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Saint Marina the Monk (also known as Marina the Ascetic, 6th century, dates unknown), a most interesting young woman who disguised her gender and changed her name so as to enter a monastery and serve the Lord. Saint Marina is remembered for her devotion, prayer, and willingness to accept punishment for a crime she did not commit, so as to save others. Her love of the Lord, and life of prayer and penance, raised her to saintliness and wrought miracles at her tomb. She is considered a female "Desert Father," the first Christian hermits, ascetics, and monks who left pagan cities to contemplate the glories of the Lord, building the Church through their great faith and sacrifice.
Born in Lebanon to wealthy Christian parents, Mariam, as she was named, grew in devotion to the Lord quickly. From a young age she practiced penance and self-deprivation, and spent many hours in prayer. Upon the death of her mother, Mariam's father—himself quite old—announced his intentions to enter the nearby monastery of Qannoubine in Lebanon. Miriam is reported to have exclaimed, "O my father, why would you save your own soul, and destroy mine?" He answered her, "What shall I do with you? You are a woman." At that moment, Miriam told him, "I will take off my woman's dress and will put on the garb of a man." She quickly shaved her head and dressed herself like a shepherd. Her father, noting her piety and determination, sold his possessions, gave the money to the poor, and together they sought entrance to the monastery. She became known as Marina.
As she grew, she was often sent to minister to the community with other monks by the Abbot. One such incident led to a time of great trial for Marina. She was lodged in a public inn with three of her brothers one evening, during which time a number of the king's soldiers were also staying there. During the night, one of the soldiers defiled the young innkeeper's daughter, instructing her to blame it upon the Monk Marina. When the young woman's father discovered the indiscretion, his daughter did as she was told, and Marina was blamed. The innkeeper stormed to the monastery, lodging his complaint. Marina, despite the impossibility of the situation, did not defend herself to spare the innkeeper's daughter the truth, and in her humility and concern for the young woman, chose instead to beg forgiveness. Further, Marina was inclined to accept the Will of God, ready to accept whatever punishment, hardship, and suffering were given to her. She wept and bowed down and said, "I am young, I have sinned, forgive me O my father." The abbot cast her out of the monastery, and for three years she lived outside the gates, begging for food, and seeking companionship and help from the shepherds who lived in the region.
For the remainder of her life, Marina lived a life of penance and service. In reparation for her perceived sins, she was assigned the heaviest of labors, completing the cooking, cleaning, watering, and housekeeping, as well as her regular duties. During that time, she never once complained and sought additional ways in which to deprive herself.
"Lord have mercy!" and informing the Abbot, marveled at her piety, patience, meekness, and humility, and wept in despair for how they had treated her. The innkeeper was summoned, who, too, wept and begged forgiveness. The brothers who cared for her body—including one who had been blind in one eye—were miraculously healed of their ailments and returned to health. As the monks prayed over her body, begging for forgiveness, the monastery bells were reported to have rung of their own accord.
Saint Marina's body was entombed at the monastery, and numerous miracles were reported via her intercession there. Eventually, in the thirteenth century, her relics were translated from Constantinople to Venice, and are venerated there in a church which bears her name.
Saint Didacus of Cadiz, bravely defend the faith like Saint Joan of Arc, have profound visions like Saint Margaret of Cortona, or work numerous miracles like Saint Isidore the Farmer. We don't often think of the quiet saints, those who remain in the background, modeling the Christian virtues of patience and humility, meekness and obedience before the Lord. These saints, like Saint Marina, recognize the greatness of God, and our place of worship before Him. How frequently do we allow ourselves to experience these less obvious virtues? How much better could our lives be—could our service to others be—if we, like Saint Marina the Monk, lived lives of patience humility?
Inspired by the origins and spiritual history of the Holy Rosary, we continue our meditation on the psalms, one each day, in order, for 150 days. Saint Marina remained patient and confident in the Lord, despite her eviction from the monastery and ostracism from society. As we contemplate Psalm 54, we are reminded of her steadfast faith and confidence.
Today's Psalm: Psalm 54: Confident Prayer in Great Peril
1 Save me, O God, by your name;
vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.
3 Strangers are attacking me;
ruthless men seek my life—
men without regard for God.
4 Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, O LORD,
for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
Day 169 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Patience and humility; For those wrongly accused; For those who are misunderstood or judged.
Requested Intentions: Prosperity, health, healing, and conversion for a family (M); Health and healing of a mother (A); Healing of heart and mind (T); Healing of a new relationship before marriage (K); Healing of a relationship (T); Eternal rest for the dearly departed, end to financial struggles, successful sale of home, ability to travel on pilgrimage (L); Financial security of a family, healing of relationships, end to addiction, direction for a family member (L); For healing of a stomach illness (L); For the repose of the soul of a sister (C); Vocational security for family, Financial security for daughter beginning college (M); Vocational guidance, courage and strength (I); Reconciliation of a relationship (M); Strength, financial security, motivation, repose of a loved one (V); Recovery of left shoulder fracture (E); Financial recovery (A); The repose of a lonely soul (L); Health for an ailing nephew (A); Those suffering from depression (J); Successful adoption (S); Healing of a father battling cancer (S).
Psalm: Psalm 54: Confident Prayer in Great Peril
Why pray the Rosary every day for a year?
Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared-- whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima; or to Mariette Beco at Banneux-- she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ "not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done."
To show us how this is done, perhaps no one has been more eloquent than the great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: "The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love."
As Mary said at Fatima, "Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne."
June 18: Saint Marina the MonkPosted by Jacob
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Well, this is a bummer for all you Verizon and Sprint subscribers: Nextbit said today that the CDMA version of the Robin could be delayed until April, which is about two months after the initial release of the anticipated smartphone.
On its Kickstarter page, Nextbit wrote:
You want the future to be here already. You want your Robin today. We feel the same way. We know CDMA backers want to know when their Robins will arrive. We wanted to wait until we could give you an exact date, but we can't wait anymore.
The CDMA Robin wasn't in development until we saw your response on Kickstarter, and we got a little carried away in the excitement of the campaign. When we estimated we would deliver CDMA Robin in February, we were being optimistic. Now that we've gone through development and are working out the testing schedule, we think April is more realistic. We don't know exactly when in April as there are still a number of factors outside our control. We will keep you up to date, as we get more and more information.
We know this isn't the type of news you want to hear and we're sorry. We'd love to tell you all the Robins would ship in February like we planned, or at least give you an exact date. Stay true, Rebels. We are gonna do this.
Nextbit is likely prioritizing the GSM variant of the Robin because it's more widely used worldwide, and because they started on that version first. The GSM variant will ship beginning February 16 to the first 1,000 backers, and then to everyone else who pre-ordered the device.
This story, "Nextbit apologizes for the delay on the CDMA variant of its Robin smartphone" was originally published by Greenbot.

subset: commoncrawl


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Dietary fibre improves first-phase insulin secretion in overweight individuals.
Bodinham, CL, Smith, L, Wright, J, Frost, GS and Robertson, MD (2012) Dietary fibre improves first-phase insulin secretion in overweight individuals. PLoS One, 7 (7).
BodinhamPlosOne 2012.pdf
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Previous work has shown increased insulin sensitivity, increased hepatic insulin clearance and lower postprandial insulin responses following treatment with resistant starch, a type of dietary fibre. The objective of this study was to further explore the effects of resistant starch on insulin secretion. Twelve overweight (BMI 28.2±0.4 kg/m(2)) individuals participated in this randomized, subject-blind crossover study. Participants consumed either 40 g type 2 resistant starch or the energy and carbohydrate-matched placebo daily for four weeks. Assessment of the effect on insulin secretion was made at the end of each intervention using an insulin-modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGTT). Insulin and C-peptide concentrations were significantly higher during the FSIVGTT following the resistant starch compared with the placebo. Modelling of the data showed significantly improved first-phase insulin secretion with resistant starch. These effects were observed without any changes to either body weight or habitual food intake. This study showed that just four weeks of resistant starch intake significantly increased the first-phase insulin secretion in individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Further studies exploring this effect in individuals with type 2 diabetes are required.
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|Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences > School of Biosciences and Medicine > Department of Nutritional Sciences
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|: � 2012 Bodinham et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The original article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040834
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here are several ways to contact the Club. To find out more about each activity then call in at River Park Leisure Centre on a Tuesday or Thursday morning and ask at Reception to speak to a representative of the Winchester Fitness and Sports Club for Over 50's (the day's key duty person or the Chairman). We'll be happy to show you around, meet other Club members and for you to watch the various activities.
You can also email one of the Club's committee members at:
|Kathy Tyrrell
|Adrian Reeves
|Linda Messingham
|Membership Secretary
|Hugh Woodd
|Gill Elcock
|Vice Chairperson
|Linda Carlin
|Stuart Gaunt
|Trish Turnbull
|Linda Williams
or write to the Membership Secretary at: 150 Springvale Road, Winchester, SO23 7RB.


text: FAI, Fabbrica Attrezzature Industriali, was founded in Italy in 1963 by Giovanni Bettanin, a former Ford tractor dealer. FAI manufactured skid steer loaders, backhoe loaders, front loaders, wheel loaders, both wheeled and tracked excavators, mini excavators, and terrain forklifts. Although Komatsu took full control of FAI in 1995 and dropped the FAI brand name in 1997, FAI machines are still used in the construction industry today.


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Xian, China (WiredPRNews.com) China Tours Dot Com is excited to launch a fantastic free prize draw for participants on Twitter or Facebook to celebrate its website redesign and to utilize the power of social network. Twitter followers and Facebook fans participate in this promo can enter in the lucky draw to win two free 8-day luxury China tours, one for Twitter followers and another for Facebook fans. The tour brings you to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai, the most popular cities in China with Great Wall of China, Terracotta Warriors and the Bund covered in this itinerary. The tour includes internal airfares, 7-nights first class accommodations and meals and excludes international airfares, taxes, visa services and gratuities to guides & drivers and any expense of personal nature.
If you are planning to travel to China and would like to take advantage of this great offer, you may not want to miss this chance to win a free trip! Here are two ways you can participate.
Win as a Twitter Follower
Twitter users can follow @chinatourscom and retweet "Follow @chinatourscom to win an 8-day luxury tour to China. Win this #FreeChinaTour valued at $1168 http://bit.ly/lL6K4G. RT & Enter."
Win as a Facebook Fan
Be a fan of Chinatours.com on Facebook and navigate to Promos to register to win this free 8-day luxury tour to the best destinations of China, $1168.00 of value.
All entrants are required to be over 18 years old holding a valid passport so that they can travel to China. Those who don't win the free tour are eligible to get a $59.00 coupon if they book a tour valued over $1000.00 with Chinatours.com.
About Chinatours.com
ChinaTours.com is an online travel service platform owned and operated by Xian ANZ International Travel Service Co., Ltd. It's specialized in providing a full spectrum of packaged tours in China, including competitively-priced group tours and fully-customized private tours for inbound tourists in China.


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Mary's Room 02Saturday, February 17, 2018
Colours: soothing Blue and crisp White
Styled by Safia Sheikh
I promised highlighting universality of pieces and colours in the last post in this series, didn't I? Well, here we are.
Since I wanted to go for more of a casual look, both outfits were paired with white sneakers; comfortable, but more importantly, adhering to the colour scheme.
ya girl has started university! I'm proud to announce that I have been studying fashion design since September. I suppose at the least you could say it's exciting, but more than that, I've found my nerves coming alight and my confidence waning. It's inspiring but also terrifying to be surrounded by so many talented and knowledgeable people. Why am I openly admitting this to the void of the internet? Simply because I know others are definitely feeling the same way. And hey, perhaps in a couple years or so, even this moment in my life won't seem so crucial, but I can only laugh about it later if I actually feel the nerves now, right?
Thus far, the academic experience has been...interesting
I also promise the photos from my next shoot will be much higher quality than these (oops)!


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Discovering the synth rock tunes of roboteyes was the musical equivalent of seeing a hundred fireworks exploding in the night sky.
This three-piece band—made up of Kate LeDeuce, Ryan Ford, and Matt Servo—has created explosive, dramatic songs that bounce off of the walls with the liveliest bursts of energy.
Based in Peterborough, roboteyes has been together for three years. Their synthesized new-wave pop sounds echo a Devo sensibility, with a colourful splash of David Bowie.
The band wrote, recorded, and produced their self-titled EP entirely by themselves, shot a video for their popular song "You and Me," have been featured on CBC Radio 1, and continue to play regularly on local stages downtown.
With a free show scheduled for February 28 at The Red Dog and a fresh new album set to come out in April, roboteyes is a band on the rise and one to watch out for.
LeDeuce kindly welcomed me into her home recording space to talk music and learn more about the band.
Hey Kate! Thanks so much for inviting me over. I'm really excited to chat about music with you. First off, I'm sure our readers will want to know how the name roboteyes arose. What's the story?
Honestly, it came out of a really bad joke. We were trying to think of band names. I think I said something like, "Well, if Radiohead can call themselves Radiohead, why can't we call ourselves roboteyes?" Then we stopped and looked at each other and thought, "Oh my gosh. That's amazing!"
Can you describe your music?
We are synth rock, new wave, and pop. But we have gone through a few different stages. We've been heavier, we've been lighter, a duo, three-piece, four-piece and five-piece. Now we are officially a three-piece with Ryan, Matt, and myself. We're very '80s-influenced with a pop sensitivity.
Do you play downtown a lot?
Not a ton. We try to keep it to around once a month. You don't want to overplay your own town. The last show we played, we opened for July Talk at the Red Dog. That was an amazing show; it was very close to being sold out.
Who are your musical influences?
It's hard to lock down. With the three of us, we all have our own influences, but always seem to have a common ground with older bands like Queen, Devo, and David Bowie. In terms of modern stuff, we're leaning toward Chvrches, Purity Ring, Kelly Clarkson. But an influence doesn't necessarily mean you sound like them. I'd say these are influences or inspiration.
Do you find there are any recurring themes or images in your music?
I love overly dramatic songs! I write the songs and like to tell stories in music. Way over the top, themes like heartbreak, isolation, devastation. I'm a huge fan of Queen, Foreigner, Night Ranger – basically bands that are so overly dramatic. I just love it.
What are the band dynamics like?
We are doing all of the taboo things you should never do. Never date within the band. Don't play with anyone you are related to. Well, we are doing both! It's interesting though because I have discovered you can get into much more ridiculous arguments playing music with your brother or the person you are dating! [laughs]
Can you talk about your goals? Musical goals, career goals, personal goals, or life goals?
At the end of February we are going into the studio and are going to be recording our new album. We're doing it with Devon Lougheed of a band called Beekeeper, who we played our first show as roboteyes with. We will be recording it at The Verge. So as far as goals, we need to finish that!
Also, as of today, we received a Factor grant into our bank account to pay for a part, which is really nice. We are also working on a video for the single titled "Call My Name." This all has to be out before April – so lots to do!
We are on two radio stations right now, which is pretty awesome, but we'd like to be on more. Honestly, making our livings as musicians would be the absolute ideal.
Absolutely. So how did you end up on a radio station?
The way we got on CBC was really interesting. Oddly enough, a man who works for CBC is from Peterborough, and he contacted us saying he really liked our stuff and wanted to know if it was okay to play it. Normally, you have to solicit and send out goodies, but we were lucky. So now we get $5 a year from that. [laughs]
That must have been wild to hear yourselves on the radio for the first time!
Yeah. It was about 7:30 in the morning and Ryan woke me up.
Are there any songs that you are particularly proud of? Or that have special meaning?
All of my stuff is very personal. I'm not somebody who shares everything on Facebook. I rarely talk about personal things. But in my music, it is the most personal thing.
One of my absolute favourite songs is "In Flames," which we submitted to get our Factor grant. We recorded it and mixed and mastered it completely ourselves.
Good for you guys! To finish, I wanted to ask if there has been a best or really unforgettable moment for you all as a band.
So far, it has been when we played with a band called Protomen from Houston, Texas at The Hoxton in Toronto.
roboteyes will be playing a free show at 10pm on February 28 at The Red Dog along with Sue Newberry and the Law, and David Newberry.
Check out their music online at: robotey.es


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We Try the New Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Frappé From McDonald's
Keeping tabs on the chains.
If you've been watching the Olympics, you've probably seen the ad for the new chocolate-covered strawberry frappé (small size, $3.19) from McDonald's (many times). Made from a mocha base that's buzzed up with ice, strawberry-flavored syrup, and chocolate chips, then topped with whipped cream and strawberry drizzle, it packs a sweet punch, with a nutritional profile similar to a strawberry milkshake.
Sometimes these things have bizarre textures, but the new frappé is thick and creamy, with a smoothie-like consistency that's broken up by microscopic bits of semi-sweet chocolate that bring some extra dimension. I was bracing myself for the sugar impact (there's 79 grams of the sweet stuff in the 12 ounce size), but the frappé went down surprisingly easy. That being said, I didn't come close to finishing it because flavor-wise, something is wrong with this drink.
The strawberry syrup hit me first. It's sweet and tasty, like strawberry-flavored milk. Unfortunately, right behind the sweet berry flavor is the mocha base, which tastes bitter, like burnt coffee beans or the blackened bottom of an over-baked chocolate chip cookie. You can get some relief by crunching down on the bits of chocolate chips, but it's not enough to save the drink. Even when I mixed in the whipped cream and strawberry drizzle, hoping the extra fat and sugar would mellow out the bitterness, it didn't make any noticeable difference. In the drink I tried, the burnt flavor dominated the beverage, and there was just no getting away from it.
If you're tempted to try the new chocolate-covered strawberry frappé, go with McDonald's classic strawberry milkshake instead.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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This article is from the archive of our partner .
Famous artists and thievery go together like paint on a canvas. The latest crime drama to hit the art world took place on Wednesday when a lawsuit was a dropped on one of the art world's most connected attorneys, Ralph E. Lerner, who has in the past represented prestigious galleries like the Gagosian and high-powered art collectors.
The accusations: charging and hiding unauthorized fees to the Cy Twombly Foundation, where he serves secretary and a director of the board. The New York Times reports:
Regarding unauthorized charges, the new papers say that Mr. Lerner "even charged legal fees for merely attending board meetings as a director," adding that "no other board member received (or was entitled to receive) compensation (much less at the significant rate of $950 an hour) for attending board meetings or reviewing and editing the board meeting minutes."
Twombly was an artist credited with breathing new life into abstract art in the 1950s and 1960s. His stuff was whimsical: his paintings resembled graffiti and his sculptures, which he worked on in the 70s until his passing in 2011, remind one of fairytales and mythology. His best friends were artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
Speaking of which...Rauschenberg's foundation, like Twombly's, has been riddled with squabbling court battles too. And Johns's estate is dealing with a thievery accusation as well. In August, Johns's assistant was accused of stealing over 20 pieces of Johns's work and selling them to a New York gallery. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time:
[51-year-old James] Meyer, an artist himself, had worked as Mr. Johns's studio assistant since 1985. According to the indictment, one of his responsibilities was maintaining a file drawer containing pieces of Mr. Johns's unfinished artwork.
From at least September 2006 through February 2012, it is alleged Mr. Meyers removed at least 22 art pieces from Mr. Johns's studio in Sharon, Conn., and brought them to an art gallery in Manhattan, which is not named in the indictment.
Meyer's court date capped off a summer of art thievery which included a forger selling 63 fake paintings to galleries and making tons of money, Romanian art thieves possibly burning masterpieces from the likes of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet, and a handyman accused of stealing originals from Picasso's stepdaughter.
"Lerner has been hiding these bills for a year, and now we know why," the lawyer for Nicola Del Roscio and Julie Sylvester, the president and vice president of Twombly's foundation told The Times. Considering history and how seemingly easy it is to make money away from dead artists, we do too.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Jan 24 , 2017
How to Start a Handyman Business and Earn Up to $3,000 a Week
Thinking of starting a handyman business? Here's how a self-employed handyman earns $3,000 a week — plus, how he deals with weeks where he earns less.
Working as a handyman doesn't necessarily sound like a particularly lucrative business to most people. We can see why, since the average maintenance and repair worker makes just over $35,000 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But what if I told you how one handyman earns $3,000 per week? Would that make you reconsider this business?
My husband, John, has been working in the construction industry for more than 15 years. He specializes in painting, drywall and general handyman services, such as plumbing, carpentry, deck repair, general appliance repair and ceiling fan installation. After so many years in the business, he's willing to take on just about any project.
Here's how John has developed his skills and built his business to the point where he can earn up to $3,000 a week as a handyman.
Do You Need Certifications to Become a Handyman?
This is probably the first question you want to ask, since many high-paying jobs require some sort of degree or certification program.
While you can get many types of certifications in the construction field, including a degree in construction management or certificates in electrical work, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, John doesn't have any of these certifications.
While he aspires to one day have his general contractor's license (allowing him to take on larger, more expensive projects), he currently does not have any licenses in his field. Instead, he has learned through self-study and experience while working with other tradesmen, and he's a jack of all construction trades.
How to Make More Money as a Handyman
Ready to earning higher pay rates as a handyman? Here are the strategies John recommends:
1. Work for Yourself
While the average handyman's salary is around $35,000 per year, this includes the wages of people who work for the government, large construction companies or apartment management companies, according to the Houston Chronicle.
To bring in the big bucks, you'll have to work for yourself. While this rule is common in many industries, it's particularly true in the construction field, where employers often take a large cut of the rates they charge clients.
2. Charge a High Rate for Professional Service
In the handyman business, you're not just selling a service, you're selling yourself. Clients are hiring you to work in their homes for a few hours or a few days, depending on the scope of the project. They'll want someone who is professional, trustworthy, reliable and punctual — and they'll likely be willing to pay more for services they know they can count on.
By returning calls promptly, being professional and always showing up on time, you can charge a higher rate than someone who doesn't take their business as seriously, and your clients will be happy to pay it.
3. Find the Right Clients
To charge a high rate, you have to find the right clients. If someone only cares about price, he isn't your client. There are plenty of clients who are willing to pay more for better service, and those are the people you want to work for.
John goes on plenty of "bids," visits to the client's home to look at the project and provide a cost estimate, where he knows he won't get the job no matter how much he sells himself. Some people only care about price, and they will always go with the lowest bidder. Clients who want more than a cheap price will want to know a little bit about John's history, the exact steps he'll take to get the job done. They'll often ask for references from previous clients, who can emphasize your professional qualities and the value of your service.
Successful bids require getting to know the client and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour. If you develop a rapport with the customer and earn their trust from that initial consultation, they'll have a hard time turning you down, even if your price isn't the lowest one offered.
4. Hire a Crew
No matter how high your rate is, you can only physically do so much work each week. By hiring other handymen to do some of the work, you can focus your attention on completing the work more quickly, finding other projects, advertising and growing your business. Often, the more people you have working for you, the more money you'll be able to make.
Note: If you have a crew, you will need to have workers' compensation insurance. Specific prices and guidelines will vary by state, so make sure to look into the details before growing your business.
What a $3,000 Week Looks Like
The more jobs John has lined up, the more money he's able to make in a week. Here's what his schedule looks like during a typical $3,000 week:
Monday to Wednesday
Rental property turn: "Turning" a rental property is like flipping a house or apartment, with the goal to get it ready to rent out rather than to sell. This home needs fresh paint on all the walls, appliances installed, drywall repaired, ceiling fans hung, light fixtures replaced, general cleaning and more.
The total cost of the job is $4,400. John hires crew members to do some of the work and he works on the job site himself for three days, earning a profit of $2,200 over the six days it takes to complete the job.
Popcorn ceiling removal: A client needs a popcorn ceiling removed in her kitchen on a day's notice. John heads over early one weekday morning and works for four hours, earning a profit of $150.
Thursday and Friday
General handyman work: A new client just moved into her house and needs help with general tasks. John hangs ceiling fans, installs a security door, hangs pictures, mounts a television and more, earning a profit of $350 in less than two days.
Painting: John lines up a painting job with another client. He arrives at the client's home at 6:30 a.m., paints the family room, kitchen and dining room for 11 hours and comes home, earning a profit of $450
Total profit for the week: $3,150
Keep in mind that this weekly schedule does not include the time John spends on advertising or invoicing. He wakes up early each morning to advertise (posting ads on various sites, responding to emails, working on his website, etc.) and spends another 30 minutes each evening sending bids and invoices to current and prospective customers. Running a handyman business does not give you a 40-hour workweek!
In this profession, your income also might not be consistent. Self-employment can be a constant battle between feast and famine. While business is great some weeks, there are plenty of weeks where John's income is significantly lower (and others when it's higher!).
Here's What a Low-Income Week Looks Like
For comparison, a week where John has fewer jobs lined up results in a much lower income. Here's a typical week with a lower profit.
Two bids: The weekend was slow, but John received one phone call for a bid on Monday morning. While on the bid, he gets another call from a new client. He visits that home later in the day and sends the client a breakdown of the job via email that evening.
Tuesday and Wednesday
Drywall repair and ceiling painting: A regular client is fixing up a house to make into a rental property. He needs John to repair drywall in two of the main rooms and paint the ceilings in the garage and kitchen. It's 15 hours of work for a total profit of $250.
Advertising and networking: John doesn't have anything scheduled today, so he focuses on advertising and looks for ways to grow his business. He decides to hand out a few of his business cards to real estate agents in the area, follow up on all pending jobs and call previous clients to see if they need additional work.
General handyman work: Luckily, John has a few "go-to" clients who usually need something done whenever he is available. These projects can be anything from repainting a laundry room to hanging ceiling fans and replacing light bulbs. John contacts one of these customers and books six hours of work for $180.
Total profit for the week: $430
As you can see, being a self-employed handyman is not a quick way to make money. It can take years to build up a handyman business to the point where you have more good weeks than bad ones, so it's smart to save up a substantial amount of money before starting your own business. John recommends having at least six months of living expenses saved up before striking out as a self-employed handyman.
The Challenges of Self-Employment
In addition to having lower-income weeks, John faces other obstacles as a self-employed handyman. Since we recently moved to a new area, John has to grow his business from the ground up. We have no connections to family or friends who could help John find work, so he needs to work hard to grow his business and generate referrals from satisfied clients.
In addition, John sometimes can't complete scheduled jobs because of the weather. In February, our entire city shut down for a week due to ice on the roads. Today he had to reschedule his two outdoor deck jobs due to the rain and humidity. When the weather is bad, business slows down drastically, as home repairs usually aren't the first thing on people's minds.
To us, though, the benefits of running a handyman business far outweigh the challenges. Once we're no longer new to the area and John has a steady stream of clients, we know business will be more consistent and we'll be seeing a lot more of those $3,000 weeks!
Source: How to Start a Handyman Business and Earn Up to $3,000 a Week


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Indiana Shut Down Its Rural Planned Parenthood Clinics and Got an HIV Outbreak
Scott County, Indiana, the center of an exploding HIV outbreak, has been without an HIV testing center since early 2013, when the sole provider — a Planned Parenthood clinic — was forced to close its doors. The clinic did not offer abortion services.
The Scott County clinic and four other Planned Parenthood facilities in the state, all of which provided HIV testing and information, have shuttered since 2011, in large part due to funding cuts to the state's public health infrastructure. Those cuts came amid a national and local political campaign to demonize the health care provider. Now, the state is scrambling to erect pop-up clinics to combat an unprecedented HIV epidemic caused by intravenous drug use.
The fact that Scott County was "without a testing facility until a few weeks ago is a glaring example of the kind of public health crisis that results when prevention and testing are left unfunded," said Patti Stauffer, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky's vice president for public policy.
More: Indiana Shut Down Its Rural Planned Parenthood Clinics And Got An HIV Outbreak


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I do not believe in violence. There've been too many tragedies caused by people who are mentally unstable using Guns. Something must be done to change this! It's time for each of us to take a stand, so there are no more senseless deaths.
This was a Peaceful Protest last night, a Candlelight Vigil held for the young people who were killed in the Parkland, Florida School Shooting. Young people will be marching in Washington this month and I believe they can truly make a change. They are our future.


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Sustainable building practice in Europe has to a large extent been led by green building certification schemes to date. These certifications cover hundreds of millions of m2 of building space and have achieved a high degree of market penetration in the non-residential sector of some European countries.
However, sustainability assessment within Europe's construction sector as a whole is far from widespread. Moreover, whole life cycle assessment is not a core part of all certification schemes, and mainstreaming it is a crucial environmental challenge for the sector.
Many countries recognize the need for a joined up European approach to how policy shapes a sustainable built environment. Many more countries and industry actors are looking for guidance on the future trajectory for the sector on sustainability.
In this sense, Level(s) represents the European consensus today on the common core aspects of sustainable buildings, bringing a focus to key aspects of environmental performance beyond energy consumption during the use phase of buildings.
Since the European Commission officially opened the two-year testing phase for Level(s) in 2018, 136 building projects have registered to test Level(s) in 21 countries. Of the projects testing Level(s), 74 are residential and 62 are non-residential. This provides important balance in terms of the community shaping Level(s). The aim of the testing phase is to support stakeholders across the construction and real estate value chain, from investors, to developers, designers and manufacturers; in testing the Level(s) indicators on their building projects. The feedback from the testing phase will inform the final version of the Level(s) framework - to be launched in spring 2020. Level(s) aims to take life cycle thinking mainstream, to build the data the sector needs to move forwards on this important agenda.


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Autism and Neurodiversity
JKP is the leading publisher in autism and related conditions, publishing authoritative and practical books for professionals, parents, children, and anyone whose life is touched by autism. Our books cover a range of topics including communication and development, relationships and social skills, teaching and assessment, parenting strategies and overcoming depression and anxiety.
Bestselling authors include Tony Attwood, Jennifer Cook O'Toole, Carol Gray, Luke Jackson and Donna Williams.
Can I tell you about Autism?
A guide for friends, family and professionals
Jude Welton, illustrated by Jane TelfordTom invites readers to learn about autism from his perspective in this beautifully-illustrated book, suitable for readers aged 7 and upwards. He explains the challenges he faces with issues such as social communication, sensory overload and changes in his routine and describes all the ways he can be helped and supported by those around him. Learn More2014, Paperback / softback, 8.98in x 5.91in / 228mm x 150mm, 64pp, CA$17.95ISBN: 978-1-84905-453-92014, Ebook, ePUB, 64pp, CA$17.95ISBN: 978-0-85700-829-9
Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome?
A guide for friends and family
Jude Welton, illustrated by Jane TelfordMeet Adam, a young boy with AS. He helps children understand the difficulties faced by a child with AS, telling them what AS is, how it feels to have AS and how they can help by understanding their differences and appreciating their many talents. This illustrated book is an excellent starting point for family and classroom discussions. Learn More2003, Paperback / softback, 9.21in x 6.18in / 234mm x 157mm, 48pp, CA$17.95ISBN: 978-1-84310-206-92003, Ebook, ePUB, 48pp, CA$17.95ISBN: 978-1-84642-422-9


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So where are the podcasts? Great question. Here's the answer. I use Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks. My FTP software is good up until 10.7. And what that means is that I'm basically hosed for the moment. I'm talking to my trusty web warden who's hot on the issue. Stay tuned.
So Where Are the Podcasts?
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The other weekend I ran the Chilly Half Marathon and had an amazing experience. Yes – it was cold and wet (it is called the "Chilly" for a reason) but the sun was out and the conditions could have been much worse given this winter season. Yes – I won the race and got a finishing time that I was extremely happy about (especially since I'm turning 40 in a few weeks yet managed to finish in a time that was similar to 8 years ago). But what I especially loved about the race is that I truly ENJOYED it. It has been 6 years since I last ran a half marathon, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Having a constant entourage of male runners that I could tuck behind on the course certainly helped (thanks especially to Michael Doyle!). But what really made the difference for me was having music to listen to.
Gasp! Music you say? Isn't that taboo when racing? Now before some of you start to cringe or judge me, hear me out! I know that there is debate on whether or not to race with music. There is a time and place for it and it depends on the person. But I have my reasons for running this race with an ipod. For me, listening to music is a mental tactic that I use when I feel that my mental strength is not aligned with my physical strength. The music helps to ward off the downward spiral of negative thoughts that I fall prey to at times. I still remain "present" in the race and watch my split times – but the music helps to ensure that I don't get over-fixated on the numbers and that I also run based on feel. I used this strategy once while running my first half marathon post baby #1. And it worked great – I won the race but more importantly I stayed positive and relaxed. Going into the Chilly, I did not have the confidence that I could hold the aggressive pace –but I knew that my coach Suzanne (and my husband) believed in me. So using music would help to bridge this gap.
But this time, I had an additional "secret weapon" – I was running with my 7 year old daughter's ipod. Mine was broken so I had to switch to hers the morning of the race and therefore did not have time to update the music. This worked like a charm! Listening to my daughter's favorite song of Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cindi Lauper reminded me that this race was all about having fun. I immediately relaxed and smiled. Hearing the song Roar by Katie Perry around 12km into the race made me chuckle as I remembered my 4 year old son belting out the lyrics on our last plane ride. And I must confess to doing a little skip and a hop while listening to the song "In summer" from the Frozen soundtrack (a cute little song with a fun beat about a snowman melting in the summer). Part of me wanted to stop and do a little dance right there and then! Finally, in the last 2km of the race when I started to fade, my hamstring seized up, and I no longer had my army of men surrounding me, the song Feel This Moment by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera came on…this instantly brought back memories of competing last year in the Worlds' Duathlon, and became my "pump up" song for training. This was exactly what I needed to finish strong and smile while crossing the finish line. And for the record…I did obey the rules and only used the headphone in one ear!


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The FINANCIAL -- Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels, according to a new joint report by the OECD, World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.
According to WHO, inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training and expertise prevail in all countries.
The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in ten patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.
These are just some of the highlights from Delivering Quality Health Services – a Global Imperative for Universal Health Coverage. The report also highlights that sickness associated with poor quality health care imposes additional expenditure on families and health systems.
There has been some progress in improving quality, for example in survival rates for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Even so, the broader economic and social costs of poor quality care, including long-term disability, impairment and lost productivity, are estimated to amount to trillions of dollars each year.
"At WHO we are committed to ensuring that people everywhere can obtain health services when and where they need them," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "We are equally committed to ensuring that those services are good quality. Quite honestly, there can be no universal health coverage without quality care."
"Without quality health services, universal health coverage will remain an empty promise," said OECD Secretary-General Ángel Gurría. "The economic and social benefits are clear and we need to see a much stronger focus on investing in and improving quality to create trust in health services and give everyone access to high-quality, people-centred health services."
"Good health is the foundation of a country's human capital, and no country can afford low-quality or unsafe healthcare," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. "Low-quality care disproportionately impacts the poor, which is not only morally reprehensible, it is economically unsustainable for families and entire countries."
Other key findings in the report paint a picture of quality issues in healthcare around the world:
Health care workers in seven low- and middle-income African countries were only able to make accurate diagnoses one third to three quarters of the time, and clinical guidelines for common conditions were followed less than 45 percent of the time on average.
Research in eight high-mortality countries in the Caribbean and Africa found that effective, quality maternal and child health services are far less prevalent than suggested by just looking at access to services. For example, just 28 percent of antenatal care, 26 percent of family planning services and 21 percent of sick-child care across these countries qualified as 'effective.'
Around 15 percent of hospital expenditure in high-income countries is due to mistakes in care or patients being infected while in hospitals.


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- Michael Cohen was known to keep digital recordings of his conversations with associates, and those files may be among the materials that FBI agents confiscated during a raid at Cohen's home and office this week.
- The Washington Post cited people familiar with Cohen's work and allies of President Donald Trump who said Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney, kept digital files of his conversations and sometimes played them back for colleagues.
- People close to Trump are wondering exactly who Cohen recorded and what those conversations entailed.
- The revelation adds a new dimension to Cohen's legal troubles, because he may be called to testify against his own clients, including Trump.
Michael Cohen reportedly kept digital recordings of his conversations with associates, several people familiar with the practice told The Washington Post on Thursday. He sometimes played back the recordings for colleagues.
Cohen is President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney.Cohen's home and office were raided by the FBI this week as part of an investigation into his dealings with clients.
People familiar with Cohen's tendency to digitally record his conversations say they're worried about who he may have recorded, what the conversations on those recordings entail, and whether the FBI is in possession of them.
The Monday raid on Cohen's properties reportedly focused on dealings between Cohen and his clients – including Trump – which may include Cohen's efforts to suppress negative publicity surrounding Trump around the time of the 2016 US election.
Cohen's $US130,000 payment to an adult-film actress who said she had sex with Trump is also part of that investigation. According an earlier Washington Post report, Cohen is the subject of an investigation into bank fraud and violations of campaign-finance law, among other things.
Cohen's attorneys filed a motion on Thursday to pause proceedings related to a lawsuit filed by the porn star Stormy Daniels, who is suing her way out of a 2016 nondisclosure agreement she signed in exchange for that $US130,000 payment. The filing says that Cohen would be forced to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid incriminating himself because the facts of the case involving the porn star overlap with the "ongoing criminal investigation" surrounding Cohen.
Recordings could add a new dimension to Cohen's legal troubles
"If you are looking for evidence, you can't do any better than people talking on tape," former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman told The Post.
Referring to the alleged recordings, Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor told the newspaper: "The significance is 9.5 to 10 on a 10-point scale."
"When people speak on the phone, they are not guarded. They don't imagine that the conversation will surface," Gillers said.
If agents indeed took possession of any attorney-client recordings from Cohen, they would first be subject to a separate Justice Department review to protect attorney-client privilege and to ensure they are germane to the terms of the search warrant.
Communications between an attorney and their clients are normally privileged, except when those communications were used to commit a crime or act of fraud, or with the intent to do the same. That exception applies regardless of whether the attorney or the client is the one accused of criminal conduct.
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The latest trailer for inFamous: Second Son has Sucker Punch talking about smoke.
For those who aren't aware, inFamous was the PlayStation 3's version of the Xbox 360 killer IP Prototype, in this case featuring a man who can use elements around him as super powers. In inFamous: Second Son, the third game in the series and much like the first two, you fly about Seattle and wreck stuff, and channel different powers.
inFamous: Second Son centers on the shenanigans of Deslin Rowe, who discovers he has the same gifts as Cole McGrath.
According to the good ending to inFamous 2, Cole McGrath activated the Ray Field Inhibitor in an effort to destroy the Beast, and it exploded. The Beast was a conduit, or super human, named John White. All conduits, some of which survived the RFI explosion, are considered terrorists now, and you'll probably have the military on your back for most of the game as you dodge bullets and grenades, and teleport to take soldiers down with ease just using your smoke powers.
Deslin Rowe's main weapon will be a chain he keeps wrapped around his arm, which can be altered with the powers he grabs from fellow conduits in inFamous: Second Son.
Sucker Punch's developers talk about the game's smoke powers, as one of said developers starts out, "The super hard part is making something that's soft like smoke feel like it's got that impact."
Horia Docui, the art director, says, "Our main character [Deslin Rowe] has basically the coolest power. It's like going up to a genie and asking for more wishes."
Darren Bridges, a game designer, says of inFamous: Second Son, "What happens is when he's near other conduits, he picks up their ability. The first part of that gift is the smoke power. That means he can drain it, he can turn into it, and he can project it. When you think about where [smoke is] in a city, you think of maybe chimneys, fires…"
Mark Wood, a visual effects artist, adds, "You can get smoke from vehicles in this game, but you have to destroy them first."
What do you think of the latest trailer for inFamous: Second Son? What kind of conduit power are you looking forward to?


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Archive for the 'Taxes' Category
Strickland Worries-Police /Firefighters May LeaveThursday, November 7th, 2019
November 7, 2019
There is a lead article in this morning's edition of the CA.The Mayor worries that the recently passed ½ cent sales tax increase may result in police and firefighters may leave due to the $50 million increase in revenue.
I have written extensively in the past about another problem that is directly related to fire and police retirement, and that is the $15 million dollar hole in the pension bucket and that is the rate of LINE OF DUTY RETIREMENT at the city of Memphis compared to Shelby County Government and the MLGW. Following is an article I wrote 8 years ago and posted on memphisshelbyinform.com.
Wednesday, Channel 3, reported on the situation of the City of Memphis line of duty abuse to the cost of almost $12 million dollars per year. This situation has been going on for over 30 years at the City of Memphis and I estimate that the total payout is well over $100 million dollars out of the underfunded pension fund. When I alerted Channel 3 about this abuse, they did some great research on the annual cost and some of the people involved including Tennessee Republican Representative Curry Todd and others.
Comparing the 429 listed on the Channel 3 report, the number of line of duty disability retirements at Shelby County government and the MLGW are insignificant. Obviously there is a problem. The immediate problem is that approval or disapproval is given by the City of Memphis pension board made up mostly of the applicants' co-workers whereas Shelby County turns approval over to an insurance company.
The bigger problem is the line of duty pension ordinance words. There is no provision for finding other work for the line of duty disability applicant, annual reviews or any other provisions that could prove that the applicant can or could do useful work for the city. This must be changed.
Recently I sent an open records request to the City of Memphis asking for the annual amount of Line of Duty payouts and they answered that it is $15.7 million dollars and remember that this is tax free to the retirees for life. I sent a similar request to Shelby County and to the MLGW but Shelby County has refused to answer and MLGW has said they are working on the request. In the past Shelby County Line of Duty payments and the MLGW have been 10 times less than the City of Memphis due to strict enforcement policies at the MLGW and at Shelby County a policy of turning over disability request to an outside insurance company.
Mayor Strickland has done a good job of reforming pension policies at the City of Memphis but he needs to reform the Line of Duty granting policies at the Pension Board.
THINGS REALLY HAVE NOT CHANGED THAT MUCHThursday, October 10th, 2019
October 11, 2019
As I listen to television, read some local and national newspapers, surf the internet and talk to friends it seems that the world is in turmoil and heading into a crisis.
Then I came across several pages of a very old newspaper that my wife had from her family members going back many years, in this case "WASHINGTON "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable" dated Tuesday, September 21, 1841.
I started reading one page and came across a letter to the Editors of the National Intelligencer. The letter was signed by none other than JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. I have attached a copy of part of one page as the paper is old and very fragile and I am reading through the pages very carefully.
But I am sending this out to remind people that things have not really changed all that much in this wonderful country except that some people seem to have lost faith in our ability to reasonably discuss the wonderful founding principles on which this country is based. Some want to change the legal, social and economic principles that have made this country the envy of the world.
John Quincy Adams, as you know, was the son of President John Adams and he was the 6th US president (1825 to 1829), previously served as secretary of state, served as a Massachusetts US Senator and as a member of the US House of representatives after being president. He died in 1848 at the age of 80 from a stroke.
In the article headed by the caption "THE LOSS OF THE MAINE ELECTION" the article details how the Whigs lost. This was connected to the then President Tyler who became president after the sudden death of President Harrison in the spring of 1841.
Henry Clay, intending to keep party leadership in his own hands, minimized his nationalist views temporarily; Webster proclaimed himself "a Jeffersonian Democrat." But after the election, both men tried to dominate "Old Tippecanoe."
Suddenly President Harrison was dead, and "Tyler too" was in the White House. At first the Whigs were not too disturbed, although Tyler insisted upon assuming the full powers of a duly elected President. He even delivered an Inaugural Address, but it seemed full of good Whig doctrine. Whigs, optimistic that Tyler would accept their program, soon were disillusioned.
Tyler was ready to compromise on the banking question, but Clay would not budge. He would not accept Tyler's "exchequer system," and Tyler vetoed Clay's bill to establish a National Bank with branches in several states. A similar bank bill was passed by Congress. But again, on states' rights grounds, Tyler vetoed it.
In retaliation, the Whigs expelled Tyler from their party. All the Cabinet resigned but Secretary of State Webster. A year later when Tyler vetoed a tariff bill, the first impeachment resolution against a President was introduced in the House of Representatives. A committee headed by Representative John Quincy Adams reported that the President had misused the veto power, but the resolution failed.
IMPEACHMENT!! DOES ALL OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? We survived all this history and we will again, but we must come together and discuss our differences without changing our basic wonderful constitution and long established principles.
Downtown, Memphis In May and Mud IslandTuesday, July 30th, 2019
July 30, 2019
Downtown, Memphis In May and Mud Island
I have lived in Memphis all my life, born and raised here and love the City. It is beautiful, livable and poised for a great future. I worked for over 40 years in the downtown area (south Memphis) and ate lunch downtown several times a week.
After retirement I do not go downtown as much as I used to. However I went downtown recently on a visit to look at the areas that are now in active dispute, Tom Lee Park and Mud Island. In the interest of full disclosure, I have children who actively participate in the barbecue festival, and they love it.
I drove down Poplar and went to the Mud Island parking area over the bridge and around the circle. I noted the huge number of apartments on my left as I drove south to Mud Island. I first saw the structure shown below and wondered what is was. I was later told it was the structure that used to hold the Memphis Belle World War II famous bomber which is now at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio.
Then I drove on to the parking area which had many warning signs that I had to pay to park and I only had to text a number and then enter another number to pay. I eventually just parked and said the hell with it and walked to the entrance to the park.
It was a beautiful day and there were a few kids and parents and no problem with crowds. I was amazed at the beautiful buildings that comprise the park and how much money we have spent on this investment. It is beautiful, unique and totally underutilized. What is the solution?
My immediate thought is why not build a parking facility where the Memphis Belle structure is to make visits easier. Provide golf cart type electric vehicles for those who do not want to walk. Put casual eating and drinking facilities along the way with views of the river. For elegant dining reopen the beautiful restaurant that is already there. Repair the tram that I understand is now inoperative. The key is making it easy and fun for people to come and enjoy Mud Island and the river.
But there is possibly a problem and that is the split between north and south Memphis. The dividing line is Monroe and Front. In my Father's Day as he grew up in South Memphis he said it was worth your life to cross Poplar and date a young North Memphis lady. He survived and so will we.
After my visit to Mud Island I drove down to Tom Lee Park and noted the wasted investment in the riverboat landing with its red ugly circular spiral and money losing useless restaurant. Surely we can come up with a plan that unites south and north downtown Memphis interests and allows the Barbeque festival and Beale Street interests to prosper and also bring back the large Mud Island investment to its initial bright goals without bankrupting our great City.
Equity-Focused Operations "At What Cost?"Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
Equity-Focused Operations "At What Cost?"
Ms Tami Sawyer announced that she will be a candidate for Memphis Mayor this year. She is currently a Shelby County commissioner. I wish her luck and she will no doubt be a formidable candidate. But let us look at what she says.
"My administration will be one that is set on equity," Sawyer said on the podcast. "All of the operations that come out of City Hall will be equity-focused. That's how you get to that shift. You put leaders in place who share your vision, who believe equity and opportunity are required in all parts of the city."
Ms Sawyer points out that Mayor Strickland has publicized the jump in city spending with minority- and women-owned businesses from 12 percent to 24 percent since 2016. Despite that increase, Sawyer called the current figures "staggeringly low," and said that spending should be more closely aligned with Memphis' demographic makeup.
"What I want to see is a number that's closer to the 70 percent," she said. "That's what we're shooting for."
The only interpretation is that all city and county contracts and spending will not be based on lowest and best price but on the basis of minority and women owned credentials regardless of cost.
I have been calling for some time for a change in City and County purchasing procedures. It is very difficult to bid on city and county purchasing contracts as the paperwork is complex. But what is missing is open access to competitive bids and the cost of minority preferences. We currently do not know what minority preferences are costing taxpayers. We are entitled to know how much extra we are paying for these rules and purchasing ratios. Therefore, the City and County should show on each bid the other bidders on each contract and if the low bidder did not get the contract, we should know why and the cost differential. Also, each contract should display the minority percentage of the contract and what minority received the contract.
I have railed against this minority spending requirement for several years. I am not against economically disadvantaged minorities getting a leg up. However what should be changed is the following. The paperwork and legal qualification rules are very complicated and discourage otherwise qualified firms. There should be a common-sense method such as the better business bureau or other independent organization that gives a rating system based on customer satisfaction reports.
Most importantly the purchasing system should be open and transparent with the final bids and selection on line and open to all. If a minority firm is the low bidder, so be it. If it is not the low bidder and is selected, then the price differential should be no more than 3% to 5% and then the minority firm should be given a one to two-year time to graduate to a no price differential status for future competitive bids. The system now is not transparent, and we do not know what minority spending rules are costing us and we do not know who the beneficiaries are.
What MS Sawyer is proposing is the distribution of taxpayer funds on the basis of race or gender preferences. That always leads to friends of the politicians getting the bulk of the pie without any benefit to the public.
What are your thoughts on this subject?
Ms Tami Sawyer announced that she will be a candidate for Memphis Mayor this year. She is currently a Shelby County commissioner. I wish her luck and she will no doubt be a formidable candidate. But let us look at what she says.
"My administration will be one that is set on equity," Sawyer said on the podcast. "All of the operations that come out of City Hall will be equity-focused. That's how you get to that shift. You put leaders in place who share your vision, who believe equity and opportunity are required in all parts of the city."
Ms Sawyer points out that Mayor Strickland has publicized the jump in city spending with minority- and women-owned businesses from 12 percent to 24 percent since 2016. Despite that increase, Sawyer called the current figures "staggeringly low," and said that spending should be more closely aligned with Memphis' demographic makeup.
"What I want to see is a number that's closer to the 70 percent," she said. "That's what we're shooting for."
The only interpretation is that all city and county contracts and spending will not be based on lowest and best price but on the basis of minority and women owned credentials regardless of cost.
I have been calling for some time for a change in City and County purchasing procedures. It is very difficult to bid on city and county purchasing contracts as the paperwork is complex. But what is missing is open access to competitive bids and the cost of minority preferences. We currently do not know what minority preferences are costing taxpayers. We are entitled to know how much extra we are paying for these rules and purchasing ratios. Therefore, the City and County should show on each bid the other bidders on each contract and if the low bidder did not get the contract, we should know why and the cost differential. Also, each contract should display the minority percentage of the contract and what minority received the contract.
I have railed against this minority spending requirement for several years. I am not against economically disadvantaged minorities getting a leg up. However what should be changed is the following. The paperwork and legal qualification rules are very complicated and discourage otherwise qualified firms. There should be a common-sense method such as the better business bureau or other independent organization that gives a rating system based on customer satisfaction reports.
Most importantly the purchasing system should be open and transparent with the final bids and selection on line and open to all. If a minority firm is the low bidder, so be it. If it is not the low bidder and is selected, then the price differential should be no more than 3% to 5% and then the minority firm should be given a one to two-year time to graduate to a no price differential status for future competitive bids. The system now is not transparent, and we do not know what minority spending rules are costing us and we do not know who the beneficiaries are.
What MS Sawyer is proposing is the distribution of taxpayer funds on the basis of race or gender preferences. That always leads to friends of the politicians getting the bulk of the pie without any benefit to the public.
What are your thoughts on this subject?
The Effects Of The Green New DealWednesday, March 6th, 2019
March 6, 2019
High Speed Trip-Memphis to New Orleans By Rail and Bus
A Memphis friend of mine is taking a trip to New Orleans tomorrow. Rather than fly, he wanted to go by rail from Memphis. He bought the ticket and then found out that due to heavy rains recently, part of the rail line in Louisiana was closed due to high water. Amtrak decided that they will take him to Jackson Mississippi by train and then by hired bus to New Orleans. Another wasted money project involves Illinois and the high/low speed train corridor from Chicago to St. Louis. Work on Amtrak's Chicago-St. Louis route will cost $2 billion and will offer a top speed of just 110 mph and shave only an hour off the trip.
This made me reflect on several things proposed by the Green New Deal which is being offered by quite a few 2020 presential candidates. As part of the Green New Deal, air travel would be discontinued to save the planet by eliminating the carbon pollution of airplanes. Mule trains would also be eliminated due to pollution by mules.
Nationally, you only must look at California to see the effects of this kind of thinking. The Trump administration says it intends to cancel a $929 million federal grant for California's high-speed rail project. The administration also wants to reclaim another $2.5 billion in federal funds already spent by California on the project.
The Department of Transportation is accusing California officials of missing several deadlines tied to the $929 million appropriation for the state's high-speed rail line.
In his state of the state address last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, proposed to scale back the project and focus on completing a link in the Central Valley between Bakersfield and Merced rather than between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Merced will be able to speed up delivery of almonds, pistachios and strawberries to Bakersfield.
Locally, I would like to see something that would be less costly and offer more benefits. Think about the Poplar and Park corridors and how many times you have been held up by low speed infinitely long freight trains. Also include the dangerous Poplar Pike road in Germantown which the rail line crosses several times. The only way around these freight train delays is the Ridgeway Road under pass between Poplar and Park. Driving from central Memphis to East Memphis and Germantown I always think of alternate routes to avoid possible long and slow freight trains. As a result I drive many extra miles from central Memphis to my destination.
Surely several more under or overpasses would come in under the billions spent on the worthless California high speed train boondoggle or the Illinois creepy train plan.
What do you think? I would love to hear from you.
VOTE TAMPERING, LOCAL AND NATIONWIDEWednesday, January 23rd, 2019
January 23, 2019
Here is the reason the Democratic party is refusing to stop illegal immigration. It is because they want individuals who are not citizens or even people that do not exist to vote in federal elections. A recent article pointed out voting patterns in California during the 2018 November elections. Look at what they did and the changes in voting procedure that they instituted in California.
In the November 2018 election Republican candidates went to bed on election night in November with leads in most of their competitive House races, only to lose in the ensuing weeks of vote counting. In Orange County, Young Kim was poised to become the first Korean-American woman in Congress, with a sizable lead on Election Day over her Democratic opponent. She lost by three percentage points. Republican Rep. Mimi Walters's 6,074-vote lead on Nov. 6 turned into an 11,866-vote loss to Democrat Katie Porter.
How did this happen?
The project started in 2015 when California became the second state after Oregon to move to automatic voter registration.
Can't be bothered to register? California does it for you, automatically adding to its rolls any person who has any interaction with its Department of Motor Vehicles. The system is already a threat to ballot integrity, with the DMV acknowledging in September it had incorrectly registered 23,000 voters.
In 2016 California passed the Voter's Choice Act, which allows counties to mail every voter a ballot. Lots of Californians use mail voting, though previously they had to request it. Now ballots arrive automatically, whether voters want one or not. Thirteen million California voters received ballots in the mail last year, compared to about nine million in 2014.
The biggest score for Democrats is a separate 2016 California law pushed heavily by unions that legalized what's known as ballot harvesting. This allows any person—union activists, canvassers, community organizers, campaign staff—to show up at homes and collect mail ballots on behalf of voters.
California law also allows counting mail ballots postmarked or delivered on Election Day, as well as same-day registration and liberal use of provisional ballots. This year the Democratic vote totals piled up long after the polls closed. Fred Whitaker, chairman of the Orange County GOP, has estimated that an extraordinary 250,000 mail-votes were dropped off on Election Day thanks to harvesting.
This creates opportunities for harvesters to "help" voters complete their ballots, or even pay to finish them, and it's easy for the unscrupulous to lose ballots they think may go for the wrong candidate. Therefore ballot harvesting is illegal in many states, or at least limited to drop-offs by family members.
Nationally Democrats want states to allow same-day and online voter registration. They want looser rules on provisional ballots, requires every state to provide two weeks of early voting, prohibits restrictions on mail voting, and limits states' ability to remove voters from rolls.
All this is an affront to the American tradition of letting states set their own election rules. Few states have automatic registration, on the principle that voting is voluntary.
Here is what the law is in Tennessee.
TN does not have automatic voter registration. One must register 30 days before Election Day. This enables officials to verify the information provided such as SS#, felon? Address, etc. First-time Tennessee voters must provide proof of citizenship, either a birth certificate or naturalization papers even if they have been registered in another state.
DMV provides the opportunity for those applying for a driver's license to request registration, however, a form must be filled out and mailed to officials for verification, just like any other kind of registration.
To obtain an absentee ballot in Tennessee, one must be a registered voter in the district for which a ballot is requested. The request for an absentee ballot is checked against the registration lists, if the requester is registered, a ballot is mailed with a unique number on the return envelope. If that unique number is not there, altered, etc. when the ballot is returned, (all are verified) the ballot is not opened and further investigation is undertaken. Absentee ballots must arrive by the close of business on Election Day and must arrive by public carrier: USPS, Fed Ex etc.
In Tennessee, Provisional Ballots are provided if the person cannot be verified in the system; or does not show a Federal/TN state government photo ID. They are given 2 days to return with that photo ID (if that was the problem). Research is done If they are not in the system and they insist they registered. Some may have registered through the state and the State failed to notify the local officials. Research will let officials know – if it is found that they did timely register, their provisional ballot is counted. Otherwise, without verification that they did indeed register as they claim but do not have that photo ID, that ballot is never opened and kept in a separate holding place for 24 months. A few years back, some people would demand a provisional ballot thinking officials would not know if they were registered, that doesn't happen as often now because they know officials verify information.
There is on-line registration, if that person has a TN driver's license with signature, however, they still must vote in person the first time and show that photo ID to officials. Driver's licenses now have a unique code on the back.
Tennessee does have early voting. It begins 20 days before ED and ends 5 days before ED for a total of 14 early voting days. That helps tremendously with personnel and voters. The requirements are the same for early voting or Election Day voting except on ED one can only vote in one's precinct.
Now here is what happened locally last November 2018 in the election.
TN Black Voter Project registered thousands of voters in Shelby County and turned in 10,000 applications on the very last day of registration in Shelby County.
Since 84% of qualified voters in Shelby County are already registered, an immediate question is who those people on all those applications were! Some were felons and some were already registered, and a lot appeared to be fiction.
Black Voter Project (BVP) deliberately waited to turn those last registrations to cause problems for the Shelby County Election Commission. Those applications had to be processed and researched. The staff and all temps available were tied up in that process with all-hands-on-deck, three shifts per day and weekends to try to complete the process before election day.
Required information on many of applications was missing. Duplicate registrations were turned in for the same person with one digit different in a SS# or street address or no-such street existed etc. The local, judge Joedae Jenkins ordered that those registrants could machine vote. Attorneys appealed to state court and the ruling was overturned. Anyone with missing could "repair" the application – however, only a handful of people did that and none showed up to try to vote on election day.
When addresses were on the registrations, verification letters were sent to the Black Voter Project applicants or telephoned when a phone number was provided to try to obtain missing info. A vast number of mailed inquiry letters were returned by the PO as undeliverable and many telephone numbers were not valid. More than three letter boxes overflowed with those returned letters. It cost the commission time and money to send those letters and make those calls to non-existing people.
Turns out BVD paid $90/day for workers to register voters, but they only required 15 applications to earn the money. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating but no report so far on results. BVP also did something similar in Knox county and Davidson county, but not on the scale they did here. A good question is who financed that operation? What do you think? I would like your opinion on the local and national voting situation for 2020 and its connection with open borders
Recycle Standards-Memphis and GermantownTuesday, January 15th, 2019
I was all set to publish an informative article about how to distinguish between those items that are recyclable and those which go into the trash and landfill. I then read the article about China no longer buying our recyclable items and the effects of that decision. Then the City of Memphis announced that its recycle contract with Republic Services is in question because Republic wants to to charge Memphis for taking recyclable materials rather than pay Memphis something. Germantown pays about $62 per ton for their materials. The whole recycle question is no longer a holier than thou virtue, it has becomes "how much you are willing to pay at the CHURCH OF RECYCLE VIRTUE". We must have a public discussion about this subject and see if we can come to a solution that we can afford and still pay homage to our desire for a clean and waste free world. There is a question that I ask. "Is our recyclable material really being recycled or is it going into the general landfill? I really don't know.
Following is the City of Memphis reply to my open records request asking them to compare their recycle policy to the City of Germantown.
Dear Joe Saino,
The City received a public records request from you on 12/29/2018. Your request mentioned "The following is the City of Germantown standards for recycling. Does the City of Memphis agree with this standard and if not what are the differences with the standard and additions, deletions or corrections.
Germantown stated: The following items can be recycled:
Due to the collection process, all recycling materials must be placed inside the roll cart. Any materials outside of the cart will be collected as household trash.
Mixed paper products: newspaper, magazines, brochures, paper bags, paper towel rolls, paper back books, cartons, greeting cards, regular and junk mail, cardboard beverage carriers, phone books, office paper, catalogs, paperboard boxes and file folders.
Corrugated cardboard containers, flattened and cut to no more than 3 feet by 2 feet
Non-corrugated cardboard commonly used in dry food and cereal boxes, shoe boxes and other similar packaging
Glass bottles and jars – no lids (empty and rinse)
#1, #2, #4, #5 and #7 plastic food and beverage containers –including bottles, jars, jugs and other rigid plastic containers.
PETE, HDPE, PVC, LDPE and PP
Aluminum and metal food cans without lids
Aluminum beverage cans (empty and rinse)
Foil and foil trays clean of food
Empty juice boxes, soup and milk cartons (empty and replace cap)
Large Cardboard Containers
The City has a cardboard recycling container located at Economic and Community Development, 1920 South Germantown Road, available for all city residents to recycle large cardboard. All cardboard must be flattened.
The following items cannot be recycled:
#3 and #6 plastics – including plastic bags, plastic film, tubs and pots
Foam egg cartons
Food or liquid (no garbage)
Clothing or linens
Tanglers, hoses, chains, electronics or batteries
Big items (wood, plastic, furniture or metal)
Some items not collected for recycling by the City can be recycled at these convenient area locations:
Plastic grocery bags – A majority of local grocery store locations
Printer cartridges – Office Depot locations, receive a credit on a future purchase; cartridges refilled at local Walgreens locations
Batteries, including car, cell phone, camcorder and rechargeable batteries – Batteries Plus, 465 North Germantown Parkway
Cell phones – AT&T locations, at Verizon locations or visit Verizon online recycling program or visit cellphonesforsoldiers.com
IPods – Apple Store, Saddle Creek
Used motor oil – Germantown Public Works Complex, 7700 Southern Avenue
Clothing, furniture and household items – Non-profit agencies or garage sale
Wire hangers – Some dry cleaners accept used hangers for reuse
Used electronics can be taken to the semiannual Amnesty Dumpster and Recycling Day"
Here is the City of Memphis reply.
The City has reviewed its files and has located responsive records to your request. Per the custodian: The City of Memphis' recycling program includes all plastics except plastic films and bags and Styrofoam (which includes the black food containers at Trezevant Manor and the egg cartons which are "foam" (Styrofoam) products). We even accept plastic outdoor patio chairs, "all plastic" constructed toys. The plastic containers used at the salad bar at Trezevant are recyclable, but must be rinsed to remove any food residue.
We accept aluminum and steel cans; aluminum foil and the associated foil cooking containers; all paper that are not food tainted; glass bottles and jars (no lids); plastic bottles and jars with lids attached; and aseptic juice, milk, soup, and vegetable cartons (found at stores like Whole Foods).
If Mr. Saino follows the Germantown rules he will be in compliance with our regulations, however, we do accept more items than Germantown.
These two standards seem to answer most questions. It seems that #3 PVC (polyvinyl chloride) [trays for sweets, fruit, plastic packing (bubble foil and food foils to wrap the foodstuff] and #6 (polystyrene) [toys, hard packing, refrigerator trays, cosmetic bags, costume jewelry, CD cases, vending cups] are the main common items that cannot be recycled.
If you disagree with the above, I would love to hear from you with examples. It does take some work and thought to work towards a future where we try to recycle as much as possible.
The Inconvenient World Of ConvenienceWednesday, December 19th, 2018
December 17, 2018
The Inconvenient world of convenience
This is a follow up to my post "Plastic Bag Tax" on my website, www.memphisshelbyinform.com.
I consider myself to be a typical American, used to convenience in almost everything. I buy plastic water bottles rather than carry around a heavier metal insulated container. I buy plastic soft drink bottles, plastic yogurt containers, plastic throw away food containers. Am I a bad person? I will leave that question to my wife and children.
Basically, I consider that I am woefully uninformed about recycling. So, I started digging for information about the whole area of what happens when I throw those bottles, containers and other items into my garbage pail.
I started at my computer to see what information was available. The main points that I discovered was as follows.
- The use of plastics in packaging has undergone a revolution. These very smart chemical scientists have taken petrochemicals and transformed them into various chemical stocks such as POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE, HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE, POLYVINYL CHLORIDE, LOW-DENSITY POLYETHLENE, POLYPROPYLENE, POLYSTYRENE, AND OTHER PLACTICS INCLUDING ACRYLICS, POLYCARBONATE, POLYACTIC FIBERS, NYLON AND FIBERGLAS. OUCH!! No wonder I hated chemistry in school.
- China used to take most of our recycled products but in January of this year they stopped accepting recyclables from many countries.
- Locally the City of Memphis is in a time of transformation as are other local municipalities like Germantown. Where recyclables used to pay for itself, it now appears we will have to pay more in the future.
Therefore, my job now is to educate myself as to what is recyclable and what is not and what can I do to help solve or mitigate the problem. First job is to identify items. The following chart is basic to all the chemicals mentioned above.
I asked the City of Memphis thru an open records request the following.
"I would like information on which of these 7 symbols which appear on a lot of products you will accept for recycling here in Memphis. Also, if you have other suggestions or standards for identification of acceptable products symbols, I would like to have them by email return."
Here is their answer.
The City has reviewed its files and has located responsive records to your request. Per the custodian, size does matter. Straws, plastic picnic utensils, and pill bottles are too small to be sorted accurately. Also – recycling needs to be clean. If plastic plates have lingering food debris attached, then they can actually contaminate the load. The plastic items we collect must just be all plastic. If they contain metal parts or electronic panels then they are not recyclable. To easily identify plastics we accept, visit memphisrecycles.com or check the top of your City of Memphis gray recycling cart. You will find a complete list of the plastics, paper, metals, glass and cartons you can recycle in Memphis. Thank you for participating in our curbside recycling program.
This answer seems to address most items I come across in my daily life. The plastic bags that are at checkout at Kroger and some other stores still is the object of a possible charge before the City Council. Under the plan, consumers would pay 7 cents for each plastic bag they use to carry their purchases from Memphis retailers sized 2,000 square feet or greater. The Memphis bag tax proposal would funnel 2 cents to the grocers as a handling fee, while the city would pull in the other 5 cents per bag. People age 65 and older, and those who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits or other public assistance, would be exempt city councilman Boyd said.
What did I learn? The City is doing the right thing and seems to be on top of the huge problem of our throwaway society. Of the seven chasing arrow symbols it seems that #6 (POLYSTYRENE) is a big problem and cannot currently be recycled without a lot more research. #3 (POLYVINYL CHLORIDE) and #4 (LOW DENSITY POLYETHLENE) are also questionable. I have found that many items do not have the 1 thru 7 symbols. You have to use some judgement.
There is a lot of research going on in this are and here is an recent article that you might find interesting. Possibly the wonderful world of chemistry will solve this problem.
I would love to hear from you on your experience in this throwaway society.
Amazon and Nashville/MemphisMonday, November 19th, 2018
Now that the election is over, let us get back to important things like comparing Memphis/Shelby County to Nashville/Davidson County.
We have the news that Nashville is getting a piece of the Amazon pie, 5000 high paying jobs. It comes at a high taxpayer price but is probably worth it. Why Nashville and not Memphis?
Comparing Nashville to Memphis has been a project for me for some time. It is not easy to go through all the published financial data and come up with understandable comparison data. However, let us start with a few facts.
Population: Shelby County: 936,961, Davidson County: 691,243
Population of the core city: Memphis 653,236, Nashville 444,297
Area: Shelby County: 755 sq. miles, Davidson County: 525 sq. miles
Area of the core city: Memphis, 324 sq. miles, Urban Nashville, 198 sq. miles, general service area 327 sq. miles for a total of 525 square miles.
Conclusion: population density of core city Memphis 2016/sq. mile
Population of core city Nashville 2243/sq. mile
Property tax revenue: Memphis $458,671,000, Shelby County $793,849,000 for a total of $1,252,520,000 or 1.25 billion.
Property taxes, Nashville Metro, $971,643,000.
Budget of Memphis and Shelby County $1.88 billion.
Budget of Metro Nashville $2.23 billion.
Budget expenditures per resident Memphis and Shelby County $2006
Budget expenditure per resident of Metro Davidson $3226
Debt service as a % of operating expenditures
Metro Nashville 9%
Memphis 20%
Shelby County 21.45%
Memphis pension liability 2018- $2.68 billion 89.6% funding ratio
Shelby County pension liability 2017- $1.2 billion 71% funding ratio
Nashville Metro pension liability 2017- 3.08 billion 95.4% funded
Memphis OPEB liability 2018 $334 million, 0.8% funded
Shelby County OPEB liability 2017 $232 million 83.3% funded
Nashville Metro OPEB liability $2.33 billion, zero % funded
Typical Winter utility bill
Memphis- $244.10
Nashville- $375.65
The Statement of Net Position presents information on all the Government's assets, deferred outflows of resources, liabilities, and deferred inflows of resources, with the difference reported as net position. Over time, increases or decreases in net position may serve as a useful indicator of whether the financial position of the Government is improving or deteriorating.
Metro Nashville net position decreased by $266 million for the year ending 2017.
Memphis net position decreases by $58 million for the year ending 2017.
Shelby County net position increased by $86 million for the year ending 2017
If you have additional financial comparison information or disagree with any of the above information, please let me know.
I think Memphis is a great city, beautiful trees, weather is consistently great, wonderful people and compared to Nashville, a low cost of living. What is the difference?
We are told that these 5000 jobs Amazon will bring to Nashville have an average salary of $150,000/year. These are jobs that require high tech skills in management, engineering, computer science and programming. It is a pleasure to go to the Amazon website as its ease of use is outstanding and much better than its competitors.
However, Amazon's main business is selling things made by others and getting those things to you fast and at a low cost.
Memphis needs to compete in the area of technical job training and skills that are needed in the next few years in manufacturing, health care, auto and aircraft maintenance, warehousing and transportation. Our new governor has promised to continue free junior college training (Tennessee Promise) and hopefully he will allow qualified non-profits like our local Moore Tech College to participate in the Tennessee Promise program.
Our local shortage of trained people needed by companies like Amazon will not be solved in a few years but while we upgrade our primary grade education, we need to emphasize trade school education to upgrade our local working wage level and reduce our comparative high poverty level.
I would appreciate your thoughts on what we can do to help Memphis to reach the next level of prosperity. Memphis is great, but we can make it grow and prosper with the right education policies. EDUCATION IS THE ANSWER.
I Voted Yesterday and Then Cleaned Out My Closet. What a Surprise!!Thursday, October 25th, 2018
October 26, 2018
I voted yesterday and then cleaned out my closet. What a surprise!!
After hearing all the NO-NO-NO advertising and NO-YES-NO and NO-YES-YES on social media I fully expected to see NO! and YES! on the ballot. WRONG!!
What was on the ballot was "Vote For the Amendment or Against the amendment. I saw several voters talking to the election commission staff asking for an explanation. This is another example of the poor wording of these three ordinances. We will have to wait until November 6th or 7th to see the results. Will it be AGAINST-AGAINST-AGAINST or AGAINST-FOR-FOR or something else.
Then I went home and started cleaning out my closet and came across the following sign from 2008 when Memphis voters put term limits in place for the Memphis Mayor and Memphis City Council members, limiting each to two consecutive 4 year terms in office. None of our group shown in the picture were elected but the influence of 30,000 taxpayers paid off with the charter commission imposing two consecutive four year term on the Mayor and the City Council as was already the case for the County Mayor and the County Commission. The City Council at that time fought us tooth and nail but we won. Now both the Memphis City Council and the County Commission want to get 12 consecutive years rather than 8. Vote Against.
In the 2008 vote, more than three-quarters of Memphis voters approved the two-term limit.
Yesterday, on the second and third items I voted FOR and FOR.
Vote your conviction but please vote.


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How ibuyers steal your equity from underneath your nose - Stay away for iBuyers
Its not rocket science. In fact, its all black and white, its simple arithmetic. Its how they play with the numbers that will cost you thousands of dollars. Now, I'm not talking $5,000 to Six Grand, I am talking TENS of Thousands of Dollars! In fact, I myself am a prime example!
I reached out to two ibuying companies,both made me offers, both tried to "spin" the price of the these offers as 'Fair Market Value". Now lets understand this concept, your house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and it must, in most cases where the home is financed, appraise at said value.
So when an ibuying company, brings an offer to the table, you need to be prepared, IE, you need to know the TRUE value of your home, not what they tell you it is. They need to make money, they are "today's" investors. They cannot give you "TRUE Market" Value as it would cause them to fail.
That being said, your house is worth MORE than they tell you it is.
Read that again, YOUR HOUSE IS WORTH MORE, always and forever.
That is guaranteed statement too, you know why? it is. There model, based on my personal experience, can leave up to $60,000 on the table.
Because I sold my personal home for $475,000 (See ibuying episode below). the two iBuying companies I reached out too (referenced in ibuying episode via Real Estate Guy TV attached), made me offers based on their "opinion" of fair market value. One came in at $395,000, the other at $414,000. Both of which, were not "True Market Value. Now I get their is a difference of needs some work to "oh my gosh" this is a total rehab, to BOOM! This place has all the bling and is move in Ready!
Know the difference, know the price variables before you sign on the dotted line. Had I NOT been a Realtor for 20 years, I would have to trust "someone" that the value they are giving me is accurate, when in fact, its not. Get 3 "quotes" just like you should do when you hire a vendor to do work on your car, your house, etc etc. Whenever someone reaches out to me for value, I"ll tell them 3 prices, one at the low end of the spectrum and one setting market value. All of which are accurate, based on the condition of the home-its not rocket science, its research.
I'll put more MONEY in your POCKET than an iBuying company will-its just a fact.
Call me today at 602-321-6188 or simply click here, fill out the required info, and I"ll have value your way in less than 24 hours... Free Home Valuation.
Chris Dunham
The Real Estate Guy™
"Equal Housing Opportunity"
Brokered by eXp Realty Arizona