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SUDBURY - With the clock ticking on�the town's�decision to reaffirm its membership with Minuteman High School, selectmen this week formed a special committee to help determine the best vocational education option for�Sudbury's students.
The vocational education options committee, which will be comprised of several elected officials, school administrators, and at-large members, will specifically tackle�the question of whether Sudbury should leave Minuteman.
At the very least, the town needs to decide if it will sign a revised agreement with the regional vocational district.
"By (next) May Town Meeting, we really need to know what we're going to do," said board Vice Chairwoman Pat Brown, one of the two selectmen representatives on the committee. "Just saying no to Minuteman is not an option - we need to provide a vocational choice for our students, so they have that option."
The new panel's overall mission, she said, would be to find vocational programs "that are both educational and financially appropriate" for Sudbury and its students.
One of the town's main problems with Minuteman, and one shared by several other smaller towns in the region that belong to the district, is the high cost�to send its�relatively�low number of students to the high school. Sudbury officials are especially concerned about the potential impact of a planned renovation of the school that could cost as much as $120 million.
Member towns have griped about the fact that non-member towns, whose students make up nearly half of Minuteman's enrollment, have not had to pay for the school's capital costs.
Already this year, both Wayland and Weston residents have voted in favor of having their towns leave the district. Several other Minuteman members, including Sudbury, decided to table a vote�to sign�a new regional agreement with the high school�introduced by Minuteman�earlier this year. Officials at the school have said agreeing to the new pact will make it easier for current member towns to leave.
The panel Sudbury has to put together to analyze the situation so far is comprised of Brown, fellow selectman Bob Haarde, Finance Committee member Bill Kneeland, Sudbury school board member Scott Nassa, and the town's representative on the Minuteman School Committee, Dave Manjarrez. Brown is also signing up�a member of the Lincoln-Sudbury school board as well as Curtis Middle School Principal Stephen Lambert and Lincoln-Sudbury Superintendent/Principal Bella Wong.
The town is planning to find two members of the general public to join the committee as well.
"This is a very important question, and so far it's shaping up to be a very good committee," said Chuck Woodard, selectmen chairman. "I'm pleased to see this happening."
Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW
New Sudbury group to examine voke school membership
SUDBURY - With the clock ticking on�the town's�decision to reaffirm its membership with Minuteman High School, selectmen this week formed a special committee to help determine the best vocational education option for�Sudbury's students.


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Jimmy Wales Says Irrelevance, Not Piracy, Will Doom Hollywood
from the times-are-changing deptJimmy Wales, who has become a bit of a thorn in the side of Hollywood of late, has given a speech in which he predicts that Hollywood is doomed, but not because of any threat from "piracy," but from the fact that technology and innovation means that the old infrastructure that filmmakers used to require is going away. As Ryan Singel at Wired reports, Wales' talk at the Internet Society's recent gathering let him predict that disruption was coming from the bottom up:
"Hollywood will be destroyed and no one will notice," Wales said. But it won't be Wikipedia (or Encarta) that kills the moviemaking industry: "Collaborative storytelling and filmmaking will do to Hollywood what Wikipedia did to Encyclopedia Britannica," he said.Of course, we've been seeing this trend already growing at the lower end of the scale for a while. For example, the power that individuals have to create amazing special effects has been documented for years, and the tools are only getting better and better. Does traditional Hollywood have even better tools? Absolutely, but this is a classic innovator's dilemma situation, where the tools at the low end are getting better at a faster rate, and they're reaching the "good enough" point pretty quickly -- such that the value of spending many many millions extra on special effects doesn't provide any significant benefit.
Wales hedged by saying predictions are easy — and he's usually wrong. But he looks at a generation of kids growing up in a world of video and mastering editing software at a young age. His own 12-year-old daughter, Wales said, is already adept at iMovie and won a local award for a short film she made.
And just as Wikipedia has show that collaboration on the web is possible (despite the messiness, flame wars and turf battles found on Wikipedia Talk pages), the new generation will find ways to collaborate online to create movies to entertain themselves and their friends.
And, Wales says, they'll do that with impressive special effects, CGI and even remote actors.
Add to that the growth of Kickstarter as an alternative funding platform, the growth of the internet as an alternative promotion and distribution method... and at some point the benefits of going with a traditional Hollywood studio become more difficult to quantify.
Of course, this isn't something that happens overnight, by any means. And there are some in Hollywood who appear to understand this and are working to get their studios ahead of the curve, though it's unclear if they'll be able to do that successfully. Either way, the point that Wales makes is a pertinent one. Instead of worrying so much about online infringement -- the studios might want to spend a little more time figuring out how they can remain relevant.
Filed Under: disruption, hollywood, innovation, internet society, jimmy wales, wikipedia
Companies: kickstarter

subset: commoncrawl


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StelleT necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
2 ganadores han sido elegidos entre 109 diseños de 28 diseñadores freelance.
Kerwin Rae - kerwinrae.com
Kerwin Rae is one of the world's #1 experts on Influence. He has been a been a Sales & Marketing specialist for 10 years and in the past 7 years he has coached and trained thousands of consultants from 5 countries on business development, marketing, sales, human behaviour and entrepreneurial psychology.
With a unique blend of psychology, quantum physics, neurobiology, and spirituality he reveals the truth around influence and how it is created at every level of reality.
Kerwin Rae has taught thousands of people from all over the world through his seminars and coaching network and in the past 5 years alone he has made well over $12 Million dollars for his clients many of them are home based businesses.
Kerwin is the author of "The Entrepreneurial Apprentice" training systems and co author of one the best selling series "Secrets of Marketing Experts Exposed".
Kerwin has been heavily featured in the Australian media including; The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Financial Review, Australian Marketing Magazine, Sky Business News, Qantas Business and is a regular on talk back radio.
Our desired audience would be:
1. Anyone looking at starting a new business
2. Anyone looking at generating real results & money for their existing business
3. Anyone looking to develop and package a product
They are wanting to not only work on their business they are wanting to work on themselves and their mindset.
- Entreprenuers
- Internet Marketers
- Product Developers
- Speakers
- Life Coaches
- Small Business Owners
We require a new Kerwin Rae logo.
It needs to fit in with our new website which is http://www.kerwinrae.com
Colours should be Blue, White, Silver, Black only. Use 1 or all, it is totally up to you - pls be creative with this - as long as it would match and fit into the new website.
Simple classic font is ideal.
Options for text in the logo include:
Using Initials: KR
Using web address: kerwinrae.com
Using straight name: Kerwin Rae
Some buzz words to describe what we are after include:
- Going with the Flow
- Holistic
- Success
- Vibration
- Water drop ripples
- Fun
- Energy
- Innovation
-- No clip art please.
The logo will be used online, on pull up banners, business cards and documents so it needs to be versatile enough to sit on a coloured or white background.
We will require layered high resolution .psd file plus high resolution jpg file.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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It's being billed as a set piece set-to. The rapidly approaching Autumn Conference in Glasgow is of great significance. Discussions that shape the content of the next General Election manifesto will be at the core of the agenda. It would…
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- SLF Conference, July 2014


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Police Investigating Armed Robbery at St. Cloud Super 8 Motel [SURVEILLANCE CAM PHOTOS]
ST. CLOUD -- St. Cloud Police are investigating an armed robbery at a motel early this morning.
Police say two black men, believed to be in their 20's, walked into the motel, showed a gun and demanded money.
The incident happened at the Super 8 Motel at 50 Park Avenue South just before 7:00 a.m.
The men left the scene without further incident.
Officers used a police dog to try to track the men, but were unsuccessful.
Police are asking anyone with information to call St. Cloud Police at (320) 251-1200 or Tri-County Crimestoppers at (320) 255-1301.
Here are two surveillance camera photos both in original size and blown-up.


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Brightest open hardware stars are in China
Keywords:hacking? reverse engineering? open-source hardware? IP?
EE Times Chief Community Editor Caleb Kraft sits down with Andrew 'Bunnie' Huang, an American hacker who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT and author of "Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering," to discuss open-source hardware.
This keynote speaker in particular has been an inspiration to me for quite some time. I had a few moments to talk to Bunnie Huang and asked a few questions.
Caleb Kraft: Where did the name "Bunnie" come from?
Bunnie Huang: There's a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur and his knights attack a rather demure looking bunnie, shortly after which the knights yell, "Run away! Run away!" in retreat. This "vorpal bunnie" appears as a character in a Nethack clone called Moria. That is my namesake, picked by my friends in middle school; it was shortened to simply "bunnie" upon matriculation at MIT, due to a character limit at the time on username length.
Kraft: You wrote a book about hacking the Xbox. Who do you think should read it?
Huang: The full title of the book is Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering. Really, the title should be "An Introduction to Reverse Engineering (Hacking the Xbox)," but nobody wants to read a book with the word "engineering" in the title. While the specific examples in the book are a bit dated now, the core material around reverse engineering is still relevant. You can download and read it now for free now at www.nostarch.com/xboxfree.
Kraft: What were you doing before you started reverse engineering the Xbox? What got you started in this area?
Huang: Same thing as I do every night, Pinky... take things apart! In all seriousness, I'm lucky in that what I did before the Xbox event is the same as what I do now—I take things apart, and I build things. I've always liked tinkering with hardware, and I've always worked in both forward and reverse. This is in part why I've resisted being typecast as "the Xbox hacking guy," because that hack doesn't define who I am; it's a snapshot of something I did once upon a time where I got really lucky. It's not a career.
Kraft: Open-source hardware seems to be in its infancy in terms of what business model people will implement. Are there any bright and shining stars you think are doing it well?
Huang: This is a tricky question, because it carries so many assumptions with it. The open hardware community itself still hasn't come to terms with what it even means to be open-source—there are layers of openness in hardware. For example, because I don't disclose to you the smelting process or mining location for the copper used in my circuit boards, does that mean the PCB is closed-source? Because a design uses a chip, but the mask patterns aren't open, is the design closed-source? To "build something from source" has a very different meaning in hardware than in software.
It also assumes that the One True Model of IP is the American model. That's a big assumption; China has a different model for IP. It's not quite the bleak picture of rampant thievery that pundits so blithely tout. But one thing is for sure: The ecosystem is much more "open" than the American model. I can get the schematics design source for lots of products in China, but with unclear or unknown licensing conditions. I call this the "Gongkai" model of open-source. So to some extent, the brightest shining stars in the open hardware world are the Chinese Shanzhai; they've turned this Gongkai IP model into billion-dollar hardware industries.
Kraft: Do you think the rise of OSHW will have an effect on opportunities for embedded systems designers?
Huang: Sure, it's had a big impact on me. Like I said above, I can get schematics for many things in China. So if there's a circuit I'm trying to design and I want to sanity check my approach or look for new ideas, I just open a book of schematics and have a read. I'm hanging out in Shenzhen right now, and across the street is a wonderful bookstore where they have a shelf chock-full of books with nothing but schematics in them. I can spend an afternoon just browsing and learn a lot; there's lots of stuff they don't teach you in text books that are very easily learned by reading schematics for real products that are actually shipping.
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Electronic Cigarettes – The Newest Rage
The newest fad that is sweeping the marketplace literally all over the world is the revolution of the electronic cigarettes. These popular little devices have become a viable alternative for the smoking of tobacco cigarettes. They work by producing a vapor that comes from within the device and simulates tobacco smoke, yet this vapor comes from a glycol liquid that is harmlessly vaporized.
The habit smoking cigarettes is a nasty and dangerous one. Of course there are many deaths worldwide that are attributable to cancer that is caused by tobacco smoke. There is little doubt that millions of people die yearly from lung cancer of which about 90 per cent comes from tobacco smoke.
There are over 200 caustic and carcinogenic chemicals that are contained in cigarette smoke, not to mention the sticky and gooey tar that builds up inside of the lungs. This tar is also cancer causing and it smothers the alveoli in the lungs, which are the main transfer points for oxygen to enter into our blood.
Cigarette smokers are not stupid, they are finding the switch to electronic cigarettes to be a no-brainer, given the dangers that tobacco has offered for years. They are caught in a habit they can't break and the e cigs perpetuate that habit, only now it is not dangerous.
The key to the habit is the nicotine that is found in the tobacco cigarettes. Nicotine is extremely addictive, and the withdrawal symptoms are similar to getting off of major drugs, so here is a way to switch and do so effortlessly.
Finding a good e-liquid store which allows a mixture of nicotine to be contained in the e liquid that gets atomized, so the user will get his or her nicotine 'hit' when they take a drag on the vapor. There are different strengths available, and the user can taper down the level of the nicotine gradually, until he or she no longer has the habit. It would be a good assessment, however to guess that many simply stay on the same level of nicotine, and go their merry way.
The electronic cigarettes also come with a varying array of different flavors, to 'sweeten the pot' so to speak. Everything from strawberry, lemon, lime, blueberry, cinnamon, honey to menthol, mint and chocolate and more come with the little bottles of mixture.
The devices themselves are morphing into more shapes, sizes and colors than just a boring cylinder that looks like a cigarette. Everything from boxes, rounded devices, and inventive shapes have surfaced, making things even more interesting.
Regulatory agencies are starting to make proclamations that these new devices now need to be regulated since 'nobody knows what is in them' and the public needs to be protected. Perhaps governments see the profit potential of taxing these devices and related products because they are making money.
Regardless, the trend is here to stay and is growing daily into a major industry with the major tobacco companies beginning to come on board as well. It is just now beginning to become very interesting, indeed.


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Representatives from the 42 schools that comprise the Mt. SAC area met Friday at Walnut High School to discuss releaguing for the 2014-16 cycles after learning Damien and St. Lucy's Priory won their arbitration case against the CIF-Southern Section to remain in the area for league placement rather than be moved into all-parochial leagues.
Mt. SAC area representatives already voted on releaguing a year ago with the understanding that Damien and St. Lucy's would be in parochial leagues.
Instead of simply voting to place Damien and St. Lucy's in one of the newly formed leagues agreed on last year, representatives voted to restart the process, which began with schools that asked for relief the first time. South Hills, Garey, Alta Loma, Baldwin Park, Pomona, Charter Oak and Glendora asked for relief again.
Once that was established, schools and leagues met and six proposals were submitted for consideration.
Damien submitted a plan that would have put the Spartans and St. Lucy's in the Palomares League with Bonita moving from the Palomares to the Baseline League, but Damien's proposal was the first to be eliminated.
The other five proposals put Damien and St. Lucy's in the Baseline league, which is where they ended up along with Chino Hills, Etiwanda, Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland.
"It's what we expected," Damien principal Dr. Merritt Hemenway said. "We had done our homework and talked to a lot of schools (about how the voting would go). We made a proposal that we thought was our best fit, but it didn't get much support."
Hemenway thought not being part of the process last year hurt Damien's chances of avoiding the Baseline League.
"Absolutely," Hemenway said. "There was a very clear indication that schools that spent a day here a year ago thought they were done and then we showed up. I don't know if the right word is backlash, but I got the sense that they didn't want to spend the time and reconsider.
"It is what it is."
The winning proposal submitted by Azusa, Chino and the Baseline League made sure all leagues had an even six teams.
In addition to the Baseline League, the Palomares League will consist of Ayala, Bonita, Claremont, Diamond Bar, Glendora and South Hills. The Hacienda League will feature Charter Oak, Chino, Diamond Ranch, Los Altos, Walnut and West Covina.
By placing Damien and St. Lucy's in the Baseline League, Ayala benefitted by moving from the Baseline to the Palomares League with Chino dropping from the Palomares to the Hacienda League.
Rowland also was a big winner in leaving the Hacienda League for the Valle Vista, which now will consist of Covina, Northview, Rowland, San Dimas, Wilson and Nogales.
"It will be a good move for us without a doubt," Rowland athletic director Ralph Harris said. "We'll be able to compete a little bit better. That was our original plan when this whole process started. We're going to be scrambling to make schedules but in the long run this works out best for us."
The Montview League will consist of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Duarte, Gladstone, Sierra Vista and Workman.
An interesting twist followed the final voting. Nogales was slated to get relief from the Valle Vista to the Montview League and Baldwin Park, which was asking for relief from the Valle Vista to the Montview, remained in the Valle Vista.
But following the voting, Nogales athletic director Bruce Alley argued his school didn't ask for relief and agreed to swap leagues with Baldwin Park, sending the Nobles back to the Valle Vista and giving Baldwin Park its wish of moving to the Montview. It was put to a final vote and approved.
"We never asked to leave and I'm fine with where we're at," Alley said. "I might not feel this way a couple years from now, but we'll see how the next two years go."
The Miramonte and Mt. Baldy leagues remained the same as voted on last year. The Miramonte will consist of Edgewood, Bassett, Ganesha, Garey, La Puente and Pomona.
The Mt. Baldy League will include Alta Loma, Chaffey, Colony, Don Lugo, Montclair and Ontario.


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PICO RIVERA >> A 16-year-old boy accidentally shot and wounded his brother with a shotgun late Wednesday at their Pico Rivera home, authorities said.
The injured 18-year-old man was struck in the legs, shoulders and arms by what was believed to be birdshot in the incident, but was expected to survive his injuries, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Scott Chapman said.
The shooting took place about 7:30 p.m. in the 5600 block of Eglise Avenue, the sergeant said.
The young men apparently discovered a shotgun in the home and were handling it when it discharged, striking the older brother, Chapman said.
"He was transported to (Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center) for treatment," Chapman said. "It's my understanding that he's going to be okay."
Deputies determined the shooting was accidental and no arrests were made Wednesday, he said.
Officials were continuing to investigate the incident and determine exactly who the shotgun belonged to, and how the 16-year-old boy ended up in possession of it.


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More Chinese cities likely to curb auto sales: industry group | Reuters
(Reuters) – Eight more cities in China, the world's biggest auto market, are likely to announce policies restricting new vehicle purchases, an official at the automakers association said, as Beijing tries to control air pollution.
Shi Jianhua, deputy secretary general at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), did not give details on the new measures and there has been no word from the government.
But the industry group warned the planned restrictions could cut vehicle sales by 400,000 units, equivalent to 2 percent of domestic sales in 2012.
"We shouldn't simply adopt restrictive policies as they have seriously dampened demand of the people," Shi told a news conference on Wednesday.
"It's not good for the healthy development of the Chinese auto industry or the formation of an harmonious auto society."
Kiyotaka Ise, president of Toyota Motor Corp's luxury Lexus brand, said he would welcome any measures that give incentives for the purchase of hybrid gasoline-electric cars.
"Given the size of the market, 2 percent is a lot," he told reporters in Tokyo, referring to the effect on sales of the possible restrictions.
"If the goal is to improve air quality there could be a business opportunity for hybrid cars," he added. "Perhaps there is a possibility that low-polluting hybrids could be exempt from restrictions."
In June, sales of German cars accounted for 26 percent of total sales in China, followed by Chinese vehicles at 25 percent, Japanese with 18 percent and U.S. cars with 16 percent, according to CAAM data.
Four Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guiyang and Guangzhou – already restrict vehicles on the road by using auctions and lotteries to sell a limited number of license plates.
The new curbs will likely include major provincial centers like Chengdu, Chongqing and Wuhan, Shi said.
Details of any restrictions are likely to be announced by city governments. Officials at the Ministry of Transport did not respond to requests for comment.
Analysts said CAAM's prediction on the possible impact of the new curbs may be an exaggeration and aimed at lobbying the government against such changes.
"I don't think eight more cities will suddenly implement curbs at the same time, especially when China's economy is facing downward pressure and the central government is encouraging domestic consumption." said Wu Wenzhao, analyst at Sinolink Securities.
The new Chinese leadership under president Xi Jinping has made improving the quality of life for Chinese citizens a centerpiece of policy, but stubborn air pollution has become an example of the challenge Beijing faces.
Last month, the State Council, or China's cabinet, approved a slew of measures to combat air pollution, including accelerating the installation of pollution control equipment on small, coal-fuelled refineries and curbing the growth of high-energy-consuming industries like steel, cement, aluminum, and glass.
The government has made similar promises over the last decade, but enforcement has often been lacking, especially at the local level.
Chinese cities rank among the most polluted in the world, and smog clouds over eastern China, visible from orbit, are easily found online.
Chinese air pollution is driven by many factors, in particular by the country's dependence on coal-fired power plants, but particulate pollution has been aggravated by a culture that has passionately embraced the automobile as a symbol of status.
The possible restrictions on new vehicle purchases come at a time when automakers are bracing for another tepid year of growth in a market that has been hit by a slowing economy as well as rising fuel costs.
A Beijing-based auto maker executive said this type of sudden surge in restrictions was nothing new in China but admitted that not all firms were ready to deal with it.
"Some of us are on a factory opening binge." said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
General Motors said in April it will add four new plants in the next three years in China to bring its production capacity to 5 million vehicles a year.
"There's huge risk if companies are not adding manufacturing capacity in China in a measured manner," the executive said.
More Chinese cities likely to curb auto sales: industry group | Reuters.


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Four people were killed in a collision between a school bus carrying young children and a tractor-trailer in Nebraska on Wednesday. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
A fiery bus crash in southern Nebraska on Wednesday evening has killed four people, including two students.
The accident happened when a tractor-trailer hauling hay bales collided with a school bus south of Blue Hill, Neb., around 4:45 p.m. local time on Wednesday, the Webster County Sheriff's Department told NBC News. The vehicles burst into flames after the collision, officials said, killing both drivers and two students and injuring five other children.
The injured, all of whom were between the ages of 6 and 10, were taken to area hospitals; one, a seven-year-old girl, was flown by medical helicopter to Children's Hospital in Omaha, Sara Bockstadter, Webster County attorney, said Thursday. The girl was listed in serious condition on Thursday morning, reported NBC station WOWT.com.
The victims of the crash were identified Thursday as Travis Witte, 21, of Blue Hill, the driver of the truck; Marla Wentworth, 59, of Red Cloud, the driver of the school bus; and students Dustin Tesdahl, 18, and Caroline Thallman, 10, both of Blue Hill.
The Blue Hill Community School District serves kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. The district has set up a crisis center at the school to help students and their families, Bockstadter said.
"Our first concern is for the families of those affected by Wednesday's events," Bockstadter said. "Our hearts go out to everyone who has been touched by this tragedy."
More content from NBCNews.com:
- 4 dead after school bus collides with semi-truck in Nebraska
- Michelle Rhee: How Obama -- or Romney -- should change education
- Four Marines accused of beating man in possible gay hate crime
- Kidnappers attach device to woman in bank robbery attempt, police say
- 500 firefighters battle blaze in California wilderness
- Video: Calif. officer crashes into home, suspected of DUI


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Huge waves at Mavericks injure spectators
Recommended Video:
The Super Bowl of Surfing lived up to its legend Saturday, and then some. The waves at Mavericks were so massive - the biggest in the history of surf contests, some said - that they caused collateral damage on the sidelines.
Long before South African Chris Bertish tamed a pair of monster swells to win the $50,000 first prize at the seventh Mavericks Surf Contest north of Half Moon Bay, a series of waves crashed into some of the thousands of fans who had flocked to the beach to try to see the action.
Just after 9 a.m. near Pillar Point, 13 people were injured and at least 40 people were knocked off their feet, officials said. Many of them had been standing on a short concrete wall and were thrown into rocks or mud by a surge of water.
A stage set up for an award ceremony toppled, while sound equipment meant for a beach broadcast was swamped.
The most serious injuries involved broken bones - including a man with a broken leg and a woman with a fractured ankle. Three people were taken by ambulance to local hospitals.
Wave faces up to 50 feet high
The injuries prompted authorities to evacuate one stretch of the beach and stop allowing newcomers to enter the main viewing area. Still, hundreds remained as vendors on the beach continued to sell pizza, sausages and T-shirts.
Some of the wave faces at Mavericks appeared to be more than 50 feet high. They were clean and smooth - ideal for surfing - thanks to low wind. Bertish was among those who said the waves might be the biggest ever surfed in a contest.
So big were they that they nearly knocked Bertish out in the first round. He said he was sucked back into a wave that he was trying to paddle past and was held underwater so long that he nearly blacked out.
"Finally I saw blue sky - the brightest blue sky you've ever seen in your life," said the 35-year-old Cape Town resident, who does marketing for two surf companies.
Bertish was competing in his first Mavericks event after years of trying to get in. He flew 36 hours after learning the contest had been called, leaving after work Thursday - "I didn't even pack a toothbrush," he said - and landing just after midnight Saturday.
Both of his boards didn't arrive, Bertish said, prompting a baggage handler to tell him, "Don't worry, you can just rent one."
Hoping for a view
Instead, Bertish used a board he had stashed with his friend Jeff Clark, who discovered Mavericks, first surfed it as a teenager, and co-founded the contest in 1999.
Before Bertish caught his first wave, thousands of spectators gathered at a nearby beach, arriving despite being warned by organizers that the surfers - a half-mile into the ocean - would be difficult to see. Some arrived at 4 or 5 a.m.
Organizers had provided nearby parking and shuttle buses to the beach, but had also encouraged fans to watch a Webcast or live feed on the big screen at AT&T Park in San Francisco, where admission was $25.
Hundreds clambered up hillsides trying to view the competition. Some hopped fences. But it was foggy and the waves were so big that a surfer on one wave could be obscured by the wall of water in front of him.
Many people simply sat on the beach and watched a big screen. Others stared out at the water, in the general direction of the contest.
"We're catching the Mavericks even though you can't see a friggin' thing," said Debbi Jones of Menlo Park. "Now we can say, 'I was there.' "
"I thought I might have seen a person at one point," said her husband, Conrad Jones. "But it was fleeting."
Injuries 'predictable'
The waves that injured spectators rolled in before a 10 a.m. high tide. They did not come without warning: The wall hit by a surge of water had already been covered by smaller incursions, but fans had returned to it.
One wave knocked down Betsy Foreman, 48, of Ukiah (Mendocino County), and broke her ankle. She had been part of the way up a hillside with other fans but had come down and was walking away from the water at the urging of San Mateo County sheriff's deputies.
"The wave knocked us down and washed people on top of us," said Foreman's fiance, Dan Quarles. He didn't blame organizers, saying, "You take your chances."
Mary Gram, 51, of San Rafael appeared to have a broken or dislocated middle finger on her right hand. As she waited for medical attention, she said, "I guess I'm lucky. But I lost my iPhone."
Grant Washburn, a 42-year-old surfer from San Francisco and a veteran at Mavericks, said the injuries and wrecked equipment on the beach were "absolutely predictable."
"They should never have put anything there," Washburn said. "There's a high tide with a 25-foot swell, and they set up right where the water washes over. This is why I tell my wife and kids not to come."
"That's why the engineers put a wall there," he said. "It's well documented and understood by people. You could have easily had a kid, or an adult, killed."
'Consistently bombing'
Keir Beadling, the chief executive of Mavericks Surf Ventures, said organizers will investigate what happened to see if changes need to be made. But he downplayed the injuries to spectators, saying they should have been watching on the Webcast or at AT&T Park.
"It's probably been blown out of proportion," he said on his cell phone, while riding in a boat a half-mile from the shoreline. "We're all having to deal with Mother Nature. Everybody has to exercise common sense."
The injuries, he said, "are the type of things that happen when you're out in nature. We're not in a parking lot ... to watch these guys surf in these conditions is extraordinary."
Surfer Ion Banner said the waves were "consistently bombing." In the first heat of the day, he was running out of time and needed a big score. So he paddled into a wave that he said he might have normally skipped.
"It was brutal. I free-falled 10 or 12 feet. I never even connected. My board was doing a wheelie," he said. "It was one of the 10 worst wipeouts I've ever had."
When he emerged from the "spin cycle" of the crashing wave, his nose was bleeding and his right eye was bruised. He was dizzy and felt ready to throw up. Worst of all, time was up and he was eliminated.
A majority of the surfers voted over e-mail to hold the contest Saturday after consulting weather reports and buoy readings. But some voted no, worried that the waves might be too big, wind-chopped and dangerous.
The event came after a stormy offseason in which Mavericks Surf Ventures sacked its contest director, Clark. Clark sued last month, saying he wasn't paid thousands of dollars in promised salary and royalties.
Bruce Jenkins: In the end, Saturday's event at Mavericks wasn't so much a contest as an elevated state of mind. B1
Online: To see the Mavericks photo gallery, go to sfgate.com.


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Retirement planning officials are warning plan sponsors about a Yale law school professor's threat that he plans to release a study next spring asserting that they have breached their fiduciary duties with respect to plan costs and investments. Still, some in the industry caution that the study relies on old data.
The yet-to-be released study by Ian Ayers, William K. Townsend professor at Yale Law School, and Quinn Curtis, associate professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law, is creating a firestorm of opposition among retirement planning executives. They argue that while the professors' evaluation of the data used in the study is flawed, it is sure to spark inquiries from Congress and clients.
The Yale professor has sent letters to approximately 6,000 sponsors of 401(k) plans claiming that many of them may have breached their fiduciary duties by sponsoring a "potentially high-cost plan," and that they consider improving their fund lineup and doing away with more expensive fund offerings, according to Fred Reish (left), partner and chair of the financial services ERISA team at Drinker Biddle & Reath.
Ayers threatens in his letter to plan sponsors that the study results—which he says are based on data compiled from Forms 5500 for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009, as well as BrightScope data—will be given to The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, as well as disseminated via Twitter, with a separate hashtag for each company's results.
See also: 8 things to know about fiduciary liability
In a July 23 Client Bulletin, Reish and his colleagues warn that while the Yale professor's data evaluation is questionable, and "may not be accurate or relevant to their plans," plan sponsors should take it seriously.
Indeed, Eric Ryles, managing director of Judy Diamond Associates, publisher of retirement and employee benefits industry prospecting tools and plan data, says that the professors' analysis is based on dated information. "The study is based on very outdated information from 2009," Ryles says. "There are currently 79,000 or so 2011 filings which should meet the same basic criteria as [the Yale professor's survey] sampling. There are approximately 1,500 or so 2012 filings which would do the same."
The study also uses information from the annual 5500 forms that is "likely incomplete and in many instances is not reflective of a plan's true costs," argue the Drinker Biddle lawyers in their client bulletin.
Further, the Drinker Biddle attorneys argue that the Yale prof's study "fails to consider relevant factors about the services being obtained for the indicated costs, the structure of the plans and the extent to which the costs are attributable to plan services that justify the cost because, for example, they help participants to achieve favorable outcomes."
As a measure of fiduciary performance, the "comparison of plans based solely on cost is at best incomplete and misleading," as a fiduciary's duty "is to ensure that costs are reasonable in light of the services being provided, not to provide the cheapest plan," the Drinker Biddle attorneys say.
Furthermore, for those plan sponsors that have already taken action to reduce plan costs and provider compensation from 2009 levels under ERISA 408(b)(2) fee disclosure rules, "the letters (and the study) are moot," the Drinker Biddle attorneys argue.
While the study does have flaws, given the heightened focus on plan expenses by the Department of Labor as well as in "class-action litigation" plan sponsors who received a letter "have a right to be concerned," the Drinker Biddle attorneys say, as do plan sponsors who haven't received a letter.
Reish urges record keepers, advisors and plans sponsors to brace for the study's release and take the following steps:
- Record keepers, he says, "should consider communicating with their plan clients about the issues and inadequacies of the analysis it applies to specific plans, and should be prepared to respond to inquiries from plan sponsors about the costs of their plans."
- Advisors, Reish says, "should be talking with their plan clients about the [professor's] letters and the study–and should be prepared to answer questions about their fees and the costs of the investments they recommend."
- Plan sponsors, "if they have not already done so," Reish says, "should obtain benchmarking data on the cost of their plans and determine if the fees and costs are reasonable relative to the services being provided."


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Big, Bold and Beautiful! Make a statement at your party with a stunning giant balloon filled with vibrant, luxury, tissue paper hearts.
The balloons are supplied flat packed ready to be filled with helium by you. We offer two sized of helium canister:
These helium canisters are disposable and therefore classed as perishable. They are delivered direct from an external supplier, so whilst we endeavour to ensure your helium arrives on your chosen day, it will not arrive with your balloons, but may arrive slightly before or after your delivery.
For more information on our helium and guidelines, visit our helium page here.
For inflation, our recommendation would be to have a tape measure, get 2 chairs and measure a space of 70cm between the 2 chairs. Blow the balloon up with the helium in between the 2 chairs until it is touching each chair and then you will know it is filled to exactly the right size to hold the weight of the tail.
If you are not using a tassel tail, we recommend filling your balloon partially with air, as the the pyramid weights do not support a full helium giant balloon on it's own.
For giant balloons on plain ribbon or short tassel tails we recommend a ratio of 60:40 helium to air.
TOP TIP: For the confetti balloons, put a puff of air into the balloons before the helium to create static. This way the confetti will stick to the sides of the balloon.
The balloons are made from excellent quality latex - the balloon choice of professionals.


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Flying like professionals
When children travel by themselves, Lufthansa temporarily becomes their family. The airline has, in fact, been taking special care of young customers for almost 50 years. We accompany Paula and Karl, both seven years old
The book Detective Stories for Young Readers is going into her carry-on bag, Paula Wendt decides. "It's fun, you have to guess!" The seven-year-old also thinks it's fun going places without her parents. "I went to buy milk by myself for the first time last week," says the second grader from Moosach, near Munich, stuffing her plush toys Bear and Camel into her knapsack.
But she was only six when she flew by herself for the first time – home to Munich on board Lufthansa after visiting her grandmother in Hanover. Paula proudly displays the dates in her Lufthansa Logbook. "We were at least as nervous and excited as she was," says her father, Dirk Wendt, "a child's mood can shift quickly, but Paula was great."
We set off for the airport. Today, Paula's traveling all the way from Munich to Dubrovnik, to visit her other grandparents in Croatia. It's a "test flight" for future vacations there. "This way, Paula could fly on ahead or stay longer if we had to return early," explains Wendt in the car. The 46-year-old and his wife, Anita, both work in insurance. "Lufthansa's UM service is a boon when both parents work."
UM stands for "unaccompanied minors," and Lufthansa has been offering this service since 1968. Every year, 80 000 children ages five to eleven take advantage of it worldwide. "The number of UM bookings has been fairly constantly at this high level for the past few years now," says Astrid Holstein, head of the UM service in Frankfurt. Weekends are busy, too. "We see more and more children whose parents have separated regularly flying from one city to another, depending on whose weekend it is," says the expert, who takes the UM service very seriously: "It's a real challenge because the children are entirely in our care." Attendants are specially trained, and the number one rule is: Never lose sight of your charges, no matter what.
When flying Lufthansa, UM flights with transfers are possible too – a service that very few airlines provide. Roughly half of the young passengers take advantage of it every year. As many as 600 children change planes in Frankfurt on peak days during school breaks. If one misses a connection, the attendant goes along to the hotel with the child and spends the night. "We're prepared for this eventuality at all the other airports, too," says Holstein.
At Munich Airport, everything goes smoothly. Papa Dirk is asked to show identification at the UM check-in desk. Daughter Paula slips her ID and boarding card into the yellow bag around her neck, which also contains the form authorizing her grandfather to pick her up. Dirk Wendt paid the extra charge when he booked the flight. The service costs 50 euros for German and European routes, and 120 US dollars on intercontinental routes. Lufthansa attendent Lisa Noller arrives and says hello to Paula.
"Some children cry and are afraid to leave their parents, others can barely contain their excitement," she tells us, "Paula is the third kind of child." After hugging her father goodbye, Paula marches off happily with her big friend toward the security checkpoint. "It never beeped until I was five," says the young frequent flier, who has already been to Namibia, Dubai and Australia. In the children's lounge, which has a foosball table, toys, snacks and beverages, Paula draws a picture of an island covered with palm trees.
"I've been a Senator since I was two." The Lufthansa customer who fits this bill is now seven years old: Karl Niermann from Essen. He has flown by himself already, too, and the only thing he thought was strange was that "nobody was sitting next to me that I knew." On the lookout platform at Düsseldorf Airport, Karl tells us his plans: "I'm going to Dubai with my little brother, Paul, in the fall break; we're flying by ourselves. That's cool. We'll join my mom and dad and little sister there." His mother, Andrea Niermann, a businesswoman, nods: "It's a convenient solution for the entire family." She fully supports her independent sons: "Flying by yourself at that age is like pushing back boundaries. Once you've done it, you have a right to be proud."
She speaks from experience: The 43-year-old was seven herself when she flew for the first time – unaccompanied. For parents, the most important thing is trust in their own children and trust in the airline. "There's no safer way for Karl to travel than with Lufthansa," says Niermann. "Letting him travel alone by train or with someone in a car would be very difficult for me." She's also happy that Lufthansa has extended its children's entertainment program to include more films, and for different age groups, as the Niermann brothers will soon see for themselves. The only thing their mother regrets is that there's no sibling discount.
It's boarding time in Munich: A special shuttle takes Paula straight to the plane. Unaccompanied children are always the first to board, and the crew line up to receive them at the door. Paula hands the captain her logbook so he can enter the dates. At Paula's seat, flight attendant Christine Drexler says: "Do you know where the button is? If you press that one, I will come." Paula stows her book of detective stories in the seat pocket. "I might want to read a little bit later," she explains. The aircraft rolls toward its starting position. Is she nervous, flying without her parents? "Nope. I'm used to it," she says.
"We want to know whether or not the children are happy, and what to watch out for," says UM manager Astrid Holstein. Food intolerance is affecting more and more young passengers.
"It's important that the older ones at least keep this in mind and let us know," she says. Roughly half the UM passengers speak languages other than German at home, and if at all possible, they are assigned attendants who speak their mother tongue. "If our service creates a positive feeling and happy memories for the entire family as well as helping them solve a logistical problem, then we have achieved our goal," says Holstein. After all: "Today's unaccompanied children are tomorrow's customers."
We land in Dubrovnik. A Croatian attendant picks Paula up at the gate, accompanies her through passport control and out to the exit, where Paula throws her arms around her grandfather Miho Glavinić's neck. "Now I can come visit you in the vacation!" The final leg of the journey is the car ride along the coastal road. Paula snuggles up to her plush toys and yawns. Her detective stories will have to wait until another day.


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Texas Size and Weight Limits
Texas has established size and weight limits for vehicles and loads moving with or without an oversize and/or overweight permit on Texas roadways and bridges.
- Width is measured from the outside points of the widest extremities, excluding safety devices.
- Height is measured from the roadbed to the highest point of the load or vehicle, whichever is higher.
- Length is measured from the foremost point of the vehicle or load, whichever extends further, to the rearmost point of the vehicle or load, whichever extends further.
- Weight includes the weight of the vehicle or combination, plus the weight of the load being transported.
Legal Size and
Weight Limits
The following maximum dimensions may be operated on Texas' highways without a permit:
- Width:
- Passenger vehicle (and its load) - 8'
- All other vehicles (and loads) - 8'6"
- Height – 14'
- Length:
|Vehicle Type
|Length Limit
|Single motor vehicle
|45 feet
|Semitrailer, of two-vehicle combination
|59 feet
|Two-vehicle combination, other than a truck-tractor combination 1
|65 feet
|Three-Vehicle combination other than truck-tractor combination 2
|65 feet
|Each trailer or semitrailer of a twin-trailer combination
|28.5 feet
|Stinger-steered auto/boat or traditional auto/boat transporter (truck-tractor) 3
|Truck towing a trailer transporting boats
|65 feet
|Front overhang
|3 feet
|Rear overhang
|4 feet
- Weight: 4
- Gross - 80,000 pounds maximum
- Single axle - 20,000 pounds
- Tandem axle group - 34,000 pounds 5
- Triple axle group - 42,000 pounds 5
- Quad axle group - 50,000 pounds 5
1 Length limit may only be increased with a permit if the vehicle combination complies with the permit requirements both with and without a load
2 Length may not be increase with a permit
3 Semitrailer length may not be increased with a permit
4 The basis for maximum legal weight is the number of axles. This information, in conjunction with the Permissible Weight Table, is used to determine maximum legal weight for a vehicle.
5 An axle group must have a minimum spacing of 40 inches between axles within the group
Size Limits for
Movement with a Texas Permit
The following maximum dimensions may be operated on Texas highways with a permit:
|Width Limits
|Maximum width permitted on holidays
|14 feet, except for manufactured housing
|Maximum width permitted on controlled access highways (Interstate Highway System)
|16 feet, except for manufactured housing
|Maximum width permitted without a route inspection certification by applicant on file
|20 feet
|Height Limits
|Maximum height permitted on holidays
|16 feet
|Maximum height permitted without a route inspection certification by applicant on file
|18 feet, 11 inches
|Length Limits
|Maximum length permitted on holidays
|110 feet
|Truck or single vehicle
|75 feet
|Front overhang
|25 feet
|Rear overhang
|30 feet
|Maximum length permitted without a route inspection certification by applicant on file
|125 feet
Weight Limits for
Movement with a Texas Permit
The maximum permit weight for an axle or axle group is based on 650 pounds per inch of tire width or the following axle or axle group weight, whichever is the lesser limit.
|Axle Group
|25,000 pounds
|Tandem (two axle)
|46,000 pounds
|Tridem (three axle)
|60,000 pounds
|Quadrem (four axle)
|70,000 pounds
|Quint (five axle)
|81,400 pounds
|Six or more axles
|Determined by MCD based on engineering study of the equipment and measurements.
- An axle group must have a minimum spacing of 40 inches between axles within the group.
- Weight may not exceed the manufacturer's rated tire carrying capacity.
- The weight of two or more consecutive axle groups with an axle spacing of less than 12 feet between groups, will be reduced by 2.5% for each foot less than 12 feet.
- The weight for an axle group should be distributed equally between axles in the group to not allow more than a 10% weight difference between any two axles in the group.
Trunnion axles may have up to 30,000 pounds per axle if the trunnion configuration has two axles, eight tires per axle, the axles are at least 10-feet wide and there is at least five feet of spacing between the axles, but not more than six feet.
Travel on load-restricted roads requires that the axle and axle group weights be load-zoned. Load-zoned weight is 10% less than the maximum permitted. For example, load-zoned weight on a tandem is 41,400 pounds.
Vehicles and loads with axle, axle group and gross weight that exceed these limits may qualify for a Super Heavy permit.
* Some crane and oil well servicing unit related permit types allow weight in excess of 650 pounds per inch on the steer axle(s).


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Lawyers for Landlord Tenant Law in Preston GA
WiserAdvisor's Directory features Preston Lawyers committed to providing timely responses and professional services to our members. Review their business profile, FAQs and credentials. Select the Lawyer in Preston who suits your needs the most. Call the Lawyers directly or click on their website link to learn more about their business.
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Alex Simanovsky & Associates
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Britney Spears Talks Sex, Plastic Surgery in New Out Magazine
If we could say a few things about our culture it's that it has come to relish more than fattening up a pop star on a greasy diet of hype and frenzied devotion, only to the turn around and eat her alive an album or two later.
Ever since she snarled onto the scene in her Catholic school girl uniform in 1999, Spears has been the go-to girl whenever the world is looking for a punch line or a punching bag. At first it was "her music has no substance" or "she's lip synching" and then there were the darker, more troubling episodes in her life to mine for material. But we have a confession to make: We love Britney.
We love her because she gives us the kind of pop music we demand for our workouts and woozy weekend nights, and because she has never tried to play the guitar or wandered off to make a country album. We love her because she's a survivor, and for all of the sh*t that's said about her, she still glides to the top of the charts whenever she releases an album. We love her because she has a "BS Alert" on her website to squash the almost daily rumors of new pregnancies, marriages, or demands to someday be cryogenically frozen. We love her because even the Super Bowl's rabid, testosterone-drunk fans couldn't keep her from being the top trending item on Twitter on the biggest sports Sunday of the year. We love her because she loves strawberry Frappuccinos and grits blanketed in Velveeta cheese. We love her because in 2010 she raked in more money than Lady Gaga even though her latest album, Circus, was already well over a year old. We love her because for all the pythons and pyrotechnics and red vinyl cat suits, she still feels like someone we could dish with about boys over a basket of bread sticks at the Olive Garden. We love her because she keeps us dancing, she keeps us guessing, and while the other famous former Mouseketeers have dried up, bombed out, or otherwise failed to keep our interest, Britney still has us coming back for more.
On the eve of the release of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale, we fired Britney a slew of questions ranging from the candid to the ridiculous to find out a little bit more about the woman the world is mistakenly convinced it already has all figured out.


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In celebration and solidarity, I thought I'd do another shamelessly commercial Thursday Thirteen to share my love for all things Aldi.
While doing random research for this post, I discovered that Trader Joe's and Aldi are kissin' cousins, which comes as no surprise to this gal. Some of my favorite products at Aldi, I once purchased at Trader Joe's. I was especially glad when I stopped having to trek over to TJ's for #3. Don't get me wrong, I still head over every once in a while for a special treat, but it's definitely something I do for special occasions rather than routine shops.
In my very unscientific trial, I am finding that I can often get things cheaper at Meijer using my Grocery Game list. But I do love many Aldi items, and their prices usually cannot be beat if you don't combine sales with coupons. Here, in no particular order, are some of my faves:
- Milk and Honey hand soap
- Jasmine rice
- Frozen 'haricot verts'-style green beans
- Canned baked beans
- Dee-licious canned corn
- Cat litter
- Tandil oxygen activated stain remover (don't make me live without this)
- Their version of the Magic Eraser sponge (you need one)
- Apple juice (It is not pretty if we run out of apple juice in this house)
- Chex-style snack mix (I occasionally run out of this just on principal)
- Peppercorn potato chips (heaven)
- Ground turkey (haven't found a better price)
- I love their frozen "crispy" chicken (combined with mashed potatoes and green beans for a quick, easy, comforting, kid-friendly meal)


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For years, Republicans in Congress have promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, claiming that its requirement for nearly everyone to buy insurance or pay a fine is burdensome and costly, and it doesn't give people enough flexibility to get the coverage they need.
Now that they're in charge, the bill they've released as an alternative (the American Health Care Act) would effectively eliminate the requirement to buy coverage, and it could open up more health care choices, but it's under fire because it may cause millions of people to lose their coverage. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, up to 24 million more people could be without insurance by 2026 if it passes.
So what are the differences between the ACA and the GOP alternative, and what does it all mean to you and your health care? We put some of your questions from our Twitter chat (#ACAchat) earlier this month to Alison Kodjak, NPR health policy correspondent, and Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News.
Many questions came in about the elimination of the requirement to buy insurance, known unflatteringly as "the mandate," and how the lack of one might impact the health insurance market.
Is the mandate in the GOP bill? It won't work if people only sign up when they are sick.
Kodjak: The mandate is technically still written into the law, but since no one will enforce it under this new bill, it's unlikely to have any impact. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service has already issued some guidance that suggests it may not enforce the mandate very actively even now, before this bill becomes law. The result? People who think insurance is too expensive and don't expect to need it are unlikely to sign up for a health plan.
Rovner: It's true that GOP the bill technically preserves the mandate, but it eliminates the penalties. Instead, the bill would require those with a lapse in insurance of more than 63 days to pay an insurance premium that's 30 percent higher for one year. Analysts say that could actually serve as a disincentive for healthy people to purchase insurance if they've had a break.
Can someone wait until they are sick to buy insurance, knowing that they would have to pay a 30 percent fine?
Rovner: Not exactly. There will still be standardized open enrollment periods once a year, and you will only be able to buy insurance outside of those windows if you have a life change, like moving or losing a job. But if you're willing to wait as long as 11 months, then yes, you can wait and buy insurance after you get sick.
Kodjak: It's not without risk. The Department of Health and Human Services has already proposed regulations that would reduce that open enrollment period to six weeks from the current three months. So a patient may incur some health care costs while awaiting the open enrollment, and then face the 30 percent penalty when they do buy a health plan. However, if the individual has a health issue where treatment can wait, then they certainly can enroll at the correct time and then seek medical care.
We also got a lot of questions about the new tax credits to help people buy insurance that are in the GOP bill, and how different they would be from the structure of purchasing help in the ACA.
Explain the difference between tax credits and subsidies, and will tax credits will be distributed quarterly or at the end of the year?
Kodjak: Both the ACA and the AHCA use advanceable, refundable tax credits. That means the government each month sends the tax credit amount to your insurance company.
We refer to the Obamacare financial assistance as a "subsidy" in part because the amount fluctuates and is based on your income – the idea is to limit your health costs to a specific percentage of your income. In addition, under the ACA, there are payments to insurers to help cover the co-payments and deductibles of lower-income people.
Rovner: The tax credits differ in how large they are and how they are calculated. The ACA tax credits are based on income and how much insurance costs in a given area. The GOP credits, by contrast, are based primarily on age and do not vary according to the cost of insurance in an area, so in low-cost parts of the country they will go farther than in very high-cost areas.
In addition, the ACA has a series of subsidies that help those with low incomes (under 250 percent of poverty; about $50,000 for a family of three) pay their deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses in addition to the tax credits to help pay for premiums.
Why does the GOP bill provides age-based tax credits instead of income-based ones?
Kodjak: The basis for age-based tax credits is that people who are younger tend to have fewer health costs, so insurance policies are likely to be lower priced for them than for older people.
Republicans prefer the fixed credits in part because they are cheaper, and more predictable, than the income-based credits under the Affordable Care Act. That's because those ACA credits rise as premiums rise, giving insurers little incentive to keep their premiums low. Republicans hope that by restraining the government's financial help to patients, insurance companies will offer cheaper policies that better match the cost of the tax credits.
Rovner: Younger adults, on average, need less health care than older adults. The ACA limited the differential in premiums for older adults to three times more than the amount charged to younger adults. The GOP bill would change that so older adults could be charged five times more. The change would make insurance less expensive for younger people, likely enticing more of them to enroll, and lowering premiums for all, at least marginally, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But it would dramatically increase premiums for older adults, particularly those aged 55-64, just under the age to qualify for Medicare.
Which brings us to this question, which represents several we received about how the ACHA appears to disproportionately impact people ages 55-64.
Do I face a penalty for waiting to buy health insurance until I'm eligible for Medicare in three years? I'm concerned that I'll be stuck with an expensive plan.
Kodjak: No 30 percent penalty if you wait for Medicare, but remember, if you get sick while you're waiting, you could be in financial trouble.
Rovner: That is correct. Also, remember, if you fail to sign up for Medicare when you first become eligible at age 65, you would also pay a premium penalty. It's 10 percent per year, forever.
Got more questions? We'll keep answering them as the GOP bill moves through Congress. Send them to us via Twitter at #ACAchat.
Today in Your Health, we answer some of your questions about the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. You've sent us many questions. And we've lined some of them up with NPR's health policy correspondent, Alison Kodjak, as well as Julie Rovner of our partner Kaiser Health News.
Good morning to you both.
JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: Good morning.
ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: They're in our studios. We're going to get pretty wonky, pretty detailed. But let's start with the basics. Orient me on what the basic Republican plan is.
KODJAK: Well, Steve, the biggest change in this plan is that it gets rid of what's called the individual mandate, which is the requirement that everybody have health insurance.
KODJAK: And it also gets rid of the Affordable Care Act's income-based tax credits and subsidies. It replaces those with a fixed tax credit, a single amount that everybody whose income is under $75,000 gets.
INSKEEP: Based on their age, right?
KODJAK: Based on their age. So it go up as you get older. And you use that tax credit to buy a health insurance plan on the open market.
INSKEEP: So you change these rules - some people get a little bit more; some people get less; some people feel they're getting an awful lot less, Julie Rovner.
ROVNER: That's right. And the other big thing that this bill does is it eliminates the expansion of the Medicaid program for low-income people - gradually, but it does make it go away. And of course, it repeals almost all the taxes that were raised in the Affordable Care Act to pay for the benefits since it's going to have fewer benefits.
INSKEEP: OK. So every single provision of this affects somebody's bottom line - personal bottom line - millions of people. And we're getting lots of questions about it. The first one that we're going to listen to is from Nkonye Adaikpoh in San Antonio, Texas.
NKONYE ADAIKPOH: What provisions are there for those who experience financial hardships - such as a job loss, death in the family, divorce - and can't buy insurance?
INSKEEP: OK. If you're broke, what do you do, Alison Kodjak?
KODJAK: Well, there's no specific provision to help people if they don't qualify for Medicaid. No matter what your circumstances, as we said before, you get this age-based tax credit. The idea is that Republicans eventually will get rid of enough regulation that lower-cost, sort of stripped-down health insurance policies will be available for people who can't really afford more comprehensive coverage.
INSKEEP: That's the hope. But the reality right now, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is some people just realistically aren't going to be able to use this subsidy to pay for insurance. Is that right?
KODJAK: Exactly. As the market stands now, there's really not a lot of insurance policies, or any, available for, like, the $2,000 a year is the tax credit for people under the age of 30.
INSKEEP: OK. Let's go on to another question here. Mollie Gelburd asks the question from Washington, D.C., and wants to know this.
MOLLIE GELBURD: What's the policy behind providing age-based tax credits as opposed to income-based?
INSKEEP: There we go, Julie Rovner. Why do that?
ROVNER: Well, I think there are two main reasons. One is simplicity. Right now, the tax credits are income-based, and so you have to verify your income. And you have to - they use last year's tax returns. It's very complicated, and sometimes people end up paying more at the end of the year.
ROVNER: The other thing about age-based tax credits is the hope is that it will get more younger, healthier people into the individual market. That's what the Affordable Care Act was trying to remake. There have not been enough of those people. And that's one of the reasons that costs have gone up. But...
INSKEEP: Let me just make sure I understand this. So if I'm 25 or 30, I got out of college. I got a decent job as opposed to a poor-paying or low-paying job, I might have no subsidy now. But I might have a couple thousand dollars under this plan, is that right?
ROVNER: That's exactly correct. It will definitely make it easier for younger people to afford health insurance. But the trade-off - as you mentioned, there's lots of winners and losers - is that older people, people who are not quite old enough for Medicare but between about age 50 and 64, will pay a lot more. That's the now-famous Congressional Budget Office estimate, that a 64-year-old will go from paying $1,700 a year now to $14,000 if this were to become law.
INSKEEP: And these are a lot of Republican voters. And this is the provision that's causing a lot of Republicans to say - wait a minute - not a final plan yet. We'll try to work on that if we can.
KODJAK: Exactly. And that's one of the things that has happened over the weekend. Republicans in Congress, especially Paul Ryan, have said they're going to look at that part of it because it's gotten so much pushback that they're trying to see what else they can do, possibly increase the tax credit amount for those older people who don't get employer-based health coverage.
INSKEEP: Although that means it would cost more. And there are conservative Republicans already concerned about how much this costs, right?
KODJAK: Yes. And that's why this is thorny (laughter).
INSKEEP: OK. Well, let's get another question on the table here from Leslie Shatz (ph) of Deer Park, N.Y.
LESLIE SHATZ: Could you please explain the difference between tax credits and subsidies? Will there be quarterly tax credits or just year-end?
INSKEEP: What's the difference, Julie - tax credit, subsidy?
ROVNER: Well, actually, this is a common misunderstanding. The main way that the Affordable Care Act helps people pay their premiums is a tax credit. It's just everybody refers to it as a subsidy. So basically, the...
INSKEEP: Which effectively is - they're just not necessarily writing me a check.
ROVNER: Right. We're swapping one tax credit for another tax credit. And what makes you not realize these are tax credits is that neither one of them comes at the end of the year when you file your taxes. They are both what's called advanceable, which means you can get them in advance to pay your monthly premiums, and refundable, which means that even if you don't earn enough to owe taxes, you are entitled to that tax credit. Those two things would remain the same. It's just, as we pointed out, the amount of the credits would change, and the way you get the credits would change.
INSKEEP: OK, not technically a subsidy. Are there are also subsidies that are part of this plan - actual subsidies, payments to people?
ROVNER: There aren't. But there are actual subsidies (laughter) in the Affordable Care Act. Those are for people who earn less than two and a half times poverty. And that's to help them pay not their premiums but to pay their out-of-pocket spending, their deductibles and co-insurance.
INSKEEP: OK. One quick last question from Anne Paulson of Los Altos, Calif.
ANNE PAULSON: If I were 62 and I decided health insurance was too expensive and I'd wait for Medicare, I wouldn't get a penalty - right?
INSKEEP: Would you, Alison?
KODJAK: No, you wouldn't actually, unless you got sick, at which point your penalty would be that you'd have to pay for your health care out of your own pocket because you wouldn't have any insurance.
INSKEEP: Or pay to get health insurance back - right? - because they can't deny you with a preexisting condition.
KODJAK: No, they can't deny you with a preexisting condition. The risk is that you would have to wait for the open enrollment period. So there would be this period of time, perhaps, between when you found out you were ill and when you could buy an insurance policy to pay for that.
INSKEEP: That's feeling like casino gambling.
KODJAK: A little bit (laughter).
ROVNER: And there's a 30 percent premium increase for that year.
INSKEEP: OK. Well, thanks very much, guys, for answering some of the many, many, many questions about the Republican replacement to the Affordable Care Act.
Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, good to see you again.
ROVNER: Thank you.
INSKEEP: And NPR's Alison Kodjak, thanks to you for coming by.
KODJAK: Thanks, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK. We're going to be answering more questions as this debate goes on. You can tweet us @morningedition using the hashtag #ACAchat. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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To protect the health and safety of our community and staff, many Sutter County offices will be closed to the public starting March 20, 2020 until further notice.
For Immediate Release:
Sheriff J. Paul Parker invites all Sutter County residents to join the men and women of the Sutter County Sheriff's Department in participating in the 27th Annual National Night Out (NNO) crime and drug prevention event on Tuesday, August 3, 2010.
National Night Out is "America's Night Out Against Crime" and has grown from 2.5 million participants in its first year to over 36 million last year. Over 15,000 communities participated last year alone in an effort to heighten crime and drug awareness and strengthen neighborhood spirit and law enforcement community partnerships. National Night Out is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) and is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Sutter County Sheriff's Department.
National Night Out provides an opportunity to meet neighbors, strengthen the community, and fight crime. From 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. on August 3rd, residents in neighborhoods throughout Sutter County and Live Oak and across the nation are asked to lock their doors, turn on outside lights, and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police. Many neighborhoods throughout Live Oak and Sutter County will be hosting a variety of special events such as, block parties, cookouts, youth activities, and visits from law enforcement.
Sheriff J. Paul Parker and his command staff, along with the Sutter County K-9 unit, Boat Patrol, Special Enforcement Detail (SWAT), Divers and Live Oak Fire Department will be visiting the neighborhoods during this event.
If you would like to host an event in your neighborhood, don't delay. Organizing early ensures a successful event. Please join us in celebrating the 27th Anniversary of National Night Out. If you would like to sign up your neighborhood, please visit www.suttersheriff.org and click on the link for National Night Out. Download the pledge form, complete the form and return it to the Sheriff's Office at 1077 Civic Center Boulevard, Yuba City, CA, 95993.
Contact and Telephone Number:
Lieutenant Russell Porter at (530) 822-7307.
Live Oak: Lieutenant James Casner or Sergeant Glen Mercer at (530) 695-2122.


text:
Merlin-NV necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 523 diseños de 102 diseñadores freelance.
Quecom is a VAR (Value Added Reseller) of Information Technology solutions. We provide a range of designs and solutions revolving around secure Internet connectivity solutions and office networks.
Our focus is to the corporate customer with strong revenue. Typical audience to the Quecom web site will be individuals in a management role.
We require a logo that that will be the foundation of our corporate image and new web site theme.
- Clean and simple design. Include iconic logo and text. Logo can be part for the lettering if the designer comes up with something he/she thinks is workable.
- Logo may include or not include "Networking Solutions". At present we prefer the logo to only be "Quecom". That said, we will allow the designers to play with that and see what they come up with. The compromise may be to have the ability to remove "Networking Solutions" as needed.
- The ability for the icon to stand alone would be good, but not required. This would allow it to be used in other areas if desired such as a water mark or in a FAQ section of the web site etc...
- Quecom may be in upper or lower case. Again I will leave that up to the designers
- Flat image
- clean and simple
- Use metallic 3d effects
- Too busy
- Clip Art
- Reflections
- Bubbles, swooshes, earth globes, arrows
- Bright colors
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Public Enemies
As this year's Academy Awards approaches I find myself trying in vain to understand how Public Enemies didn't garner a single Oscar nomination. The film was gorgeous to look at, featured a career-best performance from Johnny Depp, and avoided the cliché-ridden territory of the period piece biopic for something more ambiguous and relatively challenging. Was that why the film was a relative critical and box office disappointment? Clearly the film did not satisfy as Summer blockbuster entertainment. Universal Pictures didn't quite know how to market the film and seemingly tried to sell it almost like a comic book adaptation a la The Dark Knight with a larger-than-life image of Depp in a trench coat and fedora, shotgun at his side, stretching the length of office buildings on the huge banner posters that draped L.A. prior to the film's release. It didn't work to sell the film because the film they were selling wasn't exactly the movie that we got. It's a movie with beautifully shot bank robberies, shootouts rendered in symphonic splendor, and plenty of compelling narrative, but somehow in its fly-on-the-wall approach to following Dillinger it left audiences cold.
That aforementioned coldness works both ways. Public Enemies is downright frosty and it's to Michael Mann's credit that he refuses to overdramatize the life of an infamous gangster in all-too-familiar ways. Let me explain myself. Mann gives us a completely new kind of period film. He junks the typical sepia-toned melodrama approach and instead, with his digital cameras, creates something immediate, taking us out of the realm of nostalgia and into a real world scenario that actually feels dangerous instead of merely nostalgic. If you are willing to accept the worthiness of this approach it is completely thrilling.Continue Reading


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The various rooms at Mayflower Inn caters to small or big groups, at very affordable rates. All rooms include standard amenities like single or queen beds, air conditioning, TV, WiFi internet, safety deposit box, and an en suite bathroom with hot/cold shower.
Mayflower Inn is only 13.5 km away from Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Being in the uptown area of Cebu, Mayflower Inn is right next to the Provincial Capitol Building and the Palace of Justice. It is also a few minutes' drive away to convention venues, shopping malls like Ayala and SM City, and downtown business districts. Churches like Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church are also within walking distance from Mayflower Inn. Because of its convenient location, Mayflower Inn is an excellent choice for business or leisure travelers.
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text:
Risk Engineering
pp 61-73
pp 61-73
20 Nov 2014
Relevant Data in the Rising Tide of Big Data: A Text-Mining Analysis in Construction Safety Index
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Get Access
The previous generation of academia
faced the problem of insufficient data, academic journal articles and
books. Thanks to the rapid development of World Wide Web
since 90s, academic papers published in one place can be viewed in
another side of the globe, insufficient literature and data problems
have been relieved. Modern academic researchers, however, face another
major problem of big data. There are too many irrelevant articles. Much
of the time has been spent to search for the relevant articles from the
irrelevant ones. One of the major aims of this chapter is to review the
problem of big data based on the example of construction safety index.
Construction safety is an important issue Worldwide. The development of
construction safety index is of particular importance as it provides an
objective measurement on the level of safety on sites. This chapter
reviews (1) how intelligence is the academic search engine in screening
the relevant articles out the irrelevant materials, (2) compare and
contrast the methods which are used to construct the construction safety
indices with the other indices constructed worldwide.
faced the problem of insufficient data, academic journal articles and
books. Thanks to the rapid development of World Wide Web
since 90s, academic papers published in one place can be viewed in
another side of the globe, insufficient literature and data problems
have been relieved. Modern academic researchers, however, face another
major problem of big data. There are too many irrelevant articles. Much
of the time has been spent to search for the relevant articles from the
irrelevant ones. One of the major aims of this chapter is to review the
problem of big data based on the example of construction safety index.
Construction safety is an important issue Worldwide. The development of
construction safety index is of particular importance as it provides an
objective measurement on the level of safety on sites. This chapter
reviews (1) how intelligence is the academic search engine in screening
the relevant articles out the irrelevant materials, (2) compare and
contrast the methods which are used to construct the construction safety
indices with the other indices constructed worldwide.
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text:
Morning Friends! The dissertationing is going well. My paper is due to my committee today, so I'm getting closer and closer to being finished! Wahooo!!!! Please say a prayer for me today if you get a chance.
Today, my friend Sarah is visiting and I absolutely love her and her adorable pup, Floyd. I think you're really going to love Sarah's meal planning tips for you:-)
Hi there Life with the Hawley readers!
My name is Sarah and I blog over at Total Basset Case
At my blog I write about my life with our silly basset hound, Floyd, weekly outfit posts, recipes, DIY and meal planning!
In the past year I have really come to love (and depend on) meal planning.
Well, to be fair, I love planning in general and I love to cook so meal planning
was a natural progression for me.
My love for meal planning first started when I discovered This Week For Dinner.
I started reading TWFD and planned one week of meals and I was immediately hooked.
It was quickly evident to me how easy meal planning could make my life.
For me the benefits of meal planning are:
- Quicker and cheaper trips to the grocery:I know exactly what I need to buy
- Ease of mind after work knowing what is for dinner: We don't waste time trying to determine what we want for dinner, we already know!
- Dinner on the table quicker at night: Because I know what we are having each night, I can prepare some items the night before
- Healthier meals: Since our meals are already planned and purchased, we are less likely to go out to eat
Each Sunday I sit down with my computer, cookbooks and my calendar.
I pencil in what we have going on for the week and plan our meals from there.
I try to add at least 1 crock pot meal a week.
I also make it a point to choose meals that will produce enough for leftovers.
From there I just start choosing things that look good or that I have been wanting to try.
For examples of my meal plans check them out here.
Meal planning allows me to try a large variety of different recipes and become very creative in the kitchen.
There are SO many recipes in the world I want to try and meal planning allows me to (attempt) to fit all of those in.
You can see from my 'Food' Pinterest board here that I have a small obsession with food.
Meal planning has really made a difference in our lives- I know that is a bold statement but it really has!
If you don't currently meal plan I say give it a try, even just for one week and see what you think!
Thank you for having me, Darby!
Best of luck to you finishing up your schoolin'!
I'm sure you can see why I love Sarah; at least one of the many reasons why I love her! Don't you love this meal planning idea? It's healthier, cheaper, and stress free! What more could you possibly want?! Stop by Sarah's blog to leave her some love and meet her precious Floyd!