Last Friday, we discussed the importance of internal controls for contractor Work-at-Home (WAH) programs. It is the Government's belief that only a subset of employees can effectively work out of their homes and for those who do work out of their homes, supervision, work assessments, and timekeeping become very important.
DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) and other contract auditors routinely conduct floorcheck audits. These unannounced employee interviews are designed to ensure the propriety of labor charges to Government contracts. Typically, the auditor has already made a selection of individuals he/she wants to interview prior to the unannounced visit. What happens when one or more of these individuals are working at home?
Finally, the employees employment should be verified to the payroll/personnel records.
One question frequently asked by employees contemplating a WAH schedule is the likelihood of a home visit by a Government auditor. That would be weird and extremely unlikely. Nowhere in the audit guidance is there a requirement that the auditor visit the employee at his/her home.
Many Government contractors have programs that allow employees to perform their work from home or from an alternative work site. There are advantages to such programs, reduced commuting time, less stress, and for the contractor, reduced overhead (assuming they can jettison some of their facilities). But with these WAH programs, comes a real need for internal controls to determine whether the program is effective. Government auditors are always concerned about potential abuse under WAH programs - many of them do it themselves and so, have first hand knowledge of potential risks, ineffective controls, and abuses.
Eligibility and Status - Adequate policies should include a description of the type of work that may be performed at home. For example, work that must be closely supervised, requires access to non-portable equipment or depends on the frequent interaction with others, cannot be performed at home. Policies should also include the status of employees working at home (e.g. full time, part-time, temporary, etc.) and the employees' eligibility for benefits such as insurance and leave.
that WAH employees work a mutually agreeable set of core hours to allow management to have access to the WAH employee at designated times.
Timekeeping requirements - WAH employees hshould be required to submit timecards in accordance with the company-wide timekeeping system.
Contractors without the foregoing minimum controls will undoubtedly be cited for an accounting system deficiency with the potential for billing withholds.
The GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program provides companies the opportunity to sell their products to Government customers. It has been a very successful program for both the Government and companies seeking to sell goods and services. It streamlines the entire procurement process, saving significant resources from the proposal prep and negotiation phases of contracting. Contractors, for their part, must agree to provide the Government the prices afforded their most favored customers, no exceptions.
The Department of Justice just announced a $70 million settlement after GSA auditors found that a company failed to disclose "most favored" prices during the negotiation of an MAS contract and as a result, the Government paid more than it should have for the products it purchased. Like many settlements, the contractor did not admit to guilt but, bottom line, it had to pay the Government the $70 million.
The $70 million settlement resolved issues discovered during a GSA post-award audit. The audit disclosed that the MAS contractor failed to meet its contractual obligations to provide the GSA with current, complete, and accurate information about its commercial sales practices, including discounts afforded to non-Governmental customers. As a result, Government customers who purchased items under the MAS contract paid higher prices than they should have.
Companies pursuing MAS contracts are expected to disclose all sales information to the Government. Omitting sales information because it is considered outdated or not pertinent, opens the door for the Government to later charge defective pricing. It is better to provide the information to the Government during negotiations and then explain it's non-relevance than to withhold it and risk subsequent allegations.
You can read DoJ's press release on this settlement here.
What are "CD" Contracts and What Are the Risks?
Contract Definition (CD) contracts are the kind that are awarded to multiple contractors who will ultimately compete for a major follow-on prime contract. They are usually short-duration contracts. Most of the time they are fixed-price.
Upon completion, the procurement activity (contracting officer) will use the results delivered under the CD contracts to help define exactly what it wants in the prime contract. After that determination, it will then issue an informative RFP.
Since the contractor's performance on the CD contract will have a direct bearing on its chance of winning the prime, there may be a tendency to spend more than the established contract value. Therefore CD contracts are highly susceptible to labor mischarging and the auditor should evaluate to make sure all allocable effort is being charged.
Identify all CD contracts. These contracts are high-risk contracts and, therefore, should be evaluated to make sure all allocable effort is being charged.
With these risk factors in mind, the auditors will specifically target any CD contracts to ensure that contractors are not off-loading some of the effort onto other direct or indirect projects/contracts.
This is our third and final posting on the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was released from conference committee last week. This Act has yet to pass the full House and Senate but from all accounts, it will. Previously we reported on two provisions in the Senate's version that did not make it out of committee, the arbitrary caps on employee compensation and the unlimited access to internal audit reports by Government auditors.
One of the provisions that did not make the final cut was to increase the small-business contracting goal from 23 to 25 percent. Section 1631 of the Senate's version included a provision that allowed the President to set small-business contracting goals at whatever he wanted but not less than 25 percent. Every year, it seems, small-business advocates try to increase the statutory goals for awarding contracts and subcontracts to small businesses. And, each year the provisions get pulled.
Of course, goals are goals and the real measure of success is ascertaining how well the Government is doing in achieving those goals. So far, the Government has never met the old goal of 23 percent so what is the point in increasing a percentage that cannot be met? OMB (Office of Management and Budget) recently announced an initiative to help Government agencies meet those goals. You can read about that initiative here.
Yesterday we wrote about how the conference committee eliminated a provision in the Senate's version of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would limit the reimbursement of compensation paid to contractor employees to that of the US Vice President. Today we want to highlight another change the conference committee made to the NDAA. This one involves access to contractor internal audit reports.
Under the Senate's version of the 2013 NDAA, contractors would have been required to grant access to internal audit reports and failure to do so, could render a particular business system deficient and subject the contractor to billing withholds.
Under the conference committee's version (expected to pass), the requirement to provide internal audits has been eliminated. Instead, the Act will require that if DCAA needs internal audits, it will request them, document the request, and document the contractors' response to the request. That's it. End of story. If the contractor denies access, there are no ramifications.
If the contractor does provide access, the internal audit reports can only be used by DCAA to evaluate the efficacy of contractor internal controls and the reliability of associated contractor business systems. A determination by DCAA that a contractor has a sound system of internal controls shall provide the basis for increased reliance on contractor business systems or a reduced level of testing with regard to specific audits, as appropriate. Internal audit reports provided by a contractor pursuant to this section may be considered in determining whether or not a contractor has a sound system of internal controls, but shall not be the sole basis for such a determination. This also means that the reports cannot be used as a basis for withholding billings.
Contractor's can breathe easier, for awhile. They will not be required to turn over internal audits if they so choose.
Here's some good news for contractors. The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) emerged from a congressional conference committee on Tuesday missing a few provisions that contractors were opposing including caps on compensation that would limit amounts to the Vice President's salary. In lieu of this provision, the committee recommended further study on the matter.
An estimate of the total number of contractor employees whose allowable costs of compensation in each of fiscal years 2010 through 2012 would have exceeded the amount of allowable costs if those costs were capped at the President's and another study if the costs were capped at the Vice President's salary.
An estimate of the total number of contractor employees in fiscal year 2012 that could have been characterized as falling within a narrowly targeted exception established by the Secretary of Defense (scientists and computer guys), a description of their duties and services, and their compensation.
An assessment of the potential impact on the DoD, contractors of the DoD, and employees of such contractors of reducing the amount of allowable compensation.
The GAO report is due within 120 days of enactment of this bill.
The GAO (Government Accountability Office) issued a report yesterday to the Senate Committee on Armed Services that looked at DoD's initiative to address the backlog of incurred cost audits and closing out old contracts. The entire report can be found here.
significantly reduced the number of low risk audits that will be randomly sampled.
The GAO reported that DCAA's new initiative "appears promising" but DCAA has not developed measures by which it will assess whether the initiative reduces the backlog in a manner that protects the taxpayers' interests. Specifically, the GAO found that DCAA does not have a plan for how it will determine whether key features of the initiative, such as the revised risk criteria and the revised sampling percentages, should be adjusted in the future.
Already, the number of proposals determined to be high risk is 250% higher than anticipated. That means more audits and more audits is going to jeopardized DCAA's ability to eliminate the incurred cost backlog by 2016.
Reducing the backlog of incurred cost audits will ease one obstacle to closing old contracts. The Army recently announced a goal of closing over 475 thousand contracts by September 2014. Unless it can quick-close some of those, it will need DCAA's audits to achieve that goal. The GAO report was somewhat critical of the Navy and Air Force for not establishing similar goals.
This is an edited version of a post from 2010 but we are posting it again because of a recent situation where a company, in the process of purchasing a Government contractor, had to scale back its offer when it determined that the fair market value of the assets could not be depreciated under Government contracts.
When a contractor becomes aware that a change in its ownership has occurred (or is certain to occur) that could result in changes in the valuation of its capitalized assets in the accounting records, it must notify the ACO (Administrative Contracting Officer) within 30 days.
Additionally, the contractor must notify the ACO within 30 days whenever changes to asset valuations or any other cost changes have occurred or are certain to occur as a result of a change in ownership.
This requirement applies to negotiated contracts or for which any preward or postaward cost determinations will be subject to the FAR cost principles in Part 31 (see FAR 15.408(k)). To find out whether it applies to your contract(s), look for the contract clause 52.215-19.
Obviously, the Government does not want to pay for assets again and again. Some business combinations result in assets being "written up" to their fair market value (purchase method, for example) and there have been cases (prior to the implementation of FAR 31.205-52) where the Government paid for assets again after it had paid for the assets, through depreciation, to the predecessor company.
This requirement also applies to negotiated subcontracts..
Finally, we bring to a close our series on compensation costs. The FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) cost principle governing compensation is by far the longest and most complex of all the cost principles. Compensation costs often represent the most significant cost element in contract pricing and incurred costs. As far as the Government is concerned, compensation represents one of, if not the area of greatest risk.
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is a stock bonus plan designed to invest primarily in the stock of the employer corporation. The contractor's contribution to an ESOP is made with cash, stock, or other property. It is difficult to find someone in the acquisition field that is familiar with ESOPs. Most auditors and contract administrators will spend an entire career without ever having to learn about ESOPs much less having to make recommendations or decisions.
As a general rule, the costs of ESOPs are allowable but there are a few conditions. Some ESOPs meet the definition of a pension plan. Costs of those ESOPs must comply with CAS 412 (compensation and measurement of pension costs). ESOPs that are not pensions, must comply with CAS 415 (deferred compensation). Additionally, contributions in any one year that exceed the deductibility limits of the IRS Code are unallowable.
When ESOP contributions are made with company stock, the value of the stock is limited to the fair market value of the stock on the date that title is effectively transferred to the trust. When the contribution is in the form of cash, stock purchases by the trust in excess of the fair market value are unallowable. Determining fair market value of publicly traded companies is easy. However, in the case of a closely held corporation, the fair market value is not readily determinable so this regulation requires that the valuation be made on a case-by-case basis taking into consideration the guidelines for valuation used by the IRS. As many closely-held companies know, valuation is more art than science and the true value of a company is the price that a willing buyer and seller agree upon. Closely held companies that produce a valuation to support ESOP contributions can expect close scrutiny by the Government.
This section of the FAR cost principle on compensation addresses statutory limitations on the overall compensation for certain contractor personnel. These compensation caps have been around since 1995. Initially, they applied to DoD contracts only but starting in 1998, the caps were extended to all Government contracts.
In 1995, the compensation cap was $250 thousand. By 2011, the cap had risen to $763,029. The most recent cap (i.e. $763 thousand for 2011) stays in effect until revised by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). They cannot be escalated for future years.
Compensation, as defined under this cap includes only wages, salaries, bonuses, deferred compensation and employer contributions to a defined contribution pension plan. It does not include other elements of compensation such as severance pay, early retirement incentive pay, etc.
Since 1999, the cap applies to the five most highly compensated employees in management positions at each home office and each segment of the contractor, whether or not the home office or segment reports directly to the contractor's headquarters.
Beginning in 2012, the cap was extended to all employees under DoD, NASA, and Coast Guard contracts (see Section 803 of the 2012 NDAA).
Have you ever wondered why it takes such a long time for DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) to issue an audit report? If you've had recent experience with DCAA, you probably have wondered. There are multiple factors but one of the biggest factors is the inscrutable review process.
Before an audit begins, the auditor must hold a planning meeting with his/her supervisor, office manager, and regional audit manager to discuss the risk of fraud and noncompliances with applicable laws and regulations that could have a material effect on whatever system is being audited. They discuss prior audit experience, the contractor's environment, and more.
Sometimes, you just have to pity the poor auditor.
The Service Contract Act of 1965 was enacted to ensure that Government contractors compensate their blue-collar service workers and some white-collar service workers fairly, but it does not cover bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees. That omission is covered in FAR 22.1103.
The Government is concerned with the quality and stability of the work force to be employed on its service contracts. Professional compensation that is unrealistically low or not in reasonable relationship to the various job categories may impair a contractor's ability to attract and retain conpetent professional service employees. Recompetition of service contracts may in some cases result in lowering the compensation (salaries and fringe benefits) paid or furnished professional employees. This lowering can be detrimental in obtaining the quality of professional services needed for adequate contract performance. Therefore, it is in the Government's best interest that professorial employees be properly and fairly compensated.
FAR 22.1103 requires that solicitations for negotiated service contracts, when the anticipated contract amount is greater than $650 thousand, and the service to be provided will require meaningful numbers of professional employees, include a requirement to submit, for evaluation a total compensation plan setting forth proposed salaries and fringe benefits for professional employees working on the contract. Supporting information is also required and should include data such as recognized national and regional compensation surveys and studies of professional, public and private organizations, used in establishing the total compensation structure.
FAR 52.222-46 cautions that "low-balling" may be viewed as evidence of failure to comprehend the complexity of the contract requirements and failure to provide a compensation plan may constitute sufficient cause to justify rejection of a proposal.
Last month, the Government intervened in a lawsuit against Fluor Hanford Inc. and its parent company, Fluor Corporation (collectively Fluor). The False Claims Act lawsuit was originally filed by a whistleblower who was also a former employee of Fluor.
Between 1999 and 2008, Fluor had a prime contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide a wide variety of security, maintenance and operational services at the DOE's Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington State. As part of its contract, Fluor was responsible for managing and operating a federally-funded facility to train Hanford site workers as well as first responders and law enforcement personnel.
The whistleblower complaint alleges that, as a condition of receiving its DOE contract, Fluor was required to certify that it would not use federal funds for lobbying activities. The complaint further alleges that between 2005 and 2008, Fluor ignored these restrictions and used DOE funding to lobby Congress and executive branch officials for more funding for the training facility. The complaint alleges that Fluor, and two lobbying firms hired by Fluor and paid using DOE funds, Secure Horizons LLC and Congressional Strategies LLC, lobbied members of Congress and executive branch agencies to include additional funds for the training facility in agency appropriations. The United States intervened in the lawsuit.
At contractor locations with a significant amount of planned audit activity, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) conducts what they term, "Annual Audit Planning and Requirements Planning Meetings" with contractor representatives and contracting officers.
These meetings are typically held during the first quarter of the Government fiscal year (i.e. October -December time frame). At these meetings, the auditors present the various types of audits they plan to conduct in the current year. Applicable audit guidance also instructs them to solicit contractor and contracting officer input into the planned audit schedule.
Regardless of the meetings' ostensible purpose to solicit input from contractors and contracting officers, by the time the meeting rolls around, the audit plan for the year is very much fixed.. We know of no situation where the audit plan was changed as a result of input from either the contractor or the contracting officer.
Even though contractors have no real input into the annual audit plan, these meetings are informative for learning what the auditor(s) plan to do during the year. It is especially important to know which internal control systems will be audited, which CAS standards will be reviewed for compliance, and which contracts have been selected for defective pricing audits (compliance with TINA, or the Truth in Negotiating Act). Knowing this information will help contractors prepare for the audit and compile information and data that is likely to be required/requested.
Many times, contractors sit passively through these meetings, taking a few notes, and nodding once in awhile. We think it is much better to use this time to engage the auditor. Once the audits begin, auditors are not likely to be very conversant. Now is the time to ask them why they chose to schedule a particular internal control audit, how they view the existing system, what were the results of audit the last time they audited and whether there are any risk indicators currently. When the discussion turns to defective pricing, be sure to ask them your PASS rating and the objective and subjective elements that made up the rating. Challenge the auditors to explain why particular CAS standards are applicable or not applicable.
Sometimes the auditors want to "call it in" rather than face to face. We don't believe that annual planning meetings make efficient conference calls - its too difficult to have meaningful communications. Have the auditors come out and make their presentations.
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced yesterday that contract spending in fiscal year 2012 fell by $20 billion compared to fiscal year 2011.
According to OFPP, seven of the $20 billion came from reductions in management support services such as information technology systems, development, program management and engineering. Savings were also achieved by agencies pooling their purchases to get the same goods and services at lower prices.
The administration is proud of its accomplishments and last Wednesday, announced a new series of initiatives to continue the trend. The focus of the new initiatives is to drive even better coordination of contracting to achieve more savings in buying computers, IT software, janitorial and sanitation supplies, office furniture, building maintenance and operations services, and other professional technical services.
As almost an afterthought, the new initiatives add "To the maximum extent practicable, all strategic sourcing opportunities shall seek to increase participation by small businesses".
Yesterday, we informed you that the Senate unanimously (98-0) passed the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that included caps on employee compensation. That same bill included a provision that will require defense contractors to provide not only their internal audit reports but also the supporting working papers to Government auditors.
assess the amount of risk and level of testing required in connection with specific audits to be conducted by the Agency.
Contractors who fail to provide access, risk having one or more of their business systems determined to be inadequate (or disapproved) and would result in billing withholds.
Last August, we wrote a three-part series on internal audits and their value in reducing the amount of audit testing by DCAA (hint: not much). You can read those postings here: Part I, Part II, and Part III. But, the GAO thinks it is important and DCAA cited the general lack of access as one of the issues causing inefficiencies in its audits.
The Senate bill must be reconciled with the House version. It is unknown whether this provision will survive the conference committee.
Yesterday evening, the Senate unanimously approved the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes a provision capping compensation of any contractor employee at $230,000 per year. It will become effective on January 1, 2013 and applies to all contracts including those entered into before, on, or after that date. The House version of the NDAA does not contain the provision. The question now is whether the Conference Committee will leave it in or take it out? Stay tuned.
With all the discussion about sequestration and fiscal cliffs, contractors with DoD contracts might want to check their contracts for the existence of DFARS clause 252.37-7023. DoD Contracting Officers are required to use this clause in solicitations and contracts having essential contractor services. The clause requires the appropriate functional commander or equivalent to specifically identify which functions of a contract are mission essential services. A contractor who provides Government-determined essential contractor services shall have a written plan to ensure the continuation of these services in crisis situations.
"Essential contractor service" means a service provided by a firm or individual under contract to DoD to support mission essential functions, such as support of vital systems, including ships owned, leased, or operated in support of military missions or roles at sea, and associated support activities, including installation, garrison, and base support services. Services are essential if the effectiveness of defense systems or operations may be seriously impaired by the interruption of these services during periods of crisis caused by the changing threat environment, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, blizzards, floods, or pandemic influenza, etc.
"Mission-essential functions" means those organizational activities that must be performed under all circumstances to achieve DoD component missions or responsibilities, the failure of which would significantly affect DoD's ability to provide vital services or exercise authority, direction, and control.
When the clause for continuing performance of essential services is incorporated into a contract, the cost of preparing the plan and costs to keep the plan in place, such as potential retainer fees with other service providers and costs related to contracting officer directed training activities associated with testing the effectiveness of the plan, would be valid contract costs subject to the allowability, reasonableness, and allocability provisions of FAR 31.201 and the cost principles at FAR 31.205.
Since most plans for continuation of essential services will be specific to the contract and contractor, auditors are being instructed to carefully examine the validity of these costs on a case-by-case basis. Most contractors normally allocate the costs of planning for continuing operation of the overall organization as an indirect cost. However, contractors should generally charge planning costs for contractually required continuation of essential contractor services as direct costs. While CAS 402, Consistency in Allocating Costs Incurred for the Same Purpose, requires that each type of cost is allocated only once and on only one basis to any contract, the illustrations at CAS 402-60(b) support that planning for the continuing operations of the overall organization are not incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances as the planning for continuing essential contractor services as required by the contract.
Plan Execution Costs. The contractor is required to segregate and separately identify all costs incurred in continuing performance of essential services in a crisis situation. A contractor has 90 days (longer if approved by the contracting officer) to notify the contracting officer of an increase or decrease in costs after he or she has directed continued performance. The parties shall negotiate an equitable adjustment to the contract price as soon as practicable after receipt of the contractor's proposal. As DFARS 252.237-7023 provides for an equitable adjustment, costs to execute the plan should not be included in price proposals. Auditors are being instructed to question any plan execution costs included in price proposals.
A little more than two years ago (September 2010), the Department of Defense raised the threshold for price proposals requiring audit to $10 million for fixed priced contracts and $100 million for cost-type contracts. Last month, the DoD Inspector General's Office (DoD-IG) issued a scathing report on that decision stating that the Department had not performed a business case analysis to support it.
That decision, according to the DoD-IG will cost taxpayers $249 million per year in lost return on investment from DCAA contract audits.
The audits under the DCAA threshold were given to DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) but according to the DoD-IG, DCMA is not prepared to perform contract cost analaysis in place of DCAA and that DCMA cannot reliably report performance. Furthermore, the Department of Defense has no idea whether DCMA has even a remote chance of replicating the $249 million that DCAA could have achieved had the audit thresholds remained at their pre-September 2010 levels. Finally, the DoD-IG found that the Department did not demonstrate why they chose to direct taxpayer resources to DCMA to perform a job that it was not prepared to perform when DCAA had existing infrastructure in place to get the job done.
Perhaps the Department of Defense did not perform a business case analysis for shifting work from DCAA to DCMA but the fact is, DCAA was not getting the job done and their failure was significantly delaying the awards of contracts. The decision was borne more out of frustration than anything else.
The DoD-IG made a number of recommendations including a return to the old audit thresholds. You can read the entire report here.
Backpay is a retroactive adjustment of prior years' salaries or wages. Backpay should not be confused with deferred compensation. While backpay is generally unallowable, deferred compensation is usually allowable if a deferred compensation plan is set up correctly.
This provision changed significantly in 2003. Prior to that, backpay included settlements for violations of Federal labor laws and the Civil Rights Act of 1984 (e.g. improper discharge or discrimination). Under the 2003 revision, backpay is defined as additional compensation for work performed.
According to FAR 31.205-6.(h), backpay is unallowable except for a few situations.
Payments to employees resulting from underpaid work actually performed are allowable, if required by a negotiated settlement order, or court decree. Contractor intending to claim backpay under this provision will most likely need legal assistance.
Payments to union employees for the difference in their past and current wage rates for working without a contract or labor agreement during labor management negotiation are allowable.
An established policy or practice exists and is followed by the contractor so so consistently as to imply, in effect, an agreement to make such payments.
This rule effectively takes away situations where if a survey shows an employee is underpaid in a particular year, the contractor could make that underpayment up in a future year.
The allocation of backpay costs can be tricky. Usually settlements occur several years after the period to which backpay is allocable. If you have a backpay situation, we advise that you pursue an advance agreement (see FAR 31.109) with the contracting officer. Otherwise, you are risking time-consuming arguments with the auditors.
Circumstances of the particular employment.
These are pretty broad categories and we do not recall when a contractor's intention to pay or actual payment of severance pay was successfully challenged by the Government for failing to meet one of these four conditions.
Back in the 1970s and perhaps the early 1980s, as service contracts changed hands, winning contractors would hire the employees of the incumbent contractor and those employees would continue to do the same work that they had been performing. Sometimes, hiring incumbent employees was a requirement of the solicitation and other times, it was convenient and made business sense. However, upon losing the contract, incumbent contractors were paying their employees a severance pay and seeking reimbursement for those costs from the Government. That precipitated a new rule where payments made in the event of employment with a replacement contractor where continuity of employment with credit for prior length of services is preserved under substantially equal conditions of employment or continued employment by the contractor at another facility, subsidiary, affiliate, or parent company of the contractor are not severance pay and are unallowable.
There are two kinds of severance pay addressed in this cost principle; normal severance pay and abnormal severance pay.
allocated to all work performed in the contractor's plant.
Abnormal or mass severance pay is of such a conjectural nature that accruals for this purpose are not allowable. However, the Government recognizes its obligation to participate, to the extent of its fair share, in any specific payment. Thus, the Government will consider allowability on a case-by-case basis.
Specific requirements for foreign national employees. The costs of severance payments to foreign nationals employed under a service contract performed outside the US are unallowable to the extent that such payments exceed amounts typically paid to employees providing similar services in the same industry in the US. Further, all such costs of severance payments that are otherwise allowable are unallowable if the termination of employment of the foreign national is the result of the closing of, or the curtailment of activities at a US facility in that country at the request of the government of that country. This does not apply if the closing of a facility or curtailment of activities is made pursuant to a status-of-forces or other country-to-country agreement entered into with he government of that country before November 29, 1989. Applicable statutes permit the head of the agency to waive these cost allowability limitations under certain circumstances.
In November 2008, FAR was amended to require mandatory disclosure requirements involving fraud and overpayments on contractors (and subcontractors). These disclosure requirements apply to contracts greater than $5 million and a performance period greater than 120 days. This disclosure requirement applies to most types of contracts including commercial items and contracts awarded and/or performed overseas.
FAR 52.203-13 requires timely disclosure of violations against criminal and civil laws. Criminal laws include fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or gratuity violations. Civil laws include the False Claims Act. There must be credible evidence of a violation and the violation must have been committed by any contractor principal, employee, agent, or subcontractor.
Disclosures must be made in writing to the appropriate Inspector General (e.g. the DoD Inspector General for DoD Contracts) and the contracting officer. The reporting period extends from contract award to three-years after final payment. Many contractors do not realize that the reporting period extends beyond the contract period of performance.
The term "credible evidence" is undefined. but the FAR Councils have noted that the term indicates a higher standard than "reasonable grounds to believe". Implicit in this distinction is an allowance of time for a contractor to investigate matters to make a "credible evidence" determination. Failure to disclose credible evidence of criminal and civil violations (and significant overpayments) constitute grounds for suspension and debarment.
Sleeter Group Announces 2013 "Awesome Applications"
Each year since 2006, the Sleeter Group has culled through dozens of QuickBooks add-ons to select a few that rise above the others. They awarded these applications their "Awesome Add-on Award". This year, the Sleeter Group changed its format to include non-specific QuickBooks products and renamed their promotion from "Awesome Add-ons" to "Awesome Applications. While some QuickBooks specific add-ons made the winner's circle, many of the applications are stand-alone, not requiring QuickBooks to function.
As consultants with many clients using QuickBooks, we are always interested in any improvements to the basic platform as well as improved or added functionality provided by third-party add-ons. With hundreds of add-ons available however, it is difficult to assess which ones are worthwhile and which should be avoided. Having reviews by an independent (and reputable) organization certainly helps in assessing a product's strengths weaknesses, and value.
Click here to read about the winners of the 2013 Awesome Applications. Go here to read about previous winners.
Of the nine winners, the following three have the most potential for benefiting Government contractors and prospective contractors.
BillQuick by BQE Software. This is a repeat winner. BillQuick is an integrated solution for time & expense tracking, billing and project management. Many Government contractors use this product.
Cloud9 Real Time by Cloud9 Real Time. This application hosts all of your applications, data, and users in one central location, in the "cloud".
Concur Small Business Edition by Concur. This is an office expense management and reporting application. Contractors who perform a lot of travel and have inefficiencies in collecting travel expense information might benefit from Concur SBE.
eFAACT, a QuickBooks solution for Government contractors was a finalist in this year's selection process. If you are looking for something to facilitate indirect rate development and billings under Government contracts, you might want to evaluate this product. Our impression? Powerful but expensive.
FAR 16.301-3 states that a cost-reimbursement type contract may be used only when the contractor's accounting system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. Contracting officers must make this determination prior to the award of a contract. If the contracting officer has insufficient information to make this determination, it will request DCAA or another audit organization to perform a Preaward Survey of Prospective Contractor's Accounting System (SF Form 1408).
DCAA has been instructing contracting officers to send out a preaward survey checklist to prospective contractors to complete prior to requesting a preaward survey of the accounting system. This checklist will help ensure that the contractors understand the requirements of the SF Form 1408 and to ensure that they are ready for DCAA to come in a perform an audit.
Are you planning on bidding on cost type contracts?
Are you ready for a DCAA audit?
Have you read the requirements in the SF Form 1408?
Have you read the "Information for Contractors" pamphlet?
Please identify the DCAA office cognizant of your company.
Please identify your company's point of contact.
If an outside CPA/Consultant/Non DoD agency has reviewed your Accounting System, please provide a copy of the report.
This last bullet requires some clarification. The "review" that is referred to here is an attestation engagement performed in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) a.k.a. a "Yellow Book" audit. It would not include the results of, say, an outside firm (like PNWC) performing a review to identify potential weaknesses in a contractor's accounting system and making recommendations, as appropriate, on improving the system to meet Government contracting requirements. Those are not "reviews" conducted in accordance with GAGAS.
Companies looking to enter the Government contracting arena or existing contractors looking to bid on cost-reimbursable contracts, will find this checklist useful.


text:
Engine Programmer
LittleBigPlanet Dominates At AIAS Awards
February 20, 2009 | By David Jenkins
More: Console/PC
Sony's LittleBigPlanet has swept the awards at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' (AIAS) 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, held at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas.
Developed by UK team Media Molecule, LittleBigPlanet won in the Overall Game of the Year category, as well as six others: Console Game of the Year, Family Game of the Year, Game Direction, Art Direction, Visual Engineering and Innovation.
The game picked up an eighth award for mascot Sackboy in Outstanding Character Performance.
Elsewhere at the awards, Left 4 Dead picked up two awards (Computer Game of the Year and Online Gameplay), as did Fallout 3 (Role-Playing Game of the Year and Original Story).
Braid won Casual Game of the Year, World of Goo was named the Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and God of War: Chains of Olympus picked up the Best Handheld Game award.
Comedian Jay Mohr once again hosted the awards ceremony, held at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. Ensemble Studios co-founder Bruce Shelley was also honored at the event, being presented with a Hall of Fame Award by fellow Ensemble co-founder Tony Goodman.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Overall Game of the Year:
Console Game of the Year:
Computer Game of the Year:
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction:
Casual Game of the Year:
Fighting Game of the Year:
Handheld Game of the Year:
Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year:
Cellular Game of the Year:
Spore Origins
Role-Playing Game of the Year:
Racing Game of the Year:
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design:
World of Goo
Adventure Game of the Year:
Sports Game of the Year:
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year:
Command & Conquer 3: Red Alert
Action Game of the Year:
Family Game of the Year:
Outstanding Achievement in Animation:
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction:
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering:
Outstanding Character Performance:
Sackboy in LittleBigPlanet
Outstanding Achievement in Story - Adapted:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Outstanding Achievement in Story - Original:
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play:
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition:
Metal Gear Solid 4
Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack:
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design:
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering:
"The Interactive Achievement Awards is the forum for the industry's leading game makers to honor the best in technical innovation and game play experience," said Joseph Olin, president of the AIAS. "This year's winners represent the range of interactive entertainment experiences and truly exemplify why video games enjoy so much popularity among adults and children."
113356 newswire /view/news/113356/LittleBigPlanet_Dominates_At_AIAS_Awards.php Loading Comments

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The two main streets are Mission and Valencia.
8 seats. A little bit dirty. And you'll leave here with wok-smoked infused clothes. But it's the best deal in all of SF. Legit Burmese food with plates around $7-$9. Things to get: House noodles, tea leaf salad, coconut chicken noodle soup.
Vegan food that doesn't taste vegan. They source everything from their local farm. A lot of their dishes come drenched in their signature cashew "cheese" sauce which is heaven.
My fave coffee shop in the Mish. You'll know you're close when you see 394587 bikes hanging upside-down out front.
Draft beers on fleek! Punky, divey bar with a great outdoor back area. Delicious sliders! There's an alley next to it that's covered in cool graffiti and street art.
Deliciously classy cocktail spot. I think I had a Tom Collins here once made with curry spices!
If you want to wake up early and have the best pastries of your life, come here. Things to get: morning bun, ham and cheese croissant, and lemon meringue cake.
Brewery housed in a giant warehouse. Great space to people watch. Must get the coconut chicken wings.
$2 slices of giant New York style pizza slices.
Home of Haight and Ashbury. A strip of hippie shops and people, and quirky thrift stores. Not a lot of things to list here, because everything is cool! This is a must visit!
Grab a sandwich here (they're all tasty) and get it on Dutch Crunch bread. I've never seen this bread anywhere outside of SF!
The Italian neighborhood of San Francisco. Lots of delis, Italian restaurants, gelato, cannolis and home of Goorin Bros. the legendary hat shop. Neighbors Chinatown. Put on your walking shoes and start at Union Square. From there you can walk through a tunnel to Chinatown which will lead to North Beach.
Legendary pizza spot. If the line is too long, they have a casual take-out place next door. You can walk across the street and eat at Washington Square Park.
"Hidden" hipster bar with the usual culprits: mustached bartenders with suspenders turning out craft cocktails. Pimm's cup is recommended! Also serves delicious food.
A step up in terms of fanciness and mustached bartenders from 15 Romolo. Great cocktails.
Take the Bart down to the embarcadero and walk along the water. You'll see the gorgeous Bay Bridge (it lights up at night!). Stop at the Ferry Building for lunch, it's filled with gourmet food vendors and home of Blue Bottle Coffee!
You may be enticed to come here because that's what everyone does when they come to SF. But it's riddled with tourists and feels like Seaworld. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Take a drive through the giant park. It's really pretty! This is where all of the museums are. The California Science Center has a cool indoor rainforest!
This is the crazy windy road! Located in Nob Hill.


text:
farragutpress
Presstalk
Request Past Issue
Statewide Public Notices
Farragut Foundations
Asian carp, a menace to fish/humans, could be near Ft. Loudoun Lake soon
April 16, 2020 by Tammy Cheek
Asian carp are posing a threat in Tennessee's waters, but so far the carp have not been observed in upper Tennessee River reservoirs, including Fort Loudoun Lake, according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
TWRA Aquatic Nuisance coordinator Cole Harty said there are four species collectively known as Asian carp: silver carp, bighead carp, black carp, and grass carp.
"These fish were brought to the United States primarily to help maintain aquaculture ponds," he said. "Unfortunately, they were able to escape those ponds into the Mississippi River during floods. They have since spread to some Tennessee waters through navigation locks.
"Silver carp and bighead carp are primary concerns for TWRA," Harty added. "Black carp are also a concern, but only a few individuals have been found, and all on the lower reservoirs (Kentucky and Barkley lakes)."
However, he warned Asian carp "enter the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers from the Ohio River, traveling through navigation locks into our downstream reservoirs.
"In areas where carp are highly abundant —numerous — such as Kentucky, Barkley, Pickwick and Cheatham lakes, (silver carp) have the potential to compete with young, native fish for food, and they can create a safety hazard due to their tendency to jump when frightened, often due to the noise of a boat engine. This behavior can create a safety hazard for boaters.
"Silver carp feed on microscopic plankton, not other fish," Harty added. "When carp are present in high numbers, they can compete for this food with our native sport fish that also rely on plankton. ..."
As for size, "Silver carp can exceed 60 pounds, but typically don't jump once they are over 10 to 15 pounds," he said. On the other hand, he warned bighead carp could grow in excess of 100 pounds.
"Our fisheries ... have not observed any impacts outside of historical ranges, though it is likely that the presence of carp in large numbers impacts the behavior of our native species," Harty said.
In the upper Tennessee River reservoirs, "We have received few reports from the public," he said. "We are working to stop the progression of these fish into East Tennessee and will continue to monitor for their presence."
The good news is Asian carp are "safe for human consumption and make excellent table fare," Harty said. "Silver carp and bighead carp have flaky white, mild tasting flesh that rivals crappie and catfish.
"... Because these fish are invasive, we encourage people to harvest as many as they can. Remember, though, it is illegal to possess or transport live Asian carp," he added. "We are providing incentives to commercial fishers to reduce the population in our downstream reservoirs, like Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake, he said.
"... We are working to prioritize and implement barriers at navigation locks," Harty added.
"Do not move bait away from the body of water where it was harvested," he said. "Do not release live bait into any body of water outside of where it was collected."
Learn more and report any sightings as described on TWRA's website, https://www.tn.gov/content/tn/twra/wildlife/fish/asian-carp.html.
Request a Past Issue
© 2022 farragutpress


text:
Frequent deaths of wild elephants in Jhapa worry conservationists
Experts say human-wildlife conflict has risen because of encroachment of the bio-corridor by humans over the years.
Park official examine an elephant that was found dead near the Dahijhoda forest area of Arjundhara Municipality-4 in Jhapa on July 6. Photo Courtesy: Shankar Luitel
Parbat Portel
Published at : July 10, 2022
Updated at : July 10, 2022 07:18
Jhapa
An elephant estimated to be around 30 years old was found dead near the Dahijoda forest area of Arjundhara Municipality-4 in Jhapa on July 6.
According to the Division Forest Office, Jhapa, the cause of the elephant's death has not been ascertained but conservationists suspect electrocution since there were no visible signs of injuries on the body.
Conservationist Shankar Luitel, who visited the site where the elephant was found dead, believes that the elephant died of electrocution.
"During my on-site visit, I saw electric wires scattered around the place where the elephant lay dead," he said. "The actual cause of death can only be determined after the postmortem reports are in but my suspicions are strong in this case."
There are about a dozen native elephants in Jhapa. Luitel claims that the elephant killed on Wednesday was not a native but came from India.
This is not the first incident of elephant death reported in Jhapa this month. On July 1, an elephant estimated to be around seven years old was found dead in Aayabari village about 500 meters south of the Panchpokhari forest area in Buddhashanti Rural Municipality-5.
Elephants enter the villages spread around the forest areas to eat crops. To prevent elephants from entering the fields, the local farmers install electric fences around the perimeter of their land. This is one of the main causes behind the high number of elephant deaths in the area, say conservationists.
The Division Forest Office in Jhapa says the bodies of both the elephants have been sent for postmortem.
"The cause of their deaths can only be confirmed after the postmortem report," said Acting Division Forest chief Raj Kumar Khatri. "We are still awaiting the postmortem result of the elephant that was found dead on July 1."
Studies show that elephants from Assam and West Bengal in India travel to Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in Nepal through Bahundangi. Experts say that instances of human-wildlife conflict are recurring because of the encroachment of the bio-corridor by humans over the years. There are around 1,800 households in Bahundangi.
Dr Narendra Pradhan, an expert on elephants, said that the conflict between humans and elephants has been going on for a long time in Jhapa, where both have suffered.
According to the Division Forest Office, Jhapa, 53 people have died in elephant attacks while 13 elephants have been killed in the last ten years.
"Elephants are intelligent animals. They do not attack for fun. People need to stop killing and torturing them," Pradhan told the Post. "The conflict between elephants and humans could go on forever if we don't think about ways to help the animal protect their way of life and their right of way. The responsibility to reduce this conflict is not in the hands of elephants but falls on us humans."
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has banned the killing of elephants or any kind of physical abuse of the animal species. But very few people living in areas prone to human-wildlife conflict abide by international law.
Due to the complexity of the issue of whether to save people or elephants, the concerned bodies and the general public do not take the issue of elephant deaths seriously, says conservationist Dr Shantaraj Gyawali.
"The death of an elephant should be taken as seriously as that of a human," he said. "When a human settlement moves into an area used by elephants as bio-corridors, the likelihood of human-animal conflict increases. The authorities should find ways to prevent confrontations between humans and elephants by protecting bio-corridors from human encroachment."
On October 30, 2020, a wild elephant was found dead in the Pachpokhari Community Forest Area of Buddhashanti Rural Municipality-5, Jhapa.
The Division Forest Office, Jhapa, had suspected the locals' involvement in the death of the elephant since it had several wounds inflicted by sharp weapons on its body. But no further investigation into the case was initiated.
According to the Nepal Law Commission, if an elephant dies for any reason, the forest officer of the area should conduct the necessary investigation and order the funeral of the elephant. However, investigation teams are rarely formed.
"I don't think the forest office has carried out any serious investigation into the death of an elephant," said conservationist Luitel.
Although many people have been prosecuted in the forest office for killing animals like spotted deer, deer and other wild animals, no one has been dragged to court for killing elephants so far.
"I have never seen a case that got registered for killing elephants," said Assistant Forest Officer Kul Prasad Bhattarai.
According to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, two dozen wild animals, including elephants, are on the protected list of the country.
The guilty can face imprisonment for 3 to 10 years or more for killing animals on the protected list.
According to Luitel, the human-elephant conflict has been going on in Jhapa for about 50 years. "Both humans and elephants are dying every year," Luitel said. "The government needs to get serious about how to protect both."
Parbat Portel is the Jhapa correspondent for Kantipur Publications.
At least 11 injured as chaos ensues in a pop concert in Dhankuta
Seven injured in Khotang bus accident
Two found dead at a tea garden in Jhapa
Two suspects in Nepal, four in India nabbed over murder of two Janakpur youths
Medics being probed after alive baby pronounced dead
Inferno guts three houses in Dhankuta
Most Read from Province No. 1


text:
# Copyright 2016 Cisco Systems, Inc.
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.

require 'tmpdir'
require 'turnip/rspec'
require 'turnip_formatter'
require 'rspec_junit_formatter'
require 'rspec/instafail'

RSpec.configure do |config|
  # configure formatters
  config.add_formatter 'documentation'
  config.color = true
  config.add_formatter RSpecTurnipFormatter, "/opt/project/test-reports/servicetest-report.html"
  config.add_formatter RspecJunitFormatter, "/opt/project/test-reports/servicetest-rspec-junit.xml"
  config.add_formatter RSpec::Instafail

  # fail when steps are unimplemented
  config.raise_error_for_unimplemented_steps = true

  # load base helpers
  Dir.glob("blackbox-test/helpers/**/*_helper.rb") { |f| load f }
  config.include EventuallyHelper, :type => :feature
  Dir.glob("blackbox-test/steps/**/*_steps.rb") { |f| load f }

  config.before do
    @dir = Dir.mktmpdir("project-lifecycle-blackbox")
  end
  config.after do
    FileUtils.rm_rf(@dir)
  end
  config.after(:teardown => true) do
    Dir.chdir(@dir) do
      %x{lc teardown -f 2>&1}
    end
  end
end

# add `lc` to our path
require 'fileutils'
FileUtils.ln_s("/opt/project/target/lc-blackbox", "/usr/local/bin/lc")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Virginia: Crime Victims – a Lawyer's Abuse
28 Jan Virginia: Crime Victims – a Lawyer's Abuse
In Burkeen v. Commonwealth, No. 122718, the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed a conviction for malicious wounding, even though the unprovoked assailant only struck his defenseless crime victim with a single bare fist blow to the face. "We hold that, under the circumstances, there was sufficient evidence of violence and brutality for the circuit court to find that, although [Defendant] delivered only one blow with a closed fist, he acted with malice and he intended to maim [his crime victim]." Id. at 8.
Mr. Waterman represents certain crime victims against their perpetrators in civil lawsuits for substantial compensatory damages, including particularly sexual abuse victims. Where Defendants act with malice, which is the case with most crimes, their crime victims also may recover punitive or exemplary damages; and any civil judgment in favor of the crime victim Plaintiff may not be dischargeable in Bankruptcy by the Defendant.


I am a 28-year old M.Sc. (tech), currently chasing my doctoral degree on electrical engineering in the Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Finland. My research mainly deals with resistive losses in the windings of random-wound electrical machines, but I'm very skilled in machine analysis in general. Below, you can find a brief description of my main areas of expertise.
I have a strong experience in writing computationally efficient finite element (FEM, also FEA) programs for electromagnetic analysis of electrical machines. I have especially focused on analysing eddy-current and circulating current losses in stranded windings, and I'm currently working on efficient time-domain analysis. Click here for more information.
Flux density plot of a 15 kW induction motor. Simulated in Matlab, with a library of my own making.
I have programmed a library for solving nonlinear reluctance networks of arbitrary topology. Both permanent magnet and current sources can be modelled in both 2 and 3 dimensions. Time-stepping analysis is supported and encouraged, and changes in the network due to e.g. motion are handled in an efficient fashion.
Furthermore, I have developed a fully parametriced reluctance network model for a novel axial flux permanent magnet machine. Click here for more information. I am certain I could make a similar model for a more conventional machine topology quite fast indeed.
The phase flux linkages of an axial flux permanent magnet machine, calculated with my reluctance network and a commercial FEM software.
Thanks to my work on random-wound machines, I am familiar with the basic stochastic finite element (sFEM, sFEA) approaches. This includes basic concepts such as polynomial and wavelet chaos, and surrogate models. Additionally, I have also tested some more advanced approaches such as the Proper Generalized Decomposition (PDG), its MiniMax extension, and some tensor-based approaches for high-dimensional problems.
I have also developed a sampling algorithm to model the uncertain winding process of stranded windings.


BGI has partnered with ATG Access to manufacture Surface Mount Bollards under license. ATG Access Surface Mount Bollards are PAS 68 certified bollards, stopping a 7.5 ton truck traveling at 48 km/hr. These bollards are suitable for high security locations.
Only fixed bollard which does not require any form of bolting to the surface.
Rapidly deployable with an array of 6 having an installation time of just over 10 minutes.
Can be fully integrated with a Hesco Bastian and Highway Care fencing system or planters.
The Rapid Deployable Surface Mount Bollard is one of the world's first impact tested surface mounted bollard systems, providing PAS 68 certified impact protection.
Installation and removal of the product is straightforward and rapid. The array of bollards can be reused when heightened security measures are needed. Ground surfaces are unharmed as no bolts are required. It is simply the best temporary, pedestrian permeable security solution available on the market. Six bollards can be deployed in just over ten minutes using planters to pin the array at each end. The temporary security solution can be used to protect an internal or external perimeter and can be installed in conjunction with the Hesco Bastian and Highway Care fence technology.
Whether you require a single bollard or need of a complete perimeter security solution, our team of physical security specialists is available to help you plan the optimal product configuration and layout to meet your security goals and fit within your budget.
BGI's B5000 / B3120 barrier is the latest of its products to pass the PAS 68 / K12 / M50 test to certify its ability to stop a 7500 kg truck travelling at 80 km/h. Read more about it here.
Copyright BGI Barriers 2014. All rights reserved. Designed and built by the WM Consulting Group.


Forgot to change the HTML thing-y.
Toups, I'm gonna see if I can find you a new image for the thread - That one is so 1998.
Here's the recent awesome Bushfire episodes. New producer, Susan Bower's micro-managing is really paying off.
I've been very impressed with Susan Bower's material. Though I think the incidental music could have used a little beefing up, the bushfire is fantastic and you can really see the budget increase.
They've done a good job too from what I've seen of psycho Jay holding Steph hostage. I'm not sure how they plan on pulling off her stabbing given the timeslot restrictions but I like that Bower is pushing the envelope a little. Even little things like Donna being bisexual. There's more of a balance between the Drama! of 2005-6 and the slooooooow pace since last August.
LOL! Thanks. I just chose the first logo I found.
Just thought I'd dredge this thread up. Anyone here still watching?
Personally, I'm loving the show right now. Nicola is awesome. Her needle stick injury has been really great, and well acted by Imogen Bailey. The fallout for Karl and Susan has enabled them to revisit the past, and thanks to Pete Ferguson, wanting to sell his story, they've managed to turn it into an umbrella story, by involving Paul and Elle. Genius.
Still not seen this week (possibly Monday's?) but I'm really enjoying it outside bloody Mickey running away for the umpteenth time. Can't stand that child.
Susan: What's your star sign Elle?
Susan: Taurus...oh. Today you're going to be wowed by a fantastic, intelligent new coworker.
I love Susan dearly but get a kick out of anyone bringing her down a peg or two.
Man, it's really hard getting some kind of following going for this show.
Whoever is watching, what are you thoughts on the missing Zeke story?
Toups: Recent Neighbours icon. I realize it's plain, but at least it's recent, and not representing the '98.
I'm still enjoying the show. I don't know what it is but no matter how low Neighbours goes, I can't give it up. I think it's in a fairly good place at the moment.
Zeke's departure is interesting...it's fairly obvious where it's going but Karl and Susan are such fantastic actors that I welcome them having something meaty to get into. I've always hoped they could do the "loss of a child" thing even it if is a bit of a cheat.
I also like the direction Zeke as a character has taken. I couldn't stand him or the actor until this year and it feels as though they've finally defined him.
My other passion in the show is Rebecca. I think she is a fantastic actress and a fabulous character. I really, really hope TPTB recognise this and push her to the forefront.
Yeah I think Neighbours is quite good at the moment although I know that reactions are still mixed.
I did like the Zeke storyline although it is a bit cliched. Its good that Zeke has finally come into his own as a character after pretty much playing supporting act to Rachel and the other teens for the past three years.
I do like Rebecca too (and I hope that Jane Hall and Kym Valentine have sorted out their rumoured issues).
IA about Zeke - he has come into his own. For a long time he flip-flopped between different character types, but now he feels a lot more defined. I really liked his scenes with Kyle and Justin; it felt as if he was on equal footing, compared to his presence within the RS teen group. I wouldn't mind seeing Kyle, stick around, and interact with the other teens. It would be interesting seeing Zeke juggle two sets of mates.
I think Zeke's disappearance has been played quite well. All the reactions and reality of a missing relative have been hit. I'm just a little worried that the outcome won't live up to the former beats in the story.
I think Rebecca's awesome. Her split from Paul, was exactly what the character needed, in order to develop. I really hope she sticks around for a long time to come. Gotta love how they've sexed up the character with all those revealing dresses! I'm not sure I really believed much of those rumours (about JH & KV).
I'm loving Lucas & Elle! I think they're my favourite couple - so stubborn, yet so alike.
Oh, and James, I'm the same. I watch no matter how bad it gets, and there have been some pretty rough patches.
I love how Neighbours, attracts so much celebrity attention, yet still they struggle with the ratings Down Under.
I take it she won't be performing, seeing as it's just one scene, and with Zeke only...?
Pippa Black (Elle Robinson) and Brett Tucker (Dan Fitzgerald) are leaving!. Not really surprised about Pippa leaving as she was going to quit last year but they persuaded her to stay for an extra year, though Brett's decision to leave is somewhat surprising as he is smack dab in the middle of the surrogacy storyline.
But... what's even more surprising, is his contract was only for two years anyway, and he only ever intended to stay for that length of time, which means TPTB knew along that the character wouldn't be around when they penned the surrogacy story.
Hopefully they have a really great reason for splitting up the golden couple.


text:
The Georgia Star News
Google Parent Company to Open Treatment Center in Dayton, Ohio
February 11, 2019 February 11, 2019 Andrew Shirley
Alphabet Inc., the multinational conglomerate that both was established by and currently owns Google.com, has announced that they will be establishing an opioid treatment center in Dayton, Ohio. While this could be good news for a community that is still deeply in the midst of an opioid epidemic, the recent revelations about…
BG-TN, News, Ohio, The MidwestAlphabet, Data, data collection, dayton, Google, Ohio, opioids, overdose, verilyLeave a comment
Ilhan Omar Faces Widespread Condemnation for Using Anti-Semitic Tropes
February 11, 2019 February 11, 2019 Anthony Gockowski
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) is once again facing backlash for multiple anti-Semitic tweets in which she suggested that Jewish money is responsible for bipartisan support of Israel. In response to journalist Glenn Greenwald's claim that "it's stunning how much time U.S. political leaders spend defending a foreign nation even if…
Battleground States, Minnesota, News, The Upper-Midwest#mnleg, ADL, AIPAC, Angie Craig, anti-Semitism, Dean Phillips, Ilhan Omar, Nancy Pelosi, Omar, Ryan WinklerLeave a comment
US Facing Friday Deadline to Avert New Government Shutdown
February 11, 2019 February 11, 2019 Ohio Star Staff
The federal government is facing a Friday deadline for funding about a quarter of its operations, struggling to avert another shutdown after a record 35-day closure was ended last month. Construction money for a barrier at the U.S. southern border with Mexico remains at the center of the dispute, with…
News, Uncategorizedborder security, government, shutdown, The WallLeave a comment
Commentary: The Truth About Border Walls' Effectiveness
by Peter Parisi "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts." That pithy observation is attributed to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who served in the Senate from 1977 to 2001. The final two years of Moynihan's stint in the Senate overlapped the first two…
Commentary, Newsborder security, illegal immigration, Immigration, The Wall1 Comment
Anthony Kennedy Says Loss Of Decency Is a Threat to Democracy
by Kevin Daley Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy warned university students that democracy is endangered by the decline of free and open civic debate. "We have a social framework of decency that we're very quickly losing," Kennedy said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was on hand during…
News, Uncategorizedcivil discourse, Justice Anthony Kennedy, SCOTUSLeave a comment
Dr. Carol M. Swain Commentary: Shouting your Abortion is a Desperate Cry for Help
by Dr. Carol M. Swain Last month marked the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, two landmark Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortion in all 50 states. Since the legalization of abortion, more than 60 million unborn babies have been aborted. One of those babies was mine. More than 40 years ago, I made…
BG-TN, Commentary, News, Uncategorized, Weather#ShoutYourAbortion, abortion, Dr. Carol M. Swain, Shouting your Abortion is a Desperate Cry for Help, TennesseeLeave a comment
Commentary: Mass Immigration and Climate Change Doublethink
by Quentin Borges-Silva Doublethink, as articulated by George Orwell in 1984, "means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them." Unfortunately, the modern left takes Orwell's book not as the warning it was intended to be, but as an instruction manual. Perhaps nowhere…
Commentary, News, Uncategorized1984, anthropogenic climate change, AWG, CO2, Global Warming, Immigration, Open bordersLeave a comment
Berkeley University Suspends New Research Projects with Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei
One of the world's top research universities, the University of California, Berkeley, has stopped new research projects with Huawei Technologies, the embattled Chinese telecommunications giant. The university's suspension, which took effect on January 30, came after the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against the corporation and some of…
News, UncategorizedChina, Huawei, telcom, UC Berkeley, University of California BerkeleyLeave a comment
2020 Presidential Hopeful John Kasich Posts Video Announcing First Yoga Class; Draws Mixed Response
Every politician attempts to be relatable; very few succeed. Erstwhile governor and 2020 presidential hopeful John Kasich posted a video on Saturday, announcing that he had just completed his first day of yoga lessons with his wife, Karen Kasich. He summarized the exercises briefly then discussed the importance of remaining…
BG-TN, News, Ohio, The Midwest2020, beer, Elizabeth Warren, Kasich, millenials, Ohio, Trump, warren, yoga1 Comment
Booker Focuses on Race Relations in Initial 2020 White House Swing
Reuters U.S. Senator Cory Booker made the nation's complicated history with race relations and racial disparities a focal point at events in the key state of Iowa during his first 2020 presidential campaign swing over the weekend. Booker, 49, a former Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, frequently discussed…
News2020 election, Cory Booker, Democrat, US SenateLeave a comment
Emails: Jake Tapper Tore Into 'Irresponsible' BuzzFeed Editor for Publishing the 'Steele Dossier'
by Chuck Ross After BuzzFeed published the infamous Steele dossier, CNN anchor Jake Tapper lit into BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith for the decision, calling it "irresponsible" and "uncollegial," according to emails released Friday. "I think your move makes the story less serious and credible[.] I think you damaged its…
NewsBen Smith, BuzzFeed, CNN, Jake Tapper, Steele dossierLeave a comment
Harvard Moves To Dismiss Legal Challenges To Single-Gender Social Group Restrictions
by Neetu Chandak Harvard University announced Friday that it would move to dismiss complaints about a rule that punishes students in single-gender clubs from holding leadership positions on sports teams and campus groups. The single-gender policy, announced May 6, 2016, would give a certain set of extracurricular opportunities "to students whose decisions…
Newsfraterity, Harvard, inclusivity, North American Interfraternity Conference, same-sexLeave a comment
Sign up to The Ohio Star newsletter for updates, breaking news, and special offers
New Coronavirus Strain Found in Ohio, Is Possibly More Contagious
Ohio Gov. DeWine Says the Capitol Will be Closed for Four Days Next Week for the Inauguration
Ohio Gov. DeWine Signs Two Bills – One Regulating Motor Scooters, Second Modifying Workplace Laws
Ohio Flags to be Flown at Half-Mast to Honor Capitol Police Officer Killed in Riot
Ohio Gov. DeWine Activates 580 Members of Ohio National Guard to Keep Peace in D.C. and Columbus
Ohio AG Dave Yost Joins Coalition Asking FDA for Update on Opioid Epidemic
The Ohio Star © 2019 - 2020


Thank you for your interest in our summer arts program! We are planning another great summer at Art Camp. If you're trying to decide what your kids will be doing this summer, you've come to the right place!
ART CAMP is an engaging summer program offering a wide variety of unique summer art workshops from cooking to ceramics, magic to musical theatre, fencing to woodworking .......all for kids 7-11 years of age! And now older campers can continue having great summers in our Teen Camp program for teens 11-15 years of age.
The ART CAMP is a truly fun and dynamic summer experience that will spark creativity, engagement, exploration and individual expression. The program we've built welcomes each camper as a unique individual bursting with potential. We hope you'll join us for summer 2019!


Paige West, who is the Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology, joined the faculty in 2001 the year after earning her Ph.D. in cultural and environmental anthropology at Rutgers University.
Dr. West's most recent books are Dispossession and The Environment: Rhetoric and Inequality in Papua New Guinea (2016, Columbia University Press), From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive: The World of Coffee from Papua New Guinea (2012, Duke University Press) (2013 runner up for the Julian Steward Award from the American Anthropological Association; one of the finalist for the 2014 Society for Economic Anthropology book award), Conservation is our Government now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea (2006, Duke University Press), Tropical Forests of Oceania, co-edited with Joshua Bell and Colin Filer, and, co-edited with James G. Carrier, Virtualism, Governance, and Practice: Vision and Execution in Environmental Conservation (2009 Berghahn Press). She is also the author of numerous articles.
In 2002 Dr. West received the American Anthropological Association's Anthropology and Environment Junior Scholar Award, in 2004 she received the American Association of University Women Junior Faculty Fellowship and the American Council of Learned Societies Faculty Fellowship, and in 2006 she received the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Fellowship. In 2012 she became the Chair of the Ecology and Culture University Seminar at Columbia University. In 2017 / 2018 she will be a distinguished national speaker for Phi Beta Kappa.
Dr. West is a past president of the Anthropology and Environment Section of the American Anthropological Association as well as past chair of the Association of Social Anthropology in Oceania and past chair of the Department of Anthropology at Barnard College. She is also the founder and co-editor of the journal Environment and Society: Advances in Research.
In 2013 Dr. West delivered the Leonard Hastings Schoff Memorial Lectures at Columbia University.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. West is a co-founder of the PNG Institute of Biological Research, a small NGO dedicated to building academic opportunities for research in PNG for Papua New Guineans. She is now on its board of directors. Dr. West is also the volunteer anthropologist for the PNG NGO Ailan Awareness (AA), a marine-focused organization that works with communities in New Ireland and New Hanover to facilitate the conservation of their traditions, languages, and natural resources.
Dr. West's most recent books are From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive: The World of Coffee from Papua New Guinea (2012, Duke University Press), Conservation is our Government now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea (2006, Duke University Press), and, co-edited with James G. Carrier, Virtualism, Governance, and Practice: Vision and Execution in Environmental Conservation (2009 Berghahn Press). She is also the author of numerous articles.


Spread throughout the Oil Rig, Amusement Park there are 30 Collectibles. They consist of 15 Chattering Joker Teeth, 10 Balloons, and 5 Jack-in-the-Boxes. Once you reach the exterior of the Amusement Park you can acquire all of these items. There are no special gadgets required to obtain them, and finding all 30 collectibles unlocks the A Blade of Memory Trophy/Achievement.
There are also hidden Audio Tapes that can be found by activating and playing games in the Amusement Park. Finding all of the Audio Tapes unlocks the All Snug in Their Beds Trophy/Achievement.
The first of the chattering teeth can be found through the main entrance, down the stairs leading back to the skycars going back down, and the site of the second bomb defusal.
Just to the left of the entrance, grapple up to a large circular tank to find the teeth chatteirng around the top of the structure.
The third chattering teeth can be found by the stairs leading to the disused Big Top on the bottom left corner of the Oil Rig.
From the Big Top, head to the right into the midway games and look for a small shack on the bottom with the teeth chattering around the roof of the hut.
The fifth chattering teeth can be found on the broken bridge leading from the carnival games to the Ferris Wheel, where the bridge has fallen down.
The sixth chattering teeth are technically the first teeth you can find in the game, as they will be located in the small corrdior right before you climb to the top of the Oil Rig for the first time to start locating hostages.
From the previous teeth, drop down into the walkway that connects both sides of the Oil Rig, and look for a locked door with a map next to it. Climb up the stairs next to it to find the chattering teeth on the roof of that building.
The next set of teeth can be found on the boardwalk leading towards the Bumper Cars, from the walkway that connects both sides of the Oil Rig.
The ninth set of teeth are chattering around the middle of the Eastern side of the Oil Rig, in the middle of the midway games, and usually surrounded by wandering thugs.
Head under the Great White Shark attraction to find a set of chattering teeth in front of a knife throwing stage under the metal shark.
From the Great White Shark, head to the rear entrance that has a circular platform near the tail to find chattering teeth on the platform.
You can find this set of teeth chattering around the sealed front entrance to the Ghost Ship ride, right below the front of the ship.
On top of the Ghost Ship Ride, go up to the corner above the Ghost Ship to find a small area with a tent, where the chattering teeth are hiding in the corner below.
Go into the top area of the Ghost Ship where an old food court area used to be, and look behind the counter for the chattering teeth.
The final chattering teeth can be found below the large crane just below the Ghost Ship ride.
The first balloon location is on the left side of the Oil Rig, on the tall amusement ride just next to the Big Top.
Just below the first set are more balloons above the Big Top, below the larger balloons and clown float.
The third balloon set is found on the upper left side, on top of two large exhaust pipes just to the right of the Mallet Game.
The next ballons are found on the opposite side of the Merry-go-Round, where you'll find some of the hostage GCPD officers.
Just to the South of the Merry Go Round is the spire leading up to the top of the Oil Rig. Look along the North edge of the platform to find the balloons.
You can find the sixth set of balloons on the opposite side of the rig from the previous balloon to find another set on the South end of the main oil platform.
The seventh set of balloons is found just a little to the South of the previous set, located above the small building that has a locked door with a map of the Oil Rig next to the door.
The next balloons are located even further South than the previous ones, hanging off an edge that is close to the Ferris Wheel ride on the far South end of the Oil Rig.
The ninth set of balloons can be found on the right side of the Oil Rig, near the tail of the Great White Shark attraction. Look for part of a roller coaster seat to find the balloons dangling off them.
The final set of balloons are found on the far right side, below the Ghost Ship ride and just on the other side of the large crane.
The first Jack-in-the-Box can be found on the left side of the Oil Rig, among the midway game booth on the lower left side, where you can find it in an alley leading to the Ferris Wheel.
The second Jack-in-the-Box is hiding at the very top of the Oil Rig platform, requiring you to grapple up the central tower up to the burning fire, where you can find the box on the final platform.
From the previous Jack-in-the-Box, dive off the platform's Southern edge to the top of the building housing the locked door with the map of the platform. You'll find the box at the base of a water tower on the roof.
The fourth Jack-in-the-Box can be found on the right side of the Oil Rig, on the platform leading to the back of the Great White Shark attraction. head up the stairs from the circular platform to find the box near the shark's side.
The final Jack-in-the-Box is located just below the previous box and to the right, inside a tent just North of the Ghost Ship ride. Look for discarded muscial instruments in the tent and head behind the drums to find it.
Scattered around the Oil Rig are certain Amusement Park games that can be interacted with using Batgirl's Remote Hacking Device. Each game, once beaten, will relay one of four audio messages from the Oil Baron who built the place for his sick daughter. Finding all four will unlock a door near the center of the Oil Rig where a final message can be heard.
A map outside the door shows the locations of the four games, with red or green lights indicating if the game has been beaten yet.
Head to the Bumper Car arena at the bottom right section of the Oil Rig and go around behind near where the crane is to enter the building's upper floor. Looking below you'll see several bumper cars in storage, as well as a terminal at the far end. Hack it to activate the cars, letting you hack any car that can move forward or backward. What follows is a minigame in which you must move the cars out of the way so that the car at the far end and run straight into the wall with the target on it.
Go to the Mallet game at the top left of the Oil Rig, and clear out the thugs surrounding it. Once they are gone, activate the amusment park game to trigger the sensor where the mallet should hit. Since you can manipulate the mallet itself, you'll need to hit the sensor with enough force to win. Grapple up to the top of the Oil Rig's center, then dive off and glide toward the game, going into a dive when you get close hit the center and win.
Travel to a lone Midway stall near the entrance to the Ferris Wheel to find a hackable terminal next to a game with the sign "Dynamic Duo". Much like one of the Riddler's puzzles in the Arkham Knight HQ, you will need to hit the targets with your batarang and try and match a pair together. If you match the wrong two, you will get a red light. 3 red lights and the game will reset, so memorize - or check the image above.
On the opposite side of the Oil Rig look for a similar locked stall with the sign Fish in a Barrel, and hack the stall to activate it. You'll see several fish moving around on two rows. Your objective is to hit only the green fish to increase your time. Hit red fish, and you will lose time to find them all.
Once you've completed all four tasks, head to the previously locked door on the middle Southern side of the Oil Rig, and enter the door next to the map of the place. Inside, enter the next room to find a disturbing scene, as well as the final Audio Tape on a table.


The top job for the top 1 percent of income earners was physicians, followed by managers, chief executives, and lawyers. These are people making over $207,000 a year.
The upper-middle income groups with incomes of $40,000 to $103,000 is sprinkled with managers, accountants, teachers, truck drivers, and nurses.
Truck drivers ($12,000 to $103,000), sales supervisors ($21,000 to above $207,000), and secretaries ($0 to $72,000) fall into wide ranges of income categories.
I've posted a static version of their graphic below, but see the original post to play with the interactive version.