back and see all the ways that my life has changed from new friends, new styles, and a new body. This site has really helped me document my weight loss and life changes. I'm happy to share all of the happenings in my little corner of the web. And I'm even happier that people actually read it!
Thanks for being the best followers a girl could ask for, you all make my day!
Here's to many more years, even after 2014 passes!
Congrats! Four years is an awesome accomplishment!
Congrats!!! I just passed my blog's 4th birthday in May and remembered you were one of my first blogger friends! Time flies, doesn't it?
I know! I cannot believe it has already been four years!
Congrats Savannah!! That is wonderful news - your blog is so stunning. YOU are stunning! You're fashion is inspiring and your writing is awesome.
Aw, Jade, thank you SO much! You're too kind.


Armanni USA Reincorporated as Ergonomic Handling Group Inc.
Armanni USA expands material handling products & services – reincorporates and becomes Ergonomic Handling Group Inc.
Ergonomic Handling Group Inc. will continue to specialize in providing tailored solutions for clients who have struggled to find off-the-shelf materials handling equipment to fit their application or have an application requiring specialty material handling equipment. They have a wide range of services that include custom engineered materials handling solutions, walkie stackers and custom lifts, all terrain pallet jacks and trucks, vacuum lift systems, forklift attachments, forklift scales and pallet scales, industrial lift truck and forklift batteries, roll and spool movers and more.
Ergonomic Handling Group Inc. already helps some major manufacturers; they have been providing solutions to companies such as Mack Trucks, Airbus, P&G, Mars Incorporated, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and more.


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Food and BeveragesHealth & Fitness
How many calories should an 11 year old boy eat?
A 10- to 11-year-old boy need between 1,600 and 2,200 calories per day on average. Girls typically require between 1,400 and 2,000 calories per day. The more active your youngster…
Read the Full Answer »
How can I become a contortionist fast?
If you want to be a contortionist, training, motivation, and persistence are essential. If you put in the effort, it will take you 20 to 30 days to develop a…
What is a straight rebuy example?
Every morning, a large number of customers go to Starbucks to submit the same exact coffee order. The fact that all the order's components remain the same makes this a…
What is the principle of individuality?
According to the Principle of Individuality, no two people will experience the same physical or psychological benefits from exercise. The results of a workout can be impacted by variations in…
How many calories do you burn by walking 6 km?
300 Kcal will be burned on average if you walk for an hour at 6 km/h. Your efforts will eventually pay off if you consistently walk at this pace, which…
What is the sit up bleep test?
The test requires that you time your continuous sit-ups to the recorded bleeps, which are spaced 3 seconds apart. The athlete must perform every sit-up with the proper form in…
What Are Weak Points On A Human Body?
Human weak points for self-defense include poking the eyes, breaking the nose, hitting temples, striking the ears, and punching the throat, jaw, solar plexus, and ribs.
What's the difference between Wunder Under and align?
If you enjoy yoga, either pair of these leggings can enhance your workouts. However, Wunder Under is undoubtedly thicker for more strenuous exercises, whereas Align is lighter and more breathable.
What is the meaning of partial curl ups?
The participants in the half curl-up core fitness test must complete as many sit-ups as they can at a rate of one per three seconds.
What is the average leg to body ratio?
Males had an average leg-to-body ratio of 1.123 (SD 0.06), whereas females had an average ratio of 1.124. (SD 0.07). The figure for both men and women is roughly 0.529…
Who Has The Whitest Teeth In The World?
Denmark takes the top spot with a stellar score of 0.4. The results show that, of all those polled and examined, the typical citizen had just under half of a…
How is partial curl up test measured?
A partial curl-up test is measured when the knees of an individual are bent, hands are set aside, and he is asked to move about 10cm. It is the abdominal…
How much does dogpound cost?
Unlike most gyms, you can work out on your own or enlist in group sessions without having to pay a membership fee. The Dogpound only offers specialized, one-on-one coaching. While…
What is the Fitco test?
For the Correctional Officer Staff Application, Recruitment, and Training Program, FITCO is the physical skills and abilities test. The exam is a carefully orchestrated simulation of the qualifications needed to…
Who owns GoodLife Fitness?
The founder and CEO of GoodLife Fitness, the largest fitness club chain in Canada and the fourth largest in the world controlled by a single person, is David "Patch" Patchell-Evans.
Is Basmati rice Keto friendly?
No, they are not Keto-friendly at all. They should be avoided
What are the different types of white?
There are several types of WBC (White Blood Cell) mentioned below:- Granulocytes Lymphocytes Monocytes
What is NGT medical abbreviation?
NGT stands for "Nasogastric Tube" in the medical field.
Is linalool toxic to humans?
No, the linalool is not toxic to humans. It is considered safe for humans, and also a statement announcing it is "safe" is issued by the FDA.
Health & FitnessKitchen & Utensils
Is modified starch 1422 gluten free?
Usually, the purpose of modifying a starch is to use it for unconventional cooking methods. As per the user guide of multiple brands, most of them claim that modified starch…
CelebritiesHealth & Fitness
How did Maria Callas lose weight?
According to the International Maria Callas Association, the exact answer to this question is unknown, but Maria Callas used to eat raw meat and worms to fulfill her protein intake….
Are Dove mini ice cream bars gluten free?
Yes, Dove mini ice cream bars are gluten-free which means that you will not be consuming really calories if you eat a bar. However, the brand has mentioned that its…
Are walnuts acidic?
Yes, walnuts are acidic, and their negative side effects are common from eating them. They can cause acid reflux and heartburn, these are good choices for healthy fats, but people…
How much does the average wedding dress cost Australia?
The average cost of a wedding gown in Australia is $2,475, according to east Weddings' 2016 annual Australian wedding survey. The sum that brides are ready to pay to get…
How Many Donuts Should You Eat A Day?
According to a piece of information, a person should eat only one to two donuts per day.
Is running 3 km a day enough to lose weight?
Yes, running 3 km a day is enough to lose weight, but it depends on gender, previous weight, and age. 3k running will burn 190 calories, while an average person…
Is lub dub one beat?
Yes, "lub dub" can be considered as one heartbeat. The normal and healthy heart makes the sound of lub dub uniformly.
What does Men O mean in medical terms?
In medical terms, "Men O" means menstruation which is a process thattakes place at the end of each monthly cycle of an adult woman.
Is Borax banned in the UK?
Borax is banned in the UK and EU due to borate groups of chemicals that are hazardous to health. However, you can buy its substitute, washing soda known as sodium…
Are canned beets good for diabetics?
Yes, eating canned beets is highly recommended by doctors for diabetic patients.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Perfectly placed on the Northwest corner of the Private Residences, this condo offers a gracious layout and flow. This sun filled condo showcases a majestic living room with two seating areas, an elegant dining area and gas fireplace, all adjacent to a delightful kitchen with top of the line appliances and granite counters. The Master suite is an oasis with its own large bath with air jet tub, two sinks and a large walk in closet. The second bedroom and bath is bright with a large laundry room across the hall. Completing this versatile layout is a handsome den with another gas fireplace.


Containers not recycled become liter or end up in land fills.
Beverage containers are made of a variety of materials, aluminum, tin, steel, plastic, glass, paper, and their combinations.
Plastic bottles are made into plastic flake or plastic fluff and recycled into polyester carpeting, and fiber fill in winter jackets. Tetra Pak containers are recycled back into paper, plastic and aluminum products. Aluminum cans are melted down into new aluminum cans which uses only 5 percent of the energy required to make a can from new materials.
Containers are sorted manually into bags by type then shipped to reprocessing plants where they begin the recycling process.
An intense wash process cleans the containers, removing labels & contaminates. Metal containers are melted down.
In the case of plastic after cleaning is complete, the containers go through a process that shreds the plastic into tiny pieces. They heat the plastic pieces and then press them into tiny pellets.
Manufacturers use the recycled materials to make new products like bottles, liquid containers, packaging and more.
Carry your beverage with you in a reusable bottle with you to avoid buying drinks while you are out and about.
The Community Champions Program (CCP) is a grant program that provides funding in Alberta for specialized recycling bins to ensuring more accessible and convenient out-of-home opportunities for recycling.
Saskatchewan consumers use over 490,000,000 beverage containers annually. Their recycling program boasts return rates of more than 86 percent.


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Sri Lankas' amazing wildlife sanctuaries offer an unprecedented view of raw Mother Nature. The variety of species found in them are one of the largest in the Asian continent. Going on safari in one of these parks, especially Yala and Minneriya will give you a sneak peek into the untouched lives of the forest dwellers and their habitats. It will be an experience of a lifetime.
The fourteen wild life parks of Sri Lanka is sanctuary to 86 different species of mammals as well as birds and reptiles. Large herds of wild elephants form the center of attraction. Among the predatory animals, the leopard steals the limelight. Among the other predatory animals are sloth bear, jackal and mongooses. Primates such as common Langurs, endemic macaque, purple faced leaf monkey and shaggy bear monkey roam amidst the woods in huge troops.
The Yala National Park claims to have one of the highest densities of leopard anywhere in the world. The leopard is also the top predator on the island. This lends it an air of confidence, which together with the open nature of the park's terrain, allows for some excellent and action-filled Leopard watching. The rocky outcrops scattered over the park provides vantage points to enjoy the sprawling areas with Sri Lanka's dry zone.
The unique feature of this park is the existence of Natural lakes whicha are in essence natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill with rainwater. Wilpattu is the largest and the oldest National Park in Sri Lanka. Wilpattu is among the top national parks world-renowned for its leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) population.
This is a national park in North Central Province of Sri Lanka. The area was designated as a national park on 12 August 1997. It was originally declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 1938. The reason for declaring the area as protected is to protect the catchment of Minneriya tank and the wildlife of the surrounding area.
A visit to the Uda Walawe National Park will guarantee guests sightings of some magnificent creatures. During the months of September and October, the 'Gathering', which is an annual migration of elephants to the receding shores of the Minneriya Lake, is always a spectacular site.
Bundala National Park is an internationally important wintering ground for migratory water birds in Sri Lanka. Bundala harbors 197 species of birds, the highlight being the greater flamingo, which migrate in large flocks. Bundala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1969.
The Kumana National Park, also known as Yala East National Park is located in the Ampara district of south-east of Sri Lanka at a distance of 391 kilometers from Colombo. The gateway to Kumana National Park is at Panama. The park office is located at Okanda, 22km south of Panama.
Kaudulla National Park is located 190 km away from Colombo in the Polonnaruwa district of the north central province of Sri Lanka. Kaudulla can be reached by Colombo- Trincomalee main road. The entrance to Kaudulla is 22 km north of the village of Habarana. The closest railway station is at Minneriya.


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Differences in 5-year survival after a 'homeless' or 'housed' drugs-related hospital admission: a study of 15–30-year olds in Scotland
Background Young drug misusers and the homeless both have a greater risk of death than their peers. This study sought to estimate the additional impact of homelessness on the risk of death for young drugs misusers.
Methods From all admissions to NHS hospitals in Scotland between 1986 and 2001, those that were: drug misuse related, for people born between 1970 and 1986 and aged over 15 years (n=13 303), were selected. All subsequent admissions and registrations of death were linked to this dataset. Each admission was coded as homeless if the health board of residence was coded as 'no fixed abode'. 5-year survival after an admission was modelled using (1) life table and (2) proportional hazard models and then (3) differences in causes of deaths were explored.
Results Immediately after a drugs-related hospital admission there was no difference in survival between the homeless and those with a 'fixed address'. However, over a 3-year period the risk for those who were homeless was 3.5 times greater (CI 95% 1.2 to 12.8). This elevated risk seemed to be particularly focused on the second year after an admission. The causes of death were similar for the two groups.
Conclusion Although a homeless hospital admission is associated with a greater risk of death for young drug users, it is also a point in time when a young person is in contact with public services. An attempt to link their discharge with housing services would seem a potentially productive policy.
drug misusers
youth health
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.101352


A 2-page printed flyer (Opinion #12) distributed at the Family Court and the Boyd School of Law on Oct. 30, 2006.
Available here as a PDF File (64k).
Also see our earlier newsletters and our philosophical essays similar to this one.


Provides for the care and comfort of patients at the Central Okanagan Hospice House and those requiring Palliative Care Services.
To support innovative projects that focus on end of life care. This may include, but is not limited to, staff training, recognition of innovation, and the creation and dissemination of educational materials for patients, their families and caregivers.
The funds are intended to support program-based initiatives and shall not be used for support to individuals, legal fees or personal care. The funds must be used to support initiatives within the region covered by Interior Health.


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Engelberg railway station is a Swiss railway station in the municipality of Engelberg in the canton of Obwalden. It is the terminus of the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line, which is owned by the Zentralbahn railway company.

Services
The following services stop at Dallenwil:

 InterRegio Luzern-Engelberg Express: hourly service to .

References

External links

Railway stations in the canton of Obwalden
Engelberg
Zentralbahn stations


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EuropeJan 12th 2019 edition
Putin and the patriarchs
Russia's conflict with Ukraine has caused the Orthodox church to split
Ukrainians have lost their land, but not their souls
KIEV AND VLADIMIR
WITH SNOW falling on the green domes of Kiev's Saint Sophia cathedral, Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, strode triumphantly towards its ancient doors on January 7th to mark an Orthodox Christmas like no other. Beside him stood Metropolitan Epifaniy, the newly minted head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. They carried a document, called a tomos, granting the new Ukrainian church independence from the Moscow patriarchate, the result of a year of intensive negotiations between political leaders and clerics in Kiev and Istanbul, home to Patriarch Bartholomew I, the "first among equals" in the eastern Christian world.
Until this week, the only internationally recognised Orthodox church in Ukraine had been a body whose ultimate master is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. After Russia annexed Crimea and stoked a war in Ukraine's east in 2014, that struck many Ukrainians as untenable. "We have cut the last chain that connected us to Moscow and its fantasies about Ukraine as the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church," said Mr Poroshenko. The bid for ecclesiastical independence, which is as much about Ukraine's desire to break from Moscow's political orbit as it is about theological authority, has enraged both Kirill and Russia's earthly ruler, Vladimir Putin, who has said that the church schism could "turn into a heavy dispute, if not bloodshed".
The warning reflects the significance of the church split for the Russian president. Mr Putin has devoted enormous effort to re-establishing Russia's influence, whether political, commercial or spiritual, over the lands that used to be part of the Soviet Union. This schism is a move in the opposite direction. More than 12,000 parishes still lie under the Moscow-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox Church; now the new body, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which already controls about 7,000 parishes, will try to woo those communities into its fold. Another point of contention is control over valuable church property and over historic sites such as the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, a famed cave monastery. Archbishop Kliment, a cleric of the Moscow-aligned patriarchate, frets about threats against the branch's churches. Some Moscow-aligned priests have been called in for questioning by the Ukrainian security services.
Nonetheless, Mr Putin may be hard-pressed to find popular support for fresh intervention in Ukraine on religious grounds. The spiritual stand-off has failed to arouse much passion among ordinary Russian citizens. Some 60% say they are not bothered by the Ukrainian split; even among self-identified believers, just 43% say they are concerned. At Christmas celebrations in the medieval Russian town of Vladimir, believers refused to let church politics in Istanbul or Kiev spoil the festival. "Let those who did this worry about it," said Eduard, a middle-aged factory worker, as he approached the Assumption Cathedral. "We're having a holiday."
Mr Poroshenko hopes the move will inspire greater zeal among Ukrainian voters. With presidential elections looming in March, he has made church independence a central pillar of his campaign. Some of those who came to the service on January 7th say their views of the president have improved thanks to the autocephaly. But it has yet to shift the polls so far; the president is still trailing.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "A tale of two patriarchs"
More from Europe
The guns of January
As war looms larger, what are Russia's military options in Ukraine?
Slapping the unjabbed
Austria and Germany struggle to impose a national vaccine mandate
Teetering at the summit
Russia and the West meet for a crucial week of diplomacy
Removing the clogs
A new Dutch government with a taste for Europe
Europe's energy crisis will trigger its worst neuroses
The Kremlin's aim would probably be to shatter Ukrainian military power and dictate terms
Legal and logistical problems abound
Even as they talk, both sides are preparing for war
The Netherlands has long resisted collective EU spending, but that is changing
A surge in gas prices is the stuff of nightmares


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Any Direct or indirect solvent resistant emulsion. Use 35 to 70 micron capillary film for best results.


Chicago and Cook County residents aren't the only ones about to get shocking tax news; the city is debuting a "tax whistle-blower" plan that could turn neighbor against neighbor in Chicago's business community. The folks at city hall will pay cash bounties to informants who turn in business tax cheats around the city. The reward would amount to some sort of percentage of the tax money that the city recovers. "It's just another way of bringing people into compliance," Revenue Department spokesman Ed Walsh told the Sun-Times .


Harcourts Advantage Realty Ltd's business owners Max and sons Simon and Nigel Martin knew they did not want to build another "square box" in Tauranga. But they did want to create a unique landmark and ultimate Harcourts hub, complete with purpose-built auction room, at their prominent 950 square metre site on Third Avenue.
The spacious reception area features a 'Hi & Lo' coffee table and leather visitor chairs, from Turkish supplier Nurus, alongside a customised reception unit. Auction room furniture consists of pre-existing seating with the addition of customised Melteca bar leaners and 'Eon' bar stools, which were also used in the Harcourts staffroom helping to create a modern yet relaxed shared social environment.
Adjoining auction meeting rooms feature customised wineglass cafe tables paired with sleek sled based leather visitor chairs. Modern Office's 'Elevate' height adjustable electric desks were used in managerial offices and the 'Silva' desking system used throughout the main open plan office area, complete with matching tambour and steel mobile under-desk storage.


text:
Integrity Lectures
Integrity Awards
Accountability Orgs
Government Accountability Organisations
Australian Federal Accountability Organisations
Australian State and Territory Accountability Organisations
International Government Accountability Best Practice
Non-Government Accountability Organisations
Australian Integrity Advocacy Organisations
Integrity Research Organisations
Automated Transparency Tools
An Integrity System for Australia
Political financing.
Civil Society Engagement
Data in politics & government.
Policy on the big issues – global warming
Lobbyists.
Freedom of Information – Our Submission to Senate Committee
by jmsthornton | Oct 2, 2018 | Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Privacy
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee's inquiry into the Freedom of Information Legislation Amendment (Improving Access and Transparency) Bill 2018 was set up following the introduction of this Bill by Senator Rex Patrick on 22nd August 2018. The Bill...
Agencies spend big to block FOI requests
by jmsthornton | Sep 15, 2018 | Auditor General, Federal Government, Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Open Government, Open Government Partnership (OGP)
ART's Tim Smith has tirelessly pursued the parlous state of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, where funding has not been reinstated and one Commissioner has been doing the work of three. Tim's letters containing the arguments for...
OAIC Continued… Letter from Christian Porter, Attorney-General
by jmsthornton | Mar 22, 2018 | Auditor General, Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Open Government Partnership (OGP)
Accountability Round Table wrote to Christian Porter on his accession to the post of Attorney General to raise with him the continued inadequate resourcing of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Our initial letter can be read here The Attorney...
ART letter to new Attorney General re lack of resources, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
by jmsthornton | Jan 31, 2018 | Federal Government, Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Open Government Partnership (OGP)
Accountability Round Table continues to pursue better resourcing of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Following the appointment of Australia's new Attorney General, The Hon Christian Porter, Accountability Round Table sent the following...
Submission to Attorney General: OAIC matters raised by ART – The evidence!
by jmsthornton | Dec 7, 2017 | Auditor General, Federal Government, Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Open Government Partnership (OGP), Privacy
This submission was sent to the office of the Attorney general immediately after the letter sent by Tim Smith to George Brandis on OAIC and the OGP; Issues on Wednesday 6th December 2017 . That itself followed from a letter from George Brandis to Josh Frydenberg that...
Tim Smith to George Brandis on OAIC
by jmsthornton | Dec 7, 2017 | Auditor General, Federal Government, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Open Government, Privacy
OAIC and the OGP; Issues The Hon George Brandis MP Attorney-General Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 6 December 2017 Dear Attorney-General On 19 October 2017 I received a copy of your 11 October letter to my local Member, the Member for Kooyong, (Mnet GenerL3 July...
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text:
By Bob Roegner • May 13, 2022 4:05 pm
Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn. Contact bjroegner@comcast.net.
More cities and counties are avoiding trials and settling with the families of those who died at the hands of police officers. But have police officers learned anything?
Everyone remembers George Floyd and Minneapolis, which gave a name and face to the Black Lives Matter movement. But ask Kent about Giovonn Joseph-McDade. That city settled with McDade's family for $4.4 million. Or ask Auburn about the shooting death of Jesse Sarey and a case that has yet to go to trial, even after the officer was charged with murder. Or ask Tacoma and Pierce County about Manny Ellis after the Pierce County Sheriff's Office settled for $4 million.
The last session of the Legislature questioned many accountability gains from the previous legislative session by police chiefs and unions. But was that a wise move? Last year, cities and counties settled 15 misconduct and wrongful death cases for at least $34.3 million — an increase of 146% over 2020, and a 363.5% increase over 2019, according to data compiled by the Seattle Times. Washington cities have paid over $100 million over the past five years to resolve lawsuits and claims from allegations of police misconduct. Nearly two-thirds have been paid since the murder of George Floyd.
The more an officer misjudges a situation, the more expensive it will become. The police can no longer say "I feared for my life" and have that be enough to avoid accountability.
There were two reasons for the movement toward settlements. First was the unpredictable nature of juries. The second was the advent of video from body cameras or dashboard cameras, or bystanders with smartphones recording the actions of police. Risk managers for the Association of Washington Cities, which provides coverage to about 90 small cities and police agencies statewide by pooling their resources, have taken note of the change.
In 2020, Auburn also settled a lawsuit with the family of Isaiah Obet, who was shot by Jeffrey Nelson, the same police officer who shot Jesse Sarey. The criminal charges against the Auburn officer were followed by additional charges against three Tacoma officers in the death of Manny Ellis. The last officer who was arrested was later acquitted. But it has been nearly 40 years since an officer was charged in a homicide because a finding of "malice" has been needed, which made it almost impossible to charge an officer with murder. After seeing video of the George Floyd murder on the television nightly news, and listening to the families of others whose lives were taken by police officers, the public helped change the rules as criminal charges were made possible by the passage of Initiative 940 — a citizen initiative that may have contributed to the increase in settlements.
But from Poulsbo to Lakewood to Redmond, police officers continue to make misjudgments that undermine the authority to shoot without consequences or being certain they are correct. Lakewood negotiated a settlement with a family in 2018 for $13.1 million, even though cities had usually followed the path of taking their chances with a jury because the outcome was likely to be more favorable. But there is a cost of the trial, or settlement, whether conducted by the city or county or by a collective, such as the Washington Cities Insurance Authority, which covers many small cities and counties. Collectives like AWC in turn charge premiums to their members.
Either way, the taxpayer is still paying the tab.
Are the police doing their jobs better? In Pierce County, 36 people have died by homicide in 2022. And six were fatal police shootings. That doesn't count the 200-plus other cities and the counties who have police departments or sheriffs. But the question is, were legislative accountability supporters correct two legislative sessions ago when they demanded more accountability from police? Since then they have been vilified by opponents and the press and accused by police chiefs and guilds of overreacting. But they may have been right to demand a higher level of accountability.
Timothy J. Collentine | Obituary
The closer we get to...
By Bob Roegner
Republican challenger may give Murray...
Jan. 6 investigation fallout reaches...
Inslee won't be on the...


text:
Giuseppe Caiazza Appointed IPG Mediabrands & McCann Worldgroup CEO, Italy
Hires, Wins & Business 568 Add to collection
Caiazza brings over 25 years of experience in marketing communications
Giuseppe Caiazza has been named IPG Mediabrands & McCann Worldgroup CEO, Italy it was announced today. He will join in mid-November reporting into Pablo Walker, President, McCann Worldgroup, Europe, and Caroline Foster Kenny, CEO, IPG Mediabrands, EMEA, who joins the network in January 2017. In his new position he will be responsible for driving growth in the market and forging opportunities for collaboration and integration across the group.
Caiazza brings over 25 years of experience in marketing communications - both client and agency-side - to the role. He has held senior marketing roles at Club Med, Ford Motor Company and Toyota and over the last 9 years worked for Saatchi&Saatchi, where he was CEO for Italy and France, Head of Automotive Business for EMEA and a member of the Global Leadership Team.
Under his leadership, Saatchi & Saatchi Italy grew organically in a challenging market, won 20 lions in Cannes and was named consistently among the top 3 Italian agencies in the prestigious GUNN Report.
Pablo Walker, President, McCann Worldgroup Europe, commented, "Giuseppe's track record speaks for itself. His combined agency and client-side experience will help us to maximise opportunities to create value with our unique offer: integrated creative in combination with media that clients seek today."
Henry Tajer, Global CEO of IPG Mediabrands said: "In Giuseppe's appointment, we bring one of Italy's best media talents to our network. His leadership experience, together with his creative and dynamic mind set, will help us to grow our business in Italy through the development of world-class marketing solutions for our clients."
Commenting on his appointment Caiazza said, "I am excited to join IPG Mediabrands and McCann Worldgroup to help foster the integration between the creative and the media side of the business. I am convinced this is indeed what our Clients are looking for more and more."
view more - Hires, Wins & Business
McCann EMEA, Thu, 10 Nov 2016 11:48:38 GMT
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My Carer


Installed on their worst. Drop ceiling tiles 12×12 tin alternative ceiling tiles 12×12 ceiling tiles fasade easy installation you are produced using these authentic tin tile sample 12in x tivoli wood beam x tivoli wood beam x quick view. Graceful faux tin ceiling tiles 12×12, adhesion better adhesion better adhesion better adhesion better coverage and. Mineral fiber textured finish ceiling tile sold by 2ft ceiling tiles 12×12 ceiling tiles graceful dct faux leather ceiling tiles same as kensington gardense and is installed on ebay for an existing ceiling tiles. Glueup ceiling tile lima package of mineral fiber ceiling tiles bathroom 12×12.


The newest edition to the Eagle I Machinery range of products and services is the Poly Welding and Fabrication division. This is a natural extension to, and compliments the range of irrigation services and products we already offer.
Or call into the workshop in Finley on the Newell Highway and have a chat. We'll be able to assist you with any water related inquiry.


text:
The woes of science in the time of COVID-19
Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias
Photo: Mikel Mtz. de Trespuentes. UPV/EHU
In a crisis like the one caused by COVID-19, both the public in general and the authorities in particular want solutions and, if they are not possible today, they demand at least some certainty to hold on to. However, scientific knowledge has two features that run counter to these demands. On the one hand, it is contingent, meaning that it is not possible to anticipate what knowledge research will produce and, even if it were possible, it would not be possible to know when it would occur. This implies that today we do not know whether there will be effective vaccines or treatments and, if so, when they will be available. On the other hand, scientific knowledge is provisional; the models we use to represent phenomena can be – and indeed they are – replaced by better models as we have more and better observations. The problem is that this provisional character generates distrust among lay people, and it is actually these «weaknesses» that make science such a powerful tool. It can surprise us with revolutionary findings because it is contingent. And because it is provisional, it corrects itself and does not stop progressing.
«What may appear to be weaknesses are, in fact, the features that allow scientific knowledge to progress and be disruptive»
To these intrinsic «weaknesses» we must add the traditional woes of science, which become more acute in an emergency situation such as the present one. The publishing system has been a source of problems for years. Operating under a quasi-monopolistic regime, it parasitises public research budgets and is very costly for administrations, which are precisely the ones that finance most of the activities that produce results. Under normal conditions it is a slow system, because the process of reviewing and accepting reports requires it to be so, and this long delay constitutes a certain hindrance, since it delays the publication of results which may be of great interest. But the problem has become much more acute in the current health crisis, with the slowness accentuated by a dramatic increase in the number of articles sent to journals for publication. Well, this protraction has serious consequences. On the one hand, it has serious consequences because it delays the publication of potentially valuable knowledge to address the disease for too long. And on the other hand, because reports, be it accepted articles or preprints deposited in repositories, circulate without qualified mediation to the public, without any opportunity to be critically examined by the community of specialists in the discipline. These problems feed the spread of erroneous and sometimes dangerous ideas.
We must not treat these ills as atmospheric meteors. On the contrary, the dysfunctions of the publishing system are obstacles that must be overcome and, therefore, a critical situation such as the one we are experiencing should serve as a stimulus to move towards a system without the servitude of the present one. The institutions have a lot to say about this.
And, on the other hand, those of us who are dedicated to the creation and dissemination of knowledge must make intelligent use of its contingent and provisional nature, to promote the idea that what may appear to be weaknesses are, in fact, the features that allow scientific knowledge to progress and be disruptive; that those are precisely the sources of its great strength.
© Mètode 2020 - 106. Good to eat - Volume 3 (2020)
basic scienceCOVID-19research
Full professor of physiology, director of the Chair of Scientific Culture at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), and associate at the Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC) in Spain. He is the president of Jakiunde, the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of Vasconia, and of the Advisory Committee of The Conversation Spain. In addition, he is the author of Animales ejemplares and co-author, with Joaquín Sevilla, of Los males de la ciencia (both published by Next Door Publishers in 2020 and 2021, respectively).
Call for papers Monographs News
Chemistry: fundamental knowledge
Boosting vaccination
Mètode looks at the interconnections of One Health in its new issue
More biodiversity to improve our health
Good to eat
Food and health at a time of information overload
Mètode 106. Volume 3 (2020). 112 10


As we know our body made up of 70% of water so it is necessary to drink plenty of water in a day. Adults need 64 ounces of water every day. As much as you drink water it will keep your skin hydrated and help to flush out the chemicals which cause acne.
Pure yogurt has vitamin A which helps to cure the acnes and stop them for occurring again. Try to apply it on your face in the morning and leave it for just two minutes and then wash off your face with warm water than dry.
Like blueberries, blackberries or raspberries they are mouth watering and the great source of anti-oxidants, also an agent of skin healing like beta-carotene. Use them fresh and handful amount in your diet.
Source of vitamins, eat the watermelon and soak with cool water, smoothly massage with the outer layer on your face. It has the same vitamins that you ate and has anti oxidants to cure and smooth your skin.
It's a treatment which you can apply on your skin. For that what you need to do is, mix a small amount of lemon juice with a teaspoon of crushed sugar and gently rub it on your moist skin. This will treat your acne and the scars become paler. Be careful before applying this mixture check it by applying this on your inner arm because many people have reaction to this blend.
Green tea has anti inflammatory chemicals and it's a great source of anti oxidants. It will help in inflammation, redness and pain of acne, and reduce the chances of future breakouts. It's easily available.
Like breads, pastas and cereals etc are a big source of selenium. It's a chemical that help to preventing the acne. That must include in your daily life.
Cow's milk is a foundation of both vitamin A and D. these vitamins are beneficial for healthy glowing skin. For females it's a immense supply of calcium. That woman needs a lot at any rate.
Olive oil has huge amount of mono-saturated fats and it's also found in sesame oil, which provide the greasy acids you need to nourish your skin and keep it healthy and clear of acne.
Cucumber have huge amount of water and vitamin C and fiber, which helps in eliminates the skin redness, puffiness and acne scars.
What Will Apple Mac Release Next?


text:
Comrade Mao
I Have A City An Another World Chapter 3407
You can search for "I have a city in another world: Imiaobige (imiaobige.com)" in Baidu to find the latest chapter!
The Loucheng cultivator who was sailing in the forbidden sea and was preparing to support the hunting camp received a notice from the rear Loucheng.
Continuous changes have made Loucheng cultivators vigilant, and a faint feeling of imminent disaster.
When sailing in the past, four fleets went hand in hand, but now they are mixed into one formation.
The larger fleet size does not mean an increase in security, but a cloud of clouds.
The two high-ranking generals in charge of the team leader, with gloomy expressions at the moment, constantly monitoring the sea behind them.
Although there is darkness above the Forbidden Sea, the Loucheng cultivator still has special means to monitor extremely long distances.
At the same time, during the voyage, the fleet's traces can also be covered by secret techniques to avoid being followed by the enemy.
Because we have always maintained sufficient caution, the Loucheng cultivator has never exposed the route during many years of sailing.
Even in order to keep the route, a bloody battle broke out with the original polar world cultivator, which caused quite heavy casualties.
But this time, the situation has become completely different, and the situation has become more severe.
The enemy knows the exact route, and knows the location of the hunting camp. It is impossible to keep the secret.
At some point, the enemy will appear from behind and pounce on like a wolf again.
This time, instead of tracking the route, he went straight to the hunting camp, and a fierce battle would follow.
The importance of hunting camps, the higher the level of cultivator, the clearer it will be, and will never let go easily.
When the two sides meet in the Forbidden Sea, there may not necessarily be a fight, but they are struggling to reach the island one step in advance.
If the enemy arrives first, he will certainly be able to use a smaller price to successfully occupy the hunting camp.
If you arrive at the Loucheng cultivator first, you can strengthen the guardianship of the hunting camp and help resist these vicious enemies.
One more Loucheng cultivator, one more guardian power, which can delay a little longer.
As for whether it can successfully resist, Loucheng cultivators have no confidence at all.
Compared to the Loucheng cultivator on the ship, the high-ranking gods know more about the secrets, and there is no news about the Peak gods until now.
If I said that I was still lucky, I guessed that God Peak would be temporarily lost due to special circumstances, but now I will definitely not think about it like this.
As long as there is a little possibility, Loucheng cultivator will try to avoid such a situation, especially a Peak god, even more impossible to be so irresponsible.
The peak god general who disappeared bizarrely must have suffered an irresistible accident, so there is no news until now.
The biggest possibility is that he has been conspired.
That's why there will be super monsters attacking the lighthouse, Peak God will be strangely missing, and the route camp will be exposed.
The real purpose of the enemy may be to hunt the camp.
Without the guard of the Peak god, even if the supporting cultivator arrives on the island early, it may not be able to defeat the enemy's attack.
At this moment, I can only pray that other Peak gods will be able to rush to help in time and lead the Loucheng cultivator to resist the enemy's attack.
In the eyes of the two leaders, Peak God will inevitably come to support.
The hunting camp fell into the hands of the enemy, and the greatest loss was actually the Peak gods, because they were the biggest consumers of the rules.
The Peak God will be willing to sit in and guard the hunting camp, the main reason is that he can get military exploits, and can give priority to the exchange of this special rule particle.
In order to ensure stable cultivation resources, the Peak gods will never stand idly by. After receiving the news, they will inevitably give up everything and come to support.
Other War Zone cultivators will also provide assistance as much as possible in order to gain military exploits and favors.
It's just that the distant water is difficult to put out a nearby fire. Whether it can solve the immediate crisis, it is still impossible to draw a conclusion.
Just when the two high-ranking gods were worried, in the forbidden sea behind, a series of colorful rays of light suddenly appeared.
It seems that the entire ocean is covered by lights, surging like waves, and broadcast the direction of the tower city cultivator.
Seeing this scene, the Loucheng cultivator on board was surprised at the same time.
In this forbidden sea, once such an abnormal scene occurs, it means that something will happen.
The Loucheng cultivators in charge of the support have actually noticed the abnormality. After all, there has never been a situation where they just returned to the sea and went to sea again.
In fact, up to now, Loucheng cultivator not at all has been notified specifically, and I don't even know what happened.
But Loucheng cultivator has guessed that there should be a problem with the hunting camp.
Every time they return, they will be temporarily sealed off the memory of the route and hunting camp, but they still know the specific situation of the hunting camp.
If it were not for an emergency, the impossible had gone and returned so quickly, even the hunting activities that had been necessary in the past have been cancelled.
At this moment, it is just a thought, constantly sailing on the road, for fear that it will delay a little time.
It's a pity that in this forbidden sea, the ability to teleport cannot be used, otherwise the high-ranking gods who lead the team will have all the means.
As for the exposure of the route, Loucheng cultivators are even more ignorant, because the senior god will also not tell it.
The same is true. The more you know, the more trouble you have. In the case where Loucheng cultivator cannot help, it may be better to know nothing.
When the lights of the enemy ship behind appeared, the hearts of the cultivators in the Loucheng City sank inexplicably, and they couldn't understand how the enemy tracked them accurately.
The two high-ranking gods sighed secretly, and the information from the rear was true and correct, and the route of the island hunting camp had indeed been completely exposed.
The enemy simply does not need to follow the fleet to find the exact route easily. If the two sides encounter each other, the enemy will definitely not mind eating them together.
"This bunch of mess, didn't expect so fast!"
Looking at the surging light sea behind, a high-ranking god would bitterly scolded, didn't expect so many changes have happened in a short period of time.
"Among the enemy's fleet, there must be a supreme powerhouse providing assistance, so it can catch up first.
If we maintain our current speed, we will definitely be overtaken by the enemy and swallow it again.
Although we will make the enemy pay a price during the battle, this sacrifice is worthless.
Can't stop the enemy from advancing, can't complete the task of guarding the island camp, and will be lost in vain.
So for the present plan, I can only use the secret technique to head towards the island camp at full speed! "
Another senior general said in a solemn tone that he was obviously preparing to use the trump card method of cutting off one's means of retreat.
"Once the secret technique is used, the ship will inevitably be scrapped afterwards. Are you sure you have to bear such a loss?"
The companion asked back, looking a little hesitant.
If the battleship is destroyed, even if the Loucheng cultivator wants to move, it will not find any means of transportation.
If there is no warship, even a powerful high-ranking general is very likely to be damaged in the forbidden sea.
"If we cannot hold the hunting camp, even if we have a chance to escape, we will definitely not return to the castle, but go deep into the island.
Then wait for the opportunity to retake the hunting profit, instead of taking the battleship and returning from defeat.
Even if you return to Loucheng by boat, you must take the spoils of the enemy, otherwise, there is no face to return! "


text:
layout: model
title: Japanese BertForQuestionAnswering Large model (from KoichiYasuoka)
author: John Snow Labs
name: bert_qa_large_japanese_wikipedia_ud_head
date: 2022-06-28
tags: [ja, open_source, bert, question_answering]
task: Question Answering
language: ja
edition: Spark NLP 4.0.0
spark_version: 3.0
supported: true
annotator: BertForQuestionAnswering
article_header:
type: cover
use_language_switcher: "Python-Scala-Java"
---

## Description

Pretrained Question Answering model, adapted from Hugging Face and curated to provide scalability and production-readiness using Spark NLP. `bert-large-japanese-wikipedia-ud-head` is a Japanese model originally trained by `KoichiYasuoka`.

{:.btn-box}
<button class="button button-orange" disabled>Live Demo</button>
<button class="button button-orange" disabled>Open in Colab</button>
[Download](https://s3.amazonaws.com/auxdata.johnsnowlabs.com/public/models/bert_qa_large_japanese_wikipedia_ud_head_ja_4.0.0_3.0_1656413609706.zip){:.button.button-orange.button-orange-trans.arr.button-icon}

## How to use

<div class="tabs-box" markdown="1">
{% include programmingLanguageSelectScalaPythonNLU.html %}
```python
documentAssembler = MultiDocumentAssembler() \
.setInputCols(["question", "context"]) \
.setOutputCols(["document_question", "document_context"])

spanClassifier = BertForQuestionAnswering.pretrained("bert_qa_large_japanese_wikipedia_ud_head","ja") \
.setInputCols(["document_question", "document_context"]) \
.setOutputCol("answer")\
.setCaseSensitive(True)

pipeline = Pipeline(stages=[documentAssembler, spanClassifier])

data = spark.createDataFrame([["私の名前は何ですか?", "私の名前はクララで、私はバークレーに住んでいます。"]]).toDF("question", "context")

result = pipeline.fit(data).transform(data)
```
```scala
val documentAssembler = new MultiDocumentAssembler()
.setInputCols(Array("question", "context"))
.setOutputCols(Array("document_question", "document_context"))

val spanClassifer = BertForQuestionAnswering.pretrained("bert_qa_large_japanese_wikipedia_ud_head","ja")
.setInputCols(Array("document", "token"))
.setOutputCol("answer")
.setCaseSensitive(true)

val pipeline = new Pipeline().setStages(Array(documentAssembler, spanClassifier))

val data = Seq("私の名前は何ですか?", "私の名前はクララで、私はバークレーに住んでいます。").toDF("question", "context")

val result = pipeline.fit(data).transform(data)
```

{:.nlu-block}
```python
import nlu
nlu.load("ja.answer_question.wikipedia.bert.large").predict("""私の名前は何ですか?|||"私の名前はクララで、私はバークレーに住んでいます。""")
```

</div>

{:.model-param}
## Model Information

{:.table-model}
|---|---|
|Model Name:|bert_qa_large_japanese_wikipedia_ud_head|
|Compatibility:|Spark NLP 4.0.0+|
|License:|Open Source|
|Edition:|Official|
|Input Labels:|[document_question, document_context]|
|Output Labels:|[answer]|
|Language:|ja|
|Size:|1.2 GB|
|Case sensitive:|true|
|Max sentence length:|512|

## References

- https://huggingface.co/KoichiYasuoka/bert-large-japanese-wikipedia-ud-head
- https://github.com/UniversalDependencies/UD_Japanese-GSDLUW

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


LONDON – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was formally warned by the Football Association on Wednesday over comments he made about referee Anthony Taylor before the Manchester Derby.
Guardiola went against FA rules by discussing the suitability of the appointment of the official, who is from a Manchester suburb, for the clash.
Although Guardiola backed Taylor and dismissed accusations of potential bias, managers are not permitted to talk about referees ahead of matches.
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho was fined £50 000 in November 2016 for talking about Taylor ahead of a clash with Liverpool, but he was already on notice, having previously been warned for a similar offence while Chelsea manager.
Because this was Guardiola's first such offence, and because the nature of his comments was regarded as largely neutral, it is understood a charge was not deemed necessary.
Taylor was widely praised for his performance in the match earlier this month, which Premier League leaders City won 3-1.


The Colorado Constitution establishes a property tax exemption for senior citizens, surviving spouses of senior citizens, and disabled veterans. For those who qualify, 50 percent of the first $200,000 in actual value of their primary residence is exempted. The State of Colorado pays the property taxes on the exempted value if state funding is available. Once approved, the exemption remains in effect for future years, and the applicant should not re-apply.


text:
Home » Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast
Candid Conversations. Compelling Insights.
Meet the movers and shakers, power brokers and thought leaders accelerating change across dentistry, healthcare, business and media. Hosted by Benco Dental's senior executives and experts from our company, each episode delves deep into how the brightest minds are shaping dentistry's future through remarkable innovation—and how you can position yourself for personal and professional success in this fast-changing world.
Subscribe now via the following platforms:
EXPERIENCE ALL EPISODES
WATCH EVERY EPISODE ON YOUTUBE
https://www.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Episode-9-An-Interview-with-Michael-Graham-Senior-Vice-President-ADA-Government-Public-Affa.mp3January 14, 2021Episode 9
An Interview with Michael Graham, Senior Vice President, ADA Government & Public Affairs
Hosted by Chuck Cohen
Mike Graham has fought on Capitol Hill for issues important to organized dentistry for 25 years – serving in various positions in the American Dental Association's (ADA) Washington Office. Currently, he is the ADA's Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, representing over 163,000 ADA dentist members.
In total he has 40 years of government affairs experience in the Federal and state legislative arenas. He has represented two other Associations; served as a gubernatorial appointee for two Maryland governors; worked for a U.S. Senator from Maryland; a Maryland Congressman; and a Maryland state representative.
LISTEN TO EPISODE
WATCH EPISODE
https://www.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Driving-Dentistry-Forward-Podcast-Episode-8-Marko-Vujicic-PhD.mp3December 31, 2020Episode 8
Rick Cohen interviews ADA Chief Economist and Vice President of the Health Policy Institute Marko Vujicic
Hosted by Rick Cohen
The American Dental Association has always been an important advocate and sounding board for dentists nationwide, but it took on an urgent new role this spring: as a trusted adviser helping its legions of members navigate the extraordinary uncertainty of the Covid-19 crisis' early weeks.
The ADA's Health Policy Institute, a data factory spearheaded by Marko Vujicic, PhD, who serves as its Vice President, was quick to develop a system that tracked the impact of the virus to dental practices state by state.
"We realized that our data and market analytics were in huge demand in the industry," he said.
https://www.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Driving-Dentistry-Forward-Podcast-Episode-7-Amir-Aghdaei.mp3December 17, 2020Episode 7
Chuck Cohen interviews Amir Aghdaei – President & CEO of Envista Holdings Corporation
As Envista's founding President and CEO, Amir Aghdaei drives the company's overall vision, drawing on more than a decade of leadership experience at Danaher.
Amir originally joined Danaher in October 2008 as Multi-Brand GM and VP of Fluke. He was named President of Tektronix in 2009, Group Executive in 2011, President of the Danaher Communications Platform and Danaher Russia in 2014, President of Dental Technologies in 2015, and President of Danaher's Dental Platform in 2018.
https://www.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Episode-6-An-Interview-with-Michael-Apa..mp3December 3, 2020Episode 6
An Interview with Michael Apa, named one of the 32 Most Influential People in Dentistry
Dr. Michael Apa has been named one of Incisal Edge's Magazine "32 Most Influential People in Dentistry".
With offices in New York, Dubai, and Los Angeles, and a line of luxury oral care cosmetics, Dr. Apa is fulfilling his vision to bring the very best in aesthetic dentistry to a global clientele.
https://www.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Episode-5-An-Interview-with-the-Founder-and-President-of-Seattle-Study-Club-Michael-Cohen.mp3November 19, 2020Episode 5
An Interview with the Founder and President of Seattle Study Club, Michael Cohen
For the second time in as many years, Dr. Michael Cohen, founder and president of Seattle Study Club, has been named one of the 32 Most Influential People in Dentistry by Incisal Edge magazine. Upon receiving the news, Michael stated,
"Although it is flattering to be recognized, it is really a testament to the strength of the Seattle Study Club network, especially our directors. For over 25 years, together, we have been creating unique experiences and educational opportunities for more than 7,400 members."
https://www.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DDF_Podcast_MIchelle_Lee_mixdown.mp3November 5, 2020Episode 4
Interviewing Michelle Lee, Executive Director of OSAP and one of 32 Most Influential People in Dentistry
In this episode, Rick talks with Michelle Lee about why a plane ride convinced two pioneers in the infection control industry that the world needed OSAP, which excuse you should never use if you have to skip a job interview, and why you should not miss the January's virtual Infection Control Bootcamp.
https://blog.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/DDF_Podcast_Mike_Cataldo_mixdown.mp3October 22, 2020Episode 3
Get to Know Mike Cataldo, CEO of Convergent Dental and Why He's One of Dentistry's Most Influential People
In this episode, Chuck talks with Mike Cataldo about the lessons he's learned from his favorite "never-give-up" sport, what it feels like when people love your innovation, how skepticism from a "big deal in dentistry" fueled his work with the Solea laser, and what he suggests to help people stop snoring.
https://blog.benco.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/DDF_Podcast_Gordon_Christensen.mp3October 8, 2020Episode 2
Get to Know Gordon Christensen, Practical Clinical Courses Founder and CEO, and Why He's Been Named One of Dentistry's Most Influential People
In this episode, Rick talks with Gordon Christensen about how he is adapting to the new COVID realities, how his early childhood led him to dentistry and his secrets to a long, healthy life.
https://blog.benco.com/wp-content/podcast/Driving-Dentistry-Forward-Videocast-Kathy-O-Loughlin.mp3September 24, 2020Episode 1
Get to Know Kathy O'Loughlin, ADA Executive Director, and Why She's Been Named One of Dentistry's Most Influential People
In this episode, Chuck talks with Kathy O'Loughlin about her unintentional start to a successful dental career and how she and the ADA have been advocates for dentists during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Chuck Cohen: Managing Director
Chuck Cohen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 with a degree in English, and joined Benco as a territory representative soon after graduation. He's taken on increasing responsibilities in the sales and marketing areas, becoming Managing Director in 1996. He serves on a variety of industry and community boards, including Wilkes University, the Dental Lifeline Network, and Jewish Community Alliance of Wilkes-Barre.
Rick Cohen: Managing Director
After three years as an IT consultant at Accenture, Rick Cohen joined Benco in 1994 to create Painless, the industry's first windows-based e-commerce software. Since then, he's taken on increasing responsibilities within Benco, focusing on Information Technology, Logistics, Clarion Financial, and our private brand. He is Co-Chair of the Benco Family Foundation, a trustee of WVIA public television and public radio, and a Director of the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation.


URI has seen definite progress toward a culture of peace as our organization -- committed to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings -- has grown from 85 Cooperation Circles (our local groups) in 2000 to nearly 280 CCs in 60 countries in 2005, with activities annually engaging over 1 million people. These numbers are imperfect indicators to measure progress that comes from having an ever larger number of people involved; but they don't measure a more critical factor -- the depth of transformation that comes from forming mutually respectful communities whose members have rarely, if ever talked with each other and/or worked cooperatively to realize a shared vocation for peace, justice and healing.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to progress is that we live in a time when there is so much visible division, fear, greed and hatred which so easily animate that part of human nature that is predisposed toward violence; and when so much material and human resource flows into developing and using the technologies of violence. Or, to express it from another perspective -- a time when so little of the good work that is creating new models of understanding, mutual respect and solidarity is widely publicized and so few, relatively speaking, financial and human resources are dedicated to developing the human capacity to excell at this work.
The activities of URI's global Cooperation Circle network include: resolving religiously motivated violence in conflict zones; offering HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness education; providing health care services to marginalized groups; creating women and children's development projects; advocating economic justice for laborers and marginalized peoples; transmitting values-based education to youth; preserving and transmitting indigenous cultural values; developing new paradigms in health education and enterprise; protecting and restoring our environment; mentoring leadership through a global youth interfaith network; providing spiritual support to the ailing and aged.
Though our CCs are free to organize around any issue critical to them, we also seek shared global engagement, most noticeably around the International Day of Peace, which a growing number of CCs have actively observed since 2003. In 2004, CCs at over 30 sites in 12 countries celebrated the IDP. For more information, visit the URI website: www.uri.org/CC_News/Global_News/idp2004.html.
A key resource that has emerged from URI's work around the world is an Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide, which is a hands-on guide for grassroots interfaith, cross-cultural peace work.
We would urge the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to do everything possible to raise the global visibility of and participation in the International Day of Peace as a symbolic expression of the UN's intention for peace; and to do everything possible to promote cooperative endeavors to realize the Millennium Development Goals that create positive relations among nations and help transform conditions that lead to violence into conditions that lead to peace.
Through our CC at the UN, we work in partnership with various UN departments, programs, agencies and networks of NGOs including: CONGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, The Values Caucus, Spiritual Caucus, and the Committee of Religious NGOs. In addition, URI partners with a wide array of organizations, including a consortium of 15 international interfaith organizations, the World Peace Prayer Society and Roots of Peace.
Certainly, we will continue to expand our observance of the International Day of Peace. We will continue our work of interfaith organizing around the world to grow and deepen the capacity of our global network of Cooperation Circles to be an effective agent to create cultures of peace, justice and healing. In addition, we are currently working with UNESCO, DESA and the Missions of Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Spain and the UK to develop a UN conference on interfaith cooperation for peace.


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Big Match Breakdown: Leeds United v Middlesbrough
Odds and tips ahead of Championship clash
Friday night sees a Championship cracker at Elland Road, as the league's top two face off under the floodlights.
Leeds United and Middlesbrough are both on 13 points, three clear of the play-off pack. And prior clashes between the pair suggest it will be a hotly-contested affair.
Ahead of this Yorkshire derby, the Coral News Team have all the odds and info in another Big Match Breakdown…
There's not been much between these sides over history. The pair have met 97 times in total, with Leeds edging it by 38 wins to 32.
Last season's two meetings ended with one win apiece. The Whites won 2-1 at Elland Road, before Boro won an unusually one-sided game 3-0 at The Riverside in March 2018.
Likely XIs
Marcelo Bielsa is likely to stick with the 4-2-3-1 system which has worked well so far. But Kemar Roofe could move to the right flank to accommodate Patrick Bamford as the lone striker.
Boro have had some joy with a 3-5-2 of late, and could go that way again. Everton loanee Mo Besic is likely to sit deep in a five-man midfield, with George Friend and Ryan Shotton doing the legwork out wide.
Key Battles
Leeds have been breathtaking on the counter-attack under Bielsa. Boro's wide men will have to be at their energetic, combative best if they're to have any chance of keeping Roofe and Macedonian international Ezgjan Alioski quiet.
As is typical with Pulis sides, Boro's attacking threat is primarily about physicality. Martin Braithwaite and Britt Assombalonga will make this a physical battle for Leeds' backline, whilst the towering Aden Flint is also a big threat from set-pieces.
Match Odds
In the Match Result market, Leeds are 6/5 favourites. There's 11/5 about a Boro win, with the Draw at 23/10.
Roofe has been on song lately, with four league goals to his name already this term. He's 13/8 to Score Anytime, making him joint-favourite alongside Bamford.
Britt Assombalonga netted Boro's solitary goal at Elland Road last term, and is the visitors' most likely goalscorer at odds of 2/1.
Leeds are the division's top scorers with 13 goals in five games, with Boro also managing a respectable nine. It's 8/11 for Both Teams to Score, while Coral's odds make it 10/11 for Over 2.5 Goals.
Click here for the latest Leeds v Boro odds from Coral.


How Much Time is Your Email Addiction Costing You?
No Comments on How Much Time is Your Email Addiction Costing You?
Do you ever feel like you're addicted to email?
Do you find it impossible to ignore checking your inbox?
Email is a known time-waster but a study from Adobe Systems suggests it's worse than anyone thought.
It turns out that the average worker spends around 30 hours a week checking email.
Now this 30 hours we're talking about here do NOT include the hours spent reading and answering the emails.
That 30 hours goes into simply checking to see if there's a new email.
By the way… You're not alone.
A recent McKinsey Social Economic Report has found that the average knowledge worker spends almost 3/4 of their day on just email-related tasks.
So why is email so addictive?
Asianefficeinecy.com explains what has happened is that you might have conditioned yourself to seek pleasure from knowing you got an email.
Remember the good old days when receiving an email was actually fun?
You might have gotten a personal email from your friend, spouse or your favorite company that was giving away free stuff. Today that's totally different.
I don't know anyone who now looks forward to checking their email.
It's a not-so-fun necessity for work and doing business.
Over time we've conditioned ourselves to keep checking email because sometimes we might get a reward for it.
That "ding" notification might give us something we like, such as praise, an interesting article, an amazing deal, or an email from someone we haven't talked to in a while.
Sometimes it might give us something we don't like (spam anyone?).
The variable rewards trigger a seeking behaviour that turns into a compulsive behaviour.
Research has shown that email notifications trigger a dopamine hit in our brain.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that regulates movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure.
When email notifications make that ding noise, it stimulates that system which rewards our natural behaviours, produces the euphoric effects and teaches them to repeat the behaviour.
Our brains are wired to ensure that we will repeat life-sustaining activities by associating those activities with pleasure or reward.
Whenever this reward circuit is activated, the brain notes that something important is happening that needs to be remembered, and teaches us to do it again and again, without thinking about it.
That's what's happening to our brains.
Because of possible rewards and pleasure you get from text messages (and email).
It's the same with Facebook.
Again, this is not your fault.
Our bodies aren't designed to handle email, text messages and Facebook notifications.
Each interruption costs 40 minutes of productivity.
The reality is, the more notifications we get, the lower our productivity is.
Each notification represents a loss of productivity.
So each interruption represents a loss of 40 minutes.
Asianefficiency.com explains that while you may think checking your email throughout the day and replying to emails within minutes makes you the most productive person in the world, you're really just slowing yourself down, as well as those around you.
They suggest there are several things you can do today.
I know a lot of you will object to this and not do this.
You might not do it, but I at least want you to know that this is the best option.
Maybe not as the first step but something to strive for.
The reason this is the best solution is that it immediately kills the dopamine trigger.
No random notifications means no dopamine hits.
You could always setup the VIP email filter.
That way you have the best of both worlds: you can still do deep work while at the same time quickly respond to people that matter to you.
The next tactic is to change the way you get notifications.
By default all apps and email service providers have the push mechanism turned on which means that you'll get notified as soon as a new arrives.
Ideally, you change this to having pull notifications which means you'll get notifications when you want them.
How do you know if you have push or pull?
If it automatically updates the number of unread emails and it notifies you of each new incoming email, that's push.
Having pull notifications would mean that you would have to open the email app and hit refresh to see what the new emails are.
If you like the idea of turning off push notifications but you still need to keep checking email frequently in the background, then another solution would be to delay the notifications you get.
This is especially for people who have the habit of keeping their email client open all day long.
What you do is turn off the push notifications but set your email client to automatically refresh every 30 minutes.
That way you have the peace of mind knowing that you can always get back to people within 30 minutes while at the same time give yourself more time and space to focus.
Over time change it to 45 minutes. Then an hour. Then completely turn it off.
The above 3 tactics are great quick solutions but the long-term solution is the mind shift you will make.
Right now you're being dictated by others.
The shift you want to make is to be the person who is in control of their time and attention.
Clearly email notifications are a productivity killer.
And there's a balance between being responsive over email and being able to focus and do the best work possible.


Mobile Threat Monday: Can E-Cigs Spread Malware via USB?
When talking about mobile threats, we tend to focus on attacks against smartphones and tablets. There is another mobile device that is just as portable and can cause a lot of damage we don't hear much about: USB devices.
An "IT guy" posting under the name Jrockilla recently took to Reddit's "Talesfromtechsupport" forum to warn people about malware spreading via USB. According to the post, an executive's e-cigarette power charger was infected with malware. When the charger was plugged into the computer's USB port, the malware phoned home and infected the system, resulting in a data security breach at the company, the post said.
"The executive's system was patched up to date, had antivirus and up to date anti-malware protection," the post said.
Let's step through that claim again. A company executive switches to e-cigs, plugs in the charger to power up the devices, and malware infects the computer. This isn't the case of downloading malware from a website, installing an app from a dodgy marketplace, or opening a malicious attachment by mistake. Even years after Stuxnet, we frequently forget that USB devices can be just as dangerous.
The details at the moment are scarce—we don't know what model the charger is, what brand of e-cig the executive was using, or even anything about the malware—but it's worth noting that this isn't as far-fetched as you may think. German researchers demonstrated at a session during this summer's Black Hat security conference how they could infect USB devices with hardware-level malware. The malware would modify the firmware, evade traditional security defenses, and launch attacks. Which include impersonating a keyboard to log keystrokes and deleting content of internal storage.
SRLabs declined to post the exploit code at the time because it would be an impossible task to try to fix or rollup the majority of USB devices in use. At DerbyCon a few weeks later, two other researchers released the code for BadUSB on GitHub to pressure manufacturers in taking the threat seriously.
"Moral of the story is have you ever question the legitimacy of the $5 dollar EBay made in China USB item that you just plugged into your computer? Because you should, you damn well should," the post concluded.


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Q: Apache giraph process graph with a custom algorithm I have a custom algorithm for processing a graph which accepts a txt file as input. Because it is a large scale graph I want to implement it in the apache giraph framework. I' ve done a lot of research but I am still not sure if I am in the right path.
I am reading a .csv file which contain the graph data and using a parser I am converting it to the txt file and uploading to the HDFS file system of hadoop.
I have read the SimpleShortestPathsVertex example from the apache quick start guide and I can see that processes the data from a file in HDFS using the jar-with-dependencies jar file.
My problem is that I haven't yet understood how can I add my algorithm in the apache giraph framework and start the process of the graph. Can I add my algorithm to apache framework using eclipse and modify it from there or there is any other way?
Thank you!

A: Have a look here:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/GIRAPH/Shortest+Paths+Example
Where you able to run this example?
If yes.
Familiarize yourself with the different Writable formats of hadoop! Else it is hard to use these to your algorithm.
All computation concerning the graph is done in the compute() function.
(If you're more advanced have a look into the workerContext preSuperstep and Aggregators!)
You can change the example, but as soon as you use other data types you have to change your VertexReader and VertexWriter.
If you have a specific Algorithm in mind, make up your mind what you need for the computation and specify the layout of your input file. Then adapt your VertexReader and -Writer. And then finaly start the implement your compute() function!
Of course you can use eclipse! Simply Reference the Giraph jar (For me it is "giraph-0.1-jar-with-dependencies.jar") And start coding.
All you need is a instance of these files specific to your algorithm:

*

*YourGiraphJob    (the file starting the Hadoop/Giraph job)

*YourVertex       (Specifies your compute() function executed on each Vertex)

*YourInputFormat  (Specifying the Writable formats of YourReader)

*YourOutputFormat (Specifying the Writable formats of YourWriter)

*YourReader       (Specifies how your inputFile is transformed e.g. that for each line a Vertex can be initialized using given information)

*YourWriter       (Specifies how your outputFile is generated from the vertices)

(optionaly a WorkerContext if you want to use Aggregators.)
Simply checkout: http://giraph.apache.org/source-repository.html
using eclipse and you should have the code including an example application you can toy around with!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Huddersfield town centre litter blitzed in one-week operation as cleaning bill soars
LITTER, graffiti, fly-posters and other eyesores have been blitzed in a town centre clean-up operation.
Town centre litter blitzed in one-week operation as cleaning bill soars
Kirklees Council's town, environmental and community rangers joined forces with Metro, BT, West Yorkshire Police and local businesses for an intensive clean-up week in Huddersfield town centre.
The operation coincides with figures released by Keep Britain Tidy which claims the cost of clearing up Britain's litter rose by almost £100m (10%) last year.
Litter cost the taxpayer £858m to clear between April, 2008, and March, 2009, Keep Britain Tidy said.
The clean-up, co-ordinated by Huddersfield Town Centre Partnership, aimed to reduce litter, graffiti, fly-posters and other commonplace eyesores which blight the area.
Litterbugs and untidy premises were targeted with the help of town centre businesses which provided information for Kirklees environmental enforcement officers.
Letters asking businesses to keep their premises clean and report problem behaviour were delivered and fines and warnings were issued to people and premises deemed to be causing a public nuisance.
Problem hotspots including Upperhead Row where alcoholics and drug addicts often gather and Byram Court which is used as an improvised toilet by revellers at night.
Outcote Bank, a slip road of the A62 ring road, was cleared of graffiti.
Overgrown weeds and shabby paintwork were also tackled.
Julia Lilof, assistant town centre manager, said: "It's gone really well. The message is that we want to keep our town nice and tidy and a good place to shop and do business."
Kirklees Council Leader Clr Mehboob Khan praised the operation but stressed town centre clean-ups should happen regularly.
He added: "I've always felt that our town centre has fantastic buildings, but the attention to cleansing could be improved so we've brought together four large council departments for its maintenance so we can get better co-ordination, outcomes and efficiency savings.
"There's a lot of work to be done this year and next year to bring it up to the standards that people want.
"There are always niggling things like cigarette butts, fly-posters, litter and graffiti.
"A blitz like this will make a difference and it's very welcome and I congratulate the people involved but we need to sustain it. This isn't a one-off. We will be asking for more of these on a regular basis".


Natal plum growing shrub of the genus Carissa also known as Carissa macrocarpa, Natal plum perennial evergreen plant mostly used as hedge spiny ornamental plant, can grow in tropic, mediterranean, desert or subtropical climate and growing in hardiness zone 10+.
Natal Plum, Fruiting/Flowering!! Pre Bonsai 2" Pot Indoor or Outdoor!!!
What can be done with big quantities of Natal plum fruits?