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Months of 'feeling the squeeze' dampens consumer sentiment
· Consumers spent 3.5 per cent more last month compared to July 2016, as sustained higher prices drove supermarket spending
· While Brits managed to ring-fence part of their budget for their favourite 'nice-to-haves', months of 'feeling the squeeze' have them considering the future with greater trepidation – only 28 per cent now feel confident in the UK economy, a record low
· Four in 10 consumers (43 per cent) indicate higher inflation has led them to change their everyday spending habits, with four in 10 (44 per cent) buying fewer treats for themselves
· Despite this pressure, shoppers still prioritised the experience economy, boosting entertainment spend 12.5 per cent
Consumer spending grew by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in July, the highest figure since April, as the cost of everyday groceries continued to push up spending in supermarkets. Shoppers reported another month of 'feeling the squeeze' of higher inflation and subdued wage growth, dampening confidence in the wider economy.
Data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation's credit and debit card transactions, also shows, however, that consumers received some respite from a continued drop in petrol prices, which have fallen from an average of 120p per litre at the start of the year to 113p last month. As a result, expenditure on the forecourt increased just 2.5 per cent in July, the lowest figure since August 2016.
Against this backdrop, consumers carefully budgeted for their priorities. This included the 'experience economy', or spending on leisure time with friends and family, as entertainment rose 12.5 per cent.
Expenditure on cinemas and tickets grew 24.3 per cent as Brits flocked to see new blockbusters such as Dunkirk, Baby Driver and Despicable Me 3, and snapped up tickets for the 2018 tours of Ed Sheeran and The Killers. In addition, restaurants (13.3 per cent) and pubs (11.8 per cent) remained robust as Brits enjoyed the sunny summer weather.
One category that fell down the priority list was clothing, which contracted 0.3 per cent year-on-year – in contrast with a particularly strong June (5.7 per cent). Women's clothing suffered in particular, down 4.9 per cent on July 2016.
As consumers increasingly felt the pressure from months of higher grocery prices and re-allocated their budget to make ends meet, consumer sentiment also weakened. The proportion of those confident in the UK economy fell to 28 per cent in July, the lowest figure recorded since Barclaycard began its research in 2014, and a continuation of the downward trajectory that started in March.
Proportion of consumers confident in the UK economy
The outlook on spending power has also darkened; confidence in household finances fell to 56 per cent from 69 per cent in June, and the ability to spend more on non-essentials has also declined to 43 per cent (56 per cent in June).
Four in 10 consumers (43 per cent) indicate that months of rising prices have led them to change their everyday spending habits. Of these, a majority (54 per cent) say that they are shopping at discount stores more often, and nearly three in 10 (28 per cent) are making greater use of vouchers and discount codes – in both cases striving to get the most from every pound. Another technique is to simply cut back, with four in 10 (44 per cent) buying fewer treats for themselves.
In line with June, nearly half of Brits (47 per cent) are 'feeling the squeeze' as inflation outstrips wage growth. While one in five (21 per cent) believe that the prices of everyday items will remain steady between now and the end of the year, a slim majority (51 per cent) disagree.
Paul Lockstone, Managing Director at Barclaycard, said:
"Although consumer spending growth rebounded from May and June's lacklustre performance, last month's figure should be treated with caution. While supermarkets posted a strong performance, some of that growth will be due to higher prices. As a result, consumers would have had to budget more carefully to spend on their favourite 'nice-to-haves', whether that was a night out at the cinema or a meal with friends and family.
"Months of 'feeling the squeeze' have made consumers a little more concerned about the bigger picture. Confidence on several measures, from the UK economy to household finances, are at some of the lowest levels we've ever seen, and shoppers are working increasingly hard to stretch their budget. As we head into the remainder of 2017, it will be interesting to see how Brits continue to react to this 'new normal'."


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You have likely heard about Julian Assange's embarrassing OK Cupid profile and online diary entries, recently dredged up by Gawker, and dutifully splashed across the front page of MSNBC.com. They reveal what many have suspected– that Assange (circa 2006 anyways) is arrogant, sexist and more than a little grandiose. Assange apparently thinks girls suck at math, a view, one should note, that he shares with ex-Harvard president, and recent Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers. Assange also makes gratuitous reference to his "asian teengirl stalkers," an objectifying remark, that reminds me of evil twin Mark Zuckerberg's similarly embarrassing Friendster profile (which I dredged up a few weeks ago.)
What's not found on OK Cupid or in Assange's smutty online musings is any proof that he's a rapist. And while I understand that some liberal bloggers who are already predisposed to assuming Assange's guilt or "creepiness" find validation in these latest discoveries, they only confirm that Assange is a male chauvinist– much like Mr. Summers and Mr. Zuckerberg.
What if we were to judge these men by their works, and not by their neanderthal views on women? Summers played a decisive role in ruining our national economy, and was rewarded with a powerful post in the Obama administration, from which to enrich his friends on Wall Street. Zuckerberg has repeatedly invaded the privacy of his 500 millions users for financial gain, used his bully pulpit to rehab George W. Bush's image, and sought to trademark the word "face." Julian Assange? He founded an organization that is revolutionizing journalism, challenging authoritarian governments and giving hope to social justice movements around the world.
Getting much less attention than Assange's singles ad are two brilliant essays he penned shortly after he stopped logging in to OK Cupid. Headlined "The non linear effects of leaks on unjust systems of governance" these writings offer a window into the ideas that created Wikileaks, and that will no doubt, fuel the many similar organizations emerging in its wake.
In brief: Assange explains how the invisible government– the actual ruling power in our society– is a conspiracy. (He means this literally, not in any speculative or paranoid sense.) The conspiracy thrives off of secrecy, but in order to function efficiently and communicate with itself, it needs paperwork. This paperwork leaves the conspiracy susceptible to leaks. Leaks force the system to become more secretive, and thus less efficient, leading to a breakdown in its function. This breakdown shifts the balance of power. It's a brilliant, heady essay, carefully explored in detail here. I really can't recommend it enough.
Also worth reading is this thoughtful essay defending Wikileaks from a feminist perspective. With the rape allegations threatening to tear apart an already fractured left, it is refreshing to read a trenchant feminist argument for Wikileaks and the issues it raises.
Finally, here's an inspiring story about how prisoners in Georgia are using cellphones and text messaging to coordinate and get their message to the press. No violence. This, like everything else we've seen lately, is a mixture of civil disobedience and bloodless infowar. It's inspiring stuff.
In the past several months, with the Wikileaks story, the actions of Anonymous and events like the prison protests, we're seeing the emergence of technology as an effective tool for challenging powerful institutions. Are whistleblowing websites, crowdsourced DDoS attacks and text messaging the methods which will reinvigorate activism? Perhaps we're moving beyond feel-good "clicktivism" and discovering the revolutionary potential of of our digital media.
In response to these new threats, the political establishment simply orders crackdowns and bans, trying to rewrite laws in an effort to make the problem go away. It's all reminiscent of how the music industry waged war on Napster. In that case, the industry won the battle, but lost the war. As Justin Timberlake's Sean Parker says in The Social Network: "Want to buy a Tower Records?"
Is Wikileaks the Napster (or the Friendster) of whistleblowing websites? It's likely that one of Wikileaks' imitators will learn from Assange's mistakes and build a 2.0 model, that will be able to withstand the kind of attacks coming from the political and financial establishment. If Wikileaks is the Friendster of whistleblowing sites, what will the Facebook equivalent look like? And how, short of switching off the internet, will our government then "protect" us from its secrets?

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm so tired of the shame of not owning the skills and strategies that are products of safety and security.
I wish for the world to wrap its arms around me and tell me it understands why I've not achieved what I might have. To have empathy and understanding for all the errors I made or make, for they are directly related to the trauma of my childhood.
Am I a pathetic man because the trauma in my body eclipses my ability to thrive? Do you (all twelve of you that read this) want me to stop my whining and grow some massive balls? Do me a favour, answer the question honestly in the comments.
It's continually reflected to me that I am the dictator of my own destiny. Responsible for all of my activities and inactivities. But that doesn't feel right.
When my body is kidnapped by terrifying biological trauma I am practically and emotionally crippled. For me this is incapacitating. I can no longer behave or act with forms of rationale many take for granted.
Fortunately for me there is someone in my world that knows and accepts my figuratively tiny 'balls.' My partner. What a joy she is to behold.
She tells me I'm fine just as I am (now I'm trying not to cry in my favorite cafe.) She assists me with the sorting out of 'shit' that my body won't allow me to face by myself.
I'm no longer alone with my challenges. In some ways this helps redress the void my parents left.
My partner understands how 'crippled' I can be by the trauma that eats me up. She doesn't judge me for it. That's what I needed as a child, that's what we all deserve.
My partner isn't able to empathize because she was treated with dignity and respect in her childhood. Her capacity for understanding is relative to her own abusive experiences of childhood.
She knows what it's like to feel the full force of childhood abuse in adulthood. That's why she understands my struggles and it's why I can understand hers.
And herein lies a bit of a problem. What happens when someone who's experiencing the full force of trauma doesn't have support? Where is their support? From my own experience I'd say there's very little and that's just one reason we face incredible adversity.
Abuse is something that happened in my childhood. I didn't ask for it and had no way of escaping it. It has had a profound effect on my life yet my society and culture still largely ignore it.
We're still happy to watch broken suffering children become broken suffering adults whilst we (collectively) sit back and judge.
We are able to do this because those who were raised in a secure and safe environments don't have that shared experience. They simply cannot understand the incredible impact abuse can have on an individual's life.
People are stupid enough to think everyone should be able to act and behave as they do.
These are the people who thrive. The politicians, policemen, judges, bankers, teachers etc. Not all of them would have experienced functional childhoods. Some will perhaps have experienced trauma and found a way to function well enough to exist within the parameters of their chosen professions.
The difference between the those who thrive despite abuse and those that don't could be genetic. But I'd wager most of those running this ridiculous show don't come from backgrounds of chronic abuse.
However they do have the capacity to listen. Unfortunately they're still not particularly attentive. See my last article for a prime example of a judges dismissive attitude to some kids that had been abused in foster care.
The burden of having everything smashed by my father is enough for me to carry. My self esteem and confidence were obliterated. My neural circuitry altered to exist in a constant state of fear and anxiety.
On top of this I have to carry the weight of not just societies ignorance but also their judgment and shame.
When and how are we going to find a way to stop judging those abused in childhood?


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Gabriella Kiss Bronze Canoe Earrings with Sapphire Drops
Details: Exquisitely simple and beautifully rendered miniature bronze canoes with tiny sapphire briolettes. A 14k gold ear wire gently arcs over the canoes and connects cleanly at the back of the boat, lending a gliding effect as they hang from the ear. A single, bright blue faceted sapphire drop dangles from the bottom of each canoe - a dreamy nod to the jeweled waters below.
Measurements: Overall drop is approximately 1", the width of the canoe is 1/4" and the length (front to back as they would hang from the ear) is 1 1/2".
Origin: Handmade in the Hudson Valley, New York.


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Florence is known all over the world as the city of art, the capital of the Renaissance and one of the most important centers of literary and scientific culture.
Florence is the capital city of Tuscany; it is located in the north-central part of Italy, between Rome and Milan.
Florence, for many reasons, is the ideal place to learn Italian or to improve your knowledge of the language. It is the city where the Italian language was born and where it evolved.
Florence is crossed by the Arno river and it is surrounded north and east by the mountain chain of the Apennines, south by the gentle Chianti hills (the famous wine production area) and west by the Valdarno plain.
The city has about 500.000 citizens, but if you also consider the people living in the various towns of the metropolitan area (Fiesole, Bagno a Ripoli, Scandicci, Calenzano, Campi Bisenzio, Sesto Fiorentino), the tourists who visit every year (about 4.000.000), the Italian students who study at universities and at various other schools (about 40.000), the foreign students (about 20.000), the commuters (about 30.000) and the domiciled immigrants (about 50.000), more than one million people "live" in the city every day.
Florence has one of the world's largesthistoric centers, which has such a huge number of monuments and works of art that you have the feeling you will never finish visiting and getting to know it. It seems incredible that almost half of the Italian artistic heritage is located in this city! ..... not to mention the works of art in other Italian cities, like Venice and Rome, which, all together, make up almost half of the world's artistic heritage!
Florence: the right place for your studies!
Florence is where the purest form of Italian is spoken with its distinctive and unique dialectal inflection.
Florence has an immense and rich artistic heritage and therefore it has become one of the world's artistic and cultural centers. Florence is located in the heart of the Tuscany region and in less than one hour it is possible to reach towns like Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, San Gimignano, Cortona, Pienza, Volterra and the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Florence is a rather small university and tourist city and its historic center is free from traffic and far from the metropolitan industrial area.
Therefore it is the perfect environment to attend a course of study. It is a quiet city with a low crime rate. Florence is not only rich in famous museums, churches, palaces and monuments, but also in typical small restaurants ("trattorie"), where it is possible to taste delicious Tuscan dishes, and in countless typical places where you can enjoy the evening, meet people and have fun. Florence offers plenty of live music events and shows in any period of the year. It is also rich in gardens and parks where you can relax.
It has the world's most famous fashion designers shops, as well as the typical artisan shops ("botteghe"), where it is still possible to watch painters and artists at work. During traditional events and historical re-enactments you have the feeling you are transported into Dante's or Michelangelo's time. The present and the past merge in the typical alleys of this city. For these reasons more and more tourists and students come to stay in the city and study at an Italian language school in Florence, thus creating an extremely intense cultural exchange. Studying Italian at an Italian language school in Italy means having the opportunity to live the Italian culture everyday and to practise the Italian language constantly.
Studying Italian at an Italian language school in Florence also means having an unforgettable experience in the city where the Italian language was born and where the most correct form of the language is still spoken. Also for this reason every year about 40% of the students enrolled at Italian language schools in Italy choose to attend a course at an Italian language school in Florence.


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CONSTRUCTION work is well underway on the new community hospital development in Altrincham which is now beginning to take shape.
The £17 million four-storey development on Railway Street in the town centre will replace the current Altrincham General Hospital, which dates back to the Victorian era.
Building work is on target for completion by the end of the year, with the hospital expected to open in March 2015.
Peter Mount, chairman of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT), said: "We are delighted that our plans to create a new state-of-the-art community hospital for Altrincham are coming to fruition.
"This development will be a significant boost both to local people and the local economy.
"Not only will it provide modern, high quality facilities for our existing services but also an opportunity to expand the range of clinical care that we provide to Trafford residents."
Health chiefs say the town centre location will be very convenient for patients who use public transport, while the building will be much more accessible and user-friendly for all visitors, including those with mobility problems.
They add that a wide range of high quality general and specialist outpatient and diagnostic services including the rapid treatment of minor injuries will be provided. Discussions are underway regarding the possibility of providing additional services.
The 75,000 sq ft hospital is being developed by Pochin Property in partnership with Citybranch on behalf of CMFT.


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My Homemade Apple Pie...with struesel topping! Isn't she beautiful?!
So all last week I was just so determined to make a homemade apple pie for the 4th of July. In fact, I've been wanting to make my own apple pie since like last Thanksgiving and I finally did it!!! I actually kind of cheated with the crust though...my sister Jenna gave me one of her leftover pie crusts a couple weeks ago so it's been sitting in my freezer this whole time...until Friday! Anyways, we had a great 4th of July! We went to Aaron's friends' house for breakfast, watched The Sandlot, had my sister Staci over for a gooood bbq dinner, made apple pie, hung out and then went to watch some fireworks. Here are some pictures thanks to Aaron and Staci...
Action shot...mixing the apple filling:
Here I am with my tall and handsome husband!
He was such a good helper...he helped me cut the apples
which definitely helped speed the process.
P.S. Aaron said it was the best apple pie he's ever had! He might've just been saying that but probably not because it was the best apple pie I've ever had too. :)


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Be sure to save your Albertsons double coupons in Sunday's paper. If you'd like to do multiple double transactions, stop by customer service. Last week, they had a big stack at every store I hit.
I will post double coupon scenarios tomorrow (or tonight?).
This post may contain affiliate links. See the disclosure policy for more information.


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The Evening Primrose range by Weleda is an award winning skincare series for women aged 56+. Instead of providing an anti-ageing effect, these products make mature skin look alive, a process Weleda calls "Age Revitalising". With Evening Primrose they tone and hydrate the skin whilst boosting its radiance and metabolism.
Try for yourself and discover the Evening Primrose body lotion's firming, moisturising and truly rejuvenating effects. Ingredients such as Shea Butter provide long-lasting nourishment, enhanced elasticity and make the skin absolutely radiant. LB
Suitable for vegans.
(INCI): Water (Aqua), Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil Unsaponifiables, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Glycerin, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Panicum Miliaceum (Millet) Seed Extract, Centella Asiatica Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Xanthan Gum, Tapioca Starch, Cetearyl Alcohol, Fragrance (Parfum)*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Benzyl Benzoate*, Benzyl Salicylate*, Geraniol*, Citral*, Eugenol*, Farnesol*.*from natural essential oils
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IF YOU have big things planned for February 29 this leap year, we want to hear from you.
Whether you are celebrating your birthday, getting hitched or planning to pop the question let us know your plans so we can join in the occasion.
Over at The Lydiard Beefeater Grill, staff are offering a limited- edition Will You Marry Me steak to any ladies in the town planning to propose to their beloved on the day.
Any sweethearts ordering the 7oz Rump Steak on the leap year day can request the romantically- branded meat.
It has always been the custom for men to declare their affections by dropping to one knee and asking for their loved one's hand in marriage.
Since February 29 had no status in English Law, it became a day when rigid traditions were abandoned and ladies could speak their mind and take their future into their own hands.
Amanda Barnett, of Beefeater Grill, said: "At Beefeater Grill, we'd like to offer a helping hand to those gutsy girls who are going to take a chance and tell their partners exactly how they feel. Break a leg ladies."
If you are celebrating a birthday, planning to propose, getting married or marking an anniversary contact the newsdesk on 01793 501806 or email firstname.lastname@example.com


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When the sun reaches its zenith and eclipses the shadows, it's time to face the next big challenge. Our new #FlickrFriday theme is #HighNoon, and we're already curious about your interpretations!
Take your photo for our weekly project from today until next Friday when we announce the new theme, and submit it to the group for a chance to be featured. You can also invite your friends to participate by reteweeting us or sharing our status.
Check out last week's recap post and let us show you what it feels like to be #LightAsAFeather.
#FlickrFriday is a weekly photography project that challenges your creativity. For a chance to be featured on FlickrBlog, follow follow the Flickr photostream, @flickr on Twitter & like us on Facebook and look for the weekly theme announcement every Friday. Browse the Flickr Friday category for past installations of the series.


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Subscribe To Contagion Trailer: Steven Soderbergh Is Ready To Infect You With Fear Updates
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The first trailer for Steven Soderbergh's new thriller Contagion has gone online, and you can watch it embedded below or at Apple.com for glorious, glorious HD. It's an outbreak thriller starring none less than Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, so yeah, you're probably going to want to take a look.
I guess I figured with Soderbergh directing and the seemingly straightforward premise that there would be some kind of twist, for the infection and outbreak to lead to some more massive conspiracy, for the whole thing to take place in one location, something to set it apart from other outbreak films we've seen (like, uh, Outbreak). But it seems like Soderbergh has stepped into the thriller ballpark and is playing it straight down the line, and in the way only he can, has made it intriguing all the same. Obviously the digital camera work looks fantastic, the quick cuts and close-ups making something even as mundane as a bunch of guys in suits in a room look interesting. Everyone in the cast but Damon and Paltrow seem to be some kind of higher-ups involved in epidemiology or the government, and while Paltrow kicks it in the trailer, Damon seems to be doing kind of a common-man Bourne thing as he fights to stay alive. And hey, is Soderbergh secretly a big fan of The Talented Mr. Ripley? He's reunited the entire main cast!
Surprisingly enough for a movie with this many stars and from such a major director, Contagion comes to theaters really soon, on September 9. It doesn't seem likely to be angling for Oscar attention or anything like that, but if it's as solid and gripping as this trailer is, it could be that great kind of early-fall entertainment that transitions you into the heavier stuff of October and November. Right now it's scheduled against the Nick Swardson comedy Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star, so you know you'll at least have an easy choice there.


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How do you make sure your franchise website gets found in search results? Well, you can see to it that you have a well-designed, responsive website that is optimized for search engines. But that's only part of the equation! That will get you in natural (or "organic") search results, but in today's online search world, those don't start until several listings down the page.
Google and Bing now more heavily promote paid listings — in the form of pay-per-click (PPC) ads — at the top of each search engine results page (above organic search listings). These are paid ads by businesses that want to ensure they have prominent placement in search results. With PPC ads now dominating the most desirable section of the page, it becomes easier for your franchise to get overlooked, even if it ranks highly in organic search results.
What does this mean for you as a franchise? It means you need to get more competitive with your online search strategy. You need to be present in both organic and paid search (PPC) results so you can be effective in driving more business to your franchisees.
How Do PPC Ads Work & Why Are They Effective?
With PPC ads, you only get charged each time your ad is clicked on, as opposed to each time it's displayed. This type of advertising model helps you better control your costs, and it is also more targeted in that you are reaching people who are more likely to be interested in your services (people who are searching for keywords related to your franchise and people who are choosing to click on your ads). Meanwhile, it allows you to easily track the performance of your ads, such as through clicks and online conversions.
Are you about to get started with PPC? Here are a few best practices to follow:
Choose the Most Effective Keywords
To ensure that your PPC ads show up in the right online searches, you need to use the right keywords. These should be words and terms that are related to the services you offer, as well as words and terms that your target audience would be more likely to type into a search engine.
In addition to thinking about what the most popular keywords are, you also have to consider the competition. The more competitive the keywords are, the higher the cost per click (CPC) will be. As a result, you may find it best to choose more specific keywords that are less competitive and less costly, but still effective in converting online visitors into customers. One example is using "Hollywood exterior painter" instead of the more competitive term "Los Angeles house painter."
Another helpful strategy is to use negative keywords, which help you prevent your ads from appearing when certain words are entered into search engines — such as service areas that you don't want leads for or service areas that don't apply in the current season. Remember to test out different keywords and negative keywords in your ad campaigns, and to continually research changes in the search behaviors of your target audience using tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends.
Get Organized
Before you get started with any PPC ad campaigns, you need to get organized. Your service or product categories should be divided into separate ad campaigns, which will consist of their own ad groups. Each ad group should consist of a set of relevant keywords, which will be used in your individual ads. You will also need to set your daily budget (or how much you are willing to spend on PPC advertising per day on average) and your maximum cost-per-click, or max. CPC, bids (the highest amount you are willing to spend per click). You cannot run an effective PPC campaign without the right amount of planning and organization.
Refine Your Campaign with Additional Targeting Strategies
In addition to using the best keywords, there are also many other ways that you can target the right audience. The beauty of PPC ad campaigns is that they can be easily customized by factors such as location, language, device, specific times of the day, frequency, and more. You can even use ad extensions that provide important business information (such as a franchisee's phone number) with your text ads. There are plenty of ways to make your PPC ads more competitive!
Close the Loop from Clicks to Clients
To get the best results from your PPC strategy, you will have to focus on more than just getting people to click on your ads or call your franchisees. Your key focus should be "closing the loop" and getting them to convert from leads into customers! You can do this by writing persuasive ad copy that features strong selling points and calls to action (CTAs), and also by providing high-quality, informative content on your landing pages and website to assist with the online conversion process.
Watch, Learn & Adjust
Your job isn't over once you start running your PPC ads. The next step is to keep an eye on the results and make adjustments where needed. It can take time to find the combination of settings that works best for your campaigns. Remember that PPC advertising should ultimately be measured by the new business acquired from your ads and your overall return on investment (ROI) rather than just click volume and cost per click (CPC) or cost per lead (CPL). As a result, you will need to consider which keywords, ads, landing pages, and so on are bringing in the most customers.
PPC advertising can get very complex, so you may want to consider working with an online marketing specialist who fully understands the ins and outs of PPC. Call Scorpion so our franchise marketing experts can help you create a PPC strategy that will give your franchise the exposure it needs.
Want to learn more about how to measure ROI for your franchise marketing efforts? Download our free guide!


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All events
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Luminous Disturbances: Paintings by Kara Maria
Exhibit - Painting | September 10 – December 14, 2018 every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday | Stephens Hall, Townsend Center for the Humanities
Townsend Center for the Humanities
Kara Maria's "cheerfully apocalyptic" paintings engage with a host of political issues, including war and environmental destruction. On display at the Townsend Center for the Humanities Sept 10 - Dec 14, 2018.
The Handmaid's Tale: an exhibit at Moffitt Library
Exhibit - Multimedia | September 5 – December 31, 2018 every day | Moffitt Undergraduate Library, 3rd Floor near Elevators
The new Moffitt Library exhibit explores the themes and antecedents of The Handmaids Tale, this years On the Same Page program selection. On exhibit are library materials and quotes that demonstrate that not only were we wrong to say it cant happen here - it has already happened, all over the world: Berlin, Nazi Germany, Argentina, and yes, here in the US.
UC Berkeley ID required for entrance to Moffitt Library.
William Shakespeare's Cymbeline: King of Britain
Performing Arts - Theater: English Department and Affiliated | December 5 | 6:30-8:30 p.m. | B4 Dwinelle Hall
The class of 117T, Berkeley English
The class of 117T presents William Shakespeare's Cymbeline: King of Britain.


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Ona Chan Jewelry - Mimi Too Line
Inspired by her daughter's drawings, New York jewelry designer Ona Chan designed the Mimi Too Line to capture the innocence of a child's drawings and is reflected in her latest line of jewelry.
These solid sterling silver toggle necklaces are adorned with 6 Flowers (1 with stem) and a Bee shaped solid sterling silver charms. Each charm is plated with Rhodium to provide added strength and prevents oxidation.
The necklace measures 17.5" in length. This piece is so whimsical and is a perfect gift!
We love these necklaces for their quality, uniqueness and fun.


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Free to Choose
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement (1980) is a book and a ten-part television series broadcast on public television by economists Milton and Rose D. Friedman that advocates free market principles. It was primarily a response to an earlier landmark book and television series: The Age of Uncertainty, by the noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Milton Friedman won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1976.
|Milton Friedman
Rose Friedman
|United States
Publication date
|Media type
|xii, 338
|LC Class
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement maintains that the free market works best for all members of a society, provides examples of how the free market engenders prosperity, and maintains that it can solve problems where other approaches have failed. Published in January 1980, the 297 page book contains 10 chapters. The book was on the United States best sellers list for 5 weeks.
PBS telecast the series, beginning in January 1980. The general format was that of Dr. Friedman visiting and narrating a number of success and failure stories in history, which he attributes to capitalism or the lack thereof (e.g. Hong Kong is commended for its free markets, while India is excoriated for relying on centralized planning especially for its protection of its traditional textile industry). Following the primary show, Dr. Friedman would engage in discussion moderated by Robert McKenzie with a number of selected debaters drawn from trade unions, academy and the business community, such as Donald Rumsfeld (then of G.D. Searle & Company) and Frances Fox Piven of City University of New York. The interlocutors would offer objections to or support for the proposals put forward by Friedman, who would in turn respond. After the final episode, Friedman sat down for an interview with Lawrence Spivak.
The series was rebroadcast in 1990 with Linda Chavez moderating the episodes. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, Steve Allen and others give personal introductions for each episode in the series. This time, after the documentary part, Friedman sits down with a single opponent to debate the issues raised in the episode.
Guest debatersEdit
Guest debaters included:
- Gregory Anrig (Commissioner of Massachusetts Department of Education) – Episode 6
- Jagdish Bhagwati (economist) – Episode 2
- Samuel Bowles (economist) – Vol. 3 Episode 5
- William H. Brady (Founder and President of W.H. Brady Co.) – Episode 8
- Clarence J. Brown (politician) – Episode 9
- Joan Claybrook (Administrator of the NHTSA) – Episode 7
- Barber Conable (politician, President of the World Bank) – Episode 1
- John Coons (law professor, school choice activist) – Episode 6
- Robert Crandall (Brookings Institution economist) – Episode 7
- Richard Deason (IBEW union leader) – Episode 2
- James R. Dumpson (bureaucrat, social worker, academic) – Episode 4
- Otmar Emminger (President of Deutsche Bundesbank) – Episode 9
- Bob Galvin (CEO of Motorola, Inc.) – Episode 1
- Ernest Green (U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor) – Episode 8
- Michael Harrington (author, academic, activist) – Episode 1
- Nicholas von Hoffman (journalist, political commentator/columnist) – Episode 3
- Helen Hughes (economist) – Episode 2
- Peter Jay (economist, journalist, diplomat) – Episodes 3, 5
- Robert Lampman (economist) – Episode 4
- Richard Landau (medical professor) – Episode 7
- Robert Lekachman (economist) – Episode 3
- William McChesney Martin (former Chairman of the Federal Reserve) – Episode 9
- Helen Bohen O'Bannon (economist, bureaucrat, social worker) – Episode 4
- Kathleen O'Reilly (CFA consumer advocate) – Episode 7
- Russell W. Peterson (chemist, politician) – Episode 1
- Frances Fox Piven (academic) – Episode 5
- Donald Rumsfeld (politician, President of G. D. Searle & Company) – Episode 2
- Albert Shanker (President of UFT and AFT teachers' unions) – Episode 6
- Thomas Shannon (Executive Director of the NSBA) – Episode 6
- Thomas Sowell (economist, author, columnist) – Episodes 4, 5
- Beryl Wayne Sprinkel (Executive Vice President of Harris Bank) – Episode 9
- Peter Temin (economist) – Episode 3
- Lynn R. Williams (International Secretary of United Steelworkers) – Episode 8
- Walter E. Williams (economist, political commentator) – Episode 8
Positions advocatedEdit
The Friedmans advocate laissez-faire economic policies, often criticizing interventionist government policies and their cost in personal freedoms and economic efficiency in the United States and abroad. The authors argue against government taxation on gas and tobacco and government regulation of the public school systems. The Friedmans argue that the Federal Reserve exacerbated the Great Depression by neglecting to prevent the decline of the money supply in the years leading up to it.
On the subject of welfare, the Friedmans argue that current welfare practices are creating "wards of the state" as opposed to "self-reliant individuals" and suggest a negative income tax as a less harmful alternative. The Friedmans also argue for abolishing the Food and Drug Administration, tighter control of Fed money supply, and the repeal of laws favoring labor unions.
Video chapters (1980 version)Edit
- The Power of the Market
- The Tyranny of Control
- Anatomy of Crisis
- From Cradle to Grave
- Created Equal
- What's Wrong with Our Schools?
- Who Protects the Consumer?
- Who Protects the Worker?
- How to Cure Inflation
- How to Stay Free
Video chapters (1990 version)Edit
- The Power of the Market – Introduction by Arnold Schwarzenegger
- The Tyranny of Control – Introduction by George Shultz
- Freedom and Prosperity (featured only in the 1990 version) – Introduction by Ronald Reagan
- The Failure of Socialism (original title: "What's Wrong With Our Schools?") – Introduction by David Friedman
- Created Equal – Introduction by Steve Allen
- Angus Burgin, Age of Certainty: Galbraith, Friedman, and the Public Life of Economic Ideas. In: Tiago Mata/Steven G. Medema (eds.), The Economist as Public Intellectual (History of Political Economy, annual supplement), Durham 2013, pp. 191–219
- Sören Brandes, "Free to choose": Die Popularisierung des Neoliberalismus in Milton Friedmans Fernsehserie (1980/90), in: Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History 12, no. 3 (special issue "Marketization", edited by Ralf Ahrens, Marcus Böick, Marcel vom Lehn), December 2015, pp. 526–33


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Essay Topic 1
Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.
Essay Topic 2
What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence?
Essay Topic 3
To what degree is this book internally consistent? How much does it follow the rules it lays out? Where does it diverge from those rules?
Essay Topic 4
Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?
Essay Topic 5
How realistic is this book? What parts are not believable? What leaps of faith does the author require of the reader? Are these leaps...
This section contains 679 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)


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Z the terrier here! I'm a dog Robin walks and trains most weeks, and Chris likes to let me do some of the reviews because I LOVE to try out lots of different things! Plus, my breath is a lot worse than his...which is why I'm trying out Merrick Fresh Kisses Double-Brush Breath Strips! This kind is mint.
Looks yum! On the way to my house Robin had this treat in her pocket so it melted a bit, making it easy for her to break apart and give to me. BOL! Good to know if you want bite-sized breath mints for your small dog!
No dog would be able to resist the tempting smell and taste of these treats! I had my first lick and I'm so ready for more!
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It seems remarkable that to celebrate the anniversary of the Tour De France in Harrogate, the council have painted No Cycling signs on several paths on the Stray.
The popularity of particular cycle routes is self selecting - if a lot of people use a specific path, it must be because it provides a useful link.
All four paths near Tewit Well have always been useful 'unofficial' cycle routes and, due to where they go, they always will be.
If they need widening slightly to become official shared use paths, then the council should consult on the matter. Just painting No Cycling on them is avoiding the issue.
Interestingly, W Haythornthwaite, in his book Harrogate Story states "...the road from the Prince of Wales to the Tewit Well. This road is now a walk, but because of its ancient status, it may be used by cyclists."
This path is slightly over two metres wide, that's a bit wider than the Beryl Burton path, the Starbeck to Bilton railway path and the viaduct to Ripley section of the Nidderdale Greenway.
These are all shared use paths, so there is really no good reason to ban cycling on this Stray path.
In Cambridge nearly all the paths across the parks and commons are shared use (and some are less than two metres wide) and they work fine. Common sense will always override illogical rules.
Richard Myers
St Catherines Road, Harrogate


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Quick Reference
(RE 26a, Suppl. 7),
of Nicaea (1), of uncertain date (100 bc–ad 200), author of philosophical Successions (Διαδοχαί), used as a source by Diogenes (6) Laertius.
David N. Sedley
Subjects: Classical Studies.
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Reference entries
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This is your bi-weekly calendar for in-person and virtual events in Northern and Southern California. Here are the best upcoming events from July 31 through August 16.
Every two weeks, we're sharing and promoting free and affordable events that help small business owners run their businesses better. This is your bi-weekly calendar for in-person and virtual events in Northern and Southern California. Here are the best upcoming events from July 31 through August 16.
Northern California/Sacramento
Modesto: Business Start Up
Date: August 8, 2017 | 8:00 am PDT – 10:00 am PDT
Location: Kirk Lindsey Center
1020 10th St. Suite 102 Modesto, CA 95354 (map it)
Contact: Peni Hogwood | firstname.lastname@example.com | (209) 422-6416
Organization: Valley Sierra SBDC Modesto
Fee: Free
If you dream of owning your own business and think you have what it takes to be successful, this free two hour workshop is for you.
Join us for an entrepreneur's introduction to the basics of starting a new business. Bring your ideas for your business model—rough ideas are okay too! Get answers to your questions like:
- Is your idea viable?
- What kind of financing will it take to open your business?
- Why do you need a business plan?
- What are the risks, pitfalls, and requirements of opening a new business?
- And more!
Click here to register for this event.
California Small Business Insurance Requirements Seminar
Date: August 3, 2017 | 2:00 pm PDT – 3:00 pm PDT
Location: 4608 Duckhorn Dr. Sacramento, CA 95834 (map it)
Contact: Catrina Avila | email@example.com | (916) 527-8400
Organization: Veterans Business Outreach Program
Fee: Free
California law mandates employers to have certain types of insurance, including workers' compensation, unemployment, and (contingent on the business location) disability insurance, and others depending on your type of business. Join this seminar to learn the difference between the types of insurance and how to get started for your business.
Click here to register for this event. This seminar is also available as a webinar. Click here for more information.
WE Thrive Together on Tuesday: Being Bold With Heart – Networking Success Tips You Can Implement Now
Date: August 5, 2017 | 12:00 pm PDT – 1:30 pm PDT
Location: Moseley Family Cellars
4713 Mountain Lakes Blvd. Suite 300 Redding, CA 96003 (map it)
Contact: email@example.com | (530) 926-6670
Organization: Jefferson Economic Development Institute (JEDI)
Fee: Free
Join the Jefferson Economic Development Institute (JEDI) for this networking opportunity that will help you create a story for your small business.
Women share a desire to connect. We value our relationships. Together, let's explore why our female assets are admirable in business development.
Discover these building blocks for small business success:
- Define what "convenience" means for you in business development
- Create a personal asset inventory
- Engage your top 3 personality assets for successful marketing ideas
Click here or call (503) 926-6670 to register for this event.
Southern California/San Diego
How to Start Your Business Financials in Excel
Date: August 9, 2017 | 12:00 pm PDT – 2:00 pm PDT
Location: 13430 Hawthorne Blvd. Hawthorne, CA 90250 (map it)
Contact: Martha Cisneros | email@example.com | (310) 973-3177
Organization: SBDC Hosted by El Camino College
Fee: Free
Overcome your fear of starting with an empty Excel spreadsheet. Learn the basic Excel functions necessary to develop your financials and then build a basic Profit and Loss statement for your business in this workshop.
For maximum impact you may bring your laptop to follow along, but it is not required. Basic computer knowledge is required for this class.
Click here to register for this event.
Demystifying the Commercial Leasing Process
Date: August 9, 2017 | 1:30 pm PDT – 4:30 pm PDT
Location: Mission Viejo City Hall—Saddleback Room
200 Civic Center Mission Viejo, CA 92691 (map it)
Contact: (714) 550-7369
Organizations: Orange County SCORE
Fee: $35 via pre-registration online $45 at the door (cash or check only)
Commercial building owners and their agents each have a strong background in negotiating leases, which most commercial tenants lack. This course can help you even the score with skills on how to lease the right office, industrial, or retail space for your business.
Leasing commercial property takes knowledge and skill. Whether you are planning to lease a commercial property on your own or use the services of a qualified broker, this seminar will guide you through the steps of the process and prepare you for signing your lease with confidence.
Click here to register for this event.
Communicating & Negotiating Effectively Across Cultures
Date: August 10, 2017 | 10:00 am PDT – 12:00 pm PDT
Location: San Diego Public Library—Mary Hollis Clark Conference Center
330 Park Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101 (map it)
Contact: Cynthia Harris | email@example.com | (619) 727-4885
Organization: SBA San Diego District Office
Fee: Free
In today's global environment, we must work with people from other cultures. Communicating with people with different cultural groups can be challenging, whether they are colleagues we are working with, suppliers and clients we are doing business with, or direct reports we are supervising. Each culture has its own rules and norms, which prescribe the attitudes and behaviors considered normal within that culture.
Our cultural background programs the way we view and interpret the world around us. Few of us are aware of our own cultural biases and baggage. This workshop will help you develop effective communication skills with people from other cultures through mindful and conscious learning.
Click here to register for this event.
Low Cost Marketing Ideas
Date: August 3, 2017 | 9:00 am PDT – 10:30 am PDT
Location: Online—Webinar
Contact: Melissa Terrell | firstname.lastname@example.com
Organization: The Women's Business Center of North Carolina
Fee: Free
Learn how to create a marketing strategy that supports your business goals. This seminar will cover the best free and low-cost marketing tools and help promote your business without breaking the bank.
Click here to register for this event.
Demystifying Business Insurance
Date: August 10, 2017 | 12:30 pm PDT – 2:00 pm PDT
Location: Online—Webinar
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com | (206) 553-7310
Organization: SBA Seattle District Office
Fee: Free
You've embarked on the incredible journey of starting your own business. You completed your business plan and worked with a top notch attorney to set up the right business structure for your new business. You found a prime location and space for your business and you're ready to launch. There's just one little thing left: insurance.
You have no idea what types of insurance coverage you need. The information your friends or family members tell you about insurance is confusing and may not be accurate.
This webinar from the SBA will help you get started with business insurance. Get answers to your questions:
- Why do I need insurance?
- What is the difference between first party and third party insurance coverage?
- What are the common types of insurance coverage for business owners?
- Why should I select available "optional" coverage?
- How do I find the right business insurance agent?
- What are the common myths about insurance?
- And more!
The SBA Seattle District Office offers free workshops the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Here's an upcoming slate of free August events:
- Webinar | August 10 | 9 – 10:30 a.m. | Make the World's Biggest Buyer Your Customer through Government Contracting
- Webinar | August 10 | 12:30 – 1 p.m. | Demystifying Business Insurance
- Webinar | August 10 | 2:15 -3:45 p.m. | DIY Market Research with the U.S. Census Bureau
- Seattle (in-person event) | August 24 | 9 – 10:30 a.m. | Meet the Lenders: How to Finance Your Small Business
- Seattle (in-person event) | August 24 | 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Your Business Plan: Do the Financials Add Up?
- Seattle (in-person event) | August 24 | 1 – 2:30 p.m. | Best Financial Practices for Your Business
Click here to register for this event and to get more information on upcoming seminars from the SBA Seattle District office.
Small Business Mentoring for your LGBT Business
Date: August 15, 2017| 7:00 am PDT – 8:00 am PDT
Location: Online—Webinar
Contact: Valerie Maher | firstname.lastname@example.com | (713) 773-6500
Organization: SBA Houston District Office
Fee: Free
Join this free webinar for entrepreneurs. You'll get information about:
- How to get business counseling through SCORE, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and Women's Business Center (WBC)
- How to grow your business
- How the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce can help your business
- How small businesses benefit from SBA programs
Speakers will include:
- SBA Houston District Office Experts
- GHLGBTCC Chamber Leadership
- LGBT Business Owner
This workshop is open to all and we encourage the following groups to attend:
- LGBT business owners (or prospective business owners)
- Currently certified LGBTBEs seeking new growth strategies
- Local business leaders
- Supplier Diversity and procurement professionals
- Anyone committed to the economic advancement of LGBT community
Click here to register for this event.
We're looking for upcoming events to promote to small business owners like you. If you have an event you'd like to share with fellow business owners, contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
For information about Opportunity Fund's small business loans, please contact us at 866-299-8173 or firstname.lastname@example.com. For questions about your existing loan or other customer service questions, please contact us at 866-299-8173 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Opportunity Fund is California's largest and fastest-growing nonprofit lender to small businesses. In fiscal year '16, we made $60M in loans to help more than 2,200 small business owners invest in their businesses. Opportunity Fund invests in small business owners who do not have access to traditional financing. As a founding member and signatory to the Borrower's Bill of Rights, we believe in the important role small businesses play in our community and the economy, and we aim to help owners financially succeed.
Visit us online at opportunityfundloan.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter


text: There is no need to adjust the back or foot rest on the Cloe mono block super modern patio and pool lounge chair from MYYOUR. This sleek sun lounger is perfect for residential or commercial use and is waterproof and resistant to UV-rays making it virtually care free. The Cloe patio and pool lounge chair is available in glossy and embossed finishes or White, Black, Bronze, Blu Avio, Red, Beige, Silver, and Grey imitation leather.


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For a long time now, Bethesda has been rather silent about the purported sequel to its Fallout 3, which is expected to be named as Fallout 4. A passionate fan of the franchise has now started a petition which requests an official statement from the game's developer regarding the title's existence.
Players can check out the petition over here if they would like to lend their support.
"I believe it's about time Bethesda gives us some hints on Fallout 4," the change.org petition reads. "After the Survivor hoax and the *intentionally* leaked Fallout 4 script on Kotaku, we NEED to know if Fallout 4 is being made and whether it will be set in Boston or not.
"We do not ask for much; just throw us a bone, tell us you're working on it," the petition says. "If you're thinking the same way that I do, please SIGN this petition. You can make a difference!"
The development comes after Kotaku obtained a collection of documents that were leaked from a recent casting call. Even though "fallout" wasn't mentioned anywhere in the documents, there was enough information in it, allowing fans to believe that a game was in the works. There is some speculation that the leak might have even been intentional. You can learn more about that leak here.
Apart from this, in December 2013, the game's developer released a Christmas card which dampened all hope of a 2014 release of Fallout 4. The card came out on the company's blog and its contents suggested that fans should expect certain titles from the company to be released in 2014. The big disappointment was that Fallout 4 was not on the list of titles that will be out in 2014.


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Sen. Ron Johnson Breaks 200 Years of Precedent for Anti-Children, Anti-Worker, Pro-Corporate Supreme Court Justice
After two centuries of precedent and Senate tradition, Sen. Ron Johnson and his fellow Republican Senators voted today to blow up the Senate rules for President Donald Trump's extreme Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch has shown time and time again that his ideas are far outside the judicial mainstream, and have no place on our nation's highest court.
Gorsuch's extreme record should keep him from ever being a Supreme Court justice, but Sen. Ron Johnson decided to abandon 200 years of tradition and dissolve the 60-vote threshold for appointments to the Supreme Court. The decision to invoke a "nuclear option" and lower the vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees undermines the Senate and our democracy.
Gorsuch's decisions have been wildly pro-corporate and both anti-worker's and women's rights, such as his decision in the Hobby Lobby case allowing a corporation to strip crucial contraceptives from its employees' health care plan. His decisions have often been cruel: he once declared that a trucker had committed a fireable offense by seeking shelter after his employer left him stranded for hours in sub-zero weather with no heat and his body beginning to go numb. Gorsuch supported using a legal standard that would deny disabled children a decent education, an interpretation of the law rejected by every sitting Supreme Court Justice. Anyone with views as extreme and ludicrous as these has no place on the highest court in the land.
It's clear that if confirmed, Gorsuch will be too extreme of a justice to be an independent check on the Trump Administration. In a time when our President is under FBI investigation and continues to push potentially unconstitutional actions, it is crucial the court remains objective.
"Today, Republicans in Washington demonstrated just how low they'll go to hold on to power and usher Donald Trump's anti-democratic agenda through Congress," Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Brandon Weathersby said on Thursday. "Supreme Court justices can alter the rights and freedoms of all Americans. The highest court in the land plays one the most important roles in our democracy and Sen. Ron Johnson just voted to confirm justices to the bench with party-line votes."


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Sean Murphy*
Chris Finlayson, the Attorney General of New Zealand, has issued a report on a euthanasia bill that has been introduced by Member of Parliament David Seymour, the leader and only sitting member of ACT New Zealand.
This bill includes protection of conscience provisions that were considered by Mr. Finlayson in his report (paragraphs 62-65). The Attorney General stated that the provisions require an objecting medical practitioner to refer a patient to another physician for euthanasia, and acknowledged that this infringed freedom of conscience guaranteed by New Zealand's Bill of Rights. However, he believed this to be consistent with the Bill of Rights:
I consider that the limit is justified for the effective functioning of the regime for assisted dying created by the Bill. In particular, I consider that the requirement to identify another medical practitioner is necessary to meet the objective of the Bill and is the most minimal impairment of the right possible.(para. 64)
The Attorney General appears to be confused on this point.
In fact, Section 7(2) of the bill requires only that the patient be told that he may contact the "SCENZ Group" (euthanasia coordination/facilitation service) to obtain the name of a euthanasia practitioner or physician willing to assist in the process. It is up to the patient to initiate contact with the SCENZ Group, and the bill does not require a physician to assist the patient to do so. This does not amount to referral to a euthanasia practitioner.
The distinction is important because physicians who object to euthanasia for reasons of conscience often refuse to refer patients for the procedure on the grounds that doing so would make them parties to homicide. This issue is the focus of an important constitutional challenge in Canada, where the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is attempting to compel unwilling physicians to make effective referrals for euthanasia and assisted suicide.


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Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Just for fun, a rocket launch seen from my hometown Oulu, Finland
I made this image manipulation to show the actual scale of the Saturn rocket in everyday environment.
Image shows my hometown from the marketplace and there is a map attached showing the locations.
The Height of the Apollo rocket is around 110m. The church, seen at left in the image, is about 54m high.
A Saturn V launch from Oulu
Click for a large photo
The Map
Other well known landmarks seen in Oulu at scale
Cheops Pyramid
Click for a large photo
The Empire State Building
Click for a large photo
Posted by J-P Metsavainio at 11:47 AM
Labels: Astronomical Art
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As the ICT world looks forward to the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) 2013 National Software Conference and Competition, the UN has endorsed the need to place software high on the nation's development agenda. Professor Emeritus Tapio Varis the UN Chair on e-Learning will be delivering the Keynote at the event scheduled to hold between 22-23 October, 2013 at the Tinapa Knowledge City, Tinapa, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
The forward looking ICT event is organized annually by ISPON in partnership with the Government of Cross-River State. The 2013 Theme is: "Software Strategies for Retooling the Workforce (SORWORK)". The Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke has also reaffirmed his commitment and support to the event.
Prof. Tapio Varis – UNESCO Chair in Global e-Learning and Chair of Professional Education, with an emphasis on global learning environment at the Research Centre for Vocational Education, University of Tampere, Finland. He is a Principal Research Associate at UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and a member of the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, the European Commission Media Literacy Expert Group, and the Digital Literacy Expert Group.
The conference audience is expected to include International/ECOWAS ICT Experts, Nigerian ICT Professionals/Engineers, Hot-Head Coders/Software-Developers, Government Policy makers from Federal and State MDAs, Lecturers and Researchers, Venture Capitalists, Students of Computer Science related courses from tertiary institutions around the federation, ICT Journalists and other stakeholders.
In addition to the Keynote to be delivered by Prof. Emeritus Tapio Vari, the selected distinguished Expert group includes the following: Dr. Engr. Ernest Ndukwe – Former EVC of NCC & Chairman Open Media Group, Prof. Pat Utomi – founder, Center for Values in Leadership, Hon. Amb. Nkoyo Toyo – Member Federal House of Representatives, Engr. Alfred Okoigun – MD/CEO Arco Petrochemicals Ltd, Barbara James – founder Henshaw Capital Partners, Prof. Charles Ayo – VC Covenant University and Prof. Musbau Akanji – VC FUT Minna.
The release from ISPON indicates that Prof. Tapio is already promoting the conference internationally in USA, Europe, Japan and Africa, at the highest level of Intellectual knowledge Domain which is evident from his correspondence with President, ISPON, Mr. Chris Uwaje. He expressed the desire to " make Nigeria more visible internationally in the media".
This year ISPON will give significant room to speakers, between the ages of 22 to 35 "in line with global practices as the revolution in the ICT industry is driven by this group of people. Experienced industry practitioners would serve as session discussants and panelists".
ISPON has created a Broadband Pavilion at the 2013 conference venue to promote inclusive broadband connectivity in the country. The National Broadband Initiative and Plan will be highlighted and opportunities provided for Service providers, policy makers and regulators to showcase broadband plans and strategies. A Free Software Gate will be provided for software start-ups will showcase their software solutions to conference participants.
The Software competition is a major highlight and crowd puller – students from Tertiary institutions in the country will compete for top honours, the title of "Best Software Developer Team" of the year and outstanding reward and recognition at the event
ISPON is wished a successful hosting of the 2013 National Software Conference and Competition. Software development is critical to the growth of the ICT industry in particular and the nation in general. Individuals and organizations are urged to spread the message and support the visionary role of ISPON.


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Guerrero has won two big fights since moving up to the welterweight division this year in beating Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto. Both wins were decisive, and Guerrero did a good job of winning despite showing a lack of big power in both. Although he's moved up from the lightweight division, Guerrero hasn't lost his high work rate that he was known for in the lower weight classes.
Mayweather had one of his worst performances in his career in his last fight against Miguel Cotto last May. Floyd won the fight but he took some terrible punishment and he looked like he's lost a step or two.
WBC junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO's) is being talked about as being the co-main event for this pay per view card on HBO. Alvarez's potential opponents for the fight are Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland or Austin Trout.
Although Trout would seem to be the one that most deserves the fight, Alvarez's promoters at Golden Boy Promotions have made no secret about still wanting to make the Cotto-Alvarez fight despite Cotto losing to Trout.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said recently that Trout needs to do more to earn a shot against Canelo. Apparently, beating Cotto isn't enough, and Schaefer wants Trout to pick up three to four more big wins before he'll consider him. Hopefully, he'll change his mind and let Trout face Alvarez, but I have my doubts that will happen.


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Ireland has a temperate oceanic climate heavily influenced by the country's close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The average temperature is 50 F. The climate is mild and moist with plenty of rainfall and no extreme variances in temperature.
The North Atlantic Current carries warm water to Ireland, which results in warmer winters and prevents ice formation on the coast. Between February and April, the temperature ranges from 46 F to 54 F. From May to July, the average temperature is between 64 F and 68 F. From August to October, the average drops to a range of 57 F to 64 F. January and February are considered the coldest months, with temperatures occasionally at or below freezing. Each year Ireland experiences over 40 days of air frost.
May and June are the sunniest months of the year, with an average of five to six hours of sunshine per day. The months of December and January receive the most rainfall, surpassing 118.1 inches. Fogs occur between eight and 99 days a year. Snow, hail, thunderstorms and tornadoes are rare. Each year less than 10 tornadoes are reported. Any unpredictable weather in Ireland is caused by the influence of the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Drift, the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland's latitude and Arctic winds.


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Editing Options in SharePoint 2010
In SharePoint 2010, you can configure your views so that they aren't just views — they can be used for data entry as well. SharePoint 2010 has added new options to improve the data entry experience. The two options that make that possible are inline editing and Tabular view.
Inline editing displays a form in your view that allows users to enter a new item or edit existing items. To use the form, a user with permission to edit the list can click an icon to create a new list item or click any item to edit it.
The following shows an item being edited inline. The icon below the item being edited can be used to add a new item to the list.
Having the option to edit and add items inline is valuable for creating data entry applications. You can use the inline editing option in a Web Part so that users can add or edit items right on the home page of your team site.
Tabular view displays check boxes next to each item in the view. By clicking one or several check boxes, a user can use the Ribbon to perform actions, such as checking in, on the selected items.


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Hey Everyone!
Being an oily skin girl I always crave for shine control and mattefying  products for myself. It is not easy to cope with oily skin when it comes to makeup application. I always crave for makeup products that provide matte finish that last long.
Today I am going to share my thoughts on NYX Hydra Touch Powder Foundation.
Price: INR 2500 ! ( I got this one along with NYX mail though) I must say its just too expensive for my liking.
About NYX Hydra Touch Powder Foundation
NYX Hydra Touch Powder Foundation – 9gm :
A weightless pressed powder that offers buildable coverage with a matte finish. With silky shades to choose from, the Hydra Touch Powder Foundation can be applied dry or wet. The NYX innovative formula also contains moisturizing botanical extracts to leave skin feeling soft and fresh.
- Weightless powder for a matte finish.
- Multi-use powder foundation, can be used dry or wet.
- Contains moisturising botanical extracts for soft and fresh skin.
Additional Information: NYX Cosmetics is a leading US Based makeup brand adored globally by all beauty lovers and professional makeup artists.NYX offers an exceptional quality of professional makeup & beauty products in super stylish and modern packaging.The Brand has a variety of cosmetics ranging from their highly pigmented and striking lipsticks and glosses, eye-catching eyeshadows, eye and lip liners, high coverage base makeup foundation, concealers and primers for all skin types along with stunning eye palettes, eyeshadows and makeup tools to choose from.
First Impression of NYX Hydra Touch Powder Foundation
This powder foundation comes in sleek black round case packaging with white color detailing on the outer black packaging. The highlights of the product has mentioned at the bottom of the foundation case. The round case of foundation is really sturdy and royal looking and I would love to carry it in my bag.
The texture of powder foundation is amazingly soft and smooth and nicely milled. I think these kind of face base products have properties of multiple laying without giving cakey finish. NYX states that it hydrates skin and gives soft and natural looking finish. The shade 'Honey' they have sent to me is looking really dark for my NC 35 skin tone! :(. The great thing about this product is, it comes with soft sponge applicator and in built mirror..Yay!
I am dying to try this baby and soon I'll do a detail post on this one.
Enjoy the photos and swatches guys, I 'll see you again with some other interesting post ,till then bbye. 🙂


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It was Olive's funeral last week and she'd have been very happy with the the service and the turnout. Friends and neighbours got together to celebrate her long life. We sang her favourite hymns and I read one of her poems.
Journey Unknown by Olive Brown
Life's an adventure of the unknown
Not fully completed, 'til we are full-grown
The road that is travelled, maybe thorny or smooth
As we learn from experience of many a truth.
Sadness and gladness are mixtures entwined
As on Life's journey we continually find
The stairway to lift us, as we forward go
To success or failure - we none of us know?
As on this journey, we meet other folk
Heavy or light, their bearing of yoke
Sharing their laughter, and often their tears
Helping them overcome imaginary fears.
Childhood, Youth, Prime, and mature Age
All have their problems at whatever stag
But blessings abound in surprise places
As the journey takes us, with short of long paces.
The journey near done, we look back with quiet thoughts
And those memories of varying sorts
Trusting we've been a blessing to all
With a free conscience, when we hear 'The Call.'
Olive, it was and will always be a privilege to have known you. Thank you xxx


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HEASARC support for unencrypted FTP access ended on September 20, 2019. Please see this notice for details.
[Advanced Search]
The high quality CCD spectra obtained by ASCA (see the front cover) have
revealed limitations in the plasma code models, that were not important for
the previous generation of lower resolution X-ray spectrometers. This issue of
Legacy contains two articles on this issue. The first is a report on a plasma
codes workshop that was held at the Napa Valley meeting of the High Energy
Astrophysics Division of the AAS held last November and chaired by Wilt
Sanders. At this workshop the various groups working on plasma codes discussed
with the observers the various problems in modeling the data and a summary is
given here of the issues raised and discussed. A second article by Rolf Mewe,
Jella Kaastra and Duane Liedhal report on the updates to the "meka" code that
takes better account of the finer details of the atomic physics. This revised
code called "mekal" is now available in the latest version of XSPEC v9.0 and
the Utrecht spectral fitting package SPEX (also described here).
All the raw EXOSAT data is now available at the HEASARC, along with the
ESA/ESTEC interactive analysis system. This issue contains two articles that
describe the EXOSAT archive at the HEASARC and how to use it. The first
HEASARC-produced EXOSAT CD-ROM is now available containing all the images from
the mission in FITS and GIF format. This CD along with the latest volume of
ROSAT images were distributed at the past summer and winter AAS meetings. They
can be obtained upon request to the HEASARC. The data restoration effort
continues at a good pace and a progress report is given.
Select another article


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Calif. nonprofit leader Anthony Josef Norris gets prison in child porn case
(CBS/AP) SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco children's art organization leader has been sentenced to six years in prison in a child pornography case.
Anthony Josef Norris was arrested in June after the FBI connected him to postings on an online forum frequented by child porn traders, federal prosecutors say.
According to CBS San Francisco, FBI agents said the 46-year-old Norris was using the online name "Spanky" to download and post pornographic images of children.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Norris pleaded guilty to child porn possession and was sentenced Tuesday. He was also placed on five years' probation.
Norris is the founder of Kid Serve Youth Murals, which helps preschool to high school-age children design and create mosaic murals.
When Norris was arrested, San Francisco police said he was suspected of planting offensive tiles in murals at four city schools. About 100 tiles had inappropriate drawings or photographic negatives inlaid behind glass.


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Hold-Downs for Machining Small Hardwood Pieces
Forum Responses
From contributor A:
I use a combination of the vacuum as well as blocks and tapered wedges screwed right to the spoil board - it is simple and fast, especially for things you may only do once.
From contributor R:
Sometimes all that is needed is a few strips of double faced carpet tape.
From contributor S:
We use glazing tape from the glass supply place to form a gasket that is close to the shape of the finished part, then drill a 3/8" hole through the bleeder board to get more direct vacuum. If this is a repeat project, you can make a dedicated fixture out of scrap MDF or particleboard that has gasket on both sides and reuse it. Sort of like making your own pods. When finished, fill the 3/8" hole with bondo, hot glue, or cover it with masking tape.
From contributor B:
A very simple low tech solution is to place the board to be fluted on the center of a 4x8 sheet of material. Screw through the back of the 4x8 into the back of the board to be fluted. Then you can run your system as always, holding the 4x8 in place. You can mount as many boards onto the 4x8 as needed. Only real issues with this are time involved to do the setup and accuracy of positioning. You would have to determine if those can be overcome with regard to the project.
From contributor C:
I cut the flutes and the edges so all lines up and the part is finished at the CNC. I sometimes cut out for electrical outlets also. I use 3/4 inch MDF with gasket and holes to a vac port in the table. With solid wood, I rout the end grain first. It works great.
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Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill told Liverpool on Thursday to meet his club's asking price for want-away England midfielder Gareth Barry.
None of Reds boss Rafael Benitez's four separate bids for Barry have so far met their Premier League rivals' asking price of 18 million pounds (36 million dollars).
O'Neill, who has resigned himself to losing his club captain, fined Barry two weeks wages, some 80,000 pounds, on Wednesday after his skipper suggested the Villa boss was more interested in commentating on Euro 2008 for the BBC than talking to him about his future.
Former Northern Ireland midfielder O'Neill, who barred Barry from pre-season training, told Villa's official website, www.avfc.co.uk: "We are really disappointed that he (Barry) is not going to be with us, he has made his mind up to go to Liverpool.
"You can talk and you can talk and talk but the bottom line was that when he came back from the England game in Trinidad and Tobago, he told me he wanted to leave.
"When somebody says they want to leave a football club, there is not much else you can do about it.
"We had a meeting a few weeks before that, Randy (Lerner), myself, Gareth and his agent and he said that Champions League football was what he wanted to do.
"So this idea that we have not done anything in our power to keep him, I am afraid I totally and utterly disagree. Why on earth would we not want to keep our very top player at the football club when we're trying to improve?
"I think we have made steady improvement, we have gone from 16th to 11th to sixth in the league. This season we are going to try to push on from there. So the one thing you want to do is keep your best players."
He added: "But Gareth has made his position clear and after that it is straightforward. We have put a valuation on him and Liverpool value him differently at the moment. That is what the stalemate is, it is nothing else.
"Gareth has pointed out he wants to go and if Liverpool come up and meet our valuation, he will go. That has been the case since the beginning of June when Gareth said he definitely wanted to go to Liverpool.
"We put a valuation on him and we have based this valuation on a number of straightforward issues, not least that he is actually a top-quality player."
Better news for Villa came with defender Curtis Davies joining the club on a four-year contract from local rivals West Bromwich Albion after spending last season on loan from the Hawthorns.
Davies missed most of the last campaign with a ruptured Achilles tendon but is now looking to make his comeback during Villa's clash with newly-promoted Albion on September 20.
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The Art of Connecting, Disconnecting, and Reconnecting
April 2, 2017 - Heather Williams, H.W., M. / Mike Zonta, H.W., M.
This lesson is available both as audio (immediately below) and video files
A video version of this presentation is available via Vimeo, using the link below.
If you enjoyed this lesson . . .
Consider making a contribution.


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By the time Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrives, it could bring with it some of the worst kept secrets of any upcoming superhero movie. Even before the sequel was announced, there was speculation that director Marc Webb could be steering the franchise toward a showdown between Spider-Man and the super-villain team, The Sinister Six - and that's been unofficially confirmed several times over.
A recent banner spotted overseas showed some of the first official images of Jamie Foxx's Electro (the supposed central villain of the film) and Paul Giamatti's Rhino (in mechanical form) taking on Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) with the help of a third villain... one riding a familiar-looking glider device.
Speculation has raged ever since that the third figure in the banner is the new version of The Green Goblin - but whether that Goblin would be Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) or his father Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) was a matter of mystery.
...But maybe not so mysterious anymore:
[Update: High-Res Banner Released]
The design of the character (whomever is playing him) would seem to fall in-between the super-serum humanoid form of the classic Green Goblin, the gene-spliced monstrosity of the Ultimate Spider-Man continuity - and of course, James Franco in Spider-Man 3.
Oddly enough, the face on that Goblin figure looks most like franchise star Andrew Garfield; but taking that out of consideration, the smart money says that the figure is indeed Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn. While there's been back-and-forth rumoring that DeHaan's Harry Osborn could be the new Goblin or a new version of Venom (being groomed for a possible spinoff), the scales got tipped to the Goblin side when ASM2 actress Felicity Jones let slip that her mysterious character (possibly Black Cat?) would be playing "The Goblin's girlfriend" in the movie. Even though she didn't specify, it was a pretty sure bet that she was referring to Harry Osborn (Norman would just be creepy, really).
Screen Rant sat down with DeHaan multiple times over the last few months, and we took the opportunity to touch on the Goblin rumors. Here's what he said:
He's doing stunt work in the film - so Harry WILL see some kind of action:
Dane DeHaan: Yeah, it was a really exciting challenge of a part and it wasn't only a mental challenge, it was a physical challenge as well. I underwent a really big training regime, the days were long and that kind of thing. I don't want to get into too much detail because I think there's a lot in the movie that's going to be really exciting for people to not know going into it.
When I asked him directly about Jones's "Goblin's girlfriend" mention, DeHaan tried to play coy, but the evidence was still there:
Dane DeHaan: Well Harry is a big womanizer you know so anybody that thinks they're Harry's love interest is wrong if she said that! [Laughs]... The Goblin's girlfriend? That's gross if she's dating a Goblin, that's disgusting. Not to judge… [Smiles]
To complete this picture, we've had viral teases from director Marc Webb himself; one image depicted a locker that (in comic lore) contains a powerful (Goblin-related?) formula; the other image depicted a 'gene chamber' and the ominous tease of a gun and Harry-sized tee-shirt on the floor. Taken altogether, both images seem to suggest a scenario where someone (Harry) follows up a major breakdown or violent act (killing his father?) by taking some kind of serum and hitting the gene chamber... to become the Green Goblin.
As I said: unless there is some kind of additional twist, or the banner image is somehow misleading, this Harry/Goblin business is likely going to end up being one of the worst-kept secrets of the ASM2 production. Moreover, that banner is going to spark all kinds of Spider-Man 3 fears.
That final installment of Sam Raimi's trilogy suffered from an overcrowding of villains - Goblin, Venom and Sandman. Unless screenwriters Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and and Jeff Pinkner have this thing tightly streamlined (and there's evidence that Norman Osborn's gene experimentation could do just that) then that "Spider-Man 3 itis" could be a real threat.
Does that Goblin figure look like Harry Osborn to you? Could it be Chris Cooper in the Goblin suit? Are there too many villains in this film - or is this just warm-up to a Sinister Six showdown?
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be in theaters on May 2, 2014.
Source: Twitter


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Malfovon, who lives in Kingsport, works at St. Dominic's Catholic Church. The Tri-Cities location was a better alternative for her than traveling to Knoxville, Nashville or Chattanooga, previously the nearest locations where classes are being held.
The class taught students about the application for citizenship and prepared them for a citizenship interview and two tests. After paying an initial $50 fee, students received a textbook for the class, a workbook and any additional tutoring in English reading or writing.
Knoxville organization Tennessee Immigrant Empowerment Solutions, or TIES, sponsored the classes. TIES co-founder Charles Mulligan previously worked with Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, assisting immigrants with their legal needs.
TIES began holding classes in Knoxville and Chattanooga. By expanding class locations, the charity is able to reach more people in more places and help more people become citizens.
Alma Vásquez is the main contact person at Catholic Charities for people who are interested in taking the Johnson City class.
"This was the first year that we've ever done this. It started out small, but we're hoping that the classes will grow," Vásqez said. "The best thing about the classes is that they give people confidence to go through the naturalization process."
"It gives a legitimate pathway for immigrants seeking citizenship."
– Peter Torok, volunteer
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website lists only one organization in Nashville for citizenship and legal matters in Tennessee. Catholic Charities is listed under other states, but not Tennessee, which can make it a little harder for people to find locations near them. In some states, there are no listings at all.
USCIS also holds free meetings about naturalization. However, not every state has meetings, and if someone from Tennessee wants to attend, the closest session may be in a different state, such as Virginia or Kentucky.
The United States Census estimated that in Tennessee alone, from the years 2009 to 2012 there was a 4.2 percent increase in foreign-born persons. In 2012, out of the 6.5 million people living in Tennessee, 291,641 people were not born in the United States.
According to United States Census estimates, in Johnson City the population was 65,123 in 2013. More than 8,000 of the people living in Johnson City were naturalized citizens, meaning they came from a different country and went through the citizenship process.
Geri Mulligan was formerly a director of the Center for Literacy, Education and Employment at the University of Tennessee. She wishes there were more opportunities to hold more classes for citizenship.
"There are online classes available all over the Internet, but not every person has Internet access. Many people who we are trying to help are in certain living situations that limit their opportunities," she said.
Passionate about helping others, the Mulligans try their hardest when it comes to expanding immigration services. The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace honored the Mulligans with the 2014 Peacemaker Award for their work with immigrants.
Charles Mulligan has high admiration for Catholic Charities. It is a great organization that helps those in need in different communities, Mulligan said.
"And the fact that it's a Catholic charity that opens its arms to anyone despite their religion is really what these organizations should be about," he said. "Plus, the class is a reasonable price that covers everything they need, including textbooks."
When it comes to material covered in the class, students are provided a textbook called "Voices of Freedom: English and Civics for U.S. Citizenship." The text is used in many classes across the country, and is praised for being easy to understand for non-English speakers. The text is also used in many government classes in high schools and middle schools.
Peter Torok, a retired doctor and veteran, was one of the teachers for the class. He worked with a student from India, Vinodchandra Patel, and another from the Philippines, Carolina Carter.
A first-generation American, Torok said his parents immigrated to the United States from Hungary. Being able to give back was what motivated him to volunteer.
He recalled that the classrooms in Memorial Park Community Center were a "secure and safe learning environment" for the students. He learned a lot by teaching civics and U.S. government, and about the different responsibilities of citizenship and voting.
"I wanted to give back. I felt it was my duty to help others," said Torok.
The civics portion of the test attracts the attention of many people who want a firsthand look at how difficult the test can be. To become a citizen, immigrants have to go to an interview where they answer questions about their application and personal background.
In terms of government, Torok said that they would need to know the candidates for office, the two major political parties and what they stand for. They should also understand the requirements to be able to vote. Using audio and visual tools and other technology helped Torok teach these subjects.
Also, they must take an English and Civics test based on material from the textbook unless they have a waiver or are excused from taking the test.
If the applicant doesn't pass the test, they will be retested on the portion of the test that they failed between 60 and 90 days from the date of the interview. To qualify for citizenship, applicants must be permanent residents of the U.S. for at least five years, or if they are filing as a spouse of a U.S. citizen, they must be a permanent resident for at least three years.
For children under the age of 18 who seek citizenship through their parents, the requirements vary depending on when the child was born, if U.S. citizens adopted them or if the parents are already citizens.
After taking the class, participants have the option to go through the full citizenship process. Not everyone decides to set up an interview and test date after the class, Vásquez said. She hopes that Catholic Charities can have more classes in 2015.
Torok described his experience working with the students as very rewarding, and praises the program, saying: "It gives a legitimate pathway for immigrants seeking citizenship."
For more information about the classes, please contact Alma Vásquez by calling 328-0070, ext. 104.
Above right, Alejandra Malfovon and her children pose with Geri Mulligan after receiving her certificate.
At left, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., second from left, supported those who took the class.
En español: Unas clases ofrecen la oportunidad de la ciudadanía
Photos by Mary Alice Basconi