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WORLD CONFERENCE ON RELIGIONS, CREEDS AND VALUES SYSTEMS. JOINING FORCES TO ENHANCE EQUAL CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS
Gaëlle2021-01-12T16:54:29+01:002018, juin 25th|COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS AND WORLD CONFERENCES, EVENTS, OUR EVENTS|
On 25 June 2018, a World Conference entitled "Religions, Creeds and Value-Systems: Joining Forces to Enhance Equal Citizenship Rights" was held, by the Geneva Centre, at the United Nations Office at Geneva, under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This international conference was attended by over 250 participants including a large number of Permanent Missions accredited to UNOG and other international organizations. The meeting was addressed by more than 35 world-renowned religious, political and lay leaders from the major regions of the world.
The decision to organize the World Conference was taken at a time when the great convergence between religions, creeds and value systems was being forsaken by corrupt ideologies intent, through ignorance or prejudice, on accrediting the view that diversity leads to irreconcilable differences. Thus, societies at the multilateral and at the national level were being fractured, yielding to conflict.
In this connection, and pursuant to the 2030 UN Agenda on Sustainable Development to promote peace, mutual respect and understanding across cultures and generations, the objective of the world conference were three-fold:
Firstly, to harness the collective energy and convergence of religions, creeds and value-systems celebrating diversity and multiculturalism, as bases for the affirmation of equal citizenship rights;
Secondly, to bring out and promote awareness of commonalities between the said religions, creeds and value systems as a basis for giving recognition to all social components of society irrespective of their origin, faith, status, gender or disability;
Thirdly, to recognize a set of shared core inalienable principles providing genuine foundations for joint action by people of all religions, beliefs and value systems to advance equal citizenship rights for all peoples, in full alignment with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
In a special video message to the co-organizers of the World Conference, UN Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres stated that the event was an expression of a "shared commitment to human rights and equal citizenship." Mr. Guterres highlighted the crucial role played by religious leaders "in enhancing human rights for all. Religious leaders wield significant influence" – he noted – "on the hearts and minds of billions." The UN Secretary General recalled moreover – and echoing the main provisions set forth in the World Conference outcome declaration– that diversity should be considered as a source of "richness".
Plenary Panel 1 was entitled "Concept of Equal Citizenship and Points of Convergence of Religions, Creeds and Other Value Systems". The aim of this panel was to identify points of convergence between religions, beliefs and values systems in promoting and advancing equal and inclusive citizenship rights, and to make recommendations on how the true interpretation of religions, creeds and value systems could contribute to the advancement of equal and inclusive citizenship rights, national unity and international harmony. The panel was moderated by H. E. Amre Moussa, Former Secretary-General of the Arab League and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, and included the following keynote speakers:
Ambassador Mark Siljander, former US Ambassador to the UN, author of "A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide" and President of Bridges to Common Ground;
Rabbi Avi Tawil, Director of the European Jewish Community Centre;
Monsignor Robert Vitillo, Secretary-General of the International Catholic Migration Commission;
Professor Dr Harro von Senger, Professor of Sinology at the University of Freiburg (Germany) and expert on Confucianism;
Professor Shahrzad Houshmand Zadeh, Professor of Islamic Studies at the Centre for the Study of Theology of Religions of the Faculty of Missiology at the Gregorian University in Rome;
Ahmed Al-Dawoody, ICRC Legal Adviser on Islamic Law and Jurisprudence and Assistant Professor at Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
Plenary Panel 2 was entitled "Equal Citizenship Rights And Vulnerable/Disadvantaged/Discriminated Social Segments: Case-study Of Gender, Religious Minorities, People With Disabilities And Indigenous People". It was moderated by Dr Majeda Omar, Director of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Jordan, Co-Executive Secretary of the Conference, and included the following panellists:
Dr Fernand de Varennes, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Minorities;
H. E. Hoda Al-Helaissi, Member of Saudi Arabia's Shoura Council and former Vice-Chairperson at King Saud University;
Dr Azza Karam, Coordinator UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development, Senior Advisor UN Population Fund (UNFPA);
Ms Catalina Devandas Aguilar, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
Ms Eva Svoboda, Deputy Director of International Law and Policy at ICRC.
Plenary Panel 3 was entitled "Equal Citizenship Rights and Vulnerable/Disadvantaged/ Discriminated Social Segments: Case-Study of Migrants, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons". It was moderated by Mr Alexander A. Mejia, Director of the Division for People and Social Inclusion at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, as well as Editor-in-Chief of UN Special, and included the following panellists:
H.E. Lakhdar Brahimi, Former Foreign Minister of Algeria and Member of The Elders;
H.E. Ambassador Juan Somavía, former Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Chile, former Director-General of the International Labour Organization and Former Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations;
H.E. Marie-Thérèse Pictet-Athann, Permanent Observer of the Sovereign Order of Malta;
Ms Alexandra Bilak, Director of the Geneva-based International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC);
Mr Arthur Dahl, President of the International Environment Forum and Former Deputy Assistant Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, representing the European Centre for Peace and Development (ECPD).
Plenary Panel 4 was entitled "Equal Citizenship Rights: Moving Towards a New Paradigm". It was moderated by Reverend Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, and included the following panellists:
Dr Farhan Nizami, Director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies;
Dr Safi Kaskas, Co-author of the book entitled "A Contemporary Understanding, The Quran with References to the Bible";
Sheikh Khaled Bentounes, President of the International Association Sufi Alawiyya;
Dr Etibar Najafov, Head of Department of Interethnic Relations, Multiculturalism and Religious Issues of Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan.
The 25 June World Conference was concluded with a signing ceremony of the outcome declaration entitled "Moving Towards Greater Spiritual Convergence Worldwide in Support of Equal Citizenship Rights." This declaration was signed and endorsed by several Eminent Dignitaries as well as renowned experts on inter-faith harmony from all over the world. It includes a 10-point Global Strategic Plan and 3 prescriptions for follow up action. The declaration appeals to decision-makers to advance equal citizenship rights and to deconstruct and eliminate the vulnerability of minorities. The long-term aim of this approach would thus be to enable citizens to ascertain the effective enjoyment of citizenship rights paving the way for the celebration of diversity and to consolidate national unity.
Outcome Declaration: English Arabic French
Video summary report: World Conference on Religions and Equal Citizenship rights
Gaëlle2021-01-12T16:41:10+01:00
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Main image for A Federal Coronavirus Vaccine Contract Released at Last, but Redactions Obscure Terms
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A Federal Coronavirus Vaccine Contract Released at Last, but Redactions Obscure Terms
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Even as the companies enlisted by the government's Operation Warp Speed project to develop COVID-19 vaccines say they're making quick progress, details of their lucrative federal contracts have been slow to emerge.
Although the Moderna contract is heavily redacted, it includes a list of contracting regulations that, if expanded, would include dozens or hundreds of pages of taxpayer protections, says attorney Franklin Turner, a partner at McCarter & English who specializes in government contracting. If the government doesn't think Moderna is complying with the contract, for example, it has the right to terminate the contract and go after the company for damages.
"Are taxpayers being adequately protected as a matter of regulation? My answer is yes," he says. The government "impose[s] extensive obligations on the contractor to govern the procurement."
Turner says it isn't typical to see such broad redactions in the work requirement section of the contract because that's something the government sets and it shouldn't include trade secrets. However, he says he believes "there's nothing nefarious here."
Franklin C. Turner
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In Canada the answer to the question is quite likely yes!
The challenge in Canada is the complexity of the tax environment given the two layers of government involved in reaching in to your pocket.
I am certainly not an accountant or a tax planner, but a few things you should know about if you don't already is that the government gives you a tax break on small business investments.
The Alternative Investment sphere is often a very creative space where a willing investor meets an entrepreneur and an agreement is stitched together that solves a few problems – cash for the entrepreneur and a return for the investor.
In some specific instances, the investor may very likely qualify for Canada's Business Capital Gains exemption. There are some rules, one of which is you must be a shareholder in the company. That alone narrows down your options in terms of how the deal is structured but lets face it, no matter what the deal is, if your return is tax exempt, what else is there to think about.
The lifetime exemption is now $800,000 per person, a massive amount of savings.
You obviously need to get professional advice in regards to your personal situation, but if you are investing in businesses in Canada you need to make sure you can capitalise on this opportunity. Who knows how long it will be there for.


Greg interviews author and noted man-about-town Christopher G. Moore, who returns to the show after appearing in Episode 44 of Season 1. In a wide ranging and philosophical discussion, Greg and Christopher dive into all the bells, whistles, and otherwise that come up in the complicated, messy, and very rewarding journey to putting down a story on paper and making it relatable, exciting, and new.
They discuss the creative process, the need for writers to create empathy in their characters, the effect of social media on attention span, 'theory of mind,' the endless intricacies of Bangkok, 'free will,' and how curated content on the Internet constantly feeds us things we are already interested in.
Christopher also gives us a preview of his latest nonfiction work Rooms, which explores the way that living indoors has transformed human psychology and culture over the last six thousand years. 'Narrow' would not be a good word to describe Christopher's endlessly curious mind!
Wonderful Interview. Christopher is an intellectual treasure. I have heard of him and known of him through my oldest friend on Earth who emotes, dovetails and creates in their Bangkok realm. I have been enamored with the romantic notion of these ex pats, vicariously, for decades. I was smitten and inspired by "Heart talk." I use the book like a talisman to confirm higher aspirations and to sweeten my palette on grimmer days when the world is pushing against love. I am reading "Rooms" at this time and finding the same depth and validation for another subject that I personally adore. "Rooms" should be added to the "A"rchitectural curriculum. It is the newest addition to my "A"rchitectural library. Thanks again for the coverage. Joy, love and Humanity.
Hey Edward, thanks for the comment! We were honored to have him on – hopefully he can come back in the not-too-distant future.


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Your weekly rundown of news and analysis about the corporate takeover of education, water, and other public goods. Not a subscriber? Subscribe here for free.
It's banned books week.
Issues at Kanye West's private school highlight threat of looming public school privatization.
The Jackson water crisis is not over, Food & Water Watch warns.
First, the good news…
1) National: It's banned books week. People are fighting back against efforts by the right wing to suppress books in public libraries and schools through demagogy and intimidation of education and library professionals. Public libraries are an essential part of our culture of fostering the common good. In the Public Interest's Donald Cohen gives examples how public libraries across the country are stepping up to the challenge. "These libraries highlight a fundamental principle that undergirds In the Public Interest's work: The solutions to today's multiple crises—from Covid to climate change to skyrocketing economic inequality to rising white nationalism—must be public solutions. That's the only way to make sure that America works for everyone—all of us, no matter where we come from, what our color, or how much money we have in our pockets." Banned books week goes from today until September 24.
2) National: The New York Times reports that child poverty has been reduced through determined and consistent programming by the government. "With little public notice and accelerating speed, child poverty fell by 59 percent from 1993 to 2019, according to a comprehensive new analysis that shows the critical role of increased government aid. (…) Child poverty has fallen in every state, and it has fallen by about the same degree among children who are white, Black, Hispanic and Asian, living with one parent or two, and in native or immigrant households. Deep poverty, a form of especially severe deprivation, has fallen nearly as much. (…) The analysis found that multiple forces reduced child poverty, including lower unemployment, increased labor force participation among single mothers and the growth of state-level minimum wages. But a dominant factor was the expansion of government aid."
3) National: New York City could use municipal bonds as a way to finance better outcomes for migrants coming to New York from Ukraine and the southern border, city Comptroller Brad Lander says. "Asylum seekers coming to the Big Apple could benefit from a new economic initiative tied into an inclusive strategy, Lander said during a webinar hosted by the Association for a Better New York. While the recent actions by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to send undocumented migrants to New York City were 'horrid,' Lander said, it provided an opportunity for the city. 'Growth in immigration is what saved the city coming out of the fiscal crisis,' Lander said. 'We're lucky to have these folks coming. They want to work so let's push the federal government, as the mayor is doing, to get them work authorization—let's think about how to help those folks get into good jobs as quickly as they can—whether they're coming from Venezuela or coming from Ukraine.'" [Sub required]
4) National: The U.S. Supreme Court has handed private religious schools a rare legal defeat by ruling that an Orthodox Jewish university in New York is required for now to officially recognize an LGBTQ student group. "Kotler's ruling "does not touch the university's well-established right to express to all students its sincerely held beliefs," lawyers said in court papers. They noted that an LGBTQ club has existed within the university's law school for decades and that the university's student bill of rights says the New York Human Rights Law applies to students. Members of Pride Alliance have said they are planning events backing LGBTQ rights for the coming weeks, some of them timed around Jewish holidays."
5) National: Minor league baseball players have finally achieved union representation after years of organizing. "This overwhelming union vote—which will not be challenged by the Major League Baseball owners nor brought to the NLRB—comes after several other victories in the past year that have increased the confidence of minor league players to push for representation," writes The Nation's Dave Zirin. "The unionization of minor leaguers hasn't happened in a vacuum. Labor in this country is, to recall the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, sick and tired of being sick and tired. As economic and social inequality have worsened during the Biden administration, these players are a part of a broader restiveness." For more see Morethanbaseball.org.
6) Colorado: Four Colorado public elementary schools have been named 2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. Two of the schools are small and rural. "On state math and literacy tests last year, Sanford Elementary scored at or above state averages. In literacy, 43% of Sanford students scored at grade level or above, which was the same as the state average. But in math, a whopping 74% of Sanford students scored at grade level or above, far surpassing the state average of 32%."
7) Louisiana: A state judge has blocked "an enormous plastics plant in a corridor so dense with industrial refineries it is known as Cancer Alley." In a sharply worded opinion, "Judge Trudy White of Louisiana's 19th Judicial District in Baton Rouge noted that the residents in the tiny town of Welcome, where the $9.4 billion petrochemical plant would have been built, are descendants of enslaved Africans. 'The blood, sweat and tears of their ancestors is tied to the land,' Judge White wrote. 'Their ancestors worked the land with the hope and dream of passing down productive agricultural untainted land along the Mississippi to their families.' She said that when Louisiana state regulators granted 14 permits to FG LA L.L.C., an affiliate of the Taiwan-based giant Formosa Plastics, they had used 'selective' and 'inconsistent' data and had failed to consider the pollution effects on the predominantly Black community."
8) Maine: 75% of people in Maine support paid family leave, advocates report as the state heads toward a possible November referendum. "In order to provide an alternative pathway forward, groups including Maine People's Alliance (of which Beacon is a project) and Maine Women's Lobby launched a signature-gathering campaign in July to place a referendum on the ballot in 2023 that would create a paid leave system. Those interested in helping to gather signatures for that ballot campaign can sign up here."
9) Mississippi/Maryland: 11 utility workers, including four Anne Arundel County employees, have headed to Mississippi to help restore Jackson's water system. "Besides the four Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works employees, there are also seven workers from the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. They include Class A surface water and membrane operators, instrument technicians, licensed electricians, mechanics, general maintenance workers, and an emergency management specialist. Anne Arundel DPW has been posting updates on Facebook about how their efforts are going."
10) International: On the Rabble Radio podcast, JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO and Dr. Naheed Dosani, Palliative Care Physician and Health Justice Activist, discussed the current crisis facing public healthcare in Ontario "and the alarming turn toward the privatization of our healthcare systems by those prioritizing profit over patients. (…) Often conversations like this can get tucked away in the category of health policy. This is about much more. This is about our way of life. This is about our way of being. This is really an attack on the common good that is so core and foundational to what it means to be Canadian…Public healthcare is a national treasure that makes us unique on the world stage. That really allows us to say to each other, I care about you." [Audio, about 30 minutes].
11) Journalism Opportunities: As regular readers of our weekly privatization report know, we depend heavily on local reporting for news on what's happening with the corporate takeover of education, water, and other public goods—and what's being done to "keep it public." This is a challenging time for local media, where some of the best reporting in the world can be found, so it's great news that ProPublica is hiring for five spots in its Local Reporting Network. Apply here. Work begins on January 2, 2023.
12) National/New York: The scandal of under- or non-performing private religious schools is spreading. Jennifer Berkshire says "not only is the Yeshiva school scandal NOT just a New York story but the same states that are steering more and more public money to private religious schools are making it impossible to track how kids fare." The New York Times has weighed in to argue for state action to secure the education of children in failing private religious schools that received millions in state support. "It is an essential obligation of state government and foundational to life and liberty: New York requires children to go to school and to receive instruction in English and math and other basic skills that are necessary for participation in our democratic society. But New York has failed to fully enforce those laws. An education system that contains some of the finest schools in the nation also contains some that are profoundly struggling, whether public or private, religious or secular. This past week, new attention has fallen on how state and city officials have allowed tens of thousands of Hasidic children to attend schools that openly flout the state's requirements. Former students have testified that upon graduation, they were unable to read in English or even write their own names."
The New York State Board of Regents unanimously approved a new set of regulations last Tuesday "that would allow the state to reject the secular curriculum of private schools—a change Orthodox Jewish schools have long rejected as a curtailing of their religious rights." The Forward reports that "'religious studies are still taught as the non-public school sees fit,' said Jim Baldwin, senior deputy commissioner for education policy. Baldwin also said that religious classes could incorporate topics like math, science or social studies in order to help schools meet the 'substantial equivalence' requirement."
13) National: Writing in The Progressive, Jacob Goodwin says union power is the best solution to the teacher shortage. "Democratic reforms hold the potential to energize members and positively influence the narrative on public education and unions. Scaling up participation can't be done through technological solutions such as mass-texting or sharpened digital campaign marketing. Instead, we must grow with one another and insist on an expansive common purpose where every voice can add to the growing chorus for change."
14) National/California: "What the Hell Is Going on at Kanye West's Mysterious New Private School?" asks Cheyenne Roundtree in Rolling Stone. "Now, he's moving into education with Donda Academy, his own private school named after his late mother, Professor Donda West. Headquartered in Simi Valley, California, the tuition-based Christian prep school's mission, according to its website, is to 'prepare students to become the next generation of leaders' through 'an ethic of integrity and care.' (West previously teased the idea of a school back in October 2020 under the name Yeezy Christian Academy.) (…) What's more, the school is not yet accredited and was still looking to hire instructors shortly before the school year began. Exactly who attends and works at the school has been tricky to pin down. Donda's listed administrators and sporting program's leadership did not respond to Rolling Stone's multiple inquiries about the school. A representative for West also did not respond to requests for comment. Many of those associated with the school balked at interview requests, as did parents whose children attend the school. Even attempts by Simi Valley's local newspaper noted in a June article that it could not reach anyone."
15) National/North Carolina: A North Carolina charter school that "prohibits girls from wearing pants or shorts because they are 'fragile vessels' told the U.S. Supreme Court in a newly filed petition that the entire charter school movement is now endangered by an appellate ruling that found its dress code is unconstitutional. (…) The en banc 4th Circuit, as I told you in June, specifically rejected arguments that its ruling against Charter Day will squelch educational innovation, which Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson spelled out in a dissent joined by Judges Paul Niemeyer and Steven Agee. Judge James Wynn, in a concurrence joined by four other judges in the majority, said the very premise that parents have a right to send their children to state-funded public schools engaged in unconstitutional discrimination 'is so plainly wrong [that] it borders on the offensive.' Judge Barbara Keenan added tartly in the majority opinion, 'Innovative programs in North Carolina's public schools can and should continue to flourish — but not at the expense of constitutional protections for students.'"
16) California: Novato Unified School District's board will be holding a hearing on October 11 to discuss "the level of support for the Petition submitted to the District for the establishment of the Healy School Charter School. No action will be taken by the Board regarding the Petition at this meeting. In accordance with Education Code section 47605, the Board 'shall consider the level of support for the petition by teachers employed by the district, other employees of the district, and parents.' Teachers and other employees of the District, parents/guardians, and any interested parties are invited to attend the public hearing and provide comment to the Board regarding the Petition."
17) Michigan: The state school board wants to know how charter schools spend money, Chalkbeat Detroit reports. "Michigan charter schools received $1.4 billion in state funding last year. How they spent most of it is a mystery, even to state officials overseeing the education of children who attend them. The state Board of Education has been trying to find out, but its efforts have been stymied. Eighty-one percent of Michigan's 295 charter schools have contracts with private education management companies that are not subject to public disclosure laws. That allows them to skirt disclosure laws by, for example, saying they don't have payroll records because they don't employ teachers directly, but rather through a contractor."
18) Ohio/National: Jan Ressenger and Kathryn Joyce have been digging into the efforts of the Heritage Foundation to spread a form of school voucher system called education savings accounts, especially in Ohio. But "Ohio is not the only state where politicians are currently being pressed by far right advocates to adopt one of the model ESA bills that are available to anyone who wants one. States whose legislatures have enacted Education Savings Account vouchers to date include Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Indiana, and Missouri. ESA programs were passed but later found unconstitutional in Nevada and Kentucky under the provisions of their state constitutions."
Among Heritage's trustees are Larry Arnn, former head of the Claremont Institute and now President of Hillsdale College, the right wing religious school trying to get its hooks into Tennessee's public school system (see below); Barb Van Andel-Gaby, an Amway board member; Robert P. George, the conservative Catholic Princeton law professor (also on the boards of the Bradley Foundation and Becket Fund, which filed an amicus brief in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade); Edwin Meese, who has overseen the right wing takeover of the courts from his perch at Heritage for decades; billionaire right wing funder Rebekah Mercer, and others
19) Tennessee: The battle over charter schools vs. traditional public schools is continuing in Tennessee. On Friday the two sides clashed at a state hearing in Clarksville involving a proposed charter school with ties to the right wing Hillsdale religious college. "ACAM had applied to open a charter school here, and they were rejected by the Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board. The schools' organizers appealed the decision to the state. Prior to Friday's hearing, a group of community members and politicians held a news conference to raise objections to using public funds for private charter schools. 'Montgomery County has great schools,' said Stephanie Outlaw, a local teacher speaking on behalf of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Association. 'We don't need charter schools.' Outlaw said one of the biggest issues she has is how charter schools will be funded. 'We do not need to give the public funding for our schools at the local level to these private entities—the charter schools coming from somewhere else. We need to keep the funding here for our schools,' she said." NewsChannel5's Phil Williams concludes "there's a lot we don't know about these proposed charter schools, including who would actually run them."
20) National: Legislation that would bring some sunlight into the municipal bond market has some on Wall Street on edge. The legislation "would require governments to standardize their financial reports, with opponents warning it would be onerous and costly and ultimately could shrink tax-exempt supply.
Supporters counter that the move would benefit investors and regulators and the cost of compliance is exaggerated. Though introduced months ago, the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 has grabbed the market's recent attention because it appears likely to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023, which the Senate needs to vote on by the end of the year." [Sub required]. Read the text of the proposed legislation and make up your own mind. It's in the Senate Banking Committee.
21) Idaho: The real estate industry is at it again, this time using the argument that big tax revenues would be forthcoming if federal lands were privatized. "There are about 32 million acres of federal public land in Idaho, representing more than 60% of the state. That includes lands controlled by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Legislators commissioned the study—even though the Idaho Constitution prohibits collecting taxes on public lands owned by the U.S. government." Sen. David Nelson, D-Moscow, said "I think all of this is a little exercise in futility to come up with a big, high number and wave it around in the air."
22) Kansas/National: Expert witnesses told the House Agriculture Committee that topsoil protection should be stressed in the next farm bill. "About 95% of food is grown from topsoil, which is the most important component to food systems. If soil cannot filter water and adsorb carbon, it will hinder farmers' ability to grow food to feed people, creating a food crisis. Around the world, soil is eroding 10 to 40 times faster than it can be replaced. Moyer said that a third of the world's soil has already degraded, and if 'the current rate of soil degradation continues, all of the world's topsoil could be lost within 60 years.'"
23) Maryland: Costs on the long delayed Purple Line light rail so-called public-private partnership have soared, NBC Washington reports. Originally scheduled to open this year, the project is now aimed for completion by 2026. The estimated cost has jumped from around $5.5 billion to 9 billion dollars. [Video, about two minutes].
24) Mississippi: The Jackson water crisis is not over, Food & Water Watch warns. "Contrary to the assurances from Governor Reeves, much more is necessary to address the harms of decades of racist policies and intentional disinvestment and ensure safe, clean water for Jackson residents. Federal, state and local collaboration is helping to improve water service in Jackson, but declarations that the water is 'clean' or 'safe' are hasty and irresponsible. The city has an ongoing lead-in-water crisis, and the system remains one climate change-fueled storm away from breaking down again. Worse, this progress could be undone if the state forces Jackson to hand control of the system over to corporate interests. The city remains under threat of a state-imposed privatization. Privatization would exacerbate the city's water affordability crisis, driving up the cost of necessary improvements to cover corporate taxes and profits. On average, private companies charge 59 percent more than local governments charge for water service."
As In the Public Interest's Donald Cohen recently pointed out, corporations that run privatized municipal water systems are raising rates to enrich their shareholders and even buy up more public systems. "This is all to say, water is a public good, meaning it must be under our control. But we have to fight for it, because to corporations, it's just another way to increase profits for their wealthy executives and shareholders."
Facing South's Sue Sturgis asks whether Jackson will buck the trend away from privatized water. Check out these numbers. "According to Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba (D), cost to fix the water system, with the city's ability to pay hindered by a shrinking tax base due to white flight following integration of the public schools, along with the Republican-led legislature's reluctance to fund fixes: $2 billion… According to a 2011 meta-analysis of studies on water distribution, amount of empirical support that exists for cost savings from water system privatization: 0… In a reversal of earlier trends toward privatization, percentage point increase in the portion of U.S. residents getting drinking water from publicly owned systems from 2007 to 2014: 4… Over that same period, percent by which the number of private water systems in the U.S. dropped: 7… According to a review of 18 municipalities that ended contracts with private water companies, percent cheaper it is on average to operate water services publicly than privately: 21."
Writing in HuffPost, Nathalie Baptiste says "Jackson is facing a clear-cut example of environmental racism. After its schools were forced to integrate in the 1970s, white people began leaving the city in droves—taking with them their tax revenue. Today, one in four people in Jackson lives in poverty. The city's water system is also old and in need of expensive repairs, but the city simply doesn't have the tax base to support it. Currently, the mayor estimates that the city would need at least $1 billion to permanently fix its water problems. And while privatization may be on the mind of Reeves and other state officials, there's plenty of evidence to show that turning Jackson's water system over to a private company could make the problem worse—which is what happened in Pittsburgh."
24) Pennsylvania/National: Governor Tom Wolf (D) has "announced that the Biden Administration has awarded the Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) $20.3 million to construct a new 100,000 square-foot warehouse at Tioga Marine Terminal, as well as safety and efficiency upgrades with the modernization of the terminal's main gate. (…) Additional benefits of this project include economic benefits from new cargo capture; improved truck circulation and terminal efficiencies as well as improved connections to the regional, multimodal network; safety and security improvements; and environmental benefits resulting from reduced truck queuing/idling and conversion of cargo from truck to rail."
25) Puerto Rico: As Hurricane Fiona causes "catastrophic" flooding in Puerto Rico and massive damage to its infrastructure—already damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria—the finances of its electrical utility are already in a state of collapse, never having recovered from the last storms and beset by a series of contracting scandals. [Sub required]. Luma, the company that manages Puerto Rico's power grid, says it may take several days to restore power across the island.
26) National/Florida/California: Thirteen national and local organizations have filed a federal complaint against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Baker County Sheriff's Office for multiple cases of abuse and inhumane conditions at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida.
On top of that, ICE's privatized operations in California are facing legal action. "Labor strikers at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center and the Golden State Annex, owned and operated by The GEO Group, and Leaders detained at Imperial Regional Detention Facility, operated by Management and Training Corporation, released the following statement: 'Today, a collective of leaders and individuals detained at multiple facilities in California, filed two simultaneous complaints to the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties outlining the continued retaliation we face at the hands of ICE officials and its private prison operators for exercising our constitutional rights. Those officials have taken aggressive steps to try to suppress our voice, including attempts to transfer us out of state and unlawful placement in solitary confinement.'"
27) Colorado: ProPublica reports that Colorado's halfway houses are a revolving door to prison. "Over the past three years, Colorado averaged about 6,000 halfway house stays annually. A majority of Colorado's halfway houses are owned by companies specializing in detention and community-based supervision. Three—CoreCivic, Advantage Treatment Center Inc. and Intervention Inc.—operate 15 of the 26 state-funded facilities. This fiscal year, community corrections will receive $87.7 million in state funding — or nearly 16% of the state's public safety budget — to cover operational costs and treatment services. The facilities aren't required to report in detail to the state oversight agency or lawmakers what they do with the funding."
28) Georgia: Project South says "be sure to read the letter Project South & partners submitted to Georgia Congressional Delegates urging an investigation & closure of Stewart Detention Center." Read it here. And listen to Human rights lawyer and Legal & Advocacy Director Azadeh Shahshahani on the issues.
29) Massachusetts: Privatization of public services has become an issue in the election for state auditor. "Under state law, the auditor is charged with evaluating privatization proposals and certifying the initiatives will not only save money but also maintain at least the same level of service already provided. Critics say the law's provisions make privatization nearly impossible, while supporters say the requirements are merely common sense steps to assure quality service. (…) The two candidates for auditor—Democratic Sen. Diana DiZoglio of Methuen and Republican Anthony Amore, the director of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—shared their views on the law in answering questionnaires submitted by union groups that are strongly in favor of the [anti-privatization] law. DiZoglio is closely aligned with the state's unions. In response to a single question about the privatization law on an AFL-CIO questionnaire, she noted the author of the law, Sen. Marc Pacheco of Taunton, is supporting her candidacy. The law is called the Taxpayer Protection Act, but most people refer to it as the Pacheco law."
30) Florida: Does Waste Management, the private, for-profit trash collection company, deserve a rate increase? Sebastian, Florida, residents disagree. "It's a shame that we allow a price increase per City Council and less service," says Sissy Irwin. "I regularly call them on my service of no pickup. And last week, they had so many calls that voice mail stayed full. It took 4 days to pick up the trash in our area. Sorry, this is one person who will not renew. This decision for more money made my decision."
31) National: With the announcement of a tentative agreement in the rail workers threatened strike, which highlighted issues such as the fact that most public rail services (minus Amtrak) operate on private tracks, several veteran labor analysts and activists offered their views on what the strike and organizing wave across the U.S. means for the future of labor activism and public policy to promote it.
Jane McAlevey, the strike correspondent of The Nation, wrote a powerful piece in which she challenges the leadership of both organized labor and the Democratic Party to do better to support struggling workers.
"We do actually need to debate exactly how the hell we will successfully turn this country around in time to avert an even worse societal disaster," McAlevey writes. "The answer to that can be seen in two unions that waged successful strikes in the past two weeks, having done the patient work of preparing their members to execute the kind of serious and durable strike action that delivers real, power-building gains in their contracts: the teachers in Seattle and the nursing home workers in Pennsylvania. There are great unions in America today that know how to fight to win. They are mostly at the local, not national, level, and they are unions that understand that a strike is a muscle built through its use, not a command turned on with the flick of a switch. Workers' representatives can't just snap their fingers and have workers go on strike any more than a person can walk into a gym with no previous experience lighting weights and bench press 400 pounds. Muscles atrophy, and so do unions."
The American Prospect's Harold Meyerson spoke to Ryan Cooper and Alexi the Greek of the Left Anchor podcast about lessons from American labor history, his assessment of President Biden's record on labor, and the role of the activist NLRB under the current General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. [Audio, about 21 minutes].
Eileen Appelbaum, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has emphasized the need for paid sick and family leave. "It staggers the imagination that in September 2022 the workers who keep the trains running did not have even one sick day to care for themselves. Railroad management was intransigent on this point, a key union demand, until President Biden got involved in the negotiations. Top brass at the railroads were willing to have a strike and plunge the nation back into supply chain hell, rather than grant this reasonable request. The details have not been made public yet, but it appears that railroad workers will get one—let me repeat that—one paid sick day a year. This, as much as anything that has been written, emphasizes the need for the US to guarantee sick workers some form of paid sick days and paid medical and family leave legislation. (…) Not including a robust paid leave program as the nation continues to struggle with public health crises places unreasonable burdens on all workers and not just the millions of low-income workers unlikely to have access to benefits through their jobs."
32) International: The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and Public Services International (PSI) have issued a tendering opportunity for online training on in-sourcing public services. "The project runs from August 2022 to January 2024 and provides funds for EPSU and PSI to work with a training provider to develop an online training course for affiliates based on PSI's guide Taking our public services back in house. The final version of the course will be translated into several EU languages and EPSU and PSI will consider funding for additional non-EU languages. We are starting out by looking for talented labour educators and online training web-designers. The tender specifications are set out below and in the attached pdf. The deadline for submissions is 14 October 2022."
Photo by Betsy Wyatt.


Moto Sasaki won the Japan Cup contest on April 29. Congratulations! The Japan Cup is a new championship contest series in Japan, organized by JFBF which is the Japan Freestyle BMX Federation. You can find more information on the series in Japanese on japanbmx.com. Below are the results of the different flatland classes. Besides Flatland the Japan Cup is featuring Park.


The Madras High Court's Madurai Bench lifted the ban on video mobile application TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, subject to certain conditions. Deciding the case filed by advocate Muthukumar, the bench vacated its interim order banning the app, subject to conditions that pornographic videos will not be uploaded on it, failing which contempt of court proceedings would begin.
The Madras High Court will today decide on its interim ban on Chinese-owned TikTok video app. The ban on the video app, which claims to have more than 54 million active users in India, will be lifted if the high court fails to give its decision on a plea filed by Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok.
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to provide helpline numbers to enable students and parents register complaints regarding irregularities and sexual harassment in schools besides conduct of tutorial classes by teachers after school hours. The court also expressed concern over failure to improve the system in order to avoid growing offences of sexual harassment in schools, colleges and universities.


text:
DQ Grill & Chill:
New DQ® Restaurant Opens in North Richland Hills
By: DQ Grill & Chill | 0 Shares 40 Reads
New restaurant serves up Dairy Queen® iconic soft-serve treats, flavorful foods and Orange Julius® offerings.
December 09, 2014 // Franchising.com // North Richland Hills, Texas – The Dairy Queen® system is pleased to announce the opening of the newest Texas DQ® restaurant located at 5441 Rufe Snow Drive. The 2,600 square-foot restaurant can seat 74 guests inside and offers a convenient drive-thru window. The new restaurant also will contribute to the state's restaurant sales, which according to the National Restaurant Association are projected to increase by 4.7 percent this year.
"We are excited to open our first DQ restaurant in North Richland Hills and welcome the community in to enjoy our full menu of Texas Country Foods®, cool treats and Orange Julius® Premium Fruit Smoothies, Light Smoothies and Julius® Original drinks," said area manager Dan Powers. "This new restaurant is sure to become a place where fans can relax and share a great meal and one-of-a-kind soft-serve treats."
The menu at the North Richland Hills DQ Restaurant features the quarter- and half-pound Hungr-Buster® Burger made to order with premium flavor options, as well as other delicious and unique food items, including Texas T-Brand Tacos®, Grilled and Crispy Chick'n Sandwiches, Steak Sandwiches and the Chick'n Strip or Steak Finger Country Basket®, which are available for either lunch or dinner.
The restaurant also features treat favorites such as the iconic Blizzard® Treats, DQ Cakes and a wide variety of other soft-serve items, as well as the full line of Orange Julius fruit-blended beverages. All Orange Julius Premium Fruit Smoothies, Light Smoothies and Julius® Original drinks are available in eight flavors including Orange, Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, Tripleberry®, Mango Pineapple, Berry Pomegranate, OrangeBerry and Piña Colada. The Orange Julius Premium Fruit Smoothies are fresh-blended to order with real fruit and low-fat yogurt. The Orange Julius Light Smoothies are 170 calories or less in a small size, contain no artificial sweeteners or flavors and are yogurt-free.
For more information about the Dairy Queen system, visit DairyQueen.com. Connect with the DQ system on Twitter using #LOVEmyDQ and follow the system at twitter.com/dairyqueen. Visit the DQ Facebook fan page, which has more than 9.7 million friends, and become a friend at facebook.com/dairyqueen.
North Richland Hills DQ restaurant at a glance:
Address: 5441 Rufe Snow Drive, North Richland Hills, Texas 76180
Employees: 50 plus on a continuous basis
Square Footage: 2,600 square feet
Number of Seats: 74 inside
Hours of Operation: The new restaurant serves lunch and dinner from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
About ADQ
American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ), which is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., develops, licenses and services a system of more than 6,300 Dairy Queen® stores in the United States, Canada and 25 other countries. ADQ is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies led by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. For more information, visit DairyQueen.com.
SOURCE American Dairy Queen Corporation
DQ Grill & Chill
Dairy Queen (also known as DQ) is an ice-cream shop and fast-food restaurant franchise based in the United States and founded in 1940.
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text:
Birthday #22
" Absolutely, it's a really weird stage because at the minute, I can walk down the street and be unrecognised, lead a normal life, but my label and everybody is warning me that will be changing and I'm in for a rollercoaster ride."
James Blunt is an English singer-songwriter, record producer and former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards, who has sold over 20 million records worldwide, received two Brit Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, five Grammy Award nominations, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for .
He was born on Friday February 22nd 1974, in Tidworth, Hampshire, England.
For James Blunt, 2021 is a year to carefully protect and nurture his plans. James will be like a mother watching over her children, conscious of every threat, real or imagined.
Blunt needs tact and cooperation to keep himself moving forward. There will likely be confrontations with others, requiring a subtle and gentle approach. He will have to stay focused on his goals, yet use intelligent persuasion. Being forceful may work against James while compromises will work in his favor.
James Blunt will be unusually sensitive and may wonder at times what happened to the drive and momentum he felt last year. This year requires something else from James now - a delicate sense of balance and a willingness to go around obstacles, without losing sight of his goal.
He may experience some emotional depressions and frustrations. The year is marked by struggle, but there are many opportunities to advance his plans. This is a year of slow growth, requiring patience.
Blunt has to be discriminating in his associations and secretive about his plans. He must not talk too much about his ideas; be a bit secretive, and guard himself and his ideas. James Blunt is somewhat vulnerable this year.
This is a good year to improve himself through reading and research. James' growing awareness of the less visible and less obvious aspects of life will make him much stronger and better prepared for the future.
James Blunt must be wise in all his relationships and associations this year. He is far more capable of establishing close, even life long relationships this year. Because sensitivity and openness are heightened, many people find their 'soul mate' in a two year.
May is the pivotal month in 2021. James is extremely intuitive and sensitive. He is also self-reflecting and better able to influence his peers and situation through spiritual awareness. July 2021 brings Blunt a culmination of plans and a distinct step forward. August 2021 sees things become more concrete and brings a new beginning. September 2021 is emotional, requiring adjustments, tact, and inner resolve. In general, 2021 is a year of growth and advancement, but through gentle means and indirect use of James Blunt's personal power.
Let's take a look now at James' monthly forecast for January 2021.
You and James
About James' Personal Year Cycle
In numerology, each year of James' life is part of an evolving pattern that can be described as a nine-year cycle or epicycle. These cycles begin at James Blunt's birth and progress, one by one, through nine steps that complete an epicycle, and then begin again.
Read more about our numerological yearly forecast for James Blunt . . .
Other celebrities with yearly cycle number 2 as James Blunt
Chris Kyle (1974-2013)
A US Navy SEAL veteran and sniper, who served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat, and published his bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, in 2012
Leonardo DiCaprio (1974)
An American actor and film producer, who has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of film genres, and has been nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards, winning two, and four Academy Awards.
Jimmy Fallon (1974)
An American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer, best known for his work in television as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and as the host of late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Amy Adams (1974)
An American actress and singer who is the recipient of two Golden Globe Awards, has received five nominations each from the Academy Award and BAFTA, and was named one of 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2014
Elizabeth Banks (1974)
An American actress, producer, and director, best known for her roles in films as Seabiscuit, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Role Models, The Next Three Days, Pitch Perfect, The Lego Movie, and The Hunger Games films
Eva Mendes (1974)
An American actress, model, singer and fashion designer who co-starred in movies including All About The Benjamins, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Ghost Rider, We Own the Night, Stuck on You, Hitch and The Other Guys
Christian Bale (1974)
An English actor, best known as as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Dicky Eklund in the biographical film The Fighter (2010), and for his leading role in The Big Short
Jenna Jameson (1974)
An American entrepreneur, webcam model and former adult film actress, who has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn"
Derek Jeter (1974)
An American former professional baseball shortstop who is five-time World Series champion, and is a central figure of the Yankees' success of the late 1990s and early 2000s for his hitting, baserunning, fielding, and leadership
Giuliana Rancic (1974)
An Italian-American television personality who was named anchor of E! network's E! News in 2005, and co-hosts E!'s Fashion Police and often co-hosts red carpet events for award shows, such as the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards
James Blunt Numerology -- Yearly Forecast for 2021 | © Copyright 2009-2021 Celebrities Galore and Master Numerologist Hans Decoz


A group volunteers from churches in Ridgway traveled to North Carolina earlier this month on a Mission Trip to aid in ongoing recovery efforts in the state devastated by a Hurricane Florence last fall.
Pastor Susan Fox led Gail Gover of Trinity United Methodist Church, Alan Lingenfelter of the Church of the Nazarene Church and Mike Roselli, Pete Dutchot, Mike and Josh Roselli and Rick Amacher of First Lutheran Church on the trip to New Bern, North Carolina, the first state capital, home to Tryon Palace and the birthplace of Pepsi Cola to assist in reconstruction efforts on six family units. They soon discovered that it wasn't just homes they were there to mend, but spirits as well.
"It became apparent that by the second day that many of the families we were there to help just wanted to talk to other people that had not been living in the reality that they had been in the past few months," said Pastor Fox. "They wanted to know all about where we were from, our jobs and our families, talking about anything but the Hurricane was a relief to them."
Pete Dutchcot agreed; "It was a bit overwhelming how thankful they were just to be able to talk about another place and other people's lives and towns."
Putting back together homes was the reason the group went but by sharing their faith through their actions "we helped put lives back together," said Alan Lingenfelter.
Pastor Fox recounted one house that a group went to where a 90-year-old man was so happy they put up the drywall that went over his bed, he jumped up and down on it like an excited child.
"It gave us all a good smile for the rest of the trip," said Gail Glover.
"Astrid was the name of one woman we helped," said Pastor Fox and Glover. "We were able to fix her garage door, de-mold the walls, and then paint them a bright, cheery yellow. And we cleaned and scrubbed. When that was all done, she informed us that she did not want the garage to park her car in but just wanted to 'sit in it.' So... we placed a rug on the floor and set a table and chair for her. The final touch was the placing of her Bible on that table."
"The home we worked at is the residence of Chaplain George and his wife," explained most of the men in the group. "The entire first floor was stripped to the 2x4s. The family had gotten the ceilings done and we did the rest. When we left at the end of the week, it was almost ready for painting."
Pastor Fox continued, "The lady of the house said, 'I could live in the house just the way it is.' Do you think she was a bit ready to get back to some sort of normalcy?"
The group even got to partake in some of the famous hospitality of the south with a BBQ feast one of the nights they were there, with Glover being the only dissenter when it came to the vinegar-based sauce. BBQ is serious business in the Carolinas and the group evidently had Eastern-style BBQ. The eastern-style sauce is vinegar- and pepper-based, with no tomato whatsoever. Perhaps next time they are down they will get to try Lexington-style barbecue (occasionally referred to as Piedmont or Western-style) which uses a "red" sauce/dip that is seasoned with ketchup, vinegar, and pepper, along with other spices that vary from recipe to recipe.
As the group gathered on Tuesday night at the First Lutheran school to discuss the trip, the question of whether would they go again was brought up and all said yes. But for some, the trip sparked another idea and might become a theme throughout fundraisers for churches all over Ridgway this summer. Portable shower trailers.


text:
Diplomat Cable Leaks
Khan's London
Migrant Crisis
Salvini vs Open Borders NGOs
Labour MP Says Its Bigoted To Debate Muslim Immigration
Simon Kent
Question the number of immigrants entering the UK and you are labelled a racist, xenophobe or a bigot. The Labour Party is especially fond of shouting these insults when it wants to shut down the immigration issue in the public arena.
Remember how then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown was spectacularly caught out during the 2010 election campaign describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as "some bigoted woman"?
Sixty-five-year-old Gillian Duffy had the temerity to challenge Mr Brown on a number of issues including immigration and crime.
Now Labour is doing it again by attacking a Parliamentary petition claiming "Muslims are taking over Britain" as "bigotry" before it can even be debated.
The upcoming three-hour Commons debate comes after more than 100,000 people signed the document, which also claims "foreign citizens are taking all our benefits".
However, Labour MP Steve McCabe (Selly Oak, Birmingham) is not in favour of open, public discourse when it isn't started by members of his own party: He said: "I'm in favour of discussing immigration but I don't think we should dignify the views of total bigots with a Commons debate."
It follows a promise in the Conservative manifesto before the 2010 general election that any petition signed by more than 100,000 people will be eligible for a debate in Parliament.
The petition titled "stop allowing immigrants into the UK," on the official Commons petition website has now been signed by 185,560 people. It reads:
"The UK government need to prevent immigrants from entering the UK immediately!
"We MUST close all borders, and prevent more immigrants from entering Britain.
"Foreign citizens are taking all our benefits, costing the government millions!
"Many of them are trying to change UK into a Muslim country!"
The petition's entry also includes an explanation written by the person who started it. It reads:
"If the Government does not do anything, then Britain may take in 12 million more immigrants by 2060.
"There is footage of foreigners destroying British soldiers graves, which is a huge disrespect to us.
"Sign this petition to show the government what they need to do!"
The House of Commons Petitions Committee has decided to hold a debate on the petition. It will take place in Westminster Hall, a debating chamber of the Commons which is less well-known than the main Chamber. However, debates held here officially have the same status as those in the main Chamber.
According to the Birmingham Mail, MP McCabe said: "This highlights the problem with saying that if you have enough signatures on a petition then it will be debated. It is a licence for bigotry, and that is what we are witnessing here.
"I have spent a lot of time in recent years consulting my constituents about immigration."
The debate will be led by Conservative MP Paul Scully who represents Sutton and Cheam in Greater London, but that does not mean he will support the views expressed in the petition.
There will be a speech from a Government minister, a Labour front-bench spokesperson and a spokesperson for the SNP, which is now the third largest party in the House of Commons. There will also be speeches from as many backbench MPs as time permits in the three-hour debate.
The debate is set down for October 19.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
London / EuropeBritish MuslimsHouses of ParliamentMuslims
Tommy Robinson Sentenced to Nine Months in Prison


Clearly identify hazardous waste and storage areas in your facility. Use a bold sign to point out important policies, and remind visitors and unauthorized personnel to keep their distance.
• Laminated for exceptional durability and chemical resistance. Signs look great indoors and out.
• Choose a custom template and write in a personal message for visitors or employees.
Just what we needed, good quality!
Just what we needed and at a good price. Thank you!


You designed a mobile app for your organization, now what? You want people to download it from the app store on Google Play and Apple iTunes right? Yes!
To get the mobile app in the app store you will need to subscribe to the TSL service plan that is available for a monthly or yearly subscription. The service plan automates the requirement for submitting and managing updates for your mobile app so that you don't have to.
To purchase the service plan go here. The Service Plan pricing is based on the total number of directory listings that you want to show on the mobile app. Basic Starter plan allows up to 30 listings for $30 per month. Unlimited plan allows unlimited number of listings for $160 per month.
To validate your account and activate the service plan you will need to retrieve your License API Key and enter it in the Submit App tab. After you activate the service plan you fill out the marketing survey and click submit.
Your License API key is listed in your receipt.
Enter the License API key & Email Address & click "Update License API Key" to activate.
Each app store requires that you submit answers that describe your mobile app. When you get approved the information is used to publish your mobile app page in the app store.
You are responsible for providing accurate metadata description of your app to reflect the app's core experience. The answers appear on your app store landing page as information about your mobile app.
Tiny Screen Labs creates the screenshots that show the app in use including home page screen and splash screen.
Review the app store guidelines to understand what is not allowed.


The Tooth Mouse, written by Susan Hood and illustrated by Janice Nadeau, is a fable that allows young readers to learn about another country's version of the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Mouse is ready to move on and Sophie, who is a dear little mouse has to prove that she is honest, brave, and wise enough to take on the succeed the present Tooth Fairy and take over the position. Over the course of 32 pages, she proves that she is capable.
Loosing teeth is one of those universal themes all kids can relate to since baby teeth must come out before the adult ones settle in for the duration of our lives. Any elementary school teacher knows just how much excitement there is about loosing a tooth. Therefore, I think this book will resonate with so many young readers. Plus, for any teacher who teaches a unit on fables, this text is sure to become a mentor for your classroom.
Susan Hood graciously answered questions for me via e-mail in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. (She lost power and kindly went to the library to respond to my questions.) I hope her responses give you more insight into why this book was created, how she developed the main character, and how she made code-switching work throughout the book. It is my hope that you'll be able to use parts of this interview with your students if you decide to adopt The Tooth Mouse as a mentor text in your classroom.
Stacey: What inspired you to write a book about the tooth tradition from France?
Susan: I was writing a column for Nick Jr. Magazine called "Kids Like You" in which I interviewed kids around the world about their everyday lives. I asked six-year-old Sophie, a little girl in Paris, "What happens when you lose a tooth in France?" She said, "You give it to the Tooth Mouse, of course!" I had never heard of such a thing. The more I researched, the more I found that many countries (Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, Spain, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, Venezuela and more) have a Tooth Mouse instead of a Tooth Fairy. Italy has both!
I also discovered a 17th century story about the Tooth Mouse, La Bonne Petite Souris, written by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy. She was one of the most prolific fairy tale writers of the French Salons and the person credited with the term fairy tale (contes de fées). D'Aulnoy's story is quite long, and like many fairy tales, it's filled with murder, deceit and revenge. Don't get me wrong. I loved fairy tales as a child and still do. But I wanted to write a younger, gentler story—my own modern tale with some wordless graphic novel elements—and yet include the quests and challenges I loved in books as a child. Et voilà! My Tooth Mouse got her name from the little girl who first told me about her.
Stacey: How did you develop the character of Sophie, who is a mouse? How is the character development work you did for her similar to and/or different than the character development you'd do for a human character?
Stacey: The dialogue in this book really moves the fable forward. What suggestions can you give to young writers about writing purposeful dialogue?
Susan: The Tooth Mouse issues her three challenges in dialogue, which makes them more immediate. Dialogue gives a scene more drama, a "You-are-there" quality. It invites readers into the scene so they can experience what your characters are experiencing.
"Très bien!" said the Tooth Mouse attentively.
"Très bien!" said the Tooth Mouse, eyeing Sophie, the smallest contender with interest.
That action, of the Tooth Mouse eyeing Sophie, demonstrates her attentiveness and focuses our attention on Sophie as well.
Stacey: As a Francophile who studied French for over ten years, I love the way you embedded many French words and phrases in the text. First, how did you decide where and when to use French words or expressions? Second, why did you choose not to include clues to their meaning in the text or why there isn't a translation guide in the back of the book?
Susan: I love introducing kids to new words and new languages. We live in such a global society, it's important that kids get a taste of the world in their books. I used a little French to add Parisian flavor to the book and build the mise-en-scène.I believe we talked about adding translations, but decided they would be a distraction and disrupt the flow of the story. Many of the words I used are familiar to English speakers, either because they are ballet terms, such as jeté or they have similar counterparts in English, such as "impossible" or "felicitations!" After all, many English words are derived from French and both languages share Latin roots.
I love repeating words in picture books to encourage kids to chime in on the storytelling. That's why I used "Mais non!" so frequently. It's a thrill for kids to recognize repeating words AND to be able to speak a phrase in another language!
Stacey: Would you talk about the role questions play in this book?
Susan: Questions are meant to engage young readers, to get them to think about they would do in a similar situation.
Stacey: The ending of your book was satisfying. It made me smile, happy for Sophie's new role in the world and also for what she did with all of those baby teeth. What advice can you give to children who are trying to craft the perfect ending to a fable they're writing?
Susan: Thank you! My advice would be to try to think of the unexpected. Ask yourself, What would be a twist that would make readers smile, or better yet, laugh out loud when they turn that last page?
Stacey: The words and the pictures go along together brilliantly. Did you and Janice Nadeau collaborate?
Susan: Sadly, Janice and I have never met. I hope to remedy that some day! She is a brilliant illustrator. After all, she's won the Governor General Awards for Illustration three times! As I mentioned, I was eager for the book to incorporate some wordless graphic novel elements—comic strip elements—to add a modern twist to the fable genre. My editor and I talked over what I envisioned for some scenes,such as the cat spread, and I was thrilled that Janice used some of those ideas and added so much more! All the beautiful watercolor details, the mice so full of personality and the gorgeous design elements were a delight. I love that Sophie is wearing the Tooth Mouse's little black hat at the end.A nd that nightmare scene? Wow! When I read the book aloud, kids stop and stare and can't stop talking about it.
Susan: I'm excited that Kids Can Press will be publishing a new baby board book called TICKLY TOES in 2014. In addition, I have two books coming out from Hyperion, ROOTING FOR YOU in 2014 and LEAPS AND BOUNCE in 2015.
Click on the file to enlarge.
This giveaway is for a copy of The Tooth Mouse for one reader. Many for thanks to Kids Can Press for sponsoring this giveaway.
To enter for a chance to win a copy of The Tooth Mouse each reader may leave one comment about this post in the comments section of this post.
All comments left on or before Saturday, November 17th at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time will be entered into a random drawing using a random number generator. I will announce the winner's name at the bottom of this post by Tuesday, November 20th. Please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment so I can contact you to obtain your mailing address and have my contact at Kids Can Press send the book out to you. Please note: Your e-mail address will not be published online.
Being in first grade we are losing our teeth almost daily. We have read The Tooth Fairy, and I didn't realize that another country has a tooth fairy title. Thanks for sharing this book and author with us.
I think my grandsons would love this, all 5 of them.
What a fun book for my granddaughter and also one to pass on to the graduate level teachers I teach…..
This sounds like a really fun book. As a teacher, global perspective is really important in my classroom; hearing other languages and encountering history, customs and fresh viewpoints from another countries perspective. Thanks for sharing this book.
Thank you all for these wonderful comments! I'm delighted you like the book and want to share it with your students. I especially love your comment, Linda, about filing "a cavity in tooth fairy collections." Very clever!
And thank you, Stacey, for your great questions!
Looks like a great mentor text addition for grade levels using fables etc.
I love the international flavor of this story. The endpapers with the world tooth customs really made me smile. This book will fill many a cavity in tooth fairy collections.
I love the French and love the illustration of all the teeth!
I am an American teaching English in a small former soviet country. I am always looking for ways to open up the world through wonderful stories, especially about children from other countries. This is a charming story and I would love to read this to my Young Learners.
I didn't realize there were other tooth fairy type stories out there. I homeschool my five children using a language arts style approach and this book would make a lovely addition to our book collection.
I am always looking for a good mentor text. Sounds like this is a must for my collection!
I love the idea of this book! As a writing teacher and a Spanish teacher, this is a great way to introduce the culture of the countries around us. I also really appreciated the comment about adverbs. I often struggle with helping my students add in those details, but more subtly that saying it right out. (Show-not-tell, for example.) What a treasure of a book! Thank you for sharing!
I love the fact that the author uses French in her book!!! I speak the language, and it's not often that you come across a book that uses uncommon French words. I can't wait to read this book and share it with my staff and students!!
This sounds like another book I buy for my Young 5's and end up sharing with the whole school!


Phoenix - The City of Phoenix is facing an unprecedented financial crisis created by overspending and out-of-control pension costs – topics that were front and center once again at today's City Council meeting where city professional staff laid out only two options to address the crisis that is already upon us: cut key services or raise taxes.
This, despite the City taking in record-high revenues in recent years.
In fact, Councilwoman Gallego and Mayor Stanton are so afraid of the probelms they have helped create that they even skipped the meeting. That's City of Phoenix leadership for you.
Sales tax, property tax, even the regressive food tax that Councilman DiCiccio successfully fought off are now back on the table - all because City staff refuses to rein in spending, awarding themselves perks, benefits, and fat salaries at the expense of the public.
Instead of a massive tax increase, or reductions to key services, Councilman DiCiccio has proposed a far less burdensome solution: cease all light rail expansion.
"We can get most of the way towards solving this problem, just by stopping the light rail expansion. Glendale already did it. They backed out of their part of the deal because it's a giant waste of money. We're going to spend billions of dollars – money we don't have – for a service that almost no one uses. We need to shelve our special interest-driven light rail expansion plans and focus on doing right by our citizens, instead.


f you're familiar with military time, you know that "zero8hundred" refers to eight o'clock in the morning, a time when those on a military base pause to salute the flag, signaling the start of a new day, a new chapter, and the opportunity to seize whatever lies ahead. Aptly named, zero8hundred, a fiscally sponsored project of Mission Edge, helps transitioning veterans start a new chapter in their lives with confidence, courage, and resources for success in the civilian sector.
Currently, the organization works with United States Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard veterans. The zero8hundred program is presented in mandatory on-base transition classes and transitioning service members can enroll for personalized support up to nine months before leaving the service, with services continuing for 12 months after separation. zero8hundred acts as a resource hub, connecting its clients (called VIPs) to best-fit resources offering support in several areas that contribute to overall self-sufficiency: employment/education, physical/mental health, personal connections and basic needs. Their certified social workers or Masters of Social Work interns act as "peer navigators" to guide transitioning vets toward the resources, programs and opportunities they need to succeed. Additionally, all navigators have lived military experience as veterans or military spouses or dependents, and recognize the importance of developing personal relationships with clients to provide individual, customized guidance.
In just over two years of existence, zero8hundred has blown their organizational goals out of the water. They have seen over 16,000 unique visitors to their online resource portal (they initially projected approximately 500 per year), and have provided personalized transition support to over 1,600 veterans and their families – far more than their original goal of 300 over two years.
zero8hundred was granted an unprecedented Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Navy, which allows access to thousands of transitioning military members in on-base classes each year. Agreements with the Marine Corps and Coast Guard followed.
There's no end in sight to what this organization will accomplish. They recently expanded into Orange County, and continue to explore supporting additional military branches and geographic areas.
Think your project might benefit from fiscal sponsorship? Fill out our interest form, and we'll contact you to learn more!


Krystoff ANTIER works in two separate workshops. One for the creation of oil paintings with a knife on linen canvas and the other for the realization of sandstone sculptures, the cooking of the works and the patina of the bronzes.
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Posts Tagged 'Jane Austen and Food'
Jane Austen and Food by Maggie Lane: A review
Posted in Book review, jane austen, Jane Austen Novels, Jane Austen's World, Regency Life, Regency Period, tagged Jane Austen and Food, Maggie Lane on February 24, 2014| 9 Comments »
Jane Austen and Food by Maggie Lane is not a cookbook with recipes, but a well-researched, highly informative, and entertaining historical discussion about food, mealtimes, manners, and housekeeping in the age of Jane Austen. Lane examines Austen's letters regarding food and drink, and how she uses both to define the characters in her novels.
Today, the Jane Austen and Food's hardcover edition, which was first published in 1995, can be purchased on Amazon in hardcover or paperback for $85 to $129! But the kindle edition from Endeavor Press is available for a mere $2.99 – and it contains the same content as the hardcover and paperback editions. (Keep in mind that kindle apps are available for those who do not own kindles. I have downloaded the book on my iPad and android devices, for example.)
Let me explain what a bargain you will be getting with the kindle version of Maggie Lane's thoroughly enjoyable and informative book. Jane Austen's treatment of food yields new insights in which she creates character and establishes her moral values in her novels:
In Steventon, the glebe lands (which added to about 3 acres) supplied the Rectory with pork, mutton, wheat, peas, barley, hops, and oats and hay for the horses. The surplus in produce contributed up to £300 per year to the Austen's income. They made their own mead and wines and preserved foods that were produced with foods in season. The only commodities that were purchased were expensive items like tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, spices, and dried fruits.
No gentleman, single or widowed, could run his own home. He depended upon a paid housekeeper to oversee his hearth for good dinners, or, like Mr Bingley, he required a sister to keep house for him. Mr. Rushworth depended upon his mother, while Mr. Collins was in need of a wife. When Mrs. Austen was kept away in 1770 for a month to look after her sister in childbirth, Mr. Austen wrote that "I must bear … [for] about three weeks longer, at which time I expect my housekeeper's return." Jane never took the responsibility of a household completely, although she assisted whenever she was needed. Composing for her was difficult during such times, and she wrote, "Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb."
In terms of food and its purchase, the Austen's move to Bath was a shock. Slow transportation changed the quality of the food that Jane and her family were accustomed to, and the very fact that they had to purchase all their produce made them anxious, for they had lost sources of revenue in the form of farm produce, pupils, and Reverend Austen's clerical stipend. Milk was of a poor quality due to the cows being kept in unhygienic barns, and food, purchased at the bakers, grocers, butchers, poulterers, and fishmongers was quite expensive. In addition, its cost fluctuated.
Mrs. Austen in particular never lost her love for working in a garden. She did so at Steventon and later at Chawton Cottage, where she dug up her own potatoes and delighted in her flower borders. According to one of her great-grand-daughters: "She wore a green round frock like a day-laborer's."
At Chawton Cottage, the Austen women were able to find their footing again, growing their own fruit and vegetables, rearing poultry, keeping bees, baking bread, and making wine and brewing beer. Villagers recalled in later years that their dog, Link, would carry home a pail of milk in his mouth. It must be emphasized that, although Jane Austen worried about financial security, she and her sister and mother were comfortable enough to eat well and, like Emma Woodhouse, to dispense charity to those less fortunate than themselves. If Jane envied others, it was for their freedom from perpetual contrivance. In the sale of her novels, she found some relief from such worry.
In later chapters, Maggie Lane describes the history of tea, coffee, and chocolate, and how these fashionable drinks were imbibed before and during Jane Austen's day. Austen herself only mentioned chocolate twice in her letters, but Mrs Austen during her visit to Stoneleigh Abbey wrote that their breakfast at her ancestral home consisted of "Chocolate Coffee and Tea, Plumb Cake, Pound Cake, Hot Rolls, Cold Rolls, brad and Butter, and dry toast for me."
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper are described, but Lane emphasizes that Jane barely mentions these daily events in her letters and novels. She gives scant details, especially as to the preferences of her heroines, most of whom are not concerned with the daily details of food. There are hints here and there in her novels: Willoughby takes porter at an inn during midday, and Frank Churchill imbibes spruce beer on a hot day at Donwell.
Dinner times are moved up as the Regency era progresses. In 1798, Jane writes to Cassandra that they dine at half after three, and by 1808, "we never dine now till five." This was a gradual shift in dinner-time that took place with most families during this era, although dinner in town (London) was taken fashionably later. In addition, dinners in the early 19th century were far less splendid than those in the latter part of the century. Edward Austen-Leigh noted that there was a "far less splendid appearance than it does now." By the time Jane wrote Mansfield Park, silver forks emerged, as well as napkins and finger glasses. In 1808 Jane wrote, "My mother has been lately adding to her possessions in plate – a whole tablespoon and a whole dessertspoon, and six whole teaspoons – which makes our sideboard border on the magnificent."
I could go on and on describing the enormous amount of information in this ebook. Lane goes on to discuss in great detail the attitudes towards food and domesticity in Northanger Abbey, Emma, and Mansfield Park – all of which excited this reader. The characters of Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Woodhouse, Mr. Grant, Mrs. Grant, Mrs. Norris, Mr. Price, and General Tilney are elaborated in great detail in their obsession (or not) with food and general housekeeping details.
Is Jane Austen and Food worth the cost of $2.99? Oh, yes. Definitely.!I paid so much more for my hardback copy several years ago and do not regret its purchase. I give this ebook a rating of 5 out of 5 Regency teacups.
Order: Jane Austen and Food, Endeavor Press eBook from Amazon Kindle: $2.99


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How to Grow and Shape a Pom Pom Tree
19-12-2012 studiogreen X
A pom pom tree is a topiary, a tree or plant that is pruned into different shapes. Pom pom refers to a rounded spherical shape similar to a cheerleader's pom pom or to the cut of a French poodle. There may be one or several spheres; the shapes are on a straight trunk. The standard is a pom pom that has one sphere. The tree or bush may also be shaped into round pom poms at the end of each branch. While roses are common flowering standards, junipers and other evergreens are good choices for nonflowering pom poms. Does this Spark an idea?
Select a juniper that has straight trunk, is bushy and is about 6 feet tall. Plant it in a pot that is located in full sun. Move the pot to its final position before filling it with potting soil and planting the juniper. Water well.
Sharpen the pruners so they cut cleanly through the branches rather than chewing them. Wipe them off between cuts if they get sticky with sap.
Remove lateral branches from the lower 3 feet of the trunk by clipping them as close to the trunk as possible. You now have an odd-looking juniper that is most probably pointed at the top with three feet of naked trunk at the bottom.
Clip 8 inches off the top of the bush.
Place the half circle plywood guide against the north side of the trunk of the tree and follow its shape as you prune the first quarter of the tree. Cut off any branches or needles that are outside the shape of the circle.
Move the half circle to the east side of the trunk and remove branches that are outside the half circle guide. Move the half circle to the south side and then the north side, clipping as you go. In most cases, this will result in a rough circle. The tree needs to fill in the gaps in the circle, and it will over time.
Every three months, trim new growth so it stays inside the circular shape. Fertilize the tree during the growing season with a slow-release fertilizer per package directions. Keep watered. Test the soil by digging with a shovel. If the potting soil is dry to a depth of six inches, it's time to water.
Tips & Warnings
If the pot receives shade for any part of the day, the tree will grow more vigorously on the side that receives the most sun. Give the pot a quarter turn the first of every month so it grows evenly.
Clip slowly and a little at a time. If you make a mistake by taking off too much, it will take a while to grow back.
How to Grow and Shape a Pom Pom Tree December 19, 2012
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The Digital Media Solutions agency, Amaze Digital, earlier revamped the Lexus GB's website to bolster its edge in the online marketing realm. The sub-site, available within www.lexus.co.uk, is expected to raise the company's share of the fleet car market.
The revamp concentrates on empowering fleet managers and educating users. The redesign coincides with Lexus' ongoing launch of new models such as the such as the IS 220d diesel, RX 400h Hybrid and the GS 450h Hybrid and the LS 600h Hybrid which will appeal to fleet managers, contract hire and leasing companies, and company car drivers.
The new sub-site, built on Tridion's R5, is designed to offer fleet customers with information on the automaker's new range of cars, auto parts like the , comprehensive information on taxation and running costs. The sub-site features a series of customer-orientated sections that have a noticeably defined user journey, catering for individuals' needs including understanding government policy on cash allowances as well as information on whole life costs.
Compared with other automakers, Lexus' new sub-site features a model comparison tool which is powered by Jato, a leading supplier of automotive market intelligence. This feature allows users to compare their ideal Lexus against other automakers' model at a comparative specification. This fact reinforces Lexus' confidence in its power lineup. Additionally, this approach is said to appeal to the fleet market. ComCar, a supplier of online automotive tools, has provided a cross-competitor carbon dioxide calculator and a whole life costs calculator.
What is more, the section also sports a wide-ranging news and event section penned by industry specialist Ashley Martin, the ex-editor of Fleet News. The news and events section ensures that site visitors are kept up to date on a range of topics involving the fleet industry like changes in government legislation.
"Lexus is perfectly positioned to capture a larger share of the company car market. It now offers the world's largest range of hybrid cars designed to deliver high performance whilst reducing emissions and improving fuel economy. This website will help educate fleet operators and company car drivers about the financial benefits of low emission vehicles and help them make sound practical decisions using the interactive tools," noted Natalie Gross, the General Manager, Digital Marketing, Amaze Digital.
"As part of our long-term relationship with Amaze Digital we have delivered a truly unique and powerful company cars section that reflects Lexus' dedication to both our interactive strategy and the fleet Industry. This section brings new standards to manufactures fleet communications and is truly befitting a premium and innovative brand such as Lexus," noted Matt Button, the manager of Database Marketing for the Lexus GB.
Earlier, Amaze Digital won the Best Digital Brand Development category at this year's Big Chip Awards. The prestigious award-giving body acknowledges innovation in the digital industry in the North West. Amaze Digital was awarded the accolade for its work with Toyota Motor Corp. at its futuristic Le Rendez-Vous showroom on the Champs Elysee in Paris.
"Through our in-depth understanding of Toyota's core messages of quality, design and innovation, we have been able to create a fantastic showcase arena for one of the world's leading car brands," explained Natalie Gross, General Manager - Digital Marketing, Amaze Digital. "It's fantastic that the project's success has been recognized by the North West's most prestigious digital award."
Amaze Digital has developed and mounted interactive touch-screen units at the Champs-Elysee showroom to showcase the Japanese automaker's concept cars and new product lines as well as its involvement in Formula One. By encouraging visitors to interact with the digital displays, customers can explore the offers of the Japanese automaker in a creative and brand-enhancing manner.


We found Dakota and Benton to be fun to deal with and very helpful. They did not have the exact vehicle we were looking for but benton found it and they could have it in a day. They offered us a good and fair deal without being pushy and aggressive. I can't remember enjoying dealing with a car dealership so much. We were laughing and exchanging kid stories the whole time. It was like dealing with good friends. We have purchased from Sheridan Motors several times before, but never enjoyed the experience as much as this time.