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Warren, Brown Criticize Fed Vice Chair Quarles' "Outrageous and Irresponsible" Lobbying for Regulatory Favors for Big Banks in COVID-19 Relief Package
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs' Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Federal Reserve's Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles questioning why he is lobbying Congress to insert regulatory favors for big banks into the … Continue Reading
Senators Warren, Brown, and Harris Call On CFPB To Protect Borrowers from Discrimination
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), today sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger, urging the agency to take immediate actions to address potential violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) by lenders who use educational data to make credit decisions."We renew our call for you to reverse your and Mr. … Continue Reading
Warren, Schatz to Wells Fargo: New Reports Show Mistreatment of Customers During Pandemic-Induced Financial Crisis, Highlighting Broken Culture at the Bank
Text of LetterWashington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i.), sent a letter to Charles W. Schaft, Chief Executive Officer and President of Wells Fargo, following reports about the bank placing borrowers who are not delinquent on their loans in mortgage forbearance programs without their consent and putting consumers at risk of greater financial hardship in the midst of one of the worst economic … Continue Reading
Warren Investigates Report that "No Fault" Attendance Policies at Large Corporations Punish Workers for Taking Legally-Protected Leave
Letter to Walmart | Letter to FedEx | Letter to 3M | Letter to Kroger | Letter to ConagraWashington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, sent a letter to five companies -- Walmart, Conagra, FedEx, 3M, and Kroger -- requesting information about their attendance policies, and whether the companies are appropriately providing information to … Continue Reading
Warren to CFPB Director Kraninger: You Should Resign For Helping Mortgage Servicers and Credit Reporting Companies Cheat Consumers During the Pandemic
Senator Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, in 2008 when the bottom fell out of the economy and people were cheated on their mortgages and credit cards and auto loans and other financial products, there was no cop on the beat to protect them and that's why ten years ago last week President Obama created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect consumers from abusive financial products. And so now, here we are in the middle of another financial crisis, this time caused by a … Continue Reading
Warren and Schatz Again Raise Concerns About the Stability of the Financial System During the COVID-19-Induced Recession, Citing Recent Bank Sensitivity Analyses
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), both members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Chair Powell and Vice Chair for Supervision Quarles raising concerns about the Fed's lack of transparency and inaction to improve stability in the banking system following recent sensitivity analyses that showed banks may be vulnerable to losses during the COVID-19-driven … Continue Reading
Warren to Attorney General Barr, Secretaries Esper, Wolf & Bernhardt: Stop Trump from Turning your Departments' Personnel into his "Personal Militia"
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote today to Attorney General William Barr, Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Mark Esper, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, and Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary David Bernhardt, urging them to stop President Donald Trump's use of paramilitary domestic federal law enforcement officers and agents against protesters and civilian bystanders in Portland, Oregon, and his imminent threats … Continue Reading
Warren and Murphy Urge FTC to Protect Workers By Restricting Non-Compete Agreements During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Joseph Simons urging the FTC to take immediate action to protect workers suffering undue harm from the imposition and enforcement of employers' non-compete agreements during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and to finalize a rule the FTC discussed earlier this year that would restrict these agreements, protecting workers … Continue Reading
Senator Warren and Rep. Levin to CDC and Education Department: Parents, Educators, School Staff Need to Know If School Reopening Guidance May Have Been Influenced by Trump's Political Pressure
Text of LetterWashington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Representative Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Vice Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, sent a letter to Robert R. Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, requesting all correspondence between their agencies and the White House regarding guidance … Continue Reading
Washington, DC - Elizabeth Warren is continuing her oversight of the Trump Administration's COVID-19 response. We're regularly setting new daily highs in confirmed coronavirus cases and unemployment rates are at the highest levels since the Great Depression. President Donald Trump's failure to lead has allowed the virus to spread and put millions of Americans lives and livelihoods at risk. Senators Warren and Booker released information from their investigation into giant meatpackers … Continue Reading
Warren, Merkley, Harris, Tlaib, Dingell Continue to Lead Charge to Protect Consumers from Dangerous Utility Shut-offs
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) today partnered with Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), to introduce bicameral legislation that would protect Americans' access to the water and power necessary to safely maintain public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many utility companies voluntarily committed to protect their communities' essential services, … Continue Reading
Warren, Haaland Take Historic Step to Affirm Native Nations' Ownership of Broadband Spectrum on Their Lands
Bill Text | One Pager | List of Supporters Washington, DC - Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) announced their historic bill that would affirm Tribal Nations' and Native Hawaiian organizations' ownership of broadband spectrum over their lands to deploy wireless internet services. The Deploying the Internet by Guaranteeing Indian Tribes Autonomy over Licensing (DIGITAL) Reservations Act would affirm Tribal sovereignty to … Continue Reading
Massachusetts Congressional Delegation Joint Statement on Stop & Shop's Decision to Terminate Hazard Pay for Frontline Workers as COVID-19 Rates Continue to Rise
Stop & Shop ResponseWashington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation, including Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Richard E. Neal (D-MA-01), James P. McGovern (D-MA-02), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-08), William Keating (D-MA-09), Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-MA-04), Katherine Clark (D-MA-05), Seth Moulton (D-MA-06), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07) and Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) released the response from Stop & … Continue Reading
Warren, Reed Release GAO Report on National Security Threats Posed by Climate Change to Defense Contractors and Defense Supply Chain
Washington, DC - Today, - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report they requested on potential threats to national security resulting from the impacts of the climate crisis on defense contractors and the defense supply chain, and the extent to which the Department of Defense (DoD) addresses climate change and other … Continue Reading
Warren, Sanders, Pressley, Colleagues, Urge HHS to Fund Community Health Centers as the U.S. Undergoes Another Surge of COVID-19 Cases
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), along with Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Richard J. Blumenthal (D-Conn.), led a letter with 48 other lawmakers to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging the agency to provide additional funding to community health centers (CHCs) … Continue Reading
Warren, Colleagues Call on Anthony J. Tata to Withdraw Nomination as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Resign from the Pentagon
Text of LetterWashington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), along with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), all SASC members, as well as Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), sent a letter to retired Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata calling … Continue Reading
Warren, Booker Release Information from their Investigation into Giant Meatpackers Exploiting Workers and Consumers during COVID-19
Statements from meatpacking workers and advocates Tyson response | JBS USA response | Cargill response | Smithfield responseWashington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) released new information from their investigation into whether Tyson Foods, JBS USA, Cargill and Smithfield Foods used the COVID-19 pandemic - and warning of meat shortages - as cover while they failed to protect workers, dramatically increased prices for American consumers … Continue Reading
In Response to Senator Warren's Request, DOJ Inspector General will Investigate the Role of Attorney General Barr & DOJ Law Enforcement at Protests in Washington, DC and Portland, Oregon
Washington, DC - In response to a June 2, 2020 request from United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) announced today that he will investigate the role of Attorney General William Barr and DOJ law enforcement officers in the "sickening and appalling" attack on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square in front of the White House. The DOJ IG also told Senator Warren that it has opened an investigation into the role of DOJ law … Continue Reading
Warren, Colleagues Question the Trump Administration's Efforts to Understand and Inform Americans About the Chronic Health Effects of COVID-19
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Special Committee on Aging, sent a letter with her Senate HELP Committee colleagues Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) to Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the Trump Administration's Coronavirus Task Force, requesting information on what the administration is doing to identify, address, and … Continue Reading
Warren Delivers Floor Speech Calling on Congress to Extend and Expand Eviction Moratorium Ahead of Friday Expiration
Watch her remarks hereWashington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) delivered a speech on the Senate floor urging her colleagues to act now to extend and expand eviction protections. Amid deepening economic hardship, the federal moratorium on evictions is set to expire Friday and would eliminate a vital safety net for millions of Americans, disproportionately harming Black and Latino families.Senator Warren and Congressman Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-Ill.), a member … Continue Reading


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Archive for April 20th, 2022
Two interesting clouds
In southeast Austin on April 14th I photographed the oval cloud formation shown above.
Right afterwards I noticed the formation below that reminded me of a feather.
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White guilt has influenced many of America's racial policies toward a paternalism that makes it difficult for blacks to find their true mettle or to develop a faith in their own capacity to run as fast as others. The most vivid examples of this are the many forms of preferential treatment that come under the heading of affirmative action—an escapist racial policy, I believe, that offers entitlements rather than development to blacks. A preference is not a training program; it teaches no skills, instills no values. It only makes a color a passport. But the worst aspect of racial preferences is that they encourage dependency on entitlements rather than on our own initiative, a situation that has already led many blacks to believe that we cannot have fairness without entitlements. Here one falls into Orwellian doublespeak, where preference means equality. At the heart of this confusion, I believe, is an unspoken black doubt about our ability to compete that is covered over by a preoccupation with racial discrimination. Since there are already laws to protect us against discrimination, preferences only impute a certain helplessness to blacks that diminishes our self-esteem. The self-preoccupied form of white guilt that is behind racial preferences always makes us lower so that we can be lifted up.
Recently Pennsylvania State University launched a program that pays black students for improving their grades—a C to C+ average brings $550, and anything higher brings $1,100. Here is the sort of guilty kindness that kills. What kind of self-respect is a black student going to have as he or she reaches out to take $550 for C work when many white students would be embarrassed by so average a performance? What better way to drive home the nail of inferiority? What more Pavlovian system of conditioning blacks to dependency than shelling out cash for grades? Here black students learn to hustle their victimization rather than overcome it, while their patrons escape with the cheapest sort of innocence. Not all preferential treatment is this insidious, but the same dynamic is always at work when skin color brings entitlement.
That's from Shelby Steele's book The Content of Our Character, published in 1990. Elite white guilt, entitlements, and the claims of perpetual victimization have increased massively in the 32 years since then. During the same period, black students' objective academic performance has on average remained abysmal. If you want to know how abysmal, check out my commentary from last September, which gives the statistics.
Tagged with abstraction, Austin, clouds, sky
Two kinds of curls
In Robert Kamper's side yard in Round Rock on April 11th two kinds of curls made themselves known to me. The more obvious even had the word in their common name: blue curls (Phacelia congesta). The other curls—smaller, much more tightly wound, and harder to see—were tendrils of a Passiflora species, either incarnata or lutea; further development will reveal which one.
UPDATE: From the flowers that emerged on the vine shown in the bottom picture, Robert Kamper is able to say the plant is Passiflora incarnata.
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The most obvious and unarguable source of black innocence is the victimization that blacks endured for centuries at the hands of a race that insisted on black inferiority as a means to its own innocence and power. Like all victims, what blacks lost in power they gained in innocence—innocence that, in turn, entitled them to pursue power. This was the innocence that fueled the civil rights movement of the '60s, and that gave blacks their first real power in American life—victimization metamorphosed into power via innocence. But this formula carries a drawback that I believe is virtually as devastating to blacks today as victimization once was. It is a formula that binds the victim to his victimization by linking his power to his status as a victim. And this, I'm convinced, is the tragedy of black power in America today. It is primarily a victim's power, grounded too deeply in the entitlement derived from past injustice and in the innocence that Western/Christian tradition has always associated with poverty.
Whatever gains this power brings in the short run through political action, it undermines in the long run. Social victims may be collectively entitled, but they are all too often individually demoralized. Since the social victim has been oppressed by society, he comes to feel that his individual life will be improved more by changes in society than by his own initiative. Without realizing it, he makes society rather than himself the agent of change. The power he finds in his victimization may lead him to collective action against society, but it also encourages passivity within the sphere of his personal life.
That passage is as pertinent today as when Shelby Steele wrote it in 1988—actually even more pertinent because it's 34 years later and many people still haven't gotten his message. You're welcome to read the full Harper's article, "I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent? Race and power in an era of blame."
Tagged with curves, flowers, native plants, Round Rock, spiral, Texas, vine, wildflowers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Lookback: 2014
As the November 2013 General Election was put to bed, seven faces were elected to key positions in Taylor – seven council members (Linda Parker-Craig, Angela Croft, Alex Garza, Linda Roberts, Charley Johnson, Dan Bzura and Tim Woolley), Mayor Rick Sollars, Treasurer Edward Bourassa and Clerk Cindy Bower. All of them were new to their specific role. Here's a recap of how Taylor's new government performed over the past year.
Fire Department stabilizes
Approximately a month into the new administration in December 2013, the City and Taylor Professional Firefighters Local 1252 IAFF-CIO reached final agreement on a settlement in a two-year arbitration dispute, setting the stage of some stability in a Taylor Fire Department that rode the waves of cutbacks and discontent in the recent past.
Weeks before the November 2013 General Election, former Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand had reopened two previously closed fire stations. New Mayor Rick Sollars kept them open and the department worked hard to make them fully operational, trimming and solidifying emergency response times in the community.
The arbitration-related pact created a foundation for the fire department to move forward. In the ensuing months, Taylor attempted to add staff; reapplied and earned a six-month extension of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in August.
By the end of summer, Interim Fire Chief Danny Reynolds was named the full-time chief and former union president George Quiroz was named to the previously vacant deputy chief's role, which marked the first time in several years that both command posts were properly filled. In September, the department withdrew from the Western Wayne Fire Department Mutual Aid Association (its remains at part of Downriver Mutual Aid), and instead opted for a municipal agreement with neighboring Dearborn Heights that was less costly and more practical.
While the funding of the fire department remains problematic as 2014 comes to an end, plans are in the works to reapply for another extension of the SAFER grant in 2015, as well as applying for another possible grant, which would target equipment and training improvements.
Police Department adds staff and programs
While the fire department stabilized, the Taylor Police began aggressive improvements in early December 2013. At that time, Chief Mary Sclabassi welcomed five new full-time officers to a department that had been dwindling in numbers and experience levels for four years. Over the course of the next 12 months, more full-time staff and Public Safety Officers would be added with the eventual goal to get back in the range of 90 full-time police officers.
Simultaneously, the department returned as an active participant in the Down River Area Narcotics Organization task force and recreated a traffic division that had been dormant. With Auxiliary Police Chief Robert Vaughan retiring after 18 years, Paul Beaven was named to replace him.
By August, Chief Sclabassi's dream of adding another canine unit became a reality when her unique plan for a private/public partnership with Atlas Oil resulted in "Atlas the Police Dog." The company funded the cost of the dog and the unit's training, in exchange for naming the dog. Atlas became an immediate hit among residents as well at the Detroit media – and the program went so well that Atlas Oil Owner Sam Simon immediately announced plans to fund a second dog in 2015.
Not all of the changes were on the staffing end of the police budget. City Council approved $70,000 in forfeiture funds to be used on the station's dispatch center, while an all-volunteer effort gave the old station a new look. In addition, the department started the popular "Taylor on Watch" series of public meetings on anti-crime fighting efforts, a 2014 program that featured four quarterly meetings focused on the four different quadrants of the City. Look for the department to expand on that series in 2015.
In mid-November, City officials accepted a federal COPS grant, which will hire three new police officers to support the Taylor School District. Officers will be assigned by both of the City's public high schools (Kennedy and Truman) while the third will focus on the two middle schools (West and Hoover).
All the police activity had an immediate impact. Most crime categories were statistically down across the board through the first eight months of 2014. Unfortunately, the final quarter of the year will register the year's first three fatalities (as of this magazine's press deadline) along with a well-publicized barricaded situation in the City's northwest end (which, thanks to some excellent police work, ended in a peaceful arrest). Complete statistics for 2014, as well as the final-quarter report, will be available after the New Year.
City takes on potholes and streetlights
By March, the record winter of 2013-14 had taken firm hold of the area, and street maintenance was becoming a problem in every municipality. In an attempt to solve the issue, the City created a system that involved an interactive program that residents could use and a pledge to fix potholes in a 24- to 48-hour window. Department of Public Works employees were focused on the pothole crisis for a three-week period and road funds were used to cover the effort, which led to the great majority of the potholes being mitigated in a very short period of time.
It also led directly to WXYZ Channel 7's "Pothole Pledge" program. Producers from the station contacted City Hall for details of the Taylor program, and then rolled them out to other Detroit-area communities through Reporter Simon Shaykhet, who challenged every mayor to sign an orange barrel as a pledge to mirror Taylor's efforts and quickly fix potholes in their own areas. Mayor Sollars penned the first signature … and the barrel came from Taylor DPW.
In addition, when new officials took over in November 2013, the City found over 400 streetlights out across the community. Working diligently on the locations that could be immediately fixed, Taylor had half back on by spring. That number continued to dwindle throughout 2015.
Internal adjustments and finances
City Council approved changing the Taylor Animal Shelter's status to "no kill for adoptable pets." That act, along with the partnership between the shelter's staff and Pound Pals of Taylor (see related story on community efforts), gave the facility is new outlook.
On the IT side, the City of Taylor changed to a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure in 2014, streamlining maintenance and upgrades. DPW also started new water meter installation, upgrading its ancient meters, leading to faster billing processes and more accurate reads. As winter was hitting the city, IT was also upgrading the computer system in the 23rd District Court.
Meanwhile, the City's distressed financial picture continued to stabilize and improve throughout 2015. By the State of the City in February, the budget deficit had fallen over $2 million and the general fund balance had improved nearly $3 million. By November 2014, the City's financial picture continued to brighten as the annual audit was coming to a close in December.
The Lakes of Taylor and Taylor Meadows – in their own Deficit Elimination Plan – had stabilized and actually moved out of the DEP in 2014 and turned a profit. However, due to the poor golf season (because of lingering winter and some very bad summer weather), the golf budget is likely to lapse back into the red, although marginally.
The Taylor Sportsplex, meanwhile, is standing on its own financially after a tumultuous time period under outside management firms, proving correct Mayor Sollars' vision that if its management was moved in-house and run correctly, the arena could turn a profit. TSX officials reported that approximately 1,500 children were participating weekly in soccer on the two indoor fields, while the Belle Tire Youth Hockey Program (and others like Eastern Michigan University hockey) continued to be housed in the facility, dominating the ice time both during the weeknights and on tournament weekends.
The first of the good financial news had actually come in March, when State Rep. Douglas Geiss announced that Gov. Rick Snyder signed Senate Bill 608 into law, which saved Taylor $320,000 in penalties as part of the Economic Vitality Incentive Program, or EVIB. Due to an error, Taylor didn't file the EVIB paperwork by the correct deadline, but thanks to the efforts of Geiss and others in Lansing, the Senate bill amended the deadline and doubled the payment to the City.
In late April, FitchRatings, a global leader in financial information services, affirmed the City's limited tax general obligations (LTGOS) at "BB" while upgrading Taylor's outlook from negative to stable and noting the City's historical structural imbalance had showed modest improvement. By June, Moody's affirmed Taylor Ba1 status on its general obligation limited tax (GOLT) debt and also changed its outlook from negative to stable, mirroring the Fitch report.
These ratings reflected the diligence of the new City officials in staying within the state-mandated Deficit Elimination Plan, which continued throughout 2014.
On the grassroots level, the City was one of just three Michigan communities to begin the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) Financial Empowerment Centers. The initiative, launched in June through The Information Center, targets residents facing tough financial times and offers free advice on reducing debt, improving credit and planning and saving for the future,
A week later, Taylor reopened its only outdoor pool, which had been closed for three years due to budget restraints. Northwest Park Pool was reopened thanks to the use of Community Development Block Grant funds.
In late June, Taylor unveiled the newly renovated Sheridan Center outdoor pavilion, which successfully hosted two concert evenings during the Taylor Summer Festival, and than opening day of the Downriver Senior Olympics. The renovation of the center earned the Presidential Plaque during the Keep Michigan Beautiful Inc. Awards held in Traverse City. Additions will continue: An inline skating rink and splash pads are tentatively scheduled in the near future.
Becoming customer friendly
In an effort to improve customer service, the City implemented "Fix It! Taylor" at the end of the summer. An online program, it fields non-emergency complaints and funnels them as "work orders" directly to the departments responsible. Residents can avoid confusing telephone calls or long waits. They can also interact with the supervisors in charge of the jobs. Simultaneously, new telephone options were offered to those calling City Hall, and for those visiting in person, new greeters manned the front entrance, helping in any way that they could.
Also in early fall, "Help Shape Taylor's Future" was kicked off, a visioning program aimed at long-term community improvements in the areas of economic and community development and other quality of life issues. The program, made up of City and community leaders, was still ongoing as of this deadline. Feedback from resident is welcome on the City of Taylor's Website at www.cityoftaylor.com.
By October, the City was also reopening another previously closed facility, the Taylor Recreation Center. The City renovated the men's and women's saunas; the women's locker room; added an upgraded cardio room; moved the popular Zumba room downstairs; and added several flat-screen televisions. Since opening, hours are planning to be expanded and programs are being constantly added. In addition, the front section of the center is being devoted to business office space, with tenants still being sought.
2014: Community Partners with City


A Turning Point in Video Marketing – Are We There Yet?
Today's message is a bit of a rant from a tired guy; tired of fighting the ignorance being peddled today in the guise of wisdom. I just I wish I could have outsourced this piece because I think I'm going to make some people angry.
My business is 95% online now. Though I've had a fair number of successful product launches, I continue to study online marketing just everyone else. However, I probably study with a different focus than practically anyone else.
As a result, I've noticed something that seems to have escaped the attention of way too many in the online universe. The shift I've seen in the last 12 months has been both breathtaking and frightening.
You see, all of the online gurus, all of them without exception, have transitioned to Authentic Video Marketing to promote their products, programs and services. Anyone who genuinely aspires to change the world with a message has now made that shift.
As a result, they've been able to retain their status as a guru. Failing this, they would have slid into irrelevance. There are other up-and-coming "gurus" who will never make it now because they either do not understand Authentic Video Marketing, or they are unable to implement it.
The big problem for you is that some of these "gurus-in-waiting" are now peddling complete nonsense about video marketing. And because you trust them, you might fall for it. But I can assure you, the emperor still hasn't even a cozy t-shirt to sell.
I know. I know. You only say things like that when you have nothing to offer yourself. But I'm risking your anger because I can't just sit back and watch this slow-motion train wreck happen without a protest. Obviously I can't make the wreck stop for the whole world. But hopefully I can convince you to prevent yours.
So here's what I believe, born out of my own experience and observation of the online marketplace. We are about to witness a great shaking out. Many business owners who must use the web to market their businesses are going to be left behind because they didn't embrace this concept.
"Steve, are you saying that we all have to use a certain kind of video or we're going to be miserable failures in life? Well, no, I don't think that if someone never masters video, that they will fail in life. But they will limit their income potential. Severely.
I started going public with this message back in February with the video below. It is more relevant now than it was then.
Remember that moment in The Wizard of Oz when the Wicked Witch turned the hourglass upside down and told Dorothy she had until the sand ran down before she got sent to that great Kansas cornfield in the sky? That scene used to scare the bejesus out of me.
Well, the sand is half-way down. And the same huge question is still hanging in the air: when are you going to embrace your message enough to use video to get it out?
Just like Dorothy, you've had this ability all along. She simply picked up a bucket of water and doused her demon. I challenge you today, right now, to pick up a video camera and embrace your fear. If you have a smart phone, you pick it up 50 times a day already.
Then with that camera in your hand, start learning the basics of Authentic Video Marketing, just by watching the video below. Then do something utterly crazy, just to shake things up a bit.
Ah, but then do one more crazy thing.
Give us a link to it here on YouTube as a response (you can make it unlisted so only we see it) or post it to your blog as a shout out to your own subscribers. Tell them you're just playing around with video to see what it's like. They don't have to know what you're really up to.
The point is, do something to move forward. And remember. Every single tip, every video, every post I make here is steeped in the concept of Authentic Video Marketing and always has been, even before others jumped on the bandwagon. So it's probably OK to look at one or two more of these posts along the way.
Please know that we're committed to your success, whether you're a free subscriber or a member who gets a lot of deep information, expertise and attention. Because to me this is no longer just a business. It's a mission. And while we do have fun in our seminars, the end goal is always under a bright spotlight. That's getting your message out to the world in a bigger, bolder, more effective way; a way that makes you unduplicatable.
Yeah. I guess I am, whether you're just getting started or just starting to get traction or even wondering how you're going to keep up the momentum.
So be careful out there, especially if you're doing this on your own. Be careful who you listen to. Be careful with your image.
And have some serious fun. That's the one thing you can't outsource.
And in other timely news: our early-bird pricing on Web TV Show in a Weekend has come and gone. Congratulations to all our new members who've made this investment in getting their video marketing operation up and moving quickly and effectively. You can still join us if you like, within the regular pricing structure.
6 replies to "A Turning Point in Video Marketing – Are We There Yet?"
Authenticity sounds great and I am waiting to learn how to show it. I also produced a video that I am ready to upload to youtube. It is called; How to run – My discovery. I would like you to comment on it.
I am afraid to include a call to action because it might be banned as a scam. How can I ask for subscribers and email addresses? I have many tips I can offer as an incentive such as how to land softly to protect your joints.
Jack, there is no problem with asking people to come back to your website to download something for free. That will not be banned by YouTube. There could be a problem if you use YouTube to actually sell something. That's what Amazon S3 is for.
You don't need to wait to learn how to show authenticity. Just drop by the Greenroom and let's have a chat about using those step-by-step instructions in the huge online resource I've placed at your command!
Over 2500 years ago it was said that their would come a time when people would be surrounded by knowledge and yet running round all over the place trying to find answers. It is looking increasing like Daniel was right.
My pet hate is all those people who push out books or videos or courses that really do not amount to much or worse still show people the wrong way to do things. They are just adding to the mountain of information people are trying to tackle in order to get the answers that they are looking for.
It is a question of who do you trust? I watched one free training and their idea was to push out 60 to 70 videos in a couple of days most of them slight variations of each other but there was enough difference between them to disguise this from Google. There was something to learn from the way they used descriptions and keywords as they used them for maximum effect. However, the video material itself was nothing to write home about.
Google has tried to fight back against this kind of low quality material with pandas and penguins. This has caused those who produce low quality material some well-deserved headaches. You Tube must know that this is happening and hopefully are even now formulating strategies to counter it. The thing with doing it right in the first place is that when the cull does happen we will be safe and in a better position than before. Personally I would love You Tube to quickly make more progress at weeding out the tripe/rubbish/trash and give video marketing a better reputation.
Since Google IS YouTube, you can be sure they're working on it.
As to who to trust, I think that still happens the old-fashioned way. When you find an expert with whom you resonate, keep watching. It won't take more than a few clicks of your mouse to know. If they truly are an expert, they can hardly keep that from showing. If they aren't, it also becomes apparent just as quickly.
Also, as you noticed, one can be an expert in the technical aspects of using online tools, but have no knowledge of how to provide valuable content beyond that technical expertise. But that technical expertise has value. You just need to learn to separate the content they're really good at from content they're trying to be good at.
This is also why consistency is important. It can take time to build trust. Some people have come onto my radar offering some quite decent free training course that turns out to be nothing but a 1 hit wonder. Others have changed direction as I have followed them. There again some are like Steve Washer i.e. a real gentlemen who is a pleasure to be around as his character shines through his work.
My concept of knowledge is that it is like beads or strands all representing one area or another. We might expect a web design person to know enough about marketing to create a web site that attracts clients. Yet these are 2 different beads or strands and the same person might not know enough about both of them to create an effective web site.
Someone sent me a link to their You Tube channel today and the video was very well done but I was able to pick huge holes in the way the description was set up and the way key words were used. They had chosen to use a professional who was supposed to know what they were doing. In reality they were more like a general who had no idea what was going on at the battlefront so gave orders that hindered rather than helped the footsoldiers.
There is an old saying that the best way forwards is to use a multitude of counsellors. Each one has a different strength or point of view. By listening to each one and drawing on their strengths and laying aside their weaknesses it is possible to come up with a strategy and methodolgy that suits you. Yes it can be time-consuming as this is not a ready-made system. Yes there is a risk of analysis paralysis. But on the other hand teamwork that draws on the strengths of many people is essential to success.
Well-said, Susan! Your post reminds me of the traditional offline practice of having a board of advisors for your business; all from different disciplines. At once it simplifies growth and reduces anxiety about who you can trust.
Perhaps you could create something like that for yourself in the online world as well. We have masterminds, forums and programs from which any number of contacts could be made, some of whom might be just the partner you need.


Gloria Noto is coveted for her "no-makeup makeup look" that allows your beautiful skin to shine through. Discover the secret for yourself for a perfectly sheer, dewy glow that can hydrate and highlight.
Perfect for temples, eyelids, cupids bow, collar bones, shoulders, and legs.
Can be used under makeup for a glowing foundation, or under eye or on lips for a shimmering balm.


4)—but why do I not "…cry to You O Lord" more consistently? Have I become too comfortable and familiar with this earthly home? Unfortunately, when I am honest with myself this is periodically the case. Why do I not consider myself an interloper in a world which is becoming darker by the moment (reduced visibility), driven by the sinful whims of humans (as shifting currents), with an overdependence on manmade toys (failed equipment)? It must be because I have inadvertently distanced myself from my Savior just as Peter did when he denied his Savior. Cause me to once again draw close my Lord!


Have students try these activities to expand their knowledge and interest in Chemistry.
Spandex is an anagram of the word expands. An anagram is a word or phrase made by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase. Write the following anagrams on the board and have students work with partners to rearrange the letters to form chemistry-related terms: try chimes (chemistry), moats (atoms), mound cops (compounds), close mule (molecules), go dry hen, (hydrogen), meet Len (element).
Gold is a soft metal that bends easily. For jewelry and other items, gold alloys are used. Have students dig for gold by finding out about uses of this precious metal and its properties. Their report should include information about karats and the percentage of gold in 14-karat, 18-karat, and 24-karat gold objects. Have students prepare a short report with visuals to present their research findings to the class.
Have students build computer models of atoms and molecules. Have students choose an element, find out about its structure, and create a computer model of the element or a compound that has the element. Encourage students to label their model and write a short description of the element.
Have students produce a Chemistry Book of Records. Have them find examples of the superlatives and firsts identified in the magazine. Encourage students to compile the information into an illustrated book of records. They might list, for example, hydrogen as the smallest atom and Marie Curie as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes. Encourage students to add to the book whenever they encounter chemistry topics throughout the year.


text:
Воздви́женська ву́лиця — назва вулиць в різних населених пунктах колишнього СРСР.

Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в селі Витачів Обухівського району.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Зіньків.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Київ.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в селі Княжичі Києво-Святошинського району.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Ніжин.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Нікополь.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Новгород-Сіверський.
 Хресто-Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Рахів.

Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Великий Новгород.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Ставрополь.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Уфа.
 Воздвиженська вулиця — вулиця в місті Ярославль.

Див. також
 Воздвиженський провулок

Вулиці

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Premier Awards Show for the Live Event Industry
Who Is Parnelli?
Photo Gallery: 19th Annual Parnelli Awards (2020)
Photos: 2016 & Earlier
Summary Recap Videos
Lifetime Achievement Award Videos
Audio Innovator Award Videos
Visionary Award Videos
Congratulations Videos
In Memoriam Videos
Staging Innovator Yvan Miron to Receive Parnelli Visionary Award
The Parnelli Board of Advisors has announced that Yvan Miron will receive the Parnelli Visionary Award at the 18th annual ceremony on Jan. 25, 2019. "Yvan's innovation has had a tremendously positive effect on live entertainment, allowing for events to go up in places traditional stages can't, and do it everywhere faster and safer," says Terry Lowe, Parnelli Executive Producer and PLSN publisher. "From his earliest mobile stages in the 1980s to his recent SAM 750,
Yvan Miron of Stageline
he's been relentless in achieving his goal of making safer stage choices are available for every occasion. Through it all he's been a beacon of dedication to the environment, from creating stages that require a significantly less carbon footprint to his second plant in Montreal which is built with advanced geothermal technology."
Today, Stageline stages are in 45 countries and used for 20,000 events a year, and the company's rental fleet is 115 stages strong. Miron's products are designed to go beyond current industry safety standards, which he believes to be too lax, and he's proud to report that, since he started building mobile stages in the 1980s, there has not been a single casualty. "Ever since I started, I wanted to build to building codes, and we test our models to handle twice the working load. If regulations say it needs to take a ton, we build it to take two."
Miron, born in Montreal, was a musician before becoming a promoter and a producer of regional live events. Quebec's sudden and drastic weather changes caused many challenges, and like most visionaries, Miron acted on his belief that there must be a better way. After starting to put together mobile stages in the 1980s, he formed Stageline in 1988. He conquered an early challenge by creating a mobile stage light enough to stay within road weight limits, yet still be heavy and solid enough to withstand high winds. By 1992, he had put together several working mobile stages and he found clients immediately – though not all were immediately receptive. Early on, a promoter in Vermont called on the new company to be part of a Willie Nelson concert. Miron and team pulled up, and questions were asked. "The technical director asked, 'What is this?' [of the mobile stage]," Miron recalls. "He tried to say he can't rig anything on it. I showed him how. I answered all his questions, and then he said, 'Well, we haven't seen anything like this,' but we did the show and sure enough, it flew." His stages have been sold and rented with great success, and his pioneering use of hydraulics has been revolutionary and continues through to his latest products, including the SAM750, SAM575 and Delay Towers.
"I have known Yvan for many years and have had the pleasure to visit his world-class facility and see first-hand the quality of work done by he and his team," says Peter Hendrickson of Tour Tech East, a member of the Parnelli Board of Advisors. "He surrounds himself with positive and knowledgeable people that have helped him grow that business to being a true leader in that industry. He had the vision to see the need for portable stages that can be erected and dismantled in short periods of time, with minimal labor costs. Many companies have copied his product, however they are still copies, and when describing portable stages, people call them 'Stageline-type' stages. Kind of like what 'Kleenex' did for tissue paper and 'Xerox' did for photocopying."
Miron will receive the Parnelli Visionary Award at the 18th annual Parnelli Awards on Jan. 25, 2019 at the Hilton Anaheim located next to the Anaheim Convention Center during NAMM's annual convention and as part of NAMM Live.
For more information, please visit www.parnelliawards.com.
© 2001-2021 Timeless Communications, Inc.
Awards Given
How Winners Are Chosen
Lifetime Achievement Winners
Timeless Communications, Corp.
6000 South Eastern Ave., Suite 14-J


text:
GOP Congressional Candidate Says She Was Abducted By Jesus-Like Aliens
"God is a universal energy, not a person," she said the aliens told her.
JANE SWEENEY VIA GETTY IMAGES The aliens reminded Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, she once said.
A Republican congressional candidate from Florida has made some out-of-this-world claims.
Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, one of nearly a dozen candidates hoping to win the U.S. House seat currently held by retiring Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, claims she was abducted by aliens who reminded her of Jesus Christ, according to newly resurfaced interviews.
"I went in. There were some round seats that were there, and some quartz rocks that controlled the ship ― not like airplanes," Rodriguez Aguilera said, according to the interviews cited by the Miami Herald.
In the interviews, Rodriguez Aguilera claims she was taken at the age of 7 by three tall, blond space people who have communicated with her telepathically at times since.
She said the aliens reminded her of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
"God is a universal energy, not a person," the aliens told her, according to The Washington Post. "It's in everything. God talks to people and they understand it in different ways, but there's only one religion."
She called the Herald report an "attack piece," according to Miami ABC station Local 10. However, she did not mention whether she believed she had been abducted by aliens or if she had been in telepathic contact with them.
Rodriguez Aguilera issued a statement to the Herald that also did not confirm or deny her earlier comments on being abducted but noted that Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both claimed to have seen UFOs.
She also cited Stephen Hawking as someone who believes in the possibility of life beyond Earth.
Hawking, the famed theoretical physicist, has indeed said there could be intelligent life elsewhere and has even warned that such an advanced civilization could wipe out the human race. But Hawking is on record as saying he doesn't believe aliens have visited the Earth.
"I'm discounting claims that UFOs contain aliens," he said in 2012. "Why would they appear only to cranks and weirdos?"
The Miami New Times notes that Rodriguez Aguilera is one of three Republicans and eight Democrats seeking Ros-Lehtinen's seat in next year's midterm election.
VIAEd Mazza
SOURCEhuffingtonpost.com
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Gerry on MTV Awards! - Kind words make good echoes.
Yes, I know it's aired, but I also know some people tape it to watch later, so that being said, I've put the spoiler and the video link inside the cut.
Gerry won one for Best Fight! Yeah!
I hope you get to see it soon! He looks so amazing!
Oh yes, he really did! That fat guy annoyed me, I wanted to slap him. LOL!


From WD External 2TB to PC - Partition Table Overwrite?
So last night I decide to put my backup drive to better use and network share it over our home network so anyone in our local network can access the content in such.
The drive itself is a Western Digital 2TB USB 3.0 external, that is in reality just a Western Digital Green Disk Drive (Sata connection).
After finally managing to put it in my rig properly with cable management, I opened up My Computer in Windows 10 Pro, and there was no drive.
So I opened Disk Management and was prompted immediately with a prompt to "initialize" the disk to MBR or GPT. Instantly at that point I was skeptical, but I did choose one of the options, I believe MBR.
Then Disk Management showed the drive as unallocated and I knew I was screwed and would have to use TestDisk or similar software.
I've used testdisk before for repair on other drives, and its possible the drive was part corrupt prior to putting such in my machine (whether ejection or use elsewhere).
This drive has a good collection of data on it and was mostly (probably 75%) full from years back and paying for a premium service isn't practical in my situation which is why Im looking for some info on how to proceed further here, as to not do anymore damage and hopefully rectify my problem.
For starters, I believe the drive was formatted however it was when it shipped (so if someone has the same exact drive, would another's partition layout numbers work??? - I'm assuming not).
Given that these drives, I do believe, are meant to work cross platform (Mac/Windows) is it formatted to NTFS or ext# or ???. By default testdisk selected Intel/PC upon opening the drive (however, again it is important to note this is after me selecting to "initialize" the disk in disk management to, I believe, MBR).
So, I'm a bit stumped. I'm not certain as to what exactly to do next. I tried photoRec for an hour (out of an est. 6) at which point it only recovered maybe 6 files all of which were incredibly tiny (a few kbs) and no actual pertinent data of mine. If someone could explain to me what exactly I did and what would be the most beneficial to try it would be highllyyy appreciated.
Re: From WD External 2TB to PC - Partition Table Overwrite?
Choose Continue. Please post the testdisk.log after using Analyse, Quick Search and Deeper Search.
cgrenier wrote: Choose Continue. Please post the testdisk.log after using Analyse, Quick Search and Deeper Search.
filewin32_getfilesize(\\.\PhysicalDrive6) GetFileSize err Incorrect function.
filewin32_setfilepointer(\\.\PhysicalDrive6) SetFilePointer err Incorrect function.
filewin32_getfilesize(\\.\K:) GetFileSize err Incorrect function.
filewin32_setfilepointer(\\.\K:) SetFilePointer err Incorrect function.
file_pread(6,16,buffer,2101428350(130807/220/36)) ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
file_pread(6,1,buffer,2101428352(130807/220/38)) ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
file_pread(6,16,buffer,3657578559(227673/187/34)) ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
file_pread(6,16,buffer,3657578575(227673/187/50)) ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
file_pread(6,1,buffer,3657578575(227673/187/50)) ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
Can you run testdisk 7.1-WIP and let the Deeper Search reach its end ?
filewin32_getfilesize(\\.\PhysicalDrive7) GetFileSize err Incorrect function.
filewin32_setfilepointer(\\.\PhysicalDrive7) SetFilePointer err Incorrect function.
file_pread(6,16,buffer,3661451264(227914/204/3)) ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
@cgrenier + Others: Turns outs the issue arises from the SATA to USB module in the enclosure. This little adapter has an encryption module of some sort on it, as photoRec and easeUS data recovery came up with none of my files. I popped the drive back into the adapter, ran testdisk on the detected EFI GPT type, and it instantly came up with the partition. I wrote it back to the drive and now I'm golden.
So ultimately, if you come across this issue backup your data on other drives first. Then reformat in your OS.


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I pray I don't fall in their trap – Kuami Eugene opens up on fading out
By Israel Boafo Bansah Last updated Nov 6, 2019 0
Kuami Eugene
Lynx Entertainment frontliner Kuami Eugene has shared his worries concerning his music career.
The singer made an emotional statement about him falling out of the music industry during a brief conversation with Hitz FM's Andy Dosty.
Kuami Eugene is not leaving Lynx Entertainment – DJ…
[ WATCH] Kuami Eugene Must Be careful If He Want To Leave…
Fan Tattoos Kuami Eugene's Name On His Hand
Kuami Eugene posited that his fears and nightmares are that he will be forgotten by the same Ghanaians who have hailed him since he burst into mainstream after a period of time.
The self-acclaimed 'Rockstar' stated that he could be a victim to the trap Ghanaians set for musicians who make hits and after about three years are relegated to the background.
"The number of artistes who remain on the scene is way less than those whose music we no longer play. There are many top acts who we don't recognise anymore. They came in, blew and after three years, we make it appear as though they've wronged Ghanaians,"
"That's the only thing that shakes me and I pray I don't fall in that trap," Kuami disclosed.
Kuami EugeneLynx entertainment
Israel Boafo Bansah
ABOUT POST EDITOR .....
Bansah obtained a degree from the University of Ghana where he started a campus news network (LegonConnect) as a student.
He has been in the blogging and journalism space for over 7years now and well known among bloggers most of which he has mentored into creating a career through writing.
He's well known for his passion for education and his philanthropic gestures towards needy students.
I begged Okyeame Kwame for forgiveness after 'Kasiebo' diss – Obrafour
Yaa Pono shockingly reveals there is a Demonic 'Dragon' living in him


text:
11 of the Most Beautiful Animals in the World
It's impossible to put together a list of the most beautiful animals in the world because there are far too many. However, we've put together a list of 11 of them.
If you know a little about the amazing variety of wildlife there is in existence, you'll know it's a difficult task to compile a list of eleven of the most beautiful animals in the world. Firstly, what do we class as beautiful? Well, we tend to look at factors such as color and form. In fact, based on these lines, many animals look as if they've come straight out of a fantasy novel.
However, the truth is that any animal can be beautiful. For instance, even the most common bird might have interesting color patterns, and a snake's skin can reflect the rainbow.
Frequently, beauty also resides in the environment where these animals live. From the colorful foliage of India to the deep blue of the seabed. Anyway, in this article, you'll find a selection of the most incredible animals in the world. We hope we've done them justice.
These animals have conquered the hearts of many people. It's hardly surprising. Furthermore, as well as being beautiful, many of them behave rather strangely too. Here's a list of 11 od the most beautiful animals in the world.
1. Macaws
These birds belong, to the Ara species. They're the best-known parrot for their color. They live in flocks of up to a hundred, and to see them take flight is to witness an explosion of colors. In addition, they're extremely intelligent animals and can live an average of 50 years in the wild.
2. White Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris)
There's an erroneous belief that this big cat is the albino version of the Bengal tiger. However, there's another type of mutation at play here. In fact, this tiger has inherited the two recessive genes for light coloration. Hence it's born with white fur, dark brown stripes, a pink nose, and blue eyes.
3. Blue-ringed octopus
These cephalopod mollusks belong to the genus Hapalochlaena. They're characterized by the reflective blue circles along their body. In addition to being intelligent, they're extremely poisonous. As a matter of fact, despite not exceeding the size of a golf ball, their toxins can kill several people. Furthermore, to this day, there's no antidote.
4. White swan (Cygnus olor)
In Western ideology, the white swan is an icon of beauty and elegance. Its long neck and immaculate feathers have inspired legends, logos, and ballets. One curious fact about them is that they carry their newborn babies on their back, hidden between their wings, to protect them.
5. Peacock (Pavo cristatus)
This is the national bird of India. Its immense tail, which it fans out to court females, has iridescent colors ranging from green to blue, and its feathers are topped by a black and blue ocellus. There are also mutations. They possess even more striking colors, such as white, bronze, or purple.
6. Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Unfortunately, the easiest way to see these marine mammals is in an aquarium. There's no denying the incredible beauty of their hydrodynamic forms.
In addition, the dolphin is one of the most intelligent animals on earth. To give you some idea of their intelligence, they can use tools, their messages have syntax, and it seems they have names for each other.
7. Mandarin fish ( Synchiropus splendidus )
Corals in the Pacific are home to an impressive variety of life. Much of it displays bright and vivid colors. This shy fish, fond of hiding between rocks, is considered the most beautiful saltwater fish.
8. Blue dragon (Glaucus atlanticus)
When you see this mollusk, you won't be at all surprised to learn that it's named after a mythological creature. They live in the open sea on the surface of the water. However, sometimes the current carries them to the coasts, where they can be seen.
9. Chameleon
These curious animals are part of the Chamaeleonidae family. Although at first glance they're not too handsome -prototypically speaking- they're actually a marvel of natural engineering. Indeed, some species have colorations that could well earn them the title of the most beautiful animal in the world.
10. Friesian horse
Of all horse breeds, the Friesian's deep black color and strong, sleek shape have earned it a place on the list of the most beautiful animals in the world. This breed is characterized by its unique markings. In addition, it doesn't have a single spot of any color on it other than black or dark brown.
11. Siberian Husky
Choosing a breed of dog for this list was difficult. However, we couldn't ignore this one's wolfish gaze. Nowadays, these animals are domesticated and live in our homes as a member of the family. However, it was the Chukchi tribe who originally bred the husky to pull their sleds and withstand the low temperatures of northeast Siberia.
Thousands and thousands of animals are missing from this list. An inevitable fact when you consider that there are 8.7 million different kinds in the world. However, it's sad to say that this figure is decreasing year after year. Therefore, let's enjoy these incredible images while we still can.
Why Some People Love Animals and Others Don't
People who love animals usually form deep and enriching bonds with them. However, not everyone feels the same way. Find out why.
Barton, R. A. (2006). Animal communication: do dolphins have names?. Current biology, 16(15), R598-R599.
Sheumack, D. D., Howden, M. E., Spence, I., & Quinn, R. J. (1978). Maculotoxin: a neurotoxin from the venom glands of the octopus Hapalochlaena maculosa identified as tetrodotoxin. Science, 199(4325), 188-189.
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text:
5 Rides I Love That Everybody Else Hates
I've never been one to hold back with my opinions. If I hate something I'm not afraid to say it, and it really irks me when I see people jumping on the hate bandwagon just because that's the cool thing to do. It also bothers me when I see people saying things like "oh I'm going to ride [insert universally loved coaster here] next week so that'll be going straight into my Top 10!" How could you possible know, you haven't even ridden the bloody thing? People making their minds up about rides because they've even ridden it is so frustrating to me, and I think given the hype and mob mentality of social media it makes it very hard to stand against the crowd and say, you know what, I actually like that attraction that everybody else trashes. Here's a few of mine!
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this is probably the most universally hated coaster for European enthusiasts? At least in my experience it is anyway. You mention the word Baco and watch enthusiasts quiver with fear, it's reputation absolutely precedes it. It's legendary how bad this coaster supposedly is, with some people visiting to ride for themselves just to see if the rumours are true. Madness.
For me, Baco is not only not a bad coaster but is actively one of my favourites in Europe. That gut-wrenching launch into the awesome airtime hill is up there as one of the best coaster element combos in the world, the speed at which you take the following layout is just so ridiculously fast that I can't help but laugh, and it ends with a graceful inversion into a wonderful swoop down over the Mediterranean harbour. It's a gorgeous coaster, thrilling and exciting and fun. Fight me.
I get it, why the heck is there an actual REVERCHON SPINNING WILD MOUSE in a Disney park. Those things are usually found in dumpy fairgrounds. Well, I guess that's the Imagineer's dedication to Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama keeping to that authentic county fair feel, complete with literal car parking spaces painted onto cracked tarmac. It's easy for that theme to slip one's mind and for us to read it as a literal dumpy fairground (I guess in some instances the Imagineers are TOO good at their job?)
But yh, I've used Primeval Whirl as my example here because it's detested by Disney fans - but in general I really do enjoy a Reverchon Spinning Wild Mouse. I think they're good fun, I always come off laughing and smiling and I think they're a good thrill for what you get. Fun coasters!
Lol, yh, I guess I'm a bit of a masochist because I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you that this coaster isn't absolutely brutal. I've come off of this one with actual bruises before and nursing a spasm in my neck. But for me, the madness and fun of the thing absolutely outweighs the price you have to pay of some mid-to-light injury.
I love how unassuming it is. Like, if you haven't ridden before you can see that it's a big ass coaster and goes on for ages into the distance, but from what you can see it's all cute bunny hills and meandering around a pretty field in the countryside. But the real brutality is shielded from view by the thicket of trees. It's all very clever. And because it's so long by the time you get back to the station the only memories you have of the abuse are shrouded by the adrenaline pumping through your veins, so you decide it's a good idea for another ride. Only to take a beating all over again. And I love it. Yes Ultimate, fuck me up!
Again, another ride pretty much universally loathed by Disney purists. And again, I totally get it. If this is what you got to replace the wonder and magnificence that was Journey Into Imagination, I think I'd be pretty pissed off too. But you see, despite riding the ride in its original iteration, I have extremely foggy memories of the thing, so nostalgia plays no part in my experience of this attraction.
Instead I get to enjoy a 'classic' Disney dark ride that equal parts EPCOT weirdness and equal parts dark ride insanity, which is something I absolutely adore. Sure, you don't really expect the 'so-bad-it's-good' stuff from Disney, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable for me. Again, the sadist in me comes out here. I absolutely LOVE making people ride this with me if they haven't been on it before and watching their faces as their irritation rises until the finale where they're pretty much ready to set the building on fire. I adore a dark ride that makes me, to quote Krusty the Clown, exclaim 'WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!' at the end, and Journey Into Imagination With Figment is definitely in that category.
We know how I feel about Intamin hydraulic launchy things, and Rita is yet another one that I absolutely love. The speed, the transitions, the forces, the airtime. It has everything I adore in a coaster, for me it's almost like a very mini-Taron. I don't find it painful, I don't find it dull, I don't find it pointless, to quote some of the insults I've heard thrown this coaster's way in my time.
Especially during Scarefest, there's nothing better to me than hurtling towards those green uplit trees at high speeds and racing around over the treetops only to float into the final break run. It's fabulous, and I won't hear another word on the subject!
What do you think - what rides are there out there that you love that the majority of people hate on? Let me know in the comments!
Ruby Porcelain 29/07/2018, 15:20
For me it's got to be the Manhattan Express/Roller Coaster at the New York New York Casino. I found it nowhere near as rough as it was made out to be. In terms of thrills it's not a top 10, but if you go on after dark when the strip is lit up, just the experience of riding a major roller coaster on the heart of the Las Vegas strip is such an amazing experience.
Hilte de Vries 22/01/2019, 10:03
I freaking love Furius Baco, that upwards slented launch into the downwards curve with the trenches k the sides. Its absolutely breathtaking, top 10 ride in Europe for me!


Kim Hargrave, educational director of Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center in Mystic, will be the featured speaker when the Long Hill Garden Club meets on Monday, Feb. 25. The meeting, held at the Trumbull Library Community Room begins at 11:30 a.m. It is followed by a gather, greet and eat, and the speaker will begin at 12:45 p.m.
The program is "Owls Who Live in Connecticut." Hargrave, who has degrees in Natural Resources, Forestry, Wild Life and Fisheries, will introduce about eight species of owls who live in Connecticut and who you are most likely to hear and see. The owls range from small to large, they are largely seen at night and usually mate for life. She will share with us how many of these owls are residents of the Nature Center's 350-acre sanctuary.
Also speaking at this meeting are four students who are members of the Trumbull Regional FFA, currently competing in a Leadership Development Event (LDE) called Agricultural Issues. Students work to come up with an agricultural based issue, and create a well-developed debate that addresses both sides of the issue.
After writing the script, the students must memorize and rehearse their lines in preparation for competing at the Conn. FFA State Convention, in hopes of winning and going on to compete at the National FFA Convention.
The topic the students have chosen to debate is whether or not the development robotic bee drones would be beneficial or detrimental to the agriculture community and the environment as a whole. In their presentation, the students examine the pros and cons of robotic bees and if they could potentially be used as a supplement or replacement to the declining bee populations.
In order to compete at the state level, the students need to deliver their presentation to at least five organizations who have a stake in the issue.
For information, contact Betty at 203-261-5471.


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RESPOND-Africa partnership wins 'International Collaboration of the year' at THE Awards
News article 26 Nov 2021
The RESPOND-Africa partnership lifted the 'International Collaboration of the Year'trophy at the seventeenth annual Times Higher Education (THE) Awards on Thursday evening.
The awards attract hundreds of entries from individuals, teams and higher education institutions from all corners of the UK and, for the first time this year, Ireland too. Nearly a thousand people gathered in London to celebrate the sector's recent achievement in 20 categories.
According to the judges "RESPOND-Africa's entry stood out for creating a series of partnerships that have resulted in a step change in research and policy."
They continued: "The range of partnerships including universities, civil society, policymakers and patient groups was impressive, as was the training and collaborative and inclusive nature of the partnerships, making a huge difference to people's lives and leaving a tangible and adoptable model for other countries to consider."
In response to the news RESPOND-Africa co-director Professor Shabbar Jaffar said: "This is fantastic news. I work with such wonderful people, both here in the UK, in Europe and in sub-Saharan Africa so building this partnership has been very easy for us all and it has been tremendous fun."
He continued: "Central to this partnership is that we conduct rigorous research, designed to inform health policy and practice globally for the control of high disease-burden conditions. To see that recognised with this award is amazing."
After having been shortlisted for the award earlier, Professor Jaffar wrote an article for THE on successful international collaborations built on trust, appropriate recognition and inclusiveness in decision-making.
The Respond-Africa partnership started as a bid to address the question of how health systems in sub-Saharan Africa should be reorganised to tackle non-communicable conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
Health services for these diseases have been fragmented in Africa. The project wanted to engage with healthcare workers and policymakers on the ground about how best to redesign services for maximum impact.
This resulted into a partnership between researchers in the UK, Tanzania and Uganda through seed funding of £2 million that supported initial research. By 2020, four major grants worth more than £12 million from different funders had been secured.
Today, the partnership involves 14 main research partners (four in the UK, three in Europe and seven in Africa), five civil society organisations, and policymakers and patient groups in three African countries.
The research has influenced health policies and changed disease control practices. In Uganda, reorganisation of healthcare started in late 2020; Tanzania is in the final stages of drawing up a similar strategy; and discussions have started in Cameroon, the newest African partner.
At the award ceremony LSTM's Paul Rowley, from the Centre of Snakebite Research and Interventions (CSRI) was highly commended in the Outstanding Technician of the Year category and Dr Rachel Tolhurst was shortlisted in Outstanding Research Supervisor of the year category.
From: International Public Health
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Audrey Peters, a Realtor since 2011 in L.A., is a British Expat from London and the European tech industry. Currently she is Sr. V.P. Business Development at Hollywood Stars Realty, a truly hybrid real estate firm. She brings an extensive and unique international business experience to real estate. Her background extends from senior business management in Fortune 500 to start-up tech firms, that she helped build for mergers and acquisitions. Having reached the height of her industry at a young age, and featured as one of the top 5 Women in I.T. (by UK National and Industry Press), she became a Partner in a boutique investment banking firm in London and LA, where she helped fund start-ups and provided interim executive management and strategic direction. Her entrepreneurial spirit brought her to Los Angeles to expand the firm's operations, close to Silicon Valley/Silicon Beach start-ups, yet still working with international firms globally.
With a passion for real estate, negotiation experience, marketing expertise and international connections, Real Estate was a natural progression.
Audrey is educated at Queen Mary College, University of London, holds a Bachelor of Science, as well as an MA in Marketing, and Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.


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Cefn-y-bedd railway station serves the village of Cefn-y-bedd in Flintshire, Wales. The station is  north of Wrexham Central on the Borderlands Line. It was opened in 1866 by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway, which later became part of the Great Central Railway system.

History
The station used to have a 14-lever signal box to the north of the Bidston-bound platform, and a goods yard adjacent to the western side of the station. The signal box was in use until 1945 and the goods yard closed on 14 May 1964. The station became unstaffed in 1969, but the main building on the northbound side has survived and is now privately owned. The brick shelter on the southbound side is one of only two still standing of that particular design (the other being at nearby ).

Facilities
The station is an unstaffed halt with basic amenities only (CIS screens, waiting shelters and timetable poster boards on each platform). Step-free access is available to both sides, though the platform ramps are steep and the only means of access to platform 2 is via a barrow crossing (which should be used with care).

Services
The station sees an hourly service on weekdays (two-hourly in the evening and on bank holidays) southbound to Wrexham Central and northbound to Bidston for connections to Birkenhead and Liverpool via the Wirral Lines.

On Sundays there is a train every 90 minutes each way. Services for  and beyond can be caught by changing at Wrexham General.

Gallery

References

Sources

External links

Railway stations in Flintshire
DfT Category F2 stations
Former Great Central Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1866
Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail
1866 establishments in Wales


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Newscast for Wednesday, August 3, 2011
· August 3, 2011
Congress breaks for recess; Leaving FAA unfunded
Former Egyptian President Mubarak appears in court
Iraqi lawmakers considering extending US troop presence beyond end of 2011
Inuits in Greenland struggle to maintain their traditional ways
UN Security Council condemns government of Syria
The UN Security Council today resolved to condemn the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. A European representative spoke after the vote.
"Today the Security Council unanimously condemned the widespread violation of human rights and the violence by the Syrian authorities against its people."
Officials said Syria must move towards stability.
"This will only be achieved through the immediate cessation of violence and the implementation, without delay, of profound political reforms, respect of human rights and fundamental liberties, and genuine accountability for atrocities against protesters."
The UN action happened as government tanks swarmed the Syrian city of Hama. Video posted by Russia Today shows massive tanks rolling through deserted streets. This is the third consecutive day of shelling in the city, which has strong support for the opposition. Global media reports more than 100 people have been killed there since Sunday.
Kashmir general strike over death of shopkeeper in Indian custody
Cities and towns in Indian administered Kashmir shut down today, as separatists called for a strike to protest the killing of a young shopkeeper while in police custody. The region is witnessing a relatively peaceful summer this year, and authorities have been proactive in trying to stave off unrest. FSRN's Shahnawaz Khan reports from Kashmir.
Normal life came to a standstill in most towns in Indian administered Kashmir, including summer capital Srinagar. Public transport remained off the roads and businesses were closed. For the northern town of Sopore, where Nazim Rashid died in police custody on Sunday, it was fourth day of shutdown. Rashid's family says he died while being tortured. Minor clashes between police and protestors were reported in some areas. Today's shutdown was called by top hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Wary of letting a peaceful summer turn violent, authorities have promised action. Three policemen involved in the arrest of the youth have been suspended, a murder case investigation has been opened, and a top police official transferred. The government has also put separatist leaders under house arrest, preventing them from visiting Sopore or leading protest marches. Shahnawaz Khan, FSRN, Srinagar.
Guatemalan soldiers sentenced for war crimes committed during civil war
A Guatemalan High Court has sentenced four soldiers to thousands of years in jail for their part in a 1982 massacre. FSRN's Tim Russo brings us more from Guatemala
Late Tuesday, the court found four Guatemalan Special Forces Soldiers, known as Kaibiles, guilty of the 1982 murder and massacre of 201 campesinos from the Dos Erres community in the northern part of the country. The four soldiers, who continued to claim their innocence after the trial, were each sentenced to 30 years for every victim, totaling more than 6000 years in prison per soldier.
The sentencing is the first time soldiers have been held accountable for crimes committed during the 36-year civil war. The UN recognized Dos Erres as one of 660 villages literally wiped off the map by the military's "Scorched Earth" policy.
Family members of the victims and human rights organizations hope that this ruling will open a new chapter in Guatemalan history that helps bring to justice those responsible for crimes against humanity during the war. But some still say the soldiers are taking the fall for the officials who ordered the massacre. They have yet to stand trial. Tim Russo, FSRN, Guatemala.
Shell finally accepts responsibility for massive Nigerian oil spills
The multinational oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, has for the first time accepted responsibility for two major oil spills in the Niger Delta region. It may now be forced to pay millions of dollars in compensation to a nearby Nigerian community. For FSRN, Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
Shell accepted responsibility for the oil spills following a class action lawsuit in the United Kingdom by the Bodo community. A Bodo lawyer said they will begin out of court settlement talks with Shell in the UK, seeking tens of millions of dollars in compensation.
The community, which is made up of mainly peasant fishermen and farmers, says the spills seriously affected their sources of livelihood. The company's decision to accept responsibility represents a major victory for local communities in the Niger Delta region, who accuse western oil companies like Shell, Mobil and Chevron of causing widespread environmental pollution on their land. Most often the companies never accept responsibility, and the communities find it difficult to seek redress in Nigerian courts. Sam Olukoya FSRN, Lagos.
Congress is now in recess until September but before leaving Washington lawmakers failed to overcome a disagreement that has left the Federal Aviation Administration partially shuttered. Matt Laslo reports on the impact and the politics of the shutdown.
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak s trial began today, as demonstrators clashed outside the courtroom and Egyptians marveled at the sight of their former leader behind bars. Lawyers for Mubarak and the six other defendants, charged with killing protesters and corruption, made requests for more time to prepare their case, as a judge adjourned the trial to August 15. From Cairo, FSRN's David Enders reports.
The Iraqi government has agreed to negotiate with the US military, about whether US troops can stay in the country beyond the scheduled December 31st departure date. There are currently more than 46,000 military personnel in Iraq, and US officials have been pressuring Iraq to make a decision soon on how many of those might stay to help with security issues in the war-torn country. Michael Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Baghdad earlier this week, and said that without a decision, the US military would have no option but to plan for a full withdrawal. Mullen also said any plan for keeping US troops in Iraq would need to include full immunity from prosecution for US forces.
Joining us now for more on the different scenarios unfolding is Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the institute for policy studies.
Now we turn to a story from one of the most remote places in the world. With more than two million square kilometers of land, Greenland is the world's largest populated island. While a gigantic ice-sheet leaves eighty-percent of the land uninhabitable, humans have lived in the island's coastal regions for more than a thousand years. On its own, Greenland's remote eastern coast is more than three times the size of Germany, but is home to only three thousand people, almost all of them Inuit. Many residents still use traditional dogsleds and kayaks to hunt, in order to keep their families fed. Reporter Evan Tenenbaum traveled to the region, and brings us this report on why some East Greenlanders worry their ancient way of life is under threat.
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I like the idea of combining horror with WWII, but I also don't like stupid action movies about zombies with no point. I can enjoy a nice b-movie no problem, but it's when they attempt to masquerade as something else that I take issue. This film seems to be overstepping itself, and I don't think I want to watch it.


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Will you ever own a home in Kigali?
Owning a home is one dream that is becoming more difficult to achieve for the average Rwandan as the real estate and construction industry are targeting high-income earners.
Edwin Musoni
Published : November 25, 2013
The back of a house in Batsinda Sector in Gasabo District, Kigali. City planners are devising means to ease house ownership. The New Times/ T. Kisambira.
To reverse this trend, policymakers have come up with the concept of "affordable housing" that is designed to enable middle and low income earners to own houses.
However, building on the concept has remained a challenge as it largely exists on paper a couple of years after it was coined and now people are left wondering how affordable are the "affordable housing."
The 2012 study of Housing in Kigali indicated that an average modern bungalow that a middle-income earner would ideally own costs about Rwf70 million in the city.
The average take-home salary for the middle-income earners ranges from Rwf200,000 to Rwf600,000 and with ever-increasing cost of living, the Rwf70 million house is out of equation for the majority in this bracket.
Banks have mortgages, but the conditions are not as favourable as they appear.
Under the mortgage arrangement, any person who acquires a loan should pay at most 30 per cent of their monthly income. This implies that for one earning Rwf600,000 to acquire a home worth Rwf70 million under the mortgage arrangement, it would take 32 years to fully own the home.
Mortgage in Rwandan banks is acquired against an interest rate that goes up to 20 per cent. The rates vary according to the bank.
This would not be as bad if the banks are willing to wait 32 years. The most generous commercial banks have a maximum re-payment period of 20 years.
This scenario, in addition to the rapidly growing City of Kigali, has created a shortage of houses, with policy makers, government, urban planners and the private sector scratching their heads for a solution.
Asked about the drawbacks to putting up affordable housing in Kigali, the Chairperson of the Institute of Real Property Valuers in Rwanda, Egide Gatsirombo, cited the cost of construction materials.
"As long as the demand for posh houses is still high, developers will always rush for that category since that is where they reap big. If you consider the cost of land and construction materials, houses will definitely be expensive," he said said.
In his estimates, an affordable house should range from Rwf20 million to Rwf25 million, which is not attractive considering the minimal profit range.
As an alternative, Gatsirombo suggests using more affordable construction materials or refurbished structures made out of wood.
There are countries, mainly in the West, that have houses largely built using wood that have withstood the test of time. While they are durable and low on maintenance, they are a hard sell for the Rwandan people who prefer the strong brick and are not willing to settle for anything less.
"Those are the kind of structures that we need to adopt, but when you are doing an investment you need to meet the expectations of the consumers; before we venture into wooden houses, we need to know if indeed Rwandans would buy them," said Gatsirombo.
Charles Haba, the president of the Real Estate Association of Rwanda (Rear), said investors can make money off the affordable houses, but only if they put up a substantial number of houses at a go.
"To make money from low-end houses, you need to produce mass; this requires a chunk of land, and then rolling out infrastructure such as water, power and roads become more expensive since you are covering a vast area. This is why developers opt for middle-level houses to make quick profits," Haba said.
He added that since the cost of infrastructure is borne by the developers; they tend to pass it on to the final owner of the house, making it more expensive.
"If government made the first move, it would bridge the (housing) gap and investors would venture into affordable housing," Haba said.
Social housing refers to housing which may be owned or constructed by government and sold or rented to citizens at subsidised rates.
Government's part
As a way of curbing the housing burden, government intends to remove incentives entitled to estate developers of high-end estates and instead accord it to developers with prospects of investing in more affordable houses.
The incentives will include easy access to land, connecting developers to commercial banks for credit financing as well as tax incentives on construction materials and projects.
Usually, high end developers, who invest more than $1.8 million, pay a flat tax of 10 per cent, but with the scrapping of incentives, the developers will pay several taxes and the best deal they would have is investing in affordable houses.
Since 2008, only two estates that could benefit the middle class have been put up. They include the 250 low cost houses in Batsinda in Gasabo District that were built in a joint effort of City of Kigali, Rwanda Social Security Board and former Rwanda Housing Bank.
The other estate is a 42-apartments in Palm Estate, recently constructed by Ujenge Developers. An apartment in the estate ranges between Rwf28 million and Rwf45 million.
The Director-General of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), Ester Mutamba, said construction of affordable houses requires huge investments.
She said government is currently working out strategies that would trigger investors' appetite in affordable housing.
"We are currently conducting research exercises to identify how and where cheap and quality construction materials can be found within the country. The result of these studies is to attract investors into affordable housing since one of the concerns has been the cost of construction materials," said Mutamba.
As part of the alternative strategies, RHA is considering hydraform technology-built houses which are more affordable and faster to construct. If the hydraform deal goes through, government will have to contract developers to put up estates of three-stored buildings that are considered cost-effective.
Mutamba also said that another alternative that RHA has put into consideration is the use of stabilised earth bricks that are stronger, cheaper and environmental friendly.
As part of solving the infrastructure roll out concerns, RHA has embarked on creating awareness about the benefits of condos and apartments.
A housing market study report prepared by the City of Kigali and financed by the European Union indicates that the formal housing market, as it is currently operating, supplies around 1,000 units per year, but the city will demand around 31,000 units every year.
The 2013 report, titled "The Kigali Housing Market–Investor Brouchure," estimates that between 2013 and 2018, about 17,280 units will be up and running, which represents an average of 1,234 units per year.
The housing units, of which 28 per cent are apartments and the rest detached, will go into the formal housing of Kigali.
Lillian Mupende, the director of urban planning and one-stop centre in the City of Kigali, said several initiatives were being considered by government to develop affordable houses and that so far, the City authorities have secured sites for the development.
"Studies are currently ongoing to come up with the most affordable, durable and quality houses. The issue of infrastructure rollout is also being looked at. We are considering cobblestone roads and use of biogas as some of the alternatives on the table," said Mupende.
She said one inevitable approach that urgently needs to be explored is putting up apartments and condominiums to reduce the pressure on the land.
"Apartments stand out as the best option. In an apartment, there is an increase in density but reduction on the cost of land, infrastructure and resources are easily distributed," said Mupende.
To achieve this, there is need to change the mentality of an urban population that still fancies a home with a yard and separate quarters for house helps.
Follow https://twitter.com/EdwinMusoni


Here are two versions of L.I.'s new daisy template.
These cards are lovely Donna. I forget sometimes that just dry embossing can be enough on it's own. The pleated ribbon on the first card is a nifty idea. I don't think I've ever seen that done before. Very nice idea. I may have to 'pinch' that one, lol.


We got a bunch of new stuff this week! Something to please every type of beer drinker!
For all of you who like the sweet stuff we got in 2 new Seagrams flavors: Passion Fruit Mango and the always so delicious Orange and Vanilla (Orange Sassy Swirl).
Then for the local lovers we got in some Flyway Early Bird IPA! It's from North Little Rock and comes in a 22oz bomber!
We also go in the Ghost River Brews out of Memphis, TN. There is an IPA, Golden Ale, Irish Red and a German style Black Ale! Those are all in 6pk bottles.
Then for all the Belgium beer lovers we got in some Wittekerke Belgian White Beer in 6pk cans, perfect for lake season! Then another Belgian beer we got is Tongerlo Blonde. It comes in 4pk bottles.
We also got in some (yes, more) new Evil Twin bombers! Fire Water and Molotov Cocktail (Single Simcoe Hop Edition) The Molotov clocking in at 13% ABV!
And for the penny pincher in all of us we have Shiner Birthday Beer 6pks on sale for $3.25 a 6pk!
Always new stuff and great prices so come check us out! Follow us on Facebook for classes, tastings, and free stuff!