text:
Workforce Training
Employers are assured of quality education and training opportunities in Albuquerque.
The University of New Mexico continues to score well in national rankings, and Central New Mexico Community College is among the nation's best community colleges. Both schools have been flexible and innovative in meeting the changing demands of employers. Both institutions work with private industry and the national laboratories to improve education and training.
University of New Mexico
Enrollment, Fall 2010: 36,510
Degree programs: 94 bachelors, 71 masters, 37 doctoral.
Schools or Colleges: Anderson School of Management, School of Architecture and Planning, School of Law, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, School of Engineering, School of Public Administration, College of Fine Arts, School of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and University College
The University of New Mexico, founded in 1889, is the state's flagship institution. It occupies 600 acres in the heart of Albuquerque. UNM offers a wide variety of academic programs through its schools and colleges. As a Carnegie Research I institution, UNM has distinguished itself in a number of areas:
- The Health Sciences Center, which includes the medical school, colleges of nursing and pharmacy, four hospitals, and the nationally recognized Cancer Research and Treatment Center
- The Center for High Technology Materials, a Center of Excellence for Sematech and one of three optoelectronics centers for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)
- The Manufacturing Training and Technology Center, which supports teaching and training, research and development, start-up companies, manufacturing prototyping, and extension service activities
- The Albuquerque High Performance Computing Center, which ranks among the top five academic supercomputing installations in the country
- The Management of Technology program, which prepares students to assess the potential of technological innovation, manage Research and Development projects, and start and build tech businesses
Recent capital projects include the following:
- The $14 million, 60,000-square-foot, Science and Mathematics Learning Center
- The $90 million, 206,432-square-foot UNM Cancer Center, a state-of-the-art facility designated as one of the nation's 64 National Cancer Institutes
- The $12 million Film & Digital Media Program's Aperture Center
UNM Continuing Education
The University of New Mexico's Continuing Education can design, develop, and deliver classes and certificate programs for businesses and nonprofits in its facilities or on location. Staff members can also adapt existing courses or create custom courses and curriculum.
(505) 277-6034
[email protected]
Central New Mexico Community College
Enrollment, Fall 2010: 30,534
Academic Schools: Applied Technologies; Business and Information Technology; Communication, Humanities and Social Sciences; Adult and General Education; Health, Wellness and Public Safety; Mathematics, Science and Engineering
Branches: 5
Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) is New Mexico's largest and most comprehensive community college and the state's largest educational institution.
CNM has a long and well-deserved reputation for its responsiveness to employers' training needs.
Its manufacturing processes, optics, photonics, and electronics programs are well established and in recent years the school added programs in biotechnology, microsystems, aerospace technology and film production to meet new demand.
CNM offers distance learning for both regular classes and customized classes for companies.
CNM Workforce Training Center
CNM built its Workforce Training Center in the I-25 corridor in the midst of customer-support call centers, R&D facilities, and manufacturers. Many of the school's business-related programs are concentrated here.
The center provides timely, flexible worker training for large and small companies, nonprofits, and government agencies. It can customize training based on worker assessments, and it will train workers year-round at company sites or through distance learning.
The 62,500-square-foot center has six computer labs, 18 classrooms, and a high bay for large equipment, which can be rented for everything from specialized industry training to meetings and conferences.
Other Training Organizations
Barelas Job Opportunity Center
Located in the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce Complex, the center's mission is to develop and train a workforce from the Barelas business district, the Albuquerque downtown area and the South Valley. The center provides job listings, workshops, and some training.
The center includes Job Works, which provides such services as assessment, job referrals, counseling, and training referrals (skill improvement, retraining, job readiness) for the unemployed with emphasis on disadvantaged or dislocated workers.
1309 Fourth SW, Suite D
(505) 247-8700
Goodwill Industries of New Mexico Workforce Development Programs
As a community service, Goodwill Industries of New Mexico offers the public its Training Center, which provides a job bank that is maintained daily; a computer bank with Internet access for job searches, career exploration, and resume building; a resource library; a telephone bank to arrange appointments and talk to employers; and office equipment.
5000 San Mateo NE
View website.
Community-Based Programs – Services include assessment of abilities, skills and interests; job leads and matches; interview training; resume building; transportation assistance; on-the-job coaching; job advocacy; and services for homeless individuals.
Skills Training Programs – Programs include writing a master application; writing a resume; internet job search; personal financial management; and customer service skills, among others. Courses combine classroom work with on-site experience and internships, providing hands-on training in occupational literacy, retail, clerical, janitorial and computer skills training. Classes are offered weekly or monthly. Call (505) 881-6401 for class schedule.
Facility-Based Programs – Clients with little or no job history receive team-supported training and placement at Goodwill's own retail facilities. Clients work in a real work setting in Goodwill's processing and donation centers with supervised guidance and monitoring. Services include assessment of abilities, skills and interests, and development of an employment plan by client and support team. Pre-employment training helps client establish positive work habits. Upon completion, client may be referred to Community-Based Programs.
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute is a National Indian Community College that prepares Native American students to be productive life-long learners. In 2010 it ranked 35th among Washington Monthly's top community colleges. The institute provides low tuition and board to members of federally recognized Indian tribes.
Workforce Connection of Central New Mexico
The Workforce Career Center is an agency of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and is one of many employment offices around the state serving both individuals and employers.
The department web site describes education, training and apprenticeship programs.
501 Mountain NE
(505) 841-9300
Workforce Development Center
The Albuquerque Workforce Development Center is an agency of the New Mexico Department of Labor and is one of 32 employment offices around the state serving both individuals and employers.
The center's classroom training program provides up to 104 weeks of training for people in need of basic job skills or those who need to improve their skills. Courses can be taken at any community college or university in New Mexico.
501 Mountain NE
(505) 841-9300
Training Subsidies
Job Training Incentive Program
This highly flexible incentive reimburses economic-base companies (those selling a majority of goods or services out of state) for 30 to 75 percent of wages paid for up to six months. It also pays 100 percent of classroom training costs and on-the-job training provided by New Mexico institutions and part of the per-diem and travel costs of outside trainers. Job applicants must be New Mexico residents or have lived here previously for at least a year.
Workforce Investment Act
Succeeding the former Job Partnership Training Act, the Workforce Investment Act supports workforce development and training.
The Central Area Workforce Investment Board funds Job Works in the Barelas Job Opportunity Center and the Workforce Connection.


text: HISPANITAS - When you see Hispanitas shoes, it is easy to imagine their birthplace. Quirky designs, vibrant soft leathers and state of the art construction are all reflective of the Spanish culture and lifestyle. These shoes are sure to liven up any outfit giving you the extra bounce in your step. Hispanitas is available in B fittings.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Thursday evening was a good time for the opening ceremony of the Karen Baptist Church USA (KBC, USA) Youth Conference. The sun was shining and the temperature outside was enjoyable.
Thursday evening was a good time for the opening ceremony of the Karen Baptist Church USA (KBC, USA) Youth Conference. The sun was shining and the temperature outside was enjoyable.
Despite the nice weather, the real action was taking place inside, where crowds of young Karen refugees could be found walking the halls and filling the sanctuary of Temple Baptist Church in New Bern.
Guests at the opening ceremony included various dignitaries from Burma (also known as Myanmar), to include pastors, the president and minister of Karen Baptist Convention. From New Bern was Mayor Pro Tem Sabrina Bengel.
Bengel said, �My grandparents emigrated from Italy over 100 years ago. I have a soft place in my heart for people looking for a better life. New Bern is a special place because they have embraced the Karen people. The Karen people have been able to come here to find homes, get jobs and an education.�
The KBC, USA Youth Conference is an annual event held in a different location each year. This year the theme �Be the Light to the Nations� is honoring the 200th anniversary of American Baptist Missionary, Adoniram Judson�s arrival in Burma on July 13, 1813.
Throughout the four days, youth attended workshops, praise and worship and Bible study. Traditional Burmese meals were served. Soccer and volleyball games were held at Lawson Creek Park on Friday.
Pastor Lerhtoo expects approximately 600 people to attend the four day event centered on faith, the Karen culture and its youth.
Lerhtoo immigrated to the D.C. area from Burma in 2001 as a missionary and has served as pastor to the Burmese congregation. Lerhtoo is also the secretary for the KBC, USA, which was chartered in 2009. KBC, USA consists of seven regions and more than 80 churches.
In charge of the convention, Lerhtoo knows there is a difference between Karen refugee youth and American youth.
In Karen culture, youth are very respectful of the elderly, value marriage in that there should only be one husband and one wife for a lifetime, and socialization is very much alive, he said. Within the Karen culture, neighbors can talk, visit and eat without an appointment, even if they do not know each other well.
Ler Wah arrived in New Bern in June in preparation for the youth conference. �I�ve gone fishing and only needed a 10 day fishing license,� he added with a smile.
�This is a great opportunity to meet Karen people that have settled in New Bern. I feel God is sending them to be the Karen people here,� said Ler Wah.
Ler Wah, president of Karen Baptist Convention, Burma and Principal of Yengoon Karen Baptist Bible School, explained the conference is to support the Karen youth. Bringing them together will help them adapt to western culture while maintaining their own culture.
Saw Samson, full-time minister for Karen Baptist Convention and director of the Ministry Department, Burma is also in attendance for this weekend's events.
Samson delivered a sermon on Friday focusing on the theme of the conference.
According to Samson, most youth are not aware of the situation in Burma, just that their mother or father are from "the inside." Due to the political conflict in the country, most Karen people do not live directly in Burma. Instead they live on the border of Burma and Thailand.
Samson said, "Youth are not stable in their faith or beliefs. We need to encourage them to live as good Christians. They must support the U.S. with a good attitude but integrate the Karen culture."
Looking around the sanctuary, it became apparent the Karen youth have established some of the fashion, hair styles and technological preferences found in the U.S. among American youth. Some boys wore baggy jeans or shorts, high-top sneakers, Mohawks in their hair and headphones around their necks.
�They want to be like their peers but also never give up their culture,� said Cookie Davenport, board member of the Karen Baptist Church of New Bern and member of Temple Baptist Church.
Davenport has been involved in assisting the Karen refugees with settlement. Support provided by Davenport ranges in the level of complexity, such as finding a doctor to planning a funeral.
�The Karen people are so kind. They expect nothing and appreciate anything,� Davenport said.
Karen refugees who immigrate to the U.S. leave their homeland in search of a better life. Kaw Moo, a 25-year-old man born in Thailand, is now a resident in New Bern and a prime example of the improvement Karen refugees can see in their lifestyle after relocating to the U.S.
Kaw Moo immigrated to the U.S. in May 2008, spending one and half years in Buffalo, N.Y. then moving to New Bern, where he has been for the past three and a half years. �This is the best place for me to stay. The weather is like where I was born,� Kaw Moo said.
Upon arrival to New Bern, Davenport helped Kaw Moo find a job building homes for a local construction company. A series of favorable changes have occurred for Kaw Moo since his relocation to this historic Southern town. He got married, purchased a home and began attending Craven Community College.
He is working toward an Associate in Arts in criminal justice (pre-major). According to Kaw Moo, the New Bern Police Department will sponsor him for the Basic Law Enforcement Training program when he is ready. Kaw Moo said he will be ready as soon as he is granted citizenship, which he expects to take place this year and should be enrolled in the 2014 program.
His parents, born in Burma, had to flee the country with the family in tow. Their destination: The Burma/Thailand border where Kam Moo and his family would live in a camp for 13 years, primarily supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. With no money and no freedom to leave the camp, Kaw Moo and his family would only have access to the food provided by the UNHCR. If anyone should dare leave the fenced in, 3 mile long and 1 mile wide camp, they would be arrested by Thailand police and in some cases tortured.
When Kaw Moo reflects on the life he used to live he recognizes the extreme differences. �In the United States I have freedom and tremendous opportunity to get an education for a better future. The U.S. is a good place for all human beings. In Burma, it is the complete opposite. In the camp I didn�t know about college or universities, only the Karen Baptist Bible School,� Kaw Moo said.
�The U.S. provides good opportunities for any refugee not just the Karen people,� Kaw Moo said.
Sunday is the last day of the conference. Lunch will be served at Temple Baptist Church at noon. Closing ceremony will be held from 1-2:30 p.m.
Megan Beyer can be reached at 252-635-5671 or email@example.com.


text:
La Spezia group holidays
At Bellarome we have experience in offering the best group holidays in La Spezia. The essence of a group holiday is to be tailor-made and as a company that specialises in customised holidays Bellarome are perfectly placed to put together any group requirements you may have.
We know that flexibility is essential when booking group holidays, in order to meet the needs of all group members. That is why you will receive dedicated support from Bellarome before you leave and during your trip. Group holidays offer great value with group discounts available for bookings of 10 people or more.
If you would like Bellarome to put together a tailor-made group holiday in Italy for you, please call one of our dedicated team on 01223 637331 or Click here to send us an enquiry


text:
Cindy Dang has never worn makeup.
But this day is different -- it's her wedding day.
The fuss is a welcome diversion from her no fuss line in a hospital room at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center, where Dang is receiving treatment for Stage 3 ovarian cancer.
Instead of undergoing chemotherapy, she is undergoing a makeover from a volunteer with the American Cancer Society.
"When I see a cancer patient fighting for their life it makes me want to fight for them and help them," said Sarah Zebb, an American Cancer Society volunteer.
The Navy veteran who did a tour of duty in the Persian Gulf is relishing her reflection.
Her veil showcasing, not hiding, her smile.
What Dang thought would be a drab wedding in her hospital room turned into a beautiful outdoor ceremony thanks to her friends and hospital staff.
"I think everybody is trying to surround me with love and support, and tell me not to give up," Dang said. "I have a long, long struggle to go, but this is my break to make me enjoy life."
Dang is marrying her soul mate, her boyfriend of 15 years, David Jones.
Her illness has brought Jones a new perspective.
"I know to live life to the fullest," Jones said. "Take it day by day."
And sometimes, minute by minute.
"I just turned 42 in September. It's not my time yet," Dang said. "I'm going to fight."


text:
About Us
What is ThaiCupid.com?
ThaiCupid.com is a specialist dating and matchmaking website that assists people from Thai and Western backgrounds to find their perfect match. We offer friendly service combined with sophisticated search and messaging facilities that will make your search for true love fun and enjoyable.
Why use ThaiCupid.com?
Unlike some other sites, ThaiCupid.com offers friendly, personalized service combined with the latest technology. We also understand the motivations and aspirations of people from diverse backgrounds seeking to find their perfect match and feel that our own experiences can be of valuable assistance. We understand that sometimes.... the perfect one for you is located at the other end of the earth! No matter where that special person is, or why you want to meet them, we can help you to find your perfect match.
Benefits for ThaiCupid.com members:
Search through thousands profiles of attractive, friendly men and women from all backgrounds looking to meet someone just like you. Your own personal inbox allows you to easily and anonymously find your perfect match. Add a profile instantly and attach a photo.
Contact ThaiCupid.com
Please do not hesitate to contact ThaiCupid.com with any questions you may have regarding this site. Please Click Here to contact ThaiCupid.com.
Click Here to Contact ThaiCupid.com
Who Owns ThaiCupid.com?
ThaiCupid.com is operated by Cupid Media Pty Ltd, a company that specializes in the development of database-driven dating sites. Cupid Media was founded in 1999 and is based on the Gold Coast, Australia.


text:
Tories promise medals not money for science and R&D
Hooverpreneur promises cultural change
James Dyson's policy review for the Tory party calls for cultural changes to put science and engineering at the centre of British society.
The vacuum cleaner maestro's review said: "We can't PR our way out of the financial black hole." But without money the review runs the danger of doing just that. It calls for "developing high esteem for science and engineering", and recommends future Tory ministers award prizes for inventors and engineers.
The review suggests head teachers get more flexibility to pay science, maths and technology teachers more than other teachers. Dyson also said that teachers want to teach all three science subjects, and should be allowed to.
Dyson also looked at the perennial problem of moving research from university laboratories to the real, profit-making world. He suggested giving universities greater autonomy by cutting bureaucratic assessment systems and by promoting knowledge transfer offices.
He called for better funding for high-tech start-ups by increasing tax relief for angel investors to 30 per cent, and encouraging banks to lend to such firms by offering government guaranteed loans.
Dyson's Ingenious Britain report said R&D tax credits were effective, but badly targeted at high-tech firms, start-ups and small firms. He supported Tory plans to make a quarter of government procurement from small and medium enterprises.
All these policies must happen "alongside the much needed deficit reduction that the Conservatives have argued for". ®


text:
Personalised Number Plate InformationAll the information you need to buy or sell your registration number
Number Plates
Number Plates
Each number plate has 1, 2 or 3 letters and one or more numbers. Number plates listed here have recently been sold but we have many similar numbers. Please call us or visit our main number plate website
Number plate results shown. If you want to go to our main website you can use our reg plate search facility.
Regplates have over 99% of all available number plates available to buy online 24 hours a day. We are members of MIRAD, APRT & CNG trade dealers associations.
All number plates are transferred in accordance with the DVLA.
Number Plates Recently Sold Search - HIW registrations
The following number plates are based on HIW number plates
Our team of trained personalised number plate staff will professionally handle your transfer as swiftly as possible with all paperwork change over handled for you including the V5, tax disc and MOT certificate. We offer advice without technical 'jargon', and are always competitive on price.
If you are looking to sell a private plate, our personalised registration plates valuations department can give you an accurate market value on your registration number by post or by e-mail.
Personalised Cherished Number Plates
Since their humble beginning in 1903, cherished numbers have continued to increase in popularity often adding the finishing touch to our prized possessions and very often prove to be a valuable investment.
The First Number Plate Ever Issued
A1 assigned in 1903
The Motor Car Act 1903, which came into force on 1 January 1904, required all motor vehicles to be entered on an official vehicle register, and to carry number plates. The Act was passed in order that vehicles could be easily traced in the event of an accident or contravention of the law. Vehicle registration number plates in the UK are rectangular or square in shape, with the exact permitted dimensions of the plate and its lettering set down in law.
You can find out where your personalised registration number plate was originally issued here.
ITP had launched a 15-day campaign for awareness among road users to remove unauthorised or non-patterned number plates from their vehicles and bikes.
The campaign was launched under the directions of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, with the purpose to ensure high security alert, and maintain law and order situation in the capital.
The campaign will end after two days on April 15 after which strict legal action will be taken against drivers whose vehicles have non-patterned number plates.
All such number plates would be considered fake and a fine would be imposed on such vehicle owners. The Traffic SSP had sent letters to government and private organisations regarding this campaign. He also appealed that the citizens cooperate with ITP and display authorised number plates issued by Excise and Taxation Office.
Bidders allowed to purchase an unlimited number of private vehicle number plates in Kingdom's first ever public auction
Manama, Apr. 12 (BNA): The first public auction of private vehicle number plates will take place at 18:00 on 13 April at the Isa Sports City Hall D, adjacent to the Bahrain National Stadium.
The auction, organised by Mazad, will open for registration between 11:00 to 17:00 on 13 April. In line with the company's commitment to fairness and transparency, Mazad has announced that there will be a set amount of seats available for non-participating members of the public, which will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Mr Talal Arif Alaraifi, CEO of Mazad, stated that the fast track service opened to all interested parties generated a large amount of interest at all locations, including at the Notary Office, Gosi Commercial Complex, and the Bahrain Investors Centre in Bahrain Financial Harbour.
Mr Alaraifi also highlighted that all the necessary procedures have been put in place ahead of the auction, and that the successful preparation is a reflection of the wide-ranging stakeholder engagement that has been undertaken. Mr Alaraifi also noted that a separate office for issuing power of attorney will be allocated in the auction venue.
The CEO called on those wishing to participate in the auction to bring all necessary documentation to the venue, including ID cards, and to ensure they have signed the participation form. Mr Alaraifi noted that company owners can register in the name of their companies through individuals authorised by law, and provide original power of attorney documentation at the event.
Mr Al Araifi further noted that regardless of nationality, bidders registered to participate will be able to purchase an unlimited number of private vehicle number plates. Buyers must complete the payment process within ten days, and upon completion of payment will be provided with an official certificate of ownership and have the freedom to use and/or assign the private number plate.
In 1989 a lot of these stored old models were registered in advance of legislation that required all new vehicles registered on or after 1 January 1990 to have catalytic converters fitted. This included vehicles held in storage and out of production for several years, in some cases five years or more. By the late 1990s, the range of available numbers was once again starting to run out, exacerbated by a move to biannual changes in registration letters (March and September) in 1999 to smooth out the bulge in registrations every August, so a new scheme needed to be adopted. It was decided to research a system that would be easier for crash or vehicle related crime witnesses to remember and clearer to read, yet still fit within a normal standard plate size.
In fact, when the DVLA issues a car's registration plate, they actually follow a very distinct system.
While it may look like a random combination, a number plate can actually tell you how old the car is and where it was registered.
A new format for registrations was introduced in September 2001, meaning all cars registered after that date would have their number plate made up of three parts.
How to tell where the car is from
The first section of a number plate is the local memory tag – the first two letters of the plate.
This identifies where the vehicle was registered, and is itself broken down into two parts.
The first letter stands for the local area, for example E denotes Essex, while L stands for London.
The plate's second letter then identifies at which DVLA office in that area the registration took place – multiple letters can signify the same DVLA office.
How anyone can tell how old your car is just by looking at it
The two numbers in the middle of your plate identify how old the car is.
The DVLA issues two lots of number plate combinations each year on March and September 1st.
All plates issued between the 1 March and the end of August will use the same two numbers as the year they are registered.
For example, a car registered in May 2017 would have "17".
Vehicles registered between September 1 and the end of February the following year, use a similar pattern of higher numbers.
When the format changed in 2001, this group of vehicles were identified differently by starting the labelling from "51" rather than "01".
Therefore this second lot of numbers will always be 50 plus the year the car was registered – so after 2010, the number starts with a 6.
For example, a vehicle registered in December 2009 will show "59" on its plate but December 2011 will be "61".
Is any of the plate random?
The final three letters of the number plate tend to be a random combination that make the registration unique.
But it's not uncommon for cars with neighbouring letter sequences to be from the same manufacturer, due to batch allocation of new registrations to dealers by the DVLA.
The letters "Q" and "I" are excluded from the random sequence, along with any phrases that are deemed offensive.
Using the current scheme, there will be a sufficient combinations to last until the end of February 2051.
What about registrations before September 2001?
From 1983 onward, licence plates used a leading single letter to represent the year of first registration.
The letter "A" was used in 1983, progressing through the alphabet, finishing with "Y" at the end of August 2001.
The rest of the characters on the plate were random.
Prior to 1983, the same system was used, but with the year letter at the end of the plate rather than the beginning.
A PETITION against a police chief's decision to sell the first number plate issued to the county has gathered over 850 signatures.
Retired police constable Alan Matthews started the online petition after he found out that the 'AB 1' licence plate was up for auction.
Police enthusiasts have lambasted the decision to sell the plate, which has traditionally been used on the staff cars of Worcestershire's Chief Constables.
West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion claims the sale will enable him to invest in frontline policing.
Mr Matthews, aged 69, who worked for West Mercia Police from 1985 to 1994, said: "It's a piece of police heritage that shouldn't be sold off.
"It was the original number that the chief had. I just think that there's other ways the PCC could save money.
"I'm getting quire ratty about it. When you have been in the police you see how much waste there is.
"It's a sad thing that people in the UK have so much history but don't think much of it."
Jon Cherry, the director of regplates.com, thinks the plate will sell for between £225,000 and £275,000.
He said: "We have sold similar plates recently at this level and the market for high quality original issue number 1 plates is very strong.
"The buyers of these are intent on having only the best and only this plate will suffice!"
Mr Campion said his priority is use the assets at his disposal to make West Mercia a safe place.
"The prospect of a chief constable or any public servant using a private number plate belongs in a time gone by, both for security reasons and public expectation," he said.
"Therefore a considered decision has been made to market 'AB 1' and any sale proceeds will be reinvested towards frontline policing in West Mercia."
He acknowledged the history behind the plate but said it had not been used for around six years.
A spokesman for Mr Campion said he was not selling anything else apart from the number plate.
Vehicle registration was introduced in 1903 and it is believed 'AB 1' was first issued to Worcestershire's Chief Constable Herbert Sutherland Walker in 1908.
The current format of number plates started in September 2001 with the '51' number identifier as shown in the 'DE51YRE' example above. The idea was to make vehicles easily identifiable and to allow 2 changes per year instead of the traditional one issue per year. This took pressure away from car dealers and diluted the rush with registering all new vehicles at the same time. This new format created several million new combinations offering scope for specific unreleased numbers to be purchased.
A high-end four-wheeler carrying an 'MLA' sticker was spotted parked in Prakashnagar, Begumpet with a fancy registration plate carrying the number AP2 AB 2222.
The vehicle was spotted by Mr Hari Satya Sandeep, a social media user who often shares pictures of traffic rule violation on the Facebook page and Twitter handles of the Hyderabad traffic police. Mr Sandeep said the car with MLA sticker was not parked properly and its fancy number plate was a violation of the rule.
"When I checked its challans on the Hyderabad traffic police e-challan portal there were no pending challans. They may have cleared the challans but in that case they would have changed the number plate if they were fined for it," Mr Sandeep said.
Asked about this, Dr V. Ravinder, joint commissioner Hyderabad traffic police, said, "As we have received the complaint we will look into the matter and will take action accordingly."
Mr Vinod Kanumala, chief functionary of the Indian Federation of Road Safety, said, "Abuse of rules by LAs is very common. The law makers are the primary law breakers." He said he had noticed a barcode number plate on a car in the city.
Number plate 2 of category 1 was the biggest attraction at the Abu Dhabi Police's open vehicle number plates auction on Saturday, sold for Dh10.1 million.
The popular auction generated a revenue of more than Dh55 million, auctioning 60 distinguished Abu Dhabi number plates at Emirates Palace hotel.
Abu Dhabi Police, in cooperation with Emirates Auction, held the public auction on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its establishment.
Organised by Emirates Auction, the auction listed the numbers on the company's website, including five double-digit plates, 15 three-digit plates, 19 four-digit and 17 five-digit plates.
Number plate 2 was the only one-digit licence plate in the auction, and was the first one-digit Category 1 number plate sold in a public auction.
Other number plates featured in the auction were 10, 60, 333, 600, 999, 1000, 1111, 5050, 6000, 6060, 6666, 9090, 9999, 10000, 55555, 60000, 66666.
WOULD you pay more than $150,000 for a piece of metal measuring just 19cm by 13cm?
That's the length to which collectors of historic South Australian licence plates are prepared to go to secure their piece of SA motoring history.
The 17 historic SA plates to go under the hammer have reserves ranging from $2999 for SA "467-470'' to $120,000 for SA "90'', right up to $149,999 for SA "29''.
Stewart Kay, proprietor of Historic Plates, said licence plates had proven to be great investments.
"In terms of their metallic value, forget gold and platinum, it's the most expensive metal in the world," he said.
"Some of the three-digit numbers we have ranging from $17,500 to $22,000 – and we've sold some three-digit numbers for more than $50,000 previously – they were $1500 only in the late 2000s, so they've increased quite significantly in that time.
"We find people are using them in their self-managed super fund or to finish off their collectable car.
"If you've just bought the latest $400,000 Porsche or Mercedes or whatever, a $20,000 numberplate is the only way to finish it off."
SA Government records show the "29" plate was first issued in 1907 to Dr E.V Fooks of Gawler, who registered it on an 8hp De Dion car.
"The reserve is $150,000 and we've arrived at that on past sales, but interestingly a couple of months ago, the number 29 Sydney plate sold in Sydney for $750,000," Mr Kay said.
"All of our plates usually sell online or the following day but we offer all our plates at a market correct reserve. But under auction, anything is possible.
"The days of a $1 million South Australian numberplate is not too far off."
So what else could you spend $150,000 on in South Australia?
According to realestate.com.au, $149,000 will buy you a three-bedroom home on 615sqm at Elizabeth East. For $149,990 you could drive away in a new 2017 Maserati Levante 3L 6 cylinder SUV.
And if you'd prefer a holiday, $150,000 will buy a couple 34 nights in the exclusive Osprey Pavillion of Kangaroo Island's luxurious Southern Ocean Lodge.
If you are buying the plates separately then you'll need to go to a registered number plate supplier to get new number plates for your vehicle. The registered supplier will need proof of your identity, as well as proof that the registration number belongs to you. The number plate supplier will need to see at least one document from each of the lists below. This will allow the number plate supplier to confirm your name, address and entitlement to the registration number. All documents must be original, not copies.
Established For Over 25 Years
the Cherished Numbers Guild
Our service
- Free transfer service - your paperwork is handled by our trained team
- Over 25 years expertise - long established and trusted company
- DVLA Recognised Reseller - linked directly from the DVLA website
- DVLA Registered Number Plate Supplier - in line with all DVLA & MOT regulations


text:
While you still can't get a legitimate M.D. online, you can study over the Internet for numerous other degrees and certificates in the allied health fields. Modern medicine and fitness are supported by vast amounts of technology, administration, and professional assistantship.
Universities and colleges are the primary institutions providing this kind of training. By and large, you can get into a net-based allied health program just as you would any campus-based program: register, enroll, and so on. Cindy Glewwe, the Health Information Technician (HIT) Programming Coordinator at Rasmussen College asserts that when it comes to institutional procedures, "everything is identical from admission to graduation" for both online and campus students.
"Along with an undergraduate degree," prospective students for the online Health Administration MBA at Benedictine University "must have at least two years of work experience," says Sharon Borowicz, Ph.D., Chair of Benedictine's MBA programs. "Our average student has seven."
Beyond that, courses and programs will vary based on how much of content is available over the Internet and how you access it.
Michael Rogich, Ph.D., Director for the Center of Online Learning at Saint Leo University, states that all of their B.A. in Business Administration for Healthcare course content, except textbooks, is online, including "video lectures, discussion questions, and homework assignments," and students' progress is "evaluated through [online] tests, projects, or papers. Each class is as interactive as possible through our message boards."
John Ryan Cottam, Instructional Developer for the Rueckert-Hartman School of Health Professions (RHSHP) at Regis University (which offers a highly unusual Transition Doctorate of Physical Therapy online) touts their courses' "media-rich enhancements," citing as an example "video of faculty performing manipulations on patients." Borowicz says the Benedictine MBA is "fully online; yes, books are needed, but several courses use eBooks." She goes on to state that students have "no necessity to visit the campus, although we welcome you to stop by if you're visiting the area."
While Borowicz avers that their degree requires "no practicum and no thesis," this is very much the exception to the rule. Most online allied health programs will understandably require, or at least encourage, some kind of internship, practicum, or other field work at a clinical site. Rogich says that "if a student wants to arrange an internship, we can substitute that for one of the standard classes." Glewwe highlights the "internship portion" of the Rasmussen HIT degree, which takes "sixty hours toward the end of the program." Their students intern at "hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, veterans' clinics, and insurers such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield."
For the most part, qualified students can get the same types of financial aid for studying allied health subjects online as you would for studying on campus.
Benedictine students can get the "standard loans and grants through FAFSA," reports Borowicz; the university offers "no scholarships [of its own], but the program is exploring that." At Saint Leo, Rogich points out that "Florida students can get the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG)," and he also mentions that many students, no matter where they're from, can take advantage of "tuition reimbursement from employers and military educational benefits."
Besides the scholarships listed at MedicalSchools.com: Medical and Allied Health Financial Aid & Scholarships and at CampusRN.com, you should explore aid from all kinds of sources, including:
"As the population ages, this field is going to expand," observes Rogich. This is all too true. The proportion of the population that is elderly and needs more medical services will be increasing for years to come. If you want to be one of the people who provides those services, online study may be the path to that goal. Borowicz muses that its "primary benefit is flexibility; it's not less time, it's flexible time." Cottam agrees, and adds, "it's an ideal environment for all types of learners and accommodates to your schedule."


text: Leave a Legacy: Build Your Dream Farm December 9, 2011 08:27 PM Tweet TAGS: Marketing, Overseas December 18, 2014 By Kevin Spafford Farm Journal Columnist Email Since my recent college graduation, my parents and I have been working on a succession plan. When we talk about the future of the farm, my dad thinks we're just fine the way we are; we don't need to grow and I should be satisfied with the current operation. On the other hand, I would like to see us grow and someday develop a specialty niche and a brand for our family farm. Right now, we're stuck and don't know what to do next. What do you recommend? A very important first step is to settle on a set of common goals. Every family can rally around common objectives related to operational integrity, financial security and leadership development. It helps to align your thoughts and ensure that, as the conversation unfolds, you're focused on the top priorities. From there, I recommend you write a business plan—one that stretches your imagination and serves as an instruction manual for implementing your vision. It should be an individual effort based on a single vision. Business plans are too often relegated to a cookie-cutter document written to secure financing or satisfy a governmental agency. Start with a few blank sheets of paper, and don't quit until you've written a description of the business of your dreams. Your explanations should be clear and concise. The instructions should be so basic that anyone could read your plan and help you implement the steps. Planning also allows you to envision and then test your theories. If they don't work on paper, they won't work in the real world. A complete business plan should include these five parts: 1. Vision. Your vision is a verbal description of the finished product. It might be an essay with enough details so that anyone can understand what your ideal business looks, acts, feels and sounds like. 2. Specific goals. A plan should include short-range, intermediate and long-term goals. Short-range goals are things that you will achieve in the next three years. An intermediate time frame might run from three to five years, and a long-term time frame, five to 10 years. A complete plan should include at least three goals for each time frame. Goals should be specific, measurable and timely. 3. Action plans. There should be an action plan to support each goal. It might help to think of an action plan as a to-do list for achievement. Each action plan should be written and executed in a logical order. 4. Business systems. A business plan doesn't have to spell out everything related to the operation, but it does need to include functions such as leadership, management, record keeping, complex processes and finances. 5. Performance specifications. A business can successfully function and improve only in the areas where owners and managers keep score. Evaluating progress and adjusting to actual results will help to better manage the operation. Budgets, capital expenses, investments and income projections will also help in the process. Good investment. A business plan should be written as soon as you consider starting or acquiring a business. If you don't have one, create one as soon as possible—and keep it updated for the duration of the business. It will be the best investment you'll ever make. Business opportunities can be added or eliminated using a planning approach. Winging it is not healthy. Remember, a business plan is a written instruction guide for building your business. It is written in a form that allows anyone to read it and understand what you're building and helps you create the farm operation of your dreams. Best of luck! Back to news


text:
No One By Julie Hawkins, 20" x 20" Fine Art Giclee Print on Gallery Wrap Canvas, Ready to Hang
Give your home a splash of color and ellegance with Decorative art by Julie Hawkins. Tangletown Fine Art searches the worlds archives for the most relevant art to accent today's design trends. This Gallery Wrap Canvas is printed using the latest Giclee techniques on museum grade canvas. It is then stretched over kiln dried finger jointed pine. The resulting piece of art will last for years of enjoyment.
Weight (lbs.):6
Length (in.):1.5
Width (in.):20
Height (in.):20
Ships To
Additional Item
Alaska & Hawaii
Puerto Rico
Continental United States
This product usually ships in 4 business days and should be delivered in 10 business days.
Shop worry free! If you're not 100% happy with your purchase, you can return this item within 14 days of receiving it.
Welcome Back
Take Another Look
At Items You Viewed
We're saving the deals in your cart for the next
Welcome Back
You have items in your cart
Click here to view your cart
Member Exclusive
You Quality For An Extra
When you checkout in the next:


text:
Also read David Germano's article.Since perception, moreover, seizes on different identifiable
qualities out of the spectru of conditioned events,
It appears as eightfold due to these specific activities,
although it is not manifold in its essential function.
Therefore, in the first moment of experience, one's body
and all configurations of events and meanings are present.
On account of thinking about and becoming obsessed with something,
in a later (moment) the (thought) that has arisen (in accord
with the earlier moment) makes itself felt.
Nothing exists for ordinary people and Noble Ones apart from
the continuum of their own experiencing,
This variety (of experience) that exists for the six types
of sentient beings (appears) through their habitual mode of vision.
Since this continuum of experiencing is also without any boundaries,
(to call it) "one" is (also) without foundation.
Since that has no boundaries, all the limitless Buddhafields are
one's own body.
In that one's own body appears as the body of living beings and as limitless
Buddha-fields, it is also difficult to postulate that the potential for
experiencing ann the habituatin tendencies are either one or diverse.
The momentary site (i.e., the fundamental structuring) is never separate
(from the habituating tendencies). They are really the same phenomenon
and (if one) does not exist, (the other) does not exist.
Since they are produced by trying to gras experience with though, which is completely mistaken,
the habituating tendencies do not exist and,
Since there then does not exist a sphere of operation (for the fundamental structuring),
the fundamental structuring of all experience as well as perceptual and cognitive activities do not exist.
Since boundaries do not exist (in experience), an objective support or a site (for its operation) do not exist.
How then can perceptual and cognitive activities arise?
Therefore, experiencing is beyond the limiting conceptons of existence and nonexistence, and is neither a unity or a plurality.
Actually I think a lot of Jyoti's misunderstandings arise from linguistic barriers. When she come across something that might be phrased differently in English, she looks to her interpretations of Chinese translations which lead to other problems.


text:
Presenting you more smart ideas for having attractive baby shower invitation template is already done in our gallery. There is no need to be worry of making baby shower invitation template because we give you our best most design ideas to be applied.
One of the things that must be considered from the beginning is baby shower invitation template. You definitely want your baby shower invitation template to have a different theme and unique. However, the variety of design invitations that exist for you confused choose.
There are some examples of attractive invitations and be an ideas to you in making an baby shower invitation template. No requirement to bother in writing or designing invitation, the verypan important is the intention and the writing of the invitation is clear and complete.
Finally, you can spread satisfaction of your moment by way of inviting people to join it using best design employed in your baby shower invitation template.Image Dimension: 576 x 576 pixels
2015 festdude.com - All Rights Reversed.


text:
If a particular game doesn't work well on a particular computer, there are a number of possible reasons why. Just as each game is created slightly different, each model of computer is built slightly different.
If you're having trouble running a game on your PC, try the solutions listed below.
You might also try posting a question in the Windows forums.
If you experience problems with a game app, or if you're unable to open the Store, try running the Microsoft Store Apps troubleshooter. It can automatically identify and fix some problems with apps and the Microsoft Store. It's only available in English, but it works on PCs running any language.
Check that you have the latest Windows updates on your device. Run Windows Update to download important or critical updates on your PC.
Make sure you have downloaded the latest version of your games. Updates often fix problems found in earlier versions.
Whenever you purchase or troubleshoot a PC game, first make sure your computer can meet the game's minimum system requirements. Although every game has different requirements, PC games generally use a lot more "horsepower" than other applications and are particularly demanding on your video and sound hardware.
An overheated computer can often freeze. Games use more power than most other apps or programs, which generates more heat. Make sure your computer is adequately ventilated (no obstructions around your PC) and that the fan's exhaust vent is not blocked.
Note A CPU or video card that has been overclocked can also contribute to overheating.
You may have other devices plugged into your computer (such as a webcam, external hard drive, card reader, or USB drive). Each of these devices draws power from the PC, which could cause the power supply to run in an underpowered state. If your power supply cannot keep up with the demands of your PC, your PC can freeze.
While most games will run on a broad range of computers, many require high-end graphics and audio hardware to play well at their highest resolutions and settings. Scaling down your graphics and audio settings may allow the game to run smoother and be more stable on your PC.
Every game is different, but these are a few common settings to consider:
PC games are reliant on your graphics and audio hardware. That hardware relies on software called drivers to run. Drivers are updated frequently, so even if your hardware is brand new, you'll want to check for updates. There are a few ways to get updates:
Thanks for your feedback!
Provide feedback for this topic
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "Troubleshoot performance and stability issues in PC games" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


text:
Как заказать на iherb, используйте промокод iHerb для получения скидки!
More Intense Shining Colors:
Aloe Vera Barbadensis
Specially rich in enzymes, proteins, polysaccharides, vitamins A-C-E and mineral salts. Soothes scalp during application. Strengthens and protects the hair during application. Contributes effectively to extra conditioning action and longer lasting color.
This Package Contains:
Your hair must be dry and unwashed!
1) Using a plastic or a glass container, combine equal and sufficient amounts of Herbatint gel and the Glycol Developer to suit the length and volume of your hair. Replace the caps on the bottles containing unused products, and retain for future use.
2) Using a tinting brush, apply the mixture onto dry unwashed hair.
1st Case: Previously Colored Hair
3) Apply the mixture to the regrowth area and leave to develop for 30 minutes.
4) Then apply the remainder of the mixture through the rest of the hair and wait a further 10 minutes. (total processing time: 40 minutes).
2nd Case: Uncolored Hair
3) Apply the mixture through the whole length of the hair starting at the roots. For best coverage use a tinting brush as supplied in a Herbatint application Kit. Discard any unused mixture.
4) Leave to process for 40 minutes.
During processing, the color of the product may differ from your target color, this is quite common and doesn't have any effect on the final color.
5) Once processed rinse hair thoroughly until the water runs clear.
6) Shampoo your hair, using preferably a shampoo from the Herbatint range for best results, rinse and towel dry.
7) Apply the Royal Cream Conditioner, leave for 5 minutes, rinse again and style your hair as usual.
Free sample Royal Cream 15 ml/ 0,5 fl oz.
Colors from 1N to 8N (the natural series) achieve a 100% coverage of your grey hair. In order to achieve total grey coverage with the Ash, Golden, Copper and Mahogany color series, it is suggested to mix the chosen color (40 ml) with a natural series color of the same number (20 ml). For example: your hair color is chestnut and your selected color is copper chestnut, mix 40 ml of Herbatint 4R (copper chestnut) with 20 ml of Herbatint 4N (chestnut). Follow instructions as usual.
Herbatint Haircolor Gel Ingredients: laureth-5; propylene glycol; aqua/water; PEG-2 oleamine; ethanolamine; walnut extract; rhubarb extract; cinchona extract; p-phenylenediamine; aloe barbadensis extract; PEG-75 meadowfoam seed oil; echinacea angustifolia extract; p-aminophenol; betula alba leaf extract; hamamelis virginiana extract; resorcinol; sodium hydrosulfite; ascorbate acid; tetrasodium EDTA; 2- amino-3 hydroxypiridine; cetrimonium chloride.
Glycol Developer Ingredients: aqua/water; hydrogen peroxide; etidronic acid; cetrimonium chloride.
Royal Cream Conditioner Ingredients: aqua/water; citric acid; behentrimonium chloride; cetyl alcohol; lanolin alcohol; methyl gluceth-20; mallow extract; rosemary extract; aloe barbadensis extract; triticum vulgare germ oil; jojoba oil; rice bran oil; ascorbic acid; tocopheryl acetate; parfum; caprylyl glycol; phenyl alcohol.
Contains Phenylenediamine, resorcinol, and hydrogen peroxide.
The mixing ratio is 1:1
Haircolorings may cause serious allergies.
An allergy test should be performed 48 hours before use according to leaflet instructions.
Please carefully read and follow the instructions.
This product must not be used as individual less than 16 years old.
Temporary tattoos with black henna may increase the allergy risk.
Do not color your hair if:
Avoid contact with the eyes. Should mixture come into contact with your eyes, rinse immediately with plenty of cool water.
This product must not be used for dyeing eyelashes or eyebrows.
Rinse hair thoroughly after processing.
Carefully read the instructions leaflet inside the box.
Wear the enclosed gloves during application.
Keep away from children's reach.
Against Animal Testing
Данный интернет-сайт и материалы, размещенные на нем носят исключительно информационный характер и ни при каких условиях не являются публичной офертой.


text:
Not My Job: Steve Martin Takes A Quiz About Boring People
Steve Martin is a comedian, a playwright, an author, an art collector, an actor, a Grammy-winning banjo player, a composer and, as we all know, a "wild and crazy guy."
So we've decided to ask him three questions about the most mundane and dull guys we could find: the speakers at London's Boring Conference, which we read about in the Wall Street Journal.
And now the game where we ask interesting people about completely uninteresting things.
SAGAL: Steve Martin is, among other things, a comedian, a playwright, an author, an art collector, an actor, a Grammy-winning banjo player, composer, and I've just run out of time. So we'll leave it there and say, Steve Martin, welcome to WAIT, WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!
STEVE MARTIN: Thank you very much.
SAGAL: Great to have you. That's for sure.
SAGAL: So you do all these things.
MARTIN: Ish.
SAGAL: Ish?
MARTIN: Yeah, ish.
SAGAL: Yeah? And I mean, is it that you just get bored or you're just unhappy, you keep moving on?
MARTIN: I don't - I always think I'm doing essentially one thing...
SAGAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...which is writing.
SAGAL: Right.
MARTIN: And it translates into performing and writing more.
SAGAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: And it's all kind of one aspect of being in show business, I guess, which I've always loved.
SAGAL: Right.
MARTIN: Show business and performing. And in order to do that, I've started writing my own things, and I always wrote comedy for television. When I first started, that was my first real professional job, although I started as a stand-up comedian...
SAGAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...and banjo player, actually.
SAGAL: Well, yeah, this is interesting. The banjo is a big thing for you right now. You were touring with your band, and now you have a new album with Edie Brickell, songs you wrote.
MARTIN: And that album is out now, yeah.
SAGAL: Yes, we know.
MARTIN: We love it, we've been listening to it...
SAGAL: (Unintelligible)
MARTIN: ...so an amazing coincidence that I'm here talking about it.
SAGAL: I know.
SAGAL: Well, it's so lucky that you happened to be on this show, that we can actually bring it up.
MARTIN: Total coincidence.
SAGAL: So what was it like...
MARTIN: I saw the lights on in the theater...
MARTIN: ...and stopped in.
SAGAL: And came in.
MARTIN: My 10-year-old, who's got quite a lot of musical ability, said to me, he said, Dad, I want to learn how to play the banjo listening to your new record, so...
PAULA POUNDSTONE: Oh, that's very nice.
SAGAL: Well, I'll give you...
SAGAL: Are there people in the banjo world, I mean, the bluegrass music world, who don't know you except as a banjo player. Like, yeah, that Martin guy, he's OK.
MARTIN: I doubt that.
SAGAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: Yeah, yeah.
SAGAL: Conversely, does it bother you when people who know you from your films or your plays or your books expect you to be funny when you're playing the banjo?
MARTIN: No, because, you know, when I travel around and do shows with the Steep Canyon Rangers...
SAGAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...I always make sure there's a healthy dose of comedy, and I really like it.
SAGAL: You really do that?
MARTIN: I really like doing it.
SAGAL: You give some comedy to the people who want you to be funny?
MARTIN: Absolutely.
SAGAL: Really?
MARTIN: What would I do, turn my back and say, just now, be quiet, I'm going to play.
SAGAL: Do you know any good banjo jokes because the banjo has inspired many...
MARTIN: I stay away from them...
SAGAL: Really?
MARTIN: ...because, you know, the banjo has suffered.
SAGAL: It has?
MARTIN: Yeah. And...
MO ROCCA: Not like the ukulele.
MARTIN: I think of it as a very sophisticated, emotional instrument. And it's just now recovering from Hee Haw.
SAGAL: A lot of people who were comedians were always funny, like Paula, right? You were always cracking jokes in high school and earlier, right?
POUNDSTONE: Well, yeah. But whether or not it was funny depended on who was in the room.
SAGAL: So were you one of those kids who was always trying to be funny and crack up the classroom?
MARTIN: I don't know I wanted to be funny. I know what you mean, Paula. It's, you know, when you're a kid, you're just stupid. You know...
MARTIN: You're, you know, acting silly. But fortunately, your classmates are equally stupid, so...
MARTIN: I wouldn't call it sophisticated.
SAGAL: Right.
SAGAL: You've done a lot of other things. One thing you've done is you've hosted the Oscars three times, right, twice by yourself, once with Alec Baldwin. Right.
MARTIN: Yeah, three times.
SAGAL: And every year...
ROCCA: That's two and a half then.
SAGAL: Two and a half.
SAGAL: Yeah. Every year, they seem to be trying somebody new recently. And every year, they're like, oh, that wasn't very good, people seemed unhappy. But you did...
MARTIN: Well, that's what they say even if it was good.
SAGAL: Really?
MARTIN: Yeah.
SAGAL: So it does seem like a job that you can't, according to public opinion, do well.
MARTIN: I don't know that that's really true. I think, you know, you can say - for example, you host a show, and let's say it goes over well.
SAGAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: And the next year, they go, after last year's disaster...
SAGAL: Really?
MARTIN: Yeah. You don't know what - I found that the critics will remember what they need for that year's commentary.
SAGAL: Right.
MARTIN: Yeah. So...
SAGAL: Right. Really? You just need to fend them off.
MARTIN: Do I sound bitter?
POUNDSTONE: You know, when all those Hollywood people are gathered together, though, and the camera does that sort of vast shot looking out at them, and they're all lit, don't you find it hard to get past all of that plastic surgery in one place?
POUNDSTONE: I mean, it just cries out. To me, it's like looking at a large group of big birds flying into a strong wind.
MARTIN: Well, you know, I looked - there's a famous Johnny Carson joke, and I think it was from the '80s. And his joke was so many new faces in the audiences, you know, new faces on the old faces.
SAGAL: They are.
MARTIN: Something like that. I really disrespected Johnny just now by...
SAGAL: That's all right.
MARTIN: ...quoting it so badly. But this has been going on forever.
POUNDSTONE: No, it's like you channeled him. It's like he was here, honestly.
SAGAL: Really?
POUNDSTONE: That was - now was that a...
MARTIN: Yeah.
POUNDSTONE: ...direct quote, Steve? Because that was unbelievable.
MARTIN: I think...
POUNDSTONE: What was it again? So many new faces on the old faces, yeah.
MARTIN: I just kind of brought Johnny back. Like, what I'm trying to do is damage Johnny's reputation.
SAGAL: I know.
ROCCA: Exactly.
MARTIN: Yeah.
ROCCA: It's like a critic.
POUNDSTONE: Yeah, we...
ROCCA: It's also the same teeth. Everybody has the same teeth now. I don't know how all of these celebrities are going to be identified later.
SAGAL: I think it's...
ROCCA: They all...
ROCCA: Because they all have the same smile.
SAGAL: That's true.
POUNDSTONE: There'll be just a big Hollywood mass grave except for David Letterman and Lauren Hutton.
ROCCA: That's exactly it.
SAGAL: All right, Steve Martin, we have invited you here to play a game we're calling...
CARL KASELL: We are two boring and mundane guys.
SAGAL: We all watched you "Saturday Night Live" in the '70s and '80s. You were known for being a wild and crazy guy, so we're going to ask you about the most boring and dull guys we could find, the speakers at London's Boring Conference. We read about it in the Wall Street Journal. Get two questions right, you'll win a prize for one of our listeners, the sound of Carl yawning on their voicemail.
SAGAL: Are you ready to play?
MARTIN: Yeah, sure.
SAGAL: OK. Carl, who is Steve Martin playing for?
KASELL: Steve is playing for Alton Morris of Cash, Oklahoma.
SAGAL: Well, (unintelligible)...
KASELL: Wait a minute, I know him.
SAGAL: Oh.
POUNDSTONE: Oh, this is awful.
SAGAL: Well, we'll have to go with it and see what the FCC says.
SAGAL: Here we go. First question, one of the big hits at Boring 2010 was which of these sessions: A, like listening to paint dry in which a speaker read off the names of all 415 colors in a paint catalog in alphabetical order; B, but not so fluffy in which a speaker showed pictures of everyday objects that looked like clouds if you squint; or C, sit right here a minute in which conference-goers went to a nearby store with the speaker's girlfriend while she tried on clothes?
MARTIN: Can you repeat my introduction?
SAGAL: Yeah.
SAGAL: We'll go back here. And now is the game where interesting people...
MARTIN: So we have...
SAGAL: Yes.
MARTIN: ...paint chips...
SAGAL: No, you have somebody who read off all the names of colors from a paint catalog in alphabetical order.
SAGAL: You had someone who showed slides of things that he thought if they were blurry looked like clouds.
MARTIN: OK. Uh-huh.
SAGAL: And you had a group going over to sit with the speaker's girlfriend while she tried on clothes.
MARTIN: Who am I playing for?
KASELL: Alton Morris of Cash, Oklahoma.
MARTIN: Hmm.
ROCCA: But he's not playing for cash.
SAGAL: No, he's playing for Alton who lives in Cash.
MARTIN: Well, I assume, it's NPR.
MARTIN: I'm going to go with A.
SAGAL: You're going to go with A, like listening to paint dry? You're correct, very good.
MARTIN: Ah!
ROCCA: I bet that that would be relaxing, actually, to listen to all the colors.
SAGAL: The speaker began the talk by saying, brace yourself for five piping-hot minutes of inertia.
SAGAL: Despite the name of the Boring Conference, there was a lot of variety there. A man named Ed Ross held which of these: A, a milk tasting, comparing five different milks and their flavor finish and ideal food pairing; B, a self-explanatory show called Things I Found in the Bottom of my Bag at the End of the Day; or C, a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate about which actor was the better Darrin on the old TV show, "Bewitched."
ROCCA: York, York.
SAGAL: Yes.
KASELL: I rise to defend Dick York.
MARTIN: Yeah. Well, I think it's clear I didn't come here to lose.
SAGAL: No.
SAGAL: Your business-like demeanor has been very...
POUNDSTONE: You're a natural at this.
SAGAL: Hmm.
MARTIN: I'm going to go with A.
SAGAL: You're going to go with A? And he gets it right.
SAGAL: All right. Let's see if you can be perfect. Here's your last question. A speaker named Peter Fletcher worked for three years on his talk. Was it: A, quote, "What Happens To a Pencil If You Suck On It For Three Whole Years Without Biting It?"; B, a display of three years' worth of photographs of the contents of his refrigerator; or C, an in-depth documentation of the 2,267 times he had sneezed over a three-year period?
MARTIN: I'm going to go with B.
SAGAL: You're going to go with B, the contents of his refrigerator? I'm afraid it was actually C.
POUNDSTONE: Oh.
SAGAL: It was a time - he documented the 2,267 times he had sneezed. He even documented the time he sneezed while he was documenting a sneeze. Carl, how did Steve Martin do on our game?
KASELL: Steve had two correct answers, Peter. That's good enough to win for Alton Morris.
SAGAL: Well done.
POUNDSTONE: All right. Way to go.
SAGAL: Steve Martin's new album with Edie Brickell is "Love Has Come For You." Steve Martin, what a pleasure to have you with us on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!
MARTIN: Thank you very much.
SAGAL: Steve Martin, ladies and gentlemen.
MARTIN: Bye-bye. Thank you.
EDIE BRICKELL: (Singing) Who you gonna take to the show, who you gonna take to the picture show, who you gonna take to the show, who you gonna take, who you gonna get in the background, who you gonna get if you don't get (Unintelligible).
SAGAL: In just a minute, Carl shows off his guns in our listener limerick challenge. Call 1-888-Wait-Wait to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME! from NPR.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.


text:
Las Vegas restaurant: China Poblano
Beef tendon and oyster tacos
For the next few days, Biting Commentary is in Las Vegas attending a magazine conference. There are certainly no lack of places to eat (and drink) in Vegas, but what's really worth spending the time and stomach space?
One of the notable eats: China Poblano, a small plates restaurant featuring Mexican and Chinese food, what sounds like an improbable pairing. My expectations were high, given that the place is by Jose Andres, who has eight restaurants in his empire and a James Beard Outstanding Chef Award in his trophy case.
What I found was a little hit or miss, but certainly interesting. The first miss: the dim sum. At almost $14 for six pieces of har gau (the shrimp dumpling staple of any dim sum parlor), perhaps the dish was never going to live up to its price tag. The menu description promised pork belly with shrimp; instead, we got tiny dumplings that tasted mostly of shrimp and water chestnut.
The menu is mostly divided between the two cuisines; China Poblano is less a fusion restaurant than a place where you can pick up both tacos and Chinese noodles, with most of their authenticity intact (unless you consider price part of the authenticity of street food).
From the Mexican side, carnitas tacos ($5.50/taco) are stuffed with meltingly soft, braised baby pig topped with pork rinds and a raw salsa verde. From the Chinese side, dan dan mian ($12) are chewy hand-cut wheat noodles mixed with spicy pork sauce, the Chinese equivalent of bolognese.
Left: huitlacoche noodles, right: dan dan mian
The noodle dishes are my favorite items at China Poblano. I love the slippery cellophane noodles of Ten Treasure ($17.88), in a shrimp and salted ham broth, full of goodies such as pea sprouts, string mushrooms, shiitake and tofu. And then there's the Huitlacoche Noodles ($18), one of the dishes that cross cultures—because Andres couldn't help crossing the flavors any more than Chinese parents in America can keep their daughters from interracial marriage. Doughy, knife-shaved noodles, more like shards than long, slender strips, mingle with serrano chile and huitlacoche, a fungus with an alias worthy of The Vegas Strip: corn smut. It is funky and earthy, the dish simultaneously comforting and intriguing.
Duck tongue and lychee tacos
Just as intriguing, but perhaps not as successful, are the cross-cultural tacos. The Viva China ($5.50/taco) pits charred beef tendon against Kumamoto oyster, but the textures are altogether too soft, and the flavors cancel each other out. The Silencio ($5.50) inspired both love and hate at our table: some loved the play of sweet against the squishy duck tongue, some thought the sweet distracting, and some just couldn't get over the pile of duck tongues in the corn tortilla.


text:
Send Results to This Email:
Street Address:
Street Address:
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that there will be a 21 percent increase in the job growth for truck drivers over the next 10 years. Currently, more than 20,000 truck driver positions nationwide go unfilled.
The driver shortage will become more serious because of the aging of the driver population. Retirement coupled with age-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and sleep apnea will cause a significant shortfall in driver availability. The American Trucking Association projects that by 2022 there will be a shortage of 239,000 truck drivers.
On Feb. 1, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for the first time in 40 years granted an exemption to the "forced whisper test." This test precluded moderately to profoundly deaf individuals from commercial driving. To pass the test, an individual must be able to perceive a forced whisper at 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's "Notice of Final Disposition" granted a request for exemption to 40 hearing impaired drivers. The FMSCA may grant an exemption if the exemption would likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to the level that would be achieved without the exemption.
The administration cited the following factors in making a determination that these drivers should be granted an exemption for a period of two years:
• A National Association of the Deaf study finding that communication in trucking is no longer dependent on hearing loss since drivers now rely on "smartphone technology."
• Deaf drivers face fewer distractions at the wheel (based on interviews with individuals who are deaf.)
• There have been no studies correlating hearing loss and commercial vehicle accidents.
• The studies that have been done on private motor vehicle drivers do not support that deaf drivers are at increased risk.
The opinion states that scenarios could be conceived where deafness could lead to potential unwanted consequences, for example bus drivers. However, this was not the case with the drivers applying for the exemption.
The agency stated the exemption would pre-empt state laws and regulations.
Although the agency limited the exemption to include only the 40 applicants, it announced an intention to begin the rule-making process to address the issue. The EEOC, the Deaf Truck Drivers United and the National Association for the Deaf supported the decision.
The decision highlights some practical issues to consider:
In highly regulated industries, there may be regulations that override the Americans with Disabilities Act. In this case, Department of Transportation regulations concerning the qualifications of commercial truck drivers took precedence over the ADA including the interactive process.
A private or commercial trucker must be aware of the exemption procedures in the FMSCA regulations. Notably, both employer and employee may participate in this process.
In view of driver shortages, be sensitive to the changes in driver qualification requirements and programs designed to return drivers to the road in view of the continued driver shortage.
Jim Mulroy is the managing partner of Jackson Lewis' Memphis office.
Copyright 1995 -
by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. - All Rights Reserved


text:
Absolutely, I 'm watching the pregame on ESPN and they have been heaving on Tannenbaum and the Circus.
Seriously. We got analysts and the entire football community keeled over with their sides hurting. We're the first 2-0 within the division team to be utterly hopeless.
This isn't the same as being an underdog. We're god damn disaster and EVERYONE knows it. Key just called out Tanny on national television for a horrific job of manager the talent.
I can't wait to see where this fire takes us next.
Absolutely, I 'm watching the pregame on ESPN and they have been heaving on Tannenbaum and the Circus.
Where's Rah Rah and Jet_Nut when you need 'em to raise our spirits?
Somebody ought to tell them that they're also laughing at Jets fans who have NOTHING to do with the Circus going on.
They should AT LEAST acknowledge that while they act like total doosh-nozzles on live TV.
This is where it gets really embarassing to be a Jets fan.
Thanks for making us look like a joke, front office.
You think Woody gives a sh*t?
To him, *ANY* Attention his franchise gets is Good attention no matter what type it is.
That's it. The PSL's thing RUINED any shot of the fans delivering a "message" to him because he's already gotten their money(and the fans can't get it back).
The only way a "message" would be sent is that Jets fans boycott the next season and NOT purchase any PSL's(lots of luck organizing THAT to happen).
70's and this roster could be the absolute worst Jet roster of all time. They have nothing. On either side, nothing, and deserve to be criticized.
People have been laughing at us the moment we acquired Tebow. Nothing new here.
The whole ESPN panel was laughing at the Jets when they made there picks. This is f***ing emabrrassing.
The jets should be coming out breathing fire. The way the media is painting this team must be killing them. This treatment is usually reserved for teams that are 1-9. They are making this team to be like the Kotite jets team or the rod rust patriot team or those terrible Tampa teams. There is enough talent on this team to win this game tonight. Even if it is not in the pats best interest for the jets to win I want them to. The jets are just another team on the schedule, but I hate the media and would love to see them explain it tomorrow.
When you are more concerned about stealing headlines from the Giants than you are winning, this is what happens.
In the words of Bill Paxton in ALIENS.... "Game over, man. Game over!"
We're fcking toast and everyone knows it. This day has been coming for some Time.
Mark Sanchez & Shonn Greene? A 2nd Rookie from a spread-O to back up holmes?
A farce.
BTW, I have Woody at the top of my list, then Rex, and Tanny third
Woody isnt going anywhere, we will bad as long as he is owner
We have them right where we want them.
hell, even i was laughing. guys, stop overanalyzing this. at the moment, we are a team devoid of talent. just cause we won 2 games doesn't change that fact. accept it. turn off the denial phase.
A man with a crooked eye looking into the camera and looking at god knows what, truly shouldn't say I'm picking the JETS...No I'm not..crooked eye bastardo.
How much foresight does a HC need to have that he cant see that this is a slap in the face to every other player on the team?
I can go on and on


text:
|"Is this all real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
The topic of this article is of a real-life subject that has been mentioned "in-universe" in a canon source. The Harry Potter Wiki is written from the perspective that all information presented in canon is true (e.g., Hogwarts really exists), and, as such, details contained in this article may differ from real world facts.
Aberdeen (Scots: Aiberdeen) is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 29th most populous city, with an official population estimate of 217,100.[1]
Modesty Rabnott's sister Prudence lived in Aberdeen, according to a 13th century letter on display in the Museum of Quidditch. Modesty went to live there, after the Wizards' Council took her house for disrupting a game of "Cuaditch".[2]
In 1754, celebrated broom fliers and sworn enemies Silvio Astolfi, of Italy, and Torquil McTavish, of Scotland, agreed to hold a race from Aberdeen to Rome. Ministry representatives from both countries were present at the start and finishing line and Ministry witch Orabella Nuttley was made in charge of arranging Portkeys. The race ended in chaos as a riot at the finishing line resulted in the destruction of the Coliseum, but Nuttley prevented disaster by using a charm of her own making to restore the building before the Muggles realised it had been destroyed.[2]
During Harry Potter's first trip on the Knight Bus, the bus moved to Aberdeen abruptly, making Harry spill his hot chocolate.[3]
External links
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
- Quidditch Through the Ages
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells
Notes and references
- ↑ Aberdeen at Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Quidditch Through the Ages (real) - Chapter 4 (The Arrival of the Golden Snitch)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 3 (The Knight Bus)


text:
Our new book is out now!
"The Best of Global Digital Marketing: The Storybook" showcases 30 recent award-winning digital marketing case studies from different sectors across the world. Each case study contains exclusive interviews with the creators as well as expert opinions.
More information and buying options from Amazon
Copyright © Best Marketing 2019. All Rights Reservede-marketing partner ADM Interactive


text:
Narrow by
Business Stage
- Strategy & Planning (277) Apply Strategy & Planning filter
- Marketing, Public Relations & Sales (210) Apply Marketing, Public Relations & Sales filter
- Operations (174) Apply Operations filter
- Accounting & Cash Flow (128) Apply Accounting & Cash Flow filter
- Human Resources (113) Apply Human Resources filter
- Technology (90) Apply Technology filter
- Business Plans/Startup Assistance (82) Apply Business Plans/Startup Assistance filter
- Customer Relations (76) Apply Customer Relations filter
- Legal Issues (67) Apply Legal Issues filter
- Financing/Capital (56) Apply Financing/Capital filter
- Tax Planning (41) Apply Tax Planning filter
- Other (37) Apply Other filter
- Buying or Selling a Business (26) Apply Buying or Selling a Business filter
- Franchising (8) Apply Franchising filter
- Product Development & Manufacturing (7) Apply Product Development & Manufacturing filter
- International Trade (4) Apply International Trade filter
- Government Regulations & Contracting (3) Apply Government Regulations & Contracting filter
Entrepreneur Type
- Women Entrepreneurs (21) Apply Women Entrepreneurs filter
- Solopreneur/Freelancer (18) Apply Solopreneur/Freelancer filter
- Young Entrepreneurs (13) Apply Young Entrepreneurs filter
- Encore (50+) Entrepreneurs (6) Apply Encore (50+) Entrepreneurs filter
- Veteran Entrepreneurs (6) Apply Veteran Entrepreneurs filter
- Minority Entrepreneurs (4) Apply Minority Entrepreneurs filter
- Rural Entrepreneurs (1) Apply Rural Entrepreneurs filter
- Retail & Wholesale Trade (22) Apply Retail & Wholesale Trade filter
- Nonprofit, Public and Professional Organizations (9) Apply Nonprofit, Public and Professional Organizations filter
- Accommodation & Food Services (8) Apply Accommodation & Food Services filter
- Professional & Business Services (6) Apply Professional & Business Services filter
- Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (5) Apply Arts, Entertainment & Recreation filter
- Home or Personal Maintenance Services (5) Apply Home or Personal Maintenance Services filter
- Manufacturing & Industrial (4) Apply Manufacturing & Industrial filter
- Health Care & Social Assistance (3) Apply Health Care & Social Assistance filter
- Technical & Scientific Services (3) Apply Technical & Scientific Services filter
- Transportation & Warehousing (3) Apply Transportation & Warehousing filter
- Agriculture, Farming, Fishing & Hunting (2) Apply Agriculture, Farming, Fishing & Hunting filter
- Other (2) Apply Other filter
- Real Estate, Rental & Leasing (2) Apply Real Estate, Rental & Leasing filter
How to Transfer Assets to Your LLC
When you form an LLC, you will need to transfer assets into the company in order to properly capitalize the business. Let's look at how transferring assets works.
The 5 Elements of a Unified Marketing Strategy: Print and Digital
Learn how to use both print and digital mediums together, and in turn, drive sales, get clear on ROI, and modify as needed to grow a thriving business.
Volunteers Drive SCORE's Mission of Shaping Small Business Success
In April, we celebrate National Volunteer Month to recognize the dedication of volunteers in all varieties of service, including our SCORE mentors.
When, Why and How to Sell Your Small Business
The latest BizBuySell Insight Report found that 10,312 small businesses were sold in 2018 – which was a record number for the third straight year.
25 Small Business Loan Terms You Need to Know
Read these 25 terms and phrases to help you understand the language of small business lending and likely make the conversation you have with a loan officer less intimidating.
Web Analytics: The Secret to Growing Your Business
Using web analytics allows you to measure the results of your online marketing and your website's effectiveness. Read this article for tips on website analytics.
How Brick-And-Mortar Stores Can Compete with Amazon
83% of US consumers have bought something on Amazon in the last six months. How can a small, brick-and-mortar retailer hope to compete?
Product Sourcing Tips
Product sourcing (the first steps in the supply chain management) is getting your new product produced, packaged and market-ready. It is the practice of developing and buying your products from either domestic or international producers.
3 Reasons to Liven Up Your Marketing with Visual Content
If you really want to connect, engage and convert your prospects into customers, then you need to incorporate visual content into your marketing.
Asset-Based Valuation and Market Value Approach: What's the Difference Between These Valuation Methods?
Do you know how much your business is worth? It's key to put any bias about the business aside and properly conduct a valuation.
5 Financial Numbers Every Small Business Should Be Tracking From Day 1 and Why
Here are five basic business figures that you should be tracking in your business from day one.


text:
Statement by Dr. Shirley Chater,
Commissioner of Social Security,
before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
December 6, 1995
Mr Chairman and Members of the Committee:
As we are aware, a lapse of appropriation for most Federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), recently led to a temporary shutdown of many Government functions. I appreciate the opportunity to explain how SSA planned for this contingency and implemented its shutdown plans.
I would like to clarify that nowhere in either the statute or guidelines does the word "essential" appear. It is extremely unfortunate that this word was used during the recent furlough to refer to Federal employees as being "essential" or nonessential" employees. In fact, the statute says that when there are no appropriations, all employees are furloughed except those performing emergency activities that include, among others, the provision of mandatory benefit payments and the protection of life and property. If we were furloughing only "nonessential" employees, no employee would have been furloughed because they are all essential.
Shutdown Plans
My testimony will generally address the questions you raised in your letter of invitation, beginning with a description of SSA's process for developing and implementing shutdown plans.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance requested that each agency develop an operational plan for an orderly shutdown in the event of a lapse of appropriations. SSA's contingency plan consists of individual plans, approved by the Commissioner, which are developed and maintained by Deputy Commissioner (DC) l e v el components. If notified by OMB of a funding lapse, the Commissioner will activate the SSA Command Post, which will oversee the implementation of SSA's contingency plan and provide guidance. The Command Post, which is comprised of representatives of the Office of Personnel and each DC component, will immediately notify the DC-level component heads to implement their individual contingency plans.
I am attaching to my testimony a summary of SSA's procedures f or s h u t down and startup due to lapse of appropriations. This document contains more detailed information regarding SSA's shutdown plans. We informed OMB of our shutdown plan in advance in order to ensure consistency among Federal agencies in the interpretation and application of pertinent statutes.
We received a number of issuances providing guidance and information from OMB and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). I can assure you that SSA has adhered to all guidelines and standards with respect to developing and implementing an appropriate contingency plan.
Impact of Furlough on SSA
You asked about the number of SSA employees furloughed, the number who continued working, the functions they performed, and the rationale for continuing those functions.
During the orderly shutdown effected on November 14, and consistent with our shutdown plans, SSA furloughed approximately 61,000 non-excepted employees and retained about 4,800 excepted employees beyond the lapse of appropriations. This was consistent with SSA's previously established shutdown procedures. The attached chart shows the categories of activities for which employees were retained and the number of excepted employees involved in those activities.
The functions these employees performed were mainly in direct support of paying benefits to currently enrolled Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and Black Lung beneficiaries and to maintain essential records f or those beneficiaries. It is our view that, because there were appropriations for the program costs of paying benefits, this necessarily implied authority to incur obligations for the costs necessary to administer those benefits. Other functions permitted under applicable statutes, including the Anti-Deficiency Act, during a lapse in appropriations related to areas such as protection of life and property and all activities necessary to support the excepted functions.
You also asked about the cost impact on SSA of the shutdown. While we have not completed our review of the cost to SSA of the shutdown, SSA's major cost was the cost of paying furloughed employees. We estimate that payroll costs f o r furloughed employees amounted to $43 million for the four full business days during the shutdown period. Additional costs incur red include full rental costs for SSA facilities, even though most were minimally staffed, and costs for services which we paid for, but did not receive, such as training.
Guidance to Furloughed Employees
With respect to t he guidance provided to furloughed employees concerning such issues as pay and unemployment compensation, I am pleased to report that we were able to keep employees fully informed before, during, and after the furlough. OPM was helpful in providing us with information from the Department of Labor about unemployment compensation, and we were able to pass this information along to our employees.
As SSA updated its contingency plans, we provided written questions and answers about furlough issues to all employees before the start of the fiscal year. I updated this information by means of electronic mail messages to all employees as the possibility of a funding hiatus increased. A communications network of designated furlough contacts was established to disseminate information quickly throughout SSA via electronic mail, conference calls, and meetings.
We have also been operating a telephone hotline to provide employees with information and instructions before, during, and after the furlough. For example, during the furlough, the hotline assured employees that they would receive on time their pay due on November 21 and gave specific instructions for filing applications for unemployment compensation.
SSA has no subsidiary agencies. We do, however, provide 100 percent of the funding for the operations of State Disability Determination Services (DDS), which make disability determinations for SSA. Although DDS employees are State employees, their salaries are fully funded through SSA's appropriated funds. We notified the State DDS 's of the impending shutdown and informed the Governors we could not f und DDS operations for the shutdown period.
Impact of Prolonged Shutdown
Finally, you raised several questions regarding our assumptions about the length of the shutdown, and the effect of such assumptions on decisions as to which functions should be continued during the shutdown period.
Before addressing these questions, let me briefly mention some workload statistics to put in perspective the scope of SSA's activities. These activities represent basic services to the public-- services that were denied to them during the shutdown period. For example:
- We receive an average of about 28,000 retirement and disability benefit applications per day;
- We receive an average of about 53,000 applications for Social Security numbers per day;
- An average of about 200,000 calls per day are made to our toll-free 800-number; and
- We conduct about 2,700 hearings per day.
Although a very brief shutdown only slightly disrupts the services we provide, I think it is obvious that an appropriations lapse of one to two weeks would cripple SSA' s ongoing ability to properly administer the programs for which it is responsible, and could seriously impair its capacity not only to distribute accurate payments to current beneficiaries of all of its programs, but also to process pending claims and appeals.
Although we did not make any specific assumptions about the length of the shutdown, our contingency plan provided for a range of appropriate adjustments we could make in the event of a prolonged shutdown. Thus, when the President asked that SSA review its shutdown plan in light of the length of the shutdown, we decided to implement a phase of the plan that expanded the number of excepted employees by about 50,000 effective November 20, in order to ensure that SSA could accept and process new claims applications. Of course, since the shutdown ended and all employees returned to work on November 20, we did not have to implement this decision.
I deeply regret any hardship or inconvenience which members of the public and SSA employees may have suffered as a result of the shutdown. However, I believe that SSA implemented the shutdown in an orderly manner and in full compliance with appropriate directives and guidance from OMB. Obviously, in the interest of the public we serve and the employees who provide the services, I want to express my sincere hope that we will not have to implement shutdown procedures in the future.
Social Security Administration
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance requires that each agency develop an operational plan for an orderly shutdown, in the event of a lapse of appropriations. SSA's contingency plan (CP) consists of individual plans which are developed and maintained by Deputy Commissioner (DC) - level components. If notified by OMB of a funding lapse, the Commissioner will activate the SSA's Command Post, which will oversee the implementation of the Agency CP and provide guidance. The Command Post (comprised of a representative from the Office of Personnel and each DC component) will immediately notify the DC-level component heads to implement their individual CPs.
The following are basic steps to be used by each DC-level component to activate individual CPs in the event of a shutdown. (More specific guidelines are provided in the SSA AIMS 17 . 01 ):
- Select, immediately, a minimum number of support staff to be retained to perform work authorized by law during a lapse in appropriations. The remainder of employees will be furloughed.
- Notify the Office of Systems of component telecommunications requirements, as soon as the number of support staff has been determined.
- Provide, immediately, to the Office of Personnel (OPE), Office of Human Resources (OHR), the names and number of employees to be retained and/or furloughed. This list should include the employees' retention/furlough status, SSNs and timekeepers' numbers.
--Managers should also maintain a separate list with employee home telephone numbers and addresses.
--Managers should notify employees that they are either excepted or nonexcepted from the furlough.
- Immediately notify those employees, verbally, who will be released and inform them of their rights and responsibilities.
- OPE will use the public address system at Headquarters to convey information regarding lapsed appropriations and the release of employees scheduled to be furloughed.
- DCs with field components will advise them to implement their individual CPs.
- Terminate all work activities not authorized by law during a lapse in appropriations, immediately.
--A checklist of basic functions/activities is provided in SSA's Administrative Instructions Manual System 17 .01 (Contingency Planning, Policy and Procedures - - Funding Lapse) to determine which functions are authorized and which functions are not authorized during a lapse in appropriations.
- Cancel, immediately, scheduled conferences/meetings, and discontinue training not authorized by law during a lapse in appropriations.
- Advise employees in travel status to immediately return to duty stat ions; no further travel will be authorized.
- Cancel, immediately, overtime and compensatory time, unless authorized by the Commissioner for excepted functions (via the Command Post).
- Notify, the Command Post, as soon as possible, when individual component CPs have been fully implemented.
DC-level CPs contain action steps unique to the mission of the component. For example:
- The Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment and Management is responsible for determining which services are needed for continuing functions in each location (e. g., lights, water, air-conditioning, etc.), and coordinating shutdown of facilities.
- The Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources is responsible for the processing of furlough actions (if a continuing resolution or an appropriations bill is not passed with in a few days of furloughing employees).
- The Deputy Commissioner for Operations is responsible for ensuring that appropriate signs/notices are posted at public contact offices, stating that offices will be open to continue to carry out activities authorized by law, on a limited basis.
- The Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Policy, Evaluation and Communications is responsible for notifying the Federal, State, local and public agencies (dependent upon SSA for information) of the cessation of SSA activities.
- The Press Office is responsible for maintaining contact with the news media to keep the public and furloughed employees informed.
- The Deputy Commissioner for Systems is responsible for coordinating any equipment shutdown/startup ( including telecommunications equipment ) to avoid power surges, systems overloads, etc.
Once the word is received from OMB to resume operations, the Command Post will communicate this to the DC-level component heads, who will implement the startup/recall provisions of their CPs.
- The Press Office will immediately notify the media to
announce resumption of SSA's operations.
--Employees would already know to listen to certain radio and TV stations for the announcement.
- Office heads will notify subordinate managers, by telephone, who will notify employees of date and time to return to work.
- As startup f unctions are resumed, managers should, immediately, relay information upward to the next level of command; the DC-level component heads will, in turn, communicate this to the Command Post.
--Any significant problems hould be reported promptly to the Command Post.
- The Command Post will be dismantled, as soon all DC-level components have reported attainment of a normal level of operations.