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Restrictive DHS, DOL Rule on H-2B Foreign Labor Certification Program Makes Visa More Difficult for Employers
The Department of Labor's and the Department of Homeland Security's joint Interim Final Rule (IFR) imposes new burdens on the certification of employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary, non-agricultural employment and stiffens enforcement obligations applicable to employers of H-2B workers and U.S. workers similarly employed. The IFR took effect on April 29, 2015.
The H-2B visa program allows up to 66,000 visas each year for the entry of low-skilled, non-agricultural guestworkers into the United States. The IFR fills a regulatory gap occasioned by a vacatur of the 2008 H-2B regulations by a federal district court on March 4, 2015. The court vacated and permanently enjoined DOL from implementing or enforcing the DOL's 2008 H-2B regulations on the ground that DOL lacked authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to unilaterally issue regulations in the H-2B program. Perez v. Perez, No. 3:14-cv-682 (N.D. Fla. Mar. 4, 2015). This decision forced the DOL to immediately discontinue the processing of H-2B labor applications, but processing soon resumed after the District Court granted a temporary stay of the vacatur through May 15, 2015.
The IFR, which is virtually identical to the DOL's 2012 H-2B Final Rule which was never implemented, focuses on enhanced U.S. worker recruitment and strengthened worker protections. It significantly and fundamentally changes the H-2B visa program by imposing onerous and costly new conditions and requirements on H-2B employers. Major features of the IFR include the establishment of a national electronic job registry for all H-2B jobs to improve U.S. worker access to these temporary jobs, extension of H-2B worker protections to corresponding U.S. workers, and the requirement that employers guarantee employment and wage payment for a certain period of time ("three-fourths guarantee").
Significant features of the IFR include:
- Extending H-2B program benefits, such as wages and transportation, to corresponding workers (generally, U.S. workers performing substantially the same work as H-2B foreign workers) to ensure they are not receiving lower wages or other benefits than the H-2B foreign workers.
- Imposing new obligations on employers by strengthening worker protections to H-2B and corresponding workers; for example, employers must guarantee employment for a total number of work hours (and wages) equal to at least 75 percent of the workdays in each 12-week period (or each six-week period, if the job order is for less than 120 days). This is the "three-fourths guarantee."
- Bifurcating the application process to include: (1) a registration phase during which DOL determines the employer's temporary need (this feature will be operational at a later date), and (2) an application phase, when DOL addresses the labor market test. Currently, the adjudication of temporary need is concurrent with the evaluation of the labor market test. An employer must file an H-2B Registration between 120 and 150 calendar days before the date of need for H–2B workers. The DOL will announce separately in the Federal Register the initiation of the registration requirement, consistent with 20 CFR 655.11(j). In the meantime, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification will assess the employer's temporary need during the adjudication of the H-2B application.
- Ending the use of the attestation model (which includes pre-filing recruitment) and returning to the certification model (abandoned in 2009), under which H-2B recruitment takes place after the filing of the H-2B labor application with DOL. In addition to posting the job order by the State Workforce Agencies ("SWAs"), DOL will create a national electronic job registry for all H-2B job orders.
- Reinstating the central role of SWAs in the H-2B labor process. An employer must submit a job order directly to the SWA on the same date as it files the H-2B labor application with DOL. This must be done between 75 and 90 calendar days before the employer's date of need.
- Obligating the employer to hire all qualified U.S. workers referred to it by the SWAs. In addition, the employer is required to accept referrals and hire qualified U.S. workers until 21 days before the employer's date of need. Furthermore, the period during which an H-2B employer may not lay off any similarly employed U.S. workers would continue to begin 120 days before the date of need, but would be extended from 120 days after the date of need to the end of the certification period. Also, during a layoff, H-2B workers must be laid off before any U.S. worker.
- Reducing the duration of need from 10 months to 9 months and expanding the definition of full-time work from 30 hours to 35 hours.
- Requiring the employer to cover the cost of visa processing, border crossing, and other related fees within the first workweek. Passport or other charges primarily for the benefit of the workers need not be reimbursed. The employer also must cover the cost of inbound transportation and subsistence for H-2B workers who complete 50 percent of the period of employment covered by the job order, and outbound transportation and subsistence for H-2B workers who work to the end of the job order or are dismissed early.
The IFR makes participation in the H-2B visa program more burdensome. These changes, in particular the "three-fourths guarantee" and extension of worker protections to corresponding workers, taken with the new prevailing wage determination methodology rule introduced in 2011, may lead some employers to consider abandoning the H-2B program for other options. As with many burdensome regulations, experienced immigration counsel can make the difference between the seemingly impossible and the probable.
Employers should consider taking the following steps:
- Educate the staff about the new rules and timelines involved so they can plan for filings. Under the new bifurcated application process, employers are required to begin the H-2B application process approximately five months before the date when new H-2B workers are needed (i.e., allow one month to obtain a prevailing wage determination and file for H-2B registration four months before the date of need);
- To ensure compliance with the new worker protections, develop a uniform H-2B policy that accounts for all financial arrangements with H-2B workers, such as employee relocation expenses and deductions for housing, and contains mechanisms for payment or reimbursement of transportation expenses and visa fees;
- Review contracts or agreements with all staffing and recruitment companies to ensure they can pass muster or scrutiny under the new regulations with regard to prohibited payments by H-2B workers; and
- Update document retention policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the proposed document retention requirements.
Please contact a Jackson Lewis immigration attorney with any questions you may have about visa programs.


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Although Brenda Larson (née Pugsley), BEd'71, (MEd'79, Gonzaga University, Spokane WA), retired in 2006 from a 34-year teaching career in Vancouver, Langley and Kelowna, she has remained active in education. Brenda has been presenting teacher workshops throughout North America as well as expanding and marketing her Itchy's Alphabet line of educational materials, a unique program designed to teach letter sounds and letter formations. Each picture cue in the shape of the letter brings a visual/concrete connection to learning these auditory/abstract skills. In January 2011, a research project supporting the effectiveness of Itchy's Alphabet ("Teaching Letter Sound Connections With Picture Mnemonics: Itchy's Alphabet and Early Decoding") was published in the peer reviewed journal, Preventing School Failure. Brenda spent most of 2011 developing a French and Spanish component for the Itchy's Alphabet program which are available on her website, www.itchysalphabet.com.
Christman Lee, BEd'73, was inducted into the Softball BC Hall of Fame on October 15, 2011, as an official, becoming the first Chinese Canadian to receive this accolade. Prior to his retirement in 2009, highlights of his 30-year officiating career included umpiring the 1996 International Softball Federation Men's World Fastpitch Championship in Midland, Michigan; the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg; and the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Christman was also a secondary school teacher for 35 years, teaching in Nakusp, West Vancouver and Delta.
Marion Pollack, BA'74, retired in 2012 after years of activism in the Canadian Union of Postal workers and the women's movement. She is currently a board member of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women and CoDevelopment Canada.
Margaret Evans (née Bacon), BScN'75, recently published her book, Could it Really be Something They Ate? (Balboa Press, 2011), which addresses food sensitivities in children. The book aims to educate people about how a simple change in a child's diet can often eliminate a multitude of troubling symptoms, and also guide parents in making changes in the midst of their busy lives. As a registered nurse in both pediatric oncology and neonatal intensive care, Margaret has worked with hundreds of families over the last 25 years, supporting them through food and health-related challenges. Margaret's business, Dynamic Choices Family Wellness, was established to help families find solutions to the physical and behavioural challenges of their children. Margaret lives in Vancouver with her four children, three grand-children, and husband, Ken. More information is available at www.foodsensitivechildren.com.
Each year, The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation appoints up to 10 Mentors for its mentorship program. The program seeks to forge intellectual and personal bonds between renowned Canadians with extensive experience in public life, and young, talented PhD students. This year two UBC alumni are amongst the 10 appointed Mentors: involved in Aboriginal and environmental issues, Paul Kariya, BA'75, MA, PhD, is currently the executive director of the Clean Energy Association of British Columbia and was previously the executive director of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the CEO of Fisheries Renewal BC, and the executive director of the BC Treaty Commission. And Cindy Blackstock, BA'88, PhD, a member of the Gitksan Nation in BC, has worked in the field of child and family services for more than 20 years, is the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and an associate professor at the University of Alberta.
On February 9, 2012, Larry Beasley, MA'76, was recognized for his contributions to the Vancouver design community and awarded the Interior Designers of Canada and International Interior Design Association Leadership Award of Excellence. He is a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners, an honorary member of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and has been recognized as an "Advocate for Architecture" by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. In 2004, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for his leadership role in reshaping Vancouver's downtown core into a vibrant, urban community, known as the "Vancouver Model."

subset: commoncrawl


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Michael Gove, the education secretary, is writing to all MPs in areas where schools are said to be underperforming – mainly schools in Labour-led authorities – demanding that they side with him to open up the education system "to the new providers who can raise standards".
Gove has started his campaign against "the forces of conservatism" by writing to MPs in Leicester and Derby on Tuesday asking them whether they want to "keep the door closed to new solutions and stick rigidly to the status quo, which is failing the children in their areas".
He says in "both of these areas, standards are far too low, with too many primaries which are judged by Ofsted to be unsatisfactory, or which have performed below national expectations for many years … 2012 results for 11-year-old pupils in each region are lower than the national average, lower than the average for the east Midlands region, far lower than pupils and parents have a right to expect".
In Derby and Leicester, key stage 2 results in English and Maths have been below the national average for each of the past five years, education department officials said, and children in primary schools underperform many inner-city London areas with higher deprivation.
The initiative follows the decision of David Cameron to position himself as the champion of an "aspiration nation" in which excellence in education is central to economic recovery.
The Conservatives are clearly trying to expose divisions in Labour over its approach to academies and free schools, and to pin responsibility on mainly Labour-run areas for inadequate school standards.
In a speech to the rightwing thinktank Politeia, Gove said: "There are hundreds more underperforming primary schools, many concentrated in other disadvantaged communities, where we need to act." He said he was writing to MPs in areas of educational underperformance "outlining why we need to act and drawing attention to the failure, so far, of those in positions of power in local councils to move fast enough in improving our schools".
He added: "In a number of communities the local forces of conservatism have worked against reform and have thrown every possible obstacle in the path of potential academy sponsors and free school founders trying to make a difference."
He says the MPs "have a simple choice: stand with those in the academies and free schools movement who want to put children first, or stand with the adults who are blocking school improvement".
Gove tried to increase Labour discomfiture by lavishing praise on Lord Adonis and Tony Blair for starting and championing the academies movement. Adonis holds a frontbench role in the Lords and oversees Labour industrial policy review.
Gove also vented his frustration at the forces blocking progress inside the civil service and parliament: "Far too often the Whitehall machine is risk-averse. Media commentary rarely allows early errors to be seen in context as experiments which will generate improvements. And the National Audit Office and public accounts committee, the most influential watchdogs in the country, are some of our fiercest forces of conservatism.
"Time after time the NAO and PAC report in a way which treats any mistake in the implementation of any innovation as a scandalous waste of public money which prudent decision-making should have avoided. And yet at the same time it treats the faults of current provision as unalterable facts of nature – like the location of oceans and mountains – which should be accepted as the design of a benign providence.
"What we need, across the Westminster village, is a decisive shift in the culture in favour of risk and openness and away from small-c conservatism."
He complains of the blockages put in the way of his education reforms, saying: "Whenever we press for faster action to help those children, there are always adults urging delay – time for consultations, audits, reviews, impact assessments, stakeholder management, securing professional buy-in, assuring ourselves of compliance with EU procurement rules, getting counsel's opinion, assessing sector feedback, monitoring noise in the system, and so on."
Gove also used the speech to mount an assault on Ed Miliband, saying it would be a category error to describe the Labour leader's "one nation" speech as a shift to the centre.
"Blue Labour thinking – Ed Miliband's thinking – is not then a continuation or refashioning of Blairism, it is a critique and rejection of Blairism. It was an explicit disavowal of the centrism practised under Tony Blair and a celebration of an older, more solidaristic socialism of the kind which would have found favour with Tony Crosland or even Tony Benn.
"Where Tony Blair used his speeches to identify the forces of conservatism and declare war on them, Ed Miliband has used his speech to celebrate the forces of conservatism and declare he wants to become their leader.
"And the speech confirmed rather than changed Ed's ideological trajectory. It was another step in his emphatic embrace of those who want to keep society closed rather than open."
The education secretary also ridiculed Miliband's portrayal of his secondary school, saying he presented "Haverstock secondary – Hampstead's principal educational establishment – as though it were some sort of school of hard knocks, a nursery of social solidarity and home of class-consciousness to rank with Durham's mines or Clydeside's shipyards.
"For some reason, as Ed talked of Haverstock, I was reminded of William Woodruff's memoir of growing up in 30s Lancashire, the Road to Nab End – quoted, incidentally, in Jack Straw's recent autobiography – where Woodruff talks of the 'intellectual socialists' he met at university: people who 'collected working-class experiences as others might collect stamps or butterflies'."
Stephen Twigg MP, the shadow education secretary, said in response to Gove's speech: "Of course we support efforts to raise school standards in place like Leicester and Derby but the public won't be fooled by this kind of smokescreen.
"Michael Gove's education policies are putting standards at risk: 10,000 teachers have left the profession, we've seen the biggest cuts to education budgets since the 1950s and thousands were let down by his GCSE fiasco. While Labour would deliver for all young people, the Tories' divisive and narrow approach is not fit for the challenges of the 21st century."


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On the 120th birth anniversary of Baba Sahib B R Ambedkar what could be a better tribute than a section of society that included students, businessmen and government officials dropping their surnames to contribute towards making society casteless. Naushad Ali Khan became Naushad Gandhi; Bharat Bhushan Sharma changed his name to Bharat Bhushan Bhartiya. Dr Sidharth Chaudhry chose to be called just Sidharath. The members of the group took an oath before Baba Sahib's statue that they will drop their caste forever. Is it beginning of a movement? It could be if right thinking people support it.
If a foreigner is asked to name one major flaw in Indian society, he will without much thinking point out its caste based system. Caste system continues to dominate our lives even after 62 years of independence. Be it in office, business circle or our day to day life situation, we are known by our caste, our first name hardly matters to others. Jobs and education in our country are obtained on the basis of caste. Jaati vaad has kept peopleof our country divided for ages and has been the reason for gruesome fights between upper and lower caste groups over the years.
"What is in a name? That which we call rose
By any name would smell as sweet"
Shakespeare's couplet is not only for rose, it is true for human being as well. We can call a person by any name but his human identity will not change. While one section of society has risen to the occasion to spread the message of casteless society, our government has given approval for caste based census. Ashish Bose, India's best known demographer has said "the caste census being done by the government as part of the overall exercise to understand country's demography is a retrograde step. It would bring issues of caste and casteism to the forefront." Politicians' intent on building vote banks on the basis of caste can be discerned from this exercise. Government plea that caste information is necessary for equitable distribution of quota is not tenable.
The movement for casteless society initiated by a section of people should be strengthened to rid the country of ages old malice.


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Red Wine: An Analysis of Health's Red Herring
Much has been made lately of the salutatory benefits of resveratrol, an antioxidant found in certain magenta-skinned fruits like grapes and mulberries, and, much more salaciously, in red wine.
As usual, if there is a link to be found between a popular human vice and a redeeming quality thereof, it will be found and then flogged repeatedly until the shards of its truthiness are spread far and wide throughout the fitness tabloids. Thus we are told at least thrice per year that a glass of red wine is "good for you" because of its resveratrol contents, after which several vague notions about cancer prevention and workout results are bandied about without reference or explanation.
So here's the latest red wine whopper. Science Daily yesterday published a press release entitled "Red Wine: Exercise in a Bottle?" provided by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
As expected, the pop science world has gone into paroxysms over the renewed permission to drink an alcoholic beverage, ignoring the fact that experimental substance used was resveratrol, not red wine, and that the creatures used in the study did not imbibe, and could not have imbibed, nearly enough red wine to have made a difference to their muscle tone.
The conjecture that red wine is "healthy", and confers any of the benefits of the minute amounts of resveratrol that it contains, has been perpetrated repeatedly on almost every level of science-like discourse: from the press releases faithfully reproduced on Science Daily, to throw-away mentions in beauty tips on Huffington Post blogs, to the following clip from a Barbara Walters piece on CBS News:
Did you catch that? According to these researchers, who first point out that resveratrol is found in red wine — after which you see the scientist clink his glass with Barbara Walters' — one would actually need to consume 1,000 bottles of red wine a day to actually intake enough resveratrol to make the 700mg of clinical difference for an average-sized human being of 150 pounds.
That's because these studies of resveratrol on mice are done using doses anywhere from 22mg / kg all the way up to 400mg / kg. Scale that last figure up to human size, and you're looking at a 4 to 5 gram dose of resveratrol — something like 5000 bottles red wine per day.
And just to put things in perspective with regards to the claims being made about resveratrol and its ability to "replace" exercise: only one positive human trial exists that has shown effects on blood sugar lowering, in which patients consumed 3 to 5 grams of resveratrol per day — a hell of a lot more than the 700mg the above supplement schills would have you buy from them.
Yet here we have a quote in the "Red Wine: Exercise in a Bottle?" press release about red wine being an acceptable substitute for taking resveratrol supplements:
"If resveratrol supplements are not your cup of tea," Weissmann added, "then there's good news. You can find it naturally in red wine, making it the toast of the Milky Way."
The casual reader might assume that Weissmann is Mr. Upstanding Science Researcher who actually conducted the study, who is commenting on his results and recommending you go ahead and have that glass of red wine. Careful reading, however, reveals that Weissmann here is the editor-in-chief of the journal which produced this press release. (Let us also note that this article appears also "with editorial adaptations by the ScienceDaily staff.")
So what are we to believe? The Truth of the matter is that you simply cannot consume enough red wine to make any measurable difference in your metabolism. Red wine is being used to "sell" scientific research about a phytochemical (resveratrol) which just happens to appear in a minute concentration in the beverage, much the way images of scantily clad young women are used to sell beer, especially in places where such women appear in minute concentrations.
Should we forgive the science publicists? After all, they're just trying to make research accessible.
No, I really don't think we should. Headlines tend to create the culturally-accepted truth, especially when repeated without contest. The facts are never far from the headlines — follow along in my "heckling the science news" section below — and yet the media chugs down the "drink red wine for health!" meme faithfully.
Sites like Science Daily serve as repositories for science press releases, created by associations and institutions whose job it is to make an impact on awareness of scientific studies on behalf of their researchers.
There isn't a scientist out there who would argue for the consumption of 1000 bottles of red wine per day, so I find it hard to believe that there is any serious scientific discourse around that concept whatsoever. The blame falls on science marketing for perpetrating a very stupid myth, one I am intensely bored of reading about.
Heckling the Science News
Let's refer again to Science Daily to see what the science marketing wonks want us to read about resveratrol:
- 7 mentions of "red wine".
- 2 mentions of "grapes".
- 2 images of red wine.
If a picture says a thousand words, then that puts the count for "red wine" at about 2007.
Resveratrol Content Varies Among Red Wines (Apr. 20, 2007) — Red wine is being widely touted for its health benefits, but not all red wines may act the same according to researchers at the University of …
Who cares about which red wine has more resveratrol than others? If you had some stellar red wine with 2x concentration of the average red wine, that's 500 bottles instead of 1000 bottles you'd be drinking per day. FAIL.
Red Wine Compound Shown To Prevent Prostate Cancer (Sep. 1, 2007) — Consuming a red wine compound called resveratrol may reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer, report researchers.
Red Wine's Resveratrol May Help Battle Obesity (June 17, 2008) — Resveratrol, a compound present in grapes and red wine, reduces the number of fat cells and may one day be used to treat or prevent obesity…
Red Wine Compound Increases Anti-Tumor Effect of Rapamycin (Feb. 14, 2011)
"Red Wine Compound"? Why not "grape compound" or "mulberry compound"? Oh, right, because no one in the world is looking for vindication of their nightly mulberry habit. Well, except maybe giraffes.


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Magic Johnson Blasts Lakers Coaching Hire on Twitter
His feedback, it's fair to say, is not positive.
Johnson used Twitter late Wednesday morning to share these thoughts with his more than 1 million followers:
The reason I haven't tweeted in 2 days is because I've been mourning Phil Jackson not being hired as the Lakers head coach.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 14, 2012
My mother always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 14, 2012
The first post immediately sent the social sports world into a minor tizzy, gaining more than 3,600 retweets.
The Lakers were reportedly all set to hire Jackson — who's won 11 championships as a coach, including five with Lakers between 2000 and 2010 — this week but then unexpectedly agreed to terms with D'Antoni late Sunday night. When the Lakers fired Brown last week after a terrible start to the season, Johnson took to Twitter to broadcast his support for Jackson:
I'd love to see Phil Jackson or Brian Shaw.Wish Pat Riley was available.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 9, 2012
Do you think Magic was right to criticize the Lakers hiring D'Antoni on Twitter, or should he have kept his digital mouth shut? Give us your take in the comments.
BONUS: 30 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts This NBA Season
30 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts This NBA Season
Thumbnail image via Twitter/MagicJohnson


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Noam Scheiber reports in the New York Times:
The minimum wage affects different workers differently. Seattle's minimum-wage increases brought benefits to many workers, while leaving few employed workers worse off. Workers who worked the most ahead of the-wage increase appeared to do the best. For workers who worked less before the increase, earning the same wage while working fewer hours is a trade most would accept. New entrants not employed at the increase fared the worst. "For folks trying to get a job with no experience, it might have been worth hiring and training
when the rate was $10 an hour."
A research team including economists from the University of Washington has put out a paper showing that Seattle's recent minimum-wage increases brought benefits to many workers employed at the time, while leaving few employed workers worse off.On their own, these results appear unremarkable. Large stacks of academic papers have shown that, for the average worker, a minimum-wage increase does more good in raising pay than it hurts by prompting some employers to cut back on hiring or hours.But this new paper, issued Monday, has a unique pedigree: Last summer, the same authors released a paper showing that Seattle's minimum-wage increases had large costs for workers. Because employers reduced hours in response to the city's rising minimum wage in 2016, the researchers found, average pay fell by an eye-popping $125 a month, or about 6.6 percent. (They did not observe such effects for a minimum-wage increase the year before.)The earlier paper created an immediate political sensation, not least because the researchers had access to highly detailed data on worker wages and hours — the kind of information generally not available to the authors of other studies.
Conservative politicians and news outlets quickly hailed the findings. "So often, liberal policies, born of good intentions to 'help the poor,' end up hurting them," Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said on Twitter.Liberals, for their part, gnashed their teeth over the result, pointing out a variety of methodological flaws that could have skewed it.In light of the new paper, do commentators on both sides suddenly have to reassess?"We're prepared to have a lot of people come out and say we're contradicting ourselves," said Jacob Vigdor, an economist at the University of Washington who is an author of the study. "That we're flip-flopping."He cautioned, however, that the truth was more complicated. Here's why.
The minimum wage affects different groups of workers differently.Seattle increased its minimum wage for large employers to $11 an hour, from $9.47, in April 2015, then to $13 for many of those same employers in January 2016. (The minimum wage increased by less for small employers, and for large employers that contributed toward workers' health coverage.)
The workers who worked less in the months before the minimum-wage increase saw almost no improvement in overall pay — $4 a month on average over the same period, although the result was not statistically significant. While their hourly wage increased, their hours fell substantially. (That doesn't mean they were no better off, however. Earning roughly the same wage while working fewer hours is a trade most workers would accept.)In their latest paper, which has not been formally peer reviewed, Mr. Vigdor and his colleagues considered how the minimum-wage increases affected three broad groups: People in low-wage jobs who worked the most during the nine months leading up to and including the quarter in which the increase took effect (more than about 600 or 700 hours, depending on the year); people who worked less during that nine-month period (fewer than 600 or 700 hours); and people who didn't work at all and hadn't during several previous years, but might later work. The latter were potential "new entrants" to the ranks of the employed, in the authors' words.The workers who worked the most ahead of the minimum-wage increase appeared to do the best. They saw a significant increase in their wages and only a small percentage decrease in their hours, leading to a healthy bump in overall pay — an average of $84 a month for the nine months that followed the 2016 minimum-wage increase.
It's the final group of workers — the potential new entrants who were not employed at the time of the first minimum-wage increase — that Mr. Vigdor and his colleagues believe fared the worst. They note that, at the time of the first increase, the growth rate in new workers in Seattle making less than $15 an hour flattened out and was lagging behind the growth rate in new workers making less than $15 outside Seattle's county. This suggests that the minimum wage had priced some workers out of the labor market, according to the authors."For folks trying to get a job with no prior experience, it might have been worth hiring and training them when the going rate for them was $10 an hour," Mr. Vigdor speculated, but perhaps not at $13 an hour.
(Mr. Vigdor conceded that it was somewhat unclear when the divergence between Seattle and the rest of the state began, which could make the explanation less persuasive, and that this required additional study.)
Even so, how can this year's study be squared with last year's study?Mr. Vigdor said the two studies were broadly consistent when considering the effect both on workers employed at the time of the increases and workers who might soon seek employment. The minimum-wage increases helped people who were already working low-wage jobs, hurt people who weren't yet working, and had a somewhat negative effect on pay over all. (Mr. Vigdor and his colleagues have revised the earlier paper so that the large negative effect they initially found after the second minimum-wage increase was smaller: an average loss of $74 a month instead of $125.)Other researchers were more skeptical. When last year's study came out, Ben Zipperer, an expert on the minimum wage at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, pointed out that it failed to adequately account for the fact that Seattle's economy was growing rapidly when the minimum wage increases took effect.In a booming economy, Mr. Zipperer argued, we would expect to see fewer workers employed at low wages — not because employers decide it's not worth hiring people, but because the competition for workers bids up wages, and many low-paying jobs disappear and are replaced by somewhat higher-paying jobs.Alternatively, many potential low-wage workers may decide it's too expensive to live and work in Seattle even with the benefit of a higher minimum wage, leading them to leave the city or not migrate there in the first place.In either case, it would be the boom, and not a minimum-wage increase, that was reducing the number of hours worked at low wages.In an interview, Mr. Zipperer said he was unconvinced by the authors' attempt to square this year's findings with last year's. He said that the relatively low number of people making less than $15 an hour in Seattle, the linchpin of the effort to reconcile the results, is consistent with the city's booming labor market, which the authors still haven't properly addressed.
Advertisement"At the end of the day, it really to me points to the hazards of a single case study," he said. "If something contaminates the case study, like a shock to Seattle, you're out of luck. There's no counterbalance you can use."Mr. Vigdor conceded that a boom could be partly distorting his team's findings. "What we can't tell from our data is whether a lot of people are trying to find work and not finding anyone willing to hire them, or whether there just aren't as many people making the effort" — because it's not worth their while to work in Seattle even at a higher minimum wage.
If the new study is flawed, does it still provide insight into the minimum wage?Mr. Vigdor said the real contribution of the latest paper might be to force policymakers to consider who benefits from a minimum-wage increase and who doesn't, and whether that allocation of benefits is consistent with what a government is trying to accomplish.For example, one interpretation of the findings is that the Seattle minimum-wage increases helped workers who had languished in low-paying jobs for some time — perhaps parents working full time to support a family — while providing fewer benefits, or even causing harm, to workers like college students who seek part-time jobs for discrete periods to earn spending money or help pay for school."Whatever you think about that trade-off depends on your values," Mr. Vigdor said. "We want to illuminate those trade-offs, make them as clear as possible. But we aren't being paid the big bucks to make the final decision."


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This 4-point ambulance restraint system is intended to turn a serious crash into a walkaway event. The one buckle design allows for easy on and quick egress, the 4-retractor system makes for a quick fit and clean storage, and the fully-retractable system means EMTs will have freedom of movement to allow for uninterrupted patient care. Plus, the Per4Max technology provides controlled deceleration during the event of a crash. Just another way Wheeled Coach is innovating the way lives are saved, not just at the scene, but from point A to point B.
Our proprietary Corner Cap Lighting System provides 360-degree lighting coverage from both the ground and air. In addition to helping helicopters see the ambulance from the sky, the system protects the DOT marker lights and provides stress relief to minimize damage in the event of an accident.
An external condenser that boasts 30% greater condensing capability, 30% greater BTU capacity, and 50% greater air flow.
A hands-free idle mitigation system that enables ambulances to function the same when parked whether the engine is running or not. Designed to virtually eliminate costly, and harmful, vehicle idling.
An industry-exclusive system designed to give crews a direct release tab for exiting the ambulance in case of an accident.
Available on Wheeled Coach Type 2's, this is the only 45-degree lighting system that forces more light out in front and to the sides of the ambulance. With the EnterSafe Top, responders will find increased intersection safety as ambulance visibility is improved for other drivers on the road.
The DuraSeam door system eliminates extrusions typically found on ambulances by incorporating the door jamb into the one-piece, seamless side skin. This system also adds to the structural integrity and strength of the box, which leads to increased safety for all passengers.
CNC cut, marine-grade plywood, thermolite options, as well as customizable aluminum cabinets.
Have a question about customization? We can help you. Want your favorite ambulance recreated, piece by piece? We have you covered there, too. Need parts delivered quickly? That's easy. For all of your questions, we have a highly-knowledgeable team waiting to assist you. All you need to do is ask.
And, if you're ready to add Wheeled Coach to your fleet, use our Dealer Locator to get in contact with
your nearest Wheeled Coach dealer.


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I've never seen an election like this…
Back in 2012, I knew Romney would lose. His path to victory was narrow, and I could sense that Florida was going to go for Obama. There were Obama bumper stickers everywhere, and people talking about what a great guy he was ("he speaks so well," they'd say). There was no enthusiasm for Mitt Romney. To us, he was a perfunctory vote, no more, no less.
There were no scandals for Romney. The worst they came up with was something about his dog, a comment about binders, and this notion that his corporate work was somehow anti-American. But to a Leftist, anything a Republican does is Anti-American. He could eat a cheeseburger, and it would somehow be a fascist cheeseburger.
The Left didn't even call him a Nazi very often — a theme that had been blasted strongly at Sarah Palin, and Bush II before her (McCain, of course, was tarred by proximity to his VP candidate). The reason for this, of course, was that everyone knew he was going to lose.
In fact, that was Mitt Romney's designated role, to be the graceful loser, and to bow out to the inevitability of Hopey-Changey Obamaness. He was the Queen, sacrificed in a game of chess, but to no particular purpose. "Give up your strongest piece," said the Left, "it will make the game more fair." Nobody was surprised, then, when Romney went down in graceful defeat, made his concession call, and Facebook flooded with seemingly positive messages from the 51% to the 49%.
Remember that? The Left sent out pictures of authentic-looking handwritten messages on paper saying "we're one people, from the 51% to the 49%." Nobody believed it, of course, we all knew things were swirling the ideological drain, but it was a time when the Left still pretended they thought Right-wingers were actually people.
After GamerGate, Donald Trump, attacks on the second amendment, Social Justice ascendancy on college campuses, and censorship culture… does anyone believe they will write nice messages to us this time around if they win?
No, the gloves have come off. The mask is slipping now. Donald Trump has done us one great service already, for his bombastic bluster has caused the Left to reveal themselves in their final form: the totalitarian SJWs. The Boss Fight has come at last.
Donald Trump isn't the knight in shining armor we might have wanted for that fight, but he fights nonetheless. We all know that November the 8th is going to go down into chaotic insanity no matter how things turn out.
There is no predicting the outcome of this election. I don't get the sense of impending loss I did for Romney in 2012. The Hopey Changey bumper stickers that flooded the state are pointedly missing. The Hillary signs are few, and her rallies thin on the ground. But if Trump can fill a stadium with supporters, his bumper stickers and street signs are also missing, albeit for different reasons. Nobody wants their truck burned for a Trump/Pence sticker. Signs, of course, are stolen with high frequency.
The polls are wildly off kilter with one another. Read them, and you will see everything from a 12 point Clinton landslide to a 6 point Trump landslide. Even Nate Silver got into it with the Huffington Post for thinking they had the right of the thing.
Trump, meanwhile, is the clear favorite in Iowa and Ohio, states where Romney disappointed, and whatever the polls may or may not say, one thing IS clear: Trump is doing better than Romney did. Even the most intellectually dishonest of Leftists understands that. That is why their opposition to him is so strong.
Nazi comparisons only come out when someone is a genuine threat. Actual Nazi-ness is completely irrelevant.
Comey reopening the investigation tanked Hillary's campaign, but will his stance on the thing now save her campaign? Or will it be seen as proof of collusion and corruption at the highest levels?
I have no predictions for you tomorrow, but I urge you to vote. Even if you are NeverTrump, I want you to consider something very carefully: neither candidate is exactly a role model for children, but one candidate may very well be the end of the United States of America.
While I have no specific predictions about tomorrow's results, I do have some predictions if Hillary wins:
- The Second Amendment will be attacked when Hillary gets her nominee in the Supreme Court.
- There will be Civil War if she does this.
- Amnesty will turn Texas blue.
- No Right-of-Center politician will ever win the Presidency again.
- America may very well split as was described in Kurt Schilichter's book People's Republic.
- Such a split would be the OPTIMISTIC scenario. The pessimistic one would be a complete and total Leftist victory – and worldwide Socialism.
If Trump wins, here are my predictions:
- Riots in the streets of most major cities.
- Violence against Trump supporters.
- Agitations for Trump to be assassinated.
Beyond that, I cannot say. If Trump does even half of what he claims, it will be a great relief and breath of fresh air. If he doesn't, he is still unlikely to be any worse than Hillary.
We all saw McCain and Romney going down in flames from miles away. But for Trump, the best we can say is "who the Hell knows?"
As I've said before, vote Donald Trump tomorrow, even if you can't stand him. It's not a vote for the man — it's merely a vote for a few extra years of life for our American Republic, and a slim chance to turn the Titanic around before the end.


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South Downs Scramble
ShelterBox themed navigation adventure!
Sep 04 2016
Based in Seven Sisters Country Park, transport your ShelterBox collecting points along the way to be the winning team in this 1 day orienteering challenge.
It involves 20km of trekking with some themed tasks along the way.
The minimum age for entrants is 14, and one team member must be over 18. Individuals can also apply and they will be allocated a team, just as we allocate ShelterBox response team members when they respond to a disaster and deliver aid in differnt parts of the world.
The event will start at 7am on Sunday 4th Septmeber and finish around 5pm the same day. Seven Sisters Country Park is easily accessible by bus and rail from Brighton, Seaford and Eastbourne.
Why not extend your stay and camp out in one of out bespoke Distaster Relief Tents the night before?
The registration fee for each participant is £50 and the minimum sponsprship fee per participant is £300.
Participants will recieve the support of the fundraising team and information about ShelterBox to share with supporters and sponsors.
Each participant will recieve a ShelterBox t-shirt or running vest and fundraising pack to get you started!
Visit shelterbox.org/southdowns
Admission Price:
Event Type
Active & Health – Trekking


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Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues is a "Contra Clone."
More specifically, it's a fairly decent "Contra Clone" that attempts to inject a little depth into the run-n'-gun genre.
Note that I referred to the game as being "fairly decent," and not FUCKING AWESOME like Contra III: Alien Wars.
My experience in playing Jurassic Park 2 on the SNES came in the form of a single weekend rental.
I was spending the night at a not-so-close friend's house.
Yeah, this was back when my mom was still sending me off on "play dates" with kids I didn't really know too well.
I remember his mom helped us make some Nickelodeon Gak.
I remember feeling bad about making such a crazy big mess of their kitchen.
That and I remember accidentally over-starching my baby blue Gak, rendering it nothing more than a rock hard, plasticky, smelly-ass paperweight.
Oh well, I could still make fart noises with it. Well, until I accidentally left it out of it's jar for too long…
Anyway, later that night my friend's mom took us out to rent a videogame for the night.
Naturally, seeing as Jurassic Park the movie had come out just the year before, and dinosaurs were still the coolest thing going for 7 year old boys, my friend and I couldn't resist getting our hands on Jurassic Park 2 for a night.
Oh yeah, and keep in mind that neither of us had been allowed to see Jurassic Park in the theater.
This would be our chance to live the movie!
Upon popping the cart in, we were treated to a vividly animated opening cut-scene, complete with VOICE ACTING.
This sequence was pretty impressive when I was a kid, but to look back at it now, as an older and wiser Azn Badger, it's a pretty impressive technical feat to see high quality voice clips crammed into a tiny SNES cart.
It's kind of funny, I have a sneaking suspicion that the dude yelling "Go! Go! Go!!!" is the same voice actor that played Duo Maxwell in the dub of Gundam Wing… and pretty much every animated character from the early 90's and on.
Anyway, as I said before, JP 2 was a "Contra Clone" through and through.
It was a co-op, side-scrolling run-n'-gun game wherein player one controlled some white dude in a gray shirt, and player two took control of a brutha' in a red shirt.
I found out years later that the white dude was supposed to be Dr. Alan Grant. The brutha' was just some brutha' Ocean snuck in there to cover their asses from Affirmative Action and what not.
I guess Dr. Grant spent his time away from Isla Nublar doing some hardcore military training or something, 'cause I was less than impressed by his proficiency in handling the SPAS 12 in Jurassic Park the movie.
Innovations in the gameplay came in the form of a mission select system, a health bar in place of one-hit deaths, objective based levels, maze-like level designs, and a lethal/non-lethal weapon system.
That's right, the game expected you to tranquilize the dinosaurs so as to preserve that bloody Scot, John Hammond's, investment.
Oh well, the Mega Buster style Stun Gun was the shit.
Despite most of these deviations from standard Contra game mechanics being fairly minor, I remember them greatly affecting my experience with the game over the one evening I got to play it as a youngster.
The health bar was a clever innovation in that it gave my not-friend and I the illusion of playing an easier game, one that didn't punish you for every little mistake I.E. FUCKING CONTRA.
Instead of getting shot dead every time you slipped up, the game would give you some leeway in the form of respawning you at the edge of a pit if you missed a platform, or better yet, giving you some Megaman style invincibility frames immediately after getting hit.
In truth, the health bar served to give us a false sense of security.
There were far more opportunities to get damaged in JP 2 than in any of the Contra games released up to that point, resulting in ones' health bar draining quite rapidly.
On the plus side though, on two-player mode you could transfer health between players to even out both health bars.
Yeah, my not-friend and I had to rely on this trick to get us past, well, pretty much everything, 'cause we sucked pretty fuckin' hard.
To make matter worse, we found out pretty quickly that you only got one health bar per level.
JP 2 differed from the Contra series in that Contra games are about precision, about the memorization and mastery of a series of small scenarios.
JP 2 was more of a reflex game, and a cheap one at that.
Enemies (I'm lookin' at YOU, yah' Raptor fucks…) would often run in from either side of the screen at absurd speeds, often times respawning in greater numbers if you were foolish enough to try and run away.
In addition to the dinosaur enemies, there were also a multitude of human enemies armed with a variety of weapons ranging from pistols to flamethrowers.
While most of the dinosaurs were manageable for the most part, the humans were truly a pain in the ass.
Many took several hits to take down, and the ones that fired their weapons (yeah, not all of them were smart enough to do that) did so often, and with great accuracy.
This is what I meant when I said Contra was about "precision."
In Contra games, enemy fire was accurate, but largely infrequent, and often pattern-based.
JP 2 puts you up against endless walls of broken-ass fuckers that pepper you to death with fast moving orange bullets.
As you can probably tell, Azn Badger wasn't too good at JP 2 when he was little.
Thank God for the mission select system, otherwise my not-friend and I would never have gotten past the Raptors in the first level.
Seriously, who the fuck thinks to jump over a fuckin' Velociraptor?
"T-Rex Carnage" was the first stage I remember my not-friend and I playing.
How the fuck could we not?
Of all the stage titles, it was the only one that promised the appearance of the fucking T-Rex* they slapped on the back of the box.
There was no way we could go to bed without at least getting to see the T-Rex.
It took us a good solid hour of Raptor-Rape before we finally got to see the lizard king himself.
It was fucking crazy.
It all starts when you wander off into the jungle, when out of nowhere the game fades up from black and a jeep pulls up alongside you.
Oh yeah, and did I mention there's a fuckin' T-Rex bellowing into the air about 10 feet behind you?
Well, there is.
Yeah, if you don't hop on that jeep you are fuckin' slow. Like, Little Bear slow.
As soon as you're on the jeep, the T-Rex gives chase, gaining on you the whole way.
Putting buckshot and 9mm fire into his giant-ass skull slows him down, but as expected, does little to deter his advance.
In the meantime, as this rampaging beast is charging at you full-bore, there's a bunch of dudes hanging from the trees above you that just happen to be SHOOTING AT YOU.
There's a fucking T-Rex on the loose and these guys can think of nothing better to do than hang from vines, directly in harms way, and put rounds in Dr. Alan-fucking-Grant and his brutha' from another mutha'?
Priorities dudes, get it together.
Just as the T-Rex is within inches of getting his unforgiving jaws on you, the jeep suddenly launches off a ledge and into a pit.
Yeah, my not-friend and I were just a little preoccupied with getting shot to bits by tree-faggots and, you know, BEING CHASED BY A MOTHER FUCKING T-REX to notice the ledge.
Needless to say, on our first time through, we went down the fuckin' hole.
On our second time, the T-Rex inexplicably caught up to us and chomped us good.
Yeah, turns out he does in fact catch up to you if you decide to prioritize shooting the fuckers in the trees over the giant fucking lizard.
Finally, on our third time through, we got our shit together and made the epic leap off the plummeting jeep and onto the vines hanging over the pit.
After shimmying across the vine and to the ground just past the pit, we got to see Alan Grant and brutha' red-shirt whip out their PDA thingies to view this message:
The fuck kinda' bullshit is that?
We put EVERY FUCKING ROUND WE HAD into that beast, and it didn't so much as make him wince!
Are you telling me we were expected to stop that thing?
Well, needless to say, my not-friend and I were none to happy about this, and we promptly reset the game.
Of course, we had no idea that that was exactly how the game was supposed to go, (you don't fight the T-Rex proper until the latter stages of the game) and because of that, we were determined to play the stage over to see if there was a way to defeat the T-Rex.
Well, naturally we never found a way to beat the T-Rex, but we did find out something silly in the programming of the game.
After you jump off the jeep and onto the vines above, you can still hear the T-Rex roaring after you periodically.
Because we were both upset at our perceived failure, we sat still for a moment, bitching back and forth over what we could have done wrong.
During this time, we let the game sit, unpaused.
After a minute or two, we noticed that the T-Rex's snout started to appear from the left side of the screen.
Every time it roared, it would inch a pixel or two further into view.
Eventually, a large portion of the T-Rex's form became visible, and we watched it repeatedly stand and bellow into the sky.
Finally, after several minutes, the T-Rex inched forward so far that it slipped off the ledge and fell straight into the pit below, completely submerging it in darkness**.
Despite this, the roaring persisted.
After seeing that, my not-friend and I burst out laughing.
We proceeded to the end of the stage and got the same bullshit message as before, but in our eyes, in our own special way, we knew we had beaten the T-Rex.
That was the only stage in the game we beat that night.
That being said, The Best Track in the Game is…
Protect the Gallimimus Stage Theme
Did you notice how earlier in this post I made no mention whatsoever as to the quality of the music in this game?
Well, I did so for a reason.
Jurassic Park 2 was very much an average quality game, and as such, the soundtrack was nothing to really write home about.
Truth be told, there was nothing really wrong with the quality of the music, it's just that the soundtrack is comprised of very few tracks, and most of them are very low key and best heard as ambient noise.
JP 2's soundtrack is not one I would picture myself listening to outside of the context of playing the actual game.
Despite this, Protecting the Gallimimus is a good solid action track, with a surprising amount of dignity and pathos to it.
The bongo sounding drum beat is energetic and bouncy, while at the same time very organic and very much in line with John Williams' work on the movie soundtracks, particularly The Lost World.
The music goes very well with the setting and flow of the stage that it occupies, which consequently, just happens to be my favorite stage in the game.
In fact, once my not-friend and I tried it, I'm pretty sure we kept playing it over and over until we passed out.
Basically, the level is a balls-out run through a massive field of death.
Other than the occasional family of Gallimimus running past you, every enemy in the level is a human, making the Uzi and Shotgun your best friends for the duration.
I remember my not-friend and I bursting out laughing every time one of us got trampled by one of the hoodie wearing dudes.
Even more so when one of us got beaned in the face with a gas grenade.
The boss of the level was the big-ass helicopter pictured somewhere above, and just below.
Initially it starts out with a huge cage hanging down from it's body that it likes to slam into you.
If you somehow manage to knock off the cage, the chopper starts sweeping the area with gunfire and bombs.
Lucky you.
As mentioned previously, my not-friend and I never finished any level other than the T-Rex stage, though we did get to the chopper boss many, many times.
Jungle Theme:
This is the track heard most frequently in the Jurassic Park 2 soundtrack.
Basically, every time you are in the jungle, (ALL THE FUCKING TIME) this is the music that accompanies you.
Thankfully, it's a pretty decent piece of music.
In fact, the Jungle Theme is good enough that in some ways I hesitate to call it a runner-up to the Gallimimus theme.
They both use a similar instrumentation, and both have that really slick, almost haunting quality to them.
Both track also share a similar length, with both adopting a number of subtle variations throughout their loops, resulting in extremely long tracks for an SNES game.
I think I hold the Gallimimus theme in slightly higher regard, not only because it belongs to my favorite stage in the game, but because it has a more thematic quality to it.
It is only played at one point in the game, and it's composition reflects this.
The Jungle theme on the other hand, is what I would regard as sort of a "hub theme."
There are stages where it is played only for a few seconds, simply because, well, you were in the jungle for a bit, and that's the music that they play when you're in the jungle.
Sorry, "Miscellaneous Jungle Music," guess you lose to Protect the Gallimimus this time.
*SIDENOTE: Personally, I don't remember ever referring to a Tyrannosaurus Rex as a T-Rex until after the Jurassic Park movie came out, was this an established thing by 1993, or was I just too young and uncool to :
**BONUS: I was lucky enough to find a clip that shows the T-Rex glitch! When it happened to my not-friend and I it wasn't quite so dramatic (the T-Rex only fell once), but hey, either way it's pretty crazy!
Filed under: Games, Movies, The Best Track in the Game, Uncategorized, Alan Grant, Contra, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Gallimimus, game, Ian Malcolm, John Hammond, John Williams, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues, Ocean, platformer, Robert Muldoon, run and gun, sidsescroller, SNES, Steven Spielberg, T-Rex, The Lost World, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Universal, Velociraptor, videogame


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HOME > WordMaster® > (PAID/UNPAID)LEAVE | (有給/無給)休暇
2006.07.24(Review of 2005.05.02 edition)
Welcome back!
With summer in full swing, what could be more welcome than a set of WordMasters about taking time off from work? Enjoy!
- Leave is a period of time off from work.
During paid leave you continue to receive a salary or wages.
During unpaid leave you do NOT receive a salary or wages.
- leave とは、休暇を取って仕事を休んでいる期間のことです。
paid leave の間は、給料や賃金をもらい続けることができます。
unpaid leave の間は、給料や賃金はもらえません。つまり、無給休暇のことです。
- I need to take a few days leave. My father is ill.
- We'll have to hire a temp to fill in for a couple of weeks while my secretary is on leave.
- (to a job applicant)
If you work full-time five days a week, you'll get 20 days of paid leave every year.
- You can request up to ten consecutive days of unpaid leave, but depending on the time of year we may not always be able to grant the leave.
Take it easy today!


text: I'm arriving in HCMC in two weeks and have the idea of taking an old Honda 67 up north then across to Lao and down into Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia then ... hey, possibly Darwin. Can anyone recommend a mechanic or seller in Saigon? Has anyone tried to import/ride an old 67 to Oz?


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Pomegranate puree where to buy, the most important question that people ask for it. Also Pomegranate is the most popular fruit in the world which grows in some countries with the best taste and high quality. Pomegranate puree is useful for making juice, dessert, jellies and also is useful for …Read More »
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Carl Frampton says his fight with Kiko Martinez is the biggest night of boxing that Ireland has seen "for many, many years" and vows to keep the European belt in Belfast.
Frampton fights for the Spaniard's Super Bantamweight title on the undercard of Paul McCloskey's bout with Breidis Prescott live on Sky Sports on Saturday September 10 at the Odyssey Arena in Northern Ireland's capital.
The 24 year-old was named as one of Sky Sports' 11 to watch in 2011 and has the chance to claim a major title in just his 11th professional bout. Martinez is in his third reign as European champion after defeating Jason Booth in April for the vacant strap but Frampton is adamant that 'La Sensación' will go home empty-handed.
"It's the biggest night of boxing that Belfast has seen in many, many years and the European title is a big belt to win," said Frampton. "I'm looking to win this, defend it for 18 months and then move onto a World Title shot. I feel that I'm just shy of World Class level but I want to get there so winning this title and defending it will get me there.
"It's going to be a tough fight and I have a great deal of respect for Kiko – it's going to be the toughest fight of my career, both professional and amateur. I have trained well, camp has been great and I'm ready for 12 rounds now if you wanted to put me out there tomorrow."
One man who knows plenty about big fight nights in Belfast is Frampton's manager Barry McGuigan. The Clones Cyclone was quick to concede that Martinez represents the strongest test of his protégé's talent so far, but is confident he will see him off.
"There is a risk attached, of course there is," said McGuigan. "Some will say that we've taken it too early, that's an accusation that has been levelled at us and its fair comment. But the game has changed in the last 20 or 30 years. A lot of fighters do their learning in the big fights and take greater risks these days because shows don't make money so you have to take the fights on the television shows like those Matchroom Sport have provided us with.
"I don't want to diminish Kiko as a fighter in any way, we see this as a massive test, but I know that Carl has the tools to beat him. That's all you need to know – he has too much in his armoury.
"Yes, it's only Carl's 11th fight – but Paul Weir won the World title in just his sixth fight, George Groves won the Commonwealth title in his ninth fight, James DeGale won the British title in his ninth fight – Carl has had 150 amateur fights, Martinez just 44 so Carl has three times the experience as an amateur.
"Now, nobody knows more than me that the pro game is different, with time and quality sparring Carl is making those little adjustments that are necessary. He has flair, he's got his own style, he's fantastically exciting to watch and I don't believe we've even seen 40 per cent of what he is capable of, and he's getting better all the time.
"Kiko hasn't fought someone like Carl. Has he fought someone as powerful? Possibly, but not someone with Carl's technique, skill and variety."
McGuigan was also quick to praise Matchroom Sport and promoter Eddie Hearn for staging such a marquee event in Belfast.
"I'm thrilled to be associated with Matchroom," said McGuigan. "They have been my preferred partner since I started as a professional, starting with Barry and now with Eddie, who has been a breath of fresh air since he came into the game, he knows his stuff inside and out, so we're thrilled to have this opportunity through them to fight Kiko Martinez."
Tickets for Paul McCloskey vs. Breidis Prescott plus a full championship undercard led by Carl Frampton vs. Kiko Martinez are on sale now priced at £30-£200 (tickets may be subject to service charge) and available from the Odyssey Arena Box Office on 02890 73 9074, Ticketmaster 0844 277 4455 (24 hour). Tickets are also available in person from the Odyssey Arena Box Office, at Ticketmaster outlets, and online from www.ticketmaster.ie.


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Personalized Gifts for Wedding couple
Weddings are a time of joy and celebration for friends and family of the happy couple. Finding the right present can be difficult, however, leaving guests confused and wondering what to get. Many may want to bypass boring, traditional items and find personalized gifts that have a truly relevant impact on a couple. The following are some of the best personalized wedding gifts that can impress your favorite bride and groom with their unique approaches and custom feel. To find all of these options quickly and easily, you can also consider bypassing traditional brick-and-mortar vendors and looking for any of these fun gifts on eBay.
Personalized Household and Decorative Items
There are a good number of fun ways in which a young couple can decorate a home with personalized wedding gifts. You can consider any one of these options to make their arrival home each day a special and sentimental experience. Consider a personalized doormat greeting Mr. and Mrs. at the door each evening. You can even look into personalized framed posters that might feature a photo of the couple from the special day along with a moving quote and the date of the event. Personalized wedding frames are another great idea. A new couple can use them for a photo of themselves or use it as a special frame for family portraits as their family grows.
Personalized Pillowcases
Imagine laying your head to rest on a comfy pillow every night with a cheerful reminder of the happiest day of your life. That is just a bit of what you can give a bride and groom with a personalized pillowcase set. Personalized pillowcases can feature anything from a Mr and Mrs motif to print designs of the date of a couple's wedding. Throw in a set of monogrammed sheets in Egyptian cotton to make this gift extra special and give the couple a great starter set for their new home and life together.
Personalized Flip Flops
Not all gifts need to be home goods and decor. Sometimes a small personalized gift with a sense of humor can go a long way. For example, a pair of flip flops for the happy couple with personalized 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.' signatures can make for a whimsical, practical choice. They can wear them around the house, by the pool, or after a shower. If you want to up the stakes and make the gift even more special, pair these personalized shoes with a spa day that the bride and groom can enjoy as a couple.
Personalized Kitchen Accessories
A great way to remind the happy couple of their nuptials on a daily basis is to personalize a kitchen accessory that they can use regularly. For an easy solution, look for a personalized pair of mugs that the bride and groom can use to enjoy their morning coffee each and every day. To take things up a notch, consider a gift such as a personalized, stainless steel wine bucket that they can use for their first dinner parties as a couple. Another charming idea is to personalize a treat or cookie jar, allowing the bride and groom to associate all things sweet with their big day.
Inscribed Wedding Invitations
A lot of thought goes into the phrasing, paper selection, and typeface on wedding invitations. You can immortalize many of the special and personal features in a couple's wedding invitation by creating a special inscribed version of the invite. Inscribed wedding invitations are often lucite or crystal with the text inscribed on one side of an upright slab. You can also look into wood, hand-carved versions for the couple who has a bit of an outdoor streak. In whichever medium you choose, an inscribed wedding invitation can be a perfect memento of this special day for your friends.
How to Buy Personalized Wedding Gifts on eBay
One of the easiest ways to find personalized wedding gifts for your next wedding couple is to take advantage of eBay. The site gives you an easy way to start looking for items. Just find the search bar on any page on eBay and run a search for an item. Explore all of the options that pop up by clicking on their titles and look into eBay's helpful suggestions to discover even more options. Wedding gifts do not need to be stale and traditional. With a bit of imagination and the right creative personalized gifts, you can find the perfect gift any couple will end up loving.


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Price: $9.00
Product ID : GTSMODSCARBUTT
Manufacturer: The Wilderness
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Giles Modular Sling rear attachment adapter for FN's SCAR series, including both SCAR-L and SCAR-H, as well as issued Mk 16 Mod 0 and Mk 17 Mod 0 rilfles. The rear adapter simply girth-hitches through the SCAR's sling attachment slot and provides a swivel for the sling body.
*We strongly recommend using a high-quality GG&G rail-mount side-swivel adapter (fixed or push-button Q.D. swivel options available) for the front attachment. We consider them a significant improvement over the built-in swivels on the rifle, which are the wrong orientation for proper sling fitting.


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Gary Shansby directed brands such as, oh, Clorox and Maguire's Car Polish. So what do he know about tequila?
Well, he knew Mexico's most famous legal export ranked as the fastest growing product in the spirit category and that American consumers led the way. He also had a pretty good handle on the nation's tastes. Otherwise, not much.
But he sent someone south of the border to investigate, worked a deal with an old agave farmer and set about distilling one of the best tequilas I've tried.
Partida--the name defers to the old farmer, Enrique Partida--shows a lot of maturity for such a young product line. The reposado sends salted caramel and floral notes to the nose and develops into spice, dry grass and fruit on the palate. Yet it is an extraordinarily smooth sipping spirt, aged six months in American oak that previously contained Jack Daniel's. Apparently the sweet residue calms agave's desire to burn.
The anejo's aroma promises very little, carrying the same floral notes above a hint of sweet grass. But it really opens to the taste: Butterscotch fading into banana with hints of bitter chocolate and a long finish resembling candied pineapple--none of which upsets the equally powerful sensation that you are drinking tequila.
Only the smoky flavor is missing...although you don't really miss it.
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Partida cooks the agave pinas in a stainless steel oven rather than the traditional hearths for a cleaner base character, one that allows the taste of agave through. Using oak barrels from Jack Daniel's imparts a burnished sweetness that seems to blend nicely into this base.
Shansby and his cohorts put five years and $30 million into the product before bringing it to market. And they make everything from the stopper to the tequila in Mexico. There's a downside, but it resides outside of the spirit itself.
The team went through 600 examples of potential bottles before selecting one they thought would appeal to American tastes. That's right, 600--which makes it yet another visibly pretentious brand.
But it tastes like one great tequila, so you might not mind.


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Sources say Amazon is building a drive-up grocery store
According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal's sources, Amazon is expanding beyond home delivery.
Apparently the giant of e-commerce is now bringing its business to drive-up grocery stores, with the first one of its kind in Sunnyvale, California.
These stores will allow customers to order their items online and schedule a pickup time convenient for them to drive by. This could be a completely new type of distribution strategy that the company puts into place.
According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal "a real estate developer has submitted plans for a new 11,600-square-foot building and grocery pickup area at 777 Sunnyvale Saratoga Road. Amazon itself is not named in planning documents, but real estate sources familiar with Amazon's concept said Amazon is the likely tenant."
This could be a major shift that brings concepts such as Amazon Fresh to cut the shipping costs and offer even more affordable items to the customers.
While we wait for the rumors to be confirmed, here is a look inside the current Amazon facilities:
See Gallery
More from AOL.com:
Just like with Siri, there is a way to trigger Google's attitude
Solving a Rubik's cube is easier than you think: Here's how
This company is making a $9 fully functional computer


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Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is a one day event for individuals who have lost someone to suicide to come together and connect in a supportive environment.
CMHA Calgary works with a group of devoted volunteers and survivors of suicide loss to present a day of connection and support for people who have lost someone to suicide.
Date: Sat, November 7, 2015
Location: Calgary Zoo Safari Lodge
Time: 8:00am-2:00pm (7:40am check-in)
Refreshments and lunch will be provided.
Registration is by a suggested donation of $20 per person or per family. Cash and credit card donations will be accepted at event-day registration.
*Donations are optional.
Kids Program
Attendees of Survivors of Suicide Loss Day are welcome to bring their children (ages 7-12) to participate in the kids program – an opportunity for children to share their own experience with suicide in a child-friendly environment. Children will arrive with their parents to the Safari Lodge and will be accompanied to the kids program following opening remarks.
Tool Kit for Survivors of Suicide Loss (provided by the Mental Health Commission of Canada).
For more information on this event, or our Suicide Bereavement program, email firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Personal Statement Editing
* re-edit: a change to the same content per client's feedback
*** This service takes approx 4-8 business days
Your personal statement is one of the best chances you have to show the admissions committee how unique you are. Do not underestimate its importance, as a well-written document will make you stand out from the competition.
After you have put a great deal of thought into your personal statement and written a few drafts, send it to us for a final look.
You will definitely benefit from receiving our feedback on how to make yourself heard in the clearest language possible.
CV Editing Fees
PS Editing Fees
Copyright © MEDICAL TRAINING EXPRESS. All rights reserved.


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Shower doors and tub enclosures in every kind of design you can imagine is something we do here every day at A&P Custom Kitchens. Let us show you the many kinds we have for you to choose from. Come take a look at our tubs, faucets, fixtures, accessories, tiles and glass shower doors that would look perfect in your bathroom. A&P Custom Kitchens has experience installing a wide variety of shower doors and tub enclosures. From standard sliding tub doors, to frameless designs, framed swinging doors and every style in between, we can upgrade your bathroom easily by adding a beautiful shower door to your existing space. As Philadelphia, PA's leading bathroom supplier, we are sure to have your desired look available in our Philadelphia showroom. However, on the off-chance we do not, we are happy to specially order or manufacture the style you need! For expert kitchen & bathroom remodeling and installations, choose A&P Custom Kitchens!
To see and learn more about American Standard in your home, give us a call and visit our showroom in Philadelphia, PA today! Besides beautiful shower doors and tub enclosures, A&P Custom Kitchens offers discount kitchen cabinets, countertops, bathroom vanities and so much more! If you're look for custom kitchen and bath design, look no further than A&P Custom Kitchens! Give us a call today to discuss your renovation needs!
215 551-9070
About Us |
Hours of Operation:
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday 9:00am-5:00pm
Wed 9:00am-8:00pm
Sat 10:00am-2:00pm
Website Design: Total Web Company Bensalem PA


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Belvoir Lettings is one of the largest specialist letting franchises in the UK and recently won the title of Best Lettings Franchise at the Lettings Agency of the Year 2012 in association with The Sunday Times and the Times.
In 2012 Belvoir became the first residential lettings agency to launch on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Belvoir has numerous offices throughout the UK and an ambitious acquisition programme is underway, which means many more offices are scheduled to open in the next few months


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To the disappointment to people who have fought the battle for 30 years, Gov. Christie today conditionally vetoed a bill designed to help people who were adopted to find family information.
In his veto message Christie said, "I agree with the sponsors that it is time for a new approach to adoption records in New Jersey that eliminates the burdensome requirement of obtaining a court order to access basic familial information. While the goals of their legislation are laudable, I do believe the administrative structure used to implement those reforms must be carefully constructed to avoid any unwanted breaches of privacy, and the potential chilling effect on adoptions."
A spokesman said the governor's recommendations allow an adoptee to obtain an original birth certificate without involvement from the courts. And, the adoptee would be able to enlist the services of a confidential intermediary at an approved adoption agency to conduct the search for the birth parents, and obtain consent for additional contact. If a birth parent chooses not to consent to a release of the child's original birth certificate, the birth parent may alternatively provide the confidential intermediary with family medical history information. In cases where an approved intermediary cannot locate a birth parent following a 12 month investigation, the State may release the original birth certificate to the adoptee if desired.
The people who fought for a change in the law said this adds an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and wastes too much time. Among those opposed to the original bill is the Catholic Church, which says it thinks it might encourage mothers to have abortions instead of turning over children for adoption. Others said parents who gave up children years ago were promised anonymity.
After the law takes effect, birth parents would be required to submit an information statement to memorialize a birth parent's preferences for future communication with the adopted child: complete information sharing, sharing via an intermediary, or sharing only non-identifying medical information.
Senate sponsors include include Sens Joe Vitale, Diane Allen and Loretta Weinberg .
Amid heavy security from New Jersey State Troopers, state workers are protesting legislation that would require them to pay more for their health care benefits and a larger pension contribution. Cars are parked at a nearby baseball field where buses bring protesters to the Statehouse. Behind the Statehouse the landing strip for Canada geese has reverted to its old personality, overflow parking lot. State troopers are positioned at the entrance to the parking facilities and throughout the building. The union members are being entertained by a variety of musicians. It's a festive atmosphere. The vote on the reform legislation is scheduled in the Assembly at 1 p.m.
Also on tap for today: The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee is hearing about the plan to have the New Jersey Network renamed NJT and run by WNET of New York. If the legislators veto the plan it doesn't mean NJN will live on. It could go black at midnight June 30.
We have reporters and photographers all over today. Come on back for the latest developments.


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Completely transform the look and lighting performance of your Ducati with our Monster Headlight Conversion. We've designed everything to be simple to install and completely plug and play. No cutting, splicing, or guesswork. 100% reversible and will not void your warranty. The Instrument Panel stays in the same location as stock and the factory instrument back cover is retained (Stripe screen 100% compatible, if you want to remove it we sell the basic OEM Instrument Back Cover).
The conversion brackets are machined in the US from US sourced aluminum and finished in black powder coat. The headlamp bucket has also been finished in the same sleek semi-matte black finish that resists fingerprints and is durable to last.
- Complete Headlight Conversion Kit (all bracketry and various components, stainless hardware, and hex tools)
- Choice of Headlight (Adaptive LED, Standard LED, or Halogen)
- Turn Signals – See our Turn Signal options or use your own M8 thread signals.
- 2015-2017 821 (including Stripe)
- 2014-2016 1200 & 1200 S (including Stripe)
- Does NOT fit 2017+ 797, 1200, and 1200 S – See our 797/821/1200 Conversion
Headlight Options
Both of our LED headlamp options are made in the US by JW Speaker, one of the leading lighting manufacturers in the world and backed by an industry leading 5-year warranty. All options comply with DOT and/or ECE regulations for both right and left-hand travel. DOT for US, Canada, and countries that do not require ECE and travel on the right side of the road. ECE for all others – LHT = Left Hand Travel (ex. UK, Australia, Japan) and RHT = Right Hand Travel (most of the world). See this page for more info – DOT & ECE Explained
Adaptive LED
The Adaptive 2, our most advanced LED Headlight. Designed by JW Speaker to specifically increase your nighttime safety and comfort. Onboard intelligence senses the lean angle while cornering to dynamically fill the dark inside corner (see photo). Similar to our Evo S, this Adaptive headlight produces clean, clear, LED lighting like what is found in some of the most advanced automotive headlights on the market today. Available in a Black or Chrome Inner Bezel. DOT and ECE Approved (symmetrical pattern).
Evo S LED
The new STANDARD. Our Evo S LED features the super wide and smooth beam pattern low beam optics from the highly praised Adaptive LED, with a little extra output done by using the latest in LED tech. Ride into the darkest backroads with a high beam package that puts out an amazing amount of throw in combination with the low beam due to them both staying on. This combination creates the best of both worlds to keep you riding with plenty of light at high speed, never out ride your light again. We finished the design off with a large, very bright, diffused front position optic to greatly increase your visibility to others on the road at all times. Available in a Black or Graphite Inner Bezel. DOT and ECE Approved (symmetrical pattern).
Simple and classic styling. Features a diamond cut reflector and clear glass lens with a bullet-shaped chrome bulb cover that captures 100% of the light beam and reflects it back onto the reflector then onto the road in the areas needed (not on ECE option). DOT approved model includes a 1-year warranty, ECE approved model includes a 3-month warranty. Add an LED bulb for more output!


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Price (₦)
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Hp 17.3" OMEN GAMING BACKPACK - K5Q03AA
Hp 17.3" OMEN GAMING BACKPACK - 4YJ80AA
Hp 17.3" OMEN 17-cb1060nr I7-10750H 8GB 512GB GTX 1660Ti W10H64
Hp OMEN Laptop - 17 BTO Gaming Windows 10 Home 64 8th Generation Intel® Core™ I7 Processor NVIDIA ® GeForce® GTX 1050TI (4GB Dedicated) 16 GB Memory; 2TB HDD+256GBSSD Storage 17.3" Diagonal FHD Display
Hp OMEN 17-BTO 3AW55AV-BTO877 GAMING Core I7-8750H 16GB 2TB+256GB SSD 17.3in GTX 1070 6GB NEW
Hp Omen 17" I7-10750H 16GB 512GB 8GB RTX 2070 NVIDIA GRAPHICS 17.3"
Hp Omen 17" I7-10750H 16GB 512GB RTX2070 W10H64 17.3" FHD 1-Yr
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Buy HP Omen 17 Online in Nigeria
Are you a hardcore gamer or you just love playing computer games for fun? Even if you are just a passive user who wants a high-end device with high standard specs for a computer game. It doesn't matter whatever you want, HP has got you covered with Omen 17 devices that are designed and configured to meet all your gaming needs.
These gaming machines are built tough, crafted to deliver fast and seamless gameplay time. Configured with the latest Windows OS accompanied by a new generation Intel Core processor and an NVIDIA GeForce graphics processor that is supported by high capacity storage space and an efficient up to 16GB RAM capacity that makes sure your gaming time is hassle-free and seamless.
Omen Laptops are designed for power and engineered to deliver desktop-grade performance. Immerse yourself with the FHD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit display when you enjoy your favourite game. These gaming pieces come in different models and storage space which offer you different variant to choose from depending on your budget size. Having different models means the memory would also come in different versions.
If your current laptop or computer doesn't respond to commands the way you like or it lags in performance. Then, the time for a change of device is now. HP Omen 17 comes with excellent user-friendly interface features that offer seamless computer experience. These devices are built tough configured with features that would meet your personal or operational needs.
Discover a wide range of Omen 17 laptop series online at affordable prices. If you are about to set up a small business centre or you have been thinking of finding a system that would help you build projects as an engineer and you need a quality system that offers stunning features and high standard specs that would enable you to meet your personal and operational requirements.
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Here in Austin, you can find an oldtime or tranditional music jam or song-circle most every day. So what are you waiting for? Get out your instruments and come join us. You can play, sing or just enjoy the music. Everyone is welcome at these sessions.
Every First Sunday of the month, 2 to 5pm
The Barn - 6218 Brodie Ln, Austin
Second Sunday of the month. 2 to 5 pm
The Buzz Mill - Coffee House, 5012 E 7th St, Austin.
Third Sunday of the month
Texas Music Museum ,1109 E 11th Street, Austin
Fourth Sunday of the month. Beginners 2 to 3:30, Intermediate 3:30 to 5:00
In homes (click through for information)
Every Tuesday 6:30 to 10pm
Aristocrat Lounge 6507 Burnet Road
Every Saturday from 5 pm
St. Roch's Bar, 515 Pedernales St, Austin
Fourth Saturdays, 7pm-10pm
Friends Meeting of Austin, 3701 E Martin Luther King
Second Fridays, 7 to 10 pm
UU Church, 4700 Grover
More Jams!
Austin Scandinavian Folk Music and Dance Events
Bluegrass Jams. For information about Bluegrass jams check the Central Texas Bluegrass Association website.
- 4th Sunday of each month 2pm-5pm. Meets at homes around town. Beginner jam from 2-3:30pm, Intermediate jam 3:30-5pm. Request to join Yahoo Group to get info and keep in touch with other members.
- Irish - Every Sunday, 7:00 - 10:00 pm


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Kenneth Greve, 68
Kenneth Greve
of Mesa, AZ
Feb. 20, 1940 to Sept. 28, 2008
Surrounded by his family and friends, Kenneth Rudolph Greve passed away on September 28, 2008.
He was born on February 20, 1940, in Everett, WA, and grew up in West Point, NE.
His life experiences included playing football at the University of Nebraska, serving proudly in the United States Navy for 20 years and helping people realize their dreams of owning their own home as a real estate broker.
He enjoyed jeep trails, outdoor cooking, golf and being with his family and friends.
After retiring from the Navy, he lived in Port Orchard, WA, for 19 years before retiring to Mesa, AZ, in 1998.
He is survived by his son Adam Greve of Auburn, WA; daughter, Stacy Marsden of Mesa, AZ; brother, Stanley Greve and his wife, Cynthia of Lincoln, NE; sister, Linda Tienken and husband Larry of Pierce, NE; and sister, Jean Parsons of Mt. Vernon, WA. He will also continue to look over and guide his grandchildren Rachel Greve, Emilee Greve, Andrew Greve, Levi Marsden and Aaron Marsden. He will be missed on Earth, but we can all take comfort in his reunion with his wife, Carolyn Greve, and the home that their Lord has prepared for each of them.
Ken's life was celebrated October 1 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church.


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Comics Brand SLG Publishing Launches Crowdfunding Bid to Stay Open
SLG Publishing—the California based independent comics publisher best known for publishing early work by creators including Evan Dorkin, Faith Erin Hicks and Rick Remender, series such as Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Street Angel and Skeleton Key and a pre-Marvel publishing deal with Disney that resulted in Tron, Gargoyles and Haunted Mansion series—has launched an online crowdfunding campaign in order to rebuild after what owner Dan Vado describes as "bad luck, bad economy and, yes, bad decisions."
On the GoFundMe page for the campaign, Vado writes that the company, which launched as "Slave Labor Graphics," had "maintained an even keel through turbulent times" since its launch in 1986 but has recently been overcome with financial debt following a forced relocation.
Heat Vision breakdown
STORY Oni Releases 'Down Set Fight' Early Through Digital Distribution
"After running up our credit line during the move our bank decided to review our account and decided that the balance on the credit line was too high and, in their infinite wisdom, demanded immediate repayment in the form of a high-interest loan," Vado explained. "This created a domino effect where, when reporting the change in my credit status to the various credit bureaus caused them all to cut my credit and in a couple of cases close my accounts."
Vado went on to explain that, while SLG Publishing remains solvent and in business, "revenue from comics publishing is not enough to keep us open AND pay down our debt," adding that the company has "exhausted all of the typical means of raising money, [alternate forms of] crowdfunding and sales with pretty decent discounts being a couple of them," before choosing the GoFundMe route.
The campaign's goal is $85,000. In the 20 hours since the campaign went live, it has raised over $4,000.
- Graeme McMillan
- firstname.lastname@example.com
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by Graeme McMillan
by Rick Porter
by Associated Press


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Designer thoughts
"With VÖRDA I wanted to make a series of knives with a good combination of function and appearance. One of the places that's obvious is in the handle that has a material and a shape that make it comfortable and easy to grip. It was also important to me to make the knives in high quality re-sharpenable steel - so they can be used every day for a long time."
VÖRDAVegetable knife, black16 cm
Available for delivery
Checking stock
You have 365 days to change your mind


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Public procurement reform angers data ombudsman
The government faces harsh criticism about its plans to block public and media access to documents about public procurement.This content was published on February 17, 2017 - 12:23
The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner said the bill, to be discussed by parliament at a later stage, would weaken current transparency rules.
"By undermining the principle of public access the stated aim in the amended law on transparency in administration would be turned upside down," said Adrian Lobsiger.
Under the bill, it would be impossible to learn lessons about the government's use of public procurement as was possible from questions raised in past cases uncovered by the media. These cases cost a lot of taxpayers' money, the statement added.
Lobsiger also slams the government for making last-minute changes to its bill – changes that would be harder to detect since they came after the regular consultation procedure among parties and institutions.
In 2014, a high-profile case of suspected corruption involving officials in the economics ministry over contracts with IT companies came to light. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper described it as "the tip of the iceberg".
Parliamentarians from the main political parties, as well as the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International, have joined the criticism. Transparency International said the move "opened the floodgates to corruption".
Multi billion market
The cabinet on Thursday announced its bill to bring Swiss legislation on public procurement in line with regulations by the World Trade Organization, and to coordinate the effort with the cantonal authorities.
The bill would allow Swiss companies access to a potential international market of up to $100 billion (CHF100.2 billion), according to the government.
Public procurement in Switzerland has an estimated volume of CHF41 billion annually.
Critics point out that the last-minute change to the bill risks annulling years of efforts by the federal and cantonal authorities to agree a legal reform.
This article was automatically imported from our old content management system. If you see any display errors, please let us know: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Pay-per-click (PPC) is a search engine advertising tool that puts your ad at the top of a search engine results page for your keywords. Each time a user clicks on your ad and is automatically directed to your website, you pay a fee.
PPC plays a critical role in launching a successful online and search engine optimization marketing program. A PPC campaign allows lawyers to increase firm recognition and visibility while providing detailed feedback on the advertising results. PPC also provides an opportunity to focus on targeted users. Moreover, PPC is cost effective. An advertiser sets the budget and only pays when users "click" on an ad link or engage.
The most important aspect of a PPC campaign is the development of appropriate keywords. New Jersey SEM specialists at Premier Legal Marketing have extensive experience developing relevant and specific keywords that users are searching for. As a result, search engines will display your PPC ad at the top of the page when a user searches for your specific keywords.
The goal of PPC is to achieve top paid search results that ultimately end in conversions. It is important to note that an effective PPC campaign works in conjunction with organic search results. This means that your paid PPC ad will support your non-paid listing that appears in SERPs. PPC allows the advertiser to establish a daily advertising budget for the campaign.
Another distinct advantage of PPC is the platform's ability to provide detailed reporting on its effectiveness. PPC measures a variety of performance goals including:
New Jersey SEM company, Premier Legal Marketing, has extensive experience developing and managing successful PPC campaigns for our clients. In addition, we offer various other online services including website design, search engine optimization, content writing, press releases, social media campaigns, reputation management services and email marketing. For more information about creating an effective PPC campaign for your firm, contact our SEO specialists in New Jersey at 856-320-2016. You may also contact us online.


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Collaterized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs)
Sept. 2, 2011
Collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), a type of mortgage-backed security, are bonds that represent claims to specific cash flows from large pools of home mortgages. The streams of principal and interest payments on the mortgages are distributed to the different classes of CMO interests, known as tranches, according to a complicated deal structure. Each tranche may have different principal balances, coupon rates, prepayment risks, and maturity dates (ranging from a few months to twenty years).
CMOs are often highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and any resulting change in the rate at which homeowners sell their properties, refinance, or otherwise pre-pay their loans. Investors in these securities may not only be subjected to this prepayment risk, but also exposed to significant market and liquidity risks.
You can learn more about CMOs by visiting the website of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.


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Ecommerce Around the World [INFOGRAPHIC]
Ecommerce is a booming business in the U.S. and across the globe — and it's not slowing down anytime soon.
This infographic, from online coupon aggregator My Coupon Codes, shows the online buying market, illustrating what, where and just how much people are buying online.
The data is based on a 2010 Nielsen survey of more than 27,000 Internet users from North America, South America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.
The study revealed that online reviews are playing an increasingly important role in purchasing decisions; 57% of online respondents consider reviews prior to purchase, particularly for cars, software and consumer electronics; and 40% of participants said they would not even buy electronics without consulting online reviews beforehand.
[via My Coupon Codes]