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Missourians wait 'on pins and needles' to see if legal abortions will vanish from their state
Drama unfolding in America's heartland could have a ripple effect across the country as Missouri is on the verge of becoming the first state in the country w...
Posted: Jun 6, 2019 9:58 AM
Posted By: CNN
Drama unfolding in America's heartland could have a ripple effect across the country as Missouri is on the verge of becoming the first state in the country with no abortion clinics.
Five other states are also one clinic away from that fate.
While a judge considers the fate of Missouri's last abortion clinic, the state's health director doubled down on claims the clinic has "issues." But he refused to specify what those issues were.
Missouri's last clinic standing -- Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region -- is suing the state's health department for refusing to renew its license, which was set to expire last Friday.
Judge Michael Stelzer issued a temporary reprieve Friday, preventing the license from expiring until he heard arguments from both sides this week.
Now, many are wondering when the judge will decide whether the clinic can keep performing abortions while the lawsuit works its way through the courts.
"We're just waiting on pins and needles like the rest of you to hear what he says," said M'Evie Mead, director of Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri.
'We can never sacrifice safety'
What's happening in Missouri reflects a growing trend nationwide. States are imposing strict rules on clinics in the name of safety, while abortion rights advocates say officials are really trying to eliminate abortion.
Dr. Randall Williams, director of Missouri's Department of Health & Senior Services, said this isn't about politics.
"Many Missourians are pro-choice. Many Missourians are pro-life. What all those Missourians expect me to do in a regulatory fashion is enforce the law, enforce the regulations and keep people safe," Williams said.
"Access is incredibly important. But we can never sacrifice safety for that access."
He said the St. Louis clinic had problems during its annual inspection this year.
"As we did our annual investigation, some issues came up that we would very much like to talk with their physicians about," Williams told reporters Wednesday.
But he refused to specify what kinds of "issues" the clinic had.
Mead, the Planned Parenthood advocate, accused the state of making "unsubstantiated and vague allegations that they keep throwing out there."
"They have politicized the process, and now they are moving goal posts in order to back up their unsubstantiated claims," she said.
New law says abortion is illegal after 8 weeks
The abortion debate in Missouri heated up after Gov. Michael Parson signed House Bill 126 into law. The new legislation bans abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest. It's set to go into effect August 28.
Tensions further intensified after the St. Louis clinic sued Parson and the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services.
"DHSS now is attempting to shut down (the abortion provider), by unlawfully conditioning a decision ... on completion of a supposed 'investigation' of a patient complaint," the lawsuit said.
The governor has also declined to say what the clinic's violations are, saying only, "They are well aware of the deficiencies."
Parson said details could not be released "because it is still an ongoing investigation."
When states are 1 closure away from no abortions
Missouri isn't the only state that has teetered on the brink of losing its last abortion clinic over licensing disputes.
In 2017, Kentucky refused to renew the license of its last abortion clinic, claiming its "transfer agreement" was inadequate.
Transfer agreements are written agreements between an abortion clinic and a hospital, saying the hospital agrees to accept the clinic's patients in case of emergency.
Critics say transfer agreements are unnecessary because federal law requires emergency rooms to accept anyone who shows up.
A federal judge ruled in favor of the clinic, saying Kentucky's transfer agreement law was unconstitutional and violated the 14th Amendment.
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Paradigm shift on machine translation?
In the first of the articles, Jaap van der Meer characterizes changes in attitudes about MT over the last 4 years as "revolutionary" — a move "from complete denial [of MT's utility] to complete acceptance." What happened? The answer seems to be a number of events and changes rather than a single triggering factor, perhaps an evolution to a "tipping point" of sorts. There have been ongoing improvements in MT, there was the establishment of the Translation Automation User Society (TAUS) in 2004 which "helped stimulate a positive mindset towards MT," and the empowerment of internet users in the use of MT. Van der Meer also points out a shift in emphasis from finding "fully automated high quality translation" (FAHQT) to what he calls "fully automated useful translation" (FAUT – an acronym that presumably should not be read in French). The latter is not only a more realistic goal, but also one that reflects needs and uses in many cases.
As for the future, van den Meer sees a "shift from traditional national languages to ever more specialized technical languages." My question is whether we can at the same time also see significant moves for less widely spoken languages.
Van den Meer's article sets the tone and has me asking if indeed we are at a point where a fundamental shift is occurring the way we think of MT. The other articles look at specific issues.
Vadim Berman looks at some hurdles to making MT work, highlighting the importance of educating users – including mention of a recurrent theme: the importance of clean text going into the translation.
Two of the articles, by Lou Cremers and by Kerstin Berns and Laura Ramírez, discuss the practical value of MT in enterprise settings.
Cremers has some interesting thoughts about the utility of MT in an enterprise setting, something that has long seemed impractical, certainly when compared to translation memory (TM). He begins by noting that "a high end MT system will really work if used correctly, and may save a considerable amount of time and money," and then procedes to discuss several factors he sees as key to getting good ROI: terminologies and dictionaries; quality input text; volume (pointing out among other things the fact that good MT will tend to lead to a larger amount of text being translated – a key point for considering the value of MT in other spheres of activity I might add); and workflow.
It's not the absolute quality of the MT output that is important, but rather how much time it saves the translator in completing the task. In that way it is not different from TM. In both cases, human intervention is needed to produce high-quality translations.
Do you have large text volumes with very short translation times and a high terminology density? Then it is very likely that MT will be a good solution for you. On the other hand, if you have small text volumes with varying text types and complex sentence structures, then it probably will bu too much effot to set up an effective process.
Two of the articles, by Hugh Lawson-Tancred and Rafael Guzmán, discuss "post-editing" as a tool to improve the output of MT.
Guzmán, who has written a number of other articles on post-editing, discusses the use of TM in the context of verifying (post-editing) the product of MT. This basically involves ways of lining up texts in the source and translated languages for context and disambiguation. There are several examples using Spanish and English.
Finally, Dion Wiggins and Philipp Koehn discuss MT involving Asian languages, which most often entails different scripts. There are examples from several Asian languages illustrating the challenges involved.
This is an interesting set of articles to read to get a sense of the current state of the art as regards the application and applied research on MT. It's a bit of a stretch for a non-specialist with limited context like me to wrap his mind around the ensemble of technical concepts and practices. One does come away, though, with the impression that MT is already a practical tool for a range of real-world tasks, and that we will be seeing much more widespread and sophisticated uses of it, often in tandem with allied applications (notably TM and post-editing). Are we seeing a paradigm shift in attitudes about MT?
At this time I'd really like to see a program to encourage young computer science students from diverse linguistic backgrounds in developing countries and indigenous communities to get into the field of research on MT. I'm convinced that it has the potential if approached strategically to revolutionize the prospects for minority languages and the ways we think about "language barriers." That is more than just words – it has to do with education, knowledge and enhanced modes of communication. By extension, the set of human language technologies of which MT is a part, can in one way or another play a significant role in the evolution of linguistic diversity and common language(s) over the coming generations.
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Thanks for this useful summary.
There are a number of interesting developments that are pushing MT into practice, rather than being the endless "holy grail" tech project with a 5-year window.
•	and large companies with global communication needs cannot get their stuff out quick enough with the laborious workflows found in commercial translation contexts, so they are looking closely at MT.
On the language front, Asia Online is working closely on a number of Asian languages, India has a strong R&D base and seems to be developing solutions (not just PhD theses) for their language spread.
Language Weaver (MT company) has a Hausa-English engine, and South Africa must surely be looking at EU extensive experience in using tools and tech to run a multilingual country.
The key hope though is that communities will hijack the technology and push MT into new uses for new languages, so that we have a broad spectrum of experiments from which to select and build what Jaap van der Meer likes to call "translation out of the wall" – MT as a utility!
Thanks Andrew, I appreciate the feedback and info, I was not aware of Language Weaver's work on Hausa (among African languages they've also done something on Somali as well as Arabic- the latter to & from several languages). In general, though my impression is that outside of South Africa and in particular the Meraka Institute, and apart from a very few individual experts, there has been little attention to MT for African languages. The hurdles in terms of lack of corpora and in some cases lack of stable orthographies are part of the reason, but a commitment to finding a way to leverage HLT for African languages is the key need. I do think that a program focusing on supporting a new generation of African experts in NLP/HLT could yield benefits for the experts, the field, and most of all the diverse language communities of Africa.
Health Connections International — an international, non-profit public health organisation based in the Netherlands — is in response to the rapidly expanding HIV and AIDS pandemic establishing a multi-lingual web-based platform, where non-English speaking physicians, healthcare practitioners, and other HIV professionals – in low income countries – may seek information and advice from their English-speaking colleagues.
The pursuit of useful rather than the ultimate high-quality machine translation is not new and a not a paradigm shift of the last few years. I worked as an MT researcher in the eighties and already at that time a more practical approach to MT development was prevalent.
Thanks Job. Maybe I should use the term "watershed" (or "tipping point"?) in trying to describe what has been changing. From the view of a lot of users, apparently, there is a difference. Van de Meer's use of the term "revolutionary" in writing about changes in attitudes about the utility of MT is what had me thinking along the lines that at least some people's mindsets had shifted.
out, and is limited to prototypes and proofs-of-concept.
Thanks Fran, and no problem about letting us know more about Apertium. I actually learned about it a little while back from Mikel Forcada. I found interesting the concept of "shallow transfer" MT between closely related languages. However things play out wrt rule-based vs. statistical MT, I'm wondering if this approach might be helpful for work among closely-related minority languages without the resources (corpora) to seriously do statistical based MT.
For instance, I understand that in South Africa, the path for translations into Nguni languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Northern Ndebele) goes first into one of those tongues and then from that to the others. Having a good "shallow transfer" MT as a tool for this second stage (and other translations between them) would one imagines be quite useful.
Having worked on both rule-based MT systems (which I couldn't get to work properly) and later statistical MT systems (which I did get to work with great succes), I am slightly prejudiced towards the statistical side. But, I believe that statistical MT has resulted in a break-through in MT and given a breadth and quality of systems that has convinced the ordinary user that "MT may be useful".
you may be making it harder than necessary. Mono-lingual (or non-indigionous) computer scientists (or computation linguists like me) can do most of the work. Of course you need "target language" speakers along the way, but they need not know any computer science.
Thanks Søren, I'm just getting to appreciate the possibilities of statistical based MT. It also apparently has the challenge from the perspective of many less widely spoken or less-resourced languages of requiring corpus resources that are not yet there.
I understand your point regarding how statistical based MT techniques have less need for speakers of the languages in question. I should amend my pitch on this (later) but for the moment would put it into the context that I think it is important to train a new generation of computer scientists and computational linguists from developing countries where so many less-resourced languages are spoken.
I would like to offer some opinions that take a step back and put this increasing interest and awareness of MT in some perspective. I offer this as someone who is not a localization industry expert, but as someone who has been in the broad IT industry for 20 years, and recently involved with evangelizing early SMT technology for 3 years at Language Weaver and now promoting exciting new 2nd generation SMT at Asia Online. This should make my bias clear. My intent is not to make authoritative or conclusive remarks here, (though it may seem so sometimes), but simply to offer some initial observations to further the dialogue on where the business translation market is headed.
I think it is useful to look at some of the broad questions to understand what is happening and also perhaps get some initial understanding of why it is happening. This can be done I think by asking a set of questions that raise awareness of the forces at work.
What is being translated? How is this changing?
Who is doing the translating?
How does the translation industry work and how is this changing?
What are the technological advances that are emerging?
What is the combined impact of all these things?
There are really two worlds here, the enterprise (corporate/government) world and the online user world. The enterprise market tends to focus on documentation, marketing materials and light web content which is all relatively static content but apparently a $10B+ market. The localization industry is focused on optimizing this activity. However, this is changing as more companies realize that there is great value in providing richer and deeper knowledge resources for global customers. Microsoft has led the way with their MT based conversion of their massive knowledge bases that has millions of users happily using mostly raw SMT. Given the volume of the data, there is no option other than MT to make this content available in the many language that they do make it available in. Others are following the MSFT model now but the localization industry players, so far have added very little to enable and facilitate this. Possibly, some will emerge that learn how to help corporate customers do this. The other big change is that this new content is huge in volume and much more dynamic compared to the traditional content that the localization industry is optimized for. This trend is building momentum as others want to emulate what Microsoft has done. It will likely expand even further into community forums as has already begun at Microsoft. The amount of information in general that asks to be translated is growing at an internet pace i.e. very rapidly. I suspect the demand for translation will expand to many new kinds of knowledge that facilitate collaboration in global enterprises and continue to increase the engagement with the global customer.
The online users have several "free" translation sites to choose from and the SMT initiative from Google in particular, shows that the translation quality is getting better all the time. Millions of users are translating millions of web pages a day and this is rapidly becoming the most common form of translation seen by anybody who is online. This will continue to expand as the increasingly non-English online population (largely Asian) expands. So it is predictable that the languages will expand the volume of usage will grow. The global enterprise has an opportunity to take control of this trend and ensure that the automated translations in their domain are superior to any available free translation by learning how to effectively use SMT for their own focused domains.
It is estimated that there are 500,000 to 750,000 professional translators, freelancers out there who make money from performing translation work. They often are working for a Language Service Provider (LSP) or sometimes directly for an enterprise with a multilingual focus. A very small percentage of these people will use tools like TM or other CAT tools but the trend is definitely to try and use some technology leverage to raise productivity. While this group does the bulk of the "high quality" enterprise translations there are many who do not consider themselves professionals who are also competent to do simple translations.
Google estimates that there are 600M+ people on the web who are at least bilingual if not trilingual. Many of these people could be drawn in to offer translation services for things they care about. Microsoft and SUN are examples of how even software programs can be localized with community support. SUN has 69 different language versions of OpenOffice, the web community at large was responsible for creating 60 of these languages. SUN facilitated this through an enlightened management and community engagement approach. This is a trend that will gather momentum and be further accelerated with improving MT systems. The open source model for localization will continue to make more inroads. Facebook is another recent example which shows the community can be drawn into the translation process when it matters to users. Is it possible that Facebook chose the community approach to translating their interfaces because they are really interested in making 200 languages available, not just the standard FIGS CJK configuration that the localization industry is optimized around?
Very simply put, the localization world is separated into Buyers (typically corporate enterprises) and Vendors (LSPs who help the buyers manage their mostly static content focused translation efforts). Translators scattered across the globe interact with these entities to get the work of enterprise translation done. The industry has developed some efficiencies in how they manage the translation process but relative to a lot of other technology areas in IT, the translation industry is still a very fragmented cottage industry, and still relatively inefficient. The change agents in the industry rarely come from standard localization professional backgrounds and we are at the cusp of seeing new kinds of people entering the industry. A few localization professionals that are driving change, are now beginning to drive new translation initiatives, usually going beyond static content and finding content that can drive and enhance international business initiatives. As we all know, while user manuals are necessary, very few users actually ever open them, and so the value of the documentation has generally been closely linked to the status of the localization professional in the organization. This is beginning to change as translation is seen as the means to engage with the global customer and raise customer satisfaction and loyalty. As business line managers enter into the translation focused agenda, the value of translation will rise as the links to global revenue and initiatives are made and better understood. However, the nature of the content that is being translated and is associated with high value is changing and is much more dynamic. The localization industry is unlikely going to be able to cope with this without an increasing use of translation automation technology. It is becoming clear even to long time naysayers that the time for MT is now.
What are the technological tools/advances that are emerging?
In general many kinds of CAT and translation automation tools are coming into the market with a few being firmly established. TM tools are perhaps the most widely used automation tool today but this is already evolving into next generation TM called advanced leveraging. Some industry analysts are already predicting that TM will "evolve" into merged TM/MT systems or more likely into next generation TM/SMT solutions. It is somewhat shocking that in an industry that is claimed to be in the $12B range the total market for all software tools is less than $100M according to CSA. The lack of standards and true data interchange makes most of the TMS systems risky investments for the enterprise as products that were core translation management infrastructure last year, could be phased out this year after an acquisition. New TMS systems continue to emerge as the need is great but for the most part they create islands of incompatible data and further complicate data interchange. As people begin to understand that organization of linguistic assets is a high value proposition, it is hoped that stronger standards will emerge and define how the community can share and leverage the translation assets that they have. The TMX 2.0 standard is a good starting point.
While there continues to be debate over whether SMT is better than RbMT, it is clear that the most global companies in the world (MSFT, Google, IBM) have clearly placed a stake in the ground in favor of SMT. The evidence suggests that SMT systems can be built faster, improve rapidly and are much more amenable to rapid feedback and quality improvements from feedback. However, there are some language combinations where RbMT seem to have greater success e.g. English Hungarian or Korean. The leaders in SMT system development are now adding more linguistic aspects to their methodology and thus should soon be able to handle even difficult pairs like those just mentioned.
Some of the new tools that show some promise include tools that facilitate linguistic asset consolidation, web based collaboration so that tools are centralized and translation processes better managed. The SaaS model is one that is particularly well suited for the emerging web based collaborative model and there should be some interesting new productivity enhancing possibilities around this.
Asia Online has a comprehensive SaaS based infrastructure that facilitates data cleaning/preparation, linguistic asset organization, building custom SMT engines with a tight post-editing and proof reading feedback loop that allows the system to continuously improve and learn. This is Web 2.0 SMT technology and a great leap forward from the first attempts at building SMT systems pioneered by others. This kind of comprehensive infrastructure can be integrated into TMS systems and TM tools used by translators. It will allow a much greater level of control on how SMT engines are built and how users can collaborate to improve the systems on an on-going basis. One of the major promises of SMT is that they can learn and continue to improve, the Asia Online system is infrastructure that makes this possible. This infrastructure makes it possible to undertake translation projects where millions of pages are translated in a few months. It is possible that other new tools that help collect and clean and align data will also emerge in the not so distant future.
There are also tools that help you simplify and clean up the source so that they translate better and more easily for both MT and human translators. This is an area that we can expect will continue to improve but of course as we move into more dynamic content on blogs and user forums these tools will also need to adapt to the language style that you find there.
I think we are seeing some of the trends at work already as described in Don's summary. There is a clearly a growing shift away from static content to more dynamic content especially in the customer support area. There is a growing awareness that linguistic assets can be leveraged by SMT and second generation TM technologies. There is a growing awareness of data preparation and consolidation strategies to leverage future translation initiatives. There is a growing willingness to share data even though a workable sharing mechanism has yet to be developed.
As the web moves more from a static content delivery mechanism to a medium to build communities with shared goals it will enable much more interaction between companies and their customers. We are already seeing this in some IT areas and we can expect that this growing dialogue will become more multilingual. Partner/User communities may in future actually create the best documentation since they are the ones with the greatest vested interest and there is already evidence of this. Customers can help to clean up raw MT output to help drive a continuously improving body of knowledge content.
I think you will also see that it will be possible to extend translation beyond the narrow information dissemination role it has had to a true communication model. In a customer support situation it is already possible to conceive of MT systems that enable real time cross lingual chat between a global customer and customer support person.
In the world of patents we see a very heavy concentration of patents filed in English, German and Japanese speaking countries. SMT offers the possibility of extending this important knowledge to many other languages so that other language groups can also participate in the scientific and technical innovation process.
I am sure other readers can come up with many more examples that these forces will enable.
I think it is useful to look at some of the broad questions to understand what is happening and also perhaps get some initial understanding of why it is happening.
Thank you Kirti, for a most interesting set of perspectives on the current state of MT and TM. It is useful to explore the field via questions such as you've done, and indeed in so doing the follow-on questions become very interesting. It does seem that there are a number of things going on in his area.
The notion of a merging of MT and TM is something I wondered about, as we use large amounts of text to develop SMT (statistical MT) and use TM for managing translation of large amounts of text.
Re RBMT (rule-based MT) vs. SMT, another area where the former might do well is with pairs of closely-related languages. Where there is not a significant amount of text in a language with which to develop SMT, RBMT may also have some advantages.


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Town of Love
John Leslie Hulcombe
John Leslie Hulcombe – Town of Love
Although John has been writing and recording for several years, "Town of Love" is his first release.
The song is a story of love, friendship and a home coming. It was inspired by his association with Eumundi a hinterland town on Queensland's Sunshine Coast famous for its markets. However, the song could easily relate to any number of Towns across Australia.
John gain valuable experience back in the late eighties working on several original tracks with John Rix, then president of the Queensland Recording association.
Recently he has been recording at Glasshouse Recording Studios with Angus Woodhead.
"Town of Love" is currently shortlisted for an Australian Songwriters Association award.
The track also features Laura Mitchell on vocals.
DD484 – David Daniel – Last Back Road DD486 – Ainslie Allen – Done and Gone

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Service Areas » Blog » How to Clean a Leather Couch?
Leather furniture is the best investment and adds an extra touch of elegance in your house. While leather is very durable, it's not immune from wear, if wear happens it becomes noticeable, Thus, cleaning and maintenance of a leather couch are very important. Before going for any commercial cleaning products you should know that not all cleaning solvents are safe on the leather fabric. It can break down the leather finishes which results in dryness and cracking.
SK Cleaning Services provides safe and effective leather cleaning service. We know how important is your leather couch is, and we also know how to save your investment from potential risks. We use the best cleaner which restores the leather fabric and makes it vibrant and shiny. This adds more year of life to your leather couch. By choosing SK Cleaning Services the best professional leather couch cleaners in Melbourne you can prevent your investment from damage and give it more of life.
Cleaning tips for leather couch cleaning.
Through time, secretion of body oils, perspiration, skin acids and daily wear and tear damages the appearance of your leather couch resulting in dark spots and stains. Remember, before using any cleaning agents, do a spot test. Because bluntly using cleaners may damage the leather fabric.
Before cleaning give attention to the type of fabric.
If your couch has some label or an attached sticker, look for the fabric type mentioned on it. If the tag says "W" it means the fabric should be cleaned by a cleaner made with water. If the tag says "S" or "P" it means, the fabric should be dry cleaned only. While "SW" or "WS" signifies it can be cleaned by both type of detergent or cleaner, water-based or solvent. Finally, "X" tag means that the couch must be handled by professionals.
The best suggestion for cleaning a couch made from leather is to clean it by a mild soap or leather dew, you can get a combo of soap and oil from a shoe repair shop clean the couch with it once a week with a soft cloth.
How to clean your leather.
All couches have finished leather and it's totally okay to clean it with a slightly damp cloth and using a small amount of a mild soap to quickly clean it. Nevertheless, always ensure that the cloth is only damp and not completely wet otherwise it'll leave a water spot.
Leather couch cleaning using natural ways.
The white vinegar is the best natural stain remover and suitable on most of the leather couches. Start cleaning it with a soft cloth and blot the stain with it. Dip the cloth in a solution, which is made up with equal parts of water and vinegar solution. Then wipe the stain away gently. A microfibre cloth is recommended, any other cloth could be aggressive on the fabric. After this, follow the same method, but this time using a mixture of mild detergent and distilled water, it'll remove the lingering vinegar smell. Finally, leave the couch to dry naturally.
Upholstery cleaning is not an easy task and sometimes it's risky and may damage your investment. Thus, you should know when to call or free quotes for professional leather couch cleaner.
Why Is Upholstery Cleaning Essential?


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This is a discovery that I have to credit my sister-in-law with. These velvety staples are water-based, making blending out shadows or applying foundation a joy. You'll end up using less product since they won't soak all the water out of your makeup. And they're washable and biodegradable, with zero yellowing and no crumbling. These wedges are anything but flimsy. It's no wonder they are an In Style magazine and industry favorite.


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Blend of Veterans and Youngsters Form Talented Sharks' Roster
By Eric He November 1st, 2013
Hertl has been quite the nice surprise for the Sharks (Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports)
When Joe Thornton played his first career NHL game in 1997, Tomas Hertl was just three years old, being raised about 4,000 miles away in the Czech Republic.
Sixteen years later, Thornton and Hertl are linemates on the San Jose Sharks, creating a dangerous mix of savvy experience and energetic youth that has played a major role in the Sharks' scorching 10-1-2 start.
Although his production has slowed down a bit as of late, Hertl still leads all rookies in points (11) and goals (8). Thornton's stats are pretty much what anyone would expect out of him: just one goal but 12 assists in 13 games.
Look up and down the Sharks' line combinations, and you'll find similar blends. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture anchor the second line, Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels on the third line, and Dan Boyle and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic form the top defensive pairing.
Marleau may be getting up there in age, but you wouldn't be able to tell by watching him on the ice. His superior speed is what has made him so successful throughout his career, and he's still got it, tied with Hertl for the team lead in goals.
On the flipside, Couture and Pavelski are entering the prime of their careers. Couture leads the team in points, and, despite being relegated to centering the third-line (because of Thornton and Couture), Pavelski still has 14 points, good enough for third on the team.
Then, some surprises in Wingels and Vlasic. Wingels has had a strong start playing alongside Pavelski, and Vlasic, who is known for his defensive prowess, is fifth in points in the league among defensemen. Of course, it doesn't hurt to be paired with Boyle, one of the leaders on the team, the catalyst on the power play, and still among the best skating defensemen in the league.
And we haven't even mentioned goaltender Antti Niemi, who has been Vezina-worthy in the early goings.
So when people ask how much longer the Sharks have until their core dissipates, the answer is simple: it won't. Boyle is 37, and both Thornton and Marleau are 34, but Couture, Pavelski and Vlasic are waiting in the wings, along with the youngster Hertl.
But right now, the Sharks are in a nearly utopian situation, with their veteran core still producing and the young stars entering the limelight of their careers. That combination has formed one of the deepest and talented rosters that the league has to offer.
Joe Thornton
Tomas Hertl


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The supervisors involved in the project all have at least 10 years' experience in supervising international Doctoral candidates and coordinating doctoral programmes and include Doctorate program coordinators. They collectively bring excellence to all areas of the project and the scientific expertise to successfully guide all ESRs. They will comply with the European Charter for Researchersvii on supervision and managerial duties, in particular devoting particular attention with highest professional standards to their multi-faceted role as supervisors, career advisors, leaders, project coordinators, managers, building up a constructive and positive relationship with the ESR.
The candidates will be followed by two supervisors from different institutions jointly guiding the ESR, one from each scientific field concerning their interdisciplinary project (Computer Science, Law, Ethics) and by an industrial mentor. They will communicate at every 3 month to make a joint assessment of the ESR. A local tutor will be assigned by the Board from an institution where the candidate has secondments but no supervisor. Meetings with the two supervisors will be frequent (typically weekly) and independent from geographic locations (via use of teleconferencing systems). The supervisors will assist the ESR with the Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP): to outline a clear structure, including tasks and responsibilities, to help anchor the ESR in the "home institution", to facilitate mobility, and to enhance the professional careers of recruited ESRs. The PCDP will be set up according to European Commission standards, in collaboration between the fellow and the supervisors and will be updated every 6 months.
Exposure to academic and non-academic sectors consists in the following:
Two academic supervisors from different areas and universities and an industrial mentor will be assigned by the Board.
All projects have been designed based on overlapping expertise in at least 4 participating partners complementary sectors and in different nations.
ESRs will spend 1/3 of the total time in two of the other partners of the network;
Industrial internship is obligatory in the last year.
Exposure to the non-academic sector is made possible also through annual network events.
Intended supervisors and co-supervisors will be:
UNIBO: Monica Palmirani (coordinator of EMJD/Erasmus+ LAST-JD, of the Legislative XML Summer School, of the Italian Society of Legal Informatics), Giovanni Sartor (AI and Law), Antonino Rotolo (AI and Law, Pro Rector of Research), Alberto Musso (IPR), Marina Timoteo (Comparative Law also on China), Raffaella Brighi (eHealth), Carla Faralli (bio ethics, coordinator of PhD in Law of New Technologies), Prof. Silvia Zullo (Bioethics).
UNITO: Guido Boella (legal informatics, former vice-coordinator of doctorate in Computer Science vice-coordinator of EMJD/Erasmus+ LAST-JD), Cristina Baroglio (multiagent systems), Rosa Meo (Big Data), Ugo Pagallo (ICT Law, ethics of new technologies,). Michele Graziadei (Contract law), Llio Humphreys (legal informatics).
UAB: Jorge González Conejero (legal ontologies), Pablo Noriega (Electronic Institutions, social intelligence), Enric Plaza (eDemocracy), Marta Poblet (crisis management, crowdsourcing), Antoni Roig (regulatory frameworks, privacy and social networks, and PET).
MRU: Prof. Mindaugas Kiškis (coordinator of local unit). Prof. Tadas Limba. Prof. Dr. Irmantas Rotomskis, Gintar÷ Gulevičiūt÷ , Loreta Paukštyt÷ .
UL: Pierre Kelsen (Software engineering), Mark Cole (Law of new technologies), Pascal Bouvry (Machine learning), Leon van der Torre (Legal reasoning) Christoph Schommer (AI and Data Science).
LUH: Prof. Christian Heinze (Director of the Institute of Legal Informatics, and director of the EULISP LL.M. programme, director of the Summer School INSITU on IT-Law), (EU law), Prof. Dr. Tina Krügel (eJustice).
KUL: prof. Anton Vedder (IT Law and ethics with expertise in ehealth and security). Prof. Peggy Valke (Media law), Prof. Marie-Christine Janssens (Intellectual Property Rights), Prof. Geertrui Van Overwalle (Patents) prof. Isabelle Huys (IP and Pharmacology).
UNIVIW: Prof. Dr. Erich Schweighofer (head of the Centre for Computers and law of the Vienna Centre for Legal Informatics, head of the groups on legal informatics in the Austrian and German Computing Societies, organiser of the IRIS International Legal Informatics Symposium), Vinzenz Klaus Heußler, expert in e-democracy and legal informatics), Stephan Varga (expert in legal informatics), Dr. Walter Hötzendorfer (expert in data protection, e-democracy and legal informatics) Janos Böszörmenyi, (expert in international financial regulations and legal informatics), Giti Said (data protection).
UPM: Prof. Asunción Gómez-Pérez (Vicerrector of Research, Innovation and Doctoral Studies; expert on Ontologies, Semantic Web and Linked Data with around 20,000 citations), Dr. Víctor Rodríguez Doncel (representation of rights and policies).


text:
Restrictions on Proselytism as Protection of Community Identity
By Ta Thi Phuong on August 23, 2013 0
The relationship between the competing conceptions of religious freedom as an individualistic-deliberative right and as a right that protects identity as part of the community (or even the cohesiveness of the community itself) is reflected in the legal regulation of proselytism. The right to change religion is internationally recognized as included in the right to religious freedom. The right to convince others to change their religion is more controversial. In international instruments, it is specifically mentioned only in the American Convention, but it is generally recognized as part of religious freedom. A study of its limitations is instructive in understanding this right.
To justify restrictions on proselytism, two arguments, compatible with a liberal point of view, are deployed: prevention of coercion and prevention of undue influence. Prohibition of coercion to change religion is justified, as coercion negates free will. The argument of undue influence is more problematic. There is a fine line between effecting a change of religion that is devoid of free will (through coercion) and the legitimate right to convince others to change their religion within the free market place of ideas. It seems that previously UN studies have not sufficiently acknowledged this distinction, but have, rather, permitted prohibition of both.
The former Special Rapporteur to the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Elisabeth Odio Benito, recommended in her study that states adopt provisions against coercion to change religion. Prevention of coercion to change religion is legitimate and, indeed, warranted government policy. However, Odio Benito did not consider the greater danger to religious freedom inherent in the potential use by governments of such legislation for persecution of unpopular minority religions that proselytise, even absent proof of use of coercion.
The earlier work of Special Rapporteur Arcot Krishnaswami in his study on religious rights commissioned by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities included a proposal that 'no one should be subjected to coercion or to improper inducements likely to impair his freedom to maintain or change his religion or belief. However, what comprises improper inducements is, of course, a matter of broad interpretation, and such a broad prohibition is open to misuse by the state.
The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, in her 2005 Interim report was more sensitive in her approach to the danger to religious freedom inherent in prohibitions on inducement to conversion, as well as that of coercion to convert.
On a principled level, it may be questioned whether such prohibitions in fact protect individual autonomy or rather maintain the cohesiveness of the community.
Four different examples of state prohibition on proselytism exemplify this last point. In the Kokkinakis case, the European Court found Greek anti-proselytism law, which prohibited exertion of influence upon religious belief by moral or material support, or by appeal to someone of low experience or intellectual faculties, to be compatible with Article 9. In Germany, the Constitutional Court decided, in the Tobacco Atheist case, that the denial of parole to a prison inmate who tried to bribe other inmates with tobacco to forswear their religion, did not breach Article 4 of the basic law (which guarantees religious freedom). This, reasoned the Court, was because the right to proselytize exists only when not exploiting a harsh situation of others, which is inconsistent with their dignity.
Based on an apparently similar justification of unfair inducement, Israel's penal law includes offences of offering another person monetary or material compensation to effect his religious conversion, accepting such compensation from another for a religious conversion, and causing the religious conversion of a minor. In 2001, France passed a law 'aimed at strengthening the prevention and the repression against cults and sects', creating a criminal offence of abusing a state of ignorance or weakness, leading the person to an act or an abstention which is seriously harmful to him. This applies not only to minors or persons of diminished legal capacity (in which case the law is undoubtedly a justified restriction), but also to 'persons in a state of psychological or physical subjection resulting from serious pressures exercised', a less clear and more controversial category. Depending on its interpretation, this definition could mean different things. Under a broad interpretation, this could even include pressures that are equivalent to high-pressure sales techniques.
Seemingly, restrictions on proselytism are justified as even liberals exclude some classes of people from full autonomy. These restrictions are based on an objection to the use of manipulative techniques to cause someone to change their religion. However, use of the same manipulative techniques on people who are already members of the religion (or other ideological group), including children, in order to maintain their membership, is not considered illegal. Thus, welfare provisions for members of a church would not be illegal, but provision of the same services for outsiders would be. This shows that behind a facade of individual-based reasoning, the prohibitions are predicated on a view of religious freedom as a group identity right. So, breaking this identity in a way incompatible with full autonomy is seen as harmful, but maintaining identity through similar means is not.
Article 9 does not protect improper proselytism such as the offering of material or social advantage, stated the European Court in Larissis v. Greece? But religious institutions routinely offer material and social advantages to their own members in order to keep them as members. It is only when religions do so in conversion of others that states interfere. If the object is to protect individuals from undue influence, why do prohibitions exist in one case but not the other? Possibly what is protected is more the group to which the individuals belong, rather than the individuals themselves.
There is yet another consideration: as we have seen, prohibitions on proselytism have been enacted regarding the use of material inducements or exertion of influence on people whose capacities or circumstances render them vulnerable. All are forms of manipulation regarded as improper. But manipulation is a constant element in interactions between people in society. Prohibitions apply almost only to conversion of religious beliefs; manipulation of other ideas and beliefs in similar circumstances (ranging from political persuasion and election campaigning to the inducement to purchase products, by means including PR and advertising) generally remains legal, and even desirable in a society predicated on a free marketplace of ideas. This distinction between change of religious beliefs and change of any other belief lacks any coherent justification. This further points to the conclusion that prohibitions on proselytism are, in fact, intended to protect and foster existing religious identities rather than individual autonomy.
This criticism applies to laws prohibiting proselytism of adults. Prohibitions on inducing children to convert are justified, based on the widely shared perception that it is easier for adults to manipulate children's beliefs. Indeed, calls for stricter regulation of commercial advertising targeted at children follow the same approach. Differential treatment regarding adults, protecting them from manipulation of religious beliefs but not from manipulation of other categories of beliefs and ideas, hints that states which prohibit conversion for a pecuniary interest are protecting groups from 'poaching' members rather than the individual aspect of religious freedom. Thus, under an individual-based conception of religious freedom, many restrictions on proselytism are unjustifiable.
More information please go to http://law.oxy.co/ . Thanks you very much. See you again.
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Restrictions On Proselytism Community Identity
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Stephen Curry scored 28 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 14 in his Golden State debut as the visiting Warriors extended their winning streak to seven games with a 112-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
Cousins, who missed nearly a year of action because of an Achilles injury, fouled out in just 15 minutes of court time. He shot 5 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while adding six rebounds.
Kevin Durant added 24 points for the Warriors. Tobias Harris scored 28 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 for the Clippers, who dropped their fifth consecutive game.
Kyrie Irving stalled a rally with two consecutive jumpers and later added a game-clinching 3-pointer to cap a 38-point effort as host Boston held on to beat Memphis.
Marcus Smart and Al Horford also hit key late hoops to finish off high-scoring nights in helping the Celtics win their second straight and complete a two-game, season-series sweep of the Grizzlies.
Mike Conley had 26 points to pace the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth straight.
Marco Belinelli canned two crucial free throws with 4.2 seconds left to play, and LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 25 points as San Antonio outlasted Minnesota in Minneapolis in a game featuring 27 lead changes and 17 ties through the middle of the fourth quarter.
Gay scored 22 points for the Spurs, while Belinelli had 19 points, Derrick White added 15, and Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes poured in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for San Antonio, which has won two straight.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Rose led the Timberwolves with 23 points each. Wiggins tallied 17 points, while Teague had 15, Taj Gibson scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Josh Okogie contributed 10 points for Minnesota.
Damian Lillard scored 24 points while CJ McCollum and Jake Layman added 20 apiece as Portland downed visiting New Orleans.
Jusuf Nurkic contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who extended their home winning streak to six games. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 15 points and Maurice Harkless had 12 for Portland.
Anthony Davis scored 27 points, Jrue Holiday chipped in 20 points and Julius Randle collected 19 points and nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who fell to 6-19 on the road this season. New Orleans has lost three of four overall.
Blake Griffin collected 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Detroit overcame the early departure of Andre Drummond to edge visiting Miami.
Luke Kennard scored 22 points off the bench and Reggie Bullock had 19 for the Pistons. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 20 points and eight assists off the bench. Tyler Johnson contributed 16 points and Justise Winslow added 15 with nine rebounds.
Miami guard Josh Richardson missed the game due to an illness. The Pistons lost two key players in the opening half. Drummond, the league's top rebounder, sustained a nasal injury when he was struck by a James Johnson elbow. Ish Smith departed shortly after entering the game due to groin tightness.
D'Angelo Russell scored a season-high 40 points to lead visiting Brooklyn to a comeback win over Orlando.
Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points for the Nets, who have a winning record for the first time this season, 24-23. Brooklyn, which trailed by 21 points in the second quarter Friday, was 10 games below .500 through Dec. 5 but has gone 16-5 since.
Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 23 points, but he exited the game in the fourth quarter with lower back tightness and did not return. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 17 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points as Utah rolled to an easy victory over Cleveland in Salt Lake City.
Rudy Gobert added 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and collected 15 rebounds as Utah extended its season-best winning streak to six games. Royce O'Neale had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick Favors had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jae Crowder scored 11 points for the Jazz.
Ante Zizic contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Collin Sexton also had 15 points.


Out with the old; in with the new. Ushering in the New Year means taking stock of the accomplishments and lessons learned in the previous year, while looking ahead at where the opportunities lie in the twelve months to come. For most of us, this means making resolutions and setting goals, but for a CIO it's often not that simple.
Historically the questions that keep a CIO up at night have been, "How do I industrialize IT and make it bulletproof? How can I/my IT team root out performance and security problems? How do we ensure the business is running the most efficient IT processes?" These are all very realistic challenges CIOs continue to face today.
In today's digital, mobile-first environment, how does the CIO continue to invest in traditional IT while at the same time address the need to unleash change at a supercharged, accelerated pace? Many have not been able to keep up, evidenced by the fact that 52 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist since 2000.
What the Cloud Means for IT Asset Management (ITAM)?
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There has been so much activity on all levels of the TB Voices Project these days, that frankly, I am tired! But I am so proud of the entire project and I know that our hard work is going to translate into support and inspiration to those who are newly diagnosed with TB. Also, when the future TB cases occur in our community, we hope that the media and the community responds with support and compassion, not blaming and fear. If you haven't watched our TB Voices video featured on the homepage of our website, I highly recommend it!


It's Friday again and you know what that means: Don't DRINK! Caroline was kind and brave enough to share her story with the rest of us lookie-loos and potential or current alchies. Thank you Caroline.
"One drink is too many . . . 100 is never enough.
When I was younger, ever since I can remember, my mother cautioned me about the evils of alcohol. She would tell me tales of her father and his constant struggle with the bottle that ultimately killed him. She told me, too, of my own father and his father, who were both raging alcoholics who became violent when under the influence. Because of my father's alcoholism, my mother left him before I was born, and I never met him until I was 14 years old. I ignored her, telling myself that I was nothing like them. I was a good kid who always earned great grades, who studied hard, and who had dreams of becoming an attorney. Nothing would change that.
The first time I can remember drinking, I was fourteen years old. I don't remember what we drank that night, but I do remember that I did not stop until I was violently ill and passed out. That was the beginning of a pattern that never changed during my drinking career. I did not drink often, but when I did, there was no "off switch." I rationalized those early experiences by telling myself that the rare blackout was not a problem.
In college, I drank nearly every night, which came with daily hangovers, unexplained bruising, and even a chipped tooth. When my employer noticed the problem, she told me that she would fire me if I didn't stop. So I did. Amazed at how easy it seemed, I used that to reinforce my own claim that I was nothing like other members of my family. For years, I drank so infrequently that I soon forgot those early problems that should have been a sign for me. Instead, I told myself that drinking as I did, at parties, was appropriate, even if I did get sick and pass out. My motto was, "Never drink at home, never drink alone." It seemed to work, and I went on to graduate from college, graduate school, and law school.
In 2004, I went to work at a law firm where most of the other attorneys had a fondness for "happy hour." I returned home from my first happy hour completely drunk, and I had left early. Stupidly, I told my roommate that I would need to drink more often to build up a tolerance to keep up with them. Within months, I was arrested and received my first (and only) DWI. Instead of taking that as a sign, my arrest simply pushed me into isolation. Instead of going to happy hour, I drank at home, alone, forgetting my early mantra. Eventually, my roommate left. My mother, who moved in with me briefly also left, telling me that she wouldn't watch me kill myself. I was alone, trying to find that perfect combination of alcohol that would allow me to get drunk without hurting others and myself.
I wanted to control my drinking so badly. I tried drinking just wine, or just vodka, which seemed to work, until I woke up from a blackout one night lying in a pool of blood. Finally, I settled on beer, which I told myself should work, since I despised the taste. Nothing worked, and eventually, I found myself taking a handful of Benadryl when I got home, hoping that I would pass out quickly and wake up with no hangover. I was killing myself. In April 2007, mere weeks after I had purchased my first home, and just over a month before my wedding, I called in drunk and quit my job. I thought my career as an attorney was utterly destroyed. Then, when I got married, I believed his presence would change me, but by August 2007, I was taking so many pills and was drinking so heavily, I realized, in a moment of clarity, that I would one day go to sleep and never wake up.
That is when I sought help.
It was not easy to admit to a roomful of people that I am an alcoholic. It was mortifying, but I remember hearing promises that things would get better, if I would simply commit to working a program of recovery that required me to follow simple instructions from one who shared my disease.
Three years later, I know that, because of that painful admission, "I am an alcoholic," I have my career back, and it is thriving. I have become a mother to a beautiful little girl who has never seen me drunk. I know who her father is, and when she was conceived. I am a wife. I have made peace with my past and made amends to those I had harmed. I am no longer isolated from the world around me. I have friends, and I have the respect of my family once more. I have been given the opportunity to help other women, passing on knowledge that was given so freely to me. I am no longer ashamed of my past mistakes. Most importantly, I am alive to experience the many blessings that are present in my life on a daily basis.
and as always, if you join our Booze Free Brigade Yahoo Group you will find a lot of women committed to helping you quit drinking, helping you recognize if you have a problem and walking the same path.


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text:
Q: Using React Native StyleSheet like class of HTML I had this question a long time ago. What if I use React Native StyleSheet like class of HTML? I really did use it. I have a lot of styles (names are based on Bootstrap Class Name).
import { StyleSheet } from "react-native";

const s = StyleSheet.create({
  flex: { flex: 1 },
  flexCenter: {
    flex: 1,
    alignItems: "center",
    justifyContent: "center",
    paddingVertical: 24,
  },
  p0: { padding: 0 },
  p1: { padding: 4 },
  p2: { padding: 8 },
  textLight: { color: "#eee" },
  fsLg: { fontSize: 18 },
  ... and so on
});

export default s;

Then, in components I use it like this.
<Text style={[s.fsLg, s.p2, s.textLight]}>Title</Text>

I do not use it anymore because I had a feeling it was a bad practice. I don't know surely. I have read official react native styling. They did not mention this is bad. How do anyone think?

A: When in doubt, check the docs: https://reactnative.dev/docs/style
The style prop can be a plain old JavaScript object. That's what we usually use for example code. You can also pass an array of styles - the last style in the array has precedence, so you can use this to inherit styles.
From the second paragraph. This is a recommended practice.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
https://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2013/04/08/photos-of-the-day-april-8-2/
Photos of the Day: April 8
By WSJ Staff-
Updated April 8, 2013 4:56 pm ET
GOLDEN FIELD: A farmer harvested wheat in a field near Allahabad, India, Monday. (Sanjay Kanojia/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
IN MEMORIAM: A portrait of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and flowers sat outside her home in London's Chester Square after her spokesman announced her death on Monday. He said Mrs. Thatcher 'died peacefully following a stroke this morning.' She was 87. (Peter MacDiarmid/Getty Images)
UNCERTAIN FATE: Would-be immigrants, photographed through glass, waited to be transferred after Spanish emergency-services personnel rescued them from inflatable vessels Monday as they traveled across the Strait of Gibraltar. Dozens of Africans were rescued off the Spanish coast. (Marcos Moreno/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
BY THE RIVER: North Korean soldiers washed their socks and hands on the banks of Yalu River, near Sinuiju, North Korea, opposite Liaoning province, China, Monday. (Jacky Chen/Reuters)
TEEING IT UP: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice laughed on the practice range with Augusta National Golf Club members Dave Dorman, left, and Pat Battle, center, in Augusta, Ga., Sunday. Ms. Rice and financier Darla Moore were the first women invited to join the home course of the Masters Tournament in 2012. (Ron Williams/Associated Press)
CRASHING IN: A firefighter walked past a single-engine plane that crashed into a hangar at an airfield in Neustadt-Glewe, Germany, Monday. Authorities said the pilot died. (Jens Buettner/dpa/Zuma Press)
BEEP, BEEP: A boy played inside a damaged vehicle in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday. (A.M. Ahad/Associated Press)
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW: A customer examined a pigeon with a magnifier at a market in Chongqing, China, Sunday. (China Daily/Reuters)
HERE COMES BABY: Men pushed their children during a stroller race in Brno, Czech Republic, Sunday. Similar races were held in dozens of locations in the country on World Health Day. (Radek Mica/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
BURIED ALIVE: People tried to free a man trapped under rubble after eyewitnesses said a government airstrike destroyed apartment blocks in a residential neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday. (Victor Breiner/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
COURT CHAOS: Police fired tear gas and water cannons Monday in Silivri, Turkey, at thousands of demonstrators protesting against a mass trial of 275 defendants accused of plotting to topple the Turkish government. At least three people were injured, and the hearing was postponed. (Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
NO FEAR: U.S. Marines looked at a snake before it was slaughtered for lunch at a jungle-survival exercise as part of a Philippines-U.S. military exercise in Capas, Philippines, Monday. (Erik De Castro/Reuters)


The employee must be "served with a notice setting forth the consequences" of the employee's refusal.
The requirement for the service of a notice suggests that the notice must be written. The requirement that the notice set forth the consequences suggests that the notice must be provided prior to the refusal. The intent of the statutory language is to provide to the employee a written warning of the consequences of a refusal (suspension of TTD) so that the consequences may be avoided.
IC 22-3-3-11 provides that the notice must be "in a form" prescribed by the Worker's Compensation Board (Board). Form 54217 – Notice of Suspension of Compensation and/or Benefits is to be used when an employer intends to suspend benefits. The Board does not have a form which would be used to provide advance notice of the consequences of refusal. So, the employer must develop and provide a written notice which is consistent with Form 54217, but is not Form 54217.
If the employee refuses the light duty job tender, the employer must understand the employee's reasons for refusing the job and be prepared to prove that job was "suitable" given the employee's "capacity" and that the refusal was not "justifiable". In other words, the job must be established to be reasonable for the employee in question. For example, if the employee takes a bus to the regular job in Indianapolis because he does not have a driver's license and the light duty job is at a different location in Indianapolis where the bus does not go, is that job reasonable? If the regular job is as a general laborer and the light duty job requires data entry, is that job reasonable? If the regular job is third shift, the employee watches the baby at home during the day while the spouse works and the light duty job is first shift, is that job reasonable?
The tender of a light duty job must meet the requirements of 1) and 2) before a suspension of compensation due to a refusal of the light duty job may be sustained.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019 at 8:57 pm	and is filed under Workers Compensation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


Seeking to harness economic anxieties heading into November's midterms, House Democrats on Thursday launched an anti-poverty tour designed to highlight the plight of the poor under Republican control of Congress and the White House.
Led by Rep. Barbara Lee Barbara Jean LeeProgressives threaten to derail major Dem spending proposal Speaker in waiting? Rapid rise of Hakeem Jeffries fuels talk Congress should look into its own taxes and travel, not just Trump's MORE (D-Calif.), who heads the party's anti-poverty task force, the members are making the case that the growing economy has affected America's classes disproportionately, showering the wealthy with handsome benefits while leaving lower-income people behind. The trend has only been exacerbated by Republican economic policies, contend the Democrats, who are seeking alternative legislative solutions aimed at boosting the financial fortunes of the country's poorest people.
"When you look at many of the budget cuts that they've proposed, more people would fall below the poverty line," Lee said Thursday by phone.
Lee has a high-powered partner on the tour in Rep. Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton HoyerDemocrats leave impeachment on the table House Dem dismisses impeachment push: 'I'd rather defeat' Trump at ballot box Democrats renew attacks on Trump attorney general MORE (Md.), the Democratic whip, who's pointing to the Republicans' tax reform law as evidence that Republicans are less concerned with deficit spending than they are with cutting federal programs, many of them designed to help the poor.
Lee and Hoyer plan to launch the tour Friday in Dallas, where they'll meet with residents living in poverty and advocates fighting to alleviate it. Joined by two Democratic Dallas-based lawmakers, Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson Eddie Bernice JohnsonHillicon Valley — Presented by CTIA and America's wireless industry — Prosecutors used FISA warrant to get info on Huawei | Study finds discrimination in Facebook ads | Bezos retains voting control over ex-wife's Amazon stocks Dem senators introduce bill to combat sexual harassment in STEM Pelosi, Dems unveil bill to bind Trump to Paris climate accord MORE (Texas) and Marc Veasey Marc Allison VeaseyThe Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump attacks on McCain rattle GOP senators Congressional Black Caucus faces tough decision on Harris, Booker Overnight Defense: VA pick breezes through confirmation hearing | House votes to move on defense bill negotiations | Senate bill would set 'stringent' oversight on North Korea talks MORE (Texas), the lawmakers are seeking anti-poverty strategies they can eventually forge into specific policy proposals.
"We're going to see what we find, we're going to come back … and we're going to see whether there are programs that, in fact, need to either be expanded, programs that may not be working as well as we want, and investments we that need to make in education and job-training in order to get people into a place where they're succeeding," Hoyer said.
Aside from the tax law, the Democrats are hammering Republicans for rejecting a minimum wage hike and a recent proposal, contained in the farm bill, which is predicted to cut millions of people off of the federal food stamp program.
"That's not going to help lift people out of poverty, but create more poverty," Lee said.
Outlining the class divisions, researchers at the Urban Institute have found that, over the last five decades, families living near the bottom of the wealth spectrum (those in the 10th percentile) have lost ground and are now living in debt, while those at the top (the 99th percentile) have increased their wealth by five times. Race is a major factor governing the disparities, the researchers emphasized, as white families are much more successful than black families in growing wealth as they age.
President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump calls Sri Lankan prime minister following church bombings Ex-Trump lawyer: Mueller knew Trump had to call investigation a 'witch hunt' for 'political reasons' The biggest challenge from the Mueller Report depends on the vigilance of everyone MORE, on the campaign trail, had promised to fight for struggling families, vowing to grow the economy by 4 percent — or more — if he reached the White House. And he's been quick to take credit for the stock market gains and falling unemployment under his watch. The tax bill, he says, will provide an additional boon, sparking a blizzard of new economic growth that will ultimately benefit taxpayers of all incomes.
"Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!" Trump tweeted on Memorial Day.
But the Commerce Department on Wednesday downgraded growth in the first quarter of the year to 2.2 percent. And recent polls hint that economic insecurity remains a nagging concern for most people. A Morning Consult/Politico survey released Thursday found that while 51 percent of voters are optimistic about the economy generally, the same percentage are less confident about their personal finances.
Democrats, eying a House takeover in November, have hoped to build on those anxieties with a 2018 platform focused on fundamental pocketbook issues such as creating jobs, training a modern-day workforce and lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Their anti-poverty tour, while not falling directly under their "Better Deal" banner, is nonetheless an extension of the message that they're the party fighting for the little guy.
"We're trying to elevate this whole issue of poverty, in Congress, and bring communities living really shamefully, below the poverty line because of wage and economic inequality to the forefront of our policies," Lee said.
After Dallas, the Democrats will continue their tour in the coming weeks with other stops around the country.
Hoyer acknowledged that, with Republicans controlling Congress, any legislation arising from the listening sessions has no chance of moving this year. But the hope, he said, is that the tour will guide the Democrats' agenda if they win back the House in 2019.
"I do expect this to be a foundation for seeing what legislation needs to be suggested for the next Congress," he said.


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A Trip to Peru (part 1 of 2)
November 9, 2017 By Heather Lysantri
In September, we were lucky enough to go to Peru! Well, Alex and the kids stayed home to take care of the farm. But my sister and I, as passionate alpaca breeders, got to go to Peru and experience alpacas in their native environment and learn about the long tradition of alpaca-based textiles there. Thanks, Alex and kids!
Today's post will take a look at the incredible land alpacas call home and the alpacas themselves. A post next week will feature our visits to two different cultural heritage centers/museums.
So. Peru. We spent most of our time in various towns in the Sacred Valley, in the Cusco Region. In this landscape, the Andes dominate, and are absolutely gorgeous. We "oooooh"-ed and "aaaahhh"-ed enough during one drive that our blessed driver finally just laughed and pulled over so that we could get out and take some pictures. How can you not be awestruck with views like this?
Looking down into the Sacred Valley
Or, from the other direction, as it were, views like this?
Looking out and up from the Sacred Valley
Do you see all of those lines going across the mountain in front? Those, it turns out, are worn and ancient remains of stepped terraces cut into the mountainside by the Inca peoples of the region. In fact, when we were at the pulloff spot taking the pictures from above the valley, there were ruins right behind us that were in better shape.
There are ruins just about everywhere you turn, and it's humbling to think how ingeniously (and how far up the mountains!) the people indigenous to this land worked with their environment to develop a thriving society.
The Alpacas
We were fortunate enough to meet up with an alpaca breeder in the area, Feliz, who agreed to take us to the land where he keeps his herds. It wasn't quite seeing alpacas in the wild, but the grazing lands he shares with his community are vast enough that they don't fence alpacas in the way we have to keep them here in the states! Feliz wasn't quite sure how much land their community had for grazing, but he thought it was probably over 1,000 acres.
He and his son drove us out of town, then out of the smaller town, and then up, up, up into the mountains, where there were small villages that dotted the landscape. Eventually the paved road gave way to packed gravel, and before it was over we were just literally driving up the side of a mountain where no road at all led the way. It was not a trip for a person with a tendency to get car sick!
As we rode along, it seemed like Feliz was looking for the herds – not too surprising given how much land they have for wandering. It turns out, that's exactly what was happening, except technically he was looking for his aunt, who stays with the herd to keep an eye on them, and passes the time spinning fiber and weaving in the field. When he spotted her, we all got out of the car and hiked our way down to where she was sitting with her weaving, and Feliz let us look around while he visited with her.
Feliz and his aunt. He's holding a slingshot, which he uses to throw rocks at predators that get too close to the herd. His aunt is spinning fleece with a drop spindle.
Our alpacas in Maryland have a pretty sweet life, but we couldn't help but think they would be jealous of the space their cousins in Peru get to enjoy.
Alpacas (and their sheep friends) have LOTS of room to roam in Peru.
It turns out that Feliz has three different herds of alpaca, and we were visiting one of them. The other two herds had moved too far from the road for us to get to – it was looking for the second that we ended up driving up the roadless mountain! Fortunately, while we were wandering around this first herd, we thought to ask Feliz if it might be possible to actually get a good look at the fleece on the animals. The herd isn't what you'd want to call tame, but Feliz managed to sneak up behind one of the alpacas and grabbed a leg, which was impressive to watch. Once he had the alpaca in hand, it was quite calm, and we got to go up and investigate.
This beauty is the alpaca Feliz caught. Look at that fleece!
Because of the altitude and climate, they shear the alpacas every two years instead of annually. The fleece gets unbelievably thick, and we were wondering just how long it was on these Huacaya that are due to get their shearing in March. The density and crimp of the fiber was incredible.
No wonder they stay so toasty warm in the mountains!
How lucky to be able to visit this alpaca breeder's herd! It was kind of him to take the time to pick us up, drive us out there, and show us around, not to mention catching an alpaca! It's hard to imagine ranching on the scale that he does – both in terms of the number of animals and the expanse of land.
One thing is for sure, though: no matter where you find them, alpacas are just about the sweetest animals around.
Feliz and his aunt with Heather and her new best alpaca friend.
Also, just because they were the happiest piggies I've ever seen, here's a picture of some pigs, who were happily rooting around in the mountains with the alpacas and sheep.
Happy pigs! The amount of earth they can throw around while they root is impressive.
Filed Under: All About Alpacas Tagged With: alpaca, alpaca fleece, Peru, travel


There is a lot of buzz about branding, and while it may seem like it's the place of large companies, they all started small once and there is a lot we can learn from the power of branding. The building blocks are basically the same whether you're a start-up or a well-established business.
Good brands allow us to make purchase decisions very easily, and a strong brand has real value, where potential customers will choose to buy from you over the competition. One very important aspect for effective brand-building is to ensure you project the same brand identity across multiple platforms.
A strong brand identity conveys your brand's personality and values – and extends to every marketing channel and tactic your business puts in place.
Think of MacDonald's and how consistent their brand is, no matter which part of the world you are in.
One reason why McDonald's is so successful is that it has a highly recognisable brand identity. You know that no matter where you are, they will all look the same, from the menus, to the same quality and taste in food, to the key mascot, Ronald McDonald. The shear consistency of this amazing brand is part of the reason why McDonald's is one of the biggest brands of all time. The same consistency can ensure the success of your businesses brand.
All too often I'll come across a small business where their online brand is very different to what's conveyed in their brochure. This is because they've outsourced their logo to someone overseas, the owners younger brother studying IT has built the website, then they've run down the road to the local print shop to have a brochure template designed by one of the assistants. Over time the different designers, printers, sign writers, web developers and even staff members slowly erode the brand you've worked hard to create over the years.
Do your branded materials consistently 'wow' your prospects?
It's important to project a professional brand identity that rivals the "big guys" by coordinating your look across the full range of marketing materials you use — from your business cards and other printed materials such as envelopes and letterhead to your online presence via a website or Facebook page. Your communication and marketing materials should signal that you've "got it together," and you're someone customers can trust to get the job done well.
In a world where first impressions count for so much, it is essential to use professionally branded marketing materials to promote your products or services consistently at every customer touch point. Things to look out for which designers pay careful attention to are use of different fonts, colours, layout, image styles – all which affect the overall brand and are often not kept consistent.
As a busy business owner on a tight budget, you may be wondering how on earth you'll be able to find the time and money to create a professional, coordinated look for your brand.
If costs are a big issue for you, then getting your designer to create a brand style guide is a worthy investment. This way your employees and suppliers can ensure your brand is kept consistent no matter which medium you use to promote your business.
Our job was to develop their brand by keep the integrity of their identity consistent across all forms of communication.
If you want to know if your brand is working for you, why not contact us today to organise a free brand consultation with Bright Owl Marketing.


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Taylor Swift's Grammy Dancing Skills Are Still Just As Awkward As Ever & It's Stealing The Show
By Rachel Simon
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
For any fans who were disappointed a few weeks back when it was announced that Taylor Swift wouldn't be performing at the Grammys, the singer's actions at the awards show Sunday night should've acted as a decent consolation prize. While the psychic Swift, up for three awards, didn't take the stage to perform, she didn't exactly stay in her seat, either; alongside her best friend and Grammys date Abigail Anderson, the star spent the night singing along, dancing enthusiastically, and generally looking like she was having an amazing time every time the camera was aimed in her direction.
Not that anyone should be surprised, of course. Swift has made her love for award shows clear time and time again, having been caught grooving in her seat alongside her closest friends at events ranging from the VMAs to the AMAs. And back at the beginning of the month, the singer even posted on Tumblr about her plans for this year's Grammys, saying that she was "really excited" about having a "dance party/rage fest in the audience."
And clearly, she kept her word; as anyone who watched the show saw, Swift seemed to be having a great time all night long. Anderson and fellow Swift friends Haim, who sat right beside the singer, took part in the action, too, dancing alongside the star to everyone else's performances. Whether it was rocking out to Madonna's "Living for Love" or ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky," Swift seemed to be having more fun at the Grammys than practically anyone — well, except maybe Paul McCartney.
Hopefully, when the non-"Shake It Off" parts of 1989 are eligible for awards, Swift will do more than just sway in her seat at shows. The dancing is great and all, but I'm counting down the days until we get to see "Blank Space" or "Shake It Off" performed on the Grammy stage.
Images: Giphy, Giphy


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Leftovers: Kool-Aid turns to edible slime; Biscoff chills out in ice cream
The cookie that's popular on airplanes is heading to the frozen aisle this summer, and Chiquita is branching out beyond bananas with prepackaged healthy snacks.
By Food Dive staff
Leftovers is our look at a few of the product ideas popping up everywhere — some are intriguing, some sound amazing and some are the kinds of ideas we would never dream of. We can't write about everything that we get pitched, so here are the leftovers pulled from our inboxes.
The Pitcher Man gets slimed
It's getting easier and easier for kids to get permission to play with their food before eating it.
Craft City, a craft kit company, is partnering with Kraft Heinz to launch Make Your Own Kool-Aid Edible Slime Kits, according to a statement emailed to Food Dive. The kits, which prominently feature the classic Pitcher Man on its packaging, are now available nationwide at CVS for about $15 each.
Each one has the ingredients to make two slime batches in signature Kool-Aid flavors: Cherry and Blue Raspberry. It also comes with a bowl, spoon, gloves and confetti to add color and texture to the slime.
This isn't the first slime creation from Kraft Heinz. Last year, the company launched an edible Jell-O slime in unicorn-themed strawberry and monster-themed lime flavors. The Kool-Aid version can be stored and consumed at a later time, while the Jell-O ooze needs to be thrown out after each use, according to People magazine. That could give this new creation an advantage with parents who don't want to continue buying new slime.
Slime has skyrocketed in popularity recently due to social media attention. At the end of last year, there were more than 20 million slime-related posts on Instagram and thousands of how-to YouTube videos, Kraft Heinz said.
This new creation also could have an advantage when it comes to promoting it. Karina Garcia, the founder of Craft City, is known as the "Queen of Slime" with her YouTube videos that feature her playing with different types of ooze. Her following of more than 9 million subscribers on YouTube could help boost the new Kool-Aid brand.
Other products have taken advantage of the popular slime theme as well. Nickelodeon launched ice cream cups and frozen bars with its classic green slime at Walmart earlier this year. More brands might be developing their own slime creations as the trend grows.
Kool-Aid has been used in different products before, including fruit and vegetables pickled in the juice and sangria made with the drink. With a fan base for Kool-Aid and the popularity of edible slime, this latest kit could be a hit.
— Lillianna Byington
Biscoff chills out in the ice cream section
The Biscoff cookie has long been a popular staple on airplanes and hotels, but now the maker of the renowned snack is heading to the frozen aisle.
Lotus Bakeries, the maker of the famous Biscoff cookie, is introducing a new line of super-premium ice cream available in both pints and bars — enabling the sweet to be consumed while lounging around at home or gobbled up on the go.
Lotus said pints are hitting shelves this month — not surprisingly one of the most popular months for consumption — with bars expected to debut in October. The pints will be available in five flavors: Original, Chocolate Brownie, Salted Caramel, Belgian Chocolate Chip and Blueberry Cheesecake. The bar will dip the ice cream into cookie butter and add a layer of Belgian chocolate.
Michelle Singer, Lotus Bakeries' U.S. general manager, said in a statement that "Biscoff is exploding in the U.S." If that's true, the family-owned Belgium company is smart to tap into a section of the store that is not associated with the brand. Retail stores sell the cookies and a Biscoff spread, and it has even partnered on other items like a cake, but ice cream seems a logical extension, especially during the hot summer months.
Ice cream and sherbert sales rose 0.2% to $6.8 billion in the 52-weeks ended on Nov. 4, 2018, according to IRI data cited by DairyFoods.com, with unit sales rising 1.1% to 1.8 billion during the same period. While much of the focus in ice cream lately has been on lower calorie, lower sugar and higher protein options like Halo Top, the segment is not without its share of innovation.
Unilever-owned Talenti recently introduced a new line called Gelato Layers, while its Ben & Jerry's brand will create CBD-infused frozen treats once there are regulations in place from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The International Dairy Foods Association said vanilla, chocolate, cookies n' cream, mint chocolate chip and chocolate chip cookie dough are the five most popular ice cream flavors. Lotus can only hope that one day it will have a place on that coveted list.
— Christopher Doering
Yes, we have no bananas
When someone says "Chiquita," most consumers think of bananas.
The iconic banana has been imported to the United States since 1899, and the blue Chiquita sticker has represented the gold standard for bananas since 1963.
So it seems that a new launch from Chiquita would have bananas, right? Well, not exactly.
In a partnership with Chiquita-owned packaged salad giant Fresh Express, the company is launching Chiquita Bites and Chiquita Sticks. The new line has five varieties of prepackaged healthy snacks that combine fruit, cheese, nuts, crackers and pretzels.
But the fruit? Apples, not bananas.
While the well-known Chiquita banana has been sold for generations, the company started selling sliced apples about 10 years ago. So this launch is putting together the pre-sliced apples with other nutritious items to make a healthy snack.
Convenient and healthy snacks are especially important to young consumers. Snacks like these are easy to eat on the run, better-for-you and carry the added bonus of an instantly recognizable brand name — even if the snack packs don't contain what the company is best known for.
It's smart for Chiquita to branch out beyond the banana business. While 78% of U.S. consumers buy bananas, according to a survey from the Produce Marketing Association, the fruit isn't the best for adding to a prepackaged snack. Extremely soft bananas don't hold up well once they are peeled — and have a shelf life of only about a week.
While consumers love bananas, researchers have cautioned that a virus fatal to banana trees is spreading. If the virus reaches South American banana plantations, some believe it could lead to the extinction of the Cavendish variety, which is what people worldwide are used to eating.
Adding on-the-go prepackaged apple and protein snacks to its portfolio is a good way for Chiquita to branch out into a lucrative sector of the market — and retain the company's appeal in the future.
— Megan Poinski
Filed Under: Corporate Marketing
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Plans to demolish a former school and help conquer a vandalism problem plaguing neighbours have taken a leap forward.
Aberdeen City Council has submitted a building warrant application to flatten the former Kincorth Academy school buildings on Kincorth Circle.
The school closed its doors for the final time at the end of the last academic year in July, with pupils moving to the new Lochside Academy in Nigg in August.
Since it closed, vandals have been depriving residents in the area of sleep by tampering with alarms inside the building.
Emergency services were called to the school at least three times in one week recently, with wailing alarms repeatedly waking up locals after intruders broke in.
The yobs' antics saw police launch an appeal last month after the former school was again vandalised.
Officers said "extensive damage" had been done to a number of windows and the alarm system tampered with.
In another incident, almost 40 fire extinguishers were found abandoned in a playpark after a break-in.
Catherine Cowie, secretary of Kincorth Community Council, welcomed the news the buildings could soon be erased from the local landscape.
She said: "From our point of view it would be better to take it down so there's not any more damage.
"Not that long ago it was broken into and the fire extinguishers were thrown all over the place.
"There will be less chance of accidents and break-ins and that sort of thing.
Members of the council's capital programme committee unanimously approved the business case for the demolition earlier this year.
The site has been earmarked for council housing, although detailed plans have yet to come forward.
Torry Academy is also due to be bulldozed, after it also closed and pupils joined those from Kincorth at Lochside, with that site identified as the preferred one for a new primary school and community hub.
Kincorth Academy, which first opened its doors in 1971, marked its closure with an open day for former pupils and staff as well as a football match between pupils and staff.


I took the day off and went to my favorite volcano. It's about an hour from my house, a gorgeous drive through the heart of the mojave. I had a perfect picnic lunch with prosecco, cheese and crackers packed. Mr D was in the passenger seat. The top was down. It was 78 in Amboy, and we had a lovely hike to the center of the volcano. Gazing upon the black lava flows -- I never tire of this landscape.
I watched butterflies zoom and flit in the wind. How surprising, I thought, butterflies on a volcano. The wind was relentless, but refreshing. The sun was warm. My feet crunched on rock and sunk into sand. Up on the rim, overlooking the world, I remembered it was Thursday afternoon. No day job to hold me back from adventures!