text:
Q: Adjusting vertical height of a character in an NSMutableAttributedString I have an NSMutableAttributedString with a + in the first character that I want to lift 2 pts.
I can kern with this:
attributedAmountText.addAttribute(NSKernAttributeName, value: 2.0, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: 1))
Is there a way to lift that first character? Sort of like a vertical kern
Edit:
Trying attributedAmountText.addAttribute(NSBaselineOffsetAttributeName, value: 2.0, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: 1)) actually moves the baseline itself rather than the text vertically off the baseline which seems odd since the docs say otherwise:

The value of this attribute is an NSNumber object containing a floating point value indicating the character's offset from the baseline, in points. The default value is 0.

A: Hmmm... A quick test of this code:
class ScalingViewController: UIViewController {

    @IBOutlet weak var theLabel: UILabel!

    @IBOutlet weak var theOtherLabel: UILabel!

    let now = Date()

    let labelA: UILabel = {
        let v = UILabel()
        v.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        v.backgroundColor = UIColor.cyan
        return v
    }()

    let labelB: UILabel = {
        let v = UILabel()
        v.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        v.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        return v
    }()

    let labelC: UILabel = {
        let v = UILabel()
        v.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        v.backgroundColor = UIColor.green
        return v
    }()

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        view.addSubview(labelA)
        view.addSubview(labelB)
        view.addSubview(labelC)

        labelA.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor, constant: 40.0).isActive = true
        labelA.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor, constant: 8.0).isActive = true

        labelB.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: labelA.topAnchor, constant: 0.0).isActive = true
        labelB.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: labelA.trailingAnchor, constant: 8.0).isActive = true

        labelC.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: labelA.topAnchor, constant: 0.0).isActive = true
        labelC.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: labelB.trailingAnchor, constant: 8.0).isActive = true

        var aText = NSMutableAttributedString()
        let baseFont = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 30.0, weight: UIFontWeightLight)

        let testString = "Example"
        let tsLength = testString.characters.count

        // Font only
        aText = NSMutableAttributedString()
        aText.append(NSMutableAttributedString(string: testString, attributes: [NSFontAttributeName: baseFont]))

        labelA.attributedText = aText

        // Font + positive Baseline Offset of 1st character
        aText = NSMutableAttributedString()
        aText.append(NSMutableAttributedString(string: testString, attributes: [NSFontAttributeName: baseFont]))
        aText.addAttribute(NSBaselineOffsetAttributeName, value: 10.0, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: 1))

        labelB.attributedText = aText

        // Font + negative Baseline Offset of all but 1st character
        aText = NSMutableAttributedString()
        aText.append(NSMutableAttributedString(string: testString, attributes: [NSFontAttributeName: baseFont]))
        aText.addAttribute(NSBaselineOffsetAttributeName, value: -10.0, range: NSRange(location: 1, length: tsLength - 1))

        labelC.attributedText = aText

    }

}

Gave me this result:

I suppose if I knew enough about all the typography aspects of String attributes this would make sense?


text:
EU Referendum: Entrepreneurs make feelings clear on Brexit
Startups Awards-winning companies have their say on today's referendum and the key points every business owner should consider before voting
by Lucy Wayment
Updated: Jan 29, 2019 Published: Jun 22, 2016
Growth challengesNext
We gathered the founders of some of the UK's most exciting start-ups – all winners at the Startups Awards – and asked them to make a case to Leave or Remain. Before you vote today, read their thoughts and consider how Brexit will affect your business for good or bad…
Every day, new and conflicting stats are revealed claiming worrying findings about what will happen both if we choose to leave and if we remain – so much so that the Startups Team has begun to groan at the sight of a Brexit press release.
But while we may all be sick of the topic, it's a monumental decision that will have a massive impact on the economy – and most importantly for our readers – how we do business.
With so many unknowns, important deals and decisions are grinding to a halt in the lead up to the vote and the only certain thing seems to be that no one really knows, both in terms of how the vote will go but also what will actually happen if the masses vote to leave.
In a recent survey, small business owners remained split over their decision, but it was a bit of a different story at our Startups Awards Winners' dinner. At the first show of hands, eight out of 10 of our start-up founders wanted to stay in the EU, but how did the debate evolve?
Reasons to stay IN
Ease of trading with Europe
Shelley Lawson, Frog Bikes
"We're very keen to stay in Europe, we deal with a few countries outside of the EU and it's much more expensive for them to take our bikes. Norway is a good example, the RRP is a lot higher. We're very into free trade zones. We're selling more in Canada and looking to the US."
Peter Nicholas, Nutriment
"There is no doubt that if we upset the Europeans, they will take vengeance upon us. It will become very difficult to trade with the rest of Europe. Of course they want our business, and we want theirs, but those that make the rules will not be happy."
Julien Callede, Made.com
"From a business point of view, we're making furniture in at least five countries in Europe and selling in six. Everything we sell in mainland Europe, 20-25% of it is made in the UK. I don't see how leaving will be a good thing."
Oliver Bridge, Cornerstone
"Six of our 11 employees are EU citizens, non-UK, so that slightly terrifies me. Half of our staff could be in trouble if we leave. I haven't had anyone reassure me that there's any concrete measures in place if that does happen."
David Cox, haysmacintyre
"I've seen a few of my clients publically come out and say if we Brexit they'll leave the UK. A lot of clients are not British which means they'll leave either because they have to or because the benefits of staying are no longer valid – which is a huge issue for the tech industry, and talent in general."
Regulatory stability
"From a business side of things I'm terrified of leaving. I don't know what's going to happen. Being a particular type of manufacturer – given the consistency of legislation across the whole of Europe – it means we can cookie cutter what we do in Hampshire in Poland, Hungary. Wherever. If your procedures are right, you can take what you do in the UK and do it anywhere in Europe.
"If we come out, that won't happen. As a company that wants to grow in Europe it's terrifying. For the growth of UK manufacturing it's also a scary thought."
"The big problem for me is that the leave campaign's main argument is that there won't be tariffs. But that's not what's important to us. We've got an EU passport to sell skincare and cosmetics products to any EU country. The regulatory stability is really crucial. The core argument of the Brexit campaign is that we'll tear up all this red tape and have UK regulations but that's actually what I like. I like the uniformity of the regulations."
Mark Smout, ForrestBrown
"If Brexit meant that we could all of a sudden get rid of any EU regulations then that would, for some companies, have benefits. However, the fact is, if you want to trade with Europe you still need to comply with this stuff, it's not going away."
Amer Hasan, minicabit
"Whatever red tape we think we'll avoid from the EU will likely be exceeded with all uncertainty and hassle navigating each new country agreement."
Current funding programmes and research will cease
"What will happen to funding programmes? Or five year studies with millions of pounds spent on research that then can't be completed? These questions have not yet been answered by the Leave campaign."
"So much of our higher education funding comes from the EU. Some of it's our money anyway but the whole mechanism will fall apart. People will be two-parts into a programme that will then no longer exist."
No short-term benefits
Bastiaan Haghuis, Appear Here
"As a holder of several European nationalities, it's an interesting discussion to have. Personally, I don't see the benefit of the UK exiting the EU whatsoever.
"It feels that the campaign to leave the EU has largely been a fearmongering exercise by politicians who are using the migrant crisis and the 'loss of control' of British authority over its economic policies and regulations as a way to pursue their own way into office.
"But this is contrary to what will happen if the UK still wants to retain some benefits of working within the EU; it will have to either join the European Economic Area (like Norway) or the European Free Trade Area (like Switzerland), both options still require significant financial contributions and have a strict set of EU regulations, so does the 'Leave' campaign really have a point?
"Looking at the wider implications of a Brexit, it could spell the end of the UK as we know it. Scotland would most likely push for independence immediately after Brexit and join the EU.
"The 2.2 million EU nationals currently working here, like Julien, like me, will have to get visas or leave. This might trigger of the biggest skilled worker migration in decades and seriously hurt the UK economy. UK pensioners residing in EU countries will immediately loose the right to access essential healthcare, which would start a mass immigration back to UK in turn overcrowding an already failing NHS.
"Investment banks like HSBC have already mentioned that they will move their investment banking arms to the EU as they fear the loss of access to the global financial markets if remaining in the UK – effectively turning the EU in the world's financial hub overnight.
"And while a Brexit would be a monumental move for the UK, likewise for the European Union, it's a crucial point because if the UK does leave, Spain, Greece, Italy – the countries that are very far into their deficit – may also consider doing the same, which will have larger ramifications. We'd be going back to the 70s and 80s with trade imports that would become a business headache."
The problem is the execution, not the idea
"From a personal point of view, I like the idea of EU. It feels like we're killing the idea because it's been badly executed, not because it's actually a bad idea."
"Just because something isn't being done well, doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. We should just do it better."
"I have a few very simple rules as far as business is concerned. I'd rather be inside the tent than out. At least you've got a chance to affect things then."
Reasons to LEAVE
Centralised federalism
Steve Purdham, 3rings
"From a business point of view, it makes no difference to me. If it happens it will be another challenge we have to deal with and we will. From a personal point of view, I want to stay in but now I'm starting to change my mind. The end result of staying in is centralised federalism. Although I haven't made a definitive decision."
Regulations don't work sector-wide
Suzanne Brock, Nutriment
"Staying isn't that beneficial in our market [pet food], maybe for manufacturing. Unfortunately, the uniform regulations don't cover every sector."
Current inefficiencies
"[The EU is] driven by the administrators and they don't want it to be done more efficiently or they lose their power. And it is about the execution, I think the idea is fundamentally correct.
"I used to do a lot of work with various government departments around Europe and they introduced this thing that I wasn't familiar with at the time call the per diem rate. Every one of these administrators will go to a meeting and they'll get a per diem (per day) rate for doing so. And that's why they're suddenly in Bali and Australia. They might only get 40,000 euros as part of their salary but the additional money they get is crazy. The inefficiencies that are in there are unbelievable.
"It's always going to go back to the politicians who throw money at things but no efficiency."
"My friend thought he was going to work at a university to engage with the business community and he was really excited about it but six months in he said it was just an exercise in making sure the university gets the same amount of funding each year."
The vote itself
Lack of information
"The reality is that the business community is not going to be who makes a decision. There is a lack of facts.
"The majority of people don't understand the complexity of the decision and it will end up being an emotional decision."
"Because we're never going to get a reasonable information stream, it's going to be a decision made on fear and not on hope and that's never a good idea."
Who will actually vote?
"It comes down to who's going to vote. The older generations will vote and they remember a time before we were in Europe and they liked that. And they may well then vote to leave."
"They remember the commonwealth days, but the commonwealth doesn't want to trade with us anymore. That ship has sailed."
"I've been talking to my European friends and a lot of them don't get a vote. My friend owns a house in the UK, he pays his taxes but he can't vote (he's not a British citizen). Whereas expats living in Spain do get a vote. The voting system itself is a worry."
Views were expressed at the Startups Awards Winners' Dinner held in association with chartered accountants haysmacintyre at the exclusive Covent Garden Hotel.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


whitbit0219 replied to seth_dove123's topic in Introduce Yourself!
Welcome to the server! I hope to see you around the parks!
whitbit0219 replied to OhCon's topic in Games, Contests and Activites!
whitbit0219 replied to Canis18's topic in Games, Contests and Activites!
whitbit0219 replied to _Radique_oo7's topic in Introduce Yourself!
The tea for my professors is... 1) My English professor gave us a research paper to do and the rough draft was due two weeks ago. The final draft was due this past Sunday and he never reviewed our rough drafts to tell us what we did wrong. 2) My Music Appreciation professor doesn't email me back about the questions I have so I have to submit what I think is right and hope he doesn't give me a bad grade. Especially because these assignments are worth 1/3 of my grade together. Okay, enough tea for today.
whitbit0219 replied to xFqdedMemory's topic in Games, Contests and Activites!
I love Meet the Robinsons. It's an amazing movie!
Leaving for Krakow tonight. I won't be on Palace that much but I'll be on discord.
Everyone should go see Shazam when they can. It's a good movie Cheesy, but good.
I want to see it sounds like you had fun when you went to see it I am definitely checking it out!
I just saw it today and it was really enjoyable!


Blessed Solstice to you all.
For those of you who haven't met me yet, I've have stepped in to help as Regional Druid when Rev. Sean took a well needed, and deserved break. If you have any questions, or need any assistance, please feel free to contact me at adf-northwest-rd@adf.org and I'll do my best to help.
Winter is quite definitely here, and the reminders of the season are all around us. Here in California, we have been getting a lot of glorious rain and it's been nice and cold!
By now, most of us have had our Solstice/Yule rituals, but if you haven't had a chance to attend one or do one on your own, Rev. Davin macLugh has posted a ritual that you can do alone. You can find the link to that in our new Resources section. This section is dedicated to sharing fun stuff that we find on our ADF website or around the web that can be handy for ADF druids. If you'd like to submit something for this section, please email us at adfevents@gmail.com with the info!
What Does the Winter Solstice Mean to You?
This newsletter, we asked our region what this High Day means to them.
"At the Winter Solstice I like to call upon the Welsh deity, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. In the Mabinogi tales he is run though with a blessed spear by a rival for his wife's heart and instantly turns into a wounded eagle. As such he flies away in pain and agony, only to end up at the top of an oak tree on top of a hill. There he is found by his uncle Gwydion and restored to health. This story, to me, reflects our sun as it weakens almost to death but then, at the Solstice, begins it's journey back to brightness, warmth, and good health.
of the longer days and the anticipation of the return of warmth. It doesn't snow in Sacramento, but it does get cold from mid-December through mid-January. I personally do not celebrate winter solstice on the date, as I actually celebrate the Scottish holiday Hogmanay. Hogmanay is the traditional new year celebration held on New Year's Eve, and it is still celebrated today in Scotland. I celebrate the holiday by cooking a prime-rib roast for the family.
Looking to add some chants or music to your rituals?
The ADF site Ritual Chants page has links to chants and songs for the different parts of the COoR ritual! Many of them have audio clips as well so you can learn the music.
Need a ritual that you can do on your own?
Rev. Davin MacLugh's Tumblr blog – By Fire Well and Tree – hosts his thoughts of different aspects of ADF Druidry as well as rituals written to do by yourself. Check out his Winter Solstice Ritual!
Email adfnwevents@gmail.com to get your items added!


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Mean Streets (1973)
(On VHS, June 2001) Can't remember a lot of things about Mean Streets even scant days after seeing it. I recall a gallery of younger well-known actors, including Robert de Niro. I certainly do recall a nude scene. I have jumbled memories of various violent acts. There are a few murders. There's also a conclusion that takes the easiest way out, killing all characters after a preposterous coincidence that smacks more of screenwriter laziness than organic resolution (how else to explain a car finding another among all other car leaving New York at that moment?) Oh well. Scorsese-watchers will probably recognize elements from about half of all his later films in this one. Enjoy the references, people, because there isn't much else. Practice makes perfect, and fortunately, this whiz-kid would go on to a few other better things…
(Second viewing, On Cable TV, June 2019) Disregard my previous review—I'm now nearly twenty years older, have seen almost all of Scorsese's movies and can now recognize an influential mob movie when I see one. This being said, I may now like Mean Streets but it doesn't mean I love it: as a naturalistic look at low-level New York mobsters as they go along their business, it works better as a prototype for later Scorsese movies. Episodic, rambling and low-stakes, Mean Streets is definitely steeped into early-seventies New Hollywood grimy conventions. The musical choice is terrific, there's an "are you calling me a mook?" sequence that anticipates a later Joe Pesci scene, and we can also recognize Scorsese's fondness for lengthy tracking shots. (Mama Scorsese even has a cameo.) The editing is tight, the actors handled well (it is fun to see Harvey Keitel as a dashing young man, not so much fun to see Robert de Niro as a psychopathic lowlife) and the religious symbolism as present as ever. Having a real ending to Mean Streets would help it, but not as much as we'd think at first given the disjointed nature of the film's plotting.
Harvey KeitelMartin ScorseseRobert de Niro
Previous PostJosie And The Pussycats (2001)Next PostNew York Stories (1989)


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Matthew "Matt" Illingworth (nascido em 25 de julho de 1968) é um ex-ciclista britânico que foi profissional em 1998 até o ano de 1999.

Como um ciclista amador, competiu em duas edições dos Jogos Olímpicos.

Em 1992, em Barcelona, ele competiu nos 100 km da prova de contra o relógio, terminando em décima quarta posição.

Já em 1996, em Atlanta, alcançou a décima posição na prova de perseguição por equipes (4.000 m).

Ciclistas olímpicos do Reino Unido
Ciclistas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 1992
Ciclistas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 1996
Naturais do Reino Unido

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Spring 2014 Lab 6 Great Maps!
Students have been creating a lot of great maps, keep up the great work!
Jarod Raithel created a truly exceptional map for this lab. He was able to put quite a bit of information on a single map. He had a short, yet descriptive paragraph, which mad it easy to understand the difference between the DEM's resolution. Being able to describe different resolutions is important because many people are unaware of that file size is a direct reflection of pixel size. Remember it is very important to know what resolution to use for a given project, knowing this can and will save you (and the computer) from a headache.
Jarod your maps are informative and well structured, the side by side comparison are consistently displayed with clarity and professionalism. Great example of disappearing peak with pixel and contour maps.


Nursing care homes or nursing recruitment agencies of the best quality are highly sought out across the UK for those who are no longer able to manage independent daily living. Whether it is you, a family member or loved one who are in need of such services, remember the important things to look for when choosing a nursing home.
As with a great many things these days, the internet can be your best tool in researching and discovering the nursing home that can best suit your needs. There are a number of online forums and directories which provide information on different nursing homes in the country and what they offer to residents. Moreover, they also comprise reviews and rankings from people who have used their services or had a family member in residence. As might be expected, a large body of evidence from satisfied customers and residents is a vital sign to look for when choosing. It goes without saying that you should also visit any home you are considering, to observe the day-to-day tasks of helping to feed, comfort, mobilise and give daily structure to residents in practice. Don't be afraid to ask questions of the individuals who operate or work in the homes, such as where their staff are sourced from. Healthcare recruitment agencies are often key suppliers, so if nurses and support staff are being supplied by a leading company in this field, it is another indicator of the quality of care to be expected. Finally, a health professional's recommendation of a particular place speaks volumes, so bear this in mind if you receive a testimonial from this source.
Nursing care homes are one of our most frequent clients here at KPI Care and many use our services time and time again. If you need brilliant nursing staff for your nursing home, why not call us on 0161 6947696 or visit http://kpicare.co.uk/? Don't hesitate – we're the best of the nursing recruitment agencies on the market today.


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The Debate on the American Economy
Submitted by Shivesh Puri on 6/5/12
With the general election less than six months away, we are about to be inundated with ads and speeches from Democrats and Republicans trying to convince us to vote for them. As 13 million Americans continue to look for jobs and our public debt expands indefinitely, voters will be looking for a candidate who they think can provide strong economic leadership. Winning the economic debate, therefore, is crucial to winning the election.
Both sides offer very different narratives on how to get the economy back on track In this series, which will run throughout the summer, I will document how the economic debate plays out in the political sphere. Looking mainly at campaign advertisements and stump speeches, I report on how the Obama and Romney camps frame their economic arguments and what kinds of solutions they are advancing for America's economic woes. I welcome any feedback from readers who find interesting local ads pertaining to the economy.
To start things off, here's a video of former president Bill Clinton stumping for President Obama in New York last night. The full transcript of the speech can be found here.
A couple of interesting points:
Clinton highlights the creation of 4.3 million private sector jobs under President Obama. This seems to refute Republican attacks on Obama's jobs record.
Clinton equates Republican and European austerity policies, effectively establishing a link between the Republican party's economic philosophy and policies that have contributed to Europe's instability
Be sure to check back regularly for updates on the debate over the American economy.
Shivesh Puri's blog
Weekly Immigration Update: Immigrants are Vital to Economic Recovery
Submitted by Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro on 8/24/09
Fixing Our Broken Immigration System
Weekly Immigration Update
A new study published by the CATO Institute has findings on immigrant productivity and concluded that the focus on repelling immigrants does more harm than good to the U.S. economy; the report was covered by the Wall Street Journal and by Walter Ewing, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. According to WSJ:
"Increased enforcement and reduced low-skilled immigration have a significant negative impact on the income of U.S. households," write Peter Dixon and Maureen Rimmer, the study's authors. "In contrast, legalization of low-skilled immigrant workers would yield significant income gains for American workers and households...a program that allowed more low-skilled foreigners to enter the U.S. workforce lawfully would put smugglers and document-forgers out of business," explain the authors. "It would also allow immigrants to have higher productivity and create more openings for Americans in higher-skilled occupations."
Using a dynamic economic model that weighs the impact of immigrants on government revenues and expenditures, the study seeks to quantify the benefits of comprehensive immigration reform versus the enforcement-only approach. It finds that legalizing the entry of more low-skilled immigrants would result in economic gains of about $180 billion annually to U.S. households. A focus on more enforcement alone would not only result in an annual net economic loss of around $80 billion, say the authors, but fewer jobs, less investment and lower levels of consumption as well. "Modest savings in public expenditures would be more than offset by losses in economic output," says the report.
In other news, the Asian-American Community flexed more muscle this week in the fight for immigration reform, covered by various news outlets.
More Advertisers Drop Glenn Beck - More companies came out this week opting out of being associated with his xenophobic dinner theatre. Hopefully the next step is: Glenn Beck off air. Join in to "Stop the Race Baiting." Next - we Drop Dobbs and Limbaugh.
Other headlines this week:
Immigration Reform is NOT Health Care Reform
White House Reiterates Commitment to Fixing the Broken Immigration System - let's keep on it!
White House Meeting on Immigration/NDN Backgrounder on Immigration Reform
Jorge Ramos: La Promesa
Only Three Fifths of a Person - More Deaths in DHS Detention
Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro's blog
The Real Economics of Immigration Reform
21st Century Agenda for America
After President Obama's discourse today on how to help working Americans through this crisis, I thought it appropriate to reiterate points we have made on the economic arguments for immigration reform. And I highly recommend this piece in the American Prospect on "The Real Economics of Immigration," by Cristina Jimenez:
...Immigration reform is a tougher sell in a recession. That's the blunt observation Wall Street Journal
columnist Gerald Seib recently offered: "Pushing any kind of
immigration reform, particularly one that includes a path toward
legalization, is a lot harder in an environment in which Americans are
losing jobs."
Yet the political difficulty predates the Wall Street collapse and
job-loss figures. For years, there has been little analysis of how a
path toward legalization would increase the positive economic
contributions of undocumented immigrants. Instead, conservative critics
have found willing partners in the media and government to turn
immigration reform into a zero-sum game, a war of us-versus-them in
which every job performed by an "illegal" must have been stolen from a
more deserving American.
The politics won't change until the real economics of immigration reframe the debate.
Here's a reality check: Consigning undocumented workers to a
precarious existence undermines all who aspire to a middle-class
standard of living........
By complying with tax law, many immigrants have made it clear that they
are willing to help build a new middle class through cooperation.
Contra the myth of immigrants as economic parasites, tax dollars from
undocumented immigrants are an integral part of our national economy,
funding programs like unemployment benefits that support a large number
of Americans in a time of economic crisis. This money is more
indispensable than ever. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that
undocumented immigrants contributed nearly $50 billion in federal taxes
between 1996 and 2003. Ironically, it's easy for undocumented
immigrants to document their earnings; a passport and proof of address
are all they need for a tax-identification number.....
The Small Business Administration finds that immigrants are nearly 30
percent more likely to start a business than non-immigrants and that
they represent 16.7 percent of all new business owners. In New York
City, the borough of Queens -- the most diverse county in the nation --
remains the leading source of job creation in the city. According to
the Center for an Urban Future, three zip codes in Queens had
employment growth of more than 80 percent in the past decade, adding
66,000 immigrants from 2000 to 2005....
Nancy and Carlos live with the constant threat of deportation,
surviving between hope and trepidation as best they can. "We need to
hide like criminals, and we go to work in fear, hoping that God brings
us back home. You know, we will do any work to survive," Nancy
insisted. Some jobs that paid $10 an hour just a few months ago now pay
only $4 an hour.
Yet Carlos sounded unfazed by the recession. "We have our savings;
the difficult times have taught us that we need to save for
emergencies," he told me. "We pay our taxes; our son makes online
monthly payments to the IRS because we get paid cash."
A path to legalization for millions of people like Carlos and Nancy
is a cost-effective path to short-term stimulus and long-term recovery.
We cannot afford to ignore it any longer.
Hispanics and Immigration Reform Must be Part of the Economic Agenda
Stimulus for the Long Run
Reports from the Pew Hispanic Center and others, released at the end of 2008, show disturbing data on the impact of the economic crisis on minorities, and I hope Tim Geithner is up to speed on this information and keeps minorities in mind as he helps map the course for economic recovery. We hope Geithner's confirmation hearings over the next few days will pass to a speedy confirmation so that he can get to the business of governing "for all Americans," along with President Obama.
Data show that minority workers have fewer employment opportunities, lower wages, or both as compared to their white counterparts. As a result, they tend to have lower incomes and slower income growth. And because minorities are less well suited than white families to save and build an economic cushion, hard economic times place them in tougher conditions sooner than is the case for white families.
Hispanics are currently suffering a percent of unemployment much higher than that of their white counterparts, 9.2% in January, up from 8.9% unemployment in December 2008. In addition, the unemployment rate for Hispanics rose faster than for any other group, increasing by 3.1% from December of 2007-December of 2008, while the unemployment rate for whites rose by 2.1% and for blacks, 2.9%.
Even during a period of employment gains enjoyed by Hispanics from 2001-2007, poverty increased among Hispanics over the same period, which only highlights the low wages at which Hispanics tend to work. In 2007, 8.2 percent of whites lived below the poverty line, up from 5.4 percent in 2000, but well below the 21.5 percent of Hispanics who lived below the poverty line in 2007.
Lastly, personal and family income has steadily declined for Hispanics. From 2001-2007, family incomes for whites were about 30 percent greater than for Hispanics and that gap has increased over time. Hispanics' median family income declined by an average of 0.5 percent per year from 2000, the last full year before the last recession started, to 2007, the last year for which data are available, falling to $38,679 from $39,935, or by a total of $1,256 (in 2007 dollars). In comparison, whites' median family income fell at a much lower rate of just 0.003 percent per year, for a total decline of $12 between 2000 and 2007, to $54,920 from $54,932 (in 2007 dollars).
Large disparities in health insurance coverage also persist. In 2007, 32.1% of Hispanics lacked health insurance coverage, compared to 10.4% of whites.
Additionally, Hispanic home ownership rate was only 49.7% for Hispanics in 2007, compared to 75.2% for whites. While the annual average increase of homeownership was greater among Hispanics, many were also victims of bad-actor lending companies and they ended up purchasing high-cost mortgages, as opposed to market rate mortgages. Nearly 29% of home purchase loans made to Hispanics in 2007 were high cost, as opposed to only 11% for whites.
We encourage Secretary Geithner and President Obama to show courage and leadership in developing an economic stimulus and economic recovery that addresses these discrepancies and includes financial literacy for minorities. In addition, we encourage President Obama to take the lead on fixing our broken immigration system in order to help stem this economic crisis. As long as the trap door of undocumented immigration remains, we will not be able to achieve economic recovery. It is vital that Congress and the Administration realize that as long as we continue the race to the bottom fostered by our broken immigration system, we will not achieve economic recovery.
A Race To the Bottom - A Broken Immigration System Has a Social Cost, Too
According to a report just released by the Migration Policy institute, although the U.S. economy's nosedive has probably contributed to a drop in the number of undocumented immigrants coming into the United States, those already here will be less inclined to return home due to the manifestation of the economic crisis in the U.S. and abroad. The study does not focus on how border enforcement has deterred immigrants from returning home.
In a great piece in the Post today by N.C. Aizenman, co-author, Demetrios G. Papademetriou explains,"The immigration system of the United States makes people wait in line for years to get their visa...so, by the time it becomes available for a family member or a valued employee...They don't want to return to the back of the line." The current broken immigration system exacerbates the economic crisis because -as explained in the report - the more likely and worrisome potential effect of the recession on undocumented immigrants is that it will drive them to accept ever-lower-paying jobs under ever-worsening conditions. This is why it's so imperative that our legislators realize that immigration reform can be a tool to help fix the economy - the economy and immigration are inextricably linked, I hope Members realize they must stop seeing these two issues as separate and unrelated. For those who argue, "how are we going to pass immigration during an economic crisis? How are we going to let in those immigrants?" I say: you think we have an unemployment NOW?...I refer you to the report's author:
"We have to be careful about what people desperate for a job may do," Papademetriou said. "This begins to affect the labor standards and wages of not just the immigrants, but the people who work with them". This has very important social and economic consequences for the country. . . . If we're not careful, we could have situations that are unanticipated and that we haven't seen in this country for a while."
Abroad, the International Monetary Fund estimates that economic growth in Mexico will decline from 4.9% in 2006 to 1.8% in 2009 - we've already started to see the dramatic devaluation of the peso - which further reduces the incentive of undocumented immigrants to return home. Let's pass comprehensive immigration reform and stem this race to the bottom.
Weekly Immigration Update - Outlook for Immigration in 2009
Submitted by Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro on 1/5/09
On yesterday's Meet the Press, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid discusses hopeful prospects for immigration reform in 2009:
MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about politics. This is what you told Roll Call two days after the election of Barack Obama.... "'I think the country has moved to the center,'... 'I think people want us to get things done.'" Let me test that proposition. On immigration, do you have a deal between the president-elect and Senator McCain for immigration reform?...
...SEN. REID: "We need comprehensive immigration reform." That was a conversation I had with John McCain. Yes, we need comprehensive immigration reform. And what does that mean? It means we have to make sure our borders are protected, our northern and southern borders. We have to do something about the millions of people here who are undocumented. We have to put them on, on a pathway to legalization. Does that mean that they get to the head of the line? Of course not. They'd have penalties and fines and learn English and stay out of trouble. We have to also do something on a guest worker program and we have to do something about the employer sanctions that works. John McCain believes that should happen. I believe that should happen. That's...
MR. GREGORY: And he's discussed it with the president-elect?...
MR. GREGORY: McCain has?
SEN. REID: I don't know, but he's discussed it with me.
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm. You think you've got a deal, a prospect of a deal.
SEN. REID: I have, I have John McCain's word that he's going to work real, real hard on immigration reform....
...SEN. REID: And I'll, and I'll work with him.
Gov. Bill Richardson Withdraws From Consideration as Commerce Secretary - This news is not only unfortunate for the President-elect and his team and for the country as a whole, it is bad news for immigration reform. This Governor's support of reform and criticism of half-measures (such as "enforcement-only"), his legislative, executive, and international experience made him particularly qualified to put a great deal of weight behind comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation in a time of economic crisis as Secretary of Commerce. Luckily, we still have strong champions for CIR in the administration with Gov. Napolitano as DHS Secretary and Rep. Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor. The confluence of immigrants and labor is exactly what the current administration has not been able to get right. What Ms. Solis and the President-elect seem to understand is that by upholding workers' rights, even for the undocumented, you uphold wage and labor rights for all working Americans. It is indespensable that Barack Obama name a new nominee for Secretary of Commerce that posseses the same passion and ability of Gov. Richardson to strengthen coalitions in favor of CIR in order to pass CIR in 2009.
An article in The Hill comments on what will likely be early tests on immigration for Barack Obama upon assuming the Presidency, and Spanish-language media demonstrates that the Hispanic community has not forgotten Obama's commitments in this area. Univision's Sunday morning program, Al Punto, aired an "end of the year" summary that featured five stories - four of the five had an immigration focus. Next to job creation, immigration reform is the top issue on the minds of Latinos for 2009. The analysts on Al Punto highlighted that as the economy improves, there will be a need to address the economic demand for workers so that businesses can meet their needs legally, and to ensure labor and wage standards for all workers.
The Hispanic community won't forget the promise of immigration reform - This Sunday, Al Punto had a feature on immigration reform in 2009 and re-played an interview with Barack Obama from May 28, 2008. When asked whether he was committed to passing immigration reform "in his first year," he replied, "yes, in my first year." Frank Sharry appeared on this segment commenting on the current climate of fear among immigrant communities.
President-elect Obama on Raids - During the same interview that took place in May and was replayed this Sunday, Obama was asked how he would handle raids. He responded that he considered raids a "good public relations move," to make it seem like the government is doing something, but they don't solve the problem in the long-term. He recognized the terror that affects communities as something to be given due consideration, "I don't think it is the American way to capture a mother and separate her from her child," and not think of the consequences. Clearly raids are a part of the general review the President-elect will undertake. Rather than demand or expect him to issue an order "halting raids," I think we can expect Obama to shift the focus of enforcement to going after unscrupulous employers, criminal aliens, and human traffickers.
How to convince Barack Obama that reform is needed this year? - This question was posed on the Sunday morning Spanish-language show. I would posit that the bigger question is how to make sure we educate legislators in both chambers on this issue. The bottom line is that American voters voted for Obama and for a large number of Democratic legislators as a repudiation of the inaction of the past eight years. CIR provides the opportunity to demonstrate a will to govern, to take action and solve problems - particularly at a time of economic crisis. The economy and immigration go hand in hand. Immigration is a national security issue, it is an economic issue with economic roots and consequences. By ignoring the undocumented and those who are wanted as workers, you encourage the exploitation that erodes working conditions and job security everywhere. In a time of economic crisis, the stability and dignity of the work force are especially vital. This is also why CIR must not be limited to addressing the legalization of the undocumented - CIR must address issues of future flow and it must revamp the entire visa system. The existing visa system is outdated, unfair, and clearly unrealistic given that most of the undocumented came into the country legally and overstayed their visas. With the amount of work immigration reform will take, it is vital that it is truly "comprehensive."
Re: A long road back for the GOP - An interesting article in the CQ, "The Republican Search for Self Better Find Something Quickly," echoes what NDN has been writing about in Simon's post on their "long road back" and my post on how the current GOP is so out of touch - intentionally or not - with 21st century America. John Bicknell writes: "Republicans are going to have to figure out who they are, and how that identity is relevant to modern America. And they are going to have to do it in less than two years. Otherwise, they could well find themselves on their way to another 40 years in the wilderness." For Democrats, CIR represents a great deal of opportunities to prove their ability to govern, and for Republicans, passing CIR can be the first step out of the wilderness.
More Examples of our Broken Immigration System: All of which exacerbate undocumented migration - 1) Marriage Fraud - CQ covers a CIS study as part of a larger piece on marriage fraud and immigration. While CIS is a known hate group as identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and even though we have no factual basis with which to accept their data, even one fraudulent marriage is one too many, and it demonstrates the insufficient legal means for immigration in our laws.
"The real problem with marriage and immigration law and policy is how the government disrespects the marriages of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who obey the rules," Paul Donnelly, spokesman for American Families United, which works to reunite Americans' foreign spouses and children, said in an interview....Legal permanent residents have to wait almost five years - nearly eight years for Mexicans - to bring a foreign-born spouse or child into the United States. Americans who marry foreigners that have overstayed prior visas or have been discovered in the country illegally cannot bring that spouse or child into the country for at least three years, with a maximum 10-year term of inadmissibility if the visa overstay is greater than one year or the foreigner is deported.
2) Immigrants priced out of legal status - Only about half of all Central American immigrants eligible for a renewal of their temporary protected status actually filed for their renewals. Many of these immigrants could not afford the filing fees due to having been laid off or having their number of work hours cut in this time of economic recession.
3) The Face of Slavery - As long as there are insufficient legal channels for immigrants to come into the country, and as long as those existing channels remain slow and bureaucratic, we will continue to see crimes against humanity like those shown in this New York Times feature - examples of human trafficking and slavery into which women and children fall as they try to achieve the American dream.
The State of Courts - Chief Justice Roberts provided his annual report on the state of the federal courts, which showed bankruptcy filings rose by 30%, filings concerning criminal charges in immigration cases jumped by 27% (the cases are concentrated in the Southwest). "Criminal charges" could mean criminal activity, or they could mean cases like the one that occurred in Iowa, where many undocumenteds with no IDs or social security numbers unkowingly signed guilty pleas for identity theft. In the meantime, prosecution of sex offense cases grew by only 9%, and the number of drug cases actually dropped by 7%. Chief Justice Roberts explained, "Those reductions occurred when investigative agencies shifted their focus from drugs to terrorism and sex offenses."
Hate Crimes - Two Hispanic youths assaulted a 28 year-old Hispanic woman in San Francisco. The woman is a lesbian who lived with her partner near the boys, the crime has been qualified as a hate crime. This horrific crime is made more appalling by the fact that it occurs at a time when Hispanics are crying out in protest against the hate crimes that resulted in the murders of several Latino immigrants and as communities are fighting for their right to be free of fear of having hate crimes perpetrated. How can we demand certain behavior of other communities if we don't begin with our own?
Speaking of Border Security - A couple, their children, and family of 7 were killed en route from Dallas, TX to Mexico. As they were about to cross the border in Texas, they drove on a bridge half of which had collapsed during rain storms. There were no road blocks, not a single sign warning of the end of the bridge, so as the family drove during the night they fell over the edge of the bridge into a river, only one grandmother survived.
Al Franken to the Senate - It is expected that Al Franken will be declared the winner today in his race against Norm Coleman. This is good news for immigration reform, click here to see Sen.-elect Franken's position on CIR. UPDATE: Franken declared winner.
Unemployment Rate of Latinos Skyrockets
Submitted by Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro on 11/7/08
Bush / GOP
Key 2008
In September, the Pew Hispanic Center's report on the overall state of Latinos found that Latinos were in a significantly worse economic condition and reported a decline in their general well-being. We have continued to see how the economic crisis is hitting Latinos particularly harshly, and today we find that the unemployment rate for Latinos has sky-rocketed to 8.8% in October. The overall national unemployment rate for October reported today is 6.5%, with 240,000 jobs cut during the month. Hispanics have been particularly affected, as the number of unemployed Hispanics went up in September to 1.72 million, and in October Hispanics comprised 1.96 million of the 10 million people unemployed nationally.
Economic Stimulus? - Reid and Byrd Unveil Economic Plan
Energy Prices
Senator Harry Reid
Senator Robert Byrd
Here's the proposed Economic Recovery Package. The overall intent to "not forget Main Street" and "create good-paying American jobs" is a noble one, I question whether this package achieves such a goal. There is a great deal of progress in the area of Energy, allocating funding for key energy initiatives of which NDN has been an advocate (see NDN's Green Project blog). However, there is no mention of International Trade or initiatives to export new technology; the section on job creation mentions infrastructure, which is an important step forward, but no mention of how to use globalization to create more high skilled, better paying jobs. I would ask why the section designed to help small businesses - by all accounts the "job creators and drivers of the economy" - only allots $275 million for microfinance and other assistance to "Main Street," while it provides $776 million for border facility construction and "other homeland security infrastructure." I hope our taxpayer dollars don't continue to go towards a border fence that has not worked instead of small and medium-sized businesses that sustain our communities. The stimulus includes $466 million for DHS to begin construction of a consolidated headquarters in Washington, D.C., as "DHS has a critical need for a permanent, unified headquarters" - maybe having everyone under one roof will help reduce the backlog in naturalization and immigration applications! THAT must have been the hold-up all this time. While the $466 million are being allocated for offices, only $100 million is going to help communities along the southwest border fight the illegal flow of guns and drugs between the U.S. and Mexico that is fueling violence along the border. Call me crazy, but I think the offices can wait in line behind the safety of border patrol and citizens on both sides of the border. The conflict on the border similarly contributes to the economic downturn in that the violence has effectively killed business and tourism that previously made border cities job creators and places that flourished with commerce and (legal) economic activity.
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ТЕЦ Андрихув (Гута Ченстохова) – теплоелектроцентраль на південному заході Польщі в місті Ченстохова.

Теплоелектроцентраль на східній околиці Ченстохової належала металургійному комбінату Гута Ченстохова (котрий у 2003-му був викуплений українською компанією ІСД та отримав відповідне доповнення до своєї назви). В 2007-му під час реструктуризації ТЕЦ виділили зі складу комбінату, після чого нею стала опікуватись компанія ELSEN S.A. Станом на початок 2010-х станція забезпечувала біля 30% потреб Ченстохової у тепловій енергії.

Окрім покриття комунальних потреб, вона постачала технологічну пару сусіднім металургійному виробництву та коксохімічному заводу Ченстохова-Нова.

Станція має чотири вугільні парові котли OKPG-60 загальною потужністю 190 МВт, три з яких встановили у 1950-х, а ще один в 1980-х. Окрім основного палива вони також споживають певні об'єми коксового газу, подача якого залежить від режиму роботи КХЗ (19% у 2007-му, 6% у 2009-му). В 2011-му один з котлів перевели на спалювання біомаси, для якої призначені 4 із 6 його пальників (два інші газові). Також існує водогрійний котел на мазуті та природному газі PTWM-100 (встановлений у 1970-х), котрий працює лише в піковому режимі під час сильних морозів.

Для виробництва електричної енергії на ТЕЦ встановлено дві турбіни: з 2000-го працює виріб компанії Siemens потужністю 12 МВт, а у 2010-му встановили турбіну  AEG потужністю 10 МВт. В середині 2010-х річна виробітка електроенергії коливалась від 35 до 39 млн кВт-год.

В 2018-му власник ТЕЦ підписав з компанією Siemens угоду про постачання ще однієї турбіни потужністю 14 МВт.

Примітки

Ченстохова
Ченстохова
Ченстохова
Ченстохова


The creators continue to acquaint us with stories about the extraordinary guests of a remarkable institution in The Guest Book season 2. Guest stars, playing new guests, still appear in each episode. Yes, there is enough space in the walls of this cottage for the completion of destinies, for big discoveries, unexpected turns of fate and incredible stories!
Vivian and Eddie leave Mt. Trace to make a fresh start in a small beachside town, where they meet Nikki and Tommy, the engaged couple running Emmy Lou's Grill and vacation home Bare Feet Retreat, and Bodhi, the local handyman. Vivian starts working at Emmy Lou's and Eddie quickly befriends Bodhi. Tara and Derek rent Bare Feet Retreat in an attempt to improve their marriage, which has been complicated by Derek's addiction to VR.
Rob and Shelley run an operation called Rock Bottom Industries. In exchange for money, they stage situations to make sure people's drug-addicted loved ones hit rock bottom in a safe environment. They rent Barefeet Retreat to lure in their next mark, a woman named Angel who is abusing every substance that can be abused. Meanwhile, Vivian develops a crush on Bodhi and Nikki goes into labor.
Adam has cured himself of his counting compulsion and rents the beach house for a getaway with his family to show them how much he's improved. When his family cancels and he's left to his own devices, he tries to befriend another family on vacation.
Mike and family hate spending every summer in a subpar vacation home far from the beach. To afford paying the booking fee for their dream house, the Barefeet Retreat, Mike pulls double shifts and ends up paying more than he bargained for.
Anne and Scott leave their six-year-old son Sam alone in the vacation home to attend Beacharoo, the town's music festival. Nikki confesses her secret to Vivian.
Tommy surprises Nikki with a spontaneous wedding ceremony. Both are blithely oblivious to the fact that Vivian is kidnapping their child, and some familiar faces from Mt. Trace return to sort things out.
Dave is in an unhappy marriage and uses his family vacation as an excuse to finally stand up to his nagging wife. But the stress of the event sends Dave on an adventure he could have never dreamed of.


ChengXiang Zhai, PhD, Professor and Willett Faculty Scholar, Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois, "Statistical Approaches to Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practice Records" at 11:00 am on Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Rooms 407A/B BAUM, 5607 Baum Blvd., The Offices at Baum.
Abstract: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can provide important complementary medical care to modern medicine, and is widely practiced in China and many other countries. Recently, TCM patient records have been digitalized, leading to a large number of online patient records. The data contains potentially valuable knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of various diseases using the TCM methodology and thus creates an interesting opportunity to apply data mining techniques to extract such knowledge. In this talk, I will present some of our recent work on using statistical approaches to analyze TCM patient records for disease profiling, disease subcategorization, and survival analysis. In disease profiling, we propose a new probabilistic model for the joint analysis of symptoms, diagnoses, and herbs in patient records to discover the typical symptoms and typical herbs associated with different diseases. In disease subcategorization, we study how to cluster patient records to discover subcategories of diseases and show that we can use machine learning to leverage the knowledge in a TCM dictionary of herb functions for improving the accuracy of subcategorization. In survival analysis, we cluster lung cancer patients and compare the survival time of different clusters of patients and show that integration of medical records with molecular interaction networks and TCM knowledge graph is effective for addressing the problem of missing data in the medical records. The experimental results on multiple TCM patient data sets show the benefit of integrating medical records with other biomedical knowledge bases and the promise of leveraging TCM patient records for improving precision medicine.
Biography: ChengXiang Zhai is a Professor of Computer Science and a Willett Faculty Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where he is also affiliated with the Institute for Genomic Biology, Department of Statistics, and School of Information Sciences. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Nanjing University in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Language and Information Technologies from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002. He worked at Clairvoyance Corp. as a Research Scientist and a Senior Research Scientist from 1997 to 2000. His research interests are in the general area of intelligent information systems, including specifically information retrieval, data mining, and their applications in biomedical and health informatics, and intelligent education systems. He has published over 200 papers in these areas with high citations, and a textbook on text data management and analysis. He is an Editor-in-Chief of Springer's Information Retrieval Book Series and an Associate Editor of BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, and previously served as an Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Information Systems, Associate Editor of Elsevier's Information Processing and Management. He is an ACM Distinguished Scientist, and received a number of awards, including Association for Computing Machinery SIGIR Test of Time Paper Award (three times), the 2004 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, IBM Faculty Award, HP Innovation Research Award, and UIUC Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring.


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HomePolicyTwo Reasons Why Policy Stability Means Economic Decline for Italy
Two Reasons Why Policy Stability Means Economic Decline for Italy
July 23, 2017 @ 3:45 PM EDT
author: Daniel Mitchell
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and President Donald Trump during a family photo with G7 leaders at the Ancient Greek Theater of Taormina during the G7 Summit, Friday, May 26, 2017, in Taormina, Italy. (Photo: AP)
I'm rather pessimistic about Italy. Simply stated, it's economy is moribund. If you peruse the economic database at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), you'll see that both inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation-adjusted private consumption expenditure have grown by an average of just slightly over one percent annually this century.
In some ways, the latter is a more accurate measure of actual quality of life.
And even though Italy's population growth has been anemic, there are more people. And when you add a larger population to the equation, you get per-capita changes in output and living standards that are even less impressive.
But not everyone shares my dour outlook. I recently exchanged views with someone who said that Italy hasn't increased the burden of government in recent years.
And that person is right. Sort of.
Here's a chart showing Italy's score from Economic Freedom of the World since the start of the 21st century. As you can see, it's been remarkably stable.
But I have two reasons why I think policy stability is a recipe for economic decline.
First, you don't win a race by standing still if others are moving forward. If you look closely at the above chart, you will see that Italy used to be ranked #36 in the world for economic freedom but it now ranks #69. In other words, Italy's absolute level of economic freedom barely changed over the period, but its relative position declined significantly because other nations engaged in reforms and leapfrogged Italy in the rankings.
Second, Italy is in the middle of dramatic demographic changes that will have a huge impact on fiscal policy. People are living longer and having fewer children, but Italy's welfare state was set up on the assumption that there would be lots of working-age taxpayers to finance old-age beneficiaries. In other words, policy stability will lead to fiscal crisis thanks to changes in the composition of the population. Think Greece, but on a bigger scale.
And when I refer to Greece on a bigger scale, I'm thinking another fiscal crisis.
Demond Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute is pessimistic about Italy and warns that high levels of red ink could cause a big mess.
We've got an Italian economy that is categorized by extremely high public debt. Their public debt level is now something like 132% of GDP, they've got a banking system that is bust, that banks have something like 18% of their loans non-performing, that is a huge amount, the economy is completely sclerotic, that the level of Italian GDP today is pretty much the same as it was some fifteen years ago. There's been practically no growth, declining living standards… What also makes Italy very important from a global point of view is that we're now not talking about a small country like Greece which doesn't have that much systemic significance. We're talking about the third largest country in the Eurozone. We're talking about a country that has the world's third largest sovereign bond market with something like two and a half trillion dollars of debt.
And don't forget that these grim fiscal numbers probably mean even higher taxes on Italy's young workers.
But those taxpayers aren't captives. Cristina Odone, in a column for CapX, points out that young people are getting the short end of the stick.
Gerontocracy, stifling regulations and huge unemployment have hindered Italy's prosperity for decades now. The country hailed for its economic miracle and famed for its creative and industrious entrepreneurs (at the helm, usually, of family-run businesses such as Gucci, Prada, and Ferrero) today comes second only to Greece (among EU countries) for the size of its national debt. …Italy's unemployed youngsters, who constitute 40 per cent of under-24-year-olds, gnash their teeth at the unfairness of national life, where fossils control the levers of power while flouting their sinecures. A quarter of under-30-year-olds classify as NEETS, young people who are not in education, work or training. Contrast this with the UK, where only one in 10 under the age of 30 is in the same position. …Labour laws continue to blight young people's prospects. …This sclerosis risks turning Italy into the sick man of Europe.
No wonder many young Italians are migrating to nations with more economic opportunity. AFP has a story on the dour outlook in Italy.
With the country struggling to kick an economic slump, some 40,000 Italians between 18 and 34 years old set out to seek greener pastures elsewhere in 2015, according to the Migrantes Foundation. "Just talking with people (in Italy) it's clear going away might be the only solution," said D'Elia, 26, who has spent the last five years in London, where he currently works as a barman, and intends to stay for now despite high living costs. …most of Italy's youths are unwilling to return — and the country is seen as offering little to attract foreign graduates. …GDP is forecast to inch up just 1.3 percent this year. The jobless rate hovers at over 11 percent, well above the euro area average of 9.3 percent. Among 15 to 24-year olds it leaps to 37 percent, compared with a European average of 18.7 percent. …Sergio Mello, who set up a start-up in Hong Kong before moving to San Francisco, said Italy "does not offer a fertile environment to develop a competitive business". …Mello says there are other problems: "The bureaucracy wastes a lot of time", the red tape "drives you crazy".
Unfortunately, rather than ease up on government burdens so that young people will have some hope for the future, some Italian politicians want new mandates, new spending, new taxes, and new restrictions.
I've previously written about new destructive tax policies that shrink the tax base. And I've written about wasteful new spending schemes, like a €500 "culture bonus."
And now there's something equally silly on the regulatory front being proposed by politicians. Here are excerpts from a report by Heat Street on the initiative.
Italy could soon become the first Western country to offer paid "menstrual leave" to female workers. …If passed, it would mandate that companies enforce a "menstrual leave" policy and offer three paid days off each month to working women who experience painful periods. …The Italian version of Marie Claire described it as "a standard-bearer of progress and social sustainability." But the bill also has critics, including women who fear this sort of measure could backfire and end up stigmatizing them. Writing in Donna Moderna, another women's magazine, Lorenza Pleuteri argued that if women were granted extra paid leave, employers would be even more reluctant to hire women, in a country where women already struggle to integrate the workforce. …Miriam Goi, a feminist writer, …fears that rather than breaking taboos about women's menstrual cycle, the measure could end up perpetuating the idea that women are more emotional than men and require special treatment.
It's unclear if this policy was actually enacted, but it's a bad sign that it was even considered. Simply stated, making workers more expensive is not a good way to encourage more job creation. Even a columnist for the New York Timesacknowledged that feminist-driven economic policies backfire against women.
The bottom line is that Italy needs sweeping reductions in the burden of the public sector. Yet the nation's politicians are more interested in expanding the size and scope of government. Perhaps now it's easy to understand why I fear the country may have passed the tipping point. You can be in a downward spiral even if policy doesn't change.
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EconomicsItalyOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Written by Daniel Mitchell
Contributing Economist
Daniel J. Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, and a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy. Mitchell's articles can be found in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Investor's Business Daily, and the Washington Times. He is the author of "The Flat Tax: Freedom, Fairness, Jobs, and Growth," and co-author of "Global Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It."
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How could a massive global Soviet Bloc intelligence operation, such as the Soviet narcotics offensive, have been underway for so long without the United States knowing what was happening? This is a most important and potentially explosive question. Implicit in it are a number of additional questions; for example, what else are we unaware of and how else might we have been misled?
sider, first of all, the debriefing.
General Sejna defected to the United States in Trieste on February 25,1968. The usual procedure is that preliminary debriefings of defectors in Europe are conducted at a special debriefing facility near Frankfurt, Germany1. In Sejna's case, this was not done. Rather, he was immediately flown to Washington. This might have been because of Sejna's rank or unusual importance - if it were not for the fact that his subsequent debriefing and handling was more a propos a low-level defector of inconsequential importance. Nevertheless, his rapid transportation to Washington does suggest that someone somewhere may have wanted to exercise strict and immediate control over his debriefing.
The news of Sejna's defection to the United States, along with a brief description of the circumstances, were published in the Washington Post and the New York Times in the week following his defection. The description of Sejna in the articles was rather vague. He was described as the chief of the Communist Party at the Ministry of Defence, a member of the General Staff and of the Presidium of the National Assembly. Those were the only particulars to be published. While acknowledging that Sejna was 'one of the highest-ranking Communists ever to defect', the Washington Post instantly played down his importance by noting that Sejna was simply of higher rank than either of the previous year's defectors, Svetlana Stalin and Lt. Col. Renge. The only hints of his importance were statements that he had top secret information on his country's defence and on Warsaw Pact operations.
Aside from the foregoing, there was no information or even speculation in the Wash- ington Post or the New York Times concerning the full spectrum of Sejna's positions, respon- sibilities, or knowledge. Rather, both papers focused attention on material designed to defame Sejna which had been published in the Communist press. There was no indication of any attempt to learn more or in any respect to challenge the descriptions of Sejna that had appeared in the Communist press specifically in order to discredit him2.
'who', as the Washington Post wrote, 'is being described officially here [Washington] as the General's 22 year-old mistress'. The young woman was, in fact, his son's fiancee; they were later married in the United States. These characterisations of Sejna are all false4 and constitute a pertinent example of a Communist character assassination and disinformation being picked up and echoed by leading US newspapers.
The importance of this type of shallow reporting, and the failure of the US Govern- ment to correct the record, should not be underestimated. These reports, in effect, told people that Sejna was not a credible source nor an individual of any value. The reports materially damaged his opportunities to use his background as the basis for a new career; for example, teaching, speaking engagements, writing and consulting. They also, in effect, discouraged anyone in the intelligence or national security communities from seeking him out or from listening to what he had to say. How could anyone trust an individual with such a reputation? It should also not go unnoticed that when the charges were made, Sejna did not speak or read English and was not aware of how his credibility, and thus his future, were being undermined. He was unable to defend himself.
The image of Sejna portrayed in the Washington Post and the New York Times was perhaps best summarised by the description published in Newsweek a week and a half later. 'Up until now Americans could always fall back on one sure test: if an East European defected to the West, he was ipso facto a good guy. Last week, however, Washington unveiled its latest defector - only to discover that he was the heavy [that is, villain] in the case'5. To make certain the message had been adequately communicated, Newsweek printed a picture of Sejna with the caption, 'Sejna: The heavy in the case'.
From the news reports, one can infer that US officials confirmed the Communist reports on Sejna's defection and acknowledged that Sejna was now in the United States. They apparently did not provide any information beyond that contained in the Communist press, or any elaboration or clarification. Moreover, according to the news reports, as illustrated in the preceding excerpt from the Washington Post, US officials evidently directly supported at least one of the slanderous statements printed in the Communist press to discredit Sejna; namely, that Sejna was running away with his 22 year-old mistress, which was a lie, as indicated above.
missars are generally regarded in the United States as thugs or watchdogs who report on their friends and acquaintances to authorities. They are not held in high regard or seriously considered, in any sense of the word6. Accordingly just this one aspect of Sejna's background is sufficient to have caused most people to discount his value.
Additionally, there was little knowledge of (and thus, little attention focused on) the organisations that Sejna was a member of, or of the positions he held. US officials throughout the intelligence and diplomatic communities are not known to have appreci- ated the role of the Kolegium, which functioned almost as a mini-Defence Council and served, within the Ministry of Defence, to review and critique plans and issues prior to their being sent forward to the Defence Council; or of the Party Group at the Presidium, which exercised Party control over the National Assembly (parliament); or of the bureau which provided direction to the Main Political Administration, which in turn was respon- sible for maintaining ideological watch over the military; or of the powerful Administra- tive Organs Department, which ruled over the military, civilian intelligence and justice7. These were just some of the organisations in which Sejna had held leadership positions.
US officials evidently did not know what it meant to be the chief of the Communist Party (that is, First Secretary) at the Ministry of Defence, in which capacity Sejna monitored all top-level Czechoslovak decisions and communications to and from other countries, including the Soviet Union, and exercised nomenklatura (position appointment power) over all mid-level military officers. Most Soviet Bloc intelligence experts did not even know a Defence Council existed, let alone what its function8 was or what it meant for Sejna to be its secretary and in charge of the Defence Council agenda, the preparation of decisions, and the dissemination of implementing directives.
Thus, it is entirely possible that there was no US official in a position to know and take appropriate action, who understood how truly important a defector General Sejna was. At the same time, there were several glaring inconsistencies and departures from normal practice, such as: (1) The lack of an initial debriefing in Europe; (2) the manner in which Sejna's CIA debriefing was terminated, which will be described later; (3) what appears to have been an immediate decision to exercise strict control over his debriefings, keeping them focused on tactical military matters and away from topics of possible strategic significance; and, (4) at the same time, a decision to discredit Sejna so that no-one would actively seek him out or listen to what he had to say.
While these decisions were made within the US Government, it seems more probable than not that the decisions were not based upon bureaucratic self-interest or policy considerations, but were orchestrated, on the contrary, by Soviet intelligence or agents of influence. The logic behind this hypothesis will become more evident during the following description of what happened, and, more particularly, what did not happen.
problems because the people conducting the CIA debriefings did not understand the Communist system9, had many misperceptions, and hence often did not like Sejna's responses to their questions.
Czechoslovak military insignia, which, as he told his debriefers, were freely available in the library across the street from the US Embassy in Prague)11.
General Sejna had also turned over to the CIA secret and top secret documentation he had brought with him, carefully selected by him for its wide-ranging importance12. He was never asked one question about these documents or the material they contained. While the documents were translated, the translations were never made available to the intelligence community13. It was also about this time that the decision was made to actively discredit Sejna, cast aspersions on his character and on the reliability of his testimony, and thus dampen any interest in what he had to say. As described by a former CIA official, the word was spread throughout the middle and upper echelons that Sejna was a 'heavy'. It was important to recognise that this was inconsistent with the distribution of the CIA intelligence reports on Sejna's debriefings, all of which identified the material as having come from a reliable source'.
but, that he would not discuss this plan, which detailed the Soviet Bloc's coordinated strategy and tactics around the world14, until the decision to grant him political asylum had been made. But, after that decision was made, and continuing to the present, there was no effort to debrief Sejna on the contents of the Soviet plan15 'to bury us'. This was, and continues to be, a most serious error.
In 1975 the importance of Sejna's knowledge of the Soviet long-range plan was made public by Lord Chalfont in a series of three articles in The Times of London16. Even so, no attempt to debrief Sejna was made, nor subsequently in 1983 after Walter Hahn, the editor of Strategic Review, wrote about Sejna's knowledge17. He has still  not been debriefed on the long-range plan; and, given the nature of Soviet intentions, goals and strategy18, which had not materially changed in over seventy years, most of the objectives, strategies and operational concepts set forth in the long-range plan probably remain valid.
presence, the CIA handler directed the DIA officers not to refer to Sejna as General Sejna any longer because the Czechoslovak Politburo had 'taken away his rank'19.
and by whom has not been divulged, but these are important questions.
Perhaps the most important inconsistency during Sejna's debriefing occurred in May 1968, when the former US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Llewellyn Thompson, then a senior State Department adviser on Soviet affairs, came to visit him. Why such a high-ranking US State Department official would want to visit Sejna, given the way in which he was described and officially debriefed, is curious, to say the least. Did he visit Sejna on his own initiative, or in response to another person's request or suggestion? Thompson began the conversation by asking Sejna if he thought Communism was changing21. Sejna answered no. The strategy, the objectives remain as set forth by Lenin. There had been no change in these objectives, and neither was any change likely, Sejna said. Thompson responded sharply, advising Sejna that he, Sejna, was wrong. The conversation went downhill and soon ended.
Thompson was the only high-ranking official whom Sejna recalls came to see him. At the mid-level, things were no better. Only two individuals of moderate rank visited Sejna, the deputy head and the Czechoslovak desk officer of the CIA's Soviet Bloc division. Presumably, Sejna's debriefings would have been controlled by this division. But these two people apparently did not come to question Sejna, they came only to visit informally. Both spoke Czech, one having emigrated22 from Czechoslovakia prior to World War II, the other having served as a military attache in the US Embassy in Prague. Both were introduced to Sejna under false names, which Sejna immediately recognised because both individuals were among those that Sejna and other Czechoslovak officials had been warned about on numerous occasions during KGB counter-intelligence briefings that were a regular part of Czechoslovak and Soviet internal security practices.
tures, correct names and backgrounds as previously provided by the KGB. What these CIA officials were after or why they did not show any apparent interest in what Sejna really had to say, is not known. However, it is almost inconceivable that anyone in such a position would fail to recognise that Sejna was no ordinary defector and that his main value lay not in what he had to contribute to our understanding of Warsaw Pact tactical military matters but, rather, in his first-hand knowledge of matters of strategic importance; for example, Soviet political, military, and intelligence strategy and decision-making.
nised well in advance would probably take place. Sejna was most insistent, which was the reason behind Thompson's second visit. In this case, Thompson's visit was certainly not self-initiated. Thompson was summoned to discourage Sejna from telling his story to the public. He quickly explained to Sejna that it was not in the interests of the US Government to publish and describe what was happening. Sejna disagreed. Then Thompson commu- nicated a clear threat. He told Sejna that Czechoslovakia had requested Sejna's return and that Prague's request might be honoured if Sejna were to make trouble. Sejna told Thomp- son that this was not possible because under the United Nations charter, the United States could not return him to Czechoslovakia or any other Soviet Bloc country. Again, the con- versation deteriorated rapidly. When it was clear that he was not about to change Sejna's mind, Thompson advised Sejna that he should not tell the United States what we can do and abruptly terminated the meeting.
At this point, additional questions arise. Who called Thompson and requested his assistance, and why? Why was it not in the US interest to have the invasion explained to the US public and the rest of the world? Most importantly, who was pulling the strings?
In deference to Sejna's request, he was placed in contact with a reporter from the New York Times, Richard Eder, and offered the opportunity to go up to New York, at his (Sejna's) own expense and tell what he wanted to say. This he did, and then was shocked at the manner in which the interview was written up23. As Sejna described the articles, Eder did not use any of the most important facts behind the invasion, for example the seven months' advance preparation, twisted much of what Sejna had to say to compromise him, and lied about the interview in a manner that made Sejna look like a 'primitive'. He called Eder in New York and complained bitterly. Eder's reply was that it was not his fault. His editors were responsible for the final form of the article, he told Sejna.
Notwithstanding the nature of the reporting, a moderately informed reader would still have to wonder what else Sejna had to say about politically important events in which the Soviets had participated. Nor were the Eder articles the sole reason that some one should have reached (or clearly did reach) this conclusion. Neither does it seem credible that Sejna's information on the Long-Range Plan was overlooked merely by accident.
pages, was completed shortly before Christmas that year.
It did not deal with tactical military matters. It set forth Sejna's background, including the various positions he held, his steady interaction with the highest level Communist leaders from all countries, and, of special importance, the nature and dimensionality of Soviet long-range strategy and the world revolutionary process. Again, it is inconsistent with the nature of the intelligence process to believe that this material was not reviewed within the CIA division responsible for Sejna24. Nor does it seem likely that anyone with responsibilities for intelligence on Soviet Bloc operations could have read the document and not understood that here was a source of immense value (or danger, depending on one's perspective), and a defector who was being totally mis-debriefed.
prepared a contract to publish the book and five short articles, which Sejna signed.


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Blood pressure refers to the pressure exerted against the arteries as the heart pumps blood around the body. Measuring blood pressure is a very important tool and an average reading is generally 120/80. This can vary generally 10 points either side of these figures.
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text:
Gallbladder Surgery Malpractice
Gallbladder Surgery Mistakes: $1M Settlement
Lawsuit claimed surgeon was negligent when he failed to properly identify and protect the hepatic artery, common bile duct, and portal vein
The plaintiff is an 84-year-old woman who suffered a transected hepatic artery and portal vein, and injury to her common bile duct during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal surgery) performed by the defendant surgeon.
On 6/21/13, the plaintiff underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy with the defendant surgeon. Intra-operatively, the defendant encountered a large amount of bleeding, obstructing his view of the surgical field; however, he failed to perform an intraoperative cholangiogram and continued with the surgery. Postoperatively, the plaintiff developed elevated total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, AST and ALT levels, indicating a common bile duct injury.
The plaintiff was transferred to a tertiary care facility for exploratory laparotomy, portal vein and hepatic artery reconstruction, and removal of gallbladder calculi. The operative findings included a patchy-necrotic liver; a necrotic bile duct with no blood flow; no arterial flow into the liver; and minimal flow to the portal vein. There were clips on multiple different structures including the distal transected portion of the bile duct, the right hepatic artery, the proper hepatic artery and multiple clips along the course of the portal vein. The plaintiff required resection of the damaged hepatic artery with reconstruction of left and right hepatic arteries, resection and reconstruction of the damage portal vein, and extensive perihepatic drainage. Moreover, the bile duct was so extensively necrotic that that the surgeon could not safely attempt reconstruction during this procedure. In fact, the surgeon was concerned that the plaintiff would not survive this surgery because of her extensive injuries. Instead, he elected to place 2 drains and monitor the plaintiff to determine whether she would be able to survive "this whole process."
When Gallbladder Surgery Goes Wrong
See our Patient Safety Blog Post on serious medical mistakes related to gallbladder surgery.
Postoperatively, the plaintiff was critically ill, in septic shock, and respiratory failure. Over the following five months, the plaintiff was in and out of hospitals and rehab facilities.
On 12/4/13, the plaintiff underwent bile duct reconstruction surgery as a result of her "catastrophic" laparoscopic bile duct injury in June 2013. The plaintiff required two hospital re-admissions in January 2014 for a biliary stricture before finally recovering from her surgical complications.
The plaintiff claimed that the defendant surgeon negligently performed the laparoscopic cholecystectomy when he failed to properly identify and protect the hepatic artery, common bile duct, and portal vein prior to dissection and, that a direct result, the plaintiff sustained significant injuries requiring extensive surgical and medical care.
The case was settled pre-suit.
Lubin & Meyer attorneys Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and Nicholas Cappiello represented the plaintiff in this medical malpractice lawsuit.
Questions about surgical mistakes?
Do you have questions about a possible medical malpractice lawsuit related to mistakes made during gallbladder or other surgery?
Contact Us - There is no fee or cost to you to have your case evaluated by our medical malpractice lawyers. Call 800-866-2889 to speak with an attorney today.


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