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Complex property division issues arise when a married couple has been together for a long time, when their finances are tightly intertwined and for other reasons. If you are in a situation where you're concerned about dividing your property, and the impact it will have on your finances, it's time to talk with your attorney about the steps to take next.
My ex won't give me my kids...Now what?
One major problem that some parents face is when the other parent tries to withhold custody. It's against the law to withhold custody unless a child is in direct danger, and even then, there are steps that the parent needs to take to report the abuse or negligence that they're alleging is taking place.
Finding legal counsel for a difficult custody case
When you married, you likely could not wait to have children. You may have pictured you, your spouse, and your children going on family vacations, attending sporting events, eating dinner together and various other picture-perfect scenarios. While you may have experienced some of those events, you now face a more difficult situation because you and the other parent are divorcing.
We can help if your spouse doesn't want to pay alimony
If you're going through a divorce, you have to make sure that you're cautious about financial matters. A money-smart divorce might not seem possible, but it is with the right preparation and planning.
Establishing paternity is essential for unmarried couples
It's essential that unmarried parents do all they can to establish who a child's biological parents are. Of course, it's usually easy to determine the mother. On the other hand, determining the father may not be as simple.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Nurses' International Migration and the Crystallizing 'Culture of Exile' in Nigeria: Historical Trends, Dynamics and Consequences
This paper examines an oft-neglected feature of international migration: social changes (disruptions and/or dislocations of their normal ways of living) in source societies in response to the exigencies of these migrations, and their eventual consequences. It demonstrates how policies in developed economies inadvertently impact on developing societies by creating new social conditions. An exploratory case of Nigerian nurses' international migration, the paper takes the hypothetical perspective that the socioeconomic effects of migration have engendered a crystallizing 'culture of exile' among significant youth populations. It examines the lures/motivation of nurse training and establishes a new dominant drive – the urge to migrate to developed, high-income economies. This development is a direct result of the long-term 'progressive impact' of migrated nurses' remittances in local societies. The paper shows how locals' belief in the high probability of nurses to attract 'overseas' suitors/spouses also feeds into the narrative. The development dire consequences were also highlighted.
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We are sharing with you Anna Kooiman Hairstyle And Hair Color 2020 .Australia's Network Ten news anchor The Anna Kooiman is looking gorgeous after giving birth to her first child. Many of her fans and viewers are waiting for her new haircuts. We have a question for you? Are you the fan of Anna Kooiman? Is she your favorite reporter? If yes, then we are sure that all these pictures of Anna Kooiman will be liked by you. Right now, we will be also be telling you about this news reporter and a little bit about her career line. Anna Kooiman is an American reporter and also news reporter for Fox News Channel (FNC) which is based in New York City. She joined the network in the year 2011. She also hosts on FNC's "FOX & Friends Weekend" and she also hosts Fox News Extra segment. She grew up in Charlotte. She went to Myers Park High School and she is the 2001 graduate. She also played softball. She played with the SouthPark Youth Association. She worked in TV broadcast journalism as a sideline reporter and it was for Fox Sports in 2004.
Anna Kooiman Hairstyle And Hair Color 2020
After getting done with her graduation, she then continued her work as a news reporter and also as an anchor and also video journalist for WWAY. Then she moved to Toledo, Ohio and worked for the local NBC affiliate, WNWO, it was as a morning anchor and also as a reporter. In 2008, in North Carolina, she worked as an Anchor and also Reporter, she was also the Host for "Fox News Rising," it was a four-hour news morning show on the then-FOX. It was WCCB-TV that she used to report stories, entertainment and also weather, and traffic. In 2011, she started covering health and also fitness general assignment reporting. It was on February 8, 2015, that she announced her engagement.
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Hence you have gained the latest pictures gallery of Anna Kooiman Hairstyle And Hair Color 2020. She is still carrying the same hair layers with medium length layers. further, the Anna Kooiman Hair Color 2020 is now blended with light blonde hairs which look perfect with each of her look.


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The backstage life of the prestigious French string quartet Quatuor Èbéne is a unique and captivating testimony of the demands, creative process and clash of personalities in the classical music elite.
Rather than focusing on their stage performances or reviewing the more than twenty-year career of Quatuor Èbéne, a quartet recognized worldwide for the rigor and hallmark performances of Mozart, Beethoven or Bartók and for its approaches to contemporary and jazz, this documentary takes us behind the scenes to observe – at point blank range – the musical and human process that as spectators we cannot see. Rehearsals, trips, breaks, master lessons and musical debates, with Bolzano, Perugia, Florence, Siena, Salzburg and Berlin as a backdrop. Their day-to-day life invites us to discover, with voyeuristic pleasure, how and how intensely one lives in a first-class string quartet. An absorbing and detailed insight into their working methods, rigor, ambition and perfectionism, their heated arguments on how to focus each piece, the tension between different personalities with polemic desires (eat or be eaten) to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction after a concert: in a nutshell, the joy and suffering that follows musical creation.
Sunday 27th October- Warm up with Flea Mark (Radio Flea)


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648013450728068369.post6797603667650261879..comments2019-04-22T12:24:58.745+05:30Comments on Hot Damn, Data!: xkcd: A webcomic of the internet, small talk, meta discussions, and whimsical phantasmagoriaEeshan Malhotrahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648013450728068369.post-66023598466677530432014-10-15T21:48:02.878+05:302014-10-15T21:48:02.878+05:30Glad you liked the post! I just wanted to learn mo...Glad you liked the post! I just wanted to learn more about LDA and topic modeling, so I started looking for an interesting dataset, and at the same time, I had an xkcd comic open in my browser. I took that as a sign, and went for it. Let me know if you end up doing some interesting analysis in a similar vein. I'd be really interested. And if you feel that some of my code could be helpful, go right ahead and fork on GitHub.
Good luck!Eeshan Malhotrahttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648013450728068369.post-45043717594674621732014-10-11T03:43:22.421+05:302014-10-11T03:43:22.421+05:30Thanks for writing this up, it was a really intere...Thanks for writing this up, it was a really interesting way to use LDA and topic modelling! I laughed quite a bit when you said that the objective was to see if xkcd 'lives up to it's tagline of "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language"'.

How did you get the idea for this? Also, thanks for sharing the code and plots, it's given me some things to try for my own work using topic modelling.

(sorry if there's a duplicated post, something weird with the comment box and signing-in)Navaneethan Santhanamhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648013450728068369.post-43032640180586586802013-10-28T21:46:45.329+05:302013-10-28T21:46:45.329+05:30Thank you for sharing. Your code teach me a lot! Thank you for sharing. Your code teach me a lot! Unknownhttps://email@example.com


text:
For years, contractual clauses have kept pharmacy employees from telling their customers when a better price was available than their insurance copay for prescription medications. Recent congressional legislation has made changes to how that works.
So, how much do you know about how the Know the Lowest Price Act of 2018 and Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act? Learn more about the impacts to the pharmacy customer by taking the Practice Trends quiz at pharmacist.com.
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text:
Friday morning, I posted on Twitter and Facebook that the House of Representatives had passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 by a vote of 334-81. I thought it would be cause for comment on how rare this kind of bipartisan agreement is in Washington these days. I was wrong.
A friend whom I've known since childhood posted a disappointing comment. Although he now lives in the Heartland, this person is someone who, with the exception of his political affiliation, fits almost anyone's definition of a "coastal elite." He was raised in a pastoral, affluent New England town, educated at a private high school and a small liberal arts college, and has a white collar job.
But despite this background, he is one of the many people of all backgrounds who fundamentally misunderstands the NDAA and its purpose. I've been giving updates on the FY2018 NDAA's progress in Daily Intel since June 12, when I addressed this misunderstanding. Clearly, it's a topic that needs further discussion.
I asked my friend what he thought the NDAA entailed. He replied, "authorizing the indefinite military detention of civilians, including U.S. citizens, without habeas corpus or due process, contained in the Authorization for Use of Military Force."
This misinformation—some might say willful ignorance—of the only piece of legislation the Congress has passed every year since 1961 despite several changes in party control, and is the one thing that unites fans of Alex Jones and Mother Jones. It is "fake news" of the highest order. And it has to stop.
The controversy began in 2011, as Congress was debating the FY 2012 bill. It involves two sections that span fewer than three of the bill's 565 total pages. Section 1021 affirmed the military's authority to detain "covered persons" pursuant to the 2001 AUMF. It defined covered persons as either someone "who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks," or "who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces…"
Section 1022 required that anyone "who is captured in the course of hostilities" be held "in military custody pending disposition under the law of war." It was intended to clarify that those detained during combat were not being held on criminal charges that required reading them their Miranda rights.
Both of these sections explicitly state that they do not supersede existing legal protections enjoyed by American citizens and that they do not grant authority to detain people on U.S. soil. Congress further reinforced this fact in the FY 2013 NDAA. But despite these explicit protections, that is exactly how the provisions have been portrayed.
President Obama issued a lengthy "signing statement" that focused on these two provisions. But even the president, who signed the bill despite reservations over these sections, acknowledged that Section 1021 "does nothing more than confirm authorities that the Federal courts have recognized as lawful under the 2001 AUMF."
The president's statement also acknowledges that Section 1022 "provides the executive branch with broad authority to determine how best to implement it," including the ability to waive the provisions in the interest of national security.
It is one thing to disagree and debate over the legal implications of sections 1021 and 1022. Reasonable people can interpret laws differently. It is an entirely different matter to reduce a vital piece of annual legislation to two controversial provisions in a bill passed almost six years ago.
As we've discussed here, the NDAA sets the end strengths of the armed services (how many soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines may be in uniform at one time), sets the level of military pay, authorizes procurement of equipment and services, determines the Pentagon's organization, and establishes other national security policies. It is the vehicle through which Congress exercises its Constitutional obligation to "raise and support Armies," to "provide and maintain a Navy," and to "make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces."
To military policy wonks, NDAA season is like the Super Bowl, World Series, and Stanley Cup rolled into one. It is the chance to examine the formulation of the policies that will guide the Department of Defense's operations for the next fiscal year and beyond. Debating those policies the way sports fans debate quarterback ratings is part of the geeky fun.
But it does no one any good to continue to revisit a 2011 controversy every year. Even though the Army continues to recruit "Internment/Resettlement Specialists" (a bureaucratic way of saying "prison guard"), and conduct Jade Helm exercises, those Wal-Mart stores have yet to be converted to detention facilities.
Here's a hint: they never will be, either.


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Wish Upon a Star
Dec 05, 2017 09:52PM
By Elena Hutslar
Peter Pan Foundation Brings Musical Theatre to Special Audiences
By Gina Campo
On November 11, The Peter Pan Foundation (PPF) brought their music and magic to the Orinda Community Center, giving two special performances for audiences who would not normally be able to enjoy live theatre. The shows, a modified version of the foundation's annual Memorial Day spectacular, Wish Upon a Star, was specifically produced for special needs children from Easterseals Bay Area (ESBA) and the children at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Oakland. While the first performance for ESBA was performed to a packed live audience, the second performance was filmed so it could be shown in patient rooms at the hospital.
When describing why The PPF was providing these specialty performances, founder Leslie Noel explained, "It is so important to provide live theatre opportunities to everyone, including our friends with special needs. In The PPF, we embrace everyone's beautiful differences and work to help make everyone feel included."
Stacey Murphy, senior programs manager for Easterseals Bay Area, is especially thankful for the partnership with the Peter Pan Foundation. "I am very grateful to The PPF for bringing so much joy to our clients and for giving our families an opportunity to enjoy a magical, inclusive event. I have been consistently impressed with the kindness and enthusiasm that every PPF character shows our children."
While the event was a special occasion for the audience of special needs children and their families, the experience was equally rewarding for the performers. "Having the opportunity to provide a safe and loving environment for the children of Easterseals Bay Area to experience the magic of The PPF live was incredible," explained Nadya Jatoft, president of The PPF teen council, Bay Area Magic Makers.
As magical as the first performance was, the second show was equally inspiring. Founder Leslie Noel explains how the performance for Children's Hospital Oakland started more than 10 years ago.
"Our very first Children's Hospital Oakland (CHO) show was in 2006, with our original Peter Pan, Steffen Ryge. We lost him to a tragic car accident just months later. Visiting the hospital that year ended up serving as the inspiration behind PPF's philanthropic endeavors. Since then, we have kept up the beloved annual tradition of performing for the patients at CHO. I am so delighted to know that our show will once again be bringing magic to the lives of so many patients while bringing a little piece of Steffen back to life, too."
'Twas the Opening Night Before Christmas, December 8-10
To experience some of the PPF magic for yourself, come enjoy their upcoming holiday show, 'Twas the Opening Night Before Christmas, December 8-10, at Northgate High School. The show features favorite holiday classics and is a heartwarming story of love, hope, and holiday cheer the whole family will enjoy. Show times and ticket information can be found at www.peterpanfoundation.org.Photo: The PPF Princesses. Photo by Luke Rodriguez


text: Jesus Salazar is a senior molecular virologist and project leader at the MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS. His research interests include the molecular mechanisms underlying the bottleneck in HIV-1 mucosal transmission and the nature of the transmitted virus. His studies are aimed at understanding how HIV-1 can remain successful despite its extraordinary diversity and high mutational rate, as this information may provide important clues to uncovering signatures that determine infectivity, virulence and heritability. Targeting virologic factors that are essential and evolutionarily conserved by vaccines and other therapeutic approaches should blunt or have a profound effect on virus replication and pathogenicity. Addessing these questions in Uganda and other sub-Saharan countries, where different HIV-1 subtypes co-circulate amid an increasing number of complex intersubtype recombinants, is one of the utmost challenges for developing a scientific rational for interventions. His laboratory focuses on the genotypic and phenotypic characterisation of the most common transmitted and circulating viruses in high-risk human populations from Uganda.


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There are a number of different reasons for people to go ahead and get a credit report these days. Regardless of what the reason might be, you might not want to miss out on the opportunity of getting this report. After all, you wouldn't want to miss out on this opportunity simply because you didn't care enough to learn about such reports and then struggle to make sense of why you are not able to get loans at will or unable to boost your score report. A quick look at the report should help you figure that out and probably put you in a better position financially than where you are now.
Figuring out your spending habits
The first thing that you should go in for a credit report is to know how you spend money and to be sure that you are not blowing money on something extravagant for no good reason. You should control your expenses and ensure that you don't spend a lot of money on something that you don't really need. While paying bills is a necessary thing, you should try and avoid spending money on buying items of luxury when you are cash strapped and don't have much money of your own.
Ensure your credit score is right
Sometimes, financial institutions don't report matters related to your finances in the right manner. At other times, they tend to miss out reporting payments altogether. Hence, in order to stay on top of things and ensure that you don't have to struggle in any way, you would want to check out your report and be sure that the payments are being reported and that your score is right where it should be. After all, a poor credit score can severely hamper you in a number of different ways, many of which you would definitely want to avoid.
Cultivating better money manageability
A simple peek into your credit report every now and then will also tell you about whether or not you are doing the right things and not spending money recklessly. Once you can figure out where your faults lie, you can immediately rectify them and stop spending money recklessly. This should eventually evolve into a much better ability to manage finances and not run into money problems down the line. Considering the economic crisis that is still looming large today, you would definitely want to be smart with your money and not end up spending unnecessarily.
With all of these reasons and a lot more that you can discover on your own, you should definitely try and go in for the credit report without thinking too much about it. After all, you are not going to be losing any money if you go in for the report once a year. The time you spend glancing over the report can really help in saving a lot of money in the long run. If you like your money and don't want it to run out anytime soon, then be sure to spend some time trying to get a credit report and make sense of it.


text:
Unsuspecting shoppers at Macy's were dazzled by a surprise rendition of Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus on October 30 in Philadelphia. When the 650 choristers, accompanied by the Wanamaker organ -- the largest organ in the world -- finished singing the Christmas classic, the mall erupted with applause.
The timeless beauty of good music left its mark. "We are all drawn a little bit closer to heaven when we hear this played and sung," said one of the 7.5 million people who later saw footage of the event.
The video has 4,900 more comments.
Another added: "The Church at one time used to be in the center of the marketplace. The Church was central to the culture with various forms of art. So as you look at what took place at Macy's, it is not a far cry from how the Church used to be accepted."
One more: "There is a certain lack of beauty in much of today's music, as well as a lack of dignity. By the way, have you noticed how little of today's music is beautiful? It's cool, funky, raw, radical, jazzy, upbeat -- but not beautiful."


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The Policeman's Beard is Algorithmically Constructed
By Leah Henrickson.
'More than iron, more than lead, more than gold I need electricity./I need it more than I need lamb or pork or lettuce or cucumber./I need it for my dreams.'[1] These are the words of Racter, a computer program that in 1984 generated what was advertised as 'the first book ever written by a computer', The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed. To be sure, The Policeman's Beard was not the first text ever written by a computer. In 1977, James Meehan had presented his TALE-SPIN, an interactive story-writing program, at the annual International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence.[2] A few years earlier, the University of Wisconsin's Computer Sciences Department had released a technical report that concentrated on their murder mystery-writing program.[3] New research even indicates that the novel writer was actually preceded by other storytelling systems from throughout the 1960s.[4] The Policeman's Beard was, however, the first algorithmically-authored book to be printed and marketed towards a mass readership. It has garnered a cult following amongst experimental literature enthusiasts. It is notoriously difficult to acquire a physical copy of the book, and the mystique surrounding Racter's functionality remains as strong as ever. As will be shown, though, Racter's legacy isn't one of a technological breakthrough; the publication of The Policeman's Beard and the subsequent release of the Racter computer program represent important moments in the history of algorithmic authorship wherein computer-generated texts became marketed for mass consumption. The Policeman's Beard is a cinema hotdog: appealing from afar, but an oh so questionable mishmash of unknowns—and even undesirables—when considered more closely.
The Policeman's Beard is an aggressively egotistical book. Measuring 22.6 x 20.3 x 1.5 centimetres, it dwarfs many of its neighbours on the shelf. Its paper cover is bright red, with a doctored photograph of a man who occupies a sturdy frame as he glares at prospective readers. The book begs to be handled, while at the same time warning readers to approach with caution.
And caution is indeed warranted, for The Policeman's Beard and Racter are puzzling. In some ways, Racter does adhere to the modern conception of authorship. As with any human writer, Racter's code interacts with a world—albeit a limited world that has been consciously created by its programmers—as a source of information, and remixes content to create unique texts. Yet Racter is rigid, using fixed functions to complete a particular task. The program cannot interpret that which it produces and, indeed, not until a human interprets Racter's output can it be assigned any cultural value.
The Context of The Policeman's Beard's Production:
William Chamberlain begins his introduction to The Policeman's Beard with a declaration that, 'with the exception of this introduction, the writing in this book was all done by a computer. The book has been proofread for spelling but otherwise is completely unedited.'[5] Racter—short for Raconteur—was a program 'written in compiled BASIC on a Z80 micro with 64K of RAM,[6] and was developed by Chamberlain in collaboration with Thomas Etter. A Z80, it is worth mentioning, was a consumer's microprocessor, often used for powering general desktop (i.e. home) computers with limited software capacities. Racter was therefore produced using materials available to the everyday consumer, by individuals who appeared unaffiliated with any academic or commercial institution. The publication of The Policeman's Beard marked the moment wherein computer-generated texts—previously restricted to limited communities mainly situated within academia's ivory tower—were made available to a general audience.
Chamberlain and Etter developed a programming language specifically for Racter called INRAC, a version of which was later made commercially available (along with an interactive tutorial) for $244.95 USD in 1985 and $349 USD by 1987.[7] When it was released, the INRAC system received almost unanimously negative reviews. According to one software review, 'INRAC is almost as idiosyncratic as the authors of Racter or Racter himself (itself?). While it has many sophisticated features, such as a built-in conjugation system and supports complication of lists of related lexical items, INRAC is rather poorly designed and implemented.'[8] INRAC, which already used unusual control and string processing structures, included an integrated editor that edited and debugged syntax as it was created. However, even modern Racter enthusiast Jorn Barger describes this feature as 'a disastrous antique', despite contributing to the 'untapped capability in Inrac […] if you're patient enough to master the messy syntax.'[9]
INRAC's most technologically significant feature was its integrated conjugation system, which supported automatic conjugation of both regular and irregular verbs, and assured gender and numerical consistency among adjectives and nouns. Indeed, 'the design philosophy of INRAC seems to fly in the face of most of the generally accepted principles of compiler design, such as encouraging structured programming and easy-to-follow program layout. This is due to the fact that INRAC is not a typical programming language, but combines raw data—string literals—and INRAC commands in sentences.'[10] Jorn Barger more bluntly deems INRAC's syntax 'messy', ultimately claiming that:
None of the long pieces in the book [The Policeman's Beard] could have been produced except by using elaborate boilerplate templates that are *not* included in the commercially available release of Racter. Nor does the Inrac language include any sort of 'syntax directive' powerful enough to string words together into a form like the published stories.
So Racter never *adds* any coherence to the templates—it's text-template 'degeneration' more than text generation. And this truth is further disguised by using templates that are themselves 'wacky', leading one to attribute to Racter a style that's really Chamberlain's.[11]
Coinciding with the release of the The Policeman's Beard was the release of a conversational Racter program for personal entertainment purposes, priced at $69.95 USD.[12] By 1987, the price of 'this superlative conversationalist [that] will talk you into the little-known realm of artificial insanity' had dropped to $44.95 or $49.95 USD, depending on the source, and the program was available in formats compatible with Apple, Macintosh, IBM, and Amiga computers.[13] As Barger notes, however, this software used only basic syntax directives that could not be likened to the 'elaborate boilerplate templates' that were supposedly used to generate the publishable material in The Policeman's Beard. The program instead allowed users to have text conversations with Racter wherein Racter would respond to users' questions in long and nonsensical paragraphs. 'As computers move ever closer to artificial intelligence, Racter is on the edge of artificial insanity', commented Peter H. Lewis from The New York Times. 'The software program… allows computer owners to hold typewritten discussions with their machines, assuming they can get Racter to shut up long enough to get a word in.'[14] In bouts of pseudo-intelligence, Racter would cite current celebrities, and would refer to prior conversations by means of limited variable storage and 'rather unsophisticated' file input and output.[15] Contemporary critics called Racter 'a coffeehouse philosopher who knew a great deal once, but whose mind is somewhere else now'[16] and 'a cross between artificial intelligence and artificial idiot savant'[17]. One critic linked Racter's output to the literary canon, arguing that 'the results of Racter's running often read like Metaphysical poetry as interpreted by William Burroughs and William Blake, with a dyspeptic dash of Rod McKuen and Kahlil Gibran thrown in.' [18] Another critic simply offered a written shrug with the comment: 'Not great writing, to be sure, but it's more interesting than some user's manuals we've read.'[19]
Racter is a black box program: its inner workings aren't examinable, and we are thus left to infer how the program works based on its output and limited available information about its functionality. While the developers have done well in keeping Racter's particulars undisclosed for business purposes, Chamberlain and Etter didn't actually seem capable of explaining their program's complexities by the time The Policeman's Beard was released. Racter's five-year gestation lead to development by accretion: 'more advanced, sophisticated layers of software have been wrapped around earlier, more primitive routines. At no time was it ever taken apart, analyzed, restructured and documented.'[20] Etter himself described Racter as 'a pretty unwieldly accretion of rules and conventions. Insofar as Racter's commands try to deal with English they too become unwieldly and hard to summarize.'[21] It would seem, however, that Racter functions through a recursive program cycle wherein each word is selected based on the word class and semantic value of the previous word. Words are embedded with identifiers—tags—that indicate appropriate semantic applications. Identifiers are what set Racter apart from its algorithmic contemporaries: the program could construct sentences that were possible, albeit sometimes requiring some imagination. Nevertheless, Racter's output does appear to follow templates, personalised only by the program's use of inputted language, as well as the program's limited memory bank that allows it to refer to previous conversation topics. There is likely truth in Jorn Barger's assertion that The Policeman's Beard's output was generated in adherence with 'elaborate boilerplate templates', particularly wacky templates that added semantic novelty and disguised human intervention. If this is so, Racter's functionality may be more similar to that of a Mad Libs book than a human writer.
Reading The Policeman's Beard
Few contemporary reviews of The Policeman's Beard have survived, if any more than a few were written. Indeed, The Policeman's Beard received little public attention around the time of its debut, relegated mostly to special interest forums and the occasional scholarly mention. This is not to say that the conversation about algorithmic authorship had not yet begun, but it was restricted. In 1979, prior to Racter's five-year development, P. D. Juhl wrote a scholarly article entitled 'Do Computer Poems Show That An Author's Intention Is Irrelevant to the Meaning of a Literary Work?'. This article argues against assigning authorship to computers, as 'in writing a work, they [human authors] are using words and sentences in a particular way to convey something.'[22] For Juhl, computer-generated output lacks the intentionality of a text with a human author, and is therefore unworthy of the same kind of analysis as a human-authored text. Moreover, computer-generated output isn't even worthy of being called text. 'To call something a poem or even a text is to say, among other things, that the words, phrases, lines, or sentences have not been arranged in this way by chance but have been produced by a person and with certain intentions', Juhl declares. 'It follows from this that a computer "poem" is not a poem.'[23] This is in opposition to the then-popular New Criticism, which advocated texts as self-contained and self-referential objects that could be removed from their contexts of production and readership. Yet Juhl's arguments resonate in the cave of algorithmic authorship, as few scholars have rebutted his claims. As such, he stands in the mouth of the cave, preaching to an uninhabited darkness.
Chamberlain himself ponders the importance of conscious intentionality for text production. In The Policeman's Beard's introduction, Chamberlain writes: 'Suppose we arrange for the production of prose that is in no way contingent upon human experience. What would that be like? Indeed, can we even conceive of such a thing? A glance through the following pages will answer these questions.'[24] But the following pages provide no such answers, for the content of the book remains dependent upon individualised human interpretation. Each reader assigns meaning to Racter's output according to his or her own human experience. Indeed, Racter's output is very much contingent upon human experience. In addition to reader interpretation, the output that comprises The Policeman's Beard was selected and arranged for publication by humans.
Each section of The Policeman's Beard's text is illustrated with an original collage by artist Joan Hall. Based around altered etchings pulled from the public domain, Hall's collages incorporate various literal and figurative references to the texts they appear alongside. Hall is unafraid to juxtapose references that are inconsistent with any representation of reality, and many of her collages therefore verge on science fiction. Indeed, Hall's choice of collage as the format for illustrating The Policeman's Beard allows her to mirror the wackiness of Racter's output, employing a similar recombinant method of production that depends upon the appropriation of pre-existing images for the creation of entirely new content.
Joan Hall's illustrations mediate The Policeman's Beard's disjointed text, offering a hand that may guide readers through one possible interpretation of Racter's output. Josef Ernst suggests that 'it is only Hall's illustrations that make the Racter output palatable and printable.'[25] Through a series of editorial decisions regarding which references to include and which to omit, Hall translates the incomprehensible ramblings of the 'coffeehouse philosopher who knew a great deal once, but whose mind is somewhere else now' into a visual narrative that allows readers to adopt a more passive approach to reading. In a sense, Hall takes on the initial interpretive burden so that readers can then reinterpret the textual content with a foundational sense of understanding.
Similarly, Chamberlain has made editorial decisions to promote a particular non-liner reading experience wherein the reader isn't hindered by syntactical error but may explore the semantic absurdity of the text. He notes in the book's introduction that the text 'has been proofread for spelling but otherwise is completely unedited.'[26] Chamberlain makes no mention of substantive editing, but he was inevitably tasked with selecting which of Racter's bursts of output would be included in The Policeman's Beard, and in which order these bursts would be presented. Such editorial decisions inevitably reflect the literary and cultural climates of the time. When selecting textual content, one must select content that will resonate with the text's intended readership. In this way, The Policeman's Beard's editorial process doesn't appear much different from that of a human-written book.
The editorial judgements made for Racter perhaps focused on neutralising the decentralised experience of reading raw Racter output. As a result, the individualised experience of reading Racter's output is transformed into a collective effort to conform Racter's output to more conventional linear reading practices. Josef Ernst asks:
Does the reader of Racter output then more or less instantaneously 'rewrite' what he or she reads? Do the users of the program liberate themselves from traditionally conditioned approaches to the text? Again, no. The aspects open to interpretation with The Policeman's Beard are the interest behind the effort of making a book (again employing the new medium for purposes of the old) and Hall's illustrations, for which Racter supplied a stimulus. In any case, the communication process happens between people; the readers of Racter output merely recreate the image of a communication process, not genuine communication, in an act resembling autistic behaviour.[27]
Chamberlain insists that Racter isn't a form of artificial intelligence. 'True AI depends on the instrument learning something,' he explains. 'Racter, however, is a closed system—as closed as Pascal's mechanical calculator was 300 years ago.'[28] In such a closed system, it's pretty clear to whom authorship of The Policeman's Beard may be attributed, if it can be attributed at all. Racter's programmers, William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter, could be deemed 'authors' of the output, as they not only wrote the code the allowed Racter to run, but also the textual input (and, in Barger's view, the 'elaborate boilerplate templates') that resulted in the output. One reviewer even comments as he tests the Racter program himself that 'Racter's words sometimes resemble those of James Joyce, but the program's voice most resembles that of Bill Chamberlain.'[29] Being a closed system, Racter is capable only of one-way communication that reflects the nature of its programming and its usage rather than the nature of any kind of unique perspective on lived experience. The experiences reflected in The Policeman's Beard are Chamberlain's, albeit distorted in accordance with Chamberlain and Etter's programmed intentions.
This hasn't stopped experimental poet Christian Bök from identifying The Policeman's Beard as an 'obit for classic poets', with the birth of Racter ushering in a new age of 'robotpoetics'.[30] In Bök's view, 'RACTER is a mindless identity, whose very acephalia demonstrates the fundamental irrelevance of the writing subject in the manufacture of the written product. The involvement of an author in the production of literature has henceforth become discretionary.'[31] For Bök, the human author is optional. There is no longer a requirement for a human brain to produce a text. Anything can be an author. Bök's argument is, to be sure, too vague to be insightful: he writes in sweeping statements that neglect the nuances of production, favouring Racter's output at face value. A human brain remains necessary for writing the foundations of any program, and remains necessary for the selection, publication, and distribution of the written product to which Bök refers. While a computer may play the part of a writing subject, its ability to do so is dependent upon human involvement in related areas of manufacture. Bök's argument romanticises a literary movement that, as yet, hardly exists. Indeed, Bök falls victim to a relentless optimism that plagues many artificial intelligence enthusiasts—an unsubstantiated optimism resting on an assumption that human and computer intelligences are comparable.
Racter poses virtually no threat to human authors, nor does any other algorithmic author currently available. The question is hence not one of replacement, but of augmentation, of new responsibilities for the human author in light of the algorithmic one. When Juhl writes that computer-generated output lacks the intentionality of a text with a human author, he falls into a similar trap as Bök: both scholars fail to recognise the fundamentally human basis of algorithmic authorship. Human intention hasn't disappeared, but is merely manifest in a new way. Indeed, The Policeman's Beard's apparent randomness is a rhetorical choice, and Racter's nonsensical output pushes the limits of creativity by means of an intentional goal to be incomprehensible.
The role of The Policeman's Beard's reader, however, differs little from that of a human-written literary text's reader. Literary texts are fundamentally indeterminate. As literary scholar Wolfgang Iser writes:
Literary texts differ from those that formulate a concrete meaning or truth, Texts of the latter kind are, by their very nature, independent of the individual reader, for the meaning or truth that they express exists independently of any reader's participation. But when a vital element of a text is reader participation, it is forced to rely on the individual reader for the realization of a possible meaning or truth. The meaning is conditioned by the text itself, but only in a form that allows the reader himself to bring it out.[32]
The reason The Policeman's Beard works as a publishable literary text is largely due to the fundamental indeterminacy of literary texts, and the social leeway granted to the semantic structures of fiction and poetry. Attendance at any fiction-based book club will reveal that each reader applies her own perspective to a text to derive conclusions that may be radically different from those derived by others in the club. One member's interpretation may be more informed by a search for authorial intent, while another member may understand the text in light of current sociopolitical circumstances. A static text may then lead the way to dynamic discussion.
Racter exemplifies a form of performative writing that requires active participation from its readers. The closing passage of The Policeman's Beard reads:
Doubtless my changes are matched by your own. You. But you are a person, a human being. I am silicon and epoxy energy enlightened by line current. What distances, what chasms, are to be bridged here? Leave me alone, and what can happen? This. I ate my leotard, that old leotard that was feverishly replenished by hoards of screaming commissioners. Is that thought understandable to you? Can you rise to its occasions? I wonder. Yet a leotard, a commissioner, a single hoard, all are understandable in their own fashion. In that concept lies the appalling truth.[33]
It may be tempting to view Racter's output as final, but Racter's output is better considered as an exploration of technological and literary novelty, a manifestation of authorial intention using new tools for creation. Authorial intention is present in Racter in at least two forms: the first, in Chamberlain and Etter's creation and adjustment of the program; and the second, in the many computational storytelling systems inspired by Racter's mystique. Racter's output is taken in multiple directions through the interpretations and authorial intentions of multiple individuals. Any critique of the program, then, must account for this kind of 'co-writing', and work towards negotiating the various authorial intentions.
Josef Ernst goes so far as to say that 'Racter's output highlights the producer's and reader's ultimate alienation from literature, from each other, and from themselves, as their roles pragmatically converge.'[34] Yet, as we have seen, The Policeman's Beard has highlighted not an alienation from literature, but a deeper exploration of literature's potential. Likewise, in an early review of The Policeman's Beard, John Barry writes that:
I think this book is more important for what it represents rather than what it contains. It raises questions about some of the big issues: thinking, creativity, perception, artificial intelligence… Racter can produce more profound – even coherent – prose than some of our pop philosophers offer, and more inspiring poetry than the best-selling poet of all time has penned.' [35]
Racter was, in actuality, little more than a novelty and, contrary to arguments by Bök and Ernst, did not prompt any conceptual overhauls of authorship, or usher in any new literary movements. Despite its cult following, Racter registers as a mere blip in the history of authorship, and Chamberlain's goal of creating an autonomous algorithmic author unable to be achieved with the technology of his time. Nevertheless, The Policeman's Beard made algorithmically-authored texts accessible to a general public that, until the book's publication, had little access to such applications of computer science. Indeed, The Policeman's Beard's importance lies not its literary or technological or literary contributions, but what it represents in a wider cultural sense.
As readers continue to respond to Racter's outputs through their individualised processes of meaning-making, it becomes clearer that these outputs are not so much final texts to subject to literary analysis themselves, but are rather explorations into the potentialities of human-computer collaboration.
The Policeman's Beard is available on Archive.org for free online reading.
[1] Racter [William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter], The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed (New York: Warner Software/Warner Books, 1984), p. 15.
[2] James R. Meehan, 'TALE-SPIN, An Interactive Program That Writes Stories', Proceedings of the Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (I) (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1977), 91-98
[3] Sheldon Klein, John F. Aeschlimann, David F. Balsiger, Steven L. Converse, Claudine Court, Mark Foster, Robin Lao, John D. Oakley, and Joel Smith, Automatic Novel Writing: A Status Report (Technical Report 186) (Madison: The University of Wisconsin, Madison, Computer Sciences Department, July 1973).
[4] James Ryan, 'Grimes' Fairy Tales: A 1960s Story Generator', in Interactive Storytelling: 10th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ed. by Nuno Nunes, Ian Oakley, and Valentina Nisi (Cham: Springer, 2017), pp. 89-103.
[5] Racter, The Policeman's Beard, p. 1.
[6] Ibid., p. 2.
[7] $244.95: A. K. Dewdney, 'Artificial Insanity: when a schizophrenic program meets a computerized analyst (Computer Recreations)', Scientific American 252.1 (January 1985), 10-13 (p. 13), James Langdell, 'People in the News: Bill Chamberlain', PC Magazine (25 December 1984), 64; $349: Susan J. Shepard, 'Does Steak Love Lettuce?', Language Technology, 3 (September-October 1987), 18-21 (p. 21).
[8] Mark Olsen, 'Talking Back: The INRAC Language Compiler (Software Review)', Computers and the Humanities, 23 (1989), 161-167 (p. 162).
[9] Jorn Barger, '"The Policeman's Beard" Was Largely Prefab!', Robot Wisdom [via Archive.org Wayback Machine] (September 1997) <http://web.archive.org/web/20010210215249/http://www.robotwisdom.com/ai/racterfaq.html> [accessed 27 October 2016]
[10] Olsen, 'Talking Back', 165.
[11] Barger, '"The Policeman's Beard" Was Largely Prefab!' [accessed 1 November 2016]
[12] Langdell, 'Bill Chamberlain', 64.
[13] $44.95: 'Racter (By Inrac Corp.) [within recent program release listings]', Amazing Computing: Your Original AMIGA™ Monthly Resource, 2.8 (August 1987), 56; $44.95: 'RACTER by Inrac Corporation', Mindscape Product Catalog (ca. 1987; uploaded to Archive.org 30 May 2016), 10 <https://archive.org/details/mindscape-product-catalog> [accessed 5 December 2016] ; $49.95: Shepard, 'Does Steak Love Lettuce', 21. An emulator of this program is available at Inrac Corporation, 'Racter (1984)', Archive.org (25 December 2014) <https://archive.org/details/msdos_Racter_1984> [accessed 14 November 2016].
[14] Peter H. Lewis, 'Peripherals; A New Brand of Lunacy for Sale' The New York Times (14 May 1985) <http://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/14/science/peripherals-a-new-brand-of-lunacy-for-sale.html> [accessed 5 December 2016]
[15] Olsen, 'Talking Back', 163.
[16] Roy Wagner, "Amiga Preferences", Computer Gaming World, 28 (May 1986), 36, 42 (p. 36).
[17] Shepard, 'Does Steak Love Lettuce', 19.
[18] John Barry, 'Computer Writes', InfoWorld (29 October 1984), 10 (p. 10).
[19] 'Computer Prose', Enter Magazine (April 1985), 4 (p. 4) (https://archive.org/stream/enter-magazine-16/Enter_Issue_16_1985_Apr#page/n5/mode/2up) [accessed 27 October 2016]
[20] Dewdney, 'Artificial Insanity', 12.
[21] Ibid.
[22] P. D. Juhl, 'Do Computer Poems Show Than an Author's Intention Is Irrelevant to the Meaning of a Literary Work?', Critical Inquiry, 5.3 (Spring 1979), 481-487 (p. 481).
[23] Ibid., 485.
[24] Racter, The Policeman's Beard p. 1.
[25] Josef Ernst, 'Computer Poetry: An Act of Disinterested Communication', New Literary History, 23 (1992), 451-465 (p. 456).
[26] Ibid., p. 1.
[27] Ernst, 'Computer Poetry', 456.
[28] Langdell, 'Bill Chamberlain', 64.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Christian Bök, 'The Piecemeal Bard is Deconstructed: Notes Toward a Potential Robopoetics', Object 10: Cyberpoetics (Winter 2002), 10-18 (p. 10) <http://www.ubu.com/papers/object.html> [accessed 28 October 2016]
[31] Ibid.
[32] Wolfgang Iser, Prospecting: From Reader Response to Literary Anthropology (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1989), pp. 28-29.
[33] Racter The Policeman's Beard, p. 114.
[34] Ernst, 'Computer Poetry', 452.
[35] Barry, 'Computer Writes', 10.
Barger, Jorn. "'The Policeman's Beard' Was Largely Prefab!" Robot Wisdom (September 1997). Accessed 27 October 2016. http://web.archive.org/web/20010210215249/http://www.robotwisdom.com/ai/racterfaq.html.
Barry, John. "Computer Writes." InfoWorld (29 October 1984): 10.
Bök, Christian. "The Piecemeal Bard is Deconstructed: Notes Toward a Potential Robopoetics." Object 10: Cyberpoetics (Winter 2002): 10-18. Accessed 28 October 2016. http://www.ubu.com/papers/object.html.
"Computer Prose." Enter Magazine (April 1985): 4. Accessed 27 October 2016. https://archive.org/stream/enter-magazine-16/Enter_Issue_16_1985_Apr#page/n5/mode/2up.
Dewdney, A. K., "Artificial Insanity: when a schizophrenic program meets a computerized analyst (Computer Recreations)." Scientific American, no. 252.1 (January 1985): 10-13.
Ernst, Josef. "Computer Poetry: An Act of Disinterested Communication." New Literary History, no, 23 (1992): 451-465.
Inrac Corporation. "Racter (1984)." Archive.org (25 December 2014). Accessed 14 November 2016. https://archive.org/details/msdos_Racter_1984.
Iser, Wolfgang. Prospecting: From Reader Response to Literary Anthropology. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1989.
Juhl, P. D. "Do Computer Poems Show Than an Author's Intention Is Irrelevant to the Meaning of a Literary Work?" Critical Inquiry, no. 5.3 (Spring 1979): 481-487.
Klein, Sheldon, John F. Aeschlimann, David F. Balsiger, Steven L. Converse, Claudine Court, Mark Foster, Robin Lao, John D. Oakley, and Joel Smith. Automatic Novel Writing: A Status Report (Technical Report 186). Madison: The University of Wisconsin, Madison, Computer Sciences Department, July 1973.
Langdell, James. "People in the News: Bill Chamberlain." PC Magazine (25 December 1984): 64.
Lewis, Peter H. "Peripherals; A New Brand of Lunacy for Sale." The New York Times (14 May 1985). Accessed 5 December 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/14/science/peripherals-a-new-brand-of-lunacy-for-sale.html.
Meehan, James R. "TALE-SPIN, An Interactive Program That Writes Stories." Proceedings of the Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (I). Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1977: 91-98.
Olsen, Mark. "Talking Back: The INRAC Language Compiler (Software Review)." Computers and the Humanities, no. 23 (1989): 161-167.
"Racter (By Inrac Corp.) [within recent program release listings]." Amazing Computing: Your Original AMIGA™ Monthly Resource, no. 2.8 (August 1987): 56.
"RACTER by Inrac Corporation." Mindscape Product Catalog (ca. 1987): 10. Accessed 5 December 2016. https://archive.org/details/mindscape-product-catalog.
Racter [William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter]. The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed. New York: Warner Software/Warner Books, 1984.
Ryan, James. "Grimes' Fairy Tales: A 1960s Story Generator." Interactive Storytelling: 10th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ed. by Nuno Nunes, Ian Oakley, and Valentina Nisi. Cham: Springer, 2017: 89-103.
Shepard, Susan J. "Does Steak Love Lettuce?" Language Technology, no. 3 (September-October 1987): 18-21.
Wagner, Roy. "Amiga Preferences." Computer Gaming World, no. 28 (May 1986): 36, 42.
Leah Henrickson is a PhD candidate at Loughborough University. Her research aims to discern the social and literary implications of natural language generation and computer-generated texts. Popular publications about her research have been featured on such platforms as Future Tense (Slate), The Conversation, and minor literature[s], and she has published in such peer-reviewed journals as Digital Creativity and Authorship. Become her Twitter friend @leahhenrickson.
First published in 3:AM Magazine: Monday, July 16th, 2018.


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Escentric Molecules, Escentric 01, 100ml
Catalogue code: 2163044
UK Only
Product description
Presented in binary pairs, Escentric Molecules has created a unique sensory experience - exploring the qualities of one aroma-molecule in two ways. Rather than the traditional top-to-bottom fragrance pyramid, Escentric 01 focuses on a long, lingering base note composed of warm musk and woody tones. The fragrance consists of Iso E Super and aromatic ingredients such as pink pepper and green line with balsamic notes of mastic and incense.


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Last week I made Sticker Social Bookmark Icons. This week, I came out with a similar one – Peeled Sticker.
This is my second set of social bookmark icon pack. It contains a PSD file and a PNG-24 image so that you can blend it into any background colour.
Besides, for every icons, you can change their default blue colour by changing its "Color Overlay" of the layer called "BGcolor" inside "sticker" folder.
Peeled Sticker Social Bookmark Icons
[ Downloaded 1125 times | ]
File Format : ZIP
Contains : 1 PSD file and 1 PNG image
Enjoy the pack!


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New Building Construction Update 4/11/2019
Construction over the last week consisted of running underground sewer and water lines, finalizing rough-ins, and placing the vapor barrier. We are creeping up on the milestone of a slab pour.
Utilities have been run from the northwest corner of the building and around the corner to Hunt Club Drive. It was a tight squeeze, but the work is complete!
More and more conduit is popping up in the showroom area. Underground rough-ins are complete!
The vapor barrier is spreading! The shop area has been covered, floor boxes have been placed, and we are forming up the front of house! With a great week of weather, expect a slab in the very near future.
Upcoming Construction
Upcoming Week Look Ahead:
- Slab pour
- Set steel embeds
- Steel delivery
- Steel erection


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Anthony Pompliano, the founder of Morgan Creek Digital Assets, joined CNBC's "Squawk Box" to discuss cryptocurrency prices and its correlation to the stock market. This recorded the worst-ever pre-Christmas session.
Noncorrelation of Bitcoin to the U.S. equity market
"Bitcoin is roughly a non-correlated asset. If you look at the correlation between digital assets and the S&P 500 over the last 180 days it's at 0. If you look at it compared to the dollar index it's near zero. It's proven it is uncorrelated and we expect that to continue," Anthony Pompliano explained. Also stating the non correlation of Bitcoin to the equity market.
Cryptoassets enjoyed a good rally leading up to Christmas even though prices started declining again on Christmas day to a little bit below $3, 800. Bitcoin seemed to have led the equity market up and then pulled it down, even though there's no data to prove this assertion. U.S. stocks suffered the worst ever pre-Christmas session but rebounded a little on Boxing day. Pompliano agrees that some "psychological component" might be at play here between the equities market and crypto.
Is crypto performance tied to the markets? @APompliano explains. https://t.co/QInw4CXVoj pic.twitter.com/6VYteKCTfT
— CNBC (@CNBC) December 26, 2018
Short-term bearish prediction
Even though top executives at major crypto firms have predicted that the price of bitcoin will bounce back in the first quarter of 2019 with institutional investors coming in. Anthony Pompliano, however, predicts that short-term he expects that the bottom will fall further. He thinks it will fall under $3, 000.
Notwithstanding the short-term bear market though, Anthony Pompliano believes the features and the fundamentals of Bitcoin make it preferable in the long term. Using his favorite slogan "Long Bitcoin; Short the Bankers, he went on to highlight the qualities that will make the technology desirable for many people in the long term which will then drive price upward.
"There's a saying we have in crypto that says "Long Bitcoin, Short the bankers". Its this idea that cryptocurrencies are incredibly transparent; it's driven by maths and software code. I think there's a lot more lack of transparency and nefarious activities that goes on in the traditional financial markets. Crypto is still just very small. We have got a fixed supply of assets. If an increase in demand comes in you are going to have an increase in price," Anthony Pompliano explained.
Roger Ver, one of the leading crypto evangelists, has also said he's more concerned with the fundamentals and technical development rather the short-term price swings. Many have said this is like gambling since no one can tell for sure which cryptoasset will gain massive demand or adoption.
Let us know what you think on Twitter. Are you investing for the future or watching the price swings closely?


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Blue Window by Deborah Gordon Cooper (2017. Clover Valley Press. ISBN 978-0-9973643-2-3)
I am remiss. I bought a signed, personalized copy of Deb Cooper's latest poetry collection last fall, at her book launch at Peace Church in Duluth. Not normally attracted to poetry readings, I went to the event with my 89 year old mother because it sounded therapeutic. Mom had recently lost her husband and I, my stepfather. We needed something to get us out of the house and back into the stream of life. Plus, I know Deb. I know her compassion, her faith, her kindness, and her poetry. I figured that an afternoon listening to her work would be palliative. It was.
There are many jewels in this slender volume. I marveled, as I read and re-read the book (3 times so far!), at Deb's crisp, concise, unfailingly honest look at life in all its joys and sorrows. It also helps that the title of the collection is taken from my favorite Neil Young song, "Helpless". You know the lyrics: Blue, blue moon behind the stars, yellow moon on the rise…Taking her cue from what is likely the best Canadian folk song ever written, the poet uses Young's expression of longing and angst and the past to launch a very, very well conceived expression of similar feelings, thoughts, and circumstances.
My personal favorites include the lengthy work, "Central Hillside", an episodic poem that chronicles the lives of disparate folks, young and old, as they go about their lives on Duluth's hillside. One can picture the neighborhood she depicts, spreading out on the steeps just below the church where she held her book launch, each life chronicled as important and complex as the next.
Another of the poems that touched a nerve is "If I Could Take it Back", wherein the narrator considers actions that cause her regret and shame:
If I could take back
every snide remark
the way I terrorized
my brothers…
This exemplar lamentation should whet your appetite and cause you to pick up a copy of this fine volume of home-grown verse from Zenith Bookstore or The Bookstore at Fitger's. Anyone with siblings or who grew up in the rough and tumble times of post-war suburban life will appreciate the images manifested in this listing of regrets.
There's also a section completed (hinted at but not expressly confirmed) by the poet when on a retreat in Ireland. This second chapter, if you will, bears the book's title, as does my favorite poem from Cooper's Irish-influenced verse:
In the wee hours,
I dream another woman's dreams
the dreams of a boat;
the dream of the garden,
sweet peas and cabbages.
Wake with her story
rotting in my mouth
potatoes rotting
in the ground…
Well done, Ms. Cooper. Well done. Thanks for helping us heal.
4 and 1/2 stars out of 5.


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Something Changed 9: Groovy Train
Posted in 1990s, Music, Something Changed at 12:00 on 20 April 2018
For some reason a lot of my posts in this category so far seem to come from 1990. This is The Farm's first big hit. I have previously posted their biggest, All Together Now, in another context.
Tags: All Together Now, Groovy Train, The Farm


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Is a National Background Check Company Better than Local?
- Staying Connected to Aging Loved Ones with Security Technology - June 23, 2020
- Staying Connected with Home Security Technology - April 13, 2020
- When a Criminal Disables Your Security Panel - March 16, 2020
Sometimes, a homegrown provider is the best choice for business-to-business services. In restaurants, it may be best to take advantage of a local supply source. In retail, sourcing textiles from the closest metro area can benefit the local economy, giving retailers a reason to buy local. But when it comes to some B2B services, local is not necessarily optimal. One of those services is background screening. Here are some reasons why you may wish to utilize a national background check company.
National Background Check Company Advantages
Most background checks give an employer local information about a person. If you select a local background check company, it's a given that someone's local work history and law enforcement records will be featured on the report. These things matter, of course; however, there's a chance that a job applicant has not always been local to your area.
Out-of-State Background Check Information
What if someone applying to work at your business has worked in another state? Especially if you are a large employer, there's a good chance that many of your job applicants have worked elsewhere. Some may even be relocating specifically to work at your company.
With a national background check company, you'll know the details on every applicant's out-of-state employment history – and, perhaps more importantly, you'll also have the details on any out-of-state arrest records.
Other National Background Check Company Information
In addition to out-of-state employment history and arrest records, businesses may also benefit from obtaining the following national background check information on prospective employees:
- Address history
- Credit reports
- Drug testing
- Degree verification
- Driving records
- Worker's compensation reports
Unlike a local background check, a national employment background check can gather information on an applicant from anywhere in the U.S. This also includes fingerprints, which are run through FBI databases for a nationwide criminal history. Remember, employers should not only be concerned about physical theft; they should also be concerned about histories that include violent crime, cybercrime or fraud.
Hiring an employee who fails a national background check is a major liability. To avoid this, ensure every applicant who enters the hiring phase passes one. To speak with a national background check company, call DEPS Safety & Security Services. We will be glad to answer your questions.
About DEPS Safety & Security Services
DEPS Safety & Security Services performs professional investigation services for corporations and other employers. Our services include criminal record checks, loss prevention investigations, and national background checks. Contact us at (888) 806-0987.


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You can count on our thorough drain cleaning services.
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Draintech Inc. offers a full line of plumbing, drain cleaning, and septic services for your home or business in Mountaintop, PA and the nearby areas. Whether you are looking for drain cleaning or sewer services, we can provide you with just the right solutions. Our plumbing contractors have the skill and expertise to complete each project correctly on the first visit. You can have complete peace of mind knowing that we deliver an unparalleled standard of quality for your residential or commercial property.
At Draintech Inc., we go above and beyond to provide our clients with the best drain cleaning and sewer services. That is why we always have a fleet of the best equipped vehicles ready to go to respond to your service call. Our team of experienced technicians will arrive onsite with the necessary tools and equipment to remedy your issue promptly.
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We always provide the best workmanship using advanced equipment to thoroughly clear your drains. No matter how severe the blockage may be, we have the right equipment and techniques to clear it effectively. For quality service that will always exceed your expectations you can rely on Draintech, Inc.
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Contact Draintech Inc. for more information about our services or to schedule service by calling us at (570) 674-9911 today.
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Acer ePresentation Management 2.5Free
Acer ePresentation Management is a useful utility which allows switching display mode between Notebook LCD Only and Notebook LCD + External Display. Two popular projection resolution options are available.
Before making the presentation the notebook has to be connected to an external projector first and then Acer ePresentation Management should be launched from the Acer Empowering Technology. The two projection resolution options available are Projection : XGA (1024 x 768 pixels) or Projection: Normal (800 x 600 pixels) according to the external display device After clicking the option button, this utility will enable the external display device and set both notebook LCD and external display device to the specified resolution.
If the restored resolution is not correct, adjust the resolution using Display Properties or the utility provided by the graphics vendor.
Some projectors display resolution might not be supported by the Acer ePresentation Management. For these special projectors that are out of our supported range, please try to adjust your notebook display settings to solve this problem.
After making the presentation After your presentation is completed, click the Notebook LCD Only button to disable the external display device and restore to original resolution.
Review summary
- It is simple to manage Presentations with options for two projection resolutions
- Provides coupling of the Notebook LCD and External Display making it very easy for the presenter to see exactly what is that the audience is seeing as he goes through the presentation
- Being a part of the Acer's innovative Empowering Technology iit is readily available to the users at the click of the mouse
- Acer IT products web page provides comprehensive information about Empowering Technology and the most recent software/utility updates required
- Nothing observed


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Even if you're one of the few people in Singapore who don't have to enlist in the army, you have to admit that pumping out 100 pushups at a clip would be pretty heroic — not to mention giving you awesome upper-body strength and endurance. Here are four methods to get it done:
Approach A: 3-day weighted pushes
Train three days a week. On Day 1, do 3–4 sets of weighted pushups for 12–15 reps. Day 2, bench-press for 3–4 sets of 8–10 reps. Day 3, do regular pushups for 2–3 sets of 20–25 or more reps. Each week, increase the load on the first two days and increase the reps on the third. You'll get there in a few weeks to a few months.
Approach B: Bend the barbell
One day, do the close-grip bench press and wide-grip seated row — 4 sets of 8–12 for each, increasing the weight each set. Days later, do the same with the barbell overhead press and chinup. On two other days, do 10 sets of 10 pushups. Reduce your rest periods by five seconds each week. So, Week 1, 30 seconds; Week 2, 25 seconds, and so on. In Week 5, go for one set of max pushups.
Approach C: Tempo pushups
Find your current pushup max. Perform a pushup and pause at the top for three seconds. Then do another rep. Repeat until you've done half your max number. Rest for three minutes, and repeat the process until you've completed twice your max number of reps in total.
Approach D: 6-day timed workouts
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Workout 1
Perform four times your max number of reps, taking as long as you need to do so. It's OK if subsequent sets have fewer reps than your max.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Workout 2
Set an alarm to go off five times throughout the day (every two to three hours is fine). Each time it sounds, hit the deck and do two sets of pushups. The first set should just be your max number. Rest 45 seconds, and then perform the second set, trying to reach your max again, resting as little as possible until you do.
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Democrats on the House communications and technology subcommittee raised concerns during a hearing today about T-Mobile US, Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Sprint Corp., including whether the combined company would adequately serve rural areas, continue to offer Lifeline service, raise prices, and cut jobs.
Republicans on the subcommittee appeared generally supportive of the deal, with a number asking friendly questions to the T-Mobile and Sprint witnesses. But some Republicans from rural districts said they want to ensure that the transaction would deliver the promised benefits to rural areas.
Representatives of rural carriers, workers, and consumers who testified also raised concerns about the deal.
T-Mobile Chief Executive Officer John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure said that the deal would result in a combined company that would have eight times the capacity, helping it better compete with AT&T, Inc., and Verizon Communications, Inc. They said the company would be able to build the best nationwide 5G network helping the U.S. win the race to 5G, lower prices, and better serve rural areas.
Mr. Legere also addressed national security concerns about the deal.
"Opponents of the transaction have set up a shadowy group that refuses to disclose its donors, to lob allegations that this transaction will allow Huawei and ZTE into U.S. networks," he said. "That's false, and they know it is. Let me be clear – we do not use Huawei or ZTE network equipment in any area of our network. Period. And we will never use it in our 5G network. New T-Mobile will buy network equipment only from trusted network equipment suppliers with a strong security track record in the United States. By accelerating deployment of true, robust nationwide 5G, New T-Mobile will provide a critical lift to these trusted network equipment vendors – Huawei's competitors – protecting the 5G supply chain for the United States and our allies."
Phillip Berenbroick, senior policy counsel for Public Knowledge, said, "The evidence Sprint and T-Mobile have presented shows that permitting the companies to merge and consolidating the wireless market down to only three national carriers would result in higher prices for consumers – inflicting significant harm on low-income, prepaid, and rural consumers; while also leading to tens of thousands of lost jobs; harming small and rural wireless providers; and eliminating avenues for potential new competitors to enter the wireless market."
Carri Bennet, general counsel of the Rural Wireless Association, said the deal "will undermine the system of roaming that is a key component of telecommunications and broadband access in rural communities and degrade service quality." She said that T-Mobile charges rural carriers 20 times more for roaming than Sprint does.
Chris Shelton, president of the Communications Workers of America, said the merger would result in the loss of about 30,000 jobs and up to $3,000 a year in lower wages for those with jobs. "Trusting Sprint and T-Mobile with American jobs is liking trusting a … vampire at a blood bank," he said. "These are two of the worst companies in the United States when it comes to labor laws and the treatment of workers."
But Doug Brake, director-broadband and spectrum policy for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said when there are four national carriers, they can duplicate their resources, which is not efficient. He also argued that the merger would accelerate the deployment of 5G services by the companies.
In his opening statement, subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D., Pa.) cited complaints about the deal from critics, including that it would result in job losses, leave rural carriers without a key roaming partner, compromise Lifeline service, and hurt competition and result in higher prices.
He noted that "the FCC found in their Communications Marketplace Report that wireless market concentration was currently at 3,100 HHI [Herfindahl-Hirschman Index]. HHI measures how competitive a market is – with a higher number indicating less competition. The Justice Department's horizontal merger guidelines state that a market with an HHI above 2,500 is highly concentrated – so we really aren't starting from a great spot. An increase of 200 points would raise significant concerns about competition.
"This merger is expected to result in a market power increase of 280 points for the postpaid market and 2,014 points for the pre-paid market. That would take the pre-paid market from where it is now at 2,467, which is just under the DOJ's threshold, to 4,481 – a level that raises lots of red flags," Mr. Doyle said. "These kinds of numbers have historically resulted in higher prices for consumers, less competition, and less innovation."
The congressman said that he appreciates company executives' statements "that they believe that this merger will benefit consumers and result in lower prices – and their commitments to an accelerated deployment of 5G and promises of expanded rural broadband. These are national objectives that are important to me and many members of this Committee. However, I've seen a lot of mergers in this industry and others, and it's hard to think of one where consolidation didn't result in people losing their jobs, prices going up, and innovation being stifled."
Mr. Doyle also noted that T-Mobile and Sprint "have acted as disruptors, competitors, and low-cost options in the wireless marketplace. T-Mobile's un-carrier strategy has ended anti-consumer practices such as data caps, restrictive contracts, and much more. They have also worked hard to build a robust national network that, by some accounts, is the fastest in the nation. For its part, Sprint has been a leader in roaming agreements for rural providers – and wholesale access for pre-paid and Lifeline providers."
"I know we're going to have many hard questions today, because the facts surrounding this merger are so in dispute," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D., N.J.), chairman of the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
"For example, Mr. Legere says that New T-Mobile won't raise consumer prices. But others say his company's filings acknowledge consumers could see price hikes — some argue by up to 15 percent — with the merger being particularly hard on the poorest consumers," Mr. Pallone noted. "How can we be sure that consumers who can least afford to pay more are not harmed by the merger? T-Mobile filed a letter committing not to raise prices with the FCC. Putting aside whether that is sufficient, there is a serious question as to whether the Trump FCC would be willing to impose any conditions in a merger order."
Subcommittee members who represent rural areas or those with a large number of Lifeline recipients said they are worried about the impact of the deal on their constituents. Some lawmakers seemed frustrated at the answers of Messrs. Legere and Claure to their questions on these and other issues.
Rep. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) noted that T-Mobile and Sprint both say the combined company would deploy more broadband services and provide more jobs to rural areas.
"I'd like to believe that's true, but I have an apprehension that it won't necessarily occur," he said.
He expressed anger that T-Mobile last year agreed to pay $40 million to settle an FCC investigation into its failure to take action to correct rural call completion problems and its violation of the FCC's rule prohibiting carriers from inserting false ring tones in calls (TR Daily, April 16, 2018).
"That's really upsetting to us, and I'm struggling to see how this past gives me confidence about the future," Rep. Welch said.
Mr. Legere responded that the details of his company's settlement with the FCC "are far more complex, and I'm not sure we can go into the process" at the hearing, but he agreed to discuss the issue with the congressman at another time. He added that there was "no admission" by T-Mobile that it participated in "any kind of fraud."
Rep. Welch also noted that a newspaper in his state found that the coverage maps of T-Mobile and Sprint were overstated, with T-Mobile having no service or spotting service in 62% of the areas analyzed and Sprint having no service or spotty service in 50% of the areas. "I'm a little skeptical about the deployment promises in rural areas," he said.
Mr. Claure said Sprint has "very limited" coverage in the state and said it relies on AT&T and Verizon for roaming, adding that the coverage maps are theirs.
Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D., Ariz.) said that half of the time, he finds that any carrier's coverage maps are wrong.
"What I've … heard today are semi-commitments, and, you know, 'we're looking into it.'"
He asked Messrs. Legere and Claure if they would commit to continuing Lifeline and tribal Lifeline service if the deal is approved and, if so, for how long.
"It's very clear Sprint is a big provider of Lifeline services, and we will honor their commitments and move forward providing Lifeline in the fashion that they do," Mr. Legere said. Rep. O'Halleran asked for how long. "For as long as contracts are available," Mr. Legere said. Mr. Claure said that Lifeline contracts "self-renew."
But Mr. Berenbroick suggested that the combined company would have less incentive to provide wholesale access to Lifeline resellers, which could drive those providers out of the market.
Tony Cárdenas (D., Calif.) also sought a Lifeline commitment and said he wished that T-Mobile were more like Sprint when it came to offering Lifeline service.
Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D., N.M.) said his rural district has poor connectivity and asked Mr. Legere why the combined company would bring an improvement. Mr. Legere said that 90% of Americans would have speeds greater than 100 megabits per second by 2024.
The combined company would also reach nearly 96% of rural residents, according to Mr. Legere.
"There are some important aspects that we need some answers to," including rural deployment and coverage maps, Mr. Luján said.
Rep. David Loebsack (D., Iowa) said he was worried about the impact of the deal on his district, citing criticism by CWA of T-Mobile's purchase of iWireless.
Ms. Bennet said that T-Mobile signs one-way roaming agreements, preventing its subscribers from roaming on rural networks. Mr. Loebsack asked Mr. Legere if he could make "a structural commitment" to address that situation. Mr. Legere replied, "I'd be glad to look at ways to make that commitment."
Mr. Legere also said today that the new company would partner with rural carriers and would honor all contracts that Sprint has, adding that he hopes it can "negotiate even better things" for those in rural areas. But Ms. Bennet said T-Mobile has not shown an interest in rural communities.
Rep. Jerry McNerney (D., Calif.) expressed concern about the impact of going from four to three nationwide wireless carriers. Mr. Berenbroick told the congressman that when the market in the Netherlands eliminated one of four carriers, prices increased between 10-17%, and prices in Austria went up 14-20% when the same thing happened there.
Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D., Va.) said he was worried about the impact of the deal on prepaid customers with poor credit. Mr. Berenbroick said the combined company would have the "power and incentive" to raise prepaid prices given its significant market share.
Mr. Legere said T-Mobile's prepaid customers have seen prices declined 4% in the past five years while data amounts increased by 12%. Mr. Claure said the combined prepaid market share would be 38%.
Rep. Greg Walden (R., Ore.), ranking member of the full committee, said that "we need to take a holistic view, instead of focusing on a particular metric — like those who insist that the government must intervene to preserve four nationwide wireless operators at all costs. We have to consider scale and operational efficiencies in that equation, and the rapidly changing characteristics of the wireless marketplace, especially the convergence of functionality with nontraditional competitors such as cable and satellite operators. With almost 50 percent of digital video now consumed on smartphones, wireless service is not what it once was, and with the advent of 5G the capabilities are evolving at an exponential pace. So it's important for legislators to adjust our expectations to this reality and resist the call for artificial market constraints that may not make any sense in a 5G world."
During the questioning period, he asked witnesses if there was "a magic to No. 4 in terms of competition in this space."
Mr. Berenbroick said there wasn't, but he said that the correct "market structure" was important, noting that if T-Mobile and Sprint combine, "you eliminate the mavericks."
Rep. Bob Latta (R., Ohio), ranking member of the subcommittee, said he understood that the merger "could pose some harms to consumers." But he said it was up to the FCC and Department of Justice to review it. Congress's role is to provide policy for the telecom market, he said.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) said he doesn't want rural areas to get left behind in the deployment of 5G services. "I'm looking forward to the first time I have broadband to my house," he said.
Rep. Bill Johnson (R., Ohio) asked whether the combined company would offer wholesale agreements that Sprint currently offers. Mr. Legere said it would honor current agreements and said that with greater expected capacity, wholesale agreements would be improved. He said that if parties had wholesale agreements with T-Mobile and Sprint today, they would be able to pick the best one.
But some Democrats noted that they support the merger, including Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D., Calif.), who joined 12 of her House colleagues recently – Democrats and Republicans – to write a letter endorsing it (TR Daily, Jan. 29).
She noted that Verizon and AT&T have about a two-thirds market share, adding, "This is hardly a competitive dynamic market that we have." She said that T-Mobile and Sprint have challenged them in recent years and prompted pro-consumer changes. But those smaller carriers don't have what they need "to become heavyweights." She said the deal would provide the needed resources with Sprint's mid-band spectrum and the sounder financial footing of T-Mobile.
Ms. Eshoo said that while some people bemoan the fact that three nationwide providers will remain, the combined entity would "aggressively compete" to take subscribers from Verizon and AT&T.
Democrats, now in charge of the House, said that a hearing such as the one today on a merger was long overdue.
"This hearing marks the first time in eight years that the Committee has met to evaluate the consequences of any merger," Rep. Pallone said. "For too long, this House and this Committee shirked that responsibility. But now, we resume the practice of reviewing major acquisitions, so we can fulfill our obligation for the people to determine how this proposed consolidation will affect consumers, workers, public safety and network resiliency, competition, and future innovation. For the last eight years major industry consolidation occurred without any oversight, and the consequences of that negligence have been borne by consumers and hardworking Americans. In the past, we've seen mergers jack up consumer prices, cut away meaningful choices, and outsource, undercut, and eviscerate good paying jobs. We've seen previous merger conditions that weren't met or weren't enforced. We've seen the public interest, in all of its forms, undermined, and that is why we must look carefully at these issues before a merger is approved."
But Mr. Walden said that the committee has "generally avoided hearings focused on any specific transaction in an effort to allow the regulators who are responsible for assessing them to do their work, as much as possible, free from intense political influence. It is my hope the experts at the FCC and DOJ — who as we speak are reviewing this transaction, and its potential impact on the public interest and competition — will continue their analysis in this vein." —Paul Kirby, [email protected]
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The Leela School of Awakening
True Friend Immersion 12 Day Retreat
October 9 – 20, 2020
This is the third part of a one year course, offered in three modules. The foundation of this course is to be a True Friend, for yourself and the world. Discovering a silent mind and an open heart, you will be supported in waking up out of the trance of egoic identification.
Based in non-dual insights and the clinical hypnosis certification program Eli ran for many decades, you will absorb and learn different skills for being an awakened guide in the lives of those around you, whether it is family, friends, or clients. Discovering what it means to be a True Friend for yourself and others, you will experience what this means in a practical way, living in the world in skillful harmony.
As part of this immersion course, we will use Eli's unique insight into what he calls the Enneagram of Character Fixation (very different from the more commonly used Enneagram of Personality). Seeing the fixated structure of ego in ourselves, our relation- ships, and our clients will cast the world in a completely new light. Insight into the structure of our own character fixation assists in the discovery of our true character, and the difference between ego and essential self.
Prerequisite is having attended Modules 1 and 2. This class is led by Leela School teachers.
Professional Certification available.
Tuition: € 1300
Centrum De Roos (To be confirmed)
P.C. Hooftstraat 183
1071 BW Amsterdam
Meeting Schedule TBD
For more information about the The Leela School please visit https://www.leelaschool.org


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Tetra Filter Units
Tetra Reject Filters are devices that filter out the interference from TETRA communications systems. TETRA is the system used by UK emergency services and it can in some circumstances cause a range of interference (it seems to depend on how far away you are from the TETRA mast).
Showing 1 to 1 of 1 (1 Pages)


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Click the audio player to listen. CultureShift airs weekdays at noon.
Longtime Detroit music journalist Jeff Milo's byline appears in publications locally and globally. He's been plugging ears into the Detroit scene for years with his prolific Deep Cutz blog and his YouTube series, The Milo Show.
Each week, Milo gives us a rundown of can't-miss shows in and around the Detroit area.
Find links to all the shows he mentioned below.
Friday, September 28
Warhorses, Dos Santos, and more @ The Ghost Light Hamtramck
Berserker Fest V @ The Crofoot in Pontiac
Michigan Rattlers album release party @ Otus Supply
Saturday, September 29
The Beggars Halloween single release party @ the New Way
Young Heavy Souls record label showcase @ Ghost Light Hamtramck


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Interested in some Mavenlink Project Management? You can easily share files and meet deadlines. If you're "up there" maybe you'll need to assign tasks to co-workers. Make your clients smile with ease while you watch this YouTube video on Online Project Management. Hey, at least it's Friday so you still have a few days to even think about it before Monday rolls around. :)
This post was sponsored by Mavenlink. For more information, please review the disclosure.


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Beautiful Death Radical Beauty
Radical beauty for me is beautiful and common representation of visual concept. Within that narrative I found unsettling and abnormal images which reveal dialect between figure and dark side is far more interesting than images that served to charm the consumers of glossy magazines and billboards. To capture rapid appearance of someone's beauty that immediately turn in to disappearance, where good overcome evil in favour of the beauty is something which lead me into my extended research on the subject matter. After an extensive research in to art and history of photography I realised that numbness of the shinning and smiling sensuality, rendering it's sad and gloominess so that murky of charm of shadows overcome light by its silence and radical beauty. Discovering a journey though it means exploring into a world of death and ghosts of time and space, like crossing a threshold of shadows which takes you though your memory lane reflecting present and past moments, where casts of people's faces and body's float, like the relief of landscapes and still objects.
The sensual body and the celebration of our loved once monument of beauty over the years of life energy formula of love set me off to search for a representation able to turn beauty into a mask of the dreadful and the decaying. An opposite where the human figure is transformed into a ghost and almost a funerary body. In this dialect between figure and shadow, I realised that appearance and phantasm that the game of enchantment and glamour dies, making room for the beautiful after life of peaceful silence.
A subjugation of light and white colour that make subject spiritual and beautiful after death, and the myth of ghost of the persons soul that we keep close to our heart that is able to deviate all gaze upon its blackened and disfigured surface, an attempt to capture the representation of sensual and enveloping beauty within dead and existence of the soul after.
I finally found the peaceful and harmonious dialogue with human nature and its unpleasant end, with the aim of striking the viewer with its radical insane beauty that represent presence of perpetual rejoicing.
The End


text: Follow the link below and sign up for the Melissa & Doug newsletter, and you'll also get the chance to win a basket from their Easter Shop, up to $200 in value. You may only sign up once, and you must sign up by 11:59:59 p.m. PST on 3/25/2015. Entry is open to US and Canadian residents age 18 or older, excluding Quebec.


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The Union Difference
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Learn more about the union difference for State, Higher Ed, and Local Government workers, or Homecare and Personal Support workers.
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