The Italian tenor Carlo Vutera has impressed audiences in Europe and America with his communicative gifts, passionate delivery and expressive voice.
Born in in Brussels to Sicilian parents, Carlo studied music theory at Mannes, and began his career singing with the New York Lyric Theatre, specializing in character tenor roles such as Frantz, Gaston,Goro, Cassio,Remendado, Beppe, and many other walk in parts. His career blossomed in Cuba, where he thrived artistically as a respected soloist at the National Opera House of Havana. His roles included Alfredo in "La Traviata," Pinkerton in "Madame Butterfly," Don José in "Carmen," Cavaradossi in "Tosca," and Arturo in "Lucia di Lammermoor." While living in Cuba in the late 1990s, he also frequently collaborated with the pianist and coach Pura Ortiz in a series of well-received recitals on the island.
Carlo's passion for Italian and Cuban music inspired a collaboration in 2005 with prominent Cuban musicians such as the jazz pianist Roberto Carcassés, the percussionist Dafnis Prieto, the saxophonist Yosvany Terry , the bassist Yunior Terry and the singer Descemer Bueno. The resulting album, called "Ammore: Boleri Napoletani," features a selection of Neapolitan love songs arranged as Cuban boleros and has been added to the prestigious RAI music archive in Italy. The album has been featured in a number of major media outlets, including ABC's The Mix.
After taking a hiatus from the stage to run a successful, multi-genre music venue in New York showcasing notable international musicians, Carlo has returned to his first love: opera. Based in New York, he continues to refine his voice with the guidance of the baritone John Fiorito, a former mainstay of the Metropolitan Opera.
Carlo, who counts Franco Corelli, Cesare Valletti and Renata Tebaldi among his mentors, has been the recipient of several awards, including grants from the Singers Foundation Development and Lombard Odier. A fluent speaker of English, French, Spanish and Italian, Carlo feels a particular affinity with bel canto and verismo repertory.
Following his successful European tour in the summer of 2012, with performances in Italy, France and Spain, Carlo's fall 2013 season includes a performance at the National Opera Center of New York and recitals in Europe, followed by a Concert in Paris in October , Venice in November and Brussels in December , and a Solo rectal in India in January 2014 .


Do you secretly swear internally when someone cheerfully tells you you have so much to be thankful for?
When you're going through dark times, practicing gratitude can feel more like a mandatory exercise than a genuine act. I mean, when you suffer excruciating pain every day, struggle to make ends meet or are grieving the loss of a loved one, it's hard to feel grateful for the things that are going well.
And yet, that's exactly what happiness research tells you to do. Study after study shows that gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to feel happier. Being thankful improves your mental health, boosts your resilience and helps you cope better with everyday stress.
But how do you cultivate gratitude when you feel sick, sad, disconnected or cheated on by life?
Don't just go through the motions. True thankfulness goes deeper than rattling off a list of things you know you're supposed to feel grateful for, like having a roof over your head and food on the table. Practicing gratitude shouldn't be a chore. You can only tap into a deeper experience of gratefulness when you sincerely like to make your life – and that of the people around you – better.
Here's how you can feel thankful for the good things in life, even when life is hard.
How are you supposed to feel thankful when you're just not? Gratitude isn't just an emotion, it's also an action. Psychological experiments show that we don't only smile when we're happy; we also feel happy because we smile. The same goes for gratitude: sometimes it helps to act grateful first and feel it afterwards. All you need is the willingness to practice the tips below to start invoking feelings of thankfulness.
If you want to be more thankful for the good things in life, why not start by looking for the good within yourself?
When you feel betrayed by your body and mind as a result of your illness, it can be hard to accept those parts of yourself, let alone feel grateful for who you are. But everyone has admirable qualities, something that makes them unique and valuable. What do you like about yourself? Are you proud of your determination, your glossy hair or your mean pasta making skills? Do you love the colour of your eyes or your wicked sense of humour? Appreciate everything that makes you you.
You can also make a Reverse Bucket List. Write down all the big and small things you've achieved, even despite your problems. Maybe you set off on the trip of a lifetime or landed your dream job. Maybe you stood up for yourself, quit a bad habit or simply never gave up. Nobody can ever take those experiences and accomplishments away from you.
And if looking for the good within yourself doesn't come natural, you can get yourself an Everyday Bravery pin to serve as a daily reminder.
Adjust your expectations. Feeling grateful isn't a constant lucky-to-be-alive high, but more like passing moments of contentment and appreciation. It's also perfectly normal to be thankful for the good things in life and still mourn all you've lost to chronic illness or tragic life events.
Avoid the comparison trap. Stop comparing yourself to others, including your former healthy self. It's human nature to always be craving more, but practicing gratitude is about appreciating what you have, not what you want. So if you feel left out or not good enough, take a break from your ideals and the curated lives on Pinterest and Instagram. Not ranking yourself against others also means you shouldn't compare your problems with someone else's. Of course "things could be worse". But thinking about dying kids in Syria won't take away your pain. It may help put things in perspective, but it can also make you feel even worse when you're already depressed. We're talking cultivate genuine gratitude here, not the forced, guilt-driven kind.
Learn to say "thank you" instead of "I'm sorry".
Flip-think your problem. Try to turn problems into opportunities. Of course that's not always an option, but changing the way you look at a given situation can be helpful.
Train your brain to see the good in every day. You can teach your mind to automatically scan for the positive things in life. Practices like writing down 3 things that went well that day and noticing simple pleasures create new pathways in your brain, build a more positive thinking pattern. So start counting your blessings.
Remember a specific moment when you felt truly thankful and relive it, vividly. Think back of how it felt and notice the sensations in your body. Now let go of that particular memory but keep feeling the glow of gratitude inside. Knowing how thankfulness feels makes it easier to recall the emotion when you want to practice gratitude.
Writing down 3 things that went well that day is a proven method to boost feelings of gratitude and happiness. You can reap the most rewards from your gratitude journal by focusing on people and experiences rather than things you're thankful for. No need to make a long list of things you're supposed to feel grateful for – a detailed description of one specific thing that sparked thankfulness works best.
Giving back doesn't just help someone else who might need it, but it helps you feel good about yourself to. What's more, showing appreciation for the people around is serves as a good reminder who and what you have to be thankful for.
Give compliments and verbal high fives.
Write thank you notes or a 'love letter'.
Be an active listener. Don't interrupt, read between the lines and respond with empathy.
Embrace the spirit of giving. Generosity isn't about doing good deeds out of moral obligation, but because you genuinely want to care for the people around you.
Savoring refers to being mindfully engaged when you experience something positive. It's about engaging all your senses to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. Instead do going about your day with paying much attention to your surroundings, stop and smell the roses – literally. Feel the sunshine on your face, listen to the birds chirping and enjoy every bit of your meal instead of mindlessly gobbling it down.
When you notice and appreciate the good in every day, from a warm shower in the morning to a cozy cup of tea at night, you automatically become more grateful for having these wonderful things in your life.
Living with chronic illness, a broken heart or financial problems can feel like an obstacle course – there's always another problem to overcome. That's why you should celebrate the mini milestones along the way, even if it's just making it through a bad day.
It can feel silly to give yourself a pet on the back for doing something that's relatively easy to do, but who cares? You know how challenging it was to host a fabulous party for your kids with little means, how much work you put into finishing that task despite the pain in your back. Be proud of yourself!
It's not easy to practice gratitude when you don't feel like it, and it's perfectly normal that you don't feel over-the-moon blessed when you're going through tough times. But you can be sad and disappointed about the problems you're facing and feel grateful about the things that are going well in your life at the same time. In fact, positive feelings like thankfulness can help you deal better with the inevitable negative ones.
So no matter what you're going through, always keep your eyes – and your heart – open to notice and appreciate the good things in life.


From a winemaker friend who shall remain nameless: I will try a little wine before spin class.
From a fellow WSET grad Cathy Martin: I will pour at Pulchella's Tasting Room because they will be packed to the rafters.
From a local Paso fiend: Yes, I have my reservations and WILL GET THERE.
From DiMaggio Washington: I'll think about WSET Level 3 for 2012!
From Dr. Joel Fisher, LA Wine Fest and SCV Wine Fest Founder: I will be your Wine Princess/Hostess at SCV Wine Fest February 12.
From old pal Mary Harmon-y: Of course I'll resolve never to drink bad wine, that's what "wine tasting" is for!
From my decorator, Pam Jaffke: I will drink wine in my new kitchen before my checks clear!
From staff writer Michael Perlis: I will drink my his Turley Zin.
From staff writer Rusty Sly: I will drink his wife's Hendricks Gin.
From my husband: I will master the waiter's corkscrew without any of his friggin' help.
From my mother: I will keep making a decent living as a writer.
I stopped making resolutions years ago. Now I just try to live every day with eyes on the road ahead as I get closer and closer to my goal. It's all about the journey! Cheers, Eve! I look forward to more wine adventures with you in 2011!
I'm with ya Goddess! On thes same wine-soaked road!


By Erin Carlson Mast This is a photo of President Lincoln's Cottage shrouded in fog around 8:30am this morning. The Sherman Tower (known as Scott Tower in Lincoln's time) is barely visible in the background. Ms. Erin Mast is Curator at President Lincoln's Cottage.


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Hazardous landfill, state inaction a toxic mix for Tennessee town
CAMDEN, Tenn. – The first sign was a stifling ammonia smell that made pets and children sick.
Hazardous landfill, state inaction a toxic mix for Tennessee town CAMDEN, Tenn. – The first sign was a stifling ammonia smell that made pets and children sick. Check out this story on Tennessean.com: http://tnne.ws/2m73qBW
Anita Wadhwani, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee Published 10:00 p.m. CT March 4, 2017 | Updated 10:39 a.m. CT March 5, 2017
Camden resident Mike Melton looks at the landfill from the edge of his neighbor's property in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017.(Photo: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean)
Then, neighbors noticed a dusty residue on their cars. One woman drained her backyard pool after feeling a burning sensation when she swam.
In another incident, sounds of small explosions prompted the chief of police to rush to a scene to investigate a possible shooting or an exploding meth lab. The noise turned out to be the combustion caused by heavy metals mixing with moisture after being dumped at the 42-acre Environmental Waste Solutions landfill.
Local officials say the EWS landfill is a threat to the 3,500 residents of this rural community about 90 miles west of Nashville. But after years of complaints and unsuccessful legal challenges since it opened in 2010, they say they cannot get state regulators to help.
Instead, officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation have approved more than a dozen requests for "special wastes" – defined as "either difficult or dangerous to manage" – to be deposited in the landfill that was originally granted a permit to accept shredded tires and demolition waste. With TDEC approval, the landfill has taken in "special waste" from aluminum, coal and railroad industries, along with diesel fuel from a Superfund site.
Hazardous waste detected at Camden landfill
Obtaining a state permit to establish a new landfill requires public notice and disclosure about the types of waste that will be deposited so communities can discuss, debate or even intervene to stop a landfill before it starts. Once a landfill has gotten its initial permit, however, landfill owners and waste generators in Tennessee can privately petition the state to accept additional and potentially hazardous materials.
Camden landfill
Camden resident Mike Melton looks at the landfill from the edge of his neighbor's property in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
A vehicle unloads at the Environmental Waste Solutions landfill site in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
Mike Melton lives next to a landfill nicknamed "Black Mountain" in Camden, Tenn. He has suffered headaches and nausea amid the wafting odors of ammonia outside his brick ranch house in the small Lockhard Hills subdivision, which abuts the landfill. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
Eighty miles west of Nashville, Camden, Tenn., has about 3,500 residents and is home to a toxic landfill. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
The Environmental Waste Solutions landfill site in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
Camden resident Mike Melton drives along the edge of his property which shares a border with a landfill in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
A city water tower above housing in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
Camden Mayor Roger Pafford works at his office in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
Camden resident Cindy Wheatley poses for a portrait outside of her home in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
Last year, TDEC approved 950 new and renewal requests for special waste to be dumped at landfills across the state. Once a request is granted, tons of an approved waste can be dumped at a site regularly. Altogether, there are 138 landfills and 87 solid waste processing facilities in Tennessee. TDEC officials this year are in the process of streamlining the special waste process to speed up approvals.
Environmentalists and city residents say Camden is a prime example of what can go wrong when TDEC approves special wastes without community input or notice.
TDEC in April designated the landfill as a "large quantity generator of hazardous waste," according to an August TDEC letter sent to Environmental Waste Solutions. Routine tests of the landfill found that special waste deposited at the site had reacted to create a toxic stream that met federal hazardous waste standards.
Camden Mayor Roger Pafford said no one from TDEC informed city officials that their town was now home to a hazardous waste landfill. The omission was particularly galling to city officials because the leachate – or wastewater – pipe carrying hazardous waste from the landfill flows directly above a city drinking water main.
Where the waste pipe crosses the city drinking water line (Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee)
The city has asked the Environmental Protection Agency investigate "permitting abuses" and "fraud" by Tennessee's environmental regulators.
A TDEC spokesman declined a request for an interview with any TDEC official, saying the landfill dispute has lasted for so long that multiple TDEC individuals had been involved. Bob Martineau has been TDEC's chief since 2011, but the spokesman also declined a request to interview him.
Residents who live next door to the landfill have little hope that anyone will intercede. Pafford said his message to any community in line for a state approved landfill is "hire a lawyer. Immediately."
'Black Mountain'
"You think somebody is looking out for you," said Mike Melton, a long haul truck driver whose property line abuts the landfill. "You think the city is looking out for you, but they don't have the resources. They don't realize what they are up against. You think TDEC is looking out for you. You think the EPA is looking out for you. But it turns out that no one is."
Melton and his wife Sheila have lived in their home for more than 20 years. He bought adjoining lots in the Lockhard Hills subdivision with plans to develop them for a profit. But no one wants to live next door to a landfill, much less one that generates hazardous waste, Melton said.
He has watched property values plummet in his neighborhood. He has limited visits from his grandchildren out of concern for their health. He joined a lawsuit filed by environmental lawyer Elizabeth Murphy in 2011, but the state's highest court ultimately ruled that courts had no jurisdiction in the matter.
The landfill literally looms over the Melton's home. One waste mound has grown to become the tallest structure in Camden. State regulators have nicknamed it "Black Mountain."
It is covered with acres of black tarp tamped down by tires. On one steep side of the mound, landfill operators have placed bright green Astroturf-like material. Dead pine trees line the foot of the mound. The original plan was to grow trees on it to make it a park-like setting. But nothing will grow on it.
The Environmental Waste Solutions landfill site in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. (Photo: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean)
"It's quite something, isn't it?" said Melton, 65. "Some people think I can just get through this in my lifetime, just live with this mound here and get on with my life. But what is it going to be after I'm gone? No one can answer that."
Melton doesn't call himself an environmentalist but has since joined the Sierra Club to try to influence the group to focus on local communities like his.
"They're all worked up about fracking and all of this, but average people are not worried about fracking in Colorado or the gray wolves in Montana," Melton said. "Those things are important. But what people in Tennessee need to know is that something like this can spring up literally in their backyard."
Around the corner from Melton's house, Cindy Wheatley points at the drained pool in her backyard. A few years ago, she climbed into the pool and felt a burning sensation. Her husband, Johnny, took a water sample to a pool company for testing.
"The pH was so high he couldn't register it," she said.
Like many of her neighbors, Wheatley, a digital designer, has become a self-educated expert on aluminum dross, cadmium and the toxic properties of other heavy metals approved by TDEC to be put in the landfill. Tanks containing 123,000 gallons of hazardous waste are located just 250 yards from her bedroom window.
Camden resident Cindy Wheatley poses for a portrait outside of her home in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. (Photo: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean)
"I should have had a letter in my mailbox telling me what is going in there," she said. "This is pretty serious. As far as I'm concerned, TDEC is of zero value. They are not looking out for us."
Internally, TDEC officials go through an eight-step process once an application for special waste is received, spokesman Eric Ward explained in an email. Regional office staff review applications and assess the waste being deposited to ensure it is not hazardous. Hazardous waste cannot be legally disposed of in Tennessee landfills, he said. Evaluations include dangerous-to-manage determinations and radioactive waste restrictions as well as whether special conditions or restrictions apply.
"TDEC's special waste application process was implemented to ensure that unusual, difficult to manage, or problematic wastes are managed in an environmentally safe and responsible manner," he wrote. Ward said he could not respond to a request for how often special waste permits are denied, because the agency's record management system cannot produce that data, but that waste applications are sometimes denied before an application is formally submitted after applicants consult with TDEC's technical staff.
City officials are awaiting a response from the EPA about their request for an investigation, while attorneys negotiate with EWS to potentially relocate the city's water line. EWS officials asked the city to move the line, but the estimated cost is more than $600,000. The city doesn't have that kind of money, the mayor said.
In addition to challenging TDEC's approval for wastes deposited at the landfill, the letter to the EPA alleges a conflict of interest and collusion between TDEC officials and landfill operators. Environmental Waste Solutions purchased the landfill from a former TDEC regulator, who stayed on as a consultant for the company. EWS hired as counsel Michael Stagg with the law firm Waller. TDEC chief Bob Martineau previously worked with Stagg as an environmental lawyer representing industry.
Ward called those allegations "meritless" and noted that a sworn affidavit from a TDEC supervisor and Court of Appeals decision show the permit was reviewed by technical experts like all other permits and Martineau is not involved in day-to-day oversight of EWS. TDEC has sent violation notices and fines to EWS during Martineau's tenure, he noted.
"While it is unfortunate the City of Camden has these concerns, the facts speak for themselves," Ward said via email.
On Wednesday, TDEC issued a notice to EWS that it had found 14 violations at the site, including failure to ensure hazardous waste was properly labeled, monitored and transported and that no contingency plans were submitted to local police, fire and hospitals. TDEC is fining the landfill $37,650.
TDEC is moving forward with efforts to speed up the special waste approval process. TDEC officials last month told members of the Underground Storage Tank and Solid Waste Disposal Control Board – the oversight board of members appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam – they were creating an online submission portal that will allow TDEC officials to approve requests for disposal. Haslam four years ago reconstituted the board to remove consumer representatives.
A vehicle unloads at the Environmental Waste Solutions landfill site in Camden, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. (Photo: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean)
"Often, the waste is ready to go … in barrels and they're looking for quick and prompt approval," a TDEC attorney told the board. "What we want to do is speed up the process."
Ward noted that wastes sometimes require prompt approval because they often involved transportation-related petroleum spill clean-ups.
Environmental advocacy groups have thus far been unsuccessful in requiring TDEC to give public notice of all wastes deposited in Tennessee landfills. A bill supported by the Sierra Club that would have required such notice failed to advance this year. Conservation Program Coordinator Scott Banbury said his group plans to organize a listening tour with lawmakers next summer about TDEC's waste policies. Other states require public notice or more analysis before approving special wastes. Pennsylvania, as one example requires local cities and counties to be notified of any special waste slated for a local landfill.
When Camden's attorney Andrew Frazier demanded to be informed of any special waste requests for the landfill, TDEC responded that he did not have the authority.
"As you are no doubt aware, cities are created by law and are subordinate to state law," TDEC responded. "They have no regulatory authority over the state and cannot require state departments to take actions or provide services that they are not otherwise required to take or provide."
"Counties and city governments have no way of knowing what is being put in a landfill they originally thought was taking household garbage," Banbury said. "But they are the ones who will be stuck with the long-term consequences."
Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com, 615-259-8092 or on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.
Read or Share this story: http://tnne.ws/2m73qBW
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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River »
exotic rivers
THERE IS A WRITTEN record on the land in the Near East. Here, civilization arose out of the mysteries of the stone age and gave rise to cultures that moved eastward to CHINA and westward through Europe and across the ATLANTIC OCEAN to the Americas. Achievements of ancient origin serve as constant reminders of our debt to the Sumerian peoples of Mesopotamia whenever we use the wheel, look at the clock or our watches to tell time divided into units of 60, or view our calendars as a revision of the method the ancient Egyptians used in dividing the year. Our inheritance in both experience and knowledge from the past is far more than we know or realize.
No one knows exactly when humans began the transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary living. But we do find a very close relationship between the organization of humans in settled areas and the rise of agriculture and the domestication of crops. Agriculture had its most referenced beginnings at least 7,000 years ago in two great centers: one in the fertile alluvial plains of a land called Mesopotamia and the other along the lower reaches of the Valley of the Nile. We shall leave the interesting question of the precise area in which agriculture originated to the archaeologists. It is enough for us to know that it was in these alluvial plains in an arid climate that the first tillers of soil began to grow food crops using IRRIGATION in quantities that exceeded their own needs.
Where agriculture was practiced under especially favorable conditions, it was even possible to produce more food than the local inhabitants actually needed at any given time. The significance of being able to produce surplus food can scarcely be overemphasized, for by releasing some workers from the day-to-day chores of tilling the fields, it permitted a diversification and specialization of labor that had never before been possible.
Of course, the basic need behind all of this is water, for without water there is little evidence of life let alone society or civilization. Even today, we find more than 90 percent of the world's population living within 62 mi (100 km) of the coast or a major navigable river. It should also be pointed out that in the wake of surplus food production and the concomitant necessity for food storage, other modifications in the material culture of the peoples were almost inevitable hallmarks of such an advance. Vessels for storage, such as baskets and pottery, now became part of the inventory of the average household. And the latter, in particular because of its relative imperishability, has become a favored diagnostic tool of the archaeologist in tracing the economic evolution of a culture.
Although examples of preagricultural ceramics do exist, the more usual case is that they are evidence of a settled, farming society of greater complexity and sophistication. It was this organization of community (or place) around a multitude of functions that led Greek scholars to later conclude that cities grew up as a response to human NEEDS AND WANTS.
RIVER CIVILIZATIONS
Historically, the archaeological evidence suggests that the first great civilizations were all river civilizations. Even more interesting is the fact that in each of these early cases, the lands on which these early civilizations took form were also very dry, DESERT or semidesert environments. Desert regions can be found on all continents and they occur in two zones, one on either side of the equator. One zone is found between 15 degrees N and 30 degrees N latitude and the other between 15 degrees S and 30 degrees S latitude. Most deserts are found on the western side of continents and extend inland. Only the Sahara Desert extends from one side of a continent to the other.
Though little rain falls in deserts, deserts receive runoff from ephemeral, or short-lived, streams fed by rain and snow from adjacent highlands. These streams fill the channel with a slurry of mud and commonly transport considerable quantities of sediment for a day or two. Although most deserts are in basins with closed, or interior, drainage, rivers that derive their water from outside the desert cross a few deserts.
These rivers receive a lot of rainfall (or snowfall) in the areas where they arise, that is, in the area known as their headwaters. This large supply of water allows them to flow across the desert even though a lot of water is lost through evaporation into the atmosphere or through seepage beneath the desert surface. These rivers are called exotic rivers because the water they carry comes from outside the desert region they pass through. Such rivers infiltrate soils and evaporate large amounts of water on their journeys through the deserts, but their volumes are such that they maintain their continuity.
These older, specially favored areas of human habitation and food production have typically been found in the so-called exotic river valleys of the Near East, such as the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (present day IRAQ), as early as 4500 B.C.E.; in the Nile Valley of EGYPT by 4000 B.C.E.; the Indus Valley of PAKISTAN by 3500 B.C.E.; the valleys of the AMU DARYA and Syr Darya in Central Asia by 3000 B.C.E.; and the HUANG (Yellow) and Wei river valleys of North CHINA by 2500 B.C.E. In every instance there was a desert climate with cloudless skies, lots of daily sunshine, little if any frost, little or no vegetation cover to clear, and rich alluvial soils coincided with a continuous supply of water from the adjacent river. Indeed, each of these exotic river valleys was either the cradle of a civilization in its own right or, at least, the beneficiary of a diffusion, which first began in Mesopotamia and was later emulated elsewhere under remarkably similar environmental conditions.
These so-called exotic rivers cross all of the large deserts of the world, except those of AUSTRALIA. Also, desert soils are usually quite productive when supplied with water. The most widely cultivated areas are where there are water-transported soils in the form of FLOODPLAINS and ALLUVIAL FANS.
There is good evidence that in the New World the model of "hydraulic" civilizations based on exotic rivers as described above may have been first replicated in the Atacama Desert along the west coast of PERU where about 40 short exotic rivers cut their way from the ANDES to the PACIFIC OCEAN. The other New World area where a hydraulic culture occurred was in the Colorado Plateau region of the southwestern part of the UNITED STATES (the southwest Anasazi culture), where the Colorado River cuts its way from the ROCKY MOUNTAINS across the plateau and into the Sonoran and the Mojave Desert before emptying into the Gulf of California. There are a number of examples of exotic rivers where civilization did not seem to take hold. These include the Snake River in IDAHO and parts of the Columbia River which cuts through desert landscapes of WASHINGTON and OREGON. There are no exotic rivers in Europe or Australia.
Congo River
Changjiang (Yangzi River)
Amur River
Amu Darya
Amazon River
Zambezi River
Nile River and Delta


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Did Ethereum's Fork Validate Bitcoin Block Size Conservatism?
CoinDesk explores how the ethereum hard fork affected sentiment regarding bitcoin's long-raging block size debate.
Could a development on the ethereum blockchain help resolve one of bitcoin's longest-running debates?
It may not seem like an obvious question given the differences between the two blockchain networks. After all, bitcoin aims to provide an uncensorable digital currency, while ethereum seeks to serve as a platform for decentralized applications.
However, given that a decision made last month has effectively split ethereum into two competing blockchains, some academics and analysts are wondering just that.
More than a month after the collapse of The DAO, two ethereum blockchains operate, a development that has resulted in a chaotic transaction environment and criticisms that linger to this day as to whether the move that led to this result was the "right choice" in response to the challenges faced.
It's in this context of decentralized governance that the ethereum hard fork is now helping to inform the block size debate in the bitcoin community. That debate, which began in 2015, has divided bitcoin users on how best to scale the network to accommodate more users for months.
To some, the Bitcoin Core development team was seen as too conservative, too worried about the technical failures of a hard fork to take actions that could improve the ability of the network to grow. But since ethereum's public struggles changing its consensus rules with this technical fix, sentiment has shifted.
Joe Colangelo, executive director of Consumers' Research, for example, said that he believes the result "completely vindicates" the path taken by Bitcoin Core, the network's largely volunteer development team.
Colangelo reasons that the conservative nature of the development team, while perhaps frustrating to some in context of a capacity change, has given himself and others confidence in other rules that make bitcoin valuable.
"The intransigence of the bitcoin development community is a feature, not a bug. If it's this hard to raise the block size, that 21m limit for bitcoin looks rock solid."
Conservatism rewarded
To recap, it helps to understand the context of why both blockchain networks needed to consider forking their code, or making a change that would require participants to accept new rules for the blockchain, and how they differ.
Late last month, the development community behind ethereum forged ahead with a decision to push a change to its blockchain that effectively recouped investor losses in The DAO, a smart contract-based funding vehicle that collected millions in ether this summer.
To do this, all participants in ethereum needed to adopt a new version of the blockchain's history, one where the stolen funds were moved to a new wallet for investors.
This was an emergency measure, spurred by the perceived need to stop illicit actors from absconding with the funds.
In some ways, issues on bitcoin started similarly, first with the network hitting its capacity for transactions, and then with others calling for action in response.
But Bitcoin Core, the volunteer development community that works on the code, resisted calls for a hard fork that would boost the block size. Rather, its members have prioritized more incremental solutions like Segregated Witness as mechanisms for scaling the network.
Some argue that the stance of bitcoin's developers, while controversial, has been validated by ethereum. Others argue that the implications go beyond that, and could have lasting repercussions for the industry.
Industry observer Chris DeRose told CoinDesk that bitcoin's success to date is the result of a development team that is "decoupled from short-term speculative incentives".
"The bitcoin leadership model seems much better geared towards more prudent management of actual users' macroeconomic issues – despite the, often times horrendously loud, interests of short-term speculators," he said.
'Too early' to say
As to what lessons were learned – and whether the hard fork conservatism is justified – other aren't so sure.
Some observers told CoinDesk that time will decide whichever viewpoint emerges as the one that informs the larger industry, or if any conclusion can be reached
Gil Luria, head of technology research for Wedbush Securities, said he believes it's "too early to say" to draw conclusions from the ethereum fork.
One potential reason is that it's not clear whether ethereum classic, the old version of the blockchain that is now maintained by a new development team, will be able to sustain its early growth and momentum. Traders, those who provide market liquidity for both blockchains, are now debating this question.
"Ethereum has gone into uncharted territory and that community is learning something new every day," he told CoinDesk, adding:
"These last few weeks are not unlike the early days and months of bitcoin, which survived many challenges and came out stronger."
Jim Harper, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, agreed.
"I think the [ethereum hard fork] will produce valuable lessons for bitcoin and cryptocurrency generally. I just don't think we can know what they are yet," he said.
Right move to make
Others, on the other hand, viewed the ethereum hard fork as a positive development for blockchains broadly, one that might make even conservative elements of its communities open to change.
Investor Roger Ver, a bitcoin investor who has pushed strongly for an increase in the block size, argued that the ethereum hard fork wasn't the disaster that many observers believe.
By providing investors with value on both blockchains, he argues, more value was created in the development of two networks, and that ethereum's reputation remains largely unchanged.
"The combined market cap of [ethereum's two blockchains] is actually greater after the fork than before, so this means that the market valued ETH and ETC more than ethereum alone," he told CoinDesk.
In his view, even though the network was split, no parties came to any harm as a result.
"This means that no one lost any money, no one was hurt, and the ecosystem now has an additional cryptocurrency to choose from," he said.
Ver went on to say that such a move is "perhaps it is the best option for bitcoin going forward", adding that multiple versions of bitcoin would provide more choices to potential users.
The disagreements show that the event is likely to be scrutinized for some time, and that it will, at the very least, continue to inform debate on how blockchain communities can – and should – achieve change.
Decision image via Shutterstock
TechnologyEthereumBitcoin CoreBlock SizeFeaturesTechnology News


text:
Boulevard Nights
Kid brother Chuco (Danny De La Paz) is a sullen low-rider still caught up in the life. Despite their differences, their family bond is strong. But all that is thrown into jeopardy when tragedy strikes and a gang war erupts.
Actors: Richard Yniguez,
Richard Yniguez 8 December 1946, Firebaugh, California, USA
Danny De La Paz,
Danny De La Paz 3 April 1957, Whittier, California, USA
Marta DuBois,
Marta DuBois 15 December 1952, David, Panama
James Victor,
James Victor 27 July 1939, Santiago, Dominican Republic
Betty Carvalho,
Betty Carvalho 22 July 1932
Carmen Zapata,
Carmen Zapata 15 July 1927, New York City, New York, USA
Victor Millan,
Victor Millan 1 August 1920, Los Angeles, California, USA
Gary Carlos Cervantes,
Gary Carlos Cervantes 24 January 1953, Maywood, California, USA
Daniel Zacapa,
Daniel Zacapa 19 July 1951, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Jerado Carmona,
Jerado Carmona
Jesse Aragon,
Jesse Aragon 21 March 1956, Los Angeles, California, USA
Director: Michael Pressman
Michael Pressman 1 July 1950, New York, New York, USA
Blood In Blood Out
American Me
Bad Boys (1983)
Super Fly


A North Lincolnshire pet owner's Land Rover has been stolen with three cocker spaniels left in the car.
The pet dogs were left in the green Land Rover which was parked on Carr Lane, Worlaby, on Thursday, October 12.
The theft was reported to Humberside Police who have said enquiries are currently ongoing into the incident.
The dog owners are John and Pat Morton. Their son Elliot said his dad was parked up on a farm track when the incident happened.
"My mum is devastated because they are like members of the family," he said.
"They have had them since they were pups."
Elliot said his dad, who is not from the area, uses his car on a daily basis.
The dogs are called Fly, Brandy and Bee and the owners just want them back safely.
A police statement today (October 13) said: "A green Land Rover, which was left insecurely parked at the roadside on Carr Lane in Worlaby around 8.30am on Thursday, was stolen whilst three of the owner's dogs were in the vehicle.
"The theft was reported following the incident and enquiries are underway.
"At this time, the vehicle and the dogs have not been recovered.
"Anyone with information is asked to call Humberside Police on 101, quoting log number 119 of 12 October 2017."


'All has been going well, quite well, save the imprisonment of Sergeant Flint, another matter to deal with at another date. Training has been conducted for the most part on time and as directed. Lieutenant McBain seems to be holding events for most of the vets on active duty. Although I think the unit leaders need to pick up the reigns more.
The recruits seem to be steadily working their way into units, although the two unit holding tanks are getting a little larger than I expected. The income of new recruits seems to have dropped some, typical for the season.
Operationally I see us in the finest condition the Society has been in some years, save the days of old which of course will never again be seen.
Anubis tucked his journal in his pack, then drew it out and opened it. He paused a moment, never remembering signing a journal entry with his last name. He had his reasons to keep it a secret, but no more. He closed it, replaced it in the pack and tossed it over his shoulder. A few months of leave lay ahead of him. He had moored his ship off the coast of Head Quarters the night before so he could head out at dawn. This would be his last trip so he had wanted to get an early start on it. The tiller man, Stitch hauled on some crates and lead two horses on. Then drew in the gangplank and hoisted up the anchor with a nod and a grin to the Colonel, with the next gust of wind the great ship sailed seaward into the morning fog.
"Colonel sir, ya ain't gonna catch nothn' at this speed sir." Anubis drew back to cast out another line and shot a cold glance aft at the tiller man.
"Thank you Morris, but I spent a good deal of time on a floating brig a while ago, and I think I have this fishing thing down." He shot back, tugging his hook and line out of the main sail.
Armand stood motionless on the shores as the ocean surf slammed into the rocks below. In his hand he clenched a letter, a letter from his father. Finally he would meet him, for sixteen long years he had lived on the island, isolated from the world. His father's letters came once a month, and from them the world seemed a dark and terrible place. But he was ready for it. His father had spared no expense in his upbringing, shipping in the finest tutors and equipment. Journal entries, strategy guides, handbooks, even penned copies of the Societies Annals. Armand soaked it all in. It was his father's life, and now it was bread into him.
A drow slave named Drez'et had raised Armand. The drow hated the boy as much as he hated being a slave. Drez'et was strictly forbidden to speak his native tongue while on the island. Anubis would not have the boy growing up listening to such filth. The drow was however an excellent choice to raise the boy. The Colonel had always admired the drow for their prowess, and ruthlessness on the battlefield, he simply had no taste for their religious beliefs.
"Best get your armor polished boy, the Colonel will be here tomorrow!" Drez'et spat, walking up behind Armand.
Drez'et hissed and pulled his blade in an instant slashing at the boys' head, Armand responded in equal fashion and speed blocking the attack.
"You are getting slow drow, might want to try and find a nest, get those snakes before they can hatch." Armand grinned spinning his blade and dropping it into its scabbard.
Dawn broke once more in an eerie fog off the coast of the jungle island.
"Land ho!" Stitch bellowed out.
Anubis strolled up on deck tossing his cloak over his shoulder.
"Leave is a term we use to withhold paychecks" Anubis grinned.
"Dis island ain't on da map sir, where da 'ell are we?
"Naught lookn like dere be many a place to put in, lotsa rocks and cliffs," the old sailor noted peering through his spyglass.
"That's really the point, there…" the Colonel pointed to a large tree, guide us in off that.
"That would be a long story, but since it looks like you are going to have to take us around to the South end of the island, cause your about to hit that reef." Anubis smirked.
"Aye, well I was on assignment…" Anubis began.
I say assignment; I was really on a drinking binge with my old buddy Demelock. We had been living under the tap at Kent's for about a week or so. Worst part was, we were on duty. I say worst part but that was pretty much the norm for Dem and me. We did some of our best fighting drunk off our asses. And you can ask Naz, he was our corporal then, he used to make us down three pitchers before every battle.
Stitch chuckled a bit, and Anubis ducked down and lit a pipe.
Well as for the week before we took some pretty heavy losses to the Shadowclan, lost one of our best friends, a lad named Nekwi, got cut in two during an ambush on a recon mission. So we had plenty of reason to be drinking as if we ever really needed one.
After we finally got thrown out for the last time one night. I ran into a pretty little lass on my way out the door. Next morning, or I should say afternoon, I got up out of my tent and she was gone. Didn't think much of it, till I ran into Demelock at the Pint. Apparently he had some wandering healer get me and that lass married. Had plenty of laughs over it, till nine months later, when I get this letter from a healer in Brit.
The lass had died giving birth to our son, and the fella requested I come pick the boy up. So I put in for a weeks leave and headed to Brit. My unit was headed to this island a week after that, so we met them here.
Few months later I picked up my commission and got assigned to the Desert. Month after that we got cut to pieces in Yew and I assumed command. I didn't need to be toting some kid all over Sosaria; I didn't need to complication or the compromise. I had an obligation to my troops. The Rose comes first.
Stitch said nothing, just nodded and turned into a small harbor.
"Very well, take them up to the main house." Anubis ordered.
Anubis whispered a short incantation and rose up on his ethereal.
"Private Third Class Armand Garret reporting as ordered sir." the young private snapped off a precision salute and came to attention.
Anubis sat behind a desk in the officer's quarters; he looked the boy over and nodded.
Armand swallowed hard and shook off a look of disbelief. Sixteen years he thought to himself, and his first words are about my reports.
"Very good Colonel, thank you" this time he kept his bearing.
"Yes sir." he snapped to attention and flagged another salute, did an about face and exited the office.
That was all he knew, and he was satisfied with their first encounter. Armand would make a good solider, he followed orders to the letter, he was smart with the blade and over the next two months learned to ride. Combat on horseback was a good deal more challenging than on foot. It was clear he was trained by the drow in that respect. For they were never seen mounted. Perhaps this was for the best for now.
Anubis spent most of the days there preparing the documents and the copies of the Annals for turnover. Armand spent his days training and preparing the outpost for turnover. And never in-between did the two share a word on anything that did not deal with the task at hand.
Stitch arrived at the harbor a day early,.
"Colonel Garret, good to see you again sir." A man dressed in black announced.
"You to, let me show you around, I need to catch this tide, so it will be brief." Anubis responded.
Anubis took the new relief on a tour, no name was ever spoken.
"Any questions?" the Colonel asked.
"Very well, In Protection… be vigilant" Anubis shook his hand.
"Aye sir, In Protection of the Rose." The man in black responded.


The ratio of the total floor area of a building (excluding areas such as mechanical rooms or the areas of floors used exclusively for mechanical equipment) to the area of the lot on which the building is built.
Whilst addressing the skills agenda has become part of the stock-in-trade of higher education history teachers, whatever their areas of specialisation, questions arise as to precisely what skills should be taught and how far skills development should influence the design of the history curriculum.
How far historians should be involved in helping students to acquire these basic skills has become a matter of growing concern with the move towards mass higher education and may well require greater attention from historians even on those undergraduate programmes where basic skills are purportedly taught elsewhere.
The notion of essential and non-essential skills in the study of history leads naturally into the issue of how far skills development should permeate undergraduate history courses and course units, including those dealing with social history.


In September 1999, the Houston District Office of the EEOC filed this suit against Timco, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. We do not have a copy of the complaint. However, according to the consent decree, the complaint alleged that the defendant sexually harassed and retaliated against two female employees in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The parties had some discovery disputes before reaching a settlement in July 2000 through a consent decree.
Under the terms of the two-year decree, the defendant agreed to post and distribute a notice of employee rights under Title VII, maintain records of all complaints of sexual harassment or retaliation, provide Title VII training for all employees, and report to the EEOC every six months regarding its compliance with Title VII.


text:
Birds of the Rainforest 4K 1 Hour Dynamic Wildlife Film (Just Nature Sounds)
Films Shot in 4K Ultra High Definition • 59m
A film that bird/wildlife lovers and cats will equally love, "Birds of the Rainforest" presents viewers with a stunning mix of birds and other wildlife from the rainforests of the world, paired with the relaxing sounds of birds - no music. A collaboration between Nature Relaxation Films and collaborator John of Light, it's a great way to see the wonders of the rainforest from the comfort of your home. Viewers will enjoy Macaws, Parrots, Toucans, Hummingbirds, and many other exotic species - even some cute lizards, insects and flowers. Presented in 4K UHD, it's a colorful and ultra high resolution way to make the most of your big screen TV!
Up Next in Films Shot in 4K Ultra High Definition
Scotland Highlands (No Music) 9 Min D...
[Music-free version]. Soar over the majestic Isle of Skye and experience the wonders of Scotland's Highlands with stereo nature sounds. Viewers will enjoy a raw and striking look at some of the most magical celtic landscapes, as captured by Nature Relaxation collaborator Stefan Zimmerman. Edited ...
4K Crackling Fireplace - 4 Hour Stati...
Relax for four full hours this holiday season and any other time you'd like to create a warming & calming ambiance featuring the real life sights and sounds of a crackling fireplace filmed in 4K ultra high definition. Perfect for entertaining during the winter season, it features stereo crac...


Posted on 09 April 2019.
Registration is required by May 1.
Whether you struggle with adult programming or are a master at it, join us for a full day of workshops, discussion and an unconference on celebrating the work we do to support lifelong learning in our communities. Janie Hermann (Princeton Public Library, NJ) and Mallory Arents (Darien Library), two of the best adult programming librarians in the country, and the founders of the American Library Association's Programming Librarian Interest Group, will provide tips and tricks to set up a robust calendar of programs that will attract a wide range of adult – even 20-somethings!
Lunch will be provided, then we'll resume the fun in the afternoon with an Unconference, where the topics and discussion will be determined by the participants. The day will end with Erica Freudenberger, Outreach & Engagement Consultant at SALS, sharing her experience of creating adult programs on a tiny budget to meet the needs of a rural community.


text:
Buhari, Obasanjo, Babangida and former leaders attends President Jonathan's last Council of State meeting
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and former military president, Ibrahim Babangida are among former heads of state that are holding Council of State meeting this Tuesday afternoon at the Presidential Villa.
Among the past presidents and heads of state at the meeting include the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ernest Shonekan.
State governors at the meeting are Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Ramalan Yero (Kanuda), Sarieke Dickson (Bayelsa), James Ngilari (Adamawa), Tanko Almakura(Nasarawa), Gabriel Suswam(Benue).
Others are Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Jonah Jang (Plateau) Liyel Imoke(Cross River), and Acting governor of Taraba state.
States that were represented by their Deputy governors are Kano, Kogi, Oyo, Yobe.
The Senate President, David Mark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and former Chief Justices of Nigeria including Muhammadu Uwais and Alfa Belgore, Idris Kutigi were are the meeting.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki and the Chief of Staff to the President, Jones Arogbofa were also at the meeting.
Credit: Jaiyeola Andrews/ThisDay


So, November's list is a mix of new shows and those shows that are so impressive I'm listing them again. There's such a diversity of styles and genres that I'm sure there is something for everybody here (or, at least I hope that there is). And budgets too. I'm noticing a creeping rise in exhibition prices and some of them are brushing the £20 mark now so there's a few for those who want to enjoy art on a budget too.
Did you know Elton John has one of the most impressive private collections of photography? I think I remember reading somewhere that he even has a private gallery for a lot of the works within the grounds of one of his homes. Well, now we're going to get a glimpse too as the Tate Modern has arranged for a large portion of this collection to be put on show – photographs from the 1920s to the 1950s. Such is the depth of Elton's collection this this exhibition will show the story of modernist photography including greats such as Man Ray, Berenice Abbot, and Alexandr Rodchenko. Admission £16.50. Opens November 10th.
Damien Hirst's new gallery recently won the Stirling Prize for architecture. An impressive achievement and it certainly is a beautiful building. The Gallery itself is dedicated to presenting exhibitions drawn from Damien's extensive collection of art. Only it seems, at the moment, that Damien primarily collects art made by white men as, following on from John Hoyland and Jeff Koons, we now have a retrospective on Gavin Turk. However, this exhibition promises to cover the length of Turk's career, from his infamous blue plaque that he exhibited in his 1991 Royal College of Art degree show, to his take on Warhol's Elvis prints, his recycled Magritte self-portrait, and his bronzes and sculptures. Opens November 23rd. Admission free.
Picasso was the greatest artist of the 20th century. In fact, he was by far the greatest artist of the 20th century. And, here, the National Portrait Gallery sets out to examine how the great man's radical vision and talent overturned the conventions of portraiture, a usually sedate and classical form. Whether they've fully achieved that is questionable – arguably you'd need to pull a huge number of Picasso's work together to examine the evolution of his thinking – but nevertheless, you can never regret spending time with any of his paintings and bronzes. Admission £17 but there is a special ticket offer every Friday with the first 100 tickets on sale for £5.
The scale of this photography show is mightily impressive – over 200 photographs on display from 48 artists. And all of it showcasing the new ground that was broken by female photographers in this era, and how they tackled big feminist themes such as representation of the female form, ownership, domesticity and sexuality. There are some famous names on show – hello Cindy Sherman, Hannah Wilke and the mighty Francesca Woodman (whose haunting works I could gaze upon for hours) but it's also a great opportunity to see photos from less familiar names. Admission £4, free before 12 noon.
Well, there's one Master on display in the Picasso show and, around the corner at the National Gallery, there's another. It's hard to get galleries to lend out their Caravaggios as they are both precious items and valuable in terms of getting visitors through the doors. So with this in mind, the National Gallery has done well to obtain a few loans alongside the three in its own collection for this show which looks to examine the great man's influence on his immediate peer group. Perhaps it shows up just how much better Caravaggio was in comparison with, well, everyone. But included in the display is Caravaggio's wonderful St. John the Baptist on loan from Kansas, which is worth the price of admission alone. Admission £14.
If I could drag you all to see The Infinite Mix, I would. Just the thought of a show comprised entirely of video installations is enough to chill the blood, I know. But trust me on this one. Showcased in, what feels like an abandoned warehouse with the exposed brickwork and graffiti, ten works run on loop amongst a web of darkened interiors. Walking through corridors, you turn a corner to come face to face with everything from social documentary music videos on gun culture and Compton from Khalil Joseph and Kendrick Lamar, to a bright and breezy theatrical exploration of people crossing a New York street from Martin Creed. There are videos on Jamaican dancehall competitions, mortality, fictional professional mourners, and even a ghostly apparition of Maria Callas. Easily one of the shows of the year. Easily. Admission free.
Going toe-to-toe with The Infinite Mix for 'Best Show in Town Right Now' is Abstract Expressionism at the RA. This is a terrific show. Electric. It is challenging, exciting…just charged with energy. Some have observed it as macho – what with the Pollocks, Clyfford Still, de Kooning and the rest, I get that – but not only are women included too (Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler) but there's also contemplation and reflection in monumental works from Mark Rothko. And the curation from the team at the RA is perfection. Enthralling and mesmerising from start to finish. Go, go, go. Admission £17.
This is the last month to see these two shows on installations and assemblages from two influential artists. In the main Gallery we have Marc Camille Chaimowicz, who created new work for the show, responding to the Gallery's building and surroundings, and he's also recreated an early work, Enough Tiranny, which first premiered in the same gallery back in 1972. It's so uplifting, with its glitterballs, vases of flowers, lamps and live fish. It captures something of the breeziness of the Park outside too in its patterns of trees and foliage. And running alongside this in the Sackler Gallery is new work from Turner Prize-nominee, Helen Marten who blends sculpture, text and screen-printed paintings to create new installations that examine the ready-made world around us. Closes November 20th. Admission free.
I really am very excited about this. The huge RA retrospective on Anselm Kiefer back in 2014 is still fresh in the mind – a show I loved – and now White Cube is hosting a major exhibition of new work from Kiefer, which will occupy the all the gallery spaces. Works apparently include a selection of vast new paintings and large-scale sculptures. Kiefer rarely does anything small-scale so expect this to overwhelm. Opens November 23rd. Admission free.
Right, this is a total must-see for me too. I'll be queuing outside in the cold, if required! To coincide with what would have been the 70th Birthday of the iconic American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, Alison Jacques Gallery has invited Juergen Teller to curate an exhibition of Mapplethorpe's work. It's an exciting prospect; Teller is one of the most exciting photographers working today and there are obvious parallels between himself and Mapplethorpe. It will be fascinating to see what selection he draws from his access to the entire archive of the Mapplethorpe Foundation. Opens November 17th. Admission free.


This entry was tagged Cumbria, Lake District, Writer, Writing. Bookmark the permalink.
Ohh, The Lake District. Have fun both of you.
What a cute couple–happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary! Have a lovely time in the Lake District. Sorry for not being in touch sooner, but will do when you're back.
Aaaaaw Happy anniversary to you and Hubster!
Adorable couple. 🙂 Happy anniversary!
Happy Anniversary my friend. Tell your hubbies he's a lucky man.
I will get to it as soon as i can i promise!
Happy Anniversary! Wow, 27th anniversary and still going strong by the looks of it.
As a singer, I attend a large number of weddings. With some couples, just looking at them, I know it will last. With others, sadly, it's not so.
Awwwww, thank you so much!!!!!


other unique items made from glass beads.
My name is Lana Renner and I live in Spokane, Washington. My love for making lampwork beads started in 2006 after I just could not find the perfect bead for a project I was working on.
Much of my work is one of a kind so if it tickles your fancy and you want it, you'd better buy it before someone else does.


Wedding Fayres - Who, Where & When!
As we go into Spring; Wedding Fayres become less and Weddings come to the fore, but there are still fayres to be had if you're looking for inspiration. Here's my guide to what's coming up in the weeks ahead. Don't forget if It's all brand new to you, take a look at my 4 part guide to planning your Wedding Fayre visit.
Part 1-What's it all about?
Part 2 - Preparation is key!
Part 4 - When you get home!


Flock is over. It was nice, good conversations, useful talks and workshops, it was awesome to see everyone once again. And I liked the location.
The theme of this year's Flock was "do-sessions". It means, less talks and more workshops, hackfests and discussions. I liked that I could try things and be part of the discussions, but at the same time, I missed big talks. Also some talks with similar topics were scheduled at the same time, so one had to make tough choices.
One of the most visible things one could see during Flock were comics portraits! These were drawn by a professional artist. Everyone was running around with a portrait of their own, I loved this! The booth was sponsored by RHEL product marketing team.
Here are some of my assorted notes from talks and workshops I attended.
Matt was running his favorite graphs and current state of the art. They were looking pretty good!
Fedora 25 and 26 received good feedback and press talked about those releases positively.
Looks like that Fedora is getting more and more installs (26 is bigger than 25, 25 is bigger than 24).
Matt introduced well-known projects/initiatives, such as Project Atomic, CI initiative, Modularity.
Graph of contributors is pretty much consistent for ~3 years.
Mike Bonnet talked about vision of Factory 2 team and introduced basic concepts of the new tools the team is working on. Most of the tools got a standalone presentation on their own by their core contributor.
There is more than 20.000.000 tasks in koji.
Latest Fedora release contains 54.000 binary RPMs.
Which is 215 RPMs per active maintainer.
I hope it's obvious that humans cannot manage this. Especially with introduction of modules. Hence all the new tools which will make our lives easier.
Contains policies to rebuild artifacts.
And initiates rebuilds of artifacts.
There are various events one may be interested to rebuild an artifact.
When RPM hits stable (slower workflow).
When RPM (or module) passes tests (faster workflow).
A service for making decisions – is this artifact good?
Gating points at certain places, e.g. a test of artifact has finished.
Gating is based on policies.
dist.* checks, which you may find in bodhi, are Fedora policies.
WaiverDB is a database of waivers against ResultsDB.
What happens when a module goes EOL?
Should there be a dnf plugin to inform the user?
Arbitrary branches can be used only with modules.
The maintainer is able to release the module via Bodhi.
There will be one OpenShift cluster per CPU architecture.
There will be one additional OpenShift cluster which will orchestrate the builds.
There was a question from audience why not label nodes and use selectors. Response from Adam was, that upstream team tried to go for this solution, but realized it would be too hard to implement so they chose the path of multiple clusters.
Build-time filtering: discard packages (built locally?) which are specified in filter section of modulemd.
Transitive dependencies: MBS should enable modules, which are defined as runtime dependencies of modules listed in buildrequires — the workaround for now is to put those modules in buildrequires.
Smarter component re-use: less rebuilds!
The context value (of modulemd): this one is related to the next point — context value should distinguish builds which are performed against different platforms.
Stream expansion: building a module against multiple platforms.
Same as MBS talk: the most significant slide was — what's coming?
Small human edit — generated outputs — I don't recall this one, but I hope it could be related to generating modulemds and let humans just polish the final recipe.
Generate from SRPMs — is it possible to generate a modulemd from an SRPM?
Tool to see the whole ecosystem — in which module lives package X?
Distribution-wide tests — can this modular distribution be installed?
COPR & Varant to be used for local development and scratch builds.
You can find Langdon's slides over here.
This session was up every day. It was interesting to see community members to go though the workflow of modular dnf. They asked some very good questions and found several issues (including me!). I think Martin Hatina received a very solid feedback which he'll be working on next weeks. The main outcome for me was, when Sinny Kumari asked about a container image of boltron for different CPU architectures. Obviously we didn't provide anything like this. So I started working on a guide how to do this locally. Expect another blog post!
This was my workshop. Overall, I received good feedback. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to build some real modules, nor was Internet connection stable enough. The most interesting outcome for me was that people could see what it takes to create a new module and what the steps are to build it locally. Clearly, this was confusing to some, since the process of defining modulemd is not completely straight-forward. There was a lot questions and fruitful discussion. But in the end, everyone seemed to be on the same page. Which is awesome. The interesting part is that prior to my session, we were having pretty advanced discussion about what it would take to modularize the whole distribution. And after that "complex" discussion, we've got back "to the roots" of creating roots. It was great to teach everyone the essentials of creating modules so people now understand what modules really are and how to make them.


The deadline for submitting Form GSTR-8 through ecommerce operators for the months of October, November, and December 2018, has been extended to the 31st of March 2019.
Dates associated with the GSTR-8.
The Goods and Services Tax Return 8 is a document/statement that must be filed e-commerce operators (those who build and operate online marketplaces that allow other vendors to sell their wares to customers) every month. It must contain the details of supplies made to customers through the taxpayer's e-commerce portal by both registered taxable persons and unregistered persons, customers' basic information (whether or not they are registered taxpayers), the amount of tax collected at source, tax payable, and tax paid.
The GSTR-8 for a particular month can be filed upon the completion of that month.
The aggregate turnover of your business should be greater than 20 lakh rupees (10 lakhs in NE India).
You must be an e-commerce operator with an online marketplace where other traders/companies sell goods to customers.
This return applies to all registered tax payers under the GST who have neither opted for the composition scheme nor have a Unique Identification Number (UIN). This return is also not applicable to non-resident tax payers.
You are required to keep track of the details of all the tax collected at source by you for the transactions that are carried out through your marketplace.
Under this section, the merchants who use your e-commerce platform to sell their goods and/or services to registered taxpayers (B2B transactions) are required to furnish the details of all such sales using your portal (like the GSTIN of the merchant, the merchant ID that was issued by you along with the gross value of supplies etc).
You can amend/modify the details of such B2B transactions through your e-commerce platform during the previous months using the Section 4A of the GSTR-8.
Under this section, you would have to report the details of all the B2C transactions that happen through your e-commerce platform (those between merchants and end customers who are not registered under GST).
Using the Section 5A of GSTR-8, you can modify/update the details of B2C transactions that were carried out during previous months .
Tax Collected at Source (TCS) Details – Here, you as the e-commerce operator is required to furnish the details of all the tax that you have collected at source (TCS) along with the details of merchants involved. This data is cross verified against the data submitted by those merchants.
Liability Payable and Paid – Upon recording all of the above information, the system will calculate the tax you owe under this return to the government and that data will be displayed here. This section will also include the tax you have paid, late fees, penalities, etc.
As always, you need to digitally sign the declaration of correctness and trueness at the end of the return. This can be done by either using a DSC or an Aadhar based verification system.


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William Joseph Bird
75 Cimitiere Street Launceston Tasmania Australia
Elsie Mary Craw
Alan Charles, Gwenneth Alice, Elsie Mary & John Stanley
William Joseph Bird was born in Launceston on 14 Oct 1876, the son of Albert Edward Bird (1846-1908), 'Bird the runner', and his wife Alice Walmsley (1855-1883). William's mother died when he was seven years old and he was later 'adopted' by Thomas and Rosa Ann Hughes. He married Elsie Mary Craw in Launceston on 11 Nov 1902. Three of their four children were born in Launceston: Alan Charles, 28 Sep 1905; Gwenneth Alice, 26 Sep 1908; and Elsie Mary, 29 Jul 1910. The fourth, John Stanley, was born in 1914 in Victoria. Alan became a Federal Member of Parliament. William and Elsie moved to Melbourne about 1914. William died on 9 Aug 1951 and his wife Elsie died on 21 Sep 1967. William's sister Florence is also pictured in this Album. See The Examiner 1 Jul 2006, p.33.
John Bird Nov 2005


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Government Payments To Farmers 2021
Federal Government Solar Tax Credit
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Farm Sector Income Forecast
Union Budget 2021 | "Government Committed To Welfare Of Farmers": Nirmala Sitharaman
Suggested citation for linking to this discussion:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Farm Sector Income & Finances: Farm Sector Income Forecast, December 1, 2022.
Net farm income, a broad measure of profits, is forecast to increase by $19.5 billion from 2021 to $160.5 billion in calendar year 2022. This expected increase follows an increase of $46.6 billion in 2021 from 2020. Net cash farm income is forecast to increase by $39.4 billion to $187.9 billion in 2022, after an increase of $31.7 billion in 2021. In inflation-adjusted dollars, 2022 net farm income is forecast to increase by $10.7 billion net cash farm income is forecast to increase by $30.1 billion compared with the previous year. If realized, net farm income would be at its highest level since 1973 and net cash farm income at its highest level on record .
Note: In the text below, year-to-year changes in the major aggregate components of farm income are discussed only in nominal dollars unless the direction of the change is reversed when looking at the component in inflation-adjusted dollars.
Farmers & Rural Communities
This page will be updated as more information becomes available
Congress has passed several rounds of financial assistance and relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including most recently the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides needed relief to our farmers, including:
$4 billion to address major pandemic-related disruptions throughout the food supply chain invest in new infrastructure for farmers, food processors, and farmers markets to build resiliency monitor COVID-19 in animals support small meat and poultry processors protect food and farm workers on the job and increase food donations.
More than $5 billion in debt relief and assistance for farmers of color who have faced widespread and longstanding discrimination and have seen disproportionate impacts from the pandemic.
Usda To Begin Payments For Producers Impacted By 2018 And 2019 Natural Disasters
WASHINGTON, June 11, 2021 More than $1 billion in payments will be released over the next several weeks starting June 15 for agricultural producers with approved applications for the Quality Loss Adjustment Program and for producers who have already received payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus . These U.S. Department of Agriculture programs provide disaster assistance to producers who suffered losses to 2018 and 2019 natural disasters.
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The American Rescue Plan Act Of : Farm Loan Assistance
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 gives the USDA authority to provide farm loan assistance by making payments of up to 120% of outstanding agricultural loans as of January 1, 2021, to help farmers and ranchers from socially disadvantaged groups.
Details on these new programs have yet to be determined, but this webpage will be updated as the USDA implements this authority. Please also check the USDAs website on COVID relief for updates. In addition, the USDAs Farm Service Administration is expected to continue playing a central role in providing service to agricultural producers. Local FSA agents and offices can be found here.
Secretary Perdue Announces New Dairy Margin Coverage Signup Begins June 17
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2019 U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announces that signup begins June 17 for the new Dairy Margin Coverage program, the cornerstone program of the dairy safety net that helps dairy producers manage the volatility of milk and feed prices, operated by the U.S. Department of Agricultures Farm Service Agency .
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Wisconsin Farm Support Program
Under the direction of Governor Evers, the Wisconsin Farm Support Program provided three rounds of direct aid payments to farmers to help them respond to the challenges presented by COVID-19. In total, the program has provided $100 million to Wisconsin farmers who experienced economic losses associated with the pandemic.
The first round of the Farm Support Program ran from June 15-29, 2020 and nearly 12,000 farmers received a total of $41.6 million in direct payments.
The second round of the Wisconsin Farm Support Program distributed $8.4 million and closed on August 24, 2020.
The third round of the Farm Support Program closed on November 29, 2021 and distributed $50 million to more than 20,000 farmers. You can find a map of county-by-county distribution of each round of funding here. For more information, visit DOR's Farm Support Program page.
Usda Extends Application Deadline For The Quality Loss Adjustment Program
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2021 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending the deadline from March 5 to April 9 for agricultural producers to apply for the Quality Loss Adjustment Program because of recent winter storms and some clarifications to program rules. This program assists producers who suffered crop quality losses due to qualifying 2018 and 2019 natural disasters.
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Heres Your Check: Trumps Massive Payouts To Farmers Will Be Hard To Pull Back
The president was already spending double his predecessor to spare farmers the cost of his trade war. Now the price is reaching unsustainable levels.
A farmer harvests corn near Burlington, Iowa. | Scott Olson/Getty Images
Government payments to farmers have surged to historic levels under President Donald Trump as the Agriculture Department floods the industry with cash to stem the financial losses from Trumps tariff fights and the coronavirus pandemic.
But as agriculture grows more reliant on unprecedented taxpayer support, farm policy experts and watchdog groups warn the subsidies are growing too big and too fast, with no strings attached and little oversight from Congress and that Washington could have a difficult time shutting off the spigot.
Direct farm aid has climbed each year of Trumps presidency, from $11.5 billion in 2017 to more than $32 billion this year an all-time high, with potentially far more funding still to come in 2020, amounting to about two-thirds of the cost of the entire Department of Housing and Urban Development and more than the Agriculture Departments $24 billion discretionary budget, according to a POLITICO analysis. But lawmakers have taken a largely hands-off approach, letting the department decide who gets the money and how much.
POLITICO Dispatch: July 14
But under Trump, the trade bailout and coronavirus relief efforts have pushed farm spending to more than twice that level, with far more in the pipeline.
Usda Temporarily Suspends Debt Collections Foreclosures And Other Activities On Farm Loans For Several Thousand Distressed Borrowers Due To Coronavirus
Federal Government Approved A #10 Per Liter Tax On Non-Alcoholic, Carbonated Beverages
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2021 â Due to the national public health emergency caused by coronavirus disease 2019 , the U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the temporary suspension of past-due debt collections and foreclosures for distressed borrowers under the Farm Storage Facility Loan and the Direct Farm Loan programs administered by the Farm Service Agency . USDA will temporarily suspend non-judicial foreclosures, debt offsets or wage garnishments, and referring foreclosures to the Department of Justice and USDA will work with the U.S. Attorneys Office to stop judicial foreclosures and evictions on accounts that were previously referred to the Department of Justice. Additionally, USDA has extended deadlines for producers to respond to loan servicing actions, including loan deferral consideration for financially distressed and delinquent borrowers. In addition, for the Guaranteed Loan program, flexibilities have been made available to lenders to assist in servicing their customers.
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Introduction To Farm Payment Files
FSA maintains records on payments made to agricultural program participants in electronic form. In response to public interest in this data, FSA makes it available in two ways. It can be downloaded from this website in the form of flat files or it can be requested through the Freedom of Information Act .
Coronavirus And Usda Assistance For Farmers
USDA has developed a detailed, data-driven COVID workplace safety plan that prioritizes the health and safety of our staff and visitors.
In addition to delivering our typical programs and services to producers, USDA is also offering relief to producers through programs and flexibilities through the Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, a broad set of programs to help farmers, ranchers, and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions.
Additionally, for information on USDA-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit USDA's coronavirus response page.
Many USDA Service Centers are open for visitors, but some may remain open by appointment only. Contact your local Service Center to determine their open status or make an appointment. Service Center staff continues to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools.
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Usda Launches New Conservation Pilot Program For Prairie Pothole Producers To Plant Perennial Cover
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 24, 2020 The U.S. Department of Agricultures Farm Service Agency today announced a new pilot program that enables farmers in the Prairie Pothole region to receive payments for planting perennial cover for conservation use for three to five years. The new Conservation Reserve Program Soil Health and Income Protection Program pilot is available to producers in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. The signup for this pilot starts March 30, 2020 and ends August 21.
Federal Payments To Idaho Farmers Drop 41 Percent
Idaho Farm Bureau Federation
BOISE Total federal government payments to Idaho farmers and ranchers dropped 41 percent in 2021 compared with 2020.
Government payments to U.S. farmers and ranchers increased substantially in 2020 due to the financial assistance provided to agricultural producers through USDAs Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
That money was approved by Congress to assist farmers and ranchers that were impacted financially by the government-ordered shutdowns due to COVID-19.
Some of those payments carried over into the 2021 calendar year but for the most part, they decreased substantially last year compared with 2020. As a result, total federal government payments to ag producers around the nation decreased substantially last year.
CFAP payments to Idaho ag producers totaled $337 million in 2021, which was half of what they were the previous year.
Total federal government payments to Idaho farmers and ranchers in 2021 are estimated at $488 million, which is 41 percent lower than what they were in 2020.
Those estimates are provided in University of Idahos Financial Condition of Idaho Agriculture: 2021 report, which was released to state lawmakers Jan. 6.
The CFAP payments were an anomaly and in a typical year, Idaho farmers and ranchers get a very small percentage from 1 to 2 percent of their total farm income from federal government payments.
CFAP payments accounted for 69 percent of total federal government payments to Idaho ag producers in 2021.
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Usda Adds Digital Options For Farmers And Ranchers To Apply For Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2020 USDAs Farm Service Agency will now accept applications for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program through an online portal, expanding the options available to producers to apply for this program, which helps offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic. FSA is also leveraging commercial document storage and e-signature solutions to enable producers to work with local service center staff to complete their applications from home.
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Usda And Dairy Farmers Work Together To Mitigate Risk For 2021
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2021 In an unprecedented year, USDA staff and dairy producers across the country worked together to protect dairy operations for the 2021 production year under USDAs risk management program options the Dairy Margin Coverage , Dairy Revenue Protection , and Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle programs. Recent enrollment data for these programs indicate that dairy operations are proactively managing their risk.
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Global Food Prices And International Trade
Although some critics and proponents of the World Trade Organization have noted that export subsidies, by driving down the price of commodities, can provide cheap food for consumers in developing countries, low prices are harmful to farmers not receiving the subsidy. Because it is usually wealthy countries that can afford domestic subsidies, critics argue that they promote poverty in developing countries by artificially driving down world crop prices.
Generally, developing countries have a comparative advantage in producing agricultural goods, but low crop prices encourage developing countries to be dependent buyers of food from wealthy countries. So local farmers, instead of improving the agricultural and economic self-sufficiency of their home country, are forced out of the market and perhaps even off their land. This occurs as a result of a process known as "international dumping" in which subsidized farmers are able to "dump" low-cost agricultural goods on foreign markets at costs that un-subsidized farmers cannot compete with. Agricultural subsidies often are a common stumbling block in trade negotiations. In 2006, talks at the Doha round of WTO trade negotiations stalled because the US refused to cut subsidies to a level where other countries' non-subsidized exports would have been competitive.
Others argue that a world market with farm subsidies and other results in higher food prices, rather than lower food prices, as compared to a free market.
Usda Extends Deadline To Apply For Pandemic Assistance To Livestock Producers With Animal Losses
AP Government Adjusted Employees Salaries || AP Government employees Departments |#NovemberSalaries
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2021 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing additional time for livestock and poultry producers to apply for the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program . Producers who suffered losses during the pandemic due to insufficient access to processing may now apply for assistance for those losses and the cost of depopulation and disposal of the animals through Oct. 12, 2021, rather than the original deadline of Sept. 17, 2021. PLIP is part of USDAs Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative.
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Usda Announces August 2021 Lending Rates For Agricultural Producers
WASHINGTON, August 2, 2021 The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced loan interest rates for August 2021, which are effective August 2. USDAs Farm Service Agency loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures, or meet cash flow needs.
How Does Government Affect Agriculture
Government policy can definitely affect farming production. Subsidies, low-interest loan and guaranteed price can raise the quantity of farming output, i.e. the yield. With the increase of capital, quality of farming output can also be raised. For examples, the use of combine-harvestor can ensure the crop to be fresh.
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Commodity Container Assistance Program
Ongoing market disruptions have created logistical challenges associated with the availability and flow of containers to transport agricultural commodities, which has prevented or delayed American-grown agricultural commodities from reaching their markets. The Commodity Container Assistance Program currently includes a partnership with the Port of Oakland in California and the Northwest Seaport Alliance , which is a marine cargo operating partnership between the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma in Washington State. The Farm Service Agency is providing per-container payments at eligible ports to help cover additional logistics costs and ensure that American-grown commodities can once again move efficiently through supply chains to global markets.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is covering a percentage of the start-up costs of the pop-up site in Oakland and Port of Houston. The Port of Houston is not eligible for CCAP payments through the Farm Service Agency.
Applications will be accepted based on the number of eligible shipping containers utilized between March 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Eligible applicants must submit the FSA-862, Commodity Container Assistance Program Application. Please refer to the CCAP application instructions. The Notice of Funding Availability provides additional eligibility information.
Refer to our CCAP frequently asked questions for more information.
Government Paying Farmers Not To Farm
American farm subsidies began in the 1930s, the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains says. In the first three years of the Great Depression, prices for farm products fell by half. Farmers were operating a loss, unable to make their mortgage payments and frequently facing foreclosure. Even though nobody could afford to buy, they kept bringing food, cotton and tobacco to market, driving prices down further.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was the federal solution, originally applied to wheat, corn, cotton, rice, tobacco, milk and hog farming. The federal goal was to keep farmers from overproducing, thereby shoring up prices. This is sometimes described as government paying farmers not to farm. Another solution, The Living New Deal said, was to buy up the surplus and distribute it to people who couldn't afford market prices.
The economic demands of WWII put an end to the Depression, but farm-support programs continued. In recent decades, the government has stepped back from managing supply levels by paying farmers not to farm. Instead, the government leaves farmers more freedom to set their own prices in the global market. This has made prices more volatiles and generally lower. Subsidies to keep farm incomes up have become life support for many farmers.
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Is There Truth To Tiktoks Claiming Farmers Are Paid To Destroy Crops
Videos are going viral on TikTok claiming that farmers across the country are getting paid by the government to destroy their crops. If you havent seen any of the videos yet, heres one of the many out there.
Food shortage videos
Posted by Scott Stephenson on Tuesday, August 17, 2021
The first lesson to learn about social media is that you shouldnt believe everything you see. Agriculture Director Steve Wellman says the rumors of farmers getting paid to destroy crops are not true. No, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture is not paying farmers to take out their corn, or any other crops and neither is the United States Department of Agriculture.
Wellman added that hes confused as to why people would post videos on TikTok with false claims about the government, especially claiming theyre hurting farmers. Theres little to zero amount of truth in any of what Ive seen. So, I dont know why the information would be put out in that manner. I think its just a good reminder for us to not always believe what we see on social media, and farmers and ranchers have been working hard to build trusting relationships with consumers for quite some time and then videos of this type that contain scare tactics and false information are really counter to building that consumer competence and trust, he said. So, in the end, its not productive for agriculture and its surely not productive for the consumers.
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Apple receives a perfect score in the latest Corporate Equality Index survey
App Advice Bryan M. Wolfe Nov 19, 2014
App Advice Nov 19, 2014
Bryan M. Wolfe Nov 19, 2014 Read Source
For the 13th year in a row, Apple has topped the Human Rights Campaign Foundations Corporate Equality Index. CEO Tim Cook made the announcement on Twitter.
Celebrating another 100% score on the HRC's Corporate Equality Index – Apple's 13th in a row. Inclusion inspires innovation. #CEI2015
Tim Cook (@tim_cook) November 19, 2014
The survey rates U.S. businesses based on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality. Apple, along with a record 365 other companies, once again received a 100 percent score.
The criteria used to rank companies includes: non-discrimination policies, employment benefits, demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBT diversity and inclusion, public commitment to LGBT equality, and responsible citizenship.
Last month, Cookpublicly came out as gay. The Apple CEO made the announcement in an essay published byBloomberg BusinessWeek.
See also:You can now watch the full video of Apple CEO Tim Cook's WSJD Live interview, andRussia takes down a monument honoring Steve Jobs because Tim Cook is gay.
Apple receives a perfect score in the latest Corporate Equality Index survey is a story by AppAdvice.com
AppAdvice - iPhone, iPad, iPod, App Reviews + News


Germany is the key economic country of Europe where world famous company's office is situated. Most of the companies are incorporated as Limited Liability Company, GmbH in Germany where minimum one person is required for incorporation. There is information as law for paid up capital that euro 25000 need to ensure as process of company registration in Germany as foreigner.
Being require capital of euro 25000 small and medium enterprise owners discourage to start a business in Germany. But there is another way of company registration in Germany, mini GmbH. To incorporate mini GmbH, UG company euro 100 minimum is require upon some conditions. One of the condition is until euro 25000 is credited ¼ of profit shall have to be reserved. So, every year at the time of annual return submission the said proportion shall have to keep balance for government. This opportunity can be preferred by the small and medium business ideas in Germany.
On the other hand, to incorporate joint stock company's euro 50,000 is required with minimum 5 members as directorship of the company. By the way, one managing directors should be appointed in case of GmbH company.
As required papers of new company registration in Germany as foreigner prepare memorandum and Article of association with signature by the directors where number of shares, director's position, objectives of business, secretary appointing shall be declared in written.
Additional license of company incorporation in Germany are trade license & membership of chamber of commerce permission. Provided that, all necessary papers shall have to be notarized before submission of company registration in Germany and business address of the entity is must as another condition.
Starting a Proprietorship business in Germany is not allowed as foreigner. Every company has to file annual return within time limited. Companies situated inside of free trade areas can enjoy tax holidays as law of Germany and other companies those are outside of free zone can be enjoyed too.
To complete whole procedure of new company incorporation in Germany may not require time of more than seven to ten (7-10) days.
Euro 3200 in total shall be charged to complete whole incorporation procedure in Germany. Provided that extra charge can be added if any further permission is required from another concern department.


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