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How Colleges Can Help Overcome the National Poll Worker Shortage
By Andrew J. Seligsohn and Emily Bottie
The opportunity for every American to vote in a free and fair election is at risk. In a typical year, 56% of poll workers (the people who staff polling places on election day) are over the age of 60. Because of COVID-19, however, these older Americans who carry most of the burden of keeping our polling places open must stand down to protect their health. Unless younger Americans who do not have complicating health conditions step up, the resulting shortage of poll workers could mean closed polling places and long delays in communities across the country. This reduction in ballot access is likely to be hit especially hard in communities of color and working-class communities, where residents are less likely to own cars, less likely to have discretionary time, and less likely to have access to good information about polling locations than residents of whiter and better-resourced communities.
Campus Compact believes that higher education can play a critical role in protecting our elections by catalyzing student service as poll workers and as peer educators about the need to meet this challenge. That's why we created the Safe Elections Project, which creates opportunities for key campus constituencies to contribute.
The Campus Compact Safe Elections Project is enlisting and training 300 Student Recruiters during summer 2020 to recruit their fellow students as poll workers for the November election. Campus Compact is training these Student Recruiters to be effective digital organizers and educators about the importance of poll workers for our democracy.
These 300 Student Recruiters come from colleges and universities across the country, and they are mobilizing their campus communities and personal networks to step up as poll workers this fall. By educating their peers about the national poll worker shortage, explaining what poll workers do, and helping them sign up to serve, Student Recruiters are helping to solve the poll worker shortage and protect our democracy.
The Campus Compact Safe Elections Project also creates an opportunity for campus leadership and faculty involved in governance to create policies that will help ensure election day is safe, healthy, and fair for all voters.
Faculty members, particularly political scientists, can help by encouraging students to volunteer to serve as poll workers at www.PowerthePolls.org/campus. Service as a poll worker is a great way for students to get a first-hand look at the realities of voting in their communities. The experience can become the basis for presentations and class discussions, enabling students to learn from the experiences of their peers.
The Campus Compact Safe Elections Project also creates an opportunity for campus leadership and faculty involved in governance to create policies that will help ensure election day is safe, healthy, and fair for all voters. To that end, Campus Compact released the following statement:
In support of efforts across the United States to address the critical shortage of poll workers in the face of COVID-19, the Campus Compact Board of Directors calls upon every college and university to enact policies identifying service as a poll worker as a legitimate reason for students to be absent from class on primary and general election days in the fall of 2020.
Serving as a poll worker is one of the few ways for students across partisan divides to come together to strengthen our democracy. It is also a distinctive learning opportunity for students.
We at Campus Compact are happy to answer questions or help instructors find resources. Please contact Emily Bottie at ebottie@compact.org for more information.
Andrew J. Seligsohn and Emily Bottie are guest contributors for the RAISE the Vote Campaign. The views expressed in the posts and articles featured in the RAISE the Vote campaign are those of the authors and contributors alone and do not represent the views of APSA.
Andrew Seligsohn is President of Campus Compact, a coalition of 1000 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of Minnesota.
Emily Bottie is the Director of Development at Campus Compact. She oversees the Safe Elections Project and manages the cohort of 300 Student Recruiters. She holds a BA in International Relations with a minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Boston University.
Posted in 2020 Election, Civic Education, civic engagement, Voter Engagement, Voter turnout
Bennett Grubbs
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Gang Telugu Movie - Chitike Song Teaser-Suriya, Keerthy Suresh
Sat, Dec 30, 2017, 02:33 PM
Watch Chitike song teaser of the film Gang. It is the remake of original Tamil film 'Thana Serndha Koottam' into Telugu. The film is learned to be an interesting thriller-comedy in which actor Surya is playing an interesting role. Keerthi Suresh is playing the female lead in the film. Ramya Krishna is also playing a key role.Vignesh Shivam is the director of this film. Surya's cousin Gnanavel Raja is producing the film and Anirudh has composed the music. The film is slated for Sankranthi release.
Tags: GangSuriyaKeerthy Suresh
Indian techies received 67 to 72% of total H-1B visas in 5 yrs
ISRO to launch Chandrayaan-2 moon mission on July 22

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Permanent Cast
pedro coppeti
Pedro Coppeti (Brazil) studied Vocal Performance at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and recently graduated from AMDA. He was the youngest main soloist ever to perform at "Nativitaten," the largest known outdoors Christmas project in the world. He has also performed as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of Porto Alegre, Philharmonic Orchestra of Gramado and Terra Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, he performed at Broadway Rising Stars Concert, at the Town Hall Theater, in the heart of Times Square. Credits include: "Phantom" in "The Phantom of The Opera in Concert", "Great Grandson" in the Off-Broadway show "Summer Rock", "Frank" in "The Princess Pat", "Willie" in Eileen, "Plutone" in the Opera "L'Orfeo" by Monteverdi and "Aureliano" in "Chimango the musical".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHu0jTvQB8I
Bring Him Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQciv2ClJuA&t=27s
pedrocoppeti@gmail.com


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Restrepia trichoglossa, commonly called the hairy-tongued restrepia, is a species of orchid found from Mexico (Chiapas) to Peru.

References

External links

trichoglossa
Orchids of Chiapas
Orchids of Peru

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Until recently, the names of paint colours had gone under the rainbow radar and had merely been a curiosity to people simply wanting a nice shade of green. Then, however, the choice of shades could become overwhelming and not knowing how exactly to colour match it to what was previously used, they'd take colour chart cards home. In the same way that Eskimos have 50 different names for snow, paint manufacturers have different names for 50 shades of grey green. This was the norm until a shade of yellow recently hit the headlines across the UK for its name and many people started imagining having a career naming paint colours. Could it really be so hard?
What would you call these shades of green?
It is not simply a case of generating names for those who are picking a shade of lipstick to match their new outfit. So many industries across the world are dependent on having names that represent visually and conceptually what is required of the product. There are many different coloured apples on the shelves at a local supermarket, but there's only one shade of apple green. Perusing red paints, you could say that if the jam preservative in the kitchen cupboard looked the same as the tin of jam red paint you're about to buy, you would throw it away.
So, how do paint colours get named? What needs to be considered when picking a name for a shade of blue and how does it tie in with paint colour codes? Why are they different? Is the contractor who is painting a school swimming pool likely to pick the same shade of cerulean blue that the secretary in the school office uses as eye shadow? Were Dorothy's shoes really ruby red or more a shade of scarlet?
Rawlins Paints look at how colours get their names and how it influences everything from paint used on tarmac, to barn paint and how when a customer asks for a suitable colour to meet health and safety requirements for stair edge markings, it can be a different recommendation internally than externally.
How do paint colours get named?
To a large degree naming paint colours does rely on Mother Nature, food and artistic evolution. If a name doesn't visually match what a person would imagine it to match – sky blue looking more like stormy sky dark blue – then it is not suitable.
Interactive time – Print off a random set of colours and gather some friends around for a game of charades. If you are good at naming colours, then the colour description you've acted out should match the chorus of approval when you reveal the colour for all to see. If not, don't give up your day job.
The name also needs to be unique and memorable, making its association with natural elements vital. Colours will commonly be grouped in themes, where they collectively complement each other. This is frequently seen in fashion trends. Communal spaces – like offices, schools and train stations – rely heavily on uniformed and internationally recognised colour codes. Some are neutral, others are warming. Some are monochromatic and others are based around primary colours. Therefore, one could ask for colours based on places and buildings, road signs or landmarks and the retailer would be able to closely colour match this for you – London bus red for example would give a clear indication of the shade required.
Over generations, colour names are only used once. What was in vogue during the 70s as a shade of orange, is still that shade today. This allows crews building film and theatre sets to be able to match precisely historic settings simply by the name of the shade that was popular at the time. Painting a wall, the same colour yellow as translucent socks in the 80s would not be as accurate as a canary yellow shade when replicating a specific era.
What would you call these shades of yellow?
Of course some are easier to name than others. Many colours are frequently recurrent in nature in differing shades – blue and its aquatic associations – whereas there are not that many shades of white in nature that could be inspiration for new paint colour names.
What would you imagine these names looked like as colours? Azure blue, mid Brunswick green, eau de nil, pale roundel blue, olive drab, light buff or light aircraft grey.
Interestingly, some people name colours after sounds or taste. This is called Synesthesia.
Cotton candy, flesh, cosmic dust, fish bowl, cupcake pink, California dreaming, calm air, cotton tail, cracked wheat, bagel, almond toast, brown rabbit, bicycle yellow, outer space, frosted lemon, enchanting ginger, razzmatazz, June day, leapfrog, melted butter, moondance, raked leaves and social butterfly.
Different colours have different colour code identification. For example, colours on Adobe Photoshop would have different colour codes to luminous spray paints.
Different brands can have different colour codes for their products too so that the user buys from them again to get an exact colour match. Manually mixing colours to get the same result can depend on many factors, including their base coat colours. Different sized volumes of paint can also produce marginally different (often un-noticeable to the human eye on most colours) shades due to the measured mixes of colourants.
Manufacturers producing colours with similar colour codes can yield different results – this is noticeable when trying to match up car paint colours from different manufacturers. For advice on colour matching brand codes used on this site, please contact Rawlins Paints or see the colour code charts, RAL, BS 4800 and BS 381C here.
A draw-down is when a sample of mixed paint is dried out on a neutral piece of card to compare it to the colour code on a chart or paint chip – this procedure is standard at Rawlins Paints to check all orders before they are dispatched to the customer.
How does paint colour matching work?
Using a spectrophotometer, paint retailers can measure colour electronically. Reading the wavelength of light which is reflected off a sample colour or object, the exact amount of varying pigments that go into making a colour can be matched. Automated measures of colour are then mixed together.
This process is very accurate and it is then down to the human eye to lighten or darken the final miss if it is not 100% correct. However, this does not work very well on metallic objects, due to its finish/sheen or reflective qualities.
Colour matching is most frequently requested for touch-up work and if an exact colour cannot be found, or if the surface that needs touching up has been exposed to light, smoke or moisture, it is often recommended to do a fresh repaint.
If there are any subjects or questions you would like answered about paint colours, please leave a comment or contact Rawlins Paints directly.
Always wondered how paints got named, thanks!


Spotted at lunch. Based on the parking sensors and the grille design, it's a 2006. Fewer than 300 of those made it to the States, so this is one rare bird. It's rocking AMG wheels, too, which actually look good!


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Switzerland and Sri Lanka
Living in Sri Lanka
Embassy of Switzerland in Sri Lanka
The Swiss embassy represents Switzerland's interests in the country and provides consular services and visa support for people resident in: Sri Lanka, Maldives
Travel advice for Sri Lanka
State and economic reforms
Engagement in fragile contexts and conflict prevention
Disaster risk reduction, emergency relief and reconstruction
Strengthening the state in serving citizens, democratisation, fair economic and taxation policies, and respect for human rights .
Saving lives and covering the basic needs of victims, and repair damage repaired as quickly as possible.
Prevention of human trafficking and exploitation, and assistance for refugees and displaced persons in returning home.
It is estimated that worldwide more than 40 states are beset by violence and conflict, affecting a total population of some 1.5 billion.


Head of BECTU, Gerry Morrissey visited the offices of PACT, the independent production employers organisation, to sign the agreement which was also signed by Pact's John McVay.
Earlier in May, BECTU members were balloted on a new TV drama sector agreement that the union has been negotiating with the employers' organisation PACT since 2015. The ballot closed on Friday 26th May with a huge 97.4% endorsement of the union's recommendation to accept the terms that had been negotiated.
"The union is very pleased with the ringing endorsement that our members have given to our negotiators. We believe that this agreement is a step in the right direction. It represents improvements in the terms and conditions that our members work under, and it creates a standard of consistency that helps everyone in the industry."
"I want to thank the significant number of BECTU members from all departments were prepared to give up many weekends, and in some cases, to turn down work so that they could attend weekday negotiations in order to get this agreement into a form that would be acceptable to our members."
They performed the difficult job of consulting the thousands of freelance workers in this sector informally to make sure that they were speaking for the widest body of workers before they agreed to anything. The 97%+ endorsement is a real testimony to exemplary work on their part and I have nothing but praise for them.
In addition to this, the employers entered these negotiations in a spirit of good faith and we saw a willingness to engage with our members and to be flexible and constructive in finding a way through the many difficulties that we faced. On behalf of our members, I want to thank them for this and I look forward to the regular reviews that we will be holding over the coming years so that we can embed this agreement into working practices.
Full details of the agreement are available on the BECTU website.


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Nicosia Shakes
Artistic Work
My Blackness Travels: Some Thoughts on The Imperative of Global Black Solidarity
"Todos somos Africa." Reflections on my trip to Colombia, June 2019
A Praise Song for Donna
Lessons from Louis: Academia, Idealism and the Work that Must be Done.
Gender Based Violence, Blackness, and the Search for a Future in which Race won't Matter (???)
Staging Jamaican Herstory with "Afiba and her Daughters"
The UWI's Unacceptable Response to Reports of Gender-Based Violence
March 12, 2016 November 6, 2018
I haven't published a post in over a year. Today I felt inspired.
Love, Nicosia.
On Thursday March 10, 2016, Louis Lindsay, a great Caribbean intellectual, teacher, mentor, friend, brother and father, was laid to rest. As people gathered in Kingston, Jamaica to pay tribute to him, I was in Providence, Rhode Island attending a workshop on Inclusive Pedagogy. That workshop and others, are part of Brown University's Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) constructed in response to student activism around racism, sexism and the other -isms embedded in the university since its founding in 1764. Throughout the United States, students have mobilized around similar issues, and the Fees Must Fall Movement in South Africa, and other student protests globally, are boldly confronting oppression within academia and the wider society.
"Males who nurture? Older men who care about young women's brains? Is this a double paradox?"
When Louis transitioned on February 25, I didn't fully reflect on his life and death. Like many Jamaicans I was pre-occupied with the results of the latest national election, and like many Brown students I was pre-occupied with the diversity crisis. I mainly confronted the sadness of his death, and liked memorial Facebook posts by his former students and my contemporaries. The day of the funeral, Maziki Thame, one of Louis' friends and former students sent me the tribute she read. And Nadeen Spence, a former student, posted a moving Facebook post about him. Maziki spoke about Louis' intellectual gifts to his students, his struggles with illness and his role as her confidante, counselor and friend. Drawing on former student, Taitu Heron's tribute to Louis, Nadeen located him within a collective of Caribbean men, who nurtured young women − who "gave them wings". To this I would add that these men were not wholly immunized against patriarchy (most of us aren't), but they were progressive. Males who nurture? Older men who care about young women's brains? Is this a double paradox, or an indication of what happens when people with a certain privilege are able to self-reflect? That it would even seem paradoxical is an indication of how much we have bought into gender role fallacies.
My father introduced me to revolutionary thought at the age of seven when he told me that God is Black. I was given a beautiful Ghanaian children's book that had an image of the Supreme Being in it. God was Black with thick lips, a broad nose and crinkly hair, and he wore a bright gold earring. As I grew into my womanist consciousness, I questioned the maleness of the image, but at that point, its mere Blackness was enough to inspire me. That was the moment when I realized that the world is not what it seems – that power comes through images and representations as much as it comes through economics and military might. My mother is the one who taught me how to make and subvert images through art. From drawing to crochet, to play writing to acting, there was nothing that she could not create, and I watched and learned from her. She also taught me the importance of spirituality and culture and their important role in intellectual development. My parents were children of the 60s and 70s: my father in particular is a major adherent of Black Power, and socialist thought. They gave me the name, Nkosia Machel in recognition of the Southern African freedom struggles. (The jury is still out on how the first name got changed to "Nicosia" after my parents registered me). As a teenager I read books by CLR James, Walter Rodney and Frantz Fanon. The Wretched of the Earth, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and The Black Jacobins were placed alongside high school literature books that were equally impressive: Edgell's Beka Lamb, Anthony's Green Days by the River, Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Brathwaite's Odale's Choice.
"… that rare academic who treats the student like a colleague"
By the time I got to the University of the West Indies, Mona I was already a Caribbean idealist: seeing the world as it is, knowing it could change and preoccupying myself with how to change it. UWI was the intellectual bastion for that idealism. I took classes with, and met scholars whose work I had long admired. Because Louis never published a book, I wasn't aware of his work until postgrad when I did classes with him. He was a fascinating man; a scholar who was as bright as they came. His essays, "The Myth of Independence", and "The Myth of a Civilizing Mission" should be mandatory reading for anyone studying the Caribbean. Louis was also an intellectual who openly admitted his flaws and his personal struggles. He was that rare academic who treats the student like a colleague. He didn't break the academic hierarchy. He simply ignored it.
Caribbean academia, like all others, is at a critical juncture: we are seeking neo-liberal economic models as short term solutions, progressive voices are being shrugged off as too utopian, women's progress is being interpreted as a threat to men's power and pressing identity issues are increasingly being ignored. Similarly, in the United States, many departments and universities that are supposed to represent marginalized peoples are reproducing the very systems they intellectualize against. We need to question a lot of our thinking.
Louis Lindsay spoke about the challenges of the Caribbean: historical pain, the struggle to overcome the colonial past and imperialist present, the suppression of progressive movements and increasing neo-liberal apathy. But he also spoke about and embodied the Caribbean's strengths: amazing talent, brilliance, beauty, perseverance, inner determination belying physical drawbacks, audacity, joy in life's everyday pleasures.
Towards the end of her tribute to Louis, Maziki said,
"the light of the 70s went out for Louis and for many Jamaicans and he struggled to recoup and to continue the effort. I met him during that struggle and he passed it on to me, he asked me and all his students, without really asking, to continue, to rethink, to reorganize, to trust ourselves and the people."
That statement encapsulates how many of us who studied at UWI in the 1990s-early 2000s feel about him and other inspiring teachers and colleagues.
"our responsibility must be to nurture idealistic thought and practice, and it will mean making some hard decisions about our relationship to White supremacy and how it seeps into the way we think and behave."
As I think about contemporary global activism: the Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall movements, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Caribbean Reparations movement, anti-war struggles around the world, a re-valuing of socialist paradigms, and essentially, what might to be a brewing revolutionary moment, I wonder about the role of academia. I believe that our responsibility must be to nurture idealistic thought and practice, and it will mean making some hard decisions about our relationship to White supremacy and how it seeps into the way we think and behave. The way Louis related to his students can be understood as useful political practice within academia. One that centers the communal voice, but respects the individual. One that sees enjoyment, uninhibited self-expression and spiritual awareness as indispensable in overcoming our subjugation. One that self-reflects and admits to its flaws.
Rest well Louis, and all my progressive teachers who have passed on.
N.B. The featured photograph is of the Fees Must Fall and anti-outsourcing protest at University of Cape Town, South Africa on October 20, 2015. Photo by N. Shakes.
A part of the sub-title of this post signifies on Marcus Garvey's famous 1937 speech, The Work that Has been Done, more commonly known as the "mental slavery speech".
3 thoughts on "Lessons from Louis: Academia, Idealism and the Work that Must be Done."
Mandisa M says:
Great post with a great message.
nadzspeaks says:
Loved this Nicosia. I have been thinking how Louis met our needs individually and how easy it was to shine in his class. Thanks for this Nicosia.
nicosiashakes says:
Thanks for reading. Yep, he was certainly unique.


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Great feedback on the Detour Gold (DGC.to) post
After this humble corner of cyberspace ran a short'n'sweet post on Detour Gold (DGC.to) and its 3q15 financials earlier this week, specifically on the subject of All In Sustaining Costs (AISC) and what that new-fangled phrase does and seemingly does not mean, I got a great feedback mail from regular reader BW (the very same who sent in this). He's just given me permission to publish it as long as I point out that his summary was simplified in order to get to the grain of the matter in a mail exchange, rather than run a full conference-level presentation and dissection.
Thanks BW, there's sharp insight here and it's good that more people can benefit. So without further ado...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It has been a while since I proffered a rant, but you hit a nerve with your piercing jab at Detour Gold. Nicely done.
For some reason, the gold industry has been congratulating itself for finally providing a metric that properly reflects the "cost of business" – AISC. The base-metals industry ran with their C1, C2 & C3 costs which cover the cost of doing business beyond the cash costs routinely reported by precious-metals producers prior to 2013.
Based on the glories of the KISS principle, the only important aspect of any business is how much cash there is at the end of the day; the big thinkers then figure how to employ that cash for growth. Because you are well versed on the topic, I only offer rhetorical questions regarding AISC:
1. Why isn't the initial CAPEX a part of the cost equation? Is that a sunk cost? DD&A reflects that.
2. Why isn't payment of debt principal and debt interest a part of the equation? Debt principal and DD&A are, in a way, related, but not the interest.
3. If a convertible bond is floated to provide working capital, when it is paid off, cash or shares, why isn't that part of the cost? Or amortized over its life to production?
4. Aren't taxes a part of the cost?
Note that any CFM for a proposed project is on a 100% equity basis; moreover, exploration & development costs are indeed considered sunk costs and are not part of the NPV and IRR calculations (given the timeline, only few projects would meet minimum hurdles if it were otherwise). So be it. However, it is absolutely amazing to see the effect of debt service on the NPV & IRR in a CFM, especially when payments are deferred during construction. That is missing from nearly all analyses.
So, on a FCF-basis Detour Gold lost about $3M (includes tax payment); when the DD&A is included, they lost over $44M. The obvious conclusion is that the cost to make this mine was not worth it, at least based on this Q's results. Personally the -$3M is important to me, especially since this company is a 1-trick pony with a large debt payment coming due.
The Friday OT: Novalima: Macaco
This is Peru's Novalima, taking a song from type of Cuban rumba beat known as 'Rumba de Palenque' and re-working it into something infectiously fabbo.
Kicking baseline, best played at Woofer Eleven.
Thank you reader BW...
...for sending in this today:
You're my kinda guy, BW.
Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): The latest stupidity from Team Hodges
They're now telling the world that the Ollachea community is split 50/50 on the whole deal. Seriously, they're that desperate.
Marin Katusa forgets about Uranium Energy Corp (UEC)
Funny how these things go, is it not? Here's a screenshot from my mailbox this morning...
...which contains not one but two prompts to go see the Gold Report interview done by Marin Katusa (the guy that even a rogue like Porter Stansberry wouldn't hire because he's too scammy), via Marketwired (Katusa paying cash for that one) and then via the new Katusa lackey channel, Mineweb.
And then right underneath those two prompts was news on Uranium Energy Corp (UEC), the thing Katusa pumped earlier this year. Today's news sees Casey Research fave promotions guy Amir Adnani tell the world that he's lost yet another CFO (but of course if you read the NR you'd come away thinking that's a good thnig, this Adnani dude is as much of a spinmeister as the Casey Research/Katusa scumbags).
And how's UEC been getting on recently?
Ah, that well? So that will be why Marin Katusa forgot to mention it in his Gold Report piece today. Strange how back in April he was saying things like "High Frequency Trading & Lying Bloggers Attack UEC", defending his pick to the hilt, telling everyone how it was a no-brainer winner etc etc promoBS ad infinitum.
And now, nothing.
Daryl Hodges' consultancy agreement with Minera IRL (MIRL.L) (IRL.to)
There have been questions asked about this, so let IKN explain the main points of the deal between Daryl Hodges and Minera IRL.
Daryl Hodges gets paid $15,000 per month for his "consultancy agreement", the money paid to his own company "Ladykirk Capital".
The contract has no end date. That means if it's not cancelled, Hodges gets $15,000 a month indefinitely.
If the contract is cancelled, Hodges gets a windfall payment of $500,000 plus one year's worth of monthly fees, i.e. $680,000. If he's fired, if he resigns, if there's a change of control at the company, he gets this payment whichever way. The terms of the agreement are such that he can claim his cash no matter the way he is separated from IRL.
He got $100,000 when the COFIDE bridge loan deal was closed. He'll get another $150,000 when the COFIDE project financing is eventually closed, all that despite not doing a thing for the deal, before or now.
It's not tied to performance at all. It's just paid, open-ended, forever.
And here's the best bit: Although the contract between Ladykirk and Minera IRL began in March 2014, a great many terms of the agreement you see that include the "can't lose" windfall payment were altered in March 2015 after Daryl Hodges became executive chair of Minera IRL. In other words, he wrote his own contract and the lackeys he put on the board of directors rubber-stamped it.
Then he has the brass neck of falsely accusing other people of being corrupt.
Checking in on Bobby Genovese's pump and dump scam stock Jemi Fibre (JFI.v)
While the big people chew over the results at Detour, Newmont, Agnico and Barrick, the little people at IKN prefer the Road Not Taken and so it's time to check in on Jemi Fibre (JFI.v), the crockacrap thing set up by Bobby Genovese last year designed to transfer wealth (i.e. yours is removed from you and is added to his).
Our coverage of JFI.v started last year on August 19th 2014 with this post (don't say you weren't warned), exactly where this chart starts...
...and as you can see, IKN's prediction that it would all end in tears has been fairly accurate so far (there's worse to come, it's going much lower).
It's not brain surgery spotting these Bobby G BS scams either, all you have to do is pay attention to what goes on at the financials level. Here in October 2014 we laughed at the way they create financial values out of thin air, including
"...just four and a half months later, in a re-filing of its company quarterly financials, the three properties bought with $2.25m worth of shares have boosted JFI's asset value by over $14m."
which is also something noted in the the latest iteration of our JFI coverage on August 30th 2015 entitled "The Jemi Fibre (JFI.v) year end financials are so bad it's laughable" that included
"...the first thing is to note the way JFI luckily managed to re-value its biological assets to the tune of $18m in the space of just three months, without adding a single pine cone to their asset, and in that way managed to add a $21m non-cash revenue item to their P+L which allowed them to declare an annual profit of $5.8m."
and ended with, " Destined for much lower, don't be Bobby G's sucker".
Jemi Fibre is a great example of how parasites get rich and retail gets poor on the TSXV. There's such a gap between the reasonable going concern status of any given company and the chances it might have of being a potential stock to buy that it's sheer madness. And then the Canadian regulatory bodies wonder why normal rank and file investor people are deserting their stock markets and putting their cash to play in other places...
Understanding "All In Sustaining Costs", Detour Gold (DGC.to) edition
Detour Gold (DGC.to) just reported its 3q15 and here's my favourite bit:
Gold sold: 126,241 oz
Average realized price per Oz Au: U$1,164
All In Sustaining Cost per Oz Au: U$1,071
Difference between two: U$93/oz
Total revenue difference: + U$11.74m
Net loss: US$44.3m
Adjusted net loss:U$13.3m
Hey, d'ya think that All In Sustaining Cost might not mean what you thought it meant? Perhaps?
But Canada won't care, because DGC is the default bull story and nothing negative can ever be said about it. These sycophants need their winner and DGC is the designated blue-eyed boy...ever since CNL.to blew up in their faces, anyway. Expect warm'n'fuzziness in their brokerage notes mañana.
Daniel Ameduri's latest pump and dump scam stock
NGE.v has done this due to the latest Daniel Ameduri paid-for BS pump job:
Now comes the dump. You have been warned.
OT: Daft joke of the day
Dedicated to reader M, currently in transit:
A: Hey, nice watch!
B: Thanks!
A: What brand is it?
B: Guess.
A: Rolex.
A: Breitling.
A: Swatch.
A: Patek Philippe.
A: Timex.
A: Citizen.
A: Hublot.
A: Tag Heuer.
A: Bulgari.
We could continue.
More on the Hycroft Mining (ex-Allied Nevada) "restructuring"
Last week we brought you news of Hycroft Mining (ex-Allied Nevada) and how it had emerged from Chapter 11 with $221m in cash and shares of the old company beaten into nanoparticals. Since then IKN has heard from several sources that all plant and machinery at the mine is up for sale, with all reasonable offers considered.
And that "ore on leachpads" that's never ever ever EVER going to be turned into finished product is still classed as an asset on its books.
So, that restructuring's going well. Innit guv.
Lawrence Williams does Minera IRL
Right here. A good piece.
He's been reading this humble corner of cyberspace, too. Apparently he thinks my opinions are "very forthright". I have no idea where he got that idea from...
Latest from SP Angel on Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L)
With the news that the Hodges asset-strippers running Minera IRL are applying to de-list from the TSX, effective November 10th, here's what SP Angel thinks of the move in its follow-up note this morning. Link here.
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Minera IRL (MIRL LN) SUSPENDED – Please vote to sack the board of Minera IRL Limited. We believe they are not working in the best interest of shareholders
We view today's statement as potentially disingenuous and potentially misleading for investors who might not know more about the current situation at Minera IRL.
The board of Minera IRL Limited report that the company has applied to delist from the TSX in Canada. TSX are to initiate an expedited delisting review for failure to comply with the TXS's continued listing criteria.
It is our view that news of this review plays very neatly into the hands and strategy of the Minera IRL Limited board who appear unusually keen to allow the company to delist in each market on any regulatory pretext.
The statement also points out that the company's admission to AIM will also be automatically cancelled should the shares be suspended for a period of six months. While this is strictly true, we believe the board should be focussed on making more effort to reinstate the shares and to prevent delisting on AIM and the TSX.
Today's statement claims that "due to the actions undertaken by the manager of its Peruvian operating subsidiaries, there was a temporary compromise of control of those entities".
It is our view that Diego Benavidez, who runs Minera IRL SA, is acting in the best interests of Minera IRL's shareholders and the Peruvian community, whose support is essential. Mr Benavidez has sold gold held by Minera IRL SA with funds being used to ensure that Minera IRL SA and Limited meet its obligations in Peru in order to prevent a potential default situation. There is no sense of any shortage of cash within the business.
We also view the statement of cancelling the admission to AIM as scaremongering and potentially misleading as we, again, view the situation as eminently resolvable.
We believe that the Board of Minera IRL Limited are not working in the best interest of shareholders to resolve the issues which might lead to the cancellation of its listings.
Conclusion: We conclude that shareholders should post their votes at the forthcoming EGM in favour of changing the board as petitioned.
* SP Angel analysts are expressing their own views and opinions in this analysis. SP Angel has no corporate connection with Minera IRL or its subsidiaries. SP Angel holds no shares in Minera IRL and does not have any current financial arrangements with the company.
UPDATED If Keith Barron is right, Lake Shore Gold (LSG.to) (LSG) moves up today
Yesterday in his Halloween-themed post Keith Barron touched many bases including this one:
In the last Straight Talk I stuck my neck out suggesting that we had reached market bottom. Rick Rule says that he's too clever to call a bottom….and that's probably wise. It's certainly not as egregious as Greenspan saying you don't know you're in a Bubble while you're in it….but to my mind the signs of a tentative, cautious pickup are there. In the last day or two Reservoir Minerals and Goldquest both released great drill holes and picked up some traction. This wasn't possible a month ago.
So if that's right the news out of Lake Shore Gold (LSG.to) this morning, which includes this little beauty of an out-step...
...should move this stock up. As we wait for Goldcorp (GG) to bite.
Disclosure: Yup, I'm long.
UPDATE an hour after the opening bell: Yup.
The real problem with Capstone's (CS.to) 3q15 numbers
Capstone Mining (CS.to) announced its 3q15 financials this evening and while the world goes "oooh" and "aaah" at the fully expected write down (they've plumped for nearly $200m), your humble scribe is drawn to this metric:
They can't even make a profit on the revs minus costs level. Ugh.
UPDATE: And this is the highlight from the MD&A, the "we're not going Ch11 at the moment, promise" bit.
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2, line 240
Spanish lesson of the day
Right here on this 38 second Youtube (or on this link)
IKN, once again providing useful and practical education.
B2Gold (BTG) (BTO.to): Can you guess when the company released its production data last week?
If you guessed "after the close on Wednesday", score full points.
What London analyst firm SP Angel thinks of Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L)
This out this morning. My thanks to reader AW for the headsup. Original link here
Minera IRL (MIRL LN) SUSPENDED – VOTE FOR EGM resolution to replace directors of Minera IRL
It is rare that as analyst we offer advice on the voting of EGM resolutions. It is even rarer that we should offer this advice so publicly.
We have considered statements made by the company Minera IRL (London) and Minera IRL SA (Peru) a subsidiary of Minera IRL in London.
Minera IRL SA (Peru) are proposing to replace the board of Minera IRL (London) with a set of new directors – we agree with their strategy and with believe this is in shareholders' best interests.
A former ceo, Daryl Hodges, was recently ousted in a shareholder vote – we believe shareholders cast their votes correctly in this move.
Minera IRL (London) are trying to sack Diego Benavides, a founder of the company alongside the late Courtney Chamberlain.
The board are going through a legal process in Peru to sack Mr Benavides on undisclosed evidence from a 'whistle-blowers' hotline in Peru – we believe this is the wrong thing to do as we see Diego Benavides as a dedicated, loyal and critically important character in the running of the mining operation in Peru and important in terms of community relations.
We see the Corihuarmi gold mine and Ollachea gold project as valuable assets which the company should maintain and progress.
We do not see the actions of the Minera IRL (London) board as indicating the best strategy for building shareholder value.
We suspect the board may be happy to allow the default and closure of the Corihuarmi gold mine and the potential sale of the Ollachea gold project which we do not see as being in shareholders' best interests.
We view the posting of the 'Notice of EGM and Posting of Circular' in an RNS on Friday afternoon in the UK at 2.30pm as designed for investors to miss this announcement.
We see the holding of the EGM in Toronto as being contrary to the interests of many UK based shareholders who might wish the EGM to take place in London.
Votes must be cast and received by Computershare in Jersey by 24 November for UK shareholders.
Minera IRL (London) has published information in Friday's circular in an attempt to discredit Mr Lema and Mr Jorge Ramos who are proposed as directors of Minera IRL (London) board.
Conclusion: We believe Minera IRL shareholders should support Diego Benavides and the new proposed directors in the EGM vote to reconstitute the board.
Some observations on Friday's NR out of Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L), from IKN337
Here's a part of yesterday's subscription weekly that had a look at the EGM NR out of Minera IRL on Friday. Reproduced here for the fun of it.
And by the way, one interesting factoid about the November 26th EGM: It's being held at the offices of Fasken Martineau so if any of you shareholders want to stroll over and say hello to Chuck Higgins at his place of work, there's no better chance. Hi Chuck!
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Minera IRL (MIRL.L) (IRL.to) is run by lawyers
Friday morning Toronto time brought the awaited NR from Minera IRL (11), setting the date for the EGM for November 26th, venue Toronto Canada (Thanksgiving Day USA, as noted above). The EGM NR made the announcement of the meeting venue and then, in time-honoured fashion, set out the current board's reasonings as to why the proxy slate and its ten points should be voted down. Of course, it was my preferred reading material last Friday morning. The first pass you see them making their case, the second pass you start to note their stronger and weaker arguments. It was around half way through the third pass that the penny dropped; that this document hasn't been written by miner, it's been written by a bunch of lawyers.
One thing we know about the current band of usurpers at Minera IRL, collectively known as Team Hodges, is that they might not know much about the act of mining and have precious little idea about how to conduct community relations, but we know people such as chair Jaime Pinto and Daryl's friend, business partner Chuck Higgins and chief motor behind this are lawyers. And what we know about lawyers is that they're great at bending and twisting language to suit their ends and means. So what we get, all the way through this so-called "robust" defence of the board of directors, doesn't stand up to much scrutiny once the critical eye is applied.
So today I'm going to point out a few of the things that this band of sophists wrote to pull the wool over your eyes, kind reader and/or shareholder of Minera IRL. We're not going into the full list (which is in fact long) because, quite frankly, I'm not going to hand over defence ideas to this band of scumballs so early in the process. But a sample or three of how lawyer-speak is being used to fool you is due because these master baiters of the truth have obviously burned plenty of midnight oil getting the phraseology juuuust right.
Example one: Team Hodges makes it sound like Courtney Chamberlain approved of Daryl Hodges' move to executive chairman by writing this in the NR:
On March 6, 2015, the Company's Executive Chairman, Mr. Courtney Chamberlain, took a medical leave of absence and asked a non-executive Director, Mr. Daryl Hodges, to assume the role of Executive Chairman with immediate effect, a recommendation which the Board approved. Mr. Chamberlain sadly passed away the following month. In May 2015 Mr. Hodges recommended, and the Board approved, the appointment of Mr. Diego Benavides, the president of the operating subsidiaries in Peru, as Interim CEO.
In fact Courtney Chamberlain (RIP) did not approve of that at all. The minutes of that meeting make no mention at all of Chamberlain's approval. And in fact Chamberlain was strongly opposed to the appointment of Hodges in an executive role, but his views made to the meeting via telephone from his hospital in Australia while already very infirm, were roundly ignored as Hodges (who was chairing the meeting) pushed through his idea.
What did happen is that a meeting at which Chamberlain was present (by phone) eventually approved Hodges as Executive Chair and the double-speaking lawyers trying to steal this company have twisted that into "Courtney approved of Hodges". It's total BS.
Example two: Team Hodges is against the appointment to the board of Armando Lema, which is unsurprising because he's one of the people on the proxy slate. But the reason they manage to squeeze from his past is a classic of lawyer doubletalk:
Mr. Lema was formerly a Partner at Lema, Solari & Santivañez Law Firm (LSS S.A.C.). LSS S.A.C currently has an outstanding tax debt for approximately US$1 million (including principal, interest and penalties), a debt that is owed to the Peruvian Tax Authority, SUNAT, and is under enforced collection, as shown in SUNAT's public registry.
In other words, a place at which Mr. Lema used to work has a tax debt with the Peru taxman of around $1m. He doesn't work there any longer (he was there 2008 to 2010) but apparently he's responsible for the debt that buffet of lawyers owes. That's a bit like blaming a footballer for the relegation of a team he played for three seasons ago. But even if Lema could be linked, however tenuously to the tax debt owed by a place at which he worked, what Team Hodges fails to mention is that another lawyer we've heard of also worked at LSS S.A.C. at the same time as Lema. His name is Jaime Pinto and he's the current chair of Minera IRL! Yes indeed, every word of that argument Team Hodges spun against Lema also applies directly and fully to Jaime Pinto.
Remember: This news release was written by lawyers, not human beings.
And that's not even mentioning the wonderful argument they cooked up against the appointment of Jorge Ramos of COFIDE, which we ran on the blog on Friday. Here's a paste-out of that post:
Let's start with just one snippet from today's NR...
The Board is of the opinion that, as a Peruvian and an official of COFIDE, Mr. Ramos would be unsuitable as a member of the Board because of provisions of Peruvian law.
...and then compare it to what the same board, but at the time headed up by the ringleader Daryl Hodges as executive chair (voted off by over 90% at the AGM), said earlier this year when welcoming the COFIDE deal:
The Company has agreed to COFIDE's participation on the Minera IRL board of directors, subject to the required approvals.
That's just wonderful. I couldn't stop laughing.
Example three: Here's the part when they accuse Diego Benavides of trying to fire people who he considers enemies, or on the Team Hodges side of Minera IRL:
Commencing proceedings to terminate without cause the employment of several key senior employees of the subsidiaries regarded as being sympathetic to the current Board, including the Vice-President Exploration and Environmental Manager.
Which sounds pretty nasty and vindictive on the part of Benavides. But what isn't explained brings a different light on proceedings:
1) The process to dismiss a contracted full-time employee person in Peru is often long-winded. In fact, the people mentioned in the NR on Friday still work at Minera IRL, still draw their pay, still turn up at the office where Deigo Benavides works (unlike Jaime Pinto, who hasn't even set foot in the IRL offices yet, let alone one of their mining properties).
2) While the process drags on, one side can claim it's "without cause" while the other can equally claim it's "with cause" and the dispute is only resolved when a definitive judgement gets handed down from a third party (typically a courtroom in hotly contested cases). Therefore the "terminate without cause" you see in that NR segment is mere opinion.
3) It's very biased and incorrect opinion, too. That's something I'm not going into here, but very shortly more light will get shed on the case and it's going to be great fun to see how far Team Hodges will be willing to defend at least one of those people when the facts emerge.
Example four: Here's a bit where it sounds as though Benavides, as President of Peru subsidiary Minera IRL S.A., was obstructing Team Hodges (unfortunately still referred to as The Company in this news release, fortunately that won't be for much longer):
Failing to call a shareholder meeting of Minera IRL S.A. when asked to do so by the Company as the controlling shareholder of Minera IRL S.A.
What they don't mention is that the shareholder meeting was called in a way that was against the company by-laws and that Diego Benavides HAD to deny the call for a meeting, else be in contravention of his company's own rules! What Team Hodges tried to do is akin to a shareholder of IRL.to who turns up at the company's head office and starts telling the board of directors to Do This Do That Do This. For sure if you're a majority shareholder you have more rights, but there's a clear protocol and procedure that shareholders have to go through in order to call a meeting and Team Hodges (above 'The Company') refused to go through the correct channels for their own reasons.
That's how lawyers speak to you, people. They think you're stupid.
Example five: This is a classic, where Team Hodges try to get people to think that if they lose the company's going to be de-listed from AIM:
Canaccord Genuity has informed the Company that in the event that it is unable to fulfil these obligations in its absolute discretion, it would have no choice but to resign as the Company's Nominated Adviser with immediate effect. In this instance, under the AIM Rules for Companies, the Company's shares will remain suspended from trading on AIM and if a new Nominated Adviser is not appointed within one month of the previous Nominated Adviser ceasing to act, then the admission to trading on AIM will be cancelled.
It's difficult to know where to start with this one, so convoluted is their argument, but rather than go into detail we'll just keep it practical. If Canaccord Genuity decides to resign as IRL's Nomad, there would quickly form a queue of other brokers wanting the job. The chances of IRL not having a Nomad after one month are precisely zero.
Example six: I'm going to make this the last one today but I assure you that there are many more "facts" and "statements" that don't stand up to the most cursory of critical examination. I'm not even going to mention the arch-stupidities they've written trying to justify Team Hodges's trainwreck attempts at community relations, which undid eight years of hard work in a matter of weeks (frankly that part's too easy to dismantle). But I want to add one more, because it's one I've already received feedback on from a couple of readers out there. It's this part, when Team Hodges begins to question the deal Minera IRL did with COFIDE via the third party company, Sherpa:
The Board is also reviewing the bridge financing obtained by Minera IRL S.A. in June 2015 in the amount of US$ 70 million, and the way the transaction was structured, which included the participation of Inversiones y Asesorias Sherpa S.C.R.L ("Sherpa") as advisor to the company in return for fees, options, and royalties. The board had been advised by Mr. Benavides that Sherpa was an exclusive agent of COFIDE, and their role was demanded by COFIDE. It was subsequently determined by Mr. Hodges, as Executive Chairman, that Mr. Benavides' assertion was not true.
The inferences here are clear. There is multi-million dollar deal in the offing, there is an apparently mysterious third party, Sherpa, between the two dealing parties, there's an inference of a cosy relationship between the parties and there's an executive chair in Daryl Hodges who thinks he smells corruption and then says that Benavides lied when he confronted him. Sadly for Team Hodges the reality is different from the spin, this is a classic of lawyers wordsmithing along with an executive chair who at that point was looking for any excuse to fire the only person stopping him from getting his asset-stripping way with the company.
This is a point that's going to play out in the public sphere between the two sides so I'm not going to spoil it for anyone (or give ammo to Team Hodges), so let's just stay in the world of hypotheticals for today.
Let's imagine you're Sherpa and you sign a contract to be the intermediary in this COFIDE/IRL deal (a position that's completely normal in the world of Peruvian finances in fact, plus Sherpa isn't some fly-by-night company but is well-established and run by a respected local businessman).
In such a situation, you sign a contract with both parties and one of the things you want is to have an exclusive right on the deal, so that's in the contract too.
Now let's imagine you're Hodges and you ask Benavides "Does Sherpa have an exclusivity contract with COFIDE"? The answer is, of course, yes.
Then you as Hodges go to COFIDE and ask whether Sherpa was an exclusive agent of COFIDE. You know the answer already of course. COFIDE tells you that "No, we don't have exclusive agents". What you don't ask is whether in this specific contract and deal there's an exclusive agent, because you don't want the answer to that question.
You then get to write that paragraph in an EGM proxy NR, a few months later, after being very careful with wording and agreeing on what you want to suggest to the world in late-night meetings with your lawyer friends.
But like I say, my little scenario is purely hypothetical, just offering a potential alternate scenario in which the events took place. And this one could become very interesting next week, so watch out.
To sum up today: The EGM is now called and we have a date on which IRL's fate will be settled. I trust that once the Hodges company-wreckers are gone IRL can put its annus horribilis behind it and get on with the job in hand, building a mine at Ollachea. As for the week ahead, we're going to get news from either side of the now unleashed proxy battle. The advice is to watch and read but jump to no conclusions about what's said because this battle is best approached as a debate, let both sides have their say about the issues.
...the US Dollar index (USD):
Yes, it's popped a move recently, but context is required. That's still trading range stuff we're seeing today. If you're going to make a fuss, it's best to make one when there's something worth a'fussin' about. That's what I say.
Massive upset result in Argentina elections
Here's the screenshot of the front page of La Nacion, right now:
With 68% of votes counted Mauricio Macri has 36% of the vote, Daniel Scioli 34% and those two will go into a second round run-off to decide who becomes President of Argentina. It'll probably be tight between the top two once 100% of votes are counted.
But that simple statement does no justice to the massive upset behind thoe numbers: Scioli was expected to win round one and plenty of people (your author included) were tipping him to win by enough votes (40%+, with the second place at least ten points behind) to win in round one. Even this afternoon when exit polls came out, people were assuming a comfortable vitory for Scioli and the first round win was a possible.
NOT ONLY IS THERE A SECOND ROUND, BUT MACRI LEADS RIGHT NOW! This is an enormous upset, people. Macri must be favourite for the run-off now and the reason seems to be the population of Buenos Aires Province deserting the government candidates.
PS: If you're holding Argentina bonds this weekend, prepare to have a very good day tomorrow.
UPDATE: With 84% of votes counted Scioli now has a slight lead, with 35.7% to Macri's 35.3%. But that doesn't change the fact that this is an enormous upset result that very few people saw coming (again, your author included, I thought Scioli had a real chance of winning the whole thing today). And Macri will be favourite going into round two, while Scioli will bank on not having the Anibal Fernandez yoke around his neck in BsAs Prov. Hell's bells it's going to be one doozy of a run-off campaign.
IKN337 has just been sent to subscribers. B2Gold and Minera IRL this week, basically.
ps: Oops, half a dozen spelling mistakes in the IRL piece: Somehow the non-proofed version went out. I'll fix it tomorrow
A free offer: Biiwii Gary is giving away this weekend's edition of his subscription newsletter
An offer you cannot refuse. Click here, go to the post he just put up, get your no-strings-attached copy of NFTRH 366, today's newsletter from Gary T at Biiwii.
The top three most visited IKN posts this week are...
...in reverse order:
Third Place: "Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): This thing isn't like that thing, hypocritical board of directors edition" which came on the back of the IRL EGM announcement.
Second Place: "UPDATED: Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): Oh my stars I just wet myself laughing" which was on the day Team Hodges was beaten to the gun by Tema Benavides on the gold sales issue
First Place: "Minera IRL(MIRL.L) (IRL.to): Insight on the perversity" which makes it a full house of IRL posts as the most popular this week.
Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): The latest stupidity...
Marin Katusa forgets about Uranium Energy Corp (UE...
Daryl Hodges' consultancy agreement with Minera IR...
Checking in on Bobby Genovese's pump and dump scam...
Understanding "All In Sustaining Costs", Detour Go...
More on the Hycroft Mining (ex-Allied Nevada) "res...
Latest from SP Angel on Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL....
UPDATED If Keith Barron is right, Lake Shore Gold ...
The real problem with Capstone's (CS.to) 3q15 numb...
B2Gold (BTG) (BTO.to): Can you guess when the comp...
What London analyst firm SP Angel thinks of Minera...
Some observations on Friday's NR out of Minera IRL...
A free offer: Biiwii Gary is giving away this week...


"Recent figures released by www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk show that when it comes to Valentine's Day, men are feeling the pressure to make it a night to remember. Read the article in full in The Sun. "
"Judy Finnegan's recent brush with death, after taking too many over the counter painkillers to help cope with a knee injury, led to The Mirror tackling the question of how reliant we are on such medication. They talked to our chief pharmacist, Stuart Gale, to find out more."
"Following the suggestion that patients should be wary of online pharmacies when looking to resolve any shortage issues relating to a no-deal Brexit, Stuart Gale, owner and chief pharmacist at www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk writes to the Guardian to explain why regulated pharmacies can be trusted."
"There's no denying that funding cuts in England have hit independent community pharmacies hard. In this interview with the Pharmaceutical Journal, Stuart Gale discusses the importance of diversification and why investment is so important even in challenging times."
"Stuart Gale, chief pharmacist and owner of oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk, talks to Woman and Home about the importance of spring cleaning your medicine cabinet."
"Stuart Gale discusses plans announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to extend the remit of pharmacists and the likely impact on the sector with Chemist and Druggist magazine."
"When New York reported that it was experiencing the largest outbreak of measles in recent history, the Express turned to www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk's expert pharmacist, Robert Bradshaw, to ask: how likely is it to reach the UK?"
"When London Loves Business ran an article on male pattern baldness recently, they cited a healthy diet and healthy hair routine as factors in slowing down or even preventing male hair loss. Failing that, the article concludes, medication is also available from Oxford Online Pharmacy."
"On national no smoking day (March 13th) Stuart Gale, owner and chief pharmacist at www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk, caught up with Compelo Medical Devices to talk about e-cigarettes and why it is dangerous to think of them as a safe alternative to tabacco."
"GP partnerships are the lifeblood of primary care in the UK, yet GPs seem increasingly reluctant to buy in to practices. Stuart Gale, owner and chief pharmacist at www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk, discusses the role pharmacy can play in creating a 'health hub' on the high street."


The Germany 10 Years Government Bond has a 0.023% yield (last update 19 Apr 2019 8:15 GMT+0).
Yield changed -3.6 bp during last week, -8.2 bp during last month, -57.5 bp during last year.
The Germany 10 Years Government Bond reached a maximum yield of 4.687% (9 July 2007) and a minimum yield of -0.184% (8 July 2016)*.
Germany 10 Years Government Bond: historic yield range for every year.
The Germany 10 Years Government Bond has a 0.023% yield.


We were honoured to once again present an exhibition featuring artwork by the dynamic artists of the Laser Eagles Art Guild. In 2007, we displayed artwork by Judith Snow (the founder of Laser Eagles) and ten other artists and we were thrilled to work with this group again.
The show featured paintings by seven members of the Laser Eagles Art Guild. On October 7, 2009, we hosted a reception to celebrate the opening of the Laser Eagles exhibition with the artists, their families and friends in attendance. Many of the paintings were sold throughout the show and proceeds from the sale of artworks directly supported the Laser Eagles Guild.
The Laser Eagles Art Guild is an organization that offers people with limited or no speech and with restricted use of their limbs the opportunity to partner with others in their community to create art.
The name Laser Eagles is derived from the creative process, in which the artist uses a laser pointer to communicate what should be painted on the canvas to a 'tracker' or 'helper'. Trackers are volunteers: students, friends, family or artists who understand the artists and their abilities.


text:
Іст-Брукфілд () — місто () в США, в окрузі Вустер штату Массачусетс. Населення —  особи (2010).

Демографія

Згідно з переписом 2010 року, у місті мешкали  особи в 828 домогосподарствах у складі 613 родин. Було 931 помешкання

Расовий склад населення:

До двох чи більше рас належало 1,5 %. Частка іспаномовних становила 2,3 % від усіх жителів.

За віковим діапазоном населення розподілялося таким чином: 22,5 % — особи молодші 18 років, 63,4 % — особи у віці 18—64 років, 14,1 % — особи у віці 65 років та старші. Медіана віку мешканця становила 41,7 року. На 100 осіб жіночої статі у місті припадало 102,9 чоловіків;  на 100 жінок у віці від 18 років та старших — 101,3 чоловіків також старших 18 років.

Середній дохід на одне домашнє господарство  становив  долари США (медіана — ), а середній дохід на одну сім'ю —  доларів (медіана — ). Медіана доходів становила  доларів для чоловіків та  долари для жінок. За межею бідності перебувало 4,8 % осіб, у тому числі 5,6 % дітей у віці до 18 років та 3,2 % осіб у віці 65 років та старших.

Цивільне працевлаштоване населення становило  осіб. Основні галузі зайнятості: освіта, охорона здоров'я та соціальна допомога — 24,5 %, виробництво — 11,6 %, роздрібна торгівля — 11,0 %.

Примітки

Джерела

Містечка Массачусетсу
Населені пункти округу Вустер (Массачусетс)


text:
What is the Fund?
The Suffolk County Superior Officers Association Benefit Fund (Fund or Benefit Fund) is a legal entity separate and distinct from the Suffolk County Superior Officers Association (Association) and was established as a result of collective bargaining between the Association and the County of Suffolk, New York (Employer).
How does the Fund obtain money to operate its plan of benefits?
The source of contributions to the Fund is the employer, the County of Suffolk. Contributions are provided at the annual rate, pro-rated monthly on behalf of each active covered employee. There is no requirement that active employees contribute to the Fund in order to be eligible for the benefits provided. Also, members and their dependents about to lose coverage under certain conditions can elect to continue coverage by paying the Fund directly under COBRA, which is explained in more detail in the section of this booklet entitled "Continuation Coverage Under COBRA." In accordance with the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and the various governing agreements, the contributions to the Benefit Fund are used to provide benefits for covered employees and eligible dependents and to finance the cost of administration.
Who is responsible for the Fund's operations?
The Fund is governed by a joint Board of Trustees comprised of eight members; four of whom are designated by the Association and four of whom are designated by the employer, in accordance with the Agreement and Declaration of Trust by which the Benefit Fund was created.
The board of trustees employs a staff who are responsible for the daily function and operation of the Fund, the foremost of which is the processing of claims for benefits. This booklet describes how claims should be presented for payment and the eligibility requirements for same. Decisions by the Administrator and of the staff are subject to appeal in writing to the Board of Trustees. The procedure describing appeal is set forth in this booklet.
All of the benefits provided by the Suffolk County Superior Officers Association Benefit Fund are self-insured . There are no insurance carriers underwriting the benefits provided by the Fund.
The Fund is mandated to submit its books to audit by certified public accountants on an annual basis. A copy of the financial status of the Fund is mailed to every member upon completion of our annual audit.
An annual report is also filed with the New York State Department of Insurance. The State Insurance Department and the Suffolk County Comptroller may also conduct audits at periodic intervals. Copies of their findings are on file in the Fund Office.
Does the Fund Operate Under ERISA?
The Fund is not subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
Who is Covered?
All employees of Suffolk County covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the County of Suffolk and the Suffolk County Police Superior Officers Association are covered employees under the Fund. Employees of Suffolk County for whom contributions are paid to the Benefit Fund, employees of the Superior Officers Association and employees of the Superior Officers Association Benefit Fund deemed eligible by the Board of Trustees, are also covered under the Fund.
Dependents of covered members are covered for the dental, optical, and medical supplemental benefits under the plan. Dependents include:
Your spouse. If legally separated, your spouse is still eligible. If you are divorced or your marriage has been annulled, your former spouse is not eligible unless payment under COBRA continuation of coverage is maintained.
Your domestic partner. Your domestic partner who is a person, eighteen years of age or older, who is not related by blood to the member in a manner that would bar marriage in the State of New York and who is not legally married to another person, who has a close and committed personal relationship with the member, who lives with the member and has been living with same on a continuous basis, and who, together with the member has registered with the Fund as a domestic partner of the member and has not terminated the partnership.
- It is the member's responsibility to notify the Fund in a divorce situation.
- Your Children Under age 26. This includes your natural children, legally adopted children, including children in a waiting period prior to finalization of adoption. Stepchildren and other children who reside permanently with you in your household who are chiefly dependent on you for support may also be eligible. A Statement of Dependency must be filed and approved by the Benefit Fund. Foster children are not eligible.
Disabled Dependents. Dependent coverage is also extended to any unmarried child, regardless of age, who is incapable of self-sustaining employment by reason of a mental or physical handicap and who becomes so prior to attainment of age 26 and who resides with and is wholly dependent on the covered member for financial support. You must submit proof of your dependent child's incapacity to the Fund Office 31 days after the date he/she attains the age at which his/her coverage would otherwise terminate, or within 31 days after you are notified of his/her ineligibility whichever is later. Proof of the continued existence of such incapacity shall be furnished to the Fund Office from time to time at its request.
If your marital status changes, the status of any dependents change or you acquire additional dependents, you MUST notify the Fund Office immediately. The Fund reserves the right to request additional documentation verifying a bona fide relationship of any dependent member.
How do I Enroll and Update Information?
All new members must complete an enrollment form, which is available from the Fund office and attach applicable documentation (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate or domestic partner registration).
All members must notify the Fund office of a change in marital status, domestic partner status or dependent child status. The Fund reserves the right to request additional documentation verifying the bond fide relationship of any dependent to the member.
If you fail to timely notify the Fund office of a divorce or termination of a domestic partnership and your former spouse/domestic partner incurs claims paid for by the Fund, you will be held financially responsible for repayment of those claims to the Fund.
How to Decline Dental and Optical Coverage
Actively employed members may decline coverage of Fund benefits (dental and optical) for themselves and/or any enrolled dependents at any time by completing a Declination of Coverage form, which can be obtained by contacting the Fund office
Continuation of Benefit Coverage
1. Death of a Covered Member
A. In the Line of Duty
If a covered member dies in the line of duty, the member's spouse shall continue to be eligible for Fund benefits at no cost until such time as the surviving spouse remarries. The covered member's eligible dependents are also covered at no cost for so long as they meet the Fund's definition of dependent.
B. Outside of the Line of Duty
If a covered active member dies outside of the line of duty, the member's spouse and eligible dependents continue to be eligible for Fund benefits for 6 months at no cost, and after that as long as timely payment is made to the Fund for the cost of such continuation coverage, and the individual is also eligible under the rules of the plan.
2. Covered Member's Employment Ends (for reasons other than gross misconduct) or is on leave of absence without pay.
Under these circumstances, the member, his/her spouse and eligible dependents continue to be eligible for Fund benefits for so long as timely payment is made to the Fund for the cost of such continuation coverage, and the individual is also eligible under the rules of the plan. See "continuation coverage under COBRA" section on page____ of this booklet.
3. Retirement of the Covered Member
A. No Cost Plan
Eligible members who retire and their dependents are automatically eligible for the following plans, at no cost, provided the retiree maintains membership in the Superior Officers Association:
i. Dental plan - $300.00 per family maximum per plan year (calendar year)
ii. Optical benefit - $135.00 every 24 months for covered eyewear.
B. Self-Pay Plan
Eligible members who retire may elect the following plan, and receive the benefits outlined below, provided they remit the required payment for same to the Fund, on a timely basis:
i. Dental, Optical (not including the Sunglass Benefit) and Medical Supplemental and Maternity as provided at the time of election to active members.
ii. For an additional cost, the retiree may purchase the legal services plan in addition to those benefits outlined in i. above.
IMPORTANT: Those electing this plan of benefits must do so within 60 days of retirement. This package is not available at any other time. If you do not elect the self-pay plan, or fail to remit the appropriate payment for same, then you will be automatically enrolled in the No Cost plan. If this should occur, you may not again elect the self-pay plan.
4. Continuation Coverage Under COBRA
Federal law requires that most group health plans, including the plan of the Suffolk County Superior Officers Association Benefit Fund, (the "Fund") give employees (known as "members" in the case of the Fund) and their families the opportunity to continue their health care coverage when there is a "qualifying event" that would result in a loss of coverage under an employer's plan (in this case, the Fund's plan of benefits under which the individual was covered). Depending on the type of qualifying event, "qualified beneficiaries" can include the employee/member covered under the Fund's plan, the covered employee's/member's spouse, and the dependent children of the covered employee/member.
Continuation coverage is the same coverage that the Fund's plan gives to other members or eligible dependents who are not receiving continuation coverage. Each qualified beneficiary who elects continuation coverage will have the same rights under the Plan as other members or eligible dependents covered under the Fund's plan. Continuation coverage applies to the Fund's dental, optical, supplemental medical, hearing aid and ophthamologic benefits.
The following language required by the federal health care law. The Fund cannot represent whether or not dental, vision and the other supplemental benefits it provides are available through the health care exchanges.
You may have other options available to you when you lose group health coverage. For example, you may be eligible to buy an individual plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. By enrolling in coverage through the Marketplace, you may qualify for lower costs on your monthly premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs. Additionally, you may qualify for a 30-day special enrollment period for another group health plan for which you are eligible (such as a spouse's plan), even if that plan generally doesn't accept late enrollees.
Are there other coverage options besides COBRA Continuation Coverage?
Yes. Instead of enrolling in COBRA continuation coverage, there may be other coverage options for you and your family through the Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicaid, or other group health plan coverage options (such as a spouse's plan) through what is called a "special enrollment period." Some of these options may cost less than COBRA continuation coverage. You can learn more about many of these options at www.healthcare.gov.
How long will continuation coverage last?
In the case of a loss of Fund coverage due to end of employment or reduction in hours of employment with the County, coverage generally may be continued only for up to a total of 18 months. In the case of losses of coverage due to a member's/ employee's death, divorce or legal separation, the member's/employee's becoming entitled to Medicare benefits or a dependent child ceasing to be a dependent under the terms of the Fund's plan, coverage may be continued for up to a total of 36 months. When the qualifying event is the end of employment or reduction of the member's/employee's hours of employment with the District, and the member/employee became entitled to Medicare benefits less than 18 months before the qualifying event, COBRA continuation coverage for qualified beneficiaries other than the member/employee lasts until 36 months after the date of Medicare entitlement. This notice shows the maximum period of continuation coverage available to the qualified beneficiaries.
Continuation coverage will be terminated before the end of the maximum period if:
· any required premium for continuation coverage is not paid to the Fund in full and on time,
· a qualified beneficiary becomes covered, after electing continuation coverage, under another group health plan that does not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion for a pre-existing condition of the qualified beneficiary,
· a qualified beneficiary becomes entitled to Medicare benefits (under Part A, Part B, or both) after electing continuation coverage, or
· the Fund ceases to provide any health-related benefits to its members.
Continuation coverage may also be terminated for any reason that the Fund would terminate the coverage of a member who is not receiving continuation coverage.
How can you extend the length of COBRA continuation coverage?
If you elect continuation coverage from the Fund, an extension of the maximum period of coverage may be available if a qualified beneficiary is disabled or a second qualifying event occurs. You must notify the Fund of a disability or a second qualifying event in order to extend the period of continuation coverage. Failure to provide notice of a disability or second qualifying event may affect the right to extend the period of continuation coverage.
An 11-month extension of coverage may be available if any of the qualified beneficiaries is determined by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to be disabled. The disability has to have started at some time before the 60th day of COBRA continuation coverage and must last at least until the end of the 18-month period of continuation coverage. You must provide the Fund with a copy of an SSA disability determination letter within 60 days of the determination in order to extend the period of continuation coverage. Each qualified beneficiary who has elected continuation coverage will be entitled to the 11-month disability extension if one of them qualifies. If the qualified beneficiary is determined by SSA to no longer be disabled, you must notify the Fund of that fact within 30 days after SSA's determination.
Second Qualifying Event
An 18-month extension of coverage will be available to spouses and dependent children who elect continuation coverage if a second qualifying event occurs during the first 18 months of continuation coverage. The maximum amount of continuation coverage available when a second qualifying event occurs is 36 months. Such second qualifying events may include the death of a covered member/employee, divorce or separation from the covered member/employee, the covered member's/employee's becoming entitled to Medicare benefits (under Part A, Part B, or both), or a dependent child's ceasing to be eligible for coverage as a dependent under the Fund's plan. These events can be a second qualifying event only if they would have caused the qualified beneficiary to lose coverage under the Fund's plan if the first qualifying event had not occurred. You must notify the Fund within 60 days after a second qualifying event occurs if you want to extend your continuation coverage.
How can you elect COBRA continuation coverage?
To elect continuation coverage, you must complete the Fund's Continuation Coverage Election Form and furnish it according to the directions on the form. Each qualified beneficiary has a separate right to elect continuation coverage. For example, the member's/employee's spouse may elect continuation coverage even if the member/employee does not. Continuation coverage may be elected for only one, several, or for all dependent children who are qualified beneficiaries. A parent may elect to continue coverage on behalf of any dependent children. The member/employee or the member's/employee's spouse can elect continuation coverage on behalf of all of the qualified beneficiaries.
In considering whether to elect continuation coverage, you should take into account that you have special enrollment rights under federal law. You have the right to request special enrollment in another group health plan for which you are otherwise eligible (such as a plan sponsored by your spouse's employer) within 30 days after your Fund's health-related benefits coverage ends because same special enrollment right at the end of continuation coverage if you get continuation coverage for the maximum time available to you. Under the rules governing the portability provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") there were limitations on plans imposing preexisting condition exclusions; however, such exclusions became prohibited beginning in 2014 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA").
How much does COBRA continuation coverage cost?
Generally, each qualified beneficiary may be required to pay the entire cost of continuation coverage. The amount a qualified beneficiary may be required to pay may not exceed 102 percent (or, in the case of an extension of continuation coverage due to a disability, 150 percent) of the cost to the Fund for coverage of a similarly situated Fund member or eligible dependent who is not receiving continuation coverage.
If you have any questions concerning COBRA continuation coverage, you should contact the Fund Administrator at (631) 654-0900.
For more information about your rights under COBRA and other laws affecting group health plans, contact the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in your area or visit the EBSA website at www.dol.gov/ebsa. (Addresses and phone numbers of Regional and District EBSA Offices are available through EBSA's website.)
Keep Your Plan Informed of Address Changes
In order to protect your and your family's rights, you should keep the Fund informed of any changes in your address and the addresses of family members. You should also keep a copy, for your records, of any notices you send to the Fund.
Fund Contact Information
Suffolk County Superior Officers Association Benefit Fund 2518 Montauk Highway Brookhaven, New York 11719-9501, telephone – (631) 654-0900.
5. Continuation Coverage Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
If your employer has 50 or more employees, you may be eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). If you take a FMLA leave, your employer must continue to contribute to the Fund on your behalf and certain health-related benefits through the Fund must continue. However, if you do not return to work after your FMLA leave ends, you may be required to repay the amount your employer paid toward your coverage during your leave unless you do not return because of a serious health condition of yourself or a family member or other circumstances beyond your control.
If you do not return to work after the end of your FMLA leave, you may be eligible for COBRA continuation coverage.
Privacy of Protected Health Information Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA")
A federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, ("HIPAA"), requires the Suffolk County Superior Officers Association Benefit Fund ("the Fund") to protect the confidentiality of your private health information. A complete description of your rights under HIPAA can be found in the Fund's privacy notice, which was distributed to all members of the Fund prior to April 14, 2004 and is distributed to all new members upon enrollment, a copy of which is available from the Fund office.
The Fund will not use or further disclose information that is protected by HIPAA ("protected health information"), except as necessary for treatment, payment, operations of the Fund, or as permitted or required by law. By law, the Fund has required all business associates to also observe the Fund's privacy rules. In particular, the Fund will not, without authorization, use or disclose protected health information for employment-related actions and decisions.
Oct 304, 2020
DENTAL PROVIDER UPDATE: Drs. Soral & Zerbo, who took over Dr Gambino's practice, is officially participating with the SOA plan. They will have 2 locations in Port Jefferson Station and will be known as Distinctive Dental ofLong Island. Additionally, we have added another dentist, Dr Vishal Suri, in Nassau County.
Aug 241, 2019
Davisvision Out of Network Form.pdf
DAVIS VISION-APP.png
DavisVision Patient Warranty Info 7-11-18.pdf
OPTICAL ACTIVE MEMBER BENEFIT 11-30-20.pdf
OPTICAL LIMITED PLAN BENEFITS 11-30-20.pdf
OPTICAL RETIREE & COBRA PLAN BENEFITS 11-30-20.pdf
SOA FEE SCHEDULE GP EFF. 4-1-19.pdf
SOA FEE SCHEDULE SPECIALIST EFF. 4-1-19.pdf
Dental Improvement Letter.pdf
LIBERTY DENTAL SEARCH FLYER.pdf
LIBERTY SCHEDULE FEB 2019.pdf
2020 HEALTHPLEX DENTAL CLAIM FORM.pdf
Participating Dental Providers 1-24-2023.pdf
Hearing Aid Claim Form.pdf
Nov 319, 2019
COVERED MEMBERS Covered members include all employees of Suffolk County covered by the collective bargaining agreement between the County of Suffolk and the Superior Officers Association, Police Department, County of Suffolk, Inc.
SOA Benefit Fund Legal.pdf
Dear SOA Member, Retired Public Safety Officers are permitted to withdraw up to $3,000 annually from their Deferred Compensation Plan, federally tax free, to pay for qualified health insurance premiums for accident, health, or long-term care for themselves, their spouses or dependents.
public safety officer exemption.pdf
2018 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.pdf
2019 FINANCIAL STATEMENT.pdf
Page Last Updated: Sep 252, 2021 (16:58:00)


text:
Nehemiah Manufacturing: West End company gives felons second chance
By: Jake Ryle
CINCINNATI -- Michael Taylor says he'd be in prison if it weren't for his job.
Taylor works as an operations manager, overseeing several lines at Nehemiah Manufacturing. The company is committed to bringing manufacturing jobs back to inner-city Cincinnati by hiring employees with little to no work history or imperfect criminal records.
The company started in 2009 with just five employees. Now they have nearly 140 employees, including 80 in manufacturing.
Taylor said a lot of lives have been changed through Nehemiah, including his.
Taylor said he was arrested on two felony charges nine years ago. Now, he said he feels like he has lived two lives -- one before Nehemiah and one full of opportunity.
"When I walked through the door they were constantly telling me there's no limit. You can raise up, raise up, raise up," Taylor said.
CEO Dan Meyer said he believes in giving people that would otherwise be deemed unemployable a second chance because it's the right thing to do.
"To see that greatness coming out of each and everyone of those individuals because they were given that chance, that's what gets us up every day," Meyer said.
Since he started working at Nehemiah five years ago, Taylor has received eight promotions. He said his job gave him the opportunity to buy his first home in Norwood and pay for his wedding.
Now he feels inspired to hold the same values as his employer.
"Someone took a chance on me. I want to take a chance on someone else," he said. "To be able to guide them in the right direction and to move them to have the same type of future I'm looking forward to."


text:
Shifu – termine cinese per indicare un maestro (o insegnante)
Shifu – personaggio di Stargate
Shifu – personaggio del franchise d'animazione Kung Fu Panda


text:
NAPA AUTO PARTS MAKES $250,000 DONATION TO SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR THE CURE® AND UNVEILS NASCAR PAINT SCHEME HONORING FANS AFFECTED BY BREAST CANCER
No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota to Feature Names of More than 2,400 Breast Cancer Victims, Survivors & Supporters during AAA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Texas Motor Speedway
NAPA AUTO PARTS will make a $250,000 donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®on Nov. 7, 2010 to coincide with the unveiling of a special, one-of-a-kind paint scheme on the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driven by Martin Truex, Jr., during the AAA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The paint scheme features the names of more than 2,400 fan-submitted names of breast cancer survivors and supporters.
Fans helped raise $51,000 of the $250,000 donation by making a minimum contribution of $5.60 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for their loved ones names to appear on the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. The names are featured in pink on the paint scheme; names submitted with a donation of $560 or more are in white on the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. NAPA also raised funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure via the sale of NAPA All Out for the Cure™limited edition hats at participating NAPA AUTO PARTS stores during the month of October.
NASCAR RnR actually had an interview scheduled with Martin today but he had to cancel the interview because practice was taking longer than they originally expected it to be.
Tough break for us, but if Martin brings this car into victory lane on Sunday because of the extra time he needed out on the track today instead of talking with us then I'm not complaining because every name on that car deserves to be recognized and what better way to do so than by bringing them into victory lane!
David Ragan Explains the Snowball Derby
NASCAR Press Release: Legendary NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter Dies
Ken Schrader Named to Staff of Richard Petty's Driver Search II
26.06.2013 4ever3 Comments Off on Ken Schrader Named to Staff of Richard Petty's Driver Search II
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TO VISIT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY IN 2011
26.06.2013 4ever3 Comments Off on NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TO VISIT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY IN 2011
NASCAR DRIVERS AND FANS KICK OFF RACE DAY WITH A SPIN AROUND CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY ON FOOT
26.06.2013 4ever3 Comments Off on NASCAR DRIVERS AND FANS KICK OFF RACE DAY WITH A SPIN AROUND CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY ON FOOT


At Castledon College, we have developed a strong enterprise culture. In 2017-2018 the College launched Poppies Café at St Andrew's Church as well as various mini enterprises through the Young Enterprise Team Programme. Our Business and Enterprise programmes are designed to teach learners communication skills, team work, productivity, quality assurance, design skills, marketing and business management.
through the Young Enterprise Team Programme. Our Business and Enterprise programmes are designed to teach learners communication skills, team work, productivity, quality assurance, design skills, marketing and business management.


All products are normally shipped via United Parcel Service.
Unless a backorder condition exists, your order will normally be processed within 48 hours.
We will be happy to ship your order via any method you desire, but you will be charged for any additional costs incurred.
International orders will be charged actual shipping charges; these charges are based on shipping weight. International customers are responsible for any taxes or duties that may be imposed by their country.
You may need a special item that is not listed in our catalog. Just give us a call to request. Chances are we'll be able to help you!
Microsonic, Inc. does not accept liability arising out of the use, the misuse or the inability to use any accessory, tool or product described herein, or any accessory, tool or product subsequently offered for sale by Microsonic, Inc. The user assumes all risk and liability whatsoever in connection with these accessories, tools and products.
Microsonic is always the measure of excellent products, fair prices and superior service. Our policy of mutual cooperation and our pledge of unsurpassed quality are your guarantee.
The questions and answers below can help you choose the right impression material. We also include tips for practitioners and others who have patient needs and responsibilities.
What impression materials do you recommend: low, medium or higher viscosity? Do you recommend the same material for the pediatric and adult impression? And why?
Microsonic recommends higher-than-average viscosity impression materials for many everyday applications. A higher-viscosity material is also recommended for open-jaw impressions. For deep-canal ITE aids, however, a lower-viscosity material may be beneficial in fully reaching the portion of the ear canal beyond the second bend, especially if the bend is pronounced. However, it is important that this lower-viscosity material have high shear (tear) strength to insure easy and complete removal after setup. In general, the lower-viscosity material is good for pediatric impressions, as it is less likely to deform the very soft pinna.
Do you recommend the patient to move their jaw while the impression material cures in the ear or not?
Absolutely not. This practice distorts the canal shape and diameter. The jaw should remain either open or closed while the impression cures.
Do you recommend the same technique for pediatric and adult impressions? And why?
We recommend that the person doing the impression at least try syringing the material into the pediatric ear. If the child will permit and the oto-block can be cut to a small enough size. There may be cases where it is necessary to hand-pack the material, especially in those instances where a canal block would prohibit the taking of a competent impression. PLEASE NOTE THAT MICROSONIC DOES NOT ENDORSE NON-USE OF A CANAL BLOCK, but we recognize that extremely competent dispensers occasionally make impressions without them. There will also be cases in which the child is frightened by the syringe, or especially by the impression gun, and hand packing will be required.
Do you recommend the use of an impression or an impression injector (gun)? What kind?
We recommend the impression syringe, and offer the Microsonic Universal Syringe (it works equally well with any material) in two nozzle sizes; standard and CIC/pediatric. While we also offer injector guns and material, our experience is that most people make better impressions with the syringe. Naturally, there are exceptions, but we nonetheless recommend the syringe. Additionally, the gun itself tends to frighten children.
Do you recommend the same impression technique and material for all hearing instruments, or do your recommendations depend, for example, on the hearing instrument style or the patient degree of hearing loss?
While we would like to believe that all impressions can be made to the same standard, we recognize that dispensers will change the technique depending on style and gain, as well as on individual ear anatomy. Obviously, a shorter canal will work for a low-gain BTE aid, for example, than for a CIC instrument. Though we feel it is best to develop ONE impressioning style, we can accept an impression that is competent for the job that its resultant earmold/shell is intended to do.