Delicado, personal y diferente a las demas esencias de traditcion cubana.
This was my first foray in to an aged rum, I honestly didn't know there were so many varieties and styles to look forward to. Rum was rum, you mixed it in drinks and it tasted good. Well I came across some cocktails that asked for aged dark Cuban rum, so I went looking for some.
I can't tell you much about the history of Legendario, since I can't read the label. But it's from Cuba, and it has a "7" on it, which I take to mean aged 7 years, which is a good age for a rum, based on the other varieties available at my local liquor store.
It was moderately priced, far less than a scotch, but of only half as old, so again that makes some sense.
I have to say, this is one of the best straight up liquors I've tasted. Nosing it I immediately got fruit, and sweetness – like plum or cherries. The initial taste is very sweet, almost like molasses – with a heavy dose of fruit, raisins, currants or some kind of dark fruit. There is a hint of caramel, and an overall sweetness that lingers in the mouth.
The texture is like honey, not quite as thick, but thicker than an average drink. It is syrupy, sticky, and coats your mouth to keep the taste lingering long after it's swallowed.
There is a very subtle burn in the back of the throat that doesn't linger. Overall it was a very pleasant experience, and will become one of my bar staples for a nice warming sipping liquor late in the evening.


Totals Chairman and CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, at the Shetland Gas Plant.
Trade union Unite has agreed an improved pay deal from French oil giant Total concerning staff working at Shetland Gas Plant.
The announcement comes following a consultative ballot in which 65% of members voted in favour of the new deal with a 94% turnout.
According to Unite, the deal includes a base salary increase of 15% and a "significant" retention bonus.
To read more on Energy Voice click here.


text:
Tag: China
The Ancient Chinese Libertarian Tradition
On April 18, 2022 April 18, 2022 By Fast Rope
by Murray N. Rothbard via Mises.org The first libertarian intellectual was Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism. Little is known about his life, but apparently he was a personal acquaintance of Confucius in the late sixth century BC and like the latter came from the state of Sung and was descended from the lower aristocracy of […]
Why Saudi Arabia Won't Abandon Dollars for Yuan
On March 30, 2022 March 29, 2022 By Fast Rope
by Daniel Lacalle via Mises.org There are numerous articles mentioning that Saudi Arabia may use the yuan, China's domestic currency, for its oil exports. How much does Saudi Arabia export to China? According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, the kingdom's main exports are to China ($45.8B), India ($25.1B), Japan ($24.5B), South Korea […]
Here's Why US Threats Against Russian Gold Reserves Mean a Monetary Reset Is Imminent
by Nick Giambruno via International Man "It's possible to have more than one reserve currency." These are the recent words of Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. It's a stunning admission from the one person who has the most control over the US dollar, the current world reserve currency. It would be as ridiculous […]
Russia, Ukraine, and the Battle for the World Order
by Nick Giambruno via International Man The rules-based international order… The liberal international order… The international community… You undoubtedly have heard the media and politicians use these strange and vague phrases. They are describing the current world order or architecture for international political relations between countries. World orders are nothing new. It's how the big […]
What the Chinese Government Thinks about Multiculturalism
by Fast Rope Apparently not too much. According to a recently released study from the Department of Defense (DOD) written in 2013, the Chinese Communist Party believes that United States' preoccupation with multiculturalism can be exploited and will ultimately lead to the demise of the U.S. Chris Menahan of Information Liberation explains that although the […]
The Great COVID Cover-Ups
On February 3, 2022 February 9, 2022 By Fast Rope
by Dr. Joseph Mercola STORY-AT-A-GLANCE The COVID pandemic is rife with cover-ups, starting with China intentionally allowing the outbreak to spread by saying there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission In 2019, Dr. Anthony Fauci and a former director of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) hinted at a pandemic being a […]
Visualizing China's Dominance in Clean Energy Metals
by Bruno Venditti and Pernia Jamshed via Visual Capitalist Visualizing China's Dominance in Clean Energy Metals This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week. Renewable sources of energy are expected to replace fossil fuels over the coming […]
Lamenting China's 2021 Cancel Culture
What China lost and what it still has. by Austrian China via Substack View from China with an Austrian School of Economics Perspective In our next post, Man Tianmai (漫天霾) reflects on what China lost in 2021 – too many goodbyes, as he puts it. Due to a long list of unfamiliar references, this can […]
The Rise of China… And What it Means for the World
by Doug Casey via International Man International Man: Lee Kuan Yew, the former leader of Singapore, once said: "The size of China's displacement of the world balance is such that the world must find a new balance. It is not possible to pretend that this is just another big player. This is the biggest player […]
Russia Is Not the Great Rival; China Is
by Patrick J. Buchanan Our great challenge in the 21st century is not Russia. Indeed, in the long term, we want Russia on our side in the long struggle between the U.S. and the West, and Communist China. While all facts are true, not all facts are relevant. And what are the relevant facts in […]
Refusing To Oppose US Tyranny Is Siding With It
On January 4, 2022 January 3, 2022 By Fast Rope
by Caitlin Johnstone Listen to a reading of this article: The US and its allies are pushing the world toward nuclear armageddon. The US and its allies armed Al Qaeda in Syria. The US and its allies are carrying out a literal genocide in Yemen. The US and its allies are deliberately starving children by […]
How China Controls Your COVID Life
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola STORY-AT-A-GLANCE The kind of society the technocratic elites are pushing us all toward is one that emulates China's authoritarian rule, where total submission to government is the only option if you want to live There's evidence suggesting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is behind the unscientific denial of the SARS-CoV-2 […]
The World's Biggest Startups: Top Unicorns of 2021
On December 10, 2021 December 9, 2021 By Fast Rope
by Omri Wallach and Raul Amoros via Visual Capitalist View the full-size version of this infographic The World's Biggest Startups: Top Unicorns of 2021 Many entrepreneurs start businesses around the world, but only the most successful new companies become "unicorns"—the biggest startups with a valuation above $1 billion. Some unicorns are little-known companies making quiet […]
US Hegemony Doesn't Make The World More Peaceful, It Makes It More Dangerous
On December 8, 2021 December 8, 2021 By Fast Rope
by Caitlin Johnstone Listen to a reading of this article. A Republican senator who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee stated on a Tuesday Fox News appearance that he strongly supports keeping US military action on the table if Russia invades Ukraine, up to and including a first-use nuclear attack. "I would not rule […]
Why China's Property Bubble Is a Big Deal
On November 4, 2021 November 4, 2021 By Fast Rope
Daniel Lacalle No economy has been able to ignore a property bubble and even less so offset it and continue to grow, replacing the bust of the real estate sector with other parts of the economy. Heavily regulated economies from Iceland to Spain have failed to contain the negative impact of a real estate sector […]
Real Cancel Culture: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
written by Caitlin Johnstone Listen to a reading of this article: ❖ "To protect Taiwan we must be prepared to go to war with China." ~ Imperialists who just lost a war to the Taliban ❖ I'm genuinely disturbed at how many people would be willing to fight a world war over Taiwan's governmental preferences. […]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Force for Rescue
Colin Trevorrow Helped Design a Ship You Can See at Galaxy's Edge
A long time ago in a galaxy very, very close, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow was hired to direct Star Wars: Episode 9. That was back in 2015, and though he'd developed a pitch for the film that moved star Daisy Ridley to tears, he eventually left the project. Still, working on Episode 9 – even for a limited time – had its perks. One of them included getting to help design a spaceship for his planned version of the movie that would end up in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and in a new interview, Trevorrow confirmed that even though his vision for the film turned to dust when he left Lucasfilm, at least one element of it will remain in the theme park for the foreseeable future.
Posted by Eric Shirey
Battle Human Trafficking
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Happy birthday to Master Skywalker, the Trickster, the Clown Prince of Crime, Pvt. Griff, Corvette enthusiast Kenneth Dantley, and so m...
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Nothing says birthday celebration like some sugary sweets and "Chewbacca's Activity Book" from 1979 has just the item for...
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Star Wars legend, Mark Hamill, is becoming known for his delightful content on social media. The actor does everything from answer fan qu...
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Q: Botframework V4 - How to end conversation? How can I end a conversation in Microsoft Bot Framework v4 (in C#)?
I use a few different states that are persisted to CosmosDB in Azure.
I want my bot to return to that state, so when a user messages the bot again, it replies with the welcome message.
I've tried to copy the v3 way of doing it but I didn't succeed
var msg = turnContext.Activity.CreateReply();
msg.Type = ActivityTypes.EndOfConversation;
msg.AsEndOfConversationActivity().Code = EndOfConversationCodes.CompletedSuccessfully;

await turnContext.SendActivityAsync(msg, cancellationToken);

The result of that is:

[18:11:27]<-endOfConversation
[18:11:27]POST200conversations.replyToActivity
[18:11:27]POST200directline.postActivity

It kind of ended the conversation but it didn't clear the states.

A: The C# v4 SDK now uses endDialogAsync() and cancelAllDialogAsync() to help manage the dialog state.
endDialogAsync() ends the current dialog on the stack returning control to the parent dialog, if present, or to the turn handler. Additionally, it can be called from anywhere the dialog context is accessible. Best practice is to call it at the end of every dialog.
cancelAllDialogAsync() removes all dialogs from the stack.
Here is a snippet taken from the BotBuilder-Samples Basic-Bot sample showing both utilized as part of the OnTurnAsyc process:
// if no one has responded,
if (!dc.Context.Responded)
{
    // examine results from active dialog
    switch (dialogResult.Status)
    {
        case DialogTurnStatus.Empty:
            switch (topIntent)
            {
                case GreetingIntent:
                    await dc.BeginDialogAsync(nameof(GreetingDialog));
                    break;

                case NoneIntent:
                    default:
                    // Help or no intent identified, either way, let's provide some help.
                    // to the user
                    await dc.Context.SendActivityAsync("I didn't understand what you just said to me.");
                    break;
                    }

                    break;

                 case DialogTurnStatus.Waiting:
                    // The active dialog is waiting for a response from the user, so do nothing.
                    break;

                case DialogTurnStatus.Complete:
                    await dc.EndDialogAsync();
                    break;

                default:
                    await dc.CancelAllDialogsAsync();
                    break;
            }
     }
}

To restart a conversation/dialog, you will need to implement an activity on ConversationUpdate, ConversationRelationUpdate, etc. Please be aware that this is channel specific meaning each channel determines on what method it will be triggered.
Again, this snippet shows how it is implemented on the OnTurnAsync process:
// Processes ConversationUpdate Activities to welcome the user.
else if (turnContext.Activity.Type == ActivityTypes.ConversationUpdate)
    {
        if (turnContext.Activity.MembersAdded != null)
        {
            await SendWelcomeMessageAsync(turnContext, cancellationToken);
        }
    }

Lastly, there is a 'delete' method that can be called on your state accessors. Look over this sample that shows how state is being cleared.
Hope of help!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


What's the difference between the post title and the SEO title? Ever asked that question? Here's a definitive explanation from Yoast.
If you're thinking about creating a WordPress-based membership site, this is the post for you! Here's a roundup of 15 of the top membership plugins to handle subscriptions, membership tiers and levels, payments, content restrictions and more. Personally I'm a big fan of MemberPress (which I use to run WP Minder's membership program) – it should definitely be on this list too.
Wordfence has been my security plugin of choice for several years, but their recent redesign and changes in functionality leave a lot to be desired. Another good option is Sucuri – here's a comparison of Wordfence and Sucuri.
While we're on the topic of security, here's a very fresh review of the top WordPress security plugins and services for 2018.
Let's wander just a bit further down the security road and look at firewalls for WordPress. Best in class is Sucuri's Web Application Firewall (which is included in WP Minder Small Business and higher plans). My experience with Sitelock support on behalf of clients was very poor and I cannot recommend them. If you want the most secure firewall for your business site and are not using managed WordPress hosting like our recommended partner WP Engine, Sucuri is the one to look at.


text:
Carlo Caffara, né le  à Samboseto di Busseto dans la région de Parme et mort le  à Bologne (Émilie-Romagne), est un cardinal italien, archevêque de Ferrare (1995-2003) et archevêque de Bologne (2003-2015).

Biographie

Formation

Carlo Caffara a obtenu un doctorat en droit canon à l'Université pontificale grégorienne à Rome. Il possède aussi un diplôme de spécialisation en théologie morale délivré par l'Académie pontificale alphonsienne.

Prêtre

Il a été ordonné le .

Il consacre l'essentiel de son ministère sacerdotal à l'enseignement. Ainsi, tout en étant vicaire à la cathédrale de Fidenza, il enseigne la théologie morale dans les séminaires de Parme et Fidenza, ainsi qu'à l'université de Milan.

En août 1974, le pape Paul VI le nomme membre de la Commission théologique internationale.
Jean-Paul II le nomme en janvier 1981 président de l'Institut Jean-Paul II pour le mariage et la famille.
Il est également consulteur de 1983 à 1988 à la Congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi.

Évêque

Nommé archevêque de Ferrare le , il est consacré le 21 octobre suivant par le cardinal Giacomo Biffi.

Le , il devient archevêque de Bologne.

Cardinal

Carlo Caffarra a été créé cardinal par Benoît XVI lors du consistoire du  avec le titre de cardinal-prêtre de S. Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini. Il participe au conclave de 2013 qui élit le pape François

Au sein de la Curie romaine, il est membre de la Congrégation pour l'évangélisation des peuples, du Tribunal suprême de la Signature apostolique, du Tribunal de la Rote romaine et de l'Académie pontificale pour la vie. Particulièrement écouté par Jean-Paul II et Benoît XVI sur les questions de la famille et du mariage chrétien, il s'oppose au cardinal Kasper à ce sujet au synode d'octobre 2014.

Le , il est nommé avec le cardinal Raymond Burke comme membre de la Congrégation pour les causes des saints.

Après les deux , il adresse une lettre au pape François afin d'exprimer ses dubia au sujet de l'exhortation apostolique Amoris lætitia. Les trois autres signataires de la lettre sont les cardinaux Joachim Meisner, archevêque émérite de Cologne, Walter Brandmüller, ancien président du comité pontifical des sciences historiques, et Raymond Burke, cardinal-légat de l'Ordre de Malte. Par celle-ci, les quatre princes de l'Église supplient le pape de « poursuivre la réflexion » sur des sujets controversés, particulièrement sur la communion pour les divorcés remariés.

Le , le pape François accepte sa démission du siège archiépiscopal de Bologne, et nomme , jusqu'alors évêque auxiliaire de Rome, pour lui succéder.

Il meurt le 6 septembre 2017 à l'âge de 79 ans.

Notes et références

Liens annexes

Articles connexes
 Évêque
 Composition actuelle du Collège cardinalice

Liens externes

  Fiche sur catholic-hierarchy.org

Naissance à Busseto
Naissance en juin 1938
Étudiant de l'université pontificale grégorienne
Étudiant de l'université catholique du Sacré-Cœur
Clergé italien du XXe siècle
Archevêque de Ferrare
Archevêque de Bologne
Cardinal italien du XXIe siècle
Cardinal créé par Benoît XVI
Membre de l'Académie pontificale pour la vie
Père synodal du Synode des évêques sur les défis pastoraux de la famille dans le contexte de l'évangélisation
Décès à 79 ans
Décès en septembre 2017
Décès à Bologne

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
ACCEPTED

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
null

#### Original name
Parmelia neosoredians Gyeln.

### Remarks
null

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Communication option in the School of Arts and Communication consists of 48 credits. The undergraduate prerequisite core must be successfully completed before the student applies to the major through the School of Arts and Communication. Until then, students are placed in the Pre-Communication major (major code 979).
A minimum of 2.0 GPA in course work used for the option is required (including the prerequisite core).
One Writing Intensive Course (WIC) in the major is required.
Six (6) elective credits must be taken at the 400 level. Variable credit courses cannot be used for this requirement.
Limitations: Only 3 credits maximum of lower-division courses will be allowed for the elective portion of this option.
Only 6 credits maximum of variable credit course work will apply to this option.


Nocked! is a gamebook adventure-style interactive fiction game, with resources management. It's wonderfully written and has incredible detail and depth. It's a really interesting and engaging story, with optional "romances" and plenty of battle and strategic campaigns.
The theme is Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, and in an interesting and welcome twist, you can play Robin as a male or female character (and romance Maid Marian regardless of which gender you choose).
I played through twice, and had nearly an entirely different story every time. The only repeat elements were a few structures I had to build. Everything else was different. I suspect I didn't get particularly far either (I kept dying), so there's probably a wealth more content to discover.
This app has deservedly got amazing reviews. The dev has also written several novels, which based on the strength of this writing would definitely be worth checking out.
The only regret is that the beautiful artwork doesn't quite get the exposure it deserves. Even on the + model iPhones, it only appears as a tiny strip.


text:
Mark Swanson finds joy in encounter
On Mark Swanson's office door is a quotation from Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, which says, "The call of God is very strange." Swanson would agree: strange and joyful.
"For the first two years that I was reading theology, I didn't know what it was for," recalls Swanson, Harold S. Vogelaar Professor of Christian-Muslim Studies and Interfaith Relations, and associate director of A Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice (CCME).
Swanson planned to take a year off before going to graduate school for a degree in chemistry. He intended to read theology that year to get it out of his system, he said. One year became two… and he had the opportunity to go on an internship in Egypt and that experience changed everything.
"It was career determining," Swanson said. "After my year in Egypt I went back to seminary for a year, and then returned to Egypt as a missionary of the church." From 1984-1998, Swanson taught at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC) where he developed his interests and expertise in the history of the Coptic Church, Christian-Muslim relations, and Arabic Christian literature.
"A lot of my academic study came out of teaching," Swanson said. "The history of the church, for example." He had to learn and teach the history of eastern churches—and teach in Arabic. It was a fulfilling and rewarding time, he says. Swanson became passionate not only about his academic interests, but also about sharing the joy he found in approaching people of other faiths with honor and curiosity.
It was in that spirit that Swanson accepted first the call to the be the second director of the Islamic Studies Program at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., in 1998 and then his positions at LSTC in 2006.
"I quickly came to appreciate a whole variety of things about Chicago," Swanson said. "The ecumenical and interreligious richness of the city, the consortium we have with other theological seminaries, which is a good and effective one, the library resources around here… There were a whole bunch of reasons that this was a great place to be."
And, he adds, "LSTC is an institution that welcomed interreligious engagement."
His positions at LSTC have enabled him to put together courses that are jointly sponsored with the American Islamic College and facilitate events with students from other faiths. CCME has also brought together musical heritages of Abrahamic faiths, hosted faith-based plays, and invited members of different faith communities to share in community meals: "I have a flood of memories of these events, of people getting together…we've had a lot of marvelous times."
Swanson hopes to continue to encourage his students to encounter members of other faiths. "It's part of the Christian desire to love thy neighbor," he said. "The motivation for encounter comes from deep within the faith. It's a matter of living out your Christian faith in this world, which is so complicated but so rich."
By Rhiannon Koehler, a writer, editor and content director in Chicago.


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text:
|Sportstar Aces Awards 2023 | VOTE FOR TOP CATEGORIES
One-third of Gujarat MLAs face criminal cases, including rape
December 25, 2012 03:27 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:15 pm IST - Ahmedabad:
Darshan Desai
Modi confidant and former MoS (Home) Amit Shah faces two charges of kidnapping and wrongful confinement, two of murder, and one of kidnapping to murder, among others.
Some 57 Members of Legislative Assembly elected by Gujarat in the December polls face criminal charges, including that of rape and murder, while nearly three-fourth of them are crorepatis, up from 31 per cent in the 2007 elections, according to data analysed by the Gujarat Election Watch.
The data shows that one-third of MLAs belonging to the Congress as well as the BJP have declared criminal cases.
The top three richest MLAs are from the Congress with Balvantsinh Rajput from Sidhpur constituency having assets worth Rs. 268 crore, followed by Rajguru Indranil from Rajkot East with Rs. 122 crore and Pethalji Chavda from Manavadar constituency with assets worth Rs. 82.90 crore.
Of the 57 MLAs facing cases, charges have been framed against 35 MLAs for various crimes and 24 face serious offences. In 2007, 47 MLAs had criminal charges against them.
BJP MLA from Shehra constituency in Panchmahals district Jetha Bharwad, who had allegedly opened fire and injured four people at Tarsang village during polling on December 17 and was detained by the police, has a charge of kidnapping and inducing a woman to compel her for marriage, and two others of rape and extortion. Bharward, a former suspended police constable, faces a case of forgery. The MLA has not been convicted so far.
Janata Dal (United) strongman from tribal constituency of Jhagadia in South Gujarat's Bharuch district Chhotu Vasava has 28 cases against him, including nine of dacoity, seven theft and three murder. Charges have been framed in 28 cases.
BJP veteran from North Gujarat Shankar Chaudhary has three murder cases. He won from Vav constituency.
A Modi confidant and former MoS (Home) Amit Shah faces two charges of kidnapping and wrongful confinement, two of murder, and one of kidnapping to murder, among others.
Needed, urgent electoral reforms
Modi keeps his cards close to his chest
public officials / crime, law and justice / politics / Gujarat
India has lost access to 26 out of 65 Patrolling Points in eastern Ladakh, says research paper
EPFO to hold mass outreach programme across the country on January 27
BBC documentary | Second part of 'The Modi Question' airs in the U.K.
A chance for peace: On Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's offer
India, Egypt declare 'strategic partnership'
Stocks that will see action on January 24, 2023
New BBC documentary puts Narendra Modi back in the dock
WIPL 2023 team announcement: Tournament named Women's Premier League; Adani registers highest bid for Ahmedabad franchise


text:
Start the day smarter ☀ USA TODAY podcasts 🎧 Tips for filing 📄 Last-minute ideas
Afghan waste: aid money squandered on conferences
Tom Vanden Brook
A U.S. program designed to promote stability in war-ravaged Afghanistan has spent $47 million money on conferences and none on grants to accomplish its aim, according to a report released Monday by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction.
SIGAR has found waste under just about every rock it's kicked over in Afghanistan. It recently found that a brand-spanking new $34 million headquarters for the Marines at Camp Leatherneck was unnecessary and may never be used.
Monday's report carries this title: "Stability in Key Areas (SIKA) Programs: After 16 Months and $47 Million Spent, USAID Had Not Met Essential Program Objectives."
The US Agency for International Development (USAID), in a letter, objected to SIGAR's findings and even the title of its report. It suggested that SIGAR misunderstood the program's purpose and also noted that it had made significant progress as of July 1 in delivering grants.
SIGAR wasn't having much of that.
"It's troubling that after 16 months, this program has not issued its first community grant," said SIGAR's top watchdog, John Sopko. " Rather, it has spent nearly $50 million -- roughly a quarter of the total program budget -- on conferences, overhead and workshops. This looks like bad value for U.S. taxpayers and the Afghan people."
The idea behind SIKA: with local input, determine projects that could benefit Afghans in bad neighborhoods and let the USAID program fund them quickly. That could mean road projects or canal maintenance.
The problem: "Although USAID had disbursed approximately $47 million for the four SIKA contracts as of March 31, 2013, none of the funds had gone to grants that fund community projects, such as those that are "labor intensive or productive infrastructure projects," as called for in the SIKA contracts to address sources of instability.
There are about 60,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. They're scheduled to come home by the end of 2014, although a residual force -- size to be determined -- is expected to remain.


This is one of those posts it took me a few days to write as life intervened, but it turns out to be a happy accident in this case.
While I'm certainly not been the biggest fan of Donald Trump as President overall, he has had his moments. Today he's given Radical Green a conniption fit just by announcing he will make a formal declaration on whether we will remain in the Paris Climate Agreement tomorrow afternoon. It's expected he will decide to withdraw, but there's also a school of thought that believes it's just a negotiating ploy to give America a better bargain than Barack Obama negotiated.
In the meantime, it looks like another of those moments may be the rebirth of something that was strangled in the crib during the last administration when they overreacted to the comparatively rare Deepwater Horizon disaster by eliminating the prospect of oil exploration off the mid-Atlantic coast.
The last G&G seismic data for the Mid- and South-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OSC) were gathered more than 30 years ago when technology was not as advanced as today. Aside from providing data on potential offshore oil and gas resources, seismic surveys are also used to site offshore wind structures, locate potential seafloor hazards, locate potential sand and gravel resources for beach replenishment activities, and locate potential archaeological resources. Data from seismic surveys also assists the Department in determining Fair Market Value of offshore resources.
It was also over 30 years ago that a series of exploratory oil wells were drilled and capped off the New Jersey and Delmarva coastline, with the closest to us being about 80 miles ESE of Ocean City. At the time it was determined this was essentially a dry hole, but the exercise was useful as a study of the ocean floor and substrate below. So if the same is true now, I wonder why the environmentalists are so afraid of exploratory drilling and seismic surveying? Maybe because they know as well as I do that there's a significant amount of oil out there, and it would keep the price of oil affordable enough to undercut the subsidies needed to keep renewables competitive?
In contrast to groundwater samples that showed no evidence of anthropogenic contamination, the chemistry and isotope ratios of surface waters (n = 8) near known spills or leaks occurring at disposal sites mimicked the composition of Marcellus flowback fluids, and show direct evidence for impact on surface water by fluids accidentally released from nearby shale-gas well pads and oil and gas wastewater disposal sites.
Now I know the Radical Green folks will be going "SEE! SEE! I BET YOU CAN LIGHT THAT WATER ON FIRE!!!" However, it seems to me one could easily have the same contaminating type of effect from a sanitary sewer overflow, underground tank leak, or EPA incident. The key words are "accidentally released," and companies that want to stay in the business have a duty and legal obligation to be as careful as possible.
But this blows away one key argument from fracking opponents, not that they are much for using logic anyway.
With the right mindset and private-sector infrastructure investment, this region of the country could finally be energy self-sufficient on its own. The job created could be yours.
Western Maryland is blessed with an enormous amount of cleaner burning natural gas and we need an all of the above approach to energy. I am concerned that there has been a knee-jerk reaction against affordable energy production in our state. Maryland is definitely behind the curve because this administration has decided to politicize the issue rather than take a balanced approach to ensuring we have access to clean and affordable energy sources to power our homes and businesses and grow our economy.
States throughout the country including our neighbors develop their natural gas resources safely and efficiently. Many of these states are realizing an economic boom through gas and oil exploration and are working in concert with groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council to harness these vast resources of domestic energy in an environmentally sensitive way.
Three years later, western Maryland is still blessed with an enormous amount of cleaner-burning natural gas, but on Friday Governor Hogan decided it would be better to leave this valuable resource in the ground rather than create jobs and economic opportunities for a section of the state that lags behind the rest of Maryland when it comes to those two very things.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming, though: the temporary moratorium that was in place stemmed from a bill that Hogan allowed to become law without his signature rather than veto it back in 2015. The bill, which as originally introduced was laughably intended to "protect our health and communities," was amended from a ban extending to 2023 to a prohibition intended to last until October of this year, when the Maryland Department of the Environment was to have regulations in place. But, as Governor Hogan noted in his press conference announcing the new fracking ban, Maryland envisioned the most stringent regulations in the nation – a roll of red tape that would have amounted to a de facto ban if enacted.
And to illustrate the political pressure Radical Green can put on wobbly members of the GOP, bear in mind that the original third reader vote on the 2015 House bill had 45 opposed, but that number whittled down to 33 once the Senate version passed and the House bill (as amended to match the Senate version) went to third reader. The wobblers who changed their votes were Delegates Anderton, Afzali, Beitzel, Carozza, Krebs, Malone, McComas, Miele, Shoemaker, and West. (This list is ten because two Delegates who voted "no" originally were absent the second time, but Afzali changed her vote after the fact to be truly gutless. Interestingly enough, Delegates Anderton, Carozza, Krebs, and Shoemaker all changed back three days later when the Senate third reader came to the House while Delegate Saab opted to join the dark side.) Conversely, the Senate only had two votes correctly in opposition all along, Senators Hough and Ready.
So should I point out again that over 2 million wells have been hydraulically fractured over the last six decades without incident? It seems to me that past performance should be a very good predictor of future results, particularly as the technology advances. And if you read the report, you'll note that the uncertainty of cause even extends to those limited, rare incidents blamed – many times falsely – on fracking and most publicized by Radical Green.
No one denies there is risk with hydraulic fracturing – just as there are documented issues with low-frequency noise and impacts on bat population with wind turbines and potential for environmental impact as more and more solar panels are spread over the landscape to significant effect – but the rewards from fracking, as measured by both local economic benefits and the lessening of reliance on foreign energy supplies, have been found to outweigh the risks in nearly every jurisdiction where fracking is possible, while the recalcitrant others (Maryland and New York) have believed the hype over the facts.
While Maryland is a small part of the Marcellus Shale formation that has produced the resurgent energy industry in a region that first benefitted over a century ago from an oil boom – there's a reason we have motor oil from Pennzoil and Quaker State and it's not because the brand names are cute – this is a time when the domestic oil and natural gas industry is in a holding pattern. Crude oil prices in the $40-50 a barrel range and a relatively constant balance of natural gas supply and demand means that Maryland missed the boat by about a half-decade in the current cycle, but an increased potential in natural gas exports – coupled with a multi-billion dollar investment in Maryland's Cove Point facility for LNG exporting that's slated to come online later this year – means our state would have been in good position to benefit in a few years' time once natural gas exploration began and delivery infrastructure was put in place. (People tend to forget that part of the equation, too.) But politics, embodied in the baseless fear caused by a noisy environmental lobby, ruled the day Friday.
Allow me to let you in on a dose of common sense: there's no way in hell Radical Green will give Larry Hogan any credit for what he did on fracking come election time. You can bet your bottom dollar that they will flock to whoever the Democrats end up anointing in their primary because their main goal isn't a clean environment but to have statists in charge of government. Yes, the rank-and-file who might send a couple hundred dollars to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation every year may really care about the health of the bay, but when the people who benefit most from it are the ones who determine the annual "grade" for the cleanliness of the Bay one has to wonder how much of their thumb is placed on the scale. After all, if the Bay had a grade of A and was pristine H2O, what need would there be for a CBF?
The oil and gas industry doesn't depend on a government subsidy – they just want a fair and predictable regulatory scheme. But a state which has no problem bending the energy trade by mandating a certain percentage of electricity comes from solar energy and demanding ratepayers subsidize an offshore wind farm seems to have an issue with the source that's been proven reliable over time and is known as a job creator.
In 2014, Allegany and Garrett counties provided almost 1/4 of Larry Hogan's margin of victory as he carried the duo by 16,466 votes in an election he won by 65,510 votes. Add in adjacent Washington County and that number becomes 35,274 votes, or over half his victory margin. At the risk of losing thousands of votes in that region, Larry Hogan has acquiesced to an environmental lobby that's not going to give him any credit, any dollars, or any votes for the decision he's made.
I suppose Larry Hogan thinks he's got an all-of-the-above electoral strategy, too. But at a time he could have changed Maryland for the better, he instead foolishly chose to surrender to the naysayers.
I'm certain there's a percentage of my readers who would disagree with the title, but for those who would like to improve our state there's a chance to take action: specifically a week from tomorrow, but in general before the Maryland General Assembly begins its annual "90 days of terror" in January.
The Maryland legislature is considering regulations that would finally allow natural gas development in our state.
We need to show that Marylanders want responsible energy development and that any regulations MUST be reasonable and consider their impact on Maryland jobs and energy costs.
Please join us Tuesday, December 20 for an Energy Citizens and Energy Nation Rally to support clean and affordable natural gas and jobs for Marylanders!
A Maryland legislative committee is considering new regulations for natural gas development in our state. Any regulations MUST be reasonable and consider their impact on Maryland jobs and energy costs.
Responsible energy production would give Western Maryland the chance to create thousands of good-paying jobs, boost the local economy, and make energy more affordable for families and businesses across the state. But time is short.
Please Email your Representatives now. Tell them you support responsible natural gas development and to consider jobs and energy prices when any new regulations are being discussed!
Hydraulic fracturing is safe, and reasonable government oversight and regulation are appropriate, but Maryland should follow the example of dozens of other states where production has proceeded safely for years.
Now this is the part where I may go off the organizer's script (if she had one in mind for me) but I'm a guy who tries to give the straight scoop. The lefties* at SourceWatch sneeringly call Energy Citizens "a front group backed by the American Petroleum Institute," and the backing part is absolutely true. I knew this awhile ago because I'm quite familiar with API. It's a very good group from which to get energy information, and I have a vested interest in keeping energy as reliable and inexpensive as possible – it's called electric and heating oil bills to pay. 200 gallons in the oil tank isn't cheap, but we needed to get them nonetheless to have a full tank once the cold weather hit. I definitely prefer not to have to run my laptop and internet off a battery and at this time of year I like to be something close to warm.
Bear in mind that the bill was not properly vetoed by Governor Hogan, but he didn't sign it either. He just let it become law without his signature, rather than tell these misinformed environmentalists to pound sand and dare the Democrats to vote against good jobs once again.
Furthermore, according to that bill, these regulations should have been in place by this past October. The MDE, however, was about 6 weeks behind and put them out November 14, with public comment closing later this week. Assuming they are close to those detailed back in June, the state will have some of the most stringent regulations in the nation. That doesn't seem to be very balanced or reasonable.
If I were to make a modest, sensible proposal, I would posit that Maryland's regulations should mirror Pennsylvania's as closely as possible, for a very logical reason: for most of those companies already doing business in Pennsylvania, that portion of Maryland is but a short distance from their other operations and would likely by overseen by supervisors based in Pennsylvania – a state which, by the sheer size of its share of the Marcellus Shale formation, will have far more natural gas output than Maryland ever will. If Maryland even gets to 10% of Pennsylvania's output it would be a victory for the Old Line State. So why not make it easy and convenient for those experts in the field, considering that they've had the better part of a decade now to iron out the kinks just on the other side of the Mason-Dixon Line?
At the market price for natural gas, we should be doing all that we can to make it easier to create the good-paying jobs (not to mention the royalty payments landowners could receive) for a part of the state that, like the Eastern Shore, always seems to lag behind the economic curve thanks to shortsighted policy decisions in Annapolis. I hope a lot of my Western Maryland friends (and maybe some from our part of the state) go to support a better way of life for themselves a week from Tuesday. They'll even bring you over to Annapolis from the west side of the state.
You can call me just another Energy Citizen.
CMD takes significant sums of money for its work from left-wing foundations, and has even received a half-million dollar donation from one of the country's largest donor-advised funds – all the while criticizing pro-business or free-market advocacy groups who also use donor advised funds or rely on foundation support.
Don't you love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning?
I liked what I wrote on a Facebook post regarding this article so much that I had to share. It's illustrative of how one side argues with the other on the topic.
This story takes you to a climate change denial website. These people are not to be trusted.
Few deny climate change. What they correctly debate is mankind's impact on it.
So, piling on was another person, Jim Davis – same general tenor, but in his concession was a more emotional appeal. I guess I was already winning.
Yes, it's hard to say with 100% certainty that the climate change is due or even strongly enhanced by human activity. However, on a planet on which we ultimately WILL run out of fossil fuels, why not reduce the pollution so we can breathe cleaner air (note the recent terrible pollution in major cities around the world) and stop polluting our fresh water. And do we really want to continue to send our children into coal mines?
First off, we don't send children into coal mines. Adults make a conscious decision to work in the field, particularly when the average starting salary can be $60,000.
And the usage of fossil fuels is what global climate change alarmists truly wish to go after. Anyone with any sense knows that our climate is mainly controlled by the sun: near the equator it's mainly tropical because of the duration of sunshine over the year and close to the poles it's extremely cold since days are short. And given that the world has endured ice ages and blossomed during warm periods over the last 2,000 years or more, to believe mankind can affect this with his SUVs and coal-fired plants is pure folly. Nor can we claim what we have is the optimum, normal climate: after all, with a degree of global warming it would open up thousands of acres to food production where the growing season is too short now.
Furthermore, trying to predict weather two weeks out is tricky enough, let alone forecasting the temperature trends a century hence. So I have figured out the game, and our economic progress is best advanced when energy sources are cheap and plentiful.
As I said before, few deny there is climate change – we have thousands of years of recorded history to suggest that it does and will continue to do so. What I "deny" is that our lifestyle has any major effect on it, because the "solution" to climate change always seems to be more government mandate, taxation, and control.
So am I wrong, or out of bounds here?
This is why I don't object to drilling for oil, fracking, or any other attempt to use the resources our nation and world was blessed with. Over time we have found that fossil fuels are inexpensive and reliable sources of energy, unlike the "renewable" sources that either aren't reliable (we don't have constant wind or sunshine, and even a river's flow can be diminished by drought) or not economically viable without government subsidy or artificial market carveout. This is why we have treaties and agreements that mandate carbon reduction because the market would never do this on its own, nor should it.
To me, logic dictates that global climate change is real but not influenced by man, and that distinction removes any excuse for government to be involved.
I wonder if people thought Marita Noon's final column was actually about me since I hadn't posted in several days. (However, I did a little work on the site and updated the SotW Tracker page.) But you may recall I made some comments at the end of her post regarding what she had chosen to do in her career beyond writing in and about the energy field.
Morris Burns, a former president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, told KWES the low price of oil – currently around $46 a barrel – means the oil will sit underground for the foreseeable future.
"We are picking up a few rigs every now and then but we won't see it really take off until we (get) that price in the $60 to $65 range," Burns told the station.
So when a polished and experienced writer like Marita, who wrote several motivational and Christian books under her maiden name Marita Littauer and the energy columns under her initial married name Marita Noon (she has since remarried, but maintained the name for professional reasons) can't make a go of it, one has to wonder what's in it for others in that same predicament?
Now I have never done a "field of dreams" fundraising approach, although I have been known to "bleg" every once in awhile. And it brings a smile to my face when I see someone actually clicked the donate button up top and chipped into my PayPal account. But as I have told you when I left the political party game (and slowed down on my own writing pace to some degree) part of the reason I stepped back was to write a second book – hopefully learning from the mistakes I made with the first one. That will continue nonetheless because I believe I will be making important points and contributing to dialogue going forward. The same also goes for this website – I really meant to write this column Wednesday but was sidetracked for several reasons. So you get it late Saturday night instead.
Sometimes I wonder, though, if my priorities are quite where they should be. Truly I enjoy writing, but I also have to make sure to be a good Christian, husband, stepdad, and employee. So I may never get back to (or even arrive at) the place where some said I had to be to maintain a successful blog, meaning lots of content updated frequently. After all, I often get the opportunity to sell article space on my site for dubious reasons, probably someone else's marketing scam. I'm not going to damage my brand like that.
But the reason I went into this spiel is to make it plain I can understand why people get so frustrated with the writing game. We seem to be the last thing people need, but I happen to think we are the most indispensable people out there when it comes to making sense of the world. For that reason, Marita's insight (as well as that of several others I have known through the years) will be missed.
First, they add to the growing question about what Hillary Clinton really believes: her public comments, or her private positions?
Yet everything she's said in the campaign paints a different picture.
Then there's her comment about green-group funding, as coming from Russia. It's long been suspected that Russia is protecting its national oil-and-gas interests by funding anti-fracking activism – while not a new idea, the current attention makes it worth revisiting.
To the best of my knowledge, Russia's reported involvement in shaping public opinion came to light in 2010, when different WikiLeaks revelations made public private intelligence from Stratfor – which had previously published a background brief on Shale Gas Activism – that speculated on Russian funding for the anti-fracking movie Gasland.
In January 2015, The Washington Free Beacon reported on a Bermudian firm that had connections to Russian oil interests and was funneling money to anti-fracking groups in the U.S. It outlines how the money-laundering scheme works and concludes: "The overlap between executives at firms with ties to Russian oil interests and a multi-million-dollar donor to U.S. environmentalist groups has some experts worried that Russians may be replicating anti-fracking tactics used in Europe to attack the practice in the United States." I addressed it in February in my column titled: "Naming enemies of U.S. fossil fuel development" – where I also brought up reports of OPEC reported involvement in funding anti-fracking activities.
Despite all the multiple claims linking Russia to anti-fracking activity, there's been scant hard evidence.
But, now, thanks to WikiLeaks, Russia's reported anti-fracking funding is back in the headlines: "Leaked emails show Hillary Clinton blaming Russians for funding 'phony' anti-fracking groups," wrote the Washington Times.
Remember, these groups are big supporters of Hillary and – based on her stated public policies – she's a big supporter of their anti-fracking agenda. As I've said before, we are in an economic war and there are many who don't want America to win. The cheap energy prices fracking has provided give the U.S. an economic advantage – hence the hostility toward it.


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Buchanan Street Partners Closes on another San Diego Area Office Purchase
Buchanan Street Partners recently wrapped up its second San Diego area office buy in the past few weeks, paying $23.1 mil for Cornerstone Heights Corporate Center, a two-building, 98k sf office complex in Sorrento Mesa. The project is located at 5959 and 6059 Cornerstone Court West, south of Mira Mesa Blvd and west of Pacific Heights Blvd. Cornerstone Heights is 91 percent leased and benefits from a recent $4.5 mil renovation that included the addition of collaborative workspaces, contemporary kitchens and meeting areas, and exposed high ceilings to the building. The property's tenant roster includes Verimatrix Inc, Konica Minolta Business Solutions and Tillster Inc. The complex currently has one office space available totaling 8.7k sf. The acquisition reflects Buchanan Street's ongoing investment strategy in the West, where the Newport Beach-based investor has been an active buyer in value-add and core-plus office properties. The firm also just recently acquired Carlsbad Corporate Office, a 121.5k sf office building in Carlsbad, for $19.5 mil, as reported on RENTV a week earlier. That building, located at 1950 Camino Vida Roble, north of Palomar Airport Rd and adjacent to McClellan-Palomar Airport, is fully leased to three tenants. Buchanan Street represented itself in this latest transaction, while the seller, a partnership between Lincoln Property Company and Artemis Real Estate Partners, was repped by Rick Reeder and Brad Tecca of DTZ Capital Markets, San Diego. Cornerstone Heights will continue to be managed by Unire Real Estate Group. "Office buildings that provide a contemporary work setting with abundant onsite amenities are in high demand, especially in markets dominated by technology users," noted Tim Ballard, president of Buchanan Street Partners. "This investment is appealing for the value that can be created through the planned improvements in a submarket with sound fundamentals.


The Creative Arts Program at BC Children's Hospital was first introduced in January 2013, providing service to children, youth and their siblings, 2-3 times a week. The program is facilitated by a child life specialist. The program offers one-to-one experiences for patients who have extended or repeated hospital stays, and an expressive arts group for youth in the teen lounge.
A celebration of meeting and making, a social way to share a passion for craft, art, and design in the community. Participants may drop in anytime, and bring any creative project they are working on, or come and see what everyone else is working on. Purpose: Each session there is a free mini-tutorial offered to get participants' creativity pumping with hands-on crafting activities.
The Do Bugs Need Drugs? (DBND) program is a multifaceted public and health care professional education program that uses video, music, art and other activities, and is geared towards decreasing antibiotic overuse and misuse and the spread of resistant organisms. DBND focuses on three key messages: 1. Handwashing is the best way to stop the spread of infections; 2. Not all bugs are created equal. Both bacteria and viruses cause infections but antibiotics only work on bacteria; and 3.
The Downtown Intercultural Gardeners Society promotes intercultural relations between Canadian-born and non-Canadian-born residents of the downtown peninsula of Vancouver through organic, community gardening in a supportive, healthy and inclusive environment. They strive to build a welcoming, democratic and diverse community of members. Ethnicity is an obvious example of diversity, so foreign born people make up 40% or more of the project participants, reflecting the demographics of the downtown peninsula.
EWMA was launched in 2003 as a development initiative of Atira Women's Resource Society.


The official rules for the Cookie Pro™ Contest are now available at girlscouts.org/cookiepro.
MEGA DROP is certainly crazy but also fun. To make the day even more fun, we hope you'll be participating in our BLING YOUR RIDE: MEGA DROP CONTEST.
Bling Your Ride (VW buses, mini vans, sports cars, U-Hauls and you name it!) with Cookie Marketing Swag to any of our Mega Drop locations Saturday January 26th, 2019 for all the fun! Rides will be judged right there on the spot by our Mega Drop Mega Minds. A winner from each Mega Drop location will be announced at the end of the day on social media – along with photos of the "blinged out" rides!
Rules: Your vehicle must arrive decorated and leave decorated. That's the point of this contest, to excite all the drivers on the road that COOKIES ARE COMING!!!
By driving your vehicle through MEGA DROP when picking-up your troops order, the regional team will take a photo of the bling and at the end of MEGA DROP they will do a vote choosing ONE vehicle per each of the four categories above. That means FOUR vehicles will WIN 50 I Cares credited to their troop PER REGION.
Post a photo of your blinged vehicle from Mega Drop on Social Media and win by being the councils fan favorite! To do this, use the hashtag: #BlingYourMegaDropRide on Instagram OR share your picture in the comments section of the GSSGC Facebook Bling Your Mega Drop Ride contest post. Only 1 photo per troop. Contest ends midnight on January 27th, 2018.
Note: The photo must be taken at the Mega Drop Location to ensure no alterations were made.
Walkabout is where it's at. This is how you establish your cookie contacts and customer base.
We will pick randomly one walkabout winner. That prize is 100 boxes of Icare a $500 value just for submitting a photo!
Use hash tag #GSSGC with your troop number and first name.
It's the 102nd anniversary of the Girl Scout cookie – that is amazing. You know what else is amazing, YOU! As you know our booth sale rules say you must be in at least a Girl Scout t-shirt and a vest, sash, or smock to be running a legal cookie booth. BUT, we know that a full uniform represents this mission, represents you and insures the public sees proud young women. Well, we thought why not go looking for girls who wear their pride (their full uniform regardless of the fact you "can" just wear a Girl Scout t-shirt plus sash, vest, or smock) and instead step it up a notch and look for those that wear their full uniform. SO, we think this super cute PATCH showing up at your booth makes it a little extra fun for girls who are going over and above! You're like a pride having, goal getting, proud Girl Scout being, super hero. We made this fun patch for our Council Staff and Product Sales Teams to have with them when they are out and about at booth locations.
We know we find some of you a few times and others of you not at all. So we made this Girl Scout Pride thing a little extra special. On our GSSGC Facebook, when you earn your patches take a photo in your girl scout pride wear holding your patches and post it #girlscoutpride and or if you just haven't been found yet but are totally working your booths in full uniform post and tag in #girlscoutpride . This way if you're doing it you still have an opportunity! One lucky troop, per region, will win (on the second to the last day of the sale) $2,000 in I Care Cookies purchased from their troop – yes, that's $10,000 in total between 5 troops. Make sure your post has both the #girlscoutpride AND your troop number. Must be in Girl Scout Full Uniform to win, booth must be properly set up, booth rules must be followed.
We LOVE a booth that says WOW. Did you know that marketing and décor can help you increase your sales? Of course nothing helps you hit your goals like GREAT customer service, but, great customer service mixed with a really fantastic booth can turn no's into yes's and make for great conversation starters. It certainly helps teach the importance of marketing which is a great job skill for when you enter the work force. That's what the cookie sale is all about; teaching you five key business skills, and marketing happens to be one of them. So get those goal posters put together, create your I Care marketing or just make the most creative, easy to break down, clean and neat booth you can think of. We can't wait to see them posted on our GSSGC Facebook. Once a week one troop will be selected as a Show Us Your Sparkle winner. The troop will earn 200 I Care purchased from their troop. Yup, it's worth the effort. Winners announced each Monday – yes including the first week because an amazing "lemonade stand" can win too!
We know that sometimes the weather is wacky! It's Southern California meaning it could be snowing, raining, flooding, hot and super windy ALL on the same day. Those are the days we know it's harder to get out there and work your booths. Those are the days we declare it to be "Wacky Weather Warrior Wizard".
When we declare it a "Wacky Weather Warrior Weekend" you will see the GSSGC Facebook post go up, that is where you post your wacky weather booth photos and we pick out the bravest of you. The winners earn $100 in I Cares purchased from their troop. We never know how many times we will activate the Weather Warrior as it's really up to Mother Nature not us. Look for this photo on your Facebook thread when we activate the warrior. Also, we made her a peaceful warrior this year. We know weather is aggravating and can make us wacky too. It can make us want to give up, or complain and even cause other people to panic. There is never a reason to give up because we make our own path, create our own opportunities for success, and an optimistic outlook insures our hearts are peaceful even when it is a stressful time.
Nominate someone who has gone above and beyond this cookie season. All those nominated will receive this patch at the end of the sale. Weekly we will pull randomly winners for mystery prizes. Kindess, nomatter how small, is ever wasted. Choose kindness always, our girls are watching us. Use this wuffooo to nominate someone for their kindness.


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Two British women barred from UK discrimination claim after US government insists it cannot be investigated over 'breach of UK employment law'
Exclusive: Pentagon has used 'state immunity' rules to halt employment tribunal claims from two women employed on US air bases
By Cahal Milmo
Updated July 10, 2020 11:42 am
RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire is a high-security US Air Force intelligence facility. Firefighter Caroline Wright was based there for five years before losing her job and bringing a discrimination claim, which has now been blocked by the US government (Photo: Getty)
Two British women who lost their jobs at US air bases in Britain have been told they have no right to pursue discrimination claims after the American government insisted it cannot be investigated for breaches of UK employment law.
The women were told last week that their legal case had to be thrown out after Washington argued successfully that an employment tribunal had no jurisdiction – despite the fact that both women were British citizens working in the UK and paying UK taxes.
In a highly unusual move, the tribunal judge expressed sympathy for the women and said it would "undoubtedly appear unjust" to them that they had been barred from exercising a right available to other Britons.
The women, who both had exemplary records before losing their civilian roles as a firefighter and a documentation manager, last night accused the American government of depriving Britons of the right to justice on their own soil.
Caroline Wright with her son, Stanley, and Anthea Webster (Photo: Cahal Milmo)
They believe the ruling has the effect of barring 1,100 other British civilians directly employed on US air bases in the UK from being able to take grievances to a British court.
One of the claimants, firefighter Caroline Wright, who says she was wrongly forced from her job after she was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2017, told i she had been left in "absolute legal limbo".
Miss Wright was employed at RAF Croughton – coincidentally the same top security US Air Force intelligence base that was home to Anne Sacoolas, the American who claimed diplomatic immunity to leave the UK following the death of teenager Harry Dunn.
Debilitating condition
The second claimant, Anthea Webster, is a black woman who suffers from a debilitating condition that frequently leaves her in extreme pain. Despite her illness, she had been rated as "outstanding" by her bosses for each of the last seven years of her employment as a records officer at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
An employment tribunal in Cambridge heard last month that both women had been directly employed by the US government as civilian workers. The hearing was told that a US military presentation for its British staff had stated that "employees are entitled to all rights and entitlements afforded under UK law".
But despite assurances of the protection of UK law, when Mrs Webster and Miss Wright brought separate compensation claims following their dismissals from their jobs, Washington took steps to end the proceedings by invoking "state immunity" rules.
Heavyweight US legal team
The Pentagon hired Professor Dan Sarooshi QC, one of Britain's leading lawyers and an expert on international law at Oxford University, who last month successfully argued that America was entitled to state immunity – the concept that a state's "sovereign acts" cannot be ruled upon by the courts of another state, even when those acts take place on the second state's territory.
Miss Wright and Mrs Webster, who both represented themselves at the hearing against the heavyweight US legal team, are hoping to appeal the ruling but are unable to afford their own expert lawyers to take their cases further.
Both women told i they felt angry and bewildered. Miss Wright said: "I am shocked and beyond disappointed by what has happened. The US government has spent probably hundreds of thousands of dollars on heavy legal representation to deny me my basic human right to not be discriminated against and for fair treatment in the workplace and to shut down any further cases being brought against them.
Fighting for justice alone was an impossible task leaving me in absolute legal limbo."
Employment Judge Foxwell challenged a claim from Prof Sarooshi that the US presentation promising "all rights and entitlements" under UK law had not been misleading when it failed to make clear that state immunity might be invoked for employment disputes.
The judge wrote: "In my judgment, most UK employees receiving this information would believe this meant that they had an unfettered right to have employment claims recognised by law adjudicated on in an Employment Tribunal."
But in his 24-page ruling delivered last week, the judge found that in their roles as employees of the US government both women had carried out "sovereign functions" of another state and therefore the law of state immunity prevented the tribunal from investigating their claims.
Required to dismiss claims
Judge Foxwell underlined that the doctrine of state immunity meant he was therefore required to dismiss both women's claims without considering their merits.
Mrs Webster, who had been employed at Lakenheath for seven years but was off work due to her illness when she was dismissed in October 2017, had alleged she was the subject of sex, race, age and disability discrimination.
Miss Wright, who recently became a mother, had claimed disability and sex discrimination after she was diagnosed with epilepsy early in 2017 and was forced to resign in January 2018. She also subsequently claimed constructive dismissal.
'Great dignity'
The judge praised both women for the "great dignity" with which they had conducted themselves, as well as accepting the sense of injustice felt by the women.
He said: "I have personal sympathy with the position in which the claimants find themselves. They had not been told during their employment that they might not be able to seek a judicial determination in this country of their employment rights and it will undoubtedly appear unjust to them that they are excluded from rights most other employees and workers in the UK are entitled to exercise."
The women's case comes amid increased tension between London and Washington over America's longstanding ambivalence towards international legal proceedings involving either its government or its citizens.
It emerged this week that "informal" talks have begun between British and American authorities about the possible extradition of Mrs Sacoolas in the event that criminal charges are brought against her.
But President Donald Trump has refused to publicly commit to ensuring that Mrs Sacoolas will return to Britain. The intelligence officer's wife remains under investigation after the car she was driving struck 19-year-old Mr Dunn's motorbike outside RAF Croughton in August.
The i has approached the American military authorities in Britain and the US embassy in London for comment on the tribunal proceedings. No response had been received at the time of publication.
Diplomatic Immunity
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I have been working in the design industry for 20 years and I can count on one hand the amount of black and minority designers I have come across, and being freelance you get to work with a lot of agencies. The majority of people are white males from middle class backgrounds, and the irony is that most of these guys I come across are very liberal and politically aware, yet the recruitment culture they control does not reflect this.
The fact that the industry does not reflect the population is a big problem on many counts. It means that minorities are not given the opportunity to flourish and contribute in what is an amazing industry, it further narrows the rungs on upward mobility for the working class of which many black and minority groups are, and it means that the images put out by these agencies are coming from one perspective and bias.
On the latter point I know from personal experience that diversity can change mindsets. I designed a press ad for a major record label for a new release and the copy supplied was in my eyes, as a person of colour, a negative stereotype. I was not happy so I picked up the phone and kicked off! I was able to have some influence and the copy was changed, it wasn't perfect but it was something, and the same time I educated someone. I've been able to influence in less extreme ways countless times. I guess another extreme would be the image H&M used of a black boy wearing a hoodie saying 'Coolest monkey in the jungle'. In the eyes of many white people they could not see the problem, but as someone who as been at the receiving end of the word monkey, as a racial slur I think differently. If I was the designer of the hoodie, or at the photoshoot I would have flagged this up.
In Britain where the working class and black culture dominates trends, and have done for decades, why is that this raw creative energy from these communities are not breaking through?


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cover: 2004-2005-2006-2007 Scion XB. You are buying a 2004-2007 Scion XB Factory Service Workshop Manual. Here you will find the very same manual that your local Scion/Toyota dealer technician uses in repairing/servicing your vehicle.


You may not realise it, but it's likely you've seen Martin Ollman's shots of Canberra; he was the official photographer for the Centenary.
He had an early interest in photography.
"I did some photography at school, and that was the first awakening that this other world could be captured," he told Alex Sloan.
Martin went on to work for the Canberra Times and then moved to London to work with Reuters, where he managed thousands of images each day.
He says being the curator for so many images taught him a lot about photography.
"Definitely to get in a position that nobody else is in...to lie on the ground and use different lenses, just not being normal I guess".
While Martin's has the skills to manipulate images after they've been taken, he prefers to let the camera do all the work.
"The pure image is the pure image...I'll move a scratch or a hair or a blemish, but not to the extent of taking people's heads off or moving people".
With modern digital camera technology, it's easy for photographer to take thousands of shots on one job.
"I take more pictures that I probably should...having the ability to go from say 1500 to five, [being a] curator is a big part of it".
So what's the secret to taking a good picture?
"The key and the skill is to compose, possibly wait, and then actually think about what you're trying to achieve with the photo".


The crippling disease: lack of constancy of purpose. Safety program of the month efforts do not produce long term improvement. Companies continually try to maintain interest in safety by implementing gimmicky program. Only a sustained effort reflected in a written mission (what we do) and vision (who we are) statement can produce long term success.
Emphasis on short-term profits. This is a killer in most company. It impacts safety through the reluctance of management to invest in safe machinery, safety training, and personal protective equipment. Management does not consider the long term impact safety and health, which may be as high as 30% - 50% of the total cost of manufacturing.
Evaluation of performance, merit rating, or annual review. As stated earlier, annual reviews do not fulfill the purpose for which they are used. They function to demotivate, devalue, and distance the employee from management.
Mobility of management. This deadly sin affects a company's safety effort by increasing the difficulty in maintaining constancy of purpose. Supervisors, safety directors come and go. Each establish safety subcultures within their area of responsibility. With every move, cultures change, people must transition, variation increases, and the vision is lost.
Running a company on visible figures alone (counting the money). These companies reduce their safety effort once accident rates reach an acceptable level. Consequently, accident rates rise and the process to reduce accidents repeats. Long term savings from safety are not reflected in short-term figures. The unknown and unknowable impact of each and every accident is not factored into the success equation of companies who rely only on visible figures.
Hope for instant pudding. Safety programs focus on the "surface cause" of accidents. Consequently, quick fix tactics (fix the condition) are primarily used in response to accidents. Little thought or action is given to the underlying contributing factors that allowed the unsafe conditions to exist. The result: repeated accidents (defects).
The supposition that solving problems, automation, gadgets, and new machinery will transform industry. Most accidents are the result of unsafe work practices, not unsafe material or equipment. Workers may not value safety; they may be under stress to produce; or they may be ignorant of safe procedures. In any case, only by addressing these human factors can a company transform its safety program.
Thinking that our problems are different. Every company has virtually the same challenge in safety: the challenge is effective leadership and management, not the worker.
Obsolescence in schools. A manager with an MBA from Harvard is probably more ignorant about safety than the average employee on a safety committee. Enough said.
Poor teaching of statistical methods in industry. Safety professionals deal with very few statistics; typically incident and accident rates. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Veltri and others are working hard to produce useful statistical tools to aid safety professionals in demonstrating the savings resulting from improving the ES&H factors in manufacturing.
"Our quality control department takes care of all our problems of quality." Our safety directory or the safety committee is responsible for safety. Safety is not my job, it's the safety director's job. These are common perceptions, not only by supervisors and managers, but by all employees in many companies.
"Our troubles lie entirely in the work force." Blaming accidents on employees is very common and is totally destructive of all safety programs where it exists. Managers must take responsibility and accountability for the safety and health of their workers, and understand that they must first look at the quality of their own performance in safety supervision, training, and enforcement before placing blame on their employees.


Ice cores were drilled at four sites on the Antarctic Peninsula during the 2004-2005 austral summer. Loggers designed to measure the compaction of snow were installed in boreholes, these sensors took a measurement every hour and were sensitive to downward movements of less than a millimetre. Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), sonic snow rangers and thermistor strings were also installed at each site, measuring the snow arriving at hourly intervals. A network of stakes was surveyed by GPS to provide horizontal strain rates, of the glacier, at each location. The flow away from the sites was compared with the snowfall from the ice cores to show up any imbalance.
This work was carried out as part of the CVaCS-DECAP project (Correction, Verification and Context, of Satellite-Derived Elevation Changes on the Antarctic Peninsula). The aim of the project was to measure the various factors that affect altitude of snow surfaces in Antarctica, in order to validate data from satellite altimeters. In particular, it aimed for a better understanding of the factors affecting snowpack compaction rates, by accurate measurement of compaction over a period of several years.
Arthern, R. J. Vaughan, D .G. Rankin, A. M. Mulvaney, R. Thomas, E. R., 2010. In-situ measurements of Antarctic snow compaction, compared with predictions of models. Journal Of Geophysical Research F03011 doi:10.1029/2009JF001306.
AFI 04/16 - Satellite-Derived Elevation Changes on the Antarctic Peninsula CVaCS-DECAP.
The installation at the James Ross Island site was removed in early 2006, as it was in danger of being buried by accumulated snow. High snow accumulation at the remaining three sites meant that all the 10m and 20m strain loggers bottomed out and nearly led to the loss of the AWS at both Gomez and Jurassic, and led to the loss of all but one of the satellite GPS markers.
This data is managed by the UK Polar Data Centre (UK PDC) Physical Sciences Data Manager at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
The data is 1.6 GB. It consists of Text files, MS Word files, MS Excel files, Matlab files, PDF, Postscript, Encapsulated Postscript, and is held on the BAS Storage Area Network (SAN).


The breakdown of a marriage is an extremely trying time for all involved. Couples that remain on amicable terms after separation usually still require some involvement from family lawyers.
The process of obtaining a divorce is separate to that of dealing with your property settlement or making arrangements for your children.
When you separate, determining the appropriate arrangements for your children can be difficult. However, any arrangements that are made must be in the best interests of your children.
It can often become a conflict between two parents, who both believe they are acting with the children's best interests at heart.
Following separation, Affinitas Legal can provide you with tailored advice on your likely property entitlements, whilst providing you with various options for settlement.
Whilst some property settlements can be simple, others can be complex, and it is imperative to get comprehensive legal advice.
Formalising the agreement, you reach with your spouse is imperative for the financial future of both parties. Before you enter into any formal financial agreement, you should receive legal advice in respect to the proposed agreement.
Only in rare circumstances are you able to have a financial agreement altered or set aside after it has been executed.
If you have Family Court Orders, or a Binding Financial Agreement, there are remedies available to you to enforce the Orders, if the other party isn't adhering to them.
This includes both financial Court Orders, and Court Orders pertaining to your children. The appropriate enforcement method will vary depending on the breaches that have occurred.
Spousal maintenance is financial support that is paid by one party, to the other, in circumstances where they cannot adequately support themselves.
Spousal maintenance can apply to both married, and de-facto couples, and is separate to that of child support and adult child maintenance.
A recovery order is defined in the Family Law Act 1975 and the Family Court can order that a child be returned to a parent of the child, a person who that child lives with or spends time with, or a person who has parental responsibility for that child.
This often occurs when a child has not been returned at the conclusion of a spend time arrangement.
If you are concerned that the other parent may remove your children from the jurisdiction, it is imperative that you receive legal advice on an urgent basis.
Acting swiftly can often prevent unilateral relocation by one parent to jurisdictions that do not have reciprocal international agreements with Australia in dealing with non-consensual relocation.
There are some unavoidable circumstances which may require a parent to relocate either interstate or overseas.
If you relocate without the consent of the other parent, or a binding Family Court Order, it is distinctly possible for the other parent to obtain a recovery order.


Hi! My name is Rayana Weller and I'm a rising junior rhetoric major at Whitman. This summer I am interning at Pioneer Human Services (PHS), a nonprofit company in Washington State that provides services for people released from prisons or jails or in recovery. From treatment to affordable housing to job skills training, PHS strives to successfully re-enter individuals with criminal histories into society and help them live healthy and productive lives. I learned recently that PHS was founded by a man named Jack Dalton who was previously incarcerated in Walla Walla, just miles away from our school. His program started from a single halfway house in 1963 and grew to a company that helps over 10,000 people across Washington State today.
I am an intern for the Roadmaps to Success (RTS) class and work alongside the instructor, Jerry Guerrero. RTS is part of the Workforce Development sector of Pioneer and we teach everything from soft skills like time management and communication, to resume writing and interview skills. The three week class happens every month and is divided into three week-long sessions: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), resume writing, and interview skills. My role in the classroom is to support Jerry in whatever he needs, which is usually teaching lessons or assisting people on the computers. Outside of the classroom, I work on projects like creating an end of course survey, a computer skills assessment, and editing existing lessons. My supervisors have been so generous and open with their support of my position and trust me with the responsibility to work on these projects which will likely be used in future classes too.
The June class ended just a couple weeks ago and I enjoyed it more than I can say. Before starting, I was nervous that I wouldn't connect with adults 10+ years older than me but it has never been easier to get to know a group of people. They were so willing to share their stories with me and so engaged in the curriculum and mission of PHS. My co-workers like to say that PHS is a family, and it truly is, in all sense of the word. We had so much fun! Each day was full of new stories and so much laughter. K (I will refer to all the students by their first initial) liked to talk to me about fishing and living on his family farm growing up. He's in his late sixties and can't go back to work yet due to a foot injury that wasn't properly treated in prison. R took a crochet class in prison and made a pink bear for his niece that he gave to her when she got out. He played soccer when he was younger and when he hurt his ankle, he got addicted to the pain medication and went down the wrong path. RC loves bowling more than anything and plays on professional teams in Seattle. K gave me a list of movies that I need to watch. D has the cutest daughters I've ever seen. J has fourteen kids and is 28 years old. They all called me Ms. Ray Ray or Ms. Ray and trusted me as an intern and as a teacher.
At graduation, I got emotional as I handed each student their certificate of completion, which was given to them in a new leather portfolio. Like everyone else at Pioneer will tell you, we are so invested and devoted to the work we do and the people that we help. 100 percent of the students from the last class got a job or got enrolled into an apprenticeship program. As a person who deeply believes in second chances and criminal justice/incarceration reform, I find reentry services vital and valuable and unquestionably worth it. I feel so fortunate that I get to work with this company and the individuals involved in it all summer and see the amazing results of believing in people and giving them the tools and resources to succeed. I'm looking forward to our July and August classes and the rest of my time at PHS!


The pupils of Colston Bassett Preparatory School have been enjoying Africa Week.
This has included two competitions, the pupils creating African masks and painting eggs. The results were on show in the playground and Jean and Dave were really impressed at the creative talents on display.
Jean had the unenviable task of choosing winners in both categories, a really difficult job as there were so many worthy entries, before J and F were presented with their Easter eggs prizes.
Jean also pointed out that it is not always big projects that are appreciated at Aquinoe. Sometimes, the charity sends items like therabands or clothes pegs, as these can be used in the physiotherapy department as exercising equipment for some of the children with disabilities. Pencils and crayons are also useful as there is always a shortage of these in classrooms.
At break time, B presented Jean with bundles of pencils from a huge collection which he had won in a competition. What a lovely thought! We will ask the next volunteer going to the Aquinoe to take the pencils with them.


As topic name says r4140 maybe be the last revision that allows to start fatal frame 3. i can't find any other builds to test between r4140 and r4155.
start fatal frame 3, choose new game, then choose normal or easy game play, then after now loading message and few seconds of black screen the movie must play.
in r4155 after sometime of black screen (fps 10 - 15) fps goes to 40 - 50 and nothing happens at all. the screen just stays black forever and disc stops reading at all.
tried software mode, don't work to.
it broken in all latest revs too.
Works fine here with r4483.
If anything try with SPU2-X instead of P.E.Op.s sound plugin.
whoops, i didn't noticed that my r4140 have spu2-x for sound enabled.


We are not able to tell you which Wal-Mart it is and the real names of the people because of privacy. DO NOT DELETE!!!!! YAHOO IS TRACKING THIS!!!!!!!!!!
A sister and her brother were inside a new Wal-Mart. The sister at eight years of age and the brother seventeen years of age. The brother was wanting to buy a present for his little sister because her birthday was coming up. As they were about to leave, she had to go to the bathroom. Her brother showed her where the restrooms were and he began looking at earrings he thought she might like for her birthday.
As he started to buy the earrings, he saw people running from the end of the store screaming and yelling with fear. In the next moment he smelled smoke and saw flames. He ran to his little sister as fast as he could but when he got to the bathrooms the fire was already blazing. He knew he had to leave to make sure help was coming. When the fire trucks arrived it was already too late. They assured the family that there were no survivors.
Two days later the family got a call from the hospital. They told them that they had someone there by the name of Sandy. They asked, 'How did you get this number?' The hospital replied that the little girl had a purse clutched in her little hand with a card that gave her name and number on it. The family drove to the hospital to see their little angel. While they thanked God for her survival, they noticed her arms were burnt so severely they were both amputated and her face was burned and she needed surgery. The family didn't have any health insurance and very little money to cover the bill. This family needs our HELP!
NOTE: Every time someone forwards this story, YAHOO will donate $2.00 towards the hospital bill. DO NOT DELETE! YAHOO IS TRACKING THIS! Please forward this as 'Sad Wal-Mart Story'. God knows who you are.
Bah, we say it isn't true. Not even a little bit. This is probably the worst written fake urban legend email story I have ever heard/received. Yahoo doesn't track any of these emails people! And the bit about a little id card tucked away in a purse clutched in her BADLY BURNED HANDS that needed to be amputated? Oh, but the purse and the id card – totally fine. oh brother.
Someone actually sent this asking if it was true. ***shaking head*** um – I'm gonna say, not on your life.
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Well, church people, we're wrestling. Where is grace and humility in a time when the mixing of politics and religion has become, quite frankly, toxic?
I used to stand comfortably on the political scaffolding on the right.
Now I find that I'm testing my weight on the scaffolding of the other side.
And I've come face to face with a new stranger – myself.
After the Executive Order two weeks ago, I descended into full-on pain mode.
I felt frustrated alongside my Christian Sudanese friend who is asking, "What can I do?" to stand for justice for her Muslim friends.
I felt helpless with my friends at World Relief who plan to cut a third of their staff locally in the wake of the order, crippling their efforts to care for the vulnerable already in our community.
Because my refugee friends don't have a voice, I've wondered how to speak up.
In my sorrow, I've been tempted toward ugliness.
In my passion, I've been tempted toward self-righteousness.
In my fear, I've become obsessed with validating my views.
And in wonder I've realized that I have lost my firm political footing. I've become a pilgrim in a middle place.
A particular scripture has grounded me– a warning that carves out a Jesus-space inside where humility and grace can bubble up.
His timely warning is powerful whether we are politically right, left, or in-between. When we heed it I think we, the Church, have an opportunity in this tumultuous season to be different.
So here we go. Here's where I've been smacked with grace and had to bow in humility in the last two weeks.
It hit me right between the eyes.
Leaven causes dough to rise. It makes small things big. It puffs up. It makes me full of hot air.
Jesus warns me not to be taken with the leaven of the right or the left.
It's no secret that the evangelical church is in a strange season. I can't click twice without seeing another take on how Christians should respond to politics, President Trump, refugees, social justice, national security, abortion, religious liberty, etc., etc. Good that we are trying to "figure it out" and be informed, but I've got to ask myself whether I'm just in search of a stronger scaffolding on which to stand. Do I want leaven to rise up in me so that my inflated self-righteousness can silence the very real tensions that exist?
Am I aligning right or left, conservative or liberal, on the moral side of culture wars or on the justice side of the progressive agenda and then puffing my chest out and assigning my stance to God?
Have I elevated one teaching of scripture over another in search of a place to stand and look down on others who don't see it my way?
Have I looked for clarity in earthly constructs when the paradox of the Kingdom is mysterious and out-of-the-box?
What does it look like for me to live in the tension – to stay off of the scaffolding of pride but still move in the direction of humility, mercy and justice?
For me, there have been two helpful actions.
Humility and grace aren't natural by-products of taking stands against. When I check my behavior or beliefs against a list of "people shouldn't's" it leads to self-righteousness.
What flesh and blood neighbor or enemy is God inviting me to be for today – with a good word or deed?
In asking, "What good am I called to be for today?" I am humbled by the magnitude of my own self-absorption. I see the need for the grace of Christ – it must cover my failure to love my enemy or my negligence to even to stop long enough to love a very delightful neighbor.
Today I still feel the pain of my community. I still want to speak loudly on behalf of my refugee neighbors. I still feel sad, angry, confused and compassionate. I am looking at both sets of scaffolding and pondering my place.
But I want to beware of the leaven. I want to seek conversation even when it's scary. I want to examine my own heart and life in light of what the Man who is Refugee-Carpenter-Miracle Worker-Savior asks me to be for.
I want to hold the tension of my faith, even when this makes my political and religious discourse far more nuanced and even confusing.
These are strange times. May we who claim to be Jesus-followers recognize when we are filled with the leaven of religion and of the Pharisees. May we choose to occupy the spaces of humility and grace as we seek to love the strangers – new and old – in our midst.