text:
BYU names 2011 Student Employee of the Year
Brady Patrick Sanders, an accounting clerk in the College of Fine Arts and Communications' Division of Design and Production, is the 2011 Brigham Young University Employee of the Year.
Sanders was also chosen as the State of Utah Student Employee of the Year and will be considered for the regional competition.
Last February, approximately 145 students were nominated by their employers from more than 50 departments across campus — the most nominations in five years, according to Kathleen Christensen of BYU's Student Employment Office. Employees were considered for their reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, uniqueness and community service.
Sanders is highly regarded in his department for his outstanding performance in each of these categories.
"In the two years that Brady has been with us, we have come to depend on his willingness to tackle any project, no matter how difficult, and still maintain his normal work assignment," said Kyle Nielsen, an accountant in the college's Division of Design and Production.
Jeff Martin, arts manager in the same division, said about Sanders, "Brady is one of the hardest-working and innovative students I have had the pleasure of working with during my entire three and half years at BYU. He is always eager to help solve difficult problems and is more than willing to go the extra mile, even when it has not been asked of him."
Sanders was thrilled to receive the recognition.
"It is really exciting to win this award," he said. "I love where I work and it is nice to be recognized as a good employee."
Sanders was given flexibility and many opportunities to help improve the division with his own ideas. "It was nice to have that freedom," he said. "One thing that I love about BYU is that it allows us to work in the field that we're studying. They trust us enough to do the accounting or whatever we're doing for the future."
Eric Okazaki and Rebecca Ingram were awarded as runner-ups in the competition, sponsored by BYU Human Resource Services.
For more information, contact Kathleen Christensen at (801) 422-8905 or kathleen_christensen@byu.edu.
Writer: Mel Gardner


text:
Passport Information for Okaloosa County, Florida
How to Get a Passport Fast in Florida
How to Renew a Passport in Person in Florida
Victoria Bailey, Leaf Group Updated October 10, 2017
Renew your passport easily in Florida. (Photo: Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images )
Places in South Florida to Renew a Passport
Where to Get a Passport Picture in South Miami-Dade, Florida
Under normal circumstances, Floridians and all other U.S. citizens may renew their passports by mail. But not everyone gets off so easy. You have to apply in person if your previous passport was issued when you were younger than 16, if it was issued more than 15 years ago, if it's missing or damaged, or if you changed your name and can't provide supporting documentation. Also, if you need a passport in less than two weeks for international travel, applying in person at a Passport Agency is the only way (Florida has one, in Miami). Otherwise, Florida has numerous locations where you can renew your passport in person. It'll be mailed to you four to six weeks, or in two to three if you pay for expedited processing.
Visit the U.S. Department of State website to download and complete a DS-11 passport application. Either fill it out online and then print it, or, if you're more old-school, print a blank copy and fill it out by hand. Don't sign it, though, as this has to be done in front if the attending passport agent.
Figure out where you're going to apply in person. The U.S. Department of State website has a handy tool called the Passport Acceptance Facility Search Page. Simply enter your zip code or your city and Florida into the appropriate fields, click "Search," and get a list of nearby locations.
If you need your passport in under two weeks and are in or around Miami (or you feel like taking a road trip), make an appointment at the Miami Passport Agency by calling (877) 487-2778. It's located at the Claude Pepper Federal Building at 51 Southwest 1st Ave., Miami, FL 3313.
Bring the Form DS-11 to your chosen passport acceptance facility. Also bring along proof of U.S. citizenship, a government-issued identification, and a new passport photo. Details about which documents are acceptable and the required photo specs are on the Department of State website.
Pay the applicable passport fees. They vary based on which passport format(s) you get and whether you're paying for expedited delivery, but typically range from $30 for just a passport card all the way up to about $200 for a passport book and card with rushed processing. Detaile fee information is posted on the Department of State website. Different passport acceptance facilities take different forms of payment, so call your location ahead and ask how you can pay. Checks and money orders payable to "U.S. Department of State" are a reliable method, but most facilities also take cash and credit/debit cards.
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Passports and International Travel - Renew by Mail
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Passports and International Travel - Apply for a Passport in Person
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Passports and International Travel - Fill Out Application Online
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Passports and International Travel - Passport Photos
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Passports and International Travel - Passport Fees
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Passports and International Travel - Miami Passport Agency
You may pay for your passport renewal by cash, credit card, personal check or money order.
Your passport will be mailed to you at the address indicated on your identification card. Application processing varies depending on the time of the year and can take between four and 10 weeks.
Working in sunny Florida, Anne Baley has been writing professionally since 2009. Her home and lifestyle articles have been seen on Coldwell Banker and Gardening Know How. Baley has published a series of books teaching how to live a frugal life with style and panache.
How to Renew a Passport in Broward County, Florida
How to Get a Passport in Hernando County, Florida
Airports near Bartow, Florida
Airports Near Graceville, Florida
Ocean Front Hotels Near Boynton, Florida
Renew Passports»

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Business 2.0 has an interesting article about how Strangeberry might be Saving TiVo.
Of course, as the owner of 2 TiVo boxes myself, I am biased. But before getting the second box, I tried Comcast's DVR. I don't have time to list all the issues it had; I am trying hard to forget them. The DVR lasted for a whole month before my wife begged me to get rid of it and get a second TiVo. I was happy to oblige.


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Gigwise.com has entered a media partnership with a one-off festival, Strummer Of Love, which commemorates the 10th Anniversary of Joe Strummer's death.
Proceeds from the festival, taking place on the August 17-19, will go to Strummerville: The Joe Strummer New Music Foundation which provides opportunities to people through music that they wouldn't usually find.
Gigwise will be amongst the only two online music news sites that are partnering with the festival this year.


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text:
Gerd Häusler
Member of the Supervisory Board, Munich Reinsurance
Mr. Gerd Häusler is currently a Senior Advisor at goetzpartners and a member of the Supervisory Board of Munich Reinsurance. Prior to this position, he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayerische Landesbank, where he served as CEO from 2010 through March 2014. From October 2008 to March 2010, Mr. Häusler was a member of the Board of Directors and a Senior Advisor at RHJ International after having served the previous two years at Lazard as a Vice-Chairman and Managing Director in their Financial Institutions Group and the Sovereign Debt Advisory practice.
Between 2001 and 2006 he was Counselor and Director of the International Capital Markets Department of the IMF responsible for all financial markets-related work and is credited with the creation of the Global Financial Stability Report. Before, Mr. Häusler was a Member of the Board of Managing Directors at Dresdner Bank AG in Frankfurt (1996 to 2000) and Chairman of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in London (1997 to 2000). He spent the first 18 years of this career at Deutsche Bundesbank, the two last of them (1994-1996) on the Executive Board and the Central Bank Council..
In addition Gerd Häusler serves as a member of the Supervisory Board of MunichRe and as Chairman of the BHF Kleinwort Benson Group.
Gerd Häusler studied Law and Economics at the Universities of Frankfurt and Geneva and has been a member of the Group of Thirty since 1996.


text:
Q: How do I set English UK as my display language in Windows 10? My PC's default display language is currently set to English(US). I want to change it to English(UK) but whenever I go to settings in order to choose the language of my choice I see this:

English UK is unavailable. Why?

A:
There are advanced language settings that may block the download of
language packs. To revert these settings to their defaults values so
that you can download language packs, follow these steps:

*

*Open Control Panel. To do this, type Control Panel in the Search box, and then tap or click Control Panel in the search results list.

*Tap or click Clock, Language and Region. (If you are viewing Control Panel in icon display, select Language, and then go to step
4.)

*Tap or click Language.

*Tap or click Advanced settings.

*Examine the Override for Windows display language and Override for default input method lists. Make sure that the Use language list (recommended) option is selected for both lists (see
Figure 1). Then, tap or click Save.
Figure 1: Advanced settings:

(source: microsoft.com)

*

*After you save the settings, you are returned to the standard language settings. In the list of previously installed languages,
click Options next to the language you want to install.

*Click the download link to install the language pack (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Start the download:

Taken From :
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2910256

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
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Home legal Spotting Employment Discrimination
Spotting Employment Discrimination
Jason Pill
By Jason Pill, Attorney with Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Although most climbing gyms are considered very progressive — whether it be their business models, sensibilities, or political leanings — they are still susceptible to the longstanding discrimination issues that can permeate any work place. Most climbing gyms have not been hit with employment discrimination litigation and incorrectly assume they are immune to such issues based on their size, employee base, or merely some bad advice that they received. This assumption, however, is simply incorrect. Employment discrimination litigation is increasing nationally and can result in staggering legal costs, reduced employee morale, loss of business reputation, and a host of other significant consequences for private employers.
Despite these issues, most instances of discrimination can be eliminated with proper training and policies and, most importantly, a fundamental understanding of the anti-discrimination laws in place. For climbing gyms hoping to grow and expand, they must ensure they have proper employment policies and practices in place to avoid costly setbacks and maintain a strong workforce. As explained by Hilary Harris, founder and CEO of Evo Rock + Fitness, employees are the heart and soul of any climbing gym and vital to the gym's success. When employees are treated well, they are less likely to file lawsuits against their employers and help create a better gym atmosphere.
Much like a climber would not climb a route without mapping it out first and taking the proper protection, a climbing gym can only prevent employment discrimination if it knows what constitutes employment discrimination and the attendant legal obligations placed upon the gym. The mosaic of anti-discrimination laws that apply to climbing gyms include federal, state, county, and local statutes that prohibit discrimination based on various distinctions or conditions (e.g., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, etc.).
When distilled, these various laws prohibit an employer from treating an employee (or employees) differently than the employee's peers based on race, gender, religion, national origin, pregnancy, genetic information, veteran status, physical or mental disability, age, sexual orientation, or sexual identity. These categories are commonly referred to as "protected classes," because the anti-discrimination laws protect these classes of individuals from unfair treatment based on these distinctions. Stated simply, a climbing gym, as a private employer, cannot treat an employee differently because they fall into any of these protected classes.
But what does it mean to treat an employee differently? As famously explained by the United States Supreme Court, Title VII (the primary anti-discrimination statute applicable to employers and the statute upon which most anti-discrimination statutes are patterned) is not a "general civility code." That means that Title VII does not require employers to treat their employees from protected classes better than other employees, just no worse. In fact, an employer can treat all of its employees like dirt—so long as that treatment is equal.
Issues arise, however, when employees are treated differently in the terms or conditions of their employment. Although direct examples of discrimination are easy to identify and condemn (e.g., a climbing gym has a policy to not hire African-American employees), many climbing gyms can fall victim to unintended discrimination based on stereotypes or misconceptions (e.g., a climbing gym assumes that a female employee who just gave birth will want to spend more time taking care of her child than getting hours at the gym). Discrimination is not always evident or immediately noticeable, and gym owners must be diligent in establishing anti-discrimination policies, enforcing those policies, and spotting discrimination so that it can be eradicated. A blind eye is no legal defense, and businesses that do not take active measures to prevent discrimination expose themselves to significant legal risks. As part of these active measures, climbing gym owners must understand what discrimination is prohibited and, if a lawsuit is filed, what evidence would help a gym defend itself in court.
The Two Types of Discrimination
There are two general theories for establishing workplace discrimination: tangible employment actions and hostile work environments. Both theories are actionable and an aggrieved employee can simultaneously pursue both theories against an employer. Notably, an employer's defense will vary depending on the theory asserted by the aggrieved employee.
Tangible Employment Action
A "tangible employment action" is generally defined as a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a disciplinary decision. By their nature, these actions are imposed upon an employee by a supervisor or someone with supervisory authority. Moreover, these actions are typically easier to identify than a hostile work environment and, with proper systems and training, easier to prevent.
In the context of a climbing gym, a tangible employment action could be as commonplace as a gym manager terminating an employee, a head route setter taking shifts away from setters, or an owner deciding to only give pay raises to certain employees, but not others. Of course, most of these personnel and operational decisions are made as part of the daily routine of running a climbing gym, and only rise to the level of actionable discrimination when the actions are taken on account of an employee's protected status (e.g., because she's a women, of Hispanic descent, a military veteran, homosexual, etc.). If discrimination is alleged, it becomes incumbent upon the climbing gym to demonstrate that its actions were not based on the employee's protected status (any those categories identified above) or that the action did not materially change the employee's status.
An example better demonstrates these issues. Let's assume the head route setter assigns herself the hardest routes and also reserves all the best holds for her routes. This, in turn, prevents her male subordinates from using the meatiest slopers and pinches when setting their routes. Has the female supervisor discriminated against her male subordinates who are now relegated to only using the worn down jugs and junk holds to mechanically churn out their V0s and 5.7s? Under these circumstances, although we have a female supervisor taking an action against her male subordinates that impacts their employment and understandably upsets them, it's far from discrimination.
In our example, there is no evidence that the head route setter is keeping these holds away from the male route setters on account of their gender, and it would be tenuous to assert that not being able to use certain holds materially changed the route setters' employment status (yes, the male route setters may not be as thrilled with their hold selection or setting easier routes, but there are still enough holds for them to set routes and they are still gainfully employed). As the head route setter, she is likely the most experienced setter and, consequently, sets the more difficult routes that often require certain holds which are not appropriate for easier routes. This legitimate explanation for the head route setter's actions is not based on discriminatory motives and demonstrates why she would have made the same decision if, in this scenario, all of her subordinate employees were women, instead of men. So, there's no indicia of discrimination for the climbing gym to worry about.
Now let's assume that same head routesetter hires two new routesetters for the gym: an aspiring male setter with little prior experience and an experienced female setter who has set for multiple competitions, worked for more than 10 years as a setter in some of the best gyms in the country, and has a sparkling letter of recommendation from a USA Climbing National Chief Routesetter. Both setters are hired for the same position and start on the same date. The male setter, however, receives a higher starting salary than the female setter. Here, we have a much more concerning employment action that smacks of discrimination, as there is seemingly no legitimate reason to give the inexperienced setter a higher salary than the experienced setter, other than his gender.
Although these are overly simplistic examples, they underscore the fact-specific analysis required to spot discrimination. Ultimately, when a tangible employment action is alleged against a climbing gym, the determination of liability will require an analysis of the purported motives of the action and its impact on the aggrieved employee. In response, the climbing gym will try to demonstrate that the employment action at issue was taken for legitimate business reasons, often showing that the decision would have been the same for someone outside of the protected class, thus negating the relevance of an employee's protected status.
The alternative theory for pursuing a discrimination claim is a hostile work environment, which can be more difficult for employers to identify. In a hostile work environment, there is not a tangible employment action against an employee. Rather, the employee attempts to demonstrate that a collection of comments or incidents from the workplace (which, under certain circumstances, can include customers) were sufficiently severe or pervasive to materially impact the employee's working conditions. The difficulty here lies in identifying a hostile work environment, as it is often between coworkers at the same level and may not involve supervisors or owners, and frequently occurs outside of their presence.
Unlike a tangible employment action that focuses on, as its name suggests, one action, a hostile work environment is typically a patchwork of incidents that collectively become "severe or pervasive" enough to impact the terms or conditions of the employee's employment. What exactly constitutes "severe or pervasive" conduct is the source of great debate by attorneys and judges, but essentially turns on whether the incidents at issue (e.g., offensive nicknames, sexually harassing comments, lewd images, etc.) were severe or frequent enough to alter the employee's working conditions. It's an inexact science. Rarely will a stray remark be sufficient to create a hostile work environment, but seemingly small incidents or comments can be aggregated together to determine their collective impact on the employee.
The key to preventing (and defending against) a hostile work environment is creating, maintaining, and following policies that prohibit workplace harassment and establish a reporting channel that employees can use when they believe they have been harassed. For some climbing gyms, this may seem like an overreaction or undue burden because the staff largely knows each other and climbs together, or in Harris's words, is "very tribal." While this sense of community can create a better work environment and stave off disgruntled employees, it can also give the false sense of security or misconception that employees would never harass one another. Despite the appearance of a close-knit workforce, if an employer does not have certain anti-harassment policies and reporting channels in place, it will lose the ability to assert a key defense during litigation and risks exposing itself to potential liabilities that may otherwise be mitigated (and don't worry—even though Harris values the "tribal" feel of her staff's relationship, Evo Rock + Fitness gyms still maintain and implement proper anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies to avoid costly issues).
Do These Laws Apply Even to My Gym?
More than likely, yes. A common misconception for many climbing gyms is that they are too small in either staff or revenue to worry about employment discrimination. In other words, they assume — or hope — that they are small enough to fly under the radar. The reality is that anti-discrimination laws reach almost every employer, in some form or fashion. Although Title VII and many federal laws require an employer to employ more than 15 employees to be covered, many state and local laws require an employer to have as few as 5 or 10 employees to be covered by anti-discrimination statutes. It's generally safe to assume some collection of anti-discrimination statutes apply to most climbing gyms, and owners should consult with employment attorneys for more specific guidance on the laws and regulations governing their gym.
From there, climbing gyms can work with counsel to audit existing policies (if there are any) and develop new policies and procedures to eliminate discrimination and provide a defensible position if the gym is later sued by an employee. The cost to take these preventive measures is much less than the costs of litigation, which can easily include more than $100,000 in legal fees to take a matter to trial (assuming, of course, that the gym prevails entirely and does not owe any money to the aggrieved employee). Savvy climbing gyms should proactively address these problems to minimize both costs and risks, and not wait until a lawsuit has been filed. By then, it's too late.
In climbing, we anticipate the worst and then work backwards from there to check all of our systems and gear; we use extra protection, double back our harnesses, use redundant knots, and so forth. In running its business, a climbing gym must likewise anticipate the worst and implement the proper systems to avoid liability or, in the event allegations are raised, be in the best posture to defend against any legal actions. As such, this article is intended to be a primer on employment discrimination concerns and the preventive measures that can be taken.
Following on this theme, subsequent articles will provide greater depth on specific discrimination issues facing climbing gyms, such as disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. If you have other employment law topics you would like covered, let us know.
In addition to climbing for the past 15 years and previously managing a climbing gym, Jason Pill is an attorney with Phelps Dunbar, LLP in Tampa, Florida. Jason practices in the area of labor and employment and assists clients in handling unique issues that arise at the intersection of law and technology. He represents employers regarding claims involving employment discrimination laws, wage and hour laws, family and medical leave laws, whistleblower laws, union-management relations, employee benefits, enforcement of non-competition agreements, customer complaints based on denial of service or alleged discrimination, privacy-based claims, and various employment-related torts. He prepares employment contracts, non-competition agreements, personnel policy manuals, employee handbooks and assists clients in implementing and managing technology in the workplace. If you have questions for Jason contact him here.
The content of this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. The reading of or reliance on this article or the Climbing Business Journal's web site does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author or the Climbing Business Journal and the user or reader.
Jason Pill is a longtime climber and an attorney with Phelps Dunbar, LLP in Tampa, Florida. He practices in the area of labor and employment and assists clients in handling unique issues that arise at the intersection of law and technology. Additionally, Jason managed a climbing gym before embarking on a legal career, and he currently serves as the Chairperson of USA Climbing's Risk Management Committee.
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Skip the shipping, setup and teardown!
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The exhibit hall grand opening and reception begins on Monday, June 17, 2019. View the schedule for exhibit hall hours.


text:
RCMP pipeline checkpoint called arbitrary, discriminatory
Amy Smart / The Canadian Press
Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in Smithers last month.
Photograph By JASON FRANSON, The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — The Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs and their supporters want a public investigation into the way the RCMP are controlling access along a rural road in northern B.C.
The RCMP have said they set up a checkpoint along the Morice West Forest Service Road south of Houston in order to prevent a dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline from escalating after patrol officers discovered hazards along the road.
But the chiefs, along with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, allege the Mounties are unlawfully restricting access on Wet'suwet'en traditional territory.
"We cannot be criminalized for using our law to access our lands, our foods, our medicine, our way of life," said Chief Na'moks, who dialled in to a news conference in Vancouver on Thursday.
The coalition has submitted a complaint to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, asking the chairperson to initiate a policy complaint and public interest investigation.
Harsha Walia, executive director of the civil liberties association, said the application of the RCMP's enforcement at the checkpoint has been "inconsistent, arbitrary and discriminatory."
Walia said the coalition has submitted eight first-hand accounts from people turned away as part of the complaint. Some were told only lawyers licensed to practise in B.C. would be allowed through, or only hereditary chiefs on a pre-approved list.
"RCMP officers at the checkpoint have cited a range of inconsistent and shifting policies and procedures to those who are turned away," she told the news conference. "Most of these do not in any way correlate to the stated goal of public safety."
Officers check and record the identification of each person who arrives at the checkpoint, she said.
Irina Ceric, a non-practising lawyer who tried to visit supporters at a camp beyond the checkpoint, said she was turned away one day because she didn't have a two-way radio and tire chains, but she was allowed through the next day with no questions from a different officer about equipment.
The B.C. Supreme Court granted Coastal GasLink an injunction on Dec. 31. The order called for the removal of any obstructions including cabins and gates on any roads, bridges or work sites the company has been authorized to use.
It also gives authorization to the RCMP to arrest and remove anyone police have "reasonable or probable grounds" to believe has knowledge of the order and is contravening it.
No one from the RCMP was available for an interview Thursday, but spokeswoman Janelle Shoihet said in an email that the Mounties have shared their protocol with the hereditary chiefs. "The checkpoint was established to address safety concerns relating to the hazards including fallen trees, gasoline caches and tire piles that were intentionally placed along the roadway," she said.
Officers at the checkpoint are also trying to prevent further escalation of "the ongoing breach" of the injunction, Shoihet said. The protocol allows hereditary chiefs, elected chiefs and government officials, lawyers registered to practise law with the Law Society of B.C., and other persons providing food, medicine or other supplies and services required for the well-being and safety of persons behind the blockades, she said.
The RCMP has made significant efforts to document and record all decisions and interactions at the checkpoint and are fully prepared to participate in any public complaint process, Shoihet said.
The Mounties also support the appointment of former New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen as a provincial liaison tasked with de-escalating the dispute, she said.
"We support his efforts and hope for resolution or, if none can be found, a co-operative effort toward a safe and peaceful outcome to enforcement," she said.
Na'moks said the chiefs continue to meet with RCMP Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan, who has declined multiple interview requests. He said they have been in a holding pattern since Cullen's appointment, but alleges that Strachan has called enforcement by the RCMP in the area "inevitable."
"They are going to move in again, it is inevitable, is her words," he said.
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Wesleyan Woods Camp offers two and four hour trips for families and groups. Come enjoy the wildlife, spring flowers, fall colors and fishing as you travel the Cass River by canoe or kayak. We have Mad River canoes and Tribe Kayaks by Confluence. The Tribe kayaks are two person top seated units.
BOATING CAN BE DANGEROUS, YOU MUST SUPERVISE MINORS AT ALL TIMES.
Transportation included for drop off (end at camp).
No Price breaks for providing your own transportation.
Waivers must be signed before the trip.
NO REFUND DUE TO WEATHER OR RIVER WATER LEVEL CONDITIONS.
Not more than 30 minutes late for departure.
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To reserve an enjoyable canoe/kayak trip please call the office to make arrangements.


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Contagion (2011)) dir. Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard
Contagion is a film to enjoy in the moment and forget once it's finished. While it portends to be a film about 'ideas', the only thing to savour is its technical acuity, which makes it effectively nothing more than an action film.
The central idea here is the relation of the spread of a deadly SARS-like or H1N1 virus to the unruly panic of our human response. It starts well, hopping around the world showing how Gwenyth Paltrow spread the virus from Hong Kong to Chicago to Tokyo and other places around the world. When people start dying, CDC (Center for Disease Control) officials, FEMA and other organizations start tracking the virus and formulating a cure.
The quick pace and ticking clock urgency, as well as a lot of scientific terms and techno-speak, create a sense of realism for this intense thriller. Unfortunately, once the metaphor to the spread of panic and fear at the human level clicks in, the sense of realism is lost. Soderbergh never devolves to the level of ham-fisted moral ironies of say Edward Zwick's The Siege or even a number of Stephen King stories, but it's still a familiar and obvious lesson. Ordinary citizens so quickly reverting to looting and other primal, uncivilized survival 'instincts' is simply not believable and rings as false.
The globetrotting set-up playing out the drama is teasing, but the broad scope eventually undermines the human drama, as we don't spend enough time with anybody to truly care about them on an emotional level. Soderbergh would have done better if he just stuck with the procedural aspects of the virus containment. And curiously, the usually watchable Matt Damon is the weakest link with a dull performance that is falsely understated. It's as if Soderbergh didn't want to commit to shooting a character film, thus leaving us hopelessly in between two different films – or it needed to be three hours long to fully realize his intended film.
Looking back, the best moments in the film are the fabulous montage sequences driven by the pulsing electronic score by the underused and underappreciated Cliff Martinez (Traffic). In fact, this would likely be abysmal and unwatchable if not for Martinez. Of course, this demonstrates Steven Soderbergh's directorial inspiration to present this film with an insignificant aesthetic shift away from the regular paint-by-numbers dreck.
The technical precision is truly magnificent. His cinematography, once again shot by himself under his pseudonym, Peter Andrews, is crisp and clinical. The bold placement of saturated colours results in them popping out of the frame as startling as the best 3D imagery. And once again, the music of Cliff Martinez complements the visual design with such electro-magnificence it singlehandedly keeps us going through the overly ambitious, under-executed socio-political allegories.
You might not travel the globe at the same speed as Contagion, but wherever you are, you can still watch movies online with LOVEFiLM: your go-to site for the best and latest releases to watch online
Labels: 'Alan Bacchus Reviews , *** , 2011 Films , Steven Soderbergh , Thriller


I would like to say keep Spanky Bolling for coroner. He is the greatest. He has family values and he cares about the people. Great job, Spanky. Keep up the great job in Letcher County.
One word, etiquette. Nobody in this county seems to know what it is because nobody has it, especially these drivers that pull out in front of you. They don't care if you hit them or not and sometimes that's what it is all about. Then they go two feet up the road and pull off the highway. Get a grip, people.
To a certain stepbrother who broke into our own parent's house and stole all the quarters: I just want to let you know that we know who you are and we are going to let everyone know that you are a thief. Thank you and God bless.
There is a great article on lewrockwell.com. How to prepare for Obama care. Create your own nature medicine chest. Check this out. Just Google 'how to prepare for Obama care.' There's a lot of good stuff on here.
I can't decide whether I should go to Myrtle Beach, Daytona Beach, or to Cancun. I don't know. There is just something about Florida. Lying under the stars on the beach at 1 or 2 in the morning just makes you fall in love again. Every time we go we come back it's like we are newlyweds. I don't know. Help me decide. Thank you.
Why are low-life people allowed to get on Topix.com and accuse innocent high school girls of being sexually promiscuous drug addicts? Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has earned my deepest respect for trying to get something done about this problem. What I want to know is why our own version of an attorney general, Commonwealth's Attorney Edison, isn't doing something to protect our young people from the terrible slanders they're having to endure on Topix.
I sure would like to know the reasoning behind all of the teachers from Jenkins who got pink slips, some who have been there five, six, and seven years, while one librarian that was hired about four months ago didn't get one. If anyone knows the answer, please respond. Thank you.
Who is it that you can't wait to meet? Why don't you just contact them and maybe you will meet them sooner than you think, you think?
I'm going to ask Speak Your Piece this question: Do you think a Christian would want to talk about other churches and slander them rather than living with them and associating with them? I speak for myself and no one else. I think people should treat people good in all of their churches. That would bring more love and appreciation to each other. We need to all be as one. We are supposed to be struggling to get to a better place than to stay here and be lost. Thank you. God bless you. I'll be praying for you.
Concerning the black bear that was killed for breaking into a home, I don't understand why they couldn't tranquilize it, release it up the mountains. I heard that a guy went to jail over killing a bear over his horses and his kids, but he went to jail.
I want to ask everybody in the United States to not buy anything from BP. Talk about getting them to stop that oil well out there, just start messing with their money and we'll get them on the ball.
This is to the lady that was concerned about the lady driving the Jeep Laredo: Well, you said I was trying to take your husband and that you had four little girls with him. Honey, that doesn't matter 'cause he and I are planning on taking the four little girls with us. I promise I will take good care of your husband. He can ride around with me in my Jeep. I will even let him drive it while I am sitting right beside him with my hand on his leg. So don't you worry, darling.
I would just like to say that I wish I had a big, long porch to sit on at Goose Creek like these two ladies do. They seem to be real nice women. One wears a hat where I guess she is outside piddling around. Her friend doesn't have a hat. You would think the other lady would hunt her up a good hat to wear. That way she wouldn't be in the sun. I would go sit with them and talk with them too, but I don't think they would allow that. They don't bother anybody. They just sit there and talk to each other. They are real nice.
I would like to thank the American Legion for last Sunday. What a good job they did and what a good dinner they had. Way to go, American Legion.
You know, I really believe that people in Harlan County are smarter than the people in Letcher County.
Congratulations, Bobby Howard, on winning magistrate in District One. You have a good Christian family and are an honest man. You deserved to win. Congratulations on a clean race. We are all proud of you.
What happened to that new law that new law in Whitesburg where drivers could only park in one direction going down Main Street? We came by there today and there were four vehicles and two parked together. It was pretty close to Summit City, so that might have something to do with it.
It's official. I went over to Letcher County today and that has made the fourth one. I have asked four different police officers — deputy, state and two diff erent cities — to give me the ruling on Kentucky law about wearing a motorcycle helmet. Zero out of four got it correct. You guys need to educate your officers.
Why is it that the only drug dealers the sheriff 's department seems to catch are from the Jenkins and Mayking areas? Sheriff 's deputies are never seen in Blackey, Jeremiah or Linefork.
I'd like to speak my piece about an item that was put in Speak Your Piece about a man driving all the way to Virginia to go to church. I am a woman who drives to Virginia to go to church. I go to worship God, not to be seen. I want to correct this item that was put in there. The devil is trying to keep me from going to church, but I'm not going to let it happen. God's people are much stronger than the devil is, and the devil is nothing more than a devil. The truth isn't in him. So people, you shouldn't believe everything that is put in Speak Your Piece, because a lot of it is from the devil. I appreciate people putting in good things, but I don't appreciate people putting in things against people going to church. Thank you.
Could this sunshine be a psychopath and this dream lover a fantasy of hers? Could it be that he is not really with her? Pitiful.
I think it is a shame they killed that little 100-pound bear. It was just a baby. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
I am a parent of a student at Letcher County Central High School and I would just like to say that every time I have gone in there to pick my child up there is one certain secretary who talks to you like you are a dog. I think someone needs to talk to her. Thank you.
I just want to comment on the school being in session on Memorial Day. I have never disagreed with anything so much in my life. I think it is a shame that Supt. Anna Craft and that board decided to make these children show such disrespect to our children as she did by making these children go to school on Memorial Day. That is so disrespectful. We wouldn't have the freedom and choices that we make if it weren't for the heroes who gave their lives fighting for us. I think it is awful that our kids were made to go to school on that day. Shame on you, Supt. Craft.
This goes out to some elementary schools: You need to quit bullying our kids. For example, you have said if a kid gets into trouble, this means if one kid hits another and the other kid hits the other one to get them off them, this is considered bullying not just taking your part or trying to help yourself. OK, these kids are punished for this whether it is after school or Saturday school. This child has been punished for their fight or whatever they have gotten in trouble for. OK, it is over with. No, about six weeks later the school gives the kids a trip to Fugate's Water Park. But you see, the ones that have been in a fight are mistreated again because they cannot attend this trip. Do you all not have any common sense? You do not punish kids twice. Well, for your trip you take it and shove it you know put it where the sun doesn't shine. Don't worry yourself. I have already explained to my little one that you are mistreating them. Saturday, I will be taking my kids to Fugate's Water Park and we will be wearing bathing suits but I won't make her wear a T-shirt over her swimsuit like you are making the girls wear on your trip. How fun.
If Suboxone will keep these kids off OxyContin I think they should give it to addicts free of charge. UNITE is so afraid of this new, wonderful drug that they are busting people daily over it. You can't even get high on Suboxone. You can't feel the effects of any other narcotics while taking it. Doctors and clinics in this region make this medicine so expensive that addicts can't even afford to buy it. Just think what a wonderful county we could live if these kids and adults could have this wonderful drug. Suboxone could make everyone's lives better. Why is UNITE fighting this? Give it to the addicts. It's all a racket. That's all it is. UNITE doesn't want the addicts off drugs.
You live in Haymond. If something happens to my little niece, you won't live to the first snowfall. Leave her alone. I know you are using her. You are the cause of a lot of things. I hope you read this because I am God Almighty serious and Abraham Lincoln dead to what I am telling you. Bye.
I've seen it all now. Lady with her slick, black Nissan Altima covered over, borrowing her kids' vehicle to drive in the rain. You beat all.
I agree with the person talking about Memorial Day. It's a shame and disgrace not to honor a national holiday, especially Memorial Day. What did they teach those kids who attended classes on that day? Some say all they did was watch T.V. and act a fool. Shame, shame.
You know it's a very rare occasion to see someone do something for someone in this day and age out of kindness without wanting something in return for their time and effort. I'm referring to the security guard in the little red truck that stopped and helped me and my husband and two kids. You never thought twice. You got out in the cold rain and spent a good 15 minutes in the pouring rain to try to get the car started, and when you couldn't you lay on the ground to hook chains to the car and to your truck and pulled us home. That is what makes a good person. To whoever you are, thank you so much. I know there are a few good caring people out there. If anyone knows this person, please let us know in next week's paper. My family would like to reward this gentleman for the good deed.
You say absolutely no. I say absolutely no, too because she is younger than you and prettier than you and she doesn't have the smell that you have on your body.
She says she loves me, but I don't love her. I only loved one person in my whole life and that was you, but you don't love me.
BP, you had the audacity that you all would retrieve every drop of oil spilled. Idiots, look at what you did. It's time for you to back off . Let the military go in there and shut this thing down.
This is from one friend to another that lives in Dunham: I saw you in town the other day and I spoke to you and your two little ones. You crouched down like I was going to bite their heads off . Honey, you need to come off your high horse, because you are not that high and mighty. You have changed. What is wrong with you? I guess old age has caught up with you. From now on when I throw my hand up at you, wave at me because you are nothing. You are the same old person I knew years ago. Honey, if you have high expectations like your mom does, you'll never have anything in this world because you are too stuck up. You want everything on a silver platter and you will never find anyone because you want too much.


As described in the CMEF, output indicators are designed to measure the activities directly realised within the programme's measures. These activities are the first step towards realising the operational objectives of the intervention and are measured in physical or monetary units. On the basis of the data communicated for the programming years 2007 to 2012, an aggregation at the EU27 level has been undertaken in order to show the state of realisation of the Rural Development Programmes. The following tables – and accompanying charts – provide a picture at the European level, with a breakdown per Member State. For a comprehensive overview of the output indicators at EU27 level please refer to the summary table available in the specific section. (click here) For a complete list of the Output indicators and related fiches, please see Annex 3.H of the CMEF.
For further information on single measures, click the Axis title.
1) All physical and financial data reported derive from the monitoring tables submitted by the Managing Authorities of the RDPs along with the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Annual Progress Reports (APR). Data refer to the programming years 2007 to 2012. Only commitments made from year 2007 onwards are considered.
For the output indicators, only aggregation at MS and EU27 level is provided.


Not sure which section this belongs to, but Off-Topic is always a safe bet.
Anyway, I was hoping to mess around with some 3D models of ships and generally just have some fun putting things where they shouldn't. I don't plan to use these models in-game (Yamato turrets on tier 1 Katori anyone), just to screw around.
I need to figure out how to import 3D ship models into Unity. I've messed around, but haven't had any luck. I downloaded the models from places like here. Any help would be very much appreciated. Be sure to put it into simple terms, I haven't figured Unity out yet.
I highly doubt you will get any WG modeled ships into any 3d program as those models are licensed. You would be better off to search the internet for 3d models like TurboSquid and others. Another way is to buy a cheap 3d scanner and buy some toy models and scan them off to assemble to what you want. The main thing is the file format as there are plenty of different ones. - DXF probably being the oldest and others like 3dS max. which were quite popular. But there are conversion programs but some conversion do not always work as they should either.


Pennsylvania Athletic Trainer Continuing Education Requirements: Must maintain current certification with the BOC that includes completing 50 hours of CE every 2 years.
The National Athletic Trainer's Association Board of Certification (BOC) is the national governing body responsible for credentialing Athletic Trainers (AT). In order to maintain current AT certification, individuals must meet BOC continuing education (CE) requirements. A total of fifty (50) hours of CE is required every two (2) years. There are two categories of CE - Level I and Level II. Level I involves BOC approval and Level II does not. There are 2 CE categories within Level I. The first is Evidenced Based Practice which requires a minimum of 10 hours and a maximum of 50 hours. The second is Category A which allows up to a maximum of 40 hours. Although CEUs are no longer awarded for emergency cardiac care (ECC) certification, ATs need to be current with the ECC requirements throughout the reporting period.
Pennsylvania Athletic Trainer Continuing Education requirements posted on this page are based upon the most up to date information available. Pennsylvania Athletic Trainer continuing education requirements are subject to change and therefore, Pennsylvania Athletic Trainer licensees are ultimately responsible for being up to date with the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainer continuing education requirements.


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CCSP solution is ideal for business process outsourcers, large enterprise customers who want to deploy multiple disparate contact centres, and service providers who want to offer contact centre in the Cloud to their customers using a single hardware infrastructure.
Enghouse Interactive is the 4th largest Cloud Contact Centre provider globally and empowers service providers such as BT Global Services, Telefonica and Orange Business Services to deliver Cloud contact centre solutions to enhance their services portfolio in the market and generate new revenue streams.
With CCSP, you can bring new contact centres online within days, enjoy low total cost of ownership with true multi-tenant architecture, and offer zero-downtime business continuity to your customers.
Additionally, customers who want the flexibility of Cloud Contact Centre solutions without having to invest in the hardware, Enghouse Interactive can help you find the best partner that meets your organisation's needs as you take the journey into the cloud.
After deploying cloud contact centre GSK describe how they have benefitted from cost savings, improved customer satisfaction, flexible deployment, home working and full multi-media capability.
Enghouse Interactive unique offerings is a highly scalable, carrier-grade, multi-channel contact centre platform that was architected from the ground up more than a decade and a half ago for multi-tenant, cloud-based delivery of contact center as a service. Therefore our partners can offer the true flexibility of a truly cloud pay as you go offer.
Multi-tenancy is the key enabler for creation of public cloud and community cloud contact centre services since it empowers providers to securely host multiple companies and/or business units on a single shared platform.
Through our partners cloud means only paying for the services you need, when you need them, so you can easily adjust for seasonal spikes or unexpected events without unnecessary expense. With multiple commercial offering you can rest assured we have the right solution for you.
All-IP Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) provides queuing and routing for all contact types, including phone, video, email, chat and more. All contact types are seamlessly blended into a single queuing and routing intelligence (the "UQ"), and all can follow the same call flow and routing rules. In addition, all contact types are tracked and managed through one database and one set of reports. Forms-based tools define routing rules, and simple GUI scripting tools enable advanced data-driven and skills-based routing plans.
Outbound dialing supports multiple dialing modes for different business needs. Predictive dialing uses sophisticated algorithms based on real-time massive simulation to dynamically control the dialing rate and immediately route successful calls to available agents.
In preview dialing mode, users see target information and confirm call placement before each call is dialed. In progressive mode, users can review information as the call is being dialed. With IVR dialing, successful out dials are routed to an IVR script which may include eventual transfer to an agent. The dialing suite also includes comprehensive answering machine detection capabilities and the ability to leave a message if required.
Must call centres move to the Cloud to keep in tune with customers?


In this tutorial, you will learn how to read and write VCF files.
This tutorial shows how to read and write VCF files using the VcfFileIn and VcfFileOut classes. It starts out with a quick reminder on the structure of VCF files and will then continue with how to read and write VCF files and access the tags of a record.
Note that this tutorial is targeted at readers that already know about the VCF format. If you do not know about the VCF format yet, then this tutorial will be harder for your to understand.
an arbitrary number of records.
The information of (1) and (2) will be read and written together as the "header" of the file. For simple variants such as SNPs and small indels, each record corresponds to a variant. More complex variants can be stored in multiple records (see the VCF standard on "breakends" for more information).
The vcf_io module of SeqAn allows to read and write VCF files record-wise. Since the structure of the fields in the VCF format often is very complex and the format undergoes changes in this respect, SeqAn only offers basic parsing functionality: The position is stored as a 0-based integer, reference names are stored in a reference name store (similar as in the SAM and BAM I/O Tutorial), and the quality is stored as a float value.
The remaining fields have to be parsed from and composed as strings in the user's application.
This section gives a very brief overview of the VCF file structure. For more details, see the VCF Format Specification (v4.2).
20	14370	rs6054257	G	A	29	PASS	NS=3;DP=14;AF=0.5;DB;H2	GT:GQ:DP:HQ	0|0:48:1:51,51	1|0:48:8:51,51	1/1:43:5:.,.
The file starts with meta information lines (starting with ##) with a key/value structure. The most important lines have the keys contig, INFO, FILTER, and FORMAT.
These lines give valid keys (and the format of the values) for the INFO column.
Valid values of the FILTER column.
Valid entries for the INFO column.
The meta information lines are followed by the header line which gives the names of the first 9 columns which are always the same (CHROM, POS, ID, REF, ALT, QUAL, FILTER, INFO, FORMAT) and a non-empty list of sample names. The columns are separated by spaces.
The header line is followed by the records which contains a value for each column in the header.
Name of the chromosome/reference sequence that the variant lies on.
The 1-based position of the variant.
A name of the variant. . is used if no name is available.
The value of the reference allele.
The alternate allele values (multiple values are comma-separated).
Quality value of the call (float).
A value for the filter result (given in a FILTER meta information line).
Colon-separated list of entries that are found for each variant.
The 9 mandatory columns are followed by as many columns as there are individuals. For each individual, there is a colon-separated list of values in the order given in the FORMAT cell.
In text representations, such as VCF, 1-based closed intervals are used whereas in the internal binary data structures, SeqAn uses 0-based half-open intervals. When fields are read as text, numbers are not translated, of course.
The following example shows a program that reads the file example.vcf and prints its contents back to the user on standard output.
The program first opens a VcfFileIn for reading the file, then a VcfFileOut for writing it. First, the header is copied by means of a VcfHeader object that we will see below. Then, the input file is read record by record and written out to standard output. The alignment records are read into VcfRecord objects which we will focus on below.
Create a file with the sample VCF content from above and adjust the path "example.vcf" to the path to your SAM file (e.g. "/path/to/my_example.sam").
Sequence information from the VCF header is stored in the VcfIOContext. The VcfIOContext of a VcfFileIn can be accessed through the function context. The VCF sequence informations can be in turn accessed through functions contigNames and sampleNames. All remaining VCF header information is stored in the class VcfHeader.
StringSet<CharString> genotypeInfos;  // <individual1> <individual2> ..
// This function returns the float value for "invalid quality".
The static members INVALID_POS and INVALID_REFID store sentinel values for marking positions and reference sequence ids as invalid. The static funtion MISSING_QUAL() returns the IEEE float "NaN" value.
A VcfRecord is linked to a reference sequence by the field rID and to samples by genotypeInfos. The sequence information is stored in the VCF header and kept in the VcfIOContext.
The reference sequence information from the VCF header is stored inside the VcfIOContext of its VcfFileIn. You can obtain the number of contigs from the length of the contigNames.
// Get array of counters.
// Register record with counters.
Write a program that manually creates the VCF file from above and than prints it back on standard output.
// Fill and write out headers - This is somewhat tedious.
// Fill and write out the record.


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text:
Torre Clementina è stata una torre costiera situata nel territorio del comune di Fiumicino. Fu distrutta durante la seconda guerra mondiale ma nonostante ciò, dopo il distacco dal comune di Roma del Municipio XIV nel 1992 la torre è divenuta simbolo di Fiumicino apparendo nello stemma e nel gonfalone comunali.

Storia
La torre fu realizzata nel 1773 su ordine di papa Clemente XIV, da cui prese il nome, per sostituire la torre Alessandrina, trasformata in dogana visto l'allontanamento della linea di costa, nella funzione di torre di guardia costiera. La costruzione fu realizzata a circa 500 metri di distanza dalla precedente. Il progetto originale è conservato presso l'Archivio di Stato di Roma, anche se dal materiale fotografico è possibile immaginare che non fosse stato applicato pedissequamente. Una ricostruzione della struttura originaria della torre può essere effettuata sulla base di un affresco conservato presso il Salone del biliardo del palazzo Pontificio di Castel Gandolfo.

Nel 1808 le truppe ivi stanziate respinsero due navi dopo una battaglia durata tre giorni. Nei secoli successivi ospitò il castellano di Fiumicino e fu utilizzata anche dalla Regia Guardia di Finanza. Fu distrutta alle 18:00 del 30 aprile 1944 dai soldati tedeschi in ritirata, con l'intento di non lasciare postazioni strategiche o difensive agli Alleati.

Nel secondo dopoguerra fu realizzata una sorta di replica della torre denominata torre dei Piloti e nel 1982 la via sulla quale era posizionata fu chiamata "via della Torre Clementina". Con il distacco del Municipio XIV dal comune di Roma nel 1992, la torre fu scelta come stemma del neonato comune di Fiumicino, che presenta una rappresentazione ideale della torre tinta di rosso.

Descrizione

La torre si presentava come un parallelepipedo rettangolare poggiato su un tronco di piramide, che costituiva la scarpa, con un'altezza complessiva di circa 20 metri e una larghezza alla base di circa 10 metri per lato.

Il terrazzo era leggermente sporgente e oltre alle garitte di vedetta vi era un pennone rialzato per le segnalazioni e la comunicazione con le altre postazioni difensive.

La facciata rivolta verso il paese presentava una targa marmorea sovrastata dallo stemma papale di Clemente XIV che recitava:

La scala di accesso alla torre era posta sulla facciata rivolta verso il paese e la parte finale di quest'ultima era inizialmente ripiegabile, in modo tale da ostacolare l'ingresso alla torre.

Note

Architetture di Fiumicino

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Simon Bertram·
The 10 Best Cars Overall For 2021
Going Car Shopping? Be Sure to Check These Segment Leaders
Auto Brands
The Best of the Best in the Non-Luxury Car Segment
Ranked: The Best Cars Overall for 2021
2021 Kia Cadenza
TIE 2021 Kia Rio5
TIE 2021 Toyota Avalon
2021 Hyundai Veloster
2021 Kia K5
It is always a difficult task to determine the top ten of anything, be it cars, songs, favorite sports teams, and the like.
As such, for our list, we've gone the overall objective route of letting the numbers speak for themselves, with our overall subjective score for the cars determining their objective placement on this list.
These are the cars that we found to be the best value for the money, with the best driving feel and equipment. These are the cars that we think anyone would be happy to own.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 cars for 2021.
ALSO READ: If you're car shopping for cars, you may also be interested in the best small luxury car list and best midsize luxury car list for 2021. If you're truck shopping, check out our best trucks list.
1. 2021 Honda Accord
Base Price:$24,770-$36,700
Updates: Minor
0-60 mph: 5.6-7.0 sec
Fuel Economy: City 29- 48 mpg / Hwy 31-48 mpg
Basic Warranty: 3 years / 36,000 miles
Our Rating: 9.0/10
Our Thoughts: Pros & Cons
Summary: As the family sedan segment shrinks, Honda produces a car that could turn that trend around
Pros: Precise and agile handling for a car this size, excellent engines, spacious and upscale feeling interior
Cons: Less interior storage than many competitors, some mild blind spots
Honda has been making the Accord for decades, and for decades it has been the #1 recommended buy for someone looking for a practical, stylish, decently powerful and fun to drive family sedan. It's no different for 2021, with another home run hit by Honda.
Minor upgrades from the 2020 model make the optional 8-inch infotainment screen now standard in all models, as well as a new safety feature that we would love to see become standard across the industry: rear seat check. What this does is that after the car is unlocked, if either of the rear doors was opened before the car moves, the onboard computer will pop a message up on the infotainment screen when the engine is shut off to check the rear seat.
Powering the entire line are three engines. The standard is a 1.5L turbocharged inline-four with variable boost sensing, which sports 192 HP. The upper echelon of the model range gets a 2.0L turbocharged inline-four with a grunty 252 HP. A dual electric motor hybrid is available that pairs with the 1.5L engine.
However, what gets people to drive cars is the feel of them, and Honda has not dropped the ball here. Cornering effort is easy, there is little to no body roll, and the car communicates just enough information without making the ride uncomfortable. Added to that is laser-sharp steering that gives a confident turn-in and very neutral dynamic feel that will move to mild understeer if you push it too hard.
It's not hard to see why the 2021 Accord has earned our accolade as the best budget-friendly car of 2021. It checks all the boxes: comfortable, fun to drive, economical, utilitarian, and has Honda's trademark reliability.
2. 2021 Mazda 3 Sedan
Fuel Economy: City 24-27 mpg / Hwy 31-36 mpg
Summary: A sharp sedan with a hatchback twin that loves to live in the city. Easily the best small sedan you can buy in 2021.
Pros: Upgraded design language over previous generations, premium-feeling interior at a bargain price, excellent engine options
Cons: Some blind spot issues on the hatchback, road noise at freeway speeds is prevalent
The Mazda 3 sedan and hatchback models have been challenging the small car segment for a while now, with incremental upgrades added each model refresh. Now in its fourth generation, the venerable little car has finally unseated its Japanese rival in the Honda Civic as the quintessential recommended buy.
While not as fast as its predecessors, Mazda's KODO design language of making cars "human-centric" has meant that the car is an absolute blast to drive. It is light on its feet, agile, with just enough road feel to be communicative but not uncomfortable.
Power comes from three excellent, efficient engines: a 2.0L inline-four with 155 HP, a 2.5L inline-four with 186 HP, and that same 2.5L engine with a turbo that puts out a gutsy 250 HP.
As well, an all-wheel-drive version of the higher-spec Premium, 2.5 Turbo, and 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus models is coming in mid-2021. While the Honda Civic is still a better selling car, Mazda has definitely focused its attention and is starting to steal away some market share.
In deciding between the Mazda 3 and the Honda Accord for top honors, the only thing that truly put the Mazda 3 in second place was subjective feel. Having driven both, we felt that the Accord felt a little bit more open, a bit more overall friendly to the everyday driver. Keep in mind, the difference between the spots was only 0.1 points, so realistically, both cars are definitely on our recommended buy list!
3. 2021 Kia Cadenza
Base Price: $37,850-$43,550
0-60 mph: 6.2+ sec
Summary: The Cadenza offers luxury-brand levels of comfort and features, at a price point that makes it actually attainable.
Pros: Very smooth engine and power delivery, luxury cabin without luxury pricetag, Kia's exceptional warranty
Cons: No real excitement when driving, numb steering, rear seats do not fold down for extra cargo room
The Kia Cadenza is probably the biggest gauntlet-slap-across-the-face challenge to the established European and American luxury brand companies with lower priced cars that can be given. Nicely styled, with standard features that many other companies will charge you exorbitant amounts for, it is the best value for a full-sized car today.
Providing the power to get the Cadenza rolling is a refined, powerful 3.3L V6 that puts out 290 HP, mated to a driving-style selectable automatic transmission. Want to cruise around the city? Set it into drive and go on your merry way. Want to have a bit more involvement? Simply move the gear select into sport or pull one of the paddle-shifters on the wheel, and it drops it into sport mode.
The interior is where the real feature set gets shown off. Standard heated front seats. Standard 12.3 inch wide infotainment display with included navigation. A wireless phone charger built into the center console cubby. Remote start standard. LED lighting all around. Fine leather and wood grain finish in the cabin. Dual-zone front climate control, and single-zone rear climate control. So many driver assists it would take an entire article on its own to describe them.
Truly, the only failing point of the Cadenza is that the rear seats don't fold down to allow for large pieces of cargo to be carried. It is also, as are most luxury-level cars, a bit numb on the steering without any real excitement transmitted through the wheels.
What impressed us the most about the Kia Cadenza was, quite honestly, how strongly that 3.3L V6 pulled. The gearing is set up perfectly, and when planting your foot at pretty much any revs, it just surges power through the wheels and you definitely feel it. It doesn't crush you into your seat, but it will make your eyes widen noticeably with just how smoothly it pulls, and how much torque makes it to the road.
4. 2021 Hyundai Sonata
Updates: Unchanged
Summary: The Sonata lives up to its name, singing to the driver through a premium feeling interior, great dynamics, and a ton of standard features
Pros: Low drag exterior design, luxury-grade interior, superb fuel efficiency, outstanding 10 year powertrain warranty
Cons: Not as much get-up-and-go as the Honda Accord, can be jarring on extremely rough roads
Hyundai and its sub-brand Kia have been rewriting the book on expectations of what a new car should have as standard, and what a warranty for that new car should be. The South Korean manufacturer has made sure that the 2021 Sonata is no different.
Even the lowest spec SE model has a 191 HP 2.5L engine, 16-inch alloys, an 8.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 8-speed automatic, forward collision avoidance automatic braking, lane follow assist, rear camera… the list goes on and on.
The SEL Plus and Limited models get a 1.6L turbocharged four that produces 180 HP. While this is lower than the lower-spec models, it's the nearly 200 lbs-ft of torque that gives this spec the performance edge. So much so, that for these models, Hyundai has partnered with Pirelli to equip new cars with the sublime Pirelli P-Zero performance tires.
Leather seats with leatherette/dinamica suede swathe the interior in a luxury feel, and upper spec models get a fully digital TFT instrument cluster. As well, all specs get standard LED daytime, head-, and highbeam- lights, which are often high spec options on other midsized cars.
Even more exciting, for those with a bit of a kid-racer inside of them, Hyundai has announced that a Sonata N is coming, with tuning and upgrades from the company's racing department. It is expected to have a 2.5L turbocharge inline-four with nearly 300 HP, and possible all-wheel-drive. So far, however, no news or specs have been announced, so we can't include it (yet) in this listing.
The Hyundai Sonata is the car on this list that we think is one of the most understated. It has sharp looks, but it also is subtle in the way that some Audi's just blend into the landscape. Yet, for less than $30,000 for a reasonably equipped one, you get levels of comfort and luxury, as well as interior quality, that are a miles above what a car of this price should cost. This is a firm statement from Hyundai, and we like that they are being bold enough to earn the respect they are earning.
TIE 5. 2021 Kia Rio5
Base Price: $16,790
0-60 mph: 8.6 sec
Fuel Economy: City 33 mpg / Hwy 41 mpg
Basic Warranty: 10 years / 100,000 miles
Summary: The 2021 Kia Rio5 is exactly what a small city hatchback should be. Easy to drive, extremely effiecient, well equipped for a great price
Pros: Sporty styling, large-for-its-size hatchback room, comfortably seats 4 full adults for carpooling
Cons: Engine can bog a little in lower revs, road and wind noise can be intrusive above 60 MPH
Out of left field, Kia has quietly and constantly introducing better and better versions of their cars ever since the big turnaround the company did in the late 2000s. Instead of the laughing stock cheap cars, many competitors struggle to equip their cars as well as the Rio5 is and keep a straight face on the price.
Featuring a gutsy little 1.6L inline-four, the Kia Rio5 puts out 120 HP. That may not sound like much, but the littlest Kia is a lightweight at 2,762 lbs. It was designed in South Korea, a country with packed cities and tight streets to navigate, and that translates across the Pacific excellently to places such as Los Angeles and New York.
Add to that an extremely well-appointed feature set. Two-stage heated front seats, 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with rearview camera as standard, remote keyless entry, a variable 6-speed automatic transmission that is nearly telepathic in its shift points, and 17.5 cubic feet of space in the hatch… with the rear seats up!
A nice chunky, thick steering wheel also makes the car feel a lot more premium than a budget car should. Add to that the in-city fuel efficiency of 33 MPG, paired with a 12-gallon fuel tank, and you can realistically drive the little Rio5 for almost 400 miles between fill-ups.
And all of that starting at a whisker under $17,000!
What impressed the most about the diminutive Kia Rio5 is that it is just absolutely the perfect size as a city runabout. The standard features on this little pup are night on unbelievable for its price range compared to pretty much any rival, and it feels a lot faster than it is because of how low you sit in it (with lots of headroom!) and the fact that you get that thick steering wheel in your hands.
Author's note: I personally owned a 2013 Kia Rio5 for 5 years before trading it in for my current 2017 Ford Fiesta ST. One of the best cars I've ever owned. Just sporty enough, huge range, great reliability, and could carry flat pack stuff from IKEA… just.
TIE 5. 2021 Toyota Avalon
Base Price: $35,875-$$43,000
Summary: A Japanese full-sized sedan that is polarizing, but powerful
Pros: Very efficient engine for the size, a trunk capable of carrying an elephant, standard features list is impressive
Cons: Very polarizing exterior looks, AWD only on one trim, infotainment stuck in the early 2000's
The Toyota Avalon is one of those cars that definitely ranks in the love-it-or-hate-it section of looks. The standard Avalon does have an aggressive nose that ties into the Toyota Gazoo Racing-styled cars such as the GR Supra and some of the Lexus luxury brand sport models, but the hybrid model, in efforts to make it as slippery as possible, looses most of the fun nose in exchange for better aerodynamics.
The Avalon comes with three distinct powerplants, across 6 sub-models. The top-spec engine is a 3.5L dual-injection system V6 with 301 HP, mated to an 8-speed sport automatic. The other gas-only spec is a 2.5L liter inline-four that, despite not having a turbocharger, makes a respectable 205 HP.
The hybrid model combines a detuned and more economical version of the 2.5L engine that produces 176 HP, combined with a high-output electric motor that has the equivalent of 118 HP. Toyota's brochure states that when both engines are working together, they produce 215 HP in equivalent force.
In terms of being a full-sized car, however, the Avalon has one of the best features available: a trunk combined with fold-down rear seats. The trunk itself is massive at 16 cubic feet of space but expands to nearly 65 cubic feet with the rear seats down.
As well, being a Toyota, there is very little that can go wrong, as they are known for building some of the most reliable, long-lasting cars and engines in the world. We only wish that the infotainment system would not fall into that long-lasting spectrum, as it doesn't seem to have been updated since 2010.
The Toyota Avalon is one of the suprises we discovered when forming these rankings and this list as a while. We much prefer the non-hybrid models for the front nose look, but cannot deny that the hybrid engine model does have some serious get up and go due to the instant torque from the electric motor. And then there is the absolutely cavernous cargo space with the rear seats folded down. It honestly earned a full point on our checklist for that feature alone.
7. 2021 Honda Civic
Summary: The Civic may not be the prettiest, fastest, or most special of the Honda lineup, but it is still a workhorse and, with the Type-R, a warrior
Pros: Sharp styling, interior design by people that understand what drivers want and need to see, monstrously powerful turbocharged models available
Cons: Cheap plastics on lower-priced models, rear-seat headroom on the coupes is non-existent
It wouldn't be a proper small car list without putting the venerable, reliable Honda Civic somewhere near the top. For almost 50 years, Honda's best selling car of all time has carried millions of people to millions of destinations, and due to the fact that the car is known to be almost completely bulletproof, even in the used market, it is still the go-to first car for many 20-something's with their first post-college jobs.
If you just need a car, Honda has your back. For $21,000, you can get a sedan or coupe that will get you from point A to B without fail. 158 HP from a 2.0L inline-four is also enough to haul around friends and family efficiently, as this engine gets 32 MPG in city. A 1.5L turbocharged engine is available for the higher specs of the base coupe or sedan if you need a bit more grunt, and it puts out a respectable 178 HP.
However, if you want to kick things up a notch, the Civic Si coupe is becoming with a 205 HP engine paired with adaptive dampers and a 6-speed manual to get your heart beating a little faster. And if you truly want to have the best sports hatch under $40,000, the Civic Type-R is ready to rip your face off with 306 HP and a monstrous 295 lbs-ft of torque, while staying comfortable above the 20 MPG mark that denotes "efficient" from "excess."
There's a reason Honda seemingly can't build the Civic models fast enough… they have a version for everyone, and everyone has a favorite Civic.
The Honda Civic impresses year after year, and this year is no different. While it has met some new competition in the much improved Mazda 3, there is no denying that no matter where you look on American roads, you'll often see more than one. And it ties back into the fact that there really is a Civic for everyone, although we personally, being car people, would take the Civic Si or Type-R…
8. 2021 Hyundai Veloster
Summary: At one time thought quirky and weird, the Veloster, through sheer driving feel, is now seen as a viable and fun small car
Pros: Small on the outside but huge inside, excellent hatchback cargo space, an absolute blast to drive
Cons: The 3 main door setup can be awkward in tight parking lots, some cheap feeling plastics in the cabin around the center stack area on lower specs
The Hyundai Veloster is an example of perseverance by a company that knows they have a great small car to sell. The first model generations available in the US unfortunately were mocked for having their jutting lower bumper spitter and some odd styling around the air intake. That changed in 2018 when Hyundai, after a few years back at the drawing board, brought forth a sharp, exciting shape that completely reversed opinions.
With that refresh also came a more powerful base engine, a 147 HP 2.0L engine that is more than enough for the tiny car. However, Hyundai realized that Americans can, at times, be a bit power-hungry, so for just $5k more than base price, a turbocharged 1.6L engine produces 201 HP and smashes a grin onto the face of anyone that puts their foot to the floor in it.
The Veloster keeps getting better, with a whopping 20 cubic feet of cargo space in its hatch with the rear seats up. It will comfortably seat two adults up front, although if you're taller than 6'2″, the rear seats can be a bit of a squeeze, and are only accessible from the right side of the car.
A variety of transmissions are available, from an excellent dynamic 6 speed automatic, a 7-speed DCT dual-clutch semi-automatic, and a snappy, great feeling 6-speed manual.
And, if you want to experience what Hyundai's racing division can do to a Veloster, for $27,600, you can get yourself a Veloster N, a 250 HP 2.0L turbocharged weapon that carves a curved line through physics with its superb handling. It's the perfect Office on Friday, Racetrack on Saturday car for the responsible adult with that little kid inside of them.
For the Veloster that was tested for this list, it was the 6-speed Turbo manual model. And it was one of those manuals you really could kick the clutch in, heel-toe to rev match that wonderful turbo engine, and slot the shifter home as you let up on the clutch. We're extremely happy that Hyundai is finally bringing the N-spec models over, and we can't wait to give the Veloster N a go as the big brother of the Turbo model!
9. 2021 Kia K5
Base Price: $23,490 – $30,490
Updates: New vehicle
Fuel Economy: City 32+ mpg / Hwy38+ mpg depending on engine
Summary: The replacement for the excellent Optima comes with more tech, more options, and the sharp styling modern Kia's are known for
Pros: Excellent value for a mid-sized 4 door sportback sedan, optional AWD, 5-star NHTSA safety rating
Cons: Driver's seat quite high, not the most communicative steering, somewhat anemic low-end power before turbo kicks in
Kia has been riding on a wave of great cars since the major overhaul that they underwent across the range in the late 2000s. New build quality standards, new production facilities, and heavy investment into more efficient engines and some hybrid options have moved them from a bargain-brand into a competitive and well-regarded mainstream brand.
One of the paragons of their success was the Kia Optima, a mid-sized family sedan that was superbly equipped for the mid-$20k price you paid for it. Now, however, the Optima is being quietly discontinued so that Kia's new mid-size sedan, the K5, can move in.
The K5 is available with either a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-four making 180 HP and 195 lbs-ft of torque across the majority of the range or, in the GT spec, a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four with 290 HP and 311 lbs-ft of torque. All specs come with an 8-speed automatic transmission, with the GT's automatic being a Dual Clutch Transmission with paddle shifters on the steering column.
While Kia's are not widely known for their power, what they are known for is just how much you get for your hard-earned cash. Even the base LX model comes with 16-inch alloys, LED lighting all around, an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, dual-zone climate control, remote keyless entry, driver lane, and departure assist… we could go on. With Kia, what are options or part of optional packages are standard and included in the base price.
Even more exciting is the upcoming AWD option in early 2021 on the EX and GT models. If you live in the North of the country, or up in Canada, you'll know how valuable all-wheel-drive can be when the going gets slippery and steep.
While we are sad to see the excellent and reliable Optima silently slipped off the model list, the K5 is more than worth it as a replacement. It really nails it in the looks department with that bow-tie front grille that speaks of subtle aggression and the swooping sportback design. We just wish the driver's seat would go lower, as a few of us are quite tall individuals and fitting in the K5 took some neck gymnastics.
10. 2021 Nissan Maxima
0-60 mph: 5,8+ sec
Summary: A sports car this is not, but the Maxima does have the under-hood grunt to get the heart beating
Pros: Slick modern styling, a grunty V6 is standard, features set is good on the low end of the pricing and just gets better the higher you go
Cons: CVT sucks the life out of the driving experience, not as much cargo space as rivals
In a list of full-size cars, something called the Maxima just fits in like it was meant to be. Yet, there is something about this big beast of a car that makes it seem more than just a big chassis with four wheels and a body on top of it.
The real heart of it is that the engine is of the legendary VQ like of Nissan V6's. The VQ V6's have appeared in some cars you may have heard of, such as the Nissan 350 and 370 Z cars, and was the basis for the VR36DETT engine in the astounding Nissan GT-R.
Providing 300 HP and a grunty 261 lbs-ft of torque, the 3.5L VQ V6 in the Maxima easily makes it the fastest accelerating foreign car on today's list, by a country mile. It also isn't afraid to unleash some of that classic Nissan howl when pushed hard.
The fun of the engine, however, is countered by the fact that all trims, despite having sport mode buttons and great comfort and cabin features, are equipped with a CVT. This sucks all the fun of hearing the engine climb through multiple sets of revs and instead makes it almost into a flat droning sound.
A DCT or even a classic 6-speed manual option would shoot this car to the top of this list without question, but alas, this is the age of efficiency, and CVT's are seeming to be the way forwards.
As always, Nissan's Maxima impresses with the pure rowdy power of its V6. It is also quite comfortable and the doors are big enough for a 6'1″ author of this list to easily enter and exit. The truly tragic part of the Maxima, however, is that there is no option for a DCT or even sport-shift automatic. The CVT doesn't let the engine properly climb through the revs, and being a bit old fashioned, we like the rise-shift-rise-shift sound of an engine as part of the driving experience.
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