Research and Journal: Show Lo's album "Lover's Puzzle (Rashomon)"
Show Lo's album "Lover's Puzzle (Rashomon)"
Show "Xiao Zhu[Little Pig]" Lo's seventh solo album "Lover's Puzzle (Rashomon)" once again stands at the top of both G-music and 5-music charts, winning by a high percentile, 10 consecutive weeks at the #1 spot, just dominating! Show is in China from 3/29 to 4/1, holding large "Lover's Puzzle" autograph functions in Chengdu, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangdong. In previous interviews, Show expressed that there never seemed to be enough time spent in China, so he hoped that he'd be able to fill his "Wives/Fans" wishes of seeing him again soon. Today, Show held his "Lover's Puzzle" autograph session in Shenzhen, but it somehow caused a commotion, and was suddenly called off.
At 5:30 PM today, Show Lo was at Shenzhen Futian District center plaza holding his autograph session. There were lots of fans that held their "Lover's Puzzle" album in hand, waiting for their close interacting moment with Show. And as expected, Show carefully signed each album presented to him, and also talked to his fans and even shaking their hands. But something happened, and the organizers suddenly told Show and his fans that due to crowd control issues, the autograph session was going to be cut short, they also kicked out the fans who hadn't gotten an autograph yet out of the venue. This sudden action not only caused confusion and strong protests from fans, but made Show confused and extremely upset.
Show kept asking the organizers, "My fans bought my album, why won't you let me sign them, what are my fans going to do then? How could you do this?" But the organizers didn't respond to Show. Show was insistent and didn't want to leave the venue, and was finally dragged off the signing stage by the organizers. So as not to disappoint fans, he told his fans that he'll sign their albums at the hotel later that night, group by group. Show will also be holding an autograph session in Guangzhou for "Lover's Puzzle" tomorrow, and many fans are hoping and praying that the same kind incidents don't happen again.


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Google reveals political takedown requests are on the rise
By Kate Solomon 2012-06-18T14:19:00.169Z Internet
But rarely successful
Who Googles the Googlers?
Censorship is back in fashion as Google states that takedown requests from governments around the world are on the up.
In a trend that it describes as "troubling", Google notes that some government agencies have been asking it to "remove political content that users had posted".
Dorothy Chou, senior policy analyst at Google, explained that they had originally thought that these requests were anomalies, or even accidents. But no:
"This is the fifth data set that we've released. And just like every other time before, we've been asked to take down political speech," wrote Chou.
"It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect - Western democracies not typically associated with censorship."
She went on to list two examples - Spain and Poland - neither of whose requests were fulfilled.
The search engine began publishing its Transparency Report two years ago to publicly track removal requests and data requests from governments and rights holders as well as overall traffic to Google products.
The report also shows how often governments and courts around the world request user data - unsurprisingly, the US leads the charge in this arena, clocking up 6,321 requests, of which 93 per cent Google complied with.
Cricket World Cup 2019 live stream: how to watch the final online from anywhere
Best free iPad apps 2019: the top titles we've tried
AMD is beating Intel on performance, power and price for the first time in 20 years
MacBook 2019 release date, news and rumors
Cyberpunk 2077 will look just as good on PS5 and Project Scarlett as most PCs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Die Familie Ritter stellte in Frankfurt am Main seit der Reformation über sechs Generationen in direkter Linie von 1533 bis 1742 lutherische Prediger und prägte somit maßgeblich die Frankfurter Kirchengeschichte. Nachkommen der Familie kamen im 18. Jahrhundert nach Böhmen und wurden 1829 in Wien (Adelsbrief von 1830) als Ritter de Záhony in den ungarischen Adelsstand und 1869 als Freiherrn Ritter von Záhony in den österreichischen Freiherrnstand erhoben.

Lutherische Prediger in Frankfurt am Main
 Matthias Ritter der Ältere (* 1485; † 1536) war nach einer Familienüberlieferung mit Martin Luther befreundet und wurde vom Rat der Stadt Frankfurt 1533 als Prediger an die Hospitalkirche zum Heiligen Geist berufen. Zuvor war er längere Zeit Diakon in Eichtersheim gewesen. Er starb 1536 in Frankfurt am Main.
 Matthias Ritter der Jüngere (* 1526 in Eichtersheim; † 14. März 1588 in Frankfurt am Main) besuchte die Frankfurter Lateinschule bei Jakob Micyllus und studierte ab 1542 an der Universität Wittenberg bei Luther und Melanchthon. Nach einer Tätigkeit Hofmeister zweier Frankfurter Patriziersöhne und ausgiebigen Reisen durch Frankreich kehrte er 1552 nach Frankfurt zurück, zunächst als Hilfsprediger am Hospital und bei Taufen. Im April 1554 wurde er Prediger an der Katharinenkirche, später an der Barfüßerkirche, und führendes Mitglied des Predigerministeriums neben Hartmann Beyer. Ritter und Beyer sorgten dafür, dass sich in Frankfurt der scharf konfessionelle Kurs der Gnesiolutheraner gegen die kompromissbereiten Philippisten durchsetzte. Auf sein Betreiben verbot der Rat der Stadt 1561 den reformierten Gottesdienst in Frankfurt.
 Sebastian Ritter (* 29. Mai 1579; † 13. März 1609) lernte ähnlich wie sein Vater auf Reisen durch Frankreich die französische Sprache kennen. Nach seiner Rückkehr nach Frankfurt wurde er Prediger der 1585 von Casiodoro de Reina gegründeten Niederländischen Gemeinde Augsburger Konfession an der Weißfrauenkirche.
 Johann Balthasar Ritter (I.) (* 1606; † 10. August 1683) amtierte wie sein Vater als deutscher und französischer Prediger der niederländischen Gemeinde. Er war ein Zeitgenosse des bedeutenden Frankfurter Seniors Philipp Jakob Spener und trat nicht durch bedeutende eigene Leistungen hervor. Seine beiden Söhne,
 Johann Balthasar Ritter (II.) (* 3. April 1645; † 25. Februar 1719) und Lucas Sebastian Ritter (1648–1709) wurden ebenfalls Pfarrer. Johann Balthasar bekleidete zunächst in Paris eine Stelle, kehrte dann als Hilfsprediger seines Vaters nach Frankfurt zurück und übernahm nach dessen Tod seine Stelle. 1674 und 1702 überarbeitete er das in der niederländischen Gemeinde gebräuchliche Gesangbuch. Lucas Sebastian wurde Prediger in Straßburg.
 Johann Balthasar Ritter (III.) (* 27. Oktober 1674; † 3. Januar 1743) wurde 1703 Pfarrer in Niedererlenbach, ab 1705 Prediger in Frankfurt. Von 1732 bis kurz vor seinem Tod gehörte er dem Konsistorium an und war somit eines der angesehensten Mitglieder des Predigerministeriums. Sein Hauptwerk ist das 1726 erschienene Evangelische Denkmal der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, das erste kirchengeschichtliche Werk zur Reformation in Frankfurt. Während der erste Band den Zeitraum von der Reformation bis 1555 beschreibt, lag der zweite Band bis 1600 bei Ritters Tod nur als Manuskript vor. Sein Werk bildete später eine wichtige Grundlage der kirchengeschichtlichen Forschungen von Anton Kirchner und Hermann Dechent.

Mit Johann Balthasar Ritters Tod endete die ununterbrochene Linie der Frankfurter Geistlichen dieser Familie. Sein älterer Sohn, der gleichfalls Theologie studiert hatte, war bereits gestorben, während der jüngere Sohn einen anderen Beruf gewählt hatte.

Persönlichkeiten der Linie Ritter von Záhony

 Johann Christoph Ritter, Edler von Záhony (* 1782 in Frankfurt am Main; † 1838), Kaufmann und Industrieller
 Hektor Ritter von Záhony (* 1816; † 1878), Industrieller und Politiker
 Elvine de La Tour (* 1841; † 1916), geb. Freiin Ritter von Záhony, Stifterin
 Eugen Ritter von Záhony (* 1844; † 1919), Industrieller und Politiker
 Wilhelm Ritter von Záhony (* 1820; † 1885), Industrieller und Politiker
 Natalia Ritter von Záhony (* 1831; † 1895), Schriftstellerin (Pseudonym R. Enze), ⚭ I. 1850 mit Pietro Scarpa, Vorsitzenden der Handelskammer und Gründer der Metallindustrie als auch Inhaber einer Handelsfirma und Vizekonsul des Königreichs Dänemark in Rijeka; ⚭ II. 1863 Giovanni de Ciotta, der später Erster Bürgermeister von Rijeka wurde.

Freiherrliches Wappen
Schild geteilt; oben in Gold an dem linken Schildesrand gelehnt eine graue Wolke aus welcher ein schwarz bekleideter gebogener Arm ragend, in der Faust einen braunen, abwärts und schräglinks gerichteten Hirtenstab haltend; unten in Blau drei (2:1) sechsstrahlige goldene Sterne. – Über dem Schild drei gekrönte Helme über Freiherrenkrone: I. Zwischen offenem schwarzen Flug ein sechsstrahliger goldener Stern – Decken: schwarz-golden – II. ein geharnischter, vorwärts gekehrter Ritter wachsend, mit aufgeschlagenem Visier, in der Rechten den schwarzen Schaft eines unter silberner Lanzenspitze nach links abflatternden von Rot und Silber geteilten Banners haltend, die Linke in die Hüfte gestützt. – Decken: blau-golden – III. Zwischen offenem, beiderseits mit einem sechsstrahligen goldenen Stern belegten blauen Flug ein goldener Stern. – Decken: blau-golden – Schildhalter: Je ein goldener Greif. – Wahlspruch: Per rectam viam.

Literatur

 Eugen Ritter von Záhony: Chronik und Stammbaum der im Jahre 1829 in Österreich mit dem Prädikat "von Záhony" geadelten Familie Ritter aus Frankfurt a. M., Brünn 1915

Einzelnachweise

Christentum in Frankfurt am Main
Deutsche Familie
Geschichte der Religion (Frankfurt am Main)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hong Kong is one of the world's great food cities, with a palate-pleasing array of choices when it comes to restaurants. Here's a selection of what's on offer in some of the city's best foodie neighbourhoods.
Soho's Elgin Street and Staunton Street are lined with bars and restaurants. There are so many cuisines to choose from in this area, with a good selection of European restaurants, such as French, Italian and Mediterranean, along with hip Vietnamese and Chinese eateries. Olive has been a stalwart on the scene for years with its Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine, with a menu masterminded by celebrated international chef and author Greg Malouf.
Causeway Bay can sometimes be overlooked as a dining destination in favour of nearby Wan Chai or Soho, but it can definitely hold its own in the foodie stakes. Tainan A Dou Zai offers Taiwanese street food for something a bit different.
Sheung Wan is one of those neighbourhoods that has a cool, creative vibe – and this definitely applies to the restaurants in the area. There are all sorts of places tucked away in laneways and side streets. Grassroots Pantry has a cult following with its uber-healthy menu, which features organic, sustainable and plant-based dishes. Popular with vegetarians and vegans, it has a great kids' menu, too.
With the MTR now well established, the changing face of K-Town is evident in the number of new restaurants and cafes opening. West Australian craft beer brewer Little Creatures has joined the throng, establishing itself on New Praya. The large premises make it great for family dining, and the staff are very accommodating to kids.
Central is much more than a retail district; there are plenty of dining venues too. One of the newer offerings in the area is Gough's on Gough, this is the first restaurant in the world to be opened by upmarket British furniture brand Timothy Oulton. Not surprisingly, the décor is fantastic, and the food doesn't disappoint either, showcasing modern British dining to great effect.
Sai Ying Pun is having a moment. Its blend of old and new Hong Kong has seen it become one of the hippest districts in the city and a real foodie hotspot. The Hong Kong edition of Potato Head is always jampacked, testament to the great food and atmosphere.
Ignore the tourist-trap bars as there is a lot more to Wan Chai. It has pockets of excellent eateries on Ship Street, Star Street, Lee Tung Avenue and along Hennessy Road. Newcomer Madame Ching can be found in the hip Star Street quarter, and is a modern Chinese restaurant and roast house featuring dishes such as char siu and roast goose served in reimagined ways.
Stanley Plaza, Repulse Bay and Wong Chuk Hang have a solid selection of restaurant options. For a seriously good burger, try Beef & Liberty. You'll also find outlets in Wan Chai and Central, but the Stanley venue is great, with the option of sitting outside and watching the kids play in the square while you tuck in.
The TST area is a major drawcard for some of the biggest and best in the world (think Alain Ducasse, Gordon Ramsay, Nobu Matsuhisa and the like), and you will find something to please even the fussiest palate along the harbour. Celebrity chef Laurent Tourondel's BLT Steak offers world-class dining with a view of Victoria Harbour.
While technically a part of Central, LKF has grown into a spot that is just as likely to draw discerning foodies as late-night revellers. We love: Brickhouse, Lily & Bloom, Bread Street Kitchen, CÉ LA VI, Porterhouse by Laris, Jinjuu, Braza Churrascaria, Bistecca, Braza, Fang Fang.
This side of town is not generally thought of when planning a night out, but there are some great options if you want to head left of centre. Don't miss: Mr and Mrs Fox, Plat Du Jour, FEAST, Grand Cuisine Shanghai Kitchen, Shiro Sushi.
As far as hotel dining goes, Hong Kong has an unusually high number of Michelin-starred restaurants inside hotels – taking fine dining to a whole new level – as well as some of the city's favourites.
This article first appeared in Expat Living's CityGuide. Subscribe now so you never miss an issue.


Monika is a friend of mine whom I've met through an event photography a few years ago. I was so happy when Monika asked me to take part in her birthday celebration on 5 Apr 2014 at the Terminal City Club, Vancouver, B.C.
Monika is very special person and I got to know more about Monika through meeting and hearing speeches from her wonderful friends and family. In addition, I along with other guests really enjoyed watching the photo slideshow over the evening by Monika's beloved husband Byron. It sure took a lot of hard work putting so many great memories together over the years.
I wish you Monika have many wonderful birthdays to come, my friend xoxo!


In the Konso Region of southern Ethiopia, the struggle for clean, safe water is a daily reality for women and young girls.
The village of Jarso, like many of the others in the area, overlooks a vast valley stretching towards the Kenyan border. Yet the relative greenery of the region is deceptive. For the 13,000 people in Jarso, lack of rain in recent years has caused crops of maize, sorghum and haricot beans to fail.
At the center of this struggle to survive are the women and young girls whose responsibility it is to trek up to five hours a day to reach dry river beds, only to wait in long lines for scant resources. Uchiya Nallo, an eight-months-pregnant 29-year-old mother, spends half her day climbing a mountainside carrying more than 5 gallons (about 40 pounds) of water.
The correlation between the risk of maternal mortality for women in the developing world and access to safe water and sanitation is little understood. When water is gathered for drinking or washing, any contaminants or infectious agents can have a direct effect on maternal health. Infections and repeated worm infections from unsafe sanitation lead to other risks such as malnutrition, stunted growth and fatal obstructed labor. And the physical strain from carrying the water is itself dangerous, resulting in a higher risk of spinal injury, uterine prolapse, rheumatism hernia and spontaneous abortion.
In some respects, Ethiopia has made important strides toward the United Nations Millennium Goals of reducing maternal mortality. Today, just over half the population has access to water, nearly four times the number in 1990. Yet the country still has a long way to go: While a woman's lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 3800 in the developed world, in Ethiopia it is 1 in 67.
WaterAid, an international non-governmental organization, is one of the groups improving access to clean water among the world's poor, and has been working in Ethiopia since 1984. In the late afternoon light of May, villagers in Teshmale gather around a new water point constructed by the NGO. When the last of the technical difficulties has been solved, the tap is turned on and water gushes forth, first brown and then a pure, unclouded torrent.
It is the first time the children, long used to the dirty red water from the riverbeds, have seen clear water.
Mustafah Abdulaziz is a documentary photographer based in Berlin, Germany. His ongoing project, Water, exploring water issues around the world, has received grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, commissions from the United Nations and WaterAid.


Events Archive 2015 - Humanist Society of Victoria inc.
The Atheist Foundation of Australia is bringing Robin Ince's Happiness Through Science to Australia. Best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage with physicist Brian Cox, Robin's recent tours include the Uncaged Monkeys Tour with Simon Singh, Brian Cox and Ben Goldacre, and The Importance of Being Interested.
Featuring Australian Humanist of the Year presentation dinner (Saturday) and public lectures (Sunday).
This conference will focus on the challenges we face in a globalised world of different faiths and worldviews. How can we all live peacefully together and work towards solving the global challenges we face?
By tradition this end-of-year festive period is called Christmas. It is a time for get-togethers with family, friends, and work-mates; gift giving; for Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus and for retailers to hope we will go out and buy. The general mood is a mix of enjoyment, social bonding, over-indulgence and the likelihood of family squabbles.
This philosophical conference will be devoted to reconsidering the complex legacies of the European enlightenment: the realities of its history, and the vicissitudes of its contestation and receptions in the light of the events of the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries. Scholarly work in the history of 18th Century ideas calls into question postmodern images of the enlightenment as a single movement of thinkers characterised by a naïve, utopian rationalism closed to otherness or difference and the affective, playful and poetic dimensions of thought, sociability and experience in ways that would lead, in time, to the horrifying European catastrophes of world wars and total states. Works such as those by the keynote speakers Peter Anstey, Dennis Rasmussen, Karen Green and Genevieve Lloyd have explored the different strands of enlightenment thought and the importance of deistic, empiricist, sceptical, literary, democratic, and moral-sentimental (as well as rationalist and materialist) strands of the French and British enlightenments.


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Giants Kick Off Series Against Diamondbacks
By James Brady@jamesbradyisme Jul 22, 2010, 6:28pm PDT
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(Sports Network) - The San Francisco Giants are still fighting for the top spot in the National League West Division. An upcoming four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks could help with that quest.
The Giants, who are four games behind the NL West-leading San Diego Padres, will kick off a four-game set tonight in Phoenix and will try to rebound from last night's 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barry Zitosuffered the hard-luck loss in the finale of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine and was reached for both runs and six hits over 7 1/3 innings.
"I didn't have it the first three innings," Zito said. "Giving up the homer to [Casey] Blake was frustrating. I settled down after that."
Freddy Sanchez had two of San Francisco's five hits and Buster Posey extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games after going 1-for-4.
The Giants have still won 11 of their last 14 games, but need to work on their 11-21 ledger against division opponents.
Streaky Giants starter Matt Cain will handle pitching duties for the 20th time this season tonight and is just 7-8 with a 3.30 earned run average in 19 starts. After winning four straight starts over a month ago, Cain fell into a slump and went 0-4 with a 7.45 ERA in five starts from June 19-July 9.
Cain, however, bounced back in Saturday's 8-4 triumph over the visiting New York Mets by tossing seven innings of one-run ball and allowing four hits.
The right-hander is only 2-5 in 10 road starts this season, but shut out Arizona the last time he faced them on May 28. He went the distance in that game, which took place in San Francisco, and yielded one hit with nine strikeouts in improving to 5-4 with a 3.49 ERA in 15 career starts versus the D-Backs.
Cain owns two shutouts and three complete games this season.
Arizona enters this series with some added confidence after sweeping the visiting Mets in three games at Chase Field. It entered the series having lost four in a row, but bounced back in a huge way with a 13-2 win in the opener of the set. The D'Backs then won by a 3-2 score on Tuesday and are coming off last night's 4-3 victory in 14 innings.
Pinch-hitter Chris Snyder singled home Justin Upton for the game-winning run in the 14th frame, while Rusty Ryal ended 4-for-5 with a home run. Chris Young and Mark Reynolds also went deep for Arizona, which got three hits and a run scored from Upton.
Dan Haren started for Arizona and gave up three runs and six hits with eight strikeouts in six innings for the no-decision. The D'Backs had lost each of Haren's last six starts. Blaine Boyer got the win with two scoreless innings of relief.
"He threw well, but unfortunately we got into a deadlock there," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said of Haren. "He went as far as I would let him go."
The Diamondbacks, who are last in the NL West, will hand the ball to Rodrigo Lopez tonight, and he is 3-2 with a 4.40 ERA in his last five starts. He lost his most recent mound appearance in an 8-5 decision at San Diego on Saturday, as he permitted six runs and six hits over six innings.
Lopez, who has given up a total of 11 runs over his last three starts, fell to 5-8 with a 4.62 ERA in 19 total trips to the mound this season. He is 3-4 in 10 home starts and will face San Francisco for the second time in 2010. Lopez was reached for six runs and 10 hits in five innings of an 8-7 loss to the Giants back on May 20 and is 0-1 in three career starts versus San Francisco.
San Francisco leads the 2010 season series with Arizona by a slim 3-2 margin, but is 16-7 over the past 23 meetings between the two ballclubs.
Giants Pull Off Sweep In Extra Innings
Lincecum Looks Good And The Giants Get The Sweep


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Q: How to pass data from children to parent? I have a situation where i want to increment the parent value from the children.
parent comonent:
getInitialState :function(){
    return {counter:0}
},

render(){
    <CallChild value={this.state.counter}/>

Child Component:
       render(){ this.props.counter++;}
Any suggestions? Is it even possible to do something like this .

A: You can create method(which will change parent state) in parent component and call it in child like this
var CallChild = React.createClass({
  render(){
    return

{ this.props.value }

      <button onClick={ this.props.onClick }>+</button>

  }
});

var Parent = React.createClass({
  getInitialState: function() {
    return { counter: 0 }
  },

  handleIncrement: function () {
    this.setState({ counter: this.state.counter + 1 });
  },

  render(){
    return

      <CallChild onClick={ this.handleIncrement } value={this.state.counter} />

  }
});

Example

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Big Government: The Average Wait Time For Those Seeking Disability Pay Is Now 633 Days
From the Orange County Register:
...Under Social Security, about 150 million workers are insured not only for old age benefits, but in the event they suffer a serious injury or illness that prevents them from working before retirement age. Currently, 8.7 million disabled workers get an average of $1,172 a month — barely enough to live on.
But since 2010, Congress has squeezed the Social Security Administration's operating budget, resulting in an 11 percent cut when accounting for inflation. The effect: staff reductions, a quintupling of hold times for telephone assistance, and a backlog in claims processing that has reached an all-time high.
The agency has closed 65 of its field offices since 2010, including in Corona, Redlands and Barstow. Overall, California field staff is down 14 percent.
For claimants in the pipeline, the delays are "devastating," Lisa Ekman, an official with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, a coalition of some 100 nonprofits, told a Congressional hearing in September. "Some become homeless. Some declare bankruptcy. And some die."
Social Security officials counted 10,002 people who died in FY 2017 while waiting for a hearing. Many more, without income, grew sicker. ...
Labels: Government Healthcare
Disability Claims and Appeals Delay
On Dec. 16, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule amending the claims and appeals requirements for plans providing disability benefits. The final rule was scheduled to apply to claims that are filed on or after Jan. 1, 2018. However, on Nov. 24, 2017, DOL delayed the final rule for 90 days—until April 1, 2018.
The final rule provided disability claimants with protections that are similar, but not identical to, those under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for non-grandfathered group health plans. While not affecting the timing for responding to disability claims and appeals, the final rule provided further protections for disability claimants regarding conflicts of interest, the opportunity to respond to evidence, and the reasoning behind the benefit decision.
According to DOL, after the final rule was published, concerns were raised that its new requirements will impair workers' access to these benefits by driving up costs.
The delay in the effective date did not change the December 11, 2017 deadline for submitting comments, data and information to DOL regarding the merits of rescinding, modifying or retaining the final rule. DOL believes the 90 day delay allows it sufficient time to complete the comment solicitation process, perform a reexamination of the information and data submitted, and take appropriate next steps. DOL did not rule out a further extension if it received reliable data and information that reasonably supported assertions that the final rule will lead to unwarranted cost increases and related diminution in disability coverage benefits.
Sponsors of plans that provide benefits for disability, including retirement plans, should continue to monitor the status of the final rule. The final rule, and any modifications to the final rule, may require an update of not only internal procedures but also plans documents, summary plan descriptions as well as all forms and letters used in the claims and appeals process.
Our Legislative Alert provides more detail on the delay in the effective date of the final rule as well as the requirements of the final rule as currently constituted.
Are You Ready for Obamacare's Employer Penalties?
From Accounting Today:
The IRS has been sending signals since the summer that it will be enforcing the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate.
Those signals have culminated in the IRS starting the process of sending letters to businesses with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees—referred to as Applicable Large Employers, or ALEs—on what they owe for failing to comply with the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility mandate for IRS filings related to the 2015 tax year.
Letter 226J is the communication that provides the general procedures the IRS will use to propose and assess the ACA's employer shared responsibility payment, or ESRP. Click here to see the sample letter on the IRS website.
There have been reports of letters containing ACA penalties anywhere from the tens of thousands of dollars to nearly $6 million. Surely some are even higher. More are on the way.
CPAs need to move now to prepare their clients for the possibility that they will receive their own Letter 226J.
Letter 226J provides information on the individual employees who, for at least one month in the year, were full-time employees, were allowed a premium tax credit, and for whom the ALE did not qualify for an affordability safe harbor or other relief, as per instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C, Line 16. It also provides the indicator codes for the ALE, reported on lines 14 and 16, of each assessable full-time employee's Form 1095-C. ...
Sample IRS Letter 226J
Text of IRS Form 14764: ESRP Response (PDF)
Text of IRS Form 14765: Employee Premium Tax Credit (PTC) Listing (PDF)
Legislative Alert: IRS Issues Pay of Play Enforcement Guidance
IRS Questions and Answers
71% of California's Healthcare is Paid by Taxpayers
Obamacare achieved its goal. 71% of California's healthcare is now funded by taxpayers. It's hard to see how this reverses without some form of massive collapse or calamity.
Labels: California
A Sign of the Times - Most Want More Government
Average Rate Hikes in California
Yeah, that's sustainable. From California Healthline:
Molina Healthcare has the highest rate increase for 2018, at 44.7 percent. Valley Health Plan is lowest at 9.8 percent.
Blue Shield of California, the largest insurer in Covered California by enrollment, fell in between with an average hike of 22.8 percent. HMO giant Kaiser Permanente will charge 11.6 percent more on average next year. (Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)
Labels: Benefits, California
10 Ways Employees Can Make Themselves Ineligible for HSA Contributions
A great reminder during open enrollment season from HR Daily Advisor:
The Top 10 List
Without further delay, here is the Top 10 list of HSA disqualifications:
General-purpose health flexible savings account (FSA) or health reimbursement arrangement. This is among the most common disqualifications. It's not that the employee's employer allowed them in the general-purpose account, which reimburses any and all medical care expenses. These days employers will set up eligibility rules that only allow HSA-eligible employees in a limited purpose (dental, vision, preventive care only) or post-deductible health FSA or HRA (or a combination of the two). Instead, it is the employee's spouse or domestic partner who has a general-purpose health FSA that covers the employee. It does not matter if the employee's expenses are never reimbursed from the spouse's general-purpose health FSA. That coverage is a disqualifier.
Medicaid. Medicaid coverage is first-dollar medical coverage for low-income individuals. It is generally a payer of last resort, such that a low-paid new hire still might qualify for Medicaid and be eligible for employer-sponsored coverage. The HSA rules do not provide an exception for Medicaid.
Medicare. Medicare enrollment, not eligibility, disqualifies a person from HSA contributions, starting on the first of the month in which Medicare begins. Age-based, disability-based, and end-stage renal disease-based Medicare all make one HSA ineligible. One rule often catches retirees by surprise. If someone retires within 6 months after reaching age 65, Medicare enrollment is retroactively effective to the first day of the birthday month. This means several months of HSA contributions could be reclassified as HSA-ineligible months.
Indian Health Service (IHS) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) coverage. These two benefits have a lot in common when it comes to HSA eligibility. For one thing, IHS and VA coverage is based on your status (tribe membership and military service, respectively); they are not based on any type of election. Eligible individuals have this coverage whether they use it or not. Recognizing this fact, an individual can have either type of coverage and be HSA-eligible as long as they have not received care from IHS or received any VA benefits in the prior 3 months.
There are exceptions. For IHS benefits, if an individual receives dental, vision, or preventive care—even in the prior 3 months—he or she is still HSA-eligible.
TRICARE. This coverage pays benefits before the HDHP deductible is met and clearly makes one ineligible for HSA contributions. TRICARE coverage is available to active duty military personnel, including members of the Coast Guard, retired military veterans, their families, and survivors. TRICARE's effect on HSAs is especially important to communicate for employers that hire veterans in large numbers.
On-site medical clinics. This type of coverage is appealing to employers with large populations at one or more work locations. Time off can be minimized when the healthcare provider is on premises. However, clinics can jeopardize HSA eligibility, unless they do not provide significant benefits in the nature of medical care. The challenge is that the term has not been fully defined.
IRS confirmed that these services are insignificant for HSA eligibility purposes:
Antigen injections/allergy shots
Aspirin and other over-the-counter pain relievers
Medical care resulting from workplace accidents
On the other hand, a hospital charging less than fair market value for a wide range of medical services will be deemed to be operating an on-site clinic that makes its employees HSA-ineligible.Between those two ends of the spectrum is a gray area. The safe route is to charge participants in an HSA-eligible HDHP the fair market value (FMV) of services that are not included in the above list.
Telemedicine. This add-on service (also known as telehealth) has increased in popularity, particularly with employers in rural worksites where access to care may be limited. The standard telehealth offering is charged at simple copay and can be used for a lot of different medical treatments and diagnoses, including the issuance of prescription drugs. It is hard to argue that this is not a significant benefit in the nature of medical care, especially when telehealth is promoted as having a significant impact on medical plan costs.
Unfortunately, the IRS has not officially carved out a specific HSA exception for telehealth. So, the prevailing wisdom is to borrow some wood from a neighbor's wood pile, so to speak. That neighbor is the on-site medical clinic. As long as the telehealth benefit charges HSA participants FMV for its services, the benefit should allow for continued HSA eligibility. We have seen FMV estimates in the range of $40 to $50 per visit.
Mini-med coverage. Mini-med plans became popular with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual mandate that took effect in 2014. The idea was that employers with a good many part-time employees might want to provide some level of basic coverage that would be more affordable than what they could obtain on the health insurance marketplace. The IRS said that mini-med plans invariably do not mix with HSA eligibility, particularly if they provide fixed-amount payments for office visits, outpatient treatment, or ambulance use. Bottom line: mini-meds are not HDHPs, and an individual must have an HDHP to be HSA-eligible.
Incentivized HDHP coverage. Here is a riddle: when is an HDHP not an HDHP? The answer is when an employer can receive some type of incentive during the plan year that changes a fundamental characteristic of the HDHP. Here are two examples:
Wellness incentives. An employer offers a series of wellness incentives to participants in any of the medical plan options, including an HDHP. One incentive is a tobacco surcharge that adds to the employee contribution if an employee uses tobacco and does not satisfy the reasonable alternative standard. Another wellness incentive provides reduced cost-sharing (it could be in the form of a number of waived copayments or a deductible reduction) for completing several participatory wellness incentives.
Health insurance marketplace cost-sharing reductions. If someone enrolls in marketplace coverage, chances are they will qualify for some type of subsidy that eases the burden of out-of-pocket medical expenses. Based on household income, about five in six marketplace participants qualify for a premium reduction. There are no HSA issues there. However, about three in five marketplace participants also qualify for cost-sharing reductions.
In both cases, the adjustments to cost-sharing can result in either payment of medical care benefits before the deductible has been met or a decrease in deductible below the statutory minimum annual deductible ($1,350 (self-only)/$2,700 (family) in 2018).
Business travel accident (BTA) insurance. This is not among the "usual suspects" when it comes to making an individual ineligible for HSA contributions. That is because accident coverage is one of the listed benefits in the category of permitted coverage. A typical BTA policy will cover a certain amount of medical care expenses related to an accident while engaged in business travel. But beware: There are still policies that may provide additional medical coverage beyond what is accident-related, especially if the BTA policy is primarily designed for international travelers. If medical care is not tied to an accident, it is incompatible with HSA eligibility.
This could have been a Top 11 List. One disqualifier that did not make the cut is student health insurance. It typically provides coverage before the deductible is met. However, this is rarely a concern. Individuals who can be claimed as a tax dependent on someone else's tax return are already HSA-ineligible. ...
Provisions in the House Republicans' Tax Proposal Affecting Employee Benefits
From Nixon Peabody:
Provisions in the House Republicans' tax proposal affecting employee benefits, which generally would become effective January 1, 2018, include the following:
The provision allowing employers to provide employees up to $5,250 of tax-free educational assistance would be repealed, and such benefits would become taxable.
Qualified tuition reduction benefits provided by educational institutions to their employees and their employees' spouses and dependents would become taxable
Employer contributions to an Archer MSA would not be excluded from income.
The tax exclusion for certain employee achievement awards would be repealed and the value of such benefits would be taxable to the employee and deductible by the employer.
The exclusion for housing provided for the convenience of the employer and for employees of educational institutions would be limited and phased out for highly compensated individuals.
The tax exclusion for employer-provided dependent care assistance programs would be repealed.
The exclusion for employer-paid qualified moving expenses would be repealed.
Employees will be taxed on benefits provided under an employer- sponsored adoption assistance program.
The limits on employee pre-tax elective contributions to 401(k) plans would not change, but there would be a modest relaxation to some 401(k) plan rules. For example, employees taking hardship distributions would be permitted to continue making contributions to the plan. Additionally, hardship distributions could be made from employer contributions and investment earnings. Finally, employees whose plan terminates or who separate from employment while they have plan loans outstanding would have until the due date for filing their tax return for that year to contribute the loan balance to an IRA in order to avoid the loan being taxed as a distribution.
Frozen qualified defined benefit retirement plans would be given some relief to more easily pass nondiscrimination testing.
Labels: Benefits, CFOs, Compliance & Employment Law
Legislative Alert: IRS Pay or Play Enforcement Guidance
IRS Reverses Policy on Certifying Individual Mandate Compliance - No Response No Longer an Option
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently reversed a recent policy in how it monitors compliance with the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) individual mandate. For the upcoming 2018 filing season (filing 2017 tax returns):
The IRS will not accept electronically filed tax returns where the taxpayer does not certify whether the individual had health insurance for the year (as it did last year); and
Paper returns that do not certify compliance with the individual mandate may be suspended pending receipt of additional information, and any refunds due may be delayed.
The Individual Mandate
The ACA's individual mandate took effect in 2014. It requires most individuals to obtain acceptable health insurance coverage for themselves and their family members or pay a penalty.
The individual mandate is enforced each year on individual federal tax returns. Starting in 2015, individuals filing a tax return for the previous tax year indicated, by checking a box on their individual tax returns, which members of their family (including themselves) had health insurance coverage for the year (or qualified for an exemption from the individual mandate). Based on this information, the IRS will then assess a penalty for each nonexempt family member without coverage.
Previous Policy on "Silent Returns"
Effective Feb. 6, 2017, the IRS announced that it would not automatically reject individual tax returns that did not provide this health insurance coverage information for 2016 (known as "silent returns"). Instead, silent returns would still be accepted and processed by the IRS.
This enforcement policy was intended to reduce the burden on taxpayers, including those who are expecting a tax refund. The IRS noted that taxpayers filing silent returns could still receive follow-up questions and correspondence from the IRS at a future date.
Change in Enforcement Policy
The IRS recently reversed its previous enforcement policy on silent returns. As a result, the IRS will not accept any silent returns for the 2017 tax year that are filed electronically. In addition, any silent returns that are filed on paper may be suspended pending receipt of additional information, and any refunds due may be delayed.
Therefore, taxpayers should indicate on their 2017 tax returns whether they (and everyone in their family):
Had health coverage for the year;
Qualified for an exemption from the individual mandate; or
Will pay an individual mandate penalty.
The 2018 filing season will be the first time the IRS will not accept tax returns that omit this health coverage information. The IRS reiterated that taxpayers remain obligated to follow the law and pay what they may owe at the point of filing. According to the IRS, identifying omissions and requiring taxpayers to provide health coverage information at the point of filing makes it easier for the taxpayer to successfully file a tax return and minimizes related refund delays.
The move is likely to "set up a battle between Trump and a government agency headed by an Obama appointee, John Koskinen. According to CNBC, 'This hurts Trump's efforts to gut Obamacare, but still gives the White House the perfect opponent in the unpopular IRS.'"
GOP Releases New Tax Platform: More Class Warfare, More Redistribution & Greater Reliance on Fewer Americans to Foot the Bill
There certainly are some improvements in this plan but it really reminds me of the whole healthcare situation. It's been watered down immensely from what was originally promised as it is nowhere near a revolutionary cut. Instead, it does offer some quality cuts for folks making less than about $80,000 a year. But on the whole, our tax code will continue to be overly complicated and chock full of loopholes and nuances designed to pick some winners and losers while funneling far too much money through Washington D.C. Here is a smattering of some of the bad news from quality publications.
The dispiriting news is on the individual side. The House would double the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples. This would improve simplicity for millions, and it compensates for the bill's elimination of the personal exemption. But nearly half of American filers already owe no income taxes, and the larger deduction would make the federal fisc even more dependent on a smaller pool of taxpayers.
This is far better than the House bill's new "family credit," which increases the child credit to $1,600 from $1,000 in a forlorn attempt to appease the income redistributionists of the right like Senators Mike Lee and Marco Rubio. The credit would also offer an additional $300 for each parent and another $300 for each "non-child dependent." The credits would phase out for married couples at $230,000 of income. Does anyone think a mid-level manager at J.P. Morgan deserves a subsidy to raise children?
The House also gradually makes more of the $1,600 credit refundable. In other words, this will be a check in the mail for those who owe nothing in taxes, which discourages work. The family credits cost $640 billion over 10 years in lost revenue with zero growth payoff. To make up the difference, the House keeps the top personal rate at 39.6%, on top of the 3.8% ObamaCare surcharge that Republicans failed to repeal. This would become the fourth tax bracket and kick in at $1 million for couples—half that for individuals—with 12%, 25% and 35% brackets below.
This top rate is a surrender to Democratic class warriors, though Republicans also fear that President Trump would sandbag them. No Members want to vote for a lower top rate and then have Mr. Trump tweet that they're "mean," as he did on health care. This is where presidential flightiness and lack of principle have a policy cost. Ideological surrender also gets Republicans nothing politically as Democrats are still attacking the House plan as a sop to the rich....
The overall impact of the individual tax changes is little reform but more income redistribution. The long-term damage to the tax-cutting cause will also be considerable. Adding credits and deductions for individuals makes rate-cutting that much harder since the affluent pay the vast bulk of all income taxes. The divorce of "pass through" and personal income rates will also make it even harder to reduce individual tax rates below 39.6%—ever.
From Rand Paul via LifeZette:
"For the individuals, it's not as good as I would like. I would like to see every individual up and down get a lower rate, and particularly on the top part of the spectrum because the top part of the spectrum pays most of the taxes," Paul continued.
But the Democrats have been particularly effective in pushing the narrative that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans disadvantage poorer Americans, and many Republicans have found themselves convinced by portions of these emotional arguments, Paul suggested.
"We have to understand that the owners of our businesses — the people we work for — are richer than us. They pay more taxes," Paul said. "But if you lower their taxes, they will either buy stuff or hire more people. If you raise their taxes, it goes into the nonproductive economy, which is Washington, D.C., and it will be squandered."
"So really, even if rich people get a tax cut, we should all stand up and cheer because it means more jobs for us because you're leaving more money in the private sector," Paul continued. "So I'm one of the few that will stand up on TV and say everybody's taxes should go down, including the wealthy."
And The GOP's hidden 46% tax bracket from Politico:
House Republicans claim the tax plan they introduced Thursday keeps the top individual rate unchanged at 39.6 percent—the level at which it's been capped for much of the past quarter-century. But a little-noticed provision effectively creates a new band in which income is taxed at over 45 percent.
Thanks to a quirky proposed surcharge, Americans who earn more than $1 million in taxable income would trigger an extra 6 percent tax on the next $200,000 they earn—a complicated change that effectively creates a new, unannounced tax bracket of 45.6 percent.
It hasn't been advertised by Republicans, who have described their plan as maintaining the current top tax rate of 39.6 percent. And it goes against decades of GOP orthodoxy that raising taxes on the rich discourages work and reduces economic growth. Reached by phone, Steve Moore, a tax expert at The Heritage Foundation, said the surcharge was news to him. "I was just in a briefing with the White House on this," he said. "They didn't mention that. It seems kind of bizarre to me." ...
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Provisions in the House Republicans' Tax Proposal ...
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GOP Releases New Tax Platform: More Class Warfare,...


The vital issues around what constitutes human dignity were the subject of scrutiny at a conference held by London South Bank University (LSBU) in collaboration with the Natural History Museum last week.
Giving their perspectives on human dignity drawn from their respective disciplines, academics representing LSBU included Sonia Leeyou of Urban, Environment & Leisure Studies, Dr Nick Martin of Education Studies, Dr Anne Ridley of Psychology, Professor John Tayler of Social Sciences, plus Andy Unger and Professor Max Weaver of Law.
Issues discussed at the conference included justice, poverty, disability, homelessness and the trauma suffered by child victims obliged to give evidence in the courts.
Discussions explored shared and conflicting personal conceptions of human dignity and what the concept means and requires in terms of human rights.
Dr Margaret Clegg of the Natural History Museum gave a talk on evolutionary perspectives on human dignity, identifying the earliest evidence in the archaeological record of human caring and funeral rituals.
Andrew Puddephatt OBE, Executive Director of Global Partners Digital, concluded the conference by identifying the challenges facing human rights in the digital age – mass surveillance as the financial model for free online services, continuing advances in technology that capture the minutest details of our personal lives and the potential weaponisation of the internet.
Andy Unger of LSBU's School of Law and Social Science explained: "Our tentative conclusion was that there are many overlapping sources religious, philosophical, evolutionary and cultural that converge in a political expression of our shared values in fundamental human rights and our sense of human dignity."
The conference formed part of the 2014 Being Human Festival, organised by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.


My husband is the biggest cookie dough fan. He can go through a container of it in about 2-3 days. When I found Batter Up Cookie Dough, I knew that this would be a product that he would love to try. I was sent the mint chip dough, chocolate peanut butter dough, chocolate mocha chip dough, and the oatmeal raisin deluxe.
Right when I got this package, I opened up a few of the flavors to try (what? they looked so good!). My absolute favorite is definitely the oatmeal raisin deluxe. I did not know what would be in this dough and when I opened it up, I discovered tons of dried fruit all throughout. There are raisins, apricots, and cranberries. The dough is very delicious and tastes just like homemade.
Also, my husband really liked it too. He sampled a little bit of each one and really likes the chocolate peanut butter. These cookie doughs will make for lots of fun desserts for my hubby and I. I may bring some to work also for my staff. Thanks Batter Up!!
*Please note, this cookie dough should be cooked before eaten.
I like the packaging on this product. The picture is a reflection of how I feel sometimes in the kitchen!


Deciding the perfect color of curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage can be a challenge, so talk to your expert regarding which color and tone might look and feel perfect together with your face tone. Discuss with your specialist, and make sure you walk away with the cut you want. Color your hair will help even out the skin tone and increase your current appearance.
Even as it might appear as news to some, certain short hairstyles may suit specific skin tones much better than others. If you wish to get your good curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage, then you will need to figure out what your face shape prior to making the start to a fresh haircut.
Should you be that has a difficult time working out about short hairstyles you need, set up an appointment with a specialist to talk about your opportunities. You may not have to get your curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage then and there, but having the view of an expert can enable you to make your option.
Look for a good a professional to have awesome curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage. Knowing you have a professional you could confidence with your own hair, obtaining a excellent hairstyle becomes more easy. Do a little exploration and find a quality professional that's ready to be controlled by your ideas and effectively assess your want. It may price a bit more up-front, but you will save your bucks the future when you do not have to visit another person to fix a bad hairstyle.
No matter whether your own hair is coarse or fine, straight or curly, there exists a model or style for you available. When you are considering curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage to use, your own hair texture, structure, and face characteristic/shape must all thing in to your determination. It's beneficial to attempt to find out what style can look good on you.
Pick out short hairstyles that matches with your hair's texture. A great hairstyle should direct attention to what exactly you prefer about yourself since hair will come in a variety of models. Truly curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage maybe let you feel and look confident, comfortable and eye-catching, so make use of it to your benefit.
You need to experiment with your hair to check out what kind of curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage you prefer. Take a position facing a mirror and try several various types, or collapse your hair up to check what it could be like to possess shorter cut. Ultimately, you ought to get yourself a model that will make you look confident and satisfied, aside from whether it enhances your overall look. Your cut must certainly be depending on your personal preferences.
There are thousands of short hairstyles that can be simple to have a go with, search at pictures of someone with the same face shape as you. Take a look your facial shape on the web and search through photos of men and women with your facial shape. Think about what type of models the celebrities in these photographs have, and regardless of whether you would need that curly dark brown bob hairstyles with partial balayage.


If you have tried to webcast your games (or practices) you know just how difficult it can be to find and schedule a cameraman with high-quality gear. Pixellot takes all the work off your plate! Once installed, the Pixellot solution provides a fully automated sports production with exceptionally high quality at an incredibly low cost.
How does it work? Pixellot's patented technology, which includes a fully autonomous camera and patented software, covers the entire playing surface in a panoramic view. AI-based algorithms then produce an HD quality feed by automatically following the play. The output includes both the panoramic feed (which can be manipulated by players, coaches, and fans on their mobile device with standard gestures) and the HD feed.
Pixellot is broadcasting from 1,000 high schools around the country. Watch how high schools are broadcasting dozens of games every month without any human intervention.


Sets the Content-Type header. Sets the 'error' status (if passed) and optionally exits. If showing a feed, it will also send Last-Modified, ETag, and 304 status if needed.
// We're showing a feed, so WP is indeed the only thing that last changed.
if ( ( $client_last_modified && $client_etag ) ?
* Filters the HTTP headers before they're sent to the browser.
* @param WP       $this    Current WordPress environment instance.
// If Last-Modified is set to false, it should not be sent (no-cache situation).
* Fires once the requested HTTP headers for caching, content type, etc. have been sent.
* @param WP $this Current WordPress environment instance (passed by reference).
4.4.0 X-Pingback header is added conditionally after posts have been queried in handle_404().
Sets up all of the variables required by the WordPress environment.


How big should you build your new home? If you're unsure, here are some helpful thoughts on how to decide. And don't forget, Custom Builders Indianapolis can help you decide on the right additions.
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when determining the size of your home is how long you plan to live there. From there, you should consider your life goals and expectations you have for the duration of time.Here is a short list of things that will help you determine what size home to build.
Budget. Your budget, of course, is a large factor in this decision. Be sure to tell your builder your budget upfront so they are able to help you make informed decisions. After making a list of what you want in a custom home, you may find it's worth exceeding your budget a bit in order to get the exact home you envision (like including that walk-in closet you've always dreamed of). On the reverse, you may find you want to prioritize and make some eliminations and go with a bit smaller of a home in order to stay within your budget.
Family Size. Obviously, if you have a large family or plans to grow your family, you'll want to consider having a larger home. Can you imagine trying to share a bathroom with your spouse, 3 children, and mother-in-law? What about having to do laundry for a large family? Plan to build an amazing laundry room to make it easier to maintain continuous laundry. Also, keep in mind that even if you are at the place in your life where you're a family of 2 (and don't plan on growing) it's good to leave room for the unexpected.
Guests. For example, remember that time your cousin called and told you that she, her husband, two kids, and dog were going to visit in a week? It would have been nice to have had additional space to adequately accommodate everyone. You should also keep in mind how much you plan to entertain guests. Have you always wanted to be able to host family holiday gatherings, sports viewing parties, summer cookouts, etc.? Build big; make room for your guests!
Hobbies & Work. You may also want to consider a larger home so you can have that craft room, wood shop, music room, or office space you've always wanted. Think of your passions and what you spend the bulk of your time doing. How can your home allow you to manage and enjoy those things?Ask your builder about options!
Carrington Homes would love to talk to you about your vision for your custom home and what options are available to make your vision a reality!


Goal 1 = Help others: Have at most a 24-hour response turnaround to internal (from colleague) emails, typically achieving same day response.
Goal 2 = Help projects: Not to implicitly pass/miss an opportunity to have impact on electronic discussions around any project on the radar.
Not achieving goals 1 & 2 = Colleagues stop relying on you, drop you off conversations, don't see you as a contributing resource or someone that cares, you are perceived as someone with no peripheral vision. Note this is perfect if all you are doing is cruising at your job, trying to fly under the radar, with no ambitions of having impact beyond your absolute minimum 'day job'.
Don't: Receive or process all incoming emails in a single folder ('inbox' or 'unread mail').
This is actually possible if you receive a small number of emails (e.g. new to the job, not working at a company like Microsoft). Even so, with (your future) success at any level (company, community) comes large incoming email, so learn to deal with it.
With large volumes, it is best to let the system help you by doing some categorization and filtering on your behalf (instead of trying to do that in your head as you process the single folder). See later section on how to achieve this.
Don't: Leave emails as 'unread' (or worse: read them, then mark them as unread).
Often done by individuals who think they possess super powers ("I can mentally cache and distinguish between the emails I chose not to read, the ones that are actually new, and the ones I decided to revisit in the future; the fact that they all show up the same (bold = unread) does not confuse me"). Interactions with this super-powered individuals typically end up with them saying stuff like "I must have missed that email you are talking about (from 2 weeks ago)" or "I am a bit behind, so I haven't read your email, can you remind me".
TIP: The only place where you are "allowed" unread email is in your Deleted Items folder.
Don't: Interpret a read email as an email that has been processed.
Doing that, means you will always end up with fake unread email (that you have actually read, but haven't dealt with completely so you then marked it as unread) lurking between actual unread email.
Another side effect is reading the email and making a 'mental' note to action it, then leaving the email as read, so the only thing left to remind you to carry out the action is… you. You are not super human, you will forget.
This is a key distinction.
Reading (or even scanning) a new email, means you now know what needs to be done with it, in order for it to be truly considered processed. Truly processing an email is to, for example, write an email of your own (e.g. to reply or forward), or take a non-email related action (e.g. create calendar entry, do something on some website), or read it carefully to gain some knowledge (e.g. it had a spec as an attachment), or keep it around as reference etc. 'Reading' means that you know what to do, not that you have done it. An email that is read is an email that is triaged, not an email that is resolved.
Sometimes the thing that needs to be done based on receiving the email, you can (and want) to do immediately after reading the email. That is fine, you read the email and you processed it (typically when it takes no longer than X minutes, where X is your personal tolerance – mine is roughly 2 minutes). Other times, you decide that you don't want to spend X minutes at that moment, so after reading the email you need a quick system for "marking" the email as to be processed later (and you still leave it as 'read' in outlook). See later section for how.
Outlook email rules are very powerful and easy to configure.
Email is either personal or business related. Almost all personal email goes to my gmail account. The personal emails that end up on my work email account, go to a dedicated folder – that is achieved via a rule that looks at the email's 'From' field. For those that slip through, I use the new Outlook 2010 quick step of "Conversation To Folder" feature to let the slippage only occur once per conversation, and then update my rules.
The remaining external emails either come from my blog (rule on the subject line) or are unsolicited (rule on the domain name not being microsoft) and they are filed accordingly.
I may do a separate blog post on calendar management, but suffice to say it should be kept up to date. All invite requests end up in this folder, so that even if mail gets out of control, the calendar can stay under control (only 1 folder to check). I.e. so I can let the organizer know why I won't be attending their meeting (or that I will be). Note: This folder is the only one that shows the total number of items in it, instead of the total unread.
The only email that ends up here is email sent TO me and me only. Note that this is also the only email that shows up above the systray icon in the notification toast – all other emails cannot interrupt.
Email where I am on the TO line, but there are other recipients as well (on the TO or CC line).
Email where I am on the CC line. I need to read these, but nobody is expecting a response or action from me so they are not as urgent (and if they are and follow up with me, they'll receive a link to this).
Emails to aliases that are about projects that I directly work on (and I wasn't on the TO or CC line, of course). Test: these projects are in my commitments that I get measured on at the end of the year.
Emails to aliases that are about topics that I am interested in, but not that I formally own/contribute to. Test: if I unsubscribed from these aliases, nobody could rightfully complain.
Emails to aliases that I was added typically by an admin, e.g. broad emails to the floor/group/org/building/division/company that I am a member of.
"BCC" folder, which resides under "Z Mass"
Emails where I was not on the TO or the CC line explicitly and the alias it was sent to is not one I explicitly subscribed to (or I have been added to the BCC line, which I briefly touched on in another post).
When there are only a few quick minutes to catch up on email, read as much as possible from these folders, in this order: Invites, Inbox, ToMe++. Only when these folders are all read (remember that doesn't mean that each email in them has been fully dealt with), we can move on to the @XYZ and then the CC folders. Only when those are read we can go on to the remaining folders.
Note that the typical flow in the "Z Mass" subfolders is to scan subject lines and use the new Ctrl+Delete Outlook 2010 feature to ignore conversations.
WaitingFor – the email is informing of an intermediate status and 'promising' a future email update. Need to track.
SomedayMaybe – interesting but not important, non-urgent, non-time-bound information. I may want to spend part of one of my weekends reading it.
For all these 'next steps' use Outlook categories (right click on the email and assign category, or use shortcut key). Note that I also use category 'WaitingFor' for email that I send where I am expecting a response and need to track it.
Create a new search folder for each category (I dragged the search folders into my favorites at the top left of Outlook, above my inboxes). So after the activity of reading/triaging email in the normal folders (where the email arrived) is done, the result is a bunch of emails appearing in the search folders (configure them to show the total items, not the total unread items).
To actually process email (that takes more than 2 minutes to deal with) process the search folders, starting with ToReply and Action.
Spend short bursts of time (between meetings, during boring but mandatory meetings and, in general, 2-4 times a day) aiming to have no unread emails (and in the process deal with some emails that take less than 2 minutes).
Spend around 30 minutes at the end of each day processing most urgent items in search folders.
Spend as long as it takes each Friday (or even the weekend) ensuring there is no unnecessary email baggage carried forward to the following week.
Official Outlook help on: Create custom actions rules, Manage e-mail messages with rules, creating a search folder.
Video on ignoring conversations (Ctrl+Del).
Official blog post on Quick Steps and in particular the Move Conversation to folder.
If you've read "Getting Things Done" it is very obvious that my approach to email management is driven by GTD.
A very similar approach was described previously by ScottHa (also influenced by GTD), worth reading here. He also described how he sets up 2 outlook rules ('invites' and 'external') which I also use – worth reading that too.


text:
Home Money, Politics and Power The Emperor Trump
The Emperor Trump
by Todd Gitlin, Harold Meyerson
The Fool Who Plays The King
Todd Gitlin
As the UN General Assembly readied to vote on a resolution condemning the United States for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital (it passed, 128 to 9), Trump's Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, is reported by the Times to have written to the members of the General Assembly as follows:
"As you consider your vote, I want you to know that the president and U.S. take this vote personally."
Personally!
Nothing new, in one sense. Of course Donald Trump takes everything personally: a branded steak and a bottle of water, an Arnold Schwarzenegger rating, the height of a rival and the size of his rivals' genitals, the weight of a beauty contestant, a football player's posture, ad infinitum. But now, fancying that he has ascended to a truly royal realm, the Brander-in-Chief has gone yet one further: He is treating foreign policy as a personal plaything. It is back to the Shakespearean days when the king of France was known as "our cousin France." Then it was understood that nations were the personal properties of their rulers. In and of themselves, they constituted the public domain. They were the sole active agents of history, and everyone else was a subject—subject, ultimately, to their will. To insult a nation was to insult the monarch, and vice versa.
In 2005, when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not yet President of Turkey but only Prime Minister, the Turkish state made it a crime (Turkish Penal Code Article 301) to "insult Turkishness." Under this law, the novelist Orhan Pamuk, among many others, was prosecuted. Trump's desired world is one in which disagreeing with American foreign policy is insulting Americanness—which is insulting Trump—which is lèse-majesté. His majesty will not be trifled with. Who do the petty rulers of these little piss-ass countries think they are? Do they brand hotels? Are their names stamped onto the sides of beef?
Donald Trump ran to become CEO of America. He now holds himself to be, in his sole person, the American brand. He is the august Hirer and Firer. He is, as Garry Wills wonderfully put it, Big Rocket Man. He was elected to reign. Since January 20, 2017, there are no longer civil servants; they are his servants, to carry out his whims and tweet his praises. In command performances, Cabinet members assemble in the throne room to pay homage.
Welcome to the wide and wonderful world of His Excellency Donald Trump, Making America Royal Again.
About Those "No" Votes
Harold Meyerson
Nikki Haley's threat (about which Todd Gitlin writes above) that President Trump would "take personally" any "yes" votes on today's General Assembly motion to condemn the United States for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital apparently didn't move many nations to vote "no." While 128 nations, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan voted "yes," only nine nations opposed the measure. In addition to the U.S. and Israel, those "no" votes came from Guatemala, Honduras, Togo, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.
The last four, of course, are nations of mid-Pacific islands, all of which are existentially threatened by rising sea levels. Will Trump take their "no" votes as personally as he takes the "yesses?" Will they move him to embrace the climate change measures that might enable those nations to survive? Will he welcome refugees from those nations when their islands are washed away? As the answers to these questions are all resounding "no's," these imperiled isles will sadly find their "no's" have gone for naught.
Blog: TAPPED The Trump Administration
Todd Gitlin wrote about the Chicago events for the Ramparts Wallposter during the Democratic Convention, and later in his book 'The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage.' His novel 'The Opposition' will be published in 2021 by Guernica Editions.
Read more by Todd Gitlin
Harold Meyerson is editor at large of The American Prospect.
Read more by Harold Meyerson


With gas prices over $3 a gallon this summer, area farmers are doing what they can to ensure higher petroleum-based product costs do not cause a $2 or $3 increase in the price of a dozen ears of sweet corn.
Although growers who sell locally grown produce at roadside farm stands are unhappy about higher operating costs because of oil prices, they are also optimistic because weather has been much better than a year ago.
William G. �Kip� Graham, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office for Worcester County, said the impact of higher fuel prices on retail produce at farm stands may be difficult to see until crops are ready for sale.
�As always, adverse weather conditions may have an impact on prices as well,� he said, noting that as yet he was not aware of any major price increases in the early crops, such as strawberries.
Paul A. Petruzzi, owner of Petruzzi Farms on Route 9 in East Brookfield, said the price of sweet corn and other locally grown produce should not be significantly higher than it was last year.
Mr. Petruzzi predicted prices at his farm stand will be competitive with not only other local growers, but also supermarkets in North Brookfield and Spencer.
�Whatever my costs are, and yes, they have increased significantly because of the increases in oil prices, I control them. Everything I sell I grow right here on the farm, so that fact alone gives me some leverage,� the grower said.
�Unequivocally, item for item, whatever prices people find in the supermarkets, my price will be lower � and the produce will be fresher,� he added.
Still, Mr. Petruzzi said a dozen sweet corn at $5 wouldn�t surprise him, along with a corresponding increase in the price of other vegetables.
Mr. Morse said the Morse Farm Stand on North Woodstock Road is renowned for its sweet corn, which last year was $6 a dozen for all varieties except the new super-sweet Mirai at $7 a dozen.
He said he expects the prices to remain about the same, noting the weather at the start of this growing season has been much better than the past five years.
�If you have a long dry spell, you can always irrigate, but there�s no way to stop the rain,� Mr. Morse said.
�With higher gas prices this summer, people may stay closer to home, and that means more people coming to the farm stand. If they�re willing to make the trip � and I have customers who cross the Cape Cod Canal and drive from North Haven, Conn., for our corn � then the least I can do is make it worth their while,� he said.
Mr. Morse, like many of the region�s growers, puts the demands of his retail customers first and does minimal wholesale business.
�I�ve had my sweet corn taken to 38 different states and two foreign countries. With the retail demand still very strong, there�s no incentive to wholesale what we grow,� he said.
Mr. Morse said he�s cut back on fuel and has fine-tuned planting this year to curb costs.
Jeff Howe, of Howe Farm in New Braintree, said growers who ship products will have to price produce to pay the higher shipping costs. At the same time, he said, they are incurring much higher costs in fertilizer, made from petroleum products.
�The cost of fertilizer has more than doubled in the past couple of years, from $200 to $450 a ton. I�m cutting back on a few acres simply to help control our costs,� he said.
Mr. Howe said he�ll forgo wholesale sales this year if it means being able to keep prices close to what they were a year ago at the farm�s two farm stands.
�It will depend on market conditions, demand and the weather,� he said.


text:
Q: Synchronized counter does not count correctly For each creation of the object, I want it to be uniquely accessible by an identifier. I am using an incrementing static value to keep track of how many objects have been created, and every time a new one is constructed, I make its identifier equivalent to count + 1 (and increment the count). The problem I am encountering is that synchronization is not working. Here is a simplified version of the code:
public static final Hashtable MODULES = new Hashtable();
private static final Object countLock = new Object();
private static int count = 0;
private final String identifier;
private final String name;

public Class(String name) {
    this.identifier = String.valueOf(incrementCount());
    this.name = name;
    MODULES.put(identifier, name);
}

private static int incrementCount() {
     synchronized (countLock) {
        return ++count;
    }
}

Now when I test with this (unrealistically, admittedly, but to be sure that it works):
    for (int x = 0; x < 100; x++) {
        new Thread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                Class m = new Class("Name");
            }
        }).start();
    }
    System.out.println(Module.MODULES.size());

I get output anywhere from the 60's to 100. Obviously I don't want that sort of unreliability. Would a volatile field work here? (I have tried with the same results) I am not sure how to make sure every class object has a different identifier. Any solutions are welcome.
Note: I do not access to java.util.concurrent for implementation specific reasons.

A: Your lock is working fine but the problem is something different. You are initializing the each object through a new Thread. While the threads are running in background, the main thread, prints the count at moment. Put an appropriate delay in between, you will see the proper count.
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException{
    for (int x = 0; x < 100; x++) {
        new Thread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                Counter m = new Counter("Name");
            }
        }).start();
    }
    Thread.sleep(1000);//put a delay
    System.out.println(MODULES.size());
}

A: Try this:
 for (int x = 0; x < 100; x++) {
        new Thread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                Class m = new Class("Name");
            }
        }).start();
    }

    Thread.sleep(500);

    System.out.println(Module.MODULES.size());

A: You are printing the size of hashtable which is not synchronized.
add a synchronized statement before the statement MODULES.put(identifier, name);
synchronized (MODULES) {
        MODULES.put(identifier, name);
    }

it works for me.

A: Here is what I see as a problem in your code: The statement Class m = new Class("Name"); is in the run() function, and not in the constructor of Runnable's implementation in your code.
If I have to write a similar code, I would write it this way:
public class ModuleTest {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
    for (int x = 0; x < 100; x++) {
        new Thread(new Runnable() {
            {
                Module m = new Module("Name");
            }
            @Override
            public void run() {
                // do something
            }
        }).start();
    }
    System.out.println(Module.MODULES.size());
    }
}

Look at the placement of statement Module m = new Module("Name"); above. It is not in run() function, as run() is called when start() is called. That statement is between unnamed braces {} that is called during construction of the anonymous implementation of Runnable you have in your code.
And to complete the above code, here is the Module class:
import java.util.Hashtable;

public class Module {

    public static final Hashtable MODULES = new Hashtable();
    private static final Object countLock = new Object();
    private static int count = 0;
    private final String identifier;
    private final String name;

    public Module(String name) {
        this.identifier = String.valueOf(incrementCount());
        this.name = name;
        MODULES.put(identifier, name);
    }

    private synchronized static int incrementCount() {
            return ++count;
    }
}


text:
Aimee Stephens
After having presented as a man during her six years of employment with R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes in Detroit, Michigan, Aimee Stephens was fired in 2013 after she told the owner that she intended to transition from male to female and would represent herself and dress as a woman while at work. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued on her behalf, asserting that she was protected on the basis of her "sex" under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). The owner's primary defense was that employing Stephens as a woman violated his religious beliefs. A federal district court ruled in his favor; the Sixth Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's summary judgment and remanded the case with instructions to consider the merits of the EEOC's claim. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the owner's appeal on October 8, 2019, along with two gay discrimination cases; opposing counsel differing on whether "sex" in Title VII should include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Here are the Supreme Court cases about transgender issues that the court wouldn't take
Advocates of transgender rights have been trying to make their case at the Supreme Court for decades.
Were today's Supreme Court cases about LGBTQ people's right to work or right to live?
Aimee Stephens came out as a transgender woman and announced her decision to medically transition at the same time I was preparing for my own transition. That isn't our only similarity.
Will the conservative majority Supreme Court abandon Anthony Kennedy's support for equality?
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this week on whether the 55-year-old federal civil rights law extends job protections to LGBT and transgender workers nationwide.
How much we lose at the Supreme Court will depend on how much we ignore
If the court rules against LGBTQ rights, trans people who live outside of cities and states with inclusive nondiscrimination laws will need legal umbrellas. Here is one that some, though not all, might be able to use.
The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that gay discrimination should be legal
If an employer would fire both gay men and lesbians, the Trump administration says that's not discrimination, it's perfectly legal.
The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that trans discrimination should be legal
Their argument is that trans women aren't really women. The 54-page brief is just a riff on that.
The Trump administration is pressuring the EEOC to turn its back on LGBTQ workers
Trump wants the government to present a "united front" to the Supreme Court when it argues that it's legal to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
The Supreme Court is going to rule on LGBTQ job discrimination. This could end badly.
The Supreme Court announced that it will be hearing three cases about anti-LGBTQ discrimination this year in what could be a dramatic blow against LGBTQ discrimination protections. The three federal cases all involve questions about how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to LGBTQ people. Title VII bans discrimination on the […]
These 6 possible U.S. Supreme Court cases could determine the future of LGBTQ rights
There are cases on workplace discrimination, trans bathroom rights and (of course) gay wedding cake.
Why does the Trump administration want a ruling on gay cases before a trans case?
The Department of Justice said that it's perfectly legal to discriminate against transgender people… but it wants the court to say it's OK to discriminate against gay people first.


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This spacious room has magnificent views of Loch Linnhe and the Ardgour hills. This room also has a large comfortable double bed.
This Room looks on to the rear of the property and has all the same facilities as the other rooms.


If you have a date field on your report, you may have days missing on the report. Sometimes there may be a need to simply display the days that are missing so that the sequence is not interrupted.
There are ways of changing your database to include a lookup table to ensure that you get all days returned, but that could be a lot of work and you only need a simple way to display a space on the report for each missing date. If that's the case, then this blog post will help you create a Custom Function to display missing dates.
Please note that this function is helpful for display purposes and does not actually populate records that are missing. If you need to have missing dates populated on a report or missing from a Group, then you need to create a lookup table in your database that has all dates.
Now, to use the function on your report.
3) create a New Formula that will use the Custom Function.
If you want to display the missing dates from a single database date field, then you can create a formula with syntax similar to below, changing the Ship_Date to your date.
You will now have a details section that will show up when there are missing dates in the date sequence. In this new details section, a formula will display the missing dates.
If you are using this technique and you find that your report is missing dates at the end of the report, then when you create the New Formula that will use the Custom Function, use syntax similar to below. In this example, the dates will be filled out based on an "EndDate" parameter.
In the screenshot below, any of the dates created by the function have a rectangular border. The last set of dates that are circled, are created in conjunction with the formula syntax above.
Here is a sample report that shows the custom function being utilized with the second formula.
Excellent Example. I used this example and expanded it to print missing Times on a single Day's schedule of appointments. I added formulas to print times at the beginning and ending of the day. I would be happy to post those examples – not sure how or where to do that.
thanks Lyle. there's a couple of choices for posting the sample reports. and thanks for offering to do this as time sheets etc. are a popular topic. i would recommend that you create a blog post featuring your examples. you can then attach your reports to the blog post after changing the .rpt extension to .txt.
Is there a way to have the dates generate as their own respective entry?
hi Daniel, sure…please see the blog post here. several methods are mentioned here. you can use a command object to generate the data or a popular method is to use a look-up table in your db or even an excel spread sheet containing all of the required dates.
also, if you have a database that has Series Data functionality, then you can use series to generate the data. as an example using SAP HANA the following syntax using a series table will bring back any missing dates…the generated series G is joined (left join) to your measured data, W in this example.
I wanted to bring multiple missing dates but it is bringing only one missing dates.
also, you've got lines in your report so you may want to right click on each line and choose Format Line and select "Extend to bottom of section when printing".
p.s. if you have a look through my blogs on cr there are other methods where you can create date records for your report vs. this particula method which basically fills in a formula.
in your case you've got lines and perhaps other formatting features which may be difficult to deal with using the method above. however, if you actually create the date records then this won't be an issue. one such method is to create a lookup table for your database containing all dates and use this as the main table to drive your report. this table could also just be an excel file should you not have admin access to your database.
I am using view to bring the record in my report. is there any way to create the lookup for view. if yes than can you please write down the syntax ?
Thanks for your quick & valuable response. Jamie, my requirement is to build the whole report based on date so i am storing that date and want to use that date-variable to get weekday name, to check for leave, e.t.c but when i am using that variable it is displaying that "Bad Date format string".
I need to have a line after each dates.
Can you please help me to solve out this problem ?
have a look at my other blog posts on "missing dates", in particular this one here. it has links to a couple of others where you can decide what method to use.
as per the forum rules though please post any further questions into a new discussion.
one other method that's not there is to use Series Data in a Crystal Report Command object to create the data if your database supports that…this is written in your database's native language so you'll need to go to a forum on your particular database if you decide to do this. this particular method works in SAP HANA.
So my date field is called "service_date." Where does that go in your formula?
you can use syntax like the following in your formula…you just need to change 'yourTable' to match the name of the table that contains your service date field.
I tried that. I got an error saying a variable was expected there.
please see a report sample here. (link is only active for a while.) the green formula (which references the custom function) is where you use your database fields.
That's making sense. What if my first date in a range is one that I need to generate as well? What the formula look like then?
…or you may wish to look at other options as this is more or less a limited functionality(no pun intended) to display only the dates that are missing. many report developers also want to display other things on the report, have those values in a chart or cross-tab, have a separate details / record line, etc.
have a look at this blog post which also links to different options to create the actual dates themselves. this will provide a lot more functionality as your reports can have each date in a range and those dates will be actual records which can be used everywhere.
I've put the formula as showed by you into Crystal Report, however I am getting this msg at the 'datefield' and 'nextdatefield'.
hello Jeremy, sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
as a guess your formula which is calling the custom function is causing the error (again, just guessing) as it looks like your custom function is identical to the one i'm using too.
your formula should have syntax like the following, which uses the Ship Date field from the sample xtreme database.


People cannot learn mission removed from the context of mission. The same applies to leadership and ministry. Therefore the vast majority of the learning and training must take place in the organic context of the intern's workplace or mission setting. Furthermore different leadership styles will emerge from different mission contexts. Context is everything.
We try to place the intern in a position where they are 'at risk' or out of their comfort zone and therefore most inclined to learn. We then bring the learning to them when they need it most.
Action is the starting point for reflection and fundamental to the learning and discipling process. Mission cannot be learned in a classroom removed from the context. Real learning occurs primarily within an action-reflection element.
Relationships are the primary means of transferring leadership and influence and are indispensable in the training of missional leaders. Therefore weekly coaching sessions and monthly regional meetings form the backbone of the FORGE internship process.
A person cannot teach what they do not know and they cannot lead where they themselves will not go. We expose our interns only to leaders who have a direct and current experience at a cutting edge mission, church plant, or ministry project.
People are not motivated by information alone. Real motivation arises when they connect with their basic passion and calling. Interns must be moved and inspired to act with passion for the Kingdom of God . Our training aims primarily at inspiration, not simply on new information.
Imagination is the basis of vision, innovation and creativity. Interns are stimulated to think in pioneering and innovative ways of engaging in mission and building Christian community.
Leadership is the key leverage area for change and mission. Our primary focus is developing and nurturing distinct leadership qualities and characteristics, and then on providing skills.
We believe that the church needs to recover the apostolic, prophetic and evangelistic modes to be an authentic missional church. Our training focuses primarily on developing these functions in relation to mission and leadership.
Growth of the intellect is essential to missional leadership development. If we are to meaningfully engage our cultural setting we must first understand and interpret it. This requires significant intellectual development and skills. However, we believe there are other ways beyond the system of the academy with which to develop an intellectual grasp of theology and ministry. We aim to engender a deep love of learning in all that we do.