text:
For the past 10 years, former NC State legends and brothers Terrence and Torry Holt have operated a summer football camp out of their hometown of Gibsonville, N.C.
But the time has come for the Holts to expand the event into Raleigh, and starting July 13 with workouts specifically geared for first through fourth and fifth through eighth graders, the Holts will be having their first camp in North Carolina's capital city, which also happens to be the Holts' permanent home.
It's a move that Terrence Holt noted "just made perfect sense."
"We both had successful careers and starred at our alma mater NC State," Holt noted. "The name recognition obviously resonates, and it's just great to try to positively impact youth in the community. It's a no-brainer for us to come back this way and put on this camp."
The football camps will be held at WRAL Soccer Fields, and will be a two-day affair. On July 14, the Holts will run a camp for rising ninth through 12th graders, including a "high-intensity, pro stimulated practice style of training" in the afternoon session.
"It's a little more work working with the younger grades," Holt stated, adding that area high school and pop warner coaches as well as other former pros will help with the camp. "It's less about details than it is taking them through fun drills that can help them. It's all about fun with those particular age groups.
"What we expect from our teenagers versus what we expect our younger youth is a little bit different. The older kids already have the background of playing so we can turn it up a notch."
The camp is a continuation of the Holts giving back to the community that started when they were playing in the NFL. Every business venture the Holts have involved themselves with a portion of the proceeds have gone into the Holt Foundation. The camps will be no different.
Although walk-ups are welcomed, participants are encouraged to register through its website which includes detailed information on the camp.
Both brothers will be actively involved, with Torry, a potential NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver, helping lead the way on offense and Terrence, a former All-American and six-year NFL veteran at safety, aiding on defense. The two will draw on their vast playing experiences.
"We think we can give them a whole lot that they can carry on," Holt said. "We've been coached by all types of coaches, heard it all, been through countless drills. What we try to do is narrow down what we think have been good for our careers and make us good players, and put that in a package to give to these kids, and we can do it at all levels."
Campers will come away from the experience having gained in three areas. First is athletic training that is not exclusive to football.
"The drills dedicated to football are why we are about here, but we think we have drills that can help them in baseball, that can help them in soccer, that can help them in basketball," Holt noted. "There are a lot of footwork types of stuff, so the skills can carry over into different sports."
Of course the campers will also get valuable tutelage about football, another noted aspect of the camp. But perhaps most importantly will be the message the Holt brothers will try to instill in the young men, a theme centered around "hard work and sportsmanship."
"Being respectful of your teachers, being respectful of your parents, being respectful of your principals, being respectful and working with your guidance counselors," Holt said. "You'll have those same folks if you are fortunate to play in college.
"You'll have an academic adviser, you'll have a head coach, you'll still have your parents. If you play in the pros you'll have a position coach, you'll have a head coach, you'll have a parent, a wife, you'll still have the same responsibilities and people that rely on you and have expectations of you, those are the messages that are blended throughout our camp."
Holt is especially excited about the potential of the Raleigh camp. He has returned to the city to make it his permanent home now that his football days are over, only now instead of a wide-eyed 18-year old entering college he's a matured husband and father.
"I miss football, but it feels great to sort of be settled somewhere, and to be settled here in Raleigh is incredible," Holt said. "I'm still tied in with NC State football, look forward to get over there to practices.
"We keep season ticket holders for basketball and football, and now it seems like we're going to have to get our baseball tickets for the dynasty that it seems like we're building with [Carlos] Rodon and some of the other standouts that we have.
"Being back here is great. It's important to be settled somewhere, and I can't think of a better place."
Holt also maintains his pride in NC State. He noted that he always kept up with the Wolfpack, even when he was in the NFL. One of his former teammates in the pros was former UNC corner Dre Bly.
Bly previously held the ACC record for interceptions in a season until 2011. That's when NC State junior corner David Amerson topped Bly's 11 picks by making 13 interceptions.
"I had [Bly's] number on speed dial ready to text him when [Amerson] tied it, and when he broke it, cause we had a little running bet that he would break it or wouldn't break it," Holt recalled. "[Bly's] a good sport about it because he knows records are meant to be broke, but that is one that many thought would stand the test of time.
"That is an incredible record, and it's great that a guy from NC State has stolen that from a guy from North Carolina."


text:
Please join us for a look back at 2014 with this photo gallery, capturing the range of beauty and connection that happens every day at Asia Society across the globe.
We appreciate your support — here's to another year of inspiring moments at Asia Society!
A report commission by Australian media firm Telstra suggests that over the last three years, U.S.-headquartered companies operating in Asia have been more successful than Asian companies.
With the Olympic Winter Games right around the corner, and national pride about to hit a fever pitch, we thought we'd get the conversation started with a pastime everybody can get behind: Eating!
As one of the first countries to ring in the new year, a fireworks showcase explodes in Sydney Harbor, Australia on January 1, 2014. (Halans/Flickr)
The waves of Shelly Beach glisten under the sunrise in Queensland, Australia on October 28, 2013. (Sam Pertherbridge/Flickr)
The Cradle Mountains tower over the tranquil waters of Dove Lake in Tasmania, Australia on September 10, 2013. (Luke Chapman/Flickr)
Bright street art features the Hindu god Ganesha alongside dry cleaning advertisements in Melbourne, Australia on June 21, 2013. (Andrea Lai/Flickr)
Born in Papua New Guinea, with Australian-Chinese roots, Chef Lance Seeto explores traditional Fijian cuisine and reimagines a philosophy of healthy eating for the 21st century.
A man walks through ocean foam in Snapper Rocks as Queensland experiences severe rains and flooding from Tropical Cyclone Oswald in Gold Coast, Australia on January 28, 2013. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The setting sun casts a golden glow over open fields in Echuca, Australia on January 10, 2013. (JMillott/Flickr)
©2017 Asia Society | Privacy Statement | About AsiaSociety.org | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap | Contact
Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government. All views expressed in its publications and on its website are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It's come down to this: the once-mighty Gators playing spoiler.
All of their biggest goals have vanished, leaving Florida with two last glimmers of hope. They can upset SEC East rival South Carolina on Saturday night, which would likely end the Gamecocks' hopes of a division crown. A win would also go a long way to getting the Gators bowl eligible.
Florida (4-5, 3-4 in the Southeastern Conference) must win two of its final three games against No. 10 South Carolina, FCS Georgia Southern and No. 2 Florida State in order to extend the nation's second-longest active bowl streak to 23 years.
To do so, the Gators will have to react better to adversity according to head coach Will Muschamp.
"Right now we're not strong enough mentally to handle [adversity]," he said after last week's stunning loss to Vanderbilt. "A year ago, maybe early [this] year, we were. Right now, we're not. It's a 'woe is me' mentality right now. We gotta overcome that. Our leadership needs to step forward, and we'll move forward with the guys who are wiling to accept challenges and opportunities that sometimes are difficult. Sometimes, they're tough."
Facing the Gamecocks (7-2, 5-2) in Columbia, S.C., will certainly offer some tough challenges.
Headlining the list is star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, a player who had all of the Gators defensive players and coaches talking and game-planning during the week. Next to Clowney is defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles, who is second in the SEC with 11 tackles for loss. They'll match up against a Florida offensive line that has been decimated by injuries.
"I don't know if you stop Clowney," UF offensive coordinator Brent Pease said. "I think you've gotta have a plan that makes him work hard. I mean, the guy is the best player in college football. He's gonna make plays."
So is Steve Spurrier's balanced offense that averages 456.4 yards per game, which is on pace to shatter the school record (428.8 YPG in 1995).
Sophomore running back Mike Davis, the SEC's leading rusher with 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns, is the foundation. Senior quarterback Connor Shaw (23-5 as a starter) has tormented Florida in the past with his mobility and clutch throws. Speedy junior Damiere Byrd leads the Gamecocks receivers and has come on strong with 22 catches for 451 yards in his last six games.
"They're probably the most complete offense we've played all year in terms of all the different ways they can move the ball effectively," UF defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said. "They've got a really good running back. Their quarterback can run it and throw it. They have good receivers outside. Up front they're really big. They do a good job in both run-blocking and pass protection. They're the complete package, and it will be a great challenge for our defense on Saturday."


text:
This product is no longer available.
You can try these similar gifts instead.
Personalized Maplewood Twist-Action Ballpoint Pen with Case
Young people may not understand the power of the pen, but when the lights go out and the batteries die down, guess who can write a note? Don't wait for darkness to befall the planet before passing on this maple wood pen.


text:
A soundtrack to watch the inside of your eyelids.
- Take your phone off the cradle and lock the doors.
- Find a comfortable chair, couch, or carpet to relax on.
- Secure your headphones tightly over your ears (bud listeners need not apply).
- Adjust the volume to a comfortable listening level, then push it two points beyond that.
- Situate yourself in front of a light source (best if you find one that flickers or pulsates.
- If you can get each songs to fade into the next one, do so.
- Allow the sonic and thematic shifts carry you, like a wave, to where they take you. Don't panic; you won't drown.
William Sheller - "Introit" (Lux Aeterna)
The Flaming Lips - Unmade Bed/No Quarter" (If You Could Blow Up The World With The Flick Of A Switch)
The Moles - "The Crown Souls" (Untune The Sky)
John Hill - "Ganymede" (Six Moons Of Jupiter)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - "Second Guessing" (Rush To Relax)
Arab Strap - "Blackness" (Fuckd I.D. #2)
John Baker - Building The Bomb (The John Baker Tapes Vol.1)
Beck - "Lloyd Price Express" (Where It's At EP)
The Dandy Warhols - "The Creep Out" (The Dandy Warhols Come Down…)
Bionic - "Do It Now" (Deliverance)


text:
thrust(redirected from thruster)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to thruster: Ion thruster
cut and thrust
1. A fencing technique that uses both the point and edge of the blade. Look at that cut and thrust! She's doing such a great job in this match!
2. A lively debate or argument; an enthusiastic exchange of ideas. I don't mind a cut and thrust with Amy—she always has a unique perspective, even if we clash sometimes. The cut and thrust of a debate sure gives me an adrenaline rush!
thrust and parry
Fig. to enter into verbal combat [with someone]; to compete actively [with someone]. (Fig. on the sport of fencing.) I spent the entire afternoon thrusting and parrying with a committee of so-called experts in the field of insurance. I do not intend to stand here and thrust and parry with you over a simple matter like this. Let's get someone else's opinion.
thrust out
to stick out; to stab outward; to protrude outward. A deck thrust out from the back of the house, offering a lovely view of the stream far below. As he grew angrier, his chin thrust out farther and farther.
thrust someone or something against someone or something
to drive or shove someone or something against someone or something. The force of the crash thrust Liz against Tiffany. The crash thrust Liz against the car door.
thrust someone or something aside
to push someone or something out of the way or to one side. Walter thrust Fred aside and dashed by him into the room. He thrust aside Fred and came into the room.
thrust someone or something away from someone or something
to push or throw someone or something away from someone or something. The guards thrust the spectators away from the path the rock star was taking. They thrust away the spectators from the star.
thrust someone or something back
to push someone or something backward and away. Tom moved forward, but the guard thrust him back. He thrust back the door, which had closed on his foot.
thrust someone or something through something
to drive or push someone or something through something. I thrust Larry through the open door and followed along quickly. Ann thrust the wad of papers through the opening.
thrust something at someone or something
to stab at someone or something with something. The goat thrust its head at the dog. Ann thrust the pencil at the balloon and popped it.
thrust something down
to jab something downward. Max thrust the knife down and speared a piece of chicken. He thrust down the fork like a spear.
thrust something down something
to jab or stab something down into something. The keeper quickly thrust the medicine down the lion's throat. The chimney sweep thrust his brush down the chimney.
thrust something forward
to jab something forward. She thrust her jaw forward and walked into the room. Roger thrust his hand forward just in time to stop the child from crossing the street.
thrust something into someone or somethingand thrust something in
to stab or run something into someone or something. The knight thrust his lance into the villain. He thrust in his knife.
thrust through something
to drive or push through something forcefully. The front end of the car thrust through the side of the house. The stock clerk's knife thrust through the box, ruining the packages of noodles inside.
thrust up through something
to stick or stab upward through something. The tallest of the trees thrust up through the canopy of leaves far overhead. We heard a ripping sound and saw the tent pole thrust up through the top of the tent.
the cut and thrust of something
the different opinions expressed with enthusiasm I don't mind the cut and thrust of argument, but I prefer friendlier and more relaxed conversation.
the cut and thrust of something
lively discussion or activity James enjoys the cut and thrust of debating.
nose out of joint, have one's
Be upset or irritated, especially when displaced by someone. For example, Ever since Sheila got promoted he's had his nose out of joint. Similarly, put one's nose out of joint indicates the cause of the upset, as in The boss's praise of her assistant put Jean's nose out of joint. The earliest form of this idiom, first recorded in 1581, was thrust one's nose out of joint, with put appearing shortly thereafter. Presumably all these expressions allude to the face-distorting grimace made by one who is displeased.
thrust aside
1. To displace someone or something forcefully: The board of directors thrust the president of the company aside. The officer thrust aside the security guard.
2. To reject or refuse someone or something: My teacher thrust aside the request for an extension. The jury thrust the defendant's pleas for mercy aside.
thrust onor thrust upon
To force something or someone on some unwilling or improper recipient: When they went away on vacation, they thrust all their responsibilities on us. Fame was thrust upon the reclusive author.


text:
The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis kicks off its 2012-13 theater season with the musical "Buccaneers," starring Andover's Megan Fischer in the lead role of Enid Arabella.
The show is written by Liz Duffy Adams with music by Ellen Maddow. Megan, 14, who will attend Andover High School this fall, earned high praise last fall in the lead role of CTC's "Annie" production.
Among her many credits, Megan has also acted on stage at the Ordway Theatre, Park Square Theatre and History Theatre, all in St. Paul. She has appeared in productions at Lyric Arts theater in Anoka. Megan is the daughter of Jenifer and Mike Fischer.
The show runs from Sept. 11 – Oct. 21. For more information, visit www.childrenstheatre.org or call 612-874-0400.


text: Comfort Inn Hotel rating Quick Specs Commissions 10.0%Rates $79-$119Year Built 1995 View Large Interactive Map Address 2128 8th AveLewiston, ID 83501 Web https://www.choicehotels.com/idaho/lewiston/comfort-inn-hotels/id606?source=lb Phone + 1 208-798-8090 Fax + 1 208-798-8988 Toll-free 800-4-CHOICE Email firstname.lastname@example.com OverviewMeeting SpecsPhotos & videos Description Contemporary - Downtown.Year Built: 1995Check in Time: 2:00 PMCheck out Time: 11:00 AMNumber of Floors: 2Total Number of Rooms: 52Rates: $79Commissions: Room Only 10.0%Chain: Comfort InnChain Website: http://www.comfortinn.com GDS Hotel Reservation CodesAmadeus GDS: CI LWS606Galileo/Apollo GDS: CI 71109Sabre GDS: CI 028803WorldSpan GDS: CI ID606 Comfort Inn Location & NeighborhoodIn Lewiston, 100 miles from Spokane. Downtown. Airport. Comfort Inn Rates & PoliciesComfort Inn rates are Daily in USDStandard: $79 Suite: $89-$119 (USD) Credit Cards Are AcceptedReservations must be guaranteed with a credit cardMeals: Continental PlanDeposit Policy: Credit card requiredCancellation Policy: 4 pm date of arrivalHotel Discounts offered: AAAGroup discountCorporate discountGovernment/ Military discountAARP discount Nearby AirportsLewiston Regl (2 miles southwest)Moscow Regl (23.50 miles northwest)Walla Walla City (65.25 miles southwest)More Airports » Comfort Inn Room AmenitiesComfort Inn amenities are in All rooms unless noted otherwiseAir ConditioningCoffeemakerDaily Maid ServiceIron/Ironing BoardKitchen/Kitchenette (some)Microwave OvenFree NewspaperRooms for Non-smokersTelephoneVoicemailRefrigeratorSafe (In Room)Cable/Satellite TelevisionTelevisionWhirlpool (some)Internet Access (Wireless) Guest ServicesComplimentary CoffeeConcierge ServicesCrib/Rollaway BedLaundry RoomLaundry/Dry Cleaning ServiceFree Onsite ParkingWheelchair Access to Common/Public AreasCommon Area Internet Access (Wireless) Security ServicesSmoke Alarm in RoomsSprinkler in RoomsSurveillance Cameras On Site Pet ServicesPets AllowedAdditional Fee for Pets Nearby SightseeingHells Canyon tours (6 miles north)Casino (6 miles east)Lewis Clark/Indian (6 miles east)DiningMeriwether'sMandrarin PineRed Lobster On-Site RecreationHot TubJogging TrailsPool (Children's Pool, Indoor Pool)Nearby RecreationBicyclingBoating/SailingCasinoFishingGolf CourseHealth ClubHealth Spa/MassageHorseback RidingScuba DivingShopping Mall/AreaTennis (Outdoor Tennis)Water Skiing Comfort Inn Meeting Rooms & Events1 Meeting RoomsBreakfastLocation: Floor 1Flooring: carpetCapacity: Theater- 20, Classroom- 15, U-Shape- 15 Comfort Inn Business ServicesBusiness CenterCopierFaxMeeting Facilities Comfort Inn Images, Videos, & Virtual Tours Photos & Videos Comfort Inn ExteriorComfort Inn ExteriorComfort Inn LobbyComfort Inn LobbyComfort Inn LobbyComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RoomComfort Inn RestaurantComfort Inn RestaurantComfort Inn Other Images Powered by VFM Leonardo Nearby Lewiston Hotels More Nearby Hotels GuestHouse Inn and Suites LewistonCedars Inn & Suites - LewistonDays Inn LewistonEcono LodgeGolden Oak Inn LewistonHoliday Inn ExpressMotel 6Quality InnFairfield Inn & Suites MoscowHoliday Inn Express Hotel & SuitesLa Quinta Inn Moscow PullmanQuality Inn Paradise CreekSuper 8 MotelBest Western Rivertree InnRed Lion Hotel LewistonBest Western Plus University InnHilltop InnResidence Inn PullmanInn America Hoteliers! Is your listing up to date? With over 130,000 hotels in our database, no other source compares to our depth of information. Click here to review and be sure the travel professional knows your hotel's latest details.


text:
|Board Email:
|Board Phone:
|(803) 896-4588
|Theresa Brown
|Advice Counsel:
|Mary League   **
|110 Centerview Dr, Columbia SC
**The Office of Advice Counsel is responsible for
providing legal advice to all Boards, Commissions
and Panels. These attorneys do not provide legal
advice to parties outside LLR.
The South Carolina Board of Barber Examiners represented the State of South Carolina at the National Association of Barber Boards of America's 86th Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, September 16-21, 2012.
The mission of National Association of Barber Boards of America is to promote the exchange of information between barber boards and state agencies that examine, license and regulate the barber industry.
Board Chairman Paul E. Robinson, Jr. of Orangeburg, Vice Chairwoman Renee Patton of Inman, and Edwin Barnes of Lexington attended the conference, which focused on barber industry issues ranging from administration of regulations and statutes, developing standardsfor licensing and policing the barbering industry, testing, health concerns and the state of the industry.
Patton is 4th Vvce president of NABBA, and Edwin Barnes is a former president of NABBA and Barber Hall of Fame Recipient.
Representatives from 22 states also attended and participated in various focus groups to develop uniform standards and procedures for examining barbers.


text:
The Dade County Property Appraisal Department uses a mass-appraisal system, dividing the county into a grid of one-square-mile areas that are examined for changes in property values at least once a year. County appraisers employ a variety of techniques to verify values: They examine recent sales, as well as sales in nearby areas; they scrutinize aerial photos, looking for improvements that may have gone unreported (a new fence, a built-on addition, a swimming pool); they analyze rental and occupancy rates for commercial property; and occasionally they visit a site.
Given Dade's 650,000-plus parcels of property, however, this system is fraught with error. Its underlying premise -- that properties within the same neighborhood will be of comparable value -- doesn't always hold true. As assistant property appraiser Frank Jacobs readily admits, "There are never two identical properties. You're always making adjustments to compare this one and that one."
To compensate for the sundry factors that turn one piece of property into a diamond and another into a dump, appraisers adhere to a formula known as "the three approaches to value," which takes into account the cost of replacing the property, the current market for selling the property, and the property's income. By law, government appraisers like the eagle-eyed staffers in the Property Appraisal Department must also follow a set of criteria laid out in the Florida Statutes. These rules are supposed to ensure uniform assessments, to guarantee that the value of each piece of property for tax purposes is determined in exactly the same way.
But because county appraisers physically inspect fewer than one in ten parcels each year, imaginative property owners seeking lower taxes have a virtually limitless array of arguments to justify their requests for tax exemptions or lower assessments.
During this past year's appeal hearings before the Value Adjustment Board, for instance, one homeowner explained to Special Master Anthony Rolle that he had failed to file for a homestead exemption because he had recently moved and never received his tax notice. "Besides that I lost my job and I went under depression status," the man continued. "I couldn't eat. I was scared to go out. I am now suffering a kind of memory loss."
Homestead exemptions -- a perpetual $25,000 reduction of a property's assessed value -- are granted to all Florida homeowners who can show that a property is their primary residence. The petitioner qualified for the exemption, which was granted.
In a hearing room down the hall, Special Master John Dinda listened as the owner of a Miami River boatyard asserted that a highly publicized raid on a boat packed with Haitian refugees had contributed to the plummeting value of his property. Furthermore, the property owner said, there is a homeless encampment across the street: "Without armed guards you can't go down there after 6:00 p.m. because of all the homeless and the Haitians."
The representative from the Property Appraisal Department looked dubious and quizzed the boatyard owner about charges for unloading ships, for docking, and for storage. But in the end Dinda lowered his assessment by about $20,000, a tax savings of about $378.
The two cases illustrate what typically occurs at the two types of hearings A those for tax exemptions and those for reductions in assessed value. (Besides the well-known homestead exemption, Florida law specifies myriad other exemptions under certain circumstances: There are exemptions for religious groups, educational institutions, labor unions, historic buildings, widows, and handicapped war veterans.)
Hearings, which are informal and often last no more than ten minutes, are held in small, stuffy rooms on the sixth floor of Metro's Government Center. The special master sits at a table toward the rear of the room. Also present are a court reporter and a representative from the Property Appraisal Department. Property owners or their hired consultants, or both, wait on metal folding chairs set up in short rows in front of the table. When it's your turn on the docket, you approach the special master, state your case, and hand over whatever documentation you've brought with you.
There is an unpretentious, grade school-like atmosphere to the hearings. Nervous adults clutching briefcases fret about their assessments. The special masters, dressed in everyday office attire, seem better suited to the role of bureaucrat than to that of judge.
In fact, the selection of special masters is treated even more lackadaisically than that of your average government clerk. Each year the Value Adjustment Board (VAB), which oversees the hearings, places a newspaper ad for the special master position. Special masters who served the previous year must reapply. Frank Fernandez, manager of the VAB, and Steven Schultz, the board's legal counsel, screen the applicants. Those who make the cut are invited to interview before the board.
The board is made up of five members. Three are county commissioners, selected by their peers: Art Teele, Javier Soto, and Gwen Margolis. Two are school board officials, selected the same way: Robert Renick and Rosa Castro Feinberg.
The interviews are conducted en masse in the Metro Commission chambers and last about five minutes. Each applicant stands up, states his or her qualifications, and responds to any questions posed by board members.
It's not a particularly exhaustive process, and critics claim it is tainted by politics. After all, there is little to distinguish one applicant's qualifications from those of another. Special masters who hear assessment appeals are required to be either state-licensed brokers or state-certified appraisers with more than five years' experience. They also must be members of one of four designated professional appraising organizations. Only special masters who are also attorneys are allowed to consider requests for exemptions. Last year 7 out of the 28 special masters were assigned to hear such cases.
Although these are hardly rigorous requirements, agents who frequently appeal cases say the county maintains a general level of competency. "Dade County special masters are by and large very well qualified," observes Tom Post, one of the top local consultants who himself served as a special master in the Seventies. "Of course you always have a turnover, and there have been some problems with special masters in the past."
The county's docket of 30,000-odd appeals is divvied up among the special masters according to their area of expertise. Thus some special masters end up hearing primarily high-value commercial property appeals while others spend the bulk of their time ruling on residential properties. This is one reason Herb Parlato, deputy appraiser for Dade County, says it is so hard to evaluate a particular master's overall performance. There simply is no standard to measure whether a special master is granting excessive tax breaks or sustaining unfair assessments.
Property owners are likewise left without any concrete way of knowing whether they have received a fair hearing. In some cases they win a reduction that is only a small percentage of the total value of their property and is not nearly what they requested. Other times the appeal is approved in full.
If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.
You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!
A frequently heard beef from property owners and tax consultants is the limited time allowed to file appeals. Property tax notices are mailed out in August, and property owners have 25 days from the mailing date to file an appeal. "There's not a uniform date that people know they have to file an appeal on," grumbles consultant Tom Post. "And more importantly, they don't have enough time to file an appeal. Sometimes the hearings on the millage rates aren't even done by the time you have to file an appeal, so you don't know what your tax will be. That's wrong. That's just flat-out wrong!"
Once a taxpayer receives his notice, he has two options. If there seems to be something obviously wrong with his assessment -- his property is listed as having four bathrooms when there are only two, or as having a back-yard pool when there isn't one -- he can go directly to the Property Appraisal Department and ask for a reduction. If that fails, he can ask for a hearing. Or he can request a hearing straightaway.
Perhaps the most positive thing that can be said about the tax appeal hearings is that they pay for themselves. According to the county's figures, as of the first week in June, salaries and overtime for special masters totaled about $312,000, or about $12 per case, which is less than the $15 it costs a citizen to file an appeal. Cases continued to be heard through September and the final tax roll was certified October 18.


text: Intermezzo Weekdays, 2pm to 4pm Hosted by Leora Zeitlin and Cherokee Sullinger Classical music and local features and interviews. A USO-style Concert in Las Cruces By Fred Martino • Apr 10, 2012 The Good Time Singers, under the direction of Diane Schutz, will take audiences back in time this week with two concerts dedicated to the music of the 1940s, and presented in the style of the famous USO variety shows that were performed -- and are still being performed -- for troops overseas. Diane Schutz came over to the KRWG studios to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the concerts. The Beijing Guitar Duo By Leora Zeitlin • Apr 6, 2012 When they were 9 and 10, respectively, guitarists Meng Su and Yameng Wang traveled every week from their homes in Quindao, China to Beijing -- a train ride of 16 hours each way -- to study with the renowned guitar professor Chen Zhi. They both went on to win numerous awards and competitions, and at the urging of their current teacher, renowned Cuban guitar virtuoso Manuel Barrueco, they formed the Beijing Guitar Duo. During a visit to Las Cruces, they came by the KRWG studios to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin. Clarinetists Bring Something New to Las Cruces By Fred Martino • Mar 14, 2012 The practice of posting music performances on the internet led to a world premiere for Clarinetes Del Sol, a relatively new clarinet ensemble in Las Cruces. When their first performance was posted on-line, a composer got in touch with founder and director David Garnand, and composed a version of Amazing Grace, which the group premiered in concert here in Las Cruces. Garnand spoke with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the ensemble and the music they play. A Conversation with Justin Raines By Fred Martino • Mar 14, 2012 Commissions for new music have been lining up for Justin Raines, who graduated from NMSU in 2007 and is now a professional composer living in Redondo Beach, CA. In anticipation of a concert at NMSU featuring two of his works, Justin came by to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the music he's been composing and his biggest influences. Making Music Then and Now: A Conversation with MVCB Conductor Bill Clark By Fred Martino • Mar 14, 2012 Dr. William Clark's family played music every Sunday afternoon when he was growing up, and he has been dedicated to making music ever since. The long-time conductor and founder of the Mesilla Valley Concert Band talked with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the strongest influences in his life, how to handle nerves, and some of the composers who will be featured on the MVCB's next concert, on March 25. The New Horizons Symphony Goes Russian By Fred Martino • Feb 28, 2012 Conductor Shawn Robinson loves the colors, textures, and excitement of Russian music, particularly that of the so-called "Mighty Handful," a group of 19th-century Russian composers. Robinson, who leads the New Horizons Symphony Orchestra at NMSU, came by KRWG to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the Russian music that he chose for their February concert, and how he came to conduct the long-standing community orchestra. The Challenges and Delights of "Die Fledermaus" By Fred Martino • Feb 25, 2012 Revenge, farce, hidden identities, love and jealousy all come into play in the delightful operetta "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat"), by Johann Strauss, Jr., which is being staged by the Dona Ana Lyric Opera this weekend. Director (and NMSU graduate) Ian Sidden said his biggest challenge in developing the production was "letting go" -- so that his talented team could bring their creative ideas to fruition. He spoke with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin just hours before the opening night performance. A Conversation with Guitar Virtuoso Johannes Moller By Leora Zeitlin • Feb 13, 2012 Guitarist and composer Johannes Moller has played hundreds of concerts around the world since his first appearance at age 13, but his career got a big boost when he won the 2010 Guitar Foundation of America International Competition. That award brought him on a tour of 65 concerts, including Las Cruces, where he met with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin to talk about his own compositions, his teachers, and the inspiration he has found in the Paraguayan guitarist and composer Agustin Barrios Mangore. Friendship and Music: A Conversation with WIlliam Kuyper & Robert Miller By Leora Zeitlin • Jan 8, 2012 By Leora Zeitlin Acclaimed Mezzo-Soprano Kirstin Chavez in Residence at NMSU By Leora Zeitlin Kirstin Chavez and Dr. Martha Rowe Pages« first ‹ previous … 2 3 4 5


text:
Anne-Marie Lefrancois to retire from Canadian Ski Team
Anne-Marie Lefrancois to retire from Canadian Ski Team{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY (QC) January 24, 2005 – Two-time Canadian champion Anne-Marie Lefrancois announced this past week, her final competitive races as a member of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team will take place before hometown fans at the 2005 Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships in the Quebec City region in March.
"To end my racing career in the area where I started it will be very special to me," said Ms. Lefrancois, a racer known for her always-radiant smile who spent almost a decade competing for Alpine Canada Alpin internationally.
"The highlight of my career was participating in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake and I leave still loving skiing – not just at 130 kilometres an hour all the time."
Ms. Lefrancois, who in 2001 won the Canadian Super-G championship at Mont Ste. Anne, said she is excited to again show her best in mid March when the resort and nearby Le Massif co-host the 2005 Pontiac GMC Championships. She also won the national downhill title the following year at Whistler, British Columbia.
Nagging injuries, which twice sidelined the 28-year-old for complete seasons, were a key reason for her decision to stop competitive racing at the end of the 2004-2005 season. "I had hoped for more progress and now I will move on to complete my education starting next Fall," she said, after battling back from a major knee injury suffered at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, early in the season after the Winter Games. "I am really looking forward to exploring all my options but I am very interested in engineering."
Ms. Lefrancois said the women's team has changed dramatically from when she was named to the national team in 1996." It is not as lonely anymore," she said. "It is a big team now, with young racers who are skiing so well, and very good veterans. There is much momentum and excitement."
"I want to thank all my sponsors over the years, especially TELUS and Habiter.com for their tremendous support this season" praised Ms. Lefrancois.
Alpine Canada Alpin Chief Athletics Officer Max Gartner praised the tremendous contribution of Ms. Lefrancois to the team and to the sport over nine years. "There was no quit in Anne-Marie, and she always had a constant goal to do her best every time she raced. She has been an important part of our team and a strong influence on our younger racers," said Mr. Gartner.


text: > > > I'm wondering why in years of debate a solution has never been found. > > We've had a configuration management proposal since last fall, the one > Wichert Akkerman put together (http://www.debian.org/~wakkerma/config6/) > > It's worth noting that proposal has a lot of features these don't, including > pre-installation configuration (so you don't have to answer questions all > during the install), the ability to merge multiple databases (so you have a > master db on one machine, and a secondary database on another machine that > uses the master db as a read-only resource and stores modifications local to > the second machine (such as hostname)), and the ability to add a "go > back" button to a configuration screen so the user can jump back the the > previous question. > > But Adam's words are wise. I had a look at Wichert Akkerman proposal. It looks nice but a little more complicated that mine and it seems not yet working. It requires also many software components installed (database clients, etc.) and a database server running somewhere. My idea was implemented using only base commands (bash, awk, sed) and flat files, so it is simpler, more portable and already usable on a base system. Some of the missing features you mentioned are already available in my proposal: pre-installation configuration can be done by editing the config files and creating host specific overrides. The ability to merge multiple databases can be emulated by reading in sequence different config files at various level (debian, site, host, package, updates). Also the creation of a local file containing only the changes is already there. Akkerman's proposal seems good as a general configuration manager but requires a lot of work and extensive changes to existing packages. My proposal has much more limited goals but is also easier to implement. The same arguments apply to all recent proposals to use XML, configuration parsers, hierarchies of config directories and files, etc. All nice ideas but not trivial to implement and probably not worth the work. Consider also that some packages already have their private config files and adding also an XML version of the same data would duplicate the task of managing configurations. -- Massimo Dal Zotto +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Massimo Dal Zotto email: firstname.lastname@example.com | | Via Marconi, 141 phone: ++39-0461534251 | | 38057 Pergine Valsugana (TN) www: http://www.cs.unitn.it/~dz/ | | Italy pgp: finger email@example.com | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+


text:
Why do people seek revenge? Why do people seek revenge?
To a large extent, the desire to seek revenge arises from a fundamental belief that people have been wronged. It is in this idea of being wronged or being mistreated where there is a desire for some level of compensation or recompense where revenge arises. The source of revenge is something that is personally felt and something that might lie outside what others feel. I think that there are many good studies of this in literature and cinema, but two stand out in my mind. The first would be the character of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago does what he does because he feels that he was wronged by Othello. His desire for revenge is what ends up driving his compulsion to represent evil. He does not care for what others think of him because of his need to ensure that everyone feels what it is like to be wronged. Conveying this through revenge is of vital importance to him and represents his primary motivation. Another example of this need for revenge existing within the individual and lying outside the reach of society would be the characterization of Beatrix Kiddo in Tarantino's film, Kill Bill. Her desire for revenge is something that no one can quash. It is a motivation that exists within her and even when evident that her life was not as horrific as constructed, when she finds out that her child is alive, her need for revenge is absolute. She is unreachable in this venue. There is no sense of totality or transcendence which will be able to reach her, assuage her pain or move her from her position of desiring revenge. It is here in both of these instances where the desire for revenge stems from something personally held that few, if any, can even really grasp or fully comprehend.
Sometimes, people seek revenge because that is what their culture dictates they must do. An act done to a person in a "modern" culture like America might not provoke an attempt at revenge while the same act done to a person in a less modern culture like the one in which I grew up would cause such an attempt. The person in the less modern culture would feel pressured to seek revenge because failing to do so would make him look like less of a man or would make him look like he did not care as much as he should about his family or friends.
I agree that desiring revenge is something that is somewhat innate. However, many mature and well-gounded people do think things through and sometimes realize that getting revenge is draining and would possibly make the situation worse. As for those who seek revenge, they have allowed their hurt to cloud their thinking and want to inflict pain or guilt on the person who they feel has wronged them.
Throughout the history of the world revenge has been associated with justice on some level or another. The adage "an eye for an eye" taken literally as written seems to promote revenge. For many cultures this is a way of life, if someone does something wrong to you you get even with them. As someone else mentioned to not seek revenge is sometimes seen as a weakness.
I'd say to a certain extent we are hard-wired for revenge. However, I also think most of it is cultural. From the time we are small, revenge is accepted. If one kid hits another, we shun the hitter. If the one who was hit hits back, we are generally more accepting of it.
Prior to revenge someone must do something harmful or anything that can hurt you emotionally or physically. Getting hurt physically/emotionally can make you stressed out or depressed. Getting revenge will relieve that stress or depression by causing the same impact it did to you. It's all a mental thing, in reality taking revenge isn't worth it. There is multiple way to get out of being stressed or depressed.
Revenge makes some people feel better of themeselves knowing that, that person who has taken something special away from them or had wronged them, suffers for their consequences. It gives the persuer satisfaction, because now they are both even. Just like the saying, an eye for an eye.
People seek revenge because they want the person or persons who wronged them to hurt aswell.Sometimes they beleive that if the other person where to go through the same pain they experienced when they were wronged that they would be less likely to repeat it.Hurt people Hurt people therfore I beleive that if you know you've wronged someone at any time it's important to make amends as soon as possible. Revenge can be a terrible thing and many times the people who suffer have nothing to do with what was done.
because people feel that it has lowred their selfesteem and thus they want to feel better and higher than others and so they seek revenge because they want to see others suffer and be miserble like they used to be.
I was thinking if it was part of our natural instinct to want to get back at someone/something? For example if i was a dog and my owner doesn't treat me well, i would naturally want to 'seek revenge' by hurting him.
It all depends on circumstances and the person themselves. Some believe that they have truly been wronged and want to "get back" at someone else. Others like to make up these mind challenges and think that one particular person is out to get them. Therefore, they have to attack first to be safe.
Revenge is mainly referred as "sweet" in story lines (for the most part) and some cases real life because it may have been a plan or goal they've been waiting for. Or they're just sick in the head. But, it again depends on the person and circumstance(s).


text:
As the two-night stand approached last September at London's Royal Albert Hall, requests for the 12,000 available seats were rumored to have soared past 60,000. Word on the street had it that some of rock's biggest names—Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend—were angling for the chance to take back seats as reverent sidemen to the concerts' main act. But the headliners—two primordial presences from the dawn of rock history, without whose precise vocal harmonics, it has been said, there would have been no McCartney and Lennon, no Simon and Garfunkel, no California country-rock sound—decided two musical giants on one stage were more than enough. So when Don and Phil Everly stepped out at Albert Hall, it marked that rarest of musical events: one uncluttered by extraneous egos.
It also signaled the end, at least temporarily, of an acrimonious split that had silenced one of pop music's most influential and beloved acts for 10 years. In 1973, midway through a concert at California's Knott's Berry Farm, it all fell apart. Don's performance was described as "erratic." Phil stalked off the stage and smashed his guitar. The next night Don went on alone, declaring, "The Everly Brothers died 10 years ago." Despite several lucrative offers to reunite, Don and Phil, now 46 and 45 respectively, hardly spoke until Don called recently to suggest they patch up their quarrel. "I wouldn't have closed the shop down," Phil reflects. "But Donald suggested we not speak for a couple of years, and I took him at his word. It was something he had to want to start again."
What had changed to bring them back together? Friends and business acquaintances suggest the answer lies in the decade they had to grow up—Phil in L.A., Don mostly in Nashville—and to straighten out two shattered personal lives that still bear the emotional scars of business upheavals in the late '50s, drug problems in the '60s, desultory solo recording and performing careers in the '70s, five divorces, six children, the pressures of producing hit single after hit single, constant touring, and the combination of Beatlemania and the Vietnam-era rock-drug culture that all but drowned out their innocent sound. Moreover, the brothers had come to realize that, unlike their greatest hits, they weren't going to live forever. And a $1 million deal—for the Albert Hall concerts, an HBO film of the concerts (airing this month) and a documentary for PBS—didn't hurt, either, though both claim that royalties from the glory years were enough to get by on.
Whatever the reason, the reunion looks like a good move. As the HBO film shows, once the Everlys buried the hatchet and pulled out the axes—their trademark acoustic Gibsons—it was as if they had never been away. Their fusion of sweet Appalachian harmonies, rock arrangements and lyrical sentiment on hits like Bye Bye Love, When Will I Be Loved, Cathy's Clown and Wake Up Little Susie seemed, indeed, as moving and powerful as ever.
Still, this is, to be sure, a complex healing process most safely revealed through the good ole boy banter that bonds them—and defuses tension between them. "Notice in the concert," says Phil, his face crinkling into a smile while he spaces his hands as if describing a fish, "we're using two microphones now instead of singing into one." "Yeah," adds Don, "we're not taking any chances this time."
There is no denying the delicacy—even volatility—of their offstage reconciliation. "They were tentative toward each other at first," says Stephanie Bennett, who, as president of Delilah Films, bankrolled the two Albert Hall shows and the spin-off films. "But now the trust is building, and they are becoming more protective of each other. They must have missed each other, and going home to Kentucky for the documentary really was a catalyst. They had to talk and communicate."
Though they were performing their own timeless classics, Don was so nervous the night before the first Albert Hall set he couldn't eat. He walked off his jitters in Knightsbridge. "I was wondering, 'Oh my God, what if I forget this or that?' But once we got out there, we got into it. It was an amazing sensation, a wonderful high."
Phil couldn't have been more in harmony with brother Don's feelings. "The 10 years apart brought us to that moment when we walk, ed onstage," Phil says. "During Love Hurts, even I got chills. You have to have been us and gone through it, to have had that moment. It was just that simple—and that complicated."
The Albert Hall concerts brought the Everlys full-circle. It was there that their father, Ike, who had thrust his sons onto the family's radio show, appeared with them in 1970—to a standing ovation—five years before he died. "I wish he could have seen us this time," Don says, "he'd have been proud. We were singing from our hearts, for our self-esteem, egos, whatever. We wanted to live up to what people expected, and we accomplished that."
Ike grew up in poverty in Kentucky coal country where he went to work in the mines at 14. He learned to pick guitar early on. In the '40s he and his wife, Margaret, moved to Shenandoah, Iowa, where they had a country radio show. Now recognized as a rockabilly pioneer, having helped forge a finger-picking style he learned alongside Merle Travis, Ike brought Don and Phil into the family business when they were 8 and 6. He taught them to harmonize and strum; offstage, he showed them how to hunt for squirrels and rabbits—"to supplement our diet," Don recalls with a fond smile.
The boys stayed with the radio show for 10 years, until TV and records became the prime media for music and forced the Everlys to look for greener pastures. Don and Phil left for Nashville to try their hands at songwriting and possibly making it to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Modest dreams, soon to be left in the dust. In 1957, after two years of struggle, they cut a tune that many other singers had turned down. It was called Bye Bye Love. By the time it hit No. 2 on the pop charts, Don and Phil were on their way to a phenomenal string of roots-rock gems that would continue unbroken through 1962, propelling them to fame, fortune—and overwhelming pressure. The record market in the late '50s was dominated by singles rather than albums, creating an incessant demand for hits as well as concert tours of up to nine months a year to keep sales moving.
"We had to constantly prove ourselves," says Don, "from one record to the next. If they liked it, they bought it. If they didn't, they didn't."
"The first record we put out that I didn't like," Phil recalls, "was Problems. That's 'cause it was the first that didn't sell a million. Only sold nine hundred forty something thousand."
The Everlys' dizzying rise—15 Top 10 singles in five years, more than 35 million singles sold—began to exact its price. During the '60s, before and after the brothers' six-month stint in the Marines in 1961, Don in particular battled a recurring dependency on speed, which he got his first taste of under the care of a celebrity "Doctor Feelgood." The results were unfortunate but predictable: hallucinations, insomnia, hospitalizations and, ultimately, shock treatments. "I forgot everything," he can now say lightly, "except where to buy the drug." Only his Marine fitness and a California psychiatrist helped him survive the devastation, which included wasting away to 130 pounds.
Phil's "treatments" with the New York-based doctor (who was eventually stripped of his medical practice) were less severe and far less disruptive. "I was acutely depressed," he says, "but the real problem was that I was acutely ignorant, and we were surrounded by bad advisers."
The years apart gave the brothers time to recover. Phil's second marriage ended in divorce six years ago, and he has sworn off serious relationships with women. "Relationships all have to lead somewhere and mine usually go out the door with me," he says. "I avoid getting involved." He delights in hanging around his San Fernando Valley home with a few trusted buddies, and in taking care of his sons, half-brothers Jordan, 17, and Christopher, 9. "It's like it's genetic: You have a parental gland, and mine is overactive," he says. The boys' mothers live nearby, enabling Jordan and Christopher to stay over school nights and weekends.
While Phil dotes on his sons and avoids romantic entanglements, Don keeps his kids at phone's length while continuing the quest for the perfect woman. He left Los Angeles for Nashville in 1975 and has hardly seen his three daughters and son, Eden, 15, since then. (Eden and Jordan are pals and have begun picking and singing together, though Don says, "We aren't pushing them. We wouldn't do that to them.") Don tried marriage again in the mid-'70s, and while estranged from his third wife about two years ago, he met a sometime singer, Diane Craig. They've been inseparable ever since. But he has kept a distance from the kids. "It's just the way it is," he shrugs. "When you have nothing, nil, with their mothers but a lot of strain, it's better to stay away."
In Diane, he's found a woman with whom he shares a love of old movies, gourmet cuisine, backyard fireworks displays and, most importantly, trust. It's helped him get through the bitterness of his divorce wars. "We really do need each other," he says warmly, "and we've got a lot going for us."
So now, it seems, do the Everlys. There is an LP to be made of the concerts, talk of European dates this year and possible U.S. shows. The brothers will cut their first joint studio LP in 10 years in the spring, and it will be produced by England's king of rockabilly revival, Dave Edmunds. Even more promising, they seem ready to take a shot at something new in middle age. "Rock has always been about going for it, about innovation, and we're part and parcel of that," reflects Phil. "I know who we are, what we did, who we influenced, all that. I'm aware and I'm proud of our contribution. But it's important for the music to mature."
Don's exuberance is no less intense, but his sardonic humor can put a different shine on it, and provides perhaps the most succinct summing up of what it's meant to be an Everly Brother. "The best advice I have for someone coming into the music business now is: Learn to be an attorney or accountant first, then learn to sing."


text:
Celeb Style: Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale tried to make a quick getaway while leaving a medical building with her daughter in Beverly Hills. She was dressed comfortably in a baggy Elizabeth and James plaid shirt, black leggings, and some mid-calf boots with buckle detail. Though her ensemble was casual, Kate managed to look poised and stylish, especially with her oversize black square-rimmed glasses. Shop her exact look now.
Source: INFDaily.com


text:
TOWIE's Lucy Mecklenburgh transforms into beefy Baywatch babe
TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh seems to have thrown her 'no carbs before marbs' diet right out of the window.
But fans can stop worrying the ultra-slim reality TV babe has eaten too many pork pies as Lucy was simply trying on a Baywatch-inspired fat suit as a joke.
Posting the snap on her Twitter account, she wrote: âHAAAAAAA!! I new all the Carbs I eat wood 1 day bite me in the bum!!!â
But Mecklenburgh got the ultimate boob job as she donned the fat suit and the Essex girl, who in the past has complained about her bum, finally got that bootylicious boost sheâs been after.
The 20-year-old, who weighs in at just under 9st, was left looking tiny in the costume.
As she posed backstage while at Butlins Minehead, she even made her chubby TOWIE co-star James âArgâ Argent look slim.
As Christmas beckons, Lucy best watch out so this fat suit becomes her reality.
Just today she tweeted: âi cannot stop eating !!! wht is wrong with me?!! iv eaten sooo much chocolate today grrhhh!! and its too cold to go for a run!â


text:
Nortel Networks Announces Reverse Stock Split
By IAN AUSTEN
Published: November 8, 2006
Nortel Networks, the telecommunications equipment maker in the midst of a prolonged restructuring, said Tuesday that it planned to complete a 1-for-10 reverse stock split by the end of the month.
The company, which is based in Toronto, also announced a narrowing of its quarterly loss, although the improvement stemmed mainly from asset sales and cuts to employee benefits. In its third quarter, Nortel lost $99 million, compared with $136 million a year earlier. Many analysts had expected a small profit.
Revenue rose 17 percent, to $2.96 billion, from $2.52 billion the year before.
''Of course we're pleased with our revenue growth,'' Mike S. Zafirovski, Nortel's chief executive, said in a conference call with analysts. ''However, I'm not satisfied with the pace of our progress. Pricing pressures and the speed with which our revenues are shifting to next-generation, early-cycle products is a challenge to our goal of significantly increasing profitability.''
Nortel said Tuesday that it would continue to reduce costs to restore profits. This time, reductions include reducing spending on research and development to 15 percent of revenue from its current level of 18 percent.
To that end, the company opened a research facility in China last week to augment its main operation in Ottawa. Peter Currie, the company's chief financial officer, said that future research and development work would increasingly shift to lower-cost regions like China.
Tim Daubenspeck, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore., said that he doubted that the planned cost reductions would be enough.
''One of the problems with Nortel is right now they're a fairly broad company,'' he said. ''They try to address a lot of different markets but they don't have the same scale or market share as their competitors.''
Recent mergers between other telecommunications equipment makers, including Lucent and Alcatel, have accelerated price competition for wireless infrastructure equipment in Eastern Europe and other high-growth markets, Mr. Daubenspeck said.
Even with the mergers, he added, ''there's too many players competing for too little business.''
Mr. Zafirovski said that the stock split involving Nortel's 4.34 billion shares would reduce transaction fees for investors as well as some administrative costs of the company.


text:
In the world of sports someone always has to keep score. At the end of the game someone always has to tally up how many assists the point guard made, how many strikeouts the pitcher threw, and how many fights a single hockey player got in. People have been keeping score for decades; it's just the "sport's lovers" way on how to do things.
Yesterday I was at the park and I saw a teen do a very admirable thing. She and her friend were walking around the park and she happened to pass by some trash that was on the ground. It was not hers and no one asked her to but she just happily picked up trash and threw it in the garbage. Just like that. No one asked her to, and no one was watching her to give her an award, she just went ahead and did it.
I am sure you are thinking big deal right? People pick up trash all the time. Don't they? Well it got me thinking, how many times has she done that? How much trash in the world has been picked up because of her? How many other people out there have been in my position that have witnessed her pick up trash to where it influenced them to be more like her and to follow in her footsteps and do the same thing?
What a ripple effect she has started and she doesn't even know what her impact was on others.
It reminds us that just because we think no one is watching us, that doesn't mean that no one is noticing what we are doing. That goes for all of the good things we are doing and all of the bad. Regardless, we should do good things like she did because we care about our planet and actually want to pick up the trash; not because we think there will be a reward waiting for us after we do it, or to get credit or recognition. For those are all of the wrong reasons as to why we should do good deeds.
Stop and reflect on your daily life for a minute. How many times do you do a good deed in a day? A week? How often have you given money or time to helping the homeless? When was the last time you picked up a piece of random trash? How often do you help kids or the elderly?
We have to be responsible for keeping a tally of our own daily actions for if we don't keep a tally on ourselves who else will?
Keeping score of our daily good deeds is just as important as keeping a tally of the points we scored in the championship game. In addition, it is also just as important to keep a tally of all the mistakes or bad deeds we may have done just like the errors in any game because, in the end, we have to hold ourselves accountable for our actions if we are ever going to try and improve.
If someone was keeping score of your life, what section would your tally marks most likely be in? What section would you want them to be in? I know if I was keeping score of that teen's life I would give her a tally for the trash, and another tally for the ripple effect she started.
• Ahwatukee Foothills resident Michelle "Mikey" Arana is a 2003 graduate of Mountain Pointe High School. She offers free peer advice, however, Mikey is not licensed or trained, just a fellow friend to the community. All inquiries made to Mikey will remain anonymous unless legal issues occur. She can be reached at www.myaskmikey.com or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
- January 28, 2010, 10:24 AM
The comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed de-ice effluent limitations guidelines has been extended to February 26, thanks to efforts by the National Air Transportation Association, Airports Council International-North America, American Association of Airport Executives and the Regional Airline Association. To comment or view comments, see www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2004–0038.


text:
Campbell Hall knew it would take a complete three-round effort Wednesday to knock off University High of Irvine in the Southern Section Division I girls tennis semifinals.
Instead, the momentum shifted on the outcome of three sets in the first round — all in No. 2 University's favor — and third-seeded Campbell Hall struggled to play from behind the rest of the match, falling 12-6 in a rematch of last year's final.
The host Trojans posted three 7-5 victories to win five of the six sets in the first rotation and the Vikings (12-2) saw their season end in the same place it started, when they suffered a 10-8 setback Sept. 17 at University.
Campbell Hall, which also lost to University in the 2011 semifinals before defeating the Trojans in last year's final, closed the deficit to 7-5 entering the final round before running out of steam, with Alexis Pereira recording the only victory for the Vikings.
Pereira rebounded from her first-round setback to win twice, with Theresa Papikian and Ifeoma Kuchler also securing two victories for the Vikings.
Joy Kim and Risa Fukushige each won a set in singles for Campbell Hall.
University faces top-seeded Peninsula — a 15-3 winner over Corona del Mar — in Friday's final at Claremont Club.
Arroyo Grande 10, Malibu 8 >> For the third consecutive year, the Sharks (14-4) came up just short in the Division III semifinals, with the top-seeded Eagles (20-1) returning to the final.
Ilana Oleynik and Mia Green swept 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in doubles for Malibu, which trailed 4-2 after the first round, with the other win a 6-2 triumph from Lisa Consiglio and Elena Clarfield.
Raven Odian and Rachel Purewal rebounded from a 6-4 setback to win their last two sets 6-3, 6-2, with Lauren Louks overcoming a 6-0 loss to Sophie Whittle to prevail in the final two rounds. Odian and Purewal, both seniors, finished their final season together 55-5.
After trailing 7-5 entering the final round, Malibu pulled to within 9-8, before Consiglio and Clarfield lost the final set in a tiebreaker.
It was another narrow win for Arroyo Grande, which outlasted Vista Murrieta 76-75 on games after the teams played to a 9-9 result in Monday's quarterfinals.


text:
Gerry Mcveigh Cars
Compare vehicles
Click 'compare' to add up to 3 vehicles to compare against their specifications.Compare now
Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI BlueMotion Tech V6 R-Line Tiptronic 4x4 5dr (start/stop) 242 bhp FANTASTIC VEHICLE!!!
Key factsPrint summary
Premium cabin Superb refinement Economical 3.0 V6 TDI Off-road prowess 3 months warranty, Service history, Good bodywork, Black Full leather interior - Good Condition, Tyre condition Good, Solid White, Date of Registration:03/06/2014, £24,650
This car comes with
Spare Wheel, RNS 850 Touch-Screen Navigation/DAB Radio System with Integrated Voice Control, 2 x SD Card Readers and 3D Landmarks, Panoramic Sunroof, Cruise Control Including Driver Alert System, 8in Touch Colour Screen, Climate Control - 2Zone Electronic Air Conditioning with Automatic Air Recirculation, DAB Digital Radio Receiver, Heated Front Seats, Parking Sensors, Ultrasonic Front and Rear, Optical and Audible, Drivers and Front Passengers WOKS (Whiplash-Optimised Head Restraints), Alloy Wheels 9J x 20 Tarragona with 275/45 R20 Tyres and Anti-Theft Wheel Bolts, Electric Windows, Front and Rear, Upholstery - Cricket Leather, Heat Insulating Rear Tinted Glass 65 Perc. Light Absorbing from B Pillar Backwards, Multifunction Computer with 7in Colour Screen in Instrument Cluster, Alarm with Interior Protection, MDI (Multi Device Interface) with iPod Connection Cable, Electronic Parking Brake - with Auto Hold Function. Hill Start Assist, Bluetooth Telephone Connection for HFP (Hands Free Profile) Enabled Telephones, Rain Sensor
- 201707187479565
- 2014
- 14
- £24,650
- 2465
- 40,175
- Cars
- sVSz22XbXls=
Vehicle summary
|Body style
|Engine size
|2967 cc
|Fuel type
|Number of doors
|Number of seats
|Gearbox type
|CO2 emissions
|189 g/km
|Insurance group
|Standard manufacturer's warranty (miles)
|60000 miles
|Standard manufacturer's warranty (years)
|3 years
|Standard paintwork guarantee
|3 years
Performance & economy
|Fuel consumption (urban)
|34.4 mpg
|Fuel consumption (extra urban)
|44.8 mpg
|Fuel consumption (combined)
|40.4 mpg
|0 - 60 mph
|7.8 seconds
|Top speed
|135 mph
|Engine power
|242 bhp
|Engine torque
|405.68 lbs/ft
|1709 mm
|Height inclusive of roof rails
|No details available
|2893 mm
|2893 mm
|1940 mm
|Width including mirrors
|No details available
|Fuel tank capacity
|85 litres
|Minimum kerb weight
|No details available
|Interior features
|Exterior features
|Multifunction Computer with 7in Colour Screen in Instrument Cluster
|Body Styling Kit - Unique Front and Rear Bumpers and Side Skirts
|Automatic Dimming Interior Rear-view Mirror
|Alloy Wheels 9J x 20 Tarragona with 275/45 R20 Tyres and Anti-Theft Wheel Bolts
|12V Sockets x 4 - Located in Centre Console, Front Centre Armrest Compartment, Rear Centre Console and Luggage Compartment
|Electrically Heated, Adjustable and Foldable Door Mirrors
|Glovebox, Illuminated, Cooled and Lockable
|Heated Windscreen Washer Jets
|DAB Digital Radio Receiver
|Panoramic Sunroof
|RNS 850 Touch-Screen Navigation/DAB Radio System with Integrated Voice Control, 2 x SD Card Readers and 3D Landmarks
|Tailgate Full Electric Operation
|Keyless Entry/Start
|8in Touch Colour Screen
|Electric Windows, Front and Rear
|MDI (Multi Device Interface) with iPod Connection Cable
|Upholstery - Cricket Leather
|Leather Trimmed Gear Knob
|Cup Holders, Front x 2 in Centre Console. Rear Centre Armrest Cupholders x 2
|Multifunction Steering Wheel with Paddle Shift, with Controls for Multifunction Computer and Stereo Options
|Centre Console
|Heat Insulating Rear Tinted Glass 65 Perc. Light Absorbing from B Pillar Backwards
|Rain Sensor
|Bluetooth Telephone Connection for HFP (Hands Free Profile) Enabled Telephones
|Front Seats with Manual 6-Way Adjustment
|Height and Reach Adjustable Steering Column
|Cruise Control Including Driver Alert System
|Steering Wheel Leather Trimmed/Heated
|Heated Front Seats
|Front Centre Armrest, Two-Piece, with Storage Compartment. Rear Centre Armrest , Folding
|Climate Control - 2Zone Electronic Air Conditioning with Automatic Air Recirculation
|Drivers Airbag
|Central Locking with Remote Control
|Third Brake Light
|EBD (Electronic Brake-Pressure Distribution)
|Electronic Parking Brake - with Auto Hold Function. Hill Start Assist
|Power-Assisted Steering, Speed-Sensitive
|Front Three-Point Seat Belts with Height Adjustment and Seat Belt Tensioners
|Head Restraints - Front/Three Rear
|Tyre Mobility Kit, 12V Compressor and Tyre Sealant
|Front Fog Lights with Static Cornering Function
|Front Seat Side Impact Airbags. Curtain Airbag System
|ABSPlus (Anti-Lock Braking System) and HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assist)
|Front Passengers Airbag with Deactivation Switch
|Alarm with Interior Protection
|Drivers and Front Passengers WOKS (Whiplash-Optimised Head Restraints)
|Electronic Engine Immobiliser
|ESP (Electronic Stabilisation Programme)
|ASR (Traction Control)
|Centre Rear Seat Belt
|Child Security Locks in the Rear Doors, Electric
|Limited Slip Torsen Differential and Electronic Differential Lock on All Four Wheels. EDL (Electronic Differential Lock)
|Isofix Child Seat Preparation, Outer Rear Seats
|Parking Sensors, Ultrasonic Front and Rear, Optical and Audible
Please note
This includes MPG figures which are calculated under European Standards, in test conditions, and will vary under normal driving conditions. The information displayed above describes the typical specification of the most recent model of this vehicle. It is not the exact specification for the actual vehicle being offered for sale which may vary. Specifications for older models may also vary. Please contact us prior to purchase to confirm the exact specification of this vehicle.
Thank you for contacting us!
We will aim to get back to you as soon as possible.
There was a problem sending your email.
There may be a technical issue.
Please try again later.
Finance this vehicleAdjust finance example
* Spread over the term
** Included in the final payment
† Included in initial payment
We are acting as a credit broker and not a lender. We can introduce you to a number of carefully selected credit providers who may be able to offer you finance for your vehicle. We are only able to offer finance products from these providers and a commission may be received for this introduction. Finance available subject to status. Terms and conditions apply. 18s and over. Guarantee and/or Indemnities may be required. Other finance offers may be available but cannot be used in conjunction with this offer. Representative Examples are for illustrative purposes only. Address: 84 Cunninghams Lane, Dungannon, County Tyrone, BT71 6BX. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference Number: 660012


text:
by Staff Writers
Kupang, Indonesia / East Nusa Tenggara (AFP) Aug 11, 2013
Indonesian rescuers battled Sunday to evacuate thousands from an island where a volcanic eruption killed six people the previous day, with the volcano still spewing out rocks and ash at "dangerous levels".
Mount Rokatenda, on tiny Palue island in East Nusa Tenggara province, was sending large clouds of red-hot ash up to 600 metres (almost 2,000 feet) into the air.
"The activity... remains high and at dangerous levels. There are no signs it will stop erupting any time soon," Surono, an official from the state vulcanology agency, told AFP.
On Saturday the volcano threw rocks and ash 1.2 miles into the sky and sent torrents of molten lava onto a beach, killing three adults and three children as they slept.
Activity had been increasing at Rokatenda, one of numerous active volcanoes in the vast Indonesian archipelago, since October and there had been a series of small eruptions before Saturday.
A rescue team was seeking to evacuate some 2,000 people inside a three-kilometre exclusion zone and a group of "traumatised" inhabitants had already left the island, Eduardus Desa Pante, a local disaster management agency official told AFP.
Bakri Kari, one of the team, said rescue efforts were difficult as roads were blocked by ash and people were reluctant to leave their homes.
"It was tough trudging through hot ground covered in ash that was 10 to 20 centimetres thick," he told AFP.
"Everything was burnt by the lava.
"People were scared and many were crying. They wanted to get away from the volcano but at the same time they were reluctant to leave their livestock and homes."
As the volcano began to rumble into life last year, the authorities set up the exclusion zone, with people living inside urged to leave and all activities within the area banned.
Pante said 127 people had already been sent by motor boat to a temporary shelter on Flores island, south of Palue.
"They are traumatised by yesterday's eruption," Pante said, adding he hoped 80 more people waiting at the port could be evacuated on Sunday.
Rescuers had recovered the bodies of the adults killed on the beach but the children had still not been found, he said.
Some 2,000 people had already been evacuated to Flores before Saturday's eruption, leaving around 8,000 people still on the island.
Indonesia has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the "Ring of Fire" between the Pacific and Indian oceans.
The country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions in 2010.
Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement


text: The Colts getting the first pick in the draft? Just wondering what other fan's thoughts were about the subject. At the beginning of the year, I didnt think the Colts had a shot...but with Miami winning today (and playing well the past three weeks), it looks more and more like the #1 pick will belong to the Colts. Look, I'm very excited about the 2011 Texans. But that's not what this thread is about. This thread is more or less about the FUTURE of the AFC South. Are you worried about the Colts nabbing Luck? Do you think they would trade it for a crazy ransom? Would they trade Manning? What are your thoughts on the subject?


text:
Jan 11, 2017ArchitectureEngineeringInterior DesignGraphic Design
The January Series at Calvin College
Please join us tomorrow! GMB is honored to sponsor and welcome Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray to Grand Rapids as part of the January Series of Calvin College.
In the spring of 2012, Justin Skeesuck asked his best friend of nearly 40 years, Patrick Gray, to tackle the epic 500-mile pilgrimage across Northern Spain called the Camino de Santiago.
The challenge? Justin lives life in a wheelchair. When asked, Patrick's response was simple and direct, he said, "I'll push you."
For More Information


text:
PORT RICHEY — A motorcyclist hospitalized in July after crashing into the back of a sport utility vehicle in Pasco County died Sunday from the injuries.
Joseph Charles Hermann, 53, of Spring Hill was riding a 2003 Harley Davidson east on Denton Avenue near the intersection of Matis Road on July 14. A 1998 Ford Explorer was also traveling east, in front of the motorcycle, and stopped for traffic, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The bike failed to stop and crashed into the Explorer, troopers said. Hermann, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the bike. He was later taken to Bayfront Medical Center where he died Sunday.
Authorities had charged him with careless driving and carrying no proof of insurance. The driver of the Explorer, Lisa Ann Evans, 39, of New Port Richey, was not charged.


text:
Android Users - Coming Soon! - Migrating from aCar 4.8 to 5.0
Real Name: xiieoveby Joined: February 2015
No vehicles yet.
How to Drive Road Inclines for the Best MPG
Without modern electronics to give you real time MPG feedbac... ...
by ChewChewTrain
Read more tips
© 2017 Fuelly.com - All Rights Reserved. Sep 24, 2017 11:21 PM CDT
A simple & effecive way to track fuel consumption
Easy to understand the real cost of your vehicle


text:
Inside : T Congress Juvvadi brothers to join TRS - ABN
Mon, Feb 15, 2016, 09:41 PM
The Narayankhed bi-election has taken place following the death of Congress sitting MLA and all the parties campaigned vigorously for these elections. Minister Harish Rao took the responsibility from TRS and assured them Siddipet like development if voted for TRS in the elections. The results will be declared tomorrow and the parties are very curious about the outcome of these results.


text:
Perpetual Care - Its Establishment and Regulation by the State
In addressing the members of this Association, there can be no necessity for explanations as to what perpetual care is, nor arguments as to its necessity in every cemetery. There can hardly be a member who is not thoroughly familiar with these matters and who does not understand the vital importance to the cemetery management, and more especially to the lot and grave owners, that some adequate system of perpetual care be adopted for every cemetery in our country, from even the smallest country graveyard up to the largest metropolitan cemetery.
Those among us who are fortunate enough to be in charge of cemeteries, in which this provision was made from the first, are to be congratulated and to be envied. Those others, undoubtedly constituting a large proportion of our membership, who are in charge of cemeteries that were started and conducted for many years with no thought of provision for perpetual care and who have gone through the harrowing experience of adopting perpetual care and endeavoring to persuade the older lot owners to make this provision for their lots have found themselves confronted by a task, compared to which all the other difficulties and perplexities which come to the manager of every cemetery, pale into insignificance, and no one of us in that class but has said numberless times: "How criminal and how needless was the lack of foresight which has forced this disagreeable burden upon us."
As this paper may finally come to be read by lot owners or others who are not familiar with the subject, or by inexperienced people starting new cemeteries, who, as we all know, quite generally fail to realize that the development and management of a modern cemetery requires a high degree of technical ability and the supervision of trained men of long experience, the present audience will no doubt accept a brief definition of the subject and some explanations of facts which are already well known to them.
What is Perpetual Care?
The term "perpetual care" in cemeteries has come to mean the providing of funds, to be held in perpetual trust, the income of which is to be expended in keeping up forever the necessary care of the individual lots and graves, and the maintenance, repair and future renewal of the borders, drives, water and sewer systems, enclosures and necessary buildings. In some cases, two separate funds are provided, the income from one of which is devoted exclusively to the care of the private lots and graves and the other to the care, maintenance and renewal of the balance of the cemetery. In other cases, the funds are still further subdivided, while the more recent tendency seems to be to establish one fund and apportion the income from year to year as needed to these various purposes. The best of the argument seems to be in favor of the one fund, because every lot owner is almost as vitally interested in the upkeep of the cemetery as a whole, as he is of that of his own lot, and it would seem to make for the best interests of all to have the application of the income not too specifically tied to definite things, so that in future years the persons in charge of the trust may be free to more effectively meet varying conditions as they occur. However, the purpose of the present paper is not to open a discussion on that much disputed point.
How Large a Fund is Needed?
The theory of the establishment of a perpetual care fund is that it should be large enough, when invested in safe securities, to furnish an income sufficient to accomplish the purposes set forth above. We are all aware that the care given in different cemeteries varies within wide limits, and the nature and extent of the buildings and other improvements varies in the same way, depending upon the location of the cemetery and the demands of the patrons, so that a fund which would furnish an adequate income for one cemetery undoubtedly would be entirely inadequate for another in which the care was better and the improvements more extensive and of a higher grade.
A survey of the conditions made some years ago revealed widely varying amounts, some of them so grossly inadequate as to be of little use, and some so excessively high as to constitute an unnecessary burden on the lot buyer. The average amount at present set aside by the better class metropolitan cemeteries seems to be about 50 cents per square foot of the area sold for burial purposes. Certain rather extended investigations made by the writer indicate that where perpetual care prevails from the establishment of the cemetery, and every lot sold has paid its proportion, 40 cents per square foot would be a sufficient amount to maintain a high grade metropolitan 100 acre cemetery in most excellent condition, and half this amount should be sufficient where the care is not so complete and does not include watering of the grass, and where the buildings, waterworks and other improvements are not so extensive.
Assessment of the Perpetual Care Charge
There are two generally accepted methods of' assessing the charge for the perpetual care deposit. One is by charging a fiat rate per square foot uniformly for all lots sold, either by deduction from the selling price which is fixed to include it, or as an additional charge over and above the price of the lot. The other is to set aside a uniform percentage of the receipts for lot sales, prices of course being adjusted with that end in view.
Either method by proper adjustment may be made to yield practically the same gross total, although future increases in prices under the percentage system will give increased payments to the fund unless the percentage is reduced, which is a difficult thing to explain satisfactorily to previous buyers.
Considering the fact that the care is, or should be, uniform for all lots in the cemetery and the actual expense annually is the same tor every lot in proportion to its size, it is evident that the percentage system forces the buyer of the higher, priced lot to pay more than his share and allows the purchaser of the cheaper lot to escape paying a part of what he properly should pay, the flat rate system appears to be the better and the more equitable.
How Should the Funds Be Controlled?
Wide variance is found in the matter of the control of perpetual care funds in various cemeteries. In some cases, the handling and investment of the funds and expenditure of the income are left entirely in the hands of the cemetery corporation, and if the management is able and honest, this will result in high efficiency and economy, but there is always the danger of a change in future management which will put the funds under the control of unscrupulous persons, and it must also be borne in mind that very efficient cemetery managers may not be well posted on matters pertaining to the care and investment of large sums of money, and hence will arise the possibility of loss through injudicious investment, although the persons in charge may be scrupulously honest and sincere in their intentions.
Another method quite commonly followed is the establishment of a Board of Trustees or even another corporation, for the purpose of handling these funds, the members of which are elective by vote of the lot owners in the cemetery. This method in theory should be an equitable one, as it nominally gives the future control of the funds into the hands of those who are directly and personally interested in their proper expenditure. But the same danger from inexperience and inefficiency exists as in the control by the cemetery corporation. It is also to be noted that lot owners are certain in time, many of them, to move to far distant points of residence and all are apt to become indifferent to the matter and fail to attend meetings and elections, thus frequently rendering it possible for small minorities to acquire control, for personal, selfish and perhaps dishonest purposes.
Another method coming rapidly into favor at the present time is the placing of the funds in the hands of trust companies such as are authorized by many states to handle estates and court funds, these companies holding the funds, making the investments, collecting the income and seeing to the expenditure of the income for the purposes specified in the trust, the cemetery corporation, however, requiring all proposed investments to be submitted to it and retaining the power of forbidding any investment which does not meet with its approval. This would appear, on the whole, to be the best and safest method, as it places the investment of the funds in the hands of expert financiers who are thoroughly familiar with such operations, and who generally have wider opportunities for good investments and have expert men for investigating values.
How Should Funds Be Invested?
The first consideration in investing trust funds of this kind is safety. The question of a high rate of interest must be entirely subordinated to this supreme question of safety of the principal.
Real estate mortgages, when made for a low percentage of the actual value of the property, have always had a high and well deserved reputation for safety. Where the fund is not administered by expert and honest officials, however, there is great chance for loss by inflated values of the property and the loaning of excessive amounts. There is also the danger, when making loans on unimproved or non-income producing real estate, in case of default, of the loss of income over considerable periods through the long time necessary to acquire title in many states under foreclosure and through the possible difficulty of disposing of the foreclosed property, and so that a wise provision would be to limit real estate loans to property which produces an assured income well in excess of the interest on the loan.
Stocks in general are not proper investments for trust funds of this nature, although occasionally preferred stocks of small issue in proportion to the value of the corporate holdings may be good investments.
Bonds as a whole seem to be the better type of investments for perpetual care funds, although there are of course bonds and bonds, and there are great quantities of such securities that are to be let severely alone. Bonds of all classes issued in large amounts in proportion to the security are of very doubtful safety. Industrial bonds are to be investigated very carefully, as well as railroad bonds. Government bonds are the highest class and safest bonds that can be obtained, but the interest rate is low, especially as such bonds are quite generally in ordinary times held at a premium.
Perhaps on the whole there is no class of investment so good, both from the standpoint of reasonable return and security, as public bond issues, state, county, municipal and the like-although there are some sections of the country where the record for prompt payment of interest and principal has not been very good. Another advantage connected with bonds of this class is the tax exempt feature, as the tendency seems to be increasing in many localities to tax the income from perpetual care investments.
Why Should the State Establish and Enforce Provisions for Perpetual Care?
The histories of all cemeteries where perpetual care is not provided is practically the same. When the cemetery is new and during its early years, reasonable care, quite satisfactory to the patrons, is generally given. As time goes on, and more and more lots are sold, the burden of this care becomes greater and the management becomes unable or unwilling to keep it up. The next step is the abandonment of the care of the private lots, except where the owners are willing to pay an annual fee. By this time, a large number of the original owners are either dead or have moved away or are unwilling or unable to make the payments, so that we have a condition in which a part of the lots are more or less well cared for and the balance surrounding them and perhaps interspersed with them, are neglected, making the whole appearance shabby and unsightly. Later again, when all the lots in the cemetery are sold out, the income to the management begins to fall off until a point is reached where the expenses can no longer be met, and the cemetery is abandoned. By this time, the proportion of the lot owners who are able and willing to pay for the upkeep is so small that it is impossible for them to take over and operate the cemetery, so that the conditions go on from bad to worse. About this time, or perhaps sooner, those lot owners who are interested in having their burial plots and the surroundings properly maintained, will purchase lots in newer perpetual care cemeteries, and remove their dead and their monuments to other locations, so that in a short time the once beautiful cemetery becomes a desolate jungle of grass, weeds, un-pruned shrubbery, dead trees, tottering or overturned monuments and stonework, so that instead of being, as the Germans call it, "God's Acre," it may well be called "a God-forsaken Acre." Cemeteries in this condition can be found all over the country. This is the natural and inevitable consequence of lack of perpetual care.
On the other hand, we may glance for a minute at the future of a cemetery established and operated under adequate perpetual care provisions. The cemetery will be properly cared for from the beginning. When the lots are all sold and the annual income diminishes to the point where the management could only operate at a loss and would necessarily abandon it, the income from the perpetual care funds may be sufficient to induce them to continue the operation, or if not, the income will surely be sufficient to enable the trustees to maintain it and to retain all of its original beauties. As time goes on, new interments in the cemetery will be less and less in number and the tract itself will become more and more a beautiful, self maintaining park, furnishing to the community without cost all of the advantages of such open air breathing places except, of course, those of sports and playgrounds.
Many cemeteries are being established today without perpetual care through the ignorance of the people constituting the cemetery association, and unfortunately of late cemeteries are being established all over the country for the avowed purpose of exploiting the public and squeezing out every possible present dollar without any regard for the future interest of those whose money they are taking. In many such instances, in view of the fact that the public is coming more and more to demand perpetual care, actual fraud is committed. Lots are sold with the statement that they have perpetual care, when no funds are set aside for the purpose at all, and in other cases the fund is so grossly inadequate as to be of no value whatever, or so poorly safeguarded that it is subject to being embezzled or lost by bad investment.
These seem to be adequate and convincing reasons why the state should step in and compel all individuals, associations and corporations alike to make some definite provision in this vitally important matter, and why it should also throw the protection of the law around the proper investment and safeguarding of such funds.
What Should Be the Provisions of Such a Law?
A state law should provide that a portion of the receipts for every lot and grave sold in every cemetery in the state, whether owned by private individuals, associations, or corporations, should be set aside in perpetual trust for the care of the cemetery.
It should have much the same provisions that are in force with regard to savings banks and insurance companies in many states as to the investment of the funds.
It should provide, in a broad way, for the control of the funds and the application of the income accruing.
It should especially provide for publicity, requiring the annual publication, or at least the deposit with some public officer to be held as a public record, of sworn statements in detail as to the investment of the funds, the income arising there from and the disposition of that income.
It should provide supervision and investigation from time to time to assure that the money is being properly set aside, legally invested and the income properly expended, perhaps much in the same way that Building and Loan Associations are supervised and invested in some states.
Then finally it should provide drastic penalties for evasion or violation of the law's requirements, including the withdrawal of all tax exemption provisions for property owned by the cemetery management, of course excepting the lots in the hands of private owners and used by them for legitimate interment purposes.
How Much Money Should Be Required to Be Set Aside by Law?
We have already shown that the average amount deemed necessary by the better class of metropolitan cemeteries was 50 cents per square foot, but that in many cases a much less sum would be sufficient to meet the requirements of the case. Perhaps some method might be worked out by which cemeteries could be divided into classes, and the sums to be set aside graded upwards from a comparatively small amount, according to the class in which the cemetery falls. This, however, would be a rather difficult matter, and it might work out that the requirement of a minimum amount and uniform for all cemeteries would answer every purpose, the publicity required making it an easy matter for intending buyers to ascertain whether the funds were adequate or not, thus leading them to patronize the cemeteries making the best provision in that respect and forcing the others, through competition, to increase the amounts set aside by them in order to hold their patronage.
From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 36th Annual Convention
Omaha, Nebraska
September 18, 19, 20 and 21, 1922


text:
Technical Consultant, Presales
Background in MIS with 10+ years industry experience. Certifications include ITIL, MCP and VSP.
CA Service Desk Manager
Copyright © 2017 CA. All
rights reserved.
Chat with CA
Just give us some brief information and we'll connect you to the right CA ExpertCA sales representative.
Our hours of availability are 8AM - 5PM CST.
All Fields Required
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
We're matching your request.
Unfortunately, we can't connect you to an agent. If you are not automatically redirected please click here.
{{message.agentProfile.name}} will be helping you today.
View Profile
Transfered to {{message.agentProfile.name}}
{{message.agentProfile.name}} joined the
{{message.agentProfile.name}} left the conversation
Your chat with {{$storage.chatSession.messages[$index - 1].agentProfile.name}} has
Thank you for your interest in CA.
Rate Your Chat Experience.
agent is typing
Request Chat
End Chat
Close Chat