text:
Amazon looks for election re-run after first US union
Amazon.com Inc on Friday called for an election re-run after workers at a New York City warehouse voted to create the company's first U.S. union, saying that the U.S. labor board and worker-organizers suppressed turnout.
The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) rejected the allegations made by the online retailer that is the second-largest U.S. private employer.
Amazon made its demand a week after the landmark victory for organized labor, which for years has sought to offer protections to workers at the company. Some 55% of employees who voted from Amazon`s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island opted to join the ALU, which has argued for higher pay and job security. Turnout was about 58%.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement: "We want our employees to have their voices heard, and in this case, that didn`t happen – fewer than a third of the employees at the site voted for the union."
The company also accused the ALU of intimidating workers and distributing marijuana to gain votes in its favor, according to a company filing on Friday.
Derrick Palmer, vice president of the ALU, said Amazon is trying to "demean our character and undermine our efforts."
Need of action
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) now must process Amazon`s objections before certifying the election result. The timing for this was not immediately clear.
In its filing, Amazon said the NLRB improperly helped the ALU gain standing to hold an election and created the impression that it supported the union.
Amazon also accused the NLRB of hampering turnout through mismanagement in the polling area and by allowing camera crews on site that scared away voters.
An NLRB spokesperson declined to comment on these objections but the board has said previously that it is independent and that its enforcement actions against Amazon have been consistent with its congressional mandate.
Taiwan's spy catchers bring down Chinese poachers of chip talent
Google sues puppy scammer after tip


text:
Deep House, Music
ZHU – Nightcrawler
By Jake Gable
In what is clearly a very bold statement, house producer ZHU has released his latest track "Nightcrawler" — a creepy, cult-like production, which has already caused quite a stir in the industry with the Chinese-American taking a swipe at some of the biggest names in EDM. A highly polished production, the final result of "Nightcrawler" is clearly a smooth effort that shows just how far the artist has progressed since his most-well known track, 2014's "Faded."
The track starts with tension, and dark vibes build as a sinister voice chimes in, "Blink once… Blink twice… Blink. Don't forget." The enigmatic producer maneuvers his chords in such a way that is typically artistic, and helps build the brooding mist the track is shrouded in. A storming piano melody, and dark accordion-led synths give the release a distinctively retro feel to a track that feels very 1980's inspired.
A highly varied production compared to any other track doing the rounds in the dance world right now, Nightcrawler is a dark, haunting dance number that features demonic vocal samples, taking ZHU to perhaps the darkest place he's been to date. Here lies a production that would not look out of place as the soundtrack to a particuarly ghostly film. The link for "Nightcrawler" is below, so check it out and let us know your thoughts on this latest ZHU masterpiece.
Tags: faded, Nightcrawler, zhu
About the Author / Jake Gable
(BA Hons Journalism), 30, London. NCTJ-accredited journalist and dance music lover specialising in interviews, features, editorial work, and reviews. www.journojake.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Hackathon 2017 results
Third VK Hackathon took place this weekend in Saint-Petersburg: 100 teams, 5 branches, 2 days of tireless work and 8 winners. Here's the scoop!
330 developers, designers and creative minds — Hackathon 2017 at Nautilus loft
A recipe for an ideal hackathon
In essence, a hackathon is a full cycle of product development from an idea to its implementation, only with an insanely short deadline and a very small team. Therefore, it's usual practice to put lines of code before sleep at hackathons and the jury tends not to judge on the performance of the prototype.
Get a hundred or so IT-loving guys, lock them up for two days in a spacious loft with wi-fi and coffee, offer them cases that need to be solved (or give them creative carte-blanche) and you're all set. In this environment, the craziest and freshest ideas come into existence. This is why hackathons are so appealing to companies from all over the world, including Russia. For this hackathon, our partners were: Tretyakov Gallery, Tinkoff Bank, Selectel, Unesco, Takie dela, CAF Russia, Hermitage, Bolshoi Theatre, Afisha and Lentach. This set of organizers ensured a variety of categories: media, fintech, culture, charity and technical infrastructure.
Each category had its own specific cases. For example, helping people find someone to go to an event with, produce an effective tool for managing suggested posts in a popular media group or provide a way to shield teenagers from cyberbullying. The contestants could either choose from one of the presented problems or come up with something of their own.
Ideas and solutions
Working on a project before the clock starts is hardly good sportsmanship, so teams have to start from scratch, learning new API, drawing new interfaces and work out the user experience. During a very limited time the teams had to create the architecture of their future project, develop the backend and the client side and most importantly present their killer feature persuasively, so the jury has no doubts that the product is what the world needs.
The contestants were offered a plethora of choices: machine learning for recognising aggressive discussions, a platform for eSports tournaments, tinder for Hermitage, an app for cryptocurrency… Neural networks, chat-bots and augmented reality — the hottest IT trends played a big role in the majority of Hackathon projects. Integration with VK API was not mandatory, but we can proudly say that many teams decided to use it.
How to find a team member or convince your mother to let you go to Hackathon?
How to sort out your debts and not lose all your friends?
How to manage the news flow from freelance correspondents?
Nothing better than taking a break from hard work to learn something new
Jury had a one on one with the teams during the first stage of making a decision on winners. After which we selected 5 leading teams in each branch. So 25 lucky ones, who had only 3 minutes to impress the audience with their presentations.
Presenting your project before a strict jury and vigilant competitors after longs hours without rest and sleep is quite an achievement in our book. The teams gave wonderful presentation, faced the hard questions from the audience and were quick with arguments in support of their decisions.
Kudos, respect and impressive prize money for 8 winning teams. Total prize pool was 1 million rubles. We had to choose winners in 5 branches and in 3 special nominations. Meet the winners:
SNA. An instrument to determine text's toxicity and identify aggression. At the heart of the project is the neural network trained on real comments.
Traffox. A solution for managing suggested news: automatic categorisation, prediction of post metrics, text filtration and encouragement of active authors.
Evolve. Auction for VK communities. System of bid freezes that allows for honest bidding.
Spotter. A platform for smart IoT-devices integration. Separation of user rights and a faster device-management with a community bot.
CyberПесцы HSE. Individual routes in Hermitage with user's preferences in mind.
VK's choice
VO! A service for managing VK stores. Managing the products, follow user orders, enabling acquiring in payments within chats.
Peer recognition
Nice Folks Out. Augmented reality for works of art — explanations and descriptions for museum paintings.
VK Hackathon 2017 Grand Prix
Nimax. An app for finding the optimal route for your museum visit with queues and showroom congestion in mind.
Nimax. "Vacant Hermitage". VK Hackathon 2017 Grand Prix
These events are a great way of challenging yourself, meeting new people and even jumpstarting your IT career. Projects presented during hackathons frequently grow from a prototype to full functioning apps and services, that are used by millions of people.
VK Hackthon 2017 winners
It's the third time we are participating in VK Hackathon. This allows us to find interesting projects, startups and support them. We search for new employees because these guys have already passed the first hurdle and are definitely worthy of our attention. Selectel
VK Hackathon was a success. We are thankful to all participants, volunteers, organisers and supporters! We will definitely meet again.
Related news More news - VK
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Streaming from Your Computer on VK.com
Rockstar Games has announced a major update Smuggler's ...
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Crafting Your Character in The Elder Scrolls Online: Mo...
Download patch version 1.0.1734.0 «The Diamond Casino & Resort» for GT...
Review of the 10 best Lenovo smartphones: features, reviews and prices


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Q: Probabilities in statistical mechanics I am reviewing some concepts in statistical mechanics and am becoming confused with how to calculate probabilities when a system has $N$ non-interacting particles.
For instance, let's say we have $N$ electrons with magnetic moment $\vec{\mu} = (g e/2 m)\vec{S}$. If we apply a strong magnetic field parallel to $\vec{S}$, then
$$ E = - \vec{\mu} \cdot \vec{B} = \pm \frac{g e \hbar}{4 m} = E_{\pm}$$
depending on the orientation of the spin of the electron. Therefore, the partition function for one electron is simply
$$ \xi = 2 \cosh \left(\frac{g e \hbar B}{4 m k T}\right) $$
And the probability to find the electron with spin parallel to the magnetic field is simply $e^{-\beta E_{+}}/Z$. So far, so good.
However, what happens when we have $N$ such electrons? Statistical mechanics says that the partition function for the system is now
$$ Z = \frac{\xi^N}{N!} $$
if we assume that the electrons do not interact with each other.
This is where I get confused. Now, if we want to find the probability that 75% of the electrons have energy $E_+$, then the Boltzmann argument doesn't hold anymore:
$$ \frac{0.75 N }{N} \neq \frac{e^{-\beta E_{+}}}{Z} $$
If the Boltzmann ratio doesn't hold, how can one proceed to calculate the aforementioned probability?

A: It seems like you want to consider $N$, distinguishable, non-interacting spins with spin $1/2$, so let's assume we don't have to consider subtleties arising because of identical particles.  When there are $N$ distinguishable, the Hilbert space $\mathcal H_N$ of the system has dimension $2^N$, and when they don't interact, the energy eigenbasis can be labeled by sequences
\begin{align}
(+\tfrac{1}{2},+\tfrac{1}{2},+\tfrac{1}{2},-\tfrac{1}{2},-\tfrac{1}{2},\dots, -\tfrac{1}{2},+\tfrac{1}{2},+\tfrac{1}{2},-\tfrac{1}{2})
\end{align}
 which specify that particles $1$ through $3$ are spin up, particles $4$ and $5$ are spin down, etc.  We denote a general such state as $|\mathbf m\rangle =|m_1, m_2, \dots m_N\rangle$ with $m_i=\pm1/2$.  The probability that the system is in a given state $|\mathbf m\rangle$ is
\begin{align}
  \mathrm{prob}(\mathbf m) = \frac{e^{-\beta E_\mathbf{m}}}{Z}
\end{align}
where the partition function is
\begin{align}
  Z = \sum_{\mathbf m}e^{-\beta E_\mathbf{m}}
\end{align}
and $E_{\mathbf m} = E_{m_1} + E_{m_2} +\cdots+ E_{m_N}$ is the total energy of the state $|\mathbf  m\rangle$.  Now, to determine the probability that the system is in any state for which $3/4$ of them are up, we simply determine all sequences $\mathbf m$ for which this condition holds, and we sum up the corresponding probabilites.  Since $3/4$ of the spins are up if and only if the the numbers $m_i$ add up to $(\frac{3}{4}N\cdot \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4}N\cdot(-\frac{1}{2}) = \frac{1}{4}N$, the probability we're after is
\begin{align}
  \mathrm{prob}\left(m_1+\cdots+m_N = \tfrac{1}{4}N\right) = \sum_{m_1+\cdots+m_N = \frac{1}{4}N} \frac{e^{-\beta E_\mathbf{m}}}{Z}
\end{align}
where the right hand side represents a sum over all sequences $\mathbf m$ whose elements sum to $N/4$, and now you just have to figure out how to perform the sum.

A: Ok I see where is your problem. I think that there is subtlety in stat. mech. that you are rightfully pointing out.
My first guess/answer was to think that since the electrons are assumed independent then if we ask say what is the temperature at which 75% of electrons are up then we simply need to solve:
\begin{equation}
0.75 = \frac{e^{\beta E_+}}{\xi}
\end{equation}
You pointed out that in fact, since we have $N$ particles the probability, instead of being the simple stuff written above, should follow a binomial distribution that would involve $N$.
What happens is that we are both right. The answer I gave replies to the question "if I have a system of electrons at equilibrium and I measure the spin of one of the electron, what should be the temperature so that the probability to be up is 75%?".
As usual in statistical mechanics, this particular answer imagines that you have an infinite number of replica corresponding to each possible states in your system. To answer the question, you measure the spin of one particle in each replica and observe that the frequency within the ensemble with which you find a spin up satisfies what I have written.
Your answer replies to a slightly different question which is "let's consider a single system of N electrons at equilibrium. Out of these N electrons, what is the probability that 75% of them have spin pointing upward?"
As you say, the answer involves a binomial distribution BUT if $N$ is big enough, this binomial distribution will become a gaussian distribution for $N_{+}/N$ centered around $\frac{e^{\beta E_+}}{\xi}$ and in the thermodynamic limit will eventually become a delta function.
This is exactly what would happen if you tried to actually measure the probability for a tossed coin to be head or tail.
This underlines a big issue from the beginning of the XXth century and that is kind of still ongoing which is about the definition of probability in mathematics: you have the frequentist approach which is the one you use, the ensemble approach which is the one I used and the a priori approach which would yield the same result as mine as well.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"Please know that each of you are in my prayers! May God Give Strength & Peace "
"Fairy I rem. You was the only one working in the family, and you would help keep"
This Book of Memories is designed to be a permanent tribute paying tribute to the life and memory of Fairy Bowman. It allows family and friends a place to re-visit, interact with each other, share and enhance this tribute for future generations. We are both pleased and proud to provide the Book of Memories to the families of our community.
Please check here to receive a one-time email, one week prior to the anniversary of the passing of Fairy Bowman. The email will only serve as a reminder should you choose to connect with the family at what will no doubt be a difficult time.


The present invention relates to safety razors of the type in which new blades are adapted to be fed into the head of the razor from a separable blade-filled magazine.
The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved safety razor of the type described, which razor is of new and simplified construction and has but a minimum number of relatively movable parts, which parts are so associated with each other as to function effectively in receiving a blade and in positioning and supporting the blade in shaving position.
Other more specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from an understanding of the construction, arrangement and operation of the component razor parts.
For purposes of illustration one embodiment of the invention is presented herein, but it will of course be appreciated that the invention is capable of being incorporated in other structurally modified forms coming equally within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
Fig. 14 is aside view of the same.
The new razor includes a substantially rigid handle 10 of plastic or other material and a head 11 in which a blade 12 is adapted to be inserted endwise from one side of the head.
The head 11 includes a substantially rigid main frame 13 of sheet metal construction. The lower portion of the frame 13 extends downwardly into and is fixedly secured within a slot 14 in the upper end of the handle 10. The upper portion of the frame 13 is curved forwardly at 15 and terminates at its upper end in a narrow forwardly and downwardly inclined flange 16, which flange constitutes the cap against the underside of which the blade 12 is adapted to be clamped. The cap 16 overlies the rear portion only of the blade 12 in order to leave the cutting edge 17 of the blade exposed.
The frame 13 is provided, immediately beneath and behind the cap 16, with a flat downwardly extending section 18, which section forms the rear stationary wall of the expansible channel 19 in which the positioning key 20 of the usual blade dispensing magazine 21 is adapted to be inserted. The bottom of the channel 19 for the positioning key 20 is formed by one of two forwardly and upwardly turned ears 22 at the ends of the flat section 18. The frame 13 is abruptly reduced in width below the flat section 18 and tapers downwardly into the handle 10. The side edges of the downwardly tapering section 23 of the frame are provided with narrow forwardly turned edge flanges 24, which edge flanges serve to rigidify the frame 13 and form the sides of a shallow forwardly opening pocket 24a in which the hereinafter described seat clamping spring 25 is nested.
The head 11 of the razor is provided, in front of the frame 13, with a forwardly and downwardly movable blade seating plate 26 of generally L-shaped cross section. The upper portion of the plate 26 consists of a flat forwardly projecting flange 27, which flange underlies the cap 16 on the frame and constitutes the seat for the blade 12. The seat 27 terminates along its front edge in a downwardly curved, longitudinally serrated formation 28, which formation constitutes the guard for the cutting edge 17 of the blade on the seat. Behind the guard 28 the seat 27 is provided with a clearance opening 29.
The plate 26 is provided, immediately beneath and behind the seat 27, with a flat downwardly extending flange 30, which flange is disposed in forwardly spaced relation to the flat section 18 of the frame and forms the front forwardly shiftable wall of the expansible channel 19 for the positioning key 20 of the blade dispensing magazine. Below the flange 30 the plate 26 terminates in two laterally spaced downwardly tapering end portions 31, which portions are nested between the upper ends of the edge flanges 24 on the correspondingly tapered intermediate section 23 of the frame. Above and outwardly of the downwardly tapering end portions 31 the ends of the downwardly extending flange 30 of the plate 26 are notched out at 32 to fit between the upturned ears 22 on the ends of the flat section 18 of the frame and are provided above the notched out portions with forwardly and downwardly curved ears 33, one of which forms the front wall of the socket which coacts with the usual wedging embossment 34 on the key 20 of the magazine.
The two laterally spaced downwardly tapering end portions 31 at the bottom of the flange 30 of the blade seating plate 26 form between the same a centrally arranged downwardly opening rectangular recess 35 of substantial width and depth, which recess has a straight horizontally disposed upper edge 36 and parallel side edges 37. The upper edge 36 of the recess 35 is located in the downwardly extending flange 30 a substantial distance below the seat 27 and also a substantial distance above the lower ends of the downwardly tapering end portions 31, and constitutes a line-contact fulcrum 36 for self-adjusting coaction with the seat clamping spring 25.
The seat clamping spring 25 is of substantially flat heavy leaf construction. The lower portion 38 of the spring is downwardly tapering from and is clamped solidly against the front face of the lower correspondingly tapered portion 23 of the frame 13 in the pocket24a between the edge flanges 24 in snugly fitting but free association with such edge flanges by means of a tongue 39, which tongue extends forwardly from the frame 13 through an aperture 40 in the spring and is turned laterally to secure the lower portion of the spring flatly against the front face of the frame.
The upper portion 41 of the spring is reduced abruptly in width, is of generally rectangular form, and is bent forwardly at 42 and again near the upper edge 43 of the spring at 44. The section 45 of the spring between the bend lines 42 and 44 is nested snugly but freely within the downwardly opening rectangular recess 35 in the flange 30 of the seat, while the forwardly bent section 46 of the spring above the bend line 42 extends upwardly a short distance beyond the upper edge 36 of the recess in the plate 26 and bears rearwardly and upwardly with substantial pressure at an angle of about 25° against the upper edge 36 of the recess, in line-contact with the front of such edge, thereby rockingly or floatingly pressing and clamping the seat 27 both upwardly and rearwardly against the cap 16 on the interposed blade 12.
The front cutting edge 17 of the blade 12 is engaged at its ends by small upstanding lugs 47 at the ends of the guard 28, while the rear edge 48 of the blade is engaged at its center by a small forwardly projecting lug 49 on the frame 13 at the intersection of the cap 16 and the flat downwardly extending section 18 of the frame. The rear edge of the seat 27 is provided with a small opening 50 which facilitates free engagement of the lug 49 with the rear edge of the blade.
With the blade 12 clamped between the cap 16 and the seat 27 in shaving position, the downwardly extending flange 30 of the plate 26 will be spaced forwardly a slight distance from the frame 13 and will contact the frame only at the lower extremities of the downwardly tapering portions 31, in fulcrumming engagement with the frame at laterally spaced points 51.
In order to insert a new blade into the head of the razor, the key 20 of the magazine 21 is forced into the channel 19 between the frame 13 and the blade clamping plate 26, during which movement the embossment 34 on the key 20 will engage with the socket formed by the adjacent ear 33 and will force the plate 26 forwardly away from the frame 13 far enough to relieve the pressure of the lugs 47 and 49 on the blade. When the finger-operated plunger 52 of the magazine is then moved toward the head of the razor a new blade will be slid into place between the cap 16 and the seat 27 and the blade already in the head will be ejected from the far side of the head by the new blade.
1. In a safety razor of the type in which new blades are adapted to be fed into the head of the razor from a separable blade-filled magazine, a substantially rigid sheet metal main frame which is provided at its upper end with a forwardly projecting cap against the underside of which a blade is adapted to be clamped in shaving position, a movable plate in front of the frame, which plate includes a forwardly projecting seat beneath the cap for clamping the blade against the cap and a downwardly extending flange at the rear edge of the seat, said downwardly extending flange provided with a centrally arranged downwardly opening recess the upper edge of which is spaced a substantial distance below the upper edge of said flange and also a substantial distance above the lower edge of said flange, and a leaf spring in front of the frame, the lower portion of said spring rigidly secured against the frame with the upper portion of the spring freely nested within the recess in said flange, and with the upper extremity of the upper portion of the spring bent forwardly out of said recess and positioned in front of said flange, in vertically spaced relation to said seat, and in vertically lapped, rearwardly biased, resiliently yieldable fulcrumming abutment with the upper edge of said recess.
2. In a safety razor of the type in which new blades are adapted to be fed into the head of the razor from a separable blade-filled magazine, a substantially rigid sheet metal main frame which is provided at its upper end with a forwardly projecting cap against the underside of which a blade is adapted to be clamped in shaving position, a movable plate in front of the frame, which plate includes a forwardly projecting seat beneath the cap for clamping the blade against the cap and a downwardly extending flange at the rear edge of the seat, said downwardly extending flange provided with two laterally spaced downwardly extending terminal portions which form between the same a centrally arranged downwardly opening recess the upper edge of which is spaced a substantial distance below the upper edge of said flange and also a substantial distance above the lower edge of said flange, said plate spaced forwardly with respect to the frame except at the lower extremities of the said laterally spaced downwardly extending portions of said flange, where the plate fulcrums against the frame when the blade is in shaving position, and a leaf spring in front of the frame, the lower portion of said spring rigidly secured against the frame with the upper portion of the spring freely nested within the recess in said flange, and with the upper extremity of the upper portion of the spring bent forwardly out of said recess and positioned in front of said flange, in vertically spaced relation to said seat, and in vertically lapped, rearwardly biased, resiliently yieldable fulcrumming abutment with the upper edge of said recess.
3. In a safety razor of the type in which new blades are adapted to be fed into the head of the razor from a separable blade-filled magazine, a substantially rigid sheet metal main frame which is provided at its upper end with a forwardly projecting cap against the underside of which a blade is adapted to be clamped in shaving position, said frame tapering downwardly below the cap and provided along its side edges with downwardly converging forwardly projecting edge flanges which form between the same a shallow forwardly opening pocket, a movable plate in front of the frame, which plate includes a forwardly projecting seat beneath the cap for clamping the blade against the cap and a downwardly extending flange at the rear edge of the seat, which flange is provided with two laterally spaced downwardly tapering portions which are nested snugly but freely between the upper portions of the edge flanges of the frame, said laterally spaced downwardly tapering portions forming between the same a centrally arranged downwardly opening recess, the upper edge of which recess is spaced a substantial distance below the seat and also a substantial distance above the lower extremities of said downwardly tapering portions, and a leaf spring in front of the frame, the lower portion of which spring tapers downwardly, is nested within the pocket formed by the lower portions of the edge flanges on the frame, and is rigidly secured flatwise against the frame, and the upper portion of which spring nests freely within said recess, with the upper extremity of the upper portion of the spring bent forwardly out of said recess in front of the downwardly extending flange of the plate in vertically lapped, rearwardly biased, resiliently yieldable fulcrumming abutment with the upper edge of said recess.


text:
For A&C Team Members – Ampernet
Adult & Child Health
Empowering Life
This is why…
Providers Bios
Community Based Treatment
School Based Services
Therapeutic Foster Care
Homeless Engagement
Black Cultural Awareness Task Force
BCA Book Drive
LGBTQ+ Task Force
Who We AreThis is why... Board of Directors Executive Leadership Team Providers Bios Sliding Fee Scale Mission, Vision, Values Our ServicesFamily Medicine Behavioral HealthGet Started Forms Community Based Treatment School Based Services Integrated Care Addiction Services Therapeutic Foster Care Homeless Engagement Training Center Transitional Living News & EventsEvents Newsletters Careers Diversity & InclusionBlack Cultural Awareness Task ForceBCA Book Drive LGBTQ+ Task Force Locations & ContactShare your experience Support Us Become a Foster Parent
A Q&A with Adult & Child Health COO Dan Arens about Telehealth Transition
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it affected virtually every aspect of our lives. The virus forced health care agencies to adapt and adjust like no other entities.
Clients were suddenly encouraged into quarantine, reducing their ability and willingness to access primary care and behavioral health care visits. Employees felt equally insecure in providing a service that has always been, until recently, face to face. Adult & Child Health, like nearly everyone else, needed to evolve quickly or risk leaving thousands of under-resourced men, women, and children without access to care.
In late February and early March, when COVID-19 began spreading to the U.S. and Indiana, A&C's leadership was paying close attention. On March 13, when schools began to close their doors and transition to e-learning, A&C effectively transitioned 95% of its medical, psychiatric and counseling service visits from in-person to telehealth delivery models with very minimal loss of client engagement.
RELATED CONTENT: A&C Launches Telehealth to Serve Wheeler Mission Guests
How we transitioned to telehealth
Adult & Child Health Chief Operating Officer Dan Arens oversaw much of the transition process and relied heavily on the expertise of A&C's leadership teams and direct care staff who really drove the hard work. "It was so amazing to see the lengths to which our staff were willing to go to make sure our clients were still being taken care of," he said. "Our 70-year face-to-face business model was upended and re-designed in a matter of weeks. That's a remarkable testament to what can be accomplished by a mission driven team."
He shared his thoughts on the transition process, how it's working today and what it means for the agency and health care in the future.
Q: Which changes we've made to our health care services and access in the wake of COVID-19 do you think will be temporary, and which ones will remain permanently?
Dan Arens, Adult & Child Health Chief Operating Officer.
A: "Since the on the onset of COVID in mid-March, A&C has effectively transitioned our services from a face to face model to a televideo model and kept the large majority of our patient base engaged in services. From skills development work in the schools, to homeless services, family therapy, registration, and medical services, for the most part, access to our full continuum of care has remained intact via televideo.
"We've found televideo to be a very effective tool under the pandemic circumstances. The decision to continue these services under a telehealth model really falls to our payors. Under COVID-19, the rules around telehealth billing have been relaxed; if those rules continue to allow telehealth, A&C Health would be happy to continue to offer services under the telehealth model. I suspect, access to some services under telehealth will remain permanently (i.e. therapy, acute medical/psych visits, etc), while others will return to face-to-face only."
Q: Is telehealth actually preferable to our traditional in-person patient visit model? If so, why?
A:"Our clients have really adjusted well to the telehealth model. I believe people appreciate the option; especially those with mobility, transportation, work schedule, or other barriers to care. That said, every client is different in their comfort level with telehealth. In an industry based so heavily upon building relationships, discussing emotionally difficult topics, and working across support networks, telehealth does present its own set of challenges. Our staff have been really creative in these areas during this emergency, but I believe a mix of face-to-face and telehealth options is the best solution."
RELATED CONTENT: Our Foster Care Services Are Still Here for You During COVID-19. Here's How We're Doing It.
Q: We serve a specific population compared to traditional health care facilities/agencies. Will telehealth be beneficial to our client demographic long-term, and if so, why?
A: "Many of our clients do experience multiple barriers to care; perhaps moreso than traditional health care. Telehealth certainly does expand our clients' options for access to care. Beyond the common barriers like transportation, telehealth does afford us a different approach to treating people who experience mental health challenges that make it difficult for them to attend services in person.
"I believe telehealth has also allowed our agency to reduce the number of clients who present at ER's for non-emergent services. Whether for primary care or behavioral health services, telehealth has allowed us to be more nimble in working urgent care patients into same-day visits."
Steve Dycus uses an iPad to set up his telehealth services at Adult & Child Health.
Q: What changes do we still need to make as an agency (or as an industry) to make telehealth a viable long-term health care access option?
A: "Long term, I believe COVID-19 has forced us all into telehealth models and we've collectively demonstrated the remarkable benefit of telehealth. Insurance payors, providers, and patients adapted really quickly. As with any new process, we have some work flow adaptations we're working to implement, which will improve client care, follow up, registration efficiencies. The beneficial components of face-to-face health care (like connectivity, body language, empathy, compassion, etc.) don't translate as effectively via tele-video. Those aspects of the visit are very important to good care, so we, as an industry, will need to find creative ways to keep these traits present in a tele-visit model."
Q: How have our clients responded to telehealth? Not just in terms of individual feedback, but participation in the process (i.e. have no-shows increased, decreased or remained flat)?
A: "We've not had a chance to do a patient satisfaction survey and compare pre-COVID versus during-COVID statistics, but I can say our no-show rate has gone down, clients have voiced appreciation that A&C is still providing care. Many other mental health, substance use, and safety net providers closed their doors for weeks at a time due to COVID, leaving people without care. I'm very proud of our staff's dedication to serving our clients. When a 600(ish)-person agency transitions from a full face-to-face service model to a 95% telehealth service model in about 10 days, you know you have staff who care about those they serve."
This table shows how A&C transitioned from in-person to telehealth visits.
This chart (at left) clearly demonstrates the successful transition of visits in our clinics from face-to-face (blue) to telehealth (orange). For scale, pay close attention to the one-month date range. Also notice, our visit counts per day ended higher via telehealth then they started via face to face.
A similar comparison was made among our traditional mental health center services. We experienced about 7% of our patients disengaged in care during the first months of COVID. Those who remained engaged were highly effective in transitioning to telehealth. We have seen an overall reduction in the duration of our visits, which is to be expected as people assimilate to telehealth.
RELATED CONTENT: How to Use Our Patient Portal for Your Family Medicine Needs
Q: As an integrated care agency, is our experience with telehealth unique compared to other, more specialized agencies? Are there particular service lines that have benefited more from telehealth, and if so, why?
In speaking with many other safety net mental health and Health Center agencies, A&C was certainly one of the fastest to adapt and transition to a telehealth model; including the ability for our staff to work remotely to see clients. This was no small feat and was rooted in our IT department's ability to make rapid changes in tech platforms, onboard machines, and do all kinds of behind-the-scenes techno magic while our clinical staff were concurrently learning how to operate, and provide strong clinical care, under a telehealth model.
I believe A&C's experience was unique because we moved so fast. Our clients experienced minimal interruption in care compared to other centers closing their clinic doors completely. Agency-wide, telehealth has allowed us to continue nearly every service line in some capacity. Beyond the direct care staff, this transition impacted every admin/support department as well. Our facilities crews, front desks, clinical quality, HR, analytics, accounting, and revenue cycle departments all played a front or back end role in this transition. It's probably fair to say the transition to telehealth impacted every person, every job, every department. And I personally appreciate every person's role in this process.
I'd never ask to relive the COVID-19 pandemic, but I have been truly amazed by our staffs' response under the pressure of this pandemic. So many staff stepped forward to lend a hand, put in late hours in planning, and work outside their comfort zones to make sure the people we serve continued to be served. It's been a humbling experience to say the least."
Want to learn more about our Telehealth options? Call us at 1-877-882-5122 to see what options work best for you and your family.
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Bolivian President Evo Morales has renewed his efforts to build a controversial highway through the heart of the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS), a forested park that is home to over 12,000 indigenous people. The central segment of the highway would bisect the territory and accelerate already high rates of deforestation. Protests spearheaded by the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB) in 2011 and 2012 postponed its construction, while funding by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) was withdrawn. The Bolivian government had previously said it would tackle extreme poverty in the territory before mounting any new effort to build the highway.
While facing an election next year, Bolivian President Evo Morales is thinking about his legacy. As the strong front-runner in national politics, his governing party, the Movement Towards Socialism—Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, feels confident it will be in power for a long time to come. This self-confidence is driving the drafting of a 2025 Patriotic Agenda. Alongside the formal process, the president has spoken off the cuff of his desires for the future. And like any dreams, they provide an insight into the mind and orientation of the dreamer. In his oratory, Morales long seemed to equally embrace two visions: sovereignty through claiming natural resources for the nation and reorientation of society towards ecological harmony with Mother Earth. Now, however, he has discarded the Pachamama-centered rethinking of exploitation and dreams of technologies long criticized for their environmental destructiveness.
Honor Brabazon and Jeffery Webber have just released a new research article on the state of agrarian reform in Bolivia under the government of Evo Morales. The paper, available as a pre-print from the Journal of Agrarian Change, offers a disconcerting look at the state of land redistribution six years after Morales signed a law promising community-led "redirection of the Agrarian Revolution." The paper is compelling because it puts the experiences and views of the Bolivian Landless Peasants' Movement (MST; the same initials as its better-known Brazilian counterpart) alongside hard data on the redistribution of land produced by the La Paz-based research unit Centro de Estudios para el Desarollo Laboral y Agrario (CEDLA).
I've previously covered the most dramatic shift in Bolivian land tenure on this blog, the dramatic reordering of large swaths of land into "Native Community Lands," (TCOs) collectively controlled indigenous territories throughout the country that now constitute nearly a fifth of the country. The same process of clarification of land title was promised to yield a revolution in the prospects of landless and near-landless peasants. The data presented and translated by Brabazon and Webber shows that promise was not to be.
Brabazon and Webber provide a sobering conclusion: "The same social class that ruled over agricultural production in 2005 continues to rule today in 2012" (21).
In honor of #NewResearchThursday / #NRTh, one attempt to increase the content to signal ratio on social media.
What do two short-lived US secrets tell us about state secrecy?
The United States Air Force has a drone base in Niger from which it flied unmanned aircraft into Mali to provide military intelligence for the French military involved in Mali's civil war. The United States State Department orchestrated the denial of European countries' airspace to the presidential plane of Evo Morales on July 2.
These are now former secrets, documented in the mainstream press of the United States. Neither lasted very long. Surely the Malian rebels saw drones flying above them and guessed the US military was taking sides against them. And even more surely, Evo Morales knew that the US was behind his plane's emergency diversion to Vienna. Yet these acts were classified; the US role in blocking the Bolivian presidential plane was publicly denied. What can we learn about United States state secrecy from them?
This is a time of highly controversial disclosures of government secrets. It's also a time of unprecedented classification of government documents as secret: a US government audit found 3,507,782 people hold security clearance to access Confidential/Secret documents, and 1,409,969 hold Top Secret security clearances as of October 2012. In Fiscal Year 2012, the US government classified 95,180,243 documents, declaring 23 million of them top secret (ISOO annual report). The government spends $8 to $12 billion per year on keeping these documents secret.
Within this mountain of so-called secrets live millions of banal pieces of data: personnel files of agency employees, details of weapons systems, operational details of military deployments. While it's reasonable to debate how much of this material truly needs to be secured in this way, that's not the material people are willing to risk their freedom to bring to the world. Instead, the real state secrets are government actions that are carried out covertly. Recently whistleblowers have shown us that the military kept records of killed civilians in the Iraq War, that the US illegally spies on diplomats at the United Nations, that the United Kingdom violated the Land Mine Ban treaty, that the US could document massive government corruption in Tunisia (helping to spark revolt there) and that the NSA spied on the electronic communication of people around the world [some of these revelations are described here]. Every day, diligent work by journalists exposes other secrets to the people whose governments try to keep them.
The only ones left in the dark by this policy of secrecy are the people of the United States. When the press asks questions about drones, US officials try to avoid the word, and give pseudo-answers like this one: "What the President indicated is we're going to continue to provide the support that we've been investing in this operation. And what we've provided is, for instance, logistical support and other types of backing for those nations that are putting peacekeepers into Mali" (Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, June 27). For four years, the Obama administration directed its press secretary to talk like this: "When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, 'You're not even to acknowledge the drone program. You're not even to discuss that it exists'" (Robert Gibbs). In effect, the United States is supplying targeting information for a war in Mali, and actually killing people in half a dozen other countries, but refusing to talk about it.
The case of the Morales plane diversion went beyond secrecy to lies. Days before the operation, President Obama responded to a question explicitly raising this possibility: "Mr. President, will you use U.S. military assets to in any way intercept Mr. Snowden should he at some point in the future leave Russia to try to find safe passage in another country?" The President's answer was unequivocal: "No, I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker" (transcript). On July 2, Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane was denied entry into French, Spanish, and Italian airspace and its landing to refuel in Portugal was cancelled. As reflected by the emergency gathering of the Union of South American Nations in response, this was a major violation of diplomatic protocol. It rapidly became clear that the diversion was the use of state power (backed by the possibility of force—i.e., the scrambling of jets) in an attempt to intercept Mr. Snowden.
This narrative is not only the most plausible one, it is backed up by Austrian press reports that the country's Foreign Office received a late-night call from US Ambassador Ambassador William Eacho alerting them to Snowden's presence on President Morales' plane. It is also suggested by the Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo's statement that "They told us that [Snowden] was onboard," and further describing the source of the communication as a diplomatic secret.
Meanwhile, the US State Department was busy issuing a cascade of non-statements.
QUESTION: — said that the French Government had, in fact, revoked permission for President Morales' plane to go, but he said that it was a technical error based on a ()misunderstanding. Do you and the United States have any idea what that technical error – that technical reason that was based on a misunderstanding or an incorrect assumption might have been?
So, Bolivia knew of US involvement. Other countries knew of US involvement. A senior legislator claims that the act was designed to send a message of the position of the US government. But the US government formally claims to have no idea how this action happened. The only possible target for these denials is the US public. We are meant to pretend that our government was not involved in this international incident, that such involvement is a product of Evo Morales' paranoia rather than an obvious and widely discussed pattern of US behavior. (And so, the New York Times will continue to publish sentences full of hypotheticals like this one: "Latin American leaders condemn refusal to let plane carrying Bolivia's Pres Evo Morales fly over European nations because of what Bolivian officials say were suspicions that Edward J Snowden was on board.") Given the standards of American journalism, we—and we alone—will have to wait for an actual leaked document from the State Department before our press takes seriously what the rest of the world confidently knows.
Like these two examples, many state secrets are not about protecting complex operations or securing the lives of operatives. They are about keeping the public out of decisionmaking. They are about reducing accountability. They are about subverting democracy. Alongside making a mockery of such basic principles, they make dangerous, unpopular, and/or immoral behavior by government officials easier.
Fortunately, part of that dynamic is beginning to weaken.
The publication of logs of the Iraq War and diplomatic cables by Wikileaks has raised the prospect of the US government being denied the prerogative of secret wars, secret foreign policies, secret decisions, and secret outcomes. The Snowden disclosures and the avalanche of additional investigative reporting that has followed in their wake have done the same for the surveillance state. (It's worth noting that every single one of these disclosures have exposed wars, policies and outcomes, rather than the operational security that enables them to be carried out.) Snowden, Bradley Manning, Thomas Drake, and William Binney are all examples of government officials who allowed their conscience to override the classification of information.
The national security apparatus is designed to defend itself against Cold War threats: agents who commit espionage in the service of a foreign power for ideological reasons, or for personal gain. It seems that it is not at all prepared to defend itself against espionage committed for personal, ethical reasons, done at one's own detriment. It may not ever be possible to do so. On some level, this line of business requires that all those involved completely accept the utility and purpose of the mission, and accept that international relations are a zero-sum game. Otherwise, anyone could walk out of their office with a thumb drive and publish the contents online.
What does the world with thousands of thumb drives look like? (Other than a half-dozen presidents of Obama's generation ordering international manhunts to track them down.) In evaluating the impact, value, and morality of these disclosures, our focus should be on the incentives created by transparency on war, foreign policy, and surveillance. How do diplomats, warriors, and spies change their behavior when they know their deeds will be exposed? (Especially when those disclosures are more likely when the acts are morally objectionable.) There are grounds for hope that "opened governments" will be more cautious and less destructive because they have more reason to fear public awareness of their actions.
* Ros-Lehtinen is former chair and a continuing member of House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and thereby has clearance to be briefed on this kind of diplomatic activity.
The following is my translation of the official statement by the UNASUR leaders made yesterday, in response to the diversion of Bolivian President Evo Morales's airplane during his return from Moscow to La Paz, Bolivia.
The flagrant violation of International Treaties that govern peaceful coexistence, solidarity, and cooperation among states, which constitutes an extraordinary, unfriendly, and hostile act, forming an illicit act that affects the freedom of transit and movement of of a Head of State and his official delegation.
The abuse and neocolonial practices that still subsist on our planet in the twenty-first century.
The absence of transparency with regard to the political decisions that impeding the aerial transit of the Bolivian presidential plane and of the country's president.
The offense suffered by President Evo Morales, which did not only offend the Bolivian people, but rather all of our nations.
The illegal practices of espionage that put at risk the rights of citizens and the friendly coexistence between nations.
Given these denunciations, we are convinced that the process of building a Greater Homeland [of South America], to which we are committed, should be consolidated based on upon the full respect for the sovereignty and independence of our peoples, with the interference of the world's hegemonic centers, overcoming the old practices through which some sought to impose [a system of] first-class and second-class nations.
1. Declare that the unacceptable restriction of the liberty of President Evo Morales Ayma, turning him into a virtual hostage, constitutes a violation of the rights not just of the Bolivian people, but rather of all the countries and peoples of Latin America, and sets a dangerous precedent with regard to effective international law.
2. Reject these actions that clearly violate the basic norms and principles of international law, such as the inviolability of Heads of State.
3. Demand that the governments of France, Portugal, Italy, and Spain explain the basis for the decision to deny overflight acess to their airspace to the presidential aircraft of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
4. Equally demand that the governments of France, Portugal, Italy, and Spain offer public apologies in relation to the grave matters that have occurred.
5. Stand behind the Denunciation presented by the Plurinational State of Bolivia before the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the grave violation of human rights and concrete danger to life to which President Evo Morales Ayma was subjected. Equally, we back the right of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to carry out all actions it considers necessary before competent Tribunals and [other] instances [of law].
6. Agree to form a Follow-Up Committee, assigning our Chancellors [i.e., Foreign Ministers] the task of carrying out the necessary actions to clarify the facts.
Finally, in the spirit of the principles established in the Founding Treaty of UNASUR [the Union of South American Nations], we exhort the full body of Chiefs of State of the Union to stand by this Declaration. Equally, we call on the United Nations, and regional organizations that have not yet done so, to speak out on this unjustifiable and arbitrary act.


December 8, 2008 - TAKE Houston Rockets - 7 1/2 point spread. The Rockets have Mr. Intangible back in the lineup and I mean Shane Battier. Battier is the exta few point in a game that lead covering against the spread. The Grizzles are now starting Darko at centre and have moved Gasol to coming off the bench. Ming will eat up either centre while Artest will lock down Rudy Gay. Rafer is playing well like the second half of last season and the Rockets should win by double digits on the road. Line opened at -7 and will probably move to -8 by tip off.


Act Fast This Offer Is FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY - I'm giving away my 'XP - Best Of'' CD for free. I believe that new and original rock music is crucial and I'm betting that if I can get this album into your ears (for free!) you'll become a life long fan. Cheers, Will.
Get an autographed 'XP - Best Of' CD + signed postcard + WB 'blackhawk' sticker for a Deluxe Package Deal!
Instant Gratification - Download / stream all 12 songs and start listening right away!
* Will Black signs & ships your CD order personally from Estonia, Europe.
the ballad.. "You Slay Me"
the hard rocker.. "Pretty Garden"
the stadium anthem.. "Cry Like Hell"


I am a New York-based author and for the past five years, I have been writing prolifically about the deterioration in East-West relations and political crisis in Ukraine. I have conducted four research trips to Ukraine, in 2014 and 2016-18. I have studied Russian language in both New York and St. Petersburg, where I lived last year. To date, I have written some sixty five articles about Ukraine, and I have also published a booklet, Ukraine's Revolutionary Ghosts, which features a distillation and synthesis of much of my earlier writing on this subject, as well as accompanying images. My essays on these issues have appeared in such venues as the Washington, D.C.-based Kennan Institute (a division of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars), al-Jazeera, Huffington Post and "New Eastern Europe."
Before I started addressing East-West tensions, I was more oriented toward North-South dynamics, and specifically Latin America. In 2002, I received my doctorate in Latin American history from Oxford University. Later, I went on to write Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics and the Challenge to the U.S., and Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left. Over the years, I have written hundreds of articles about U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, populism, and the political left throughout the wider region. My extensive articles on WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden provide a valuable historical and political archive elucidating the nature of wider hemispheric politics. In addition, I am the author of No Rain in the Amazon: How South America's Climate Change Affects the Entire Planet, and I'm a prolific writer on the topics of environment and climate change. I have spoken about such wide-ranging topics on the likes of CNN, the BBC and National Public Radio to name just a few, and I even put in a guest appearance on the Daily Show.
I am politically on the left though I have expressed many criticisms over the years. I have meanwhile given much thought to the concept of ground-breaking non-violent social and political change. To see my companion site, which features my own interviews with experts and activists on these matters, as well as some of my own articles, click here.
I am also a satiric novelist and the author of Post Academic Stress Disorder. In addition, I am a photographer and photojournalist. To follow on Facebook, click here. To follow on Twitter @nikolaskozloff, click here.


The problem is. That website for further information on the dates links to https://lanka.com/events/kandy-esala-perahera/ which dates the events one day earlier.
In other words: There is some confusion wether the final Randoli Perahera takes place on the evening of 26th August or 25th August.


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Home > News > behind the scenes: our monarch print
behind the scenes: our monarch print
In late summer, the fields behind my home in Vermont are speckled with Queen Anne's Lace, the white, lacy flower that has been a touchstone for me since my childhood. The flower is a sign of the season, tied to long, warm days and the impending arrival of fall. As a child, I believed the red spot in the flower's center was a secret I knew that few others had spotted — something I peeked at on solo walks along the lake road and exploratory treks through fields that opened wide in front of me.
Childhood explorations are like this — full of mystery and wonder, imbued with adventure even when they only carry us through our own backyards.
To explore is to see the world around us with fresh eyes — both at home, and on adventures. To explore is to witness the intricate and interconnected dances that make our earth inhabitable. To explore: This is the inspiration for our new Monarch print, which we launched this fall with National Geographic.
We're proud to partner with this storied institution on their multi-year "Planet or Plastic?" campaign, an effort to raise awareness of the global plastic pollution crisis and challenge individuals and companies alike to rethink their relationship with single-use plastics. When we set out to design the new print for this collaboration, I returned again and again to a few simple elements that hold personal and ecological significance: Queen Anne's Lace, the Monarch butterfly, and rows of mountains in the distance begging to be traversed.
My own explorations have taken me around the world, but more often than not these days, my explorations take place in those fields behind my home, covered in snow in winter and dotted with Queen Anne's Lace in late summer. I take our family Corgi, Pappy, out to the fields for a chance for both of us to stretch our legs.
I scan the fields for Monarch butterflies, a spot of brilliant orange against green. Just as Queen Anne's Lace seemed like a secret treasure in my childhood, the story of the Monarch butterfly's metamorphosis seemed nothing short of magic. Monarchs evolve from egg to larva, munching on milkweed before settling into their cocoons. When they emerge from that mysterious transformation, they're butterflies on a mission — to pollinate the flowers of summer and then set out off a remarkable migration that spans thousands of miles to their winter breeding grounds. It was zoologist Fred Urquhart, a recipient of a National Geographic grant, who discovered that generations of the butterfly can travel as far as 3,000 miles to wintering grounds in Mexico.
On one of my walks in late summer this year, I watched for Monarchs — but knew I'd be lucky to spot one among the Queen Anne's Lace and red clover. Today Monarchs are threatened by habitat loss, climate change, and herbicides and pesticides. We see this in Vermont, where the milkweed these butterflies rely upon for sustenance is often considered a weed, or plowed under where farmland has overcome natural meadows.
And then it was there — riding on the breeze, fluttering and landing on a clover, drinking nectar.
—Sarah Kaeck, Bee's Wrap founder
our first hive: two years later
how to care for your bee's wrap
a letter from sarah: we're a b corp!
the buzz on beeswax
how to fold a bee's wrap pouch


although it was still birthday princess day, it was still a friday - which meant that i still had a girl scout meeting to run with my co-leader. we always have a blast at our meetings anyway, so it was just an extension of the awesome day i'd already had.
not to mention, this was no ordinary meeting. oh no - this meeting featured a surprise for the girls: a zumba class!
as you can see, my co-leader and i got in on the action too, following along there in the background.
at the end of the session, everyone was sweaty and thirsty and happy.
what comes after a long, hard workout - especially at a girl scouts meeting? snack time!
i was super excited and touched when my co-leader and the old lady brought out this gorgeous treat for me, along with a few other surprises. and then along with the girls, they all sang to me as i beamed happily.
all in all, i'd say that it was a pretty fantabulous birthday. and get this - it wasn't over yet! having a birthday on a friday means...birthday WEEKEND. oh, yes.


Know How a DWI can Affect your Security Clearance in Texas | Doug Murphy Law Firm, P.C.
Depending where you work in Texas, any position you hold -- from a clerk to an intelligence analyst -- can require security clearance. The process can be arduous and long to obtain clearance, so once you get clearance, you don't want to lose it.
Sometimes, however, that's what happens: you lose it. The cause may be something you initially would not have thought would result in that kind of reaction: a DWI conviction. A charge of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and a subsequent conviction of the same is a problem. But we are human, and mistakes are made. If you have or are intending to apply for security clearance, you need to find an experienced DWI trial attorney to help you with your legal matters.
An experienced DWI defense trial lawyer knows: (1) the court system; (2) judge personalities and characteristics; (3) psychology of a jury; and (4) how to develop a legal strategy to either have your DWI charge dismissed before trial or acquitted after trial. If either of the latter materialize, you should still be able to keep or obtain security clearance.
There are three things you should require in your attorney, who ultimately holds your freedom and future within his power: (1) trial experience; (2) experience specific to DWI and criminal defense; and (3) insight to develop a personalized defense strategy in accordance with the facts.
Trial experience provides the insight and confidence necessary to challenge the State appropriately.
Experience with DWI cases to understand the nuances and specifics of the law, outcomes, among other necessary, informative details.
Experience in criminal defense provides the ability to develop strategies that work; only through trial and error do attorneys gain the powerful tools and knowledge necessary for successful outcomes.
Insight provides the knowledge that pulls it all together for a defense that challenges the State and invokes reasonable doubt.
Doug Murphy prepares each case for trial, and goes to trial unless he has the case dismissed before trial commences. Doug Murphy is Board-certified in DWI and Board-certified in criminal defense, both of which testify to his capabilities. Finally, Doug Murphy has the insight to develop a strategic defense.
Doug Murphy understands what's at stake and can help.
What Happens With Security Clearance if Convicted of DWI?
There is no short or easy answer to this question. Security clearance will either be affected or it will not. The facts and unique circumstances of each case will determine the outcome. What you need to understand, however, is simple: a DWI conviction is a security concern. As a security concern, the DWI suggests you, too, may be a security concern. Regardless if you are a clerk or an intelligence analyst, if there is a security concern hanging over you, your position or career could be in jeopardy.
An investigation will take place to determine if you are a security risk. Fighting your DWI charge is an important part to prove that you are not a security risk. Fighting your DWI will go a long way to help you obtain or maintain your security clearance status.
The U.S. government grants security clearance as a privilege granted. With this clearance, you are provided a level of eligibility to access or work with confidential information, or to be in the vicinity where this confidential information is held. After a thorough background check and other measures, the government grants the security clearance as its assurance that you are not and do not pose a risk that could result in the exposure of confidential information. The Adjudicative Guidelines For Determining Eligibility for Access to Classified Information controls the process to determine if you or someone else is or is not qualified for clearance. There are thirteen guidelines in total, but only 5 of them are directly or indirectly relevant to DWI convictions.
Unwillingness to comply with rules and regulations.
Any of these behaviors, though not specific to DWI, "could indicate that [you] may not properly safeguard classified information." Driving while intoxicated (either with alcohol or drugs) indicates you may lack the capability to effectively assess certain circumstances.
Here, DWI is specifically considered. If you are applying for clearance or needing to re-apply, your alcohol consumption will be considered, i.e., to determine if your alcohol consumption is a product of "questionable judgment, unreliability, failure to control impulses." According to this guideline, consuming alcohol is not a problem unless it creates circumstances that "increases the risk of unauthorized disclosure of classified information due to carelessness." Thus, a DWI indicates you drink, but to what extent your alcohol consumption may interfere with work is to be determined by the totality of the circumstances.
If your DWI or charge of DWI was associated with drugs, whether prescription, legal, or illegal, this guideline questions your "willingness or ability to protect classified information." This guideline notes that drug use is a concern because it can "impair social or occupational functioning, increasing the risk of an unauthorized disclosure of classified information." Additionally, if your drug DWI was related to illegal drugs, then it raises questions about your commitment to comply with laws, rules, and regulations.
This guideline is indirectly yet directly related to a DWI conviction; it refers to "emotional, mental, and personality disorders [that] can cause a significant deficit in an individual's psychological, social and occupational functioning." According to this guideline, such a disorder can indicate that you could be or become a security risk because of "a defect in judgment, reliability, or stability."
A DWI could be a symptom of an emotional, mental or personality disorder, but there would also have to be other instances and information to support this conclusion. For instance, if you are clinically depressed, then there may be other instances related to alcohol consumption that will indicate you are unfit emotionally for security clearance. Again, the totality of the circumstances must be reviewed, but a DWI conviction could make someone consider if you have one of these disorders or not.
This guideline refers to criminal conduct as a "history or pattern of criminal activity." Criminal conduct is a security concern for obvious reasons, but according to the guideline it is a security concern because it "creates doubt" about your "judgment, reliability and trustworthiness." It also raises questions about your commitment to comply with laws, rules, and regulations.
A DWI conviction is proof of criminal conduct. One night out and one subsequent mistake can lead to serious collateral damage for your future; a DWI conviction remains on your record permanently because it is not a crime eligible for expungement.
If you have a DWI conviction on your record or were just charged with a DWI, there is help; not all is yet lost. If a DWI is the factor that raises questions about your reliability, trustworthiness, etc., then the guidelines offer hope. According to 32 E.C.F.R. § 147.2(d), the guidelines must take into account the "whole-person," and that means you will not be disqualified for security clearance unless your conduct "reflects a recurring pattern of questionable judgment, irresponsibility, or emotionally unstable behavior." To consider you as a "whole-person," nine factors are considered in light of each other.
(9) The likelihood of continuation of recurrence.
Accordingly, each case must be judged according to "its own merits." The whole-person approach considers your overall behavior rather than basing a conclusion on a one-time incident. That said, a DWI conviction is a concern, and it is one you must take seriously.
If previously convicted of a DWI, failure to complete court-mandated alcohol education or treatment program.
Regardless if previously convicted of a DWI, relapse after completion of an alcohol-related treatment program.
Professional diagnosis of chemical substance abuse or dependency.
If any of the above examples are coupled with your current DWI charge, they could detrimentally impact the U.S. government's decision to grant or renew security clearance to you.
If you are applying for security clearance or already have it, these are all reasons why you must fight your DWI charge. A conviction could cause problems for you. You should hire an attorney who has the requisite experience at trial defending clients against a conviction of a DWI. Doug Murphy is that attorney.
If you already possess or are applying for security clearance and are arrested for a DWI anywhere in Texas, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced DWI attorney who has specific experience on this subject.
Reputable DWI and criminal defense attorney Doug Murphy has the experience, the knowledge, and the resources to address your DWI charge and to prevent it from negatively impacting your current or pending security clearance. Don't let a DWI jeopardize your livelihood. Contact Doug Murphy Law Firm online or by phone at (713) 229-8333.


Huntsville Hospital Foundation Support the health care programs, projects and services of Huntsville Hospital.
The Dr. Frank Crim Compassion Fund for Children with Cancer was established by Betty and Phil Bentley in honor of their dear friend, Dr. Crim. The purpose of the fund is to provide for the special needs of children with cancer and blood disorders who are being treated at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children's St. Jude Affiliate Clinic.
Donations to the Dr. Frank Crim Fund help provide computer games, toys and activities for children undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments at the clinic, as well as gift certificates to movie theaters, ice cream parlors, athletic events and restaurants for patients and their families to enjoy. In addition, donations are also used for financial assistance towards tutoring services and other needs; "No Mo Chemo" parties for patients who have completed their treatment; a "Wall of Heroes" celebrating pediatric cancer survivors; and college scholarships for survivors.
Gifts to the Dr. Frank Crim Compassion Fund for Children with Cancer may be made to Huntsville Hospital Foundation, and may be made in honor or in memory of someone who is special to you. The family will be notified of your kindness.
Click here to make a donation now!
For more information about the Dr. Frank Crim Compassion Fund for Children with Cancer Fund, please contact the Foundation at (256) 265-8077.


Can you help an intranet manager?
Being an intranet manager can be a lonely place. How many organisations do you know who have more than one? Certainly in BT I am the only intranet manager…………although I do have a great team that support me!
Our potential for comparing and learning from others is limited by the internal nature and focus of intranets. Firewalls are necessary for security but make sharing knowledge difficult.
So, back to my question. Can you help Dominic? He's very friendly and would be very keen to reciprocate any offer to help with an exchange on intranets.
You can either leave a comment on my blog or email Dominic directly dominic.chiappe@lr.org. He'll be very pleased to hear from you.
Thanks. That's great. I'll pass your details on.


text:
from django.db.backends import BaseDatabaseValidation

class DatabaseValidation(BaseDatabaseValidation):
    def validate_field(self, errors, opts, f):
        "Prior to MySQL 5.0.3, character fields could not exceed 255 characters"
        from django.db import models
        from django.db import connection
        db_version = connection.get_server_version()
        if db_version < (5, 0, 3) and isinstance(f, (models.CharField, models.CommaSeparatedIntegerField, models.SlugField)) and f.max_length > 255:
            errors.add(opts,
                '"%s": %s cannot have a "max_length" greater than 255 when you are using a version of MySQL prior to 5.0.3 (you are using %s).' %
                (f.name, f.__class__.__name__, '.'.join([str(n) for n in db_version[:3]])))