text:
ESSAY- Fall ball: don't rake the leaves or tinker with daddy
Leaves are falling from the trees. This year, instead of burning them or raking them into bags to be carted away, try gathering them together under your trees in a neat circle. Once thoroughly dampened, they will mat down and provide a natural mulch layer that moderates soil temperatures and helps preserve soil moisture for the benefit of your tree roots.
Numerous organisms depend upon such leaf litter to hibernate through the coming winter. For example, Gray Treefrogs that protect your trees and shrubs from too many insects during the warm months (thus serving as your natural insecticide) must move to the ground as it starts to get cold.
The treefrogs helped the leaves to survive all through the growing season. Now it's the leaves' turn to help the treefrogs to survive until next spring. They offer protection from freezing temperatures and predators to the cold-blooded amphibians.
Some kinds of animals, such as the Hackberry Emperor butterfly, overwinter as caterpillars that wrapped themselves in the leaves of Hackberry trees before autumn winds knocked them off. If you wish to experience the beauty of these butterflies next year, you must let those leaves stay put under your trees. When spring comes, the caterpillars can then climb back up into the trees to continue feeding, and you will be rewarded for your patience during the summer when the adults fly.
At this time of year, you may happen to spot a large grouping of daddy longlegs taking shelter in a protected area, their many legs overlapping. These spider relatives are trying to survive the cooler temperatures of the season.
If you live where it's not usually freezing from late fall to early spring, some of these 8-legged creatures may survive the winter. But in areas that get quite cold, most or all of them will die, leaving behind eggs in the ground or among leaf litter to provide a new generation of individuals next spring.
Although very similar in appearance to a spider, a daddy longlegs has one main difference that is easy to see: its small oval body does not include the narrow waist that is typical of spiders. Another aspect of its anatomy that you might notice, but only if you get up close and personal, is that it has two eyes instead of the eight a spider usually possesses.
Daddy longlegs are also known as harvestmen. In fact, the indexes of many books only list them under one name or the other. If you don't think to check under both names, you might not realize the book actually does contain information about this kind of animal.
There are varying accounts of how daddy longlegs got the name harvestmen. The most plausible is that these animals are more noticeable to humans in fall when, years ago, folks would be in the fields harvesting crops. An old English belief told of the critters assisting farmers with their reaping and it was said to be bad luck to kill one.
Worldwide, there are about 3,400 species, with at least 200 in North America. You can get an idea about the number of species around your home by checking out the various colors and patterns on your local daddy longlegs.
Because daddy longlegs are related to spiders, it's reasonable to expect them to be hunters, just as spiders are. But I used to wonder how that could be since they seemed too small to be able to easily overpower many other creatures.
Then one day I stepped out onto my carport and spotted a daddy longlegs with a European Hornet— an insect much larger than the arachnid. I immediately realized that this daddy longlegs could not possibly have killed the big hornet that it was eating. I had discovered for myself that daddy longlegs, at least those around my home, were scavengers! Since that day, I have observed and photographed these animals taking advantage of the opportunity to feed upon many kinds of dead insects.
Although people often have the urge to touch wildlife, it's always best to take a hands-off approach. In this way, you don't needlessly frighten the critter (not a pleasant thing for it to experience), nor do you risk getting hurt or harming the animal as it tries to defend itself (it doesn't know you mean it no harm).
In the case of daddy longlegs, you could cause one to lose a leg if you try to pick it up. This defensive tactic, similar to that of skinks whose tails break off to escape, allows the arachnid to scurry away from danger. But as adult daddy longlegs can not regenerate legs; the loss of one or more legs will impact their lives.
By the way, if you have not yet set up a system for catching and holding the rain that runs off your roof, you should consider installing rain barrels or other water-catching devices (I have two 350-gallon agricultural tanks). You will then be all set next spring to use less ground or reservoir water and instead take advantage of local rainwater— a resource that has been severely limited in recent years.
If you take your cues from nature, you'll have less work to do and more time to enjoy your surroundings.
Marlene A. Condon is the author of The Nature-friendly Garden and teaches nature and gardening classes through Piedmont Virginia Community College Workforce Services Program.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Effective Selling Boot Camp
Let's face it -- if you're not making any money, realistically, you're not "in business." You can have the coolest product, the most innovative marketing system, the most engaging website, the best networking skills, and so on, and so on -- but if you're not selling anything, NONE OF IT MATTERS!!!
Everyone tells you that in order to get business, you have to prospect. But nobody tells you how to customize it for your business. Every business can't prospect the same way. There is no standardized way to prospect that applies to everyone.
Some business owners have retail locations. Would you tell them they should knock on doors to get business? Not very smart advice. Some business owners work nationally; mostly via telephone. Would you tell them to hand out flyers? Sounds crazy.
Some business owners sell products; some services. Some sell to consumers; some to businesses. All these variables suggest very clearly that the approach to prospecting must be flexible. This is not about "One size fits all". Anyone promising that is leading you down the wrong road.
Effective Selling Boot Camp (a four-part webinar series) was designed to help you better understand how to manage prospecting -- an essential component to master the art of selling. During Part 1 and Part 2 of Effective Selling Boot Camp we will uncover the variables that determine what kind of prospecting will work best for your business. Thus, enabling you to develop strategies that work especially for you,
Fundamentally, if you get a lot of people interested in what you have to offer, but cannot get them to buy, your efforts will have been wasted. To address this issue, once we have enabled you to figure out how to connect with your potential customers, we will move on to Part 3 and Part 4, which will teach you how to optimize your sales experience.
Join us for Effective Selling Boot Camp. By the end of the very first session, you will have the tools you need to design a prospecting strategy for your specific needs.
Decide, Commit, Conquer
Register now for Effective Selling Boot Camp for just $19.95 per session. Effective Selling Boot Camp will give you actionable information that you can use immediately for your business. These are advanced selling techniques designed so that even the most inexperienced person can easily implement them.
Don't miss Effective Selling Boot Camp CLICK HERE to Register now. Space is limited -- register today!
About Francisco J. Acosta
Mr. Acosta heads up the Sales Division of Internal Business Consulting, a New York company focusing on payment processing and cost reduction consulting. In sales since 1984, Mr. Acosta's career spans direct, retail, manufacturing, telemarketing and corporate sales.
Along with his varied selling background, Mr. Acosta has contributed to training initiatives for several companies. He has created the sales presentations that have been used by entire sales organizations. He has also innovated training strategies for several companies. At one company he streamlined the training schedule to such a degree that the time it took for new sales representatives to become productive went from three months to two weeks.
The majority of his experience has been in the credit card processing industry, where he has represented some of the largest processors in the country. His extensive corporate training, coupled with his creativity, has given Mr. Acosta a unique differential advantage. His vision and commitment to excellence are the driving forces behind his success.
Mr. Acosta is a member in good standing with The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, he is Co-Founder The Brooklyn Business Guild and Volunteer Instructor at WIBO (an organization that enables small business owners and entrepreneurs to build successful businesses).
Do not miss Effective Selling Boot Camp! CLICK HERE to Register now. Space is limited -- register today!
To subscribe to or advertise in New York's leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to firstname.lastname@example.com
Also visit out sister publications Harlem Business News www.harlembusinessnews.com and The Groove music magazine at www.thegroovemag.com
"Speaking Truth To Empower."
Latest comments
Ann GarrisonFebruary 22,2018 @ 08:03 PM
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...


text:
Cartridges.com.au necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 9 diseños de 5 diseñadores freelance.
1300 REAL ESTATE is a unique real estate marketing platform that combines the phone word (or vanity number) "1300 REAL ESTATE" with world first voice recognition technology.
A caller rings 1300 REAL ESTATE and is then directed to a real estate agent in the area of their choice based on voice recognition technology (the system is so sophisticated that it can route to all 11 million street addresses in Australia!).
Real estate agents use 1300 REAL ESTATE when marketing properties to help attract more buyers and also as a sales tool to secure homes for sale (known as 'listings').
The 1300 REAL ESTATE product includes a comprehensive marketing package and one of the marketing tools is the brochure that we would like converted into Word and Publisher formats.
Your mission is to take the original InDesign files and turn them into MS Word and Publisher formats that our clients (the real estate agents) can customise and print from their office.
This is required so that our real estate agents can customise and print the brochure themselves.
Take the In Design files for our double sided A3 (4 pages in total) brochure and convert / rebuild it in BOTH MS Publisher and MS Word formats.
It is essential that the documents look identical. To the extent that this simply is not possible due to the constraints of word (e.g. fonts are not available) the designer must make the appropriate changes and re-layout the pages in the same manner.
We are really after a VERY high standard of work with this.
I have attached a PDF of the brochure and can send the full In Design files via YouSendIt if you message me your email address. The full InDesign file is too big to attach.


text:
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined with two Senate conservatives on Wednesday to back a proposal reforming Social Security disability benefits.
Noting that disability benefits are consuming more Social Security funds, Rubio and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are co-sponsoring U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton's, R-Ark., "Return to Work Act" which places new applicants who qualify for Social Security disability benefits in four groups based on whether medical improvement is expected, likely, possible or not expected.
Beneficiaries in the first three groups would be given a timeline to receive disability benefits while those who are not expected to recover would not. If beneficiaries in the first three groups have not recovered at the end of their timelines--two years for those deemed expected to recover, five years for those deemed likely to recover, longer for those whose recovery is possible--they will be able to reapply for disability benefits.
The senators noted a sharp rise in the costs of Social Security's Disability Insurance programs moving from "$20 to $137 billion (in 2012 dollars) since 1970" while fewer Americans in the programs have returned to work. In 1970, less than 1.5 million Americans were beneficiaries while currently there are almost 9 million beneficiaries. Despite more Americans enrolled in the program, fewer are returning to work. While almost 6 percent of Americans using those programs in 1982 returned to work, now it is less than one half of one percent.
Rubio made his case for why the bill was needed, insisting there have been many problems with the programs in recent years.
"Social Security Disability Insurance is supposed to be a safety net for people with disabilities," Rubio said on Wednesday. "However, rampant abuse, lax enforcement and insufficient accountability have enabled this program to grow unchecked and prevented many people from going back to work. The health of our national economy and strength of our communities depend on able-bodied Americans earning paychecks. This legislation represents a long overdue reform that takes care of working Americans and saves our social safety net for the truly disabled."
"We shouldn't resign people with treatable conditions to a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines. If they can get back to work, then by all means we should help them," Cotton said. "That's why we've got to fix this program so it takes into account people's different capabilities. This will not only save the program, which is dangerously close to going bankrupt; It will save our aid for the people who need it most."
"We can't keep stealing from the Social Security Trust Fund to bail out the Social Security Disability Insurance system," Lee said. "We need real reforms that will both make it easier for recovering Americans to return to work and make the program solvent."
Cotton's fellow Arkansas Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill brought out the House version of the bill.
Rick Scott Unleashes Fury on Florida House Over Enterprise Florida in New TV Ad
Vern Buchanan Joins Congressional Taskforce to Combat Anti-Semitism


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Friday, March 07, 2008
Zebra Hunting
A good ER doc is a good Zebra hunter. A 'zebra' is a patient that has a bizarre diagnosis, often dangerous, that masquerades as a run-of-the-mill problem. You can't find zebras if you don't look for them.
A young woman with congenital deafness came in tonight after her sister ran into her at the local Wally World. The sister told me that the patient did not recognize her and was 'acting funny'. Then the step dad chimed in, "You know doc, I think she might have diabetes because she eats a whole lot of cookies, and even eats cookie dough." Hmmm.
The young lady knew the day, date, time, and place but obviously had problems talking so she appeared to be normal to me considering her deafness. The family was right though, they put me in a position where I had to do a big workup including CT of the head and I'm glad they did.
The patient has a brain tumor which is bleeding. She went off to the local tertiary care center by ambulance and the nurses looked at me like I had just derived the theory of relativity with a piece of paper and a pencil. The point of the "boy who cried wolf" story is that one day there's a wolf... or a zebra. The other point is that it's a very expensive sport.
26 comments:
Whoa. good catch. Sometimes we discount family members' informations--nice reminder that we shouldn't take everything with a grain of salt.ReplyDelete
Wait, I'm confused.ReplyDelete
If I eat a lot of cookies, does that mean that I'm a Zebra? Or that I have a bleeding brain tumor?
PS: You don't need capital letters to derive the theory of relativity with a piece of paper and a pencil, do you?
no, it means you eat a lot of cookies. oreos and milk, or fresh baked toll house cookies, crispy with milk. the rest is shiite.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous2:21 AM, March 08, 2008
Any focal neurology on examination??ReplyDelete
great question. i did not do a neuro exam for two reasons. one, she walked in, so that told me a lot, but two, my off the cuff diagnosis was first break-schizophrenia and i merely did what was needed to 'medically clear' the patient.
but given her difficulties hearing AND due to the family's insistence that she was 'not right' i knew early on i would get a CT scan, and i would have put tons of $ down on a normal result.
another way to look at it is this, IF i had done a neurologic exam and her exam had been abnormal then i would have... ordered a CT scan.
in retrospect, i believe a good neuro exam would have shown ataxia and dysmetria. also retrospectively, the patient told me she had been having some 'shakes' in her hand which she blamed on it getting cold one day.
- Anonymous7:52 AM, March 08, 2008
Dam you, now I have a headache. Good pickup, I might have made it to, but only because I pretend every patient is John Edward's cousin. You can derive the time dilation equation of relativity with a simple diagram, the Pthagorean rule, and fractions.ReplyDelete
Good job, good catch.ReplyDelete
I just lost a dear friend to a brain tumor. Like this lady, his friends took him to the ER cuz "something wasn't right."
Hopefully her story has a happier ending.
- Anonymous9:34 AM, March 08, 2008
I remember in residency struggling through AEIOU TIPS for AMS. I then distinctly remember the chairman teaching me the concept of the "5 way," meaning blood, urine, chest xry, ekg, and ct-head. This was very liberating, hard for the zebras to escape this, $$ be damned.ReplyDelete
I'm sorry I don't get it. What kind of catch is that?ReplyDelete
Now if you told me you had percussed increased dullness over her cranium or heard an intracranial bruit, I'd be somewhat more impressed......
Just a CYA catch when you get it like that 911..toodles
- Anonymous10:39 AM, March 08, 2008
Oldfart is a straight hater... LOLReplyDelete
Oldfart is correct. any ER doc worth his salt would have caught this zebra.ReplyDelete
it's interesting for two reasons...
1. the father was not, in fact, correct, that her daughter had caused herself diabetes by eating a lot of cookies and cookie dough (these days i'll believe anything and was fully expecting her to be in DKA without symptoms)
2. i thought this was NOT a zebra but went through the motions because it's what i was trained to do.
notice, oldfart, I didn't think much about myself for finding it, the nurses DID, because they don't believe in zebras, unicorns, or pain.
- Anonymous1:59 PM, March 08, 2008
Was I the only one who pronounced Bruit "Brute" the first time I used it during a presentation? Brew-ee still sounds gay.ReplyDelete
yes, drack, you were the only one. but it does sound extremely gay, kind of like the sound of a fart out of the massively stretched asshole of george michael.ReplyDelete
i did, however, witness the horror of a fourth year med student, not the sharpest tool as far as picking up social cues, tell our very famous rheumatology/internal medicine attending that the patients eyes were "perlee and eyomee." wow. he now poops from two different exits.
"the nurses DID, because they don't believe in zebras, unicorns, or pain"ReplyDelete
My world is infinitely less stressful than yours because zebras and unicorns don't exist in it. I get to treat the horses and the zebras all the same.
The drug seeking Migraineur, the bleeding brain tumor, and the viral meningitis will all receive the same care from me until you identify that the headache in room 17 is a loser, the headache in room 12 is sick, and the headache in room 2 needs to go to the Neuro Hospital in the Big City STAT.
PS: We believe in pain. We don't believe in the PAIN SCALE!
dearest monkey girl...ReplyDelete
first, go tarheels.
second, i believe in the pain scale and you should to... it does exist, but it is shiite created by shiiteheads with nothing but shiite to do all day while drawing ther $$ from my lower lumbar area.
third, nurses are forever telling me how so and so in such and such can't be in pain because he's asleep. well, having been on the receiving end of a bunch of titanium plates screwed into my bones and a morphine PCA pump let me correct this misperception, it is possible to appear to be asleep and still be in a fuckton of pain.
all of this being said, no, most people have no idea what real pain is and would ask for morphine or dilala with a hangnail.
DOOK sucks it's own penis, and it's small
First, Go Tarheels! I took the night off to watch them beat the hell outta DOOK.ReplyDelete
Second, could you tell me on a scale of 1-10 how much a fuckton is? I'm afraid I cannot appropriately treat your pain until I have assisted JCAHO and the clipboard nurses in their mutual masturbation to the pain scale.
Third, morphine sucks. Duh.
here's where it is on the 911doc modified pain scale... increasing from 1 to ten, ten being the worst, ten being a 'frowny face with tears'...ReplyDelete
1 skoche
2 weency
3 tooth-achy
4 bad tooth-achy
5 pussy-full
6 ass-load
7 shitload
8 balls-a-fire
9 fuckton
10 hillary clinton
Touche, sir. Touche.ReplyDelete
911--I like it when you use naughty words.ReplyDelete
PS: If you're in pain and aren't a faking loser with "Hillary Clinton" pain, put on your call light.
- Anonymous10:50 AM, March 09, 2008
Nice catch!ReplyDelete
I had a similar patient a few years back. 14 yo kid brought in for headache. It had started the previous day and was mild "not bad" per the kid. No other symptoms except runny nose and cough. He looked great.
As I was walking out the door to discharge him his little sister said, "well then how come he didn't know my name?". I did a neuro exam and it was normal, but decided to scan him and sure am glad I did. Large subarachnoid bleed without AVM/aneurysm. Completely a fluke thing.
It's better to be lucky than good.
10 hillary clintonReplyDelete
Ah, lovely, 911 makes me spill my coffee once again.
Hallwayfour, your story just plain gives me the creeps. That ain't luck; that's divine intervention!
- Anonymous8:24 AM, March 10, 2008
One cold Camp Lejeune morning I was doing Sick Call, the daily parade of runny noses, twisted knees, and broken dreams. The last patient was a 30 something Marine Staff Sergeant from a neighboring unit, whose doctor was on Christmas leave. His headache sounded musculoskeletal, his exam was unremarkable, and being a tough guy, he hadn't even tried tylenol. The only positive finding was "Thin chart sign" a result of his only being seen for immunizations and physical exams over the previous decade. The base hospital didn't have a scanner at the time, Mr. Haney came around once a month or so with his trailer for non emergent studies. I had a bad feeling about this guy and called radiology. Nope, only hospital staff can order CTs, said Dr.X-ray, you gotta call the Neurologist. Nope, said the Neurologist, and you're an idiot for wanting a CT for a musculoskeletal headache was clearly implied but left unsaid.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous8:47 AM, March 10, 2008
I had a great 'catch' like this too: Some guy died and I cut open his head and sliced up his brain and saw a tumor! I'm a genius.ReplyDelete
E, you are a genius, don't doubt it!ReplyDelete
You, my colleague, figured out before any of the rest of us, how to make a decent living being a doctor, and NEVER HAVING TO TALK TO THESE FUKSTIKS CALLED PATIENTS!!!Even if you never see sunlight or the outside..
You, Sir, ROCK!!!
the nurses DID, because they don't believe in zebras, unicorns, or pain.ReplyDelete
ROFL, true. True.
No, we dont believe in pain only in those pts. who come in eating doritos who we gave dilaudid to yesterday and the day before. Everyone else we believe, well mostly, sometimes....ReplyDelete


text:
New Jersey officials hope they have come up with a sufficient plan to prevent a repeat of an epic traffic jam along the northern Ocean County barrier island when the Seaside Heights St. Patrick's Day parade steps off this Saturday.
A winter swimming event to raise money for charity brought traffic in the region to a standstill for more than three hours two weeks ago.
The main reason was an ongoing project to rebuild Route 35 from damage it sustained in Superstorm Sandy.
The roadway is the second busiest highway at the northern Ocean County shore.
Extra lanes, traffic monitors, adjustable lights and a major effort to encourage motorists to use Route 37 instead of Route 35 to leave the area are part of the plan.
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Click here for more news from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.


text:
Hydraulically operated pumps
PFH-23-2 and PFH-23-22 are hydraulically operated grease pump units that include a reservoir and follower plate under atmospheric pressure. These pumps are suitable for small-sized progressive systems or for use as multi-line pumps. When using two outlets, the output of one lever stroke is divided by two.
Features and benefits:
- Small, compact, hydraulically operated pump
- Up to 200 bar (2900 psi) operating pressure
- Pump port for return line is available
- Refilling via grease coupling avoids grease contamination
- Available with one or two outlets


text:
last post ( https://blogs.oracle.com/MAA/entry/oracle_goldengate_active_active_part ) focused on whether or not an application's database structure was set
up sufficiently to perform conflict detection and resolution in active-active
GoldenGate environments. Assuming that your application structure is ready,
I'll now explain how to actually prevent conflicts from happening in the first
place. While this is ideal, I don't think conflict prevention is something
we could ever guarantee... especially when a fault or hiccup occurs in either
the database or GoldenGate itself.
Let's break up conflicts into 3
types, based on the DML:
1. Inserts
2. Deletes
3. Updates
1. Insert conflicts typically occur
when two rows have the same primary key or when there are duplicate unique keys
within a table.
· Two rows
with same primary key: To address
these cases we could have primary keys generated based on a sequence value,
then set up something like alternating sequences. Depending on how many nodes
or servers are in the environment, you could use an algorithm that starts with n and increments by N
(where n is the node or server number and N is the total number
of nodes or servers). For example, in a 2-way scenario, one side would have odd
sequence values (start with 1 and increment by 2) and the other would have
even sequence values (start with 2 and increment by 2).
· Duplicate
unique keys: Avoiding conflicts in tables that have duplicate unique keys
is a little trickier, and sometimes must be managed from the application
perspective. For example, let's say for a particular application that we
have a table that contains login information for an account. We would
want the login name to be a unique value. However it is possible that two
people working on two different servers could attempt to obtain the same login
name. These kinds of operations can be eliminated if we restrict new
account creation to a single server, thereby letting the database handle the
uniqueness of a column.
2. Delete conflicts are usually nothing to worry about. In most cases, this
occurs when two people are attempting to delete the same record, or when someone
tries to update a record that has already been deleted. These conflicts
can usually just be ignored. However, I typically recommend that
customers keep track of these types of conflicts in an exception table, just to
make sure that nothing out of the ordinary is occurring. Once you've confirmed
that things are running smoothly you can eliminate the exception mapping and
just ignore the conflicts completely.
3. Update conflicts are definitely the most prevalent. These conflicts
occur when two people try to update the same logical record on two different
servers. A typical example is when a customer is on the phone with
support to change something associated with his or her credit card. At the same
time, the customer is also logged into the account and is trying to change his
or her address. If these activities occur on two different servers and
the lag is high enough, it could cause a conflict. In order to reduce or
eliminate these conflicts there are a few best practices to follow:
1) Reduce
the Oracle GoldenGate (OGG) lag to the lowest level possible. There
are a few knowledge tickets on this. The master note is Main Note - Oracle
GoldenGate - Lag, Performance, Slow and Hung Processes (Doc ID 1304557.1)
2) Logically
partition users based upon geographical regions or usernames. For
example, when all users in North America access one server, and users in Europe
access a different server, the chance of two people updating the same logical
record on two different machines is greatly reduced. Another option is to
split up the users based on their usernames. Even something as simple as setting
up usernames A-M to log into one server and usernames N-Z to log into another
server can help reduce conflicts. The reason this helps is related
to my next point...
3) Set up Session
Persistence time. IP or Session Persistence is the ability of a load
balancer or router to keep track of where a connection is sent. In the event
that a connection is lost, disconnected, etc, and a user attempts to reconnect
or log back in, the connection will be sent to the same server where it was
originally connected. Most sessions have a time value that can be
associated with this persistence. For example, if I set my session persistence to
10 seconds, then any time a session is disconnected or killed, the user will be
sent to the same server as long as he or she logs back in within 10 seconds.
This is ideal for Oracle GoldenGate environments, where there would be lag
between the different databases. In an ideal situation you would set this session
persistence time value to be twice the average lag or 20 seconds – whichever is higher. This allows a user
who is filling a shopping cart or booking a reservation to maintain a
consistent view of the data, even in the event of a client or network
By using these methods, the number of conflicts that actually occur can be
drastically reduced, leading to a happier end user experience. But even
with the best intentions and preparation, not every
conflict can be avoided. In my next post I will cover how to resolve such unavoidable


text:
Family and Consumer Sciences Chair named to National Institute of Health advisory committeeUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources
Barbara W.K. Yee, professor and chair of the Family and Consumer Sciences Department in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at UH Mānoa, has been named one of the five newest members to the National Institute of Health's Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health (ACRWH). Yee was appointed by the director of NIH to the 18-member committee and will serve her term through January 2010.
The ACRWH provides leadership and reviews strategic directions for women's health research at the NIH. The committee also advises the Office of Research on Women's Health regarding research career development initiatives and monitor the inclusion of women in clinical research.
"It is an honor and privilege to serve on the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health," said Yee. "During my NIH service, I hope to highlight research concerns and expand the NIH research portfolio for Asian and Pacific Islander, and multicultural populations, enhance the inclusion of culture and acculturation, behavioral and contextual variables, and examine possible developmental and life span issues that may be critical in women's health research.
Yee's current research examines how gender, health literacy and acculturation influences health beliefs and lifestyle practices across three generations of Vietnamese and Pacific Islanders living in the United States. She has served on several editorial boards, including Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, Psychology and Aging, and Topics of Geriatric Rehabilitation. Yee is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and Gerontological Society of America. In 2004, she was awarded the Okura Community Leadership Award from the Asian American Psychological Association, for her outstanding community leadership benefiting the Asian American Community.


text:
Solved! Go to Solution.
The mystery to the root cause of this issue relates to voice mail.
Can you confirm that the phone service from Telstra supports a voice mail capability?
You can confirm this by listening to the dial tone on your phone which will be a stutter dial tone only if you have voice mails present and then clearing all VM messages and listening to the dial tone again which will no longer be a stutter dial tone.
The multi frequency burst you measured is the FSK signalling used to alert your phone to the fact that the Telstra NW has unlistened message or clear of messages. It is proceeded by a DC line reversal pulse. All this signalling is part of a standard used to alert phones to voice mail events and is periodically sent by the network.
The 36 missed calls is most likely due to the fact that your home phone doesn't correctly ignore the line reversal event which is a compliance requirement in Australian Standards S002. You can check this by observation by clearing all voice mail messages and missed call events in the home phone and then leaving a voice mail message and wait 2 mins
The missed call counter on you phone will advance to 2 (one for the unanswered VM you left + 1 for the line reversal + FSK signalling from the NW). You should challenge the supplier of the phone to ensure it complies with the Australian Standards S002 Clause 5.5 Signalling requirements.
Well I have done some additional study in this perplexing problem...such is the curse of being an engineer.
What we know at the moment is that the Gen 2 GW when it sends the periodic (every 36 mins) message waiting status to the VTech phone which stimulates a missed call event.
1). My 1st thought that it was related to the line reversal signal being detected by the phone as a ring event. BUT no this is not the case since the diode bridge test would have suppressed the signal however the problem isnt fixed.
2). This leaves the FSK signal generated by the modem to stimulating a missed call.
The FSK signal use Visual Message Waiting Indication messages will be delivered using the Multiple Message Format
Simply put this can be ON/OFF - to tell the phone that there is a message in Telstra's message bank plus additional parameter like time/date - telling the phone when the message event occurred.
If the time/date data is suppressed then the VTech phone doesnt increment the call counter. This can be seen on a CRO connected to the PSTN NW and noting the length the FSK signal. So the VTech phone is incorrectly using the time/date data to record a missed call event.
Work a rounds - disabling Telstra's VMWI service OR finding ta phone that complies with Multiple Message Format having a date / time signature.
Long Term fix Vtech - alters their design so that is time/date portion of the VMWI is supplied they dont count this a missed call.
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If I report this problem as a fault is there any chance that it will get fixed.
The mystery to the root cause of this issue relates to voice mail.
Can you confirm that the phone service from Telstra supports a voice mail capability?
You can confirm this by listening to the dial tone on your phone which will be a stutter dial tone only if you have voice mails present and then clearing all VM messages and listening to the dial tone again which will no longer be a stutter dial tone.
The multi frequency burst you measured is the FSK signalling used to alert your phone to the fact that the Telstra NW has unlistened message or clear of messages. It is proceeded by a DC line reversal pulse. All this signalling is part of a standard used to alert phones to voice mail events and is periodically sent by the network.
The 36 missed calls is most likely due to the fact that your home phone doesn't correctly ignore the line reversal event which is a compliance requirement in Australian Standards S002. You can check this by observation by clearing all voice mail messages and missed call events in the home phone and then leaving a voice mail message and wait 2 mins
The missed call counter on you phone will advance to 2 (one for the unanswered VM you left + 1 for the line reversal + FSK signalling from the NW). You should challenge the supplier of the phone to ensure it complies with the Australian Standards S002 Clause 5.5 Signalling requirements.
I have a recording of the ping / tone, if you need it. I have run it past a number of redundant technical people and a consensus is that it maybe a dialup modem ACK / ANS signal.
I don't have Stutter Dialtone. If I dial 101 # I am asked to setup MessageBank ,which I have not done. The service can not be remove by customer easycall codes .I have asked operators many times previously to have the SCL for message bank removed , but it's just appears too hard. I will monitor the line potential prior to the FSK burst and check for a line reversal and get back to you. I have left a message with VTECH asking about AS/CA S002:2010 and whether their NBN compatible cs18150-2 was compliant , the cordless system was purchased 9 months ago. . The missed calls increment every 36 minutes , this problem started about 3 months ago. It worked correctly before that. Thanks Kerborous.
I can confirm there is a 48volt line reversal before the FSK signal that caused the False Missed Call.
Kerborous, the story continues. Even though I didn't have Message Bank activated, I did activate it and went through the procedure .Turn on the Message Bank, initiate an incoming call, leave a message , dial tone changed to Stutter dial tone. The Missed call counter advanced to 2 missed calls. I dialed 101 and listened to the message that I had left . I deleted the left message and left Message Bank on the 36 minute false calls sill occurred . I deleted the call log on the Cordless and still the 36 minute false missed calls occurred. I turned off Message Bank and reset the call log and the False Missed Calls still come. This problem did not always exist ,compliance or not ,the common link here is an Upgade or Changes that Telstra has done a couple of weeks ago to the VOIP system.
Yastiandrie, Are you suggesting that a different model modem is required to eliminate this problem. So why did it work and now does not. Surley it is a network signalling fault.
I don't think @Yastiandrie is suggesting a different modem will fix the fault. At best Telephone support can do is to send you a new modem in a attempt to fix the problem. They will not be able to investigate and fix the problem.The problem has already been reported and is being investigated.
I have the same modem as you and don't have this problem with missed calls being recorded every 36 minutes...
I enquired with Vtech Australia and they confirmed that their cordless model cs18150-2 is compliant with AS S002 clause 5.5 . And the fault continues .
Sending out new Modems seems a knee jerk action. I have had mine change 4 times since I switched to NBN . None where faulty. There must me millions of modems in the post . One would hope they don't cost much.
Switched to Telstra from Optus myself on the 7 June 2019. Immediately found a number of silent missed calls registering on my VTech cordless phone screen. Would appear this is a problem that Telstra has known about for sometime re their Smart Modem Gen 2. Why an email advising of this from Telstra is not issued to new owners of this problem is a complete mystery to me. Bad PR. Total nuisance and I do hope Telstra fixes the issue with the modem or replaces the SM Gen 2 ASAP.
ProfessorPhone. I at one stage thought that might work so I went through the setting up of MessageBank ,and leaving a message as suggested by Kerborous. It did not solve the problem of False Missed Calls every 36 minutes. I am wondering if completely disconnecting the service in data and the reconnecting / reprogramming may fix the problem. Who knows.
Sorry I have been out of action for a while but I do note that you did make a key measurement "I can confirm there is a 48 volt line reversal before the FSK signal that caused the False Missed Call."
What this means is that the DECT phone is interpreting the line reversal as a missed call or as "ring" which is the root of the problem and not the GEN2 modem.
The 36 minute interval will be the timing of the NW alert which essentially indicating that you have a new message or no messages.
There are a number of ways an alert signal can be sent which precedes the FSK signal to the phone
1. A short ring burst.
2. A line reversal.
3. No alert signal.
For point 1,2 and 3 the phones should not see the alert as a missed call as per the standard S002 that I referenced.
So at this time I would state that the DECT phone has the problem and that you should ask V-Tech to confirm that that don't incorrectly interpret line reversals as missed calls.
The NW will send the status (alert etc) of the the NW messages periodically to indicate to the attached phones the existence of a message or if there are no messages. This design allows for a newly connected phone to sync up when 1st connected or if the user unplugs their phone and moves also losing the message waiting status.
When a new message is left or a message is cleared from the NW this triggers the NW to send the status to the phone.
In the case of @Mischa68 experience of moving between providers it depends two things:-
1. Did Optus provide a voice mail service and therefore the Alert / FXS signalling
2. What type of alert signal did Optus transmit - ie is there a line reversal?
BTW I would be very interested in the VTECH DECT phone model number that the thread is about.
Ultimately there are 2 variables about this perplexing problem
1. It only happens with VTech DECT cordless phone*
2. It only happens with Telstra modem.
If we swap the provider of the service or VTech phone the problem goes away.
Note: *On a T1000C from Telstra it doesnt happen. On my Gen2/Telstra service.
Thanks K.
Please be aware that Telstra distribute 2 brands of Gen 2 Smart Modems that visually look almost identical, but perform very differently.
The Technicolor is less buggy than the Arcydyne.
The techncolor has air vents on both upper edges below the lid and near the serial number.
The Arcydyne serial number appears to start with arc
You may wish to isolate which brand you have and try to get the other brand.
@Kerborous @ProfessorPhone the Cordless is. Vtech NBN compatible cs18150-2.
I have checked the Modem it is Technicolor SN CP 1826RAZVF. Model No.DJA0230 .
@Yastiandrie So the cause was a firmware download for fix Stutter Dialtone , that was not compatible with certain modems .
Next . What is the fix of the fix ? A different modem ? Waiting an update on what Has to be done to get this fixed.
Hi PMG67,
I have done a deep dive in the regulatory requirements. Phones like the Vtech DECT phone cs18150-2 to be compliant shall be uneffected by line reversals.
The partial extract from the relevant Australian Standard S002 is below. Now your earlier confirmation that the missed call counter is occurring after the line reversal gives good grounds to challenge vTech compliance.
In clause 220.127.116.11 is states:
184.108.40.206 CE shall be unaffected by—
(a) a permanent line reversal; or
(b) a short term line reversal of 40 to 200 ms;
which occur while the CE is in either the OFF-LINE or the ON-LINE
states. Compliance with Clause 5.1.2 should be checked by applications of
polarity reversals.
Please see the link to the full standard below:-
Having this same issue with a VTech 17550 on FTTN coax setup.
Modem specs:
@person7 Welcome to the fix your own fault team @Kerborous The Cordless works with a permanent reversal.
As for the fleeting test reversals , I have not a test setup to prove compliance , besides the supplier should have done it. If all else fails I may have to. An observation, when the Reversal and FSK signal arrives it is Close to 200 milliseconds long ,but the cordless handset screen lights and the Talk button backlight flashes for about 10 seconds , before the missed call counter is incremented.
Well the check for compliance would involve measuring the line polarity of the telephone line without any phone connected.
It would be approx 48Vdc (maybe less) and capture the duration of the short term reversal which would fall into the range 40 to 200ms. This is the alert signal that the modem generates on instruction from the NW that happens every 36 mins or after you leave a message.
WARNING: Voltages on the line cord can be quite large especially if a ring signal were to be generated 48Vdc + Ring voltage. In the PSTN NW the peak can be very high like 175vdc peak.
This is why S002 mandates that phones should not be effected by line reversals which appears to be the case with the VTECH unit.
BTW: Your observation "The Cordless works with a permanent reversal" is a requirement since the PSTN NW doesnt stipulate to connect the phone line copper pair to the phone with wires AB or swapped BA which means phone must work with +Ve or -Ve polarity.
@Yastiandrie wrote:
@PMG67it was a config update (not exactly a FW update) for smart modem gen 1's specifically. I'm not certain if there are any other similarities between the affected services besides them all using the same modem model, but if I was a betting man a different modem model has a high chance of resolving it as I have not heard of the same issue occuring on other models.
It appears that the problem is also occurring with the Telstra Smart Modem Gen 2 see person7's reply.
@Kerborous It has always been that telephones are not polarity conscious. If you give me few days I will do some CRO traces of the test reversals. If you would go back to my previous observations 3 weeks ago I identified that there was a 48 volt DC reversal associated with the FSK signal that initiated a False Missed Call. I will also try an old trick to mask the reversals and see what the result is.
@Kerborous I place a Diode Bridge in series with the line.
The Diode Bridge masked any change on the line polarity.
Apart from not recognising ring current as it also is rectified and becomes DC, the Cordless Phone operated for incoming and outgoing calls . And registered a genuine missed call
THE 36 Minute FSK SIGNAL INCREMENTED THE COUNTER that is with the line reversal masked , so the FSK is by it self incremented the counter, NOT THE REVERSAL.
So the False FSK is the culprit. It should not be there, as I have Message Bank disabled #99#.
How is Technical support going
So how do we get this fixed ?
Another confirmation update?
Get Telstra to send out a Generation 2 modem out to all those who have got Generation 1 ?
This is dragging out without a solution.
Issuing a Generation 2 modem will not fix problem. Person7 who has the same problem is using a Gen 2 modem.
I have a Gen 1 modem and am also using a VTECH phone T5250 but it does not register any missed calls every 36 minutes.
@cf4 @ProfessorPhone @person7 @Kerborous @Yastiandrie
My service is now working properly. Whether Telstra found a fix or I have found a fix I will never know.
so what did I do: Activated Message Bank *99#
Left a message .
Accessed via 125102
Listened to and deleted 5
Deactivated Message Bank #99#
Went to Telstra Chat and asked to have Message Bank Removed.
I was Transfered to NBN support.
After considerable time the consultant advised that they would disconnect MessageBank and I was to wait a few hours and Restart my Modem .
I waited a day and Thursday morning I restarted the modem.
the fault did not go away at this stage but by Friday Morning. 28/6/19 the fault had stopped.
But strange I can still dial 101 and get a NO MESSAGES announcement.
I suspect that I did not fix the fault , but it is fixed for NOW.
I guess I will never know, such is CrowdSupport.
When a diode is inserted in series with the phone line between modem FXS port and the PSTN jack of the phone then the Alert Signal will be altered as follows:-
Before diode is inserted the altert voltage signal would be:-
+48Vdc, -48Vdc for ~150ms duration, +48Vdc
After a diode is inserted then the altert voltage signal would be:
+48Vdc, 0 Vdc for ~150ms, 48Vdc assuming no stray capacitance so the phone will still be presented with a 150ms pulse of zero voltage which could explain the triggering of a call sense event.
To truely mask the alert a better test would be add 4 diodes (1N4004 or similar ) in a rectification bridge topology between FXS and phone terminals. This would effectively eliminate the alert pulse by rectifying it.
Now all these measurements may not be possible if message waiting was disabled.
A Diode Bridge was inserted not a single diode.
A diode Bridge would convert the negative 150 millisecond to a positive voltage. IE there is no change in voltage.
In actual practice the normal voltage on a phone line is negative and the reversal switches the negative voltage from the a to the b leg but it will still be masked by diode bridge.
This voltage reversal was used in pay phones to indicate the completion of the connection and was also use in pay phones on STD calls to indicate a meter pulse. I am not sure if it is still used.
My mistake I was thinking that it was a single diode.... in this case the DECT phone could be counting FSK message used to describes the presence of a message in the NW as a call event.
Which would still be a matter for DECT handset supplier to rectify .
This is rather strange to comprehend as FSK signalling is used during incoming calls to notify the user of the number of the caller (ie Caller ID).
Potentially there could be a bug in the DECT handset which incorrectly counts the every type of FSK signalling as a call event rather than using the ring signal to count call events.
The fault has gone , does a body know what fixed it. @cf4 Fleeting test reversal was used to detect customers phone that were barred to STD.
@PMG67 It was also used on pay phones. At least it was when I was a Technician. On the line reversal the coins dropped into the box.
I'm glad you were able to get through to someone to remove that Messagebank. I hope that does the trick.
Was there something further I could help you with?
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The Line Reversal was indeed used for several reasons in the PSTN phone NW
1. Payphones to signal when payment was needed
2. STD baring
3. Alert signalling to advise when VMWI was about to be sent.
This is why the Australian sold phones are required to comply with S002 clause.
In clause 188.8.131.52 is states:
22.214.171.124 CE shall be unaffected by—
(a) a permanent line reversal; or
(b) a short term line reversal of 40 to 200 ms;
which occur while the CE is in either the OFF-LINE or the ON-LINE
states. Compliance with Clause 5.1.2 should be checked by applications of
polarity reversals.
When Telstra disable / disconnect Message Bank, the NW voicemail feature then ALL the NW signalling, line reversal and FSK hopefully will be suppressed.
This will mask the VTech DECT Handset problem at the cost of deprecating the Messagebank feature. A solution that may suit some customers.
I had the NBN connected 3 days ago and I also receive a missed call every 36 mins on my Telstra V580 a wireless phone. I Have to go into the hand held and delete calls to see if any missed genuine calls are there bit annoying.
Hello PMG67 - I can confirm that these half hour (approx.) ongoing constant missed phone call records on my VTech cordless home phone only commenced on switching from Optus and plugging in the Telstra Smart Modem. From what I can gather from many many other entries in CrowdSupport, it is not a case of only the VTech phone. I have been now requested by Telstra to try another phone but my previous Telstra cordless won't charge up properly ie, faulty and I am certainly not going to purchase another home phone to test their theory. I DO HOPE Telstra technical people are monitoring these CrowdSupport conversations and not putting their heads in the sand. Other customers should also clearly indicate if they are experiencing the same issue with other brand phones. I also too contacted VTech itself and got a no help. everything is right with our product reply.
Did this work? I had a Telstra technician visit my home and he suggested that the missed calls may have started after a modem firmware update pushed through by Telstra as the problem never occurred about three weeks ago. He installed a completely new modem and updated it. This did not stop the 36 minute false missed calls from coming. I have tried to call him back and have left several messages on his mobile answering machine but he seems to be ignoring me. I think it is time to submit another complaint form.
Hi Jickkay,
Sorry to hear this is ongoing and it would be best to have our tech team check on this again here https://tel.st/8rxsn and we can escalate this to another tech visit if needed.
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Amid talk of apathy and despair on the part of Detroiters frustrated with the current state of affairs in the city, tens of thousands gathered at the intersection of Mack and Woodward Avenue to march in the in the Detroit Freedom Walk, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's historic march in 1963. Dr. King previewed his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in that march.
Lead by a contingency of present day civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dick Gregory, Freedom Walk marchers made their way down Woodward Avenue to Hart Plaza in a show of solidarity and voice their support for the principles of freedom and equality.
Organized by the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, participants voiced their opposition to revisionist policies regarding voters' rights, immigration reform and affirmative action recalls.
Detroit NAACP President Wendell Anthony said the march "signifies that the work for freedom and justice must continue" in Detroit and worldwide.
Sharpton says it's important to keep fighting for justice and marchers weren't merely taking "a nostalgia trip down Woodward."
For more see photos below:


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New York, March 26, 2012--The decision by a Venezuelan court to forbid the press from reporting on issues of water contamination without using a government-approved report is a clear attempt by authorities to censor critical information, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Daniel Guédez, a criminal court judge in the capital, Caracas, ruled on March 21 that any media reports on the quality of the local water supply must be based upon "a truthful technical report supported by a competent government body," the Attorney General's office reported. News accounts in recent weeks had questioned whether a nearby river that provides drinking water was contaminated with chemicals. The government has denied that the water is contaminated, news reports said.
"This is effectively a gag order on a matter of public health," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas. "Forbidding the Venezuelan media from reporting on the quality of the water supply is an outrage. Authorities should reverse this decision immediately."
Less than 24 hours before the ruling was made, President Hugo Chávez Frías asked the Attorney General's office and the Supreme Court to investigate anyone who alleged the water was contaminated, according to news reports. But in an interview on Thursday, Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz said the decision was unrelated to the president's statements, and that it had originated from a complaint made by three citizens who said the reports on water contamination were creating public panic. "The media has an obligation to inform truthfully and cannot generate this kind of fear in the population," Díaz said.
Local free expression group Espacio Público has said, however, that in the past, authorities have been uncooperative about sharing government-approved reports. After seeking official results for water quality tests last year, the group received a letter stating: "All the necessary tests were conducted...the quality of water in the city of Caracas is drinkable according to parameters established by the World Health Organization."
Chávez' administration has waged a systematic campaign to stifle critical reporting through regulatory, judicial, and legislative avenues, CPJ research shows. In 2010, a court barred local media from publishing images of crime in the run-up to the September legislative elections, a decision that followed years of politicized regulatory rulings that removed critical Venezuelan broadcasters from the airwaves.
- For more data and analysis on Venezuela, visit CPJ's Attacks on the Press.


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New results from Titan and Mars
New findings from the Huygens and Mars Express missions will be announced today, at a press conference in ESA Paris, coinciding with a number of scientific papers online today in Nature and Science. Presentations and images will be available after 16:00 CET on www.esa.int/marstitanresults.
The presentations include a set of new wide-ranging results from the Huygens probe's two-and-a-half hour descent and landing, part of the extraordinary NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moons.
At the same time, ESA's Mars Express mission is continuing its investigations of Mars, painting a new picture of the 'Red Planet'. This includes the first-ever probing below the surface of Mars, new geological clues with implications for the climate, newly-discovered surface and atmospheric features and, above all, traces of the presence of water ice on this world.
These and other exciting findings from the last year of observations and data analysis are the focus of today's press conference being held at ESA Headquarters in Paris at 16:00 CET.


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Luncheons, Internet at home and membership fees: all things you're paying for when it comes to a group of elected officials -- the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Board of Directors.
Their job, according to the website, is to ensure water resources are managed in a practical and cost effective way; the seven directors represent almost two million people in Santa Clara County.
Directors do not earn a salary, but are paid $286 per meeting and event they attend related to water district business, plus mileage. They can charge up to ten district-related events a month.
This is not unusual. NBC Bay Area called nine other large water districts in California and found board members getting paid up to $237 for each board meeting and event they attend, related to their water districts.
Total salary information is posted on the state Controller's web site. To check what your local special districts' salaries are, click here.
While SCVWD board members are picking up the highest fee per meeting out of the comparable special districts reviewed, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit also took a closer look at the types of meetings they're asking taxpayers to fund.
What was found: Some directors charging for events, which they admit, had nothing to do with water.
The District has a list of policies governing what types of meetings and events are appropriate to charge -- from ribbon-cutting ceremonies, to barbecues and meetings with other board members. The policies state board members are permitted to collect a "per-diem fee for attendance at events, as each member determines will best enable them to serve the District."
To view the policies click here
Patrick Kwok and Richard Santos brought home the maximum amount three years in a row, charging for ten meetings a month, every month. Last year that amounted to $34,323.60 just in meeting fees.
Director Richard Santos collected $50,474 total from the district last year, which includes meeting fees plus benefits and travel.
The Investigative Unit asked him about a meeting he charged with San Jose City Councilman, Pete Constant.
"We met on a retirement issue and also on district business, what I can do for him, education," Santos said.
Santos represents SCVWD district three, which includes Milpitas, Alviso and northern areas of Sunnyvale. It does not include San Jose.
You can see the water districts on this map.
According to Constant's online calendar, Santos requested the meeting to discuss San Jose's retirement issues on April 13, 2011. Both Constant and Santos serve on the San Jose Police and Fire Retirement Board.
NBC Bay Area asked Santos if water issues were discussed in this meeting.
"I always offer what can I do for you, education, what can I do," Santos said. "There is no meeting I go to without offering what can the water district do for you."
According to the calendar, Santos stayed 30 minutes and it cost the taxpayer nearly $300, including mileage.
Director Patrick Kwok collected $57,462 last year on meeting fees plus benefits and travel.
Last year he charged taxpayers to attend the city of Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce awards, San Jose State University's Engineering Banquet Awards and the Asian Pacific Resources Group Lunar New Year luncheon.
NBC Bay Area asked if water issues were discussed at these events.
"Water issues were not discussed," Kwok responded. He justified the charge, saying that other community members in attendance could potentially ask him a question related to the water district.
NBC Bay Area Investigative reporter, Jenna Susko, asked Kwok if it's appropriate to charge taxpayers for a meeting on the basis that someone may ask him a question about water.
"It's a judgment call," Kwok said.
NBC Bay Area presented these findings to Judy Nadler, head of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
"The presumption that when you go out in the public someone will, A) Recognize you are a water board member and B) will have a pressing issue that they want to discuss at a social event, I think it's actually unlikely," Nadler told NBC Bay Area. "You are not necessarily paid to show up you are paid to do your job."
Nadler told NBC Bay Area, they should be charging for events related to pertinent water district issues.
"If the gist of the discussion is not at all about water issues I would question why you would be in attendance," Nadler said.
It's not just events the board members charge to the district.
Kwok expensed $1,429 last year in membership fees to the Cupertino Rotary Club and professional engineering societies.
He told NBC Bay Area for the past year, he has stopped charging. According to new district rules implemented last month, board members are no longer allowed to charge for those.
However, taxpayers still pay for Director Santos to have internet access at home and when he moved, the public paid $126.51 for it to be installed at his new house.
NBC Bay Area asked Santa Clara Valley Water District CEO, Beau Goldie, if this was an acceptable charge.
"What is necessary is the board members have the right tools to do their job," Goldie said.
Goldie told NBC Bay Area that it is important for directors to make a connection to the community by attending events, since they are the ones who set policy. He added that everything the district does is transparent.
"I assume they are discussing district business and issues related to water," Goldie said. "There is an amount that's responsible for the board members to be honest on what they charge for."
Directors can also charge their $286 meeting fee to sit down with Goldie. Those meetings cost taxpayers $16,017.68 last year.
"I think the board members work pretty hard," Goldie said.
For that hard work, Santos told NBC Bay Area that he deserves a raise.
"I feel like we are underpaid," Santos said.
He followed that with, "I feel like I got what I deserved."
A few days after his interview, Santos told NBC Bay Area when he met with Councilmember Constant, they talked about labor negotiations and how the SCVWD can learn from San Jose's problems.
CEO Goldie also said the board is tightening its policies on reporting spending. They just approved to post all directors' spending on the web on a quarterly basis.
The SCVWD is one of around 3,000 special districts in California according to the state controller's office.
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(CNN) — Answers have been elusive on what may have contributed to the February 15, 2011, ambush that killed a U.S. agent and injured another while on assignment in Mexico.
Was Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata's death due in part to negligence by his supervisors? Do the U.S. gun shops that sold the weapons used in the attack share some responsibility? What about the armored vehicle company whose SUV failed to protect the agents?
Now, the family of the slain agent, in a $75 million lawsuit filed Tuesday, alleges that all these and more were responsible for Zapata's death. The court docket originally listed a $75 billion demand, but was amended on Thursday.
A second immigration agent, Victor Avila, was wounded when he and Zapata were ambushed on a highway in San Luis Potosi. The two were traveling to Mexico City in an armored car with diplomatic plates. They were run off the road and attacked from two vehicles by gunmen who fired indiscriminately, Mexican authorities said.
Avila is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit names more than 20 defendants, including the U.S. government, the straw purchasers who acquired the weapons used, and the federal firearms officials who oversaw the flawed "Fast and Furious" operation aimed at tracking the flow of weapons across the U.S.-Mexican border.
Some people, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, have asked whether a "gun-walking" program similar to Fast and Furious played a role in Zapata's killing.
The lawsuit alleges that as early as 2010, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had identified brothers Otilio and Ranferi Osorio and Kelvin Morrison as straw purchasers for Mexican cartels, but did not act to stop them from purchasing more weapons, a pair of which ultimately found their way to the crime scene in Mexico.
"ATF had an opportunity and probable cause to arrest the Osorio brothers and Morrison but failed to do so," the lawsuit states.
It names the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, as well as the supervisors of Fast and Furious, as the group that developed the strategy of letting guns "walk" that was allegedly also used in Texas.
The government "placed weapons in the hands of a dangerous criminal organization and failed to warn, thereby placing agents Zapata and Avila in harm's way," according to the lawsuit.
Tuesday's filing follows a similar lawsuit filed two months ago by the family of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. His killing in Arizona, near the Mexican border, brought the strategy of gun walking to light. Terry's family sued federal officials and the owner of a gun shop.
The Zapata suit goes further, blaming the agents' supervisors for sending them on the risky trip to pick up a package.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico had issued a warning to avoid driving in certain regions, and there were other options for delivering the package, the lawsuit states.
"Despite opposition by Avila and despite having full knowledge of the dangers present with the package pick-up, (the supervisors) instructed Avila and Zapata to proceed with the directive," the court document states.
The company that built the armored Chevrolet Suburban that the agents were in also shares responsibility for "faulty safety features" on the vehicle, the lawsuit alleges.
After Zapata was forced to pull over after being boxed in by his assailants, he placed the vehicle in "park," which automatically unlocked the doors, creating the opportunity the attackers needed to breach the vehicle, it says.
Finally, the lawsuit says the gun sellers should have been aware of false statements made by the straw buyers whose gun purchases ended up in Mexico.
"All of these illegal firearm purchases occurred under extremely suspicious circumstances," according to the lawsuit.
One of the gun sellers named in the suit, JJ's Pawn Shop in Beaumont, Texas, says it did nothing illegal.
The president of the pawn shop, Jim Hedrick, said he was not aware of the lawsuit, but remembers the gun purchase in question. The ATF and FBI both went through the buyer's paperwork and approved the sale, he said.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency continues to mourn Zapata's loss and honors his sacrifice, but it does not comment on pending litigation as a matter of policy, spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said.
Responses were not immediately available from the other named defendants.
One of the suspects in Zapata's killing, Julian Zapata Espinoza, also known as "Tweety," was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the United States in late 2011.
He is charged in a four-count indictment with murdering an officer or employee of the United States; one count of attempted murder of an officer of employees of the United States; one count of attempted murder of an internationally protected person; and one count of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence causing death.
Zapata Espinoza pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
By Mariano Castillo
The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


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Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. is an Environmental Services company offering (i) Measurement and Analytical services and (ii) Environmental Resiliency and Sustainability services to a diverse range of clients in industry and government throughout the United States and abroad. Our qualified engineers, scientists, technicians, associates and policy experts are proud of our ability to objectively help industry, the public and regulators work constructively together on environmental opportunities.
Enthalpy Analytical, a subsidiary of Montrose Environmental Group, is comprised of over 8 laboratories servicing air, water, soil and tobacco testing. Regulations drive the need for our services, but our unique capabilities allow us to add value to clients beyond environmental compliance. For our families and communities, we strive to protect the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the soil on which they live.
Enthalpy Analytical, is currently seeking a Temporary Full-Time Lab Assistant for our Orange, CA Lab.
The primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:
Montrose Environmental Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age (40 and over), ancestry, color, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), denial of Family and Medical Care Leave, disability (mental and physical) including HIV and AIDS, marital status, medical condition (cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, military and veteran status, national origin (including language use restrictions), race, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
As permitted by applicable law, employment with Montrose is at-will.
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We sell our fabric in 10cm increments so that you can get exactly what you need. For example, if you would like 1.8m of fabric you will need to select 18 units. Orders of more than one unit will be cut as one continuous length unless requested otherwise.
If you would like a swatch of one or more of our fabrics to check out the colour, weight or feel, we can send up to six swatches for the price of delivery. Click here to order.
We have lots more stock available in the shop that isn't listed online yet. If you're after something specific but can't see it listed, get in touch!
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Eastern Connecticut State University says longtime baseball coach Bill Holowaty has retired after being suspended for throwing equipment.
The Friday announcement said he leaves "a legacy of loyalty and commitment to student athletes."
School officials had said he was suspended with pay for the rest of the season for throwing a helmet into the bleachers during a game and failing to comply with school directives and policies.
A letter school officials sent him Monday said they also were investigating allegations he cursed in public and used abusive language. The letter was first obtained by The Hartford Courant.
During Holowaty's 45 seasons, Eastern won four NCAA Division III national championships.
He said Wednesday the situation was "very unfortunate" and "the press hasn't seen the hundreds of thousands of things" he did well.


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detavio necesitaba un nuevo diseño de camiseta y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
3 ganadores han sido elegidos entre 77 diseños de 24 diseñadores freelance.
THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE is a Christian idea that is being flushed through multiple mediums in order to spread. The core essence of this idea is this: through God, we should be continuously accomplishing more than we can imagine/think is humanly possible. God has called us to be serial doers of the impossible, so we should be living THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE. When God is in our life, not only does He want to do the impossible for us, but there are also no limits to His power. We see this through key scriptures:
*Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
* With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God
At the end of the day, THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE is an inspiring message to get people to do more. Think...the next WWJD (what would Jesus do)
General speaking, it is the Christian audience - people who are learning how to love God and follow Christ. Christians are on a continuous journey to learn how to become more Christ-like. It is a journey based on constantly seeking revelation about how God has called them to live so that they can apply it to their life. This is why they go to church, read the Bible, spend time in prayer - they are always trying to learn what God is saying to them about how to live so they can apply it in practice.
BOUND BY SELF-RELIANCE - "If I can't do it, it can't be done."
What gets in the way then of Christians living an impossible life is that too often they are dependent on self only. They, are too self-reliant. Times get tough, they have dreams, they need/want things to happen and they look only to themselves for solutions. When things seem too impossible for them to handle within their own power, they just assume then that it cannot be done.
Have fun! That's it. We are looking for great designs that will people will want to wear so that the idea can/will spread. We will pay each designer for the every design we like. We are open to graphic design, copy designs, whatever you can think of.
for more on the essence of the idea and meaning behind the symbol in the logo go here (it may give you ideas): http://detavio.com/2010/06/17/the-i…neak-peek/
Key brand elements attached as well as a jacket that is being produced now. The idea behind the jacket: An acronym, NIIIM, which stands for NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING where the symbol is used as one of the middle "I."


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Product reviewers wanted
I'm interested as well. Thanks for the website. Lots of great content.
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