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Rainbow Speakers Bureau | Center for Diversity and Inclusion | American University | Washington, DC
You are here: American University Campus Life Diversity and Inclusion Rainbow Speakers Bureau
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cdi@american.edu
Monday-Friday, 9am - 5pm
Mary Graydon Center, Room 201 and 202
Center for Diversity and Inclusion 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 United States
Rainbow Speakers Bureau (RSB)
Looking for an interesting and informative program for your class, residence hall, or organization at American University or in the Washington, DC community? Want to learn more about issues of sexual orientation or gender identity? The Rainbow Speakers Bureau is just the program for you.
Since its inception in 1994, the Speakers Bureau has brought LGBTQ educational opportunities to the AU campus and community. The panels are flexible and will be designed to meet the needs of your class or organization, but all work on four basic principles: providing information; combating homophobia; creating visibility for the LGBTQ resources on campus; and communicating through dialogue and personal contact. Some major topics that have been covered by the Speakers Bureau include coming out, harassment and violence towards the LGBTQ community, homophobia, stereotypes, and social and cultural constructions of sexuality.
If you would like more information about how an RSB could work in your class or organization, please send an email to our RSB coordinator.
Request a RSB Online
To request a RSB, please fill out our online form.
RSB panels must be requested a minimum of two weeks before the requested date to allow for proper time to finalize panelists. For more information, contact the Center for Diversity & Inclusion cdi@american.edu or by calling us at 202-885-3651.
What Others Say about RSB:
"The respondents were very comfortable, approachable, and human."
"The program was very casual and the presenters were happy to be very open about all types of questions. I felt as though they encouraged the audience to ask the kinds of questions that are usually deemed too sensitive."
"The presentation was interesting as well as organized. The personal stories were great."
"Thank you! My father recently came out (a month ago) and I'm dealing with issues pertaining to that. Your presentation answered some questions I had."
"The speakers were great! Their ability to be honest and come across as average students is amazing."


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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/cuva/)
CUVA
Cornell to Establish Representative Position for Student Veterans
By Shivani Sanghani | March 30, 2017
A veterans' advocate position will be instituted at Cornell to serve both as a tool for student veterans and as a liaison for Cornell's administration and recruitment efforts.
Theta Delta Chi Fraternity Lights House Green to Support Veterans
By Josephine Chu | October 20, 2016
"I can imagine that for many veterans, adjusting to University life can be challenging, and it goes without saying that their immense sacrifices deserve our recognition and respect," he said. "I'm proud that groups like Theta Delta Chi are taking a lead in honoring our veterans, and I hope that their action inspires community-wide recognition and administrative support."
Student Veterans Push for Increased S.A. Representation, Aim to Combat Stigma
By Anna Delwiche | October 13, 2016
"I had a faculty member at one point ask me why we were in Iraq," he said. "The professor has his Oxford diploma and he's talking about all his publications and he's asking me why we were in Iraq."
LIM | Back to Reality
GUEST ROOM | The Climate March to Nowhere
FROM THE EDITOR: Never Dull

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


KUWAIT: Investigating on what is known as 'Eritrean and Dominican bedoons', informed security sources said that there are hundreds of former bedoons who have legalized their status by acquiring passports from these countries between 1998-2006. The sources added that some local commercial offices mediated between the diplomats from those countries and interested bedoons.
The sources added that recently, many bedoons have become victims of fraudsters-claiming to be acquiring passports from some African countries. One of these offices has online adverts describing it as 'the official agent for Ghana's economic normalization program', offering passport issue services for $15,000. Seven people have been arrested in this regard.
One of the victims said he was swindled in 2011 by an Arab man in one of those offices. He added that he paid KD 2,400 for two Dominican passports -for him and his wife in addition to KD 600 for each of his three kids. He said that he paid half of the total sum in advance. "Two months later, I found out that the office had been closed down with no traces of any of its staff", the man said.
Meanwhile, the embassy of Eritrea in Kuwait has stressed that all Eritrean passports held by former bedoons were authentic and had been legally issued.


Spice merchant Sam "Ibex" Lee is on the hunt for some peppers down south in New Zealand. Lucky for the freerider, he doesn't need to look too far—Treble Cone has got the goods. The ski resort is chock full of spicy lines just waiting to be claimed, and Lee wastes no time. No surprise that this kind of Kiwi terrain has fostered other prominent skiers like our very own Sam Smoothy, check out what he has to say about shredding in his home mountains.


We've been watching an Atlanta local by the name of Stellar Shores pop up more and more as he's recently shared the stage with Mimosa, Candyland, Big Gigantic and Rusko. We decided to pry deeper into this young talent's career and found this fantastic bootleg of Dimitri Vegas & Martin Garrix & Like Mike's festival classic "Tremor." In typical Atlanta fashion, Stellar Shores drops the track over some heavy 808s with a half time trap beat.
The bootleg follows a DJ friendly A-B-C arrangement where the first drop introduces the context of a trap remix, the second picks up the energy and the final drop offers a completely unique and rowdy rendition of the original. We point this out because if you only listen to the first drop, the track will sound uninspired and redundant to all of the festival trap remixes out there, but Stellar Shores' bootleg is in no way ordinary.
Grab a free download of the track, hit up Stellar Shores on social media, and rate.


Today on the Buzz List we're looking at surprising celebrity salaries. Teresa Strasser found a few that are shockingly high and low.
The 51-year-old former heavyweight champ has a shockingly low net worth of about $3 million. That's a stark contrast to what he was worth at the peak of his career which was about $300 million. Legal troubles and lavish spending led to his financial demise. Iron Mike isn't rolling in gold any more, but he's still going strong with several projects in the works, including his animated tv series Mike Tyson Mysteries.
The 23-year-old primate pulled in a reported $108,000 for appearing in nine episodes of the NBC series, Animal Practice. That's no monkey business!
They earn a little over $55,000 and while you don't need a diploma, a thick skin will definitely come in handy.
Who's your favorite celebrity? Join the conversation on our Facebook page, @TheListShowTV.


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News 24 Jan 2012 last update:6 Aug 2012
Global feed tonnage reaches record 873 million
The world's feed production has reached an estimated 873 million tonnes, according to a global survey commissioned by Alltech. Conducted through Alltech's regional managers, the survey assessed the tonnage of 132 countries and all species.
"This new global estimate is quite significant, especially when compared to the 2010 Watt report, which indicated 717.6 million tonnes," said Aidan Connolly, vice president of corporate accounts at Alltech.
"Feed production is an increasingly global phenomenon and this survey is the broadest in its reach and, therefore, also complete in terms of its review of the state of play in the world feed industry."
Leading position for Asia
Asia has secured a role as the number one feed producing region with a tonnage of 305 million, and China is the leading country with a total tonnage of 175.4 million.
Europe follows Asia with 200 million. North America, Latin America and the Middle East/Africa round out the listing with 185 million, 125 million and 47 million respectively.
Poultry feed most global
In terms of species, poultry feed now represents 44% of world feed, which may reflect the cost, health and religious preferences for this white meat.
Ruminant feed is calculated at more than 220 million tonnes but this does not include a similar quantity of dry matter fed as silage or forage on farm.
Pig, equine and pet feeds have not changed significantly, but aquaculture is the fastest growing feed sector, totalling nearly 30 million tonnes.
"As we look to feed 7 billion people in 2012, it is clear that the efficient production of meat, milk and eggs has never been more important," said Alltech president Dr. Pearse Lyons.
"We have invested in this evaluation of the world's feed industry as part of our ongoing commitment to information and technology transfer between providers and customers."
Rehabilitating the gut microbiota
Globally, we have to reduce the use of antibiotics to hence reduce antimicrobial resistance. Restoring and...
On 25 Apr In Feed additives
New on All About Feed: Data on global feed production
A new interactive tool on All About Feed shows the feed production per region or country. The tool is based on...
On 20 Apr 2018 In Compound feed
Full focus on healthy production systems
In today's pig production, moving away from preventive antibiotics means that we have to focus on a higher level...
On 30 Mar 2018 In Feed additives


It has been shown previously that commercially available solid phase extraction (SPE) columns release contaminants such as palmitic acid and stearic acid during separation of lipid classes. The presence of contaminating fatty acids in the fatty acid fraction is particularly troublesome. We here confirm that the overwhelming majority of the contaminants originate from the barrels, and have identified two contaminants as palmitic acid and stearic acid or their equivalents. We urge readers to take fatty acid contaminants into careful consideration when planning their experiments, and if necessary use sorbent packed in glass barrels instead of plastic such as polypropylene.


Fabric labels come in a range of collection of different varieties. There are some premade labels that have no customization. The premade tags include messages that indicate care instructions or types of material used to make the item. There are different sizes of fabric labels that are used in the market. In fabric labels there are other considerations beyond the design. There are different tags available such as iron-on tags and sew-in tags. The iron-on tags are made with a combination of both cotton and polyester blend. The blend is applied to the product and adhered with iron. Finally, the sew on tags can be stitched on either by hand or by machine. Any hard surface or a regular flat surface ironing board with a thick towel on top will work for applying iron-on labels.
The fabric labels have few rules that should be followed. The federal trade commission FTC administrators and overseas permanent care labeling rule. This FTC influence label content for consumer product safety. The main rule that should be followed is that the manufacturer should ensure that care labeling instructions, if followed will cause no substantial harm to the product. This makes confirm that the consumer product will be safe. The fabric label contains fiber content that ensures the quality of the label. The fiber content is listed by percentage in descending order. There are two types of labels say man-made and natural. The natural fibers such as pure wool, virgin wool or lamb wool. The man-made fiber must be listed by generic class which includes acetate, polyester, nylon, rayon, spandex and other fibers. The fabric labels have washing, drying, ironing and dry cleaning instructions.


THE PARABLE OF THE TWO GREAT EAGLES, AND THE CROPPING OF THE CEDAR OF LEBANON.
Eze_17:2. Son of man, put forth a riddle, and utter a parable (or similitude) to the house of Israel.
Eze_17:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The great eagle, large of wing, with long pinions and full plumage, having many colours, came to Lebanon, and pluckt the topmost branch (The term öַîֶøֶú is peculiar to Ezekiel, but from the use of it here, and in Eze_31:3-14, there can be no doubt that it means the summit, or top most branch the woolly part of the tree at the farthest extremity.) of the cedar.
Eze_17:4. The top of his young twigs he cropt off, and brought it to a land of traffic; in a city of merchants he set it.
Eze_17:6. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, for turning (i.e. of a kind naturally fitted for turning from its need of support) its branches toward him (viz. the eagle that planted it), and its roots were under him: and it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot out twigs.
Eze_17:7. And there was another great eagle, large of wing and with full plumage; and, behold, this vine bent her roots toward him, and sent forth her branches to him, that he might water it out of the garden bed in which it was planted.
Eze_17:8. Upon a good field, beside copious streams was it planted, that it might bring forth branches, and might bear fruit, so as to become a goodly vine.
Eze_17:9. Say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Shall it flourish? will he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit that it may wither? All its sprouting leaves shall wither, and without great strength or many people to lift it up by the roots.
Eze_17:10. And, behold, though planted, shall it nourish? Shall it not utterly wither as soon as the east wind touches it? Upon the plot where it grew shall it wither.
Eze_17:12. Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things be? say, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes, and brought them along with him to Babylon.
Eze_17:13. And he took of the royal seed, and made a covenant with it, and brought it under an oath; and the mighty of the land he also took.
Eze_17:14. That the kingdom might be in a low condition, that it might not lift itself up, that it might keep his covenant and establish it.
Eze_17:15. But he rebelled against him, in sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he flourish? Shall he escape who does this? And shall he break the covenant and escape?
Eze_17:16. As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, in the midst of Babylon shall he die.
Eze_17:17. Neither shall Pharaoh, with mighty power and a great host, accomplish for him by war, by casting up mounds, and by building towers, to cut off many souls.
Eze_17:18. And he despised the oath, to break the covenant, and lo! he gave his hand; yea, he did all these things; he shall not escape.
Eze_17:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, As I live, surely my oath which he despised, and my covenant which he broke, that will I bring upon his own head.
Eze_17:20. And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will reckon with him there for his treacherous dealing toward me.
Eze_17:21. And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those that are left of them shall be scattered to every wind; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken.
22. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, And I take (namely, when those things have come to pass) of the topmost branch of the high cedar, and set—from the top of its shoots, I pluck off a slender one, and I plant it upon a mountain high and elevated.
Eze_17:23. Upon the mountain-height of Israel I will plant it; and it shall raise aloft its branch, and bring forth fruit, and become a glorious cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every kind (literally, every bird of every wing, as at Gen_7:14), in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.
Eze_17:24. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree to nourish: I, Jehovah, speak and do.
THE prophet is here commanded to put forth to the house of Israel a parable or similitude; which is also denominated a riddle, because it was to be fraught with a meaning that should by no means discover itself at first sight, and, even with the aid of an accompanying explanation, would require the most careful thought and consideration to be understood in its profound and wide-reaching import. A great eagle first presents itself in vision to the eyes of the prophet (literally, the great eagle, emblem of the well-known, pre-eminently great king), large and long of wing, very full and variegated in its plumage the noblest of its kind. He sees it directing its course to Lebanon, and when there, plucking off the topmost shoot of the cedar, and the summit of its young branches, which it thence carried away to a land of traffic, and placed in a city of merchants. He sees the same eagle taking of the seed of the land—not a foreign production, but one native to the region—and planting it in a fruitful field, in the immediate vicinity of great waters, where it possessed every natural advantage for growth and fruitfulness. Yet still only within certain limits. Its growth was not to be like that of the strong and lofty cedar, but such merely as belonged to the low and spreading vine,—and a vine whose branches were instinctively turned toward the eagle that planted it, and whose roots shot under him, as if doing fealty to the power to which it owed its separate existence and its flourishing condition.
But another eagle now comes on the field of vision, also of great bulk, with large wings and many feathers, though not of such long pinions and richly-coloured plumage as the former. Yet the vine, as if it descried an attractive beauty in this bird, which the other had not, presently begins to bend its roots, and turn its branches toward him, that he might water it out of the garden-bed in which it was planted. It was ambitious of getting a larger growth, and reaching a greater altitude than it was likely to attain as it stood; and, with this view, sought the agency of a new power to supply it more abundantly with the means of refreshment. An extravagant and vain imagination! For it was already planted in a good soil, on the banks of a copious river, and with everything necessary to render it healthful and flourishing. Therefore, going against nature in this new attempt after enlargement, so far from succeeding according to its wishes, it should be made to feel the withering blast of the east wind, nay, should be plucked up by the roots, and left to perish and die; and that not as a matter of arduous achievement, but without great power, or multitudes of people, as a thing of easy accomplishment.
In the charge that is here brought against the house of David, the radical error evidently stood, first, in their not humbling themselves sufficiently on account of the chastisement they had received, in being subjected to the yoke of Babylon; and then, in what was the natural consequence of this, their resorting to deceitful courses and wretched contrivances of their own to recover their lost standing. Destitute of the true fear of God, they looked upon the disasters that had taken place as the result merely of untoward circumstances, and as such, capable of being retrieved by some more skilful manœuvre, or more propitious turn of the world's affairs. God, therefore, must keep a jealous and watchful eye upon their movements, and utterly defeat their crooked policy. He must constrain them in deep prostration and abasement of spirit to feel, that as his hand had brought them down, so his hand alone could lift them up again; and that never should the lost glory return to the house of David, or to the people of God through it, till they had effectually learned to cease from man, and had come to put their trust wholly in the grace and power of Jehovah.
Here the Lord presents himself as the rival of the king of Babylon, and the doer of a work precisely opposite in its character and effects to that which the earthly potentate had accomplished. Nebuchadnezzar had been allowed for a time to wield a magisterial power and authority regarding the house of David, which, in the nature of things, could yield nothing more than an inferior and temporary good, and in reality issued in a complete prostration. Now, however, the Lord manifests himself for the gracious purpose of reviving the house of David from the state of apparent hopelessness to which it had been reduced, and even of raising it to a degree of power and glory hitherto unknown. But in doing this he would not infuse new vigour into that particular branch of it which Nebuchadnezzar was seeking to protect and foster, the native seed he had planted in a fruitful field—Zedekiah; this was doomed to certain perdition. He would neither revive that, nor take an altogether new seed, but would pluck a slender twig from the summit of the same lofty cedar, which had previously been pluckt by the king of Babylon; that is, a scion of the house of David, to which the kingdom belonged by an everlasting covenant, and of no new or secondary formation, but in the old, direct, and proper line. This slender twig Jehovah would plant upon Mount Zion—by pre-eminence the high and elevated mountain, because morally the grand centre of grace and glory to the world. ("There can be no doubt," says Calvin, "that God means Mount Zion, which in itself was a little hill. But Isaiah gives us the reason of its being lofty, when he shows it should surpass every elevation in the world in dignity and excellence. The supereminence, indeed, was not to be patent to the eye, for the prophet declares, at the same time, it should consist in this, that the law should go forth from Zion and the word of God from Jerusalem. Accordingly we see Mount Zion, though little among the hills, yet raised aloft above the highest mountains; because from it shone forth the glory of God, which has been seen even to the farthest bounds of the earth.") And there it springs and rises aloft, and becomes a tree so magnificent in stature, and so ample in foliage, that it commands the admiration and homage of the world; every tree of the field owns its superiority, every fowl of heaven seeks its shelter; in other words, all rival powers, and all intelligent creatures, unite in regarding this as the wonderful impersonation of Divine power and glory in the earth.
It is vain to seek the realization of this prophetic image anywhere but in the Messiah. In no other individual do the lines meet of the prophet's delineation; but in him they meet with the greatest possible exactness—and in him, as the whole tenor of the representation might have led us to expect, primarily as an individual, though not without respect also to his character as the head and representative of the Divine kingdom. The earlier features in the description had each pointed to individuals,—to Jehoiachin, Zedekiah, and through them also to Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh,—but to these as individuals, in whose outward state and condition were reflected those of the whole commonwealth of Israel. So, certainly, it is Messiah as an individual that is here indicated; first, as a tender scion of the house of David, in the direct and proper line, then grown into a stately tree, and, finally, risen to the highest place of honour, and power, and glory. But the Messiah, who was to appear on earth only for the sake of the Divine kingdom, could not be regarded as apart from the kingdom itself; its fortunes must stand inseparably bound up with his history, and partake along with it of evil or of good. So that here, as in our Lord's own parable of the mustard-seed, the smallness of the promised beginning tells at once of the lowliness of his appearance, and the depressed condition of the kingdom at the time; and the surpassing greatness afterwards to be reached, while it announces his personal elevation to the highest rank of honour and glory in the heavenly places, makes promise also of the world-wide extension of his kingdom, and the prolific fulness of its blessings to all who might seek shelter in its bosom. But when it is said so emphatically, that God himself should do all this, and that all the trees of the field (the other nations or powers of the earth) should thereby be constrained to own that he exalts the humble and abases the high, what could this import? Certainly, that the whole should be effected in a way different from that of nature, and superior to it,—not by fleshly weapons, or any means and appliances of a worldly kind, but by the peculiar operation of the power of God, securing for his own kingdom a gradual and growing ascendancy over everything earthly and human. Whatever glory should come from the accomplishment of the Divine plan, must redound to God, not to man; the pride of all flesh should be stained by it.
Such is the vision here presented to us of God's future purposes in respect to his kingdom among men—how truly the vision of a Divine seer! What a sublime reach and elevation of soul must have been attained by him who could appear thus at home with the far distant future, and, with such clear foresight and firm assurance, could tell of things that were not as if they were! It is greatness of spirit, too, the more surprising, that it was possessed by one whose outward condition seemed so deeply marred with depression and gloom. Himself but a poor exile on the banks of the Chebar, with the cry perpetually sounding in his ears of shattered fortunes and ruined expectations; yet, like the royal bird, of which he here serves himself as an image, he wings his flight aloft, and in the bright radiance of heaven's own light looks afar upon the field of Providence, and brings up to view the very shape and aspect of its yet undeveloped movements. If we look to the unerring skill and precision with which he drew so long beforehand the pattern of what was to come, we might have supposed him a mere automaton, unconsciously obeying the impulse of a higher hand; but if we regard the manner in which he does it, never did a poet's fancy seem to move with more natural and unconstrained freedom in framing its conceptions, or selecting the most appropriate imagery for their expression. And then how divinely strong the faith which could pierce through the dark and portentous cloud of evils that then overhung the spiritual firmament, which could still hold its confidence in the Divine faithfulness, and, instead of being staggered with the signs of approaching desolation, could descry in these but the necessary condition and presage of ultimate good? What a noble superiority does it show him to have reached above that weakness of nature, which is ever apt in times of trouble to raise doubt and despondency in our minds! May such an example of the higher gifts of grace not pass before us in vain! And especially, may the conviction settle itself in our minds, as an abiding ground of consolation, that the word of God is unfailingly true, even in its most peculiar announcements, and that none who trust in it ever can be disappointed!


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The Photography Of The Legendary David Goldblatt
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A free exhibition of the outstanding work of internationally-renowned local photographer David Goldblatt and his incredible contribution to documenting SA history
Gain insight into how everyday life continued for all walks of life despite the restrictions imposed by the apartheid regime at a free photography exhibition and screened documentary of the legendary David Goldblatt.
DAVID GOLDBLATT PICTURE THEORY EXHIBITION
For over six decades, internationally-acclaimed local photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) photographed the details of daily life in our country under the apartheid regime.
This exhibition is a celebration of how life went on for citizens from all walks of life during the regime. It offers superb insight for photographers and filmmakers working in the arena. The exhibited works are not for sale.
Tues–Fri: 10am–5:30pm; Sat: 10am–2pm
From 7 January until 7 February 2019.
David Goldblatt's unrelenting, prolific protest-in-pictures against inequality and social injustice in South Africa depicts the complex realities of daily life under an apartheid regime rather than depicting the riots and fighting that happened in SA at the time.
Drawing on Goldblatt's rich catalogue, and with interviews from Nadine Gordimer and William Kentridge, this is a focus on identity, place, and longing, set within the complex, ever-shifting landscape of South Africa. The documentary film, directed by Daniel Zimbler (shown four times a day), is also free for viewing.
SCREENING TIMES
Tue–Fri: 10am, 11:30am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 3pm
Sat: 10am, 11:30am
ENTRY TO THE DAVID GOLDBLATT PICTURE THEORY EXHIBITION
Entry to the exhibition is free. For more information, please contact the organisers directly on madibamusickf@gmail.com, +27 (0) 82 455 3447 or visit the A4 Arts Foundation website.
Check out this informative and entertaining photography workshop for teens.
Art lovers, take a look at our overview of galleries in Cape Town.
Art, sculpture, beautiful grounds and superb food at the on-site restaurant at the Norval Foundation.
Supercharge your event? Our Events Support Programme gets results. Contact support@capetownmagazine.com or +27 (0)21 422 2444.
Use our events section for an up-to-date overview of what's happening in the city, 'burbs and dorpies. Join our newsletter and get quick access on the go by adding us to your mobile home screen for the ultimate guide to discoveries in Cape Town.
Venue: A4 Arts Foundation
Location: 23 Buitenkant Street District Six
Email: madibamusickf@gmail.com
Website: www.a4arts.org/home-1
Come in your workout kit
Cape Town Jazz Fest!
Paintball in the bush
Plus a Sunset Safari Picnic
Where Franschhoek chefs go to eat


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Updated: 11 hours 48 min ago
FBI agents visited the home of the Robert Hyde, the Giuliani associate who said he surveilled former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch
Hyde claimed to have been surveilling former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, according to a trove of messages turned over to Congress.
Bureaucracy to brutality: New evidence reveals IS hierarchy
Documents compiled by a U.S.-based Syrian rights group reveal how Islamic State militants used one of their most powerful bureaucratic bodies to regulate daily life and impose and execute penalties. The Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center said Thursday that the evidence — documents produced by IS itself — could help identify individuals responsible for atrocities during the militants' four-year reign of terror and lead to criminal prosecutions. The 24-page report, called "Judge, Jury and Executioner," is based on dozens of documents obtained by SJAC from inside Syria and collected by a local activist from abandoned IS offices in Raqqa province, where the militants also had their self-declared capital in a city that carries the same name.
Many 'No' Votes on Trump's Trade Deal Came From Presidential Hopefuls
(Bloomberg) -- Nearly half of the Senate Democrats who voted against the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement share one thing in common: They ran, or are still running, for the 2020 presidential nomination, leaving every vote subject to extra scrutiny for national political implications.Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders were among the nine Democrats who on Thursday voted against the trade deal. Sanders, who is still in the presidential race, is near the top of many primary polls. The other three have dropped out but may still harbor hopes of a spot on the 2020 ticket as the vice presidential pick or even ambitions for another presidential bid in 2024 or 2028.While the final version of the agreement included additional measures to protect U.S. labor that were negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and endorsed by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, critics argue those protections are insufficient for American workers. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have universally panned the deal."We can do much better than a Trump-led trade deal," Sanders said during Tuesday's presidential primary debate in Iowa. Another Democrat still in the race, Elizabeth Warren voted for the deal, arguing that it will "give some relief" to workers and is better than no action at all. Amy Klobuchar also backed it.The three senators who've dropped out of the race are all in their 50s and could have more chances at the White House, and a vote for a trade agreement could backfire if it leads to job losses or, in the case of the new deal, new environmental problems. Joe Biden, a former longtime Delaware senator, has faced criticism from opponents – especially Sanders – for his support of trade agreements, including the USMCA predecessor Nafta.Harris said she was opposing the deal because of its lack of environmental protections. Gillibrand said she was voting against it because she didn't think it did enough for the environment, drug prices or New York state's farmers and producers. Booker has not yet explained his vote.To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan CraneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
10 Home Prep Tips Before Going on Vacation
A physical therapist charged with killing his wife, three children and dog in a home near Walt Disney World and leaving their bodies there for days was being investigated in Connecticut for health care fraud motivated by his need to pay off personal loans, according to court documents unsealed this week. Anthony Todt was being investigated for submitting fraudulent claims for physical therapy by the FBI and agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to an affidavit and criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Connecticut. According to agents, the allegations involved Todt and his Colchester, Connecticut-base clinics submitting claims to Medicaid and private insurers for physical therapy services that weren't given to patients.
France to deploy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support Middle East operations
France will deploy the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its battle group from January to April to support French military operations in Middle East, Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday. "The aircraft carrier will support Chammal operations (in the Middle East) from January to April 2020 before deploying to the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea", Macron said at a New Year speech to the French military.
Marine Corps could use the Navy's new Naval Strike Missile for use as a shore battery
The Marine Corps could soon get the Navy's new Naval Strike Missile for use as a shore battery, according to the Navy's acquisitions chief. "Just yesterday [Jan. 14] we had the team in that has the Naval Strike Missile on LCS [littoral combat ships] working hand-in-hand with the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps does ground launchers, we do command and control," Assistant Navy Secretary James "Hondo" Geurts told reporters after his Jan. 15 speech at the annual Surface Navy symposium. "We'll make that immediately available to the Marine Corps."
The Best Compact Fitness Equipment Under $300
Egypt and Ethiopia reach deal on Nile 'mega dam' that brought threats of war
Egypt and Ethiopia have struck a preliminary deal to end a row over the construction of a giant dam on the Nile, potentially averting a war between two of Africa's biggest military powers. Following talks in Washington brokered by the US government, Egypt agreed in principle to drop its opposition to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam after receiving assurances that its water supply would not be threatened. The breakthrough follows years of recrimination, with both countries periodically resorting to threats of war ever since Ethiopia announced plans to build the dam in 2011. With 95 percent of its population living in the Nile Valley, Egypt has always been acutely sensitive about the flow of a river on which it has depended for its very existence since the dawn of civilisation 5,000 years ago. The world's longest river is the source of nine-tenths of Egypt's fresh water. Arguing that it was granted ultimate control of the Nile under safeguards implemented by Britain in 1929, Egypt says the Renaissance Dam — which will be the world seventh largest on completion — could cause vital downstream reservoirs to dry up. Ethiopia, in whose highlands the Blue Nile rises before meeting the White Nile in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, argues that the dam will transform the lives of its 110m people, providing many of them with electricity for the first time and allowing the country to industrialise. Hopes for a resolution to the crisis were raised last year after Ethiopia, which had previously resisted international mediation, agreed to US involvement after Egypt's president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, made a personal appeal to Donald Trump, his US counterpart. Mr Trump instructed the US treasury department to work with the World Bank to find a solution. Following talks in Washington, officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed to allow the dam, which has largely been completed, to be filled in stages every July and August, the Ethiopian rainy season, so long as the impact on downstream reservoirs is monitored. "The subsequent stages of filling will be done according to a mechanism to be agreed," the US treasury department said in a statement. A final deal could be signed at the end of the month, although analysts warn that differences between Egypt and Ethiopia remain, particularly over how long it should take to fill the dam's reservoir, which will be the size of Buckinghamshire. Sudan has sided with Ethiopia in the row, believing the dam will help regulate the flow of the Blue Nile and reduce downstream flooding.
'Hazardous' travel ahead: Weekend winter storm to wallop Midwest and Northeast with snow and ice
A winter storm will dump snow and ice across a wide swath of the northern USA on Friday and into the weekend.
US military training for Saudi students could resume soon
U.S. training for more than 800 Saudi Arabian military students could be restarted "in the coming days," the Pentagon said Thursday, nearly six weeks after a shooting by one Saudi trainee killed three sailors at a Florida base. The Pentagon had stopped all flight and field training for the approximately 850 Saudi students amid fears that others may have known about or been involved in the shooting at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Jonathan Hoffman, chief spokesman for the Defense Department, said officials probably will have an announcement soon about the training resumption.
Impeachment and a path to redemption for Trump
President Trump's most effective path forward, not only to prevail in the impeachment proceedings but to end this ordeal and create a strong position from which to govern, is to follow the Clinton model rather than the Nixon path.
Wealthy CEOs complain about feeling 'unsafe' because of homeless people in San Francisco
A major healthcare conference in San Francisco this week has sparked a debate about the California city's homeless crisis as wealthy executives and investors complain of feeling 'unsafe'.The city rakes in $51m (£39m) each year from the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference despite growing concerns about the city's homeless population among attendees of the healthcare industry's leading conference, according to Bloomberg News.
USC officials doubted Lori Loughlin's daughters were 'serious' athletes, according to newly released emails in the college admissions scandal
Federal prosecutors released dozens of emails and call logs between Rick Singer and parents accused of taking part in the college admissions scandal.
Is There a Hidden 'Super-Earth' Exoplanet Orbiting Our Closest Stellar Neighbor?
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Texas carries out first U.S. execution of 2020, putting man to death by lethal injection
Texas on Wednesday carried out the first execution of the year in the United States, putting to death by lethal injection a man convicted of killing his wife 15 years ago because she wanted a divorce. John Gardner, 64, was sentenced to death in 2006 for killing his fifth wife, who had left him after multiple incidents of physical violence and filed for divorce.
This Harvard-educated, NASA-qualified, Navy SEAL gives his kids this simple advice every day
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'Pence had to know': Vice president dragged into Trump impeachment scandal by indicted associate
A Soviet-born associate to Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has directly implicated Mike Pence in the Ukraine scandal, insisting the vice president was aware of demands for political investigations that sparked the president's impeachment.Lev Parnas, a key subject in the impeachment saga who has been accused of working with Mr Giuliani to remove the former US ambassador to Ukraine from her post, said Mr Pence "couldn't have not known" about the administration's demands in a new interview.
Germany's $6.7 billion frigate deal with Dutch shipbuilder Damen may be the last of its kind
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SF-CHRP believes that the struggle for protection and advancement of human rights in the Philippines is a struggle that is connected to the overall Philippine people's movement for national sovereignty and genuine democracy.
SF-CHRP educates, activates, and organizes Bay Area communities to promote the civil and political rights of the Filipino people, as well as support the human right struggles of all people.
RESEARCH & EDUCATION – SF-CHRP conducts research, discussions, and educational workshops on human rights, U.S. militarization and intervention in the Philippines and the socio-economic conditions of people in the Diaspora.
PHILIPPINES EXPOSURE PROGRAM – SF-CHRP facilitates community exchange and exposure wherein Filipinos and non-Filipinos in the Bay Area can see and learn firsthand the human rights situation in the Philippines. Individuals and groups who have limited knowledge of the conditions of Philippine society may also request to go on a basic reality tour.
HUMAN RIGHTS FACT-FINDING MISSIONS – SF-CHRP also facilitates writers, artists, legislators, lawyers, and faith-based individuals and groups to participate in-fact-finding missions to help document human rights violations going in the different villages and help educate the U.S. public and policymakers on human rights violations occurring in the Philippines.
ART, FILM, MUSIC & CULTURE – SF-CHRP brings together artists, filmmakers, and other cultural workers to create and develop art, film, and music to raise awareness about the human rights and socio-economic conditions of the Filipino people. Artists are also encouraged to donate their time, skills, and art to fundraise and generate material support to impoverished communities throughout the Philippines.
In addition to the aforementioned, SF-CHRP is equally committed to organizing and mobilizing the general public with campaigns to protect and advance human rights in the Philippines.


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USDA's new labeling for genetically modified foods goes into effect
Laura Reiley
• The Washington Post • January 1, 2022
A Peapod worker prepares items for packaging and delivery at one of its online distribution facilities in Lake Zurich, Ill., on June 19, 2012. Starting Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, food labels at grocery stores will follow new rules for classifying genetically modified items. (Tim Boyle/Bloomberg)
Starting Jan. 1, labels at the grocery store are about to get a makeover on foods that have been genetically modified.
The goal was to get rid of the patchwork of different labels for foods and ingredients that have been scientifically tinkered with, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the move also puts a greater burden on consumers to do their homework to understand what the labels mean, food advocates say.
Foods that previously were labeled as containing "genetically engineered" (GE) ingredients or "genetically modified organisms" (GMOs) will now be labeled as "bioengineered," or come with a phone number or QR code guiding consumers to more information online.
The changes are part of the USDA's new rules on controversial modified crops and ingredients. Previous labeling requirements were governed differently on a state-by-state basis. By providing a uniform, national standard for labeling bioengineered foods, "it avoids a patchwork of state labeling regulations," a USDA spokeswoman said in a statement.
The move is universally confounding food safety advocate groups. Eating bioengineered foods poses no risk to human health, according to the National Academy of Sciences and the Food and Drug Administration. However, watchdog organizations say the new rules contain too many loopholes for consumers who want to avoid these foods.
"The worst part of this law is the use of the term 'bioengineered' because that's not a term most consumers are familiar with," said Gregory Jaffe, director of the project on biotechnology for the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. He said this choice was in large measure because "GMO" had come to be perceived as pejorative.
Other advocacy groups such as the Center for Food Safety say the rules don't go far enough and will leave the majority of genetically modified foods unlabeled. And the new rules discriminate against the more than 100 million Americans who do not have access to smartphones or cell service, because companies will be allowed to rely on smartphone-based scannable QR codes to share information with consumers.
The new rule requires food manufacturers, importers and retailers to disclose information whether foods are bioengineered or use bioengineered ingredients, doing away with well-established terms like "genetically engineered" and "GMO" on labels. However, other kinds of official certifications like USDA Organic and NON-GMO Project Verified will be allowed.
Manufacturers of dietary supplements must also comply, but restaurants and other food service establishments do not have to abide by the new rules.
Food companies say the timing is terrible. Instituting this change in the middle of a pandemic and supply-chain crisis puts an undue burden on an industry already reeling, according to trade groups for food companies and manufacturers. Betsy Booren, a senior vice president for the trade group Consumer Brands Association, said that while the organization supports a uniform framework for the disclosure of modified foods, it has urged government officials to temporarily pause the new rules.
"We believe the government must take a 'do no harm' position right now that allows companies to focus on delivering essential products to consumers," she said.
USDA officials maintain that they designed the standard to balance the need to provide information to consumers with the interest in minimizing costs to companies, while adding that those costs could be passed on to consumers, according to a USDA spokesperson.
A senior research associate works with samples in a Calyxt lab. (Tim Gruber for The Washington Post)
Here's what consumers need to know about the new National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard:
What is a bioengineered food?
A "bioengineered" plant or animal has had a new gene inserted into it to give it a useful trait, like making it resistant to a pest or disease, or enhancing its nutritional value. "Contains bioengineered food ingredients" means that at least one ingredient in the food - the soy protein in a plant-based burger, for instance - contains DNA from a new gene.
At this time, only a handful of foods on the market are bioengineered, including some apples, canola, corn, eggplants, papayas, pineapples, potatoes and salmon. Most fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds and beans don't have a genetically modified version.
What will the disclosure look like on food packages?
Food products will either have a round green label that says "bioengineered" or "derived from bioengineering," or a label that will list a phone number to call or text for more information, or a QR code that takes you to an online disclosure.
If a food package doesn't have a QR code or "BE" food label, is it free from genetically modified ingredients?
Not necessarily, and here's where the loopholes come in, food advocates say. Under the new rule, a food does not contain genetic material if the genetic material is not "detectable." If one or more of a food's ingredients comes from a modified plant but the ingredients themselves contain no DNA from that plant, the label may carry a "derived from bioengineering" disclosure. But that's voluntary. So, starches, oils and sweeteners made from bioengineered plants, but are so highly processed that no DNA remains, may not be labeled.
And the USDA has built in some wiggle room, setting a threshold at 5% for the "unintended" presence of genetically engineered ingredients, so highly processed foods made from genetically engineered crops - like sodas, candies and cooking oils - would be exempt from the rules, if they fit under that 5% threshold. The European Union's standard is about five times lower, at 0.9%.
"Consumers are left not knowing if it's not present or if a food company just chose not to disclose," said Peter Lurie, president of Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Another loophole, Lurie said, is that the new disclosure rules don't cover products that list meat, poultry or eggs as their first ingredient or their second ingredient after water, stock or broth. This means many prepared foods in the freezer aisle - meat lasagna or chicken burritos - may contain modified ingredients without disclosure.
Is an animal product considered a bioengineered food if the animal ate bioengineered feed?
No. For instance, the milk from a cow that ate bioengineered alfalfa is not considered a bioengineered food.
How do food companies validate their claims about ingredients?
There are three ways for a company to demonstrate to the USDA that modified genetic materials aren't in their foods. Companies can keep records that show the food comes from a non-bioengineered crop or source; they can keep records verifying the food has been subjected to testing that genetic modification wasn't detected; or they can keep testing records that confirm the absence of modified genetic material.
How will the new rule be enforced?
The USDA will respond to complaints. There will be no in-store spot checks of food products. Anybody who suspects a violation may have occurred can file a written complaint with the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service website.
"The already overburdened consumer is going to have to spend four times as much time in the supermarket reading labels," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety. "And now they'll have to be USDA citizen investigators to make sure this law has some consequences."


The Data Duplication Village is holding talks during DEF CON 27 at Ballys in Las Vegas, NV on Friday, August 9th and Saturday, August 10th (yes, two days only).
The Data Duplication Village's goal is to help the information security community by providing helpful information through duplication of large amounts of data including all the past hacking related convention material that can be found, rainbow tables, and more. Now we are expanding our goals by providing direct talks to further provide helpful information for storage related technology.


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Back to School Child Support
Bulletin 23
Weeks before the opening of the new school year, many single mothers lined up at the Magistrate's Court Complex in The Bahamas to apply for child support from their child's fathers, for assistance. It is very unfortunate, that fathers are unable or unwilling to make an effort to financially maintain their children. Some mothers are often left with the burden of taking care of and doing everything for their child(ren) in our struggling economy today. At the same time some of these mothers expect to receive a large amount for maintenance, tuition for a private school, other school expenses and medical expenses. The outcome of many matters like these are often disappointing for single mothers when they discover that they will not even get half of what they are seeking.
In order for a Magistrate to make an Order for maintenance he/she must consider both parties' financial position. Both parties are normally required to prepare an Affidavit of Means, which outlines their income, assets, and expenses for themselves and for their child(ren). If the Affidavit shows that the mother is struggling to make ends meet and the father is also faced with financial hardship, he may only be ordered to pay a minimum of $50.00 per week unless he is able to pay more. If a mother is unable to support her child(ren) and the father earns more and has sufficient left over after his expenses, he may be ordered to pay more than $50.00 per week. In addition to maintenance, fathers may also be ordered to pay half or all of the medical expenses and also half or all of the educational expenses (this does not include tuition).
With regards to fathers paying tuition for a private school, a mother cannot compel her child's father to pay the tuition at a private school especially if he cannot afford to pay same. In the case of K v O [2008] 3BHSJ No. 5, Hall CJ sums this issue up succinctly, when he said
"When considering the reasonable maintenance of children, the court can never assume the correctitude of the view common in this society that schooling at a private, fee-paying school is superior to that offered by publicly funded institutions. It would be impossible for the court, the judicial arm of state authority, to presume the inadequacy of the educational system which the state, in another manifestation, sustains from the taxes which support other institutions of state, including the courts. The adequacy, or otherwise, of a particular school – public or private – would have to be established by evidence in any case in which the issue became relevant. Moreover, experience does not support the popular fallacy of the inherent superiority of fee-paying schools. Accordingly, the court cannot compel a parent to contribute to the payment of school fees in the absence of evidence that such a parent can afford to do so and that it is unreasonable for him not to contribute having regard to the needs of the children, notwithstanding the necessity to re-order priorities following the break down of the marriage. More so, when the custodial parent, as does K in this case, include items such as "piano lessons" and "vacation", in calculating the maintenance needs of the children, the court would regard these as extraordinary expenses, luxuries, which, if the parent is able to afford them, so be it, but to which the other parent should not be compelled to contribute."
The financial positions of both parties must be considered and more importantly the needs of the child must also be taken into account. Depending on the resources of both parties the father may be or not be ordered to pay tuition at a private school based on his situation.
I believe that if both parents set GOALS for themselves and their child(ren), learn to COMMUNICATE with each other and work TOGETHER, they would avoid appearing before the Courts and save money from having to pay legal fees.
When parents are unable to communicate with each other, which is often shown in Court, the Magistrate will more than likely make an Order for both parties to attend parenting counseling. Mothers and fathers drag themselves and their child(ren) through so much unnecessary and unwanted drama. Why would anyone want their child(ren) to experience these situations? Parents should FORGIVE one another, strive to be better examples for their child(ren) if they are not already and of course LOVE their child(ren). It is almost 2016, and parents ought to be ashamed of themselves if they find themselves involved in these types of situations. Children of today are our future, they are our future leaders, doctors, lawyers, contractors, business owners and may be parents themselves one day and, if parents are not prepared to work together they may become our future criminals. So we must set goals, communicate and work together, to build stronger communities and definitely build a stronger Bahamas.
Remember Henry Ford's quote, which states, "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success."
The information stated above is not intended to be construed as legal advice in anyway. Should you require specific guidance regarding same, you are advised to obtain legal advice.
Mikia S. Cooper
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The "willingness to recommend question" is simple: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this company's product or service to a friend or a colleague?" The scores are used to calculate a company's NPS.
The reason why this question is so powerful is because it taps into 2 social psychology concepts: consistency and reputation. Consistency, as described by Robert Cialdini in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, means that people tend to act consistently with what they publicly declare. So a fan of your company — by filling out a survey and giving a 10 on the NPS question — is more likely to do business with your company than a fan who was not surveyed at all.
The NPS question is also asking the respondent to put their reputation on the line. Recommending a product or service, especially in the B2B world, may affect a career. Since reputations are fragile things, the willingness to recommend carries more weight than anonymous testimonies. Imagine getting a recommendation for a surgeon who removed a friend's appendix versus a comment on a doctor-rating website; you get the idea.
Build a cross-functional team around surveying and acting on NPS. As Reichheld points out, NPS should not be looked at as market research, but rather as a management tool. An organizational structure to react and adjust strategies based on NPS will help a company grow.
Don't only look at how the Customer Experience affects NPS; look at the Worker Experience as well. We call this connection between the Customer Experience and Worker Experience the Virtuous Cycle.
Consider a Voice of the Customer (VoC) solution. A VoC solution like Medallia can help you understand customer sentiment and act on issues before you lose a customer. Medallia provides great reading on NPS to help get you started.


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SGS GRITS Hall of Fame
Home / GRITS / Dr. Victor W. Marshall
Dr. Victor W. Marshall
GRITS Hall of Fame Member
2015 Inductee
Dr. Victor Marshall's education and career reflects his important contributions to Canada and the United States. He received his B.A. from the University of Calgary and his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. He began his academic career at McMaster University in the Department of Sociology. As an associate professor, he made a disciplinary jump to join the now Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. There he directed the Institute for Human Development, Life Course and Aging and Canadian Aging Research Network (CARNET). In 1999 he moved to North Carolina to direct the University of North Carolina Institute on Aging. He had dual appointments as full professor in Sociology and adjunct professor at UNC Gillings School of public health. As Director of the UNC Institute on Aging for more than 10 years he oversaw the very successful NC Conference on Aging during his tenure there.
His research has focused on structural changes in the nature of work and their consequences for workers over the life course; work and retirement of Canadian Forces veterans; international comparisons of workforce aging in the Information Technology sector, and the global impact of workforce aging on a variety of social and health outcomes. He has an extensive publication record in areas of social theory particularly focused in studies of aging and the life course. He has held a number of executive positions in the field of aging, including Vice-President of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, Executive Committee of the International Association on Gerontology, leadership positions with the Gerontological Society of America and service to American Sociological Association. He was editor of the Canadian Journal on Aging and served on numerous editorial boards including Social Forces, Journal of Gerontology, Social Sciences and Journal of Aging and Health. He chaired the Gerontological Advisory Council for Veterans Affairs Canada for 13 years and continues in an advisory capacity. He also served on the International Advisory Committee of the LIVES project on Vulnerability and the Life Course, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He has received numerous awards, Canadian and American for his contributions to gerontology.
He has been a significant contributor to the Southern Gerontological Society (SGS) in leadership positions - board member, chair of nominations, and program chair. He has served as long-time chair of its publications committee.
Dr. Marshall is being recognized for his many contributions: 1) to the field of aging and society; 2) his dedication to the development of future gerontologists through nurturing students and young scholars; and 3) continued commitment and past service to the Southern Gerontological Society (SGS) having served in various committee and leadership positions. SGS has been very fortunate to be a recipient of his many talents.


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Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in Construction Requires a Two-Pronged Approach
Originally published December 14, 2021 in Construction Executive. By Lauren Lazar | Wednesday, December 8, 2021 When a construction worker steps onto a jobsite, the...
Dr. Mohannad Kusti Wins Inaugural Medical Director Leadership Award from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
Pivot Onsite Innovations Medical Director Mohannad Kusti, M.D., M.P.H., received the inaugural 2021 Medical Director Leadership Award from...
Pivot Onsite Innovations Partners with Talkspace to Expand Availability of Mental Health Services
The new partnership aims to support overall health and wellbeing with increased access to virtual services for client employees and...
Pivot Onsite Innovations Selected to Provide Certified Strength and Conditioning Coaching to the U.S. Army in Collaboration with Team GAP
Partnership Will Support the U.S. Army's New H2F Training Initiative Mount Laurel, N.J., August 23, 2021 -- Pivot...
Summer, Skin Safety and Sun: How to Protect Workers with High Exposure to the Elements
Originally published on August 18, 2021 in Occupational Health & Safety. Written by Lauren Lazar Outdoor work environments bring on unique challenges...
Five Ways To Foster A Holistic Approach To Wellness & Injury Prevention
Originally published on May 28, 2021 in Construction Executive. Written by Lawrence J. Goren & Paul Goren Pivot Construction work accounts for...
Incorporating COVID-19 Protections into Ongoing Workplace Safety Programs
Originally Published on December 1, 2020 in Occupational Health & Safety By Mohannad Kusti The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for...
Welcoming Employees Back Safely Amid COVID-19
Originally Published on October 30, 2020 in Hotel Business By Lawrence J. Goren, MD Perhaps more than any other economic sector, the...
Pivot Onsite Innovations Welcomes Dr. Mohannad Kusti As Newest Medical Director
Dr. Kusti brings more than 10 years of occupational medicine expertise to new role Mount Laurel, N.J., August 11, 2020 -- Pivot...
Dr. Lawrence Goren M.D. named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2017
Onsite Innovations Founder Wins 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Dr. Lawrence Goren, M.D., joins prestigious list of groundbreaking entrepreneurs...
When Work Works Award 2017
We are very proud to share that Onsite Innovations has been selected as one of 2017's winners for the Society...
EY announces finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2017 in Greater Philadelphia
We're proud to announce that our Founder and CEO, Dr. Goren, has been selected as a finalist for EY...


CEO John Bowen founded CEG Worldwide in 2000, with the goal of bringing to bear the lessons he had learned during his career for the benefit of financial advisors and the institutions that work with advisors. His 26 years as a financial advisor and investment firm CEO had taught Bowen that many advisors lacked the high-quality empirical data and pragmatic business experience necessary to build hugely successful businesses. Bowen founded CEG Worldwide to fill that void, with the belief that providing advisors and institutions with research about the best practices of top elite advisors—and the coaching to use these practices effectively—would help them achieve new levels of success.
CEG Worldwide represents the culmination of Bowen's unique financial services industry experience. That experience encompasses a career as a financial advisor, including eight years as CEO of Reinhardt Werba Bowen Advisory Services, where he helped manage more than $1.6 billion in assets. Bowen and his partners sold that company and subsequently became CEO of Assante Capital Management. He served as a member of Assante's senior team as the firm more than tripled assets under management to more than $25 billion. Through these experiences, Bowen learned firsthand the best practices necessary to achieve substantial success. He also learned that the vast majority of advisors and institutions lacked this roadmap to build a simple and elegant practice that makes them indispensable to the right affluent clients while building a great quality of life—so he founded CEG Worldwide in 2000 to provide other financial advisors and institutions the lessons CEG Worldwide's ongoing research and his experience had taught him.
Bowen is widely recognized as a leader in the financial services industry. He writes a highly acclaimed monthly column for the leading U.S. financial services trade journal, Financial Planning. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Breaking Through: Building a World-Class Wealth Management Business, The Prudent Investor's Guide to Beating Wall Street at Its Own Game and Creating Equity: How to Build a Hugely Successful Asset Management Business.


The second competition of the UCI downhill mountain bike World Cup was held at Fort William, Scotland, with the magnificent Ben Nevis towering over proceedings in the back ground. The course is long, fast and technical with plenty of natural features providing obstacles for the riders to navigate. Definitely not for the faint hearted!
Over the course of the week the track, particularly the wooded section, claimed many - not helped by the furious downpours that came frequently turning that section of the track into a bog with sharp tree roots hidden just out of sight waiting to throw riders off their bikes.
This is an important venue for the British riders as it's the only competition on the world circuit to be held in the UK. It gives the public a fantastic opportunity to meet and support the riders. There was a steady flow of fans at the pits all day every day of the competition with happy faces as tee shirts, hats & posters were individually signed, photos taken and general banter had.
In between that there were TV crews and other media wanting interviews and photoshoots. The pressure is high for the riders to find the balance between focusing on the competition itself and being available for the public and media.
Despite sustaining a dislocated hip a few weeks previously on the course, Gee attended to offer his support to the team and kept everyone entertained with his good humour.
My main job as physiotherapist travelling with the team is to provide soft tissue and manual therapy, strapping, acute & existing injury management. I try to treat the more chronic issues in the first 2 days before the riders start their practice runs. Once the riding is underway I focus on the immediate issues such as forearm muscle pain (muscle pump), acute sprains, strains, cuts, grazes, fatigue and stress. I never know what state the riders will come back in so I try to have my area organised to be able to deal with things as they happen. Space and resources are limited so some imagination is often required!
Most of the time things go well, but unfortunately bigger injuries occur as we saw with Rachel who dislocated a shoulder on the final day preventing her racing in the final.
Whilst I am predominantly attending as therapist for the riders, I also treat any crew member that needs help – mechanics, chef, media and anyone else associated with the team.
Days are long and always busy. When not treating, I take my physio hat off and become self proclaimed "camp mum". Duties include washing up, serving food/hot drinks, making sure riders have water, electrolytes, smoothies/juice etc, cleaning the truck out, running errands – whatever is needed to keep things rolling smoothly.
Once the riding is over we return to the house where I set up clinic again and often treat the team until past 10pm.


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Q: Безопасно ли приведение типа Set к List? Компилятор не жалуется абсолютно, но все же интересно.

A: Нет, они в разных ветвях наследования от Collection ни одна стандартная реализация List не наследует Set. И если вы используете одну из этих реализаций в рантайме вы получите ClasslCastException. Только в случае, если ваша коллекция реализует оба этих интерфейса - приведение типа сработает.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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package stsc.news.feedzilla.export.csv;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.IOException;

import org.junit.Test;

public class FeedzillaToCsvExporterTest {

	@Test
	public void testFeedzillaToCsvExporter() throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
		new File("./output.txt").delete();
		new FeedzillaToCsvExporter(new FeedzillaToCsvSettings(new String[] { "-of=./output.txt", "-f=../test_data/feed_data/" }));
		new File("./output.txt").delete();
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Are You One of the 87% of PH Millennial Professionals Experiencing a Quarter-Life Crisis?
Around 87 percent of Filipino working professionals aged from 25 to 33 years old are currently experiencing a "quarter-life crisis," according to a survey commissioned by professional networking website LinkedIn.
LinkedIn defines quarter-life crisis as "a period in one's mid 20s to early 30s marked by feelings of doubt and insecurity which can lead to anxiety or depression." Taken on a global scale, the networking platform found that three out of four 25-to-33-year-olds experience the psychological phenomenon.
Among young Filipino working professionals, LinkedIn found that a majority of them attribute their quarter-life crises to financial insecurity. "More than 60 percent find their quarter-life crisis marked by worries that they are not earning enough," wrote LinkedIn in a press release issued April 23.
As well, the survey found that respondents often linked their quarter-life crises to fear and uncertainty about their careers. Around 54 percent of respondents said that they felt unsure about their career prospects, while 53 percent mentioned that they were frustrated with the career options they currently have.
LinkedIn added that 50 percent of the respondents said that they have a "dream job" in mind, but many of them attribute their quarter-life crises to their uncertainty in how to reach that goal. This is also fueled by their opinions of their current jobs, as 49 percent feel "stuck" in their present professions while 46 percent feel that they don't get enough support from their job.
However, LinkedIn revealed that many of these young Filipino working professionals are looking for advice to help overcome these worries, with 71 percent seeking advice on the next steps of their careers and 61 percent looking for specific career mentors. But these are not without issues, as most respondents reported that they do not know where to find these mentors or where to seek professional advice.
To that end, LinkedIn is rolling out Career Advice, a new feature which allows users to connect more easily with other professionals in the platform depending on the type of advice they're looking for. Career Advice will match advice seekers and advice givers based on both users' profiles and preferences.


Our first club ride will be at Camp Hale just off of Hwy24 between Red Cliff and Leadville. We plan to depart at 10:00am so show up early to get ready. This ride traverses Ptarmigan Pass and connects to Vail Pass. We plan to ride into Red Cliff for lunch at Mango's at 1:00pm. Those not riding are welcome to join us at Mango's for lunch.
This is a good ride for all levels as we will be on groomed trails as well as intermediate and expert terrain. This is a great opportunity to meet other club members, learn new terrain and ride some great areas.
As with any ride, make sure you have your beacon, shovel, probe and warm gear.


text:
Q: Powershell property select adding whitespace and header I am trying to write a script to pull all e-mail addresses but I am finding that the output of my first get command is adding alot of white space to the result text file
Get-AdUser -Filter * -Properties * | Select EmailAddress | Out-File "C:\T2\EMailAddresses.txt"

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong here?

A: You are seeing whitespace because not every AD account has a value assigned to that property in your environment so it appears as a blank line, I get the same thing upon a quick test.
This should help.
$Emails = Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties EmailAddress
$Emails | select EmailAddress | Where {$_.EmailAddress -ne $null} | Out-File "C:\T2\EMailAddresses.txt"

A: td;dr
The following writes all email addresses to the target file, ignoring AD users that don't have one:
([string[]] (Get-AdUser -Filter * -Properties EmailAddress).EmailAddress) -ne '' |
  Set-Content C:\T2\EMailAddresses.txt

By writing just the - non-empty - .EmailAddress property values to the file, you're avoiding the problems that stem from saving for-display formatted object representations, which is what your attempt does (see below).
Note that -ne '' acts as a filter here, because its LHS operand is an array; that is, the result of the operation is the sub-array of those LHS elements that aren't the empty string ('').

As for what you tried:
By using Out-File in combination with objects subject to PowerShell's output formatting system, you're saving a for-display representation of your objects to a file, which, in the case at hand includes a table header, a leading and a trailing blank line and - in Windows PowerShell (but no longer in PowerShell (Core) 7+) - right-space-padding to the full console-line width of each line.

*

*Even though you're only asking for one property - EmailAddress - Select-Object outputs not just that property's value for each input object, but a [pscustomobject] instance with an .EmailAddress property, and the resulting objects are implicitly formatted with Format-Table.

*To get just the EmailAddress property values, use Select-Object -ExpandProperty EmailAddress. The resulting string values are not subject to formatting, so your command would work as intended except that it would still include $null values from those AD users who happen not to have a value stored in their .EmailAddress property.

*

*While it often won't matter, for string input it's slightly faster to use Set-Content than Out-File / >; note that in Windows PowerShell you'll end up with different character encodings by default (ANSI vs. UTF-16 LE a.k.a "Unicode") - use the -Encoding parameter as needed; PowerShell Core 7+ fortunately now consistently defaults to BOM-less UTF-8.

*The - faster, but more potentially memory-intensive - alternative to using Select-Object -ExpandProperty EmailAddress for extracting the EmailAddress property values is to use member-access enumeration ((...).EmailAddress, as shown above).


text:
Preserving our heritage, one story at a time.
MILLINOCKET HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Holiday Memories
Great Northern Paper Company Timeline
Millinocket History Timeline
Vintage/Rare Books
Millinocket Cemetery
Millinocket Stories
Men's Clothing, c1920's
Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!
By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Historical Society Museum
When the well-dressed Millinocket man went shopping for clothing in the 1920's, he went to the H.A.M. Rush store, G.B. Moran's store or Dan Simpson's place of business. These places furnished ready-made or tailor-clothing for the well-dressed man (and boys).
The Rush store advertised "the home of Taylor Made to Order clothes. The man who is keen on being well-dressed buys Taylor clothes." Rush also provided "furnishings" such as shirts, neckties, hosiery and underwear. Rush could also supply the gentlemen with a "nobby" hat and a chance to select shoes from the store's fine stock. This store opened in 1901 and was in business for many years.
Another store used this… "Your Clothier for the past 21 years and still solicitating your trade is G. B. Moran. A fine store, well-stocked where he carries men's and boys clothing as well as furnishings of every description." Moran stocked Hart, Schaffner & Marx, a popular clothing line. "The well-dressed man knows that in buying here he will get superiority of goods and workmanship." In addition to men's clothing, Moran advertised that their trunk department carried "classy luggage and compact bags for week-end trips and larger ones for longer trips." Moran's business was located at 216 Penobscot Avenue, began 1902 and was in business for many years.
If a Millinocket man wanted a made-to order suit, he could visit the Dan Simpson. Many "relied on Mr. Simpson's judgement of materials when ordering a made to measure suit. Experience has proven that when Mr. Simpson recommends a certain cloth, the purchaser, if he follows Simpson's advice is always well pleased with the selection." Simpson also carried Ed E. Strauss & Co. Inc. of Chicago apparel. Repairing, pressing and dyeing services were available at Simpson's business also. He had a regular list of patrons who relied on him to keep their clothes in "immaculate" condition.
The above is from a special supplement published in The Old Town Enterprise newspaper, 1924. Yearbook ads for 1921-22 list other businesses where the well-dressed Millinocket men and boys could be outfitted. J.A. Gonya & Sons advertised "sports suits for young men. The Store for Service." J. Walker was a "merchant tailor." His business was in the Doctor's Block (corner by light). Harry V. Zango's ad states "up-to-date tailor" and "we buy and sell slightly used clothing." An additional ad in the yearbooks is for N. Liss with a "special line of young men's spring suits."
There was obviously no need for any man or young man to be poorly attired when he was out and about town! Equally well-attired were the women and girls of Millinocket. That story will be told in a later column!
Diaries and Letters
The Great Northern Hotel
Milliners, Dressmakers & Seamstresses
Visit us at 80 Central Street
(year round weather permitting)
12 noon to 3 PM
Please contact our curator for appointments and group visits.
Millinocket, Maine 04462
Museum -
MillinocketHistSoc@gmail.com
Curator - Trudy Wyman:
Our Mission: Since it was founded in 1979, the Historical Society's mission has been to preserve, maintain, and display the chronicles, culture, and gathered past of those that came before us.
© 2021 The Millinocket Historical Society


Airfield maintenance crews at Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine had one less item on their to-do list last fall: They didn't have to order any aircraft deicing fluid for the upcoming winter. It was a bold change for the Atlantic coast airport, which receives an average of 62 inches of snow annually and is no stranger to blistery nor'easters.
The airport's product is coming from its own on-site plant, which manufactures aircraft-grade deicing fluid using virgin quality propylene glycol distilled on-site from effluent collected during 2016/17 winter deicing operations. Moreover, the plant has created two new revenue streams for PWM. It sells the deicing fluid it produces, and it collects fees from other airports for accepting their deicing effluent.
Facility Size: 7,000 sq. ft.
As of December 2017, the facility had sold aircraft deicer to White Plains Airport in Westchester County, NY, and Logan International in Boston. In addition, the plant produces and sells FlightBloo, an antifreeze used in aircraft lavatories, which is also manufactured using recycled glycols.
The airport owns the recycling/processing facility and associated storage tanks; Inland Technologies International owns the processing and blending equipment inside the facility. Plant operators are employees of Inland, and the company owns the proprietary processes it uses at PWM. The airport and Inland partner to sell the plant's final product. "It is structured that way so we both participate in the upside financial benefits of the sale," explains Bradbury.
The collection and recycling process has been a long time coming—starting about a decade ago, with PWM's capital improvement plan. At the time, management was talking with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection about changing how the airport disposed of runoff from deicing operations.
"Even though it was a small amount, we were essentially discharging effluent [containing propylene glycol] into the ocean via the Fore River," Bradbury explains. Although propylene glycol is not toxic, it can kill fish and other aquatic life because it depletes oxygen as it breaks down in water.
Being essentially landlocked on 769 acres, PWM did not have space available to construct aeration ponds or other commonly used options for treating deicing effluent. "We had to go in a different direction," says Bradbury. The idea to pursue full capture and recycling was the result of research by airport staff and Stantec, PWM's engineering consultant.
The airport eased into the venture by contracting Inland to develop and operate a small on-site glycol recycling facility. Operations began in 2010, with a collection system that captured the airport's deicing effluent and equipment that distilled the fluid to 50% propylene glycol concentration and produced a raw-grade glycol product. Clean water left over from the process was discharged to the local wastewater treatment plant, explains Adam Thurlow, Inland's plant operation manager. The facility even produced a small amount of revenue by collecting fluid containing propylene glycol from area businesses that use it for non-aviation purposes.
One year later, Inland added a distillation plant for an in-depth trial. The goal was to determine the feasibility of creating a high-grade propylene glycol product that could be sold to area businesses for use in heating/cooling units and to winterize recreational vehicles.
Soon, the facility began receiving and processing glycol-impacted stormwater from neighboring airports. The plant charged a small fee to further offset the operational costs paid by the city of Portland, which owns and operates the airport.
By 2015, it was clear that the trial was working and full-scale operation made sense, explains Thurlow. By late 2016, the currently used 7,000-square-foot facility was commissioned. It combined existing 166,667-gallon underground tank and 333,333-gallon underground tanks with new aboveground storage on a two-acre site. These days, the facility has 60,000 gallons of Type I deicing fluid available at all times and can blend 10,000 gallons every five hours.
Each year, crews at PWM spray approximately 100,000 gallons of aircraft de-icer, which contains about 50,000 gallons of concentrated Type I fluid, notes Thurlow.
Effluent at PWM is collected in two ways: a drainage system on the deicing pad funnels it into underground tanks, and a mobile recovery vehicle vacuums it into onboard tanks.
As the effluent is drained off the tarmac, plant operators use a valve to direct high or low concentrations of mixed deicing fluid effluent to one of the two underground tanks. This saves time and resources during subsequent processing in the lower concentration tank.
The Glyvac, a patented recovery vehicle the airport purchased from Inland last year, shears visible effluent off apron surfaces using air speeds of nearly 200 mph. It also scrubs away trace amounts of glycol with a wash bar.
Since 2010, Inland has recycled about 6.5 million gallons of effluent at PWM, reclaiming 1 million gallons of pure glycol. Nearly half (47%) of the fluid it processes has come from other airports in the region—Bradley International in Windsor Locks, CT; Dulles International, Reagan National and Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.; New York's LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey.
While the economics of the process are positive, Thurlow notes that Inland has not lost sight of its original mission. Prior to 2010, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) readings were very high in the stormwater surrounding the airport. Since Inland began operating, levels have stayed below 300 mg/L.
Between the revenue it earns from accepting outside effluent and selling recycled product, PWM expects to save 18% in the 2017/18 winter. "Business nirvana would be 100 percent; we're not there yet," quips Bradbury. "If we get to 50%, 60%, 70% offset, we're getting pretty close. But even an aeration pond isn't free.


At Architectural Street Furnishings we believe that the physical environment plays an important role in enhancing people's experiences and ultimately their quality of life. With this in mind ASF have developed ranges of street furniture designed to complement both urban architecture and rural beauty.
Building on over 150 years combined experience of casting, ASF are manufacturers of high quality street furniture in cast iron, ductile iron, steel, stainless steel, aluminium, bronze, granite and timber. From traditional hand castings, to the use of 21st Century materials creating modern and dynamic spaces, ASF Street Furniture captures and reflects the environment it inhabits.
ASF's dedicated manufacturing process allows us to offer bespoke solutions and personalised designs that meet our customer's specific needs. ASF can either adapt standard range items or develop completely new products if required.
We work closely with specifiers, designers and customers to develop co-ordinated street furniture ranges that enhance the physical environment. Click below to view examples of Case Studies of some of our projects.
At ASF we would like to help our customers in any way we can. With this in mind we have provided downloadable PDF's to assist in specification and site design. Please select from the drag down list for a shortcut to our data sheets.
At ASF we believe in good communication and endeavour to give our customers an excellent personal service at all times. Please feel free to contact us by mail, email or telephone to discuss your street furniture needs.
ASF specialise in the manufacture of high quality street furniture in Cast Iron, Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminium and Granite. Our ranges of cast iron bollards, steel, stainless steel and Recycled Plastic Bollards are all made to order and to customer specifications. We can adapt all these to be DDA compliant bollards as well as strengthening them for security and ram raid protection, or make them into fold down bollards, removable bollards or telescopic bollards. ASF can also add lighting units to make many of our bollards illuminated.
Please feel free to contact ASF if you have any questions regarding these services.
ASF is part of a group of engineering companies primarily based around casting products in grey and ductile iron. WB White Foundry, our largest sister company specialises in manufacturing cast iron products in engineering grade 250 cast iron, allowing ASF to offer high quality, UK manufactured, 100% recycled cast iron street furniture and architectural metalwork.
Our other foundry sister company SG Castings specialises in casting products in all grades of ductile iron. Also based in the UK and manufacturing from recycled materials, SG Castings allows ASF to offer street furniture products with extremely high levels of impact resistance, to our knowledge to a much higher grade than any other street furniture products available.


We are often asked at HouseSit Match what are the chances of being selected as house sitters if your house sitting over 50, some even declare they are trying a grey gap year! We always say the chances of securing a house sit are very good indeed, this is true. Not only is the trend for travelling by house sitting growing around the world. The popularity of travel among 50+ professionals wanting to see the world while fit and healthy, is also growing significantly. So the Grey Gap Year is definitely becoming a reality people are planning for, and is growing markedly in popularity. What is it and why is this gaining popularity now?
What is a grey gap year?
The first appearance of the notion online was in the title a book written by Anne Sanders and published 2009. 'Gap year for adults,' tells of a woman who takes time out to travel to France for adventure. Her children grown she leaves her husband temporarily to try something new. She was over 50! In 2010 P&O the cruise firm published research that showed a 300% increase in over 50s taking a year out to travel, whether they were retired or not. 'Grey gap years' or temporarily taking time out of your professional and personal life in middle age became a 'thing'.
Why are so many people trying house sitting over 50 as part of a grey gap year?
There are many reasons why housesitting appeals to the over 50s. Perhaps there is a desire to do more and to do it in an affordable fashion while on a fixed budget? Housesitting provides that opportunity, to exchange your experience in home and pet care for free accommodation. It's a fair deal and a rewarding one. Many people house sitting over fifty also want more from their travel experiences.
A book published in 2016 by Professors Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott entitled 'The 100 year life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity' recently discussed the notion of the 100 Year Life as an expected time frame for many people born within this decade.
This brings into focus the prospect many people reflect on today of an extended life expectancy and a long working career that must flex and vary if we are to enjoy fruitful and productive working lives. It is no surprise then that so many people after a long professional life of corporate travel can create a desire for authentic travel experiences outside of the big chain hotel groups and hostels.
Whatever age we are, the thought of travelling in an authentic way appeals to many people. Living like a local and getting close to the reality of the new location. Seeing the very best of what the place we are visiting has to offer, has a common a draw. House sitting means you need to remain local to your assigned property and pets, and in that need to stay in the locale comes a great advantage in being able to spend time learning about and absorbing the local area, enjoying its features.
A large number of our house sitters over 50 are empty-nesters and love the sense of freedom that travelling on whim and following the next house sit assignment gives them. On HouseSitMatch.com we have an increasing number of house sitters who find great joy in being led in their journey by their next assignment.
Some people house sitting over 50 like that sense of discovery and serendipity after years of professional work regulated by calendars and corporate schedules. The house sitter life can be quite liberating. One week caring for family pets in a comfortable home, the next managing a vegetable garden to ensure the crop is harvested while the owners are away. It can be a rich a varied life as a house sitter.
As many of us wrestle with retirement plan calculators, state pension calculators and equity release programmes considering our next move, some may already be mortgage free and ready to try out different forms of retirement travel ahead of our planned retirement age.
We may be lucky enough to plan a big trip to the other side of the world to celebrate a retirement in the family, enjoying a little luxury and a taste of a very different life while we are away. But will holidays like that be sustainable for many years given that our life expectancy has significantly increased in recent years?
Why house sitting over 50 now?
Life expectancy is growing with more people living longer, in 2011 women achieved an average life expectancy of 82.8 years in the UK and men to 79 years both are way beyond the current retirement age of 65 years. When the UK tables were first begun, the life expectancy for women was 42.2 years and for men 40.2 years. The advances and benefits in widely available healthcare and dramatically improved living conditions are reflected in our advances in quality of life and longevity.
So many of us can expect to live longer and healthier lives than our ancestors or our parents and grandparents. Therefore, what should we do with our time? Indeed, what do we want to do for the years ahead of us. The grey gap year suddenly seems like a pretty good idea. It gives you the opportunity to explore travel opportunities by offering your experience and services in exchange for accommodation. So house sitting can help it means you can go further and travel for longer on a fixed budget.
In the last few decades the increasing traction gained by companies operating in the sharing economy has increased the possibilities for travel around the world, offering affordable travel options and collaborative experiences that enable us to choose from a wide range of authentic travel experiences. Peer to peer collaboration has been enabled and powered by the internet, broadband speeds and access to computers. With entrepreneurs quick to capitalise on these innovations companies like AirBnB offering accommodation at B&B prices the world over, Liftshare offering collaborative cost based travel solutions, and house sitting platforms like Housesit Match offering free accommodation the world over there has never been a better time to take a grey gap year.
What do we advise about choosing to take a 'grey gap year' at HouseSitMatch?
Go for it! However, prepare as with any long term plan make sure you do your research. In terms of what you might need, where you want to go and how you can get there on budget. Take out travel insurance, with good health cover.
Sign up for a house sitting platform like HouseSitMatch.com – they are not expensive and give you options for free accommodation in a comfortable home in exchange for house-sitting and pet-sitting.
So why not go house sitting over 50. Take time out and give it a go!