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1 Published by: Friedrich Ebert Foundation Office Bulgaria P.O. Box , Knjaz Boris I Street 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria Authors: Marija Stambolieva, Reima Ana Maglajliæ, Ešref Kenan Rašidagiæ, Sören Keil, Predrag Bejakoviæ, Davorka Vidoviæ, Davor Paukoviæ, Vanèo Uzunov, Suzana Bornarova, Drenka Vukoviæ, Natalija Perišiæ, Jelena Dzankiæ, Slaviša Orloviæ, Zinka Kolariè, Anja Kopaè Mrak, Tatjana Rakar, Igor Guardiancich Responsible: Stefan Dehnert, FES Berlin / Marc Meinardus, FES Sofia Editors: Marija Stambolieva and Stefan Dehnert Language Editing: Claire Poole Final Editing: Michaela Mahler, Margarita Kurochkina Cover Design: Maria Tasseva Layout: Vladimir Vatkov Printed by: Grafimax 02 LTD ISBN Sofia, Bulgaria, 2011
2 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model
4 Table of Contents 3 Table of Contents Stefan Dehnert Foreword... 5 Marija Stambolieva Introduction... 7 Reima Ana Maglajlić, Ešref Kenan Rašidagić Socio-Economic Transformation in Bosnia and Herzegovina Sören Keil Social Policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina between State-Building, Democratization and Europeanization Predrag Bejaković The National Model of the Welfare State Tradition and Changes: The Case of the Republic of Croatia Davorka Vidović, Davor Pauković Welfare State in Transition: Political Transformations. The Case of Croatia Vančo Uzunov Socio-Economic Transformation and the Welfare System of the Republic of Macedonia in the Period of Transition Suzana Bornarova Development of the Social Protection System in Post-Communist Macedonia: Social Policy-Making and Political Processes Drenka Vuković, Natalija Perišić Opportunities and Challenges of Social Security Transition in Montenegro Jelena Dzankić Political Transformations: Welfare States in Transition Montenegro: A Long Drive Down a Tough Road Drenka Vuković, Natalija Perišić Social Security in Serbia Twenty Years Later Slaviša Orlović Political Transformation and Socio-Economic Changes in Serbia Zinka Kolarič, Anja Kopač Mrak, Tatjana Rakar Welfare States in Transition: the Development of the Welfare System in Slovenia Igor Guardiancich Slovenian Social Policy in a Consensual Political System: the Dilemmas of a Delayed Transition Marija Stambolieva Conclusion: The Post-Yugoslav Welfare States from Legacies to Actor Shaped Transformations About the Authors
5 4 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model
6 Foreword 5 Foreword Stefan Dehnert When the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung started its regional project in South-Eastern Europe in the year 2000, one issue was at the top of the agenda the social dimension of the post-yugoslav and post-war transition process. Neglected by many, the social consequences of war as well as the weaknesses inherited from the past represented a serious threat not only to the citizens of the region but also to all ambitions of the International Community to appease and stabilize South-Eastern Europe it constituted a veritable threat to peace. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, which draws its foundations from the traditions and values of social democracy, chose to highlight the need that economic and political transition has to go hand in hand with social protection. Thus, we promoted the view that policy makers should keep an eye on the pillars of the welfare state, which came under high pressure due to increasing unemployment, economic collapse, regional disintegration and rising numbers of people depending on social remittances. The first product as an offspring of a regional debate of academics was the publication Addressing Emergency: Welfare State Reform in South Eastern Europe which was published in December It was supposed to give an overview of the situation, the perspectives of the social dimension of the transition process and debate the importance social security and employment have for the development strategies in the countries of the region. The main proposals from this debate were to establish a robust essential-bottom-line system of social protection, to introduce an effective system of taxation and finally yet importantly, the political determination to drastically reduce public expenditure for purposes that for the time being should no longer have priority. The European Model of the welfare state, which at the time comprised of the affluent member states to the European Union, was too ambitious to serve as a prototype for the region. On the other hand, the inherited welfare state model proved to be unsustainable in the new environment of increasing number of risks and welfare dependent people. Recommendations for welfare state reform therefore aimed at the most crucial threats to people slives and living conditions. A package of effective policies that took into account the economic constraints prevailing throughout the region was developed. Concentrating on a few policy fields in which, under the given circumstances, most value added in terms of social inclusion can be obtained, a selection of priorities emerged. Defined as essentials, education and health-care have been identified as the main policy areas on which inclusion policy in South Eastern Europe should concentrate The improvement of the capacity of the labour market to provide jobs has been proposed as a third pillar of social inclusion in SEE. A series of country studies followed which referred to the main findings and essentials as described above. The whole process of this regional debate was then wrapped up in a conference and publication, entitled Social Inclusion in South-East Europe National and Regional Policy Priorities for a Social Europe. What was still lacking was a stocktaking of the welfare states in the Western Balkans that could give an overview and allow a comparison including the development path the post-yugoslav countries have been taking since the dissolution of the socialist federation.the consultations in the previous period have shown that there is a lack of deeper analyses that could help understand the state of affairs over a longer period of time. Especially relevant and comparable data was missing, which is another confirmation that social policies were of lesser priority compared
7 6 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model to other areas during transition. Considering the fact that even after twenty years of transitional period, social problems, such as unemployment, poverty, exclusion, still remain a significant proportion. The need for a comprehensive overview of the social security systems became obvious. We consider this publication basic background reading facilitating better understanding of the developments and political decisions affecting the welfare of societies, as well as complementary to other completed or planned analyses and policy recommendation documents. We also hope that it will wake the interest in the region and give its necessary attention among the wider academic community, policy makers and the public.
8 Introduction 7 Introduction: Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model Marija Stambolieva Introduction The 20-year anniversary of the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and its secession into independent states is a good opportunity to reflect on what happened during this so-called transitional period from socialism into market-economy, from communism into democracy. In the transformation literature, there are numerous authors who study the post-communist transformations 1 of the economies, political systems and societies in the former communist countries. What we are particularly interested in is what happened to the strong social states 2, which in the closed economies guaranteed basic standards of income, healthcare, social protection, education and housing to the population, and which under the new conditions of opening the economy to the market principles were bound to undergo changes. Our attention in this publication is turned to the former Yugoslavia, for several reasons. Firstly, not all the former communist states were the same, and thus there was no 1 Both the terms post-communism and post-socialism are used to describe the same notion, although the term postcommunism is more common. An attempt to define postcommunism is found in Sakwa (1999,p.3): Open University Press, where the author writes that Postcommunism can refer either specifically to the 27 countries in Eurasia that at some point were part of the post-war communist order, together with Mongolia and the Asian and Caribbean states that are in various stages of abandoning communism (China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea and Cuba) or more broadly to the global post-socialist epoch inaugurated by the fall of the state socialist regimes in ( ) Thus post-communism has both a universal and a specific meaning. Generally the concepts used to describe the changes after 1989 in Eastern Europe are summarized under the framework of the transformation theories, however, there is also an attempt to develop a separate concept of post-socialist research which critically assesses the transition theories (Segert, 2007). 2 In this volume the terms social and welfare are both used as synonyms. single communist welfare model. Unlike the rest of the Soviet bloc, Yugoslavia practiced a semi-open economic and political system, built upon the self-management principle so, accordingly, a specific Yugoslav welfare model was created. Consequently, there is the question how this model coped with the new circumstances, which parts of it survived and how it developed in the separate seceding states. Secondly, the states of the former Yugoslavia during the first decade of the so called transition from one system to another faced war and a series of mutual conflicts, whose devastating effects left serious consequences on the development of previously some of the most developed and most advanced communist states. Thirdly, out of the European states, the countries of the former Yugoslavia are least integrated in academic research. Scholars are primarily interested in the developments of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe (see for example Baum- Ceisig, Busch, Hacker, & Nospickel, 2008; Cerami, 2006; Cerami & Vanhuysse, 2009; Inglot, 2008). This could partly be a result of the lagging behind in the European integration processes and partly because of the lack of reliable and comparable data. Except for Slovenia, for the rest of the states only sporadic and incomplete data exists, which aggravates the process of getting the whole picture of the region and its comparison to the rest of Europe and eventually the European Social Model. Finally, certain contemporary processes like globalization and internationalization, demographic changes, complemented by the current global financial crisis, challenge even
9 8 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model the most stable social systems. Welfare state reform has therefore reached the top of political agendas in the developed countries 3. In such cases, the weaker states are more vulnerable and their existence in the given form will naturally be brought into question. Having all the above-mentioned in mind, we consider that it is necessary to see and understand the processes of construction and change of the social policies and systems, in order to be able to predict future developments or give recommendations. Objectives 3 In many industrialized countries, the welfare state has come under pressure since the 1990s as a result of demographic change, high public debt and low employment rates, triggering a host of reforms (Busch, 2010, p. 9). 4 The states of former Yugoslavia are the six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. Within Yugoslavia, Kosovo, like Vojvodina, was an autonomous region, part of the state of Serbia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, in particular from 1999 until 2008, Kosovo was a UN administered territory according to the UN Security Council Resolution In 2008 it proclaimed independence. For the purpose of this research, we decided to leave out Kosovo, due to its specificity and indirectly the specificity of its welfare system. Instead, we decided to include Slovenia, which is often excluded from comparative research with the other Balkan states. We considered that it is important to show the data and developments in the Slovenian social policies in comparison to the other states that are part of this research, because of the Yugoslav welfare model as their common starting point. The main goal of this publication is to show the developments of the welfare states in the former Yugoslavia 4, after its disintegration up to the present date, especially on the examples of the pension- and health-care systems, the labour market and social inclusion policies. It does not have the ambition to develop an analytical or theoretical framework for the study of these welfare states. However, it does attempt to provide an extensive overview of the different welfare systems developments, all-encompassing and comparative statistical data and a comprehensive portrayal of the most relevant actors who influenced the shaping of the welfare policies. The idea is to provide sufficient and yet succinctly presented material in one place, which could be used by researchers and policy-makers for future analyses. Methodology This publication is the final product of a project that was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and was carried out in The project s activities included commissioning country case studies, the organization of a consultation workshop and finally the publication of results in As the main goal of the project was to demonstrate the developments of the welfare states in the post-yugoslav states and to contribute to better understanding of the welfare models that evolved during the twenty years of post-socialist transition, two types of studies per country were commissioned: - a study describing the transformations of the welfare system (pension-, health-care system, labour market and social inclusion policies); - a study describing the political processes that shaped the welfare system. The authors who wrote the country case studies were selected under an open call. The chosen authors are researchers with a deep knowledge of the country in question and expertise in the topic. In order to assure comparability of the case studies, a consistent set of thematic guidelines was developed and distributed to the authors. The first type of studies shows the development of the welfare system, identifying where changes occurred over time and in which way. For that purpose, wide-ranging and comparative information on the pension-, health-care policies, the labour market and social welfare is depicted. Furthermore, each study is supplemented by a table of statistical data containing a selected set of socio-economic indicators. One of the bigger challenges in the preparation of
10 Introduction 9 the studies was firstly finding and collecting data from the entire period of transition after the collapse of Yugoslavia, and secondly their display according to a unified methodology for the sake of mutual and international comparability. Nevertheless, that is exactly one of the main goals of this publication: through relevant and comprehensive data to merge the sporadic and partial pieces into a complete picture of the successor states of Yugoslavia. The second type of studies establishes the relationship between certain actors and processes and the building of the national welfare system. As the studies show, there are many actors, who individually or through certain mutual interconnectedness, play a certain role in the shaping of the welfare system or its parts. In this, some actors have more, others have less influence and some promote changes, while others oppose them. These studies aim at identifying the most relevant actors and their role in sustaining, reforming, creating and/or (not) implementing welfare policies. Such are primarily the political parties, but also other domestic actors, for example, the trade unions, the business community, civil society, interest groups, the public administration, religious communities etc. Moreover, the international factors, like the international financial institutions and the European Union, appear as particularly influential. Apart from the actors, the studies have the intention of identifying the circumstances that influenced the national welfare systems, such as the wars, conflicts, inherited or generated social values etc. Hence, the studies contribute to the provision of a comprehensive picture of the political and social developments in the past twenty years of transition and the place of the social policies among them. In order to help the reader untangle the complex web of actors and circumstances, the authors have complemented the papers with tables, where the main domestic actors and their position in the political system are presented in chronological order, along with a reference to the main welfare policies undertaken during the given period. The tables are prepared according to a unified pattern and provide a concise overview of the issues dealt with in the papers. The only exception in this sense is the paper from this category covering Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the researchers came together at a workshop held in Skopje in October 2010, where all the papers were presented and discussed. The given feedback and the mutual consultations were later incorporated in the final versions of the papers. The set of guidelines were revisited and all the papers were adjusted in connection to the type of information that they should supply. A thank you note is in order for Prof. Dr. Dieter Segert from the University of Vienna, who provided the concluding remarks, by examining the potential place of these contributions within the study on post-socialist transformations. Last, but not least, our gratitude goes to Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schroeder from the University of Kassel, who recognized that there is a gap in information and knowledge about the region and its welfare states and unreservedly supported this project from the initial phase, which modestly aims to reduce this gap and to contribute to the integration of the region in the European academic thinking. Content As already elaborated before, the papers follow the same pattern and try to depict the situation in the separate states, starting from the common Yugoslav background, its legacies and the new and specific circumstances that marked the transitional period. The first decade after the break-up of Yugoslavia is most difficult to unfold, primarily
11 10 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model because of missing information and internal and regional instability. The difficulty of collecting reliable data is most evident in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maglajlić and Rašidagić underline this problem and do not insist upon asserting the veracity of the figures assembled from various sources for this purpose. They nevertheless go on producing a comprehensive picture of the entire Bosnian welfare system that is actually a myriad of social, health and pension systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their contribution in this volume demonstrates a system that is residual from previous socialist times, financially and organizationally weak, deeply troubled by the consequences of war and fragmented along ethnic lines. It is therefore that the welfare policy does not live up to its purpose in Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving many people either outside of the system or barely touching the safety net. Only the payments to war veterans are highest and most stable. In the other contribution on Bosnia and Herzegovina in this volume, Keil identifies the war veteran groups, together with the invalid associations and groups of those affected by the war as important pressure groups in the Bosnian political system. Except for certain concessions being made based on ethnic bias and clientelism, social policy was not a priority for the Bosnian decision-makers and remained incoherent. Keil identifies the ethnic divisions, the high decentralization and the neglecting role of the international community as key factors in this. The following 5 case of Croatia is quite the opposite of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is neither a lack of statistics nor was the country s population as seriously affected by the dissolution of the Yugoslav welfare state. Bejaković writes, Over the last 15 years Croatia has achieved impressive economic and 5 The country cases are presented in this volume in alphabetical order. social progress. All the parts of the welfare system have had a wide coverage base that even expanded to include new categories that emerged as a result of the civil war. The high levels of public spending have on the other hand put high pressure on the welfare state. The fiscal deficits were the biggest reason for the initiation of reforms, according to Vidović and Pauković. Major reform was carried out only in the pension system, by the adoption of a model previously developed by the World Bank, introducing a mandatory fully funded private pillar. This was enabled also thanks to the practically non-existent opposition, unlike, for example the healthcare sector, where strong opposition to mandatory supplementary health insurance for covering participation for service provided in primary health care appeared. Generally, the Croatian public has demonstrated intense concern regarding the reform of the welfare system and kept a strong feeling of social solidarity, while the parties, especially after 2007, have started to push for a transformation of the welfare state according to the needs and challenges brought by modern economy. Macedonia is described as a hybrid model which seems to borrow different elements from almost all other models: the Yugoslav, the Nordic, the liberal and the Southern- European 6. Bornarova further describes that in the beginning, social welfare was used as an instrument to preserve social peace in the country and as benefits and subsidies have been scaled down by a market and cost dominated system, and as pressures from the international community to downsize social 6 Gøsta Esping-Andersen became most renowned for his book The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (1990) where he distinguishes three major types of welfare state: liberal, conservative and social-democratic, connecting these with variations in the historical development of different Western countries. The Southern-European Model was later added to this classification (Ferrera, 1996; Leibfried, 1993; Rhodes, 1997). For a more detailed elaboration on the typologies of welfare state regimes in the post-communist states see the conclusion by Stambolieva in this volume.
12 Introduction 11 expenditures have intensified, many entitlements, services and institutions have been threatened. Unemployment has been one of the biggest problems of Macedonian transition (around 30% and more) and one of the most important factors for poverty and social exclusion.however, none of the governments has been able to curb this problem, despite the fact that employment policies have been on the top of priorities on their social policy platforms. In reality, as we can see from Uzunov s contribution, since 1997 rights to unemployment insurance have been reduced, while active labour market policies have been only recent as well as symbolic. The labour market reforms are considered as one of the least effective reforms in Macedonia. The pension system, as in Croatia, was reformed according to the World Bank model. The developments in the health-care sector would be most difficult to define, due to the contradictory nature of various measures. Some of the keywords used both by Uzunov and Bornarova are: statutory health insurance, privatization, promises, politicization, and poor quality. Overall, the Macedonian welfare system is characterized by hasty, ill-informed and unsustainable solutions (Bornarova, this volume), and therefore, looking back twenty years, it could hardly be summarized as a success story. The authors identify also the factors which have contributed to this, among which: the sluggish economic growth, abridged financial capability, increased influence of international financial institutions and lack of consensus about preferred social model (Uzunov, this volume). Despite the general dissatisfaction with the social protection policy, the public was unable to mobilize, as trade unions and civil society are weak. The social policies were primarily a matter of ad hoc, rarely aforethought, international and national political geometry. Serbia and Montenegro were the only two former states that stayed together after the dissolution of the SFRY. The joint union lasted until 2006, when both countries declared independence. Although Serbia and Montenegro shared the same destiny, the cohabitation was far from ideal, as there were common disagreements between the governments of the two countries, which culminated after the war in Kosovo in Each country then took its own responsibility for transformation and reform. In general, the transition of Montenegro and Serbia commenced later than the rest of the Yugoslav republics, because of the political and economic crisis under the Milošević regime during the nineties. As Dzankić puts it, Montenegro has generated a hybrid model that seeks to integrate the legacies of the socialist system into the new model of welfare capitalism. The socialist legacy in Montenegro is mostly pronounced in the health-care sector, where the only discontinuity with the socialist period is the introduction of voluntary health insurance in 2004 (Vuković & Perišić, this volume) and even that is not fully functional and depends on the completion of a second phase of the project of voluntary health insurance introduction. Otherwise, the organizational structure and the public ownership have remained unchanged. In the pension system reform, the Montenegrin government opted for the introduction of the third pillar (voluntary fully funded) before the second one (mandatory fully funded private pillar), which is not yet in place, thus not entirely copying the World Bank model. The relatively slow and gradual transformation of the welfare system was made possible because of the political continuity and lack of major power shifts. Major disruptions to the existing welfare system could have resulted in a loss of voters and therefore the parties in power have been reluctant to make substantial reforms and have focused primarily on short-term measures. Especially
13 12 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model in recent years, there has been growing public dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in the country, however, the continuous support for the government in view of social welfare policies, according to Dzankić was the prevalence of statehood and identity over social issues, the generous social safety nets inherited from before and the electoral promises. The pace of reforms has been unhurried in Serbia as well. As a consequence of the Milošević regime, there was economic and political isolation of the country, and accordingly socio-economic collapse, which contributed to massive pauperization of the population. The pressure from the socio-economic collapse further contributed to a crisis of the social security system, whose functionality was brought into question. After the bringing down of the Milošević regime, it was the task of the future governments to not only transform, but firstly rebuild the social security system. Orlović writes that in this the reformative governments after 2000 ( ) took care about social programs and habits of citizens formed in the time of communism. He further cites Mijatović 7, who explains Serbian transition as a combination of prevailingly liberal economic reforms and social-democratic social policy, which certainly is not the worst combination that can be imagined. Such an argumentation may be over-exaggerated. Nevertheless, it is a fact that essentially all the parts of the Serbian welfare system (the pension and health-care system, (un) employment and social protection policies) have been relatively inclusive, although at a rather low level (see the description provided by Vuković and Perišić in this volume). Radical steps have been avoided and the welfare system has so far sustained the status of a public good. However, the benefits provided are fairly modest. For example, almost half 7 Mijatović(2005,p. 23). of the pension beneficiaries receive minimal pensions; social assistance expenditure is very low and cannot help its recipients escape the poverty zone. It would therefore be incorrect to conclude that the system provides enough security to make up for the stratification of the egalitarian Serbian society during the transition. Slovenia is the last case that is dealt with in the framework of this project and publication. Slovenia is generally perceived as the most successful post-socialist country from South-Eastern Europe, if not wider. Its welfare system is thus no exception. As the authors of the two contributions in this volume clearly demonstrate, contrary to some other post-socialist countries, Slovenia did not experience the so called welfare gap, since the transition from socialism to capitalism in socio-economic terms was rather smooth (Kolarič, Kopač and Rakar, this volume), and the country s affluence, social peace and consensualism prevented shock therapy from being applied to any policy but monetary stabilization (Guardiancich, this volume). The Slovenian social system is predominantly characterized by path-dependency and gradualism in reform.the only paradigmatic shift was in the field of the housing policy. Smaller reforms were in the field of the pension and health-care policies, where supplementary insurance was introduced. In the labour market policies, in time activation measures prevailed over passive ones. Generally public policies in all spheres of the social system are inclusive and generous. The same goes for the social protection policies, since the social assistance schemes are not merely symbolic as in the rest of the post-yugoslav countries. Such a welfare model can be attributed to the corporatist political culture and strong social partnerships, which were inclined to keep the social service provision predominantly public and based on the principles of solidarity and equality. The
14 Introduction 13 influence of the international financial organizations, unlike in other cases here, was negligent and never materialized in concrete policy changes, although it may have served as an inspiration for some political actors. Only the European Union managed to leave a mark onto the Slovenian welfare system, through the adoption of the acquis communautaire but also the following of the Lisbon agenda. Not only the membership to the EU, but also the overall economic and social progress, make Slovenia the most successful example of the former Yugoslavia. Yet, Guardiancich is more cautious here, concluding that the reasoning behind the Slovenian model may prove to be blessings in disguise, thus making Slovenia a mixed success story. Summary The contributions in this volume undoubtedly demonstrate that the development of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia in the last 20 years has been diverse. Now that the mutual state was gone, the internal differences among the former republics sharpened. The economic, political and eventually cultural dissimilarity came to the fore and facilitated divergence among the welfare policies. However, it would be away from the truth to conclude that the states that coexisted together for almost half a century, or longer, if the period before socialism is considered, have had very little in common during the transition. It is a fact that the different countries experienced similar problems connected to the socio-economic and political transformations as well as the mutual conflicts. The existing welfare model that was built in Yugoslavia presumed a prosperous economic ground, political consensus and strong institutions in order to survive.under the new circumstances, where all or some of these postulates were shaken, the existing welfare model was put under serious pressure. Consequently, several effects can be observed, such as retrenchment, cease of functioning of certain parts of the welfare system, initiation of change and/ or undertaking of minor or major reforms. One thing that seems to come across as recurrent in all the cases is that reform was generally encouraged and put into operation as a result of the involvement of international organizations 8. Only in Slovenia has there been absence of the international organizations entailment, but even there, the reform solutions lacked particular innovation and joined the dominant trends like reduction of the role of the state in welfare matters in favour of the increased responsibility of the individual and the family, complemented by privatization of services. The problems of fiscal sustainability and the demographic challenge, which are common for the states at issue in this publication, are prominent also in affluent democracies. It is often stated that the welfare state was in crisis long before the global economic crisis from two years ago, and there have already been ongoing discussions and quests for orientation. During the last few decades, developed welfare states have been pressured by the economic slow-down and the challenges linked with globalization, such as liberalization and deregulation. In such a constellation, the strong welfare policies were often targets of criticism as a potential obstacle for future development. The welfare states previously protected under communism, were after its collapse not only affected by the trends in the rest of the democratic world, but were additionally hit by their own specific transformations and the not always successful transition. In that sense, the current global financial and economic crisis will surely prove to have 8 Regarding the conclusion about the international influence in the shaping of social policy in South-Eastern Europe also see Deacon and Stubbs (2007), and its messages regarding the extent to which, and the means by which, international interventions in the region have shaped its social policies.
15 14 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model greater adverse effects for these countries. The papers in this volume do not intend on supplying exit strategies and solutions for the future, however, at the same time, they do not represent a random collection. They do intend to offer a comprehensive insight into the state of affairs in the welfare sector in this part of South Eastern Europe, as determined by the given economic possibilities and the political milieu in a certain period of time. It is our conviction that seeing a whole picture is already one part of the solution. To be able to forge a new social contract for the twenty first century ( ) we need to be fully informed about the welfare web in which we are already enmeshed (Castles, Leibfried, Lewis, Obinger, & Pierson, 2010, p. 15). By putting together the pieces of the puzzle, identifying both the fragile and strong sections, this publication could guide the debate on the prerequisites that need to be built and the potential that could be employed for restoration, renovation or reformulation of a much needed social security in the region.
16 Introduction 15 List of references Baum-Ceisig, A., Busch, K., Hacker, B., & Nospickel, C. (2008). Wohlfahrtsstaaten in Mittelund Osteuropa-Entwicklungen, Reformen und Perspektiven im Kontext der europäischen Integration.Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. Busch, K. (2010). World Economic Crisis and the Welfare State-Possible solutions to reduce the economic and social imbalances in the world economy, Europe and Germany.Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, International Policy Analysis. Castles, F. G., Leibfried, S., Lewis, J., Obinger, H., & Pierson, C. (2010). Introduction. In F. G. Castles, S. Liebfried, J. Lewis, H. Obinger, & C. Pierson (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State (S. 1-15). New York: Oxford University Press. Cerami, A. (2006). Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe-The Emergence of a New European Welfare Regime. Münster: LIT Verlag. Cerami, A., & Vanhuysse, P. (eds.) (2009). Post-communist Welfare Pathways-Theorizing Social Policy Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Deacon, B., & Stubbs, P. (eds.) (2007). Social Policy and International Interventions in South East Europe.Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar. Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press. Ferrera, M. (1996). Southern Model of Welfare in Social Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 6/1, Inglot, T. (2008). Welfare States in East Central Europe New York: Cambridge University Press. Leibfried, S. (1993). Towards a European Welfare State? On Integrating Poverty Regimes into the European Community. In C. Jones (ed.), New Perspectives on the Welfare State in Europe (S ). London, New York: Routledge. Rhodes, M. (1997). Southern European Welfare States, Identity, Problems and Prospects for Reform. In M. Rhodes (ed.), Southern European Welfare States, between Crisis and Reform (S. 1-22). London: Frank Cass. Sakwa, R. (1999). Postcommunism-Concepts in the Social Sciences.Philadelphia: Buckingham. Segert, D. (ed.) (2007). Postsozialismus-Hinterlassenschaften des Staatssozialismus und neue Kapitalismen in Europa.Wien: Braumüller.
17 16 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model Socio-Economic Transformation in Bosnia and Herzegovina Reima Ana Maglajlić, Ešref Kenan Rašidagić Introduction Eighteen years after the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, (BiH) was proclaimed and recognised by the UN in 1992, it is still difficult to produce a critical analysis of recent BiH history in the context of its effect on life today. This is due both to the effects of the war, as well as its consequences that continue to unfold and affect the society in a variety of ways. The figures available on direct war and post-war damages and their indirect effects are varied, hard to reference properly, and often tailored to specific political purposes. Many of these figures were produced by local political actors for direct propaganda purposes. However, several key international actors also produced data skewed to fit their particular agendas. Much of the published data is also unreferenced or based solely on ad-hoc and partial surveys, the reliability of which is often disputed. Dubious quality of available studies stems not only from their sometimes questionable agendas, but also from small survey samples and inadequate pooling techniques. What is undoubtedly true is that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina were deeply affected by the war through mass killing; mass destruction of property; torture inflicted in concentration camps on civilians and combatants; systematic sexual assaults on women; and ethnic cleansing resulting in massive population displacement. Estimates on the numbers killed range from a conservative figure of 100,000 to as high as 300,000.More than 10,000 people were killed in the capital Sarajevo alone, including 1,500 children. One sixth of the city s population was injured during the 3-year siege from 1992 to At least 16,000 children were killed and some 35,000 children were injured in total during the war (Bassiouni, 1994). Quite possibly, the deepest and longest lasting impact on society was felt as a result of population changes due to forced war and post-war migrations. The pre-war population of BiH was approximately 4.4 million. No precise data were ever produced on direct consequences of ethnic cleansing and other contributing factors to mass displacement of people, but by some estimates, more than one million people fled the country during the war, some 650,000 of whom were children. An additional million were internally displaced, fleeing the ethnic cleansing by moving to the areas where members of their ethnic group formed a majority. Since the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (GFAP, popularly known as the Dayton Agreement) which ended the war in December 1995, approximately one million civilians returned, mainly to areas where they are now ethnic minorities (Wilkinson, 2005). Such a situation is the product of political realities on the ground, especially in the context of the creation of two or, de facto three, ethnically based entities (Republika Srpska, and Bosniak-Croat Federation of BiH). According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (2010), 114,000 people remain internally displaced out of the wartime figure of 1 million displaced people across BiH. No accurate figures on the current population of BiH, or reliable data on the effects of forced mass migrations are available, as the country, for political reasons, has not conducted a general census since the end of the war. For the same reason, even the fate of the next
18 Socio-Economic Transformation in Bosnia and Herzegovina 17 census, due in 2011, remains in balance at the time of writing this text (summer 2010). In addition to effects on population, Bosnian economic, urban, social and other infrastructural capacities were to a large extent destroyed. These included businesses, industry, schools, hospitals, and social care institutions, but the main physical capacity affected was housing. In the Federation of BiH alone, over 70 per cent of the housing stock was heavily damaged or destroyed (Kljajić, 1999). Taken all together, direct war-induced damage made Bosnia and Herzegovina physically the most severely destroyed former YugoslavRepublic. The scope of physical damage, combined with the even more severe sociological and psychological impact on the population, made post-war recovery a long and arduous task as no ready-made solutions existed that could be applied by those in charge of reconstruction and development after the war. Political developments related to conflict resolution further compounded the host of problems aggravating post-war reconstruction and development of the country. The Dayton Peace Agreement outlined a new map of Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of constituent peoples and entities. As already mentioned, the country is both divided and joined into the Federation of BiH (of Bosniaks/Bosnian Muslims and Croats) and Republika Srpska (the SerbianRepublic or RS). Given the fact that these entities are semi-autonomous regions where elites rule with little regard to the central authorities, many feel that this division of the country legitimises ethnic cleansing, since it reinforces the ethnic supremacy of certain ethnic groups in certain parts of the country. All of these issues affect both the levels of needs for the four chosen themes in this regional review (pensions, unemployment, health care and social welfare/assistance) and the manner in which these are legislated and administered. BiH has multiple layers of government. Since its main purpose was to secure a permanent ceasefire in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it comes as no surprise that the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP, Dayton Agreement ) paid little attention to social policy (Stubbs, 2001), or anything else of substance, not directly related to immediate political and security issues. According to the BiH Constitution (which is part of the Dayton Peace Agreement), none of the social policy (but also health, pensions, employment, etc.) responsibilities were afforded to the country-level institutions (ibid.). For example, Article III/3 of the Constitution states that all governmental functions and responsibilities that are not explicitly afforded to the BiH institutions are considered to be the functions and the responsibilities of the entity-level governments. The outcome of such decision, when related to the post-war governance structure is a myriad of social, health, and pension systems in BiH. At the national level, weak central government is composed of representatives of all three major ethnic groups (Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats). Virtually all welfare functions of the state are split into two politically denominated para-state systems. On one side, the Republika Srpska is a centralized state within a state, possessing only two layers of government: central and municipal. Given also the largely ethnically homogeneous population (as a result of ethnic cleansing during the war), articulation and aggregation of interests, as well as decision making is much easier to accomplish in this Entity. On the other hand, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created as a composite Entity, composed of ten Cantons, five with Bosniak and three with Croat majority, as well as two ethnically mixed cantons with special regimes. Each entity also has an elected Prime minister and entity-level legislatures that have important responsibilities with respect to social
19 18 Welfare States in Transition 20 Years after the Yugoslav Welfare Model policy, education and health care. Again, for political reasons, responsibility for most areas of governance was devolved to the Cantonal level. Ministries at the Federal level mostly serve as coordination or overseeing bodies. The Federal parliament legislates for the socalled umbrella laws, which outline general principles and frameworks within which the Cantonal assemblies are supposed to pass their own specific laws and regulations. As funds for most social activities, from education to health and welfare come from Cantonal budgets, realization of related policies mostly depends on the economic strength of individual Cantons. In practice, this means that the Federal bodies lack effective means for coordination and supervision of most areas of governance. In addition to an already complex political structure, there is also the District of Brčko, a small town about which agreement could not be reached at Dayton and which, along the comparative US model has its own governmental bodies. Hence, any country-level reform in areas of governance related to social and health issues requires voluntary engagement of at least thirteen Ministries responsible for decision-making and legislation in their respective jurisdictions. The power and the influence of the international community remained high throughout the post-war period, a situation that was made necessary by the inherent instability of the Dayton structure. Most importantly, guarantees against domination by any of the ethnic groups led to misuse of the veto mechanism, which tends to be used indiscriminately, resulting in virtually political stalemate, particularly at the state level, and necessitating continuing existence of arbitrary international authority. The latter is most visibly embodied by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), which has the powers to impose decisions that facilitate the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. These powers include the ability to dismiss any elected or appointed officials deemed to be working against the provisions of the GFAP, restructure major institutions, and pass laws and regulations by decree, so that Bosnia still resembles an international protectorate (ICG, 1998, p. 7). However, influence of the OHR has been on the wane for the past five or so year, i.e. since the ending of the mandate of Paddy Ashdown, British-appointed High Representative, whom critics accuse of ruling Bosnia in the manner of Viceroys of British Raj of yesteryears. 9 Hopefully, it is clear from this brief expose of recent historical and political framework which shaped the present governance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that governing this country remains a particular challenge, bearing in mind the impact the war has had on the country and population. Poverty in BiH remains pervasive with more than half of the population lacking the resources to secure even basic necessities. The Living in BiH Wave 4 report (FOS, BHAS and RSIS, 2005) established that 35.7 per cent of households in BiH were in poverty, defined as 2/3 of median income or a poverty threshold of KM 250 per month (approximately EUR 125). Age, employment status, marital status, number of children and level of education were all found to be associated with levels of poverty over the four years. At the time of the survey, 30 per cent of working age households in BiH had no one in paid employment. Households in FBiH continue to be generally better off in terms of mean household income from all sources, mainly due to higher levels of employment-based income in FBiH compared to RS. 9 In an entertaining coincidence, Ashdown was indeed born in New Delhi, India at the time of the British Raj.
20 Socio-Economic Transformation in Bosnia and Herzegovina 19 Table 1: Socio-economic indicators, Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 INDICATORS GDP WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A mio USD GDP (per capita) 2490 WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A USD GDP growth rate WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A ,1 6,2 5,7-2,91 % General government debt (% of GDP) WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 17,8 16,7 21,0 % Consumer price index WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 6,1 1,5 7,4-0,4 % Employment rate WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 29,7 31,2 33,6 33,1 % Unemployment rate WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 31, ,4 24,1 % Average wage WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A KM 11 Labour productivity WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A -0,2-0,6 GDP per person engaged (At risk of) Poverty rate WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 19,6 17,9 18,6 Inequality of income distribution (Gini) WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 0,26 0,27 0,34 Social expenditure (% of GDP) WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A % Old age & survivorship WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 6.8 Health & disability WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 5.7 Unemployment benefit WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.4 Social assistance (benefit) WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.9 Structure of the economy Industry WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A ,8 32,6 32,5 31,5 % Agriculture WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A ,5 19,8 20,6 21,2 % Services WAR WAR WAR WAR N/A N/A N/A N/A , ,7 47, ,3 % 10 Authors wish to personally thank Mr Fahrudin Memić, currently of UNICEF BiH, for his invaluable help regarding the painstaking job he did collecting various statistics and generally helping us with advice in navigating this treacherous area of our research EUR = 1.95 KM
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text:
We specialize in exceptionally fine wood and urethane
mouldings, interior & exterior doors, columns & mantels.
We also manufacture resin mouldings, exterior door frames & provide custom finishing
Mouldings : Product Type : Chair Rails : Cherry
Chair rails are used approximately 30' to 40' from the floor, running horizontally to form a "wainscot" look. They can also be used as panel mouldings to form panels on walls or ceilings.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
GM-AC027 Standalone Access Controller
RFID Access Controller
Control Type: card sensing or access password or card sensing + access password
Working Voltage: 10VDC to 16VDC
Working Current: <100mA(12VDC)
Output: NC/NO and bell terminals
Card Type: EM card(ID)
User Capacity: 1000 users
Card Sensing Distance: 1cm to 15cm
Working Temperature: 0°to +45°
Working Humidity: 0% - 95%
NO WG 26, No WG34
Can not make waterproof
Housing: ABS Housing
Size(L x W x H): 135 x 23 x 46mm
Why we need this product?
Access controller is used to control door's open or close. As soon as users input correct password
or sense the right card, it will send an signal to power supply, and power supply will send an signal
to lock, after that, lock will open the door.
Almost all our access controllers are certified by IP68, some can be IP65. So, users don't need to
worry about waterproof, it can be installed outside the door.
How to connect?
Why choose us?
1) We have been producing access control products in China for more than 8 years. We are
experiened in this business and product. All our products are CE certified or IP68 certified. We have
our own R&D engineeers, so, we can make any change for customers according to their
2) We don't have MOQ for all models. The more you buy, the lower prices we can give
3) We accept OEM or ODM when your order is more than 1000pcs
4) We provide 2 years warranty for all products after customers receive our cargos.
Packaging & Delivery
a. Packaging Details
Standard Carton Package
b. Delivery Time
10~15 days after receiving the payment
Standalone Rfid Proximity Door Entry Access Control System , ID Card Access Images


text:
The secret to any great sandwich is the bread, right? Without that foundation, your sandwich is doomed to disappoint, no matter how awesome the fillings are. Butcher & Bee, a new restaurant opening soon on Upper King Street, promises to set the standard for great sammies in Charleston. Owner Michael Shem-Tov is banking on it. He's been thinking about this concept for a long time, and he's built Butcher & Bee much like he'll be making sandwiches, one ingredient at a time, making sure that each component is perfect and balanced with all the others.
As inspectors were giving the place a final once-over last week, I got a little taste of what they'll have to offer. Full disclosure: I've known Shem-Tov for a long time, since he was a Spreadhead undergrad at College of Charleston, working on his business plan to open a Mellow Mushroom location on King Street (which he did with his best friend Johnny Hudgins). And I've been hearing about his ideas for Butcher & Bee for a while now. The name and logo (a bee and two cleavers) speak to the origin of the ingredients (fresh meat, fresh veggies). Shem-Tov is nothing if not a thoughtful, strategic business man. On Friday, he invited a handful of people to check out the menu to give feedback and start working out any kinks in the kitchen.
But before we dig into the sandwiches, we ought to talk a bit about the space itself. It's located in the former Charleston Garden Center, just north of Barsa near Charleston Photography Center. A weird spot, but one that works well with Shem-Tov's concept. Butcher & Bee is like an Easter egg for locals, requiring a bit of a hunt to be found. The place will be a lunch and late-night joint, open from 11-3, both a.m. and p.m. He says they'll stay open later for lunch if needed to make sure the F&B crowd can duck in on their way to work. There's parking out front and counter service inside, two elements that should ensure quick turnaround for downtown workers looking for a fast but good lunch.
Here's a bit of interesting backstory. After the Bagel Shop on George Street opened, Shem-Tov set up a meeting with Sinan Aktar to talk about perhaps utilizing Aktar's kitchen where they do the bagel making. It goes back to that bread thing. To have a good sandwich, he needed the bread component to be the best it could be, and he though maybe the Frenchman making the bagels (who also works at the Sanctuary) could bake his bread too. It hasn't quite worked out that way, but what did work out is that Aktar invested in Butcher & Bee and also convinced Shem-Tov to move into the big space next door to the kitchen. So, there's Butcher & Bee today, in a unique building with high ceilings and walls, parking out front, and big, sunny windows. Architect David Thompson worked with Shem-Tov in transforming the spacious room into a relaxed spot. And the kitchen was already there. It just needed a couple of ranges, and they were good to go.
So now, the sandwiches. We got to try three. The first was a porchetta on brioche — Chef Stuart Tracy's favorite. Tracy, the former Chef de Cuisine at Palmetto Café in Charleston Place, is making the brioche himself and has been satisfied with the results. The sandwich was a pleasing balance of pork, bread, and bright condiments, like pickled mustard seeds. He also sent out a pot of jus for dipping.
The menu will likely always have some sort of grilled cheese option. The one we got to taste was sharp pimento cheese on a crunchy, seeded bread (also made by Tracy). Not necessarily a mind-blowing concept for a sandwich, but it was made extra special with a sprinkling of pecans and slices of pickled okra. Very satisfying — comfort food. My personal favorite was the gyro. Shem-Tov has spent a lot of time in Israel and became obsessed with making a pita that was unlike those dry, thin grocery store versions you find in the U.S. B&B's pita, which Tracy says he's been working on for a while, is fluffy and light, a perfect delivery system for the thin slices of savory lamb and crunchy lettuce.
Speaking of lettuce, this is a good time to point out that they are working with local farmers and fishermen (like Mark Marhefka) to make sure each ingredient is topnotch. They also have Elizabeth Beak working on a small garden out back and hope to expand that with time. And when it comes to sides, don't expect French fries or a bag of chips. Instead, Tracy will be working with fresh veggies like carrots, Brussels sprouts, and butter beans. They'll come in both individual and for-the-table portions. They'll also be canning and pickling vegetables, which will be stored in chicken-wire cabinets above the counter.
Shem-Tov says the menu will be in the $8-$13 range. They won't have a liquor license, but you can bring your own (which also means you can drink whatever you brought past 2 a.m.). The opening date depends on how fast they can navigate the red tape of inspections, but you can expect them to quietly open in the next week or two. Follow Butcher & Bee on Facebook and Twitter for updates.
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text:
At 7:30am, I entered the store, staring at Mr. Brooks behind the counter. The hogshead cheese's foul scent flooded the air; regrettably, I was there to buy the disgusting delicacy for my grandmother, Dorothy. Every Saturday, religiously at 7am, Mr. Brooks opened the two-flat single floor store, with its gated doors and junk filled sidewalk for business. The half-parked cars of rowdy Friday night party goers lined 57th & Normal. The rusty spoke wheel bike I've had for several years lay aside the mailbox. Mr. Brooks, a medium size, older Black male in his 50's raised his family in the apartment above the store. He was a gentle man, with caramel brown complexion, and a tight small afro. Now, as vagabonds and vandals, we stole from anyone and anything. Mr. Brooks was no exception; in fact, stealing was a rite of passage growing up in the Dodge. So, when, two or three of us entered stores, Brooks would get busy legs being mindful of our intentions. Like the Arabs on 55th & Halsted Street, Mr. Brooks walks right near us, like a guard dog, patiently waiting for action. Well, 30 cents doesn't call for too much walking and we'd hear the occasional, "What y'all going to buy"? At that time, we'd split up and secure candy in our busted pants, shirts, and socks. Other than the proximity to our rival's housing project, I had two reasons to visit Brooks' grocery; the stealing was good and Mr. Brooks' older daughter Angela.
Stay Where I can See you
"Can I have two grape Bud's Daddy, and a box of Boston Baked-Bean? Mr. Brooks' daughter Angela slowly descends from her position at the meat counter. She walks slowly to the front of the store; her pink blouse poorly disguises her cleavage. Since I first laid eyes on her I wanted Angela, she was hot. Her face, strictly innocent, with a gorgeous molasses body and her features firmly assembled. Her younger brothers Greg and Mike's play loudly in the basement. But I could only hear Angela's movements. I, too, was young and filled with uncontrollable energy, and like most boys we played all the time. But, I was attracted to girls like Angela and playing wasn't considered when she worked in the store. I deposited the 15 cents on the counter while shyly looking for affirmation; however, she exchanged the candy, only saying, "Do you want a bag?" I softly replied, no. I often verbally and physically pushed girls around, but not Angela; she deserved attention because she was a woman, at least in my dreams. You see, I had a fancy for adult women as a teenage adolescent. I wasn't afraid to tell them either, one day; I'll tell Angela. Oh, by the way, she notices my friends stealing and threw us out.
Mr. Skeet, owned a grocery store also, he however carried a 357 magnum on his side. A tall light-skin intimidating man, he was the complete opposite of Mr. Brooks. His store was sectioned off with no blind spots, not a good place to steal. He, too, lived atop his store with his family; however, he built gates to the meat and frozen sections. If you wanted to go into those sections, he came with you; he had an eagle eye and customers' feared him. Worst, one of his daughters was short and muscular, and the other looked like him with a wig. Nevertheless, his store was the finer of two because he kept us out of it, "If you're not buying wait outside" was his motto. Just like the Arabs on 55th & Halsted. Skeet let you know he's aware of your intentions and they will have consequences, this was understood; to kids and adults alike. We seldom stole anything on his watch; Mr. Skeet rarely received a challenge. I cannot recall however hearing about Skeet using that gun, unfortunately, my friends use one on Mr. Brooks later.
Angela, I figured had a boyfriend but that did not deter me. When love or lust calls, you must answer. I had to have her before some idiot gets her pregnant. I was fifteen, but, an experienced sexual male. You see, I lost my virginity at ten years of age and adult women since that time were hot. Sadly, too, I knew males who got girls pregnant and did nothing; for baby or mother. I did not want this fate for Angela; I wanted sex with her before her possible soiling, this was an honorable act I figured, at least in my dreams. Nonetheless, I saw Angela as something purer, better; yet, I wanted her in a torrid erotic way. I imagined it time and again late at night in bed…
Let's Get it On
The store's desktop counter does a poor job hiding Angela's adult curves…I see it fully. Like a first grade teacher, leading her student, she carefully whispers sweltering echoes into my ears. I see her flawless body, the brown taffy-apple breasts covered by two stiff dark nipples. Today she's wearing only a yellow dress as I imagine chewing the lemonhead candy-favored buttons quickly off it. I lay the warm blanket atop the counter, she's laying braless, minus her undergarments. Although, I'm fifteen and she's twenty-one, our bodies are equally attracted to each other. Suddenly, my genitals nearly erupt from the sexual fantasies running through my mind. Thus, I angrily grab my manhood as not to hear it scream to soon; yet, it's swollen with anticipation. I notices Angela sits up, her eyes piercing mine with an invitation for vice.
Her wonder cave is marvelously sculptured; and its entrance covered with smooth straight hair, it's all too much. I'm weakened as the butterflies storm my belly. As I glare at the Robert Clemente picture on Mr. Brooks' wall, I grab her body and plunge my parts in her. As an impatient student waiting on his teacher's star, I insisted on her pleasure to stream down first. Soon, not then after, I tasted her climax with my fingers and lips…her skin ablaze as I squeezed her breasts between my teeth, her body's completely occupied by my naked forces. Not long after, my facial and body begins to contort signaling my approaching explosion. She strapped me harder as she notices my transformation, her breasts squeezing my face, gripping me harder. The firmness of Mr. Brooks' counter did not disturb the pleasure I received. Forcefully, I indicated my climax with such intensity and potency; I nearly lost conscious. Soon, the motion cease and our breathing returned to normal, I imagine this is how it would occur. Angela, and I had done it, and it was good, albeit short…if only in my dreams.
The Invisible Dragon


text:
Submitted by digimaniak123 • January 20, 2014 www.digimaniak.com
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text: Parents, you know the feeling. Your kids have more energy than they know what to do with, and you need to get things done (or you just want to relax). Enter the VTech KidiBuzz, a real game changer of a smart device when it comes to keeping kids entertained and parents happy.


text:
Hello everyone. My name is Cumhur and I need your help please. Here is my problem:
1- I am a rookie. I have downloaded MySQL Server for Mac from its website and installed it. Normally when I activate it is on and vice versa. But I wanted to install Wordpress on my localhost and when I searched I found out that I need to install XAMPP. I did. After long reading and watching session in google and youtube, I managed that. Nevertheless when the installation on Mac with MySQL Server is running, I can start Apache Web Server of XAMPP but the MySQL Server. When I switch off Mac's MySQL Server, then XAMPP's MySQL Server can connect.
2- Also there is an error message shown in localhost/pnpmyadmin side which says: "The phpMyAdmin configuration storage is not completely configured, some extended features have been deactivated. Find out why. Or alternately go to 'Operations' tab of any database to set it up there." which I have no clue about it.
Can someone help me to fix the problem please?
Thanks in advance


text:
The Humane Society of Lake County will hold a dog wash Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cecil Clark Chevrolet near the Leesburg Airport. Volunteers from the society will wash and dip a small dog for $2 and a medium-sized or large dog from $3.
Jean Sutton, who is in charge of the society's fund-raising events, said the first dog wash held last month was a success. Plans are to hold one each month during the summer.


text:
By David W. Kuhns Sr.June 16, 2008
FORT LEWIS, Wash. (Army News Service, June 16, 2008) - Saturday was an important day - the Army's 233rd birthday. I hope Soldiers care.
It would be a shame if they didn't.
This is a time to pause and reflect with pride on the remarkable organization we all - Soldiers, Civilian employees, Family members - are part of. For longer than our nation has existed, the Army has embodied what it means to be American.
More than any institution, the Army is based on ideals. This isn't just a job. All of us are part of an organization that has succeeded because it knew what it stood for - whether those ideals were expressed as "Duty, Honor, Country," or as seven core values. Since 1775, those have been the bedrock principles that have taken Soldiers from every walk of life and molded them to represent the best America has to offer.
We often apply sports terms to the Army. We talk about being part of a team. Army speechwriters love to quote great coaches from the past. But those comparisons don't tell the whole story.
It is a matter of who you are, not just what you do. Sports teams practice and compete together, but the Army calls for much more. You play sports, but you ARE a Soldier.
The Army is more like a family than an athletic team. Just as American families come from all over the world, the Army Family tree has roots and branches that encompass all the diversity of our nation.
The Army has a few shameful pages in its past, but so do most families. Just as many families can look back at a distant uncle or cousin who committed a murder or was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, we have had our Sand Creek massacres and our My Lais. But those have been aberrations, dark chapters that stand out for their contrast to the norm.
They are outweighed by the countless acts of generosity and sacrifice that represent the real nature of the American Soldier.
Just like a family, we build up a library of stories we like to remember. All Soldiers and their loved ones can look at surprising, strange and outright bizarre things they have seen during their service. They are the topics of war stories, and the sources of smiles and belly laughs for years, whenever old comrades gather together - just like the stories that circulate at every family reunion.
And, just like a family, the Army always comes to the help of its members when tragedy happens. I have lost track of the numerous accounts I have heard over the years of the support Soldiers have shown to the loved ones of those who died in our nation's service.
Finally, just as in a family, it is painful to see members, who should know better, behave in a way that dishonors or shows a lack of respect for all the Army has done.
Every Soldier who fakes an injury to go to sick call, every leader who places career before the welfare of subordinates, every worker who does less than his best and smirks, "Good enough for government work," disrespects and insults the many around him who take their oaths and duty seriously.
That's why the Army birthday is important. That's why we should all remember the occasion.
After all, we're part of the Family.
(David W. Kuhns Sr. is editor of the Fort Lewis' "Northwest Guardian.")