As a zine person I'm someone who spends an inordinate amount of time in Post Offices. I love the Post Office. People complain about it, but the fact that I can send something around the world for a few bucks has always been amazing to me.
In case you're not aware of it, the US Post Office is under fire. There are people in this country (Republicans and their Corporate Overlords) that hate the fact that some people value things more than money. They would love to destroy the Post Office for that reason.
You hear in the news every year or so about how deep in debt the Post Office is, how the price of a first class stamp is going up again, how Saturday delivery might be suspended and on and on. But do you know WHY this happening?
I suggest you watch this video of progressive talk show host Ed Schultz explaining in simple terms what's been going on.
As a person in the world of small press comics and zines, if the Post Office goes out of business, I go out of business. And there are plenty of small businesses around the country that are in the same boat. Not to mention the postal workers and their families that will be affected by the heartlessness of the Republican agenda.
Paris cartoonist Laurent Lolmede holds up the King-Cat I mailed to him from the South Beloit Post Office.
After using my parents' house in Hoffman Estates as my de facto zine mailing address for years, I finally broke down and got my own PO Box in DeKalb. I think there were only one or two issues of King-Cat that included this address in the indicia, because shortly after securing the box I decided to move to Denver. Coincidentally, when one of my best friends, Al Stark, got a DeKalb PO Box about a decade later, he was also assigned #403. So it's easy for me to remember his address when I send him a letter.
My original box at the funky and groovy Capitol Hill Post Office on Marion Street in Denver was a nearly daily stop for me in the six years I lived in Denver originally. I'd load my backpack with outgoing orders and trade them for new mail when I got there. I remember many sunny Denver afternoons walking slowly back down Marion Street to 8th Ave reading letters I'd received.
Seeing the same clerks every day, you get to know them a bit. It becomes part of your day, part of your connection to the neighborhood, to the city. When I was sick in 1997 I needed someone not related to me to witness my Do Not Resuscitate form, and it was counter clerk Tim at the Capitol Hill PO who signed it for me.
After my surgery in '97, Kera and I moved back to Chicagoland to be closer to our families. My dad rented me this PO Box in anticipation of our arrival. My memories of this PO are mostly stopping in at night, after the counter had closed, to pull mail from my box (I worked the late shift). I remember the warm summer nights, the parking lot lights, the humidity in the air, and how good it felt to be back home.
After moving to Elgin in the summer of '98 I got this box at the downtown PO. It became part of my crucial Saturday routine: Walking down to the library to check out books, over to the PO to get my week's worth of mail and send same, and then over to the thrift store on South Grove to buy old New Yorkers for a dime. I still remember the clerk who told me that Engelbert Humperdinck was the singer's real name.
This was the box I had for the one weird year I lived back in Denver in '02-'03. I lived on Marion Street two blocks south of the PO and there were many afternoons of dragging my Rolly Cart through snow, slush or simply over Denver's raggedy sandstone sidewalks. Always rushing to make it there before they locked the doors on Saturday at 12:30.
And back to Denver. I got another Capitol Hill PO Box, though we ended up living in the West Highlands our first year and a half back. After that we lived at First and Broadway, so it was still a trek-- I'd drive my $600 1993 Subaru up there on Saturday mornings. You'll notice the preponderance of "8"s in my PO Box numbers. That's because ever since I was a kid I've had a hard time writing 8's. The universe has made sure I've had plenty of practice, though I can't say I've gotten any better at it.
After my life imploded in 2010, I ended up in the sunny little burg of South Beloit, IL, the "Sand Capital of the World." There are few anchors to my life here, but the friendly clerks at the Post Office are one of them. I kind of feel bad on the rare day when I don't stop in.
If you frequent the Post Office, please be sure to let the employees know how much you value their work. And write your congressperson and let them know the US Post Office is there for a reason: because in a civilized society government should play a role in making its citizens' lives better. It's the American Way.
I'll be in a different town each weekend for the next month, hustlin' comics, so if you're in Chicago, Columbus, Urbana, or Toronto, why not come on out and say hi?


The Observatory has been informed by Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM)  about acts of harassment and intimidation by personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) against Ms. Shila Bewa, a member of MASUM, in Toltoli village, in Ghospara Gram Panchayat, Murshidabad district, West Bengal State, close to the border with Bangladesh.
According to the information received, at around noon on January 25, 2019, Ms. Shila Bewa was verbally harassed and intimidated by Mr. Tejbir, an officer of the BSF 43rd Battalion posted at the Farajipara Border Outpost (BOP)while putting up posters as part of a campaign protesting against violations committed by the BSF , around the river bank areas of Toltoli village. Mr. Tejbir also confiscated all posters that were in her bags and tore several posters that had already been pasted on walls.
At 3.30pm on the same day, when Ms. Bewa went to the Jalangi police station, Murshidabad district, to file a complaint, the officer-in-charge initially refused to register her complaint and blamed her for getting herself into trouble, before finally accepting to take her complaint. When she returned the next day to the police station to get a receipt for her complaint, the Officer-in-Charge verbally harassed her, telling her that she "can't do anything against the BSF. We will not take any step against the BSF" and that "Kirity Roy of MASUM cannot do anything against the police and the BSF".
Moreover, on January 27, 2019, Mr. Tejbir interrupted a street corner meeting convened by villagers at Raipara, in Ghospara Gram Panchayat, to protest against the BSF's attacks on freedom of expression of the people living along the border, which specifically denounced Ms. Shila Bewa's recent harassment. While the gathered villagers asked Mr. Tejbir about his involvement in the removal of posters, he took photographs of Mr. Kirity Roy, MASUM Secretary, who was addressing the crowd at the time. As the gathering was getting restless, the BSF personnel left. However, later, at around 7.30 pm, 15 police and BSF personnel from the Jalangi police station and Farajipara BSF Camp, including Mr. Tejbir, came back to where the meeting had taken place, forcing one villager to remove one of the posters denouncing BSF violations and threatening villagers that any type of protest against the police and the BSF would not be tolerated.
The Observatory condemns the above-mentioned acts of harassment and intimidation against Ms. Shila Bewa, which seem to be only aimed at punishing her for denouncing grave human rights violations allegedly involving members of the BSF, and recalls that several other members of MASUM have been facing reprisals in the past for their human rights activities .
The Observatory calls upon the Indian authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment, intimidation, and criminalization of all MASUM members, as well as of all human rights defenders in India.
 MASUM works for the protection of human rights in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and is especially engaged in documenting cases of torture, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. MASUM is a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network.
 The posters called for the BSF to leave the villages, to stop obstructing the cultivation of the land by villagers, and to stop committing torture, trafficking, murder, and enforced disappearances, as well as for the BSF to be punished for torture and corruption.
 See Observatory Urgent Appeals, IND 002 / 0815 / OBS 066, issued on August 14, 2015; IND 002 / 0714 / OBS 067, issued on July 30, 2014; IND 004 / 1114 / OBS 091.1, issued on December 24, 2014; IND 004 / 1114 / OBS 091.3, issued on January 8, 2016; IND 004 / 0816 / OBS 073, issued on August 11, 2016; IND 002 / 0617 / OBS 069, issued on June 26, 2017; IND 002 / 0617 / OBS 069.1, issued on November 10, 2017; IND 002 / 0219 / OBS 012, issued on February 8, 2019.


When you browse the bestofhealthfitness.com, you are able to do so anonymously. Generally, we don't collect personal information when you browse – not even your email address. Your browser, however, does automatically tell us the type of computer and operating system you are using.
The Best of HealthFitness Shop does not knowingly solicit personal information from children or send them requests for personal information.
Want to Know More About Health and Fitness?
DressLily Easter Sale. Up to 45% OFF. Take the chance!


In its opening chapter, the gospel of John has a different take on the traditional Christmas story. Instead of mangers and shepherds and the baby Jesus, John tells us the story behind the story by focusing on the pre-incarnate Jesus - on who He is, what He is like, why He came and why it matters to us today. Come join us as we are challenged by this unique perspective.


text:
New-look Wells Fargo Center to sweep fans off feet
Article by Coliseum, published September 12, 2019
Image: Wells Fargo Center
Wells Fargo Center – the multipurpose arena in South Philadelphia – is all set to host its first preseason hockey game next week. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
The American sports and entertainment company Comcast Spectacor is working on the renovation of Wells Fargo Center. It is racing against time and is into the fourth year of a five-year $265 million renovation and refurbishing project of the South Philadelphia venue which promises an ethereal experience to fans.
"Generally, 90 days out before the first game is a period of increasing action with marketing and tickets sales and corporate partnerships," informed Valerie Camillo, President of Business Operations for the Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center.
"For us, we've layered on top of that this project. We are putting the building asunder and bringing in all these new concepts — many of them technology-driven, and a lot of it Comcast-technology-driven," she further informed.
The highlight of the entire restoration work is the $15 million, 4K Kinetic scoreboard that was shipped to the South Philadelphia arena in 19 trucks from Lititz, Pa. The high-resolution scoreboard boasts of flashing-light crowns, elements of motion, pyrotechnics and smoke.
"It's so big and so vibrant. It will touch every single person that walks into this building for a sporting event," Camillo further shared.
An exclusive space for select premium season ticket holders is the new Center City Club. The area includes courtside seats for basketball and ice row seats for hockey. Just off the ice or court, fans will have access to a show kitchen.
In the 7,400-square-foot area, cooks will prepare meals in front of members to lay a spread later. The show kitchen will be flanked by two 50-foot-long bars. Behind both bars, the club will also boast of 27 live-action screens along with 700 total square feet of LED screen real estate behind both bars.
Flyers tickets for Center City Club members range from $240 to $350 per game. "This is something we didn't have in this arena, but it's become quite standard in across the country in premium buildings. I think ticket holders will be blown away," Camillo further remarked.
A new themed bar and restaurant area at the top level will replace private suites at the top level of the arena. The entry price will be lowest to this space in the venue.
The main concourse level is getting a major makeover with grab-and-go food and beverage options in an additional 4,000 square feet of open concourse space. It will also feature a new seating area, a redesigned pub-like bar, a concierge-style box office and a new LED video and lighting systems. It will also be equipped with 8,000 brand new seats within the lower bowl.
Camillo also informed that the video and lighting systems that circle the concourse level are designed to react in real time to action on the ice or court to enable fans to stay "directly connected" to the game.
Mike Shane, Chief Business Officer of the Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center, said all of the main concourse upgrades were designed to leave fans spoilt for choice when it comes to food, beverage and seating options.
« Previous News: Germany soccer club first in world to install LiFi
» Next News: Austin FC coming up with eco-friendly stadium
It's 'I am (game)' with Nerd Street Gamers
It's 'you (bet)!' for 'The Iggles'-Fox Bet
Will it be push comes to shove for 'Sixers'?
Iggles throw open venue for nuptials

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A world in which everyone's head is replaced by light bulbs, demonstrating that Curtin University students have bright minds and are more switched on.
This was visually realised by Fin through beautiful CG modelling and texturing of the light bulbs, and the meticulous tracking of heads. Our team worked hard at not only making the heads feel real but making them feel real in their environment.


There continues to be much talk about achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all children, and rightly so, but what about the educators who are needed to make this happen?
Late last year, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) released information indicating that there was a global need for 68.8 million teachers of which 24.4 million were for primary education and 44 million for secondary. It was estimated 'that of the 24.4 million teachers needed for universal and primary education (UPE), 21 million will replace teachers who will leave the workforce. The remaining 3.4 million, however, are additional teachers who are needed to expand access to school and underwrite education quality by reducing the numbers of children in each class to a maximum of 40." The 44 million for secondary education included the replacement of 27.6 million teachers that would have left the profession by 230 and the additional teachers needed to "ensure that every pupil is in a classroom with no more than 25 students". This speaks of the need for an integrative training and development plan that includes effective succession planning, the effective transference of skills by those who will leave the profession before the target date of 2030 and innovative solutions for the teaching of the new generations.
Collectively for Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia this translates to the need for over 76%, that is 14.6 million, of the new teachers to facilitate achievement of the education target for universal primary and secondary education. It was reported that "across the region, more than 70 of the countries face shortages of primary school teachers, rising to 90% for secondary education." It then goes on to say, "without urgent and sustained action, the situation will deteriorate in the face of rising demand for education".
In the face of these significant numbers it is important to remember that the output of quality education is reliant on a range of interconnected factors; the education level of the teachers themselves, the quality of teacher training and development programmes, parity between teacher qualifications and standards, support and transition networks from training to learning environment, not to mention the art of teaching itself and the ability to teach effectively within a multi-culturally diverse and migratory population context, to name a few.
Formidable? Yes, however, it must never be insurmountable, too many generations are depending on us to find and implement effective solutions.
In Australia, our 9th international migrant hotspot, the school year takes place between January and December. Compulsory education begins between the age of 5 or 6 and can finish between the ages of 15 and 16, dependent on the State and Territory. Primary education begins with a kindergarten or preparatory year followed by 6 or 7 years of primary education before entering into secondary schooling at the age of 12 or 13. Secondary education consists of 4 years of Junior Secondary and the obtaining of a Junior Secondary Certificate of Education at the age of 16, followed by 2 years of Senior Secondary and the obtaining of a Senior Secondary Certificate at the age of 18. Higher Level education takes the form Vocational Education and Training and the obtaining of a range of qualifications, which are related to specific industries or, University study and the obtaining of Degree level qualifications.
The government website signposts a range of frameworks and organisations to help individuals understand the system and the range of opportunities that may be open to its residents.


text:
package org.deeplearning4j.spark.impl.paramavg;

import org.deeplearning4j.spark.api.TrainingResult;
import org.deeplearning4j.spark.api.TrainingWorker;

public abstract class BaseTrainingWorker<R extends TrainingResult> implements TrainingWorker<R> {
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Welcome www.helpmvp.com the home of the Microsoft Help MVPs (both past and present).
MS cancelled the program and closed the forums but we continue to support and serve the help community as Help MVPs.
MVP Cheryl Lockett Zubak & MS Dev Ralph Walden.
helpmaster.info which we preservered here.
Looking for training, contractors, tips, code, authoring tools? Check out these Help MVP sites.
Yahoo discussion group for all things help authoring.
MVP Char James-Tanny. All things help and documentation. Speaker, author, tech writer and training.
MVP Ulrich Kulle. German/Spanish/English Help information, support and tools.
Paul O'Rear was an MVP before life with Microsoft. Visit his MSDN blog "The Help Guy" for all the latest on MSDN Help.
Help MVP Rob Chandler. Help Software vendor (FAR HTML, H2Reg, H3Viewer etc). Help information.


Today I woke up at 5am and quickly marched down to the bus station in Manchester where I just barely made my bus to Boston. There, I walked around and got some coffee from a local shop by South Station. I returned and got in line for the next bus to bring me the rest of the way to Philadelphia.
I spent the day walking around Philadelphia and seeing a concert of Irish music performed at one of my favorite parks in the gayboorhood. I had dinner with my 3 sisters, brother in law, Dad and step-mom. I also had a package delivered to me containing my new microphone, the Blue Yeti.
Tomorrow morning I leave for Washington, D.C. to prepare for Lemonade Raw Milk Freedom Weekend where I will meet up with Super-Activist Eddie Free.


text:
Trial of the attack on Richard von Weizsäcker's son
May 19, 2020 by drbyos
JGregor Sch. researched the von Weizsäcker family on the Internet. The 57-year-old slim man with thinning hair and narrow glasses is sitting on Tuesday at the dock at the district court in Berlin. The indictment accuses him of murder and attempted murder, as well as serious bodily harm. Sch. felt hatred, a delusional hatred of Richard von Weizsäcker, the former Federal President. He apparently said that through his previous work for the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, Weizsäcker was jointly responsible for the production of Agent Orange, a defoliants used by the American armed forces in the Vietnam War, which killed many Vietnamese.
Sch. wanted to live out this hatred according to the indictment. And since Richard von Weizsäcker was dead, he assumed it on the whole family, assuming a collective debt. In particular, he focused on the three children of the former head of state for years. When he discovered on the Internet that his son Fritz von Weizsäcker, chief physician at the Berlin Palace Park Clinic, would give a public lecture, the warehouse clerk from Andernach in Rhineland-Palatinate registered for the event by phone.
Exactly six months ago, on November 19, he bought a return ticket to Berlin and a folding knife before leaving Koblenz. Before the lecture began in the castle park clinic in the evening, Sch. still his laptop. The police were not supposed to find any data, which they later did. At 6:50 p.m., public prosecutor Silke van Sweringen said in court on Tuesday that Sch. raised from his seat during the lecture and stabbed Fritz von Weizsäcker in the neck, thereby hitting the windpipe and the cervical artery with the knife. The doctor, father of four and popular with his patients, died shortly afterwards.
Attack in front of an audience
Police officer Ferrid B., who is present in the courtroom on Tuesday, had attended the event privately. He wanted to come to the aid of Fritz von Weizsäcker, Sch. remove the knife. But during the fight he stabbed and cut the policeman's neck, upper body and hands, where he severed tendons. However, B. was able to overwhelm the attacker until called colleagues came to his aid.
Sch. is obviously mentally ill, there is talk of schizophrenia. He is in the penitentiary hospital. The extent to which his guilt is limited or waived will be clarified during the main hearing. The public prosecutor's office believes that his liability was only "considerably reduced". Apparently, it was the meticulous planning of the crime that exposed a high level of criminal energy that raised doubts about total incapacity.
Sibylle Anderl
Eckart Lohse, Berlin
The lawyer Roland Weber also assumes that Sch. is about "a completely sick man". He represents the two underage children of Fritz von Weizsäcker, his 17 year old son and his 14 year old daughter. The stroke of fate hit the children hard, he says on the sidelines of the trial. It was incomprehensible to her that her father should pay for something that the grandfather supposedly did and that was obviously pulled by the hair. The family found the process stressful and wanted an objective process.
The lawyer Stephan Maigné, who represents Beatrice von Weizsäcker, the sister of the killed doctor, made a similar statement. Sch. had hated for decades, he is said to have claimed that he had planned an attack before. The family knew nothing of his spying, which also applied to his client, says Maigné. "The blow came from nowhere."
Sch., Who looks carefree on Tuesday, wants to express himself in the process. He also begins to speak a few words, but his defender interrupts him. The psychiatric expert must be present for his testimony. That is prevented on this day. In a week, Sch. statement.
Categories World Post navigation
"The film urges girls not to let themselves be done"
MTS enters the cloud gaming market. Reedus


text:
Attitudes Shifting on Shark Fin Soup
Shark fins in Hong Kong SAR, where a survey found strong support for a ban on fin imports. Credit Bettina Wassener/International Herald Tribune
By: Bettina Wassener
HONG KONG — Few things epitomize the burgeoning affluence and consumerism of the swelling middle class in mainland China as well as the soaring sales of luxury handbags, cars, and shark fin soup. Yes, shark fin soup.
Once a delicacy confined to the upper echelons of Chinese society, the pricey soup is considered a must-serve at the lavish banquets that mark big occasions like weddings or corporate celebrations. And thanks to the galloping economic growth China has achieved since the 1990s, the soup is within the financial reach of millions of newly prosperous people.
The result has been severe overfishing. Scientists estimate that many millions of sharks are killed every year, primarily for their valuable fins.
Add to that the fact that these creatures reproduce slowly, and you get a sharp decline in global shark populations, to the extent that some scientists say about 30 percent of all shark species are in danger of extinction. And because sharks are at the top of the food chain, their declines have a profound effect on the balance of marine ecosystems.
Clearly, we have a problem. So the fact that shark fin soup is losing its appeal in Hong Kong is at least a snippet of good news.
A survey of about 1,000 Hong Kong residents, published here earlier this month and believed to be the most in-depth study of its kind to date, showed 78 percent of respondents considered it "acceptable" to leave shark fin soup off the menu at events like weddings.
That is a pretty surprising majority, considering the dish's tremendous status-symbol appeal. Moreover, since nearly 90 percent of the soup is consumed at such set-menu affairs, this shift is an important sign that actual consumption in Hong Kong could be waning.
Commissioned by Bloom, a nongovernmental organization that aims to protect vulnerable marine species, and conducted by the University of Hong Kong, the survey found that 89 percent of respondents understood that shark populations were declining.
Although 58 percent of respondents said they had made no change to the amount of shark fin soup they had consumed over the past five years, more than a third said they had cut down.
Hong Kong is not a key player in the actual fishing of sharks. The list of top fishing nations includes Argentina, France, India, Indonesia, Spain and the United States, according to a report by the wildlife monitoring network Traffic and the Pew Environment Group, published in January.
But the city is the main hub for the world's shark fin trade. About 9,000 tons of fins, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, are imported each year, according to government statistics. So what happens in Hong Kong matters globally.
Encouragingly, attitudes also appear to be shifting in the vastly bigger mainland market, according to Peter Knights, executive director at WildAid. For the past few years, the organization has been running anti-shark-finning campaigns on the mainland featuring Yao Ming, the Shanghai-born National Basketball Association star, among others. It also plans to run a national awareness week, in conjunction with the Chinese Fisheries Ministry, in June.
"The fact that we're allowed to do all this campaigning, and with the aid of state media, is a clear sign that the authorities are condoning the message," Mr. Knights said by phone from San Francisco.
"Only legislation can stop shark fin trading and reduce the killings of sharks," Mr. Ding said, adding that the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan consume 95 percent the world's fins.
The United States also has been taking steps to counter the shark trade in recent months: state legislatures in California, Oregon and Washington have introduced bills to ban possession of shark fins and trade in them, said Michael Skoletsky, executive director at Shark
In another sign that the topic is getting top-level attention, a deputy of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Ding Liguo, filed a proposal last month to ban trade in shark fins, according to a report from Xinhua, the state-run news agency, trade in them, said Michael Skoletsky, executive director at Shark Savers in New York. But let us not get overly optimistic.
Shark fin soup remains firmly ensconced on the menus of many top restaurants in China, including those of several international hotel chains. I still regularly hear of shark-fin soup being served at official or corporate events, and of wedding couples whose desire not to serve the dish has been overruled by their relatives. Every day, my journey to work in Hong Kong takes me past shops selling thousands of dried fins.
"The fundamental problem is that too many sharks are still being killed," said Mr. Skoletsky of Shark Savers.
Traffic and Pew, in their January report, sharply criticized the world's top fishing nations for doing too little to protect sharks. "The fate of the world's sharks is in the hands of the top 20 shark catchers, most of whom have failed to demonstrate what, if anything, they are doing to save these imperiled species," the authors wrote.
The Hong Kong government, meanwhile, merely prohibits trading in three shark species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, rather than the far larger number of species that scientists say are threatened.
But people in Hong Kong favor action to protect sharks. Nearly 90 percent of respondents in the Bloom survey said Hong Kong should ban the sale of products that involve killing endangered species. A similar proportion supports a prohibition of shark fin imports into Hong Kong.
Still, campaigners say they are deeply worried that change is coming too slowly.
Moreover, the shift in awareness about sharks does not necessarily extend to the many other finite resources — other animals, or materials like wood, oil and coal — that are under pressure from rising demand from industrialized economies and fast-growing countries like China.
"There needs to be a fundamental shift in our attitudes to natural resources in general," said Yvonne Sadovy, a professor and fisheries expert at the University of Hong Kong's School of Biological Sciences.
As for sharks, the trade in their fins is ultimately going to end, said Mr. Knights of WildAid. "The question is, will it end while we've still got some sharks left?"
Tags: news, Sharks


The popular World's End series.
The Fielding children live alone in their Uncle's old tumbledown house with an assortment of animals and have to fend for themselves while their parents are off sailing around the world.
Worlds End which includes the first two books of the series. Thanks to Sue for the cover.
Fantasy series about a girl called Rose who is chosen by a supernatural horse, the Great Grey Horse. Together they travel back in time to uncover evil secrets and solve mysteries.


License verification is a fairly straight-forward process, right? Those who provide patient care must be licensed properly to do so, period. But beyond the surface, there's nuance that deserves a hard look. How your process performs in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency sheds light on how you'll fare during a regulatory survey and the types and amounts of resources your process requires.
Whether your organization handles license verification in-house or works with a Credentials Verification Organization (CVO), there are key metrics that you and your team should be using to evaluate the effectiveness and compliance of your program. Let's take a look.
These are the metrics by which you should evaluate whether your organization is remaining compliant with the regulatory standards of your governing body.
1. How long it takes your team to identify and respond to critical changes in license status.
By critical, we mean the types of changes that may render a candidate or employee ineligible to provide patient care - disciplinary sanctions, exclusions, elapsed or revoked licensure, etc. Caregivers must be properly licensed to provide patient care at all times. Although the regulatory standard is to verify at hire and at renewal, this leaves critical gaps, sometimes years, where these changes may go undetected. By the time your team recognizes the changes, the caregiver may have been unlawfully providing patient care for some time, rendering your organization out of compliance.
A best practice approach is to verify licensure every day, if possible, or at least once per month. This reduces the time it takes your team to identify and take action on important licensure changes. How long does it take your team to identify these changes? Are you satisfied with this performance? If not, it may be time to consider increasing how often you verify.
2. What percentage of your licensed population renews on time.
Late license renewals have a number of consequences - disruptions in the work schedule, administrative resources to follow up and reschedule patients, and more. The goal, of course, is for your population to renew on or before the license expiration date 100% of the time; however, well all know that we don't live in a perfect world and there's always a few stragglers.
If more than 1% of your population isn't renewing on time, it's possible to move the needle in a better direction. Some professional licensure boards provide their own renewal reminders and resources to licensees, but your team can supplement these reminders with your own. We recommend sending email reminders to caregivers at 60, 30, 15, 10, 5, 3, 2, and 1 days prior to the license expiration date or until your team is able to confirm renewal. This frequency and proximity to the deadline allows plenty of time for caregivers to complete any continuing education credits required and for the renewal to be submitted and processed. If this frequency seems taxing on your team's resources, ask your CVO provider whether renewal reminder automation is a service they're able to provide.
3. How long it takes to find, retrieve, and present proof of verifications during a regulatory survey.
During a survey, you should expect and be prepared to provide proof of verification compliance to your surveyor. You do not want to be caught scrambling to provide proof of a particular verification, or unable to provide proof at all. A paper trail of verifications loses its effectiveness in proving compliance if you're unable to quickly find and submit them during your survey. If you're taking more than 2-3 minutes to locate and retrieve any verification, you're taking too long. Keeping verifications securely and digitally stored is the best practice approach, either in your HR system or your CVO's system (or both). Be sure to receive proper training in how to retrieve verifications from the system.
Where effectiveness determines how well your organization is complying with regulatory standards, efficiency determines how you might be losing money on the process. Because after all, time is money.
1. The number of full time employees dedicated to license verification for your organization; or, the number of hours any employee dedicates to the task.
Once you are able to determine the number of hours your staff spends on license verification, you're one step closer to determining how much the process is costing. This is crucial in determining budgeting requirements and planning for additional staff resources in the future.
It's also important to calculate opportunity costs. It's uncommon for one or more staff to be dedicated to license verification; often this person's or people's time is distributed between verification and other important tasks. The more time an individual spends verifying licensure and its accompanying tasks, the less time they're able to spend on other important and meaningful initiatives for the organization - an opportunity cost. If you find that your team is spending more time than necessary on license verification, consider researching alternatives such as outsourcing the verifications to a third-party CVO or automation (or both - some CVO's offer automation as their core service).
2. How many steps are required to collect, review, and verify licensure for candidates and employees.
The more steps there are, the more the process becomes prone to error. Complexity is counterproductive and inefficient, and anyone who's ever been responsible for license verification knows that the process is much more involved than the verification itself. It actually requires things like identifying which licenses are coming due for renewal, sending email notifications to staff and managers, verifying the license, tracking who has and has not renewed, and preparing teams for staffing shortages, among other various administrative efforts.
Take an inventory of how many steps your process has from start to finish. Perhaps you even have the process written down already. If you have more than 4-5 steps, it's time to simplify. Try re-writing the process from scratch without the influence of the current steps. Then, evaluate where to trim some of the fat. Where are the redundancies, and are they necessary? Critically analyzing your process can help you identify where to make changes. If you're vetting vendors, it's also wise to see a detailed outline of their processes so you can compare and contrast.
3. What your turnaround time is for collecting and verifying licensure from candidates and employees.
HR and recruitment teams should be able to identify the amount of time it takes to collect, verify, and confirm license requirements from candidates. The same can be said for collecting renewal information from employees. Candidates and employees should have a clear picture of the expectation of their responsibilities in this process. If you find that collecting and verifying is taking weeks, requires an unreasonable amount of email/phone correspondence, or results in frustration from either party, it's time to rethink the process.
Organization is key in reducing this metric - having a clear and accurate set of requirements for each position, a streamlined process for candidates to submit requirements and employees to submit renewals, an efficient or automated way to verify the licenses as they're submitted, and a reliable process to keep track of employee renewals. Shore up your internal processes or look to outside help such as a CVO specializing in pre-boarding and license renewals to streamline the process.
4. The number of processing errors that occur as a result of manual review.
Where there's a manual process, there are processing errors. After all, to err is human. The goal is not only to mitigate the implications of these errors, but to reduce or eliminate them altogether. Errors include, but aren't limited to, things like inputting the wrong license number or expiration date into your system of record.
Organizations usually employ a system of checks and balances, like data audits, to mitigate these errors, but they require considerable staff resources, which isn't efficient. Automation is the best practice approach to addressing manual errors because the technology is designed to identify errors automatically. Automation removes the step of identifying the errors and leaves teams with actionable and reasonable to-do's, like updating information within the HRIS.
As with any process, the idea is to get ahead of license verification rather than become reactionary as a result of it. Transparent efficiency and effectiveness metrics are the first step in simplifying the process; the next is to take this data and use it as actionable insights. The absolute best practice approach in fortifying for your license verification process and optimizing your team's performance is automation. If you find that your numbers are less than ideal, it may be time to begin the process of finding a better way. Be sure to include automation as one option.
If you're interested in learning more about how automation can streamline and simplify not only license verification, but the additional tasks like renewal reminders and HRIS updates, let's talk. EverCheck has helped more than 300 hospitals throughout the nation set a higher standard for verification. Our mission is to make healthcare work better. Schedule your consultation to see if we can do the same for your organization.


text:
Home BMW G 310 News
Could The BMW G 310 RR Concept Finally Make It Into Production?
Another 310 is coming, but is it the one we're waiting for?
Apr 29, 2020 at 1:19pm ET
We're only at the end of April 2020 and it's already been a busy year for India's TVS Motor Company Limited. In addition to scooping up the troubled Norton Motorcycles earlier in April, the company just confirmed big plans for its existing BMW partnership. Around the world, we currently get two bikes engineered by BMW but produced by TVS: the G310 R and the G310 GS.
Meanwhile, in India, there's a third bike available with the same engine: the TVS Apache RR 310. That bike's engine was recently upgraded to meet India's BS6 emissions requirements. Now, TVS president and CEO K.N. Radhakrishnan told Money Control that another bike could result from this partnership.
More From BMW And TVS:
Norton Officially Bought By Indian Giant TVS For $20M
Spotted: Updated Baby BMW G 310s Out For A Stroll
"With respect to BMW, I think they are extremely happy. The two products are doing extremely well. We have launched our one version [the Apache RR 310] on that platform, the new one with BS-VI engine was recently launched. And we, possibly next year, will have one more variant of that from TVS Motor Company," Radhakrishnan said.
Gallery: TVS Apache RR 310
We don't know for a fact that it will come in 2021, but at least we do know for sure that another 310 is in the works. However, we still have yet to learn whether it will bear TVS branding, or possibly be the production version of the G 310 RR concept. Looking at the fully-faired TVS Apache RR 310, it doesn't seem like that huge of a stretch.
If it is the G 310 RR, how likely is the U.S. to eventually see it? The newly-updated Apache RR 310's engine has already been retooled to make it BS6 compliant. Part of the point of India's BS6 emissions standards was to bring them in line with European standards. Apart from improving air quality across India, it also makes these bikes easier to export since those emissions standards are already met. Since the existing G 310 R and G 310 GS models are sold around the world, then, theoretically, so could a G 310 RR, if that's what's in the pipeline.
As with all speculation, we may not see it come true, but we can certainly hope that it does. I've ridden the G 310 R and totally want one in my garage at some point. Could it be a G 310 RR instead? We'll see.
Sources: Money Control, Indian Autos Blog, Financial Express, International Council on Clean Transportation
BMW G 310


New Delhi, Dec 16: Global card payments major Mastercard has proposed to the Reserve Bank a "certain" date from which it will start deleting data of Indian cardholders from global servers but warned that it would also mean weakening of "safety and security" over a period of time.
In an interaction, Porush Singh, India and Division President, South Asia, MasterCard, said the company is operating in over 200 countries, and nowhere else it has been asked to delete data from global servers.
It has given a proposal to the RBI to delete back data from certain date but is wary of consequences of such a move, including disputes over transactions.
"The proposal we have given (to RBI) is that we will delete it (data) from everywhere else, whether it is the card number, transaction details. The data will only be stored in India … we will start deleting that…," Singh said.
He further said Mastercard has proposed to the RBI that Indian data would be stored locally and nowhere else.
"But we have also said that it does have an impact. No other country has asked us like that.
"No other country in the world has asked us the data to be deleted from the global server and the reason why it is a concern for us because that would be weakening of the safety, security over a period of time," Singh said.
On if the company is seeking any reprieve in complying with the regulations, Singh said the company is planning with the dateline which it has submitted to the RBI.
"I do not want to wait. As far as we are concerned, we have said this is the date earliest we can do… And this is going to be impact in the longer term which you need to consider," he added.


Educational institutions regularly deal with crime, conflicts and other challenging behaviour. Students are victims as well as perpetrators of violence, anti-social behaviour and bullying. To create a safer environment and assist the perpetrator to reflect on the impact of their behaviour, Restorative Approaches (RA) are adopted in some educational institutions to attempt to better manage and deal with crime, conflicts and other challenging behaviour.
In education, research on RA is predominantly in Primary and Secondary Schools. However, in England, research focus on RA in the Further Education (FE) sector is underdeveloped. Further, there is lack of literature, research, guidance and support for FE institutions and staff when dealing with crime, conflicts and other challenging behaviour.
RAFE is a unique space which endeavours to bring FE institutions, other interested bodies and individuals together to share good practice and disseminate knowledge on dealing with crime, conflicts and other challenging behaviour.
Copyright © 2018 RAFE - All Rights Reserved.


text:
var data = require("../data.json");
var user_data = require("../version2_json/user_data.json");

exports.main = function(req, res){
	res.render('pro_land')
}

exports.checkLogin = function(req, res){
	//console.log(req);
	if(req != null){
		var email = req.body.email;
		var pass = req.body.password;
		var errormsg = data["msg"][0].errormsg;
		var flag = false;

		for(var i = 0; i < data["users"].length; i++){
			if(data["users"][i].email == email && data["users"][i].password == pass){
				flag = true;
			}
		}
		if (flag) {
			res.render('user_profile', user_data);

		} else {
			res.render('signin', data);
		}
	}
}


The Deepoon E3B VR has a 5.7-inch screen size with resolution 2560 × 1440 px which is equal to Quad High Definition (QHD) resolutions of screens. The pixel density is unknown. The Aspect ratio of a screen is 16:9. Deepoon E3B VR screen based on Samsung AMOLED technology and field of view are 110°.
The Deepoon E3B was introduced in 2017.


Believe it or not, search technology dates back to the early 1960s. There's always been a notion that information retrieval and Enterprise Search should be behind every content repository in the enterprise; but the need to connect the two is becoming more compelling and more apparent during the past few years. Enterprise Search communities are beginning to realize the benefits of leveraging their information assets to generate revenue and improve customer service.
According to studies, 90 per cent of companies report that search is the number one means of navigation on their website. Paradoxically, a Findwise survey, backed up by the Digital Workplace Trends Report, shows that less than 20 per cent of these companies actually have a strategy for search. Fortunately this poor showing is expected to change in 2013.
A trend has started to develop among Enterprise Search communities: it's not about technology, it's about people and about customer satisfaction. Organizations are discovering ways to transform their Enterprise Search strategies to improve customer satisfaction while, at the same time, reducing costs.
Effective search systems are transformative to businesses in a number of ways, including: supporting ecommerce by improving conversion rates and reducing website abandonment; supporting customer interaction to improve satisfaction and therefore decrease the number of support call volumes; and self-help customer portals that save money and allow customers to find information independently. Read more about these benefits here.
The biggest buzz for Enterprise Search in 2013 will focus on Big Data and cloud computing – both have potential to drive business growth and innovation. These are powerful technology trends that are gathering momentum and it is essential for CIOs and enterprises to understand how these can be leveraged to support innovation.
Big Data is predicted to break the disconnect between the CIO and CMO. Search driven Big Data analytics can bring unrivaled insights to marketing campaigns and engage customers in a way that significantly increases organizations' ROI.
General Electric estimates that a Big Data driven industrial Internet could boost energy efficiency and save trillions globally in economic activity by 2025.
Today, data centers are no longer enclosed by walls and companies have the opportunity to expand their infrastructure quickly and cost effectively. In 2013, the cloud will be fully ready for enterprise workloads.
As we transform these ideas from concept to reality, we can expect big things in 2013. From the cloud, to responsive design, to Big Data, Enterprise Search will continue to be at the core of these advances.
ACIS Consulting has recently launched cloud based search portal service to support organizations that are ready to reap the benefits of this ever-evolving technology.
May you find wonderful things in the new year, may you search and discover what is truly important and find the time to embrace it!


text:
Porter: NDP's young political junkies are ready for dose of reality
Meeting the so-called 'McGill Four' — the twentysomething rookie MPs elected in Quebec — reveals a group overwhelmed but ready to represent.
By Catherine PorterFeature Writer
Fri., May 13, 2011timer5 min. read
Charmaine Borg and I settle between sprawling bodies on the grassy hill beside McGill University's main library to sunbathe, watch her barefoot fellow students kick a Hacky Sack, and talk about her new job.
Two weeks ago, the 20-year-old student planned to spend the fall in Mexico as part of a third-year exchange program. Instead, she's going to Ottawa and Terrebonne-Blainville, 40 minutes outside of Montreal, as the riding's newest member of Parliament.
Her to-do list, for starters: drop her course load, rent two apartments, hire staff, open an constituency office, actually visit her suburban/rural riding, which means buying her first car, which — check — she did on Monday, and then meet some of her constituents. . .
And you thought final exams were stressful?
"It's overwhelming if you look at it all. My strategy has been to take one day at a time," says Borg, who looks like a young Gwyneth Paltrow, all willowy and blond bangs. "I was planning to live the life of a poor writer. That's what every arts student expects, right? Working at a café. . . ."
I came here this week to meet the McGill Four — the young university NDP members who, on election night, rode into power on an orange tidal wave that caught pollsters, party brass and, most particularly, them, off-guard. Here's what I discovered: All four are friends, making up almost half of McGill's NDP club. All four are political nerds, following the vote count of the long-gun registry the way most students follow hockey scores. All were essential parts of the NDP machine during the election, campaigning furiously — just not in their own ridings.
Like barkeep Ruth Ellen (Vegas Vacation) Brosseau, the McGill Four were what the Quebecois humorously call poteaux — posts. They were candidates on paper and paper only. No pamphlets, no lawn signs, no campaign offices, no volunteers, no door-knocking, no all-candidates' debates, no interviews — with the exception of Matthew Dubé, who met with the press of his riding, but otherwise spent the campaign studying for exams and canvassing for other star NDP candidates.
"It's not a secret that it was a modest campaign," says Laurin Liu, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles newest MP, who pedalled a beat-up mountain bike to the McGill student union building to meet me for lunch. The 20-year-old had planned to spend the summer studying gift giving between the French colonizers and the Iroquois. On election day, she was staffing a voting poll as an NDP scrutineer in Outremont — the riding of returning NDP MP Thomas Mulcair.
"I didn't spend a lot of time campaigning in (my) riding," she says over broccoli soup.
"Did you visit at all?" I ask.
"To be honest, no."
Once they got over the shock, they all promised to bring energetic idealism to the House of Commons. But even though it's common in Canadian politics, isn't running as papier mâché candidates the height of cynicism?
"We wanted to do what was best for the party in the province. We thought we'd be more useful working for Mulcair," says Liu, who used her fluent Cantonese to canvass Chinese voters.
"In many of these ridings where the placeholder candidates ran, there was no riding association, no money to make placards. . . ."
A reflection: At the outset of the election, Mulcair's seat was the single orange teardrop in all of Quebec, and it was under serious threat by Liberal Martin Cauchon, a former justice minister who came out of retirement to recapture his home turf. All hands were called on deck.
Plus, the McGill Four were assigned no-hope ridings where the party had finished a distant fourth in 2008.
They were sacrificial lambs, tossed there so the NDP could hold on to its profile as a national party and scoop up the odd $2 votes that came their way.
Who thought the lambs would win? And especially by so much? (Both Borg and Liu took half the vote.) Come June, the lambs will become the House of Commons' newest, youngest brat pack. They have the potential to change the face of politics, if they aren't shoved into a NDP broom closet. They all feel tremendous pressure to prove to Canadians that young people can be leaders, and reassure their constituents they are better in the flesh than as poteaux.
"I've really got to earn their trust," Borg says. "I know they're not going to fall head over heels for me. Hopefully, I can change their mind. I have four years to do it."
Here's the strange thing. After spending the day with three of them, and speaking to the fourth over the phone, I think they might actually succeed. Why? Well, first: they are all bilingual. Two of them had to work hard for that — commuting two hours each way from their homes in rural Ontario to the nearest French-language high school.
Second: they are all used to a heavy workload. They worked on Mulcair's campaign daily — two of them in paid positions — while studying for exams. Borg was also negotiating the contract for the university's support workers, as their labour relations officer, and Liu was working for the student union, writing for a student newspaper and helping run a McGill radio station. (She had planned to become a journalist.)
Third: While they were weak candidates, they are strong party members and political junkies. They go to the campus pub to watch the budget and throne speeches. They've worked on campaigns, travelled to NDP conventions and each at one point has led either the Quebec NDP youth wing or the McGill NDP club. They know the platform forward, backward, sideways, and they believe it. Borg grew up in a large family that struggled financially, especially when her step-dad lost his job as a machinist. She worked at Tim Hortons and Jacob through high school to save for university.
"We were always worried about paying the rent. Without social programs, I don't think we would have made it," she says.
Fourth: They are better off than when the NDP's Niki Ashton, now 28, arrived in Ottawa three years ago. They have each other.
"If we have concerns, if anything seems intimidating, we know people there to help us," Dubé told me outside McGill's main Roddick Gates. "That will be one of our strengths." At 23, he is the group's senior citizen. His scrapped plan: law school.
Borg gathered her courage and ventured to her new riding last weekend to attend three community events. Two days later, after leasing a Prius, she returned to meet potential volunteers.
Liu doesn't even have a driver's license. Her first trip to her riding was by train last weekend. She took her bicycle and pedalled around scouting for office space. She still hasn't met many constituents.
Her new life is clearly still sinking in.
"Just out of curiosity," she asks as we leave the student café, "what journalism school did you go to?"
Catherine Porter usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cporter@thestar.ca


Yeah it is under the thread titled "Thursday Review Session Powerpoint 6-7PM".
I think proofs would be fair game. I would also go through the past finals to see if there were any proofs.
Yeah, it's also explained on p.96 of the course reader that one substituent means no numbering.
Increasing the number of catalysts may not increase the rate constant.
Fortunately, yes it will work on Internet Explorer!
Bruin cast has also worked very well for me on Firefox so I would recommend that as well.
No, it would not be counted for the previous week as it ends at midnight on Sunday, but it would count for the following week.
It could depend on your TA, but they are typically returned a week after you take the quiz.
During the review session today, he went over them, so it might be useful to know them.
Orbitals and wave functions are the same thing. (A wave function that is a solution with quantum numbers n,l,m is called an orbital).
Thanks! I'm in Hitch B and would really like to have a study group :).


The date is set. On 27 February 2019, Ethereum's postponed upgrade, still called Constantinople, will finally—fingers crossed—occur. But part of that upgrade will then immediately be undone by a second Constantinople.
Confused? Yeah, thought so. Read on.
Ethereum's core developers, who help maintain and ever improve the network, met online this afternoon and decided to have two Constantinople's. That decision came in the wake of a possible security vulnerability that was discovered earlier this week, and which delayed the scheduled Constantinople upgrade. The problem was that the bug was discovered after around half of the node operators on the network (according to estimates) had upgraded to the vulnerable client. If the fork occurred as planned, that would create all sorts of problems.
So how to solve it? The developers agreed that if a new upgrade was adopted, without the buggy clients being fixed, security vulnerabilities would persist in the network. The affected code would have to be removed from every testnet and every private net that had upgraded already to Constantinople—a substantial undertaking.
Ethereum developer Péter Szilágyi was the first to suggest a fork/refork solution."We define two hard forks—one is Constantinople as it is currently, and the second is a Constantinople fix up" Szilágyi said. "On mainnet, these two forks would trigger on the same block." This would mean fewer potential problems and lower costs. Developers say that would reduce the cost of alerting the community to an impending hard fork, which is the main expense in achieving a hard fork.
Testnets, meanwhile, would use a different block number, as a means to transition onto the mainet.
While some devs were keen to take their time in rolling out Constantinople redux, Vitalik Buterin, the platform's inspirational co-founder, promoted more "aggressive" action, suggesting that the new fork should happen asap, in as little as two weeks. But the community ultimately decided to err on the side of caution, as time is needed to alert those affected.
Developers, meanwhile, with the help of so-called cat herders, are starting to tire from rounding up stray nodes, miners and others, and alerting them to the delay. They were further stressed by Ethereum's so-called "Difficulty Bomb," which has already kicked in, and was intended to make upgrading the blockchain a priority. The devs are acutely aware of the problems miners face; without a viable update, some say, the network would be unusable within a matter of months. .
Also discussed at today's meeting was the future of ProgPOW. Two weeks ago, developers had tentatively agreed to implement the controversial ASIC-blocking code in a future hard fork. But community sentiment appeared to have changed, developers said. They also cautioned that the decision had been rushed, and there were bugs in the code. The future of ProgPOW is thus uncertain.
ChainSecurity, which audits smart contract security and which had initially identified the Constantinople bug, addressed the core developers and briefly outlined some possible ways to avert the 11th hour discovery of a security bug, should it happen again. One interesting idea floated was creating a kind of centralized kill switch. Needless to say, a centralized anything will create plenty of debate in the community, but during the meeting, the idea was merely a suggestion.
Despite the ingenious plans to rescue Constantinople, concerns remain about future upgrades, which are linked to the to-be-removed part of the code relating to the introduction of cheaper gas costs (the way the network charges for transactions). Its long-term fate is still to be decided. Developers on Gitter and the Ethereum Magicians Forum said that some of the proposals for the upcoming Ethereum 1x, will be affected, in particular a plan to introduce storage rent, known as "State Rent." The measure aims to reduce the pressure on the blockchain by requiring every account to pay for storage.
There are also wider philosophical questions raised about the meaning of "immutability" and Ethereum core developers' responsibility to those who develop smart contracts.
"Some smart contract developers may have been operating under the assumption that something (namely, the gas cost of particular operations) is "invariant" when I don't think we ever intended that to be the case," said the Ethereum Foundation Lane Rettig, in response to Decrypt's request for clarification.
The problem, he said, wasn't so much any fault with Ethereum but the way some smart contracts had been programmed. Nevertheless, it impacts on further rollouts, such as state rent.
Smart contract developers are likely to be concerned that their code will no longer be immutable, as was originally promised at Ethereum's inception. And this is at odds with the freedom needed by core developers to continue to improve the protocol, reduce complexity and enable the platform to scale.
But with the discovery of the "potential vulnerability," what is underlined is the extreme difficulty of introducing changes, which could have second-order effects.
Rettig is part of the team responsible for introducing ewasm, which is intended (at some point) to replace Ethereum's current operating system, the EVM. There are indications that fast-tracking this could provide solutions to the current dilemma, although this is something that is yet to be debated, he stressed.
So while the waiting is over and a course of action has been set, the wider implications that led to Constantinople's delay are only just emerging. Discussions on this topic are likely to dominate the coming months and even years, developers say. Lucky them.


It's no secret: Refinancing loans can save you thousands of dollars.
If you know what you're doing and can find the best terms and rates, all seems well on the financial front, right?
But we needed to know: Does refinancing affect your credit score? If so, how?
It's a dog-eat-dog world out here, and your credit score will affect your refinancing rates and refinancing will affect your credit score.
Rod Griffin, Experian's director of public education, helped us crack into the illusive world of refinancing and credit scores.
He suggests before you refinance anything, ask your lender: Will my original debt be reported as "paid in full" or as "settled"?
If your original debt is reported as "paid in full," here's what your credit report sees: You've paid off your original debt in full, so that account is no longer active, and there's no negative history associated with it. The new account, the refinanced one with the better interest rate, is now the active one.
It basically just flips, so you shouldn't see anything dramatic happen to your credit score. Life's good.
If your original debt is reported as settled, however, that's when your credit score might struggle.
So, whatever you do, be sure when you refinance that the lender is reporting your debt as paid in full — not settled.
You're initiating some type of change when you refinance your debt — settled or not — so your credit score will bounce a bit, like Griffin said.
Even with that slight change, you shouldn't plan to make a big purchase within the first few months of refinancing.
"It's probably best that you hold off because it creates that change, that instability," Griffin said.
For example, if you're going to take out a mortgage in a few months, you should probably just wait. Any little drop in your credit score can affect those interest rates, which could cost you thousands in the long run — or even cost you getting approved for a mortgage.
Before seeing those big dollar savings and deciding you want to refinance, be sure you shop around for the best rates.
We recommend using an online marketplace. For student loans, peruse Credible, which will let you shop around for the best refinancing rates. Then, you can be confident the lower interest rate is worth the refinancing cost.
If you're thinking about refinancing credit card debt, Fiona is also a good resource to help match you with the right personal loan to meet your needs. If your credit score is at least 620, it can help you borrow up to $50,000 (with no collateral needed) and compare interest rates from several lenders. Rates start at 4.99% and repayment plans range from 24-84 months.
You'll also want to check your credit report.
The scores you pull from a free site won't necessarily be the same a lender sees. In fact, they'll probably be pretty different, but Griffin assured us that's OK.
Even if the numbers don't align, the risk factors will — and that's what helps determine your credit score.
Then you know what you need to do to get that score up to help out with those interest rates.
If you're curious about what other big-life decisions your credit score can affect, read this.
Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She tackled this article because her editor was curious, but she also hopes it can help others make informed decisions, too.


Chelsea's manager, Jose Mourinho seems determined in proving that there's no issue whatsoever between him and his striker, Diego Costa, despite last weekend's bib incident.
Speaking to the media ahead of Chelsea's weekend league fixture against Bournemouth, Mourinho stated that he was not looking for any reaction from Costa by benching the striker in previous week.
Mourinho stated that Costa is still an important player for Chelsea and although he hasn't always been consistent, but is someone who always give his all on the pitch.
The tactician ensured that he only want his star forward to play just the way he usually does without changing anything at all.


text:
Ancestry appoints Red Havas to help build deeper connections with Australian consumers
August 23 2019, 10:02 am | BY Ricki Green | No Comments
Family history and consumer genomics company Ancestry, has today announced the appointment of Red Havas as its public relations agency in Australia, following a competitive pitch.
Red Havas is charged with supporting Ancestry in its mission to empower journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives by developing and delivering an ongoing public relations and influencer campaign, built on a strategy to meaningfully ingrain Ancestry's brand into the Australian cultural narrative.
With a remit that relies on having strong local market insights across different communities, Red Havas built a specialist team from its Sydney and Melbourne offices, bringing a diversity of thinking to the account.
The planned activity will highlight Ancestry's market-leading online family history platform and consumer DNA test, AncestryDNA.
Says Grant Richmond-Coggan, business director, Red Havas: "It's an exciting win for the Agency as family history has strong cultural relevance in Australia, providing a rich territory for creativity. In addition, Ancestry perfectly aligns with our approach to engender a meaningful connection between brands and consumers. We can't wait to help more Australians unearth their own stories."
Says Nigel Seeto, Australia & New Zealand country manager for Ancestry: "We were impressed with Red Havas' proactivity, strategic approach and creative smarts in bringing the Ancestry story to life and inspiring Australians to delve deeper into uncovering their family stories.
"It's an exciting time for Ancestry; our continued product innovation and the recent growth of the AncestryDNA global network to 15 million people is making it accessible for more people to connect to the lives of their ancestors than ever before. We're looking forward to working with Red Havas to lead the conversation about the value of family history to Australians and propel us into the next phase of growth across the Australian market."
Red Havas will work closely with Ancestry's teams in Australia and the UK.


Peter Reisdorf was born on Wirral and grew up in Hoylake a few roads away from where his father grew up 50 years earlier. He has lived in West Kirby since 1991. He attended Calday Grange Grammar School and joined the Liberal Party shortly after leaving school due to the Party's belief in individual freedom combined with fairness and equality. He was also an active member of the Wirral branches of the Young Liberals and Young Liberal Democrats.
After school he worked in insurance for 15 years, before retraining in IT. He attended Liverpool John Moores University as a mature student and graduated with a 2:1 degree in Computer Studies in 2011. He works for a water industry consultancy company in Birkenhead.
He has stood for parliament three times and in 2010 increased the Lib Dem share of the vote in Wirral West. He served as a Wirral Borough Councillor from 2000 to 2011, originally winning a seat in Royden Ward (Greasby, Frankby and the Newton and Grange parts of West Kirby), which had previously been a Conservative stronghold. After boundary changes in 2004 he represented Greasby, Frankby and Irby Ward. During his time as a councillor he served as the Liberal Democrat Council Group's spokesperson on Culture, which covers libraries, leisure centres and parks, and also as spokesperson on Audit and Risk Management.
Outside of politics his interests include motorcycles, the environment and local history. He is a member of local environment and history groups and a local motorcycle club.
As a lifelong local resident he is well aware of the issues that affect West Wirral. He is standing for public office because he wants to put into practice the fundamental Liberal values of liberty, equality and community.


1. What does Carlisle want to know about God?
2. Why does God say he has been walking the earth?
3. What does Zeba remember about Cain the Sixth?
5. How is this Adam different from the story in the Bible?
1. What is the scene like in Noah's house?
2. Describe Noah as his sons do the construction on the ark.
3. What does Adam seem to be very proud of?
4. How does Noah describe the condition of mankind on Earth?
5. Explain the setting for the play.
6. After 300 or 400 years, what does God decide to do and why?
7. What is the point of view for the plot to proceed?
8. What does Zeba remember when Cain the Sixth comes to poke fun at Noah and his ark?
9. At what point does Noah become aware that he is talking to God?
10. What are the angels doing at the fish fry in heaven?
Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Black Heaven in THE GREEN PASTURES. Itemize the features of heaven as presented in the play and discuss them as being relevant to the black culture of their day. Contrast the idea of a community fish fry to the more conventional concept of walking on golden streets strumming a harp.
Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, From THE GREEN PASTURES to PRECIOUS: How the Entertainment Industry Helped Change the Concept of Black Culture. You may need to do a bit of research on stage and film dramas which gradually integrated black characters into mainstream drama, doing away with the stereotypical depictions of the past.
Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, The Ark as a Steamboat in THE GREEN PASTURES. The essay should include the experience black people in Louisiana had with water transportation in the 1920s. Discuss the steamboat ark as such a concept rather than a kind of stereotypical comedy. Conclude with ways different ethnic groups might view religious artifacts.