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'Everything in her, was the result of the chaos of an occasion': Elena Ferrante's 'The Story of a New Name'
"When she closed the door behind her and, as if she were inside a white cloud of steam that made her invisible, took the metro to Campi Flegrei, Lila had the impression that she had left a soft space, inhabited by forms without definition, and was finally heading toward a structure that was capable of containing her fully, all of her, without her cracking or the figures around her cracking."
The Story of a New Name, the second book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, explodes into life like a meteor shower. It begins at Lila's wedding, where it is already clear to Elena that her childhood friend's decision to marry the up-and-coming neighbourhood grocer Stefano is a huge mistake, and one that will have tragic consequences. Feverishly moving between nihilism ("if nothing could save us, not money, not a male body, and not even studying, we might as well destroy everything immediately…") and envy ("I saw myself identical to a dented bowl in which my sister Elisa used to feed a stray cat, until he disappeared, and the bowl stood empty, gathering dust on the landing…"), the marriage generates storm-clouds of conflicting emotions within her, which clash and produce the lightning-flash of her own hesitant, half-suppressed sexual desires. These, at last, find an outlet in her boyfriend, Antonio:
"We kissed without stopping, behind a tree, in the doorway of a building, along dark alleys. We took a bus, then another, and reached the station. We went towards the ponds on foot, still kissing each other on the nearly deserted street that skirted the railroad tracks… I wanted desire to find a violent satisfaction, capable of shattering that whole day… I said nothing else. I embraced him, I clasped him to me with all my strength. I would have liked to be caressed and kissed over every inch of my body, I felt the need to be rubbed, bitten, I wanted my breath to fail… My heart began to beat hard, I was afraid of the place, of myself, of the craving that possessed me to obliterate from my manners and from my voice the sense of alienation that I had discovered a few hours earlier… … yearning and anguished and guilty…"
With this, the stage is set. The Story of a New Name, which takes up the adventures of Elena and Lila, now sixteen years old, and their Neopolitan neighbourhood, is a story of sexual and emotional awakening, of the personal and the political coming together with an intimate violence, and – in the words of Charles Segal – of "the intransigence of reality before the plasticity of language" (and, we may add, the plasticity of desire). In the first book, My Brilliant Friend, we had seen the first hints of how the world impinges upon imagination, upon possibilities, and most of all, upon women's freedom to fashion their own lives. In The Story of a New Name, the protagonists are older, their dreams more real and their desires more formed, and so they find reality to be even more implacably intransigent. "Words", Elena tells herself at one point, "with them you can do and undo as you please." But even words must fail before the "gluelike consistency" of time, the substance of which, now that the protagonists are seventeen, "no longer seemed fluid… but… churned around us like a yellow cream in a confectioner's machine."
Marriage – even a mistaken, bad marriage – destroys the possibilities of autonomy: "They had been consumed by the bodies of husbands, fathers, brothers, whom they ultimately came to resemble, because of their labors or the arrival of old age, of illness. When did that transformation begin? With housework? With pregnancies? With beatings?" Class forestalls the possibilities of love requited: "… the girl who came to meet Nino… was superior to us, just as she was, unwittingly. And this was unendurable." Gender precludes the possibilities of academic excellence. To the coming-of-age heart, it is all quite unendurable:
"And then there was the lazy sea, the leaden sun that bore down on the gulf and the city, stray fantasies, desires, the ever-present wish to undo the order of the lines – and, with it, every order that required an effort, a wait for fulfillment yet to come – and yield, instead, to what was within reach, immediately gained, the crude life of the creatures of the sky, the earth, and the sea."
But The Story of a New Name is not about a quiet surrender to the suffocating embrace of time and the world. There is a scene in which Lila and Elena are refashioning the display at the front of her family's shoe shop window, to the utter chagrin of Lila's brother and father. As they work together:
"We suspended time, we isolated space, there remained only the play of glue, scissors, paper, paint: the play of shared creation."
And this, in a sentence, could be what The Story of a New Name is all about. Moments when time is suspended, space isolated, where "the play of… creation" becomes a question of authenticity, of authorship in a constraining world. These moments take different forms: a doomed extra-marital affair (or many), an undesired-yet-desired sexual encounter, an against-the-odds university education, and so on. They are moments of rebellion, of self-actualisation, and most of all, moments when women act in a world that denies them the very possibility of action.
Yet this is not to suggest that The Story of a New Name glorifies these acts of rebellion. More often than not, there is more ugliness than glory, more grit and slime than the music of the spheres, more breaking (frantumaglia) than making whole. This is not surprising. Ferrante's material is the material of everyday life, her characters are excruciatingly, agonisingly, infuriatingly, human (and therefore us, and therefore, impossible to love). Yet even as she deals with the every day, Ferrante never drags us down to the level of a soap-opera. She manages to avoid the perils of both glorification and banality, and, instead – to borrow a phrase from the phenomenologists – takes us "to the things themselves". In her writing, our submerged thoughts, our buried dreams and desires, the darkness that we keep secret even from ourselves, takes on flesh, shape, contours, reality. Hannah Arendt once wrote about Heidegger, that "he worked his way down to the roots of things, but rather than hauling them into the light, he left them embedded, merely opening up exploratory roots around them." That is a perfect description of Ferrante.
In fact, the point is best explained by resorting – as ever – to Ferrante's own language. Early in the book, while reading novels lent to her by her school Professor, Elena feels that "they presented intense lives, profound conversations, a phantom reality more appealing then my real life." This is not Ferrante. At a later point, suffering from the agony of unrequited love, Elena "call[s] on poems and novels as tranquilizers. Maybe, I thought, studying has been useful to me just for this: to calm myself." This is not Ferrante either. Neither a phantom reality, nor a tranquiliser. Simply, the limits of what can be articulated.
Politics, as always, is a subtle yet unmistakable presence. At one point, Elena sees Stefano as cheerful: "he began to speak of Lila with the pride of someone possessing a rare object whose ownership confers great prestige… yet Lila, in his words, was no longer a person who couldn't be controlled but a sort of precious fluid stored in a container that belonged to him." And then there's Elena's ambiguous, unequal relationship with Nino Sarratore:
"Have you read Federico Chabod? It was the only moment when Nino seemed to be annoyed. I realized that he didn't know who Chabod was and from that I got an electrifying sensation of fullness. I began to summarise the little I had learned, but I quickly realized that to know, to compulsively display what he knew, was his point of strength and at the same time his weakness. He felt strong if he took the lead and weak if he lacked words. He darkened, in fact he stopped me almost immediately. He sidetracked the conversation, he started talking about the Regions, about how urgent it was to get them approved, about autonomy and decentralization, about economic planning on a regional basis, all things I had never heard a word about. No Chabod, then: I had left him the field… What were we doing? A discussion? Practicing for future confrontations with people who had learned to use words as we had? An exchange of signals to prove to ourselves that such words were the basis of a long and fruitful friendship? A cultivated screen for sexual desire? … But I also understood that there was no comparison with the exchanges I had had with Lila years earlier, which ignited my brain, and in the course of which we tore the words from each other's mouth, creating an excitement that seemed like a storm of electrical charges. With Nino it was different. I felt that I had to pay attention to say what he wanted me to say, hiding from him both my ignorance, and the few things I knew and he didn't."
There is, I feel, more in there about gender, about patriarchy, and about structural privilege, than in a month of graduate school seminars. Or consider Elena's first, painful introduction to class, at a party organised by her professor:
"And Nino, politely disagreeing with the professor, contradicted Armando, contradicted Carlo. I listened spellbound. Their words were buds that blossomed in my mind into more or less familiar flowers, and then I flared up, mimicking participation; or they manifested forms unknown to me, and I retreated, to hide my ignorance."
Unlike Nino, who "was profound in confronting the great problems of the world as he was superficial in the feelings of love", Ferrante is equally adept at both.
Previously, while reviewing My Brilliant Friend, I had remarked upon Ferrante's felicity with the perfect phrase, the almost achingly perfect choice of words, as though for her, language is no barrier to expression, but augments it. The Story of a New Name is simply more of the same. Whether it is describing the ambiguity of friendship and parting ("I had wished to diminish her in order not to feel her loss…"), the inexpressible pains of love ("Maybe he's hurting himself inside, because the words, shouted in his throat like that, in his chest, but without exploding in the air, are like bits of sharp iron piercing his lungs and his pharynx…"), insecurity ("… as if the pure and simple fact that he loved me were the public sanctioning of my talents…"), the ending of relationships ("… there are people who leave and people who know how to be left…"), or simply, pure rage against the constraints of the world ("At times she was overwhelmed by a mania to express herself with no mediation…"), after Ferrante has written it, you wonder how it could ever have been expressed differently.
After finishing The Story of a New Name, you take a deep, shuddering breath. You put the book down, and you go out for a walk, into a world that feels – as Ferrante writes – "… formed, reformed, deformed." But a world that you recognise better than you did before you began the book.
Filed under Elena Ferrante, Italy
Tagged as Elena Ferrante
Hisham Matar and Edmund White
'Father's literary memory was like a floating library.'
– Hisham Matar, The Return
'One of my books is called The Burning Library, an allusion to the saying that when an old person dies a library burns. Bernard's mental library was the size of the Bibliotheque nationale.'
– Edmund White, Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris
Filed under Hisham Matar, Libya
Tagged as connections, Edmund White, Hisham Matar
'But life is never a material, a substance to be moulded': Boris Pasternak's 'Doctor Zhivago'
Doctor Zhivago is one of those canonical novels that has been so thoroughly written about over the decades, that there is probably nothing you can say about it that hasn't already been said, and in a similar manner. It's plot is simple enough: the eponymous protagonist, Doctor Zhivago (Yury), is caught up in the throes of the First World War, and then the Russian Revolution; sent to the front, thence to Moscow, then fleeing the revolution into the countryside before being conscripted into the Red army during the Civil War, he (involuntarily) traverses the length and breadth of conflict-ridden Russia, simultaneously ridden by that most intense of personal conflicts: being in love with two people at the same time. Zhivago begins by being broadly sympathetic to the ideals of the Revolution; by the time the Revolution triumphs, however, he has turned deeply hostile. As much as Doctor Zhivago is about a churning Russia and about its churning protagonist, it is equally about a clash between an institution that, by its own logic, must subordinate everything to a uniform will, and an individual whose intellect will not accept that logic.
For me, the greatness of the book – and its great success – lies in its subtle, moving, and evocative portrayal of this clash. Of course, this is a theme that has been well-explored in literature (most of it, of course, after Pasternak wrote Zhivago): in the writings of Milan Kundera, or Danilo Kis, or George Orwell, to name just three writers who are stylistically very different, but are dealing with the same question. What's different about Doctor Zhivago, however, is that it is about a pre-totalitarian regime – that is, the fate of the revolution has not yet hardened into (what would ultimately become) Stalinism, and there is a sense that in some way, the possibilities are still open:
"Everything had changed suddenly – the tone, the moral climate; you didn't know what to think, who to listen to. As if all your life you had been led by the hand like a small child and suddenly you were on your own, you had to learn to walk by yourself. There was no one around, neither family nor people whose judgment you respected. At such a time you felt the need to entrust yourself to something absolute – life or truth or beauty – of being ruled by it now that man-made rules had been discarded. You needed to surrender to some such ultimate purpose more fully, more unreservedly than you had ever done in the old familiar, peaceful days, in the old life which was now abolished and gone for good."
As this passage suggests, the situation, therefore, is considerably more morally ambiguous than the stark scenarios painted by the writers of totalitarianism. This is a historical moment in which to give way to that 'oceanic feeling' seems not only understandable, but almost inevitable. Of course, the character of Doctor Zhivago shows us that it is now. As the moral certainty of the purveyors of the revolution increases, he begins to grow more and more ambivalent about it. The contrast shows up most clearly during a moment when, mistaken for a counter-revolutionary, he is briefly apprehended and brought before the local commander (who is also the husband of one of his lovers), Strelnikov. Here is Strelnikov's description:
"For some unknown reason, it was clear at once that this man was a finished product of the will. So completely was he himself, the self he chose to be, that everything about him struck one immediately as a model of its kind – his well-proportioned, handsomely set head, his eager step, his long legs, his knee-boots, which may well have been muddy but which looked clean, and his grey serge tunic which may have been creased but looked as if it were made of the best linen and had just been pressed."
This account – and in particular, the almost chilling phrase "a finished product of the will" (bringing to mind, of course, 'the triumph of the will'), is set at odds with Zhivago's own character, described back to him in a letter from his lover, Lara:
"As for me, I love you. If only you knew how much I love you. I love all that is unusual in you, the inconvenient as well as the convenient, and all the ordinary things which, in you, are made precious to me by being combined in an extraordinary way; your face which is made beautiful by your expression, though perhaps it would be plain without it, your intelligence and your talent which replace your will – for you have no will."
This distinction – between being a finished product of the will (and thereby being able to subordinate oneself to the cause), and having no will, is mirrored in a parallel distinction that runs through the book – between the abstract and the particular. What Strelnikov needs to have (but doesn't) "besides the principles which filled his mind, [was] an unprincipled heart, – the kind of heart that knows of no general cases, but only of particular ones, and has the greatness of small actions." At another point, Zhivago notes that "it was as if there was something abstract in his expression – it made him colourless. As if a living human face had become an embodiment of a principle, the image of an idea." Here, the juxtaposition of 'principle', 'abstract' and 'idea' on the one hand, and 'colourless' on the other, suggests that there is something unnatural, almost inhuman, about the pure revolutionary imagination. At other places, Pasternak refers to 'the power of the glittering phrase', people 'grim as idols', and 'shrill textbook admirations… forced enthusiasm, and the deadly dullness...' to suggest that the necessary conclusion to abstraction is the death of all that is human. In fact, Zhivago and Lara fall in love because there is "something intangible, marginal, that we both understand and feel in the same way", and that something is the sense that "the riddle of life, the riddle of death, the beauty of genius, the beauty of loving – that, yes, that we understood. As for such petty trifles as re-shaping the world – these things, no thank you, they are not for us."
In some ways, Doctor Zhivago reminds me of Elias Khoury's latest novel, Sinalcol, set during the Lebanese Civil War. Stylistically, of course, they are very different. Pasternak's novel contains a sprawling ensemble of characters, epic in scale, highly realist in its description, linear from beginning to an end; Khoury's is scattered, impressionistic, feverishly moving between past and present. But in both novels, the protagonist is caught up in a war that he is fundamentally unequipped to deal with, because of his fundamental inability to paint over a half-cynical, half-doubting mental landscape with the brush of revolutionary fervour. This leads to paralysis. In Sinalcol, the protagonist has a conversation with a Palestinian revolutionary, where he exhorts her not to subordinate herself to the vision of the revolution; her answer is that it is only through that that she is able to act at all. The understanding that alternative is paralysis in a world where standing by is itself a morally fraught choice is something ever-present in both Sinalcol and Doctor Zhivago, and prevents hasty judgment upon those who have chosen the path of subordination and action. So towards the end of the book, when Lara says this to Zhivago, it is powerful and moving – and yet, and yet, not altogether convincing:
"'The whole human way of life has been destroyed and ruined. All that's left is the bare, shivering human soul, stripped to the last shred, the naked force of the human psyche for which nothing has changed because it was always cold and shivering and reaching out to its nearest neighbour, as cold and lonely as itself. You and I are like the first two people on earth who at the beginning of the world had nothing to cover themselves with – at the end of it, you and I are just as stripped and homeless. And you and I are the last remembrance of all that immeasurable greatness which has been created in the world in all the thousands of years between their time and ours, and it is in memory of all that vanished splendour that we live and love and weep and cling to one another."
Filed under Boris Pasternak
Tagged as Boris Pasternak, russian revolution
Hisham Matar and V.S. Naipaul
"All the books on the modern history of the country could fit neatly on a couple of shelves. The best amongst them is slim enough to slide into my coat pocket and be read in a day or two. There are many other histories, of course, concerning those who, over the past three millenia, occupied Libya: the Phoenicans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Ottomans, and, most recently, the Italians. A Libyan hoping to glimpse something of that past must, like an intruder at a private party, enter such books in the full knowledge that most of them were not written by or for him, and, therefore, at hear, they are accounts concerning the lives of others, their adventures and misadventures in Libya, as though one's own country is but an opportunity for foreigners to exorcize their demons and live out their ambitions."
Hisham Matar, 'The Return'
"Brilliant… true autobiography arises when a man encounters something in life which shocks him into the need for self-examination and self-explanation. It was natural that a sojourn in India should provide this shock for Naipaul… the experience was not a pleasant one, but the pain the author suffered was creative rather than numbing… tender, lyrical, explosive and cruel."
John Wain in The Observer, on the blurb of V.S. Naipaul's An Area of Darkness
Tagged as Hisham Matar, Libya, memoir


Fedora is a data store that uses the LDP protocol to store linked data and binary files.
Rails is a web application Framework for Ruby.
Redis is a key-value store that we use to back our worker queues (using Resque or Sidekiq). Hyrax also uses Redis for user notifications.


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Institute for Popular Music
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The Abbey Road Conference
Come Together: Fifty Years of Abbey Road
A Symposium Hosted by the University of Rochester Institute for Popular Music and the Eastman School of Music
September 26, 2019, will mark the 50th anniversary of the worldwide release of the Beatles' Abbey Road. While Let It Be was released in 1970, most of the tracks on that album were recorded earlier, making Abbey Road the band's last album project. Coming as the last installment in a series of very successful Beatles albums spanning the years since 1963, it is tempting to view Abbey Road as a culmination of the band's career. Our interdisciplinary symposium will commemorate the anniversary with scholarly presentations, keynote addresses, poster sessions and other special events open to the public.
Featured speakers will include Ken Townsend MBE (engineer and General Manager at Abbey Road Studios), Andy Babiuk (author, Beatles Gear), Walter Everett (author, The Beatles as Musicians), Kenneth Womack (author, Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin), A. Joan Saab, Nicole Biamonte, Mark Spicer, Katie Kapurch, Andrew Flory, Victor Coelho, Robert Fink, and Bruce Pilato.
The conference will begin with registration and breakfast on Friday, September 27 at 8:00 a.m., with the conference welcome beginning at 8:50 a.m. The last session will conclude on Sunday, September 29 at 3:00 p.m. A detailed program can be found here. Abstracts booklet may be downloaded here.
Partcipants may register by clicking here. Regular and student registration includes admission to all conference sessions, keynotes, and After Hours, along with breakfast (continental) and lunch on all three days of the conference. A separate ticket for Saturday night's special dinner at the Inn on Broadway must be purchased in addition to regular registration. A discounted rate is provided for students, as well as an early registration discount valid through September 9.
A special reduced-price registration will be available starting on September 15 for those participants who would like to attend only the Friday and Saturday evening keynotes and After Hours sessions (7:30-10:00 p.m.). Please note that no meals are included with this special registration.
Special rates have been secured at two hotels near the Eastman School of Music (26 Gibbs St.), where all of the sessions will take place.
Hilton Garden Inn, (585) 232-5000
Eastman School of Music rate starting at $129 per night
155 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14604
For online reservations: Hilton Garden Inn Reservations (to book online, enter corporate ID #3053175)
Or call (585) 232-5000 ext 0 and ask for the Eastman School of Music rate
–8-minute walk to the Eastman School
–Complimentary airport shuttle
–Complimentary shuttle to Eastman upon request when available
–Refrigerators and microwaves in each guestroom
–High-speed internet/Wi-Fi, fitness center, indoor pool
–Hilton Honors Points earned on every stay plus any food and beverage when charged to guest room
–500 Bonus Hilton Honors points when $25 is spent in Drifters restaurant (coupon given at check-in)
Holiday Inn Rochester Downtown, (585) 546-3450
Eastman rate is $95 plus tax
70 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614
For Online Reservations: Holiday Inn Rochester Downtown Reservations
–15-minute walk to the Eastman School
–Complimentary shuttle to/from Eastman School of Music
–Complimentary breakfast for one guest. Additional guests pay on their own
–Complimentary on-site parking
–10% discount in State Street Bar & Grill
–Complimentary Wi-Fi and fitness center
–Earn IHG Rewards Points for your stay
Getting to Rochester
The Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) services the Rochester, NY area (not to be confused with the Rochester International Airport in Minnesota, designated as RST by the airlines). Uber service costs about $16 to the Eastman School (26 Gibbs St.); please note that the hotels listed above offer free shuttle service, though it is best to contact them to coordinate your arrival and departure.
Directions, Parking, and Campus Map
Directions to the Eastman School of Music and a parking map can be found here. Click here for a map of the Eastman School of Music facilities.
Rochester offers a rich variety of restaurants, many within easy walking distance of Eastman. Click here to view a Restaurant guide for the Rochester downtown area.
john.covach@rochester.edu
AS&E

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Future-Proofing the U.S. Retirement System Requires Addressing Demographic Disparities
December 20, 2022 by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies
New report examines demographic influences and vulnerable populations in the U.S. workforce
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Almost half of U.S. workers (49 percent) expect their primary source of retirement income to come from self-funded savings such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, IRAs, and other savings and investments. However, the total household retirement savings among workers is only $67,000 (estimated median), according to Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Compendium About U.S. Workers' Retirement Outlook ("Compendium"), a comprehensive study released today by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® (TCRS) in collaboration with Transamerica Institute®.
"Amid concerns about Social Security, the disappearance of traditional defined benefit pensions, and intensifying expectations that workers self-fund a greater portion of their retirement income, many workers are inadequately saving and are at risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement," said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS. "Enhancing retirement security involves addressing demographic disparities, removing structural barriers, and future-proofing the system so everyone can retire with dignity."
As part of TCRS' 22nd Annual Retirement Survey of Workers, the Compendium is based on a survey of employed workers at for-profit companies conducted in late 2021. It offers more than 35 key retirement indicators by household income, employment status (full-time, part-time), level of educational attainment, urbanicity, caregiver status, LGBTQ+ status, and race/ethnicity.
Lower-Income Workers Have Less Ability to Save for Retirement
"Lower-income workers have less money and fewer opportunities to save for retirement in the workplace," said Collinson. Sixty-seven percent of workers with a household income (HHI) of less than $50,000 feel they do not have enough income to save for retirement.
Only 60 percent of workers with an HHI of less than $50,000 are offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer, and 58 percent of them participate. In comparison, 74 percent of workers with an HHI of $50,000 to $99,999 are offered a plan, and 76 percent participate, while 78 percent of workers with an HHI of $100,000+ are offered a plan, and 85 percent participate.
Retirement savings increase dramatically with household income. Workers with an HHI of less than $50,000 have saved just $3,000 in total household retirement accounts while workers with an HHI of $50,000 to $99,000 have saved $42,000, and those with an HHI of $100,000+ have saved $172,000 (estimated medians).
Forty-eight percent of workers with an HHI of less than $50,000 expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire. Thirty-five percent expect Social Security to be their primary source of retirement income.
The Saver's Credit is a tax credit to incentivize savings among low- to moderate-income workers who save for retirement in a 401(k) or similar plan or IRA. Unfortunately, fewer than half of workers who may meet the income eligibility requirements are aware of it.
Part-Time Workers Have Less Access to Employer-Sponsored Retirement Benefits
"With lower pay and less access to employer-sponsored benefits, part-time workers are at a disadvantage in saving for retirement, compared with full-time workers," said Collinson. Only 19 percent of part-time workers "strongly" agree they are building a large enough retirement nest egg.
Slightly more than half of part-time workers (51 percent) are offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer, and 59 percent of them participate. In comparison, 77 percent of full-time workers are offered a plan, and 80 percent of them participate.
Part-time workers have saved just $29,000 in total household retirement accounts, while full-time workers have saved $74,000 (estimated medians).
Forty-eight percent of part-time workers expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire. Twenty-nine percent expect Social Security to be their primary source of retirement income.
Educational Attainment Inspires Retirement Confidence
"Educational attainment brings career opportunities, higher pay, and better employer benefits which translate to improved retirement confidence," said Collinson. Among those age 25 and older, workers with a college degree are twice as likely as those without a degree to be "very" confident in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle (35 percent, 17 percent, respectively).
Eighty-two percent of workers with a college degree are offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer, and 87 percent of them participate. In comparison, only 67 percent of workers without a college degree are offered a plan, and just 74 percent participate.
Workers without a college degree have saved $32,000 in total household retirement accounts, which is dramatically less than the $170,000 saved by workers with a college degree (estimated medians).
Forty-two percent of workers without a college degree expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire. Thirty-two percent expect Social Security to be their primary source of retirement income.
Rural Workers Are Getting Left Behind
"In recent decades, economic activity in the U.S. has become increasingly concentrated in urban and suburban areas. As a result, rural workers are getting left behind regarding employment opportunities and retirement preparations," said Collinson.
Rural workers have lower household incomes than suburban and urban workers ($65,000, $88,000, $90,000, respectively) (estimated medians).
Only 66 percent of rural workers are offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer, and 72 percent of them participate. In comparison, 74 percent of both urban and suburban workers are offered a plan, and approximately eight in 10 participate (77 percent, 80 percent, respectively).
Rural workers have saved $33,000 in total household retirement accounts, while urban workers have saved $67,000 and suburban workers have saved $82,000 (estimated medians).
Forty-five percent of rural workers expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire. Thirty percent expect Social Security to be their primary source of retirement income.
Caregiving Is a Potential Threat to Retirement Security
"With the skyrocketing costs of long-term care services and supports, many workers will be called upon to be an unpaid caregiver for an aging parent or loved one. This labor of love often involves trade-offs in a worker's employment and financial situation which could compromise their future retirement," said Collinson.
Almost four in 10 workers (38 percent) currently serve as caregivers or have been a caregiver in the past. In doing so, 85 percent have made one or more adjustments to their employment situation, ranging from missing days of work and reducing hours to foregoing a promotion or quitting a job.
Caregiving workers, including current and past caregivers, are more likely than non-caregivers (i.e., those who have never served as a caregiver) to have experienced one or more negative impacts to their employment during the pandemic (50 percent, 30 percent, respectively). Caregiving workers are also more likely to indicate their financial situation has worsened as a result of the pandemic (28 percent, 19 percent).
Despite their challenges, caregiving workers are faring slightly better than non-caregivers in retirement savings. Seventy-eight percent of caregivers are offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer, and 82 percent of them participate. Only 70 percent of non-caregivers are offered a plan, and 74 percent participate.
Caregiving workers have saved $70,000 in total household retirement accounts while non-caregivers have saved $64,000 (estimated medians).
A Potentially Brighter Retirement Future for LGBTQ+ Workers
"Historically, the LGBTQ+ community has been a demographic segment more likely to retire in poverty. However, in recent decades, the LGBTQ+ community has made great progress with the enactment of legal protections and recognition of rights. Importantly, the legalization of same-sex marriage makes same-sex spouses eligible for government and employer-sponsored retirement benefits," said Collinson. "Today's LGBTQ+ workers have a brighter retirement future."
Many LGBTQ+ workers are early in their careers and getting started with retirement savings. Survey respondents self-identifying as LGBTQ+ workers are younger than non-LGBTQ+ workers (age 32, age 41, respectively) (medians). Twenty-five percent of LGBTQ+ workers are between ages 18 and 24, compared with nine percent of non-LGBTQ+ workers.
Sixty-seven percent of LGBTQ+ workers are offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer, and 77 percent of them participate. Seventy-three percent of non-LGBTQ+ workers are offered a plan, and 78 percent participate.
LGBTQ+ workers have saved $31,000 in total household retirement accounts, while non-LGBTQ+ workers have saved $70,000 (estimated medians).
Forty-four percent of LGBTQ+ workers expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire.
Influences of Race and Ethnicity on Retirement Savings
"Our societal focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion has solidified the imperative for bridging racial inequalities," said Collinson. "The survey findings reflect the dynamic nature of the workforce, highlight retirement-related similarities and differences, and surface questions for further research."
The workforce is becoming more diverse, especially among younger generations, a trend that is reflected in workers' ages across race and ethnicity. Among the survey respondents, white workers are older than Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI), Black/African American, and Hispanic workers (age 44, age 40, age 34, age 34, respectively) (medians).
Contextually, a worker's age and household income are major contributing factors to their retirement savings. AAPI workers report the highest household income at $100,000, followed by White ($92,000), Hispanic ($70,000), and Black workers ($59,000) (estimated medians).
Black workers are more likely than AAPI, Hispanic, and White workers to be offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employer (80 percent, 76 percent, 73 percent, 71 percent, respectively). However, among those offered a plan, Black workers are less likely than other races/ethnicities to participate in the plan (65 percent, 78 percent, 79 percent, 80 percent).
AAPI workers have saved the most in total household retirement accounts, followed by White, Hispanic, and Black workers ($105,000, $86,000, $45,000 $34,000, respectively) (estimated medians).
"Strengthening the U.S. retirement system requires expanding retirement plan coverage, making it affordable for employers to offer benefits and easy for workers to save in the workplace, and ensuring workers of all ages have meaningful employment, income, and incentives to save. It also requires implementing reforms to address Social Security's funding shortfalls and strengthening safety nets," said Collinson. "Success can be best achieved by a collaboration among policymakers, industry, academics, nonprofits, employers, and individuals. Every stakeholder plays a vital role in transforming the future."
The Compendium is the sixth report from TCRS' 22nd Annual Retirement Survey with other reports featuring analysis about employment situation, the employer's perspective and employer size, generations and age, gender, and the Saver's Credit. Visit transamericainstitute.org to view the Compendium and other reports. Follow TCRS on Twitter and Transamerica Institute on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
A b o u t Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies
Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® (TCRS) is a division of Transamerica Institute®, a nonprofit, private foundation. Transamerica Institute is funded by contributions from Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates. TCRS and its representatives cannot give ERISA, tax, investment, or legal advice. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as ERISA, tax, investment, or legal advice. Interested parties must consult and rely solely upon their independent advisors regarding their situation and the concepts presented here. For more information, visit www.transamericainstitute.org and follow TCRS on Twitter at @TCRStudies.
About the 22nd Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey
The analysis contained in Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Compendium About U.S. Workers' Retirement Outlook was prepared by the research teams at Transamerica Institute, TCRS, and The Harris Poll. The 28-minute online survey was conducted within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of Transamerica Institute and TCRS between October 28 and December 10, 2021 among a nationally representative sample of 5,493 workers in a for-profit company employing one or more employees. Results were weighted where necessary to align with the population of U.S. residents, referencing Census data for education, age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, household income, education, employment, marital status, and size of household. Weighting also adjusts for attitudinal and behavioral differences between those who are online versus those who are not, those who join online panels versus those who do not, and those who respond to surveys versus those who do not.
Media Contact: Morgan Karbowski
mkarbowski@webershandwick.com
SOURCE Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies
Originally Posted at CISION PRNewswire on December 16, 2022 by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
Sheryl earned the moniker of "annuity rockstar" at a meeting in 2005.


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HomeRegulatoryThe Who, What, When, Where and Why of FDA Registration Renewal
The Who, What, When, Where and Why of FDA Registration Renewal

Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food facilities are required to renew their registrations with FDA between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2016; to help facilities prepare, we provide the who, what, when, where and why of FDA registration renewal.

Mary Hancock | Oct 14, 2016
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food facilities are required to renew their registrations with FDA between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2016.
Who: Domestic and foreign food facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for human or animal consumption in the United States must register and renew. If FDA determines a registered facility is not required to register, FDA may cancel the registration.
What: Food facilities have been required to register with FDA since 2003. While 21 CFR requires facilities to update their registrations within 60 days of a change to any required data elements in a registration, this requirement was not actively enforced by FDA. In 2011, FSMA updated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to require biennial registration renewals as an assurance that the information in FDA's Food Facility Registration database would remain accurate and current.
When: FDA registrations must be renewed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 of every even-numbered year. It does not matter when a food facility completes its initial registration. Even if a facility registers the day before a renewal period begins, the facility will need to renew its registration.
Where: Facilities can renew their registrations directly with FDA by mail, fax or online, or they can authorize a third party individual, such as a regulatory specialist at Registrar Corp to renew their registration. FDA will require renewals to be submitted electronically beginning in 2020.
Why: Facility registrations that are not renewed on time are considered by FDA to be invalid, and the agency will remove the registration from its database. Distributing food within the United States without a valid FDA food facility registration is a prohibited act. Foreign facilities that do not renew may find their shipments to the United States held by FDA at the port of entry until the facility is compliant.
Mary Hancock is a senior regulatory specialist at Registrar Corp,, an FDA consulting firm that helps companies comply with FDA regulation. She has been assisting companies with FDA regulations since 2009 and has assisted more than 20,000 food facilities to navigate FDA registration requirements.
TAGS: Archive Foods


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Senate Democrats want to subpoena four witnesses in the impeachment trial
Dec 15, 2019 Huntsville news, Huntsville tribune
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) listens to questions from the media during a press conference following weekly policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol on December 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. | Win McNamee/Getty Images
Chuck Schumer has sent a letter to Mitch McConnell about how Democrats prefer to approach the trial.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out exactly how Democrats are looking to handle the Senate impeachment trial in a letter on Sunday: They'd like to kick things off on January 6 — and include the testimony of at least four witnesses.
Those witnesses are acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, Mulvaney's senior advisor Robert Blair, and Associate Director for National Security at the Office of Management and Budget Michael Duffey. They're all current or former members of President Donald Trump's administration who have direct knowledge of his discussions with Ukraine about political investigations and military aid. All four were called to testify as part of the House inquiry, though they declined to show up.
Schumer's letter follows recent comments from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who's said he's working in "total coordination" with the White House to conduct the trial.
"There will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can," McConnell said during a Fox News appearance last week. Senate Republicans have emphasized that they're interested in an expedited process that doesn't include witnesses and moves quickly to acquittal. Democrats, it seems, want something slightly different.
Schumer's letter is coming at a crossroads: Since the House is expected to impeach the president this Wednesday, an impeachment trial is likely to begin in the Senate at the start of the new year. Before it gets underway, however, the Senate will have to vote on a rules resolution that's historically been hashed out by the majority and minority leaders regarding the timing of the trial, daily procedure, and possible witnesses. During former President Bill Clinton's trial, the Senate voted 100-0 on a broad rules motion around procedure, though it split along party lines regarding a later motion to call witnesses.
In his letter to McConnell, Schumer explains what he envisions the rules resolution looking like for the Trump trial, including the schedule of the proceedings, the witnesses he's interested in subpoenaing, and the documents he'd like to request from the White House. He notes that, unlike in the Clinton trial, Democrats are interested in one resolution that includes provisions governing all three issues.
"We believe all of this should be considered in one resolution," he writes. "The issue of witnesses and documents, which are the most important issues facing us, should be decided before we move forward with any part of the trial."
Democrats' take on resolution would address the following:
Start of the trial
Monday, January 6: The Senate approves pre-trial housekeeping measures. These measures require 51 votes to pass.
Tuesday, January 7: Chief Justice John Roberts is sworn in to preside over the trial and senators are sworn in as jurors. At this point, senators have to take an oath to "do impartial justice" as they decide whether to convict or acquit the president.
Thursday, January 9: House managers — representatives from the House who act as prosecutors — have 24 hours to present their arguments. After they finish, White House counsel has 24 hours to present its arguments.
Subpoenas for witnesses and documents
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney: Mulvaney is said to have approved a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that was conditioned on investigations into Hunter Biden and Burisma, according to testimony from National Security Council member Fiona Hill, The Guardian reports. Democrats hope to question him about that meeting, and his role in the delay in releasing nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton: Bolton had a meeting with Trump about removing the hold on aid to Ukraine, according to testimony from former National Security Council official Tim Morrison, Axios reports. Bolton has hinted he has information about Trump's attempts to pressure Ukraine that is not yet known to Congress; he refused to testify before the House without a court order, but Democrats hope he can shed light on how much high level officials knew about the pressure campaign — and when they knew what.
Associate Director for National Security, Office of Management and Budget Michael Duffey: Duffey, a political appointee at the Office of Management and Budget, sent emails to the White House about the hold the president wanted on aid to Ukraine, according to witness testimony from OMB official Mark Sandy during the House inquiry. Duffey also refused to testify before the House, but may be able to clarify the timeline around the release of the aid.
Mulvaney Senior Advisor Robert Blair: As an aide to Mulvaney, Blair was involved in communications between the Office of Management and Budget and the White House, and could provide testimony about the timing of releasing aid to Ukraine, according to Sandy's sworn statements during the House inquiry.
Schumer also notes that Democrats will welcome additional witness requests from the White House, as long as the people being called have "direct knowledge of the Administration's decisions regarding the delay in security assistance funds to the government of Ukraine and the requests for certain investigations to be announced by the government of Ukraine." The letter does not explicitly comment on whether Democrats would oppose other potential witnesses Republicans have called to hear from throughout the impeachment process, like former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
In addition to witness testimony, Democrats are seeking a trove of documents that "shed additional light on the Administration's decision-making regarding the delay in security assistance funding to Ukraine and its requests for certain investigations to be announced by the government of Ukraine." House Democrats sought similar documents during their inquiry into Trump's relationship with Ukraine; the White House refused to turn these documents over — and it's not yet clear whether they'd react differently during the Senate trial.
Overall timing
The Democrats propose:
Witnesses will testify for no more than four hours in front of House managers and four hours in front of President's counsel.
Equal time will be given for senators to question the House managers and the president's legal team. Equal time will also be given for closing arguments by both the managers and the president's legal team.
Senators will be given 24 hours for final deliberation ahead of a vote on the articles of impeachment.
McConnell and Schumer have said they'd like to find bipartisan agreement on the rules governing the trial, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have wondered if that will be possible given how polarized this impeachment process has become.
If Republicans are able to stay united, they could approve a more partisan version of the rules with just 51 votes. This letter is Democrats' attempt to emphasize their own priorities.
Author: Li Zhou
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Coppin State President Maria Thompson Announces Resignation Plans
Citing health challenges and opportunities to return to her hometown of Nashville, TN, Coppin State University President Maria Thompson has announced her plans to resign this summer.
In a letter to the campus community, Dr. Thompson outlined her commitment to continuing work in the areas of attracting non-traditional students and partnerships with community colleges and corporate partners to advance the university as a key workforce development resource in the Baltimore-Metropolitan area.
"Since becoming president in 2015, I have been constantly grateful for the ongoing and close collaboration of the faculty and staff which has contributed greatly to all that we have accomplished to enhance the educational experience for our multi-generational student population," Dr. Thompson wrote. "Never has what Coppin offers been more needed, not only here in Baltimore and the State of Maryland, but for our nation, as one of the most historically important HBCUs with an unqualified commitment to academic excellence, community impact, and service. In the spirit of our namesake – Fanny Jackson Coppin – our students come from many walks of life and work to improve their personal prospects through higher education so that they, in turn, can improve the prospects of others."
The Tennessee State University alumna is credited with ushering Coppin into new agreements for community college transfer student degree completion, and an emphasis on resource-building for non-traditional learners.
She will step down in June, becoming the third HBCU presidential departure in Maryland following the retirements of former Bowie State University President Mickey Burnim in 2017, and former UMES President Juliette Bell in 2018.


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1 Urban Cowboy Brooklyn, NY
2 Mondrian Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
3 The Surf Lodge Montauk Montauk, NY
4 The Standard, High Line New York, NY
5 Soho Beach House Miami Beach, FL
6 Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, NV
7 The Dean Providence, Rhode Island
8 Faena Hotel Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina
8 Hottest Hotel Staffs Around the World
Hotels can flaunt all the Philippe Starck design that money can buy. But there's one thing that can truly up the aesthetic ante of your stay: a hot staff. From sun-kissed surfer chicks to Brazilian beefcakes, Colleen Clark rounds up the best-looking staff around the world.
By Chelsea Stuart | Photo by Ira Lippke July 13, 2015
See recent posts by Chelsea Stuart | Photo by Ira Lippke
Urban Cowboy Brooklyn, NY
This is not your mama's bed and breakfast. For one thing, the flapjacks in the morning are likely to be served up by either an ex-model or a former pro hockey player. And because the hotel has become a clubhouse for Brooklyn's creative set, you'll find a rotating cast of boho babes serving up small-batch bourbon or playing guitar in the backyard. Their cowboy boots and cutoffs, vintage denim and gauzy dresses feel like natural extensions of the urban rustic decor. And the only potbelly you'll find is the stove in the sexy log cabin suite out back, the perfect stop after a steamy romp in the sauna or hot tub. Giddy-up.
Mondrian Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
Some of the prettiest people our planet has to offer find their way to Hollywood in search of fame, fortune, and a good tan. And until they hit the big time, more than a few have day-jobbed it at the scene-y Mondrian Los Angeles, whose Asia de Cuba restaurant and sexy Skybar are the haunt of casting agents and studio bigwigs. Interacting with the people who could make their career means the hotel's staffers are always done up and ready for their close-up, especially the bikini-clad cocktail waitresses serving drinks poolside to A-listers like Hugh Grant and Elle Macpherson. And the frosty, too-cool-for-school image the hotel once had has been replaced by a friendly vibe. After all, you catch more casting agents with honey than vinegar, right?
The Surf Lodge Montauk Montauk, NY
What's the only thing better than the effortless hotness of a surfer—that bronzed bikini body, those tousled locks? Well, how about a hotel full of them? Hipster hang The Surf Lodge is a well-designed clubhouse for the surf set, with a playful staff that spends its mornings hanging ten and its afternoons mixing Dark and Stormies as bands play on the deck. It's no wonder that celebs from Leonardo Dicaprio to Solange have been known to chill out on their patio.
Explore More: See hotel details | See all Montauk, NY hotels
The Standard, High Line New York, NY
The Standard is known for its exhibitionist guests getting busy at the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking High Line park. But we can't say we blame them. Anyone would be in the mood after ogling those Adrian Grenier look-alike doormen in Wayfarers and skinny ties and a front desk staff that appears to have just gotten off an Alexander Wang modeling gig. The hotel personnel—a rotating cast of musicians-between-tours and model-slash-DJ types—fit right in with the already-made-its (Madonna, anyone?) that crowd the hotel's rooftop bar Boom Boom Room. So the guy who showed you to your suite today could be the one you're drooling over in next year's HBO pilot.
Soho Beach House Miami Beach, FL
Miami is a smorgasbord of eye candy (the only kind of candy regularly consumed in this bod-conscious city). But in a place where butt implants are as common as bottle blonds, the rare beauties are the natural ones. That's why the stunners at Soho Beach House stand above the South Beach fray. We're talking genuine smiles, a serious sense of style and not a hint of silicone. And in lieu of an are-you-on-the-list attitude, you'll feel like you're visiting your (effortlessly cool) best friend. Now that's a club we can get into.
Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, NV
Sure, you notice beautiful women. But no one wants to be that guy eyeballing the check-in clerk. Except in Vegas, of course. When you're staying at a hotel where the suites have stripper poles, all bets are off. At the Palms Las Vegas, the sexy stimuli runs the gamut from the saucy bartenders at Ghostbar to the leggy cocktail waitresses serving fruity drinks at poolside cabana parties. If the worst you do in Sin City is check out the sexy staff, you can consider yourself in line for sainthood.
The Dean Providence, Rhode Island
The hot nerd. The sexy librarian. Brains and beauty make an irresistible combo. Providence, Rhode Island, has long combined the two as home to both an Ivy League university and one of the best art schools in the country. And now The Dean hotel is doing the same. The hip stunners that staff the hotel's beer hall, cocktail bar and karaoke den tend to be more plugged into the city's nightlife scene than most concierges, so they'll point you to underground punk shows, gallery openings and food fests (and look damn good doing it).
Explore More: See hotel details | See all Providence, RI hotels
Faena Hotel Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina
In a city where almost every local looks like he/she just walked out of a modeling shoot, it takes a lot to turn our heads. Enter the Faena. The only thing more over-the-top than the design of this chic hotel—we're talking white unicorns and red velvet, people—are the smoldering good looks of the staff. The Faena also has one of Argentina's flashiest and most risqué tango shows, from the dashing tuxedo-clad musicians to the sultry eyes (and high hemlines) of the dancers. It's one hot ticket, with a liberal policy on female nudity to boot.
Explore More: See hotel details | See all Buenos Aires, Argentina hotels
The Best Hotels in Amsterdam
The 10 Best Hotels in the American Southwest
Mexico's Best All-Inclusive Resorts
The Best Hotels in St. Kitts and Nevis


Organize an Event | Democracy Now!
To introduce people, who don't already know about Democracy Now!, to the show.
To gain support to help bring DN! to a station in your area or to organize a group to help publicize DN! where it is already on.
To raise funds to support your local public media outlet, purchase a Satellite Dish or subscription to broadcast DN! on your local cable public access channel, or to help DN! continue its important work.
What Kind of Event Should I Have?
Invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, or whoever you like over for a potluck dinner and screening of your favorite DN! episode. Have a follow-up discussion and debate over dessert. Raise funds, conciousness, and enlist their help in your efforts to get DN! on a local station or spread the word about the stations and times it already plays on.
Organize regular screenings of DN! programs followed-up by debates/discussions on your campus. We may be able to help you get credit for organizing such a series from your school's debate club.
Supporters in Germany wrote to tell us about the DN! Cafe they started by having regular monthly screenings at a local cafe with a video screen. They posted signs and invited friends, introducing many new people to the program. The cafe was also happy as they got many new customers.
Garage Sales are a great way to get a large group of people together: selling, buying, and talking. Make the garage sale a Democracy Now! themed event.
"We are great fans of DN! and if we miss it in the morning, we catch it on the internet whenever we can. We came up with the idea of a fund-raiser for DN! because our block association organizes a garage sale every year that covers the entire block and attracts thousands of people. We started e-mailing friends, neighbors and customers (we have a store).
Everybody got excited and people started going through their closets and bookshelves and donated whatever they could. A friend made big signs with info taken from the DN! website saying the proceeds from our tables were going to DN! Others offered their time to staff the tables, and the block association donated the space.
Visit our resources section to find materials that can help you publicize your event and Democracy Now!
Don't forget to use the Daily Digest sign-up sheets. Pass them out and send them back to us. People who sign up for our electronic newsletter get DN! delivered to their email each day. It is a great way for us to keep in touch with the people you connect us to.


Nepalese Association of Queensland is organising NAQ Student Information and Welfare Session. You are all cordially invited to participate and contribute in the interaction. Please note that it's not just only for new students. It's for all students and youth.


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Audits & Certifications
Supplier Chain Management
Social Accountability
Aquaculture & Fisheries
Good Manufacturing Practices
Quality Inspections
Audit with us
EU agency looks at official and industry controls in Belgium
By News Desk on November 7, 2018
The third in a series of four reports on synergies of official controls with food business operators' internal protocols has been published.
It covers a fact finding mission to Belgium in Sept. 2017. Reports on Germany and the United Kingdom have already been released by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE). The agency's plan is for the fourth report to cover the Netherlands.
The objective was to gather information on the way and extent to which the Belgian authority takes account of results of own-checks systems, individual firm food safety standards (IFSS) and private sector food safety standards schemes, also known as third-party certification schemes, in organizing official controls in food of animal and non-animal origin.
The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) in Belgium considers national guides developed by industry and stakeholders as the benchmark standards, which when implemented by food business operators will provide the highest level of guarantees for food safety.
Belgium's agency bases the risk assessment for planning of official controls and implementation, on level of compliance of the food safety management systems with the national guides. This means the level of synergies of official controls with those done by the private sector is limited to some sampling or activities for which no approved national guides exist. Comparisons of the national guides with certain private food safety standards have concluded requirements do not match.
It is looking at ways to better integrate certain private food safety standards schemes into the national risk-based control system. Officials say integration would allow for results to be taken into account for lowering inspection frequency or reducing depth or scope of official inspections.
AFSCA says it wants to avoid giving the impression to food business operators that it requires participation in a private scheme or giving a commercial advantage to certain schemes by "recognizing" them. The agency added there is no assurance that they will evolve in the same way as legal requirements and confidentiality issues might hinder access to audit results of food business operators who are private scheme certified.
The mission team visited one primary producer for food of non-animal origin (FNAO), a supermarket chain and two food sites — one for food of animal origin and the other for FNAO, two private certification bodies and one standard owner.
The idea behind private sector food safety standards schemes, which are voluntary, is if food business operators follow the requirements in these standards, they should provide assurance that they produce foods with relatively high and stable levels of quality and safety.
Participating primary producers and other food business operators certified under a third-party assurance scheme are subject to audits and inspections by certification bodies appointed by the entities that own the private standards schemes or the firm setting the individual firm food safety standards.
There are 11 private sector schemes setting private food safety standards along the food chain, five in the primary production sector and six in the transformation sector. Some of these are recognised by the industry-led Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
At the time of the mission, AFSCA recognized one Belgian private sector scheme covering the primary production sector of food of non-animal origin as equivalent to the relevant approved national sector guide. Certification entitles the food business operators to a certificate stating they have a validated own-checks system (SCS – système d'autocontrôle) in place.
Delegating the task to certification bodies for auditing and validating food business operators' SCSs is the major area of interaction between official controls and those carried out by the private sector.
AFSCA considers the remaining private sector schemes cannot be recognized as fully equivalent to the approved national sector guides. Equivalency must be demonstrated by owners of the private sector schemes.
Retailer input
Individual firm food safety standards put in place by the supermarket chain visited concerned mainly products marketed under the chain's in-house brand. Private certification bodies are appointed by the retailer to audit and sample suppliers of such products to ensure the retailer's product specifications are respected.
The retailer performed a few thousand analyses annually on products marketed under its own label. In 2016, they did 2,600 microbiological analyses, 233 chemical tests and 182 DNA tests for species characterization.
It also imposes requirements for suppliers to be authorized to supply their products. Large food business operators must be certified under schemes such as BRC, IFS or FSSC 22000. Medium-sized suppliers certified under Comeos Food for small and medium-sized enterprises, and small artisanal producers need only be registered or approved by AFSCA.
The retailer insisted the validated SCS is insufficient for the suppliers because it is a national system unlike other standards which are internationally recognized. However, combination of SCS and ISO 22000 worked "very well."
At the time of the mission, there were 34 guides approved by AFSCA for agro-supply, agriculture, processing, retail and transport. There were 14 certifying bodies approved for validation of food business operators' SCSs.
Reduction in controls and cost
AFSCA gives incentives to food business operators in reduced frequency of official controls and the levy charged, to encourage them to develop and implement validated food safety management systems based on the national guides.
According to data from the end of 2016, there were 22,753 food business operators with a fully validated SCS, entitling them to a reduction of 75 percent of the annual levy payable to AFSCA and reduction of up to 50 percent in the frequency of inspections, depending on their activities.
The levy depends on the sector activity and the size of the operation. The amount saved by food business operators, if they have a fully validated SCS, ranges from a few Euros to more than €10,000 ($11,400).
A cooperation between AFSCA and Belgapom in relation to sectoral sampling for potatoes provides the agency with additional laboratory results for this sector, allowing better risk analysis for planning and better focusing of resources and official sampling efforts.
The UK mission found synergies between third-party certification schemes and official controls have been in place for many years. The Food Standards Agency recognizes membership and certification for certain schemes to reduce the frequency of official controls. The agency is also working on the "Regulating Our Future" program to redesign the way official controls are delivered.
Germany has a high rate of membership to private sector food safety standard schemes, but there are no synergies between these and official controls. Inspectors had reservations on whether controls by the private sector are unbiased and can contribute to synergies with official controls.
"In particular, the fact that there is a financial relationship between FBOs (food business operators) and certification bodies and that audits for schemes are mainly announced, with advance notice can negatively affect the reliability of information and void the effect of other measures which have been put in place aimed at ensuring reliability," according to the report.
Source: http://bit.ly/2OwAsYr
7400 Carmel Executive Park Drive


Is "parental concern" the view of the mother, the father or both?
I am interesting in the field on how child health research and researchers make attention to gender recognition in:(a) their exposed research methodology and (b) in health interventions, thus, preventive recommendations regarding child health matters. Therefore, I have recently (2010) published one article concerning the study field "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" (SIDS) by scrutinizing informatics focusing on gender and sleeping recommendations as published within the Swedish Medical Journal 1980 - 2007 (March 6). In another paper internationally published key-references, repeatedly highlighted in the Swedish Medical Journal after 1990, are reviewed .In these two articles I found that child health research within SIDS epidemiology and intervention showed a strikingly skewed gendered publishing features. Now to your article . I am not quite sure who you actually asked in the follow-up survey regarding deformation of the head of the child due to strict use of supine sleeping position? The mother, the father, both or from some other caregivers? As a reader of your article I am confused of the matter in question since you state in the discussion (p. 88) that: "Parental concerns about the head shape reduced markedly over time". One line below (p. 88) you confirm:"Indeed, many mothers commented that they had all but forgotten about the head shape issue until they received our letter of the study". Regarding the first here above quoted statement viz.,"parental concerns"...-- does it covers the view of both the fathers and the mothers? I am asking this since you reveal in the methodological section (p. 86) that the parents actually answered a questionnaire regarding demographic information, obstetric information etc. So, who were asked and who do you men by saying "parents"? The second statement saying "...mothers commented..." draw in my view attention to ethical premises in follow-up endeavors. Had the fathers the same opinion? Furthermore, in the result section (p. 87)you disclose that "... 59% were not at all concerned". How did you manage such sensitive ethical issue? This question seems me important especially since only a few children still were in the severe stage at T2 and certainly already within health services attention.


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Department of Ed Releases Guidance on Civil Rights of Students with Disabilities
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Education released three new sets of guidance today to assist the public in understanding how the Department interprets and enforces federal civil rights laws protecting the rights of students with disabilities. These guidance documents clarify the rights of students with disabilities and the responsibilities of educational institutions in ensuring that all students have the opportunity to learn.
The guidance released today includes a parent and educator resource guide; a Dear Colleague letter (DCL) and question and answer document on the use of restraint and seclusion in public schools; and a DCL and question and answer documents on the rights of students with disabilities in public charter schools.
"These guidance documents share information with our full school communities – educators, parents, and students – about important educational rights, including school obligations to identify, evaluate, and serve students with disabilities," said Catherine E. Lhamon, the Department's assistant secretary for civil rights. "Vigilant attention to the rights of students with disabilities will help ensure fair treatment for every student and that every student has equal access to educational programs and has an opportunity to experience success."
The Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, issued by the Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), provides a broad overview of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). The guidance describes school districts' nondiscrimination responsibilities, including obligations to provide educational services to students with disabilities, and outlines the steps parents can take to ensure that their children secure all of the services they are entitled to receive.
Among other things, the Section 504 Parent and Educator Resource Guide:
Defines and provides examples to illustrate the meaning of key terms used in Section 504.
Highlights requirements of Section 504 in the area of public elementary and secondary education, including provisions related to the identification, evaluation, and placement of students with disabilities, and procedures for handling disputes and disagreements between parents and school districts.
The second guidance package released by OCR addresses the circumstances under which use of restraint or seclusion can result in discrimination against students with disabilities, in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Department's May 15, 2012, Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document suggested best practices to prevent the use of restraint or seclusion, recommending that school districts never use physical restraint or seclusion for disciplinary purposes and never use mechanical restraint, and that trained school officials use physical restraint or seclusion only if a child's behavior poses imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others. The DCL and question and answer document released today offer additional information about the legal limitations on use of restraint or seclusion to assist school districts in meeting their obligations to students with disabilities.
The third guidance package released today was developed by OCR and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). The jointly-issued Dear Colleague Letter and question and answer documents will help update educators, parents, students, and other stakeholders to better understand the rights of students with disabilities in public charter schools under Section 504 and IDEA. These documents provide information about how to provide equal opportunity in compliance with Section 504 in key areas such as charter school recruitment, application, admission, enrollment and disenrollment, accessibility of facilities and programs, and nonacademic and extracurricular activities. The documents are responsive to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's 2012 report, Charter Schools: Additional Federal Attention Needed to Help Protect Access for Students with Disabilities, which included the recommendation that the Department issue updated guidance on the obligations of charter schools.
"It is critical to ensure that children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education in charter schools," said Sue Swenson, delegated the authority to perform the functions and duties of the Department's assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services. "These guidance documents are designed to support states, local education agencies, and charter school personnel to understand their responsibilities under IDEA and Section 504."
The Section 504 Charter guidance:
Explains that charter school students with disabilities (and those seeking to attend) have the same rights under Section 504 and Title II of the ADA as other public school students with disabilities.
Details the Section 504 right to nondiscrimination in recruitment, application, and admission to charter schools.
Clarifies that during the admission process a charter school generally may not ask a prospective student if he or she has a disability.
Reminds charter schools, other entities, and parents that charter school students with disabilities have the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under Section 504.
The IDEA Charter guidance:
Emphasizes that children with disabilities who attend charter schools and their parents retain all rights and protections under Part B of IDEA (such as FAPE) just as they would at other public schools.
Provides that under IDEA a charter school may not unilaterally limit the services that must be provided a particular student with a disability.
Reminds schools that the least restrictive environment provisions require that, to the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities attending public schools, including public charter schools, be educated with students who are nondisabled.
Clarifies that students with disabilities attending charter schools retain all IDEA rights and protections included in the IDEA discipline procedures.
In addition to these documents, the Department also released a Know Your Rights document designed for parents to provide a brief overview of the rights of public charter school students with disabilities and the legal obligations of charter schools under Section 504 and the IDEA.
The mission of OCR is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. Among the federal civil rights laws OCR is responsible for enforcing are Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and Title II of the ADA. The mission of OSERS is to improve early childhood, educational, and employment outcomes and raise expectations for all people with disabilities, their families, their communities, and the nation. OSERS is responsible for administering the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA).
For more information about OCR and the anti-discrimination laws that it enforces, please visit its website and follow OCR on twitter @EDcivilrights.
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Arkansas Passes Law Allowing Students to Possess and Use Sunscreen


I have been wanting to make a bench out of a twin headboard for some time and finally got around to doing so. My vision for the bench made it a fun bluebird blue with a stained bench seat in gray.
But why make one bench when I could make three, right!? So along with the headboard bench, I made a Farmhouse style bench with storage and smaller two-tone modern bench.
The Farmhouse bench turned out amazing with a white base and a stained flip top lid. The storage works perfect for holding hats and mittens in the winter, holding extra blankets at an end of a bed, or could also be used in a child's space to hold toys.
The modern two tone bench is simple construction but is useful in many different areas around the house.
These benches were fun to make and I will probably have to make more since they went really fast at the store.


We're back again with our 2018 live webinar series on What's New in SAP Cloud Platform Integration!
In Q1 we will be having a head-start with a dedicated focus session around the Integration Content Advisor (ICA) for SAP Cloud Platform Integration.
Join the webinar to get an overview what the ICA can do for you when it comes to B2B integration!
Business-to-business (B2B) integration relies on a variety of industry standards for electronic business document exchange, including ASC X12, UN/EDIFACT, and SAP IDoc. Until now, one of the biggest issues for B2B is connecting and managing a potentially large number of business partners who have a wide variety of business requirements. This means that defining and implementing these interfaces based on the standards for electronic business document exchange still requires high manual efforts.
Library of Type Systems – the ICA includes a set of B2B industry standards and de-facto standards libraries including detailed documentation and a dedicated browser.
Message implementation guidelines (MIGs) – assistance in the writing of interface specifications, which provide the instructions and constraints for implementing a certain message type interface using a B2B standard provided by the library of type systems and in a certain business context.
Mapping guidelines (MAGs) – Support of creating a detailed specification of a mapping from a source MIG to a target MIG in a given business context.
Automatically generated runtime artifacts – artifacts required for pre- and post-processing, conversion, detailed validation, or even the transformation from source to target.
Are you looking for our previous webinars? Watch the recordings or access the offline presentations here .


Jayne and I visited Palm Springs , California, recently. What follows are brief impressions of the desert-like experience.
The first hike we did was exploring the Palm Canyon at the Indian Canyons preserve. As was typical of our desert experience, the rocky hills and mountains would give way to an incredible oasis of palm trees and California Fan Palms .
Another hike we made was in Borrego Springs at Anza-Borrego State Park . When we entered this area we truly felt we landed on Mars, The starkness and barreness of the landscape was not like anything we had experienced before.
This park also had its version of Palm Canyon where the palm trees looked like giant carrots!
We also took the tram to the top of the second highest peak in southern California and the Mt. San Jacinto State Park .
The views were breathtaking as we rode up and down in a rotating tram with open windows!
These were the grounds on which we stayed.
And this was the sunrise of our last morning.
Thanks, Gary! It will be a fun visit for you.
Hi Jerry! Great photos! We are planning on going to Palm Springs in March.
Thanks, Judy! Traveling is fun!
Your photos are just amazing, Jerry! Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to see places I'll probably never visit. San Jose, CA is my top destination right now!


Allow Ten Muslim Women And Men To Settle Down! Allow Only One Mosque!
Allow Ten Muslim Women And Men To Settle Down!
Previous Post:Give Food. Give Medicine. Give Clothes. Give Advice. But Don't Give Your House!


text:
Home»Showbiz
Madonna to trade acting for directing
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 07:20 AM
Madonna has vowed never to act again - because she would prefer to establish herself in Hollywood as a filmmaker.
The star has repeatedly tried her hand at acting since launching her singing career in the 1980s, playing lead roles in films such as 'Desperately Seeking Susan', 'Dick Tracy' and 'Evita', for which she won a Best Actress Golden Globe in 1997.
Since directing the upcoming comedy 'Filth and Wisdom', the 49-year-old insists she has found her calling.
When asked if she still dreams of an acting career, she responds: "Absolutely not, because now I've tasted directing. It's like Eve and the apple, I have to have a second bite. If you're an actress, it's not your vision.
"The director tells the story, you are the chess piece that is moved around. That doesn't suit my personality."
The 'American Pie' hitmaker is so fond of filmmaking, she insists she even prefers it to making music: "You have more time to tell a story. You have an hour and half or two to save the world."
Netflix holds its ground against new challengers Apple and Disney
Love Island viewers confused by patch on newcomer Rebecca's thigh
Love Island newcomer Rebecca ruffles feathers during tense kissing game


Herbert Maunsell Hewlett (1872-1957), radiologist, was born on 13 October 1872 at Fitzroy, Melbourne, younger son of Dr Thomas Hewlett from Berkshire, England, and his Irish-born wife Louisa Jane, née Blackham. Thomas Hewlett had come to Melbourne in 1862 after service in India as an army surgeon and established a large general practice in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy.
Herbert was educated at Alexander Sutherland's Carlton College. After three years of a medical course at the University of Melbourne he completed his degree at the Edinburgh Medical School, graduating with distinctions in all subjects of the final year (M.R.C.P., 1896). He was greatly influenced by his teachers at Edinburgh, particularly the noted paediatrician Dr John Thomson. Hewlett had been keenly interested in reports of Röntgen's discovery of X-rays in November 1895 and closely followed developments in the field.
Hewlett returned to Melbourne in 1896 and joined his father's practice. Late that year he was appointed to the honorary staff of the Children's Hospital. There, because of long-standing interest in electricity and photography he was invited to instal X-ray equipment costing some £25, and thus in 1897 established the first radiology department in a Melbourne public hospital. He served the Children's Hospital for thirty-eight years. For the first fifteen years his duties combined those of honorary physician, surgeon and radiologist. In 1912 he was appointed skiagraphist, from then on confining his interests to radiology. He was also appointed skiagraphist at St Vincent's Hospital from 1911 until 1934.
Hewlett had X-ray equipment at Fitzroy in 1902, and in 1912 established his radiological practice in Collins Street. For some years early in his career he combined superficial therapy with radio-diagnosis. He was a member of the Melbourne Radiological Clinic from 1930 to 1952. He contributed little to the literature, but was regarded as an extremely good radiologist, whose reports based on clinical observation, good knowledge of anatomy and pathology, and sound radiological interpretations were models of their kind. He adopted with enthusiasm advances in technique and equipment. With Dr J. F. Wilkinson he pioneered in Melbourne the radiological investigation of the gastro-intestinal tract.
Hewlett was honoured as a pioneer radiologist by the Antoine Béclère Centre in Paris. He was vice-president of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Radiologists, fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Radiologists, and honorary fellow of the Faculty of Radiologists, London.
On 23 August 1899 at Christ Church, St Kilda, he had married Caroline Ada Louise (Dollie) Lincoln, and for many years they lived in Melbourne Mansions above his professional rooms. 'Herbie' Hewlett's immaculately dressed and spruce figure was a familiar sight at the Athenaeum Club where he was a member from 1896. He loved racing, played much golf and was a first-class shot. His only child Nancy often accompanied him on his annual fishing excursions to the Tasmanian lakes.
Although, like many workers in the field, Hewlett suffered from the effects of X-ray dermatitis to both hands, he was in active practice until 1953. He died at his Collins Street home of cerebro-vascular disease on 26 July 1957, and was cremated. He was survived by his wife and daughter.
Herbert Hewlett papers (University of Melbourne Library).
Malcolm McKeown, 'Hewlett, Herbert Maunsell (1872–1957)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hewlett-herbert-maunsell-6655/text11281, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 26 April 2019.


A blend of oils that is designed to offer a softening feel for your beard. It does smell really nice and comes in a package that suggests a more premium product. It gives a slight sheen and vibrance to my beard. Overall I liked it and this was bought as a gift.
Bulldog Beard Oil Review : Yes great product for those who like their beards well groomed.
New to sporting a beard you need all you can to get over the initial itchy feeling that can come. Bulldog is a great smelling oil that makes my beard feel softer and I'm sure I am more attractive to women (and men). It's a little greasy as it is oil so thats not really a bad thing, just wash your hands after application and enjoy the feeling. This stuff is better than snake oil and its so cheap you can order and test yourself.


Panoramic view to Glyfada beach. Ready to Relax and Rejuvenate in the perfect location?
Quiet neighborhood in the heart of Naxos and close to everything.
Perfect for your family holidays, right by the beach of mikri vigla.
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