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Federal Judge: Private Employers Cannot Be Forced To Cover Contraceptives In Violation Of Religious Beliefs
An important ruling on the Obama Administration's contraceptive coverage mandate from a Judge in Colorado.
Doug Mataconis · Saturday, July 28, 2012 · 25 comments
A Federal Judge in Colorado has issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the mandate issued by the Department of Health and Human Services requiring all employers to include contraceptive coverage in the health insurance they provide to employees. What's interesting about the case, though, is that the Plaintiffs challenging the case were not Catholic institution, but individual private employers who happen to be Catholic:
A federal judge on Friday granted a temporary injunction sought by Catholic owners of a Colorado heating-and-cooling company who had objected to new federal requirements that they provide contraception coverage in workers' health-insurance plans.
The decision is a victory for opponents of the birth-control coverage provision, which is part of President Barack Obama's health overhaul. Starting Wednesday, most employers must cover contraception, including the morning-after pill and sterilization, without charging workers out-of-pocket fees. Some religiously affiliated employers, such as universities and hospitals, don't have to comply for another year.
What's significant about Friday's decision is that it opens an avenue for nonreligious employers to challenge the requirement.
The Newland family of Colorado, who co-own the heating-and-cooling businessHercules Industries Inc., said the federal government would force them to violate their religious beliefs by requiring the company to cover birth control in workers' insurance plans.
U.S. Judge John Kane in Denver said the requirements could violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 1993 statute that requires the federal government to consider the rights of faith groups when crafting policy. He gave the company a temporary injunction while the court considers their case further, and said it could not be subject to federal penalties for not complying during that time.
"These questions merit more deliberate investigation," he wrote. "Defendants bear the burden of demonstrating that refusing to exempt Plaintiffs from the preventive care coverage mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering their compelling interest."
The decision by Judge Kane only applies to the heating-and-cooling company. But other small businesses could apply for similar relief, said Matt Bowman, a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the Newlands in the case.
Mr. Bowman also said that the decision would boost other challenges to the contraception provisions. Religious universities and charities, including the University of Notre Dame, have also sued the administration over the requirements. The Obama administration has said it will work with Catholic-affiliated institutions to try to reach a compromise, prompting two judges to toss out those cases.
"Right now, the first judge to rule on the merits of religious freedom ruled that religious freedom is more important than government mandates," said Mr. Bowman.
It was just about a week ago that a Federal Judge in Nebraska dismissed a lawsuit filed by several states and a handful of Catholic-run institutions on the ground that the claims being made by the Plaintiffs were not yet ripe for consideration. In that case, the main argument the judge relied upon was the fact that the HHS has given religious institutions until August 2013 to comply with the law. Because of that, the Judge found that the parties had not shown that they were in danger of suffering an immediate harm from having to comply with a mandate that won't go into effect for them for another years. As I noted at the time, this decision could potentially mean that all challenges by Church-run institutions would be delayed for at least a year, although that would require the judges those cases were before to agree with the reasoning of the Judge in Nebraska. That ruling can't be applied in this case, though, because the mandate for private employers such as Hercules Industries went into effect immediately.
Since this is a Preliminary Injunction and not a final ruling on the merits, we will have to wait until after evidence has been taken for a final ruling. It's possible that the Judge will ultimately rule in favor of the Government. Given the conclusions he's reached at this stage, though, it is very clear that he's highly skeptical of the Government's position and disposed toward the Plaintiff's view of the case. Consider, for example, his discussion of the balancing of the asserted public interest against the rights asserted by the Plaintiffs to be able to run their business without violating their religious beliefs:
Defendants argue that entry of the requested injunction is contrary to the public interest, because it would "undermine [their] ability to effectuate Congress's goals of improving the health of women and children and equalizing the coverage of preventive services for women and men so that women who choose to do so can be part of the workforce on an equal playing field with men." Defendants' Response (doc. 26) at73. This asserted interest is, however, undermined by the creation of exemptions for certain religious organizations and employers with grandfathered health insurance plans and a temporary enforcement safe harbor for non-profit organizations.'
These interests are countered, and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion. As the Tenth Circuit has noted, "there is a strong public interest in the free exercise of religion even where that interest may conflict with [another statutory scheme]." OCentro, 389 F.3d at 1010. Accordingly, the public interest favors entry of an injunction in this case.
On balance, the threatened harm to Plaintiffs, impingement of their right to freely exercise their religious beliefs, and the concommittant public interest in that right srongly favor the entry of injunctive relief. Although the less rigorous standard for preliminary injunctions is not applied when "a preliminary injunction seeks to stay governmental action taken in the public interest pursuant to a statutory or regulatory scheme," Aid for Women v. Foulston, 441 F.3d 1101, 1115 (10th Cir. 2006), the government's creation of numerous exceptions to the preventive care coverage mandate has undermined its alleged public interest.8 Accordingly, I find the general rule disfavoring the relaxed standard inapplicable. Plaintiffs need only establish that their challenge presents "questions going to the merits . . . so serious, substantial, difficult, and doubtful as to make the issue ripe for litigation and deserving of more deliberate investigation." Okla. Tax Comm'n, 455 F.3d at 1113.
The Judge then goes on to rely upon the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to reach the conclusion that the Plaintiffs are likely to ultimately succeed in the case. Under the RFRA, the government is prohibited from "substantially" burdening "a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability." The law was inspired in large part by the Supreme Court's decision in Employment Division v. Smith in which the Court ruled two Native Americans could be denied unemployment compensation after being fired for drug use, even though the drug in question was peyote used in a Native American religious ceremony. Because of its far-reaching implications, united both religious and civil liberties groups and the law passed Congress on a largely bipartisan basis. There is one major exception in the RFRA, though, it says that the government may justify a substantial burden on the free exercise of religion if the challenged law: "(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest."
In this case, the Judge was very skeptical of the government's argument that these exemptions applied, which poses a huge problem for them further down the line. With regard to the "compelling interest" part of the test, he pointed to the fact that HHS has already granted exemptions to the entirety of the "preventive care mandate" to some 190 million health care plans in the form of exemptions for small businesses and for so-called "grandfathered" health care plans. Because of that, he said, the government cannot show a compelling interest in requiring the Plaintiffs in this case to provide the mandated coverage. Additionally, the government failed to convince the judge that the mandate is the least restrictive means of accomplishing their stated goal of promoting women's health. In their own briefs, the Plaintiffs had provided one alternative, the government could provide free contraceptives to women, and the judge was not convinced by the government's attempt to rebut this as a viable alternative:
First, Defendants argue that because Plaintiffs' alternative "would impose considerable new costs and other burdens on the Government and are otherwise impractical," they should be rejected as not "feasible" or "plausible." Brief in Opposition (doc. 26) at 44. Although a showing of impracticality is sufficient to refute the adequacy of a proposed alternative, Defendants have failed to make such a showing in this case. As Plaintiffs note, "the-government already provides free contraception to women." Reply Brief in Support (doc. 27) at 38.
Defendants also argue Plaintiffs' alternative would not adequately advance the government's compelling interests. They acknowledge that Plaintiffs' alternative would achieve the purpose of providing contraceptive services to women with no cost sharing, but argue that Plaintiffs' alternative will not "ensur[e] that women will face minimal logistical and administrative obstacles to receiving coverage of their care." Brief in Opposition (doc. 26) at 45. Although Plaintiffs argue that this amounts to a redefinition of Defendants' compelling interest, it is instead a logical corollary thereto.16 Nonetheless, Defendants have failed to adduce facts establishing that government provision of contraception services will necessarily entail logistical and administrative obstacles defeating the ultimate purpose of providing no-cost preventive health care coverage to women. Once again, the current existence of analogous programs heavily weighs against such an argument.
Defendants bear the burden of demonstrating that refusing to exempt Plaintiffs from the preventive care coverage mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering their compelling interest. Given the existence of government programs similar to Plaintiffs' proposed alternative, the government has failed to meet this burden.
Interestingly, Judge John Kane, the judge who wrote this opinion, was appointed by President Carter in 1977.
This case is remarkably similar to one that originated in Oregon, which I wrote about in February. In that case, a Federal Judge in Oregon ruled that pharmacist in Washington State cannot be forced to dispense the so-called "morning after pill" in violation of her religious beliefs. This decision was not based on the RFRA because the Supreme Court had decided in 1997 that the Act cannot be applied to the states. Instead, that case was hinged upon the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Nonetheless, as National Review's Ed Whelen recognized at the time, the similarity in the arguments and conclusions reached by the judge suggested strongly that the RFRA would block the application of the contraceptive mandate against religious-run organizations at the very least, and potentially against private employers that objected to the mandate on religious grounds. Indeed, when Notre Dame and other Catholic institutions filed suit against the mandate earlier this year, they based a large part of their argument on the RFRA. This decision would suggest that they are standing on some fairly solid ground.
Judge Kane made clear in his opinion that the ruling only applies to the parties in this case. While that is true, it is likely to be cited as presuasive authority by Plaintiffs in other cases against the mandate. If the judges hearing those mandates find Judge Kane's argument compelling, then the contraceptive mandate is likely to be in serious legal trouble. I was originally skeptical of the legal arguments against the mandate, but between this ruling and the Washington State case, it is quite clear that the opponents of the mandate have a strong case. How it turns out, of course, is something we'll have to wait to find out.
Here is Judge Kane's opinion for those interested.
Hercules et al v. Sibelius et al
FILED UNDER: Health, Healthcare Policy, Law and the Courts, Religion, US Politics, Barack Obama, birth control, Civil Liberties, Colorado, contraceptive coverage mandate, Denver, Employment, Free Exercise Clause, National Review, Nebraska, Obama Administration, Oregon, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Unemployment
PD Shaw says:
Saturday, 28 July 2012 at 11:45
This asserted interest is, however, undermined by the creation of exemptions for certain religious organizations and employers with grandfathered health insurance plans and a temporary enforcement safe harbor for non-profit organizations.'
That's pretty much exactly what I had commented was the reason it was more likely than not Obama would lose the court challenges. The gist of the law is to force government to use less restrictive alternatives. By providing less restrictive alternatives for some, but not others, Obama made the case for the alternative being widely available for everyone claiming a religious belief.
Does this mean that Scientologists who own businesses don't have to pay for medical insurance that includes mental health treatment (a federal requirement)? Does this mean that Christian Scientists who own businesses don't have to pay for any medical insurance?
The case could not be better made for a Single Payer Health Insurance system.
America is a very dumbed down country.
What al-Ameda said.
But take it further. Workers Comp? Why should employers be forced to pay for Comp or retirement programs?
Oh, wait, they aren't in most parts of our nation. Those job producers are so burdened…
RFRA was a reactionary populist dog's breakfast that wouldn't have crossed Hatch's mind much less the floor of the Senate had the drug war not gotten so completely out of hand that states dragged unemployment (and workers) comp into the war that led to the peyote case.
I suppose repealing RFRA is a non-starter. @al-Ameda's right, single payer will be the fix.
In Illinois, private employers are exempt from providing contraceptive coverage if it contradicts the employer's religious beliefs, regardless of whether the employer is associated with a religious organization or not. Link
Indeed, Obama appears to have voted for the Illinois law when he was in the Illinois Senate since it passed 59 to 0. Link
KariQ says:
How about Jehovan's Witnesses? Can they refuse to provide coverage that pays for blood transfusions? This could be a disastrous precedent.
Commonist says:
The freedom to hurt someone else's freedom because Ganesh or whatever says so.
My brain. Full of f**k.
Gromitt Gunn says:
This, like the pharmacist cases, is total insanity. Pharmacists – and other medical professionals – should be guided by their Codes of Professional Conduct – rather than their religious beliefs. And so long as we're stupid enough to couple employment status and health care through the Internal Revenue Code, employers should have to choose between a Federally compliant health care plan or losing the tax-favored status of their health plan.
The real answer is, of course, to decouple healthcare from employment.
I see there is no discussion of an individual's rights, religious or otherwise. I don't understand how the institution of a feudal-like system whereby employers can interfere with their employer's personal beliefs can stand. The employer based health care system is going to be progressively weakened.
DRS says:
This is the kind of thing that is going to bite the God-botherers in the ass someday. They can never be brought to understand that other religions can also use this kind of argument against issues that they hold dear. And as a Catholic it bothers me that the bishops have grabbed at the short-term advantage rather than confront the growing gap between what they preach and what their parishioners practice. This kind of stubborness has never won out in the past and won't this time either. Idiots.
@DRS: I am curious what will happen if a Muslim business owner wants a special insurance plan that requires that female employees only go to female doctors.
Phillip says:
@Timothy Watson: Indeed, immediately the story about Islamic Louisiana charter schools jumps to mind. link
Tony W says:
@Gromitt Gunn: "The real answer is, of course, to decouple healthcare from employment."
Which will not happen in my lifetime. Imagine how many small business would start up and compete with existing interests once disgruntled employees were not tied to their jobs' health coverage! This is a nightmare scenario for both parties.
Pylon says:
The one Inc no one has noticed is that this is a temporary injunction. Which means the judge only found that there is a "triable issue". It is not a final decision on the merits.
Sunday, 29 July 2012 at 00:34
Ridiculous – health benefits are just that – benefits (which employees usually pay a fair share of anyway). So if I work for an employer who's rabidly anti-vaccine (maybe from listening to too much Michele Bachmann) I'd have to pay for my kid's vaccines myself even if I have insurance that I'm contributing to? Why not just say the objectionable stuff is being paid for out of my share and leave it at that? Do I have no say in something I contribute payment for? Suppose I decide to use my two week vacation benefit to visit Egypt and my Jewish employer deems it an unacceptable place to visit – can he withhold my vacation benefit? When does it end?
This post has me imagining the lawsuits that will ensue when two 50/50 partners in a business disagree on some element of healthcare due to the dictates of their contradictory religious overlords. Maybe half the employees are covered for contraception and the other half get blood transfusions?
What's sort of funny about this debate — in a black comedy sense — is that liberals are so airheaded they could not grasp the irony of being in support of a federal health insurance mandate that touches directly upon religious protocols. They can't see the actual issue despite the obviousness of that issue.
If the Feds can mandate that private Catholic employers provide health coverage for contraceptives then ipso facto the Feds could mandate that a private secular employer provide PTO to all its religious employees for each respective religious holy day on the calendar. Meaning for example that an atheist employer could be forced to pay its devout Catholic employees for taking off work for Ash Wednesday. Meaning for example that an atheist employer could be forced to pay its evangelical employees for not working on Good Friday. So on, so forth. Same principles, merely in reverse. Is that really the sort of precedent the left wants to set? Speaking of which, can you fathom the high dudgeon mode reaction from the left if an evangelical Protestant president's administration went in that direction?
@Tsar Nicholas:
What's sort of funny about this debate — in a black comedy sense — is that liberals are so airheaded they could not grasp the irony of being in support of a federal health insurance mandate that touches directly upon religious protocols.
What's interesting is that many conservatives are so air-headed that they can't see that de-coupling health insurance from employment and establishing a Single Payer Health Insurance system would take us out of this phony cafeteria morality play.
David K. says:
The difference between paying for contraceptives and paying for blood transfusions or mental health services is that contraceptives, in most cases, are NOT medically necessary. They are a convenience for people who want to have sex but not children. An individual should have the right to make that choice, but they should have to pay for it. Simple as that.
@David K.: Well you can quibble with my examples, but the core argument remains. Employees should not have to attend church with their bosses to get coverage that aligns with their needs.
@Tony W: And they don't have to when it comes to NECESSARY care. Contraceptives are not necessary (in most cases). It's a big difference.
@Tsar Nicholas: I guess it's a violation of the Catholic Church's freedoms to throw cardinals in jail that cover up sexual abuse too?
@David K.: If you're female, you are going to find contraceptives to be bloody necessary in a lot of cases. Heard about cramps, smart boy? Heard about irregular menses? Heard about being so much in pain it's been mistaken for appendicitis?
Until you have to deal with the problem yourself, shut your bloody gob. You have no idea what you are talking about.
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Saturday, 4 August 2012 at 04:17
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See a pick of the best photographs from the pre-season fixture between Leicester Tigers and London Irish at Welford Road ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. Scroll through the album above to see the pictures.
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Quick Drive: 2017 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Touring
Turbo Power! But it comes at a cost.
They say timing is everything. As I mentioned in our quick drive piece of 2016 Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium, the automaker announced a refreshed version for 2017. Changes included a revised exterior, improved interior materials, and a revised EyeSight active safety system. Once we heard about the refresh, we knew we need to get one in for review. That's what happened this past fall as a 2017 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Touring arrived at the Cheers & Gears Detroit garage. The XT is the important bit as it means we have the turbo engine.
Let us begin with the engine as this is one of the best points of the Forester. The XT gets a turbocharged 2.0L boxer-four producing 250 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. This comes paired with Subaru's Lineartronic CVT and all-wheel drive.
The turbo engine solves some of the issues we had in the previous Forester. The 2.5i wasn't as responsive as we would have liked and it takes its sweet time to get up to higher speeds. With the turbo engine, the Forester leaps into action. Yes, it does a take a moment for the turbo to spool up. But once it does, the engine delivers power at a steady and smooth rate.
Subaru's Lineartronic CVT is one of the better CVTs on the market. Part of this comes from the simulated gear changes Subaru has programmed for the CVT. This will fool most people into thinking that the transmission is a standard automatic. Also, the CVT doesn't have much of a groan when you decide to floor the accelerator.
The downside to the turbo engine is fuel economy. EPA fuel economy figures for the 2.0XT stand at 23 City/27 Highway/25 Combined. Our average for the week was 24.7 MPG.
If you're expecting Subaru to make some changes to the suspension and/or steering for the Forester 2.0XT, then you'll be very disappointed. The 2.0XT is the same as the 2.5i we drove earlier. That means a smooth ride over some of the worst roads Michigan has on offer, but a fair amount of body roll when going around a corner.
Changes for the 2017 Forester's exterior include a new grille design, LED accent lights for the head and taillights; and a new set of wheels. The XT also gets a more aggressive front bumper. While the Forester is still a box, at least the changes have made it a bit more stylish.
The interior remains mostly unchanged when compared to the 2016 model. The only change we noted is the option of brown leather for the XT Touring that is used for the seats and various parts of the dash and doors. It is a nice touch, but it would have been nice if Subaru had gone a bit further with the luxury touches - especially considering the price of our tester.
Subaru has upgraded their EyeSight system for 2017 by installing a new set of color stereo cameras. Subaru says the new cameras allow better detection of various objects and a wider range of monitoring. We believe it as the updated system was able to detect vehicles slightly faster than the previous system when using the adaptive cruise control system.
There is one big issue for the 2017 Forester 2.0XT Touring, price. The base price is $34,295. Equipped with an option package that brings a larger screen for the Starlink infotainment system, EyeSight, and reverse automatic braking, the as-tested price comes to $36,765. Taking into consideration for what you get for the price, the Forester 2.0XT Touring isn't worth it considering you can get into some luxury crossovers for around the same price.
You can get the Forester 2.0XT in the Premium trim which kicks off at $29,295, but you cannot get EyeSight as an option.
If you really want a Forester with a turbo engine, wait for 2.0XT Touring to hit the used car lot as it will become a slightly better value. Otherwise, skip the 2.0XT and go with the Forester 2.5i or another crossover.
Disclaimer: Subaru Provided the Forester 2.0XT Touring, Insurance, and One Tank of Gas
Trim: 2.0XT Touring
Engine: Turbocharged 2.0L DOHC GDI Boxer-Four
Driveline: CVT, All-Wheel Drive
Horsepower @ RPM: 250 @ 5,600
Torque @ RPM: 258 @ 2,000 - 4,800
Fuel Economy: City/Highway/Combined - 23/27/25
Location of Manufacture: OTA, Gunma, Japan
Base Price: $34,295
As Tested Price: $36,765 (Includes $875.00 Destination Charge)
Option Package 34 - $1,595.00
Edited January 23, 2017 by William Maley
quick drive
2.0xt touring
frogger 588
I guess ~25mpg combined with that power in a 3700lb AWD CUV isn't too bad. I'm thinking a new Forester cannot be more than another year, maybe two away with the Impreza being new this year.
Nice looking exterior, interior is just a Meh to me.
Today in Tokyo, Subaru put forth an ambitious plan. By the mid-2030s, the Japanese automaker will only sell electric vehicles worldwide. This announcement comes as no surprise as both China and Europe have announced stricter emissions regulations that will be coming in the near future.
But to reach that goal, Subaru will be working with Toyota (which owns a 8.7 percent stake in Subaru) on developing both hybrid and electric vehicles. In a statement, Subaru executives said work has started on a "strong hybrid" vehicle using Toyota technology. No other details were provided. The two are also working on full-electric vehicles that will launch sometime this decade. These vehicles will play a key role in Subaru's goal of having 40 percent of vehicles sold be all-electric and electrified cars by 2030.
Despite this change in direction for powertrains, Subaru executive's stress their vehicles will retain the key traits that have their vehicles unique.
"Although we're using Toyota technology, we want to make hybrids that are distinctly Subaru," said Subaru's Chief Technology Officer Tetsuo Onuki.
"It's not only about reducing CO2 emissions. We need to further improve vehicle safety and the performance of our all-wheel drive."
Source: Reuters, Autoblog
I've driven my fair share of Challengers on both extremes - from the standard V6 to the high-performance SRT and Hellcat models. But I never had any time behind the wheel of the R/T with its 5.7 V8. That changed in the summer when a bright orange Charger R/T Shaker was dropped off for a week. This allowed me to ask a question that has been sitting in my head for some time: Is the R/T the best bang for your buck in the Challenger family?
The Shaker sets itself apart from other Challenger models with the use of a 'Shaker' scoop that prominently pops up from the hood. There is also a blackout treatment on several trim pieces and wheels that make it look even more imposing on the road. Along with the scoop, the Shaker package does add a new cold-air intake seated right in front of the driver's side corner. This addition should boost the output of the 5.7L HEMI V8 (372 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque when paired with the eight-speed automatic. But FCA's spec sheet doesn't say anything about the Shaker Package adding more oomph or not. When you first start up the R/T Shaker, it makes presence known with a deep and loud exhaust note. I had to do a double-take the first time as I was wondering if I was given either an R/T Scat Pack or a Hellcat by mistake. While it may lack the high power numbers of the 6.4 and supercharged 6.2 V8s, the 5.7 is no slouch. 60 mph comes in at just over five seconds and power is seemingly available at any speed. My tester came with the optional Performance Handling Group that adds upgraded springs, sway bars, and a set of Bilstein shocks. This does improve the handling by a fair amount with less body roll. But it doesn't feel nimble due to a curb weight of around 4,158 pounds. The steering has a quick response, but there is a noticeable lack of road feedback. If you want your muscle car to have some handling, consider the Camaro or Mustang. Nothing new to report on the Challenger's interior. It still has the angled center stack, retro-inspired gauges, and easy to use UConnect infotainment system. The seats are where the Challenger loses some points as it feels like you're sitting on top of cinderblocks. The Shaker package is surprisingly good value, adding $2,500 to the base price of the R/T which begins at $34,295. But you'll need to be careful on the option sheet, or you'll end up with something quite expensive. My tester came with an as-tested price of $46,555, which is $300 more than an R/T Scat Pack Widebody with the 6.4 HEMI V8. The Dodge Challenger is getting up there in age and sadly cannot compete with the likes of the Camaro and Mustang in terms of handling. But Dodge is still able to offer a lot of performance in the form of the R/T. With a potent V8 engine, old school styling, and different packages like the Shaker to make your Challenger stand out, the R/T is possibly the best value and well-rounded model in the lineup. Disclaimer: Dodge Provided the Challenger, Insurance, and One Tank of Gas
Model: Challenger
Trim: R/T
Engine: 5.7 HEMI VVT V8 Engine
Driveline: Eight-Speed Automatic, Rear-Wheel Drive
Torque @ RPM: 400 @ 4,400
Location of Manufacture: Brampton, Ontario
As Tested Price: $46,555 (Includes $1,495.00 Destination Charge)
"Shaker" Package - $2,500.00
TorqueFlite Eight-Speed Automatic Transmission - $1,595.00
Performance Handling Group - $1,495.00
Driver Convenience Group - $1,295.00
Power Sunroof - $1,295.00
UConnect 4C Nav with 8.4-inch Display - $1,095.00
Alpine Sound Group with Subwoofer - $995.00
Shakedown Graphics - $495.00


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Even so, Carrington became one of her two most loyal lieutenants (the other being Willie Whitelaw), though he had been surprised to get the job of Foreign Secretary in the first place. He thought,
Born Christopher Whitelaw Pine in August 26. After appearing in ER, The Guardian and CSI: Miami, he starred in The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement before starring in an episode of Six Feet.
Niall Horan's ex Melissa Whitelaw cuts a stylish figure at Rose Bay beach in Sydney – She's the brunette beauty that was linked to one of the stars of One Direction while they were in Australia. And Melissa Whitelaw flaunted her slender frame as she she strode across the waterfront at.
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text:
<?php
defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

class JenisSertifikasi extends CI_Controller {

	public function __construct()
	{
		parent::__construct();
		if ($this->session->userdata('username')=="") {
			redirect('login');
		}
		$this->load->library('template');
		$this->load->library('session');
        $this->load->library('form_validation');
        $this->load->helper(array('form','url'));
        $this->load->model('JenisSertifikasiM');
	}

	public function index($id=NULL)
	{
		$data['username'] = $this->session->userdata('username');
		$data['id_user'] = $this->session->userdata('id_user');
		$data['nama_role'] = $this->session->userdata('nama_role');
		$data['judulHeader'] = 'Jenis Sertifikasi';
		$data['menu'] = 'jenisSertifikasi';

		$jml = $this->db->get('jenis_sertifikasi');

		//pengaturan pagination
		$config['base_url']		= base_url().'admin/jenisSertifikasi/index';
		$config['total_rows'] 	= $jml->num_rows();
		$config['per_page'] 	= '10';
		$config['first_page'] 	= 'Awal';
		$config['last_page'] 	= 'Akhir';
		$config['next_page'] 	= '«';
		$config['prev_page'] 	= '»';

		//inisialisasi config
		 $this->pagination->initialize($config);

		//buat pagination
		 $data['halaman'] = $this->pagination->create_links();

		//tamplikan data
	 	$nama_sertifikasi = $this->input->post('nama_sertifikasi');
		if($nama_sertifikasi != ''){
			$jml = $this->db->select('*')
						->from('jenis_sertifikasi')
						->like('nama_jenis_sertifikasi',$nama_sertifikasi)
						->get();
			//pengaturan pagination
			 $config['base_url'] 	= base_url().'admin/jenisSertifikasi/index';
			 $config['total_rows'] 	= $jml->num_rows();
			 $config['per_page'] 	= '10';
			 $config['first_page'] 	= 'Awal';
			 $config['last_page'] 	= 'Akhir';
			 $config['next_page'] 	= '«';
			 $config['prev_page'] 	= '»';

			//inisialisasi config
		 	$this->pagination->initialize($config);

			//buat pagination
		 	$data['halaman'] 	= $this->pagination->create_links();
			$data['data'] 		=  $this->JenisSertifikasiM->tampilDataSertifikasi($config['per_page'], $id, $nama_sertifikasi);
			$tr['tr'] 			= $this->load->view('admin/jenisSertifikasi/pencarian',$data,true);
			echo json_encode($tr['tr']);
			exit;
		}else{
			$nama_prodi 	= null;
			$kode_fakultas 	= null;
			$data['data'] 	= $this->JenisSertifikasiM->tampilDataSertifikasi($config['per_page'], $id, $nama_sertifikasi);
		}
		// $data['data']	= $this->JenisSertifikasiM->tampilData()->result_object();
		$this->template->display('admin/jenisSertifikasi/admin',$data);
	}

	public function tambah()
	{
		$data['username'] 		= $this->session->userdata('username');
		$data['id_user'] 		= $this->session->userdata('id_user');
		$data['nama_role'] 		= $this->session->userdata('nama_role');
		$data['judulHeader'] 	= 'Jenis Sertifikasi';
		$data['menu'] 			= 'jenisSertifikasi';
		$this->template->display('admin/jenisSertifikasi/tambah',$data);
	}

	public function insert()
	{
		$nama_jenis_sertifikasi = $this->input->post('nama_jenis_sertifikasi');
		$status = true;
		$data 	= array(
					'nama_jenis_sertifikasi' => $nama_jenis_sertifikasi,
					'status' => $status
				);
		$insert = $this->JenisSertifikasiM->insert($data);
		if ($insert) {
			$this->session->set_flashdata('success','Data berhasil disimpan!');
			redirect('admin/JenisSertifikasi');
		} else {
			$this->session->set_flashdata('error','Data gagal disimpan!');
			redirect('admin/JenisSertifikasi/tambah');
		}
	}

	public function block_aktif($id)
	{
		$aksi 	= $this->input->get('aksi');
		$status = '';

		if($aksi == 'aktif'){
			$status = true;
		}else{
			$status = false;
		}
		$object = array(
			'jenis_sertifikasi_aktif'=>$status,
		);

		$this->db->where('id_jenis_sertifikasi', $id);
		$this->db->update('jenis_sertifikasi', $object);

		if($this->db->affected_rows()){
			$this->session->set_flashdata('info','Data berhasil Diblokir.');
			redirect('admin/JenisSertifikasi');
		}else{
			$this->session->set_flashdata('info','Data gagal Diblokir.');
			redirect('admin/JenisSertifikasi');
		}
	}

	public function hapus($id)
	{
		$hapus = $this->JenisSertifikasiM->delete($id);
		if($this->db->affected_rows()){
			$this->session->set_flashdata('info','Data berhasil Dihapus.');
			redirect('admin/jenisSertifikasi');
		}else{
			$this->session->set_flashdata('info','Data gagal Dihapus.');
			redirect('admin/jenisSertifikasi');
		}
	}

	public function edit($id = null)
	{
		$data['judulHeader'] 	= 'Jenis Sertifikasi';
		$data['menu'] 			= 'jenisSertifikasi';
		$data['username'] 		= $this->session->userdata('username');
		$data['id_user'] 		= $this->session->userdata('id_user');
		$data['nama_role'] 		= $this->session->userdata('nama_role');
		$data['editdata'] 		= $this->db->get_where('jenis_sertifikasi',array('id_jenis_sertifikasi'=>$id))->row();
		$this->template->display('admin/jenisSertifikasi/edit',$data);
	}

	public function update()
	{
		$id_jenis_sertifikasi 	= $this->input->post('id_jenis_sertifikasi');
		$nama_jenis_sertifikasi = $this->input->post('nama_jenis_sertifikasi');

		$object = array(
			'nama_jenis_sertifikasi'=>$nama_jenis_sertifikasi
		);

		$this->db->where('id_jenis_sertifikasi', $id_jenis_sertifikasi);
		$this->db->update('jenis_sertifikasi', $object);
		if ($this->db->affected_rows()) {
			$this->session->set_flashdata('info', 'Data User Pemakai berhasil diedit.');
			redirect('admin/JenisSertifikasi');
		} else {
			$this->session->set_flashdata('info', 'Data User Pemakai gagal diedit.');
			redirect('admin/JenisSertifikasi');
		}
	}
}

/* End of file JenisSertifikasi.php */
/* Location: ./application/modules/admin/controllers/JenisSertifikasi.php */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Why You Should Be Using Tabs With Your Popups: How One Brand Got an Extra 1k Subscribers in 30 Days
There are a ton of ways to drive leads and sales for your ecommerce business: automated emails, broadcast emails, popups, displays…you get the idea.
But one of the more overlooked tactics for growing your email list and boosting your sales is using tabs with your popups.
You might be wondering, "What exactly is a tab? Why should I use it? How is it different from other popup triggers?"
But don't worry: we've got you covered.
Let's take a closer look at tabs for ecommerce popups, and how they can help you grow your business. Before we do that, though, let's get some context on why tabs can be so effective.
Typical popup triggers
Okay, so let's say that you're building a form on your site. It could be a popup, flyout, banner, or any other kind of form.
When you're creating it, there are a number of triggers that you can bake into its design, so that it automatically appears once those trigger conditions have been met.
Take popups as an example. Probably the most common trigger is the timer — in other words, a popup appears on the user's screen after 5 seconds (or however many seconds you want, it's up to you).
Another trigger that ecommerce brands use a lot is scroll percentage. That's when the visitor has scrolled a certain percentage of the way down the site (75%, for example).
Then there's exit intent. In other words, the visitor is about to abandon the shopping cart, leave the website, close the browser tab, etc.
All of these are great triggers to use when designing an effective popup. Here's the problem: they're all automatic triggers. In other words, the visitor has no control over when and how these popups appear — they just do, once a trigger has been met.
So here's a question for you: What if the visitor clicks away from the automatic popup, keeps browsing your site, and then decides after a few minutes that they do, in fact, want the coupon code you were offering after all? That's where tabs come in.
What are tabs?
A tab is basically a "collapsed button" that allows the visitor to re-access the popup that automatically appears whenever they want.
It allows visitors to intentionally pull up a popup window. And when you think about it that way, it's no wonder that tabs have crazy awesome conversion rates: after all, with a tab, the customer is proactively looking for the popup, instead of having it sprung on them without notice.
Another great thing about tabs is that they can come in all shapes and sizes. For instance, they can be full width and span across the user's entire screen (either on the top or the bottom). They can be wedged in a corner (usually the bottom right). They can be small tabs on the side of the screen. They can come with bold or nuanced color schemes. They can even include images.
Really, the sky's the limit when it comes to tabs. But why should you consider using a tab for your store?
How Doe Lashes uses tabs
There's no better way to illustrate the power of a well-designed tab than to use a real-world example. In this case, we're going to take a brief look at Doe Lashes, a brand that sells high-quality, artificial eyelashes.
The store's operator, Jason Wong, uses tabs on his site to drive business and boost his subscriber count — especially from mobile traffic.
He likes to put the tab on the right side of the screen for smartphones, because he finds that area to be the most accessible spot for the user's thumb.
He used a light pink tab, which is definitely an on-brand, attention-catching choice. It has white text that encourages the visitor to click. It couldn't have taken him very long to design (maybe two or three minutes, tops), and it feels like a native element of the site. Here's an example:
"Okay," you may be thinking, "that's great; but what has the tab actually done?"
We were curious about that, too. So we took a quick look at their Privy account, and here's what we found: the tab feature alone had helped Doe Lashes generate over 1,000 additional email signups in just 30 days. That's a whopping 15% of the total number of signups the store had received in the same time frame.
So on the one hand you have a simple design element that takes maybe 3 minutes to develop, and on the other you have an extra 1,000 subscribers to show for it. That's huge!
But really, it makes sense when you think about it. Put yourself in the customer's shoes for a moment.
Imagine that you've just landed on Doe Lashes for the first time. As you begin to browse the site, you're hit with an automatic popup. You're not ready to engage with any marketing material, so you quickly close it out.
However, after another minute or two you realize that: "Hey, there are some neat products in here! I really want to get that discount code mentioned in the popup." But where should you go to pull up the popup window again?
And that's when tabs are clutch. All you have to do is click on that pink tab to re-open the popup, get your code, and make your purchase.
That's really what the tab is all about: giving interested visitors a clear path to signing up later in the visit, when they're ready to engage.
So you're giving them the power. And it really feels like they have a choice.
And the thing is, anyone who ends up clicking the tab is much, much more likely to convert than a visitor that gets hit with an automatic popup. Of course, we're not saying that automatic popups are bad. In fact, you'll often need them to help you close sales, get leads, and prevent cart abandonment.
At the same time, it's important not to sleep on tabs. In our experience, a well-designed tab is far and away the highest converting trigger you'll ever have for your store. And that's saying something.
Website Conversion
Special thanks to our friends at Privy for their insights on this topic.
What Are Influencer Pods? – Everything you need to know
Top 2021 Instagram Updates that will Impact your Influencer Marketing Campaigns


Bisphenol A is employed to make certain plastics and epoxy resins. BPA-based plastic is clear and tough, and is made into a variety of common consumer goods, such as water bottles. Epoxy resins containing are also used as coatings on the inside of many food and beverage cans.
3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol), 2-MCPD (2-monochloropropane-1,2-diol) and glycidyl esters are a by-product of processing or refining edible oils and fats and are only relatively recent in their discovery.
Fera Science Limited can analyse food or feed samples to measure levels of Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, total; ochratoxin A and fumonisins FB1, FB2 and FB3. The methods used are fully compliant with EU contaminants legislation to allow you to assess your compliance with regulatory limits in place.


A camera films a meteor. The camera is in a car. It is a police car. The meteor looks like a white ball. It falls fast from the sky. It is probably around 0.5 metres long.
Some people say that the meteor has an orange tail. Other people see a blue light. They also hear a loud boom.
Difficult words: tail (end part of the meteor), loud (big), boom (explosion).


text:
Politicker Home
Home › Politicker Home
Trump Says He'll Fight #BlackLivesMatter If They Go For His Mic; Walker Stuns On "Racial Discord"
Written By hollowaylynette
NewsOne's PolitickerOne blog tackles some of the most important topics in politics: Election 2016, moves by the Obama administration, voting rights, lawmaking, and the way that elected officials represent our communities. Three times a week, we will go beyond the mainstream media's "pack" coverage of politics to highlight the underreported aspects of how politics and policy affect you and the people you care about. In between, follow the conversation on Twitter at #PolitickerOne.
Donald Trump Threatens To Fight Black Lives Matter Protesters If They Try To Take His Mic
Fresh off the heels of controversy surrounding his attack on women and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during last week's debate, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday assailed another group: Black Lives Matter.
Speaking at a press conference before a fundraiser in Michigan that was aired on CNN, he slammed Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders for allowing Black Lives Matter protesters to spirit away his microphone last weekend at a Seattle rally of his supporters.
"I would never give up my microphone," he said in response to a question about the incident. "I thought that was disgusting. That showed such weakness the way he was taken away by two young women. They just took the whole place over, and the audience, which liked him, they were saying what's going on? How can this happen?
"That will never happen with me," Trump continued. "I don't know if I will do the fighting myself or if other people will, but that was a disgrace. I felt badly for him, but it shows that he's weak. Believe me that's not going to happen to Trump."
While he's full of hot air, Trump's comments underscore Republicans' problem with trying to attract Black voters, which the party desperately needs to win the White House in 2016.
Instead of threatening protesters with violence, Trump and his party should listen to their demands, which is simply a message of justice and equality.
He rankled the masses on Twitter:
Bring it! Trump threatens to fight Black Lives Matter protesters, and they respond http://t.co/8VEX1d89NR Via @BizPacReview
— michelekirkBPR (@michelekirkBPR) August 12, 2015
IT'S ON NOW!! Trump THREATENS 'Black Lives Matter' protesters – and they RESPOND on social media!! http://t.co/IMYMRaL04l
— Phx Ken (@PhxKen) August 12, 2015
Did Trump just DARE #BlackLivesMatter to interrupt his campaign? Did he really say he would be fighting… Yes and yes!! @deray @OpFerguson
— . (@nofinergem) August 11, 2015
Will Trump stop at nothing to get attention? And who do you think would win that wrestle for the mic? Sound off.
Scott Walker Urges Voters Not To Focus On "Racial Discord"
In yet another example of why the Republican Party is struggling to win voters of color in its race for the White House, GOP presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says the best way to address racial issues is, well, to ignore them.
He made the comment Sunday during a trip to South Carolina when asked about his plans to restore race relations in the state in the bloody aftermath of the racially motivated massacre of Black churchgoers this summer at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
"One, I think in general if anyone focuses on racial discord we're going to get more," he said in a YouTube video. "If we focus on unity we're going to get more of that. The families of the massacre in Charleston showed us the way."
Sorry, Scott Walker, the families of victims of the Charleston massacre encouraged forgiveness, not ignoring years of racism in this country. Try again.
4 Fails On Race In The GOP Debate. Plus: Carly Fiorina's Mic Drop And Dems Debate Schedule
Another Black Chicagoan Wants To Be President: 3 Things To Know About Willie Wilson
#BlackLivesMatter	, #BlackLivesMatter protests	, 2016 Election	, Bernie Sanders	, Black Lives Matter	, Democrats 2016	, Donald Trump	, Election 2016	, Fox News	, Megyn Kelly	, Presidential Election 2016	, Republicans 2016	, Scott Walker
More By hollowaylynette
Rachel Dolezal Wasn't The First: Six More Whites Who Passed For Black
NewsOne: 2017 Year-in-Review
Desperate Ben Carson Resorts To Tired Abortion & Slavery Argument In Grab For Votes On Religious Right


text:
REVIEW: Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival, Week Four
Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival
www.bso.org
During the fourth week of its virtual 2020 season, Tanglewood offered exciting video streams of three educational programs and six concerts, as well as a wide-ranging concert audio stream.
Tuesday's "Tanglewood Learning Institute Celebrates Beethoven" episode featured Nicholas Kitchen, first violinist of the Boston-based Borromeo String Quartet. In an absorbing recorded lecture, which included performances by the Quartet of two Beethoven quartet movements, and a recent Zoom chat with TLI Director Sue Elliott, he used score-writer software to illustrate the remarkable variety and subtlety of the expressive markings in Beethoven's late quartets.
Astrid Schween
TLI's Wednesday masterclass presented Juilliard String Quartet cellist (and Tanglewood Music Center faculty member) Astrid Schween coaching three TMC cello fellows in Bach cello suite movements as recorded earlier this month without audience in Studio E of the Linde Center for Music and Learning at Tanglewood. Schween was warm and insightful with the students and in a subsequent Zoom conversation with TMC Associate Director Michael Nock.
Thursday's "TLI ShopTalks" program found Elliott jointly Zoom-interviewing two young star singers: African-American soprano Nicole Cabell; and Asian-American tenor Nicholas Phan. In responding also to live-chat audience questions, they recounted their musical beginnings, addressed the different vocal demands of opera performance and recital singing, and expressed lively opinions about how to increase diversity in the classical music field.
Monday evening's TMC orchestra concert showcased 2016 performances which had "irresistible energy" and "edge-of-the-seat" intensity of the Brahms first piano concerto (with English pianist Paul Lewis and Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons) and Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite #2 (under Stephane Deneve). In an intermission Zoom chat with TMC Conducting Head Stefan Asbury, Lewis described this youthful orchestra with the quoted words above.
Recorded last week in Studio E without audience for Wednesday evening's "Recitals from the World Stage" concert, the adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider were edgy in new music by Caroline Shaw, Matana Roberts, and Philip Glass, and cooler in Beethoven's "Holy Song of Thanksgiving for a Convalescent" than the Borromeo on Monday. Spoken introductions by three of the musicians added a welcome personal touch.
Thursday evening's "virtual gala" tribute to Ukrainian-born violinist Isaac Stern on his 100th birthday anniversary comprised performance excerpts and personal reminiscences. Highlights included: Stern rehearsing in Russian with Music Director Serge Koussevitzky at his 1948 BSO debut; tutoring young violin students during a 1978 visit to China; and a hilarious tale of a Stern concert mishap gleefully told by bandmates cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax.
Augustin Hadelich
On Friday evening, BSO string section members were magisterial in Bach's Chaconne (Victor Romanul, violin) and heartwarming in less familiar fare by African-American composers William Grant Still and Florence Price. Saturday's "Great Performers" concert, recorded audience-free in Studio E, like Friday's, offered young German violinist Augustin Hadelich and rising American pianist Orion Weiss in riveting accounts of sonatas by Debussy and Brahms and John Adams's delightful suite "Road Movies."
In Sunday morning's audio stream of TMC chamber music concerts, recorded before live audiences in 2015 and 2018, TMC piano fellows played music by six composers, including a sterling Beethoven "Archduke" Piano Trio, a luxuriant Amy Beach piano quintet, and a playful "I prefer living in color" (featuring muted piano strings) by TMC 2018 composition fellow Sarah Gibson.
Sunday afternoon's video stream brought frequent guest conductor Andre Previn to the podium in a 2007 BSO program that moved from a relaxed Mozart Symphony #29 to an incandescent Haydn first cello concerto, with charismatic German cellist Daniel Muller-Schott, a sultry Ravel "Scheherazade," with plush-voiced American mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, and a sumptuous Ravel "Mother Goose" ballet. Host Jamie Bernstein's father, Leonard Bernstein, led the BSO at Tanglewood in an impassioned 1974 encore of the first movement of Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony.
Don't miss out on these mostly free programs, which will stay online at bso.org for a week after the above dates.
Labels: Music, Reviews, Tanglewood, The Berkshires
REVIEW: Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival, Week Three
The third week of Tanglewood's virtual 2020 season offered engaging video streams of three educational programs and five concerts as well as a lively concert audio stream.
In its Tuesday "TLI Celebrates Beethoven" series, the Tanglewood Learning Institute presented Dr. Erica Buurman, Director of the Beethoven Center and Editor of its Beethoven Journal at San Jose State University. In a recorded lecture and a Zoom chat with TLI Director Sue Elliott, the Scottish-born musicologist demonstrated Beethoven's "genuine interest" in the "Viennese popular style" of dance music, even in several of his late string quartets.
A Wednesday masterclass found mezzo-soprano (and Tanglewood Music Center faculty member) Stephanie Blythe reviewing performances of musical theater songs by four duos of TMC vocal fellows and pianists recorded last summer before a live audience in Studio E of the Linde Center for Music and Learning at Tanglewood. Her deep knowledge of this repertoire and perceptive advice to these talented students was consistently effective and entertaining.
On Thursday's "TLI ShopTalks" program, Elliott jointly Zoom-interviewed two Boston Symphony members (Cynthia Meyers, piccolo and flute; and Robert Sheena, English horn and oboe), who also answered live-chat audience questions, sharing much candid history about their musical "origin stories," playing for different conductors and in various concert halls, and daily life at opposite ends of the same row in the orchestra.
Monday evening's TMC orchestra concert featured a glowing conductor-less 2018 performance by a mostly standing orchestra of Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings" and a gripping 2016 Brahms first symphony under BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons. At intermission TMC Orchestral Studies Head Ed Gazouleas tells TMC Conducting Head Stefan Asbury how he coached the students in the Tchaikovsky piece.
The Jussens
From Dutch brother pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen in Wednesday evening's "Recitals from the World Stage" concert came charisma to spare in piano four-hands music by Mozart, Schubert, and Ravel, recorded two weeks earlier before a masked, widely spaced, but loudly enthusiastic audience in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. The program's showstopper was Polish composer Hanna Kulenty's mysterious "VAN," written for the Jussens in 2014.
On Friday evening, BSO violinist Lucia Lin and cellist Owen Young joined other BSO musicians in sensuous accounts of music, recorded audience-free in Studio E last month, by Ravel, Loeffler, and Gabriela Lena Frank. A Saturday "Great Performers" concert in the same venue, also without audience, presented frequent Tanglewood guest violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth in stirring performances of Kodaly's Duo and Beethoven's curious Duet "with two obbligato eyeglasses."
Sunday morning's audio stream of TMC chamber music concerts, recorded before live audiences between 2015 and 2019, featured vocal music by a wide range of composers, from Bach to Britten, and insightful commentary by TMC Vocal Arts Program Head, soprano Dawn Upshaw. Most striking were 2015 TMC commission "Fire and Ice," Fred Lerdahl's lush setting of Robert Frost's poem, and Schoenberg's transcendent second string quartet, with soprano solo.
In Sunday afternoon's video stream, beloved BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink led the orchestra in a 2013 program that began with German violinist Isabelle Faust in an elegant Mozart fifth violin concerto and ended with a ravishing Mahler fourth symphony. Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling sang dreamily in the last movement. Host Jamie Bernstein endearingly recalled her father, Leonard Bernstein, reading the Mahler score at her childhood family poolside.
Classical music fans can catch these programs, most of which are free, online at www.bso.org for seven days after these dates.
PREVIEW: Barrington Stage Company invites "Harry Clarke" to the Berkshires
A sexually charged and wickedly funny one-man thriller, "Harry Clarke," by acclaimed playwright and solo artist David Cale and starring BSC Associate Artist Mark H. Dold (BSC's "Breaking the Code," "Freud's Last Session") is the story of a shy midwestern man leading an outrageous double life as the cocky Londoner Harry Clarke. Moving to New York City and presenting himself as an Englishman, he charms his way into a wealthy family's life as the seductive and precocious Harry, whose increasingly risky and dangerous behavior threatens to undo more than his persona.
In order to offer patrons the safest and most enjoyable experience possible, social distance policies will be in effect through the 2020 season. If planning to attend with a group larger than 2 or 3, call the box office at (413) 236-8888 for accommodation.
"Harry Clarke" begins August 5.
Show time is 7:30pm.
BSC company is located on Union Street, Pittsfield.
For further information check the website at barringtonstageco.org or call 413-236-8888.
Labels: Barrington Stage, Previews, The Berkshires, Theatre
REVIEW: Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival, Week Two
Tanglewood Online Festival
July 6-12, 2020
For the second week of its virtual 2020 season, Tanglewood offered video streams of one more educational program and two more concerts than in its opening week.
On Tuesday the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI) showed Steven Maes's captivating 54-minute documentary "Inside the Hearing Machine," in which Belgian pianist Tom Beghin explores Beethoven's pianos and a special resonator built to straddle his last piano which enabled the deaf composer to "hear" musical vibrations. TLI Director Sue Elliott's subsequent Zoom chat with Beghin dug deeper into how Beethoven may have "heard" his music as he wrote it.
A Wednesday masterclass by English pianist and frequent Tanglewood guest Paul Lewis was recorded before a live audience in Studio E of the Linde Center for Music and Learning at Tanglewood last summer. His unfailingly direct but always encouraging comments as three student pianists at the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) in turn played Haydn piano sonatas on a keyboard next to his brought out the best in these talented players.
Elliott's joint Zoom interview on Thursday with Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra and African-American jazz saxophone player James Carter explored the musical "fluidity" which led Sierra to write a concerto for saxophones (tenor and baritone) and orchestra for Carter almost twenty years ago and their projections of a more "diverse" future for classical music.
On Monday evening, enlivening TMC orchestra accounts of music by Wagner and Haydn (both led by Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons) and Ravel (led by TMC Conducting Program Head Stefan Asbury) were video streamed from concerts recorded in 2018 and 2019. In a 2020 Zoom conversation, Nelsons then tells Asbury how much better he believes the "unique" TMC educational program is than his own European training.
Wednesday evening brought Lewis back for the first of three audience-free concerts, this one recorded last month in London's Wigmore Hall, with a probing rendition of "arguably Beethoven's greatest piano work," the Diabelli Variations, and a sensitive Brahms Intermezzo encore.
On Friday evening, BSO Associate Principal Horn Richard Sebring and other BSO musicians, recorded last month in Studio E, presented music by Schumann, Dukas, and Mozart. Most memorable were two world premier duets by Sebring himself, one for horn and harp (with former TMC fellow Charles Overton), and one for two long alphorns (with BSO third horn Michael Winter), filmed on the Tanglewood lawn.
In a Saturday concert also recorded last month in scenic Studio E, favorite Tanglewood pianist Emanuel Ax played Beethoven's early second and third piano sonatas and the beloved Bagatelle "Fur Elise" with his customary fervor and polish.
This Sunday morning's audio stream of TMC chamber music concerts, recorded before live audiences in 2017 and 2018, featured music for woodwinds, brass, and percussion by eight varied composers, including Poulenc, Tomasi, and Hindemith. But the freshest pieces were recent TMC commissions by Scotland's Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade and TMC composition fellow Theo Chandler.
In Sunday afternoon's video stream, Nelsons led the BSO in a 2015 program that opened with the French trio of violinist Renaud Capucon, his brother, cellist Gautier Capucon, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in a scintillating Beethoven "Triple" Concerto and closed with a thrilling Shostakovich tenth symphony. As host Jamie Bernstein astutely notes, camera angles offer unique perspectives on Nelsons's conducting techniques not easily seen in a concert hall.
Most of these programs will stay online for seven days after the dates above. Classical music lovers should waste no time in checking them out.
PREVIEW: "Godspell" Takes the Outdoor Stage for Berkshire Theatre Group
www.berkshiretheatregroup.org/event/godspell-2/
Berkshire Theatre Group has not given up on producing quality theatre in the Berkshires this summer. Taking the optimum of safe precautions. "Godspell" will run August 6 – September 4, 2020.
Certainly, "Godspell" has been one of the most well-received musical for decades. However, BTG affords these performances something new. Instead of mounting the musical at the Berkshire Theatre main stage, the new location will be outdoors under a large tent adjacent to the Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield. Colonial is one of the five venues that compose BTF.
In this timeless tale of friendship, loyalty and love, a group of eccentric disciples help Jesus teach a variety of parables through interactive games and a heaping dose of humor. Led by the international hit, "Day by Day," Godspell features a parade of beloved songs by Tony, Academy and Grammy Award-Winner, Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Children of Eden), including: "By My Side" "Save The People" and "All for the Best."
Brought to life by director Alan Filderman and choreographer Gerry McIntyre this theatrical sensation is a powerful reminder that through the power of community, love and kindness will live on.
Berkshire Theatre Group has not given up on producing quality theatre in the Berkshires this summer. Taking the optimum of safe precautions, "Godspell" will run August 6 – September 4.
Certainly, "Godspell" has been a well-received musical for decades. However, BTG affords these performances something new. Instead of mounting the musical at the Berkshire Theatre main stage, the new location will be outdoors under a large tent adjacent to the Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield. Colonial is one of the five venues that compose BT
Labels: Berkshire Theatre Group, Previews, The Berkshires, Theatre
PREVIEW: Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival
Classical music fans who were disappointed when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the Boston Symphony Orchestra to cancel the entire 2020 Tanglewood season can now look forward to a virtual season of comparable digital programming over the next two months.
Concerts will be presented in several different video-streamed series, all featuring artists who were scheduled to perform live at Tanglewood this summer: on Monday evenings, full-length concerts by the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) Orchestra, made up of young musicians starting their careers, in Ozawa Hall; on Wednesday evenings, "recitals from the world stage" recorded at concert venues around the world; on Friday evenings, "BSO musicians in recital;" on Saturday evenings, "great performers in recital at Tanglewood;" on Sunday mornings, chamber music concerts by TMC musicians; and on Sunday afternoons, "BSO encore performances" by the orchestra in the Koussevitzky Music Shed.
Sunday and Monday concerts will be chosen from Tanglewood's extensive archive of recorded performances from previous seasons. Hosts for these series will include: actress Karen Allen; soprano Nicole Cabell; and Jamie Bernstein, "famous father daughter" of Tanglewood favorite son, composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein.
The Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival will also provide access to video and audio streams from the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), which opened its doors in 2019. This newly created and retrospective programming will include Wednesday afternoon master classes with TMC fellows, Boston University Tanglewood Institute (high-school-age) students, and Tanglewood Festival Chorus singers taught by: BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons; pianist Paul Lewis; violinist Midori; mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe; and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Additional TLI offerings will include: TLI Open Forum, exploring the roaring twenties and the romantic spirit (Monday afternoons); TLI Celebrates Beethoven, an in-depth exploration of the composer's work during his 250th anniversary year (Tuesday afternoons); and TLI Shop Talks, engaging conversations with notable artists of our time (Thursday afternoons).
Most programming will remain accessible online for seven days after its scheduled date, and while many events are free, the cost of others starts at as little as $5.00.
The festival schedule can be found HERE
ITS plans to post a weekly series of reviews and commentaries on the Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival throughout the season.
Labels: Music, Previews, Tanglewood, The Berkshires
REVIEW: Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival, Week One
July 1-5, 2020
Though forced online this year by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched the 2020 Tanglewood festival with a rich video and audio stream of musical offerings in its opening week.
The first two events were presented by the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), housed in the newly built Linde Center for Music and Learning, which opened its doors for year-round programming in 2019. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons led a Wednesday masterclass recorded last summer with Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) conducting fellows Nathan Aspinall and Cillian Farrell, both early-stage professionals.
It was fascinating to watch Nelsons coach them before a live audience in the Linde Center's picturesque Studio E as they led a mini-orchestra through portions of Brahms's second symphony, and to learn about Nelsons's own teachers in a Zoom interview with BSO Artistic Director Anthony Fogg.
On Thursday TLI Director Sue Elliott spoke via Zoom with the two newest members of the Juilliard String Quartet, Greek-born violinist Areta Zhulla and African-American cellist (and TMC faculty member) Astrid Schween, who both shared insightful reflections on life in a world-class ensemble and the post-pandemic classical music scene.
In the first of two audience-free Friday evening concerts recorded last month in Studio E, BSO Principal Flute Elizabeth Ostling joined pianist Randall Hodgkinson in an affecting account of Copland's Duet for Flute and Piano and dazzled in James Lee III's 2011 "Lament without Sadness" for solo flute. Associate Concertmaster Alexander Velinzon then led an ensemble of BSO strings and pianist Jonathan Bass in a vibrant rendition of Brahms's Piano Quintet.
Gil Shaham
The second concert showcased riveting violinist Gil Shaham in a varied program of solo violin works, including Bach's third sonata, Prokofiev's only such sonata, and appropriate contemporary pieces like Max Raimi's amusing "Anger Management" and Scott Wheeler's delightful "Isolation Rag," written for Shaham during the Covid-19 quarantine.
A Sunday morning audio stream of TMC string players recorded before live audiences in Ozawa Hall presented highlights of the 2016-2019 "string quartet seminars" which open every summer. For young musicians who had played together for barely a week, these performances of quartets by Haydn and Mendelssohn and quartet movements by composers from Beethoven to Berg showed impressive technical and stylistic mastery.
Sunday afternoon featured a video stream of guest conductor Jacques Lacombe leading the BSO in a 2015 Independence Day program of American music. Kirill Gerstein was the compelling soloist in Gershwin's Piano Concerto, and John Douglas Thompson a stirring narrator in Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait."
Most of these programs will stay online for seven days after the dates above. Classical music lovers are urged to explore them.
Look-back: Interview with Estelle Parsons
Estelle Parsons, 2009
This interview was originally published in November, 2009. At that time Estelle Parsons was preparing for her role in "August: Osage County." Ms. Parsons is now age 92 and very much with us in 2020.
Massachusetts native and Academy Award winning actress Estelle Parsons starred in the Bushnell's production of "August: Osage County," November 17 – 22, 2009
Q: After appearing in the show for almost a year on Broadway, why were you eager to go on the road with this play?
A: I haven't had much opportunity to tour, because I was always bringing up kids. But I've always loved the idea of touring: I have this old dream of being in vaudeville. And there are all kinds of different audiences out there. I learned that from doing summer stock. Audiences are always a learning opportunity.
Q: Actors say that each audience has a certain personality. Do you find to be true?
A: Absolutely, particularly with this play, where the audience is so dynamic and vocal in every way – moaning, groaning, laughing, crying. The audience is really the third essential part. They're not just sitting on their hands listening. They're incredible and they're always different, and as we go from city to city.
Q: Did you audition?
A: I did. I always prefer to audition, because very often when you're saying the words out loud, you really can tell whether you want to do a play or not. I thought, "Let me work on this for awhile, and see if this is something I really want to be up there doing." The more I worked on it, the more I loved it. And then when I auditioned, it just came alive, like whoosh.
Q: What do you think your character?
A: I think she's a wonderful person who went astray. I have sympathy for her. It's hard to know what's underneath all that. I think she is basically a colder person than I am, and it's been very exciting to work on that. I think she was a very smart, sensitive woman who was deeply abused as a child, and bears the scars. Who knows what would happen to people if they didn't have the background they have.
Q: How did the role come about in Bonnie and Clyde?
A: In 1966, I was doing Berkshire Theatre Festival. I had seen Arthur Penn's movies, and I wanted to work for him. I managed to get an interview with him for The Skin of Our Teeth, and he hired me. Working with him, I suddenly knew that I was in the right profession. I was [almost] 40. But I used to think, "Maybe I should have kept on at law school, or maybe I should try something else." Working for Arthur Penn, I realized that I was in the right place. Then he asked me to do Bonnie and Clyde. I was just about join a rep company. The day after he asked me to read, I got a call telling me that funding for the rep had fallen through. I called Arthur and I read the script, and I thought, "Why is he offering this to me?" But the more I read it; I realized it was an incredible part.
Q: Did the Academy Award affect your career?
A: It did in that I could have had a lot of movie success, which I wasn't really interested in. Looking back on it, I think that's kind of too bad. I did a few movies when I was on vacation from a theatre job. I don't think I ever chose a movie job over a theatre job. I love to entertain people.
Labels: Bushnell, Greater Hartford, Interviews, Look-back, Theatre
Look-back: Allyn Burrows, Artistic Director, Shakespeare & Company
Theatre lovers bemoan the absence of productions at every venue in the Berkshires and are coming to accept the numerous electronic alternatives. But the language, the movement, and the community of actors/crew and audience is just not quite the same. In the meantime, those onstage, backstage, and seated in front of the stage, whether on their couches or at their computers, are filling in the depth and effect of live performance of theatre as best we can.
Below is a reprint of our exclusive interview with Allyn Burrow of Shakespeare & Company, Lenox from May, 2018
INTERVIEW: Allyn Burrows, Artistic Director, Shakespeare & Company
In the Spotlight had the pleasure of interviewing Allyn Burrows, new Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA.
If Allyn Burrows' face looks familiar to theatre enthusiasts, especially to those who visit the Berkshires in the summer, it is. For many years, Burrows worked as an Artistic Associate and acted in countless Shakespeare & Company (S&Co) productions – comedies, tragedies, and history plays.
Allyn Burrows
Photo by Olivia Winslow
He is particularly remembered for his roles in King John, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Henry IV, Part 1.
Burrows served as Artistic Director of Actors' Shakespeare Project in Boston where he directed and acted. Burrows' talents have also been seen on many stages in New England; i.e. Huntington Theatre, Lyric Stage, Merrimack Repertory Theater.
He has been a busy man, performing in prestigious theatres throughout the country. If you haven't seen Burrows on a stage, he may be familiar from roles on TV or film.
For the company, for audiences, and for me, it is wonderful that Allyn Burrows has returned home.
In the Spotlight (ITS): I had the privilege of watching you perform a few decades ago at Shakespeare & Company. What it is like for you to return many years later, now wearing the "hat" of Executive Director?
Burrows: Well, it's not a lot different from my last job as Artistic Director of Actors' Shakespeare Project in Boston. It's great to be back at Shakespeare & Company, though, and there are a lot of moving parts. Very exciting in that regard.
ITS: In addition to being the man in charge, will you be directing and/or acting? Is it fair to ask which of these three jobs you enjoy best?
Burrows: They all require different types of brainpower, so it's a tossup which I enjoy the best. I won't be acting this summer, just acting and producing.
ITS: What goals do you intend to keep from the troupe's many years of existence? What about your personal goals?
Burrows: I intend to preserve and honor the legacy of what's been created over these past four decades, and to transform the unique qualities of this amazing company into something that resonates in the community and hearts of people who experience this place. Personally? I'm hoping to be the best father I can be. And I'll strive to be a better artist.
ITS: How is a season formed? Is there conscious effort to balance Shakespeare's with other playwrights? New writers? New works?
Burrows: Season formation comes out of a lot of discussion, about makes good theatre, what's important for us to be saying, what's fun, what's gratifying, what will draw people here, and what has impact. Contemporary plays are an important part of what we do.
ITS: What would you say to potential audience members who "fear" Shakespeare?
Burrows: Come along for the ride, it really won't hurt, and you'll be surprised how much the material affects you.
ITS: Are there any anecdotes that you would like to tell our readers? While you think about that, I have my own anecdote about you. It was years ago when outdoor performances took place at the Mount. During a particular comedy, you ran down to the stage (which was grass) and snatched my purse, which was on the ground, en route. You proceeded to look through the bag. While laughing, I also hoped, "Please don't take anything out of the purse to show the audience." Who knows what was in there?! You were a gentleman, my bag returned intact, and the show went on.
Burrows: Holy smokes, the audacity! Who was that guy? I'm guessing it may have been "Midsummer Night's Dream" and I was playing Oberon (king of the mischievous fairies). Let me apologize these many years later for the intrusion. Can't really top that one. All the kooky antics make up the fabric of what we do.
www.shakespeare.org
Labels: Interviews, Look-back, Shakespeare and Company, The Berkshires
PREVIEW: Barrington Stage Company invites "Harry C...
PREVIEW: "Godspell" Takes the Outdoor Stage for Be...
Look-back: Allyn Burrows, Artistic Director, Shake...


Today I'm releasing my 2014 Shift Camo stuff. I know it's not the best but I thought I'd release it because the 2015 stuff is coming out. In the pack there are 3 colourways.
Gear looks real good man, nice work.
nice, very nice work man ! i love it but a psd will be juste amazing !


text:
UncategorizedHello world!
July 1, 2019by admin1
DiscountsEuropeLast MinuteVisit Paris
August 18, 2018by Emma Churchill3
Paris, France's capital, is a major European city and a global center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture. Its picturesque 19th-century cityscape is crisscrossed by wide boulevards and the River Seine. Beyond such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and the 12th-century, Gothic Notre-Dame cathedral, the city is known for its cafe culture, and designer boutiques along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
CruisesDiscountsOffersBeautiful Taiwan
Taiwan, 180km east of China, is known for modern cities, traditional Chinese temples, hot springs resorts and dramatic mountainous terrain. Taipei, in the north, has a number of busy night markets, as well as Chinese Imperial art at the National Palace Museum. Taipei 101, a 509m-tall, bamboo-shaped skyscraper with an observation deck, rises above the city.
DiscountsLast MinuteCapetown, Africa
August 3, 2018by Emma Churchill3
Cape Town is a port city on South Africa's southwest coast, on a peninsula beneath the imposing Table Mountain. Slowly rotating cable cars climb to the mountain's flat top, from which there are sweeping views of the city, the busy harbor and boats heading for Robben Island, the notorious prison that once held Nelson Mandela, which is now a living museum.
Walk the Bellagio tour!
http://bit.ly/1Tfgt1z
DiscountsEuropeFirst MinuteBellagio, Italy
July 29, 2018by Emma Churchill2
Bellagio is a village on a promontory jutting out into Lake Como, in Italy. It's known for its cobbled lanes, elegant buildings and Villa Serbelloni Park, an 18th-century terraced garden with lake views. Nearby are the Tower of the Arts, a venue for exhibitions and performances, and the Romanesque San Giacomo Church. Close to rocky Loppia Beach, the Museum of Navigational Instruments displays sundials and compasses.
CruisesDiscountsLast MinuteColorful India
India is a vast South Asian country with diverse terrain – from Himalayan peaks to Indian Ocean coastline – and history reaching back 5 millennia. In the north, Mughal Empire landmarks include Delhi's Red Fort complex and massive Jama Masjid mosque, plus Agra's iconic Taj Mahal mausoleum. Pilgrims bathe in the Ganges in Varanasi, and Rishikesh is a yoga centre and base for Himalayan trekking.
DiscountsFirst MinuteOffersTrip to Malaysia
July 8, 2018by Emma Churchill2
Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country occupying parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. It's known for its beaches, rainforests and mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultural influences. The capital, Kuala Lumpur, is home to colonial buildings, busy shopping districts such as Bukit Bintang and skyscrapers such as the iconic, 451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers.
DiscountsEuropeLast MinuteVienna motion
June 27, 2018by Emma Churchill2
DiscountsEuropeFirst MinuteBeautiful Brussels
Brussels is full of life, but even more so in the summer! A city bursting with energy, moving to a summer beat. Let your hair down to the tune of street entertainment and city festivals, in a setting of amazing and diverse, tiny or imposing buildings, each with their own history, and a huge amount of green spaces to sit and catch your breath.
Walking around the Prague is comparable to being in a fairytale: except for one minor detail: it's real.
Lust for the World
EuropeFirst MinuteOffersInspiring Prague
June 1, 2018by Emma Churchill3
Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, is bisected by the Vltava River. Nicknamed "the City of a Hundred Spires," it's known for its Old Town Square, the heart of its historic core, with colorful baroque buildings, Gothic churches and the medieval Astronomical Clock, which gives an animated hourly show. Completed in 1402, pedestrian Charles Bridge is lined with statues of Catholic saints.
July 1, 2019Hello world!
August 18, 2018Visit Paris
August 16, 2018Beautiful Taiwan
August 3, 2018Capetown, Africa
July 29, 2018Bellagio, Italy
Categories Select Category Cruises (3) Discounts (8) Europe (5) First Minute (5) Last Minute (4) Offers (4) Uncategorized (1)
Inspiring Prague


text:
The Treasurer - Issue 4 2022
The great reset: key themes facing businesses
Corporates must embrace regional shifts and new directions in innovation and trade to be sustainable and attractive places to work. Liz Loxton reports
From today's vantage point, the long-term impacts of the pandemic are hard to quantify. What is clear, however, is that COVID-19 and the lockdowns that resulted have accelerated key trends, and that in certain important respects, life will not return to pre-pandemic norms.
"We are living and working at an extraordinary moment in time," said Clare Francis, regional head – client coverage, Europe, at Standard Chartered Bank, facilitating a session on the hefty challenges facing the world at this year's ACT Annual Conference. "The world is facing phenomenal challenges… Yet this is also a time of unprecedented potential."
Francis and the panellists looked at five ways the world is changing, and discussed ways businesses and treasurers can engage with the opportunities.
1. Technology and innovation must be at the forefront of our response to today's challenges
Innovation – smart manufacturing, digital transformation and greater connectivity – are high on the corporate agenda. Against this backdrop, there is recognition that these innovations must be pursued collaboratively and in ways that attract and foster talent.
Bicky Bhangu, president – Southeast Asia, Pacific and South Korea at Rolls-Royce, said that while high-value manufacturing presents great potential, it brings an imperative to leverage local and diverse talent. In Singapore, for instance, Rolls-Royce taps into a vibrant ecosystem that includes government and industry groups, as well as academia.
"This is a great advantage when managed well," said Bhangu. "That is done by inclusive management, by understanding the diversity and embracing that creative thinking."
2. Where and how we work is about to change significantly
The trend towards flexible working has been given a tremendous boost by the pandemic, and hybrid working will be a definite marker of the new normal. However, there are significant cultural and geographical variances. The desire to work from home has proved much stronger in Europe than in Asian cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore, Ian Chisholm, group treasurer at Grosvenor, pointed out. Hybrid working also has limitations.
"Companies will need to find that balance in how they respond to that great desire to work flexibly without losing the corporate culture that is generally built up in the office," he said.
Hybrid working and greater collaboration opens up big questions around the future of cities and urban centres. Costas Markides, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School, predicts migrations away from cities, and the transformation of larger offices into co-working spaces.
"We're going to see tremendous change in the design of our cities," he said.
3. Asia and the ASEAN countries are becoming the marketplace of the world
The growth of Asia and the 10 countries within the ASEAN region in particular has been remarkable, and their primacy in world trade should not be underplayed.
Southeast and South Asia account for nearly 30% of global GDP. The 10 ASEAN countries have a close focus on furthering cooperation on economic, political and security issues. Meanwhile, GDP growth rates within Southeast Asia and ASEAN are significant, averaging 5% per annum. On this trajectory, ASEAN is forecast to overtake the EU and Japan to become the fourth-largest economic region in the world by 2030.
ASEAN countries are positioned to provide greater resilience in global supply chains, as Bhangu pointed out. At the beginning of the pandemic, ASEAN market players were successful in making quick adjustments to trade routes and diversifying sources.
"Across industries, what we're starting to see now is the shift of priorities from low-cost sourcing to supply-chain resilience," he said.
4. Sustainability is an imperative for everyone
Whether through electrification of vehicles, greater fuel efficiency or greener building materials, sustainability goals are now firmly strategic business imperatives. Companies must set ambitious and structured targets to lessen their environmental footprint.
Building and building conservation is an area ripe for action. Environmentally friendly construction methods and materials are coming on stream. Measures to make historic buildings more energy efficient, however, have so far lagged behind.
A report from Grosvenor Britain & Ireland argues that this needn't be the case. A coordinated approach that aligns planning policy and heritage protection with environmental goals could help in the transition away from carbon.
Grosvenor estimates that fabric improvements to England's 500,000 listed buildings could deliver carbon savings equivalent to 5% of the emissions associated with the UK's entire building stock of 2019.
Sustainability is also an important consideration when it comes to attracting talent. Companies with greener, more socially inclusive cultures make more credible career propositions for young talent, in particular.
5. We must adjust our mindset to adapt and survive
For businesses, the legacy of the pandemic should be that we permanently rid ourselves of the idea that we can exist in a steady state, Markides argued.
"We live in a world of continuous disruption. While we respond to one wave, another one hits. The challenge is not: how do I respond? It is: how do I organise the structure, the culture and the processes of my organisation so that no matter what hits us, we are ready to face it?"
Liz Loxton is editor of The Treasurer and a freelance business writer
Panellists
• Bicky Bhangu, president – Southeast Asia, Pacific and South Korea, Rolls-Royce
• Ian Chisholm, group treasurer, Grosvenor Group
• Costas Markides, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, London Business School
View the entire ACT Annual Conference session: The Great Reset.


Garage Bands, you gotta love 'em!
and listen to the song my friend's band just recorded?
It's a little rough at first but if you could leave me a comment with your thoughts I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!
And I hope you had a super one yesterday! (see below).
Welcome to the Welcome Kommittee! Please check out the general "rules" (which are really just helpful suggestions) and ask if you have any questions.


at Northwestern University's School of Law in Chicago.
This paper reports on actionable items that emerged during the two-day summit.
model to an open-dialogue model affiliation.
up on the Obama YouTube channel.
initiated in the first place.
is key in communicating in lower-income neighorhoods.
sections of local newspapers could be supported by engage with their stakeholders.
need to stop thinking of news as the core product.
to share new media skills.
conversation in text, video and audio with alacrity.
also frustration because Canon wasn't offering it there.
and a savvy volunteer. Obama lost an important elections for elevating issues and creating news items.
content scrolling from online participants.
rich archives where they can review the debate and conversations to avoid being taken by surprise.
to limit where exposure to your content appears.
harrisinteractive.com all levels and divisions of employees.
channels for dispersing press releases, public service empower people to make decisions quickly.
believe that businesses take customers' opinions seriously.
benefits, customer service, personality, etc.
He's right. connect with their network.
there's another storm quietly brewing - a crisis of attention sign up for another network.
In fact, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said "By the year 2019, it's existing networks.
environment, having grown up with a mouse in hand. But U.S. and is even higher in other countries - but not all.
and earning media that can break through the clutter and "stick." Google is much more than a search engine. It's media.
This requires they keep things short, simple and visual.
PopURLs.com to create a news tracker for IT professionals high–profile search results.
papers and blogs. The New York Times too is transforming their algorithms to stop spammers and other "black-hat" types.
(http://nytimes.com/tech) reporters cull through blog quality content produced by media, brands and individuals.
makes judgments based on quality.
panelist Charlene Li says, it's becoming "like air" on the Web.
What the future looks like in four years know one knows.
for like-minded individuals to connect and collaborate around environment.
professional interests. A lot of it revolves around social causes.


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