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Justia › US Law › Case Law › South Dakota Case Law › South Dakota Supreme Court Decisions › 1959 › Brewster v. FC Russell Company
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Brewster v. FC Russell Company
99 N.W.2d 42 (1959)
Charles L. BREWSTER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. F. C. RUSSELL COMPANY, a corporation, Defendant and Respondent.
No. 9765-r-FB.
Supreme Court of South Dakota.
November 4, 1959.
*43 Paul E. Mundt, Sioux Falls, for plaintiff-appellant.
Blaine Rudolph (of Bogue & Rudolph), Canton, for defendant-respondent.
BIEGELMEIER, Judge.
This appeal involves questions of the sufficiency of service of the summons and of the jurisdiction of the courts of South Dakota. Plaintiff's verified complaint alleges that defendant is an Ohio corporation which is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and promotion of the Rusco products; that it does business in South Dakota through authorized representatives; that plaintiff for several years worked as a Rusco salesman and sold its products through H. S. Price Company; that defendant sponsored a contest for all salesmen engaged in the sale of its products; that plaintiff did considerable work in preparing for the contest; that defendant abruptly terminated the contest; that plaintiff received payment for part of the work he did in the contest and requests various damages, the validity of which are not involved in this appeal. This complaint *44 and a summons were served in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, on one Johnson, stated in the affidavit of service to be the Division Manager and Agent of the defendant. Defendant made a special appearance and moved the court to set aside, vacate and quash the service of the summons and complaint for the insufficiency of service of process in that the defendant was a foreign corporation not doing business in South Dakota and not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts thereof and no service of such papers had been made upon it by service upon the persons or in the manner provided by statute, the motion being based upon the affidavit of H. S. Price. This motion and order to show cause issued for hearing thereon stated they were made on this affidavit and the order was made returnable in three days; the settled record includes an answering affidavit of the plaintiff, Charles L. Brewster, and an affidavit of S. S. Mills; the record does not show that any of these affidavits or the order to show cause were served on the opposing parties or their attorneys but as it shows that the parties appeared at the hearing and no objection was made at that time, or in this court, we assume they were duly served. The circuit court entered its order quashing service of the summons and complaint in which it found that the defendant corporation was not doing business in this state at the time of the alleged service thereof so as to subject itself to the jurisdiction of the State of South Dakota for the purpose of service of process, from which order plaintiff appealed.
SDC 33.0807 provides the methods of service of a summons and so far as pertinent here states:
"The summons shall be served by delivering a copy thereof. Service shall be made as follows: * * * (2) If the action be against a foreign private corporation, on the * * * managing agent thereof; but such service can be made as to a foreign corporation only when * * * the cause of action arose within * * * this state * * *;"
Defendant did not in the lower court, nor here, rely upon the failure of the affidavit of service to state that service was made on a "Managing Agent" thereof as Mars v. Oro Fino Mining Co., 1895, 7 S.D. 607, 65 N.W. 19, indicates and so we consider this question on the whole record in the same manner as the court did on that appeal. As we read the order the circuit court based its decision on the issue that the defendant corporation "was not doing business" in this state at the time the summons and complaint were served and not on the issue of whether Johnson was the Managing Agent; the written opinion of the circuit judge confirms this and while we might pass over this Managing Agent question in that state of the record, we believe it should be considered on this appeal.
Affidavits are unsatisfactory as forms of evidence; they are not subject to cross-examination, combine facts and conclusions and, unintentionally or sometimes even intentionally, may omit important facts or give a distorted picture of them. As to this, Judge Haney in Christiernson v. Hendrie & Bolthoff Mfg. & Supply Co., 1910, 26 S.D. 519, 128 N.W. 603, 604, stated:
"Hence, the difficulty of drawing the line between one who is and one who is not vested with such powers as constitute a `managing' agent within the meaning of the statute, and this difficulty is immeasurably enhanced when, as in this instance, the nature of the agency must be ascertained from ex parte affidavits, the most unsatisfactory of all forms of evidence."
This order being based on affidavits, the decisions stating that the circuit judge is in the better position to observe the witnesses, their manner and demeanor while testifying etc., do not apply; this court is in the same position in that regard as the circuit court. Credit Management Service, Inc. v. Wendbourne, 1955, 76 S.D. 80, *45 72 N.W.2d 926. Thus they are considered much the same as they were there.
The affidavit of service states that the summons and complaint were served on the defendant by delivering and leaving the same with one Johnson, knowing that he was at that time the Division Manager and Agent of the defendant, this service being made in the offices of H. S. Price Company, an authorized distributor of the defendant in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. The affidavit of H. S. Price on defendant's behalf stated that he was president of H. S. Price Rusco Window Company, which is a distributor of metal combination windows known by the trade name Rusco; that Price has various dealers in South Dakota who handle these products; that defendant company does not deal with or sell directly to these dealers but only through Price; that Price buys directly from the defendant and is completely independent of it; all Price's purchases are made directly from and payments are made to the defendant's offices in Ohio; that defendant company maintains no office, sales person or other employees, stock of goods or merchandise in South Dakota, but all installation of defendant company's products are made in South Dakota by the Price Company and none by the defendant; that he is acquainted with said Johnson, an employee of the defendant company who calls on Price about every ninety days at which times he explains new developments concerning defendant's productions, answers questions which may have come up regarding assembly, installation, handling sales or other problems concerning such production; that Johnson does not solicit orders for the defendant company's products nor does he negotiate contracts, prices or other business relating to the purchase by Price of the defendant's products. The Mills' affidavit on defendant's behalf states that he is secretary and assistant treasurer of defendant company; that defendant corporation is not qualified to do business in South Dakota and does not do business therein; that it has no resident manager, agent or sales personnel in South Dakota and maintains no office therein; that it makes sales in interstate commerce to the Price Company in which defendant has no interest or control; that the defendant "maintains a District Manager by the name of E. P. Johnson who is a resident of the State of Minnesota and maintains his office in that state; that the sole activity of said E. P. Johnson in the State of South Dakota was and is the solicitation of sales in interstate commerce by the F. C. Russell Company to the H. S. Price Company; that the State of South Dakota is one of the states in the territory of said E. P. Johnson as such District Manager; that on or about August 28, 1958 said E. P. Johnson was on a business trip through his territory when a Complaint filed by plaintiff, one Charles L. Brewster, against the F. C. Russell Company" was served on Johnson; that Johnson was and is not an agent for defendant for the service of process in South Dakota and has no authority to accept service thereon. Plaintiff's answering affidavit stated among other things that Johnson makes regular trips to South Dakota and to the Price Company; that he is the only representative of the defendant authorized to do the business of said company in South Dakota and that in his duties Johnson solicits sales for the defendant company, consults with H. S. Price about new developments of the company, explains any problems of assembly encountered by the Price Company on defendant's products, conveys information on installation of these products to the Price Company; explains any handling difficulties or aid to the Price Company concerning such merchandise, gives sales talks to salesmen employed by the Price Company using defendant's suggested material, and has sponsored sales contests for the Price Company salesmen promoting the sale of defendant's products; that defendant corporation is doing a regular and thriving business in South Dakota because of the regular shipment of defendant's products into South Dakota and because of the regular solicitation and assistance of Johnson to the Price Company.
*46 In the Mars case this court held that an attorney in fact authorized to sign papers and take necessary steps to secure patents for mining claims was not a "managing agent" for the service of process under Section 4898, Compiled Laws, the predecessor of SDC 33.0807. Black Hills Brewing Co. v. Middle West Fire Ins. Co., 1915, 35 S.D. 130, 151 N.W. 44, held that the term "managing agent" upon whom a notice of levy was required to be served included a general agent for the company authorized to write risks and issue policies for it. Christiernson v. Hendrie & Bolthoff Mfg. Supply Co., supra, presented a similar situation to the case at bar. There the president of the defendant corporation made an affidavit that the only business it did in South Dakota was the taking of orders for the sale of its goods through its traveling salesman and that Brown, upon whom the service of the summons was made, was merely a drummer or traveling salesman for defendant. The plaintiff's affidavit stated that his cause of action arose out of the purchase of an engine from defendant which engine proved defective but that Brown advised plaintiff that he would see to it that defendant corporation made the matter right; that there was later talk with Brown with reference to an adjustment of the differences and Brown offered $50 to settle this which plaintiff refused. At the same time they talked about the purchase of a stamp mill machine from defendant corporation which Brown offered plaintiff at a discount of 25% from the list price. Judge Haney, on this record, believed the defendant's motion to vacate the service of the summons should be sustained, but stated: "However, as a majority of the judges do not concur in these conclusions, other assignments of error require consideration." [26 S.D. 519, 128 N.W. 606.] Judge Whiting, concurring specially, agreed that a new trial should be granted for error in the instructions, but for this majority said:
"I believe the trial court was correct in holding that it had acquired jurisdiction over the defendant through the service of the summons upon the agent Brown. There was, in the affidavits presented to such court, sufficient to justify the court in finding: That said corporation had been doing business within this state, in the selling of mining machinery, for several years, but that it had wholly failed to obey the laws of this state requiring the appointment of an agent upon whom service of papers might be made; that Brown, upon whom it is claimed service was made in this case, was an agent of the company who had been such agent for some time; that every few months he made a certain territory in this state soliciting and taking orders for the machinery sold by the defendant company; that such agent had more or less discretion in the matter of granting terms to purchasers, other than those terms named in the catalogues; and that the company frequently shipped machinery consigned to themselves, which machinery Brown would then deliver. Our statute permits of service upon a managing agent where the foreign corporation is doing business in this state. The only question for our determination then is whether or not said Brown was such an agent as is contemplated by such statute. No fixed rule or criterion can be laid down for determining who are and who are not managing agents, but when, as in this case, a foreign corporation has appointed no agent upon whom service might be madehas no fixed place of business in this stateand does no business here except that of selling machinery upon orders received by mail or such as may be taken by their traveling agent, the court should certainly, if possible, hold that such agentbeing the only person in the state through whom the company does businessis, for the purpose of litigation growing out of such business transacted within this state, a proper agent for service of papers."
*47 In Scholnik v. National Airlines, 6 Cir., 1955, 219 F.2d 115, 120, a District Sales Manager of Capital Airlines was held to be a "managing or general agent" under Federal Rules of Procedure, and a managing agent under the Ohio statute upon whom process could be served as such for the defendant National Airlines.
It is interesting to note that the affidavit made in the present action by the local distributor states: "that E. P. Johnson does not solicit orders" for defendant's products, while the affidavit of the acting secretary and assistant treasurer of defendant states: "that the sole activity of said E. P. Johnson in the State of South Dakota was and is the solicitation of sales in interstate commerce by" the defendant company to Price Company.
From the whole record it appears that Johnson in addition to soliciting sales for defendant company's products, consults with and advises its distributor as to any problems of assembly and installation thereof, gives sales talks to salesmen to stimulate sales and has sponsored sales contests for these products out of which contest this action arose, all of these activities within the state and that while in this state on the business of his employer as its District Manager he has sufficient status and duties to be a Managing Agent within the purview of SDC 33.0807. While the plaintiff's showing is not as complete and detailed as it might be, plaintiffs are usually in a disadvantageous position to make such proof on this issue and the affidavit of Johnson was not presented showing his duties and activities and other detailed facts in connection therewith. Cross-examination of Johnson as an adverse witness or under subpoena as permitted by our law may have evinced these details more clearly and produced the more satisfactory evidence desired by Judge Haney's comments. Such appears to have been done in Scholnik v. National Airlines, supra, and in Frene v. Louisville Cement Co., infra.
It is admitted that Johnson was an agent and employee and has a title of District Manager of the defendant; that he was in this state on the business of the defendant corporation at the time service of process was made on him. Our conclusion is that he was a managing agent thereof as that term is used in SDC 33.0807 and the service of the summons and complaint on him conferred personal jurisdiction of the courts of this state on the defendant corporation unless for some other reason the defendant is immune. By omitting from the order a finding that Johnson was not such agent and making no mention of it in his written opinion but resting it on different grounds it appears that the lower court was of the same opinion on that issue.
In its brief plaintiff claims defendant corporation is and defendant claims it is notdoing business in South Dakota, amenable to service of process or subject to the jurisdiction of the courts thereof. Defendant poses this claim in the following language:
"Consequently, the only issue presented by Appellant's Point I is whether or not under the facts established herein Respondent was doing business in South Dakota at the time of the attempted service of process, so as to subject it to jurisdiction of South Dakota Courts."
and cites and quotes from authorities on this issue.
As a prelude to the consideration of this claim, it may be well to state that decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court are final as to what constitutes interstate commerce; this court has so announced in previous cases. Wyman, Partridge Holding Company v. Lowe, 1937, 65 S.D. 139, 272 N.W. 181; Dakota Photo Engraving Co. v. Woodland, 59 S.D. 523, 241 N.W. 510 and Trans.-Mississippi Grain Co. v. Spracher, 1924, 47 S.D. 262, 197 N.W. 686. Defendant has cited and quoted from the *48 Lowe case in support of its arguments. We can put these cases aside as they involve the application of our foreign corporation law. There is a difference in the right to subject a foreign corporation to the jurisdiction of the courts of a state by the service of process from the power of a state to impose conditions, restrictions or regulations on the corporation's activities in the state. This difference is noted in 23 Am.Jur., Foreign Corporations, § 362.
"If the question relates to the right to subject a foreign corporation to the jurisdiction of the courts in the state through service of process, the point presented is different from the one presented where it relates to the power of the state to impose conditions, restrictions, or regulations upon the corporation's activities in the state. * * * If the issue is whether the corporation is within the purview of statutes relative to foreign corporations transacting business in the state, and imposing burdensome restrictions thereon, the character of the transaction as one of interstate commerce may be decisive, and acts done in addition to the solicitation, if such appear, must be considered in their character as incidents, or not, to such commerce. On the other hand, if the issue is whether the corporation is doing business in such a manner and to such an extent as to make it amenable to the jurisdiction and process of the courts, the interstate character of the transaction is immaterial, and acts other than the solicitation, or even the character and manner of the solicitation itself, may be more persuasive that the corporation is doing business in the state."
In the Woodland opinion, supra [59 S.D. 523, 241 N.W. 511], Judge Roberts speaking for the court recognized this distinction when he said: "The distinction between the presence of a foreign corporation for service of process though doing an exclusive interstate business and the absence for other purposes is of no consequence in the case at bar. See International Harvester Co. v. Kentucky, 234 U.S. 579, 34 S. Ct. 944, 58 L. Ed. 1479." This is the same case that is cited in 23 Am.Jur., supra. In the International Harvester case, the court was presented with the sufficiency of service of process in a criminal proceeding against it by the State of Kentucky and a motion was made to quash the service for the reason it was claimed that it violated the commerce and due process clauses of the Federal Constitution. It is apparent that the Company by written instructions to its agents had attempted to keep from "doing business" in Kentucky, part of the instructions to its agents being "the company's transactions hereafter with the people of Kentucky must be on a strictly interstate commerce basis." Yet the Supreme Court affirmed the state court's decision that it was doing business in the state and that neither the commerce nor the due process clauses of the U. S. Constitution were violated, saying:
"In the case now under consideration there was something more than mere solicitation. In response to the orders received, there was a continuous course of shipment of machines into Kentucky. There was authority to receive payment in money, check, or draft, and to take notes payable at banks in Kentucky. * * * "True, it has been held time and again that a state cannot burden interstate commerce or pass laws which amount to the regulation of such commerce; but this is a long way from holding that the ordinary process of the courts may not reach corporations carrying on business within the state which is wholly of an interstate commerce character. * * * "We are satisfied that the presence of a corporation within a state necessary to the service of process is shown when it appears that the corporation is there carrying on business in such sense as to manifest its presence within the *49 state, although the business transacted may be entirely interstate in its character. In other words, this fact alone does not render the corporation immune from the ordinary process of the courts of the state." [234 U.S. 579, 34 S. Ct. 946.]
One hundred and twenty years ago Chief Justice Taney made the remark that "a corporation can have no legal existence out of the boundaries of the sovereignty by which it is created," and it "must dwell in the place of its creation and cannot migrate to another sovereignty." Bank of Augusta v. Earle, 1839, 13 Pet. 519, 38 U.S. 519, 10 L. Ed. 274. These statements have often been quoted; see 23 Am.Jur., Foreign Corporations, §§ 16, 19 and 20 and cases cited. He explains, however, that this did not bar a corporation from doing business elsewhere than in the state of its creation.
By comity, a corporation may exercise some of its powers to do business by its agents in a state other than that of its origin. Moulin v. Trenton Mutual Life, 25 N.J.L. 57. This is not a legal or constitutional right except a state may not unlawfully impinge interstate commerce. Thomson v. Meridian Life Ins. Co., 1917, 38 S.D. 570, 162 N.W. 373.
Historically, the jurisdiction of a court to render a judgment in personam against a defendant depended upon the presence of the defendant within the territorial jurisdiction of the court. Pennoyer v. Neff, 1877, 5 Ott. 714, 24 L. Ed. 565; Scholnik v. National Airlines, 6 Cir., 1955, 219 F.2d 115. The road we have since traveled has been marked by jurisdiction supported by theories of "Consent" (La Fayette Ins. Co. v. French, 1855, 18 How. 404, 15 L. Ed. 451; Judge Learned Hand in Smolik v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., D.C.S.D. N.Y.1915, 222 F. 148 and Cardozo, J., in Bagdon v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., 1916, 217 N.Y. 432, 111 N.E. 1075, L.R.A.1916F, 407); "Presence" (Philadelphia & Reading R. R. Co. v. McKibbin, 1917, 243 U.S. 264, 37 S. Ct. 280, 61 L. Ed. 710; Hutchinson v. Chase & Gilbert, 2 Cir., 1930, 45 F.2d 139, 142, another opinion by Judge Hand, then on the Court of Appeals, which leans partly on continuous business or dealings, and partly on the inconveniences of being required to defend, in the forum state); and "Doing Business" (Hand, J., supra, and see Rothschild, Jurisdiction of Foreign Corporations in Personam, 1930, 17 Va.L.Rev. 129, and Restatement, Judgments, 1942, § 30, Comm. b.). It was this Judge Hand who in Hutchinson said: "It is quite impossible to establish any rule from the decided cases; we must step from tuft to tuft across the morass".
Frene v. Louisville Cement Co., 1943, 77 App.D.C. 129, 134 F.2d 511, 512, 146 A.L.R. 926 gave opportunity for Judge Rutledge, who the next month was to take his seat as Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, to consider this morass. In that case, the District Court quashed the service of the summons made on one Lovewell, the defendant's employee in the District of Columbia, defendant claiming it was not doing business there. The defendant was a Kentucky corporation. It maintained no office or place of business in the district; Lovewell, the agent, resided in adjoining Maryland; had authority to solicit orders for defendant's products and sold a quantity of its material; had no authority to conclude contracts or make binding sales; when he secured orders he forwarded them to Louisville where they were accepted or rejected; accepted orders were filled in interstate commerce to dealers who in turn supplied them to contractors or consumers; defendant asserted that Lovewell's authority over orders he transmitted ceased and his duties ended then; Lovewell often visited jobs, noted the manner in which products were being used and if any difficulty was being experienced "he would make suggestions as to how to overcome them * * * just to maintain the good relations"; he had no authority finally to make adjustments or compromises and no authority except to solicit orders. The opinion cites many cases in the footnotes, reviews the tradition of personal *50 service, the doing business and presence doctrines of jurisdiction, refers to the basis of the "solicitation plus" theory for jurisdiction and then states:
"In general the trend has been toward a wider assertion of power over nonresidents and foreign corporations than was considered permissible when the tradition about `mere solicitation' grew up * * *. "Solicitation is the foundation of sales. Completing the contract often is a mere formality when the stage of `selling' the customer has been passed. No business man would regard `selling,' the `taking of orders,' `solicitation' as not `doing business.' The merchant or manufacturer considers these things the heart of business. It is perfectly possible, under the `mere solicitation' rule, for a foreign corporation to confine its entire market to a single jurisdiction, yet by carefully limiting its activities there to the soliciting phase, to force each of its customers having cause for legal redress to seek it in the foreign forum of incorporation. By careful segregation of the `selling' phase in the place of market, a substantially complete immunity to liability, in the practical sense, could be created. "It would seem, therefore, that the `mere solicitation' rule should be abandoned when the soliciting activity is a regular continuous and sustained course of business, as it is in this case. It constitutes, in the practical sense, both `doing business' and `transacting business,' and should do so in the legal sense. * * * "He (Lovewell) visited the jobs where defendant's product was being used, made suggestions for solving difficulties which arose in its use, received complaints, forwarded them to the home office and, while he had no authority to make final settlements or contractual adjustments, aided generally both in preventing and in clearing up misunderstandings and difficulties arising in the course of performance of defendant's contracts. * * * "According to that criterion everything an employer or an agent might do which would tend to cause customers to return or new ones to come by learning of the satisfaction of old ones, would be `mere solicitation,' and only acts harmful to the employer's interest would be a part of his business for jurisdictional purposes. The criterion is obviously untenable."
Thus was the setting for a group of cases that were to make their appearance before the U. S. Supreme Court. The first of these was International Shoe Company v. Washington, 1945, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S. Ct. 154, 156, 90 L. Ed. 95, 161 A.L.R. 1057, where the court said:
"The questions for decision are (1) whether, within the limitations of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, appellant, a Delaware corporation, has by its activities in the State of Washington rendered itself amenable to proceedings in the courts of that state to recover unpaid contributions to the state unemployment compensation fund exacted by state statutes, * * * and (2) whether the state can exact those contributions consistently with the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
Congress had expressly provided that a state shall not be prohibited from levying an unemployment tax there challenged so far as the commerce clause was concerned. The Company was a Delaware corporation which had no office or property except shoe samples in Washington; it made no contracts there, it did not deliver the goods in that state but shipped them f. o. b. from outside the state; it did employ salesmen to solicit orders there who rented display rooms within the state. The record suggests as in the International Harvester case that the Company's method of doing business *51 was adopted with the view of avoiding the legislative and judicial power of that state.
The notice of assessment was personally served upon a sales solicitor of the defendant in the State of Washington and a copy was mailed by registered mail to it at its address in St. Louis, Missouri, and the defendant made a special appearance on the ground that service on the salesman was not service on the defendant; that it was not a corporation of the State of Washington and was not doing business within the state and that it had no agent in the state upon whom service could be made, and for other reasons.
Chief Justice Stone speaking for the court said:
"But now that the capias ad respondendum has given way to personal service of summons or other form of notice, due process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' * * *"
Travelers Health Association v. Virginia, 1950, 339 U.S. 643, 70 S. Ct. 927, 94 L. Ed. 1154, brought before the court the jurisdiction of the state corporation commission of the State of Virginia to enter a cease and desist order of the State of Virginia against the Travelers Health Association from further solicitations or sales of certificates to Virginia residents or advertising or using the mail for that purpose until it obtained authority in accordance with its "Blue Sky Law". Service of the notice was made by registered mail only and a special appearance was made to set aside and quash the service of summons. The Supreme Court held that such service met due process requirements and that the Association's soliciting of applications by mail met the minimum contacts yardstick and that jurisdiction existed. Perkins v. Benguet Consol. Mining Co., 1952, 342 U.S. 437, 72 S. Ct. 413, 418, 96 L. Ed. 485, extended the scope of these jurisdictional decisions from approving the service of process, jurisdiction and thus due process where the cause of action arose within the state, to a cause of action that arose outside of the forum state. In that opinion by Justice Burton it is stated:
"Today if an authorized representative of a foreign corporation be physically present in the state of the forum and be there engaged in activities appropriate to accepting service or receiving notice on its behalf, we recognize that there is no unfairness in subjecting that corporation to the jurisdiction of the courts of that state through such service of process upon that representative. This has been squarely held to be so in a proceeding in personam against such a corporation, at least in relation to a cause of action arising out of the corporation's activities within the state of the forum."
It remained then in the case of McGee v. International Life Ins. Co., 1957, 355 U.S. 220, 78 S. Ct. 199, 201, 2 L. Ed. 2d 223, for the court to unanimously approve in personam jurisdiction and due process based on service of process by registered mail to a foreign corporation whose minimum contacts with the state were the sending, by mail, of notice of premiums to the insured and his payment of premiums. Neither the original insurer or defendant ever had offices in California and so far as the record showed, defendant had never solicited or done any insurance business in California apart from the one policy. A California statute subjected foreign corporations to suit in California, service being made by registered mail addressed to defendant's principal place of business in Texas. The plaintiff filed suit on the California judgment so obtained in a Texas court, which refused to enforce the judgment, holding it *52 was void under the Fourteenth Amendment. The U. S. Supreme Court said:
"Looking back over this long history of litigation a trend is clearly discernible toward expanding the permissible scope of state jurisdiction over foreign corporations and other nonresidents. In part this is attributable to the fundamental transformation of our national economy over the years. Today many commercial transactions touch two or more States and may involve parties separated by the full continent. With this increasing nationalization of commerce has come a great increase in the amount of business conducted by mail across state lines. At the same time modern transportation and communication have made it much less burdensome for a party sued to defend himself in a State where he engages in economic activity. "Turning to this case we think it apparent that the Due Process Clause did not preclude the California court from entering a judgment binding on respondent. It is sufficient for purposes of due process that the suit was based on a contract which had substantial connection with that State. * * * The contract was delivered in California, the premiums were mailed from there and the insured was a resident of that State when he died." 355 U.S. 222, 78 S. Ct. 201, 2 L. Ed. 2d 226.
Cf. Hanson v. Denckla, 1958, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S. Ct. 1228, 2 L. Ed. 2d 1283.
Other lower U. S. courts have considered, developed and applied this trend. Lone Star Package Car. Co., Inc. v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 5 Cir., 1954, 212 F.2d 147, was an appeal of one of the six cases involved in the district court's opinion of Insurance Co. v. Lone Star Package Car Co. Inc., and five other cases, D.C.1952, 107 F. Supp. 645, 652. One of these originated in state court. In the last named case, after reviewing many opinions, the District Judge said:
"Undoubtedly, where the cause of action arises from the defendant's activities within the state of forum, the older rule has been relaxed, and in my opinion very little additional activity on the part of the defendant need be shown to sustain jurisdiction."
The court of appeals characterized the District Judge's opinion as "excellent". See also Enco, Inc. v. F. C. Russell Co., 1957, 210 Or. 324, 311 P.2d 737; Scholnik v. National Airlines, 6 Cir., 1955, 219 F.2d 115; Kulicke v. Rollway Bearing Co., D.C. 1955, 131 F. Supp. 572; Florio v. Powder Power Tool Co., 3 Cir., 1957, 248 F.2d 367 (state law considered); WSAZ, Inc. v. Lyons, 6 Cir., 1958, 254 F.2d 242; Westcott-Alexander, Inc. v. Dailey, 4 Cir., 1959, 264 F.2d 853. The last two actions were commenced in state court. In the WSAZ action service of process on a foreign corporation that "does business" in Kentucky could be made and was made, under its statute, on the Secretary of State; in upholding a personal judgment for libel on such service, the court said:
"While defendant was not present in the territory of the forum, it certainly had substantial contacts with it. It sought and executed contracts for the sale of advertising service to be performed and actually performed by its own act within the territory of the forum. We conclude that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'" [254 F.2d 248.]
After an analysis of the decisions, the court in Westcott-Alexander said:
"If there be a jurisdictional requirement that the local activity consist of something more than `mere solicitation,' there was engagement in other kinds of activity. * * * If, therefore, the statutes of Virginia purport to make the defendant amenable to its process, no provision of the Federal Constitution stands in the way of its enforcement here." [264 F.2d 858.]
*53 It is not necessary for us to determine whether "solicitation plus" or "mere solicitation" is to be the yardstick as there were other activities here set out above that place it within the "solicitation plus" doctrine.
In a Special Supplement to the Law School Record of the University of Chicago (August, 1958, Vol. 8, No. 1, page 65) is a monograph by Philip B. Kurland, Professor of Law, entitled "The Supreme Court, The Due Process Clause, and The In Personam Jurisdiction of State Courts: 1877-1958". This is one of five articles, all of which were prepared at the suggestion of a committee of the Conference of Chief Justices; the committee characterized their work in the following manner:
"These gentlemen have devoted much time, study and thought to the preparation of very scholarly, interesting and instructive monographs on the above subjects. We wish to express our deep appreciation to each of them for his very thorough research and analysis of these problems."
The Kurland treatise surveys the decisions from 1813 through 1958; it has 293 footnotes and to the student who desires a scholarly review and keen analysis of the subject we refer him to it as well as "Recent Interpretations of `Doing Business' Statutes", 44 Iowa L.Rev. 345, Winter 1959 and 4 Duke Law Jour. 644, Fall 1959.
By the service of the summons in this action, the circuit court of Minnehaha County obtained jurisdiction of the defendant and the order appealed from is therefore reversed.
All the Judges concur.
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Unless each person in the organisation gears up to face the new, constantly- changing future, the organisation will keep on relying on just a few stars
Behind every successful executive is the contribution of many others. We will lack humility if we attribute our success only to ourselves!
While these others may be our families, friends and colleagues, they may also be mentors and coaches. The well-known batsman Sachin Tendulkar, for instance, has attributed his success to his coach Ramakant Achrekar. High-profile corporate leaders such as Alan Mullaly and the late Steve Jobs have had coaches who have helped them accelerate their business success. Coaches enable people to succeed in their pursuits.
In today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, we are surrounded by a need to change. Both the external and internal business environments are experiencing rapid and exponential changes. Research has shown that 60 per cent of the existing Fortune 1000 companies will no longer be on the list in 10 years.
Artificial intelligence, new business models, biotechnology and cellular agriculture are already impacting how we are running our companies.
We know the 'power of one', and that individual people can create an impact, but only when an organisation transforms through systemic Change is the effect significant.
A study by ICF and Human Institute (2014) shows that 77 per cent of HR people state that their organisations are constantly in the process of change. "Change no longer happens once in a while. It's a business constant now."
There is a breathtaking opportunity for managers to make a difference to their organisation, to keep it agile and ready to adapt to change. The role of Leaders is to create a new outcome. How do we do this? We do this by enrolling people in new possibilities, enabling them to see things differently, changing their thinking and, therefore, behaviour and actions.
Unless each person in the organisation gears up to face the new, constantly- changing future, the organisation will keep on relying on just a few stars. A cricket team, for instance, needs each member to give their best for the common goal and vision. Each person needs to be encultured in the same purpose and build their capabilities. Therefore, when we create opportunities for coaching conversations that give space and time for people to reflect, it is not just the 'top talent' or 'high performers' we must serve, but the entire human capital of the organisation.
Corporations today are talking not just about hiring executive coaches for top talent but also creating systemic change through creating a culture of coaching in their organisations.
While many organisations have realised the power of executive coaching, access to coaching is sometimes restricted to certain talent pools and some grades. To unleash the full power of coaching, organisations need to foster and create a coaching culture. Culture refers to the way we do things, and when coaching conversations happen as a matter of routine – as a way we do things – organisations have created a winning culture of coaching. A culture where there are opportunities at all levels for employees to grow their skills, enhance their values and reach their professional goals.
A coaching culture directly creates more engagement at work:
"65 per cent of employees from companies with a strong coaching culture rates themselves as highly engaged."
Coaching also has a direct correlation with better financial results for employees:
"60 per cent of respondents from organisations with a strong coaching culture reported their 2013 revenue to be above average compared to their peer group.
Coaching also enhances work performance and improves team effectiveness. Most importantly, we are creating future-ready employees who are autonomous and empowered to make decisions for the organisation's good.
The International Coaching Federation identifies some aspects that are predominant in companies with a strong coaching culture. These are: employees-value coaching, senior executives value coaching, coaching as a fixture in the organisation with a dedicated line item in the budget, managers/leaders spend above average time on weekly coaching activities and managers/leaders have received accredited coach training.
Companies with a strong coaching culture, beyond hiring external coaches, invest in building the capabilities of managers and leaders to coach their internal teams and engage certified coaches, internally.
There is a strong business case for developing the abilities of line managers to coach their teams. Line managers need to balance the conversations with their teams between being performance oriented and development oriented. Being trained in the art of asking the right questions and creating an empowering work environment for their teams, they strengthen the culture and the capabilities of their team members to perform better. More importantly, they develop the capacities of their team to take decisions on their own and build a culture of conversations in the organisation. This then accelerates change, thereby creating a new future.
Some metrics that can be used to measure whether a coaching culture has been created are: the number of informal/formal leadership development coaching conversations held per team/manager/function; changes in the employee- engagement scores; attrition levels; improved employee relations; capability enhancement and so on. These aspects are measurable and quantifiable. Other qualitative metrics would be the level of trust, speed of decision-making, sense of empowerment, workplace dynamics and so on.
In today's business context, building future-ready organisations is possible by building a culture of coaching and conversations.
Learn more about the impact of coaching and how to build a coaching culture through ICF Researches
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the world's largest organisation leading the global advancement of the coaching profession and fostering coaching's role as an integral part of a thriving society. Founded in 1995, its 50,000-plus members located in more than 145 countries and territories work toward common goals of enhancing awareness of coaching and upholding the integrity of the profession through lifelong learning and upholding the highest ethical standards. Through the work of its six unique family organisations, ICF empowers professional coaches, coaching clients, organisations, communities and the world through coaching.
In India, ICF is represented by six vibrant chapters, all led by volunteers — ICF Bengaluru, ICF Chennai, ICF Delhi NCR, ICF Hyderabad, ICF Mumbai, and ICF Pune.
The author, Anu Wakhlu is the executive director of Pragati Leadership and business head of CoachMantra, which is counted as one of India's leading coaching solutions provider. Wakhlu is a MCC Certified Coach and has been coaching C-Suite for over 18 years. Her approach to coaching is based on the ICF principles. She is also a mentor coach for other budding coaches. She has written many blogs and articles on coaching. Apart from doing one-on-oOne coaching for senior executives, Wakhlu also has designed and conducted programmes for industry leaders on how they can be better coaches for their teams.
Anu Wakhlu
The International Coaching Federation
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
How a photographer introduces a town to itself through pictures
By Anna Hanel
· Nov. 25, 2013, 12:00 pm
(Photo: Courtesy of Kenneth Wajda)
From "I Am Lyons", residents on how their house was lost in the flood: "We want to go home, but we can't go home, because we don't have a home, but we want to go home."
He thought the "I Am Lyons, Colorado" project would get him out into the community. But he also wanted to help people connect with their neighbors in the foothills town.
He's taken dozens of pictures of townspeople just going about their everyday lives.
From "I Am Lyons": "I watered these plants all summer. Might as well keep watering them," says one man who had to vacate his home after it was damaged by the flood.
But Wajda continued his work and captured images of residents responding to the destruction, even as he himself had to evacuate his home.


In many of the tab management panes and in some of the dialog boxes within the Oracle VM Manager user interface there is an option to provide a Name Filter. For large deployments where many items pertaining to the current view may be listed, it can be difficult to find and select the objects that you want to run an action against. The Name Filter field is designed to make this process easier by allowing you to specify search criteria to filter the displayed results.
In tab management panes, the Name Filter field is positioned just below the tabs alongside the Toolbar.
The input field is case-insensitive and accepts wildcard characters such as * (multiple character variations) and ? (single character variation). For example, a typical filter used in the Select File Systems dialog may look like this: nfs*vol?/repo*.


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Book reviewed: WEISS, H. (2011) Seelsorge – Supervision – Pastoralpsychologie (NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener) 14,5×22,0 cm, 232 S., ISBN 978-3-7887-2558-7, € 24,90.
Book reviewed: MAYER, C.-H. (2011) The Meaning of Sense of Coherence in Transcultural Management: A Salutogenic Perspective on Interactions in a Selected South African Business Organisation (Münster: Waxmann) 24×17 cm, 455 pp., ISBN 978-3-8309-2553-8, €44.90.
Book reviewed: SZÉMAN, Zs., Hrsg. (2013) Challenges of Ageing Societies in the Visegrad Countries: Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia (Budapest: Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta) 162 S., ISBN 978-963-89445-4-2, http://ageing.maltai.hu.
Book reviewed: MILNE, D. (2009) Evidence-Based Clinical Supervision: Principles and Practice (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell) 272 pp., 23 cm, ISBN 978-1-4051-5849-7, $52.15.
Book reviewed: A. CLÉMENT, C. & KRISTEVA, J. (2001) The Feminine and the Sacred, trans. Todd, J.M. (Palgrave: Columbia UP) 22.6 × 12.5 × 1.27 cm, 190 pp., ISBN: 9780231115780, £ 19.99.
Book reviewed: BEINART, H., P. KENNEDY & S. LLEWELYN, eds. (2009) Clinical Psychology in Practice (Oxford: BPS Blackwell) 408 pp., 24.4 cm, ISBN 978-1-4051-6767-3, €37.90.
Book reviewed: AKUNIN, B. & G. TSCHCHARTISCHWILI (2009) Schöner als der Tod: Friedhofsgeschichten, trans. Veit, B. (Munich: Goldman) 20.4 cm, 251 pp., ISBN: 978-3-442-46459-3, €7.95.
Es muss nicht immer Familie sein…?
Book reviewed: SCHOBIN, J. (2013) Freundschaft und Fürsorge: Bericht über eine Sozialform im Wandel (Hamburg: Hamburger Edition) 264 S., ISBN 978-3-86854-266-0, € 30,00.
How can marriage be successful?
Book reviewed: BRENNINKMEIJER-WERHAHN, A. & K. DEMMER, eds. (2013) Close to Our Hearts: Personal Reflections on Marriage (Münster: LIT) 21 cm, 232 pp., ISBN 978-3-643-90339-6, €24.90.
Book reviewed: Hellerich, G. & D. White (2012) Postmoderner Jesus (Münster: LIT) 23,5 cm, 144 S., ISBN 978-3-643-11828-8, € 19,90.
Book reviewed: Bohrmann, Th., G. Küenzlen, Hrsg. (2012) Religion im säkularen Verfassungsstaat (Münster: LIT) 144 S., 23,5 cm, ISBN 978-3-643-10842-5, € 19.90.
Book reviewed: Williams, J.G. (2012) Girardians: The Colloquium on Violence and Religion, 1990–2010 (Münster: LIT) 322 pp., ISBN 978-3-643-90281-8, €29.90.
Book reviewed: ROBERTSON, I. & C. COOPER (2011) Well-Being: Productivity and Happiness at Work (Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan) 224 pp., 15 x 25,5 cm, ISBN 978-0-230-24995-0, $ 50.
Book reviewed: BURKARD, F.-P., R. POKOYSKI, Z. ŠTIMAC, Hrsg., (2014) Praktische Religionswissenschaft: Theoretische und methodische Ansätze und Beispiele: Festschrift zum 65. Geburtstag von Udo Tworuschka, Münster: LIT, 144 S., 23,5 cm, ISBN 978-3-643-12140-0, € 24,90.
Book reviewed: ITTZÉS, G., ed. (2013) Cura mentis – salus populi: Mentálhigiéné a társadalom szolgálatában: Ünnepi kötet Tomcsányi Teodóra 70. születésnapjára: Festschrift für Tomcsányi Teodóra zum 70. Geburtstag (Budapest: Semmelweis Egyetem EKK Mentálhigiéné Intézet) 572 pp., 23 cm, ISBN 978-963-9129-95-5, 3980 Ft.
Priest in the Eyes of Young People – Is this Issue in Mental Health Professionals' Interest?
Book reviewed: BANIAK, J. (2013) The Image of the Priest in the Awareness of Polish Youth: A Sociological Study (Münster: LIT) 168 pp., 23,5 cm, ISBN 978-3-643-90380-8, €29.90.


I have been playing with eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filters), a neat feature present in recent Linux versions (it evolved from the much older BPF filters). It is a virtual machine running in the kernel, to which you can send code from userland, and that code can be used to filter packets or trace parts of the kernel code.
What makes eBPF really nice is how the kernel handles it. You send a program in bytecode format to the kernel, it then checks it, verifying, for example, that there are no loops, thus guaranteeing that the program will terminate, and it will then apply JIT compilation, making the resulting code quite fast. Even better, that code can be loaded and unloaded at any time through a syscall, and you can set up shared data structures between the eBPF program and your own, to efficiently gather data.
As an example, you can use eBPF (and the XDP - eXpress Data Path - feature) to write very efficient firewalls, or employ BCC (BPF Compiler Collection) to trace a process's IO events.
I'm looking at how we could use that to trace applications on our infrastructure at Clever Cloud. There are a few things we should know about the tooling first.
This is a bit raw, and somewhat complex to write, so people worked on C to eBPF compilers, and the feature landed in LLVM: we can use clang to write eBPF programs! It will generate the bytecode, that can then be loaded through the bpf() syscall.
This is still a bit complex, since the eBPF program might need access to some internal data structures of the kernel, and those change depending on kernel versions and configuration options. And we still need to set up the shared data structures with the userland program that will gather data.
They provide a lot of useful examples and a nice tutorial to get started writing eBPF tracers.
Unfortunately, those tools make a tradeoff that's slightly annoying for me: they require installing BCC, which requires Python, LLVM and the complete Linux sources, on the target machines. It might be possible to precompile the programs though, but it does not look like it's a common use case with BCC.
So, maybe there's a nice way to precompile those programs, store them as bytecode, then load them with a small agent that does not need LLVM and the kernel sources to work? It turns out it is possible, thanks to the gobpf project, who split their ELF loading code from the BCC part a year ago.
Since it is possible to compile to eBPF bytecode from C, it is possible to compile LLVM IR (the kind of bytecode LLVM generates from the code before compiling it to the target CPU's assembly) to eBPF. Look for "LLVM IR debugging" in this link for an example. And I know I can compile Rust to that LLVM IR, and everything should work out, as long as Rust's LLVM version is the same as the system's version.
pub static _license: [u8; 4] = [71u8, 80, 76, 0]; //b"GPL\0"
let msg: [u8; 17] = [104u8, 101, 108, 108, 111, 32, 102, 114, 111, 109, 32, 114, 117, 115, 116, 10, 0]; //b"hello from Rust\0"
First, the constants are in their own ELF section, this is expected by gobpf's elf loader. Apparently, I cannot write pub static _license: &'static [u8] = b"GPL\0", because the _license symbol would then be a relocation of the actual string.
Now, the function: gobpf expects a section with the name of the function we will try to hook later.
And now, the last part, actually printing something. To avoid the previous issue of a constant string appearing as a relocated symbol on which gobpf will throw an error, I defined it as a local constant, then called BPF_FUNC_trace_printk on it. That should be harmless, right?
So, it generates the correct symbols and sections for _license and _version. It apparently generates a big store instruction for the string we'll print. And the function call looks like this call i32 (i8*, i64, ...) inttoptr (i64 6 to i32 (i8*, i64, ...)*)(i8* nonnull %0, i64 17) where we cast 6 to a function pointer: inttoptr (i64 6 to i32 (i8*, i64, ...)*).
So, the lines 0 to 29 are there to load our string (instead of pointing to a constant somewhere). The expected call 6 instruction is on line 33!
To load that program, we can now use the example Go program from the blog post (slightly modified to accept a program name as argument): sudo ./bpf-load hello.o. The eBPF program will the hook the sys_clone function and print a hello every time it is called. You can see the trace with the command sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/trace_pipe.
And now you can be a happy Rust developer like me because again, you put some Rust where you were not supposed to!
you: *sobbing* please stop...you can't rewrite everything in Rust!
That's all, I'll post more once I get more useful code working! PS/ if you want to learn more about BPF, read this great list!


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Companies In the News Slider
'Leaders in Construction' Tommy Drumm, Managing Director, Collen Construction
September 15, 2016 September 22, 2016 The Editor 15363 Views
Operating across a range of sectors, Collen Construction continues to make its mark in the industry.
Top of their game.
Being able to diversify and adapt to a changing market is essential for any construction firm. During the downturn, Collen Construction proved its ability to move with an ever-changing sector by starting to build data centres. "In what was a good example of having to react to recessionary times, we supplied 53 data halls over the downturn for one US multi-national client. Ireland continues to be a strategic base for clients to locate their data centres in terms of climate and resources and hopefully that will continue," says Managing Director, Tommy Drumm. According to Tommy, data centres require a strict adherence to timescales to meet challenging deadlines, volumes of technical information and most importantly a design and build team comprising highly trained professionals operating at the top of their game. It's an area Collen is keen to continue excelling in.
Central Park Block H
At the moment Collen Construction employ about 170 people, up by about 30 from last year. Last year's turnover figure reached over €190 million, placing the firm in the top 5 Irish contractors per the Bruce Shaw Handbook 2016 and it fully expects to remain there in 2016/2017. Current projects include accommodation to house 350 students in UCD. "We've also just finished a retail scheme in Kildare Village. We're building one large data centre in Dublin at the moment and we've just completed a new passport office for the OPW." Other projects include a large office building in Sandyford, two industrial units at Dublin Airport and an office building on Molesworth Street, which when complete will be a good example of conservation and new build at a busy city centre location. The company has just completed a project for the Dublin Airport Authority and anticipates further work with this client in the future.
Although the majority of building work seems to be located in the capital, there is work outside Dublin says Tommy. "Quite a large number of the pharmaceutical companies are outside Dublin. In saying that, not all the sectors are equally busy and it's very early stages in the recovery for regions outside the capital. I think that's probably where Fine Gael got it wrong coming up to the elections. We're a small country though so wherever the work is people are travelling to get involved."
To further strengthen the firm, Tommy recently appointed two directors in-house. "David Lee was appointed construction director while Donal Hennessy was appointed commercial director. Both are with the company a long time and have now joined the board. Their additions will only make the firm stronger, increase competitiveness and allow us to continue to diversify and expand our product offering to clients."
Docklands Office Fit-out project
Collen Construction is a long established company, set up in 1810 with an enviable reputation for building quality and excellence. The firm has weathered the recession extremely well and managed to grow year on year throughout the lean years. "That growth is mainly down to our data centre work but at the start of the recession, we also won a contract to deliver 250 social housing units for NABCO in Tyrellstown, Dublin 15. That project was timely as it kept our team together and was at the time the largest social housing project in the country." Tommy says the firm is cautious about costs coming out of recession. "A lot of businesses fail coming out of a downturn as they get stuck with a certain level of income. We would be aware of that and so we're trying to get the right spread of work in the right sectors. I think that's the single most important thing for us at the moment."
Optimism is returning to the industry, says Tommy. "If you look across the construction sector at the moment all the indicators are good. The CIF is currently in discussion with the unions to try and negotiate the right rates and costs going forward and I think the fact that Moody's upgraded our rating recently as well is a good indicator for foreign investment. I think as a country we're trusted as a location to try and grow businesses. That's vitally important for the economy we have. Foreign investment is key and fostering young businesses is also extremely important."
Capacity in the market from a skills point of view remains an issue in the sector. People are understandably cautious about returning to Ireland says Tommy and the fact that the rental market in Dublin remains so volatile is exacerbating the problem. "We would have staff members that are simply unable to meet the extortionate rents in the capital. It's something that needs to be tackled right away. How long will it take Simon Coveney to sort out the housing situation? We know that it won't happen overnight. There's €1.7 billion unspent across local authorities from what I read and that's not a good sign."
Collen Construction operates across a diverse range of sectors but one area the company would like to make its presence firmly felt is residential. "We'd be very keen to participate fully in the supply side of the residential recovery. That's an area we're giving a significant amount of attention to. We want to get involved in speeding up the delivery of quality housing and apartments for those who are desperate to find them. At the moment we're putting a lot of energy into that area for one or two clients in particular." Over the next 12 months, the firm intends to focus its efforts on making that happen.
Click here to book tickets for the
Irish BIM Innovation Awards 2016
Although the firm has looked abroad during the recession, Tommy and the team are keen to solidify their position in the Irish market first. "We've done some work in the UK but I think there are plenty of opportunities at home that need to be investigated before we look across the water. We would prefer to take advantage of all opportunities here first while keeping an eye on activity in Europe around data centre provision. That's a sector that we now have great expertise in so we are actively looking in Europe to try and secure clients for whom we can deliver top quality, technically proficient data centres."
Fr Scully House
Over the next few years, Tommy would very much like the firm to be involved in a number of sectors in Ireland. "We've got great capability and are keen to participate more fully in the retail and pharma sectors. Pharma will race ahead and we're well positioned to take advantage as that's a sector that requires a very high level of safety and quality and that's something we are emphatic about." Collen Construction has retained an A rating in the CIF Safe-T Cert for a number of years and has recently received OSHAS 18001 accreditation. On the educational side, supply and demand in relation to student accommodation is all wrong, says Tommy. "I think there's a big demand now for good quality, well located student accommodation in Trinity College, DCU, UCD and Grangegorman. It's a sector we want to remain active in." Tommy also expects both public and private work in the healthcare sector to grow. "As the government sets out its budgets for the next five years we feel we can participate in that sector."
About a third of Collen's business is from repeat clients. "If your clients give you work they're relying on you to deliver it safely, to a high level of quality and with no surprises in the final accounts. Historically, repeat business has always been a very important part of our firm. People trust us and we don't land them with surprises during delivery of their projects and accounts." The wider Collen Group is involved in development opportunities across the private sector and has just received planning permission for a primary care centre in Bray, which is expected to start on site in the next six months.
Whatever sectors the firm gets involved in now, it must be sustainable says Tommy. "That's the lesson coming out of the crisis we've all experienced. The impact it has had will reverberate for quite some time. Making decisions that are sustainable is the most important aspect of running a business and having a strategy to deal with any eventual outcome is also crucial. We're very positive about the future of Collen; we're looking forward to growing the business and continuing to provide opportunities for our staff."
This article first appeared as part of the Irish building magazine 'Leaders in Construction' interview series 2016. Click here to read the entire issue
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text:
Erich Ludendorff Biography
Erich Ludendorff was a well-known German General. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Ludendorff
https://militaryhistorynow.com/2017/05/31/the-most-powerful-man-in-germany-10-fascinating-facts-about-erich-ludendorff/
https://www.welt.de/kultur/gallery13206397/Erich-Ludendorff-1865-1937-Stationen.html
Birthday: April 9, 1865
Nationality: German
Famous: Military Leaders German Men
Sun Sign: Aries
Also Known As: Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff
Born in: Munich, Germany
Famous as: General of German Army
Spouse/Ex-: Margarethe Schmidt, Mathilde von Kemnitz
father: August Wilhelm Ludendorff
mother: Klara Jeanette Henriette von Tempelhoff
Died on: December 20, 1937
place of death: Munich
City: Munich, Germany
Founder/Co-Founder: Tannenbergbund
awards: Pour le Mérite
Military Merit Cross
Kurt von Schlei...
Michael Wittmann
Gerd von Rundstedt
Erich Ludendorff was a well-known German General who was in charge of Germany's military policies as well as strategies during the latter years of the First World War. He became prominent after the German victories at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. Ludendorff was responsible for destroying the Russian Army on the Eastern Front as well. Born in Kruszewnia in the Prussian Empire, he was commissioned into the infantry at the age of eighteen. His hard working nature earned him a good reputation and within a few years he reached the rank of lieutenant. He was eventually appointed in the General Staff. He became known for his hard-line militaristic views. War, according to him, was an acceptable way of diplomacy and also a way through which a nation could assert its power. Later, he also got involved with the Nazi Party. Throughout his military career, he had received several honors such as the '1st Class Military Merit Cross', as well as the 'Cross for Merit in War'. Along with his second wife Mathilde, he had also published books as well as essays with the motive to prove that the world's problems were mostly due to Christianity, as well as Jewish and Masonic conspiracy.
Aries Leaders
Male Leaders
Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was born on 9th April 1865, in Kruszewnia, Prussia (now in Poland). He was the third of six children of an impoverished landowner named August Wilhelm Ludendorff. He was a descendant of the Pomerian merchants. His mother Klara Jeanette Henriette von Tempelhoff was the daughter of a noble but impoverished family.
Ludendorff grew up in a small farm owned by his family and his childhood was quite stable and comfortable. He studied at the Cadet School at Plön. The school became known for producing many trained German officers. He later studied at the Hauptkadettenschule at Groß-Lichterfelde near Berlin.
German Leaders
German Military Leaders
Aries Men
Erich Ludendorff was commissioned into the army in 1885. Owing to his remarkable qualities, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant after a few years. He was eventually appointed to the General Staff. From 1904 to 1913, he directed the Second of Mobilization Section. By 1911, he had been promoted to the rank of Colonel.
After the First World War broke out, Ludendorff was appointed Chief of Staff of the 8th Army. Along with his Commander in Chief, General Paul von Hindenburg, he led Germany to victory against Russia at Tannenberg in East Prussia in August 1914.
After Hindenburg was appointed to the Chief of Staff of the German Army in August 1916, he appointed Ludendorff his Quartermaster General. After this appointment, he made the nation fully oriented to the military. Ludendorff, owing to his extremely aggressive military views, persuaded the German Emperor Wilhelm II to dismiss anyone, no matter how senior they were, if they talked of defeat or even a peace settlement.
In 1918, Germany stared pushing towards the Western front, which became known as the Ludendorff Offensive as it was Ludendorff who planned it, believing that it would be a huge blow against the Allied Forces. However, it failed and he realized Germany wouldn't win the War.
Along with Hindenburg, Ludendorff called for a peace settlement. Though he changed his mind later, he lost his credibility and was forced to resign in October 1918. After Germany's defeat in the war, he went to Sweden where wrote on how the German forces were backstabbed.
Erich Ludendorff returned to Berlin in 1919, and got involved in right-wing political activities. He took part in the Kapp Putsch under Wolfgang Kapp in March 1920. In 1923, he met Adolf Hitler for the first time, and eventually got involved with the Nazi Party. In 1925, he unsuccessfully ran for President against his former Commander in Chief, Hindenburg.
Hindenburg emerged victorious in the election, and it made the relationship between him and Ludendorff even more acrimonious. At the Tannenberg memorial, the latter even refused to stand beside his former senior.
According to historian Margaret Lavinia Anderson, Erich Ludendorff wanted Germany to go into war against all of Europe. She also stated that he became a pagan worshipper of Odin, a Nordic God. He also despised Christianity and Judaism. According to historian Frank B Tipton, he had become a social Darwinist, and he believed that war was the foundation of the human society. He also believed that the normal form of government in a society was military dictatorship.
His friendship with Adolf Hitler had deteriorated by the time the latter came to power. The Nazis distanced themselves from Ludendorff due to his eccentric conspiracy theories. When Hitler was made Chancellor by Hindenburg, he is said to have sent a telegram to the latter cursing him for his choice.
Erich Ludendorff wrote several books and essays blaming the Jews, Christians, and Freemasons for being responsible for the problems in the world. These books include 'Meine Kriegserinnerungen,' 'Über Unbotmäßigkeit im Kriege' and Feldherrnworte.'
Erich Luddendorff had received several honours and decorations throughout his military career. These included 'Knight of the Military Order of Max Joseph', 'Grand Cross of the Iron Cross', 'Gold Military Merit Medal' and the 'Cross for Merit in War'.
Erich Ludendorff was married twice. His first marriage was to Margarethe Schmidt, the daughter of a wealthy family. This marriage ended after a few years. His second wife was Mathilde von Kemnitz. She helped him in writing and publishing many of his books.
Ludendorff passed away on 20th December 1937 after suffering from liver cancer. He was 72. A state funeral was organized, which was attended by Hitler personally, though he refused to speak at his eulogy.
See the events in life of Erich Ludendorff in Chronological Order
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- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/erich-ludendorff-9655.php
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Quickborn. At the end of January, the total number of customers in the comdirect group stood at 2,760,507 (December: 2,755,257). The number of custody accounts amounted to 1,700,727 (December: 1,702,021) and total assets under custody totalled EUR 49.68bn in January (December: EUR 48.85bn).
In the B2C business line (comdirect bank) 799,330 orders were executed (December: 564,297). The number of customers in January stood at 1,727,537 (December: 1,716,783). At the end of January, the number of custody accounts amounted to 810,656 (December: 806,417). The number of current accounts rose to 914,341 (December: 901,419) and the number of Tagesgeld PLUS ("call money PLUS") accounts climbed to 1,356,553 (December: 1,344,940). Assets under custody in January amounted to EUR 28.41bn (December: EUR 27.91bn). Of this figure, EUR 16.93bn is attributable to portfolio volume (December: EUR 16.29bn) and EUR 11.48bn to deposit volume (December: EUR 11.62bn).
In the B2B business line (ebase), the number of customers stood at 1,032,970 in January (December: 1,038,474). Assets under custody in January amounted to EUR 21.27bn (December: EUR 20.94bn).


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6 things I wish people understood about atheism in America
10 percent of Americans identify as atheists — but there's a lot that people don't know about us.
By Jay Wexler Updated Jun 14, 2019, 9:17am EDT
Illustrations: Javier Zarracina/Vox
The first time I remember openly identifying as an atheist was when I announced to my high school freshman English class that I didn't believe in God. Later that day in gym, I broke my collarbone playing dodgeball. Was it God's revenge for my blasphemy? I didn't think so, but for a while there, I kept my atheism on the down low just in case.
Not anymore. Although I have an affinity for Asian religions like Buddhism and Taoism and even have a master's degree in religious studies from a divinity school, I've been an unabashed atheist for my entire adult life. I've taught First Amendment law at Boston University for nearly 20 years, am a strong supporter of the separation of church and state, and have recently published a book called Our Non-Christian Nation, which is about how atheists and other minority groups are demanding their equal place in public life alongside the Christian majority.
As part of my research, I traveled around the country and talked to leaders of minority groups to find out how they felt about the Christian dominance of our nation's public life. I watched an atheist give an invocation before a town board she had previously sued for violating the First Amendment, attended a Veterans Day ceremony held by a pagan priestess who successfully sued the federal government to approve the Wiccan pentacle for placement on national cemetery headstones, and sat on a 9-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a goat-headed occult figure that the Satanic Temple wants to put up on government property someday.
The number of people who do not believe in any god has been on the rise in recent decades. According to the Pew Research Center, close to a quarter of the population identifies as a so-called "none," up 7 percent from 2007 to 2014. About 10 percent of all Americans say they are atheists, although this estimate may be on the low side. Given our growing numbers, it's important for non-atheists to understand what it means for someone to not believe in any god. Here are just a few things I would like people to know about atheism and being an atheist in the United States.
1) There are lots of different types of atheists, and we don't all feel the same way about religion
Atheists all believe there is no god that governs the universe, but other than that, nothing necessarily unites us. I've met and talked to a lot of atheists, and I can testify that we are a diverse bunch. For some of us, our atheism is central to our self-identity and drives what we do. For others, it's just one fact about us among many and really isn't particularly important.
Atheists come in all political stripes. Some are Republicans; others are Democrats. Probably some voted for Jill Stein last time around. I voted for Bernie Sanders. Some atheists think religion is ridiculous or generally awful, while others don't think about religion at all, and still others think religion is fine, or even a force for good. Personally, I'm fascinated by religion and am a strong believer in religious freedom, although I don't like how most religious beliefs these days tend to push people in a politically rightward direction.
It is definitely true that some atheists are angry — at religion, at religious people, at the government — but not all of us are. Some are fabulously happy, but not all of us are. I'm neither angry nor happy. I think of myself as a "sad atheist." I would like nothing better than to believe that some omniscient and all-powerful being created the world for some purpose. That sure would be nice! It would certainly relieve some of that "the world is meaningless and I am just standing on a giant rock swirling pointlessly through the universe" angst that I sometimes feel. Unfortunately for me, I just don't believe there's a God or lots of gods or a Tao or anything else that makes sense of the world. There's just us. And maybe some space aliens, I guess, but they don't really help.
2) Atheist organizations are starting to do better at helping people and promoting social justice
Say what you want about religious institutions like churches and temples, but they do tend to help a lot of people — at least those people who believe the "right" things — and are good at creating a sense of community among like-minded believers. Although of course individual atheists do plenty to help others, we usually don't think about atheist groups or communities coming together to provide services for those in need, at least not in a self-consciously atheist way. But that is changing.
This is something I learned as I researched my Our Non-Christian Nation book. For one thing, I got to know a lot about the Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religion that venerates Satan as a symbol of rebellion against oppressive authority. TST, as it's often known, counts its followers in the tens of thousands, was just recognized as an official religion by the IRS, and is active throughout the country, with a particularly strong presence in New York City, Arizona, and Seattle. Its chapters organize all sorts of campaigns to help people, from collecting menstrual products for people in need ("Menstruatin' With Satan") to providing socks for the homeless ("Socks for Satan") to donating diapers to families who need them ("Diapers for the Lil' Devils").
Similarly, when I attended the annual conference of an organization formed to help nonbelieving high school and college students called the Secular Student Association in July 2016, I learned that getting out and helping people is a key concern for young secularists. Speaker after speaker urged the atheists in the audience to go out into the world and actively serve their communities. For instance, in his opening talk, Fernando Alcántar, a former religious youth leader turned self-described "gaytheist," told the audience that atheists can't just be "busy reading papers and making discoveries," leaving the business of saving people to churches and religion. The theme for the group's 2019 conference, by the way, is "Better Together: Creating Meaningful Community."
3) Seemingly little things that religious people might not even notice can really drive us atheists bananas, and for good reason
If you're a religious person, a monotheist perhaps, do you ever wonder why atheists get so bent out of shape by the fact that "In God We Trust" appears on our money and "under God" is in the Pledge of Allegiance? I mean, what's the big deal, right? Shouldn't we just chillax?
Well, how would you feel if the dollar bill said "There Is No God" and the Pledge of Allegiance proclaimed that we are "one nation under no God whatsoever, yay"? How would you like it if your kids were forced to say that every day before class?
I have a very clear memory of leaving out the "under God" part of the pledge when I was forced to recite it in elementary school, and I've talked to countless other atheists who have similar memories. When the government forces you as a kid to affirm something about the nature of the universe that you think is fundamentally incorrect, it tends to stick with you.
4) There's a big difference between private individuals promoting their religious beliefs and the government doing the same. But this doesn't mean the government cannot promote facts and ideas that are inconsistent with some religious beliefs.
Everybody in the United States has the right to practice their religion and to talk about how great it is and even to try to get other people to believe it too. Atheists recognize this (and of course we can do the same), but as minorities, we also understand that the government is in a different position than the people it governs. In the United States, the government represents all its citizens, which means that it should not and (if the Constitution is interpreted correctly) cannot promote one religion over others or religion over non-religion. That's why no matter what the Supreme Court decides in the next few weeks, it is not okay for the state of Maryland to sponsor a 40-foot-tall cross on government property, even if that cross also happens to be a World War I monument.
Perhaps you're wondering: If the government can't promote religion over non-religion, doesn't that mean that it also can't promote non-religion over religion, and doesn't that in turn mean that public schools can't do things like teach evolution or give out condoms? As someone who has taught and written about church-state law for nearly 20 years, I've heard and read this kind of argument more times than I can remember.
The answer to this two-part question is yes and no. The government cannot promote atheism over religion, that's true. But that doesn't mean the government cannot do things in public schools and elsewhere that happen to be inconsistent with what some religious people believe. Teaching evolution and giving out condoms might be at odds with what some religious people believe, but they're not the same as saying that there's no god.
As an atheist, it frustrates me when people say that public schools promote a secular worldview because they're not allowed to sponsor prayers or do other things that some religious people would like them to do. If this is unclear, try this thought experiment that I often raise when I'm teaching students about the First Amendment: What would a school (private, of course) truly dedicated to promoting atheism look like?
It wouldn't be subtle. It wouldn't just teach evolution; it would teach explicitly that the Bible's creation story is flat-out wrong. It wouldn't just not lead kids in prayer; it would lead kids in a "there's no god, there's no god" chant. Now, that's a school I'd really like to teach at, but the fact that such a thing is almost unimaginable in today's society (while of course private schools that explicitly promote the divinity of Jesus Christ are everywhere) just goes to show how marginalized atheism really is in the United States.
5) Atheists and other secularists are getting pretty good at participating in public life
In Our Non-Christian Nation, I discuss the many ways that atheists have started to demand their rightful place in American public life. The growth of the aforementioned Secular Student Association is one such example. Atheists have also succeeded in putting up symbols and displays on government property celebrating the absence of god, including an atheist monument in Bradford County, Florida, and all sorts of godless displays around the holiday season.
Atheists have also begun offering invocations before town boards all around the nation. Many of these have been quite good. I mentioned earlier that I watched an atheist give an invocation before a town board she had previously sued. Her name is Linda Stephens, and her speech was inclusive and inspiring. "It is important to remember that we are all linked by our common humanity and our shared origin," Stephens said. "When we work together to move our town forward in a spirit of mutual respect and common decency, we showcase what is best about our community, our state, and our nation."
6) Atheists are not going away anytime soon
While the Christian majority has occasionally welcomed atheism into the public square, often our presence has been met with ridicule, anger, and derision. Displays have been torn down, school groups have faced hostility by teachers and administrators, and board members have occasionally left a meeting room rather than listen to an atheist invocation. Incurring that kind of disrespect is a risk of standing up for what you believe in, or, in our case, standing up for what you don't believe in. But that's okay; we atheists tend to have thick skin. We have been putting up with this kind of treatment for a long time, and our numbers are still rising. In the future, I may still be a little sad, but atheism as a whole will likely become a loud, mainstream, and inescapable force in American public life.
Jay Wexler is a professor of law at Boston University. He is the author of six books, including Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and Others Are Demanding Their Rightful Place in American Public Life. Prior to teaching, he worked as an attorney at the US Department of Justice and as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the US Supreme Court. He tweets @SCOTUSHUMOR.
Illustrations by Javier Zarracina
Posted in AtheismTagged atheism, Atheism in America, Social Atheism
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