text:
Medicaid's Role in Alaska
Medicaid in Alaska
Over 184,000 people in Alaska are covered by Medicaid. While eight in ten (80%) enrollees are children and adults, more than half (55%) of the state's Medicaid spending is for the elderly and people with disabilities.
15,100 (21%) of Alaska's Medicare enrollees are also covered by Medicaid, which accounts for over a quarter (27%) of Medicaid spending.
32% of all children in Alaska are covered by Medicaid, including 39% of children with special health care needs.
79% of nursing home residents in Alaska are covered by Medicaid and 32% of Medicaid long-term care spending in Alaska is for nursing home care. Medicare beneficiaries rely on Medicaid for assistance with services not covered by Medicare, particularly long-term care.
Over half (59%) of people in Alaska live in rural areas, which is higher than the national average of 19%. People who live in rural areas are more likely to be dependent on Medicaid.
In Alaska, Medicaid covers two in three (66%) American Indian and Alaska Native children and more than one in four (28%) American Indian and Alaska Native adults.
Alaska has a federal Medicaid matching assistance percentage (FMAP) of 50%. For every $1 spent by the state, the Federal government matches $1. Nearly a third (30%) of all federal funds Alaska receives are for Medicaid. In Calendar Year 2017, the federal match rate for the Medicaid expansion population is 95%.
What is at Risk under a Per Capita Cap?
Capping Medicaid funding would reduce the federal assistance for Alaska to maintain its current Medicaid program.
Under the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), to maintain its current Medicaid program, Alaska would have to make up $1.8 billion in loss of federal funds between 2020-2029, including $1.1 billion for the phase-out of the enhanced match for the ACA expansion and $776 million for the per enrollee cap on all groups.
If Alaska dropped the Medicaid expansion in response to the loss of enhanced federal financing, the state would forgo an additional $2 billion over the 2020-2029 period, and by 2029, 41,000 Alaskans estimated to be covered in the expansion group would lose Medicaid coverage.
The Medicaid expansion has helped reduce longstanding disparities in health coverage faced by American Indians and Alaska Natives and increased Medicaid revenues for IHS- and Tribally-operated facilities, enhancing their capacity to provide services.
Capping Medicaid can limit states' ability to respond to economic downturns and demographic changes in their state that affect demand for Medicaid and other public health services.
Alaska has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country (7%). During an economic downturn, demand for public programs such as Medicaid increases.
Alaska has the highest projected growth rate of its 85+ population (135%) between 2015 and 2030, a population more likely to require nursing home care. Medicaid is the primary payer for nursing home care.
Capping federal Medicaid funding could jeopardize Medicaid programs designed to improve quality of life and access to long-term care for people with disabilities. 12% of Alaska's non-institutionalized population reported a disability.
States with high health care costs and limited access may find it increasingly difficult to purchase services in a high cost market or make improvements in access to care under reductions or caps in federal financing. Alaska's has the second highest health spending per capita ($11,064).
Reducing federal funds through a per capita cap or block grant would limit Alaska's ability to respond to public health crises such as the opioid epidemic, HIV, or Zika.
Alaska's opioid death rate is 11 deaths per 100,000 population in 2015. Between 2013 and 2015, Alaska's opioid death rate has grown by 16%.
Nearly 68% of people in Alaska are overweight or obese and over one-third (37%) report poor mental health status.
Medicaid State Fact Sheets
What's at Stake with ACA Repeal?
Medicaid's Role in Colorado
Medicaid's Role in Kentucky
Medicaid's Role in Louisiana
Medicaid's Role in Ohio
Medicaid's Role in Nevada
Medicaid's Role in Tennessee
Medicaid's Role in West Virginia


text:
Shooter: Tanya G. Burnett
Captions by Tanya G. Burnett; introduction by Stephen Frink
From dive ops to photo ops
Underwater photographers and dive operators live in symbiosis. We photographers couldn't do our jobs without the boats and services of dive professionals, and we hope the articles we write and the photos we publish will inspire others to enjoy the locales the operators service. Despite this interdependence, however, it's uncommon for an individual to have made an impact as both a dive professional and an underwater photographer. Such is the unlikely path forged by Tanya Burnett.
Burnett was born in Wisconsin, but soon afterward her father moved the family to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he managed a distribution center for Hobart, a provider of equipment and services to the food retail industry. This provided Burnett with an early childhood of playing in the crystalline waters of St. Thomas.
St. Thomas is where she first saw the world beneath the surface through a face mask, but she began diving and snorkeling in earnest when the family relocated to Miami, Fla. There she explored the waters of Biscayne Bay from her 13-foot Boston Whaler. A graduate of North Miami High, Burnett matriculated to Barry University in Miami Shores and entered its Sport Management–Diving Industry program, an innovative, accredited curriculum developed by dive industry icon Tom Ingram (now president and CEO of the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association [DEMA]). Only the third woman to graduate from this program, Burnett not only became a scuba instructor but also left school determined to seek a suitable business opportunity. With her education, a $100,000 loan from her dad and a U.S. Coast Guard captain's license, the 21-year-old Burnett was on the hunt for the right dive business to acquire.
After exhausting the area's supply of dark and dingy dive shops that might be for sale, in 1991 she created the shop of her dreams — bright, airy and primed for underwater adventure: H2O Scuba in North Miami. Located on the water and with an early technical-diving bias (hers was the first shop to pump what was then known as "voodoo gas" — nitrox), Burnett's shop began working with Tom Mount and Bret Gilliam, respected pioneers in technical-diving education. That collaboration led to Burnett's involvement in Technical Diving International (TDI) as a principal and a contributor to the texts for the Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, and Trimix curricula.
The shop grew very quickly in the early 1990s, but Burnett was keenly aware that brick-and-mortar scuba shops were under competitive pressure from online vendors. In a prescient and fortuitous moment she found a buyer for her shop, paid back her dad and established a version 2.0 career as a sales representative for TDI instructional programs, UWATEC computers and Dräger semiclosed-circuit rebreathers. Her territory included South Florida and the Florida Keys, and her dive and photo opportunities continued to expand. Around this time she also began leading expeditions to places such as Cocos Island, which commonly involved such logistical undertakings as shepherding 30 rebreathers through customs and onto liveaboards.
Underwater cameras were an important part of her world then, useful for illustrating textbooks and as a creative outlet during her time in the water. But Burnett's career as a photojournalist likely had its genesis in a 1995 assignment from Fred Garth of Scuba Times: traveling to Borneo and Sipadan with the Borneo tourism authority as the client — a very nice first gig. This led her down a path familiar to many underwater journalists: illustrating travel articles, writing for dive magazines and selling stock photos through the agencies of the day. By 2002 she was leading dive trips around the world and finding success in selling fine-art photography to collectors. In 2006 she married her underwater photo colleague, Kevin Palmer, and the couple founded Island Exposure Inc.
Despite Burnett's professional success as both an artist and entrepreneur, she has dealt with her share of unpleasantness as a woman in a male-dominated industry. Photographer Allison Vitsky Sallmon once asked Burnett in an interview, "Has anyone ever said or done anything blatantly sexist or offensive to you as a diver?" Burnett replied:
Oh yes! When I owned and operated my dive store starting at the age of 22, most guys didn't want to ask me anything about dive gear, diving or spear guns. They would all look at my partner and defer to him for everything. He would purposely defer back to me, and I would end up taking over the conversation and giving the guy the information he was looking for. Surprise! We always giggled about how a 22-year-old woman could possibly know so much about this "man's world" of diving. I still occasionally get an amused look when I'm gearing up for a dive with my camera system in hand, followed by the words, "Boy, that camera is bigger than you are; can you handle it?"
Clearly she can handle the camera, as the images that follow so artfully attest.
Humpback whale, Silver Bank, Dominican Republic
All who make the sojourn to the Silver Bank, Dominican Republic, between February and April go to be in the water with Atlantic humpback whales. But even while at anchor on the liveaboard, the action can begin at any moment. We noticed a lot of surface action not far from the boat and ventured out to observe three male humpbacks in an apparent competition, displaying all manner of grunting and roaring vocalizations, rostrum blows, lateral fluke swipes, bubble streams and head lunges in the course of mating challenges. Here a male humpback whale breaches after dueling a few other males for a female. This image is a composite of three frames from a motor-drive sequence of a single whale and a single breach.
Oceanic whitetip shark, Cat Island, Bahamas
Cat Island is a rarely visited island ringed with blinding white sand and achingly beautiful water. It is also a special location that redefines our often dubious opinion of the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus). When I slipped into the deep velvety blue off the southern end of the island to meet a half dozen circling oceanics for the first time, I brought my respect, if not my fear. Belying their reputation as man-eaters, these predators were calm, methodical and unbelievably beautiful as the bright Bahamian sun danced across their backs.
Elkhorn coral, Silver Bank, Dominican Republic
It is interesting to witness a favorite destination evolve over decades. Small variations may be visible year to year, and much larger changes appear over time. Sometimes these changes show decline and are disheartening, but some sites show improvement and inspire us. The wreck of the Polyxeni rests hard aground on the same reef that offers a protected anchorage for the boats that arrive in early spring for whale watching. In the mid 1990s it was a comfort to see that familiar steel hulk, as it meant I was back to observe one of nature's greatest marine spectacles: the humpback whales of the Silver Bank. Over the years the weather-beaten Polyxeni has gradually compressed and crumbled, slowly giving the reef back to the sea. It was a special delight to recently snorkel over to the wreck and find a garden of elkhorn coral flourishing in the shallows. Rest in peace Polyxeni; long live the elkhorns!
Spotted dolphins, Grand Bahama Island
Amid the vast expanse of the shallow Bahama Banks exists one of the planet's most delightful animal encounters. This curious trio of wild Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) demonstrates why the experience remains captivating no matter how many times you visit. Spotted dolphins are inquisitive, remember frequent visitors and are always looking for entertainment. If you manage to appear to them that you belong in the water you may be rewarded by close passes, energetic loops and perhaps even a gift. Their mouths seem frozen in perpetual smiles, and it is not uncommon to find your own mouth similarly oriented. With a few flicks of their flukes they fade like ghosts into the blue, leaving a beautiful but seemingly lifeless sand desert beneath my fin tips.
Soft coral, South Pantar, Indonesia
Indonesia is a wonderland of underwater imaging possibilities, and its regions are extraordinarily diverse and far-flung. In South Pantar I was amazed after descending a steep wall into a forest of rare red soft coral (Dendronephthya sp.). These corals were giants of their species, towering 4-5 feet over the sand bottom. After trying to capture the whole forest somewhat unsuccessfully, I realized it might be better to focus on a single "tree" and try to capture its grandeur. Nowhere else in the Indo-Pacific have I seen such soft corals.
Crocodile, Jardines de la Reina, Cuba
The opening of Cuba to American tourism has certainly been a boon to fans of Caribbean diving. And Cuba offers some amazing treasures beneath the surface that you won't find elsewhere in the Caribbean. One of the most exciting opportunities for me was the chance to photograph saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) in the wild. I have had some modest and limited encounters in the Western Pacific, but I was completely taken aback by these relaxed and approachable reptiles in the shallow crystalline waters of southern Cuba. My nerves were quickly calmed by their behavior, and curiosity soon took over. This is perhaps the best opportunity anywhere in the tropical Atlantic for this rare interaction, and it's well worth the short trip to Cuba.
Coconut octopus, Bali, Indonesia
Black-sand muck sites often look like wastelands at first. Such was the case at PJ's in Bali. I began conducting a search pattern over the bottom, wondering where all the critters were. The only thing that broke the monotony of the bottom was a coconut shell. With nothing else to distract me, I poked it with muck stick to see if anything was underneath. Nothing. But as I rolled it, I suddenly realized that one of the "eyes" of the coconut was looking back at me. I backed off and waited. Finally, a suction-cupped arm slithered out of a crack in the coconut, followed by a gelatinous procession of additional octopus parts squeezing through the small opening. Eventually all eight legs unfurled and raised this mobile home off the seafloor on tentacle toes that danced lightly across the sand in hasty retreat. I had found the legendary coconut octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) in its namesake home.
Pura Island, Indonesia
I find Indonesia's young freedivers completely enchanting. From the time they are old enough to walk, they are swimming, diving and holding their breath — and they clearly love it. During any dive we did near their village, the kids would run and paddle out with handmade goggles in hand and dive down to play with us. Their expressions, competition and poses reflected their great comfort in an aquatic environment and a level of joy rarely seen in this day and age.
Manta ray, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Indo-Pacific manta rays (Mobula birostris) are graceful, silent, mysterious and, regrettably, threatened — listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The rays are under severe fishing pressures in some areas, and because of increasing interest by both the traveling public and the international scientific community, more and more manta congregation areas are being discovered around the world. Thanks to research and conservation efforts such as the Misool Manta Project, Indonesia instituted a nationwide ban on manta fishing and commerce in 2014. It was with great excitement that I dived in the remarkable Misool Marine Reserve in Raja Ampat during a period when officials counted the highest number of visiting mantas they had ever witnessed. One site in particular, Magic Mountain, featured a large cleaning station that dozens of mantas visited every day.
MV Pai II, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Visitors to Papua New Guinea rarely spend much time around the capital, Port Moresby. It's usually just a brief stop on the way to a more remote destination. That's a shame, because the diving around Port Moresby can be pretty spectacular by most standards. There are some amazing reefs, both natural and artificial. The MV Pai II is a great example. It sits completely protected from current and weather, which allows luxuriant sponge and soft-coral growth. This prawn trawler now rests at about 89 feet and offers all you could want in an exotic western Pacific dive. There is plenty of structure to explore on the wreck, but the colorful corals and marine life are what really steal the show and offer an endless palate of photo ops. While Port Moresby may not be at the top of most bucket lists, I find it is well worth a few days' diversion.
Peacock mantis shrimp, Anilao, Philippines
Mantis shrimp hold so many records that it is clear they punch well above their weight class. Most complex eyes in the animal kingdom? Check. Fastest limb movement achieved by any animal? Check. Hardest punch per surface area of any animal? Check. And they do all this amid the significant resistance of seawater. I think the peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) — there are many species of mantis shrimp — is also one of the most elegant and entertaining creatures in the sea. Sometimes shy, sometimes bold, these masters of mischievous trickery reside in holes in the reef but always have a backup escape hole as well. Any time I spot one on a dive, I pause to see what it is up to. I saw this one displaying its signature emerald and blue back toward me. As it turned, it revealed a brilliant pink clutch of eggs, displayed proudly like a feather boa.
See more of Tanya Burnett's work in a bonus online photo gallery.
© Alert Diver — Q4 Fall 2017
Ocean Views 2012
Kelp Gallery
Brandon Cole Gallery
Tangling with Kelp
Brandon Cole: Immersed in the Wild
Pete Zuccarini: Bringing the Blue to the Big Screen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


← Spain '08 – Olé!
Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg + Gay Paree!
From L-R: Dolores, Irene, Barbara, Joann, Patricia, Josie and Rita.
visiting The Battle of the Bulge where General Patton is buried.
Note: Kodak does not allow for digital downloading of the photos so I can't show them to you here, but you can see Irene's album and Rita's. If someone who was on the trip wants to send me a few photos via email, I'll be happy to put them up.


text:
Inicio > Economía marxista, Filosofía marxista	> "Abstraction versus Contradiction: Observations on Chris Arthur's The New Dialectic and Marx's 'Capital'": Roberto Finelli
"Abstraction versus Contradiction: Observations on Chris Arthur's The New Dialectic and Marx's 'Capital'": Roberto Finelli
This intervention concerns the different statute of abstraction in Marx's work. By means of a critical confrontation with Chris Arthur's work, Finelli presents his thesis of the presence of a double theory and fuction of abstraction in Marx's work. In the early Marx, until the German Ideology, abstraction is, in accordance with the traditional meaning of this term, a product of the mind, an unreal spectre. More exactly, it consists in negating the common essence belonging to labouring humanity and projecting it, as alienated universal, into the idea of philosophy, into the state of politics and into the money of the market. In the later Marx, the nature of abstraction is, rather than mental, practical. It is directly related to the quantity without quality of capitalist labour, and it is the product of the systemic connection of machines to labour-power. In contrast to Arthur, Finelli maintains that practical abstraction in the Marx of Capital is not located in the zone of exchange and the market, where there is the mediation of money. On the contrary, it is located in the zone of production, which, for Marx, is a social ensemble not mediated by money but by relations of technological domination.
abstraction, formal determination, presupposed-posited, opposition-contradiction, abstractionemptying out, dissimulation. The New Dialectic and Marx's 'Capital
1. Die Formbestimmung: a new category of a new Marxism
'From the simple to the complex': this motto synthesises the evolutionism with which Engels conceived his vision of history and the method of knowledge that follows from it. Chris Arthur correctly defi nes this as a 'linear' typology, because history, for Engels, is constituted on the basis of something elementary which, in the course of diff erent social epochs, is progressively modifi ed and rendered more complex, but without ever being annulled and negated, despite development occurring through dialectical contradictions. It is easy to hear the echo of the evolution dear to positivism and of an empiricist epistemology linked to the natural sciences in this historicist continuity. For Engels, one of its clearest examples is to be found, as we know, in the law of value. In his opinion, its validity as measure of exchange reigns from the natural peasant economies of primitive communities until the fi fteenth century. It is valid, that is, for that entire great historical period during which – since the worker was proprietor of the means of production, and given the very minor scale of production and commerce – anyone had direct experience of the time of necessary labour, often while making a product, as a (single and simple) element, themselves, Th is historical period of 'simple commodity production' in which the measure of value is visibly the time of labour – since '[L]abour and labour alone: to replace tools, to produce raw material, and to process it' is seen and perceived as a factor of production – progressively gives way, with the establishment of the capitalist economy, to money as the decisive measure and calculus of the value of commodities. Thus we know that, for Engels, commodity→value→labour→money→capital is an historical progression which is mirrored in the logical progression, of the same order with which Marx supposedly constructed Capital by employing a simplistically materialist gnoseology, based on the refl ection of the real in the logical-mental. Thus the expository structure of Marx's Capital, its logical method, is 'nothing else but the historical method, only stripped from disturbing fortuities'.
Artículo Completo en PDF
Historical Materialism 15 (2007) 61–74
Categorías:Economía marxista, Filosofía marxista Etiquetas: Dialéctica, El Capital, Epistemología, Forma mercancía, Forma valor, Teoría del valor
"Lo inconsciente: una perspectiva desde la psicología sociohistórica": Carl Ratner "What is the Relationship Between the Rates of Interest and Profit? An Empirical Note for the U.S. Economy, 1869-2009": Alejandro Valle Baeza y Ivan Mendieta Muñoz


In Electron User 3.12, I reviewed Slogger's STARSTORE, a powerful ROM-based database. Now an alternative version is available, STARSTORE 2.
Essentially they are the same except in one important aspect; STARSTORE is RAM-based and can be used with both disc and tape systems whereas STARSTORE 2 is disc-based and will only work if you have a disc system.
To see just what STARSTORE is capable of, take a look at the STARSTORE review. Here I'm just going to cover the main differences between the two.
The space available for data storage with a RAM-based database is limited by the amount of free RAM, around 18K on the Electron. In this type of database, all the records are present in memory at the same time.
With a disc-based database you are only limited by the amount of free space on the disc, which can be as much as 320K with an ACORN PLUS 3.
The records are stored on disc and the database will read and write records from and to the disc rather than store them in the memory. Therefore, the advantage of STARSTORE 2 over STARSTORE is the vast amount of data it can handle.
Unfortunately, discs are relatively slow when compared with RAM, and STARSTORE 2 can be painfully slow at times. I must admit that it's not a fault of the program - it is limited by the speed of your disc system.
Slogger has totally rewritten the menu structure of the database to bring it up to date and make it as user-friendly as possible.
Much are and attention to detail has gone into the layout and appearance and it now features pop up menus, cursor selection and helpful prompts whenever possible.
It is a joy to use and so simple than even children can get the hang of it without difficulty.
On power up or after CTRL-BREAK, you are straight into STARSTORE 2's main menu and the options are the same as before.
The package can handle 9999 records with a maximum of 90 fields which can be 255 characters in length. Provided of course that you have enough storage space on your disc.
You can browse through the records using the cursor keys and examine, alter and update any of the fields. Data is pulled off the disc as and when needed.
Sorting records can be quite a time-consuming process and is measured in minutes rather than seconds. It is a chore that would be better left until you have plenty of time to spare.
An extra print option has been included which allows you to format the output. Record fields can be printed in any order and printed at a set tab position across the page.
Like STARSTORE, it is possible to generate STARWORD mailmerge files. STARWORD can take a file of names and addresses created from a STARSTORE database and include them in a standard letter.
The manual is comprehensive, well-written and easy to understand, giving some useful examples on how to set up a database.
The whole package is foolproof and well presented. STARSTORE 2 is a superb database for the Electron user who uses discs and it adds another dimension to those using STARWORD.


text:
è l'ottavo capitolo ufficiale della serie di videogiochi Touhou Project. Creato da ZUN e pubblicato il 15 agosto 2004 al Comiket 66 in Giappone, è  il settimo ad appartenere al genere dei danmaku shooter e il terzo sviluppato per Windows.

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using OfficeOpenXml.Style.XmlAccess;
using System.Globalization;

namespace OfficeOpenXml.Style
{
    /// <summary>
    /// The background fill of a cell
    /// </summary>
    public class ExcelGradientFill : StyleBase
    {
        internal ExcelGradientFill(ExcelStyles styles, OfficeOpenXml.XmlHelper.ChangedEventHandler ChangedEvent, int PositionID, string address, int index) :
            base(styles, ChangedEvent, PositionID, address)

        {
            Index = index;
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Angle of the linear gradient
        /// </summary>
        public double Degree
        {
            get
            {
                return ((ExcelGradientFillXml)_styles.Fills[Index]).Degree;
            }
            set
            {
                _ChangedEvent(this, new StyleChangeEventArgs(eStyleClass.GradientFill, eStyleProperty.GradientDegree, value, _positionID, _address));
            }
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Linear or Path gradient
        /// </summary>
        public ExcelFillGradientType Type
        {
            get
            {
                return ((ExcelGradientFillXml)_styles.Fills[Index]).Type;
            }
            set
            {
                _ChangedEvent(this, new StyleChangeEventArgs(eStyleClass.GradientFill, eStyleProperty.GradientType, value, _positionID, _address));
            }
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Specifies in percentage format(from the top to the bottom) the position of the top edge of the inner rectangle (color 1). For top, 0 means the top edge of the inner rectangle is on the top edge of the cell, and 1 means it is on the bottom edge of the cell. (applies to From Corner and From Center gradients).
        /// </summary>
        public double Top
        {
            get
            {
                return ((ExcelGradientFillXml)_styles.Fills[Index]).Top;
            }
            set
            {
                if (value < 0 | value > 1)
                {
                    throw (new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("Value must be between 0 and 1"));
                }
                _ChangedEvent(this, new StyleChangeEventArgs(eStyleClass.GradientFill, eStyleProperty.GradientTop, value, _positionID, _address));
            }
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Specifies in percentage format (from the top to the bottom) the position of the bottom edge of the inner rectangle (color 1). For bottom, 0 means the bottom edge of the inner rectangle is on the top edge of the cell, and 1 means it is on the bottom edge of the cell.
        /// </summary>
        public double Bottom
        {
            get
            {
                return ((ExcelGradientFillXml)_styles.Fills[Index]).Bottom;
            }
            set
            {
                if (value < 0 | value > 1)
                {
                    throw (new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("Value must be between 0 and 1"));
                }
                _ChangedEvent(this, new StyleChangeEventArgs(eStyleClass.GradientFill, eStyleProperty.GradientBottom, value, _positionID, _address));
            }
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Specifies in percentage format (from the left to the right) the position of the left edge of the inner rectangle (color 1). For left, 0 means the left edge of the inner rectangle is on the left edge of the cell, and 1 means it is on the right edge of the cell. (applies to From Corner and From Center gradients).
        /// </summary>
        public double Left
        {
            get
            {
                return ((ExcelGradientFillXml)_styles.Fills[Index]).Left;
            }
            set
            {
                if (value < 0 | value > 1)
                {
                    throw (new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("Value must be between 0 and 1"));
                }
                _ChangedEvent(this, new StyleChangeEventArgs(eStyleClass.GradientFill, eStyleProperty.GradientLeft, value, _positionID, _address));
            }
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Specifies in percentage format (from the left to the right) the position of the right edge of the inner rectangle (color 1). For right, 0 means the right edge of the inner rectangle is on the left edge of the cell, and 1 means it is on the right edge of the cell. (applies to From Corner and From Center gradients).
        /// </summary>
        public double Right
        {
            get
            {
                return ((ExcelGradientFillXml)_styles.Fills[Index]).Right;
            }
            set
            {
                if (value < 0 | value > 1)
                {
                    throw (new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("Value must be between 0 and 1"));
                }
                _ChangedEvent(this, new StyleChangeEventArgs(eStyleClass.GradientFill, eStyleProperty.GradientRight, value, _positionID, _address));
            }
        }
        ExcelColor _gradientColor1 = null;
        /// <summary>
        /// Gradient Color 1
        /// </summary>
        public ExcelColor Color1
        {
            get
            {
                if (_gradientColor1 == null)
                {
                    _gradientColor1 = new ExcelColor(_styles, _ChangedEvent, _positionID, _address, eStyleClass.FillGradientColor1, this);
                }
                return _gradientColor1;

            }
        }
        ExcelColor _gradientColor2 = null;
        /// <summary>
        /// Gradient Color 2
        /// </summary>
        public ExcelColor Color2
        {
            get
            {
                if (_gradientColor2 == null)
                {
                    _gradientColor2 = new ExcelColor(_styles, _ChangedEvent, _positionID, _address, eStyleClass.FillGradientColor2, this);
                }
                return _gradientColor2;

            }
        }
        internal override string Id
        {
            get { return Degree.ToString() + Type + Color1.Id + Color2.Id + Top.ToString() + Bottom.ToString() + Left.ToString() + Right.ToString(); }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
"Saw" producer dies at 42
Pointyskull
DVD Talk Reviewer
Location: Formerly known as "12thmonkey"/Frankfort, IL
Movie Producer Gregg Hoffman Dies at 42
Published December 6, 2005, 9:39 AM CST
LOS ANGELES -- Film producer Gregg Hoffman, who developed an eight-minute film into the horror hit "Saw" and its gory successor "Saw II," died unexpectedly after complaining of pain. He was 42.
Hoffman died Sunday at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where he had been admitted after developing neck pain, his business partners said. He died of natural causes, according to a news release from Lions Gate Entertainment, which distributed his recent films. An autopsy was planned.
Hoffman and his partners at Twisted Pictures financed the low-budget films "Saw" (2004) and "Saw II" (2005) and stood to reap millions of dollars.
The first film cost about $1 million to make, opened over Halloween weekend last year at No. 3 at the box office, and grossed more than $102 million in DVD and box office revenue.
The $4 million sequel, released just before Halloween this year, ranked No. 1 at the box office in its debut weekend with $31.7 million in receipts. It has made $86 million in six weeks, according to box office figures released Monday.
The movies center around a sadistic serial killer called Jigsaw who devises intricate games to get his kidnapped victims to kill each other.
"We've won the lottery," Hoffman, a former Walt Disney Co. executive, told the Los Angeles Times in November.
Hoffman began working for Disney in 1995, rising to become a senior vice president of production and earning a producer credit on the family comedy "George of the Jungle" (1997).
He joined Koules and Mark Burg at their management and production company, Evolution Entertainment, in 2003. Soon after, he saw the eight-minute clip about a serial killer called "Saw" and proposed making it into a full-length feature. The original story was by James Wan, who went on to direct the feature "Saw," and Leigh Whannell, who starred in it.
"He discovered this movie, brought it in and talked us into making it. He was the driving force behind it," said Oren Koules, one of his Twisted Pictures partners.
The "Saw" films' success led to multi-picture development deals with Lions Gate and Dimension Films. Hoffman was working on "Saw III" and "Crawlspace" when he died.
He is survived by his wife, Lucienne; two children; his mother; and a sister.
Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press
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dadaluholla
Location: Wilmington, OH
Originally Posted by 12thmonkey
Hoffman died Sunday at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where he had been admitted after developing neck pain, his business partners said.
An autopsy was planned.
I bet they find a key hidden in his neck.
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raven56706
Location: Back in the Good Ole USA
oh man.. that sucks... SAW is a great franchise and with him out now... it will probably die with him
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Originally Posted by dadaluholla
GoldenJCJ
That's too bad. It sounds like his career was just taking off.
Visit GoldenJCJ's homepage!
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jaeufraser
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Originally Posted by raven56706
I doubt that. With the type of money the Saw franchise is pulling in, they'll be making sequels til the cows come home. Saw movies aren't going away with or without this guy...there's too much money to be made for that to happen.
Find More Posts by jaeufraser
I do not know Gregg Hoffman, I never seen the Saw movies, but to have a youngish man with a bright future as a Hollywood producer to suddenly die at the early age of just 42 is very sad.
Shortly before Gregg Hoffman died, why did he complain about problems with neck pain? Did he have a heart condition or battling with throat cancer?
Last edited by Cancer Man; 12-06-05 at 12:51 PM.
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scott shelton
Needs to contact an admin about multiple accounts
SAW is a great franchise and with him out now... it will probably die with him
Oh no it won't. Now the third one will have to be made, "in his honor."
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Posted by raven56706:
Posted by scott shelton:
This no laughing matter, a man has died, died young and has left a family and close colleagues devestated.
Originally Posted by Cancer Man
You assume incorrectly I'm laughing at the death. I laugh at the assumption that the money and franchise dies with him.
Clear?
Ok, scott shelton, sorry I misinterpreted the meaning of your post.
You are right I'm afraid; death has rarely stopped movie franchises, especially the big ones. For example they carried on making The Crow despite the fact that the film's lead, Brandon Lee, died in a freak accident in the middle of production.
The Day After Tommorow (removed comments not discussing movie)


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The company says that this is a marked change from what it has been hearing at developer conventions and user group meetings over the last few years. "Speaking to developers and project managers, Serena's Adam Frankl says that reducing costs was consistently listed as the #1 developer priority until recently."
"More software application development professionals identify delivering applications faster as a priority — rather than just cutting costs. As we emerge from the global economic slowdown, innovation and, especially, the speed of innovation are the priority. I can't think of a time in my 20-year career when there has been a higher profile for software applications, a broader range of available platforms and more data available. So we may be entering the golden age of application development," said Frankl.
Serena's findings come as no major surprise given the company's willingness to extol the virtues of its Orchestrated ALM Whitepaper, which it positions as being a useful route towards learning how you can deliver applications faster, reduce app development costs and expand the use of Agile.
Writing in the company's aforementioned white paper, Serena's David Hurwitz notes that, "With so many apps already in production, it would be tempting to say that app driven innovation is mature, with little room for additional competitive advantage. That would be wrong, as the evolving mix of devices, Internet communications and markets creates a constantly shifting playing field from which new winners and losers regularly emerge. Speed and efficiency are the keys to winning in this world."


These days, you don't need to rush back to your physical office and turn on your PC to find out what is happening in your business. Thanks to recent developments in smart phones and tablets (specifically in iPhone, iPad, and Android development) you can carry your virtual office around with you all day.
This ability to work, trade, or even just play at anytime and in any location, has injected a massive amount of productivity into the work-lives of those who use this technology effectively. Not only do you, the individual, benefit from this newfound flexibility, but so do your employees and clients.
Companies that commit to using cutting edge iPhone apps or Android apps can maximize their use of their time during client meetings by having all relevant information on hand and easily accessible. Instead of the usual "I'll get back to you on that", you can bring up important details in seconds and continue to drive your selling cycle forward.
More importantly, your work team becomes accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Before smart phones and tablets, employees were able stay connected through their laptops. But, let's be honest, laptops only come into play periodically, perhaps during a stoppage in travel or a coffee break. With an iPhone or iPad and the right selection of apps from the app store, employees can access real-time company information while waiting for the bus, having dinner, standing in line at the cinema, or watching their kid's football games. The result is a constant stream of online connectivity that is boosting productivity at an exponential rate.
Have you ever shown up to a meeting or event only to find out it was cancelled at the last-minute? Or, maybe you met with an important client and presented to them a key document that was out of date just as quickly as you gave it to them? Smart companies can avoid these types of misalignments by updating their teams in real-time via smart phones and tablets such as the iPhone and iPad.
This trend of constant connectivity is catching on fast in the business world because of the tremendous value it provides companies. The benefits are so tangible and instant that those who ignore these tools and insist on staying "traditional" simply cannot keep up with their competitors.
It's safe to say that operating in this fashion has become a necessity in any competitive business environment. For software and service providers, this new reality has important implications. If your product or service is not mobile, you may find yourself being left out of the decision making process of your users and clients, more and more as they begin to lean towards partners who provide mobile versions of their products or services. It's simple value added service.
It's no longer enough to have a website that "looks good" on a mobile device. Clients are demanding product versions designed specifically for smart phones and tablets, allowing them to benefit from a cleaner and more complete experience and a work-anywhere attitude.
Deliver the performance your clients need by extending your product or service to the mobile ecosystem. It's the way of the future and it will help keep you ahead of your competitors.


Their passionate delivery is their greatest strength...but across a whole album it does also become their biggest weakness, killing variety and nullifying the impact a wee bit.
Purchasing By Blood from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?


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Public Art as an Economic Driver - 4:16
Dr. Audra Price-Pittman on the Creative Economy
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2017/02/22/public-art-as-an-economic-driver
Public parks are the new canvases for professional artists. But these murals are doing more than just drawing inspiration; they're also providing an economic boost to the community. In this edition of Comcast Newsmakers, Dr. Audra Price Pittman with the Council on Culture and Arts discusses public art as an economic driver, and how it's becoming the new "driver of attachment" in Tallahassee.
Hosted by: Nathalia Ortiz Produced by: Florida Newsmakers Team
#Florida #Community #Economy and Business
Other videos hosted by Nathalia Ortiz
Conferencing With Great Minds
Conferencing With Great Minds - 4:32
A single idea has the power to change the world. That's the inspiration behind one Southwest Florida nonprofit as it gathers the greatest minds in the private and nonprofit sectors. Randall Antik, CEO of Searching For Solutions Institute, explains his work.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/18/Searching-For-Solutions---Randall-Antik
Providing Security And Guidance To The Disabled
Providing Security And Guidance To The Disabled - 4:20
Every year, nearly 300 people with developmental disabilities receive the tools and resources they need to reach their full potential. LARC, Inc. is the organization responsible for shaping the lives of these individuals. Here to talk about their work is Executive Director, Kevin Lewis.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/18/LARC-Inc---Kevin-lewis
Getting Kids Ready For The World
Getting Kids Ready For The World - 4:47
Getting our kids ready for the real world can take a lot of work, but one local organization is providing a unique avenue to a better future. Angela Fisher, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida, discusses their program.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/18/Junior-Achievement-SWFL---Angela-Fisher
Abriendo Puertas A Las Oportunidades
Abriendo Puertas A Las Oportunidades - 4:38
Hace varias décadas, una organización se ha centrado en educar a los niños en nuestra comunidad. Pero su enfoque no es solo en la ciudad, pero en las zonas rurales de la zona. Para hablar sobre esa mision, Juana Brown, Directora de Escuelas Charter para la Asociación de Migrantes Cristianos de Redlands, habla sobre su organizacion.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/18/Redlands-Christian-SPN---Juana-Brown
Opening Doors To Opportunities
Opening Doors To Opportunities - 5:43
For decades, one Southwest Florida organization has been setting its sights on educating children in our community. Their focus isn't just on kids in the city, but in the rural parts as well. Juana Brown, Director of Charter Schools for the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, talks about their work.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/18/Redlands-Christian---Juana-Brown
Making Progress Since Hurricane Michael
Making Progress Since Hurricane Michael - 4:21
Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida Panhandle when it made landfall in 2018, causing more than 25-billion dollars in damage. One year later, residents are still picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild. One of those people making a difference is Donna Pilson, Executive Director of Rebuild Bay County.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/17/Rebuild-Bay-County---Donna-Pilson
The Sciences That Shape Our World
The Sciences That Shape Our World - 4:35
If your kids have ever wanted to launch into space as an astronaut, or hand feed stingrays in the ocean, then one place is providing them the next best thing. The IMAG History and Science Center delivers an educational experience using the sciences that shape our world. Center Director Matt Johnson talks about their work.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/17/IMAG---Matt-Johnson
Back To School Extravaganza Giveaway
Back To School Extravaganza Giveaway - 2:33
For the past nine years, the Children's Services Council of Broward County has provided thousands of at-risk students with school supplies during its Back to School Extravaganza event, which takes place right before the start of the new school year. In 2019, the organization partnered with the YMCA of South Florida to provide some 8,000 students with backpacks, school supplies, uniforms, shoes, and other materials they need to succeed.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/8/1/Children's-Services-Council-Back-to-School-Extravaganza
When Young Girls Overcome Obstacles
Girls Incorporated of Bay County delivers educational and life-changing programs to assist young girls in becoming smarter, bolder, and more independent. Unfortunately, Hurricane Matthew blasted the region in late-2018, derailing much of the organization's programs, but it also presented some new opportunities. Executive Director, Niki Kelly, explains how they were able to overcome these serious barriers. Interview recorded: February 13th, 2019
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/2/22/When-Young-Girls-Overcome-Obstacles
A New Vision For Tallahassee
There is new leadership in the city of Tallahassee, and with new leadership comes new plans for the future. Newly elected Mayor, John Dailey, describes his vision for the city. Interview recorded: February 13th, 2019
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/2/25/A-New-Vision-For-Tallahassee


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Career Insider
Career Questions
Searching & Applying
Why This INSEAD Alum Ditched a Consulting Career to Move Into Early-Stage Startups
A career in consulting beckoned Veit Dinges, but he decided to turn his back on it to enter the world of early-stage startups instead. Now, he's a Senior Business Development Manager at cargo.one.
by Zinuk Han
/Career Insider/Career Stories/Why This INSEAD Alum Ditched a Consulting Career to Move Into Early-Stage Startups/
Behind the Title takes you into the work of people in the tech and digital scene, we break down the fancy job titles to give you a glimpse into what the job truly entails. Find out what it takes to pursue a career in these fields and get exclusive insights from people on the ground.
For this edition we speak with Veit Dingers, Senior Business Development Manager at cargo.one. We learn what his role involves, how he got there, and what you need to do in order to break into this industry.
Can you tell us a little bit about background and how you ended up in your current job?
I studied mechanical engineering and then spent some time working in consulting. After a while, I felt like I had learned enough, so I went to do an MBA at INSEAD. While I was doing that, I was trying to figure out how to get into early-stage businesses. The way I did it, and how I'd advise anyone else to do it is to speak to your friends in venture capital, check out all the websites of the reputable venture capital firms, and then check which portfolio businesses they've invested in. That's what I did. I spoke to a lot of friends that I had working in venture capital and through my network, I was introduced to cargo.one.
Could you walk me through what your role is and what a typical day looks like?
My official title is Senior Business Development Manager. Effectively, that's working with all the partners on the supply side of the marketplace. We're a digital marketplace facilitating airfreight bookings, so on the supply side, airlines, and on the demand side, freight forwarders. We work with most airlines and do everything from getting them excited about digitizing the industry to finalising the contracts and making sure that they're well taken care of. We have to make sure that the integrations and the partnerships grow together with us.
What's the most fascinating thing about your job?
Having had a few jobs before this, from consulting to investment banking, it doesn't feel like a job, it feels like a project. I think that's a huge thing. I'll hopefully never leave early-stage startups, or if I do, only in the context of growing out of it together with cargo.one. But I hope to stay in this kind of role for a long time because it doesn't feel like you're getting up for a job in the morning. It feels more like you're building something together and make it grow.
What are the challenges you face in your position?
I think the challenges you face when you're in an early-stage business is that there are many things you might not have done before. We all set ourselves high standards for the quality of work we want to deliver, but at the same time, there are a lot of things that you're doing for the first time.
Logistics and supply chain platform for air cargo booking
What is the one misconception people have about the industry?
There is a common perception that logistics is not particularly "sexy", and I wouldn't go as far as to say it is "sexy", but what's nice about airfreight, in particular, is that it's a complex industry which is not digitized. That means there's a lot of work to be done and the potential benefit from digitizing the space is huge.
What are the qualities that you need to succeed in your position? What advice would you give someone who wants to break into this industry?
In the enterprise sales part of the role, you need a lot of endurance, especially when you're early-stage and you want to make things happen. Pushing harder doesn't always drive the best outcomes, sometimes you need to let the relationships sit. You need to know where and how to work on enterprise relationships. That's something where having experience or calling people that have experience in this space will really help you if you've never done it before.
Zinuk Han
Business Development | TalentSpace
Zinuk is part of Business Development team and contributes to the overall success of the company with new ideas and good vibes. Prior joining the Business Development team, he was a TalentSpace Ambassador in Frankfurt where he's currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Banking and Finance at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He loves music, hanging out with friends, golf, and meditation.
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Employment opportunities with Fastenal Canada on PEI
Fastenal is an international company specializing in supply chain management and serves the business-to-business (B2B) sector.
"We sell products and solutions such as fasteners, safety gear, chemicals, hydraulics, welding, and power transmission – anything that makes the world run," says Christopher MacDonald, General Manager of the Fastenal location in Charlottetown.
"We were quite busy here after hurricane Fiona, especially with power transmission lines that came down."
"The company manufactures about 377 million products and ships 90 percent of their own products using their own fleets," says Claudia LaForme, Regional Recruiter for Eastern Canada.
"About 20,000 employees work in 3,200 locations of Fastenal, and there are over 520 specialist occupations within the company."
The Charlottetown location has seven employees. "We currently have openings for at least one or two more people, and we are hiring at present," says Christopher.
"There are all kinds of opportunities here. The company offers part-time and internship opportunities for students. You can start by working part-time while going to school and work yourself into a career."
Christopher has worked for Fastenal for 22 years and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree. "The thing I really like about working at Fastenal is that we have decentralized decision-making. You are not told what to do all the time. You can make your own decisions and grow within your decisions."
When Claudia started with Fastenal six years ago, she was working on her Bachelor of Business degree. "I was not sure if I was interested in marketing or finance or logistics or accountability. We learn so much in school, but we don't get real-world experience. When I first started, I learned about all of that.
"Each location of Fastenal is run like a small business, making their own decisions and doing their own selling and logistics with the support of the multinational company. When you are a student working with the company, you can learn a lot. You can start in two separate paths: supply chain or marketing/sales. You can grow and learn what really interests you, and you have many options."
What skills and experience do you need to work at Fastenal?
The company runs its own school of business that helps employees grow during their years of work. "New hires do not need to know about fasteners or coding – you will learn as you go," says Claudia. "I am still learning about new products and technology.
"Working with Fastenal is a great opportunity for students who want to grow and learn about the B2B sector. The stores are open from 7 to 5 pm – no weekends or evening work is required."
Students interested in an internship or part-time positions need a valid driver's license so that they can visit the customer's site in a company vehicle.
Claudia says 95 percent of the company's leadership roles are promoted from within. "We take care of our employees, and we make sure they grow towards the path they want to take."
about working at Fastenal, email [email protected] or follow Claudia LaForme on LinkedIn.
Visit careers.fastenal.com
Fastenal Charlottetown location


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The Boeing 737 MAX 10. Photo CONTRIBUTED
Photo: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Boeing opens new innovation center at Georgia Tech
J. Scott Trubey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Aerospace giant Boeing announced Tuesday the opening of a new research center at Georgia Tech that the company said would help the company overcome technical hurdles in manufacturing.
Chicago-based Boeing, maker of military equipment and passenger airliners such as the 737 and 787 Dreamliner, said the new facility would pair Tech students and Boeing researchers on help implement industrial automation. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported Tech and Boeing were in discussions about a possible research facility in March 2015.
"This advanced center will let Georgia Tech students collaborate with Boeing engineers to help drive the development of innovative factory automation solutions in aerospace," said Greg Hyslop, Boeing chief technology officer, said in a news release announcing the center.
The exterior of the Boeing 747-400, one of the jetmaker's iconic aircraft, is shown during a preview of Delta's 747 Experience in March. Kent D. Johnson/AJC
Photo: Kent Johnson/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Boeing Manufacturing Development Center will be located in Tech's Delta Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility, a 19,000-square-foot center near the intersection of 14th Street and Northside Drive.
Boeing spokeswoman Janelle Bernales said in an email the facility would be staffed with two full-time engineers who "specialize in advanced production [and] inspection." Discussions for the facility have progressed over the course of two years, she said.
In a post on Georgia Tech's website, the university said Boeing's new facility is the 17th innovation center on its campus.
Tech has aggressively pursued innovation labs from private industry as a way to bolster its research capabilities and attract new research dollars to supplement government funds. Panasonic, Southern Co., Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, Siemens and NCR are among the companies that have placed innovation labs at Georgia Tech.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 file photo, An engine and part of a wing from the 100th 787 Dreamliner to be built at Boeing of South Carolina's North Charleston, S.C., facility are seen outside the plant. The morning round of voting has concluded Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, among South Carolina Boeing workers considering if they want representation by a union. Nearly 3,000 production workers are eligible to vote in the election to determine if they'll be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. (Brad Nettles/The Post and Courier via AP, File)
Photo: Brad Nettles/The Post And Courier
The flurry of new research and development centers and corporate campuses in Midtown reflect the desire of companies to tap into Tech's rich student and faculty talent. For Tech, the moves create a pipeline of jobs for graduates and possible private sector research dollars for the university at a time when federal research money is harder to find.
Last year, Tech and development partner Portman broke ground on a new office tower and high performance computing center called Coda that would have space for the university as well as private sector research.
Boeing has deep ties with Georgia Tech, including partnerships with engineering students, and Tech is one of Boeing's 10 "primary strategic secondary schools," which include Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Georgia boasts about 500 aerospace-related companies, including a Lockheed Martin manufacturing center in Marietta, and business jet giant Gulfstream employs more than 10,000 people between its headquarters in Savannah and in Brunswick.
AJC Business reporter J. Scott Trubey keeps you updated on the latest news about economic development and commercial real estate in metro Atlanta and beyond. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:
Rising prices, loan rates seen for housing in Atlanta, U.S.
A global office space glut? But what about Atlanta?
Boston Consulting Group plans Atlanta expansion, high-paying jobs
Never miss a minute of what's happening in local business news. Subscribe to myAJC.com.
In other Business news:
Walmart Tests Automated Grocery Kiosk Pickup


Lori Butts, JD, PhD | Clinical & Forensic Institute, Inc.
Dr. Lori J. Butts is President and Director of the Clinical and Forensic Institute, Inc., with offices in Broward and West Palm Beach, Florida. She is a Florida licensed Psychologist, with specializations in clinical and forensic psychology; she is also a member of the Florida Bar Association. After graduating from Clemson University with Honors, Dr. Butts received her law and doctoral psychology degrees from the innovative jointly sponsored program by Villanova School of Law and Drexel University Department of Clinical Psychology. She completed her internship in clinical and forensic psychology at New York University School of Medicine, Bellevue Hospital, and Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. She began her career with the Clinical & Forensic Institute, Inc. of Davie, Florida initially by fulfilling her residency requirements, later being appointed as Treatment Director for the R.E.A.C.H. program, and eventually accepting her position as President and Director of the Clinical & Forensic Institute, Inc.
Dr. Butts is a qualified expert in legal competency, insanity, penalty phase, and risk assessment cases. In addition, she works closely with various state and federal entities to provide a multitude of services encompassing jury consultation and jury education; jury selection, including the utilization of focus groups; witness preparation; case consultation; forensic evaluation; expert testimony on competency, mental state at time of the offense, alternative sentencing and downward departure; case review and annotation; direct examination and cross examination; individual, family, and group therapy; and behavioral medicine interventions.


Oak Wheels started has a hobby and has a concept in 2007. The main idea was work the design and the materials to create a more realistic fingerboard wheel. The job wasn't easy for several reasons and after 2 years of prototypes, concept maturation and a lots of requests to make them real, Oak Wheels V1's were launched back in 2009. V1's were a revolution when they came out into the International Fingerboard Scene, the urethane made this wheels the most realistic wheels in the world and after some months the V'2 were launched. The biggest difference from V1's to V2's was the urethane hardness, V2's were harder so they had less grip but all the Urethane Feeling was still alive. Actually the V2's fixed the actual Oak Wheels Urethane hardness, they can be considerer as an important step in Oak Wheels history for the affirmation has one of the best, alternative and with a biggest range of color wheels in the International Fingerboard Scene.
We have a big passion for what we do, we live it 365 days per year. Not only virtually but also locally with our dreamland Pateo. Life is all about choices and this is our choice.
Design is a big part of us. Designing a wheel, a graphic, working our website, or a new product, will be always done with care, love and innovation in order to add something new to the Fingerboard Scene.
To Alaska, Indonesia our South Africa it does't matter, we ship from Portugal worldwide. They are all shipped by rocket so theres also a chance to ship them to Mars.
We wanna be a part of Fingerboarding future, we wanna help it to grow. We feel that we must do our part, investing time, resources and love with it. Its always hard to have ideas and sometimes even harder to realize some of them, but its easier if you start to identify a concern, a fingerboard concern. That's how we do it in Oak Wheels, identifing a need, gettting a solution and enjoying the rush around all this process. Change, design, innovation, passion, commitment, respect and love that's how we see the Future.


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ABN Amro can profit from blissful domesticity
East, west, home's best
9 August 2017 By Christopher Thompson Follow @CGAThompson
A thriving Dutch economy and divestments helped the state-owned lender boost first-half net income by 82 pct year-on-year. CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen wants to grow small business lending and ABN's international operations. Cost-cutting would provide a surer route to earnings growth.
FILE PHOTO: The head office of ABN AMRO bank is seen in Amsterdam May 29, 2007. REUTERS/Koen van Weel /File Photo - RTS1B0EL
Reuters: ABN Amro second-quarter profit beats expectations
EU second-tier banks could get yield curve leg-up
ABN Amro on Aug. 9 reported net income of 960 million euros ($1.1billion) for the second quarter, up from 615 million euros in the first three months of the year. The second-quarter figure benefited from a 200 million euro gain on the sale of its Asian private banking unit.
The state-owned Dutch lender reported a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 17.6 percent at the end of June. Its return on equity was 20 percent for the quarter and 16.7 percent for the first six months of the year.
ABN Amro shares were unchanged at 24.81 euros by 0900 BST on Aug 9.


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Last Exit
Privatization and Deregulation of the U.S. Transportation System
Clifford Winston
Published: Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2010
Reviewed by: John Semmens, Laissez Faire Institute
Kindle Paperback
This book review appeared in the Winter 2011/12 issue of The Independent Review.
More than a quarter-century of studying the American transportation system has led Clifford Winston to the inescapable conclusion that "the evidence of government failure has been overwhelming" (p. 125). His latest book attempts to summarize decades of research findings in an effort to persuade policymakers to take the privatization "exit ramp" out of the mess that government ownership and operation have created.
Regardless of the mode of transportation under consideration, government's role has on balance been more harmful than helpful. Winston estimates that costs are higher—by about $100 billion per year (p. 14)—and performance has been worse than would have been the case without government intervention.
How can this be? Didn't government have to step in to protect the public interest? Didn't government have to rescue travelers and shippers when the private sector failed?
As one who spent more than thirty years working in a government transportation agency, I can attest that government rarely acts out of a desire to protect the public interest. Time after time, faced with mountains of data verifying the difference between a good option and a bad one, government decision makers have repeatedly chosen the worst course available. Some examples from Last Exit llustrate this phenomenon.
Consider how government funds transportation. Unlike private businesses, which must earn money from customers who willingly pay for services rendered, government relies on taxation. This condition attenuates the connection between payment and services rendered. Even though there is a Highway Trust Fund into which highway-user taxes are deposited and from which they are disbursed, both the way in which the taxes are assessed and the way in which the money is distributed undermine efficiency and foster inequity.
The real need for highway expenditures is driven by two major factors. On the one hand, roads must be strong enough to endure the traffic that passes over them. On the other, roads must be built with enough capacity (that is, lane-miles) to handle the number of vehicles that travel on them. Neither the highway-user tax structure nor the disbursement of highway investment funds is directly related to either of these major factors.
Heavy vehicles have been routinely undercharged for their use of the roadways. This situation subjects roadways to excessive wear and tear as well as to premature failure. Not only do roads incur unnecessary repair expenses—an estimated $10 billion per year (p. 50)—because of this mismatch, but freight traffic that can more efficiently be hauled by rail is shifted onto the road, further aggravating traffic congestion, increasing air pollution, and degrading traffic safety.
Except for providing a few so-called HOT (high occupancy/toll) lanes in limited use across the country, no public highway agency has made a serious effort to adopt congestion-based user charges—an option that virtually every economist agrees would be the most cost-effective method for reducing the dead-weight loss of traffic congestion. The result of this lack of effort is an avoidable waste of time and fuel amounting to an estimated $40 billion per year (p. 47) for commuters stuck in foreseeable daily "rush-hour" traffic jams.
These irrational user-tax policies are the inevitable outcome of a publicly owned road system where politics overrides economics. Trucking firms have lobbied successfully against the assessment of equitable and efficient user charges for their vehicles. Meanwhile, congestion pricing is opposed by a highway bureaucracy that sees congestion as a means for boosting gasoline tax revenues from gallons burned by idling traffic and by a transit lobby that uses congestion as a rationale for spending more on trains and buses. Of course, failure to adopt congestion pricing doesn't hurt a road construction industry that profits from every additional lane-mile of pavement that is laid.
The disbursement side of the transportation funding equation undermines efficiency in its own ways. Federal aid is focused on capital assistance. State and local governments are thus encouraged to defer maintenance, which has to be born out of state or local revenues. This condition results in more costly capital reconstruction when a less expensive and timely maintenance outlay would have saved taxpayers money (p. 51).
Perhaps even worse than the misallocation of funds among different roadway investments is the diversion of highway-user revenues to pay for mass transit. As inefficient as the publicly owned road system is, it still has a lower cost per person-mile of travel than does rail or bus transit (p. 69). Prior to being taken over by the public sector in the 1960s, most privately owned and operated urban transit systems were marginally unprofitable. Public ownership has ballooned the transit operating deficits to the point that revenues cover only a small fraction of the costs— about 8 percent for light rail transit, 22 percent for bus transit, and 30 percent for heavy rail transit (American Public Transportation Association, 2011 Public Transportation Fact Book [Washington, D.C.: American Public Transportation Association, 2011], tables 19 and 21).
Access to taxpayer-provided subsidies has eroded the incentive for efficiency and customer service. Public-transit officials are satisfied to run largely empty buses and trains because only a small part of their funding comes from paying customers. Though the nominal rationales for heavily subsidizing public transit are to offer transportation for the poor and to lure drivers out of their cars, the share of travel by urban bus and train has been in decline for decades. The inconvenience of public transit—average vehicle speeds of around fifteen to twenty miles per hour plus added time for walking to boarding locations and waiting for buses and trains (American Public Transportation Association, 2011 Public Transportation Fact Book, table 8)— more than offsets the subsidy for the vast majority of would-be riders, who end up preferring to drive themselves even in congested traffic.
Because the public sector has made a mess of transportation, Winston logically recommends privatization. But how will the policymakers' resistance to privatization be overcome? Winston offers two lines of argument. First, he calls attention to the successes of the wave of transportation deregulation that took place from 1978 to 1982. During those years, major deregulations of airlines, trucking, intercity buses, and railroads were implemented. Decades of academic research illuminating the gross inefficiencies of regulation combined with the energy crisis to produce salutary political action. Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives joined together to enact the legislation deregulating these industries.
Evaluation of the effects of deregulation on transportation shows a pattern of predominantly positive results. Capacity was more effectively utilized—there were fewer empty seats on airlines and buses and fewer deadhead (empty) miles for trucks and freight trains. Circuitous routing was eliminated. Competition increased, giving 90 percent of customers more options and lower fares (p. 119). Safety, one of the purported reasons for government regulation, continued its long-term trend of improvement after government's role was lessened (p. 120). Winston suggests that these beneficial consequences of deregulation should give current policymakers the courage to take the next step toward privatization.
Rather than expecting policymakers to leap into privatization with both feet, however, Winston tries to coax them along by urging them to carry out modest experiments. A first step would be to reduce the federal government's role. Instead of having a centralized authority mandating that state and local government dance to tunes played by the federal piper, Winston suggests, states and local government should be granted permission to deviate from a uniform standard and be encouraged to try new methods for meeting transportation needs (p. 156).
Although many state transportation departments are beginning to warm to a public–private partnership concept, Winston believes that this course does not really bring about the initiative and innovation that a true privatization would accomplish (p. 130). True privatization requires that transportation assets currently owned by governments be sold to private firms that will have the entrepreneurial freedom to manage them for profit. The pursuit of profit in a competitive environment pushes firms to improve the products and services they offer while simultaneously decreasing the cost to the consumer.
Will policymakers heed Winston's advice? It's difficult to say. Academics armed with reams of data and irrefutable logic rarely prevail in political contests. All they have to offer is the generalized benefits of improved efficiency and greater equity. Although politicians often give lip service to these goals, the gain from using power to benefit oneself and to pay off one's supporters is usually a more persuasive motivator.
The "wild card" in this situation is the continuing economic crisis. The recession and its accompanying decline in resources available to the government may induce policymakers to seek rescue via privatization. After all, privatization does hold out the prospect of tapping into new sources of capital at a time when voters are not likely to approve of tax increases. When voters feel threatened by unemployment, a decline in the values of their homes, and rising inflation, as they do now, they are loathe to favor greater government spending. Privatization may also offer an escape from customer complaints as ill-conceived public-sector ventures fail to deliver as promised. The rise of the Tea Party movement, with its demands for smaller government, indicates that the current economic crisis may open a window of opportunity for achieving privatization.
It is also possible, though, that an economic crisis will be exploited to increase the size and scope of government. The massive federal budget deficits incurred as both the Bush administration and the Obama administration sought to spend the country out of recession point away from privatization. In fact, in the field of transportation the Obama administration is pushing for a major investment in high-speed passenger rail—a program Winston declares likely to be a "considerable waste" (p. 164).
Last Exit is not the only recent book to recommend privatization as a way to improve transportation in the United States. Other worthy books on the topic include Walter Block's The Privatization of Roads and Highways (Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2009), Sam Staley and Adrian Moore's Mobility First (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009), Randal O'Toole's Gridlock (Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009), and the most comprehensive compilation of the best research on the topic, Gabriel Roth's Street Smart (Oakland, Calif.: Independent Institute, 2006). As a product of the Brookings Institution, Last Exit has the advantage of being more acceptable in liberal circles. Readers averse to "right-wing trash" may find the same message from one of their own more palatable.
John Semmens
Laissez Faire Institute
EconomyEnergy and the EnvironmentLand UseLaw and LibertyPrivatizationProperty Rights, Land Use, and ZoningRegulationTransportation


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Sri Lanka (Current page)
In the wake of the 2004 tsunami, HI set up rehabilitation centres. Since 2015, HI shifted its action to address reconciliation issues, including transitional justice and reducing inequalities via inclusive economic development programming.
Sri Lanka - Humanity & Inclusion | © HI
Actions in process
HI's teams took rapid and effective action immediately after the 2004 tsunami hit Sri Lanka. The organisation, which has been working in the country since 1992, provides support to vulnerable people and people with disabilities, who are disadvantaged and particularly exposed to the risk of natural disasters, through inclusive employment and community social inclusion projects.
HI also trains civil society organisations to provide vulnerable people, people with disabilities and women with job opportunities.
Furthermore, as part of the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka, the organisation promotes the participation in society of women, particularly women with disabilities, including by organising training on women's rights, equality and reconciliation, to help them build peace in their communities and feel more integrated. Groups of women are also conducting awareness sessions to inform about fundamental rights.
HI also provides rehabilitation care to children born with clubfoot using the Ponseti method. In addition, the organisation raises community awareness of this issue and enhances the early detection of disability.
Areas of intervention
Situation of the country
Sri Lanka was already ravaged by armed conflict when the tsunami hit its coast in 2004.
The war which consumed the north of the country lasted for nearly 30 years (1983 - 2009) and caused more than 60,000 deaths. Thousands of people were injured, of whom many were left with disabilities and many sustained their injuries from shells or anti-personnel landmines. Some 390,000 people were displaced by the conflict during the civil war.
The 2004 tsunami caused widespread physical and social damage. The disaster killed more than 40,000 people and left over 250,000 homeless. In recent years, flooding forced more than 400,000 to flee their homes in 2008 and a further 300,000 in 2010.
Sri Lanka's wounds are slowly healing and the reconstruction process is still ongoing, helped by the country's flourishing economy, and the rapid development of its infrastructure and services. Nevertheless, there is still a significant risk of natural disasters, including flooding, drought, landslides and cyclones, all of which frequently affect the island.
Number of HI staff members: 44
Date programme opened: 1992
Download the country file (pdf, 666.83 KB)
Miraclefeet


text:
Meet Artist Giggs…
Meet Artist Giggs Kgonamotse Kgole
Giggs Kgole was born in Kutupu Village in Limpopo in 1997 and grew up in Tembisa, Johannesburg.
His father worked at the Kelvin Power Station and he attended the nearby Cresslawn Primary School in Kempton Park. In grade six, upon returning from his initiation in Limpopo, he applied for a scholarship with the Student Sponsorship Program (SSP).
From a pool of 3000 applicants, he was one of 25 that won full scholarships – in his case, to the prestigious St John's College in Houghton, where he completed high school.
He considers this a great achievement for himself and his family, as not only was he the first person to attend a private high school, but the first in his family to reach and pass Matric.
His transition from Tembisa and Kempton Park to a prestigious high school like St. John's College was initially challenging. The level of education was more demanding and teaching methodologies differed from what he was used to.
His first year at a new school was difficult and he clung onto words of wisdom from his mother, who said "A man who is weak and seeks help gains more wisdom than the one who is too proud."
In time, the experience of confronting a challenging environment helped to develop the confidence and leadership skills which continue to serve him well.
His interest in drawing, architecture, film and design began early on. As a small child living in a rural area, he used to run down to the river in the mornings to collect heaps of mud to mould houses and little tractors with which to play.
The process of creating makeshift toys and games allowed him to explore his creative talents for the first time.
At 12 years of age, he opted to go through Koma – the traditional Pedi Initiation that marks the transition from boyhood to manhood. This gruelling process tested his limits and helped shaped his character, pushing him to discover strength he never knew he had. The experience – its challenges, rituals and tribulations – is explored in his artwork.
In 2013, he was part of a student exchange program with Glenalmond College in Scotland. His trip opened his eyes to the breadth of the global community, but also allowed him to appreciate his African heritage from a different perspective.
It allowed him to realise the extent to which South African stories are untold to the world outside. It instilled within him a desire to tell these stories through his art, conveying the vibrancy and complexity of life in his home country.
He is currently working on a project that empowers women in his village, through the production and sale of art. He aims to have his own studio in the near future, where creative students in need of employment can develop their abilities and support themselves.
In 2016 he was fortunate to be mentored by prominent artist William Kentridge.
Kgole said that this, "allowed me to express myself creatively and has guided me through the workings of this industry."
He appreciates the guidance he has received from prominent artists like Blessing Ngobeni and Ayanda Mabulu, yet is intent on staying true to his own identity and style.
Kgole spent six months in France, as the 1st Laureate of the Undiscovered Canvas Art Residency, created by Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez in the South of France. Undiscovered Canvas also produced 2 solo exhibitions in Cannes and 1 solo exhibition in London. Giggs had the opportunity to realise his dream of producing his 1st ceramic collection in Vallauris, where he collaborated with two great French ceramists Chris Krainik Bellengè and Serge Dos Santos.
During the residency Giggs Kgole was selected by Mail & Guardian as one of the 200 Young South Africans breaking barriers, and he is also a finalist for Young Masters Prize 2019 organized by The Cynthia Corbett Gallery in the UK.
Kgole is set to keep climbing the ranks in the art world and hopes to create a legacy as a unique and versatile artist.
Stay abreast of all things creative @sacreatives
Tags: 200 Young South Africans African heritage Ayanda Mabulu Blessing Ngobeni Chris Krainik Bellengè Cresslawn Primary School Giggs Kgole Glenalmond College Koma Kutupu Village Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez Serge Dos Santos St. John's College Tembisa The Cynthia Corbett Gallery Undiscovered Canvas Art Residency WILLIAM KENTRIDGE Young Masters Prize


text:
Home » World News » Iran Jails Christians, Then Holds Ceremony for Book on U.S. 'Islamophobia'
Iran Jails Christians, Then Holds Ceremony for Book on U.S. 'Islamophobia'
July 18, 2020 July 15, 2020 by keichri
Robert Spencer,
The mullahs know their American Leftist friends will neither notice nor care about the hypocrisy.
"War is deceit," according to a statement attributed to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran were taking notes. After stepping up the persecution of Christians and even carrying out raids and arrests against them, Iranian authorities paused long enough to unveil, with great fanfare, a "scholarly" book about "Islamophobia" in the United States. Yes, that's the real problem – and the American establishment media will nod along in agreement.
Evangelical Focus reported Tuesday that agents of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) "arrested at least twelve Christians, in a coordinated operation that took place in three different cities. The first arrest took place on 30 June, in Tehran, when ten intelligence agents raided the home of a Christian convert where there were around 30 Christians gathered."
The agents recorded that raid, but at a certain point they turned off their cameras and began abusing the Christians, who were finally handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken away in a van with blacked-out windows. They were taken to their homes, where the IRGC agents searched for Christian material and beat some of them, along with some of their family members, including some who had not converted to Christianity.
Evangelical Focus noted: "It is believed that, in both raids, the agents were helped by an informant, who had infiltrated the group of Christians within the past few months and gained their trust."
All this followed a report in late June that seven other converts to Christianity had been sentenced to prison or other punishments, including exile, fines, and work restrictions, for the crime of exercising their freedom of conscience. According to Article18.com, "they were each convicted of the same charge – 'propaganda against the state' – under Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, which provides for up to a year in prison for anyone found guilty of engaging in 'any type of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran or in support of opposition groups and associations.'"
Mansour Borji of the human rights advocacy group Article18 stated: "Condemning these people to prison because of their possession of Bibles and Christian symbols is a clear demonstration that Iran's Foreign Minister and others aren't telling the truth when they say that 'no-one is put in prison in Iran simply because of their beliefs.' These people have done nothing that could be construed as 'propaganda against the state' or 'acting against national security', but nevertheless they have been treated so unjustly."
Meanwhile, the International Quran News Agency reported that "a book on political Islamophobia in the US was unveiled in a ceremony in Tehran on Monday," that is, the day before the raids and arrest of twelve Christians.
The book in question is entitled Political Islamophobia at American Institutes: Battling the Power of Islamic Resistance, and is the masterwork of University of Tehran Professor Hakimeh Saghaye-Biriya. The Islamic Human Rights Commission not in Tehran, but in London, has published the book.
According to the International Quran News Agency, "it analyses the role of US think tanks in institutionalizing and fueling Islamophobia in the US government's domestic and foreign policies." During the ceremony at the International Quran News Agency in Tehran, Saghaye-Biriya "described Islamophobia as a branch of racism in the West. She said at a time when protests against racism have spread globally, there is a good opportunity to make a bridge between Islamic resistance and anti-racism movements in the world."
During the ceremony, a video message from Wayne State University's Saeed Khan was played; it "hailed the book for providing a good analysis of the role of political think thanks in US policy making and understanding the roots of Islamophobia in the country."
Back in the real world, "Islamophobia" is a propaganda neologism designed to intimidate people into thinking it wrong to oppose jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women.
Meanwhile, this book, and the accompanying ceremony, reveals the insidious nature of the entire "Islamophobia" enterprise. The Iranian endorsement and propagation of this term, with the participation of Wayne State University's Saeed Khan, recalls another Iranian initiative in academic propaganda: Carl Ernst, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill pseudo-academic whose work on Islam is so whitewashed, so fawningly apologetic, so complete in its denial of the jihad doctrine and Sharia oppression, that he was given an award in 2008 by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the genocide-minded anti-Semite who was at that time President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ernst happily flew to Tehran to accept. The incident was emblematic of how much American academia has degenerated.
After all, when was the last time you saw an American academic discuss the Muslim persecution of Christians, or Iran's treatment of religious minorities, or the inconsistency of Iranian authorities in persecuting Christians while complaining about "Islamophobia"? That's right: never. That's not what they do in the Antifa indoctrination factories known as universities these days; they're too busy recording video messages applauding Iranian propaganda.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 21 books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is Rating America's Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster.
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