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The Jazz Process: Tools and Processes Won't Save You
By Adrian Cho
Many organizations and 'business experts' place their greatest trust in the least important of all their assets. Powerful tools and appropriate methodologies may be crucial, but they're essentially worthless without the most important asset of all: people. Adrian Cho, author of The Jazz Process: Collaboration, Innovation, and Agility, points out why skilled people belong on the top of the list of your requirements and assets.
From the author of 
From the author of
Jazz Process, The: Collaboration, Innovation, and Agility
From the author of 
People, Tools, and Processes
Any attempt to complete a complex or large-scale task requires two basic ingredients: skilled people, and a plan or method for doing the work. Some tasks require a third ingredient in the form of tools. Let's consider some examples:
Musicians in a band must be skilled at playing an instrument. Notated musical parts provide the method for their work, and musical instruments are their tools. There are a number of variations on this theme. Singers performing a capella have no need for external instruments, but instead employ their voices as tools. Musicians have no need for sheet music if they're performing from memory, but there is still a method to what they play. Even if they're freely improvising without reference to any specific melody, musicians begin with an initial intent to play without any predetermined key, tempo, or groove. As they proceed through their performance, a plan invariably begins to develop. A musician plays a rhythm or a melodic idea and another musician follows with a response—perhaps an imitation of the idea or something completely contrasting.
Basketball players must be skilled in handling the ball. A strategy of game plays act as a plan, while a basketball court, a basketball, and the right shoes and uniforms are the tools.
Soldiers must be skilled in the use of weapons and various military tactics. The process takes the form of battle plans and orders to execute the plans, while various types of military hardware serve as the tools for carrying out the work.
Software developers working together on a project must be skilled in designing, writing and testing software. They must follow a methodology or process and a project plan and employ a variety of software tools such as work management applications for tracking feature requests, defects, and other work efforts, programs for managing the configuration and history of source code and programs for compiling source code into executable code.
Sometimes a team fails in its attempt to reach a goal, or its performance is lackluster. Areas for improvement must be identified to avoid repeating failure or to improve future performances. Of the people, processes, and tools, usually the tools and processes receive the most attention. Tools tend to be highly commoditized, and it can be an easy decision to acquire different tools and direct a team to begin using them. Some tools, such as open source software tools, may be acquired with little or no outlay of funds. The true cost may not be readily apparent, however, as additional overhead from training, support, and maintenance may be required. Establishing a dependency on proprietary tools may prove expensive in the future if the vendor goes out of business or fails to maintain the tools to meet your requirements.
While not as highly commoditized as tools, processes are just as widely promoted as panaceas and performance enhancements. It used to be the case that vendors sold tools and consultants pushed services to facilitate the adoption of processes or to ensure compliance. Today, vendors tout tools that support particular methodologies; and, while consultants are still able to hawk training services, the wealth of knowledge on the Internet and in books has empowered organizations to educate themselves like never before.
There's no doubt that the right tools and processes can make a big difference, but they can't save a team of underperformers from themselves. Much can be learned from the way in which projects and teams are managed in the upper echelons of the military and the arts. While these two fields seem poles apart, military and artistic teams frequently are required to deliver unique, high-quality performances under challenging conditions. Their leaders know that the key to staffing high-performance teams lies in employing the best people.
Colonel John Boyd was a military legend, known in the late 1950s as the finest fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He developed many important theories of execution that have led some to proclaim him as the greatest military strategist since Sun Tzu. His ideas are now frequently mentioned in business circles. Boyd understood the importance of military hardware as tools. His Energy-Maneuverability theory was highly influential on aircraft designers and initiated critical improvements in the design of the F-15 Eagle. He is often called the father of the highly successful F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Hornet combat fighters. Boyd also understood the importance of following orders and employing various tactics in the sky. He was one of the first instructors at the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where he wrote the curriculum on dogfight tactics. Yet, despite his appreciation for tools and processes, Boyd was fond of proclaiming, "People, ideas, hardware—in that order," [1] extolling his belief in people as the most important variable in the equation of execution.
The U.S. military Special Operations Forces (SOF) may be the best-equipped fighting force in the world, but even with access to superior hardware, they realize that their most critical success factor is not technology, but people. This basic principle is encoded in four rules, known as the "SOF Truths." Gen. David Baratto, the first chief of operations of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), defined the first of these truths as "Humans are more important than hardware." Linda Robinson, author of Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces, noted that the SOF "view the individual soldier and his brain as the key factor in the fight." [2] Gen. Wayne Downing described the philosophy in his foreword to Special Operations Forces: Roles and Missions in the Aftermath of the Cold War: [3]
As USSOCOM moves into the 21st century, we have formulated a strategic plan. We must continue to evolve to meet the changing security environment. The most important factor in this evolution is people. Indeed, the most important component of success in all our missions is the people we commit to them. We are continually seeking new and innovative ways to select the right people, to train them thoroughly, and to develop them professionally throughout their career. We know that the best equipment in the world without the right person operating it will not accomplish the mission. On the other hand, the right person will find a way to succeed with almost any equipment available.
Jazz musicians know the importance of talent versus practiced routines and expensive instruments and gear. An established group of mediocre musicians is no match for a team of great musicians—even if those virtuosos are working together for the first time. The mediocre musicians performing packaged material, and therefore relying largely on process, might be able to dazzle with a handful of well-rehearsed tunes, but give them something new or unexpected, and their weaknesses will be revealed.
Identify Individuality
Military and artistic leaders know that the key to people-based success lies in identifying and maximizing individuality, not suppressing or ignoring it. The individual outliers are most likely to provide creative solutions to tough problems or to help a team in developing a unique offering. In the past, businesses tended to seek abstract thinkers and people in "creative" disciplines such as marketing. In truth, all disciplines can benefit from strong individuals with creative talents. In his book A Whole New Mind, Daniel H. Pink explains how creative thinkers will dominate the future. [4] In the quest to reduce costs and leverage the global workplace, companies are moving more work to regions where intellectual labor is cheaper.
The message is clear: If you want to be in demand, you need to be right brain–enabled. In his book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, business author Seth Godin proclaims that one of the ways to establish yourself as an indispensable resource in an organization is to deliver unique creativity. [5]
In jazz, individuality is highly prized not only for the personal creativity expressed in improvisation, but for the ability to play a critical role without backup. Even in large jazz ensembles such as a jazz orchestra, there is very little "doubling" or redundancy in parts. Every musician plays a unique and crucial role. This approach differs from that of a symphony orchestra, in which many musicians may play the same first violin or cello part. In small SOF teams, soldiers typically play unique roles, specializing in certain disciplines. SOF teams must be highly independent and self-reliant, as they often operate deep in enemy territory with limited or no support. In many cases, the government may deny their mission, or even their existence, if they are captured.
Stay Lean
In software development, most people are familiar with Fred Brooks' law, "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." This rule comes from Brooks' classic 1975 book, The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering. [6] While adding more people can indeed delay a project's delivery, the greater cost is the detrimental effect on a team or organization's agility. Col. John Boyd, whose theories were rooted in agility (in aerial combat as well as more generally), studied the tactics of the German Blitzkrieg. There is a myth that the use of Blitzkrieg by German forces during World War II was based on a strategy of repeated "shock and awe" tactics through the use of overwhelming force such as the armored divisions of the German Panzerwaffe. Military historian Julian Jackson has observed that newsreels portrayed the German army as a mechanized juggernaut—when, in fact, the German army had 3,350 tanks and 650,000 horses when it attacked the Russians in 1941. [7] The truth is that Blitzkrieg, which is German for "lightning war," was all about speed and mobility. It was the German general Hans von Seeckt who realized the importance of agility, writing "The mass cannot maneuver, therefore it cannot win." [8]
When focusing on people, it's easy to fall into the trap of "bulking up" in the pursuit of greater performance. SOF leaders know that this is a mistake; while there may be an advantage gained by greater numbers, it comes at the expense of organizational agility. Think of the second of the SOF Truths, "Quality is better than quantity," and the third, "Special Operations Forces cannot be mass-produced." When teams are staffed with quality over quantity in mind, they can be both skilled and lean. This means that they can achieve better results with more unique and creative solutions, and can also respond more readily to unforeseen problems.
Get Your Priorities Straight
In the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, the very first statement declares the value of "individuals and interactions over processes and tools." Yet this rule seems to be lost on many people, who obsess over such details as whether people should be allowed to sit in daily "stand-up meetings," the optimal sprint cycle length, or even whether a specific aspect of the team's process qualifies them as official users of a particular methodology. Such details may be worth time, but only if a team can first claim to have skilled and experienced individuals who are dedicated to accomplishing their team's goals. Furthermore, these people must have trust and respect for one another, commitment for their team and its projects, and passion for their work. They must be willing to take the initiative, performing and interacting with others in an open and transparent manner, being mindful not only of the value that their efforts bring to the team, but also of the cost and the impact of such efforts. They also must be willing to exchange ideas and take calculated risks.
If you really want to succeed, find the best people and manage them as a team of individuals, recognizing their personal strengths and weaknesses. When pursuing greater performance, seek and develop better people, instead of just adding more people. By all means, help your teams to be successful by equipping them with the right tools and processes, but don't kid yourself by thinking that those things alone will save weak teams from failure.
[1] Coram, Robert. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War. Little, Brown and Company, 2002: 354.
[2] Robinson, Linda. Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces. PublicAffairs, 2004: 114.
[3] Downing, Wayne A., Richard H. Schultz, Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, and W. Bradley Stock. Special Operations Forces: Roles and Missions in the Aftermath of the Cold War. Diane Publishing Co., 1996: 3.
[4] Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind. Riverhead, 2005.
[5] Godin, Seth. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Portfolio Hardcover, 2010.
[6] Brooks, Frederick. The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering. Addison-Wesley, 1975.
[7] Jackson, Julian. The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940. Oxford University Press, 2004: 218.
[8] Citino, Robert M. The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920–1939. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999: 9.
Clean Agile: Back to Basics
By Robert C. Martin
Behavior-Driven Development with Cucumber: Better Collaboration for Better Software
By Richard Lawrence, Paul Rayner


Freedom Rockz: Caution, Good Sense of Humor Needed to Watch This!
Caution, Good Sense of Humor Needed to Watch This!
This just goes to show you should never assume what the next words in a song will be lol. I am still laughing! Oh my gosh this is so funny! Have a great day everyone!


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Q: Custom trained Object Detection model, can't read predicted TensorflowJS tensors array elements in ReactJS app I succeed to train and convert object detection tensorflow saved model to tensorflowJS on my custom data using this post https://blog.tensorflow.org/2021/01/custom-object-detection-in-browser.html , this notebook https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1MdzgmdYJk947sXyls45V7auMPttHelBZ?usp=sharing and using this raactJS app template https://github.com/hugozanini/TFJS-object-detection , but can not figure out tensorflowJS model's predicted tensor array elements to draw squares on video window in react app in JS, got below issue.
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1MdzgmdYJk947sXyls45V7auMPttHelBZ?usp=sharing
I can't understand and read the array output of TensorflowJS model, so can not use it to display result.
In prediction section of the below function, how to know which prediction tensor array element is for boxes, scores or classes?
renderPredictions = predictions => {
    const ctx = this.canvasRef.current.getContext("2d");
    ctx.clearRect(0, 0, ctx.canvas.width, ctx.canvas.height);

    // Font options.
    const font = "16px sans-serif";
    ctx.font = font;
    ctx.textBaseline = "top";

    //Getting predictions
    //HERE how to know which prediction element is for boxes, scores or classes?
    const boxes = predictions[4].arraySync();
    const scores = predictions[5].arraySync();
    const classes = predictions[6].dataSync();
    const detections = this.buildDetectedObjects(scores, threshold,
                                    boxes, classes, classesDir);

    detections.forEach(item => {
      const x = item['bbox'][0];
      const y = item['bbox'][1];
      const width = item['bbox'][2];
      const height = item['bbox'][3];

      // Draw the bounding box.
      ctx.strokeStyle = "#00FFFF";
      ctx.lineWidth = 4;
      ctx.strokeRect(x, y, width, height);

      // Draw the label background.
      ctx.fillStyle = "#00FFFF";
      const textWidth = ctx.measureText(item["label"] + " " + (100 * item["score"]).toFixed(2) + "%").width;
      const textHeight = parseInt(font, 10); // base 10
      ctx.fillRect(x, y, textWidth + 4, textHeight + 4);
    });

Output of predictions variable - All root elements and it's child elements expanded:
predictions.forEach(i=>{console.log(i.arraySync())})
Element 0:
[100]
0: 100
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 1:
[Array(100)]
0: Array(100)
0: 1878
1: 1851
2: 1021
3: 1520
4: 1015
5: 1214
6: 1576
7: 973
.
.
.
99: 164
length: 100
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 2:
[Array(100)]
0: Array(100)
0: 0.32437506318092346
1: 0.301730751991272
2: 0.29111218452453613
3: 0.28852424025535583
4: 0.270997017621994
5: 0.2643387019634247
6: 0.26040562987327576
7: 0.26039886474609375
8: 0.25926679372787476
.
.
.
99: 0.07848591357469559
length: 100
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 3:
[Array(1917)]
0: Array(1917)
[0 … 99]
[100 … 199]
[200 … 299]
[300 … 399]
[400 … 499]
[500 … 599]
[600 … 699]
[700 … 799]
[800 … 899]
[900 … 999]
[1000 … 1099]
[1100 … 1199]
[1200 … 1299]
[1300 … 1399]
[1400 … 1499]
[1500 … 1599]
[1600 … 1699]
[1700 … 1799]
[1800 … 1899]
[1900 … 1916]
length: 1917
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 4:
[Array(1917)]
0: Array(1917)
[0 … 99]
[100 … 199]
[200 … 299]
[300 … 399]
[400 … 499]
[500 … 599]
[600 … 699]
[700 … 799]
[800 … 899]
[900 … 999]
[1000 … 1099]
[1100 … 1199]
[1200 … 1299]
[1300 … 1399]
[1400 … 1499]
[1500 … 1599]
[1600 … 1699]
[1700 … 1799]
[1800 … 1899]
[1900 … 1916]
length: 1917
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 5:
[Array(100)]
0: Array(100)
0: (4) [0.6603810787200928, 0.05048862099647522, 1, 0.9434524774551392]
1: (4) [0.23983880877494812, 0, 0.8556625843048096, 0.4294479489326477]
2: (4) [0.8396192789077759, 0.7738925218582153, 1, 1]
3: (4) [0.5717893242835999, 0, 0.9534353613853455, 0.4774531126022339]
4: (4) [0.8307931423187256, 0.6522707939147949, 1, 0.9869933128356934]
5: (4) [0.05821444094181061, 0, 0.4731786847114563, 0.372313916683197]
6: (4) [0.7183740139007568, 0, 0.9927113056182861, 0.49393266439437866]
7: (4) [0.8234801888465881, 0, 1, 0.22610855102539062]
8: (4) [0.8305549621582031, 0.022644445300102234, 1, 0.363572359085083]
9: (4) [0.830806314945221, 0.12703362107276917, 1, 0.46965447068214417]
10: (4) [0.8307640552520752, 0.5480412244796753, 1, 0.8905272483825684]
11: (4) [0.8307292461395264, 0.2323085516691208, 1, 0.5748147368431091]
12: (4) [0.8307291269302368, 0.44283488392829895, 1, 0.7853409051895142]
.
.
.
99: (4) [0.02437518537044525, 0.7758948802947998, 0.2996327877044678, 0.9475241899490356]
length: 100
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 6:
[Array(100)]
0: Array(100)
0: (2) [0.008746352046728134, 0.32437506318092346]
1: (2) [0.008580721914768219, 0.301730751991272]
2: (2) [0.0071436576545238495, 0.29111218452453613]
3: (2) [0.00598490796983242, 0.28852424025535583]
4: (2) [0.0071937208995223045, 0.270997017621994]
5: (2) [0.005746915470808744, 0.2643387019634247]
6: (2) [0.005973200313746929, 0.26040562987327576]
7: (2) [0.007103783078491688, 0.26039886474609375]
8: (2) [0.007148009724915028, 0.25926679372787476]
.
.
.
99: (2) [0.005199342034757137, 0.07848591357469559]
length: 100
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Element 7:
[Array(100)]
0: Array(100)
0: 1
1: 1
2: 1
3: 1
4: 1
5: 1
6: 1
7: 1
8: 1
9: 1
.
.
.
99: 1
length: 100
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)
length: 1
[[Prototype]]: Array(0)

Full js code below
import React from "react";
import ReactDOM from "react-dom";
import * as tf from '@tensorflow/tfjs';
import {loadGraphModel} from '@tensorflow/tfjs-converter';
import "./styles.css";
tf.setBackend('webgl');

const threshold = 0.75;

async function load_model() {
    // It's possible to load the model locally or from a repo
    // You can choose whatever IP and PORT you want in the "http://127.0.0.1:8080/model.json" just set it before in your https server
    const model = await loadGraphModel("http://127.0.0.1:8080/model.json");
    //const model = await loadGraphModel("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hugozanini/TFJS-object-detection/master/models/kangaroo-detector/model.json");
    return model;
  }

let classesDir = {
    0: {
        name: 'connection',
        id: 0
    }
}

class App extends React.Component {
  videoRef = React.createRef();
  canvasRef = React.createRef();

  componentDidMount() {
    if (navigator.mediaDevices && navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia) {
      const webCamPromise = navigator.mediaDevices
        .getUserMedia({
          audio: false,
          video: {
            facingMode: "user"
          }
        })
        .then(stream => {
          window.stream = stream;
          this.videoRef.current.srcObject = stream;
          return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
            this.videoRef.current.onloadedmetadata = () => {
              resolve();
            };
          });
        });

      const modelPromise = load_model();

      Promise.all([modelPromise, webCamPromise])
        .then(values => {
          this.detectFrame(this.videoRef.current, values[0]);
        })
        .catch(error => {
          console.error(error);
        });
    }
  }

    detectFrame = (video, model) => {
        tf.engine().startScope();
        model.executeAsync(this.process_input(video)).then(predictions => {
        this.renderPredictions(predictions, video);
        requestAnimationFrame(() => {
          this.detectFrame(video, model);
        });
        tf.engine().endScope();
      });
  };

  process_input(video_frame){
    const tfimg = tf.browser.fromPixels(video_frame).toInt();
    const expandedimg = tfimg.transpose([0,1,2]).expandDims();
    return expandedimg;
  };

  buildDetectedObjects(scores, threshold, boxes, classes, classesDir) {
    const detectionObjects = []
    var video_frame = document.getElementById('frame');

    scores.forEach((score, i) => {
      if (score > threshold) {
        const bbox = [];
        const minY = boxes[0][i][0] * video_frame.offsetHeight;
        const minX = boxes[0][i][1] * video_frame.offsetWidth;
        const maxY = boxes[0][i][2] * video_frame.offsetHeight;
        const maxX = boxes[0][i][3] * video_frame.offsetWidth;
        bbox[0] = minX;
        bbox[1] = minY;
        bbox[2] = maxX - minX;
        bbox[3] = maxY - minY;
        detectionObjects.push({
          class: classes[i],
          label: classesDir[classes[i]].name,
          score: score.toFixed(4),
          bbox: bbox
        })
      }
    })
    return detectionObjects
  }

  renderPredictions = predictions => {
    const ctx = this.canvasRef.current.getContext("2d");
    ctx.clearRect(0, 0, ctx.canvas.width, ctx.canvas.height);

    // Font options.
    const font = "16px sans-serif";
    ctx.font = font;
    ctx.textBaseline = "top";

    //Getting predictions
    // HERE how to know which prediction element is for boxes, scores or classes?
    const boxes = predictions[4].arraySync();
    const scores = predictions[5].arraySync();
    const classes = predictions[6].dataSync();
    const detections = this.buildDetectedObjects(scores, threshold,
                                    boxes, classes, classesDir);

    detections.forEach(item => {
      const x = item['bbox'][0];
      const y = item['bbox'][1];
      const width = item['bbox'][2];
      const height = item['bbox'][3];

      // Draw the bounding box.
      ctx.strokeStyle = "#00FFFF";
      ctx.lineWidth = 4;
      ctx.strokeRect(x, y, width, height);

      // Draw the label background.
      ctx.fillStyle = "#00FFFF";
      const textWidth = ctx.measureText(item["label"] + " " + (100 * item["score"]).toFixed(2) + "%").width;
      const textHeight = parseInt(font, 10); // base 10
      ctx.fillRect(x, y, textWidth + 4, textHeight + 4);
    });

    detections.forEach(item => {
      const x = item['bbox'][0];
      const y = item['bbox'][1];

      // Draw the text last to ensure it's on top.
      ctx.fillStyle = "#000000";
      ctx.fillText(item["label"] + " " + (100*item["score"]).toFixed(2) + "%", x, y);
    });
  };

  render() {
    return (

Real-Time Object Detection

MobileNetV2

        <video
          style={{height: '600px', width: "500px"}}
          className="size"
          autoPlay
          playsInline
          muted
          ref={this.videoRef}
          width="600"
          height="500"
          id="frame"
        />
        <canvas
          className="size"
          ref={this.canvasRef}
          width="600"
          height="500"
        />

    );
  }
}

const rootElement = document.getElementById("root");
ReactDOM.render(<App />, rootElement);

Thanks

A: It will depend on how you labeled your data, but usually, it is something like an array, containing in each element:
x_center,y_center,height,width,class,score

or
x0,y0,xf,yf,class,score
(being x0,y0 the left upper corner and xf,yf right bottom corners of bounding box)

in any case, you will have to multiply by:
(x0,xf,x_center etc..)*runtime_image_width
(y0,yf,y_center etc..)*runtime_image_height

as predicted positions are relative to proportion of the image and not in absolute pixel values
long story short: you will have to either test different combinations or presume that it will follow exactly labeled format. But the example you gave is pretty straightforward on:
const boxes = predictions[4].arraySync();
const scores = predictions[5].arraySync();
const classes = predictions[6].dataSync();

A: @guinther-kovalski
I figured it out by looking at the shapes and sizes of the tensors and by looking at the detection squares drawn on display:
const boxes = predictions[2].arraySync();
const scores = predictions[7].arraySync();
const classes = predictions[1].dataSync();

but how to figure it out only by reading these output tensors. Is there anyway we can make these tensors human readable?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The Fed meets this next week to decide how much they will buy of Treasury notes and other assets to help spur the US economy. The Fed is planning on taking action to help create momentum in the US economy and to promote growth. When people stop buying and selling and start saving, the economy slows and growth is minimal. Manufacturing slows when people stop buying products, which then causes people to become unemployed and the cycle of a recession continues. In a time period when home owners are losing their houses and jobs at record breaking numbers, its imperative for the Fed to act.
The goal: drive up the prices of long-term bonds, which pushes down yields. That, in turn, pulls down rates on mortgages and other loans, spurring consumers to buy homes and cars, and businesses to invest and hire workers as noted by Paul Davidson.
What does this have to do with interest rates? If the Fed buys up Bonds and other assets it will spur banks to start lending more of their cash. Both banks and corporations are sitting on loads of cash which can be used to lend to buyers and to create jobs. If banks are more willing to lend money, people will be able to buy houses, refinance their current one and buy other larger purchases such as car, all promoting growth. Interest rates will drop, mortgage rates will drop, making it easier for people to get into a house with a low payment. If people have more cash to spend, rather than save or put it into a house that's about to go into foreclosure, then the buying of products and new merchandise can spur the economy into growth and lower unemployment.
It will take a few months to see how this decision will affect CD rates. If banks decide to lend out more money, the low interest they charge will keep CD rates low. A certificate of deposit is a loan to a bank which the bank then turns it around and lends it out to a customer with a small interest rate behind it. Whatever the bank earns, they turn that around and pay out a small portion to the lender. The reason why the Fed's meeting November 3-4th is so important is because if they do end up buying billions of dollars worth of US Bonds, then the interest rates on everything will fall as well. Mortgage rates will decrease to further record lows, which is great for the borrower, but bad for the saver. Be sure to keep an eye on our CD rates board to see if rates begin to decrease or increase.


The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the newest Smithsonian museum and occupies the last building site on the National Mall. The building is wrapped in 3,600 bronze-finish decorative panels which form a corona inspired by the three-tiered crowns used in Yoruban art from West Africa. The lighting is designed to be in balance with the other prominent and iconic buildings. The challenge was to develop a design that captured the dignity of the building and its prominent location while being responsible to the budget and environment.
Below the corona, visitors enter the museum through a grand "porch" at the south side of the building (National Mall) while a secondary entrance is provided on the north side (Constitution Ave.). The Central Hall is the primary public space within the building and the point of orientation to the museum's offerings.
The exterior illumination of the museum strikes a studied balance on the site between the White House and the Washington Monument by creating a soft lantern effect across the bronze façade. The predominant light source throughout the project is LED, which helps to make this the most efficient and sustainable building on the Mall.
Congratulations to the winners of the AIA NY 2018 Design Awards!


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Tag: Bishop Arri Kugappi
Ingrian Lutherans consecrate new bishop
Posted on 19 February 2020 by Mathew Block
The consecration of Bishop Ivan Laptev as head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria. (ELCI Media).
RUSSIA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (ELCI) consecrated its new bishop, Rev. Ivan Laptev, at St. Mary Cathedral in St. Petersburg on February 9, 2020. Rev. Laptev was elected bishop during the church's synod in October 2019.
Bishop Laptev.
Participating in the service of ordination were the ELCI's outgoing Bishop Arri Kugappi, who this month reached the church's canonical age of retirement; Archbishop Jānis Vanags of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia; Bishop Vsevold Lytkin of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church; Bishop Tiit Salumäe of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia's West and Northern Region; Bishop Seppo Hyakkinen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland's Mikkeli Diocese; and the ELCI's Chief Secretary Mikhail Ivannon.
Rev. Ivanov served as liturgist for the event, with Bishop Elect Laptev preaching. His sermon was based on Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Prior to the consecration, Bishop Kugappi called on his successor to remember the example of their predecessors and to stand firm on God's Word even during times of persecution.
A number of ecumenical guests were present for the event, including General Secretary Timothy Quill of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). Following the service, Dr. Quill brought greetings on behalf of the ILC and its member churches, congratulating Bishop Laptev on his elevation to the bishopric. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a member church of the ILC.
Rev. Timothy Quill with translator Alexey Zubstov brings greetings from the International Lutheran Council.
Quoting from St. Paul's writings to Timothy, Dr. Quill encouraged Bishop Laptev: "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:1-2). Dr. Quill said he looked forward to continued cooperation between the ILC and ELCI as they "work together and pray together for the strengthening of confessional Lutheranism throughout the world."
Other ecumenical guests included representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Almaty. A number of other churches who were unable to be present for the event sent letters of greetings marking the event.
The evening before the installation of Bishop Laptev, a special service was held in St. Mary Cathedral to mark the service of Bishop Arri Kugappi. The event featured several of Bishop Kugappi's favourite hymns, a presentation of historical photographs, and refreshments after the service. Those wishing to honour Bishop Kugappi's service to the church were invited to make a donation to the Theological Institute of the Church of Ingria.
Photos by Liliann Keskinen and Heikki Jaskelyainen via ELCI media.
Posted in FeaturedBishop Arri Kugappi Bishop Ivan Laptev ELCI Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria ILC Internatioanl Lutheran Council
Ingrian Lutherans in Russia elect new bishop
Posted on 24 October 2019 by Mathew Block
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria holds its 30th Synod in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Photo: ELCI News, Liliann Keskinen).
Bishop Elect Ivan Laptev.
RUSSIA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (ELCI) in Russia elected Rev. Ivan Laptev to be their new bishop during the church's 30th Synod held October 18-19, 2019 at St. Mary Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Rev. Laptev will be installed as bishop on February 9, 2020.
Rev. Laptev was elected on the second ballot, receiving 48 votes out of the total 80 ballots cast. Other candidates for bishop who had allowed their names to stand were Rev. Olav Panchu, Rev. Mikhail Ivanov, and Rev. Ivan Hutter.
Rev. Laptev, born in 1979, is rector of the Theological Institute of the Church of Ingria. He further serves as head pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Gubanitsy and as pastor of St. George's Church in Koltushi. All candidates for the position of bishop were required to have served at least ten years in the Church of Ingria; to have higher theological education; to have a good reputation; and to be no less than 35 years of age.
Bishop Arri Kugappi.
Rev. Ivan Laptev will succeed Bishop Arri Kugappi, who is soon to reach the ELCI's canonical age of retirement; synodical statutes require the bishop to retire no later than 67 years of age, which Bishop Kugappi will reach in February 2020. Bishop Kugappi was ordained as bishop in 1996. From 1993-1995, he served as Bishop' Vicar. He was ordained a deacon in 1990 and a pastor in 1992.
The ELCI's 2018 synodical gathering had voted to make an exception in the case of Bishop Kugappi to allow hm to serve until seventy years of age. However, constitutional difficulties became apparent thereafter and so Bishop Kugappi advised the Synodical Council that he would leave the episcopal ministry in February 2020 as originally called for in church bylaws.
In the run-up to the election, the church met at St. Mary Cathedral in St. Petersburg for an Extraordinary Meeting of the Synod on September 14, 2019 to consider and approve amendments to church law.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a member church of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran churches.
Posted in FeaturedBishop Arri Kugappi ELCI Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria ILC Ivan Laptev Russia
Russian and Norwegian Lutherans declare fellowship
Posted on 16 March 2017 16 March 2017 by Mathew Block
ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi and LKN Provisional Bishop Torkild Masvie.
RUSSIA – On January 18, 2017 the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) and The Lutheran Church in Norway (LKN) entered into church fellowship.
The decision came following talks in St. Petersburg between ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi and LKN Provisional Bishop Torkild Masvie. Also participating in the talks were senior advisors from both church bodies.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia and The Lutheran Church in Norway are both members of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.
Posted in UncategorizedBishop Arri Kugappi Bishop Torkild Masvie ELCIR Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia ILC International Lutheran Council LKN The Lutheran Church in Norway
ILC member churches in Russia strengthen ties
Posted on 12 November 2015 17 February 2016 by Mathew Block
Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELC) Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) Bishop Arri Kugappi.
by Rev. Alexey Streltsov
RUSSIA – In this time of disintegration of institutional Christianity in the countries of the developed world, it is noteworthy when the opposite trends mark the desire of confessional Lutheran Christians to abide in the unity of faith and love.
There was a time when the Lutheran Church of the old Russian Empire constituted one of the major Lutheran Churches worldwide. Well-known events of the communist revolution and atheistic purges of the 20th century have tragically changed the course of Christianity in that part of the world. Lutheranism in today's Russia is relatively small and insignificant, only a shadow of what it once has been. However, even now the Lutherans in Russia trace their origin and history to that old Imperial Church. A sense of history is important for the Russian Lutherans. Along with that those Lutherans who are serious about their confessional subscription to the Holy Scripture and the Book of Concord naturally tend to not be in isolation from each other.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) and the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELC) are two voices of the confessional Lutheran movement in Russia today. These are two sister churches and share certain parts of their history. The Ingrian Church is the older of the two, with some of her parishes dating back to the early 17th century. Being in origin a church focused mostly on serving ethnic Finns on the territory of Ingria (Ingermanland), the ECLIR has grown today to combine Finnish Ingrian tradition with an appeal to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. SELC, which formerly was a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Estonia, has included people of various cultures from the beginning.
SELC Bishop Lytkin and ELCIR Bishop Kugappi serve as communion celebrants together.
SELC Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin and SELC Seminary Rector Alexey Streltsov recently visited the General Synod of ELCIR in October, the first such General Synod visit in 18 years. There has been remarkable progress in relationships between the two churches in recent years. Bishop Lytkin shared in the Eucharistic celebration with ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi at St Mary's Church in St Petersburg, and preached for the service. Earlier this year, Rev. Alexey Streltsov preached at the service in the Moscow ELCIR parish of St. Peter and Paul in April and at Christ the Savior parish in Novosibirsk in November of this year.
Plans are being made for a joint seminar in spring of 2016 between the clergy of the Siberian deanery of ELCIR and SELC clergy. While instructor of the ELCIR Theological Institute, Dr. Sergey Isaev has been coming to the Theological Seminary of SELC in Novosibirsk for a number of years. And now, for the first time, Novosibirsk lecturers are scheduled to teach in Koltushy in 2016. ELCIR students residing in Siberia are likely to enroll at the seminary in Novosibirsk for the 2016-17 Academic year.
In short, some remarkable progress has been made within the last year. Bishop Kugappi observed at the Synod that such representation of the SELC at the Ingrian Synod was a major sign of unity of the two conservative Lutheran Churches in Russia. Bishop Lytkin states that never before in the history of the two churches were relations as close as they are now. He also expressed his admiration for the church's strong witness of the declaration on the "Same sex relations" that was accepted at the ELCRI Synod. Their position is all the more admirable, he said, given the strong pressure from liberal European Churches that the ELCIR comes under for its confessional position on human sexuality.
Relations between the two Russian Lutheran churches have not always been as close as they are now. While conscientious Lutherans in both churches have hoped that obstacles would be overcome in the future, it is remarkable that such positive changes have occurred already in this generation. While there were historically challenges between the two churches, the fellowship between the sister churches was never broken: SELC seminary graduates served in the ELCIR parishes, there was interchange in hymnody, and in the work in the youth summer camps. Now relations between the two churches have grown to a strong new level.
There is an important lesson to learn here as well as great cause to give glory to God for the true unity in faith that comes only from Him. When people are serious about their confession and tradition, they naturally tend to join together in common witness for the truth. We are stronger together. In such a traditional society as Russia's, it is extremely important to present Lutheran values in the public square not as a strange modernist antinomian phenomenon but as a historic Christian confession with clear emphasis on Christ and His Gospel, a serious attitude toward the commandments of God, and a respect for the liturgy and sacraments.
As Russian Lutherans move forward, they are hopeful that they will be able to keep faithful to their roots and present a viable alternative to apostate voices in which the voice of the Shepherd can no longer be recognized.
Rev. Alexey Streltsov is Rector of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church's Lutheran Theological Seminary.
Posted in Featured, UncategorizedBishop Arri Kugappi Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin ELCIR Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia ILC International Lutheran Council Lutheran Russia Russian SELC Siberia Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church


UPDATED Monday, April 11, 2016 --- 6:16 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. --- A Madison homicide suspect has been bound over for trial.
39-year-old Jose Vasquez-Garcia was in court Monday. Vasquez-Garcia is suspected of killing his girlfriend, 24-year-old Christina Hatcher.
Vasquez-Garcia will be back in court at a later date.
UPDATED Thursday, March 17, 2016---5:27 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. --- A Madison homicide suspect was in court today for a his initial court appearance.
39 year old Jose Vasquez-Garcia is suspected of killing his girlfriend, 24-year-old Christina Hatcher.
Hatcher was found stabbed to death in February.
Vasquez-Garcia then tried to kill himself according to a criminal complaint.
He's facing first degree intentional homicide charges.
Cash bond was set at one million dollars.
UPDATED Tuesday, March 15, 2016---10:50 a.m.
MADISON, Wis.---A homicide suspect has been moved from the hospital to jail.
39-year-old Jose Vasquez-Garcia is accused of killing his girlfriend, 24-year-old Christina Hatcher.
The day before she was found Vasquez-Garcia was taken to the hospital after being involved in a car fire.
Vasquez-Garcia is currently facing charges for domestic strangulation.
Madison Police say he is the only suspect in Hatcher's death.
UPDATED: Friday, February 26, 2016 --- 11:00 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. --- The Dane County Medical Examiner released the autopsy results of the homicide that occurred in the 2500 Block of Calypso Road, in Madison.
The examiner confirms the identity of the victim as 24-year-old Christina Hatcher.
An autopsy was completed on Thursday. Preliminary results of the autopsy show that Hatcher died as the result of homicidal sharp force injuries. Additional testing is being performed.
UPDATED: Friday, February 26, 2016 --- 3:45 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. --- Madison Police have arrested a homicide suspect for domestic strangulation.
Police reported 39-year-old Jose Vasquez-Garcia was arrested for domestic strangulation Friday. He not been arrested for First Degree Intentional Homicide.
Police said he remains the only suspect in the murder investigation of 24-year-old Christina Hatcher.
Hatcher was found dead in her apartment on Calypso road Wednesday morning. Police said her death was domestic related.
UPDATED: Friday, February 26, 2016 ---- 3:40 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. --- Court documents reveal more details surrounding the death of a woman and the man suspected of killing her on Madison's northside.
24-year-old Christina Hatcher was found dead Wednesday morning in her apartment on Calypso Road. A search warrant identified 39-year-old Joselino Vasquez-Garcia as a suspect in her murder.
Police said Hatcher's death is domestic related. Hatcher was found with multiple stab wounds, a black eye and injuries to her arms and legs according to court documents.
Scissors and a knife were found by police while executing a search warrant at the apartment. A glass pipe believed to be used for smoking marijuana was also found near the victim.
According to the court documents, detectives spoke with coworkers who worked with both Hatcher and Garcia at Applebee's. One coworker told police they had heard arguments between the two over Garcia's gambling problem and financial issues.
Garcia is in the hospital recovering from burn injuries.
UPDATED: Thursday, February 25, 2016 --- 3:20 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. --- NBC15 has learned the name of a woman who was killed in Madison Wednesday morning.
24-year-old Christina Hatcher was the woman found murdered in her northside apartment according to a friend of the victim.
Police say her death is domestic-related. Hatcher's 39-year-old boyfriend is a suspect in the homicide investigation.
UPDATED Thursday, February 25, 2016---2:49 p.m.
MADISON, Wis.---Madison Fire Department said they responded to a car fire Tuesday afternoon near the soccer fields at Reindahl park on Portage Road around 4:20 p.m.
Authorities said when crews arrived on scene, they saw a four door passenger car fully engulfed in flames.
The suspect, the occupant of the vehicle, told police that he parked the vehicle in the parking lot, lit a cigarette, fell asleep and awoke to the car on fire.
A witness of scene told the Madison Fire Department that the vehicle was almost fully engulfed in flames when the suspect exited the right driver side door of the vehicle.
UPDATED Thursday, February 25, 2016---9:31 a.m.
MADISON, Wis.-- A man police suspected of killing his girlfriend has been hospitalized after suffering burns in a car fire Tuesday afternoon.
Madison Police were called to assist Madison Fire following reports that a vehicle was engulfed in flames near soccer fields at Reindahl Park on Portage Road around 4:20 p.m.
According to a release from the Madison Police Department, when officers arrived at the scene the suspect was being treated by paramedics and about to be transported to a burn unit.
Police said the car belongs to the victim, his girlfriend.
They said the suspect has not been arrested and is being guarded at a hospital.
Investigations into the homicide and car fire are ongoing.
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 --- 4:45 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. ---- Police have declared the death of a 24-year-old woman on Madison's northside a homicide.
The woman was found dead Wednesday morning in a Calypso Road apartment after a family member asked police to check on her.
The woman's boyfriend has been declared a person of interest in the homicide. The 39-year-old has been detained according to Madison Police Chief Mike Koval.
The two had reportedly been dating for a number of months and have been living together.
In a press conference, Koval said that the woman's death was domestic-related.
The killing was reportedly targeted. Koval said the person of interest will be arrested if they find probable cause in this case.
This is the second homicide of the year in Madison.
Posted Wednesday, February 24, 2016---2:00 p.m.
MADISON, Wis.---Police are investigating the death of 24-year-old woman found inside her apartment Wednesday morning.
According to a release from the Madison Police Department, a family member called around 9:10 a.m. regarding the welfare of a Calypso Road resident.
Police went to check on the woman's welfare and found her decreased inside her apartment.


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Posted inColumns/Blog, Columns/Blogs, Economy, Featured, Policy, Politics
Northern Arapaho tribe hit hardest by federal shutdown
by Ron Feemster October 22, 2013 September 22, 2021
Workers in departments of the Northern Arapaho Tribal Office had feared massive layoffs if the partial federal government shutdown continued. (Ron Feemster/WyoFile – click to enlarge)
By Ron Feemster
Members of the Northern Arapaho tribe heaved a giant sigh of relief when President Barack Obama signed the bill on October 16 that reopened the federal government. Workers in tribal departments, who feared massive layoffs if the shutdown continued, would keep working the following week.
Things began to look bad for tribal workers on October 11, when the tribal government issued a memo canceling sick leave and vacations, and asking people to work no more than 40 hours to avoid overtime. The memo implied — and it was widely believed on the reservation — that many if not most tribal employees would be laid off on October 18.
"On Friday (October 18) we would have faced some very hard decisions," said Ron Oldman, a member of the Northern Arapaho Business Council who took a moment to speak with WyoFile at the Riverton Walmart on Thursday October 17, the day the government reopened.
But the federal government shutdown was only part of the reason — it is not clear how large a part — for the tribe's lack of cash to pay its employees. As tribal offices worked on contingency plans to provide services after the threatened October 18 layoffs, the tribal business council struggled to write invoices that the state Department of Family Services could pay.
The state DFS was forced to delay two payments totaling more than $700,000 because the business council submitted incorrect invoices. The money reimbursed the tribe for the cost of running its DFS office in Arapahoe for more than half a year. But more important, it was money that could have forestalled layoffs scheduled for October 18.
"There is a history of invoicing problems with the tribe," said Nick Baird, chief financial officer of DFS. The tribe must pay for the programs in advance and is reimbursed under a contract that allots up to $1.14 million a year for administrative expenses, according to Baird. But to get that money, the business council must submit invoices that follow DFS rules. This proved difficult.
At one point in late summer, the business council sent DFS an invoice for November and December 2012. DFS responded in September that the invoice had already been paid in May. The tribe also sent an invoice for April, May, June and July, which DFS had to send back. June and July are in different fiscal years and must be billed and paid on separate invoices. The tribe said it faxed a corrected invoice on September 25. But the state DFS responded that it received no invoices from Northern Arapaho DFS on that day.
Meanwhile, the country hurtled toward budget standoff that threatened to partially shut down the federal government and freeze all funding that was channeled through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. State DFS owed the tribe $700,000. Without the grant money channeled through BIA, the lack of DFS funding would be felt more acutely.
The tribe finally submitted a correct invoice for $406,024, which covered tribal DFS administration costs for January, April, May and June. After being reviewed by DFS officials, who determined that it complied with the contract, it arrived in Baird's financial department on October 16. DFS paid it on October 17. Another invoice for July, August and September was dated October 9. After review, it landed on Baird's desk on October 17. DFS paid the invoice for $308,377 on October 18.
"When we got the correct invoices, we paid the next day," Baird said. "We understand that this is money the tribe has already spent. We want to get it back to them as quickly as possible, but we need an invoice in order to pay them." Baird said the money would be in tribal accounts October 21, the first workday after the Northern Arapaho DFS's layoffs were scheduled to begin.
The new Northern Arapaho Business Council, which took office in January, appears to be trying to correct some longstanding accounting problems that have plagued the tribe. But problems remain. In less than 10 months in office, the NABC managed to be seven months and $700,000 behind when billing for its services.
In order to be $700,000 behind, the tribe must first pay out $700,000 in documented expenses. If the tribe is behind in its reimbursements, it has to draw money from unrelated sources to pay for the DFS office.
The money reimbursed by DFS pays only for the cost of staff, offices and expenses related to servicing clients. In addition, the tribe gets $286,000 quarterly to spend on services provided for clients. These payments go directly from the state to vendors like foster families and substance-abuse treatment centers.
The state DFS program does a brief pre-audit of each invoice to determine if expenses are appropriate under the contract, and then passes it on to Baird's department. "When we have a correct invoice, we can pay it in a day or two," Baird said. "We have been talking with the tribe, and it looks they may begin invoicing us monthly. We can pay them that way, too."
State reimbursements for Northern Arapaho DFS were never threatened by the shutdown, according to DFS.
In fact, after the Northern Arapaho Business Council called DFS and informed the agency that it would be closing the tribal DFS office and laying off workers, state DFS Director Steve Corsi wrote to reassure the Northern Arapahos that the state stood ready to reimburse them throughout the shutdown. "The federal shutdown, at present, has no implications or effects on the funding the State of Wyoming provides to the Northern Arapaho Business Council or NADFS," Corsi wrote.
Tribal accounting culture
So far, the Northern Arapaho Business Council has declined WyoFile's requests for a formal interview about the effects of the shutdown. On Friday, an administrative assistant at the tribal office told WyoFile that council members were not available to speak. Instead, the leaders passed along an article by Chris Peck from the October 16 Riverton Ranger.
The Ranger opinion piece references an October 7 Associated Press story about widespread misappropriation of funds by the Northern Arapahos and other tribes around the nation. Northern Arapaho tribal employees plundered $500,000 from senior citizen, tribal welfare, diabetes and other programs, according to the AP. Allegedly, some of the money was spent on shopping sprees and gambling.
Rep. Patrick Goggles (D-Ethete) manages the tribal housing fund with a surplus equal to a year's expenses. (Lindsay D'Addato/WyoFile — click to enlarge)
The Ranger calculates that the Northern Arapahoe tribe spends $50 million a year in Fremont County and needs to be run with careful accounting like any other big corporation. "A business as large as the Northern Arapaho tribe would have bean counters," the Ranger said. "Lots of them. People who checked every receipt, expense, reimbursement." The Ranger calls on the new, reform-minded business council to create that sort of rigorous, big business accounting culture. The council would seem to endorse this view, given that they handed out the article.
But if the Northern Arapaho tribal government is indeed improving its accounting culture, the project is a work in progress. Oldman and other leaders attributed the tribe's financial woes to shortfalls in federal funds that come through the BIA. In a balancing act made more perilous by its accounting and invoicing issues with the state, and perhaps with other bodies, the Northern Arapaho tribe appears to have been stretched too thin to survive any funding shortfalls. When the BIA furloughed most of its employees on October 1, federal funds administered by that agency were frozen.
"They could not take the 15 percent payment away from us," said Oldman at Walmart, referring to the tribe's commission on oil and gas production. "The problem was with some of the federal grants that pay us."
In any case, when federal funds stopped flowing, the tribe's financial problems quickly came to a head.
"The tribe is experiencing a cash-flow problem," said Rep. Patrick Goggles (R-Ethete), who represents the reservation in the state House of Representatives. Goggles spoke before WyoFile became aware of the DFS reimbursement issues. He was asked about the issues leading to the possible layoffs. "The tribe has to upfront the operational costs of programs. And tribal expenses can exceed tribal revenues. The federal shutdown compounds the cash-flow problem."
Uneven Impacts
Not every institution on the reservation suffered during the 16-day government shutdown. The Eastern Shoshone tribe, St. Stephens Indian School and Goggles' Northern Arapaho Housing Authority never considered laying off employees during the shutdown, even though they are at least as dependent on federal funding as the Northern Arapaho tribe.
Mike Hejtmanek, superintendent of St. Stephens Indian School. (Ron Feemster/WyoFile — click to enlarge)
"We received all of our money except for about $153,000," said Mike Hejtmanek, the superintendent of St. Stephens, before the government reopened. St. Stephens is funded entirely by the Bureau of Indian Education, a division of the BIA, except for some supplementary state funding to raise BIE teacher salaries to compete with those of Wyoming teachers. "We called about the $153,000 on September 30 and they said to call back tomorrow. The next day they were shut down."
Hejtmanek says St. Stephens' key to keeping the funding moving has been to get audits and funding requests in early. The main federal audit for school districts and others that receive at least $500,000 in federal funding is the Office of Management and Budget A-133 audit, which is due to the state bureau of audit in November the year after the audited budget year. Hejtmanek says his staff has long finished the audit of fiscal year 2012, which is due next month. Staffers are working on the 2013 audit due in November 2014.
The Northern Arapaho Housing Authority also maintains a cushion to survive fluctuations of the federal budget, according to Goggles, the director.
"I'll still pay my tribal employees if the shutdown continues," said Goggles. "We operate one year behind our federal funding." In other words, Goggles saves this year's funding and spends last year's.
The Eastern Shoshone Business Council was unavailable for comment on the shutdown, but workers at tribal offices expressed no fears of layoffs. Baird said the Eastern Shoshones invoice DFS for providing services similar to those of the Northern Arapahos. The tribe has fewer members and the sums are smaller. DFS also has fewer problems with the billing. "We are holding one invoice now for the program audit," he said. The program audit determines whether the invoiced expenses comply with the terms of the contract.
Even at the Indian Health Service clinics in Fort Washakie and Arapahoe, where about 60 employees worked without pay throughout the shutdown, the prospects looked brighter than in the Northern Arapaho offices. The workers did not get paid, but they never feared losing their jobs, even temporarily. The workers expect to receive back pay this Friday, October 25, according to a source close to the IHS.
Under a complex formula called "level of need" funding, the IHS on the reservation receives a federal appropriation that covers about 45 percent of the cost of keeping the clinics open. IHS is required to serve any descendent of a member of a federally recognized tribe at no charge. But IHS is also authorized to bill third parties such as Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies, if its clients are covered.
"Third-party payments are what keeps these clinics going," said one reservation resident familiar with the IHS. "That's true during the shutdown, but it's true during the normal times as well."
Hardship and anxiety
For many Native workers, a single paycheck from a job at IHS or a tribal office must stretch to pay the bills in a large family. Many people in their 50s are raising grandchildren, or at least helping support them. The prospect of losing the job, even temporarily, was frightening for many rank and file workers.
Vonda Wells, director of the Women, Infants and Children program for the Northern Arapaho Tribe told her staff to "prepare for the worst and think the best" as the partial government shutdown dragged on. (Ron Feemster/WyoFile – click to enlarge)
After the Northern Arapaho tribe sent out the October 11 memo, effectively warning people that the pay period ending October 18 could be their last for a while, many tribal employees became anxious. "I was thinking, how am I going to pay rent?" said a worker in a Northern Arapaho tribal office, who asked not to be named. "How am I going to put food on the table? I need to think about my grandchildren."
The juvenile probation officers in the tribal DFS department contemplated working without pay, if necessary, and made plans to consult with tribal judges on how to handle future cases. The Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) called all of its clients and urged them to come in before October 18 to make sure they received October benefits.
"I told my staff to pay all their bills and then buy enough food to last for a couple of weeks," said Vonda Wells, the director of WIC. "I told them to prepare for the worst and think the best."
Wells, who said the tribal council was supportive and honest in its meetings with department directors, never really believed that the shutdown would go longer than October 17, the day the nation reached it's borrowing limit.
"Living in that political realm, I had the feeling that everything was going to work out," said Wells, who lived in Washington, D.C. for a year as a Head Start fellow a decade ago. "The way the world looks at the United States, we are an economic power. I thought they would solve it in time."
And they did solve it in time. Instead of laying off workers on Friday, the business council faxed a memo to Northern Arapaho department offices on Thursday announcing that no one will be furloughed. "It will be business as usual and employees may utilize their annual and sick leave," the memo said.
At the juvenile probation unit in the Northern Arapaho DFS office, Angela McCann, a probation officer, said that when the memo arrived her colleagues were still working on contingency plans to service the 63 young people on the probation caseload.
"I think having this almost occur has made agencies more interactive," McCann said. "We were talking more with Lander and Riverton DFS. I hope we keep talking. In any case, it's a huge relief to know that the children will receive the best care we can give them."
Correction: The original version of this story reported incorrectly that the state Department of Family Services reimburses the Northern Arapaho tribe under a contract that allots up to $1.44 million a year for administrative expenses. The correct sum is $1.14 million. The contract is currently being renegotiated.
— Ron Feemster covers the Wind River Indian Reservation for WyoFile in addition to his duties as a general reporter. Feemster was a Visiting Professor of Journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore, India, and previously taught journalism at Northwest College in Powell. He has reported for The New York Times, Associated Press, Newsday, NPR and others. Contact Ron at ron@wyofile.com.
REPUBLISH THIS STORY: For details on how you can republish this or other WyoFile content for free, click here. If you enjoyed this story and would like to see more quality Wyoming journalism, please consider supporting WyoFile: a non-partisan, non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth reporting on Wyoming's people, places and policy.
Tagged: Bureau of Indian Education, government shutdown, Northern Arapaho, Northern Arapaho Business Council, partial government shutdown, Patrick Goggles
su.child says:
Kudos to WyoFile for recognizing an informally effective way of including Wyoming Adult Indian Education. Throughout both the Wind River News and Native Voices, Ron Feemster provides regular contemporary news, which informs readers of existing complex Constitutional legalites, and diverse cross-cultural understandings, which substantally assist residents across Wyoming to begin the important next step, engaging through inter-active communication in establishing 'pluralism' in the last of the Plains states to receive a legislative mandate for Indian Education in K-12 public schools. Also, kudos to Wyofile for initiating on-line discussions with Pete Simpson's facilitation, another important aspect of learning through practicing the basic daily requirements of living America's professed ideals.


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Speech at Resilient Europe Conference, Brussels
Klaus Regling, Managing Director of the ESM
"Risk sharing and resilience in the euro area"
Speech at conference on Building a Resilient Europe
Brussels, 30 September 2015
I am delighted to be here with you to speak on the topic of resilience. As you can see from the line-up of this panel, resilience is a concept that can apply to many fields. Today's agenda covers energy, food production and migration. Resilience in my own field –that of the prevention of financial crises, or responding to them –is perhaps less tangible.
In this area, we have learned a lot from the crisis. We've done many things to strengthen Europe's economic policies, financial systems and crisis institutions. That has improved Europe's financial resilience and that's what I'd like to talk about during the next 15 minutes.
In 2008, the world was hit by the worst financial crisis since 1929. Much has been written about this, and I don't need to go into detail. It was initially a global crisis, triggered in the U.S. It was not a crisis that Europe could have prevented on its own. But the sovereign debt crisis that followed it and came on top of the global financial crisis, had its origin in the euro area, and has been keeping us busy ever since.
Some countries had allowed excessively high fiscal deficits for too long, and consequently had too much public debt. Others had lost competitiveness, and needed structural reforms. And yet others were coping with real estate and credit bubbles, which, when they burst, became a particular burden for banks, and in some cases governments. Finally, the European surveillance framework was far too late in spotting some of these risks, in particular the macro-economic imbalances.
Since then, we have made some truly great strides in addressing these issues and sharing more risks between countries. The euro area has erected a common crisis firewall, with pooled resources, in the form of the ESM, and its precursor the EFSF. As the head of these two new institutions, I will first elaborate in greater detail on what we have done over the past five years. I will then turn to what lies ahead. What further steps are needed, and are doable?
The ESM is a permanent euro area institution that functions as a firewall against financial crises. Together with the EFSF, it can provide loans to countries in financial trouble up to a maximum of €700 billion. Five countries have received such loans: Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus and Greece. In total we have disbursed some €250 billion in loans.
Our programmes have enabled countries to get their houses in order at a time that they were unable to borrow money on markets. But before they get the cash, they must commit to tough reforms that address weaknesses in their domestic economic and financial policies. This is painful in the short-run, but indispensable to repair public finances, regain competitiveness and strengthen growth.
Four out of our five programme countries are success stories now. Spain, Portugal and Ireland have exited our programmes, and Cyprus is clearly on the right track. Spain and Ireland have the highest growth rates in Europe, while Greece is a special case. It has now entered a third programme, and is implementing a very comprehensive reform package.
Our programmes bring a lot of solidarity to the borrowing countries. The budget savings are huge. This is because we can raise money at low cost, thanks to our strong credit rating, underpinned by the support of our Member States. We then pass on these favourable financing costs to the programme countries. The financing burden for these countries drops further because of the long maturities of our loans, and possible interest rate deferrals. For Greece, for instance, payment obligations to euro area creditors over the years to 2023 have become minimal. We estimate that our lending produces annual savings of €8 billion for the Greek budget, which is more than 4% of Greek GDP. These are big numbers.
And yet, this comes at no cost to European taxpayers. We finance our loans in financial markets, and we do not lend out taxpayer money. As I already indicated, this is due to government guarantees, in the case of the EFSF and because of our shareholder capital in the case of the ESM. And this capital could, in extreme circumstances, be at risk. But this shows my point exactly. By sharing risk, euro area countries have increased the resilience of the region's economy. If our institutions had been around in 2010, the crisis in Europe would have been less severe and a response could have been provided faster.
Many other measures have been taken over the last five years. Eurostat, for instance, now has greater powers to examine the accounts of Member States. Had this been the case earlier, we would have known earlier that Greece's public deficit was spiralling out of control. The European systemic Risk Board, set up in 2011, now monitors asset bubbles, while the European Semester forces more transparency and consistency in budgetary policies.
And last but not least, the Excessive Imbalances Procedure is a new mechanism to detect macroeconomic imbalances such as a high level of private and government debt, credit or housing bubbles, weak productivity, or large current account imbalances. I cannot emphasise enough how important competitiveness is in enhancing economic resilience, especially in small open economies. And the new procedure is a useful tool for monitoring that.
Let's also not forget that the European Union has long put a strong emphasis on economic convergence and mutual assistance. People often don't realize that while the EU budget is small – a little over 1% of GDP – Member States can receive substantial transfers of up to 3% of their economies. These are permanent transfers, not related to monetary union. Still, if used wisely, they can help the catching-up process enormously.
But there is no room for complacency. Risk-sharing facilitates income and consumption smoothing, and reduces vulnerability to external shocks. The global financial crisis struck each country differently, depending on the structure of its economy and banking system, at a time when divergences of our economies increased.
So what further steps are needed? A key aspect is to push through the European Commission's Capital Market Union, and to conclude Banking Union. Let me briefly explain what these two initiatives are about.
The Capital Market Union aims to diversify financing sources to an economy. This would allow risks to be shared via markets across countries. It is well known that companies in Europe rely far more on bank lending, and less on capital markets, than for instance companies in the United States. This concentrates risk in banks and typically the banks are located in the same country as the borrower. Opening up capital markets for companies broadens their investor base. Not only geographically, but it will also bring in investors with differing risk appetites and time horizons.
This will improve resilience. It is not an easy task, and entails such projects as harmonising rules for private placements, accounting practices and bankruptcy law across the European Union. But it is an important one. Other complex topics that need scrutiny are securitisation, which can help banks fund their businesses, prospectus requirements and the risk-weighting of assets for capital purposes.
We also need to do more to strengthen our banking system. As part of the Banking Union, there is now a common banking supervisor, the Single Supervisory Mechanism. It comprises the ECB and the national supervisory authorities of the participating countries.
Secondly, a new body that can step in to restructure or resolve faltering banks, the Single Resolution Board, will start its work in 2016. On the other hand, deposit insurance schemes are still organised at a national level. A common system and a financial backstop for the SRB are the two key measures that would complete banking union.
Looking further ahead, many policymakers and institutions are saying that still more integration is warranted to increase risk-sharing and make the economic and monetary union more resilient. The Five Presidents' report, for instance, suggests a fiscal capacity for the euro area. This would of course add to risk sharing in the euro area. But there are currently very divergent views in our Member States on this proposal.
In my view, a limited fiscal capacity that does not lead to permanent transfer and debt mutualisation would help to provide risk sharing and could be politically less controversial. It could also be implemented without changing the EU Treaty.
To summarise, financial resilience is important for Europe and, in particular, the euro area. A lot has happened in this respect during the last 5 years – more than anybody expected at the beginning of the crisis.
With all that, monetary union will work better after the crisis than before the crisis because of significantly strengthened risk sharing via EFSF/ESM lending and the banking union. Consequently, the resilience of the euro area is stronger today than before the crisis. Recent proposals from the Commission would strengthen resilience further.
Further information and related content
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Last night I had a rare opportunity to be heard in a different forum, although I didn't realize exactly who would hear me when I opted to go. Transportation arrangements were made and I went to a Hillary Clinton campaign appearance. We arrived late and I was in an overflow room with about 200 other folks and was the only visibly disabled person in the room. After the speeches were done, Hillary Clinton walked past the room. I couldn't glimpse her because everyone was standing up.
Afterwards, the police asked everyone to leave by the back stairs. I had to wait since the motorcade was outside near the ramped entrance. A few moments later, a woman in a wheelchair came by the door and was asked to wait in the overflow room with me while they got the motorcade ready for Clinton's group. We began a dialogue about mobility issues and found many common grounds. The other woman owned a broken power chair that she bought herself on ebay due to insurance denials. She was in a manual chair that she said she "hated" because she had to be pushed. And her insurer wouldn't get her a scooter or, it seemed, any other mobility device.
Suddenly the curtain near the door of the room opened. Hillary Clinton looked inside the room, standing there for a moment not saying anything as she looked at both of us. We greeted her and she said she promised she would work hard in Washington to improve things.
There was a silence. I looked at the other woman in the wheelchair and she looked at me. Hillary Clinton nodded at both of us again and said "I promise" and moved on.
In the meantime, I gave her some ideas about how to get her broken ebay power chair fixed. She thanked me and we parted ways.
This NY Times article asks the question "If everyone is finger pointing, who's to blame?" And sometimes that's a really good question to ask, especially when dealing with advocacy issues.
Are things as bleak as they are portrayed sometimes when someone with a disability needs to resolve an access issue? On the other hand, are business owners the victims of people with disabilities who have huge senses of "entitlement" as some business owners claim?
Neither of these polarized views represents the truth of most situations. And finger pointing at each other in such situations only serves to widen the gap, rather than narrow it through possible conflict resolution. Negotiations aren't likely to happen when people act as if they're at war with each other and feel hopeless about reaching any kind of middle ground.
So how do we eliminate finger pointing? Isn't it true, you may ask, that people with disabilities are rightfully angry that they can't get inside a business? On the other hand, business owners might ask with equal anger, shouldn't they be exempt from such requirements if they can't afford them?
Both parties have to learn to be realistic about certain facts. Some businesses can't afford certain accommodations and the reasonable requirement of the ADA protects that. Exaggerating the ADA's requirements is – well- self serving to those who can afford them.
And although one may have a right under the ADA to access, approaching a business owner with anger doesn't usually lead to negotiations – or a resolution. So although the lack of access makes us angry, we sometimes have to remember that the approach we take to the problem may dictate whether we wind up getting a fast resolution – or having to file a complaint.
It may be true that finger pointing is an understandable reaction sometimes, but I suspect that the main reason it happens is that it feels good. After all, we all want to be one hundred per cent right. The rest of the world certainly seems to conduct its affairs with this outlook, based on this article.
But when working toward change that involves cooperation that you just can't legislate, such an approach is not only unworkable, but often counterproductive.
Lately I've had a lot of practice in casting things asunder.
First I had to cast asunder my manual wheelchair, the love of my life, the piece of equipment I most relied upon – an ultralightweight titanium piece of machinery that allowed me mobility by ground and car.
This meant that I cast asunder quite a bit of my mobility. Some would say temporarily, but it hasn't felt that way over the past months (years*). Things I took for granted, like getting in the car and going somewhere (anywhere) no longer happened without someone else's help because the mobility devices I needed no longer fit in a (nonaccessible) car. This left me dependent on others to load a manual chair and push me (costing money if I paid) OR adding to the list of things I need help with. Doesn't happen much.
This meant that I cast asunder most of my social life and plenty of opportunities to participate in organizations, causes, events, etc. Even getting to Mass. Not a small thing for this Catholic.
At some point I cast asunder my willingness to even talk about the entire subject. I wearied of listening to people making suggestions that I already knew I'd tried and wouldn't work and , although well intentioned, this did not increase my mobility one iota.
What did increase my mobility was buying (financing) a very expensive power chair. What did increase my mobility was paying people to take me places or having friends who cared enough to get me out. What did increase my mobility, although not on an earthly level, was spending more time reading. I've made time for that because I need some way to travel.
In the midst of casting asunder all of these things, I suppose the good news is that, underneath, I've found myself again. As often happens when our lives change, I find myself feeling like a different person, with different needs, wants and even a different philosophy.
But I've cast asunder my need to minimize what this has all done to my life and what I've learned it does to the lives of others. I'd appreciate it so much if others would cast aside their need to do that too. I can understand it makes people uncomfortable to listen or to wrap their brains around the idea that the lack of mobility can be one equipment change away.
As I watch the candidates debate, I don't hear anyone talking about solutions to this issue. I sit here staring at my ballot, trying to discern who should get my vote. And I must say it's difficult right now to believe that any of those candidates know one iota of what I do on this issue. They may "feel my pain" at a town hall meeting or say they will work toward change (so the signs say), but do they? Will they?
Perhaps in order to vote I have to cast asunder these doubts. I have to remember that such things like lack of mobility are not solved in four years or maybe even eight years. Right now these issues are solved on a person to person basis, through grants and fund raising, hard work, extra hours, and exhaustion. It has little if anything to do with politics or government from what I can see, and more to do with trying to wrest a miracle out of it all, a miracle of grace and happenstance.
One thing I have not cast asunder is my faith. I still believe there is a solution for me and for many others. Where that will come from remains up in the air. I can only pray that someone will listen. One thing I won't cast asunder is hope.
Questions Kids Would Ask of Martin Luther King Jr.
I've seen a number of articles written about how history and time have oversimplified – and even misrepresented – the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Some note that King's fight to end war and poverty in his latter days – and how that caused him to have detractors- has been left out of the equation. Others say that what is taught to kids is only his "I have a dream" speech, which doesn't do justice to his writings, teachings and – yes – actions.
But you know kids have an innate wisdom. So when they asked one little girl what questions she would ask of Dr. King, the first question she wrote was "Did you think you were a good person?" I sat and stared at that for a bit and found myself stymied.
Would Dr. King, if asked that when alive, say "I've tried to be a good person"? Would he think of his words and how they have given hope to so many – or would he, without the benefit of history, think about his detractors?
None of us have the benefit of history and hindsight to judge our own actions. We can exercise discernment about choices we make and actions we take. Yet sometimes it isn't easy to think of ourselves as being a good person, particularly when we work toward change. It can be discouraging to have detractors, for example, or to feel like a lightning rod. If you stand up for what you believe, there will inevitably be someone who disagrees with the position you take. Many times it's just easier to remain quiet and not utter the words that draw attention.
Not all of us will devote our lives to causes like Martin Luther King Jr. I dare say it's not necessary that we do so. But the world would probably be a better place if more people got off their duffs and went out and did things to change the way things are. In fact, the world would be a better place if more people spoke up from their heart, not worrying as much about detractors.
Perhaps facing the question "Do you think you were a good person?" isn't an easy thing for anyone. No doubt it begins with the process of even defining what goodness and truth is. I don't doubt that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a good person. I can't even imagine the many sacrifices he and his family made over the years, the ultimate one being his life. His legacy will in the light of history be defined and redefined over and over again.
Perhaps those of us who are still alive can best honor him by looking to our own lives and the opportunities we have to be agents of change in the daunting issues that still prevent our society from being fully inclusive, from breaking down the walls and barriers that stand in the way of embracing our brothers and sisters.
It reminded me of times when I've received calls from people who are in a pickle due to the way they're being treated regarding their disability. They contact me and aren't sure what to expect. Maybe they've tried to self advocate and that hasn't worked. Or they aren't sure where to turn even though they know that they're being discriminated against.
It's important to recognize the difference between the need to educate others and the need to advocate. Sometimes all that has to happen is to educate people about what you as a person with a disability may need, but there are times when a different approach is necessary. That's when advocating – for yourself or for another person – can make a difference in quality of life.
As an advocate, I've seen situations where it can make a life and death difference. This can happen when someone needs medical equipment or care or is in danger of becoming homeless. There are situations that some can't even imagine that occur due to discriminatory practices – and educating the other person by explaining what disability is about or like can fall far short of what's needed. That's why we have laws and that's why, no matter how much we may want to debate the right approach to take, we need the protection laws provide at times.
I can understand the lure of thinking a magical instrument is going to save the day but I believe that advocating is a skill people can – and should – learn. I also believe in the magic that happens when people open their minds up and learn about each other. That's called inclusion.


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You will have access to behind the scenes content all of the shows listed above, as content is made available. More shows will be added as they are announced and released!
Will I get access to new Wondery shows?


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1996 Coins to Be Issued on 10th May 1996
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1996 Common Gaming Houses (Exemption) Notification 1996
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If you are switching jobs: "I'm leaving behind the company" is really a phrase that will require lots of courage. When pronounced at the wrong time or in the wrong way, it can have a very negative impact on your career. You can find a job offer you with another corporation where the pay is higher, but you remain not sure if that work environment will undoubtedly be better then your current one. After all, it is not all about the amount of money. What if you change your mind later? After all, this is not an easy decision. Needless to say your boss can forgive you and hire you back, nonetheless it isn't guaranteed.


Paul G. Smith, author, signing copies of the Group's book 'Lancaster & District's Great War Fallen - A Battlefield Chronology' with Group Chairperson Margaret Stockdale alongside.
Paul G. Smith with a copy of the book at the Book Launch.
Paul G. Smith, author, & Margaret Stockdale, Chairperson, with copies of the Group's book 'Lancaster & District's Great War Fallen - A Battlefield Chronology'.


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HomeGlobalBaftas Shuts Out 'RRR', But 'All That Breathes' In Race For Best Documentary
Baftas Shuts Out 'RRR', But 'All That Breathes' In Race For Best Documentary
LONDON, (IANS) – The BAFTA Awards nominations announced on January 19, January 19, have completely ignored the awards season favorite, 'RRR', although India can take solace from the fact that Shaunak Sen's documentary, 'All That Breathes', is in contention for the trophy in its category, up against favorites such as 'Navalny' and 'All the Beauty and The Bloodshed'.
The Netflix drama — for which awards chances have quietly gathered steam over the last month — is up for best picture as well as film not in the English language, director, adapted screenplay, supporting actor, original score, casting, cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, make-up and hair, sound, and special visual effects.
Sir Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi' is the most nominated film at the BAFTAs with 16 nods and 'All Quiet' also ties with 'Atonement', which had 14.
Close behind 'All Quiet' with 10 nominations apiece are the Colin Farrell-starrer 'The Banshees of Inisherin' and the Michelle Yeoh film 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'. Warner Bros' 'Elvis' follows with nine nominations, while 'Tar' received five nods, notes 'Variety'. All five titles are nominated for best film this year.
Movies with four nods include 'Aftersun', 'The Batman', 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande', 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'The Whale'; three nominations each went to 'Babylon', 'Empire of Light', 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio', 'Living' and "Triangle of Sadness'.