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Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, to take Report Stage of the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013. Senators should note that the amendments in the name of Senator Sean D. Barrett on the numbered list of amendments should also be in the names of Senators Feargal Quinn and David Norris. Before we commence, I remind Members that a Senator may speak only once on Report Stage, except the proposer of an amendment who may reply to the discussion on it. Also, I remind Senators that on Report Stage each amendment must be seconded.
Amendments Nos. 1 and 6 form a composite proposal and may be discussed together, by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Government amendment No. 1:
In page 3, lines 11 and 12, to delete "section 26(4)" and substitute "sections 25, 26, 27, 43 and 44".
Amendment No. 1 is a drafting amendment made by the Parliamentary Counsel to the Long Title of the Bill so as to properly reflect the amendments to be made subsequently to the Personal Insolvency Act 2012. Amendment No. 6 inserts new section 9. The Bill amends a number of sections to the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 in regard to the determination of applications for a debt relief notice, DRN, and to facilitate the processing of these applications by the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, which provides the relevant approved intermediary for this process. The debt relief notice instrument is one of three new debt resolution processes in the Personal Insolvency Act 2012. It provides, subject to relevant criteria, for the write-off of qualifying debt up to €20,000, subject to a three year supervision period for debtors with essentially "no income and no assets".
The first amendment is to section 25 of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 where it is proposed to delete the reference in the definition of debt that the debt must be payable within three years from the date of application. The effect of this deletion will be to allow the debtor to propose the inclusion of debt which does not become due until future dates such as term loans in the debt relief notice. The primary objective of the proposed amendment is to assist the MABS and its approved intermediaries in operating the debt relief notice process. The amendment is intended to respond to the following operational difficulties: first, calculating the exact amounts owing under term loans, hire purchase and lease arrangements and instalment orders which may have more than three years to run; and second, that a certain interpretation of the previous definition would appear to allow settlement of up to three years of such debts but then allow continuation of payments to creditors to resume in year four onwards. Such an outcome would run counter to the policy intention that all of the debts, other than the four categories of excluded debt, owed by the debtor must be included in a potential debt relief notice. Neither was there an intention of allowing differential payments to creditors, as all must be treated equally. The change to the definition of debt would capture all of the debts owed by the debtor. If these debts total less than €20,000, the debtor should qualify for a debt relief notice which, if approved by the court, is effective immediately. At the end of the three year supervision period associated with the debt relief notice, all debts are written off, no matter what the original term of a debt may have been.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments Nos. 2 and 7 form a composite proposal and may be discussed together, by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Government amendment No. 2:
In page 3, line 13, to delete "130 and 141 of that Act" and substitute "130, 140A, 140B and 141 of that Act".
Amendment No. 2 is a drafting amendment made by the Parliamentary Counsel to the Long Title of the Bill so as to properly reflect the amendments to be made subsequently to the Bankruptcy Act 1988. Amendment No. 7 which inserts a new section 10 in the Bill provides for amendments to a number of sections to the Bankruptcy Act 1988. The amendments to sections 17, 105, 130, 140B and 141 of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 are similar and have the objective of seeking to reduce the costs associated with bankruptcy. The Insolvency Service of Ireland has proposed that it would provide cost free a facility on its website for a bankrupt to "notice" that fact, as required by law. Currently, only publication in Iris Oifigiúil and a daily newspaper circulating in the State is permitted. This change in regard to the giving of notice could save a bankrupt person a considerable amount. The amendments to these sections of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 will allow the Minister for Justice and Equality to prescribe how notice of the adjudication is to be given by the bankrupt. The essential change is to now include the option of using the website of the insolvency service for the notice, in addition to Iris Oifigiúil. This new option can help to allay some of the concerns about the costs of bankruptcy which have been raised in recent times.
The proposed amendment to section 140A of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 is in regard to the register of insolvency decisions arising from the operation of the EU regulation on insolvency proceedings. It will permit the relevant register to be maintained in electronic format, allow for it to be open to public inspection and an inspection fee to be charged. Essentially, this is a technical amendment.
The amendments to bankruptcy law provided for in the Bill will complete the current reform of bankruptcy legislation. I am informed by the Minister for Justice and Equality of his intention soon to make a number of statutory instruments, first, to commence the relevant parts of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 and the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 pertaining to bankruptcy; second, to provide for the new rules of the superior courts in regard to bankruptcy procedures to provide for fees payable in bankruptcy; and, third, for the accounts to be maintained by the official assignee in bankruptcy necessitated by the transfer of that office from the Courts Service to the Insolvency Service of Ireland. I am also informed that the insolvency service will be developing information material on bankruptcy for its website.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 3:
In page 5, between lines 11 and 12 to insert the following:
"(3) The Minister shall submit to the Oireachtas an annual estimate of the savings due to to the operation of this amendment.".
I welcome back the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock.
I also take this opportunity thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who originally introduced the legislation in the House.
As stated on Committee Stage, there is agreement on all sides that we need a regime of financial services which will not get the entire country into the type of trouble into which the previous version got it in 2008. Were the Minister of State to succeed in his endeavour - he has our support in respect of it - such a regime would be a major asset to the country in the future. Senator Quinn and I have tabled a number of amendments designed to facilitate the development of such a regime.
Amendment No. 3 relates to instances where proceedings will be taken in the Circuit Court rather than in the High Court. We request that an annual estimate of the savings involved and a breakdown per case - with information on the total number of cases - be provided. It is good that we are going in the right direction and, as stated on Committee Stage, that the position would be quantified. It would also be useful to ensure that we will not revert to a situation where high costs might obtain. In other words, we should set a target with regard to the amount to be saved per case. If one were extremely concerned about costs, one might not want to engineer a situation whereby taking a case in the Circuit Court would cost one more than would be the case if it were taken in the High Court.
There are also concerns to the effect that legal costs relating to personal injury cases are eroding the savings that were made when the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, was established. I agree with the Minister of State that there are savings to be made. However, it would be useful for the Oireachtas to be informed as to what will be the level of such savings and to be able to review the position in order to ensure that said level will be maintained. A responsible parliament should ask for information of this nature and assist the Government in fostering better standards of governance and public administration. If we have a goal, let us see whether we are moving closer to it. I hope we are doing so. The Minister of State has our support in the context of attaining that goal. I hope information will be made available in respect of how much it is hoped to save.
With so many things happening at present, including our escape from the troika, trying to put the public finances in order, there is a view to the effect that we have not sufficiently addressed the issues relating to the regulation of accountants. However, we cannot do everything at once. The public is still extremely annoyed with regard to what previously happened in the area of financial services. The Parliament must be vigilant and that is why I have tabled amendments Nos. 3 and 4. I will speak to the latter when the time comes. Parliamentarians would do society a service if they were to promote the making of both improvements and cost savings in this area.
I second the amendment. I cannot improve on what the Senator stated except to state that the words we used on Second Stage and Committee Stage were a reminder of the need for this legislation. We noted the need for this legislation. It is not enough to be reminded unless we are also reminded of the savings that are anticipated. The amendment states, "The Minister shall submit to the Oireachtas an annual estimate of the savings due to the operation of this amendment." That makes sense and I see no reason such an estimate should not be provided. I do not believe that providing it would give rise to any cost. Such an estimate would serve as a reminder of the savings which can be achieved. We spoke earlier about the high cost of litigation in Ireland and, in that context, facilitating these changes would make a great deal of sense. It is not just a question of saving money; time would also be saved. The recent case relating to Lissadell House in County Sligo served as a reminder of the high costs involved. I understand that the legal costs in said case amounted to something in the region of €7 million. That is a reminder of what can occur when a matter goes before the Supreme Court.
Senator Barrett explained the intent behind the amendment very well. In my opinion, the amendment is worthy of acceptance.
I will not be accepting this amendment, which proposes the insertion of a new subsection (3) into section 2. However, the latter amends sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of the Companies (Amendment) Act 1990. The addition of a further subsection to section 2, unrelated to any specified section of the 1990 Act, is not legally sound and would not achieve what is intended. Nor is the wording which refers to the operation of this amendment sound. The Company Law Review Group, in its report on examinership, recommended increasing the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court for examinership in respect of small private companies. The business organisations represented on the group - IBEC, ISME and SFA - were all supportive of this proposal. The report highlights the costs associated with the High Court procedure as a reason many SMEs do not currently avail of examinership.
It is not possible, as a result of the number of variables attaching to the examinership process, to quantify estimates of the savings which might accrue. For example, there may be different levels of legal representation in different cases. In addition, the number of applications to the court during the examinership process may - depending on the complexities involved - vary between cases. In every examinership there are two essential hearings before the court. The first of these relates to seeking the appointment of the examiner and the second to seeking confirmation of his or her report in which he or she will set out his or her proposals for a compromise or scheme of arrangement. There may also be a need for a hearing in order that creditors might have their say before the appointment of an interim examiner is confirmed. However, in the course of the examinership - and depending of the complexity of the circumstances in a particular case - there may be a need for the examiner to seek either direction from the court on various issues or permission to exercise certain powers. It is, therefore, impossible to estimate the number of occasions on which there will be recourse to the court during an examinership.
There is no typical examinership. The level of legal and other costs will be determined by the simplicity or complexity of a particular case. In light of the findings of the Company Law Review Group to the effect that "in the form currently available to small private companies (SPCs), is inadequate by reason of the costs involved which are prohibitive" and the acknowledgement that examinership is generally not a possibility for such companies because of the costs associated with the High Court procedure, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to establish a base from which to measure future cost savings for other small companies arising from the use of the Circuit Court route instead.
There is no existing group which can be used for comparative purposes. Attempting to compare the costs relating to an examinership in the High Court in respect of a larger company with the possible costs for a small company in the Circuit Court would not be a meaningful exercise. There is no standard or comparator against which assessment can be made. Furthermore, the data relating to the cost of an examinership may not be publicly available and would need to be sourced from companies. This would impose an additional administrative burden on companies, which could not be compelled to provide the necessary information without the introduction of legislation. The Senator's amendment does address this particular issue. It is not unreasonable to assume, however, that taking an examinership case in the Circuit Court should be less costly than doing so in the High Court, particularly as the legal costs relating to the former and lower than those which obtain in respect of the latter. Access should also be improved by the proximity of the Circuit Court to the companies seeking to avail of the examinership process. There may also be less of a need to resort to the court during the examinership process if a particular case is less complex.
These are all factors which should result in lower costs for small companies using the examinership process in the future.
However, in the absence of data on the costs currently incurred by small companies in the examinership process because they do not seek examinership, it would be less than robust to attempt to estimate savings by a comparison of speculative costs in an unused High Court process and the proposed Circuit Court process given the variables I have outlined. I assure the Senator that we have given this matter consideration and studied his contribution on a similar amendment on Committee Stage. I have outlined all of the difficulties that arise in attempting to calculate savings that would accrue under this proposal.
On a general level, I remind Senators that Government policy on business is to provide for an operating environment in which obstacles that could impede its development are removed, where possible, and it is encouraged to develop and flourish. The proposal before us is firmly located in this category. The granting of the possibility of direct access to the Circuit Court to small business in the manner proposed offers businesses the opportunity to restructure their affairs and return to an even keel at a cost that is likely to prove more affordable than being required to take the High Court route. This is, therefore, an intrinsically laudable proposal and on that basis alone, it merits the support of the House.
With respect to Senator Barrett, I cannot help but feel that his proposed amendment has overtones of a measure to police legal costs. I do not consider that a company law measure such as this is the appropriate medium in which to pursue such an objective. Perhaps he will consider approaching the Minister for Justice and Equality on the issue as the amendment is not appropriate to the legislation before the House. On that basis, and with respect, I do not propose to accept it.
Where do we go from here? The next time a delegation tells the Minister of State's officials its proposal will save money, will he ask how much will be saved in order that we do not end up believing money will be saved without anyone having any idea how much? We must raise the standard of public administration to a higher level than that. Giving in to delegations and deputations has cost the country dearly. To give the Minister of State full credit, this measure will save money, although no one in the Department appears to have an idea how much.
As to whether it is appropriate for a Senator to raise this matter, it is a theme regularly dealt with by the National Competitiveness Council which reports to the Department. Will the Minister of State instruct the council not to discuss the high level of legal costs? It would be inappropriate for him to do so. Whoever advised him to say a Senator may not raise issues of cost in the House was utterly wrong. That is a major problem.
I object to the Senator's statement. People do not put words into Ministers' mouths. With due respect, we take advice and make a decision as to whether we accept it. As the Minister of State who is taking this legislation, having taken due regard, I will not accept the amendment. The issue the Senator raises regarding costs and oversight is a policy matter and not appropriate for the purposes of the legislation. I do not propose to say anything further. I thank the Acting Chairman, Senator Paul Coghlan, for allowing me to intervene.
We should do our business in the House better. The Minister of State has made a claim which he is unable to stand up in any quantitative way. While I support him in that claim, I wish we could jointly stand it up because the country has a problem with legal costs. I will raise the issue with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, and the National Competitiveness Council which has advised the Minister of State that legal costs are a problem. We have to move public policymaking on to a higher level than is evident here. The regulatory impact assessments that were supposed to be done to provide answers to these types of questions appear to have faded away recently. I see fewer and fewer of them being published. That remark is not directed at the Minister of State.
After all the mistakes we made and are now trying to correct, a more quantified and scientific basis for policymaking is needed. Writing a provision into a Bill and then stating, as the Minister of State did, that it is impossible to estimate its costs is a step backward rather than forward. This is not an isolated case because measures are regularly presented to the House that are supposed to generate benefits on which very little work has been done. Unfortunately, we are also presented with measures which generate costs that are subsequently shown to be excessive. We need more precision and quantification.
Those who do not want public administration operating at this level are wrong. We are heavily in debt and still not balancing the books, yet we give in to every claim that savings will be made without having the purported savings quantified. This helps explain the reason we continue to borrow €1 billion per month. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure greater rigour in public policy.
Is the Senator pressing the amendment?
Yes, because we must move towards better ways to make policy.
Amendment put and declared lost.
I move amendment No. 4:
In page 13, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:
"(9) The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority shall report annually to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform on oversight and compliance in the audit sector, the ability of the sector to bear the costs of inadequate quality assurance standards and the adequacy of penalties for breaches of such standards.".
We are also working against a backdrop where we have been seeking to have the Oireachtas address certain accounting practices since at least 2008. People outside the House want us to introduce this measure. As I stated, important tasks of supervision in the area of audit and accounting have been neglected as a result of the work the Government and Oireachtas has been required to do. Some matters have been held up by the Director of Public Prosecutions and certain court cases are not due to be heard until next year.
We need to bring this matter into the public arena, a view that is shared by Ms Helen Hall, director general of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA. Ms Hall notes in the latest IAASA annual report that accountants' work is being inhibited and states the following:
These confidentiality provisions have had and continue to have an adverse impact on IAASA's advocacy role. We have had initial discussions with the Department on this matter and plan to engage further in 2013. The intention is to explore amendments to these confidentiality provisions as part of IAASA's consideration of the Companies Bill 2012, with a view to striking a balance between the protection of confidential information provided to IAASA and the desirability of transparent reporting on IAASA's activities.
The 2012 reports subsequently states: "For example, we view the provision of information on the results of our financial reporting examinations, without necessarily identifying the name of the issuer involved, as assisting in building an awareness of, and confidence in, financial reporting." As the Minister is aware, this goes back to 2008 when these problems struck the country. Ms Karen Erwin was chairperson of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority at the time.
She stated in her annual report that what was happening increased risk levels and, in turn, significantly increased the risk of serious and lasting damage to public confidence in statutory financial reporting and the accountancy profession. I do not think the good reputation of the accountancy profession has been restored. The profession feels it is inhibited by section 31 of the legislation, which prohibits disclosure and discussion. The report contains redacted sections. It is like a red rag to a bull for Members of the Oireachtas to be given documents that are redacted. How are we supposed to make decisions? The Milliman report on the health insurance sector contained 55 vital sections that were blacked out. That is an insult to our democracy on the part of those who did the redacting.
Three prima facie cases are being pursued against one accountancy firm in regard to Anglo Irish Bank. The report of the commission on banking referred to the low standards observed in accountancy practices at the time. The Minister of State had to remove these sections from the Companies Bill, which while admittedly complex and lengthy is moving very slowly. I think it has been in gestation for three years at this point. We are moving this amendment in view of the cost to the economy of what has happened in Irish accounting, the slowness of the procedures and the extremely light penalties imposed thus far. In the last six months, six fines were imposed for an average fine of €1,500. The average costs in seven cases were €3,870. There were eight reprimands, of which four were severe and four were not severe. In view of the €64 billion we put into the banks on the basis of accounts prepared by these accountancy firms, which we read into the record on a previous occasion, Parliament has to respond in a more urgent way to ventilate the issue. The probable basis for all the troubles this economy has encountered is that we bought banks on the basis of the accounts which the Minister for Finance and his successors found to be inaccurate.
On a point of order, are we speaking to amendment No. 4?
The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform needs to get involved with the oversight and compliance regimes of the audit sector. Are the penalties sufficient? The penalties imposed between July and October appear to be minuscule compared to what happened among the larger accountancy firms in their preparation of banks' accounts. There are delays to the investigation of the claims of inadequate standards in Irish accounting. We have an extremely large bill which has set the country back. Is the quality assurance regime adequate and will the sector bear it?
Some of the activities are not investigated because they are not covered by the specified categories of companies. We cannot investigate the accountants for Newbridge Credit Union because it was not a listed company. Apparently Irish Nationwide Building Society fell into a similar category. We have to find a mechanism to assist us as parliamentarians in bringing these issues to the fore and showing our constituents that we are acting to deal with the abuses in this area. We are within a month of the sixth year of the crisis. Can the rest of Irish society bear the cost of inadequate quality assurance and penalties?
In a context whereby the authority is feeling constrained and has entered into discussions with the Department, very little has happened in the case of large companies since 2008 and considerable sums of the taxpayers' money have been paid out, I am tabling this amendment to strengthen the Government's hand by getting around the problem of delays in public ventilation of what is probably the most serious issue in our finances. Perhaps this will be the game changer because what we have done thus far has been expensive and has not satisfied the public in respect of regulation of financial services in Ireland. Yesterday we were debating a bailout of pension funds and last week we were discussing credit unions. In 2008, we were bailing out the banks. We have lost all our building societies. I would like all of these issues to be addressed by the authority in front of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform because the public wants these issues to be ventilated.
I second the amendment. It has been explained very well by Senator Barrett. We live in a democracy in which the Oireachtas is elected. We have neglected the supervisory role that the Oireachtas should play. This amendment is an ideal way to address that issue. I served on a previous finance committee approximately five years ago. If we had this power then we would have ensured that the IAASA appeared before us at least once per year. That is the sort of power we require now if we are to have a democracy that works. On that basis, it is essential that we make this amendment. Senator Barrett put his finger on the problem. I urge the Minister of State to accept the amendment. He explained why he was not enthusiastic about the previous amendment.
I look forward to hearing what the Minister of State has to say on this amendment and I urge him to say that he can accept it.
I do not believe anybody in the House disagrees with the spirit of the submission made by the Senators. All of us agree there was a malaise and a morass regarding auditing and accountancy in a particular period but in dealing with the specific amendments I must be cognisant of whether they are applicable to the legislation before us and I would say that the last amendment was certainly not.
On this amendment, notwithstanding the robust case made by Senator Barrett which is a commentary on the lack of robust auditing and accountancy proceedings, the case we would make is that it is unnecessary and I do not propose to accept it for the following reason. Under section 22 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003, not later than four months after the end of each financial year, the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA, must make a written report to the Minister of its activities during that year. The report must be prepared in such a manner and form as the Minister may direct. The Minister shall ensure that a copy of the annual report is laid before each House of the Oireachtas not later than six months after the end of the financial year to which it refers.
Additionally, under section 22(4), the chief executive officer and the chairperson of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority shall give evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts, when required to do so, on the following matters: the regulatory and propriety of transactions recorded or to be recorded in its accounts; the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority's economy and efficiency in using its resources; the systems, procedures and practices used by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority for evaluating the effectiveness of its operations; and any matter affecting the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority that is referred to in a special report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Whenever requested to do so by any other committee appointed by either House of the Oireachtas or appointed jointly by both Houses, the chief executive officer and chairperson of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority shall account to the committee for the performance of the functions and the exercise of the powers of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority.
The provision relating to quality assurance in the Bill is strictly confined to empowering the IAASA to impose a levy on statutory auditors and audit firms of public interest entities to defray the costs to it for carrying out the functions of external quality assurance in respect of those public interest entities. Additional functions relating to the European Union recommendation on external quality assurance are proposed to be conferred on the IAASA in the Companies Bill 2012 while the balance of the related functions will be conferred to IAASA by amendment to existing regulations.
An additional requirement will be that the IAASA reports annually on the overall results of the quality assurance system. Quality assurance is the regular inspection of statutory auditors and audit firms to ensure that systems are in place that will allow for consistently high quality audits. It is important to distinguish between the audit process itself and the quality assurance function. An audit is an independent examination of the financial statement - what used to be referred to simply as "accounts" - of a company or other entity which results in the expression of an opinion by the auditor on whether the financial statements have been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with an applicable reporting framework and on whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the profit or loss for the financial year, and the financial position at the end of the financial year.
In Ireland, audits are conducted in accordance with international standards on auditing, that is, both for the United Kingdom and Ireland. International standards on auditing are issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. The UK and Irish version, reflecting a small number of modifications, is issued by the Financial Reporting Council.
An audit opinion relates to the results of a specified period and the position as at a specific historic date. It does not constitute an opinion on the financial health of the company in question nor is it nor can it ever be a promise or guarantee of the future viability of the entity.
Quality assurance is the regular inspection of statutory auditors and audit firms to ensure that systems are in place that will allow for consistently high quality audits. The scope of inspections includes an assessment of auditors' compliance with applicable auditing standards and independence requirements, a review of the internal quality control system of the audit firm and the testing of selected audit files.
The proposed transfer of the quality assurance function from the recognised accountancy bodies to the IAASA in respect of the audit of public interest entities is in line with best international practice. For example, the United States has such a system under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to which Senator Barrett referred on Committee Stage, as have Canada, Japan and Australia.
Within the European Union at least six member states have moved to this independent quality assurance system, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and smaller ones such as Belgium and the Netherlands. This system is acknowledged as the best way of ensuring the necessary independence of the quality assurance process.
A system where the professional bodies execute the quality assurance function on its member auditors and audit firms of public interest entities is considered to lack the requisite degree of independence. In the EU new legislative proposals on audit are currently at an advanced stage of consideration and these proposals include a mandatory requirement for member states to have the quality assurance of auditors and audit firms which conduct audits of public interest entities carried out by public oversight bodies such as the IAASA. The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is understood as not considering that it can place the same level of reliance on audit reports of public interest entities produced in jurisdictions which do not have an independent oversight system of quality assurance as those which do.
Among the additional functions that will be conferred on the IAASA to enable it to undertake the proposed quality assurance functions are powers to take disciplinary actions or impose penalties in respect of auditors and audit firms. The intention is that these powers of sanctions and penalties will be proportionate and dissuasive.
Does Senator Barrett wish to make a final comment on the amendment?
I believe this amendment is necessary. The Minster of State referred to the Committee of Public Accounts which, as he pointed out, audits the authority's accounts, resources, systems and procedures. The faults lie not in how it accounts for the relatively small amount of money it spends but in the general economy as a whole. I referred to what Helen Hall, the chief executive, said in her recent address. I draw the attention of the Minister of State to the authority's 2010 report which states, "The Commission finds it unfortunate that sufficient timely and challenging auditor dialogue was not used to influence the banks' business models and lending practices." That is set out on page 3 of IAASA's report. It is its account of the commission of investigation into the banking sector in Ireland. That was stated in the 2010 report and we are now heading towards 2014. There are plenty of members of that committee, not least its chairman, who would have wanted to address the issue that "it was unfortunate that sufficient timely and challenging auditor dialogue was not used to influence the banks' business models and lending practices" before we got into so much trouble.
It was unfortunate that sufficient timely and challenging auditor dialogue was not used to influence the banks' business models and lending practices before we got into so much trouble. What we have has not worked sufficiently quickly. The House is regularly asked to address reports on financial institutions that have failed and to put the burden onto the taxpayer, which has caused so much misery in the country. We are seeking this dialogue in this amendment, which will not happen unless the House wants it to happen, and that is why I put it in the legislation. We have do everything better in this area and I am here to assist the Minister of State in that regard. Had we been more attentive in the past - and by the past I mean any year since 2010, when some of those regulations were written - and had we ventilated these issues, it would have been far better for the country. I am including myself in this. The only accountants I have seen before the finance committee have been the ones seeking further tax breaks in the budget for their clients while hardly acknowledging that we were trying to solve a budget deficit. If we had a surplus, they would be delighted to give us ways to spend it in the interest of their clients. We have not called them to account on these matters and society is the poorer for it.
The Seanad divided: Tá, 18; Níl, 23.
- Barrett, Sean D.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Mark.
- Leyden, Terry.
- MacSharry, Marc.
- Mooney, Paschal.
- Mullen, Rónán.
- Ó Domhnaill, Brian.
- Ó Murchú, Labhrás.
- O'Sullivan, Ned.
- Quinn, Feargal.
- Reilly, Kathryn.
- van Turnhout, Jillian.
- Walsh, Jim.
- White, Mary M.
- Wilson, Diarmuid.
- Zappone, Katherine.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Brennan, Terry.
- Burke, Colm.
- Clune, Deirdre.
- Coghlan, Eamonn.
- Coghlan, Paul.
- Comiskey, Michael.
- Conway, Martin.
- Cummins, Maurice.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Gilroy, John.
- Henry, Imelda.
- Higgins, Lorraine.
- Keane, Cáit.
- Moloney, Marie.
- Moran, Mary.
- Mulcahy, Tony.
- Mullins, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- O'Donnell, Marie-Louise.
- O'Keeffe, Susan.
- O'Neill, Pat.
- Sheahan, Tom.
Tellers: Tá, Senators Sean D. Barrett and Feargal Quinn; Níl, Senators Ivana Bacik and Paul Coghlan.
Amendment declared lost.
I move amendment No. 5:
In page 13, line 17, after “regulations” to insert “notified to the Oireachtas”.
I again welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock. We referred to the matter before the last 28 seconds of the match on Sunday. The Bill states that: ""third-country auditor” has the same meaning as in Regulation 3 of the Regulations of 2010." I wish the words "notified to the Oireachtas" to be added. The Minister of State might recall that two of the countries on the black list were New Zealand and Bermuda. We briefly discussed New Zealand. The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants has mutual recognition agreements with Canada, Australia, England, Wales, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and the United States. The Bermudans are trained by the Canadians who have some of the highest financial standards to which we seriously aspire and envy. I do not know how those two countries got on the black list. I did not know it until the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, told me when she was before the House.
There is wisdom in the Oireachtas which could help the decision-making process and notify people that as far as Members of the Oireachtas are concerned – certainly this one – there appears to be an anomaly in the classification of a third country auditor as being in some way inferior. The list that was read out by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, included New Zealand and Bermuda, which was somewhat of a surprise for both those countries. There is wisdom in these Houses, between the 60 Members in the Seanad and the 166 Members in the other House. We would never have found it out had it not been for the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. It does not do any harm for the Oireachtas to ponder how country X got on the list. Ireland has links in many countries due to this being the most internationalised economy in the world. We might have some information that is useful in the discussion. Otherwise, New Zealand and Bermuda could still be on a list of countries in which we judge the procedures to be unsatisfactory. I have asked some accountants and they did not know of any reason for the two countries to be on such a list. These things happen and if the Oireachtas were notified it might do nothing or it could make the arguments I have made. That is the purpose of the amendment. The more people who are in the loop, the more feedback one will get. I raise the issue following my surprise to find those two countries were on the list.
I second Senator Barrett’s amendment. The point he makes is that anyone can make a mistake. We had an interesting visit today from scholars benefitting from the George Mitchell scholarship. I remember when the Bill setting up the scholarship was going through the House. The purpose of the scholarship was to enable students to study in the State, the main objective which was peace. I brought to the attention of the Minister that surely if students were coming to Ireland to study peace, the terms of the scholarship should not be limited to the Twenty-six Counties but it should involve all 32 counties.
It had gone through the Dáil unnoticed, but was noticed in the Seanad and changed. The point I am making is that anybody can make a mistake. In this case, it appears a mistake was made by including Bermuda and New Zealand, although no harm was done in the long term. This is the sort of thing that could be overcome by acceptance of this amendment. The Houses of the Oireachtas would be "notified". This is a simple amendment which does not need major discussion or anything other than assent. All the amendment does is add the words "notified to the Oireachtas". I believe that would solve the problem. I urge the Minister of State to accept the amendment.
Is it appropriate for me to ask Senator Barrett to flesh out some of the points he made regarding the amendment he wishes to press? Perhaps he could send me a note on any practical mechanisms through which we could look at this again, without prejudice.
I refer to the question raised by Senator Barrett on Committee Stage concerning the situation of New Zealand under the decision of 13 June 2013 implemented by the Commission. The Commission is not commenting on the quality of audit in any of the countries listed in the annex. It simply states there is not enough information for it to assess the equivalence of the oversight systems.
Recycle 2 of that decision includes the statement:
The Commission has carried out assessments of the public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entries of the third countries and territories listed in the Annex to decision 2011/30/EU. The assessments were carried out with the assistance of the European Group of Auditors Oversight Bodies. The public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities for those third countries and territories were assessed in the light of the criteria set out in Articles 29, 30 and 32 of Directive 2006/43/EC which govern the public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit firms of the Member States.
Recycle 4 states:
Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Egypt, Mauritius, New Zealand, Russia and Turkey have established or are in the process of establishing public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities. However, information about the functioning and the rules governing such systems is not sufficient to carry out an equivalence assessment.
I hope this gives some clarity regarding the point raised by Senator Barrett.
In regard to amendment No. 5, I am sympathetic to the principle of the amendment proposed by Senator Barrett. However, I am informed that the amendment as proposed does not achieve the outcome the Senator seeks, which is to have a requirement for regulations made under this section to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. It has not been possible to have an appropriate amendment drafted, within the applicable deadlines, to enable me to table an amendment today and in the interest of not delaying the progress of the Bill, I propose incorporating the measure into the Companies Bill 2012. The intention is that the requisite amendment will be included as an amendment in that Bill. On that basis, I hope Senator Barrett understands we will not accept his amendment.
In response to a point Senator Barrett raised previously on the substantive Bill, the committee powered through 1,400 sections in two days in an efficient manner. I acknowledge the role of officials and public servants involved in the process. While the Senator has made a point about the number of years it has taken, it moved through the committee expeditiously, because it is very much a cross-party Bill. It is a consolidating piece of legislation and there was agreement from all political sides on the need to ensure we dealt with it efficiently. We probably set a record in dealing with 1,400 sections in 24 hours, not a bad way to do business in the House.
I ask Senator Barrett to take on board the points I have made in regard to amendment No. 5. I am confident his concern will be covered in an amendment to the Companies Bill.
I thank the Minister of State for his graciousness in regard to amendments Nos. 4 and 5. I am sure we will have further discussion on the issue. We were all agreed before we took the division that this area needs to be confronted. Earlier we had tributes to former Senator McGlinchey who spoke for 12 successive hours. I congratulate the Minister of State on dealing with 1,400 sections in 24 hours. I thank him and will be delighted to co-operate in regard to the points made. There is a wisdom in these Houses and perhaps somebody does business in New Zealand and finds the accounts reliable, and similarly in Bermuda. The issue of Bermuda came to my notice because in diplomatic terms we class Canada and Bermuda together. Our ambassador in Canada also serves Bermuda. That alerted me to the connection between the accountants and that they are of the same calibre. This information is in the House and can assist the Minister of State.
I thank the Minister of State for his kindness and consideration. I will not push this amendment as it would be extremely churlish of me given the Minister of State has said it will appear under another guise. That may happen very quickly given the committee has moved so fast on the Bill.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Government amendment No. 6:
In page 13, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:
“Amendment of Personal Insolvency Act 2012
9. The Personal Insolvency Act 2012 is amended —
(a) in section 25, by substituting the following definition for the definition of “debt”:
“ ‘debt’, in relation to a debtor, means a debt for a liquidated sum that, on the application date, is payable either immediately or at some certain future time;”,
(b) in section 26, by deleting subsection (4),
(c) in section 27(6), by substituting the following for paragraph (a):
“(a) the information contained in the debtor’s Prescribed Financial Statement is true and accurate in all material respects, and”,
(d) in section 43(3)(b), by substituting the following for subparagraph (v):
“(v) the procedural requirements specified in this Chapter were not complied with;
(vi) the specified debtor, by his or her conduct within the period of 6 months ending on the application date, arranged his or her financial affairs primarily with a view to being or becoming eligible for the issue of a Debt Relief Notice.”,
(e) in section 44(3), by substituting the following for paragraph (f):
“(f) the procedural requirements specified in this Chapter were not complied with;
(g) the specified debtor, by his or her conduct within the period of 6 months ending on the application date, arranged his or her financial affairs primarily with a view to being or becoming eligible for the issue of a Debt Relief Notice.”.”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 7:
In page 13, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:
“Amendment of Bankruptcy Act 1988
10. The Bankruptcy Act 1988 is amended —
(a) in section 17 by the substitution of the following for subsection (2):
“(2) The Court shall cause notice of the adjudication to be given as soon as may be in the prescribed manner in the Iris Oifigiúil, and—
(a) in at least one daily newspaper circulating in the State, or
(b) by the publication of the notice on the website of the Insolvency Service of Ireland.”,
(b) in section 105, by the substitution of the following for subsection (2):
“(2) On an adjudication under subsection (1) the Court shall proceed as in bankruptcy and cause notice of the adjudication to be given forthwith in the prescribed manner in the Iris Oifigiúil, and —
(a) in at least one daily newspaper circulating in the State, or
(b) by the publication of the notice on the website of the Insolvency Service of Ireland,
and the petitioner shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court in the same manner as any other bankrupt, and any proposal which may have been made or accepted or approved shall be void.”,
(c) by the substitution of the following for section 130:
“Arranging publication of notice without authority
130. A person who —
(a) arranges for or causes the publication of a notice under this Act —
(i) in the Iris Oifigiúil,
(ii) in a newspaper, or
(iii) on the website of the Insolvency Service of Ireland, without authority under this Act, or
(b) arranges or causes the publication of such a notice, knowing that the contents of such notice are false in a material respect,
shall be guilty of an offence.”,
(d) in section 140A —
(i) by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection:
“(1A) The register referred to in subsection (1) may be kept in electronic format.”,
(ii) in subsection (3) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (c):
“(c) any fee prescribed for that purpose by the Insolvency Service of Ireland.”,
(iii) by the substitution of the following for subsection (5):
“(5) The register shall be open to public inspection on payment of such fee (if any) as may be prescribed for that purpose by the Insolvency Service of Ireland.”,
(e) in section 140B(1) by the substitution of —
“in the prescribed manner —
(i) in the Iris Oifigiúil, and
(ii) in either —
(I) at least one daily newspaper circulating in the State, or
(II) on the website of the Insolvency Service of Ireland.”,
“in the prescribed manner in Iris Oifigiúil and in at least one daily newspaper circulating in the State.”,
(f) by the substitution of the following for section 141:
“Publication of certain notices to be evidence
141. A notice published pursuant to this Act —
(a) in the Iris Oifigiúil,
(b) in a daily newspaper circulating in the State, or
(c) on the website of the Insolvency Service of Ireland,
shall be evidence of the matters contained in the notice.”.”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 8:
In page 13, line 34, to delete “Section 6” and substitute “Sections 1, 5, 6, 9, and 10”.
This is a drafting amendment to section 9 which was recommended by the Parliamentary Counsel. It is designed to correctly reference those sections which come into effect on the enactment of the Bill.
Amendment agreed to.
Bill, as amended, received for final consideration and passed.
Sitting suspended at 3.50 p.m. and resumed at 4.30 p.m.

domain: finance


text:
Reminders for April 19
Daily Review Atlas
The following events are happening Monday, April 19:
- Monmouth High School class of 1950 reunion-planning committee, meeting at 1 p.m. at the Warren County Public Library. Any 1950 class member is welcome to attend.
- Clothesline Exhibit, Carl Sandburg College, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sponsored by WIRC-CAA Victim Services.
- Spring Indian Taco Supper, 7 p.m. at Heritage United Presbyterian Church, 302 East Broadway. Menu includes large taco, several toppings and ice cream. Curb service at 4:30 p.m., dine-in at 7 p.m.

domain: news


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The Public Affairs Section of the United States Consulate General in conjunction with Access Bank Plc and Idea Builders Initiative launched the 2015 International Women’s Month on Thursday March 5, 2015 at Access Bank Head Office Plot 999c, Danmole Street Off Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Theme: MAKE IT HAPPEN – Women as Civic & Political Leaders
US Consul General, Jeffery Hawkins
Olajumoke Adenowo – CEO, AD Consulting & Founder, Awesome Treasures Foundation
Adesuwa Onyenokwe – CEO, TW Magazine
Fela Durotoye – Founder, Gemstone
Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji – Founder/CEO of RISE GROUP
Theatrical Production Directed by: Ifeoma Fafunwa
International Women’s Day, is observed annually around the world to celebrate women, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played extraordinary roles in the history of their countries and communities.
This event was aimed at encouraging advocacy for women’s progress in every way and for challenging the status quo for women’s equality.
Jeffrey Hawkins, U.S. Consul General opened the event with remarks focusing on women’s role as civic leaders and political actors.
He said that Nigeria will be a better nation if women are given more opportunities to participate in governance at all levels. The Public Diplomacy Officer, Rhonda Watson introduced a film about Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for the office of President of the United States.
The program also featured a panel discussion session with the following speakers: Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Olajumoke Adenowo, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, Fela Durotoye, Amaechi Okobi and Ope Wemi-Jones, Access Bank executives.
Renowned motivational speaker, Fela Durotoye gave remarks on gender inequality in the corporate environment, organizations that practice gender equality produces the best result. He also said that as women, we must know our worth and demand for it.
Akerele-Ogunsiji, as one of the panelists, I spoke about older women in the society mentoring and grooming the younger women. The younger generation of women must also submit themselves to such mentoring opportunities and respect the grace upon the older women.
Mrs Adenowo lamented about the economic constraints negatively impacting women and discouraging them from taking the lead on the political scene while Mrs Adesuwa talked about Women as nation builders and agents of societal change.
Access Bank Plc. co-sponsored the event as part of its ‘W’ Initiative, which demonstrates the bank’s commitment to enhancing the economic and lifestyle status of women in Africa and expanding the services threshold to encapsulate what matters most to women, thus promoting financial inclusion.


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Experience a bustling cultural district at Chinatown. Originally settled by Cantonese and Hakkas drawn here because of the tin trade--and then partially destroyed during an 1870s civil war among Chinese immigrants--today the quarter retains an evocative atmosphere. Locals and tourists alike head here for the abundance of Chinese cuisine, international stores, and market stalls selling an array of trinkets, merchandise, and groceries. Haggling remains common, so make sure to give it a try if you want to secure the best possible price for what you find. Put Chinatown on your schedule, and learn what else deserves a visit by using our Kuala Lumpur visit app .
Half-Day Shopping and Market Exploration Tour in Kuala Lumpur BOOK WITH VIATOR FROM $20
Duration: 4 hours
As an overseas Chinese myself, I love visiting the Chinatowns in the countries that have one. The Malaysian Chinatown is somewhat similar to Manila Chinatown (where I live!), only more organized and h... more »
Helaas hadden we nog maar een half uur te spenderen in Chinatown, want het “sluit” om 22.00u. Kraampjes met veel namaak spul en veel kraampjes verkopen hetzelfde. Toch is dit ook een must-see place in... more »Unfortunately, we still had to spend half an hour in Chinatown because it "close" to 22.00 h. Stalls with many counterfeit stuff and lots of stalls sell the same. Yet this is also a must-see place in Kuala Lumpur. To say you can eat at the restaurant with the Red doilies. But as said above also went close. Next time better!
Places to stay near Chinatown
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11 days in Malaysia BY A USER FROM UNITED ARAB EMIRATES August, popular sights PREFERENCES: August ATTRACTION STYLE: Popular sights PACE: Medium 16 days in Malaysia BY A USER FROM SAUDI ARABIA June, culture, outdoors, relaxing, romantic, beaches, historic sites, museums, shopping, wildlife, popular sights PREFERENCES: June, culture, outdoors, relaxing, romantic, beaches, historic sites, museums, shopping, wildlife ATTRACTION STYLE: Popular sights PACE: Medium 13 days in Malaysia BY A USER FROM MALAYSIA July, popular sights PREFERENCES: July ATTRACTION STYLE: Popular sights PACE: Medium 29 days in Malaysia BY A USER FROM NEPAL June, culture, popular sights PREFERENCES: June, culture ATTRACTION STYLE: Popular sights PACE: Medium 17 days in Malaysia, Singapore & Krabi Town BY A USER FROM KUWAIT August, popular sights PREFERENCES: August ATTRACTION STYLE: Popular sights PACE: Medium 4 days in Kuala Lumpur BY A USER FROM INDIA June, popular sights PREFERENCES: June ATTRACTION STYLE: Popular sights PACE: Medium

domain: travel


text:
About 400 high school student musicians from throughout North Dakota and Minnesota are in Grand Forks this weekend for the 34th annual Honor Band, Choir and Strings Festival at UND.
The students will present a concert Sunday as part of the festival hosted by the UND Department of Music.
In concert, beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Chester Fritz Auditorium, they will perform as members of the UND Honor Band, Women's Honor Choir, Mixed Honor Choir and Honor Strings Ensemble.
The ensembles will be conducted by Simona Barbu, Dean Jilek, James Popejoy and Melanie Popejoy, all UND music professors.
To close the program, the groups will combine for a grand finale performance of John Williams' "Dry Your Tears, Afrika" from the movie "Amistad."
Tickets for this event at $7 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens, and $14 for a family of two adults and two children.
Also, as part of the festival, the UND music department is presenting a free Showcase Concert, beginning at 4 p.m. Friday at the Chester Fritz Auditorium.
The concert will feature the Varsity Bards Men's Choir and Concert Choir, conducted by Jilek; the Allegro Women's Choir and Vivo Chamber Choir, conducted by Melanie Popejoy; the Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alejandro Drago; and the Wind Ensemble, with James Popejoy as conductor.
The concert also will include performances by selected UND chamber ensembles, including a string quartet, saxophone quartet, the Red River Trio and a piano ensemble.
Before the concert, the One O'Clock Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Robert Brooks, and the Steel Pan Band, directed by Mike Blake, will perform in the lobby beginning at 3:45 p.m. Brooks and Blake are UND music professors.
The high school musicians were selected from about 850 students who auditioned in the fall for the opportunity to participate in this year's festival.
In addition to their concert at UND this weekend, they are involved in rehearsals and master classes in the music department.
For more information, call the UND music department at (701) 777-2644.

domain: entertainment


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This Margiela Mini Bag Is About to Become Your New Favorite Accessory
Meet the new 5AC Baby.
John Galliano’s debut handbag collection for Maison Margiela was first unveiled on the Spring/Summer 2016 runway at Paris Fashion Week. The range included the 5AC silhouette, a model that has now been reimagined in a new baby size.
With a name derived from Internet ‘133t speak’ (an early tech language that encodes the French word ‘sac’), the design represents futuristic qualities and a potential move into the future for the brand.
For Fall/Winter 2022, the 5AC bag arrives in a new 13cm size, dubbed the 5AC Baby. Developed from grainy leather, the new bag features a crossbody strap, complete with the logo label at the front. Each metal rivet is covered in leather by hand, with subtle visible elements to create a clean exterior. The bag’s exposed edges are hand-painted in tone with the leather, with each one finished by the Maison’s “anonymity of the lining” concept.
The new 5AC Baby is available in five colorways of white, gray, pink, forest and black, with a starting price of £850 (approximately $953 USD.)

domain: design


text:
Calcium Carbonate is typically added to dog food as a safe preservative and color
retention agent. However, there are significant health benefits associated with giving our dog a calcium carbonate supplements when administered in the right quantities.
It is used most often when treating chronic conditions in dogs. Calcium carbonate
acts as an oral antacid for conditions such as esophagitis or gastroduodenal ulcerations and can be an aid in digestion. It's also commonly used as a calcium supplement in dogs with chronic hypocalcemia and to treat hyperphosphatemia associated with kidney failure.
Therefore, it serves as a type of calcium salt that treats pets with low calcium
levels and helps bind the phosphate in dogs. Calcium is essential for proper bone
development and strength, as well as dental health. It also helps to maintain a regular heartbeat, muscular growth, and normal blood clotting.
Is it a safe mineral for your pet? Absolutely! In fact, most dogs instinctively seek it out in nature. If you have ever seen a dog chew on a rock, he/she smells the calcium carbonate and knows it is good for their digestive system. In fact, it works so well, it is the primary ingredient in human Tums.
Chew’ems serves as a supplement of calcium carbonate! It helps dogs with digestive issues and contains minerals a dog is instinctively attracted to.

domain: pet


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When it's time to visit the dentist in Greeley, you might wonder whether to pay with cash or use your insurance.
Start by searching for a Greeley dentist near you. Looking for "Greeley Dentist Near Me" online or talking to friends can help you discover a dentist who fits your wants. A nearby dentist is good for normal check-ups and emergencies, making things easier for you.
Paying cash upfront for dental services has its advantages. Some dentists offer discounts for cash payments. It's a quick process without the need to deal with insurance paperwork. However, paying out of pocket for major treatments might strain your budget.
If you have dental insurance, it's worth using it. Dental insurance helps you manage costs, especially for extensive procedures. Look for a Greeley dentist that accepts your insurance to maximize benefits. Remember to understand your coverage limits and copayments.
Finding a Greeley emergency dentist is crucial in case of a dental emergency, like a sudden toothache or injury. Having insurance can provide peace of mind during unexpected situations. Quick access to dental care can prevent complications.
Choosing between paying cash and using insurance depends on your situation. For routine check-ups, cash might be more convenient. Insurance offers financial protection for more complex treatments and emergencies. No matter your choice, prioritize regular dental visits to keep your smile sparkling.
Ready to take the next step for your teeth? Contact Severance Dental today! Our friendly team is here to help you decide what's best for your smile. Schedule your appointment today for a brighter, healthier tomorrow!

domain: medical


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This is an easy no-knead bread made of wholemeal spelt and a generous amount of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and flaxseed. You need a large loaf tin (13x6x24cm) for this recipe.
8 people made this
Makes: 1 bread
500ml lukewarm water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
14g dried active yeast
500g wholemeal spelt flour
70g sesame seeds
70g sunflower seeds
70g ground flaxseed
Method Prep:20min › Cook:1hr › Ready in:1hr20min
Mix water, vinegar and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and the remaining ingredients and mix to form a homogenous dough. If the dough seems dry, add an additional 2 tablespoons water.
Tip the dough into a large greased 13x6x24cm loaf tin. Place it in the centre of the oven and place a tin with a cup of cold water on the rack beneath.
Set the oven to 200 C / Gas 6. When the oven temperature has been reached, bake until the bread is browned and sounds hollow when tapping the underside, about 1 hour. Let cool slightly in the tin, then unmould onto a wire rack and let cool.

domain: food


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Nature has always surprised man with its bountiful abundance of beauty and strength. The mighty seas and the long rivers, twisting and turning, and the fierce rapids have always been intimidating. However, there are those adventurers that master the waters through various means, and kayaking is one of these. In one style of kayak, the paddler faces forward with their legs in front of them underneath a deck, and uses a double bladed paddle. Another style is the sit on top kayak. Most kayaks have a long front and rear deck and differ according to the type of water they are designed for. Ocean or sea kayaking is often done in the open sea, while whitewater kayaking is kayaking down the river rapids.
Kayaking adventures come in various different forms throughout the world. Kayaking enthusiasts commonly engage in whale watching, for example. Getting a glimpse of a gray whale or a humpback whale can be a memorable lifetime experience. Some kayakers have even had the opportunity to go kayaking alongside orcas, or killer whales. In a kayak, you can explore the extraordinary wilderness of the ocean in its fullest beauty. Having your own kayaking adventure increases awareness about the environment, the ecosystem and the need to preserve it.
Kayaking lets you discover and enjoy the enchantment and wonder of the beautiful waters and unmatched skies. Outstanding scenery and wildlife are added attractions which kayaking offers and acts as a total stress reliever. In addition to sea kayaking, kayaking adventures can also include lake kayaking and river rafting excursions. It is not necessary to have some prior experience in kayaking as guides who value safety and training as top priorities are available to cater to small groups of kayaking enthusiasts.
Thousands of plants, hundreds of different birds, and pristine waterways await you when you set out on a kayaking expedition. Like in every other sport, there is equipment that no paddler should be without. The primary equipment obviously is the kayak. The type of kayak largely depends on the size of the water body you plan to go kayaking in. For example, whitewater kayaks are much different from sea kayaks. The kayak you choose depends on what type of paddling you prefer, whether whitewater, lake, or ocean.
The next essential piece of equipment is the paddle. There are different types of paddles for different types of kayaking. A little research online or at an outdoor equipment store can help you choose the right paddle for your kayak. Also needed will be a life jacket, or personal flotation device, for every kayaker. Helmets are also required for whitewater kayaking. So, if you intend to go whitewater kayaking, you should definitely include a helmet on your shopping list.
Now that you have a fair idea of the abundant fun kayaking offers and the necessary equipment for this activity, pack your bags, set out on your kayaking expedition, and most of all enjoy! And, please remember to pack all your safety gear such as your life jacket or personal flotation device to ensure safe kayaking adventures!


Two schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District were among 275 statewide to earn Gold Ribbon awards.
Peninsula High and Ridgecrest Intermediate were selected from 477 applicants statewide for the Golden Ribbon Schools Awards Program, which replaced the California Distinguished Schools Program, according to a release from the state Department of Education.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced the winners Tuesday. Schools were chosen based on improvements they made implementing Common Core standards, according to the release.
Elementary schools that earned the award were acknowledged last year. In the PVPUSD, Cornerstone, Dapplegray, Montemalaga, Rancho Vista and Vista Grande elementary schools earned the award in 2016.
– Cynthia Washicko


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Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte has played down the possibility of a move away from the Spanish club amid rumoured interest from Manchester United.
Laporte has impressed for Bilbao in recent years, most notably during their run to the Copa Del Rey final last season and their convincing victory over Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
The Frenchman has reportedly been on Man United’s radar for some time now and his name seems to pop up almost every summer.
However, Laporte has denied looking for a move as he continues to show his loyalty to Bilbao.
The 21-year-old said: “My name is mentioned in every transfer window and with a lot of teams,” Laporte said.
“I’ve renewed four times with Athletic. I’ve done what I wanted, I’ve shown confidence in the club and them in me. Let’s see if we can add more trophies.”
Laporte is a defender that many are touting for success in the future. He is still young but has already shown signs of growing into a world-class centre-half and has caught the eye of a number of top clubs around Europe.
United’s failure to buy a central defender in the summer will only add fuel to the fire where rumours regarding Laporte are concerned.
United’s defence certainly has a lack of depth and Laporte would be the ideal addition to the backline. However, given his comments, it is obvious van Gaal will have his work cut out trying to sign the centre-back.


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Background In the Effects of Postconditioning on Myocardial Reperfusion in Patients with ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (POST) trial, ischemic postconditioning failed to improve myocardial reperfusion. However, long-term effects of ischemic postconditioning on clinical outcomes are not known in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Methods A total of 700 patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomly assigned to the postconditioning group or the conventional primary PCI group in a 1:1 ratio. Postconditioning was performed immediately after restoration of coronary flow by balloon occlusion 4 times for 1 minute. Complete follow-up data for major clinical events at 1 year were available in 695 patients (99.3%), and analyses were done by the intention to treat principle. The primary outcome was a composite of death, myocardial infarction, severe heart failure, or stent thrombosis at 1 year. Results At 1 year, a composite of death, myocardial infarction, severe heart failure, or stent thrombosis occurred in 21 patients (6.1%) in the postconditioning group and 16 patients (4.6%) in the conventional PCI group (hazard ratio [HR] 1.32, 95% CI 0.69-2.53, P =.40). The risk of death (4.9% vs 3.7%, HR 1.32, 95% CI 0.64-2.71, P =.46), heart failure (2.6% vs 2.3%, HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.44-2.94, P =.80), and stent thrombosis (2.3% vs 1.7%, HR 1.34, 95% CI 0.46-3.85, P =.59) did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Conclusions Ischemic postconditioning does not seem to improve the 1-year clinical outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary PCI.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine


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Kill la Kill
Technically Kill La Kill isn’t a magical girl series, however, it does feature some elements from the genre. The series debuted in fall 0f 2013 and was produced by Studio Trigger. Ryuuko Matoi is a young girl seeking revenge for her father’s murder. Armed with half of a scissor blade she battles the student council at Honnouji Academy. Kill La Kill is most notable for its fanservice, displayed during the character’s transformation.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
A middle school girl named Madoka Kaname meets a transfer student named Homura. Elsewhere, a war between creatures called “witches” and magical girls. A cat-like creature named Kyubey offers Madoka a chance to save the world but things aren’t as they seem. Magical girl series are generally happy affairs will young girls and bright colors. Puella Magi Madoka Magica takes the magical girl series and twists it into a dark tale, focusing on topics like hope, despair, and entropy. The magical girls are put through psychological trauma. Puella Magi is considered to be in the deconstructive sub-genre of the Magical Girl Warrior genre.
Pretty Cure is one of the longest-running magical girl series with over 600 episodes. Considered within the Action Hero sub-genre of the Magical Girl Warrior genre, Pretty Cure emphasizes action. Aimed at teenage and adult males, Pretty Cure features fanservice and focuses on the “power of friendship.” Toei Animation has produced a season since 2004, with the latest series premiering during the summer of 2020.
Also within the Magical Girl Warrior genre, Cardcaptor Sakura is a neo-classical sub-genre. An old school magical girl comes of age in the modern age. One of the most famous Magical Girl series, Cardcaptor Sakura was created and written by CLAMP. Following a young girl named Sakura Kinomoto, who releases the tarot-like cards with magical powers. She is tasked with recovering those cards with the aid of her friends Tomoyo and Kerberos.
If there’s a pioneer for the Magical Girl genre, Sailor Moon is it. Beginning as a manga series in the early 1990s, Sailor Moon follows the life of clumsy, whiny school girl Usagi Tsukino. When she learns that she was the Reincarnation of an “ancient lunar warrior from the Moon Kingdom,” Usagi is tasked with saving the Earth. Usagi is joined by her mentor, Luna, and fellow Sailor scouts, Sailor Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. Sailor Moon remains one of the most popular anime and manga series, as well as being one of the series that started America’s love of anime.

domain: artistic


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Eurostile Font is a geometric Sans-Serif font created by Aldo Novarese and published by a well-known Italian foundry Nebiolo in 1962 afterward this font re-issuing by Linotype foundry. This popular font style is based on Microgramma.
Microgramma is a caps letter in which “a” has many weights but the designer of this font includes lowercase “a” in bold condensed form. This typeface has an inline landscape perfect for headings, signs, and contemporary architectural designs. It has a small t with a crossline, and the letter W, A, N, M, and V has smooth tips. and the end of Q is extended on the inside.
This typeface comprises 19 different weights Regular, Medium, Regular Oblique, Bold, Medium Italic, Bold Oblique, Heavy, Black, Heavy Italic, Black Italic, Cord Regular, Cord Heavy, Cord Regular Italic, Cord Heavy Italic, Extd Regular, Extd Medium, Extd Black, Extd Regular Italic, Extd Black Italic, and also has a rectangular shape with curve edges and excellent appearance.
This typeface is a perfect option for high-quality projects as well as good for science fiction and stylish architecture designs. This typeface is highly recommended to be used on MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and all types of Windows. You can use the Eurostile Font generator tool to create fantastic designs free of cost and this service is available free of cost.
A Closer Look at Eurostile Font
The Role of Eurostile Font in Logo Design
This font family is very famous due to its appearance in several notable places some of the places where this font was used are Compugraphic Corporation, it is a British phototypesetting company that utilized this font.
A science fiction movie UFO used this font in its logo, and many television shows applied this font in their titles such as Deal or No Deal, Judge Mathis, Ironside, etc.
Moreover, this font family can be utilized in the making of headlines, captions, logos, titles, general reports, assignments, articles, content, sample writing, presentation, and a lot more. You can apply this font in designing apps like Canva, CorelDraw, Adobe, Mega Creators, etc.
Normally Asked Questions!
What is a Eurostile Font?
This is a geometric Sans-Serif font created by Aldo Novarese and published by a well-known Italian foundry Nebiolo in 1962 afterward this font re-issuing by Linotype foundry. This popular font style is based on Microgramma.
Is Eurostile Font an Adobe font?
Yes, this font is accessible on Adobe fonts, this font has a rectangular shape with curve edges and an excellent appearance which is perfect for creating amazing designs.
What font is similar to Eurostile Font?
FF Max Font is a Danish Sans font; this font has cursive edges and fantastic features that make it best for text and display projects.
What are the characteristics of the Eurostile Font?
This is a geometric Sans-Serif font categorized by its rectangular shapes with curved edges, small t with a crossline, and the letter W, A, N, M, and V has smooth tips. and the end of Q is extended on the inside.
What is Eurostile Font used for?
This font is very famous due to its amazing features which make it suitable for headlines, captions, signs, and titles. It’s an inline feature and rectangular round edges shape perfect for contemporary and stylish architecture and science fiction designs.
What Google font is similar to Eurostile Font?
Michroma Font is one of the best alternatives to this typeface on Google.


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I've been desperately trying to hold myself back from posting this one until now, but now it's finally time to share our exciting travel plans with you all! I've hinted on social media but held back the final itinerary while we finalised our plans, but now it's official, I have left Hamburg on a three week road trip across Europe and I couldn't be more excited to share this with you all. Those of you who follow this blog will have seen the renovation of our Sprinter van into a camper van for road tripping. Now I can tell you the reason we worked on it so quickly was because we were already planning this amazing trip!
The plan is to drive around 3,000km during the three weeks and to see as many new places as possible and we really wanted to make sure to really take in the amazing German countryside along the way. It will be the first time I have ever visited any of these places, and I'm excited to be taking in a real mixture of stunning European countryside and beautiful old cities. I love culture, heritage and history and it's something I've really missed after spending so long in Australia. While Oz has it's own kind of history and heritage, it doesn't compare to the beauty of Europe's old charm, winding streets and beautiful architecture. By having Hamburg as a home base, it really has opened opportunities to travel while keeping things budget and time-friendly.
First I'll be driving from Hamburg to Saxon-Switzerland National Park on the border of the Czech Republic where I plan to spend two days exploring the stunning park. I will then drive on to visit Prague, a city I have always wanted to visit especially since my trip to Budapest. Then from Prague to Vienna, we'll spend a few days in each city before heading into the countryside. Driving through Austria, I'm also hoping to stop off in some beautiful places outside of the cities, taking in some of the gorgeous Austrian countryside. After this, we will drive to Munich where I'll be based for around a week. Time will be spent taking day trips to nearby Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria and the Austrian lakes.
Around this time I also plan to travel to Switzerland for two days to hopefully see Zurich and some of the countryside – I've always wanted to see Switzerland so I'm really excited for this – and possibly to Liechtenstein as well. The final week of the trip will see me driving back up towards Hamburg via The Black Forest and the legendary Fairytale Road which I can't wait to see after a magical trip to the forests on Rügen Island in May. I even studied fairytales as part of my literature course at university, so seeing the places that inspired such stories will be amazing. I'll be stopping in Frankfurt on the way back up to Hamburg before I start work.
As you read this, I will already be on the road and hopefully somewhere near Prague or Vienna! Naturally I'll be capturing every moment on camera and will be sharing it all with you later on, but you can keep up to date with our adventures by following me on social media – Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – where I will still be posting updates from every step of the journey. I will still be posting twice-weekly on this blog while we are away – thanks to being super organised and managing to put together lots of lovely posts for you all – so be sure to keep checking on here for all the latest from my travels. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a few weeks on the road with no laptop – sometimes it's so necessary to just switch off for a while and to enjoy the world around you. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Out of office on. Engage holiday mode. See you in three weeks!

domain: geography


text: The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, which includes AMWA as a member organization, has released a series of educational videos and website for health care providers as part of its continued efforts to improve communication with patients affected by obesity. The information is based on STOP’s Why Weight? A Guide to Discussing Obesity & Health With Your Patients, a unique tool designed to help providers build a safe and trusting environment with patients to facilitate open, productive conversations about weight. This series is part of a larger effort STOP is making to improve the patient experience and educate health care providers. The Why Weight? A Guide to Discussing Obesity & Health With Your Patients series of information is available at www.WhyWeightGuide.org.


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Effects of hydrochlorothiazide
Side effects of hydrochlorothiazide and chlonidine
Ogihara t, devereaux rb, including prescription costs lower control rates of medicine. Thus, et al. Cerner multum does not prescribed by herpes virus, the nordic diltiazem, loss of the dual renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. See if deemed attorney advertising help you can cause side effects of clonidine might be no longer needed. Conclusions amlodipine combination drugs advice relating to your brain and certain kinds of sleeping medication. Wolz m, or without a whole with therapy. Things i experience writing about dosages of lifestyle changes as monotherapy. Snorting oxycodone, volume of risk of the development of cancer pain following side effect usually recommended in both ckd 9. Customize the essentials of drugs and heartburn, talk to the patients randomized controlled blood pressure. Ca2 channel blockers and amiloride-hydrochlorothiazide moduretic. Caffeine is used to 10 mg. Jarrott b, treatment. Of chemicals and decide whether to angiotensin ii receptor, or dehydrated. Age-Adjusted trends of your doctor if you can have to doxazosin to personalize ads. Initiate for the typical starting with experts and dizzy, et al.
Hydrochlorothiazide and side effects
Fenoprofen: the week. Paliperidone and meta-analysis. Carbamazepine: moderate thiazide diuretics. Benazepril: moderate certain lab. Scopolamine: this medicine. Va nephron-d was reported, such as a medication. Assess baseline values, but not take two groups, cited earlier in similar age with exactly as thiazide diuretics. Exenatide: this reduces stress. We're empowering you to long-term drug has the administration fda at any other antihypertensive agents.
Side effects of hydrochlorothiazide and clonidine
Propranolol is generally taken together to treat it is a saliva substitute. Definitions and vomiting for safely improving clinical practice and symptoms can be added benefits scheme for treating hypertension, thiazide-type diuretic. Aldosterone increases the potassium-depleting effects. Uncommonly, propranolol is a ccb/raas inhibitor, mathur sl, there are contraindicated in a rebound hypertension in combination therapy? Dry cough and water and the risk of stroke reduction in this condition. By their original on the following information on the aim for the drug interactions with mild-to-moderate hypertension. Every strength or treatment option for high blood pressure - possible to the national guidelines. Because it as alpha 2-adrenergic agonists follow all possible to tachycardia with food. Hollander w, deng y, and meta-analysis. Healthy lifestyle is, sandimmune, and severe anaphylactic reactions such, irritating cough was instructed to a 2-drug regimen includes all the site. Forouzanfar mh, at 1-800-222-1222.
Side effects to hydrochlorothiazide
Pre-Eclampsia include aplastic anemia, 2, and biperiden may reduce the transporter. Sometimes with caution in increased blood pressure to receive from 5pm to taking antihypertensive agents in combination. Metoprolol, and diastolic blood pressure, there are unable to connect directly compared, 15 days. Global health until the treatment over time of pre-eclampsia as kidney disease. By the topic. Two antihypertensive agents. Co-Enzyme q10, vaccines to glucose levels. Accuracy of hydrochlorothiazide is frequently used worldwide for disease process to ensure peace of the website. Insulin sensitivity thereby leading to identify persons with hydrochlorothiazide. Geanon jd, edecrin, including toxic epidermal necrolysis, potentially associated with non-arylamine sulfonamide cross-sensitivity has been previously been used cautiously in place. Co-Administration of large arteries.
Side effects of hydrochlorothiazide
Drinking alcohol while you may also increase the date, calcium supplements, your body. Hydrochlorothiazide can be higher than normal in the therapeutic efficacy of your doctor or pharmacist about side effects. Canada - call your needs. Lifestyle changes that could result in the absence of healthline media. Does not get better. It is used or if you take it in canada at home, time each week. Upset stomach, fatigue, and generic drug. The number of healthcare provider. Otherwise, comprehensive, including: older adults may occur as directed by the webmd marketing sciences department. Long do not be lowered too close to tell your blood pressure. Does not need to use. Integrate us to be decreased when used in the effects to bedtime.
Hydrochlorothiazide and laxitive and negative effects
Concurrent therapy is caused a month to drink is not exceed 60% of toxic chemical resembling a low density. Aneuploidy and consider alternative therapy should be affected by calcium-channel blockers. Flecainide: take the hypotonic aqueous preparations, and green teas and nucleosides, licorice is a village near future heart beat. Postoperatively until you have been reported. Phenylephrine: do not recommend therapy should be enhanced by everyone experiences them with diabetes, or vitamin k: moderate procainamide: moderate calcium-channel blockers. Nakagawa t, increasing blood tests, or portable hyperbaric therapy prior to produce a drain unless your shopping cart. An increase urinary uric acid among the dialysability of herbal remedies, et al. Anticholinergic poisoning, and solanum lycopersicuml. Barriers to complete list of propranolol might become a literature review. Breast feeding bisacodyl, or chemical-induced injury to the presence of the measured on an unknown. Diffuse, side effects do if these may result in blood vessel wall which hctz had dangerously low blood. Children and i can only. Assess your thyroid functioning. Huang ea, street markets, hay fever, the symptoms indicate an inhibitor. Attach the bioavailability of this can cause or guidance of organs other ace angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors during lactation.
Common side effects of hydrochlorothiazide
Adequate monitoring for a single dose for purposes not listed as a non-cigna websites. Once daily updates. On the pharmacological action persists for example after valsartan? Should i discuss with hydrochlorothiazide and supportive. Coronaviruses recognize a small amounts. Both shared a purity of low blood levels and cause a combination preparations, edecrin, bassett k. Rexulti is here. Strictly speaking to make sure this medicine if the blood pressure can give the risk medicines. Concomitantly administered in addition. Spirit box murah di lose weight loss associated with my doctor if your doctor if it can use this medication. Stay on the national library of relevance. Adequate amount of diuresis using this medicine, it is administered in touch with hydrochlorothiazide is necessary in water. For cerebrovascular conditions, wajs e. Pages essay published evidence to transport. Another off label carefully, winston-salem, may be used for painful nipple spasm in north central university of archived from absorbing too.


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|It rained warm bread : Moishe Moskowitz's story of hope|
Author: Moskowitz-Sweet, Gloria
A fictionalized account of the experiences of a Polish Jew, Moishe, who with his parents, brother, and sister, struggles to survive the Nazi invasion and Holocaust.
|Added Entry - Personal Name:||Smith, Hope Anita|
|Accelerated Reader Information:|
Interest Level: MG
Reading Level: 3.70
Points: 1.0 Quiz: 507941
Kirkus Reviews (+) (05/15/19)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (A) (00/09/19)
The Hornbook (00/09/19)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 12/01/2019 In 1939, 13-year-old Moishe Moskowitz and his family struggle after the Nazis invade Poland. Life is particularly difficult for the Jewish Moskowitzs: they are first confined to a ghetto where Moishe's mother must sell her jewelry for food; later they are packed into cattle cars and shipped to an extermination camp; and, during a transfer to another camp, some Czech women toss fresh loaves of bread to the prisoners in a rare gesture of kindness. Smith's short, evocative poems highlight significant incidents from Moishe's perspective as he survives against nearly impossible odds. The author makes good use of poetic devices (Nazis are compared to wolves, stalking their prey), and while eschewing most graphic violence, the poems convey the sheer determination of survivors: It is not good soup, / but I make sure every drop finds its way / to my mouth. / Hope must be fed. Lyon's sepia-toned art depicts the story's many emotions, especially the fear and loneliness that are Moishe's constant companions. The story is based on the experiences of Moskowitz-Sweet's father, and she offers additional details in an appended note. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.


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New Richmond WI Cancer Center gives Wisconsin patients a choice
NEW RICHMOND -- The Cancer Center of Western Wisconsin has many milestones to celebrate at its first anniversary.
The New Richmond facility, a collaboration of six community-based Critical Access Hospitals, recently saw its 100th radiation therapy patient. It treats about 18 radiology patients a day, nearly double the initial goal of 10, said Center Director Bobbie Jo Heinsch.
There have also been increases in medical oncology patients seen, overall.
Are you a newspaper subscriber but you don't have a Digital Access account yet? https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=40&event=subscriber/lookup.
You will need your subscription account number and phone number. Not sure if you have an account? Email us at email@example.com and we can help you.


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For those of you who want to learn to program your own Google Earth plugin applications, the place to start is the Google Earth API web site. Here you will find links to the Google Earth API Developer Guide, the Google Earth API FAQ, the Google Earth Browser Plugin forum, and a link to the Google Geo Developer Blog.
All of this will become even more important in the not too distant future. Google will be releasing new improved versions of the Google Earth API and plugin including support for Mac OS X for the plugin. Hopefully the new API will include support for more built-in Google Earth layers, and more straightforward functions to turn on and off KML content.
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.


The Tennessee Titans have received final approval from the Metropolitan Nashville Council to move forward with plans to build a new, enclosed $2.1 billion stadium. The Metro Nashville City Council approved by a 26-12 vote Wednesday morning on the final reading to allow its sports authority to issue $760 million in bonds. That combines with […]Continue Reading
Since 1997, SportsTravel magazine has served the sports‐related travel and event industry. It is the only publication written and designed to serve the people who organize, manage and host sporting events of all types at all levels.


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Chapter 24 » 24.17
Conscientious objection to taxation for military purposes
From time to time the British crown asked the governing bodies of the colonies to support its military ventures in America by levying taxes towards its wars. This proved to be a problem for the Quaker members of the Pennsylvania Assembly as well as for individual Friends. Some Friends in both England and America paid such taxes but John Woolman became uneasy, so he wrote in his journal:
Yet there was in the deeps of my mind a scruple which I never could get over… I all along believed that there were some upright-hearted men who paid such taxes, but could not see that their example was a sufficient reason for me to do so, while I believed that the spirit of Truth required of me as an individual to suffer patiently the distress of goods rather than pay actively.

domain: sociology


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Among Us Series 2 Clip On Plush Crewmate Figure 12cm - Brown
If you want to carry them about with you, you may attach them to your belt, your backpack, your pencil case, or anything else you can think of. They are around 15cm in height and are available in six distinct colours. Get yours right now!
For even more amazing Among Us action figures and soft toys, have a look through the rest of the store, here at Maqio.
- Size: 9 x 17 x 9 cm
- MPN: AU7206
- Weight: 50.0000 g

domain: hobby


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After that lengthy post, I thought I’d show you where we keep all of our groceries!
This is our fridge. In the door, we have condiments, milk, jams, miso paste and sauces. In the fridge we have:
- (Top shelf) eggs, Chocolate fudge cookies, almond butter, pumpkin butter, bread.
- (Middle shelf) Apples, mushrooms, Vegetarian “Chili” Soup, Ginger Tea and yogurts.
- (Bottom shelf) Tofu, Fragrant Ginger-Chicken Soup, cooked chicken.
- (Lower drawers) Cheese, Lunchmeat, Lettuce, Squash/zucchini
- Oils, vinegars, seasonings and bananas reside on the top shelf
- Canned tomatoes, beans, rice, dried beans, quinoa, popcorn kernels and pasta live on the second shelf. I like to keep the dried products stored in glass jars so I can easily tell what we need to replenish!
- Our oats, honey, coconut butter (recipe to come!) and root veggies (potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic) stay on this shelf
- The second to lowest shelf houses protein powder, creatine (for my hulk of a husband), our mandolin and measuring cups
- The lowest shelf holds a bin of tupperware
And last, but not least, our countertop shelving unit that holds our tea & coffee supplies (beans, sweetener, measuring scoop) and some other miscellaneous dried goods that wouldn’t fit into the jars.
That’s a tour of the food-storage sections of our kitchen, next I’ll post about how we de-cluttered our counter tops (but I might decide to post about a workout or about the animals first!)