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Maryland High Court rules that, while generally the jury is not entitled to be told that the defendant physician is not board certified, there are instances in which that evidence may be admissible.
ByBurt M. Kahn in Medical Malpractice August 30th, 2013
In the recent case of Little v. Schneider (August 22, 2013), the Maryland Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated a $2.874 million verdict issued for a plaintiff by a Harford County, MD jury. The jury found that Dr. Schneider (acting as a specialist in vascular surgery) negligently used the wrong size graft in attempting to perform an arterial bypass. This allegedly caused massive bleeding, leaving Ms. Little permanently paralyzed.
During the trial, Plaintiff's attorney introduced evidence that the defendant physician was not certified. The immediate appellate court (Maryland Court of Special Appeals) for this and other reasons overruled the jury's verdict and ordered a new trial.
The Maryland high court decided that while ordinarily the jury should not be advised as to whether the defendant physician is not board-certified, there are limits. The Court observed that the general rule in malpractice cases is to distinguish between appropriate examination of expert witnesses who provide opinions, and the examination of a fact witness (in this case the defendant physician) who merely testify "based solely on what she did and what she observed in her actual treatment of the patient."
The reason behind this rule is that, generally, in a medical negligence suit, the defendant physician's failure to pass a medical board certification exam (or in this case to even take the exam) has little relevance because "the fact of failure makes it neither more nor less probable that the physician complied with or departed from the applicable standard of care in the diagnosis or treatment of a particular patient for a particular condition."
During the jury trial, the plaintiff called the treating physician, Dr. Schneider as an adverse witness in her own case. After the plaintiff's attorney was finished examining Dr. Schneider, his own attorney, attempting to "bolster" his client's qualifications "opened the door" to the plaintiff's attorney attacking those qualifications with questions designed to inform the jury that Dr. Schneider was never board certified in vascular surgery, the specialty he was practicing when he injured the plaintiff.
According to the Court of Appeals opinion, Dr. Schneider's attorney bolstered his qualifications over eleven (11) pages of trial transcript.
Previously, plaintiff's attorney had been advised by the trial judge that he could not question Dr. Schneider about his lack of board certification in vascular surgery. After the extensive questions asked by Defendant's attorney, Plaintiff's attorney again asked the trial judge for an opportunity to question Dr. Schneider about his lack of board certification in vascular surgeon. This time, the trial court reversed its earlier ruling.
The plaintiff claimed that the doctor could not "have it both ways: his accomplishments and great deeds were no more relevant than his lack of board certification." The trial judge this time agreed, reversing his earlier ruling and allowing Ms. Little to inquire on the subject of Dr. Schneider's lack of board certification in vascular surgery.
The Maryland High Court observed that since Dr. Schneider's counsel attempted to paint a picture of Dr. Schneider as a "model of excellence in the field of vascular surgery and a great humanitarian, the trial judge became persuaded that he exceeded the basic background
information appropriate for accreditation of a fact witness." Thus, the High Court ruled that "it was reasonable for the trial court to conclude that, by going outside the reasonable limits of accreditation, Schneider placed at issue the question of his excellence in the field of vascular surgery and "opened the door" to rebuttal inquiry on re-direct examination." The Court further held: "The trial judge did not abuse his discretion in allowing Little to ask Dr. Schneider, on re-direct, about his lack of board certification in order to counter Schneider's effort to cloak himself as the paragon of vascular surgeons."
What can be taken away from this? Although the opinion may ultimately have little practical effect when trying most medical malpractice cases, it is an interesting analysis and cautionary tale of what can happen when an attorney takes a chance and "opens the door" a little wider than was wise, thus allowing unpleasant, damaging evidence to march through.
Burt M. Kahn
Burt M. Kahn was a member of the firm's Executive Committee and served Joseph Greenwald & Laake for 49 years in every capacity from law clerk to managing partner. He was a trial lawyer with deep experience in helping victims and their families obtain justice in complex medical malpractice matters and other avoidable accidents that result in life-changing injuries or wrongful death. Over the past four decades, Burt distinguished himself as the leading litigator in the D.C.
Contact Burt

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Things To Do On Thursday, August 30.
Central Track Contributor August 30, 2012
Be a Queen for a Night.
Tonight's a pretty good one if you're an outcast looking for a temporary niche to fit into. Whether you want to be a punk rocker, a singing Nazi, an Australian outlaw or a drag queen, there's a place for you to get your ya-yas out tonight.
The Producers at Kalita Humphrey's Theater
The Uptown Players are currently smack dab in the middle of their three-week run of our third-favorite Hitler-based play about a play. And because While Hitler's Away the German Workers Party and Mein Camp: A Vaudevillian Extravaganza! aren't currently on tour, tonight's performance of The Producers appears to be our only opportunity for a lighthearted Nazi-filled romp for the foreseeable future.
Mind Spiders at Rubber Gloves
Born from the ashes of seminal Denton punk outfit Marked Men, Mind Spiders maintain a rather consistent cache of buzz by keeping their list of upcoming live shows fairly selective. Their sci-fi influenced, Kraut rock-inspired, double drummer-boasting buzz saw tops off a pretty heady all -ocal lineup in Denton tonight.
Reckless Kelly at Granada Theater
Ned "Reckless" Kelly is Australia's version of Robin Hood and was later the subject of a '93 film from Yahoo Serious, who is basically like Australia's version of Paulie Shore. Austin alt-country outfit Reckless Kelly also adopted the moniker. On this Granada bill, the band is joined by revered locals King Bucks and Collin Herring.
Klever at Rio Room
One could argue that replacing the letter "c" with a "k" in the word "clever" hasn't been all that clever a move since the '90s, but that's neither here nor there, as DJ Klever, born Josh Winkler, is known around the world as a top-notch turntablist and a a fine selector, too. Expect him to dabble in both of those realms in his return to Rio Room tonight. Per usual with Rio's still-popular Thursday night offerings, it's free to get into this event, but you're allowed to RSVP a table if you really want to drop some dough just 'cause.
Queen at It'll Do with Sharon Needles
The supposed reigning Princess of PBR and Queen of all things Drag will be in the house at It'll Do tonight. You may know Sharon Needles as the season four winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. According to several websites, she used her prize money to buy a hearse.
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Home | About CCW | Contact Us | Climate change Meaning | Causes | Solutions | Emissions | Carbon trading
Carbon sinks are where carbon is removed from the atmosphere into a permanent store. In the jargon this is carbon sequestered into either plants [or phytoplankton] or the earth for a long time, preferably permanently.
In carbon accounting terms permanent usually means 20-30 years as the sink has no value for carbon trading if the sequestered carbon is released back into the atmosphere again.
The two types of sink are:
biosequestration where photosynthesis captures carbon from carbon dioxide (CO2) and converts it into plant tissue. On land this creates a potential sink in the vegetation, especially trees, and in the soil through the addition of leaf litter and plant roots
man-made sinks where carbon dioxide is captured at an emission source and injected into porous rocks or cavities deep underground
Although this carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) is technically a sink, really it is mitigation (emission reduction) and not sequestration because the CO2 captured was first emitted from human activities.
Sink potential
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution around 1,500 GtCO2e of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have made it to the atmosphere.
GtCO2e is a gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalents the standard unit for recording the global amounts of greenhouse gas in and released to the atmosphere
A third of this amount, 499 GtCO2e — that is 499,000 million tCO2e, or 499,000,000,000 tCO2e — has come from land clearing. This is loss from vegetation burnt or decayed when forests are cleared to grow crops and losses from the soil that has lost its protection from sun, wind and rain.
And it is still going. Each year around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of land clearing for agriculture, settlements and infrastructure.
Although emissions from the burning of fossil fuels cannot be retrieved, re-vegetation and good soil management, especially on degraded land, can provide sequestration potential.
Soil scientists estimate that this amount could be between 4 and 7 GtCO2e annually for at least 20 years.
80 to 140 GtCO2e is a significant sink for carbon.
Add similar amounts for vegetation and it is possible to recover 10% or so of historical emissions from smarter land management without undue cost.
In fact, there would be major benefits to farmers from improved soil properties, less reliance on fertiliser, and better water retention. It is surprising that soil has been so hard to get into the carbon accounting story.
Another good reason to have carbon sinks
Most emission reduction targets set by governments as part of Kyoto protocol commitments can only be met with the help of carbon offsets because emission reduction will not be enough.
It will be necessary to purchase some carbon credits to make up the balance.
Some credits are generated from emission reduction projects (mitigation). However, the best benefit to the atmosphere comes where the credits comes from biosequestration. This is why forestry projects that grow trees on previously forested land (reforestation) and previously non-forest land (afforestation) are popular.
Growing more trees — more than business as usual — will remove some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide an offset mechanism for carbon markets.
The big bonus
We know that biosequestration puts carbon into the landscape.
Re-vegetation also means that there are more trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses. These plants put carbon back into the soil. The biology in the soil gets a boost, helps hold moisture and nutrients that, in turn, supports the growth of plants.
This is a very strong positive feedback loop. Vegetation cover and biological activity is a great buffer against the effects of climate change.
It is the best form of climate change adaptation.
Using the landscape as a biological carbon sink will be a huge climate change benefit — sucking CO2 from the atmosphere — helping to balance national carbon accounts and creating carbon offset credits for trade.
And then there is a massive bonus...
What biosequestration really does is prime the global agricultural system ready for its biggest challenge, namely the feeding of 7 billion humans and their animals.
In the end investment in carbon sinks will be critical to any policy to help cope with climate change effects and global food security.
It is also wise resource management.
our sister site Ask Alloporus has more pages on food security
climate change wisdom › solutions › carbon sinks
Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to provide accurate and reliable information on this website. climate-change-wisdom.com and alloporus environmental are not liable for any loss or damage arising out of the use of this website. Read full disclaimer. Copyright notice: The pages on climate-change-wisdom.com are provided freely for information, awareness and personal education purposes. Please respect this use and copyright. Copyright © 2009-2014 by John Mark Dangerfield, alloporus environmental. All rights reserved.
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Climate change evidence
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Real climate change evidence has to demonstrate a change in climate. An extra sunny day or a severe storm or a flood is not enough.
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What will be the climate change effect? There isn't one, there are many. Perhaps too many for us to understand.


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If you are a homeowner then you are going to have to deal with a leak, flood or plumbing issue at some point that is going to allow water to invade the premises, which is why the water damage Chappaqua specialists are constantly standing by to help.
When water saturates your family home, then you can call our water damage Chappaqua office and know that we will be available 24/7/365, so you can get a service agent on the line.
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That is why when you call us for water damage restoration services our water damage Chappaqua technicians always respond quickly for al types of issues. At 911 Restoration not only is our water damage Chappaqua team fast, but we're also experienced. We have almost four decades of experience helping the citizens of Westchester County with water removal solutions.
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ISAMA ZING: About documentary music
Isama Zing is a producer, DJ, and a member of Mäss micro collective. His compositions oscillate between carefully crafted post-industrial soundscapes and spontaneous bursts of euphoric energy, represented by his playful melodic structures. The collection of everyday motifs with frequent industrial mapping of territories has become a reverberation of civilizational machinery, processually crumbling apart and melting together again in Isama Zing's music. He also composes soundtracks for theater and dance performances, and also for short and full-length films – he created the scores for the documentary film Mečiar (The Lust for Power, 2017), and for the film Špína (Filthy, 2017).
Csaba Bollók: Does fiction start where non-fiction ends?
The class is a study of the borderline between fiction and non-fiction, and about the possibilities of a dramaturgical development in both fields.
Csaba Bollók is a director-screenwriter based in Budapest. His works were screened and awarded on the festival circuit worldwide, represented Hungary at the Academy Awards in 2009. He also works for script development workshops (Midpoint, Praha and Rawi, Jordan, the "Arabic Sundance").
Tereza Ježková: Do they come or not?
For inspiration: discussion about the promotion of culture. For all cultural workers, producers, directors and spectators of the festival.
How do you promote one of the largest cultural institutions – the Prague National Gallery? What is the difference between the promotion of the brand and the promotion of individual parallel projects? What does it mean to look after journalists? What communication tools work? How do you get viewers and how do you expand the viewer community? How is success measured? Do visitors come to PNG or not?
Tereza Ježková got her PhD at the Department of Media Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University. She also got her BA there, at the Department of Marketing Communication and PR, where she currently teaches Art Marketing. She is Head of the Marketing and PR Department of the Prague National Gallery, where she has been working since 2015. Previously, she worked in the Native PR agency – among other things, she participated on contracts for the Czech Banking Association, ŠkoFIN or ING Pojišťovna.
Lukáš Kokeš: Directing of documentary movie
Cinematography, form, style, and way of narration. Documentary films are generally perceived as synonymous with boredom because their use of surprising film language and dramatic narrative is often very limited. Using selected scenes from Czech and international documentary cinema as examples, we will think about the method of filming reality, about its translation into a captivating story, and about engaging the viewer in the film form. What means can a documentary director employ to capture our attention? We will show that even a documentary may offer a remarkable viewing experience. Lukáš Kokeš Studied Film Studies at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University, graduated in Documentary at the Film and TV School of Performing Arts in Prague. As a cinematographer and editor, he has also collaborated on other directors' projects (e.g. Jan Gogol Jr., Peter Kerekes, Vít Klusák & Filip Remunda, etc). Together with Klára Tasovská, he co-directed his feature debut Fortress (Pevnost, the Best Czech Documetary at IFDF Jihlava 2012), featured at many international festivals and nominated for a LUX Prize 2013. As a co-writer and second unit cinematographer, he worked on the Wasteland drama series (2016) by HBO Europe. His latest project was with Klára Tasovská again, with whom he co-wrote and co-directed his second feature film, Nothing Like Before (Nic jako dřív, 2017), which had its world premiere at the prominent IDFA festival in Amsterdam. Since 2018, he has been teaching at the Department of Documentary Film at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Pavla Kubečková: How to produce documentary movie
Is it hard to make films in the Czech Republic? How is the money raised? And what is the position of documentary film? Is it hard to get it to cinemas and get audiences interested? What is the producer's position in a documentary film development? And during its production and post-production? How to ensure a film's success with critics and at festivals? How important are international contacts? And how crucial is the relationship with televisions? And why would one even organize such festival as ELBE DOCK? Pavla Janoušková Kubečková is one of the major Czech producers of the young generation. In 2009, she co-founded nutproduction company, which made a name for itself with Agnieszka Holland's Burning Bush miniseries (2013), and Wasteland series (2016). Pavla and nutproduction are also behind the production of many auteur documentary and animated films including Fortress (2012, the Best Czech Documentary at IFDF Jihlava), Show! (2013, nominated for a Czech Lion and a Czech Film Critics' Award), The Great Night (2014, the Best Czech Documentary at IFDF Jihlava), FC Roma (2016, nominated for a Czech Lion, a Czech Film Critics' Award, and Best Czech Documentary at IFDF Jihlava), and Nothing Like Before (2017, nominated for a Czech Lion and a Czech Film Critics' Award).
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.


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New Partnership Aims to Bring More Transparency to Top Coins
What can add more trust to the ecosystem
By Kenny Kline, Founder, JAKK Solutions@ThisBeKenny
The meteoric rise of Bitcoin in 2017-2018 led to a large number of initial coin offerings - which were an easy way to raise money and, in some cases, perpetrate fraud. In early 2018, the crypto market plunged 60% in one month, and investors got stuck with worthless altcoins. Not surprisingly, scammers disappeared soon after taking millions from people who got caught in the hype.
Last year's crypto mania taught painful lessons, but it arguably led to a more mature market that now has better processes, and much needed sobriety. Well, the bull market seems to be back: Bitcoin's price is pushing $14,000 -- a price level not seen since January 2018.
So have bad behaviors also returned? Pushing sobriety out the window?
Putting Risks in Check
Crypto Briefing (a publishing firm that covers blockchain and cryptos) and CoinMarketCap (CMC) are partnering to bring transparency and professional analyses of major blockchain ventures. SIMETRI, Crypto Briefing's research product that's patterned after sell-side reports by investment banks, will be embedded in CoinMarketCap's crypto profiles, the companies announced.
"SIMETRI provides fundamental analysis and unbiased, detailed insights into the cryptocurrency projects themselves, bolstering transparency and accountability in the blockchain space," said Han Kao, founder and CEO of Crypto Briefing, in a company statement. "CoinMarketCap's rollout of its updated methodology for stricter exchange reporting rules is a major step forward on the exchange side, and SIMETRI will complement that on the project side."
The embedded reports can level the playing field, as well as mitigate risk for unsophisticated investors looking for some guidance. CoinMarketCap is the most visited website in the industry. It shows daily valuation, trading volume, and other financial information on nearly 2,300 coins and tokens traded on exchanges worldwide.
The SIMETRI-CoinMarketCap integration makes it easier for anyone to conduct due diligence on nearly two dozen major coins such as Bitcoin, Dash, VeChain, and Basic Attention Token, to name a few. Crypto Briefing will publish a dozen new reports a month for paid subscribers.
Objective and Independent Assessments of Top Coins
That brings to light an ugly reality of this new Wild West of finance.
"Shilling" is a common practice, where management teams who are trying to achieve network effects pay influencers and bloggers to promote their stuff. The hidden conflicts of interest can lead to biased coverage, fake reviews, and marketing spin that many argue are pervasive in an industry that lacks oversight.
Crypto Briefing says SIMETRI and its news coverage are objective and independent, which improve the quality and protect the integrity of its research. And that the New York-based publisher, unlike other outlets that strive to sustain or increase revenue, never publishes ads, sponsored stories, or other content that "shill" cryptos.
Crypto Briefing, therefore, doesn't feel pressured to publish advertisements disguised as news stories, or to sensationalize headlines for Google clicks. It raised $2 million in 2018 and is backed by VCs such as YouBi Capital, DHVC, Fenbushi Capital, and NGC Ventures.
Getting the Inside Scoop on Blockchain Companies
So what quality of content can investors and fans of tokens expect to see on CoinMarketCap? (Which gets more than 75 million monthly visits.)
Crypto Briefing, which has a global team of researchers and journalists, says their evaluations use "information asymmetry" to collect and assess the inside scoop on blockchain ventures.
"Our network of insiders, as well as connections with trading desks give us the real scoop on an organization," says Han Kao, founder and CEO of Crypto Briefing. "Moreover, we can see what big institutions are buying that can't be seen from public exchange data. Finally, private code repositories tell us what is really under the hood of a project's codebase."
The crypto ecosystem is teeming with startups, which can be risky investments. Moreover, speculative trading are again partly driving price volatility. Better evaluations and KPIs seem to be the answer, and these are most beneficial to mainstream investors.
"We've become a default news source in CoinMarketCap, Blockfolio, and Delta apps, with more than 80 million users total," says Kao. "We began onboarding experts in all aspects of the space to bring transparency and accountability to an often muddled and fragmented ecosystem of information."
Money has always evolved. But trust is timeless.


WASHINGTON—Daydreaming about taking a break from the day-to-day grind of modern life, an overworked U.S. populace announced Wednesday that sometimes it wishes it could just unplug from it all the way they did in Puerto Rico. "Whenever my workday gets hectic, I think about how lucky they are to be on this tropical island where they're totally off the grid and can just relax," Dallas-based financial consultant Erica Dickinson said of the nearly 200,000 residents who have remained without power since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico in September 2017. "I'd give just about anything for some time away from the ol' inbox. Imagine—no emails, no texts, no communication with the outside world for six months? It must be so nice to unwind and get away from all the hustle and bustle like that." At press time, sources confirmed the nation had sighed and expressed its hope that maybe someday that kind of peace and quiet would be available somewhere within the contiguous United States.


With nine gold, six silver and nine bronze medals in the junior and neo-senior competitions combined, Russia dominated the second leg of the ISU Junior World Cup in Helsinki. The ice cold Oulunkylän liikuntapuisto outdoor rink also witnessed a new talent with a familiar name on the podium. Victoria Stirnemann (GER), daughter of three-time Olympic Champion and eight-time World Allround Champion Gunda Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, won her career first Junior World Cup medals.


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01.03.2006 Press Review
EDITORIAL: We Need Capital To Play Capitalism
By Statesman
In the Revolution Betrayed Trotsky wrote that, under capitalism, "the productive forces, upon a basis of private property and competition, have been working out their own destiny.
"In contrast to this, the property relations which issued from the socialist revolution are indivisibly bound up with the new state as their repository. The predominance of socialist over petty bourgeois tendencies is guaranteed, not by the automatism of the economy – we are still far from that – but by political measures taken by the dictatorship. The character of the economy as a whole thus depends upon the character of the state power."
But, we don't have to go to the USSR or China to see how that proletariat dictatorship really plays out. As one writer puts it about Nkrumah's regime's efforts to mimic Stalin's economic paradigm: "Impatient for results on a spectacular scale, Nkrumah pressed on with one project after another – with factories, steelworks, mining ventures and shipyards… [After] a long visit that Nkrumah made to the Soviet Union, China and other communist countries in 1961… one after another new state corporations were launched."
Nkrumah used £1.8 million (about £6 million in today's money) of state resources to build a potentially useful project, Guinea Press. According to a contemporary report, the printing press was used as, "something of an employment agency with incompetent and inefficient hands being pushed in on the management by this Minister, the Chief, the Party Official, just because that somebody… was the nephew, niece, uncle, brother, son or relative of somebody." Regardless of his good intentions, that state-run economy idea failed and failed miserably. But, Nkrumah can be forgiven because he probably chose that option because Ghana had at the time not built and mobilised enough local capital. And industrialisation could not wait. But, instead of concentrating on building the private sector the state decided to take it upon itself.
Come the 1980s, we chose the liberalisation route. But, here again we failed to find sustainable ways to build, mobilise and unleash indigenous capital in a revolving manner. It is little wonder that at an IDEG roundtable seminar Tuesday several contributors were calling for more state intervention and calling for the state to get really involved in the business of business. But, we will urge Government to stay on course. Intervene when it feels the deep need to but stay focused on the agenda to make the private sector the engine of growth.
It must be instructive to us that between 1961 and 1966, after Nkrumah had spent the country's money in investing and setting up industries and building his future headquarters for a 'united' Africa, Ghana was heading into economic difficulties, with growth registering a negative and averaging 2 percent for the 1960s. Yet, by 1966 more than 50 state enterprises had been set up. In the 1980s and 1990s, Mr Rawlings took the other unhelpful route of liberalisation, while folding state enterprises and leaving the economy vulnerable to cheap foreign imports. It was liberalisation without industrialisation.
But, the deeper reason was this: we sought to build a capitalist state without capital. It is not strange that the cream of our economy is now taken over by foreign companies – from telecommunication, through mining, construction and banking. And, the only way this can change is for a deliberate and conscious effort to improve the capital capacity of the Ghanaian. Home-grown driven growth is sustainable.
Tuesday's donor conference on private sector development is a good sign of that. But, a lot more needs to be done. We can sustain 8 percent GDP growth rate but we need capital to do so. We need to create the wealth to spread opportunities and companies that repatriate most of their income won't do it for us. It is time to think Ghanaian first and foremost.


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Hmmmmmmm
NYT 11:45 AM on December 10, 2010
While administration officials cautioned on Thursday that no decisions have been made and that any debate in Congress could take years, Mr. Obama has directed his economic team and Treasury Department analysts to review options for closing loopholes and simplifying income taxes for corporations and individuals, though the study of the corporate tax system is farther along, officials said.
The objective is to rid the code of its complex buildup of deductions, credits and exemptions, thereby broadening the base of taxes collected and allowing for lower rates — much like a bipartisan majority on Mr. Obama's debt-reduction commission recommended last week in its final blueprint for reducing the debt through 2020.
Doing so would offer not only an opportunity to begin confronting the growth in the national debt but also a way to address warnings by American business that corporate tax rates and the costs of complying with the tax code are cutting into their global competitiveness…
Yet proponents within the administration and among some outside advisers say that Mr. Obama, by putting tax reform atop the national agenda, could seize an opportunity to take the offensive in dealing with the newly empowered Republicans in Congress, repair his strained relations with business and embrace a potentially powerful theme heading into his re-election campaign.
Read More From NYT
McCarthy v Biden: Rockem sockem debt bout debut


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US Capitol riots: What happened to America?
Al Arabiya (English)
One of the most memorable moments of my life was arriving as a young man from Saudi Arabia to the California of the 1950s. America was everything I expected, and much more. It was a rainbow of hope, beauty and elegance, composed of a confident and modern people who had taken it upon themselves to save Europe and the world twice from the evils that emerged in its dark midst.
As the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville said in the 1830s, "When America struggled for the most just of causes … all souls rose to reach to the height of the goal of their efforts." I was taken up by the American spirit and can-do attitude, by the endless opportunities America seemed to open up, but also by the strong moral compass the country valued so much. Over the years, America gave generously of its spirit and blazed a bold trail, receiving my admiration and that of the world.
Sadly, looking at America today feels like seeing an old friend I no longer recognize.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
What happened to the America that left Europe behind to create a nation from nothing, an America that struggled to create a new, better society, reinventing government and collaboratively writing one of the most perfect Constitutions the world has ever known?
Where is the America that emphasized the fundamental importance of checks and balances and the separation of powers, living up to Abraham Lincoln's ideal of "government of the people, by the people, for the people?"
Of course, that road was never a straight one; there were mistakes along the way. In 1621 Plymouth colonists and Native Americans celebrated a harvest Thanksgiving feast together, but those native populations were later also wiped out. To quote de Tocqueville once more, those missteps are also part of America's story, for "the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
What happened to the America that is symbolized as much by the Empire State Building as the smallest hut in the Appalachians? Where is the America of vibrant and optimistic Broadway or Main Streets in every American town, showcasing the constant renewal, transparency and the promise of American business and capitalism? What happened to the America that won two World Wars and reconciled victors with the defeated, whom America helped get back on their feet instead of punishing or subjugating them? Where is the America that enshrined its Wilsonian concepts of freedom in the League of Nations and then contributed so greatly to multilateralism through the United Nations? What happened to the America that recognized its mistakes in Vietnam upon the awakening of the people's conscience with songs such as "Where have all the flowers gone" or the self-immolation of Norman Morrison in front of the Pentagon and in front of his one-year old daughter?
What happened to the America whose President Kennedy said at his presidential inauguration: "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country?" Where is the America that created the Peace Corps to extend a hand, to understand and lift up those less fortunate, after Lederer and Burdick's novel The Ugly American? What happened to the America of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream to "let freedom ring," where his children would "not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character?" Where is the "shining city on a hill" that President Ronald Reagan spoke of so eloquently in his election eve address? He described that city in his farewell address as:
"A tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still."
That is the America I discovered when I first arrived in the 1950s, and the America that I so admired for much of my life. Today I sadly look upon an America tearing itself apart, united only in its divisiveness. In my lifetime, I saw America at its best, but I also saw America lose its way and become, in some respects, unrecognizable.
I believe this is not the America that most Americans want, nor the America the world wants. An America united by its original values, exemplifying optimism and moral leadership in the world is what we need again today. It is time for America's friends to speak honestly and to offer what support they can in pushing back the dark clouds obscuring America's beautiful mosaic and suffocating almost 250 years of American greatness. We arrive back at de Tocqueville, with his almost 200-year old warning that "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Before making America great, let us make America good again.
Trump impeachment: Pelosi says Democrats plan to remove Trump over Capitol riots
Pope urges US to shun violence, protect democracy after mob attack on Capitol
Trump supporter Jake Angeli seen in horned fur hat charged in Capitol violence
Source:Al Arabiya (English)
'Superman & Lois' Gets Supersized Debut Episode, 'The Flash' Season 7 Premiere Pushed to March
My mother-in-law called me a PIG for wanting to spend more time with her son – she spoon feeds him & shaves his back
UFC 257 full card and timings – McGregor vs Poirier 2 tops Fight Island bill including Chandler vs Hooker


The Oregon DOR have concluded their analysis of the changes to the Oregon payroll withholding formula caused by Measure 66. The Oregon Withholding Tax Tables dated January 1, 2007 will remain in effect for all employees with wages less than $125,000.
If you are an employer of an employee with annual wages of $125,000 or more, use the Oregon Payroll withholding calculators for high-income earners to modify withholding to adjust for the changes resulting from Measure 66.
(1) For employees who make less than $125,000 you don't need to change or update anything.
(2) For employees who make $125,000 or more, calculate the additional Oregon withholding using the "high-income earners calculator" and then add that amount to the "Additional State Withholding" box under the "Tax Setup" inside the Employee wizard. The Oregon Payroll withholding calculators for high-income earners can be found here . For more details you can also refer to publication "150-206-431 (Rev. 03-10)" located on Oregon's website. Please note that there is no mechanism available for payroll service or payroll software providers, including Payroll Mate, to automatically calculate the additional Oregon withholding.
2010 SUI Rates for NY, AL, DE, NV, SC, and VA .
2010 Payroll SUI (State Unemployment Insurance) rates for the states of New York, Alabama, Nevada, Virginia, South Carolina and Delaware.
We offer a full payroll software. Download your free demo today, or click here to learn more .
2010 New York Payroll SUI Rate: For tax year 2010, the NY rate schedule in effect is under the column name "Less than 0%." The range of the normal portion of the 2010 NY SUI rates is 0.009 to 0.089. The range of rates with the normal, subsidiary and the reemployment tax for 2010 is 0.015 to 0.099. For new employers the rate is 0.041, including the subsidiary tax rate of 0.00625 and the reemployment tax of 0.00075.
2010 Alabama Payroll SUI Rate: Schedule D of the Alabama UI tax table applies in calendar year 2010. SUI Rates in that schedule range from 0.0059 to 0.0674. In addition, the Shared Cost Assessment for 2010 will increase to become 1.5 percent. All AL experience-rated employers (except new employers and employers assigned a rate of at least 5.4 percent but no greater than 5.45 percent) are required to pay the 0.0006 employment security administrative enhancement assessment under Schedule D.
2010 Nevada Payroll SUI Rate: Reserve ratios for each class have been updated, but the range of rates is the same for 2010: 0.25% to 5.4%. The range of reserve ratios is 5.2% or more for Class 1 up to -17.2% for Class 18. This amendment to the schedule is effective for 120 days from December 7 2009.
2010 South Carolina Payroll SUI Rate: There is a surcharge tax of 0.007 in effect for the 2010 year. Contribution rates for positive-balance employers range from 1.24% to 3.34% . Contribution rates for negative-balance employers range from 3.69% to 6.10%. The contingency assessment is 0.06%. In addition, the new SC UI employer rate is 3.4% for 2010 (this rate includes contingency assessment and surcharge tax).
2010 Virginia Payroll SUI Rate: There is a pool cost charge of 0.0028 and a fund building charge of 0.002. For 2010 , the rates range from 0.10 percent to 6.2 percent.
2010 Delaware Payroll SUI Rate: Basic rates for tax year 2010 range from 0.1 percent to 8.0 percent. New non-construction employers pay 2.6 percent in 2010 and new construction employers pay rates ranging from 5.6 percent to 8.2 percent, depending upon their NAICS classification.
Wondering How to do Payroll in Texas? We will show you how..
Do Texas payroll hassle-free by using our Texas small business payroll software. Federal and Texas state taxes are automatically computed this saves time and avoids fees that may be incurred with manual calculations. Texas payroll software generates checks, Texas payroll reports and Texas state forms. For more information go to www.realtaxtools.com .
Follow a step by step guide to easily create 2010 Texas payroll. This versatile Texas software allows the user to select types of incomes, taxes and deductions that apply to their employees. Choose from categories that are built- in to the program or add your own unique income, tax and/ or deduction. Some types of incomes supported are salary, commission and hourly pay and some deductions supported are 401K, health insurance and child support.
Texas payroll software supports Texas State unemployment reporting. Payroll Mate 2010 creates the file that the user uploads (recommend method) to The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Texas Workforce Commission allows business owners to submit the form on a CD also. The due date for Employers' Quarterly Report is April 1, 2010, July 1, 2010, October 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011. Find more information about Texas payroll at http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ or call 800-832-9394.
Texas Cafeteria Plan: In Texas, a Cafeteria Plan is a formal and written employee benefit plan which is offered to all participants who are employees. Participants may choose among two or more benefits consisting of cash and statutory nontaxable benefits. Employer contributions used to fund the following benefits are exempt from the state payroll unemployment tax: Retirement, Sickness or accidental disability , Medical or hospital expenses in connection with sickness or accidental disability and Death . Employee contributions used to fund benefits by salary reduction or deduction from the employee's base pay would be taxable to the TWC, regardless of what they are used to purchase or provide.
Texas 401(k) Plan: In Texas, a 401(k) Plan is an elective contribution and deferral to a plan containing a qualified cash or deferral compensation arrangement. Employer contributions into a Section 401(k) trust, which meet the requirements outlined in paragraph (a) of the Internal Revenue Code Section 401 and are exempt from income tax under Section 501(a) of the Code, are not considered taxable wages for state unemployment tax purposes. Employee contributions from a salary reduction or deduction from the employee's base pay are taxable under Texas state unemployment tax laws.
Texas payroll software has the most up to date payroll tax tables at all times. Payroll Mate prompts the user to check for updates ensuring employers are current with the withholding tables. All updates including tax tables, features we add that are helpful to the user, Texas tax forms are sent electronically, receive them instantly.
We have customers using our payroll software from a number of Taxes small and major cities including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Addison, Mcallen, Plano, Corpus Christi, Irving and Lubbock .
See how easy it can be do Texas payroll. Download a free trial of Payroll Mate Payroll Software or buy now and receive the program instantly.
How to do California Payroll….Easily generate 2010 California payroll using California payroll software. California state and federal 2010 taxes are automatically calculated. Print federal and California state payroll forms, print checks and California payroll reports.
Try Payroll Mate for yourself by downloading a free demo from Real Business Solutions payroll software download page.
California payroll tax software guides you step by step in entering company and employee information. Generate payroll checks quickly by navigating to the check details screen and saving the information in the program. In the check details screen you will be able to see for yourself the automatic calculations of taxes, deductions and view the net pay. Print checks individually or print multiple checks at once by going to the check printing report. In the reports screen you will see the numerous reports provided in the payroll software for California.
California state payroll taxes such as California Personal Income Tax (PIT), California State Unemployment Insurance (UI), California State Disability Insurance (SDI) and California Employment Training Tax (ETT) are automatically calculated in 2010 California payroll tax software.
Employers' in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Alameda, Sacramento, Fresno, San Jose, Piedmont, Modesto, and Bakers Field use 2010 Payroll Mate to print California state forms DE-6 and DE-7. The DE-6 form is submitted to State of California/ Employment Development Department/ P.O. Box 82688/ Sacramento, CA 94230-6288. The DE-6 is due April 1, 2010, July 1, 2010, October 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011. The form is considered delinquent if not filed by April 30, 2010 August 2, 2010, November 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011. The DE-7 form must be postmarked by January 31, 2011 and mailed to State of California/ Employment Development Department/ P.O. Box 82686/ Sacramento, CA 94230-6288. To find valuable information you can go to "The California Employer's Guide" or call the Taxpayer Assistance Center at (888) 745-3886.
California payroll providers save time and money by using a complete 2010 California payroll software. For more information visit http://www.realtaxtools.com/ or download free California payroll software demo .


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Connecting culture and career path through an internship
Kailee Pearson grew up knowing about her tribe, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, but it wasn't until college that she started connecting more with her cultural identity by exploring natural resources and wildlife biology as a career path.
Originally from Chicago, Pearson started looking into public universities in Michigan that would honor the state's tuition waiver based on her tribal membership. Her older brother, Mitchel Pearson, also attends Michigan State University.
"I never ever thought I'd go to the same school as him, but when I visited campus it felt like home to me," she said. "Then, when we found out I could get a tribal grant, it made sense."
To read more about Pearson's internship experience, visit the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources website.
Beth Bonsall


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CultureNewsTVTV News
Acclaimed director Robert Zemeckis adapts a Halloween favorite meant for children
Back To The Future, The Polar Express, Forrest Gump… these are the movies Robert Zemeckis has made, to just name a few. He is adapting this beloved children's tale along with Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro, and Kenya Barris. For a superb PG-rated dark family comedy movie meant for the family, The Witches features an all-star group of talent. With a planned joint release on both HBO Max and in theatres October 28th.
The story about a young boy who stumbles upon a coven of witches, and with the help of his grandmother, attempts to stop their plan to turn the children of the world into mice. Along the way, lessons are had, stories are beheld, and a whole lot of family-friendly spookys are made. The A-list cast includes Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Chenoweth, and Chris Rock, who star and feature in the film. Chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group Had this to say about the movie:
"The Witches is a wonderful reimagining of Roald Dahl's classic tale that combines world-class filmmaking with fantastic performances. It's fun for the whole family and ideal for this time of year."
Given the inability to see it in theatres, it's promising that the film is planning joint live showing and HBO Max release. It'll also be part of the, "Halloween is Here," spotlight alongside a library selection of over 140 movies, series, and Halloween events picked by HBO Max's editorial team
Christian Angeleshttp://www.xnangeles.com
Christian Angeles is a screenwriter who likes sharing stories and getting to meet people. He also listens to words on the page via audible and tries to write in ways that make people feel things. All on a laptop. Sometimes from an app on his phone.
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The Vacaville Fire Protection District is a combination volunteer/paid department with nine paid personnel. Volunteers are not compensated for their time. At present, there are approximately 80 men and women in the department. Members are issued protective clothing and must attend monthly drills for training. Each member is issued a pager, when activated by Solano County Dispatch; this notifies the respective personnel of an emergency. The members then respond to their assigned stations for assignment.
The Board of Directors meet on the 2nd Thursday of the following months – January, March, May, June, September, November at 7:30 p.m. at the District's Headquarters, 420 Vine Street, Vacaville This is a public meeting.


Fernando Torres can only manage the bench as the reds make 9 changes from the mid-week defeat.
Both Hyypia and Agger stay, with Jamie Carragher forced to right back to cover for the suspended Arbeloa.
Reina, Carragher, Hyypia, Agger, Aurelio, Gerrard, Mascherano, Riera, Kuyt, Alonso, Keane.
Subs: Cavalieri, Darby, Lucas, Babel, Torres, Dossena, Benayoun.


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Movie Trailer: Warcraft (2016)
I can see the allure for some — those that have amassed countless hours playing and lost relationships because of — with the upcoming video game adaptation, Warcraft, but for me it is too reminiscent of "The Hobbit" trilogy. That is, it has readily defined races that are traditionally enemies (in this case humans and orcs), and there is simply too much blatantly obvious CGI eating up the screen. That doesn't mean it doesn't have entertainment value, however. On the contrary, if the film lives up to anything like this latest trailer, courtesy of Legendary Pictures, shows there won't be much time to catch one's breath between all the hacking and slashing and crushing and war cries and magic. Take a look at the latest (and greatest?) the fantasy genre has to offer now.
Warcraft stars Ben Foster, Paula Patton, Travis Fimmel, Robert Kazinsky, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Clancy Brown, Daniel Wu, Callan Mulvey and Callum Keith Rennie.
Warcraft is an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on Blizzard Entertainment's global phenomenon. The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
Warcraft collides in UK theaters on May 30, 2016 and US theaters on June 10, 2016.
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Movie Trailer: Doctor Strange (2016)
Tagged: battle, human, invasion, monsters, video game adaptation
About sasori
When I'm not sleeping, I'm doing something else that closely resembles sleep.
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'Movie Trailer: Warcraft (2016)' have 5 comments
April 19, 2016 @ 2:51 pm Gabe
With so much CG why not just make the entire movie without live actors? The human characters are just as basic as the orc ones so I doubt anyone would care..
April 19, 2016 @ 3:16 pm rebel yell
Looks alright I guess.
April 19, 2016 @ 3:33 pm KIRK
I'll check it out even though I'm more of a Diablo fan myself…
April 19, 2016 @ 4:00 pm Damn the Torpedoes
I don't know the first thing about the Warcraft story but I'm a sucker for fantasy stuff with Orcs and Elves and Goblins and Wizards and Dragons and it looks like they've got a good mix of them all (or something similar). Effects could be a little crisper though.
April 19, 2016 @ 7:29 pm JKinnison
Rumor has it that Uwe Boll asked to direct this and was rebuffed with Blizzard telling him, "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you… especially not to you."
My ticket is bought just for that badassery.
Warcraft (2016)
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director(s): Duncan Jones
Actor(s): Ben Foster, Callan Mulvey, Callum Keith Rennie, Clancy Brown, Daniel Wu, Dominic Cooper, Paula Patton, Robert Kazinsky, Toby Kebbell, Travis Fimmel
Writer(s): Charles Leavitt, Duncan Jones
Producer(s): Alex Gartner, Charles Roven, Jon Jashni, Stuart Fenegan, Thomas Tull
Studio(s): Atlas Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Universal Pictures
Release Date(s): US: June 10, 2016 | UK: May 30, 2016
IMDb Info: Warcraft
Official Page: Warcraft
Movie Review: Warcraft Movie Review
Home » Trailers » Movie Trailer: Warcraft (2016)
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The recent visit to Moscow by U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and his meeting with Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed serious discrepancies between countries. Therefore, to assess the probability of meeting the two leaders — Donald trump and Vladimir Putin — no one can, although rumors about it appear constantly. "Apostrophe" asked the Russian financier and blogger Glory Rabinovich, what could be the first meeting between the two presidents, as if leaked their conversation about Ukraine, and about why the Russian leader will not turn out to arrange "exchange" of Ukrainian territory with his American counterpart.
As I understand it, trump and Putin is still not assigned. No one knows whether it will at all. I'm really interested in — not as an analyst but as a citizen of the Russian Federation and the United States — which was a joint (Russian-American — "Apostrophe") gesheft, which combines agreement and any conversations before trump was close to the President that there really was (people between Putin and the future President of the United States — "the Apostrophe"). I am interested from the point of view of a citizen, because I have a right to know.
Because people like Putin are on the taxes of citizens. As a US citizen I am more or less sure that such bodies as the CIA, Congress, Senate, special Commission, to the end of investigating a potential conflict of interest, a potential violation of the law, the agreements carried out the trump, but had no right to it. All that interests me from the point of view of possible violations of the right to the presidential race, during it, and with the inauguration of the President. Any unlawful, illegal action — this is something of interest. I believe in the American system.
But on the Russian side, I don't believe in anything. If between Putin and trump had any illegal agreement, we know in advance that from the Russian side we will never find the truth until Putin's regime will not fall, unless somehow, someone will sit in the dock until you open the archives and some secret data that will enable us to judge of any state and malfeasance. And here in the US nothing in the end, will not remain secret.
That in case of a possible trump meeting with Putin, will speak about Ukraine, it's pretty obvious. It is absolutely 100%. Because now it is one of the "hot spots" of the planet. But Putin is no requirement regarding the exchange of the Ukraine in return for something simply can not be determined. And never could be. Trump could never satisfy those requirements.
What I want is Putin? Putin would like to end the war in the East of Ukraine in exchange for recognition of Crimea under jurisdiction of Russia. He didn't get it. Yes, this topic will rise during meetings. But in this form will not even be discussed. Because neither trump nor Merkel nor Hollande nor the future President of France Makron, no other heads of state are not authorized, by definition, to exchange any annexed territory for peace in some other territories, where Russia started the war.
Can not imagine how could the Kremlin, the Putin administration, people who do not know what year you live, to hope that they could talk with America in 2014 or 2017, in the 21st century, the division of the world into zones of interest. They don't live in that era. The American administration will never pursue with another country this kind of negotiation.


The 15th annual Junior League of Bergen County Touch-a-Truck fundraiser and community event is fast approaching! This year's event will be held on Sunday, May 5th at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ from 10am-2pm.
Touch-a-Truck is a family-friendly outdoor event that takes place rain or shine and attracts more than 1300 attendees. Kids of all ages enjoy climbing on all types of vehicles, beeping horns and participating in a variety of entertainment opportunities (e.g., bounce houses, facepainting), while their parents have the opportunity to learn about new products, services and businesses that support our local communities.
● A Partnership with Boys and Girls Club of Lodi to help on-going activities to strengthen their after-school programming.
The Junior League of Bergen County relies on fundraising activities to support its programs. Because our League is volunteer-based, every dollar earned through these efforts is allocated to our community outreach programs. Through our projects, we touch thousands of Bergen County residents each year – but we cannot continue to do so without the generous support of businesses and individuals like you!


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The Bankruptcy Option – Bankruptcy Jurisdiction over Medicare or Medicaid Disputes
publications | December 19, 2018
Resting at the intersection of Medicare or Medicaid law and the United States Bankruptcy Code is the issue of whether a provider can prevent the termination of a Medicare or Medicaid provider agreement through the filing of a bankruptcy case under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In the ordinary bankruptcy case, the "automatic stay" provision of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) prohibits "any act to obtain possession of property of the estate or of property from the estate or to exercise control over property of the estate," and enjoins "the commencement or continuation … of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case." The automatic stay, therefore, will stop a laundry list of actions that are about to harm a company, such as foreclosure actions by a lender and termination of a lease by a landlord. Whether the automatic stay is as powerful when dealing with governmental payors in the healthcare space, however, is far less certain. Of course, since many healthcare providers rely heavily on Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursements to offset patient contributions to care, this is a critical issue.
The issue frequently will arise after a State Department of Health (DH) or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finds that patients are in "immediate jeopardy," gives notice of its intent to terminate the provider agreement if the provider fails to correct the irregularities , and the provider fails (in the view of the DH or CMS) to correct them timely. In such instances, before the termination occurs, various providers have filed voluntary petitions to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Indeed, this is what a Florida skilled nursing facility (SNF) did recently. To avoid the consequences of termination of its provider agreements, Bayou Shores SNF, LLC ("Bayou Shores") filed a bankruptcy case under Chapter 11. The Bankruptcy Court assumed authority over the Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements as part of the debtor's estate, enjoined the Secretary from terminating the provider agreements, determined for itself that Bayou Shores was qualified to participate in the provider agreements, required the Secretary to maintain the stream of monetary benefit under the agreements, and approved the reorganization of the debtor's estate by confirming its plan of reorganization. CMS had taken the position that a Medicare jurisdiction-stripping provision, 42 U.S.C. § 405(h), divested the Bankruptcy Court of jurisdiction over the debtor's Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements. While the Bankruptcy Court disagreed, the two appellate courts — the District Court and then the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals – agreed with CMS. In re Bayou Shores SNF, LLC, 828 F.3d 1297 (11th Cir. 2016) (concluding that § 405(h)'s jurisdictional bar applies to 28 U.S.C. § 1344).
There is, however, a circuit split on the lack-of-jurisdiction holding pertaining to § 405(h). Compare In re Bayou Shores SNF, LLC, 828 F.3d 1297; Nichole Med. Equip. & Supply, Inc. v. TriCenturion, Inc. , 694 F.3d 340, 346–47 (3d Cir. 2012) (concluding that § 405(h) "continues to bar virtually all grants of jurisdiction under Title 28," and holding specifically that it bars diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332); Midland Psychiatric Assocs., Inc. v. United States, 145 F.3d 1000, 1004 (8th Cir. 1998) (holding that § 405(h)'s jurisdictional bar applies to 28 U.S.C. § 1332); Bodimetric Health Servs., Inc. v. Aetna Life & Cas., 903 F.2d 480, 488–90 (7th Cir. 1990) (same), with Do Sungh Uhm v. Humana, Inc., 620 F.3d 1134, 1141 N.11 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing In re Town & Country Home Nursing Servs., Inc., 963 F.2d 1146, 1155 (9th Cir. 1991)); In re Univ. Med. Ctr., 973 F.2d 1065, 1073 (3d Cir. 1992) (holding that § 405(h) did not preclude bankruptcy jurisdiction over an action to bar the offset of reimbursement of post-petition services against pre-petition overpayments because the claim did not "arise under" the Medicare statute). Also, notwithstanding the inclusion of the Seventh Circuit's decision in Bodimetric above, it is notable that a Bankruptcy Court within the Seventh Circuit recently enjoined CMS from terminating a provider agreement after concluding it had jurisdiction to do so; the Seventh Circuit refused to take up the jurisdictional issue on appeal because it held the appeal was moot because, by the time the District Court took it up on appeal, the Bankruptcy Court had already dissolved the injunction for other reasons. Home Care Providers, Inc. v. Hemmelgarn, 861 F.3d 615 (7th Circ. 2017).
The Medicare jurisdiction-stripping provision may also be inapplicable to the Medicaid statute. This is what a District Court in Maine concluded in Maine Dept. of Health and Human Services v. The Getchell Agency, Civil No. 1:17-cv-cv-00252-JAW, as recently as April 2018. In that case, a small healthcare business providing residential and support services to individuals with physical, emotional and intellectual disabilities had two provider agreements with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). After the MDHHS issued a Notice of Violation to the provider and sought to recoup overpayments, the provider filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The MDHHS, in turn, asked the Bankruptcy Court to declare that the automatic stay did not apply to its efforts to terminate the debtor's provider agreements. The Bankruptcy Court ruled it had jurisdiction over any challenge to MDHHS's termination of the provider agreements, and that the automatic stay applied. On appeal, the District Court ruled that the Bankruptcy Judge "was likely correct when he determined that there was jurisdiction for the automatic stay because [the Medicare jurisdiction-stripping provision] is inapplicable to the Medicaid statute, which does not contain such a provision." As the Court pointed out: "It is true that some courts have interpreted the Medicare jurisdiction-stripping provision to cover decisions revoking a provider's approval under Medicaid in some situations, such as when the provider operates under both Medicare and Medicaid, and the decision to revoke Medicaid approval automatically revokes Medicare approval…. The Bankruptcy Court was likely correct not to extend that logic to cover the situation here, where the provider operates only under Medicaid, because no courts have extended this reasoning as far as MDHHS asks. There have been legislative attempts to add a similar provision to the Medicaid statute, but those attempts have been unsuccessful." Id. (citations omitted).
While a conclusion that the Bankruptcy Court has jurisdiction over a Medicare or Medicaid provider agreement may not be the end of the disputes between a DH or CMS and a provider, it is a necessary prerequisite to challenging actions of the DH or CMS with respect to the provider agreement. Depending on the jurisdiction in which a bankruptcy case is filed, and on whether the agreements at issue are Medicare or Medicaid agreements, bankruptcy may still be an option to consider when faced with termination of a provider agreement.
Darryl Scott Laddin


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US FAA Extends Embargo on Damascus International Airport (DAM)
December 10, 2018 Arabi Souri Qatar, Russia, Saudi-Arabia, Syria, USA 0
Damascus International Airport
The regime of Donald Trump extended its flights embargo against Syria it imposed on August 29, 2017, prohibiting commercial flights to the Syrian capital Damascus.
FAA's new rule titled: 'Extension of the Prohibition Against Certain Flights in the Damascus Flight Information Region (FIR (OSTT) is published in the Federal Registrar of the USA on December 10, 2018.
The reason cited by the FAA, which was first published in December 2014 was 'ongoing threat to U.S. civil aviation operating in the Damascus FIR', it attributed the threat to 'the presence of anti-aircraft weapons controlled by non-state actors, threats made by extremist groups, de-confliction concerns, and ongoing military fighting'.
Guess who armed the 'non-state actors' with anti-aircraft weapons? No other than the USA itself and its closest allies under its direct supervision.
NATO Weapons gift for terrorists in Syria
All sorts of such and other embargo and sanctions by the US and its cronies against the people of Syria, and those of other nations, are meant to push the people to riot against their own governments in order to allow a puppet regime serving the United States' agenda of sucking resources and riches of other nations dry.
Syria has been under US gradual increasing sanctions since 1956! It reached a height in the aftermath of the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri with the Syria Accountability Act, accusing Syria of the killing, but didn't lift it off when Syria was acquitted from this false allegation.
Many international IT companies went as far as removing Syria from the list of countries on their sites for Syrian residents and those seeking services and goods delivered to Syria will not find the whole country in the drop-down lists as if it doesn't exist.
Damascus International Airport is very much secure and in operation, and the only threat coming to it was by US-sponsored terrorists attacking and bombing it, and by Israel bombing the commercial airport, a war crime but Israel is immune from the responsibility of its war crimes because of the US's protection. All such threats were eliminated when the Syrian Arab Army cleaned Damascus and Eastern Ghouta completely from US-sponsored terrorists in May this year, and when Russia finally delivered the 4 decades old, 8 years ago purchased S300 air defense systems to Syria which stopped the Israeli attacks on the civilian airport.
Yet, there were no such warnings or prohibitions by the US authorities against other airports, like the Saudi ones for instance, which were being bombed by the Yemeni Army in retaliation to the US-sponsored Saudi massacres in Yemen. The farce of protecting U.S. citizens by prohibiting flights to Damascus is exposed.
The FAA's Extension of the Prohibition Against Certain Flights in the Damascus Flight Information Region remains in place until December 30, 2020!
Follow us on Telegram: http://t.me/syupdates link will open Telegram app.
To help us continue please visit the Donate page to donate or learn other ways.
Nusra Front
Obama-Cum-Trump Regime 'Coalition' Bombs Hajin, Again
6000 Terrorists in US-Controlled al-Tanf


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Q: neo4jphp relateTo() to a getResultSet() object I'm using the Neo4jphp REST API and I'm having a problem of relating a node iv created in my code to a node im retrieving from the neo4j database.
I'm retrieving the node as follows
$querystring="MATCH(n)"."WHERE has (n.name) and n.name='Interests'"."RETURN n";
         $query=new Everyman\Neo4j\Cypher\Query($client,$querystring);
         $result=$query->getResultSet();
im creating another node in my code using createNode()
$friend=$client->makeNode()->setProperty('name',$fname)->save();

I used relateTo() to relate them
$m=$client->getNode($result);
$m->relateTo($friend,$movi)->save();//$movi is a common movie name

but getting this error
PHP Catchable fatal error:  Object of class Everyman\\Neo4j\\Query\\ResultSet could not be converted to string in /var/www/vendor/everyman/neo4jphp/lib/Everyman/Neo4j/Cache/EntityCache.php

would really appreciate any input

A: A neo4jphp query returns a row object (even if theres only one responce) so
$m=$client->getNode($result);

won't work
try this instead
$querystring="MATCH(n) WHERE has (n.name) and n.name='Interests' RETURN n";
$query=new Everyman\Neo4j\Cypher\Query($client,$querystring);
$result=$query->getResultSet();
foreach($result as $resultItem)
{
   $resultArray[] = $resultItem['x'];
   //$resultItem['x'] is the node object, now $result array is an array of node objects
}
$friend= $client->makeNode()->setProperty('name',$fname)->save();
$resultArray[0]->relateTo($friend,$movi)->save();

this code will also work with this query (easier to read)
$querystring="MATCH (n {name:"Interests"}) RETURN n";

A: I would do it this way:
$queryString = "MATCH(n) WHERE has (n.name) and n.name= {name} RETURN ID(n)";
$query = new Everyman\Neo4j\Cypher\Query($client,$queryString,array('name'=>'Interests'));

$result = $query->getResultSet();

$resultArray=array();
foreach($result as $row)
{
    array_push($resultArray,$row['n']);
}

$friend = $client->getNode($resultArray[0]);
$friend->relateTo($friend,$movi)-save();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Home Heroes Blog Exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con!
Exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con!
We are excited to announce that Hero Within will be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con this year (July 19-24)! It's hard to believe that just a year ago, our company had barely launched our online store right before the show. Besides exhibiting with our full collection in stock, we will also have a significant presence at SDCC. In the coming weeks, we will be announcing where are booth will be, what exclusives we will be offering, what events we will be participating in, what panels we will be on and announcing giveaway contests. Stay tuned for more details and see you in San Diego!


Disneyland proposal ideas! Please help!
Letter-writing campaign: more Electrical Parade in December!
Best place to catch Block Party Bash?
When did Haunted Mansion Holiday Start?
Is it really that hot right now?
Out Of The Way Places For Fireworks!


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Category: TV
The divisiveness of all "Roseanne" and the responsibility of being a public figure
May 30, 2018 Leave a comment
Roseanne Barr tweeted something disgusting and racist and ABC prompty cancelled her revival sitcom.
Okay, now that you're caught up…
To some people (actually most people unfortunately) politics is more about faith than it is about facts.
Roseanne Barr was never the kind of person to shy away from giving her political opinion, no matter how controversial or atypical to left-leaning Hollywood.
The Despicables – Sitcoms about horrible human beings
It's fascinating to me how writers can make this work and the philosophy of comedy that petains to it.
In dramas we have anti-heroes: Our Walter Whites, Tony Sopranos etc.
What makes us love these shows? What makes us want to watch these despicable characters go through trials and tribulations? And when they succeed, what makes us happy for them?
Consistently enjoyable "New Girl" leaves behind little to no legacy
Sitcoms come and go and there are a lot of them.
"New Girl" was consistently average comfort food. At its worst (Final season, Seasons 1/2) it was background noise. At its best (Seasons 3-5) it was filled with things to chuckle about and a couple things to laugh out loud about.
How "Silicon Valley" turned its greatest weakness into its greatest strength
When writers outline their script it's important to try and understand how the audience feels, essentially about everything.
Dialogue can tell us a lot about character, but I want to focus on the structure of story itself.
Seasons 1 and 2 of "Silicon Valley" were hilarious and probably the funniest we'll ever see the show. Season 3 lagged as fans and critics felt we were stuck in a cycle of failure and success.
"13 Reasons Why" Season 1 worked. Season 2 was always a bad idea.
13 Reasons Why season one was solid.
There were ebbs and flows throughout the season, but overall it was a strong mystery with a satisfying, yet devastating conclusion.
Everything comes together. Without questionable cliffhangers it would've been a strong mini-series and critics agree.
Katherine Langford earned a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination and the critics landed on an admirable 76.
Loud internet fandom reveals inherit faults in aged Nielson rating system (this could've been a headline a decade ago!)
The Nielson ratings are absurd and just about every major network still swears by them.
Earlier this month shows such as "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and "The Expanse" were cancelled. Several other shows were cancelled along with them.
However these two specific shows had loud fanbases. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was rescued by NBC and "The Expanse," as of now still cancelled, has fans flying plane banners attempting to resucue the SyFy series.
On Wednesday "The Expanse" was met again with a subpar Nielson rating. The outcry is so strong though, that I feel confident it will be picked up.
Back in the "Firefly" and "Freaks and Geeks" days the internet wasn't this massive community of outspoken, pissed off people.
The Nielson metric was obsolete over a decade ago. Every show my wife and I watch isn't contributed to their number, and the same can be said of millions of people across the country.
Time to update.
The annoying trend of studios predeterming MPAA ratings to stir hype
"An R-rated movie from the Jim Henson company!? I'm in!"
That was me a few years ago when "The Happytime Murders" was announced. I love The Muppets and all the work the Jim Henson Company has done.
This… does not look good.
There's been a trend lately that I hope dies: Production companies determine their MPAA rating before pre-production in order to stir up hype.
However, the script and resulting film should determine its rating. Articles talk about Tarantino's "R-rated Star Trek," yet it hasn't been written.
The story should dictate the MPAA rating and this trend is a blatant example of studios having too much control in the creative process.
Last Man on Earth fan theory: Tandy is the last man on Earth
It was announced yesterday that, in an attempt to be less humorous and all-around good, Fox has cancelled "Last Man on Earth," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and "The Mick."
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is a fan favorite and the fanbase has been shouting. It's all but guranteed that the cop show will return, maybe on Hulu.
Then there's "Last Man on Earth," a show with a strong first season that delves into low-budget slapstick and giddiness as it moves on through its four seasons.
Updated Emmy Predictions – May 2018
Final predictions are ranked from most likely to win to least likely.
Most Recent Predictions here.
The Rise of Donald Glover
"Atlanta" is Donald Glover's dream project.
The show has steadily evolved from surreal comedy to straight-up surreal. I've never seen such anxiety-inducing television than I have with the last five episodes. The previous episode "FUBU" showed me that I may have some PTSD leftover from my middle school years.
Anyway, it's easily the most ambitious show on television right now. I'm happy to see Glover's vision realized here because so much has culminated to this point in his career.
Dry Run
Fair and Balanced
The French Dispatch
Jojo Rabbit
Wes Anderson – The French Dispatch
Jordan Peele – Us
Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Taika Waititi – Jojo Rabbit
Lead Actor
Robert de Niro – The Irishman
Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Taron Egerton – Rocketman
Dev Patel – The Personal History of David Copperfield
Jonathan Pryce – The Pope
Lead Actress
Amy Adams – The Woman in the Window
Cyntha Erivo – Harriet
Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
Charlize Theron – Fair and Balanced
Renee Zellweger – Judy
Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
John Lithgow – Fair and Balanced
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Supporting Actress
Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
Janelle Monae – Harriet
Margot Robbie – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey
Meryl Streep – The Laundromat


Alicia Vikander Cozies Up To The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
I admit that I have been a very bad film blogger. I have entirely ignored the news about the upcoming film version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., mostly because I'm all Tom Cruised-out and just could not be bothered. But now I am intrigued by some of the latest casting news, as Swedish actress Alicia Vikander has been cast as the female lead opposite Cruise.
You may remember Vikandar from Anna Karenina (she was Kitty) or A Royal Affair. She has not yet made the big splash in American cinema as she perhaps should have, but she's getting there. And a part in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is probably a good place to start.
Vikander's part is being described as a British agent with a love of automobiles- sounds like my true favorite 1960s female badass, Mrs. Emma Peel, but anyways. This, by the way, is not a character from the original TV series that starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. In fact, I'm pretty positive that this character has just been dreamed up by the producers to add some much needed girl power to what is really a very masculine plot.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has had a hard time getting going, what with George Clooney dropping out of the lead (now replaced by Tom Cruise) and Steven Soderbergh taking a powder. Now we have Cruise and Armie Hammer as Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin respectively, with Guy Ritchie in the director's chair. With the female lead finally cast, it looks like this one might actually get made sometime in the next millenia.
Honestly, the more I think about this, the more fun The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is shaping up to be. A good 1960s spy story that is not James Bond? I can get behind that one. With Vikander stepping in, I am hereby intrigued.


"We need to take our place," he said, guiding her to the dance floor, where Lord and Lady Satterfield were already in place at the top of the line that was forming. Kendal positioned Nora to stand beside Lady Satterfield so that they were second in the line. The musicians, set in the far corner of the makeshift ballroom, began to play, and panic seized Nora's chest. Would she remember the steps? Would she make a fool of herself, or worse, of him?
She felt like an imposter in a scenario she'd mistakenly stumbled into. Surely someone would point her out and tell her she needed to leave. She was a pariah, an outcast. She had no place being here, let alone dancing with a duke.
But it was far too late to run away. The dance had started, and the line traveled the length of the drawing room. This dance would last quite some time, during which Nora would be the center of everyone's attention and the source of everyone's gossip. She could hear the exchanges now, imagined them starting up and spreading like a freshly-ignited fire.
Lord and Lady Satterfield started, dancing their way between the lines. They were rather spry, given their age.
Nora nodded. Dancing was typically reserved for the young.
She tried not to stare at her partner, but it was difficult as he was situated directly across from her and she should look at him. Look, yes, but not gape. And he was gape-worthy. His reputation suited him for he seemed forbidden, otherworldly almost. Not in an ethereal way, but in a rustic, rough sort of manner, as if Society couldn't possibly contain him.
Despite that or perhaps because of it, he wore his costume with ease. However, she suspected he was more comfortable in riding breeches and boots as he galloped his horse across the Lake District—she'd ascertained that was where his seat was located—his powerful thighs hugging the animal's flanks as they moved as one.
Goodness, where had that astonishing image come from?
And then it was their turn to traverse the line. She prayed she would remember the steps and focused on the music as they moved toward each other.
"You look as if you're headed to the guillotine," he said just loud enough for her alone to hear.
"Do I?" She tried to laugh but was afraid she sounded like a wounded bird. She longed to ask why he'd chosen her and immediately wondered if Lady Satterfield had put him up to it. She decided she didn't want to know.
He chuckled, and like his speaking voice, it sparked a tremor that seemed to start in her bones and move outward making her flesh tingle and her chest warm. "Don't be nervous. And certainly don't be nervous on my account." He said the last with a tone so dry, she feared it might curl up and blow away in the breeze.
Thank you for featuring THE FORBIDDEN DUKE!
Thank you for hosting me today!!


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Grant Winner | Housing Construction
cdcb | come dream. come build.
Rio Grande Valley, Texas-Mexico Border
MiCASiTA is a unique off-the-shelf environmentally sustainable, disaster-resilient modular homeownership innovation. It is designed for rural families across the Rio Grande Valley and more communities struggling with persistent poverty nationwide. MiCASiTA marks a departure from a one-size-fits-all model to a system that empowers communities of color with modest incomes to choose and design their own homes.
Founded in 1974, cdcb | come dream. come build. provides safe, sanitary affordable housing to the citizens of the southernmost area of the United States. Through collaborative partnerships, cdcb seeks to create sustainable communities across South Texas through quality education, model financing, efficient home design and superior construction.
Headquartered in Brownsville, Texas, cdcb is one of the state's largest nonprofit producers of single-family housing for homeownership. The vision of this award-winning, multifaceted organization is to be a trendsetter in creating model communities, where every person is:
Valued and provided options
Interconnected within sustainable communities
Assured a high quality of life
Affordable housing is too often synonymous with a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to offer any real choices for families most in need. cdcb's focus allows residents and community members to make decisions about each housing development – cultivating agency and control that yields power.
Housing for people who earn the least is in a state of disaster. The single-family affordable housing industry and its elaborate construction techniques and design ignore the complexity of people's lives and the unique fabric of communities.
Rural communities in persistent poverty regions like the U.S.-Mexico border continuously live in post-disaster quality housing, making homes out of shacks, tents and old RV trailers. MiCASiTA is an innovation based on the premise that families should be able to grow into their home – so they can move from disaster to physical and financial resiliency, and to individual and community power.
SOLUTION: MiCASiTA
How do we build a house that's not only affordable to families with very low incomes but allows them to build wealth, health and power? cdcb believes the solution is MiCASiTA, an innovation created by listening to and working with their community with cultural humility.
Simplicity is at the heart of MiCASiTA, a collaboration between cdcb and buildingcommunityWORKSHOP [bc]. There are no proprietary materials involved; no specialized machinery, robot or 3D printing. It meets people where they are, at a particular point in time, with the support of local resources. Its creators say the lack of complexity makes the idea completely transferable.
MiCASiTA was born out of the temp-to-permanent disaster recovery model, RAPIDO, initiated by Texas Low Income Housing Information Services. cdcb and [bc] were part of the team that redeveloped the RAPIDO model into a pilot selected for the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum's "By the People" exhibit and highlighted at Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in Ecuador.
"We're this small town, down on the border that is far from centers of innovation and finance, but we do have some powerful ideas. To have Enterprise and Wells Fargo recognize that is rewarding and having their muscle behind us is going to be extremely impactful."
― Nick Mitchell-Bennett, cdcb | come dream. come build.
Seven years in the making, MiCASiTA provides an immediate response to unhealthy, dilapidated homes and unclear titles. The off-the-shelf model features an app that gives homebuyers choice in design and shows how their choices affect cost. The financing component (education and a loan product) works in tandem with construction, allowing families to grow their home as their finances improve and build equity through homeownership.
Environmentally conscious construction is key to MiCASiTA, increasing sustainability and affordability. The innovation's scalable delivery system makes it transferable to other communities experiencing deep poverty.
buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation
Rio Grande Valley Multibank CDFI
INTENDED RESULTS
Over the course of its grant, cdcb and [bc] aim to build six prototype dwellings whose construction costs are less per square foot than the average unit in the market. They will complete the design and launch of their Choice Empower software system, allowing clients to choose and weigh the costs of design options. They will also expand the MiCASiTA model to one additional persistent poverty region in the United States.
Looking beyond the lifespan of the grant, cdcb believes that successful scale for MiCASiTA is not just increased unit production: It is a client-led design and production system that is easily adopted and implemented across the country. That system will include a franchise model with built-in systems, processes and technology to support market diversity and context, both culturally and economically.
Most importantly, MiCASiTA aspires to generate a documented increase in client empowerment that shows measurable improvement in families' physical and financial health and the true transfer of intergenerational wealth in communities of color.
cdcb | come dream. come build. receives $2.5 million award to develop its MiCASiTA model
cdcb receives $2M housing grant to develop prototype dwellings
Meet the Grant Winners
A nationwide competition for the top housing innovations unveiled six winning ideas, from driving rural homeownership to radically capturing carbon.
Center for NYC Neighborhoods
Gulf Coast Housing Partnership
Preservation of Affordable Housing
Forterra NW


We at Simply Sublime know how important fundraising is to your organization or group, so we have come up with a very simple, yet unique and profitable, way to help.
us via e-mail, mail or phone to let us know you are interested in doing a fundraiser.
2. We ship one of our cake pan fundraiser kits that includes a cake pan with a design on it for you to display. We also include easy to use order forms with a picture of our pans and pictures of each of the available designs on the back. These forms are personalized with the name of the organization doing the fundraising.
3. Orders are taken for approximately two weeks (let us know if you need more time), with all moneys being collected ($35.00 per 9 x 13 cake pan and $33.00 per 9 x 9 brownie pan)) at the time of sale. You get your money immediately, which avoids any over ordering or nonpayment.
4. We have a minimum order of 15 items to qualify for our discount. Once your order qualifies, your group keeps $7.00 for each cake pan and $6.00 for each brownie pan sold.
5. You mail us the order forms with the names and design choices along with the sample pan. Include a check or money order for $28.00 per cake pan and $27.00 per brownie pan sold. (Always place the order as soon as possible to ensure ample time to fill the order). Remember to make copies of all order forms for your own records. Allow 2-3 weeks to fill orders when planning a delivery date. Have a specific date you need them by? Let us know, we're very flexible!
6. Arrangements can be made if you wish to pick up your order. Otherwise shipping and handling charges are $6.00 for the first item and $1.30 for each additional item. If your order exceeds 75 items, you qualify for free shipping!
Have a photo of your church or group logo you want to use on a cake pan? We can do that and include it as a choice on your order forms! Contact us for more information.
Interested in selling some of our other great products as a fundraiser? Let us know! We can customize a fundraiser for your organization or group using any of the items shown on our website!