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Metrolinx Board Meeting and Town Hall: December 2017
Metrolinx held a Board meeting on December 7, followed on December 12 by a Town Hall.
Public questions to the Town Hall were submitted in advance and in real time during the Town Hall online, and in person by attendees. Metrolinx plans to put answers to all questions, including those that could not be handled during the Town Hall itself online in coming weeks. That record is now available at MetrolinxEngage.
My interest in both events was as much to see how the new CEO Phil Verster would handle himself especially during an open Q&A session which has not, to be kind, been part of the corporate culture at Metrolinx.
Metrolinx Governance
Presto Privacy Review
Hydrogen Technology Analysis
RER On-Corridor Procurement Strategy
Draft 2041 Regional Transportation Plan
Posted in Beyond 416, Commuter Rail, Electrification, GO Transit, Kitchener-Waterloo, Transit, Union Station, York Region	| 15 Comments
Kitchener Trolleybus Gallery
Many readers of this site have been posting photos of the ION LRT construction in Kitchener-Waterloo over the past years. Normally, I stick to Toronto news, but as a gift back to readers in K-W, here is a set of photos of the Kitchener trolleybus system just before it was converted to lovely, clean (ho ho ho) diesel buses.
Much of the city, at least along King Street, is unrecognizable today from the early 1970s.
Posted in Kitchener-Waterloo, Transit	| 18 Comments
TTC Will Take Legal Action Against Bombardier, Demands Explanation
At its meeting of October 28, 2015, the TTC Board unanimously passed the following motion regarding the order for Flexity streetcars from Bombardier:
Authorize the TTC General Counsel to immediately commence a claim or legal action against Bombardier for all damages sustained by the TTC relating to or arising from the schedule delays in the delivery of the streetcars and any other non-performance related issues.
Direct the Chair to write to the CEO Bombardier requesting he appear before the Board at its November Commission meeting to explain Bombardier's failure to meet past deadlines and its delivery commitments for streetcars going forward.
Request TTC management to consult with alternative suppliers for delivery of the remaining TTC streetcars, should Bombardier be unable for whatever reason to fulfill this order within contractual timelines.
Request TTC staff to report back on the financial and operational impacts on the TTC should Bombardier not be able to fulfill their contractual obligations to deliver streetcars.
Request TTC staff to seek the advice of an outside business analyst to present to the Board on their assessment of Bombardier's corporate outlook.
Request TTC staff, in any negotiations on damages, liquidated or otherwise, to consider as a priority additional LRV's as compensation.
Direct the Chair to write to the Premier of Ontario requesting the Province's support in facilitating the completion of the City of Toronto's order for streetcars from Bombardier.
This motion came out of a confidential session of the Board which led to the text approved here. Point 1 was the staff recommendation in the report on the agenda, and the remaining points were added.
The story of constantly shifting delivery timelines and excuses from Bombardier has gone on for a very long time, and they have exhausted the TTC's patience. Several comments in public session suggested that if Bombardier expects ever to be awarded work by the TTC in the future, they will have to try very, very hard to win their trust.
This is something of an empty threat, at least in the short term, because the TTC will not be ordering more subway cars until the early 2020s. Moreover, Bombardier has long been Queen's Park's vendor of choice for rail car orders that receive provincial funding, and it would take a major upheaval to dislodge them from this position.
Whether the Bombardier CEO actually shows up at the November 23, 2015, meeting remains to be seen. Indeed, it would be an odd situation should the TTC action have already been commenced to make such a presentation, let alone subject himself to questions he could not reasonably answer without compromising his own company's position.
Chair Josh Colle noted that clause 7 recognizes the fact that he has already been contacted by the head of Bombardier Transportation in Germany, three Cabinet Ministers, the Mayor of Thunder Bay, and others, and that this is a politically high profile file. It will be interesting to see whether the union representing Thunder Bay workers shows up with tales of incompetence at their plant, or at least first hand descriptions of the quality problems with material received from Bombardier's plant in Mexico. Such a move would be to establish their own credibility and fight for their jobs, a situation akin to what happened during the Canadian content debates when the contract was awarded.
Queen's Park also has an interest through Metrolinx where concern about on time delivery of cars for the Kitchener-Waterloo ION line (whose cars will come from the Metrolinx share of teh Toronto order), and there are effects further down the line for other LRT projects if the contract completely collapses.
No doubt there will be updates on this story in the regular media in coming days.
Posted in A Grand Plan, Kitchener-Waterloo, Streetcars, Transit	| 34 Comments
A Father of LRT Speaks in Waterloo
On June 11, Dr. Vukan Vuchic spoke in the Council Chamber of the Waterloo Region Council on the subject of medium capacity transit modes. Dr. Vuchic has been around transportation issues for decades. He organized the first Transportation Research Board Light Rail Conference in 1975 in Philadelphia, an event that became a series of 12 such meetings, the last in 2012.
Dr. Vuckic's presentation (just over an hour long) covers a lot of historical ground going back to the early days when "LRT" as a mode distinct from "streetcars" – the missing link between bus systems and full-scale subways or rapid transit – started to gain popularity. Vuchic's speaking style isn't breezy. He could cover his material faster (and probably with less text on the Powerpoints running behind him), but he gives us the history of transit evolution over four decades.
This is not an all LRT, all the time, presentation, and it gives fair credit to the importance of buses at the core of transit systems. The point, as always, is to use the right mode for each implementation.
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, Kitchener-Waterloo, Transit	| 91 Comments
Plans by Murray and Tory: Steve Visits Goldhawk
On June 2, 2014, I appeared on Dale Goldhawk's radio show talking about both the Murray High Speed Rail plan and the Tory "SmartTrack" scheme. A podcast of the show is available on Goldhawk's site (running time about 34 minutes).
Even with half an hour, we couldn't talk about everything including those pesky details that make superficially attractive projects run aground.
[Photo by Zoomer Radio]
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, Downtown Relief Line, Elections, Electrification, GO Transit, Hamilton, Intercity Rail, Kitchener-Waterloo	| 55 Comments
The Minister Muses on High Speed Rail
Suddenly London Ontario is the place to be if you're looking for a high speed rail line. Glen Murray, Ontario's Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure, has announced plans to have a high speed connection between Toronto downtown, Pearson airport, Kitchener-Waterloo and London up and running in 10 years.
Not just that, but the trains will run half-hourly with 28 trips each way daily on the line carrying, eventually, 20,000 riders per day.
I am not making this up. You can read more details on the CBC's Kitchener-Waterloo site.
An extremely superficial document titled "Moving Ontario Forward" came my way recently, and I could not help thinking back to the early days of "GO Urban", the technology that eventually became ICTS and Skytrain, with similarly vacuous presentations for public consumption.
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, GO Transit, Intercity Rail, Kitchener-Waterloo, Transit	| 81 Comments
April 24, 2014 by Steve
Neptis Reviews Metrolinx: A Critique (II)
This article is the second section of my critique of the December 2013 review of the Metrolinx Big Move Plan written by Michael Schabas for the Neptis Foundation. It should be read in conjunction with Part I and following sections.
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, Downtown Relief Line, Electrification, Finance, GO Transit, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Subways, Transit, Union Station, York Region	| 18 Comments
Liberals Plan Transit One Tweet At A Time
Premier Kathleen Wynne recently unveiled the Moving Ontario Forward plan which, at this point, consists of a website and a general idea of what level of spending we could see. The details won't be released until the budget is tabled in early May.
Some ideas come out in comments by Transportation & Infrastructure Minister Glen Murray who is as active on Twitter at times as he is in press scrums. How much these comments are realistic, how much they reflect government policy or detailed study, is quite another matter.
From a funding point of view, there will be two pots of money – one for the GTHA and one for the Rest Of Ontario. When the Transit Panel released its Making The Move revenue tool proposal, misinformed media stoked the idea that rural gas taxes would go to pay for subways in Toronto even though this was explicitly rejected by the panel.
The solution is to fund the non-GTHA projects with non-GTHA money, in effect building a wall around whatever the "GTHA" means for planning purposes from day to day. This may quiet those who feel "Toronto" gets everything, but with the scale of transit operations in southern Ontario, "Toronto" grows every time the government announces a new GO service.
The political rhetoric takes the Scarborough-vs-Downtown battle over rapid transit spending to a province-wide scale. Perish the thought that Thunder Bay should pay one penny toward a rapid transit line in Toronto even though they will reap the benefit from cars manufactured to operate it. The Liberals bought into this divisive talk to win a by-election in Scarborough, ironically in a riding that won't even see a subway line. The danger is that even within the GTHA, voters may well ask "why should I pay for a service I won't use".
According to the Premier's announcement, "nearly $29 billion" will be split between the GTHA and non-GTHA funding pools over the coming decade with four sources of funding:
"Repurposing" the sales tax (HST) now charged on gasoline and diesel fuel for on-road use;
"Redirecting" 7.5 cents of the existing fuel tax;
Sales of government assets, and
Proceeds of a "Green Bonds" program.
Among the tactics proposed by the Transit Panel was the leveraging of any revenue stream through borrowing. A government that once was terrified of more public debt may now embrace it with the proviso that it can be retired with earmarked revenue.
The problem here is that new spending requires either new revenues, or cuts in expenses elsewhere. Shifting existing tax streams into a transit fund will leave a hole in general revenues that could be made up by other taxes on classic targets such as the well-to-do and the corporate sector. We must await for the budget for any details.
A backgrounder from the Ministry of Finance hints at some of the projects that might be funded:
Proceeds from the dedicated fund for the GTHA would help build the next set of priority projects included in Metrolinx's regional transportation plan, The Big Move. Projects identified in The Big Move include: GO Rail Service Expansion (more two-way, all day and rush hour service) on key corridors, Brampton Queen Street Rapid Transit, Dundas Street Bus Rapid Transit, Durham-Scarborough Bus Rapid Transit, Hamilton Rapid Transit, Hurontario-Main LRT linking Mississauga and Brampton, a Relief Line, and Yonge North Subway Expansion to York Region. The fund could also support other transit infrastructure projects that stimulate economic development and improve mobility, such as the East Bayfront Light Rail Transit project.
This list sticks mainly to the established Metrolinx plans and implies that they still have some relevance in this very political setting. However, a backgrounder on GO Regional Express Rail ups the ante:
The new Moving Ontario Forward plan would work toward phasing in electric train service every 15 minutes on all GO lines.
This is a rather careful statement, and the words "work toward phasing in" have been the death knell of more than one project, most recently the Transit City LRT plan. The backgrounder talks of the benefits, oddly, of relieving subway congestion rather than of the much larger regional role GO could have.
It would also give commuters within Toronto another way to get downtown by increasing service between GO stations and Union Station. A commuter could get to Union Station from Danforth GO Station in just 9 minutes, or from Bloor GO Station in just 15 minutes.
This ignores the problem of transferring between routes and the substantial barrier now posed by GO's separate and punitive fares for travel over short distances within the city. It also presumes there would be capacity available for such short-hop trips. Near-downtown trips were an odd choice to feature in such an important announcement.
Although the "Downtown Relief Line" is still mentioned as an important part of overall plans, work now underway by Metrolinx and comments by some politicians imply that they would love to put this project on a slow track with GO improvements taking up the role. If nothing else, this would free up money in the short-to-medium term for large pet projects elsewhere. Both GO and an expanded subway system have a role to play, but too much rhetoric has focused on single-line "solutions" rather than a network view.
All this begs the question of just how much of The Big Move will actually survive the Minister's interventions.
In qualifying the electrification plans, both the Premier and the Minister talk of "lines that we own", although the Minister is on record about acquiring more track for GO:
"We're looking at higher speed connectivity, buying up rail lines more aggressively, improving service outcomes and more regular two-way GO service," Murray said of the priorities that will be laid out in the budget.
… he said the province is actively buying up rail capacity so that GO Trains are no longer seen as "tenants" on other railroad's lines.
"We now own 80 per cent of the track that we need to own, we will be buying up the remaining 20 per cent and a lot of that is on the lines that come to Kitchener," Murray said.
[Kitchener-Waterloo Record March 31, 2014]
That will be a challenge considering that portions GO does not yet own are the main lines of CNR and CPR, not lightly used or abandoned branches.
GO has long had an aversion to electrification both because of objections from the railways whose lines would be affected, and from a chronic lack of strong, dedicated funding that could expand service and operations to a range where electrification made sense. Changing that outlook would be quite a coup, but this depends on continuity in the government and long-term commitment to transformation of the GO network. GO must have a publicly announced plan for expansion and improvement beyond whatever is needed to win the election of the day.
On the municipal front, things are not quite as clear. Although the Metrolinx Investment Strategy included 25% of new revenues for municipal projects (with 15% going to transit), municipal funding was completely absent in this announcement. Indeed, Murray has rather testily noted that Toronto, especially, already gets money from the gas tax and has revenue tools such as Vehicle Registration Tax that it chose not to use.
The gas tax revenue, of course, has been established for many years and is worked into the budgets of all local transit systems. It is not "new money", and can hardly be cited in response to questions about the hoped-for Investment Strategy dollars. [Toronto splits its provincial gas tax between the operating and capital budgets. See 2012 financial statements at page 26 (operating, $91.6m) and page 28 (capital, $75.0m).]
Murray also spoke of "High Speed Rail" in the Toronto KW London corridor, an idea that has been floated before. Although this was unclear in the press statements, Murray's Twitter exchanges claim that the corridor would see 320 km/h operation (see below). The problem with the Toronto-Kitchener-London corridor, however, is not simply getting from one and to the other, but to the many stations in between.
The line once had reasonably frequent VIA trains on rider-friendly schedules, but this service withered through years of cutbacks and, more recently, competition from GO expansion. The infrastructure needed for operation at this speed is substantial, and one must ask whether the corridor's demand could be better served simply by more frequent service at typical (Canadian) rail passenger speeds up to 150 km/h. Better service for southwestern Ontario risks being highjacked as an HSR technology project rather than a service improvement that could be delivered faster at much less cost.
The operative phrase throughout the announcement was "wait for the budget". A Liberal party website promotes the Moving Ontario Forward plan, but is short on details pending the budget announcements.
Meanwhile, Minister Murray, a prolific tweeter, adds his own spin to the debate. [The tweets have been edited to remove extraneous user ids and hastags. All of this can be retrieved by browsing Murray's Twitter account @Glen4ONT.]
On April 17, an exchange about GO and Downtown Relief, Murray shows support for both regional and local relief.
Glen Murray: #RER15Min will build transit ridership on local transit routes. Need 2 plan GO-local transit connections together. Greater demand w/RER
Robert Zaichkowski: I wonder if #RER15Min will lead to GO stations being placed closer together? Could be a good #ReliefLine solution.
Glen Murray: Robert you are absolutely right. Downtown relief needs system wide relief & increased capacity downtown.
Also on April 17, an exchange about the Scarborough Subway.
Rob Salerno: So if Scarb has access to improved GO service, is there still ridership/need for a subway there?
Glen Murray: MLX will make that decision. We will meet our commitments.
Rob Salerno: erg, so now the Scarb subway may be cancelled if @Metrolinx says it's not necessary?
Glen Murray: No. Let MLX do their job.
Rob Salerno: Huh? Those two sentences are contradictory.
Glen Murray: No. MLX has made a decision. I don't imagine that will change, but it is their decision.
Oh come off it, Glen. The idea that Metrolinx makes any decision independently of the government is riotously laughable. The Liberals ran on a Scarborough Subway platform to win the Scarborough-Guildwood by-election, and Murray himself is pushing a subway from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre via the existing SRT alignment.
It's amusing that in one line, Murray says that Metrolinx "will make" the decision, and later that they "have made" it. One of these statements cannot be true.
Is there now a recognition that the rationale for the subway may have been cooked to placate Scarborough voters (not to mention the Scarborough Liberal Caucus)? Might a proper analysis show that another option including GO improvements might be preferable? If Metrolinx made a decision, where was this analysis? Nobody has ever published a review including GO services, the subway option and the Scarborough LRT network proposals.
Even better, what would happen if an independent Metrolinx actually concluded that the Scarborough Subway was a waste of money? Would such a report ever see the light of day?
In a discussion with the Globe's Oliver Moore, we hear about the benefits of more frequent off-peak service.
Oliver Moore: Increased GO service will lead to higher ridership and lower subsidy required, @Glen4ONT says. Could lead to more competitive fares.
@GTAMOVEnetwork: The big problem is spending the money required to take GO transit from "commuter" to "rapid transit" and in ensuring that the investment in GO Transit will not be pulled back in the first 3 years when ROI is not great.
Glen Murray: Not an issue at all.
@GTAMOVEnetwork: I very much hope so. This is going to be a huge investment and ROI won't be seen for a long time.
Glen Murray: Not true. 1/2 hour Lakeshore service increased ridership & fare revenue by 30% in less than a yr.
This discussion dodges the basic point that capital costs have never been considered in evaluating GO's business, only day-to-day operating costs. The situation is the same at the TTC. It is very unlikely that GO will make a profit from extra fares with expanded service. If anything, one could argue that service improvements should come as quickly as possible to maximize the ridership and convenience from the capital investment.
On service to Niagara Falls, London and "HSR":
Glen Murray: Niagara will be getting 15min Regional Express Rail. See today's announcement. Completed with in 10 yrs.
Tom W: Wynne said GO-owned tracks only – still valid? Or will GO be buying tracks from Burlington to Niagara Falls?
Glen Murray: No. All tracks we own or lease.
Tom W: Thanks! Also, does "high-speed rail" to London mean 200+km/hr?
Glen Murray: 320KM
Tom W: To be clear, you're promising a train with a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour running from Toronto to London?
Murray really seems to be freelancing on both of these issues given the ownership and existing uses of the corridors in question, not to mention the challenge of truly high speed operation in the KW-London corridor.
On April 17, asked about travel across Toronto rather than to the core:
Glen Murray: #RER15Min is 15 minute service across the GTHA using Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) running on all GO lines. Huge reduction in congestion.
Saurabh: Someone going from York region to Peel can bypass Union?
Glen Murray: Yes. Once the Crosstown is complete. It is under construction now.
Someone should mention to the Minister that his own government chopped off the western end of the Crosstown, and unless the boundary of Peel Region is now at Weston Road, the Crosstown won't get someone to Peel from Richmond Hill even presuming they wanted to take such a route.
And finally on April 19:
Glen Murray: Projects 4 Prov funding will b evaluated by MLX based on Big Move priority & net benefits.
This, of course, presumes that "net benefits" are fairly calculated and don't include politically inflated assumptions.
When the budget comes out, we will see just how much of the "promises" made here have survived.
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, Electrification, Finance, GO Transit, Intercity Rail, Kitchener-Waterloo, Transit	| 48 Comments
July 8, 2013 by Steve
Metrolinx Board Meeting of June 27, 2013
The Metrolinx Board met on June 27 with a full agenda.
There is a great deal of duplication between various reports, and I have consolidated information to keep like items together. Some reports are omitted entirely from this article either because the important info is included elsewhere, or because they simply rehash status updates with no real news. Metrolinx has a love for "good news" to the point that each manager stuffs their presentations with information that is already well known, or which parallels other presentations.
Among the more important items in these reports are the following:
Metrolinx is now conducting various studies all of which bear on the problem of north-south capacity into downtown Toronto. This involves the (Downtown) Relief Line, the north-south GO corridors and the Richmond Hill subway expansion. A related study involves fare and service integration across the GTHA. It is refreshing to see Metrolinx taking a network approach to planning, rather than looking at projects in isolation, and recognizing that some of their own, existing routes can be part of an overall approach to solving this capacity problem.
The Metrolinx Five-Year Strategy includes dates for the beginning of service on various projects including the LRT replacement for the Scarborough RT. Previous versions of these dates cited "by 2020", and Metrolinx has indicated a desire for as short a construction/shutdown period of under three years. However, the new strategy paper talks of an "in service date" of 2020. Metrolinx is aiming for a three year shutdown at most, but the SRT might continue operating beyond the originally planned September 2015 date, possibly for one additional year. This could lead to an earlier reopening than 2020. (Correspondence from Metrolinx on this issue is included later in the article.)
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, Downtown Relief Line, GO Transit, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, Transit, Union Station, Yonge Subway Extension, York Region	| 28 Comments
December 6, 2012 by Steve
Metrolinx Updates The Big Move, Announces Priorities for Phase 2 Projects (Updated)
Updated December 6, 2012 at 11:20 am:
A warmed over version of the Board of Trade presentation was given to the Metrolinx Board by President & CEO Bruce McCuaig at the Board meeting on December 5. There were a few clarifications of note:
The list of "Next Wave" projects will not be nailed down until the February 2013 Board meeting following a round of public consultation.
That consultation will also include a review of the proposed amendments to The Big Move and yet another round of talks about potential revenue tools. The meetings will probably take place in January at 12 public round tables, as well as a 36-member "Residents' Reference Panel" doing "deep dives" into the issues at weekend sessions. This process will report back to the Board in spring 2013. (There is no info about how the 36 "residents" will be selected for the panel.)
It is likely that construction of the Downtown Relief and Yonge Extension subway projects would take place concurrently with Yonge to Steeles opening at roughly the same time as the DRL from Downtown to Danforth. "Phase 2" of each project would follow. At this time there is no commitment to going north of Danforth or to any specific route either through downtown or through the east end of Toronto. This will be the subject of an Environmental Assessment for the project.
The goal of TBM was described by McCuaig as having 75% of GTAH residents within 2km of rapid transit at their origin or destination. That "or" is an important distinction I don't remember hearing before. It's child's play to have lots of people close to rapid transit at one end of their trip — anyone who works in major centres within Toronto or lives along a subway, LRT, BRT or GO line will qualify. The more difficult target is to have such access at both ends of the trip because "convenience" is meaningless if only one end is well-served.
In an apparent contradiction to the implied 1/3 local funding described in the Star's article about Mississauga having second thoughts on the LRT project, McCuaig said that we cannot look at traditional federal/provincial/municipal financing models. Presumably the Investment Strategy will address this problem.
The actual timing of the Next Wave projects varies depending on which document one reads or how one parses the announcements.
In the Next Wave handout (linked later in this article), this is described as a 15-year, $34-billion project.
The spend rate implied by another part of the same handout is only $1.2b/year, and this translates to a 28+ year timeframe.
Metrolinx, in an email responding to this article and my concerns about the status of projects such as the Eglinton LRT to the Airport, said that there would be a "Third Wave" in 2025.
At the press briefing following the Board meeting, McCuaig confirmed that for the "15 year plan", year zero has been reset to 2012. This implies that TBM's original 15 year timeframe is now stretched to roughly 20. Moreover, McCuaig hinted that projects started within the next 15 years may not finish by then.
Despite all of the delays, the year 2031 is still the target for completing all of The Big Move.
In previous discussions of the Investment Strategy, Metrolinx has included an allowance for operating the new facilities as they come into service. This is missing from the $34b of the Next Wave, but will have to be incorporated into the IS discussions. Moreover operating costs are ongoing while capital are one-time.
In all of this discussion it was amusing to listen to Metrolinx talk about revenue tools, code for the very things some politicians in Toronto find utterly unacceptable preferring to imagine that pools of private capital are available at little or no cost.
The presentation materials from the Board meeting are not yet online, but the hard copy version comes under the unhappy title of "The Big Move In Action". Deleting only one space would give a good description of the treatment of project schedules for Transit City by Queen's Park. The presentation ends with a page titled "Keep the wheels moving" and a picture of a stone wheel and hammer. Ontario makes a lot of claims for its triumphs in transportation technology, and I can't help wondering if this is an early product of the Ontario Transportation Development Corporation.
I mention this because Metrolinx appears to have embraced a new, quaint graphic style for their Big Move and Union Pearson Express websites.
Posted in A Grand Plan, Beyond 416, Finance, GO Transit, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Transit	| 36 Comments


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Violinist; Founder, Yehudi Menuhin School
James Toback; John Turturro; Yehudi Menuhin
EntertainmentAir Date 04/24/1998
Filmmaker James Toback on "Two Girls and a Guy." Actor John Turturro on "The Truce." Violinist Yehudi Menuhin, whose career has spanned eight decades.
A conversation with violinist Yehudi Menuhin, whose career has spanned eight decades.
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Andre Previn
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Leila Josefowicz
James Lipton
Entertainment, Education
James Lipton talks about his life and hosting "Inside the Actor's Studio." 30:51
Remembering Ella Fitzgerald
A conversation about Ella Fitzgerald, after her passing. 10:09
Writer Chuck Klosterman joins guest host Kurt Andersen to examine America's obsession with anti-heroes. 15:45
Grammy Awards '99
A look at the winners of the '99 Grammy Awards–with MTV's Carson Daly and Dave Holmes as well as Rolling Stone's Jancee Dunn. 13:10
Musician Michael Bolton discusses his success and his inspirations. 16:49

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


As a child of the 90s, Jim Lee's art strikes a particular chord with me that I can't help but love. His work has never looked better in this issue & the story that Snyder sets up is compelling.
Based on a book by Joe Hill, this first issue brings real life events into the world of comics. Mysterious and thrilling I really enjoyed this first issue and want to read more.
Gerard Way proved to me that he was the exception to the rule of celebrity comic writers with The Umbrella Academy and he proves that he's not a "one trick pony" with this first issue. I'm totally hooked by this, the art is amazing and the story is crazy and compelling.
It's great to have some American Vampire back in our lives! You don't have to have ever read any before to enjoy this, it's a standalone, double sized one shot issue that is worth every penny.
I WAS NOT EXPECTING HOW AWESOME THIS WOULD BE. Holy wow this was a surprise. Great first issue, you have to get this one way or another.


text:
Căpușu Mare (in ungherese Nagykapus, in tedesco Grossthoren) è un comune della Romania di 3.475 abitanti, ubicato nel distretto di Cluj, nella regione storica della Transilvania.

Il comune è formato dall'unione di 9 villaggi: Agârbiciu, Bălcești, Căpușu Mare, Căpușu Mic, Dângău Mare, Dângău Mic, Dumbrava, Păniceni, Straja.

Collegamenti esterni

Comuni del distretto di Cluj

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home / Jones Act waivers opposed by bipartisan CONGRESSIONAL group
Jones Act waivers opposed by bipartisan CONGRESSIONAL group
By	Workboat Staff on	 September 22, 2011
Earlier this year, President Obama decided to withdraw 30 million bbls. of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This did not sit well with many workboat operators in the Gulf of Mexico. The release was not the problem. How the cargoes were going to be carried became the issue when the administration approved Jones Act waivers to foreign oil transport operators when U.S. carriers were available. In September, Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee chairman Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., sent a bipartisan letter to the president to protest waivers, she and the other signees claim, that had been issued by the administration to foreign carriers over domestic carriers. "The administration's current policy provides jobs to foreign seafarers while American seafarers stand by ready to help," the letter said. U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and U.S. Reps. Charles Boustany, R-La., Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Peter King, R-N.Y., Candice Miller, R-Mich., Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., also signed the letter.
Workboat Staff


Immersing yourself in a variety of activities that will stimulate your intellectual development and give you opportunities to use your talents. Find ways to use your natural abilities at work. Volunteering opportunities are another way to experience fulfillment in this area if you find yourself having to earn a living by doing something other than your ideal job. Explore your imagination! The knowledge you gain from these experiences will fine-tune your talents. As you become confident with your capabilities, you will feel comfortable trusting your intuition. Developing this insight is a vital tool when defending what you believe is right and wrong.
Click on the article titles below to learn more.


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The MVNO market now numbers over 600 operations. Their proliferation is widespread throughout Europe, North America and many Asian countries and more recently the sector has seen launches in the Middle East. The sector contains headline grabbing operations with activities in multiple markets through to small players with revenue positive operations based upon incredibly niche markets. As a sector the MVNO market is incredibly active with launches, buy outs and failures.
ThuisConnect partners with Elephant Talk for MVNO launch – Netherlands
ThuisConnect has entered into a Heads of Agreement contract with Elephant Talk Communications, a provider of telecom, media streaming and distribution services primarily to the business-to-business (B2B) community, for the launch of its MVNO service in the Netherlands. The company is expected to launch its services by the end of the first quarter/spring of 2009. The company also plans to roll out its services in other countries throughout Europe in the third quarter of 2009; starting with Spain, France and Belgium.
ThuisConnect will launch its "Telco to Home, Health Care Support" service using Elephant Talk's fully integrated MVNE platform. All of the company's subscribers will be connected to ThuisConnect's platform with full medical backup and control, with monitoring for diabetes, thrombosis, heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients via a mobile device and/or a DSL/fiber connection. It is estimated that subscriptions would reach 70,000 by the end of 2010 and 110,000 by the end of 2011.
Commenting on the agreement, Sytse Boonstra, Chief Executive Officer of ThuisConnect, said: "According to our view on the Dutch telecommunications market, only two parties were attractive candidates. For the mobile services, we truly believe that Elephant Talk is by far the best platform available to us. Together with our other partner performing as the largest telco of the Netherlands, we are able to reach our target group immediately. We also believe communicating Life-Convenience Services from home will become more and more important in the upcoming years."
Martin Zuurbier, CTO/COO of Elephant Talk, added: "The integration of voice and data services for Life-Convenience Services like health care and personal safety management is possible because of the structure of our systems which make such integration relatively simple to carry out. Simple adjustments in our system are one of the benefits of selecting our integrated Technical Mobile and CRM/Billing platform. The mobile telephone will contribute enormously to the elderly who need the Life-Convenience Service the most. It really combines all forms of communication in one hand, which is realised by our Agreement with ThuisConnect."
MobieTV's MoVidi success for MOBILKING – Poland
Blyk appoints new CEO – UK
KPN To launch Simyo brand in France – France
Sprint plans layoffs to cut costs – USA
MIRS mulling MVNO service instead of WiMAX – Israel
Policy on MVNOs may be delayed – India
Virgin Mobile USA provides update on Q4 subscriber...
ThuisConnect partners with Elephant Talk for MVNO ...
Clearwire launches cheaper WiMAX service – USA
Pepephone introduces new mobile offer – Spain
Hong Kong MVNO subscribers nearing one million – H...


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Comedy Central Orders Pilot for WAITING… TV Series; NBC Picks Up LIFE IS GOOD and TOMMY'S LITTLE…
Back in May, Comedy Central's future slate revealed script development for a TV series adaptation of the 2005 indie comedy Waiting… starring Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Justin Long. The Office Space in a chain restaurant mentality of the show …
Jamie Foxx Shot Trailer for Mob Drama TOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL Starring Paul Sorvino and Selma Blair
by Brendan Bettinger June 22, 2010
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht isn't the only one working on a television mob drama these days: Jamie Foxx has spent the past two weeks filming a trailer for the potential series Tommy's Little Girl. The project revolves around a group …


A complete, roomy waist bag with a unique rail-based sliding feature that makes it easy to move it into the right position, either in the front of you or at the back.
The smaller of Guideline's two waist bags also offers a unique, but slightly different sliding function on the belt. Features that you only find on these Guideline products. It sure makes it a lot easier to manage the bag on the hip with this sliding system. The waist belt is also detachable, the bag is convertible and can be used as a chest pack on the back pack.
There are two elastic mesh outside front pockets, two retractors and two D-rings for attaching accessories. Convenient smaller side pockets hold Dry Dip bottles or other other items. Two main compartments offer plenty of storage space. Each one contains smaller, assorted pockets for organizing leaders, tools and other smaller items in a good way. All zippers are YKK.
There are elastic pockets in the front and on the sides. Two main compartments with smaller organizing-compartments inside. Extra D-rings on the sides. The Dynamite colored lining helps you see the contents also in low-light conditions. All the packs and bags have webbing belts with adjustments on the sides to avoid line tangle.
Fabric: 210D Nylon Oxford/210D Nylon Baby Rip Stop.
Color: Graphite with Dynamite contrasts.
Weight: 310 grams. Size: M.


text:
Elena Novelli
Professor of Strategy, City, University of London
Elena Novelli is Professor of Strategy at Cass Business School, where she also serves as the Director of the Ph.D. in Management and the Co-Director of the Digital Leadership Research Centre. She holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Management and an M.Sc., cum laude, in Business Administration from Bocconi University, Milan.
Her research explores how firms create and capture value from knowledge, focusing in particular on the distinction between general and abstract knowledge vs. specialized knowledge. For instance, she has conducted conceptual and empirical research based on natural and field experiments to study the relationship between knowledge generality and organizational boundary choices, as well as the role of scientific knowledge in determining firms' appropriability, patent strategy, and entrepreneurial performance. Her work has been published in top academic journals including Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Annals, Organization Science, Research Policy and the Journal of Management, and in other outlets such as The Blackwell Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Handbook of Innovation Management - Oxford University Press, The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management.
Her work has been recognized with multiple awards including the 2015 Strategic Management Society Best Paper IG Knowledge and Innovation Award, the 2013 SIIE.EBS/Mikroforum Best-Paper-Award Innovation Management, the 2013 Cass Business School Research Publication Prize, the 2012 University of Bath Bright Idea Award. Her Ph.D. dissertation was selected as the Finalist for the Best Dissertation Awards from the Academy of Management (BPS Division) and the Danish Research Unit on Industrial Dynamics (DRUID). In 2012, the UK Economic and Social Research Council awarded the prestigious Future Research Leaders Grant to Dr. Novelli (GBP 212,240). In 2018, she has received as the Principal Investigator the UK Government BEIS Business Basics Grant (GBP 387,000) to fund Strategy Insight Lab (in collaboration with colleagues at Bocconi University and the University of Oxford), a programme to deliver free training for one year to hundreds of UK micro-businesses, keeping them at the forefront of business knowledge and conducting research on what enables their growth and success. For her work on this project, Professor Novelli was shortlisted as one of the three finalists for the 2019 City Icon Partnership Award.
Professor. Novelli is a member of the Editorial Review Boards of Organization Science, the Strategic Management Journal, Strategy Science and the Journal of Management Studies. She is the Chair of the Knowledge and Innovation Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society. She had already served in the same interest group in the role of Representative-at-Large in 2016-2017, in the role of Associate Program Chair in 2017-2018 and in the role of Program Chair in 2018-2019. Since 2015, she has been serving in the Executive and Operating Committee of the Technology and Innovation Management Division of the Academy of Management in the role of Treasurer. In the period 2017-2019, she served in the Executive Committee of the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management.
At Cass Business School, Professor Novelli teaches "Strategic Leadership" in the Executive MBA programme and "Corporate Strategy" in the Modular Executive MBA programme. In 2017, she launched the successful elective "Capturing Value from Innovation", currently taught to students across all MBA Programmes. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence at the University of Bath; in 2016 she was nominated for a City University Learning Enhancement Award; in 2017 she was the Finalist for the Rector's Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, in 2019 she won the City Student Union Impact Award for Most Innovative Teaching. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Professor Novelli was a member of Cass Business School Board of Studies between 2013 and 2019 and she has been a member of Cass Business School Research Committee since 2016. Since 2017, she is also an Elected Member of City University Senate.
Professor Novelli has coordinated and taught Executive Education courses for public organisations as well as leading international companies in the media, banking, real estate, transportation and retail industries.
Lecturer in Management , City University London
Senior Lecturer in Management , City University London
Joined June 29, 2015


A recent announcement by America's favorite cellular network, Verizon Wireless, would not result in happy moods for the carrier's subscribers. Starting summer 2011, all customers would no longer have the privilege of unlimited data plans over the network, as they enjoy now.
The company has decided to put an end to the regular monthly plans and plans on introducing a tiered mobile data pricing plans in the coming months. Verizon's move is already confirmed, though a specific date would be unveiled at a later date.
Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo confirmed on the news to investors at a recently held conference, a few days back. Furthermore, he announced that the tiered plans could depend upon consumption or speed differentiation. With the release of Apple iPhone 4 over Verizon's airwaves in February, with an unlimited $30 per month data plan, the network is administering heavy traffic.
On the other hand, AT&T is offering iPhone users with a $15 per month for 200MB of traffic or $25 per month for 2GB of data.
Why dabble into the partnership if they can't handle the load? They are all nothing but a bunch of rip-offs out there.


The Alpine armchair is characterized by technical simplicity and a harmonious fusion between the plywood shells and the solid wood frame. The intersection of the shells and the frame creates a pleasant armrest which highlights the refined details and quality of craftsmanship of this chair. The Alpine armchair is available in beech, white oak, or American walnut with a variety of finishes and upholstery options.
Solid hardwood frame. Moulded plywood seat and backrest. Optional upholstered seat and backrest.


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Plaque: Savoy - Charles
Erection date: 2/11/2010
This plaque proudly commemorates the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to mark the re-opening of the Savoy after restoration 2nd November 2010.
This plaque is just to the left of the entrance to the hotel.
Site: Savoy Hotel and Theatre (10 memorials)
WC2, Savoy Court
In 1903-10 the Savoy Hotel was built by Colcutt and Macmurdo. The magnificently Art Deco Savoy Theatre is in the western section. The short road leading to the entrance to the Savoy Hotel is unusual in London in that the traffic drives on the right.
The walls along this road display seven delightful Art Deco plaques made of wood, chrome and ceramic, each topped with "SH". We have entitled these plaques after the image each bears at the bottom. There is also one other, not so lovely, brass plaque to the restoration of the theatre, and a very dull one to the restoration of the hotel. These two make an uncomfortable pair, the unveiling duties having been carried out by the Princess and Prince of Wales.
There are 6 plaques on the east side of the road, one at the end and 2 on the west side. Reading clockwise they are: crown, rose, flowers, feathers, eagle, CRII, Charles, theatre and AR-MR.
2011 - we've replaced two pictures (previously taken during a major restoration) to show the newly gilded Peter statue.
This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Savoy - Charles
Information Subjects commemorated
Following the success of the Savoy Theatre the hotel was built next door to s...
This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Information Created by
Patron of the Goon Show Preservation Society.
This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Information Also at this site
Savoy - CRII
SH In the Savoy Palace in 1658 by order of Oliver Cromwell, the confession of...
Savoy - crown
SH Within these precincts stood the Palace of Savoy, the erection of which w...
Savoy - eagle
SH On part of this site in 1640 was built Worcester House where lived Edward...
Savoy - feathers
SH Here, John of Valois, King of France, when brought to England as a captiv...
Savoy - flowers
SH In the Palace of the Savoy lived for many months Simon de Montfort, found...
This section lists some other interesting Plaques
Information Other Plaques
Windsor Castle pub
Restored by mine host Michael Tierney & Charrington, The Windsor Castle was o...
Site of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, founded 1108.The Corporation of the C...
Brunel - E14
This text is ambiguous about where the photo was taken: at this site or at th...
St Pancras Basin
St Pancras Basin, just above the lock, was opened in 1870 as a coal wharf. Wh...
State of Victoria, Australia
According to Wikipedia the State of Victoria was founded in 1851 so this plaq...


Pre-order is available and I will surely get mine.
Last edited by Entarion; 05-22-17 at 03:40 PM.
Ordered that sucker up straight away. Noticed they have put up pictures with releasing the pre orders which is great. It felt completely wrong buying without even a photo of the book.
Jain Zar has my attention too.... I'm leaving it for now. It's that or Perturabo. Primarchs are very short and Gulliman was crap so the eldar have me so far. Toss up!
Can't even remember the last time I was excited for a new book, to bad I'll have to wait a bit longer for the non limited edition version.
Regarding the Primarchs series..I was thinking about starting my collection for about two weeks, now. I have actually never bought any limited book from BL before.
Finished it, very atmospheric. Terra in 40k is a frightening place. As for the plot itself, its ultimately related to a certain lorebit as I suspected it was. Though it feels like the author ran out of pages and had to wrap it up.
I opened the LE last week and it looked like below. I actually think it is even a bit worse now. Spine and back looks fine. Should I ask for change ? I have it wrapped in original paper. Opened it only once. I am worried it might get worse.
Use [email protected] Black library has always been super helpful to me about replacements and stuff. mail them all your info and shots.
I've had this happen to Dante, Warlord and Carrion Throne. Not straight away it's worn badly while I've been reading them. Each time I've sent off an email and been supplied with a new copy, well I'm waiting on the new carrion copy but it's been promised. So now I have a reading copy and a pristine shelf copy!
It's pretty poor though. They are expensive books. If they weren't so pretty I would have given up on them at the first one.
I'm also assuming this is a recognised problem and they are sorting it out behind the scenes, so while they continue to replace the faulty copies I'm not going to complain.
So I contacted them but they told me none is left. So I choose to take Warlord LE as a replacement. But they managed to find one last for me! So I am fine but I hope they sort this out soon. Horusian Wars LE has a lot of gold on it. I don't want to ask for replacement again.
woah, some have had some rotten luck with these LEs!


The Pokémon Company recently revealed a new anime called Pokémon Generations, an eighteen-webisode miniseries about the Pokémon stories from the games that the anime didn't get to tell, and shortly thereafter released the first two episodes—and now the third is available as well.
This was one of the talking points on this week's episode of Nintendo Week, our Nintendo-themed podcast here at Gamnesia, and think it's absolutely incredible. Check out the discussion video above for our full thoughts, or keep reading below for a brief, brief summary.
We all think this is an excellent homage to the stories that don't get fully explored within the games, and the more mature stylistic take on the Pokémon world is something the series has desperately needed to reconnect with older fans who see Pokémon in a grittier way than the anime has been portraying it for so many years. In fact, Alex hopes it leads into some kind of "back-to-the-beginning companion game," and I think they should turn Generations into a full-fledged anime series as a means of expanding and exploring the Pokémon lore without letting it intrude too far on such a game.
Ben points out that it's a little hard to sink your teeth into, as the episodes are so short. But with fifteen more to go, there's a ton of promise ahead.


text:
Angular momentum generation by parity violation
Liu, Hong and Ooguri, Hirosi and Stoica, Bogdan (2014) Angular momentum generation by parity violation. Physical Review D, 89 (10). Art. No. 106007. ISSN 1550-7998 . http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20140814-092632811
We generalize our holographic derivation of spontaneous angular momentum generation in 2+1 dimensions in several directions. We consider cases when a parity-violating perturbation responsible for the angular momentum generation can be nonmarginal (while in our previous paper we restricted to a marginal perturbation), including all possible two-derivative interactions, with parity violations triggered both by gauge and gravitational Chern-Simons terms in the bulk. We make only a minimal assumption about the bulk geometry that it is asymptotically AdS, respects the Poincaré symmetry in 2+1 dimensions, and has a horizon. In this generic setup, we find a remarkably concise and universal formula for the expectation value of the angular momentum density, to all orders in the parity violating perturbation.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.106007 DOI Article
http://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.106007 Publisher Article
http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.5879 arXiv Discussion Paper
Ooguri, Hirosi 0000-0001-6021-3778
© 2014 American Physical Society. Received 23 December 2013; Published 19 May 2014. Note added.—When this paper was almost complete, we received the paper [37], in which holographic models with nonzero angular momentum and Hall viscosity are discussed. Their models are different from those discussed in this paper. We thank S. S. Gubser, O. Saremi and D. T. Son for useful discussion, and we are grateful to N. Yunes for collaboration on the early stages of this project. We would like to thank K. Landsteiner and the referee for their useful comments on the paper. H. O. and B. S. are supported in part by U.S. DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-92-ER40701. The work of H. O. is also supported in part by a Simons Investigator award from the Simons Foundation, the WPI Initiative of MEXT of Japan, and JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. C-23540285. He also thanks the hospitality of the Aspen Center for Physics and the National Science Foundation, which supports the Center under Grant No. PHY-1066293, and of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics. The work of B. S. is supported in part by a Dominic Orr Graduate Fellowship. B. S. would like to thank the hospitality of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe and of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics. H. L. is supported in part by funds provided by the U.S. DOE under cooperative research agreement Grant No. DEFG0205ER41360 and thanks the hospitality of Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
Department of Energy (DOE) DE-FG03-92-ER40701
Simons Foundation UNSPECIFIED
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) UNSPECIFIED
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) C-23540285
NSF PHY-1066293
Dominic Orr Graduate Fellowship UNSPECIFIED
Department of Energy (DOE) DE-FG02-05ER41360
Liu, H., Ooguri, H., & Stoica, B. (2014). Angular momentum generation by parity violation. Physical Review D, 89(10), 106007.
Joanne McCole


A recent user survey sent out by Dropbox confirms the company is considering the addition of an electronic signature feature to its Dropbox Professional product, which it refers to simply as "E-Signature from Dropbox." The point of the survey is to solicit feedback about how likely users are to use such a product, how often, and if they believe it would add value to the Dropbox experience, among other things.
While a survey alone doesn't confirm the feature is in the works, it does indicate how Dropbox is thinking about its professional product.
The clients also wouldn't have to be be Dropbox users to sign, the survey notes. And the product would offer updates on every step of the signature workflow, including notifications and alerts about the document being opened, whether the client had questions, and when the document was signed. After the signed document is returned, the user would receive the executed copy saved right in their Dropbox account for easy access, the company says.
In addition to soliciting general feedback about the product, Dropbox also asked survey respondents about their usage of other e-signature brands, like Adobe e-Sign, DocuSign, HelloSign, and PandaDoc, as well as their usage other more traditional methods, like in-person signing and documents sent over mail.
Given the numerous choices on the market today, it's unclear if Dropbox will choose to move forward and launch such a product. However, if it did, the benefit of having its own E-Signature service would be its ability to be more tightly integrated into Dropbox's overall product experience. It could also push more business users to upgrade from a basic consumer account to the Professional tier.
This kind of direct integration would make sense in the context of Dropbox's business workflows. If, for instance, a company is working on a contract workflow, being able to move to the signature phase without changing context (or to share with a user who doesn't use Dropbox) could add tremendous value over and above simply storing the document.
Companies like Dropbox have been looking for ways to move beyond pure storage to give customers the ability to collaborate and share that content, particularly without forcing them to leave the application to complete a job. This ability to do work without task switching is something that Dropbox has been working on with Dropbox Paper.
While it remains to be seen how they would implement such a solution, it might be a case where it would make more sense to partner with existing vendors or buy a smaller player than it would be build such functionality from scratch — although it's not clear from a simple survey what their ultimate goal would be at this point.
Dropbox has not yet responded to requests for comment.


text:
Last edited by Brashicage
Thursday, December 3, 2020 | History
4 edition of San Antonio, Texas found in the catalog.
Including Alamo Heights, Balcones Heights, Brooks A.F.B., Castle Hills, China Grove ... Windcrest
Published 1992 by Rand McNally & Co .
San Antonio (Tex.),
Format Unknown Binding
Completing the internal market
Salt Lake City skyline
Learning to love
A Confederate general from Big Sur
The American grill
The true story of Cecil Rhodes in Africa
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RALEIGH, NC -- On Wednesday, the White House Council of Economic Advisers released a new report detailing the economic and health care costs toNorth Carolina caused by the state legislature and Gov. Pat McCrory's decision to put politics over people by refusing to expand health care access to over 375,000 people who fall into the coverage gap.
The report, entitled "Missed Opportunities: The Consequences of State Decisions Not to Expand Medicaid" finds that states which expanded Medicaid are seeing economic and health benefits in billions of dollars coming into their economy, reduced out of pocket health care expenses for their citizens and a healthier population. But due to the political priorities of Gov. McCrory and Republican lawmakers, North Carolina is seeing just the opposite.
This is not surprising. On average, states not expanding Medicaid will loose an est. 2 billion dollars. However, the message lawmakers are spewing to the public is the cost of expansion. For example, in Florida it would cost the tax payers 1.1 billion to expand Medicaid. However, it will cost 5.5 billion not to expand Medicaid. The decision not to expand is costing the tax payers a net of 4.4 billion. Add to this the lost of new revenue, new jobs, and help from the feds, and Floridians are really missing out on serious economic growth. Other states who have opted out are seeing similar, if not larger deficits. State lawmakers should make the decision not to play politics with the health of state citizens.


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Inside the Ring Engraving Serivice Added!
It costs $40 per ring and can be ordered on all hammered rings except the 10mm width and the Itty Bitty Hammered ring. You can also order it on any straight band, if you have a question about availability on a certain ring e-mail me.
You can have letters, numbers, a heart, "&" engraved in the ring.


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Published — February 21, 2014 Updated — May 19, 2014 at 12:19 pm ET
Long-awaited EPA pesticide protections a 'mixed bag' for farmworkers
Ronnie Greene
Ushering in what it called "milestone" changes to better protect the nation's farmworkers from pesticides, the Environmental Protection Agency this week proposed a slate of updates to its agricultural Worker Protection Standard.
Perils of the New Pesticides
Farmworkers plagued by pesticides, red tape
The enhanced protections come 22 years after the EPA last revised the rules intended to safeguard the nation's 2 million farmworkers from pesticides' perils. Among other steps, the new rules would increase the frequency of mandatory pesticide training from every five years to every year, and include no-entry buffer zones to shield workers from spray and fumes.
"EPA's proposal aims to pull farm workers up toward the same level of protection from environmental and health hazards that other professions have had for decades," Gina McCarthy, the agency's administrator, wrote in a blog post titled: A Step Forward: Protecting America's Farmworkers.
Farmworker advocates agree the proposal represents a step forward.
But the long-overdue update falls short of the more sweeping changes advocates envisioned. It fails, for instance, to require medical monitoring of applicators handling toxic chemicals; sets 16, not 18, as a minimum age for those handling pesticides; and eliminates a requirement that growers display in a central location information on pesticides being applied.
"As expected, there are some genuine improvements, but also at least one big step backward … and some real lost opportunities, especially when it comes to protections for pesticide handlers, and most especially teen pesticide handlers," Eve C. Gartner, a staff attorney with Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law organization, wrote The Center for Public Integrity.
In 2012, the Center explored the EPA's thin layer of protection for farmworkers, describing how pesticides can endanger laborers, but no one knows the full scope of the environmental perils in the fields.
Now, advocates say, the proposed upgrades fail to fully close the safety gap.
For instance, Gartner and others note, the proposed rule would ban children under 16 from handling pesticides, with an exemption for family farms.
The EPA lauds that first-ever minimum age requirement as a step forward. But farmworkers and their advocates had pushed for the minimum age to be set to 18.
The new age limit "is better than nothing but I don't see justification for wanting to expose 16- and 17-year-olds," said Virginia Ruiz, director of occupational and environmental health for Farmworker Justice.
"Why you would want somebody that young applying chemicals in the workplace is beyond me," Ruiz said.
Setting the minimum age at 18 would mean higher costs for the industry, the EPA said.
"EPA estimates that requiring handlers to be at least 18 years old would cost about $3.1 million annually, or $11 per agricultural establishment and $320 per commercial pesticide handling establishment per year," the proposed rule says.
Like others who have long pushed EPA to revise the Worker Protection Standard, Ruiz is heartened that some substantive changes finally came. But, overall, she called the proposal a "mixed bag."
Another area advocates question: That the EPA would eliminate a requirement that growers centrally post information about pesticides.
The posting requirement, the EPA said, has become the single most frequently cited area of non-compliance with the Worker Protection Standard. Industry and regulators have challenged it, the agency said.
"Keeping the information current at the central location has been problematic for agricultural employers, as records of frequent pesticide applications on an establishment with multiple crops can be difficult to maintain accurately during the growing season," the EPA wrote.
"Most workers," the proposed rules say, "do not routinely pass the central posting area because their workplace is at a different part of the establishment. The proposed change would continue to make available at a designated location pesticide application information for workers and handlers."
"Rather than continue a requirement that burdens employers without clear benefits to workers and handlers, EPA has decided to revise the requirement."
To the farmworker community, this is a change for the worse. With a central posting place, they say, farmworkers know there is a spot they can turn for information. But now, they say, the burden will fall on farmworkers – many of them working in the shadows – to actively seek out that information.
"It's going to be the very rare farmworker who's going to have the courage to ask for that information," said Jeannie Economos, Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health Project coordinator for the Farmworker Association of Florida.
More than half of the employees at the association, Economos said, are former farmworkers. "We are the community of farmworkers," she said.
The EPA' rationales for cutting the central posting requirement and putting the minimum age to 16 are both "illuminating and disturbing," Earthjustice's Gartner said.
Farmworkers advocates also pushed the EPA to require medical monitoring of applicators who handle toxic pesticides, following the leads of California and Washington. That is not happening, either.
"Those programs have been around for many years, to much benefit," said Ruiz. "The fact that they're in these big agricultural states shows that they are feasible to implement … and are very helpful in helping to prevent overexposure."
The EPA cites other reforms, producing a before and after primer showing how the rules will change. The specific changes include:
An expanded mandatory posting of no-entry signs for the most hazardous pesticides; the signs prohibit entry into pesticide-treated fields until residues decline to a safe level.
A requirement that Personal Protection Equipment (respirator use) be consistent with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration standards, including fit test, medical evaluation, and training.
Measures to improve states' ability to enforce compliance including requiring employers to keep records of application-specific pesticide information.
"Today marks an important milestone for the farm workers who plant, tend, and harvest the food that we put on our tables each day," McCarthy said. "Protecting our nation's farm workers from pesticide exposure is at the core of EPA's work to ensure environmental justice."
The changes, the administrator said, follow "more than a decade of extensive stakeholder input by federal and state partners and from across the agricultural community including farm workers, farmers, and industry."
Florida's Economos cites the "good and bad" of the proposed changes, which will now go through a public comment period before becoming final.
"We really want to applaud EPA for all the work they've done on this. We know it's been a long time in the making," she said.
Economos added, "We've been waiting a long time."
Leadership at Chemical Safety Board questioned amid investigation backlog
Deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion blamed on regulatory failures
I've been using Aircraft brand stripper for 20 years. It is the most effective and reliable product in my body shop for its purpose. I tried it the other day without this ingredient. It is the most useless stinky horrible stuff I've ever seen. I don't know what this company is going to do now. They are definitely going to go bankrupt. I suppose it's for the best , but what a bummer. Instead of spending 30 minutes stripping the old paint off of a hood, I spent three hours sanding it off and using tons of electricity and sandpaper.… Read more »


Initial Functional Medicine Consultation Package (includes initial assessment and 2 follow-up visits).
"The Medicine of Why — the more you ask why, the closer you are to understanding" ~ David Haas, MD.
Functional medicine is very much like Traditional Chinese Medicine in that it is a holistic approach to diagnosis and treatment. From a western view there is an understanding of how all organ systems work together and rely on each other for optimal functioning. Treatment includes an emphasis on healthy nutrition, meaningful relationships, daily movement, self-care & awareness, and work /life balance.
Professional Recommendations for additional diagnostics & interventions.
Follow-up visit – consult on current progress, review any additional labs and discuss treatment options. Follow up visit schedule is individualized based on your specific needs.


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Home » The Everyday Language of White Racism (Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture) (Paperback)
The Everyday Language of White Racism (Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture) (Paperback)
By Jane H. Hill
In The Everyday Language of White Racism, Jane H. Hill provides an incisive analysis of everyday language to reveal the underlying racist stereotypes that continue to circulate in American culture.
provides a detailed background on the theory of race and racism
reveals how racializing discourse--talk and text that produces and reproduces ideas about races and assigns people to them--facilitates a victim-blaming logic
integrates a broad and interdisciplinary range of literature from sociology, social psychology, justice studies, critical legal studies, philosophy, literature, and other disciplines that have studied racism, as well as material from anthropology and sociolinguistics
Part of the Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture Series
JANE H. HILL is Regents' Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Arizona. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has served as President of the American Anthropological Association, and was awarded the Viking Fund Medal in Anthropology in 2005.
Series: Blackwell Studies in Discourse and Culture
Linguistics - Sociolinguistics


Amongst the 108 Shakti Peethas in India, Kalimath Temple is a famous temple in Uttarakhand. The temple is situated close to Guptkashi and Ukhimath and is visited by a large number of Goddess Kali devotees.
Kalimath is only the place where the goddess Kali is worshiped along with her sisters Laxmi and Saraswati. One thing that makes this temple stand apart from the other temples that there is no idol instead, the Sri Yantra, is the object of devotion. The legend has it that after killing demon Raktbeej, Goddess Kali went underneath the earth from this point.


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Cannabis Is An Increasingly Popular Class at American Universities
Published by Kerri Louise Watt at
M college students are becoming interested in cannabis classes as it becomes a fast growing industry and it will soon need it's experts. Image Credit: By wk1003mike on shutterstock
It may not surprise you that many American college kids are taking a keen interest in cannabis these days. However, these aren't the familiar tie-dyed hippies of the past — they're scholars with a genuine scientific interest in the many uses of the plant, and they're studying it in laboratories and classrooms under the watchful eye of their professors.
According to Market Watch cannabis-themed courses have been popping up from coast to coast in recent years, as universities seek to attract students interested in entering the country's growing (and massively lucrative) cannabis industry. The diverse range of offerings, which cover everything from law to chemistry to public health, reflects the rapidly growing curiosity surrounding all things cannabis.
Some schools, like SUNY Morrisville, are even offering entire minors dedicated to the subject.
Founded over a hundred years ago as an agricultural college, this small university in central New York hopes that their newly available minor — which the school plans to offer starting in the fall semester of 2019 — will help "train the workers that are on the ground in the workforce," said Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins, assistant professor of agricultural science.
Cannabis Industry Becoming a Major Job Creator
In 2017, an analytics firm that tracks the cannabis industry estimated that about 121,000 people were employed within the industry, and many experts predict that number will increase dramatically in the years to come, as more states legalize medical and/or recreational cannabis. The prospect of federal legalization would be an even bigger boon to the industry — and, by extension, to the people who seek to work in it.
These positions, if and when they materialize, are likely to require a more specialized skill set than that which is typically associated with cannabis-related jobs. While trimming plants has long been a popular seasonal job among young people in places like California, university courses that focus on cannabis are intended to prepare students for more technically demanding roles within the industry.
According to Howard Rice, an instructor in the horticultural department at SUNY, the new minor is aimed at "students who went for horticulture or similar environmental majors," who will be more attractive candidates for potential employers "because [the students] understand plant growth, they're not just hiring the guy who was growing in his basement for 10 years."
SUNY Morrisville isn't the only university that's seeking to position itself as a feeder program for the burgeoning cannabis industry. Some, like Northern Michigan University, are even offering undergraduate degrees focusing on cannabis. In 2016, the school announced that it would offer the country's first four-year program dedicated to the study of cannabis (specifically, the medicinal chemistry of the plant, along with an optional entrepreneurial track). As Professor Brandon Canfield said in a press release, "There is a major gap in educational opportunities for those interested in this field."
Will that gap be closed in the near future? It seems like a solid bet — as students seek a better return on investment for skyrocketing tuition costs, degrees that can help open doors to fast-growing industries like cannabis are likely to be in high demand.
Kerri Louise Watt
Kerri Louise Watt is an experienced health and fitness advisor with 20 years of martial arts under her belt. She reports on the healthy lifestyle revolving around CBD and its future potential in fitness. You can find her work at kerrilouisewatt.com.


Freezing rain continues to move out of the area right now. Temperatures are still sitting in the 30's right now as well. We have reached the point in this weather system that freezing rain and sleet is changing over to rain. Rain will continue this morning into the afternoon before changing over to some snow.


WWF-Kenya in collaboration with Impact Hub is stepping up its Innovation Program following the launch of a platform dubbed PandaLabs Kenya.
WWF-Kenya in collaboration with Impact Hub is stepping up its Innovation Program following the launch of a platform dubbed PandaLabs Kenya. PandaLabs is WWF's decentralized innovation accelerator, supporting innovative, new tech and commercial based solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals. The main idea of the platform is to turn conservation problems into opportunities and find innovations to these challenges that can create impactful and catalytic change.
Through a call for innovations, individuals from diverse sectors and disciplines submitted their considered ideas/solutions to today's environmental challenges as part of the Conservation Innovation Challenge. An internal committee evaluated the submissions and 25 individuals were selected to the inaugural group of PandaLab Cohort 1 that was held in the month of August 2018.
WWF-Kenya's role in terms of support will be to facilitate, convene, engage and be a principal organizer in environmental innovations. For the first cohort, six teams from the workshop participants will be supported after a selection procedure, in which the submitted pre-project proposals will be assessed in terms of the problem, feasibility of the idea, the level of impact and the incorporation of major stakeholders.


After nine exciting months, the anticipation is tangible. Be sure that you understand all the choices when it comes to giving birth and that the decision you make is what's best for you and baby at this most exciting time.
Stretch marks plague both women and men of all ages and race groups, but there are prevention and treatment options that can minimize these unsightly scars.
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Our Festival
25.7.–31.7.2021
Järvenpää / Tuusula
Artistic Director: Kamus Quartet
"Our Festival is gentle. It lives in these beautiful little places, in living rooms, on lakes, in forests, and wants to whisper some exciting things into your ears. We'll be sharing a secret. Our Festival wants to invent new flexible forms for concerts, where the message is more important than dress codes or good behaviour."
– Pekka Kuusisto, Our Artistic Director 1999–2018
Our Festival (in Finnish: Meidän Festivaali) is renowned for its fresh approach to the arts and crossover events. The bold, open-minded and socially aware event was first held in 1997 as Chamber Music by Lake Tuusula and is now an annual event.
The shores of Lake Tuusula provide a backdrop for a unique journey into Finland's rich cultural history, for it is here that Jean Sibelius, Pekka Halonen, Eero Järnefelt and other artists of "the Golden Era" once made their homes. The event, originally called Chamber Music by Lake Tuusula, was renamed Our Festival in 2010.
Under its past Artistic Director Pekka Kuusisto the festival built a reputation as a bold, yet subtle and gentle event, that aims to open up it's audiences ears and minds. The Festival seeks new perspectives on musical encounters and concert practices, with an aim to give the audience an experience that simply is not available elsewhere. Combining a unique group of musicians, designers and artists from Finland and abroad, the festival is a celebration of creativity and communication in the arts. The current Artistic Director Kamus Quartet started their tenure in summer 2019, and we can expect more unique, intimate chamber art experiences to come.
Our Festival has been recognized with awards such as the accolade of Festival of the Year in 2011 by Finland Festivals and Finland's State Prize for Music in year 2013. Our Festival is organised by the Järvenpää Sibelius Society.
The next Our Festival takes place from 25 July to 31 August 2021 at various locations in the landscapes of Lake Tuusula only half an hour's drive north from Finland's capital, Helsinki. The program will be released during spring 2021.
Kamus String Quartet has been appointed as the next Artistic Director of Meidän Festivaali (Our Festival). Kamus' first festival will be in 2019. The position of Artistic Director at Our Festival has been one of Pekka Kuusisto's sources of joy for more than a decade. It has given him the precious opportunity to meet and collaborate with all kinds of sweethearts while watching sparks fly from their limbs, brains and hearts. Pekka Kuusisto is delighted to hand over the position of Artistic Director at Our Festival to Kamus String Quartet, after working himself with the festival 20 years in a row. Kamus is one of the most prominent Nordic ensembles and continues to delight audiences with a strong and distinctive voice.
Photos by Maarit Kytöharju / Our Festival


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Harvey: A Review Sunday, Jul 8 2012
New York and theater thisgaudygildedstage 2:38 pm
While in NYC last month, PJ and I saw Harvey, starring Jim Parsons and Jessica Hecht. In fact, one of the reasons we went to New York was to see this play. I remember seeing it as a kid — my parents love old black and white movies, and I was interested in seeing it on the stage. Plus, I love The Big Bang Theory, and, now that Jim Parsons is officially out, I really wanted to see him live too.
Harvey is about an eccentric man, Elwood P. Dowd, played by Parsons, who is friends with a six-foot tall invisible rabbit named Harvey. Elwood explains to various people he meets that Harvey is a pooka, a mischievous sprite who plays tricks on people.
Elwood's sister and niece, who live with him in the family's ancestral home, have had enough of Elwood's behavior. Embarrassed one too many times by his introduction of his invisible friend to their acquaintances, Veta, played by Hecht, and Myrtle Mae, played by Tracee Chimo, decide to commit Elwood to the local insane asylum. When Veta takes Elwood to the asylum, however, a comedy of errors ensues as the junior, too self-assured young doctor mistakes Veta for the patient. The rest of the play involves sorting out who does and who does not belong in the hospital, with the play's climax revolving around a new drug that can make sure Elwood never sees Harvey again.
Parsons is good in this role, but it's not really much of a stretch for him. Elwood is a slightly differently eccentric take on Sheldon, his character on The Big Bang Theory. The part doesn't call for anything else, so it's clear why Parsons would be cast in the role, but it will be interesting to see if he's able to break out of the Sheldon mold for his future forays onto Broadway and film. His supporting role in the movie version of The Normal Heart might be a good indication of his career after TBBT.
The play also features Carol Kane in a small, but hilarious role as the senior physician's dotty wife. But the real star of this production is the set design, which is superb. Both the Dowd house and the hospital are realistically portrayed and realized. It's clear to see why the Emmy winning designer, David Rockwell, has garnered Tony and Drama Desk nominations in recent years.
All in all, this is a good, solid production of a classic mid-twentieth century play. It's good, family entertainment, and audience members of all ages seemed to enjoy it. I've decided to teach Mary Chase's play in my class in the fall. It will be interesting to see what my students make of it!
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Gore Vidal's The Best Man: A Review Sunday, Jul 8 2012
New York and theater thisgaudygildedstage 11:51 am
Last month, PJ and I spent three-and-a-half days in New York City for his birthday. While there we saw three shows, the first of which was Gore Vidal's The Best Man. I almost went to see this play when I was in the city in April, but decided to see End of the Rainbow instead. I'm glad I waited, since I think PJ enjoyed this one more than he would have enjoyed Rainbow.
The appeal of the play, at least in part, was its all-star cast, which included James Earl Jones, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, John Larroquette, and Angela Lansbury. We couldn't pass up a chance to see all of these actors together.
The Best Man is a political drama. Set at a major party's presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia in 1960, the play follows the two major candidates for the nomination: William Russell, played by Larroquette, and Joseph Cantwell, played by McCormack, and their wives and political consultants. Russell is the former Secretary of State and the more progressive of the two candidates. Cantwell is a conservative senator who is an up-and-comer in the party. When Cantwell threatens to reveal damaging information about Russell to the convention goers, Russell must decide how to respond: release even more damaging information about Cantwell or try to take the high road, even if it means losing the nomination.
What stands out about this play is how timely it remains. Many of the issues it raises about politics are still true today. It asks whether winning is more important than remaining ethical and what are the consequences of playing dirty. It's an interesting and insightful look into the political sphere.
Larroquette and McCormack are both excellent in their respective roles. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Jones who received a Tony nomination for Best Actor for his role as the former president. His isn't really a leading role, and Jones doesn't do anything spectacular with it — he's just solidly good. Candice Bergen is excellent as Russell's wife, from whom he is estranged but who is playing the part of a good wife for appearances sake. Slowly, she becomes the moral center of the play, and PJ and I both thought Bergin stood out in a quiet, but emotionally moving sort of way. And finally, Lansbury plays a small, but key role as one of the leaders of the women's caucus of the party convention. Fancying herself as a king-maker, she plays both sides of the contest, ready to assume an influential role with whoever wins the nomination.
Overall, Gore Vidal's The Best Man is an interesting look at politics that remains pertinent to today's political gamesmanship. The final resolution is a bit predictable, and I thought the consequences for the Russells' marriage was not really credible, but I liked it nevertheless. It's been extended a couple of times, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a smart play about politics and its moral/ethical decline.