Meet some inspiring young Christian leaders from Australia and the Pacific, and hear how they are living out their faith and influencing change.
In November last year, a group of emerging leaders were part of Tearfund’s delegation to the Pacific Australian Emerging Leaders Summit in Canberra. The Summit, a joint initiative between Micah Australia and the Pacific Council of Churches, brought together over 90 young leaders from the Pacific and across Australia to meet with politicians, share the stories of their communities and advocate on issues that impact our region. Climate justice was a major focus of the discussions.
As Tearfund’s 2022 research report revealed, young Christians are highly engaged with climate change and increasingly concerned about its impact. The Summit provided a transformative opportunity to gather and equip young people who will shape the future of climate justice in Australia and beyond.
I work with Ola Fou Solomons, as a project liaison officer in my community. I live in Honiara, in the Solomon Islands.
Climate is a global issue. And it will affect us most. My fear is for the Pacific especially. When I’ve talked with Marshall Islands and Kiribati young leaders, I can hear their emotions, emotional stories.
In the Solomon Islands we have an atoll called Ontong Java. It’s not good when the sea level rises. When it rises, it almost takes the whole land. So people have to build higher houses and they only grow certain types of food that can adapt to the environment. It’s very bad in the Solomon Islands. It forces people to leave. They are leaving.
Through Ola Fou, someone came and spoke to our community to teach us about disaster preparedness. It gave us an understanding of how we could map a community and what will happen after 10 years, 20 years, so we can look ahead. I think after 40 years some islands will disappear.
One thing that most inspired me during the summit is the idea of approaching leaders, political leaders. In my government, I don’t do that. I thought, they lead us, and I don't have the capacity or the courage to approach political leaders. Because I think that those political leaders are unapproachable … I can’t approach them, or I can’t do advocacy with my capacity. But as I attended the summit, I realised that they are just human, just like me. I can approach them, share my stories.
And I learned a lot from First Nations people. They have the heart to show us Pacific Islanders how we can advocate.
Raymond Talasivo is a graduate of the leadership training program run by Ola Fou, Tearfund’s partner in the Solomon Islands. He now works as a community liaison officer with Ola Fou.
As a Christian I see climate change as a challenge to the full kingdom life: the full, thriving picture of what it means to live as God's people in his creation.
What concerns me most about the unfolding climate crisis is its holistic impact and its intergenerational impact. Knowing that climate change will impact many, many generations after us is a huge weight on my heart. And we have a very small window of time to act.
I knew before coming to the summit that climate change had a very real impact, a disproportionate impact, on the communities that have least contributed to the challenges we're facing right now. But when you are sitting beside a Samoan brother or sister; when you're hearing directly from one of your new friends from Kiribati on saltwater intrusion; when you're listening to a sister in Christ from Tonga sharing about the impact that climate change has had on their ability to grow their crops, to access fresh water; when you learn from your brothers and sisters in the Cook Islands that climate change is affecting the ability of people to buy food comfortably, and influencing rising cost of living, it's so different.
And it's not just a problem and a challenge faced by our Pacific neighbours, it's not just a challenge faced by our First Nations members; it's a challenge faced by all of us, it's our challenge as a region.
When I think about climate justice, what gives me hope is the ability of our First Nations and Pacific communities to adapt and creatively innovate when it comes to responding to the effects of climate change. Also bringing me hope is that as a church family, we're so connected across the Pacific, and there's such a deep love for Jesus and deep vision of what it looks like to live a full, holistic kingdom life. I think having that shared faith together as a region is a beautiful platform, because it allows us to pray for one another, it allows us to connect in worship together, it allows us to build a community and a network.
Ben Howes is a children's ministry leader, primary teacher and wildlife conservationist. He has spent the last few years conducting environmental field research and working alongside inspiring Indigenous educators and academics in North East Arnhem Land. In addition, Ben works at the Jane Goodall Institute Australia.
If I am totally honest, I had always heard about climate change, but never really felt I needed to do something about it. This was until I attended the Pacific Australian Emerging Leaders Summit. After meeting and hearing from incredible First Nations people and Pacific Islanders who shared their stories of how climate change has hugely affected their homes and communities, something shifted in my heart.
Islands are disappearing. People must keep moving their homes and towns inland as the ocean continues to rise and erode the coastline. Wells that have been passed down from generations are now unusable because the water has turned salty, leaving people with no access to clean water. Families must take the bones of their elders from their graves before they get washed away and rebury them.
Climate change is not something that I can ignore anymore. As a Christian I believe God has given us this earth to look after and care for. On top of that we are called to love people, and our brothers and sisters affected by climate change need our help.
I am one of those people that find it overwhelming to know what to do next, but I’m going to start with sharing what I have learnt and bringing awareness of these harsh realities to the spheres I am a part of. Thankfully there’s a lot of great people and organisations (like Tearfund) that can equip, educate and empower you.
My prayer is that we as Christians and as humans continue to fight for justice. Justice for our people and our planet.
Ariane Khalil is a production manager in the film and TV team at Hillsong Church.
Meet the other young leaders who attended the Summit with Tearfund.
Cassie Lim serves with RICE, a global movement passionate about reaching young people with the Gospel. She is a leader of RICE’s Justice Nights, which aim to initiate conversation and build awareness of topics such as racial justice, creation care and disability inclusion.
Taminka Hanscamp is a law and global studies graduate with an interest in how accessible communication facilitates justice, peace and sustainability. She studies pastoral care and disability theology.
Jasmine Eades is a Noongar woman from the South West of WA. She has a background in health and says that it was while working as a nurse that she found her passion to advocate and empower others, in particular fellow Aboriginal people.
Talicia Bolea is a Sovereign Gubbi Gubbi, Gurang, Zenadth Kes and Oceania women residing on the sovereign unceded lands of the Yirriganydji and Gimuy Wallubarra Yidinji peoples. She is a full time home schooler, First Nations business owner and artist, and active grassroots community member.
Ashley Wild is a climate scientist and international development practitioner. After completing Honours research on Disaster Risk Reduction with the Bureau of Meteorology in 2021 he's been working in Timor-Leste, first as a research assistant into youth unemployment, and then as the Forestry Certification Officer working to plant trees and facilitating farmers to access international carbon offset markets.
Rohen Snowball is studying visual communication design, and plans to complete postgraduate studies in social science and environmental humanities research in order to understand how the current climate crisis can be reversed, and a sustainable future created.
Hattie Steenholdt graduated from a teaching degree at the end of 2022. Being in Mallacoota during the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, where she was part of Scripture Union’s Theos beach mission team, strengthened her conviction that Christians need to do more about climate change. Read some of her reflections about that experience here.
1 Give thanks for these courageous and compassionate young leaders, and pray that God would continue to shape them for his purposes and work powerfully through their lives.
2 Pray for our First Nations brothers and sisters in the Torres Strait Islands who are experiencing the impacts of climate change on their communities. Pray that their voices would be heard as they advocate for climate justice.
3 Pray for Tearfund’s partners in the Horn of Africa where years of successive drought have contributed to the current hunger crisis. Pray that our government would provide much-needed humanitarian funding to help fight famine.Download Tearfund's climate report and read more about this landmark piece of research.


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Authenticity? (where is something real, when does it matter and who gets to decide*)
*Reconfigured and partial quote from Simone Montemurno, Hologram of Andy 8-11-12 (source document uploaded below)
Andy Robert proposes an authenticity that is demonstrated when artists “question myth, origin and the everyday through didactic and trompe-l’oeil aesthetic strategies.” In his exhibition Authenticity?, at Untitled Art Projects, Robert presents the work of artists who may and may not be working in the familiar field of realism/photo-realism and who in their maybe yes / maybe no practices pursue the authentically political, the post-Essentialist, and the personally mystic – kind of all at the same time.
In 1906 Charles Ives wrote a piece of music that foreshadowed much of Modernism, and Ives’ music remains vital today. The Unanswered Question is quiet and modest, not quite melancholy – slow strings support one’s emotional body while a horn calls in search of something undefined. After brief, strident urgency, the piece closes softly, and still undefined. In an essay on Ives’ music, biographer Jan Swafford finds in the piece (and defines Modernist music as) “… polytonality, polyrhythm, free dissonance, chance and collage effects, (and) spatial music.” She continues, “…Ives makes a philosophical point: a question is better than an answer, in the immensity of creation. And those determined to force the answers are apt to look foolish in the face of that immensity. (…) In The Unanswered Question we see the elements of his (Ives’) art in a nutshell: a work at once timeless and revolutionary, spiritual and concrete, comic and cosmic.”
In Authenticicy? I see artists whose work reminds me that philosophical concerns in life – Ives’ unanswered questions – can/must be based in one’s life and experience.
“You can perform magic anytime, anyplace, even in the front row of another magician’s performance. But to be polite, you should ask” Nate Young, from a video in Authenticity?
In Young’s video (of which there are two or three playing on a monitor with others in a loop) shows classic magician hands in white gloves performing coin magic while Young reads what sounds like a text on tricks, the voice is jocular and confiding in manner, as though one were a possible colleague, simply by the act of showing interest enough to pay attention. It’s a voice I recognize and that gives me a sense of exchange of, or inclusion in power, in a formula where knowledge is power. In the specific case of Young’s film, I thought that he was referring to art as magic, and I like the thought that knowledge of art is power.
In the film Nate continues, “Never dis a bro. Find something good to say else both people look bad…” More good advice to and among associates.
Jamilah Sabur may be dancing a celebration or consideration of Neil Armstrong’s walk and planting of a flag on the moon, and she might be doing a foxtrot, and her performance in Playing Possum might exist as an ellipsis, leading toward or away (only a direction, for no resolution is prescribed). In this film she wears an enigmatic mask of white material, it sort of pushes forward into a flattened nose-shape, like a gas mask but without the reference to war. Her use of symbols is wonderfully cryptic and, again, enigmatic. The camera captures corners of activity that in their spareness become sculptures: in the bottom corner of the screen her dark hand grasps a length of wood and her masked face rises, looking across the black space. This lasts for moments, while her figure contemplates… something, perhaps the white spheres that lie at her feet on the dusty surface of her moon. Part of her mask then disappears, the balls seem to chase her, she gathers them into a drape of her skirt and spins, with the balls aloft. Behind her stands the flag. This film is less than a minute long, yet there is much more to be found in it. (Jamilah, this is great – I can’t wait to see more.)
Kenyatta A C Hinkle, A Knee Grow Mind and A Knee Grow Brain are drawings in white on black paper or board. Each is a schematic of the referenced thing, with labels that relate to the “real” part and the socially constructed, real part. Medulla oblongata becomes Me Do What I Gotta, another label wryly offers that Knee Grows have a Funkified lobe, and so on. In a phrenology of the mind, one area is labelled “LAPD” and another “Coon Tunes” and another “HIV/AIDS.” All of this is funny, and all of it is serious, and none of it feels like revisiting old identity work, rather it feels like – and looks like – human observations drawn from a personal negotiation of race, and among white people of difference, in our country and our time. What is shocking about the drawings is exactly their ability to charm, and vice versa.
There is considerably more, and equally interesting and good work in Authenticity?. The exhibition closes on October 9 at Untitled Art Projects at 3309 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. http://www.untitledartprojects.com/main.html
Harry Gamboa Jr.
Kenyatta A C Hinkle

domain: artistic


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A Leven primary school has set up a new ‘walking bus’ scheme to cut the amount of traffic during opening and closing hours.
Children can now be dropped off at Aldi, where they will be met by parent volunteers, who will then guide them to Mountfleurie Primary School.
Laura Burel, headteacher, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer our walking bus to our children and families.
“It allows parents to drop their children off at Aldi and then safely walk to school with our parent volunteers.
“It means that once it is well established there will be less traffic around the school at peak times, making it safer for all our children.
“We would encourage as many parents to take advantage of this great initiative.”
The scheme has been set up with the help of local councillor Colin Davidson.
He told the Mail: “I fully support the effort the staff, parent volunteers and Aldi are putting into making it a success.
“Not only will it encourage pupils to adopt a healthy life style it will improve safety in and around the school that has been compromised by a small minority of parents who ignore safety markings, park indiscriminately and on occasion abuse staff.
“I’d urge all parents who currently drive their kids to school to embrace this new initiative.”

domain: sociology


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Exploring the Smoky Mountains from horseback can be one of the most rewarding experiences a visitor can have while visiting Gatlinburg. See the Smokies like a true pioneer and visit areas rarely seen by most visitors.
There are companies that offer horseback riding through the mountainous terrain of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for novices and experienced riders alike. Smoky Mountain Riding Stables and Sugarlands Riding Stables offer a natural way to see America’s most visited National Park and bond with nature by following a guide through the mountain trails while atop their well-trained horses.
Smoky Mountain Stables – View Site
1/4 mi. east of Jackson Mountain Homes office on HWY 321 in Gatlinburg. A unique way to experience the Smoky Mountains, riding a horse through the park. Special Horses for Children. 865-436-5634
Sugarlands Riding Stables – View Site
See wildlife on scenic trails along streams inside the National Park. Experienced guides, trained horses; open mid March to November. 865-436-3535
Smokemont – View Site
TRAIL RIDES FOR EXPERIENCED OR BEGINNER RIDERS
Smokemont Riding Stable offers a safe, fun, family friendly horseback riding experience within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our natural riding trails feature beautiful wooded scenery, native flora and fauna, and mountain streams and waterfalls. Near Cherokee, NC 828-497-2373
Jayell Ranch – View Site
Our 4 mile, 1 hour, shady trail ride winds through more than 220 acres of the best scenery in the Smoky Mountains. Throughout the ride, you’ll see views of North Carolina, Mount LeConte and Shield’s Mountain Fort, taking a ride through Tennessee’s true history.
We have well-trained, experienced guides, and the horses are very familiar with the trails. No experience necessary. Ages 5 and up can ride their own horse. Under 5 can double with an adult, so all ages are included. The weight limit for horseback rides is 300 lbs. This is the best ride in Tennessee by far. 865-776-1593
Cades Cove Riding Stable – View Site
All riders under 18 years of age are required to wear equestrian helmets, and all adult riders are asked to either wear helmets or sign a statement that they decline to wear them. Children under six years old may not ride alone. Riding double is no longer permitted.
Along with horseback riding the stable also offers buggy rides on Park trails and hayrides around the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road.
Cades Cove, near Townsend, TN 865-448-6286

domain: geography


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- This event has passed.
9th November 2018 @ 19:30 to 21:30Tickets from £14.00
LipService – Britain’s favourite literary lunatics, are back with their cult Brontë spoof Withering Looks. In the 200th anniversary year of Emily’s birth, the classic comic duo, Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, just couldn’t resist the urge to dust off their crinolines, wear flattering bonnets and sit at rained-lashed windows in a pale and decorative manner. Don’t miss the chance to share in the silliness too!
Withering Looks takes an authentic look at the lives and works of the Brontë sisters, well, two of them actually, Anne’s just popped out for a cup of sugar. Who is the Brontë’s mysterious neighbour, Mr Moorcock of Ravaged Heath House? Do Lost Souls really wander the wild and heather clad moors? Who should Cathy marry? Heathcliff or David Niven? Plus, Manchester’s very own Mrs Gaskell drops by for tea and sympathy. Withering Looks won a Manchester Evening News Theatre Award and the Critics’ award for Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival.
“It’s a joy – very, very funny” The Guardian
“They sing, dance and even create their own wind machine. One day I confidently expect them to fly” London Evening Standard
Early booking is recommended.


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Whole Food Nutrition
What if you could get all your nutrition needs from food? What if your
supplements actually tasted good? What if you could spray organic
pineapple in your mouth and feel smarter?
That’s where Ora comes in.
Organic, Whole Food, Plant-based, Non-GMO, Gluten-free, Dairy-free,
Soy-free, Wheat-free, eco-friendly, sustainable, chef-designed and
quite frankly, delicious.

domain: food


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Many credit card companies offer accident insurance when the cards are used to pay for a rental car. But details of coverage vary depending on the network behind the card, a report from CardHub.com finds.
Many people end up buying extra insurance when they rent a car because they are confused about whether their own auto policies cover them while driving rentals, as well as what sort of protection their credit cards may provide, the report says.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, most automobile insurance policies cover a policyholder driving a rental. Details vary, though, and there are sometimes exclusions; some policies don’t cover a driver, for instance, who is renting while on business. So you should check with your insurance agent or company.
Similarly, there’s a great deal of variation in the coverage that credit cards provide. All four major card networks — American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover — provide some form of insurance coverage. (MasterCard, the report found, is the only network that does not provide coverage to all cardholders; a cardholder has to check the agreement to determine eligibility.) Read more…
One of the benefits of shopping with a credit card is that many cards offer free, extended-warranty protection for purchases that come with an existing manufacturer’s warranty. But a new survey from the card comparison site CardHub.com finds that there are significant differences in the perk, depending on which network sponsors the card.
All four card networks — MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover — offer programs that extend existing manufacturer’s warranties on at least some of their cards, generally for up to 12 months and for amounts up to $10,000. (Rules for warranty extensions are set by the card networks, rather than the issuing banks, said Odysseas Papadimitriou, chief executive of CardHub.)
But only American Express and Discover offer extended warranties to all cardholders, the study found. Those networks ranked first and second, respectively, in CardHub’s overall rankings for that reason. Read more…
7/17/12 | Updated with Publix response.
Under a legal settlement announced Friday in a case pitting MasterCard, Visa and big banks that issue credit cards against scores of retailers, merchants will be able to charge customers more if they pay with a credit card.
But now the question is: Will they?
Consumers generally are not aware of it when they shop, but merchants pay a fee each time a customer uses a credit card to make a purchase. The fees range from 1.5 percent to 3 percent or more, depending on the type of card used.
Gas stations and convenience stores already have had the option of giving a discount to customers who pay with cash — in effect, charging more to consumers who pay with credit cards. But under the proposed settlement, all sorts of merchants could tack on a surcharge to customers who pay with a credit card.
The settlement agreement, filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, is still subject to final approval by a judge, which may take months. It is being challenged by the trade association for convenience stores. And it would not apply in 10 states that have laws restricting credit card surcharges (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas).
Consumers have been vociferous of late in their opposition to fees of all sorts (witness last fall’s kerfuffle over bank fees). So it’s unclear if stores will actually take the plunge and tack on a credit card fee, possibly alienating customers, or whether merchants might simply use the threat of a surcharge as a bargaining chip with the card companies, to keep a lid on swipe fees. Read more…
American Express said it would begin offering credit cards with secure-chip technology in the United States this year.
The company, however, isn’t releasing details yet of when or how it plans to provide the cards to customers, a spokeswoman said.
American Express said last week that it was joining the other major card companies in requiring merchants to adopt payment systems that could accept cards embedded with the new chips, known as E.M.V. chips, by October 2015. Merchants may face greater liability for card-related fraud if they don’t meet the deadline. (E.M.V. stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa.)
Visa announced last August that it would speed adoption of chip cards in the United States, not only to enhance security when credit and debit cards were used, but also to help prepare for mobile systems that allowed shoppers to pay by waving their cellphones at a payment terminal. (Systems that let shoppers pay with their phones use E.M.V. chips, too.)
MasterCard and Discover this year announced plans to move toward secure-chip technology. Read more…
There are lots of cash-back credit cards out there, but it’s often difficult to know which one may work best for you, based on your personal spending patterns. Some cards offer initial bonuses, as well as rotating categories of purchases that can earn more cash back. So it’s hard to compare them without doing a lot of number-crunching.
NextAdvisor.com, a consumer Web site, has introduced an online tool aimed at taking some of the guesswork out of selecting a card.
First , the site analyzed 12 popular cash-back cards using monthly spending information from an “average” consumer. (The site just looked at cards offering cash back, rather than at cards offering rewards points. Cards don’t pay to be included in the survey, but NextAdvisor gets a fee if consumers are approved for a card that they apply for through the site, said Erik Larson, the site’s founder and president.)
The hypothetical shopper uses the card to charge $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year. Of the annual total, 7.5 percent ($900) was allocated to groceries, 5 percent ($600) to dining out, and 4.5 percent ($540) to gas. (NextAdvisor based those amounts on data from the 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Spending survey). An additional 2 percent ($240) was assumed to be allocated for travel, 1 percent ($120) for the quarterly rotating charges that some cards offer for different spending categories, and 0.5 percent ($60) for department store spending. That equaled total spending by category of $2,460, with a remainder of $9,540 in general spending. NextAdvisor then calculated how much cash back each card would generate, based on the card’s rewards percentages. Read more…
Credit cards that don’t carry foreign transaction fees are generally the best option for spending while traveling internationally. But even if you’re stuck with a card that charges the fees, you can still save more by using the card rather than by exchanging cash at banks and airport terminals.
That was the conclusion of an analysis from Card Hub.com, which compared the cost of currency exchange services from the major credit card networks with 15 large domestic banks and airport currency exchange outlets like Travelex.
Cards that don’t charge foreign exchange fees are the best bet. Card Hub says they’ll save you, on average, about 8 percent over exchanging cash at domestic banks, and 16 percent over airport exchange services. There are more cards now that come without the fees, like Chase’s Sapphire Preferred card and the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card. Roughly 82 percent of cards carry the fees, down from about 90 percent a year ago, CardHub said. Foreign transaction fees typically run from 1 to 3 percent. The average fee in the first three months of this year was 2.38 percent, the report found, down from 2.52 percent a year earlier. Read more…
Updated: Friday, 6:40 p.m. to add bureau comment.
I wrote a story for Thursday’s paper about a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal that would actually make it easier for credit card issuers to charge hefty upfront fees.
To quickly recap: A relatively new law said that credit card issuers had to limit the fees they could charge to borrowers in the year after the account was opened. So after some card issuers started charging application or processing fees before consumers’ accounts were opened, regulators added a rule applying the fee limit to those upfront charges, too. That’s the rule the consumer protection agency is proposing to eliminate.
So what happened to the part of the bureau’s mission statement that says it would serve as the “cop of the beat” to protect Americans from these types of financial shenanigans?
Some consumer advocates have said the agency may simply be “picking its battles” or trying to show that it’s not unfriendly to business. But other advocates said they hoped that the agency would have taken a more aggressive stand.
The bureau said the proposal stems from a ruling in September by the Federal District Court for South Dakota that granted a preliminary injunction blocking the rule on the upfront fees from taking effect. To resolve the matter, the consumer agency said it was seeking comment on whether it should revise the rule so that it no longer applies to fees charged before an account is opened.
If you want to weigh in on the proposal, you can submit your thoughts to the bureau, which is collecting comments through June 11.
What do you think of the agency’s proposal? Please let us know in the comment section below.
Interest rates on general consumer credit cards ticked up in the first three months of the year, but no-interest offers generally got longer, a new analysis from CardHub.com finds.
The average annual percentage rate on cards for a customer with excellent credit was 12.98 percent in the first quarter of the year, up from 12.46 percent a year ago — an increase of about 4 percent.
Meanwhile, terms for 0 percent offers, for both new purchases and balance transfers, grew longer. It appears, according to CardHub’s report, that card issuers are willing to sacrifice interest revenue early on, in the hope of recapturing it later through higher annual percentage rates.
Introductory terms now range from six to 18 months, depending on the the card and the type of transaction. The average introductory no-interest offer was about 10 months in the first quarter, up from about seven months a year ago. Read more…
Frequent fliers may want to take a look at the new United MileagePlus Club Card from Chase, which offers 1.5 miles for every dollar spent, membership in United’s airport clubs and a menu of other perks.
Most rewards cards typically offer 1 mile or point per dollar spent (although, some offer bonus miles for spending in various categories — say, gas or groceries — or at different times of the year), so the 1.5 miles for every dollar of across-the-board spending is attractive, said Tim Winship, editor of Frequentflier.com. “In that respect, this card does have something to shout about,” he said. (The card offers two miles per dollar, when the spending is for travel on United.)
But in exchange for its many perks, including no foreign transaction fees, the card carries a $395 annual fee. (The card is being offered with a $95 statement credit after the first purchase, so the first year’s cost is $300.) Read more…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been encouraging consumers to contact it with complaints about various financial products, including mortgages, credit cards and student loans.
Now, the agency has introduced an online tool to help answer financial questions. “Ask CFPB” aims to use simple language to explain financial terms and concepts. Users can type in their own question—which prompts an already formulated question and answer to appear —or they can choose from a list of topics. Currently, most relate to credit cards or mortgages, but the agency says it will expand the categories over time.
I gave the tool a try, and it seems geared to those who would benefit from basic information. The site lists commonly asked questions. Here are some examples: Read more…

domain: finance


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The week of July 4-8 saw the decrease of silk cocoons and worms, revision of veterans’ disability statuses and Alizamin Salayev arrested
Silk cocoons have non-expected low productivity in 2022
In some regions of Azerbaijan, this year’s harvesting of silk cocoons and worms is about to end, and in others, it is already finished. The government media presents this field as a business with high income chances, mentioning that it is possible to earn 400-500 AZN in one day. However, this year the production has decreased significantly.
Specialized farmers blame the excess of rain this year, which affected the fertility of the worms. The weather also influences negatively working and living conditions. In addition, producers complain about late payments and lack of support of public authorities.
In recent years, one of the agrarian fields that have been tried to be revived in the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan is cocooning. As a result of the implementation of the State Program for the development of cocooning and sericulture for 2018-2025, it was planned to increase the volume of wet cocoon production to 600 thousand tons by 2025. So far, the program has been unsatisfactory.
Ministry will review disability certificates previously denied to war veterans
In the first week of June, a group of participants of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War held a protest in front of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. They complained about the the refusal of the public authorities to give disability certificates without further examination.
As a result, Ulvi Huseynov, deputy director of the Disability Policy Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, announced that a Working Group has been established in the Ministry to review disability statuses of veterans who received a previous refusal on it.
In Azerbaijan, it is necessary for a person to have a disability status in order to receive pensions and benefits related to any impairment. This is a sensible topic especially regarding veterans of the Fall 2020 War, who barely got any support from the government when returning home from war.
Activist stages an action and is arrested
Alizamin Salayev, an activist member of the Azerbaijan People’s Front Party (APPF), who held an one-man protest, received a 30-day arrest warrant for disobeying a legal request of the police.
Salayev started a live broadcast from his Facebook account while holding a protest in the central park of the districit of Salyan on July 7. During the transmission, police officers approached him, and then took him to the police department, where an administrative protocol was drawn up.
The activist’s family believe the arrest was unfounded and politically motivated. Alizamin Salayev has been administratively arrested many times on the charge of resisting the police. On April 2020, he was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly getting into an argument with a police officer.


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That is why I am great believer in cooking more than is needed and this Leftover Sausage and Egg Curry is an excellent example of how I approach using the extras that I cook.
Preparation Time: 10 mins
- 1 Large Cooked Sausage (any variety)
- 1 or 2 Hard-Boiled Eggs
- 1 Bowl Cooked Rice and Vegetables
- 1 Jar Curry Sauce
- The rice I had leftover was mixed with peas and broad beans. Place sufficient to match your appetite into a microwaveable bowl.
- Slice the sausage lengthwise then crosswise into smallish chunks. Add to the bowl with the rice mixture.
- Spoon in 4-5 tablespoons of your chosen curry sauce. I used a mild one from the supermarket that costs very little. You could use a better one to match your taste or the curry sauce that can be made from granules.
- Mix together well, adding a little more curry sauce if needed.
- Cover and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. (900W Oven)
- While it is cooking, shell then slice the egg(s).
- Taste the rice mixture to ensure it is thoroughly heated. Cover and return to the microwave for around 1 minute if it is not.
- Once it is thoroughly heated, layer the eggs around the edge then re-cover.
- Return to the microwave for a further 30 seconds to heat the eggs.
- Leave to stand for about 1 minute then remove carefully as the bowl will be hot.
- Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper to finish.
- Eat and enjoy.
Vary the flavour either with the type of sausage or the curry sauce. There are probably hundreds of different ways that this meal could be served.
Re-heating food in the microwave can get a little messy at times so be sure to cover the bowl otherwise there is a microwave clean ahead.
For a better appearance to the finished food then transfer to a clean bowl after it is cooked. It does increase the washing-up though.


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Hate fuels the destructive path of the Fathers’ Rights Movement
In James Osbourne’s July 11 piece, “Father, or ‘Male Role Model’?” he asks us, basically, if we support the Fathers’ Rights (FR) Movement. The answers to his question, fortunately, are far more logical and informed than the replies I got to myarticles on the FR guys last year. I’ll attribute that to people actually researching the Fathers’ Rights agenda. Because on the surface, we are all apt to support fatherhood, but when one delves deeper into this movement, there is a level of hate and contempt that fuels it.
We hear over and over again that courts favor mothers. By anecdotal evidence, we are likely to agree. However, when we look at family courts on closer inspection, it’s actually the mothers who are disadvantaged and receive the “raw deal” FR advocates so often claim. Here in the US, most states have some sort of gender task force. In Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court Gender Bias Study reported that “the family law system consistently, and negatively, affects women.”
The women studied often lacked legal representation, didn’t have access to free services and found it difficult to navigate the system. They were not “on equal footing with men,” particularly when they were abused. That confirms what a lot of research has found: that judges, quite often, do not believe women when they allege abuse. Even when there is evidence of domestic violence, abusers often receive custody. Some battered women have even gone to jail rather than hand over custody of their children to abusers.
Now, one must realize something about Family Court. Not all couples use it. The vast majority (85-90 percent) of couples solve their issues without ever going to court. The 10-15 percent that cannot do so use the Family Court system. These couples often have conflict and many of the men have been abusive. That means, a lot of the FR guys, who’ve gone through Family Court, have more than likely had charges against them.
Now, since FR groups support and lobby for mandatory shared custody, even in high-conflict relationships, that means abusive men would get custody. Some of them believe a violent dad is better than no dad at all. Experts do not, of course, agree with mandatory (also called presumptive) shared custody for obvious reasons. They do support it in low or no-conflict relationships. And, in fact, any couple that agrees to shared parenting can arrange it themselves. Nothing is stopping them. But, in the courtroom, the “best interest of the child” is (often) still the guiding principle.
And although FR groups support shared parenting, I find it interesting they do not start advocating it until after a divorce. During marriage, women still do five times the amount of child care and this is one factor that can influence who gets primary custody.
“Just imagine yourself six months from today… spending meaningful time with your children and paying a fair amount of child support, if at all.” — National Brotherhood of Father’s Rights
Some believe the FR guys support presumptive joint custody because they want lowered child support payments rather than actual time with the kids. Indeed, many FR Web sites offer ways of lowering child support and, in addition, many Web sites have sprung up selling books and kits on how to lower or stop child support. Others claim these dads see their children as possessions and want “half.” Some claim it’s a form of retaliation and a way to further control the ex-wife. Certainly, they hold ex-wives and women in general in contempt. This can be seen by their accusations: women are vindictive liars, women falsely accuse men of rape and imprison “innocent men,” women are unfit parents, etc. Even lesbian and gay couples and stepfathers are not spared: they’re bashed, too. No one is good enough, save Dad.
FR groups claim virtually all of society’s ills stem from single parents (read: mothers) and children being raised by “strangers” in child care. Now, here in the US, we have about 10 million single heads of families, most of them headed by mothers, and we have a population of about 300,000 million. Researchers do acknowledge that single parenting contributes to a small part of social ills (teen pregnancy, drug use, teen suicide, etc), but certainly problems can’t be blamed on single mothers alone. Many, in fact, do a terrific job raising their kids. And many, indeed, want men to take a more active role in their children’s lives. One would think FR groups would be engaging more with fathers on this issue — but they’re not — they’re too busy attacking feminists for sport. I know, I have often been their target.
“As militant feminists become more and more powerful and well funded, we see a dramatic increase in the use of false allegations of domestic abuse to gain an advantage in contested divorce and child custody cases. Learn how to make this backfire and cause a false accuser to lose custody!! One father went from being falsely accused to winning custody and having the false accuser arrested. Recently an attorney was disbarred for using the despicable practice of making false allegations to gain an advantage in a custody proceeding.” www.fathers-rights.com
In truth, then, the Fathers Rights campaigners lead a smear campaign against women, alleging women are malicious liars and unfit parents. The use of this strategy is quite ironic considering they claim feminists have ruined fathers’ images. Osbourne quotes Matt O’Connor, founder of Fathers 4 Justice, as saying fathers images are now “dodgy, demonized and deadbeats.” So, feminists are responsible for this image and not the actual actions (or lack thereof) of the fathers? Scapegoating is much easier than taking accountability: the problem always lies with the feminists, the mothers, the courts, the judges — always somebody else but never the fathers.
If anyone has suffered from a negative image, I’d say it would be women: the unwed mother, the knocked-up teen, the single mother, the welfare mother, the spinster, the wicked stepmother, the meddling mother-in-law. We have jokes that begin “your mother…” but not “your father…” So, if anyone has been demonized, it’s been women. We have long borne the brunt of shame and blame in society, from the witch hunts to honor killings to rape. And if that is not enough, FR supporters fan another burning flame that still smolders in society: women as malicious or vindictive liars.
“False memory, false sexual abuse claims, vengeance, are all the diseases of women.” (www.canlaw.com/rights/fathers.htm )
FR advocates claim women make false allegations of domestic violence, child sexual abuse and rape. Mind you, they have no constructive advice for cases of family violence even though they purport to be caring, concerned dads; they just claim that women are false accusers: pure and simple. They claim women “alienate” children from their fathers in a purported syndrome called Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). The American Psychological Association says PAS “lacks evidence.” While it is not supported by science and it can, in fact, mask child abuse (does anybody else see this red flag?), it is still used in Family Courts today and still highly touted by these angry dads.
Lastly, FR groups claim domestic violence is 50-50. If you notice the pattern of 50-50 in the Fathers Rights agenda, you are observant. It’s a good facade for claiming to support “true equality,” and bashing feminists for wanting “privileges” and trampling on “men’s civil rights.” (Some have called their way of thinking “equality with a vengeance” because it’s delivered with meanness rather than fairness in mind.) In regard to the claim that domestic violence is mutual, they can be attempting to dilute the problem and to erase the idea of men as perpetrators. It is true that women initiate domestic violence, too, but by credible sources, it is more like 85-15.
The surveys (such as the Conflict Tactics Scale) that finds mutual violence in Western countries is questionable because it does not decipher violence as a means of self-defense nor does it take into account verbal over-estimates of violence. Finally, it does not provide an accurate overall picture of family violence: women are more likely to use emergency rooms, police stations and shelters. They are more likely to be injured, suffer more forms of violence, need medical attention and fear for their lives. Men, on the other hand, often leave danger behind when they walk out the door.
“…there are boyfriends or husbands who make up their mind that they want a physical divorce, but don’t want the legal and financial responsibilities attached to such an action.” Clint Van Zandt, former FBI agent, in “Grieving husbands or calculating killers?”
Fathers Rights crusaders have an agenda, then. They seek to demonize and discredit women. Some say they seek a return to patriarchy. Others dismiss them as ‘angry dads’ or the men in tights who perform zany publicity stunts. Those that have researched them say they are dangerous. They have a hidden agenda that holds women and feminists as guilty and contemptible. They have used destructive rather than constructive means to solve their problems. They seek to punish women in some form; many have lobbied for imprisonment or fines for women who make false accusations or who deny fathers access to their children. More frightening, in some countries they have issued bomb threats and death threats, harassed and terrorized separated women and committed murder and murder-suicides.
Because divorce is so common in many countries, these negative FR groups are able to grow in number and gain power. Women also join — they are often the second wives. And while the men welcome them into the movement, they don’t trust them either:
“Be warned these second wives are also ex wives who screwed their other husbands. Be warned that while the Second Wives groups are currently helping men, they are only doing it for themselves. Do not trust them or count on them. If they get into a snit over their new husbands, they will revert to their true vindictive, vicious greedy nature. Quislings and collaborators are useful, but dangerous and never to be trusted.” (www.canlaw.com/rights/fathers.htm)
Recently-divorced men often stumble onto the FR Web sites while searching for support on the Internet. When they are most vulnerable — when they are in pain — this is when FR groups recruit them. After a while, they turn that pain into anger and hate. They give that hate a target: women, feminists, family courts. The FR movement is churning out angry dads every day. It’s time for society to learn their true agenda and to counteract it.
The best method of derailing them is to provide support to parents during marriage, to advocate shared parenting starting from birth and to offer more constructive support systems for men and women who are divorcing. Certainly, society is still suffering from forms of family violence and it must be dealt with effectively. Conflict resolution skills, anger and stress management and positive relationship-building skills are all needed. Positive parenting groups do exist and do offer these classes — we need to support them in their efforts.
Nobody needs to wear fancy tights to raise awareness about the need for fathers in their children’s lives. We all get that. Most women, in fact, want that. We don’t need another hero….we need genuine caring dads who can be responsible and respectful to the women and children in their lives.
Joan Dawson has a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She’s interested in health, human rights and equality. She just finished writing a chapter on the Fathers’ Rights Movement for a book, which will be published this fall.
Please comment on Ms. Dawson’s article at the website: Ohmy News


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January 4, 2020
Money, Love, and Freedom
Host: Coach George Wang
Ep 051 - Financial Freedom in 2021
Financial Freedom in 2021
We’re here! It’s 2021 and a lot of people have desperately hoped for this year to arrive and usher in a change of things.
Here’s the big question, though: what are you going to do this year that’ll serve as the catalyst for that change? Change doesn’t just happen by itself; it happens through intention.
For the next few weeks, we’re going to be talking about how you can change or elevate certain areas of your life.
This week we’re starting with one of the most fun and exciting topics: money and how you can plan for wealth (and I’m not just referring to earning a high income, either).
How do you ensure that you have wealth, both in your youth and into your later years, so you never have to worry about money again?
For the first episode of the new year, I’m bringing on Amy Getz who’s a financial advisor and licensed CPA. Best of all, she’s a living, breathing example of what it means to build wealth. She came from your typical middle-class background and was the first from her family to graduate from college.
But Amy didn’t just settle for getting a job and living paycheck to paycheck. She became her own first client, building her wealth well into the seven-figure amounts now, and is helping people just like you do the same in your life.
Listen now to hear her share her tools and tips to propel you on your path of wealth!
Amy Getz believes wealth and financial freedom are for everyone. She is a financial advisor with IRC Wealth, a boutique SEC registered investment firm in Atlanta, GA but works with clients nationwide. She is also a CPA and a CDFA® (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst).
Amy is on a mission to educate individuals, entrepreneurs, business owners and independent contractors about their ability to save taxes while investing in their personal retirement. All too often, entrepreneurs reinvest their profits back into their business or even their personal development and delay investing in their future financial freedom.
Not only does she talk the talk, but she also walks the walk. Amy is 100% debt free including her home, will have 3 kids in college at the same time and their education is covered and already has over 7 figures invested in the stock market. When she’s not working, Amy loves to travel with her family, connect with friends or read a good book. You can connect with her @amywgetzfinance on Instagram and Amy Getz on LinkedIn.
The difference between having wealth and having a high income
The thief of joy and essential advice Amy followed to grow her wealth
The wealth mindset and how anyone can have it, regardless of their money situation
How giving can open up doors for you and treating personal finance as self-care
Defining traditional and Roth IRAs and the differences between them
Setting the record straight about paying taxes and the marginal tax rate
The differences between individual stocks and ETFs
Defining 529 accounts for those who want to invest in their children’s education
Visit Amy’s firm online: https://ircwealth.com
Visit the IRC Wealth resource page: https://ircwealth.com/resources
Follow Amy on Instagram @amywgetzfinance
Follow Amy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-getz
Follow Amy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.w.getz
Coach George Wang
George is a certified NLP Master Practitioner, Life, and Business coach. He helps young entrepreneurs and professionals develop the skills to grow their businesses and relationships to live a life of total abundance.
About the show
The Money, Love, & Freedom podcast is a show for young professionals, entrepreneurs, and hustlers who want the most out of life – Money, Love, and Freedom. Listen for weekly interviews, strategies, and tips to help you grow your finances, grow your business, develop amazing relationships, and create your life of freedom. Coach George Wang, a business and life coach dedicated to serving, is your coach and guide as you explore and discover your path to freedom, on your terms. Subscribe Now


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Really enjoying Strange New Worlds! It really feels like classic Star Trek. <3 The not-too-serious tone, the episodic structure, etc. And I like the characters so far, especially Captain Pike.
Spoilers for Strange New Worlds episode 3
I had misgivings about Pike's line that Una doesn't fit any of the stereotypes about her people, so I was really glad that was addressed in her log entry afterward. It was a good acknowledgement that maybe Pike is a little racist, and that that's intentional on the part of the authors. I assume more is gonna happen with that later. Anyway I like that the show so far seems to be thoughtful about things like that.
@mustbetuesday I'm so sad that it's not streaming on any platform I have access to 😭 I'm not sure where I could even watch it from Europe 🤔 Same things as the latest Discovery season
@mustbetuesday i use a VPN (private internet access) but more for security than for streaming, and its servers are often blocked from streaming platforms
Fandom Garden is a queer instance where you are free to gush about the content you like, whether it's related to books, comics, TV shows, movies or music. Come and find fellow fans to share your passion with! Our main instance language is English. This is an LGBT+, anti-racist, anti-ableist space.

domain: entertainment


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No one said it would be easy, they only said it would be worth it.
Whitie is alone in the park. He’s very wet and dirty. After a few days still in place. We heard that he was abandoned by a car. We thinking he has been waiting for his family to pick him up. But it rained in those days. We can’t let him stay outside. We are afraid that he will sick. So we rush Whitie to the vet. luckily, he’s very healthy! Whitie is very sweet and loves with people. He has a good temperament and personality, His size is a bit big. But he is a gently and friendly very much. he deserve to be loved and a forever loving home!
If you have extra time on your hand and would like to help please consider volunteering! Rescue groups need dedicated volunteers to help with events, fundraisers, home checks, transports, etc. All of these things help enable the rescue to expand their network and help more dogs in need.

domain: pet


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Things You Will Need4 red peppers
Half cup of olive oil
1 large box of lasagna noodles
1 36 ounce can of tuna in water
2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon of vinegar
Half cup of fresh dill
3 cups of arugula
1/3 cup fresh chives
Step 1First, preheat your boiler on low.
Step 2Once your broiler is pre heated place peppers in, turning every 5 minutes for 20 minutes and until they are brown.
Step 3Place the peppers in a bowl until they are cooled. Peel the charred skin off of the peppers and remove stems and seeds. Be sure to keep your stems and seeds separated so your main peppers don't get mixed together.
Step 4Coat a baking sheet well with olive oil so the lasagna noodles doesn't stick. Olive oil is a much better ingredient to use instead of butter as it is healthier for your body.
Step 5Cook the lasagna noodles for 12 minutes and rinse. It is important to not cook your lasagna noodles for the full amount of time because you want your noodles to be somewhat uncooked yet.
Step 6Mix tuna, dill, fresh lemon juice and a quarter of a cup of olive oil in a bowl. Season this mix with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 7Blend peppers in a blender until they liquefy. Combine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Pour the other half of the vinegar in and blend for 30 seconds. Do not blend for more than the recommended time as your mix may be too watery.
Step 8Place first layer of lasagna on baking sheet. Top with tuna, arugula and pepper sauce. Repeat two times so you have a stacked lasagna meal.
Place in broiler for 15 minutes and enjoy warm. This lasagna tastes great with buttered garlic bread. Many people also enjoy eating their lasagna and garlic bread with a glass or red wine.
This tuna lasagna is a pretty easy recipe for the most part. Start getting your family to eat healthy again by substituting their beef lasagna with tuna. They will definitely thank you for it.


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WATCH Sheetal Sathe: a troubador who swears by Jai Bhim
She doesn't sing songs to entertain people, to make money or to get fame. She sings for Dalits, for tribals and women, to fight against the caste system, exploitation, inequality and injustice.
Meet Sheetal Sathe, folk singer and Dalit rights activist from Maharashtra. She shot to fame with Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural organisation formed in response to the 2002 Gujarat communal mayhem.
In 2011, Sathe and her team members came under the scanner of the Anti-Terrorism Squad for promoting Maoist ideology. She and her husband Sachin Mali went underground and came out of hiding after two years at the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Denying any militant links, they said theirs was an of Satyagraha for free expression. At the time of their arrest, Sathe was pregnant and denied bail initially.
"Our constitution gives everyone equal rights. It does not tell us that women can't step out after 7 pm, as orthodox texts like Manu-Smriti lays down," says Sathe, who is awaiting the release of her husband and bringing up their son on her own.
Catch spoke to Sheetal Sathe when she was in Delhi earlier this year. Here's what she said about her music, life and journey.
Edited by Joyjeet Das

domain: news


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Int'l Shipping Checklist
Any item that is sent from the United States to a foreign destination is an export. “Items” include commodities, software, and technology. For example, clothing, materials, circuit boards, equipment parts, blueprints, design plans, commercial software, and technical information are “items” that may be subject to export control.
- Have you classified the item being shipped to determine the export classification control number (ECCN) and associated controls-restrictions that may require US government authorization? If not contact an Export Control Officer via firstname.lastname@example.org or review export links to self-classify: https://export-compliance.ku.edu/export-links
- Have you determined the 10 digit tariff code for item(s) being shipped (HTS or Schedule B)?
Schedule B are similar but not always the same: https://uscensus.prod.3ceonline.com/
- Will your shipment contain technical data or provide technical assistance for the development, production, or use of equipment or technology? If so, you will need to contact Export Controls to determine if there are additional shipping requirements
- Does your shipment comply with all applicable rules or orders under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA)? This includes the need to properly classify and label research materials (ex. Biological, chemicals, batteries & fuel cells, radioactive material). If not, contact Export Controls for an ECCN and EHS for packaging and labeling requirements. See also: http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-toxic-substances-control-act
- Does the shipment contain dual use items that has both civilian and military applications or can be used for nuclear proliferation, chemical-biological weapons? If so, contact Export Controls: email@example.com
- Is the item being shipped valued at $2,500.00 or more or is the shipment authorized under a license/license exception? If so, you will need to use a Customs Broker in order to file the necessary documents.
- Are you hand carrying a controlled item outside the U.S? If so, you may need additional documentation to clear Customs and should discuss requirements with your Customs Broker or contact firstname.lastname@example.org for more information.
- Is your shipment a temporary export? If so, you will need to use a Customs Broker to file the necessary documents. This will help prevent unnecessary taxes and fees which can be considerable (ex. 20% Value Added Tax).
- Is the required Destination Control Statement entered on the invoice and waybill (unless the items are classified EAR 99 or being exported with the baggage (BAG) or gift (GFT) exceptions)?
EAR §758.6(a): “These commodities, technology, or software were exported from the United States in accordance
with the Export Administration Regulations. Diversion contrary to U.S. law is prohibited.”
ITAR §123.9: “These commodities are authorized by the U.S. Government for export only to [country of ultimate
destination] for use by [end- user] under [license or other approval number or exemption citation].
They may not be resold, diverted transferred, or otherwise be disposed of, to any other country
or to any person other than the authorized end-user or consignee(s), either in their original form
or after being incorporated into other end-items, without first obtaining approval from the
U.S. Department of State or use of an applicable exemption.”
- Have you verified Custom regulations that will impact your shipment when clearing Customs at the destination? If not, check with your Customs Broker or your POC at the destination can help you with the necessary documents that may be needed.
11. Have you completed due diligence screening on all foreign entities involved in the shipment including Amber Road checks, Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Weapons end use checks and other Red Flags that may exist. Confirm that the shipping route or destination is not restricted due to sanctions or embargoes? See https://export-compliance.ku.edu/export-screening
12. Have you collected all shipping documents (invoice, airway bill, Customs form, EEI, etc.) emails, correspondence associated with your export? Once you have received all documents, they must be retained for 5 years in the event there is an audit or investigation.
- If you use an international package/freight delivery network, the freight forwarding and customs brokerage roles are bundled into the service:
FedEx Express International https://smallbusiness.fedex.com/international
FedEx Freight International http://www.fedex.com/us/freight/international-tools/
UPS Global Trade https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/international_trade.html

domain: law


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Dog Obedience Trainer Salary Mn
- October 14, 2021
After the combined taxes have been taken out, Certified Dog Trainers could expect to have a take-home pay of $52,089/year, with each paycheck equaling approximately $2,170 .The average income spent on cost of living excluding rent within Minneapolis per month for an individual is $912 , and for a 4-person family $3,349 .This means for an individual, total cost of living is 47.33% of a Certified Dog Trainer in Minneapolis' salary leaving $2,286 as discretionary income ; whereas for a family of 4, total cost of living is 103.49% of a Certified Dog Trainer in Minneapolis' salary leaving $-152 as discretionary income. .
How To Become A Dog Trainer: Things To Know About Dog Training
So you want to be a dog trainer?It can be stressful and challenging trying to help owners work through such issues, and happy endings are never guaranteed.Train Your Own Dog.But your potential future clients will need help with all kinds of behaviors, so you need hands-on experience with whatever you might be required to teach.Plus, a good dog trainer knows more than one method to train a behavior.Train People to Train Their Dogs.A secret about dog training is that most dog trainers don’t train dogs.Your main job as a trainer will be to teach your clients how to do the training for themselves.That means dog trainers need people skills.Or you can apprentice with a professional trainer and gain experience with their clients.Now that you’ve worked with dogs and people, and taken the courses, you’re ready to jump into dog training.You don’t need any formal education or certification to call yourself a dog trainer. .
Learn How to Become a Certified Dog Obedience Trainer
In fact, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA 2018) reported that there were nearly 77 million households that owned one or more dogs.The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT 2020) is an esteemed professional organization that hosts Canine Life and Social Skills (CLASS) trainings, events, online certificate courses, and resources for dog owners and trainers alike.APDT points out that while many employed dog trainers are self-educated—autodidacts who have attended seminars and read widely about behavior modification, ethology (i.e., the science of animal behavior), and related topics—other trainers have achieved professional certification through a quality training program.These educational programs for entry-level dog trainers typically take six months to a year, covering the following subjects:.Behavior of dogs (e.g., body language, facial cues, social signals, breed characteristics, etc.).As well, Sara Carson Devine, a top trick dog instructor and her furry companion Hero, delivered an address at the APDT Annual Educational Conference (2016) titled “Sharing Positive Training Skills and Techniques.” Sarah and Carson share their work widely on their YouTube channel The Super Collies with the aim of educating and entertaining dog owners and dog trainers.Read on to discover the bright career outlook in this field, salary prospects, and certification courses for dog obedience trainers.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS Dec. 2020), animal training is a growing career field.The BLS points out that there is strong competition for animal trainers and caretakers, but this does not extend to the field of dog obedience training due to the widespread presence of canines in American households.It’s important to note that dog obedience trainers may incur relatively higher rates of injury than other occupations due to the physical nature of this career.Scared or aggressive dogs may lash out and bite or scratch trainers, and having up-to-date rabies vaccination is strongly recommended.As dog obedience trainers grow their business and become more popular in local communities, they generally have more leverage and agency in their scheduling.That said, the BLS reported in April 2015, 62.5 percent of animal trainers were self-employed, a factor that makes the aforementioned business resources especially important.Finally, the BLS (May 2019) found that the states with the highest levels of employment for animal trainers were generally those with higher populations.While the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not maintain data specifically for dog trainers, it does report on the occupation of animal training.While this figure is lower than the average salary across all occupations, it’s worth noting that many dog trainers work part-time.By illustration, Payscale (2021)—an aggregator of self-reported salaries—found slightly higher salary percentiles among its 360 responding dog trainers in the US:.Los Angeles-Long Beach, Anaheim, CA (490 animal trainers employed): $50,080 annual average salary.As demonstrated by the extensive list of credentials provided by the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), there’s an abundance of education and certification options in this profession.While there’s no singular authority that accredits the training schools or credentialing for dog obedience trainers, there are various philosophies, modules, and course delivery methods available.Furthermore, employers and dog-owning clients typically prefer trainers with recognized training or certification from one or more of the entities discussed below.Fortunately for prospective dog obedience trainers, many of the certification programs are delivered online and can be taken at the convenience of the student.In addition to large, popular academies such as the Animal Behavior College (ABC), there are many individual dog trainers who have established their own certification courses such as Pat Miller (Peaceable Paws), Victoria Stilwell (Positively), or Karen Pryor (KP Academy).Here is an overview of professional certifications for dog obedience trainers which include educational training as part of the package.The Animal Behavior College (ABC) based in Santa Clarita, CA features an online dog trainer course where students complete dog obedience training modules at their own pace in approximately one year.Another distance-based certification program is available through the Canine Club Academy (CCA), which offers the Certified Dog Trainer credential (CCA-CDT) and can be completed in approximately 24 weeks.The CCA provides a personal tutor to each student to assist with flexible online coursework across 10 modules:.This online certification course includes a business toolkit with templates for forms and handouts, marketing materials, and website support and requires approximately four-to-six hours of weekly work.The CATCH Canine Trainers Academy (CTA) provides a full self-paced online certification program that takes approximately six to 18 months to complete.Additionally, the CTA has free business consultations for graduates of the master-level class, as well as access to a comprehensive library of dog training materials, and a student support team with mentors.Here is an overview of other certifications and society memberships that can enhance one’s resume in dog obedience training.To maintain the CPDT-KA credential, dog trainers must complete 36 qualifying continuing education units (CEUs).The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) approaches dog training holistically and provides memberships to qualifying individuals.Dog obedience trainers are critiqued for their confidence, timing of rewards, methods of correction, and other factors.A minimum of five years of experience as a professional dog trainer is required to take the CDTA exam.For dog trainers, the APDT offers a website and social media sites with customizable marketing materials to download, as well as free webinars and sample press releases.As well, APDT offers a worldwide directory for people to locate a certified dog obedience trainer in their local area.At the policy level, organizations such as the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) take a stand on trends and issues related to dog obedience training.The IAABC has spoken out publicly against the use of Bluetooth and smart device-controlled e-collars to control undesirable behavior due to its latency in delivering the signal, therefore rendering positive reinforcement ineffective.As well, such devices create an aversive reaction in dogs which violates the IAABC’s support of LIMA behavioral philosophy.To learn more about professional advocacy for dog obedience trainers, please see the full list of the IAABC current position statements.Her business has been in operation for six years, and she answered some questions about her methods and the advice she would give to aspiring dog trainers:.


Humanoid Robot: Applications, Verticals and Global Markets
The global market for humanoid robots should grow from $2.1 billion in 2020 to $7.9 billion by 2025, at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6% for the period of 2020-2025.
- 47 tables
- A comprehensive overview of the global markets for humanoid robots with emphasis on their applications and components
- Analyses of the global market trends, with data corresponding to market size for 2019, estimates for 2020-2025, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2025
- Assessment of the market potential for the commercially deployed humanoid robots, overall market size for both hardware and the software parts of the biped and wheeled humanoid robots, along with region-specific developments in the industry
- Information pertaining to the value chain analysis and porter's five forces analysis of the humanoid robot industry ecosystem
- Discussion of the upcoming market opportunities and areas of focus to forecast the market into various segment
- Impact analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and the humanoid robots industry
- Competitive landscape of the global humanoid robots' marketplace featuring key market participants, their market positioning and regional market share analysis
- Company profiles of the major global players, including Promobot Corp., UBTECH Robotics Inc., Agility Robotics, Honda Motors Co. Ltd., and ROBOTIS Co. Ltd.
- The scope of the report includes the global market for commercially-deployed humanoid robots.
- Robots in the pilot phase or those that are live for demonstration purposes have not been considered to calculate overall market size.
- Market size includes the market of both hardware and software.
- The after-sales service market (software upgrade or hardware maintenance) has not been considered in the report.
- The rental service market for humanoid robots has not been considered in the report.
- The report includes both bipedal and wheeled humanoid robots for the calculation of the overall market size.
- Humanoid robotic kits have not been considered in the report scope.
BCC Publishing Staff comprises expert analysts who are skilled in conducting primary research, secondary research and data analysis and have decades of combined experience covering a wide range of industries, including healthcare, advanced materials and emerging technologies. Collectively, the team represents a diverse set of educational achievements with individual graduate work completed in fields such as microbiology, electrical engineering, business administration and surgery, among others.


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Continued Rapid Expansion of Demand360® International Data Providers Helps Hotels Gain Their Fair Share of Bookings
NEW YORK – November 14, 2018 – TravelClick, an Amadeus company, today announced NH Hotel Group, a world-leading urban hotel operator with close to 400 hotels and nearly 60,000 rooms in 30 markets, joined TravelClick’s Demand360® program, a Hotelligence360® solution. This marks the continued rapid expansion of TravelClick’s Demand360 program, which gives hoteliers unique access to forward-looking demand data and allows hoteliers to develop optimal strategies for maximizing revenue.
With the addition of NH Hotel Group, more than 25,000 properties around the world now participate in Demand360, the hospitality industry’s competitive market intelligence product providing forward-looking reservation metrics and competitive share by segment and channel.
“Working with TravelClick’s Demand360 not only assists our individual hotels with a complete understanding of the booking trends in their local market, but also gives them the ability to know what actions to take to drive performance and ensure that they are getting their fair share of bookings through the right segment and channel,” said Fernando Vives, Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotel Group. “TravelClick’s data is essential for enabling us to make fact-based decisions and move beyond the traditional approach of historical forecasting.”
Read more at Hotel-Online.

domain: travel


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What do you do if you are IBM, supposedly one of the most reliable of blue-chip companies, and you want to acquire another company that is, shall we say, a little more ethically and morally challenged? You convince everyone that the new acquisition will allow IBM to advance the practical applications of the supercomputer named Watson, its mysterious and envelope-pushing entry into the exploding world of artificial intelligence.
That is the impression conveyed last week with IBM’s announcement it would acquire the Promontory Group, a consulting firm made up of scores of former Washington financial regulators, for an undisclosed amount. Added to IBM’s suite of consulting services, Promontory is somehow going to put Watson in a position to help financial institutions grapple with the millions of pages of new financial regulations its many executives put in place during their former careers as regulators in Washington.
According to an IBM news release, more than 20,000 new regulations were created in 2015 alone, and the “complete catalog” will exceed 300 million pages by 2020, “rapidly outstripping the capacity of humans to keep up.” IBM estimated that complying with these regulations costs financial institutions $270 billion a year. “This is a workload ideally suited for Watson’s cognitive capabilities intended to allow financial institutions to absorb the regulatory changes, understand their obligations, and close gaps in systems and practices to address compliance requirements more quickly and efficiently,” IBM wrote.
Other than defeating “Jeopardy” champions, what Watson can do is not exactly obvious to the layman, but I am willing to give IBM the benefit of the doubt that Watson can do something or other to help big banks deal with their extraordinary regulatory requirements.
It is the next part of the news release that had me in stitches: “Promontory’s professionals will train Watson, which will learn by continuously ingesting regulatory information as it is created and through interaction in real-world applications.” Really, IBM?
The 600 Promontory consultants worldwide, among them Mary L. Schapiro, a former chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Eugene A. Ludwig, the former comptroller of the currency (and the founder of Promontory), are going to train Watson while it ingests the mountain of regulations that they once helped write? I don’t think so. Nor do I think any of the other Promontory consultants are up to the task of training Watson, whatever that means. But Mr. Ludwig, of course, is on board.
“Combining Promontory’s expertise with IBM’s extraordinary technological capabilities such as Watson will permit us to directly address our clients’ greatest challenges in innovative and powerful ways,” he said. “It will enhance our mutual commitment to risk management and regulatory compliance excellence, and our results will benefit customers and the overall financial system.”
Let’s be clear: Since Mr. Ludwig founded Promontory in 2001, it has become a safe haven for former financial regulators looking to jump-start their post-Washington earnings stream. It has become one of the biggest facilitators of the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street. For instance, in 2012, Promontory hired Julie L. Williams, a former chief counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She was swapping places with Amy S. Friend, who was a Promontory managing director for two years until 2013, when she landed the chief counsel job at the O.C.C. Before Promontory, Ms. Friend was chief counsel to the Senate Banking Committee.
On Promontory’s advisory board are such prominent aficionados of the revolving door as Arthur Levitt, who is a former S.E.C. chairman; Frank G. Zarb, a former “energy czar” and banker at Lazard and Citigroup; Kenneth M. Duberstein, a former chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan; and Alan S. Blinder, a former Federal Reserve vice chairman and a professor of economics at Princeton.
What Promontory has become is the new Fannie Mae, in the sense that like Fannie Mae in days gone by, former regulators and political operatives could always find comfort and lucre within its brick walls.
Franklin Raines is perhaps the ultimate example of the role Fannie Mae used to play in providing succor to former high-level government officials. Mr. Raines, a former partner at Lazard in New York, served as vice chairman at Fannie Mae until President Bill Clinton tapped him to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1996 to 1998. He then returned to Fannie Mae as chief executive. He served for the next six years, receiving compensation of more than $90 million, before being forced out of the job after an accounting scandal. Now, of course, Fannie Mae is a ward of the state and no longer provides former government officials with a lucrative safe landing. That role now belongs to Promontory.
Mr. Ludwig is a law school friend of Mr. Clinton, and his firm has represented an all-star lineup of banks big and small. It has also taken some heat for its cozy ties.
Last year, Promontory paid $15 million to settle charges with the New York State Department of Financial Services that it had “watered down” reports that it had prepared for a British banking client, Standard Chartered. Standard paid $340 million in 2012 to settle accusations from the New York State regulators that it had purposefully hidden $250 billion worth of transactions with Iranian customers. Standard Chartered later reached a settlement, for $327 million, with the Justice Department and the Federal Reserve, among others.
Before the settlements, the bank paid Promontory $54.5 million to help investigate the misconduct and make an independent report to regulators. But New York banking regulators called Promontory’s independence into question, saying it had succumbed to pressure from the bank to sanitize its report to the regulators. As part of its settlement last year, Promontory agreed to sit out consulting jobs in New York for six months.
But the firm’s deep connections to Wall Street and banking remain, and it is obvious that IBM bought Promontory for these connections. There is little debate that Promontory has proved its worth as a repository of well-connected financial regulators. Training Watson has nothing to do with it.
Source by http://www.nytimes.com


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The list below shows Durham University research staff who are members of IMEMS. Click the member's name to see a more detailed biography and department.
We also welcome anyone from outside the University with an interest in our work to join. Membership is free of charge. You will receive invitations to our programme of events, with a weekly emails digest about what is happening in the Insitute and further afield. To join IMEMS contact: firstname.lastname@example.org
Publication details for Dr Mandy GreenGreen, Mandy (2007). '"Ad Ferrum Ab Auro": Degenerative and Regenerative Patterning in the Final Books of Paradise Lost.'. Modern Language Review 102(3): 654-671.
- Publication type: Journal Article
- ISSN/ISBN: 0026-7937
- DOI: 10.2307/20467426
- Keywords: Paradise Lost; Milton; typology; Deucalion; Pyrrha; Ovid; Metamorphoses; Adam; Eve
- Further publication details on publisher web site
- Durham Research Online (DRO) - may include full text
Author(s) from Durham
In the final books of Paradise Lost Milton exploits the rhetorical possibilities of typology to organize his survey of human history and propel his narrative forward through time to eternity. This typological framework may prove to extend further than previously recognized once the prefigurative value attached to Deucalion and Pyrrha, from the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, is fully acknowledged. Milton's pivotal positioning of this Ovidian myth, in the opening lines of Book XI, looks backwards as well as forwards: it gathers Adam and Eve into the same pattern of typological fulfilment—moving from death to new life, from destruction to recreation—in which the faithful few are set against the faithless herd.

domain: literature


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Chris Cuomo went scorched earth on Dr. Scott Atlas Monday after President Donald Trump’s health adviser urged Americans to “rise up” against new COVID-19 safety measures imposed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).
The call was particularly ominous because Whitmer was the target of an alleged kidnapping plot by a right-wing paramilitary crew. Whitmer linked the plot to Trump’s hate rhetoric.
“Are you kidding me? Shame on you!” the CNN host, who’s a COVID-19 survivor, said. “What kind of doctor would tell people to rise up and resist the only kind of prophylaxis that can help them? What the hell is the matter with this person? Rise up? You rise up and do your job or get the hell out. How could you give this kind of advice?”
Cuomo also blasted Atlas’ lack of experience with infectious diseases or a pandemic and mocked him for encouraging family get-togethers at Thanksgiving — even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended celebrating virtually ― because it could be an elderly relative’s “last Thanksgiving.”
“What the hell are you doing here? Yeah, it could be their last Thanksgiving if you expose them to people who aren’t wearing masks, who aren’t socially distancing and haven’t been doing so and haven’t gotten tested because they somehow think they don’t want to get in on the ‘con’ of COVID,” Cuomo said.
“I have real problems with that guy,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post. He’s “talking about things that I believe he doesn’t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in.”
Check out Cuomo’s rant in the video above.
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We are here to encourage the development of gifted young singers and to stimulate the growth of New York City's invaluable chamber opera companies. But we will not neglect the Metropolitan Opera either. Get ready for bouquets and brickbats.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Posted by meche at 8:45 PM No comments:
Labels: Agustin Lara's Granada, Bernstein's "Maria", Cesar Delgado, Dein ist mein ganzes herz, Franz Lehar, Mannes College The New School for Music, Questa o Quella, Rachmaninoff's Spring Waters, Tata Nachos
HOW TO FILL THE EMPTY CHURCHES
|Renate Rohlfing and Julia Bullock|
The air was still. The worshippers were still. No one dared risk missing a single note of what amounted to a devout performance. Soprano Julia Bullock is nothing if not devout in her commitment to vocal artistry. It is not just the superlative soprano instrument but the fact that she serves the music and text equally, while serving up her soul from deep within. Every song is filtered through her personalized nature and made her own. Do we sound like a fan? We are in good company. There are so many of us.
Accompanied by the gentle hands of collaborative pianist Renate Rohlfing, Ms. Bullock began her program with a startling work by John Cage on prepared piano entitled "She is Asleep". The vocal sounds and the piano sounds were novel--meaningless syllables, something sounding like bird calls, all expressed with variety of color and dynamics. Who else could have sung this?
The pair of artists then shifted from this 1943 work to a 1960 cycle by Francis Poulenc entitled La courte paille, setting of texts by Maurice Carême, composed toward the end of Poulenc's life. We are not sure why the title "the short straw" was chosen. The songs refer to childhood--a tender lullaby entitled "Le sommeil", some fantasies "Quelle aventure!" and "Le carafon" (our personal favorite), and a few surrealistic pieces. All were performed with a depth of understanding that was communicated successfully to the audience.
Modest Mussorgsky's The Nursery always delights us. A good performance of these songs requires that the singer draw forth images of childhood innocence and curiosity; this, Ms. Bullock accomplished completely. Even her appearance was transformed and one could easily picture her as the child relating to her nanny, her fear of the bogeyman, her wish to hear good stories, her saying her prayers, her request for her mother's sympathy. We sat transfixed.
Songs by Samuel Barber followed with the strange "My Lizard", the accessible "The Daisies" and "Nuvoletta" from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake which seemed to be a tale of suicide obscured by wordplay. As the character leans over the "bannistars", Ms. Bullock leaned over the strings of the piano. We felt a chill.
Richard Strauss' Drei Lieder der Ophelia were movingly sung and Ms. Bullock seguéd directly into the fine spiritual Harry T. Burleigh's "Deep River" and closed with Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free".
As encore, we heard "La Conga Blicoti", popularized by Josephine Baker. It was a generous performance by a most generous artist and her fine accompanist. Bravissime!
(c) meche kroop
Posted by meche at 5:12 AM No comments:
Labels: Carnegie Hall's Neighborhood Concerts, Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Francis Poulenc, John Cage, Julia Bullock, La courte paille, Modest Mussorgsky, Renate Rohlfing, Richard Strauss, Samuel Barber, The Nursery
ON WITH OFFENBACH
Posted by meche at 3:36 AM No comments:
Labels: Anna Farysez, Byron Singleton, Claudio Mascharenas, Emma Lavandier, Jacques Offenbach, Jason C. Tramm, Kevin Courtemanche, Les Contes d'Hoffman, Monica Pasquini, Sam Varhan, Su-Ling Huang, Vocal Productions NYC
Friday, May 29, 2015
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Posted by meche at 12:20 AM No comments:
Labels: Aaron R. White, Andre Gretry, Francisco Fernandez, Kendra Rai, L'Epreuve Villageoise, Luciana Stecconi, Nick Olcott, Opera Lafayette, Pascale Beaudin, Ryan Brown, Talise Trevigne, Thomas Dolie
Sunday, May 24, 2015
CHILLS AND THRILLS AT CARNEGIE HALL
Posted by meche at 9:32 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Avery Amereau, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Carnegie Hall, Harrison Hollingsworth, James Edgar Knight, Joshua Gersen, Molly Joyce, New York Youth Symphony, Onay Kose, Raquel Gonzalez, Rossini
Saturday, May 23, 2015
ALAN GILBERT CONDUCTS JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA
Thursday, May 21, 2015
UNDER MS. HORNE'S WING
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
|Trixie La Fée|
|Trixie La Fée|
Monday, May 18, 2015
EVE QUELER AND FRIENDS
Posted by meche at 5:06 AM No comments:
Labels: Douglas Martin, Elizabeth Mann, Erica Kiesewetter, Eve Queler, Jessica Rose Cambio, Jonathan Blalock, Joshua Benaim, Marsha Thompson, Melanie Feld, Sava Vemic, Steven Hartman Benjamin Herman, William Davenport
WE ARE MELTIN' FOR MELTON
Sunday, May 17, 2015
SINGERS WITH SOUL
Posted by meche at 4:59 AM No comments:
Labels: Chaz'men Williams-Ali, Edgar Jaramillo, Jodi Karem, Judith Fredricks, Michael Fennelly, Opera goes to the Cabaret, Opera New York, Percy Martinez, Roberto Borgatti, Therese Panicali, Veronica Loiacono
Friday, May 15, 2015
GELSEY KIRKLAND BALLET
Posted by meche at 6:59 AM No comments:
Labels: Alexander Mays, Anastasia Barsukova, Erez Ben-Zion Milatin, Gelsey Kirkland Ballet, Guilherme Junio, Johnny Almeida, Katrina Crawford, Kyono-Chantal Morin, Michael Chernov, Sabina Alvarez, Samuel Humphreys
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Posted by meche at 2:18 AM No comments:
Labels: A Little Night Music, Addie Hamilton, Agness Nyama, Carolyn Marlow, Clayton Brown, Julia Suriano, Luke Sikora, Nickolas Miller, Samantha Williams, Shane Schag, Stephen Sondheim, Viktoria Falcone
Monday, May 11, 2015
THE MASTERY of XIAOMENG ZHANG
Posted by meche at 2:26 AM No comments:
Labels: Amy Frances Kuckelman, David Stech, Don Pasquale, Donizetti, Manhattan School of Music, Non t'accostgare all'urne, O du mein holder Abendstern, Ravel's Don Quichotte a Dulcinee, Verdi, Xiaomeng Zhang
Sunday, May 10, 2015
BEST. CARMEN. EVER.
Posted by meche at 5:44 AM 1 comment:
Labels: Alden Gatt, Avery Amereau, Carmen, Costas Tsourakis, Georges Bizet, Kaley Lynn Soderquist, Kate Farrar, Kian Freitas, Matt Dickson, Nadia Petrella, New York Opera Exchange, Victor Starsky
Saturday, May 9, 2015
THE ONLY GIRL
|Kyle Erdos-Knapp and Antoni Mendezona|
|Ian McEuen, Adam Cannedy, and Cameron Smith|
|Sarah Best, Natalie Ballenger and Sarah Mossman|
Victor Herbert was a seminal figure in the world of music in the 20th c. He not only composed but also conducted, wrote lyrics and played the cello. Moreover, he founded ASCAP with John Philip Sousa. He deserves to be remembered!
The Only Girl debuted on Broadway in 1914 when Europe was at war. Escapist musical comedies were all the rage. Director Michael Phillips has adapted the work, whose original book and lyrics were by Henry Blossom, based on a Frank Mandel play Our Wives.
Possibly because costumes from 100 years ago might be too costly to construct or rent, or because the goal was to make the show more relevant, the period has been updated to the 1950's. Costume Designer Bettina Bierly has given the work a spiffy look and the set (no credit in program) looks the way one would expect a lyricist's New York apartment to look.
The plot reminds one of a showbiz comedy of days of yore. A lyricist cannot find a composer with whom to work on his next show. He hears wonderful music coming from next door and learns that it was composed by a woman. The two are wary of one another; he has contempt for women and she is feisty-- and in no way willing to be subservient. Eventually they come to appreciate each other after a showdown.
Tenor Kyle Erdos-Knapp made a fine Kim, the lyricist, especially when he sat at the piano and sang a song interpolated from Herbert's 1905 musical Miss Dolly Dollars, in which he compares women to cigars. As Ruth, the composer next door, Antoni Mendezona used her fine soprano in a winning way, making us cheer for her taming of Kim.
Auxiliary characters included Kim's friends and associates--the agent Martin who seems not to get the jokes, portrayed by tenor Ian McEuen; the philandering producer Blake, portrayed by baritone Adam Cannedy; and scenic designer Andrew, portrayed by tenor Cameron Smith. Their trio "When You're Wearing the Ball and Chain" was amusing.
On the female side we had the very funny loud-mouth Patsy (soprano Natalie Ballenger), the sardonic chorine Jane (mezzo Sarah Best) and aspiring actress Renée (soprano Sarah Mossman). The three women delighted us with "Why Should We Stay at Home and Sew". All the voices were good and the roles well-cast. Happily, they were unamplified.
Gerald Steichen conducted from the keyboard and the chamber orchestra comprised a string quartet, augmented by bass, percussion, flute, clarinet, oboe and French horn. They handled the spritely tunes with panache.
LOONY fortunately records their productions, with a little help from their friends. So, if you can't snag a ticket for today's two performances (2:00 and 7:30) you may be able to get a CD in the future.
(c) meche kroop
Posted by meche at 5:04 AM No comments:
Labels: Adam Cannedy, Antoni Mendezona, Cameron Smith, Gerald Steichen, Henry Blossom, Ian McEuen, Kyle Erdos-Knapp, Light Opera of New York, Michael Phillips, Natalie Ballenger, Sarah Best, Sarah Mossman, Victor Herbert
Friday, May 8, 2015
GERALD FINLEY MASTER CLASS
Posted by meche at 2:14 AM No comments:
Labels: Christine Price, Daniel Miroslav, Eric Jurenas, Gerald Finley, Joe Eletto, Juilliard Vocal Arts, Juliana Han, M. Karlowicz, Purcell, Schumann, Strauss, Valeriya Polunina, William Kelley
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
ANTHONY AND BRYAN WOW THE GLITTERATI
Posted by meche at 5:07 AM No comments:
Labels: Amadigi di Gaula, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Bryan Wagorn, Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS, Franz Liszt, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Giulio Cesare, Rodelinda
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Financial Analyst, Bangalore
This Job has Expired! Click Here to View Other
Here are the details of Financial Analyst job in eBay.in. This job or placement paper has been sourced from either company website or newspaper or other media and from students who appeared for this job. User is requested to verify the data before applying for the job.
Location:- Bangalore Karnataka
Expert database query skills (e.g., SQL), and Excel, PowerPoint skills. Good understanding of data warehouse architecture is required. Proficiency with statistical analysis tools (e.g., SAS, SPSS) is a plus
Provide risk insights and adhoc analysis for follow ups generated by the global reports/dashboards
Automation using VBA, Python, Tableau, SAS is essential
Intellectual curiosity, passion for problem-solving, and comfort with ambiguity.
Strong analysis ability is preferred
High energy and a desire to work in a results-oriented, fast growth environment.
Exceptional interpersonal skills, initiative and integrity.
Strong academic profile with an emphasis on quantitative coursework (e.g., degree in Mathematics/Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, Econometrics or Engineering).
Skill and confidence in dealing with people at all levels of the organization are essential.
Attention to detail, ability to handle shifting priorities/deadlines and multi-tasking
Create ad-hoc reports or data sets using Standard Reporting Applications or SQL to extract data and Excel to format results
Education:- Bachelors Degree or Equivalent
eBay.in was founded in 1995. Today, It is the world's largest online marketplace, where practically anyone can buy and sell practically anything.
eBay connects a diverse and passionate community of individual buyers and sellers, as well as small businesses.
In 2011, the total value of goods sold on eBay was $68.6 billion -- more than $2,100 every second.
As the world’s leading e-commerce company, eBay Inc.’s global portfolio of businesses enables hundreds of millions of people to buy, sell, and pay online.
eBay offer an equally inspiring range of career opportunities.
eBay India Private Limited,
14th Floor, North Block,
Western Express Highway,
(Disclaimer : This Job or placement paper has been sourced from various sources like print media, Job consultants, past candidates, our users and/ or Company website. The posted date above means the date on which the Job was posted on our site and not on the company site. Users are advised to check with the company for latest requirements before applying for the job. Our website will not be responsible for any loss to the company or the candidate. We have no relation with the company and are not responsible for the validity of this Job. We donot charge the company or candidate or any student anything. If the respective company has any issue with the data provided or they want this particular job or placement paper to be removed they can write into us at firstname.lastname@example.org)