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Teacher Voice
Sharing Education News and Views from Florida and Beyond
FLFIRE
How to Give Every Florida Teacher an Instant 3% Raise: A Modest Proposal for the Florida Legislature
by H.	on September 10, 2019 September 10, 2019
Florida teachers trying to get any raise at all in the last decade since the Great Recession
The idea is simple and straightforward: take back the terrible teacher tax.
Make no mistake, every teacher in Florida is being taxed in multiple ways for choosing this profession. But the most pernicious of all these taxes is how the Florida Legislature, under the direction/request of then Governor Rick Scott in 2011, forced all state workers to contribute 3% of their gross earnings to the Florida Retirement System (FRS).
Much like the picture above, this was nothing more than a money grab from some of the lowest paid employees all across the Sunshine State.
At the time in 2011, the Florida Legislature was facing a $3.6 billion dollar revenue shortfall, and taxing the state workforce instantly generated $2 billion dollars. How much of that money actually made it into the FRS accounts? My bet would be on zero dollars. My guess is that this money continues to disappear into the black hole that is the general fund, which makes all the penny pinching when it comes to public education that much more insulting.
Say it with me, dear legislator, the lack of funding hurts all choices.
We cannot deny that, as an institution, the Florida Legislature has failed to invest in our children and their future. We now rank 45th in overall spending, 48th in teacher pay, and 50th–dead last–when measured as inflation-adjusted spending since the end of the Great Recession. All despite the facts that we have: 1) a ONE TRILLION dollar economy; 2) the 4th largest economy in the United States; 3) and the 17th biggest economy on the planet…
Way to be, Florida…
All of this underscores the need to repeal the teacher tax that has been foisted onto us. When I was hired into a permanent position in 2004, it was understood that my paltry pension was a "perk" that I would receive for serving the needs and interests of the next generation of Florida's citizenry. While the 2011 legislation could have effectively grandfathered in the current teacher workforce, the legislators at the time thought it would better to tax us all.
And what kind of return will I get on my investment? Not a particularly good one. Since 2013–the first time our W2s reflected the FRS tax–through 2018, I have been robbed of $10,329.09, and my wife lost $9,941.60. For those keeping score at home, that adds up to over $20,000, but likely would be more than $23,000 because the state collected the funds in 2012 while the FEA lawsuit wound its way through the courts before ultimately losing. If this continues until we retire at the end of our 30 years, we will easily pay $100,000 or more into FRS.
As an individual who prioritizes saving and investing, I guarantee that had the Florida Legislature not been picking teacher pockets, my return on those dollars would be much higher than any return I could have received from FRS (the same $20K would be worth $34K now had it been put into the market). In an email I sent to nearly each member of the Hillsborough legislative delegation yesterday, I wrote the following:
Florida's teachers deserve better than this, plain and simple. Our pay is pathetic when measured against our college peers, and the FRS multiplier of 1.6 is ghastly and should be at least 2.0, which even Representative Byron Donalds intimated when he said "the real first responders are the school staff that love our children." When committee work begins, I urge each of you to consider repealing this terrible tax on teachers. We work too hard and are paid too little. Something must be done, and hopefully there will be forthcoming legislation to eradicate this economic injustice being perpetuated against the very people who seek to serve others and spend their days ensuring that their students get a "world-class education" despite the lack of resources and personnel to actually deliver what our children and their future deserve.
So now it's your turn, dear reader. Let's flood the inboxes of our legislators with this idea. Giving every single educator a 3% raise would help, even if it doesn't go far enough. What? Don't know how to email your local legislators? It's easy! For your House of Representatives member, it is "firstname.lastname@myfloridahouse.gov; for your Senate member, it's "lastname.firstname@flsenate.gov." But if we really want to get some traction, I would suggest we all specifically email the Education Committee members and their staffs in each branch. Click on the link below for each respective branch, and continue to email your legislators as often as you can. They cannot ignore us forever!
House of Representatives Education Committee Members
Florida Senate Education Committee Members
Please read and share this important post with fellow educators. Pull out your W2s, total up how much has been robbed from your family, and be sure to include the numbers in your emails to our legislators. Until they talk to actual teachers, they will never know!
#WhenWeAreSilentWeAreComplicit
It may not be a big number, but it's more than most of us have gotten at any point in since the Great Recession began. Don't we deserve better than this?
Teacher Appreciation Week, Tallahassee Style
by H.	on May 7, 2019 May 8, 2019
Florida teachers just took another one on the chin from the Florida Legislature
Remember the tail end of last year when Rep. Chris Latvala, the chair of the House PreK-12 Appropriations committee, went on record stating, "I don't anticipate the type of bills that will dramatically change the education system, as we've done the past few years"?
He couldn't have been more dead wrong.
SB7070, introduced just days after session began, sailed through the process and was recently touted as a crowning legislative achievement by Governor Ron DeSantis' office. Setting aside the fuzzy math being used by our legislators that was recently covered in the Florida Phoenix, the legislation wrought numerous changes that only minority special interests and lobbyists wanted to see pass.
Whether it's arming teachers, using the public's money to provide private school vouchers to religious schools, subverting the will of local voters, or just flat out ignoring the wishes of Florida's majority, the Florida Legislature did what it does best–pass legislation no one wants or is asking for.
YAY! We finally passed completely unconstitutional legislation to ensure that convicts and crackheads can teach kids about how dinosaurs were our pets 5000 years ago!
Instead, teachers all across Florida got a legislative session that will only exacerbate the current teacher shortage and make everything much worse for the tens of thousands of educators all across the state, let alone the millions of students who will be impacted by these disastrous decisions.
Despite the return of phrases such as "historic funding increases" in the news and on the DeSantis press release, the truth is that even with this new FEFP total that is close to $7700, it would still be nearly $1000 shy of an inflation adjusted $7126 per-pupil amount from more than a decade ago, something that has been discussed at length here and elsewhere.
But guess what? Costs have risen and the increases will barely cover expenses.
There's a reason why 20 out of 20 counties/school districts across Florida voted to tax themselves to cover the financial shortfalls from Tallahassee, and it's precisely because these citizens realize the value of our public schools and the funding they require to keep up with routine maintenance, technology upgrades, or salary enhancements to local teachers and ESPs. And how does the Florida Legislature react? By trying to co-opt the windfall and force districts to share the funds with charter schools, many of whom are for-profit managed and will simply siphon off much of that money to their bottom lines.
Meanwhile–and as if the Florida Legislature hasn't done enough to tilt the playing field already–an issue that has largely flown under the radar is that for the last several years the Florida Legislature has continued to give more and more of the PECO dollars to the charters, even after already forcing the districts to share revenue with a provision in HB7069 two years ago. Back then, traditional schools received $50 million, and charters received $50 million. And while that may seem equitable, it's a lot less money when we consider the fact that there are over 3600 traditional public schools and just over 600 charters statewide. Last year, they gave traditional schools $50 million, and provided charters with just over $140 million, even though they have schools that are only 5-6 years old on average. This year? Well they just went ahead and gave them all of the PECO dollars, a cool $158 million.
So guess where cost overruns outside of categorical spending will come from? The BSA, or Base Student Allocation. But while everyone is cheering the $75 increase–which amounts to a 15,857% increase over last year's 47 cents, a number I'm honestly surprised the governor, FLDOE, or legislators haven't put on billboards yet–many forget that with the increased costs much of this will be eaten up and not go toward salaries. Here in Hillsborough, for instance, that portion of the budget would mean a $16.5 million dollar increase if every single student attended a traditional public school. They don't, which means the number is smaller. Yet even if it were that number, it costs our district $17 million per year just to ensure step movement on our regular pay scale.
Oh! Every teacher in Florida needs a sizable raise? Silly us! We thought you asked us to CUT your pay, you know, because you're making too much already.
And that massive loss of gross earnings that nearly 10,000 teachers were fearing? Yeah, that happened too. Only the Florida Legislature could take a really bad idea and make it SO much worse. Setting aside the faulty premise of the previous Best & Brightest program, there were two beneficial aspects:
1) to some extent, it was within the teacher's control to be rated highly effective (although many have noted the wide disparities in these ratings across districts throughout the state) and to then either have the scores from years past or–like my wife and I did–simply retake the test to get the requisite scores. Ultimately, it was largely about taking initiative and demonstrating individual excellence;
2) even if the scores were not there, virtually all teachers across the Sunshine State got something. If rated "Effective," last year teachers would earn $800, and "Highly Effective" received $1200. The proposed House version of the updated program this year would have scrapped the scores and given all E rated teachers around $1100 and all HE rated teachers a bonus of $2300. Unfortunately for all of us, the Senate version was adopted, and that one is chock full of terrible ideas for how to "reward" teachers…
A one-time $4,000 recruitment bonus for new hires who are considered "content-experts" (Yet have never taught?! Sort of like the fresh out of college kids who got $6K because of test scores, right?!).
An "anybody's guess" bonus attached to cockamamie schemes that are largely beyond the control of any given teacher at a school that now has to move up 3 percentage points over the two previous year's school grade data (Yeah, good luck getting that…here's your lottery ticket).
A "recognition" bonus of who knows how much based on the "how-much-of-the-previous-two-categories-did-we-spend-money-on-let's-use-the-leftovers-for-that" plan. And oh yeah, the principal will decide. Nothing like putting him or her in a bad place or having teachers hating each other because they weren't chosen.
In the end, this was another lousy legislative session for teachers and students all across Florida, regardless of how legislators try and spin this hot mess. There are several veteran teachers who have personally told me they are walking away after this year is over, and until the Florida Legislature actually starts listening to the people who serve our children on a daily basis things will never get better, and we'll all be seeing more posts like Jonathan Carroll's on Facebook.
Thanks for the pay cut, Tallahassee!
Why We Must Pass Both Tax Referenda: The "Numbers Don't Lie" Redux
by H.	on September 9, 2018 September 10, 2018
The above video contains my complete comments on the lack of taxation. Please watch for context for what is detailed below.
It is no secret that school districts all across the Sunshine State have been forced to squeeze blood from a stone by the Florida Legislature for over two decades, and especially since the Great Recession. As noted in the first "Numbers Don't Lie" piece, Florida went from 27th in per-pupil spending in 1998 to 44th in 2018. Had we kept pace with inflation alone from 20 years ago, Florida would need to spend $9,913 per student. Instead, we currently spend $7,408.
But it's far worse than simply not keeping pace with inflation. When Ernest Hooper and I were interviewing candidates at the Tampa Hob Nob a few weeks ago, HD64 Rep. Jamie Grant–by his own admission–stated that the three areas of the economy that have actually outpaced inflation were health care, higher education and K-12 education. This effectively compounds the problem, because not only has the Florida Legislature refused to make a meaningful investment in public education, their decision to be parsimonious has made the reduced spending power of those scant dollars that much more signficant (assuming his statement is true).
Hillsborough County is not the only county seeking tax referenda. It's happening all over the state, which John Romano wrote about recently in the Tampa Bay Times. Going back to this past March, citizens of various counties are 12 for 12 in voting for some type of tax referendum to support their schools. Clearly voters are starting to understand that Tallahassee has gotten us all into these messes because of its ideological zeal for reducing taxes.
The Great Taxation Paradox: No one wants to pay, yet we need the services they provide.
People who stand against the tax referenda do so for two principal reasons: 1) they claim "we're taxed too much already"; 2) they believe Hillsborough County Public Schools has mismanaged its funds. Let's examine these claims in detail:
"We're Taxed Too Much Already"
Regarding the first claim, this is typical response from just about anyone when the subject of raising taxes is mentioned. The facts, however, do not support this claim. If anything, we are taxed too little in a state that is experiencing such rapid population growth. The lack of taxation is directly linked to: the unwillingness to investment in public education by the Florida Legislature, resulting in students and staff sweating in schools; the traffic congestion we get caught up in on a daily basis; why Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has one of the lowest deputy-to-citizen ratios in the state, etc. Simply put, there's not enough money to go around.
Mitch Perry's excellent piece in The Florida Phoenix last month detailed why so many counties are seeking various school and transportation referenda and, most notably, linked this report that highlights two key facts that were addressed during my comments to the school board:
1. Florida ranks 49th out of 50 states when it comes to "tax burden" (i.e. per-capita tax revenue generation).
2. Hillsborough County ranks 52nd out of 67 counties in Florida, which means we have the 15th lowest tax burden in the second lowest state in the U.S.
To say that "we are taxed too much already" is a preposterous statement that clearly ignores these facts and traffics in hyperbole when one considers the actual numbers.
HCPS Mismanages Its Funds
When it comes to the second claim about HCPS mismanaging its funds, it must be addressed in two parts. First, there are the optics of some of the board's more questionable spending decisions over the last three years. Many critics often cite spending nearly a million dollars on the Gibson Report, nearly a million dollars for new school board offices/relocation of Human Resources from its original location to the Instructional Services Center, remodeling/refreshing the audio-visual equipment in the board room, etc. All told these items add up to perhaps $3 million across the last three years, which amounts to approximately 0.00033% of its total annual budget per year.
This is clearly a case of picking out a few trees while missing the entire forest.
It took many painful cuts to get to this point, but Hillsborough citizens should be reassured that HCPS is doing its best with what little funding it receives from both state and local sources.
In truth, however, Hillsborough County Public Schools has done a great job of reigning in its deficit spending during the same period. This fact is all the more amazing when one considers the significance of this in light of continually declining purchasing power when dollars are adjusted for inflation. Many citizens of the county, for instance, may not realize that there has been a sharp reduction in "PECO" funding (Public Education Capital Outlay, the source that pays for installation and maintenance of HVAC systems, building and repairing schools, upgrading technology, etc) for several reasons:
1. At the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, the Florida Legislature–the governing body that effectively caps the tax rates that can be applied by school boards–reduced the millage rate from 2.0 to 1.5. Despite the economy recovering and now thriving, Tallahassee has never raised the millage rate back to pre-recession levels.
2. In addition to the millage rate never being restored, outgoing Speaker of the House, Richard Corcoran, famously quipped "Hell, no" in 2017 when asked if the Legislature would leave tax rates alone and allow rising property values to raise additional funds for education. Despite the Senate being okay with such a sensible compromise, the Grover Norquist anti-tax zealots in the House held firm and rolled back the rates even more.
3. Much of the revenue generated for PECO comes in the form of utilities taxes, including landline telephones, which hardly exist outside of businesses any longer. Therefore, a lot less money is going into those particular coffers at the state level.
Put this all together and what we get is a perfect fiscal storm that looks like this chart.
And people wonder why there is no money to fix A/C or otherwise repair our schools
While no one ever likes paying taxes, I would argue that there is a cost of paying too little. Having lived in Florida for just over 20 years now, I have watched our schools deteriorate and our roads fall apart while simutaneously becoming more clogged thanks to two decades of rampant, unchecked sprawl that has had little oversight and even less funding devoted to overcoming these challenges. I would highly encourage anyone who is reading this and lives in Hillsborough County to share this information with friends/family and vote for both of these referenda so that our citizens no longer have to live with the disastrous decisions being made by the Florida Legislature.
Furthermore, especially when it comes to the school district referendum in particular, please bear the following in mind: 1) the referendum can only be used for capital expenses; 2) there will be an oversight committee comprised of six citizens who have no connection to the district and will oversee how the money is spent on projects; 3) for the average Hillsborough citizen, the additional tax will mean about 17 cents per day. Undoubtedly, there will be naysayers who still want to vote no for their own personal reasons regardless of these facts. To them I paraphrase Voltaire by saying we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Our students, our schools, and our future depend on it.
Welcome to the CSUSA Board Room: Behind the Scenes of a For-Profit Charter Management Company
by H.	on July 12, 2018 July 14, 2018
Waterset, the newest Charter Schools USA located in Apollo Beach, Hillsborough County
Two weeks ago today, on June 28th, I attended my first Charter Schools USA board meeting at Waterset, the newest CSUSA school that was built in the Waterset development on the south side of Big Bend Road in Hillsborough County. Nestled among a sprawling development that includes a clubhouse and homes for the upper-middle class residents of the area, Waterset is a handsome facility with state of the art technology and classrooms that are surely meant to lure in unsuspecting parents who only want the best for their children.
Before getting to the meeting itself, let me unequivocally state that I am not opposed to charter schools or school choice on principle. As an International Baccalaureate teacher at an A rated magnet school here in Hillsborough County, it would be dishonest of me to take a stand against school choice when I work at a choice school. And if the Florida Legislature adequately funded public education here in this state so that all choices could receive equal funding, I would probably have little to rail against.
But this is Florida, after all, and our elected officials clearly have a pet project of underfunding traditional public schools while shoveling money at charters and vouchers. So rail against this inequity I must.
When Al Shanker first proposed the idea of charter schools in 1988, they were meant to be a place that allowed teachers to take control and offer innovative approaches to students who struggled with traditional education. He wanted professionals who knew best to be unencumbered by bureaucratic red tape, allowed to propose and administer their own programs, and flourish alongside students who needed their help. It's a noble idea, yet one that has been co-opted and corrupted by corporate interests.
For those who are unaware of the charter taxpayer scam being perpetuated by several privately held companies—the two largest of which are Academica and Charter Schools USA—the following is a brief primer (although you can listen to this excellent podcast with Pat Hall to gain a deeper understanding):
In 1996, Florida approved charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools. By law, these schools are considered non-profit just like their traditional counterparts and are funded with taxpayer dollars. Many of the early charter schools were small operations set up by parents or other community members who wanted to serve niche student populations who struggled in traditional settings, just as Shanker had first proposed (Pepin Academies and F.A.C.E. are good examples of charters that are genuinely non-profit here in HCPS).
Somewhere along the way, however, this model has been perverted due to a loophole in the legislation, which has allowed for-profit charter management companies to create an industry that is bilking Florida taxpayers to the tune of tens (if not hundreds at this point) of millions of dollars per year. In essence, this scam works with three key players: real estate, construction, and the for-profit charter management companies such as Academica, Charter Schools USA, Charter School Associates, etc. These companies have numerous subsidiaries that allow them to rig the game at the expense of us all. One LLC will purchase the land for cheap, another LLC will build the school, and, after the for-profit company has installed a technically "non-profit" board, this board effectively turns around and pays the for-profit management company for back office services, "management fees", and exorbitant rental-lease agreements that are typically astronomical compared to what other buildings in the area receive on a per-square-foot basis. In the end, on average, these companies end up siphoning off nearly HALF of the public dollars meant for students and classrooms.
Ryan Construction works alongside Red Apple Development, the construction LLC of CSUSA
Worst of all, Tallahassee's incestuous relationship with these for-profit charter management companies are a direct result of the legislation we have seen in the last two years under House Speaker Corcoran. Manny Diaz, for example, one of the principal architects behind HB7069 that ensured more money was devoted to charters, draws a six figure salary for Doral College, a for-profit institution affiliated with Academica, the largest of these profiteers in the Sunshine State. Hello conflict of interest! Florida ethics laws are clearly a joke to these elected officials.
***Back to the CSUSA Board Meeting***
When I walked into the meeting, I was greeted by Kerianne, a woman who works for CSUSA and travels the state to act as a board liaison on behalf of the company. Although technically a public meeting, it was held in a fairly small room that included a long table with chairs around it and only three empty chairs for onlookers. Clearly these meetings are not well attended, which I am sure they would prefer.
The meeting itself was fairly quick, and the people I met were all quite friendly. I have no doubt that the administrators and parent-facilitators at the table (as well as the teachers and staff who work at these schools) genuinely want the best for the students they serve. Ultimately I believe anyone who works directly with children on a daily basis are simply giving back to the next generation and their local communities. But there were a few highlights that are noteworthy:
The CSUSA board liaison, Kerianne, effectively ran the meeting. The board members are simply there to go through the motions and rubber stamp everything.
One of the items approved regarding SB7026 was described as "lots of boilerplate insert school here", which contained information for how CSUSA would handle school safety initiatives. Some districts are allowing them to "piggy back" on their SRO or SSO initiatives, but other counties are resisting and telling the charters to pay for officers themselves (HCPS has told them that they are responsible for the cost). CSUSA plans to use their employees as guardians or contract with private security firms if the need arises.
Most notably, the SB7026 legislation also includes provisions for addressing mental health, but if CSUSA doesn't receive enough funding from the state or districts for school psychologists or social workers, the schools are to kick the problem back to the parents for them to handle privately.
Rod Jurado, the board chair, noted that CSUSA has been speaking with Senator Bill Galvano (the Senate President in waiting) about "seeing what we can do to get into Manatee County."
Board members apparently have term limits, yet were given extensions by a vote.
Noted that CSUSA will be opening (or recently opened) 9 new schools, serving 8500 students (sidenote: at $7408 per-student this means CSUSA will receive $63 million in new revenue, with approximately $28.3 million being added to their bottom lines—all at taxpayer and traditional public education expense).
A mention of growing concern about securing bonds for the new schools being built before the interest rates went up.
Review of school grades for the local CSUSA schools under the board's purview; interestingly enough, they only discussed the three schools that received an A. Waterset barely earned a C with 337 points.
And, perhaps in an unintentionally ironic yet comical statement, Mr. Jurado explicitly made mention that the schools and board are non-profit, carrying on about how he nor any other board member receive a salary or stipend, and that they should all help correct this misconception when speaking to the public. I still wonder if he would have even said it had I not been in the room.
In the end, the board meeting is largely a ruse that is intended to look like an actual board meeting. Not once was there any discussion of any agenda items, and what discussion that did transpire was mostly explanations that were given to the board from the CSUSA liaison, Kerianne. Although other meetings typically revolve around "recruitment and retainment" of students to maximize profit, most of the money talk was confined to securing bonds for their new buildings, which are owned by the companies themselves and not the public that funded them. The entire enterprise is a racket, and all taxpayers in Florida should be aware and demand better from our elected officials. The Florida Legislature should legislatively close the loophole that allows these charlatans to legally steal from public education coffers that are filled with our tax dollars.
The one page agenda, featuring a picture of a curiously homogeneous classroom
About Those Stubborn Facts…
by H.	on May 20, 2018 May 20, 2018
Why, yes! Yes it does, Florida GOP!
Apparently the Florida GOP is tired of getting beaten up in the media by public education advocates who cried foul after the education budget increased the base student allocation by 47 cents. Pardon the bold, italicized wording at the end of the last sentence, it's only to ensure that specific wording is employed to clarify any misconceptions. So, to combat this endless churn in the news cycle, the Florida GOP–you know, the ones who are always touting fiscal conservatism while budgets continue to balloon for everything except public education–have decided to waste more taxpayer dollars to produce this video that up to this point has been watched a whopping 472 times.
If you haven't seen this gem, go ahead and waste five minutes of your life so you can see for yourself just how much the Florida GOP thinks of teachers.
On the heels of National Teacher Appreciation Week, the Florida GOP likens all of us a disheveled lout named Frank. Make no mistake about it, there is no way their opening analogy can be construed any other way. Apparently anyone who has the nerve to call out the Florida Legislature is, according to the GOP, perpetuating a "myth."
For those who are unaware of the etymological roots of that word, it simply means "story" (and nothing more) in ancient Greek. We all tell stories, and this is the Florida GOP's attempt to craft a narrative of convenience that clearly demonstrates their disdainful views about teachers, teachers' unions, and our profession in general.
At the end of the video, when the narrator (myth-maker?) says that "the truth matters", he talks about facts being stubborn things. So here are a few of which the general public should be aware:
1. 2007-2008 per-pupil spending was $7,126; next year's will be $7,408. 11 years later, not even $300 higher. Can't ignore inflation and the declining purchasing power of the almighty dollar…adjusted for inflation we should be at $8,311 just to have kept up.
2. But wait! It gets even better! As this chart indicates, Florida spent $6,443 per-pupil in 1998-99, which was 20 years ago for our Florida GOP who struggle with math and logic (trust me, I'm a 99th percentile Best and Brightest teacher!). This was just shy of the national average for per-pupil spending at the time (27th in the U.S.), and we now rank in the bottom 10% of all states in the U.S. (45th). What happened during that 20 year period?
Oh yeah, the Florida GOP took over our state government.
3. Despite all the bombastic claims of "historic", "unprecedented", "record-level" public education spending, we lag the national average by roughly $4,000, which is clearly seen in this chart (one can also see we still haven't even fully recovered from the Great Recession, one of the many reasons we've had teacher walkouts/strikes erupting in GOP-led states). Also, as another stubborn/fun fact, if we kept up with inflation from our 1998-99 spending, we would need to spend $9,913.
The fact of the matter is that the Florida GOP's little video isn't fooling anyone, least of all public education advocates. But it's clearly a message intended to be seen by "working Floridians", you know, that 45% of Florida's population that is considered "working poor" and has clearly prospered so much under the Rick Scott administration, especially in rural counties where they have been left even further behind than before he began his tenure.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, Florida GOP, but the only ones who are in the myth-making business is your party.
And, no, I'm not a Democrat or whatever else you'd like to call me in case you want to jump straight to ad hominem attacks.
P.S. – This is my favorite scene in the entire video. What the Florida GOP unwittingly included was a meeting of Academica, Charter Schools USA, and Charter School Associates, three of the largest for-profit charter management companies who all donate heavily to the Florida GOP to ensure they will continue to siphon off tens of millions of dollars from the kids and classrooms to pad their profit lines. Sorry/not sorry about that stubborn little fact too.
This message sponsored by the Florida GOP and their For-Profit Charter Management Overlords
Teacher Voice – Episode 18
by H.	on March 18, 2018 March 18, 2018
Pat Hall (second from left), the Education Committee Chair for the League of Women Voters, Hillsborough County Chapter
This episode of the Teacher Voice podcast focuses on one of the most critical issues facing the Sunshine State: the citizens and taxpayers of Florida being defrauded by the for-profit charter management corporations.
The guest on the podcast is Pat Hall, a retired public educator now turned public education advocate. Pat, along with other key players in the League of Women Voters, is on a mission to expose the fraudulent ways that these for-profit management companies keep nearly HALF of the money that is meant for students in the classrooms. Our discussion covers how these companies bilk the taxpayers while peddling influence at the state and local levels. Please listen and be sure to share with other concerned citizens and public education advocates!
https://teachervoicecom.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/pat-hall-interview.m4a
If you'd like to learn more about this situation, Like or Follow the League of Women Voters of Hillsborough County on Facebook, and be sure to click any of the linked articles below the LWV logo:
2014 investigative piece by Noah Pransky of Channel 10 News about how Charter Schools USA were charging exorbitant rents and nearly had their charters pulled by Superintendent Elia
The League of Women Voters Education Blog curated by Dr. Sue Legg from the University of Florida (this link will open up to a post about for-profit charters)
An interim report written for the LWV by Pat Hall and Dr. Sue Legg about the business practices of Charter Schools USA
"Charter School Explosion" – A 7 part series written by Pat Hall and published exclusively in La Gaceta. All of these pieces are highly informative, but if you only have time for one, be sure to read part 5, "Following the Money," which was featured by Diane Ravitch on her own education blog.
Charter School Explosion – Are They Fulfilling the Promise? (Part 1)
Charter School Explosion – Doing It Better
Charter School Explosion – Following the Money (MUST READ!)
Charter School Explosion – Accountable to Whom?
Charter School Explosion – On the Fringe of Legal?
Publisher's note/two minor corrections: 1) SLAM stands for "Sports Leadership and Management"; 2) Hillsborough County School Board member for District 1, Susan Valdes, received $12,000 total (not as in a single day) from for-profit charter management companies or people during the last election cycle. $6,000 came on a single day (5/25/16), and the three individual checks I reference from John Hage (CEO of CSUSA), Charter Schools USA, and Red Apple Development were all donated on 12/17/15. You can find campaign contribution records for her or any elected official in Hillsborough County by clicking this link here.
In Defense of the HCPS Whistleblower
by H.	on January 24, 2018 January 24, 2018
Whistleblowers serve an important function in a free and democratic society. They serve as a bulwark against corruption and unethical behavior, and are a voice for the masses who feel powerless to fight back. And, more often than not, they carry on this important work anonymously.
Governments recognize and respect the work that these people do, which is why we have legislation at both the state and federal levels to protect those who have the courage to stand up and speak out against those who unscrupulously wield their power. These people should be commended for taking on the injustices found in both the private and public sectors.
It was alarming, then, to witness the unfolding of events at last night's school board meeting here in Hillsborough County. For those reading beyond our borders, a popular local Facebook page, the Hillsborough County School Board Whistleblower, sprouted up shortly after our previous superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, was unceremoniously removed from her post without cause in January of 2015. Over the last three years, the page has grown a large following while being critical of several of the board members on a wide range of issues.
During the meeting, a concerned citizen named Jason Ferger addressed the board about several issues, specifically the lack of transparency in their dealings with one another, which should happen "in the sunshine" according to state law. It was at the end of his address that one of our school board members, April Griffin, outed him as being the administrator of the Whistleblower page while simultaneously dragging another school board member, Melissa Snively, into the fray, despite the fact that she was absent from the dais. It was both shocking and unprofessional to say the least.
To be honest, Mr. Ferger may or may not be the person I interviewed a couple of months ago over the phone. The more important point is that, based on what I gleaned from our discussion, the Whistleblower is more than any one person at this point–it is a movement. And this movement is comprised of any and all stakeholders who are concerned about the surfeit of challenges facing our school district here in Hillsborough County. From what he described, the page routinely receives dozens of tips in any given week, and anyone who has sent along tips or helped dig through records requests to put together the facts may as well be the Whistleblower him/herself.
Which makes me the Whistleblower, too.
Over a year ago, I received a tip from a friend who told me that the district was purchasing 8,000 laptops. We apparently were about to significantly overpay for them because one of our other school board members, Susan Valdes, questioned the item and had it pulled from the agenda before a vote. Summation: the contract went to a local company whose CEO donated $1000 to her most recent election campaign. So I passed along the tip and then got an email back asking if I could help.
Attached to this email were pages upon pages of emails, purchase orders, bidding sheets; it was mind-boggling to behold at first. Relishing the opportunity to do some investigative work, I dug in, sifted through all the information, organized it onto a spreadsheet, and then sent it back. After a few more email exchanges, we were able to create a timeline, and then the page took the information public.
It has since been accepted by the Florida Commission on Ethics, and the investigation is one of two that are currently on-going (as far as I know).
My point is this: whoever you are, dear reader, you are powerful. We all are. As I said to someone last night, anyone who is helping to provide greater transparency by holding democratically elected officials accountable to their citizens is the very definition of what it means to be a good American. We have a right and responsibility as citizens of the United States to be informed, engaged, and acting on our civic duty. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
I am the Whistleblower.
And if you have ever helped that page and the cause, then so are you.
We are all the Whistleblower.
Teacher Voice – Friday Five – Episode 15
by H.	on December 8, 2017 December 8, 2017
#TimeToResign
While I highly doubt School Board Member Valdes will take this second call for her resignation seriously due to her megalomania, I hope you will listen to this very brief (4 minute) podcast as to why she needs to be removed from her District 1 seat.
Please share with others and use #TimeToResign
https://teachervoicecom.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/friday-five-12-81.m4a
Oh, and if you're interested in reading through the recall statute yourself, you can find it by clicking this link: Recall Statute
Thanks again for listening, everyone; have an awesome weekend!
Most Recent Podcast
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It's that time again! Let's celebrate #literacy by sharing with others what we're currently #reading 📚❤ Currently I'm finishing #Aristotle but just began _Start with Why_ by @simonsinek How about you? @juliehiltz @shannanigan73 @hubofschool @hillsboroughsch @ibschs @strawberrycrest #CLW20 #hubofschool #HCPS #Tuesday #morning #motivation
These two were really popular yesterday and today. Not sure where I should keep the eye chart in my room? Thoughts from those who know Room 824?
I am #RedForEd Are you? If you are a #student who is sick and tired of your #education being based on a bubble sheet, you should be too. If you are a #teacher who is fed up over the lack of funding to provide resources or a decent salary, you should be upset as well. #Parents we need your help too! If you care about our profession, let's all wear #RED each and every #Wednesday here in #Florida 🔥#FLFIRE ✊💪
If I were to sum up my advice about #life it would be to "enjoy the ride." Yes there will be ups and downs, but every day is an incredible gift, a new chance to work on becoming the absolute best version of ourselves in whatever role we play, whether we are a #student or #teacher or any other label we affix to one another. Beyond that piece of advice, I'd also suggest you simply lead with #love 🙏🏼❤ It may be easy to say, yet it can be hard to do. But it is in the attempt itself that our #strength to love others grows. Seems to get easier by the day... Whatever you're doing on the long holiday weekend, I hope you make time to further cultivate your #relationships with #family and #friends 😊 Make sure you include lots of #smiles and #laugh a good bit too!
Don't mind me. Just reading Aristotle while waiting for potential conversation partners to walk by. Come see me at "The Stoa" each day during @ibschs lunch to chat about #life 🤔 #NerdLife #RedForEd (Hawaiian Shirt version 😉) #Philosophy #Stoicism #Wednesday #Wisdom #teacher #student
Better believe it, Governor @rondesantisfl and @educationfl Commissioner @richardcorcoran 2020 will most CERTAINLY be the "Year of the Teacher." We just kicked off the ash off the embers to this 🔥#FLFIRE and now we're ready to BLAZE!!! ✊💪 Click the link in bio to join today! #RallyInTally #FundOurFutureFL #4EveryStudent #WeArePolk #monday #mondaymotivation #teacher #students #parents #education #Florida
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text:
Aluminum eliminating the bad and ugly
Health Freedom Idaho Toxins May 07, 2017 toxins aluminum healthy-food food-freedom dangers
Our bodies are exposed to pollutants before we're even born. Many pollutants, like the ones in our air, are unavoidable. But there are many toxins that we can choose to avoid. Aluminum is one of those toxins. Unlike vitamins, minerals, and trace elements, the body does not need aluminum. And aluminum is no innocent or benign participant. Aluminum accumulates in the kidneys, brain, lungs, liver and thyroid where it competes with calcium for absorption and can affect skeletal mineralization. In infants, this can slow growth. Animal models have linked aluminum exposure to mental impairments. [1]
The scary truth about aluminum is that it is found in so many things in our world and it is toxic to our bodies, even in small amounts. From household products to vaccinations, aluminum pervades our lifestyle, and if not monitored closely, can easily make its way into our bodies causing lasting, harmful effects.
ALUMINUM IS FOUND IN:
baking soda/powder
soda cans
soy based and/or lactose intolerant baby formulas
THE DANGERS OF ALUMINUM
Why is Aluminum Exposure Harmful?
Just as cigarette smoke damages lung function and overexposure to UV rays will degrade your skin, aluminum is an attacker and its target is your central nervous system. [2]Studies show that toxic metals contribute to brain diseases by producing oxidative stress and aluminum is one of the worst offenders. [1] The prevailing belief around the world is that aluminum is linked to degenerative brain diseases:
linked to Alzheimers
It makes sense, research shows aluminum can produce toxic, oxidative stress in the brain and a brain autopsy study of elderly persons found them to have aluminum levels 20+ times higher than a middle-aged group. [3] [4] The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recognizes aluminum as one of several metals known to affect the neurological system. [5] As far as aluminum is concerned, the supreme brain-health concern is Alzheimer's disease.
AVOIDING ALUMINUM
Aluminum is one of the most abundant metals on earth and it has permeated mainstream products to the degree that it's virtually impossible to completely avoid exposure. However, you can take certain measures to reduce your exposure.
Avoid using disposable aluminum pans for cooking. Use glass pans for baking, stoneware for cookie sheets, and cast-iron for stove-top cooking.
Do not wrap food in foil to cook in oven or on grill. Potatoes bake just fine with no wrapping at all on oven rack.
Don't use deodorant that contains aluminum. Try using baking soda (as long as it is aluminum-free, too) or buy all-natural, aluminum-free deodorant, or make your own.
Read all labels on food and pay attention to packaging. Acidic foods in aluminum cans react, causing the aluminum to leach into the contents of the can.
Use all-natural shampoos, soaps, lotions, and cosmetics.
Avoid aluminum-containing antacids. Try natural remedies for heartburn and indigestion like sipping a glass of water with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, eat fresh pineapple or papaya, chew a sprig of parsley, drink a cup of peppermint tea, drink aloe vera, or coconut water, or milk.
Kumar V, Gill KD. Aluminium neurotoxicity: neurobehavioural and oxidative aspects. Arch Toxicol. 2009 Nov;83(11):965-78. doi: 10.1007/s00204-009-0455-6. Epub 2009 Jul 1. Review.
Michalke B, Halbach S, Nischwitz V. JEM spotlight: metal speciation related to neurotoxicity in humans. J Environ Monit. 2009 May;11(5):939-54. doi: 10.1039/b817817h. Epub 2009 Mar 19. Review.
Fernández-Dávila ML, Razo-Estrada AC, García-Medina S, Gómez-Oliván LM, Piñón-López MJ, Ibarra RG, Galar-Martínez M. Aluminum-induced oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in grass carp (Cyprinidae--Ctenopharingodon idella). Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2012 Feb;76(2):87-92. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2011.09.012. Epub 2011 Oct 10.
Jansson ET. Aluminum exposure and Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2001 Dec;3(6):541-549.
Pohl HR, Roney N, Abadin HG. Metal ions affecting the neurological system. Met Ions Life Sci. 2011;8:247-62.
Brenner S. Aluminum may mediate Alzheimer's disease through liver toxicity, with aberrant hepatic synthesis of ceruloplasmin and ATPase7B, the resultant excess free copper causing brain oxidation, beta-amyloid aggregation and Alzheimer disease. Med Hypotheses. 2013 Mar;80(3):326-7. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.11.036. Epub 2012 Dec 20.
Shrivastava S. Combined effect of HEDTA and selenium against aluminum induced oxidative stress in rat brain. J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2012 Jun;26(2-3):210-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2012.04.014. Epub 2012 May 8.
Bondy SC. The neurotoxicity of environmental aluminum is still an issue. Neurotoxicology. 2010 Sep;31(5):575-81. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2010.05.009. Epub 2010 May 27. Review.
Belojević G, Jakovljević B. [Aluminum and Alzheimer's disease]. Srp Arh Celok Lek. 1998 Jul-Aug;126(7-8):283-9. Review. Serbian.
Nishida Y. Elucidation of endemic neurodegenerative diseases--a commentary. Z Naturforsch C. 2003 Sep-Oct;58(9-10):752-8. Review.
Mandour RA, Azab YA. The prospective toxic effects of some heavy metals overload in surface drinking water of Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. Int J Occup Environ Med. 2011 Oct;2(4):245-53.
Riihimäki V, Aitio A. Occupational exposure to aluminum and its biomonitoring in perspective. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2012 Nov;42(10):827-53. doi: 10.3109/10408444.2012.725027. Epub 2012 Sep 27. Review.
Polizzi S, Pira E, Ferrara M, Bugiani M, Papaleo A, Albera R, Palmi S. Neurotoxic effects of aluminium among foundry workers and Alzheimer's disease. Neurotoxicology. 2002 Dec;23(6):761-74.
†Results may vary. Information and statements made are for education purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor. Global Healing Center does not dispense medical advice, prescribe, or diagnose illness. The views and nutritional advice expressed by Global Healing Center are not intended to be a substitute for conventional medical service. If you have a severe medical condition or health concern, see your physician.
This article originally appeared at: http://www.keeperofthehome.org/eliminating-aluminum-from-our-homes.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This blog will focus on symbolic behavior and derived relational responding, with an emphasis on Relational Frame Theory's (RFT) overarching goal of the prediction and influence of human behavior with precision and broad scope. Core empirical and theoretical issues will be explored along with an examination of how RFT is applied in a variety contexts, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Get notified when new articles are published on the blog by subscribing to the site.
Jarring Jargon or Tender Terms?


Do I need to report workers' compensation?
W2 only has figures in box 12a marked With DD does it need to added as a w2 since he was on workers compensation at the time and received no pay checks.
Why is a 401K rollover (code G on the 1099-R) showing as nontaxable income on the Schedule A Tax and Interest Deduction Worksheet on line 1a2 for Optional Sales Tax?
If someone was on workers compensation and that was the only source of income for more than half of the year. Can that be taxable?
I worked as a contractor for three months and the company has worker Compensation, does that count that I had insurance for three months?


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H.J. Res. 78 - Preserving Our Intelligence Capabilities Act
H.J. Res. 77 - Food and Drug Safety Act
H.J. Res. 76 - Nuclear Weapon Security & Non-Proliferation Act
H.R. 3223 - Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act
H.J. Res. 75 - Nutrition Assistance for Low-Income Women and Children Act
H.J. Res. 73 - Research for Lifesaving Cures Act
Oct 2, 2013 10:15am
H.R. 3230 - Pay Our Guard and Reserve Act
H.J. Res. 72 - Honoring Our Promise to America's Veterans Act
H.J. Res. 70 - Open Our National Parks and Museums Act
Meeting Announced
H.J. Res. 71 - Provide Local Funding for the District of Columbia Act


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Q: Best output activation function for binary mask classification I have a CNN which inputs a satellite image and should output a mask where it finds cars. I have manually labelled images and created masks for each image where each pixel is 1 if there is part of a car in that pixel, 0 otherwise.
I am trying to work out the best output layer activation function and loss function, and I'm fishing for opinions. I know there is a wealth of information out there but I find myself getting confused about whether my problem is regression or classification.
Could someone please offer their opinion? I am currently using the following output and loss in keras:
conv10 = Conv2D(1, 1, activation='sigmoid')(conv9)

model = Model(inputs=[inputs], outputs=[conv10])

model.compile(optimizer=Adam(lr=1e-4), loss='binary_crossentropy', metrics=['accuracy'])

Is this a good idea? Thanks!

A: This seems like a good idea from my point of view, because you want to output a probability P(px is part of a car | image) for each pixel px in image. Therefore, that's a binary classification problem, for which using the binary_crossentropy loss function (plus a sigmoid activation in the output layer) is appropriate.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: A difficulty in obtaining a formula in the proof of a theorem. The theorem and part of its proof is given below:

But the last line in the proof did not come up with me after calculation, I do not know where I will use that $\lambda = <Ax_{0},x_{0}>$ , could anyone explain it for me please?
Also in the rest of the proof below:

I can not see how this $\alpha$ give us the final line, could anyone explain this for me please?

A: $$\langle A(x_0+\alpha v), x_0+\alpha v \rangle \geq  \lambda \langle x_0+\alpha v, x_0+\alpha v \rangle\\
\langle Ax_0, x_0 \rangle+\langle Ax_0, \alpha v \rangle+\langle A\alpha v, x_0 \rangle+\langle A\alpha v, \alpha v \rangle \geq  \lambda \left( \langle x_0, x_0 \rangle +\langle x_0, \alpha v \rangle+\langle \alpha v, x_0 \rangle+\langle \alpha v, \alpha v \rangle\right)\\
\lambda +\bar{\alpha}\langle Ax_0,  v \rangle+\alpha \langle A v, x_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle Av ,  v \rangle \geq  \lambda \left( 1 +\bar{\alpha}\langle x_0,  v \rangle+\alpha\langle  v, x_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle v,  v \rangle\right)\\
\bar{\alpha}\langle Ax_0,  v \rangle+\alpha \langle A v, x_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle Av ,  v \rangle \geq  \lambda \left( \bar{\alpha}\langle x_0,  v \rangle+\alpha\langle  v, x_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle v,  v \rangle\right)\\
$$
Now, using the fact that $A$ is self adjoint and that $\lambda=\bar{\lambda}$, we get
$$\bar{\alpha}\langle Ax_0,  v \rangle+\alpha \langle  v, Ax_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle Av ,  v \rangle \geq   \bar{\alpha}\langle \lambda x_0,  v \rangle+\alpha\langle  v, \lambda x_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle \lambda v,  v \rangle\\
\overline{\alpha\langle  v, Ax_0 \rangle}+\alpha \langle  v, Ax_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle Av ,  v \rangle \geq   \overline{\alpha\langle  v, \lambda x_0 \rangle}+\alpha\langle  v, \lambda x_0 \rangle+|\alpha|^2\langle \lambda v,  v \rangle\\
$$
Now move everything on the left hand side and you obtain exactly the given inequality.
For the edit Taking $\alpha$ of the given form, the part inside the real part is real and your inequality becomes of the form
$$\gamma r+ \delta r^2 \geq 0$$
Now, unless $\gamma=0$, the LHS has two real roots and hence takes both positive and negative values.

A: Here is another approach (essentially the proof showing the
existence of a Lagrange multiplier):
Suppose $x_0$ is as above and $w_0$ is a unit vector that satisfies $x_0 \bot w_0$.
Note that $\|t x_0 + s w_0\|^2 = t^2+s^2$ and if we let $x(s) = \sqrt{1-s^2} x_0 + s w_0$ then $\|x(s) \| = 1$ for all $|s| <1$. In addition, $x(0) = x_0$ and $x'(0) = w_0$.
Now let $f(x) = \langle Ax, x \rangle$ and $\phi(s) = f(x(s))$.
Note that $\phi'(0) = 2 \operatorname{re} \langle Ax_0, w_0 \rangle$,
from which we conclude (since $x_0$ is a minimiser) that
$\langle Ax_0, w_0 \rangle = 0$ for all $w_0 \bot x_0$. In
particular, $A x_0 \in \operatorname{sp} \{ x_0 \}$, hence $x_0$
is an eigenvector.


text:
KOBI5.com > News > Local > Bigfoot has moved to Grants Pass, in statue form
Bigfoot has moved to Grants Pass, in statue form
Posted by Mariah Mills August 3, 2020
A Bigfoot sighting happened in Grants Pass today, in a manner of speaking.
Grants Pass is known for it's bears and cavemen, but now, it may be known for Sasquatch – that's right, a business owner has purchased a statue of Bigfoot and put it in front of his store for everyone to see.
Gene Bradley, owner of Smokey's Stoves on 6th Street, recently bought a 15-foot tall, 4,000 pound statue of Bigfoot and had it placed by the entrance of his store.
"I love the bear theme around Grants Pass, but it's like there's a lot of bears, I love 'em all. They're all beautiful pieces of art from the local artists and stuff, but I didn't want to just be another bear on the block," said Bradley.
Bradley says the carver of the statue spent two weeks on the project.
"He told me that he's carved several 7, 8, 9 footers and this is the biggest one he's ever carved," Bradley added.
So while enthusiasts continue to search for the elusive Oregon yeti, they'll always know where to go if they want to pose with the big guy himself.
Tags: 6th street Bigfoot Grants Pass oregon sasquatch Smokey's Stoves
Mariah Mills
NBC5 News reporter Mariah Mills is a Medford native. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism. She also minored in sociology. In school, she covered Oregon athletics for the student-run television station, Duck TV. When she's not reporting, she's reading, hiking and rooting for her favorite teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Oregon Ducks.
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Erin Napier's Family Recipes & Stories (Vol. 1) – Laurel Mercantile Co.
Erin's mama compiled this little informal field guide of the family recipes that come out of our ovens the most, from Mammaw Ouida's buttermilk biscuits to Mallorie's famous jambalaya, Erin's spaghetti and meatballs and Big Ben's chili. Funny short stories about southern cooking are woven throughout the book and it makes the perfect gift to pair with our skillet bread tea towel.


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Cinema 4 Years Ago March 11, 2016
The Automatic Hate Release Date
The movie The Automatic Hate is already released on Cinema in the USA. The upcoming Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming and VOD release date in the USA and UK and Cinema release date in the UK is to be announced.
TBAConfirmed
March 11, 2016Confirmed
The Automatic Hate
When Davis Green's (Joseph Cross) alluring young cousin Alexis (Adelaide Clemens) appears on his doorstep one night, he discovers that a side of his family has been kept secret from him. Against his father's wishes, Davis travels to rural, upstate New York to meet his other cousins. While wrestling with a taboo attraction to one another, he and Alexis attempt to reunite their families, uncovering the reasons behind a long-standing rift and the shocking secret that tore their fathers apart. Together, their discoveries force them to confront the temptation to keep their familial grudge going rather than end it.
Justin Lerner
Katharine O'Brien
Joseph Cross
Film Movement
https://youtube.com/embed/4h7vBVc15gQ


What is the minimum amount that TaxLend will fund?
There is no maximum amount. However, facilities over $1 million will require deeper discussion and you will be assigned a representative to assist with this.
Yes. There is no limit to the number of loans a customer can apply for. We look at each loan separately (although each loan will need to be held in an individual entity).
To apply for a TaxLend loan you simply need to fill in our short and simple online application form (which takes less than 3 minutes to complete). The majority of the time, all we need is a copy of the contract of sale and 100 points of ID. Click here for a full list.
Can I borrow only part of the GST and/or Stamp duty?
Yes. While our standard offer is for full funding, we can provide a facility that fits your specific needs.
Who is a TaxLend loan suitable for?
We can only offer loans to commercial borrowers for commercial purposes. TaxLend also requires the property to be purchased by and held in a SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle).
How much does a TaxLend loan cost?
The cost of our loans vary depending on a number of factors including, but not limited to: loan size, loan purpose (GST, Stamp Duty or both). Once you fill in the quick application form here we will be able to give you a quick quote.
What is the minimum and maximum loan terms?
Depending on the loan you are taking out (GST and/or Stamp duty) the terms vary. For a GST loan, the minimum is 1 month and maximum may vary.
Stamp duty loans are in 6 month periods up to 12 months maximum. A minimum term of 3 months applies.
Of course every case is different. However, we can usually provide you funding in as little as 2 working days.
Do You Offer A Fast Track Service?
Yes. When time is of the essence, we can help. Please call TaxLend now. We can offer a Fast Track facility with rapid turnaround tailored to the specific needs of your transaction.
No, we are a principal lender. We use standard documentation and processes. We work with a number of brokers and other partners to deliver TaxLend loans to their customers.


My fav sambar.. looks awesome!!
This is my favorite sambar.. Looks delicious and comforting..
who say no to sambhar? my all time favourite !
looks so awesome,i can finish the plate.
Mullangi sambar with papads and pickles,i can die for. Love this sambar very much.
Mullangi sambar looks delicious chitra.
Tried it came out very well. Thanks fourth post.
Hi Chitra can I post your recipe on my blog? This recipe looks good.
I prepare sambar this way, except I don't add jaggery, tomato and green chillies. So I will have to tell my readers the same thing. Anyway, thanks.


Description The Converse All Star has twice the fun this season as the Double Tongue Oxford lands at schuh. The iconic fabric trainer features a purple fold-down tongue whilst classic branding appears on the inner tongue for authenticity. A rubber sole completes.


text:
Q: Хранение чисел для поиска среди них В какой структуре целесообразнее будет хранить большой (до 6 млн значений) список из натуральных чисел что бы можно было быстро находить попадание одного случайного натурального числа в этот список?
Пробовал хранить все как строки и использовать сортированный TstringList без повторений:
a.Sorted:=True;
a.Duplicates:=dupIgnore;

а в нем уже проверять попадание через Find:
a.Find(MyNumber);

но мне кажется это не лучший путь.

A: Варианты:

*

*БД. Для 6 миллионов записей самое-то

*Сортированный TList<Cardinal> или TDictionary<Cardinal, ...> если требуется проверять только на равенство

*Если Delphi старая, то обычный сортированный TList с приведением чисел к Pointer


text:
X-Men: First Class (2011)
A- SDG Original source: Christianity Today
A dozen years ago super-hero movies seemed to be dead. Superman and Batman had each run four films, in both cases driving their franchises into the ground and exhausting whatever inspiration and goodwill they started out with. Stan Lee had been in Hollywood for the better part of two decades trying to get a movie made, any movie — Spider-Man, Daredevil, Captain America, you name it.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, January Jones. 20th Century Fox.
Teens & Up*
Intense, sometimes deadly action violence; some sexual content, brief quasi-nudity and women in states of undress (nothing explicit); profanity, crass language and an obscenity.
Then out of nowhere came Bryan Singer's mutant ensemble movie X‑Men, and it changed everything. Well, perhaps not as much as it might have. X‑Men revitalized the super-hero movie and launch the current age of comic-book adaptations that, far from flagging, is still picking up steam. Yet few of the ongoing avalanche of Marvel and DC productions have been on a par with Singer's sharp little film. The genre has become routine, and few entries offer any surprises.
Even prequels and reboots are becoming almost routine: Counting Mark Ruffalo in the upcoming Avengers film, there have been three different Bruce Banners in ten years, and other characters including Spider-Man, Superman and Daredevil are being or may be rebooted. Then there was X‑Men Origins: Wolverine, a tepid X‑Men prequel partly set, like X‑Men: First Class, in the later mid-20th century.
Yet, surprisingly, First Class, produced by Singer and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) from a story co-written by Singer, isn't more business as usual. First Class does what few franchise films do today: It takes risks, offers surprises. Consider Thor and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean: both competently pleasant films, and short enough not to wear out their welcome, but not a surprise between the two of them. First Class is comparatively long, but it feels satisfyingly complete rather than overstuffed. By the time it's over, we know Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) and Mystique in particular as we've never known them before.
Casting is crucial, particularly for Professor X and Magneto. From the first scenes of X‑Men Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen effortlessly created a sense of an old kinship gone tragically awry. Happily, James McAvoy (The Conspirator; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and Michael Fassbender (Jane Eyre; Inglourious Basterds) are up to the task.
McAvoy not only commandingly fills the shoes Stewart was never allowed to stand in, he persuasively reveals unguessed youthful follies in the telepathic Xavier's past — nothing as startling as Chris Pine's headstrong, immature James T. Kirk in the new Star Trek, but in that direction — that nevertheless illuminate the Xavier we know from later continuity.
Even more surprisingly, the film reveals a touching history with the shape-shifter Mystique, or Raven Darkhölme, vulnerably played by Jennifer Lawrence (mesmerizing in last year's Winter's Bone). In this telling Raven becomes a kind of foster kid sister to Charles, though her feelings for him may go beyond that. From their youthful first meeting we see that Charles, a child of privilege, instinctively associates his privileges with responsibility, and naturally takes the initiative in helping others.
As effective as McAvoy is, it's almost Fassbender's film. The Irish-German actor gives a star-making performance as the metal-manipulating young man who will become Xavier's great nemesis. Erik's childhood, First Class reminds us by revisiting the concentration camp prologue to the original X‑Men film, was as different from Charles's as could be. Yet when they come together, their relationship, though fractious, is at times genuinely touching.
First Class revisits that Nazi camp and reveals what happened afterward, putting Erik on a lifelong collision course with an evil mutant who may be as powerful as he is: Sebastian Shaw, played with gusto by a well-cast Kevin Bacon. A high-rolling playboy secretly bent on claiming the world for mutantkind, Shaw brings a Bond-villain flavor to the film, which, with its 1960s Cold War setting, international intrigue and spy-movie spectacle, owes quite a bit to Connery-era 007 films.
Of course the civil-rights subtext that's always been there in X‑Men since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created them in the 1960s fits right in. (The gay-rights angle of Singer's films also shows up in lines like "You didn't ask, so I didn't tell" and "Mutant and proud.") Reimagining the Cuban missile crisis as a gambit in an evil-overlord scheme of conquest is an inspired bit of Bond-ishness that makes for a strong third act where origin stories since 1978's Superman, and even the first X‑Men, have been wont to pace themselves for a sequel.
At times First Class owes a little too much to Bond, or perhaps it's simply following the comic books in filling the halls of Shaw's Hellfire Club with lingerie-clad exotic dancers. It definitely follows the comics too closely in putting Shaw's associate, telepath and almost-literal ice queen Emma Frost ("Mad Men"'s January Jones), in gratuitous white lingerie. (Bizarrely extending the objectification of women into misogynistic territory, in a training sequence Xavier has a student use nude female mannequins for target practice.) Earlier films in the series understood that comic-book costumes don't necessarily belong in live action, but First Class sticks closer to source, even giving Xavier's team yellow and black flight suits echoing the original comic-book costumes.
The review is nearly over, yet I haven't mentioned Rose Byrne and Oliver Platt as a pair of CIA agents (Byrne is Moira MacTaggart), Nicholas Hoult (Clash of the Titans) as Hank McCoy (played in X‑Men: The Last Stand by a wasted Kelsey Grammer), or a raft of other characters. Nor have I mentioned some of the missteps — some comic-book geeky (Mystique's wardrobe, and later quasi-nudity, is a geek problem), others Hollywood cliché. (Killing off the token black man is a Hollywood cliché. Actually, after reading the character's Wikipedia entry, I suspect we could see him again in a somewhat different form, but still.)
Despite missteps, X‑Men: First Class succeeds in doing in some measure for the X‑Men what J. J. Abrams did for Star Trek two years ago: Not only does it bring new energy to a tired franchise, it reinvents a familiar cast of characters in unexpected ways, laying the foundations for the defining relationships and conflicts of later chapters, while telling a ripping story into the bargain. That's enough to make it a standout among recent action fare, and possibly the standout action film of the summer.
Tags: Action, Make Mine Marvel, Rebootin', Superheroes & Comic Book Movies, X-Men


'Anjali CBI ' movie has been cleared by Censor Board with "U/A" certificate. Now the movie is all set for a release on 22nd February 2019.
Lady superstar Nayanthara's blockbuster film 'Imaikkaa Nodigal' (2018) got dubbed in Telugu and is titled 'Anjali CBI '.
Nayanthara, Atharvaa, Raashi Khanna, Anurag Kashyap, Ramesh Thilak, Devan are in the cast.
Musical score is by . Hiphop Tamizha. Cinematography is by RD Rajasekhar. Editing is by Bhuvan Srinivasan Story, Screenplay and direction are by R Ajay Gananmuthu. Ch Rambabu and Achanta Gopinath are the producers on Viswashanthi Creations Banner.


Last night, Leslie and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary with dinner at Chef Enrique Olvera's Moxi Restaurant here in San Miguel de Allende. We enjoyed the tasting menu, or Menu Degustación, and a very nice bottle of Mexican wine.
Where will we be when we hit 25?
So great to hear about all of your adventures. We are certain that you are not only having a wonderful time, but also learning about where you want to live.
24 suits you! So handsom. So beautiful! Love the pearls!
congrats you 2, and enjoy the adventure…..


The Big Sun Surf Bucket will save your noodle for the strong sun in the midday marathon session. Made with breathable nylon, treated fabric, and a neoprene chin strap for water resistance and windproof qualities.
Email us with your interest for smaller sizes that are sold out.


The Kumamoto Research Insitute of Sake Brewing,an epic name if ever we've heard one, are the sake sensations responsible for KOHRO. But what sets them apart from the rest?
Sake Brewing was set up as a collaborative project between sake brewers in the region, in the hope of improving sake quality. With the expertise of Chief Engineer Dr. Kinichi Nojiro – now known as "a genius in sake making"- new techniques were implemented and sake quality improved year upon year, rather like a fine wine. This finally resulted in KOHRO – widely considered to be a front-runner in the sake elite.
We have contributed greatly to the development of ginjo brewing techniques employed throughout Japan, such as Nojiro-style skylights, utilisation of double-wall tanks in brewing, hanging bags for filtering sake, and No. 9 yeast developed by our brewery. We brew high-quality sake utilising traditional techniques focusing on the benefits of hand-made brewing.
These innovative chaps influenced sake brewing throughout Japan whilst staying true to their Kumamoto roots. Regional variations in food and drink production are celebrated in Japan and these renowned sake brewers use the best that Kumamoto-prefecture has to offer to create a sake that wins awards.
So if you're a sake superfan or just curious to know what beverage the God's would drink, choose KOHRO from Japan Centre.
Posted in Stores, Tea and tagged famous sake, kumamoto, Kumamoto Resarch Insitute of Sake Brewing, Mt. Aso, premium sake, quality sake, Sake, sake brewing. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
India, Bangladesh sign agreements to boost waterways connectivity
Last Updated: Fri, Oct 26, 2018 14:27 hrs
New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Thursday signed three agreements, including one to use Chattogram and Mongla Ports in Bangladesh for goods movement, for enhancing inland and coastal waterways connectivity between the two countries.
The two countries also signed a standard operating procedure (SOP) for movement of passenger and cruise services. They also signed an addendum to Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between for inclusion of Dhubri in India and Pangaon in Bangladesh as new ports of call, Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna told reporters here.
During the secretary level talks headed by Krishna and his Bangladesh counterpart Md. Abdus Samad, the two sides also finalised the SOP for movement of passengers and cruise vessels on inland protocol route and coastal shipping routes which would enable river cruise services between Kolkata-Dhaka-Guwahati-Jorhat and back.
"These agreements will facilitate easier movement of goods and passengers between the two countries, giving an impetus to trade and tourism," he said.
The two sides also agreed to include Rupnarayan river (National Waterway-86) from Geonkhali to Kolaghat in the protocol route and to declare Kolaghat in West Bengal and Chilmari in Bangladesh as new ports of call.
"The new arrangement will facilitate movement of fly ash, cement and construction materials from India to Bangladesh on Rupnarayan river," the Secretary said.
He added that the two countries had also arrived at an agreement to open a new route to land-locked Tripura by making Gomti and Haora rivers navigable for which dredging would be required in 20 kms on Indian side and 75-80 kms in Bangladesh side.
"Time-bound technical studies would be undertaken by both countries," he said.
Prior to the secretary-level talks, the 19th edition of the Standing Committee meeting under 'Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade' (PIWTT) between high-level delegations of the two countries were held on Wednesday.
Cities Price (10g)
Gold Rate in Chennai Rs. 33120.00 (0%)
Gold Rate in Mumbai Rs. 33800.00 (0.6%)
Gold Rate in Delhi Rs. 33750.00 (-0.3%)
Gold Rate in Kolkata Rs. 33990.00 (-0.44%)
Gold Rate in Kerala Rs. 32150.00 (-0.31%)
Gold Rate in Bangalore Rs. 32450.00 (-0.15%)
Gold Rate in Hyderabad Rs. 33120.00 (0%)
Cities Price (1 kg)
Silver Rate in Chennai Rs. 40600.00 (0.74%)
Silver Rate in Mumbai Rs. 40600.00 (0.74%)
Silver Rate in Delhi Rs. 40600.00 (0.74%)
Silver Rate in Kolkata Rs. 40600.00 (0.74%)
Silver Rate in Kerala Rs. 40600.00 (0.74%)
talking point on sify finance


text:
package at.outdated.bitcoin.exchange.api.track;

import at.outdated.bitcoin.exchange.api.market.TickerValue;
import org.apache.commons.math3.stat.descriptive.MultivariateSummaryStatistics;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Created with IntelliJ IDEA.
 * User: ebirn
 * Date: 10.05.13
 * Time: 13:58
 * To change this template use File | Settings | File Templates.
 */
public class TickerValueTrack extends ValueTrack<TickerValue> {

    public TickerValueTrack(TickerValueTrack track) {
        super(track.valueBuffer);
    }

    public TickerValueTrack(Collection c) {
        super(c);
    }

    public TickerValueTrack(int length) {
        super(length);
    }

    @Override
    public void insert(TickerValue value) {
        super.insert(value);    //To change body of overridden methods use File | Settings | File Templates.
    }

    public MultivariateSummaryStatistics getStatistics() {

        MultivariateSummaryStatistics stats = new MultivariateSummaryStatistics(TickerValue.DIMENSIONS+1, false);

        for (TickerValue observation : this.valueBuffer) {
            stats.addValue(observation.getValue());
        }

        return stats;
    }

    public TickerValueTrack until(final Date date) {
        List<TickerValue> selected = new ArrayList<>();

        for(TickerValue ticker : valueBuffer) {
            if(ticker.getTimestamp().before(date))
                selected.add(ticker);
        }

        return new TickerValueTrack(selected);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Porting Struts validation to Stripes required more work than forms or tags. For my application, I had to rewrite validation configuration in the validation.xml file with Java 5.0 annotations inside the Stripes ActionBean class. Stripes also gives you a nice type-based validation for free. With no user configuration whatsoever, Stripes will return HTML forms to the user when they enter the wrong value type (e.g., a character in a number or date field). Forms can be returned automatically with a user-friendly message and the offending field highlighted.
Converting the control flow of my Struts application was probably the one place that required a break from the Struts way of thinking. In Struts, control flow—the binding of URL requests, actions, and the resulting view—is rendered in XML markup and centralized in the struts-config.xml file. This rendering outside the action layer makes Struts bindings flexible. They are not hard-coded inside the action layer and a single action can easily be coupled with different input URLs and forwards. The downside of this approach is that Struts configurations can quickly grow large and cumbersome. The separation of control flow from the action layer can also make debugging all the way through the request cycle difficult.
While the first two approaches seem somewhat hard-coded compared with Struts configuration, the useBean tag provides a lot of flexibility. With it, JSPs can access multiple ActionBeans or classes to get just what they need.
When choosing a new framework, the ease of the migration—both in learning the new framework and porting your existing code—are factors to consider, but they should not be given too much weight. Yes, you have made a large investment in learning an existing framework and it would be nice to retain some of that investment in your next MVC platform. And yes, it would be nice if you could port your application in weeks, not months. But no matter how easy or pleasant the journey, you should decide first if the destination is a place you want to go. For me, the ability to nearly half the amount of code in my action layer and centralize forms, configuration, and validation in one place were the major factors in my decision. The quality of Stripes' documentation and the other stuff was just icing on the cake.
Rick Smith is a senior software developer with Content Analyst LLC.


text:
Top Marine says border mission has actually improved readiness for some units
By Shawn Snow
Marines with the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 7, walk along the California-Mexico border at the Andrade Point of Entry in Winterhaven, Calif., Nov. 30, 2018. (Spc. Ethan Valetski/Army)
The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller told lawmakers Tuesday that the deployment of Marines to the U.S.-Mexico border has actually improved the readiness of some units.
The comments from the top Marine come after the Los Angeles Times detailed a memo from Neller to his boss, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, that the border deployments and other unresourced requirements were posing "unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness."
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday regarding the Navy budget request, Neller told lawmakers that no training exercises were canceled as a result of the border mission.
The top Marine said that one exercise had reduced personnel and added that a small number of Marines scheduled to go to training were instead sent to the border mission.
Deployments to US-Mexico border straining Marine Corps, commandant warns
The Marines' top general said readiness would further erode without funding relief.
By Tara Copp
Overall, Neller characterized statements describing the border mission as posing a threat to Marine Corps readiness as "not accurate," and said that some units increased their readiness.
Units that hail from job fields like engineering and military police carried out tasks "more in line with their core mission," Neller said, responding to questions from senators.
"Aviation units that were assigned to that early on have improved their readiness, because they were able to fly certain profiles," he added.
Neller did say one unit was not working in a core competency.
Spencer echoed those sentiments when pressed about the border mission.
"Five hundred men for a month at the southern border is $1.25 million. In my mind, is that affecting my readiness stress? No it's not," Spencer said.
The top Marine told lawmakers that the memo to his boss was meant to outline eight fiscal shortfalls, one of which was the cost of putting Marines at the border.
The Corps has a shortfall of about $300 million as a result of some unresourced and unplanned requirements, but the cost for the border mission amounted to less than 2 percent of that, according to Neller.
Spencer added that the biggest fiscal stressor on the Corps was the damages caused by hurricanes like Florence, which slammed the East Coast in September 2018.
"We have to pay our bills," Neller told senators. "If we didn't get additional money then we would have to look at other sources of money, which could potentially include other exercises."
Neller recently tweeted that Congress was planning to reprogram $400 million for recovery and repair efforts in the wake of Hurricane Florence, which caused roughly $3.6 billion in damages to East Coast Marine installations.
"Regarding the reprogramming, approximately two-thirds of the $400 million will be used to repair roofs and make interior repairs to buildings," Maj. Brian Block, a Marine spokesman, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement.
"The remaining one-third will be applied to other facilities and infrastructure such as the railroad lines, flight line, fencing, training roads, and utility systems to mitigate disruptions to operational readiness," Block added.
About Shawn Snow
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
Hollywood version couldn't prepare veteran for war realities
I wonder what came first: the movie version informing real life or real life informing the movie version.
Deterring Russia requires a capable bridge tanker and Congressional support
A key element of U.S. deterrence strategy must be to provide NATO air power with sufficient legs — in the form of a modern, capable, interoperable tanker force.
Commissary shelves are 'consistently empty' customers say
Commissary officials have been fighting to get more products on the shelves. Here's the lay of the land.
The US is safer from jihadi terrorism 20 years after 9/11
Al-Qaida's ability to mount another attack on U.S. soil has been seriously diminished over the past 20 years.
Cyber innovation and partnerships are key to future deterrence
Most people naturally think of deterrence in terms of weaponry.
We want answers about the Texas governor's Operation Lone Star
Unfortunately, the work done this session to support the Texans who have received their DD-214 does not extend to those actively deployed to our southern border for Operation Lonestar.
Tenants of Army housing: Time to speak your mind
Tenants of Army housing have until Feb. 24 to complete the 10-minute confidential survey.
In a divided time, bipartisanship gives hope to veterans with ALS
Fifty years to the day after President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan "ACT for ALS."
I'm an E4 whose sex assault case was mishandled by civilian police. Here's how we changed state laws for the better
Legislation she helped bring forward requires the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate criminal sexual conduct allegations between Minnesota National Guard members.
Marine amphibious combat vehicles to return to waterborne operations
The Sept. 3, 2021, safety notice had identified a problem with the ACV's towing mechanism.


The last post I'll make in this series is about adding clients. What I want is to have a "Add/Create" link that shows a modal with a form to add a new client.
The last post I'll make in this series is about adding clients. What I want is to have a "Add/Create" link that shows a modal with a form to add a new client. Then update the list with a new client.
First, I'll add a "Create Client" element to our test page class and add a method for testing the functionality.
* Get the element shortcuts for the page.
Next, I'll create the test.
I want the test to visit the page, create a new client and then verify it updated the list on the page. Now, I'll run the test and look for a "missing" selector error.
Yep. Ok, I'll create this element in the Vue component and rerun the test.
Facebook\WebDriver\Exception\TimeOutException: Waited 5 seconds for selector [.modal-create-client].
It looks like the test timed out since the modal never made an apperance. To set this up, I'll use UIkit's default modal and add it to the component's template.
I could use UIkit's default JS to open the modal, but my preference is to trigger it manually with the component's method. This way I can handle a pre or post modal process such as loading data or building elements. Vue makes this super easy. I'll update the link with the v-on directive shorthand plus the "prevent" event modifier.
Then create the method to display the modal.
Ok, this is great (although it's error). It appears the tests are working correctly and guiding me in the right direction. I don't have any fields in the modal so the test is not able to type the title. I'll go ahead and add the form with the input elements.
It looks like the form is now gettings filled out and submitted but nothing happens. Well, I'm not doing anything with the data. Here I will use the "create" endpoint to create a new client and then repopulate the list of clients. I'll handle the submit event in the Vue component and pass the data to a method for interacting with the endpoint.
This feedback is not that helpful and there is nothing showing up in laravel.log. So now what? Fortunetly, Dusk also captures the console log for possible JS errors.
It appears that I used the wrong variable when sending the event. I used "event" instead of "$event". After making that fix it passes the test!


Use our analysis tool to see how well the FX-8320 Radeon HD 6770 Sapphire 1GB Edition 8GB Gaming PC, displayed below, will run it.
What general graphical setting did KallumTanton play the game on? Low, medium, high or ultra.
Having played the game this is the mark out of 10 KallumTanton gives the game. A 10 being near to perfect!
The CPU performance grade out of ten. A 10 means the processor could easily deal with the game in question without any issues according to KallumTanton's gaming experience!
The GPU performance grade out of ten. A 10 means the graphics card could easily deal with the game in question without any issues according to KallumTanton's gaming experience!


Yes! You can do it. However, there are many pitfalls that need to be studied before you immerse yourself in the creation of your own cryptocurrency. First of all, it is important to understand the difference between coins and tokens. Both can be called cryptocurrency, but if coins (such asbitcoin or litecoin) work using their own blockchains, tokens live on top of existing infrastructure, such as the Ethereum blockchain Blockchain, in fact, is a record of transactions protected by the network.
So, coins have their own independent transaction registers, and tokens rely on some third-party network to confirm and secure transactions. Coins are often used to transfer financial assets. Tokens have much more functions – this is a kind of digital contract for almost anything; physical objects, events tickets, loyalty points, etc.
Should I Create My Own Blockchain or Make a Fork of an Existing?
Both methods require quite a lot of technical knowledge or the help of an experienced developer. Since cryptocoins are based on blockchain technology, you will either have to build your own or take an existing one and tailor it to the new coin needs and ideas.
The first method will require serious programming skills. Even though there are already many video courses and other teaching aids for step-by-step execution of this task.
1. You can initiate a fork of an existing blockchain using an open-source code that can be found.
2. You will need to make several changes before launching a new blockchain with a new name.
3. You to clearly identify the goals of the project and understand the code so that you know what you need to change and why.
4. Even if you do everything right, you may face a lot of unexpected problems.
This option is suitable for most people; platforms will do all the technical work for you. For example, CryptoLife helps to create the simplest coin.
All you need to do is enter the necessary parameters like the logo, number of coins received by miners for signing a block, etc. They even have pre-built templates where you only need to specify a name and a symbol. The base price of this service is 0.25 BTC. WalletBuilders is a similar service; prices start at 0.01 BTC, and there is a free test version.
Nevertheless, the technical part of creating a cryptocurrency is not really the most difficult part of launching a successful crypto project. The biggest difficulty is in presenting and marketing your new coin. You need to convince people of its symbolic value, support the community.
In addition, stats numbers are cruel; many cryptocurrencies are unsuccessful, some are doubtful from a legal point of view. There are different reasons for this, maybe they failed to run a quality ICO, or the coin failed to provide long-term interest. No wonder that the term 'shitcoin' appeared, and it seems that it does not intend to disappear.
Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be. Bitcoin is better than currency in that you don't have to be physically in the same place and, of course, for large transactions, currency can get pretty inconvenient.
I think it's absolutely brilliant. An end to fiat at last and something that anyone can understand. I think this will boost bitcoin's acceptability and price no end.
This is a physical manifestation of a digital concept. Stuff this under the mattress or in your safe and you will not lose it. Need to give them to someone who has no computer smarts? No problem.


NBA Basterball player Anthony Davis said he "kinda" turned down Dancing With The Stars on the Late Late Show last night (he told TMZ the same a while back). He would be fun though. Check out this fun video with him doing "the whip" and the 'nae nae'. Just in case Anthony "kinda" changes his mind, we better add him to the watch out….
No responses to "DWTS 21 Watchout: NBA Basketball Player Anthony Davis Does "The Whip" And 'Nae Nae' On The Late Late Show"
Is Dancer Hayley Erbert Dancing In Dancing With The Stars Season 21?


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A Home for Unloved Orphans
by Rachel Wesson
Genre: Fiction / Fiction / Historical
Fans of Before We Were Yours will adore this USA Today bestselling historical novel: A heartbreaking yet hopeful tale about a brave young woman who gives up everything to help unloved children—and shows that a little bit of kindness can go a long way.
Never in a million years did Lauren Greenwood think she would be destitute and without a penny to her name. But when her father mercilessly disowns her in the depths of winter, that is her fate. Now homeless, Lauren finds America in the devastating grip of the Great Depression––children run wild in the icy streets, endless queues for soup kitchens line frosty sidewalks, and desperation hangs in the air.
All alone in the world, Lauren finds an orphanage in the sprawling fields of the Virginia countryside, surrounded by snow-topped mountains and magnificent fir trees––a safe haven for those who have nowhere to go. But she is appalled to find children living in shocking conditions, huddled together for warmth, their hunger keeping them awake at night as the temperature plunges. The home for unloved orphans is on the brink of closure and the helpless innocents may lose the roof over their heads…
Lauren, heartbroken by the rejection of her own father, vows to provide these poor orphans with the love she never received. With Christmas just around the corner, she refuses to see them cast out onto the street, where they will not survive. When she sees an advertisement in the local newspaper, with an anonymous benefactor donating money to families crippled by the Depression, it could be the answer to her prayers.
Can Lauren save these children who have been rejected by the world? Or in a time of so much suffering, is there simply no hope?
"Best book I've read this year… Exceptional… By the end of the book, my tears were dried and I feel the urge to tell everyone about this. It's that good."
—Pamela Kelley, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author


Our tour programs offer an unbeatable way for you to get to understand the rich history of the park and the Plains Indigenous First Nations people who have lived here for thousands of years.
We offer guided tour programs year-round for school groups, non-for-profit organizations, individuals, tour groups, and businesses. We recommend booking your guided tour ahead of time to save a tour spot since advance notice is required for a guided tour. On weekends we offer public programming for general admissions visitors. Check out our Event Calendar to see what is happening at Wanuskewin. To book your tour fill out our booking request form, or contact the Tour Coordinator by calling 306-931-6767 ext. 245 for more information.
*Tour group rates are based on a minimum of 12 people in a tour group to receive the discounted rate. Groups under 12 people are allowed to book a tour, but the minimum group fee charge for 12 people will apply.


text:
Men's U-23 given stern warning after rowdy behaviour
December 9, 2009 Jeffrey M	0 Comments	Sea Games, U-23, Vietnam
PETALING JAYA: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has issued a stern warning to the national Under-23 squad not to repeat their rowdy behaviour of attacking the referee in their Sea Games match against Vietnam which they lost 1-3 Sunday.
FAM has also issued a ban on the national women's football team, who have turned out to be the bashing girls at the Games, from competing at the international level from next year.
The decisions were announced by FAM deputy president Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar after an FAM meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya Monday.
"The FAM today received a report from the Malaysian team manager in Vientiane about the dissatisfactory refereeing, and that he had lodged an official complaint with the competition organisers," said Khairy.
He said the FAM too, through the team manager, had issued a stern warning to the national Under-23 players not to repeat their disgraceful behaviour in their two remaining matches in Group A.
"Even if the quality of refereeing was below par or they disagreed with the referee's decision, the players should not act on emotions. They must observe discipline at all times to reflect professionalism," he said.
In their second match in Group A held at the Main Stadium, Laos National Sports Complex on Sunday, Malaysia lost 1-3, making their passage to the semi-finals a difficult one.
Malaysia are now third in the table in Group A after collecting three points from thrashing Timor Leste 11-0 last Wednesday.
Asked on Malaysia's chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, Khairy said the squad must win their two remaining matches in the group against Cambodia and defending champions Thailand in order to move into the last four.
On the very poor showing of the national women's football squad, Khairy said the FAM decided that they and the women's futsal team would not be allowed to compete internationally except in friendlies in the future.
"After two big defeats (0-14 to Thailand and 0-8 to Vietnam), which were an embarrassment to Malaysia, the FAM made that decision.
"The priority now is development programmes to strengthen the national football and futsal teams," he said.- Bernama
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