text:
BNPL
The buy now, pay later juggernaut is about to be tested
Economic uncertainty, competition, regulators and the usual consumer debt problems are spoiling the fun for this fast-growing industry.
Esmé Deprez, Evan Weinberger and Jennifer Surane
Aug 3, 2022 – 8.00am
For three days each week in April 2014, a seasoned product manager named Lulu Young, an engineering manager named Paul Connolly, and a 24-year-old jewellery salesman, Nick Molnar, met in a windowless Melbourne conference room to hash out the features and functionality of a financial product that existed only in Molnar's head.
The goal was to appeal to two constituencies at once: online retailers, always eager to convert virtual browsers into actual shoppers; and consumers, some of whom didn't have credit cards but, Molnar thought, might still like a way to get their goods first and pay for them over time.
The product that emerged let people split their bill into four instalments. They called the service Afterpay.
Pay-in-four is now ubiquitous in Australia and fast approaching that status in the US and Europe. Alamy
Pay-in-four is now ubiquitous nationwide and fast approaching that status in the US and Europe, accessible at the checkouts of hundreds of thousands of retailers online and off. It powered the ascendance of Afterpay, which attracted investment from Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings and the US investment firm Tiger Global Management, and made Molnar and his co-founder, Anthony Eisen, billionaires. (Digital payment company Block bought the company in January for $39 billion, making it the most valuable acquisition in Australian history.)
Gateway drug to debt
The model has become the flagship product of "buy now, pay later" companies. Lauded as a much-needed alternative, and threat, to credit cards and predatory lenders and criticised as a gateway drug to debt for the young and inexperienced, BNPL represents one of the biggest and fastest changes to consumer credit in decades.
In the US it took root in 2018 as a way to buy clothing, cosmetics, and other discretionary items and exploded in popularity amid the pandemic. You can buy now and pay later for just about anything, including big-ticket items, such as Pelotons and designer couches; small things, like socks and underwear, or necessities, such as groceries and petrol.
Companies such as Afterpay and its main competitors, Klarna and Affirm, attribute their phenomenal growth to widespread distrust and dislike of credit cards, particularly among those under 40. Never mind that this doesn't comport with the data (a September study by TransUnion showed BNPL users have more credit cards than the general population), the narrative has been repeated so many times it's become practically gospel. But a deeper look into the pay-in-four model suggests less facile explanations.
The first relates to a kind of regulatory arbitrage, in which pay-in-four products bypass consumer protections designed to prevent people from getting screwed or screwing themselves. Particularly in the US, BNPL companies haven't been subject to much of the regulatory oversight normally applicable to those extending credit. Take the Truth in Lending Act, a landmark 1968 US law, amended many times since, which requires extensive disclosures for unsecured consumer loans split into payments of five or more. That law doesn't touch pay-in-four.
The second explanation has to do with how pay-in-four taps into human psychology and consumer behaviour. It satisfies what behavioural economists call our present bias, which drives the desire for instant gratification.
It also exploits the fact that unexpected losses almost always exceed unexpected gains: Humans tend to discount the probability of bad things happening in the future (we'll lose our job or the car will need repair, making it hard to repay) and overestimate the probability of good things to come (we'll be able to work overtime next week, so it'll be easy to repay).
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has questioned whether BNPL loans make borrowing too easy. Getty
And because we are much less sensitive to the pain of a price tag if individual chunks feel affordable (parting with, say, 25 of our hard-earned dollars today, then three more times in the near future, hurts less than parting with $100 at once) we are more willing to spend more in the aggregate.
That in turn explains why merchants love pay-in-four. But even as the industry has grown spectacularly – the number of people who've tried the services in the US has quadrupled every year since 2018 – nearly everything about the business environment has recently turned more serious and challenging.
Eyeballs, dollars and data
Shop online, and you're bound to encounter offers from Afterpay, Klarna, or Affirm to let you split purchases up to $2500 into four instalments. You enter the usual information, concluding with a credit card, debit card, or bank account number to pay one-quarter of the total price upfront.
The companies then use proprietary predictive models to assess the riskiness of lending you money to complete the transaction. Requests get approved within seconds. An email invites you to download the phone app, which lets you track the remaining three biweekly payments, which can be automatically charged to the card or account entered at checkout.
It also functions as something more clever: an online shopping mall, where you can browse the wares of brands that have formed partnerships to accept that BNPL provider as a form of payment. Eyeballs, dollars, and data flow as a result.
The arrangement is like lay-by, but in reverse. Make your payments on time, and the pay-in-four model is all upside: You've borrowed money free of any interest. But fall behind on your payments, and you might get hit with late fees from the BNPL provider.
If your account balance is running low, the auto-deduction might trigger an overdraft fee from your bank. If you use a credit card and don't pay off the balance in full, you'll end up paying interest indirectly. BNPL companies slam the evils of credit cards but accept them as a way for users to pay on their platforms.
Merchants benefit from accepting credit cards – and paying a transaction fee averaging 2 per cent – because doing so increases sales. BNPL one-ups the incentive: Merchants pay an even higher fee – up to 6 per cent for pay-in-four – but are rewarded with more completed transactions (less "cart abandonment," in industry parlance) and even higher sales.
These fees from merchants make up the single biggest source of revenue for many BNPL companies, a fact they cite as proof that their interests, unlike the interests of credit card issuers, align with those of customers. Card issuers, by contrast, earn the vast majority of their revenue from fees and interest heaped onto users who don't pay off balances in full, and on time.
There is research showing a correlation between boredom, browsing the internet on your phone while lying in bed, and spontaneous shopping sprees – so maybe it was no wonder that the BNPL industry took off as the pandemic dragged on, making hay and minting billionaires.
Consumer advocates watched with concern: What exactly was BNPL, anyway? The companies operating under the moniker offered significantly different services. Afterpay stuck to interest-free pay-in-four and, like Klarna, charged late fees. Affirm and Klarna did pay-in-four but also issued interest-bearing, long-term, instalment loans.
The lack of uniformity could be confusing. And it wasn't clear what laws or consumer protections applied. Congress had passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 to make it harder for credit card companies to market to young people and risk saddling them with debt, and here were BNPL companies, unbeholden to the law and appearing to do just that.
Hard to categorise
Was pay-in-four even credit? New services can be hard to categorise, and, just as deferred-presentment providers (aka payday lenders) did back in the 1990s, BNPL companies took semantic liberties. Afterpay referred to itself as a "budgeting tool." Klarna called itself a "global payments and shopping service." As time passed, people called their bluff.
"If I spend your money now, and then I pay you back with my money later, common sense would dictate that I am borrowing from you and that you are lending to me," Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat congressman said at a US November hearing on BNPL. Regulators in California and Massachusetts have accused BNPL providers of offering illegal loans and forced them to register as licensed lenders.
The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took the first step toward bringing BNPL products under its regulatory umbrella in December, when it ordered companies to submit information about industry practices and risks.
The CFPB's very creation was predicated on the need to oversee the surging, loophole-enabled popularity of innovations like BNPL loans, says Robert Lawless, a professor and expert on consumer finance at the University of Illinois's College of Law. "Financial regulation is a game of whack-a-mole," Lawless says. "There's always going to be some new device or transaction that the existing statutes don't cover, so we need a regulatory agency to track these things because Congress – even a functioning one – can't keep up."
Why didn't the CFPB act sooner? The rise of BNPL coincided with the era of Donald Trump, whose administration was hostile to the agency and its mission.
The lag may have also been driven by data: The CFPB uses consumer complaints to help guide where to use its limited time and resources, and the number of BNPL-related complaints didn't explode until 2021. This year complaints are on pace to blow past last year's total of 547. The most common ones concern incorrect information on credit reports and attempts to collect debt that isn't owed.
Affirm was co-founded and is led by Max Levchin, who also co-founded PayPal. Bloomberg
In an interview, Rohit Chopra, appointed by US President Joe Biden to lead the CFPB, is clear about the benefits and risks of BNPL. Enabling people to overextend themselves, he says, has "led many people to believe that what they thought was affordable or what they thought was free was not".
Chopra issued the request for information on BNPL companies two months after assuming office and says he expects the agency to issue its initial report on the industry before the end of the calendar year.
The CFPB could eventually require companies to abide by consumer protection laws that don't now apply. It could subject the biggest players to regular examinations. Beyond rule-making, which can take years, the bureau can issue best practices and fines for noncompliance. The industry may complain this is regulation by enforcement, but it's where the CFPB can move the fastest.
Here comes Apple
Opinion is divided on whether increased regulation could curb the BNPL industry's growth. Juniper Research suggests regulatory changes will merely place it "on a more secure footing." Investors, however, have become increasingly worried about the viability of companies reliant on lending to mostly younger, often subprime consumers, particularly if there's a recession.
The shares of Affirm and Block, Afterpay's parent, have lost more than 55 per cent of their value since the start of the year. That's made it harder for Klarna, which is private, to raise capital: Its July funding round slashed its value to just under $US7 billion ($10 billion) from $US46 billion in mid-2021.
Losses, meanwhile, have increased. risen. In January-March, Block's more than quadrupled compared with the year-earlier period to $US91 million, driven primarily by delinquency on Afterpay loans. In that same quarter, Klarna said credit losses jumped 51 per cent, to 1.19 billion Swedish krona because of its expansion in the US, France, and elsewhere.
At Affirm, write-offs almost quintupled to $US67.2 million. (Lenders write off a loan they've decided a consumer isn't going to repay, refer it to a debt collector, and record it as a loss on their books.) Competition has also increased, with some two dozen BNPL-branded companies now operating in the US, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City says. In June, Apple said it will introduce a pay-in-four option called Apple Pay Later. PayPal Holdings inaugurated its version in August 2020. A race to the bottom has begun, as companies offer ever-lower merchant fees to gain market share. "Lenders will need to find other sources of revenue to maintain growth and profitability," the CFPB said in December.
Pay-in-four powered Afterpay's ascendancy and made Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen billionaires. Eamon Gallagher
Because it's new, BNPL hasn't been tested during a meaningful, economic downturn. With inflation high, money doesn't go as far, which suggests demand for BNPL could rise, as it did for traditional lay-by during the Great Recession. But if people curb spending altogether, usage could dip. The number of people unable to repay their loans could climb. The industry is in the early stages of a defining test.
In early 2018, four years after its initial crew gathered in Melbourne, Afterpay exported its pay-in-four model to the US. Klarna and Affirm already existed, but neither offered a pay-in-four service yet.
Klarna, which began as a payments processor in Stockholm in 2005, is now the biggest BNPL provider by sales volume, with 400,000 merchant partners and 150 million active users in 20 countries.
San Francisco-based Affirm started out 10 years ago offering long-term instalment loans. It earns a good chunk of revenue from interest on them, albeit in a way it bills as more transparent than a credit card. Affirm doesn't charge late fees, but it cuts you off from the platform if you don't pay. Chief executive Max Levchin founded the company with Palantir Technologies co-founder Nathan Gettings and two others after co-founding PayPal with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Levchin is particularly outspoken about what he sees as the potential for pay-in-four and other BNPL instalment plans to usher in a new era of consumer finance. They're tools in the service of his bigger vision: "reinventing lending" by "revolutionising" the credit-scoring system.
The 'unscorables'
It's hard to be a fully functioning member of the economy and society without access to credit. For decades, credit-reporting companies Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion have functioned as gatekeepers – central repositories for data about the income, assets, payment history, and outstanding debt of American consumers. When you apply for a credit card or a loan, lenders use that data to help determine your creditworthiness, or how big of a credit risk you might pose.
This system has long been reviled. About 106 million Americans are considered "credit invisible," "unscorable," or subprime and below, data shows. Poor people, people of colour, immigrants, and young people disproportionately fall into those categories and get cut off from traditional banking and the advantages it can bring.
Black and Latino people tend to have lower credit scores. Therein lies the potential for fintech innovation to mitigate racial, financial, health, and wealth gaps, Kristen Broady, at the time a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said at the November BNPL: "Through technology and automation, they can reduce costs and prices, speed up delivery, and increase convenience for underserved populations."
BNPL companies speak in Silicon Valley terms. The legacy credit system is broken and unfair; what they're creating to replace it will make the world a better place. Speaking from his home office, Levchin describes his inspiration to create an alternative. He came to the US from Kyiv as a teenager and tanked his credit score in his penniless youth. It took years for it to rebound. "This is a personal conviction based on direct experience," he says. "The system was ripe for fixing when I experienced my road bumps all those years ago, and I don't think it's changed all that much."
That's where the algorithms come in. Instead of running a one-time assessment on the creditworthiness of an individual borrower, as credit card issuers do before they issue a card, BNPL companies assess the risk of each individual transaction. Making every transaction "an explicit borrowing event," Levchin has said, protects companies from excessive risk and borrowers from overextending themselves. And it qualifies a lot more people for loans.
Take a $5000 line of credit: A traditional lender must factor in a borrower's income, expenses, and obligations. It uses credit scores to predict the likelihood that the borrower will pay 90 days late (or more) over the next 24 months. Contrast that with a $500 loan for headphones. The BNPL provider receives a relatively hefty 25 per cent down payment (the first $125 of four payments) upfront, and need only estimate the likelihood of default on the remaining balance over the next six weeks. The smaller-dollar nature and shorter repayment window add up to lower risk.
The precise components fed into the algorithms aren't disclosed.
Afterpay's models include "hundreds of internal and external data variables and features," says spokeswoman Amanda Pires, offering no additional details. Affirm's "proprietary technology that we've been developing for a decade" uses "proprietary data we've been building up for nearly as long," Levchin has said. "Our process involves looking at credit report data, but could also involve some Affirm-specific stuff, like what we know about the merchant and the thing they are about to sell you."
Glamorising debt
The resulting loans get branded by BNPL companies as tools of empowerment and freedom. Users skew young – so less financially experienced and savvy, by definition – and female, many with low to moderate incomes. BNPL, the companies say, transforms them into responsible customers shielded from predatory lenders – and advances, loan by loan, the cause of financial inclusion.
The industry has faced accusations that it emotionally manipulates users and glamorises debt, using social media influencers to drive adoption and marketing slogans such as this one from 2018: "Broke AF but strongly support treating yourself? Afterpay is now in-store."
Using pay-in-four for groceries and other everyday essentials suggests economic precariousness, says Andrew Kushner, policy counsel at the Centre for Responsible Lending in Oakland, California. That, he says, reinforces the need for stronger protections, "so it's not going to cause more harm down the line."
The companies say their built-in protections enforce responsibility. They do such things as cap late fees at 25 per cent of the purchase price or start you with a low ceiling of $100 before increasing your limit after you've demonstrated your ability to pay on time.
But plenty of people truly don't have the wherewithal to take on debt, and BNPL offers the chance to do it anyway.
The companies have been sued by consumers who got hit with bank overdraft fees they didn't expect. A recent study by economist Amy Crews Cutts showed 17 per cent of BNPL borrowers used the service after maxing out their credit card, and almost half made purchases they acknowledged they couldn't otherwise afford. In a survey of more than 1000 users, one-third told Credit Karma they'd fallen behind on payments.
'I missed one payment'
Whether disdain for credit card issuers runs as high as the BNPL industry says, consumers have developed certain expectations about paying with credit. One is that they will boost their credit score by paying bills on time. Historically, though, BNPL providers haven't consistently reported the existence of a pay-in-four loan or the borrower's payment history to the credit reporting companies.
That will change; BNPL providers are working with the credit reporting companies to develop a system to do this. But as the CFPB has warned, this lack of reporting has prevented lenders of all sorts from seeing how much a prospective borrower may already owe others.
That can result in a practice called loan stacking – borrowers carrying loans with multiple providers at a time. It's the result of a system that, if not set up to create problems, doesn't do enough to prevent them.
Chemareéa Biggs, an artist in New York, is living with the fallout from her own loan stacking. After graduating from the University of Texas, Biggs rented an apartment in Brooklyn, got a job at a museum, and took on freelance graphic design and teaching work. She's since lost multiple jobs because of the pandemic, fallen into a debt trap she doesn't know how to climb out of, had her chequing account closed because of repeated overdrafts, and seen her credit score drop some 200 points.
She traces her troubles to a pair of plane tickets, totaling $US607, she purchased on pay-in-four plans through Affirm in October and November 2021. "I missed one payment," she says, "and that's when things started to go to shit."
"The advertising on these things," she says, "it almost makes spending look like a game."
BNPL companies don't force you to buy things, of course, but they do lower the barriers. A Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia survey found that contrary to popular belief, convenience, not lack of credit access, was the primary reason people chose BNPL as a payment option.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, told Sifted, a publication of the Financial Times, that he's questioned internally whether BNPL loans make borrowing too easy. "When it comes to money, friction isn't a bad thing," says Alistair Newton, a banking analyst at Gartner in London. "Sometimes a bit of friction in a payment is good."
Sometimes there's friction between customers and merchants. The Fair Credit Billing Act guarantees credit card users the right to file complaints about overpayments and billing disputes and requires card companies to investigate and refund any unjustified charges. There is no such framework for BNPL. Because the companies depend so heavily on revenue from merchants, there may be a financial incentive to keep them happy at the expense of customers.
Even if a short pay-in-four plan or a longer instalment loan doesn't feel relevant today, BNPL providers see a future in which you'll be a customer soon enough. Klarna and Affirm in particular have ambitions to enmesh themselves further into our fiscal lives.
'Nightmare of the bank establishment'
Klarna has a banking licence in Sweden (though Siemiatkowski says in his Twitter bio that he's "Trying my best to be the nightmare of the bank establishment worldwide!") and offers savings accounts to people across Europe. A recent "innovation" is an option called Pay Now, which involves, as the name suggests, no credit at all. You just pay now. Affirm offers savings accounts backed by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that accrue interest and from which users will soon be able to buy and sell crypto.
Born on the internet, the BNPL industry may see its future growth come from a far bigger market: people buying things in person in actual real life. Klarna now offers a physical plastic card, allowing you to pay-in-four not just via merchants with whom it has partnered but for whatever, wherever you'd like.
Affirm has a card that can act like a normal debit card or enable you to split payments into four interest-free instalments. Levchin has described himself as particularly enthralled that people are using it heavily at Walmart to buy groceries, suggesting it's "top of wallet."
Asked if he believes an impending recession will temporarily curb BNPL use or cause it to spike, Levchin demurs. "But I'm pretty confident that three years from now there'll be a lot more buy now, pay later in the US than there is right now," he says. His vision involves you using Affirm to buy everything, causing you to abandon credit cards altogether.
"I'm extremely biased, and I'm sort of drinking my own Kool-Aid and trying to sell it at the same time here, but I do see the demand for this credit-card-alternative payment modality just rising among young people, among people who are fed up with the sort of 'fine print is my business model' approach that traditional banks have," he says. "I don't take it for granted that everybody has to believe in it. But as an entrepreneur, it's my job to believe that my future is the best one."
It's hard to argue against the world BNPL companies say they're creating –one in which finance is friendlier, transactions simpler, terms more transparent.
In the broader movement to add a certain aesthetic to lending, with vibe-y names, better-looking websites, smartphone apps, and a boatload of marketing, there's something powerful in rebranding credit and debt as more palatable. It's just that for the spenders, the risks and responsibility remain the same.
— Bloomberg Businessweek
Nick Molnar
Anthony Eisen


text:
Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas 2023
Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas
Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas: What You Should Know
Where does the form 2021 Instructions for Schedule A — Itemized Deductions — IRS Form 1040A, Form 1040EZ, or Form 1040 is the same for everyone? If you fill it out, the IRS will send you an e-file. 2021 Instructions for Schedule A (2021) — IRS Enter a number representing the amount you want to refund (see Note that 1040 can only be used to reduce the amount of an income tax 1040A: How many pages to enter, if any? Where does the form 2021 Instructions for Schedule A (2021) — IRS Enter a number representing the amount you want If your net taxable income is in excess of 50,000, and your gross income is 50,000 or less, you May 2021 Instructions for Schedule A (2021) — IRS If your net taxable income is in excess of 50,000, and your gross income is 50,000 or less, you may include as 1? Enter the amount of the tax-exempt bonds that can pass through. 2. This line indicates the amount that could be in taxable income 3. If the bonds are bonds that are not issued from the general fund of the agency the trust operates, you In addition to the line 3, you can enter the line 7 here If the bonds are bonds that are not issued from the general fund of the agency the trust operates, you may include as tax-exempt bonds any bonds that meet the following requirements: The bonds must be issued and not redeemable within 6 years. If you want your trust to be taxed as a business, your bond needs to have a market value of at least 100,000. These bonds will include any bonds that are issued from the general fund of the agency, bonds that are sold through a general-purpose trust (which are bonds issued by the agency that pays off its principal and interest over time, but that cannot be sold at the time the trust makes payments), and bonds with a market value of 150,000 or more. (The bonds you used to reduce the taxable income of Your Trust include all federal taxes imposed on the trust, if any.) To calculate your trust's taxable income, you must first decide who will receive the bond.
Online methods assist you to arrange your doc management and supercharge the productiveness within your workflow. Go along with the short guideline to be able to complete Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas, keep away from glitches and furnish it inside a timely method:
How to complete a Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas?
Put an digital signature on your Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas aided by the enable of Indicator Instrument.
PDF editor allows you to make adjustments with your Form What is IRS 1040a Arlington Texas from any world-wide-web connected equipment, personalize it in line with your requirements, indication it electronically and distribute in several methods.
Nampa Idaho Form What is IRS 1040A
Form What is IRS 1040A online Green Bay Wisconsin
Form What is IRS 1040A online San Antonio Texas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: WebSocket on React Native Android gives "undefined is not a function" I am trying to create a WebSocket connection in a React Native Android app, using the Network polyfill:
'use strict';

var React = require('react-native');
var {
  AppRegistry,
  StyleSheet,
  Text,
  View,
} = React;

var wstest = React.createClass({
  componentDidMount: function() {
    var ws = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:8080');
    ws.on('connect', function() {
      console.log('connected');
    })
  },
  render: function() {
    return (
      // ... left out for brevity
    );
  }
});

var styles = StyleSheet.create({
  // ... left out for brevity
});

AppRegistry.registerComponent('wstest', () => wstest);

I get the following error:
undefined is not a function (evaluating 'ws.on('connect',function() { ...

Reload JS error log
Is there something in the build environment that I need to set up or configure for this to work?

A: Just had the same problem. It seems Facebook's React Native docs on WS is incorrect. The correct way to listen for messages on WS is by the following:
    var ws = new WebSocket(url);

    ws.onopen = (() => {
        console.log("connection opened.");
    });

    ws.onmessage = ((message) => {
        console.log(message.data);
    });

    ws.onerror = ((error) => {
        console.log(error.message);
    });

    ws.onclose = ((event) => {
        console.log(event.code, event.reason);
    });

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
W&L's Community Grants Committee Accepting Fall Proposals
By Drewry Sackett
Washington and Lee University's Community Grants Committee would like to remind the community of its Fall 2016 proposal evaluation schedule. Community Grants Proposals may be submitted at any time but are reviewed semiannually: at the end of the calendar year and at the end of the fiscal year. The deadline for submitting a proposal for the Fall 2016 evaluation is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016.
Established in the spring of 2008, the purpose of the program is to support non-profit organizations in the Lexington/Rockbridge community. The program began its first full year on July 1, 2008, coinciding with the start of the University's fiscal year. The University will award a total of $50,000 during the program's 2016-17 cycle.
During the second round of the 2015-16 evaluations held in May 2016, 19 organizations submitted proposals for a total of over $77,000 in requests. The University made $24,757 in grants to 10 of those organizations. Those organizations were:
Boxerwood Project NEST
City of Lexington Office on Youth
Lylburn Downing Middle School
Mission Next Door
Rockbridge Animal Alliance and Cats Unlimited
Rockbridge Ballet
Rockbridge Historical Society
Rockbridge Regional Drug Task Force
Waddell Elementary School Music Department
Yellow Brick Road Early Learning Center
Interested parties may access the Community Grants Committee website and download a copy of the proposal guidelines at the following address:
http://go.wlu.edu/communitygrants
The second round of proposals for 2016-17 will be due on Friday, April 14, 2017.
Please call 540-458-8417 with questions. Proposals should be submitted as electronic attachments (word or pdf) via email to kbrinkley@wlu.edu. If an electronic submission is not possible, materials may be faxed to (540) 458-8745 or mailed to:
Washington and Lee University Community Grants Committee
Attn: James D. Farrar Jr.
Lexington, VA 24450


My name is Graciela Acosta. I learned about your ministry through your website. I am an inmigrant from Morelos, Mexico. And I am currently living in WA state. My mother and the rest of my family have recently moved from Morelos to Atlixco, Puebla. The reason they moved is because they were being threaten by criminals, they were fearing for their safety.
Even thought they don't own much, they had to leave all their belongings behind.
My question is, if there is any chance for your church to minister to them. They need spiritual encouragement, and help to get some daily life stuff, like, clothes, bedding, cooking utensils, etc.
They currently go to the catolic church, so they all believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I thank you in advance for your prayers and time while reading this.
May the peace and love of Christ be with you.
Pastor Munos: My wife, Ann and I will be visiting a former foreign exchange student from Germany next week in Puebla. He is working at the VW plant for the next year. Perhaps you can help us. I would like to locate an English speaking church service, if available. A German service would also be helpful. Or a Christian student group who meets and converses in English.
Has your family found a good church. If now, we know of a new Baptist Church in Atlixco. The name of the Pastor is Israel Bravo. I could ask him to visit your family if you want.


Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of stories spotlighting the work being done by area chambers of commerce and other economic-development-related agencies. We start with Northampton Area Young Professionals.
From left, Suzanne Beck, Lynn Kennedy, Rich Horton, and Kate Glynn.
That's the name the Northampton Area Young Professionals — or NAYP, as the group calls itself colloquially — are using for the new leadership that has been steadily helping to reinvent the organization.
Some departures in the prior leadership of NAYP have led the group to take a look at its core values and mission. Kate Glynn is the owner of A Child's Garden and co-owner of Impish, two children's stores in downtown Northampton, and she said they were necessary changes for the group to evolve.
"Over the past four years of NAYP being up and running, we've learned that young professionals change careers," she said. "We're at a time in our lives where people get new opportunities, professionally speaking, or they're making big changes in their private lives, having babies. And that's the nature of being a young professional in today's world.
"So, rather than have a static organization that isn't flexible, nor addressing actual needs, we've decided to open it up and re-examine," she added.
"Historically it's been what we called the leadership team — 10 or 12 people, a president, vice president, with committees underneath that," he said. "So we decided to pull back and make the leadership roles a committee, with an executive team at its core. That team will have five members responsible for strategy, making sure everything gets done, with project leaders overseeing specific issues.
The sixth de facto member of the executive team is Lynn Kennedy, the NAYP's liaison within the Northampton Chamber of Commerce. She was quick to add that, while all this talk of restructured leadership and changing titles might sound like an entirely new organization, NAYP will not change in the way the group functions for its members.
"But there is one change that we want them to see," she added, "and that is how to get involved, and at what levels. They don't need to make these excessive commitments to get involved — they can be involved at the level that works for them.
While the NAYP team was talking out the changes that are still taking place, they did state that they are, as always, ready to get down to business. Talking with BusinessWest for this inaugural feature, NAYP members said that, at its next meet-and greet-function to take place on Jan. 12, relative terms like 'young' and 'area' keep it pretty open as far is who is welcome to attend.
She was one of the early members of NAYP, which is not yet five years old. Initially, there was a common theme among other businesspeople like her, that a lack of a forum for young professionals needed to be addressed.
The Northampton Chamber of Commerce also realized early on the importance of such an organization, and NAYP considers them a sponsor and its biggest advocate. Suzanne Beck is the chamber's executive director, and she told BusinessWest that there has always been a lot of talk in the Valley about who is that next generation in business and what is their commitment to the region. The chamber's commitment to NAYP has stemmed from that question.
Borrowing an idea from the playbook of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, NAYP launched what it calls a Nonprofit Board Fair this past summer. "What we find is that a lot of young professionals have interest in nonprofit leadership opportunities, but don't have any clue as to how to get on a board," said Horton.
"We worked closely with the local United Way," he continued, "and we reached out to other nonprofits and stipulated that they had to have a board opportunity opening in the next six months. They didn't have to actually take any of our folks, but they did have to have an opening." The meeting was well-attended, and all members said that this was assuredly the first of an unfolding tradition for NAYP.
From the perspective of the chamber, Beck said NAYP fills a need for that developing generation of businesspeople in the region.
As one of those former students, Glynn said that it is exciting to see the possibilities for new members within NAYP's frameworks, because a larger membership means more opportunities for individuals and for the organization as a whole. With a committee-based leadership, Kennedy noted that this structure will be an asset in how those opportunities are addressed.
"In the past, we had so many things that we wanted to do, but only a small number of people able to get things done," she said, adding that the organization will look hard at prioritizing programs and then maximizing its available young talent to carry them out.
But as the assembled members of NAYP said, the core mission of the group will always be welcoming anyone who wants to be a member. There are currently 135 dues-paying NAYPs, and the goal is for that number to rise.


text:
HMHmyhealth!HMH Staff PortalThe Cottages at Flat Run
Patient Rights & Safety
Health Career Scholarships
Non-discrimination and Accessibility Requirements
Outpatient Services in Carlisle
Sleep Disorders Clinic
The Clinic at Walmart
Oncology (Cancer) Services
HMH Urgent Treatment Center
surgical and outpatient services
Pricing Estimator
Machine Readable File
What You Need to Know About COVID-19?
HMH Outpatient Services Clinic in Carlisle
2300 Concrete Road
Carlisle, KY 40311
In January 2015, HMH opened the HMH Outpatient Services Clinic in Carlisle. Services available at the clinic are physical therapy, occupational therapy and laboratory services.
Physical therapy and occupational therapy services will be offered in the office formerly occupied by Dr. Osias Villaflor's medical practice. Hours of operation are Monday-Thursday 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Friday: 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.
Physical Therapy is a branch of rehabilitative health that uses specially designed exercises, equipment and manual techniques to help patients regain or improve their physical abilities. Physical therapists work with many types of patients. All therapists are board-certified in physical therapy. Physical Therapy can be beneficial for patients suffering from a variety of injuries and illnesses, including:
Stroke or Heart Attack
Muscular Weakness
Plantar Facitis
Extremity Injuries
Neurological Issues
Wound Care Patients
HMH patients can also experience the convenience of laboratory services at this Carlisle location. A phlebotomist will be available Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
The HMH Outpatient Services clinic is located at 2300 Concrete Road in Carlisle, and the phone number is 859-289-3338. The clinic services are provided by referral only; therefore, if you are in need of physical or occupational therapy, ask your primary care physician about a referral today.
Sleep Studies Clinic
Harrison Memorial Hospital's Laboratory Department Receives Accreditation from College of American Pathologists
Harrison Memorial Hospital Laboratory in Cynthiana, KY, has been awarded reaccreditation by the Accreditation Committee of the College of American
HMH radiology receives ACR accreditation in MRI Services
Harrison Memorial Hospital has been awarded a three-year term of reaccreditation in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the result of a recent revi
Chen and Merkley join HMH Medical Staff
Gastroenterologists, An-Yu Chen, M.D. and Scott Merkley, M.D., have joined the medical staff at Harrison Memorial Hospital.
1210 KY HWY 36E
Cynthiana KY 41031
T: 859-234-2300 or 800-264-1834
E: msmith@hmhosp.org
We have opportunities for you to help. Visit our page to learn more.
Newsroom & Press
View Our Newborns
Harrison Memorial Hospital complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. We provide free language interpreter. See our full Notice of Non-discrimination and Accessibly Requirements and language options.
Website design by: Fusioncorp


* Corresponding author: Saeed Kermani, Department of Biomedical Engineering Faculty of Advance Medical Technology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Tel: +98-9133107346, E-mail: kermani@med.mui.ac.ir.
To Cite: Yousefi-Banaem H, Kermani S, Sanei H, Daneshmehr A. Detecting Infarct Region in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Images Through Weighted Normalized Mutual Information, Iran J Radiol. 2017 ; 14(3):e41334. doi: 10.5812/iranjradiol.41334.
Background: Myocardial infarction remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among cardiac disease. Cardiac wall thickening in patients with myocardial infarction is less than healthy individuals. Accurate measurement of cardiac wall fractional thickening and path-length of myocardium points in healthy data and patients with myocardial infarction can help physicians in diagnosing the affected area.
Patients and Methods: Epi/Endocardium of all slices in end-diastole frame were segmented, then more than 150 points in each slice were selected to track by weighted normalized mutual information algorithm over all frames. Weighted normalized mutual information was computed between two three-dimensional masks sized 3× 3 × 3, pixel that were located in end-diastole and subsequent frames centroid of the selected points. Finally, by computing the distance between endocardium and epicardium in each slice over all frames, cardiac wall thickness and fractional thickening was measured. Moreover, the path-length of each data point during cardiac period was calculated and sketched in bulls-eye format. Evaluation of the method was done by ten healthy and twenty patients with myocardial infarction.
Results: Cardiac wall kinesis was evaluated by normalized path length, which was presented in standard 17-segment bull's-eye format. Wall thickness and fractional wall thickening for all slices over all frames were extracted in order to determine the infarct region. Infarct regions had minimal fractional thickening and normalized path length. All evaluations demonstrated hypo-kinesis in the damaged region.
Conclusion: Evaluation of obtained results showed significant difference between local parameters of healthy and infarcted myocardium. In all patients, the process was able to precisely determine the affected region that was all well matched with clinical evidence.
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the main cause of death throughout the world despite diagnostic developments and therapeutic improvements (1). Patients with AMI have high mortality. Local left ventricular function is altered during and after AMI. Most studies describe changes in the infarcted myocardium. These changes occur in the infarcted, ischemic and adjacent regions of the myocardium (2, 3). There is less information about changes in the remote region of AMI in the myocardium. It is still argumentative whether remote myocardium after AMI is hypo-functioning or hyper functioning (4-6). This has not been well studied by cardiac imaging.
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is a powerful diagnostic tool that can provide more accurate measurements of cardiac chambers, volumes, dimensions (7), local cardiac wall function (8), and infarct area extent (9). It has been considered as the gold standard for evaluating systolic wall thickening (6). Studies have shown that regional wall function can be assessed using CMR strain analysis (10). Strain is a measure of the change in size and shape of an object and can be derived from CMR by using grid-tagging (11), displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) (12) or velocity-encoded (VE) imaging (13). Studies conducted by Kroeker et al. and Garot et al. found that myocardial infarction decrease left ventricular (LV) thickness and twist (rotation of heart muscle during contraction) during LV contraction (14, 15). Therefore, to obtain the corresponding point in the next frame and to assess function of the myocardium, point tracking methods have been used.
Heart wall motion tracking methods can be divided into two groups: local point tracking and image registration. In local point tracking, the first selected points are tracked from diastole to systole. Subsequently, dense motion field is estimated. Reconstruction dense motion field from a sparse set of control points is an ill-posed problem. Therefore, to have a unique solution, we need additional constraints. These limitations have previously been suggested in the literature (16). The other method for motion tracking is whole image registration or feature point registration (17). Dinan et al. used block matching to track the end diastole selected points over all frames (18). Kermani et al. proposed correlation based 3D block matching to track sparse point during cardiac cycle (19). They used Sobel based gradient operator that works on edges. Gradient based methods do not contain information about the region, so they may cause miss tracking. Therefore, a method that carries information from the region is required. Some methods such as mutual information (MI) and normalized mutual information (NMI) could give useful information from the determined region in order to compute the similarities by extracting some nonlinear feathers (20-23). NMI is a powerful method to measure the similarities of two images (8, 20, 24). Tahan et al. used NMI as a similarity metric in the registration of two sequential cardiac tagged MRIs. In tagged MRI, tag lines vanish during the cardiac contraction cycle (25). Zhang et al. applied NMI as a similarity metric in order to track coronary artery motion based on non-rigid registration method in 4D cardiac CT angiogram data sets (24, 26). Beache et al. used NMI in cardiac perfusion data to evaluate myocardium functionality by affine-based registration. They demonstrated that this method could assess the cardiac wall properly (27). Most of these methods have used MI or NMI in order to measure whole image similarities. In the present study, similarities were calculates in small sub images, so subtle alteration in density and shape caused considerable alteration in similarity measurements. Another similarity metric tool is correlation coefficient, which is only able to take into account linear relationships. Correlation coefficient is a good measure in a case of similar subject and modality (28). Because of using the same modalities in the tracking method, we proposed correlation coefficient based weighted-NMI, in order to improve the result accuracy by considering both linear and nonlinear features. Therefore, this study was constructed to assess local myocardial wall function by measuring path-length and fractional wall thickening by tracking some points in the LV wall from end-diastole to end-systole using weighted-NMI. Obtained features of acute myocardial infarct patients compared with healthy individuals by quantizing wall motion.
This paper is organized as follows: first CMRI images were segmented over all slices in end-diastole frame, and then selected boundary points were tracked by weighted-NMI to extract the local dynamic and functional LV parameters. Then measured fractional thickening and path-length of healthy and infarct regions were visualized. We have also validated our method with real data acquired from patients and the infarct regions were successfully located with outstanding reliability and accuracy.
An overview of the proposed method is demonstrated in Figure 1.
Real patient geometric data with myocardial infarct was selected from three cine MRI databases. Eleven gradient-echo images were performed on a 1.5 T scanner (Symphony Siemens, Germany) in Isfahan MRI Center, Isfahan, Iran (19). Twenty of the images were obtained from Sunnybrook health sciences centre, Toronto, Canada (29) and 20 of them were obtained from cardiac atlas project (30). The implemented MATLAB program runs in a computer with dual core 2.53 GHz CPU and 16G of RAM. Information of patient has brought in Table 1.
aFor assessment of the local cardiac wall, steady state free precession (SSFP) cine MRI images were acquired in the short-axis plane covering the entire left ventricle from base to apex. Image parameters were: repetition time 3.2 ms, echo time 1.6 ms, flip angle 60°, image resolution 1.36 × 1.36 mm, slice thickness 8 mm, retrospective ECG gated reconstruction.
Epi/Endocardial of all slices in all frames, are segmented exactly based on the algorithm introduced by Heiberg et al. (31). This method is developed on the concept of deformable models but extended with an enhanced and fast edge detection scheme that includes temporal information and anatomical priori knowledge. In this method, LV model is a time-resolved mesh representation of the LV as an open cone, sliced along the cone's long axis with 80 numbers of points in each slice. Results of this algorithm are not accurate among all slices and frames, so all segmentations were refined by an expert until contours coincided to the epi/endocardium.
To obtain the sparse field of displacement, the point on the epi/endocardial surfaces were used. To track the point displacement and determination of the initial sparse motion field, efficient weighted-NMI algorithm was used. This approach was implemented on two sequential frames of a 3D sequence image. First, 3D reference mask with center of selected points in end diastole frame was constructed. Then, a moving mask with the same size as the generated mask with a close center to the reference mask was constructed in the next frame. The moving mask moves in all directions and weighted-NMI of the moving mask and reference mask was calculated. Then, the center points of the two masks with high weighted-NMI were considered as the corresponding points. The center point of the moving mask with high weighted-NMI was considered as the reference mask, and the moving mask is transferred to the next frame. This procedure continued until the moving mask reached the end systole frame. Finally, the tracking process was repeated for all selected points in end diastole frame to measure their displacements during the cardiac cycle.
Where H (X) and H (Y) are marginal entropy, and H (X, Y) is joint (Shannon) entropy, which is obtained as Equations 2-4.
Where Px (x), Py (y), and Pxy (x, y) are marginal probability density function and joint probability density function, respectively and obtained as Equations 5 and 6.
In MI, joint entropy and marginal entropy of the moving image vary with changing overlap, so it is not appropriate for tracking a point. In order to provide overlap invariance, we need a measure independent of changes in the marginal entropies H (X) and H (Y) of the two images in their region of overlap. A direct approach is normalization, which was used in this paper to evaluate the ratio of the joint and marginal entropies. On the other hand, since correlation coefficient is a better measure of similarity in the case of similar subject and modality, it is used to detect changes in intensity or the shape of a structure. Correlation coefficient metric was computed pixel-wise and misalignment between the images resulted in small measure values. We used correlation coefficient to weight the NMI as Equation 7. Weighted-NMI needs both linear and non-linear properties of two compared images so the accuracy of tracking can be improved.
Where CC is the correlation coefficient as a weight (Equation 8).
Where, I1 and I2 are the reference frame mask and moving mask in the adjacent frame, respectively, and N is the number of voxels.
Where PR stands for reference points, and CPNF stands for the correspondent point in the next frame. After calculating the displacements from systole to diastole, useful parameters for infarct region detection are extracted.
Path length is defined as the total distance a points moves. Unlike displacement, which is the total distance a point moves from the end diastole frame to the end systole frame, path length is the total distance travelled, regardless of where it moved (Equation 14).
Dji is the distance between nodes in frames i and j. Polar map representation of path length for patients has been presented in 17-segment bulls-eye.
As illustrated above for myocardium functionality evaluation we measured several local parameters including cardiac wall thickening, fractional thickening and path-length of boundary points. In the first step, cardiac wall in the end diastole frame was segmented then boundary points were tracked using weighted-NMI. Segmentation results and trajectory of boundary points are demonstrated in Figure 2.
Since this method generates 3-D path-length fields for all 3-D points, for better evaluation we divided the entire LV wall into three sections: the basal layer, the mid-ventricular layer, and the apical layer. Furthermore, the apical layer was divided into four regions: anterior, lateral, inferior, and septal. The mid-ventricular layer was divided into six regions: antero-septal, anterior, lateral, posterior, inferior, and infero-septal. Finally, the basal layer was divided into antero-septal, anterior, lateral, posterior, inferior, and infero-septal regions. The normalized path-lengths of LV wall over each of the 16 segmented regions were plotted in standard bull's-eye format. Normalized path-length of LV wall in standard bull's eye format is demonstrated in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Standard bull's-eye of normalized path-length of cardiac wall boundary points. Dark red color indicates the healthy region of the cardiac wall with normal path-length and dark blue color shows the infarct region with a less normalized path-length.
Cardiac wall fractional thickening was evaluated as a measure of myocardium performance. Fractional thickening was calculated for all data points over time (cardiac cycle time). Cardiac wall in short axis was considered as a circle and divided into eight sectors as shown in Figure 4, then fractional thickening of the cardiac wall was computed in each sector.
Figure 4. Cardiac wall was divided into sectors to measure the fractional thickening.
Because the fractional thickening was computed over all frames, we plotted it as a function of time. For all plots, end-diastole was considered as the reference frame for calculating fractional thickening. The magnitude of fractional thickening values generally increases as the left ventricle contracts during systole. In infarct regions, the magnitude of fractional thickening is less than normal regions as showed in Figures 5 and 6.
Figure 5. Fractional thickening of infarct myocardium. Infarct regions have less fractional thickening compared to normal regions.
Figure 6. Fractional thickening of the healthy myocardium. All sectors have relatively high fractional thickening.
Current study was performed to evaluate myocardial functionality using weighted normalized mutual information for cardiac wall boundary point tracking. Myocardial function was assessed by measuring normalized path-length of boundary points and fractional wall thickening calculation. We investigated the problem of detecting and localizing myocardium abnormality. The 3D motion of LV was tracked throughout the entire cardiac cycle, and a quantitative analysis was performed. The results of fractional wall thickening showed that wall thickness increases from diastole to systole phase of the cardiac cycle. In patients with infarction, wall thickening in the infarct region of the myocardium is less than the healthy region as illustrated in figures 5 and 6. This finding is well matched with clinical findings caused when an infarction occurs; the myocardial muscle loses its elasticity and function. The infarct region of the myocardial muscle does not contract. Subsequently, the wall thickness is less subject to change. For better visualization and interpretation, results of normalized path-length have been sketched in 17 bull's-eye format, which maps 3D cardiac wall to 2D circle. As mentioned before, each segment in bull's-eye belongs to a specific region of the heart. So by plotting normalized path-length in bull'-eye format, the infarct region could be determined. In addition, the extent and severity of the infarction could be determined. As shown in figure 3, one patient has infarction on all sides of the wall and the other patient has extensive infarction from basal to mid ventricular LV but with more severity in the basal region, which is consistent with clinical findings. Unfortunately, the researchers failed to get access to CMRI sequences with implanted markers for comparison between marker trajectories and trajectories which have been derived from the proposed algorithm.
In conclusion, our proposed method is capable of producing comprehensive myocardial fractional wall thickening and path-length calculations for assessing myocardial functionality by measuring displacement fields based on tracking procedure. The novelty of the method is that at the conclusion of point tracking, cardiac wall boundary point displacements, myocardium boundary point path-length and fractional thickenings of the myocardium are immediately available. We illustrated these with results from 51 real human cardiac MRIs. The resulting path-length values were normalized across studies and were shown in standard bull'-eye format and the fractional wall thickening of the heart was plotted over the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle. Results demonstrated that this method could be used for fast evaluation of myocardium functionality.
Authors would like to highly acknowledge the Cardiac Atlas Project funder for catering public cardiac MRI database, especially Avan Suinesiaputra for DETERMINE data access.
Funding/Support: This study was supported by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.


Thin Blue Line Police Sheriff Law Enforcement Decal from Weston Ink. Designed and produced in house using the the best materials and newest processes available. Using the newest printing technology with a 7 color process these graphics pop in color and are highly detailed. New inks also extend the life of the graphic for years to come without any fading.


Compare Your Facebook Performance to LOADING █████████ 99%...NIKTO MA NEPOZNA NA 100 % !!!
Put your Facebook performance into context and find out who's strategy is working best. Just add your page and get a free social media report that compares you to LOADING █████████ 99%...NIKTO MA NEPOZNA NA 100 % !!!. Download the sample report or learn more about our Facebook benchmarking tool.


Having spent summers on nearby Little Cranberry Island, Kate moved from Baltimore to the Mount Desert Island area in 1993 and married Bar Harbor native Courtney Chaplin soon after. Kate is a graduate of Davidson College with a BA in English. Her early careers include teaching for The Stony Brook School and Oldfields School, and a brief stint with Windswept Publishing House in Somesville. She started working at The Knowles Company as office manager in 1994, then transitioned to the rental office and became a rental agent in 1996. After a hiatus to raise her family, Kate returned full-time to the rentals office in 2011, bringing a wealth of rentals experience, local knowledge, and love for the area.
She and Courtney and their three children make their home on Islesford, which means she takes the mail boat to and from work every day. Kate serves on the Northeast Harbor Library Scholarship Committee as well as the School Board for the Town of Cranberry Isles and is involved with a variety of other island organizations and activities.


text:
Tommy Hanson has fun in abbreviated spring debut
By Matthew PouliotMar 11, 2012, 7:38 PM EDT
Pitching with a new delivery and a damaged shoulder that didn't require surgery, Tommy Hanson gave up three runs — two earned — in one-plus innings Sunday against the Blue Jays in his spring debut.
Hanson turned in a one-two-three first, but he didn't retire any of the four hitters he faced in the second before a rain delay halted his outing. Some of that was the defense's fault, as Freddie Freeman committed an error behind him. Some of it was his fault, like when he gave up a two-run homer to one of baseball's worst hitters in Jeff Mathis.
"The first inning was a lot more fun than the second," Hanson told MLB.com. "I was getting balls that were soaked and wet and the mound was drenched. But it was still fun. When I was out there, I was just laughing about it because I was glad to be back out there on the mound. It was fun to compete again. It was one of those conditions where I didn't really care what happened because it didn't matter. It was almost like I was a little kid playing in the rain again."
Hanson missed the final two months of last season and was diagnosed with a minor tear in his rotator cuff. The new delivery he's working with this spring was designed to make him quicker to the plate, but it's also supposed to be easier on his shoulder.
"I felt great," Hanson said. "Obviously, my command was a little bit off, but my body felt really good. I made some good pitches at times."
Hanson is expected to open the season as the Braves' No. 2 starter.
Tags: Atlanta Braves, Freddie Freeman, Jeff Mathis, Tommy Hanson, Toronto Blue Jays


text:
AGATHA: Film Review
Posted on: October 25th, 2016
Young Sophie (Louise Ogle) has been hired to bring food every night to a mysterious old woman who is locked in an attic. Is the old woman a prisoner? Is she dangerous? Each night, as Sophie completes her task, her curiosity draws her closer and closer to what might be her last meal.
Agatha is a nine-minute period short film from up and coming Floridian filmmaker Timothy Vandenberg, and it's been garnering a substantial amount of buzz on the festival circuit. It's also the product of a filmmaker announcing his arrival in spectacular fashion, as it's more than a simple short film – it's a stepping stone to a promising career in feature films, and an exercise in horror at its purest.
From the very outset Agatha is imbued with a chilling sense of dread, capturing an overwhelming feeling of tension that both grips and enthrals. The premise itself is simple but rife in mystery; a little orphan girl is tasked with delivering food to someone who lives in an attic, but she's warned not to ever pass the table and get close to the person. However, being the young and curious sort that she is, she becomes more tempted to investigate further… and you know how these things tend to turn out. Will Sophie's fate be akin to that of those who have broken the rules before her?
Apart from the initial conversation which sets up the task at hand, Agatha is dialogue-free – and it works to great effect. The unsettling sound design works dividends for creating unease, while the ambiguity throughout is quite disconcerting. Furthermore, there's just something inherently creepy about period settings in horror, while the poverty-stricken child protagonist and her natural childish curiosity towards the dark allure of a captive is disturbing in itself.
The central performance from Louise Ogle is also magnificent as she plays her part with convincing naivety. You don't want to see anything bad happen to her and the emotional attachment makes you fear her plight in every frame. That being said, Agatha is a cautionary tale which will make any viewer – young and old – question whether it's worth intruding on the business of others. Ogle's performance is a powerhouse for an actress of such a young age.
Agatha packs a lot of terror and emotional heft into its short running time. Whatever Timothy Vandenberg will have the attention of those who see Agatha, and there's no doubt that he'll go on to achieving great artistic feats as a filmmaker. Horror this unnerving doesn't come along too often in this day and age, but when it does it reminds you of why you fell in love with the genre in the first place – as a child, drawn to the mystique of the danger, must like young Sophie.
Reviewer: By Kieran Fisher


The glossy black / white PAL BT Bluetooth Portable Radio features a simple interface, room-filling sound, and Bluetooth connectivity for Bluetooth-enabled devices. After turning the radio on, the AM/FM tuner handles station identification, and music is heard through the 2.5" speaker.
The PAL BT (PAL stands for Portable Audio Laboratory, not the European video standard) also allows you to stream audio wirelessly through the integrated Bluetooth receiver, which uses advanced A2DP technology for high quality wireless audio. The PAL BT also features FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum), which narrows the frequency across the spectrum in short "hops" instead of a single signal, thereby intercepting and eliminating interference from other devices on the 2.4 GHz band. What you get is an almost interference-free Bluetooth experience.
The NiMH rechargeable battery pack provides anywhere from twenty minutes to several hours of audio listening enjoyment (volume levels and other factors will decrease battery playback time). The eco-friendly battery pack has no "memory" so it can be charged at any time in the battery's life cycle, and fully charges in about 3 hours.
The standard 30' reception range for Bluetooth and device pairing functionality is present here as well. A simple AM/FM radio with technological muscle is what makes the Tivoli PAL BT Bluetooth Portable Radio a must have for the beach, family room or anywhere that you want clear sound and the flexibility of wireless connectivity.


FTSE rallies on hopes action is coming over Eurozone debt | City A.M.
BRITAINS'S top share index rallied yesterday as financial and basic resources stocks advanced, helped by hopes that Eurozone leaders were moving closer to action to stem a debt crisis in the region.
London's blue chips added 148.11 points in its second consecutive day of gains after nine straight sessions of declines, as equities across Europe and the United States rose and yields on distressed Eurozone bonds declined.
The rally was triggered by an unsourced report in Italian daily La Stampa, which suggested the International Monetary Fund was preparing a rescue plan for Italy worth up to €600bn (£515.5bn). This was later dismissed by an IMF spokesperson.
"[The FTSE] is coming off oversold level and given the denial of rumours that the IMF was going to get involved, I'm a little bit surprised with the strength of the rebound," Gerard Lane, investment strategist at Shore Capital, said.
London's blue chip gauge broke through the 38.2 per cent Fibonacci retracement of the July high to August low, as it extended a bounce after closing above the 23.6 per cent support on Friday.
Banks and miners, which suffered some of the worst losses during the recent sell-off, led the charge yesterday, adding 28.4 points and 24.4 points to the FTSE 100.
Miners were also supported by positive comments by Nomura, which argued the sector had been hit too hard in the macro sell-off, driven by global growth worries.
Shore Capital's Gerard Lane maintained a defensive approach but highlighted that certain perceived safe havens such as food producers are overvalued, while cyclicals including mining and consumer discretionary stocks appear cheap.
"Miners have become undervalued, but without an easing in policy from China, earnings downgrade may outweigh the valuation appeal for that sector," he said. He recommended instead media stocks with international earnings, such as Pearson or Reed Elsevier, up 2.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.
Weir rose 8.3 per cent to top the blue-chip gainers chart as Barclays Capital became the latest of a string of brokers raising their price targets on the maker of pumps and valves, following the acquisition of shale gas specialist Seabord Holdings last week.
Randgold, down 7.9 per cent, was the only blue chip to close in the red after the gold miner cut its output target due to a series of problems at its Tongon mine in the Ivory Coast.
While stocks rebounded, strategists remained wary of going back into the market until there is certainty that decisive action is being taken to stem the Eurozone's debt crisis.
"It's a market I would sell, like I have been doing since August. If you had bet on political events for the past two years, you'd have gone bankrupt a long time ago," said Robert Quinn, of Standard & Poor's Capital IQ.
In a sign of the urgency of the Eurozone's situation, Moody's warned that the rapid escalation of the region's sovereign and banking crisis threatens the rating of all European government bonds.
The announcement comes as the Eurozone's second-largest economy, France, battles to defend its triple-A rating, a necessary condition for the bloc's rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to maintain its own top-notch rating.


SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Ken Tyler has relinquished hired guns for a posse.
Over the last few seasons, the Shepherd University basketball coach had one proven scorer to build his team around. Now, as he enters his seventh season with the Rams, Tyler is throwing the scoring option open to everyone who takes the floor.
"Our theme this year is opportunity and balance," Tyler said Thursday during Shepherd's annual media day festivities. "We are sure of our starting lineup, but we don't know who our leading scorer is going to be. We have wonderful balance across the lineup."
In the last six years, the Rams have had a gunslinger to turn to, a proven scorer who averaged in the 20-point range and was a danger as much as a focal point. This year's team doesn't have a Mike Jennings, Yves Moliva or Danley Shank to highlight.
"We want to be patient in our offense," Tyler said. "We knew every time Danley trotted out on the floor, he was good to hang up 20 and Yves would be close behind. Jennings was good for 30 sometimes. We even allowed them to take shots we didn't really want. This year, we feel the offense has to work for them."
The work starts tonight when Shepherd opens its season as host of the sixth annual Clarion Hotel Tip-Off Tournament and it starts in a big way as the Rams face Barton College - the defending NCAA Division II national champion - at 8 p.m. Tyler and Shepherd officials believe it's the first time a Shepherd team has hosted a national champion in any sport. Bentley and Pfeiffer face off in the opener at 6 with the second round being played on Saturday.
The Rams will attack Barton with two returning starters, a Division I transfer, a junior college transfer and the oddity of a freshman constructing the starting unit on a roster that features no seniors.
The backcourt will feature last year's starting tandem of 6-foot-2 junior point guard Fred Lymas and 6-2 sophomore shooting guard Derek Gallagher. Lymas averaged 7 points and 3.6 assists while Gallagher added 7.3 points a game as Shepherd's top 3-point threat on last year's 16-13 team.
"Fred is the prototypical WVIAC guard. He is long and he has made himself a better shooter. We will be looking for him to score more," Tyler said. "We will be expecting more out of Derek. We would like him to go from a complementary role to asserting himself. We expect both of them to be double-figure scorers."
Liki Turner, a 6-6 freshman from Richmond, has found a home at small forward.
"We targeted Liki early," Tyler said. " I don't generally start freshmen, but he's very versatile both on the inside and outside and is very good at the top of our zone defense."
The inside will be manned by Ian Grady, a 6-5 junior forward transfer from Allegany (Md.) College, and Justin Jarman, a 6-8 junior center transfer from Virginia Military.
Shepherd's backups will feature a local flavor as Duncan Williams and Matt Deaner of Hedgesville and Chambersburg's Jonathan Motichka will work in as reserves. Deaner is ineligible until Dec. 15.
Sophomore Pierrot Bendegue is slotted to be the backup center.
Shepherd enters the season picked to finish sixth in the 16-team West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches poll. It is a good starting point, but is just that, a starting point.
"I feel it is a good placement, but we are not satisfied," Tyler said. "We have some good basketball players. We might not be as deep but we have all-conference talent in our top six or seven players."


text:
National policy planning needs to take a 'life course' perspective
By Lorna Siggins.
NATIONAL policy planning should take a "life course" perspective from birth to old age, an NUI Galway (NUIG) report has found.
The research by NUIG's Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and School of Business and Economics says that planning should extend as far as the maturity and old age of "babies born today" if it is to be successful.
It also recommends engagement of community organisations in drawing up policy, to ensure greater emphasis on a "people-centred" approach.
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, who marked the study's recent publication at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, has described it as "extremely relevant to Government because it provides a clear picture of the realities of policy-making in challenging times".
Based on 18 months of research and consultation, the report argues that successful social policy planning requires a greater focus on the future, taking a life course perspective.
Achieving a "person-centred approach" which extends across individuals' respective lifetimes is "challenging but achievable", it says. "The key is to put the citizen at the centre."
Dr Gemma Carney, a lead author of the study, said: "The idea that 'people matter' in policy planning is recognised by international organisations such as the United Nations.
"In Ireland, we are fortunate to have an engaged and resourceful community sector that is willing to speak up for less fortunate groups. The test now is how we use that resource in challenging economic circumstances."
Best practice for one vulnerable group should be used to inform development of policy for others, said Dr Carney.
"A life course perspective is about being both strategic and practical," she explained. "Recommendations of the National Positive Ageing Strategy, when that is published, should be mindful of what is already published in the National Women's Strategy.
"This hasn't been done in the past and, as a result, lack of educational opportunities, combined with caring responsibilities, leave many women without an old age pension. If we were planning for the whole life course, our system of social protection would help women avoid these sorts of later life traps."
A "broad range" of strategies used by community activists, both "inside and outside social partnership", is an "asset for good governance", the researchers found.
This requires "embracing diversity and engaging in social dialogue", Dr Tony Dundon, a report co-author, noted.
"Our research shows that the vitality of the community and voluntary pillar in Ireland is an exemplar of equity, voice and governance in policy-making," he said.
The research accepts the "developmental welfare state" concept, initiated by the National Economic and Social Council as a blueprint for social policy development. It says that this approach embraces "diversity and inclusion in both social and economic policy-making".
The Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) is a multidisciplinary research centre on ageing at NUIG, established in 2006 with the support of Atlantic Philanthropies. It focuses on research, education and training in the field of social gerontology in Ireland and internationally.
The Irish Centre for Social Gerontology is an Atlantic grantee.
The Irish Centre for Social Gerontology


text:
Home Economy Stimulus Check Stimulus Check 2022: The IRS Is Sending Out Letters
Stimulus Check 2022: The IRS Is Sending Out Letters
Md Shahnawaz
The first few months of the Biden administration were distinguished by swift and comprehensive efforts to offer Stimulus Checks to Americans suffering as a result of the epidemic.
The Democrats gained unifying control of Washington as a result of their victory in the Georgia Senate run-off elections, which enabled Biden to approve the American Rescue Plan, a massive $1.9 trillion rescue plan. The package provided relief for the most vulnerable families by including a $1,400 stimulus check, extending the boost to unemployment benefits, and expanding the Child Tax Credit.
The IRS has sent out a letter to people who may not have claimed their assistance, more than 18 months after it was approved, asking them to claim before their right expires.
Claim Your Stimulus Check
More than 9 million people and families have been contacted to let them know about significant tax benefits for which they may be qualified but have not yet been compensated. This may also apply to the Recovery Rebate Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit in addition to the previously stated schemes (EITC).
According to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, "The IRS wants to remind potentially eligible consumers, especially families, that they may qualify for these essential tax benefits."
The letters began to be distributed on October 13; but, obtaining one does not guarantee that your payment will be forthcoming. To start the payments, the recipients must first provide the IRS with their information. The IRS, the federal tax authority, was in charge of managing the different tax relief programs. As a result, the automatic assistance payments were based on the financial and biographical data from recent tax returns that the agency had on file.
Low-income households, who are exempt from filing taxes, were nonetheless obliged to submit their information separately through the IRS's Free File service.
Previous articleElon Musk Says Kanye West's Twitter Account Was Activated Before He Joined In 2022
Next articleSurprise Defeat By Leeds Shocks Liverpool
https://theunionjournal.com/
Philippines detects bird flu outbreak in quail farm
Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac Co-Founder Dies Aged 73
Hank Johnson, The Dem Representative Got Into "Good" Trouble
Mackenzie Scott Separated From Her Second Husband
Cameroon Boyce Final Film Now Showing
IRS Has Announced A Stimulus Check Payment Of $1,232
The American Rescue Plan Act that came into existence with the incumbent President of the country went on to provide a stimulus check payment...
Lisa Marie Presley Honored By Daughter Riley
On Sunday, Riley Keough gave a heartfelt remembrance of her mother at Lisa Marie Presley's open memorial service. Riley, 33, recalled her mother's unwavering...
Anne Hathaway's 'Patience' And 'Frustration' Will Come To Fruition
Everyone including Anne Hathaway is eagerly waiting for Princess Dairies 3, though she is yet to sign the contract. The Intern star does feel...
Impatient Californians For Stimulus Checks
Californian was the only state that always continued sending out tax rebates or any kind of payment, equal to stimulus checks. However, it happens...
Ed Brown's Continous Tantrums Irritate Everyone
The 'big Ed' aka Ed Brown, is not very Big with his thinking or height. He has caused unwanted situations among the cast, and...


text:
The Official Rules of Baseball: An Anecdotal Look at the Rules of Baseball and How They Came to be (eBOOK)
Author:David Nemec
Overview:The Official Rules of Baseball: An Anecdotal Look at the Rules of Baseball and How They Came to be - Fascinating in their origins, central to the history of the game and to how it is played today, the rules of baseball provide never-ending material for the arguments, anecdotes, and great moments that make baseball what it is. In "The Official Rules of Baseball, Updated and Revised", David Nemec relates the history of the rules, explores how the rules have changed and why, and relates some of the many memorable episodes in baseball in which the rules have played a central role: the famed "Pine Tar Game," the beaning of Ray Chapman, and many more. The book is illustrated with over fifty black-and-white photographs of key moments in the evolution of baseball's rules. "The Official Rules of Baseball, Updated and Revised" will be required reading for anyone who wants to know the game well - and for the millions of fans who want to know it better. This title includes: the entertaining story of the rules' evolution; an official publication of Major League Baseball; and over 50 vintage photographs.
This book is on page /a06b960ac9dc90216ed4e00b41bc8290/book/1603725640-9781592288441. It was written by the following authors: David Nemec. Book The Official Rules of Baseball: An Anecdotal Look at the Rules of Baseball and How They Came to be, which can be read online, published by the company: Rowman & Littlefield. Other books on similar topics can be found in sections: Sports Books. The book was published on 2006-04-01 00:00:00. File for download The Official Rules of Baseball: An Anecdotal Look at the Rules of Baseball and How They Came to be has PDF format and is called the-official-rules-of-baseball-an-anecdotal-look-at-the-rules-of-baseball-and-how-they-came-to-be.pdf. Other books you can download below. Our topcanal.eu site is not responsible for the content of PDF files.
How to download book The Official Rules of Baseball: An Anecdotal Look at the Rules of Baseball and How They Came to be?
Official Journal of the European Communities: Information and Notices Vol 39 C361 30 - Annex to Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 39 L103 26 - Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 40 L97 12 April - Official journal of the European Communities
Official Nba Guide: The Ultimate 1999-2000 Season Reference
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 41 L75 12 March - Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Supplement Vol 37 S232 2 - Official journal of the European Communitiess
Official Journal of the European Communities: Information and Notices Vol 41 C1 3 January - Annex to Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Information and Notices Vol 39 C38 10 - Annex to Official journal of the European Communities
Official Report of the Proceedings, Testimony, and Arguments, in the Trial of James H. Hardy, District Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, Before the Senate of the State of California, Sitting as a High Court of Impeachment.
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 35 L352 2 - Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Supplement Vol 39 S2 4 January - Official journal of the European Communitiess
Official Journal of the European Communities: Information and Notices Vol 38 C78 30 March - Annex to Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 41 L195 11 July - Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Information and Notices Vol 37 C162 14 June - Annex to Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 40 L114 1 May - Official journal of the European Communities
Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation Vol 41 L18 23 - Official journal of the European Communities
Rules, Rules, Rules, Rules: Multi-Level Regulatory Governance - Studies in Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy
Official Journal of the European Communities: Supplement Vol 35 S158 15 - Official journal of the European Communitiess
Official Journal of the European Communities: Annex: Debates of the European Parliament 1996/97 No 4-481 - Official journal of the European communities
Official Report of the Exploration of the Queen Charlotte Islands for the Government of British Columbia
Official Publications: Survey of the Current Situation
Official Journal of the European Communities: Information and Notices Vol 41 C146 12 May - Annex to Official journal of the European Communities


When i renamed the field 'update' on this class to 'myUpdate', it works fine. So clearly 'update' is a name to avoid for your fields. It would be interesting to keep a list somewhere of all unwise choices for field names.


Mission Statements: Why do you exist? Why does your business exist?
If you've ever worked for or bought something from a business, you've probably realized they all have one thing in common: a mission statement. Mission statements are critical to the success of a business. They provide purpose and direction for the business and offer insight into the values and ethics that are significant to the company.
Crafting a personal mission statement is an act of self-discovery. It can help you better define who you are, what you want, and what you stand for. In times of failure or doubt, your personal mission statement can help you refocus and realign with what's important to you.
Examine the lives of others. Who are your role-models? What is it about the way they live(d) their life that resonates with you?
Identify and review your past successes, both personal and professional. Are there any common themes among them? These themes will help you determine what's important to you.
List your core values. Include attributes you believe best identify who you are. Once you have completed your list, select two or three that are most important to you.
Identify how you can make a difference. How will you help the world? Your community? Your employer? Your family?
Write your mission statement. Review all of your answers to the above questions and create a purposeful statement that captures your essence.
Writing your personal mission statement on paper makes it real. Review it regularly and let it inspire you to live the life you want.


The City of Weatherford Consumer Health Department has provided a bed bug frequently asked questions and information relevant to bed bugs and the treatment of bed bugs. Bed bugs are unlike most other pests and are difficult to control if actions are not taken quickly.
Need more bed bug information?


text:
Around South Florida with Elgin Jones 10-15-2010
Robert Beatty— October 14, 2010
POLITICAL EMBARASSMENTS
The Republican Party is being taken over by a bunch of whackos, period. It began with former Alaska governor-in-disgrace Sarah Palin and now it is spreading throughout the party. You have Rich Lott running in Ohio's ninth congressional district who unapologetically dresses up in Nazi military uniforms. In Delaware, there is Christine O'Donnell, the pathetic U. S. Senate candidate who was exposed for her past satanic worship. O'Donnell has never disavowed Satanism and her attempts to make light of it with excuses and by merely proclaiming she is not a witch is not working, recent polls show. Republican candidates around the country are imitating these zealots with their ridiculous positions and caustic conduct. These zealots, along with the Tea Party crowd, are vowing, if elected to shut down the government and to repeal anything President Barack Obama has accomplished or proposes in the future. The reasonable people in the Republican Party are either being pushed out or they are in hiding, afraid to take principled positions — and it's a shame.
GAY ADOPTIONS
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is being urged by conservatives to appeal a ruling from the Court of Appeals that struck down a 1977 Florida law barring gays from adopting children in the state. McCollum is non-committal at this point but activists around the state have begun organizing protests in opposition to the ruling. Rev. O'Neal Dozier, pastor of the Pompano Beach-based Worldwide Christian Center, organized one such protest in front of the Department of Children and Families offices in Fort Lauderdale.
CELL PHONE FRAUD
It hasn't received much attention but Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has reached an agreement with wireless service provider Sprint over its unauthorized billing of consumers for third party extras, through what is known as "cramming." Ringtones, horoscopes, music and other services were advertised as free but actually added to monthly bills for as much as $19.99. Sprint will also pay $800,000 to reimburse the state for the cost of the investigation. McCollum has reached similar agreements with other wireless companies, including Verizon and AT&T.
STEVENS ON THE LOOSE
Chaz Stevens, the blogger and City Hall watchdog with the offbeat sense of humor, is on the loose. Through his efforts, Deerfield Beach City Hall has been inundated with investigations into alleged abuse and misuse of tax dollars. Stevens has now teamed up with Michael G. Kessler, of the New York auditing firm Kessler International, to begin "The Project." This will be a non-profit organization that will encourage and assist everyday citizens to identify, investigate and report fraudulent activities taking place in non-profit and governmental organizations.
ACCUSED CANDIDATE
John Howes, a candidate for judge, is being investigated in connection with a hit-and-run accident that took place on Oct. 4 in Fort Lauderdale. Ebony Green, of Lauderhill, reported she was rear-ended by a man and she gave a description of the male driver and the car. She also said she recognized the man from the Broward Main Courthouse, where she works. According to the police report, Green exited her car after it was struck and man drove away from the scene. There were no injuries and the damage was minimal. Howes denies it was he but her description of the man fit him. He owns an older model Corvette, as she described in her police report. Howes is running against John Fry for Broward County Group 1 judge seat. The investigation is continuing.
FORECLOSURE CON GAMES
The apparently fraudulent practices of the mortgage servicing industry in which they are accused of fabricating and forging foreclosure documents are getting more attention. Consumer groups are demanding action and hearings are scheduled to take place before a number of congressional committees. One person who deserves credit for bring this to light is Oakland Park attorney Kenneth Trent, who uncovered the practices during a deposition in one foreclosure lawsuit earlier this year.
FALTERING FLINN
Miami-Dade County's county commission District 8 covers Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Kendall, Homestead, unincorporated Redland and portions of Pinecrest. The candidates in this race are Lynda Bell, a Republican and former mayor of Homestead, and Eugene Flinn, a Democrat who is mayor of Palmetto Bay. Bell was mayor in a city that was plagued by mismanagement, ongoing criminal investigations, and racial division. Flinn was mayor of the relatively well-run and quaint village of Palmetto Bay. You would give Flinn the edge but that's not the case. Bell is out-working Flinn and Republican turnout will be high. Blacks in the district are complaining Flinn is not focusing on poor neighborhoods or conducting meaningful outreach efforts in their precincts. During a meeting with black supporters last month, Flinn was urged to be more visible and to mount an aggressive grassroots effort. Apparently that didn't happen. His campaign is faltering in the one area which he could have exploited, and that's with black voters. Many voters remember the position Bell took on the Confederate Flag issue, which ultimately led to her being swept out of office.
THE SMELL OF FISH
The testy campaign between Republican state Rep. David Rivera, and Joe Garcia, a Democrat, in Florida's 25 congressional district has taken a peculiar turn. Rivera has claimed on state required financial disclosure forms for years that his source of income was a consulting contract with the federal government. When contacted, the U.S. Agency for International Development said it had never heard of Rivera or his company. Rivera's evolving explanation about the issue will give one motion sickness. He has said he was actually a subcontractor but refuses to say for what company. What seemed like a simple issue now has voters wondering what's going on. Much of the mudslinging in this race on both sides was just political fodder but if Rivera submitted inaccurate or false information on his financial disclosure forms, it could be a serious matter. Rivera must clarify this and quickly because something's fishy here.
Elgin Jones may be reached at EJones@sfltimes.com.
Next post Police chief in e-mails scandal quits
Previous post Hometown girl living the dream in Broadway show


text:
Q: Why is $\mathrm E( x_i)= \mu$ where $\mu$ is the mean of the population when sampling is done without replacement?
$\bullet$ Prove: $\mathrm E(\bar x)= \mu$
Answer:
Let $x_1,x_2,x_3\ldots,x_n$ denote the sample observations. The sample mean is $$\bar x= \frac{(x_1+x_2+x_3+\ldots+x_n)}{n}= \frac{1}{n}\sum x_i$$ where $x_i$ is the $i$-th member of of the sample.
Note, in simple random sampling(with or without replacement), the sample members has the same probability distribution as in the variable $x$ in the population.
Therefore, $\mathrm E( x_i)= \mu$
And $$\mathrm E(\bar x)= \frac{1}{n}[\mathrm E(x_1)+ \mathrm E(x_2)+\ldots+\mathrm E(x_n)]= \mu.$$

What I'm not getting is the blocked part that the author wanted to highlight.
Can anyone tell me why actually $x_i$ has the same probability distribution as $x$ in the population especially even when the random sampling is done without replacement?
For $x_i$ and $x_j$ are not independent any-more when the sampling is done without replacement; so can then also the probability distribution of $x_i$ and $x_j$ remain the same as that of $x$ in the population?
How can $\mathrm E(x_i)= \mu$ when the sampling is done without replacement?
Can anyone please explain that?


text:
#411: Rodney Dangerfield Comedy Becoming Reality Show, Free Donuts & More!
Rodney Dangerfield's "Back To School" Getting The Reality Show Treatment
For those of you who don't know, the 1986 Dangerfield film "Back to School," is about millionaire Thorton Melon who enrolls in college with his son to keep him from dropping out
MGM has announced there's a docuseries in the works based on this concept, it'll follow college students with their surprise new classmates — their parents
No word on a release date just yet
Krispy Kreme Introducing Stuffed Doughnuts
Krispy Kreme is amping up their original glazed doughnuts by filling them with chocolate or classic vanilla Kreme filling
These new additions will be permanent, and the doughnut chain is giving them away for free this Saturday
Maren Morris Lost 5000 IG Followers After Posting A Photo of a Parkland Shooting Survivor
Maren is featured in the Gender & Sexuality issue of Playboy magazine where she opened up about a wide variety of different topics and says every time she "claps back, it's very much me"
She also said after posting a picture of one of the survivors of the Parkland shooting in Florida, she lost 5000 Instagram followers and she finds it "mind boggling" to not be able to share an opinion or to lose fans & ticket sales over it, though she does acknowledge it's the fans choice to stop listening and/or buying her music
She says she shares her feelings on these issues to "increase awareness. It's to let my fans know where I stand. I don't want to be one of those head-in-the-sand artists who's only worried about keeping the money in my pocket."
Maren also says she wants to people to know what she believes in and is passionate about, she acknowledges it definitely ruffles feather and believes "not many country artists speak up"
$5000 Per Week To Travel & Eat Ribs
Reynolds Wrap is in search of a social media influencer but for ribs-- affectionately referred to as a "Chief Grilling Officer"
The company is offering up $10k to someone who can travel around for the first 2 weeks of August searching for the best BBQ & posting about it on social media
The position includes prepaid travel and lodging for you and a guest
Those interested in applying need to do so by tonight at midnight by submitting a photo of themselves grilling along with 100 words about why they would be the best fit for the position
James Corden Might Be Done With The Late Late Show
James Corden isn't sure how much longer he'll host his late night show opening up in a podcast interview, "I don't know. I imagine I'll stay doing it for a little while I think. That's my hunch"
He's hosted the Late Late Show since March 2015 and with a year left on his current contract and 3 kids under 8 years old, he said he and his wife have a lot of thinking to do about how & where they want to raise them
He notes he and his family are very far from home and he always viewed his late-night series as something that would just be "a moment"


Enforcing the law in Dubai is about to get a lot more high-tech following the news its police force will soon be equipped with Google Glass.
Police forces in the area will be given the wearable device, which costs £1,000 to buy in the UK, as part of a campaign to make them the "smartest in the world" by 2018. The devices will run specially customised facial recognition software which will allow officer to identify suspects or criminals at large.
The software would enable a connection between the wearer and a database of wanted people, with an alert being sent to the officer if a suspect's face print is recognised.
However the device will initially be used by the force to combat traffic violations and track vehicles suspected of involvement in motoring offences.
More details are set to be revealed by representatives from the police force at the GITEX Technology Week conference in Dubai on October 12.
The use of facial recognition with Google Glass is certain to raise concerns about privacy, following several recent controversies regarding the device. A number of users in the United States have suffered verbal and even physical abuse whilst wearing the device, with one cinema-goer even arrested by Homeland Security under suspicion of pirating content.
Even a recent pilot for welcome staff at Edinburgh Airport was attacked for potentially filming members of the public without their permission.
The Google Glass deployment is one of several spectacular new initiatives carried out by Dubai's police recently. Last year the emirate announced it would be supplying its police with $400,000 Lamborghini sports cars for use at major tourist sites, with Dubai's deputy police chief saying the vehicles "were in keeping with the Gulf capital's image".