text:
Connecticut Joins Multi-State $26B Settlement With Opioid Drug Distributors And Manufacturers
Connecticut Public Radio | By Nicole Leonard
Published July 21, 2021 at 10:52 PM EDT
Nicole Leonard
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong speaks at the Capitol in Hartford Wed., July 21, 2021, to announce a multi-state settlement agreement with four opioid drug distributors and manufacturers.
Connecticut will join other states and territories in a pending $26 billion settlement with three opioid distributors and one manufacturer, state officials announced Wednesday. They intend to use the money to drive back the opioid epidemic, which continues to claim lives.
"It should go to helping victims and families, and stopping the creation of new victims and new families impacted by this," said Attorney General William Tong, who was part of a team of state attorneys general who brokered the deal.
The number of drug overdoses and deaths continues to grow each year in Connecticut and nationally, with a majority of cases involving prescription opioids, heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl. For years, advocates have attempted to hold accountable drug companies that they accuse of flooding the market with medications that proved to be addictive and deadly.
"We are sending a clear message today that it is not ok to prey on vulnerable people with messaging that promises an innocuous medication, and it's not," said Maria Coutant Skinner, CEO of the McCall Center for Behavioral Health in Torrington. "This is a message to say this is not ok ever again."
The most recent data show that 1,378 people in the state died from overdoses in 2020, an increase of 14.6% from the previous year. Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic likely exacerbated the addiction epidemic.
Connecticut's share of the cash settlement will be about $300 million, most of which will be paid out over an 18-year period. Settlement money from Johnson & Johnson will be distributed over nine years, with the majority coming in during the first three years.
Behavioral health providers say there are thousands more people in active addiction and recovery who stand to benefit from expanded treatment, prevention and support services in an already under-funded area of health care.
"There's a long list of initiatives that every single person who sits in a seat like mine has shovel-ready to go, if only we had the dollars to be able to do it," Skinner said. "Today, that changes."
Pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, as well as manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, will make payments to states and individual municipalities after facing nearly 4,000 different claims, lawsuits and impending trials nationwide for their roles in the opioid crisis.
About 70% of the money will go directly to the states. Tong said a new Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund Advisory Council managed by Connecticut's Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will be responsible for distributing the funds to programs, services and providers.
Another 15% will be set aside for direct payments to cities and towns. State officials said more than 40 municipalities and parties in Connecticut waged litigation against the drug companies, but funds will not be limited to only those cities and towns.
The last 15% of settlement money will be managed by the state to benefit victims of the crisis and local communities, and to cover related legal fees.
Paige Niver, of Manchester, is eager to see how the money can help people who are most in need of local prevention and treatment programs. Not that long ago, her daughter depended on those services to survive an opioid use disorder.
"I watched my daughter die a couple times, and she was fortunately brought back to life," Niver said, "and without good medical treatment, she probably wouldn't be here today."
Niver's family is one of many in Connecticut who've been impacted by the opioid crisis. Her daughter, now in her mid-20s, became addicted to opioids that her doctor prescribed following a bicycle accident at 14 years old.
"She even told me at one time that she was probably having too many of these drugs and she didn't feel good about it. I made a call to the doctor and I said, 'My daughter says she doesn't really like these drugs, maybe she's having too many of them,'" Niver recalled.
"And the doctor said, 'Well then, you need to up her dose.' And I was being what I thought to be a responsible mother. I was kind of raised to do what the doctor tells you, so I just kind of said, 'Yes, sir, I will up the dose.' And I did that."
Niver's daughter is in recovery today.
"And so the settlement to me means that so many people and families who are going through what my family went through, you know, addiction is treatable and it's preventable," she said.
In addition to the money, the pharmaceutical companies are agreeing to other stipulations.
The three distributors would be required to establish an independent clearinghouse to provide data and analytics about where drugs are going and how often. They'll also be required to identify, prevent and report suspicious opioid orders from local pharmacies.
Johnson & Johnson would enter a 10-year agreement to stop selling opioids altogether. The company would no longer fund any promotion of opioids or lobby on any opioid-related activities. The deal also requires the company to share clinical trial data with Yale University's Open Data Access Project.
States have about 30 days to officially sign on to the settlement agreement. Municipalities and local governments in those states will have up to 150 days to join.
Legal experts say payments could begin as early as April 2022 if the settlement stays on schedule.
Nicole Leonard joined Connecticut Public Radio to cover health care after several years of reporting for newspapers. In her native state of New Jersey, she covered medical and behavioral health care, as well as arts and culture, for The Press of Atlantic City. Her work on stories about domestic violence and childhood food insecurity won awards from the New Jersey Press Association.
See stories by Nicole Leonard


The move, Essel Group said, is to address the capital allocation priorities and will allow ZEE shareholders to capture the full value.
MUMBAI: Indian media baron Subhash Chandra has decided to sell 50% of his stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises, the country's biggest entertainment business by market cap, in a bid to secure large-scale financial backing and compete in a market prone to major technological disruptions.
Essel group, which owns 41.62% of Zee said on Tuesday that it has appointed Goldman Sachs and LionTree as international strategic advisors to find a global buyer for half of the business. Zee owns popular TV channels like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, and the digital video-on-demand service Zee5. With its market value of Rs 42,000 crore, it is India's biggest entertainment business.
Chandra's Essel Group launched Zee TV as India's first private satellite television channel in 1992. But the television entertainment business has changed dramatically in recent years especially in the metros with streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime garnering rapid viewership.
Punit Goenka, MD and CEO of ZEE called this a "unique opportunity" for any global player to enter into the media and entertainment Indian market. "This is the only opportunity available in the Indian market for a global player. We are the number one entertainment player in India and operations in over 170 countries including 12 foreign languages. We have very strong OTT play and we have built a great and profitable business over the last 25 years," Goenka told ET.
Essel said it expects the outcome of the strategic review to conclude by March/April 2019 and that the transaction will meet the objectives of the Essel Group as well as minority shareholders of ZEE.
Goenka stressed that India remains a priority market for Chandra and the Essel Group and that the promoters will not relinquish their stake. "We will continue to run the business as promoters and continue to invest in growth opportunities," he said.
Goenka refused to share his expectation on the value the divestment will generate, while maintaining that the value generated by business is tremendous and there is no such opportunity outside.
The media and entertainment space globally is undergoing a major shift with lines between media, telecom and technology companies blurring at a brisk pace. This convergence has led to consolidation, mergers and acquisition at global level. Rupert Murdoch has already sold entertainment business under 21st Century Fox (including Star India) to Disney.
"The broadcasting space is getting more and more challenging with entry of non-traditional media players. Jio is monopolising the cable distribution, Netflix and Amazon have resulted in cord-cutting and Facebook, Airtel etc have shown serious interest in acquiring content rights. So there will be more such developments in this space. Ultimately, there will be 2-3 large networks. Subhash Chandra has always been able to spot the change early and move will allow them to get a premium," said a media observer, who did not wish to be identified.


text:
package components;

import javafx.geometry.Insets;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.control.Label;
import javafx.scene.control.ScrollPane;
import javafx.scene.control.ScrollPane.ScrollBarPolicy;
import javafx.scene.control.TextArea;
import javafx.scene.layout.HBox;

public class BottomPane extends HBox {
    public final TextArea myCommand;
    public final Label myErrors;

    public BottomPane () {
        setPrefWidth(1000);
        setPadding(new Insets(15, 12, 15, 12));
        setSpacing(10);
        myCommand = new TextArea();
        myCommand.setPrefRowCount(3);
        ScrollPane scroller = new ScrollPane();
        scroller.setPrefHeight(100);
        scroller.setMaxWidth(300);
        scroller.setHbarPolicy(ScrollBarPolicy.AS_NEEDED);

        setStyle("-fx-background-color: #336699;");
        myErrors = new Label("ERRORS:\n\n");
        myErrors.setStyle("-fx-background-color: #ffffff;"
                + "-fx-border-width: 2;-fx-border-color: black;");
        myErrors.setPadding(new Insets(15, 12, 15, 12));
        myErrors.setPrefHeight(100);
        myErrors.setMinWidth(300);
        scroller.setContent(myErrors);
        this.getChildren().addAll(myCommand, myErrors);
    }
    /**
     * adds a button to the bottom pane
     * @param run: button to be added to bottom pane
     */
    public void updateButton (Button run) {
        this.getChildren().add(run);
    }

    /**
     * displays errors in the right text areas
     * @param e: errors that are to be displayed
     */
    public void updateErrors (Exception e) {
        myErrors.setText("ERRORS:\n" + e.toString());

    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Read nested nodes in XML using Classic ASP My Classic ASP code connects to a URL and displays XML, my code looks like below
Response.ContentType = "text/xml"

myRSSfile = "http://abc.com"

Set getPage = Server.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP" )

getPage.Open "GET", myRSSfile, false
getPage.SetRequestHeader "Content-type", "text/xml"
getPage.Send

Response.Write(getPage.responseText)
'response.write getPage.Status

Set getPage = Nothing

XML as follows
<userContent xmlns="http://www.abc.com/userContent" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.abc.com/abc.xsd">
<questions>
<question>
<item>
<sku>SCG20056-006</sku>
<title>Test me machine</title>
</item>
<text>
We are replacing a built in machine how it would be ?
</text>
<dateTime>2011-11-10T22:43:02Z</dateTime>
<answer>
<user>
<firstName>Raj</firstName>
<lastName>lastname</lastName>
</user>
<text>
We have been very happpy with the replacement
</text>
<dateTime>2011-11-21T21:00:24Z</dateTime>
</answer>
<answer>
<user>
<firstName>john</firstName>
<lastName>wright</lastName>
</user>
<text>
not so happy
</text>
<dateTime>2011-11-21T21:00:24Z</dateTime>
</answer>
</question>
</questions>
<comments/>
</userContent>

What i need to do is display
1) "questions/question/text" Tag
2) Display all the answers to that question that is this tag
"questions/question/answer/user/firstName" Tag
&
3) "questions/question/answer/text" Tag
Is it possible to do in Classic ASP?

A: The approach to take with this is to use XSL to perform a transform on the received XML to generate the HTML you would like to display.  Here is a sample to get you started:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
    xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
    xmlns:uc="http://www.abc.com/userContent" exclude-result-prefixes="uc">

  <xsl:output method="html" />

  <xsl:template match="/uc:userContent">

      <xsl:apply-templates select="uc:questions/uc:question" />

  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="uc:question">
    Shopper asked: <xsl:value-of select="uc:text" />

      <xsl:apply-templates select="uc:answer" />

  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="uc:answer">

        <xsl:value-of select="uc:user/uc:firstName" />
        <xsl:text> </xsl:text>
        <xsl:value-of select="uc:user/uc:lastName" />:

      <xsl:value-of select="uc:text" />

  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

You would place this xsl in a file called for example "userContent.xsl" somewhere in you web site, for ease of example we'll put it in the root.
Now we need to tidy your code:
<%
Option Explicit
Dim myRSSFile: myRSSfile = "http://abc.com"

Dim getPage: Set getPage = Server.CreateObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTPServer.3.0" )

getPage.Open "GET", myRSSfile, false
getPage.Send

Dim dom : dom = getPage.responseXml
Dim xsl : Set xsl = CreateObject("MSXML2.DOMDocument.3.0")

xsl.async = false
xsl.load Server.MapPath("/userContent.xsl")

%>

       <title>Some Content</title>

     <%
         Response.Write dom.TransformNode(xsl)
     %>

Notes:

*

*Don't use XMLHTTP in ASP it isn't designed to be used in a Server.

*There is no need to send a content type header in xml http request when you aren't sending any content.

*When you want to manipulate XML received use the responseXml property which gives you a loaded XML Document to play with rather than the responseText.  (Certainly don't use RegEx to do it).

*Always include Option Explicit in your scripts it will save you bags of time hunting bugs.

A: I was able to do this using the following finally, thanks guys for all your help
<%
Dim objxml
Set objxml = Server.CreateObject("MSXML2.FreeThreadedDOMDocument")
objxml.async = False
objXML.setProperty "ServerHTTPRequest", True
objxml.load("http://abc.com")
set ElemUserContent=objxml.getElementsByTagName("userContent")
set ElemQuestion=objxml.getElementsByTagName("userContent/questions/question/text")
set ElemAnswer=objxml.getElementsByTagName("userContent/questions/question/answer")
set ElemFirstName=objxml.getElementsByTagName("userContent/questions/question/answer/user/firstName")
set ElemLastName=objxml.getElementsByTagName("userContent/questions/question/answer/user/lastName")
set ElemAnswerText=objxml.getElementsByTagName("userContent/questions/question/answer/text")
for x=0 to ElemUserContent.length-1
response.Write("A Shopper Asked:  "&ElemQuestion.item(x).text)
response.Write("
")
for i=0 to ElemAnswer.length-1
response.write("
"&ElemFirstName.item(i).text&" "&left(ElemLastName.item(i).text,1)&": ")
response.Write(ElemAnswerText.item(i).text&"
")
next
response.Write("
")
next
%>

A: It's certainly possible.
I'd try to do it with regular expressions.
To work out the expression there are lots of online tools.
edit: classic asp can handle xml documents (I incorrectly thought it had to remain as text, to be parsed)
This example: Traverse XML document using asp should help you and is a much better solution than the reg ex option I offered (without totally thinking it through - soz)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Polish gov't urged to condemn priest for 'greedy Jews' remarks
US Jewish leader compares Father Rydzyk to Goebbels.
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Two major American Jewish organizations are urging the Polish government and the Vatican to publicly condemn the latest anti-Semitic remarks made by a powerful Polish priest who heads a right-wing Catholic radio station that has a long history of anti-Semitic diatribes, the groups announced Thursday. The priest, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, who heads the controversial Radio Marjya, reportedly accused the Jews of greed in a potential government compensation deal on confiscated property, and denounced Polish President Lech Kaczynski as a "fraudster who is in the pockets of the Jewish lobby." The comments were made in a private meeting in April that was taped and leaked to the Polish press last week. The separate calls urging public repudiation and punishment for the priest were made by the New York-based Anti Defamation League and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center. "This is far from the first time Father Rydzyk or other broadcasters on Radio Maryja have made incendiary and hateful remarks about Jews," said ADL leaders Glen S. Lewy and Abraham H. Foxman. "Anti-Semitic content broadcast on Radio Maryja continues to include ugly stereotyping, conspiracy theories, claims that Jews were responsible for communist-era repression and accusations that Jews are using the Holocaust to leverage compensation payments from Poland." "He is sort of a Goebbels with a collar," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Hier has written to the head of the Warsaw bishops' conference and to the head of Rydzyk's religious order at the Vatican, demanding that the priest be punished. "Father Rydzyk is not merely an individual - as a priest he speaks for the Catholic church and it is the church that must discipline him," Hier said. Kaczynski and his twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, are political allies of Rydzyk. Both have appeared on the radio station, which strongly supports the government. "You know what this is about: Poland giving $65 billion to Jews," Rydzyk said on the tape, according to the Polish news magazine Wprost, which published excerpts of the comments. "They will come to you and say, 'Give me your coat! Take off your trousers! Give me your shoes!'" The priest has not denied making the comments, but suggested they were doctored. In a letter to Prime Minister Kaczynski, the ADL urged the Polish government to speak out against Rydzyk's remarks and cited a recent poll of anti-Semitic attitudes in Poland, which found that 45 percent of Polish respondents believed that three out of four anti-Semitic stereotype were "probably true," and 39% said they considered Jews responsible for the death of Christ. Both the president and the prime minister have sought to downplay the comments, saying they needed to be absolutely certain the tapes were authentic before commenting on them. The comments, made as ties between Israel and Poland continue to flourish, come as the Polish government is working on a bill dealing with Holocaust compensation, which could be passed by the end of the year. A draft bill before the Polish parliament has passed its initial reading and would pay 15% compensation to former property owners - Jewish and non-Jewish - whose properties were seized during World War II. Polish officials estimate that the Jewish-owned private property makes up nearly 20% of the total property in question. The total value of seized property is estimated to be $21-24b., according to Polish groups working to attain the compensation.
Joan Rivers rushed to hospital following throat surgery
American ultra-orthodox charge sexual abuse at Israeli seminaries
By SAM SOKOL
Coat of many colors: US Jewish leaders divided on Gaza truce
By ANNA HIATT
Claims Conference examines plight of child Shoah victims
By MAYA SHWAYDER
Anti-Semitic expression in France no longer in hiding, says Jewish communal leader
By JEREMY SHARON

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Micro Support Center has been servicing customers in the tri-state area since 1985. We offer on-site or depot service, annual maintenance agreements or time and materials billing. We can service anything that has to do with your computer. Whether it's a repair or an upgrade, hardware or software related, we have the resources to do the job in a timely and cost effective manner.


Famous "pianist" returns to Prague with his new masterpiece.
The Artist follows the success of Circo Aereo's and Thomas Monckton's previous collaboration, The Pianist, which has proven a smash hit with critics and audiences around the world. Since 2013, it has been performed nearly 300 times in Scandinavia, Canada, New Zealand, France, UK, Netherlands, Australia, Russia, USA, etc. The Pianist was nominated for a Best Performance prize at Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2014.
Like The Pianist, The Artist is co-designed by Sanna Silvennoinen, circus artist, choreographer and director of Circo Aereo, and Thomas Monckton, New Zealand-born, internationally acclaimed circus artist.


Upon returning home from my travels in December 2013, I was once again motivated to push my friends and family to take a dive outside of their comfort zones. My answer: Couchsurfing. Though it has become far more commonplace now, it was a pretty big deal when I was on the road. This piece was published by the tbt* in the spring of 2014.


text:
Blast Hits Sri Lanka Again, Police Find 87 Bomb Detonators at Colombo's Main Bus Station
A new bomb went off near a church in Sri Lanka when officials were trying to defuse it, after the nation was hit with coordinated bombings on Easter Sunday, which killed at least 290 people and injured hundreds.
A van blew up when a police unit tried to defuse the explosive, according to Reuters. Local reports suggested that there were no casualties.
Local media, however, reported that it was controlled explosion near an unnamed church in Colombo, and that the police cordoned off the area before detonating the device.
Sri Lankan police have also found 87 bomb detonators at the main bus station in the capital, Colombo, on Monday>>>
Submitted by Old_Logan on Mon, 04/22/2019 - 05:06


The Casper Tribune Herald ran these two photos on May 9, 1941, showing the "spastic chair," designed by a local orthopedic specialist and built by local firefighters with money donated by the Moose Lodge. At left is 4-year-old Leonard Cook of Casper. At right is Don McCoubrey of Thermopolis.
Before vaccines nearly eradicated polio in Western countries and greatly reduced it in the developing world, the highly infectious disease paralyzed and killed thousands, many of them children, in the United States. Natrona County was not immune. In 1941, we had an active branch of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, chaired by William J. Stone.
On May 9 of that year, the Casper Tribune-Herald took a peek into our "polio ward" to preview the hospital's upcoming open house for National Hospital Day. The paper wrote about two pieces of equipment designed by local orthopedic specialist Dr. Gordon Whiston - including the "spastic chair," highlighted in the above photos. The entire article is transcribed below, along with the story of "husky young Jack Albee," a Midwest high school athlete who was confined to bed for months due to a polio infection. You can also read about Memorial Hospitals iron lung, a man-sized tube used to help paralyzed breathe.
Husky young Jack Albee, Midwest high school athlete, lay for months on a bed at Memorial Hospital. When they brought him there, it was doubtful if he would ever walk again. Stricken by infantile paralysis, his legs were as useless as chunks of wood.
Today, Jack Albee is walking again. Slowly, painstakingly and with the help of the "walker" especially made for the state orthopedic ward at the Casper hospital, but he is on the way to complete recovery. He is on his feet again. And he is one of the most pleased young men in this whole wide world.
His is not the only recovery that is taking place in this popular ward, which will be visited by the public next Sunday afternoon. In recognition of National Hospital Day, there will be an open house reception and a baby reunion - for all infants born at the institution since Jan. 1, 1939 - between the hours of 2 and 4 o'clock. Visitors will be welcome to inspect the hospital.
Through patient, skilled doctoring and n ursing, under the supervision of Dr. Gordon Whiston, orthopedic specialist in charge of the ward, and Martha Partridge, hospital superintendent, progress is reported for every patient in the department.
The creation of special equipment right here at home, to meet certain needs in the rehabilitation of infantile paralysis and other orthopedic patients, is one of the most important developments of all. The walker in which Albee is learning to use his legs again was designed by the national defense welding class at the high school in accordance with designs suggested by Dr. Whiston. The cost was defrayed from the local "polio" fund maintained by the National Infantile Paralysis Foundation.
Other appliances have been fashioned to fulfill specified requirements. One of the most remarkable of all is the tilting, adjustable chair for the curing of spastic patients, those unable to sit upright and to control the movements of their head. The improvement resulting from the practice sessions in this chair is truly gratifying. It was constructed by the firemen at station No. 2 (on David Street), from original ideas proposed by Dr. Whiston. It was his "brain child." Funds necessary for its construction were donated by the local Moose Lodge.
Other appliances in the exercise room include mirrors and chairs donated by Mrs. Elizabeth McRorey and Mrs. B. W. Maxon.
In conjunction is a regular class room where school is conducted by Mrs. E. Robert Dumbleton, a teacher in the Casper school system on special assignment for this purpose. Children's tables and chairs for use in the classroom were donated by the Casper Business and Professional Women's club, which has been active in various ways in sponsoring entertainment and assistance to the patients in this ward.
Much more might be written of the important work being done in the orthopedic ward, and of the interesting appliances and events there. But visitors on Sunday, as they join in observance of National Hospital Day 1941, will have an opportunity to see for themselves.
Throwback Thursday is a series celebrating Wyoming Medical Center's long and rich history in Natrona County. Special thanks to the Casper College Western History Center which archives the vast Wyoming Medical Center collection of newspaper articles, photographs and other memorabilia. If you recognize anyone from our posts, or have more to add to the stories, please post a comment.


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Search Engine Optimization is not a single marketing element, but rather a host of marketing elements put together to let the world know what your business is all about. If search engines can't figure out what your business is about your website will remain unfound by a majority of potential customers.
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text:
Spokane City Council to vote on scaled-back bid to protect tenants from eviction if they've applied for rental aid

A proposed Spokane city law aims to protect tenants who have at least applied for rental assistance.

The law would prohibit landlords from ousting a tenant for unpaid rent – as long as that tenant has met a number of conditions.

The goal of the ordinance, which is set for a vote on Monday, is to prevent the eviction of tenants who are waiting on a rental assistance check. The law would not protect tenants who face eviction for reasons other than unpaid rent, such as posing a health and safety risk or damaging property.

The protections would expire at the end of 2022.

Council President Breean Beggs introduced the bill last year and was met with swift resistance from landlords.

After hearing that feedback, Beggs made changes and stripped limits on rent increases for landlords who accept rental assistance from the city. Landlords warned last year that such a requirement would dissuade them from accepting rental assistance. Instead, landlords argued, they could forgive the unpaid rent and then jack up future rent to make up for the loss.

The new legislation would only slightly bolster the tenant protections embedded in state law by the legislature last year, according to Beggs. It also looks to cover a protection that evaporated when Gov. Jay Inslee allowed the moratorium on evictions to fully expire on Oct. 31.

The new city law would embed many of the same protections under state law into the terms of its rental assistance program.

"The vast majority of the ordinance simply incorporates state law into our rental assistance program," Beggs explained.

For example, under state law, landlords are required to offer tenants a reasonable repayment plan, which is defined as no more than one-third of the monthly rent payment at the time the rent was missed.

The new city law would protect tenants waiting on rental assistance, but they would be responsible for notifying landlords that they have at least applied for help.

"The landlord doesn't have to go search and find out" if a tenant has applied before starting the eviction process, Beggs explained.

Beggs stressed that the proposal essentially asks nothing of landlords, and that the city's rental assistance program does not force them to take any less than the full amount of money owed in back rent.

Steve Corker, president of the Landlord Association of the Inland Northwest, said he would support the bill if it is limited to the protections outlined by Beggs. But Corker is worried the actual text of the legislation is broader than Beggs describes.

The bill "has many of the same conditions" as the previous iteration, Corker said.

The bill is proposed as an emergency ordinance, meaning it would require five of seven council members to support it.

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Archive 2 1967 British RAF Lightweight Ventile Flight suit. Broadarrow Coveralls.
Near mint, with all original working AERO zippers. Tons of beautiful pocket designs, and interesting details to be studied and enjoyed.
1967 Broad Arrow tag intact, as well as a great "RIGGER" patch on the sleeve. This RAF flight suit is made of incredible lightweight Ventile material.
across waist adjustable from 33 to 36"


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Photo: Eana Korbezashvili / Civil.ge
Home/News/Mtatsminda By-Elections Slated for May 19
Mtatsminda By-Elections Slated for May 19
2019 By-Elections Central Election Commission Elections
MP by-elections in Mtatsminda single-mandate constituency in Tbilisi will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2019, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced today.
According to the election administration, 31 polling stations will be opened for the by-elections, serving a total of 43,868 registered voters.
The seat became vacant after Salome Zurabishvili, a majoritarian lawmaker, was elected as the President of Georgia.
In Georgia's mixed electoral system 77 seats in 150-member parliament are allocated proportionally under the party-list contest among the parties and electoral blocs, which clear a 5% threshold in nationwide popular vote.
Rest of the 73 MPs are elected in 73 single-member districts, known as "majoritarian" mandates; a majoritarian MP candidate has to win over 50% of votes in order to gain an outright victory in the first round, otherwise a second round will be convened.
The latest Parliamentary election was held on October 8, 2016. The 2020 polls will be conducted under the mixed proportional-majoritarian system. The country will move to a fully proportional representation from 2024.
The CEC Spokesperson Ana Mikeladze told Civil.ge that five mayoral by-elections – in Marneuli, Zestaponi, Chiatura, Zugdidi and Khulo – will be also held on May 19. Municipal council (Sakrebulo) by-elections are to be held in eight municipalities as well.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
ISFED: Electoral Bill Poses Threat to Transparency of Elections
Ombudsperson Says Ruling Party Lawmakers Responsible for Parliament's Blockage
Georgia in Freedom House's Internet Freedom Report
Abkhazia to Hold Repeat Polls; Tbilisi, Intl Community Call It 'Illegitimate'


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Monsanto rebuffs Bayer's sweetened offer
Published: July 19, 2016 at 2:26 p.m. ET
Jacob Bunge
Monsanto Co. on Tuesday again rejected Bayer AG's takeover proposal, saying Bayer's improved $65 billion bid still undervalued the biotech seed giant -- but it left the door open to further talks with Bayer and "other parties."
Monsanto called Bayer's bid, which the German company raised last week, "financially inadequate" and "insufficient to ensure deal certainty." Monsanto's board of directors unanimously rejected it.
"Bayer is looking forward to continued dialogue with Monsanto under an appropriate confidentiality agreement allowing access to additional information," Bayer said Tuesday in a press release.
A Bayer spokesman declined to explain if the two companies have reached a confidentiality agreement, and said that the dialogue with Monsanto would continue.
Bayer voiced disappointment over Monsanto's decision to reject Bayer's increased takeover offer.
"The revised all-cash offer is a compelling opportunity and represents immediate and certain value for Monsanto shareholders amid recent weak business performance and Monsanto's reduced mid-term outlook," Bayer said.
Bayer is pursuing what would be the latest in a succession of multibillion-dollar merger agreements that would reorder the $100 billion global market for agricultural seeds and pesticides, which has struggled against a slide in crop prices. The German pharmaceutical maker, which runs an agricultural division heavily focused on pesticides, sees Monsanto's number-one global position in seeds and crop genes as a way to create a sector leader that could develop high-tech seeds, crop sprays and other farm services in tandem.
After bidding $122 a share for Monsanto in May, Bayer raised its offer to $125 a share verbally on July 1 and more formally eight days later, it said in a July 14 statement. Bayer also said it had lined up financing from a group of banks, and pledged to pay Monsanto $1.5 billion if regulators torpedoed the deal.
Analysts had expected Monsanto to turn down Bayer's higher offer, however, estimating a sale price around $135 to $140 a share.
Some Monsanto investors have said Bayer should pay more for the world's largest seed company, despite Monsanto's recent struggles in the slumping farm economy. Monsanto, which is focused entirely on agriculture compared with more-diversified rivals like Bayer and DuPont Co., last month reported profit in its latest quarter below analysts' expectations, as sales fell 8.5%.
While some Monsanto investors say they are interested in a sale at the right price, they are concerned about selling at a low point in the cyclical agricultural business, after three straight years of declining crop prices have U.S. farm income on track to hit its lowest level since 2002.
Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant told investors on an earnings conference call last month that Monsanto also had been discussing alternative deals.
A tie-up between Monsanto and Bayer would be the latest blockbuster merger in the agricultural sector. Shareholders of Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont, both major seed and pesticide makers, this week are scheduled to vote on a merger deal agreed in December. Switzerland's Syngenta AG -- which Monsanto unsuccessfully pursued last year -- agreed in February to a $43 billion takeover by China National Chemical Corp.
Buying Monsanto also would reshape Bayer itself, making agriculture roughly half its overall sales, which has rattled some investors who view the company more as a health-care player than a producer of crop seeds.
Friedrich Geiger contributed to this article.
Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com and Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com


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Home » Nation » Cardinal Tobin addresses immigration, abuse scandal at Notre Dame lecture
Cardinal Tobin addresses immigration, abuse scandal at Notre Dame lecture
On: 9/5/2018, By Don Clemmer , In: Nation
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., visits with Notre Dame students following an Aug. 30 lecture on "awakening the American heart." Cardinal Tobin addressed U.S. attitudes toward immigrants and, responding to questions afterward, said he saw the Holy Spirit at work in the abuse crisis, "like a hurricane" smashing structures. (CNS photo/Don Clemmer, Our Sunday Visitor)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CNS) -- The Catholic Church in the United States is living through two storms, a U.S. cardinal observed. He said there is the policy of "zero tolerance" toward undocumented immigrants, which has plunged communities into fear, and the Holy Spirit working "like a hurricane" to smash structures of clericalism through the current clergy sexual abuse crisis.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, devoted his remarks in the Aug. 30 lecture at the University of Notre Dame to immigration, discussing the impacts of a corrosive political discourse and secularism and drawing on Pope Francis' teaching on the dangers of societies driven by money and social exclusion.
But the question-and-answer period following his remarks focused heavily on the abuse crisis in the church. On both issues, Cardinal Tobin said Catholics are asking how we got to this point.
Anti-immigrant sentiment, he said in his remarks, "is but one highly visible manifestation of the overall harsh, merciless edge we are so quick to apply to our discourse." He added that this harshness has animated the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies, which he said sadly fit "the current zero-sum nature of our politics."
The cardinal cited the 2010 words of the late Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, who said: "For too many, politics is the ultimate horizon of their thinking and acting." Building on this, Cardinal Tobin said it's a "first commandment issue" when political agendas occupy a place of importance that belongs to God and the values that flow from our faith. He noted that the bishops, in their "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" document, have advocated that people's faith should inform their political views, not the other way around.
The cardinal said using Scripture to justify the separation of children from their parents at the border is an example of faith warped by ideology. He also quoted from Pope Francis' messages to the World Meeting of Popular Movements in 2016 and 2017, where he said "Fear your neighbor" is the new commandment from those who manipulate people's fear and frustration.
In response to challenges posed by immigration, Cardinal Tobin cited St. John Paul II's 1996 message on immigration, which said the social and economic imbalances that fuel migration "should not be seen as something inevitable, but as a challenge to the human race's sense of responsibility."
Cardinal Tobin said the response of U.S. Catholics opposed to family separations at the border gives him hope that Americans can still have a change of heart on immigration.
"We see the ongoing good work of Catholic Charities, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and other grassroots efforts aimed at accompanying the frankly terrified members of our immigrant communities as they weather the storm," he said.
In the question-and-answer period, the cardinal said he agreed with Pope Francis' Aug. 20 letter that clericalism is the root cause of the abuse crisis. He said setting clergy apart as an elevated caste was particularly enabling not just to abuse but to the cultures of secrecy and avoiding scandal that lead to cover-up.
"The church has been turned upside down," he said, referring to recent abuse and cover-up scandals. He said he welcomed laypeople demanding a leadership role in their church, something he said reflects the vision of the Second Vatican Council.
The council's fruits, he added, have been crammed into old structures for the past 50 years. He said the movement of the Holy Spirit isn't always a gentle breeze but more like a hurricane and that, "on good days," he can look at the headlines and see the Holy Spirit "smashing structures."
The cardinal was a presenter at the annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C. Lecture at Notre Dame, sponsored by the university's Center for Social Concerns to highlight themes of Catholic social tradition.
Clemmer is managing editor of Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, a national Catholic newspaper based in Huntington, Indiana.


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Historically this has always been the toughest of my European tours and, while I have toned things down recently, the route remains better suited to those with a little bit more off-roading experience. Located in south central France, this is proper adventure country, where the frills are few and the thrills are plentiful. Farming prevails, and most of the locals seem to enjoy the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyles. The rugged pastoral charm of the region remains unspoiled by much tourist infrastructure, though the campsites are excellent, as are the activities. If you need to escape to the wilderness following the summer holidays, and you enjoy occasional moderate challenges in vastly varying terrain, then this special tour in the heart of rural France, will suit you perfectly. Fully catered as always, also including outdoor adventure activities.
Start - we meet at a campsite near Ambert in the late afternoon preceding Day 1, to enjoy a welcoming BBQ, followed by the tour briefing and the essential testing and calibration of the CB radios.
Finish - at a campsite near Chaliers on the morning of Day 11, and after a complimentary farewell breakfast, we head our separate ways.


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B.J. HOLLARS
11. On John Updike's "Self-Consciousness"
In November of 2001, back when I was a mere bookseller at the local bookstore, I was shelving in the U's when I came across John Updike. It was a name I knew I knew, though I didn't know why. I was 17, too naïve to know his prominence in the writing world; nevertheless, a sign directly above his books indicated that he would be reading in town the following week, and so, I decided to attend.
The night of the reading, I listened intently as that old man with his shock of white hair read from Licks of Love, a book I've yet to read myself (much preferring the memory of Updike reading it to me). By reading's end—even though I was floored by his talent—when I finally met the man face-to-face, all the 17-year-old me could muster were the regrettable words: "What was it like to be on The Simpsons?"
As our hands clasped, it had suddenly occurred to me how I knew John Updike. He'd voiced himself in a recent episode, and as an avid watcher (and not yet an avid reader, regrettably), this had served as my introduction to the man.
Long story short: Updike paused, mulled it over, and then remembered that yes, he had, in fact, been on The Simpsons, and that it was fine.
A little context, Friend. I am no longer 17. In fact, I'm writing to you from the dining room table at 5:49a.m. on my 30th birthday. M.'s already one day past her due date, which means there's at least some chance—if I'm lucky—I'll be sharing my birthday cake for the rest of my life.
Given these circumstances, I doubt it'll surprise you to learn that when delving into Updike's memoir Self-Consciousness earlier this week, I read it mostly for what might be gleaned from his attempts to balance family life alongside writing.
Like this gem, describing his early years of fatherhood/writing:
"In summer, though, what fullness of life, it seemed, to put in a few hours at the typewriter and then race downstairs…and leap into a station wagon or convertible containing my wife and a quartet of children, all of them plump and brown in their bathing suits!"
It sounded like a good strategy to me: work followed by play.
But what I've already learned—and likely what Updike learned—is that it's far easier to break one's work schedule than one's play schedule, especially when the rest of your gang is honking the horn of the station wagon to hustle you out the door. And how can anyone in good conscious say no when loved ones try to liberate? How can one say, "Sorry perfect summer day (which I'll never get again), and sorry family (which I'll also never get again), but I must further confine myself to a chair so that I can write feverishly and then delete most of what I write."
What kind of madness is that, Friend, and who would ever forgive such a trespass?
Of course, Updike enumerates other perceived trespasses as well. In particular, he describes a revealing scene several years later—after his marriage had soured—when he learned that the dander from the family cats was the cause of his breathing problems.
Updike writes that his wife "…saw, with me, that it was impossible to drown or give away Willy and Pansy, and that it was possible, at last that I go."
And so, John Updike left, beginning the irreversible splintering of his family.
This is the outcome I'm trying to avoid, Friend, the one where the cats get priority.
Given the choice, I'd much prefer leaping from the keys and hurling myself headlong into a waiting car en route to the beach. Would much prefer sand toys to ampersands, oceans to writing about oceans.
When I feel pressure to write (and I often do), it's always the result of the writer-in-me persuading the other-me than I'm writing for the family, that it's theirs, too. And I admit, dear Friend, that's a lie I sometimes swallow.
But then I remind myself: What good's the writing without the subject? And what good are the words (even if they are good words) if written at such a high cost?
In the final lines of Updike's essay featuring the station wagon and the drive to the beach, the author mentions that he now lives (well, did live, may he rest in peace) within walking distance of a beach, and yet despite his proximity, he ventured there but three times a summer.
He concludes: "Life suddenly seems too short to waste time lying in the sun."
As I sit at this dining room table at 6:29a.m., I'm just beginning to see flecks of sunlight dappling the trees.
It's my cue to quit this letter.
Write soon.
10. On Lia Purpura's "Rough Likeness"
I struggle to find the words to write to you about Lia Purpura's essay collection, Rough Likeness. Probably, this is due to Purpura's own finely tuned ear, which renders sentences with such clarity that any attempt by me to write of her writing seems only to add dissonance to her tune.
And so, I suppose, let the pot-and-pan clamber begin.
First, a summary of the collection: the collection defies summary. I swear to you, Friend, I am not being coy; I simply can't boil Purpura's work down into simple subjects.
I am not alone.
Even the back cover copy shies away from pinning down subjects, relying instead on a surplus of adjectives and verbs rather than the usual nouns. I can't help but think these parts of speech clue us into what her essays are really "about": not people, places, or things so much, but the experience of thinking deeply about all of them.
Yes, Purpura is a thinker, and thus, her essays require thought. At times, I admit, I feel as if she's trying to buck me through the tangential. She herself acknowledges her long-range leaps ("stay with me here"), though it's the challenge of staying with her that makes the reading experience a joy.
When I read Purpura's work, I find myself reading not only for the essay's subject, but for the essay's experiment as well. They are like two trapeze artists who always meet mid-air—tangling with such elegance that it's all but impossible for me to see where one ends and the other begins.
While I could say far more about her swoops in structure and subject, I can't keep myself from writing love letters to the language itself. The way she handles words like baby birds—every last one cradled and stroked before inserted into its perfect place.
But it's not easy--not even for her.
In "Augury," Purpura dedicates several pages to unwinding the image of a bird snagged in a tangle of fishing line. Her unwinding takes time, and as she revises her language again and again, she leaves everything on the page so that we readers might know her struggle. "Then into the bower rained a bird," she writes. "Dropped a bird. Now swings a bird. Hangs a bird." The bird, now dead, no longer moves, though Purpura's attempt to describe it keeps the image in motion. By reevaluating her language, she breathes life into a dead thing, helping us see the bird not for what it was, but for what it still is to her.
I'm clambering again, and in an attempt to find focus, perhaps I'll linger on "There Are Things Awry Here," an essay in which Purpura tries to understand her visit to Tuscaloosa, Alabama—a visit I remember well. I was a grad student then, and though I (dumbly) didn't enroll in her class, I served as a loyal loiterer during the week she spent in our town. As a result, I know the people she writes about in her essay. And I know the place. But I also know her confusion with the place, a land, as she notes, "Where stories won't take…"
Simply put, Tuscaloosa--like Purpura's collection--defies simple summary. And Purpura's right in drawing attention to the complexities of the landscape. Yet rather than becoming stonewalled by the setting, she simply tried another tact.
"When the land would not speak and my characters failed, when the land was muffled and my characters stock, this piece was born," she writes.
When I read the aforementioned lines, my mind immediately goes to a Charles D'Ambrosio quotation: "The problem with an essay can eventually become its subject."
Yes, Friend. This is it exactly.
Every time I try to write an essay that matters to me, the essay puts up its fists. This battle wages on for some time. After awhile, I begin imagining us as two weary boxers bumbling about in the ring--starry-eyed, unhinged, and desperate to hold our ground. But after enough rounds, sometimes I surprise the essay by surprising myself and doing what Purpura did—ditching the battle plan and going off script, allowing the essay to lead.
Pacifist that I am, I'm sure it doesn't surprise you to learn that I prefer my essays as dance partners rather than boxing opponents. But in truth, I'm not sure either metaphor aptly describes the relationship between essay and writer. After all, to an essay, the writer is neither a partner or an opponent--just the person on the other end of the high wire, reaching out in the hopes that someone might reach back.
Okay, enough with my clambering.
Take care Friend, and write soon.
9. On Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine"
I woke up at dawn this morning to assemble the lawn furniture; after a long winter, I was desperate to let summer begin. But as I learned, 6:00 a.m. is not the ideal time for much of anything, certainly not turning bolts and screws into place. That lawn furniture resisted my advances, played dumb as I tried to fit washer M into socket C. (Don't even get me started with wing nut L.) The point is, it wasn't easy, but it was necessary. It was time to make winter leave.
And in my effort to welcome the new season, I knew I had to have that lawn furniture in place. Knew I had to sit upon it, too, when cracking the cover of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, the book I've faithfully returned to at the start of every summer since the end of my seventh grade year.
What can I tell you, Friend, but that the reading experience was wondrous—as it always is—and over much too fast. No matter how hard I tried to savor every page, I found myself gulping the words, exhibiting less-than a little restraint as I closed the book, breathless, three hours later.
It was that quick, just like summer—there a moment and then gone. The book had started so promising, and then, like always, vanished. I sat on the lawn furniture—dumbfounded by the book's speed—and realized that the furniture I'd assembled just that morning probably wouldn't last long, either.
All that hard work for nothing, I thought, for something that won't last more than a season or two.
It is this exact sense of ephemeralness that Dandelion Wine explores. When Leo Auffmann tries to invent his happiness machine, he learns, much to his horror, that the problem with inventing a happiness machine is that at some point, the user must re-enter the world, return to—as his wife puts it—"the dirty dishes and the beds not made."
She continues: "While you're in that thing, sure, a sunset lasts forever," but "[w]ho wants a sunset to last?"
I like to think of life as an accumulation of sunsets, which of course, it is. But I also like to think that running parallel to these individual days is the longer narrative, one consisting of a single morning, a single noon, and a single sunset before the final night.
Perhaps the reason I re-read this book year after year is because it reminds me of my own place along this journey. When I first read it, I was Douglas Spaulding. Then, as the years progressed, I grew into his father. One day—God willing—I will be Douglas's grandfather, too.
Interspersed throughout the book are the efforts by the Spaulding brothers—Douglas and Tom—to document their summer in full. With the help of a nickel tablet and a Ticonderoga pencil, they record every dandelion, every firecracker, every cicada and ice cream cone. But despite all their data collecting, summer still comes to its close, leaving them with nothing but their memories and a pencil-filled book.
They could not keep their sunset, despite their best attempt.
Which is not to say it was their only attempt.
In the early pages of the book (in the early days of summer 1928), the Spaulding boys are commissioned by their grandfather to gather every dandelion in the yard, each of which will be used to press dandelion wine. The vintage is then left to ferment in the cellar, until a cold January day when at last it's released to melt the cold from their bones.
In this way, dandelion wine serves as the book's central metaphor, one that directly links with the lesson derived from Leo Auffmann's happiness machine: that the things we cherish most are the things we know we'll lose.
Though I know better, each summer I, too, partake in an annual bottling of dandelion wine. Every August, I gather dandelions from the backyard, add a bit of rainwater, then screw tight the lid on a Mason jar and place it on the shelf. Today, I've got 20 years of summers on my bookshelf, though every last one has turned to sludge. It's a visual reminder that I, too, cannot capture something meant to be fleeting. But it's a reminder also that if we recognize that which we love early enough, we can love it twice as hard.
This is not to say I love my lawn furniture. It's only to say I will love the time my family will spend on it. And when the day finally arrives when I have no choice but to walk those mildewed, bird-turded cushions to the curb, I'll smile while doing it and remember today: when I got up at dawn to give us a little more time.
P.S. As I completed this letter to you, I dropped my beloved copy of Dandelion Wine on the kitchen floor. It cracked in half, dipped beneath its own horizon line. But it sure was beautiful while it lasted.
8. On Michael Herr's "Dispatches"
I just spent the day with Michael Herr's Dispatches, and let me tell you, I'm glad I don't have to spend another. Not because the book was bad, but because it was terribly good—honest, true, and an intimate look at the Vietnam War that we somehow missed in high school history class. In fact, after finishing Herr's book, I returned to my dusty, old textbook, cracked it for the first time in a decade, and marveled at how an entire war had been condensed into six or so pages. And none of those pages contained a single name of a single soldier: just politicians and death counts.
Herr's book is not about politicians or death counts; it's about the casualties of war that kept on living. It's a pastiche of soldier life told from the occasionally high, occasionally drunk reporter who embedded himself alongside them. Yet it's Herr's close proximity to his subjects that creates such an unrelenting read. It's the kind of book you absorb with your mouth hanging wide, wondering how it could ever be true.
But beyond the individual anecdotes (can stories this cruel be called "anecdotes?") lie the seeds of philosophical inquiry. We can't help but ask the big questions when reading about soldiers who gobbled drugs to keep from asking them themselves. I can't say I blame them. What good were the "big questions," after all, for men who were trained not to question?
Momentarily inhabiting the mindsets of the soldiers, Herr comments on these questions:
"No fair was no good," he writes, "Why me? The saddest question in the world."
For Herr, finding causality in the chaos was a fool's errand. He writes: "You could make all the ritual moves, carry your lucky piece, wear your magic jungle hat, kiss your thumb knuckle smooth as stones under running water, the Inscrutable Immutable was still out there…"
Translation: their deaths were always awaiting them, regardless of who they appeased with what.
While war movies often depict the victors collecting relics from their dead, I'd never considered the motivation of the action. Yet Herr reveals it, describing the act as "a little transfer of power…"
It's chilling, Friend, don't you think? How easily a victim can be transformed into a talisman, something to be collected in the hopes of protecting the one who did the killing.
Most of what I know of war I've learned from my grandfather, who—like so many veterans—preferred not to speak of it during his lifetime. He left no war talismans behind, just an audiotape, one I've listened to again and again in an attempt to understand the part of him I never knew. Growing up, sometimes I'd stare at that wobbly-kneed man and wonder How was he ever a soldier? I was young, and still lacked the imagination to understand that beneath his current exterior was an earlier version, and beneath that one, another. Yet even on the tape, my grandfather seemed to spare listeners the worst of it. The way he spoke of war, you'd think it was all guarding bridges and stirring to the sound of young French girls singing the soldiers awake.
There are only a few minutes on that 60 minute reel in which he delves into the darkness, briefly touching on the time he killed the German soldier (who happened to already be dead), and the time he remained on high alert as enemy soldiers crept closer and closer throughout the night. The second story is my favorite, the one in which my grandfather—just a boy then—clutched his gun tight as a thump, thump sound startled him every half an hour or so, making sleep impossible. He remained on a hair-trigger throughout the night, only to learn at sun-up that the sounds were not coming from "enemy soldiers" but from some nearby apple trees that happened to be shedding their fruit. He called it "The War of the Apple Trees," and dedicated so much time to the tale it made me wonder if fighting apples was the most action he ever saw.
But as I later learned, he fought many battles beyond the apple trees, even earning himself a few medals in the process.
One day when he picked me up from kindergarten, I noticed a Purple Heart emblem affixed to his license plate.
"What's it mean?" I asked him.
I wish I could remember what he said.
All I know is that he survived when others didn't, and that it probably wasn't fair. Why him? Why was he so lucky? And why was I so lucky as to have benefited as a result of his luck? Lucky enough to be here today, writing to you, because the universe saw fit to spare him.
Take care, Friend. Keep those talismans close.
B.J. Hollars is a writer and a teacher.


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Where 76 is the New 65
Six graphics show how dramatically the world is aging, and which countries are aging healthier.
Robert Roy Britt
Mar 11 · 3 min read
By 2050, the percentage of the elderly is expected to double globally compared to today, as people live longer and an ever-higher percentage of the population is beyond their retirement years, according to the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, conventional measures of longevity don't reflect the quality of extended time on this Earth.
A new study took a sideways look at aging, health and mortality by analyzing at what age people in a country actually feel like 65-year-olds, as defined by experiencing the health problems of the average 65-year old globally.
The study considered 92 diseases and conditions in 195 countries and territories. The results are a window into both longevity and health status, revealing how well people age, or how poorly, the researchers report this month in the journal Lancet Public Health.
The findings "show that increased life expectancy at older ages can either be an opportunity or a threat to the overall welfare of populations, depending on the aging-related health problems the population experiences regardless of chronological age." said Dr. Angela Y. Chang, lead author of the study from the Center for Health Trends and Forecasts at the University of Washington.
"Age-related health problems can lead to early retirement, a smaller workforce, and higher health spending," Chang said. "Government leaders and other stakeholders influencing health systems need to consider when people begin suffering the negative effects of aging."
Growing Old: The Numbers
Globally, life expectancy at birth, measured from 2005 to 2015, rose from 65 years for men and 69 years for women to 69 years for men and 73 years for women, according to the United Nations.
Interestingly, while gains in life expectancy have leveled off in recent years in the United States, improvements over the past couple decades have been greatest in Africa. Yet there remain significant regional differences.
In the future, there will be a lot more elderly people:
The change will be particularly dramatic among the oldest people on the planet:
But as people live longer, life isn't always a bowl of cherries. Living longer and healthier is the trick. Barring breakthroughs in healthcare, more old people could mean more mental illness and more physical ails, putting tremendous strain on society and its systems.
Other than picking good genes, how can you up the odds of living longer and healthier (and maybe, just maybe, being happier)?
The evidence is clear, and you likely didn't hear it here first: Eat well, sleep well, exercise regularly, stimulate your mind with engaging, challenging activities and, importantly—especially as you get older: Avoid loneliness by making and keeping a strong circle of friends. It's either that or move to Japan.
Happiness Survey
Please help me better understand who is happy (or unhappy) and why. It's totally anonymous.
Exploring the human condition and ways to improve it.
Explainer of things, former editor-in-chief of Live Science and Space .com, author of the science thriller "5 Days to Landfall."


The Ronald McDonald House provides precious moments together for a family with too little time left.
Ten year old Carmen was a sweet child with a cheerful, dazzling personality, whose smile and laughter was contagious. Whether she was playing the piano at the Ronald McDonald House or conspiring with her little sister, Guadalupe, to hide sticky notes with the message, "I <3 U" for her favorite staff members to find, Carmen always cheered up everyone around her. If it weren't for her shaved head, you would have thought Carmen was like any young girl her age.
Unfortunately, Carmen had cancer…which she bravely fought to remission during her family's first visits to the House back in 2008. But the deadly disease reared its ugly head again in 2014. And her family, once again, came to stay at the Ronald McDonald House while Carmen underwent that achingly familiar chemotherapy. Amazingly, throughout months of grueling treatments, Carmen's bubbly personality and optimism brought smiles to everyone in the hospital and the House who came to know and love her.
As those months of exhausting treatments dragged on, the Ronald McDonald House provided a comfortable and supportive place for Carmen's parents, grandparents, older brother, and younger sister to stay, without the burden of paying for costly hotel rooms and meals every day. In spite of their own struggles, Carmen's family always encouraged other families in the House to stay positive and strong. Just when it seemed like Carmen's health was turning a corner for the good, she suddenly developed a serious infection. Sadly, Carmen passed away quietly one night, with her family by her side.
As Carmen's adopted family, our House staff rallied to embrace them. We opened our doors to Carmen's extended family to make the most of what time they did have left with her, and to even create some cherished memories along the way. Carmen's life ended all too early, but her brave spirit and optimistic nature has left a lasting impression on our staff and other families here at the House. It is a reminder of why the mission of the Ronald McDonald House is so very important.
We may not be able to provide our families with a cure, but what we can give them is precious time together. Here at the Ronald McDonald House we strive to make our families as comfortable as possible, so that their child has the full and undivided attention of the ones they love most in this world. And cure, or no cure, that is the best medicine any child could ever receive.


The school welcomes your interest in sending your children to our school.
Once we have received your request we will email the enrolment information to you.
Thank you for your interest in enrolling your child/children at Orana Catholic Primary School. We will be in touch with you shortly.


text:
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (VIST) is 14.02% away from 50-day simple Moving Average despite all headwinds
On January 24, 2023, Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: VIST) opened at $16.51, lower -2.52% from the last session. During the day, the shares moved up to $16.7199 and dropped to $15.97 before settling in for the closing price of $16.68. Price fluctuations for VIST have ranged from $5.17 to $17.06 over the past 52 weeks.
Company's average yearly earnings per share was noted 453.70% at the time writing. With a float of $84.62 million, this company's outstanding shares have now reached $88.05 million.
In terms of profitability, gross margin is +40.24, operating margin of +26.62, and the pretax margin is +23.42.
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (VIST) Insider and Institutional Ownership
A key investor's attitude towards the stock of the Oil & Gas E&P industry is another important factor to consider. The insider ownership of Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. is 3.90%, while institutional ownership is 30.64%.
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (VIST) Latest Financial update
If we go through the results of last quarter, which was made public on 9/29/2022, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, besting the agreed prediction (set at $0.72) by $0.03. This company achieved a net margin of +7.77 while generating a return on equity of 9.47. Wall Street market experts anticipate that the next fiscal year will bring earnings of 0.72 per share during the current fiscal year.
According to the Wall Street analysts, stocks earnings will be around 453.70% per share during the next fiscal year.
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: VIST) Trading Performance Indicators
Check out the current performance indicators for Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (VIST). In the past quarter, the stock posted a price to sales ratio for the trailing twelve months stands at 1.36.
Technical Analysis of Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (VIST)
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: VIST) saw its 5-day average volume 0.69 million, a negative change from its year-to-date volume of 0.69 million. As of the previous 9 days, the stock's Stochastic %D was 64.97%. Additionally, its Average True Range was 0.79.
During the past 100 days, Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V.'s (VIST) raw stochastic average was set at 90.80%, which indicates a significant increase from 75.16% during the past two weeks. Based on volatility metrics of the stock, it showed a historical volatility of 54.86% in the past 14 days, which was lower than the 58.04% volatility it showed in the past 100 days.
At the time of writing, stock's 50-day Moving Average is $14.32, while its 200-day Moving Average is $10.52. Nevertheless, the first resistance level for the watch stands at $16.66 in the near term. At $17.07, the stock is likely to face the second major resistance level. The third major resistance level sits at $17.41. If the price goes on to break the first support level at $15.91, it is likely to go to the next support level at $15.57. The third support level lies at $15.16 if the price breaches the second support level.
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: VIST) Key Stats
There are currently 88,406K shares outstanding in the company with a market cap of 1.41 billion. Presently, the company's annual sales total 652,190 K according to its annual income of 50,650 K. Last quarter, the company's sales amounted to 333,570 K and its income totaled 76,660 K.
(VIST)
NYSE: VIST
VIST Shares
VIST Stock
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V.
Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: VIST)


Kerotin - Why Buy From Us?
Kerotin Hair Care is the world's leading hair care & beauty brand and we have many great reasons why your business belongs with us. We are a fast growing company because we always put our customers first. A customer centric shopping experience has always been our top priority, and we pride ourselves in our comprehensive policies that have put us in a realm above and beyond our competitors. Shop with us today and see the Kerotin Hair Care Difference.
Helping Women Around The World Grow Their Confidence & Their Hair With Quality Supplements & Products.
We make fresh batches of our best-selling products every week, so your order won't be sitting on the shelf for long before you receive it! This guarantees product freshness and superior quality for optimal results.
Many of our wonderful customers have had a truly positive experience with Kerotin Hair Care products, with the results to show for it. Just read their amazing reviews and see for yourself! Everyone that uses our products comes back for more, so we must be doing something right!
Kerotin has partnered with national fulfillment centers for the fulfillment of all our orders, and we have our products strategically stocked in warehouses across the United States. This means you will be receiving your wonderful hair care products by one of the best online retailers in existence from somewhere near you, with reduced shipping times.
Kerotin Hair Care is owned and operated by courteous and knowledgable professionals to support your hair care and shopping experience. Many of our thousands of satisfied customers would gladly back up these claims!
Kerotin features a secure online shopping experience with the lowest pricing available online, ensuring that your information is confidential and you get the lowest price possible!
All of Kerotin's products are made from naturally sourced products. We are proud to say that anyone can read our ingredients without the use of a dictionary. Each of our hair capsules, argan oils, skincare creams, masks, cleansers and serums are made in a USA, FDA Registered, GMP Certified Facility. We follow stringent standards and rules to ensure our products are crafted using only the best ingredients to deliver maximum results for our customers. The bottom line is we love our customers, and our customers love our products!
All of our hair care products are proudly manufactured in the USA and are Third-Party tested.
All of our hair care products are cruelty free and never tested on animals.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee provides a hassle-free way to try the product and feel the benefits.


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#ifndef TENSORFLOW_PYTHON_PROFILER_INTERNAL_TRACEME_WRAPPER_H_
#define TENSORFLOW_PYTHON_PROFILER_INTERNAL_TRACEME_WRAPPER_H_

#include <string>
#include <utility>

#include "absl/strings/str_cat.h"
#include "absl/strings/string_view.h"
#include "pybind11/pytypes.h"
#include "tensorflow/core/platform/macros.h"
#include "tensorflow/core/platform/types.h"
#include "tensorflow/core/profiler/lib/traceme.h"

namespace tensorflow {
namespace profiler {

// Wraps TraceMe with an interface that takes python types.
class TraceMeWrapper {
 public:
  // pybind11::str and pybind11::kwargs are taken by const reference to avoid
  // python reference-counting overhead.
  TraceMeWrapper(const pybind11::str& name, const pybind11::kwargs& kwargs)
      : traceme_(
            [&]() {
              std::string name_and_metadata(name);
              if (!kwargs.empty()) {
                AppendMetadata(&name_and_metadata, kwargs);
              }
              return name_and_metadata;
            },
            /*level=*/1) {}

  // pybind11::kwargs is taken by const reference to avoid python
  // reference-counting overhead.
  void SetMetadata(const pybind11::kwargs& kwargs) {
    if (TF_PREDICT_FALSE(!kwargs.empty())) {
      traceme_.AppendMetadata([&]() {
        std::string metadata;
        AppendMetadata(&metadata, kwargs);
        return metadata;
      });
    }
  }

  void Stop() { traceme_.Stop(); }

  static bool IsEnabled() { return tensorflow::profiler::TraceMe::Active(); }

 private:
  // Converts kwargs to strings and appends them to name encoded as TraceMe
  // metadata.
  static void AppendMetadata(std::string* name,
                             const pybind11::kwargs& kwargs) {
    name->push_back('#');
    for (const auto& kv : kwargs) {
      absl::StrAppend(name, std::string(pybind11::str(kv.first)), "=",
                      EncodePyObject(kv.second), ",");
    }
    name->back() = '#';
  }

  static std::string EncodePyObject(const pybind11::handle& handle) {
    if (pybind11::isinstance<pybind11::bool_>(handle)) {
      return handle.cast<bool>() ? "1" : "0";
    }
    return std::string(pybind11::str(handle));
  }

  tensorflow::profiler::TraceMe traceme_;
};

}  // namespace profiler
}  // namespace tensorflow

#endif  // TENSORFLOW_PYTHON_PROFILER_INTERNAL_TRACEME_WRAPPER_H_


Is your company looking to order custom blank laser checks with company logo, color scheme and multiple security features?
Or are you in the business of selling checks to companies, offering different features, color combinations, sizes and formats?
In any case this blank laser check paper guide will help you identify the best solution for your business or valuable service to your customers, both US and international.
The first thing that we ask our clients is the check volume: how many checks do they print on a yearly, monthly or weekly basis. This helps to determine the optimal order amount. Most printing plants will charge a large amount of money based on per-check basis when the quantity is low. The price goes down significantly when the laser check order reaches above 7,500 – 10,000 pieces.
Custom blank laser check stock can come in 8-1/2″ x 11″ standard size or 8-1/2″ x 14″ legal size.
The standard weight for laser check is 24#. Sometimes due to the special toner grip coating, the paper weights close to 25#.
Visible fibers are randomly embedded within the paper stock on both sides to make duplication difficult. They can be seen with the naked eye and sometimes referred to as "hairy paper".
Invisible fibers fluoresce under the UV black light. They provide authentication for the custom blank laser check that cannot be duplicated by electronic publishing techniques. They cannot be scanned or photocopied and that makes them fraud resistant.
True watermark is considered one of the highest levels of blank laser check security available. It is created during the printing process by embedding security images in the paper. The images can be viewed when holding documents against the light source.
Artificial watermark is applied after the paper manufacturing process. It can be applied by the paper manufacturer or by the printer. The cost of the paper with artificial watermark is usually less expensive than the same paper with true watermark. Artificial watermark can be seen from one side only at an angle and is usually applied at the back on the blank laser check. Another name for the artificial watermark is ghost printing technique. The image is printed in opaque white ink or transparent ink.
The cost of checks will vary depending on how many colors are used to print custom blank laser checks. It may be 2, 3 or 4 color process. When printing logo it is important to have vector EPS files and color separated artwork, so the graphics have good quality.
3) the Verification Phrase ("BACK/VERSO"; "VERSO/BACK"; "BACK/ENDOS"; "ENDOS/BACK"; "BACK" or "VERSO").
In security check printing, void pantograph refers to a method of making copy-evident and tamper-resistant patterns in the background of a document. It is also referred to as a hidden message technology, VOID pantograph or VOID background.
Normally these are invisible to an eye, but when copied or scanned they show "VOID" , "NULL", "UNAUTHORIZED COPY", "COPY".
The signature area and amount line can be printed with pantographs that are different from background of the check. Copier's density settings produce various VOIDs in different parts of the check.
It is important to find out how many perforations are needed on a check. What is the position of perforations; how many checks per page and what is the location of the check (top, middle, bottom)? The requirements may vary depending on the country where checks will be used. Usually banks can provide this information in details.
Perforations can be vertical, horizontal or partial.
Micro-printing is used to print recognizable patterns on checks that require magnification to be read. To a naked eye the characters may appear as a solid line. When someone tries to photocopy or scan the image, the micro-printed line appears as dotted or solid line because reproduction machine is not able to read or recreate the pattern. The technique adds security features to the company checks. Some digital fonts known as microtext are designed specifically for the purpose of micro-printing. You can customize micro-printed information on custom laser checks. They can ready the name of your company, the words like "ORIGINAL DOCUMENT", "MICROPRINT SECURITY", "AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE" as well as actual check amount.
The letters MP next to the signature line of the check represent micro-print warning that the item employs micro printing technology.
Arabic numbering in front of the check is used to print the check numbers. The position may vary depending on the check printing software used but check number is usually located in the top right corner of the check.
Control number in the back of the check. Some companies are required to have pre-printed control numbers on the back of each check that is used for inventory purposes according to internal policy. When a new check stock is received, the company management needs to verify the first and the last stock control numbers.
MICR that stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition makes the MICR line in the bottom of the check. The characters in the MICR line provide information about the account the check is drawn on as well as check number.
The routing number consisting of nine digits, is the first set of numbers in the MICR line. Every bank has its own routing number and by looking at the check you can identify the bank that hosts the account the check is made from. The routing number in the MICR line is surrounded by two identical symbols that look like this: "|:" — a vertical line followed by a colon.
The second set of numbers in the MICR line represents the account number of the business or individual that issued the check. Account number can comprise of any number of digits starting from 5. Banks have their own policies in numbering of the accounts to comply with country regulations.
The third group of digits in the MICR line is the check number. It matches the number in the front of the check located in the right-hand corner.
MICR line is printed using special magnetized inks. MICR toner contains iron oxide, which is required by the Federal Reserve to make the check-clearing process more efficient. Automated equipment at the financial institutions can read the MICR line and identify where the money to pay the check will come from.
MICR line placement on the blank laser check is critical and needs to be in an area at the bottom of the document called the clear band.
ANSI specifications "Understanding and Designing Checks – ANSI X9/TG-2" state that the clear band must be a minimum of 5/8″ (0.625″) high (measured from the bottom of the check). The MICR line must be positioned within the clear band area, so that machines can read and process the information on the check correctly. Otherwise the check will be rejected.
Depending on the amount of information pre-printed on the checks, the check printing software can fill-in the blanks and print routing and account number only or routing, account and check numbers dynamically.
Thermochromatic ink makes paper heat sensitive. If you touch or blow on image printed with this ink, it will fade and disappear. The image will be visible again after the temperature becomes normal. The reactivity of paper to temperature changes cannot be replicated on a color copier or scanner.
White opaque ink is used with artificial watermarks. The image can be viewed when held at an angle.
Warning band is located on the top of the blank laser check. It serves as a reminder to the person cashing the check that they need to pay attention to security features on the back of the blank laser check to verify authenticity.
Depending on the type of checks, there may be different ways to pack them. Three-whole punching can be requested for check books or commercial / business checks.
If checks are numbered, it is important to know if they should be packed with numbers going up or down, face up or face down, so that the client doesn't need to repack them after delivery.
The padlock icon on the check indicates that extra security measures have been taken in designing and production of the checks or the material being used adheres to the industry standard. These steps make fraudulent check reproduction difficult.
Padlock can be pre-printed on the blank laser check during the printing process at the plant. It can be also printed on the checks with software that was authorized to use the icon.
It is important to get check format requirements from the authorized financial institution in the country where checks will be used. This will assure that blank laser check will be accepted and cleared with no issues or delay.
Many companies can provide blank laser check samples, so that you can see colors, sizes, check position and other elements before placing a large order. When creating custom checks it is advisable to order prepress proof and true color proof in full-size format. Color proof serves as a guideline for a printing press operator.
Contact us to request samples of blank laser checks for your business.


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