In a curious way, realizing a 50-year-old dream of owning a Fiat 124 Spider has made me more compassionate toward many church leaders and members.
I am grateful that, five decades after the original 124, Fiat's partnership with Mazda's MX-5 (Miata) division has made my dream possible. Although, some feel I am driving the wrong direction into the curve!
Citing the almost daily reports of the emergence of self-driving, technologically sophisticated, cars in five years or less, my friends wonder if my next investment will be in a livery stable!
When our longtime neighbour Bernice died she was still driving a 1960s era, robin's-egg blue Mustang that was in mint condition. The chatter with her son over the back fence was about which of her grandchildren vying for the prize would succeed.
I expect no such tussle. None of my seven grandchildren has, so far, shown any interest in antiques. The youngest of them may soon regard a steering wheel with the same confused curiosity reserved for a rotary phone attached to a wall socket.
The new Fiat has some welcome technological additions - back-up camera, proximity warning sensors, GPS, satellite radio and the like. But, fundamentally, it remains a classic roadster. It retains a steering wheel and gear shift and exists to be driven. Unlike the cars that will soon emerge, it does not have a "Captain's chair" that reclines and it will not automatically find its way back to the dealer when the sensors reveal either a potential problem or the need for routine servicing.
But I like the 124.
I like the sound when the engine turns over, the leather bucket seats, the Italian trim, the curve of the steering wheel and the feel of the engine as I downshift into a tight corner.
My friend Bill Laurie once said, after a ride on his BMW motorcycle, "I like the way I feel after a ride." I get that.
And I like the connection I feel, at some deep level, with the old MG, parked by my Dad's garage.
I would sneak out and sit in the cracked leather seats as a 14-year-old. I do not need to replicate the peculiar odour of oil and grease that permeated my father's shop but, like him, I have a deep appreciation of the satisfaction that comes from the sound of a well-tuned engine, the feel of an extraordinarily engineered vehicle and the beauty of a well-designed body.
The current model of church - too much mileage, maintenance and is unsafe to the spirit.
Church leaders and members know that much about the current model of church must and will change in the next 10-15 years. They comprehend that the current body has too much mileage, requires too much maintenance and is often unsafe to the spirit. But, truth be told, they simply like the current model; and, even though some small modifications are received and incorporated, they quite like the church as it was 25 years ago. Often it was the vehicle they sat in when young and they see its beauty and, often, can remember the feel when it ran well.
I am not, by nature, a person drawn to institutions or an ecclesial view of the church. In fact, I have spent much of life chafing against such. But, in recent years, I have gained some appreciation of place steeped in faithfulness and tradition.
I well remember climbing the stone stairs of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. As we wound our way up the circular staircase to see the beautiful stained glass my eyes were drawn down to the stairs, deeply indented by the footsteps of literally thousands of Christians over almost 900 years.
I experience the same feeling stooping down to cross the small entrance-way to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Rock wore down by the footsteps of the faithful. I am humbled. And I sense a power when gathering in such places that does not occur when gathering in a coffee shop or street corner. I understand the devotion the old places provoke.
When considering the acquisition of the Fiat, major conversations occurred between my wife and I over a period of many weeks. We went back and forth, often exchanging positions.
Sure, I like it - love it! Sure, it is beautiful and fulfils a lifelong goal but would the purchase compromise our ability to live into this next chapter of our future or the legacy we might leave our children?
Serious questions that required a lot of honesty and clarification of matters of heart and head.
Faithfulness and legacy questions require fierce honesty about matters of heart and head.
Fortunately, with some creative financing, we were able to make the numbers work.
Sadly such is not the case for many church leaders or congregations. Present and future ministry would be too restricted by maintenance costs; sometimes the white wall tires can no longer be patched. And it is not feasible to put a patched body on an old chassis.
But can I show you some of the new "concept vehicles" of church coming on stream? They might just blow you away.
If you are a church leader, does your current situation require so much maintenance and remodeling that you lean towards a new model of church? Or, with a quick tune-up, is your current situation ready to go for a few more decades?
Awesome! p.s And I hope the Jets will have a much better year this year!
Like all new concept vehicles the best ones arise in conversations among a small number of people. AND, the amazing thing is that different teams of "engineers" can come up with such interesting designs.


text:
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Contact the PA College Office of Security
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The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, requires publication and distribution of an annual security report to all current faculty, staff and students, and notice of its availability to prospective students, faculty and staff. This report contains policy statements and crime statistics for the College. The policy statements address the College's policies, procedures and programs concerning safety and security—for example, policies for responding to emergency situations and sexual offenses. Three years' worth of statistics are included for certain types of crimes that were reported to have occurred on campus, in or on off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by the College and on public property within or immediately adjacent to the campus. This report is available online. A printed copy of the report may be obtained by contacting:
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Attend Our Next Open House in February!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Anritsu Corporation has announced that the eCall Tester MX703330E software has won independent certification as a public safety answering point (PSAP) simulator by NavCert, an EU-government-approved test body. By winning certification from NavCert, customers can have full confidence in the Anritsu eCall test solution for achieving equipment type approval. This test solution, which comprises a combination of the signalling tester MD8475A/B and the MX703330E software, can support eCall type-approval measurements and tests in compliance with Commission Delegated Regulation 2017/79 as well as CEN EN16454: 2015 conformance tests. eCall is a pan-European emergency-call system for sending information about road accidents to a PSAP. The mandatory fitting of 112-based eCall in-vehicle systems (IVS) on all new M1- and N1-category vehicles started from 31 March 2018. Regulation 2017/79, specifying detailed technical requirements and test procedures for the type approval, requires using a PSAP simulator under the control of the technical service, compliant with the applicable EN standards and certified in accordance with EN 16454. The MX703330E software also supports the ERA-GLONASS emergency service system deployment in Russia.


text:
\chapter{System Capability Analysis}
\chaptermark{Capability}
\label{sec:capability_analysis}

In a \emph{system capability analysis}, we essentially use statistical tools to measure the variability in a production process.
This analysis can answer questions that are raised at the measuring, analyzing, and improving stages of the DMAIC cycle.
The methods we will discus compare between the processes variability and its specifications.

We naturally want production processes that adhere to specifications, and want to quantify the level of adherence.
The quantification is performed by comparing the variability in a CTQ to the specification.
In this chapter we assume the process's capability is fixed over time.
In Chapter~\ref{sec:advanced_capability_analysis} we revisit the same problems, when allowing the process's capability to vary over time.

The particular setup discussed in this chapter is also known as \emph{product specification}.\marginnote{Product Specification}
When we use the actual time, and ordering of data samples, as in a control chart, we will no longer regard it as product specification but rather as a bona-fide capability analysis. This is the subject of Chapter~\ref{sec:advanced_capability_analysis}.

Because capability analysis, or product specification, is essentially the study of the CTQ's distribution, it can be approached with the aforementioned statistical tools such as univariate summary statistics and visualizations presented in Sections~\ref{sec:summary_statistics} and \ref{sec:visualizations}.
To test a particular hypothesis on the distribution of the CTQ, we may call upon the inference tools from Chapter~\ref{sec:inference}.

\section{Process Capacity Indexes}
\sectionmark{PCRs}

Classical statistical devices do not incorporate the designed process's capabilities.
\emph{Process capability ratios} (PCR), or \emph{process capability indexes}, are merely population parameters that also depend on specifications.\marginnote{Process Capability Index}
The first, and most basic PCR is the $\cp$ of a particular CTQ.

\begin{definition}[$\cp$]
\begin{align}
\label{eq:cp}
	C_p:= \frac{USL-LSL}{6 \sigma},
\end{align}
where $\sigma$ is the standard deviation of the CTQ.
Eq.(\ref{eq:cp}) readily offers an interpretation of the $\cp$: it measures how accurate is our process compared to a 3-sigma process: $\cp=1$ for 3-sigma, $\cp=2$ for 6-sigma, etc.

\begin{think}
Can you design a process capability index with a 6-sigma baseline?
\end{think}

\end{definition}
Clearly $\cp$ is a process parameter, that needs to be estimated.
\begin{definition}[$\cpHat$]
\begin{align}
	\cpHat:= \frac{USL-LSL}{6 \hat{\sigma}},
\end{align}
where $\hat{\sigma}$ is some estimate of the standard deviation of the CTQ.
\end{definition}
The most natural $\hat{\sigma}$ is the sample standard deviation $s$, but we will explore other options in Section~\ref{sec:cp_estimators}.

The design of $\cp$ rests on its relation to the probability non-conformance.
To explore this relation we introduce the following notation:
\begin{tcolorbox}
\footnotesize
\textbf{Collecting Notation} \newline
$\targetValue$, the target value. \newline
$\delta:= (USL-LSL)/2$, the specification tolerance. $USL=\targetValue+\delta, LSL=\targetValue-\delta$.  \newline
$\ctqExpect:= \expect{CTQ}$, the expected CTQ. \newline
$\pnc:= 1-P(CTQ \in [LSL,USL])$, the probability of non compliance.
\end{tcolorbox}

With our new notation Eq.(\ref{eq:cp}) is now $\cp=\frac{\delta}{3 \sigma}$.
Assuming $CTQ \sim \gauss{\mu, \sigma^2}$, and that the process is centred so that $\ctqExpect=\targetValue$, then $\cp$ is related to $\pnc$ via
\begin{align}
\label{eq:pc_and_pnc}
	\pnc(\cp) = 2\, \Phi(-3 \cp)
\end{align}
As a sanity check, we check a 3-sigma process.
A 3-sigma process implies that $\cp=1$, and Eq.(\ref{eq:pc_and_pnc}) returns $\pnc=0.0027$, as we have already seen in the introduction (Section~\ref{sec:six_sigma}).
\cite{montgomery_introduction_2007} recommends the following $\cp$ values:

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline  & $\cp$ Value & Implied ppm \\
\hline \hline Existing processes
 & 1.33
 & 66 \\
\hline New processes
 & 1.50
 & 6.8 \\
\hline Safety, strength, or critical
parameter, existing process
 & 1.50
 & 6.8 \\
\hline Safety, strength, or critical
parameter, new process
 & 1.67
 & 0.5 \\
\hline Six Sigma quality process & 2.00 &  0.002 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

\bigskip

To derive Eq.(\ref{eq:pc_and_pnc}), and thus the ppm column in the table, we had to call upon several assumptions.
Namely:
\begin{enumerate}
\item The CTQ has a normal distribution.
\item The process is centred, i.e. $\ctqExpect=\targetValue$.
\end{enumerate}

\subsection{Non-Conformance for a Non-Gaussian CTQ}
The first assumption we will now relax is the Gaussianity of $CTQ$.
We start by checking what is the non compliance rate, if we were completely wrong about the distribution of the CTQ.
Chebyshev's inequality will be useful.

\begin{theorem}[Chebyshev's inequality]
For any random variable $\x$, with $\mu:=\expect{\x}$, and $\sigma^2:=\expect{(\x-\mu)^2}$, then
\begin{align}
	P(|\x-\mu| \geq k\sigma) \leq \frac{1}{k^2}.
\end{align}
\end{theorem}
If $\cp=1$  then $\delta=3\sigma$. Plugging $k=3$ in the inequality returns $\pnc<0.11$.
This means that a 3-sigma process, assumingly with $2,700 ppm$, may actually have $111,111 ppm$, if we were very very wrong about the Gaussianity assumption.

%\begin{theorem}[Vysochanskij–Petunin inequality]
%For any random variable $\x$, with $\mu:=\expect{\x}$, $\sigma^2:=\expect{(\x-\mu)^2}$, with unimodal distribution, and for $k>\sqrt{8/3}=1.63299$, then
%\begin{align}
%	P(|\x-\mu|>k\sigma)=\frac{4}{9 k^2}
%\end{align}
%\end{theorem}
%Since $3$ is obviously larger than $1.63299$, then an immediate application of Vysochanskij–Petunin inequality yields that for a unimodal CTQ, then $\pnc<0.0493$, or $49,383 ppm$.
%
%
%
%
%
%Can we tighten the bound on $\alpha$ by adopting some other weak assumption?
%Certainly!
%We can use the fact that
%If we are willing to assume that the production process is such that the CTQ of two consecutive units will never be larger than some $c$:
%\begin{align}
%\label{eq:bounded_rv}
%	P(|x_{i,t}-x_{i-1,t}|<c)=1.
%\end{align}
%\begin{theorem}[Azuma-Hoeffding Inequality]
%For an arbitrary sampling process for which Eq.(\ref{eq:bounded_rv}) holds, then
%\begin{align}
%	P(|\bar{x}_t-\ctqExpect| \geq s ) \leq  2 \exp \left( -\frac{n s^2 }{2c^2} \right)
%\end{align}
%\end{theorem}
%
%
%
%Again we see that if we wrongly assumed normality, we may have many more non-compliances than we thought. Then again, both Chebyshev and Vysochanskij–Petunin are very loose bounds.
%They should thus be seen as a worst-case, while reality is not as bad.

The moral of the story is that by assuming the correct distribution of the CTQ, we may save a lot of resources, since we will not need to tune the production process to some worst-case scenario, but rather to the exact properties of our production process.
We can assume normality, as we typically do, but there are other alternatives that may help us to preserve the important relation between $\cp$ and $\pnc$:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Transformations: it is quite possible that the CTQ is not Gaussian in its original scale, but it is Gaussian in a different scale. You should always inspect a QQnorm (Sec. \ref{sec:qqplot}) plot after a $log$ or $sqrt$ transformation.
\item Assume a different distribution: We derived $\pnc(\cp)$ (Eq.~\ref{eq:pc_and_pnc}) under a normality assumption, but it may certainly be derived for any other distribution you are willing to assume.
\item The denominator of $\cp$ is a range that leaves $0.00135$ probability of the Gaussian tail outside the range.
When relaxing the normality assumption, $\sigma$ is no longer related to the tail probability as it was before. We may still, however, directly plug $CTQ_{0.00135}$ and $CTQ_{1-0.00135}$ quantiles to get a CPR in the same spirit of the $\cp$. This is known as the $\cpq$ index we now define. It is immediate to verify that $\pnc(\cpq)$ is \emph{always} $2,700ppm$.
The only difficulty may be in estimating $CTQ_{0.00135}$ and $CTQ_{1-0.00135}$.

\end{enumerate}

\begin{definition}[$\cpq$]
\begin{align}
	\cpq:= \frac{USL-LSL}{CTQ_{1-0.00135}-CTQ_{0.00135}}
\end{align}
\end{definition}

\subsection{Process Capability of a Non-Centred Process}
We will now relax the assumption of $\ctqExpect=\targetValue$.
Again, this will break the relation between $\pnc$ and $\cp$ Eq.~\ref{eq:pc_and_pnc}), even for a normally distributed CTQ.

\begin{definition}[$\cpk$]
\begin{align}
	\cpk:= \min\set{\cpu,\cpl},
\end{align}
where $\cpu:= \frac{USL- \ctqExpect}{3 \sigma}$ and $\cpl:= \frac{\ctqExpect-LSL}{3 \sigma}$.
\end{definition}
For a non-centred process, this definition is more informative on the probability of non-compliance.
Indeed, Eq.(\ref{eq:pc_and_pnc}) will not hold, but we can derive an updated version:
\begin{align}
	 \Phi(-3 \cpk) \leq \pnc \leq 2\Phi(-3 \cpk).
\end{align}
Generally, $\cpk \leq \cp$, with equality holding for centred processes ($\ctqExpect=\targetValue$).
An illustration is given in Figure~\ref{fig:cpk}.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[height=0.3\textheight]{art/Cpk_same_sigma_varying_avg}
\caption[$\cpk$ and $\cp$]{$\cpk$ and $\cp$. \newline
\url{https://www.spcforexcel.com/knowledge/process-capability/interactive-look-process-capability}.}
\label{fig:cpk}
\end{figure}

The $\cpk$ index is motivated by conserving the relation between the index and the non-compliance rate $\pnc$, which is not captured by $\cp$ when the process is not centred.
Indeed if $\cp$ can be interpreted as ``accuracy compared to a (centred) 3-sigma process'', then $\cpk$ can be interpreted as ``accuracy compared to a (non-centred) 3-sigma process''.

The 3-sigma process is used as a benchmark for historical reasons.
In practice, it is actually very common to report the sigma-level itself as a capability index: $\min\set{\frac{USL-\mu}{\sigma},\frac{\mu-LSL}{\sigma}}$, which can be seen as capability index with respect to a 1-sigma process.
Three-$\sigma$ would thus simply be reported as $3$, 6-$\sigma$ as $6$, etc.

Another index, known as $\cpm$, or the \emph{Taguchi capability index}, also deals with the non centring but slightly differently. \marginnote{Taguchi Index}
It is motivated by the observation that for $\ctqExpect=\targetValue$, then $\sigma=\sqrt{\expect{(CTQ-\targetValue)^2}}$. This relation does not hold if $\ctqExpect \not=\targetValue$, which leads us to the following definition:
\begin{definition}[$\cpm$]
\begin{align}
		\cpm &:= \frac{USL-LSL}{6 \sqrt{\expect{(CTQ-\targetValue)^2}}} \\
		&= 	\frac{USL-LSL}{6 \sqrt{\sigma^2+(\ctqExpect-\targetValue)^2}} \\
		&= \frac{\cp}{\sqrt{1+(\frac{\ctqExpect-\targetValue}{\sigma})^2}}. \label{eq:cpm}
\end{align}
\end{definition}
Eq.(\ref{eq:cpm}) readily shows that just like the $\cpk$, then $\cpm \leq \cp$.

\begin{think}
What is the relation between $\cpm$ and $\pnc$?
\end{think}

\subsection{Interval Estimation for Capability Indexes}
Since the various process capability indexes are merely population parameters, we can also construct confidence intervals (CIs) for them, which are very important for small sample sizes, where point estimates unreliable.
We will only present the simplest case of $\cp$, but results are available for all other PCRs. Being a monotone transformation of $\sigma$, we can call upon confidence intervals for the variance of a normal population, so that with probability $1-\alpha$:
\begin{align}
\label{eq:ci_for_cp}
	\cp \in \left[
		\cpHat \sqrt{\frac{\chi^2_{\alpha/2,n-1}}{n-1}},
		\cpHat \sqrt{\frac{\chi^2_{1-\alpha/2,n-1}}{n-1}}
	\right],
\end{align}
where
\begin{align}
\label{eq:cpHat}
\cpHat = \frac{USL-LSL}{6 s}.
\end{align}
Eq.(\ref{eq:ci_for_cp}) is simply derived from Eq.(\ref{eq:cp_dist}).
Intervals for the other capability indexes, are available in \cite{montgomery_introduction_2007} and references therein.

\subsection{Testing Hypotheses on Capability Ratios}
Consider a supply contract, which requires production to have $\cp>1.5$.
It may easily be the case, that $\cp>1.5$, even if $\cpHat<1.5$, especially if the sample size is small.
It thus makes a lot of sense, to design hypothesis tests on process capabilities.
We observe that for an i.i.d. sample from a Gaussian population, and when $\cp$ is estimated as in Eq.(\ref{eq:cpHat}), then
\begin{align}
\label{eq:cp_dist}
	(n-1) \left( \frac{\cp}{\cpHat} \right)^2  \sim \chi^2_{n-1}.
\end{align}
Eq.(\ref{eq:cp_dist}) and a little algebra gives us the rejection limits, were we to use $\cpHat$ as test statistic.

\begin{example}[$\cp$ test for 6-sigma compliance]
\begin{align*}
	H_0: \cp &\leq 2	\\
	H_1:\cp &> 2 \\
	(n-1) \left( \frac{2}{\cpHat} \right)^2  &\overset{H_0}{\sim} \chi^2_{n-1}
\end{align*}
so that the $1-\alpha$ test using $\cpHat$ is
\begin{align*}
	\text{reject if } \cpHat > \sqrt{\frac{4 (n-1)}{\chi^2_{n-1,\alpha}}} .
\end{align*}
\end{example}
Note that we should not be testing this hypothesis with the confidence interval in Eq.(\ref{eq:ci_for_cp}) because this particular hypothesis is directional.
Now for the more general tests:
\begin{align*}
	H_0: \cp \leq a;
	H_1:\cp > a
	&\Rightarrow \text{reject if } \cpHat > \sqrt{\frac{a^2 (n-1)}{\chi^2_{n-1,\alpha}}},\\
	H_0: \cp \geq  a;
	H_1:\cp < a
	&\Rightarrow \text{reject if } \cpHat < \sqrt{\frac{a^2 (n-1)}{\chi^2_{n-1,1-\alpha}}}, \\
	H_0: \cp =  a;
	H_1:\cp \neq a
	&\Rightarrow \text{reject if } \cpHat < \sqrt{\frac{a^2 (n-1)}{\chi^2_{n-1,1-\alpha/2}}}
	\text{ or } \cpHat > \sqrt{\frac{a^2 (n-1)}{\chi^2_{n-1,\alpha/2}}} \\
\end{align*}

\begin{think}
Look at the relation between the hypotheses tested and the direction of the rejection region.
Do you see why the confidence interval corresponds (only) to the two-directional hypothesis test?
\end{think}

\begin{think}
	If $\sigma$ is estimated from a very large sample I can trust it without bothering with hypothesis testing.
	Try to show this formally using what you know of the distribution of $\cpHat$.
\end{think}

\subsection{Other estimators of process capability}
\label{sec:cp_estimators}

The first $\cp$ estimator we proposed used $s$ to estimate the $\sigma$ (Eq.\ref{eq:cpHat}).
While a seemingly very natural estimator, it is actually not the standard in the quality engineering community.
The scaled range (Def~\ref{def:range}) of the data is more often recommended:
\begin{align}
	\cpHat &:= \frac{USL-LSL}{6 \, \range{x}/d_2} \\
\end{align}
where $d_2$ is some scaling constant so that the range actually estimates $\sigma$.
It may be surprising that $\range{x}$ is preferred over $s$ to estimate $\sigma$. This is indeed a particularity of capability indexes, and it is justified by that fact that $\range{x}$ is very sensitive.
Unlike $s$, any single defect in the production will increase $\range{x}$, thus lower $\cpHat$.

The $\cp$ estimator in Eq.(\ref{eq:cpHat}), using $s$ to estimate $\sigma$, is actually known as the $\hat{P}_p$ \emph{performance index}.\marginnote{Performance Index}
It was promoted in $1991$ by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) as a capability estimator which is informative even in the presence of defects.
If robustness is indeed desirable, one may consider the following estimators:
\begin{align}
\label{eq:robust_capability}
& \cpHat := \frac{USL-LSL}{6 MAD(x)} \\
& \cpkHat := \min\set{\frac{USL- x_{0.5}}{3 MAD(x)},\frac{x_{0.5}-LSL}{3 MAD(x)}}, \\
& \cpmHat := \frac{\cpHat}{\sqrt{1+(\frac{x_{0.5}-\targetValue}{MAD(x)})^2}}.
\end{align}

When using a robust capability estimator, attention should be paid to its interpretation.
The production may actually be out of control, so these indexes measure not the capacity of the actual process, but rather the \emph{potential capacity}, once the process will be brought into control.

\begin{remark}
At this point, I hope you are wondering why isn't $\pnc$ used as a capability index.
Well, it is!
It is simply not called a ``capability index'', simply because the term is reserved to $\cp, \cpk, \cpm$ etc.
\end{remark}

\section{Bibliographic Notes}
This chapter is based almost entirely on \cite{montgomery_introduction_2007}.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The Rancho Cordova Police Department (RCPD) is pleased to introduce you to the newest member of the Youth Services Unit that supports Rancho Cordova schools: Detection K9 Zoe!
Zoe is a 20-month-old German shorthaired pointer who is focused, driven, playful and friendly. On July 6, Zoe became certified to California Peace Officer's Standards and Training, which followed a 120-hour training course from Top Dog Police Canine Training Center. She is trained to identify narcotics, firearms, ammunition and explosives to help keep our students and schools even safer.
Zoe will be partnering with School Resource Officer Steve LeCouve. When he became a School Resource Officer, local school districts were looking for innovative approaches to address the changing landscape of schools, as well as drug and weapon searches. Officer LeCouve believes having a detection K9 is a groundbreaking effort geared toward school safety.
Officer LeCouve's favorite and most rewarding job over his 30-year career in law enforcement has been as a K9 Handler.
The detection K9 program, which includes our detection K9 and a marked patrol car, are funded by the City of Rancho Cordova's Community Enhancement Fund, which is supported by a ½ cent, voter-approved sales tax. The Community Enhancement Fund provides an additional $1.3 million in funding to the $20 million+ annual police budget during the 2018/2019 fiscal year.
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Garbage bag - make a hole at the top, slip the bag over your head and you'll stay warm and dry!
Good hiking shoes are important. Don't try to hike in sandals or flip-flops.


It's Murphy's Law. Whenever you have a label or sticker to remove, and you need it to come off in a hurry, it won't. It will stay stuck. It will come off in little tiny pieces. The sticky part will stay stuck. It will be a nuisance that ruins nails, takes time and generally stresses you out.
Two simple household items combine to make the best sticker and goo remover you've ever tried.
Ordinary vegetable oil and bicarb soda. That's it.
When you have a label to remove drizzle it with vegetable oil. Any oil will do - canola, olive, coconut, it doesn't matter. Pour a little oil over the label and rub it in. When the label is soaked with the oil, sprinkle it with bicarb soda and gently rub. The oil will have softened the paper and the bicarb acts as a very gently abrasive to remove the glue.
When you've massaged off that label, rinse the item with hot water and dry. It's that easy and that cheap.
Try it next time you have a label to remove. You too will be amazed at just how easy it really is to remove a sticky label.
Ive always used Eucalyptus oil. My mum had a shop and was forever removing sales stickers before wrapping. I love the smell as well.


Thanks to everyone who attended and presented at the 2018 LLMC Statistics and Probability Conference!
A national research conference in the fields of statistics and probability.
The Department of Mathematics at Southern Illinois University is pleased to announce a research conference in the areas of statistics and probability. This event is combined with the annual Langenhop lecture series to promote the importance of mathematics to a general audience.
Accommodations and food are covered for participants.
Transportation will be provided to and from the hotel to the conference site.
Please submit an abstract of your presentation to: dfritcher@siu.edu by March 31st, 2018.
The Langenhop Lecture is on May 14th at 4pm in the Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library. Anyone is welcome to attend!
The Langenhop Lecture is intended for a general University audience, highlighting the beauty and impact of Mathematics and/or Statistics on the Arts and Sciences.


Find rated, reviewed, and prescreened contractors in DeKalb MO. This FREE, no obligation service helps homeowners find solar contractors in DeKalb MO.
The electric bill you receive every month from your DeKalb MO energy provider is perhaps the most important one to pay. While energy costs for DeKalb homes can become very expensive very quickly, your individual costs depend on your individual energy usage as well as variables unique to each home. In addition, there are things you can do to lower your monthly energy bill to a fraction of what it once was. It is critical to understand all the variables that go into making up your home energy costs.
For the average DeKalb household, heating and cooling expenses account for between 30 percent and 50 percent of all utility bills. This is a staggering number that can be affected by a several different circumstances. However, the most important thing you can possibly do as a homeowner and DeKalb resident is to ensure that your entire house is not only insulated, but insulated properly.


Magical Children's Tableware Set made from high-quality Melamine for small and large Children made in Germany.
2) 195 mm flat Melamine cellerThe 4-set is available in red, blue and green.
The melamine drinking cups are free from the pollutant bisphenol A and plasticizers.


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Men's Soccer Denied By Nationally Ranked Chicago's Rally
OT2
Chicago (2-0-2) 1 1 0 1 3
Hope (3-2-0) 2 0 0 0 2
1st - 4:29 - Ryan Flynn (Hope)
1st - 5:03 - Nic Kubert (Hope)
1st - 44:47 - Mateus,Vicente (Chicago)
2nd - 88:37 - Lich,Scott (Chicago)
OT2 - 102:33 - Brandt,Ben (Chicago)
A: 2 Players (#7, #10) - 1
Sh: Kameron Bloye - 5
Sv: Aaron Katsimpalis - 6
Sh: Ryan Flynn - 3
Sv: Blair McCormick - 5
Two quick strikes gave the Hope College men's soccer team an early jump on a nationally ranked opponent.
Unfortunately for the Flying Dutchmen, the University of Chicago responded to the challenge and rallied for a 3-2 double-overtime victory on Tuesday to spoil Hope's home opener.
Chicago, ranked seventh in the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III poll, scored late in each half to pull even, then struck again 2 ½ minutes into the second overtime on Ben Brandt's first goal of the season.
The non-league loss dropped the Flying Dutchmen to 3-2 on the season.
While the outcome wasn't what was desired, Hope coach Dave Brandt expressed pride in his team's resilience against the nationally ranked foe.
"It's disappointing any way you cut it. We didn't come for a tie, or to lose obviously," head coach Dave Brandt said. "That being said, it's the first time since I got here that we showed the steel and mettle of a team that really wanted to win in a tough game. I think Chicago is an elite D-III team. We can use that moving forward."
The Flying Dutchmen grabbed a 2-0 lead on Chicago by scoring twice in the first five minutes of the match.
Sophomore midfielder Ryan Flynn of Bloomington, Illinois (Bloomington) blasted a right-footed shot from 35 yards out that ripped over the head of the Chicago keeper. Flynn's second goal of the season — which came 4:23 into the match — received an assist from sophomore midfielder Brett Dyer of Northport, Michigan (Northport).
Thirty-two seconds later, Hope converted on a Chicago turnover with a quick counter. Freshman Nic Kubert of Rochester Hills, Michigan (Avondale) pounced a slip by the Chicago keeper to tuck into a second inside the right post. Senior midfielder Isaac Braak of Grand Haven, Michigan (Grand Haven) collected the assist.
Hope's two-goal lead stood up until 13 seconds left in the first half when Vicente Mateus buried a free kick into the top right of the Flying Dutchmen goal.
Chicago tied the score with 1:23 remaining in regulation on Scott Lich's goal following sustained pressure by the Maroons. Hope goalie Blair McCormick of Wadsworth, Illinois (Warren Township) made two point-blank saves earlier in the second half.
Chicago outshot the Flying Dutchmen, 16-11. Hope was limited to five shots during the second half and overtime after totaling six during the first half.
McCormick finished with five saves.


The Master of Clinical Physiotherapy with a Sports Physiotherapy Major has an international reputation and is a dynamic course which is based on contemporary best practice. This course creates the opportunity for physiotherapists currently working in sports physiotherapy to be challenged both academically and clinically. A high level of expert tuition is delivered for all units and clinical placements. This course focuses on the integration of evidence-based practice and current clinical practice. Locally and internationally, graduates are in demand and have a prosperous future in sports physiotherapy.


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Filed under: Advocacy, Government and Politics —
CAA Member Directory Launches Today
The CAA Member Directory, now available online to current individual members, allows you to search for other members internationally. Search criteria include first and last name, organization or institution name, and city, state, and country. Those fields—as well as telephone number, email address, and website—are shown in your search results, unless an individual has opted out of the directory.
To review and update your contact information, including that which appears in the Member Directory, please log into your CAA account. Next, click the "Contact Info" link on the left side to review your contact information. Instructions on the page will help you choose an address for the Member Directory. You may prevent any information from appearing in the directory at any time by unchecking the "Directory" box for all addresses on your record.
If you have more than one valid address on your record, please choose which address to include in the directory. Organization and title will only be included with a business address. In addition, only your primary phone, email, and/or website address will be used regardless of which address you choose. You may also remove duplicate or outdated information.
Questions about the Member Directory? Please email CAA Member Services.
Filed under: Membership, Online Resources —
Survey Demonstrates Strong Student Demand for the Humanities but Declining Conditions for Faculty
Despite the humanities playing a core role in higher education with strong student interest, four-year colleges and universities are increasingly relying on a part-time, untenured workforce to meet the demand. These facts, common knowledge to many professors, have been confirmed in the recently released results of the Humanities Departmental Survey, conducted by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a consortium of disciplinary associations, including CAA.
The survey includes data collected from departments of art history, English, foreign languages, history, the history of science, linguistics, and religion at approximately 1,400 colleges and universities. It is the first comprehensive survey to provide general cross-disciplinary data on humanities departments. The results are available on the academy's Humanities Resource Center Online.
According to the Humanities Departmental Survey:
Across the humanities, but especially in English and combined English and foreign-language departments, professors at four-year colleges and universities are evolving into a part-time workforce. During the 2006–7 academic year, only 38 percent of faculty members in these departments were tenured. English departments had the greatest proportion of non-tenure-track faculty (49 percent)
When minors are included, undergraduate participation in humanities programs is about 82 percent greater than counting majors alone would suggest. For the 2006–7 academic year, 122,100 students completed bachelor's degrees and 100,310 completed minor degrees in the three largest humanities disciplines: English, foreign languages, and history
Reflecting the demands of a global economy, student interest in foreign language is strong: during the 2006–7 academic year, foreign-language departments awarded 28,710 baccalaureate degrees and had the largest number of students completing minors (51,670). Yet investment in a stable professoriate to teach and study foreign languages and literatures appears to be declining, with a significant reduction in recruitment of full-time faculty members (39 percent fewer recruitments for full-time positions in 2008–9 than hires for 2007–8) and fewer total graduate students than faculty members, the only surveyed discipline for which this was the case
Turnover rates among humanities faculty were low—only 2.5 percent of humanities faculty left the profession through departure, retirement, or death during the two academic years preceding the survey. Combined with recently instituted hiring freezes on many campuses, career opportunities for the next generation of scholars (there were approximately 84,000 graduate students in the surveyed fields during the 2006–7 academic year) are limited
Approximately 87 percent of humanities departments reported that their subject was part of the core distribution requirements at their institution
The survey results provide a snapshot of US humanities departments at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. The survey covers a broad range of topics, including numbers of departments and faculty members, faculty distributions by discipline, courses taught, tenure activity, undergraduate majors and minors, and graduate students. The data provide new information about each of the disciplines; they also allow comparisons across disciplines. These data are especially important because the US Department of Education has indefinitely suspended the only nationally representative survey providing information about humanities faculty, the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty.
Several national learned societies collaborated with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to develop, field, and interpret data gathered by the Humanities Departmental Survey: the American Academy of Religion; the American Historical Association; the College Art Association; the History of Science Society; the Linguistic Society of America; and the Modern Language Association. The American Council of Learned Societies and the American Political Science Association also provided important assistance. The survey was administered by the Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics, which also performed the basic data analysis.
Even though the humanities disciplines represent an essential core of the liberal-arts curriculum, they have long been data deprived. The empirical data now available in the survey, along with the rich collection of information already found in the Humanities Indicators, begin to fill that gap and to establish baselines that will allow stakeholders to track trends in the future. The academy hopes that the Humanities Departmental Survey can be expanded to include additional disciplines and updated regularly, producing trend data that could be incorporated into the Humanities Indicators.
Launched in 2009, Humanities Indicators include data covering humanities education from primary school through the graduate level; the humanities workforce; humanities funding and research; and the humanities in civic life. Modeled after the National Science Board's Science and Engineering Indicators, the Humanities Indicators serve as a resource to help scholars, policymakers, and the public assess the current state of the humanities. The academy continues to update and expand the Humanities Indicators.
The academy looks forward to working with the National Endowment for the Humanities to advance this critical work. The Teagle Foundation provided support for the Humanities Departmental Survey project, and grants from the William and Flora Hewlett, Andrew W. Mellon, and Rockefeller Foundations have advanced the academy's overall humanities data initiative.
Those who wish to receive announcements of new data and research on the humanities can subscribe to an email alert system at the Humanities Resource Center Online.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has posted PDFs of two response papers, from David Laurence and Robert Townsend, on its website for download.
For journalistic analyses of the project, please read Scott Jaschik's "State of Humanities Departments" at Inside Higher Ed and Jennifer Howard's "Humanities Remain Popular Among Students Even as Tenure-Track Jobs Diminish" at the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Filed under: Education, Membership, Research, Surveys, Workforce —
Filed under: Advocacy, Workforce — Tags: Higher Education —
Recent Deaths in the Arts
CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, architects, curators, teachers, dealers, collectors, philanthropists, and other important figures in the visual arts who have recently died.
Raymond Abraham, a radical Austrian architect and a professor at Pratt Institute and Cooper Union, died on March 4, 2010. He was 77
Earl A. Barthé, a New Orleans–based architectural plasterer who created cornices, friezes, and ceiling medallions, died on January 11, 2010, at the age of 87
Ernst Beyeler, a Swiss art dealer and collector who sold works by Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Kandinsky, Giacometti, and more, died on February 25, 2010. He was 88
Michael Buhler, a British artist and a teacher at the Colchester School of Art, died on October 30, 2009, at the age of 69
Michael Cooper, a collage artist who showed his work in New York, died on January 23, 2010, at the age of 60
Evelyn Haas, an arts philanthropist who supported the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, died on February 3, 2010. She was 92
Zygmund Jankowski, a New England–based painter of colorful, expressionist works, died on December 31, 2009, at age 84
Paul R. Jones, a collector of African American art who gifted hundreds of works to the University of Delaware and thousands to the University of Alabama, died on January 26, 2010, at the age of 81
Ruth Kligman, an abstract painter and the sole survivor of Jackson Pollock's 1956 car crash, died on March 1, 2010. She was 80
Edward Linde, a real-estate developer and arts philanthropist who supported the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, died on January 10, 2010. He was 68
Fritz Lohman, cofounder of the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation in Manhattan's SoHo, died on December 31, 2009. He was 87
Raymond Mason, a British sculptor who worked in a narrative, realist style, died on February 14, 2010, in Paris. He was 87
Neil E. Matthew, an artist and professor emeritus at the Herron School of Art and Design, died on January 5, 2010. He was 84
Ursula Mommens, a British potter who worked for more than eight decades, died on January 30, 2010. She was 101
Anita V. Mozley, a curator of photography at the Stanford Museum of Art and an expert on the work of Eadweard Muybridge, died on January 23, 2010. She was 81
Bob Noorda, a graphic designer best known for his signs for the New York City Transit Authority, died on January 11, 2010, at age 82
Judith Taylor, a photographer, professor, and department chair at Arcadia University, died on January 26, 2010. She was 56
Clare Weiss, a curator of public art for the New York City Parks Department, died on January 11, 2010, at the age of 43
Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.
Filed under: Obituaries, People in the News —
Two Art Organizations Join CAA's Affiliated Societies
posted by Emmanuel Lemakis — March 05, 2010
At its February meeting in Chicago, the Board of Directors approved the applications of two groups to join CAA's affiliated societies. The first new affiliate, the Appraisers Association of America, is a professional organization, while the second, the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey, is an area-studies organization.
The Appraisers Association of America (AAA) began in 1949; it currently has 650 members. Its purpose is to establish the highest standards of ethical conduct and promote the profession of appraising as a service to the national economy. An admissions committee insures that its members have met the standards of the profession. AAA advances the field though educational seminars, conferences, publications, and other activities. It publishes All About Appraising: The Definitive Appraisal Handbook and a biannual newsletter, and it offers classes in collaboration with New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. CAA recently partnered with AAA to host a symposium on art authentication in January 2010.
An affiliate of the Middle East Studies Association, the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey (AMCA) was established in 2007, and it currently has fifty-seven members. This newly formed academic organization aims to advance the study of this emerging field through the creation of an international network of interested scholars and organizations. AMCA facilitates communications by sponsoring conferences, meetings, a website, and a newsletter. It will be launching peer-reviewed exhibition and catalogue reviews on its website.
CAA's Directory of Affiliated Societies is currently accepting updates. If you are an officer or the official CAA contact for an organization, please send an updated text, in the same format as your current listing, to Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs, by March 31, either as a Word attachment or pasted into the body of an email.
Filed under: Affiliated Societies, Membership —
2010 Advocacy Days in Washington, DC
Our government needs to hear from you. At this critical time of federal budget reductions—cuts are scheduled for both the NEA and NEH—it is more important than ever that you let your congressional representatives know of your support for the visual arts, humanities, and art museums.
Between President Barack Obama's budget proposal, released last month, and its approval by Congress later this year come three crucial events in Washington, DC: Humanities Advocacy Day, March 8–9; Museum Advocacy Day, March 22–23; and Arts Advocacy Day, April 12–13. Organized to assist those interested in visiting their representatives in the House and Senate in person, these advocacy days are timed so that our voices can be heard before funds are allocated to the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). CAA is a sponsor of these three advocacy events.
Previous lobbying experience isn't necessary. Training sessions and practice talks take place the day before the main event—that's why, for example, Arts Advocacy Day is actually two days, not one. Advocates are also prepped on the critical issues and the range of funding requested of Congress to support these federal agencies. It is at these training sessions where you meet—and network with—other advocates from your states. The main sponsoring organization for each event makes congressional appointments for you.
You may have mailed a letter or sent a prewritten email to your congressperson or senator before, but legislators have an algorithm of interest for pressing issues, in which a personal visit tops all other forms of communication. As citizen lobbyists, it's also important to have a few specific examples about how arts funding has affected you: don't be afraid to name-drop major cultural institutions—such as your city's major museum or nonprofit art center—in your examples of why the visual arts matter in your state.
If you cannot attend the three advocacy days in person, please do send an email or fax to your representatives expressing your concern about continued and increased funding for the visual arts. If you don't know your representative or senators, you can look them up at www.congress.org.
2011 Budgets
Through the Office of Management and Budget, a federal agency, President Obama has requested $161.3 million for the NEA for fiscal year 2011, a decrease of $6 million from the previous year. (The fiscal year begins on October 1.) The same amount, $161.3 million, is requested for the NEH, with the agency receiving a larger cut of $6.2 million (4 percent). The proposed budget for the IMLS, $265.9 million, remains the same as last year.
Humanities Advocacy Day, March 8–9
The eleventh annual Humanities Advocacy Day, presented in conjunction with the National Humanities Alliance's annual meeting, will take place March 8–9. Both events are a unique meeting ground for both alliance members and others interested in humanities policy and advocacy, including higher-education leaders, college and university faculty, teachers, students, museum professionals, librarians, and independent scholars.
Annual-meeting activities will primarily take place on Monday, March 8, at the Marvin Center at George Washington University. That evening, the action will move to Capitol Hill for a reception with members of Congress and their staff. Advocates will return to the Hill on Tuesday morning, March 9 for visits to your senators and representatives.
The fee to attend Humanities Advocacy Day and the NHA meeting and activities is $50. This includes the luncheon and keynote address, legislative and policy briefing materials, advocacy training, and the Capitol Hill reception. The deadline for registration has passed, but you can still call Erin Mosley at 202-296-4994, ext. 150, if you're interested in participating.
The NHA website has tips for congressional visits and other resources, including a map and schedule. Its Legislative Action Center can also assist you in defining the current issues for Humanities Advocacy Day.
Museums Advocacy Day, March 22–23
CAA invites your participation in Museums Advocacy Day, sponsored by the American Association of Museums (AAM) and taking place March 22–23. This event is your chance to receive advocacy and policy training and then take the case to Capitol Hill alongside fellow advocates from your state and congressional district.
AAM is working with sponsoring organizations, including CAA, to develop the legislative agenda for this year's event. Likely issues will include federal funding for museums, museums and federal education policy, and charitable giving issues affecting museums. The entire museum field is welcome to participate: staff, volunteers, trustees, students, and museum enthusiasts.
March 22 will be a critical day of advocacy and policy training, to be held at the National Building Museum, featuring: a briefing on the museum field's legislative agenda; tips on meeting with elected officials and the stats you need to make your case; instruction on how to participate in year-round advocacy and engage your elected officials in the ongoing work of your museum; and networking with advocates from your state. On March 23, advocates will take their message to Capitol Hill, gathering in groups by state and congressional districts to make coordinated visits to House and Senate offices.
Participants are asked to cover the cost of their meals and materials: $75. This includes: two breakfasts, one lunch, one evening reception on March 22 with members of Congress and their staff, and all training materials and supplies. Registration has closed, but you can still call 202-218-7703 with questions on how to participate.
Arts Advocacy Day, April 12–13
The twenty-third annual Arts Advocacy Day, sponsored by Americans for the Arts, brings together a broad cross-section of America's cultural and civic organizations, along with hundreds of grassroots advocates from across the country, to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts.
Legislative training sessions take place on April 12. Afterward, attend the twenty-third annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Speaking will be Joseph P. Riley, Jr., mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, and founder of the Mayors' Institute on City Design.
On April 13, hear from members of Congress and acclaimed artists at the Congressional Arts Kick Off on Capitol Hill. Then, join other arts advocates from your state to make the case for arts and arts education to your members of Congress.
Registration costs vary, so please visit the Americans for the Arts website for details. The advance registration deadline is March 29. The organization's Arts Action Center also provides updates on arts advocacy issues.
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Coronavirus and jobs: Leon County, Big Bend region sees surge in unemployment claims
TaMaryn Waters
An early glimpse into the region's broken economy shows 10 times the number of unemployment claims were filed in Leon County in March compared to the previous month.
There were 2,541 unemployment claims compared to 243 claims in February, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
During the same period, unemployment claims jumped from 38 to 198 in Gadsden County, one of the poorest counties in the state. Claims in Wakulla swelled from 14 claims to 174. Jefferson County had 65 claims compared to 12 claims in February. Franklin County went from 11 claims to 78 claims.
On Friday, the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida reported that hundreds of thousands of new unemployment applications were filed in the last few weeks, signaling a possible deep recession ahead for a state economy steeped in tourism.
More:Coronavirus Florida: Unemployment numbers hide full story of frustration
Jerry Parrish, chief economist for the Florida Chamber Foundation, said the number of unemployment claims will most likely continue to balloon amid the global economic crisis created by the rapid spread of the coronavirus. The pandemic is responsible for more than 20,000 deaths in the U.S.
Florida and states with tourism-rich economies will be hit hardest by coronavirus-related job losses this year compared to rural states, according to an analysis by IHS Markit.
In the United States, job counts are done on the 12th of each month. Parrish said the latest national reports on unemployment by the industry are based on assessments from Feb. 8 through March 14. Florida is slated to release county-by-county details on unemployment on April 17.
"We'll get to see what Florida looked like back then, but it's still very early," Parrish said. "The layoffs had just started at that time."
Parrish said two-thirds of the nation's layoffs were in the leisure and hospitality industry. He projects similar results in Florida as the state navigates through what he calls a "manufactured recession."
"We caused this in order to try to slow down and kill this virus," Parrish said. "We've done it to ourselves. It's not a natural business cycle recession."
The U.S. lost 701,000 jobs in March, breaking a remarkable string of uninterrupted payroll gains the past decade, according to USA TODAY. A record 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment aid last month.
From restaurants to retail, massive shutdowns and stay-at-home orders prompted people to retreat to their homes, exercise social distancing in public and venture out for essential needs, such as groceries and designated jobs.
In partnership with global management firm McKinsley & Company, the Florida Chamber is drafting a recovery plan for the state. Economists say it's too early to predict when the recession will recede, but some say the economy will improve by late 2020, Parrish said.
"We need liquidity. We need businesses to keep their doors open," Parrish said. "We need people with money spending money while this is going on so we can return to a more normal situation."
Contact TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com or follow @TaMarynWaters on Twitter.


Looking to purchase a tonneau cover for my 2016 2500HD 6.5' bed. Located in Charlotte, NC and will travel within a couple hours. Heading down to Augusta, GA next week too and could pick one up then as well if you're somewhat close to that path of travel.
It wouldn't happen to be for a 6.5 foot bed to fit a 2500HD would it?
Looking for a full system local to Charlotte, NC. Will travel up to ~3 hours if the deal is right but looking for the TOURING ONLY. Prefer side exit but will take a look at dual rear exit as well. Let me know what you got!
I have had the weathertech digital cut floormats in my last Silverado and last 2 Tacomas. They worked great, although a little pricey. My 2018 came with the GM factory floor liners that are, in my mind, better than the weathertech. Only reason I think they are potentially better is they are easier to clean. And, they look very classy with the Chevy logos on them.
Not to jack the thread but how do you like your Nitto M/T tires? I just got the ridge grapplers and they are very very quiet and have a nice ride but am also interested in the M/T option. Just wondering how they rode in comparison.
Bought my truck back in June when the larger rebates started being offered. Ran 4000 miles on stocks and couldn't stand the stock tires anymore so I bought some 275/65r18 Ridge Grapplers when EBay had offered a 25% code. They sat in my garage for a couple weeks before I had time to get them on them decided to go with some Grenade 18x9 wheels and topped it off with a level. Love the height and love the aggressiveness of the RG's. They are relatively quiet but I would imagine they will get loud overtime, but I'm good with that.
Welcome! I just bought a new 2018 Silverado. I have been looking for a little while but typically, when there are rebates on the new trucks you give up the 0% financing option and vice versa. From my research, you are better off taking the rebates and financing with GM Financial (usually get $1,000 more off if financing with them), making 3 months of payments and financing somewhere else. I have found that to be the cheapest option.


The to be examined extrusion deposition additive manufacturing processes are among the most commonly used additive manufacturing processes. For example, they are known by the terms Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Fused Layer Modeling (FLM) or Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). In this methods, the semi-finished product, commonly a wire of a thermoplastic polymer, is melted and forced through a nozzle. The continuous positioning of this nozzle allows the polymer to weld together strand by strand and layer by layer to produce a component. The energy for the welding of the individual strands largely results from the thermal energy of the deposited polymer melt.
It is desirable to be able to use a similarly wide variety of materials with this method as, for example, in the profile extrusion or injection molding technology. Therefore, the processing suitability of any thermoplastic polymer should be estimated based on the material properties or characteristics in advance of the processing. This is currently not possible because, in contrast to conventional methods, only little is known about the required and desirable material properties for the processing in extrusion deposition additive manufacturing processes.
In this project, the requirements for materials, semi-finished products and processes are investigated by the means of example polymer types. For this purpose, different types of polyamide 6 (PA6) will be systematically extruded into monofilaments and then a supervised processing in an extrusion deposition additive manufacturing machine will follow. By varying important material properties, such as the viscosity, the material properties should be connected to the processing properties.
To reach that aim the processability in extrusion deposition additive manufacturing processes has to be defined so that it is evaluable for different materials. Therefore custom-built specimens are created to investigate some significant characteristics like tensile strength of the welding seams or process specific warpage. Other factors like machine quality or data processing should have no or minimal influence. For that reason machine and process specific influences are considered to create custom-built specimens.
After the specimens have been verified on known materials, series of tests should be run for each characteristics. Suitable material properties are identified by rating the processability as a function of the varied material properties. Those are supervised during the whole project by methods like differential scanning calorimetry or high pressure capillary rheometry.
Some characteristics like tensile strength of the welding seams or process specific warpage are currently in testing for different material types. Additional types of materials with different material properties should be tested and additional characteristics should be investigated for all tested material types. At least a polymer should be identified that shows an optimal processability. This polymer should be reinforced with fibers. Then the processing of fiber-reinforced materials should be examined. It is assumed that the procedural generation of components by juxtaposing many strands enables the influence of fiber orientation.
In this project, the requirements for materials, semi-finished products and processes are investigated by the means of example polymer types. For this purpose, different types of polyamide 6 (PA6) will be systematically extruded into monofilaments and then a supervised processing in an extrusion deposition 3D printing machine will follow. By varying important material properties, such as the viscosity, the material properties should be connected to the processing properties. In addition, the processing of fiber-reinforced materials should be examined. It is assumed that the procedural generation of components by juxtaposing many strands enables the influence of fiber orientation.


DogAddicts.com > INFORMATION CENTER > Welcome-Read this first > FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS > Topic: Different Emotes?
I'm really, really not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to the computer but I'm not THAT dull either. Where do you all find the different smilies/emotes to add to some of your posts? I've tried to figure it out but my brain ain't gettin' it. Thanks for the help.
Remember the past, plan for tomorrow but don't forget to enjoy today!
I've seen those that DA supplies but other members come up w/ different ones that DA doesn't have on their list. I just was wanting like new bday ones to put up or sometimes I don't see one that "fits" my mood at the time. I was just curious.
I can never get to the "more". when I click on it, all the emoticons stop and my computer freezes.
Gordonmom, when you click "more", it's a pop-up. Do you have a pop-up blocker on? If you click the CTRL button with the link, that usually works to make a pop up pop, with a blocker on.
I store some emotes, in an account at photobucket, to have a few more at my disposal.
Thanks for the link. I was able to go and get some REALLY special ones to use for special occasions. In fact, a few I have in mind for our jan.
I thought i heard my name Jenn.
Just for your info Jenn~ i already have a photobucket account so bring it on!!!
Nope, ctrl doesn't do it---still locks up.
When i click on the more button for ore emoticons the emoticons do stop moving but i believe that's how it's supposed to work. You can still click on them though to use them.
Oh jan! I've found SO many that I can't wait to slap on here. I'm so excited (yes, I'm very easily entertained).
This should give ya a clue. Bawhahahaha!
Nope Dawn--I have never seen that screen.
Do you know how easy i can steal emotes?
That is so strange.. I don't think anyone else has had that problem.. or at least hasn't mentioned it.
Yes, I've finally figured it out. I'm such a genius. Watch out jan, here we come to steal all your chocolate cakes and brownies. Bawhahahahaha!!!
I've always had the problem, but I thought it was my computer!
When I click on "more" the ones above stop moving, but the ones in the "more" box stay moving. When I close the "more" box, the ones above do not go back to moving. But if I click above it still puts the emote in the post, so that' swhy I never said anything!
When I click on "more" the ones above stop moving, but the ones in the "more" box stay moving.
that's cuz it's a popup. It's supposed to work that way.
Once you post.. and go to another post to reply, they work again, don't they?
Probably can't use them here, unless someone tells me a way to, but I can use them in my e-mails!!
You'll need to save them to a place like photobucket. Then I just go under the icon that I want and copy the IMG tag. I then come back here and paste it where I want it.
Thanks! I think I have a photo bucket account from when I was briefly on another board a long time ago, and the only way to post pictures was through photobucket. But I doubt I can remember how to find out.


Bible Affirmations - I will not crave prideful attention from men for doing something good.
I will not crave prideful attention from men for doing something good.
"Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do-blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.


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text:
Kelsee Pitman Published: January 24, 2023
Frenship ISD
It looks like another school is almost ready to go for Frenship ISD.
This new middle school is set to open in August of 2023 and finally has a name. During the January 19th, 2023 school board meeting, the Frenship ISD Board of Trustees approved the name for the fourth middle school. The Board of Trustees also approved the new 2023-2024 middle school attendance boundaries.
According to their website, "designated as one of the fastest-growing school districts in Texas, the addition of a fourth middle school will help accommodate the rising student enrollment and alleviate crowding in the existing middle schools. Currently, Frenship serves nearly 2,500 middle school students across three campuses, and demographers project that number will continue to increase over the next 10 years."
The new school will be called Alcove Trails Middle School and will impact attendance boundaries for all Frenship middle school campuses. Frenship pushed out a name nomination form in November and received nearly 1,600 name submissions for the new school. Based on those submissions, the Board of Trustees approved the name as Alcove Trails Middle School.
Guided by School Board Policy, Frenship ISD gathered input from Frenship staff, parents, and community members on the proposed attendance boundaries over the course of several months during town halls and school board meetings.
Based on input, along with growth and enrollment projections and research, the Board of Trustees approved what was known as "Proposed Attendance Boundaries Option B".
The new attendance boundaries for the 2023-2024 school year can be found here below or on their website.
For updates on Alcove Trails Middle School construction, timelines, boundaries, and more, head over to their website.
20 Unique Texas High School Mascots
With so many different high schools all over the state of Texas, there are many unique mascots to choose from. Here is our top 20.
Top 10: These Are Texas' Most Expensive High School Football Stadiums in '22
There's a reason every good high school football movie is based in Texas. Here in the Lone Star State Friday nights are revered and our young men in football pads exalted to legends in their hometowns. In fact as of last year, Texas is only second to Florida (by two players) as the state with the most players in the NFL.
Source: Frenship ISD Approves Name Of New School & Attendance Boundaries
Filed Under: frenship isd, school
Official Delays and Closures for Tuesday Jan. 24 in Lubbock Area
Keep Your Car Snow Storm Ready With These Helpful Tips
27 Years Of Disappointment From The Dallas Cowboys


text:
Lincolnshire Walk
Moulton Marsh and The Welland from Fosdyke Bridge
Walk Grading
County/Area - Lincolnshire
Author - Hugh Marrows
Ascent - 50 feet / 15 metres
Start - OS grid reference TF318323
Lat 52.872038 // Long -0.043254
Postcode PE20 2DD (approx. location only)
Walk Route Description
Click thumbnails for larger images.
Vast skies dominate Moulton Marsh, part of The Wash and Lincolnshire's last great coastal wilderness to make this walk equally good on a summer's day or a bracing winters one; but note that the route is exposed and without shelter in inclement weather. There are great rewards however including panoramic views, close-ups of boats heading to and from the marina at Fosdyke and an abundance of birds.
This whole area was once the marshy delta of the River Welland, which in historical times stretched inland beyond present-day Holbeach where the first settlements were made around the C7th on a string of low-lying islands. The name "Holland", used by the Local Authority, does not refer to the countryside bearing any resemblance to Holland but comes from the Old English for these islands. (i.e. the "highland") With abundant supplies of fish and wildfowl to sustain a growing population it became necessary in the early Middle Ages to consider land reclamation. Many C12th. and C13th. sea banks survive to be named on modern maps and the resulting parishes are the longest in England. As an example Holbeach is nearly 18 miles long from the Cambridge border to the Wash.
The Welland itself has for centuries been an established trading route, and possibly even since prehistoric times. Boats could once get as far inland as Stamford, which had a canal to Deeping as early as 1673, with the river then providing access to the North Sea, the Baltic and northern Europe. Following early reclamations the laws relating to the maintenance of dykes and embankments, first drawn up in the Middle Ages, remained largely unchanged until the 1930's. The present-day system of drainage channels was well established by the late C18th, but improvements have continued into the C20th.
Fosdyke, from the Saxon for Fotr's Dyke, has been a small port since at least mediaeval times. Silting has always been a problem and there are records of boats being hauled overland to Surfleet in the early C17th. Crossing the marsh hereabouts was hazardous too and only possible with a guide or by ferry until the first wooden bridge, designed by Sir John Rennie, was built in 1815. That was replaced in 1836 and another new iron one was erected in 1911. The present bridge dates from 1980. The river at Fosdyke is now used as a yacht haven and marina.
The Horseshoe Nature Reserve is jointly managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Spalding Wildfowlers and was created 20 years ago from an old landfill site. Its 90 acres includes lagoons and bird hides.
Beyond The Horseshoe our outward route follows an old sea bank and on your right (especially near GR373343) you can clearly see its predecessor. Our return follows the most recent bank. Evidence of C20th drainage work is at the sluice at GR348340 built in 1955. Note too that the fields are lower than the marsh and contain isolated remnants of former creeks. (e.g. at Halfway Run at GR360347.) The WWII pillboxes on the inner bank served a variety of purposes as gun batteries, ammunition stores and sleeping quarters. At the time they would have looked out over the marsh and sea but in 1948 a further 1,500 acres of land was reclaimed between them and the river.
Notes For the main route parking is possible to the west of Fosdyke Bridge, on the river's north bank. (Grid ref. TF318323) At Fosdyke Bridge there is an inn and a transport café that opens weekdays only. Binoculars are a must! And keep off the marsh; it is dangerous for the unwary. A shorter route begins from the Horseshoe Nature Reserve carpark. (Grid Ref. TF343335) - see walk 3313
Carefully cross the A17, then go over the river and take the signed footpath on the left beyond the inn; the River Welland will now be on your left. After about two miles you will reach the nature reserve at The Horseshoe. When confronted with trees turn left through the reserve following the path to the riverbank and round to the fenced compound of Stone Quay.
Shortly beyond Stone Quay you will cross a deep drain. Drop down to the right here at the footpath signpost to continue along the drain bank, which soon turns left to a WWII pillbox. Now keep ahead following a good grass track for almost 2 miles and turn left at the first of two footpath signs near a third pillbox. At the outer bank turn left again to return to the nature reserve. Your view will now extend many miles across the Wash towards the bird observatory at Cut End beside the Boston Haven at Cut End and will include Skirbeck church, Boston docks and the "Stump". As you near Stone quay again the view encompasses churches at Fosdyke and Sutterton.
Return to Fosdyke Bridge by retracing the outward route.
Download GPS File
GPS files - right click or option-click the button and choose "Save As..." to download this file.
More Lincolnshire Walks
The National Trails
This inspirational guidebook looks at each of the UK's 19 National Trails, with information that allows ease of comparison and contrast, inspiring you to find out more and to take up a long-distance challenge. Some Trails are short and easy, others much longer, many have strong themes - they may follow a coastline, or traverse ranges of hills.
Walking in Lincolnshire
The County of Lincolnshire has a long coastline on the North Sea to the east and varied landscapes inland. For walkers, this diversity means that there are a wide variety of walks including the cost, the rolling Wolds, historic villages and many nature reserves. For many the rolling hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds offer some the best walking in the county. In complete contrast the flat and often watery landscapes of the Fens are equally attractive. In the western half of the county the limestone escarpment running north-south also offers some outstanding walking.
Ellinbrook Guest House
Rose-Fitt House
Glenberis
Greetham Retreat Holidays
near Horncastle, Lincolnshire Wolds


text:
Q: ActivityIndicator (spinner) getting error Unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value In my shared class i write spinner code, it's working fine but, some times it's getting error.
Error: Thread 1: Fatal error: Unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value

My code in shared class:
import UIKit

class SharedClass: NSObject {

static let sharedInstance = SharedClass()

var transparentView:UIView!
var spinner = UIActivityIndicatorView()

//Show activity indicator
func activityIndicator(view:UIView) {

    DispatchQueue.main.async {
        let window = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow! //Error : Thread 1: Fatal error: Unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value
        self.transparentView = UIView()
        self.transparentView.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: window.frame.width, height: window.frame.height)
        self.transparentView.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.withAlphaComponent(0.4)
        window.addSubview(self.transparentView)

        if UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiom.pad {
            self.spinner = UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .whiteLarge)
            self.spinner.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 60, height: 60)
        } else {
            self.spinner = UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .white)
            self.spinner.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 40, height: 40)
        }
        self.spinner.center = view.center
        self.transparentView.addSubview(self.spinner)
        self.spinner.startAnimating()

        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 600.0) {//Stop spinner after 10 Sec's
            self.stopActivityIndicator()
            //self.transparentView.removeFromSuperview()
        }
    }
}

//Stop activity indicator
func stopActivityIndicator() {
    DispatchQueue.main.async {
        self.spinner.stopAnimating()
        self.spinner.removeFromSuperview()
        self.transparentView.removeFromSuperview()
    }
}

//Present alert on top of all windows
func alertWindow(title: String, message: String) {
    //Calling
    //SharedClass.sharedInstance.alertWindow(title:"", message:"")
    DispatchQueue.main.async(execute: {
        let alertWindow = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
        alertWindow.rootViewController = UIViewController()
        alertWindow.windowLevel = UIWindow.Level.alert + 1

        let alert2 = UIAlertController(title: title, message: message, preferredStyle: .alert)
        let defaultAction2 = UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: { action in
        })
        alert2.addAction(defaultAction2)

        alertWindow.makeKeyAndVisible()

        alertWindow.rootViewController?.present(alert2, animated: true, completion: nil)
    })
}

 private override init() {

}

}

I'm calling like this
SharedClass.sharedInstance.activityIndicator(view: self.view)//Play spinner
SharedClass.sharedInstance.stopActivityIndicator() //Stop spinner
This is my login Btn code
@IBAction func onClickLoginBtn(_ sender: UIButton) {

    let networkReachability = Reachability.forInternetConnection()
    let networkStatus:Int = (networkReachability?.currentReachabilityStatus())!.rawValue
    print(networkStatus)
    if networkStatus == NotReachable.rawValue {
        let msg = SharedClass.sharedInstance.noNetMsg
        SharedClass.sharedInstance.alertWindow(title: "", message: msg)
    } else {

        SharedClass.sharedInstance.activityIndicator(view: self.view)//Play spinner
        let parameters = "imei=\(deviceID)&devid=\(deviceID)&ver=\(ver)"
        print("Parameters : \(parameters)")
        var request = URLRequest(url: URL(string: url)!)

        request.setValue("application/x-www-form-urlencoded", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")
        request.httpMethod = "POST"

        print("URL : \(request)")

        request.httpBody = parameters.data(using: .utf8)

        let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request) { data, response, error in guard let data = data, error == nil else { // check for fundamental networking error
            SharedClass.sharedInstance.stopActivityIndicator() //Stop spinner
            print("error=\(String(describing: error))")
            SharedClass.sharedInstance.alertWindow(title: "", message: "\(String(describing: error!.localizedDescription))")
            return
            }

            SharedClass.sharedInstance.stopActivityIndicator() //Stop spinner

            if let httpStatus = response as? HTTPURLResponse, httpStatus.statusCode == 500 {
                SharedClass.sharedInstance.alertWindow(title: "", message: "Server Error")
            } else if let httpStatus = response as? HTTPURLResponse, httpStatus.statusCode != 200 { // check for http errors
                print("statusCode should be 200, but is \(httpStatus.statusCode)")
                print("response = \(String(describing: response))")
            }

            do {
                let response = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .allowFragments) as? [String: AnyObject]
                print(response!)

                if status == "SUCCESS" {

                } else {
                    let message = res[0]["message"] as! String
                    //Call alert function
                    SharedClass.sharedInstance.alertWindow(title: "", message: message)
                }

            } catch let error as NSError {
                print(error)
                print(error.localizedDescription)
            }
        }

        task.resume()

    }

}

Here when i click login btn first time it's working fine. But when i get response Request timed out.
Error

Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1001 "The request timed out." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x7f9eab767d60 {Error Domain=kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork Code=-1001 "(null)" UserInfo={_kCFStreamErrorCodeKey=-2102, _kCFStreamErrorDomainKey=4}}

Alert will be displayed.
In this scenario when i click login btn second time now app crashed with error : Thread 1: Fatal error: Unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value .
1) Is my code formate is correct or not(means function calling and JSON post code)
2) How to solve this error.

A: You can make sure that you get the keyWindow, as if you are not getting the window , where are you going to show your activity loader on.
Do it in the following way
guard let window = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow else {
  return
}

this is just what paulw11 was suggesting

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Meditations for Advent: December 17th – "O Wisdom" | Proverbs 8:27-31
By Joseph Mathias
Meditations for Advent: December 17th – "O Wisdom" | Proverbs 8:27-312018-12-172018-12-14https://servantsoftheword.org/wp-content/assets/SW_logo_web-03-300x150.pngThe Servants of the Wordhttps://servantsoftheword.org/wp-content/assets/winter-tracks.jpg200px200px
The last period of Advent is traditionally a period to consider the prophecies about Christ Jesus. This last week, we will use the scripture passages that are the basis for the special antiphons for each of the seven days before Christmas. These antiphons were used from the early Middle Ages onwards in Latin-speaking churches at evening prayer from Dec. 17-23. The hymn, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is based on these seven antiphons.
For today's meditation, our brother Joseph Mathias provides commentary on Proverbs 8:27-31 and the "O Wisdom" antiphon. Take a listen or click here to download. If you would like to subscribe to our daily Words from the Servants podcast or download the full list of Advent Meditation Passages we'll be covering this December, click here.
https://podcast.servantsoftheword.org/2018/Advent_Podcast_Monday_12-17-18.mp3
Proverbs 8:27-31:
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master workman;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the sons of men.
"O Wisdom that proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end of the earth to another, ordering all things with great power and beauty, come to show us the way of understanding."
Note: this antiphon is composed from Sirach 24:3, Wisdom 8:1, and Isaiah 40:14, not from Proverbs 8 directly.
For references to Christ as the Wisdom of God, see Hebrews 1:3, Wisdom 7:26 and 1 Corinthians 1:24.
Advent, Advent 2018, Podcast
Joseph Mathias
Joseph is a lifelong committed brother who serves in University Christian Outreach in Lansing. He graduated from the University of Michigan and has completed a Master's in Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
Meditations for Advent: December 16th – Luke 3:10-18Podcast
Meditations for Advent: December 18th – "O Lord of Hosts" | Exodus 3:2, 6; 6:1Podcast


Querying a health information exchange can lead to significant reductions in laboratory tests and radiology exams, according to a new study of more than 2,000 emergency department visits in three western New York hospitals.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, conducted by the Brookings Institution and supported by HealtheLink, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based health information exchange.
It began in late March and ran through late May in 2014. It divided ED patients into two groups, one composed of 737 patients whose ED physicians had scribes who queried clinically relevant information on each patient. Members of a second, control group of 1,275 patients were seen by ED physicians whose prior records were not queried through the exchange.
According to the study results, usage of the HIE was associated with a 52% reduction in the expected total number of laboratory tests and a 36% reduction in radiology examinations ordered per patient at the ED.
The study's secondary result proved the efficacy of using scribes.
According to the study's principal researcher, Brookings fellow Niam Yaraghi, scribes were used to ensure 100% of the patients in the study cohort would have queries run through the exchange.
Physicians say they like to use scribes because doctors find EHRs slow and clunky to use, interfering with their interactions with patients. Those complaints have only increased in the years since EHRs have come into broad use.
The costs of scribes range from $10 to $20 an hour, according to a 2011 white paper by the American College of Emergency Physicians. The ACEP paper estimated, based on interviews with scribe service providers, that 1,000 hospitals and 400 physician groups are using them. The ACEP study found a return on investment greater than 100%.


text:
'Stop Operation Soros' movement begins in Macedonia
Seems that the world is waking up and fighting back.
A new initiative, Stop Operation Soros (SOS), dedicated to countering the influence of American billionaire globalist George Soros, has been launched in Macedonia.
In a press conference on Tuesday, the founders of the group called on all "free-minded citizens," regardless of ethnicity or religion, to join them in the "fight against one-mindedness in the civil sector, which is devised and led by George Soros," the Vecer newspaper reported.
The movement says it will first focus on uncovering 'subversive' activities by Soros-funded NGOs.
According to Nikola Srbov, a columnist for pro-government news portal Kurir and co-founder of SOS, Soros-funded NGOs have monopolized civil society in Macedonia and used their position to suppress dissenting views.
"We've witnessed the takeover of the entire civil sector and its abuse and instrumentalization to meet the goals of one political party. That is unacceptable and goes beyond the principles of civic organizing," Srbov said at the press conference.
"The Open Society Foundation, operating under the Soros umbrella, used its funding and personnel to support violent processes in Macedonia. It has monopolized the civil society sector, pushing outside any organization which disagrees with the Soros ideology," he stated.
Another co-founder, Cvetin Cilimanov, editor-in-chief of the state-run MIA news agency, accused Soros's Open Society Foundations of undermining Macedonian sovereignty by working not only with the opposition center-left SDSM party, but also with outside interests.
By cooperating with foreign embassies and organizations such as USAID, Cilimanov believes Soros-backed groups have interfered in the political process of Macedonia.
"This is unacceptable and has largely contributed to a feeling in the public that the traditional relations of partnership Macedonia enjoyed with some countries are being undermined," Cilimanov told journalists.
A third founder of the initiative and editor-in-chief of the Republika news portal, Nenad Mircevski, declared that the group would work towards the "de-Soros-ization" of Macedonia, echoing a speech made by former prime minister and leader of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski in December.
In the speech, Gruevski accused foreign powers and Soros-backed organizations of meddling in Macedonian politics.
Opposition figures have expressed concern at the rhetoric used by Gruevski, fearing the start of a crackdown on dissent and advocacy groups.
The Open Society Foundation (OSF) was set up by Hungarian-born Soros between the mid-1980s to early 1990s with the stated aim of helping former Eastern bloc countries transition from communism.
However, aside from its support for progressive causes such as drug policy reform, the OSF has also been involved in political activities and Soros publically supported the violent overthrow of the legitimately-elected government in Ukraine during the 'Euromaidan' revolution.
This has earned him the ire of Russian authorities, which in 2015 banned Soros and his foundations as a threat to national security.
Soros and his foundations have come under scrutiny elsewhere as well. In an interview with the internet portal 888.hu in December, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that 2017 would bring about "the extrusion of George Soros and the forces symbolized by him."
Orban has accused Soros of undermining European borders and values by helping facilitate the flow of refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East and elsewhere.
During a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), WikiLeaks' Julian Assange also blasted the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, funded by Soros, for focusing "exclusively on negative stories about Russia and former Soviet states."
This guy just uses other peoples unfortunate circumstances, especially refugees as a trojan horse to further his globalist, neo commie, group think, libtard, politically correct, mindless puerile vacuous and unenforceable (due to it's total divorce from reality) pie in the sky ideology.~ @LarryHoffmeister
SOURCErt
High-speed pig slaughter will be disastrous for everyone involved
Palestinian teenager who slapped Israeli soldier to serve 8 months in jail
Sudan, World's Last Male Northern White Rhino, Dies
Karma in Action? Lion Hunter Killed on South Africa Expedition
Good News! Britain Announces Plan To Ban Antique Ivory Trade
After Cops Stole His Cash for Selling Unlawful Hot Dogs, The Internet Gave Him $70,000
Environmental Activists Are Being Killed At An Alarming Rate
US Senators Pushing for 20 Years in Prison for Citizens Who Support Boycotting Israel
Divers Shocked To Find Large Sea Animals Chained Underwater Inside Cages
African Farmers Facing Heavy Prison Sentences if They Continue Their Traditional Seed Exchange
Thousands of Dogs Are Being Tortured to Death to Be Sold as Food at This Festival
Monsanto Targets Cancer Scientist in Flawed Reuters Story
TPP: The Dirtiest Trade Deal You've Never Heard Of
96 Million Plastic Balls Just Got Dumped Into California's Main Water Source…Why?
The Economic Hitmen


Few things can tarnish your professional brand quite like a poorly written, misguided email. One click of the 'send' button can be the difference between a successful business exchange and a potential HR issue or coworker conflict. And while Americans send hundreds of thousands of emails a day, it should not be taken for granted.
Write a clear, concise subject line that reflects the body of the email. Avoid subject lines with,"Hi," "Touching Base" or "FYI," and do not leave a subject line blank.
Emails can easily be misinterpreted through text without context. Humor is culture-specific. Avoid both humor and sarcasm in e-mails as the recipient may be confused, or worse, offended.
Replying within 24 hours is common courtesy. Leaving someone hanging for any longer and you are not only perceived as rude — it could cost you business in the long run. If you've unintentionally kept someone waiting longer than 24 hours or extenuating circumstances arose, politely explain the situation and express your apologies.
Check and recheck for spelling and grammatical errors. These errors make you seem unprofessional and will reduce the likelihood that the email will be taken seriously. Email software comes with many professional tools such as spell check — use them.


Things to consider in regards to building or constructing a retaining wall.
Small residential retaining walls can be constructed by the do-it-yourselfer (DIY), but larger commercial and more complicated walls will need engineering and one should seriously consider hiring a professional contractor.
Below is a brief outline of the steps needed to build a retaining wall.
before you start to dig!
Remember to dig with C.A.R.E.


Looking for the top Culinary Schools in Clyde MO? The culinary industry offers many exciting positions such as being a Industry Consultant, Food Critic, Chef or even owning your own fun Bed & Breakfast business.
The restaurant and food industry will continue to fuel U. S. employment in the year ahead because it is the nation's 2nd largest private sector employer. In 2014, restaurant gross sales will reach a superior $683 billion, a 3.6% raise over 2013. The restaurant industry will add jobs at a 2.8% rate in 2014, out-doing the 1.8% gain seen for the total U.S. employment.
Aspiring cooks and chefs can take courses in high school or via vocational school programs. In order to work as a head cook, chef, or any other culinary professional, you ought to complete the formal training curriculum. Training programs in culinary arts are available at culinary arts educational facilities, some that are two-year, as well as four-year colleges.