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Service to Customers
Kemin Food Technologies – Asia Launches "KemTalk" for Customers
Lineup of technical and application experts brings global expertise and local knowledge to program
SINGAPORE (October 4, 2020) – Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services, has launched a value-added program, "KemTalk", to virtually bring its global scientists and application experts to Kemin Food Technologies – Asia customers.
Kemin Food Technologies – Asia initiated "KemTalk" to continue fostering a collaborative relationship with its valued customers. The program is designed to ensure customers have a clear understanding of Kemin's food safety and shelf-life solutions and how the Kemin products they use can help their companies achieve better returns on investments.
Today, consumers are looking for food that satisfies their need for nutrients and sensory appeal, but they're also concerned about the health and wellness attributes of their food. For food processors and manufacturers, meeting consumer demand and ensuring satisfaction and safety is top priority to secure repurchasing and brand loyalty. Using the proper formulation and choosing shelf-life-appropriate ingredients that match the complexity of a food matrix is critical in making food products that meet consumer expectations.
As part of Kemin's service to customers, the Kemin Food Technologies – Asia team of technical and application experts supports customers with formulation and reformulation efforts to achieve desirable characteristics of their food products while meeting consumer demand for healthier options. The "KemTalk" program gives these customers an opportunity to seek clarification on technical topics surrounding food products.
Kemin Food Technologies – Asia's current scope of expertise focuses on clean-label trends and areas of importance to the food and beverage industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include shelf life of packaged food and food safety, especially for perishable food products such as meat, poultry, seafood and bakery goods.
"At Kemin, we leverage our technical and application expertise to help customers resolve shelf-life and food safety challenges, adopt natural ingredients, overcome hurdles to clean-label formulation and meet their unique needs for product application and market information on the food industry," said Giuseppe Abrate, Group President – Food and Human, Kemin Industries.
Despite travel restrictions during the pandemic, Kemin wants to continue delivering value and transferring food application knowledge to our customers. We have enlisted internal and external food scientists and application experts to be part of the "KemTalk" program so we can continue to engage our customers across the Asia Pacific region and support them with Kemin's expertise and knowledge."
Visit the Kemin Food Technologies – Asia LinkedIn page to connect with an expert and learn more about the business unit.
Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services. The company supplies over 500 specialty ingredients for human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies and textile industries.
For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offer product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products.
Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 2,800 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.
For further information: Joanne Tan, Regional Marketing Manager, Kemin Food Technologies – Asia, joanne.tan@kemin.com, +65 6264 1839
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Panguna Dialogue ProjectProject Updates
Bougainville: Another round of community dialogues
By Serge LoodeApril 11, 2016May 31st, 2016No Comments
In February and March another round of community dialogues for the Panguna Dialogue Project (PDP) took place on Bougainville. The dialogues were run by members of the Bougainville team of PDP. They took PDP to remote communities in the interior of Bougainville. During the three-day events community leaders discussed issues of community governance, development and dispute resolution.
The dialogues were held in Pakia village in the Council of Elders (CoE) area of Ioro 2, in Lamane East ward in Bolave constituency and in Karato, an extremely remote area at the west coast of Bougainville. Dialogues were each attended by around 30 to 40 participants, including chiefs, CoE members, women leaders, church leaders, representatives of youth and of ex-combatants as well as members and leaders of the Meekamui movement. Moreover, Meekamui leaders joined the PDP team members as facilitators for the Karato Dialogue, given that Karato is a stronghold of the Meekamui movement.
In the first phase of the dialogues, participants discussed issues affecting their villages in smaller groups, and then presented back to the plenary. In the next stage, the strengths of communities were discussed and a large number of strengths identified. In the Ioro 2 Dialogue, for example, stories of strengths included reconciliations, setup of elementary schools and small businesses. On the final day of the dialogues participants brainstormed project ideas and discussed action plans. The most important problem to be addressed in Ioro 2, for example, was leadership at the Village Assembly level. Participants decided to set up a new village government before July and developed a multi-staged action plan for the implementation of this decision.
In the following months, the Bougainville PDP team members will accompany and support community members in the implementation of these action plans.
In parallel to the community dialogues the PaCSIA team, with the help of local colleagues, conducted two-day storytelling sessions were in those communities in which dialogues had been held in October last year. The purpose of the storytelling was to reconnect with these communities and to take stock of the changes that had been achieved since October. They also provided an opportunity to reflect on strengths and challenges in the process and to develop new ideas for further progress. These storytelling sessions were based on the collaborative narrative practice method developed by the Dulwich Centre in South Australia.
Serge Loode and Erica Rose Jeffrey edit the stories shared in Manetai
These storytelling events were held in Manetai (Eivo-Torau), Siimalaka (Bolave) and in Okoni (Ioro 1). Communities were asked to share stories of strength and stories of change. Serge Loode and Erica Rose Jeffrey from the PaCSIA PDP team collected and typed up the stories shared during these events and then the stories were read back the next day. Communities decided that they wanted their stories to travel, and stories were shared between the different communities. An additional special storytelling event was held with the Meekamui leadership in Panguna. This event was attended by several members of the Meekamui Government of Unity, including the President Phillip Miriori, the Vice-President Phillip Takaung and the Commander of the Meekamui Defence Force, General Moses Pipiro.
Meekamui storytelling
Participants highly appreciated the opportunity to tell their stories, and it became evident that such storytelling can be a very powerful means of reflection and dialogue and can lead to the emergence of new ideas and plans for change in the future. In addition, the PaCSIA printed a booklet of stories from each community and these remain with the communities as documents to symbolise what has been achieved.
Before the Community Dialogues and the storytelling events, the whole PDP team carried out a week-long facilitator dialogue, which included reflective practice learning sessions and planning for the community events. At the end of the PaCSIA visit a one-day PDP team meeting was held in order to reflect on the experiences of this round and to plan the next project stages. Furthermore, a meeting of the PDP steering group was held. Steering group members were briefed about PDP activities and got involved in the planning of future work. The ABG members in the steering group (Dennis Lokonai, Clarence Dency and Michael Lapolela) as well as Commander Moses Pipiro, who represents the Meekamui movement in the Steering Group, expressed their appreciation of PDP's work and committed themselves to further assist PDP as well as follow-up activities after PDP will have come to an end.
PDP facilitators share their personal stories with each other
With regard to PDP follow-up it is exciting to note that the NGO which had been formed by the Bougainville PDP members in October last year has taken important steps forward. This NGO – 'Bougainville Indigenous Dialogue' (BID) – has been officially registered. It has elaborated a mission statement and has set up its own website, and a preliminary board of directors has been selected. Planning for BID work as continuation of PDP is well under way, and so are applications for project funding. Furthermore, on 10 March a joint meeting of BID, PaCSIA, a representative of the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding (Suva, Fiji), and the Nasioi Peacebuilding Association (another local Bougainville NGO) discussed options for future collaboration.
These are important positive steps which augur well for the continuation and sustainability of the work PDP has carried out over the last months. The new round of dialogues in March was a great success, similar to the first round in October 2015. The seeds of dialogue are bearing fruit in the Panguna communities.
PDP, which runs under the official title 'Building Capacity in Governance among Community Leaders in the Panguna Mine Area, Bougainville' is funded by Misereor, the development agency of the Catholic Church in Germany.
In the coming months we shall continue reporting on the project's progress on this site.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Anya (stylized as ANYA) is a 2019 science fiction film directed by Jacob Akira Okada and Carylanna Taylor. It features actors Ali Ahn, Gil Perez-Abraham, and Motell Gyn Foster. The film follows a couple struggling with infertility issues as they discover some unique genetic traits related to an immigrant group from the fictional island of Narval.

Production
Anya revolves around the topics of genetics and anthropology, director Carylanna Taylor has a background as an anthropologist and Harvard researcher Ruth McCole served as scientific consultant. The genetic lab scenes in the film were shot in the real Dr. Andreas Pfenning's genetics lab at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Synopsis
Libby desperately wants a child, but has had trouble conceiving and has suffered multiple miscarriages. Her partner Marco believes that the issues stem from him, as he is convinced that he is suffering from an ancient curse that was placed on all of the people from his island. Nevertheless, he agrees to visit a geneticist with Libby to determine the issue. They are both shocked when they discover that the reason they cannot have children is because Marco's genetics differ to the point where he can be considered a different species. Each would be able to have a baby with their own kind, but together conceiving would be practically impossible.

Cast
 Ali Ahn as Libby
 Gil Perez-Abraham as Marco
 Izzabella Timonera as Anya
 Motell Gyn Foster as Dr. Seymour Livingston
 Anthony Aguilar as Aquiles
 Mary Theresa Archbold as Terry
 Diego A. Arellano as Hector
 Ana Maria Jomolca as Sara
 Ana Kayne as Fausta
 Olivia Oguma as Rika Endo
 Barbara Rosenblat as Dr. Rosalind Pfenning

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Anya holds an approval rating of  based on  reviews, with an average rating of . Film Inquiry called it "ambitious" and praised the chemistry between the main characters. Film Frenzy found the film "intriguing" and also noted the performances, but found the score "unnecessary and overbearing". Film Threat said Anya is "a good conversation starter at parties" in relation to its ideas about genetics and humanity but found the story frustrating at times.

References

External links

 ANYA official website

2019 films
2010s science fiction films
2010s English-language films

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Dr. Bhandari grew up in Illinois, attending the University of Chicago for undergraduate college, New York University School of Medicine for medical school and Loyola University Medical Center for pediatric residency. Over the years, she has practiced pediatrics in Brooklyn, N.Y., and has been an urgent care pediatrician with the Children's Hospital Colorado in Denver.
Dr. Bhandari believes every child has the right to strive for and reach their greatest potential. She aims to provide a medical home and work with parents and families to overcome illness and any other issues as a team. She will advocate for every child to obtain the resources and specialty care they need to thrive. Dr. Bhandari will work with you to monitor your child's growth and development. She aims to empower parents, providing education and clear instructions. With two young children of her own, she understands the challenges of schooling and parenting today's young generation.


text:
Unlimited reading. Over 1 million titles. Learn more
Cheryce Clayton
Mechanical Man Kindle Edition
Cheryce Clayton (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Cheryce Clayton Page
Cheryce Clayton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
$0.00 $0.99 to buy
Adrift on a generational colony ship, one teen searches for his place in the past.
Life is hard when your mother is the Captain of a doomed colony ship, a generation after the accident that left his home adrift in space, one teen struggles to find a reason to keep working.
This story was originally written in 1994 and was the writer's first professional sale in science fiction. Alas, the magazine folded before the issue went to print and there followed a grand epic in getting the publishing rights returned.
ASIN  :  B00NYD0YH4
Publisher  :  Six Point Press (September 25, 2014)
Publication date  :  September 25, 2014
Print length  :  20 pages
Lending  :  Enabled
I was raised on the move; new schools, strange faces, swap meets, and skipping town before the bills came due.
My dad worked construction, always had a new plan, a new company, a new dream to be relayed until he convinced my mom to try again. He shared his Omni magazines with me and we snuck away to watch the latest movies together; he told me my heritage in off-hand comments and misplaced references.
Home was the places I recognized when we returned. Home was great grandpa's garden in the spring, and grandma's house in time for canning the garden; home was stories and barbecues at Ocean Shores, and camping by the Yakima River so the men could go hunting.
Recently, I was asked to be a part of a panel on indigenous creation stories and myths
at the world science fiction convention, I agreed thinking that I love creation mythos and study them for pleasure.
So, I'm sitting on this panel with one other woman, she's an experienced and locally loved storyteller. She opens up telling a beautiful and inciteful story about how basket weaving came to man.
And I had the realization that the audience now expects me to tell them a story or two and not to discuss said stories.The microphone comes to me and I scan the room before saying:
"Hi. I write literary zombie porn."
The truth is a deflection, it pushes away the need to say "I do not hold my family stories except in fragments gleaned as a child. My creation story is three parts forgotten and two parts yet unwritten. I'll know it when it finds me; I'll tell it when I'm whole."
http://zombpocalypse.cartoonistsleague.org/
I can be found on fb as cheryceclayton and my webcomic page is TalesfromtheZombieApocalypse
M. Wochner
5.0 out of 5 stars A Short Review for a Short Story.
Mechanical Man was an enjoyable quick read. It left me wanting more stories of this world and it's characters. I don't want to discus specifics because I don't want to give away the plot points. The flavor of the story is far-future steam/diesel punk science fiction. I look forward to reading more from this author.
It was ok. Ended abruptly. Was wanting more. The story jumped around a lot and was hard to follow all the time.
4.0 out of 5 stars Feels incomplete.
I've been really enjoying working through the author's novellas/shorts, but this one didn't strike a chord with me as much as some of the others have. I loved the premise and characters -- especially the ingenuity of the MC -- but something about this story left me feeling like it was a bit unfinished. I wish this one had been a bit tighter overall, but at the end of the day, it was a fun read.


text:
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Skilled Butcher
Skilled Butcher Login to Save this vacancy
Retail (Stores) Hourly Paid
Competitive salary, plus excellent benefits
Work Level:
Part Time - 16 to 30 hours per week Permanent
Advertising End Date:
Retail is at the heart of our business, we're proud to be the UK's fourth largest supermarket serving more than 11 million customers each week across our growing network of around 500 stores.
Opportunities don't come much better than these. Our focus on freshness goes across everything we do, as we take pride in preparing more fresh food in store than any other supermarket. Our stores are full of friendly people making great food affordable for everyone - making us different and better than ever.
We believe in recruiting leaders into our stores who can make a real difference and play an essential part in our ongoing success and continuous expansion. Providing leadership, direction and ensuring standards remain high, you'll bring a management style that motivates and brings out the best in those around you.
As an expanding business we believe in offering development opportunities for all employees. In these uncertain times, it's good to know that our culture, training and prospects are recognised as industry leading.
What do I need to be a successful Skilled Butcher?
Be an experienced/apprentice trained qualified butcher
Passionate about delivering great customer service
Relevant experience in a retail environment
Excellent people management skills, with a proven ability to work collaboratively in a team
Ability to drive the business forward whilst maintaining focus on standards and overall results
Ability to work to deadlines and really rise to a challenge with a 'Can Do' attitude
Have a fresh thinking and a continuous improvement mindset
Be a strong influencer able to communicate at all levels with excellent customer service skills.
If you thrive in a busy environment and are able to communicate your enthusiasm and expertise to customers and your team, you could have just the right ingredients to make a real contribution!
Candidates that are successful at interview will be subject to a DBS check and a further credit history check for specific vacancies prior to any offer of employment.
Our aim to offer more of what matters extends to our employees too. Join us and you can expect to enjoy great career prospects and a very competitive pay and benefits package. In addition to an attractive salary, we offer discount cards for you and two friends or family members giving 10% off your shopping in Morrisons. We also offer company share options, a highly competitive pension scheme, Life Assurance and more besides.
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.
Shopkeepers for over 100 years, we love providing our customers with a great shopping experience they won't find anywhere else.
At just under 500 stores across the UK, our retail colleagues work as one team to provide plenty of food essentials, a great service and a buzz people enjoy. It's why our customers keep coming back for more.
The UK's 4th largest supermarket, we provide great value for money and good quality fresh food and groceries to over 11 million customers every week. Our focus on freshness makes us stand out as we prepare more fresh food in-store than any other supermarket. It's challenging. It's fast-paced. But from Market Street to checkout our friendly team loves going above and beyond to bring our customers what they want.
At Morrisons we believe in investing in our colleagues and industry-leading training programmes. We provide our colleagues with the opportunities they need to make it to the top. Many of our store managers started out on the shop floor. They've been there and done that. It's how they know how to support our colleagues and help our customers so well.
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text:
using MatterHackers.Agg;
using MatterHackers.Agg.Font;
using MatterHackers.Agg.UI;
using MatterHackers.VectorMath;

namespace MatterHackers.MatterControl
{
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			topToBottomControls = new FlowLayoutWidget(FlowDirection.TopToBottom);
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			topToBottomControls.VAnchor |= Agg.UI.VAnchor.ParentTop;

			AddTextField(instructionsText, 10);

			AddChild(topToBottomControls);

			AnchorAll();
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		public static Vector3 ManualControlsFeedRate()
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			Vector3 feedRate = new Vector3(3000, 3000, 315);
			string savedSettings = ActivePrinterProfile.Instance.ActivePrinter.ManualMovementSpeeds;
			if (savedSettings != null && savedSettings != "")
			{
				feedRate.x = double.Parse(savedSettings.Split(',')[1]);
				feedRate.y = double.Parse(savedSettings.Split(',')[3]);
				feedRate.z = double.Parse(savedSettings.Split(',')[5]);
			}

			return feedRate;
		}

		public void AddTextField(string instructionsText, int pixelsFromLast)
		{
			GuiWidget spacer = new GuiWidget(10, pixelsFromLast);
			topToBottomControls.AddChild(spacer);

			EnglishTextWrapping wrapper = new EnglishTextWrapping(12);
			string wrappedInstructions = wrapper.InsertCRs(instructionsText, 400);
			string wrappedInstructionsTabsToSpaces = wrappedInstructions.Replace("\t", "    ");
			TextWidget instructionsWidget = new TextWidget(wrappedInstructionsTabsToSpaces, textColor: ActiveTheme.Instance.PrimaryTextColor, pointSize: 12 * extraTextScaling);
			instructionsWidget.HAnchor = Agg.UI.HAnchor.ParentLeft;
			topToBottomControls.AddChild(instructionsWidget);
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
FactoryGirl.define do
  factory :user_fat_persentage_development do
    user_id 1
    fat_persentage 1
  end
end


text:
// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.Immutable;
using System.Composition;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Extensions;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Syntax;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.ExtractInterface;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Formatting;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Host.Mef;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Shared.Extensions;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Text;
using Roslyn.Utilities;

namespace Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.ExtractInterface
{
    [ExportLanguageService(typeof(AbstractExtractInterfaceService), LanguageNames.CSharp), Shared]
    internal sealed class CSharpExtractInterfaceService : AbstractExtractInterfaceService
    {
        [ImportingConstructor]
        [Obsolete(MefConstruction.ImportingConstructorMessage, error: true)]
        public CSharpExtractInterfaceService()
        {
        }

        protected override async Task<SyntaxNode> GetTypeDeclarationAsync(Document document, int position, TypeDiscoveryRule typeDiscoveryRule, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var tree = await document.GetSyntaxTreeAsync(cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
            var root = await tree.GetRootAsync(cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
            var token = root.FindToken(position != tree.Length ? position : Math.Max(0, position - 1));
            var typeDeclaration = token.GetAncestor<TypeDeclarationSyntax>();

            if (typeDeclaration == null ||
                typeDiscoveryRule == TypeDiscoveryRule.TypeDeclaration)
            {
                return typeDeclaration;
            }

            var spanStart = typeDeclaration.Identifier.SpanStart;
            var spanEnd = typeDeclaration.TypeParameterList != null ? typeDeclaration.TypeParameterList.Span.End : typeDeclaration.Identifier.Span.End;
            var span = new TextSpan(spanStart, spanEnd - spanStart);

            return span.IntersectsWith(position) ? typeDeclaration : null;
        }

        internal override string GetContainingNamespaceDisplay(INamedTypeSymbol typeSymbol, CompilationOptions compilationOptions)
        {
            return typeSymbol.ContainingNamespace.IsGlobalNamespace
                ? string.Empty
                : typeSymbol.ContainingNamespace.ToDisplayString();
        }

        internal override bool IsExtractableMember(ISymbol m)
            => base.IsExtractableMember(m) && !m.ExplicitInterfaceImplementations().Any();

        internal override bool ShouldIncludeAccessibilityModifier(SyntaxNode typeNode)
        {
            var typeDeclaration = typeNode as TypeDeclarationSyntax;
            return typeDeclaration.Modifiers.Any(m => SyntaxFacts.IsAccessibilityModifier(m.Kind()));
        }

        protected override Task<Solution> UpdateMembersWithExplicitImplementationsAsync(
            Solution unformattedSolution, IReadOnlyList<DocumentId> documentIds,
            INamedTypeSymbol extractedInterface, INamedTypeSymbol typeToExtractFrom,
            IEnumerable<ISymbol> includedMembers, ImmutableDictionary<ISymbol, SyntaxAnnotation> symbolToDeclarationMap,
            CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            // In C#, member implementations do not always need
            // to be explicitly added. It's safe enough to return
            // the passed in solution
            return Task.FromResult(unformattedSolution);
        }
    }
}


Animal Costumes Blog: We're on Holiday!
We're all taking a few days off to roll around in the Glastonbury mud. We'll only be gone for a few days, and all orders that come in over the weekend will be dispatched on Monday 30th June.
I've made an order. When will it be dispatched/received?
All orders received before 3pm on the 24th June, were dispatched before we left. Everything else after that point will wait until Monday to be sent out. After dispatch, UK deliveries will take 1-3 days (depending on the chosen delivery method) and international deliveries will take 3-7 days (depending on how far away you are).
That's fine, although we won't be able to sort out the refund until we're back in work on Monday. Please just email hello@animalcostumesshop.com with your request.
Again, that's fine, although we won't be able to sort things out until we're back in work on Monday. Please just email hello@animalcostumesshop.com with your request, and return the product to us if you wish. Please make sure the product is in perfect condition and include your order number (or name and address) noted somewhere on or in the parcel. Our return address is: Ekidna Ltd, C/O Big Box, Crowhurst Road, Brighton, BN1 8AF, UK.
Please email hello@animalcostumesshop.com and we will reply upon our return to the office.
Great. We love getting these calls! Please use our emergency very important direct contact line by going here.


Creative Enterprise is a scheme to help England's creative businesses become more sustainable. Rather than working project to project, which isn't a reliable way to earn money or retain employees, we want to help you start a business or to keep your current business active with the potential to grow.
Creative England is able to offer small seed funding to sole traders, start-ups and small businesses for their creative business ideas. Our previous investment schemes have been aimed at established companies but we want to change that with our New Ideas Fund. We want to find untapped talent and fund new ideas.
Through BFI-Lottery funding, we are able to offer investments between £500 and £15,000 for emerging and new screen based storytelling business proposals. Newer companies and proposals looking for lower amounts are likely to receive grants whilst higher-value proposals and more established companies are likely to be offered loans. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Screen based storytelling businesses in the English regions.
Your idea must be for a screen based industry; i.e. film, television, animation, games, immersive media or tech that supports these industries.
For more information on who can and cannot apply, please read our Guidelines.
The fund is to help you with business costs, improve your offering and diversifying revenue streams.
The fund can be used for: seed funding, set up costs, hiring office space (e.g. for a group of producers to work together), conducting market research, diversifying your current business into the screen based industries, R&D, testing out new and exciting elements of immersive media to help your business, employing someone new into your team, building IP, equipment etc.
The fund can't be used for: just creating content, e.g. short films, feature films, slate funding, talent development, production costs. We need proposals to focus on developing a sustainable business rather than a specific project.
For more information on what you can and cannot apply for, and where to go for alternative funding, please read our Guidelines.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but we'd encourage you apply soon.


text:
About Excel Legacy Group
Patti's Passion
ESOP – Employee Stock ownership Plan
ESOP Companies Aren't Resigned to Employee Resignations
Anyone seeking an illustration of the labor challenges that organizations face needs to look no further than the recent "Great Resignation."
In November 2021, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics called it "an all-time high." The number represented 3 percent of the non-farm workforce, according to the BLS.
The number came atop 4.4. million quitting in September. Since April 2021, more than a fifth of the total U.S. workforce left their positions.
The numbers are jaw-dropping. The "whys" are a matter of broad research and speculation. Pundits have filled hours of broadcast airtime with explanations.
Here's what's clear: Workers are on the move … and employers who don't pay heed could find themselves with no one to staff, power, or guide the ship.
Employees seek greener pastures. They believe more opportunities, maybe coupled with better working conditions, lie elsewhere. Yet how do they define these?
Myriad studies of employees' priorities have been conducted in recent decades. In every survey, pay always ranks at or near the top. It's a constant that never wavers.
Image courtesy of coderslink.com
The Takeaways
Employers who pay good wages, coupled with a reasonable measure of job security (to keep paychecks coming), are likely positioned to suffer least from the trend of rampant turnover.
Our last post explained how, during the height of the pandemic, companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) were far less likely to cut workers' wages. Just more than a quarter of ESOP companies reduced pay, according to a 2020 study conducted by Rutgers University and the SSRS survey firm.
Compare this to nearly 60 percent of non-ESOP firms who did cut pay, according to the study. This doesn't even account for widespread layoffs that hit concurrently – and where, yet again, ESOP operations looked out for employees' well-being.
Still, many firms cut hours during the pandemic. What good is maintaining a wage, if it's paid for fewer hours? Isn't the outcome less money overall?
ESOP Companies Win Again
Majority ESOP operations "were significantly less likely to cut employee hours, and in instances where ESOPs did reduce employee hours, those reductions affected fewer numbers of employees," the Rutgers/SSRS study states.
Just over a third (35.5%) of majority ESOP companies cut workers' hours. Nearly two-thirds (62.9%) of other companies did so. Again, a stark difference.
"From an economic perspective, ESOPs kept considerably more money in employees' hands – and in the economy – than non-ESOPs," the study concludes.
What is an ESOP? The answers could include an organization that is far more likely to offer stable working hours, reliable pay, and much greater job security. Think this might be a timely incentive for employees to stick around … rather than joining the millions of fellow workers resigning their positions?
If your answer is "yes," take the first step toward becoming an ESOP company. Contact Excel Legacy Group to learn how to take control of the fate of your organization and its employees … rather than being resigned to it.
Let's discuss how an ESOP can work for you.
© 2023 Excel Legacy Group | Website by SocialSurge Marketing | Privacy Policy | Copyright Notice


We are The Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Ltd. CRAC is the non-profit organisation that manages the Vitae programme. Vitae is the global leader in supporting the professional development of researchers, experienced in working with institutions as they strive for research excellence, innovation and impact.
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We keep our privacy notices under regular review and we will inform you of any changes to this notice by placing an update on our the Vitae website.
This privacy notice was last updated on 30/04/18.


text:
HomeIn These Sacred Spaces, Judaism, Islam And Christianity Intersect
In These Sacred Spaces, Judaism, Islam And Christianity Intersect
Gordon HaberJune 2, 2018Image by Manoel Penicaud
Image by Manoel Penicaud
Christians in Muslim countries face violence and harassment. The same goes for Muslims in Christian countries and Israel. And, as Tom Lehrer sang, "everybody hates the Jews."
This isn't new information, and many before me have pointed out the irony that the three main Abrahamic religions are so often at each other's throats. Even if the confrontations are not, as some believe, constant and apocalyptic, it's certainly reasonable to see Christianity, Islam and Judaism as a kind of Venn diagram of grievances.
It's reasonable but not entirely correct. As the new "Shared Sacred Sites" exhibition at three New York venues demonstrates, there is no shortage of places where followers of these religions intersect in fellowship and peace.
As its title makes self-evident, "Shared Sacred Sites" is an exploration of places of worship. It's also about overlapping themes and figures. The exhibition bills itself as "a contemporary pilgrimage," as it is spread across three sites in midtown Manhattan: the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library (aka, the place with the lions); the James Gallery at the CUNY Graduate Center; and the Morgan Library & Museum.
Despite the enormity of the subject matter, "Shared Sacred Sites" is charmingly modest. In the Schwarzman Building, it occupies a smallish room on the ground floor. This part of the exhibition explores the past: the "shared" city of Jerusalem and the shared scriptural figures of Abraham, Moses and Elijah.
The objects are interesting if not mind-blowing: There are medieval maps and a few of the photographer Félix Bonfils's wonderful albumen silver prints from the 1870s and 1880s — one of the Western Wall and another of Mary's Tomb near the Mount of Olives. I particularly enjoyed the compare-and-contrast of the Annunciation. In a pristine 16th-century Book of Hours, Mary appears calm as Gabriel breaks the news. In the gorgeously lettered 16th-century Muslim commentary on the Quran, Mary's incredulousness is endearingly human: "How can I have a son," she asks, "when no man has ever touched me and I am not an adulteress?"
A few blocks south of the New York Public Library and the Morgan Library & Museum, at CUNY Graduate Center's James Gallery, the focus is more contemporary. This part of the exhibition leans heavily on the work of Manoël Pénicaud, a talented French ethnologist who studies and documents interreligious relations across Europe and the Mediterranean.
You can watch Pénicaud's short films on "Interfaith Bridge Builders," such as "The Last Rabbi of Crete," an interview with Nicholas Stavroulakis, the recently deceased Greek-American preservationist of Crete's Etz Hayyim Synagogue.
Stavroulakis speaks of his well-earned pride in creating "the only synagogue in Europe that has its doors wide open" to people of all faiths, or even no faith at all. The only criterion is the shared values of "pity and compassion for the world."
Two spaces featured at CUNY demonstrate the sharply divergent possibilities of shared sacred sites. A short film about Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs documents the physical division of the holy site into discrete Muslim and Jewish spaces; watching the film, I thought about Solomon's ruling in the of two mothers claiming the same child: Cut the baby in half.
But in Tunisia's El Ghriba synagogue, Muslims and Jews share sacred space with apparent delight. Local tradition has it that an isolated young woman — ghriba means "isolated one" — died in a fire at the site but her body remained miraculously intact. El Ghriba is a holy figure for both Muslims and Jews; if the photographs and video are to be believed, adherents of both faiths worship in harmony, "like sisters," says a Jewish Tunisian woman who sits arm in arm with her Muslim friend.
I should add that both the Cave of the Patriarchs and El Ghriba have seen bloody attacks by murderous fanatics: In 1994, Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim worshippers at the Cave, massacring 29 and wounding 125; in 1985, a policeman guarding El Ghriba opened fire on the congregation, killing three; and in 2002, an al Qaeda suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 21. It seems division is not the only solution to violence.
For all its riches, the Morgan Library's part of the exhibition is only one object. But what an object it is: a page from the Morgan Picture Bible, a masterpiece of Gothic art. The Bible, which was created in the 13th century for King Louis IX of France, is comprised of Biblical illuminations. In the early 17th century, it was in the possession of the Bishop of Krakow, who added Latin inscriptions. The bishop then presented it to Shah Abbas the Great, who had Persian inscriptions added. I found it thrilling to see, beneath a medieval depiction of the Binding of Isaac, neat Gothic lines sandwiched between meticulous Hebrew letters and sinuous Arabic script.
Clearly, the exhibit is intended to demonstrate that there is a long history of parallel worship and coexistence and that it hasn't entirely disappeared from the Earth. Of course, many, if not all, of these ancient sites have seen violence at one time or another. But it's interesting to note that the tension de-escalates the farther one gets from the Middle East. What this suggests, I think, is less about Israel than about the heightened feelings evinced by the importance of the sites.
"Shared Sacred Sites" is part of a larger scholarly effort to document and better understand such places of mutual holiness. I highly recommend that you put aside a little time for the exhibition. While viewing and thinking about the exhibit, I felt an unfamiliar but not unpleasant emotion; it took me a few minutes to recognize it as optimism.
"Shared Sacred Sites" runs through June 30, 2018, at the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Morgan Library & Museum, and CUNY's James Gallery.
Gordon Haber is the author of the short story collection 'Uggs for Gaza.'
Where Judaism, Islam And Christianity Intersect
Shared Secret Sites
Gordon Haber
Gordon Haber writes fiction and journalism. He also publishes e-books at Dutch Kills Press .


Transcript of Peter King's interview with Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack and Broncos head coach Vance Joseph.
Peter King: We're in Napa California, site of the Oakland Raiders training camp, and if you look around, I'm here with Khalil Mack, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Khalil, every time I come here, I look at the sky and there are no clouds here. This is not Buffalo, this is not Fort Pierce, Florida, this is a perfect sky. What's it like to come here every year for the summer and train in these circumstances?
Khalil Mack: I mean when you think about being in Napa Valley, you think about wine and a good time, but when we come here it's grind season for us. We got clear skies and great weather, but we're coming out here to work hard.
PK: Yeah. So last year was your third year in the NFL, 2016, and you edge Von Miller for Defensive Player of the Year. Obviously the year ended in kind of a disappointing way for you guys, the playoffs, but I want to know what you thought when you heard that you were the Defensive Player of the Year in the NFL?
KM: Hey man, there was a whole lot of thoughts that crossed my mind, but one was I couldn't believe it for the most part. When you think about all the great players that you brought up.
PK: Lawrence Taylor won that award.
KM: Thinking about the fact that your franchise hasn't had a player that's won that award in thirty-plus years is kinda surreal.
PK: When I look at your game, you had a sack last year and I think it was against Buffalo, I don't know who it was, where you ran around the right tackle and you slowed up almost to the point of stopping. He stopped and then you ran and sacked the quarterback and I said to myself, that's like a 10-year vet move, and you're not all that deeply experienced in football. You're still a pup because you started kinda late and then you go to Buffalo in the MAC and then you end up here, so I said to myself, where do you learn all the things that you learn and how do you learn them so fast?
KM: I love watching film. I love watching great pass rushers, everybody who's done it before me and done it well. When you talk about just learning and getting experience and being around guys like Justin Tuck and Antonio Smith and the way they watch film and don't just watch themselves but watching everybody else, it was a light switch that went off and was like, Ok, well I can do that too. I've been doing it ever since and it's helped me a lot.
PK: Are you the type of person who in the offseason might take on a project? You might be watching a specific player or watching yourself trying to improve? Tell me what your offseason film/tape work is like.
KM: No doubt, it's just watching what I do. Watching my tendencies and talking to the offense about the way I line up. What did I see and do I have a tendency? I don't want to have any tendencies first off. I ask my tackles, Donald Penn and the other guys, even the guards, Lee Smith, all the guys I work with. And then I also look to turn on the film and see if it's true, based on run and pass, if I'm lining up a different way. Just all the different things that'll help me throughout the next season.
PK: Khalil, I was with Von Miller the other day in Denver and he said a lot of good things about you. One of the things I found really interesting is he has this sort of pass rush day in California and I said to him, wait a second, you have all these guys around the NFL that come to your pass rush summit, why do you want to help Khalil Mack, he's trying to to kill your team, you're in the same division? He said, "I want to help football, I want football to be better. He might teach me something, I might teach him something." So first of all, tell me what you thought when he invited you to be with these 20 or 25 pass rushers from around the NFL at Stanford one day in June to have a little pass rush summit.
KM: First off, I really didn't know if it was a pass rush summit for us or for a group of highschool or college kids.
PK: So why did you go?
KM: So I went to support that, you know what I'm saying, and when I got there I was like, where are all the kids at? But it was just us. Luckily I had my cleats in the trunk, because I thought I was coming out here just to teach, you know? But the way he broke it down he wanted us to all come learn from each other and I thought it was pretty cool. He was like, the guys in the NBA do it all the time, why can't we do it? And as pass rushers it's hard out here in these streets, doing pass rushing and all these different things, getting double-teamed all the time. It only makes sense for us to come together and learn from one another.
PK: How many people did you know? Cliff Avril, Vic Beasley, do you know many of those guys?
KM: No, I don't know many of them at all to be honest. I've met Von a few times and I've played against him in the league but all the other guys who were there, I didn't know any of them to be real with you. But I got to know them when I was there. It was a good time.
PK: What do you think you learned that day both on the field and in the film room?
KM: Oh yeah, well film, that's the biggest part I took away from it, man. When you think about being in the film room with Demarcus Ware it was like, okay, you sure you want to tell me these things? It was fun though, seeing the way he broke down the game made it that much easier for me and I enjoyed that process very much.
PK: One of the things he said was that he just wanted to hear from a lot of players about tendencies and about how, just like you were saying before, you want to make sure that you can't be figured out.
PK: Ok, so how much of your game really is that? You talk about that, but to the average fan out there, why is it important that the right tackle doesn't know exactly what you're gonna do?
KM: I mean it's very important. When you think about a certain move that you love to use, if you are too tight when you use it every time they're gonna pick up on it, and if you use that move every time you line up tight, then they know when that move is coming, you know what I'm saying? A good offensive lineman is gonna figure out that tendency very quickly, depending on the down and depending on whether it's pass or run. All that stuff is important, so it's important for you not to give up too many of those tendencies.
PK: What have you worked on this offseason to make your game better? Is it a specific move or just knowledge?
KM: It's a combination of both, moves and knowledge. Going to a summer camp with all those pass rushers you learn different moves and things you weren't even thinking about, and there are a couple moves I learned there, but also a lot of knowledge I gained from those guys as well. And not only that, but also from myself, knowing what I can get better at.
PK: Do you think that being a pass rusher is 20 or 30 or 40 percent mental where you know what you want to do but you want to make sure that the tackle doesn't know?
KM: No, I think it's probably about 10 percent mental when you think about it. Being a pass rusher is 90 percent effort, getting off on the ball, and just knowing that you gotta beat this dude in front of you no matter what. It's sheer will to beat the guy in front of you and if it happens to be two guys, beating two of 'em, and if it happens to be threes guys, beating three of 'em. It's that kind of physical nastiness that you have to have as a pass rusher.
PK: Has your early success in the NFL surprised you at all? 30 sacks in your first three years, that's a lot.
KM: I feel like it's not, that's my mindset. I'm not even really thinking about being successful, I'm thinking about coming out here for my team and trying to give my all.
PK: In other words, you don't say, I got 30 sacks the first two years, that's pretty good.
KM: Not at all, not at all. That's not even close to my mindset, my mindset would be more of, Can I get thirty this year? And that's the goal man. You always want to set goals for yourself and thrive, and then when you fulfill them you can lay back and be like, I did that. But at the same time it's a mindset of saying I can do better than that, and when you lose that it's time to hang it up man. Once you lose that hunger it's time to hang it up and I don't ever want to lose that, I always want to be there.
PK: Do you think it's going to be different for you this year after winning the Defensive Player of the Year? It's not like anybody didn't think you were really good before but now you are every tackle's biggest day, so you're gonna get chipped more probably. What, do you think that's going to be like for you?
KM: Oh man, it's a challenge. I love it. Like I told you before, whether it's one guy or two, a chip, you gotta make it worthwhile and do whatever you can to get to that quarterback. That's always been my mindset. Even if I didn't know what I was doing I was gonna make sure I did whatever I could to get to the quarterback and that's always gonna be part of me.
PK: I was talking to one of your teammates before and they said they are impressed that you continue to seek excellence, that you're not happy with where you are right now. So where does that part of your personality come from? When you were growing up, where did you learn that?
KM: I learned that from my father and my mother, just being disciplined throughout my whole life. Knowing that it's not what happens to you, but how you handle it. Even with success you gotta dig deep and keep grinding. Even when there are hard times, you gotta dig deep and keep grinding and pray, and keep focused on what it is that you want to ultimately end up doing and for me, I know for sure that I want to be one of the best to ever play.
PK: You want to wear a gold jacket in Canton one day?
KM: Why not? Why not want to do that, that's what the best do. Not only that, you want to win the Super Bowl, and that's all I want to do, to be able to put my team in a position to win a Super Bowl. That's what you see every time you watch me, I'm trying to do everything I can to help my team, and I'm sure everybody feels the way I do on this team and that's ultimately what you want from a team. You want everybody focused on one thing and striving to achieve one goal, and that's it.
PK: Finishing up with Khalil Mack, so last year we also spoke a little bit about this before we started. You graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in the first week of the season. Little Khalil Mack from Fort Pierce, Florida, University of Buffalo, Mid-American Conference, is on the cover of Sports Illustrated wearing The MMQB t-shirt, and just sort of busting out, and I wondered, how did you feel seeing yourself on the cover, and how many times did you have to sign it?
KM: Of course I was overjoyed, God is so good. Like you said, Fort Pierce, Florida. Everybody was hype when they would be in Walmart or K-Mart or whatever and they would see me on the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine, it was surreal man. And you talk about signing it. I had to kind of shy away from signing them. I feel like my dad went and got 50, he went to probably five different stores to get 50 of 'em and I was like, Okay, this is how it's gonna be. I didn't know it was gonna be like this.
PK: He's your father, you have to sign!
KM: I know, exactly, and then you got everybody else. I have no idea how many I signed. Probably over a thousand of them, easily.
PK: Well, you'll probably be on the cover a few more times in your life. It's really been good to get to know you a little bit because in my job one of the things I really like about the people who I cover and write about is I appreciate the guys who it's really important to, who want to be great, who are not just here for a paycheck or anything else. In my conversations with you, greatness is really important to you.
KM: No doubt about it. Always has been, always will be.
PK: I'm here in Denver with Broncos head coach Vance Joseph. We're here in his office and the one thing that sort of impresses you when you talk a little bit to Vance Joseph is the thoughtfulness, the care that he's taken. We spent some time this morning talking about how he prepared his first speech to his team, the resource material he used and all that. Vance, I want to start off by asking you about your influences and how you got to this point. I think a lot of people don't really know who Vance Joseph is, so give me a little resume look at what has made you a head coach in the NFL right now.
PK: You did it all.
VJ: We did it all. And in my opinion, going to Cincy and being around Marvin and Mr. Brown and having a chance to evaluate the draft and to pick your players in the draft and to be around coach Zim's system, it made me a better coach. That was awesome.
PK: I want to interrupt you and ask you this, because a lot of people over the years have killed the Bengals, saying, hey, the scouts should be the scouts and the coaches should be the coaches, and everything like that. But, I've found over the years, like Paul Alexander says, "I want to scout the guys that I'm gonna have on the offensive line." So tell me about that and even though it probably creates another layer of work when all you want to do is take a couple weeks off after the season, tell me, how is that?
VJ: I tell you what, it's great for young coaches. If every young coach could work in Cincinnati, it would make you a better coach because you are directly responsible for your position. You go out after the combine and you work out guys and you have lunch with guys, dinner with guys, you meet with guys, and you bring the info back to Mr. Brown, and on draft day, if we're taking a corner he would look at me and say, "Hey VJ, which corner do you want? And tell me why." And the one you told him you wanted, he would give you. So, in my opinion that made you be very detailed in your job. Travelling the country, making your own schedule, seeing the guys, it made me a better coach. Having the ability to pick the right players for me, and you watch the Bengals drafts, over the years they rarely missed because the coaches were directly involved and he allowed you to pick your players. So that place in my opinion made me a better coach.
VJ: Miami was great. Being with Adam Gase and going into a place that had great tradition but hadn't been in the playoffs in a long time, our first goal was kind of to change the culture from a losing culture to a winning culture. It was a team of talented players so we knew we could win but we knew it was going to be a hard road because culture is critical in this league. You're going to have adversity and it's critical how you react. And it struck early. I mean we were 1-4 early and we worked our way back and won nine straight games. Kudos to Adam Gase, the process never changed, we never panicked, we stayed with it. Even through the hard times in Miami the players were in good spirits and the coaches were in good spirits. Everyone loved to come to work, so when it was broken we were all there to fix it, and that's important. Players, coaches, management with Mike Tannenbaum. No one ever panicked, no one ever pointed fingers. We knew we had players to win, but we didn't know when it was going to happen, so we're 1-4 and Pittsburgh is coming to town, and you're thinking, okay, 1- 5, but we beat Pittsburgh and won nine straight. That was a lesson of trusting the process and having a culture of service and guys loving to come to work, because we didn't have a bad day in Miami last year. It was fun because guys loved to come to work.
PK: So, you get this job and I've always thought it is very interesting when coaches transition from either position coaches or even coordinators to being a head coach and all the different things you have to take on in the head coach's office. Specifically, I wonder, you could be able, even as a defensive coordinator, to have some sense of anonymity? You probably could go out in Miami or Fort Lauderdale and have a nice dinner, you go the whole night and nobody has any idea of who you are. And so you come to Denver, where the Broncos are close to a religion, and you're very familiar with it, having gone to school here, you know Colorado very well, you know what the Broncos mean. You walk down the hall and there's John Elway. I just wonder when you look at it now, how do you describe the difference and the unending attention there is when you're a head coach, specifically the head coach of this team?
VJ: It's definitely different. You said it, in Miami I could go out and have dinner with the wife and family and no one would notice. From time to time someone would notice but here in Denver the Broncos are so huge that when I'm out with the family someone notices every time and it can be a good and bad thing. It's great because we have great fan support out here in Bronco country, it's been sold out here for like 42 years straight. That's good because they expect to win and they're gonna support the team and that stadium is gonna be sold out September 11th vs. the Chargers so that's a good thing. When it comes to family though, you want some down time from time to time. So for me, I'm ok with it, it's part of the job. I signed up for it. But your family sometimes get frustrated. My son will ask, Dad, who's that? and I have to say, that's just a fan, son. My wife's like, Okay, I just want a little private time. It's definitely different especially here in Denver because it's a big deal here, but you know, I've embraced that, and I'm okay with the fans saying hi and taking pictures. It's five or ten seconds and it goes away. So it's definitely different but it hasn't been overwhelming.
PK: I've watched a lot of people over the years try to deal with that aspect of this life. I watched Larry Fitzgerald recently on a golf course and for Larry, he's a golf addict, and what's so interesting is that even though Larry wanted to play 18 holes of golf and he wanted not to be Larry Fitzgerald, he just couldn't be. It's impossible. I would say 12 to 15 times over the course of 18 holes in four hours somebody would come up and walk across the fairway and ask for a picture, and he would do it. And the amazing thing is at the end of it I just mentioned it to him and he said, "That's just the way it is." And I've seen other guys who say, can you please leave me alone? But when you're in this job I think that part of the job is that you have to be always on to some degree, and you just can't avoid that part of it.
VJ: You can't, and how do you say no to a fan who wants to say hi to ya, wants a picture with ya? The part about being on all the time, that's different because now I'm aware of like, if I'm going to the store, what I'm wearing. If I'm wearing this t-shirt or this hat or my flip-flops. You kind of think twice about what you're wearing leaving the house now. Years ago I wouldn't care, I would go out with my t-shirt and my flip flops and my hat turned to the back, relaxing. Now I'm kind of aware of what I'm wearing. You don't want certain perceptions to be out there about who you are and that's just a reality of it.
PK: So I want to ask you about being a head coach especially in a division where you've got some very interesting challenges. If you look at Kansas City you've got Andy Reid, who's been a head coach for almost two decades. You look at Jack Del Rio, long time coordinator, long time head coach. You look at San Diego and even though Anthony Lynn is a rookie, Phillip Rivers has been there for 100 years, and Ken Whisenhunt and everything. So I just wonder, you're in a pretty formidable division. Every one of those games, you can look at the Chargers and say they're no good. But the Chargers have Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa, and they've got Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen. Theyre gonna beat somebody 30-3 this year, maybe a few teams. But anyway, tell me how you look at your division, particularly the challenges you face in some of the people you've been watching do this for a long time.
VJ: Absolutely. It's definitely a tough division. All four teams are capable of making the playoffs. You said it with Philip Rivers, every game he plays he can win. Sometimes we forget how good he is and what he's done there. When you play Philip Rivers, it's like playing Tom Brady and Matt Ryan and Peyton, all those guys. He's a great quarterback who you're not going to confuse with scheme. You've got to go out and beat Philip because mentally he's going to be on par. In KC with Andy Reid, he's always had sound, tough football teams. They're always going to be a tough out, they won't beat themselves. They do things right and they're always going to have a good scheme on Sunday. Down in Oakland that's an explosive young team on both sides of the ball with that quarterback and those two wide receivers, and Khalil Mack who is comparable to Von Miller in this league, as one and two, along with Watt, who I was with in Houston. So it's a tough division obviously with Andy's experience and Jack's experience. That makes it tough for me as a first time head coach, but when I was hired my first priority was to acquire the best staff I could and I knew as a young head coach I wanted to go out and get guys with experience and guys who've won games in this league. So my first call offensively was Mike McCoy. I knew having Mike was gonna be a big deal, because Mike knew how to win. He was here before so he understood the culture of the Broncos and had coached a lot of young quarterbacks. Then we fell into Bill Musgrave, that was lucky there. A guy again who's coached young quarterbacks and who was calling plays for Oakland in the playoffs. Geep Chryst, Jeff Davidson, who was an OC in this league in Minnesota. Studesville and Tyke Tolbert.
PK: You've really got a veteran staff.
VJ: Absolutely. And I wanted a veteran staff. I didn't want to be a young coach who went out and hired a bunch of young guys because I was comfortable leading young guys. I wanted the best guys I could find, and I wasn't worried about my age vs. those guys age. I wanted the best guys I could find.
PK: Speaking of your staff, when I saw Mike Tomlin at the league meetings this year and we were just talking, and he brought it up, he said, "I'm really happy for Joe Davis," and how finally he's gonna get his shot to be a coordinator. He said he is gonna be a head coach in this league, so give me your view on how you chose your defensive coordinator.
VJ: Well, I've known Joe for a long time, through Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris and all those guys, so when three years ago I interviewed for this job and I was gonna be Gary Kubiak's defensive coordinator, I called Joe who was in Oakland to come be my defensive backs coach. So I was going through contract things there with Cincinatti vs. Denver, and I had coach Kubiak basically hire Joe before I got here because I knew he was a special defensive backs coach. I worked with Reggie Herring in Houston and Bill Kollar in Houston so those guys were already here coming with Kub. But when the job was offered to me I knew Wade was a free agent and I knew Wade wanted to make some moves and maybe go to L.A. with Sean so I knew that and Joe was the obvious candidate. Because in this league, it's a pass driven league, and to have a guy who understands the back end, who's coached a secondary that's been top in the league for the last two years. To have a guy that's had defensive backs, secondary coverage knowledge because that's where it starts in my opinion now. To call plays in this league you have to understand how to put the concepts that are hurting you to rest, and I knew Joe had that ability. Plus he's coached a back in here who was the heart and soul of this defense, Aquib Talib and Chris Harris and those guys, and T.J. Ward and Darren Stewart. They've all been to the Pro Bowl one time under Joe, so the respect portion, that was already established with these guys. From a knowledge perspective he's a sharp guy and he was already here. And I knew Reggie Herring, like a Musgrave and a Geep Chryst and a Kollar, would support Joe being a first time coordinator. Having those guys behind him, he can't lose.
PK: The last thing I wanted to ask you is a little bit about Von MIller. Von Miller strikes me as kind of a fun guy to have around, but I don't know very much about his seriousness of purpose or whether he's much of a student of football. In your exposure right now to Von Miller, tell me what your impression of him has been so far and why do you think he's as good as he is.
VJ: Well, being around Von the last couple of months, my first take would be that he's a worker. He works at it, lifting, running, certain movement stuff with his body. He loves being Von Miller. He loves being the best player in the league and that's where I go back to having some selfishness as opposed to selflessness. He wants to be Von Miller and him being the best Von Miller he can be helps us to win. So he works at it, his football IQ is very, very high. He has a lot of tackles he goes against, and he's gonna have somebody down pat on gameday. So he's not going out there just playing with speed and power, he's playing with his brain. Von is a great leader, he's a funny guy naturally, and his teammates love to follow him. Because even though he's having a good time, it's work, it's consistent action. You see him on the field yesterday, he's dancing around, having fun with fans but he's rushing the passer, chasing the ball, doing football things. So I think Von likes the spotlight, and most great players like that and want to have a good time doing it. He's in his comfort zone and he's being himself and he's a loose, funny guy. But off the field he puts the work in and wants to be a leader of this team, and obviously being with DeMarcus Ware the last couple of years and following his lead, he's learned how to be a great pro even more with DeMarcus and he wants to be the leader of this football team.
PK: Rightfully so, everyone brings up the 2017 Broncos and talks about the quarterback. The quarterback is gonna have to play well and I get it. But in my opinion in this division, unless you protect the outside, and your left and right tackles can fan out and make sure that Justin Houston and Bosa and Ingram, and Mack don't destroy the game, it doesn't matter if you've got Peyton Manning or Tom Brady back there, they're gonna get destroyed. So as you look at your team and I know it's early, how do you think you'll be at the tackle position and protecting your quarterback.
JV: I said this yesterday Peter, to the local media. The quarterback deal is a big deal obviously, but until we protect the passer better, until we run the football better, it won't matter who's playing the position, because they won't be successful. In this division you have to block the edge rushers, so drafting Garett Bolles from Utah was a must. Acquiring Menelik Watson from Houston was a must, because you have to be able to block the edge rushers in this division. If you can't you can't win. They will wreck the game. Outside of that, schematically you have to have a plan for not allowing those guys to wreck the game. So we're hoping obviously that Bolles is gonna be a great player, and Watson, but to block Khalil Mack 1-on-1 every down, that's not smart or you can't do it. So from a coach or a player's perspective you have to be on par to block the speed rushers. I totally agree with you. And again we've got two good young quarterbacks. We can win with both guys but playing good defense around them, being able to block the edge rushers, that's going to be critical also.
PK: And I'm not sure who it was against, but he had a sack last year, I think it was Indianapolis, where it looked like he just stopped and gave up on the play and so the tackle just gave up and stopped. And Khalil Mack looked like he was shot out of a cannon and he went and caught the quarterback from behind and sacked him. And I thought, that was brilliant! It was in the middle of a play, he threw a changeup at the tackle. That was really a smart play by a young player who you don't think has the pedigree to know something like that.
VJ: He's a great player.
PK: Vance Joseph, I want to wish you a great year. And I want to say I love Denver because I love going to places where football is important, and I don't care if the Broncos are not having a great season, you come here in September and people care. You come here in December and people care. I'll never forget at the old Mile High, being on the field late in the game, and it was a playoff game, two-minute warning, and people are stamping their feet on the old metal bleachers, and the ground is shaking. The ground out on the field is shaking! And I said that's how much people care, they can create a small earthquake here. So you're in a good spot and I wish you the best.
My thanks to my guests this week, Khalil Mack and Vance Joseph. Just before we go, two or three points about being on the road and seeing teams. I'm not quite sure it surprises me, but it interested me this week. One is about young coaches out there right now, and I'm going to talk for a minute about Sean McVay of the L.A. Rams. McVay was running the drills for the quarterbacks. You don't often see head coaches running individual drills, and I thought it was interesting that he wanted to be so hands on that he's doing the small stuff in Rams camp. And of course his future and the future of a lot of people in that Rams organization, including general manager Les Snead, is gonna depend on how their young quarterback Jared Goff plays. The day I saw him on Saturday in Irvine, CA, I was not overly impressed with Goff, and I think it's gonna come down to accuracy for Jared Goff.
Six miles away on Sunday I saw the San Diego Chargers, and it's so bizarre that for 21 years there's no NFL franchise in LA but it's so funny to see two teams in Orange County training literally six miles apart from each other. One at UC Irvine and the other in a converted public park in Costa Mesa which is right where the Chargers plan to have their practice facility. I thought it was really interesting that the Chargers seem to have handled the move so far better than the Rams handled it a year ago. Not that the Rams had a lot of choices, they were moving across the country and the Chargers are moving 80 miles up the highway. So we'll see how it impacts their play, but I thought one of the interesting things they did was they had their entire offseason program back in San Diego. They said it's more important for our team to be intact and not living in a hotel for 3-4 months, so we want to have everything in San Diego. So now the players and the staff in the month they had off, a lot of them moved up to the Orange County area. General manager Tom Telesco, a bunch of the players did that, and it'll be interesting to see. There's gonna be one person, and I wrote about this in MMQB, Philip Rivers has decided for now to stay in San Diego with his wife and eight children and commute every day about 71 miles each way. It's no secret that could be an issue at some point, and Anthony Lynn the head coach of the Chargers did tell me he was a little bit worried about that. Finally, being in Seattle on Tuesday as I record this, so interesting to see different ways teams play, different ways teams prepare. For instance, this was a very chippy practice that I saw Tuesday, in fact there were two fights during practice. And very rarely now when I go around to see teams in training camp do I see fights, but I think Pete Carroll, as Russell Wilson told me, "We go right to the edge of the cliff and we stare off, and say have we pushed this far enough," and I think that is something that Pete Carroll, over the years, has been his trademark. And I think Pete Carroll's whole point is that we don't want them to fight, but we want everybody on that team to know that our defense is going to do everything humanly possible to beat the offense and vice versa, and that should matter. So the emotion for me in an August 1 practice, I don't know what to draw from that but I certainly didn't draw anything negative from it. To me this is a Seattle team that seems to be trying to rev up a veteran roster to make one more strong playoff run.


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Christmas in September
Christmas came early at SBS this year with the upper school theatre performance of An Evening of One Acts: A Christmas Carol & The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year," said Ebenezer Scrooge, Charles Dickens' famous character from A Christmas Carol.
Second Baptist School theatre students certainly honored Christmas with their humorous and joy-filled rendition of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and their chillingly poignant performance of A Christmas Carol.
With 24 seniors in the cast, there was an abundance of leadership backing these performances, carrying these shows to new heights. Indeed, the cast was full of upper school student leaders, including Head Fellow Ellie Veeningen '23, Publicity Prefect Ava Buehler '23, Admissions Fellow Reagan Yarborough '23, Athletics Fellow CJ Hobbs '23 and Arts Fellows Mackenzie Ceballos '24 and Brant Decker '23. In the all-star crew, Head Prefect and National Merit Semi-Finalist Josh Collins '23 led as stage manager and National Merit Commended Scholars Edward Millard '23 and Max Flessner '23 served as sound technician and deputy stage manager. Moreover, eleven members of the cast and crew of One Acts recently made the TMEA All-Region Choir and will go on to compete further for state recognition.
Campus leadership roles notwithstanding, these students led in tangible ways both on and off stage. Freshman Kambell Crites commented, "The upperclassmen taught me the importance of theatre and how hard work brings only beauty. Theatre is a community full of loving, creative people. I learned to be a better person, and I picked up a few tips and tricks for stage success too."
Stage manager Josh Collins '23 described his leadership role on crew, saying, "I learned to delegate areas of responsibility to capable crew members, and we ended up having technically amazing shows." He continued, praising his fellow classmates, "I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such a strong senior class, and I am grateful for the leadership experiences I gained by leading a cast and crew. It was a huge undertaking and an honor."
Beyond the high levels of leadership, students in theatre gained valuable life lessons from this year's shows. Brant Decker, who played Ebenezer Scrooge, said, "I have been incredibly lucky to be a part of Second Theatre Company all four years of high school. I have learned so much as an actor, and I will always remember [Director] Mrs. Blade's guidance."
Finally, junior Lily Tondera shared her specific takeaways from this year's shows. "I will take away the realizations regarding the blessings we have at SBS and in our lives. We learned from the Herdmans in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to take nothing for granted, including our knowledge of God. And, we learned from Scrooge that having joy in our hearts is what allows Jesus to shine through our lives."
Photos from One Acts 2022


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Responding to Changing Healthcare Needs
UMP Healthcare Holdings Limited was founded in 1990 with the vision to give everyone access to trusted and affordable healthcare. Today, it has more than 800 service points across Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China with a focus on the Greater Bay Area (GBA), which provide one-stop healthcare solutions for private patients and corporate clients.
"Our strong and all-round coordination capabilities in terms of 24-hour customer care services and digitalization are our unique strengths," said Jacquen Kwok, Managing Director and Executive Director of UMP. "We have scalable teams with well-organized coordination among them."
With the advent of the Covid-19 era, companies and organizations in the healthcare sector have had to undergo many necessary adaptations. For UMP, this meant "capitalizing on our extensive business network to provide uninterrupted offline clinical services to outpatients, as well as policyholders of corporates and insurance companies, leveraging our full-service ecosystem that can fulfill our clients' shifting demand," Kwok explained.
Since the arrival of the pandemic, UMP has adapted to the changing needs of its clients, and has administered solutions – ranging from expansion of its online products offering to include same-day-delivery of Covid-19 screening test kits to providing Virtual Care telemedicine services in overcoming barriers of social distancing – to ensure the continuation of its quality services. The decision to join the Chamber and utilize its extensive business network has also played a role in "creating synergies with various industries," said Kwok.
Amid the disruption to normal operations, UMP acted quickly to open new digital platforms so it could continue to serve individuals and enterprises. "The outbreak of Covid-19 and measures including social distancing have changed the patient visit landscape, and prompted us to tap into digital healthcare more speedily," Kwok said.
The company's Virtual Care telemedicine services platform, launched in Hong Kong in January 2020, for example, gives patients convenient access to doctors from the comfort of their own homes. It also provides peace of mind to those who are apprehensive about travelling in public places while the virus may still be circulating. Cross-border Virtual Care telemedicine services are also available to support the needs of Hong Kong and PRC residents who face difficulties in travelling. UMP is also now the only Hong Kong-based healthcare platform with an internet hospital license, which allows the company to provide local and Mainland residents with licensed telemedicine services.
UMP has also self-developed its proprietary software eVoucher, the first electronic medical vouchers system in Hong Kong's healthcare industry. It has been adopted to UMP's medical network, allowing a contactless registration process to ensure the safety of the company's clients and medical team.
The economic environment has been tough for virtually all businesses since the first days of the pandemic, and the road to recovery may take some time. "Nonetheless, we believe challenges will bring opportunities," said Kwok.
The company is continuing its expansion in the GBA, including a new headquarters in Shenzhen's central business district. The opening of this new facility is one of the steps UMP is taking to "capture the potential GBA-based business opportunities and facilitate cross-border healthcare services based on our sophisticated development in Hong Kong," said Kwok.
This new HQ will also play a key role in administering the company's GOLD and GOLD-EN training programmes, which aim to improve consultation skills of family doctors and nurses in Mainland China with a focus on the GBA, and in turn enhance public confidence in the quality of community-based primary healthcare.
Company : UMP Healthcare Holdings Ltd
HKGCC Membership No. : HKU0216
Established : 1990
Website : http://www.ump.com.hk