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West Seneca's Nicholas Jones Is This Week's Hometown Hero
(listener submitted photo)
It's time once again for our Hometown Hero, brought to you by Batavia Downs Gaming with help from our friends at WNY Heroes who help us with our nominations every week. This week, our Hometown Hero is from West Seneca, NY. It's United States Marine Corps Sergeant Nicholas Jones!
Nicholas' nomination reads:
I could write a book on what Nicholas has accomplished in the last 10 years of his life. He was raised by a strong, independent single mother. Nick graduated in 2007 from West Seneca West High School, joined the USMC and made the rank of Sergeant in less than 2 yrs. He went on 3 deployments. When he came back he attended Erie Community College and became captain of the football team. He has received the chancellor and president awards for student leadership and excellence. He received a scholarship for UTep El Paso and completed his degree at Buffalo State all along playing football , something he never did in high school.
He now coaches West Seneca West football and the girls' basketball team.
He has been a leader, mentor to all ages and very humble . He walks in a room and people seem to know who he is telling him he has made an impressive mark in his community.
As you can tell I am his mom who is overwhelmed with his success and overcoming it all. There is so much more to the impact he has made and continues to do. He was recently recognized on veterans day for his service in West Seneca.
Currently, he works at the Stanley Folk school in Kenmore.
This week, we are honored to name Nicholas Jones our Hometown Hero of the week!
If you would like to nominate your own Hometown Hero, click the button below. We like to honor both active duty and veteran heroes from right here in Western New York.
Thanks once again to United States Marine Sergeant Nicholas Jones, our Hometown Hero of the week!
Nominate a Hometown Hero Here!
Filed Under: Hometown Hero, Nicholas Jones, Sergeant, United States Marine Corps, USMC, west seneca
Categories: Brett Alan, Heroes


Huh…so very similar to my poem looking for fear. What a coincidence!
Much more a faceless man or the white collar. These are the novels with same concept.
It's great. I liked the intensity of the emotion, and the form chosen, I think, is underlining the theme – short and broken into pieces. Well done!
Hey Nice Blog….. Please check out my blog ….http://ketakimalwade.com/…..Your feedback will be appreciated.


4:45pm Update> Got to love the internet. Someone has already created the website for Gundy.
During today's press conference highlighting their match up with Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl, Mike Gundy was asked about his coaches being contacted for other jobs across the country.
Gundy responded by saying that he was going to start a website called hirecoachgundyscoaches.com to help expedite the process. He was kidding. But in all seriousness, Gundy goes on to say that he feels strongly that other schools shouldn't contact coaches during the season. Listen to him.


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Spanish Newspaper Reports Clergy Sex Abuse to Vatican by Bridget Ryder
Italy: Birth Rate Fell to Apocalyptically Low Levels in 2020 by Robert Semonsen
After 'Christmas' Controversy, European Commission President writes Letter to Pope Francis by Tristan Vanheuckelom
Spanish Newspaper Reports Clergy Sex Abuse to Vatican
The earliest accusation goes back to an incident in 1943 and the most recent allegedly took place in 2018. Seventy-seven percent of the alleged abusers belonged to religious orders and the majority of the abuse is alleged to have occurred in the 1960-80s.
The Spanish newspaper El Pais claims to have found 251 new cases of clergy sex abuse and to have instigated a Vatican investigation of sex abuse in the country.
On December 19th, it reported that one of its journalists gave a 385-page dossier to Pope Francis's assistant during the pontiff's trip to Cyprus in early December. A week later, the newspaper sent the report to the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The paper reports that Pope Francis delivered the dossier to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and that Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Episcopal Conference, handed his copy over to the church court in Barcelona to start investigating the accusations.
Each case reports on a priest or religious accused of abusing a minor. The earliest accusation goes back to an incident in 1943 and the most recent allegedly took place in 2018. Seventy-seven percent of the alleged abusers belonged to religious orders and the majority of the abuse is alleged to have occurred in the 1960-80s.
The new allegations stem from a three-year investigation by the media outlet.
El Pais started its investigation of sex abuse in Spain in 2018, searching public records, newspaper archives, and setting up a dedicated email account for the public to send in stories of abuse. It received more than five hundred emails. In April, it published what it called the first database of "recognized" abuse cases in the country. The database includes, for example, accusations published in a memoir and the information from an internal investigation by the Jesuits. The oldest case, brought to public attention through the Jesuit's internal investigation, dates back to 1927. The accused abuser was expelled from the order. The database registers 364 cases and 956 victims.
Along with cases that had already been brought to light in some fashion, the paper discovered 251 new alleged incidents of sexual abuse of minors. Some of those who came forward were men in their 70s and 80s. One victim told the newspaper that he hadn't said anything about the abuse to his alleged abuser's superior at the time of the abuse because the superior had also nearly abused him, though the superior stopped when he seemed to realize what he was doing.
The dossier given to the Vatican and the Spanish bishop's conference does not include information that would identify the alleged victims, though it does state the institutions where the abuse allegedly took place and the names of religious superiors. It also includes an annex of high-ranking church officials who allegedly covered up the abuse. The newspaper stated that it has offered to help the Vatican get in contact with the alleged victims.
A press release by the Spanish Episcopal Conference on December 20th stated that all efforts to end "sexual abuse in the church and in society are, in principle, good."
It also stated, "It would be desirable that the accusations gathered in the report were more rigorous, as its very disparate content makes it difficult to extract conclusions that can serve for a possible investigation."
El Pais reported that it had contacted the religious communities named in the report and that most had pledged to investigate the allegations, although one community, according to the newspaper, stated that it would simply turn the reports over to the civil prosecutor from where it would be archived as too old to prosecute.
The paper also reported some pushback to the allegations. When one alleged case was divulged to a representative of the religious order, he replied, "We're not going to investigate, I have never heard anyone speak ill of this person. The subject doesn't interest me. This is dirty."
The Spanish Bishop's Conference also requested that the reports be turned over to the individual dioceses.
In 2020, each diocese opened an office to receive abuse allegations and respond to victims in accordance with Pope Francis' motu propio, Vos Estis Lux Mundo.
Unlike the recent French report on abuse in the church commissioned by the French bishops, the Spanish report does not seem to have caused much of a stir inside or outside of the Spanish church.
Bridget Ryder is Spain-based writer. She has written on politics, environment, and culture for American and international publications. She holds degrees in Spanish and Catholic Studies.
Catholic Church,
NATO Alliance Showing Signs of Fraying; U.S.-UK Lead on Russia Questioned by European Partners
Uncertainty Prevails on the Issue of the Italian Presidential Election
U.S. Senator: Germany has De Facto Left NATO

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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EU-Canada (CETA)
Farmers dump manure outside French lawmakers' offices in CETA protest
All the versions of this article: [English] [français]
RFI | 2 August 2019
By David Roe
The offices of two lawmakers from Emmanuel Macron's LaREM party in Toulouse in the southwest of the country have been vandalised by famers inToulouse, just the latest in a number of incidents over the past week. In the case of Monique Iborra, tonnes of manure were dropped outside her offices, while the office of Corinne Vignon was blocked using concrete blocks. Manure was also dumped outside police headquarters.
According to the farmers of the FDSEA farmers union, they had invited the ten deputies of Haute-Garonne region for a debate on the CETA agreement.
However, none of the deputies responded and, according to Christian Mazas, head of the regional branch of the union, they decided to visit the deputies.
Farmers' position
In an interview with the French radio station Europe 1, Mazas said the position of the lawmakers does not make sense.
"We are basically saying to [Corinne Vignon] that if she is not going to listen to us, there is no point in her continuing as an elected representative," he said.
He also said the action aimed to point out the inconsistencies of elected officials: "This member, like others, voted for Ceta, whereas a few months ago, at the meeting of the [government committee on food production], these are the same people who voted for farmers in France to raise their its level of production arguing that French farmers have higher [production] standards to meet than in other countries."
Attacks denounced
Earlier this week, twenty MPs from the LaREM party signed a tribune to denounce a spate of attacks on the constituency offices of MPs.
Several MPs were also the subject of abuse on Twitter after having voted in favour of the accord.
"We are becoming used to the intolerable," warned the MPs on the website of French radio station Franceinfo. "Our constituency offices are boarded up or smashed up, MPs are insulted on social media because they voted in a certain way, some have had their homes targeted or even set alight."
The constituency offices of a group of members of parliament for the ruling LaREM party have been targeted in recent days following the vote in parliament in favour of the controversial EU-Canada trade deal, known as Ceta.
Anti-Ceta graffiti was daubed on the walls of some constituency offices and straw and eggs as well as rotten fish were thrown at the facades.
France's lower house of parliament approved the huge EU-Canada trade deal at the end of July after a heated debate about its environmental impact and a rebellion by some ruling party members.
In a vote in the National Assembly, 266 members approved the deal which has been championed by centrist President Emmanuel Macron, while 213 voted against it, including left-wingers and the far-right.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) took effect on a preliminary basis in September 2017, but it must also be approved by each of the European Union's member states to become permanent.
The legislation in France will now head to Senate before being signed into law by Macron at a later date.
source: RFI
actions | resistance agriculture | farmers | food Canada EU France


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Independent, Local, and International film in the
heart of downtown Ithaca, NY
7th Art
The 7th Art Corporation of Ithaca is the non-profit media arts organization responsible for the operation of Cinemapolis.
Encouraging central New York residents to explore the power of film to entertain, educate, and to celebrate the human experience.
Community Cinema
A community cultural institution where the art of film is used to enrich people's lives, grapple with and illuminate contemporary issues, and, of course, to entertain.
The home venue for annual festivals including the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca Fantastik, and the Cine con ¡CULTURA! Latin@ American Film Festival.
What is Cinemapolis?
The first answer is simple: we are a first-run movie theater located in the heart of Downtown Ithaca, specializing in independent, foreign, and locally-produced films.
But more than that, Cinemapolis is a community cultural institution where the art of film is used to enrich people's lives, grapple with and illuminate contemporary issues, and, of course, to entertain.
Executive Director, Brett Bossard
brett@cinemapolis.org
120 East Green St, Ithaca NY 14850
The 7th Art Corporation, a non-profit media arts organization, encourages central New York residents to explore the power of film to entertain, educate, and to celebrate the human experience.
7th Art is dedicated to providing a sophisticated community with the best in new international and independent cinema. Since its formation in 2000, The 7th Art Corporation owned and operated Ithaca's downtown movie theaters, Cinemapolis and Fall Creek Pictures–and now houses five screens under one roof at the new Cinemapolis.
Ticket sales only cover 72% of the cost of running Cinemapolis, and we depend on our members and supporters to keep fine films coming to Ithaca. We look forward to your suggestions and your support. Donations can be made securely online (click "Be A Donor" ), or simply sent to: Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green St, Ithaca, NY 14850
Since 7th Art is a 501 (c) (3), your gift may be entirely or partly tax-deductible; consult your tax advisor.
If you have questions about donations or membership, please call 607.277.6115 during daytime hours.
Ticket Sales 72% 72%
Donations & Fundraising 28% 28%
About Cinemapolis
For 30 years, Cinemapolis has been dedicated to showing the best examples of the "seventh art"— films that stir our feelings, open our minds, connect us to others and deepen our understanding of life so that when we leave the theater, the world looks a little different.
By serving as the region's home to independent, international, and locally produced film, your community cinema enriches the artistic, social, and political life of our community through film.
Toward this end, Cinemapolis:
screens more than 150 art and independent films each year
provides film education programs for adults and students
presents film festivals such as
the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
the Ithaca International Fantastic Film Festival
the Cine con ¡CULTURA! Latin@ American Film Festival
premiers films by local filmmakers
sponsors public film forums, film literacy classes and after-film discussions
hosts screenings by local community groups and non-profits, fostering an appreciation of film as an instrument of change.
History of 7th Art
Cinemapolis, operated by Seventh Art, Inc., has been a vital part of Ithaca's cultural life since 1986. Initially a for-profit organization established by Lynne Cohen and Richard Szanyi, the theater was located in two sites, the Fall Creek and Cinemapolis theaters. Cinemapolis was reorganized in 2000 to become a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), board-directed organization, like other arts organizations such as the Hangar and Kitchen theaters.
In 2007, the Board decided to take the opportunity to design a brand new theater in downtown Ithaca, a site which has allowed an ever expanding program of community education and special events as well as the continuation of fine independent and art films. All 5 screens are now located under one roof with updated equipment in an attractive, accessible and comfortable environment. Among the special educational offerings are discussions about films that raise important current issues, "Local Favorites" lecture series and Kidsflix matinees, in addition to an expanded role in the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival.
A membership program was established in 2008 with the goal of increasing revenue while attracting new members of the community to experience and benefit from Cinemapolis offerings. Members receive discounts on every movie ticket and most refreshments, in addition to other benefits, depending on membership level.
An advertising sales program has also been started as an alternative revenue stream. Ads for local businesses and organizations are shown in all five theaters as well as on a screen visible from outside the theater. Additional revenue programs include rental of the theater to community organizations and individuals, program and film sponsorship, and individual major gifts.
As a community Cinema, Cinemapolis responds to the community's interests by offering excellent examples of the film arts and educational programming centered on film. Cinemapolis screens works by local filmmakers, produces festivals in partnership with Ithaca College and Cornell, and works to educate students about the power of film. Community residents of all ages benefit from the growth that comes not only from exposure to exciting film, but also from joining their neighbors to participate in the arts.
Click here to download: 2013-2014 Report to the Community (PDF)
Building Economy
A thriving downtown art film house is an asset to the community, a magnet attracting visitors who shop and patronize restaurants. A strong cultural community is a powerful recruiting tool for area educational institutions and businesses. Individuals and companies like to be a part of communities where citizens value the arts and appreciate the rich texture the arts add to the quality of life.
7th Art Board of Directors 2020
Brett Bossard
Executive Director of 7th Art
Brett Bossard has served as the Executive Director of Cinemapolis since 2013. Bossard has spent two decades in arts administration, serving in leadership positions at community organizations such as the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, the Hangar Theatre Company, and the Cayuga Museum of History and Art. He holds degrees in screenwriting from Ithaca College and Popular Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. Bossard has worked extensively in fostering a collaborative arts sector, serving on grant panels for the New York State Council on the Arts, the board of the New York State Alliance for Arts Education, and currently as the vice-chair of the Strategic Tourism Planning Board of Tompkins County. He was recently selected to be part of the transitional working group for the Art House Convergence, an association dedicated to advancing excellence and sustainability in community-based, mission-driven media exhibition.
Allison Deutsch Andersen
Don Rakow
Board Vice-President
Don Rakow is currently an associate professor of horticulture in the Cornell School of Integrative Plant Science, where he is responsible for teaching several courses. Between 1993 – 2013, he served as the Elizabeth Newman Wilds Director of Cornell Plantations. He has led many CAU tours of the great gardens of Western Europe and writes frequently about the history, management and social dimensions of public gardens and parks. He is the co-author of 'Public Garden Management' (Wiley & Sons, 2011), and is currently co-developing a text on the role of public gardens in the well-being of communities and their residents.
Despite this extensive history in horticulture, Dr. Rakow has been a lifelong film buff, and as an undergraduate had a minor in film history. He regularly watches new releases (at Cinemapolis) and classics, and his favorite reading each week is the Friday film reviews in the NY Times.
Luca Maurer
Luca Maurer is program director of The Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Education, Outreach, and Services at Ithaca College, and an author and consultant on a variety of topics including health, disability, diversity, and inclusion.
Derek Burrows
Derek serves as General Counsel at GrammaTech, Inc., He's originally from Clearwater, Florida, but graduated from Cornell (B.S. Engineering) in 2003. He next attended the Catholic University, Columbus School of Law, graduating in 2006.
Eric Acree
Carol Bushberg
Debra Castillo
Scott Hitz
Arpi Hovaguimian
Arpi is a psychotherapist in private practice. She is the former Executive Director of the Alcohol & Drug
Council of Tompkins County. Arpi has served on the boards of the Tompkins County Community
Services, Suicide Prevention & Crisis Services, and the Dick Van Dyke Alcohol Treatment Center.
Raza Ahmad Rumi
Raza Ahmad Rumi is the director of the Park Center for Independent Media and teaches in the Journalism Department at Ithaca College's Roy H. Park School of Communications. Raza is also Visiting Faculty at Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.
Tom Shevory
Tom Shevory is Professor of Politics at Ithaca College and, for fifteen years, has been Codirector of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, which, each Spring, partners with Cinemapolis to bring cutting edge human rights and environmental films to the local community. He has been attending films at Cinemapolis almost since its inception, has been a long-running board member, and even helped to paint the walls of the current facility before it opened. He is especially pleased to be on the board of a living wage employer. Plus, he likes popcorn.
Patricia Zimmermann
Patricia R. Zimmermann is professor of Screen Studies in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA. She is also codirector (with Tom Shevory) of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, a major international festival housed at Ithaca College. She has also held endowed chair appointments as the Shaw Foundation Professor of New Media in the School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Ida Beam Professor of Cinema and Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.


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Ecologist & Environmental Data Journalist
Joan Meiners
Here you will find my current and past research interests and projects. For research outputs, please see my 'Publications' page.
Dissertation topics include:
What do we really know about native bee ecology and patterns of decline, and what is the spatial and temporal extend of data available to evaluate this?
See my 2019 PLOS ONE publication on this.
How does the availability of data on native bees influence conclusions about their phenology and foraging patterns?
See info about my talk on this at ESA 2018! Publication in prep.
How might bees use novel resources to respond to sugar shortages due to climate-induced bloom shifts?
One publication, another in prep.
What are underlying foraging and resource-partitioning patterns that allow so many species of bees to cohabit a small area like Pinnacles National Park?
2019 PLOS ONE publication on this.
How might assembly processes and resource-use dynamics determine species richness and composition?
I am also interested in science communication strategies, their societal implications, and tools to overcome lack of public commitment to data and evidence.
Native bee biodiversity at Pinnacles National Park, Ca
My graduate research has focused primarily on biodiversity patterns and processes behind the extraordinary native bee diversity documented, through combined survey efforts by O. Messinger, T. Griswold, and myself, at Pinnacles National Park in California.
My fieldwork at Pinnacles began with the establishment of 10 long-term monitoring plots, included daily plot surveys throughout the 2011-12 flowering seasons, and resulted in a curated, data-based collection of over 50,000 bee specimens identified by combined efforts of myself and taxonomists at the USDA-ARS Logan Bee Lab. At the conclusion of my fieldwork and management of this huge research collection, I supplied the park with a sampling manual to facilitate future native bee monitoring.
In January 2013, President Obama elevated Pinnacles from Monument to Park status, in part due to its remarkable bee biodiversity. Pinnacles is currently America's 59th, and newest, National Park.
Read about Pinnacles being named a National Park
The portal project on long-term desert ecology
During my PhD at the University of Florida, I assisted with one of the longest-running community ecology projects. Once a month (with few exceptions), since the project's inception by Dr. James Brown in 1977, a researcher has traveled to Portal, Arizona to trap, measure, sex, and identify the rodents present on 24 experimental plots in the Chihuahuan Desert near the Chiracahua Mountains. This is combined with a twice-yearly plant census of all 24 plots. Dozens of publications have resulted from this project that have improved our understanding of community ecology dynamics over time, regime shifts, the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on species turnover, etc. The most notable product, however, is likely the immense, publicly-available data set.
Learn about The Portal Project
Coastal ecology at the UNC - Chapel Hill Institute of Marine sciences
Prior to entering graduate school, I worked on a variety of coastal ecology projects as the head research technician in Dr. Charles H. "Pete" Peterson's lab at the UNC - Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, NC. I managed interns and data collection for experiments investigating potential predators of sea turtles on barrier islands, the ecology of fear in inter-tidal predator-prey interactions, the influence of beach enrichment on crab foraging, and the role of Cownose stingrays on local scallop population decline. I also worked extensively on the Environmental Impact Assessment for the North Carolina Offshore Wind Farm proposal, which was presented to the NC General Assembly in Fall 2009.
Peterson Lab at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences
Publications, Data & Code


Real Hot Chocolate Crammed full of 70% dark Chocolate!
Very easy, quick and fun way to make a Hot chocolate... with a twist.
Made with natural fresh ingredients in New Zealand - Taste the difference.
Heat 200-250ml of milk until it reaches 85° C (Please note it's important that the Milk is Very Hot. You can control the strength of the chocolate by the amount of Milk you use).
Place Bohemein Twist into the hot milk and slowly twist between your palms until completely dissolved.
Not sweet enough? Just add sugar to desired taste.


… irradiates from an entity.
Sometimes the thing is created by the simple submergence of the body in a given field, other times it is created from the interaction with other entities. The unstoppable dilution of these waves makes it difficult to be sure of its existence except when the other entities, in order to maintain its physicality, listen and see themselves as a spectre, whose density (and its possibility of visualization-realization) is constructed by the alignment of noise.
By analysing the given sequences, one cannot find more than repetitions and absence, vibrations of the body which insists in creating sound. These are trans-formations, therefore, they change faster and in a higher number than their possible definition.
The prevailing interior frequence in the different timbres… the same note… the wholeness.


A short walk out gets you to the main runs and at the end of your day you can ski straight down to your front door. The Auski Chalet Suite sleeps up to 4 guests and is a great choice for families.
Sunburst Drive features many of the first truly Ski In & Ski Out homes at Sun Peaks. The homes along it's upper section literally look right out on the runs that feed the Sunburst Chair: Connector, Runnaway Lane, Blazer and Cruiser. Even the properties lower down Sunburst are only a short hike up to the runs and can be skied into for lunch or at the end of the day. Whether built for luxury or for function, the homes on Sunburst are for gatherings that plan to make the most of a ski holiday at Sun Peaks.
Special Note: *The Auski Suite is not rented out on it's own. This listing is shown only as a reference for guests interested in booking the entire Auski Chalet (Main + Suite).


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Trademark Dilution Claims and How they Differ from Infringement
Trademark dilution occurs when another entity uses a trademark in such a way as to cause a protected mark's distinctiveness to be diminished in a non-related market. Unlike a trademark infringement action, dilution does not result in confusion among consumers as to the origin of the product since the unauthorized use does not compete with or have a substantial connection to the products or services of the trademark owner. Rather, trademark dilution laws attempt to safeguard robust trademarks from losing their strong correlation with a single product or service in the public eye.
A trademark owner can bring a claim for dilution under either federal or state law. The Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1996 requires that the mark be "famous" as determined by several factors including: the level of distinctiveness, the extent of use, the degree of advertising and the geographic boundaries of the market. Brand names that fit this category include Kodak or Exxon. The federal law was revised in 2006 when Congress enacted the Trademark Dilution Revision Act, which sought to eliminate confusion under prior federal law by providing that the owner of a famous trademark does not need to establish actual or likely confusion or injury when pursuing an injunction to prohibit dilution of its mark based on the theories of blurring and tarnishment (discussed below). In contrast, state law does not require a trademark to be famous, but rather supports a dilution claim if the mark has a distinguishing quality and the two marks are considerably similar.
In order to bring an action for trademark dilution, a trademark owner must demonstrate "blurring" or "tarnishment" of the protected mark. Blurring results when the mark is diluted through an association with unrelated goods. This would occur, for example, if a manufacturer were to sell Exxon brand sports equipment. Tarnishment arises when a connection is created between the protected trademark and an inferior or inappropriate product, thereby tainting the reputation of the protected mark. In a recent case, ToysRUs asserted a trademark dilution claim for tarnishment against adultsrus.com, a website displaying pornography.
The experienced team of attorneys at Connors & Associates provides its clients with knowledgeable and up-to-date legal advice in all areas of intellectual property law. Contact John Connors and his associates at (949) 833-3622 or visit Connors & Associates online to learn more about our services or to schedule a consultation.


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'We're doing the right thing if companies hate us,' HomeStars CEO says
Diane Jermyn
Special to The Globe and Mail
Nancy Peterson, co-founder and CEO of HomeStars.com, poses for a portrait at the head office in Toronto
In this month's small business Success Stories profile, we spoke to Nancy Peterson, the co-founder and CEO of HomeStars, an community of homeowners and home improvement companies throughout Canada and the U.S.
As a first-time home buyer, Nancy Peterson was just as confused as anyone when it came to renovating. Despite being a corporate executive armed with an MBA, she found the decision-making around who to hire "absolutely daunting." That became her inspiration for co-founding Home Stars Directory Inc., known as HomeStars, in 2006 – a Toronto-based private company that posts online reviews by home-owners about their local home-improvement experiences.
While the company's mission is to help homeowners get the best-rated tradespeople for their projects, it's the contractors and vendors who provide the revenue by advertising on the HomeStars website. Good reviews are a powerful driver for business so a connection with HomeStars can be highly beneficial – or not, if they garnered negative comments. There's no charge to the homeowners using the site or any obligation to write a review although users are encouraged to contribute, both positively and negatively. The company currently has hundreds of thousands of reviews specifically relating to major cities across Canada, excluding Quebec.
With 50 employees and current annual revenue at close to $5-million, the company has grown 50 per cent year over year for the past three years.
Ms. Peterson, 49, who's also the CEO, previously worked in senior management positions for P&G and then Kraft Foods for 12 years, on brands such as Nabob coffee, Philadelphia cream cheese and Toblerone.
Why did you focus on reviews?
I could have created all sorts of other ideas – directories, photos, credentials and licenses – but really it all boiled down to what is a great predicator of having a successful outcome? In hiring a contractor, you really want to know how they've conducted themselves with past clients. It's sort of like a job interview. Your past success will be a great predictor of your future success.
Sure, no one is a perfect 10. We tell this to companies all the time. They might have some bad clients along the way or miscommunication or maybe one of their employees did a bad job. But ultimately, if they make it right and are a good company doing great work time and time again, that's who people want to find and hire.
Your advertisers are the same people being critiqued. What are your rules around that?
Companies can advertise, whether they have reviews or not. I look at advertising and reviews like church and state; like movie advertising in newspapers. Movies can advertise but it can't affect their rating.
We have a Chinese wall [an information barrier to prevent conflict of interest] between our sales team and our content team. HomeStars is really for homeowners and our number one stakeholder is ensuring that we have a trustworthy site they can rely on to help them make better decisions.
A lot of reviews on HomeStars are very positive. Is the platform as effective as it could be?
We read everything before it goes up so we're actually not automating that process. We were the first to flag reviews four years ago, even before Yelp, so if a review is taken down for any reason, we put up a marker for that user. It may be because it's being investigated or because a home owner asks us to take it down.
I took a call from a homeowner this morning who said the contractor had threatened them over a negative review so we took it down. The review is then marked, 'removed by homeowner'. That's a strong signal if the review is removed by the homeowner.
I'd say 99 per cent of reviews removed by homeowners are because they're afraid for some reason or been harassed or bribed to take down their review. Sometimes it's a positive review but they still want it removed because they're not happy with the company anymore.
Companies may threaten libel or slander when somebody's written something negative. With homeowners in mind, we'll review these before they go up to make sure they're meeting the criteria. Our legal team will reach out and help them write it in such a way that if they had to go to court, they'd be able to defend it. Truth is an absolute defense. We go through these thorough steps learned over the years to protect the review writers and HomeStars from hundreds of lawsuits.
Sometimes a company says they don't recognize the work – for example, they'll say they've never done work in Aurora – but if we get back proof that the homeowner hired this company, then the negative review stays up.
How do you verify reviews?
It's a bit of a black box only because companies want to game. Therefore none of us will communicate how we moderate but we look at the technical things that come in that we can check. Then there's the actual moderated experience on the company. If they've been gaming before, we do certain things based on the situation. We have a pretty button-down process but things can slip through the cracks. We also have whistle blowers. A company contacted us last week about suspicious activity on a competitor's page that we had missed, so we investigated.
How a company is ranked by reviewers can really affect how they're seen on the site – the more good things your customers say about a company, the higher they rank. Contested reviews are immediately removed and fact checked. If something isn't legitimate, we've done measures such as remove our 'best of awards' rating or disqualified them from 'best of awards'.
You wouldn't believe how angry companies get at us. We walk a fine edge. We're loved and hated. At the end of the day, we know we're doing the right thing if companies hate us. We're living up to doing what we're trying to do which is to be the most trusted source.
How did you build the business?
We just started by building a really good body of reviews in Toronto. The first thing I did was go to a home show to find homeowners planning to work on their homes. That was a great move. We still participate at home shows across Canada.
The other was finding individuals who are committed. My CTO has been with me from the beginning. Having pivotal people work with you can absolutely make or break a company.
We worked remotely for the longest time but now we have an office. We take a hybrid approach where we work both remotely and centrally. Past 50 people, you need to have more of a core central space. Rent is a big expense but it can also accelerate your growth if you bring people together. When you're starting a company, you really have to pick and choose what you're investing in.
How do you get remote staff to be part of your culture?
We all use Skype as a virtual water cooler for daily questions and funny stories going on across the country. Then every month we have virtual calls we've named "the heartbeat". It's just a nice way of getting everybody up to date on all activities in the organization, past successes and what our objectives are for the month. We usually have about 25 per cent of the people in the office and the rest just patching in. It's a presentation so we use GoToMeeting and Google+. Then we publish the video on Google+ private community.
For the annual meeting, we book a resort in Ontario to bring every single person together offsite for three days. We've done it for four years now. It's fantastic for our culture. We sit around the campfire and have fun Olympics with people on different teams so they get to know each other.
What's the biggest challenge going forward?
The constant challenge is building that flywheel of relevant good content in every market. We're locally based so we have the constraint that, for example, you have to live in Toronto and have hired somebody in Toronto in order to write a review. You can't write a review on a company you've never hired. Other review sites allow that but what good is that? It's irrelevant.
Why aren't you in Quebec?
You can just use a translator. It requires dedicated new resources so we haven't crossed that bridge.
What about the U.S.?
When we first first launched, we scaled so we could build in the U.S., but realized it would have required tens of millions of dollars in venture funding, so we took a different track. We're focused on Canada.
What's your advice to entrepreneurs starting an online business?
Really define what you're trying to accomplish. We've stuck true to our mission of helping homeowners since the very beginning. Also, the 'hows' and 'whats' can be figured out, but answering your 'why' will not only help shape what gets you up in the morning but why other people will want to work with you.
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Would an independent Scotland remain in the EU? The SNP have a terrible record of making-it-up-as-they-go-along on this question. Even now they are still at it.
In December 2007 Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that an independent Scotland would "automatically" become a member state of the European Union, that there would be no need for an independent Scotland to renegotiate EU membership and that this position was supported by both political and legal opinion. Utter fantasy.
In 2013 First Minister Alex Salmond spent £20,000 of taxpayers' money on legal fees, seeking to keep secret phantom legal advice supporting this position which, it transpired, did not exist.
Not only have the SNP now dropped their absurd line about "automatic" EU membership, they have tried to bury it. In November 2013 the Scottish Ministers published a document, Scotland in the EU, in which it was claimed that "the Scottish Government has always recognised that the terms of Scotland's independent membership of the EU will be subject to negotiations with other member states". This is just one of many untruths uttered by the SNP in the long independence referendum campaign.
Even the heavily revised position adopted by the Scottish Government since 2013 rests on misconception and misrepresentation: the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop MSP, told the Scottish Parliament in April 2014 that "Scotland has been a member of the EU for 40 years" and that "We are very much part of the fixture and fittings of the EU". The truth is that Scotland is not a "member" of the EU. The United Kingdom is a member state of the EU and Scotland is part of the United Kingdom but, as I have explained on these pages before, if Scotland votes Yes on 18 September, what that would mean in legal terms is that Scotland leaves the UK to become a new state. The rest of the UK will continue to be a member state of the EU, as the rUK will in legal terms be the "continuator" state. It will be the rUK that inherits the legal rights and obligations of the United Kingdom, not Scotland, because Scotland will have voted to leave the UK. Scotland is not part of the "fixture and fittings of the EU". Each member state has a representative at the Council of Ministers: Scotland does not. Each member state nominates a member of the European Commission: Scotland does not.
Outrageously, Scottish Ministers still like to pretend that the legal consequences of a Yes vote would somehow be different. Fiona Hyslop, in the same evidence from which I just quoted, told the Scottish Parliament that both Scotland and the rest of the UK would be "successor" states to the UK – that a Yes vote would not mean that Scotland is a new state. This position was authoritatively dismantled by two of the world's leading international lawyers in a fully reasoned legal opinion that was published by the UK Government as long ago as February 2013. Yet still the SNP refuse to admit the truth and reside instead somewhere on Planet Fantasy.
The good news, however, is that you no longer need to take my word for it. Last month Lawyers for Yes published the following on their website, authored by a member of their steering group, no less: "The politico-legal reality is that rUK will be accepted as the continuing state by the international community". At last, admission by Yes supporters that we have been right all along and that the SNP are making it up as they go.
Accession countries to the EU must show, before they can become members, that they are able and willing to comply with all 35 chapters of something known as the acquis communautaire. The acquis is the full range of the EU's laws and principles, whether derived from the treaties, from legislation such as regulations and directives, or from case law. It is sometimes said that because Scotland has been within the territory of the EU since the UK's accession in 1972, Scotland is already fully compliant with the acquis and that, therefore, her accession to the EU as an independent member state would be much more straightforward than a membership application from a country external to the EU. But it is not as simple as that. Of course Scotland is compliant with those parts of EU law that affect it now. But not all of the acquis does affect Scotland at the moment, because Scotland is not a state. There are some parts of the acquis with which Scotland is compliant only because there is a UK institution that covers Scotland. Were Scotland to leave the UK, such institutions would no longer act for Scotland (they would act only for the rest of the UK). Scotland lacks a number of the institutional and administrative structures normally expected of accession countries – including a regulatory framework for public broadcasting, enforcement and administrative capacities for taxation, a competition authority, and a central bank.
Scotland will find it difficult to accede to the EU without first convincing the EU institutions and member states that its broadcasting, tax, competition and banking institutions meet EU criteria. As the Commission's website makes plain, compliance with the 35 chapters of the acquis is "not negotiable". Candidate countries must "agree on how and when to implement them", such agreement being monitored by the European Commission as the candidate country progresses towards accession.
On BBC television Jose Manuel Barroso, then President of the European Commission, opined in February 2014 that it would be "extremely difficult … if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to become a member state of the EU. In my view, Barroso's intervention was ill-judged. There ought to be no doubt that an independent Scotland would become a member state of the European Union, eventually. However, there is very considerable doubt about how this would happen, about how quickly it could happen, and about the terms on which it would happen.
The EU treaties do not provide for a procedure by which part of the territory of a member state, having determined lawfully to secede from that member state, then seeks EU membership in its own right. Article 49 TEU governs the accession of new member states, but it is framed in terms of a state seeking accession from outside the EU. Seeking accession to the EU from outside, as Article 49 TEU envisages, is incompatible with the SNP's vision of a "seamless transition" to independence. Thus, as an alternative, the Scottish Ministers have proposed that Article 48 TEU be used instead: the treaty revision process. The Scottish Government's hope is that the treaties could be amended under Article 48 to allow for Scotland to become a member state. It is far from clear whether this route is a legally viable means of acceding to EU membership, however. Jean-Claude Piris, former legal counsel of the European Council, has argued that "it would not be legally correct to try and use Article 48". His view is shared by a range of the UK's foremost experts on the matter, including Professor Kenneth Armstrong (of the University of Cambridge), Lord Kerr (former UK ambassador to the EU) and Patrick Layden QC, one of Scotland's most experienced government legal advisers. It is notable that not a single member state of the EU has endorsed the Scottish Government's view that Article 48 could be used for this purpose.
Even if it were legally possible to use Article 48 there would still be numerous practical problems: Scottish accession to the EU could not be commenced until Scotland's independence negotiations with the rest of the UK had resolved certain key issues (such as whether Scotland would have a central bank); the Article 48 procedure may be triggered only by a member state or by an EU institution – Scotland would not be able to initiate it; nor is there a means under Article 48 for Scotland to be represented in treaty amendment negotiations (whereas Scotland would be represented were Article 49 to be used); under Article 48 agreement is reached by common accord, not by majority, giving each member state a veto; and the Article 48 process requires (a) agreement to be reached in the Council and (b) that the agreement is then ratified by each member state government or parliament before it may take legal effect. The process would not be swift and, indeed, would be liable to grave delays. Legal doubts about the validity of the process would render it liable to legal challenge. Moreover, Article 48 is a provision allowing for general treaty revision. Were the process to be triggered there is nothing to stop member states adding any number of other proposed treaty revisions to the agenda, even if those proposals had nothing to do with Scottish accession. We know that several member states (not least the United Kingdom) are keen to see a variety of treaty reforms, many of which are likely to be resisted by other member states or by the Commission. So, more delays. An Article 48 process could not be confined to the single subject-matter of Scottish accession (whereas an Article 49 process would be so confined).
The Scottish Government has said that it would wish Scotland to become an independent state in March 2016, only eighteen months after the referendum. Given the vagaries of the process and the range of substantive matters needing to be negotiated, it is highly ambitious to suppose that agreement over Scotland's EU accession could be reached within that timeframe. But to imagine that such an agreement could be both reached and ratified within an eighteen-month window is hopelessly unrealistic. This means that the new Scottish state would start its life outside the EU, at least for an interim period. Would that matter? Well, it would matter to Scottish farmers, who would lose EU CAP receipts of up to €600 million annually: another of the many hidden costs of independence about which the SNP have been remarkably quiet.
A dispassionate view of the law, then, leads ineluctably to the conclusion that were Scotland to become an independent state in March 2016 it would not be starting its new life as a full member state of the European Union. Some legal commentaries on this matter have reached a different conclusion. My friend and former colleague Professor Sionaidh Douglas-Scott of the University of Oxford, for example, has written in defence of the view that Scotland's transition to full EU membership ought to be "relatively smooth and straightforward". Much of her argument is based on the notion that "rebuffing or alienating a country such as Scotland, that wants to maintain EU membership … will hardly do much for the EU's image". She writes of the alternative view being that "Scotland would be immediately ejected from the EU" and talks of Scotland's "exodus" and of being "cast into the wilderness". I find all this very odd. First, Scotland would not be "maintaining EU membership": she would be acquiring new EU membership. Secondly, no-one would be "rebuffing or alienating" Scotland: on the contrary, EU institutions and member states would be recognising and giving due weight to the fact that Scots would just have voted to leave a member state. EU institutions and other member states would surely welcome the fact that Scotland wished to join the EU in her own right, but would note at the same time that Scotland would wish to approach her accession with the EU's fundamental values in mind. Under Article 2 TEU those values include the rule of law. A lawful means of acceding to the EU must be found, not only for the sake of the EU's "image", but also for Scotland's sake as a new state committed (one would hope!) to the rule of law. Thirdly, the rather inflammatory language of "ejection" and automatic "exodus" into the "wilderness" is misplaced. No one is talking of throwing Scotland out of the EU – not even Barroso. What is being talked about is recognising the legal consequences of the decision that Scots will have made were any of this to arise (i.e. that Scotland will have voted Yes to leaving the United Kingdom and becoming a new state in international law).
More balanced than Sionaidh Douglas-Scott's paper is one published this month by Professor Stephen Tierney and Dr Katie Boyle of the University of Edinburgh. In their view, while Article 48 is a "feasible" route for the realisation of Scotland's EU membership, it is "more likely that Scotland will require to make an application … by way of Article 49". This, they say, is the "more plausible route". They note, as I have done, that the timetable of achieving all this by the SNP's projected independence day of March 2016 is "ambitious", not least because, in their words, "it is not possible to predict with certainty how long the ratification process in each member state might take".
Next, let us consider the terms of EU membership which the Scottish Government is proposing. It wants (1) to continue the UK's opt-out from the euro, (2) to continue the UK's opt-out from the Schengen free movement area, (3) to continue to benefit from the UK's budget rebate and (4) to continue to benefit from the exemptions from the EU's VAT directive which the UK negotiated for itself. These terms of membership are extraordinary: none of the EU's recent accession countries have joined the EU on terms such as these.
The EU institutions and member states, looking at the terms of membership proposed by the Scottish Government, will simply reply "what are you offering us in return for these extraordinary terms?". Negotiations involve give and take: if these are the terms which Scotland wishes to take from the EU, what is it proposing to give in return? Why should a country such as Ireland, or Portugal, or Greece, which has spent years struggling with the consequences of its membership of the Eurozone, agree that Scotland should be entitled as of right to stay out of the Eurozone? Similarly, Scotland wishes to remain in the Common Travel Area with Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. But the CTA is loathed by many in Europe, who see it (quite rightly) as a special British-and-Irish exception to the EU's Schengen free movement area. Why should EU member states allow Scotland, uniquely among all accession countries, to opt out of Schengen so that she may continue her participation in an alternative free movement scheme? Now, to be clear, I am not saying that Scotland could not negotiate her way out of the Eurozone or Schengen. But I am saying that the negotiations would not be straightforward; they would not be swift; and they would not go Scotland's way without Edinburgh having to make concessions elsewhere – concessions about which we have heard nothing at all from the Nationalists.
As for the other aspects of the UK's special deal which the SNP would like to keep, I would say there is no chance at all. Far from continuing to benefit from the UK's rebate, Scotland as a new accession state would be expected to contribute to it, as the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee have pointed out. Likewise, it is impossible to see how an independent Scotland could continue to enjoy the UK's exemptions from the EU's VAT legislation. Under these exemptions 54 items in the UK are free of VAT, including food, children's clothes, books and newspapers. If we vote for independence, expect the price of all these items to go up in Scotland: yet another of the SNP's carefully hidden costs of independence.
Another aspect of the SNP's proposed policies for an independent Scotland is incompatible with EU membership. At the moment, Scottish students do not pay tuition fees to read an undergraduate degree at a Scottish university, but students from elsewhere in the UK are charged a fee to do so. The Scottish Government's independence white paper proposes that this discrimination be continued in the event of independence. But this would be unlawful if both Scotland and the rest of the UK were EU member states, for it is contrary to EU law for a member state to discriminate in this manner against the citizens of another member state (the policy is not contrary to EU law at the moment because the discrimination is within one member state – the UK – not between nationals of different member states). Were Scotland to become independent, rUK students would have to be treated in Scottish universities in the same way as Scottish students. Either that would mean Scotland's universities being flooded with rUK students in search of a free education, or it would mean Scotland having to charge Scottish students a fee equivalent to that already charged to rUK students in the rest of the UK. So here is another reason to Vote No: it's the best way of ensuring that Scottish students will not have to pay tuition fees to study at Scottish universities.
Two very different sorts of objections are sometimes raised in response to the above analysis. The first relies on the doctrine of EU citizenship. Since the Maastricht treaty twenty years ago nationals of member states have been EU citizens, as well as citizens of their respective state(s). As EU citizens we have certain rights under EU law. It has been suggested that these rights would ensure continuity of Scotland's EU membership, on the basis that it would not be appropriate for Scots to be stripped of their EU citizenship. The argument is unpersuasive, however. First, it must be borne in mind that EU citizenship is strictly secondary: it is a status conferred by EU law upon those who are already nationals of a member state. Secondly, citizenship has been used as a juridical device by the Court of Justice to prevent member states from discriminating against the nationals of other member states. Its value lies in the way it has augmented the EU's ability to control (or limit) action undertaken by the member states. Were an independent Scotland to find it more difficult than the SNP have conceded to join the EU as a new member state, it would not be because of coercive state action taken against Scots, but because of Scots' collective decision to leave an EU member state. EU citizenship may be a shield protecting individuals against coercive state action, but it has yet to become an effective sword by which the EU itself can be forced to act in a certain way. On this matter I note that Professor Douglas-Scott states that, despite the citizenship argument being in her view "a strong one", it "cannot by itself engender automatic membership of the EU for an independent Scotland".
The second objection sometimes made is that, such is the euroscepticism of the English, the only way of guaranteeing that Scotland remains in the EU is to vote Yes. It is true that England has a problem with euroscepticism. But so does Scotland: Ukip have more MEPs in Scotland than they have MPs in England, let us not forget (unless Douglas Carswell is successful in his bid to turn Clacton from Tory to Ukip, in which case the score will be 1-1). The Conservatives have promised that if they win the 2015 general election they will hold an in/out referendum on the UK's EU membership in 2017. Now, in my view this is likely to happen only if the Conservatives win an overall majority in 2015 – and precious few psephologists are predicting that – and, even if it does happen, an "In" vote is much more likely than an "Out" vote. All three main UK parties (plus the SNP) will campaign for an "In" vote, even if a minority of Tory hardliners break ranks to campaign with Nigel Farage's Ukip for "Brexit". The issue is a dangerous one for the Tory party, whose divisions over the EU have been apparent since the days of the Maastricht rebels twenty years ago. But there is little real danger of the UK leaving the EU. Any Yes campaigner arguing in 2014 that the only way of securing Scotland's membership of the EU is to vote Yes is scaremongering, plain and simple.
What the Scottish Government has had to say about Scotland's EU membership is triply odd: the route by which an independent Scotland could lawfully become a member state is obscure and liable to attract delay; the timetable proposed by the Scottish Government is optimistic to the point of being preposterous; and, on top of all of this, under the SNP's plans an independent Scotland would be seeking membership of the EU on extraordinary terms afforded to no other accession country.
I have no doubt that, were there to be a Yes vote in next month's referendum, an independent Scotland would accede to membership of the EU. Eventually. But how this would be done, how quickly it could be done, and on what terms it should be done are three of the "known unknowns" of the independence debate. To pretend otherwise – by insisting that there would be a straightforward, smooth and seamless transition – lacks all credibility.
What is clear, however, is that were we to vote Yes, we'd inevitably not be a full member state of the European Union by the SNP's projected independence day in March 2016. An independent Scotland would start her life outside the EU; even thereafter Scotland would enjoy EU membership on terms far less beneficial and generous than those enjoyed now by the UK.
What Shall We Call It Now?
When I got home yesterday evening two door-drops greeted me, one from the UK Government (Five Ways we Benefit by Staying in the United Kingdom) and one from the Scottish Government (Scotland's Future: What Independence Means for You).
The pound is one of the strongest and most stable currencies in the world. Staying in the UK is the only way Scotland can keep the strength of the Bank of England and the pound as we have now. Setting up a new currency for an independent Scotland would be costly and risky.
Three claims. Each of them true. None of them overstated. None of them exaggerations. None of them scaremongering. No threat to "take away the pound". No nonsense about an indy Scotland "not being able to use" the pound. Just three accurate, carefully worded, true statements.
We'll keep the pound. An independent Scotland will keep the pound. After all, it's as much Scotland's currency as it is the rest of the UK's.
Three claims. Two of them deliberately misleading; one of them demonstrably false.
Here, in a nutshell, is the problem we now face in Scotland. This ought to be, but in fact is not, a clean argument between two honest visions of Scotland's future. What we in fact have is an argument in which one side tries to be reasonable, fair and clear and in which the other side has a marked disregard for the truth. What on Twitter has been called #yesperation has evidently started to cloud the judgment of the Scottish Government.
It may very well be that an independent Scotland would keep the pound. As I have written before, there is little the rUK could do to stop this. The pound is a freely traded currency on the money markets. Any state could adopt it as their unit of exchange should they so wish. But no state does so. Why? Because to use the currency of a foreign power would mean surrendering the entirety of your monetary policy to that power. This would make your country more dependent on that foreign power, not independent of it.
In order to use the currency of a foreign power without surrendering sovereignty over your monetary policy you have to enter into a formal currency union with that power. And this is what the SNP say they'd like an independent Scotland to do: "our proposal is for a formal currency union with the rest of the UK". The SNP insist that "this makes sense" for the UK economy, despite the fact that the Chancellor George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Sir Nicholas Macpherson have each given lengthy and compelling reasons explaining why entering into such a currency union with an independent Scotland would be contrary both to the economic and to the political interests of the rUK. See here for all the detail. This is why they have formally ruled out a currency union with an independent Scotland. And this is why the UK Government door-drop carefully states that "staying in the UK is the only way Scotland can keep … the pound as we have now". What the Scottish Government door-drop should have stated is "we'll keep using the pound, despite the fact that once we are independent it will be the currency of a foreign power".
The pound does not belong to Scotland. The statement "it's as much Scotland's currency as it is the rest of the UK's" is false. The pound is the UK currency. It belongs neither to Scotland nor to England but to the UK. If Scotland votes Yes next month, Scotland will have voted to leave the UK. Leave the UK and you leave the UK's public institutions, including the UK pound. This has been clear for months and months and months, yet still the Scottish Government are in denial about it. But you no longer have to take my or any other No campaigner's word for it. Last month Lawyers for Yes wrote on their website that it is "true to say that the public institutions of the UK would become the public institutions of rUK" and that "the Bank of England is a UK body and the pound is the UK's currency, and as 'institutions' of the UK they would stay with the UK".
There you have it. Lawyers for Yes admitting that what the UK Government have said is correct and that what the Scottish Government continue to say is wrong in law. In the law we have a word for what the SNP are doing. That word is misrepresentation.
Bateman describes this line as "the definitive statement of Unionism in this whole campaign". To my mind it's no more than a statement of the bleedin' obvious. A No vote preserves Britain; a Yes vote divides us into two. A No vote maintains Scotland's position in the United Kingdom; a Yes vote means that Scotland leaves the UK to become a separate state. Bateman likes the statement because, for him, "it cuts through the verbiage and the politicking and goes straight to the heart of the matter". Well, thank you Derek.
I agree with him that this is the heart of the matter: what state do you want to live in? Yet you would not know this from the vast majority of the SNP's and Yes Scotland's campaign literature. So much of the campaign for independence has focused on issues other than independence that you really do sometimes wonder if Yes know what they are arguing for at all. On the campaign trail I've heard more about austerity, food banks, and the bedroom tax than I have about independence, as if an independent Scotland would not have to worry about balancing the budget, tackling welfare dependency, or making work pay. Many of the figures in the Scotland Yet film put arguments that have nothing to do with statehood and everything to do with how we would all live in a socialist utopia if only we lived in a place where only socialist utopians had the vote. As it is the case that not everyone voting in Britain is a socialist utopian, so it must follow that Britain is A Bad Place and we must leave it. What this has to do with Scottish independence is anyone's guess, for we all know that not everyone voting in Scotland is a socialist utopian, either. From the far-left perspective of a Robin McAlpine, for example, an independent Scotland would quickly become A Very Bad Place Indeed.
Bateman says that I understand what he calls "the real meaning" of next month's referendum question and describes it thus: "you vote Yes if you regard Scotland as your first choice nation and you vote No if you prefer the alternative — the UK". Well, I wouldn't put it like that (as I'll explain in a moment) but I see the point he's making. He then starts to veer away, however, into an altogether different argument. He says that the point of the referendum is to decide whether you want "decisions about your life made in Edinburgh or in London" and whether it is the "UK or Scotland" that represents you. This is quite wrong. The choice we face is not the UK or Scotland, London or Edinburgh. The choice we face is Scotland alone, or Scotland as part of the UK. The true question is whether we want to be ruled from Edinburgh alone or from Edinburgh and London together. The option of being governed only by the UK or only by London is not on the table. Devolution removed that option 15 years ago and all the Unionist parties are committed to deepening and enhancing devolution further, in the event of a No vote.
There are some good and welcome things in Derek Bateman's post. He understands that those Scots who, like him, don't feel allegiance to Britain do not hate it or wish it ill. They wish simply not to be part of it. This is perfectly fair enough and if there were a majority of such people in Scotland there would be nothing at all any Unionist could do or say to win next month's vote (but there isn't such a majority and there never has been). Likewise, I was pleased to note that Bateman recognises that Unionists like me are genuinely affectionate towards and committed to Scotland. Certainly I am. Many things divide me from Mr Bateman but love of Scotland is not one of them.
What is missing from Bateman's analysis is that we do not in fact have to choose between the options which he presents. We can choose both. We can be both Scottish and British. We can have governments and Parliaments that represent us in both Edinburgh and London. But this is what he cannot see. For him you are either a Britnat or a Scotnat (these are his words). He chooses Scotland, he tells us. And, for him, it is clear that this necessarily means he cannot also choose Britain. For Bateman, this is a zero-sum game. You can choose Scotland. Or you can choose Britain. And you must choose between them: you cannot choose both. This is profoundly misguided.
Bateman tells his readers that "Tomkins is a Britnat". I am no such thing. As I have explained before on these pages what I love about Britain is precisely that it is not a nation, but a Union of nations. I am a British Unionist, not a British Nationalist. I love my adopted city of Glasgow, too, but that does not make me a Glasgow Nationalist. In my worldview, unlike in Mr Bateman's, you can love things other than nations.
The decision we will make next month will not resolve a tension between two competing nationalisms, Britnat'ism and Scotnat'ism. It will resolve a tension between two competing visions of Scotland's future — a separatist one that wants Scotland to leave the UK and become a new state, and a Unionist one that wants Scotland to continue to thrive within the great Union of nations that is the United Kingdom. I say "separatist" rather than "Nationalist" in that sentence not to upset people but because it's accurate. I am a Scottish Nationalist, in that I believe that Scotland is a nation. But I am also a Unionist, in that I believe that the best future for Scotland is one in which she maintains her uniquely privileged position within the UK. This future is best for Scottish trade, for Scottish jobs, for Scotland's security and for Scotland's prosperity: that is the core of the case for the Union now, as it has been for more than 300 years.
For Bateman, however, all of this is beside the point. The only thing that matters is nation and, for reasons never explained, Scottish nationhood can be realised and made manifest only in statehood. This is an impoverished and depleted view of the world — but it is a view of the world upon which all nationalism ultimately relies. What makes the British nations special is that they do not need statehood to live and breathe and flourish. Indeed, they understand that they can flourish all the more without it — by joining with one another in a Union state rather than by going it alone as separate nation-states. England is not a state either, and nor is Wales.
Bateman has unwittingly hit upon an elemental truth of the independence referendum campaign. For him and for what he calls "Scotnats", country, nation and state must all be coterminous. But for Unionists this is a false equation. Our identity is not so fragile that it needs such concrete reinforcement. We can flourish in a Scottish nation, a British country and a United Kingdom state all at the same time, just as we can be proud Glaswegians and committed Europeans without having to choose between them.
Bateman exemplifies one of the Nationalists' greatest deficiencies in the referendum campaign: so blinkered are they by the ferocity of their own nationalism that they cannot see that their opponents are not themselves nationalist in outlook. This is not "Scotnat v Britnat", a battle of competing nationalisms. It is Nationalism v Unionism, a battle between those who say "a nation cannot fully exist until it is a state" and those who say "don't be so daft". The argument is not Scotland versus Britain — are you Scottish or British. The argument is Scotland separated from Britain or Scotland within a United Kingdom: Scotland alone or Scotland as part of a family of great British nations.


text:
Gorakhpur children death: UP police apprehends Dr Kafeel Khan of BRD Medical College
Editors pick, Hospitals & Diagnostics, State News
September 4, 2017	State : Uttar Pradesh
Gorakhpur: The UP Police "apprehended" Dr Kafeel Khan from Gorakhpur who was removed from his post in the state-run BRD Medical College where 30 children died in two days last month, a senior official said.
He was the nodal officer of the 100-bed AES ward at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College and was removed following the deaths on August 10 and August 11.
"Kafeel Khan was apprehended at around 9 am from Gorakhpur and he is being handed over to Gorakhpur Police," IG Special Task Force Amitabh Yash said.
This is the third arrest made by the STF in the case.
The former principal of the medical college, Rajiv Mishra, and his wife, Purnima Shukla, were taken into custody by the UP STF on August 29 for questioning in connection with the deaths.
Mishra and his medico wife, who are named in an FIR lodged by the UP government, were picked up from Kanpur, where they had reportedly gone to consult a lawyer.
Yesterday, additional sessions judge Shivanand Singh issued NBW against seven of the nine people named in the FIR, a day after he sent former principal and his wife to 14-day judicial custody.
The warrants were issued against Khan, anaesthetist Dr Satish, pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal, accountant Sudhir Pandey, assistant clerk Sanjay Kumar Tripathi and gas suppliers Uday Pratap Singh and Manish Bhandari.
Following the deaths, mostly of infants, cases were registered under various sections of the IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Medical Council Act.
Mishra was suspended as principal of the medical college on August 12 after the deaths were reported. He resigned the same day taking moral responsibility.
There were allegations that the deaths occurred due to disruption in oxygen supply as the vendor had not been paid for several months.
While the Uttar Pradesh government vehemently denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths, a high-powered probe committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar indicted Mishra and others on charges of laxity among others.
Mishra was accused of sitting over the issue of payments to the vendor supplying oxygen gas to the hospital.
The doctor couple was booked on the basis of the report submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the chief secretary. Adityanath had formed the committee on August 12, a day after the deaths were reported.
The medical college attracted global attention when more than 60 children, mostly infants, died at the hospital within a week last month. The issue also acquired a political color with the opposition attacking the government over it.
The Allahabad High Court had also sought a "detailed report" on the infrastructure and medical facilities at the medical college.
It directed the secretary of the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to personally visit the medical college hospital and file a report along with photographs of various wards.
Source: PTI
1 comment(s) on Gorakhpur children death: UP police apprehends Dr Kafeel Khan of BRD Medical College
Dr Sanjay Gupta September 5, 2017, 8:41 am
Kafeel\'s antecedents are well known in Manipal where he did both his MBBS and post graduation from. He was also caught for impersonation.


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Low-Paid Workers' Union Triumphs in COVID-19 Health and Safety Test Case
Many low-paid workers who have an essential role in keeping the nation moving are at particularly high risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a ground-breaking decision, the High Court came to their aid in ruling that the Government is obliged under European law to do more to protect their health and safety (R on the Application of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another).
The case was brought by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, which has about 5,000 members predominantly made up of low-paid migrant workers, many of whom make a living in the so-called 'gig economy' as taxi and private hire drivers, chauffeurs, bus and coach drivers, van drivers and couriers. Many of the union's members are not 'employees' but are categorised as 'workers' within the meaning of Section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA).
The union's central complaint in judicial review proceedings was that EU directives have long required EU member states to confer certain health and safety protections on 'workers' whereas domestic UK legislation, which purported to implement those directives, affords those protections only to employees.
Although that gap in protection was said to have existed since 31 December 1992 – the deadline date by which the UK was required to transpose the directives into UK law – the union argued that it had become of particular salience and significance during the pandemic. The occupations of the union's members exposed them to higher than average risks of death from COVID-19 and they were therefore in particular need of the protections provided by the directives.
The union's case was resisted by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It was, however, agreed that, under the terms of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, the Court retained jurisdiction to rule on the matter as if the UK were still an EU member state.
The Court accepted the union's argument that the term 'worker' – as defined and used in Directive 89/391/EC (the Framework Directive) and Directive 89/656/EC which relates to the use of personal protective equipment (the PPE Directive) – embraces the UK's conception of a 'worker', as defined by the ERA.
Although the general health and safety obligations enshrined in the Framework Directive were properly implemented as regards UK workers by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and other legislation, the Court found that aspects of both directives had not been accurately transcribed into UK law.
The Framework Directive imposes a requirement that workers who take appropriate steps in response to serious and imminent danger are not to be disadvantaged for doing so, unless they act carelessly or negligently. The PPE directive requires PPE to be used when risks to health and safety cannot be avoided by other means. The Court granted the union formal declarations to the effect that those protections had not been properly implemented in the UK because they had been extended only to employees, not workers.


Corfe Castle Model Village is one of Dorset's little hidden gem's and thoroughly enjoyable for a morning or afternoon visit with the family.
We'd previously visited a couple of years ago and I remembered that the food in the Café was good so I decided not to pack a picnic and instead treated Nanny and our boy Sam to lunch. It was still term time and I expected it to be very quiet so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Café and little shop buzzing with locals and tourists.
The staff and management were incredibly friendly and looked very happy to be rushed off their feet. We ordered an egg mayo sandwich and a bacon baguette and shared with Sam as he'd eaten lots already and wasn't too hungry. The food was deliciously fresh and tasty and the prices were affordable too. They had THE most amazing selection of cakes and it took every ounce of strength for me not have one (trying to cut back on cake) but we promised Sam he could have an ice cream after we'd played in the Model Village.
You have to go through the little Gift Shop which is full of treasures and then out the back door to a gorgeous garden full of beautiful flowers. The long lawn has plenty for the children to play with and Sam and Nanny enjoyed a good game of croquet while I tried to get baby Lucy to sleep.
As you wonder down the garden, try and go down one side and up the other so you don't miss anything. We chose a perfect time of year to visit (July) as the flowers were in full bloom and the smell of the roses were simply delightful. We had a good look through the little Museum and I tried to educate Sam and show him the interesting facts, photos and animal skulls which were inside but he was only interested in constantly ringing the big bell by the door! From there we discovered the fruit and veg patch and I asked Sam if he knew what everything was. He had no trouble spotting the strawberries and tomatoes and Nanny showed him the rhubarb and green beans.
As you meander, make sure you read the little signs dotted around, the owners have a great sense of humour and I especially love the sign to the bug hotel.
Once you reach the Model Village you'll see the stocks which provide a great photo opportunity. Sam seemed to be much more interested in the actual Village this time and as he's nearly 4 now I didn't have to keep telling him not to touch the little people or run off with the cows!
We spent a long time in the Model Village and myself and my Mum were in hysterics when Sam shouted 'look Nanny, this man's doing a wee wee up the wall'!
The detail is incredible and it's great to crouch down and take a look at all the houses, shops and buildings in the Village. The central attraction is of course Corfe Castle which sits up on the hill. I think this was definitely Sam's favourite part of our visit as we often walked away just to find him run back for another look around.
Going past the Model Village to the bottom of the garden you'll find some more garden games including giant chess, jenga and connect 4 and if you are lucky enough to visit on a sunny day you could probably quite happily spend an hour or 2 relaxing while the children play.
My personal favourite part of the garden (other than the actual Model Village) is the little fairy garden and we all crept in to look for little fairies and goblins.
For more details about the Model Village, location, events, opening times and contact details please visit the Website and Facebook page.
There are highchairs in the Café and the staff will happily warm baby milk for you if you ask.
There are a few tables indoors and lots of tables outside in the courtyard which are under big umbrella's (good news if it rains).
The Café offers a varied Menu with sandwiches and baguettes, jacket potatoes, all day breakfast, children's meals and lots of yummy cake.
If you feel the need to have a cuppa or an ice cream whilst you're in the garden then you'll find a great terraced area at the entrance.
Bring a picnic if you wish and relax on the lawn or use one of the beautiful dining areas in the garden.
The baby change facilities can be found in the Greenhouse in the garden which is a great sensory experience for babies but not so great if the baby has done a poo'plosian and you don't want anyone walking past to see haha.
Take time to read all the signs around the Model Village as these will tell you the history of what you are looking at and some interesting facts.
The paths are perfectly accessible for a pushchair.
Dogs are welcomed into the gardens on a lead.
Entrance prices are very good value at *£3.95 per Adult and *£2.75 for Children (under 3's are free). They also offer a discount for groups and a season ticket. *Prices correct at the time of writing.
The Gift Shop has a great choice of presents and souvenirs if the little one's have been good enough.
If you are driving to the Model Village then the Public Car Park on West Street is recommended as the on street parking is only for 1 hour. We paid £3.10 for 3 hours.
If you come out and the children aren't quite exhausted enough then you'll find a great little play park which is on the left half way between the Model Village and the Public Car Park.
Thanks Corfe Castle Model Village for a lovely day, I hope you will be full of happy giggling children all throughout the holidays.


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We've recently added new custom fields to the StoneShot app. Custom fields are useful for sending emails that contain content unique to each individual contact – they come in handy for communications that address things such as user reference numbers, IDs, and confirmation on dietary choices for events.
Previously users were limited to 12 custom fields, of fixed length. Users can now create their own custom fields in StoneShot – any number of them, with no character limit. If activated, these fields will replace the current 12 standard fields within the app.
This update is readily available to all users, but will need to be turned on as it is not automatically activated.
Any user with Admin access to StoneShot can activate the custom field feature.
As always, the StoneShot team is here to help. If you're already using the existing fields we can help migrate you over to the new ones and ensure all your templates are updated too. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about our latest update, and provide a training session if needed.


Some specialist co-ops offer required help with thefts as well as with any flames and restorative crises so you can have your framework serving in excess of one need. However, what choices do you have with regards to the security frameworks?
They are home alerts that come connected to a checking reaction station, which is generally your caution organization's office. At the point when the caution goes off, the organization offering you the observing administration will get an interruption flag and the control board likewise sends data to focal framework over telephone lines. You, the mortgage holder, will then call you in no time flat to confirm your name and passcode through radio, on the off chance that there is no reaction or password isn't right the station will send the police over to the house. This sort of framework will expect you to pay a month to month charge that goes through the agreement length or choices you select.
A home framework that isn't checked essentially implies it isn't connected to any observing station. It is less expensive contrasted with the checked one. Most frameworks sound a siren and glimmer outside lights of your home, however, it is conceivable to have it set to dial the neighborhood police specifically when an interloper is distinguished. It might spare you from month to month expenses, yet it is critical to recollect that false cautions could be fined by the police on the off chance that it is set to dial.
A wired framework implies that all segments of your home security framework are associated utilizing little wires that are low voltage. The little wires are chosen so directing all through the house is done as tactfully as could reasonably be expected. The sensors will be set deliberately in various purposes of your home as are whatever remains of the parts, including the control unit, web association or phone dialer relying upon whether it is an observed framework or a non-checked.
The frameworks utilize little radio transmitters which flag focal control units when they are enacted. It is an alternative that makes establishment snappy and simple contrasted with the wired framework choice. All segments of the framework accompany batteries so you can make sure the caution will in any case work notwithstanding when there is a power disappointment. Some more current models have consequently rechargeable batteries when the unit is on with family unit control. The frameworks are anything but difficult to stow away in your home, making it harder for them to be meddled with.


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Q: Algorithms for simple proceedurally generated 2D city? I'm very interested in procedural generation and would like to know what types of algorithms could be used to create a simple city.
Just main streets that spread into several smaller streets and such with empty terrain filling the gaps of varying sizes.
I would really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction for this sort of algorithm.
Thanks

A: To be honest this can turn out to be very complex or very simple.
If I only take the image as a reference it seems this algorithm is somewhat imitating the visual structure of a tree. You have large streets where smaller streets go either to the left or right of it. The only important part would be to define the depth of this algorithm (based on the image 3) and define the max/min distance a new side street can appear. This algorithm should also work the other way around so that small streets can connect to bigger ones. Very simplified Lindenmayer-System.
This idea is however flawed in many ways. In reality you often don't just have a side street going to the left or right in many cases you have a small street crossing a bigger one. Sometimes a level 1 street can also cross a level 3 street without connection to a level 2 street and you have to backtrack all your previous streets. Streets don't always have a 90 degrees turn and here lies the biggest problem.
Like @jakev already mentioned a grid approach would be also possible (many cities are designed that way).

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