text:
Complete guidance to the ins and outs of gaming operations
Management personnel need a thorough understanding of the business side of the casino industry to ensure profits–and to avoid losses. It's a sure bet that Casino Operations Management, Second Edition will help current and future gaming management professionals better serve any casino.
Written by experts with over 65 years of combined experience in the field, this Second Edition offers all the critical skills and know-how to equip gaming and casino operators with the knowledge needed for the management office, cage operations, and table game and slot operations. This updated edition features detailed coverage of:
Casino Operations Management, Second Edition uses simplified mathematics and statistics throughout, and provides readers with a thorough understanding of all aspects of the casino industry business. It is a must-have reference for students and casinos that develop managers internally.


text:
20 Foot Shipping Container Hire
- Title
- 20 Foot Shipping Container
- Condition
- Excellent
- Weight Capacity
- 20 Foot
- Number in Fleet
- 1
Spacewise works hard to stock just the right shipping containers for the client who is looking to get the right size container, with the most practical features, making choosing a shipping container a much more efficient matter. Our 20′ Standard Containers are amongst our most popular commercial and domestic shipping containers, often used for sheds on privates residences and as extra storage spaces at work sites. This is part of how Spacewise has managed to solidify its place as a leading provider of shipping containers in Australia. By stocking such a commonly requested size of shipping container, and becoming ready and able to modify it to our customers' needs, we have made the 20′ Standard shipping containers one of the most commonly requested models we carry.
At Spacewise we recognize that when it comes to shipping containers one size definitely does not fit all, so we are proud to offer this model of container, an option that is often found to be amongst our most financially advantageous. We carry the 20' standard shipping container in both new and used models and in quantities that make them available on the request of our customers, all year around. And thanks to our networks of depots all over Australia we can deliver your shipping container and position it for you in a timely fashion.
Carrying the 20' is part of our extensive and second to none service, focusing our products on the needs of our clients in a way that helps us to refine our stock and getting to know our customers in a personable and accommodating manner. Also, to ensure our clients complete satisfaction we utilize the strategic locations of each of our depots, so that we can deliver shipping containers all over Australia within 24 hours.
Like of our specialised shipping containers each of the 20′ Standard Containers is constructed of the highest quality material and built to the industry standard, ensuring long lasting and reliable containers for the storage of our client's most precious cargo. This also means that both our new and used 20′ Standard containers comes with a level of structural integrity that has made Spacewise a leader in the industry, supported by features that include secure locking mechanisms, water tightness and precise dimensions. Prior to being delivered to our customers every Spacewise shipping container used or new, is inspected thoroughly in order to ensure that the reputation of our team of engineers.
Also, we offer these containers in a refrigerated model that is perfect for people transporting or storing perishable goods requiring a specific temperature restriction, all available in the 20' model. Available alongside these refrigerated shipping containers, are units perfect for those in the catering industry making them some of our most popular shipping containers to-date At Space wise Australia we work hard to supply every client with a shipping container tailored to their needs and constructed to fit a specific purpose, making them much more than a secured steel box.
Spacewise Australia - Five Dock, NSW
- Address
- Website
- http://www.spacewise.com.au/

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Reese® Clevis and Ball Mount, a hook-up that won't let you down! BIG BUCKS OFF!
Here's a strong U.S.A.-made trailer hitch setup with up to 6,000-lb. tow rating! That's 3 tons worth of pulling power, and it's here with savings. It's made of superior steel, and it has that 6,000-lb. trailer rating and a 600-lb. tongue rating. Includes a 2" zinc hitch ball and 5/8" pin and cotter pin. Weighs 16 lbs. Requires your own 1" clevis pin.
Trailer hardware that's made right for performance.
!!! Limited Quantities !!!


text:
On Saturday I ran in the Break The Barriers Dream Run 6 mile race. If you'd like, you can find last years recap here.
I got there about 15 minutes early. Just enough time to use the restroom and do some light stretching. I know it's bad, but I never stretch before my training runs. So if I start crying about an injury, now you can tell me to suck it up buttercup.
Mike had to work & Lulu was sick, so you get self portraits…
It was chilly so that means perfect running weather in my books.
1 8:00
2 8:20
3 8:31
4 8:31
5 8:30
6 8:01
Official time: 50:18
Garmin time: 50:06
Average pace per mile: 8:19
Last year's time was 55:29.
I am so happy & proud of my time. 🙂
Yay for meeting new running buddies!
Hi Natalie & Thelma!
They both placed. Way to go girls!
I was kinda bummed this was the first race not having Mike or my sister there, but it forced me to step out of my bubble & meet some really cool girls. I'm so happy I did!
There were a few hills but nothing too crazy. It was pretty organized, unlike last year. Goody bag included a long sleeve cotton t-shirt, a coupon for a free chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-a, some raisins & some other flyers. The only thing I wish they would improve on is posting all of the results online. They only posted the winners. I'm a looser. I want to know my stats without having to make a phone call. Overall for $15 I'll do this race again next year.
Now you have to be honest, do you stretch before exercise?


text:
Tool for the communication between users worldwide. The software allows to make voice and video calls or share text messages.
The strategy game to develop your own village and expand the territory using the method of capture. The game uses a nice 3D graphics and different ways of development.
An easy to learn torrent client with a set of useful tools to configure the file downloads for needs of the user.
The application for text messaging and voice communication. Also there is the possibility of chat with friends from the different services and social networks.
The free client to exchange text and voice messages. Also it supports the video communication and exchange of various data.
The application to display the detailed information about the status of the device. The user has an opportunity to view the data of memory, processor, temperature and other system components.
The browser for comfortable viewing of websites on the internet. The user has the access to various configurations and modules to ensure the quality work of the browser.
The complete antivirus to protect the device against the viruses of various types. The software uses the modern algorithms to detect and remove the threats.
The complete player to play audio and video files. The software contains a large set of codecs to view video in most formats and it is excellent for playing music.
The free antivirus to protect the system of a device against viruses and other threats. Also if necessary it supports the remote device lock and incoming calls or SMS.
The software to view and download the eBooks of the largest bookstore. The application contains the different settings to ensure the most comfortable reading.
The great addition to provide the convenient, safe and fast device operation. The software includes many tools to achieve the biggest performance possible.
The software to economize and prevent the excessive energy consumption that enables to keep the battery of the device in work condition for a long time.
The software to work with the office type files. The application has all the necessary tools to create and edit the documents.
The complete software to manage the virtual private network. The application provides the protection of personal data and encryption of channels of the information transfer during the use of Wi-Fi.
The electronic notebook to create the separate notes and reminders with an option to sort them by different colors and categories.
Functional download manager with the built-in browser. The software contains a function to pause and resume the download of a file.
Fast browser for convenient web browsing. The software has a set of useful features for a comfortable stay online.
The free communication manager which is designed by the developer of social network VKontakte. The software supports a reliable encryption system for the safe messaging.
Convenient music player with support of popular formats. The software contains a powerful equalizer and allows to carry out the quick search of music files.
See more software
Operation systems:
- Android
- Windows
- Antiviruses
- Chat
- Desktop
- Downloaders
- E-book readers
- Education
- Emulators
- Encryption
- Extensions
- Files
- Files compression
- Games
- Internet
- Maps
- Media players
- Office
- Organizers
- Phone
- Photo
- Remote access
- Social network
- Streaming video
- System optimization
- Testing
- Text editors
- Torrent
- Voice communication
- Web browsers
- Webcams
- Youtube
- Others
Software updates:
See more software


text:
Which are the most poisonous plants in my garden? The yew has to be a strong contender. The yew trees have started to shed their berries now and the ground beneath the trees is covered with bright red fruit, but although it looks lethal this is the only part of the yew which isn't poisonous and the birds love them. It's the leaves which are poisonous, but they are more dangerous to horses and cattle than to us. One of the nastiest plants in my garden is the Echium pininana, whose stems are covered in little hairs which will cause severe blistering if touched. They look innocent but it's a mistake to stroke them.
The prize probably goes to the Brugmansia, pictured here in the Orangery. As a flowering plant the Brugmansia is good value, producing flowers several times a year and giving off the most beautiful scent in the evening. But all parts of it are fearsomely toxic. In South America it was used by tribesmen to drug slaves and children before they were buried alive with their dead lord. And one thing you shouldn't do with the leaves is make a cup of tea from them. According to the Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience a young man who drank a single cup of Brugmansia tea became temporarily insane and cut off his penis and his tongue.


text:
Firstly the time between our first chats and Jim actually getting keys to the Anatomy Room site was full of planning, negotiations which seemed to last years, proposals, funding applications, building warrants, you name it. The Anatomy Rooms is actually part of Aberdeen University's campus based behind the Council Headquarters at Marischal College. For many years it was an active space where medical students practising medicine would come into contact with cadavers, learning all there is to know about the internal workings of the human body, hence the name. With various changes in campus the classes were shifted to a new site and the anatomy rooms as they stood were left closed for a number of years. That is until Jim found them.
Fast forward through a successful funding application to the council and receiving a Creative Spaces Award, setting up 'All In Ideas' as a charitable org to manage the project, the completion of negotiations with Aberdeen University, a plethora of paper work, risk assessments, building repairs and finally the keys are in Jim's hand. Obviously there's been a hundred more steps and missteps but that's the basics. During this time Jim and a select group set to work setting up a board of trustees to help establish a solid core for the space, meeting and discussing how to move forward, what the space should be used for, who would be using the spaces and what this would mean in the wider creative sector of Aberdeen.
Having been part of the 26 Collective Studios with Jim previously I know first hand how important direction can be for a creative space and also the kind of limitations a space can put on you, something we constantly had to over come at 26. Thankfully The Anatomy Rooms space poses far less problems other than it being such a huge site. With 5 shared studio rooms, 4 private studio rooms, a project room and events space the challenge was getting enough people in to cover the costs of renting the space. And with a few call outs the rooms quickly began to fill up! Artist's from across the board took up residence from recent graduates, textile makers, fine painters, contemporary artists to research students from Aberdeen Uni and a subsidary of Shmu FM. So a year was spent getting people into rooms and giving them time to find their feet and get established.
The space has played host to some small music industry related events and been used for a public discussion session at the Look Again festival as well. The Doors Open Day gave the general public a chance to see whats been going on first hand and it was pretty exciting to see the vast range of spaces and artists in them, with work on the walls and corridors along with the usual stuff you'd expect to find in a working arts space. In the evening I got to spin some records for the first time in ages and transformed the main room into a mini arty party hub with a few friends helping out. I filmed during the day and night to try and capture a bit of the atmosphere and should have some video evidence of how cool the spaces are ready for viewing next week.
So whats next? A new membership programme has been launched, inviting creatives to sign up for a newly build workshop space where they will have access to equipment, a workshop and some expertise from a veteran maker in the form of Jim. More partnered events will be taking place including some film industry work shops from the newest studio residents Crow House,a new local film making start up who aim to help foster emerging film making talent in the North East. December saw the launch of a new gallery space with debut show by studio resident Lauren Milton kicking things off nicely with more studio resident shows planned and an open call for future shows. Jim himself hasn't really stopped since setting the ball rolling but has been slowly chipping away at his own practice, producing really incredible collage and painted works on wood along with his distinctive pencil mountainscapes continuing the themes and ideas he started with back in the 26 days. We joked about how for all the time he's spent in the new studio space hes probably only put a month or so into working on his own ideas. With all the time and effort he's put into making The Anatomy Rooms a reality I'd say he deserves a well earned break.
Alas, there's more work to be done still. Plans are a foot to take on more space and All In Ideas will be branching out to partner up with some other city orgs to work on some exciting new projects. That's about all I can say on that for now but having seen what's been achieved so far I have high hopes for 2017 being a year that blows the doors off for culture in the city, for the general public but also for people like Jim and a few others who have been working for a long time to make Aberdeen the creative and arty hub it should be. I'll be delving deeper into the goings on of the studio's and will hopefully have some interesting profiles of the makers and shakers currently in the studio along with info about up coming events and parties so watch this space and be sure to follow The Anatomy Rooms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also keep a bit more up to date with my going's on via the facebook page where ill be trying to share more info about up coming events across the city in a more immediate fashion.
Big love to Jim and everyone who's made The Anatomy Rooms such a great space so far and here's to some exciting projects to come. You can check out some snaps of Jim and his current studio / office below, Studio #1 indeed!


text:
The ReFrame film project is a dynamic and thought-provoking discipleship course that helps everyday people connect the Gospel with all aspects of life – everywhere.
ReFrame's vision is to unleash the Church's missional impact in society by helping ordinary Christians live out the Gospel in their workplaces, coffee shops, gyms, labs, homes, retirement, cities: the whole of life, everywhere. This 10-week video-based course helps Christians explore how the Bible and the power of Christ reframes our lives, and invites us to reframe our world with him.
Friday mornings 10 a.m. – 12 noon Sept. 23 – Dec. 2, 2016
Central Church Hall
Participant Guide: $15
Women of all ages and stages are invited to register: Sign up in the hall before or after services or by calling Carolyn Witzke at 519-620-7346 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Please indicate if you need childcare, or if you are willing to help with childcare


text:
Mon., April 15, 2013, 6:29 a.m.
Just two members of ed stakeholders task force attended last week's public forum in Twin Falls
Only two of the 31 education stakeholders task force members attended the Thursday night public forum in Twin Falls, reports Idaho Education News. A crowd of just under 50 turned out, but only a handful testified; the meeting, scheduled to run for more than two hours, broke up after barely an hour. You can read a full report here from Idaho EdNews' Kevin Richert; it was a smaller turnout than the first forum in Nampa the night before, where nine task force members attended and 19 people testified.
The sessions were the first of seven scheduled statewide this month; tonight, there's one in Lewiston, and tomorrow night, Coeur d'Alene. Also scheduled are forums in Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Boise. The governor and the state Board of Education organized the task force to identify a path forward after voters in November soundly rejected the "Students Come First" school reform laws enacted in 2011.
Mike Lanza, co-founder of the parents and teachers group that campaigned against the rejected laws, offers this commentary here on the forums and encourages people to attend and have their say.
You must be logged in to post comments. Please log in here or click the comment box below for options.comments powered by Disqus


text:
|1,200 sq. ft.
|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|2 nights
The Dogwood Cabin is located on 33 acres of rolling hills, trees, creeks and lakes nestled in the pristine North Georgia Mountains. The all pine interior greets you when you open the door. Enjoy a secluded cabin getaway with on-site, 24-hour help for our guests and free firewood for the chimney during the winter months.
Enjoy fall leaves, winter snow or a summer breeze in a private cabin that is a little bit country...and a whole lot of Ikea. Modern/Rustic decor with all 'mod cons' (3 Flat screen smart TVs with a 60 ' in the living room, TVs in bedrooms, washer/dryer, dishwasher, Jacuzzi Tub in master bathroom, WiFi and fully equipped kitchen). Fresh linens and towels provided in this two bedroom two bathroom that sleeps 6 (1 king size bed in master bedroom, a full-sized bed in the sleeping loft, a queen size sofa bed in the living room, and a single sofa bed in the loft). Our cabin is both kid friendly (our son loves the hammock, DVDs, Wii, toys, etc.) and completely romantic (we love the Jacuzzi tub, quiet and very private porch views, fireplace, and how we are set away from all other cabins for privacy). In truth, our son loves the Jacuzzi, too. Enjoy coffee, full meals or a nap on the wide back porch that has a sleeping hammock, gas grill (no charcoal mess), and rocking chairs. Trout fishing (we have two fishing poles for your use!!), beautiful Vogel State Park & Lake Windfield Scott, and horseback riding nearby. The cabin is 20 minutes from the start of the Appalachian Trail, and 15 minutes from Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest mountain. We stay in the cabin for part of the summer and live full-time in Miami. Our family lives in Blairsville year-round, so we are familiar with the area and have lots of suggestions for things to do and places to go if needed. Remember, we have on-site, 24-hour help from someone who will meet you at the cabin and is able to guide you to local sights when needed (or get you more free firewood during the cold months). We are also a text or email away for special requests or assistance. We travel internationally a lot (family in South America and Germany); we understand the unique needs of travelers that may arise.
The cabin has a fireplace, full kitchen, indoor Jacuzzi tub, 2 full bathrooms, electric AC/heat, fully-loaded kitchen, 3 LCD TVs (60' in the living room!!) and a gas grill. There's Netflix & HBO on both flat screen TVs, WiFi, a Wii and free nationwide calling on a land-line. (The land-line is important, as the remote location can interfere with cellphone reception.) On-site trails and creeks are right down the walk-way.
Nelson is a native Chilean who has lived most of his life in South Florida. Glenda is a native...uh...she was born in Tennessee, though lived 15 years in New York prior to moving to South Florida. Thus, our lives crossed paths. We enjoy traveling, exercise and the great outdoors. Thus, the Georgia mountains crossed our paths. We have family who live in the area, so travel to Georgia several times a year. What a better way to enjoy the mountains.
Nelson & Glenda purchased this cabin in 2013
Though The Dogwood Cabin is in the North Georgia Mountains. It is also nestled in a 33 acre preserve with a handful of other cabins. It has the best of the outdoors, with the safety of neighbors and community. The cabin is extremely private, yet 40 yards from a neighboring cabin. It also has a stream, barn, and pond on-site. It is kid friendly and father/mother approved. We dare you to compare our amenities (huge smart TVs, fishing poles, HBO, Wii, Chromecast, Roku, SlingTV) to other cabins in the area. We are confident we offer the best value for your money.
Cabin was clean and well-stocked. The bed in the first-floor bedroom was extremely high. My mother had to walk up stairs to the loft bedroom.
Cozy and comfortable, perfect getaway to relax and unwind
My family stayed at the Dogwood cabin during July of this year. I was looking for a pet friendly cabin close to Vogel State Park in the north Georgia mountains. This cabin offered a perfect opportunity for my family to escape the DC Metro area and visit the pristine countryside of the North Georgia Mountains. This cabin provides all the modern comforts of home while keeping the rustic feel. I recommend this place/community to anyone looking to escape and kick back and relax. There are plenty of local activities with access to Vogel State Park and other North Georgia attractions. There are nice areas to walk pets and allow them to enjoy a quick dip in the stream located on the property. You are within 10 minutes of Blairsville and close to Wall Mart and Alexander's store.....what more can you ask for.
Thank you Nelson and Glenda for allowing us to stay and I hope to return next year.
The cabin was cozy and clean. Larry was very helpful. We hope to return for another visit in the summer!
We spent another long weekend at the Dogwood cabin. Cabin is cozy and has all you need with a very welome wood burning fire place with all the chopped wood you could use. fishing poles were ready for use but we did not go fishing. We enjoyed a great fire each night.
Larry, the residentnt manager's house is just steps away from the back door. He was readily available for anything but we only called him for the wifi password and where to get the firwood which was stacked up right on the property. The neighborhood is conducive for walks in the woods and meadow.
We were 15 mins from Vogel and about 30 mins to Winfield Scott which were our trail heads for our daily hikes.
Hated to leave and go back to work. Hope to get back to the mtn air very soon.
Attractive, well furnished, clean cabin. Great fireplace and back porch. Beds were very comfortable. Great area with beautiful scenery and many hikes. Close enough to Blairsville for restaurants, gym, and shopping.
The DogwoodCabin is nestled on a 33 acre preserve in the heart of the North Georgia Mountains. Though you are minutes from mountain beauty, the cabin is in a safe cabin community with neighboring cabins less than 50 yards away. You will enjoy the peace and tranquility of the fresh mountain air, with the safety of a private resort with its very own hiking trails, stream, and pond.
|Pet Fee
|$50 + Tax
|$75 + Tax
|Tax Rate
If you must smoke, please do so outdoors.


text: e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com (C) 1997 Brentwood Music, Inc. If you have not heard this song, it's the hidden track after "Send Angels." E-mail me with any comments, suggestions or corrections! Chords: B5 A5 G#5 F#5 E5 G5 B A e---------------------7--5-- B---------------------7--5-- G---------------------8--6-- D-9--7---6---4--2--5--9--7-- A-9--7---6---4--2--5--9--7-- E-7--5---4---2--0--3--7--5-- Intro Riff 1: e-7-7-5-5-4-4-2-2-0-0-------------- B---------------------3-3-2-2-0-0-- G---------------------------------- (repeat) D---------------------------------- A---------------------------------- E---------------------------------- Intro Riff 2: B5 A5 G#5 F#5 E5 (play these last 3 chords extra fast) (play 4x) Verse Riff 1: B A (play 4x) Verse Riff 2: E5 G5 (play 7x) B5 Chorus riff: B5 A5 E5 G5 A5 (play 2x) Interlude 2 riff: B5 A5 (play 4x) Bridge Riff: e------------------------------------------9-9-7-- B-12-12-10-10-7-7-5-5-7----12-12-10-10-7-7-------- G------------------------------------------------- (play 2x) D------------------------------------------------- A------------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------------- Verse 1: (use verse riff 1) You've got something I like about you You seem to be alot like me I've got a ticket to adventure for two Could be your golden opportunity (use verse riff 2) The tribal angel She said of the Itinerary First class You can see the moon from a window seat An ancient God A tour of the Galaxy Tips included If you want them come with me Chorus: use chorus riff I want to know Is there life on Pluto? Wanna go with me We can go in a UFO Interlude: use intro riff 2 Verse 2: (use verse fiff 1) I'm bored I need a little motivation I'm tired of the same old thing I've got a feeling of anticipation Could be our golden opportunity (use verse riff 2) I've got an urge to go swimming in the Milky Way Take a trip We're fishing in the Neptune Sea Have my picture taken with Peter at the pearly gates Smile for the Hubble If you want them come with me Repeat Chorus 2X Interlude 2: use interlude 2 riff Bridge: (use bridge riff) In the twinkling of an eye We'll be together In the sky We'll by together Repeat Chorus 2X Ending: use intro riff 2 (end by slinding down on a B5)


text:
May 24, 2010 at 1:03 pm #98706
I would spread the risk in any country now. In Spain we only ever kept enough in the bank to cover Utility bills after hearing so many horror stories about problems. One friend whose salary was paid into her spanish bank went one day to find her account was frozen! An embargo had been placed on it for a plot of land she didn't even own! It took months to sort out which left her to deal standing orders unpaid and her months salary plus balance frozen. At no point was she informed about this until she tried to get money out.
Renewals such as car insurance will be taken out without notification even if you aren't going to renew!


text:
Tanker Trucks and Terror
Crackdown on Big Rigs Taking Toll on Struggling Truck Companies
Exclusively for NPR.org: Tanker Trucks
NPR reporter Jackie Northam reports on the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks on an already struggling transportation industry.
Drivers of tanker trucks, like this gasoline big rig, are under intense scrutiny after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Photo: www.HanksTruckPictures.com
Oct. 17, 2001 -- After hijackers turned four jetliners into weapons on Sept. 11, law enforcement officials began clamping down on other modes of transportation that, in the wrong hands, could become instruments of terror. At the top of that list were tanker trucks, especially those carrying hazardous materials.
It's common for tanker trucks carrying gasoline, liquid petroleum gas or dangerous chemicals to travel down city streets towards their destination. In the New York City and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas, truck drivers have long been able to roll right up to the entrances of many buildings that terrorists might target.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, Washington, D.C., officials moved to ban tanker trucks from using streets closest to the Capitol, the White House and other historic sites in the downtown area.
Nationwide, authorities are reviewing the commercial licenses of up to two million big rig drivers, from more than 50,000 trucking companies. NPR's Jackie Northam reports that the new measures are adding more problems to an already troubled industry.
"We already had 3,700 bankruptcies among carriers of 10 vehicles or more -- which is already the highest level in the past 10 years. So, you have to assume you'll be facing more bankruptcies."
Robert Delaney, vice president of Cass Information Systems
On any given day, there are approximately 76,000 tanker trucks on America's roads and highways. John Conley, vice president of National Truck Carriers -- an association which represents 200 tanker truck companies -- says tougher roadside security checks, which can sometimes take up to three hours, are creating serious delays.
Lost time means lost money, says Conley: Some companies say they are losing $2,500 a week because of the delays. Add on cost for other expenses, like increased security, and clients who demand "just-in-time" delivery schedules, and the result will be higher prices for American consumers, he says. "It's going to cost them more to do the same business they've been doing and the shippers are going to have to help pay for that -- and, eventually, the consumer."
In the meantime, the extra costs and delays could threaten smaller trucking companies. Robert Delaney is vice president of Cass Information Systems, which charts the financial health of transportation companies. He says the trucking industry was already in financial trouble, because of the economic downturn, long before the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We already had 3,700 bankruptcies among carriers of 10 vehicles or more -- which is already the highest level in the past 10 years," he says. "So, you have to assume you'll be facing more bankruptcies."
Other Resources
TruckLine.com, a Web site created by the American Trucking Associations.
Cass Information Systems.


text:
Source: EEA, 2017
Notes: Estonia and Malta have not signed the Gothenburg Protocol and therefore do not have ceilings. Austria, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Poland have a ceiling, but they have not yet ratified the protocol. For Spain, data for emission comparisons exclude emissions from the Canary Islands.
The comparison with emission ceilings is based on reporting on the basis of fuel sold, except for Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. These countries may choose to use the national emissions total calculated on the basis of fuel
used in the geographic area of the Party as a basis for ceilings comparisons instead (UNECE, 2014a). For the EU-15, the comparison is based on fuel sold, except the data from the United Kingdom, as this Member State did not provide data based on fuel used.
Under the Gothenburg Protocol, the EMEP Steering Body accepted inventory adjustment applications for emissions from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain in 2014, 2015 and 2016. This figure takes these adjusted data into account.
The EU-15 did not apply for adjustments and thus data for the EU-15 are unadjusted.
The other main pollutants covered by the LRTAP Convention have dropped considerably since 1990, including the three air pollutants primarily responsible for the formation of ground-level ozone (O3). Carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were reduced by 68%, 61 % and 56 % respectively.
Around 94 % of ammonia emissions in Europe stem from agriculture, mainly from activities such as manure storage, slurry spreading and the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers. Ammonia contributes to eutrophication — an oversupply of nitrogen — and acidification of ecosystems. It also forms particulate matter in the atmosphere which has adverse effects on human health.
The Gothenburg Protocol to the LRTAP Convention aims to limit and, as far as possible, gradually reduce and prevent air pollution. It sets emission 'ceilings' or limits for a range of air pollutants that have to be met from 2010 onwards. In addition to ceilings specified for individual countries, the protocol also specifies ceilings for the EU-15, i.e. for the Member States that were members of the EU when it was signed in 1999. The protocol was amended in 2012 with new emission reduction commitments for 2020 and beyond. The EU-28 is in the process of ratifying the amended protocol. The EEA assists the EU by preparing the emissions inventory to be reported under the LRTAP Convention each year.
The EEA publishes the data from the inventory report in the LRTAP data viewer, a web-based interactive interface from where air pollutant emissions data can be downloaded. The data viewer also displays emission trends and graphics for the main sectors and allows for comparison of emissions from different countries and activities.
The Gothenburg Protocol to the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) contains emission reduction commitments that have to be met from 2010 onwards for NH3 and three other air pollutants: nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), and sulphur oxides (SOx). In addition to emission reduction commitments specified for individual countries, the protocol also specifies reduction commitments for the EU-15.
The annual European Union emission inventory report 1990-2014 under the LRTAP Convention shows that NH3 emissions fell by 24% between 1990 and 2014, but increased in the EU‑28 between 2013 and 2014 by 0.9%. Ammonia emissions from the EU-15 in 2014 were 0.2% higher than the 2010 limit, the first time the EU-15 has exceeded its emission ceiling for this pollutant.
The rise in NH3 emissions in 2014 was mainly due to increases in France, Germany and Spain. Four countries (Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain) also exceeded their individual NH3 ceilings in 2014. (see Figure ES.5). More generally, some countries have also recently improved their estimates of NH3 released from agricultural sources which in some instances has led to an increase in the emissions reported from past years. Better reporting by Member States, including the reporting of new emissions sources, is encouraged.
Emissions of the other main pollutants covered by LRTAP have dropped considerably since 1990, including the three air pollutants primarily responsible for the formation of ground-level ozone (O3). Carbon monoxide (CO), NMVOCs and NOx were reduced by 65%, 60% and 55%, respectively.
The Gothenburg Protocol to the LRTAP Convention aims to limit and, as far as possible, gradually reduce and prevent air pollution. It sets emission 'ceilings' or limits for a range of air pollutants that have to be met from 2010 onwards. In addition to ceilings specified for individual countries, the 1999 protocol also specifies ceilings for the EU-15. The protocol was amended in 2012 with new emission reduction commitments for 2020 and beyond. The EU-28 has not yet ratified the amended protocol.
Parties to the protocol are allowed to 'adjust' their emission estimates to take into account certain changes that have occurred since the emission reduction commitments were originally agreed (for instance, the reporting of emission sources that were unknown at the time the reduction commitments were agreed). For comparisons against the protocol ceilings for 2010, the EEA has taken into account the approved adjusted emission inventory data reported by Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany Luxembourg and Spain.
The EEA assists the EU by preparing the emissions inventory to be reported under the LRTAP Convention each year.
The EEA publishes the data from the inventory report in the LRTAP data viewer, a web-based interactive interface from where air pollutant emissions data can be downloaded. The data viewer also displays emission trends and graphics for the main sectors and allows for comparison of emissions from different countries and activities.
In the 1970s, many European governments became increasingly concerned about acid rain, which was damaging forests and killing fish such as the brown trout and Atlantic salmon. The report shows that acidification has been greatly reduced since its peak in 1980 when almost half of the sensitive ecosystem area in the 28 EU Member States was affected. This has been reduced to around 5 % of ecosystems today, the report finds.
Air pollution also contributes to eutrophication, an oversupply of nitrogen. This can change ecosystems, for example creating conditions more favourable to certain plants, thus reducing the 'species richness' in grasslands and other sensitive areas. Eutrophication from air pollution peaked in 1990 with around 80 % of sensitive ecosystems in the EU exposed above safe levels. Despite some improvements almost 60 % of the ecosystems are still affected. While the situation is set to improve further, the report indicates that air pollution will cause significant eutrophication for some years to come.
The improving trends are the result of deep cuts in the emissions of some pollutants over the last few decades. The second report published today documents the changes in air pollutant emissions since 1990. This report is submitted annually by the EU to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
Sulphur dioxide (SOx) is a major cause of acidification. Tackling SOx emissions has been a major success story of EU regulation, with emissions falling 84 % between 1990 and 2012. This was largely due to policies which aimed to switch fuels, install flue gas scrubbers in industrial plants and reduce the sulphur content of transport fuel.
The pollutants causing eutrophication have also fallen, albeit not as much as SOx – for example emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia have fallen by 51 % and 28 % respectively. However, the report shows that 11 countries still exceeded internationally agreed Gothenburg Protocol limits for these pollutants in 2012.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director said: "Although air pollution does not cause as much harm as it once did, we are still struggling to protect sensitive ecosystems from harmful effects such as eutrophication. This changes habitats, endangering a wide range of species from fish to flowering plants. It is particularly striking that the problem appears to be just as bad in Europe's protected natural areas."
Above: The Common dog violet, a plant species which is highly sensitive to nitrogen-containing pollutants.]]>
In 1999, many of the countries that now comprise the European Union committed to cut emissions of air pollutants under the Gothenburg Protocol of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention). The EEA's annual "European Union emission inventory report 1990-2010 under the UNECE LRTAP Convention" presents a summary of the main emission trends over the past decades. It shows that 11 countries exceeded the 2010 'ceilings' for the four important air pollutants regulated under the Protocol. These pollutants can lead to breathing problems, acid rain and eutrophication.
"In the last two decades we have cut the amount of pollution going into Europe's air," EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said. "Regulation both in the EU and internationally works when it is properly implemented. The fact that many countries missed their emissions ceilings in 2010 shows we need to continue our efforts to safeguard European citizens' health."
A combination of different measures have reduced emissions of SOx by 82 % between 1990 and 2010. This success can be attributed to desulphurisation technology installed in many industrial sources, and EU directives which led to sulphur reduction in some liquid fuels. This cut is also partly due to power stations and industry switching from high sulphur-containing solid and liquid fuels to low-sulphur fuels such as natural gas.
Emissions of NOx have almost halved between 1990 and 2010. The 47 % reduction of NOx emissions over this period was largely due to the introduction of the three-way catalytic converter in petrol vehicles, as well as reductions from industry as a result of tighter controls on emissions.
Together with NOx, emissions of two other main air pollutants responsible for the formation of harmful ground-level ozone have dropped significantly since 1990. Carbon monoxide fell by 62 %, NMVOCs fell by 56 %. This improvement was also helped by improved vehicle catalysts in road transport.
The agricultural sector is responsible for the vast majority of ammonia emissions – 94 % in 2010. NH3 fell by 28 % between 1990 and 2010, although the most reductions occurred in the early 1990s and emissions have since been rather stable. The largest reductions have been reported by Poland, the Netherlands and Germany. All other countries except Cyprus and Spain also reported decreases. The report attributes reductions in ammonia emissions largely to better animal manure and fertiliser management techniques.
The Gothenburg Protocol of the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) Convention sets emission ceilings for four pollutants (NOx, NMVOC, SOx and NH3) to be achieved by 2010. The Gothenburg Protocol has been signed by most of the European Union Member States (excluding Estonia and Malta), and by EEA member countries Norway and Switzerland.
In May 2012 the protocol was amended to include, amongst other changes, new emission reduction commitments for 2020 for NOx, NMVOC, SOx, NH3 and also PM2.5. The amended protocol has not yet entered into force.
For the EU Member States, the 2010 ceilings set by the National Emissions Ceilings (NEC) Directive are either equal to or more ambitious than the Gothenburg Protocol's ceilings. For both, countries must also meet the ceilings in each year after 2010.
However, reporting by Member States under the Gothenburg Protocol and the NEC Directive can differ. For example, some countries choose to report emissions from additional sources under the Gothenburg Protocol, leading to more sources than those submitted under the NEC Directive. This explains for example why Denmark exceeds its emission ceilings for NMVOC and NH3 under the Gothenburg Protocol but not under the NEC Directive as was documented in EEA's recent NEC Directive status report.
Moreover, a number of countries have reported more recent data under the Gothenburg Protocol than were available when EEA's assessed the emissions data reported under the NEC Directive. In the case of Finland, updated emissions data for 2010 are below their Gothenburg Protocol emission ceilings and in contrast to the earlier results presented in the NEC Directive status report, are also now lower than their NEC Directive ceiling for that year.
The EEA publishes the data from the inventory report in the air pollutant emissions data viewer, a searchable web-based interface that simplifies access and analysis. The data viewer shows emission trends and graphics for the main sectors and allows comparison of emissions from different countries and activities.]]>


text:
Gordon and Sandifer Auto Service
Review for Gordon and Sandifer Auto Service
Herndon S. on 12/02/2014
"The prompt attention and the expert and fair advise given by Jerome"
I have taken my car to your business for a period of at least ten years. The service is excellent and the workmanship superior.
Vehicle: Toyota Camry
Service Date: 12/02/2014
Review Created: 12/02/2014 09:08 PM


text:
Creating a Consistent & Rigorous Teacher Licensure Process
Published November 20, 2014
Jump To
- With nearly 600 different teacher licensure exams in use today, teachers in various states are held to grossly different standards of rigor in the teacher certification process.
- The bar for teacher licensure exams is set shockingly low—with almost every state granting licenses to teachers who score as low as the 16th percentile.
- Teachers who are certified to teach in one state can't easily transfer their credentials, leaving states like Arizona in a better position to recruit teachers from the Philippines rather than neighboring states.
- Instead of maintaining an outdated system that's unattractive to Millennials, we propose a certification framework that lays out a consistent set of entry requirements, demands a high bar for entry, and allows teachers to readily take their skills across state lines.
When a person chooses to become a lawyer, the process from day one is clear-cut: LSAT, law school, and bar exam. These three well-defined, linear, and rigorous steps provide every candidate with a distinct picture of the expectations required to practice law—and ensure that they are prepared when they step foot in a courtroom. The pathway into the teaching profession couldn't be more different. Each state sets its own wildly different parameters for licensure, and prospective teachers are left to navigate through a jumbled patchwork of futile requirements and low expectations. This process is out-of-step with the ambitions of today's highly-mobile workforce, and it is deterring the best and brightest from entering and remaining in our classrooms. To ensure we can attract and retain the next generation of excellent public school teachers, we need a more linear pathway into the profession that lays out a consistent set of entry requirements, demands a high bar for entry, and allows teachers to readily take their skills across state lines.
The Problem
Teacher licensure is both unwieldy & undemanding.
The licensure process is a jumbled mess that differs in each state.
Our country has 50 states but no less than 600 different teacher licensure tests.1 While other professions have clear and uniform roadmaps for what entry into their career entails, the current teacher licensure system is an ambiguous and confusing maze. Similar to a disorganized "choose your own adventure" book, prospective teachers are required to navigate a series of entry points, testing benchmarks, and licensure requirements that can vary widely in time, cost, and rigor from state-to-state. In some states, teachers are required to pass licensure exams before even entering into a teacher preparation program, while other states use comparable (or in some cases, the exact same) exams as a final step taken after program completion.2 And states use a mix of assessment tools to evaluate readiness to enter the classroom: some simply use fill-in-the-bubble tests to assess content or pedagogical knowledge and count those as sufficient markers of competency, while others require much more comprehensive stand-and-deliver performance assessments. This lack of continuity across states results not only in confusion and frustration for teachers themselves, but also in an inequitable distribution of teacher quality based on geographic location, with students in some states or districts benefiting from teachers that are markedly more prepared than others.
The bar for licensure is set shockingly low.
In addition to creating their own professional standards and accompanying licensure exams, states are also able to choose where to place the cut scores (the minimum score necessary to pass) for their teacher certification exams.3 Sadly, rather than setting a high bar for entry, states often make these passing scores embarrassingly low—with the majority of states setting the bar at or below the 16th percentile–ensuring that virtually all candidates pass, particularly when given unlimited attempts to do so.4 What parent would (or should) be satisfied with knowing their child's teacher scored 17th from the bottom out of 100? The truth is that if their child earned a similar grade on a test in that teacher's class, they'd be handed a failing grade.
But even when states are using the exact same tests, passing scores vary considerably state-to-state and fall well below the median score.5 For example, K-6 teachers in 21 states take the same Praxis Principles of Learning & Teaching exam to assess their knowledge of foundational practices, with a possible score range of 100 to 200. Yet teachers in Iowa must earn a scaled score of 167 to pass, while teachers in Alabama can pass with a scaled score of just 145.6 What's more, even though teachers score an average of 176 on that very same test, 16 out of the 21 states who used it this year set their cut score at a measly 160 (16 points less, again out of 100).7 This means most states are welcoming teachers who scored far below average into their classrooms, even though most teachers are capable of meeting higher expectations.
This incongruous system sends a message to both prospective and current teachers alike that they are unable to meet a consistently high bar. One explanation for these low expectations is the fact that state departments of education are responsible for approving their own teaching profession standards.8 In order to increase the number of teachers with a quick fix during times of shortages, state departments across the country lower their standards to increase their hiring pools.9 And without an external check of any kind, states can set the bar as low as they wish. It should not come as a surprise, then, that six in ten Americans believe entry into the teaching profession isn't rigorous enough—in fact, they are right.10 If this perception doesn't change and the bar for entry into the teaching profession remains where it is, high-achieving Millennials may decide to reject teaching as a viable and prestigious career path.
Today's patchwork of licensure requirements traps teachers in one place.
Unlike most professionals, teachers can't transfer their professional skills across state lines.
A doctor in Los Angeles can perform surgery in Baltimore, but a teacher in Bethesda can't teach algebra in San Diego. And there's no reasonable rationale—it's just that way because it's always been so.
In today's ever-growing population of highly-mobile workers, this disorganized licensure system presents a cumbersome and unnecessary barrier for teachers looking to transfer their skills across state lines. Teachers who move find themselves having to re-take licensure exams, repeat teacher preparation coursework, and re-pay high credentialing fees. And depending on the number of years spent in the classroom, some teachers must actually start the licensure process over again from scratch.11 But under the current system, you can't blame a state for not taking another state's word that a teacher is qualified, since the standard of entry into the profession varies widely. That needs to change to bring teaching into the 21st century.
The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) has attempted to reduce mobility barriers by creating the "Interstate Agreement," which is a collection of individual agreements that allow states to grant reciprocity to certain out-of-state teachers who have completed comparable licensure processes. However, these reciprocity agreements don't actually guarantee that a teacher will be able to fully transfer his or her certification to a new state. This is because many states still require all incoming teachers, regardless of their years of experience in the classroom, to start with a provisional license that can only be bumped up to permanent status after fulfilling additional state requirements and/or waiting a certain number of additional years.12 And to make matters worse, whatever level of reciprocity is available doesn't flow both ways. According to NASDTEC, these reciprocity agreements are "not a collection of two-way agreements of reciprocal assistance." For example, Georgia may accept out-of-state credentials from Connecticut, but Connecticut does not necessarily accept out-of-state credentials from Georgia.13
One notable exception to this patchwork of reciprocity agreements is the attainment of National Board Certification. Once a teacher has gone through the rigorous process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher, most states will allow teachers to transfer their credentials with few or no strings attached.14 It is certainly a step in the right direction to see states uniformly recognize and reward the accomplishments of teachers meeting this high bar; however, only three percent of the teacher workforce is currently board certified, so even if those numbers continue to grow, this remedy does little to address the widespread mobility needs of the vast majority of today's teachers.15
This lack of mobility conflicts with the needs of a 21st century labor market.
The lack of true reciprocity for teacher licensure in the United States is becoming increasingly at odds with the needs of today's modern workforce—for both teachers themselves and the school districts who employ them. A preposterous illustration of this problem comes out of Arizona, where there has been a recent state-wide teacher shortage. Because the convoluted licensure system makes it so difficult to hire teachers from neighboring states, districts in Arizona have resorted to recruiting internationally—filling their classrooms with teachers from the Philippines instead.16 It is the height of absurdity that it is easier to staff our schools with international teachers than it is to simply hire qualified teachers from the next state over.
The unnecessary hoops teachers must jump through in order to practice in different states prohibit teachers from being able to make the same professional choices that Americans in any other career are able to make (and frequently do in our modern economy)—to relocate in order to further their careers. And as a 2008 NASDTEC report noted, the frustration associated with the reciprocity process has led to "an untold number of teachers opting to leave the profession."17 This lack of permeability contributes to a perception problem as well, sending a clear message that the knowledge, experience, and professional skills gained in the teaching profession are not worthy of recognition by other states. It leaves many high-achieving Millennials to view the teaching profession as both an outdated and parochial career option, and one that you should only choose if you intend to stay put for the rest of your life. Until states are able to come to a more widespread consensus about the standard of entry and allow teachers to more easily move wherever their career may take them, teaching will not be seen as the dynamic profession that it truly is.
The Solution
Require every teacher across the country to demonstrate complete content knowledge & classroom performance assessments.
The teaching profession should move toward a licensure process that more closely mirrors the clear and streamlined pathways outlined in other highly-esteemed professions. We suggest a rigorous, two-step licensure process that assesses both content (subject area knowledge) and performance (the ability to impart that knowledge in front of pupils). This would mean requiring 1) a demonstration of content and pedagogical knowledge before a teacher ever enters the classroom and 2) the completion of a performance assessment within one year of full-time teaching to remain there. Even this first step would be a huge improvement, as many states already test for content, but not all. While 47 states require some sort of content knowledge exam for their elementary and secondary teachers in each subject area, only 29 currently require all new teachers to pass a pedagogy test to ensure they understand how to teach the subjects in which they have content knowledge.18 Teachers should pass these exams in every state, though states could customize what these tests look like in order to make sure that their teachers can demonstrate a basic understanding of local issues and topics unique to their regions or states, similar to the bar examination for hopeful lawyers. (For example, a teacher in Hawaii may need to have a foundational understanding of indigenous student populations.)
After earning a provisional license, and the ability to step foot in a classroom, teachers would then need to complete a performance assessment as a way to earn full licensure in their state. This stand-and-deliver component would be completed within the first year of a teacher's career and would be based on his or her actual performance and student progress during that time period, as evidenced through the submission of videoed lessons and/or a portfolio of work. Although states would have the flexibility to design their own performance-based assessments for their teachers, they could also choose to adopt pre-existing exemplary models, such as the edTPA, which was developed and field tested by "more than 1,000 educators from 29 states and the District of Columbia and more than 450 institutions of higher learning," and already serves as a model for requiring the submission of artifacts, such as videotaped lessons and student work.19 Many states are already moving in the direction of performance-based assessments, with teacher preparation providers in 33 states and D.C. currently piloting edTPA in some way and 10 states putting statewide policies in place that require a state-approved performance assessment.20 Creating a consistent, streamlined, two-step process in each state would not only clarify and raise the standards for the teaching profession, it would also set up a situation in which states could more sufficiently trust the licensure process of a neighboring state, laying the groundwork to move toward a more mobile profession.
Raise the bar to make licensure more challenging.
To ensure that each state's licensure process is sufficiently challenging and comprehensive, we must rely not just on the state boards of education but should also include oversight from an external and impartial organization, as recommended in the 2011 Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching report commissioned by the National Educators Association.21 One strong contender for this role could be the Interstate New Teacher and Support Consortium (InTASC), a consortium of state education agencies and national education organizations that currently operates under the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).22 This commission could endorse a minimum bar for passage of initial content and pedagogy exams, looking individually at the tests chosen by states to determine the appropriate pass/fail threshold, eliminating the issue of states continuously setting their cut scores well below the median. Even though InTASC has already created its own set of standards and resources for teacher development, the consortium could also collaborate with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to create stronger alignment between existing teacher licensing standards and the standards for board certification, which would continue to provide the gold standard for advanced teaching practice.
Serving in this capacity as an objective and unbiased check on states' credentialing systems, one of the first responsibilities of InTASC could be to raise the passing scores for existing, widely-used licensure assessments so that they are comparable across state lines. Similar to how the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam sets a uniform passing score for all doctors regardless of their state of residency, InTASC could play a critical role in ensuring that teachers in every state are held to a similar level of rigor.23 Not only would this prevent states from setting artificially low cut scores that are well below average, it would also create a more equitable distribution of high-quality teachers across state lines. In states that use their own licensure tests, InTASC could create an equivalency chart to allow for an easier comparison of the level of rigor for these various exams. This would provide states with a greater level of assurance that any teacher transferring from out-of-state was held to a high standard throughout the licensure process. Because participation in InTASC's new standards-based review system would give them more consistent access to a wider and more qualified pool of teachers outside their own boundaries, states would have an incentive to meet this higher bar at every stage of the licensure process.
Third Way's Vision for a Streamlined Licensure Process
Create a common application for reciprocity that makes it easier for teachers to transfer their credentials across state lines.
In today's increasingly mobile society, states should encourage, rather than inhibit, the transferability of teaching credentials across state lines. Despite almost full state participation in NASDTEC's Interstate Agreement, the majority of the teacher workforce still faces arbitrary barriers that stand in the way of true reciprocity for their professional licenses.24 Instead, we should implement a streamlined reciprocity process we will call the Interstate Teaching Application (ITA). Similar to the Common Application adopted by over 500 institutions of higher education to help simplify the college application process for students, states could choose to adopt the ITA as a uniform procedure for evaluating and awarding licensure to out-of-state teacher candidates.25 The federal government would fund and provide the platform for this new online system, which would provide the infrastructure for teachers with at least one year of teaching experience (enough time to have completed a performance assessment in their home state) to submit their resume, licensure test scores, and performance assessment video and evaluation to any participating state as part of a baseline application. States could also have the option to request supplemental materials as a way to customize the ITA to meet their state-specific needs if they felt it was necessary to do so.
Any state looking to participate in the ITA would be required to implement the rigorous, two-step licensure process and have their cut scores approved by InTASC. This would give states the reassurance that any out-of-state applicants will have met the same high bar expected of their own teachers. By having all out-of-state teaching candidates available in one, centralized location, states would be able to more seamlessly and expeditiously recruit high-quality teachers from other states to fill any staffing shortages. This would be a large departure from the status quo, where states either simply lower their own state requirements when facing a teacher shortage, or as in the case of Arizona, find themselves having to recruit teachers from other countries.26 Similarly, this system would increase mobility within the teaching profession by providing those willing to relocate with the infrastructure to apply for positions in states where their skills are needed most.
Allowing teachers to use one uniform process to transfer their credentials across state lines would substantially alleviate the confusion and variability that exists in today's convoluted interstate agreement process. States looking to recruit high-quality candidates from other states would have a built-in incentive to raise their own standards in order to participate in the ITA process. Established teachers wanting to move across state lines would find a reciprocity process which is fair and clear, as the baseline expectations would be consistent for every state. And prospective teachers looking to enter the profession could be certain that a career in teaching would actually allow them to engage in a modern and mobile lifestyle—not cementing them into a geographical choice they make in their teens or early twenties. By opening up state lines while simultaneously raising the standards of entry, the teaching profession could take an important step toward helping the American public see it as a more prestigious and viable career option for decades to come.
Critiques & Responses
States should be allowed to decide how and when a teacher gets certified.
We are not proposing a federal takeover of teacher licensure. Title II of the Higher Education Act (HEA) explicitly prohibits the federal government from "establishing or supporting a national system of teacher certification," and there is nothing in this proposal that would take away the states' ability to design and implement their own state licensure systems and grant state-specific certification.27 We simply believe that states should ask all teachers to demonstrate a meaningful level of content and pedagogical knowledge before they step foot in a classroom and participate in a performance assessment before earning full licensure (which more states have already begun to require on their own since the development of the edTPA).28 This process should be monitored by an external reviewer comprised of state and local experts to provide a check to ensure that states and teachers are better informed as to the quality and rigor of certification standards in various states. While there would be no federal mandate requiring states to participate, states would have the incentive to raise their standards to meet these baseline recommendations in order to take part in the Interstate Teacher Application (ITA). We see this system as analogous to the way the Federation of State Medical Boards & National Board of Medical Examiners oversee medical licensing, ensuring that the standards for state-developed certification are clear, rigorous, and consistent, and recognizing that a doctor shouldn't have to start the medical licensure process completely anew if he or she moves to a neighboring state.29
Raising the bar will create a teacher shortage.
There is no evidence to suggest that raising the standard of entry into the profession would lead to a shortage of teachers. While some states have experienced teacher shortages in the areas of math and science, teacher preparation programs nationwide routinely graduate twice as many elementary teachers as are needed each year. This means that Millennials who major in STEM fields are not entering the teaching profession, although they are desperately needed. Raising the bar for entry into the profession could eliminate the elementary teacher surplus problem while making the career more prestigious and attractive to graduates from the science and math fields who are looking for an entry point into a prestigious career pathway.30 There is strong reason to believe that setting a low bar drives high-achieving students away from entering the profession. A recent Third Way poll found that top-tier undergraduate students have a dismal perception of the teaching profession— only 35% said teachers were "smart," and teaching was ranked as the top profession they believe "average" people choose.31 If we enhance the prestige of the profession by creating a more linear and rigorous pathway to full teacher licensure, more high-achieving Millennials will line up to fill our classrooms.
Making the licensure process more difficult will result in less diversity in the teaching pool.
Today, people of color comprise a paltry 17% of the teaching force.32 We have seen, however, that it is possible to raise standards and increase diversity simultaneously. According to the Center for American Progress, Massachusetts has been able to maintain a diversity index that is equivalent to the national average, despite the state's recent overhaul to make entry into the teaching profession more rigorous.33 In addition, Teach For America, a highly-selective alternative certification program, announced earlier this year that over half of its incoming corps members identify as people of color and 47% received Pell Grants.34 While there are certainly larger systemic issues that need to be addressed to increase the diversity of the teaching profession, lowering the standards of entry is a haphazard approach, not a long-term solution, and it is offensive to teachers everywhere to suggest that they cannot meet higher standards with new and improved measures. Greater emphasis should instead be placed on actively recruiting a more diverse population of teachers into the profession in the first place and preparing them well for the classroom.
This isn't that different from other proposals to standardize the teacher licensure process, like a "bar exam for teachers."
The solutions proposed in this report are unique in several respects. First, our proposal for a streamlined licensure process keeps control of teacher licensure at the state level by allowing state actors and teachers to design and recalibrate their own systems. In addition, recommending InTASC as the organization to review and approve these systems reinforces the notion that teachers themselves should be the primary agents of change and accreditation. Indeed, InTASC is comprised of education leaders and on-the-ground professionals; there is no federal oversight in the certification pathway we have proposed. Moreover, the ITA is an entirely new concept that would provide an incentive for states to opt in and voluntarily raise their own standards. While participation would not be mandatory, it would be in the best interests of each state and their teachers to opt in. Refusal to be part of the InTASC approval process would indicate failure to meet these new standards, sending a signal to prospective teachers that a state's certification process is neither rigorous nor prestigious. By continuing to set a low bar, non-participating states would not have access to the common application database and the resulting wider range of excellent teachers from which to choose when hiring, leaving them at a significant disadvantage when experiencing a teacher shortage.
A standardized licensure process will lead to increased corporate involvement in education, rather than teacher-led efforts.
Teacher input is crucial to the success of any new certification system. Today, states use over 600 different standardized tests for entry into the teaching profession, including content exams required in 47 states, and basic skills exams required in 42. We are not proposing the continued use of solely rote basic skills and content exams—rather, we believe we must encourage states to replace those watered-down basic skills exams with a stand-and-deliver component designed and assessed by expert teachers. The edTPA, which was created by educators and includes a review process performed by teams of university faculty and K-12 classroom teachers, is one such model.35 The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards provides another example of a challenging, multi-step peer-reviewed process with the goal of advancing the profession.36 Under our proposal, teachers would be heavily involved in the design of the new ITA system and work closely with InTASC to help determine where the raised bar of entry should be set. The goal is not to increase the number of undemanding tests designed by testing companies, but to recognize teachers' true capabilities through a system built by teachers from the ground up.
"Evaluation of Teacher Preparation Programs: Purposes, Methods, and Policy Options," Report, National Academy of Education, October 2013, p.32. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://naeducation.org/NAED_080456.htm.
"2013 State Teacher Policy Yearbook," Report, National Council on Teacher Quality, January 2014, p.25. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nctq.org/dmsStage/2013_State_Teacher_Policy_Yearbook_National_Summary_NCTQ_Report.
"Filling in the Gaps: Solving Teacher Shortages," Report, The Southern Office of the Council of State Governments, April 2003, p.15. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.slcatlanta.org/Publications/publications_all.php.
"2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook," Report, National Council on Teacher Quality, January 2012, p.6. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nctq.org/dmsStage/2011_State_Teacher_Policy_Yearbook_National_Summary_NCTQ_Report.
"The Praxis Series Passing Scores by Test and State," Educational Testing Service, September 1, 2014. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: https://www.ets.org/praxis/scores/understand/; See also "Understanding Your Praxis Scores 2014−15," Educational Testing Service, 2014. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: https://www.ets.org/praxis/scores/understand/.
"The Praxis Series Passing Scores by Test and State," Educational Testing Service, September 1, 2014, p.1. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: https://www.ets.org/praxis/scores/understand/.
"Understanding Your Praxis Scores 2014−15," Educational Testing Service, 2014, p.7. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: https://www.ets.org/praxis/scores/understand/; See also "The Praxis Series Passing Scores by Test and State," Educational Testing Service, September 1, 2014, p.1. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: https://www.ets.org/praxis/scores/understand/.
"Filling in the Gaps: Solving Teacher Shortages," Report, The Southern Office of the Council of State Governments, April 2003, p.30. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.slcatlanta.org/Publications/publications_all.php.
"Filling in the Gaps: Solving Teacher Shortages," Report, The Southern Office of the Council of State Governments, April 2003, p.32. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.slcatlanta.org/Publications/publications_all.php.
William J. Bushaw and Valerie J. Calderon, "The 46th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitude Toward the Public Schools, Part II," Poll, PDK/Gallup, May-June 2014, Table 3, p.51. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://pdkintl.org/programs-resources/poll/.
"The Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC)," Council of Chief State School Officers, 2014. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.ccsso.org/resources/programs/interstate_teacher_assessment_consortium_%28intasc%29.html.
"Interstate Agreement," National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), 2012. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nasdtec.net/?page=Interstate.
"Interstate Agreement," National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), 2012. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nasdtec.net/?page=Interstate.
"Teacher Certification Reciprocity," Teach.com. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://teach.com/where/teaching-in-america/teacher-certification-reciprocity.
"Number of Board-Certified Teachers Tops 100,000 as New Studies Show Significant Gains in Student Achievement," National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), January 8, 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nbpts.org/nbpts-2013-01-08-nbct-student-achievement.
Cathryn Creno, "Arizona Teacher Shortage Forces Schools to go International," The Arizona Republic, October 1, 2014. Accessed on October 14, 2014. Available at: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2014/10/01/arizona-teacher-shortage-international-candidates/16519807/.
Jane G. Coggshall and Susan K. Sexton, "Teachers on the Move: A Look at Teacher Interstate Mobility Policy and Practice," Report, National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), May 2008, p. 8. Accessed October 31, 2014. Available at: http://www.gtlcenter.org/products-resources/teachers-move-look-teacher-interstate-mobility-policy-and-practice.
"State Policy on Elementary Test Prep," National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nctq.org/statePolicy/policyIssueFindings.do?policyIssueId=8&masterGoalId=8&stateId; See also "State Policy on Secondary Test Prep," National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://www.nctq.org/statePolicy/policyIssueFindings.do?policyIssueId=8&masterGoalId=28&stateId.
About edTPA: Overview," American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Accessed October 30, 2014. Available at: http://edtpa.aacte.org/about-edtpa#Overview-0.
"edTPA Participation Map," American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Accessed October 19, 2014. Available at: http://edtpa.aacte.org/state-policy.
"Transforming Teaching: Connecting Professional Responsibility with Student Learning," Report, Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching, November 2011, p.7. Accessed on October 23, 2014. Available at: http://www.nea.org/home/49981.htm.
"The Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC)," Council of Chief State School Officers. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.ccsso.org/resources/programs/interstate_teacher_assessment_consortium_(intasc).html.
"Scores and Transcripts," United States Medical Licensing Examination. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.usmle.org/transcripts/.
"Interstate Agreement," National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Accessed on October 21, 2014. Available at: http://www.nasdtec.net/?page=Interstate.
"Mission," The Common Application. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: https://www.commonapp.org/Login.
Cathryn Creno, "Arizona Teacher Shortage Forces Schools to go International," The Arizona Republic, October 1, 2014. Accessed on October 14, 2014. Available at: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2014/10/01/arizona-teacher-shortage-international-candidates/16519807/.
United States, Department of Education, "1998 Amendments to Higher Education Act of 1965," 2006. Accessed on October 21, 2014. Available at: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea98/sec201.html.
"edTPA Participation Map," American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Accessed October 19, 2014. Available at: http://edtpa.aacte.org/state-policy.
"What is USMLE?," United States Medical Licensing Examination. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.usmle.org/.
Emma Beck, "K5 Teacher Overload: Too Many Trained, Not Enough Jobs," USA Today, February 19, 2013. Accessed on October 16, 2014. Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/18/oversupply-elementary-education/1917569/.
Benenson Strategy Group conducted an online survey for Third Way of 400 undergraduate students with B or greater GPAs who were not education majors, from December 3-9, 2013.
Stephen Sawchuk, "Diversity on the Rise Among TFA Recruits," Education Week, August 11, 2014. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2014/08/diversity_on_the_rise_among_tf.html.
Ulrich Boser, "Teacher Diversity Revisited: A New State-by-State Analysis," The Center for American Progress, Report, May 2014. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/report/2014/05/04/88962/teacher-diversity-revisited/.
Stephen Sawchuk, "Diversity on the Rise Among TFA Recruits," Education Week, August 11, 2014. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2014/08/diversity_on_the_rise_among_tf.html.
"edTPA," Pearson Education. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.pearsonassessments.com/teacherlicensure/edtpa.html.
"National Board Certification," National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Accessed on October 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.nbpts.org/national-board-certification%C2%AE.
Subscribe to receive email alerts for our products and events and customize your subscription to suit your areas of interest. Your email will never be shared with any third party, and you can unsubscribe at any time.


text:
Apple is looking to conquer its next new market with the new iPhone 3Gs: satnav.
It has combined with TomTom to provide a navigation application for the iPhone that will allow users to replace their in-car satellite navigation with the new handset.
It capitalises on the compass on the new iPhone 3Gs, and combines with Google maps and GPS already on the device
It will use a version of TomTom's turn-by-turn navigation software, including routes and maps, and a car kit for the iPhone with secure docking, enhanced GPS, hands-free calling and in-car charging.
The move will be a source of frustration for Nokia, which spent in excess of $8bn (£5bn) buying Navteq in October 2007, which supplies Nokia Maps, in a bid to become the leader in mobile navigation.
The application will be available via Apple's application store and will be available from later this summer. The two new iPhones, which are upgraded with the latest OS 3.0 software, will be available on O2 from 19 June.
Mobile Industry Awards 2017 - B2B & Distribution Finalists
Mobile Industry Awards 2017 – Retail Finalists announced
Mobile Industry Awards 2017 - Best Ruggedised Device
Nazish Dossa Joins Brighstar as UK Managing Director.
Get your FREE copy of Mobile's e-zine and stay up to speed on your PC, laptop or
Get your FREE e-zine
Huawei - 'Our 2017 focus is premium products'
Retail Special
S6 to re-ignite the market
Brightstar 20:20 and HTC join forces
Meeting the challenge of in-building coverage


text:
Global Summer Trends 2017
Düsseldorf, 16th May 2017.
This year, trivago.co.uk reveals 2017's worldwide trending destinations as part of their annual Global Summer Trends research.
Using exclusive price data from the past two years on trivago platforms around the world, trivago has identified the destinations that have seen the largest increase in popularity over this period.
The number one trending destination for 2017 is Iceland's capital, Reykjavik. This is the destination that has shown the greatest increase in searches over the past two years.
This is followed by Cuba's Varadero, coming in at number two and ranking higher than the country's capital, Havana.
The one country to feature twice in the list is Spain. Both destinations are located in the Southeastern Alicante province: the eponymous town of Alicante coming in at number four and the nearby Torrevieja at ten.
European destinations make up 50% of the results: Iceland, Turkey, Spain and Croatia are the four European countries making the top list.
One of the smallest destinations in the top ten is Crikvenica on Croatia's Adriatic coast, which is ninth in the ranking.
Trending Destinations 2017: The Top Ten
Eleanor Kutylowski, External Relations: 'Even though most of the destinations in the top ten offer sunshine and sandy beaches, the top spot for 2017 is taken by Iceland's Reykjavik, an alternative to the traditional summer beach holiday.
Europe is the place to be this year, with European destinations making up half of the top ten. For those looking to venture abroad, these destinations are perfect for a short haul break, however with most UK travellers choosing to holiday for an average of 7 days, the long-haul options outside of the continent are set to be just as popular.
Alicante, a longstanding popular choice for the Brits is no longer a secret of ours; as the fourth most trending destination it is evident that travellers worldwide have started to pick up on its appeal.
A great resource for those yet to book their summer holiday, this top list can help Brits pick out a trending destination that has been tried and tested by travellers worldwide.'
About the data
This data shows global emerging destinations that have been rapidly gaining popularity on trivago across the world. We looked at searches from the past two years and each destination has at least 35 hotels to be included in the UK list.
About trivago
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, trivago is a global hotel search platform, focused on reshaping the way travellers search for and compare hotels. trivago's mission is to "be the traveller's first and independent source of information for finding the ideal hotel at the lowest rate." As of September 30, 2016, trivago's global hotel search platform offered access to approximately 1.3 million hotels in over 190 countries. trivago's platform can be accessed globally via 55 localised websites and apps in 33 languages.
This press release is copyrighted and may only be published with reference to www.trivago.co.uk. Subscribe to the trivago releases by emailing email@example.com.


text:
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Greenwillow Books, 319 Pages
Sub-genre: Science Fiction? Steampunk?
Source: ARC from ALA Midwinter 2012
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Masque of the Red Death #1
Everything is in ruins.
A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.
So what does Araby Worth have to live for?
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.
And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for—no matter what it costs her.
All of the Poe fans out there can rest easy. Griffin has done a fantastic job of retelling the dark and foreboding tale [allegory] of The Masque of the Red Death. The imagery that was used created a gothic, macabre world where beautifully crafted, scarce, and essential porcelain masks are only for those that can afford them. Prospero (Poe's original character's name) is still as greedy, terrifying, ruthless, and in denial as ever, and all of the symbolism and allegory from the original are well represented.
The main characters, Araby, Will, Elliott, and April are all very well fleshed-out and I really appreciated the way that Griffin created her steampunk world in a way that made it uniquely hard to pin-down by time (year) and location. It honestly could have been anywhere and any-"when". The vivid descriptions of the Debauchery Club, the dresses, patrons, and even the dragon-themed designs in every room had me riveted from the very beginning.
Taking on a work of Poe is truly ambitious, but I believe that Griffin did a fantastic job of keeping the original idea intact and creating her own interpretation of a classic. The tension of a love-triangle was present between Will, Araby, and Elliott while not sacrificing the integrity of the storyline with teenage angst. The threat of contracting the plague was an ever-present thought for all of the characters, and Griffin never let us forget the consequences of being careless with or unable to afford one's own mask. I know I found myself holding my breath during quite a few scenes in the book because it was so easy to get caught-up in the drama and fear that the characters were experiencing. The plot was well-paced, wonderfully detailed, and ended in a way that left me desperately wanting a continuation of Araby's journey.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a darker, gothic read, but all Poe fans should absolutely give this book a chance. I think this is a book that will be well-received, not only in the world of YA, but the world of literature, in general. It is definitely an homage to a literary master that is worthy of very high praise!


text: That's a shame. Yea, Ferrari's main requirements were that you had to have alwready owned an F40 AND F50 to be eligible. That in itself is a pretty exclusive list, especially when you consider that there were similar requirements to be able to purchase those cars. Essentially, to buy an Enzo you have to be one of the fortunate individuals who have been lucky enough to have dished out between 1.5 to 2 million dollars on Ferrari's in your life. And that just gets you on the list! Believe me, anyone who's done that in their life, *is* sombody. $350k for a write-off, where anyone with the cash can bid, is sounding better all the time.


text:
Vote: Do you think a mosque should be allowed to be built two blocks from ground zero?
Interactive: Proposed mosque spurs controversy
Video: Mosque comments overshadow campaign trail
Transcript of: Mosque comments overshadow campaign trail
MATT LAUER, co-host: New fallout this morning over President Obama 's comments on those plans to build a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center . And now the Senate 's top-ranking Democrat is branking -- breaking ranks with the president and voicing his opposition to that mosque . NBC 's chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd is traveling with the president. He's in Los Angeles . Chuck , good morning to you.
CHUCK TODD reporting: Good morning, Matt. Well, President Obama 's in the midst of this five-day campaign swing -- excuse me, five-state campaign swing. He's hit Seattle , Washington , and Columbus , Ohio , today. But he brings with him out West this controversy about what he said about building a mosque a few blocks from ground zero . All of this has made Republicans believe it's an issue they can use on the campaign trail. Gearing up for tough fall election, President Obama spent Monday night in Los Angeles raising money for Democrats .
Offscreen Voice: President Barack Obama .
TODD: Earlier on Monday, the president spoke to Democrats at another fundraiser in Wisconsin , presenting a case for his party keeping control of Congress .
President BARACK OBAMA: This nation is moving in the right direction, we are moving forward, and the most important thing we can do right now is to keep moving forward.
TODD: But the president's campaign swing is still being overshadowed by comments he made last Friday which appeared to support the planned mosque near ground zero .
Pres. OBAMA: As a citizen and as president, I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes -- that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances.
TODD: The president tried to clarify his position over the weekend, pushing back on the notion he was showing support for building the mosque .
Pres. OBAMA: I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there.
TODD: But the political firestorm burned on, with Republicans sharpening their rhetoric.
Mr. NEWT GINGRICH (Former Speaker of the House): Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington . We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor .
TODD: Other Republicans , including some in tough primaries, are trying to take political advantage of the controversy. Florida billionaire gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott launched this new TV ad .
TODD: Even some Democrats , like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , agreed with that sentiment, saying the mosque should be built somewhere else. But some Republicans believe taking a stance against the mosque could be a political liability over the long term.
Mr. RICK GERSON (Former Bush Speechwriter): It feeds social conflict , long-term social conflict in America , and it actually undermines our conduct of the war on terror , which can't be conducted around the world without Muslim support.
TODD: Now, he is going to mix in a little policy when he goes to Seattle , Washington ; though today is primary day in Washington state , so he's also getting an opportunity to campaign with the very vulnerable Democratic Senator Patty Murray , Matt.


text: Package: partitioner Version: 0.07 (not installed) Severity: grave Justification: renders package unusable After finally fixing the dependencies for cfdisk it still does not work. Firing up partitioner shows cfdisk black on black. Since I am able to quit with "q" I suppose it really is cfdisk I am not seeing... This is most probably not a partitioner bug, but I thought this might be a good starting point. -- System Information: Debian Release: testing/unstable Architecture: i386 Kernel: Linux coyote 2.4.21-5-k7 #1 Mon Aug 25 08:09:01 EST 2003 i686 Locale: LANG=de_DE@euro, LC_CTYPE=de_DE@euro


text:
Our offer
At Coface, our main mission is to insure businesses – from SMEs to multinationals - against unpaid invoices, which can undermine their activity. In this way, we have designed a range of credit insurance solutions covering 4 key requirements expressed by businesses for export: insuring their sales, financing their development, covering their risks on a case-by-case basis and evaluating markets.
This "made by Coface" protection is based on a powerful prevention system: our experts work around the globe to analyse the financial strength of businesses and anticipate payment arrears. Through this continuous review, we provide feedback on all or part of the customer portfolio, complementing and partnering with businesses.
Our in-depth knowledge of buyers and the markets enables us to offer bespoke advice and services, in addition to taking action quickly when risks of unpaid invoices materialise. This responsiveness is possible thanks to the unique close ties established with our customers, backed by our presence in 66 countries. In France, 8 regional divisions, along with specialised brokers nationwide and a dedicated key accounts team in Paris, keep us alert and help us anticipate risky situations. In addition to credit insurance, Coface offers factoring, business information production and receivables management services in some countries.
Your business needs
Our solutions
Asia Corporate Payment Survey 2016: Tail Risks are on the Rise07/19/2017
Coface's latest annual payment survey covered 2,795 corporates int he Asia Pacific region, focusing on 8 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. The survey also traced the evolution of corporate payments in 11 sectors
Coface launches Online Services07/11/2017
Coface, the international credit insurer, has launched an online Customised Credit Opinion (CCO) service that will provide companies with information about their business partners. Coface is also offering uninsured collections complementing its CCO services.