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Kasich KOs Strickland's Collective Bargaining Rights For Care Workers
By John Michael Spinelli On May 24, 2015 · 2 Comments
People in Georgia and South Carolina, Ohio Gov. Kasich hopes, will take notice of him when he visits them next week. Continuing his travels out of state to boost his poor polling numbers higher than the two percent they are now, Ohio's go-go governor is just another face in the crowd of Republicans fighting to be the GOP nominee for President of the United States next year. An outlier in the platoon of White House wannabees, Gov. Kasich will talk about his faith in god but probably won't mention his repeated attacks on workers or his failure to launch on jobs.
Poor Jobs Record Extended
News about jobs created in the Buckeye State last month released Friday show a sad record for the CEO governor, who promised to create jobs and lift everyone up no matter their circumstances. Ohio under the Kasich Administration is now 30 straight months into a string of jobs reports that show he can't even break even with the national job creation average. While the nation has recouped the jobs lost during the Great Recession, Gov. Kasich is tens-of-thousands of jobs shy of the number before the Great Recession took its toll on Ohio and nearly every other state.
Adding salt to this wound of unfilled promises, the executive showman, a former Fox TV political talk show host and former Lehman Brothers banker, is again attacking workers, this time the care givers who care for all the people the governor sees as "living in the shadows," a favorite reference at the center of what a compassionate politician he is. For more than 10,000 home-care and child-care workers, their collective-bargaining agreements will expire on June 30.
A spokesman for the governor said the workers are not public employees and for them to join public employee unions is unsound. The voice of the Kasich Administration, Rob Nichols, told one reporter, "The governor has never supported these arrangements but allowed them to continue on the grounds that contractors might be able to get health care from their unions if they needed it. With health-care insurance more widely available, that reason is removed — one of the unions even dropped their health-care coverage — so it didn't make sense to continue."
Kasich's Cover Story
It's telling that Mr. Nichols would cite Obamacare as the reason for his boss's action. Gov. Kasich is on record saying the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is flawed and that he would, if president, devise a new national health care plan that "makes sense." The world awaits his plan. What did make sense for Gov. Kasich was to take the billions Obamacare provided to states that expanded Medicaid, which he did by employing an administrative move to end-run a conservative legislature that didn't want to do it on principle. Rob Nichols was truthful, though, when he said Mr. Kasich "has never supported these arrangements," referring of course to workers acting together towards their own benefit. The governor also may not know that these care workers are paid low wages, often times barely above the minimum. Limiting his comments to just the benefits of Obamacare is likewise telling, since collective bargaining is also about wages and working conditions in addition to benefits like healthcare coverage.
Becky Williams was appalled by the governor's decision. President of Service Employees International Union District 1199, Williams said, "Kasich is effectively attempting to silence thousands of low-wage workers, women and people of color from their ability to advocate for their clients and preserve quality care and services to the children, seniors and people with disabilities in our communities," according to published reports.
Kasich's compassion for the less fortunate stops short of closing down developmental disability centers, where people with severe disabilities live in the heart of darkness. He wants to save state dollars by pushing scores of these poor souls into private community based care, instead of letting then live in state-funded facilities that have the know how and resources to care for them 24/7.
Gov. Kasich got his political head handed to him in 2011, when voters by a margin of 2-1 repudiated him and the bill he signed that gutted collective bargaining for pubic union workers, including police, fire and teachers. At the time, Gov. Kasich said the will of the people had spoken. What he didn't say was that he learned from that bold attempt to hurt people by making reducing their ability to bargain for better, safer working conditions and compensation. All Gov. Kasich learned was that to reach his goal of eliminating unions he had to go about it differently, maybe piecemeal if need be.
He did that Friday, when he rescinded an executive order put in place under Former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland that granted collective bargaining rights to home healthcare and childcare providers.
Mr. Strickland, now one of two candidates who want to take on Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman next year, didn't let the governor's harsh and hurtful action proceed without comment. In a statement Ted Strickland said, "These are the people who care for our children, our parents and grandparents, and disabled members of our communities – denying them a voice is not only wrong, it's dangerous to the people who depend on their care. Voters across Ohio came together in 2011 and made clear they will not tolerate attacks on our workers, and ignoring the will of the people is unacceptable." Mr. Strickland lead the charge to nullify Senate Bill 5 after Gov. Kasich signed it in 2011.
The Ohio Senate's Minority leader Joe Schiavoni also weigh-ed in on Kasich's rescinding move today. "The Governor's executive order silences the collective voice of thousands of workers who provide crucial services for long hours at low pay. These workers, many of whom are women and minorities, are valuable assets to Ohio families. For Ohioans who work third shift, these childcare providers are sometimes the only option that fits their schedules. And in-home healthcare providers allow those in need to stay in their homes. The Governor talks about lifting people out of poverty with jobs that pay a living wage. But, taking collective bargaining rights away from workers who already earn low wages shows his words don't match his deeds. Senate Democrats will be submitting budget amendments to address this attack on worker's rights."
AFSCME Ohio Council 8 President John A. Lyall, said Gov. Kasich canceling collective bargaining rights for independent, in-home child care providers takes Ohio's working families another step backward. "Every investment in early education is an investment in a child's future. Today's action isn't about doing what's right for our state, it's an attack on Ohio's most vulnerable children that will limit their opportunities in the future."
Lyall notes that the governor's action today affects more than 2,700 of the state's independent child care providers who provide home-based care for an estimated 20,000 children. The union, which was recognized by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in 2008, is nearing the end of its contract with the state which expires at the end of June. "Gov. Kasich has repeatedly targeted Ohio workers since taking office, and he's continuing that pattern today.
A loss of collective bargaining rights will mean lower-quality child care available to parents, and the loss of thousands of jobs that are largely held by women and minority workers now. This is another mean-spirited attack on working people that will hurt our families and our communities," Lyall said in prepared remarks. "We're not babysitters. Quality child care like what we provide can be the difference between a family living on public assistance or moving into the middle class. Asyia Haile, and independent provider and President of AFSCME Local 4025 which represents independent child care providers in 16 central Ohio counties, said, "Without union representation, I worry that families won't be able to find the same professionalism or standards of care for their children. This will probably drive some providers out of business or discourage talented professionals from entering the industry at all. Ultimately, this move will be bad for Ohio's working families and for our communities."
'Eight Is Enough For Ohio Politicians' Term Limit Group Says Should Scrutiny Of Legislative Foreign Travel Be Part Of Needed Charter School Reform?


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FREE pair (2) of Breathable Pads with the purchase of your Bergan pet carrier. Help protect your carrier for years of traveling with your pet.
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Be sure to order the correct size pet carrier. Measure your pet from the tip of nose to the base (not tip) of the tail and from the top of the head to the ground. Airlines require that dogs and cats must be able to stand up and turn around in the pet carrier. If you have any questions, please contact us toll free at 877-241-0184 or email us at custsvc@pettravelstore.com prior to placing your order.
Out the cardboard it made a big difference. I have not traveled with my cat yet but I am confident that he will be comfortable in this case.
Maybe too early to review as I have not used it yet. It comes with everything it says and looks to be good. My only concern now is that it smells terribly of new material and it stunk up my entire living room. I was worried about toxic effects for my parrot so I took it somewhere else to air out. I guess I will hand wash it if the smell does not get better by the time I am ready to pick up my nine week old puppy.


Chairman John Bannatyne is pictured presenting a fantastic cheque for £1980 to RSABI Development Officer Andrew Dunlop at Lanark Agricultural Centre. The funds had originally been raised at the LiveScot Rib Roast Auction to help RSABI support people in Scottish agriculture.
We would like to thank ABP, AK Stoddart, A P Jess, Highland Meats, Jamie Chapman, John Scott Meats, McIntosh Donald, P R Duff, Scotbeef and Woodhead Brothers who donated a rib roast for the auction and all the purchasers on the day.


One daughter was reading at 3 and never looked back. She inhales books.
I just read and showed her books from when she was a baby.
The other daughter has a fantastic vocabulary and loves language and words and stories, just not in a written / reading way.
Thankfully, as she hasn't been at school, she has been able to learn away (to a certain extent) from the reading and writing obsession that is present in schools.
She has developed drawing, crafting, maths, creating, imagination and verbal skills, amongst others. She is gradually coming to reading and writing as a choice for herself, as she begins to see reasons why she'd want to read and write. her reading has suddenly come on immensely and she's wanting to read and is getting excited about reading.
We think she may be dyslexic (there is a lot in our family) but we haven't had her 'officially' tested.
I had times when I tried to push reading on her… to try phonics and sight words and have regular reading practice, but actually it works much better when I step back completely. I read to her a lot, and a lot of books which are a higher level than her age group and she is gripped. She will then read small bits from these books to me occasionally and willingly, and often she copes with the more complicated words much better than expected, and it is the small words that trip her up more.
Recently she asked to read me a chapter of a 'Secret Seven' Enid Blyton book… and read a chapter through, with very little help. This was a huge breakthrough and she is so pleased with herself and excited about it. We had her reading a chapter a day at her insistence for the last 3 days, reading out loud to me, L and S. She wouldn't have wanted to read to all of us together before, so it was lovely, and all her idea. I see someone emerging who is very excited by the idea of reading now… aged 10. I am not convinced that she would have the same enthusiasm now if she had been forced into it.
She does know that some friends her age and younger are more advanced in reading and writing but then she is more advanced in other areas.
The thing we love about our local home ed group is that people (adults and children alike) do not presume that a child can read and write, whatever their age and it isn't unusual for a child to realise that another child needs help, be they older or younger.
She does have wobbles occasionally but I am hopeful that she doesn't see herself as a failed reader / writer as she may have done at school. Yes, I realise that she would have had 'extra help' at school and might be further on with her reading (possibly) but would she be coming to the joy of reading on her own terms? And would she be starting with exciting teenage level books?
The evidence again and again points to it being harmful to children to push them into reading and writing too early. Far better to let each child learn when they are ready if at all possible.
Links to campaigns to do with protecting childhood and articles about where education is going wrong.


With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the steps the Government have been taking to support those affected by the collapse of Monarch Airlines, in particular the 110,000 passengers left abroad without a flight back to the UK and the almost 2,000 people who have lost their jobs.
This situation is highly regrettable and all parties considered options to avoid the collapse of the company. Ultimately, however, Monarch's board took the decision to place it into administration and it ceased trading at around 4 am on Monday 2 October. The engineering arm of the group remains a viable business and continues to trade. Ahead of the collapse, my Department had been working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority and several Departments across Whitehall to prepare contingency plans, and the response since last week has been swift and substantial.
To put the situation into context, this operation is the largest of its kind ever undertaken. The CAA has essentially set up one of the UK's largest airlines to conduct it. Let me give Members a sense of the scale. We have put arrangements in place to bring back 110,000 people to the UK, with 700 flights over a two-week period. We have had a maximum of 35 aircraft in operation at any one time. The CAA is working to secure planes from 27 different airlines. More than 200 CAA staff are working on the project with thousands more in partner organisations taking part. There are 40 airports involved in the UK, around the Mediterranean and beyond. That has required 267 coaches carrying more than 13,000 passengers, and so far there have been more than 39,000 calls to our customer service centres, all swiftly answered by more than 250 call centre staff. There have been more than 1 million unique visitors to a dedicated website— monarch.caa.co.uk—and 7 million page views. Furthermore, more than 1 million people have been reached through our Facebook promotion. Ten Government Departments and agencies have been involved, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and our extensive diplomatic and consular network in the affected countries.
I have seen at first hand the work being done across Government and the CAA to make this operation a success. I have spoken to some of the passengers who have returned to the UK on Government flights. I have been hugely impressed by what I have seen, and we have had a very strong, supportive response from the passengers affected, many of whom deservedly praised the CAA and all the Departments involved in this enormous operation.
Normally, the CAA's responsibility for bringing passengers back would extend only to customers whose trips are covered by the air travel organisers' licence scheme, but this is the largest airline failure in UK history and there would have been insufficient capacity in the commercial aviation market to enable passengers to get home on other airlines. The danger was that tens of thousands of passengers abroad would have no easy means of returning to the UK. That is why I instructed the CAA to ensure that all those abroad were offered an alternative flight home. As of last night, around 80,000 passengers had returned to the UK; that is almost three quarters of the total number who were abroad at the time of the collapse. We have had teams of Government officials at overseas airports providing advice and assistance to passengers.
Despite those robust plans and the smoothness of the operation so far, the situation is hugely distressing for all concerned. Obviously, it has been a priority to get people back to the UK, and our hearts go out to those who have lost bookings as a result of the collapse, but in addition to supporting passengers we have been focused on working to ensure that the almost 2,000 former Monarch employees receive the support they need. I am pleased to report that airlines have already directly appealed to those former employees. For example, Virgin Atlantic is offering a fast-track recruitment process for cabin crew and pilots, and easyJet has invited applications for 500 cabin crew vacancies. I and members of my team spoke to the airlines when it became clear what was happening to try to secure their help in getting those opportunities for staff, and I am pleased to see that coming to fruition. easyJet is also calling for direct-entry captains or first officers who meet captain qualifications.
All former Monarch employees will have received information from Jobcentre Plus outlining the support available to them. In total, Jobcentre Plus has pulled together a list of more than 6,300 vacancies across the major UK-based airlines—that is more than three times the number of people being made redundant—which I hope will help those former employees to remain in the airline business. The Minister with responsibility for aviation has been in contact with Members whose constituencies have been hardest hit by these job losses. They have our assurance that we will work with them and the industry to offer what support we can.
I am also aware of the Government's duty to the taxpayer. Although affected passengers have been told they will not have to pay to be flown back to the UK, we have entered into discussions with several third parties with the aim of recovering the costs of the operation. The ATOL scheme of course provides financial cover for those with ATOL protection. We are currently engaged in constructive discussions with the relevant credit and debit card providers so that we can recoup from them some of the cost to taxpayers of the repatriation flights. We are having similar discussions with other travel providers through which passengers may have booked a Monarch holiday, and I thank all those with whom we have held discussions for their constructive and realistic approach.
The initial response to this unprecedented situation would not have been so successful without the support and co-operation of many players. I am sure we would all say that the loss of a major British brand that was close to celebrating its half-century is a really sad moment. However, it should not be seen as a reflection on the general health of the UK aviation sector, which continues to thrive. We have never had the collapse of an airline or holiday company on this scale before, and we have responded swiftly and decisively.
Of course, right now our efforts are rightly focused on getting employees into new jobs and getting passengers home. After that, our effort will turn to working through any reforms necessary to ensure that passengers do not find themselves in this position again. We need to look at all the options—not just ATOL, but whether it is possible to enable airlines to wind down in an orderly manner and look after their customers themselves, without the need for the Government to step in. We will be putting a lot of effort into that in the months ahead. Our prime task has been to get people home, and I am immensely grateful to all who have taken part in what has proved, so far, to be a smooth and successful operation.
Britain's fifth largest airline, Monarch, collapsed because of a litany of failures by the Government, the regulator and the company's financial backers and advisers. Its demise must also be seen in the context of a ferociously competitive aviation sector, which is adjusting to major overcapacity problems and the loss of services because of terrorism. A further backdrop to the industry is the foggy skies of Brexit, and the total lack of certainty from this Government for the British aviation industry after March 2019.
The airline's bankruptcy has left huge losses on the shoulders of the public, rather than of the parent company or the regulator. It is the staff, customers, the taxpayer and pensioners who will pay the price. Creditor bills include the £60 million paid by the Government to repatriate holidaymakers, not forgetting the £26 million paid last year when Monarch previously came close to collapse; the £7.5 million to the Pension Protection Fund; the 45 days' pay owed to the 2,000 staff who were made redundant; and the ticket refunds for the 750,000 outstanding bookings at the time of the collapse.
Why did the Government not do more to support Monarch and ensure that the company was viable, if only for the short term? The German Government recently stepped in to assist Air Berlin and the Italian Government have supported Alitalia. At the very least, an orderly wind-down of the airline would have been preferable to sudden administration.
Monarch is reported to have had £50 million in the bank. Why was the airline not granted a short-term ATOL licence extension, which would have allowed it to continue trading and at least bring its passengers back? Who decided not to grant Monarch an ATOL licence extension? More time would have allowed Monarch to be sold in parts. For example, Monarch's landing slots are reported to be worth £60 million. Such assets could have been realised in an orderly wind-down. Instead, moneys from the sale of these assets will go to the secured creditor and former owner Greybull Capital, while the public purse gets nothing.
The statutory role of the CAA is to provide choice and value for money for passengers. British consumers now have one less airline to choose from. On its watch, there has been a surge in the cost of UK air fares following Ryanair's cancellation of flights last month. Monarch's demise will only push up flight costs further. There is an estimated £200 million in the CAA-administered ATOL compensation fund, yet it only covers about one in 20 of Monarch's customers. Why is the public purse paying while the outdated ATOL pot sits largely untouched? Monarch Airlines continued to sell flights until Sunday 1 October, even though the airline knew it was going into administration the following day. Why did the CAA not act to stop that?
Greybull Capital's takeover of Monarch in 2014 was the beginning of the end for the airline. Greybull is a private investment firm that has already presided over the collapse of My Local convenience stores and Comet, among others. Serious questions must now be asked about the conduct of firms such as Greybull, the way they invest and their wider stewardship.
A report in yesterday's edition of The Sunday Times suggested that the £165 million rescue package for Monarch last year was largely funded by Boeing, as part of a cut-price deal for an order of 737 aircraft. What is the Secretary of State's assessment of the role of Boeing in the financial engineering of Monarch? The Prime Minister recently criticised the conduct of Boeing against Bombardier in Belfast, in support of her Democratic Unionist party allies. Why is there no criticism of Boeing's role in the loss of 2,000 jobs in Luton?
The role of KPMG must also be called into question. The firm was appointed to seek buyers for Monarch's short-haul business prior to its collapse. It was actively doing so. Why is the same firm now acting as Monarch's administrator? Does the Secretary of State agree with me that that is a glaring conflict of interest?
Finally, the way in which Monarch met its demise should set alarm bells ringing, so will the Secretary of State confirm that there will be a full investigation into the concerns that have been raised?
I am sorry the hon. Gentleman did not have a good word to say for all the efforts put in place to bring people back. I would just remind him that, interestingly, in 2008—the last time we had an aviation failure in this country, Excel Airways—the Labour Government followed a very similar path to the one we have followed, with taxpayer-funded repatriation. They did the right thing then, and we are doing the right thing now. I am simply sorry that Labour Members have forgotten that they did the right thing in government, and cannot now say that our doing the right thing this time is indeed the right thing to do. [Interruption.] They did the right thing then, and we are doing the right thing now, and I am just sorry that he could not say a good word about those involved.
The hon. Gentleman talked about the reasons for the collapse. First, this is not an issue about Brexit. The airline had been struggling for three years, and the first concerns were raised about it long before the referendum was even held.
I had hoped that this summer, after the rescue package last year, the airline would see its way through. As its chief executive said, it has been a victim of the anxieties about tourism in the east Mediterranean for security reasons. Those have led to a concentration of business in the west Mediterranean and the traditional resorts of Spain and Portugal and a price war from which the company was ill equipped to recover. That is what has happened, no more no less.
The hon. Gentleman asked about the licence, and there was no issue about its renewal. What happened was never about the renewal of the licence—the business had simply reached the end of the road. Its board came to the conclusion that it could not carry on.
The hon. Gentleman asked why the company carried on selling tickets the day before. The reality is that any airline that runs into difficulties will carry on selling tickets until it can no longer do so. The moment it stops doing so, it collapses, and that is what happened. It would happen any time an airline ran into such difficulties. There is no other way to do it. The moment it stops selling tickets, it stops doing business, and that is precisely what happened.
The hon. Gentleman talked about competition, and other airlines are already stepping into the breach. Jet2, one of our fast-growing, emerging airlines, has already said that it will step in and run some of the routes. That is what a market does. If one business fails, others step in. The tragedy of the Labour party in the last few years is that it has moved away from understanding markets to being utterly hostile to markets and the private sector.
We have a thriving aviation sector with competition between airlines delivering a good deal for consumers, and occasionally—once under a Labour Government and once under ours—something has gone wrong. In both of those situations, the Government of the day stepped in to try to make sure that we looked after the travelling public. I have no doubt that if it ever happens again, someone will do the same.
We do have to learn the lessons. We have to understand whether we can make sensible changes to the laws to ensure that this does not happen again. We are already legislating to extend the ATOL scheme to provide better protection for people who book over the internet in a different way from how they have in the past. I am clear that the job of the Government is to look after the travelling public and step in when things go wrong. We have done that, and we are seeking to get back as much money as possible, as Labour did in 2008. Above all, our job is to do our best for the travelling public and the employees. That is what we are doing. I am proud of what we are doing, and I am just disappointed that the Opposition cannot even say well done to the people who have worked so hard in support.
The chief executive of Monarch has attributed the principal reason for the demise of the airline to terrorism and the resulting flight bans to both Tunisia and Sharm El Sheikh. Can the Secretary of State give his assessment of the merits of that argument?
There is no doubt that that was a significant factor, and not only because of changes in consumer patterns. Many other airlines chose to concentrate their resources this summer in the traditional resorts of Spain and Portugal. Alicante airport and others were full of planes this summer, and Monarch got squeezed out in a price war for which it was not financially strong enough. Ironically, it carried more passengers than two years ago, but with far lower revenues, and that more than anything else is what has caused its demise. It is a consequence of the security situation and of people taking a cautious approach to their holidays.
The sad fate of Monarch Airlines is a stark example of the realities of Brexit beginning to bite. There is no denying that the fall in the pound has led to significant increases in the operating costs for the airline over the past year. The weak pound has also affected consumers and led to a drop in bookings. Add to that the uncertainties over the future of British carriers in Europe that served as a significant deterrent for any potential buyer who might otherwise have been found, and Monarch's fate was sealed. Does the Secretary of State agree that as long as uncertainties over Brexit continue there is a danger of similar high-profile collapses?
Can the Secretary of State say with certainty today that the rights of UK passengers will not be eroded or diluted after Brexit? Will he confirm that the Government will work with administrators and the unions to ensure that employee rights are fully respected during the process, and that—where applicable—compensation is made available in a timely manner, in view of the fact that the manner of the administration raises real concerns about employee rights?
I am really sorry the hon. Lady has taken that approach. Let me be absolutely clear: this airline did not fail because of Brexit; this airline failed because it had a business model that was not capable of dealing with a price war in the Mediterranean. That is the reality of the situation and that is what its chief executive said. The hon. Lady talks about Brexit causing a lack of investment, but in the past few weeks we have seen a big expansion. Jet2 has set up a new base at Stansted and there has been a huge investment in the UK by Norwegian, which is becoming a real player in the low-cost marketplace. The market is changing and sadly Monarch, a business that has been around for 50 years, was not able to adapt to those changes. I am afraid she is just doing a disservice to the economy of the United Kingdom when she claims that this was a consequence of Brexit. She talks about employees. The biggest favour we can do for the employees of Monarch is to work to ensure they get another job quickly, and that is what we are seeking to do.
Following on from the many letters I have received from constituents, will the Secretary of State join me in thanking and congratulating the staff of the CAA, the Department for Transport and my local airport, Manchester airport, on the work they have done on the biggest evacuation in peacetime?
I am very happy to do that. I pay tribute to the staff of Manchester airport—I met the first plane back at Manchester airport—who rowed in behind the challenge. They were notified only late on the previous day, but by Monday morning staff were out greeting passengers, telling them what had happened and sorting out all the issues arising from the administration. I owe a big debt of gratitude to the staff of Manchester airport, Gatwick airport, Birmingham airport, Luton airport and Leeds Bradford airport, all of whom rose to the occasion, and to all the other people and organisations involved in the exercise.
In 2014, the CAA recognised the fragility of Monarch's finances and insisted on ATOL protection of flight-only bookings, but that requirement was dropped in December 2016. Monarch's administrators cite cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions as contributors to its collapse. Given that the fall in the value of the pound and the loss of tourism in Egypt and Tunisia predate that decision, passengers will rightly ask why the requirement for ATOL protection was removed. Will the Secretary of State explain the process for deciding to drop ATOL protection of flights, the Department's part in that decision, and how much the decision will ultimately cost UK taxpayers?
The ATOL scheme counts as public expenditure whatever happens. The impact on public finances, whether or not this was covered entirely by the ATOL scheme, remains the same because of how Government accounting works. I take advice from the CAA on the steps we need to take. Last year, Monarch had a big injection of cash, and in the first part of this year it looked like things were back on the straight and narrow. What changed this summer was the price war, which undermined the company's revenues and led to a position where its losses were mounting week by week. That was the real issue. I have no doubt that the hon. Lady and her Committee will want to deal with these matters in greater detail, and I look forward to talking to her. She has every right to scrutinise what we have done. We sought to do our best for the travelling public and to take the decisions we were advised to take at the right time.
As a former Business Minister before the EU referendum, and apparently as one of the chief "remoaners", may I make it absolutely clear that the unfortunate demise of Monarch has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit? Those who seek to make it an issue based on Brexit do not do anybody any favours. I commend the Secretary of State not only for his statement but for his hard work and that of his Ministers in doing their utmost to bring everybody back to this country. Will he confirm that Transport Ministers and Business Ministers have been doing their absolute best for Monarch for years? Will he continue to work with Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers to look at how we can open up airports, such as Sharm El Sheik and those in Tunisia, to support the rest of our aviation industry?
I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for her words. She is absolutely right. This is a sad tale of an airline that has been struggling for years. A lot of effort has been put in by many people to try to keep it afloat. It is a real disappointment that they were not able to succeed. She is absolutely right about the Brexit issue. If we want another example, it is only a few weeks since Air France and KLM spent hundreds of millions of pounds on a stake in Virgin Atlantic. Those are not the actions of commercial organisations that believe that Brexit is destroying the British aviation sector. Those who suggest it are simply talking down our country and that is not acceptable. I am therefore very grateful to her for what she says. She is absolutely right. I give her an assurance that the Government will do everything we can to support the sector, to support the people who lost out as a result of Monarch's collapse, and to continue to ensure we have a strong sector for the future.
My concern is that, when the company collapsed, the assets had almost all disappeared, so there was very little financial value in the assets of the company. Was this to benefit shareholders and owners, and how much money has the state effectively paid out that the owners and shareholders should have been accountable for?
The hon. Gentleman is right that the airline did not have the assets at the end—airlines today do not own their planes but lease them. One reason it is difficult to continue to operate an airline like this is that the planes are the property of the lease companies, which take them back immediately afterwards. We clearly have to look at whether there is a better way of doing things, but it is not easy.
It would be relatively easy for an airline abroad that is owed money simply to impound an airliner and make it impossible for us to get people back, so these are not straightforward issues. But is the hon. Gentleman really suggesting that we go back to a time when the state owned everything? Do we want the state to own British Airways, easyJet, Jet2 and Thomas Cook? It is nonsense. Even the most socialist Labour Government of the past would never have suggested that the state own every holiday airline. It is a sign of how extreme its policies have become that anybody on its Benches can seriously suggest it.
I congratulate the Government on the speedy response to the Monarch situation and on highlighting the resilience of the UK aviation industry—in the private sector—but the Secretary of State will be aware that there has been confusion over who is ATOL protected. Does he agree that more could be done to communicate the benefits of ATOL membership?
This is definitely one area we need to look at again. We are already legislating to ensure that people who pay for a flight and hotel separately through an internet organisation can be covered through ATOL insurance. This is an area where we have to do more work. There is, however, a fundamental issue: if we were to put a levy on the cost of an air ticket, we would have to do it on every air ticket in the UK, but many of us on the Conservative Benches get regular representations from regional airports, for example, saying they want air passenger duty cut. This would increase APD, and that is why it is not a straightforward decision, but one we must consider very carefully.
I agree with the Secretary of State that in future situations like this one the Government should look for an orderly wind down, but is that not pie in the sky given the evidence of a conspiracy between Greybull and Boeing to protect their own capital interests against the pension rights of former employees and the people who bought tickets when it was already clear that the airline was bankrupt?
The hon. Gentleman should remember that the pension scheme was transferred to the Pension Protection Fund in 2014, when it was sold by the Swiss family that had owned the business since the 1960s, so it is not straightforward to talk about pension rights now. He should not second guess any details of how, why or where the financing package was secured a year ago. It is a matter of record that it involved rescheduling or reorganising the leasing of the aircraft, but had it been able to secure the future of the airline, as we all hoped at the time, we would all be grateful it had happened. It is tragic that that was not the case.
Almost 500 Monarch staff are based at Manchester airport, and many are my constituents, so I am grateful to hear the assurances that the Government will work with the industry to support staff back into work. Will the Secretary of State outline what more support will be given to our regional jobcentres to assist my constituents who have lost their Monarch jobs?
Before it became clear that the collapse was happening, we had pre-meetings across Whitehall between the Departments that needed to be involved, including the Department for Work and Pensions, and Jobcentre Plus has been working with all those affected. That work will continue where necessary. I am glad that if such terribly difficult circumstances had to arise, they arose in a thriving sector with lots of job opportunities. The fact that Jobcentre Plus was able quickly to identify more than 6,000 vacancies for 1,700 people looking for jobs is a good step in the right direction and a tribute to the success of that sector, off the back of what has been a successful economy in recent years.
Four hundred employees, including skilled engineering workers, are set to lose their jobs at Birmingham airport,. The region can ill afford to lose those skills and the contribution that they make to the regional economy. Will the Secretary of State ensure that his Department redoubles its efforts, and does everything possible to ensure that those people can find equally skilled work elsewhere in the region as soon as possible?
I absolutely give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. Securing strong futures for those people has been, is and will remain a priority for us, along with getting the passengers back. As I have said, however, I am encouraged by the number of other airlines that are actively seeking to recruit. As slots become vacant at Birmingham, Luton, Gatwick, Leeds and Manchester, other airlines are already seeking to move in and take those slots, and they will need staff to work on the business as they arrive.
Will the Secretary of State give further details of what the Government are doing to assist former employees of Monarch Airlines who have lost their jobs as a result of the airline's collapse?
We have had a very early promise on a lot of things. A few hours before the administration came into effect, I spoke to the chief executive of easyJet, who was very helpful. I should express thanks to easyJet for helping us with some problematic routes; for instance, only specialised pilots can fly into or out of Funchal airport.
The chief executive gave me an assurance, and easyJet has given us assurances subsequently, that the airline will hire a substantial proportion of those staff. It is likely to hire 500 very quickly to meet its future demands, because its business is growing rapidly, and I know that other airlines plan to step in and do the same. Jobcentre Plus has already been holding job fairs and airlines have already been going through recruitment exercises, so it is my hope that all those affected will find jobs quickly.
The Secretary of State emphasised that Monarch passengers abroad would be covered until 15 October, but constituents of mine who are due to return on 16 October are worried because there is no information available online. Will the Secretary of State please let me know where they can obtain information, and whether their return is protected or not?
The full repatriation exercise lasts for two weeks, and at the end of that time there will be a very small number of people left abroad. We know that, at that point, the sector as a whole will be able to absorb those passengers; it could not have done so a week ago, given the numbers involved. The Civil Aviation Authority will be contacting those people this week and keep its helpline available for a considerable time after the repatriation effort has been completed, and we will work to ensure that they can return home straightforwardly. They will be entitled to refunds through credit cards, through the ATOL scheme, and so forth. The crucial difference is that when the company went into administration the sector could not have coped with the number of people involved, but by next week absorbing the small number of passengers who remain will not be a problem.
Jobs and opportunities that come from access to regional airports and flights mean a lot to Members in all parts of the House, and, indeed, to my constituents who can access Southampton airport. Will the Secretary of State thank Barclays for supporting my constituents and their families? Members of the Hamble Aquatics Swim Team who were due to go to Lanzarote were reimbursed more than £9,000 so that they could train for county, national and regional championships. Their head coach, Amy Rodger, ensured that more than 20 swimmers and their coaches were able to get over there by working with local television stations and Barclays. Will the Secretary of State also thank the many other companies that have done so much to help our constituents?
My hon. Friend's words speak for themselves. I am very grateful to Barclays for providing that help, and I know that a number of other businesses have done the same. The credit card companies in particular have been very constructive in their dialogue about sharing the cost of the repatriation with us, and Lloyds was especially good at getting out of the traps and working with us. I think that this was a moment when corporate Britain behaved in the right way, and worked alongside us to do the right thing.
Having spent five years working for the Association of British Travel Agents and lobbying for greater holiday protection, may I extend my thanks to the people working hard for that and ask the Secretary of State to extend it to travel agents and tour operators? What hit does he expect the Air Travel Trust fund to take as a result of Monarch's collapse, and can he give an assurance that the ATOL protection contribution will not go up, which would mean holidaymakers having to pay more in future?
We will not know exactly how much until we have gone through the numbers in detail with the administrator. We do know that only a relatively small proportion of Monarch customers were ATOL protected, because the nature of the business was mostly flight-only. I will happily inform the House once we have gone through all the details, which will take a bit of time, but it will not be a substantial proportion of the total, because of the small proportion of customers who are covered.
Will my right hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to Gatwick-based airlines such as easyJet and Virgin Atlantic for stepping up and offering alternative employment to Monarch employees who now find themselves out of work?
I am very grateful to the airlines for the way they have responded, and they have done so in a variety of ways. It was a real team effort at Gatwick, with airline staff, airport staff and others coming together to deal with the immediate issues for passengers, and then really working to get Monarch employees sorted out as quickly as possible. I am very grateful to the staff at Gatwick, as I am to those at all the five airports affected.
The Secretary of State said in his statement that the collapse of Monarch Airlines was deeply regrettable, so I wonder whether he will support the call by the pilots' union for a probe into what exactly happened around the collapse.
I suspect that there will be exactly such a probe, but I also suspect that it will be led by the hon. Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood) and her Transport Committee. I do not want to gainsay what the Committee will do, but I would expect a rigorous inquiry, and my Department and the CAA will be very happy to co-operate with it.
Yes, Mr Speaker. I join my friends in congratulating the Secretary of State, the CAA and others on a magnificent operation to repatriate so many people who would otherwise be marooned overseas. However, I remain concerned, because I have a number of constituents who had booked holidays but not yet travelled. Will they be covered under the ATOL scheme, or under credit card insurance schemes, and how many people have been affected in that way?
That was a very speedy recovery from the intoxicating effects of conversation with the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and a very useful guide to new Members on how to perform at a moment's notice in the way that the hon. Gentleman has done. He did signal earlier that he wished to be called, so I was not picking on him.
Of all those involved, I feel most deeply for those who made bookings but have now lost trips and holidays. I very much hope that we can get Monarch staff into employment quickly. I hope that we can get all the passengers back safely and well. For those who have lost bookings, it is a deeply traumatic time, and we heard some very sad stories last week. Anyone who booked with ATOL protection or who booked using a credit or debit card will be able to get a refund. My advice to anyone in that position is always to ensure that they have at least one of those cover options available in case something like this happens again—let us keep our fingers crossed that it does not for a very long time.
Monarch has failed to consult its 1,800 employees on redundancy. What estimate has the Secretary of State made of the costs of compensation for those affected workers?
As the hon. Lady will know, there are statutory provisions for when businesses go into administration, because they tend not to be able to consult employees about redundancy. It falls to us to try to sort them out, and that is what we will seek to do. There are statutory provisions for compensation for people in these circumstances, but my hope is that the financial impact on them will be limited, given the number of companies looking to recruit as quickly as possible.
Although the distance between Stansted, my local regional airport, and Luton, which is Monarch's home airport, is relatively small, some people will be displaced much further afield. What plans has the Department put in place to ensure that those who are displaced during the recovery phase can get back to their most local home airport?
That will become a particular issue this week. We have brought 80,000 people back, but there are still about 30,000 left. We have emptier planes this week and greater consolidation of planes. We have 747s operating, and clearly a 747 replacing a short-haul Monarch aircraft leaves a gap for seats, so we are bringing flights together and more people will arrive back at a different airport. There will be a coach waiting for them that will take them straight back to their original airport, and the airports are making special arrangements on carpark access and fees to ensure that people do not lose out as a result. The CAA is managing a big bus operation and those people will get back to the place where they started.
Actually, the fall in the value of the pound was a factor in the collapse, although I agree with the Secretary of State that another factor was the UK ban on flights to Sharm el-Sheikh. Since that ban was introduced, the Egyptian authorities, with UK support, have gone to enormous lengths to improve security at that airport. I believe that every other western country has now lifted its ban. Could we now lift ours before even more people lose their jobs?
The right hon. Gentleman will know from his experience in Government that we take security issues very seriously. We have looked exhaustively at the issues around Sharm el-Sheikh. We have not yet taken the decision to resume flying there. I would love us to be able to take it, but we have to be mindful of the security concerns and the risks to the travelling public of the United Kingdom. I assure the right hon. Gentleman that as soon as we feel that we can take that step, we will. We hold back only for good security reasons.
This has been a massive exercise in repatriating citizens and our thanks should go to the Civil Aviation Authority and others that made it happen. Will the Secretary of State please confirm the cost of the repatriation exercise? Are insurers, credit card companies and banks playing their part in reimbursing the taxpayer?
We expect the total gross costs of the repatriation to be around £60 million. We will recover money from all those different groups, and I will in due course be able to tell the House exactly how much the taxpayer has contributed. However, my hon. Friend can be reassured that we are very focused on making sure that there is clear burden sharing, and that it is not only the taxpayer who pays.
I applaud the Government's efforts in bringing back passengers who were not protected by ATOL. In the modern era of mass travel by air, would it not be sensible to look at legislation around ATOL and cover both hotels and air fares in case something similar happens in future?
That will clearly be debated again and has been considered before. The issue is that we would have to apply a levy to every single air fare sold in the UK, whether for a UK airline or otherwise. We could not simply apply a charge to a UK-based airline for which we were responsible—we would have to charge Ryanair, Air France and Emirates passengers as well. Effectively, we would be putting up air passenger duty. I am not saying that we should not do that, but if we were to we would need to use great thought and care beforehand.
My constituents in Redditch are incredibly hard working—thanks, no doubt, to the Government's amazing record of job creation. However, they look forward to their well-deserved holidays, and price competition has contributed to their being able to take those breaks. Will the Secretary of State confirm that he sees no risks in the airline market that he ought to be considering?
That concern has been raised by the Opposition as well. The first thing to say is that our aviation sector is very strong. If people visit our airports, as I do, they will find that virtually every one will say that this has been a record year in terms of the number of passengers carried and that there have been record days in their history. Passengers are not stopping flying—more and more passengers are flying, and I am confident that that will continue.
I am also confident that we have good airlines that are growing fast: look at the success of easyJet and Jet2. Tour operators are also doing well. I am confident that the sector will grow and develop; there is demand for slots and runway space and there are acquisitions and new investments in new centres such as Jet2's investment in Stansted. We should be confident about the sector. We can never rule out problems in the future or be certain that no airline will ever run into difficulties again. That is why we have to think through whether we need to take steps to make sure that there is proper protection for consumers. But we should be confident in our sector.
I thank my right hon. Friend, his Department and the CAA for delivering the largest ever peacetime repatriation. As he will be aware, the UK insolvency framework does not allow insolvent airlines to continue flying, unlike what happened with Alitalia in Italy and Air Berlin in Germany. Will my right hon. Friend consider looking at the insolvency framework again in that light?
We will certainly give some thought to that. It is very noticeable that other airlines have been able to carry on flying in administration. The risk, of course, is that an aircraft could easily be impounded by an international airline. One of the reasons we sought to hire our own fleet was to remove that risk. If we had used the Monarch planes, there was a danger that, if they arrived at an airport and a local creditor decided to take action, the plane might have been unable to return. That is something we always need to weigh in the balance. We need to look at what happened with Air Berlin and Alitalia and see whether there are lessons to be learned, but first and foremost our task should always be to protect passengers whose journeys might otherwise be at risk.
Price wars, stiff competition and a change in travel habits all contributed to Monarch's failure. My constituents in Wealden have been in touch about their holidays and business trips being ruined. Can the Secretary of State confirm that he and his ministerial colleagues have visited returning passengers at UK airports and say what feedback he has received?
I met the first flight back at Manchester airport last Monday and my noble Friend Lord Callanan visited Leeds Bradford airport on the same day to meet people coming back. I have had a lot of letters from people who were able to travel back on the repatriation flights saying how grateful they were and how smooth it had been. There are bound to be some hiccups on the way—we had weather problems in Funchal, which led to some cancellations—but in overall terms this has been a very smooth effort and a great tribute to a team of people in the CAA who are not airline specialists, but who have come together to run an airline in a way that was, frankly, enormously impressive.
I do not think the hon. Gentleman realised how popular he was—and I do not think anyone else did either.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Does the Secretary of State agree that, although every lost job is a human tragedy, the British aviation industry remains robust and resilient? I am reminded of 2012, when British Midland International collapsed, with the loss of 1,200 jobs at East Midlands airport in my constituency. These are very highly skilled people who are quickly absorbed back into the economy. Unemployment in North West Leicestershire remains at a record low of 1%.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am delighted that we have a thriving sector, with more than 6,000 vacancies, for which the 1,800 people who have lost their jobs can apply. I am also delighted by the fact that easyJet is saying, "We want to hire 500 of them straightaway. They're good people; we want them." I am very confident for their future. All the support they need in the short term is being provided, but I am pretty clear that in a thriving sector those people will have a strong future.
Quite clearly this has been a huge repatriation and logistical task. Can the Secretary of State confirm, though, what entitlement passengers who have not yet travelled—I am sure most of us have them in our constituencies—have to a refund?
We will be continuing to give advice and guidance to those people for some considerable time. We will also be contacting people this week to see who wants and has a need to return, as part of the repatriation exercise. All those who have booked through credit card companies or who have ATOL protection, regardless of how long they are out there for—I am sure a small number will be out there for an extended period—will be able to secure a refund when the time comes.
As well as reviewing the effectiveness of the ATOL scheme in the light of this incident, will the Secretary of State take the opportunity to look at the providers of travel insurance? Many people travelling thought that they were covered for the collapse of an airline under their travel insurance policy, only to find that they were not.
This is something that I will want to take up with the insurance industry. It does seem unfortunate that cover should not include something that happens once in 10 years. This is one area where there is a case for change. It would have made life a lot easier had that been the case.
I welcome the statement and the detail of what the Government have been doing, in particular the fact that 80,000 of 110,000 people abroad are now back in the UK. Can the Secretary of State confirm, though, that we will apply the lessons learned to the legislation currently going through the House to reform the ATOL scheme?
We have the advantage of having legislation before Parliament at the moment. If there are short-term measures that we could take, we would certainly be open to doing that, but I do not want us to rush into doing something without doing the ground work properly. We need to look carefully at what has happened, learn the lessons and make any modifications necessary. I assure the House that that is what we will do.
We should give credit where credit is due; it has been a simply remarkable achievement to repatriate such a large number of passengers in such a short period, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, his Department and the CAA on putting this together. Here we are on the first Monday back after the conference recess, and we could have been faced with having 110,000 British citizens stranded overseas. Instead, thanks to his actions, 80% of them are already back and the rest can be confident of coming back on time.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for those kind words. They are a tribute to the work done by people right across Whitehall—nine different Departments and organisations were involved—by those who have gone out to man the departure lounges at airports around Europe and by the people operating the airline. This has been a fantastic effort, they have done a brilliant job for all of us and I am very grateful to them.
What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to make sure that there is no loss in capacity and that excess slots that have now emerged are allocated as quickly as possible?
The fact that there is now some debate over the value of the slots as they are taken up by other airlines shows that there is a queue of operators waiting to move in where Monarch has been. We have already heard from Jet2 that it is looking to pick up some of the slack that Monarch has left behind, and I have no doubt that we will see others moving in very quickly as well. Our sector is thriving, those gaps will be filled and there will be lots of flight opportunities in future.


Craigslist founder-turned-philanthropist Craig Newmark took aim at fake news this week, giving $15 million to support media integrity.
Lamenting the "disinformation flowing through social platforms and the news," he donated $10 million to the Columbia School of Journalism to launch the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security. He gave $5 million for a similarly focused center at the Poynter Institute.
Representatives from both institutions expressed deep gratitude. Others in the media industry expressed cynicism about a man some blame for the death of newspapers.
"It's utterly bizarre to name a journalism school after the man who almost singlehandedly destroyed local newspapers," Axios writer Felix Salmon wrote on Twitter.
However, the reality is more complicated and many fault newspapers' own complacency. The AIM Group debunks the "Craig Newmark killed newspapers / Craigslist killed newspapers" theory in an AIM Group Marketplaces Report about CraigsList achieving $1 billion in annual revenue.
Newmark has made journalistic quality one of his pet causes. His other recent gifts have included $20 million to the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and a $20 million donation to the tech-focused startup The Markup.
He has channeled other donations to New York Public Radio and The City, a not-for-profit news site also covering the Big Apple.


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Fury and anger as american singer, Taylor Swift, trademarks the phrase: "This Sick Beat."
February 3, 2015 instablog910
Last October Swift's attorneys filed trademark applications for lyrics found on her album 1989 such as "Party Like it's 1989″ "Could Show You Incredible Things," "Cause We Never Go Out of Style" and "Nice to Meet You. Where
You Been?" A metal song has been recorded in protest by Musician and activist, Ben Norton.
"Trademarks are a direct attack on one of the most fundamental and inalienable rights of all: our freedom of speech. If you give the bourgeoisie an inch, they will take a mile… and everything else you have in the process. They have already privatized land, water, and words.
After language, they will next try to privatize air. But, although the rich can try, they will never truly own the words we use and the language we speak," Norton said….. meanwhile Olamide is busy in Nigeria trying to trademark d phrases "story for d gods" n "shoutout si awon goons mi"……
Previous: Worry no more guys, Presidential media aide, Doyin Okupe, finally gives full breakdown of how Jonathan will win
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Burning Torch is committed to reincarnating exquisite textiles with upcycled materials as this the essence of our aesthetic. Raw and refined elements come together to re-imagine the ordinary into the unexpected.
Asymmetric striped tee. Sourced from the striped knit tees. each tee is created from different tee۪s, merged together creating a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Oversized tee with crew neckline, open shoulder detail and one tie-up sleeve and hand embroidered details.
Due to the nature of this upcycled product variations in color and patterns will occur.


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Home Harry Potter Birthday Tours
Harry Potter Birthday Tours
Jul. 31, 2021 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum 301 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
In honor of Harry's birthday, the Apothecary Museum is offering a special tour for families (and adults who missed their Hogwarts' letter) that will explore the old Apothecary and the historic muggle medicines that inspired the Herbology and Potions of Harry's wizarding world. Tours are every 30 minutes from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Recommended for fans ages 8 and older.
Location Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum 301 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Date & Time Jul. 31, 2021 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.


A campaign launched by beyondblue has been designed to help businesses create mentally healthy workplaces.
The organisation's fourth Heads Up campaign responds to a series of live job advertisements with a CV and cover letter that outline nine attributes of a healthy workplace.
With more than 12 million people spending one-third of their week at work and one in five employed Australians experiencing a mental health issue, the imaginative campaign enlivens the traditional hiring process by engaging managers and professional leaders in a surprising, yet simple way.
This year's Heads Up campaign ensures HR professionals and business owners have the information and tools needed to foster a mentally healthy work environment — detailed via a CV and cover letter application, which defines the nine attributes of a healthy workplace.
beyondblue delivered the 'mock' job applications to companies currently hiring across industry segments including HR and recruitment, management and telecommunications, health and education, media and publishing, and finance and law.
"Heads Up takes an educational approach to workplace health — and this year is no different," said beyondblue CEO Georgie Harman.
"We're excited to see the recipients' reactions to our 'mock' job applications from beyondblue. It's an engaging and creative way to bring a serious and hugely important topic into conversation.
To find out more, visit headsup.org.au or to download a copy of 'Developing a workplace mental health strategy: A how-to guide for organisations', visit bb.org.au/2n6qP7y.
Mental health professionals are available at the beyondblue Support Service via phone 24/7 on 1300 224 636 or via beyondblue.org.au/get-support for online chat (3 pm–12 am AEST or email responses within 24 hours).
Image caption: Nine attributes of a healthy workplace. Credit: beyondblue.


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MSF responds to news of first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine technology transfer hub being set up in South Africa
Monday, June 21, 2021 — 21 June 2021
Kate Stegeman, Advocacy Coordinator, MSF Access Campaign in South Africa:
"It's good news that the first mRNA technology transfer hub will be set up on the African continent, which has been particularly neglected when it comes to vaccine production capacity and is one of the key factors exacerbating COVID-19 vaccine inequity. The hub will be hosted by South Africa, which offers established manufacturing infrastructure and R&D expertise, and will boost the supply of vaccines to the rest of the continent.
"What needs to happen next is Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech must immediately share their mRNA technology with the hub so that many more mRNA vaccines can be produced independently by manufacturers in South Africa and more broadly on the African continent, as soon as possible.
"All pharmaceutical corporations that share their technology with the hub through technology transfer agreements must do so in a transparent and non-restrictive way to maximize the chance of success: any licenses must include all low- and middle-income countries, and technology recipients must be free to build on the platform technology to tackle other health threats.
"Governments supported the World Health Organization on strengthening local production at this year's World Health Assembly and now have a chance to turn their words into action and foster local production by supporting the hub and pressuring Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech to share their technology.
For interviews, please contact:
North America time zones: Morag McKenzie, Morag.MCKENZIE@berlin.msf.org, +41 79 886 4601
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About Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign
In 1999, in the wake of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, MSF launched the Access Campaign. Its purpose has been to push for access to, and the development of life-saving and life prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for patients in MSF programmes and beyond.
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Friday Night Music on Marfa Public Radio
Published February 10, 2012 at 12:28 PM CST
The music of Mocky is featured on Generator, Friday at 10 PM
Get your weekend started out right. Tune in to KRTS Marfa's music programming this Friday evening, February 10.
At 7 PM, it's World Music with Carol, followed by Texas Music Matters at 8 PM. On this week's Texas Music Matters, a preview of Texas artists who will be taking part in next month's South By Southwest music festival.
Then at 9 PM, it's Sound Opinions, the World's ONLY Rock and Roll talk show. On this week's show, just in time for Valentine's Day, hosts Jim DeRogatis, Greg Kot and the listeners name their favorite First Love Songs.
And at 10 PM, Brian LeBarton, host of GENERATOR on will have songwriter, producer and friend Mocky in the studio to talk about anything and play music from his own catalog and collaborations. Mocky is a Canadian-born multiinstrumentalist, producer and songwriter. He is widely renowned for his co-productions and songwriting collaborations with Jamie Lidell, Feist, Peaches and Gonzales and also possesses his own diverse catalog of solo albums and film scores.


I can't believe I've photographed this family...what...4 times now? And Luke is as smiley as ever. Equally so, I can't believe he is solidly into elementary school! I photographed his sweet twin cousins out at Maffitt last season, but thought he and his parents should get a turn with the beautiful fall colors out at the Reservoir. And even though it was early November, the trees, thankfully(!), still had leaves a beautiful golden yellow.
Tracy + Matt: Thank you so much for having me out again and again to document the stages of your family's life! I hope you have a great school year and enjoy the holiday season!


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Q: Edit /Update values from 2 tables I have a form whose data comes from 2 tables.

Now i need some help to make the edit function, because i can't display the data.
In the edit function I need to make something like:
Select * from category and semantic where category.category_id=$category_id and semantic.table_mr="Person"
For the update i also need some help to update the semantic table(category is already done).

EditForm:

        <div class="modal fade" id="editModal" tabindex="-1" aria-labelledby="exampleModalLabel" aria-hidden="true">
      Edit category
        <form method="post" action="{{ url('category/update-category/') }}">
         @csrf
         @method('PUT')
          <input type="hidden" name="category_id" id="category_id">
           Category name: <input type="text" id="name" name="name">
           Table model: <input type="text" id="ontology" name="ontology">
          Class: <input type="text" id="seClass" name="seClass">
              <button type="submit" >Update</button>
              <button type="button" >Close</button>
            </form>
        </div>

    <script>
      $(document).ready(function(){
        $(document).on('click','.editbtn', function(){
            var category_id=$(this).val();
               $('#editModal').modal('show');
          $.ajax({
              type:"GET",
              url:"../category/edit-category/"+category_id,
              success: function(response){

                     $('#name').val(response.category.name);
                     $('#ontology').val(response.category.semanticOntology);
                     $('#seClass').val(response.category.semantiClass);
                    $('#category_id').val(category_id);
              }
          });
        });
    });
    </script>

Controller:

    public function edit(**$category_id**){
       $category=category::with('semantic')->find($category_id);

    return response()->json([
     'category'=>$category,
    ]);
    }

    public function update(Request $request){
        $category_id=$request->input('category_id');
        $category = category::find($category_id);
        $category->name = $request->input('name');
        $category->update ();
         // $semantic->Dont know how to make it
        return redirect()->back()->with('status', 'Updated with success');
    }

Class Category:

    class category extends Model{
        protected $table = "category";
        protected $primaryKey = 'category_id';
        public $timestamps = false;
        use HasFactory;
        protected $sql=['category_id','name'];

        public function semantic(){
            return $this->belongsTo('App\models\semantic', 'category_id', 'idtable_record');
        }
    }

A: If you are using the latest version of the Laravel framework (v8.61.0 at least):
 public function edit(**$category_id**){
   $category=category::withRelation('semantic', $category_id);

return response()->json([
 'category'=>$category,
]);
}

Review this line: (Category)
$category = Category::find($category_id);

For update method, you can use the app model binding by passing arguments in the route url.
Example:
Route::post('/category/{category}', [your action]);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Beverly Hills Mom » This year I bought cupcakes and a small cake for candles, then ordered these awesome edible decorations to personalize them.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2018 at 5:32 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
This year I bought cupcakes and a small cake for candles, then ordered these awesome edible decorations to personalize them.


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text:
(Redirected from MS Explorer of the Seas)
Explorer of the Seas in 2015
Name: Explorer of the Seas
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (2000)
Explorer of the Seas Inc.[1]
Operator: Royal Caribbean International
Port of registry:
2000–2002: Monrovia, Liberia
2002 onwards: Nassau, Bahamas
Route: Bahamas, Bermuda, Eastern Caribbean, and New England itineraries (Australia)itineraries of Bayonne, New Jersey, Baltic ports
Builder: Kværner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Yard number: 1345
Laid down: 15 June 1998
Launched: 4 November 1999
Completed: 28 September 2000
Maiden voyage: 28 October 2000
Identification:
Call sign: C6SE4
DNV ID: 19903
MMSI number: 311316000
Status: In service
Notes: [2][1]
Class and type: Voyager-class cruise ship
Tonnage:
138,194 GT
108,654 NT
11,000 DWT
Length: 311 m (1,020 ft)
38.6 m (127 ft) - Waterline[3]
49.1 m (161 ft) - Max[1]
Draught: 8.3 m (27 ft)
Depth: 11.7 m (38 ft)
Decks: 15
Deck clearance: 3,400 m (11,200 ft)
Installed power: 6 × Wärtsilä 12V46 (6 × 12,600 kW)
Diesel-electric
Two ABB Azipods and one Fixipod
Four bow thrusters
Speed: 23.7 knots (43.9 km/h; 27.3 mph)
Capacity: 3,114 passengers
Crew: 1,180
Notes: [2][1][4][5]
Explorer of the Seas is a Voyager-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International, completed in 2000. She can accommodate over 3,000 guests, including scientists making use of a built-in atmospheric and oceanographic laboratory operated by the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. (The manned lab with its attendant educational and outreach programs for passengers was discontinued in 2007. An automated system for gathering data was installed in 2008.[6]) At launch, Explorer of the Seas had a tonnage of 137,308 GT, exceeding that of her sister ship Voyager of the Seas by 32 GT and making her the world's largest passenger ship. She held that record until being overtaken by Navigator of the Seas in 2002. In early 2015, Explorer of the Seas received major upgrades, including the replacement of the inline skating rink with a Flowrider surfing simulator and increasing her tonnage to 138,194 GT.[7][8] The ship's godmother is American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee.[9]
1 Ports of call
2 Accidents and incidents
2.1 Rescue of Tumbleweed
2.2 Crew overboard
2.3 Norwegian Star collision
2.4 Norovirus outbreak
2.5 Gastro outbreak
Ports of call[edit]
In fall 2014, she sailed 5 to 9 day Caribbean cruises out of Port Canaveral, Florida.[10] After dry-dock refurbishment in the spring of 2015, Explorer began to sail Northern Europe, Mediterranean, and Madeira, Azores and Canary Islands itineraries out of Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.[11]
From November 2015 to 23 April 2016 Explorer of the Seas was based in Sydney, Australia, for the summer cruise season. A 24-day cruise relocated the ship to Seattle for the summer 2016 season.
Cruise ship Explorer of the Seas visiting Sydney Harbour
Accidents and incidents[edit]
Rescue of Tumbleweed[edit]
On 16 February 2008, while en route from Bayonne, New Jersey, on a nine-day cruise to the Caribbean the bridge crew heard a faint mayday call over the radio. This turned out to be the crew from Tumbleweed, a 39-foot sailing vessel,[12] which had a planned sail from Baltimore to the Florida Keys. The crew reportedly had a mechanical breakdown of both engine and sails. The vessel drifted for 11 days to the location N32.35 W 72.49–roughly 275 miles southeast of North Carolina. Explorer of the Seas located and rescued the three men, who then departed the ship in Puerto Rico on 21 February 2008.[12]
Crew overboard[edit]
On 5 May 2010, 26-year-old bartender Satianand Buddaru was caught on surveillance jumping overboard. The ship turned around to rescue him but was unable to locate the bartender.[13][unreliable source?]
Norwegian Star collision[edit]
On 14 September 2012, Explorer of the Seas was moored in Bermuda when heavy winds pushed Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Star at its stern. Neither ship suffered any significant damage.[14]
Norovirus outbreak[edit]
On 24 January 2014, 281 passengers and 22 crew members aboard Explorer of the Seas fell ill, reporting symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. Due to the number of passengers sick, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a Sanitation Program Officer and an epidemiologist to the ship on Sunday, 26 January 2014, when it was docked in St. Thomas.[15] By 27 January 2014 the number of ill increased to 564 passengers and 47 crew members and a decision was made to end the cruise early.[16] After Explorer of the Seas returned to port, 684 of the 4,237 aboard had symptoms of norovirus.[17]
Gastro outbreak[edit]
On 16 December 2015, A total of 182 passengers out of the 3566 on board Explorer of the Seas contracted infectious diarrhea. The ship's operator contacted South Eastern Sydney Local Health District before arriving in Sydney at 6am. None of the passengers were taken to hospital.[18]
^ a b c d "Explorer of the Seas (19903)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
^ a b "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Explorer of the Seas". VesselTracker. 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
^ "Explorer of the Seas". STX Finland. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
^ "Cruise Ship Guide". Cruise Travel. Lakeside Publishing Company: 37–43. January–February 2009. ISSN 0199-5111.
^ "Carnival Destiny (16001)". Port State Information Exchange. United States Coast Guard.
^ "Explorer of the Seas Oceanlab Research Program". Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
^ "Now Our Best Ship Is Every Ship" (PDF). Royal Caribbean International. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
^ "VOYAGER CLASS FLOWRIDER REFURBISHMENT". Mobimar.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
^ http://www.royalcaribbean.com/connect/ship-godmothers-with-serious-sports-status/ Joyner-Kersee
^ "Cruise Calendar". Royal Caribbean International. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
^ "Explorer of the Seas to Homeport in Southampton, and Sail European Waters in 2015". Royal Caribbean Press Center. Royal Caribbean International. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
^ a b Silverstein, Erica (27 February 2008). "Royal Caribbean Ship Rescues Sailors in Distress". The Independent Traveler. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
^ "Satyanand Buddaru". Cruise Ship Missing. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
^ Greg (15 September 2012). "Norwegian Star Breaks Moorings in Bermuda". CruiseInd.
^ "281 passengers ill aboard Royal Caribbean cruise". cp24.com. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
^ David McFadden (27 January 2014). "Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas cruise ended after hundreds sick with diarrhea, vomiting". The National Post. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
^ Aleccia, JoNel (29 January 2014), 'We made it!': Nearly 700 sick as illness-plagued cruise ship returns home, NBC News, archived from the original on 29 January 2014, At least 630 of the ship's 3,071 passengers and at least 54 of the 1,166 crew members came down with diarrhea and vomiting—classic signs of norovirus.
^ "Gastro outbreak aboard cruise ship bound for Sydney hits 182 passengers". News.com.au. 16 December 2015.
Marsha Walton (25 June 2004). "Scientists study high seas in high style". CNN. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Explorer of the Seas (ship, 2000).
Explorer of the Seas official website
Voyager-Class.com - the largest online resource for information & pictures of the Voyager-class ships
Miramar Ship Index - Explorer of the Seas
Timeline of largest passenger ships
Briefly held the title before the preceding ship reclaimed it⛵
Shared record‡
SS Royal William (1831)
SS Great Western (1837)
SS British Queen (1839)
SS President (1840)⛵
SS Great Britain (1843)
RMS Atrato (1853)
SS Great Eastern (1858)
SS City of New York (1888)
RMS Campania (1893)‡
SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (1897)
RMS Oceanic (1899)
RMS Celtic (1901)
RMS Cedric (1903)
RMS Baltic (1904)
RMS Empress of Scotland (1906)
RMS Lusitania (1907)
RMS Mauretania (1907)
RMS Olympic (1911)
RMS Titanic (1912)⛵
SS Imperator (1913)
SS Leviathan (1914)
RMS Majestic (1914) (1922)
SS Normandie (1935)
RMS Queen Mary (1936)⛵
RMS Queen Elizabeth (1946)
SS France (1960) (1972)
MS Sovereign of the Seas (1987)⛵
MS Sun Princess (1995)
MS Carnival Sunshine (1996)
MS Grand Princess (1998)
MS Voyager of the Seas (1999)
MS Explorer of the Seas (2000)
MS Navigator of the Seas (2002)
RMS Queen Mary 2 (2003)
MS Freedom of the Seas (2006)
Liberty of the Seas (2007)
Oasis of the Seas (2009)‡
Harmony of the Seas (2016)
Symphony of the Seas (2018)
Royal Caribbean International fleet
Sovereign class
Vision class
Radiance class
Freedom class
Oasis class
Wonder of the Seas (2021)
TBA (2023)
Quantum class
Odyssey of the Seas (2020)
Empress class
Icon class
Former ships
Song of America
Viking Serenade
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Explorer_of_the_Seas&oldid=926280194"
Maritime incidents in 2008
Ships of Royal Caribbean International
Ships built in Turku
Use dmy dates from March 2019
IMO numbers
MMSI Number
Articles lacking reliable references from April 2014


text:
UK: EDITORIAL - A MAN WITH UNPALATABLE OPTIONS.
UK: EDITORIAL - A MAN WITH UNPALATABLE OPTIONS. - 'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.' Kenneth Clarke's journey from No 11 Downing Street to the House of Comm
'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.' Kenneth Clarke's journey from No 11 Downing Street to the House of Commons with his famous red bag later this month may not be by tumbril, but hopefully his sentiments will be similar to those of Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities.
The Chancellor is caught between a rock and a hard place in framing his budget. The Conservative party and most of the media believe that the Government's last hope of re-election lies in a give-away that will somehow increase its popularity; the economy, laden with a burgeoning public sector borrowing requirement, denies such a course to the Chancellor.
From where Gordon Brown is sitting, the view could hardly be rosier. A profligate budget will provide the Opposition with a glorious opportunity to present itself as the party of fiscal responsibility and to accuse the Government of pursuing a scorched earth economic policy, safe in the knowledge that it is unre-electable. A prudent budget will be viewed by Conservative back-benchers as hara-kiri; it will also leave an incoming Labour administration with a solid economic platform, flush with sources of funds for its proposed investment in the UK's infrastructure. If the Chancellor seeks to steer a middle course, it is likely to be perceived as the worst of both worlds rather than a canny compromise.
Given that all his options are unpalatable, the Chancellor may as well pursue the policies best suited to the UK economy, irrespective of political considerations. Through both luck and judgement, he has presided over a recovery driven by exports and focused on tough control over inflation. A tight budget which retains this focus is what is needed. The Chancellor should be applauded if he has the courage to follow this noble course.
What chance mutual respect? Deriving pleasure from the discomfort of others is possibly the most ignoble emotion. Yet many will enjoy witnessing the current problems facing employers which Simon Caulkin has identified in The New Avengers (p48). After years of having the terms of their employment, or non-employment, dictated to them by the corporation, managers are relishing the opportunity to turn the tables and dictate their own terms.
The nature of the employment contract has been changed for good - gone are the days when the relationship between employer and employee was based on that of parent and child. But the new deal, which views both parties as consenting adults, has a worrying flipside. True, both parties may be adults, but if these adults view life as a jungle, then childish antagonism rather than mature co-operation may result. To avoid this antagonistic downward spiral, both parties need to focus on the respect that each needs.
Those organisations which respect the qualities and needs of their workforce are those which will find their own qualities and needs respected.
Should a rule-breaking boss always step down?
Why businesses needn't panic over BoJo's WFH orders
Can you force staff to get vaccinated against Covid-19?
Yes to office buzz, no to office fuss
It's not hard, leaders. Schedule your emails at a decent hour.
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Dewey County is located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Its county seat is Timber Lake. The county was created in 1873 and originated from Armstrong County and Indian lands. The name of the county comes from William P. Dewey, territorial surveyor-general. The links directory provides suggestions for a variety of websites to assist in your family history and genealogy research.


On a whim I recorded myself making a loop.
I am currently using the demo version of Fruity Loops to create music and am unable to save projects, presets, or anything really, which is why I am churning out little loops that I make in one sitting. Or rather, that is why the little loops that I'm churning out are so small and short; I don't actually know why I'm doing the churning.
So I had to pass someone on the sidewalk while I was on my run this evening....... they were on a bicycle. And I was jogging.
Finally got a car. I never would have bothered but my supervisor was selling his old car pretty cheap and I figured why not. So yeah, this is my first car. 2005 Ford Mustang, base model. I kinda like how it looks like a "first car" with the sun damage on the hood.
This weekend I got a new computer desk and chair, TV, and a 2.1 speaker system. Soon my room will evolve to the point where I will no longer need social interaction of any kind.


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A year after Vickie McLee was given a mandatory 22-year sentence on federal drug charges, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the sentencing statute as unconstitutional.
But when McLee was given a chance to be resentenced, her attorney, William Laws, showed up late for the court hearing and offered no legal briefs or arguments on why she should receive a shorter sentence. She was once again given a prison term of 22 years.
McLee finally received a reduced sentence three years later, in 2008, after U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras ruled that Laws' representation "fell below the threshold of acceptable professional conduct" because of his "failure to take any action" on her behalf during resentencing.
"He didn't do the job at all," McLee, 51, told Injustice Watch about her experience working with Laws.
Laws is now running in the upcoming Democratic primary to become a judge on the Cook County Circuit Court. He, in fact, hopes to win the 2nd subcircuit seat being vacated by his recently retired wife, Marjorie C. Laws. All three major bar associations rated William Laws qualified, though the Illinois State Bar Association and Chicago Council of Lawyers noted that a federal judge had found his representation ineffective in a previous case. Those evaluations prompted Injustice Watch to review the record in McLee's case.
Judge Kocoras ruled that Laws' inadequate performance likely did not impact the finding that McLee was guilty, only her sentencing. But court records show there were also significant issues with his trial performance.
Laws failed to respond to a series of messages left at his campaign headquarters and law offices.
McLee was first arrested in 2002, along with her husband, Rodney McLee, and several others on federal charges in connection with a cocaine distribution organization on Chicago's South Side.
In November 2003, a jury convicted McLee of federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine and cocaine base with intent to distribute, and the use of a telephone in drug conspiracy.
At her sentencing hearing, McLee expressed dissatisfaction with Laws' representation, but agreed to proceed. Judge Kocoras told McLee he understood she had not participated in the drug trafficking as much as her husband, but that the sentencing guidelines left him little leeway. He gave her the minimum: nearly 22 years.
"I did not set these numbers. Congress and the Sentencing Commission did. So, we have very little to deal with," Kocoras said at that time.
When McLee was resentenced two years later, after the mandatory sentencing guidelines were found unconstitutional, Laws was still her attorney. When he showed up, he said he had not filed anything on McLee's behalf and planned to adopt the same argument that attorney Nishay Sanan made on behalf of Rodney McLee.
She again received the same sentence.
In 2007, McLee's new lawyer, Alison Siegler of the Federal Defender Project, filed a post-trial petition on her behalf, alleging that Laws' lack of preparation had impacted both her original sentencing and the resentencing two years later. Siegler cited a series of alleged failures, including that Laws had failed to interview McLee's family before the resentencing hearing, had gone to that hearing without ever ordering the original sentencing transcript, and had failed to raise arguments about how the sentence should be calculated more favorably.
In September 2008, Kocoras ruled on McLee's petition. He found that Laws' representation had been ineffective, citing the affidavits and other evidence. He said that while it was unlikely that Laws' conduct affected the outcome of trial, Laws should have raised numerous arguments that likely would have changed the outcome of the sentence.
Kocoras ordered McLee be resentenced. "There can be no doubt of the negative impact on [McLee] of missing the opportunity to present these arguments to this court by virtue of her attorney's failure to act," Korocas wrote. When the case was sentenced for a third time, McLee received a 10-year sentence.
Though both the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Illinois State Bar Association referred to McLee's case in their evaluation of Laws, neither thought it was enough to prevent him from getting a qualified rating.
"The Council must balance this case against a long career of being considered a solid practitioner," the CCL wrote.