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No large CalPERS exit fee for charter schools
An old line about local governments in CalPERS — "You can check in, but you can't check out" — usually refers to an often prohibitively high termination fee to pay future pension costs.
But for charter schools the old line is literally true. Current law does not allow termination of their CalPERS contract. When a charter school closes, the unpaid pension debt is covered by the large CalPERS pool mainly funded by regular schools.
CalPERS has contracts to provide pensions for non-teaching employees in 422 charter schools, a growing movement that allows parents to choose a state-funded school operating free of many state regulations. Thirteen more charter schools are seeking CalPERS contracts.
A few charter schools have gone into bankruptcy. Some charter school operators have been convicted of wrongly using public funds for their own purposes. And about 600 have closed or never opened since charter schools were authorized in 1993.
CalPERS enrolls charter school employees through contracts with county offices of education. There are signs that some charter schools in CalPERS may be having trouble or want to shed growing pension costs.
"CalPERS has identified an estimated 140 charter schools that have stopped reporting payroll to us," Amy Morgan, a California Public Employees Retirement System spokeswoman said last week.
"CalPERS is analyzing this information and is working on developing a process to improve compliance with reporting payroll for these charter schools," she said.
Last year CalPERS received its first charter school requests about termination. They came from Aspire, which has three dozen charter schools in several counties, and King-Chavez, which has six charter schools and two preschools in San Diego County.
The King-Chavez chief executive, Tim Wolf, was unpleasantly surprised last week when asked about a CalPERS report that King-Chavez "does not report payroll and may be closed," which CalPERS later acknowledged was erroneous.
"We are continuing to contribute to CalPERS and are only seeking information regarding our future option," Wolf said.
Over the last 15 years, he said, state funding has not kept pace with the cost of the total benefit package that grew from 14 percent of pay to 40 percent of pay. Half of the cost is for CalPERS and CalSTRS, half for medical, dental, workers compensation, and other things.
"Aspire continues to report payroll," CalPERS said. Aspire did not respond to a request last week about its future pension plans.
When a charter school closes, its unpaid debt or "unfunded liability" for future pension costs are covered by the large CalPERS pool for all schools. CalPERS said it had no breakout for the amount of debt left in the schools pool by closed charter schools.
The pensions of closed charter schools employees are not cut to cover the unpaid debt, as happened last year to 182 former employees of a closed job-training agency, LA Works, also known as the East San Gabriel Valley Human Services Consortium.
Four cities that formed the joint powers authority declined to pay a $19.5 million termination fee. To cover the debt, CalPERS cut the pensions of the former LA Works employees, 74 already retired, by 63 percent, recently reduced to 58 percent.
CalPERS once had the option to use its Terminated Agency Pool, if a surplus allowed, to cover the unpaid debt of employers, avoiding pension cuts. But CalPERS had ended that seldom-used policy before it was eliminated by legislation this year.
Slide from collections report given the CalPERS board last April
At a CalPERS finance committee last April two board members said the question of whether regular schools should pay the pension debt of closed charter schools is a concern. (See video starting at 2:08)
"It shouldn't be all the other school districts responsibility to pay for that chartering agency's decision," said board member Rob Feckner. "So I think it should fall back on that chartering agency, and that county office of education, to make whole not the schools pool."
Outgoing board president Priya Mathur said whether public schools should be responsible for charter school pension debt is a big policy question. "It's not really a CalPERS question in terms of making our members get their benefits paid for," she said.
Matthew Jacobs, CalPERS legal counsel, told Mathur: "That is exactly the type of conversation that we have been having with stakeholders to make sure that they are aware of the issue and, hopefully, take action to address it."
At this time, CalPERS is not talking to stakeholders or pursuing legislative strategies on the payment of charter school debt by the schools pool, Morgan, the CalPERS spokeswoman, said last week.
The California State Teachers Retirement System tightly monitors charter schools by tracking changes in their payrolls and by developing an audit system to identify high-risk charter schools.
CalSTRS also has the authority, unlike CalPERS, to recover unpaid charter school debt by asking the state controller to withhold payment to county education offices or other agencies that report payrolls and send contributions. The authority was used for the first time last January.
The operator of two Livermore charter schools, Tri-Valley Learning Corp., declared bankruptcy last year. To recover its unpaid June contribution, CalSTRS had the controller withhold $53,000 from the January payment to the Alameda County Office of Education.
Alameda officials urged CalSTRS to reconsider, arguing that the withholding law did not apply in this situation, the charter authorizing agency was the Livermore Unified School District, and that a better statewide solution to charter school bankruptcies is needed.
"We need a strategy for collecting delinquent contributions that holds the right parties responsible," Karen Monroe, superintendent of the Alameda County Office of Education, told the CalPERS board in February.
She said allowing charter schools to shift CalSTRS obligations to public agencies creates "perverse incentives," makes it difficult to collect delinquent payments, and could impact authorization of new charter schools by creating new concern about the financial risk.
Monroe said her office was willing to work with CalSTRS on changes, including some CalSTRS is already considering such as escrow accounts, bonding or insurance, and making the county office of education the charter school reporting agency optional.
As for the $53,000 payment withheld in January: "We are still in conversations with CalSTRS to resolve the issue," Michelle Smith McDonald, Alameda County Office of Education spokeswoman, said last week.
Another CalSTRS charter school issue surfaced last year. The number of new charter schools that did not choose CalSTRS had been about 10 percent for eight years, before falling in fiscal 2014-15 to 20 percent and in 2015-16 to 33.3 percent.
The decline in charter schools choosing CalSTRS may have been influenced by legislation in June 2014 that raises school district CalSTRS rates from 8.25 percent of pay to 19.1 percent of pay by 2020.
Of the 1,239 California charter schools operating as of last June, about 86 percent or 1,070 are in CalSTRS, said Michael Sicilia, CalSTRS spokesman. The total number of charter school employees last fiscal year is an estimated 30,000.
Because CalSTRS had 445,935 active members making contributions to the pension fund last year, the small loss of new charter school members so far has little impact on rates paid by school districts.
An update of the number of new charter schools that choose CalSTRS is being prepared for the CalSTRS board meeting Nov. 7-9 and may be posted later this week, Sicilia said.
Reporter Ed Mendel covered the Capitol in Sacramento for nearly three decades, most recently for the San Diego Union-Tribune. More stories are at Calpensions.com. Posted 29 Oct 18
Posted in CalPERS, CalSTRS, Operations, Operations | Leave a Comment »


Trash removal vs dumpster rental in New Kingston - Which is good for you?
If you own a project you are going to undertake at home, you might be wondering if it's better to hire someone to come haul off all your garbage and junk for you, or in case you should only rent a dumpster in New Kingston and load it yourself.
Renting a container is a better option in case you prefer the flexibility to load it on your own time and you do not mind doing it yourself to save on labour. Dumpsters also function well in case you have at least seven cubic yards or more of debris. Roll offs usually begin at 10 cubic yards, thus if you only have 3-4 yards of waste, you are paying for a lot more dumpster than you want.
Trash or crap removal makes more sense in case you prefer someone else to load your old items. It also functions well if you prefer it to be taken away fast so it's outside of your hair, or in case you simply have a few large items; this is likely cheaper than renting a whole dumpster.
When you rent a roll off dumpster, you will be enticed to throw anything and everything indoors. Common things which individuals normally dispose of in a dumpster contain solid waste material and most routine household and building waste, together with tree limbs and landscaping debris. They can also be utilized for business and commercial cleanouts, house renovations, getting cleared of trash when you're moving to a brand new house, bigger landscaping occupations and more.
A record of things you CAn't place in a roll off dumpster includes paints and solvents, automotive fluids, pesticides, chemicals, electronic equipment and batteries. Should you attempt to contain these things, you'll probably end up with an additional fee. Other things which will definitely incur an additional fee include tires, mattresses and appliances. Additional heavy stuff are also not enabled; things that are too hefty may exceed government transfer regulations and be unsafe to haul.
One of the greatest concerns you likely have when renting a dumpster in New Kingston is how much it'll cost. Among the top approaches to negate this anxiety would be to get exact info. When you phone to get a price quote, have recommended of just how much waste you will have to eliminate so you can get the best recommendation on dumpster size. If you are unsure on the total amount of waste, renting a size larger will save you the extra expense of renting another dumpster if the first proves too little.
Provide any information you think is important to make sure you do not end up paying for services that you do not really desire. More than a few companies charge by the container size, while others charge by weight. Make sure you understand which is which so you have a clear estimate. Also make sure to request if the estimate you get comprises landfill chargesthis is going to keep you from being surprised by an additional fee later.
As with any service, it's almost always a great plan to reserve your dumpster as far ahead as you possibly can in order to make sure the dumpster will be accessible when you require it. Should you wait until the last minute, there is no promise the organization will probably be able to fill your order.
Two or three days notice is normally sufficient to ensure your dumpster delivery on time. Remember the most active days have a tendency to be on Mondays and Fridays (encompassing the weekend), so if you can organize your job for the midst of the week, you've a increased chance of getting the dumpster you need.
Should you find out you need a dumpster the following day or even the same day, please go ahead and call the company. Should they have what you need, they'll surely make arrangements to get it to you as soon as possible.
Choosing a dumpster size needs some educated guesswork. It's often problematic for people to gauge the sizes that they need for roofing projects because, practically, they don't know just how much stuff their roofs include.
There are, nevertheless, some basic guidelines you'll be able to follow to make a superb alternative. In case you are removing a commercial roof, then you'll likely require a dumpster that gives you at least 40 square yards.
A lot of people order one size bigger than they think their endeavors will take since they wish to prevent the extra expense and hassle of replacing full dumpsters that weren't big enough.
Most firms allow it to be easy that you book your dumpster appointment. Before you contact rental firms to schedule a drop off or pick up, though, you can take a few steps that make the process even simpler.
2. Give you and the rental business plenty of time. It's best to phone ahead at least a week or two before you need the dumpster. Should you attempt to schedule an appointment sooner than that, you might have a restricted selection.
3. Keep in contact with all the rental business. If anything changes in your schedule, contact the company as soon as possible to tell them. This way you can fix the appointment as needed without restricting your options.
If you are seeking to rent a dumpster in New Kingston, one of your primary considerations is going to be price. There are generally two pricing options available when renting a dumpster in New Kingston. Flat rate is pricing dependent on the size of the dumpster, not the quantity of stuff you put in it. Per ton pricing will bill you based on the weight you need hauled.
One kind of pricing structure is not necessarily more expensive than the other. Knowing exactly how much stuff you need to throw away, you might get a better deal with per ton pricing. On the other hand, flat rate pricing can help you keep a limit on costs when you are coping with unknown weights. Whether you regularly rent dumpsters for work or just want a one-time rental for a project round the house, you want to shop around to find the best rental costs predicated on your needs.
Deciding where to put your dumpster can have a big impact on how fast you complete projects. The most effective alternative is to choose a location that's near the worksite. It is essential, nevertheless, to contemplate whether this location is a safe option. Make sure that the place is free of obstacles that could trip individuals while they take heavy debris.
Many individuals decide to put dumpsters in their own drives. This is really a convenient option as it usually means you can avoid requesting the city for a license or permit. In the event you must put the dumpster on the street, then you should contact your local government to ask whether you need to get a permit. Although many municipalities will let folks keep dumpsters on the road for brief amounts of time, others are going to ask you to complete some paperwork. Following these rules will help you avoid fines that'll make your job more costly.
There are a lot of things to consider when picking a local or national dumpster rental business in New Kingston. Follow these guidelines to help you determine which alternative is better for you.
A local dumpster rental business in New Kingston may offer better customer services that help you finish your project while keeping costs low. A lot of them, however, have a restricted variety of dumpsters to rent. If you don't schedule an appointment in advance, you may not have the alternative you need.
A national dumpster rental business in New Kingston will generally have more sizes and designs to satisfy the unique needs of your endeavor. National businesses are likewise a good choice for building crews which work in many cities. Some individuals, however, complain that national businesses are not as elastic as locally owned firms.


Jose Enrique has revealed his disappointment after the Spanish left-back had his contract terminated by Liverpool earlier this month.
The 30-year-old has been plagued by injuries over the last couple of years and made only three first team appearances this season, all of which came in the FA Cup.
The former Newcastle player failed to oust compatriot Alberto Moreno, who came in for heavy criticism following his error-strewn performance in Wednesday night's Europa League final defeat, and admits it was hard to watch less experienced players given the chance to impress ahead of him.
Speaking before Wednesday's game he told Marca: 'I finished well with Liverpool and the decision to terminate my contract was from both sides.
'We decided to do it before the end of the season and the club even gave me the freedom to announce it when I wanted.
'I'm leaving grateful but a little disappointed. I think in this last year I deserved more opportunities.


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We've all heard the saying that "there is more than one way to skin a cat." Well, in the 1500's that is exactly what happened to the Christian Church. The Anabaptist, Lutheran, and Reformed (Calvin) theologies all originated from a desire to break away from the corruption of the Catholic Church of the day, yet they have all taken very different paths in deciding the theology of what they have come to believe. Here I will take a close look at each of these theologies that arose from a time of protest from the Catholic Church, and discuss how each originated, how their core theologies are different, and how their views have withstood the test of time.
The root of the name Anabaptist is from the Greek words ana meaning again, and baptizo meaning baptize. They were given this name because of their practice of adult baptism. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines this group as: "A violent and extremely radical body of ecclesiastico-civil reformers which first made its appearance in 1521 at Zwickau, in the present kingdom of Saxony, and still exists in milder forms." Their question about baptism was not one of whether or not someone could get baptized a second time as an adult, but whether the infant baptism was valid. In the early days other reformers such as Martin Luther often used the term to refer to any radical and unorthodox reformer. As described in the Encarta Encyclopedia the movement started in the early 1520's as "several religious leaders began to preach against church and social practices in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. The author here also notes that as these leaders were generally younger than the other major reform leaders, and that they were also often swept up into the wars of the peasants and the empire. This may slightly explain their association as being classified as "violent and radical." Earle E. Cairnes, author of Christianity Throughout the Centuries, credits Conrad Grebelas as being "the founder of the Swiss Anabaptist movement. One of the largest and most well known sects of this movement was the Mennonite group, founded by Menno Simons.
The "believer's baptism" –the idea that faith should come before baptism (Mt 28:19 and Mk 16:16).
(2) Pacifism – as Jesus taught his followers not to resist an evil man (Mt 5:39 and Mt 18:36).
Community of goods – everyone should share his/her belongings with the rest of the brethren (Luke 14:33, also Mt 6:19-34, Mt 19:21, Luke 12:33, John 13:34-35, Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-5:11).
Today Anabaptists teach that, as Jesus taught, the way to heaven is a "narrow path" (Murphy). The idea is that the three things mentioned above (believer's baptism, pacifism, and community of goods) help to make the path narrow. However, many of today's Anabaptists no longer practice the community of goods, as they believe that it makes the path "way too narrow for most people" to walk (Murphy).
The Lutheran Church was given its name through its founder Martin Luther. This movement had its beginnings on October 31, 1517 when Luther "posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. In them he condemned the abuses of the indulgence system and challenged all comers to a debate on the matter" (Cairnes). His original intent was to push for reform of the Catholic Church, but later realized that the only way that we was going to ever see the church that he envisioned was through complete separation from the corrupt Roman system.
Worship – services focused on the use of the vernacular in the sermons that were based on the exposition of Scriptures, and the encouragement for the entire body to join in the singing of hymns.
Baptism – affirmed the traditional practice of infant baptism as a symbol of God's unconditional love.
Christian life – all Christians are sinners and saints, an all are called to be "priests". The office of pastor is based on a call from God, and from a congregation. Lutheran clergy are allowed to marry, unlike their Roman Catholic counterparts.
Doctrinal texts – accept the Bible cannon, and recommend the Apocrypha for Christian edification. They also accept the ecumenical creeds' authority, and even use some of them regularly in their services.
Church organization and government – many older European Lutheran churches have close relationships with the government. Overall, the Lutheran church has never set up a strong organizational structure, and higher levels of leadership are not generally set by any governing standards.
Today, the Lutheran Church is building more of a structured organization. Groups, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), are the result of a union of three separate Lutheran Churches. This group, boasting over 5 million baptized members, seems to have not changed it's doctrine a great deal from it's original intent laid out by Martin Luther himself. The ELCA website even notes that there are many Lutherans today that still hold to Martin Luther's original desire for reformation in the church rather than separatism from the traditional Roman Catholic system.
The Reformed (Calvin) church was started as "the theology of the French church reformer John Calvin" (Encarta). Cairnes describes John Calvin as a wandering student that ended up studying at the University of Paris. It was there that he met the humanist Guillaume Cop, and was also introduced to Protestant ideas by his cousin Pierre Oliver. After several years, and after his conversion to the ideas of the Reformation, he eventually gave an address that called for a similar type of reform to that of the one being led by Martin Luther in Germany. Calvin's greatest work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, eventually became his major work on theology of over four books and 80 chapters.
Total depravity of all men – man has inherited sin through Adam, and we can do nothing to save ourselves, since our will is corrupt.
Unconditional election – dual predestination (salvation or condemnation) is based on the sovereign will of God, and is apart from human merit.
Limited atonement – the work of Christ on the cross is limited to those that are elected into salvation.
Perseverance (or preservation) – the elect that are drawn to Christ will never be lost.
Calvinism is responsible for the formation of many different churches. Encarta describes many of the "branches" of the Calvin movement. Dutch orthodoxy, Huguenot (later suppressed by the Catholic Church), Puritan, and Presbyterian Churches all have their foundations in Calvinism. Calvin's influence has probably been the most widespread of the group discussed here. In fact, it was the Puritan Church in England that migrated to America. Furthermore, it was their influence that shaped the religious foundation of the United States through great influencers such as Jonathan Edwards and other great leaders during the Great Awakening. Today, the Reformed Church finds itself being expressed in many different ways, but is still a much different environment than the traditional Roman Catholic Church system that it revolted against.
Each of these movements (Anabaptist, Lutheran, and Reformed (Calvin)), all took very different paths in breaking away from the corrupt and powerful Roman system that ruled the day. Some have even evolved a bit over time, and a few are even reaching back to resolve differences with the Catholic Church. Despite the differences, one thing holds all of them together: Christ. All have the common desire to lift up the Word of God as the sole authority in a person's life, and that faith is the responsibility of the individual. These movements also brought the Truth to the people, and many of us should be thankful that God somehow reminded these reformers that it is all about Him!
"Anabaptists." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2001. 1993-2000.
"Anabaptists." The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. 1907, 2003.
Cairnes, Earl E. Christianity Throughout the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1954, 1996.
"Calvinism." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2001. 1993-2000.
"Lutheranism." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2001. 1993-2000.
Murphy, Don. The Anabaptist Church: Anabaptists Today. 2000. Online. Fan Lake Brethren. Internet. 16 May 2004. Available: www.anabaptistchurch.org.
Unknown, Author. Essential Questions: Lutheranism and Christianity. Online. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Internet. 16 May 2004. Available: www.elca.org.
If you want to see an excellent study on this tumultuous era and how the different traditions interacted with each other, check out Brad Gregory's "Salvation at Stake." A must read for any Reformation study.
But a concern I have with your piece here is that your only citations are from a couple websites, an encyclopedia, and the Cairnes text. I graduated from a very difficult history program in what is practically a bible college (but technically just a liberal arts school), and the Cairnes book was used. However that text is such low level scholarship. I urge folks to look elsewhere.
Blessings to you as you continue your education.
Thanks for the references! I'll make sure that I get it added to the BibleDude Store! And the further that I get into my studies, I certainly agree on the Cairnes text. This essay was intended to be a brief overview, and not a deep dive comparrison of the theologies. As I progress in my studies I am learning MUCH more about the differences between them… But this was more of a 'history' overview than it was a 'theological' overview.
If you want to see an excellent study on this tumultuous era and how the different traditions interacted with each other, check out Brad Gregory's "Salvation at Stake." A must read for any Reformation study.But a concern I have with your piece here is that your only citations are from a couple websites, an encyclopedia, and the Cairnes text. I graduated from a very difficult history program in what is practically a bible college (but technically just a liberal arts school), and the Cairnes book was used. However that text is such low level scholarship. I urge folks to look elsewhere.Blessings to you as you continue your education.
Thanks for the references! I'll make sure that I get it added to the BibleDude Store! And the further that I get into my studies, I certainly agree on the Cairnes text. This essay was intended to be a brief overview, and not a deep dive comparrison of the theologies. As I progress in my studies I am learning MUCH more about the differences between them… But this was more of a 'history' overview than it was a 'theological' overview.Blessings to you as well!


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Voiceover Samples Blog
Copywriting Samples
Contact / Hire
Scott Greggory can find the funny in just about any subject. That's good to know if you need memorable messages that entertain your audience and differentiate your brand. His work has been praised by clients, peers, award show judges, prisoners and members of the local pipefitters union for more than 30 years.
Listen to a few chunks of Scott's goofy copywriting in the video below. (Amy and Scott provide all the voices.) Then, take a look at the humorous and straight copy samples down the page.
Need radio or television spots, video or other short-form copywriting? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (419)351-2205.
"Humor works for [this client], and this is one of the best examples of how you can engage callers needing serious products - with fun-filled zingers. Good job on the writing and the production." (Listen here.)
2019 MARCE Awards Judge
"Superbly written copy and extremely dry humor that was a perfect match for what could've been a dull subject. I laughed out loud at points, and when a caller starts with that reaction, it's a great way to start a conversation."
Jim Hausfeld / Agency Creative Director & MARCE Awards Judge
Humor On Hold (Binkelman)
Come one, come all to Binkelman's Carnival of Sauce! It's three big days of sauce samples, sauce-covered souvenirs, and sauce-based games of chance. Kids can shake the paw of Richard, the sauce-loving bear. And you can win a prize when you jump the terrifying Puddle of Sauce. Why sauce? Because who doesn't love sauce, that's why! If you can pour it, spoon it, ladle it, drip it or squirt it on food, it's sauce, and we're gonna' celebrate it at Binkelman's Carnival of Sauce. Just head over to the Binkelman parking lot next weekend. And be sure to bring your tongue.
Television Spot (Kingston Healthcare)
Wife: After my husband's stroke, the hospital told us about their rehabilitation center. But then we found out we had a choice. We chose Kingston Rehabilitation of Perrysburg. For the same cost, Bob got so much more. The care was wonderful. And he was able to come home quicker than we thought. Now he's just as active as ever.
Announcer: One-on-one therapy, 24-hour care, a warm salt water pool - all in a beautiful new building. Kingston Rehabilitation of Perrysburg. The choice is yours.
On Hold Marketing (Torrence Sound)
Sunday mornings have evolved. Even in the oldest churches, congregations have an expectation of a modern audio / video experience. At Torrence Sound, we understand how to incorporate today's technology in a way that's respectful of tradition, architecture, even multiple age groups.
"I just wanted to tell you that I stumbled onto your Humor On Hold, and I listened to every recording. Your work is hilarious and it brightened my day. And who doesn't want a compliment from a random stranger on the Internet? So, thanks."
Alissa H.
Humor On Hold (Amazing Space)
At Amazing Space, we use a patented process called Space Amazination to amazinate your space. We combine amazing space-age technology with a keen sense of space and our own personal amazingness to produce a space in your home with an amazingosity that's off the charts. Amazing? That's the word we like, but see for yourself. Let's set up a time to talk about your project. We'll help you get more out of the home you're in.
Radio Spot (Spirit Services)
Who's got time for frostbite? Not you. You're a busy guy and / or gal who can't afford to lose body parts to nippy weather. That's why you buy winter apparel from Spirit Services. You like it branded with your company logo too, don't you? And you can't imagine life without our clever promotional products. It's clear, friend: you've got the Spirit. So visit GetSpirit.com often, and like us on Facebook for your chance to win a swell Spirit prize pack. (Jingle Sing)
"Good use of humor to engage the customer, while adding in fun facts about the business. (Listen here.) Callers would likely be entertained for the duration of their hold time. Good job."
Humor on Hold (Walter's Goodyear)
Here at Walter's Goodyear we carry quality tires from Dunlop, Pirelli, Michelin, Firestone, Cooper, Goodyear and other brands you know and trust. We hear tell that other tire dealers in town only sell large chocolate donuts and try to pass them off as tires. So don't be fooled. Always bite your tires before buying them. If they're delicious, they're not real tires. A helpful tip from your pals at Walter's Goodyear.
Training Podcast (QuickSkills)
Your company's leaders know how important you are to creating a great customer experience. They can use marketing and advertising to attract customers, but it's your great treatment of customers - from the very first encounter - that keeps those customers coming back. So…
• Look customers in the eyes.
• Give them a firm handshake when they walk in and before they leave.
• Call them by name.
• Listen closely to what they say.
• Say "hello" and "please" and "thank you" and "come again" and "we appreciate you" and mean it.
You have a chance to stand out every time a customer walks through your door. You can be a service rock star! You can make a real difference to people - every day.
"These ads were funny! Loved the music and voices. They were perfectly paired with each ad concept. Great work."
"Humor was funny and well crafted. Overall, well done."
"Very creative copy. Humorous with a healthy balance of product info, well-placed sound effects and music. Great job."
The 2018 MARCE Awards Judges
Marketing Blog Post (MadAveGroup)
Probably 20 years ago, I was at our town's art museum watching a friend play music in one of the galleries. About half way through the set, my friend's four-year-old son emerged from the crowd and walked up to him on the improvised stage.
What happened next has stuck with me all the years since.
My friend - interrupted during his job, in front of an audience - stopped what he was doing and gave his full, genuine attention to his young son.
No anger. No frustration or embarrassment. No hurriedly rushing the little boy back to his seat. Just pure love on display.
Contrast that warm memory with what we saw from Professor Robert Kelly and his wife after their children innocently walked in on their father's live BBC interview in March of 2017.
The embarrassment. The apologies. His attempts to blindly push away his daughter. The mother's frantic floor crawling.
Sure, an episode like that might throw anyone off his game a bit, especially if being interviewed on live TV. But because of the way both parents reacted, they kinda' came off as jerks. And, purely from a marketing standpoint, how may that have affected Kelly's personal brand and likability?
Goofy, unpredictable stuff like that happens now and then. About the only way you can prepare for it is by reminding yourself to be a human being, to roll with it, and to always look for the humor in unexpected situations. You should have heard the heartfelt "awwww" coming from the crowd when my friend reacted the way he did to his little boy.
For both you personally and your company, letting your human side show and embracing life's wackier moments is likely only to endear you to your audience.
"I keep thinking the productions can't get better, but this one topped them all. (Listen here.) I think it's just phenomenal. It's truly been enjoyable working with you."
Chris Hamann / Lakeland Auto and Marine
"I love to read good copy. There's so much bad copy out there in our industry. This On Hold Marketing copy is excellent. And there's such a great variety of messages. Thank you!"
Steve Davis / Grand Home Furnishings
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Dr. Birket has prior training in translational science and immunological pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis lung disease, including the major focus of her Ph.D. at the prestigious Pharmaceutical Sciences program at the University of Kentucky. During her post-doctoral work at UAB, she has focused intensely on characterization of CF airway physiology, using multiple animal and cell culture models of CF. Using the μOCT imaging technology co-invented by the Rowe and Tearney laboratories, she has collected data that has identified novel relationships between mucociliary transport and epithelial functional microanatomy. She has been actively developing biological application of the μOCT device, including the original publication demonstrating its use on the airway, and three additional manuscripts reporting novel insights into airway physiology and pathophysiology revealed by this imaging technology. Dr. Birket has extensively interfaced with the engineering team to capture and analyze images and develop new analytic methods for addressing state-of-the art questions in the field. Combining this innovative imaging modality with new and traditional models of the CF airway will allow her to make great strides in the investigation of airway disease pathogenesis, including evaluation of CF pigs and novel in situ measurements of mucus viscosity; in addition, she has contributed significantly to foster collaborations focused on characterization of CF ferret airway pathophysiology and disorders of ciliary motion. In particular, Dr. Birket has been instrumental towards investigating the mechanisms underlying the CF mucus transport defect in initial studies of new CF rat models recently developed and characterized at UAB.


Do you want to directly support programs positively impacting people and families' mental health in Nova Scotia? Walk this Way!
Did you know: Schizophrenia can affect 1 in 100 people of all races, cultures, socio economic groups and occurs equally in men and women.
People living with schizophrenia are 4 times more likely to be victims of violent crimes and have a 20% shorter lifespan. People often report hostility, fearful attitudes, stereotypes and insensitivities from others... Stigma hurts. The Society is inclusive of all, schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar and all related mental health disorders.
Join the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia on May 4, 2019 and help make a difference. Walk with Us!
The Annual Road to Recovery Walk is celebrating 11 years, this walk event raises much needed funding and opens minds in our communities.
The Walk begins with a 3km stroll through the heart of Halifax, taking advantage of high-visibility areas to raise awareness of the Society, its programs, and its services. The Walk begins and concludes at the Halifax Commons where participants will enjoy music, food and meet up with friendly people and family.
We encourage you to raise funds by asking your friends, family and colleagues to support you on your Walk and help us keep our doors open to support family and friends.
The Schizophrenia Society does not receive core funding; we need your help! THANK YOU!


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Parker University names general education program director
Chiropractic Economics March 13, 2014
March 13, 2014 — Parker University recently named Roxanne Elliott as its general education program director.
In her new role, Elliott will provide leadership and oversight to Parker University's general education program, as well as direction over the university's increasingly expansive catalogue of online courses.
"Roxanne's background in higher education and integrated learning systems is the perfect fit for this role," said Janell Gibson, vice president of online education at Parker University. "Her insights and experience will be tremendously valuable as Parker continues to grow and diversify our offering of both online and on-site degree programs."
Elliott has previously served in both administrative and instructional roles within higher education. As an administrator, she has served as a Supplemental Education Services (SES) program director at Texas-based Syntelyses, campus director of Destiny Academy in Killeen, Texas, and campus director of Legacy Academy in Kaufman, Texas; as an instructor, she currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Parker University and a professor at University of Phoenix. Previously, she taught at Concorde Career College, a health care-based college in Arlington, Texas, and as an instructional design consultant for Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
In her former administrative and instructional roles, Elliott has been responsible for the design, development, and execution of various online and blended courses, as well as the implementation of new curriculum and teaching delivery systems.
Elliott is currently completing her doctoral studies in psychology at Capella University and holds a master's degree in psychology from Tarleton State University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Elliott also completed the 18 hour graduate program in Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas and she was recipient of the Davidson Presidential Scholarship and the Frank and Sue Mayborn Endowment Scholarship.
Additionally, she served in the United States Army for three years as a communications specialist, where she was awarded the Army Lapel Button for Honorable Service, the Defense Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon, among other honors.
Source: Parker University
Parker University appoints vice president of online education
Texas Chiropractic College welcomes Evans, Till
Parker Serves 2013: Spread loving service in your community
Parker University celebrates 2nd annual Parker Serves
Navy SEAL, chiropractor to speak at TCC


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First black woman in South Africa to reveal HIV status to be honoured by the International AIDS Society
By Wallace Mawire
Prudence Mabele
The International AIDS Society (IAS) has announced the creation of the Prudence Mabele Prize, a new endowment named in honour of the first black woman to publicly reveal her HIV-positive status in South Africa.
According to the IAS, the prize will be awarded to a female-identified advocate of HIV and gender justice. It is reported that this is the largest prize ever awarded at an International AIDS Conference. It is also endowed by the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), in partnership with the Positive Women's Network of South Africa, the IAS says.
IAS also says that nominations are now being accepted and the deadline to submit is 14 May, 2018. It is also added that Prudence Mabele was a trailblazing activist for the rights of women and people living with HIV. She was a founding member of the Treatment Action Campaign and founder of the Positive Women's Network.
According to the IAS, the legacy of her activism and influence are evident throughout the response to HIV and gender inequity, and it is for that reason that she is being honoured for her courage and commitment with a prize in her name.
IAS also adds that the Prudence Mabele Prize will be awarded biennially to honour the radical and courageous work of women and female-identified persons making deep connections between the fight against HIV, feminism, and gender and reproductive justice.
It is also added as the largest financial commitment ever received by one HIV and gender justice advocate, a selection committee consisting of women living with HIV, advocates for gender justice and representatives of the OSF, Ford Foundation and IAS will oversee the call for nominations and the selection of the honoree.
It is further added that this year's recipient, whose work and personal commitment best embodies the values, spirit and activism of Prudence Mabele, will be publicly honoured at a designated high-level session at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018). During the event, the prize amount will be announced and presented to the honoree, which will be followed by remarks from other prominent HIV and gender justice advocates and leaders.
The selection committee says that it looks forward to receiving nominations for women and those who identify as female, doing innovative work in HIV and gender justice that exemplifies the prestige of the award and honours Prudence Mabele's memory.
Stamping His Mark:João Lourenço steadily improving Angola's economic fortunes
South Africa: Workers Day Message from Parliament's Presiding Officers
Mozambique's Nyusi Begins 2nd Term promising to fight against corruption
Somalia hosts regional leaders for IGAD summit after 30 year wait
Punishing failure: Kagame explains why he sacked senior ministers
Rights experts sound alarm over Uganda 'brutal' election crackdown
10 Passengers Killed in Another South Sudan Plane Crash
Clarion confirm creation of ICE Africa Champions
Suspend all demonstrations – ECOWAS facilitators tells Togolese.
Mombouli and Lowey Talk US -Africa Ties
The Fashion Designer, Alphadi, lends his talents to promote child rights in Niger


These tasty pork meatballs or patties can be on the table in less than 40 minutes; or prepare beforehand and finish cooking when required. They make a great picnic food, either with salad or in pita bread or a crusty roll! Depending on how you intend to serve them they can be made any size you wish!
½ large white onion, peeled and diced.
Splash of stock or water if needed.
In a large frypan place a scant splash of oil and place the onion, capsicum and garlic.
Sauté on a medium heat to just soften and colour the onion for only 2 to 3 minutes then add the diced tomatoes and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. The tomatoes should give up some liquid to make it a lumpy saucy consistency. If not add a touch of water or stock. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish.
Make the oyster sauce /Soy mix then add to a large bowl and mix thoroughly through by hand. With wet hands form the meat mixture into balls or patties of desired size.
Wipe out the frypan, touch of oil and heat up to a moderate heat before placing the patties in the pan. Don't move them around too much leave them, to brown and form a crust and then flip once and sauté the other side. This should only take a few minutes each side depending how hot the pan is.
Place the meatballs in the sauce already in the baking dish and place in pre-heated oven.
10 to 15 minutes should be enough to ensure they are cooked through.


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Q: How to disable the spinlock for synchronization in OpenJDK Background
I am analyzing a performance issue on a Java servlet running on AdoptOpenJDK 11. The response time of the servlet slows down as the number of concurrent requests increases.
To isolate the cause of the issue, I had collected performance information with two tools while changing the number of concurrent requests:

*

*Windows Performance Monitor (to inspect CPU usage of the server)

*JDK Flight Recorder and JDK Mission Control (to inspect synchronization issue in JavaVM)

Problem
According to Mission Control, the servlet has a synchronization issue. It causes so many synchronization events when two or more requests come concurrently. The synchronization events are fired in a class used to lookup a table. The lookup table is implemented with ConcurrentHashMap. So the synchronization is not intentional and looks unnecessary.
On the other hand, according to the Performance Monitor, the number of concurrent requests and the CPU usage % are almost linearly increase together. This is an unexpected result for me.
I had expected that the CPU usage will become constant because the requests will be processed one by one due to the synchronization. As a result of more research, I have found the Java VM had introduced the Adaptive Spinning on Java 6, and I had set a hypothesis that this (spinlock for synchronization in Java VM) is the reason why the CPU usage increased linearly.
Question
The class that causes the synchronization issue is used in so many places in our application. To reasoning and explanation for the change to the class (remove the synchronized block from the class), I have to confirm the hypothesis with the result of a performance test. To confirm the hypothesis, I want to disable the spinlock for synchronization in Java VM.
I have found the JRockit and OpenJ9 had the command-line option to change the behavior of the adaptive spinning. But I could not find the equivalent for OpenJDK. There were no options related to spinlock in the result of java -XX:+PrintFlagsFinal -version.
Is there any way to disable the spinlock for synchronization in OpenJDK Java VM?

A: The question is actually an XY problem. I'll answer it with the caveat that the experiment might be useless or even misleading.
The hypothesis that disabled spinning will decrease CPU usage is not necessary correct. Without spinning, a contended lock ends up in calling into OS kernel to park/unpark threads. A system call with a context switch is expensive, so, depending on the number of threads and the length of the critical section, this may actually increase CPU usage.
The options to disable spinning on intrinsic locks in OpenJDK 11 are:
-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:SyncKnobs=SpinLimit=0:SpinBase=0:PreSpin=0:SpinEarly=0

However, SyncKnobs have never been found useful, and were completely removed in JDK 12.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


At the Antica Locanda Luigina, we think the answer is to make them feel at home, so our rooms are comfortable and simple, with no frills; the perfect ambience for healthy and restful sleep and to help you rediscover the pleasure of a quiet holiday. Choose between standard and superior rooms, all with the same furnishings and services, differing only in size and views.
The rooms are arranged over two floors and all have lacquered, solid wood furniture, private bathroom with shower, heating and ceiling fan, hair dryer, safe, free Wi-Fi and LCD TV with foreign channels.
The rustic style of the rooms, with their solid wood furnishings and walls and curtains in muted colours, is in perfect harmony with the natural beauty of the valley, a place where the passing of time has taken away nothing from the charm of the historic village.
The 4 standard rooms (13 m2) look out over the hotel garden, while the 6 superior rooms have either a view of the garden or the Val di Vara.
Superior rooms have the additional feature of a minibar and are more spacious (16 m2). The configuration of the rooms corresponds to the varying needs of our guests; we have single, double, twin and family rooms. Our aim is to make our rooms as comfortable as possible and to provide a tailored solution for each guest; we're happy to provide additional beds or baby cots in any room, on request.
Book your holiday in the green heart of Liguria!


Karunanidhi Health Condition: The DMK political party has postponed its General Council Meeting as its chief M Karunanidhi is recovering in hospital. The meeting was supposed to take place on Tuesday. DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan told everyone that the new date would be announced later.
There are many intense speculations. One of them is that the meeting's agenda was to place party treasurer MK Stalin as the Working President as the current party President, the 93-year-old Karuna Nidhi is facing health issues for a couple of months. But, a DMK spokesperson termed it as a rumor.
On Thursday, Karunanidhi was admitted in the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai. It was the second time in the last two weeks when he turned to hospital after facing breathing difficulties due to a throat and lung infection. They took him under a tracheostomy yesterday and said that he is stable and on antibiotics.
Check: Soldiers Died in Turkey's Kayseri As Car Blast Hit Bus.
Today, the Congress VP Rahul Gandhi visited M Karuna Nidhi and wished for his best recovery.
The official press release of the DMK stated that Karunanidhi would remain at the hospital for several days until the treatment gets over. Moreover, the party has asked everyone including party workers and friends to not to visit him for some time now.
At first, DMK had said the chief had suffered a drug-induced allergy. However, the hospital said he was admitted for the treatment of optimization of nutrition and hydration on December 1. After a week, he was discharged and then readmitted on Thursday.


Owning your own house means shielding your investment. Leaky roofs that require mend may lead to a large amount of damages to the whole composition of the household. This explains why it's an excellent suggestion to examine at least twice a year for suggestions that you'll need roof restores. One or two of the signs to search for include water or mould spots around the right angles of the ceilings, damp spots or precise seepage after major rain storms in the attic or upper crawl space, as well as going outside to visually inspect the shingles for absent or aggravated areas.
When you've concluded that your house needs some roof adjustments, you're going to have to know how in depth the damage is. There are some restorations that average DIY types will be able to deal with. Most restorations will need licensed and bonded repair corporations to appear and complete it. A great idea is to bring in a pair different quotes. It is usually a smart move to have more than just one evaluation performed.
Roof Installation for Southwark – Obtain Southwark`s Best!
Replacing the roof of your house is among the best upgrades you can possible do. Not only will it drastically improve the value of the house, but it also helps you save cash on your monthly utility charges, not to mention it helps prevent potential leakage from rain, snow and other elements. However, this is something you cannot just do by yourself. Replacing your roof is a tough job, and while there continue to be some people who do make a decision to go about replacing the roof on their own, they often discover that not only is the job more complicated than before, but if the roof is not installed correctly, it is really going to reduce the quality of the installation and at last lead you to repair the roof again sooner. In the end attempting to replace the roof on your own is in the end going to cost more money than what you save, which is why you need to look at getting a roof contractor. General Contractor Philadelphia is going to help assure your roof is properly restored, all while doing it in aprofessional way and in the fastest time possible.
Roof Installation For Southwark – Choose Experience!
Proper estimates will have to cover one or two basic factors. Initially, the builder should provide you with a cost for what it will take to remove the chipped materials from the roof. The guesstimate should also include hauling away the old roofing also. Next on the list should be the pricing for the new shingles and other needed materials. If you are fixing only 1 area of the roof, you'll need to ensure that the shingles will be the same thickness and color to match the remainder of the roof. Depending on what type of roofing you have already this may mean a bigger guess altogether. To be completely sure you're getting a reasonable price, you can cross check the pricing of the guess with what local renovation stores are charging. Some contractors may even let you buy the materials yourself which will mean a less expensive fix for you.


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A blog by federal public defenders and criminal defense lawyers practicing in the Sixth Circuit.
When Are We Burros? IAC Claims and Petitions for Cert...
In United States v. Nichols, No. 05–6452 (6th Cir. Apr. 29, 2009), the Circuit en banc considered whether it is ineffective assistance of counsel to fail to preserve a "future change in the law" argument, one hoping that the Supreme Court will strike down existing law while a defendant's case is still pending on direct appeal. The Court found that the petitioner couldn't prevail on any IAC claim, so it avoided the broad constitutional question.
The petitioner and a co-defendant were sentenced in October 2002. The Apprendi opinion was out there, but otherwise, it was a pre-Blakely and Booker world. The petitioner got 405 months. Petitioner appealed. The panel affirmed. One day before the expiration of time to file for rehearing en banc, Blakely came down. Counsel didn't ask for rehearing. Counsel did not petition for certiorari. The co-defendant's counsel did petition for certiorari. Booker came down and the co-defendant got relief. Nine months were eventually knocked off co-defendant's sentence—he got 396 months when resentenced.
The petitioner filed a pro se motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner claimed, among other things, that counsel had been ineffective for failing to raise an Apprendi argument or a Blakely argument later. The district court denied the motion. The petitioner got a certificate of appealability on the issue of whether counsel was ineffective when they failed to raise the issue of the petitioner's sentence being enhanced based on facts not proved to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The panel hearing the appeal ruled for the petitioner. The government moved for rehearing en banc. The Court granted the motion. For the rehearing, the issue was a bit different: the petitioner argued that by failing to raise the Apprendi argument at sentencing, on direct appeal, and in a petition for certiorari, his counsel was ineffective.
Essentially, the Court concluded that the petitioner could not "link the two pieces of the ineffective-assistance standard—deficient performance and prejudice—on the same side of the demarcation: he cannot show prejudice at any point at which he had a right to counsel, and he cannot show a right to counsel (and, hence, deficient performance) at any point at which he could show prejudice." Basically, the Constitution does not entitle a defendant to the assistance of counsel for a discretionary appeal—like a petition for certiorari. So, the failure to file for such review cannot amount to constitutionally ineffective assistance.
The petitioner claimed prejudice because he was denied the benefit of Booker's change in
the law—a resentencing under an advisory Guidelines scheme—which was a benefit he would have received had he petitioned for certiorari. Had he petitioned, his conviction would not have become final before the Supreme Court decided Booker. The Court found that the petitioner could show prejudice on this claim, so the question became that of whether his counsel's failure to petition for certiorari amounted to constitutionally deficient performance.
The Court said no. The Constitution does not entitle a defendant to the assistance of counsel for the filing of a petition for certiorari. Counsel's failure to file a petition does not amount to constitutionally ineffective assistance.
The Court also addressed the petitioner's assertions based on Sixth Circuit Rules 101(a) and (g), which impose certain obligations on counsel (e.g., trial counsel must continue representation on appeal until they are specifically relieved by the Court and losing appellate counsel must petition for certiorari under certain circumstances). The petitioner's claims for relief came under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, however, which calls for allegations of an error of constitutional magnitude, a sentence imposed outside the statutory limits, or an error of fact or law that was so fundamental as to render the proceedings invalid. The petitioner claimed a constitutional error. Absent a constitutional right, he had no claim. The procedural rules alone do not create constitutional rights or impose constitutional duties.
In terms of counsel's failure to petition for rehearing en banc, the Court did not decide the issue because, "even if we were to assume that [petitioner's] original appellate counsel performed deficiently by failing to move this court for rehearing . . . [petitioner] cannot show any resulting prejudice." At the time, the law was that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines did not violate the Sixth Amendment.
In short, the petitioner did not show that his counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to anticipate the changes that did come about in the law—counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise an Apprendi-based challenge at sentencing or on direct appeal, for failing to move the appellate court for reconsideration on a Blakely-based claim in post-appellate proceedings, or for failing to petition the High Court for certiorari under Booker.
Judge Moore dissented. She thought that the majority's focus on the petitioner's original counsel's failure to petition for certiorari ignored the fact that there were actually several routes by which the petitioner could have had an appeal pending at the necessary time to obtain relief. Had counsel raised the Sixth Amendment argument at sentencing or on direct appeal, the petitioner likely would have known to raise the argument at a later date.
Judge Moore concludes that Apprendi and Blakely cast the constitutionality of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines into serious doubt, and that the petitioner's sentence presented circumstances that were called into question by Apprendi and Blakely. Petitioner's original counsel was therefore constitutionally ineffective for failing to preserve a Sixth Amendment challenge to the petitioner's sentence.
Posted by Clare Freeman, RWS, WD Mich at April 30, 2009
Benton Martin, E.D. Mich.
Cathi Adinaro
Celeste Kinney, E.D. Mich.
Christian Grostic, N.D. Ohio
Claire R. Cahoon
Colleen Fitzharris, E.D. Mich.
Frank Heft
Jennifer Niles Coffin
Kevin Schad Appellate Director SDOH
Krys Beech, N.D. Ohio
Matt Monahan
Molly Rose Green
Soumyajit Dutta
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Welcome to the website of the Listening Academy. The first Listening Academy of the Netherlands (De Luisteracademie) was founded in 2015. The Listening Academy aims to create space for practicing the art and mobilizing the power of listening to explore and find new paths to deal with societal and professional challenges.
Please take your time to browse through a selection of our work, focusing on international projects. We also included a piece in which we explain the motivation for founding the Listening Academy. Lastly, you can find more information on the professional background of Stefanie Schuddebeurs, co-founder and owner of the Listening Academy.
I frequently work as a keynotelistener during conferences of government partners. Where keynotespeakers are invited to put forward a significant message, as a keynote listener, I listen out for the underlying themes and messages that a conference and its participants convey.
Together with a violinist, I present my discoveries and findings as a keynotelistener at the end of a conference in an interactive performance using word, music and silence.
Office O.N.E. is a mobile pop-up office, developed to activate and boost the European dimension of democracy and citizenship in local communities. We use innovative dialogue and listening techniques and artistic tools to stir up conversations and collect stories of (European) identity in local communities.
Office O.N.E. stimulates people's awareness of Europe and how they formulate their opinions and ideas on topics related to European Union.
Clients: The municipality of Amsterdam, Dutch Art foundation.
Coming summer and winter, The Listening Acadamy will collaborate with Sociolab, a cooperative in the field of participatory design and research based in Florence, Italy.
In this collaboration, methodology and knowledge concerning listening, dialogue practice in the field of participation and social inclusion will be shared between Stefanie and colleagues of Sociolab. This partnerschip is supported by the Erasmus program for young entrepreneurs. During a six-months period, Stefanie will also investigate new forms of democratic innovation and participatory solutions in Europe that are used to counter polarization and foster social inclusion.
Follow our collaboration via social media feeds of The Listening Academy and Sociolab.
The Listening Academy has developed an innovative and creative form of student participation to complement and challenge the formal institutionalized decisionmaking processes.
During the Democratic Challenge, students actively engage in dialogue with each other on elements they appreciate as well as wish to see changed in their learning environment. They formulated concrete ideas to improve their faculty and learning environment which were later discussed with managers. Students also practiced different forms of democratic decisionmaking, and principles as listening to the minority voices, and power distribution.
Stefanie Schuddebeurs co-founded the Listening Academy in 2015 after working as a projectleader for the national government for 5 years.
She has since invested her expertise of participatory processes and democratic innovation to mobilize the power of listening in professional and societal contexts. She believes listening beyond your own frame and mindset is the key to understanding and lasting fruitful cooperation between people.
In her assignments, she consults on co-creative processes and participatory trajectories with different stakeholders for local and national government as well as NGO's. Next to consultancy, she designs and facilitates dialogues between stakeholders, be they citizens, professionals, politicians but preferably a mixture of all.
The Listening Acadamy was founded in 2015 out of a fascination for the subtle yet strong impact that a listening attitude has on all facets of life. While personal interactions reach surprising depth with a generous listening attitude, creativity can flow when a listening space is offered that approaches the other with an open mind. Also, conflictuous situations are unraveled and its underlying needs exposed, when we are capable of listening beyond our own prejudice and fear.
While listening is an essential element of our daily life, it is anything but self-evident. The Listening Academy is founded to explore and understand the processes that facilitate or obstruct listening to yourself, the other and in group processes.
We work specifically in the field of dialogue facilitation between stakeholders of diverse backgrounds as well as consultancy and design of participatory processes for public bodies such as local and national government and universities. Since listening is our core business, it is essential to us to develop an approach together with the actors involved and in congruence with the aims of the societal and/or professional needs at hand.


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Q: Not able to run jpf command :JPF exception, terminating: error reading class java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement I am getting the below error when I try to run the jpf basset program. I was able to build jpf-core and jpf-actor successfully. Did anyone encounter this before? Am I missing out something? Appreciate your response/comments. Thanks.
 ~/b/p/j/jpf-core  bin/jpf gov.nasa.jpf.actor.Basset pi.Driver 3
[SEVERE] JPF exception, terminating: error reading class java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement
gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFileException: illegal constpool tag
    at gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFile.error(ClassFile.java:168)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFile.parseCp(ClassFile.java:1009)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFile.parse(ClassFile.java:827)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.<init>(ClassInfo.java:803)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadClass(ClassInfo.java:1221)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.getResolvedClassInfo(ClassInfo.java:1207)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadInterfaceRec(ClassInfo.java:1994)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadInterfaceRec(ClassInfo.java:2000)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.getAllInterfaces(ClassInfo.java:2150)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.JVM.registerStartupClass(JVM.java:531)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.JVM.registerStartupClasses(JVM.java:510)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.JVM.initialize(JVM.java:301)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.JPF.run(JPF.java:616)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.JPF.start(JPF.java:190)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:497)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.tool.Run.call(Run.java:76)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.tool.RunJPF.main(RunJPF.java:100)
---------------------- JPF error stack trace ---------------------
gov.nasa.jpf.JPFException: error reading class java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadClass(ClassInfo.java:1231)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.getResolvedClassInfo(ClassInfo.java:1207)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadInterfaceRec(ClassInfo.java:1994)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadInterfaceRec(ClassInfo.java:2000)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.getAllInterfaces(ClassInfo.java:2150)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.JVM.registerStartupClass(JVM.java:531)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.JVM.registerStartupClasses(JVM.java:510)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.JVM.initialize(JVM.java:301)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.JPF.run(JPF.java:616)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.JPF.start(JPF.java:190)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:497)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.tool.Run.call(Run.java:76)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.tool.RunJPF.main(RunJPF.java:100)
Caused by: gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFileException: illegal constpool tag
    at gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFile.error(ClassFile.java:168)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFile.parseCp(ClassFile.java:1009)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.classfile.ClassFile.parse(ClassFile.java:827)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.<init>(ClassInfo.java:803)
    at gov.nasa.jpf.jvm.ClassInfo.loadClass(ClassInfo.java:1221)
    ... 15 more
 ~/b/p/j/jpf-core 

A: Don't know if it's worth but mine turn out to be a problem with the Java version. JPF library was compiled with Java 8 while I was trying to use it in Java 7. Matching the java version worked out for me.


text:
Pushpaka Vimana () is a 1987 Indian black comedy film written and directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, who co-produced it with Shringar Nagaraj. The film, which has no dialogue, stars Kamal Haasan leading an ensemble cast that includes Samir Khakhar, Tinu Anand, K. S. Ramesh, Amala, Farida Jalal, Pratap Potan, Lokanath, P. L. Narayana and Ramya. It revolves around an unemployed graduate who encounters a drunk rich man unconscious and takes over his lifestyle after keeping him prisoner. However, he does not realise the dangers he has brought upon himself because a hired killer believes him to be his target.

Rao's desire to make a dialogue-less film came when he was working as an assistant director in a film where a character had to emote fear without dialogue in a scene. Once the idea for Pushpaka Vimana materialised, Rao wrote the screenplay within two weeks. The film was the only one produced by Nagaraj. Due to the lack of dialogue, Rao was able to cast actors from different parts of India. The cinematography was handled by B. C. Gowrishankar, editing by D. Vasu, art direction by Thota Tharani, and the background score was composed by L. Vaidyanathan. The film was shot in Bangalore, Karnataka.

The film was released on 27 November 1987 with different titles for different linguistic regions: its original title Pushpaka Vimana in Karnataka (in the Kannada language), Pushpaka Vimanam in Andhra Pradesh (Telugu), Pushpak () in Hindi-speaking regions, Pesum Padam () in Tamil Nadu (Tamil), and Pushpakvimanam in Kerala (Malayalam). It received critical acclaim and became a commercial success, with a 35-week theatrical run in Bangalore. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment as a Kannada-language entry and in three categories at the 35th Filmfare Awards South in the Kannada branch: Best Film, Best Director (Rao) and Best Actor (Haasan).

Plot
An unemployed graduate living in a ramshackle lodge called Anand Bhavan dreams of riches. He tries to show off his meagre wealth in front of a roadside beggar but is then humbled to discover the beggar has accumulated more money than him. He meets a young woman trying on earrings in a fancy shop and then sees her again while waiting in line to apply for job vacancies. She mistakes the expensive car he is leaning against to be his, and he happily pretends she is right.

One night, the graduate finds a drunk rich man unconscious by the roadside. Finding in his pocket, a key to a suite in the plush "Pushpak" hotel, the graduate kidnaps and imprisons the rich man in his room at Anand Bhavan, while he moves into the rich man's suite at Pushpak, and takes over his lifestyle.

The rich man's wife has an extramarital affair with his friend, who hires a contract killer to kill the rich man without her knowledge. The killer stakes out the rich man's suite at Pushpak and mistakes the graduate as his target. The graduate discovers the same young woman in a suite opposite his balcony in the same hotel. She is the daughter of a magician performing at the hotel, and she slaps him after mistaking him for pulling a prank on her. They mend ways while paying tribute at the funeral of the hotel owner, and then they spend time together and develop a romantic relationship.

Meanwhile, the killer tries to kill the graduate with ice daggers, but he fails in every attempt, with the graduate unaware of the threat to his life. Eventually, the graduate realises the killer is in the hotel to kill someone but does not know who. The killer intrudes into his suite, and barely survives getting electrocuted while trying to stab the graduate. The killer travels to the lover's bungalow to report his failure, and the graduate follows him and learns the truth. The rich man's wife learns of her lover's treachery and leaves him.

In a montage shown about the hotel owner, the graduate realises that he was once a poor man similar to himself. Seeing what the hotel owner achieved by fair means, the graduate begins to question his actions. He sees the roadside beggar has died, and municipality workers arrive to take away the body. However, discovering the beggar's stash, they abandon his body and squabble over the money. The graduate decides to stop his deceit. He frees the rich man and explains the situation to him in a letter. The rich man and his wife reunite, and he stops drinking.

The graduate decides to come clean to the magician's daughter too. He learns the magician's family is about to leave Pushpak. He confesses the truth to the magician's daughter, and to his surprise she forgives him. She writes down something on a paper and drops a rose wrapped in the paper from her car window as they depart Pushpak. The graduate picks up the rose, but the wind blows the paper into a gutter. Later, the graduate is shown standing in line again to apply for job vacancies.

Cast

 Kamal Haasan as the unemployed graduate
Samir Khakhar as the rich man
Tinu Anand as the killer
K. S. Ramesh as the magician
 Amala as the magician's daughter
 Farida Jalal as the magician's wife
 Pratap Potan as the lover
 Lokanath as the hotel owner
P. L. Narayana as the beggar
Ramya as the rich man's wife

Production

Development
Singeetam Srinivasa Rao was assisting director K. V. Reddy in a film where there was a scene requiring a character to emote fear without dialogues. Rao wondered if he could make an entire film that way for a long time, but did not have an idea for the story. The idea for the film that would become Pushpaka Vimana came to Rao when he was in a shower, after which he wrote the screenplay within two weeks. Kamal Haasan agreed to work on the film after being impressed by the script. According to him, the story was originally a tragedy, but after being inspired by Charlie Chaplin, he and Rao decided to change it to a tragicomedy. Pushpaka Vimana thus became the first full-length dialogue-less film in India after the "silent era" of cinema.

The film struggled to find a producer, prompting Rao to take over production himself. When Kannada actor Shringar Nagaraj, a relative of Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar with whom Rao was working at that time, heard that Rao was producing a film on his own, he asked about the subject. Rao narrated Pushpaka Vimana, Nagaraj showed excitement and joined as co-producer, with the film being produced under Mandakani Chitra, a company based in Bangalore, Karnataka. Pushpaka Vimana was the only film Nagaraj had produced in his entire career. Cinematography was handled by B. C. Gowrishankar, editing by D. Vasu, and art direction by Thota Tharani, who had worked with Rao on Raja Paarvai (1981).

Casting

Since the film had no dialogue, Rao chose to cast actors from different parts of India. Haasan, a native of Tamil Nadu, was cast as the protagonist, an unemployed graduate. He had to shave his signature moustache for the role. Rao initially wanted Neelam Kothari to be the female lead, but she wanted to wear "glittering costumes" like in Bollywood films; hence, Rao did not cast her. After seeing Amala compere an awards function in Madras, enquiring about her and getting to know about her Kalakshetra background, he approached her and she accepted. Rao decided to cast Samir Khakhar as the drunk rich man, inspired by his drunkard character Khopdi from the Hindi television series Nukkad.

Rao initially approached Amrish Puri to portray the contract killer, but he could not accept the offer due to unavailability of dates. Haasan's then-wife Sarika showed a photograph of Tinu Anand and successfully recommended him for the role. Pratap Potan, then known mainly for portraying dark characters, played a comical character, the illicit lover of Ramya's character. Rao initially wanted Bengali magician P. C. Sorcar Jr. to portray the female lead's magician father, but ultimately chose K. S. Ramesh after seeing his performance in a magic show on television in Bangalore, where the story is set. Farida Jalal, who was then visiting Bangalore, was cast as the female lead's mother. According to Rao, P. L. Narayana proved the "ideal choice" for playing the beggar.

Filming

Thota Tharani constructed a street set for the film beside the Hyland Hotel in Bangalore. The ramshackle room where the graduate lives, and the building itself, was constructed above the hotel. Most of the shooting was done in the Windsor Manor hotel in Bangalore. The management of Windsor Manor were not initially willing to let the film be shot there, but after Nagaraj told them that "the entire world will know about this hotel after the film", they agreed. The scenes where the graduate meets the beggar were shot at a bridge near Windsor Manor. According to Anand, Rao wanted the entire cast to be present at all times, regardless of whether they were filming scenes or not.

As Ramesh was not as old as his character, Rao "made him look old". The killer's signature weapon is an ice dagger. For this reason, every night, an ice mould in the shape of a dagger was kept in the freezer; however, the ice dagger would often melt soon by morning because of the strong density lights being used in the shooting. Rao ultimately decided to use an acrylic dagger, which looked like an ice dagger. To capture background and ambient noise accurately, sequences were shot twice. The entire budget of the film was 35 lakh (worth 13 crore in 2021 prices).

Music
The film had no songs, only background score. Rao wanted a composer who could work as per his demands and requirements for the scenes, for this L. Vaidyanathan was chosen to compose the score. Sitar exponent Janardhan Mitta contributed to the re-recording using two other instruments apart from minimal orchestration.

Themes

Rao called Pushpaka Vimana a personal film because "that's the life I lead. I don't want to amass wealth. At the same time, I am not a person who romanticises poverty. Money is important, but that is not everything." Anjana Shekar of The News Minute said the film satirises unemployment, an issue that was prevalent in India in the 1980s. She compared it to Mark Twain's novel The Prince and the Pauper because of the concept of identity switching, with the difference being that in Pushpaka Vimana the switching is not mutually agreed upon and the two men do not look alike. Anjana said that the climax in which the graduate is shown standing in a long queue of job seekers indicates that nothing has changed for him "except that now, he's willing to take the metaphorical stairs to succeed in life." Historian Bhagwan Das Garga noted similarities between the graduate and Walter Mitty, because of how the former "fantasises about riches". Rao named The Inspector General (1949), where a civil servant is mistaken for a high-ranking inspector, as an inspiration on Pushpaka Vimana, and also took inspiration from his personal experiences in the 1950s.

Writing for India Today, Madhu Jain described Pushpaka Vimana as "the story of the modern Indian male Cinderella. But with a different end – and moral: Money is not everything though pursuing it is entertaining." She noted the contrast in the name of the graduate's lodge, Anand Bhavan (Abode of Bliss). Film critic Naman Ramachandran said the film gives the message that "money is the root of much evil and honesty is the best policy". Ravi Balakrishnan of The Economic Times said that though it eschews formulaic Indian cinema conventions like songs and dialogue, it has "all the elements that make a great mainstream entertainer – a love story, a crime caper, a thriller and a comedy – with plotlines blending together seamlessly", while comparing its primary narrative to Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931), and the graduate to Chaplin's character The Tramp.

Release
Pushpaka Vimana was released on 27 November 1987. The film was released under different titles for different linguistic regions: its original title Pushpaka Vimana in Karnataka (in the Kannada language), Pushpaka Vimanam in Andhra Pradesh (Telugu), Pushpak () in Hindi-speaking regions, Pesum Padam () in Tamil Nadu (Tamil), and Pushpakvimanam in Kerala (Malayalam). In Andhra Pradesh, it was distributed by Sravanthi Ravi Kishore, in Mumbai by actor Rajendra Kumar, and in Madras by editor A. Mohan. The film was featured in the Indian Panorama section at the 12th International Film Festival of India. Retrospectively it was featured in the Shanghai International Film Festival, and Whistling Woods Film Festival.

Reception
The film received critical acclaim for its creativity, making and the cast performances. Reviewing Pesum Padam, the magazine Ananda Vikatan said that to make a silent film needs a lot of courage and the filmmaker needs to be congratulated for that, rating it 50 out of 100. N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express said, "For [Kamal Haasan], the film is yet another achievement. For Singeetam, always the bold experimenter [...] Pesum Padam should provide both critical and commercial mileage. It is music director L. Vaidyanathan's task to provide the 'silent' film a worthy musical foil to match its varied moods and needs: this he does with panache." Jayamanmadhan of the magazine Kalki appreciated virtually every aspect of the film, calling it a must watch.

Filmmaker Satyajit Ray applauded the film and told Rao, "You have created a love scene around a dead body", referring to the scene where the graduate and the magician's daughter walk around the hotel owner's body during his funeral several times just to spend some time together. Bombay: The City Magazines critic wrote, "Pushpak is a bold and timely reminder that verbal diarrhoea drowns out meaning. Silence is not only golden but eloquent." Though no-one expected the film to succeed, it was a sleeper hit, completing a 35-week theatrical run in Bangalore, and grossing around 1 crore according to estimates by Madhu Jain and Garga.

Accolades

Legacy
Pushpaka Vimana became a landmark of Indian cinema. According to film theorists Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, it "opened up a new dimension in art-house entertainment", and "helped change [Kamal Haasan's] screen image". Rao has stated that after the film's success, many people wanted him to make more dialogue-less films but he was uninterested, saying, "My fascination was for the first one that I made." Amala listed it along with Vedham Pudhithu (1987), Agni Natchathiram (1988), Siva (1989) and Karpoora Mullai (1991) as her most memorable films. The film is listed among News18's "hundred greatest Indian films of all time". It was also listed by Rediff.com in its list "Singeetham's gems before Christ". On Haasan's birthday, 7 November 2015, Latha Srinivasan of Daily News and Analysis considered Pushpaka Vimanam to be one of the "films you must watch to grasp the breadth of Kamal Haasan's repertoire".

References

Bibliography

External links

1980s avant-garde and experimental films
1980s black comedy films
1980s satirical films
1987 films
Films scored by L. Vaidyanathan
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award winners
Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao
Films set in Bangalore
Films shot in Bangalore
Films without speech
Indian avant-garde and experimental films
Indian black comedy films
Indian satirical films
Tragicomedy films
Unemployment in fiction

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Pass instance as an argument to a function and then display the instance data in the function I want to be able to pass pixelOne as the argument to the showPixelDetails() function. The only way I've found of doing it so far is below. How do I pass pixelOne as an argument to that function?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

class Pixel
{
public:
    float xCoord;
    float yCoord;
    double brightness;

    void showPixelDetail();
};

void Pixel::showPixelDetail()
{
    cout<< xCoord << endl;
    cout<< yCoord << endl;
    cout<< brightness << endl;
}

int main()
{
    Pixel pixelOne;

    icon myIcon;

    pixelOne.xCoord=1;
    pixelOne.yCoord=1;
    pixelOne.brightness=15;

    pixelOne.showPixelDetail();

    return 0;
}

pixelOne needs to be the argument I pass. When I try to pass it, xCoord, yCoord and brightness aren't declared in the scope. I know why, but there must be a way for them to be passed with the pixelOne as the argument.

A: What you have is fine already, but you seem to want to have a function that accepts a Pixel argument instead of using a member function with implicit this. In that case, move the function outside the class and add a parameter:
class Pixel{
  public:
    float xCoord;
    float yCoord;
    double brightness;
};

void showPixelDetail(const Pixel& pixel) {
    std::cout << pixel.xCoord << '\n';
    std::cout << pixel.yCoord << '\n';
    std::cout << pixel.brightness << '\n';
}

int main() {
    Pixel pixelOne;

    pixelOne.xCoord=1;
    pixelOne.yCoord=1;
    pixelOne.brightness=15;

    showPixelDetail(pixelOne);
}

live link


text:
Whoops! That's Going to Cost You
Remember Rick Santorum's proclamation that Puerto Rico should learn English before applying for statehood?
That didn't work out so well.
Rick Santorum is the only GOP candidate that made the trek down to Puerto Rico to woo Republican voters the U.S. territory before its GOP primary next week. But rather than increase the number of delegates pledging to support him, Santorum has scared at least one away.
Former Puerto Rican Sen. Oreste Ramos announced Thursday that he was rescinding his support for Santorum after the presidential candidate said Puerto Rico would have to adopt English as its primary language if the territory were to ever gain statehood.
"Although such a requirement would be unconstitutional, and also would clash with our sociological and linguistic reality, as a question of principle I cannot back a person who holds that position," Oreste said, according to the San Juan newspaper Vocero. "As a Puerto Rican and Spanish-speaking U.S. citizen, I consider the position of Mr. Santorum offensive."
Unconstitutional and unrealistic. That sums up the Republican party quite well, doesn't it?
Activist Judges!
Quote of the Morning


text:
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Rob Adams Journalist
Young saxophonist...
Jazz Events Newsletter Sign-up
Exclusive music news
Scottish harper guests with Russian String Orchestra at the Fringe
Scottish harper Karen Marshalsay has been invited to play three concerts with the award-winning Russian String Orchestra during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.
The Edinburgh-based harper guested with the Russian String Orchestra during their Fringe run in 2018 and will be performing specially written orchestrations of original compositions with them on August 4, 11 and 18 at theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall in Nicolson Street.
Karen has previously appeared on the Edinburgh International Festival and at the Edinburgh Mela with the Herald Angel-winning piper Allan MacDonald and currently works with Boys of the Lough founder Cathal McConnell's trio.
She releases a new album of traditional harp music, The Road to Kennacraig, which was overseen by leading traditional music producer Robin Morton, on Monday July 15.
Karen Marshalsay (photo by Kate O'Sullivan)
Cookies All written work copyright Rob Adams.


Indian hedgehog homolog (Drosophila), also known as IHH, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the IHH gene. This cell signaling protein is in the hedgehog signaling pathway. The several mammalian variants of the Drosophila hedgehog gene ( which was the first named) have been named after the various species of hedgehog; the Indian hedgehog is honored by this one. The gene is not specific to Indian hedgehogs.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (Turkish: İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı; full Turkish name: İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, in English: The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) or İHH is a conservative Turkish NGO, whose members are predominantly Turkish Muslims, active in more than 100 countries.
Established in 1992 and officially registered in Istanbul in 1995, İHH provides humanitarian relief in areas of war, earthquake, hunger, and conflict. The İHH holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004 Current president of the İHH is Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım.


↑ "WorldMayor.com - Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam 2006". अभिगमन तिथि 2007-04-19.
↑ "Actueel Hoogtestand Nederland" (डच में). अभिगमन तिथि 2008-05-18.
↑ "Population" (in Dutch). Themes. City of Amsterdam. 2008. अभिगमन तिथि 2008-11-03.
1 Transcontinental country. 2 Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe. 3 Partially recognised country. 4 Crown Dependency or Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. 5 Also the seat of the European Union, see Location of European Union institutions and Brussels and the European Union.6 Also the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.7 Also the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark.


text:
Q: Access service account ID at runtime of google cloud run service Does anyone have an idea, how I can access the email address of the service account, which is running my cloud run service, at runtime?
When deploying the service to gcloud, I use a specific service account for running the service.
During runtime I need the email/ID of this service account, in order to do blob signing using IAMCredentialsService.
Is there a possibility to get the service account ID somehow? The ComputeCredential object I have at hand doesn't provide this information. Right now I have to set an environment variable which contains the service account email address, which I can use at runtime within the service.

A: In your cloud run container, you need to reach this URL (a GET)
http://metadata.google.internal/computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/default/email

With this header
Metadata-Flavor: Google

If you have difficulty getting the value, provide your language and I will see if I can provide a code sample for you.

A: See more in documentation https://cloud.google.com/run/docs/reference/container-contract#metadata-server

Container instance metadata server
Cloud Run container instances expose a metadata server that you can use to retrieve details about your container instance, such as the project ID, region, instance ID or service accounts. It can also be used to generate tokens for the runtime service account.
You can access this data from the metadata server using simple HTTP requests to the http://metadata.google.internal/ endpoint with the Metadata-Flavor: Google header: no client libraries are required. For more information, see Getting metadata.


SAYING GOODBYE TO FR JOHN!
FR JOHN: As you are all probably aware Bishop Patrick has asked Fr John to become the parish priest of St Philip Neri, Mansfield, alongside becoming parish priest of the parishes of St Joseph's in Shirebrook, St Bernadette's in Bolsover, and the community of Market Warsop. It is a huge responsibly, and he will be assisted by Fr Raphel Imoni. Fr John will be leaving St Hugh's during the week beginning 22nd May; his final Sunday Mass here will be on the 21st May. We will be having a 'farewell' Mass for Fr John sometime in June, which he has kindly agreed to return for. The date has yet to be arranged so please keep an eye on future Newsletters for details.
Our new parish priest will be Fr Matthew Jakes who is currently the parish priest of Our Lady & St Edward, Nottingham. Whilst we are all sad to hear that Fr John is leaving us, after over 9 happy years as parish priest of St Hugh's, it is our job now to make Fr Matthew feel welcome in his new home when he takes up his ministry at St Hugh's at the end of May.