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Jessica Simpson Just Gave Birth To Her Third Child, A "Perfect" Baby Girl
SplashNews
Jessica Simpson and husband Eric Johnson just welcomed their third child, a baby girl born on Tuesday, March 19. The proud parents shared the news on social media, introducing their "perfect daughter" Birdie Mae Johnson.
"We are so happy and proud to announce the birth of our perfect daughter, Birdie Mae Johnson," Simpson wrote on Instagram, alongside a black-and-white photo of her older daughter holding hands with the newborn. So sweet.
The birth announcement comes less than a day after the 38-year-old mom shared a photo of her very pregnant belly in a bikini, for which she received a ton of support and encouraging words from women worldwide. In previous Instagram posts, Simpson has spoken about the edema she suffers from, primarily in her feet, legs, and face, as well as other pregnancy pains. "I am slowly getting healthier every day. Baby girl was monitored and is doing amazing! ?? I am on my way to healthy and counting down the days to see her sweet smile. Sending love and prayers to all the mothers who are going or have gone through this. OUCH," she wrote after revealing she was hospitalized for bronchitis in early March.
Simpson revealed that she was expecting back in August, sharing photos from the gender reveal. "This little baby girl will make us a family of five. We couldn't be happier to announce this precious blessing of life," she wrote on Instagram.
The pop star-turned-designer has been married to Johnson, a former NFL star, for nearly five years. In addition to baby Birdie, they share two other children together: daughter Maxwell Drew, 6, and son Ace Knute, 5.
Congratulations to the happy family!
celebrity pregnancyjessica simpson
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Inside Jenna Lyons' life after J.Crew
November 9, 2020 0 Comments
After artistic director Jenna Lyons left a floundering J.Crew in 2017 — reportedly a mutual resolution between her and the corporate she helped develop from a catalog of laid-back preppy fundamentals right into a bona fide trend behemoth — she wanted a break.
"It was a extremely unusual time," Lyons, 51, advised The Put up of her exit. "I needed to decompress. You don't notice how intense and the way laborious you might have been driving till you cease. I used to be mentally and bodily exhausted." Freed from that beforehand unrelenting gig (she oversaw J.Crew, its manufacturing unit model and Madewell), she deliberate to brush up on her French, learn to dance and perhaps whip her physique into killer form.
"I did none of these issues. I used to be struggling. I feel I used to be most likely depressed. I had an actual inner disaster. I didn't notice how a lot of my id was related to the model," stated Lyons, who recalled being stopped in a London airport by a girl asking if she was "Jenna Crew."
Jenna LyonsTamara Beckwith
"I used to be like, 'No… nicely, form of.' "
Certainly, Lyons' whole grownup life was tied to J.Crew, the place she labored for 26 years. Raised in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Lyons attended Parsons College of Design and joined the corporate in 1990 as a design assistant in menswear. In 2008, then-CEO Millard "Mickey" Drexler elevated her to artistic director, urging her to make use of her personal private model sensibility as a blueprint. Along with her lanky 6-foot body, daring black nerdy glasses, eye-popping orange-red lipstick and behavior of carrying sequins within the daylight, she grew to become J.Crew's avatar and a cult determine amongst each fashionistas and suburban ladies mesmerized by her accessible however extremely curated look.
Her aesthetic was additionally distilled by means of her common e mail way of life e-newsletter "Jenna's Picks" (which initially confused her mom, whom, Lyons was knowledgeable by company, thought the emails had been meant for her particularly and would reply with private messages. "One in every of them was actually directions on the place to seek out her will," she stated with fun.)
Underneath Lyons, Michelle Obama, the primary daughters and Beyoncé wore J.Crew. Lyons shook up the stodgy red-carpet scene rocking ensembles equivalent to a denim jacket and magenta satin skirt to the Met Gala. Her private life additionally grew to become fodder for the gossip mill. In 2011, she divorced her artist-husband Vincent Mazeau, and the subsequent yr, Web page Six reported that she was relationship a girl, Courtney Crangi. Though she maintained her cool publicly, she stated the revelation triggered a panic behind the scenes.
Sasha, Malia and Michelle Obama in 2013.AFP by way of Getty Photos
"I had advised nobody in my life," she stated of her then-burgeoning relationship. "If you happen to had been in my shut intimate circle, my mom — who didn't know — or within the workplace, yeah, it might need been a little bit scandalous. I wasn't even completely positive what I used to be doing. It was completely to start with levels, and I used to be dipping my toe within the water. I'm tremendous fortunate as a result of everybody round me was utterly supportive. It was a difficult time, and I couldn't have gotten by means of it with out the unimaginable assist I bought from the corporate, Mickey particularly."
Finally, although, her persona started to outshine the model. After leaving her publish, she immediately wasn't in our inboxes, wowing us along with her red-carpet revolt and even on Web page Six. (She and Crangi break up in 2017.) She retreated to the sofa in her Soho house, ready for the telephone to ring with one other alternative in trend.
"That simply didn't occur," she stated. "So I began to get a little bit scared."
She took any lunch invitation that got here her approach, and ultimately opened herself as much as non-fashion ventures.
She was approached about doing a line of furnishings, and it led to engaged on a boutique lodge within the Bahamas the place she is overseeing all the pieces from retail, design and employees uniforms. There was discuss a tv present, which became a documentary competitors sequence "Fashionable With Jenna Lyons," premiering on HBO Max in December. And a magnificence thought morphed into LoveSeen, a line of fake eyelashes launched in September.
"I opened the door to issues I by no means would have even thought of earlier than. I might've stated, 'I'm too busy, I don't have the time, I'm scared.' Each reply you might have imagined. I felt like I didn't have these solutions anymore, as a result of I didn't have a job. There was no security web," she defined.
LoveSeen — a collaboration along with her make-up artist good friend Troi Ollivierre — is private. Lyons suffers from a genetic dysfunction, incontinentia pigmenti, which impacts the pores and skin, enamel and hair. With out brows of her personal (she's had microblading, a standard, refined tattooing process) and just a few sparse eyelashes, she got interested within the false selection by means of each Instagram magnificence tutorials that featured voluminous, Kardashian-esque tarantula-looking lashes and her fellow J.Crew staff who used extensions in a extra understated approach.
"There was no variation. It was full glam or pure extensions however nothing to marry the 2."
Jenna LyonsDimitrios Kambouris
A set of LoveSeen lashes begin at $20, and subsequent month, the corporate is releasing a patented instrument, which is a tweezer and eyelash-curler hybrid that goals to make the applying less complicated. "The response has been wonderful, and it's significantly phenomenal contemplating we launched a enterprise throughout COVID," Lyons stated, including, "Thank God it wasn't lipstick."
Like many different mask-wearers, she, too, has let go of vibrant lip colours — and pared down her look totally. "I don't want that anymore," stated Lyons, who's at present single.
She's even swapped her thick framed glasses for extra delicate pairs.
"I spotted a few instances my glasses broke, and I needed to put on an previous pair that had been delicate, and I walked right into a restaurant, and somebody stated, 'I hardly acknowledged you,' " she stated. "I used to be like, 'Cool.' "
After which there's motherhood. When her son, Beckett, was 2, the pair appeared in a photograph on the J.Crew website with Lyons portray his toenails pink, and it triggered a stir amongst some social conservatives, who stated it unnecessarily blurred gender traces. Now 14 with a big mop of blond hair, whiz child Beckett is the de facto "head of expertise" at Lyons' enterprise, serving to her keep related, so she will work remotely on all her artistic initiatives.
"I can see he's actually liking that and feeling the vitality," she stated. "I feel what he actually desires is for me to be a full particular person."
Though she's nonetheless enamored with creating stunning clothes, Lyons is glad to seek out her footing exterior the finicky trend bubble. "I miss feeling related to it and figuring out what was happening . . . Individuals are actually supportive and good when you're within it," she stated. "And I'm not in there anymore."
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Denise McLeod is Anishinaabekwe from Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, and a proud founding member of Manifest Destiny's Child. McLeod was adopted by a non-Indigenous family and raised in Toronto. She defines herself as urban, but is also interested in the reclamation of Indigenous language, culture, and ceremony. At the Festival, she will share stories about her own experience in the reclamation of her Indigenous identity.


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Q: Protected Android industry app We have some Android apps are installed to our company smartphones with Android 7.
Sometimes our users uninstall those apps or making dificult to use it properly.
We asked our Android developers investigate posibility to prevent users to

*

*Uninstall app

*Stop services

*Turn off Mobile Data or WIFI services

They answerd is impossible to do it at all.
Well... We like to configure Android devices for special company usage with strong restrictions as described above.
Is it possible to archive it using Android SDK? Is any posibility to do it?
Thank you!
--------- UPDATE #1 ------------------------------------------------
I gues the best idea is to use Android Device Administration API https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html
and mix it with approaches described
Require a password to uninstall/remove application
Android - Start service on boot
Application without app launcher icon
I mean once we install custom enterprise app APK we can also install app/service without ICON and is having 'special' name so user cannot by his knowlidge identify it by icon (no icon at all) and by service name (it should mimic a native Android Service). This non-icon-service should listen activites user does and prevent to execute him to do dangerous activity by activating PIN/PASSWORD screen. Well user shouldnt know PIN/PASSWORD.

This kind of workaround looks likes a legal fishing way to avoid
  breaking stuff we need like

*

*Uninstall app

*Stop services

*Turn off Mobile Data or WIFI services

---------- UPDATE #2 --------------------------------

The conclusion is the only including app in firmware is only way to
  make app undeletable 100%. There is no other options.

---------- UPDATE #3 and the last one ------------------
Utilize and complement Android's enterprise features

A: The link you posted in the comment says it all.
All you have to do first is to root the devices and then make the your apps System apps using (ES file explorer, Titanium backup, /system/app mover ★ ROOT ★ ...) and then unroot the devices.
Also you can you a parental control app like (Norton Family Parental Control , Net Nanny , Qustodio Parental Control , Mobicip ....) check this link.
As for a legal and secure way you can always contact the company and ask to include your apps as system apps.

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About Navigate STL Schools
How We Gather Data
Have an idea or a question about the site?
We would love to hear your feedback.
Navigate STL Schools is made possible through the following staff, parent navigators, and board members.
Anna-Stacia Allen - Executive Director
Originally from Toledo, Ohio and a graduate of The Ohio State University Anna-Stacia has spent her career working in non-profit and education-based organizations. She returns back to the St.Louis area extremely passionate about helping to provide equitable access to education for all families.
Catherine Baez- Director of Family and School Support
Catherine a Native New Yorker, spent over two decades teaching and leading schools in some of the most under-resourced communities within New York City. Launching her career in Early Childhood Development, Special Education, and incorporating Drama Therapy, she is committed to fostering relationships with School Leaders, empowering St. Louis Students and Families in navigating the school system for the city she now calls home!
Rachel Nevels - Communications & Development Director
Rachel Nevels is a storyteller, and global professional with a diverse background in marketing and communications. Throughout her career, Rachel has used her innate gifts of writing, socializing, and creating experiences to add value to brands, and ultimately their clients. Rachel's genius is being able to immerse herself in the mission of a brand and paint that picture from the inside out. From small businesses to large charitable foundations, Rachel's mission through her ever evolving work is to empower people to live full and authentic lives.
School & Community Navigators
Tiara Weaver- School & Community Navigator, North City
Tiara is a St. Louis native. She grew up, was educated, and now lives in St. Louis City. She is passionate about building relationships and serving others. Tiara has 5 years of classroom experience as well as administrative leadership. She brings to Navigate a rich and dynamic work history and desire to improve the community around her.
Darius Washington - School & Community Navigator, South City
Darius Derrell Washington graduated from Harris-Stowe State University with a degree in business administration and a concentration in marketing. During his Harris-Stowe career, Darius was involved in his community through Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and The Village Mentorship program. He is a Kansas City native who strongly desires to improve the community. A passage from the poem "Don't Quit" defines him as a person.
"Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."
"I am excited to serve you all as your South City Navigator"
Samantha Pipkin- School & Community Navigator, Early Childhood Education
For the last 14 years Samantha has served children, families, and teachers. She has taught and led early childhood facilities in best practices. Her focus has been on ensuring the whole child's needs are met and creating collaboration with teachers and families. She holds a Bachelors in Psychology, as well as a Master of Teaching degree from Columbia College. Samantha is a lifelong learner and is currently working toward a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of UMSL.
Dr. Renee Racette
Dr. Renee Racette is a lifetime-certified chemistry, biology, and mathematics teacher in addition to holding a lifetime principal's certification in the state of Missouri. She holds a Masters in Secondary Administration and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, both from UMSL. She spent 13 years in the St. Louis Public Schools in a variety of roles from chemistry teacher to school leader. She currently works as the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Strategic Learning at Rung for Women. Renee believes deeply in the mission of Navigate STL Schools and is keenly aware of how hard it is for families to navigate the complex landscape of school options in St. Louis. She aims to build an organization that the community can trust as THE source of unbiased and unfiltered truth about all schools in the St. Louis region while also pushing, alongside other stakeholders, to tear down the oppressive and racist systems that continue to plague our region, more specifically our schools.
Matthew Christian - Treasurer
Khris Johnson-DeLoatch
Khristopher Johnson-DeLoatch is an attorney at Armstrong Teasdale, where he handles disputes for companies of all sizes. Khris earned his J.D., with honors, from the University of Missouri School of Law in 2019. Prior to law school, he was an Algebra teacher and curriculum specialist. Outside of his practice, Khris is active in the community, serving as the CLE Chair of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis' Young Lawyers Division and as a Board Member for the Teach For America St. Louis Alumni Board. Khris earned his J.D., with honors, from the University of Missouri School of Law in 2019. During his time in Columbia, he served as the National Mock Trial Director for the National Black Law Students Association and as the Chair of the Board of Advocates. Khris was also on the Dean's List and a member of the Order of the Barristers. Khris earned recognition for his work with the MU Thurgood Marshall Regional Mock Trial Team in 2018. Khris earned his M.Ed. in 2015 from Marian University and B.A. in Economics in 2013 from Ohio State University.
Samantha Smith
Dr. Sam Smith is a passionate advocate for educational equity and has enjoyed a career in education for the past fifteen years. She has served as an English teacher, instructional coach, and assistant principal in the St. Louis Public and Maplewood Richmond Heights school districts. She earned her BS in Secondary English Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia (2005), MA in Educational Leadership from Maryville University (2009), and EdD in Education Administration from Maryville University (2017). She holds career certifications in 9-12 English and K-12 Reading, as well as initial 9-12 Principal and K-12 Superintendent certifications. Dr. Smith has spent over a decade coaching high school policy debate, sending students to national competition three years in a row. She serves on regional AdvancED school accreditation teams annually and enjoys reading, cooking, and exploring St. Louis. Dr. Smith currently works as an Assistant Principal at Maplewood Richmond Heights High School in the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.
Joshua Johnson- President
Joshua is a St. Louis native and graduate of SLPS as well as St. Louis Univerity. A proud father of one he is also the founder and CEO of Dope Dad. His organization is a network of fathers with a mission to highlight, encourage, and inspire the positive relationships and interactions between fathers and their children. Joshua has a passion for youth and enjoys utilizing his community connections to make an impact in their lives.
Christopher Geden
I like to believe that I'm an outcome-based leader who tries to understand and help the youth, families, and communities in which we serve. Through engagement, whether it be at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market or at a recreation center.
Dr. Courtney Belfor
Dr. Courtney Belfor is a distinguished educator with over ten years of
experience. Her lifelong dedication to student achievement is what makes her
an iconic symbol in education.
"I consider it an honor and privilege to work with children and their families.
My mission is to inspire, encourage, and assist all children in reaching their
full academic potential. Most emphatically, it is my personal belief that this is
done through a team effort comprised of family, school, and community. This
is the path that will enable us to support today's youth."
Dr. Belfor's dedication to the impact theory, equity, excellence, and inclusion
in our schools is what sets her apart from others. This desire is consumed by
her thought that "students will make their own positive and lasting impact in
our world."
Dr. Belfor earned her BS in Business Administration from Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville (SIUE), MA in School and Professional Counseling
from Lindenwood University, MA in Education Administration from
Lindenwood University, and an Ed.D in Educational Leadership from
Maryville University. She currently serves as a Guidance Counselor in Saint
Louis Public Schools.
If you have any questions about our team at Navigate STL Schools please contact us today.
Created in Partnership with
St. Louis Public Schools
Missouri Charter Association
Independent Schools of St. Louis
Registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
© 2023 Navigate STL Schools


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SAAM Stations
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. . . the Blogger
"For the Nativity" by John Heath-Stubbs + choral setting
Posted on December 17, 2016 September 28, 2020 by Victoria Emily Jones
Shepherds, I sing you this winter's night
Our Hope new-planted, the womb'd, the buried Seed:
For a strange Star has fallen, to blossom from a tomb,
And infinite Godhead circumscribed hangs helpless at the breast.
Now the cold airs are musical, and all the ways of the sky
Vivid with moving fires, above the hills where tread
The feet—how beautiful!—of them that publish peace.
The sacrifice, which is not made for them,
The angels comprehend, and bend to earth
Their worshipping way. Material kind Earth
Gives Him a Mother's breast, and needful food.
A Love, shepherds, most poor,
And yet most royal, kings,
Begins this winter's night;
But oh, cast forth, and with no proper place,
Out in the cold He lies!
This poem is published in Collected Poems 1943–1987 by John Heath-Stubbs (Carcanet Press, 1988) and is reprinted here by permission of David Higham Associates.
John Heath-Stubbs (1918–2006) was an English poet, translator, critic, and anthologist whose lifelong fascination with world history and literature was borne out in his career. He translated poetry from Greek (Sappho, Anyte, Anacreon), Latin (Horace, Catullus), Persian (Hafiz, Omar Khayyam), Italian (Dante, Giacomo Leopardi), and French (Paul Verlaine) and wrote many verses of his own influenced by classical myths, including an Arthurian epic, Artorius.
Described by friends as a "devout" and "committed" Christian, Heath-Stubbs sometimes turned to the lives of Christ and the saints as subjects for his poetry, as in "'Through the Dear Might of Him That Walk'd the Waves,'" "Dionysius the Areopagite" (on a pagan's response to the eclipse during the Crucifixion), "Canticle of the Sun" (on the Resurrection), "Alexandria," "Maria Aegyptiaca," and "Virgin Martyrs," to name a few. In his introduction to his Collected Poems, he wrote that he was interested in "the reaffirmation of orthodox religious themes in the poetry of TS Eliot and Charles Williams and others."
Among other distinctions, Heath-Stubbs was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1973 and in 1989 was appointed OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). At his death, publications celebrated his style and influence:
"His distinctive achievement was to forge a modern pastoral out of unlikely sources, a style which can encompass Yeatsian symbolism and dry irony."—Poetry Archive
His diction was conservative, but his lyricism was always modern.—The Telegraph
"His finest work is to be found in his huge output of shorter poems. In their technical mastery, wry wisdom and gloriously deceptive lightness, these place him in the company of W.H. Auden and Robert Graves, a major English poet of the 20th century."—The Independent
Heath-Stubbs was nearly blind from age three, his eyesight progressively worsening until he lost it completely at age fifty-nine. But rather than regard his blindness as a disability, he regarded it as a gift. "As a poet, I have found that blindness actually tends to stimulate the imagination," he said.
First published in 1965, "For the Nativity" by John Heath-Stubbs is an ode to the infant Jesus—to he who is Hope, Seed, Star, and Love.
The first stanza is a loose paraphrase of the Annunciation to the Shepherds in Luke 2:10–13, in which an angel tells a group of Jewish night workers that Emmanuel, God-with-us, has been born. Heath-Stubbs uses horticultural imagery: Jesus was planted in Mary's womb, and now he breaks through into air, blooming for all the world to see. Foreshadowing future events, the "tomb" refers not only to the cave he was born in but also to the cave he'd be buried in. He'd be seeded once again (in death), and again (in resurrection) he'd flower forth with new life. The fourth line embraces the paradox of the Incarnation: that infinite God became a finite human being; the omnipotent Creator, an impotent babe reliant on his mother's milk.
Stanza two shifts speakers from angel to narrator and picks up with Luke 2:14. Dark and silent no more, the winter sky swells with music and explodes with light as the angelic choir sings the Gloria. Heath-Stubbs invokes the prophecy of Isaiah 52:7:
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
Christ did not come for the angels, but still they bend down to worship him, showing us how to welcome this most special visitor. Mary instinctively knows how to care for his material needs, offering him nourishment at her breast.
Stanza four presents another paradox: Jesus is both peasant and king. He's poor, like the shepherds, but like the wise men, he comes from great wealth. And yet he enters our world rejected, "cast forth," a bastard child born in a borrowed room, and not yet weaned before Herod seeks him out to kill him. This casting forth will characterize his ministry, coming to a head on one fatal Passover. The final line of the poem is biting—an accusation, really: "Out in the cold He lies!" This is how humanity treats its savior.
In 1966 English composer Peter Dickinson (born 1934) set "For the Nativity" to music: an a cappella choral work with four voice parts. He first met Heath-Stubbs in 1962 when they both taught at the College of St. Mark and St. John in Chelsea, London, and they soon became friends. In addition to setting his nativity poem, Dickinson also commissioned him to write an opera libretto for The Unicorns; this project was never completed, but a six-movement suite, using three song texts by Heath-Stubbs, was developed and recorded.
I don't have a recording of "For the Nativity" to post, but I did get permission from the music's publisher to provide a one-page sample of the score. The full eight pages are available for purchase from sheet music outlets (e.g., Presto Classical).
First five measures of "For the Nativity," a carol for SATB (unaccompanied) by Peter Dickinson, words by John Heath-Stubbs. Reprinted by permission of Novello & Co Ltd.
Dickinson's setting opens with a monophonic texture in the first measure, but then the voices stagger, forming separate rhythms and creating a more complex, layered texture.
In measure five Dickinson uses pitch range to express a theological truth: "Star," sung only by the sopranos, is a G5, the highest note in the piece, and the notes following on "fallen" drop drastically, hinting at the distance Christ spanned in his descent from heaven to earth. As the sopranos continue on in the text, the altos sustain the syllable "fall"—melismatically—for two full measures, calling attention to a word that's ripe for meditation.
After some dissonant exchanges, the four voices come together in a harmonious, fortissimo C major chord on "peace." The phrase "how beautiful!" echoes softly, five times in the upper two voices (twice in the bottom two), overlaying the mention of "sacrifice." In this way beauty is made to describe not only the gospel messengers but the gospel itself.
The last three bars are my favorite—those elegiac, bare-fifth chords on "cast forth." Chilling! This word pair forms the epicenter of the poem, and Dickinson emphasizes it through repetition, choosing to end the piece with it.
Implicit in this carol, resonating in the final chord, is an exhortation: Don't leave Jesus out in the cold this Christmas. Hold him close. Listen to the gospel the angels preached that night, and behold their message embodied in the poor little baby, the King of Kings.
"For the Nativity" is one of many works Peter Dickinson has composed over his prolific career, which in addition to vocal works also includes instrumental works for a variety of ensembles, from solo instrument to quartets to full orchestra. Dickinson grew up in the Methodist church, and therefore his earliest exposure to music was to Wesleyan hymns. After attending the University of Cambridge as an organ scholar of Queens' College, he did graduate work at Juilliard, where he became enamored with the work of experimental composers like Charles Ives and John Cage. While in America he also developed an interest in some of the country's native genres of music, such as ragtime, blues, and jazz.
A lover of poetry, Dickinson has set a number of modern poets besides Heath-Stubbs, including E. E. Cummings, W. H. Auden, and Dylan Thomas—not to mention one of my favorites, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Several of his works are religious, among them the musical drama The Judas Tree (with Thomas Blackburn) and A Mass of the Apocalypse. For a full list of works and recordings, see his website: www.foxborough.co.uk.
Dickinson has enjoyed an illustrious career not only in composition but also in piano performance and musicology. For twenty-five years he performed with his sister, the mezzo Meriel Dickinson—for recitals, broadcasts, and recordings. As a scholar, he has written or edited dozens of books, including ones on Sir Lennox Berkeley, John Cage, Aaron Copland (all of whom he knew), Lord Berners, and Samuel Barber. He is also widely published in periodicals and music journals. Earlier this year, in celebration of Dickinson's eightieth birthday, Boydell Press published Peter Dickinson: Words and Music, a retrospective of his life and work that brings together tributes as well as many of his own articles, and Heritage Records released a CD of seven of his orchestral works.
(Related post: "'i thank You God for most this amazing' by E. E. Cummings")
Posted in Music, PoetryTagged Annunciation to the Shepherds, choral work, For the Nativity, John Heath-Stubbs, Nativity, Peter Dickinson
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By late summer a female Osprey's job is just about complete for another year. With her young free-flying there is little to keep her at the nest. Some females will take the opportunity to head south early, leaving their mate to feed the fledged juveniles. Others, though, linger for much longer. The Manton Bay female definitely falls in the latter camp; she has been one of the last Ospreys to leave Rutland the past two Septembers. From late July each year she begins to supplement 5R's catch with her own, and this helps the juveniles to get into tip-top condition for their long flight south. Her compatriot at Site B rarely stays as long – usually departing before 15th August – but she too starts fishing for herself before she leaves.
This morning on our latest early morning cruise we enjoyed superb views of the Site B female fishing in the North Arm. We didn't see her catch, but she was clearly working hard for her family; the brisk south-westerly wind was making fishing more difficult than the past few days.
In Manton Bay, meanwhile, the female clearly got fed up of waiting for 5R to bring in a fish, and instead she went and caught her own. Not only that, but she even fed the juveniles herself. They are now more than capable of feeding themselves, but sometimes it is easier to let Mum do it!


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Now Playing! DocFest's Gen-u-ine Character(s)
Michael Fox
Johnnie Lindsey, Christopher Scott and Steven Phillips from 'True Conviction.' (Sarah Lim)
Christopher Scott did 13 years of hard time before the actual perpetrator confessed to the crime. Now he heads a Dallas detective agency that investigates wrongful-conviction cases with the aim of freeing other innocent people. In True Conviction (Saturday, June 3 at the Roxie), the new documentary by local filmmaker Jamie Meltzer, the dedicated, emotional Scott does double duty as an emblem of social justice and a compelling character in his own right. That description, as it happens, applies to quite a few of the protagonists in the SF DocFest program.
Since its inception, DocFest (May 31-June 15 at the Roxie and the Vogue, with opening night at Alamo Drafthouse) has compiled a colorful scrapbook of genuine characters in contrast to the current events survey, educational seminar or social-issue forum that defines many documentary series. Gip (June 11) is a profile of an Alabama bluesman-gravedigger-juke joint owner, while Nat Bates for Mayor (world premiere, June 10 and 15) traces the race for Richmond's top office in 2014 through the titular controversial politician. Another local saga propels the world premiere of Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk (opening night, May 31), while one of local filmdom's gen-u-ine iconoclasts, Stephen Parr of Oddball Films, screens a two-hour mashup of Sonic Oddities (June 13) from his humongous personal collection.
The aforementioned Jamie Meltzer's wonderful 2003 doc, Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story (June 4), amasses the greatest collection of unique characters under one roof in the entire festival, for my money. This is a bonus screening of sorts, to celebrate the presentation of DocFest's Non-Fiction Vanguard Award to the gifted filmmaker and beloved Stanford prof at True Conviction the night before. (Full disclosure: This writer will interview Meltzer onstage after both films.) There are one or two people in Off the Charts you won't soon forget, which could be said about nearly every film in DocFest. That's one of the pleasures of scrapbooks.
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text:
Q: What is the difference between these two strcmp() functions in PHP? I'm having trouble understanding the difference between
A) return strcmp($digest, $signature) == 0;
and
B) return strcmp($digest, $signature);

A: Normally strcmp() returns -1, 0, or 1 if the first string is less than, equal to, or greater than the second respectively.  By comparing the result of that to 0 in
return strcmp($digest, $signature) == 0;

the result of strcmp() is turned to a boolean that only tests for equality rather than greater than/less than by comparison.  The function will return TRUE if the two strings are equal (strcmp() == 0), and FALSE otherwise, discarding the other greater/less than information.

A: The first one returns whether two strings are equal, while the second one returns whether two strings are not equal.

int strcmp ( string $str1 , string $str2 )
Returns < 0 if str1 is less than str2; > 0 if str1 is greater than str2, and 0 if they are equal.

A: A) will return true if two strings are equal, false otherwise
B) will return the result of strcmp
Note: Strcmp returns < 0 if str1 is less than str2; > 0 if str1 is greater than str2, and 0 if they are equal.


text:
Justia Dockets & Filings Sixth Circuit Michigan Eastern District Quisenberry v. Colvin Filing 32
Quisenberry v. Colvin
ORDER Adopting Report and Recommendation for 25 Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Carolyn W Colvin, 20 Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Kimberly Quisenberry, 27 Report and Recommendation, Signed by District Judge Marianne O. Battani. (KDoa)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION KIMBERLY QUISENBERRY, Plaintiff, v. CASE NO. 2:16-cv-11156 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, HON. MARIANNE O. BATTANI Defendant. _________________________________/ OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Before the Court is Plaintiff Kimberly Quisenberry's objections (Doc. 29) to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation ("R&R") (Doc. 27). Quisenberry filed an action seeking judicial review of a final decision of the Defendant Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("Commissioner") under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Each side filed a motion for summary judgment (Doc. 20; Doc. 25). The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Anthony Patti, who found that substantial evidence supported the Administrative Law Judge's ("ALJ") and the Commissioner's decision to deny benefits. (Doc. 27). For the reasons stated below, the Court ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's R&R; GRANTS Defendant's motion for summary judgment and DENIES Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. I. BACKGROUND Quisenberry filed the present action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), challenging the final decision of the Commissioner, who, after an initial hearing and two subsequent hearings upon remand, denied her applications for Disability Insurance Benefits ("DIB") and Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") under the Social Security Act. Quisenberry asserts that the Commissioner's decision is not based upon substantial evidence. (Doc. 20). The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Patti for determination of all nondispositive motions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and issuance of a Report and Recommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and (C). Each side filed a motion for summary judgment (Doc. 20; Doc. 25). Magistrate Judge Patti found that the Commissioner applied the correct legal standards and made findings of fact that were supported by substantial evidence in the record, and recommended that the Commissioner's motion for summary judgment be granted, that Quisenberry's motion for summary judgment be denied, and that the ALJ's decision be affirmed. (Doc. 27). II. STANDARD OF REVIEW A district court must conduct a de novo review of the parts of a Magistrate Judge's R&R to which a party objects. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The district court "may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate." Id. The requirement of de novo review "is a statutory recognition that Article III of the United States Constitution mandates that the judicial power of the United States be vested in judges with life tenure." United States v. Shami, 754 F.2d 670, 672 (6th Cir.1985). Accordingly, Congress enacted 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) to "insure[ ] that the district judge would be the final arbiter" of a matter referred to a magistrate judge. Flournoy v. Marshall, 842 F.2d 875, 878 (6th Cir.1987). The Court must affirm the Commissioner's conclusions so long as the Commissioner applied the correct legal standards and made findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence in the record. Walters v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 127 2 F.3d 525, 528 (6th Cir. 1997). Substantial evidence is evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate evidence in support a conclusion. Id. This means that administrative findings are not subject to reversal merely because substantial evidence exists in the record to support a different conclusion. The substantial evidence standard presupposes that there is a 'zone of choice' within which the [Commissioner] may proceed without interference from the courts. If the [administrative] decision is supported by substantial evidence, a reviewing court must affirm. Felisky v. Bowen, 35 F.3d 1027, 1035 (6th Cir. 1994) (citations omitted). The Sixth Circuit has further explained, "[i]f supported by substantial evidence, the Commissioner's decision must be affirmed, even if the reviewing court would decide the case differently and even if the claimant's position is also supported by substantial evidence. Linscomb v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 25 Fed.Appx. 264, 266 (6th Cir. 2001) (citations omitted). III. ANALYSIS Quisenberry raises three objections to the R&R. First, Quisenberry contends that the Magistrate Judge erred in agreeing with the ALJ's weighing the opinions of the various medical professionals who examined Plaintiff. Second, Quisenberry asserts that the Magistrate Judge erred in finding that the ALJ's RFC assessment was supported by substantial evidence. Finally, Quisenberry submits that the Magistrate Judge erred by determining that the ALJ's hypothetical to the Vocational Expert was supported by substantial evidence. 3 A. Medical Testimony With respect to the first objection, Plaintiff contends that the Magistrate Judge erred in concurring with the ALJ's determination to reject (or give only partial weight to) the opinions of six different doctors, Paul Haduck, D.O., Pamela Herringshaw, Ph.D., Ron Marshall, Ph.D., Aaron Anderson, D.O., Dawn Gventer, Psy.D., and Elaine Tripi, Ph.D. Because Plaintiff raises separate, though similar, objections regarding each doctor, the Court will discuss the objections separately below. Dr. Herringshaw. Plaintiff contends that the ALJ erred in giving "little weight" to the opinion of Dr. Herringshaw, including Dr. Herringshaw's conclusion that Plaintiff's "overall functioning seems marginal." The ALJ considered Dr. Herringshaw's opinion (R. 689, 694-95), and ultimately found it to be inconsistent with the record as a whole, "including the claimant's history of mental health treatment, the mental status examination findings of the claimant's treating and examining providers, and the claimant's reported activities of daily living." (R. at 695-96). Inconsistency with the record as a whole is a sufficient reason for rejecting the opinion of a treating physician. Price v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 342 F. App'x 172, 176 (6th Cir. 2009) (concluding that the ALJ properly rejected a treating physician opinion that was not supported by objective medical evidence). In reaching this conclusion, the ALJ relied on testimony that Plaintiff "[c]ooks a little . . . does do laundry . . . [and] does shop for groceries." (R. 718-719). While Plaintiff cites different testimony regarding her daily activities, administrative findings are not subject to reversal merely because substantial evidence exists in the record to support a different conclusion. Felisky, 35 F.3d at 1035. 4 Dr. Marshall. Plaintiff asserts that the ALJ gives insufficient weight to Dr. Marshall's opinion, especially Dr. Marshall's determination that Plaintiff had several "moderately limited" abilities. The Court finds that the ALJ's weighing of Dr. Marshall's opinion is supported by substantial evidence. In particular, the ALJ properly relied on Dr. Marshall's ultimate determination that Plaintiff retained "the ability to do rote tasks within medical limitations." (R. 421). Furthermore, notwithstanding Plaintiff's assertion that the ALJ disregarded Dr. Marshall's opinion regarding Plaintiff's "inability to maintain attention and concentration for extended periods of time," the RFC accounted for this concern, noting that Plaintiff was not capable of performing "jobs involving concentration." (R. 685). Dr. Tripi. Plaintiff contends that the ALJ erred by concluding that Dr. Tripi's conclusions were inconsistent with the record as a whole. In particular, Plaintiff objects to the ALJ's treatment of Dr. Tripi's IQ assessment of Plaintiff. However, while Plaintiff asserts that the ALJ found the IQ score "invalid," the ALJ's analysis was more nuanced, raising doubt regarding "whether [Plaintiff's] test scores could be considered a valid interpretation of her intellectual functioning." (R. 690). In addition, the ALJ noted that Dr. Tripi "improperly relied quite heavily on the claimant's subjective report of physical symptoms and limitations." In light of this analysis, the ALJ's determinations regarding Dr. Tripi are supported by substantial evidence. Dr. Anderson. Plaintiff asserts that the ALJ erred in giving only "partial weight" to Dr. Anderson's opinion, and by accepting without further investigation Dr. Anderson's determination that Plaintiff could lift/carry "up to ten pounds frequently (up to 1/3 [of an 8-hour workday])." With respect to the first point, Plaintiff contests the ALJ's decision to 5 discount Dr. Anderson's opinion to the extent that it was based upon Plaintiff's subjective complaints, which the ALJ had found to be less than credible. (R. 693). While Plaintiff urges that Dr. Anderson "did not opine that [P]laintiff was not a credible examinee," the credibility determination is under the purview of the ALJ. Rogers v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 486 F.3d 234, 241 (6th Cir. 2007). With respect to the second point, the ALJ had no cause to second-guess Dr. Anderson's determination that Plaintiff could "frequently" (as opposed to "occasionally") lift up to ten pounds. Moreover, the "frequently" language was not employed in the RFC, nor as part of the ALJ's hypothetical to the Vocational Expert. (R. 685, 725). Dr. Gventer. Plaintiff alleges that the ALJ lacked substantial evidence to give "little weight" to the opinion of Dr. Gventer, and that the ALJ "cherry picked" the evidence he chose to use to discount Dr. Gventer's assessment. Review of the ALJ's determination reveals that the ALJ carefully considered Dr. Gventer's opinion, and ultimately disregarded (i) the portions of Dr. Gventer's opinion that were internally inconsistent and (ii) conclusory, non-medical declarations (i.e., that Plaintiff's "depressed mood . . . will prevent work success"). (R. 690-94). The ALJ's weighing of Dr. Gventer's opinion is based on substantial evidence. Dr. Haduck. Plaintiff contends that the ALJ erred by giving Dr. Haduck's opinion "little weight" while declining to "cite to anything in Dr. Haduck's records, to show that he had even reviewed them." Although Plaintiff contends that the ALJ erred by insufficiently examining Dr. Haduck's records, Plaintiff acknowledges that such records were "somewhat illegible." (Doc. 29, p. 18). Less impressed by Dr. Haduck's penmanship, the ALJ found these records to be "largely illegible." (R. 695). Even in 6 light of Plaintiff's efforts to transcribe Dr. Haduck's notes (Doc. 29, pp. 18-19) the ALJ properly observed that Dr. Haduck's opinion "does not actually describe any specific functional limitations that would preclude the claimant from engaging in all work activity in perpetuity." (R. 695). Statements that a claimant is "disabled" or "unable to work," or the like, are not medical opinions but are administrative findings dispositive of a case, requiring familiarity with the Regulations and legal standards set forth therein. Buxton v. Halter, 246 F.3d 762, 773 (6th Cir. 2001) (the ALJ is "not bound by conclusory statements of doctor, particularly where they are unsupported by detailed objective criteria and documentation."). Accordingly, the ALJ's weighing of Dr. Haduck's opinion was supported by substantial evidence. B. "Bridge" between Record and RFC Assessment Next, Plaintiff contends that the Magistrate Judge erred in determining that the ALJ's RFC assessment was supported by substantial evidence. Plaintiff contends that the ALJ "completely substituted his own opinion for both physical and mental impairments, not using even one of the various doctors, who either examined, treated and/or reviewed plaintiff's medical records." (Doc. 29, p. 21). This Court has difficulty apprehending the logic of this objection, especially in light of the more than ten pages of explanation that follow the ALJ's RFC, including citation to the records of Dr. Herringshaw, Dr. Tripi, Dr. Gventer, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Marshall, Dr. Haduck. (R. 685-96). Accordingly, Plaintiffs assertion that the RFC is not supported by substantial evidence appears to be based on the contentions addressed above, i.e., that the ALJ failed to give appropriate weight to the medical testimony. For the reasons set forth above, the ALJ properly weighed the medical opinions, and 7 properly disregarded conclusory assertions that were inconsistent with the record as a whole. C. Hypothetical to Vocational Expert Finally, Plaintiff alleges that the ALJ's hypothetical posed to the Vocational Expert failed to accurately portray Plaintiff's limitations by omitting the moderate limitations assessed by Dr. Marshall. As addressed above, however, the ALJ accurately discounted the moderate limitations assessed by Dr. Marshall. In addition, because the hypothetical question posed to the vocational expert (R. 725) closely mirrors the ALJ's RFC determination, Plaintiff's essentially challenges the RFC itself, which as discussed above, was based upon substantial evidence. IV. CONCLUSION For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds that substantial evidence supports the Commissioner's decision to deny benefits. Thus, Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 20) is DENIED, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 25) is GRANTED, and the ALJ's decision is AFFIRMED. IT IS SO ORDERED. /s/ Marianne O. Battani___________ MARIANNE O. BATTANI UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE DATE: September 27, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned certifies that the foregoing Order was served upon counsel of record via the Court's ECF System to their respective email addresses or First Class U.S. mail to the non-ECF participants on September 27, 2017. s/ Kay Doaks Case Manager 8


For you will surely need your books upon a later day."
And then he wheezed and then he sneezed, and gave me such a look.
And he said, "Mark--ME--boy! Be careful of your book."
A very charming gentleman, indeed, he seemed to be.
For they who so forsake their books grow into gawky boys."
And he said, "Mark--ME--boy! Your book should be your friend."
On matters grave and weighty.
That moves, these days, to writing.
But I wouldn't be a baker if . . .
"The pesky varmints"--from his eyes.
The best days of your life," said he.
And, when they come, keep off the track.
Keep off, young codger, if you can."
Another fifty mile or so.
"Nigh all my life the track I've walked,"
He said.  I liked the way he talked.
"Young codger, shun the track," he said.
"Ay, once I was a little lad,"
Stripes on his apron and basket on arm.
He ate his lunch at breakfast time and said it didn't matter.
For he was fond of sugar things and living by himself.
And he sat all night beside it with his big--black--dog.
In my cap and uniform so very nice and neat.
But I wouldn't be a postman if . . .
The walking hurt my feet.
So I rode on to Burrumbeet.
Do bullocks mean when they say 'Moo'?"
So I rode on to Beetaloo.
As yonder plains, but not so flat."
So I rode on to Ballarat.
Without a nod, without a word.
Or seen a man so wise as I.
But I rode on to Gundagai.
"Just as you were when you rode out."
So I rode homeward, free of doubt.
(Hush) . . .  telling fairy tales.
quite easily, but it was too big.
home, and then he was miserable, like all empty houses.
country for a few days, mending people's pots and pans and kettles.
then the Little Red House was very sad indeed.
But the Little Red House wouldn't say a word.
Blue-gum. "And you look funny. You ought to see yourself!"
they seem to lose their manners."
"Forgive me," cried the Little Red House. "I didn't mean to be rude.
"I hope they aren't ill-treating you," said the Blue-gum.
"They are going to leave me!" sighed the Little Red House.
"And they are laughing quite happily, as if they were glad about it.
There's a nice thing for you!--Going to leave me, and laughing about it!"
"I always know," moaned the Little Red House. "I can't be mistaken.
was up. And then I heard him tell Emily Ann not to forget her umbrella.
"I know," sighed the Little Red House. "Don't think I'm ungrateful.
until they come back--just an empty house; and it makes me miserable.
How would YOU like to be an empty house?"
"Some day I might be," replied the Blue-gum, "if I don't grow too old.
There is some fine timber in me yet."
House, and Sym began to sing his Tinker's song.
"Kettles and pans! Kettles and pans!
The road or the river, where'er he way roam.
He roves for a living and rests where he can.
Then bring out your kettle! ho! kettle or pan!"
There's a nice thing for you!" said the Little Red House bitterly.
for his home, and I am just nothing!"
"Oh, that's only his way of putting it," answered the Blue-gum kindly.
"He doesn't really mean it, you know; he wants a change, that's all."
Blue-gum cheerfully, trying to change the subject.
Red House, laughing and talking; and Sym locked the door.
at the Little Red House.
too, looked back. "Why, you forgot to draw down the blinds," he said.
The Little Red House watched them go down the mountain.
white gate, round a turn, and the high scrub hid them.
"Cheer up!" said the big Blue-gum.
But the Little Red House couldn't say a word.
Presently the big Blue-gum groaned loudly.
"Oo! Ah! Ah! Golly!" groaned the Blue-gum in a strange voice.
"I beg your pardon? said the Little Red House.
but I hope it isn't so bad as you fear."
afraid it IS white-ants. I can feel the wretched little things nipping."
So they stood all through that day, saying very little to each other.
too busy thinking of his loneliness.
gathering all day, and we shall get it properly to-night."
will come to-night for certain. I know by the feel of the air."
be more miserable than I am."
"It's coming already," cried the Blue-gum, "and it's going to pour."
Then three more big drops fell--Plop! Plop! Plop!
"I have never in my life seen such big rain-drops," said the Blue-gum.
"I've lived on this mountain, tree and sapling, for--"
the matter with your face?" he cried. "You look awful."
"I'm crying!" sobbed the Little Red House. "That's all--just crying.
"Can't you see the tears?"
rain-water running off your window-sills."
because I'm cold and lonely and miserable."
into the great pool by the front door.
"Listen!" cried the Big Blue-gum. "Do you hear THAT?"
"That's wind," said the Blue-gum; "and a big wind, too."
quite big thumps one after another.
"What's that thumping?" asked the little House.
shall never hear from them again. It's very sad."
fall if you did fall?"
wind, and he might fall any way.
"Not on me!" cried the Little House.
The Blue-gum said that he didn't know; but he hoped not.
left but splinters and glass.
"Then don't! Please don't," yelled the Little Red House.
this way and that till he appeared to be fighting for his very life.
hurled them down the mountain in a cloud.
be, and I fear that my end has come."
are my roots giving way, one by one. I can't stand much more of this.
great tree appeared to be falling, falling, helplessly.
now. If that gives way we are both done for."
"Be brave! Oh, be brave!" shrieked the Little Red House.
again, away from the Little Red House.
that again, it is the end of me."
it could not blow down the big Blue-gum.
beyond the edge of the sky, and all became very calm and peaceful.
the evening didn't cheer him up one bit.
But as he was talking he fell fast asleep.
and clear out. That will just show you how very miserable he was.
Little Red House was smiling all over his face.
But the Little Red House didn't say a word. He just went on smiling.
Then the big Blue-gum began to get uneasy.
haven't lost your senses, have you?"
speck, which was certainly a little dog.
happily. "Sym and Emily Ann! And here comes our little dog."
suppose I'm getting old--over a hundred years, you know."
"Kettles and pans! Ho, kettles and pans!
Where's there a home like the tinkering man's?
Weary and hungry, my Emily Ann.
Then put on the kettle! Ho, put on the pan!"
as he watched them coming up the mountain.
Little House. He seems to be smiling."
"Of course he is smiling," answered Sym; "but he has a very dirty face."
under my skin yet, and he will have them all out in a couple of days.
"Well, I am glad," shouted the Little Red House. "Now we are ALL happy!"
made everyone else laugh with them.
Calling out, "Hot pies! Hot pies to sell!"
Lots and lots and lots of pies--more than you can tell.
Big, rich Pork-pies! Oh, the lovely smell!
But I wouldn't be a pieman if . . .
Hey, there!  Hoop-la! the circus is in town!
Have you seen the elephant?  Have you seen the clown?
Hoop-la!  Hoop-la! the circus is in town!
Hey, there!  Hoop-la!  Here's the circus troupe!
Hey!  Hey!  Hey!  Hey!  Here's the circus troupe!
What must Dobbin think of it--three upon his back?
And his manners--well, the less we say the better.
When I hear his cheery "Cheep"
And all birds of scanty inches.
Willie wagtail is a pleasant bird, and coy.
Are my very special friends, and bring me joy.
I love to hear you speak.
beginning to take on the most wonderful colours.
animal shapes in the clouds. The sky was almost as good as a Zoo.
he was almost certain he could see its legs moving.
that they were not playing him tricks.
mountain range which he could see away in the West.
seemed to be making straight for him.
and began to trot quietly up the hill toward him.
was certainly very curious, so he just stood still and waited.
anyone else would have been.
"What are you frightened of?" asked the white horse in a loud voice.
going to show it, so he just said, "Who's frightened?"
"Ah ha!" cried the white horse. "Very brave all at once, aren't you?
All the same, you're afraid to come near and stroke me."
"But I don't want to stroke you," said Neville.
"Who's frightened?" said Neville again.
shoulder. And at once he felt that he had been foolish to hold back.
silkiest. He felt that he could go on stroking it for hours.
on my back for a little ride?"
Neville ceased to stroke the white horse and drew back a little.
my back. Now then! One, two, three, and up you go!"
and leapt up astride of the white horse.
"I live just over there," said Neville, pointing towards his home.
the air toward the dying sunset, right away from home and dinner.
green fields and the white road, which now seemed like a mere thread.
out. He just sat tight and wondered what would happen next.
Horse had come to a halt at last.
wonder of it. He was inside the sunset.
walking-stick, and dressed from top to toe in golden-yellow clothes.
here? Don't you know this is private?"
Horse brought me, you know."
"Excuse me," said Neville, "but do you mind telling me who you are?"
head scene-shifter is down on me like a ton of bricks."
whispered, "Look out! Here's the head scene-shifter coming now."
look at the sunset from the bald hill.
"Certainly, sir," replied the little yellow man very humbly.
Then the man with the large ears noticed Neville for the first time.
He frowned darkly, and his big ears seemed to flap with annoyance.
"Who is this on our Cloud Horse?" he roared in his great angry voice.
the bald hill, if you don't mind, sir."
nonsense. You mind what I say and attend to your work."
"Round the world, of course," replied the little yellow man.
and I think that is very unkind."
minutes, and with the Cloud Horse to help you that's easily managed.
back with a beautiful blue flower in his hand.
mustn't, on any account, lose that flower until you get home again.
"Simple!" cried Neville. "Why I don't understand it at all."
"A few minutes!" gasped Neville.
from here you will come into broad daylight. That will be afternoon.
will not be late for dinner."
"But," began Neville, "I can't understand--"
"My time is valuable," said the wee yellow man, as he shook hands.
West at a most terrific pace.
who has ever done that yet.
earth, and was approaching the dawn.
suddenly that Neville almost fell off.
Neville had passed through the dawn and plunged into the night.
often the Cloud horse flew low, and then there was little to be seen.
sudden blaze of a great city told him that the land was beneath him.
The Cloud Horse flew very low now; and rapidly the darkness grew less.
sniffing about among the trees as though in search of him.
Neville began to think about jumping now, and he was rather nervous.
was a very pleasant sensation indeed.
The bald hill was beneath him as he came slowly down, down, down.
slowly towards the top of the bald hill.
suddenly, he seemed to forget everything.
was just beginning to twinkle.
and the wonderful journey and all the rest of it.
"Well, what a remarkable dream," said Neville, stretching his arms.
And, as he did so, the Sky Flower fell from his hand.
set off home to dinner, his little dog trotting at his heels.
"What a beautiful flower!" said Neville's mother when he got home.
"Where ever did you get it?"
of course, it couldn't possibly be a real piece."
hard to believe. So he said nothing, but ate a very good dinner.
thing. And so it is.
think that he has a good friend inside the sunset.
With pockets full of pennies which I'd make the people pay.
And when I saw the nice cool sea I'd shout "Hip, hip, hooray!"
But I wouldn't be a Tram-man if . . . .
I couldn't stop and play.
There lives an axeman that I know.
High on the hills, where the blue-gum grows.
There's a log to move and a branch to lop.
Back through the bracken, and off they hop.
While the echoes ring from the mountain-top.
And the sweet young grass by the logs they crop.
As down from the branches the twigs they drop.
There's never a pause and there's never a stop.
Seeking a joint for his butcher's shop.
And the chips fly out with a flip and a flop.
Darting to catch the grubs that drop.
Stand well back, there, before she comes!
Listen!  Listen!  She's creaking now!
Look, high up, at that trembling bough!
Look at her! Look at her! (Chip!      Chop!
That's the way the drovers go. But how do they come back?
Back across the saltbush from Never Never land.
Ma always says, "Why don't you come through Mr Donkin's land?
The footbridge track will bring you back." Ma doesn't understand.
So I set forth and travel north, and cross the fallen log.
And you can't say I stop to play if I just search a minute.
I go right on and reach the turn in front of Mrs Blizzard's.
And Ma would be annoyed with me if I came home all muddy.
Because it's great when I aim straight to hear the stone go "Plank!"
Except, perhaps, at Mr Knapp's, to swing upon his gate.
That Mr Jones at present owns and rents to Mr Craddock.
And then I face the corner place that's been so long to let.
It's very well for Ma to tell about my dawdling habits.
What would you do, suppose you knew the place was thick with rabbits?
I do not stay for half a day, as Ma declares I do.
No, not for more than half-an-hour--perhaps an hour--or two.
Then down the drop I run, slip-slop, where all the road is slithy.
And have to go quite close, you know, to Mr Horner's smithy.
And, I must say, learn more that way than doing sums and grammar.
And, if I do sometimes climb through, I do not mean to linger.
Though I did stay awhile the day Bill Homer burst his finger.
And watch Bill Horner swing the sledge and hit the anvil--Bing!
Both splendid chaps!) And then, perhaps, they let me blow the bellows.
Then off I run, and race like fun around by Duggan's Corner.
Except to stop, maybe, and drop a few old pebbles in it.
And you can't say I waste the day if I 'ust wait. . . a little.
And Mr Whittle sold me sweets (but not so very many).
And fish in tins, and tape, and pins. . . . And then a voice calls, "Jacky!"
"I'm coming, Ma.  I've been so far-around by Duggan's Corner.
I had to stay awhile to say 'Good day' to Mr Horner.
I could not go short-cuts, you know, because of bulls and dogs, Ma.
The creek, Ma? Why, it's very high! You don't call that a gutter?
Bill Horner chews tobacco, Ma. . . . I'd like some bread and butter."
Hey, there!  Listen awhile!  Listen awhile, and come.
Bim!  Boom!!  Out of the room!  Pick up your hat and fly!
Isn't it grand?  The band!  The band!  The band is marching by!
The slide-trombone is a joy alone, and the drummer!  He's a treat!
In his hand a billy and a swag upon his back.
And you will hardly believe it, but when Bessie shouted,"Shoo!"
He turned a double somersault and went quite blue.
As good as she or as he should be.
That's just about as good as you are.
Calling out, "Stand aside!" and asking leave of none.
And, when they asked to be let in, I'd say, "It can't be done."
But I wouldn't be a porter if. . .
The luggage weighed a ton.
Here a jump, here a thump, there a sudden turn.
Could eat a bun that weighs a ton. I'd like to try it, rather.
I want to know why roosters crow at dawning of the day.
Is it because they cannot think of something else to say?
Of any old, sunny old, silly old thing.
(Sing di-dum, wattle-gum, Narrabori Ned.
But the stockman stood there all forlorn.
(Sing, di-dum, wattle-gum, rally for a ride.
And the boundary rider got his gun.
And the stockman said, "Fat stock is low."
(Sing, di-dum, wattle-gum, Jerridiiii Joe.
For the work was done and the cheques were paid.
And the stockman said, "We're up a tree!"
(Sing, di-dum, wattle-gum, Johnny-cake for tea.
And the old book-keeper moped about.
But the stockman groaned, "it's bunk for all."
Hey for a backblock day!
And tall trees bending over.
Calling out, "Attention, please!" and "Must I speak in vain?"
But I wouldn't be a teacher if. . .
Is just the girl for me!  She's fat."
'Excuse me if I sit on you,' the cup said to the saucer.
'Oh, I'll stir him up directly,' said the spoon.
'Ah, you've taken too much tannin,' jeered the jug.
Me, looking out at me.
As I, out here, think I.
How many o's are there in Woolloomooloo?
Four for the l's, and that's plenty for them.
I'm sure the worms don't see the joke when Jacky digs them out.
Or lemon ice, or plain boiled rice, or long-division sums.
Calling out, "Next please!" and pocketing my tip.
All day I'd hear my scissors going, "Snip, Snip, Snip;"
While I shaved most carefully along the upper lip.
But I wouldn't be a barber if . . .
The razor was to slip.
I must begin to strip it."
They made the lumper stagger.
In his little pipe of clay.
Though he smokes it all day.
Him shmoke plenty too much baccy."
I detest the Carrion Crow!
Rubs my temper on the raw.
He's a demon, and a most degraded fowl.
While her husband is a gentleman of honour.
Shirks her duties for a lazy life of ease.
But a cross between a whimper and a wheeze.
Calling out, "Ship ahoy!" in manly tones and gruff.
I'd sniff and snifff the briny breeze and never get enough.
But I wouldn't be a sailor if . . .
Cackle and lay, cackle and lay!
How many eggs did you get to-day?
And only a little one out in the scrub.
Oh, I say!  Dumplings to-day.
I fear that the hens must be laying away.
And nearly two dozen right out in the scrub.
I think that the hens are beginning to lay.
As wide as it was deep.
A furlong from the track.
And said to him "Good day."
Could prevent himself from growing any thinner.
And home at night to stitch.
Says, "it's a hard world!"
And sniffs and drats the cold.
A weary world to roam.
In his highly praised campaign against the snakes.
Though he certainly is cheerful when he wakes.
And I will not leave the candle.
And I'll have to speak to father.
If you're good I shall not tell, then.
Oh, a story?  Very well, then.
Had a very lovely daughter . . . .
You don't want a drink of water!
Go to sleep! There! There! Go to sleep.
But if I left it off someone would say it was not there.
Would I be big and strong like him, or just his small, sick son?
I wonder when our old white hen will know her squawk betrays her.
I think she lets us find her eggs just so that we shall praise her.
And diagrams to baulk the brain of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
And lino men, made "loony", go to psychopathic homes.
But I wouldn't be a publisher if . . . .
And so, Good Night. I'm rather tired.
When I arranged to write for you.
And now I need a little rest.
If you are pleased, why, that's all right.
Then he spluttered and he muttered and he loudly shouted "Fie!
To tear your books is wicked sir! and likewise all my eye!"
I don't know what he meant by that. He had such piercing eyes.
And, he said, "Mark--ME--boy! Books will make you wise."
This very charming gentleman said, "Hum," and "Hoity, Toit!
A book is not a building block, a cushion or a quoit.
Soil your books and spoil your books? Is that the thing to do?
Gammon, sir! and Spinach, sir! And Fiddle-faddle, too!"
He blinked so quick, and thumped his stick, then gave me such a stare.
And he said, "Mark--ME--boy! BOOKS--NEED--CARE!"


The Era of Magic (EoMa) is considered one of the best UMC addons ever created for the Battle for Wesnoth. Being in development since 2007, it contains 8 playable factions with fully animated units (230 total) and tons of special effects. The aim of the EoMa is to make the most visually appealing and nice to play UMC era. By playing this add-on you'll see the most outstanding special effects and attack animations ever created for the BfW game as well as lead many unique units with amazing abilities straight into battle!
Since 2.0 the Era of Magic has come with the Zombies Challenge multiplayer survival scenario.
This era is required to play To Lands Unknown (TLU) campaign.


Cute dog. Cute bird. Cute... talking spore?
A creator with guns... literally.
Messed up GIF... because it was originally a PNG.
Another sig... A paladin testing out his powers.
A sig of mine. Yo GM, do da dance!
Oh my.. I'd lov to be able to do that.


So here is the quick and easy steps to turning your old and drab folding chairs into new, fresh, and welcoming chairs.
After you gather all your supplies (I found mine at Wal-Mart and total cost per chair was only $4) grab the steel wool and put a little elbow grease into and get it as clean as you can. My chairs had some dried paint and lots of rust.
Once you have finished with the steel wool next grab your can of primer spray paint. Be sure to read all the labels on your spray paint and before you do any spray painting make sure you are in a well ventilated area.
So after I finished priming each chair I let them dry over night. The next day I grabbed my spray paint and started applying thin coats to the chairs. Each chair had several coats applied. Then the chairs were left again for a day.
The last day I picked out what stencil I wanted for each chair. My husband also helped by cutting a piece of construction paper so it wold cover the chair more and protect it from back splash.
With my husbands help we tried three different methods for applying the stencil. The first method with the pink chair we just applied the stencil to the chair and sprayed it. When we took the stencil off we still had a little spot of back splash. With a hot wet towel I was able to remove most of it.
The second chair we applied the stencil and instead of spraying the paint on we sponged it on. It did not work as well as we wanted since it bled through the stencil a little bit making the clear and clean lines form a stencil non existent.
The third time we re-tried the first method buy I held the stencil on tighter and my husband did short little bursts with the spray paint can. It worked much better as the stencil appears much more clean!


text:
Finance Committee on June 20th, 2019
Evidence of meeting #223 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was countries.
A video is available from Parliament.
Report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer on Tax Gap
MPs speaking
Wayne Easter
Kim Rudd
Tom Kmiec
Pierre-Luc Dusseault
Peter Fragiskatos
Pierre Poilievre
Francesco Sorbara
Peter Julian
Also speaking
Yves Giroux Parliamentary Budget Officer, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Govindadeva Bernier Financial Advisor-Analyst, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Mark Mahabir Director of Policy, Costing, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Pursuant to a motion at committee and Standing Order 108(2), the committee will study the report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer on the tax gap.
We have with us the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Mr. Giroux; Mr. Mahabir, Director of Policy; and Mr. Bernier, Financial Adviser and Analyst.
Just for your information, we only have until about 10 minutes to 12:00. A member of Parliament, Mr. Warawa, has passed away. There's going to be a tribute in the House at 12:00, so we'll have to be there for that. My apologies for cutting it short.
I believe, Mr. Giroux, you have an opening statement.
Yes. Good morning, Mr. Chair, vice-chairs and members of the committee. I don't know if I should say "Good morning" or "Good afternoon", but I'll stick with "Good morning".
Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today to discuss our latest report, "Preliminary Findings on International Taxation", which was published earlier today.
Today I'm joined by Mark Mahabir and Govindadeva Bernier, who will help in responding to your questions.
Our report presents PBO findings on international taxation. This report stems from the initial request of one of your colleagues in the other House, Senator Downe, in 2012. Following this request, PBO pursued its efforts to estimate the tax gap.
As you may know, the tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that would be paid if all tax obligations were fully met in all instances and the amount of tax that's actually collected by the tax administration authority.
Part of the tax gap can be attributed to unintentional actions, such as errors, ignorance of relevant tax rules, or inability to comply. It can also arise from intentional actions, such as tax evasion or failure to pay taxes. One part of the tax gap that is not often measured, because of the difficulty of estimating it properly, is that attributed to tax avoidance, which is legal but contravenes the objective and spirit of the law.
Our report examines financial flows between corporations in other countries and those in Canada. These flows and transactions can reduce taxable income in Canada by shifting income and profits to certain jurisdictions, thus reducing the amount of taxes paid by corporations in Canada.
The report provides the magnitude of financial flows and transactions involving jurisdictions that are offshore financial centres, but does not quantify the amount of taxes that could be collected if such practices of profit-shifting were no longer permitted. For example, in 2016 there was a net outflow of funds from Canada of $200 billion to offshore financial centres. Similarly, the total value of all revenue from and expenses to those same jurisdictions by Canadian corporations was $996 billion. If just a small proportion of such transfers and transactions were used to reduce taxable income in Canada, the amount of tax revenue that could be collected would be in the billions of dollars.
Finally, we also examined financial metrics for large multinational corporations with operations in Canada. For example, when total earnings before taxes and revenues were attributed to Canada, based on Canada's GDP relative to the GDPs of the countries in which those multinational companies operate, the attributed revenues and earnings were higher than those reported on Canadian tax returns by those corporations. This suggests that earnings reported in Canada are not commensurate with the economic activity of those corporations in Canada.
Mark, Govindadeva and I would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have regarding our preliminary findings on the international taxation report or other PBO analyses. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Giroux.
We will go to seven-minute rounds. If we stick to our time frame, we can do rounds of seven and five minutes, and one three-minute round after that.
Ms. Rudd.
June 20th, 2019 / 11:05 a.m.
Kim Rudd Liberal Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Thank you for coming. I know time is tight these days. We really appreciate your coming. I have two questions.
Certainly I and many of us have had the pleasure of reading a number of your reports, and your predictions are pretty accurate. The details in those reports help us make wise decisions. In your report, you talk about 2014 and the tax gap and the underground economy. The numbers tell one story.
I have two questions. I wonder if you could quickly just tell us how you see the underground economy now compared with where it was 20 years ago and in 2014, and where you see the challenges that lie ahead. I'll ask that first one, and then I'll quickly come back to the second one. Thank you.
Parliamentary Budget Officer, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Yves Giroux
Okay. I'll answer that first question quickly.
The scope of the report today was to look at international taxation of corporations. We did not look at the underground economy now or 20 years ago. That said, based on my previous experience when I was in the public service, the underground economy is inherently very difficult to measure—people don't want to be found, obviously—but with the advent of new technologies and the shift to more electronic payments as opposed to cash transactions, one can reasonably assume that the underground economy is not necessarily more prevalent than it was 20 years ago, for that very reason. You now see more and more businesses accepting electronic transactions only, and not cash anymore. You see that among individuals as well. It's not uncommon for acquaintances and friends of ours to have only plastic in their wallets.
For that reason, one would lean towards believing that the underground economy is not necessarily more prevalent, but we have not done any study on that. It's more of an intuition than based necessarily on hard evidence.
Thank you. I think airlines, as an example, have certainly gone to plastic and no cash.
Your office also made some projections tied to climate plans. You did confirm in your report that eight out of 10 Canadians are better off under our plan. I have two questions for you. Have you considered evaluating the Conservative pamphlet that came out yesterday? Have they asked, or are you thinking about putting some numbers to that for comparison's sake for Canadians?
We did indeed confirm in a report tabled in late April, if I'm not mistaken, that the government's plan to return the proceeds from the price on carbon would indeed benefit the vast majority of households. So 80% of households will be better off in the four provinces that are currently subject to the backstop.
With respect to the climate change plan unveiled yesterday by the Conservative leader, the Leader of the Opposition, we have obviously not had time to look at it closely. If the Conservative Party asks us to cost any of the components of that plan under our new mandate to cost electoral platform commitments, we would be happy to do so.
Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
Mr. Kmiec.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and also for shortening the meeting so that we can give our final statements at the passing of Mark Warawa.
Mr. Giroux, thank you very much for coming in. I know we've met many times before. You and your staff do great work, and I really appreciate all the effort that goes into it. In a fit of cross-party co-operation, though, I will pass my time to my NDP colleagues so they can ask questions.
Mr. Julian or Mr. Dusseault.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Chair, I first want to thank Mr. Giroux and his colleagues for their work.
I know that you've been working on this issue for several years and that, even though you had other data sources, it wasn't very easy to enlist the co-operation of the Canada Revenue Agency to access the data that you used to prepare this report.
My first question concerns electronic funds transfers. You addressed international electronic funds transfers and transactions between affiliates or related companies. However, from what I can see, for the European Union's black and grey list countries alone, electronic funds transfers total $628 billion.
Can you give us an idea of the countries on these lists and the value of the $628 billion in electronic funds transfers between Canada and these countries and between these countries and Canada in relation to the size of the countries' GDP?
For these detailed questions, I'll turn to Mr. Mahabir and Mr. Bernier, who can provide a list of these countries. I'd say that the scale of the electronic funds transfers to these countries is disproportionate to the economic activity in these countries or to Canada's economic ties with them. This suggests that the transactions are more than simply economic transactions for tangible property. These transfers are probably justified by tax matters.
With regard to the countries on the list, Mr. Bernier can give you some examples.
Thank you for your question, Mr. Dusseault.
We referred to the list established by the European Union in December 2017. The list is often updated. Countries are added, removed or moved from the black list to the grey list. Since most of our data predates the first list, we included all countries that were on the black list at some point. Although these countries have since improved some transparency practices, this wasn't necessarily the case at the time of the electronic funds transfers. At one point, up to 70 countries were on the list. I won't name them all here.
In May 2019, countries such as Belize, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Vanuatu and the United States Virgin Islands were on the black list. Bermuda, Barbados and Aruba have been on the list before. We often hear these names when we talk about tax havens.
As Mr. Giroux said, the $628 billion in electronic funds transfers to these countries or from these countries to Canada are disproportionate to the real economic activity of these countries.
The same is true for offshore financial centres, which are covered in the other part of your study on electronic funds transfers. There are sink and conduit financial centres. Perhaps it isn't necessary to go into detail. Three trillion dollars pass through these offshore financial centres. We rarely say "trillion dollars" in French, but the amount is more than a few billion dollars.
Can you provide a typical example of an offshore financial centre? How much money goes through these financial centres and what does this mean in terms of the country's economic activity?
I can put the amount in perspective: $3 trillion, or $3,000 billion, is more than Canada's GDP. These transaction or cash flows—some transactions occur more than once a year in various inflows and outflows of funds—are completely disproportionate to the economic activity of the country in question.
We looked at countries such as Tonga, small islands in the Pacific with a tiny GDP. However, the value of transaction flows between Canada and Tonga is several times higher than Tonga's GDP. No economic reason or transaction in property or services can justify flows of this magnitude from Canada to Tonga or from Tonga to Canada. It's completely disproportionate, given Tonga's GDP and the transactions in tangible property or services that occur there.
Clearly, this is purely for financial or tax reasons. There may be legitimate financial reasons, such as better interest rates or a more secure banking system, but I highly doubt this. I think that, aside from these legitimate reasons, few reasons justify transferring so much money to such a small country, other than tax reasons.
Exactly. This is the result of the globalization of our economy and the fact that, with the emergence of the Internet, transactions to these financial centres take milliseconds to complete. The funds then move on to other countries, which become hubs of financial flows. The funds only pass through these countries for tax or financial reasons, as you just said.
The other finding—
Pierre, because Tom gave you their time, there were 14 minutes between the two of you. When you want to switch off and go to Mr. Julian, do so. You're at seven minutes now.
The other part of this study concerns transactions between companies. These tables basically show that several countries considered tax havens are among the top 10 in terms of offshore transactions with Canadian companies that have affiliates or related companies that don't deal at arm's length. The United States is in first place. This won't surprise anyone, since the United States is our closest neighbour. Canada's trade with the United States is substantial and often valid and proper.
Luxembourg, a European country, is in second place. What is Luxembourg's economy or GDP? How can we justify the fact that this country ranks second in terms of the number of transactions conducted by Canadian companies abroad? Is it because Luxembourg's economy is growing? Is it because many oil wells are drilled in the country and there's an extraordinary amount of economic activity?
I'm not familiar with Luxembourg's oil activity, but I highly doubt it. I know that the country has had coal mines. To give you an idea of the scale, let's say that Luxembourg's population roughly aligns with the city of Gatineau's population, or with the slightly larger populations of Laval or Longueuil. The territory is quite small. While the economy is in fact booming, the population is small. Luxembourg is probably one of the richest countries in the world, per capita. However, this isn't necessarily the result of booming tangible economic activity.
I suspect that many transactions to and from this country are taking place because of a well-known fact. Luxembourg is often referred to as a "country of post office boxes." Companies have addresses that consist of an office shared by several companies or that are limited to a single post office box. This situation is very common because Luxembourg is a tax-friendly country. That's the justification.
Mr. Mahabir can elaborate on this topic.
As Yves said, there are a lot of holding companies in Luxembourg. There are also no withholding taxes on royalty payments and dividend payments. That's one of the reasons why we're having a lot of transactions with that jurisdiction.
The first on the list of the top 10 countries is Luxembourg, whose population is the size of the city of Gatineau, but whose reportable transactions amount to $236.7 billion. There's also Switzerland, whose reportable transactions amount to $198.4 billion, and Ireland, which some people also consider a tax haven and whose reportable transactions amount to $172.4 billion. In Barbados, the reportable transactions amount to $48.2 billion, and in Bermuda they amount to $29.7 billion. The offshore transactions of these five countries on the top 10 list amount to about $685 billion. For the most part, the economies of these countries don't necessarily justify such a large flow of transactions.
Can you give us an idea of the situation in these five countries and the influence of double taxation agreements?
I don't know whether you focused on this issue in your study. I want to know whether the size of the transactions between Canada and these countries can be linked to the fact that we have double taxation agreements. These agreements may encourage the offshoring of profits, which can then be repatriated to Canada at a lower tax rate.
As part of the study, we didn't establish a causal link or correlation between the double taxation agreements with certain countries and the value of transactions reported on T106 slips in the case of transactions of related companies.
At first glance, it seems surprising that the value of transactions between related companies is higher in Barbados—given the size of its economy—than in Australia, which has a developed economy and fairly close ties with Canada. There are more transactions between Barbados and Canada than between Australia and Canada. The same is true for Bermuda, where the number of transactions is similar to the number in Australia. Bermuda is probably a very beautiful place to live and buy a second home. However, its economic activity doesn't even come close to Australia's economic activity.
Mr. Mahabir and Mr. Bernier may have more or, conversely, less information than I do on the relationship between tax treaties and transactions between related companies.
Developers (JSON)


text:
Cara Anna
Published: August 22, 2022, 4:53 AM
Updated: August 22, 2022, 10:32 AM
Tags: Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Raila Odinga
Kenya presidential vote loser files Supreme Court challenge
Published: August 22, 2022, 4:53 AM Updated: August 22, 2022, 10:32 AM
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Presidential candidate Raila Odinga, center, hands over the petition to the Supreme Court challenging the election results, accompanied by running mate Martha Karua, left, in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Kenya's losing presidential candidate Odinga filed the Supreme Court challenge to last week's election results Monday, starting the 14-day period in which the court must rule. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
NAIROBI – Kenya's losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga has filed a Supreme Court challenge to last week's election result, asserting that the process was marked by criminal subversion and seeking that the outcome be nullified and a new vote be ordered.
Odinga arrived to cheers Monday and helped to hoist boxes of material for the petition into place, starting the 14-day period in which the court must rule. At least two other petitions were filed by human rights figures.
Deputy President William Ruto was declared the winner of the close Aug. 9 election with almost 50.5% of votes. The peaceful election turned chaotic in the final minutes before the declaration when the electoral commission split and a majority of commissioners said they couldn't support the result.
The dissenting commissioners and the chairman have traded accusations of misconduct, extending the uncertainty in East Africa's most stable democracy. Until then, the election had been seen as the country's most transparent, with the commission posting more than 46,000 results forms online from polling stations for anyone to do the math themselves.
The petition filed by Odinga's team, seen by The Associated Press, names the electoral commission, its members and Ruto himself. It asserts "premeditated unlawful and criminal subversion of the integrity and constitutionality of the electoral process in order to assist and secure a fraudulent result."
The petition singles out commission chairman Wafula Chebukati, who declared Ruto the winner, asserting that he "set out to subvert the sovereign will of the people of Kenya and overthrow the constitutional order" by declaring results that had not been completely tallied and verified. Twenty-seven constituencies allegedly left out would have affected the outcome, the petition says.
The petition also alleges manipulation of some results forms and computer data and asserts that the actions made the difference in the close election in which Odinga received almost 49% of votes.
A lawyer working with Odinga, James Orengo, told journalists he has worked on several such petitions and "this one, I can assure you, is a bombshell" in its allegations of criminal conduct against the commission chair.
Odinga in brief comments after the filing alleged the existence of vague "corruption cartels" that he believes "are killing our hard-won democracy" and seeking to return Kenya to a one-party state. Odinga is famous for his years-long detention while fighting the one-party state in the 1980s under former President Daniel Arap Moi — the young Ruto's mentor.
This is the 77-year-old Odinga's fifth and likely final try at the presidency. His court challenge to the 2017 election — also overseen by Chebukati — led to the court overturning the result over irregularities, a first in Africa. He boycotted the new election, but his challenge led to reforms this time around.
President Uhuru Kenyatta backed former rival and longtime opposition leader Odinga against his own deputy, Ruto, with whom he bitterly fell out years ago. He still hasn't spoken publicly since he cast his vote. Kenyatta spokeswoman Kanze Dena didn't reply when asked when he might make a statement.