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Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Issues Impacting Tax Exempt Organizations and Charitable Giving
By Marie Arrigo and Cindy Feder
On December 22, 2017 the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law by the President. Most of the provisions are effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. While many of the suggested provisions were omitted from the new law, there are still various provisions that will impact tax-exempt entities.
Tax-Exempt Bonds
One provision that made it into law relates to the use of tax-exempt bonds. While qualified section 501(c)(3) bonds are still allowed to be used, the law includes the provision to treat interest paid to advance refund bonds as taxable.
Effects on Charitable Giving
There are many new provisions that will impact charitable giving of individuals.
The new law increases the percentage of an individual's adjusted gross income ("AGI") that may be deducted for cash contributions to public charities and other certain tax- exempt organizations. Donors can now deduct certain charitable contributions of up to 60% of the individual's AGI per year, up from 50%. In order for the 60% threshold to apply, charitable contributions must be only cash payments to public charities. If other property is given, the threshold reverts to 50%. As in the past, to the extent that the deduction is limited in a year, any excess can be carried forward for five years, subject to the same annual percentage limitations. This should be beneficial to charities since the increased percentage may be an incentive for individuals to give more to such charities.
The new law eliminates the "Pease limitation" which essentially capped the amount of itemized deductions including charitable contributions for high-income earners. This change should also have a direct and positive effect on charitable giving by allowing donors greater flexibility in the use of itemized deductions in reducing their income tax liabilities.
The new law increases the standard deduction from $6,350 for single filers and $12,700 for married filing joint filers up to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married filing joint filers. This provision may be a disincentive for certain individuals to itemize, and which may negatively impact charitable giving. Similarly, we may see an adverse effect on planned giving with the new law's provision for the immediate doubling of the estate, gift and generation-skipping tax exclusions. The new law increases this exclusion from $5 million to $10 million, indexed for inflation, and is applicable for decedents dying or gifts made after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026.
One other change that made it into law that may adversely affect charitable giving is the repeal of the charitable deduction for payment to higher education institutions in exchange for the right to purchase tickets to or seating at an athletic event. This is likely to have a negative impact on higher education institutions with athletic programs.
Unrelated Business Taxable Income ("UBTI")
The new law attempts to more clearly define streams of unrelated business income ("UBI") by requiring that every tax-exempt organization calculate UBTI by activity, and not allow the losses from one unrelated activity to offset the income of another unrelated activity. Further, a net operating loss ("NOL") deduction is allowed only with respect to a trade or business from which the loss arose. The effective date of this provision is for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Under a special transition rule, NOLs arising in taxable years before January 1, 2018 that were carried forward are not subject to the new rules. In essence, this provision would put tax-exempt organizations at a disadvantage relative to commercial entities that can use losses from one activity to offset income from other activities. A planning opportunity might be to establish for-profit subsidiaries in order to aggregate their unrelated business activities.
UBTI will be subject to the new corporate tax rate of 21%, down from the previous rate of 35%, if the entity is structured as a C corporation. If the entity is structured as a trust, the new trust income tax rates will apply. The top rate for trusts is at 37%. These new rates apply for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.
The new law impacts the tax treatment of fringe benefits. UBTI of an organization is required to be increased by any amount paid or incurred and for which a deduction is not allowable for any qualified transportation fringe benefits, such as transit checks and any parking facility used in connection with qualified parking, as well as any on-premise athletic facilities. In each case, the expense should not be directly connected to an unrelated trade or business that is regularly carried on by the exempt organization. The impact of this new provision will effectively create UBTI even when the organization has no unrelated trade or business and is paying these specific fringe benefits to employees who are conducting the charitable activities of the organization. Employers may need to consider whether to treat the benefit as taxable compensation to the employee thus avoiding the imposition of the unrelated business tax; continue to pay the benefit to the employees and incur the tax; or discontinue payment of the benefit entirely.
Nonprofits Will Be Subject to a New Excise Tax on Certain Executive Compensation
A new provision of the law will have a significant impact on larger tax-exempt entities. A 21% excise tax will be imposed on compensation (including benefits) in excess of $1 million paid to certain "covered employees," which is defined as the five highest paid employees or those covered employees of the organization (or any predecessor) for any preceding taxable year beginning after December 31, 2016. Compensation would be treated as paid when rights to remuneration are not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. The excise tax also applies to certain severance payments. Compensation paid to licensed medical professionals for providing medical or veterinary services is excluded from this excise tax.
The new law is intended to create parity in this area between for-profits and nonprofits. This new excise tax will be very costly for nonprofits. While they may reduce compensation of employees as a way to avoid the excise tax, they might not be able to attract the same level of talent that they had previously.
The effective date of this provision is for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
Excise Tax on Investment Income of Private Colleges and Universities
Certain private colleges and universities will be subject to a new 1.4% excise tax on the net investment income, which is similar to the excise tax imposed on private foundations. Private colleges and universities do not include state or community colleges or universities.
Private colleges and universities are subject to this tax if the aggregate fair market value of their assets, other than assets that are used directly in carrying out the institution's exempt purpose, exceed $500,000 per student. In addition, the entity must have 500 or more students, at least half of whom are located in the United States.
This is the first time an excise tax on net investment income has been imposed on a subset of public charities. This type of tax has been imposed on private foundations for years.
Provisions that did not make the cut!
Modifications to Intermediate Sanctions Excise tax on Excess Benefits Transactions—the proposal to eliminate the "rebuttable presumption" of reasonableness safe harbor was not addressed in the new law.
Private Foundation Excise Tax on Investment Income—private foundations are currently subject to a 2% excise tax on net investment income. The rate can be reduced to 1% if the foundation's qualifying distributions form the tax year is higher than the five-year average of its prior distributions as compared to non-charitable assets, as adjusted. The provision to drop the 2% rate to 1.4% and eliminate the 1% option was not included in the final bill.
Private Foundation Excise Tax on Failure to Distribute Income (POF/Art Museums)—the provision that was considered related to private operating foundations ("POF") that are art museums, whereby the POF classification was available only if the art museum was open to the public for a minimum of 1,000 hours. It did not make the cut!
Exception from Excess Business Holdings Tax for Independently-Operated Philanthropic Business Holdings—current law provides that a private foundation, together with any disqualified persons, may not own more than a 20% interest in a for-profit business. A private foundation that does have an excess business holding is subject to a 10% excise tax based on the value of that excess holding. The provision that was considered, but did not make it to law, would have exempted private foundations from the excise tax as long as the foundation held 100% of the interests in the business enterprise and all profits of the business were directed toward a charitable purpose.
501(c)(3) Organizations Permitted to Make Statements Relating to Political Campaign in Ordinary Course of Activities—under the Johnson Amendment, organizations classified as 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from participating or intervening in any political campaign of any candidate for public office. The provision that did not become law would have allowed certain political activities in the "ordinary course" of their activities as long as such actions resulted in no more than a de minimis increase in expenses.
Additional Reporting requirements for Donor Advised Fund ("DAF") Sponsoring Organizations—the provision that provided organizations administering DAFs must disclose additional information on their annual form 990 was not included in the final bill.
UBIT Proposal on Licensing of the Name or Logo of a Tax-Exempt Organization—the provision treating this type of licensing income as UBIT did not become law.
Nonprofits will need to review the new law to identify the provisions that will impact them. Proper planning should be done to mitigate adverse situations and determine the best was to move the organization forward.
Have Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions about this media item, we'd like to hear your opinion. Please share your thoughts with us.
Contact EisnerAmper
About Marie Arrigo
Marie Arrigo is a Tax Partner and Co-Leader of the Family Office Services Practice for the Personal Wealth Advisors Group which provides tax consulting and compliance services to family offices, individuals, trusts and estates, and closely held businesses.
About Cindy Feder
Cindy Feder is a Senior Tax Manager and a member of the Personal Wealth Advisors Group. She is also a member of the firm's Philanthropy and Charitable Giving Practice.
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Hans Kranz inducted as BACman at the ASHRAE Winter Conference
Hans Kranz, recognised as the father of the standardised BA functions, has been covered in the latest edition of the BACnet Europe Journal
Dortmund, Germany: BACnet Interest Group (BIG-EU) has announced that Hans Kranz, one of the German founding fathers of the building automation industry, has been inducted into the "Control Trends Hall of Fame" as BACman at the ASHRAE Winter Conference, in Orlando. The news, the announcement informed, has been covered in the latest edition of its BACnet Europe Journal.
Hans Kranz, the announcement said, author of textbooks and a variety of technical articles on the topic of building automation, is recognised as the father of the standardised BA functions. BIG-EU revealed that he was the driving force behind the adoption of BACnet in the BA World Standard EN ISO 16484.
BIG-EU said that the latest BACnet Journal also carries selected references, such as the Aquis Plaza Shopping Centre in Aachen, Germany, the latest technological developments and news from the Group. It added that the Journal contains more information about the 10th BIG-EU Plugfest from 11th to 13th May, in Bern and about BACnet Forum Barcelona on October 10th, 2016.
BIG-EU informed that the BACnet Europe Journal can be ordered at no cost via email through info@BIG-EU.org (print version), and that a digital version is available for download at: http://www.big-eu-org/service/bacnet-journal/bacnet-europe-journal/.
Tags: ASHRAE Winter ConferenceBACnetBACnet Europe JournalBACnet Interest GroupBIG-EUbuilding automationsHans Kranz

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Leading tourism industry professionals recently convened at the Governor's Colorado Tourism Conference in Steamboat Springs, Colo. to discuss important trends that are impacting tourism and strategies to expand and strengthen tourism in the state.
According to the Colorado Tourism Organization, Colorado tourism has been breaking records in recent years with 57.9 million state visitors in 2011 and overnight visitor spending reaching $14.6 billion. In addition, the U.S. Travel Association reports that tourism job growth is moving 30% faster than other industries.
In addition to world-class tourism attractions, Colorado continues to grow its strong tourism base through degree programs that prepare future tourism leaders with real-world skills and knowledge to meet the demands of the changing industry.
CSU recently expanded its tourism degree offerings with an innovative nine-month Master of Tourism Management degree that focuses on integrating sustainability into tourism by merging tourism, business management and natural resource conservation courses.
The Master of Tourism Management at CSU is offered through CSU's Warner College of Natural Resources in collaboration with CSU's College of Business, which was recently named to The Princeton Review's list of top business schools in the nation. Curriculum includes courses such as Natural Resource Management and Tourism, Global Tourism Policy, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation, and other advanced courses in business management, conservation and tourism.
The degree is offered in a flexible on-campus format that incorporates both traditional classroom learning and online learning delivery to accommodate practicing professionals. A new online degree format through CSU OnlinePlus will be available in fall 2013.
Applications are being accepted for fall 2013. Those interested in applying or learning more about this degree program can visit the website or contact mastersintourism@colostate.edu or (970) 491-6591.


Congratulations to Fr Thaddeus, who was ordained a Priest in the Order of Discalded Carmelites on Sunday, the 14th of August. He celebrated this special day for the Carmelites and the parish, in their church, St. Simon Stock in Kensington, London. The celebration was doubly special because it was when we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Many people came along to support Fr Thaddeus and the community and joined them later in the parish hall. Here Fr Thaddeus is pictured with his mother, and their Carmelite Bishop who came over from Ireland for the occasion.


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kaley.ramage@edu.sait.ca
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Long time writer, lover of human rights, social issues, and current events.
Calgary, AB.
Kaley Ramage Portfolio Blog The Clark Case 2019
The Clark Case 2019
February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 adminadmin 0 Comments
A young Calgary couple has finally been sentenced to thirty-two months in prison and a weapons prohibition after a long 5-year investigation and trial surrounding the death of their fourteen-month-old son.
The verdict was announced by Judge Paul Jeffrey at the Calgary court house on June 5, 2019, though Jennifer and Jeromie Clark were found guilty by a jury last fall. Last year the Clarks faced charges of failing to provide the necessities of life and criminal negligence causing death.
The Crown prosecutor, Jennifer Crews, was asking for 4 to 5 years on the basis that these were, mature and experienced parents.
"The crown prosecution accepts that they loved their son and had no intention to hurt him," said Crews in the courtroom on May 31, 2019 during a trial. "These individuals knew what they were doing and for John, it was fatal."
The situation started back in 2013, when John Clark was taken to a hospital after two weeks for what the parent's thought was an allergic reaction and inflamed eczema. The medical examiner later found that the cause of death was from a staph infection complicated by malnutrition.
The Clarks were 7 Day Adventists, a family with the influence of religion all around them, even when it came to their diets and healthcare. The court room was filled throughout the trial with supporters from their congregation.
"I don't see how this case will deter citizens from doing what they think is right." said David Chow, the defense lawyer for Jeromie.
The defense argued on the basis that the Clarks were doing everything they thought was right to help their son, which included looking for alternative ways of medicine and holding off on the doctors. The Clarks are also first-time offenders, so the defense presented the situation as an honest mistake rather than one of conscience, despite the Clarks having two older children.
"He did not recognize the seriousness of Johns position," said defense lawyer Chow. "This is a person who does admit responsibility for John."
The defense lawyers were asking for a much more lenient sentence however, one at the very minimum. They didn't believe the Clarks needed separation and eventually integration from and back into society.
In the end, the Judge decided on the 2-and-a-half-year sentence with a weapons prohibition, saying that the Clarks abused their position of power as parents over little John.
"I share the crowns comments from Friday, you loved John and didn't intend to hurt him," said Judge Jeffrey to the worried looking Clarks at the stand. "[However], a short sentence does not adequately fit."
The judge pointed out to the Clarks that grief is not a collateral consequence for them, but rather the fact that their son is gone and they will have to endure that pain longer while in prison.
"A period of incarceration is necessary to deter others." said Judge Jeffrey to the courtroom before announcing the 32-month sentence for the Clarks. The Clarks were taken straight to prison after the decision and a hug from their parents.
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Home FINTECH & INNOVATION From Big Data to Big Optimization: What Every Executive Needs to Know
From Big Data to Big Optimization: What Every Executive Needs to Know
By Steve Sashihara
Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data–so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. This data comes from everywhere: from sensors used to gather climate information, posts to social media sites, digital pictures and videos posted online, transaction records of online purchases, and from cell phone GPS signals to name a few. This data is big data.
IBM Bigdata website1
"An approximate answer to the right problem is worth a good deal more than an exact answer to an approximate problem."
John Tukey
When I was starting my career, I shared a rented house with two graduate students from Princeton University's math department. During meals, we agreed to a pleasant barter: I would teach them computer programming and they would teach me statistics and optimization. Their lessons were invaluable and unforgettable, such as their description of the foundations of statistical thinking based on the repeated distinction that their advisor, Professor John Tukey, drew between data and information. Data are just bits and bytes (John Tukey actually invented these terms2 ), he taught, whereas information is something you use to make a better decision.
I think Professor Tukey would have been amused by the buzz around Big Data in 2012. True, there are quintillions of bytes floating inside and outside our organizations, but the challenge is to turn this into action. In many ways, Big Data represents a Rorschach test for executives: some will look at Big Data and simply see more of the same landscape – "quick, let's buy more disk drives!" Others, I would argue, look at Big Data and see an imperative to radically change coupled with the opportunity to lead the next generation of businesses.
The path forward includes a fundamental shift in how businesses of all sizes and industries perform their most basic function: decision-making. Daniel Kahneman, who was honored with a Nobel Prize in Economics for systematically analyzing and demonstrating human judgment biases – has called organizations "factories for producing decisions."3 The analogy is apt. Modern industry was born at the dawn of the last century when we transformed master-apprentice, labor-intensive craft into engineered manufacturing. For decision-making factories today, the key raw material is information, not steel or coal. The contemporary transformation, occurring in an environment of Big Data, is equally as profound and far reaching. We call this new process Big Optimization.
Big Optimization at Amazon: From Dot Com Bookstore to Reinventing Retail
When Amazon was founded in 1995, it seemed indistinguishable from thousands of other start-ups during the dot-com boom. But unlike countless others, Amazon survived the dot-com bust, and it has continued to grow and innovate extraordinarily well. Amazon wasn't the first Internet retailer; it wasn't even the first cyberspace bookseller. What set it apart was DNA that the others lacked. Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos, a computer scientist, was a fanatic about optimizing every step of his business with data and algorithms—from the front to the back door.
For decision-making factories today, the key raw material is information. The contemporary transformation, occurring in an environment of Big Data, is called Big Optimization.
At the front of its electronic store, Amazon's Web servers send out millions of personalized recommendations to customers each day, informing them of new and used items that closely match their personal interest. Amazon realized that Big Data combined with Optimization could provide a customer experience that would outperform even the wisest, most well-read bookstore employee. After all, what single salesperson has the time to evaluate thousands of current books and has the memory to recall every book a customer has ever purchased? Amazon also knew that the more its customers shopped and bought, the more it could use this information in a feedback loop to provide even better and more accurate recommendations.
Now consider Amazon's back door. Beyond the expertise in recommending good books, Amazon had built a uniquely efficient fulfillment capability based on optimizing every process step from replenishment to picking to packing. This edge enabled Amazon to make its now famous leap to full retailing. In a recent interview, Jeff Bezos noted that, "we've always focused on reducing the time between order and delivery" through such complete automation that "our version of a perfect customer experience is one in which our customer doesn't want to talk to us."4
In 2011, worldwide sales for Amazon reached $48.08 billion, an eye-popping 40.6% increase over the prior year.5 Sales in North America—55.5% of Amazon's total—grew at 42.8%, in the face of a U.S. economy in which Personal Consumption Expenditures grew by only 4.7%.6
Looking ever forward, Amazon realizes that its early jump into Big Optimization has given it keen insights into what is needed to support this new business model, allowing it to gain a first-mover advantage in selling cloud services to the broad business market. Amazon CTO Werner Vogels said on March 7, 2012, "Big data is not only about analytics, it's about the whole pipeline. So when you think about big data solutions you have to think about all the different steps: collect, store, organize, analyze and share."7
Searching for a Big Optimization Advantage at Google
Consider Google, another game-changer that has grown beyond any reasonable expectation by embedding Big Optimization at its core.
In 1998, when two Stanford graduate students founded Google, there were many competitors. Yahoo!, for example, had a four-year head start. Yahoo!'s approach to conducting page searches involved hiring experts to grade Web sites for relevance.
Google, in contrast, took a different approach. The company leveraged the web itself by tracking how often a given Web page was referenced, or linked to, by other Web pages. This allowed Google to build its now-famous "PageRank" algorithm. The pages most frequently referenced on a particular topic became the most relevant sites. No paid experts need apply to Google. The data-indexing process that Google devised not only surpassed Yahoo!'s panel of experts at lower cost, but established an unbeatable combination of timeliness and quality.
Today, Google stands as the quintessential master of Big Data Optimization strategy.8 Google's unique ability to capture, rapidly manipulate, and draw conclusions from fantastically large data sets has provided it with an unmatched competitive advantage.
Big Optimization is not just for the Big
This may sound well and good for the Amazons and Googles of the world, but what about the rest of us mere mortals? The power of Big Optimization can and must be harnessed by any company of any size to form competitive advantage.
The power of Big Optimization can and must be harnessed by any company of any size to form competitive advantage.
Consider the Jan de Wit Company of Holambra, Brazil. Many of the world's ornamental flowers come from Brazil, where competition is fierce. The company began growing and distributing lilies on a small scale in 1992. By 2000, it had grown to 18,745 square meters of greenhouses, 1,032 square meters of cold-storage rooms, and approximately 30 employees.9 To produce its lilies, Jan de Wit needed to import as many as 3.5 million bulbs, comprising 50 different varieties. Each variety had its own unique planting, germination, temperature, and growth specifications. The bottom line? A scheduling nightmare in which Jan de Wit Company had to juggle the correct planting of the right bulbs during the right week in the right greenhouse environment to meet projected market demand, which—by the way—fluctuated wildly with such holidays as Easter, Mother's Day, and Christmas.
Together with José Vicente Caixeta-Filho, a professor at the University of São Paulo, the Jan de Wit Company developed a computerized decision-support system to schedule plantings in ways that maximized contribution margin (revenue minus variable costs). The actual set of equations in the computer program evaluated a solution matrix involving 120,000 rows and 420,000 columns. The results? The first year that Jan de Wit used the software, revenue grew 26 percent, while contribution margin improved 32 percent. Return on owner's equity increased 49 percent. This growth was managed with the addition of a single employee. All this occurred in spite of the fact that during that year the Brazilian flower market experienced excess capacity and reduced auction prices.
Big Optimization can serve small and large alike! Indeed, recent studies10 suggest that one standard deviation increase in use of business analytics correlates with an approximately five-to-six-percent improvement in productivity and a slightly higher percent improvement in profitability across a broad spectrum of companies.
Oversized or Optimized?
Before you authorize the next internal project with Big Data or even Optimization in its name, however, there are a few things you need to consider. The term Big Data seems to imply that there is magic in the volume of data a company can access. The ability to store and retrieve large amounts of data can help, but today that is only a small piece of the competitive puzzle. What will separate the winners from the losers will not be the size of their datasets, but their ability to use those data in ways that optimize decisions and resource utilization. The term Optimization refers to a decision-making process that uses a special breed of software that not only displays data, but also makes explicit recommendations for action. Remember this simple rule: if it does not make recommendations, it is not Optimization. The new competitive battleground will be how well one optimizes. Google did not bury so many competitors in the dustbin of history because it had more data than they did; rather, Google developed a better way to generate superior automated recommendations.
In the case of the Jan de Wit Company, the size of the database was hardly overly impressive. It could easily be maintained on a PC. What was impressive was the enormous number of possible choices and combinations for each step of the growing process, and the custom software that took this big set of alternatives and generated optimal answers for maximizing revenue and profits.
One might assume that such powerful decision tools would quickly be embraced by businesses desperate to gain an advantage in a highly competitive environment. While the number of businesses that are using some form of Optimization has grown, these forward-thinkers are still in the minority. Even an industry leader such as UPS, which today embraces Big Optimization to make thousands of daily decisions about its service and delivery routes, came within a cat's whisker of shelving its optimization efforts in the early 1990s.11
The ability to store and retrieve large amounts of data is only a small piece of the competitive puzzle. What will separate the winners from the losers will not be the size of their datasets, but their ability to use those data in ways that optimize decisions and resource utilization.
The reasons Big Optimization adoption has moved more like a glacier than a gazelle are varied. Lack of familiarity and understanding certainly plays a role. Although modern optimization techniques have been around since World War II, for many years the required technical expertise and computing power were only available to governments, the armed forces, and a few large companies. A lack of analytic skills was, and is, proving to be a major challenge. Most people are not quantitative by nature. Recent studies suggest that the demand for workers with the deep analytical capabilities needed for Big Optimization projects will outstrip projected needs by 50 to 60 percent over the next decade.12
The biggest roadblock to the adoption of Big Optimization, however, has been—and will continue to be—the reluctance of executives and managers to turn decision making over to computers. Most executives believe that they have been successful because of the smart decisions they have made. Karl Kempf, Director of Decision Engineering at Intel, for example, has been introducing decision-making software to departments at Intel for 24 years. He comments that it is just as hard today to convince managers to adopt new decision methods as it was when he first started a quarter of a century ago. When asked why, he quickly points to how executives view themselves, their jobs, and their processes for making decisions.13 Greg Linden would agree. When he was working as a software engineer at Amazon, he suggested using customer data to run an experiment to determine if presenting recommendations at checkout based on what was in a person's shopping cart would increase sales.14 He was ordered by a senior vice president of marketing to stop the testing because the vice president felt—based on his years of experience—that presenting new items that late in the process would interrupt the sale and diminish revenues. The executive was not about to subject his personal judgment to empirical testing. Fortunately for Amazon, Greg ignored the order and continued his experimentation. The rest is history. Today, almost every successful retail Web site makes suggestions for additional purchases at checkout.
So don't expect executives and managers at your company to jump in line for Big Optimization opportunities without drive, vision, and commitment from the very top. This is a senior leadership issue because it requires a complete change in how these very executives and managers view their own value. Rather than use their head knowledge to make the tough calls one at a time, they will be asked to automate decision making whenever and wherever possible. Only then will the corporation move from the craft based world typified by quarterly and monthly planning meetings to transaction-by-transaction real-time optimization.
The biggest roadblock to the adoption of Big Optimization will continue to be – the reluctance of executives and managers to turn decision making over to computers.
Hear the Good News
In case the challenges seem overwhelming, there is some good news. Several factors are making Big Optimization strategies increasingly easy to implement. First, the cost of computing power continues to plummet. Sixty years ago, when the Air Force first used a computer to calculate an optimized solution for scheduling the deployment and support of its aircraft, the computer that it used weighed 13 tons and needed 18 hours to generate a solution.15, 16 Today, the Jan de Wit Company uses a PC to calculate an optimal solution from many more variables, in only a few minutes. Cloud computing provides even the smallest start-up with affordable world-class data centers.
Second, there are an increasing number of smaller consulting firms, like ours, that can deliver enterprise optimization with relatively small teams. Many successful optimization projects consist of a total team size of two to five Ph.D.-level optimization specialists, rather than the dozens or even hundreds of staff required for the typical IT project.
Third, when planned and implemented correctly, an optimization project can quickly pay for itself. For example, Quad/Graphics—the second largest printing company in the Western Hemisphere—requested my firm's assistance to help optimize the extremely complex processes used in creating the many magazines they produce, whose ads are custom-generated by household. Eventually, our computer programs would handle all of the scheduling. That was not where we began, however. We broke the task into smaller, self-funding components. We began by developing a program to simply provide Quad/Graphics' human schedulers with the data they needed to compare the projected costs of different schedules being considered. The payback to the company in better decisions was immediate and helped fund the next steps in the optimization process. Additionally, the utility of this first program helped build trust among the human schedulers. It allowed us to introduce additional programs that could derive optimized schedules in a fraction of the time needed by the human schedulers to do the same task less well. The computer-generated schedules were able to reduce machine stoppages and changeovers by 10 percent—a significant saving for a $4.8 billion business.
The New Horizon
It remains to be seen if the term "Big Data" becomes a long-term addition to the business lexicon. One thing is certain: the world that it is portending is not an illusion, fad or marketing ploy. The current meme status of Big Data is the harbinger of the vast new horizon that is unfolding all around us. Business leaders must seize this moment to move their organizations, through Big Optimization, from intuition to intelligence.
Steve Sashihara is the author of "The Optimization Edge: Reinventing Decision Making to Maximize All Your Company's Assets" (McGraw Hill: 2011), the first non-technical book to explain Optimization to the busy business executive (optimizationedge.com). He is the CEO of Princeton Consultants (princeton.com), which specializes in a unique blend of information technology and management consulting. Steve is a director of the Association of Management Consulting Firms and he is treasurer for the INFORMS Roundtable, a group representing leaders in applied optimization for large businesses. Steve graduated in 1980 from Princeton University. He serves on the Advisory Council for the university's Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering.
1.http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/, retrieved 3/9/2012
2.John Tukey is also credited with inventing the term "software."
3.McKinsey Quarterly, Interview: Daniel Kahneman on behavioral eco-
nomics, May 2008. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Daniel_Kahneman_
on_behavioral_economics_2214
4.Steve Levy, "Jeff Bezos Owns the Web in More Ways than you Think", Wired Magazine interview with Jeff Bezos, November 13, 2011, http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/ff_bezos/all/1
5.http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/01/31/amazon-sales-soar-profits-plunge retrieved 3/9/2012.
6.U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm, retrieved 3/9/2012.
7.http://www.itworld.com/big-datahadoop/256622/big-data-not-just-about-analytics-says-amazon-cto, retrieved 3/9/2012.
8.Jesse Alpert and Nissan Hjaj, "We Knew the Web Was Big." The Official Google Blog, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-knew-web-was-big.html, July 25, 2008, retrieved 3/9/2012.
9.José Vicente Caixeta-Filho, Jan Maarten van Swaay-Neto, & Antonio de Pádua Wagemaker, "Optimization of the Production Planning and Trade of Lily Flowers at Jan de Wit Company," Interfaces, Vol. 2(1), January–February 2002. Unless otherwise cited, information about the Jan de Wit Company use of Optimization has been drawn from this source.
10. Erik Brynjolfsson, Lorin M. Hitt, and Heekyung Hellen Kim, "Strength in numbers: How does data-driven decision making affect firm performance?" Social Science Research Network (SSRN), April, 2011.
11.Taken from author interview of Jack Levis (former Director of Process management), February 2, 2010 and recounted in Sashihara, Steve. The Optimization Edge: Reinventing Decision Making to Maximize All Your Company's Assets. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2011) 97-98.
12.Brown, Chui, and Manika, October, 2011.
13.Taken from author interview of Karl Kempf, March 2, 2010.
14.Randy Henn, "Online Experiments for Optimizing the Customer Experience," presentation to IMTC, April 3, 2008, http://exp-platform.com/Documents/old%20format%202008- 04%20Irish%20Microsoft%20Technology%20Conference.ppt, retrieved 3/9/2012.
15.Stephen White, "A Brief History of Computing," http://trillian.randomstuff.org.uk/~stephen/, February 25, 2010.
16.Robert Freund, "Professor George Dantzig: Linear Programming Founder Turns 80." SOL: SIAM News, November 1994.
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text:
The Appeal
Alliance between Britain and Portugal
Statue of King Manuel II
Restoration of St James's Church
First World War Memorial
Portuguese Ambassador and UK Field Marshal unveil Memorial Windows
London, April 2018. The first memorial in honour of the Portuguese fallen of the Great War in Britain was unveiled at St James's Church in Twickenham on Monday 9 April 2018. This date marked the Centenary Anniversary of the Battle of the Lys.
The memorial consists of a beautiful commissioned stained glass window, which will serve to honour and commemorate the 12,000 Portuguese soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the First World War.
A second beautiful stained glass window was unveiled in remembrance of Portugal's last sovereign, King Manuel II, who lived locally until his passing in 1932 aged 42.
Together, the two windows will serve as symbols of celebration of the oldest continual diplomatic alliance in existence between two countries in the world today, Portugal and England (at present the United Kingdom), an alliance dating back to the signing of the Treaty of Windsor in 1386.
Following the solemnity of mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster John Wilson, representing His Eminence Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, the windows were unveiled by Field Marshal Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank and HE Mr Manuel Lobo Antunes, Ambassador of Portugal to the Court of St James's.
Speeches were delivered by Bishop John Wilson, Parish Priest Fr Ulick Loring, and the Portuguese Ambassador. A message from the Head of Portuguese Royal Family, HRH Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza, was read by Chairman of the Portuguese Appeal, Anthony Bailey OBE. The Duke and Duchess of Braganza serve as Patrons of the Appeal.
A reception at the Parish Hall in Twickenham took place after the unveiling to celebrate this significant event for the historic diplomatic alliance between the UK and Portugal.
The next phase of the Portuguese Centenary Appeal initiative will be the erection of a statute to King Manuel II in Twickenham.
Leader of Richmond upon Thames Council joins Honorary Committee of the Portuguese Appeal
Francisco Pinto Balsemão appointed to the Honorary Committee of the Portuguese Appeal
Inês Domingos, MP, joins the Portuguese Centenary Appeal
© 2016 - 2019 Portuguese Centenary Appeal.


text:
Q: XPS 13 9360 install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10 or erase Windows 10? XPS 13 9360
Should I install Ubuntu next to Windows 10 or erase Windows 10 and only install Ubuntu?

A: It depends on what you want. Totally erasing Windows 10 means that you'll have to reinstall, update, configure, and install all your old windows apps again. This can take hours, so I recommend keeping a backup Windows image.
A side by side dual boot of Ubuntu and Windows on the same machine is usually what most users go for. Though you'll likely encounter minor issues, such as with the system time on Windows 10 if you do this.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
2014 Volkswagen Microbus-Concept
by admin on Mar.31, 2014, under Auto Review Specs, Cars, Volkswagen
What it is: A modern interpretation of the original Volkswagen Bus. The new van is a re-hash of the Microbus concept that VW showed 10 years ago u nder then-CEO Ferdinand Piech-it was subsequently killed by his successor Bernd Pischetsrieder.
The Microbus would replace the Chrysler-sourced Routan that was unloved by everyone except Brooke Shields.
Via car&driver.com
History of the Volkswagen Passat -Germany'd automaker's mid-size sedan
by admin on Apr.11, 2013, under Auto Review Specs, Volkswagen, VW Passat Specs
The Volkswagen Passat is the German automaker's mid-size sedan. In the past, it's included wagon models, turbocharged four-cylinders, and all-wheel drive, but today's Passat is front-wheel-drive only, and sedan-only. It's powered by a range of turbodiesel four-cylinder, gas five-cylinder and gas six-cylinder engines–and it's now built in a new factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as VW aims it directly at best sellers like the Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, and Honda Accord.
Volkswagen's mid-sized sedan
In the U.S., the Passat's lineage goes all the way back to the Dasher sedans and hatchbacks of the 1970s and the Quantum models of the 1980s—the latter which were, notably, offered with so-called Syncro all-wheel drive.
While Passat had been a model name used elsewhere, the Passat finally began to pick up pace in the U.S. with the launch of the third-generation (or first-gen for Americans) Passat, which had the same name here. The lack of a normal grille in front was a unique design point, while otherwise these models had a pretty low hood and large greenhouse, making them very space-efficient for their size; ride quality was good, too, though their interiors didn't feel any plusher than those of the cheaper Jetta. Most of this generation had barely adequate 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines, though diesels and VW's narrow-angle VR6 engine were offered.
The next complete redesign the Passat got, in 1998, was revolutionary. VW switched its mid-size sedan to the same platform as the Audi A4, and everything from its ride to its driving manners felt much more upscale and sophisticated—either compared to the previous Passat or to other U.S. rivals like the Camry, Accord, and Taurus. Most Passat models from this era included either a 170-horsepower, 1.8-liter (1.8T) turbo four-cylinder or a 190-hp Audi-derived V-6. Between these two engines, there's surprisingly little difference in acceleration (and it makes the Passat feel more nimble), though the V-6 makes it feel like a luxury car. A short-lived Passat W8 model (2003-2004) featured a special 270-hp narrow-angle eight-cylinder engine, but its $40k+ price tag, heft, and thirst just didn't add up to much appeal. Throughout this generation, 4Motion all-wheel drive was available on most of the model line, too.
For 2006, the Passat changed for the better for Americans, becoming a little roomier and more comfortable, though they bypassed some of the sportier driving feel of their predecessors for refinement and more features for the money. Most of these Passats, which weren't significantly changed through 2010, came with an excellent 200-hp, 2.0-liter (2.0T) four-cylinder engine and a six-speed automatic transmission (though a six-speed manual was also on offer). A 280-hp, 3.6-liter VR6 engine was offered from 2006-2008, and was required for 4Motion, but it was never a popular choice because it was so much more expensive. Across the board, this generation of Passat came with a long list of standard features, including standard side-curtain bags, and rear thorax bags were an unusual option. Here at The Car Connection, we found this Passat to be one of the quietest cars in this class, with a roomy backseat and nice interior materials. But a requirement for premium fuel might make these models less appealing as used cars.
In mid-2011, a new 2012 Volkswagen Passat was unveiled. With a somewhat larger body style and cost-cut, Americanized packaging, the new made-in-the-U.S. Passat gets a massive rear seat and a noticeable downgrade in refinement. But with a more attractive price of around $25k, we've found the new Passat to be particularly attractive—especially considering its 43-mpg highway rating. The Passat does have impressive handling, but its base five-cylinder engine is dull and somehow not as responsive as base engines in rivals like the Ford Fusion or Hyundai Sonata; further, those those coming from former versions of this sedan (or even Honda Accords) will be troubled by the swaths of grainy plastic, and there's more wind and road noise than we expect.
The current turbodiesel version has good power and exceptional fuel economy, while the V-6 is geared to the few buyers who really want more luxury features in a family sedan. We had a 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI for an extended Six Month Road Test and found it to be an excellent long-distance cruiser—one with real-world highway mileage well into the 40s.
One thing we've noted in the current Passat is that it comes in a very limited number of build combinations. For instance, you can't get a cloth interior with the TDI engine or VR6, the Bluetooth interface is very basic and lacks voice control, and you can't get a USB connector on the base car; most Passats now come with vinyl seats.
Volkswagen added a rearview camera system to the 2013 Volkswagen Passat SEL.
VW Passat review – CarBuyer
Leave a Comment :VW History, Vw Passat more...
New Volkswagen Golf R Cabriolet
by admin on Feb.22, 2013, under Auto Review Specs, Volkswagen
Volkswagen is sending off the sixth generation of its Golf series with a powerful bang in the form of the new Golf R Cabriolet that was officially revealed
today after many months of teasing.
At the heart of the first-ever open-top "R" badged model and simultaneously, the fastest-ever production Golf Cabriolet in the history of the series, beats the same 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four petrol as found in the Golf R hatch, albeit slightly de-tuned at 261hp (265PS).
Unlike the tin-top model, though, the Golf R Cabriolet ditches the Haldex 4motion all-wheel drive system with power transmitted to the front wheels alone via a standard six-speed DSG gearbox.
VW quotes an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph (250km/h), and a 0-62 mph (100km/h) sprint in 6.4 seconds, which is 0.4 seconds less than what it had said it would do during the presentation of the pre-production concept at the 2011 Wörthersee GTI meet.
The cloth-top model sports the same styling kit as the hatch , with bespoke front and rear bumpers, LED daytime running lights, bi-xenon headlights with black housings, gloss-black door mirror casings and black-painted brake callipers with R logo.
The side sill extensions, a gloss black rear diffuser framed by chrome-tipped exhausts on either side, smoked LED tail lights, a 25mm lowered body and 18- or optionally, 19-inch alloy wheels complete the more aggressive exterior look.
Inside, the interior features four individual sports seats in 'Vienna Cool Leather' and 'R' logos in the head restraints, along with a flat-bottom steering
wheel and aluminum trims.
As with any other Golf Cabriolet, the fabric hood is operated by a switch in the center console, and can be lowered in 9.5 seconds at speeds of up to 18 mph (29km/h) and raised in 11.0 seconds.
Source: Car Scoop 287VolkswagenGolf 6
2011 Volkswagen Golf R Cabriolet Concept
Leave a Comment :Golf Cabriolet, Golf R, Golf R Cabriolet, VolkswagenGolf 6, VW, Wörthersee GT more...


text:
Beyond Fashion
Harold Koda and Jan Glier Reeder; With a preface by Ralph Rucci and contributions by Sarah Scaturro and Glenn Petersen
264 pages, 10 x 13
315 color + b/w illus.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press
"His work went beyond fashion and was a fine art." —a Charles James patron
Charles James, often considered to be America's first couturier, was renowned in the 1940s and 1950s as a master at sculpting fabric for the female form and creating fashions that defined mid-century glamour. Although James had no formal training as a dressmaker, he created strikingly original and complex designs, including intricate ball gowns worn by members of high society in New York and Europe. This lavishly illustrated book offers a comprehensive study of James' life and work, highlighting his virtuosity and inventiveness as well as his influence on subsequent fashion designers.
Featuring exciting new photography of the spectacular evening dresses James produced between 1947 and 1955, this publication includes enlightening details of these intricate creations alongside vintage photographs and rarely seen archival items, such as patterns, muslins, dress forms, and sketches. A detailed and illustrated chronology of James' life describes his magnetic personality, his unorthodox design processes, his colorful supporters—such as Salvador Dalí, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, and Cristobal Balenciaga—and profiles of a number of his famous clients, such as Gypsy Rose Lee. With flair and style echoing that of its subject, Charles James brings to life one of the most fascinating and creative figures in American fashion.
Harold Koda is curator in charge and Jan Glier Reeder is consulting curator, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection, both at The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
(05/08/14–08/10/14)
"Charles James: Beyond Fashion . . . by The Costume Institute's Harold Koda and Jan Glier Reeder, demonstrates just how inspiring James was, and how much 'beyond' clothes that influence goes."—Women's Wear Daily
"A major retrospective of his work. A well-dressed coffee-table book to match. Yes, the inventor of American couture is back."—Dallas Morning News
"This luscious volume took me into another world—a world where gowns are architecture and gossamer and dreams and drop-dead sexy all at once."—Library Journal
"[A] magisterial monograph."—Laura Jacobs, Wall Street Journal
"One of the most beautiful books ever printed."—Leonard Lopate, WNYC
"The . . . catalog, Charles James: Beyond Fashion, is as sumptuous as [James'] work."—Chicago Tribune
Read an interview with Harold Koda on Designers & Books
Extreme Beauty
The Body Transformed
The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I
Pierre Terjanian
The Costume Institute / The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Edited by Harold Koda; With an introduction by Sarah Jessic
The Making of a Museum
Judith Clark; With contributions by Caroline Evans, Amy de
Dressing the Decades
Twentieth-Century Vintage Style
Emmanuelle Dirix
Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell
Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Jan Glier Reeder
100 Dresses
Preface by Harold Koda
Art and Architecture > Fashion and Costume History
Art and Architecture > Metropolitan Museum of Art


text:
// Copyright (c) Christof Senn. All rights reserved.

using Common.DataContract;
using Common.ServiceContract;
using Remote.Linq;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;

namespace Server
{
    public class RemoteLinqDataService : IRemoteLinqDataService
    {
        public IEnumerable<Product> GetProducts(Query<Product> query)
            => DataSource.Products
                .ApplyQuery(query)
                .ToList();

        public IEnumerable<Order> GetOrders(Query<Order> query)
            => DataSource.Orders
                .ApplyQuery(query)
                .ToList();

        public IEnumerable<object> GetData(IQuery query)
            => (IEnumerable<object>)typeof(RemoteLinqDataService)
                .GetMethod(nameof(OpenTypeQuery), BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic)
                .MakeGenericMethod((Type)query.Type)
                .Invoke(this, new object[] { query });

        private IEnumerable<T> OpenTypeQuery<T>(IQuery query)
        {
            Query<T> genericQuery = Query<T>.CreateFromNonGeneric(query);
            return DataSource.Query<T>()
                .ApplyQuery(genericQuery)
                .ToList();
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This meeting will assess sustainable routes for large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It will support the UK in meeting the Paris Agreement by making a major step towards achieving net-zero emissions, and place the UK in a leading position to benefit from the £400 billion future global market in greenhouse gas removal.
These will demonstrate the effectiveness, cost, and limitations of large-scale GGR. Findings will be integrated by a Directorate Hub, which will also provide underpinning research to address the business, environmental, social, cultural, perception and communication, ethical, and governance issues, and support the progress of GGR technologies to readiness.
The deadline to register by is 22 April 2019, 17:00.
Please visit the BBSRC website, who are organising the event on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, at: bbsrc.ukri.org/news/events/2019/1904-greenhouse-gas-removal-community-dissemination-event/.


Last night the Croatian dance company BADco. performed the U.S. premiere of their work Solo Me. It is part of the Central Station Festival, a celebration of Eastern European dance sponsored by P.S. 122, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, REDCAT in Los Angeles and several other organizations.
BADco.'s performance was fascinating. Danced by Nikolina Bujas-Pristas (center, in white) and Pravdan Devlahović (right), the evening consisted of two solo pieces performed simultaneously, but separately. The theater was rearranged so that the dancers were surrounded on all sides by the audience and the floor was carefully delineated with tape to appear almost like graph paper.
Pravdan began with a serious of simple movements and gestures including a pattern of breathing and snapping his fingers as if to create an imaginary delineation of the space, paralleling the lines on the floor. Beginning in silence, the music (Ludwig van Beethoven: Siymphony no.7, Op. 92, second movement,) grew more prominent as his movements increased in complexity.
After Pravdan's solo, Nikolina took center stage. Dressed entirely in white, she was an arresting presence. Her movements were more athletic and playful than Pravdan's and the music to which she danced (Ivan Marusić – Kliff), sounding like Eastern European Trip Hop, had an edge and urbanity that stood in stark contrast to the Beethoven. In a heavily stylized movement sequence, Nikolina mysteriously walks the lines of the graph paper floor reciting the names of fonts, "Helvetica, arial narrow".
At key points throughout her solo she pulled plastic numbers from her outfit and placed them on the floor, calling them "footnotes" and would engage members of the audience in conversation, dance and conspiracy. Nikolina whispers into a woman's ear and the woman says, "I am dancing a sentence. Each one in different fonts".
As the music stops and starts her motion becomes more intense, focussed and deliberate.
Eventually she is rejoined by Pravdan and they continue in their separate solos, like electrons around an imaginary nucleus, coming into each other's orbits, being attracted by their energy, yet rarely coming into actual contact.
Towards the end of the piece the stage went dark, Nikolina re-emerged and, bathed in a sea of white light she listened as both musical pieces, the Beethoven and the triphop, were played simultaneously.
The end of the piece has Pravdan and Nikolina sharing the stage, performing movement figures that are perfectly coordinating, muscular, graceful and balletic in their precision.
The overall effect of the piece is hypnotic and aggressively intellectual. After the performance I had a chance to speak with dramaturg Goran Sergej Pristas where he discussed the "graphology of performance" and some of the themes they were exploring: isolation, the juxtaposition of bodies in motion, dance expressions of the mechanics of writing and much more. At that point we had both had a few brandies however, and the discussion rapidly turned to politics and the perception of Americans in Europe and vice versa.
That being said, the physical inventiveness of Solo Me and the strikingly original gestural vocabulary of the dancers make it a compelling piece, regardless of the philosophical underpinnings.
It runs tonight and Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 5 p.m. at P.S. 122.
Check out the review of BADco. in The Village Voice.
deeply. People are asking when will they come back.


Members of the Delray Beach drug and alcohol recovery community held their second annual "A Taste of Recovery," on Sat. Jun. 2, under a large white canopy at the Old School Square Pavilion.
The event raised more than $60,000 for the non-profit Crossroads Club, a 36-year old organization located at 1700 Lake Ida Rd., which provides meeting space for Alcoholic Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Eating Disorders Anonymous, Food Addicts Anonymous and Mayhem to Miracles, a support group for hoarders, etc.
"The addiction epidemic is one of the greatest tragedies facing our nation," Tony Allerton, 89, a co-founder of The Crossroads Club and Delray Beach resident, said in a statement.
"The Crossroads Club offers a solution to the cycle of addiction free of charge, and the Club has literally saved the lives of thousands of individuals and continues to do so each day," says Allerton, who has 36 years of recovery.
More than 20 area restaurants participated, including City Oyster, Farmer's Table, Fries to Caviar, Hickory Sticks BBQ, Josie's Ristorante, MIA, My Organic Juice, Rebel House, Season's 52, Tucker Duke's, Venu and Ziree Thai & Sushi.
To the rocking sounds of blues tunes provided by Dave Scott and the Reckless Shots, guests sampled four-cheese ravioli and coq-au-vin from Dada, lobster tortelloni from Delray's newest Louie Bossi, shrimp lettuce wraps with pickled papaya slaw and peanut sauce from Max's Harvest, beef tacos from Rocco's Tacos, and refreshing coconut rice pudding topped with a peach tartare from West Palm Beach's Basque.
"The event is for a good cause. Crossroads Club has provided an invaluable community service for the past 36 years," he says noting that on average 900 people a day take advantage of their 164 meetings each week.
Recent New York transplants Al and Audrey D. from Boynton Beach were there with their 32-year-old daughter, Megan, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for nine months.
One of those friends is Conor Hanlon, 29, who moved to Delray Beach from Texas for the recovery community.
He says it's taught him to embrace the spiritual side of life and to see past his fears and limitations.
He attends meetings daily and says he hopes to continue on his spiritual path of growth.
Recognition was given to State Attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg who created Palm Beach County's Opioid Task Force, Delray Beach Chief of Police Jeffrey Goldman, Fire Chief Neal de Jesus and special populations advocate Ariana Ciancio.
By the end of the evening, the verdicts were in. Judges Liz Balmaseda, Palm Beach Post Food & Dining Editor, Phillip Valys, of the Sun-Sentinel and Jan Norris, Florida Weekly Food Writer, agreed: Louie Bossi Ristorante came in first place followed by Josie's Ristorante and Boca Raton's Jimmy's Fries to Caviar Garden Bistro and Bar took third place.


text:
Houston Astrodome
The Houston Astrodome, home of the USFL's Houston Gamblers, was billed as the "eighth wonder of the world" when its doors opened in 1965 as the "Harris County Domed Stadium." Built to house baseball's Houston Astros, the facility was the first in the so-called cookie cutter era of stadium building. Its round, coliseum-style facilities were capable of hosting different types of events, but incapable of being perfectly suited to many of them. The AFL's Houston Oilers moved to the dome in 1968, but after three decades would leave for Tennessee when the City of Houston dragged its feet on requests to replace the facility. It would only be after the Houston Astros also threatened to leave town that the city acted, building new facilities for both baseball and football.
By the time the Gamblers came on the scene in 1983, the Astrodome was already beginning to show signs of age. Rats were sometimes seen at Astrodome events, not enhancing the image of the facility or the team. With Jim Kelly behind center and one of the best young receiving corps in all of pro football, attendance showed hopeful signs during the team's 1984 debut season that saw the Gamblers go 13-5-0 and win the USFL Central Division. With the USFL announcing its move to the fall in 1986, thereby placing the Gamblers in direct competition with the Oilers, 1985 attendance dropped below an average of 20,000.
Save the periodic event, the Astrodome became a vacant building, dwarfed in popularity and size by its replacement, Reliant Stadium, which was opened in 2002 as home to Houston's new NFL team, the Texans. As part of the deal to build the new stadium, Reliant received naming rights to the Astrodome as well.
Back to USFL Stadia


text:
A Bipartisan Effort to Change Election Law in South Carolina
Election Law Society · January 20, 2023 · Leave a Comment
By Susanna Clark
This past May, the governor of South Carolina signed a new bill into law that made changes to early voting, both in-person and absentee, and election crimes. The bill was a compromise between Republicans and Democrats. After some back and forth between the House and Senate and the two parties, the bill passed unanimously. It should be noted that both the South Carolina House and Senate are controlled by Republicans by a significant margin, 80-43 and 30-16, respectively, so moderate Republicans may have been standing with Democrats in enacting a less restrictive law—effectively forcing a bipartisan effort. Either way, when compared to other Republican-controlled states, this law appears to be much less restrictive.
Lawmakers have stated that the goal of the bill was to increase election integrity in the state. House Speaker Jay Lucas said the bill would "make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in South Carolina." The bill was signed into law less than a month before the primary election on June 14, and due to the new early-voting provisions, voters were able to cast their ballots just two weeks after the bill passed. It is unclear whether this created confusion for voters or election officials, since the bill was passed so close to an election; the lack of news reports related to voter confusion caused by the bill suggest that it was not likely an issue. Confusion can likely be avoided by making the new provisions widely available to the public, and ensuring that election officials are properly briefed on the new legislation.
One of the major changes is that an in-person two-week early voting period replaces an in-person absentee voting, which is now done by mail. This means that there is an in-person voting period prior to Election Day and absentee voting by mail for those who cannot vote during the available time. This would operate like Election Day voting–voters can only vote in their respective counties and must bring a form of photo identification This ID requirement dates back to 2013. The hours and locations differ slightly, based on whether it is for a general, primary, or runoff election. Absentee voting is still available, but it is now done through the mail. Requested ballots will be received by mail, but completed ballots can be dropped off in-person to a county election office or mailed in. Voters must meet at least one of the requirements listed in order to receive an absentee ballot and must request an absentee ballot. They are not automatically sent to voters who meet one of the requirements unless they are active military personnel, are disabled, or are over 65. Voters also must be absent from their residence for the entire 12-day early voting period in order to obtain an absentee ballot. The bill also bans ballot drop boxes, which had been proposed in 2020 as a response to the pandemic, but never implemented.
The early voting measures intend to make it easier to vote, but there is also a significant provision intended to enhance election integrity. The bill effectively increases five election law violations to felonies. Punishments include a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison, which are increased from the punishments before this new law. Some of these violations include fraudulently voting, aiding in fraudulent voting, and requesting or returning more than five absentee ballots in addition to your own. While those convicted of a misdemeanor cannot vote while incarcerated, this measure is significant because those convicted of felonies in South Carolina cannot vote while incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. These punishments do not necessarily make it more difficult to cheat, but they likely deter people from cheating and effectively decrease rates of fraud. Based on an assessment done by Bloomberg News, which takes into account the new law, South Carolina does not score particularly well in the "ease of voting" category, but it does score well in the "ballot security" category, which is the major goal of the bill.
Overall, South Carolina's new law does not appear overly restrictive, but it definitely is part of a recent trend by states to amend their voting laws in response to the 2020 election, whether by making voting easier, or more difficult, usually depending on which political party is in control. So far, there have not been any legal challenges to the new law, but there has been criticism that it unnecessarily restricts access to voting.
Delegation and Deprivation: The Struggle Over Judicial Reallocation in Alabama
By Devin Carter
A fight for racial justice has erupted in Alabama. In July 2022 the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama (ACLU-AL), alongside the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), filed a lawsuit on behalf of Tiara Hudson, challenging the constitutionality of a decision by the Alabama Judicial Resources Allocation Commission (JRAC) to move a judgeship from the racially diverse Jefferson County to the majority-white Madison County. The JRAC's vote to move the judgeship happened on the heels of Tiara Hudson's victory in the Democratic primary election for the office. With no opponent in the general election, Hudson was slated to succeed Judge Clyde Jones to the bench. After Hudson's primary victory, but before the general election, Judge Jones announced his immediate retirement, creating a vacancy in the seat that Hudson hoped to fill. But rather than fill the vacancy in Jefferson County, the JRAC decided to exercise powers delegated to it by the Alabama legislature to relocate the judgeship to Madison County, thus depriving Hudson of a judgeship and the people of Jefferson County of a judgeship position.
The JRAC's vote to move the judgeship was split along racial lines, with white voters voting for the relocation and Black voters in opposition. Once the decision was made public, it was met with backlash, as members of the public expressed frustration that a county with a substantial Black population would lose a valuable resource to a majority-white county. The decision also received biting criticism from voting rights advocates, who similarly decried the relocation for depriving the citizens of Jefferson County of fair representation in the judiciary. Hudson released a statement declaring that the rights of people of color to serve their communities must be protected and explained that the sorts of barriers that have been erected to prevent her, and others, from doing so must be eliminated.
Hudson's words stretch beyond the facts of her own dispute and are applicable to much of the state's historical voter suppression tactics: the now-unconstitutional Jim Crow-era literacy tests and poll taxes, as well as current controversies such as the state's voter ID requirement, felony disenfranchisement, and a lack of early voting. These laws have had a disproportionately negative impact on the ability of minority voters to have their political voices heard. This controversy surrounding the transfer of the judgeship could be viewed as a continuation of efforts to dilute the political power of minority voters. Bolstering this view is the fact that, despite the JRAC having possessed the authority to reallocate judgeships since its inception in 2017, it had not exercised this power until now, which stripped a racially mixed jurisdiction of a judgeship shortly before a Black woman was due to fill the seat. In response to these allegations, the JRAC has argued that Jefferson County had an excess of judges, and that the transfer would provide Madison County with a judgeship that it needed.
Hudson's complaint argued that the power to reallocate vacant judgeships was an unconstitutional delegation of authority from Alabama's legislature to the commission, and that the governor's subsequent appointment of a new judge in Madison County was, therefore, unconstitutional. Despite Hudson's efforts, as well as those of the ACLU-AL and SPLC, an Alabama judge dismissed the case in August 2022. The judge justified the dismissal by claiming that Hudson lacked the standing to sue; the judge further determined that the Alabama legislature had properly delegated its authority when it gave the JRAC the power to reallocate vacant judgeships. Hudson, the ACLU-AL, and SLPC have filed a notice of appeal. ACLU-AL's legal director, Tish Gotell Faulks, explained that she was seeking clarification regarding the way that judicial resources would be distributed across each of the state's jurisdictions so that every person in Alabama had access to judges and other legal resources.
As Pandemic Voting Laws Lapse, Connecticut Broadens Absentee Voting Laws – But Not Too Much
By Jana Jedrych
When urgency about the spread of Covid-19 began to pick up speed in the early months of 2020, many states scrambled to determine what effect the pandemic would have on voter turnout, which is depressingly low in America at the best of times. Many states made temporary changes to their election laws to allow a drastic expansion in the number of absentee voters in 2020 and 2021, including Connecticut, where—despite usually having some of the most restrictive absentee voting laws—all registered voters had the option to vote by absentee ballot.
But, as with many Covid-caused restrictions that loosened or lifted in 2022, Connecticut's absentee voting qualifications are returning to a state more similar to their pre-2020 requirements, with some changes indicative of the ongoing considerations of Covid-19. Both restrictions and allowances have been made to absentee voters in Connecticut—possible excuses for absentee voting have been expanded, but provisions that would ensure more effective exercise of absentee voting power have been rejected.
Governor Ned Lamont signed CT H 5262 on April 8th, 2022. The bill expands the excuses a voter can employ to be eligible for absentee voting in a way that reflects the current state of election law post-2020's pandemic voting challenges. Previously, absentee voting because of sickness was only allowed if the voter applying for the absentee designation was ill. This bill allows for absentee voting in the event of the broader definition of "sickness," which includes taking care of other sick individuals. Exposure to a disease, even if the individual is not currently sick, also qualifies as "sickness" under this bill. Similarly, the bill also expands the ability of voters to qualify as absentee on the grounds of a disability. Before, only those who personally had a disability were able to vote absentee on the grounds of disability, but in this bill the definition of "disability" as an excuse has been expanded to include being the caregiver of a disabled person, frailty from a medical condition, and limited mobility from old age.
However, CT H 5262 and another recently-passed Connecticut election law bill, CT S 470, included components that limited the eligibility of Connecticut voters to vote absentee. CT H 5262 expands the requirement for unavailability on Election Day; instead of only being unavailable during voting hours on Election Day, voters must now be unavailable for the entirety of Election Day.
CT S 470 was signed into effect on May 10th, 2022 and allowed for the disclosure of unique voter identification numbers, removing them from the list of confidential voter registration information that cannot be disclosed. But the bill previously contained provisions intended to ensure the efficacy of absentee voters' ballots, and those provisions were amended out of the version of the bill signed by the governor. In an earlier form, the bill outlined procedures that would require local election committees to notify a voter if his absentee ballot had been rejected and educate him on his right to vote in person. The current law does not speak to whether or not a voter has to be notified if his absentee ballot is rejected. The earlier version of the bill also included a provision requiring local election officials to count ballots throughout Election Day instead of at a single time on Election Day, which is what the current law provides for.
Connecticut's current changes to the requirements for absentee ballots are an interesting look at how election law might be irrevocably changed by the pandemic. In many ways, it's back to business as usual—the state is not eager to discontinue being one of 17 states that requires an excuse to vote absentee. But broadened definitions of sickness and disability in some ways reflect how attitudes towards sickness have changed as a result of Covid-19. In any case, it could be argued that the usefulness of allowing individuals to vote absentee is dampened when the state refuses to put practices in place to ensure that all absentee voters' votes count. Not requiring that voters be informed when their absentee ballot is rejected and not requiring that absentee ballots be counted the whole of Election Day means that there are voters who still will not have their voices heard, despite loosened restrictions on who is able to vote absentee.
A Case Study in Independent Redistricting – Washington State
jwhowell · January 13, 2023 ·
By Megan Bodenhammer
Any native of Washington State knows, first-hand, the degree of political polarization that exists in the state. The western part of Washington State encompasses the most heavily populated and liberal part of the state, including Seattle and the rest of King County. In contrast, the eastern part of the state is much more conservative and rural. This split makes politics in the state especially contentious and divisive. Interestingly, as a result of this stark geographical and cultural divide, the eastern part of Washington State has threatened to secede and create its own state quite frequently throughout history.
This split political climate forms the background for all legal and political issues in the state. This is especially true for election laws and redistricting. In most states, politicians or legislatures draw the maps for state elections. In other words, the politicians whose job security depends on elections are the same people who draw the districts that determine the outcome of elections. In places like Washington, where political opinions are deeply entrenched and divisive, this can be problematic. In thirty-four states, districting for state elections is done predominately by state legislatures. Washington is just one of fourteen states that has an independent districting commission. The remaining two states have a hybrid model.
The body that draws maps in Washington is called the Washington State Redistricting Commission, which is a board made up of five commissioners. Four of the commissioners are selected by the majority and minority leaders in each chamber of the state legislature. These four commissioners, then, vote on a fifth commissioner who serves as the non-voting chair. The non-voting chair's role is to establish areas of common ground and facilitate compromise. This results in a bi-partisan commission with two seats for the Democratic Party and two seats for the Republican Party, who decide the fifth, non-partisan chair together. This makes Washington unique because it is only one of nine states with a non-politician districting commission. This means that commissioners may not have been elected as a district, county, or state party officer, nor may they have been another type of elected official within two years of appointment to the commission. Additionally, commissioners may not have been a registered lobbyist within one year of appointment. There are also requirements during a commissioner's appointment. Commissioners may not campaign for elected office or participate in or donate to any political campaign for state or federal elected office. For two years following their service, commissioners may not hold or campaign for congressional or state legislative office.
In a staunchly divided state like Washington, it would seem beneficial to have a non-politician and bipartisan districting commission. However, it is questionable whether these requirements actually prevent political gamesmanship and gerrymandering. First, the prohibition on politicians is not a difficult hurdle to overcome. Two years without running for public office hardly prevents someone with political motivations or budding political ambitions from being selected to the commission. Further, because commissioners are selected by state legislatures, they are likely colleagues or affiliates of politicians, not far-removed non-partisan individuals as is required. Further, because the majority and minority leaders each get to pick a representative, it is likely they will pick a commissioner that represents their political ideations. Being selected by a group of politicians is not altogether different from the leaders appointing a politician to the commission.
The Washington State Redistricting Commission has not been without its flaws. The Commission was unable to come to a consensus and meet its November 15, 2021, deadline to draw district maps. Instead, the Washington State Supreme Court was tasked with drawing the state's new legislative maps. In March of this year, the chair of the commission, Sara Augustine, resigned from her position. Her decision came after the commission failed to intervene in a lawsuit regarding its own maps. She claims that in failing to defend the maps, state authorities have undermined the compromise that went into creating maps that protect the public interest. Moreover, the Commission is under suspicionfor conducting their deliberations of map drawing in private, in violation of a Washington law called the Open Public Meetings Act. This act requires all meetings of governing bodies of public agencies be open to the public. Clearly, the realities of bipartisan map drawing are not as idyllic as they may seem on paper.
While the basis of a non-politician and bipartisan districting commission sounds like a modern solution to districting issues, Washington State is an important case study testing out this theory. While the Commission may not have been wholly successful, it will be interesting to see how Washington approaches its next redistricting. If Washington, with its intense political polarization, can find a way to manage bi-partisan and apolitical districting, perhaps the rest of the nation could follow its lead.
Arizona's Newest Proof-of-Citizenship Law is Potentially Unconstitutional (Again)
By Sarah Bradley
Arizona has a well-known history of stringent anti-immigration laws and policies, from the widely covered "show me your papers" law—at the time, the strictest anti-immigration law in the country—to more recent busing of migrants to D.C., following Texas's lead. In its most recent session, the state legislature has followed this trend, passing a law that echoes an attempt in 2004 that was later struck down.
On March 30, 2022, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2492 into law, jeopardizing the voter registrations of tens of thousands of state residents. HB 2492 requires voters to demonstrate proof of citizenship at registration or within 30 days of registering to vote, despite opposing Supreme Court precedent.
In 2004, Arizona passed Proposition 200, a highly restrictive anti-immigration law which included a provision requiring voters to present proof of citizenship. After multiple legal challenges, the Supreme Court eventually struck down the proof of citizenship requirement for federal elections. In 2013, the Court heard Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc., ruling that the state could not impose this requirement on voters who use a federal voter registration form. A federal voter registration form, required by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, is prepared by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and allows registrants to vote in national elections. "Federal-only" voters are not required to provide proof of citizenship (some states may require proof of identification, a much lower burden). In response to this ruling, the Arizona legislature bifurcated the state's voting system and imposed the proof-of-citizenship requirement on state and local elections. There are currently around 31,500 federal-only voters in Arizona.
The NAACP, in an amicus brieffiled regarding Arizona v. ITC, noted that throughout the tenure of Proposition 200, Arizona found no instances in which an undocumented immigrant registered or voted in the state, yet rejected the registration applications of over 30,000 residents, with a disparate impact on the Latino population. HB 2492 is poised to have an even more destructive impact on voting access beyond the federal-only voters.
Critics of HB 2492 have argued that the new law would cause thousands of previously registered voters to lose their access to the polls. Proposition 200 included language that grandfathered in previously registered voters, but HB 2492 would supersede the old law and would retroactively apply the citizenship requirements. Marilyn Rodriguez, a lobbyist for the ACLU of Arizona, told the state Senate Government Committee prior to the passage that "thousands of eligible voters could lose access to the polls based on specific and targeted criteria. This bill singles out older voters, on average, and people who have lived in Arizona for a longer amount of time." Additionally, proof of citizenship laws have historically had a discriminatory effect on communities of color.
Estimates of the numbers of voters losing access to the polls are as high as 192,000, the number of residents who were issued a driver's license prior to 1996 and have not altered it since, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. In 1996, the state began requiring drivers to provide proof of their lawful presence in the United States, and a license is one of very few ways that a resident may prove citizenship.
Governor Ducey, in his defense of the bill, cited the high number of federal-only voters in the 2020 election—over 11,600—as evidence of its necessity to prevent election fraud. The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Jake Hoffman, claimed that it was necessary to protect elections from foreign interference. Hoffman supported former President Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen and was one of the 84 people to act as a fake elector for Trump. He also runs a marketing firm that was banned from Facebook for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior", running a "troll farm" that advocated right-wing opinions on social media, including the claim that mail-in ballots would lead to fraud. Hoffman's personal Twitter account was suspended prior to the 2020 election.
In July, the Department of Justice filed suit against the state, claiming that HB 2492 violates both Section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, called HB 2492 "a law that turns the clock back, by imposing unlawful and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections." Clarke added that the DOJ "will continue to use all of the tools provided by federal law . . . to . . . protect every qualified American seeking to participate in our democracy."
There have also been a number of other suits filed by various interest groups. If any of these suits reach the Supreme Court, the bill may be upheld, as it faces a very different Court than in 2013. Arizona Republican legislators have called the bill "a fight worth having," and Governor Ducey invited potential challengers on the left to "have at it."
HB 2492 is currently slated to go into effect on January 1, 2023.


Today I wanted to share with you a birthday card I made using the Stampin' Up! Tea Shoppe Stamp Set. I made this card for my long time girlfriend, Carol, whose birthday was on March 31. I had the card already photographed and in the envelope ready to send to her on the dining room table, when we had our house fire. Well, here it is Carol and I owe you one!
First, take a 8-1/2″ x 11″ piece of Certainly Celery Card Stock and score it at 5-1/2″. Place the scored sheet in your BIG Shot with the largest label from the Framelits Collection lining the top tip along the scored edge, as shown here.
Again, using the Framelits Labels Collection, cut the next to the largest label in the Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper and the next smallest label in Whisper White.
Distress the edges of the Certainly Celery and Whisper White with Certainly Celery Ink and a Sponge Dauber.
On a piece of Whisper White Card Stock, stamp the teacup from the Tea Shoppe Stamp Set in VersMark Ink and heat emboss it, using Gold Embossing Powder. Carefully cut out the teacup and with Markers color in the white flower and stem areas. On the distressed Whisper White piece, stamp some of the flowers above where the teacup will be adhered, so that the flowers look as though they're in the teacup.


Flexible hours and remote ability if needed depending on your team. Health benefits are good, but the Perks at Work aren't anything special.
All health benefits are very affordable, very good 401k and vacation/flex day policies. Most employees enjoy work from home days.
Unlimited vacation time, highly flexible work-life balance, and strong insurance coverage are some of the great benefits at working here.
Plenty of fringe benefits in office, but it didn't keep up with the overall compensation package for the Seattle market.
Expanded vacation days to include 4-day weekends and more floating holidays. 401k matching is okay.
Glassdoor is your resource for information about Publicis Sapient benefits and perks. Learn about Publicis Sapient , including insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and vacation policy. Benefits information above is provided anonymously by current and former Publicis Sapient employees, and may include a summary provided by the employer.