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WOMAN'S SLIP-ON WATERPROOF SHOE
A woman's slip-on waterproof shoe that may have various embedded marks and designs, along with the capability to attach and detach accessories, and ankle straps.
ALBRECHT, H. V. (401 S. County Road #2027, Palm Beach, FL, 33480, US)
A43B9/14; A43B3/12; A43B7/12; A43B21/36; A43B23/24
1. A woman's slip-on shoe comprising: a platform shaped to conform to the bottom portion of a human foot, said platform being generally of a wedge shape having various upper parts shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to secure the platform to the foot.
2. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein said platform is shaped to conform to the bottom portion of a human foot, wherein the shape of the inner part of the upper surface of the platform is shaped to support the arch of the foot.
3. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein outer edges of the top surface of the platform are slightly raised to reduce slippage and further hold the foot onto the platform.
4. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein an upper part of said platform is shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to secure the platform to the foot, wherein said upper part is a simple band that is shaped as part of the platform during construction resulting in one unit.
5. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein upper parts shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to hold the foot onto the platform, wherein said upper parts are two pieces, the outer end of each said piece is shaped into part of said platform during construction so as to become one unit with two flaps enabling closure by attaching the end areas of the two flaps.
6. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein said platform includes the means to attach independent parts to the upper part of the platform.
7. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein said platform includes the means to attach independent parts to the bottom of the platform.
8. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein said platform is shaped to conform to the bottom portion of a human foot, wherein an accessory connector is formed into the upper part of the platform behind the heel area.
9. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein an upper part is shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to hold the foot onto the platform, wherein the said upper part contains an accessory connector, the means of connecting independent accessories.
10. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein said woman's slip-on shoe is waterproof.
11. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein various marks and designs may be embedded in the waterproof construction material, both the sides and/or the bottom surfaces .
12. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein an ankle strap may be connected to a platform accessory connector, the means of connection according to claim 8.
13. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein a heel cover and strap may be attached to said platform, the means of connection according to claim 6.
14. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 1 wherein an accessory sole may be attached according to claim 7.
15. The woman's slip-on shoe according to claim 9, wherein the accessory connector can be attached to various independent accessories enabling their attachment to the flaps according to claim 9.
16. The product comprising any feature described, either individually or in combination with any feature, in any configuration .
17. A process comprising any product described in any order, using any modality either individually or in any combination, with any modality or any feature described.
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to the Provisional Patent Application No. 62/067,182, filed Oct. 22, 2014.
[0002] The invention is directed to the field of footwear and in particular to a woman's slip-on shoe that is comfortable, stylish, and waterproof.
[0003] Women often wear uncomfortable and somewhat flimsy appearing shoes due to current or seasonal styles. In the warmer climates or summer seasons in particular, women tend to seek shoes they can wear barefoot, without socks or stockings, to stylishly complement their mode of dress. For resort and summer wear, many currently available shoes use a thong or sandal style which may cause blisters and sore feet for many people. Shoes with thin high heels, also, however stylish, are not a style many mature women or women with various foot problems can wear. Most of these thin high heeled shoes also are rather fragile, and wear out or fall apart quickly, especially if they have gotten wet. Many people want a beautiful, comfortable, stylish, shoe that is also suitable for walking and standing that will not fall apart, especially after getting wet.
[0004] Fashion designers are of the opinion that a shoe with a heel, generally two to three inches in height is more stylish and dressy. In today's design world, many of these shoes on the runway are beautiful, with sometimes even three and up to four inch high heels. These shoes are constructed of various materials and in many layers with leather and cloth predominating. For the most part the shoes are very stylish, yet may not be long lasting, and further, their general shape is very uncomfortable for many women to wear, no matter how beautiful .
[0005] Known prior art includes shoes that are considered waterproof but are based upon pieces that are stitched, sewn, and/or glued together. Such a shoe comprises a main body that may be stitched with a shoe collar from above and having a bottom portion coupled sequentially with a filler plate, a thin sole, and an outsole, an outer welt being stitched to a lower outer rim of the main body by a first thread so as to cover the lower outer rim, the outer welt being stitched to the thin sole by a second thread. Such a shoe is waterproof being characterized in that: the main body is integrally formed of a waterproof material and comprises, from top to bottom, a shoe- shaped portion, a bottom portion, and a welt portion, wherein the shoe-shaped portion and the bottom portion jointly form a shoe shape, and the shoe-shaped portion has an upper end provided with an upper opening, the shoe collar being stitched to the upper opening; and the welt portion is provided on a lower side of the bottom portion so as to form a concave space below the bottom portion for receiving the filler plate, the welt portion being stitched to the outer welt by the first thread .
[0006] What is lacking in the art is a women's waterproof shoe that is comprised of more than one identifiable "part", but is not stitched together and lacks a bottom portion, a filler plate, a thin sole, and lacks an outsole and an insole.
[0007] Disclosed is a woman's slip-on shoe that is comfortable, stylish, and waterproof and will be bes u de stood by refe ing to the following detailed description of each drawing of the items claimed, and additional illustrative drawings of the different embodiments.
[0008] This invention has the advantages of being stylish, comfortable, and waterproof. There are also attachable accessories that enhance the usability and stylishness of this invention, such as a dancing accessory, decorative embellishments, and various ankle straps.
[0009] Itis an objective of the invention to disclose a shoe made in particular colors, with an ankle strap and an attached accessory, which is the perfect walking shoe at the beach and going to luncheon. It is comfortable and suited for walking to and from the luncheon.
[0010] It is another objective of the invention to disclose a shoe for use with evening wear wherein the shoe is a shiny black with the attached heel and ankle strap. The wearer is carrying the accessory sole, and after dinner, attaches the said accessory sole, and makes her way to the dance floor.
[0011] Another objective of the invention is to disclose a shoe that can be worn as a slip-on with or without either type of ankle strap, to the office. It is comfortable and well suited for a long day of standing and walking back and forth handling various tasks. After work, heading home, it is nothing to be caught in a rainstorm. The shoe is waterproof.
[0012] Yet still another objective of the invention is to disclose a shoe wherein the platform is shaped to include an arch support adding to the comfort and health of the wearer enabling more comfort especially when walking and/or standing.
[0013] Yet still another objective of the invention is to disclose a shoe worn as a slip-on and the wearer can then simply attach the combined heel and strap to the connectors to head off for dinner.
[0014] Another objective of the invention is to disclose a shoe to be worn at a wedding and the wearer has attached independent accessories to the accessory connector and thence to the accessory slot in the upper part.
[0015] It is another objective of the invention to disclose a shoe that can be worn at a wedding and the upper parts flaps which enable closure at various sizes are part of this shoe due to several brides' maids having slightly different sized feet. The special independent marriage accessories are attached to the accessory connector and thence to the accessory slot in the upper parts.
[0016] Still yet another objective of the invention is to disclose a shoe having a platform that is embellished with proprietary designs in the sides of the waterproof platform material which advertises the logo of polo matches.
[0017] Yet still another objective of the invention is to disclose a shoe wherein a bottom surface of the platform has been embellished with proprietary designs in the waterproof platform material which increases the non-skid properties of the existing bottom surface of the platform.
[0018] Other objectives and further advantages and benefits associated with this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description, examples and claims which follow .
[0019] FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of the outer side of the platform;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the inner side of the platform;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the platform with the shape of the upper surface of the inner side of the platform having a raised area in a shape 20 helping to support the arch of the foo ;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the platform with the shape of the upper surface with a slightly raised edge on the outer edges of the platform, which is formed 30 to reduce slippage and further hold the foot onto the platform;
[0023] FIG. 4 is a pictorial view of the platform with an upper single band 40.
[0024] FIG. 5A is a pictorial view of the platform with two flaps 50, ancl an example, but not the only method, of connecting the two upper parts, constructed as two flaps, forming an upper band;
[0025] FIG . 5B is a pictorial view of the platform with two flaps 50, and an example, but not the only method, of connecting the two upper parts, constructed as two flaps, forming an upper band;
[0026] FIG, 5C is a pictorial view of the platform, having upper- parts 50 constructed as two flaps connected to the platform FIG 1 forming a single piece during construction;
[0027] FIG . 5D is a pictorial view of the platform FIG 1, and an example of the two upper parts 50, constructed as two flaps, connected to form an. upper band;
[0028] FIG. 6A is a pictorial view of the platform FIG 1 showing one method, but not the only method of attaching independent parts to the upper part 60 of the platform;
[0029] FIG. 6B is a pictorial view of the platform FIG 1 showing a second method, but not the only method, of attaching independent parts to the upper part 62 of the platform;
[0030] FIG . 6A is a pictorial view of the platform FIG 1showing one method, but not the only method, of attaching independent parts to the bottom 61 of the platform; [0031] FIG. SB is a pictorial view of the platform FIG 1 showing a second method, but not the only method, of attaching independent parts to the bottom 63 of the platform;
[0032] FIG. 7 is a pictorial view of the platform having a connector 70 behind the heel area., that allows the connection of various " parts or accessories to the upper part of the platform FIG 1;
[0033] FIG. 8 is a pictorial view of the platform upper part band 40 constructed as part of the platform, showing one 80, but not the only method, of connecting independent accessories;
[0034] FIG. 9 is a pictorial view of the platform upper part bands 50 constructed as part of the platform, showing one 80, but not the only method, of connecting- independent accessories;
[0035] FIG 10 is a pictorial view of an entire example of the shoe in a bucket of water, indicating that the entire shoe is completely waterproof.
[0036] FIG. 11 is a pictorial view of an example of the platform having various marks and designs embedded in the sides of the platform;
[0037] FIG. 11 is a pictorial view of an example of the platform having various marks and designs embedded in the bottom surface of the platform; [0038] FIG. 12 is a view of an example of method of attaching the said accessory sole FIG 13 to the lower part of the platform 20 according to claim 5;
[0039] FIG. 13 is a view of an example of an attachable accessory sole which may be attached to the lower part of the platform according to claim 5;
[0040] FIG. 14 is a pictorial view of an example of an independent accessory connector that may be attached to various independent accessories 190 and thence to an accessory connector 80 according to claims 8 and 9;
[0041] FIG. 15 is a pictorial view of an example, but not the only one, of a detachable ankle strap 150 which may be attached to the accessory connector 70 at the rear of the platform;
[0042] FIG. 16 is a pictorial view of another example, but not the only one, of a detachable ankle strap 160 which may be attached to the accessory connector 70 at the rear of the platform;
[0043] FIG. 17 is a pictorial view of an example of the detachable heel cover and strap which may be attached to the upper part of the platform, according to claim 6;
[0044] FIG. 18 is a pictorial view of an example of the detachable heel cover and strap attached to the upper part of the platform as in 60 and 62, according to claim 6; [0045] FIG. 19 is a pictorial view of an example of a detachable independent accessory 190 which may be connected to the independent accessory connector FIG 14 which may be attached to the upper part flap 40 according to claim 8 ;
[0046] FIG. 19A is a pictorial view of an example of a detachable independent accessory 190 which may be connected to the independent accessory connector FIG 14 which may be attached to the upper part flaps 50 according to claim 9.
[0047] Detailed embodiments of the instant invention are disclosed herein, however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific functional and structural details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representational basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
[0048] The invention, a woman's slip-on shoe, hereinafter referred to as the shoe, is comfortable, stylish, and waterproof and will be best understood by referring to the following detailed, description. Referring to the Figures in general, the platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 is the primary unit of the shoe. Various parts and/or devices as noted in the Claims and the Descriptions enable the shoe to accept accessories, and devices which create the various Embodiments chosen by the owner of the shoe to use it in various different ways. The platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 of the shoe and the upper part 40 or parts 50 as shown in the drawings, are combined during construction, into one complete, waterproof, piece. There is no separate sole, nor insole, nor outsole, nor other parts, as are indicated in many other shoe patents because the platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 and its particular upper part 40 or parts 59 are molded into one waterproof piece.
[0049] In one embodiment of the invention, various means, according to claim 7, allow an accessory sole FIG 13 to be connected to the platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 as shown in the drawings, to provide a different bottom surface, different from the one shown in FIG 11, this example embodiment specifically being constructed to allow sliding movement on smooth floors to enhance dancing.
[0050] In another embodiment of the invention, at the upper area of the platform, the means, according to claim 6, allow a heel cover and strap FIG 17 to be connected to the platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 as shown in the drawings, to enable more firmly holding the foot onto the platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 further supporting the foot for such things as walking or dancing according to a user's preference.
[0051] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the inner part of the upper surface 20 of the platform FIG 2 is shaped to support the arch of the foot, and the outer edges 30 of the platform FIG 3 are slightly raised to further hold the foot onto the platform FIG 3.
[0052] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, an accessory connector 70 is formed into the upper edge of the platform behind the heel area FIG 7. This connector allows the attachment of an ankle strap 150 or 160, and other independent accessories .
[0053] In one embodiment of the invention, the single upper part 40 and the platform FIG 4 as shown in the drawings, is constructed into one piece.
[0054] In another embodiment of the invention, the two upper parts 50 and the platform FIG 5D as shown in the drawings, is constructed into one piece.
[0055] In another embodiment of the invention, the upper part
40 may have various removable accessories connected to the said independent accessory connector FIG 14 and thence to the said accessory connector 70. [0056] In another embodiment of the invention, the upper parts 50 may have various removable accessories connected to the said independent accessory connector FIG 14 and thence to the said accessory connector 80.
[0057] The woman's slip-on shoe comprises a platform FIG 1 and
FIG 2 shaped to conform to the bottom portion of a human foot, said platform being generally of a wedge shape having various upper parts 40 or 50 shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to secure the platform FIG 4 or FIG 5D to the foot. The platform is shaped to conform to the bottom portion of a human foot, wherein the shape of the inner part of the upper surface of the platform is shaped to support the arch of the foot 20. The platform includes the means to attach an independent accessory FIG 13 to the bottom of the platform 51 or 63. The platform includes the means to attach independent parts to the upper part of the platform 60 or 62 according to claim 6.
[0058] The outer edges 30 of the top surface of the platform FIG 3 are slightly raised to further hold the foot onto the platform and the platform is shaped to conform to the bottom portion of a human foot, wherein an accessory connector 70 is formed into the upper edge of the platform behind the heel area. An upper part 40 of said platform is shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to secure the platform to the foot, wherein said upper part 40 is a simple band that is shaped as part of the platform during construction resulting in one unit.
[0059] Upper parts 50 of the platform FIG 1 and FIG 2 are shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to hold the foot onto the platform, wherein said upper parts 50 are in two initial pieces, the outer end of each said piece is shaped into part of said platform during construction so as to become one unit with two flaps enabling closure by attaching the ends of the two flaps.
[0060] An upper part 40 is shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to hold the foot onto the platform, wherein the upper part 40 contains the means 80, according to claim 9 to connect an accessory connector FIG 14 that may be used to attach independent accessories 190.
[0061] Upper parts 50 are shaped to surround the upper and side portions of the human foot in such a way as to hold the foot onto the platform, wherein the covering flap of the upper parts 50 contains the means to connect an accessory connector FIG 14 that may be used to attach independent accessories 190.
[0062] The woman's slip-on shoe is waterproof FIG 10 and various marks and designs 110 may be embedded in the waterproof construction material. Further various patterns may be embedded in the waterproof construction material on the bottom surface 111 of the said platform.
[0063] An ankle strap 150 may be connected to a accessory connector 70.
[0065] A heel cover and strap FIG 17 may be attached to said platform by the means 60 to connect said heel cover and strap.
[0066] An accessory sole FIG 13 may be attached to said platform FIG 12 by utilizing the means 120.
[0067] The shoe may be colored in a pattern that is the trade dress of the applicant.
[0068] The woman's slip-on shoe may include an accessory connector FIG 14 that can be attached to various independent accessories 190.
[0069] One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended to be exemplary, and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
Previous Patent: SHOE HORN APPARATUS AND METHOD
Next Patent: ANALOG ELIMINATION OF UNGROUNDED CONDUCTIVE OBJECTS IN CAPACITIVE SENSING


text:
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public:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Warmth l - Nomad of Garalaka by Jeff Fuchs. Click on the image for a gallery of images from the show.
Jeff Fuchs seems to have more in common with Marco Polo or Christopher Columbus than he does with anyone in the 21st century. This Ottawa ex-pat — who bills himself a Himalayan explorer and tea connoisseur — travels through some of the most exotic and remote spots on earth.
Fuchs is also an accomplished photographer. The proof can be found in his exhibition, The Ancient Tea Horse Road, at the photo-centric Exposure Gallery (atop Thyme and Again on Wellington Street West).
This is an exhibition of mainly black and white photographs of an ancient people, mainly in Tibet. Most of the images are close-ups of incredibly intriguing and weathered faces. The biographies of these people living upon the so-called roof of the world are written in their lined, wind-burnished skin. You simply know that each one of these photographic subjects has a riveting story to tell.
Fuchs travelled the mountainous 5,000-kilometre tea route from China into remote sections of Tibet to harvest a collection of photographs that capture clothing and lifestyles that seem more in tune with some medieval past than with the present. Next up for Fuchs is the Salt Road, another ancient trade route through the Himalayas.
Most Tibetan-themed exhibitions staged these days are overtly political or mix religion with the political. Fuchs takes a very different approach. His images are contemporary yet they seem to pre-date the current days of turmoil. They show us Tibetans as they were meant to be.
**Note that on the first Thursday of every month, Exposure Gallery, like other galleries in the Wellington West neighbourhood, is open until 9 p.m.
Omu the Guardian by Jeff Fuchs. Click on the image for a gallery of images from the show.


text:
Dynodorcus curvidens curvidens es una especie de coleóptero de la familia Lucanidae.

Distribución geográfica
Habita en Asia.

Referencias

Curvidens curvidens
Coleópteros de Asia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
31DEE4AA-D4BE-4776-8196-D2C14471BF66
'He is still helping animals'
By Buffy Pollock for the Tidings
TALENT — There was hardly a dry eye at the Jackson County Animal Shelter Sunday morning when 8-year-old Lily Shepherd threw a party for her big brother.
Alex Shepherd, who passed away from brain cancer in 2015, was the guest of honor. Lily and her mom, Aushna Shepherd, brought Alex's ashes along for the celebration. The boy, who loved to ride bikes and would spend every chance he got supporting the local shelter, would have been 18 Sunday.
Alex would have been excited to help haul all the donations into the place that his friends and family say was his second home.
Encased in an urn with a silver disco ball fixed on top, Alex was surrounded by gifts for the shelter — cat and dog food, toys, bedding, collars and donation checks.
Alex was a volunteer for the Friends of the Animal Shelter since he was a tiny 5-year-old, and a room was dedicated in his honor months before he died.
The Alex Shepherd Room is used for adopters to get to know their potential pets, or for volunteers helping to socialize kittens and cats.
Decorated with photos and keepsakes from Alex's days as a volunteer, the room was filled Sunday morning with loved ones remembering his adoration for felines.
Lily Shepherd, despite feeling a bit shy, did not hesitate to say that she loves felines as much as her big brother did.
Aushna Shepherd said this year had been an important and emotional milestone for her family.
"This year has been particularly hard because it's a milestone birthday, and he would be 18 today. I always used to think, 'Gosh, he'll turn 18 and he's going to go to college," she said.
"He really wanted to be a surgeon. I knew he'd be gone a long time, and just thinking about that was upsetting."
Shepherd said community support — at the shelter and through his memorial cycling team, Team Alex — has helped ease the family's grief. Alex would have graduated from high school this year, she said, and likely would have still been spending a lot of his free time volunteering at the shelter.
"Having the community — after almost five years — still rallying together and being with us is so important and so special, because you feel like everyone has forgotten. But with us, it's something we live with and deal with every day," Shepherd said, while wiping away tears.
"Every minute, I'm thinking about him and wishing he was still here."
Lily is continuing Alex's work and hosted a donation drive at her school. She said continuing his work keeps her connection with him.
"I liked it because we had never done it before, so it was kind of new and we got a bunch of things I didn't know we were gonna get," she said.
Lily smiled as she admitted to having seven cats — some of which were adopted on her brother's birthday last year.
Aushna Shepherd said she felt like her son "gives us little signs" that he is still with them.
"I do feel like he's always there. I would have never believed someone telling me before he died that it was possible but, since he's been gone, there are all these little signs," she said.
"And every time there's an adoption out of his room, the (shelter staff and volunteers) tell us that they feel like there's a little extra special love connected to the adoption."
Shelter Manager Barbara Talbert said it was touching to see volunteers and staff honor Alex's memory.
"He is still helping animals all these years later. The room has been a great addition for the shelter to have a place people can spend time with cats," Talbert said.
"It is heartwarming to see his friends and family still come out to remember how important this was to him."
Lynda Decker, Alex and Lily's grandmother, said the turnout Sunday was a testament to her grandson's kind soul.
"It's so therapeutic for my daughter to know that his legacy is not forgotten. He spent a lot of time and did all kinds of work for them. He was an animal lover his entire life," Decker said.
"He worked for FOTAS washing dogs, just did everything he could do. Whatever they needed. He was a sweet soul, very mature. People will text Aushna and say, 'Hey, guess what, we adopted a cat today in Alex's room!' We like to think that a little bit of Alex is with all those cats that get adopted. And that he's still here with all of us."
Shepherd deemed the party a success, despite the tears.
"When he was 5, he started selling wrist bands to make money for the shelter," she said.
"He would just really love this, and to see all that his sister is doing too. Anything for the animals. This would just make him very happy."
Lily asked that anyone wishing to donate in her brother's memory go online to fotas.org/ways-to-give/.
Reach freelance writer Buffy Pollock at buffyp76@yahoo.com.
Lily Shepherd and her mother, Aushna Shepherd, sit with donations and cards in memory of Alex Shepherd at the Jackson County Animal Shelter in Talent Sunday morning. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This article subject comes along 30 photograph of Kindergarten, some of them are including 13 Free Esl Community Helpers Worksheets. Kindergarten My Friendly Neighbors Community Pinterest Helpers. Community Helper Printable Coloring Sheets Helpers Worksheets For. People Occupations Jobs And Community At Enchantedlearning Com.


Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. produces and markets shell eggs in United States. It engages in the production, grading, packing, marketing and distribution of fresh shell eggs, including conventional, cage-free, organic and nutritionally-enhanced eggs. The firm operates farms, processing plants, hatcheries, feed mills, warehouses, offices and other properties located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. It markets shell eggs to national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, foodservice distributors and egg product manufacturers. The company was founded by Fred R. Adams Jr. in 1957 and is headquartered in Jackson, MS.
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. produces, grades, packages, markets, and distributes shell eggs. It offers specialty shell eggs, such as nutritionally enhanced, cage free, organic, and brown eggs under the Egg-Land's Best, Land O' Lakes, Farmhouse, and 4-Grain brand names, as well as under private labels. The company sells its products to various customers, including national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, foodservice distributors, and egg product consumers primarily in the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western, and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. was founded in 1957 and is based in Jackson, Mississippi.


Every parent wishes their children would listen to them more. But, how well do we really listen to them?
When we stop, look and listen to our children we are letting them know that they are worthy of our time.
In this week's podcast episode Dr Justin Coulson shares some simple strategies for making sure your children receive the one-on-one attention and nurture they deserve.


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Learn from first-time home buyers' biggest regrets
Virginia real estate agent Bic DeCaro has a psychology degree that comes in handy when she's showing homes, especially to first-time buyers. They get emotional. They fall in love. They get caught up in bidding wars they can't afford.They make mistakes."The big thing is buying for the moment and not looking down the road," she said.That sums up the regrets of many first-time home buyers Zi
Rookie mistakes? First-time home buyers sometimes have regrets.LARRY DOWNING / Today
By Emily Heffter
Virginia real estate agent Bic DeCaro has a psychology degree that comes in handy when she's showing homes, especially to first-time buyers. They get emotional. They fall in love. They get caught up in bidding wars they can't afford.
They make mistakes.
"The big thing is buying for the moment and not looking down the road," she said.
That sums up the regrets of many first-time home buyers Zillow surveyed after their boxes were unpacked and their infatuation had faded. Almost half of them said they would do things differently if they had it to do over.
Here are their biggest regrets.
Size and layout
Of buyers with regrets, 62 percent said they wish their homes were bigger or laid out differently. They wish they had bigger kitchens, more storage space or just more space in general.
"Almost always, they outgrow it faster than they think," DeCaro said.
Bobby Harding, a Keller Williams agent in Louisville, Kentucky, says first-time buyers think too much about square footage and not enough about the floor plan.
"Everybody wants 1,400 square feet, two bath, two beds …. They're thinking about Mom and Dad's house, a segmented house," he said.
Sometimes, they just need to consider something more modern.
In the Zillow survey, 40 percent of first-time buyers with regrets said they either paid too much or should have put more money down on their new homes.
More than a third (38 percent) said they were surprised by how much it costs to maintain their new homes, and 20 percent were surprised by the cost of closing.
Of their lessons learned about costs, 20 percent wish they had negotiated more on price, and 14 percent wish they had shopped around more for a mortgage.
More than a quarter of those with regrets said they don't like their neighborhood.
Patricia Short, a Keller Williams agent in Katy, Texas, advises her buyers to visit potential new homes on a Friday night.
"Friday night is a really good night to drive the subdivision," she said. "Is your subdivision going to be crowded with cars to where you can barely drive up and down the street? They've got their garage doors up, their lawn chairs out and their beer coolers out?"
(If that's what you like to do, she added: "You're home.")
Almost 1 in 4 homeowners had a regret about their yard. Of the 24 percent who cited lessons learned, 12 percent wish for bigger yards, and 12 percent wish they had easier yards to maintain.
That means you should be realistic about what you want in a yard before you buy. And DeCaro tells buyers in Virginia, "If you're going to want bigger and more outdoor space, you're just going to have to move farther from the city center."
Nearly 17 percent of first-time buyers with regrets wish they had a different parking situation — another practical matter that might get lost in the emotional swirl of a first real estate transaction.
That's where a good agent comes in, Harding said. He likes to insist first-time buyers look at three to five homes, at least. While they fantasize about paint colors and kitchen remodels, he points out problems with floor plans, parking and resale.
Agent Phil Faranda agreed: "It's simply a matter of not thinking it through enough. They're so invested in the emotions. It's almost like they rush to the altar just to say they were married, instead of choosing the right guy."
More from Zillow:
Money Talks, But Creativity Can Seal the Home Buying Deal
More Buyer Mistakes — and How to Avoid Them
Planning Your First Home Buying Experience
Emily Heffter, a reporter and writer for Zillow Blog, covers celebrity real estate, unusual properties, and other real estate topics. Read more of her work here.


text:
Home › NEWS › Covid-19 and Cooperation Program: The long way back to "normalcy"
By Stavros Koumentakis May 4, 2020 Articles
Answers to the first ten, relevant questions.
The production of legislation in the middle of a pandemic is going strong! Yesterday, May 1st, in the middle of the pandemic, it turned out that it was neither a holiday nor a strike-day. Returning (or, at least, attempting to return) to normalcy requires legislation. So let's get started! The 1.5.20 LD (Government Gazette vol. A '90 / 01.05.2020), addressing, among other things, labor relations, was published in yesterday's Government Gazette.
"As you set out for Ithaka, hope the voyage is a long one " And if, in this case, Ithaca is our return back to normalcy, we do see that the road will be really long. Although we all wish otherwise.
The above LD is titled: "Further measures to address the consequences of the pandemic; and the return to social and economic normalcy". However, its title is not accurate, as it is impossible to return to "social and economic normalcy". We all know that. As we know, we will be led (hopefully soon) to a new " normalcy". Both social and economic.
Issues arising around labor relations, in the context of the current pandemic, have preoccupied us in a series of (very) recent articles. The issues addressed in the above LD have preoccupied us in several of them and, among others- in the most recent: Coronavirus & Businesses: Basic (legislative) survival measures as well as Coronavirus: the invisible(;) enemy of jobs
Following our previous articles, we will address the abovementioned LD.
Question 1: Are businesses (depending on the NACE Revision 2 classification of their business activity) entitled to extend the suspension of their employees' employment contracts?
These businesses had, inter alia, the possibility [in particular: Article 1 §1 (subsection A2) no. 12998 / 28.3.20 JM] to decide to suspend the employment contracts of part or all of their employees. If they have decided to suspend the contracts of their employees, they are entitled to extend said suspension (article tenth par. 1 LD / 1.5.20) at most:
(a) for up to 60% of the contracts already suspended and
(b) for a period of thirty (30) days but not beyond 31 May 2020.
It is noted that in the event the maximum limit (60% of the contracts already suspended) is exceeded, the business pays, on its own, the remuneration of those employees whose contract was extended in excess of that percentage.
Question 2: What about the employment contracts of employees of businesses whose operation (continues to) be suspended?
Some businesses continue to suspend their operations by order of the public authority in May 2020. The suspension of their employees' employment contracts is extended for as long as the operation of the business in which they are employed is suspended (Article 10, paragraph 2 of the LD / 1.5 .20).
Question 3: Are employees whose employment contracts' suspension is extended entitled to a salary?
NO-They are not entitled to a salary
BUT: Employees whose employment contracts' suspension is extended (either if the business in which they work belongs to the affected sectors or if their employer's operation has been suspended by a decision of a public authority), are entitled to financial aid in proportion to the days of this extension (Article tenth, par. 3 LD / 1.5.20).
Question 4: Is the ban on layoffs still in place?
For businesses that have opted to suspend the employment contracts of their employees, there was an explicit ban on layoffs for all their staff and, in fact, throughout the period of the specific suspension (Article eleven § 2A, case b 'LD / 20.3 .20).
The businesses that will choose (Question 1) to extend the suspension of their employees' employment contracts are obliged (for as long as they choose to suspend said contracts) to not make reductions of their staff by terminating employment contracts. In case they terminate them, such terminations are invalid (article ten, par. 4 LD / 1.5.20).
Of course, it should be noted that there is still an obligation to keep the same employees in the same jobs – see below…
Question 5: Is the obligation to maintain the same number of jobs still in place?
What was the case until 30.4.20?
Businesses that decided to suspend the employment contracts of their employees, had the obligation (article eleventh § 2A, per. C. LD / 20.3.20 as well as article 1 §5 (sub. A.2) no. 12998 / 232 / 28.3.20 JMC) to maintain the same number of jobs for a period of time equal to that of the suspension, following its expiration. In other words, these businesses were required to retain the same employees for 45 days after the expiration of the measure. Most importantly: under the same working conditions under which they were working on 21.03.2020. The concept of the same number of jobs, however, does not include those who resigned. And it also does not include those who retired and part-time employees whose employment contracts expire after the suspension.
What happens from 1.5.20 and on?
Basically, nothing changes. Businesses that decide to extend the suspension of their employees' employment contracts are obliged, after the expiration of the extension of the suspension of the employment contracts of these employees, to maintain for forty-five (45) days the same number of jobs and with the same type of employment contract (article ten, par. 5 LD / 1.5.20).
Of course, we will wait for the Ministerial Decision that will exclude those who resign or retire from their job. Also, fixed-term employees whose employment contract expires after the expiration of the suspension. (Of course we cannot be sure, because the specific, necessary, exceptions were not included in this LD).
Question 6: Do we expect further specifications on the above issues?
We expect, in any case, some JMCs (of the Ministers of Finance, Labor & Social Affairs and Health) that will define the relevant details, among them, the amount of financial support for employees whose employment contract is extended (article tenth, par. 6 LD / 1.5.20).
This LD provides the possibility of providing extensions with JMC (of the Ministers of Finance, Labor & Social Affairs) of the implementation of the above measures until June 30, 2020 for businesses, whose operation is suspended in May 2020 by order of a public authority.
Question 7: Under what conditions is a final revocation of the suspension of employment contracts taking place?
Businesses NOT concerned:
Those businesses whose operation continues to be suspended by order of a public authority during the month of May 2020 (article eleven, par. 5 LD / 1.5.20).
Businesses concerned:
Businesses that have suspended (on their own) their employment contracts of part or of all of their employees (in the context of the measures of the pandemic) – (article eleven, par. 1 LD / 1.5.20).
Possibility of revoking the suspension of employment contracts:
(Only) The businesses (mentioned above) are entitled to permanently revoke the suspension of the employment contracts of their staff (Article eleven, par. 1 of the LD of 1.5.20).
Revocation conditions:
There are two important conditions in order for the permanent revocation of the suspension of their staff's employment contracts to take place:
(a) The revocation shall apply to at least 40% of the employees whose contracts are suspended and
(b) The employment contracts have been suspended for at least fifteen (15) days.
It should be noted, however, that employees (for whom a permanent revocation of the suspension of their contracts will take place under the aforementioned regulations) are entitled to the financial support provided for in proportion to the days of their suspension (Article eleven, par. 3 LD of 1.5 .20).
Question 8: Can a business which permanently revoked suspensions re-suspend their employees?
The employees whose contracts' suspension was permanently revoked, in accordance with the above (Question 7), cannot be suspended again (Article eleven, par. 2 LD of 1.5.20).
Question 9: Is it possible to temporarily revoke the suspension of employment contracts?
YES-there is a possibility of temporary revocation of the suspension of employment contracts (article twelve, par. 1 LD / 1.5.20).
Businesses concerned: Both those that have been classified (depending on the NACE Revision 2 classification of their business activity) as affected and those whose business activity has been suspended by order of a public authority.
Prerequisites for the temporary revocation of the suspension of employees' employment contracts: Unjustifiably strict: The coverage of extraordinary, urgent, inelastic needs of the business that cannot be delayed.
Employee Remuneration: During the temporary revocation of the suspension of the employment contracts, the employer is responsible for paying the agreed upon remuneration of its employees, in proportion to the days they worked.
Obligation to notify ERGANI: Businesses that temporarily revoke the suspension of employment contracts of their staff are obliged to notify "ERGANI" before the extraordinary work is performed (Article twelve, par. 2 LD / 1.5.20 ).
Return to the suspension status: After the expiration of the temporary revocation of the suspension of an employment contract, the suspension of the contract continues until the completion of its full-time suspension length (Article twelve, par. 3 LD / 1.5.20).
Question 10: Is it possible to temporarily adjust the working hours of employees?
YES – there is a possibility of temporary adjustment of the employees' schedule (article thirteenth LD / 1.5.20).
Businesses concerned: Both those that have been classified (depending on the NACE Revision 2 classification of their business activity) as affected and those whose business activity had been suspended by order of a public authority.
Schedule adjustment: These businesses are entitled to adjust their employees' working hours to their operating hours. The adjustment of the working hours of the employees is carried out on the condition that the type of employment contract of the specific employees is not changed.
The way back to "normalcy" is not short – it is not even possible.
Most importantly: It is also not possible, despite any expectations, to return to the (pre-pandemic) "normalcy".
But let's hope that, contrary to Cavafi's urgings, "the voyage will not be a long one."


The history of marijuana in the US continues to be a roller coaster ride of fascinating, paradigm-changing events.
On one end, there were politically fueled campaigns that demonized cannabis. On the other end, there were major scientific discoveries, spearheaded by cultural icons who went against the grain.
Put another way, there are enough instances in cannabis history to create an endless series of films and documentaries.
But what are the most influential? Or have been the most legally successful?
Here, we've compiled 5 very legally influential events for history of marijuana in the US, events that every cannabis connoisseur should know.
While it's not necessarily a legal accomplishment, this Irish scientist's undertaking is still a bulwark against the government's many attempts to slow down any reasonable discussions about the medicinal values of cannabis.
One of the first scientifically recorded instances of medicinal marijuana in the United States is O'Shaughnessy's discovery of a cannabis extract, somewhere around the 1830s, which proved to be a medical solution for nausea, a symptom of patients inflicted with cholera.
Little is known about O'Shaughnessy in the final twenty years of his life, and only as of late, has he been recognized for paving the way for a gradual cannabis paradigm change.
Besides his contributions to the refinement of gold, cholera research, underwater engineering, and various other scientific efforts, O'Shaughnessy is hailed as a pioneer of medicinal marijuana. He's the first doctor to ever study the medicinal properties of cannabis and introduce it to the Western World, which led to countless apothecaries industrializing the plant for medicinal purposes.
O'Shaughnessy's work is still relevant to this day, and his papers are used as the lead article in "Marijuana: Medical Papers", a medical book published in 1973 and reprinted by Tod Mikuriya. This book compiling a series of cannabis medical papers further strengthened scientific interest for the plant's medical use.
So in other words, O'Shaughnessy's contribution paved the way to normalizing medical marijuana use and remains a critical milestone for the history of marijuana in the US.
The infamous 1936 film is the single most propagandist, anti-marijuana movie ever made, where today, it's become an endless source of satire because of its absurdity and over the top perspective to marijuana restriction.
Sometime around prohibition, President Hoover started hyping anti-drug laws so fierce that he formed the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and assigned Harry Anslinger to use the movie as a beacon of propaganda for exaggerating the dangers of marijuana.
He successfully tarnished the name of cannabis and presented it as a satanic plant to the general public by detailing how cannabis induced violence, and ultimately, how smoking it would be in direct conflict with American religious values.
Reefer Madness was a hail mary attempt to connect cannabis with everything negative to the hegemonic values of the everyday American citizen. Anslinger was fully aware of his actions with this propaganda campaign of completely demonizing marijuana and further caused a national stir by igniting nationalistic sentiments against blacks, Jews, Mexicans, and other minorities that were a threat to "American values".
To no one's surprise, it didn't take long for the public opinion to distort. By 1938, many states enforced rigorous laws to ban Marijuana and everyone waited on Congress to swing the hammer, all thanks to this over-the-top, propagandist movie that the people took way too seriously.
And following such, the almighty War on Drugs began, and is still fuming to this day.
Oddly enough, this decision was literally against recommendations from his own commission, without critically organizing scientists and funding proper research movements to study cannabis. In other words, Nixon engaged a war on cannabis blindly.
Meanwhile, Nancy Reagan became famous with her 1986 slogan "Just Say No" which turned into a full-blown anti-drug campaign, successfully branding pot more dangerous than the black plague.
Much to our amusement, in 1994, Nixon's advisors and close think tanks admitted that the infamous War on Drugs was just a clever scheme to annihilate any threat caused by the liberalized agenda of the Woodstock spirit and the political nuisance of the rising counterculture.
However, the fight for medicinal cannabis was not over. Not one bit.
The 80's in sunny San Francisco sparked many thinking movements that protected patients and doctors who used medical cannabis, and it went into action on the 5th November, 1996. The state of California paved the way to brush off marijuana restrictions and Proposition 215 was put into good use, making California as the FIRST American state to legalize medicinal marijuana.
Colorado and Washington state went even further in 2012 and made cannabis legal for recreational use for people over 21 years of age. The two states rejoiced. Of course, the sales were massively taxed and state revenues increased, but instantly both states had to adjust to a drastic change of how cannabis was to be governed moving forward.
Big pharma joined the legal wave, as companies started to focus more on research programs and the production/cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use, which leads us to our present day of major scientific cannabis discovery and legal change.
The history of marijuana in the US is full of examples of how cannabis use continues to be at the whims of our changing beliefs and attitudes, let alone the political authorities that reign supreme.
As differing countries alongside the US fuel cannabis paradigm change today, we can expect so much more in terms of cannabis access and how it's being regarded.
Let's just hope that these changes are for good and are no longer malleable to those with biased intent.


text:
Enrollment of Female Voters Lagging
Despite efforts to encourage their participation, the number of women registered to vote in this summer's election is still troublingly low.
By Qayum Babak, Ezatuallah Zawab, Danish Karokhel
Amid fears over the low numbers of women registering to vote in Afghanistan, a tribal council in the conservative province of Paktia has provided a fearsome incentive.
Families that do not enroll women will have to forfeit the equivalent of 2,000 US dollars and a bull. In addition, the family's houses will be burned down, said Haji Kala Khan Ahmadzai, the tribal leader of the Ahmad Abad district of Paktia.
Ahmadzai said the penalties had been approved last month at a meeting of the 50-member Ahmadzai council, which includes at least 10 religious scholars.
Other tribes in the area have also agreed to enforce the punishment.
"Unless we take it this seriously, [local residents] will not take part," he told IWPR. "And since we are [traditionally conservative] village people, we have adopted these rigid conditions."
In Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, Nafisa Ghiasi, the headmistress of Hashim Barat High School, persuaded more than 500 women to march through the city to one of the registration centres.
Engineer Habibullah, the provincial governor, along with about 150 men, welcomed the marchers in a show of support for getting women registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for June.
It must be said, however, that such occurrences are the exception rather than the norm. Despite the fact that registration efforts have been under way in major centres for the past two months, the results so far - for both men and women - are disappointing.
According to figures released through the first week of February by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan, UNAMA, only 796,875 people, out of an estimated 10.5 million eligible voters 18 or older have registered so far. Of these, only 176,562 are women.
There is now talk that the elections will have to be postponed. Manoel de Almeida e Silva, the spokesman for the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, said in January that the numbers made it "close to impossible to meet the June date".
However, some say the registration process is gaining momentum.
Shamim Usmani, a female registrar in Mazar-e Sharif, said "in the beginning, very few men and women were coming for registration, but the process has speeded up".
So far, the province of Bamiyan, dominated by the minority Shia Hazaras, has the highest proportion of women registered to vote, with 10,392 women signed up compared with 14,417 men.
It is followed by the cities of Herat, Mazar-e Sharif and Kabul.
The cities of Jalalabad and Gardez in the south have the lowest proportion of women registered. In Gardez, for example, 22,699 men have registered, but only 3,298 women are on the voting rolls.
The head of the election process in the eastern provinces, Subahdayak Shah, who is based in Jalalabad, said that registration efforts have had to pay careful attention to Pashtun culture, which traditionally does not encourage female participation in public life.
Shah said that grassroots initiatives have been started to encourage families to get women out to enroll, including talking with the imams who preach in the mosques and the maliks, traditional tribal elders.
Noor Bibi, one of the leaders of the registration effort in the region, said registrars attempt to target locations where women are likely to gather. "We established our registration office in a health clinic, so when women come in sick we write down their names," she said.
"Of those who do register, only about 20 per cent are willing to accept a photographic identity card, the rest taking advantage of special provisions allowing women to provide just their fingerprints," she said.
Soraya Parlika, the head of the Afghan National Association of Women, said that there was still a sense of insecurity and fear among women, and greater outreach efforts need to be made. She said that female registrars need to be sent to districts and villages throughout the country to encourage women to register.
Even those who support efforts to register female voters emphasise that traditional Afghan culture needs to be respected in the process.
"People have emphasised that there should be separate [registration] centres for women in every villages and women should be enrolled by all-female teams, said Mohammad Akram Khepalwak, who was a delegate for Paktia at the recent Constitutional Loya Jirga and agrees with such ideas as tribal fines for families who fail to allow women to register to vote.
But Khepalwak said his tribe's efforts to ensure that women register to vote may point to the creation of a "new Afghanistan".
"Before, [even] men would not take national IDs," he said. "Now there are changes and a new revolution in which women are taking national IDs and taking part in elections."
Qayoum Baabak and Ezatuallah Zawab are IWPR contributors in Mazar-e Sharif and Jalalabad, respectively. Danish Karokhel is an IWPR local editor/trainer in Kabul. Wahidullah Amani also contributed to this report in Kabul.
ARR Issue 104
http://tinyurl.com/y5wszhyc
Confessions of an Ex-Opium Grower
Dangers Still Lurk on Improved Highways
Cuba's Less Than Beautiful Game
How the state stops footballers from pursuing their dreams.
Cuba: 3G Proves Gamechanger for Independent Media
Why Did the Cuban Regime Jail an Environmentalist?


text:
First wave of smaller sites set to get funding boost to build nearly 13,000 new homes
September 8, 2014 Ptah	0 Comments developers, developments, homes, jobs, sites, smaller
Work on nearly 13,000 homes stalled by the 2008 housing crash are set to be restarted thanks to half a billion of government investment.
Ministers published a shortlist of over 160 smaller housing developments across the country that could benefit from a share of the £525 million Builders Finance Fund, which will get workers back on sites and new homes built.
This funding will accelerate construction on the first wave of sites with potential to support nearly 13,000 new jobs.
Ministers said that with high demand for the fund, more developers will be invited to put forward their bids over the coming months as part of a rolling programme to unlock homes.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said:
"Thanks to the Builders Finance Fund, work will get started on over 160 sites across the country that had been brought to a standstill by the 2008 housing crash.
"This half-billion pound government investment will ensure we deliver up to nearly 13,000 new homes, and the same number of jobs, getting workers back on site and Britain building."
Chancellor George Osborne said:
"I am pleased to see progress with the Builders Finance Fund which will help unlock thousands of stalled housing units by providing house builders with access to finance.
"The government's long term economic plan is supporting businesses who are creating job opportunities, and in this case, building homes for hard working taxpayers up and down the country."
Communities Minister Stephen Williams said:
"I am delighted to see the Builders Finance Fund making this big step forward. Developers will be able to access over half a billion pounds of finance to build homes across England. Increasing housing supply is a crucial part of the government's plan to help build a stronger economy and a fairer society and this fund is just one of the many ways that government is supporting that."
Unlocking hundreds of 'shovel ready' sites
Launched in April, the Builders Finance Fund is a key part of the government's long-term economic plan. It will help unlock 'shovel ready' sites between 15 and 250 homes, which have the support of local people but need help to get development going. The funding will come in the form of loans, which the developer will repay on completion and sale of the homes.
Sites shortlisted for funding today include:
the Boardwalk development in Halton, where EBL are expected to deliver 80 new homes
the Priory Hall development in Braintree, where Hallmark Developments is expected to help build 20 new homes
the Belmont Hospital development in Devon, where Devonshire Homes are set to build 23 new homes
In total, 165 sites across the country are set to receive a share of £537 million to deliver 12,843 new homes, subject to due diligence.
Construction levels climbing higher
The Builders Finance Fund is one of a number of schemes the government has introduced which has got Britain building.
The government has also made available £1billion through its Large Sites Infrastructure Programme to help unlock up to 250,000 homes on large-scale developments with over 1,500 units, and £50million to support housing infrastructure and help local enterprise partnerships help deliver new homes in their area.
And today, ministers announced a further 3 sites where funding from the government's Large Sites Infrastructure Fund will unlock over 6,400 homes. They are:
Newark Future, being developed by Catesby Property Group, to unlock 2,600 homes
the former Garrison at Wellesley near Aldershot, being developed by Grainger and Bellway to unlock 3,850 new homes
On top of this, over 1,900 smaller builders have signed up to offer homes through the Help to Buy scheme, which has helped around 50,000 aspiring homeowners get on the property ladder with a fraction of the deposit they would normally require.
All this has helped deliver nearly half a million new homes since 2010 – nearly 200,000 of which are affordable homes.
← New initiative launched to rehabilitate female offenders
Victory for consumers as pension saving limits to be scrapped →


text:
FrameInfoDialog::FrameInfoDialog(QWidget *parent) : QDialog(parent)
{
  setupUi(this);

  m_curveWidget = new Plotter(curveFrame);
  m_curveWidget->setPlotSettings(m_plotSettings);
  curveComboBox->addItem(tr("correlation"));
  curveComboBox->addItem(tr("corrcoef"));
  curveComboBox->addItem(tr("inner signal"));
  curveComboBox->addItem(tr("outer signal"));
  curveComboBox->setCurrentIndex(1);
  connect(curveComboBox, SIGNAL(currentIndexChanged(int)),
          this, SIGNAL(newCurveSelected(int)));

  if (NeutubeConfig::getInstance().getApplication() == "Biocytin") {
    m_curveWidget->setVisible(false);
    curveComboBox->setVisible(false);
    curveTypeLabel->setVisible(false);
  }

#ifndef _DEBUG_
  m_curveWidget->setVisible(false);
  curveComboBox->setVisible(false);
  curveTypeLabel->setVisible(false);
#endif
}

FrameInfoDialog::~FrameInfoDialog()
{
  delete m_curveWidget;
}

void FrameInfoDialog::setText(const QString &info)
{
  infoBrowser->setText(info);
}

int FrameInfoDialog::curveOption()
{
  return curveComboBox->currentIndex();
}

void FrameInfoDialog::setCurve(const ZCurve &curve)
{
  m_curveWidget->setCurveData(0, curve.data());
}

void FrameInfoDialog::updatePlotSettings()
{
  m_curveWidget->setPlotSettings(m_plotSettings);
}


text:
Q: Create Unique Configuration between multiple Jackson mappers Is there any interface in Jackson, or a better way to create the same configuration for multiple object mappers?
For example, I have this both methods for the same class:
public static File toCsv(List<Entity> entityList) {

    final File tempFile = new File(CSV_FILE_NAME);
    tempFile.deleteOnExit();

    CsvMapper mapper = new CsvMapper();
    mapper.findAndRegisterModules()
        .configure(JsonGenerator.Feature.IGNORE_UNKNOWN, true)
        .addMixIn(Entity.class, EntityMixIn.class)
        .addMixIn(EntityB.class, EntityBMixIn.class);
      CsvSchema schema = mapper.schemaFor(Entity.class).withHeader();

    try {
      mapper.writer(schema).writeValue(tempFile,entityList);
      return tempFile;

    } catch (IOException ex) {
      throw new Exception();
    }
  }
}

public static File toXml(List<Entity> entityList) {

    final File tempFile = new File(XML_FILE_NAME);
    tempFile.deleteOnExit();

    XmlMapper mapper = new XmlMapper();
    mapper.findAndRegisterModules()
        .configure(JsonGenerator.Feature.IGNORE_UNKNOWN, true)
        .addMixIn(Entity.class, EntityMixIn.class)
        .addMixIn(EntityB.class, EntityBMixIn.class);

    try {
      mapper.writeValue(tempFile, entityList);
      return tempFile;

    } catch (IOException ex) {
      throw new Exception();
    }
  }
}

And both have exactly the same configuration, if in the future i need a new format, i could probably use the same configuration.

A: For defining MixIn and custom serialisers/deserialisers you can use SimpleModule. For enabling/disabling features on ObjectMapper you can create a method.
class MapperFactory {

  private final ObjectMapper jsonMapper = configure(new ObjectMapper());
  private final XmlMapper xmlMapper = configure(new XmlMapper());
  private final CsvMapper csvMapper = configure(new CsvMapper());

  public ObjectMapper getJsonMapper() {
    return jsonMapper;
  }

  public XmlMapper getXmlMapper() {
    return xmlMapper;
  }

  public CsvMapper getCsvMapper() {
    return csvMapper;
  }

  public <T extends ObjectMapper> T configure(T mapper) {
    // configure mapper instance if required
    mapper.enable(JsonGenerator.Feature.IGNORE_UNKNOWN);
    // register default
    mapper.findAndRegisterModules();
    // register custom
    mapper.registerModule(createCustomModule());

    return mapper;
  }

  public SimpleModule createCustomModule() {
    SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule("EntityMixIns");
    module.setMixInAnnotation(Entity.class, EntityMixIn.class);
    // more MixIns

    return module;
  }
}

Simple usage:
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.csv.CsvMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.csv.CsvSchema;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.xml.XmlMapper;

public class JsonApp {

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    MapperFactory mapperFactory = new MapperFactory();

    System.out.println("JSON:");
    System.out.println(mapperFactory.getJsonMapper().writeValueAsString(new Entity()));

    System.out.println("XML:");
    System.out.println(mapperFactory.getXmlMapper().writeValueAsString(new Entity()));

    System.out.println("CSV:");
    CsvMapper csvMapper = mapperFactory.getCsvMapper();
    CsvSchema schema = csvMapper.schemaFor(Entity.class).withHeader();
    System.out.println(csvMapper.writer(schema).writeValueAsString(new Entity()));
  }
}

class Entity {
  private int id = 12;

  public int getId() {
    return id;
  }

  public void setId(int id) {
    this.id = id;
  }

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    return "A{" + "id=" + id + '}';
  }
}

interface EntityMixIn {

  @JsonProperty("_idName")
  int getId();
}

Above code prints:
JSON:
{"_idName":12}
XML:
<Entity><_idName>12</_idName></Entity>
CSV:
_idName
12

See also:

*

*Should I declare Jackson's ObjectMapper as a static field?

*How do I correctly reuse Jackson ObjectMapper?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


They go to the American Muslim community, although the number of Muslims who join ISIS and Al-Qaeda is... tiny." Professor Khaled Beydoun of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, the other speaker at the event, said that it falls upon the shoulders of the community to spearhead efforts to educate people about Islam and to counter Islamophobia.
So that's why fighting Islamophobia (the Actula meaning here............) is not just about us feeling good. It's not just about me being able to go to the supermarket or drive without feeling threatened. This is important, but it's more than that. It's about the future of our existence as proud Muslims in our own country."


[Updated with video] Bermuda's coral reefs have been featured in a new book which helps to showcase them to a global audience, and the information contained in it will be a key reference for our school children, Minister of Environment and Planning Sylvan Richards said today.
Minister Richards said, "As many of us already appreciate, Bermuda's coral reefs are an extremely significant part of Bermuda's culture and economy.
"I am sure you have heard of the critical state that many of the world's reef systems are currently in, with mass coral die off and fish loss. To date Bermuda has been spared much of this and we are blessed with not only a healthy system but also the world's most northerly one. As such we can still rely on our reefs for food, coastline protection and as one of our major tourism attractions.
"Therefore, I am excited to be here today to share with you that Bermuda's coral reefs have been recognized in the most recently released volume of Coral Reefs of the World – a series presenting the status of the world's coral reefs, authored by leading scientists.
"The volume entitled Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories is fourth in a series that also includes coral reefs of the USA, the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and the Persian Gulf.
"The Bermuda contribution was spearheaded by the Department of Conservation Services and also involved scientists from the Department of Environmental Protection, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, the Bermuda Zoological Society, plus collaborators from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.
"Bermuda is described as one of the eight UK Territories that have extensive coral reefs. The book documents the current status of Bermuda's reefs over six chapters that cover aspects such as geology, oceanography, climate, biogeography, biodiversity, connectivity, potential threats and a summary of the total economic value of Bermuda's coral reefs.
"Not only does this book bring Bermuda's coral reefs to a global audience, the information contained in it will be a key reference for our school children in the study of our reefs, emphasizing the significant role coral reefs play in Bermuda's past, present and future, and therein, the importance of protecting them.
"We Bermudians have a strong tradition of stewardship of our reefs, a tradition that this government intends to continue. A good example of this is the work being done to protect the Sargasso Sea, being led by the Sargasso Sea Alliance a partnership formed over two years ago and led by the Government of Bermuda to protect the Sargasso Sea.
"As you may recall, the Executive Committee of the Sargasso Sea Alliance was recently awarded the prestigious 2013 SeaKeeper award by the International SeaKeepers Society for their efforts in the field of marine conservation.
"We have much to gain by working together to determine how best to balance the use and conservation of the valuable fishes and minerals in our EEZ. But, there must be a sustainable solution that protects the integrity of the oceanic food webs and the diversity of life in the deep ocean.


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a blot on the landscape meaning in Hindi
a blot on the landscape sentence in Hindi
• मखमल में टाट का पैबन्द
blot: दाग धब्बा दारा
on: लगातार लगा हुआ आगे
the: वही यह वह वही वह
landscape: प्राकृतिक दृश्य
When the mine closed the enormous workings were left as a blot on the landscape of the Troodos.
We love them now, but there was great opposition to the Dutch windmills as blots on the landscapes, intrusions.
Depending on who is talking, the results would be either a blot on the landscape or a significant step toward clean power and energy independence.
Although the villages or " ghost towns " and the former gold mines are a blot on the landscape, they are a big attraction and there have even been concerts hosted at the site of the former gold mine.
The 2010 survey also showed that 52 % disagreed with the statement that wind farms are " ugly and a blot on the landscape " . 59 % agreed that wind farms were necessary and that how they looked was unimportant.
I would not like this article to be a blot on the landscape of Wikipedia's high quality of medical coverage, if it was generally felt that the type of medical research in progress covered by this list ought not to be included in Wikipedia.
Vince appeared twice on TV as a pottery expert on the Channel 4 program, " Time Team " : in series 7, episode 10 ( " Sutton, Hereford " ) and series 10, episode 11 ( " Not a Blot on the Landscape, Castle Howard, Yorkshire " ).
a bitter pill for to swallow
a blow-by-blow description
a bolt from the blue
a brief note is placed below


text:
Ron Paul: Obama Foreign Policy Identical To Bush? Absence of "change" underlines fact that both parties follow same agenda on major issues
On March 11, 2009 By Jeff FenskeIn Barack Obama, Ron Paul, War
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD5FcSuMO1U]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4C33bcLFAw]
Congressman Ron Paul has slammed Barack Obama's foreign policy, saying it is identical to that of his predecessor George W. Bush, proving once again that both parties follow the same agenda on major issues.
Paul compared Obama's pre-election promises to those of his predecessor George W. Bush, who before his election in 2001 guaranteed that the U.S. would not be the policeman of the world or engage in nation building.
Since the inauguration, Obama has sent 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan and and rapidly expanded the Bush-era bombing raids on Pakistan.
"Even though Obama was the so-called peace candidate and was going to bring our troops home from that war in Iraq, I'm afraid there's evidence now that shows he's going to pursue the same foreign policy – which was my argument during the campaign, that no matter what happens, both major parties support the same foreign policy, the same monetary policy, the same welfare policy and there's never really any change," said the Congressman.
As we reported last month, Obama's war chest for 2009 alone, when one includes the budget of the defense department, the vast majority of which is related to spending on new fighter jets and other weapons-related programs, is a whopping $805 billion dollars.
Every single component bar one of the DoD budget is up 5-10% compared to 2008, with the budget for "military construction" increasing by a mammoth 19.1%.
Meanwhile, despite public pronouncements by Obama that a plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq is in progress, the details of the agreement actually establish a permanent presence of a sizable occupying force in perpetuity.
Obama swept to power on the promise that he would "immediately" withdraw troops from Iraq.
In reality, after the "withdrawal" of U.S. troops in 19 months, "Mr. Obama plans to leave behind a "residual force" of tens of thousands of troops to continue training Iraqi security forces, hunt down foreign terrorist cells and guard American institutions," reported the New York Times.
A senior military officer spelled it out more plainly to the Los Angeles TImes, "'When President Obama said we were going to get out within 16 months, some people heard, 'get out,' and everyone's gone. But that is not going to happen,' the officer said."
Ron Paul also discussed Obama's monetary policy, noting that every time a new government initiative was announced to supposedly rescue the economy, the stock markets sink.
Paul said that he also did not hesitate to slam Obama's policies on civil liberties, especially on liberal talk shows that were sympathetic with the new president.
"I don't think there's any reason for us to rejoice," said the Congressman.
Anchorage, Alaska: Tonight, Downtown — 3D glasses will be available for the first 100 people
Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease


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Home/Posts/Why do pupils who went to infant and first schools appear to underperform at Key Stage 4?
Why do pupils who went to infant and first schools appear to underperform at Key Stage 4?
By Dave Thomson|2018-09-27T17:18:28+01:0028th March 2018|Exams and assessment, School accountability, School improvement, Structures|
As a principle, most of us would agree that the way education is organised in any given part of the country should not have an impact on the educational outcomes of children.
Most pupils will go to primary school at age four, then transfer to secondary school at age 11. They will be assessed at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in the same school.
A small proportion of pupils will change schools between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. This might involve moving from an infant school to a junior school at seven (often on the same site or even in the same building) before transferring to secondary school at 11. And some parts of the country have retained a "three-tier" system where pupils join a first school at four, before moving to middle school at eight or nine and then to high school at 12 or 13.
Around 10% of state-funded schools with Key Stage 1 classes are infant or first schools. Numbers of these schools have fallen by 1,000 over the last 10 years to around 1,700 today.
So is there any difference in subsequent Key Stage 4 attainment between those who went to infant/first schools and those who went to all-through primary schools?
Key Stage 4 attainment
The chart below shows that those who completed Key Stage 1 in an infant or first school tended to achieve lower Attainment 8 scores than those with the same KS1 attainment from an all-through primary[1].
For each prior attainment group, the gap was around 2-3 points, equivalent to 2-3 grades across the total 10 subjects counted in Attainment 8 (English and maths are double-weighted). Yet the overall average score for pupils from infant/first schools was 49.2 – only slightly higher than the average of 48.9 for all-through primary schools.
In other words, average Key Stage 4 outcomes for pupils who went to an infant/first school are similar to those for pupils who went to an all-through primary.
But pupils assessed at Key Stage 1 in infant/first schools tended to have higher levels of prior attainment. A total of 13% had a Key Stage 1 average point score (APS) of 21 or higher (Level 3 or higher), compared to 8% in all-through primaries. Conversely, just 10% had an APS of 10 or lower (just above Level 1), compared to 15% in primaries. The chart below shows the full picture.
Disadvantage at age seven
Based on an areal measure of disadvantage at age seven, the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), however, there appears to be no difference in mean KS4 outcomes for pupils in infant/first schools and all-through primaries.
In the chart below pupils are divided into 20 evenly-sized bands based on the IDACI score of the area in which they live.
The dots form a straighter line than those based on KS1 APS above, indicating that IDACI is less predictive of KS4 attainment than KS1 performance.
In the same way, pupils from infant/first schools tended to achieve similar Attainment 8 scores to pupils from all-through primaries when KS2 prior attainment is considered, as the next chart shows.
The message for junior and middle schools
Of course, none of this will be news to junior and middle schools.
On the surface, pupils from infant and first schools appear to underperform at KS2 as well.
Whether this is because primary schools depress KS1 baselines or infant/first schools inflate them (or perhaps there is a bit of both) is something we have written about before.
On average, pupils in all-through primary schools, covering both KS1 and KS2, achieve one scaled point more in both reading and maths at KS2 compared to their counterparts in junior/middle schools, as the table below shows.
The difference reduces by more than a half if results from the Foundation Stage are used as the baseline for KS2 value added scores, as we wrote here.
All of this does tend to support a view that Key Stage 1 attainment of pupils from infant/first schools should, on average, be similar to that of those from all-through primaries.
And the apparent underperformance at KS4 of pupils who had attended infant/first schools is most likely just another facet of this, as opposed to actual underperformance at KS4.
In order not to unfairly penalise junior and middle schools when value added scores which are used to hold schools to account are calculated, two things could be done in the short term:
Produce a Foundation Stage-to-Key Stage 2 value added measure to be included in Ofsted's Inspection Data Summary Report for both infant and junior schools;
Calculate separate KS1-KS2 value added measures for junior/middle and all-through primary schools.
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1. Key Stage 4 data from 2016 is used, with most of that cohort having completed Key Stage 1 in 2007 and Key Stage 2 in 2011
infant schoolsjunior schoolsKS1primaryvalue added
About the Author: Dave Thomson
Dave Thomson is chief statistician at FFT with over fifteen years' experience working with educational attainment data to raise attainment in local government, higher education and the commercial sector. His current research interests include linking education and workplace datasets to improve estimates of adult attainment and study the impact of education on employment and benefits outcomes.
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Kate 29 March, 2018 at 7:11 am	- Reply
Really interesting approach. Can I check I haven't misunderstood or misread one thing? Under the first chart, it says outcomes at KS4 were higher from infant/First Schools than all through (albeit they were similar). Rest of the article suggests not.
Dave Thomson 29 March, 2018 at 12:11 pm	- Reply
Hi Kate. Yes, so attainment by the end of KS4 is very slightly higher among pupils who went to infant/ first schools. However, if you look at KS4 attainment given pupils' KS1 assessments it appears that pupils from infant/ schools don't do quite as well as pupils from all-through primary schools with similar KS1 attainment.
Kate 29 March, 2018 at 10:49 pm	- Reply
Thanks Dave. So could it be that children actually do slightly better in infant/First Schools, and that this works through by KS4, but the crude bandings for KS1 attainment mean that some leave with inflated KS1 assessments which can't be lived up to by the end of KS2?
Joe Inguanez 21 June, 2018 at 7:26 am	- Reply
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