Rule of law is a joke in the Ukrainian region of Mykolayiv. According to the constitution, medical care is free in Ukraine. And a year ago the governor of Mykolayiv even issued a decree prohibiting charitable foundations from collecting money at medical institutions. But it goes on and on.
The state budget covers only 50-70% of the budgets of hospitals. Doctors claim that charity funds are necessary to cover the running costs and new equipment. However, the investigation by Oleg Oganov and Yaroslav Chepurnyi from the Center for Investigative Journalism in Mykolayiv documented that these funds are used not only to help hospitals but mainly to launder money and enrich managers.
You wouldn't believe it in a dictatorship: Designer drugs are advertised on the internet, delivered to your home in less than an hour and are – mostly – not forbidden.
In Belarus, designer drugs are advertised on the internet.
"Invasion of "designer drugs:" How the dealer sold me some 'euphoric powder' is a story that shook the Belarusian public. The reporter started the story by retelling how in just an hour and a half he went from looking up drugs online to making a deal with a drug dealer and holding the package in his hand.
The article describes the ways drugs get into the country and how the Belarusian authorities fight distribution. However, nobody is able to overcome the fact that drugs are offered openly online under various names via social networks. Everyday hundreds of young people try them out.
The author also interviewed doctors and psychiatrists who described the severe consequences these drugs can cause. However, as everyone states, the main problem is that narcotic labs constantly invent new formulas for 'designer drugs', thus once the old ones get prohibited by law, new ones appear on the market.
Briebing goes on. Even though they say they fight corruption at the customs in Lviv it is just a cover up.
A great cover up at the customs in Lviv in Ukraine has distracted media and public from the what is really going on: a 'war' for the power to continue corruption and accept bribes.
Reporter: Taras Zozulinskyi, posted May 17th, 2011.
It is well known to the public and law enforcement how customs officers earn cash – devaluing cargo, roofing `black' goods, reloading trucks into personal cars – these are a few of the schemes that bring untaxed cash to customs.
Each officer has to share the `income' with their supervisors up the chain – there is an entire system of rules and oversight inside the customs system.
Furthermore, the investigation showed how the "fight against corruption" at customs is a nice way to cover up a `war' for the power at the Lviv customs.
It appears that recent arrests of customs officers who accepted bribes was only a way to get rid of the staff at specific customs posts on the western border and bring in new groups.
The whole process of arrests and catching bribes was just another scheme created by head customs officials, distracting the media's and public's attention.
The general conclusion is that public as well as the Ukrainian treasury has been and are still being cheated while certain people are taking turns making fortunes on customs activities.
The story was published by Informator, the newspaper of the Agency for Investigative Journalism, in its February 24-March 2 and March 3-9 issues.
It looked very easy: Give land back to the farmers. But ten years after privatisation of the Sovkoz'es or Kolhoz'es a lot of farmland is not used at in the Snyatyn region inWestern Ukraine.
The reporter Maryna Karasyova from Taki Spravi took a closer look at the problem. It's difficult for owners to get registered, many registered owners hope to earn a fortune, when all bureaucratic problems are solved and they can sell their farm. In the meantime the farmland isn't used. The reporter talked to farmers, politicians and administrators. No solution in sight.


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AGGREGATE SUPPLY CURVE: A graphical representation of the relation between real production and the price level, holding all ceteris paribus aggregate supply determinants constant. There are actually two separate aggregate supply curves, one for the long run and one for the short run. These aggregate supply curves are one side of the graphical presentation of the aggregate market. The other side is occupied by the aggregate demand curve.
ELASTICITY ALTERNATIVES, DEMAND:
Five categories of the price elasticity of demand that reflect the entire range of the relative responsiveness of a change in quantity demanded to a change in price. These five alternatives--perfectly elastic, relatively elastic, unit elastic, relatively inelastic, and perfectly inelastic--are often illustrated by different demand curves. The price elasticity of supply is also reflected by five comparable alternatives.
The five alternatives for the price elasticity of demand are perfectly elastic, relatively elastic, unit elastic, relatively inelastic, and perfectly inelastic. These alternatives form a continuum ranging from perfectly elastic at one end to perfectly inelastic at the other.
A Chart of Five
Coefficient (E)
Perfectly Elastic E = ∞
Relatively Elastic 1 < E < ∞
Unit Elastic E = 1
Relatively Inelastic 0 < E < 1
Perfectly Inelastic E = 0
The chart to the right displays the five alternatives based on the coefficient of elasticity (E). The negative value obtained when calculating the price elasticity of demand is ignored to focus on the absolute magnitude of the elasticity coefficient.
The "middle" of this continuum is occupied by unit elastic. In that the "unit" and the two "perfectly" alternatives are really borders, boundaries, and endpoints, most of the real world action involving the price elasticity of demand is reflected by the two "relatively" alternatives--relatively elastic and relatively inelastic. Most demand curves encountered in the real world are likely to be relatively inelastic or relatively elastic.
And Five Curves
This exhibit below and to the right can be used to display five demand curves that depict the five alternative categories of elasticity.
Perfectly Elastic: Perfectly elastic demand means an infinitesimally small change in price results in an infinitely large change in quantity demanded. The coefficient of elasticity for this alternative is E = ∞. A click of the [Perfectly E] button reveals a perfectly elastic demand curve, which is horizontal. The focus of this demand curve is on a fixed price (Po), that is, an infinite range of quantities is associated with the same price. Infinitesimally small changes away from this fixed price cause the quantity to explode to infinite or drop to zero. Perfectly elastic demand for a good can occur, in theory, when buyers have the choice among a large number of perfect substitutes-in-consumption.
Five Demand Curves
Relatively Elastic: Relatively elastic demand means a relatively small change in price results in a relatively large change in quantity demanded. The coefficient of elasticity for this alternative is in the range of 1 < E < ∞. A click of the [Relatively E] button reveals a relatively elastic demand curve, which is flat but not horizontal. The focus of this demand curve is on a narrow range of prices, that is, a large range of quantities are associated with a small range of prices. Small changes in price cause large changes in quantity demanded. Relatively elastic demand for a good occurs when buyers have the choice among a large number of close but not necessarily perfect substitutes-in-consumption.
Unit Elastic: Unit elastic demand means that any change in price is matched by an equal relative change in quantity. The coefficient of elasticity for this alternative is in the range of E = 1. A click of the [Unit Elastic] button reveals a unit elastic demand curve, which has an unexpected curved shape. It is not a straight line like the other four elasticity alternatives. The reason is that a demand curve with a constant slope, such as found with a straight line, DOES NOT have constant elasticity. This means that to draw a demand curve with constant, unit elasticity it must NOT have a constant slope, it must have a constantly changing slope, such as the curve displayed here.
Relatively Inelastic: Relatively inelastic demand means a relatively large change in price is needed to induce a relatively small change in quantity demanded. The coefficient of elasticity for this alternative is in the range of 0 < E < 1. A click of the [Relatively In] button reveals a relatively inelastic demand curve, which is steep but not vertical. The focus of this demand curve is on a narrow range of quantities, that is, a large range of prices are associated with a small range of quantities. Large changes in price cause small changes in quantity demanded. Relatively inelastic demand for a good occurs when buyers can choose only among a small number of imperfect substitutes-in-consumption.
Perfectly Inelastic: Perfectly inelastic demand means that quantity demanded is unaffected by any change in price. The coefficient of elasticity for this alternative is E = 0. A click of the [Perfectly In] button reveals a perfectly inelastic demand curve, which is vertical. The focus of this demand curve is on a fixed quantity (Qo), that is, an infinite range of prices is associated with the same quantity. It matters not what price does, it can change a little or it can change a lot, but the quantity DOES NOT change. It is fixed. Perfectly inelastic demand occurs when buyers have no choice in the consumption of a good.
Slope and Elasticity
Before closing this entry an important qualification is needed. In the discussion of the five elasticity alternatives, the distinct impression is given that elasticity can be illustrated by demand curves with different slopes. This is NOT quite correct. As a matter fact, only in the extreme cases of perfectly elastic and perfect inelastic does elasticity correspond with slope, horizontal for the former and vertical for the latter.
For relatively elastic and relatively inelastic demand, slope is only "suggestive" of elasticity. The reason is that any demand curve with constant slope actually contains both elastic and inelastic segments. In particular, the upper portion of the demand curve, near the price axis, is elastic and the lower portion, near the quantity axis is inelastic. In addition, the point of intersection with the price axis is perfectly elastic, the point of intersection with the quantity axis is perfectly inelastic, and the exact midpoint is unit elastic.
As such, in the preceding graphical illustrations, relatively elastic demand is not so much a flat curve as it is the "upper" segment closest to the price axis and relatively inelastic demand is not so much a steep curve as it is the "lower" segment closest to the quantity axis
<= ELASTICITY ALTERNATIVES ELASTICITY ALTERNATIVES, SUPPLY =>
ELASTICITY ALTERNATIVES, DEMAND, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2021. [Accessed: January 19, 2021].
Check Out These Related Terms...
| elasticity alternatives | elasticity alternatives, supply | perfectly elastic | perfectly inelastic | relatively elastic | relatively inelastic | unit elastic | elastic | inelastic |
Or For A Little Background...
| elasticity | coefficient of elasticity | price elasticity of demand | demand | law of demand | demand curve |
And For Further Study...
| elasticity and demand slope | elasticity and supply intercept | demand elasticity and total expenditure | price elasticity of supply | income elasticity of demand | cross elasticity of demand | elasticity determinants |
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a going out of business sale wanting to buy either a genuine down-filled pillow or one of those "hang in there" kitty cat posters. Be on the lookout for spoiled cheese hiding under your bed hatching conspiracies against humanity.
More money is spent on gardening than on any other hobby.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Jack Oliver
Jack Oliver was "appointed Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) by Governor James S. Gilmore III on January 18, 2001. He will serve as the political strategist and chief operating officer for the Republican National Committee."[1]
According to his RNC biography, "Jack Oliver was the National Finance Director for Governor George Walker Bush's presidential campaign. Under this position, Jack led the campaign to break all presidential fundraising records, including raising $37 million in 120 days and a total of $99 million.
"Born January 25, 1969, Jack grew up in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, Missouri. He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Vanderbilt University and a law degree from The University of Missouri-Columbia.
"Jack Oliver has served in various political, financial, and managerial roles in campaigns as well as the offices of Senator Jack Danforth, Senator Kit Bond, Senator John Ashcroft, Congressman Jim Talent, Congressman Bill Emerson, and the Missouri Republican Party."
SourceWatch Resources
Bryan Cave Strategies
Retrieved from "https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jack_Oliver&oldid=135146"


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You are at:Home»Fordham Magazine»Features»In Maximum Security Prison, Educator Promotes Empathy Through Literature
By Ryan Stellabotte on	 April 26, 2019 Features, Fordham Magazine
Above: Steve Romagnoli near his home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Photo by B.A. Van Sise. All other images courtesy of Bedford Hills College Program
It's a Thursday evening near the end of the semester, and Steve Romagnoli, FCRH '82, is leading his students through the moral ambiguities of Ruined, Lynn Nottage's 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the wages of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the heart of the drama is a brutal irony: When rape is used as a weapon of genocide, a ramshackle brothel can be a haven.
The establishment in question is run by Mama Nadi, who profits from the women she protects—and from the war. She runs a business, she says, not a mission. She provides food and shelter, and in exchange, the women prostitute themselves to government and rebel soldiers alike, all of whom must check their ammunition at the bar.
"How many of you give her a pass?" Romagnoli asks his students, a group of 11 women. Opinions are split.
"I hated her at first, but by the end, I understood why she was the way she was, and why she did what she did," one student says.
"Which of the philosophies we've discussed could you use to support defending her?" Romagnoli asks.
"Utilitarianism," suggests one student. Romagnoli nods. "And what would Kant say? Is there a redeeming element in her behavior?"
"It's wrong to use people the way she did," one woman says emphatically; several others agree. "OK," Romagnoli smiles, "we have some Kantians here too."
A College Class Like Any Other
To an outside observer, the discussion could have been part of an undergraduate seminar on any college campus—with one exception: Each student wore a green uniform that marked her as an inmate of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, the only maximum security women's prison in New York state.
Romagnoli, a playwright, novelist, and short story writer, has been teaching at Bedford Hills since 2015. Like all guests at the prison, he enters the compound through a trailer-like structure that separates the visitors' parking lot from the prison buildings, which are ringed by metal gates topped with razor-wire coils. He passes through a security checkpoint carrying only his car keys, driver's license, and notes for class.
"It's like going in and out of a concentration camp, with the walls and the wires," he says. "But sitting in the room and watching them talk and laugh and banter, you could be anywhere."
Romagnoli's students range in age and experience. For one woman, the course—Social Issues in Literature—is her first taste of college; for another, it's the next-to-last class on the path to earning a bachelor's degree in sociology.
Students in the Bedford Hills College Program typically take two or three courses per semester.
In addition to studying Ruined, they read and discuss a broad range of books, including Night, Elie Wiesel's account of the Holocaust, and Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. They also screen several films, including Do the Right Thing, and Romagnoli introduces them to philosophers from Socrates to Simone de Beauvoir.
"Steve is always in demand," says Aileen Baumgartner, FCRH '88, GSAS '90, the director of the Bedford Hills College Program, which is overseen by Marymount Manhattan College and offers courses leading to an associate's degree in social sciences and a bachelor's degree in sociology.
"Students really get a lot from his classes. I don't know how he does it—I've said, 'Really, Steve? You think they're going to get through all this in a semester?' Somehow or other they do."
'Students Have to Feel There Is Love'
For the past several years, Romagnoli has also been an adjunct professor at Fordham, where he teaches a similar course on ethics and literature, he says, albeit with a more sensational title: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.
In both settings, students focus on "moral dilemmas and ethical questions that confront us throughout our lives," he says.
"The Fordham students have great things to say, but they're initially a bit shy. At the prison, sometimes you've got to pull them together, but they're totally engaged, and they say what they've got to say."
Romagnoli began his career as an educator at P.S. 26 in the South Bronx during the mid-1980s, not long after earning a bachelor's degree in English at Fordham. He later earned an M.F.A. in creative writing at the City College of New York.
For 15 years, he was an itinerant teacher for the New York City Department of Education, working with students in their late teens to early 20s at drug rehabilitation facilities, homeless shelters, and halfway houses, among other locations.
"I would go in and teach a lesson and go out," he says. "Engage them, that was the whole thing. You've got to engage them."
He says that no matter where he's taught, his approach is essentially the same. "Students have to feel there is love there—not love love, but a deep respect. And if they come to the conclusion, consciously or unconsciously, that you have that deep respect, then it allows you to be as demanding as you want to be."
It's a lesson Romagnoli learned decades ago, particularly at Wadleigh High School in Harlem. He taught English there starting in 1993, later served as dean of students, and, although he had no prior coaching experience, was appointed head coach of the school's fledgling boys' basketball team. In 1998, he led the team to an undefeated season, capped by a victory in the Public Schools Athletic League B Division championship game at Madison Square Garden.
"He became a coach by chance, but turned players into students by design," the Daily News reported at the time, adding that Romagnoli "took on the kids as he took on their problems: truancy, drugs, death, violence, poverty, fatherlessness, the entire roster of urban ills that puts teenagers 'at risk.'"
He's still in touch with his former players, who now joke about how strict he was at the time. "I felt that to succeed they needed a certain amount of rigor and discipline that they really didn't have," he says. "But they saw that I was in the gym with them after school and that I lived in the neighborhood. That definitely makes a difference."
'When They Get to Class, They're Motivated'
At Bedford Hills, Romagnoli is helping to turn inmates into students, although he insists that the women in the college program don't need much coaxing.
"They just live for this," he says. "They know it's not something that's guaranteed. Some of them have had to get their GED" before they could even apply to the college program. "When they get to class, they're motivated, they're good to go."
Baumgartner notes that all of the students at Bedford Hills are required to work during the day—as porters or clerks or sweeping floors, for example. And they complete their coursework in the evening and early morning hours without the benefit of internet access.
Baumgartner, shown here in a still from a Bedford Hills College Program video, has been directing the program since late 2002.
Like Romagnoli, Baumgartner is a Fordham graduate. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English at the University. In 2001, she was a professor at Mercy College when she started teaching at Bedford Hills.
"I had never given any thought to prison education programs at the time," she says, recalling that on her first day of class, "all the students were looking at me, sizing me up, and they asked, 'Why are you here?' 'I was asked to teach, and so here I am.'"
Baumgartner, who has been the director of the college program since late 2002, says that her straightforward answer satisfied the students, who, she realized, didn't want to "hear someone come in and talk to them about high-minded ideals."
Still, she is quick to extol the benefits of prison education programs, citing data about lower recidivism rates and better employment opportunities for former inmates who have a college education.
"Whether you're a prisoner or not, you have many more options in life if you have a college education. And if you are a prisoner and you have a felony conviction on your record, when you return to the outside, it's very nice to have a college degree on your record too. You have a better chance of earning a decent living.
"And, practically speaking, keeping people in jail is extremely expensive," she adds. "The college program is not as expensive as keeping people imprisoned."
Baumgartner also speaks of individual and communal benefits of prison education that are less tangible, noting that students in the college program learn that "the world is wider."
Students complete their coursework in the College Learning Center, which has a computer lab, library, and an area for students to meet with professors.
"They gain a deeper understanding of the forces that shape communities, that shape themselves, that shape their children," she says. "They learn that they have the power to act in positive ways in their communities that perhaps they didn't feel they had before.
"And then there's that ripple effect: They're concerned with their children going to college. Now it matters to them."
Approximately 150 women are currently enrolled in the college program, which Baumgartner says constitutes about 25% of the standing inmate population at Bedford Hills.
Every spring, the program hosts a graduation ceremony. "It's a big one for us this year," she says, noting that six women will be getting a bachelor's degree and 14 will receive an associate's degree in June.
'A Fairer, More Effective Criminal Justice System'
Inmates at Bedford Hills have benefited from college education programs for decades. "Mercy College had a college program there until the tough-on-crime bill was passed," Baumgartner says, referring to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which eliminated Pell Grants for inmates.
"Across the country, a lot of colleges, including Mercy, closed their prison programs in the mid-1990s because they just couldn't afford it" without federal funding, Baumgartner says, noting that the total number of prison college programs in the U.S. dropped from about 300 to just a handful at that time.
At Bedford Hills, a coalition of community members—including Elaine Lord, the superintendent at the time; Regina Peruggi, then president of Marymount Manhattan College; and Judith Clark, an inmate at Bedford Hills—formed a committee that designed the Bedford Hills College Program. It opened in spring 1997, and since then, more than 200 women have earned college degrees there.
Approximately 150 inmates at Bedford Hills are currently enrolled in the college program.
Today, the college program is funded by private donors and grants. And since 2016, Bedford Hills has received some additional support through the Department of Education's Second Chance Pell Pilot program, which aims to "create a fairer, more effective criminal justice system, reduce recidivism, and combat the impact of mass incarceration on communities."
In announcing the three-year experimental program, which is testing the effectiveness of making Pell Grants available to incarcerated people again, the Department of Education cited a 2013 Department of Justice-funded study by the RAND Corporation; it found that "incarcerated individuals who participated in correctional education were 43 percent less likely to return to prison within three years than prisoners who didn't participate in any correctional education programs."
Baumgartner credits the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) for supporting higher education programs in prisons, including the program at Bedford Hills. "These programs sometimes tax their resources," she says, "but DOCCS understands the importance of higher education in reducing recidivism and enriching the lives of inmates while incarcerated and upon their release."
Romagnoli says he talks with his Fordham students about his work at Bedford Hills, and about mass incarceration and criminal justice reform. "It resonates strongly with them," he says. "And it's something that's really come into the public consciousness [in recent years]; the ball's rolling a little quicker."
'Knowledge Is Power'
Back in the classroom at Bedford Hills, after the heavy but lively discussion about Ruined, Romagnoli gives the students a brief break. Some of them take the opportunity to reflect together, for the benefit of a guest, on the course.
They say they've learned that "knowledge is power," that "perception plays a big role in how people judge people," that the readings have helped them "gain different perspectives," and yet the class "brings a unity, even if we agree to disagree."
"You learn more about yourself through the process, about your ethical system, and you question the things you do," says one student. "I am one class away from a B.A. When I leave, I will always question the morality of a situation."
The images in this story are taken from a 2017 video produced by Marymount Manhattan College professor Erin Greenwell in honor of the Bedford Hills College Program's 20th anniversary.
Aileen BaumgartnerAlumniBedford Hills College ProgramBedford Hills Correctional FacilityCriminal justice reformEducationEnglish DepartmentEthicsFordham College at Rose HillGraduate School of Arts and SciencesPell Grant ProgramprisonRecidivismSteve Romagnoli


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Black Women Entrepreneurs: The Good and Not-So-Good News
The number of owners has risen sharply, but why not revenues?
By Kerry HannonEntrepreneurship and Personal Finance ExpertSeptember 6, 2018
By Kerry Hannon
Part of the America's Entrepreneurs Special Report
Dell Gines, the author of an intriguing new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Black Women Business StartUps, loves this quote attributed to Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn: "An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down." But for black women entrepreneurs, Gines quickly adds, "they do it with only a toothpick and a napkin." What he means is that black women entrepreneurs typically lack the resources and capital to launch, yet take-off they do — in droves.
Dell Gines
According to The 2018 State of Women-Owned Business Report commissioned by American Express, while the number of women-owned businesses grew an impressive 58 percent from 2007 to 2018, the number of firms owned by black women grew by a stunning 164 percent, nearly three times that rate. There are 2.4 million African American women-owned businesses in 2018, most owned by women 35 to 54. Black women are the only racial or ethnic group with more business ownership than their male peers, according to the Federal Reserve.
Black Women Entrepreneurs: The Revenue Lag
But not everything about black women entrepreneurs is so rosy.
American Express found that the gap is widening between the average revenue for businesses owned by women of color and those owned by non-minority women. For women of color, average revenue dropped from $84,000 in 2007 to $66,400 in 2018, while for non-minority businesses, revenue rose from $181,000 to $212,300. And the gap between African American women-owned businesses' average revenue and all women-owned businesses, Amex found, is the greatest.
What's more, a catalyst for making the leap into entrepreneurship, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City report said, "often was poor treatment and the perception of being undervalued in the workplace." The Amex report echoed this, noting that "higher unemployment rates, long-term unemployment and a much greater gender and racial pay gap have led women of color to start businesses at a higher rate out of necessity and the need to survive."
"It's pretty evident that one of the primary reasons for black women to start businesses is frustrations on the job," Gines told me. "They feel they can't get anywhere. We have been to seven cities doing the outreach and talked to a lot of black women. There's a feeling of being passed over for promotions, a sense of workplace fatigue, of being asked to train people to be their boss."
What's also evident, according to Gines: "The businesses tend to stay very small, and you don't see a lot of scalability."
On average, annual sales at businesses owned by black women are two times smaller than the next-lowest demographic group, Hispanic women, and close to five times smaller than for all women-owned businesses, according to the Federal Reserve. The average annual sales for businesses owned by black women was $27,752 in 2012 (the most recent figures available), compared to $143,731 for all women and $170,587 for white women.
Gines said those figures are unlikely to have shifted dramatically since 2012. "The gap persists at about the same level," he said.
Credit: The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Why So Many of the Businesses Are Micro
One reason so many of the businesses are micro is that many black women have difficulty accessing credit and face capital constraints, according to the Federal Reserve. That makes it hard to get the necessary funding to grow. And when black women try to borrow with lower income and lower wealth, "these factors make going for a loan that much more difficult," Gines said.
As a result, black women entrepreneurs tend to tap personal savings, and, all too frequently, retirement accounts, according to BC Clark, director of business development at the Nebraska Enterprise Fund, a nonprofit based in Omaha that works with many black women business owners.
"We definitely do not want them to do that because it took years to build and they might not get that money back," Clark told me. That's why the Nebraska Enterprise Fund puts on workshops to teach things like borrowing basics, how to write a business plan, creating a mission statement and managing risk.
Starting As Side Businesses
For many black women business owners, the tiny size of their firms is intentional, regardless of the dearth of capital available from lenders. That's partly because they're often launched as side businesses out of financial necessity. Most black women entrepreneurs work part-time in their businesses, less than 39 hours a week, according to the Federal Reserve report.
"Many black women founders may be single parents and need to have this dual income to support the household needs," said Gines.
Using a startup as a second income stream initially can lead to positive results over the long haul. "It can mitigate the risk," Gines said. "Because the women are taking care of their families, they need to have a level of confidence before they can make that jump completely. Woman who are responsible for the household tend to keep the size of businesses artificially low because they're risk averse, need health insurance from a primary employer and want to make sure everything is absolutely appropriate before taking the jump."
A Lack of Resources and Mentors
Another factor that slows growth: a lack of educational resources and mentors to help black women entrepreneurs ramp up their business knowledge.
While there are SCORE programs (retired business professionals offering free advice to startup founders) in every major city, many black women cite a lack of mentors who understand their businesses and business models or feel they can't connect culturally with the ones they meet, Gines said.
Two dominant entrepreneurial characteristics expressed by many black women business owners who participated in the 2017 focus groups conducted by the Federal Reserve of Kansas City were determination and self-learning. "Self-learning was a key characteristic that allowed many to start and grow a company in an environment with limited access to formal business knowledge and training," according to Gines.
Frequently, black women "don't know who to go to, where to go and what organizations are out there that can support them," Gines said. This is one reason, he added, that "you see a lot of clustering in very few industries with a low barrier to entry — service businesses such as hair salons, catering, child day care centers and consulting."
The Optimistic Outlook
But Gines anticipates promising change coming.
"You are going to see a rise in black women doing business in professional services with the rapid increase in education levels for black women and their increased participation in the labor market, in fields such as accounting and engineering," he said.
Where to Get Advice
Both Gines and Clark advise black women entrepreneurs to look for know-how through a local chamber of commerce, the Small Business Association's Women Business Centers and women's business owner associations. Also, they say, take courses on entrepreneurship at a local community college.
It might make sense, too, to get certified as minority-owned and as a women's business on the federal, state and city level, Clark said.
One parting thought: Faith and religious belief have also been important characteristics of many of the black women business owners who spoke with Gines. "They used their faith as both as a source of motivation and a tool to support resiliency during difficult times," he said.
Amen to that.
Kerry Hannon is the author of the upcoming book, Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life. She has covered personal finance, retirement and careers for The New York Times, Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today, among other publications. She is the author of a dozen books including Money Confidence: Really Smart Financial Moves for Newly Single Women, Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy...and Pays the Bills, Getting the Job You Want After 50, Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness and What's Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties and Beyond. Her website is kerryhannon.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerryhannon.
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Becoming a Truck Driver for Your Second Career
This could be a good time to do it, if you know what you're getting into


Science students may apply for these awards to expand their research experiences. For example, awards may be for independent research at Vassar (including extending an URSI project into the academic year), working in labs of collaborators at other institutions, or presenting research at a regional or national meeting. Priority will be given to projects that extend beyond one semester or summer, to projects that increase the likelihood of fruitful completion and ultimately publication, to projects that expose students to new research environments or new opportunities to do science, and to projects that involve interdisciplinary interactions.
Most previous awards have been reimbursement of travel expenses for presenting research at meetings, with a cap of $500.
A brief post-activity report on how the award helped the student's development as a scientist is required.
Activities must occur and awarded funds must be used before JUNE 30 of the academic year in which the grant was awarded.
Students should email the form to be used for applications to the Asprey Center for Collaborative Approaches to Science (ccas@vassar.edu).
If human participants are involved, also include in the application documentation of approval or exemption by Vassar's IRB.
*The Asprey Center for Collaborative Approaches to Science and the SRE grants it provides acknowledges the computer pioneer and Vassar College professor Winifred "Tim" Asprey. Under her leadership, Vassar College became one of the first liberal arts colleges in the United States to establish a computer center and to offer courses in computer science (1963) and the second college in the country to acquire an IBM System/360 computer.


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Added on 03/03/2016 NEPA Scene Staff Mohegan Sun Arena , Wilkes-Barre
Barry Manilow donates piano to Wilkes-Barre high school, launches local music instrument drive before March 13 concert
Legendary singer/songwriter Barry Manilow hopes others will once again follow his philanthropic lead as he brings his Manilow Music Project to the Leo E. Solomon/Plains Junior High School in Wilkes-Barre. The pop icon plans to donate a Yamaha piano to launch a local music instrument drive. Anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument one week prior to Manilow's concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on Sunday, March 13 will receive two free tickets (valid for pre-selected seat locations on a first-come, first-served basis) to the show.
The Manilow Music Project has conducted music instrument drives all over the country to assist local schools with their music programs.
"I'm thrilled to once again bring the gift of music to these kids," Manilow said.
The NBT Bank Box Office at Mohegan Sun Arena (255 Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre Twp.) will serve as the base for the instrument drive from March 7-March 12. The instrument drop-off location is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
"Our school in honored and privileged to receive donated instruments from the community and to have Barry Manilow recognize the importance of music education in today's society," said Brian Fischer, a music educator at Solomon/Plains Jr. High School. "What an amazing contribution to our school district and the people it serves."
The Manilow Music Project is part of the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope. It was formed as a grassroots organization to assist local charities and programs. Its primary focus is to provide musical instruments to high schools and middle schools and to provide music scholarships at universities throughout the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of entertainment, including performing, writing, composing, arranging, and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow has produced, arranged, and released more than 40 albums during the course of his career. He has also written and produced songs for Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, and many more and has been honored with a Grammy, two Emmys, a Tony Award, an Oscar nomination, and a top-selling autobiography.
After performing more than 400 concerts at the Las Vegas Hilton and Paris Las Vegas from 2005 through 2011, Manilow has limited his concert appearances. His "One Last Time! Tour" is a major undertaking, and as Manilow said, "is my way of thanking everyone for their years of support…one last time!"
His career skyrocketed to superstardom when his mega hit song, "Mandy," topped the charts in 1975. In the spirit of that special year, tickets will be priced to tie into that year and will start at $19.75, fees included. Manilow insisted that the average ticket price remain low and that a greater range of ticket prices be available.
Tickets for the Wilkes-Barre stop on this final tour are available online at manilow.com and all Ticketmaster outlets as well as the NBT Bank Box Office at Mohegan Sun Arena. Order tickets by phone by calling 800-745-3000.
Peculiar Kitchen in Scranton hosts buffet with live music on Jan. 16 to benefit V-Spot after fire
Country rockers Poco and Jim Messina reunite at Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Feb. 22
NEPA bands plan holiday concerts throughout December in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Nanticoke, and more


Working "in the moment" as a team has business benefits, according to a new study.
How Do You Sustain Your Passion for HR?
HR leaders must nurture a sense of curiosity and compassion to avoid professional burnout.
A new study finds workplace anxiety can enhance workers' performance.
How can organizations optimize rewards programs to increase employee-retention rates?
The topics—along with top companies—were front and center at the HR Summit & Expo Asia 2018.
A new survey finds younger employees prefer to work in the office over working from home.
Is your Enterprise Agile Enough for the Future?
The workforce of today should already be poised for what tomorrow may bring.
New research finds the use of calibration committees can help organizations improve their employee-evaluation process.


otherwise. But the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Joseph Sanusi, replied that delaying the devaluation was akin to postponing the evil day.
in the Victoria Garden City (VGC) on the Lekki- Epe axis of Lagos. At the widely attended and thought provoking event, Mr. Osinbajo insisted that devaluation was not on the table, adding "that is the position of government''.
consumption of imported goods and promote local manufacturing.
However, former CBN Governor, Mr. Sanusi, a VGC resident, advised the government to either devalue the currency or stop the confusion between the official and parallel market exchange rates. He said allowing an official rate at N97 per dollar while the parallel market sold for over N300 was "distractive''. "Naira is already devalued and government not accepting it is postponing the evil day,'' Mr. Sanusi said.
Mr. Osinbajo had also said government met a falling revenue profile in May 2015, which was down by about 70 per cent compared to the same period of the preceding year.


"What wonderful progress you have made in the last 50 plus years since I had the honour of being appointed club captain in 1964/65. I have fond memories of the old clubhouse, the concrete baths and the rush to be in it after the match before the water turned to mud! How things have changed.
I now live in Northumberland but maybe one day I will get round to calling in on match day. Good see some old friends are still active at the club and I would like to extend my best wishes to Andy Brunt, Mike Bateman, Bill Lowe and anyone else at the club who remembers me.
Thanks for retaining my name as a life member.
Once again congratulations on doing a fine job.


2. Displaying Hijri dates in Microsoft Dynamics GP (Feb 19). What was once thought impossible -- displaying Hijri dates -- was accomplished with a couple lines of code. Now the Dynamics GP community in the Middle East is able to accomodate this simple script and use it on some of their reports.
3. Fargo Flooding (March series). Not every article was Dynamics GP technical or functional in nature. Many of us were very concerned about the well being of our friends in the plains and I believe I was able to communicate a bit of this during those tough times with the invaluable help of my friend Tom Irsfeld.
4. Modifier with VBA Workshop (March series). I believe this was the first time anyone has ever used a blog to deliver training content like this. Nonetheless, many of you had rave reviews about this workshop and expressed wanting to see more content like this delivered.
6. Is there a maximum number of lines that can be inserted in any given scrolling window? (May 11). What started as a brain teaser was quickly embraced by many of you as a good article that clearly explained the role of line sequence numbers in scrolling window.
7. How does Check Links work? (Jun 18). This article was created based on numerous newsgroup questions asking about Microsoft Dynamics GP maintenance procedures and why check links removed records in the process.
8. Microsoft Dynamics GP in Russian - Microsoft Dynamics Г.П. на русском языке (Jul 28). Controversy? Excitement? You choose, but this article caught the attention of my Eastern European friends and everyone who was interested in knowing if it was even possible to see a Cyrilic version of GP. Being this a pet project, it has been placed on hold indefinitely.
9. Microsoft Dynamics GP v10 and supported virtualization platforms (Sep 21). The topic of virtualization eluded the Community for a while and I tried to provide some info and source where you could go for platform compatibility with Microsoft Dynamics GP. A start nonetheless!
10. Microsoft Dynamics GP Technical Conference 2009 (Nov series). I really enjoyed my time at the Conference and well, most of you are still talking about it so here it is again.
I hope you enjoyed the selection and if you think I missed something just chime in with some of your best articles.
Nice to see your best of list. 2009 was a great year for Dynamics GP content outside of partner/customer source.
Thanks for the update! I fixed the broken link in the article.
Yes, 2009 was a great year for the community with tons of blogs now in circulation and lots of content outside CustomerSource/PartnerSource. Now, the objective is to diseminate this content and this is where social networking comes into play. Stay tuned for some great site improvements to come.


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Pfizer Applies For FDA Authorization For Omicron-retooled Vaccine Booster In Kids Under 5
December 06,2022 05:17 AM
The bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the original strain and the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariants, is currently authorized as a booster dose for ages 5 years and older in the United States and the European Union (EU). Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Monday they have submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization of their Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine booster for children aged 6 months through 4 years. If authorized, children would receive the primary series consisting of two doses of the original Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine and one shot of the Omicron-adapted bivalent vaccine, the company said. The bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the original strain and the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariants, is currently authorized as a booster dose for ages 5 years and older in the United States and Last month, a real-world study of more than 360,000 people in the U.S. found the updated bivalent boosters, including those of rival Moderna Inc, offered increased protection against new coronavirus subvariants in people who have received up to four doses of the older vaccine.


Agbogbloshie could become a model of corporate responsibility, but it won't. It could cause us to re-evaluate whether we need the newest computer or smart phone or whether we say "count me out" of this environmental disaster, insane inhumanity and child abuse from afar, but it won't. Instead, many of us will feel some guilt, as I do every time I use my computer, then move on. Agbogbloshie is a powerful challenge of my perception of myself as a decent person.
I visited the Agbogbloshie Market in April, as part of a group of students and faculty from Coastal Carolina University's Semester at Sea's spring 2010 26,000-mile around-the-world voyage. It was as close to hell as I ever want to be, and I will forever carry the memory, smell the stench, relive the horror, and recall the children through a haze of tears.
Abel is a local environmentalist, author and professor.


Mix all dry ingredient. Mix 1/2 cup flour with grated cheese. Mix all ingredients together - you may have to use hands to finish mixing. Place dough in cookie press with small star design. Press dough in long strips on Teflon cookie sheet 1/4 inch apart. Cut to desired lengths for containers. Bake 325-degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool slightly, remove from pan. Store or package for gifts. Can be frozen.


The open space between the Rainbow Towers and Interpol Regional Headquarters in Harare has been turned into a driving schools' training ground. Vehicles, ranging from small cars to large lorries can be seen trundling back and forth and negotiating restricted parking bays as people are taught how to drive. Instructors pace up and down and shout commands as they monitor the learners' maneuvours.
Driving Instructor Ezekiel Bara said they used to train at the corner Hebert Chitepo and Fifth Street for years, but they were moved to the parking space adjacent to the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences building – the place he believes to have been reserved for visitors to the museum or for staff parking, before they were moved on to the current place by council.
He added that the new place is spacious compared to the one near the museum and that if given a choice he would prefer this area to the previous space. "At this place learners have ample acres of space, and accidents or near misses are now a thing of the past," he added.
Another driving trainer, Instructor Phanuel Rwafa of Top Tech Driving School, said that if Council is going to give them this place as their training ground they should construct proper facilities such as toilets, tarred surfaces, and road markings, as well as erecting lamp posts. "Most of our clients go to work during the day and come for lessons either early in the morning or late in the evening so flood lights are essential," he said. He added that they pay for driving school licences, and he believes the money should go towards the construction and maintenance of suitable ranks.
According to him the fees, paid every four months, are $50 for small cars, and $100 for lorries. Other trainers also confirmed the price to Harare News, adding that they last paid the fee while at the training ground near the museum, since they had only been at the new place for a few months. Rwafa also proposed that council should fence the area and increase its revenue base by charging a $1 entrance fee.
John Gore, a learner driver, said; "Proper facilities should be put in place if this area is going be turned into a fully-fledged training rank." But he professed ignorance about council's position concerning the area, as both trainers and trainees alike are speculating about whether the place is to be permanent.
When this paper visited the area the open space was full of cars and lorries from driving schools that included: Noddy's; Maungwe, Way Ahead; Broadway; MacNally; Midway; Estate; Top Tech; Kuedza, Legend; Platinum; Chifamba; and Chanten driving schools among others.
There are other notable places where driving schools use open spaces as their training grounds. Along Samora Machel Avenue (Eastlea) there is a lorry drivers' training ground near the Tendeseka Office Park complex, and another one for small cars at side road near Galactica Sports Bar along Chiremba Road in Braeside. Here you can even see family members teaching one another how to drive – a sort of acclimatisation with the road rules and regulations before going to driving schools.
Since the adoption of the US dollar in 2009, the country has witnessed an influx in the importation of both new and pre-owned vehicles, hence the rise in people seeking training and the need for ranks for that purpose in the city.
Harare News tried to establish with the City of Harare whether there is any place in the city reserved for driving schools' training, considering that they charge for driving schools rank licence discs. However comment was unforthcoming at the time of going to press.


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Cyclonic separator
Title: Cyclonic separator
Subject: Vacuum cleaner
Cyclonic separation is a method of removing particulates from an air, gas or liquid stream, without the use of filters, through vortex separation. Rotational effects and gravity are used to separate mixtures of solids and fluids. The method can also be used to separate fine droplets of liquid from a gaseous stream.
A high speed rotating (air)flow is established within a cylindrical or conical container called a cyclone. Air flows in a helical pattern, beginning at the top (wide end) of the cyclone and ending at the bottom (narrow) end before exiting the cyclone in a straight stream through the center of the cyclone and out the top. Larger (denser) particles in the rotating stream have too much inertia to follow the tight curve of the stream, and strike the outside wall, then falling to the bottom of the cyclone where they can be removed. In a conical system, as the rotating flow moves towards the narrow end of the cyclone, the rotational radius of the stream is reduced, thus separating smaller and smaller particles. The cyclone geometry, together with flow rate, defines the cut point of the cyclone. This is the size of particle that will be removed from the stream with a 50% efficiency. Particles larger than the cut point will be removed with a greater efficiency, and smaller particles with a lower efficiency.
An alternative cyclone design uses a secondary air flow within the cyclone to keep the collected particles from striking the walls, to protect them from abrasion. The primary air flow containing the particulates enters from the bottom of the cyclone and is forced into spiral rotation by stationary spinner vanes. The secondary air flow enters from the top of the cyclone and moves downward toward the bottom, intercepting the particulate from the primary air. The secondary air flow also allows the collector to optionally be mounted horizontally, because it pushes the particulate toward the collection area, and does not rely solely on gravity to perform this function.
Large scale cyclones are used in sawmills to remove sawdust from extracted air. Cyclones are also used in oil refineries to separate oils and gases, and in the cement industry as components of kiln preheaters. Cyclones are increasingly used in the household, as the core technology in bagless types of portable vacuum cleaners and central vacuum cleaners. Cyclones are also used in industrial and professional kitchen ventilation for separating the grease from the exhaust air in extraction hoods.[1] Smaller cyclones are used to separate airborne particles for analysis. Some are small enough to be worn clipped to clothing, and are used to separate respirable particles for later analysis.
Analogous devices for separating particles or solids from liquids are called hydrocyclones or hydroclones. These may be used to separate solid waste from water in wastewater and sewage treatment.
1 Cyclone theory
2 Alternate models
Cyclone theory
As the cyclone is essentially a two phase particle-fluid system, fluid mechanics and particle transport equations can be used to describe the behaviour of a cyclone. The air in a cyclone is initially introduced tangentially into the cyclone with an inlet velocity V_{in}. Assuming that the particle is spherical, a simple analysis to calculate critical separation particle sizes can be established.
If one considers an isolated particle circling in the upper cylindrical component of the cyclone at a rotational radius of r from the cyclone's central axis, the particle is therefore subjected to drag, centrifugal, and buoyant forces. Given that the fluid velocity is moving in a spiral the gas velocity can be broken into two component velocities: a tangential component, V_t, and an outward radial velocity component V_r. Assuming Stokes' law, the drag force in the outward radial direction that is opposing the outward velocity on any particle in the inlet stream is:
F_d = -6 \pi r_p \mu V_{r} .
Using \rho_p as the particles density, the centrifugal component in the outward radial direction is:
F_c= m \frac{V_t^2}{r}
= \frac{4}{3} \pi \rho_p r_p^3 \frac{V_t^2 }{r} .
The buoyant force component is in the inward radial direction. It is in the opposite direction to the particle's centrifugal force because it is on a volume of fluid that is missing compared to the surrounding fluid. Using \rho_f for the density of the fluid, the buoyant force is:
F_b = -V_p\rho_f \frac{V_t^2}{r}
= -\frac{4 \pi r_p^3}{3} \frac{V_t^2}{r}\rho_f .
Determining the outward radial motion of each particle is found by setting Newton's second law of motion equal to the sum of these forces:
m \frac{dV_r}{dt} = F_d + F_c + F_b
To simply this, we can assume the particle under consideration has reached "terminal velocity", i.e., that its acceleration \frac{dV_r}{dt} is zero. This occurs when the radial velocity has caused enough drag force to counter the centrifugal and buoyancy forces. This simplification changes our equation to:
F_d + F_c + F_b = 0
Which expands to:
-6\pi r_p \mu V_r + \frac{4}{3}\pi r_p^3 \frac{V_t^2}{r}\rho_p -\frac{4}{3}\pi r_p^3 \frac{V_t^2}{r}\rho_f =0
Solving for V_r we have
V_r = \frac{2}{9} \frac{r_p^2}{\mu} \frac{V_t^2}{r} (\rho _p - \rho _f).
Notice that if the density of the fluid is greater than the density of the particle, the motion is (-), toward the center of rotation and if the particle is denser than the fluid, the motion is (+), away from the center. In most cases, this solution is used as guidance in designing a separator, while actual performance is evaluated and modified empirically.
In non-equilibrium conditions when radial acceleration is not zero, the general equation from above must be solved. Rearranging terms we obtain
\frac{dV_r}{dt} + \frac{9}{2} \frac{\mu}{\rho_p r_p^2}V_r - \left(1-\frac{\rho_f}{\rho_p}\right) \frac{V_t^2}{r} = 0
Since V_r is distance per time, this is a 2nd order differential equation of the form x+c_1 x'+c_2=0.
Experimentally it is found that the velocity component of rotational flow is proportional to r^2,[2] therefore:
V_t \propto r^2 .
This means that the established feed velocity controls the vortex rate inside the cyclone, and the velocity at an arbitrary radius is therefore:
U_r = U_{in}\frac{r}{R_{in}} .
Subsequently, given a value for V_t, possibly based upon the injection angle, and a cutoff radius, a characteristic particle filtering radius can be estimated, above which particles will be removed from the gas stream.
Alternate models
The above equations are relatively simple and provide a basic approximation to the behaviour of a cyclone separator. These equations are, however, limited in many regards. For example, the geometry of the separator is not considered, the particles are assumed to achieve a steady state and the effect of the vortex inversion at the base of the cyclone is also ignored, all behaviours which are unlikely to be achieved in a cyclone at real operating conditions.
More complex differential equation based models exist, as many authors have studied the behaviour of cyclone separators.[3] Numerical modelling using computational fluid dynamics has also been used extensively in the study of cyclonic behaviour.[4][5][6]
Helikon vortex separation process
Hydrodynamic separator
Trickle valve
patent 2377524 (June 1945)
High Efficiency Horizontal Dust Collection
nl:Hydrocycloon
Mop, England, Chicago, Royal Navy, The Hoover Company


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((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Mulatu, Steve Earle, Themselves, Woods, Kid Congo & more!
MULATU ASTATKE & THE HELIOCENTRICS Inspiration Information Vol. 3 CD
*** RECOMMENDED "One of Africa's greatest and most innovative bandleaders, MULATU ASTATKE, with the next level musicianship of THE HELIOCENTRICS. Mulatu Astatke fused Western jazz and funk with traditional Ethiopian folk melodies. The Heliocentrics are inspired by a wide palette covering SUN RA, JAMES BROWN, DAVID AXELROD and all manner of psych, Afro and Eastern sounds."
CRYSTAL STILTS Alight Of Night CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Crystal Stilts' spectral twang 'n' echo avant-garage references spooked '60s Texas psych, gothic blues & punk howl, and post-punk minimalism."
STEVE EARLE Townes CD
*** "A 15-song set is comprised of songs written by Earle s friend and mentor, the late singer-songwriter, Townes Van Zandt."
JEREMY ENIGK Ok Bear CD
*** "OK Bear, the third full-length solo album from Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft), offers a surprising sense of intimacy while staying undeniably Enigk."
HOSPITALS Hairdryer Peace CD
*** "Intensely psychedelic and mixed for maximum hallucinations, this marks a pretty heavy departure from the HOSPITALS of old. Heavy tranced out riffs, weird pop, cracked folk, disorienting noise, paranoid vibes."
KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY SPIDERS Dracula Boots LP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "The premier voodoo guitarist for seminal sexy, swampy bands like GUN CLUB, NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, and THE CRAMPS returns to the psychedelic jungle with a stripped-down, no-frills set of garage, Chicano rock, juvenile delinquent rumble, fuzzy biker rock, and greasy rump-shakers."
MARK KOZELEK Lost Verses Live CD
*** "Recorded live during the leader of Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon's acoustic tours, this 14 song set features songs primarily chosen from the Sun Kil Moon catalog but also includes solo and Red House Painter's material."
JOHN MARTYN Solid Air CD
*** One of Martyn's best!
CONOR OBERST Outer South CD
*** "While touring in support of last year's debut, Conor and The Mystic Valley Band began writing new songs -- thiss is the first album credited to this group."
THEE OH SEES Help CD
*** "John Dwyer of PINK AND BROWN, COACHWHIPS, and HOSPITALS draws straight, dark lines to both British psychedelic rock and the caveman thud while a Cramps-like appreciation for rockabilly lies not far below."
THEMSELVES The Free Houdini Mixtape CD
*** "Ten years after their debut & six years since their last LP, Themselves return with theFREEhoudini: one part aggressive rap mixtape, one part ANTICON posse reunion, it will reaffirm the crew's place in hip-hop history."
WOODS Songs Of Shame LP / CD
*** "Veering away from the lo-fi guerillas-in-the-mist sound of the past, Woods present both 90-second and ten-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia." Recommended by PITCHFORK.
Labels: New Arrivals, New Arrivals on CD
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this energy into electrical power using a piezo-electric generator.
our case we are focused on mechanical to electrical energy conversion.
increase in demand for electricity exceeds the increase in electric power generation.
electric generator at their homes during the power-cut. But it is not affordable to everyone.
directly or indirectly and that man was using only renewable sources of energy.
Is the system environmentally friendly?
Compared to petrol-run generators, our system is easily affordable.
has no harmful wastes which will pollute our environment. In addition it isnt sound pollutant.
The system is as effective as the place where it installed is crowded.
The sustainability depends on the strength of the Piezo-electric material.
In the case of power cut, the installed system we proposed serve as an alternative power source.
sustainability has a little impact.
material can be calculated from the following equation.
How to generate electrical energy from mechanical energy source.
How to convert DC to AC.
theoretical values provided by the manufacturer.
which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times.
our footstep on piezoelectric sensor.
An ADC (analog-to-digital converter) is a device that converts analog to digital symbols.
applicable control circuits, transformers and switching.
hold this value over a particular length of time for subsequent processing.
while blocking current in the reverse direction.
also provided with a contrast adjusting pin.
The contrast of the screen of the LCD can be adjusted to make the screen brighter or darker.
places like theaters, colleges and schools.
Here are the resources required to achieve the deliverables of our proposed system.
to take to accomplish each of the tasks.
Annual Power Electronics Specialists Conf. (Aachen).
. Ottman, G.K., Hofmann, H., Bhatt A. C., Lesieutre, G.
Supply, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.
Ultrasonics, SU-31, part 2, March 1984.
E. Lai, B. Otis, J. M. Rabaey, P. K. Wright, and V.
vol. 4, pp. 28-36, 2005.


With an overwhelming 62 percent of "Yes" votes, Ireland now world's first country to approve gay marriage by referendum.
Ireland has become the first country in the world to approve gay marriage by referendum with an overwhelming 62 percent "Yes" vote, further denting the once all-powerful Irish Catholic Church.
"Today Ireland has made history - the first country in the world to vote for equal marriage," Prime Minister Enda Kenny told reporters.
"With today's vote we have disclosed who we are: a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people. Yes to inclusion, yes to generosity, yes to love, yes to equal marriage," he said.
The voter turnout was 60 percent - much higher than in other recent referendums.
Celebrities and political leaders tweeted congratulations and US Vice President Joe Biden, who is of Irish descent, wrote: "We welcome Ireland's support for equality. #LoveWins."
Al Jazeera's Tim Friend, reporting from London, said this was a significant vote considering the power and reach of the Irish Catholic Church.
"Church leaders across the world will be looking closely at the results of Ireland's referendum," he said.
A string of Irish celebrities had also backed the "Yes" campaign including singer Sinead O'Connor, actor Colin Farrell and rock band U2, who posted a photo on Instagram with the words "In the name of love..." - one of their most famous songs.


Wednesday, February 6, 2019: Due to inclement weather, all Halton Catholic District School Board schools and workplaces are CLOSED. All transportation to and from school is cancelled.
*NOTE: All Community Use of School permits are CANCELLED for Wednesday, February 6, 2019 due to inclement weather.


Imagine living life with a clear head every day. The sun wakes you up at 7 a.m. and you're given the perfect amount of time to enjoy breakfast, take a shower and casually say hey to your neighbour before you leave for school or work in the morning.
For many students, these words are but a dream. And a dream they may never see because for people living in Canada, the third most sleep deprived country – out of 13 done in a recent study by Aviva,a risk management agency in the UK – one third of the Canadians surveyed said they don't get enough sleep.
From 18 to 35, some of the most common sleeping problems include sleep phase delay syndrome, consuming too much alcohol, stress, and the new stimulations from technology, says Dr. Judith Leech, a Respirologist at the West Ottawa Sleep Centre.
And while some people can get away with having the stimulant right before bed, people should put the beverages away around noon, or to at least figure out what time caffeine is out of your system. Even if you do end up going to sleep, the stimulant still affects your sleep cycles, which will make you feel sleepy – even though you've slept for seven or more hours, she says.
"Some people have a half life of caffeine for three hours and the rest metabolizes slower. While others can feel the effects for seven hours," says Leech.
In any form that you consume it – be liquor, beer or wine – alcohol is a central brain depressant, and often older people take it to help them sleep better, because it takes a shorter time to fall asleep. But the quality of sleep is not good.
Much like caffeine, your sleep cycle is affected – and as you wake up your body has a hard time balancing out from alcohol withdrawal and as the alcohol decreases in the blood stream, says Leech.
Matt Idzik, who is a nursing graduate from Algonquin College in 2012, said that when he was in school he drank every weekend which didn't help his sleep. Only when he realized his goals and what he wanted to accomplish with his life did his sleep get better and drinking stop.
He said that the stress of having assignments, procrastinating, and the people he surrounded himself with would push him to drink, and affect his sleep.
Idzik recommends acknowledging what makes you feel stressed and looking at the root cause. Now instead of drinking, Idzik sticks to his healthy habits when fighting stress such as working out and communicating with his new friend group of more responsible friends.
Remember that time you procrastinated and had to cram in your full exam preparation into one night? While procrastination isn't recommended at all by Leech, she too is guilty of holding things off to the last minute. "We all do it," she says.
In fact, a lot of benefits come from a good night sleep other than alertness. Sleep is a restorative function, Leech said. It's the reason that our bodies become stronger after a workout – because our muscles repair at night.Sleep also helps with sickness and with avoiding to become sick – because our immune system is more active during rest.
"Things are moving from your hardware to your software as you sleep," she says.
Religion helped Alvane Malhorta, a student taking a bachelor of hospitality and tourism management at Algonquin College. She said that she tried medicine from the college as well as walk in clinics but it only made things worse.
"Once I pray and talked about my problems, I felt like all my problems were gone in two seconds," Malhorta says. "Communicating with her religion was a way for her to feel less stressed about school and sleep better.
"For a while I was having my iPad and cellphone on the pillow beside me. I gotta answer that. I heard a noise. I gotta answer that," says Bente Nielson, a second-year public relations student.
How we wake up naturally is from the sun, which tells our brain we don't have to sleep any longer. The problem since the creation of light, through electronics and light sources, is that our brains are being tricked and staying awake, says Leech.
Personal electronics and televisions are also now convenient enough to have in your bedroom and prolong your sleep even more.
"For me it was putting my phone into another room, and shutting it down so that you, yourself could shut down and get a good sleep," Nielson says.
One of the main reasons it can be harder to get up in the winter, Leech says, is because days become shorter and it effects our internal sleeping clock.
Apps like Flux for PC and Mac – or by using the built in app Night shift on your iPhone – help turn off emitted blue colours from your screen, which has been said to cause trouble sleeping. But Leech says to avoid bright lights into your eyes before bed in general.
Another suggestion would be to turn your brightness down a few hours before sleeping so that there is less light coming into your eyes.
Reading from books may also help with avoiding bright light from screens. Malhorta, who used religion as a way to distressed, also said she noticed that e-text's made her head hurt and didn't help her from falling asleep.
Melatonin is a chemical that is released in our brain naturally, telling our bodies that it's dark and that it's time to sleep. Oddly enough, for raccoons, the same chemical tells them to wake up at night.
Leech says that melatonin is one of the one proven natural medical substances that helps with sleep, and that it can help reset your sleep cycles.
Most people take it 30 minutes before sleep, but she recommends taking it three to four hours before going to bed so that you are telling your brain that it's getting dark out earlier so your body and mind has more time to relax before bed.
Some people try to exercise before bed to burn off energy, but Leech recommends to keep workouts in the morning, or at least two hours before bed because your body needs a cool down period – especially cardio.
Nielson said that walking her dog helps her get to sleep, and when she goes for lots of walks throughout the week.
Watch Glue Magazine's photo editor work on her sleep cycle above.
Something you might not know is that during the young adult years and when we make our most important choices in life, it is more comfortable for our bodies to naturally wake up at noon, says Leech. And not just that, but she said that the brain tends to want to go to sleep more late – and you thought you weren't normal?
This is referred to as sleep delay syndrome and most often gets better when we age. The problem is that start times for college begin relatively early, and that the 9-to-5 schedule only caters to the work world, she said.
She also said some people only require six hours of sleep, while other bodies can ask for up for 12 hours, depending on your lifestyle and biological makeup.
To help your internal clock Leech suggests making a regular routine all seven days a week with the right amount of sleep you need.
And to find out how much sleep you need try setting a wake-up time for 6 a.m. and going to bed at 11 a.m. The next night, keep the wake up time at 6 and sleeping at 10.
Does your body wake up at 5? If you wake up earlier then you need less hours, but if later, then you body requires more sleep, says Leech.
"Dark, quiet, no light, and no stress," Leech says.


text:
Israel's Deportation Policy Forces Asylum Seekers to Choose Between Prison and Persecution
Elizabeth Tsurkov
On 11/18/15 at 12:10 PM EST
African migrants gesture behind a fence during a protest against Israel's detention policy towards them, at Holot, Israel's southern Negev desert detention centre February 17, 2014. Israel opened Holot as part of its bid to rid itself of some of the 50,000 African migrants, mostly Sudanese and Eritreans who have entered its territory illegally since around 2007. Amir Cohen/Reuters
Opinion Israel Asylum seekers Detention Eritrea
A recent decision by an Israeli district court paved the way for the indefinite incarceration of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers who refuse to leave Israel to be resettled in Rwanda and Uganda. If this decision is upheld by the High Court of Justice upon appeal, refugees fleeing dictatorship and genocide will be forced to choose between remaining in prison forever and leaving to countries that do not guarantee their most basic rights.
The policy of indefinite incarceration in Saharonim prison, one of two detention centers that would be used to hold asylum seekers, was formulated earlier in 2015 by Israel's right-wing government but hasn't gone into effect due to an injunction that was granted following a petition filed by Israeli human rights NGOs.
Israeli government officials refer to asylum seekers as "infiltrators" and present them as criminals who spread disease, as a security threat, and as a demographic threat, although they make up only about 0.5% of Israel's population. After sealing the border with Egypt in 2012, the Israeli government turned to expelling the asylum seekers who've already managed to reach Israel since 2005, when the first among them began arriving.
Since Israeli and international law prohibit deporting people to a place where their lives are in danger (the principle of non-refoulement), the Israeli government is looking for ways to bypass that prohibition. For a while, it indefinitely detained asylum seekers to coerce them into leaving for their homelands, but the High Court voided the law permitting this abuse. Then the Israeli government apparently concluded agreements with Rwanda and Uganda and proclaimed these countries to be safe destinations for deportees.
The Ugandan and Rwandan regimes appear to have agreed to accept Israel's unwanted asylum seekers in exchange for money and other forms of aid, possibly including military aid. Over 3,000 asylum seekers have already left to those countries after being forced to choose between leaving for Rwanda or Uganda and years of detention without trial in the Holot facility, the second detention center, deep in the Negev desert.
The Israeli government refuses to disclose the agreements or detail how they ensure that the regimes in Kigali and Kampala will protect the rights of the deportees. There isn't a single other democratic country that deports asylum seekers to countries without providing them with assurances for their safety.
Dozens of testimonies and signed affidavits collected in Uganda by Israeli and international human rights NGOs indicate that once asylum seekers from Israel arrive to the airports in Kigali and Entebbe their Israeli traveling document is confiscated by local authorities. In Rwanda, authorities take the deportees to a gated compound and make it clear to them that they must illegally cross the border to Uganda or face arrest.
As payment for the smuggling, asylum seekers are forced to hand over the $3,500 the Israeli government gives as an incentive to each asylum seeker who departs Israel. Without legal status, asylum seekers face being detained and deported to their country of origin where they face persecution, detention and torture.
As a result, asylum seekers who are deported to Uganda and Rwanda are forced, once again, to illegally cross borders in search of a safe haven. Some of them attempt to reach Europe through Libya, where they are often held for ransom and tortured by traffickers. At least three Eritrean asylum seekers who were coerced to leave Israel were captured by Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Libya and beheaded for their Christian faith.
The new policy of indefinite incarceration without trial applies only to asylum seekers whose asylum requests have been rejected. However, Israel has the lowest recognition rate of refugees in the Western world: just 0.15% of asylum requests filed since mid-2009—when the Israeli Ministry of Interior took over examining asylum claims from the UNHCR—received a positive response.
Eritreans and Sudanese nationals make up over 90% of asylum seekers in Israel. The Eritreans are fleeing an extremely repressive dictatorship and the Sudanese survived genocide in Darfur or ethnic cleansing in the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile region. Only four Eritreans out of a community of 33,500 received a positive response to their asylum claim.
Not even one Sudanese national out of 8,500 residing in Israel received a positive response to their claim. In the rest of the world, the majority of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers are granted refugee status. As a result, Israel's policy of incarcerating asylum seekers whose asylum requests are rejected can be applied to wide swaths of the refugee population in Israel.
Unless the policy is reversed by Israel's High Court of Justice, whose independence is being increasingly threatened by Israel's right-wing government, thousands of asylum seekers will face indefinite incarceration without trial because they refuse to leave to countries in which their basic rights will not be respected.
Elizabeth Tsurkov is an activist with the Tel Aviv-based Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, an Israeli human rights NGO that is one of the petitioners against Israel's new incarceration policy.
Israel's Deportation Policy Forces Asylum Seekers to Choose Between Prison and Persecution | Opinion
Israel to Deport Eritrean and Sudanese 'Infiltrators' to Rwanda and Uganda
Eritrean Footballers Seek Asylum in Botswana After World Cup Qualifier


H&R Project Golf 6 TDI | H&R Special Springs, LP.
Fine-tuning the Golf6 TDI only requires a few simple upgrades.
Starting with the suspension, an H&R Touring Cup Kit has been installed. The H&R Touring Cup Kit has awesome ride quality and a fine performance feel that fits all driving styles and conditions. H&R Sport Sway bars further increase performance in transitional maneuvers and keeps the chassis tracking flawlessly. Lightweight 18" OZ Alleggerita HLT wheels and Pirelli PZero Nero tires add to the appearance and performance of the Golf. VW's great fitting and easy to install Volkswagen Body Kit enhances the TDI's profile and adds just the right amount of styling to stand out from the crowd.
The H&R Project Golf 6 TDI has it all: great power, incredible fuel economy, performance and style!


The Law School provides and maintains a high-speed wired and wireless network.
To connect your notebook or mobile device to the Law School network, you must have a valid Law School network account and know the MAC address of your device. Detailed instructions on how to find your MAC address and configuration details can be found in the How-To section of the Law School website located at Laptop Configuration Manuals.
You can configure your notebook or mobile device to access the Law School network any time, and on your own, with one of the configuration manuals. Select the manual you need and then follow the configuration information.
You may also want to configure a Virtual Private Network, or VPN for short. VPNs allow members of the Law School community to access network services from off-campus locations. Using a VPN, a remote computer can access a network resource, such as printers and shared drives, securely and in real time.
Detailed VPN configuration details can be found in the How-To section of the Law School website. Other remote access options such as FTP and using a web browser to access your files can also be found in the How-To section.
Please be sure to protect your computer devices from viruses and spyware. If your computer becomes infected with a virus or malware, you may lose access to the internet until you clean up your laptop. This can take days, endanger your personal documents, or require you to reformat your hard drive and re-install your operating system and applications from scratch. Please make sure to take all the necessary precautions to secure your computer.
Law School students can download and install a free version of Symantec Endpoint Protection. Endpoint Protection is an antivirus and anti-spyware scanning program. Please visit cuit.columbia.edu/symantec to download and install a free copy of Symantec Endpoint Protection.
Current Law School students are eligible for individual accounts for Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law. Each of these systems provide sophisticated access to a range of primary and secondary legal sources. Please contact the reference desk for help setting up your account or for your research assistance.
Although it is not a requirement, notebook computers are highly recommended. You are free to purchase any computer you like, however, if you plan to connect to the Law School network and receive network connectivity support from the IT department, then your notebook must be in line with the Law School's Notebook Support Policy. Please visit the IT website for more details on the Notebook Support Policy.
Columbia University has negotiated with Apple and Dell to provide personal discounts on computers, peripherals, and software to incoming and current students. The program is available at cuit.columbia.edu/computer-discounts.
Thank you for completing the Computer-Based Training program. All students are required to certify understanding of the information presented in the Computer-Based Training.


Maybe love is too strong of a word? I don't know. All I know is that I awoke this morning with a great and deep appreciation for the bike. For some reason this morning, the enormity of what the bike means to me, hit me hard. I can't really explain it, and I don't know why it happened this morning. Regardless, all this to say that I "heart" the bike.
For some reason that I can't explain, I just feel so grateful to have the bike in my life. Probably these feelings come from having a pretty darn good week of riding, training, and life. I had some excellent training rides. I had a blast at the local training crit. I connected with friends over the bike. I escaped from my day-to-day worries thanks to my bike. I talked travel plans that will take me to San Diego, Las Vegas, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Belgium – all these destinations thanks to the bike. I spent time simply pedaling and smiling alongside my best friend and favorite guy. The bike has brought a young lad into our home – a young guy who has the chance to see the world and discover life – all thanks to the bike.
I've had time this morning to think about all the things the bike has done for me over my short life so far. From starting as a toy, then growing to be a method of escape with rides around the block, to transportation to school and park, to a method of escape from the troubles of teenagehood, to helping me discover this my new city, to introducing to my husband and favorite guy, to bringing fantastic people into my life, to taking me all over the world, to helping me escape my life troubles, and to now – giving me a chance to be a kid again – racing around the park, around the block, and getting to know you.
Thanks bike. I'm really glad you're in my life. I really do think it is love. Thanks for being in my life. I owe you one.


text:
"use strict";

var _interopRequire = function (obj) { return obj && obj.__esModule ? obj["default"] : obj; };

var _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; };

var _react = require("react");

var React = _interopRequire(_react);

var cloneElement = _react.cloneElement;

var classSet = _interopRequire(require("classnames"));

var createChainedFunction = _interopRequire(require("./utils/createChainedFunction"));

var ValidComponentChildren = _interopRequire(require("./utils/ValidComponentChildren"));

var DropdownMenu = React.createClass({
  displayName: "DropdownMenu",

  propTypes: {
    pullRight: React.PropTypes.bool,
    onSelect: React.PropTypes.func
  },

  render: function render() {
    var classes = {
      "dropdown-menu": true,
      "dropdown-menu-right": this.props.pullRight
    };

    return React.createElement(
      "ul",
      _extends({}, this.props, {
        className: classSet(this.props.className, classes),
        role: "menu" }),
      ValidComponentChildren.map(this.props.children, this.renderMenuItem)
    );
  },

  renderMenuItem: function renderMenuItem(child, index) {
    return cloneElement(child, {
      // Capture onSelect events
      onSelect: createChainedFunction(child.props.onSelect, this.props.onSelect),

      // Force special props to be transferred
      key: child.key ? child.key : index
    });
  }
});

module.exports = DropdownMenu;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


There is no one way to throw a wedding and no one way to capture it. This day is a day to celebrate the love of two amazing people, in the way that is most cherished by you. It is such a joy for me to witness the union of two people who love each other so deeply and to capture that special day in your lives. The highlights, the tears, the laughter, the special people in your life, I will be there to press the shutter.
No matter what package you choose the details are up to you. We will go through your day step by step and discuss how you see your day unfold.
I offer a range of wedding packages and products and feel free to contact Sarah Sarty Photography with any questions you may have. Have a look at my other Galleries.
There are currently not any Weddings available.