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Employment Law Blog
The Death of NLRA Disclaimers in Social Media Policies?
In 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made social media an enforcement priority. Their primary target was employers who terminated employees for engaging in what the NLRB deemed concerted activity, which is protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB also took aim at supposedly "overly broad" employer social media policies.
In an effort to keep everyone abreast of the situation, the NLRB general counsel's office released a memorandum with guidance (http://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458056e743) regarding the agency's social media cases. If you need a refresher, you can check out a quick summary of the protected activity here, and the overly broad social media policies here.
In response, many employer's started including disclaimers or "saving clauses" in their social media policies. The disclaimer would state that the social media policy will not be interpreted or applied so as to prohibit NLRA-protected concerted activity. Well, guess what? The NLRB just issued a second social media memo (http://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45807d6567). One of the cases in the memo involved a policy with an NLRA disclaimer. To the dismay of employers everywhere, the memo concluded that the disclaimer was ineffective and the policy in question still violated the NLRA. That policy limited employee social media discussion to "appropriate" discussion of the terms and conditions of employment. Although the policy also included an NLRA disclaimer, the memo concluded, "that an employee could not reasonably be expected to know that [the disclaimer] encompasses discussions the Employer deems 'inappropriate.'"
This is similar to advice from the NLRB GC's office last year (http://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45806bab9d) that another disclaimer or "savings clause" was ineffective. That savings clause stated that the underlying policy would not be construed as a limitation upon NLRA-protected rights. The advice memo found the clause insufficient, " because employees may very well not know what conduct is protected [and] the general savings clause did not provide the employees any guidance as to what activities would be protected by the NLRA and therefore not restricted by the social media policy."
So, are NLRA disclaimers dead? I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet! There are two ways employers can avoid the defects noted in the NLRB guidance:
1. Don't just exclude "NLRA-protected activity" in your disclaimer and expect your employees to know what that means. Give them examples of the specific activities protected by the NLRA; and
2. Don't create ambiguities about whether those specific activities are really protected. I.e. don't tell your employees that they may engage in "appropriate" concerted activity with no clue as to what's appropriate and what's inappropriate.
Will that be enough? Only time . . . or maybe a third NLRB social media memo . . . will tell.
Phil Miles is an attorney in McQuaide Blasko's Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and publisher of Lawffice Space, an employment law blog.
Supreme Court on the Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination Class Action – Got Glue?
The Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited decision in Wal-Mart v. Dukes (opinion), the largest class action discrimination suit in history. The bottom line is that the Court unanimously rejected the Ninth Circuit's certification of a class comprised of approximately 1.5 million women who worked for Wal-Mart. The biggest impact of the Court's decision, however, was the holding by five members that the claims lacked commonality. In the words of Justice Scalia, the class cannot sue over millions of employment decisions, "[w]ithout some glue holding the alleged reasons for all those decisions together."
Now, employers facing or fearing class action discrimination suits will have to ask the preliminary question about the class: Got Glue? The Supreme Court's opinion helps to define what is, and to a larger extent what is not, glue.
Corporate Policy
Can corporate policy be glue? You better believe it. In this case, however, there was no discriminatory policy. In fact, there was a company-wide policy of anti-discrimination. The plaintiffs tried to rely on Wal-Mart's policy of granting broad discretion to individual managers in making pay decisions. But, in a company the size of Wal-Mart, "it is quite unbelievable that all managers would exercise their discretion in a common way without some common direction." In short, no glue.
The Court's opinion notably downplays the value of statistical evidence in this situation. The plaintiffs provided statistical evidence which they maintain showed "statistically significant disparities between men and women at Wal-Mart [that] can be explained only by gender discrimination." The Court reasoned that national and regional disparities failed to show discrimination at the district level, let alone the individual store level. "A regional pay disparity, for example, may be attributable to only a small set of Wal-Mart stores, and cannot by itself establish the uniform, store-by-store disparity."
Affidavits from individuals showing anecdotal evidence of discrimination can provide some glue, but it depends on the circumstances. For example, the Court noted a previous case in which there were anecdotes for every eight members of the class, mostly coming from the operational centers where the class members were based. Here, the plaintiffs had only 120 affidavits for 1.5 million people. Fourteen entire states had no corresponding anecdotes, and half of all states had only one or two for the entire state. That's not glue.
The Court found the proffered expert testimony in this case unpersuasive to say the least. A sociologist testified regarding "social framework" analysis, which allegedly showed that Wal-Mart's corporate culture was susceptible to gender bias. But, the expert couldn't "calculate whether 0.5 percent or 95 percent of the employment decisions at Wal-Mart might be determined by stereotyped thinking." No glue. In fact, it is questionable whether his testimony was even properly admitted.
The Court used the Wal-Mart case as an example of a class with no glue. As discussed previously, it also provides some hints about where future classes may find some.
Phil Miles is an attorney in McQuaide Blasko's Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and publisher of Lawffice Space, an employment law blog.
Class Actions • Employment Law • Sex Discrimination •
Facebook Firing, Twitter Next?You may remember that recently an employee was fired from her job for her CT employer AMR for posting negative information about her supervisor on her Facebook page. The case received notoriety because the firing caused the NLRB to file a charge against the company alleging that the company had violated the NLRA by firing this employee and by maintaining a social media policy that the NLRB claimed was overbroad.
Well, a similar case has now arisen involving an employee that was fired for comments he posted on Twitter or shall we call them for his "Tweets". The Regional Director filed a charge against the company for this firing alleging that the firing violated the NLRA. However, the NLRB gave us some insight into the difference between the two cases (without actually discussing the Facebook Firing case) in an Advice Memorandum issued on April 21, 2011 by Barry J. Kearney, Associate General Counsel in the NLRB's Division on Advice in which he advised the Regional Director to dismiss the charge against the employer.
In the Facebook Firing case, the employee was actually engaging in "concerted activity" on Facebook and this is what she was fired for. What does it mean that she was engaging in "concerted activity"? Well, it means that she was having a discussion on Facebook with her work friends and they were discussing her supervisor and her terms and conditions of employment. This is no different than standing around the water cooler talking with her co-workers about her supervisor and job and this is activity that the National Labor Relations Act protects. She cannot be fired for having these conversations. So the fact that they may have happened on Facebook rather than at the water cooler is irrelevant. As far as the NLR B is concerned, they are still protected.
So what happened in the Twitter case. In this case, a newspaper reporter that worked for the Arizona Daily Star newspaper was fired based on the tweets he was posting on Twitter. The newspaper was in the process of creating a Social Media Policy but did not yet have one although it did have an employee handbook. The employee used both his work computer at work, his home computer and his cell-phone to send his Tweets. The employee posted a Tweet making derogatory comments about the sports editors and sports department at the newspaper. HR then called him in to a meeting and he was told to stop commenting about the newspaper in any public forum and to stop airing his grievances publically. The employee allegedly continued Tweeting although he refrained about making comments about the newspaper.
Over a period of a month, he started sending Tweets that were inappropriate talking about some homicides that had taken place and then also sent a Tweet about an affiliate TV station that was again derogatory. He was suspended for three days and then he was terminated allegedly for violating the newspaper's Respectful Workplace Guidelines. The newspaper relied on the fact that he had been "warned to refrain from using derogatory comments in any social media forums that may damage the goodwill of the company" and yet he continued to engage in this activity.
What is most interesting about this case is how the NLRB viewed it and how it appears to differ from the Facebook firing case in CT. The NLRB held that this Twitter Firing did not violate the NLRA because of the fact that the tweets that the employee was fired for sending did not involve "concerted activity". Although the employee claimed that the rule he was terminated for violating was "overbroad" as in the Facebook Firing case, the NLRB clarified that overbroad rules that could violate the NLRA only actually violate the NLRA and cause action by the NLRB when the employee was actually engaging in "concerted activity" at the time he/she was fired under the overbroad rule. Since the employee's firing in the Facebook Firing case was actually based on her activity in discussing work conditions and making derogatory comments about her supervisor with other employees this was "concerted activity". However, the NLRB reasoned that in this Twitter Firing, it was distinguishable because here the employee was not engaging in "concerted activity" when he was terminated. Rather, he was terminated for "posting inappropriate and unprofessional tweets, after having been warned not to do so, i.e. engaging in misconduct."
The NLRB provided further insight by telling us that in this Twitter Firing case, the employee's "conduct was not protected and concerted: it did not relate to the terms and conditions of his employment or seek to involve other employees in issues related to employment." Thus, this case is distinguishable from the Facebook Firing case because here the employee was discharged for tweeting inappropriate comments, ignoring warnings by his employer to stop this misconduct and continuing to post inappropriate comments despite these warnings by management. Significant to the NLRB was that his actions did not involve "concerted activity".
The NLRB also commented on statements made by the employer in this case that could possibly be seen as overbroad and in violation of the Act but which were ultimately not a violation in this case because they were communicated to one employee as discipline during his lawful termination rather than being issued as a rule or policy to all employees. The statements that the NLRB indicated could violate the NLRA if made as a broad policy to all employees were as follows:
• Management warned the employee to "stop airing his grievances or commenting about the Employer in any public forum"; and
• Management warned the employee that he was prohibited from tweeting about anything work-related; and
• Management in its termination letter referred to that the employee had been told "to refrain from using derogatory comments in any social media forums that may damage the goodwill of the company".
This case is helpful from many perspectives. First of all it sheds some light into the NLRB's thought process with regard to social media policies and how they could potentially violate the NLRA. In addition, it clarifies that even if an employer had an overbroad policy such as a policy that included the overbroad statements above, it appears that termination of an employee for violating that policy would still not be held to be a violation of the NLRA if the employee was not engaging in "concerted activity" while using social media and thus was terminated for social media posts that did not involve "concerted activity".
Copyright© 2011 HR Learning Center LLC
Submitted by: Melissa Fleischer, Esq.
President and Founder
HR Learning Center LLC
Employment Law •
California Legislature Renews Marijuana Legislation
California politicians are back at it again. The Senate is considering SB 129, a bill which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against medical marijuana smokers.
This new legislation follows on the heels of Proposition 19, which came before California voters in November 2010. Proposition 19 would have legalized the possession and use of up to an ounce of marijuana. California voters rejected that proposition by a margin of 54% no and 46% yes.
If the law passes, employers would be forbidden from taking any adverse action against an employee on account of the fact that the employee is a user of medical marijuana, or the fact that the employee tests positive for the use of medical marijuana.
SB 129 provides an exception to the discrimination ban where the employee is in a "safety sensitive" position.
The proposed law would permit an employer to terminate an employee who is "impaired" on the job because of medical marijuana. Like Proposition 19, the term "impaired" is not defined in SB 129.
The law would give an aggrieved employee the right to file a discrimination lawsuit.
California politicians may not be able to solve the state's fiscal problems, but the do seem able to come together when it comes to legalizing drug use. In October, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 1449. That law essentially decriminalizes possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. The law states that there can be no jail time or probation, and fines cannot exceed $100. This is the equivalent of an infraction, like for a traffic ticket.
At the federal level, marijuana is illegal. The Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. section 811) has no provision for medical use of marijuana. Federal law characterizes marijuana as any other controlled substance, such as cocaine and heroin. The law places this drug on "Schedule I," meaning that it is considered highly addictive and having no medical value.
The California Supreme Court addressed the question of employee rights in the context of marijuana use in 2008. The case, titled Ross v. Ragingwire, involves a job applicant fired after a drug test came back positive for marijuana. The applicant presented a doctor's note purportedly giving him a prescription to use marijuana for medical treatment. He claimed his use was legal under Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. The California Supreme Court rejected his claim, ruling that the law provided no employment law rights, and that the employer was entitled to take adverse action because the drug remained illegal under federal law.
SB 129 has been approved in a Senate committee and it awaits a vote by the full Senate. We will keep you posted on further developments.
Read the text of the proposed law.
Submitted by:
Christopher W. Olmsted, Esq.
Barker Olmsted & Barnier, APLC
Employment Law Attorneys for Businesses
Employment Law •
USCIS Issues Final Rule on Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today a final rule, scheduled to be published in tomorrow's Federal Register, that adopts, without change, an interim rule to improve the integrity of the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process.
The key changes made to the Form I-9 process by the interim rule and adopted by the final rule include: prohibiting employers from accepting expired documents for completion of Form I-9 and adding and modifying several documents on the Lists of Acceptable Documents. The final rule will be effective on May 16, 2011. Employers may continue to use the current version of the Form I-9 (Rev. 08/07/2009), or the previous version (Rev. 02/02/2009).
USCIS Published the following FAQs along with its press release:
Questions and Answers
Q. What does the final rule accomplish?
A. The final rule adopts, without change, the changes made to the Form I-9 process by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) interim final rule that has been in effect since April 3, 2009. The changes further DHS's ongoing effort to increase the integrity of the employment authorization verification process. The key changes include:
- Prohibiting employers from accepting expired documents
- Eliminating from List A identity and employment authorization documentation Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B (Temporary Resident Card and outdated - Employment Authorization Cards)
- Adding to List A foreign passports containing temporary I-551 printed notations on certain machine-readable immigrant visas
- Adding to List A as evidence of identity and employment authorization valid passports for citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), along with Form I-94 or Form I-94A indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the FSM or RMI
Q. Why can't I present an expired document?
A. DHS wants to ensure that documents presented for use in the Form I-9 process are valid and reliably establish both identity and employment authorization. Expired documents are prone to tampering and fraudulent use. The requirement to present only unexpired documents takes into account the time limits placed on these documents by their issuing authorities. If a document does not contain an expiration date, as is often the case with a Social Security card, it is considered unexpired.
Q: Does this final rule make any changes to how Form I-9 is completed?
A: No. The final rule adopts, without change, the interim final rule published on December 17, 2008 and in effect since April 3, 2009. It does not make any changes to how the Form I-9 is currently completed.
Q: Is USCIS issuing a new Form I-9 with this final rule?
A: No. Because the final rule adopts the interim rule without change, USCIS is not issuing a new
Form I-9 with this rule.
Q: Which versions of Form I-9 may I use?
A: Employers may continue to use either the current version of Form I-9 (Rev. 08/07/2009) or the previous version (Rev. 02/02/2009). These dates are located on the bottom right-hand corner of the form.
For more information, follow this link.
Submitted by:
Christopher W. Olmsted, Esq.
Barker Olmsted & Barnier, APLC
Employment Law •
FLSA Protects Oral Complaints, But What About Internal Complaints?
Last week, the Supreme Court held in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain that the Fair Labor Standard Act's (FLSA's) antiretaliation provision protects both oral and written complaints. The FLSA creates employment rules regarding minimum wage, hours, and overtime pay. The antiretaliation provision makes it unlawful for employers: "to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint." The only question the Court resolved was whether oral, as well as written, complaints constitute "fil[ing] any complaint."
While it is helpful for employers to know that oral complaints "count," the biggest unresolved question is whether internal complaints, that is complaints from the employee directly to a private employer, are afforded FLSA protection. The Supreme Court "state[d] no view" on the issue, leaving it to the lower courts to decide. Well, many lower courts have already decided. In those jurisdictions, I anticipate the pre-Kasten determinations will control as the Supreme Court expressly avoided the issue. But, what about courts that have yet to decide the issue?
I expect courts that have yet to rule on this issue will find that the FLSA protects internal complaints to private employers. Why? First, most courts that have considered the issue have held that internal complaints are protected. Second, it helps to look at how the Supreme Court defined "filed any complaint" in Kasten: "[A] complaint is 'filed' when 'a reasonable, objective person would have understood the employee' to have 'put the employer on notice that [the] employee is asserting statutory rights under the [Act].'" I think it is pretty clear that an internal complaint meets this standard. In dissent, Justice Scalia likewise notes that although the majority claims to leave unanswered the question of whether internal complaints are covered: "[T]he opinion adopts a test for 'filed any complaint' that assumes a 'yes' answer."
So, what is the bottom line for employers? Are internal complaints to private employers afforded antiretaliation protection under the FLSA?
1. Look for precedent from the lower courts in your jurisdiction on this issue. Kasten does nothing to overrule these decisions.
2. Predicting how courts will rule on an issue can never be done with certainty. That said, if you're in a court that hasn't ruled on the issue, I think chances are that internal complaints will be covered.
Phil Miles is an attorney in McQuaide Blasko's Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and publisher of Lawffice Space, an employment law blog.
Supreme Court Holds that 3rd Party Retaliation Exists… but When?
In Thompson v. North American Stainless, the United States Supreme Court established that Title VII third-party retaliation claims exist. Specifically, an employer will be liable for retaliating against an employee who engaged in protected activity by terminating her fiancé. Now, employers are left wondering, "If firing the fiancé creates liability, what other relationships are covered?"
Justice Scalia, writing for a unanimous court (absent Justice Kagan who did not participate), provided some guidance but left many lines still to be drawn. Let's start with the rule to be applied. The employer may be liable for retaliation where its actions "well might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination" (aka the Burlington standard). That's nice and all, but how is it applied?
The opinion lacks any real analysis regarding why firing the fiancé is sufficient to establish retaliation. Justice Scalia just states that the Court has "little difficulty" because it's "obvious" that firing the fiancé meets the Burlington standard. While I agree, that's not going to be much help in analyzing other situations. For example, whether suspending an employee's girlfriend for seven days meets the standard is not-so-obvious.
Justice Scalia suggests that there are two factors that determine whether third-party retaliation is unlawful under Title VII: 1. The nature of the relationship; and 2. The severity of the employer's action. Thus, he states: "We expect that firing a close family member will almost always meet the Burlington standard, and inflicting a milder reprisal on a mere acquaintance will almost never do so." What about terminating a mere acquaintance? Or a "milder reprisal" against a "close family member"? And what about not-so-close family members?
We know the ends of the spectrum, but employers are largely left in the dark with everything in between. The district and circuit courts will start to fill those gaps as the third-party retaliation claims hit the courts. Chances are, there will be a lot more third-party claims now that the Supreme Court has blessed them. For now, employers will just have to be careful when taking actions against employees known to have some relationship to an employee who engaged in protected activity.
Phil Miles is an attorney in McQuaide Blasko's Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and publisher of Lawffice Space, an employment law blog.
Employment Law • Sex Discrimination •
Using Automation to Make Your Performance Evaluations Fairer and More Consistent
Employees and even managers often complain that their company's performance evaluation process is inconsistent and unfair. Performance ratings are subjective, employee goals are unclear, competencies have little connection to the actual job, training opportunities are not available to all, etc. As a result, many employees and managers either disengage or opt out of the process altogether, further compounding the problem.
Since performance evaluations are administered by people, it's impossible to completely remove the subjectivity or even prejudice from your performance management processes. However, automating them can go a long way to making them fairer, more consistent, and ultimately more effective. Here are some of the ways automation can help:
Consistent Definitions of Competencies and Performance
Competencies are also sometimes called behaviors, values, skills, or performance standards, etc. They should really form the cornerstone of your performance evaluation process, and should be used to:
• help you evaluate "how" as well as "what" the employee accomplished
• identify the skills your organization needs to cultivate
• underpin your employee development programs to ensure they align with corporate goals
Most organizations have a list of the competencies that are important to their business. But they often lack consistent definitions of each competency, detailed descriptions of the various levels of performance, and a list of learning activities designed to help develop these competencies. And more importantly, they usually have no way of ensuring that their competencies are used and applied in a consistent way. With a manual or paper based process, it's easy for managers create their own competencies or definitions, and modify their performance evaluation forms at will.
By automating your performance evaluation process and forms, you ensure that your competencies, and their definitions and behavioral descriptions are housed in one centralized library. Only authorized system administrators can add, change or remove competencies from the library. In so doing, you improve everyone's access to competencies, but more importantly, you ensure a shared, consistent definition and understanding of performance. Because your performance evaluation forms are also automated, you can ensure that they only use competency content from the library, and can only be changed by an authorized system administrator. Now, you can be sure that your managers and employees are working from a common, consistent definition of performance.
Consistent Processes
Another common complaint raised by employees is the lack of consistency in the way performance evaluation processes are administered and applied. For example, with a manual or paper-based process, it's virtually impossible to ensure that 100% of your employees receive an annual performance evaluation, on time or at all. Managers may use their "creativity" in completing forms, and add/remove/modify sections or rating scales at will. You may also find different approval processes in use in different parts of the organization. All of these inconsistencies allow subjectivity and possible human prejudice to color the way employees are evaluated and developed, which can also have an impact on how they are rewarded and promoted.
Automating your process allows you to :
• Define your process workflow (the steps and order in which they're completed, who's responsible for completing each step, and the due dates)
• Define required approvals, forms, rating scales,
• Apply (and enforce) these across the organization in a fair and consistent way.
While it's important to have the flexibility to accommodate the special requirements of particular groups of employees, the decision to accommodate specific needs should be made at the organizational level, not at the individual level. Automating your processes and forms allows you to ensure they're used in a fairer, more consistent manner.
Clear and Consistent Performance Requirements
Every job in your company should have clear performance requirements. Every employee's performance evaluation form should clearly outline their job responsibilities, and the competencies and goals they will be assessed on.
Automating your performance management process allows you to ensure that clear and consistent performance requirements are set for every employee. By including the competencies and goals they will be assessed on in their performance evaluation form, or by running separate competency assessment and goal setting processes, you ensure that performance requirements are communicated.
In addition, automating your processes also allows you to track the exact status of all these activities, so HR and leaders can immediately see if an employee has not been given clear performance requirements, and take appropriate action.
Improving Access to Information
Automated performance management systems typically give employees one centralized place to access:
• Their goals
• The competencies on which they will be assessed.
• The development activities assigned to them or available to them
• Their past performance appraisals
• The organization's higher level goals
• Etc.
By automating your performance management process, you improve employees' access to information and drive a measure of accountability and transparency throughout the organization.
You also give managers easy access to this information for all their employees. Having all this data at their fingertips helps them to be fairer and more consistent in their performance management practices.
Ability to Easily Aggregate Data and Spot Exceptions
Automating your performance management process gives you another powerful tool for identifying and addressing inconsistent or unfair management practices. By allowing you to easily and efficiently aggregate and compare the data from your processes, you can quickly spot trends or irregular practices and investigate their cause. For example, you can easily identify a manager who typically assigns all or some of their employees higher or lower performance ratings than most others. When the data from your performance management process reveals exceptions, leaders or HR can take appropriate action to restore fairness and consistency.
Because they allow you to drive consistency in performance expectations, job requirements, processes, forms, and rating scales, and make inconsistencies easier to spot, automated performance management systems allow you to overcome some of the subjectivity and human prejudice that plague people management practices and ensure all employees are supported in their performance and development.
Sean Conrad is a Certified Human Capital Strategist and Senior Product Analyst at Halogen Software, one of the leading providers of performance evaluation software. For more of his insights on talent management, read his posts on the Halogen blog.
Human Resources •
Charges Including More Types of Discrimination
The EEOC just released its charge statistics for 2010, including historical data back to 1997. A few obvious things jump out at me. First, it's a new record! In 2010 the EEOC received approximately 100,000 charges. Every single category, or basis for discrimination, saw an increase when compared to 2009. This year also marked the first year for GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act) with a mere 201 charges.
The EEOC also included a note which stuck out to me:
The number for total charges reflects the number of individual charge filings. Because individuals often file charges claiming multiple types of discrimination, the number of total charges for any given fiscal year will be less than the total of the eight types of discrimination listed.
So I started wondering… is there any trend in how many types (or bases) of discrimination are being included in each individual charge? When I plotted the data, it turns out there's an obvious trend:
From 1997 to 2010, the average number of types of discrimination included in each individual charge steadily rose from 1.43 to 1.66, an increase of 16%. For employers, this means a more complicated defense. It means discrimination charges are starting to include more types of discrimination. As the chart makes clear, the number has been steadily increasing over the years and I see no reason for this trend to stop.
Update (1/13/2011): I received an inquiry regarding my calculations so I am updating this entry to include my methodology so as to make clear what the chart actually depicts. I used the statistics provided by the EEOC (linked above). I calculated the sum of all of the rows for each year, excluding Total and Retaliation - Title VII Only (the latter would already be included in the row Retaliation - All). I then took the sum and divided it by the "Total" which the EEOC defined as "individual charge filings" to arrive at the average number of charges per individual charge filing.
Phil Miles is an attorney in McQuaide Blasko's Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and publisher of Lawffice Space, an employment law blog.
Employment Law •
What a tragic incident that occurred at Rutgers University recently. A freshman at the University, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge after realizing that his roommate allegedly posted webcam pictures on the internet of Clementi having sex with another male. There are currently invasion of privacy charges pending against the roommate and another student who allegedly assisted him.
Hopefully, out of such a tragic accident some good can come. One of the positive things that has come so far is that a US Senator, Frank Lautenberg has announced that he plans to introduce a bill that would mandate that all colleges and universities have Anti-Harassment Policies in place. Apparently the pending legislation would also establish funding for colleges to institute programs that would help prevent harassment of gay students.
There is currently no such federal law. However, as a result of two significant US Supreme Court cases, Farragher and Ellerth in 1998, most universities and colleges already have Anti-Harassment Policies in place. These cases set forth a valuable affirmative defense that employers can avail themselves of if they can show that they have "exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any harassment" and if they can also show that "the alleged victim unreasonably failed to complain about the harassment". These policies usually prohibit all types of harassment including harassment of students by professors or staff, harassment of professors or staff by students, harassment of students by other students and harassment of staff or professors by other staff members or professors. So although not required to have these policies by any federal law, most colleges have such policies in order to protect the institution from liability for harassment.
There are currently only a very few state laws that require by law that employers including colleges have anti-harassment policies and conduct anti-harassment training. However, unfortunately merely having such a policy is not enough. Colleges and Universities need to provide Anti-Harassment Training to management on that policy including the correct members of management to report any complaints of harassment. It is not clear whether the RA's to whom Mr. Clementi complained about his rommoate's harassment, followed up by reporting the harassment to the appropriate members of management such as HR. If this did happen, then HR should have conducted a prompt thorough investigation into the incident and provided Mr. Clementi with the results of that investigation. Mr. Clementi would have been protected after making this complaint from any retaliation for making the complaint, including retaliation from his roommate or the other student. Following the investigation, if it was determined that Rutger's Anti-Harassment Policy was violated, then the University could have taken prompt corrective action including disciplinary action against the students who violated the policy.
Clearly Universities and Colleges have the ability to control harassment on their campuses. However, they have to go further than just having a policy. Hopefully, if other Universities and Colleges can learn from this and ensure that in addition to having a well-drafted strong Anti-Harassment Policy they can also provide training to management and students on the policy and help to ensure that the policy is enforced throughout their entire campus.
Submitted By:
Melissa Fleischer, Esq.
President and Founder
HR Learning Center LLC
Push for the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Death of the "Any Other Factor" Defense
The Paycheck Fairness Act is proposed legislation that has been floating around Congress for a few years, with occasional flair-ups of interest. Just last week, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis hosted a webcast with co-host Lilly Ledbetter (as in the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and Supreme Court case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.) promoting the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA). The PFA (Paycheck Fairness Act) significantly amends the Equal Pay Act.
One major component of the PFA is the death knell of the "any other factor other than sex" defense currently embedded in the Equal Pay Act. Instead of "any other factor," the PFA will require employers to establish a "bona fide factor." This will be significantly more difficult for employers to establish than the existing defense.
The statute includes "education, training, or experience" as examples of bona fide factors. In addition, the PFA would place the burden on employers to establish that the factor:
(i) is not based upon or derived from a sex-based differential in compensation;
(ii) is job-related with respect to the position in question; and
(iii) is consistent with business necessity.
Even then, the employee can still prevail by demonstrating that "an alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same business purpose without producing such differential and that the employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice."
Other Equal Pay Act provisions in the PFA would make class sizes larger in class actions, enhance penalties, and prohibit retaliation for certain salary-sharing activities. The legislation's fate remains up in the air, but the push is on.
Philip K. Miles III, esq., McQuaide Blasko
Publisher of Lawffice Space
Employers need to understand and better prepare for violence in the workplace when they plan on imposing discipline on employees. Of course, this is especially true when management terminates employees or asks an employee to resign. Such was the case this morning when management at a Hartford beer distributorship in Manchester, CT asked an employee, Omar Thornton, to resign. Clearly upset about the discipline imposed, Mr. Thornton chose to take matters into his own hands and immediately took out a gun and started shooting in a group of 50-70 workers during a shift change in the early morning hours. Apparently, eight employees including the gunman are dead from this incident.
This type of response to employers imposing discipline is unfortunately not a new occurrence. In April 2007 an employee in Houston, Texas was merely given a poor job performance by his manager at NASA. His response was similar to the response of Mr. Thornton today. Somehow he managed to sneak a gun into the highly secure NASA facility and shot and killed both his supervisor and himself.
Not necessarily the proper response when your employer disciplines you. Yet it appears to be happening more and more these days. Take for instance the case of workplace violence that occurred in Orlando, Florida on November 6, 2009 when Jason Rodriguez who had been fired from his engineering firm, Reynolds Smith & Hills more than two years earlier returned to his formed workplace and walked into his former office and began shooting, killing one and wounding five other employees. He obviously was quite upset about his termination and told a reporter who asked him why he had done this that it was "because they left me to rot". Apparently, he had never forgotten the anger nor moved on from the resentment caused by his termination. In addition, his marriage had ended, he could not pay the child support for his son, his home was taken in foreclosure and he had to declare bankruptcy. Faced with all of these stresses, Mr. Rodriguez was driven over the edge and on November 6, 2009 walked into his former office and began shooting.
More recently, there is the case of the University of Alabama neurobiologist and professor who was faced with a group of fellow-professors who decided to deny her tenure at the University. This decision meant that her employment at the University would have come to an end in May 2010. This employment decision was so devastating to Ms. Bishop that on February 12, 2010 she took out a gun at a faculty meeting with her colleagues and ended up shooting six of her colleagues and killing three of them. She is now facing the death penalty.
How can employers be better prepared? Each instance of workplace violence has to be used as a lesson for employers. A lesson to be better aware of the warning signs of workplace violence. Employers also need to be better prepared by ensuring that they have well drafted workplace violence prevention policies as well as providing workplace violence prevention training to all of their managers. Such training will help familiarize the managers with the warning signs of workplace violence, inform managers of some possible resources within the workplace to assist employees that display warning signs of workplace violence and advise managers on methods to provide discipline that can help to avoid instances of workplace violence.
In addition to employers learning to be better prepared for the possibility of workplace violence when disciplining employees, employers also need to be aware that harassment that is not dealt with can escalate and result in workplace violence. Such appears to be the case in this morning's shooting massacre. Apparently, the gunman Omar Thornton, a 34 year-old African American had been upset by and complained to management about being racially harassed in the workplace. Allegedly he had complained about a picture of a hangman's noose and a racial epithet that had been placed on a wall in the bathroom at the beer distributorship. Allegedly management did nothing to respond to his harassment complaints and may have in fact retaliated by asking him to resign. Employers need to understand that when an employee complains about workplace harassment, the employer has a legal responsibility to respond to the complaint by undertaking an investigation and then taking prompt corrective action to stop the harassment. Failure on management's part to respond promptly can lead to liability. Moreover, disciplining an employee after the employee has filed a harassment complaint can lead to claims of retaliation. Management should ensure that they respond promptly to all claims of workplace harassment and take prompt corrective action which can include discipline of the harasser, up to and including termination. Management should also provide training to all managers so that they understand what to do when they receive a harassment complaint, observe harassment in the workplace and/or have an employee that has filed a harassment complaint so they can better understand how to best avoid retaliation against the employee.
Hopefully, today's deadly and unfortunate incident of workplace violence will serve as a lesson to employers to ensure that they are better prepared to protect their workplace from incidents of workplace violence and to ensure that their employees are provided with a workplace free of harassment of any kind.
Submitted by: Melissa Fleischer, Esq.
HR Learning Center LLC
© 2010 HR Learning Center LLC
The Post-New Process Steel World - What Happens Now?
In New Process Steel v. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the United States Supreme Court held that the NLRB needs at least three members to exercise its authority. This poses quite a problem because the Board had been acting with only two members for over two years. With this one opinion, the Supreme Court effectively invalidated about 600 cases decided by the NLRB. This leads to the question: what now?
Some Circuit Courts were quick to act. For example, the Sixth Circuit sua sponte remanded Galicks, Inc. v. NLRB, a case challenging the Board's authority, within a week of New Process Steel. Only eight days after the Supreme Court's decision, the Second Circuit simply denied the NLRB's petition to enforce one of its two-member orders in NLRB v. Talmadge Park. Even the Supreme Court itself reacted to its own holding in New Process Steel by issuing summary dispositions on June 28, 2010. The dispositions granted certiorari, vacated the judgments, and remanded to the Circuit Courts from whence they came.
On July 1, 2010, the NLRB itself weighed in on the all important question: what now? The NLRB issued a press release summarizing its plan for "considering 2-member cases in wake of Supreme Court ruling:"
At the time of the June 17 Supreme Court decision, 96 of the two-member decisions were pending on appeal before the federal courts – six at the Supreme Court and 90 in various Courts of Appeals. The Board is seeking to have each of these cases remanded to the Board for further consideration. Each of the remanded cases will be considered by a three-member panel of the Board which will include Chairman Liebman and Board Member Schaumber (the original decision-makers). Consistent with Board practice, the two other Board members not on the panel will have the opportunity to participate in the case if they so desire.
It is unclear how many of the remaining decisions can or will be contested, but this is a start.
It will take some effort for the NLRB to work through these cases. And that's assuming the federal courts comply with the request to remand to the Board. The NLRB is now at full strength for the first time since 2007 so we need not worry about unauthorized decisions for the time being. Given the shockwaves from New Process Steel, the Board will probably not be permitted to fall below three again. For now though, the plan moving forward is starting to become clear.
Submitted by:
Philip K. Miles III, esq., McQuaide Blasko
Publisher of Lawffice Space
Learning Lewis but Remembering Ricci
Last month, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Lewis v. City of Chicago. The Court held that a fire department's decision to keep using results from an application exam in subsequent hiring decisions created Title VII liability. Why? Because the test had a disparate impact on African-American firefighters.
The City had argued that the statute of limitations had already run because the only discriminatory act was the placement of applicants into pools based on the test results. The Supreme Court rejected that argument, holding instead that the application of those classifications in subsequent hiring decisions constituted the start of the statute of limitations. In short, disparate impact liability attaches upon the application of a practice, not just its initial adoption.
The lesson for employers is pretty simple: Stop employment practices that have a disparate impact. So, if you're an employer and you discover that the results of a promotion or hiring test disproportionately favor whites, should you stop? Having just discussed Lewis, you might be tempted to say "yes." But, don't forget about Ricci!
Last summer, the Supreme Court decided Ricci v. DeStefano. The Court held that New Haven was liable for race-based discrimination under Title VII for refusing to certify the results of a promotion exam. The City refused to certify the results when it discovered a racial disparity in the results. In short, the Court told the employer that it couldn't ignore the test results based on race, and needed to keep going with the exam.
The trick for employers is knowing when to honor the test results and when to stop using the test. In Ricci, the Court held unequivocally that disparate statistics alone are not enough. The employer must have a "strong basis in evidence" to believe that the practice will result in disparate impact liability. Remember that an employer may successfully defend a disparate impact claim by demonstrating that the complained of practice is "job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity."
The combined lesson for employers from Lewis and Ricci is to examine ongoing practices and make an effort to assess the possibility of disparate impact liability. Just because an exam, or other practice, was adopted a long time ago doesn't mean employers can just keeping using it. Meanwhile, employers cannot discriminate against a race by changing course when the racial statistics don't come out as planned, unless there's a strong basis in evidence to believe that the practice will result in disparate impact liability.
Submitted by:
Philip K. Miles III, esq., McQuaide Blasko
Publisher of Lawffice Space
GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act) is a federal law that was signed by President Bush two years ago on May 21, 2008 . It applies to employers with 15 or more employees. It was prompted by concerns that fear of being fired or treated unfairly by employers and insurers based on the results of their genetic testing would prompt employees to forego obtaining important genetic testing that they required. Accordingly, Congress passed and President Bush signed the newest of the federal anti-discrimination laws prohibiting employers from discriminating against employees based on the results of their genetic tests.
The first known case in this country to be filed under this new law exemplifies the very concerns that prompted Congress to pass this law. Pamela Fink of Fairfield, Connecticut decided to have a double mastectomy in response to discovering through genetic testing that she had the gene that made her much more prone to develop breast cancer than others. Ms. Fink worked for the MXenergy Company, a natural gas and energy supplier located in Stamford, CT. Allegedly she had been a great worker and had received glowing performance appraisals from her employer year after year. However, not long after she disclosed that she was having this voluntary double mastectomy as a precaution in light of the results of her genetic testing, everything seemed to change drastically for her at work. She began being targeted at work for poor performance causing her to be demoted and ultimately discharged from her job for poor performance.
If true, this is precisely what this new federal law was intended to prevent. Employers are required to make employment decisions based on job-related factors such as whether employees are doing a good job rather than whether the employer believes that their insurance costs will go up because an employee is likely to develop breast cancer or other diseases. This case will likely be followed closely by others to determine how the court handles such a case and what type of precedent will be created under this new federal law.
Submitted by:
Melissa Fleischer, Esq.
President and Founder
HR Learning Center LLC
©2010 HR Learning Center LLC


text:
Finalists Will Use Camera and Funds to Bring Creative Proposals to Life and Compete for Grand Prize
CENTER VALLEY, Pa., June 23, 2010 – Olympus is proud to announce the six finalists chosen by the YouTube community and a panel of Olympus judges in the Olympus PEN your story challenge. These individuals submitted videos to the Olympus YouTube website, showing what they would do with the powerfully simple new Olympus PEN® E-PL1 portable camera featuring professional digital single lens reflex (DSLR) image quality, point-and-shoot simplicity and high-definition (HD) video, and $5,000 to bring their creative vision to life.
Out of hundreds of people who entered, the following creative video proposals have been chosen as the six finalists:
"The Idea - Olympus PEN Contest" by comedic duo the DecimalBrothers
"Olympus - Your Story – Blading" by sports daredevil kevindowling
"Olympus Pen Challenge: Summer Mentor" by positive philanthropist missptv9090
"Olympus Pen - On A Bench Parody" by singer-songwriter ninjapiano
"Olympus Challenge – Neenah's Proposal" by art-house filmmaker SuperNeenah
"Olympus Contest Entry – I'm a creator" by creative artist taylordesignsthings
"Look what they can do"-- See all of their submissions in the online gallery at http://www.youtube.com/getolympus.
This week, the finalists will receive the E-PL1 and $5,000 to start working on their final submissions. By August 2, they will upload their final creations shot with the PEN to YouTube to show the world what they did, and one lucky Grand Prize winner will be selected based on a combination of popular vote and the panel of Olympus judges. The Grand Prize winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to New York City to attend the Olympus-sponsored US Open Tennis Championships. Then, for the ultimate recognition, the winner's work will be displayed on the giant video board in the famed Arthur Ashe Stadium before an audience of thousands.
For more details about the PEN your story challenge visit http://www.youtube.com/getolympus. Connect with us on http://Twitter.com/getolympus, http://www.Facebook.com/getolympus and http://www.Flickr.com/groups/getolympus. Learn about the amazing Olympus PEN E-PL1 camera at http://www.getolympus.com.
ABOUT OLYMPUS IMAGING AMERICA INC. Olympus Imaging America Inc. is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering award-winning products for consumer and professional markets.
Olympus Imaging America Inc. works collaboratively with its customers and its ultimate parent company, Olympus Corporation, to develop breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality that enhances people's lives every day. These include:
Digital Cameras
Professional Digital SLR Imaging Systems
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Digital Media
Olympus Imaging America Inc. is responsible for sales in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. For more information, visit: www.olympusamerica.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ask my cousin Gabriel about his '56 Chevy sometime. He'll tell you all kinds of stories about that car – stories that never end up quite the same way, but always share the same basic formula: cruising around town, running into pretty girls, picking them up and going to the movies. The story tastes like pure Americana; I almost expect Veronica and Jughead to show up.
Gabriel has never had a '56 Chevy; he's never driven a car. When he was a child, he fell from a second-story porch at my grandparents' home on Cherokee Street in south St. Louis, and it left him with brain damage. He has never been able to live on his own. But Gabriel is a vigorous storyteller, and even if you've heard his stories a dozen times before, you'll ask him again, listening for the quirks of the telling, the details whose source you can't imagine. My father gets wistful when he tells me about Gabriel's stories: "They're like fantasies of the life he never had."
Gabriel was born in 1950, six years before my dad. During his childhood, my dad spent nearly every weekend with Gabriel at his family's house in Cahokia, Illinois. My grandparents would play cards with Gabriel's parents, while dad spent time with the boys – for Gabriel, along with his brothers Jerome and Sid, both born with developmental disabilities, were always thought of "the boys," no matter how old they were. Dad especially liked spending time with Gabriel, because of their shared propensity for wild lies.
Dad and Gabriel would ride their bikes around Cahokia, usually without incident. But Cahokia wasn't a big place in the 60's, and everybody knew their family. Occasionally some older kid would decide to pick on the retarded boys, and my dad would be the one around to defend them – usually by yelling to hustle back home. Even though he was younger than Gabriel, my father always felt protective towards him – paternalistic, even. He had to. Gabriel couldn't do it for himself. He wasn't equipped for it.
It's strange to think how a child's instincts could shape my own life – how I, almost fifty years later, could be defined by one question asked by someone so young.
* * *
"Your aunt and I went to Sunday school at the Assembly of God Church on Sidney, between 12th and 13th streets," my father tells me. That building still exists, though it now houses a different Assembly of God congregation. My grandparents never went to church themselves, but they sent their children, saying it would be good for their souls. "I think they mostly just wanted a couple of hours to themselves on Sunday morning," dad says.
The children never went into the main church building. Instead they spent their time in another building, where they were broken up into groups led by youth pastors. They almost never saw the preacher himself, who spent all of his time attending to the congregation's adults – the "paying customers," as dad puts it. He was ten years old or so at the time of this story – "old enough to be larcenous," as he puts it. "My mom would give me a dollar to put in the till. I would sneak off to the corner store and buy fifty cents worth of penny candy with the Lord's money."
The youth pastors had liked my dad ever since he'd won a contest for reciting the Ten Commandments from memory. He won a silver-colored ring from the contest, square-faced with an indented cross in the center. He remembers being so proud of the ring that he wanted to wear it all the time, but it turned his skin a greenish gray and smell strange. He was, apparently, allergic to the cross.
The youth pastors called the preacher in shortly after that. Every now and then, the preacher came by the Sunday school and trawled teenagers and promising children about getting saved. They had taken dad's victory in the contest as proof of his loyalty to God, and thought he was a prime candidate. So the pastors put a chair before him, had him kneel down, and had him place his elbows on the seat, ready to pray.
"Are you ready to get saved, son?" they asked him.
"I wasn't really clear on what that meant," says dad. "People had talked about getting saved, had said they were so glad they had done it, but I didn't know what it was. To be honest, I wasn't really concerned with religion at that point. I was more concerned about comic books." He pauses. "They played me winning that contest as a sign of devotion, but I just wanted to win the prize."
So he asked what it meant.
The preacher straightened up and said being saved meant you understood and accepted a handful of things – things you had to say out loud, things you had to mean:
You had to understand that you were a sinner.
You had to understand that, as a sinner, you were bound for Hell.
You had to understand that only Jesus could save you from that fate.
You had to confess to the Lord that you were a sinner, and that only He could save you.
And you had to accept Jesus as your personal savior.
"They made their case on an emotional level," my dad says. "'Be afraid of this awful fate. You're in danger. You need the Lord's protection." But their message relied on fear, and dad wasn't afraid. "Maybe I didn't know enough to be scared," he says. "I wasn't afraid of the devil. I was afraid of my father." This became an intellectual proposition to him – an invitation to debate. And so he made a counter-proposal.
"What about my cousin Gabriel?" he asked.
Dad doesn't know why Gabriel came to mind, though he guesses, it having been a Sunday, he had probably visited Gabriel the day before. He explained to the preacher about his cousin, about his fall from the porch before he could have possibly understood any of those questions, before he could have understood what it meant to sin or that he needed to be saved. It wasn't his fault; he couldn't do it for himself. He wasn't equipped for it.
So what happens to Gabriel?
"The preacher gave me a look like they give you when your dog has to be put down," dad says. "And he looked down at the ground, shook his head, and said, 'Well, he's going to hell, son.'"
"Then I'm going with him."
The preacher tried to talk him out of it, tried to tell him that he needed to look out for his own soul, not to worry about the fate of other people. (This seems like strange advice from a person whose professional duty is to save other people's souls.) But dad stood up and walked out, waited at the bus stop for his sister to come out. When he got home, he told my grandfather that he didn't want to go to Sunday school anymore.
And he didn't. That moment in the Assembly of God on Sidney had ruined him for Christianity. And although he could not know it – indeed, could not know the road it would lead him down himself – he set the course of my life in motion that day. I owe the strange chance of my religion to a ten-year-old's question and a preacher's abominable answer. I feel both horrified and grateful.


text:
This 12 holes Alto C ocarina has very beautiful and natural sound. To play the ocarina is very easy and it is appropriate for music lover and private collectors.
- A 12-hole ocarina with flaw design
- Great gift for a music lover
- Can make beautiful and natural sound
- Comes with an adjustable lanyard
- Material: Ceramic
- Ocarina Color: Off white
- Lanyard Color: Random
- Size(L x W x H): Approx. 6.9 x 3.74 x 1.85 inch / 17.5 x 9.5 x 4.7cm
- Lanyard Length: Approx. 15.7 inch / 40 cm
How to Play:
- Press the two air holes on the back with your two thumbs and press the front air holes with your forefingers and middle fingers
- Hold the ocarina bottom gently with your ring fingers in case it drops out when you loose all the other fingers
- Gently press the air holes with your finger pulps not your finger tips; do not leave any interspace and do not press them too hard
- Put the mouthpiece in your mouth, not too deep and you can play it
Package Includes:
- 1 x Ocarina with lanyard
Note: Please be reminded that due to lighting effects and monitor's brightness/contrast settings etc, the color tone of the website's photo and the actual item could be slightly different.


text:
Sweet glazed pork
Prep: 15 mins Cook: 10 mins (10 mins marinating)
A touch of five spice on everyday ingredients turns an average meal into a family favourite
Nutrition and extra info
- Easily doubled / halved
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal218
- fat6g
- saturates2g
- carbs10g
- sugars10g
- fibre1g
- protein32g
- salt0.34g
Save to My Good Food
- 2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 3 tbsp clear honey
- splash orange juice
- 4 pork loin steaks or chops, trimmed of fat
- 4 heads bok choi, halved lengthways
Mix the five-spice powder, honey and enough orange juice to loosen, then smear over the chops. Leave to marinate for 10 mins.
Heat grill to medium, then grill the chops for 4-5 mins on each side, basting with any leftover glaze, until cooked through.
Steam the heads of bok choi for 2 mins until wilted. Serve with the pork chops, drizzled with any juices and glaze from the grill pan.
Recipe Tip
Quick pork with vegetablesMake the marinade as above. Slice the pork into strips and fry in a hot wok with 1 tbsp oil for about 4 mins, then tip onto a plate. Add another tbsp oil, then stir-fry a 300g pack stir-fry vegetables for 3 mins. Pour over the marinade, add the pork and any juices, then stir through to coat. Serve with noodles or rice.
You may also like
Comments, questions and tips
1st Oct, 2009
I didn't have a lot of honey so I used half honey and half maple syrup - yummy. I used spare rib steaks rather than chops as I find them less dry and the marbling of fat makes them more tender. I imagine the marinade would be nice with a dash of apple juice instead of orange juice, or maybe a spoonful of apple sauce added.
25th Feb, 2008
My husband cooked this yesterday and it was yummy. He's not a cook at all, but he found this really quick and easy. He also cook the steak in the oven, not a stand and watch sort of man lol. The steaks were lovely and tender and the kids wanted more. We had mash and veg with it, but think I would of done wild rice with it.


text:
If you are one of the 20 million Americans who has diabetes, summer presents a whole new set of challenges.
With summer upon us, barbecues, beaches and sunshine are front and center in our minds. We try to spend carefree days with friends and family, enjoying the weather and company of loved ones. Along with these good times come some special precautions we all (hopefully) take, such as applying sunscreen and drinking plenty of water.
If you are one of the 20 million Americans who has diabetes, summer presents a whole new set of challenges.
"Everyone should be able to enjoy the summer months, and people with diabetes can, too. They just need to take a few extra precautions," says Linda McKay, R.N., M.S., a certified diabetes educator and clinical nurse manager at the Natick Visiting Nurse Association.
According to McKay, hot weather can cause a greater incidence of low blood sugar. "People travel and go to parties during the summer. They are out of their normal routine and often don't have control over their food choices. It is important for people with diabetes to closely monitor their blood sugar and not to skip meals."
When traveling, be sure to bring snacks. Peanut butter crackers, cheese and yogurt are great options. When traveling across time zones, people with diabetes may need to do some extra planning. If the time change is more than four hours, McKay suggests contacting your physician. He or she may adjust medication and eating schedules, to account for the time change.
In addition, medications are sensitive to extreme temperatures, and should not be transported in checked luggage or left in a hot car. "Carry it with you," advises McKay.
As we all know, sunburn is an insult to the body. This is especially so for people with diabetes, McKay says. Sunburn can cause blood sugar levels to elevate because the liver and muscles release sugar as the body tries to heal the burn. For people with diabetes who are insulin-dependent and get sunburned, McKay recommends following "sick day" rules: Monitor blood sugar closely, drink lots of water and eat on time. If blood sugar becomes elevated, call your physician.
Another worry for people with diabetes is foot injury. Summer is the time for sandals and bare feet, but for people with neuropathy, this can be dangerous.
"Be sure to protect your feet from cuts and bumps," McKay says. "A broken bottle or sharp seashells are difficult for most people, and people with diabetes need to be extra careful."
Sandals and bare feet don't offer good protection, and McKay recommends wearing sneakers or water shoes.
People with diabetes should all know the warning signs to watch for, and they need to be especially vigilant during the summer. If you feel particularly tired, weak, have blurred vision, are more hungry or thirsty than usual, are nauseous or just don't feel right, be sure to take the time to address the problem. Time is of the essence, and dealing with summer's effect on your body will help you to have a safe and enjoyable summer, diabetes and all.
Betsy Wadland is director of development for the Natick, Mass., VNA, a nonprofit health care organization providing home care to thousands of people each year. For more information, call the VNA at 508-653-3081.


text:
Se ha cabado la mierda
Bout to drop a def' cut
Yo, yo, yo, huh
[Verse 1]
Immortal Technique disintegrates mics when I spit
I cause more casualties than sunken slave ships
Full to capacity, I bring tragedy to rap without my man Khadafi
The government took Nazi scientists from Germany
To design nuclear rockets and ways of observin' me
'Cause their pathetic attempts didn't work to murder me
When this country was conceived
These bastards never heard of me
But now I hold the souls of slave masters eternally
Bleedin' internally, burgundy during surgery, verbally,
'Cause I'm a spirit to which devils are incompatible
I've been around since the planet was inhabitable
I spit in the ocean and created microscopic animals
Which evolved into two species
The righteous and the cannibals
But until then, I had alien women suck me off
When God said "Let there be light," I turned it the fuck off
And that's the reason Earth is only five billion years old
I made the sun shine, and permitted time to unfold
The surface was lava, but when I stepped down it became cold
Fuck what you've been told!
My spiritual form became a swarm of molecule sickness
Manifested liquid trapped inside a mountainous region
Until the sky started rainin', continuous seasons
Immortal Technique, at long last, reincarnated
Undebatably reinstated to leave you decapitated
Je suis fou, but my crazy words make sense
I'll split every pound in your body into six pence
I'm sick of simple similes about The Sixth Sense
I'll leave your body drenched in the blood
From all your ancestors
You'll never be at peace, like the souls of child molesters
I'll cut you and bless your festerin' wounds with alcohol
Drown you in a clogged toilet, in a public bathroom stall
I'll rip you down, take a chunk of you home, like the Berlin Wall
This is the final call for all rappers that wanna brawl
Immortal Technique, the wrong motherfucker to diss
'Cause I allowed God to let you motherfuckers exist
Hahahahaha yeah, real oh
We about to crash somethin' now, yo
Yo, yo, yo
[Verse 2]
I'm the Stronghold on your neck that doesn't let you breathe
Stronger than the fake image of God in which you believe
More dangerous than your ignorant ass could ever perceive
A European virus mutated in Africa, overseas
Transported by mosquitoes and fleas to where you live
So lock yourself in your house with your wife and your kids
You're such a bitch, somebody probably made you out of a rib
My arrest record just scratches the surface of what I did
My bid locked me up and brought my life to an end
I was forgotten, abandoned by my bitches and friends
You don't want beef with people like me, so don't pretend
I'll resurrect your aborted baby and kill it again
You get no props in hip hop like feminine men
I'm iller than any plague God gave Moses to send
You wanna make amends
'Cause I'm the reason that the earth shakes
Buryin' your fam like Central American earthquakes
Immortal Technique
Harlem to Canada
Lyrically damage ya
Te dije que se ha cabado la mierda
"Creation & Destruction," the first track off of Revolutionary Vol. 1 by Immortal Technique.
A major theme of this track is Omnipotence with Tech constantly referencing Creationism and Evolution, as alluded in the track's title.
The song was produced by Marley Marl and J-Force.
It samples the song "Long Kiss Goodnight" from the album Life After Death by The Notorious B.I.G.


text:
Housing material
PD two-bearing housings and their covers are made of grey cast iron.
Paint, corrosion protection
PD housings are painted blue (RAL 5007) using a solvent based alkyd paint. The paint protects the housing in accordance with ISO 12944-2:1998, corrosivity category C2 (i.e.exterior atmospheres with low levels of pollution, interior atmospheres where condensation may occur). The paint is not affected by most lubricating or engine oils, cutting fluids or alkalescent washing chemicals. Housings can be repainted with most water or solvent based 1- or 2-component paints.
Unpainted surfaces are protected with a solventless rust inhibitor.


text:
And Radish Cake~ one of Chinese delicacies... that would have come 'unnoticed' to me... until H came along...
D formerly known as Mr H Jr and E were introduced to Radish Cake on our trip to Kuala Lumpur in January this year... they loved it... especialy D, who adores deep fried food... between them... they almost finished the Radish Cake in record time... Two hungry teens! Looking at D and E ate so heartily... and 2 packets weren't sufficient for both...I made a mental note to get H to cook Radish Cake when we returned home...
Nearly 4 months after our trip... the kids were delighted when we presented them... with Radish Cakes... Believe me ... when I say that these little delights are addictive, and we finished it all, in record time too...
Finally... I am posting this to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday #11 hosted by Sharon of Test with Skewer
Radish Cakes
Recipe (adapted from Agnes Chang)
500-600g of radish- shred finely2 garlic - chopped3 tablespoon of dried prawns - soaked and chopped120g of chicken breast - dicedsalt and white pepper for seasoning1/2 teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice300g rice flour75g tapioca flour4 cups of water (including water from cooking radish)For garnishing ~ chopped chillies, thinly sliced spring onions, golden fried shallotsChilli Sauce to serve
- Place the shredded radish in a medium size pot with 1 cup of water, boil until the radish is soft and tender. Drain the cooked radish and reserve the water (to be added on to the water above to make 4 cups of water). Leave it to cool.
- Mix the 2 flours and the water together. Sieve.
- Heat up wok, add oil and stir fry chopped garlic and dried prawns until aromatic.
- Add in diced chicken. Cook until the chicken is slightly opaque in colour.
- Add cooked radish, batter and seasonings.
- Meanwhile... spray some oil onto the tray and prepare the steamer. Steam the tray for few minutes.
- Continue stirring the batter until thickened.
- Lower the heat and pour the batter into the heated greased tray and steam for 45 minutes to an hour.
- Leave it to cool. Cut into slices.
- Heat up the wok with 1/2 cup of cooking oil and fry the radish slices till golden colour on both sides.


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take (something) for gospel(redirected from taken something for gospel)
take (something) for gospel
To believe that something is absolutely true without any hesitation or reservations. When we're growing up, we take what our parents tell us for gospel. That's part of why teenagers are so rebellious, because they're just starting to realize their parents' fallibility. The beloved professor's opinions on the author are taken for gospel by his students.


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Tired of taking his son to overcrowded public swimming pools, this Chinese father decided to build an inexpensive, private indoor pool for his son. Using steel wires and a sheet of plastic, he turned the back of his microvan into a small pool.
I've seen this done in the back of a pickup truck before, but if you think about it, this is a really good idea. Not only does this guy not have to worry about his kid drinking other peoples' pee or picking up pinkeye at a really crowded public pool, he's figured out a way to keep his tyke away from the sun's damaging rays as he splashes around. (Hat tip to Anthony!)


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Lab Report: Phytoplankton Under Ice
Adjunct Professor Donald Perovich was part of a team that discovered extensive blooms of phytoplankton under sea ice off the coast of Alaska. These tiny free-floating photosynthetic organisms comprise the base of the marine food web. The results were published in the journal Science in June.
Scientists previously thought there were few or no phytoplankton beneath sea ice because so little light could reach the water. Discovered during NASA's ICESCAPE expedition to the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in 2010 and 2011, the under-ice blooms were concentrated enough to turn the water bright green. "It's a pure discovery," says Perovich, who studied the optical properties of the ice, "and now we have an entirely new ocean."
The ice over the Chukchi Sea has shrunk from a 2- to 4-meter multi-year cover to a thin sheet that forms and melts each year. The thin ice and melt ponds transmit more light to the underlying ocean than do thick ice packs.
Perovich, a glaciologist at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, and his Science article coauthors conclude: "Work is still required to determine the timing and spatial distribution of under-ice phytoplankton blooms across the Arctic Ocean, the extent to which they are controlled by thinning sea ice and proliferating melt pond fractions, and how they affect marine ecosystems. This is particularly important if we are to understand and predict the biological and biogeochemical impacts of ongoing and future changes in the Arctic Ocean physical environment."
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Miriam Haskell Dome Cluster Pearl Necklace24K Russian gold platedAustrian crystalsFaux pearls Size: 16 inchesHidden box closureStamped Miriam HaskellEach piece of Miriam Haskell jewelry comes with a Certificate of AuthenticityMade in New York
Regardless of weight or shipping destination, every order qualifies for free shipping!
Born in 1899 Miriam Haskell was the daughter of a small-town merchant in Indiana. Some 30 years later, she would have tea with Coco Chanel while selecting the upcoming season's beads at Madame Gripoix's in Paris. Miriam Haskell opened her first boutique in New York in 1926 and Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball and the Duchess of Windsor were among her greatest patrons. If history is any indication of the value of a Miriam Haskell piece, today's collection promises continued appreciation by generations to come.
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heroswelcome necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 288 diseños de 83 diseñadores freelance.
Logo is needed for a start up company named REAL DEAL TESTING. Think Gatorade Test Lab. A corp. ID, brochure, and a splash page will be needed right after this contest
Real Deal testing sells "TRUTH". We use the latest and greatest technology available to test results of a persons fitness goals. We prove if a product or exercise program really works. This includes Body Composition testing, heart rate monitoring, daily caloric intake testing too name a few.
Some of the equipement we will use is found @ http://www.bodpod.com and http://www.sensewear.com
Our primary target groups age is from 17-40. Gender will be leaning toward women, but the design should be neutral. the reason the targeted market leans to women is because we do free testing for kids, which means we will dealing with a lot of mothers, but again we sell "Truth" to both genders.
The company colors are royal blue, white (i know white isn't a design colour, sorry for my ignorance) and silver.
- Item 1...color royal blue, white, and silver.
- Item 2...USE A FONT THAT SHOULD APPEAL TO EVERYONE IN THE TARGETED MARKET
- Item 3...the logo to look like a seal, but not a 1950's seal or a blue bell ribbon seal, a sleek modern seal. texturing or lighting effects can be used
- Item 4...logo should be athoritive
- Item 5...image in GIFF, BIT MAP,VECTOR,EPS
- Item 6...the logo should fit nice and neat on a business card. My cards will be two sided so it should fit on one whole side
- Item7...the tag lin(know what works for you) to be inside the seal
- Item 7...feel free to add your own touch to the design. Just build off of these guidelines and remeber that the logo has to be able to size smaller than a business card or as big as a poster, and remeber to have a good experience designing for me, I'm jealous you designer can have so much fun at work
- a week looking logo, we will be sell truth, no matter if its popular opinion or not
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Public Affairs and Communications (PubCom)
Jim Enright
Communications Officer for Development
Jim Enright joined the Office of Public Affairs and Communications in February 2005. Prior to Lewis & Clark he spent many enjoyable years tending academic vineyards at Emory University and Oregon Health & Science University, developing at OHSU an affinity for ampersands that he continues cultivating on Palatine Hill.
Jim is a storyteller for Lewis & Clark. He's most interested in stories that reveal the heart and mind of the institution through the lives, work, and interests of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends. He also mines the history of Lewis & Clark to discover connections between the past and present. He believes that archives breathe and that library and bookstore shelves hold truly interactive media.
Everyone has a story. Jim is eager to hear yours—and share it with others.


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We oppose Islam, not Muslims. We are against hate, not faith
Garudaman wrote:who said the environment is changed? i said the environment is created from the beginning to accommodate the evolution of fly!
manfred wrote:Did God create grass for cows to eat or did cows develop a digestion system that allowed them to eat things many other animals could not?
manfred wrote:All plants have some defence or another against being eaten
"arms race" between creatures
manfred wrote:others to die out
thats defence isnt meant for not being eaten but not being eaten completely, as they're still need predator to control their own population.
even there's those which extinct, those which has died are still can being food for those which survive, then live as those which survive, & then in the end, the system still persist : plants -> herbivore -> carnivore/omnivore.
manfred wrote:Plant do not have a brain or a will, so it makes no sense saying that anything they have or do "is meant".
some even have living community with things like ants, to prevent other animals eating them...
manfred wrote:The defences they put up must be effective enough to ensure the survival of the species. If that is not the case, the plant will die out. And plants do not need "predators".
manfred wrote:Have you been to the supermarket recently and asked for a dinosaur steak, as in the Flintstones? And this system you speak of, does it REQUIRE BY NECESSITY a creator or can it be explained in other ways, as science does?
all living being need population control to ensure their survival, unless they're rare.
ok, lets see how the science explain this : whats physical & chemical laws which make plant "choose" to survive?
in 2007 plant ecologist Susan Dudley of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, worked with sea rockets—members of the mustard family native to beaches throughout North America, including the Great Lakes—to investigate whether plants can recognize their relatives. Dudley and a graduate student found there was less root competition when closely related "siblings" shared the same pot than when groups of strangers grew in a common container. This demonstrated that the sea rockets not only recognized but acted altruistically toward their relatives, a behavior known as "kin recognition."
More surprising is the result of an experiment that Mancuso carried out with Mimosa pudica, the "touch-me-not" plant. He and colleagues dropped potted mimosas repeatedly onto foam from 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) above. The plants closed their leaves in response to the fall initially, but stopped doing so after four to six drops. It seems that they "learned" that there was no danger. It's not that they were no longer able to close their leaves—they still would do so in response to touch. They retained this ability to discriminate between the harmless fall and the potentially harmful (about to be eaten) touch after a month.
Many plants will even warn others of their species when danger is near. If attacked by an insect, a plant will send a chemical signal to their fellows as if to say, "hey, I'm being eaten – so prepare your defences." Researchers have even discovered that plants recognize their close kin, reacting differently to plants from the same parent as those from a different parent.
"In the last several decades science has been showing that plants are endowed with feeling, weave complex social relations and can communicate with themselves and with animals," write Mancuso and Viola, who also argue that plants show behaviours similar to sleeping and playing.
manfred wrote:What population control do humans have?
And let's be clear, Garudaman: even if you postulate a creator, it doesn't contradict Manfred's explanation. All that is contradicted is what is SAID about Allah: that species were created fully formed. But Allah could instead have created a much simpler world, with the capacity for life and evolution, set it going, and left it alone. Are you quite, quite, sure that you've got a correct description of Allah's doings?manfred wrote: And this system you speak of, does it REQUIRE BY NECESSITY a creator or can it be explained in other ways, as science does?
manfred wrote:You don;t seem to understand... plants do not "choose" anything. If, by some chance, they develop a trait that helps their survival, then they have an advantage of over the other plants. This means in the long run the others will become less and less and eventually die out.
manfred wrote:And humans, you say, are the only things that should plan their own population control? ALL populations of living things are "controlled" the same way. Anything that is worse at adapting than other things will eventually die out. Humans, too. The world is continuously changing, and unless we learn to change with it, we will be the next dinosaurs.
Only you say that they "choose" - and you drop the quotation marks too. As Manfred says, they do NOT choose. Nor do the laws of nature choose, any more than the air invites birds to fly. There are just coincidences between a particular mutation and the nature of matter or the environment that allow plants or animals to make one tiny evolutionary step at a time.Garudaman wrote:if they who develop a trait that helps their survival, then its they who "choose", not nature laws, so again, whats make they choose to survive? its their soul, or the nature laws?
Fernando wrote:There are just coincidences between a particular mutation and the nature of matter or the environment that allow plants or animals to make one tiny evolutionary step at a time.
Fernando wrote:Are you quite, quite, sure that you've got a correct description of Allah's doings?
so whats caused that mutation?
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Microsoft has released Attack Surface Analyzer 1.0 to assist software developers and vendors during the verification phase of implementing its own Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle.
NOTE: The Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) is a software development security assurance process consisting of security practices grouped into seven phases: training, requirements, design, implementation, verification, release, and response.
Attack Surface Analyzer 1.0 now emerges from beta with functions for developers to view changes on the attack surface of a computer resulting from the introduction of their code on to the Windows platform.
Mathematically speaking, this gives developers (or more holistically positioned systems architects or IT security auditors) the opportunity to assess the aggregate attack surface change on a machine (or group of machines) resulting from the installation of an organization's line of business applications.
Microsoft positions this release as a tool for IT "Security Incident Responders" to gain a better understanding of the state of a system's security during investigations (if a baseline scan was taken of the system during the deployment phase).
Microsoft director of trustworthy computing Tim Rains explains that Attack Surface Analyzer essentially allows you to take a "snap shot" of a bunch of security-related information on a system. "Then after the system changes, you can take another 'snap shot' and the tool will compare the before and after 'snap shots' and show you what changed in an HTML report," he said.
The security-related information captured in a snap shot includes:
- System Information
- Running Processes
- Executable Memory Pages
- Windows
- Impersonation Tokens
- Kernel Objects
- Modules
- Network Information
- Network Ports
- Named Pipes
- RPC Endpoints
- System Environment, Users, Groups
- Accounts
- Groups
- Group Membership
Figure: An example of an Attack Surface Analyzer report.
The "Security Issues" tab highlights specific potential issues such as access control lists (ACLs) that could be problematic. The "Attack Surface" tab provides insight into what has changed on the system and how the attack surface of the system has been altered.


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By Grabthar's Hammer what a devastating loss. Esteemed British Actor Alan Rickman has passed away at 69 after a battle with cancer.
Rickman was known by many for his exceptional portrayal of the complex and conflicted villain Severus Snape in the films adapted from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.
But real-talk the strapping lad could make most anything epic.
From his acclaimed role as criminal mastermind Hans Gruber in Die Hard:
To that time when director, Kevin Smith, recognized he'd happened upon a British stud who had a voice deeper and richer than a Ghirardelli 98% Dark Chocolate bar. Yeah the voice of a god. Literally:
To what was one of his arguably best roles as Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee's 'Sense and Sensibility':
Throughout his career Rickman continually demonstrated an awe-inspiring range, while at the same time establishing himself as something of a legendary 'bad guy.' Let's get real though, his bit in Galaxy Quest — the epic sci-fi romp — kind of takes the cake.
RIP Alan Rickman, you'll be fiercely missed.


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Streaming Games Service
Microsoft streaming service codenamed Rio
Further reports of Microsoft's rumoured streaming games service have surfaced, suggesting it's currently being called Rio.
Streaming Games Service headlines
Xbox games demo shows streaming from cloud to PC, mobile - rumour
Microsoft showed off a new games streaming service at an internal meeting this week, according to anonymous reports, showing off Xbox 360 games played on PC and mobile.
GameStop's console streaming service canned
During GameStop's quarterly earnings call yesterday, the company revealed it has reduced the scope of its streaming games service, Gamasutra reports. Built on technology acquired from Spawn Labs and Stardock, the cloud-based gaming package will now be restricted to PCs, tablets and IP-capable TVs. The service is still expected to go live this year, and […]
Games Industry must be prepared for digital future, says Wada
Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada has said that the games industry must be prepared for the eventual switch to digital distribution and streaming services as consoles games "won't exist" someday."In ten years' time a lot of what we call 'console games' won't exist," he told MCV. "Somewhere around 2005 the console manufacturers' strategy shifted. In […]
AT&T has plans for its own streaming game service
Like Verizon, AT&T has plans to offer games via a digital download service.The company's executive director of gaming, Glenn Broderick, has said that with cloud computing expected to "take off in the next 5-10 years", AT&T wants to offer the same sort of streaming game service that OnLive is planning."The way we look at it […]


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PATTERN, Amigurumi Elephant Pattern, Crocheted Elephant Pattern, Amigurumi Pattern, Tutorial #crochetelephantpattern
PATTERN, Amigurumi Elephant Pattern, Crocheted Elephant Pattern, Amigurumi Pattern, TutorialAmigurumi Elephant Pattern Crochet Elephant Pattern Includes Photos, Instructions and Pattern. Written in English. Finished Elephant is approx 5.9" tall (15cm). This may vary depending on the yarn and the size of crochet hook used. *This listing is for a DIGITAL PATTERN that you can download once payment has cleared and not an actual finished item* It's an easy pattern and fun to make but requires basic crochet knowledge. If you like to get one in just let me know and I will be happy to make one for you :) If you have any problems following the pattern, or need any advice/help - please feel free to contact me. These patterns are sold on the condition that it will be used for personal use only, e.g. making gifts for family and friends, not for commercial purposes. This pattern can be printed for your personal use only but not resold or copied without Permission. Return to the shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AllSoCute http://allsocute.blogspot.com/


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Accommodation in Cirque de Cilaos, Réunion Island - 2 matches
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Cirque de Cilaos
Mountain and trekking hostel | location : Cirque de Cilaos Mountain and Trekking Hostel La Case Bleue is a gîte situated in Cilaos. It offers a double bedroom, 1 dormitory sleeping 7 people and a fully equipped kitchen. Nightly and weekend rentals. Read more
Cirque de Cilaos
Mountain and trekking hostel | Located in Cilaos, La Cabane du Raideur offers 3 chalets and a studio for rent. The chalets have 3 double beds for 6 people in the mezzanine, 2 bunk beds, a fully equipped kitchen and a veranda. 2 chalets have a spa. The accomodation can accommod... Read more
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I tried to search, but are there any lifting capacity graphs (flight time and battery calculated in) for the 3DR frame with the 880Kv motors?
If not, what is the lifting capacity with the 880Kv motors and a pretty much standard 3DR frame (I know a standard quad doesn't exist, but you get the point).
Hope anybody knows, thanks.
Views: 13779
But 1380gr at 100%, does that mean that I have to subtract the weight off the frame, electronics and motors from the 1380gr to get the max payload wheigt?
highly experimental numbers. In fact, they are probably wrong, and the "max" is sure to be more wrong than the others.
Have you considered sticking with 850Kv/10x45 instead?
EDIT: the labels for the battery is swapped, these are all 1x4400mAh calculations. Only the label was swapped.
No Load
Hovering@50% Throttle, 820g payload (some of which you would want to use for a larger battery, let me know if you want to see that...
Completely unreasonable figures hovering@75% throttle
Those graphs, are they simulated somehow?
What I want is a quad that can lift a camera of about 300-400gr with a camera mount.
So theoretically from your graphs, this should be possible at 50% throttle even whit a bit bigger battery?
I see you also suggest sticking with 850Kv/10x45, but won't that decrease the payload a lot?
Hey Peter, check this out :http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1421070
you'll be amazed of what you could lift.
Sure. Everything is a balancing act. If you can make that 300-40g payload lean towards the 320g side, you can get about about 50% longer flights with a 4400 mAh using the jDrones frame and the 850Kv motors, than if you go with 3DR/880/5800mAh. In the former, you get about 15 minutes at hover, and in the latter you get about 11m in hover. But as soon as you move the sticks, that time goes down. However, with the later, you can carry around 700g rather than the 320g. So you could add more battery time. So many variables....
jDrones, 850, 4400mAh
3DR, 880, 5800mAh
But I have one more projection for you, if you will entertain my highly suspect numbers for one more comparison.
jDrones, 880, Two batteries, slightly larger payload (look at the flight times)
3DR frame, 880, two batteries, slightly smaller payload (but just using the frame above gives you 30% longer flight time, all other things being equal. Yes, the batteries are smaller here, but if you move up to the battery config used above, it cannot hover at 50% w/ this payload and frame weights)
So... lots of variables.


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- Details
- Specs
- Reviews
- What's Included
The Mini Gadgets CAMSTICK-MA CamStick Portable Camera with Stand is for those of you requiring a small yet long duration recording device. This small easily portable unit comes with a stand that will keep it stable and allow it to be quickly placed anywhere you need discreet surveillance. Best of all, this unit couldn't be more simple to use. The CamStick-MA shuns the need for remotes, menus, and excessive buttons. You turn the unit it on, place it facing the area you want covered and its high end motion detection sensors do the rest for you. Even if you're gone for days the CamStick-MA is sure to catch anything that happens past its view as it can run for up to 10 days in standby - just waiting to catch someone red handed. The auto start/stop of recording feature will record for 30 seconds upon detecting motion and then shift to standby mode until motion is detected once more. It's auto overwrite feature will allow for repeated use without the need to hook it up to your PC just to clean it out making this the perfect device for not only long duration surveillance but also repeated use (ex: keeping an eye on your nanny).
- Storage: Supports Micro-SD cards ranging from 2-32GB
- Camera sensor: CMOS
- Microphone effective range: 10 meters
- Recording time: 150 - 2400 minutes
- Battery: Rechargeable Li-Ion
- Battery life: Approx - 2h continuous recording - 10 days standby
- Charges via PC USB port or included European wall adapter
- Dimensions: 2.9" x 1.7" x 1.3"
- Resolution: 640 x 480 @ 15FPS
- Mfgr Warranty: Lifetime warranty and tech support
- Storage: Supports Micro-SD cards ranging from 2-32GB
- Camstick-MA
- Instruction Booklet
- European Adapter
- USB Cable
- Stand
- Camstick-MA