text:
Justia Dockets & Filings Third Circuit Pennsylvania Eastern District CARTER v. MID-ATLANTIC HEALTHCARE, LLC Filing 32
CARTER v. MID-ATLANTIC HEALTHCARE, LLC
MEMORANDUM AND OPINION. SIGNED BY HONORABLE MITCHELL S. GOLDBERG ON 1/12/17. 1/12/17 ENTERED AND COPIES MAILED, E-MAILED.(fdc)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA SHARON S. CARTER, Plaintiff, v. MID-ATLANTIC HEALTHCARE, LLC, Defendant. : : : : : : : : : : CIVIL ACTION No. 14-2660 Goldberg, J. January 12, 2017 MEMORANDUM OPINION This is an age discrimination case. Plaintiff, Sharon Carter, has filed a two-count complaint against Mid-Atlantic Healthcare, LLC ("Defendant" or "Mid-Atlantic") alleging that she was terminated in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. (Count I) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, 43 P.S. § 951 et seq. (Count II). Presently before me is Mid-Atlantic's motion for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, Mid-Atlantic's motion will be granted. I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1 Plaintiff began working for Maplewood Manor ("Maplewood") in June 2005. Maplewood provides long-term nursing and rehabilitation services. Beginning August 2006, Plaintiff served as "Admissions Director," which meant that she was responsible for, inter alia, bringing in new patients and processing their paperwork, coordinating with other departments within Maplewood, and reaching out to area hospitals to secure referrals for Maplewood. At the time Plaintiff began her employment, Maplewood was owned and operated by a company named NewCourtland. Plaintiff claims that she worked for several years without receiving any "write 1 The following facts are undisputed, unless otherwise noted. ups" or other disciplinary action under NewCourtland's management and ownership of Maplewood. (Compl. ¶¶ 15, 18(a); Def.'s SOF ¶¶ 3–5, 11–12.) In July 2011, Defendant Mid-Atlantic purchased Maplewood from NewCourtland, along with four other facilities. Plaintiff continued working at Maplewood as the Admissions Director under Mid-Atlantic's ownership. (Compl. ¶¶ 15, 18(a); Def.'s SOF ¶¶ 11, 12.) Beginning in December 2011, approximately five (5) months after Mid-Atlantic acquired Maplewood, Plaintiff was called into "various meetings" that focused on her job performance. For instance, in December 2011, Plaintiff met with Morgan Fogelman, Regional Director of Business Development; Sarah Balmer, Nursing Home Administrator; and another human resources employee. Plaintiff was instructed that Admissions Directors were now expected to do "more marketing," and would also have to "meet the Medicare budget each month." (Compl. ¶ 18(a); Def.'s SOF ¶¶ 13–16, 21–22.) On March 1, 2012, Plaintiff again met with Fogelman, Balmer, and a human resources representative, Jennifer Kelly. Plaintiff received a "verbal warning" at this meeting regarding, inter alia, her marketing performance and Medicare goals. (Compl. ¶ 18(b); Def.'s SOF ¶ 24.) In her complaint, Plaintiff acknowledges that "Medicare goals admittedly had not been met[,]" but alleges that she was being held to unrealistic and unachievable goals given the lack of resources at the Maplewood facility. (Compl. ¶ 18(b).)2 On April 18, 2012, Sarah Balmer met with Plaintiff and informed her that she was being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan ("PIP") (Def.'s SOF ¶ 25; Def.'s Ex. F.) On April 26, 2012, shortly after being placed on the PIP, Plaintiff again met with Fogelman, Balmer, and 2 For example, Plaintiff alleges that the facility was constructing a new gym, but it was not completed in a timely manner, which made Plaintiff's job of showing the facility to prospective clients difficult. Plaintiff further alleges that Maplewood "did not even have presentable furniture in the lobby[,]" which further prevented her from adequately doing her job. Ultimately, Plaintiff claims that she was blamed for Defendant's failures. (Compl. ¶¶ 18(b), 18(c).) 2 Kelly to discuss her job performance. Plaintiff claims that although she disagreed with the "assessment of her alleged shortcomings, [she] attempted to address the stated concerns." (Compl. ¶ 18(c); Def.'s SOF ¶ 27.) In early May 2012, Plaintiff again met with Fogelman, Balmer, and Kelly to review her progress and performance. Fogelman allegedly stated during this meeting that he was unhappy with Plaintiff's quarterly marketing plan ("QMAP"), and that Plaintiff appeared to have an "excuse for everything." Plaintiff was further advised that she had not been communicating enough with the hospital liaisons. (Compl. ¶ 18(d).) On June 13, 2012, Plaintiff met with Fogelman, Balmer, and Kelly to discuss an "Open House" event that was supposed to help increase new admissions to Maplewood. Plaintiff had been tasked with coordinating this event, but nobody showed up. (Def.'s Ex. I; Pl.'s Dep. 125:12–18; 126:4–12.) On July 13, 2012, Plaintiff was terminated at the age of fifty-eight (58). (Compl. ¶ 18(f); Def.'s Ex. K; Def.'s SOF ¶ 4.) In the "Disciplinary Action Form" outlining the basis for Plaintiff's termination, Mid-Atlantic (through Balmer, Fogelman, and a human resources representative) indicated that it was Plaintiff's "[f]ailure to meet expectations of PIP dated 4/18/12" and "[p]oor job performance." (Def.'s Ex. K.) The form additionally states that Plaintiff failed to meet Medicare and HMO census goals, exhibited inadequate communication, and displayed poor "QMAP" and marketing activity quality. Plaintiff refused to sign the form. (Id.) In the months leading up to Plaintiff's termination, at least three other employees—all over the age of 40—were also terminated. (See Pl.'s Exs. V, W.) 3 On July 16, 2012, Lenora Vaughn assumed the role of Admissions Director for Maplewood, directly replacing Plaintiff. Lenora Vaughn was fifty-four (54) years-old at the time of her hiring. (Def.'s SOF ¶¶ 40–41; Def.'s Exs. L, M.) Plaintiff filed her two-count complaint on May 8, 2014, alleging that Mid-Atlantic's conduct violated the ADEA and PHRA. Regarding her termination, Plaintiff generally alleges that she was "blamed for problems beyond her control," and that Mid-Atlantic "embarked on a determined course to fire [her]." (Compl. ¶ 18(f).) In other words, Plaintiff disputes that poor work performance was the real reason for her termination. Following a period of discovery, MidAtlantic filed a motion for summary judgment, which is currently before me. Mid-Atlantic argues that: (1) Plaintiff cannot establish a prima facie case of age discrimination under federal or state law; and (2) Plaintiff cannot demonstrate that Mid-Atlantic's facially legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for Plaintiff's termination were pretextual. II. LEGAL STANDARD A party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of demonstrating that there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute, and that judgment is appropriate as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). Once a properly supported motion for summary judgment has been made, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party, who must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250 (1986). An issue is "genuine" if a reasonable jury could rule in favor of the non-moving party based on the evidence presented. Kaucher v. Cnty. of Bucks, 455 F.3d 418, 423 (3d Cir. 2006). A factual dispute is "material" if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the appropriate governing law. Id. at 423. The non-moving party cannot avert summary judgment with 4 speculation or conclusory allegations, but rather must cite to the record. Ridgewood Bd. of Educ. v. N.E. for M.E., 172 F.3d 238, 252 (3d Cir. 1999); Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). On a motion for summary judgment, the court considers the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256. III. ANALYSIS Under the ADEA and the PHRA, an employer is prohibited from taking adverse employment actions against an employee "because of" the employee's age. 3 The phrase "because of" signifies that age must be more than a "motivating factor" in the employer's action and, therefore, "mixed motive" claims under Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989) are unavailable. Gross v. FBL Fin. Services, Inc., 557 U.S. 167, 175-80 (2009). As such, to establish a disparate-treatment claim under the ADEA or the PHRA "a plaintiff must prove that age was the 'but-for' cause of the employer's adverse decision." Id. at 177-78; Tomasso v. Boeing Co., 445 F.3d 702, 704–05 (3d Cir. 2006). Where, as with the case before me, a plaintiff has not produced direct evidence that age was the cause of her employer's course of action, the familiar burden-shifting analysis of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) applies. See Smith v. City of Allentown, 589 F.3d 684, 690–92 (3d Cir. 2009). Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, an employee must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination. Burton v. Teleflex Inc., 707 F.3d 417, 426 (3d Cir. 2013). A plaintiff 3 The ADEA states that it shall be unlawful for an employer "to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's age[.]" 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). The PHRA provides, in relevant part: It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice . . . [f]or any employer because of the . . . age . . . of any individual . . . to discharge from employment such individual . . . or to otherwise discriminate against such individual . . . with respect to compensation, hire, tenure, terms, conditions or privileges of employment . . . if the individual . . . is the best able and most competent to perform the services required. 43 Pa. Con. Stat. § 955(a). The parties agree that the same legal standard applies to both of Plaintiff's claims. See Kautz v. Met-Pro Corp., 412 F.3d 463, 466 n.1 (3d Cir. 2005). 5 establishes a prima facie case of age discrimination by demonstrating that "(1) she is forty years of age or older; (2) the defendant took an adverse employment action against her; (3) she was qualified for the position in question; and (4) she was ultimately replaced by another employee who was sufficiently younger to support an inference of discriminatory animus." Id. "There is no hard-and-fast rule covering what a plaintiff must show in order to establish the McDonnell Douglas prima facie showing. Rather, the precise elements of a plaintiff's prima facie case may vary with the particular circumstances" of each case. Fasold v. Justice, 409 F.3d 178, 185 n.10 (3d Cir. 2005) (quotations and citations omitted). Once a plaintiff establishes her prima facie case, the burden of production then shifts to the defendant to articulate a "legitimate, non-discriminatory reason" for the adverse employment action. Id. This "relatively light" burden is met "if the employer provides evidence, which, if true, would permit a conclusion that it took the adverse employment action for a nondiscriminatory reason." Id. At this stage, "[t]he proffered reason need only raise a genuine issue of fact as to whether the employer acted impermissibly." Shellenberger v. Summit Bancorp, Inc., 318 F.3d 183, 189 (3d Cir. 2003). If the employer offers a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for its decision, the burden of production shifts back to the plaintiff to "provide evidence from which a factfinder could reasonably infer that the employer's proffered justification is merely a pretext for discrimination." Burton, 707 F.3d. at 426. "At all times, however, the burden of persuasion rests with the plaintiff." Smith, 589 F.3d at 690. A. Plaintiff's Prima Facie Case Mid-Atlantic does not dispute that Plaintiff was over forty (40) years of age at the time of her termination, that she was qualified for the position of Admissions Director, or that Plaintiff's 6 termination on July 13, 2012 constituted an adverse employment action. (Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 6.) It is the final element—replacement by a sufficiently younger employee to support an inference of discriminatory animus—which Mid-Atlantic argues Plaintiff has failed to establish. (Def.'s Mot. Summ J. 6.)4 With respect to what age differential will be considered sufficient as a matter of law (i.e., sufficiently younger), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has stated that "there is no particular age difference that must be shown, but while different courts have held ... that a five year difference can be sufficient, ... a one year difference cannot." Showalter v. Univ. of Pittsburgh Med. Ctr., 190 F.3d 231, 236 (3d Cir. 1999) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). Mid-Atlantic emphasizes that Plaintiff's replacement, Lenora Vaughn, was fifty-four (54) years-old, and thus just four (4) years younger than Plaintiff. (Id.) Mid-Atlantic cites to a footnote in the Third Circuit's decision in Narin v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist. for the proposition that an age difference of seven (7) years, without more, is insufficient to establish a prima facie case because such a gap is not "materially" different for purposes of the "sufficiently younger" element. 206 F.3d 323, 333 n.9 (3d Cir. 2000). Mid-Atlantic further cites to multiple district court cases within this circuit acknowledging that the "sufficiently younger" element generally requires an age difference of "at least five years." See e.g., Reap v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 2002 WL 1498679, at *15 (D.N.J. June 28, 2002) ("Courts generally agree that satisfaction of the 4 Plaintiff argues that the fourth element is often stated in more general terms that the adverse employment decision occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of intentional discrimination. (Pl.'s Resp. 9) (citing Jones v. Sch. Dist. of Philadelphia, 198 F.3d 403, 410–11 (3d Cir. 1999)). Jones involved claims for race discrimination under Title VII and the PHRA. In the context of age discrimination claims brought under the ADEA, the Third Circuit has more recently instructed that "[w]here the plaintiff is not directly replaced, the fourth element is satisfied if the plaintiff can provide facts which if otherwise unexplained, are more likely than not based on the consideration of impermissible factors." Willis v. UPMC Children's Hosp. of Pittsburgh, 808 F.3d 638, 644 (3d Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the parties agree that Plaintiff was directly replaced by Lenora Vaughn (age 54). Hence, I will rely on the "sufficiently younger" inquiry for purposes of the fourth element. See also Monaco v. Am. Gen. Assur. Co., 359 F.3d 296, 309 (3d Cir. 2004) ("[A] terminated plaintiff should not be able in a McDonnell Douglas burden shifting case to demonstrate a prima facie case of age discrimination without showing a difference in age between … her and the replacement employee sufficient to support an inference of age discrimination[.]"). 7 sufficiently younger element of a prima facie ADEA case requires proof of an age difference of at least five years."); Martin v. Healthcare Bus. Res., 2002 WL 467749, at *5 n.7 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 26, 2002) ("For purposes of a prima facie ADEA case, the fourth element contemplates an age difference of at least five years."). In addition to the cases cited by Mid-Atlantic, several other decisions within this circuit have concluded that an age differential of less than five years is insufficient—as a matter of law—to establish the final element of a prima facie case of age discrimination. See e.g., Knox v. Fifth Third Bancorp, 2014 WL 359818, at *13 (W.D. Pa. Feb. 3, 2014) (observing that the plaintiff's replacement was "approximately four-years younger," and such an age difference is "insufficient to raise an inference of discriminatory action … for purposes of the ADEA"); Fitzpatrick v. Nat'l Mobile Television, 364 F. Supp. 2d 483, 491 (M.D. Pa. 2005) (recognizing that a "four-year age difference is insufficient to raise an inference of discriminatory action"); Lloyd v. City of Bethlehem, 2004 WL 540452, at *6 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 3, 2004) ("The case law in this Circuit consistently holds that an age gap of less than five years is, as a matter of law, insufficient to establish fourth element of the prima facie test."); Gutknecht v. SmithKline Beecham Clinical Labs., Inc., 950 F. Supp. 667, 672 (E.D. Pa. 1996), aff'd, 135 F.3d 764 (3d Cir. 1997) ("Although no uniform rule exists, it is generally accepted that when the difference in age between the fired employee and … her replacement is fewer than five or six years, the replacement is not considered 'sufficiently younger,' and thus no prima facie case is made."). In her Response, Plaintiff first highlights that the age differential between she and Lenora Vaughn is really 4.5 years. (Pl.'s Resp. 7.) Plaintiff emphasizes that there is no "magic number" with respect to an age differential that the Third Circuit has articulated to be sufficiently younger 8 as a matter of law, and therefore, summary judgment is not appropriate based on the age differential at issue in this case. (Pl.'s Resp. 8.) In support of this argument, Plaintiff cites to two Third Circuit cases: Steward v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 231 F. App'x 201 (3d Cir. 2007) (non-precedential) and Sempier v. Johnson & Higgins, 45 F.3d 724 (3d Cir. 1995). In Steward, the court declined to adopt "a bright-line rule that a 6.75 year average age difference between a fired plaintiff and those who assume his job duties is, as a matter of law, insufficient to give rise to an inference of age discrimination." 231 F. App'x at 209 (emphasis added). Similarly, in Sempier, the court looked at the "combined differences in age" between the plaintiff and the two other employees to which a substantial portion if the plaintiff's job duties were delegated. 45 F.3d at 730 (emphasis added). One of the employees had been four years younger than the plaintiff, and the other ten. The court observed that the combined differences in age were "clearly sufficient to satisfy the fourth prong of a prima facie case[.]"5 Id. Plaintiff further cites to other district court decisions which have declined to conclude that an age differential of less than five years is insufficient, as a matter of law, to satisfy the "sufficiently younger" element. See e.g., Von Rudenborg v. Di Giorgio Corp., 2011 WL 4594220 (D.N.J. Sept. 30, 2011) (concluding that the plaintiff had satisfied the "sufficiently younger" element of his prima facie case despite his replacement being only three years 5 In Steward, the court appeared to express doubt as to the utility of strictly looking at an average age differential for purposes of satisfying this element. Steward, 231 F. App'x at 209 ("Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Steward, we must consider not only the average age of those who assumed [the plaintiff's] job duties, but also the age of each individual coworker who took over some portion of [his] duties, as well as what portion of [his] duties each assumed."). In Steward, two of the plaintiff's primary "replacements" (i.e., those to whom the plaintiff's work had been delegated) were more than 15 years younger. Id. at 209. As such, the Third Circuit concluded that "the District Court erred in deciding whether to overturn the jury's verdict by categorically measuring the age difference between [the plaintiff] and his replacements as 6.75 years." Id. at 210. In any event, I question the applicability of Steward to the facts of the case before me because there are no allegations that Plaintiff's responsibilities were delegated to multiple "replacements," nor did the Third Circuit establish a precedential bright-line rule with respect to a sufficient age differential. I further note that the Third Circuit acknowledged its prior decision in Narin, which creates doubt as to whether Narin's oft-quoted footnote presently applies with the same force. 9 younger); Robinson v. Matthews Int'l Corp., 2009 WL 735876 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 20, 2009), aff'd, 368 F. App'x 301 (3d Cir. 2010) (concluding that a four-year age difference, when viewed together with other evidence, satisfied the fourth element of the plaintiff's prima facie case). By my calculation, the precise age differential between Plaintiff and her replacement, Lenora Vaughn, is four (4) years, five (5) months, and three (3) days. As noted above, the Third Circuit has recognized that an age differential of five years "can" be sufficient, but has not specifically held that a five-year differential must be established in order for a replacement to be considered "sufficiently younger" as a matter of law. Moreover, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that a "prima facie case operates as a flexible evidentiary standard" and was "never intended to be rigid, mechanized, or ritualistic." Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A., 534 U.S. 506, 512 (2002); Furnco Const. Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 577 (1978). In light of the unsettled precedent with respect to the "sufficiently younger" element, the lack of clear guidance from the Third Circuit, the Supreme Court's directive that a prima facie case be viewed flexibly, and because I must view the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, and draw all reasonable inferences her in favor, I conclude that summary judgment would be premature based solely on Plaintiff's age differential with her replacement. 6 Accordingly, Plaintiff has met her burden in establishing a prima facie claim of age discrimination under the ADEA. B. Mid-Atlantic's Legitimate, Nondiscriminatory Reason for Plaintiff's Termination Because Plaintiff has established a prima facie claim, the burden of production shifts to Mid-Atlantic to articulate a "legitimate, non-discriminatory reason" for Plaintiff's termination. 6 The Third Circuit's instruction that five years "can be" sufficient necessarily implies that other considerations may be factored into the "sufficiently younger" analysis. Given the unique circumstances of this case (i.e., the undisputed fact that multiple other employees over 40 were also terminated within 60 days of Plaintiff's termination), I conclude that a four-year and five month age differential "can be" sufficient to establish a prima facie case. 10 Mid-Atlantic argues that Plaintiff was terminated because of "her poor job performance and failure to meet the expectations of [her] performance improvement plan." (Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. 19.) Mid-Atlantic points out that a failure to successfully fill one's job responsibilities is clearly a legitimate reason for termination, and cites to the Third Circuit's decision in Wooler v. Citizens Bank, 274 Fed. App'x 177, 180 (3d Cir. 2008) (non-precedential) in support of this assertion. Here, Plaintiff does not dispute that she was placed on a performance improvement plan (which has been made part of the record), nor does she dispute that she received certain oral warnings from her supervisors in connection with her job performance. (See Def.'s Ex. F.) A defined goal of Plaintiff's PIP was to meet certain "Medicare and HMO census goals." (Id.) In the "Disciplinary Action Form," which documented Plaintiff's termination of employment, a stated reason for her termination was Plaintiff's [i]nability to meet Medicare & HMO census goals." (Def.'s Ex. K.) Also noted in Plaintiff's PIP was her "[l]ack of internal communication." (Def.'s Ex. F.) In her notice of termination, another stated reason was "[p]oor, inadequate and at times, incorrect communication" of various quantitative levels within Maplewood. (Def.'s Ex. K.) Finally, Plaintiff acknowledged that she was informed Admissions Directors were expected to do "more marketing" under Mid-Atlantic's ownership. Poor marketing activity/quality was yet another articulated reason outlined in Plaintiff's notice of termination, and Plaintiff admitted during her deposition that the "open house" event was unsuccessful. (Id.; Pl.'s Dep. 125:12–18; 126:4–12.) Plaintiff responds that Sarah Balmer and Morgan Fogelman, the two primarily responsible for her termination, have not provided testimony in this case, and thus Mid-Atlantic cannot corroborate any of the alleged deficiencies set forth in Plaintiff's performance 11 improvement plan. Plaintiff thus argues that Mid-Atlantic has failed to establish a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for her termination. In light of the evidence discussed above, I conclude that Sarah Balmer and Morgan Fogelman's lack of testimony is not dispositive on this issue. See Burton, 707 F.3d at 426 (reiterating that a defendant's burden at this stage is "relatively light" and is satisfied where the employer "provides evidence, which, if true, would permit a conclusion that it took the adverse employment action for a non-discriminatory reason.") (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Andersen v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 118 F. Supp. 3d 723, 740 (E.D. Pa. 2015), aff'd, 647 F. App'x 130 (3d Cir. 2016) (same). Notably, a defendant "need not prove that the articulated reason actually motivated its conduct." Id. Rather, the proffered reason "need only raise a genuine issue of fact as to whether the employer acted impermissibly." Shellenberger v. Summit Bancorp, Inc., 318 F.3d 183, 189 (3d Cir. 2003). Courts within this district have routinely accepted evidence of a plaintiff's failure to meet expected performance goals, in addition to poor work performance, as facially legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for adverse employment decisions. See e.g., Cellucci v. RBS Citizens, N.A., 987 F. Supp. 2d 578, 590 (E.D. Pa. 2013) (determining that the defendant employer met its burden by setting forth "evidence that [the plaintiff's] employment was terminated due to her ongoing performance deficiencies"); Cridland v. Kmart Corp., 929 F. Supp. 2d 377, 387 (E.D. Pa. 2013) ("The Court finds [the defendant] has carried its burden [because] it has presented sufficient evidence to show it terminated [the plaintiff] based not on his age but on his continued, inadequate performance[.]"). Accordingly, I conclude that Mid-Atlantic has met its burden in establishing a facially legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for Plaintiff's termination. 12 C. Pretext The burden of production now shifts back to Plaintiff to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mid-Atlantic's proffered legitimate, non-discriminatory reason was pretextual. Willis v. UPMC Children's Hosp. of Pittsburgh, 808 F.3d 638, 644–45 (3d Cir. 2015). To establish pretext, a plaintiff "must point to some evidence, direct or circumstantial, from which a factfinder could reasonably either (1) disbelieve the employer's articulated legitimate reasons; or (2) believe that an invidious discriminatory reason was more likely than not a motivating or determinative cause of the employer's action." Burton, 707 F.3d at 426–27 (citing Fuentes v. Perskie, 32 F.3d 759, 764 (3d Cir. 1994)). At the pretext stage, "the factual inquiry into the alleged discriminatory motives of the employer [rises] to a new level of specificity." Willis, 808 F.3d at 650. i. First Method of Pretext Regarding the first method of demonstrating pretext, if a plaintiff's evidence pertains to the credibility of the employer's proffered justification, the evidence "must demonstrate such weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in the employer's proffered legitimate reasons for its action that a reasonable factfinder could rationally find them unworthy of credence." Fuentes, 32 F.3d at 765 (internal citations omitted).7 Thus, to discredit an employer's proffered reason(s), a plaintiff "cannot simply show that the employer's decision was wrong or mistaken, since the factual dispute at issue is whether discriminatory animus motivated the employer, not whether the employer is wise, shrewd, prudent, or competent." Id. at 765; see also Davis v. Pittsburgh Pub. Sch., 930 F. Supp. 2d 570, 601 (W.D. Pa. 2013) ("The court is 7 "[I]f a plaintiff has come forward with sufficient evidence to allow a finder of fact to discredit the employer's proffered justification, she need not present additional evidence of discrimination beyond her prima facie case to survive summary judgment." Burton v. Teleflex Inc., 707 F.3d 417, 427 (3d Cir. 2013). "This is because the factfinder may infer from the combination of the prima facie case, and its own rejection of the employer's proffered reason, that the employer engaged in the adverse employment action for an invidious reason." Id. at 427. 13 neither permitted to get involved in the subjective business decisions of the employer, nor set its own employment standards for the employer, unless there is evidence of discrimination."). Instead, a plaintiff "may satisfy this standard by demonstrating, through admissible evidence, that the employer's articulated reason was not merely wrong, but that it was so plainly wrong that it cannot have been the employer's real reason." Jones v. Sch. Dist. of Philadelphia, 198 F.3d 403, 413 (3d Cir. 1999) (quoting Keller v. Orix Credit All., Inc., 130 F.3d 1101, 1108 (3d Cir. 1997)). "The fact that an employee disagrees with an employer's evaluation of [her] does not prove pretext." Farzan v. Vanguard Grp., Inc., 582 F. App'x 105, 108 (3d Cir. 2014) (quoting Billet v. CIGNA Corp., 940 F.2d 812, 825 (3d Cir. 1991). Importantly, where an employer relies on particular criticisms for the adverse employment action, "the issue is not whether the [ ] criticisms of [the plaintiff] were substantiated or valid.... [T]he question is whether [the employer] believed those criticisms to be accurate and actually relied upon them." Steward, 231 F. App'x at 210 (citing Fuentes, 32 F.3d at 766–67). "A plaintiff does not establish pretext by pointing to commendation of the plaintiff in categories the defendant says it did not rely upon in making the employment decision at issue. Rather, the factfinder must consider the employee's performance in the categories that the employer deemed relevant to the employment decision." Steward v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 231 F. App'x 201, 210 (3d Cir. 2007) (internal citations omitted). In an effort to discredit Mid-Atlantic's proffered reasons for her termination, Plaintiff points to the "independent evidence" of Mid-Atlantic's desire to "cut salaries for administrative staff allegedly making too much." (Pl.'s Resp. 23 n.7.) This statement was purportedly made by Jennifer Kelly to Janis Brown, both Maplewood employees, and Janis Brown allegedly repeated Jennifer Kelly's statement to Plaintiff. Plaintiff argues this statement, in addition to the fact that 14 no directors or managers under the age of 40 were placed on performance improvement plans or terminated during the relevant time period, demonstrates pretext. (Pl.'s Resp. 19 n.6, 23 n.7.) In its Reply, Mid-Atlantic points out that Plaintiff never requested any records associated with performance improvement plans for managers or directors under the age of 40 during discovery, and thus Plaintiff's speculation regarding the absence of such records is insufficient to survive summary judgment. (Def.'s Reply 5 n.4.) Mid-Atlantic further argues that the statement regarding "cutting salaries" constitutes inadmissible double hearsay, and thus cannot be considered for purposes of deciding summary judgment. See Smith v. City of Allentown, 589 F.3d 684, 693 (3d Cir. 2009) ("Hearsay statements that would be inadmissible at trial may not be considered for purposes of summary judgment.") I agree with Mid-Atlantic that Jennifer Kelly's alleged "cutting salaries" statement may not be considered because it violates the prohibition against hearsay. However, I reach this conclusion based on different grounds than those articulated by Mid-Atlantic. Mid-Atlantic cited to Smith v. City of Allentown 589 F.3d 684 (3d Cir. 2009) in support of its double hearsay argument. In Smith, the Third Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling that a statement made by one of the defendant's to a third party, which was then repeated to the plaintiff by that third party, constituted inadmissible hearsay. While the court recognized that the first "layer" of hearsay (i.e., the original statement made by the defendant) could be admissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(A) (statement by a party opponent), the court determined that the third party's repetition of the statement did not satisfy any of the exceptions to the rule against hearsay. Here, neither Jennifer Kelly nor Janis Brown are party opponents, and thus Rule 801(d)(2)(A) does not apply. However, Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(D) provides that a 15 statement is not hearsay if it is offered against an opposing party and "made by the party's agent or employee on a matter within the scope of that relationship and while it existed." In order for such a statement to be admissible, "it is necessary that the content of the declarant's statement concern the scope of her agency." Mathis v. Monza, 2013 WL 1058867, at *3 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 14, 2013), aff'd, 530 F. App'x 124 (3d Cir. 2013). As the proponent of this evidence, Plaintiff bears the burden to demonstrate that both women made this statement within the scope of an agency relationship with Mid-Atlantic. Lippay v. Christos, 996 F.2d 1490, 1497 (3d Cir. 1993). Additionally, and critically, courts have found that a proponent of evidence under Rule 801(d)(2)(D) must first establish the identity of the declarant for admission under this Rule. See e.g., United States v. Cruz, 910 F.2d 1072, 1081 n.10 (3d Cir. 1990) ("[T]he identity of [a] declarant [is] critical because without knowing who she [is] or when she stated that … the company wanted someone younger, the court [can] not determine if the statement was made by an agent, concerning the scope of the agency, and during the agency. Without [this] information, the indicia of reliability embodied in the Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(D) non-hearsay definition [are] absent, and the statement [has] to be excluded."); Zaken v. Boerer, 964 F.2d 1319, 1324 (2d Cir. 1992) ("[W]ithout identification of the declarant, the statement concerning the reason for [the plaintiff's] termination did not have a sufficient evidentiary foundation to establish the existence of an agency relationship as required under Rule 801(d)(2)(D)."). Here, Mid-Atlantic highlights Plaintiff's deposition testimony wherein she was unable to recall who actually made the initial "cutting salaries" statement: Q: With regard to Jennifer Kelly what do you allege [she] averred regarding HR salaries? A: I didn't hear anything from Jennifer Kelly. Q: Did you hear second-hand something that Jennifer Kelly stated? 16 A: … [Y]es, yes. Q: Who did you hear that from? A: Janis Brown. … Q: Did Janis Brown specifically tell you that Jennifer Kelly made a statement that employees of a particular age would have their salary cut? A: She did not. And to my recollection, I don't really remember [Janis] saying it was said by Jennifer, but she did tell me that [Mid-Atlantic] was looking to cut salaries. … Q: Do you allege that Jennifer Kelly made a specific statement with regard to the salaries earned by managers over the age of 40 at Maplewood? A: Not that I know of. I don't know who made the statement. Q: You don't know who made what statement? A: … I don't know who told Janis Brown that they were going to cut salaries. […]. (Pl.'s Dep. 158:8–17; 159:12–19; 160:23–25; 161: 1–8.) In light of Plaintiff's testimony, I conclude that "it is fatal to [her] argument that [she] cannot affirmatively identify" the original declarant of the "cutting salaries" statement. Mathis, 2013 WL 1058867, at *2.8 In other words, Plaintiff has not met her burden in identifying an employee from Mid-Atlantic who made the original statement regarding "cutting salaries" within the scope of her employment. For this reason, the "cutting salaries" statement constitutes inadmissible hearsay, and I will not consider it for purposes of this Opinion. Disregarding the "cutting salaries" statement, I observe that Plaintiff has failed to set forth any evidence to refute, contradict, or cast doubt upon the "core facts" put forward by MidAtlantic as the legitimate basis for its decision to terminate her. Cridland v. Kmart Corp., 929 F. 8 Plaintiff also alleges that Tracey Alley, another Maplewood employee, made similar statements. However, Plaintiff testified that she did not know Tracey Alley, nor did Plaintiff recall anyone telling her that Tracey Alley actually made any such statement. (Pl.'s Dep. 160:6–12.) 17 Supp. 2d 377, 387–88 (E.D. Pa. 2013). Plaintiff admitted that Medicare goals had not been met, and it is undisputed that this was one of the established goals of Plaintiff's PIP. Plaintiff admitted that nobody showed up to the "open house" event. Additionally, Plaintiff has not pointed to any evidence from other employees or supervisors within Mid-Atlantic to refute Fogelman and/or Balmer's determination that Plaintiff's performance was inadequate. In the absence of such evidence, I conclude that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate "weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions" in MidAtlantic's proffered reason for her termination. Ziegler v. Delaware Cty. Daily Times, 128 F. Supp. 2d 790, 807 (E.D. Pa. 2001). In other words, Plaintiff has failed to identify record evidence from which a reasonable fact finder could conclude Mid-Atlantic's facially legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for her termination was "unworthy of credence." For this reason, Plaintiff has not met her burden in establishing the first method of pretext. See Willis, 808 F.3d at 647 (recognizing that a plaintiff's attempt to cast doubt on a defendant's articulated reason(s) as pretext will be unsuccessful where she has not pointed to evidence that demonstrates that the defendant did not in fact rely on its articulated reason(s) when terminating her employment); see also Fasold v. Justice, 409 F.3d 178, 186 (3d Cir. 2005) (observing that because the plaintiff's direct supervisor was "basically satisfied" with the plaintiff's job performance, this undermined the defendant's stated reason for his firing, and thus a reasonable fact finder could conclude that the defendant's stated reason was "unworthy of credence"). ii. Second Method of Pretext Plaintiff has not expressly briefed the second method for establishing pretext. However, the evidence upon which she relies (in arguing that Mid-Atlantic's proffered reason is pretextual) corresponds to one of the categories comprising this second method. 18 Under the second method of establishing pretext, a plaintiff must point to evidence "with sufficient probative force such that a factfinder could conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that age was a motivating or determinative factor in the [adverse] employment decision." Simpson v. Kay Jewelers, Div. of Sterling, Inc., 142 F.3d 639, 644–45 (3d Cir. 1998). A plaintiff may accomplish this by showing that the employer has: (1) previously discriminated against her; (2) that the employer has discriminated against other persons within the plaintiff's protected class or within another protected class; or (3) that the employer has treated similarly situated persons more favorably not within the protected class. Armstrong v. Wes Health Sys., 2016 WL 3027759, at *5 (E.D. Pa. May 26, 2016); Willis, 808 F.3d at 644–45. Plaintiff has not argued that she was previously discriminated against based on her age,9 nor has she expressly argued that younger employees were treated more favorably. However, Plaintiff does rely heavily on Mid-Atlantic's termination of multiple other employees—all over 40 years of age—in an effort to establish pretext. Plaintiff alleges that Mid-Atlantic "demonstrated a pattern and practice of firing employees based upon age[.]" (Compl. ¶ 25.) The second category therefore requires further examination (i.e., that Mid-Atlantic discriminated against other persons within Plaintiff's protected class). 9 Plaintiff asserts in a conclusory fashion that she was "harassed" by Fogelman and Balmer because Fogelman would, on occasion, ask her questions to which she did not know the answer, and she felt put "on the spot." When asked about specific instances of harassing conduct, Plaintiff testified, "… I don't remember exactly the things that they said, but I felt as though they were being harassing and they were harassing me and they wanted me out." (Pl.'s Dep. 142:1-5.) Regarding the meeting in which she was terminated, Plaintiff testified that there was "anger in the room," but she did not believe there to be any harassing conduct. (Pl.'s Dep. 143:11-15.) Plaintiff next testified that she believed she was harassed because she was the oldest Admissions Director. However, Plaintiff expressly stated that she did not believe Fogelman wanted to terminate her because of her age, she acknowledged that his questions to her did not pertain to her age, and, regarding the other Admissions Directors, Plaintiff was unable to recall any of their names and/or ages. The only other instance of alleged harassing conduct occurred when Fogelman and Balmer used a "harsh tone" with Plaintiff when discussing her job expectations during one meeting. (Pl.'s Dep. 148:19-25.) Even when viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, her vague testimony of prior "harassment" (i.e., discrimination)—which represents the only evidence on this issue—does not supply the required "probative force" necessary to satisfy the first category. (Pl.'s Dep. 168:01-169:25; 170:1–17.) 19 Plaintiff points out that Mid-Atlantic terminated: Louis DeCicco,10 Director of Maintenance (age 48); Stephanie Massey, Human Resources Manager (age 58); Jane Capewell Gibbs (Human Resources Director) (exact age unknown, but over 40); and Roge Tanai, Nursing Home Administrator (age 55).11 (Pl.'s Ex. W.) The respective dates of termination were June 20, 2012, May 21, 2012, May 1, 2012, and December 31, 2011. Plaintiff's termination on July 13, 2012 thus occurred within three months of at least three of the other terminated employees. Plaintiff acknowledges that Massey, Gibbs, and DeCicco were all placed on performance improvement plans prior to their termination, and Plaintiff's own exhibits reflect that Roge Tanai was similarly terminated, according to Mid-Atlantic, for poor work performance. (Pl.'s Exs. V, W.) Plaintiff further emphasizes that DeCicco's replacement, Robert Mitchell, was 41 years-old at the time of his hire on July 12, 2012. (Pl.'s Resp. 17, Pl.'s Ex. L.) In the discrimination context, statistical evidence of an employer's "pattern or practice" of discrimination may be probative of pretext. Ezold v. Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen, 983 F.2d 509, 542–43 (3d Cir. 1992). However, "raw data" unaccompanied by a sufficient analytical context "does not support a finding of invidious intent." Cridland, 929 F. Supp. 2d at 388–89 (citing Ezold, 983 F.2d at 542–43); see also Anderson v. Wachovia Mortg. Corp., 621 F.3d 261, 279 (3d Cir. 2010) (recognizing that evidence that "might hint at discrimination" does not show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that discrimination was a motivating or determinative cause of the employment decision). For example, in Von Rudenborg—a case relied upon by Plaintiff in support of her prima facie case—the court ruled that the plaintiff failed to establish pretext despite the fact that the 10 Louis DeCicco is the plaintiff in a separate lawsuit currently before me (Civ. No. 14-cv-2933), which also stems from his termination by Mid-Atlantic. That case is pending. 11 I note that Jane Capewell Gibbs was not employed at the Maplewood facility, but rather worked at Mid-Atlantic's Cliveden facility. (Compl. ¶ 18(g).) 20 defendant employer had terminated five older employees over the years. 2011 WL 4594220, at *6 ("Plaintiff has only provided a list of older employees who have been terminated, without any perspective on the broader context of the company's treatment of older employees as a class."). The court reasoned that merely attempting to "imply animus through a pattern-or-practice approach" is insufficient because it does not amount to a "standard operating procedure." Id. at 6 (citation omitted); see also Ezold, 983 F.2d at 542–43 ("Because no conclusion can be drawn from [the plaintiff's] raw numbers on underrepresentation, they are not probative of [the employer's] alleged discriminatory motive."). Here, Plaintiff stresses that Mid-Atlantic has not produced any performance improvement plans for employees under 40, yet Mid-Atlantic argues that such records were never requested during discovery. And, at this stage of the analysis, it is not Mid-Atlantic's burden to prove that it did not discriminate. Similarly, in Cridland v. Kmart Corp., the district court concluded that the plaintiff failed to satisfy the second method of pretext because he merely pointed to another older employee's termination despite the employer's retention of approximately ten younger employees. 929 F. Supp. 2d 377, 388 (E.D. Pa. 2013). The court held that "a reasonable factfinder could not conclude based on these facts alone that [the supervisor] acted with invidious purpose," in part because there was "no showing that the younger [employees] had received the same degree of negative reviews as had Plaintiff[.]'" Id. at 388. Such "raw data does not support a finding invidious intent." Id. at 388. Here, Plaintiff has not supplied a breakdown or analysis of how many employees worked at Maplewood (or the other facilities), how many employees were over 40, or how many employees were placed on PIPs. Plaintiff acknowledges that (like her) DeCicco, Gibbs, and Massey were placed on PIPs prior to their termination. Notwithstanding the relatively close 21 temporal proximity between Plaintiff's termination and that of DeCicco and Massey, Plaintiff has not pointed to record evidence to suggest that younger employees exhibited similar performance levels, but were not placed on performance improvement plans. And, as noted above, Plaintiff relies heavily on the apparent lack of performance improvement plans for employees under 40. However, the Third Circuit has expressly acknowledged that this type of "reliance by omission" argument actually undermines Plaintiff's position: The argument that the absence of disciplinary incidents involving younger staff members is evidence of more favorable treatment, defies this Court's precedent and logic. This Court has emphasized that evidence of more favorable treatment cannot be viewed in a vacuum, but rather that the record must be viewed as a whole. Viewing the record in its entirety, which includes [the plaintiff's] documented [performance] issues …, this argument works against [the plaintiff]…. The record does not reveal any evidence of similarly situated, substantially younger employees experiencing similar difficulties and not receiving discipline. Willis, 808 F.3d at 646 (internal citations omitted).12 Ultimately, even when viewing the evidence and circumstances discussed above in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, I conclude that she has failed to point to evidence supplying "sufficient probative force such that a factfinder could conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that age was a motivating or determinative factor in the employment decision." Simpson, 142 F.3d at 644–45. Accordingly, Plaintiff has failed to establish the second method of pretext. 12 I further note that while Plaintiff advances her "pattern and practice" argument by pointing out that employees over 40 were terminated, she ignores that her direct replacement was six years older than Louis DeCicco, and just one year younger than Roge Tanai. Additionally, Alton Swinson, Assistant Director of Maintenance (age 67) was approximately nine years older than Plaintiff at the time of her termination, and there is no argument or evidence that Swinson was terminated or placed on a performance improvement plan. (Pl.'s Ex. W.) While it is true that MidAtlantic terminated multiple manager and director-level employees between December 2011 and July 2012, MidAtlantic also hired multiple manager and director-level employees who were over 40 in the months following Plaintiff's termination. (See Pl.'s Ex. W.) Specifically, Mid-Atlantic hired Barbara Kane, Business Office Manager (age 50) on December 3, 2012, and Jody Ray, Director of H&L (age 54) on November 26, 2012. 22 IV. CONCLUSION Plaintiff is unable to demonstrate that Mid-Atlantic's facially legitimate, non- discriminatory reasons for her termination were pretextual. Accordingly, I will grant MidAtlantic's motion for summary judgment.13 An appropriate Order follows. 13 The reasons articulated above comprise the complete basis for my ruling. While I have not weighed the following testimony, or relied upon it to formulate any credibility determinations, I must point out Plaintiff's own deposition testimony. As noted, for liability to ultimately attach, a plaintiff must prove that she was discriminated against because of her age. When asked at her deposition, "…What specifically leads you to believe that [Fogelman] wanted you out because of your age?", Plaintiff's response was, "I don't believe he wanted me out because of my age. I just feel as though he just wanted me out. But again, I was the oldest out of all the liaisons and admission directors." Plaintiff made this assertion despite being unable to recall the names or ages of any other admissions directors. Plaintiff was then asked, "[Do] you allege Sarah Balmer wanted you out because of your age?" Plaintiff responded, "Sarah Balmer wanted me out because she just didn't like me." (Pl.'s Dep. 170:6–17.) 23


text:
Bolsonaro sparks anger with call to celebrate Brazil coup
Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
Born soon after Brazil's 1964 coup, Sueli Alves is too young to recall the horrors of a military takeover that led to the murder and disappearance of hundreds.
Her generation came of age in the dictatorship that followed, however, and she knows well the stories of chaos and carnage -- dismissing plans for a 55th anniversary celebration as a "disgrace."
President Jair Bolsonaro, an unabashed admirer of Brazil's former dictators, caused a stir this week when he ordered "appropriate commemorations" marking the March 31 overthrow of President Joao Goulart.
"I think he should be ashamed to ask this country, which suffered so much, to commemorate what happened," Alves, a 53-year-old office worker in Rio de Janeiro, told AFP.
"Bolsonaro is a disgrace for this country. The people who voted for him should be full of regret."
Bolsonaro's order to the military has been widely criticized, with the attorney general's office on Wednesday calling on personnel to "abstain" from paying tribute to a regime that committed "serious human rights violations."
The far-right leader, whose approval rating plunged in March after a series of political scandals marred his first three months in office, has received little support outside his own ultraconservative Social Liberal Party (PSL) for his controversial idea.
PSL congresswoman Joice Hasselmann tweeted that celebrating the anniversary was a way "to take back the true narrative" of history.
"To me it's fantastic," fellow PSL federal lawmaker Heitor Freire told AFP.
"Brazil should celebrate March 31, the date that Brazil was on the point of turning into a communist country. We could have been like Venezuela or North Korea."
- Was it a coup? -
Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper, is the first Brazilian president since democracy was restored in 1985 to publicly exalt the military dictatorship -- though he argues its rise to power was not a "coup."
Since taking office, he has had fond words for military dictators in 1970s and 80s Latin America, such as Paraguayan Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989) and Chile's Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
Scholars, however, dismissed his and others attempts to legitimize the 1964 overthrow and the decades of military rule that followed.
"This always falls in the camp of folklore, the ridiculous, because the scientific evidence is indisputable," said Carlos Fico, a history professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who was human rights minister during ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso's 1995-2002 administration, agrees.
"There is no doubt that 1964 was a military coup with civilian help in the name of the fight against communism," said Pinheiro.
- 'Silence' -
At least 434 people were killed or disappeared in Brazil, far fewer than the 30,000 deaths in Argentina and more than 3,200 in Chile during their respective periods of right-wing military rule.
But unlike its South American neighbors, Brazil has not prosecuted military officials for regime-era crimes under a 1979 amnesty law, ratified in 2010.
This has contributed to Brazil's lack of a "traumatic memory" of that period -- and a distorted perception of what happened, Fico said.
"There are actually people who think that in those times there was patriotism, that the military was honest" despite historical evidence to the contrary, he said.
Opposition to the celebrations among ordinary citizens is growing, with calls on social media for street protests against the military dictatorship and to remember its victims.
"It shouldn't be celebrated in any way," security guard Victor Firmo told AFP.
Even younger members of Brazil's armed forces disapprove, according to Fico -- a view local media reports suggest is shared by several military figures in Bolsonaro's government.
"I talk a lot with senior officials -- military who are not generals," said Fico.
"They don't like the idea of this type of celebration. They feel uncomfortable with the empirical evidence, they prefer silence."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


CloZee's 40-city international Evasion tour in fall 2018 needed a set that was both rugged and mobile, visually pleasing and consistent with her image. With these requirements in mind, I conceived the idea of building high, lighted trees with LED ribbons embedded in the trunks mounting directly to the trunks and executed the concept with the amazing help of Paul Elsberg and Eric Davis.
Moving heads bracket the trunks and lasers atop each tree cast all-encompassing shadows into the crowd, creating the sense of community commonality among people CloZee and her music represent.
Big thanks to Mike Morgenstern aka City Boy Lasers for doing an amazing job running the show night in and night out as well as developing the system and implementation of the DMX and Laser rig.


text:
Azerbaijan: Economic Improvement Clouded By Concerns Over Corruption and Human Rights
Claudia Patricolo
"In 2017, our country developed rapidly and successfully," said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on January 10, during his address at a meeting of his cabinet, dedicated to the results of socioeconomic development of 2017 and setting objectives for the future.
"In Azerbaijan, stability, security and normal life are ensured. I believe that against the backdrop of the complex geopolitical situation existing in the world today, the results we have achieved in this field deserve a high assessment. […] At the beginning of the year, I proclaimed the thesis that 2017 should become a year of deep economic reforms. And so it happened," he continued.
Two days later, Mr Aliyev's words praising the social and economic performance were echoed by Sahil Babayev, deputy minister of economy, during the first meeting of the 12 Exporters club, "Made in Azerbaijan."
Out of recession
"The fact that foreign investments worth 14.6 billion US dollars were made in Azerbaijan in 2017 is a great achievement. This is a sign of confidence in the country's economy and political stability," Mr Babayev said.
He also noted that in 2017 many business entities engaged in non-oil sector, as well as agriculture, industry products and foreign trading increased for 24 per cent, 28 per cent, 21 per cent and 7 per cent correspondingly.
"Our main goal is to have another 15 billion US dollars invested this year in Azerbaijan," he added. "A lot of work is carried out in the country, the business environment is improving, entrepreneurs are given benefits. All this is done to increase confidence of foreign countries in Azerbaijan and increase investments in the country."
Last year also saw Azerbaijan's gross domestic product grow by 0.1 per cent, recovering from a 3.8 per cent contraction in 2016.
"Over the last months of 2017, the macroeconomic situation has been stabilised. Inflation began to slow down. The manat rate is stable. I am confident that these trends will intensify in 2018," said President Aliyev.
"The population is increasing. It is growing by at least 100,000 people a year. Consumption is increasing, the number of tourists is increasing. Last year, the country received almost 500,000 tourists more than in 2016. This, naturally, increases consumption," he added.
Up the ladder
"At the same time, according to calculations made by the Davos World Economic Forum, the Azerbaijani economy has advanced by two steps in terms of competitiveness in 2017 and settled in 35th place globally," President Aliyev added. "This is a very good indicator, which shows, first of all, that we developed even in a rather challenging year in economic terms. To reach 35th place in the world is a very good result indeed, a major victory."
According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018, Russia ranked 38th, Kazakhstan 57th, Georgia 67th and Armenia 73rd. Azerbaijan improved its position in nine out of twelve pillars: institutions, infrastructure, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development and business sophistication. The country's position declined in the areas of microeconomic environment and inflation, and remained unchanged in market size.
In the World Bank's Doing Business 2018, Azerbaijan ranked 57th, eight notches higher than in 2017. The situation is not, however, all that that positive as far as corruption is concerned. According to Transparency International, Azerbaijan has been worsening its position since 2012, today ranking 123rd alongside Honduras and Mexico.
"In September, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), in partnership with more than a dozen European and US news organisations, broke the story of an Azerbaijani laundromat which 'cleaned' 2.5 billion euros in a two-year period using UK-registered shell companies and a European bank," Audrey L. Altstadt, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts and the author of multiple books on Azerbaijan, wrote in an opinion editorial for Emerging Europe.
"The origin of these millions is murky. Some came from Azerbaijani ministries, some from the Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport and other actual companies. Some of the money was used to purchase luxury goods. Large sums were apparently spent to influence businessmen and influential political figures particularly in the Council of Europe," she explained.
"The domestic regulatory environment improves gradually," Javid Yusifov, managing partner at the Caspian Legal Centre tells Emerging Europe. "But there are also areas that need to be improved quicker, and specific reforms in these areas should be accelerated, such as construction permits, registering business properties, court litigation and enforcement of judgments. The practice demonstrates that amending laws or adopting new codes (in such areas as urban planning and construction) only acts as a basis for improvement: it is not the improvement per se. Specific executive regulations adopted for the implementation of laws shall bear the same or even higher quality and practicability, since enforcing officials base their actions on such regulations," he explains.
"One of the main legal challenges Azerbaijan faces is matching the trend of economic reforms with implementation quality and court reforms. Several substantive and procedural laws regarding the economy and business in Azerbaijan have been improved. But these laws are implemented by executive authorities. Therefore, knowledge and proper practice of officials dealing with laws shall be improved. Just as importantly, the quality of court litigation needs to be improved. Judges shall understand real-life business aspects of the legal question and consider the essence (merits) of the case rather than the words of the law," Mr Yusifov says.
Disparities grow
The picture of Azerbaijan that Professor Altstadt paints is clear: "The billionaires at the top of government came to control, often through family-owned businesses, construction, transportation, communications, banking, hotels and even food production and marketing. There are few opportunities for the majority of the population, apart from the oligarchs, in and out of government. Thus no Western-style middle class can emerge from this power structure whether it is professional jobs in government or in major businesses."
Over half of the Azerbaijani population live in rural, especially upland or mountainous areas. They have difficulty obtaining employment and credit, making it more difficult to survive. As result, these communities have turned to subsistence farming to eke out a living.
In his address to cabinet, President Aliyev said that the number of families receiving targeted social assistance is 116,000. "At the same time, we should try to provide those in difficult situations with jobs, create conditions for these people, including opportunities available through the self-employment program, so that the number of those in need of social assistance is reduced," he said.
New opportunities arise
According to the president, in 2017, the government created 221,000 jobs, of which 177,000 were permanent. "At the end of 2017, unemployment in Azerbaijan was at 5 per cent and poverty at 5.4 per cent. I believe that this is one of the best results anywhere in the world," he said.
Azpromo, the country's investment promotion agency, says that around 30,000 students graduate from higher education institutions annually and join the 4.8 million labour force. According to the agency, in 2016 the value of ICT services in Azerbaijan exceeded 760 million euros.
"Over the last few years the ICT sector in Azerbaijan has improved very fast, and the decisions and steps being taken in this area by the government have helped," Mia Aliyeva, co-founder at Omarov's Game Studio tells Emerging Europe. "The president is taking steps to encourage the non-oil sectors, especially in the ICT field. As a result of that, there are more than 10 incubator centres, with all the essential resources for startups, where we can find working space, meet with investors and access various local and global events."
In late January Standard & Poor's Global Ratings agency forecast Azerbaijan's GDP growth to average 3.3 per cent over the next four years. The agency also revised its outlook on the long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Azerbaijan to stable from negative. At the same time, the agency affirmed the ratings at 'BB+/B'.
"We are negotiating a new agreement with Azerbaijan, set to bring our cooperation to the next level," EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, said in December 2017.
"We see Azerbaijan's efforts to enhance its resilience, in particular to diversify its economy, and we stand ready to support the emergence of new economic and social actors to help create a diverse, strong and inclusive society in Azerbaijan. We will continue our support for reforms in areas such as public administration and justice – which will strengthen rule of law making Azerbaijan more attractive to investors; and education — crucial for the development of the necessary skills to face the challenges of tomorrow," he added.
The question remains
So far many Westerners in both business and in government have accepted and repeated the false narratives of the Aliyev regime itself—that Azerbaijan is in a "tough neighbourhood" and that "stability" must be maintained in order to build democracy gradually.
According to the famous 2012 report Caviar Diplomacy, by the Berlin-based European Stability Initiative, the Azerbaijani delegation actively worked to lobby, cajole, and even bribe delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Will the improving economic situation in Azerbaijan make Westerners more critical about rigged elections, arbitrary arrests, torture, and bogus prosecutions in the country?
TagsAzerbaijan Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijani Laundromat Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Audrey L. Altstadt Rosoboronexport Azpromo Financial Services Economy & Politics Travel & Tourism
Emerging Europe's nuclear option
The jury is out on Ukraine's new leaders
The Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel: Europe's boldest project in years
Robust Growth in CEE Strengthens Currencies
Polish Bricks & Mortar Stores Are Not Dead Just Yet


text:
Korea has traditionally been divided into a number of unofficial regions that reflect historical, geographical, and dialect boundaries within the Peninsula. Many of the names in the list below overlap or are obsolete today, with Honam, Yeongdong, Yeongnam, and the modern term Sudogwon being the only ones in wide use.

The names of Korea's traditional Eight Provinces are often also used as regional monikers.

List of eight regions

Extra regions

See also
 Eight Provinces of Korea
 Korean dialects
 Provinces of Korea
 Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Why you should get the new 2021 Apple iPad Nineth Generation?
by Editorial
Editor's choice for this 9th Generation Ipad for its low pricing, upgraded processor, double memory space and improved camera system. This is an all-rounder, perfect for work and study at home or on the go.
Apple today introduced the new iPad (9th generation), featuring the powerful A13 Bionic chip that packs even more performance and capability into the most popular iPad, all while retaining its all-day battery life.1 Starting at just S$499, the new iPad features a 10.2-inch Retina display with True Tone, a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with Centre Stage, support for Apple Pencil (1st generation) and Smart Keyboard, the intuitive iPadOS 15, and twice the storage of the previous generation. The new iPad is available to order beginning today on apple.com/sg, and in stores beginning Friday, September 24.
A13 Bionic with Neural Engine Brings More Performance to iPad
The new iPad comes equipped with the powerful A13 Bionic chip, delivering a 20 percent performance boost over the previous generation. This makes the new iPad up to 3x faster than the best-selling Chromebook, and up to a whopping 6x faster than the best-selling Android tablet.2 The added performance will allow users to seamlessly run advanced apps and games on the most affordable iPad. The Neural Engine in A13 Bionic also powers next-level machine learning capabilities, including Live Text coming in iPadOS 15, which uses on-device intelligence to recognise text in a photo that users can take action on.
Advanced 12MP Ultra Wide Front Camera with Centre Stage
The Centre Stage experience on iPad Pro is now available on iPad, enabled by the new 12MP Ultra Wide front camera and Neural Engine, so users can enjoy even more engaging video calls. As users move around, Centre Stage automatically pans the camera to keep them in view. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to include them in the conversation. Centre Stage makes video calls more natural in FaceTime as well as third-party video-calling apps. Whether catching up with loved ones virtually or using iPad in a remote learning environment, Centre Stage makes the experience of connecting more engaging than ever.
10.2-inch Display Features True Tone for an Enhanced Viewing Experience
For the first time, True Tone comes to the beautiful 10.2-inch Retina display on iPad. A new, upgraded ambient light sensor enables True Tone, which adjusts screen content to the colour temperature of a room. True Tone on the new iPad makes images appear more natural and provides users with a more comfortable viewing experience in all lighting environments.
Double the Storage to Do More on the Go
With its thin and light design and cellular option,3 iPad gives users the freedom to work, learn, play, and connect at home or on the go. The new iPad starts with 64GB of storage — double the storage of the previous generation — offering even more value to iPad users. A 256GB option is also available for users looking to store more apps, games, photos, and videos.
Even More Intuitive iPad Experience with iPadOS 15
iPadOS 15 brings new features that take advantage of the unique capabilities of iPad, helping users be more productive, and taking the versatility of iPad even further:
Multitasking is even more intuitive, making features like Split View and Slide Over easier to discover, easier to use, and more powerful.
New widget layouts for the Home Screen and App Library offer simple ways to personalise the iPad experience and organize apps.
Notes goes systemwide with Quick Note, and offers new ways to collaborate and organise, whether typing or writing with Apple Pencil.
The Translate app comes to iPad with new features that make conversations easier and more natural, including Auto Translate and face-to-face view.
Live Text uses on-device intelligence to recognise text in a photo and allow users to take action. For example, a snapshot of a storefront may reveal a phone number and the option to place a call.
Focus lets users automatically filter notifications based on what they're currently doing, such as working, reading, exercising, playing games, or sleeping.
FaceTime calls feel more natural with spatial audio and a new Portrait mode. And now, Group FaceTime provides the option to display participants in same-size tiles in a new grid view.
The new iPad is available to order beginning today on apple.com/sg/store and in the Apple Store app in 28 countries and regions, including the US, with availability beginning Friday, September 24.
Wi-Fi models of iPad are available with a starting price of S$499, and Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at S$699, in silver and space grey finishes. The new iPad starts with 64GB of storage — double the storage of the previous generation. A 256GB option is also available.
iPadOS 15, the powerful operating system designed specifically for iPad, is available beginning Tuesday, September 21, and ships for free with the new iPad. iPadOS 15 will be available as a free software update for iPad mini 4 and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and all iPad Pro models.
Apple Pencil (1st generation), available for purchase separately, is compatible with iPad (9th generation) for S$138.
Smart Keyboard for iPad is available for purchase separately for S$239 with layouts for over 30 languages, including simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
Smart Covers for iPad are available for S$75 in black, white, and English lavender.
Engrave iPad with a meaningful mix of emoji, text, and numbers, all for free, apple.com/sg/store or in the Apple store app.
Apple provides customers with a number of services in store and online that make its retail experience uniquely Apple. With personalised support and advice from Apple Specialists, convenient delivery and pickup options, and free engraving, Apple ensures the best way to buy Apple products is from Apple Store locations and apple.com/sg/store.
THE FIRST E-COMMERCE SPECIALIZED ON TRUFFLES – TRUFFLEAT.IT


This parable can be viewed in several ways, we can look at this inwardly, understanding that we have all had various soil conditions from time to time. Or we have areas of our lives that are less fertile to the Seed than others. This brings to bear our need for humility before the Lord, seeking to have an open heart before Him, this condition allows for the Seed to take root. We all have areas within that are infertile to the Seed, this brings the need for searching our hearts, this is exactly what the Lord is seeking, our willingness to have and open heart before Him.
The seed does not look like the fruit that it will bear, yet it contains the DNA, the code for the fruit. Once the seed in planted in fertile soil and with proper conditions the seed becomes the plant that yields the fruit, bearing the image the likeness of the fruit.
This is the code of Life.


text:
Bengals vs. Bills live updates: Cincinnati leading Buffalo early
January 22, 2023 1 week ago22 Views admin 0 Comments
The NFL divisional round continues Sunday with Joe Burrow and the AFC's third-seed Cincinnati Bengals taking on Josh Allen and the AFC second-seed Buffalo Bills.
The winner will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs next weekend for a spot in Super Bowl LVII in Arizona.
Later, the NFC will take center stage, as the fifth-seed Dallas Cowboys face the second-seed San Francisco 49ers (6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App). The winner of that game will go on to face the Philadelphia Eagles next week.
Here are the top plays!
Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills
The Bengals went 79 yards in six plays — four of which went for first downs — and capped off the drive with a dazzling 28-yard touchdown from Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase to put the Bengals up 7-0 early.
Buffalo is aiming to turn things around after a close call in the opening round, nearly falling at the hands of the Miami Dolphins and rookie third-string QB Skylar Thompson.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati is in the middle of a nine-game win streak. Burrow has completed 68.3% of his throws for 4,475 yards (fifth in NFL) and 35 touchdowns (tied for second) despite playing one fewer game due to the Week 17 cancelation.
No. 3 returns
Sunday's tilt comes a mere 20 days after the regular-season game between these two games was canceled following the collapse of Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who has since been released from the hospital and is on the road to recovery.
FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience
NFL Opening Weekend: Colin Cowherd's Blazin' 5
September 9, 2022 5 months ago admin 0
NFL fans have a loaded slate of games to look forward to this upcoming weekend, and on Friday, Colin Cowherd revealed his Blazin' 5 picks
Saints' Jameis Winston playing vs. Bucs with four fractures in back
September 18, 2022 5 months ago admin 0
Winston has four fractures in his back from his L1 to L4 vertebrae, Glazer reported. "Playing in a lot of pain," Glazer tweeted, saying that
NFL odds Week 12: Late touchdown by Giants caused bad beat for Cowboys bettors
November 25, 2022 2 months ago admin 0
One of the most beautiful things about betting on the NFL (or any sport) is that every single play matters — a lesson that was


The nominations for the Irish Blog Awards are now online, with the long list up for all to view. As we are sponsoring the Best Blog of a Journalist category we will be dedicating the next few "Ask-A-Journalist" posts on our blog to some of the journalists nominated.
First up we have freelancer Adam Maguire giving a very insightful interview. Keep an eye on www.bvisible.ie for more great media interviews over the coming weeks.


Stainless Steel 410 Round Bar / Rod, Stainless Steel 410 Round Bar, SS 410 Round Rod Exporter In Mumbai.
Stainless Steel DIN 1.4006 Round Bars, Stainless Steel 410 Rods / Bars Exporter, 410 SS Bars, Stainless Steel UNS S41000 Rod, SS 410 Round Bar Supplier, Stockist of SS 410 Round Rod In Mumbai, Stainless Steel 410 Round Bar Manufacturer India.
The SKY tech rolling Pvt. Ltd is the prominent supplier Stainless Steel 410 Round Bar . These bars have the high carbon content that enhances the hardness and optimizes its durability. The SS bars offered to customers after passing the strict quality assurance test and especially manufacturer takes care about the packing to eliminate any defects while exporting. These bars have various attributes that are ideal for engineering works, some are given below.
This is all about SS 410 round bars, you can consider them for long-term applications.
SS 410 Rods / Bars Exporter In India, SS UNS S41000 Round Bar, SS DIN 1.4006 Round Rods Manufacturer, Stainless Steel 410 Round Bar Supplier, 410 Steel Round Rods Stockist, 410 Stainless Steel Round Bar, SS 410 Rods Supplier In Mumbai, India.
410 SS Round Rod / Bar, Stainless Steel 410 Round Bar Exporter, ASTM A582 SS Round Rods Supplier, SS DIN 1.4006 Round Bar Supplier, ASTM/ASME A276 Steel Round Bars Stockholder, Steel UNS S41000 Rods Stockist In Mumbai, Stainless Steel 410 Bars Stock, SS Round Rod Dealer, ASTM A564 SS 410 Round Bars Supplier In India, SS 410 Round Rod, SS 410 Round Bar Manufacturer, 410 Stainless Steel Round Rod Supplier, Stainless Steel 410 Round Rod Manufacturer, SS UNS S41000 Round Bar / Rod Exporter in India, ASTM A276 410 Stainless Steel Round Bar Exporter, Stainless Steel 410 Round Bars.
Sharjah, Al Jubail, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai, Ludhiana, Ahvaz, Chennai, Perth, Pune, Courbevoie, Madrid, Vadodara, Rajkot, Ulsan, Ahmedabad, Houston, Bangkok, Vung Tau, Gurgaon, Montreal, Visakhapatnam, Colombo, Mumbai, Bogota, Faridabad, Geoje-si, Haryana, Kuala Lumpur, Nagpur, Ho Chi Minh City, La Victoria, Kanpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Petaling Jaya, Melbourne, Calgary, Ranchi, Dubai, Kolkata, Karachi, Indore, Surat, Edmonton, Lagos, Los Angeles, Busan, Manama, Jeddah, Jaipur, Ernakulam, Mexico City, Muscat, Lahore, Seoul, Al Khobar, Jakarta, Chandigarh, Aberdeen, Moscow, Granada, Nashik, Coimbatore, Bhopal, Thane, Caracas, Hanoi, Hyderabad, Cairo, Toronto, Jamshedpur, Gimhae-si, Istanbul, Port-of-Spain, Howrah, Baroda, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Atyrau, Brisbane, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Bengaluru, Doha, New York, Kuwait City, Tehran, New Delhi, Ankara, Santiago, Hong Kong, Dammam, Secunderabad, Chiyoda, Dallas, Singapore, Algiers, Noida, Sydney, London.
Estonia, Czech Republic, Tibet, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Macau, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Japan, Indonesia, Oman, Venezuela, Pakistan, Italy, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Libya, Finland, Nigeria, Argentina, Kenya, Hungary, Afghanistan, Slovakia, Algeria, Bolivia, Namibia, Jordan, Morocco, Switzerland, France, Colombia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Chile, Brazil, United States, Austria, Azerbaijan, Thailand, Taiwan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Angola, Yemen, Poland, Iraq, Turkey, New Zealand, Canada, Iran, Singapore, Romania, United Kingdom, Philippines, Qatar, Sweden, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Poland, Bahrain, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, South Africa, Costa Rica, Greece, Egypt, Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Mexico, Peru, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Norway, Nepal, India, Mongolia, Belarus, Serbia, Chile, Denmark, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago,Tunisia, Nigeria, Israel, Gabon, Lebanon, Iran, Ghana, Portugal, Lithuania, Bhutan, Croatia, Gambia, Ireland, Germany, China.


Lowest Micromax Bharat 3 price in India on April 26th 2019 is Rs.3940/-.
Micromax Bharat 3 has 1 GB RAM and comes up with Android 7.0 Nougat OS.
Micromax Bharat 3 has a 4.5 Screen Size and with 480 x 854 pixels.
Micromax Bharat 3 has WCDMA 2100 3G and LTE 4G connectivity.
Prices are compiled from 1 Online sellers from India and lowest price Rs.3940 is valid across major cities in India.
Micromax Bharat 3 price shown is the best online price available and hence is the same across India. The sellers in the list have delivery in major Indian cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Trichy, and Mysore and also across states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha etc. Please note that shipping charges may apply in some cases and also that Micromax Bharat 3 delivery in your place might depend on the pin code or postal code of your place. Price might also vary in specific locations.
Buy Micromax Bharat 3 for Rs.3940 in India On 26th Apr 2019. The price of Micromax Bharat 3 is compiled from 1 Online sellers from India.


text:
McConnell dodges on Trump border wall
By: CNN Wire
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to say Wednesday whether he would support building a wall along the southern border with Mexico, a signature item of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign.
McConnell would only say at a news conference in Washington, "I want to try to achieve border security in way that is most effective," when pressed on whether he would support the wall.
McConnell also declined to talk about his previous criticism of Trump's comments about Hispanics and the long-term damage he saw that creating for the Republican Party.
McConnell, who eked out a series of key victories Tuesday night to maintain control of the Senate, cautioned his Republican colleagues against over-reaching now that they will control the White House and Congress.
McConnell said passing a repeal to the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature health care, is a "high-item on the list." Repealing Obamacare, which has been a campaign promise by Trump, can be done through budget reconciliation with 51 voters, where as replacing it, would require 60 votes.
"Let's just stipulate that every single Republican thought Obamacare was a mistake without exception. That's still our view, and you can expect us, with a new president who has the same view, to address that issue," McConnell said.


text:
Two days of world class debating at one of the oldest varsity competitions in the world.
JOHN SMITH MEMORIAL MACE
The John Smith Memorial Mace is one of the largest and oldest debating competitions in the world. The competition features over 200 teams from universities across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
ESU Scotland runs the Scottish leg of The John Smith Memorial Mace, one of the largest and oldest debating competitions in the world.
Founded in 1954, the Mace is a UK and Ireland Championships, with England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland each holding competitions to choose a national winner, who then face each other in an International Grand Final. The competition features over 200 teams across the four nations.
Former winners include Charles Kennedy, Bob Marshall-Andrews MP, The Rt Hon the Lord Hunt of Wirral, Professor Anthony Clare, and the late Labour leader, John Smith, in whose honour the competition was renamed in 1995. Glasgow University Union has been the most successful institution in the competition's history, winning the tournament 15 times, most recently in 1995, and Scotland has won 21 of the 62 tournaments.
The Scottish Mace takes place in early February and is held as a single weekend tournament.
2017 COMPETITION & RESOURCES
The 2017 International Final takes place at Dartmouth House, London, on Saturday 29th May 2017.


Cell phone wallets are sweeping the nation!
And promotional phone wallets are becoming extremely popular at trade shows and conferences.
Marketers have been buying them for years. Basically, they're items or small 'baubles' that are given away. Promotional company's like mine, have expanded the term to be marketing giveaways that not only keep brands top of mind, but are useful and have staying power.
In today's cluttered environment there are so many amazing promotional products to choose from when marketing your brand and giveaways are now an essential advertising tool for your business. Knowing of course, that it's finding the right product, for the right time, for the right event!
Place your brand on their life-line with the soft silicone wallet with 3M adhesive backing. This wallet securely holds 2 to 3 credit cards, money and is easy to grip. This wallet is available in several bright colors.
The handy item keeps your cards and cash close at all times and features an attached stand for easy video viewing and more. It easily attaches to your phone with adhesive and can hold up to 3 cards.
These textured raised designs come in football, baseball and basketball options with a secure 3M Adhesive backing. What a fun way to show your team support while marketing your company.
Looking for something more? You next event will be a success when you give away this ear buds and phone wallet kit. These keep your earbuds tangle free by wrapping it around the base of the wallet.
Store all your essentials in one place with help from this leather color accent mobile pocket. It comes packaged in a high-quality gift box so it's the perfect gift for any occasion.
This unique item is truly an all-in-one with a built-in stylus and stand. Keep your cash, cards and brand logo close at all times. The wallet comes in many different color options and the stylus comes in a cool grey.
Consolidate your essentials down with the help from this air vent magnetic phone wallet. This handy product comes with a mount that easily installs and removes from most cars and air vents for easy hand-free use of your smartphone.
Want to stay organized? This phone wallet has 2 pockets with a strong back adhesive and it perfect for carrying credit cards, room keys and cash.
Not Sure Which is the Perfect Promotional Phone Wallet for You?


Wish Merry Christmas in Chinese with this fun ecard.
Christmas wishes in Chinese for your friends, acquaintances and dear ones.
A Christmas Wish In Chinese!
Wish a 'Merry Christmas' in Chinese through this ecard.
Wish your loved ones in Chinese with this fun Christmas ecard.
Wishes for a joyful and merry Christmas!
A bright and beautiful Christmas wish in Chinese for your loved ones.
Reach out to all you know with this warm and wonderful Christmas wish.
A beautiful Christmas ecard with a message in Chinese.
Christians in China celebrate Christmas by decorating their houses with candle-lit Christmas trees and paper lanterns. Wish all your Chinese acquaintances with our bright and beautiful Christmas ecards and make their Christmas a memorable one.


One person found this helpful. Ultimate Nutrition was founded in by Victor H. This is for indicative purposes only, your EMI payments may differ with total order amount and additional bank charges, if any. Surely would recommend it. It is meant to add additional calories for the body in order to assist with weight and muscle mass gain. Where else can you get this kind of formula?
of 35 results for "universal mass gainer" Amazon's Choice for "universal mass gainer" Real Gains Weight Gainer with Complex Carbs and Whey-Micellar Casein Protein Matrix Chocolate #. Real Gains has more of what you want and less of what you don't: more calories, more protein, more good fats, more taste, more fiber and far less sugar. You want to gain, muscle mass that is, and the right way to do that is with large amounts of protein, which you will find in every scoop of Real Gains, and by cutting fat intake. Gain Fast Fast Vanilla 10LB by Universal Nutrition. The Internet is an amazing tool. Your privacy is important to you and to us. Herbspro believes that knowledge can be empowering.


Retail price 2 x clarins shaping f*c**l lift total v contouring serum 1 6oz 50ml intl, the product is a preferred item this season. this product is a new item sold by COSME-DE.COM store and shipped from China. 2 x Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum 1.6oz, 50ml - intl comes at lazada.sg with a inexpensive expense of SGD146.80 (This price was taken on 10 June 2018, please check the latest price here). what are the features and specifications this 2 x Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum 1.6oz, 50ml - intl, let's examine the details below.
For detailed product information, features, specifications, reviews, and guarantees or any other question which is more comprehensive than this 2 x Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum 1.6oz, 50ml - intl products, please go straight to the seller store that is due COSME-DE.COM @lazada.sg.
COSME-DE.COM is a trusted seller that already has experience in selling Dermacare products, both offline (in conventional stores) an internet-based. many of their potential customers are very satisfied to get products through the COSME-DE.COM store, that may seen with all the many five star reviews given by their clients who have obtained products inside the store. So there is no need to afraid and feel concerned about your products not up to the destination or not according to what's described if shopping within the store, because has numerous other buyers who have proven it.
Additionally COSME-DE.COM also provide discounts and product warranty returns in the event the product you buy does not match whatever you ordered, of course using the note they provide. For example the product that we are reviewing this, namely "2 x Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum 1.6oz, 50ml - intl", they dare to give discounts and product warranty returns if your products they offer do not match precisely what is described.
So, if you want to buy or search for 2 x Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum 1.6oz, 50ml - intl i then strongly recommend you acquire it at COSME-DE.COM store through marketplace lazada.sg.
Why should you buy 2 x Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum 1.6oz, 50ml - intl at COSME-DE.COM shop via lazada.sg?
Of course there are lots of advantages and benefits that exist while you shop at lazada.sg, because lazada.sg is really a trusted marketplace and also have a good reputation that can provide you with security from all of kinds of online fraud. Excess lazada.sg compared to other marketplace is lazada.sg often provide attractive promotions such as rebates, shopping vouchers, free freight, and often hold flash sale and support which is fast and that is certainly safe. and what I liked happens because lazada.sg can pay on the spot, which was not there in any other marketplace.


This ring from the Lana Jewelry Flawless collection will light up your life or, at the very least, your finger! Crafted in 14kt yellow gold, its free-form shape is elegant and eloquent, combing precious metal and diamonds in a wonderful whirl. This fluid and feminine Lana ring will make a fabulous and fashionable addition to your cherished jewelry collection!


We are eager to speak to individuals and teams affected by the OnLive transition. With the stunning success of Xbox/Kinect and the accelerated growth of this business, we are looking to add key players who want to make a real impact in creating groundbreaking new products and services.
The positions are open in Mountain View, and Microsoft's HQ in Redmond, Washington. Considering Microsoft found OnLive a "potential acquisition target" back in August of 2010, this news is definitely interesting. It looks like Microsoft sat back, let the chips fall, and will now benefit by treating some people better by offering them some great jobs.