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Ward Security champions personal safety initiatives in Kent and Berkshire
National security provider Ward Security has launched a personal safety initiative with schools and businesses in Kent and Berkshire as part of its ongoing commitment to improving safety in the local communities where the company is operational.
The initiatives have coincided with the clocks going back and the end of Daylight Saving Time, and promote the importance of maintaining personal safety while people are walking to school or work during the darker nights.
Meadow Vale Primary School in Bracknell and Northborough Junior School in Maidstone both held an assembly as part of Ward Security's specialised school safety initiative, the Walk to School 'Be Safe' Campaign, which included safety talks from Ward Security personnel to everyone at the school with the support of local Police Community Support Officers. Children were told of the importance of walking to school safely and provided with information leaflets and fluorescent 'glow in the dark' keyrings to place on their school bags.
Ward Security has been raising awareness of security issues across local communities
Police Community Support Officer Daemon Farry from Bracknell Police said: "Walking to school in the darker months can be a daunting and unnerving experience for young children. It's really great to see a local company like Ward Security taking such an interest and proactively helping to promote awareness of the importance of walking safely when pupils are on their way to and from school. The school children were really engaged with the talk and the keyring giveaway will hopefully serve as a good reminder to them when they're walking to and from school."
Personal safety for business employees
Ward Security has also visited Brachers in Maidstone, Kent to promote the importance of personal safety. The company handed out free torches to employees at the law firm's offices, as well as personal safety Best Practice guideline sheets to provide general reassurance for those members of staff making their way to and from the office as the nights draw in.
Denise Hooton, associate director of marketing at Ward Security, commented: "As a security company we are keen to ensure wherever we operate that we're helping to promote safety awareness in the local community. The Walk to School 'Be Safe' Campaign and Brachers torch giveaway events went extremely well. We hope the information provided goes some way towards reassuring and protecting children and adults as they travel to and from school and work."
Joanna Worby, managing partner at Brachers, added: "We're always concerned to ensure the safety of our staff and were delighted to work with Ward Security on helping to raise awareness of personal safety issues."
The torch giveaway follows on from a number of initiatives created by Ward Security to improve personal safety awareness at a number of locations near their Bracknell and Manchester offices over the past year.
Tagged as Brachers, Bracknell Police, Community Safety, Meadow Vale Primary School, Northborough Junior School, Pro-Activ Publications, Risk UK, TheSecurityLion, Walk to School 'Be Safe' Campaign, Ward Security
"Organisations must act now to avoid hackers' oldest trick in the book" urges ICO
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is warning organisations that they must make sure their websites are protected against one of the most common forms of online attack – SQL injection.
The warning comes after the hotel booking website, Worldview Limited, was fined £7,500 following a serious data breach where a vulnerability on the company's site allowed attackers to access the full payment card details of 3,814 customers.
The data was accessed after the attacker exploited a flaw on a page of the Worldview website to access the company's customer database. Although customers' payment details had been encrypted, the means to decrypt the information – known as the decryption key – were stored with the data. This oversight allowed the attackers to access the customers' full card details, including the three digit security code needed to authorise payment.
Christopher Graham: the Information Commissioner
The weakness had existed on the website since May 2010 and was only uncovered during a routine update on 28 June 2013. The attackers had access to the information for ten days. The company has now corrected the flaw and invested in improving its IT security systems.
Worldview Limited would have received a £75,000 penalty but the ICO was required to consider the impact any penalty would have on the company's financial situation.
Attacks are preventable
Simon Rice, the ICO's Group Manager for Technology, said: "It may come as a surprise to many in the IT security industry that this type of attack is still allowed to occur. SQL injection attacks are preventable but organisations need to spend the necessary time and effort to make sure their website isn't vulnerable. Worldview Limited failed to do this, allowing the card details of over 3,000 customers to be compromised."
Rice added: "Organisations must act now to avoid one of the oldest hackers' tricks in the book. If you don't have the expertise in-house then find someone who does, otherwise you may be the next organisation on the end of an ICO fine and the reputational damage that results from a serious data breach."
Tagged as cyber security, Data Breach, ICO, Information Commissioner's Office, Internet Security, Online Security, Pro-Activ Publications, Reputational Risk, Risk UK, security, SQL Injection, TheSecurityLion, Worldview Limited
Scottish Parliament debates fire risk assessment procedures ten years on from Rosepark Care Home tragedy
Ten years after the fatal fire at the Rosepark Care Home in Lanarkshire, Scotland, MSP Michael McMahon has tabled a Parliamentary Motion (debated in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 29 October) recommending that all fire risk assessors should be qualified and, preferably, third party certificated.
The fire at Rosepark on 31 January 2004 claimed the lives of 14 elderly residents after flames broke out in a cupboard and subsequently ripped through the building. In support of his Parliamentary Motion, McMahon pointed out that one key finding of the fatal accident enquiry into Rosepark was that the fire risk assessment had been inadequate and the person who carried it out wasn't qualified to do so.
The MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill in Glasgow believes an awareness campaign would help Duty Holders responsible for care homes to understand the contents of the guidance and those at commercial premises to appreciate the requirements placed on them by the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. McMahon's Parliamentary Motion also highlights the contents of the Scottish Government's Practical Fire Safety Guidance for Care Homes, published back in March this year.
McMahon acknowledges that there has been progress since the fatal Rosepark fire, but added: "Fire risk assessments in complex buildings such as care homes are challenging exercises. The Duty Holder has to rely heavily on the capabilities and competencies of the fire risk assessor. How can the Duty Holder be confident that the fire risk assessor is competent and the advice given is up to standard and up-to-date?"
The fire at Rosepark in January 2004 claimed the lives of 14 elderly residents after flames broke out in a cupboard and ripped through the building
According to the MSP, third party accreditation is the only way forward and McMahon is now urging the Scottish Government to take immediate action by:
*Launching an awareness campaign (including direct contact through leaflets and via the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) demonstrating to businesses the need for fire risk assessments
*Embracing and advocating third party certification
*Consulting the industry and stakeholders to make third party certification mandatory before an assessor can offer fire risk assessment services
Acting decisively to prevent further fires
McMahon feels that much has been done since the Rosepark tragedy, but stresses that more needs to be achieved in the area of fire risk assessment. "We owe it to the memory of those who lost their lives in Rosepark ten years ago, and their friends and relatives, to act decisively and prevent further fires," urged the MSP.
The Parliamentary Motion was supported by Margaret Mitchell MSP, who commented: "Ten years on from Rosepark, it's appropriate to evaluate whether or not there are sufficient requirements placed on care homes to prevent such an accident from happening again."
MSPs Kenneth Gibson and Siobhan McMahon have also supported the Motion, stating that more can be done and that there's no room for complacency. They agree that third party certification is the best way forward.
Community safety minister Roseanna Cunningham responded by saying that much had already changed. The minister added that the Regulatory Review Group is currently looking at fire safety legislation and is due to report back early next year. Cunningham has promised to write and ask the group to look at fire risk assessment as part of that extensive review.
In a bid to remove potential fire hazards, commercial buildings and non-domestic premises in Scotland are already forced to carry out a fire safety risk assessment under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 in conjunction with the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. If the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the enforcing authority has the power to prosecute the Duty Holder.
Tagged as Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, Fire Risk Asssessment, Fire Safety, Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, Kenneth Gibson MSP, Margaret Mitchell MSP, Michael McMahon MSP, Practical Fire Safety Guidance for Care Homes, Pro-Activ Publications, Risk UK, Rosepark Care Home, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, Siobhan McMahon MSP, TheSecurityLion, Third Party Certification
Survey finds Londoners ready to tackle the terrorist threat
A survey has revealed that nearly three quarters (73%) of individuals who live or work in the City of London are concerned about terrorism compared to 68% of all London adults. An even greater number of Londoners (87%) think that members of the public are important in fighting terrorism, with nearly three quarters (73%) of survey respondents stating they're likely to report suspicious behaviour to the police.
The survey, undertaken after the UK terrorist threat level was raised from 'Substantial' to 'Severe', shows that the message from the City of London Police to remain vigilant at all times is one shared by the public. The survey also highlights a gender bias, with 76% of women concerned about terrorist attacks compared to only 59% of men.
The City of London Police continues to pioneer a new and innovative approach to deter terrorism and detect crime through Project Servator. This involves joint deployments with the British Transport Police (BTP) as well as private sector security officers from hundreds of businesses to ensure a 'Ring of Steel' around The Square Mile.
Adrian Leppard: City of London Police Commissioner
Adrian Leppard – Commissioner of the City of London Police – explained: "Members of the public should be vigilant to the threat posed by terrorism. This survey shows that they are willing to work with the police to prevent such attacks. The people of London are resilient and knowledgeable about the risks from terrorism and know they are key to helping fight that threat."
Commissioner Leppard added: "Project Servator's success lies in the partnership between the City of London Police and British Transport Police working with the private security industry, businesses and the public to create a 'Ring of Steel' around The Square Mile."
Project Servator: the detail
Project Servator uses behavioural detection officers and specialist teams to spot suspicious activity and has already led to a total of 98 arrests and 31 cars being seized since launch in February of this year.
Servator involves new tactics and cutting-edge training for police officers that will help deter people from carrying out hostile reconnaissance and detect those with malicious intent. It also increases the opportunity for interaction between police officers and members of the public, provides further reassurance to the public and helps deter and detect other criminal perpetrators.
Hostile reconnaissance is the purposeful observation of people, places, vehicles and locations with the intention of collecting information to inform the planning of a hostile act against a target. Criminals – whether extreme protest groups, organised crime groups or terrorists – have to conduct hostile reconnaissance in order to plan a successful attack. If they can be disrupted and deterred at an early stage, it's likely that they will abandon their plans.
Following three years of intensive work and study by a Government organisation, the City of London Police ran an initial pilot scheme which heralded a change in the way police use tactics to deter hostile reconnaissance. Due to the way in which the scheme works, these tactics should also have beneficial effects on crime in general.
*Unless otherwise stated, all figures are from YouGov plc. The total sample size was 2,076 London adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24-30 October 2014. The survey was carried out online. Figures have been weighted and are representative of all London adults (aged 18+)
Tagged as British Transport Police, BTP, City of London, City of London Police, Counter-Terrorism, Hostile Reconnaissance, Policing, Pro-Activ Publications, Project Servator, Ring of Steel, Risk UK, security, Terrorism Threat Level, The Square Mile, TheSecurityLion, YouGov
Government minister urges crackdown on 'free movement of serious criminals'
Karen Bradley – the Minister for Modern Slavery and Organised Crime – has urged that more information on serious criminals must be shared across Europe in order to protect members of the public.
Bradley has also called for action to stop those responsible for crimes including murder, rape and child abuse from being able to cross national borders either to escape justice or prey on new victims.
Speaking to delegates at a conference in The Hague, the UK MP explained: "We must all face up to the fact that, while free movement is seen by many in Europe as having only positive impacts, there are some very clear negatives – not least of which is the ability for criminals to exploit this freedom of movement and further their own illegal activities across borders."
Bradley continued: "If we're to tackle this problem properly then the free movement of information needed to combat criminality must work as effectively – and, ideally, more effectively – than the free movement of criminals."
Serious Offending by Mobile European Criminals Project
The minister told the final meeting of the UK-led Serious Offending by Mobile European Criminals (SOMEC) Project that great improvements had already been made on the sharing of information, but that more needs to be done.
Bradley stressed the importance of the UK remaining part of a number of crime and policing measures that Parliament will vote on and which have greatly improved our ability to find out about foreign offenders who move to the UK.
Karen Bradley MP
"Public protection must not be lost in a wider debate about the UK's place in Europe," stated Bradley. "More must be done to prevent offenders like paedophiles, rapists and murderers from exploiting free movement rights to slip unnoticed into another nation where they can then prey on unsuspecting new victims. It's vital we know when these predators arrive on our shores. We need more powers to tackle them, not fewer. That's why it's in the public interest – and is absolutely essential – that the UK remains a part of key European measures."
In conclusion, the MP commented: "Failure to do so would send us back to the Dark Ages of being unable to find out anything about foreign criminals who've moved to our country, in turn making it impossible to act against them. There's no doubt that this would carry a serious public protection risk and could even cost lives."
Management and exchange of data
The SOMEC Project was established to examine the management and exchange of data on mobile serious sexual and violent offenders across Europe. Final recommendations on how improvements can be made are expected to be published in early 2015.
Parliament will vote today (Monday 10 November) on a small number of EU crime and justice measures the Government intends to remain part of in the public interest after opting out of a much larger number.
Parliament will vote on Monday 10 November on a small number of EU crime and justice measures the UK Government intends to remain part of in the public interest after opting out of a much larger number
The measures the UK intends to remain part of include the Swedish Initiative, the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and the European Criminal Record Information System (ECRIS). These have all been identified by the SOMEC Project as being important existing tools that should be used more effectively across Europe so as to track mobile serious criminals.
Tagged as Criminals, European Criminal Record Information System (ECRIS), Karen Bradley MP, Pro-Activ Publications, Risk UK, Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), security, Serious Offending by Mobile European Criminals (SOMEC) Project, The Hague, TheSecurityLion, UK Parliament
10/11/2014 · 12:39 pm
BCI: "Don't wait for an emergency to prepare an emergency communications plan"
A newly-published report from the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) highlights the fact that, while overall results indicate a good uptake of emergency communications planning, a significant minority of companies remain passive or have difficulty securing management buy-in.
Supported by Everbridge, the report concludes that emergency communications remain an essential part of any business continuity programme. This research demonstrates that, while a great majority of companies are aware of the importance of such communications, there are some gaps in implementation that demand to be addressed.
In order to be effective, emergency communications plans must be continuously updated to reflect the risks that a business faces and embedded well enough within the organisation. Relevant training and education programmes – as well as ensuring top management buy-in – are necessary in promoting a culture of awareness and reducing the risk of communications failure during incidents.
It's worrying to note that, among those organisations without an emergency communications plan, two-thirds (63.4%) of them would only consider adopting one after a business-changing event. Something akin to shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted. This could have dire consequences as previous BCI research suggests that business-affecting events may often severely affect an organisation's viability.
A newly-published report from the Business Continuity Institute highlights that, while overall results indicate a good uptake of emergency communications planning, a significant minority remain passive or have difficulty securing management buy-in
Further findings from the report are as follows:
• In a sign of growing awareness, only less than 13.5% of organisations surveyed do not have an emergency communications plan in place
• Emergency communications plans are quite comprehensive in their scope. At least 70% of organisations have plans covering the following threats: IT outages (81.2%), fire (77.8%), power outages (76.2%), weather-related incidents (75.6%), natural disasters (74.9%) and security-related incidents (70.0%). These mirror the top three causes of business disruption as reported by respondents in the last 12 months: IT outages (59.8%), power outages (51.6%) and weather-related incidents (47.2%)
• Almost one fifth of respondents (18.7%) belong to organisations where more than 500 staff members travel internationally on a regular basis. More than 30% report travelling to 'high risk' countries
• Almost two-thirds of companies (64.7%) report having training and education programmes in place related to emergency communications. Most have regularly scheduled programmes (64.2%)
• Around 15% of organisations regularly schedule exercises of their emergency communications plans. Most schedule their exercises once a year (55.8%). This is a worrying finding considering that almost half of organisations (49.6%) are likely to invoke their plans more than once during any given year
• More than 70% of organisations take 30 minutes or less to activate their emergency communications plans. Nonetheless, more than a quarter of organisations (27.4%) do not request responses from their staff in the event of an incident or have defined acceptable response rates (28.2%)
• Social media appears to play an important role in an emergency communications plan. 42% of respondents report using social media to monitor their staff during emergencies and almost a third (31.6%) use it to inform stakeholders
Benchmarking of arrangements
Patrick Alcantara, research associate at the BCI and author of the new report, commented: "This survey is seen as the first step towards benchmarking an organisation's emergency communications arrangements. It's hoped that it will allow companies to take a second look at their emergency communications capabilities and introduce improvements that will rebound to their benefit. Given how emergency communications may improve survival during extreme situations, it's important that organisations take heed and aspire towards a robust capability before it's too late."
In a sign of growing awareness, only less than 13.5% of organisations surveyed do not have an emergency communications plan in place
Imad Mouline, CTO at Everbridge, added: "Fluctuating global threat levels, sophisticated cyber attacks and an ever-growing mobile workforce present increasingly diverse and complex risks to business interests. In this unpredictable environment, business continuity practitioners are consistently faced with the challenge of planning for the unexpected while ensuring the safety of their staff and communities and protecting their businesses from both financial loss and reputational damage. Undoubtedly, this survey provides a benchmark for emergency communications planning."
This is the first dedicated piece of research into understanding the emergency communications plans of a wide range of organisations and learning how they're integrated within wider recovery programmes. The results support the anecdotal feedback from the industry, demonstrating that such plans form an established and vital element of continuity plans for medium-to-large size enterprises while also offering some practical ideas for those looking to improve their capabilities in this area.
Tagged as BCI, Business Continuity Institute, Emergency Communications Planning, Everbridge, Fire, IT Outages, Natural Disasters, Power Outages, Pro-Activ Publications, Risk UK, security, TheSecurityLion
10/11/2014 · 11:33 am
UK retailers lose £2.7 billion to shoplifting, employee theft, internal fraud and administrative errors in last 12 months
According to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, shrink – comprised of shoplifting, employee theft, vendor or supplier fraud and administrative errors – has cost the retail industry more than £81 billion worldwide in 2013 and £2.7 billion in the UK alone. This represents 0.97% of all UK retailer sales on average.
Underwritten by an independent grant from Checkpoint Systems, the research was carried out in 2014 by The Smart Cube and Ernie Deyle, a retail loss prevention analyst. It's based on in-depth phone and written survey interviews conducted in 24 countries among 222 retailers responsible for no less than £475 billion in sales.
The average cost of retail crime per person (which, unlike shrink, is based on dishonest employees, shoplifters, fraudulent suppliers and the cost of loss prevention) across the 24 countries surveyed ranged from £46 to £338. The annual cost of retail crime to UK shoppers, as passed on from retailers, averages £80.00 per person.
Shrink appears to be down slightly in most countries. The lowest shrink rates were recorded in Norway (.83% of retail sales) followed by Japan and the UK (.97%). The US came in at 1.48% of retail sales, down slightly from 1.50% last year. The highest rates were recorded in Mexico (1.70%) and China (1.53%).
Shrink (comprised of shoplifting, employee theft, vendor or supplier fraud and administrative errors) cost the retail industry more than £81 billion worldwide in 2013
Russell Holland, vice-president of sales for the UK and EMEA distributors at Checkpoint Systems, said: "Over the last year, retailers in the UK have been taking great strides and made substantial investments in the fight against retail crime. Many UK retailers reported that improved security methods have helped them to keep losses under control. We're also seeing retailers invest in their employees' education and understanding of loss prevention, marking an encouraging step in the fight against retail crime in the UK."
While shoplifting remains the biggest cause of all retail shrink in 16 of the 24 countries surveyed, here in the UK both administrative and non-crime losses ranked first (at 36.5%) with shoplifting next on the list (at 25.3%).
Stolen merchandise: the most popular items
The most-stolen items across Europe are those products that are easy to conceal and harbour a good resale value, such as fashion accessories, wines and spirits. Other frequently stolen products include power tools, mobile accessories and make-up products.
Survey respondents state that source tagging – the application of EAS or RFID labels on goods prior to their arrival at retail stores – has increased around the globe. Such tagging is currently used on high value and high theft items like meat, health and beauty products and alcohol.
80% of UK retailers are source-tagging up to 10% of products. A further 20% are source-tagging over 20% of all merchandise. In addition, 50% of European retailers plan to increase the number of source-tagged SKUs.
According to The Smart Cube: "This report provides detailed descriptions of the sources of shrink and helps retailers understand the most cost-effective ways of addressing their problems. A number of Best Practices emerged from our research, including appropriate spending ranges to address the issue."
Alcohol is a prime target for thieves
"We're pleased to support this global statistical research for the thirteenth year," said Per Levin, president and chief sales officer for shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions at Checkpoint Systems. "Our hope is that retailers can learn more about the causes of shrink and work with their suppliers and solutions partners to create joint programmes designed to reduce shrink and its associated costs."
Interested parties can obtain a copy of the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer report by logging on at: http://www.GlobalRetailTheftBarometer.com
*Retailers wishing to participate in next year's Global Retail Theft Barometer study may register here
Tagged as Checkpoint Systems, Dishonest Employees, EAS, Electronic Article Surveillance, Employee Theft, Global Retail Theft Barometer, Loss Prevention, Pro-Activ Publications, Retail Crime, Retail Security, Retail Shrink, Retail Theft, RFID, Risk UK, security, Shoplifting, Shrink, Source Tagging, Supplier Fraud, The Smart Cube, TheSecurityLion


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4 Moments in 2019 When BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson Revealed He's Completely Out-of-Touch
BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson continued struggling with perceptions that he's out-of-touch
December 30, 2019	Share Tweet
It's no secret BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson has a hard time proving he's in touch with ordinary working people in British Columbia.
Even the BC Liberals themselves seem to concede the struggle to make Wilkinson appear relatable has been an uphill battle.
I am genuinely confused by this official video the BC Liberals published.
[h/t @alex_suncoast] pic.twitter.com/XHWkVpu4cd
— Luke LeBrun (@_llebrun) December 4, 2018
Here are four moments in 2019 when Wilkinson revealed to British Columbians just how out-of-touch he truly is:
Struggling to pay rent can be "enjoyable" and "kind of a wacky time"
During a speech in the BC Legislature in February, Wilkinson said the BC NDP government was spending too much time "pandering to renters," and suggested that struggling to pay rent isn't really so bad:
"I was a renter for 15 years. I lived in a dozen different rentals. It was challenging at times, but it was fun. It was part of growing up and getting better, we've all done it. It's kind of a wacky time of life, but it can be really enjoyable. Being a renter is a fact of life. it's a rite of passage."
Students can't be trusted to pay back interest-free loans
Barely a week after he made his comments about renting being "wacky" and "enjoyable," Wilkinson told Vancouver's RedFM he didn't trust twenty-somethings to pay back student loans after the BC government scrapped interest charges on student loans:
"I think we have to be a little bit concerned that any loan that carries no interest encourages people to go into a lot of debt. And students may get carried away with debt….
…That's the concern we always have with interest free loans. Why wouldn't you just borrow as much as you possibly can? And then why would you ever pay it back?"
British Columbia is a place of opportunity thanks to "European settlement"
Last month, the BC Liberals released a new political ad featuring excerpts from Wilkinson's keynote speech at his party's Opportunity Summit, with a notable omission.
The party edited out a segment in which Wilkinson credited "European settlement" for bringing "opportunity" to BC In the original speech, Wilkinson said:
"What a blessing it is to live in this place. It's also been a place where you can get ahead, where there's been opportunity basically since European settlement started. And all of us think of it in those terms."
Siding with big oil companies who are gouging working people
When the BC Government began taking steps to investigate gas price-gouging by oil and gas companies, Wilkinson told CKNW the government was painting fossil fuel giants as "demons."
"Now he's making up these demons that they like to invent in the NDP. Some bad guys are causing this."
As PressProgress previously reported, experts said oil and gas companies in BC use their domination of the market to rip off British Columbians at the gas pump.
Andrew Wilkinson BC Liberals British Columbia
Secret Document Exposes Doug Ford's Plan To Replace Human Teachers With Cheap Computers
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The 'confidential' government document shows Doug Ford's push for more e-learning is part of an agenda to make cuts to education
New BC Liberal Political Ad Quietly Edits Out Audio of Andrew Wilkinson Praising 'European Settlement'
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Andew Wilkinson: Accusations MLA Promised Lobbyists Government Building Are 'Nonsense.' It's on Video.
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BC News Outlets Exaggerated the Cost of Public Car Insurance. Their Numbers Came From a Big Insurance Lobbyist.
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3 Biggest Right-Wing Tax Giveaways That Went to Canada's Super Wealthy Elites in 2019
2019 was a very good year for wealthy elites
2019 has been a great year for wealthy elites in Alberta, Ontario and Québec.
That's because right-wing governments in those provinces have bent over backwards to serve their super-rich friends with generous tax cuts.
Here's a reminder of some of those tax cuts:
1. Jason Kenney's $4.5 billion corporate tax cut
The United Conservative Party's first budget gave powerful corporations what was initially pegged as a $4.5 billion tax cut over four years.
However, five…
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


300 Valley Stream Dr 9R has a Walk Score of 51 out of 100. This location is Somewhat Walkable so some errands can be accomplished on foot.
55 and over 2/2 Condo For Rent - Light and airy 2nd floor condo in over 55 community. Great location with access to the East trail or Rattlesnake Hammock Rd.
Both bedrooms and baths have been renovated with new flooring and paint. New carpet in living/dining room. Enjoy the views of the river and wildlife while relaxing in the enclosed lanai.
55 and over community, one renter must be a minimum of 55 years of age.
Tenant is responsible for: Electric, cable/internet/phone. Water and Sewer are included in the rent.
Tenant is required to obtain and maintain renter's insurance and add landlord as additionally insured.
No Pets, No Smoking in unit.
Explore how far you can travel by car, bus, bike and foot from 300 Valley Stream Dr 9R.
300 Valley Stream Dr 9R is in the city of Naples, FL. Naples has an average Walk Score of 35 and has 19,537 residents.


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Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital.
Hello there! Click here to visit the updated profiles of ALL 'Age of Conversation' authors on one page. UPDATED ON 16 JULY 2007.
So, the curtain finally falls on my long series of profiles of the 'Age of Conversation' authors. I'd like to thank the '100' community for their inspiring shout-outs of support & encouragement. The profiling exercise has not only brought me closer to the lives & work of these stalwarts who are shaping 'people-centric conversations in a world increasingly influenced by new-media ', but also has been a terrific learning experience – personally & professionally.
For those of you looking for a backgrounder on the 'Age of Conversation', a path-breaking e-book project that features the seminal ideas & thoughts of 100 influential bloggers from around the world on conversations in a world driven by new-media, click here.
Drew McLellan gets branding and marketing and he desperately wants you to get it too. So he tells stories, asks questions, and milks sacred cows. All to help clients discover their brand so they can create authentic love affairs with their customers. Drew has not only survived 20 years in the advertising and marketing arena, he's thrived in it. After working for several other agencies, including Young and Rubicam's CMF&Z, Drew created McLellan Marketing Group in 1995. Considered a national branding expert in the USA, Drew is a highly sought after speaker and has given about a zillion presentations at national conferences, key note addresses, training for his peers in the profession, college students and even his daughter's eighth grade class. When he's not out preaching the good word of marketing & branding at work and on his blog Drew's Marketing Minute, Drew spends time with his family and pondering why the Dodgers can't seem to get back to the World Series.
Hip, hippie & happenin' marketing guru CK, short for Christina Kerley, is one of the most powerful 'human brands' in the blogosphere. With her expertise in strategy, planning, social media and program development coupled to her passion for writing, CK excels in working with: (1) Ideas + (2) Programs + (3) People. Since 1999, CK & her consultancy, ckEpiphany have been working with businesses in varied industries helping them listen to customers & create epiphanies that energizes marketing through fresh, new ideas. CK covers a lot of marketing topics through articles, speaking events and blogging – and tries to make learning fun. Here's some fun stuff on CK: She digs reading, film, friends, live theatre, traveling, animals (zoos make her sad), outdoor concerts, cooking, good clean debates and dirty martinis. She finds sunrise to be the sky's most spectacular moment and is a big fan of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. After she was born, she went 5 days without a name, because her folks were expecting a boy!!!
The 'Age of Conversation' e-book is dedicated to the memory of CK's mum, Sandra Johnson Kerley. Click here to read 'The many faces of Momma'. CK, I'm sure your mom's rooting for you from her place among the stars.
Her best advice for bloggers? Don't focus on how well your blog is ranked, focus on the relationships you make through blogging. Rankings come and go, but relationships evolve into colleagues and friends (if you treat them with respect and care). Point noted, CK.
Ms. Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni connects people & ideas on her blog 'Conversation Agent' and explores how talk can change our lives. In Italy, Valeria moved into communications while studying linguistics at the University of Bologna. A passionate marketer, she has since worked on the agency, consulting and corporate sides of communications. Since May 2000, she has been the chair of a Philadelphia professionals organization tied to Fast Company magazine. Her passion and drive to learn from, understand and practice in the fields of communications and marketing takes the form of engaging conversations where content, product and service providers come together with audiences, customers and publics to create meaning. Click here to read her Blogger Story.
She is a trained private investigator. She does stand-up comedy in her spare time. She takes time out to meditate. She's one of the most interesting people you could hope to meet. She's also been a planner at Goodby Silverstein and M&C Saatchi Sydney and a copywriter at Mad Dogs and Englishmen. She blogs at www.conformistsunite.com. Originally from Oregon, she loves hummus & coffee. (Add shawarma to that and that's a common interest for both of us.) She is also the Sydney-based partner of Open Intelligence Agency, an international consultancy operating from four global hubs – Sydney, Amsterdam, London & New York. OIA is an ideal gobal small business, bereft of hierarchies and bureaucracy, collaborating with all sorts of people 24/7 to deliver brand and communications thinking and creative ideas for top global brands. Meet Emily Reed. And here's her page on PlannerSphere.
On her blog 'Get Shouty', Katie Chatfield blogs about digital strategy and well, blogging itself. She's recently moved over from Sydney to Chicago. Katie says that blogging makes her hungry for her day, helps her to simplify, allows her to listen and lets her know that there is no one right way, there is only conversation. She's hilarious & knows to speak her mind. Oh, she's totally into swimming & reading.
A consummate marketing & new media blogger, Greg Verdino is Vice President / Director of Emerging Channels at Digitas LLC, where he provides clients with thought leadership on engaging consumers and creating brand experiences through emerging platforms such as digital video, mobile, social media and gaming. A recognized expert on emerging media channels, Web 2.0 and convergence, Greg rides on an illustrious career that has seen him work for big names in advertising (Wunderman & Saatchi & Saatchi) as well as new media (ROO, Arbitron NewMedia, Akamai Technologies, Loudeye and Globix Corporation).
Mack Collier is a Social-Media Consultant / Community-Evangelist, helping big and small companies develop a social-media strategy that helps them reach, and excite their community of customers. His blog, The Viral Garden, is ranked in the top 0.01% of all blogs on the internet, according to Technorati. He is also a regular contributor for Daily Fix. Mack also has over 10 years experience working with major retail clients, helping them solve their online and offline marketing and production problems, as well as both a BBA and MBA in Marketing. Any additional free time he has is spent collecting antique toys, watching the Tide Roll, reading business periodicals, reading the latest marketing and branding news on the web.
Lewis Green is the Founder and Managing Principal of L&G Business Solutions, LLC, and has over three decades of business management experience. In addition to his business experiences, Lewis is a published author and a former journalist, sports writer and travel writer. His feature articles have appeared in books, magazines and newspapers throughout North America. He has taught in public schools; lobbied for organizations both in state capitols and in Washington, D.C.; delivered workshops, seminars, and training programs; and made presentations to audiences in colleges, businesses and professional organizations. Lewis also has served as a book editor with a large publisher, the Executive Editor overseeing four magazines, and a newspaper department editor. Lewis served eight years in the U.S. Air Force, where he received the Air Force Commendation Medal. At his blog bizsolutionsplus, Lewis features business tips, ideas and innovative thinking to grow your business. What makes a prolific writer & blogger? Click here to know his secret!
Sacrum's blog literally made me laugh with his unique language, which I'm christening as 'Sacrumspeak'. Truly, there's something very endearing to this language (peppered with conscious avoidance of articles & pithy stacato phrases), that makes you sit up and take notice of what Sacrum's got to say. Let's hear him introduce himself in Sacrumspeak: I am European man with skills in advertising. I should be in advertising yes? Yes! But I am not and this is a shame. Shame is worry, shame is darkness. I must have light! So I must get in to funky advertising agency. I have my own pencils. Sacrum, I dig the kind of illustrations your pencils come up with.
Ann Handley is is the Queen of all Things Content (also refers to Chief Content Officer) on the MarketingProfs website and newsletter and the Primary Caregiver to the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog. Prior to that, she was the co-founder of ClickZ.com. As a longtime freelance journalist, Ann has written regularly for the Boston Globe as well as a million (give or take) mainstream and trade publications. Ann lives near Boston with her family and four dogs. She loves: cooking, sweet potato chips, sitting on a beach with a really good book. She hates writing about herself in the third person. She aspires to someday write for the New Yorker.
And for the profiles of the rest of the crew… here you go!
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Mike Sansone, Paul McEnany, Roger von Oech, Anna Farmery, David Armano, Bob Glaza, Mark Goren, Matt Dickman, Scott Monty & Richard Huntington.
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Cam Beck, David Reich, Luc, Sean Howard, Tim Jackson, Patrick Schaber, Roberta Rosenberg, Uwe Hook, Tony D. Clark, Todd Andrlik, Toby Bloomberg, Steve Woodruff, Steve Bannister & Steve Roesler.
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Stanley Johnson, Spike Jones, Nathan Snell, Simon Payn, Ryan Rasmussen, Ron Shevlin, Roger Anderson, Bob Hruzek, Rishi Desai, Phil Gerbyshak, Peter Corbett & Pete Deutschman.
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Nick Rice, Nick Wright, Mitch Joel, Michael Morton, Mark Earls, Mark Blair, Mario Vellandi, Lori Magno, Kristin Gorski, Krishna De, Kris Hoet, Kofl Annan & Kimberly Dawn Wells.
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Karl Long, Julie Fleischer, Jordan Behan, John La Grou, Joe Raasch, Jim Kukral, Jessica Hagy, Janet Green, Jamey Shiels, Dr. Graham Hill, Gia Facchini & Geert Desager.
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Gaurav Mishra, Gary Schoeniger, Gareth Kay, Faris Yakob, Emily Clasper, Ed Cotton, Dustin Jacobsen, Tom Clifford, David Pollinchock, David Koopmans, David Brazeal, David Berkowitz & Carolyn Manning.
Profiles of 'Age of Conversation' authors: Craig Wilson, Cord Silverstein, Connie Reece, Colin McKay, Chris Corrigan, Cedric Giorgi, Becky Carroll, Andy Nulman, Amy Jussel, Kim Klaver, Sandy Renshaw, Susan Bird, Ryan Barrett & Troy Worman.
Arun – you have just overwhelmed me with your kind sentiments and kindness. I can't find an email for you but I wrote about your wonderful series at the link below, it's what I could do after all your great work…I hope you'll enjoy it as I'm thoroughly enjoying your great series!
…and also, you made me so happy to say that "my momma was rooting for me from her place among the stars". No one has said that to me in that way…they've said she's "in a better place" or "in heaven" but to think of her sitting atop a star lifts me and I need to thank you. Well, check out the post I did hailing you.
And again, thanks for this amazing series.
Wow good stuff Arun, that must have took a TON of time to get all that info together! Very impressive!
Arun – Thanks to you for going beyond anyone's expectations to provide an amazing over view of the 100 authors. I've enjoyed reading all of your great profiles. Hope you are enjoying your 42 day holiday (smile).
Hey Arun … this has been such a great series! It is great to find a little bit more about each person. Thanks for including me!
This is top notch investigative work. I enjoyed learning more about fellow writers and colleagues. Thank you.
It's called 'Falafel'… its totally vegan, made of lentils and deep fried, just like cutlets. They stuff falafels into Arabic bread (called Khubz in Arabic) and there you go… I recommend that you try it. And let me know.
Arun, I send you much warmness.
Arun: Thanks for shedding so much light on the authors and the book itself. No doubt that we've learned so much about you here as well. Thanks so much!


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Nearly Half Of U.S. Cancer Deaths Blamed On 'Modifiable' Behavior
Wednesday, November 22nd 2017, 1:01 pm
A new look at cancer in the U.S. finds that nearly half of cancer deaths are caused by smoking, poor diet and other unhealthy behaviors.
That's less than commonly-cited estimates from more than 35 years ago, a result of new research methods and changes in American society. Smoking rates have plummeted, for example, while obesity rates have risen dramatically.
The study found that 45 percent of cancer deaths and 42 percent of diagnosed cancer cases could be attributed to what the authors call "modifiable" risk factors. These are risks that are not inherited, and mostly the result of behavior that can be changed, like exposure to sun, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, drinking alcohol and, most importantly, smoking.
A British study conducted in 1981 attributed more than two-thirds of cancer deaths to these factors.
The study used 2014 data and was conducted by the American Cancer Society. It was published online Tuesday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
"We thought it was time to redo those estimates," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the cancer society's chief medical officer and one of the study's authors.
Smoking was the leading risk by far, accounting for 29 percent of deaths. Excess body weight was next at 6.5 percent, and alcohol consumption was third at 4 percent.
The authors ran separate calculations for different types of cancer by age group and gender to try to account for how risk factors affect different groups of people, then added them together to understand the national picture.
Smoking accounted for 82 percent of lung cancers.
Excess body weight was associated with 60 percent of uterine cancers and about one-third of liver cancers.
Alcohol intake was associated with 25 percent of liver cancers in men and 12 percent in women; 17 percent of colorectal cancers in men and 8 percent in women; and 16 percent of breast cancers in women.
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight or tanning beds was associated with 96 percent of skin cancers in men and 94 percent in women.
Richard Clapp, a professor emeritus of environmental health at Boston University expects the new numbers to be will widely cited and used to make decisions about how to spend money on cancer prevention, just as the influential British study from 1981 by researchers Richard Doll and Richard Peto has been.
Clapp said there is still room for improvement, however. He said the study doesn't address how two or more risk factors, like smoking and drinking, might work together in some cancer cases and deaths.
Also, aside from secondhand cigarette smoke, the researchers did not to include outdoor or indoor air pollution because the data on the cancer risk from pollution is not detailed enough to understand the national impact, said the study's lead author, Dr. Farhad Islami.


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Patriots reportedly host recent Lions kicker Ryan Santoso for workout
The Lions signed kicker Riley Patterson off the Patriots' practice squad on Nov. 16.
By Oliver Thomas@OliverBThomas Nov 24, 2021, 5:10pm EST
Share All sharing options for: Patriots reportedly host recent Lions kicker Ryan Santoso for workout
The New England Patriots hosted kicker Ryan Santoso for a workout on Wednesday, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.
Santoso, 26, entered the league with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He was waived by the organization last week after rookie kicker Riley Patterson was signed off the Patriots' practice squad.
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Minnesota product has also made stops with the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans and the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes.
Through seven NFL appearances, Santoso stands 4-of-5 on fields goals and 6-of-8 on extra points with a long of 35 yards. His 32 career kickoffs have netted 21 touchbacks.
Veteran New England kicker Nick Folk remains listed as limited in practice while managing a left knee injury, and undrafted arrival Quinn Nordin has resided on injured reserve with an abdomen issue since September.
The Patriots move forward with three vacancies on the practice squad after outside linebacker Tashawn Bower agreed to join the Vikings' 53-man roster on Wednesday.


Kerala PSC invited the applications for the post Assistant in Kerala Financial Corporation. The qualified candidates should do One Time Registration in Kerala PSC Thulasi website.
Kerala PSC Notification for the post Assistant in Kerala Financial Corporation is given below. The last date for the application is March 06, 2019.
Age limit 18-36 Only candidates born between 02.01.1983 and 01.01.2001 (both dates included) are eligible to apply for this post. Candidates belonging to Other Backward Communities and SC/ST candidates are eligible for usual age relaxation.
Qualifications B.Com. from a recognized university with 60% or above marks in aggregate.


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Immigrants calling Michigan
Flint-Genesee County Legal News
By Frank Weir
Are refugees and immigrants a threat to the "American Way of Life" or a unique asset?
With a daily news barrage, it can be easy to forget that there are real people, real families behind all the talk, much of it venomous, from self-styled "expert" pundits.
But Shirin Kambin Timms, a Jackson Community College associate professor of political science, knows the faces and families.
As to expert knowledge? She is the executive director of the Lansing-based Refugee Development Center (RDC), volunteering there for years before assuming her current position in 2007.
Timms spoke at a recent dinner meeting of the Harriet A. Myer Business and Professional Women in Jackson explaining how she began her work and that of the Center.
Originally started by Christ Lutheran Church in 2002, the RDC now is an independent non-profit providing educational and social support for several hundred refugees that live in the greater Lansing area.
It is estimated that around 3,200 refugees moved to Michigan in 2010.
Timms' refugee work began with a "sewing circle."
"Ten years ago I was looking for volunteer work as an interpreter and found a sewing circle that involved refugee women in Lansing," Timms said. "The idea of it was to provide much-needed job training for women coming into our country who needed to find work quickly.
"It is something that women do across the world: sit together and talk. And in Lansing there are a number of sewing positions available so it was hoped the circle would help them develop their sewing skills."
Timms added that she eventually became executive director of the RDC and is still involved with the circle. There is no common language so interpreters help with communication in the circle and a social worker also helps lead in starting the sharing among the women.
"The circle has been an amazing experience. There are good times and bad, challenges and triumphs."
Lansing is one of three "free case cities" in Michigan Timms added, meaning that refugees may settle there without a sponsoring family.
"Refugees must meet a specific legal definition, specifically, they are people who are no longer in their home countries and cannot return for fear of persecution."
Their outcast status may be due to race, religion, gender, politics, among others, she noted. "Basically, its a situation where people are on a run for their lives because of the package they come in. Some government has decided they are no longer worthy to remain in their country."
Although their path to the U.S. can be varied, they are under intense pressure after arrival. They are expected to be self sufficient within three months of arrival and also to pay back plane tickets that can amount to thousands of dollars, Timms said.
"Expectations are unbelievable. Can you imagine telling college graduates that arrive in a new country not knowing the language that they must be able to be self supporting and to be fully mobile in three months?"
And the former experiences that many refugees have gone through are daunting, Timms added.
"This is just incredible work and we hear survival stories all the time. We have one Burundian boy at the center who is being helped by a volunteer from MSU. This boy was talking about his former life in a refugee camp overseas and he said he fought for food, slept, and watched people die.
"This was a normal day for this young boy."
Timms notes that often refugees are scapegoated in any society particularly when the society is faced with economic or other challenges such as the current situation here in the U.S.
But she is convinced refugees bring incredible assets and it is essential their strengths be recognized.
"I have never seen such a drive and desire for education among our refugee population at the center. There is a myth that people new to the country don't want to learn English but that is not true."
She added that the older an individual is, the harder it is to become fluent in a foreign language.
"There is a long waiting list for our English classes. We can't keep up with demand. And most Americans don't realize how powerful language is. Imagine going through your day without being able to communicate with language from shopping to getting help from a doctor. You are constantly dependent on someone else and no one wants that."
Despite those barriers, Timms believes that foreign born Michigan residents can play a large role in rebuilding the state's economy.
"Foreign born individuals often have a very strong and vibrant entrepreneurial spirit in my experience. They can play an important role in a strategy to reinvigorate our economy especially when you realize Michigan ranks third in the nation in high technology starts ups.
She notes that the Global Detroit Initiative has reported:
"Michigan immigrants make up less than 6 percent of the population yet are responsible for more than 32 percent of all high-tech startups, helping push Michigan to No. 3 among the states in producing new high-tech business opportunities.
"In 2006, 22 percent of the international patent applications from Michigan listed a foreign-born resident as one of their key inventors. Evidence also shows that immigrants are job creators and entrepreneurs. Between 1996 and 2007, Michigan immigrants represented 15.8 percent of new-business owners, making them three times more likely than non-immigrants to start a business, creating opportunity and jobs for Michigan."
The GDI continues that an educated workforce is essential to economic growth.
"Our state's education system attracts many foreign students, contributing more than $600 million a year to our economy. Michigan immigrants are also more likely to possess a four-year college degree than are native-born residents, helping us move toward a knowledge-based economy. In fact, 44 percent of engineering master's degrees and 62 percent of engineering doctorates in the state are awarded to foreign-born students."
And of course, since they are in residence, they pay payroll taxes, sales taxes or property taxes thus contributing to the state's revenue.
Timms adds that, "When you look at taxes, revenue, and demographics, you can easily see how refugees and immigrants can play an important economic role in our recovery strategy," she said.
And beyond the economic, Timms sees acceptance as an important duty for all Americans.
"Refugees are part of our country and part of an economic strategy and we need to do something different in terms of our attitude to get to where we want to be. It takes a community to welcome refugees; not any one agency or non-profit can accomplish it. It takes an entire city, it takes all of us.
"They want this to be their last stop, they want to make a life here and often they live in high risk neighborhoods. They plant flowers. They want to get to know their neighbors. They are the new Americans and we are good to encourage them."
Timms closed with a moving story of a Kurdish woman with several children who had been forced to relocate some 13 times, escaping first to Jordan.
Before coming to the U.S., she was told by a European country that only she and her two youngest children could emigrate.
"She looked him in the eye and said you resettle all of us or none of us and walked out," Timms said. "That took a lot of strength.
Two years later she had the opportunity to come to the U.S. with all her children and they were all scheduled to land here on Sept. 12, 2001.
"After 911, our refugee settlement program was revamped. She waited another three years until finally she and all her children came to Lansing. All the children have gone to school, community college and beyond."
Timms said that at one time, members of the family worked incredible hours at Fire Mountain Restaurant on the far west side of Lansing even though the family home is near Sparrow Hospital.
"Every day they would take a bus but when their shifts ended late at night, they walked the entire distance back home since the buses were not running at that hour.
"I can give you a million stories about the work ethic of refugees and immigrants. This woman is one of the most heart-warming people you will meet. She doesn't look strong but she will tell you women can be a force to be reckoned with when they decide to be," Timms said.
See www.refugeedevelopmentcenter.com for more information about the RDC.
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Architect of Liberty
Opinion // Outlook
Founding Father's work, the Declaration of Independence, guides us still
1of4'Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty' by John B. Boles
2of4Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale. Courtesy of the University of Virginia Library. HOUCHRON CAPTION (07/03/1994): Thomas Jefferson is the subject of a Fourth of July special at 6 p.m. on The Disney Channel. HOUCHRON CAPTION (04/30/1998): Jefferson. HOUCHRON CAPTION (01/28/2003): THE CHANGING MESSAGE - Here are a few facts about the State of the Union: In 1801, Thomas Jefferson submitted this annual message to Congress in writing only. For the next 112 years, the annual message was written, not spoken.Photo: Rembrandt Peale
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4of4Founder Thomas Jefferson, who would go on to become the third U.S. president, was ridiculed as dreamy and philosophical. But he was an effective political leader.Photo: Rembrandt Peale
"[Thomas] Jefferson's complexity renders him easy to caricature in popular culture," John Boles, author of "Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty," writes in the book's introduction. "Once lauded as the champion of the little man," Boles adds, "today he is vilified as a hypocritical slave owner, professing a love of liberty while quietly driving his own slaves to labor harder in his pursuit of personal luxury. Surely an interpretative middle ground is possible, if not necessary. If we hope to understand the enigma that is Thomas Jefferson, we must view him holistically and within the rich context of his time and place." This biography by Boles, the William P. Hobby Professor of History at Rice University, aims to provide that perspective.
In early June of 1776 the Continental Congress named 36-year-old Thomas Jefferson to a committee to write a justification for the colonies' declaring their independence from Britain. It is possible that other committee members suggested the basic outline of the document. … But Jefferson may have already decided, before the committee even formally met, on a three-part structure, involving a brief philosophical preamble or introduction, a list of grievances, and a brief statement of the united colonies' right to join the established nations of Europe as a full-fledged nation-state.
In any event, within several days of starting, Jefferson had produced a draft, which he apparently showed to the other committee members, except for (Benjamin) Franklin, who was too ill to attend meetings. The committee made some suggestions (we have no record of the specifics), and after addressing them, Jefferson sent the revised version to Franklin. We do not know what changes Franklin made, if any, though it has been suggested - with no actual proof - that the phrase "self-evident" in the preamble was his. Jefferson submitted the cleaned-up copy, incorporating the suggestions of the committee, to Congress on Friday, June 28. On Tuesday, July 2 … congressional consideration got underway. Acting together, Congress made thirty-nine changes, mainly excisions, shortening the document by a little over a quarter. Even so, a full 90 percent of the words in the final Declaration of Independence were Jefferson's. He is rightly credited as its author.
How did Jefferson approach his task? Whether or not the committee had helped shape the document, he had ready material at hand. Jefferson was a student of political philosophy and legal history, and for him, as for many of the delegates, the basic ideas of John Locke, Algernon Sidney, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon (authors of the essays in Cato's Letters), and other writers were ingrained in his mind. Jefferson had effectively rehearsed the application of these ideas to the American situation in his A Summary View and, more recently, in his proposed constitution for Virginia. And fresh in his memory were the newspaper reports of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, [ the work of George Mason.] Given this background, Jefferson fashioned in very short order the document the committee approved and, after revisions, the Congress accepted on July 4 as the Declaration of Independence. …
Jefferson's preamble made more elegant and memorable the content of Mason's clauses: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Congress retained almost every word, except for one salutary revision: "inherent and inalienable" became "certain unalienable." Various reprintings of the declaration have ended the sentence with the word "happiness." Jefferson had not done so; he did not intend his text to limit the self-evident truths in this way. To him, the clauses that followed were also self-evident: that governments derive their powers from the consent of the people, that governments are instituted to promote the people's basic rights, and that, if they fail to do so, the people have the right to alter or abolish them. With consummate artistry, Jefferson summarized years of thinking and political philosophizing in about two hundred words. The whole is organized as a rational argument. In view of the unalienable rights of the people and the fact that governments are supposed to promote those rights, it logically follows that when governments do not, they deserve to be changed.
… Jefferson next turned to a lengthy enumeration of the injustices the colonies had suffered and now justified the people's right to reject British governance. Jefferson understood that the colonies, founded at different times, for different purposes, and now boasting different economies and religions, nevertheless constituted a unitary "people." He drew on his proposed draft of the Virginia constitution, rearranging and adding to the list of grievances, which he offered in order of ascending degree of egregiousness. Jefferson wrote in essence as a lawyer, marshalling the best evidence to advance his purpose to a jury made up of a "candid world." …
The last drew a long harangue from Jefferson that unfairly blamed the king for the spread of slavery into the colonies. Jefferson labeled the transportation of human beings from Africa to the colonies a "cruel war against human nature itself, violating … [the] most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people." Jefferson assumed that slaves - African men and women - had rights identical to those of the rest of the American people. Moreover, when he later referred in this passage to enslaved men and women using the generic word "men," he clearly meant both genders, as he did in writing earlier that all "men" are created equal. He was referring to the equal possession of inherent rights, not equality of any other kind.
In his autobiography Jefferson complained that Congress struck the section on slavery "in complaisance to South Carolina and Georgia" and also in deference to some northern colonies involved in the slave trade. But Congress might have removed the passage in recognition of the contradiction inherent in slaveholding colonies clamoring for liberty for themselves while ignoring the plight of their bondspeople, not to mention the colonists' role in slavery's rise and continuance. … Had the passage on slavery remained, it could have supported Jefferson's later attempts to promote abolition and the colonization or resettlement of the freed people.
John Adams, the colonies' foremost constitutionalist, preferred Jefferson's original draft and felt that Congress "obliterated some of the best of it." … Most scholars, however, agree that the congressional edits improved the Declaration of Independence.
In addressing the conclusion of Jefferson's draft, Congress added new language, essentially reprinting the congressional resolution of July 2 declaring the colonies absolved of the former allegiance to Britain. The delegates - on the whole more explicitly religious than Jefferson was at this time - also added "appealing to the supreme judge of the world" to the first sentence of the last paragraph and "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence" to the final sentence, resulting in a total of four references to God in the document. The first, in Jefferson's language, referred to "Nature's God" and the second to the unalienable rights with which people were "endowed by their Creator." The last insertion concerning divine providence was the only change to the soaring language at the end of Jefferson's masterwork: "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
Thus the Declaration of Independence was neither entirely the work of one person, nor primarily a committee project, nor the result of congressional deliberation - it was the result of all these, with Jefferson playing an essential role; the document's basic argumentative strategy and literary elegance show his hand. It represented a remarkable synthesis of the delegates' and much of the public's views. No delegate sought originality of thought. Rather, as Jefferson wrote more than a half century later, "the object" was "not to find out new principles, or new arguments … but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject. … It was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments of the day."
Excerpted from "Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty" by John B. Boles. Copyright 2017. Available from Basic Books, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group.
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Welcome to NZ Farm Life Media
We're the proud publishers of two farming magazines, Country-Wide and The New Zealand Dairy Exporter, in print and online.
Our company was formed in October 2016 and has nine full-time staff mostly based in the Agribusiness Centre on Weld Street, Feilding, the rural centre for Manawatu. Others are based in Dunedin, Christchurch, Cambridge and coastal Bay of Plenty.
Our mission is to deliver readers and advertisers value. Our content will be focused behind the farm gate where we aim to provide farm owners and staff with the best information to help them produce higher, more sustainable profits.
We'll offer a depth of reporting that is unrivalled. Our focus on reducing the risks that farm owners and staff face in delivering the result they want from their toil and investment.
Of course, we'll showcase the best of farming and we'll show you that farmers have some fun too.
Tony Leggett
Tony is the owner of NZ Farm Life Media. His career in agricultural journalism started in 1987 after he completed seven years work as a stock agent in the Canterbury region and began a two-year stint reporting on livestock sales and agricultural commodity export markets for a national farming magazine.
After a four year stint in Melbourne working on the state's rural weekly title, Tony returned to New Zealand in 1993 to edit The New Zealand Farmer newspaper. In late 1997 he formed Country-Wide Publications Limited which bought Country-Wide, a monthly tabloid farming title delivered to lower North Island farmers. Over the following 12 years, the business grew to publish several farming titles and was sold to NZX in 2009.
Tony started NZ Farm Life Media to buy back Country-Wide and The NZ Dairy Exporter in October 2016. Tony lives just outside Feilding township on a 6ha lifestyle block. He also has a stake in hill country sheep and beef property near Alfredton in Wairarapa in partnership with his daughter and son-in-law.
2019 - Country-Wide - The Rongo Award, for its series on the impact on communities and farms of the surge in tree planting
Terry Brosnahan
Country-Wide Editor
Terry was appointed editor of Country-Wide South in October 2000. He became editor of the merged Country-Wide South and North issues in late 2010. When Country-Wide became a subscription-only magazine in 2011, he was appointed editor.
Terry has a long association with farming. He grew up on a mixed-cropping farm in South Canterbury and graduated from Lincoln College in 1983 with a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce. For several years he leased a South Canterbury farm. It was long enough for him to realise how hard farming is especially when your own money is invested.
Terry considers himself fortunate to still be connected with farming and work with a talented bunch of people in the NZ Farm Life Media team. The writers are involved with farming and understand it well. This allows them to get the real oil and for Terry to maintain Country-Wide as a trusted, top farm management magazine for pastoral and arable farmers.
After more than 30 years in ag journalism, Terry has learned from top farming businesses that success comes from continuous improvement, an ethos he has adopted with Country-Wide. Terry lives in Dunedin with his wife Eleanor and two children.
2020 - Country-Wide - Best Magazine Cover Non-Newsstand
Jackie Harrigan
Dairy Exporter Editor
About Jackie
Taranaki born and bred, Jackie Harrigan still looks on Mount Taranaki as her maunga, although she does enjoy the view of the changing light on the Ruahine Ranges out her kitchen window.
Armed with an agricultural science degree and diploma of journalism, Jackie had eight years working on Country-Wide and then edited Young Country magazine for two years before it was incorporated into both Country-Wide and NZ Dairy Exporter magazines as a standalone section.
She is now editor of NZ Dairy Exporter and will guide the magazine into its next 100 years after 2025 when it reaches its first centenary of publishing.
2020 - Dairy Exporter - Ministry for Primary Industries Rongo Award for Farming in the Covid bubble: Runners-up
2020 - Dairy Exporter - Best Trade Magazine: Highly Commended
2019 - Jackie Harrigan - AgResearch Science Writers award
Sheryl Haitana
Dairy Exporter Deputy Editor
About Sheryl
Sheryl Brown is based near the beautiful coastal township of Matata in Bay of Plenty, covering dairy farming in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.
She studied a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism at Massey University and spent several years working in sports and police journalism before finding her way back to agricultural journalism. It was a good fit. She has a natural passion for the industry and enjoys meeting exceptional farmers who are working hard to produce top NZ primary products.
Sheryly married long-time partner Ian in February 2019.
Jo Hannam
Jo's design skills are on display every time a copy of either NZ Dairy Exporter or Country-Wide is delivered to the thousands of subscribers who value our titles every month.
She's always enjoyed design and graduated from UCOL with a Degree in Design. Her first design role was working for a small Wairarapa newspaper designing advertising, then moved onto working for a local printer, doing everything from designing logos and brochures to printing them.
In 2010 she joined the team designing the Dairy Exporter magazine, then Country-Wide. Now she's leading the design of both titles.
Jo admits she doesn't have a background in farming, but she's a quick learner and knows the difference between Hereford and Friesian cows!
She is married to Nick and has a growing young family.
Andy Maciver
Sub-Editor
Andy Maciver is NZ Farm Life's sub-editor. He joined NZ Farm Life Media when it was set up in November 2016 after a year working on the title when it was owned by NZX Agri.
Andy was for many years a sub-editor at the Dominion Post and before that Wellington's Evening Post. In earlier years he worked on newspapers in the United Kingdom during a lengthy OE. Although not from a farming background, he spent a number of years after leaving school working around central North Island wool sheds.
Janine Aish
Partnerships Manager - Northland, Auckland, Waikato
About Janine
Janine is Waikato born and bred, and although she didn't grow up on a farm she has spent a lot of her childhood on family farms.
She started in print media firstly working for the NZ Herald and from there went to the Waikato Times until she left to have her first son. After a few years working in other industries, she returned to the media world but this time into the agricultural scene – and loved it.
Janine has been in agri-media most of her career since. She was always very impressed with Dairy Exporter and Country-Wide magazines – and says it is such a privilege to now be working for the company that publishes them..
She lives just outside Cambridge on some acres and now has two grown sons – one in IT/Media and one a builder so always lots of excuses to get them helping her! Life is busy with extended family, gardens and a continual list of projects that never seems to end – just how she likes life to be!'
Partnerships Manager - Wellington and South Island
David comes to agribusiness media from a background in sheep and beef farming at Marokopa in the King Country. While getting back to the hills, rivers and sea of the coastal King Country as much as possible, the South Island is now home.
David has been based in Christchurch for 18 years and spent 15 years in rural media after getting a degree in arts. His activities outside of work are outrigger canoeing and trout fishing.
After starting as a agricultural journalist he then had 10 years with NZX Agri as their South Island account manager.
After taking a year out to do some post-earthquake housing development projects, David took up a part-time role with NZ Farm Life Media which then developed into a full-time role as South Island and Wellington Partnerships Manager since June 2018.
He says working on the Dairy Exporter, Country-Wide and Young Country brands is fantastic. He loves being involved in NZ agriculture and the magazines.
Emily Rees
Emily's career has been all about design in print publishing for the past 15 years. Born and bred in Marton, her love for magazine design and production has seen her in different roles in Marton, Hawke's Bay, Feilding and Auckland producing magazine pages, advertising and marketing material for various publishing companies.
Auckland was where she settled for six years as a production studio supervisor for a transport industry publisher. They say there's no place like home, so two years ago that's where Emily and husband Brian returned to with their young children, Jude and Shilo.
Whilst enjoying being at home with their children in Marton, an opportunity came about for Emily to join NZ Farmlife Media, and having worked for Country-Wide Publications more than 10 years ago, it was a comfortable transition back into working life again.
Out of the office Emily is about family life, house renovations, and being on board Bellatrix fishing the wonderful West Coast.
Liz Clinch
Subscription Services Manager | Accounts Administrator
Liz joined NZ Farm Life Media in February 2018. You'll typically get her on the end of the phone if you call the office for subscription or accounts queries. "I enjoy working with the close-knit team who are all very passionate about their contribution to the business – something that I believe helps make this business successful and respected in the industry".
Outside of work her interests include gardening, reading and learning to cook different cuisines. Liz also enjoys watching motorsport, the Virgin Australia (V8) Supercars in particular.
2019 - Most Valuable Team Member: Highly Commended
Charlie Pearson
Digital Coordinator | Subscription Services
About Charlie
Charlie is a graduate of Massey University where he gained an undergraduate degree in Communications (Marketing). He has always lived in the Manawatu region, having grown up on a substantial dairy farm outside of Foxton. His passion lies with writing – if you're lucky you might find an opinion piece he's written for a local community newspaper or performing his work at local open mic nights.
Alongside running NZ Farm Life Media's social media pages, Charlie assists with subscriptions and the making of podcasts, writes occasionally for Young Country and masquerades as Tony at book launches when needed.
Faye Lougher
About Faye
Faye graduated from Wellington Polytechnic as a journalist in 1995 and worked on the Johnsonville community newspaper. A keen motorsport photographer, she was a regular contributor to The Evening Post's Autopost supplement and wrote for Speedsport and Kiwi Rider magazines. In 2000 she moved to Levin as a photographer on the Horowhenua-Kapiti Chronicle.
She was the Levin correspondent for the Manawatu Standard (later a feature writer) and The Tribune (2003-2006), and the Linton correspondent for the Army News (2007-2008).
Faye has a Diploma in Publishing and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism Studies, and taught journalism part-time at Massey's Palmerston North campus.
She has written for the Animal Health Board and the Manawatu Standard's Agriview, and since 2015 has edited NZ Herefords' annual publication.
In 2015 Faye joined New Zealand Trucking magazine, stepping into the role of sub-editor and news writer in 2016. While leaving the subbing role to join NZ Farm Life Media, she will continue to write feature articles for the magazine, her passion being classic trucks.


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STATE'S KOALAS FURTHER PROTECTED WITH HERITAGE LISTING OF SYDNEY ESTATE
In a further step to protect the state's koala population, the NSW Government has listed Mount Gilead Estate with its sweeping landscape and historic homestead in Sydney's south-west, as an item of state heritage significance to be protected in perpetuity.
Situated in the Camden and Campbelltown region, the 150-hectare property showcases both the State's colonial history, reflecting changes in agricultural pursuits and approaches to major estate planning, while containing significant archaeological evidence of the prior Aboriginal occupation and custodianship of the land.
Minister responsible for Heritage Don Harwin said "Mount Gilead Estate is an outstanding early 19th-century colonial estate with a spectacular sweeping landscape. Its heritage buildings have inspired celebrated artists and photographers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and we're excited to list this site on the State Heritage Register."
"Features of the estate include the original dwellings of its residents and workers, such as the historic homestead, stables, outhouses and sandstone granaries, which have not changed substantially since the early 19th century," Mr Harwin said.
"The estate's artificial lake and sandstone mill tower (c.1836) are rare and early examples of their type in NSW and Australia," Mr Harwin said.
The long spur of land running parallel to Appin Road as well showcases cultural plantings along its central ridgeline.
Minister for the Environment Matt Kean said Mount Gilead Estate is part of an area that is home to some of the State's healthiest koala populations and this State Heritage Listing provides further protections for rural landscapes.
"Just as the way we treat our koalas is a reflection on how we respect the environment, the way we treat our heritage buildings reflects how we respect the past," Mr Kean said.
"It is vital we pull out all stops to not only protect habitat but also the structures that help us define who we are as Australians."
Mount Gilead Estate is associated with three individuals of importance in the development of NSW: Reuben Uther, Thomas Rose and Edward Woodhouse, each of whom made a lasting contribution to the colony's agricultural development.
Listing will ensure that the estate's significance will be protected for future generations, with any major changes now requiring the approval of the Heritage Council of NSW.
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Beside the well-established spectral-efficiency (SE), energy-efficiency (EE) is currently becoming an important performance evaluation metric, which in turn makes the EE-SE trade-off as a prominent criterion for efficiently designing future communication systems. In this letter, we propose a very tight closed-form approximation (CFA) of this trade-off over the single-input single-output (SISO) Rayleigh flat fading channel. We first derive an improved approximation of the SISO ergodic capacity by means of a parametric function and then utilize it for obtaining our novel EE-SE trade-off CFA, which is also generalized for the symmetric multi-input multi-output channel. We compare our CFA with existing CFAs and show its improved accuracy in comparison with the latter.


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Andre J. Lyson's Profile
Andre J. Lyson is currently single. He has been in one celebrity relationship averaging approximately 7.0 years. He has been married once.
Occupation: Other - Other
Most Famous For: Ex-husband of Kim Cattrall
Andre J. Lyson's Relationships
Divorced (1989)
Andre J. Lyson's Relationship Statistics
Relationships: 1 7.0 yrs.*
Engagements 1 0 yrs.
Marriages 1 0 yrs.
Divorces 1
Andre J. Lyson's Children
Relationship News & Gossip for Andre J. Lyson
"I'm really happy. I think it's going to be a great summer...[I'm] totally in love. He's amazing, he's kind, he's generous. He made me laugh like I've never laughed...He's the epitome of romance: flowers, love notes, everything...[My parents] couldn't be happier."


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export default class CleengListResponse<T> {
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Some people will tell you that leasing is a bad decision because you're not investing. But that's not true! Leasing can be a very smart option if it's right for you.
The biggest benefit of leasing is that your monthly payments will be smaller. Sometimes your payment will be less for a brand new leased car than for an older car that's financed. Leasing also usually requires a much smaller down payment than financing, so if you don't have much money saved up and want to put a small amount or even zero down, you're better off leasing than buying.
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Olokmiński Stanowik (ros. Олёкминский Становик) – góry w azjatyckiej części Rosji, w obwodzie czytyjskim.

Leżą w dorzeczu górnej Olokmy i Amuru; sąsiadują na północy z Górami Stanowymi, na wschodzie z górami Tukuringra, na południu z Górami Borszczowocznymi, na zachodzie z Płaskowyżem Witimskim; długość pasma ok. 400 km; szerokość do 125 km; najwyższy szczyt Góra Kropotkina (1908 m n.p.m.); zbudowane głównie z granitów. Składają się z kilku pasm, m.in. Góry Tungirskie, Góry Murojskie. W niższych partiach tajga modrzewiowa, w wyższych limba syberyjska i tundra górska, w najwyższych rumowiska skalne.

Najwyższy szczyt został nazwany na cześć badacza tego rejonu, Piotra Kropotkina.

Linki zewnętrzne
 Zdjęcie satelitarne z Google Maps

Azjatyckie góry Rosji

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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We Kill Liberty by Making it the Devil
The flame of liberty dulled by making the warmth of its light a threat in itself. Man is nothing if cautious of her own survival. This is exemplified in everyday life and is broadly explained as self-interest. In a biological sense, one could say the...
By Zakhele Mthembu
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The flame of liberty dulled by making the warmth of its light a threat in itself.
Man is nothing if cautious of her own survival. This is exemplified in everyday life and is broadly explained as self-interest. In a biological sense, one could say the objective necessity of a living entity is its survival.
Man is not just a biological entity, however.
She has faculties that she employs to exercise the existence that she so biologically strives for. Without these faculties and their exercise for purposes of sustenance, then life itself would not be possible. The articles of sustenance belong to man by logical implication of her life and faculties also belonging to her, which she exercised in unison to acquire said articles.
Thus, the triumvirate of man is laid bare: life, liberty and property!
Man, therefore is not driven solely by biological impulses, if so, she would be no different from the beasts that populate the Earth with her. Instead there is liberty and property, aspects of man which are inextricably tied to the very concept of life itself. Life, liberty and property are therefore the trinity that make up man's existence.
Now it is a matter of great concern when decisions are taken on behalf of other men, under the auspices of one aspect of mankind superseding all other aspects. In this case, the superior aspect of the triad is life, which finds itself under attack during a pandemic outbreak of a new strain of the coronavirus from Wuhan, Hebei Province, China.
The fire extinguishers in the form of government edicts to the flame of liberty are out globally, and particularly in my home country that I love dearly, South Africa. The coronavirus seems to have made liberty the enemy of life. Existence, an enemy of itself.
On its face the intention is noble. Its immediate perceived consequence is that if people are barred from moving, associating, and trading, then the coronavirus spreading will hopefully be minimised. "Hopefully", because these are uncharted waters and my countrymen are letting the state experiment with aspects of their very distinguished existence!
Liberty and property are being curtailed, being given a lower status, apparently superseded by life.
Yet the coronavirus is already in circulation. There are a lot of viruses in circulation, by the way, yet we do not limit nor eliminate liberties en masse to contain them. The world seems to have accepted the laughable idea that a biological war is fought with legislation and newfound executive powers.
A blanket erosion of liberty and property seems unjustified on any reasonable interrogation of the situation. Through no small feat, however, the South African government has taken actions that are prima facie unconstitutional, to the applause of my countrymen.
Man is the most distinguished creature walking the face of the Earth. A complex creature, whom through consciousness, has a dimension to his existence that as far as we know is available to none other.
Liberty cannot be separated from life and neither from property. Any attempt to present these as distinct from one another or even in opposition is flawed. This is because the triumvirate is inextricable. Mankind existing is the harmonising of these very elements of himself through becoming; for existence is never a constant state, but one whose very manifestation is an exercise in becoming. Life therefore cannot supersede liberty nor property, for there is no one without the others. Decisions, therefore, taken on premises of treating the life element of man – staying alive at all costs, that is – as being opposed to associating and trading, are flawed if not dangerous.
The common retort is that the danger of the virus spreading by people enjoying their liberties is reason enough to limit those liberties. But the burden of proof is on the alleger. If the state alleges mass infection, then it must prove it. The Rule of Law dictates, as one of its substantive principles, that there must be a rational connection between the proposed state action and that which it seeks to achieve. That rational connection is broken when it cannot be shown that those whose liberties are taken away are indeed infected and thus limiting their rights minimises the spread of said virus. This is not naked stubbornness. The Rule of Law is most important in times of crises, rather than a relegated secondary consideration, playing second fiddle to practicality.
The other elements of the triad of man have been made the enemy of life. But liberty and property are not opposed to life, even in a time of crisis, dare I say most especially in a time of crisis!
Mind you, responsibility is an assumed position on my part. The responsibility of mankind for this triumvirate is to not violate or impede on the triad of another of her kind.
The consequences of curtailing the other elements of mankind in pursuit of what is now said to be the ultimate one, life, will be dire. The taking of decisions under auspices of not only the distinct nature of these elements, but rather their opposition, is flawed conceptually, and it is unjust legally for it is arbitrary. Its consequences will only be evidence of a course of action rotten from its 'nature' in the Aristotelean sense.
How do you dull the flame of mankind? By making its warmth the ultimate threat! Once you do that, they will applaud you for dampening their flame, for the threat has been eliminated if not contained. They will not think of when winter will come again, when the warmth of that flame will be sorely missed.
I leave you with a story from a passage that I am surely paraphrasing. It was a question posed to a man, who was asked whether he would do anything to pursue the Devil, break every rule there is and violate every law. "Yes, of course," he answered. "Then what will protect you when the Devil turns his gaze on you?" asked the other man.
This exchange is a reminder of the necessity of the Rule of Law in all circumstances. What will protect us when the leviathan turns its gaze on us, this time for reasons and upon premises people may disagree with? What will protect you, when all laws are gone in your pursuit of the Devil, when he finally turns his gaze on you?
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