Many infertile individuals do not seek out treatment or drop out of treatment owing to the psychological burden of infertility.
Camilla W. Rich, B.A., Alice D. Domar, Ph.D.
Health care professionals make the medical care of infertility patients a priority, with the goal of achieving a singleton pregnancy for each. Patients who never seek out care, who do not return for treatment after the diagnostic workup, or who drop out of treatment are rarely noticed. Yet this is the outcome for the majority of patients, and the primary reason after financial for treatment termination is the emotional aspect. Attending to the psychological needs of our patients must become a higher priority, to provide all patients true access to care.


Led by then-Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (center), demonstrators in Los Angeles sought and eventually won the passage of the California Dream Act. The 2011 law provides state financial aid for undocumented college students.
A campaign to allay undocumented students' anxieties produced a last-minute rush of applications for California Dream Act college grants and brought the total to slightly higher than last year's, officials said Friday.
For months, the numbers of applications had been badly lagging for the state-funded financial aid that low-income undocumented students can use for public and private colleges and universities in California. Administrators had attributed the decline to students' and families' fears that information on the application might be turned over to federal immigration authorities and used by the Trump administration to deport young people or their relatives.
However, with a flurry of media coverage, counseling efforts and high-profile messages from legislators in Sacramento, the number of Dream Act applications totaled 35,882 by the March 2 deadline, according to the California Student Aid Commission, which administers the aid. That is 5 percent, or 1,713 more, than last year. The number of new applicants, 13,155, were just nine below last year's while the renewals, 22,727, topped last year's by 1,762.
"We are thrilled, excited," said Lupita Cortez Alcalá, commission executive director.
She said that a lot of work by her staff, high schools, colleges, college readiness programs and immigrant assistance groups along with attention from the English and Spanish language media, starting with an initial EdSource article, helped push up the numbers in the last two weeks. The most important task, she said, was convincing potential applicants that personal data would not be shared with federal immigration authorities and that the state would fight to keep any of it from being handed over.
In an event last week at the state Capitol, Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside), who is chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, pleaded with students and their families to apply for the Dream Act grants by the March 2 deadline and pledged to protect the data as much as possible. "We will do everything in our power to protect them," he said of the so-called Dreamer students, young people brought to the United States illegally as children. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson had sent a letter to public school officials statewide and asked them to remind students and parents to file applications.
Last year, the application schedule for the Dream Act scholarships, like that for federal aid, was open for just two months, from Jan. 1 until March 2. During that time, the program received 34,169 applications for new grants and renewals, according to the commission. This year, the application period stretched five months, from Oct. 1 until March 2. But two weeks ago, just 20,097 Dreamer grant applications had been filed, alarming educators and Dreamers' advocates who then launched intensive efforts to garner applications.
An estimated 750,000 Dreamers across the nation were given temporary protection from deportation and allowed work permits under President Barack Obama's executive action known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). President Donald Trump has expressed sympathy for Dreamers, raising some hopes he will maintain some form of DACA. Still, California officials said the White House's other recent policies on immigration has raised anxieties among undocumented families about large-scale deportations.
Harvard College student Lisette Candia Diaz, who was at the top of her high school class until her senior year, when her dad lost his job and she began working at Burger King 35 hours a week to support her family.
The article also attests to the need for greater sources of financial aid, as California is doing with the Cal Grant program.


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President Trump Just Created A Voter Fraud Commission And It's A Total Sham
BY James Kosur	May 12, 2017
President Donald Trump has just launched a commission on "election integrity" and critics are already calling it a total sham.
The new commission was established by way of an executive order. The commissions sole purpose is to prove that Donald Trump's random statement about 3 million undocumented immigrants voting was true.
The group is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence. It is focused on proving voter fraud and voter suppression. Trump has promised that members of both major political parties would be involved in the commission.
"The president's committed to the thorough review of registration and voting issues in federal elections," White House principal deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Thursday. "And that's exactly what this commission is tasked with doing."
Several Democratic leaders on Thursday said Trump's commission was both unnecessary and an attempt to divert attention the oddly-timed termination of FBI Director James Comey.
Before Trump signed his order, New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman, D, said that "no matter how many times President Trump claims otherwise, voter fraud is an imaginary problem."
Schneiderman's own office conducted an extensive investigation into voter fraud in late 2016 and found no major cases to report.
Various studies have clearly shown that in-person voter fraud is incredibly rare. The National Association of Secretaries of State went so far as to say it was "not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump."
The White House said the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity will deliver its first report to President Trump in early 2018.
At no other time in U.S. history has a U.S. President who won the election spent so much taxpayer money in an attempt to satisfy his own ego's need to have won the popular vote.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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«Трагедія в трьох діях» () - роман англійської письменниці письменниці Агати Крісті про бельгійського детектива Еркюля Пуаро. Роман уперше був надрукований 1934 році у США.
Роман складається із трьох частин (дій): Підозра, Упевненість, Викриття.

У США роман виходив під назвою «Murder in Three Acts» («Вбивство в трьох діях»).

Сюжет
Актор Чарльз Картрайт запрошує до себе в бунгало «Вороняче гніздо» дванадцять чоловік. Під час вечірки раптово вмирає пастор Баббінгтон. При цьому був присутній Еркюль Пуаро. Сер Чарльз припускає, що Баббінгтона отруїли, але хто й навіщо? Аналіз його склянки показує, що в ньому не було нічого, крім коктейлю.

Через деякий час містер Саттерсвейт, який знаходився в Монте-Карло, читає в газеті, що сер Бартоломью Стрейндж був отруєний у себе в абатстві Мелфорт. На його вечірці були присутні ті ж люди за винятком його самого, сера Чарльза й Пуаро. Містер Саттерсвейт зустрічає в Монте-Карло Еркюля Пуаро й Чарльза Картрайта й показує їм газетну статтю. У склянці сера Бартолом'ю теж нічого не було виявлено.

Повернувшись в Англію, Чарльз Картрайт і містер Саттерсвейт вирішують розслідувати цю справу. До них приєднується Егг Літтон-Гор. Від полковника Джонсона (пізніше з'являється в романі "Різдво Еркюля Пуаро") вони довідаються, що у сера Бартолом'ю служив дворецький Елліс, який зник після смерті хазяїна. Говорять, що сер Бартоломью дивно весело ставився до дворецького. Знайти його так і не вдалося...

Діючі особи

 Еркюль Пуаро - Успішний і розумний детектив.
 Чарльз Картрайт - Відомий актор, власник "Воронячого гнізда".
 Містер Саттерсвайт - Допитлива людина середнього віку.
 Герміона Літтон-Гор - Молода дівчина, закохана в сера Чарльза. Одержала прізвисько Егг (яйце).

Див. також
 Агата Крісті
 Еркюль Пуаро

Посилання
 "Трагедія в трьох діях". Текст

Романи Агати Крісті
Книги за алфавітом
Романи 1935

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Sammy Merendino is an in-demand session drummer/programmer in NYC currently performing in the hit Broadway show "Pretty Woman the Musical". He has recorded and/or performed with many of the worlds top artists, including Cameo, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Foreigner, and many others.
Born in Akron Ohio, Sammy started playing drums at 12 years old, studying with the area's finest teachers. He quickly progressed and played in various bands, drum & bugle corps, and college orchestras. He was a member of Easy Street, one of Cleveland's top Bands. Even with this success he grew restless and wanted to expand. In 1980, a call from a friend inviting him to audition with Chubby Checker led him to New York City. He landed the gig and toured with the band for 18 months. After leaving in the summer of '82, Sammy focused on the NYC scene, becoming a fixture on Bleeker Street. A chance meeting with some musicians led to a recording session at Park South Studios, followed by an album with the Weather Girls. While in the studio, Larry Blackmon (of Cameo) heard Sammy's drum sound and invited him to play on their current album (Single Life). A European tour followed, then into the studio to record Word Up. The success of that album led to a short stint with Hall & Oates, then back into the session world, including albums with Pat Metheny, Ziggy Marley, Sophie B. Hawkins, Anita Baker, Joan Osborne, and others.
Sammy has spent extensive time as part of Cyndi Lauper's recording and touring band. Recent gigs have included Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Girls with Guitars (Lifetime Network), and 4th of July with the Boston Pops. Most of 2002 was spent on the road as opening act for the Cher Farewell Tour. Summer of 2003 was with Cyndi on a double bill with Meatloaf, followed by the recording of Cyndi's album At Last, tours through Europe and the U.S. in support of the album, as well as numerous television appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, GMA, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, and others. 2004 includes a new live DVD shot in NYC, as well as tours in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan. Sammy has also played on over 1000 commercials and television themes including Monday Night Football with Hank Williams Jr., Nightline, World News Tonight, and ABC Golf.
Currently residing in Harlem, Sammy's turn-of-the-century brownstone is home to a state of the art recording studio. The studio consists of Pro-tools DAW, Two-Inch 16 tracks Tape, vintage API and Neve pre-amps, EQ's, microphones, and compressors. Drums are always set up and mic'd - ready to go! Artists and producers can bring their hard drives and record straight to disc. A large collection of vintage drums - combined with modern electronics - allow for maximum flexibility and creativity.
Sammy currently endorses: Sonor Drums, Zildjian Cymbals Vic Firth Sticks, Evans Drumheads, Roland, Miktek, PureSound, Cympad, Factory Metal Percussion, DrumDial, Dangerous Music and Drum Wallet.
© 2015 Sammy Merendino. All Rights Reserved . Site Design by AC Media Services


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WWE RAW Review: 06/30/03
What a really, REALLY odd show, especially coming from out of the blue like this. I was busy as hell during the day yesterday, run to the point of exhaustion back and forth across town as we hurried to finish a brochure by 5PM, so I didn't get a chance to check out WWE.com's RAW Preview. As a result, it came as a big shock to me that, not only were they running a second straight week in the state of New York, but they were giving the Buffalo crowd a more packed card than even Madison Cube Garden got last week. With nothing to prepare me beforehand, I was dumbfounded as RAW sent out every one of their champions to defend the gold in front of an increasingly irritable and (dare I say) undeserving audience. In theory it's a nice idea; defend your belts prominently and frequently, simultaneously increasing interest in the weekly show and the champions themselves, as well as adding credibility to the World Champ and his reign on top. Unfortunately, Bischoff's "on the fly" changing of the rules went a long way towards confusing and disinteresting the live audience, while the endless run-ins and Dusty finishes pretty much dealt the killing blow on their own.
Chris Jericho kicked off the show, allowing his hair to find its way out of the ponytail for the first time in ages, and instantly reminding me of the Jericho of WCW. This segment started out interesting, with Chris trying his best to kick off a fresh feud, but quickly fell apart when he and Stacy started in with the blatant sexual references. In the end, Y2J came off as out of touch and lame, misusing one of Snoop Dogg's phrases and attempting to recover with a reference to how good he is "in the sack." Meanwhile, Stacey came off as brainless eye candy and Scott Steiner just stood around, flexed, and smiled. I'd love to see a feud between Steiner and Jericho, as it's one of the few matches we never got to see between their time in WCW and today, but this was as poor a launching point as I've ever seen.
The Goldberg / Storm segment isn't really worth mentioning here. I still haven't been given a reason to think Lance's new direction is any better than where he was before; jobbing whenever they needed a fresh face.
At the very least, Goldberg is out of his barracuda and nWo tights, and back in the ring with his original music. On that same hand, I had trouble differentiating from Goldberg and Mack as they fought briefly outside the ring. One's a bald guy who wears black trunks, black boots and black knee pads, and the other is a bald guy with slightly darker skin who wears black trunks, black boots and black knee pads. This wasn't as convincing a squash as we saw last week, and I'm wondering where they're going with Billy-Bo from here. They can't really feed him Mack and / or Storm every Monday, and the lineup of jobbers lining up to be slaughtered is growing slimmer by the day.
Kane is seen backstage, wearing what appears to be a small washcloth, or hand towel, and promptly refuses a rematch for the World Title. Seriously, why was the towel over his head so insanely small? Did they run out of leftover "Tazz 13" gift baskets? Is Kane's head just really, really big? I couldn't pay attention to this segment, I was just waaay too into checking out the big burned machine's head gear.
At first glance, I thought the women's battle royal was a great way to introduce audiences to Gail Kim's moveset, while at the same time protecting her from taking any awkward missteps in a straight-up singles match. I didn't expect her to walk away with the title, so that was a surprise, but not necessarily a good one. She's fresh blood in a division that's desperately needed it for ages, but she's also never been given a formal introduction and the fans don't know what to think of her. I wasn't impressed by her style, which I'd heard was spectacular, and I'm wondering if maybe they didn't make a mistake in placing the title around her waist after a single match. It's not too late for her to turn this around with a couple of great matches, but things aren't looking quite as bright for her now that we've seen her first match. Jazz looked to have been completely KO'd by that ugly kick to the face from Victoria, at which point the rest of the women in the match completely freaked the fuck out, and the rumble turned into a horrendous performance of miscommunication and poorly planned spots.
I thought the Christian / Booker T match was phenomenal, and the ending didn't get under my skin as much as it seems to have done with everybody else. Both guys came out of this looking like legitimate contenders, effectively raising their stock as singles athletes as well as pumping up an Intercontinental Title that desperately needs every bit of help it can get. I loved the brawl into the audience, though it left me wondering why somebody doesn't take the initiative and brawl all the way up to the nosebleed seats once in a while, and I thought it was a great way of immediately getting the crowd into the match. Sure enough, this was the hottest matchup of the night and neither guy let it go to waste. These two clicked from the outset in there, and gave us a nice, back and forth match that wasn't too heavy on signature maneuvers. Sure, we didn't get a definitive winner... but I wasn't expecting the title to change hands in the first place, and found this conclusion as a nice way to further the feud without giving either man the distinct advantage of going over cleanly. Best segment of the evening.
The show then went promptly down the toilet, with an uninspiring promo from RVD that showed he had no plans of seriously going in there and winning the World Title later in the night, and then a poor mixed tag match between Jericho / Test and Steiner / Stacy. Boring match, with Jericho managing to turn a couple nearfalls into something slightly entertaining, and a stupid finish. Yeah, I know, I had no problem with the finish of Booker / Christian, so I should've loved this one too, right? Nah, see, the ending of the previous match had nothing to do with altering the rules on the fly, a trick I've always disliked, and despite the lack of a distinct winner, that match felt like it was really going somewhere. This one should've ended five minutes earlier than it did, had no heat, and didn't result in anybody really moving forward OR backward. They all just kind of hovered there, on the border between ass and gold.
Rico's new schpeel was insanely funny to me last night, but in the manner that it's going to get really old, really fast. That was gay, in the same vein as the West Hollywood Blondes were gay. And when WWE is looking to late-late 90s WCW for ideas, you know things are in bad shape. What's the deal with these heel kisses on the cheek over the last couple of weeks? First La Resistance share an intimate moment, and now Rico's running around, pinching asses, kissin' opponents and dancing with refs. Bizarre.
They switched around Evolution's entrance package last week, and I'm not a fan. As I mentioned in last week's RRC, I thought the stable's pseudo-Reservoir Dogs video was nearly flawless, as it featured the three well dressed members slowly stalking down an empty street, completely in character. Apparently, that's been replaced by a "Girls Gone Wild"-style makeout session between the three guys and three select ladies. Not really what I'm tuning in to see. Every time I think WWE has finally done something great, they turn around and screw with it.
The bookers have created a monster; the "Boring" chant broke out loudly in the middle of the tag title match, as Spike Dudley was in control of a lagging series. You'd figure they would've learned their lesson from the "what," phenomenon, which plagued every promo for upwards of a year, and thought twice before introducing a phrase that could be used in a less than desireable fashion elsewhere in the show. That's like handing a loaded gun to a toddler and assuring them it was OK to use, so long as they felt appropriately threatened.
Do we have a reason to care about the Hurricane in the tag team title picture? Yeah, the live crowd didn't think so, either. Is it because he's an all-American hero? And he's... ah... angry, because the French wouldn't go to Iraq? Like we needed the help. But I'm rambling. Ding dong, the tag division is dead again.
I dozed off in the warm, soft embrace of my living room couch during a commercial, (hey, I said it was a long day) and woke up in time to see RVD escape from an Indian Deathlock, as the audience chanted for Triple H to "break his leg." Wha? Did I miss something? Closer examination reveals that they were just bored, as the ringside fans were much more interested in Flair's presence on the floor than they were the submissions demonstration in the ring. After escaping from Triple H's onslaught of leg-based submission holds, Van Dam then went completely out of his way to avoid selling the injury. Come ON, when's the last time you saw a guy's leg pounded into a pulp like that, only to watch as he calmly climbs to his feet and performs a couple back handsprings for good measure? Despite his past flaws, I've been a pretty strong supporter of RVD since his debut in WWE, but I've gotta call him on that.
Looked like we were through after a weak beltshot from Flair, but Eric Bischoff played God yet again, (this time a FACE God, as opposed to the heel god he was portraying earlier in the show) and ordered the match restarted. See my argument earlier on about how the reversal of the IC title change was OK, but the constant shifting of the rules was not. At least he was consistent, rather than turning a blind eye to the heel's actions. If you could somehow block off everything that went on before they hit the floor and the match became a no-DQ contest, this would've been a pretty hot match. The Van-Daminator on the floor, the ugly DDT on the entryway, the rolling thunder under the RAW sign, it all looked great when you overlooked the fact that RVD shouldn't have been able to walk, and that big poppa Eric shouldn't have been able to make such decisions on a whim.
Kane looked good batting cleanup, though that tiny towel had a death grip on his recently shaven head. The audience is interested, and I've gotta say the same, so that's a success on the most important part of his mission. That chokeslam Bisch took looked pretty nasty, though.
I've seen better episodes. I hated the endless bending of the rules, the nonsense matches and the nowhere gimmicks, but I liked the big-show feel, Kane's overdue character advancement and the Intercontinental Title match. Below average, though not by too much.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is poor and 10 is amazing...
Labels: chris jericho, Eric Bischoff, Kane, WWE RAW
I have nothing against the show we saw last night. There were a few segments I would've done differently, but on the whole I thought the show maintained its forward momentum, expanded characters and feuds, and grew a set of nuts by trying something different in the main event. Of course, sometimes growing cajones that big can be a bad thing, as they rub together and irritate the sack area hanging between them, but other times it can be a good thing. Many times, you can't even tell until a couple of weeks later. So that's what I'm going to do.
Christian's new entrance package is a nice step up from the rotting old combo he was using up until a couple weeks ago. It's got a real, faux-epic, Rock sort of feel to it that's perfect for what he's trying to do. And the music isn't that slow, monotonous, droning remix of his old "FINALLY ON HIS OWWWWN" theme from, like, 1962. Strong, short match, with a Stacey bump occurring during one of the rare moments I chose to blink my eyes. Give these guys a little longer, and MAYBE a little more in common with one another than face-face, heel-heel. They really need to blow off this Test / Steiner shin dig before Summerslam, cause them wheels ain't greased 'nuff to keep us interested much longer.
The Kane flashbacks were goofy, and a little out of place. I liked the premise they were flailing towards, building the main event throughout the show and refreshing fans' memories, but they could do to learn a lesson or two from Smackdown's use of the same tactic this past week. It works when portrayed as a sort of sports recap, a historical piece detailing the rivalry / legacy / underlying story, but it really doesn't work as a hokey, flashback-esque dilly like we saw last night. We're losing bits and pieces of "sports" and picking up more and more of "entertainment." Funny that they went out of their way to show Kane, maskless, with a full head of hair, as he ran to the back three weeks ago. Either somebody in the continuity department fucked up, or the red and black machine had a close encounter with a high-powered staple gun a few years back.
But, hey, it was great to hear that infamous Vince call "That's gotta... THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE." Mostly because my third floor dorm-mates and I adopted the phrase as our own, often spouting it at inappropriate moments in the months after Vinnie Mac first made the call.
Maven and Chris Nowinski are having another go at it, even after their last feud fall apart quickly once they actually got into the ring together. I guess the writers' solution to that problem was to send them in there with about forty five seconds to work with. Hey, so long as we don't start doing it every week, I don't have a problem with it. I like the idea of desensitizing audiences to finishing maneuvers as the only way to end a match, so we'll see where this leads. Teddy Long got a chuckle out of me, complaining that Maven held the tights at the end of the match, when the finishing maneuver was a bridged cradle. I think that's about as far from tights as your hands can get during a pinning predicament.
I'm still undecided about the whole turn of events with Lance Storm over the last couple weeks. On one hand, they're giving the guy more time of day than he had three weeks ago, which is always a good thing. On the other hand, they're teaching the fans to turn a blind eye toward the action in the ring, which is his strongest suit, and I've yet to see him treated as the superior athlete JR and Austin keep telling the viewing audience he is. The sad truth of the matter is that WCW sometimes did things better than WWE. Take Raven, Steiner, Malenko, Storm, Jericho and the entire cruiserweight division as proof of that. So, now that I've thought about it and gone on for about a paragraph, I guess I really do have an opinion on Storm's latest angle. Hm.
Put me in the same boat as Samir when it comes to the Dudley Boyz. These guys have been boring for a couple of months now, floating directionlessly and showing up whenever RAW needed a couple random faces to compete in a "spur of the moment" tag match. Time to spice things up, or ship 'em on over to Smackdown in my eyes. True to last week's form, this match did nothing to further Storm's storyline, as the guy got in maybe one or two kicks and punches from bell to bell, even taking the pinfall in the end. I'll maintain my position from a couple weeks back; get serious with the guy or send him to TNA, where he can do what he's best at.
I just finished up Freddie Blassie's book, where he details the history behind Nikolai Volkoff's singing of the Russian national anthem before each match, so it was coincidental and humorous to see the Frenchies busting out the same old angle this week for their own purposes. Maybe I just thought the segment was funny because I kept expecting the two of them to relive the "man with a tape recorder up his brother's nose" skit from an old episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I mean, it was the same music.
I didn't even have that major a problem with Slaughter's annual WWE appearance. I don't think anybody was suspending their disbelief far enough to imagine he'd be going over, so it was good for what it was; a guaranteed New York pop, with the veteran coming in to lend a little more heat to the tag champs and taking a pinfall through underhanded means.
Why did Austin come out, introduce the WrestleMania XX logo we saw in April, set off the pyro / music package, then completely disregard the thing for the rest of his promo? That was... weird.
I loved the Foley tribute, and found myself just as surprised as big Samir that it didn't end with a run-in or heel beatdown. Nice to see a genuine showing of respect from the fed to one of its old workhorses, as it was almost magical to watch Mick interact with the New York audience. That momentary handshake with Vince was also classic, classic stuff.
Unfortunately, that Kliq / Evolution tag was just atrocious. There were a couple glimmers of hope when Michaels and Orton were in the ring, putting on a halfway decent show, but then Nash stepped in and everything went to shit. I didn't really care about who won this match, so long as it wasn't Michaels pinning Flair, and sure enough...
That "Reservoir Dogs" style Evolution intro video is just sweet, though, and captures everything I like about the stable in one clean package. Thumbs up to whoever's behind that one.
Hey, way to kill Rodney Mack's whole gimmick. Twenty bucks says the look on Teddy Long's face after the match meant his stable's about to lose one member. Not that the guy was really keeping me awake at night, but I'd hoped they would have chosen somebody else to play the role of "triumphant white guy."
I liked the main event. A few powerful early exchanges, a slow progression towards the end of the match, a hot series of near falls and finishers, a wild crowd and a guaranteed big finish, thanks to the stipulations. I'm much happier with Triple H as champ than I would've been with Kane, (which says something) and though I'm not sure where they can take the scorched assassin's character from here, it's worth tuning in to find out. This was a difficult moment to pull off, and I think they were moderately successful, thanks in large part to the confused awe that swept over the audience after he revealed himself. The whole thing felt eerie, which is what they should've been shooting for. I'm interested in tuning in next week, so job number one is taken care of.
I liked the air that surrounded this broadcast. As Jay pointed out in his writeup, this felt like an almost PPV-calibur card, despite the problems I had with it. They built toward this match in this arena, and in my opinion it paid of, both for the fans in attendance and the audience watching at home. This is what they're going to need to do more of in the future, as they have less big PPVs to keep fans interested in the future. They're taking risks, and I don't always like the result, but that's a good sign nonetheless.
I liked just as much as I disliked. That says average to me.
Labels: Christian, Edge, Kane, triple h, WWE RAW
The World's Greatest WWE Bad Blood 2003 Preview
Things have been strange on RAW over the last month. Or maybe that's just the way I've seen it. I mean, everybody knew the brand-exclusive PPV was just over the horizon, so no matter what the WWE did, it would've been met with intense scrutiny. You had to know there would be folks out there who liked what they saw, folks who absolutely did not, and folks who weren't interested in a PPV without Chris Benoit. I, for one, was interested in seeing how they pulled things together with only half the potential players available, and I'll give them credit where it's due; they've done a pretty nice job of it. This is a solid card, with a handful of matches that could turn the corner and become something special, an obligatory set of fluff segments and a main event that indirectly involves Mick Foley's return to Hell in a Cell. I was unsure of the wisdom of launching this brand-exclusive thing last month, especially after both shows combined couldn't give us anything worth a shit at Judgment Day, but I'm glad they proved me wrong. This is a formula that really can work, but it's going to take a concentrated effort each and every time.
Dudley Boyz vs. Chris Nowinski & Rodney Mack w/Theodore Long
This is not a happy thing. They took one of the show's more promising angles, Mack's "White Boy Challenge", and forgot about it before it could really produce the overnight star it was built to create. Isn't the point of an angle like that to give someone a BIG push, immediately upon coming in? To give the fans somebody new to care about, with an initial feud already built into the package? Hell.. I guess I've harped about the death of this angle enough in the RAW Review. It's just... stupidity boggles the mind sometimes, gang. It boggles the mind.
The Dudleys mean dick to me right now. They've fallen into the sickeningly bland role they always seem to fall back into, regardless of their position as faces or heels. They're fresh, violent and interesting for a couple months after their turn, they get bored, and they become stale. Then the WWE turns them again, and we start the cycle over. I hope this match lasts about three minutes, ends with Lance Storm reuniting Team Canada with Mike Awesome and Elix Skipper, and involves the Canadians dominating the tag division for the next year. I'm beyond indifferent to all four guys involved with this match.
Winners: Mack and Nowinski
Test vs. Scott Steiner
Winner Gets Stacy Keibler
My interest in this one is pretty minimal. They've tried to get us interested in Scott Steiner again; not by giving his character dimension or by putting him in long, competitive matches that establish him as more than just a falling star with mutated arms, but instead by feeding him younger, healthier, more versatile wrestlers in a short series of squashes. Oh yeah, and they've given him a front row seat to Stacey's weekly peep show. Test is giving this run as a heel the old college try, but with somebody like Scotty as a foil, it's not really going to get him anywhere.
The match is going to be ugly, both because Steiner doesn't seem to care about the quality of his work anymore, and because Test isn't confident enough to take control of things and MAKE this a good fight. With Stacey at ringside, the audience will at least have something to look at, but I'm willing to bet their cheers don't coordinate with anything going on in the ring. The WWE machine seems to be placing itself squarely behind the tall blonde guy, which means it's curtains for the elder Steiner Sunday night.
Winner: Test
Kane & Rob Van Dam (c) vs. La Resistance
Oh, man. This one sure tripped on its way to the finish line, didn't it? I was anticipating this match before we even saw the Frenchmen in the ring, but they've been pretty uninspiring over the last month, and despite a great segment with Kane and Steve Austin, the champions have been really bland as well. This is going to be ugly, but if they're ever gonna pull the trigger on the Kane / RVD split and feud, this is the place to do it. Let's go with the Flying Frenchies, emerging as new tag champs, because there's nothing else we can do with RVD and the Retard as a team anyway.
Winners: La Resistance
Eric Bischoff vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Redneck Triathlon
ALL RIIIIGHT! Wooo hooooo! The WWE's making MY job really easy with this one, filling us in on all the information beforehand. We've got a segment that's promising NO physicality, NO pushing and shoving, and NO stunning or back-leg-front-kicking. What we've been promised is a retired wrestler and a former promoter with grand aspirations, smilin', laughin' and participating in two contests TBA, along with a "poontang pie-eating contest." Boy, there's some visual imagery I could've done without. I had my reservations about Bad Blood coming into this past week's RAW, but BOY... the promise of a couple minutes of Steve Austin licking some girl's cooch has made me a believer. I don't care about this match, as it promises to reek of the bad comedy that's been a WWE staple since the mid 80s.
Winner: ah... shit, I have to pick a winner? Bischoff
Christian (c) vs. Booker T
Intercontinental Championship
I like this feud. I like that they've been setting it up consistently for over a month now, I like that they've limited physical conflicts between the two to a minimum, and I like that the Intercontinental title is back so they have something more to fight over than, say, a role in a Japanese hair commercial. Though it's an unpopular opinion, I really enjoyed their spinaroonie contest this past Monday night. It wasn't contrived, it played off the strengths of both characters, and it was kept shorter than most interview segments. Christian's making a serious run for the upper crust of the card, and though he's got a long way to go before he's ready for something like that, I think this is a very good start. Meanwhile, Booker had nowhere to go after his title reign was negated, so I suppose this is the next best place for him to be at the moment. He's lending some of his heat to a new face, and he's finally involved in a feud that could deliver some worthwhile matches once again.
Both guys look motivated, which is always a good sign for the match itself. I'm really interested in seeing what these two can do with one another in the ring, as they seem to work styles that compliment one another. I'm having a tough time calling a winner here... but what the hell. They're in Houston, and I doubt WWE will make the same mistake with the same hometown athlete twice.
Winner: Booker T
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
The clash of the titans! The greatest performer of the 80s meets the greatest performer of the 90s, right in the middle of the 2000s. This is a strange situation, almost on par with the ECW world title situation of 2000, when Tazz (then a WWF athlete) defeated Mike Awesome (then a WCW athlete) for the ECW title. The situation is strange, the competing athletes are strange, and the environment is strange. Flair's been giving it his absolute best lately, pouring his heart and soul into his promos, and it's really given this feud about all the lift it's still got. Shawn Michaels hasn't been himself in the build toward this one, appearing disinterested in the proceedings while playing the cheesy, boring face.
I can't say what I expect out of the physicality in this one. Neither guy is near their peak anymore, but neither is to the point where it's agonizing to watch them in the ring. Far from it, actually. If Shawn puts on his game face, Ric lets his emotion carry over from the mic into the ring, and luck is on their side, this could be really powerful. Or, if both guys mail it in, the crowd isn't interested and the emotion is totally drained from the performers, this could look like two old guys swinging blindly at one another. It's tough to call a winner for certain here, but I'm thinking Shawn HAS to job some time.
Winner: Ric Flair
Chris Jericho vs. Bill Goldberg
This could've been done a lot better, but it also could've been done a lot worse. I wish they'd have given us more of a reason to hate Jericho, something more motivating than the typical WWE "OMG, LOOK! JERICHO PUT YELLOW PAINT ON GOLDBERG'S CAR!" story. They could've really done their homework, pulled out the tapes and seen what Y2J did to enrage the fans in his original, aborted, WCW feud with Goldberg. They could've let Chris have free reign with the mic, improvising his way into a money feud on his own terms. I'd have bought both of those storylines, and I'd have loved the hell out of them. But, they also could've involved a raunchy sex angle, a teased relationship between Y2J and Goldberg's wife. They could've given Chris a parade of dwarven flunkies, or nonsensically paired him up with Rosey and Jamal. Yeah, things could've been done better, but they also could've been done worse.
I'm unhappy with the way the match is likely to go, as I think Jericho's got little or no chance of looking even remotely competent here, let alone pulling off an upset. These two could have a really tight match, showcasing Goldberg's ferocity and sheer physicality, along with Jericho's speed and quick thinking. It could also result in a ten minute display of no-selling from the big man, with his opponent trying to maintain kayfabe while boiling inside. I guess, just like the storyline preceding it, the physicality of this match could go either way. It could be stupendous, but it could also be atrocious. Or, just maybe, it'll only be mediocre. But despite all that, the outcome isn't really in question.
Winner: Bill Goldberg
Triple H (c) vs. Kevin Nash
World Heavyweight Championship with Special Referee Mick Foley
Yeah, anybody who thinks Kevin Nash has a snowball's chance in hell here is fooling themselves. As if there wasn't any question beforehand, the fact that they focused this week's RAW entirely on Mick Foley, and not on Nash as challenger, probably should've clued in even the dopiest of wrestling fans. And we are, on the whole, a very, very dopey group of people. Introducing Foley to maintain the crowd's interest was a smart decision, though, because there's no way this was gonna fly as a straight-up one on one singles match. Imagine it; two guys with thighs that were literally stripped of muscle tissue on live television, two guys who have been increasingly immobile since their individual recoveries, trying to convince the viewing public that they're going to live up to the legacy of a match that's been BUILT on risks, insane physical performances and brutal violence. While we're at it, why don't we wheel down a couple paraplegics and see how they fare in a ladder match?
I hope Mick isn't feeling too much pressure to do something dangerous in here, but at the same time I hope he's dreaming up something to help keep the match interesting. Nobody in their right mind would want to watch Triple H and Kevin Nash throw sissy kicks at one another for fifteen minutes, so they're either gonna give us something explosive and unexpected Sunday night or this match is going to roar right past the Undertaker's match with the Bossman at WrestleMania XV as "worst gimmick match ever."
Winner: Triple H
This card could really go either way. Sure, there are matches that aren't going to be pretty, but there are a couple that could really turn the corner and make this a very good PPV after all. I've got more confidence in this lineup than I did in last month's atrocity, so at the very least we're making positive progress once again. Man, the more I think about it, the more I'd LOVE to see that Team Canada storyline I mentioned in jest during my writeup of the Mack / Dudleys tag match. Something like that would make this PPV just fine by me.
Labels: Kevin Nash, Mick Foley, triple h
I wasn't as peachy with last night's show as big Jay was, boys and girls. Though I raved about last week's program, the potential in the storylines being introduced and the improved, confident direction the show was taking, this week's episode only really served to bore me. I don't know, maybe I was in the wrong mindset, but aside from an ultra hot final five minutes this show was painfully bland.
Goldberg and Rosey brawled early, leaving the home viewing audience to wonder who would pull out the first unintentional, brutally stiff shot, injuring and / or mutilating the other guy. Goldberg's offense looked surprisingly weak here, concentrating almost entirely on kicks, knees and a dropkick that was nearly as ugly as those performed by Erik Watts in the late 80s. Even the holy spear didn't look as impressive as it has throughout the rest of Billy Bo's WWE career. There was no emotion in this match, and when you're a guy like Goldberg, who relies heavily on his charisma, that's a really bad thing. Finally, after hitting the spear and diving in for his finisher, he gave the crowd a glance, roared and hit a powerful-looking jackhammer for the win. This didn't do anything for me.
It took them long enough to pull the trigger on this RVD / Kane breakup feud. I liked where they took Kane last week, but I can't say I'm eager to see where it leads this Sunday on PPV. Kane was finally given a strong direction last week, but I have no idea where they can take it from here. Maybe the big payoff to his lack of direction and motivation wil be... a long, directionless, unmotivated stay in the midcard. Nice. Oh, and RVD / Dupree didn't get me up and out of my chair, either.
Wait, scratch that. I did get up and out of my chair during the match, but it was just to stir my boiling pot filled with Mac & Cheese. A man's gotta eat.
Good lord, they've pulled out the big, gimmicked circus wheel of death again. It's really convincing when they spin the wheel, zoom in on the clicker, and it mysteriously slows WAY down when it gets near the spot they want. How can a company concentrate so heavily on trying to make their show a more realistic, dramatic environment, and then air shit like this? Gah...
Man, JR was hitting all the bases last night. He covered nearly all of his catchphrases, from "scalded dog" to "spitfire" to "jezebel." I think we were just a "hoss" and a "slobberknocker" away from a royal flush. After he repeatedly referred to Victoria as a jezebel, Autumn and I adopted the phrase, using it to describe just about anyone and anything appearing throughout the rest of the program. The show was much more entertaining that way. Otherwise an overly forgettable women's tag match.
I'm so pissed off about the way they've been using Lance Storm lately, I honestly wish they'd just fucking release him and let him go somewhere that'll give him something entertaining to do. I can understand why he's not complaining about the situation, because hey... the bills are getting paid and then some, but it just sucks to watch a guy like Storm in a strict jobber role, week after week. I mean, who do you think has greater longevity in the business? A washed up, roided out former tag team star with a bad back and a rambling potty mouth, or a guy who's about a decade younger, who can wrestle a clinic if the situation calls for it, but lacks a really distinct personality? Sure, it might take a little effort to get Lance back over, but it's not like Steiner is that popular right now, either. Ugly match, helping to build toward a feud I don't give a damn about.
Despite blowing the surprise to both the home and live audiences earlier in the show, WWE delivered Mick Foley at RAW's halfway mark, in what should've been a tremendous moment for casual and hardcore fans alike. It was great to see Mick again, as his presence is sorely missed from the show, but this promo wasn't really up to the level of his classics. Can't say I blame him, since he's been away for quite a while, but it deflated the segment regardless.
Randy Orton and the Hurricane had the only halfway decent match of the night, though even that was overshadowed by another angle. I'd still like to see these two involved in a singles feud of their own, completely aside from anything Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Diesel or Triple H are doing. They're both hungry, they've both got talent, and they both need a break... why not kill both birds with one stone? This was too short to really launch anybody into orbit.
Booker and Christian gave us a fun little segment, with their spinaroonie contest. I'm worried about Booker's future in the federation, but I still really like this feud. Booker wasn't too serious, yet he wasn't too cheesy either, the King was moderately funny, and Christian was just great. I've never really been as insanely into his promos as the rest of the Oratory seems to be, but I really enjoyed his bit last night. This was a fun, time-conservative way to build for Sunday's PPV.
Rodney Mack is officially dead in the water. Yeah, let's invest some time in getting some heat on this guy by throwing him out there opposite some white jobbers, set up an ideal predicament to introduce a fresh, young face, (which is something we're REALLY COMMITTED TO DEVELOPING, right?!?!) and then just kinda let the whole thing fade away in favor of a nonsense feud with the Dudley Boyz. And hey! We'll screw with things even further by teaming him up with one of the whitest guys on the roster! Great. Teddy Long almost single-handedly saved this segment by claiming Mack was teaming with Nowinski because Chris "took a class on African American history in college," but there's just too much crap going on to save this.
Then the REAL Mick Foley rolled his way down the entryway and helped us close this show off in style. He didn't have to take that nasty bump on the stairs to really get this segment over, the booking was strong enough to have done that on its own, but it sure helped grab my attention. I loved that Mick had no problem with admitting he's no longer a wrestler, that Triple H will assuredly kick his ass. I also loved that he showed us all the "never say die" attitude didn't fade away with his wrestling career. Great segment, that made me about twice as interested in Sunday's main event as I was before. Of course, my interest going in was null, and zero multiplied by two is still zero, but hey... I've gotta give the bookers some credit where it's due.
A horrible show with the exception of the Booker / Christian segment and the Foley / Trips closing. MLW, airing on the Sunshine Network directly after RAW, only had two matches this week, (and one of them involved a tag team of Samoans) and it was twice as interesting as WWE's show.
Labels: Goldberg, Lance Storm, rob van dam, WWE RAW
I liked the majority of RAW this week. It wasn't flawless, but they seemed willing to try out new things and experiment with the old formulas, in the hopes of finding something fresh. I can live with a show that tests new waters and fails, much more than I can swallow a program that keeps recycling the old stuff and fails due to the apathy of its fanbase.
The Rock kicked the show off in dramatic fashion, to a mixed reaction that quickly became substantial face heat. It's funny to imagine how stale this guy was six months ago... he couldn't even get a word in edgewise during his promo at the RAW X special, the crowd hated him so. So the WWE does what seems to be the logical thing and turns him heel... and now the fans nearly cheer him out of the building. It's somewhat surprising, but sometimes there ARE other methods to refreshing a character than a straight-up heel turn. It's the same phenomenon we saw with Steve Austin during the invasion; the audience was supposed to loathe him, but he was just so entertaining and rejuvinated that they cheered him all the same. The Rock didn't need a heel turn, so much as he needed a new direction and a new character quirk.
Nice of the bookers to toss the entire women's division into that one match. Interestingly enough, this six-woman tag wasn't really that awful. It was spotty, sure, but the spots were at least somewhat cool and played out pretty nicely. I really enjoyed the double crab spot Molly and Victoria slapped onto Trish midway through the match, and Ms. Holly was back in action, (in a new outfit, to boot) so that's good news from where I'm sitting. This was random as hell, but there's always a place for one match like that on a card, and they shook things up by delivering a surprising finish. By surprising, I mean; somebody other than the three people vying for the title over the last six months picked up the pinfall. Although I wouldn't be surprised if they were just building up Ivory here so they can squash her to Gail Kim later in the month.
Jesus, the vein in Test's neck when he's angry is about the same size as the one in Scott Steiner's arm.
I missed Randy Orton. The guy doesn't even need to speak, his mere presence does enough to establish him as a cocky, arrogant jock. He's really put a lot of effort into his facial expressions and body language, to the point where he doesn't even resemble the bland, vanilla rookie they pushed our way about a year ago in his debut on RAW. I'm really looking forward to a short feud between he and the Hurricane, as both guys have been right on the cusp of breaking out as new stars. They're just about the right size to accommodate for one another's offense, they're both hungry and they can both put on a good show in the right environment. Could be a show stealer.
GREAT Flair promo, even if he did blatantly simulate a blade job on himself, telling Shawn Michaels about how "you bleed every night" on the road to becoming a legend. This really felt like the Flair of fifteen years ago, delivering a promo that wasn't scripted from start to finish. Itís like the writers just sat back and said "OK, get us interested in this feud, I don't care how you do it." It wasn't so much WHAT he said, as it was HOW he said it. Flair actually portrayed a woman reaching orgasm midway through this speech, but because he was so enthusiastic and dramatic about his delivery, it felt like a really killer promo. I wish they'd give him this kind of free reign more often, because when Ric Flair is excited about a match, the audience is excited about a match.
Even Shawn Michaels looked like half the man Flair was, stumbling over words and lacking the charisma and emotion that defined the Nature Boy's words, just moments earlier. The crowd knew it, too... they were vocally behind Flair in this segment. I can't really say I blame them... we haven't been given reason to get behind any of the three faces they've pulled out to combat the new Evolution, even if I have liked Helms since he was dancing the nights away as a member of Three Count.
I knew it was gonna be Richards jobbing to Scotty Steiner, before we even saw him in the ring. If they don't show his introduction, the match is obviously going to be a squash... and if the victim's hailing from Philly, it's either Stevie or Justin Credible. And I don't think we've got to worry about seeing Credible in a WWE ring again any time soon. Steiner looked TERRIBLE in this one, despite being given free reign to build himself up as a monster. Poor Steven Richards... he deserves better.
Goldberg was doing the Molly Shannon "fingers in the armpits because I'm nervous" thing during his brief interview with Terri. I always hated that skit, but it was roughly fifteen times funnier with Goldberg in the lead role. Thumbs up to the writers, for showing us theyíre not going to allow two straight failures scare them away from using cars in their backstage skits.
Christian continued his streak of raiding my sister's closet, and got himself over as perhaps the biggest heel of the night in the process. I love that theyíre letting him revive the old Corporate Rock gimmick, and that heís doing so almost to spite the Rock himself. This demented student / teacher thing they're doing with the two of them is working for me.
Unfortunately, the whole Rock / Booker T thing was just awkward and went on way too long. It felt more like something that you'd read about after the cameras stopped rolling than it did something we'd see live on RAW. Not to mention it sent Rocky several steps backward in the whole character progression thing I mentioned earlier on. They had on their hands a refreshing new direction with the Rock, an answer to the boos he'd been gathering beforehand, and a reason for audiences to cheer him once more, and they nearly spoiled it by pressing reset and sending him out there in pure babyface mode. And that's a big time problem with the federation right now. They're so lost, that when they finally do accidentally stumble onto something that works, they mess with it until it loses the thing that made it so special and different in the first place. Rocky went from an edgy tweener that was fresh and interesting to the crowd, back to the semi-traditional face character that the fans turned on all those months ago, all within the span of ten minutes.
Then again, the whole audience participation bit was a lot of fun.
I think I care more about Kane's character now, after an intense five minute verbal beating, than I ever have in the past. They successfully captured a chunk of what made him so instantly cool in the first place; the silence, the dark, brooding manner, and they gave it a notable edge, a hook. It's no secret Kane's been completely worthless lately, further evidenced by the boring match he put on with Dupree this week, and it's great to see the management not only acknowledging it, but doing something with it. That crowd got behind a guy they've been completely lukewarm to for years, thanks to a tremendous Austin promo and spot-on character acting by Kane himself. I still don't care about the tag title match, but I'm interested to see where they'll take the storyline from here.
I've got to admit, I had my doubts about Austin as GM when he came in. I was dreading repeats of the skits we saw during his short run as CEO all those years ago, dumping manure in McMahon's office, drinking beer in the conference room, that sort of thing. He's been absolutely tremendous in this role, though, really amping it up and delivering a solid show 95% of the time. He's once again blurring the lines between face and heel, he speaks with conviction and he acts like you'd expect a badass to act, cornered in a corporate role.
I like how they're using the spear to build interest in Jericho / Goldberg at Bad Blood. It's good to see that they still understand the concept of saving the big moments for big shows, and this is a prime example. The audience was begging to see Jericho take a spear last night, and by not delivering it, WWE left them hungry for more. Lord knows this PPV can use every little boost it can get, and I can actually imagine people paying money for the promise of seeing Jericho take a fearsome Goldberg spear. But poor Charles Robinson... first Randy Savage shatters his collarbone and now Goldberg just spears the life out of him, and could've easily shattered his sternum. I guess that's the price you pay for living the high life as "Little Naitch," back in WCW.
It's great that, no matter how many great advances in production WWE may have made over the last decade, they still haven't figured out that the roman candle-looking pyro ALWAYS fills the arena with smoke. It always happened with the Dudleys, it always happened with a couple guys in the hardcore division, and it always happened to just about everybody in WCW's last couple years. It just looks shoddy, really rinky dink and amateur. My HDTV means nothing if I'm looking at high definition clouds floating around the ring...
Decent main event despite the weird-ass finish, especially considering it's a six man tag, which is a format I'm really not that fond of. Orton looks motivated, and the heel team actually put some psychology to use, working on Shawn's leg for much of the match. I didn't care for Kevin Nash's complete domination of the heels near the end of the fight, but whatever. He'll be out of the main event scene before long anyway. I did find it to be pretty interesting, though, how the heels all wore traditional wrestling attire, while the faces all wore long trunks, tank tops and various other accessories.
RAW kicked off a bunch of new storylines and directions with this one show, which is something we've been clamoring for over the last few months, so I really can't fault them for trying. They're giving us something new and interesting with Kane, Christian, the Hurricane, Randy Orton, Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Goldberg and Test. I don't mind that lineup one bit. An improved show over last week, without question.
Labels: Kane, scott steiner, The Rock, WWE RAW


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Seven things we learnt from the ABI Social Care Summit A World to Grow Old In
The ABI hosted a conference on January 21, 2014 about international lessons for the new social care system and the role of the insurance industry.
Here are our seven key learning points from the event:
The UK has an ageing population, and by 2020 there will be two million more people who are aged 65+. Because there is no general trend in improving health and disability status of the elderly, many more people will need social care in the future putting pressure on the current model of social care provision and funding. The Care Bill currently before Parliament will bring in long-awaited reforms to the system.
Social care will not only impact those with care needs, but also family and friends who provide informal care. The UK has the third highest percentage of its population reporting to be informal carers providing help with activities of daily living (at 18.2%, compared with the 15.6% average for OECD countries). This has an impact on wider employment and retirement policies, including for the role of protection insurance.
We can take some comfort that social care funding is a conundrum facing the international community. According to Yuki Murakami of the OECD, even conservative projections suggest health and care spending will continue to grow. There are some interesting international comparisons from which the UK can draw lessons, including the role of compulsion in countries such as Germany and Singapore and the extent of out-of-pocket expenditure despite having social and private insurances in place. Dr Joan Costa-Font of the London School of Economics pointed out that social care is the largest uninsured welfare risk in the US, which is perhaps a similarity to be avoided.
There are major implementation challenges arising from the new reforms, with the impact on local authority services in an era of budget cuts creating its own tension. Encouraging people to plan for care by demonstrating the high quality of care services was discussed, along with the need for transparency to overcome any variability in service provision. There was strong identification with the challenge of developing product solutions while the details of the system are still being decided.
It was generally agreed that there is no silver bullet solution to fund individual's care needs. We heard from Jules Constantinou of Gen Re about potential solutions being largely in the retirement income space, with strong encouragement for those still working to save. We also heard from Steve Groves of Partnership about their efforts to help people understand the cost of care and how to prepare.
There is industry appetite to overcome these barriers and a roadmap has been developed on how to create the right conditions for market growth, with the launch of the joint Statement of Intent between the industry and Government. Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb praised the collaborative process and partnership working and gave reassurances on key areas such as stability of the system and improving public understanding and access to advice.
Finally, looking to the future with the help of Ruth Marvel, we can expect greater demand for bespoke and luxury care options to grow alongside the need for innovation of new low cost options. Technology will drive change and allow people to monitor health conditions through digital devices, as well as increase mobility through smart vehicles and robots.
For more information, download a full presentation slide pack (pdf 5MB).
Jules Constantinou
Jules is the Regional Manager for Gen Re's UK and Ireland Life and Health business. He was President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in 2018/2019. He is also a member of the ABI's…
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Veterans Affairs' case managers near 'breaking point,' union warns
OTTAWA — The head of the union representing Veterans Affairs Canada case managers is warning her members are near their "breaking point" thanks to an excessive amount of work and lack of support from higher ups.
Montreal mayor calls for federal action on gun violence after teen's shooting
MONTREAL — The "cowardly" shooting of a 16-year-old boy Sunday in Montreal is renewing calls for the government to do more about gun violence as authorities work to solve his murder.
Court of Appeal upholds Quebec law restricting advertising of vaping products
MONTREAL — Anti-tobacco groups on Tuesday praised a decision by Quebec's highest court upholding the province's right to subject vaping products to the same laws governing tobacco.
Climate making disasters like B.C. rain more frequent and more intense: scientists
Climate scientists have been warning of catastrophic weather for years now, but nobody's happy the predicted floods and slides crippling British Columbia this week have come to pass.
Discussions to resolve B.C. pipeline blockade have reached a pivotal point: Miller
OTTAWA — Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says all parties are at a "critical junction" in the discussions toward a resolution on the blockade set up at the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in British Columbia.
Troubled Green Party searches for interim leader, ex-MP Paul Manly urged to apply
OTTAWA — The Green party is looking for an interim leader to take the helm before a fresh leadership election among its members. And both the party's former leader and former interim leader want ex-MP Paul Manly to take on the role.
Joly, Freeland, Ng and Mendicino to take part in summit with Trudeau in D.C.
WASHINGTON — The "Team Canada" approach that got the federal Liberal government through the raucous renegotiation of NAFTA three years ago will be back on full display this week in the U.S. capital.
Canadian Blood Services to soon recommend end to ban on gay men donating blood
OTTAWA — An end to the ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood — promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015 — is set to be recommended within weeks in favour of new screening criteria based on sexual history and behaviour.
Health Canada receives submission to approve Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for kids
Health Canada says it has received a submission from Moderna to authorize use of its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six to 11, the first step toward potentially having two kid-specific jabs approved in the country in the near future.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh calls on Ottawa to pay $180M cost of Iqaluit water crisis
IQALUIT, Nunavut — Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants the Liberal government to pay the cost of fixing Iqaluit's ongoing water emergency. The 8,000 people who live in Nunavut's capital haven't been able to drink their tap water since Oct.


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8 months ago by Calman Hilkert
I'm Not Convinced We're Divided
Acceptance Consciousness Judgement 3 min read
The story we tell ourselves is important, as are the stories told to us and what we take from them. We're told that we're divided — now more than ever. I'm just not convinced.
Strong narratives string themselves into society, and usually with valid reason. Though, at some point, we get to a place where we stop questioning the narratives, where our curiosity recedes. Are we really that divided? I stay curious in that question, and when I do, I find the answer to be an unequivocal "no."
It all depends where we choose to place our focus. That doesn't mean to ignore all the bad, or the division, but to acknowledge and see the beauty of life and our general unity.
One thing that allows me to see this unity and beauty is limiting my consumption of the news that may otherwise cloud me from seeing the good.
What percentage of the news that you consume on the internet do you find is generally hopeful and positive? I find it's 5-15%, and no matter how strong-willed you are, that's going to make digesting information in a meaningful and productive way difficult.
Negative news sells, as do headlines that pique our curiosity and cause us to click on them to read more.
You know what's curious...have you ever found out after the fact that a positive news story, one that made you feel hopeful, was actually made up? I haven't! Yet a lot of negative news stories, often with gross inaccuracies, fly through the interwebs. It can be fun in the moment to read an article you agree with that trashes someone or something you disagree with, sure, but does engaging with that story truly cultivate what we want from our world: truth, kindness, and unity?
We're ingrained with a strong negativity bias, our brains love these quick hits of doom & gloom news, but they're not serving us.
Though I'm bouncing around a bit, and perhaps I no longer have one precise message I'm trying to convey, there are three points I feel are worth highlighting and that I hope have been conveyed:
1. I don't believe the narrative that we're divided. I find reasons why that can't be the case every day, and I want you to know that not everyone thinks we're divided.
2. I know that my limited consumption of news allows me to remain open and hopeful. Let's not be naive about what's going on, but at what point are we consuming more news than is helpful? I would argue that most of us are far beyond a helpful level of consumption.
3. A question. What do you want to see in our world? And how can you more greatly contribute towards that today?
Yesterday I watched a video where Jim Paschke, longtime Bucks broadcaster, shared that he would be retiring at the end of the season. When he shared what he's going to miss most, here's what he had to say:
... I'll miss the people. Living in the culture of basketball has been so enlightening to me, being around that diverse culture and learning about people and learning that, we're all alike, we're all the same. That's been the greatest blessing of my career and my life actually.
Sometimes it can feel like we're divided, and with information overload, there are a whole lot of things to be divided on. At the same time, as Jim Paschke reminds us, "we're all alike, we're all the same." Let's not forget that.
Look for the positive happening in our communities and in our world. When you once again hear the narrative that we're more divided than ever, remind yourself of all the times that showed you that can't possible be true. We're divided? I'm just not convinced.
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Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS), Mentor Graphics Corp (MENT): Go Defensive with this Tech Stock
Published on June 11, 2013 at 2:21 pm by The Motley Fool in News
Synopsis has a business partner it can rely on. During last quarter, the company has renewed a significant multiyear agreement with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). Synopsis also boasts a large semiconductor company which had been a competitor stronghold for years moved to Synopsis as their main partner. In newer industries, the tide lifts all boats, but in a mature industry, you'd be better off picking the leader.
What can you expect from Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)? The company is attractively valued, however, it operates in a sector that faces significant headwinds. Analysts' mean target price for Synopsys is $41.17, a 13% upside from current levels. Its biggest client, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is having a good year, both as a company and as a stock. Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) could make it into the defensive part of your portfolio as we head into the post-quantitative easing environment.
Vladimir Zernov has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Vladimir is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
The article Go Defensive with this Tech Stock originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Vladimir Zernov.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Should You Avoid ANSYS, Inc. (ANSS)? Concur Technologies, Inc. (CNQR): Insiders Aren't Crazy About It PTC Inc (PMTC): Insiders Aren't Crazy About It Hedge Funds Aren't Crazy About United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (UMC... Hedge Funds Are Selling CommVault Systems, Inc. (CVLT) Is ACI Worldwide Inc (ACIW) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) Mentor Graphics Corp (MENT) NASDAQ:CDNS NASDAQ:MENT NASDAQ:SNPS Synopsys Inc. (SNPS)


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Godlessness poses new risks for society pope says on homeland visit
FREIBURG (CNS): On a four-day visit to Germany, Pope Benedict XVI warned that godlessness and religious indifference undermining the moral foundations of society and leaving its weakest members exposed to new risks.
Making his first official state visit to his homeland, he repeatedly mentioned the duty to protect the unborn and proposed this as an area where Catholics and non-Catholics can witness together and help resist ethical erosion.
After arriving on September 22, the pope said that he had come to meet people and to speak about God. He took that message to the country's political leaders, to the Church's ecumenical partners, to the Catholic faithful and, through the mass media, to the German people.
The 84-year-old pope at times looked tired during the heavy programme, but generally held up.
When the stepped off his plane in Berlin, the German capital, he was greeted by the German president, Christian Wulff, and the chancellor, Angela Merkel. The pope smiled as a boy and a girl presented him with a bouquet of flowers and cannons boomed out a 21-gun salute.
At a welcoming ceremony at the presidential Bellevue Palace in Berlin, the pope strongly defended the Church's voice in public affairs, saying that to dismiss religious values as irrelevant would dismember our culture.
Wulff agreed that the Church's message is needed in modern society. But the president, a 52-year-old Catholic who is divorced and civilly remarried, added that the Church too is challenged by important questions today.
"How compassionately will it treat points of rupture in the lives of individuals? How will it approach points of rupture in its own history or the wrongdoing of members of its clergy?" he asked.
In his maiden address to a legislative body, Pope Benedict argued before the German parliament that belief in God has been the foundation of western progress in law, social justice and human rights through the centuries.
He pointed to Germany's Nazi past, saying that it illustrates that without justice, the state becomes "a highly organised band of robbers, capable of threatening the whole world and driving it to the edge of the abyss."
He said that today, with unprecedented opportunities to manipulate human beings, the threat is even more dramatic. He pointed to Germany's ecology movement as a step in the right direction, but said that an ecology of the human person is needed to protect human dignity........
…without justice, the state becomes 'a highly organised band of robbers, capable of threatening the whole world and driving it to the edge of the abyss'
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As Title says this blog is about getting SharePoint Search Refiners using REST API. I could not find examples in internet for getting refiners and how to read refiner JSON data. So I did kind of research and trials and finally I was able to get the refiners using REST API. I assume that you are already familiar with fetching search results using REST API. If not, I suggest to read this fantastic post by Chris O'Brien. I have extended the example given in this blog to refiners.
To get refiners, refiners keyword should be passed as a parameter along with the actual refiner that we need. Before I show an example, let us first check how XML response would look like if you don't add this keyword.
As marked in Red, if we don't pass refiner as parameter, RefinemenetResults will return NULL.
We can see loads of data under RefinementResults element. We can also see 4 values for Size refiner under Refiners element.
Now how do we get this data in JSON format? Again I assume that you are aware of getting data into JSON format from REST API output. I'll jump into the exact code to read the refiner data.
" + refinement.RefinementValue + " (" + refinement.RefinementCount + ")" + "
You can use RefinementToken property to implement further filtering based on refiner. You can also pass multiple refiners to the query and get the response. In this query, Size and DisplayAuthor are passed.
The output looks like this. I've collapsed the details.
That's it for now! Happy searching!
I know this is an old post, but it is good stuff. One question I have is how to further refine your results using the refinement token. What is the syntax? What are my expected results?
Have you tried the syntax provided in the below MSDN article? It uses RefinementFilters to add a filter on refinement token.
Thanks for the response. I had looked at that article. I think what initially confused me was that the article seemed to indicate that the refinement token and the refinement name needed to be concatenated to get a filter value. In my case, the refinement name and the refinement token are virtually identical; the token is simply the refinement name in Hex. I guess I was expecting the refinement token to be a token to somehow access an already processed query, but I've since determined that is not the case.
To continue my thought above, I still need to resubmit my original query to the search API, then I add the Refinement Filter based on the refinement data that was returned from my original query.


The BCSEA Vancouver Chapter held it's Monthly Pub Night event on July 12th. This, the fifth edition, was another great success, drawing members and non-members alike to converse, network and have fun in the process.
As if the 2015 federal candidates debates weren't exciting enough, for 2016 the Victoria Chapter has taken on the municipalities of southern Vancouver Island.
Inspired by the Renewable City Strategy of the City of Vancouver, we are asking the municipalities in our area to adopt a 2050 goal of meeting 100% of their energy use with renewables. And we mean all energy use in the community, not just municipal operations.
Planning made pleasant with pizza!
The BCSEA Kamloops Chapter held two consultation meetings concerning an update to Kamloops' Official Community Plan, called KAMPLAN. An official community plan is all about land use, with implications for transportation, housing, parks, and many other aspects of our lives. All of this relates to energy, of course. If your city is fairly dense with mixed-use neighbourhoods that include shops, schools and parks in addition to homes, you have the potential for people to walk or cycle near home. It's easier to build a good transit system in a city that doesn't have a lot of sprawl.


IFE AS A PARENT is a constant struggle. The children have endless energy … and you have none. It's hard to find even a few minutes which can be spent peacefully listening to music. However, a few days ago I listened to part of a Mass by Cristóbal de Morales (sung by Chanticleer). It was so incredibly beautiful. More on this below.
Years ago, upon being criticized for a lack of variety of Communion selections, I admitted to my priest-employer that I was struggling to find decent Communion hymns. His response was, "Well, obviously you don't have a clue. Come over here, and in five seconds I can do a better job than you could dream of doing." His rude manner of speaking did not bother me, because he spoke to everybody that same way. For the record, I ended up quitting a few months later, because this same priest began to weep — literally sob! — when I refused to allow a local jazz combo to play for the Holy Saturday Vigil.
Anyhow, this priest looked through our OCP hymn book, searching for what he called "reverent, orthodox hymns." He searched and searched. Finally, he pointed to a song called, "Look beyond the bread you eat." I was flabbergasted. It dawned on me that nothing I'd been saying to him had made the slightest impact. All these months, I had literally been wasting my breath. It was a revelation. Sometimes people are on a completely different wavelength.
Getting back to the Morales I mentioned earlier, his settings of the Mass — Credo, Sanctus, etc. — were so gorgeous … but why? I believe one reason was to transport us to a different world.
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like when the galaxy was created? Were you present when God created the birds? Were you there when grass and oceans were being created? What was it like to see whales and deer and rainbows and clouds come into existence? I don't know … I wasn't there. But this Morales music is transcendent, and (in my view) opens the mind to contemplate life in a different way. All of a sudden, humans (upon hearing such music) are invited to contemplate things Divine, whereas too many of us tend to waste our time and thoughts. Morales pulls us out of "reality" into a higher reality. How remarkable that someone back then could write such sophisticated and beautiful music, when modern culture insists that people today are so much smarter than former ages, and we no longer require "myths" like the God of the Bible. By the way, which of us routinely contemplates death? Modern culture wants us to think about anything BUT death. To make a long short, how different is the liturgical music of Morales from a song like Look Beyond The Bread You Eat !!
I DON'T WANT TO SHOCK anybody, but the Catholic Church has millions and millions of dollars. (This is still true, although it's hard to believe when we hear about horrible scandals, like Roger Cardinal Mahoney paying close to a billion dollars from church funds because he covered up sexual abuse of minors.) So, why is our Catholic liturgical music so terrible in 99% of parishes? I'm starting to think it has to do with what I said earlier: we're talking past one another. We're not on the same page.


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Woods says schedule 'up in the air'
Tiger Woods said on Monday the neck injury hindering his game has his schedule "up in the air," but said he was "trying everything I can" to get healthy.
other Updated: May 17, 2010 15:33 IST
Woods also insisted his current neck pain has "no connection" to the car crash outside his home in November, a mysterious accident that heralded the start of a sex scandal that drove him into self-imposed exile for five months and left his reputation in tatters.
"Zero connection, absolutely zero," Woods said as he spoke to reporters at Arominink golf club outside Philadelphia, where July's AT&T National tournament will be held in July 1-4.
Woods had said last month that the crash had left him with a "busted-up lip and pretty sore neck".
But he said his current problem, which forced him out of The Players Championship on Sunday in the first mid-round tournament withdrawal of his professional career, began when he returned to practice after his break from golf.
"One of the reasons I think this thing flared up is because I wasn't conditioned to it," he said. "I'd been away from the game for such a long time, then came back and ramped up really quickly in order to try and play the Masters. The body wasn't quite ready for that."
Woods said the first thought the intermittent pain was "no big deal" but it has steadily worsened and now muscle spasms are preventing him from practising and playing properly.
"I want to practise, I want to play, I want to compete, but this is not allowing me to do the things that I need to do on my golf swing to hit the proper shots," he said.
Woods said Sunday he feared the injury could be a bulging disk, and he plans to have an MRI exam when he returns to Orlando.
"I need to figure out what's going on," he said.
Woods has played three tournaments since his return, starting with an apparently encouraging tie for fourth at the Masters.
But he missed the cut by a whopping eight shots at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, a week before pulling out of the Players at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
"For me not to play all 18 holes, that was as angry and as frustrated as I've been in a long time," said Woods, who left the course after playing six holes at the Sawgrass TPC.
The 14-time major champion said he still wants to resume his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major titles this year.
"I'm trying everything I can to get back as soon as I can," Woods said.
The next two majors come at courses where Woods has excelled in the past. The US Open June 17-20 will be at Pebble Beach, where Woods won by an astonishing 15 shots in 2000.
The British Open in July will be at St. Andrews, where Woods has won twice.
Those events are still on his radar, as are the US PGA Tour's Memorial and the AT&T National - both of which he won last year.
But Woods acknowledged nothing is certain.
"A lot is up in the air - which I don't like," he said.
more from other


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        pass

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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MartialHorror
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"Heroes of the Wild (1977)" movie review.
Posted by MartialHorror
HEROES OF THE WILD (1977)
(Directed by Chi Chang)
(Written by Hsin Yi Chang, Kuang Ni and Chi Chang)
(Starring Sin Chen, Hua Chung Ting and Jang Lee Hwang
Plot: Tu Tashan (Sing Chen) kills the Father of Sa Woo (Hua Chung Ting), but decides to take the son on as his student. His only requirement is that Hsiao Hu trains hard and never forgets about his quest for vengeance, which becomes complicated once they begin to develop their own Father-Son dynamic. They travel together to hunt-and-kill the traitorous Nan Pa Tien (Jang Lee Hwang), while Sa Woo continues to try and slay his Fathers' murderer. Also known as "Heroes of Shaolin" and "Da wu shi yu xiao piao ke".
I wasn't sure what to call "Heroes of the Wild" for this review, because it's often known as "Heroes of Shaolin". Netflix refers to it by the former and hulu lists it as the latter, but I made my decision based on the lack of…Shaolin…in the story. Instead of monks, there are ruthless killers and instead of temples, there are brothels! This was an exceptional kung fu flick held back by an awful DVD transfer. The cropping is so crude that they couldn't even fit the credits on the screen! I'm not sure whether to blame the transfer or the editing for the next point, but a scene will end and an awkward black screen will consume your television for a few seconds, before the grainy picture resumes. I felt like I was watching an old, beaten up VHS tape based on the quality and the English Dub was sometimes hard to decipher. I'm perfectly content with laughable voice-work, but I do want to understand what they are saying. I have yet to see a more pristine release, but hopefully it eventually gets one, for "Heroes of the Wild" was a special experience for me. This happens to be one of the only kung fu flicks that offers all of the punching, kicking and sword fighting a fan can ask for, while also boasting strong character writing.
Tu Ta Shan (Sing Chen) has to be one of the most complex characters to have ever graced the kung fu screen. He looks like a villain and his dimeanor supports that first impression, although he introduces himself by returning a lost kite to a young Sa Woo. He also displays extreme arrogance, beating a Father badly in front of his son and callously imploring him to commit suicide. He seems bemused when Sa Woo clumsily attacks him in his grief, but ultimately adopts him as his student, while making sure that the boy never forgets to avenge his Father. Tu Ta Shan also kills the boys pet dog, so…He's kind of an asshole. And he's a mercenary who is willing to kill for money…although the dog thing is far worse… But it becomes apparent that he has grown to care for Sa Woo and the thought of him dying seems to cause Tu Ta Shan much distress. I loved finding out more about this guy, who despite his gruff appearance, seems to be a romantic. Sing Chen perfectly balances these contrasts and his awkwardness when interacting with women is so adorable. It even made the admittedly superfluous romance bearable, as it showed a different side to his personality. I also loved his warm facial expressions that the camera would zoom in on…as he threatens to beat his surrogate son to death…Sa Woo (Hua Chung Ting) goes through the same arc, although his characterization is much more standard. He's a bit of a brat whose attempts at outsmarting anyone tend to fail miserably, concealing the fact that he is a genuine prodigy. He resents Ta Ta Shan, but does eventually realize he cares for him too. The villains might seem standard at first glance, but once again, their purpose is to flesh out our protagonist- who really is Ta Ta Shan- and reveal his vulnerabilities. Plus, it turns out that there is more to them than what we see on the surface too.
We've seen the story of 'Boy must train to fight in order to avenge his Father' many times before, but by making his teacher into his Fathers killer is a unique twist, especially as the killer is the protagonist. That is creative writing, although the narrative occasionally stumbles. Nevertheless, I like how this story is balanced with the other plot involving Manchu Agents and Assassinations. Both plots help hold each-other up, without one taking too much time from the other. More importantly, these are the kinds of stories which justify LOTS AND LOTS OF FIGHTING! YAY! The narrative utilizes mirror character arcs, where the protagonists are placed in identical situations and go through the same emotions. Tu Tashan berates and roughs up an injured Sa Woo, before realizing how hurt he is and immediately going into doting nurse mode. Later on, he is the one who is hurt and the process repeats with Sa Woo being the caretaker. I was concerned that this would slow things down too much, but the acting carries these scenes and I had to applaud the writers for their storytelling boldness. Unfortunately, I do think that they contributed to burning out the narrative during the third act. I eventually did start to feel a little exhausted by the finale and was somewhat impatiently waiting for it to end.
Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah, kung fu happens in kung fu movies…The choreography was done by genre icons Cory Yuen and Yuen Biao- both who also play small roles- and you can definitely see the lightning fast style that they would later master. The fight scenes aren't as polished as the shining examples of their time period, as there are plenty of sloppy moments, strange sound effects and some obvious undercranking, but they still dazzle and entertain. There is a good combination of speed, technique and acrobatics, with the violence giving them a much needed oompth. There are hand-to-hand duels, one-against-many brawls and weapons occasionally change the dynamics in order to keep things from becoming stale. I liked the psychology of the fights, as tactics are used and the emphasis on their facial expressions during these battles tell you a lot about the direction it is going to head. There is A LOT of action and just because I spent the majority of this review discussing the story and characters, do not think that this is a drama of "Grandmaster" proportions. It is a pure kung fu feature that merely happened to have a stronger storyline and cast of characters than most of its ilk. While the transfer sometimes upstaged the direction and cinematography, there are some striking visuals and the scenery is consistently gorgeous. I also really liked the score, which had a western motif and the costumes looked really cool too. The director would go on to helm "Death Duel of Kung Fu" and in my review of that, I say: "But based on his work as director of "Death Duel of Kung Fu", he's a hack. Sorry, maybe his talents lie within his his other film-based careers, but he is not a good director.". Sometimes I can be a fool and "Heroes of the Wild" punished my insolence with a swift kick of awesomeness to the side of my head. Maybe he was lucky for this or unlucky for that, but I shouldn't have judged his abilities based on a single flick. "Heroes of the Wild" isn't quite as entertaining as "Death Duel of Kung Fu", which I believe had a smoother pace and better choreography, but this is a more rewarding experience and it's the all around superior movie.
Violence: PG-13. Some brutality.
Nudity: None, although sexuality is brought up.
Overall: "Heroes of the Wild" is actually a pretty good movie, while also being a good romp for kung fu fans. If only it had a better transfer…
"House of Traps (1982)" movie review.
The "36th Chamber of Shaolin" trilogy…
"Kung Fu Killer (2014)" movie review.
"Special ID (2013)" movie review.
"The Transporter Refueled (2015)" movie review.
Copyright Ⓒ 2011 - BitFister.com


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Groups want organic dairy rule approved
Rule prohibits continuous transitions and cycling of dairy animals into and out of organic production.
Jacqui Fatka | Dec 05, 2019
The Organic Trade Assn. (OTA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finalize a proposed rule that would allow organic dairy farms to transition conventional replacement animals into organic production only once, prohibiting the continuous transition that some farms have practiced.
Currently, USDA policy allows a one-time transition of dairy cows from conventional to organic production but has been inconsistently enforced, "putting farmers who play by the rules at a competitive disadvantage and undermining the integrity of the organic label. However, a proposed rule would level the playing field by more clearly defining current regulations," NFU said in a release.
Related: Organic cream buyers, sellers can now benchmark prices
In its official comments submitted during the public comment period ending Dec. 2, OTA said it continues to support the Origin of Livestock proposed rule and "urges USDA to move expeditiously to a final rule to clarify and narrow the allowance to transition dairy animals into organic milk production as a one-time event."
The proposed Origin of Livestock Rule specifies that organic dairy animals must be raised organically from the last third of gestation or be raised organically for one year if transitioning a conventional herd to organic and further clarifies that this transition is allowed only once. It specifies that once a distinct herd is transitioned to organic, all animals must be raised organically from the last third of gestation or sourced from another dairy farm that has completed its one-time transition. The rule effectively prohibits continuous transitions and cycling of dairy animals into and out of organic production.
Related: Organic industry sues over USDA withdrawal of livestock standards
OTA said it was submitting additional comments to those it submitted in 2015 to "reflect new information regarding the continued need for consistent enforcement of organic dairy standards. Conditions that prompted rule-making on origin of livestock have not changed. New information since 2015 only reaffirms the need for rule-making to clarify and strengthen regulations on origin of livestock."
The National Organic Program reopened the public comment period on Oct. 1, 2019, for the Origin of Livestock proposed rule that originally was published in 2015.
More than 600 new comments were submitted during the latest comment period, nearly all in support of the rule. The latest comments from organic stakeholders reinforced the more than 1,500 comments already submitted during the 2015 comment period favoring implementation of the final rule.
"The organic industry has been asking for this critical clarification since 2010. There should be no doubt that the industry has reached consensus on this policy," OTA chief executive officer and executive director Laura Batcha said.
In a clear demonstration of the unified position of the organic sector, OTA's Dairy Council also submitted a letter in support of the rule. Dairy Council membership represents more than 90% of the U.S. organic dairy market and includes a diverse cross-section of farmers and companies. The council stated, "A final rule on origin of livestock is needed now more than ever. … With the downward pressure on dairy prices and slowdown in organic dairy consumption and sales, the importance of fair enforcement of regulatory standards is paramount."
NFU president Roger Johnson said the organic label is only as meaningful as the enforcement of organic standards, and currently, the origin of livestock provisions are being applied inconsistently across the industry, allowing some farmers to repeatedly transition conventional replacement animals into organic production while others comply with the rules and only transition a single, distinct herd once.
"This practice not only confuses American consumers, who have certain expectations about what the organic label means, but also puts rule-abiding producers at a significant disadvantage and threatens the integrity of the organic program," Johnson said. "By providing greater clarity on transition regulations and ensuring that standards are uniformly applied, the Origin of Livestock proposed rule would protect consumer confidence in the organic label and ensure its economic viability for family farmers. We urge USDA to act quickly to finalize and implement this crucial rule."
In addition, Congress has shown strong, bipartisan support for the rule, and the five co-chairs of the House Organic Caucus -- Reps. Rodney Davis (R., Ill.), Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.), Ron Kind (D., Wis.), Dan Newhouse (R., Wash.) and Chellie Pingree (D., Maine) -- submitted a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in the public comments. The lawmakers said the issue is "critical for thousands of organic dairy farmers around the country," and they strongly urged USDA to implement the final rule immediately, noting that "U.S. dairy farmers have experienced extreme hardship over the last few years as milk prices have plummeted due to a variety of market factors. … The lack of enforcement on the Origin of Livestock standards is one of many factors that is disrupting the marketplace for organic dairy farmers."
The members of Congress cited OTA data showing that organic dairy farmers who raise their calves according to the organic standard from birth spend an average of $600-1,000 more per calf than farmers who raise calves conventionally and transition them to organic at one year of age.
"This cost differential is one of the many reasons why transition was meant to be limited as a one-time event," the lawmakers stated.
By the close of the comment period, wide support for the rule had been voiced by stakeholders, including organic dairy farmers, processors and retailers, advocacy groups and consumers.
TAGS: Policy