Fact check: Does machine voting exist in Europe?
Last February, the Bulgarian Parliament decided to abolish the paper ballots and to introduce the machine voting for all national elections after 2020. The change in the law was imposed by the public's doubts that the elections results were manipulated. International organizations rate the Bulgarian elections as relatively fair, although so far there have been numerous scandals in the counting of paper ballots in a limited number of polling stations.
One of the main opponents of the law change was the former Deputy Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Mikhail Konstantinov. He is a professor of mathematics and one of the biggest experts in the field of electoral systems in Bulgaria.
"There is no machine voting in Europe, in all of Europe, not just the EU. The countries that had it – like Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, have abolished it. I am not sure of the positive effect of introducing it in Bulgaria," Konstantinov said in an interview for Monitor daily after the parliament changed the law. He repeated his thesis in several television interviews.
This website has checked if this statement is true, using the IDEA database at https://www.idea.int/ (IDEA – International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). IDEA is an intergovernmental organization that specializes in studying electoral systems around the world and helping countries in this area. 31 countries from all over the world are in IDEA, including the European countries Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The organization has the status of Permanent Representative at the United Nations. Secretary-General of IDEA is former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme.
All EU member states plus the larger members of the European Economic Area – Switzerland, Iceland and Norway – were checked.
The check proved that Mikhail Konstantinov's statement is not true. Three European countries use different variations of machine voting.
Belgium uses electronic voting of all kinds of elections and referendums. The state uses electronic printers that are not connected to the Internet. A similar technology has been used in Bulgaria in some sections.
In Switzerland for all kinds of elections there is a combination of machine voting with digital devices and Internet voting. France allows machine voting in limited cases, mainly abroad. Digital voter registration machines are used. The intelligence services have recommended that electronic voting should not be used in the 2017 election due to cyber-threat, but it was not abolished.
The most liberal voting is in Estonia. People can vote online there.
EU countries where machine and internet voting have never been used are Austria, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Great Britain, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary , Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Iceland.
There are four European countries that used machine or other electronic voting, but have abolished the option because of security concerns – Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Norway.
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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Howard Shore
The Prophecy
Concerning Hobbits
The Shadow of the Past
The Treason of Isengard
The Black Rider
At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
A Knife In the Dark
Flight to the Ford
Many Meetings
The Council of Elrond (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen) [feat. "Aniron"]
The Ring Goes South
A Journey In the Dark
The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
Lothlorien (feat. "Lament for Gandalf")
The Great River
The Breaking of the Fellowship (feat. "In Dreams")
Released: 20 Nov 2001
℗ 2001 Reprise Records for the U.S. and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the U.S.
More By Howard Shore
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Bonus Track Version]
The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Special Edition]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Special Edition]
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Dark Knight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Star Trek (Music from the Motion Picture)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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SMV steht für:
 Schülermitverantwortung, oder auch Schülermitverwaltung, siehe Schülervertretung
 Studenten-Meldeverfahren der GKV
 Symbolic Model Verifier
 Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde München, 2014 umbenannt in Museum Fünf Kontinente
 Sowjetische Militärverwaltung in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone, auch Sowjetische Militäradministration in Deutschland in Berlin-Karlshorst
 Sowjetische Mineralöl-Verwaltung, Vorgängerin der OMV
 die Musikgruppe SMV, die sich aus Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller und Victor Wooten zusammensetzt
 Smokeview, eine Visualisierungssoftware für die Brandsimulation mit dem Fire Dynamics Simulator
Schweizerischer Mieter- und Mieterinnenverband
 Schweizerischer Musikerverband
 Star of Military Valour (franz.: Étoile de la vaillance militaire), kanadische militärische Tapferkeitsmedaille
 Flugplatz Samedan (IATA-Flughafencode) bei St. Moritz

smv steht für:
 Samvedi (ISO-639-3-Code), indoarische Sprache innerhalb des Konkani in Südindien

.smv steht für:
 Dateiendung für das Videoformat SigmaTel Motion Video

Siehe auch:

SMV

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Maybe the Yunnan Ethnic Village (or Yunnan Nationalities Village) is one of the most interesting and attractive tourist highlights in southwestern China. It is located in the city of Kunming somewhere southwest of the city, near the Dianchi Lake. This theme park is full of well-landscaped areas and "ethnic villages", which displays the folklore and buildings of 25 ethnic groups who live in Yunnan Province. In the park, each village has the costumes and representative buildings from their particular ethnic background. The representative three are the Bai Ethnic Village, the Dai Ethnic Village, and the Yi Ethnic Village.
The Bai Ethnic Village is famed for the Butterfly Museum (the biggest of its kind in China). This museum is a typical Bai construction. It is comprised of rooms and residences on three sides and a wall on the southern side. The southern wall is typically decorated quite beautifully with an ornate flower bed. Part of the reason for this architecture is that Dali (where a majority of Bais live) is a windy town, where the wind, while not very strong, blows all year round. Also in the Village, there is a replicated temple dedicated to the God of Erhai Lake (modeled after a temple in Dali). The young warrior, enshrined in the temple, was known as Duan Chicheng. He exterminated evil villains and spirits for the Bai people and has been worshipped as the safeguard of the Bai people around Dali ever since (I think if you burn several sticks of incense to him, you may also gain his protection).
Besides, in this village you can also see the house for tie-dyeing, house for woodcarving, the workshop for marble carving, theater stage, the Three Pagodas modeled from the Chongsheng Temple in Dali, and many beautiful folk houses of the Bai People.
The performances in the Bai Village include the Rattle Stick Dance, Straw Hat Dance, and the Dabenqu (a performance with singing, music, dialogue or monologue); the folk events in the village include the Sanyue Jie (a special fair assembly, people deal with trade at day, while singing and dancing in the bivouac at the night, it last around 7 days), Raosanling (a massive singing and dancing gathering which takes place in spring) and Meeting the Bride.
There is a Dali Jie (Dali Street) run-through the Bai Ethnic Village, where you can buy the tie-dyed products of the Bai nationality, straw products, woodcarvings, stone carvings, jewelry and jade wares. If you are tired, you can stop to have a cup of the famous Three-taste tea in the tea house.
The Dai Ethnic Village covers an area of more than 4 acres with 3 sides facing water and all with beautiful scenery. Its unique buildings include the wood-bamboo houses, white pagoda, wind-rain bridge, wind-rain pavilion, water well, and the bell pavilion and so on.
In this village you can enjoy very wonderful performances such as the Elephant Feet Drum Dance, Gaguang Dance, Dai Wedding ceremony, Dragon Boat Racing, Throw the Small Pillow, Fire the Bamboo Rocket, Tie the Rite threads.
The most exciting highlight in this village should be the "water-splashing", which is held in the Water Festival Square. It is copied from the Dai Water-Splashing Festival. Every year towards the end of the sixth month of the Dai calendar (April 13th and 15th according to Gregorian calendar) this festival is celebrated with the Dai New Year's Day.
The first day of the festival is for sending off the old and welcoming the new (like many New Years Days of other nationalities). On the second day, a massive water fight engulfs all the Dai villages (including this one) as everyone grabs the nearest basin or bucket, fills it with water and dumps on the closest lucky target as a cleansing blessing of good fortune! Respect is still shown to the elderly who might receive a small cup of water on their arm, but young, able-bodied people should WATCH OUT! This crazy, wild and wet holiday is the best!
In this village you will see the Yi people's wine workshop, spinning house, handcrafts workshop, Yi cultural tower, tea hill, and bullring; you will know something about the Chieftain's etiquette of the Yi; you can play Moqiu (something like the seesaw, but it wheels round) and the swings; you may be greeted by the hospitable Yi people by passing you a cup of welcoming wine. You can even take part in all the dances of the Yi people.
The "Sun Calendar Square" (Taiyangli Guangchang) is the most spectacular sight in the Yi Ethnic Village, where there is a totem pole, on which are the carvings of suns, fire, tigers, moons, animals and the Eight Diagrams. In the square center is a sundial with twelve animals, which denotes the time of the day (as well as the year of one's birth) in the mystic Yi civilization. In the solar calendar of the Yi people, a year is divided into five seasons, and each season is divided into two months. Therefore, the Yi solar calendar only has 10 months and 360 days in a year. During the Firebrand Festival, people gather here to hold an impressive ceremony. They fire many firebrands and cluster together round the fire singing and dancing.
In addition to these "ethnic villages", there are activities that take place such as a welcoming ceremony with performing White Elephants, the Dinosaur Island theme park area, a concert area for ethnic singing and dancing performances, as well as an Asian Elephant show in the Plaza of Ethnic Unity. The climax of a visit to the Nationalities Park is a film shown on a fountain of water.
In the Yunnan Nationalities Villages (Chinese: Yunnan Minzucun), the "villagers" are all chosen from the youth of the relevant nationalities to act as guides and performers for tourists. If you get a chance, talk to the different ethnic groups and let them tell you about their beliefs and customs. It can be quite interesting.
The park is open 8am to 7pm. To get there, you can take bus NO. 44 (only 1.2yuan); by mini-bus is 2yuan; if by taxi, the ride will cost you 20RMB from the city center of Kunming.


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I am a day late with my weekly status report! In addition to out-of-town guests at my house from Sunday through Wednesday, I was dealing with Pepper's health emergency. She's going to be okay, but it took three visits to the vet in as many days. As a result of the guest and the cat, I did no fiber crafting at all for the past few days. I was making progress before that, though.
"I was a bit worried when no WIP Wednesday appeared on your blog," she responded.
Oops. I kinda forgot. Mostly because there wasn't much to tell, as you already know if you read my June 2014 Wrap Up. This week, there's a little progress to report!
A new month, a new set of projects in progress! Well, actually, it turns out it's only one new project and two that I started last month but haven't worked on for a while so I could meet other goals.


The Udefrykte is a unique frost troll found in the ice cave portion of Dawnstar Sanctuary during the Dark Brotherhood quest The Cure for Madness.
The Udefrykte has a set level of 22; therefore, it may be advisable for lower-level characters to sneak past it. If the player plans on taking on the Udefrykte, strong fire spells, scrolls, or a weapon with a strong fire enchantment are recommended. Like all other trolls, it has the ability to regenerate health over time, so it is better to kill it as quickly as possible without giving it a chance to heal significantly.
Other creatures similar in concept and spelling include the Udyrfrykte from Bloodmoon, and the Uderfrykte Matron from Oblivion.
This page was last modified on 19 May 2015, at 19:27.


Already last winter, adidas Football and EA SPORTS ™ exclusively presented jerseys for FC Bayern Munich as well as Real Madrid, Juventus Turin and Manchester United. These jerseys have so far been seen solely in last year's EA SPORTS ™ FIFA game.
In the second edition, the boundaries between computer simulation and the real world of football are even more blurred: even though the teams will not wear the jerseys, they will be available in a limited edition for the first time as physical products.
The design of the FC Bayern EA Sports jersey pays homage to the "Star of the South" and celebrates the anthem that echoes through the Allianz Arena on match days. Especially prominent: the club crest, which is placed in the middle of the shirt.
Special jersey matching the FIFA 19 Ultimate Team game mode.
Design with "Star of the South" graphic design.
FC Bayern logo in red and black below the collar.
Collar in retro style with Adidas logo in contrasting color.


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The Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), led by James Beauttah and Joseph Kang'ethe, was a political organisation in colonial Kenya formed in 1924 to act on behalf of the Gĩkũyũ community by presenting their concerns to the British government. One of its greatest grievances was the expropriation of the most productive land by British settlers from African farmers. Most members of the organisation were from the Gĩkũyũ tribe.

KCA was formed after the colonial government banned the earlier Young Kikuyu Association founded by Harry Thuku and the East African Association. In either 1925 or early 1926, Beauttah moved to Uganda, although remained in contact with Kenyatta. When the KCA wrote to Beauttah and asked him to travel to London as their representative, he declined, but recommended that Kenyatta who had a good command of the English language go in his place. Kenyatta accepted, probably on the condition that the Association matched his pre-existing wage. He thus became the group's secretary. Jomo Kenyatta, later the first president of Kenya, joined it to become its General Secretary in 1927.

The Kikuyu Central Association was banned in 1940 when World War II reached East Africa. Some fighters of the later Mau-Mau still understood their struggle as continuation of KCA and even called themselves KCA.
WAZI BUDA

The end of World War II, however, saw the new type of African organisation that went beyond tribal boundaries with the rise of the Kenya African Union that later was to become KANU.

KCA published the Muiguithania ("the reconciler"), a Kikuyu language newspaper. It was banned alongside KCA in 1940.

See also
Campaign against female genital mutilation in Kenya, 1929-32
Taita Hills Association

References
 Muigwithania 2.0 - The original KCA publication banned by the colonial government revived on the Internet in 2008

External links
The reason behind KCA
Another article on KCA

History of Kenya
Political parties established in 1924
British Kenya


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Minneapolis Census
City Complete Count Committee
What's at stake
To learn more about what's at stake in the 2020 census, watch this short video produced by the Ford Foundation.
Census Links
2020census.gov
Minnesota State Demographic Center
The Census Bureau is hiring
Earn extra income while helping your community. The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting thousands of people across the country to assist with the 2020 census count. Apply for census jobs in the Minnesota area here.
Home > Minneapolis Census
The Complete Count Committee provides guidance and support for the City's outreach and engagement efforts leading up to and during the 2020 census. Our goal is to work together to make sure that all residents are counted. The Complete Count Committee is made of up of representatives or advocates from historically undercounted communities.
Aug. 1, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) directions. Room 105.
Complete Count Committee Meeting
Aug. 20, 6-8 p.m.
Fuller Park multipurpose room
Sep.17, 6-8 p.m.
Morris Recreation Center, multipurpose room
About the Minneapolis Complete Count Committee
The 2020 Census Complete Count Committee was established by Council Action 2018A-00777, to provide guidance and support for the City's outreach and engagement efforts leading up to and during the 2020 census, working together as one Minneapolis to make sure that all residents are counted. The Complete Count Committee shall be comprised of a cross-section of community members
Committee Seats
Representative from the Native American community
Representative from the African American community
Representative from the Southeast Asian community
Representative from the East African community
Representative from the Latino community
Representative from the LGBTQ community
Representative from the Aging community
Representative from the Veteran community
Representative from the community who works with people experiencing homelessness
Representative from the Tenant community or from the community of people working with Tenants
Representative from the college student community
Representative from the community that serves households with children
Representative from the community that serves households living in poverty
Representative from the community of people with disabilities
Representative from Ward 1
Representative from Ward 10
Minneapolis can be proud of the hard work of our Complete Count Committees and many community groups, churches and other agencies helping to get out the message: "It's in Our Hands." The increase in mail participation rates from Census 2000 was dramatic, with a final mail-in participation rate of 78%, up from 68% in 2000. On August 11, 2010, Debra Stanley of the Kansas City Regional Census Bureau presented City leaders with an award for their extraordinary success in local outreach efforts for the 2010 census. The City's mail-back participation rate was the highest of any city with populations of 300,000 or more in the country.
Join the Complete Count Committee
Community members, leaders, organizers from communities that have historically been undercounted by the census, you can apply to join the Complete Count Committee and help create the City of Minneapolis' complete count campaign.
The committee members:
Attend quarterly Complete Count Committee meetings from fall 2018 to spring 2020.
Provide ideas, approaches, activities and messages for the City's complete count campaign.
Identify and share messages and strategies that work within your local communities.
Actively promote participation in the 2020 census.
Eligibility & Application
Be a resident of Minneapolis
Complete the application form and the voluntary demographic questionnaire (optional).
List of Vacancies
City Council will appoint representatives from these groups to serve for an eighteen month period ending June 30, 2020. The following seats are still open as of March 2019.
Where to Send Applications
Send completed forms to [email protected], or by fax: 612-673-3812, or:
City Clerk Appointments
350 South Fifth Street, Room 304
Applications are forwarded from the City Clerk to the Neighborhood and Community Relations Staff. Applications are then reviewed by the Committee of the Whole of the City Council, the Mayor's Office and Neighborhood and Community Relations Staff for recommendation to the full City Council.
Should you require a reasonable accommodation in order to fully participate, or information in an alternative format, please contact the Office of City Clerk at 612-673-2216 or [email protected].
Staff contact for committee: Alberder at 612-271-3193 or [email protected].
City Clerk Contact: 612-673-2216. [email protected]
NCR ©1997-2019 City of Minneapolis, MN


COLUMBUS – The next deadline for Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) applications to be considered for funding in fiscal year (FY) 2019 is May 10. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to invest up to $700 million nationally for new enrollments and contract extensions in fiscal year 2019. The 2018 Farm Bill made several changes to this critical conservation program, which helps agricultural producers take the conservation activities on their farm or ranch to the next level.
· NRCS now enrolls eligible, high ranking applications based on dollars rather than acres. For fiscal 2019, NRCS can spend up to $700 million in the program, which covers part of the cost for producers implementing new conservation activities and maintaining their existing activities.
· CSP now provides specific support for organic and for transitioning to organic production activities and a special grassland conservation initiative for certain producers who have maintained cropland base acres.
CSP is offered in Ohio through continuous sign-ups. The program provides many benefits including increased crop yields, decreased inputs, wildlife habitat improvements and increased resilience to weather extremes. CSP is for working lands including cropland, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of a tribe.
More Information For additional information about CSP, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit the Ohio NRCS website.


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Home » Academics » Honors College
Timmy Global Health: Medical Service Trip to Ecuador
Timmy Global Health is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to healthcare and addressing global healthcare challenges. As members of the ISU chapter, Honors students have the opportunity to enroll in GH 301: Global Healthcare Challenges to learn about about healthcare disparities in developing countries and participate in a medical service trip to Ecuador.
Alternative Winter Break 2020: Guatemala
Looking out the plane window, cascading, vibrant mountains covered in brilliant green forestry rose above the white, animated clouds. The sight was breath taking and offered the grandest welcome I have ever received. The greatest part, the adventure was just beginning. We were greeted at the airport with typical Guatemalan hospitality, "Buenos Tardes! Bienviendo a Guatemala!" Which translates to good afternoon and welcome to Guatemala! The 12 of us, 10 Honors students and 2 Honors alumni, were then shuffled into a minivan and whisked up the crowded city roads that would eventually lead to San Miguel Escobar, a small town that rests an hour outside of Guatemala City.
San Miguel Escobar is a small farming community located within the valley of multiple mountains and volcanoes. Not only is San Miguel Escobar home to some of the greatest views, but also the location of De La Gente, the nonprofit we worked with for the week. De La Gente, which translate to "From the People," works with a cooperative of coffee farmers and offers "opportunity in every bean." They ensure the fair trading of coffee amongst the farming community, offer financial resources and global shipment of product, as well as the opportunity to educate the outside world of what it takes to go from bean to cup. Our first opportunity was to experience just that!
On our first day of our 8 day adventure, we started off our morning in a local farmer's coffee field picking coffee as farmers do every day in Guatemala. A typical day of the farmer starts between 4 and 6am and ends at 3pm with a small break for lunch. By the end of this day, a typical farmer can pick 100 plus pounds of beans. We started much later than the typical farmer, and we did not exactly reach the quota. We were given a basket that the farmers generally use to hold the picked beans. In a half hour, farmers usually fill their basket to the top. Most of our baskets were not even half filled, but collectively we filled one basket and were able to process it just like the farmers. Picking the beans was followed by placing them in a processor to pull the beans from the "cherry" casing. The beans then were placed on a drying bed and would be dried for about 3 weeks. We then had the opportunity to grind, brew, and taste coffee along with the farmers.
The rest of the week we would have the opportunity to work side by side with farmers to work on projects that would benefit their coffee production. We primarily worked with the president of the coffee cooperative, Timo, and under his direction we were able to build a rainwater collection tank. The tank we built out of cinderblock and cement will benefit multiple farmers in the area by allowing them to water their coffee crops without having to haul gallons of water up the steep volcano where their farms are located. Farmers typically walk up to two hours to arrive at their farms, often times carrying their crops down the hill after their work day is over. During our time working with Timo on the volcano, it was not uncommon to see farmers tracking back down the rough terrain with their crops loaded on their back. Seeing that we were on a time crunch, we got to take a safari-type truck ride up the one lane dirt path to reach our worksite.
Our rainwater collection tank took about 2 days to complete, and the following day we built 10 drying beds for a farmer in the cooperative. Again under the direction of Timo, we were able to build what the farmer would use to dry his coffee beans out of 4 by 4 boards, black fabric, and tubing. With the new drying beds, the farmer would no longer be required to dry his coffee beans on his roof. The service we were able to complete while we were there would not have been possible without the people of the coffee community. De La Gente ensures that people who dedicate their time to service with their farmers are not working for them, but with them. It was ensured that a sense of community and team support would be implemented in order to make all parties feel valued. Hence, the service we completed was more geared towards learning the ways of the life of the farmer in order to gain a higher respect for the work that goes into a single cup of coffee.
While our trip was overflowing with coffee, we also had the opportunity to explore and better come to embrace the beautiful country of Guatemala. We were able to tour the historical city of Antigua, visit the ancient Mayan ceremonial grounds, and spend a sunny afternoon at Lake Atitlan, a beautiful, blue lake surrounded by volcanoes. The major gem of Guatemala that we were able to encounter, however, had to be the numerous community members that offered us places at their tables. Every night we were welcomed into the home of a farmer for a delicious, traditional Guatemalan dinner. We were able to hear the stories of farmers, meet their families, and feel as if we were part of their community. From attempting to make tortillas, to trying to navigate the language barrier and trying new foods, each person we encountered simply encouraged us to enjoy their beautiful country and culture much as they did. It was odd to be over 2,000 miles away and yet feel so at home.
Working with De La Gente in Guatemala offered so many new experiences, as well as new perspective on what it means to be a conscious consumer. Right before we left for our flight, our tour guide Ronald left us with inspiring words on how we first have to bring change to ourselves before we can bring change to the world. He said that we are the present and to bring change, we need to be aware of the choices we make and, more importantly, how our decisions impact others. Being a conscious consumer is the first step to being aware of the impact that we are leaving. Buying goods and services fair trade, understanding where your products are coming from, and what the companies you are purchasing from are supporting will not only impact you, but will even impact the many new friends I made in Guatemala. Being a conscious consumer might mean spending a few extra dollars, but what you will be supporting cannot be limited to a monetary value. Through being aware of our decisions, we can bring change. This change can begin with the simple act of buying a fair trade cup of coffee because I know some amazing farmers who would thank you.
-Jenna Ford, English Teaching major
Study Abroad Spotlight: Alethia Marrero
"Alethia Marrero studied abroad in India and fell in love with their culture and all that it taught her about globalization and social justice. This opportunity opened her eyes to seeing the connection between business, politics, social justice and technology. Indiana State is where she feels she became an intellectual and is grateful for the experience and knowledge she gained in her four years at State." READ MORE
Honors Mission & Vision
Honors Eligibility
Why Join Honors?
Honors Classes
Honors Conversion
Community - Housing & Leadership Opportunities
Experience - Research & Professional Development
Adventure - Study Abroad & Alternative Breaks
Honors Alumni
Honors Features & Newsletter
Contact Honors
Greg Bierly, Dean
Pickerl Hall 110
200 North Seventh Street Terre Haute, Indiana, USA 47809-1902 Contact Us | web@indstate.edu | (812)-237-3773
Admissions: admissions@indstate.edu | (800) 468-6478
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Toyota slams Mich. senator for saying Japanese automaker not part of 'home team'
Debbie Stabenow 'directly attacked Toyota for fighting back on her discriminatory proposal.'
Stabenow (in a file photo): "Toyota should explain why union wages and benefits are good enough for its workers in Japan but not here in America."
Editor's note: This report has been clarified to reflect the small portion of Toyota Motor North America workers who are unionized.
Toyota Motor North America has fired back at a Michigan senator for suggesting at an event attended by President Joe Biden in a General Motors plant in Detroit that Toyota — which employs about 2,000 people in Michigan — was not part of the "home team" because it is largely not unionized.
In an unsigned internal memo called "Fast Facts" distributed Thursday to the Japanese automaker's 38,000 employees in the U.S. via email and shared with Automotive News, Toyota said Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow "directly attacked Toyota for fighting back on her discriminatory proposal. This was an unprecedented attack, including accusations that were false and hypocritical."
Stabenow on Wednesday defended a controversial $4,500 additional tax credit for consumers who purchase an electric vehicle made in a unionized U.S. plant — a proposal spearheaded by herself and Democratic Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee and endorsed by Biden.
Fresh off the passing of a bipartisan federal infrastructure bill that includes funding for EV chargers and upgrades to the nation's electric grid, Stabenow and the president were speaking at GM's Factory Zero EV plant to an audience of largely UAW members.
"I think it takes a lot of nerve for an auto company based in Japan, where they make it almost impossible for us to sell to them in Japan, where they receive government funding and consumer rebates in Japan, where they have a union labor force in Japan — in fact, everywhere except in America, by the way, where they fight tooth and nail against Americans who tried to organize — it takes a lot of nerve for them to fight our effort to have a consumer bonus for buying vehicles made by the United Auto Workers," Stabenow told the audience to applause. "So I call this just leveling the playing field, and I'm committed to supporting the home team and leading this effort in the Senate."
The union-built EV tax credit provision — part of the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act — faces an uphill battle in the evenly split Senate, where it is opposed by Republicans and moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, which is home to a key Toyota engine and transmission plant.
In the email, which was verified by a company spokesman, Toyota said it "believes that the future of mobility is electric and we support incentives that make the cost of EVs more affordable to consumers." But it also said Stabenow "does not view the 2,000 Toyota team members in Michigan as part of the home team. Nor does she view the 38,000-plus Americans across the country who directly support their families by working at Toyota as part of the 'home team.'"
Toyota operates two large research and engineering centers near Ann Arbor, Mich., and has employees elsewhere in Michigan. Its large U.S. assembly and components plants are not unionized. A small portion of its workers are unionized, fewer than 1,000 people. They are primarily in its logistics operations and parts distribution centers, with workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and some port workers are represented by the International Longshoremen's Association.
The Japanese automaker, which has led efforts to kill the union-built EV credit alongside other international manufacturers, including American Honda and Volkswagen Group of America, told its employees: "Rest assured that we will not be intimidated by Senator Stabenow — nor anyone else who treats our American workforce as second-class. Your work to build a zero-carbon future is no less valuable than that of any other American autoworker."
The company also says it doesn't "believe the government should discriminate against fully half of all U.S. auto workers simply because they have decided not to join the UAW."
A spokesman for Toyota said the company had no further comment beyond what was in the email.
Stabenow responded to the Toyota memo in an emailed statement to Automotive News, saying:
"Instead of bullying its workers here in the U.S., in its next note to employees Toyota should explain why union wages and benefits are good enough for its workers in Japan but not here in America. Perhaps the National Labor Relations Board should examine this message as potential worker intimidation through coercive statements to its American workers."
Sen. Joe Manchin, speaking at Toyota event in W.Va., calls union-built EV tax credit 'wrong'
What Toyota's email said
Below is the full text of Toyota's email, dated Nov. 18, to its U.S. employees.
Team Toyota,
Toyota is in the news right now for defending our company and our American team members. We want you to understand what this fight is about.
Congress is debating taxpayer-financed consumer incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs). The purpose is to speed the transition to an electric future and reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.
Toyota believes that the future of mobility is electric and we support incentives that make the cost of EVs more affordable to consumers.
But U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has proposed an extra $4,500 incentive for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) made by workers who have decided to join a union. This would give an insurmountable advantage to just three companies: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep, Ram and other foreign brands.
Yesterday, in remarks at a General Motors plant in Michigan, Senator Stabenow directly attacked Toyota for fighting back on her discriminatory proposal.
This was an unprecedented attack, including accusations that were false and hypocritical. You can view her remarks on her Twitter or Facebook.
In her remarks, Senator Stabenow declared that she is "just leveling the playing field" and "committed to supporting the home team." Apparently she does not view the 2,000 Toyota team members in Michigan as part of the home team. Nor does she view the 38,000-plus Americans across the country who directly support their families by working at Toyota as part of the "home team."
Toyota believes Congress should consider all Americans part of "the home team" — especially when it comes to fighting climate change by putting more EVs on the road and less carbon in the air.
Rest assured that we will not be intimidated by Senator Stabenow — nor anyone else who treats our American workforce as second-class.
Your work to build a zero-carbon future is no less valuable than that of any other American autoworker. As Toyota works to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, with 15 BEVs on the market by 2025 and approximately 70% of our U.S. sales electrified by 2030, every contribution from every Toyota team member here in the U.S. matters. And we don't believe the government should discriminate against fully half of all U.S. autoworkers simply because they have decided not to join the UAW.
Here's why Toyota is pushing to make tax credits available equally to EVs built by ALL U.S. autoworkers:
It's better for the environment because it would allow consumers to access more EVs, putting more electrified vehicles on the road. An EV isn't better for the environment because it was made by a UAW worker.
It's better for the American consumer because Americans should not be forced to spend an extra $4,500 – about $100 more per month over a four-year period – if they want to buy an EV not made by Ford, General Motors or Stellantis.
It's better for the American autoworker because it would treat them equitably ─ whether they chose to join a union or not. A true "level playing field" is treating all EVs built by an American autoworker the same.
Please know that we will always fight to ensure that you ─ or any American at any automaker ─ are never treated as not "the home team." And we are proud of the work and contributions from each and every one of our team members.
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A white car with plate number 1182 is being reported to have hit a local pedestrian on Billy Folly Road earlier tonight in a hit-and-run accident. The victim is in pain and awaiting x-rays. I've asked businesses on Billy Folly Road to check security camera footage to see if a car matching that description, possibly with front end damage, has been seen and where it went. Police were contacted; that's all I know.
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text:
Toni Williams również Tony Williams (ur. 1938/1939, zm. 1 października 2016) – nowozelandzki piosenkarz pochodzący z Wysp Cooka.

Życiorys
Urodził się na wyspie Rarotonga, zaś w wieku 11 lat przeniósł się do Auckland w Nowej Zelandii. W młodości doznał poważnego urazu stawu biodrowego w trakcie gry w piłkę i przez 13 miesięcy był hospitalizowany. W trakcie rehabilitacji zainteresował się muzyką (zaczął grać na gitarze i śpiewać). W 1956 założyłem grupę Housewarmers, przemianowaną w 1958  na Toni Williams & The Tremellos. Toni Williams koncertował również solowo. W 1972 jego singiel Tellabou nominowany był do APRA Awards przyznawanej przez Australasian Performing Right Association. Był kawalerem New Zealand Order of Merit. Zmarł 1 października 2016 w Christchurch.

Przypisy

Nowozelandzcy wokaliści
Urodzeni w XX wieku
Zmarli w 2016


text:
New report calls the FTC's consumer privacy efforts into question
Raising the bar on expectations and self-reporting could benefit everyone
By Gary Guthrie
04/20/2018 | ConsumerAffairs | Privacy
A new white paper -- "Understanding and Improving Privacy 'Audits' under FTC Orders'" -- calls the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the carpet for its lenient approach to privacy audits required of tech companies like Facebook and Google.
"These audits, as a practical matter, are often the only 'tooth' in FTC orders to protect consumer privacy," wrote Megan Gray, an FTC attorney and non-residential fellow at Stanford Law School. "They are critically important to accomplishing the agency's privacy mission. As such, a failure to attend to their robust enforcement can have unintended consequences, and arguably, provide consumers with a false sense of security."
While the FTC's privacy audits are regarded as an efficient way of keeping tech companies in line with privacy commitments made to consumers, Gray urges the agency to improve its privacy standards if it intends on being serious about protecting consumers.
The paper illuminates how privacy audits are not actually audits as most understand them to be. Rather, because the FTC's language only requires third-party "assessments," tech companies get away with submitting reports that are essentially a confirmation that they did all that was required.
Take Facebook for instance
A contemporary example would be Facebook's run-in with its users' privacy. Under the social media company's agreement with the FTC, all it's required to do is undergo twice-yearly privacy audits to show it isn't misinforming its users about their privacy.
However, none of Facebook's audits brought Cambridge Analytica's data mining into question. Despite Facebook knowing about the misuse as far back as 2015, Congressional leaders implied that Facebook wasn't following the FTC's instructions as rigorously as it should have been.
In the FTC's complaint against Facebook, the agency harped on the word "deceptive" in questioning Facebook on how it handled users' private information in areas like profile and app settings.
As an example, the FTC brought up the fact that in November 2009, approximately 586,241 users had used their Friends' App Settings to "block" Platform Applications that their Friends used from accessing any of their profile information, including their Name, Profile Picture, Gender, Friend List, Pages, and Networks.
Yet, in Facebook's December 2009 Privacy Changes, its users could no longer restrict access to their "publicly available information," and all prior user choices to do that were overridden. Although Facebook reinstated those settings soon thereafter, the FTC found that the settings weren't stored to a user's Profile Privacy restrictions and instead were essentially hidden.
Better protection of consumers' privacy is needed
Gray offers several ways the FTC could improve its privacy audits. At the top of her list would be requiring the FTC to end its reliance on a company's simple confirmation that its privacy protection is up to snuff.
Gray suggests that the current method could be greatly improved if the FTC detailed its expectations in what it wants privacy auditors to examine and have assessors report directly to the FTC instead of the company being audited.
"Simply 'staying the course' puts consumers...in an untenable situation, with real-world consequences," concludes Gray. "It's time to dive deeply into understanding these third-party privacy assessments and consider meaningful proposals for their improvement. The FTC is an extraordinary agency, and it is more than capable of rising to this challenge."
In an email to ConsumerAffairs, the FTC stated that Gray currently has no involvement with current privacy or data security investigations and that the comments made in her paper do not reflect the agency's views.
Gary Guthrie covers technology and travel for the ConsumerAffairs news team. Prior to ConsumerAffairs, he was a programming consultant for radio and TV stations in some 20 markets around the U.S., as well as a presentation developer for the likes of Jack Daniel's, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, and Columbia University. Read Full Bio→
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