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UNITED STATES EX REL DOE v. HEART SOLUTION PC PC
UNITED STATES EX REL DOE v. HEART SOLUTION PC PC (2019)
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United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
UNITED STATES of America EX REL. Jane DOE v. HEART SOLUTION, PC; Biosound Medical Services; Kirtish N. Patel; Nimesh Patel; Nita K. Patel Heart Solution PC and Nita K. Patel, Appellants
Decided: May 03, 2019
Before: JORDAN, ROTH, Circuit Judges and STEARNS *, District Judge Mark E. Cedrone (ARGUED), Cedrone & Mancano, 123 South Broad Street—Suite 810, Philadelphia, PA 19109, Counsel for Appellants Charles Graybow (ARGUED), Office of United States Attorney, 970 Broad Street, Room 700, Newark, NJ 07102, Counsel for Appellee USA Paul B. Brickfield, Brickfield & Donahue, 70 Grand Avenue, Suite 102, River Edge, NJ 07661, Timothy J. McInnis, 521 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10175, Counsel for Appellee Jane Doe
Nita K. Patel and her husband, Kirtish N. Patel, were convicted of defrauding Medicare in a prior criminal proceeding. The United States then brought this civil action for the same fraudulent schemes against Ms. Patel, Ms. Patel's healthcare company (Heart Solution P.C.), Mr. Patel, and Mr. Patel's healthcare company (Biosound Medical Services). The United States prevailed in the District Court and only Ms. Patel and Heart Solution appealed.
In granting summary judgment to the United States, the District Court relied on the Patels' convictions and plea colloquies in the criminal case, essentially concluding that Ms. Patel had already admitted to all elements and issues relevant to her civil liability. However, the District Court failed to dissect the issues that were determined in the criminal case from those that were not. It lumped together Ms. Patel and Heart Solution, even though Heart Solution was not involved in the criminal case. It also failed to disaggregate claims Medicare paid to Ms. Patel and Heart Solution from those paid to Mr. Patel and Biosound. As such, it erred in finding that Ms. Patel and Heart Solution conceded all of the essential elements to every claim in this appeal. Thus, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court in part and vacate in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In November 2015, the Patels pled guilty to separate, but nearly identical, criminal information charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1347 for defrauding Medicare.1 They conducted this fraud through two separate schemes. First, the Patels submitted diagnostic reports to Medicare that should have been written by a specialist physician—but were not—and contained forged physician signatures. Ms. Patel and Heart Solution do not dispute liability with respect to the claims involving this scheme. The second scheme involved diagnostic neurological testing. Medicare regulations require all diagnostic testing to be "reasonable and necessary," as defined under Medicare Part B.2 In order for diagnostic neurological testing to be "reasonable and necessary," it must be performed under the proper level of physician supervision.3 The Patels did not comply with these regulations. Instead of employing a supervising neurologist for these tests, the Patels falsely represented to Medicare that the neurological testing was being supervised by a licensed neurologist.
Much of this appeal centers on Ms. Patel's plea colloquy for her criminal conviction. The relevant parts of the colloquy follow. First, the sentencing judge asked Ms. Patel whether she and her husband "own and operate mobile diagnostic companies known as Biosound Medical Services and Heart Solution PC," and she responded, "yes."4 Neither the court, the government, nor Ms. Patel clarified whether she had ownership interests in both companies or just Heart Solution.5 Next, the judge asked whether between 2006 and 2014, Ms. Patel and her husband "falsely represent[ed] to Medicare that the neurological testing being performed at Biosound Medical Services was being supervised by a licensed neurologist, when, in fact, it was not."6 Again, she responded "yes."7 Neither the court nor the parties addressed whether Heart Solution—as opposed to the Patels or Biosound—made any such misrepresentations. Finally, the judge asked whether, "Biosound Medical Services and Heart Solution, PC, [were] paid at least [$ 1.18 million] by Medicare ․ for diagnostic neurological testing that was never supervised by a licensed neurologist." Ms. Patel answered, "yes."8 Neither the parties nor the court sought to clarify whether one company was paid the entire amount or whether the payments were divided between the companies.
In June 2014, relator Jane Doe brought a qui tam suit under the False Claims Act (FCA) against Ms. Patel, Mr. Patel, Biosound, and Heart Solution. The United States filed a complaint in intervention on November 18, 2015. The plaintiffs sought to hold the Patels and the two companies civilly liable for defrauding Medicare through the two schemes described above. Specifically, they claimed the defendants violated two provisions of the FCA by (1) "knowingly present[ing] or caus[ing] to be presented a false or fraudulent claim,"9 and (2) "knowingly mak[ing], us[ing], or caus[ing] to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim."10 They also brought common law claims including fraud, unjust enrichment, disgorgement of profits, and payment by mistake of fact.
In March 2016, the plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment on the two FCA counts, arguing that Ms. Patel's admissions during her plea colloquy established all the elements of the FCA claims and that therefore Heart Solution and Ms. Patel were collaterally estopped from contesting FCA liability. In their opposition brief, the defendants relied on a statement submitted by Mr. Patel in a pleading entitled "Certification of Kirtish N. Patel." In it, Mr. Patel claimed that Biosound employed a supervising neurologist from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2014. The defendants argued that the statement raised an issue of fact as to the time frame during which Biosound lacked a supervising neurologist. The statement was not sworn and was not made under the penalty of perjury.
The District Court granted summary judgment to plaintiffs on July 8, 2016, finding that the guilty pleas and accompanying colloquies established all elements of the FCA claims and collaterally estopped the defendants from contesting liability. It also struck the section of Mr. Patel's statement regarding the time frame during which Biosound had a supervising neurologist because it was "self-serving" and conflicted with testimony from the plea colloquy regarding the time frame without any "reasonable explanation." On December 23, 2016, the government moved for summary judgment on the remaining common law claims under the same theory—that the defendants had admitted to all the elements of the claims. The District Court agreed and granted the motion on April 3, 2017.
On May 3, 2017, Ms. Patel and Heart Solution appealed both summary judgment orders.11 They submit two primary arguments. First, they contend that Ms. Patel cannot be liable for any unsupervised neurological testing at Biosound because she did not own or operate Biosound, and thus had no legal duty to ensure Biosound employed a neurological testing supervisor. Second, they argue that even if we find them liable for the neurological testing issues at Biosound, Mr. Patel's statement created an issue of material fact as to the time frame during which the unsupervised testing occurred. We reject both of these arguments.
Moreover, we will affirm the District Court with regard to Ms. Patel's liability on the FCA and common law fraud claims. However, we will vacate the District Court's findings that (1) Heart Solution is estopped from contesting liability and damages for all claims, and (2) Ms. Patel is estopped from contesting liability and damages for the remaining common law claims.
The District Court had jurisdiction under 31 U.S.C. § 3732(a) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1367. We have jurisdiction of this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review over a district court's grant of summary judgment, applying the same standard as the district court.12 Under this standard, a court will "grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."13
We first address Ms. Patel's and Heart Solution's two main arguments on why the District Court erred in granting summary judgment. First, they contend that Ms. Patel cannot be liable for Biosound's unsupervised testing because she did not possess an ownership interest in Biosound and merely worked as an employee. We reject this argument and hold that ownership interest is irrelevant to FCA liability. Second, they argue that even if Ms. Patel is liable for Biosound's fraud, Mr. Patel's statement created a triable issue of fact as to the years during which Biosound lacked a supervising neurologist. We conclude that Mr. Patel's statement cannot create a disputed issue of fact on summary judgment because it was not sworn or made under penalty of perjury.
We address the issue of ownership first. Ms. Patel argues that because she did not have any ownership interest in Biosound, she had no duty to ensure that Biosound employed a supervising neurologist and was not in charge of ensuring Biosound's compliance with Medicare regulations. However, whether Ms. Patel had an ownership interest in Biosound is irrelevant to her liability under the FCA.14 There are four elements to the two FCA claims brought here: "falsity, causation, knowledge, and materiality."15 Ownership is not one of them. Although corporations and individuals with ownership interests—such as board members and executives—are typically the parties investigated and sued for FCA violations, individuals at all levels of a company have been found liable under the FCA.16 We conclude that individual employees with no ownership interest in a company can be liable under Sections 3729(a)(1)(A) and 3729(a)(1)(B) of the FCA.
This conclusion, that an ownership interest is not required for FCA liability, is consistent with the language of the FCA. Section 3729 establishes civil penalties for "[a]ny person" in violation of its provisions.17 The FCA does not define the term "person," but the Supreme Court has found that the meaning of the word has not changed since 1863, when Congress passed the original FCA.18 There is no doubt that Congress intended the term "person" to include natural persons. There is no suggestion in the FCA that an ownership interest is necessary to the definition of "person."19
Recent Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance regarding the FCA is consistent with our holding that ownership is not required for FCA liability. In 2015, then–Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a memo regarding corporate fraud and wrongdoing, including FCA enforcement.20 The memo explicitly states that the DOJ should focus on "seeking accountability from the individuals who perpetrated the wrongdoing."21 The memo states that the DOJ should "fully leverage its resources to identify culpable individuals at all levels in corporate cases"22 and that DOJ "lawyers should not agree to a corporate resolution that includes an agreement to dismiss charges against, or provide immunity for, individual officers or employees."23 It is clear from the language of the memo that, in the eyes of the DOJ, liability does not depend on ownership and employees are subject to suit.
Because ownership is irrelevant to FCA liability, the first argument fails.
Ms. Patel and Heart Solution also argue that there remains a triable issue of fact regarding the years during which Biosound employed a supervising neurologist. In support of this argument, they rely on Mr. Patel's statement, which claims that Biosound employed a supervising neurologist during 2006-2007 and 2012-2014. We conclude that because Mr. Patel's statement was both unsworn and not given under the penalty of perjury, it was insufficient to create an issue of fact on summary judgment.
This holding is consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, authority from our sister circuits, and our own precedent. A 2010 amendment to the Advisory Committee Notes on Federal Rule 56(c)(4), which governs evidence submitted on summary judgment, states "that while 'a formal affidavit is no longer required' on summary judgment, a certification submitted as a substitute for an affidavit must be subscribed in proper form as true under penalty of perjury." This amendment incorporates a statutory exception to the general rule that affidavits must be sworn to be considered on summary judgment. The statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1746, provides that when a matter is required to be supported by a sworn affidavit, the matter can instead be supported by an unsworn "declaration, certificate, verification, or statement," as long as the statement is made under penalty of perjury and dated. Thus, while an unsworn statement may be considered on summary judgment, an unsworn statement that has not been made under penalty of perjury cannot.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reached the same conclusion when presented with this issue. In Nissho-Iwai American Corp. v. Kline,24 the only evidence the nonmoving party submitted on summary judgment was an statement that was "neither sworn nor its contents stated to be true and correct nor stated under penalty of perjury."25 The court held that unsworn statements, on their own, generally cannot raise an issue of fact as to preclude summary judgment unless the statement falls within the statutory exception to this rule under Section 1746.26 The Second and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have come to similar conclusions.27
Although we have not directly addressed this issue in a precedential opinion, today's holding is in line with our prior rulings. In Woloszyn v. County of Lawrence,28 we held that a district court did not err in refusing to consider an unsworn statement on summary judgment because it did not comply with Rule 56.29
Accordingly, Mr. Patel's statement is incompetent summary judgment evidence. His statement is the only evidence Ms. Patel and Heart Solution submitted on the issue of the whether Biosound had a supervising neurologist at any point between 2006 and 2014.30 Therefore, there is no genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Biosound had a supervising neurologist.
We now turn to collateral estoppel as applied to Heart Solution and conclude that Heart Solution is not collaterally estopped from contesting liability or damages for the claims against it. Under federal common law, collateral estoppel applies when "(1) the issue sought to be precluded is the same as that involved in the prior action; (2) that issue was actually litigated; (3) it was determined by a final and valid judgment; and (4) the determination was essential to the prior judgment."31 Moreover, "collateral estoppel cannot apply when the party against whom the earlier decision is asserted did not have a full and fair opportunity to litigate that issue in the earlier case."32 In situations involving the collateral estoppel effects of a prior criminal judgment, "the court must examine the record of the criminal proceeding," including the plea colloquy, "to determine specifically what issues were decided."33 "[R]easonable doubt as to which issues were decided by a prior judgment should be resolved against using such judgment as an estoppel."34
Heart Solution cannot be estopped based on Ms. Patel's criminal conviction and plea colloquy. The United States charged and convicted only Mr. and Ms. Patel of healthcare fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1347—not Heart Solution.35 As such, Heart Solution did not have any opportunity, much less a "full and fair opportunity,"36 to litigate any issue involved in this appeal. Moreover, whether Heart Solution defrauded Medicare by submitting false reports about neurological testing was not actually litigated or determined by a final judgment in the criminal proceeding. Ms. Patel's plea testimony and conviction certainly speak to her role in Biosound's schemes to defraud Medicare, but they do not establish that Heart Solution had any role in this scheme.
Thus, we will vacate the District Court's holding that Heart Solution is estopped.
Next, we address Ms. Patel's liability for FCA violations and common law fraud and conclude that (1) the District Court properly found that she was estopped from contesting the falsity and knowledge elements of these claims; and (2) the Government met its burden to show materiality and causation.
An FCA violation has four elements: "falsity, causation, knowledge, and materiality."37 Ms. Patel admitted that: (1) she "falsely represented to Medicare that the neurological testing being performed at Biosound Medical Services was being supervised by a licensed neurologist when, in fact, it was not;" and (2) she "knowingly made these false representations to Medicare." As a result, she is collaterally estopped from denying the falsity and knowledge elements of the FCA claims.
We also conclude that the materiality element has been satisfied 38 even though the District Court did not apply Supreme Court precedent. In June 2016, the Supreme Court decided Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar,39 where it held that materiality is an element of all FCA claims, regardless of whether the specific statutory provision lists materiality as an element.40 The Court then provided guidance on how the materiality requirement should be applied. It explained that a misrepresentation is not material merely because the government designates compliance with a particular regulatory requirement as a condition of payment or because "the Government would have the option to decline to pay if it knew of the defendant's noncompliance [with the regulation]."41 In fact, it is "very strong evidence" that a requirement is not material "if the Government pays a particular claim in full despite its actual knowledge that certain requirements were violated."42 Thus, materiality "cannot be found where noncompliance is minor or insubstantial."43 On the other hand, materiality may be found where "the Government consistently refuses to pay claims in the mine run of cases based on noncompliance with the particular statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirement."44
The District Court did not apply Escobar in its analysis. It relied exclusively on the provision labeling supervision of diagnostic testing a condition of payment rather than looking to the record for other factors, as provided in Escobar, bearing on the materiality analysis.45 However, when we examine the record, we conclude that there is no issue of fact as to materiality under Escobar.
The initial burden was on the government to show materiality, and it met its burden when it submitted that, pursuant to the regulation, Medicare would not pay the claims in the absence of a certification from a supervising neurologist. Neither Ms. Patel nor any other defendant put forth any evidence indicating otherwise. She made no showing that noncompliance with the supervision requirement was "minor or insubstantial"46 or that Medicare generally pays this type of claim "in full despite its actual knowledge that certain requirements were violated."47 Because the Government met its burden to show materiality and Ms. Patel put forth no evidence in rebuttal, the element of materiality was properly established, and there is no need to remand this case to the District Court to determine materiality under Escobar.
This conclusion as to materiality also means that there was causation—the final FCA element. Because these misrepresentations were material, they caused damage to Medicare. In other words, but for the misrepresentations, Medicare would never have paid the claims.
Next, we address the District Court's holding that Ms. Patel's conviction also estops her from contesting liability as to common law fraud. The elements of fraud under New Jersey law are (1) knowingly making a material misrepresentation; (2) an intention that the other person rely on the misrepresentation; (3) reasonable reliance by the other person; and (4) resulting damages.48 We agree with the District Court that Ms. Patel is estopped from denying that she knowingly made misrepresentations to Medicare regarding the neurological testing being performed at Biosound. Moreover, for the same reasons as in the FCA claim, we find that the materiality and causation/reliance elements of common law fraud have been met. Therefore, we will affirm the District Court's determination as to common law fraud.
Turning to the remaining common law claims—unjust enrichment, disgorgement of profits, and payment by mistake of fact—we hold that Ms. Patel is not collaterally estopped from denying liability or damages as to these claims.
An essential element of all three of these claims is that the defendant retained funds—payments from Medicare in this case. Unjust enrichment requires a showing "that defendant received a benefit and that retention of that benefit without payment would be unjust."49 A disgorgement of profits claim requires that the defendant have profit or revenue to disgorge.50 And payment by mistake of fact allows the United States to recover money from a defendant that "its agents have wrongfully, erroneously, or illegally paid."51
Whether Ms. Patel or Heart Solution specifically—as opposed to Mr. Patel and Biosound—retained any from funds from Medicare was not determined in the criminal case so as to estop Ms. Patel from contesting liability for these claims. In order to find that Ms. Patel is collaterally estopped, we must find that the issue of whether she retained funds was (1) involved and litigated in the prior action, (2) actually determined by a final judgment, and (3) essential to the conviction.52 Ms. Patel's conviction and plea colloquy do not permit such findings. First, 18 U.S.C. § 1347 criminalizes knowingly "defraud[ing] any health care benefit program" or "obtain[ing] ․ money ․ owned by ․ any health care benefit program." Thus, Ms. Patel need not have obtained money from Medicare to be liable under Section 1347; she could have just defrauded Medicare.
Her plea colloquy does not establish that she obtained funds from Medicare. Ms. Patel admitted that she submitted false claims to Medicare about the neurological testing at her husband's company, Biosound. She also admitted that Biosound and Heart Solution were paid approximately $ 1.18 million from Medicare for unsupervised neurological testing. These admissions may suggest that Ms. Patel and/or Heart Solution retained at least part of the $ 1.18 million, but they are not sufficient to estop Ms. Patel from arguing and submitting evidence to show otherwise. It is possible that Mr. Patel and Biosound retained the entire benefit and Ms. Patel and Heart Solution retained nothing. The criminal proceedings do not speak to this question, much less resolve it. Where there is "reasonable doubt as to which issues were decided by a prior judgment" we cannot conclude that collateral estoppel applies.53
This same reasoning applies to the question of damages. Ms. Patel is not estopped from contesting damages because neither her conviction nor colloquy conclusively establish she was ever paid by Medicare for unsupervised neurological testing.
As such, we will reverse the District Court's grant of summary judgment on the unjust enrichment, disgorgement of profits, and payment by mistake of fact claims. We will also reverse the District Court's finding as to damages assessed against Ms. Patel with regard to these claims.
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court's judgment on the issue of Ms. Patel's liability and damages under the FCA for false claims submitted to Medicare for unsupervised neurological tests and on the issue of Ms. Patel's common law fraud. We will reverse the portions of the District Court's summary judgment orders with respect to Heart Solution and with respect to Nita Patel's liability and damages for the remaining common law claims and remand this case to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
1. Ms. Patel was sentenced to 78 months in prison and is currently serving her sentence.
2. 42 U.S.C. § 1395y(a)(1)(A).
3. 42 C.F.R. § 410.32(b)(1); 42 C.F.R. § 411.15(k).
4. A41.
5. Ms. Patel does not contest that she owns Heart Solution. The parties disagree on whether Ms. Patel had any ownership interest in Biosound. But as discussed in III.A, whether Ms. Patel had an ownership interest in Biosound is irrelevant; thus, we do not make any determinations as to this issue.
8. A44. Medicare paid a total of $ 1,668,954.95. $ 1.18 million was for the neurological testing, and the remainder was for the scheme not at issue here.
9. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A).
10. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(B).
11. Kirtish Patel and Biosound did not appeal.
12. Blunt v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., 767 F.3d 247, 265 (3d Cir. 2014).
13. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).
14. Ms. Patel also makes this argument in her brief with respect to common law fraud, stating that "there is no evidence that Nita Patel made material misrepresentations to Medicare regarding supervision of the neurological testing that was performed at Biosound," supposedly because she did not own Biosound. This argument fails on its face because she plainly admitted in her plea colloquy that she made such misrepresentations.
15. United States ex rel. Petratos v. Genentech Inc., 855 F.3d 481, 487 (3d Cir. 2017) (citations omitted).
16. See, e.g., United States v. Krizek, 111 F.3d 934, 942 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (wife of psychiatrist who worked as an employee in his practice was liable under FCA); United States v. Menominee Tribal Enterprises, 601 F.Supp.2d 1061, 1071 (E.D. Wis. 2009) (employees of a tribe are "persons" under the FCA); U.S. ex rel. Burlbaw v. Regents of N.M. State Univ., 324 F.Supp.2d 1209, 1215 (D.N.M. 2004) ("[U]nder the FCA, state employees are 'persons' who may be sued if they are sufficiently involved in the submission of a false claim to the United States.").
17. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1).
18. See Cook County, Ill. v. U.S. ex rel. Chandler, 538 U.S. 119, 125, 123 S.Ct. 1239, 155 L.Ed.2d 247 (2003).
19. Id. at 125, 123 S.Ct. 1239 ("[T]he Court ․ recognized the presumption that the statutory term 'person' 'extends as well to persons politic and incorporate, as to natural persons whatsoever.' ") (quoting United States v. Amedy, 24 U.S. (11 Wheat.) 392, 412, 6 L.Ed. 502 (1826)). Even if the term's meaning was not clear, the Dictionary Act resolves the question. See Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682, 134 S.Ct. 2751, 2793, 189 L.Ed.2d 675 (2014) ("The Dictionary Act's definition [of the term person], however, controls only where context does not indicate otherwise.") (citations omitted). The Dictionary Act's definition of the term "person" includes "individuals" and does not indicate any necessity for ownership interests. See 1 U.S.C. § 1.
20. See Memorandum from Sally Q. Yates on Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing to the DOJ, at 4 (Sept. 9, 2015) (mentioning liability under 31 U.S.C. § 3729 explicitly).
21. Id. at 1.
22. Id. at 2 (emphasis added).
24. 845 F.2d 1300 (5th Cir. 1988).
25. Id. at 1305-06.
26. Id. at 1306-07; see also Ion v. Chevron USA, Inc., 731 F.3d 379, 382 n.2 (5th Cir. 2013) ("Although unsworn documents usually cannot raise fact issues precluding summary judgment, [the] declaration can be considered pursuant to the statutory exception found in 28 U.S.C. § 1746.").
27. See In re World Trade Center Disaster Site Litig., 722 F.3d 483, 488 (2d Cir. 2013) (unsworn statements can be considered on summary judgment as long as they comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1746); Pfeil v. Rogers, 757 F.2d 850, 859 (7th Cir. 1985) ("Affidavits are admissible in summary judgment proceedings if they are made under penalties of perjury; only unsworn documents purporting to be affidavits may be rejected").
28. 396 F.3d 314 (3d Cir. 2005).
29. Id. at 322-23. Woloszyn was decided before the 2010 amendments to the Advisory Notes, and thus, did not consider whether the statement complied with the 28 U.S.C. § 1746 exception.
30. Ms. Patel and Heart Solution also argue that the words "supervision" and "the" in the sentencing judge's questioning are ambiguous and create an issue of material fact as to the time frame during which Biosound employed a supervising neurologist. This argument fails. Even if these words were ambiguous in the context of the plea colloquy, the Appellants have put forth no evidence supporting Ms. Patel's understanding of such terms. Thus, these arguments are insufficient to create an issue of fact at the summary judgment stage.
31. In re Graham, 973 F.2d 1089, 1097 (3d Cir. 1992) (citations omitted).
32. Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 95, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980) (citations omitted).
33. Chisholm v. Def. Logistics Agency, 656 F.2d 42, 48 (3d Cir. 1981).
34. Id. at 50 (citing Kauffman v. Moss, 420 F.2d 1270, 1274 (3d Cir. 1970)).
35. See Criminal Complaint, United States v. Patel, No. 15-cr-592 (D.N.J. June 9, 2014), ECF No. 1.
36. Allen, 449 U.S. at 95, 101 S.Ct. 411.
38. Because we find that the materiality element of the FCA claims has been satisfied, we need not reach the question of whether Ms. Patel is collaterally estopped from contesting materiality. Therefore, we make no determinations as to whether materiality under 18 U.S.C. § 1347—the criminal statute under which Ms. Patel was convicted—and materiality under the FCA are the same "essential element."
39. ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 1989, 195 L.Ed.2d 348 (2016).
40. Id. at 2002-03; see also United States ex rel. Spay v. CVS Caremark Corp., 875 F.3d 746, 763 (3d Cir. 2017) ("Despite the lack of a materiality requirement, the Supreme Court had no trouble finding that the FCA's materiality requirement also applied to this section.").
41. Escobar, 136 S.Ct. at 2003.
42. Id.
45. Escobar specifically states that whether a "provision is labeled a condition of payment is relevant to but not dispositive of the materiality inquiry." Id. at 2001 (emphasis added).
46. Id. at 2003.
48. Banco Popular N. Am. v. Gandi, 184 N.J. 161, 172-73, 876 A.2d 253 (2005).
49. VRG Corp. v. GKN Realty Corp., 135 N.J. 539, 554, 641 A.2d 519 (1994) (emphasis added).
50. See Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Am. Metals Exch. Corp., 991 F.2d 71, 76 (3d Cir. 1993).
51. United States v. Wurts, 303 U.S. 414, 415, 58 S.Ct. 637, 82 L.Ed. 932 (1938).
52. See In re Graham, 973 F.2d 1089, 1097 (3d Cir. 1992).
ROTH, Circuit Judge
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If you're wondering whether the price of your house is likely to rise anytime soon, you'd do well to check out how your local schools perform in this week's GCSE results, according to new research from Homeowners Alliance.
According to the research, property values in areas with a much-improved school rise faster than the national average.
Homeowners Alliance analysed the GCSE results of every school in the country in 2013 and 2016 and house prices over the same period of time and found that properties in local authority areas that are home to one of the top 50 most improved schools went up by an average of 28.1% between August 2013 and December 2016, almost four percentage points more than the national average of 24.75%.
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Meanwhile, in the north-west, St Anthony's Catholic College in Manchester saw local property prices rise by 35%, against wider regional performance of 16%, a difference of nearly 20 percentage points. Similarly, Focus School in Stockport saw prices rise by 23%, a seven-percentage point increase on the regional benchmark.
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"We know that good schools are a major concern for families and therefore an improving school can really help to increase the demand for housing in the local area. It's always very difficult to isolate any one factor as the reason for property price growth, but it is telling that across the country, prices have grown more in local authority areas that are close to a much-improved school. Furthermore, this effect is not contained within London, but spread throughout the country.
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The authors found five major challenges to improving inventory management in the public sector.
The key to improving inventory management within the Department of Veterans Affairs specifically, and more widely throughout the federal government, is to apply best practices now used in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Such best practices include using predictive analytics, adopting process mapping, establishing a culture of continuous improvement, adopting more effective staff training approaches, and building a culture of teamwork.
This report continues the IBM Center's long interest in both the issue of inventory management and acquisition. Recently Zachary S. Huitink and David M. Van Slyke examined the Better Buying Power initiative in the Department of Defense in their report Beyond Business as Usual: Improving Defense Acquisition through Better Buying Power. We hope that the inventory management leaders, as well as top agency leaders, will find the findings and recommendations in this report helpful in furthering efforts to improve inventory management in government.
Read the Federal Times article about the report.
Read the Government Executive article about the report.


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Home Posts Tagged "featured"
Tom's Guide has a post by Paul Wagenseil on a lecture given by security researcher Melissa Elliott (better known as 0xabad1dea) at DEFCON on August 3rd. Elliott spoke about how a cheap $10 USB TV tuner dongle, better known to us as an RTL-SDR, can be used to pick up 'accidental radio emissions' which can then be used to fingerprint devices. Back in the 1970s the NSA had a program codenamed Tempest that was designed to investigate and study these compromising emanations. Elliott, who is a researcher at the security company Veracode in Boston, demonstrated using an RTL-SDR to pickup various emissions from electronic devices.
"I managed to go most of my life not knowing that my electronics were all leaking all of the signals that detail what they're getting up in their private little electronic lives," Elliott said.
But a visit to the U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone on the Virginia-West Virginia border, site of the world's largest moveable radio-astronomy telescope, taught Elliott otherwise.
"Their biggest challenge to getting the science done is the very electronics that they need to measure and process the signal, because those same electronics blast the signal out at the sky," Elliott said.
"They have a microwave oven, which is a Faraday cage" — a structure enclosed by a wire mesh to prevent electricity from getting in or out — "inside another Faraday cage, inside another room, which is also a Faraday cage," she recalled. "That is how much they had to shield things just so they could reheat their pizza at 2 a.m."
So Elliott found a website that sold USB tuners for $10, and found free software to tune and analyze the signals.
At DEF CON, she demonstrated how much radio noise electronic devices emit by using a netbook she bought for $50 on a trip to China. - Link to Story
The DEFCON Website gives this description of her talk:
If it's electronic, it makes noise. Not necessarily noise that you and I can hear, of course – unless you know how to tune in. The air around us is filled with bloops, bleeps, and bzzts of machines going about their business, betraying their existence through walls or even from across the street. The unintentional noise lurking among intentional signals can even reveal what the machine is currently doing when it thinks it's keeping that information to itself. Attacks exploiting electromagnetic radiation, such as TEMPEST, have long been known, but government-sized budgets are no longer needed to procure the radio equipment. USB television receiver dongles can be used as software-defined radios (SDR) that cost less than a slice of Raspberry Pi. The goal of this talk is to show you that anyone with twenty bucks and some curiosity can learn a great deal about your computers and other equipment without ever leaving a trace, and you shouldn't neglect this risk when managing your organization's security.
Over on YouTube, Stephen Ong has posted a video of his standalone Terratec RTL-SDR and BeagleBone Black based spectrum analyzer. What makes this unique is the lack of computer needed and dedicated 7 inch touch LCD screen (CircuitCo LCD7 cape). Powered by 6 AA batteries, the unit is nice and portable. BeagleBoards are low-cost, fan-less single-board computers based on low-power Texas Instruments processors featuring the ARM Cortex-A8 core. The BeagleBone Black DevKit used in the video costs around USD$50. He demonstrates the unit showing the RF spectrum of commercial FM stations, car remote transmitters, analog TV (PAL B) broadcast, DVB-T broadcast, cellular GSM900 and a DECT cordless phone.
DrVarnik on YouTube has posted a tutorial video on how to receive, decode and plot AIS information. The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a system used for automatic tracking of large ships and passenger boats. It is a similar idea to tracking aircraft with ADS-B. His method uses a RTL-SDR for receiving the AIS signals with SDRSharp, decoding received signals with AISMon and plotting the decoded information with OpenCPN. He uses VB-Cable for looping the audio from SDRSharp to AISMon, but if you have a 'Stereo Mix' or equivalent feature with your soundcard, that will be unneeded. Best results will be achieved using a narrow-band vertically polarized antenna tuned for 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz (marine VHF). A directional antenna would also likely be a benefit. You can find some designs to try lower down the page. For safety, please only use this guide on land! Wouldn't want you getting lost at sea.
Here are the homepages of the software used:
SDRSharp
AISMon – You may need to first join the group with a Yahoo account to gain access to the file section.
VB-Cable (for looping audio from SDRSharp to AISMON)
Below is a screenshot of OpenCPN in action:
Here are some antennas designed for AIS reception:
Collinear AIS Antenna
162MHz Yagi for AIS
SlimJim using 300 Ohm twin lead cable
or any antenna tuned to ~162MHz
For a tutorial with other software, check out the Cheap AIS Ship Tracking page at rtl-sdr.com
How to Receive NOAA Satellite Images
For more than 50 years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather satellites have been helping monitor the earth's weather patterns. Now over on YouTube max30max31 (IZ5RZR) has posted a tutorial on how you can receive images from the NOAA weather satellites (NOAA-9, NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19) at home using an RTL-SDR. He gives a full walk through of using Orbitron to track the satellites, WXtoImg to decode received images and using SDRSharp to tune your RTL-SDR. He also suggests building and using a QFH Antenna or Turnstile Antenna with your RTL-SDR to receive the satellites.
Here is a list of programs used and homepage links:
WXtoImg
If you're looking for some antenna designs, check out:
PHQFH Antenna Construction Guide
Worlds Lightest QFH Antenna
QFH Antenna for 137 MHz
QFH For the Weather Satellite Band
Turnstile Antenna for Weather Satellites
Here is an example of and image you could receive:
UPDATE: Jordan Jean-Philippe Blanchard has shared a link on the RTL-SDR Facebook Group to his setup for receiving the weather satellite images using an RTL-SDR, check out his setup & check out what he has received.
Tracking of Low Orbit Satellites with a Dish & RTL-SDR
Travis Goodspeed has shared a project on his blog about his adventure in tracking low orbit satellites using a fairly complex setup. He is using a dish intended for connecting to one of the Inmarsat satellites while at sea on a maritime vessel, a EiBotBoard connected to a BeagleBone for motor control and a RTL-SDR for receiving radio signals from the dish. His goal has been to track the whole sky, including moving targets and it looks like he has been pretty successful.
"At Black Hat DC in 2008, I watched Adam Laurie present a tool for mapping Ku-band satellite downlinks, which he has since rewritten as Satmap. His technique involves using an DVB-S card in a Linux computer as a receiver through a 90cm Ku-band dish with fixed elevation and a DiSEqC motor for azimuth motion. It was among the most inspirational talks I'd ever seen, and I had a blast recreating his setup and scanning the friendly skies. However, such a rig is limited to geostationary satellites in a small region of the sky; I wanted to see the whole sky, especially the moving targets.
In this article, I'll demonstrate a method for modifying a naval telecommunications dish to track moving targets in the sky, such as those in Low Earth Orbit. My dish happily sits in Tennessee, while I direct it using my laptop or cellphone here in Europe. It can also run unattended, tracking moving targets and looking for downlink channels." — Travis Goodspeed
via RTL-SDR.com
Fractal Antenna for Use With RTL-SDR (or your HDTV)
Over on the RTL-SDR Facebook Page, Boris Lukac has shared a link to an Instructable by tigers58 for a omnidirectional fractal HDTV antenna. The simple build covers 50-1100MHz making it perfect for general use with a RTL-SDR and for grabbing some extra HDTV channels when not hooked up to your dongle. The supplies needed to build the antenna may already be laying around your home or workbench:
A piece of poster board or suitble material
Printer with paper to print out the pattern PDF
Thumb-tack (or other sharp pointy tool)
10.5 ft of 22-24 AWG copper/aluminum wire
Crimp connector and tool to crimp with
A length of 300 Ohm Twin Lead, or, an in-line 300 Ohm to 75 Ohm matching transformer (tigers58 also states he has had success with just directly connecting RG-6 coax to the antenna leads)
Other tools such as a screwdriver for attaching the antenna leads to the matching transformer and craft knife or other small sharp blade for cutting slots into poster board.
"After reading an article about the use of fractal mathematics in the design of cell phone antennas that have incredible bandwidth in spite of their extremely small size, I began to experiment with using a very simple fractal pattern, the Koch Snowflake, as the basis for an easy to build indoor HDTV antenna. The result of that experimentation is presented here as what I believe to be not only the best DIY HDTV antenna, but the also the simplest to build, not only in terms of the materials needed, but also in the labor required. As the holder of an Extra Class amateur radio license, I know there is no such thing as a "magic" antenna, but I started referring to this antenna as the magic antenna when I discovered that it had such amazing bandwidth, covering digital channels 2 through 60. So, with that in mind, let's get started." — tigers58
With many people already having these items on hand, this could be a quick cheap project to help increase the signals you are able to pick up with your RTL-SDR Dongle. Be sure to check out the Instructable page for all the steps needed to build this antenna. Keep in mind, with a wideband antenna like this, it may introduce more noise. Depending where you live and what is around your antenna, your results may very. Keeping the antenna flat may also allow for more directionality while reducing noise from sources out of the direction you wish to receive.
Improving ADS-B Reception Using Multiple RTL-SDRs
lui_gough from Gough's Tech Zone has a new post featuring his interest and progress in improving the reach of his ADS-B reception and plotting ability. His recent project involves using his ADSBpi (Raspberry Pi, RTL-SDR & dump1090), his home PC and another remote PC controlled over the internet. A diagram of this setup can be seen below.
In order to get the most coverage as I can sensibly get, I leveraged my ADSBpi, my main desktop and another machine I have access to which is geographically much closer to the airport via VPN. — lui_gough
This allows him to receive signals from a much larger area than would be possible with a single antenna, single location setup. He does mention a few caveats however, like the increased chance of occasional false decode which can mess with the plotting by visualizing a plane that is unrealistically far away. A big boost to the usability of his project was using Cygwin to compile dump1090 under windows. This allows him to use the dump1090 ADS-B hub features (decoding appears broken under Cygwin compilation) without having to dedicate a machine to linux or use a virtual machine.
Click here to read the full story on his blog. Be sure to check out all of Gough's Tech Zone as he has few other interesting posts involving the use of RTL-SDRs to receive ADS-B
via RTL-SDR Blog

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I am teaming up with other bloggers over at The Schoolhouse Review Crew to help you get ready for the holidays! Everyone is welcome to participate. Today's topic is DECORATING!!!
Some people go all out for Thanksgiving, but unless I am gifted some pretty gourds, our house looks pretty much the same for Turkey day. We do, however, add a little sparkle to our house for Christmas.
For the last eleven years, Michael and I have followed a routine of 'No decorating until December 24.' We have been more lenient with outside lights; it's so much fun to drive up to the house on a cold and wintry night and be greeted by a sparkle of color. I would probably leave them up year around if I could. The inside, though, is not decorated until December 24. Since we usually cut down our tree, we bring it in the house and leave it bare until then.
Some folks think we are nuts to wait so long to decorate when just the opposite is true. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Lord; you wouldn't decorate for a birthday a month or longer before the date. The decorations would seem stale and tired by the time the day was near. By decorating a few hours before Christmas Day we are ensuring that things are new and fresh. Holly and fresh greens are spread around, the tree is decorated, decorations are hung in doorways and on banisters. Christmas cards are saved until the night of Christmas Eve, and then hung by ribbons on the walls for all to enjoy.
We keep it simple. The last thing I need at the holidays is to be overwhelmed by a messy house. Decorations that can't be touched by curious little fingers are kept up, others are down where they are constantly explored, moved, and sometimes destroyed. We try not to let these mishaps upset us, memories what we like to keep, not knick-knacks.
Some years, especially those years that we travel, a potted tree and a few handmade stockings are all we can manage at home. And that's fine. We don't need tons of flashy ornaments to keep us in the Christmas Spirit. Sometimes less is more, and when we have more that's fine too!
Waiting until Dec. 24th would definitely simplify the holidays. I love hearing my mom tell stories of hiking into my grandpa's woods to choose their tree on Christmas Eve.
Someday I would love to be able to cut down our own tree!


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30 Rock Season 5
Video > TV shows
3.93 GiB (4220928070 Bytes)
Spoken language(s):
matreshka4u
245DED82F5F2F3EE70153626882E4E0596A72C18
On March 5, 2010, NBC announced 30 Rock had been renewed for a fifth season, which aired in the 2010–2011 TV season on the Thursday 8:30 p.m. time slot and premiered on September 23.[57]
On July 31, 2010, NBC announced that an episode of 30 Rock's fifth season would be filmed and broadcast live, twice, on the evening of October 14, 2010. The two separate recordings resulted in a live telecast of the episode to American viewers in both the West and East Coast, to ensure both would view a live performance. Filmed in front of a live audience, the episode aired at 8:30 pm EDT and PDT on NBC. A ratings success, the episode was also met with positive reviews.[58][58][59][60]
On November 15, 2010, NBC announced that 30 Rock would be moving to 10/9c starting January 20.[61]
matreshka4u at 2011-10-15 08:49 CET:
hi to all, i covered this torrent ten times, so it's time for you to keep it alive. give the opportunity for the others to have it, too))
people, i have gomer pyle, an old time tv show, but it's so old that i'm not sure that it might be popular here, so i don't know if i waste my time downloading it. your call..
i meant with uploads, of course. are there any fans of gomer pyle?


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Hairstyling Irons Recalled by Farouk Systems Inc. Due to Fire and Burn Hazards
Release #08-124
Firm's Recall Hotline: (800) 237-9175
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of Product: WEE CHI Ceramic Hairstyling Irons
Units: About 5,700
Importer/Distributor: Farouk Systems Inc., of Houston, Texas
Hazard: The iron's "on/off" switch was installed incorrectly. When the iron is plugged in and switch is in the "off" position, the iron remains "on," which could pose fire and burn hazards.
Incidents/Injuries: None reported.
Description: The recalled hairstyling iron is black and measures 9.5 inches long. "CHI" is printed on the iron in red lettering. Date code 0306 or 0507 is embossed on the inside of the paddle.
Sold by: Professional beauty supply distributors and beauty salons nationwide from April 2006 through September 2007 for about $160.
Manufactured in: South Korea
Remedy: Consumers should stop using the product immediately and contact the firm to return the product for a full refund or replacement iron. Farouk Systems is directly notifying all distributors and retailers.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Farouk Systems Inc. at (800) 237-9175 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.farouk.com
Hush Recalls Anesthetic Gels, Sprays and Foam Soaps Due to Failure to Meet Child Resistant Closure Requirement; Risk of Poisoning
Vivitar Recalls Hot/Cold Massage Balls Due to Burn Hazard; Sold Exclusively at Target
TJX Recalls Heating Pads Due to Fire and Burn Hazards; Sold Exclusively at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls Stores
Clinical Resolution Laboratory Recalls Topical Anesthetic Due to Failure to Meet Child Resistant Closure Requirement; Risk of Poisoning
Biotouch Recalls Topical Anesthetic Due to Failure to Meet Child Resistant Closure Requirement; Risk of Poisoning


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Snack Sessions Interview : ATLAAS
Manitoba Music's Snack Sessions video series featuring emerging local artists that streams live via Facebook. Read on and stay tuned for more Snack Sessions. Snack Sessions is made possible by the support of Corus Entertainment, with snacks provided by Tomahawk Chips and Half Pints Brewing Company.
By Graeme Houssin
After a busy year, the map is only getting bigger for synthy R&B triad ATLAAS.
While they've played a number of high-profile festivals and shows within the past six months – including Real Love Winnipeg's New Year's Eve bash, Big Fun Festival, Festival du Voyageur, and the Manitoba Music Export showcase at NXNE – notoriety and expansion wasn't always the goal for singer-songwriter and ATLAAS frontwoman Heather Thomas when she started playing as ATLAAS years ago.
"When I first started playing out and being a part of the local scene, it was a challenge because I was very afraid and had a lot of self-doubt," says Thomas. "What drove me wasn't a vision; it was a fear, or a growth."
Five years, two EPs and two new bandmates later, ATLAAS is a mainstay in Winnipeg's local scene, and Thomas is prepared for growth.
"I've gotten to the place in the last couple of years where I am looking ahead and I am planning for the next step and trying to make moves towards it," she says.
While ATLAAS' sound draws from many genres – "I usually would say like, R&B pop or electro-R&B, but it's tough to say exactly what it is," says Thomas – her pop-approach to songwriting felt singular, especially at the time of her debut in January of 2014. From the beginning, ATLAAS embraced the "guilty pleasures" of fun, cheery pop music.
"My songs are pop songs," says Thomas. "They're trying to have a hook; they're trying to tell a story."
Because of the last few years' push for more inclusion in the local scene, Thomas says she's excited to find ATLAAS among artists of varying perspectives, musical backgrounds, and influences bringing new sounds and inspiration to the local scene.
"Having all those perspectives now is opening up doors and the music people grew up loving that wasn't 'cool rock music' or whatever is able to have a voice is someone else," says Thomas.
Beyond a set at Whoop & Hollar Folk Festival in Portage La Prairie this August, ATLAAS plans to be touring this September and writing new material. The experience of collaborating with two bandmates – Charlotte Friesen on electric guitar and Luke Janzen on drums – is a new one for Thomas as she recalibrates her approach to arranging music.
"It's a bit of a different process," says Thomas. "And because we have more time, it's taking more time."
Although the technicalities of arranging and composing a track has shifted – as Thomas had all her songs prepared before Friesen and Janzen's addition to the outfit – her songwriting technique stays the same. It comes from a personal place, an exploration of love in its many forms – including self-love.
"Writing [is] a way of taking a step back and analyze how I'm feeling and expressing myself without being too vulnerable, right, because you're not actually telling the person how you feel," says Thomas. "You're just telling the world!"
Keep an ear out for new music from ATLAAS in the upcoming year. Until then, listen to their 2018 self-tilted EP on their Manitoba Music profile.
Stay tuned for more Snack Sessions...
August 1 Raine Hamilton
August 29 Sebastian Gaskin
Snack Sessions ATLAAS Graeme Houssin Manitoba Music Profile


Falcon Being Trained H B With Decorative Ornate Printed Frame. iphone x case by Gert J Rheeders. Protect your iPhone X with an impact-resistant, slim-profile, hard-shell case. The image is printed directly onto the case and wrapped around the edges for a beautiful presentation. Simply snap the case onto your iPhone X for instant protection and direct access to all of the phone's features!
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DisastrousSir
Anyone hiring entry level BS Chem E's in the USA?
DisastrousSir 0 points1 point2 points 5 days ago
Fluor in Sugar Land, TX has openings. Check LinkedIn
The cops aren't playing with a full deck either
DisastrousSir 3 points4 points5 points 9 days ago
....The original comment in this thread said "could've been disastrous if the second car was speeding too"
Complaining about what the food bank gave them, but they have a nice manicure that is clearly fresh. Priorities? Check.
DisastrousSir 10 points11 points12 points 12 days ago
No need to apologize for expressing feelings a lot of people share.
The most expensive thing is being poor. Poverty is a very hard hole to dig out of. Even more so if you have kids to take care of as well, and most of America is really not that far from being on hard times. It's not our place to try and determine why someone is on hard times
"I am speed"
DisastrousSir 7 points8 points9 points 13 days ago
Did the same thing on a longboard. Cruising along and he's trotting along next to me. Got all excited and said "wanna go fast?" And start pushing full speed ahead...
He breezed by me. On wheels. He pulled me a little faster but luckily remembered he's supposed to stay next to me and chilled out a little bit, but he could easily smoke my ass in a race no doubt
🔥 Moles aren't very good at walking above ground.
Wasn't sure if you were aware and joking or not, but if not Mole you see in Mexican restaurants is a sauce. It's a lot of different spices/chili peppers/fruits/other flavorful things made into a sauce. There's a lot of types, some use some chocolate as an ingredient but it doesn't make it chocolatey tasting really. Just a small part of a very complex sauce that can be sweet, spicy, salty, slight bitter, and/or packed chock full of flavor. Would recommend trying sometime.
One ring to rule them all.
DisastrousSir 0 points1 point2 points 13 days ago
Something along those lines, yes. It's Patrick Adair I believe. he has a cool youtube channel and does a lot of fun ring designs, many with various glow powders
Spring Break in/near Houston
DisastrousSir 1 point2 points3 points 15 days ago
As someone from the Midwest who recently moved to the area, Houston can be a lot fun. Look up the Houston citypass, it's basically pay 60ish bucks and get access to a few different things for a week. It'll help save some money if they're things you'd like to do.
Personally, I think Galveston is enjoyable. I stay away from the tourist side (the pier) and there's a lot of beach space that's pretty open. The water isn't always the prettiest, but pretty much every time I've gone it's been clear and perfect for scratching that ocean desire. I don't really care it's not perfectly blue.
Depending on how long you're staying though, I agree with some of the people here. You might get more enjoyment out of making Houston a pit stop to somewhere else. Get 1 or 2 full days and do the space center, some local food, See a couple of sights and then hop somewhere else. You're gonna get killed on rental car costs here probably and spend a lot of your time in traffic.
Germany just hit 92% renewables - whole day average.
We used wood for both heating the house and heating water. I've since moved out, but I think my parents may install solar at some point as well. The only utility hooked up was electric.
It's understandably difficult for a lot of folks, but in an area with some space, it was lovely. We had enough trees that we could predominantly use ones that just naturally fell without even cutting any extras down, and since it was acting as essentially an on demand water heater never really had to worry about running out of hot water for anything or feeling too guilty with an extra long shower since it was just the power from the 2 pumps for the well and burner/water Heater loop.
Our burner was very low maintenance as well. No issues to speak of over the last 5 years, and it'd been installed for atleast a few years prior. If I ever have the space to make it feasible, I'd definitely consider going that route for my own home.
Just as a foreword, this is semantic and my family uses wood for heat and it's freakin awesome.
Machinery associated with the logging/processing (currently) would primarily be consuming fossil fuels and contributing some emissions as a result, but a lot of the smaller branches and leaves are left to decompose and become soil/humus. On an individual scale it's actually most likely carbon negative, but on a larger commercial scale I wonder what it works out to in terms of carbon balance.
18M Natural Transformation (Skinny to Muscle)
Brown rice is better in terms of nutrients but as long as you're eating some fruits and vegetables it probably is pretty negligible in your overall picture
I think we all need someone a bit judgy that loves us and will work with us. I wish I would've had someone more judgy in my life to help motivate me out of my slump in college. Stressful degree and some mental health issues led to using food as a coping mechanism and I absolutely destroyed the progress is made in high school. I'm 5'7" and went from 160 pounds &six pack and loving myself to 250 Pounds and just being disappointed with myself over 4 years. Finally restarting my fitness journey though
drone footage looking down into a volcanic eruption from above
I don't know if the oxygen would add much to the party here because it's not really a combustible since it's molten rock, but.... a cylinder full of water? That would be pretty freakin cool. Makes such violent little explosions in lava/molten hot stuff
Ted Bundy vibes
I believe they handle kidnappings/missing persons. That may be what they're suggesting
Teacher in critical condition after being shot by a 6 year old student in Virginia.
I think you're selling yourself short on your ability to figure it out. It's made to be easy to load and with a couple minutes and some curiosity you'd figure it out I'm sure. I am sure this would also extend to children consider they actually have pretty good curiosity and ability to figure out things by trial and error. I.e. the fact my 7 year old nephew blows my mom out of the water in terms of figuring out technology.
The thing that gets me here however is if it was a semi-automatic pistol (i havent read any of these articles yet), I'm impressed a kid would have the strength to move the slide to effectively chamber a round. You have to fight a fairly heavy spring in most of these guns and my wife even struggles with it on most handguns. If it was a .22 caliber I suppose I could see a child being able to do that easily, but even a 9mm has a fairly heavy spring.
I definitely think there are multiple issues here though. There are some children with behavioral issues that are shockingly bad that teachers have to deal with and they do not get the support they need, students or teachers. My friend was student teaching in a behavioral issue class and basically left alone with these kids for hours a day, and reported it to the principal she didn't have her teacher there for support and nothing was done. She had kids cussing at her, trying to hit her or each other, or generally just being violent. I'm not surprised such a child would shoot someone if they had access to a gun, which is the second big failure here. There is no way a child in general should be able to just get access to a gun, and this is especially true if it was a child with a documented issue with behavioral issues.
Teenagers blowing up explosive liquid inside bottles in a parking lot
If you confine them well enough i would definitely say it counts as an explosion. Accidently made some go bang while trying to just get it to shoot flame. Scorched a ring on the concrete that was still there a year later when we moved lol
Not a great start to the new year. Pull 40 gallons of mostly fireworks off the Galveston beach.
If for some reason I was in a conversation talking about how much trash I had, I most certainly would provide an actually useful quantity to it. Idk about you but I use quite a few dog poop trash bags any given week so I've technically got probably 16-20 bags of trash depending on the week. Now you see, that's actually a pretty useless quantity.
Now, if I say in any given week I have about 20-25 gallons of trash, that's an actually useful quantity. Or saying I throw out around two 13 gallon trash bags a week. Also a useful quantity with the actual measurement.
Basically all garbage related units of measurement are volumetric or weight based because "# of bags/containers" doesn't actually tell anything useful.
Their hypothetical contents.... which is garbage? So you yourself say trash is measured in gallons as well, got it!
Houston has the best food in the USA.
DisastrousSir 1 point2 points3 points 1 month ago
I was in the area and went to sesame hut on a whim there and it was like a Korean/westernized Chinese fusion that was awesome. What are some of the other places over there that you've been to?
What are your thoughts on Andrew Tate?
DisastrousSir 0 points1 point2 points 1 month ago
I'm not an avid consumer of his content by any means, mostly seeing YouTube shorts while scrolling, but there have been a couple points on things like general confidence/self improvement that I believe would hold true to the idea of benefiting men in any relationship (really anyone)...... but like was said, he ruins it being a self-centered prick who objectifies women and puts other people down like a high school bully. Definitely curious to see the outcome of his arrest
Bill Cosby - Uncancelled?
DisastrousSir 4 points5 points6 points 1 month ago
Legal accountability and social accountability are different.
Civilization has done this forever, it's kind of a cornerstone of civilization. A group rises dictating a set of "proper behaviors" and as that group grows society either pushes down that behavior or it becomes the norm.
A growing group of people want to see social accountability for things like racism, sexual assault, etc including in the form of revocation of social status. Say what you will about cancel culture, being "woke", or any of the other current media headline language, but it's a simple fact this is a growing trend and companies understand that and to keep business/generate profit from those people, they are more likely to avoid negative attention from those groups by removing associations with others that have gathered negative attention.
As long as people don't violate his individual rights, they're well within their own rights to choose to forego his content and encourage private companies to as well.
Again, I think it's a matter which will forever be in constant flux, and 10/50/100 years from now the arguments will be different but the mentality will remain. Social accountability will always be a part of human nature.
🔥 members of the deer family—including its largest member, the elk—drop their antlers, which are not fully fused to their skulls. male elk lose their antlers in winter, as it is the end of the mating season
DisastrousSir 16 points17 points18 points 1 month ago
Just to add to the weirdness, antler growth is basically weaponized cancer. They utilize genes for antler growth that is very similar to how tumors for rapid growth
FE Exam Prep
I just took the ChemE FE exam about 8 months ago, and it's really not that bad. The practice exam is probably the best prep. Take it like it's the real exam and it'll become evident quite quickly what you need to focus on for studying. The actual test itself gives you a digital reference manual which has basically every ChemE equation and brief description so it's pretty easy to search and find what you need. The questions are quite one-dimensional from what i remember. Very much evaluating usually one concept to maybeee maximum three in any given question. The straight math was actually probably the hardest thing for me to do quickly since I'd gotten used to doing calculus in MathCAD.
How do u get motivation to continuing studying
I think you need to ask yourself what you DO want to do. I thought a lot of the same things, but ended up in a major city, outside of the traditional roles and have found I love it. There's a lot of roles that will hire you as a ChemE grad, not just grinding out process roles.
If you have any questions feel free to DM me
Is it still possible (I don't need advice or tips just a yes or no with explanation)
I'm almost 23 and have been 5' 7" since I was probably 16. I know people my age who have grown 5 inches since we were 16. It all depends on what genes you've got inside of you for your max height really.
Eat well, exercise, and most importantly get sleep. Insomnia is an absolute bitch, but try to get your rest. It'll make your mood better, it keeps you healthy, and keeps stress down.
As for the rest of the puberty related things, that can go longer than you may realize. I just realized my beards filled in noticeably more in the last six months and again I'm almost 23. You have plenty of opportunities to grow left but all you can control is your habits. Be healthy, and it'll take care of itself.
Also, height may garner some attention in a room at first glance, but height does not mean people will like you more or less. If you want to hold people's attention, be well groomed and maintained, learn to be confident (not arrogant) and conversational, and most of all be kind, honest, and respectful (which I think these are the most important). If you can do those things people will like you just fine and your height won't matter in the slightest.
You're still in your early years though. Don't stress about the future. It will come regardless. I lost sleep over it, wondering and stressing, and it did nothing for me except steal good times I wish I had taken advantage of.
The rise of Carhartt, the 133-year-old workwear brand that's beloved by everyone from rappers to celebrities to blue-collar workers
Also from the Midwest, also have a Carhartt jacket. They are incredibly durable. We lived on 30+ acres which was mostly wooded and full of blackberry bushes and other thorny shrubs. I would put the hood up and turn to the side and shoulder my way through the thorns and it's held up a few years like that and hardly looks worse for wear. The worst looking thing on it is some stains on the front.
They're a little pricey for some budgets but they have a timeless look and are absolutely one of the most warm, comfortable, and durable clothing items I've ever owned.


text:
package org.globsframework.metamodel.annotations;

import org.globsframework.metamodel.Field;
import org.globsframework.metamodel.GlobType;
import org.globsframework.metamodel.GlobTypeLoaderFactory;
import org.globsframework.metamodel.fields.StringArrayField;
import org.globsframework.model.Glob;
import org.globsframework.model.Key;
import org.globsframework.model.MutableGlob;

import java.util.Optional;

public class EnumAnnotationType {
    public static GlobType TYPE;

    public static StringArrayField NAME;

    @InitUniqueKey
    public static Key UNIQUE_KEY;

    static {
        GlobTypeLoaderFactory.create(EnumAnnotationType.class)
                .register(GlobCreateFromAnnotation.class, annotation -> TYPE.instantiate()
                        .set(NAME, ((EnumAnnotation) annotation).value()))
                .load();
    }

    public static Glob create(EnumAnnotation nameAnnotation) {
        return create(nameAnnotation.value());
    }

    public static MutableGlob create(String[] value) {
        return TYPE.instantiate().set(NAME, value);
    }

    public static Optional<String[]> listEnums(Field field) {
        Glob annotation = field.findAnnotation(UNIQUE_KEY);
        if (annotation != null) {
            return Optional.of(annotation.get(NAME));
        }
        return Optional.empty();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home Products and Supplies
Top 10 Soap Brands in the World (2018)
By Anirban C
Revenues in the global soap industry have enjoyed growth at a steady rate over recent decades, particularly for the top 10 soap brands in the world, which continue to be the world's most popular and bestselling around the world. Apart from the upward demand driven by the growing population, increasing health awareness and rising levels of hygiene among consumers around the world, other factors such as aggressive sales promotions by large and small soap companies and the introduction of functional soaps have also had a tremendous impact on the growth of the global soap market.
According to recent figures obtained by BizVibe, the global soap market totaled a value of US$ 18 Billion in 2016 and the figure is expected to reach US$ 24 Billion by 2022. The USA is one of the top soap markets in the world, generating around $25 billion revenues and annually. New trends such as value-added soap products for cosmetic purposes, growing consumer preference for organic soap products, increasing disposable incomes and premiumization of the product are also facilitating the growth of the market.
Considering the fact that the global soap market is highly competitive and immensely fragmented, soap brands and soap companies have been compelled to offering products with a wide range of features such as aromatherapy, moisturizing, anti-bacterial, organic, medicated, or herbal soaps. Here are some of the market leaders and major players in the global soap that are dominating the sales of the global soap market in 2018.
Top 10 Soap Brands in the World Based on Popularity and Sales
10. Burt's Bees
Burts' Bees is one of the leading personal care products company based in the USA, owned by the consumer product giant Clorox. Burts' Bees' soap products are well-known for using only natural ingredients. Its Buttermilk Soap is made with buttermilk infusion and specially designed for toddlers. Burts' Bees soap products can be found in over 30,000 retail outlets and grocery stores and drug store chains across the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand.
9. Zest
Zest is one of the oldest soap brands in the USA introduced in 1955 by the multi-national consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble, also known as P&G, but then sold to Unilever in 2014. Zest has a wide range of soap products designed for different costumer's preferences, such as cleansing, moisturizing, and revitalizing.
8. Caress
Caress is another popular soap brand owned by the Anglo-Dutch multinational company Unilever. It's cosmetic beauty soap are allegedly made with the floral notes with a special formula infused with SilkEssence, provides for soft, elegantly fragranced skin. The Caress Forever Collection is also the world's first body wash products with Fragrance Touch Technology.
7. Cetaphil
Cetaphil is a skin care products line that was invented by a pharmacist in 1947 for dermatology needs. As one of the highly recommended soap brands by dermatologists, Cetaphil remains in high demand, with about one bottle sold every minute. Cetaphil's soap products are now available in United States, Canada, India, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, some European, Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Grow your business network, connect with top soap manufacturers in the USA.
6. Ivory
Ivory is one of P&G's most iconic brands and very first products since 1879. Today, Ivory product line, including the classic bar soap, clear liquid soap, hair & body wash, dish liquid, and a mild laundry detergent product called Ivory Snow, are famous around the world for its claim of purity and for floating i the water. Over the years, the brand has been extended to other varieties and products.
5. Aveeno
Aveeno is a skin care and beauty brand in the United States — leaders in innovation among the top 10 soap brands in the world — owned by American consumer goods and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. It claims that the brand only uses high-quality natural ingredients—grown in regions that provide an ideal environment for the plant to thrive and produce beneficial ACTIVE NATURALS® ingredients – to make its wide range of products for skincare, facial cleanse, hair care and baby products etc.
Must Read: Top 10 Washing Machine Brands in China (2018)
4. Irish Spring
Irish Spring is one of the world's leading brands for making deodorant soap. As one of the best-selling soap brands owned by the American personal care products giant Colgate-Palmolive, Irish Spring still remains as one of the most popular brands for manufacturing and selling body wash and bar soap across the world.
Dial is a leading personal care product brand owned by the Henkel Corporation, it was the world's first antibacterial soap introduced to the market in 1953. Today, Dial also produces and sells a wide range of personal care products, including body wash, bar soap, hand soap, liquid hand sanitizer, and lotion.
2. Olay
Olay is one of the world's largest skin care brands, owned by Procter & Gamble's (P&G). Today, Olay is the leader in the skincare markets in many countries including the US, UK, and China. Its soap line, known as Beauty Bars, caters to different customer preferences and cosmetic purposes, from cleansing, moisturizing to anti-aging and fragrance.
1.Dove
Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever, it is also the most popular brand name in the soap markets across over 80 countries in the world. In the USA and the UK – two of the world's largest soap markets – Dove is also the number one soap brand that are dominating the markets. According to a recent study by the U.S. Census Data and Simmons National Consumer Survey (NHCS) about 114 million Americans used Dove in 2017. Meanwhile, a survey from Statista also shows that nearly 20 million British People used Dove in 2016, making it the country's most popular soap brand among the list of the top 10 soap brands in the world.
With Dove at the top, who do you see entering the list of top 10 soap brands in the worlds in 2019? Feel free to let us know in the comments sections below along with any feedback for this list.
Top 10 Crucial Medical Device Trends for 2018
The Top 10 Drone Manufacturers in India to Watch in 2018
Top 10 Largest Steel Producing Countries in the World
TAGS : Dove largest soap markets most popular soap brands Olay soap brands soap industry soap market
Top 10 Coffee Producing Countries in the World 201
5 Iconic British Domestic Brands You Need to Know
How to Market Your Business: 5 Ways to Market Your


text:
Q: how to make ngReact work with ng-directives (ngClick, ngStyle, etc.) [UPDATE July 23 2015]
I want to create a list of buttons, one for each marker in ctrl.getMarkers(). Let's assume a marker is something like
marker: {'title':' '}.
Using the classic ng-repeat, I have the following

        <button class="btn btn-default"
                ng-click = "doSomething(marker)"
                ng-style="ctrl.isRed() ? {color:red} : {color:black}">
               {{::marker.title}}
        </button>

I have about 100 buttons to show, but the update is not fast at all. So I want to try the ng-react library. Unfortunately I haven't well understood how to use it.
So far, I wrote this:
HTML
<poi-list list="ctrl.getMarkers()" />

JS
 /** @jsx React.DOM */
 .value( "PoiList", React.createClass( {

  propTypes : {

    list: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired
  },

  getDefaultProps: function() {
    return { list: [] };
  },

  render: function()
   {
    var markers = this.props.list.map( function( marker, i )
        {
         return React.DOM.button({className:'btn btn-default'
                                  /*ng-click? ng-class?*/
                                 }, marker.title) ;
        } );
    return React.DOM.div(null, markers);
    }
}))

.directive( 'poiList', function( reactDirective ) {
  return reactDirective( 'PoiList' );
} );

How could I use ng-click, ng-class etc with the React DOM element?
Here's the JSFiddle
[UPDATE 2]
I found a solution and I've answered my own question below. However I've got still a problem slowing down react: "Deprecated attempt to access property 'nodeType' on a non-Node object". Please, look at my answer below for further info about the error. Thank you

A: I figured out how to (almost) solve my problem. I pass the controller as attribute of the react element, so I can invoke its functions. Like this:
HTML
<poi-list list="ctrl.getMarkers()" ctrl="ctrl"/>

JS
 .value( "PoiList", React.createClass( {

  propTypes : {

    list: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired,
    ctrl: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired
  },

  render: function()
   {
    var ctrl = this.props.ctrl; // directive's Controller

    var markers = this.props.list.map( function( marker, i )
        {
         return React.DOM.button(  {
                                    className:'btn btn-default',
                                    onClick: function(){ctrl.doSomething(marker);},
                                    onMouseOver: function(){ctrl.doSomethingElse(marker);},
                                   }, marker.title
                                 ) ;
        } );
    return React.DOM.div(null, markers);
    }

}))

.directive( 'poiList', function( reactDirective ) {
  return reactDirective( 'PoiList' );
} );

It works!! JSFiddle
[UPDATE 1]
Anyway.... in my real application it's terrible slow... much slower then ng-repeat. I don't know why. Looking at the console, I have a bunch of error "Deprecated attempt to access property 'nodeType' on a non-Node object" from angular.js:328, and I guess this is the reason of the slow performance. I don't know what's the problem, and I don't have this error in the JSFiddle... any help?
This is the piece of Angular code that rises the error:
    function forEach(obj, iterator, context) {
      var key, length;
      if (obj) {
        if (isFunction(obj)) {
          for (key in obj) {
            // Need to check if hasOwnProperty exists,
            // as on IE8 the result of querySelectorAll is an object without a hasOwnProperty function
            if (key != 'prototype' && key != 'length' && key != 'name' && (!obj.hasOwnProperty || obj.hasOwnProperty(key))) {
              iterator.call(context, obj[key], key, obj);
            }
          }
/*---->*/  } else if (isArray(obj) || isArrayLike(obj)) {// <---ERR
          var isPrimitive = typeof obj !== 'object';
          for (key = 0, length = obj.length; key < length; key++) {
            if (isPrimitive || key in obj) {
              iterator.call(context, obj[key], key, obj);
            }
          }
        } else if (obj.forEach && obj.forEach !== forEach) {
            obj.forEach(iterator, context, obj);
        } else {
          for (key in obj) {
            if (obj.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
              iterator.call(context, obj[key], key, obj);
            }
          }
        }
      }
      return obj;
    }

[UPDATE 2]
I figured out that the problem was the array of complex objects passed to the React Element. It's impossible for React making comparison between old and new object, resulting in slowness and errors. This is the explanation of this problem and the solution.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
« WPA, Beebe Skidmore, Waechter lead Portland Architecture Awards winners | Main | AFO's Architects in Schools program: educating the community, but in need of more help »
Boston-based Portland Architecture Awards jury applauds local design culture
Juror Elizabeth Whittaker (Merge Architects)
Each year on the eve of the Portland Architecture Awards, the trio of jury members selecting the awards gather with an audience at the AIA's Center For Architecture to discuss their own work and, more importantly, what the awards submittals lead them to think about Portland's architecture and architects overall.
This year's Boston-based jury of Tim Love, Elizabeth Whittaker and Mariana Ibanez has between them some remarkable resumes. Each has taught or currently teaches architecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Whtitaker's firm, Merge Architects, combines design and craft in an innovative, meaningful way. Ibanez's work explores new possibilities for integrating architecture and technology. Love's firm has a lengthy history with public buildings, housing and master planning.
The jurors, only one of whom (Love) had been to Portland before, began by noting "a lot of commonalities between the interesting work being done in the Boston metro area and Portland," as Tim Love put it. "One reason might be because of land values and the rising cost of real estate and those pressures. It's forced our cultures to get smart about using inexpensive materials. The use of HardiePanel or metal panel, that family of stuff is similar. And the building types are similar; the single family small lot stuff that's very much like neighborhoods in south Boston and Somerville: cottages on small lots. You've got the small developer stuff off like 12 to 30 units, and the big macho developer stuff. That whole food chain is familiar to us. It was like we were shopping for moves."
"I really appreciated the level of detail," Whittaker added. "It's uncanny how you're pulling that off out here. Some of these projects are so well crafted. I think it wasn't necessarily a fancier or more expensive material. It's as if the people putting them together care more, maybe more than I find in Boston with the crews we work with. I don't know what the building culture in Portland is like. Maybe there's something going on out here. Maybe there are less of them and they're less of a dime a dozen."
Juror Tim Love (Utile Architecture & Planning)
"The Boston market is so overheated now it's hard to get contractors and the quality is dropping off," Love agreed. "I think the difference is…for the most part the projects that we liked, there's a little bit more sense on the architects' side about what the capacity of the contractors are. Some firms in Boston I think over-reach what the crafts can deliver."
Love and Whittaker also identified a couple of quirks relating to how different parts of buildings are put together.
"Portland is very good at realizing that he ground floor is different from the upper floors," Love said. "You do good podiums here, and not always in the same way."
"Which is interesting, because there aren't as many tall buildings," Whittaker added. "You don't need to rely on the podium."
"I think the ground floor and upper floor uses are also about choreographing sequences," Love explained. "On the ground floor it can be tunnel-like with competing retail things. We had discussions about the quality of coming into the lobby and what the effect of surprise was when you went to the upper floor: that difference is undervalued, I think. Some very modest projects had a very interesting handle on that."
The jury then returned to the notion of how Portland architects handle materials and form, not just in a sense of craftsmanship but also "a smart economy of materials, where a lot of the projects have one or two," Whittaker explained. "Very simple, super pure forms."
As they talked, the jury showed what was supposed to be a random group of images from projects submitted, but the work of Waechter Architecture seemed to keep coming onscreen, and some of the jury's comments seemed, at least in my mind, to refer to Waechter's sense of material economy as an emblem for the greater Portland architecture community.
"If you can't use luxurious materials to do your thing and you're left with HardiePanel or metal panel, you need to really use that material more to clad a volume," Love said. "You can't objectify it. It's a wrapper. And then what you're left with as you have fewer and fewer moves is to just subtract voids and proportions. It almost becomes like a version of stucco contemporary architecture in Vienna. But it's not stucco. It's HardiePanel or metal panel. That's very interesting to us. You're forced to think about composition with the basics. I think American architecture is more one of assembly. I think there's an interesting theoretical 'aha.' Maybe we're just trying too hard. Pick a nice gray HardiePanel and embrace the thing. That's weird because it changes the strategies a little bit."
When the jury offered to take questions, I asked what some of their initial impressions of Portland had been.
"It's a pretty great city, and probably a great city to be in as an architect," Love said. "The only downside is it may be more isolated as an economy than a city like Boston is. But I think the scale of the city has an influence on the scale of the work. I think that sense of appropriate scale, almost miniaturized. It's almost like a four-fifths scale. I like four-fifth cities. Houston is like a six-fifths city. Everything seems all pumped up there."
Juror Mariana Ibanez (NPR)
Another member of the audience asked if the jurors had any advice for Portland architects. Whittaker seemed to want more formal daring.
"I think you're doing so much so well, in terms of how you're detailing, and the care shows in the finished product: the way it's built. That's what stands out the most," she said. "I think there is a formal sensibility that seems very specific to Portland, and I see a few projects that are breaking out of that. I'd like to come back in eight years and see even more ambitious geometries that are also bringing along this level of craft. It's easy to do something that's formally loud but not to do it well."
"I'd like to see some public architecture that isn't schools," Love added. "I'd like to see an excellent civic building where people can argue about what's coming to their neighborhood. Most of the excellent work is private, right? Maybe some advocacy can be done for that."
Love also offered some praise based on the local set of conditions. "Small firms in Portland have to be more entrepreneurial. In Boston they're all connected with the universities."
But Whittaker confirmed that the world has taken notice of our city. "There is a buzz about Portland, and there has been for a while," she said. "And it's about livability."
Ibanez added that a lot of her students at Harvard do thesis projects on Portland even though they're not from here.
Ultimately the jury process is always an imperfect one. It makes sense for objectivity's sake for out-of-town professionals to act a jurors, but they almost always have to decide the winners based on photos instead of site visits, and in most cases they have no familiarity with the city at all. Yet these annual awards have shown a continuity across the years and across juries in terms of what they like: projects that blend craftsmanship and an eye for the little details with a reverence for local natural material and, increasingly, a little bit of formal daring.
Posted by Brian Libby on November 21, 2016 | Permalink