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Comments from ACCA
1. How would you consider the current regime of disclosure of non-financial information applicable in your country?
In the context of creating a wider understanding of a company's position and performance, ACCA is committed to promoting the disclosure of non-financial information where this is relevant and proportionate. We believe, as a matter of principle, that to require entities to report publicly on specified matters acts as an incentive for the entities concerned to take those matters seriously and to improve their practices on a continuing basis. With this aim in mind we have campaigned over a number of years for the obligatory disclosure by relevant entities of information on social and environmental matters, and welcomed the decision to incorporate disclosure requirements on these matters in the Companies Act 2006 (through the Business Review) and the Climate Change Act 2008. We have participated in and supported the development by the Climate Change Disclosure Board of its new reporting framework, and are actively involved also in the work of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Accounting for Sustainability and the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC). While there is much development work to do, the latter project offers the opportunity, in the medium to long term, to achieve a radical step forward in the scope of corporate reporting, of which the disclosure of non-financial information is an integral part. We are, accordingly, strongly supportive of the aim of developing reporting frameworks which acknowledge the wider range of factors which have a material bearing on a company's position and performance. In the recent past we supported the development in the UK of the statutory Operating and Financial Review (OFR) and were disappointed when it was withdrawn as a statutory obligation, though encouraged that much worthwhile material was subsequently incorporated into the Business Review. We have also continued to encourage the IASB in the development of guidance on management commentary. In September 2010, the results of an internationally-based study - Hitting the Right Notes, but What's the Tune were published by ACCA and Deloittes, which looked at the value and relevance of narrative reporting from the perspective of preparers. One of the main conclusions reached in Hitting the Right Notes is that many preparers of narrative reports would like to see less prescription and more freedom of maneuver for them to frame their reports in the way they think most apt. Therefore on balance we believe that a strong framework for disclosing non-financial information is important, especially in laying out key areas where all companies should disclose information. We believe that the regime in the UK does help to provide such a framework, although it should always be recognised that the overriding purpose of the business review is to help investors to assess how directors have complied with their stewardship obligations, it would seem illogical to insist on standardised disclosures in every case.
2. Have you evaluated the effects, and costs and benefits, of any current corporate disclosure of environmental and social information?
While we have not performed such assessments, we strongly believe that additional costs of administering such disclosure are met by the benefits of risk reduction and opportunities for social, environmental and economic saving including a potential reduction in the cost of capital of an organisation.
3. If you think that the current regime of disclosure of non-financial information should be improved, how do you suggest that this should be done?
As noted in our response to Question 1, we certainly believe that a degree of standardisation, through the establishment of clear principles will help to define and produce relevant disclosure of non-financial information. It is important that any such information is integrated with financial information to provide decision-useful information for all stakeholders. We also believe that narrowing the primary user group to investors (existing and potential), would ensure that reporting (including non-financial information) would crucially remain streamlined and focused, avoiding much of the complexity that exists in the current reporting framework. In terms of detailed disclosure requirements, we believe that the Business Review in the UK does offer a reasonable level of guidance, effectively incorporating the great majority of the provisions which were initially included in the statutory OFR, as well as reflecting the disclosure items which are mandatory under the Fourth Directive. The differences between the Review and what would have been the statutory OFR are thus not great: listed companies are already required to disclose future-orientated information and information on their policies and practices on environmental, social and community issues. There is though one aspect of the OFR that would be very valuable to re-adopt. This concerns the statement of the objectives and strategies of the company. While the review requires companies to discuss the principal risks and uncertainties facing the company, and factors likely to affect the development, performance and position of the company's business [in the future] and the company's policies in relation to those factors, there is no requirement for companies to set out their objectives and forward-looking strategies on a pro-active basis. Without a discussion of the goals of the company, and its plans for achieving them, it can be argued that the narrative report as currently framed lacks an overall context, within which users can assess the policies and practices of then company and the performance of the company and its directors. Finally, we believe it would beneficial for explicit reference to be made for the need to ensure that non-financial disclosure should be closely linked to the financial report itself.
4. In your opinion, should companies be required to disclose whether or not they have a CSR policy, and if they do, how they implement that policy and what the results have been?
While we see merit in all three being disclosed, principally, the key disclosure must be whether or not the company has a CSR policy, and if they do, how they implement this policy. However, similar to other disclosure requirements in the UK pertaining to corporate governance, we believe a ’comply or explain’ approach would be appropriate. It is also crucial to distinguish between the requirements for publicly accountable, large and SME companies. Any approach should initially focus on the publicly accountable entities, with more careful consideration being then given to the needs of other entity types. Again, an emphasis on the integration with financial information would be helpful, including the extent to which policies on varying non-financial and financial measures are inter-linked.
5b. Please indicate which indicators you would consider to be the most relevant for all economic sectors.
In order to ensure any entity related information that is disclosed in annual reports in particular, is relevant, we strongly believe it should be material to understanding the business. We also believe that reporting of any non-financial information should be both principles and indicator based, perhaps with those indicators initially being generic, but incorporating sector-specific indicators, allowing users to assess how the company has/is being managed and providing a holistic view of the company’s performance. However, we also strongly urge any EU measures to take into account existing international initiatives, such as those offered by GRI and those being considered by the IIRC. On balance we would therefore prefer a two tier system based on general requirements for all economic sectors and the more applied requirements for specific sectors. Given the quite diverse needs of all stakeholders who would use such information, we believe it would more appropriate to set a high level of underlying principles, supported by best practice guidance on a sector specific basis.
6. In your opinion, what should be the process to identify relevant principles and/or indicators (whether general or sector-specific)?
While it would be useful to have guidance on identifying relevant principles and indicators, a systematic approach is essential, through wider consultation with users and preparers and one that shows a sound understanding of key sustainability issues. Clearly, it is vital that there is also clarity on definitions and on calculation methods, to ensure a level of comparability. Again, the EU should look to concurrent work in this area, such as the findings of the IIRC in due course, ISO 26000, as well as further investigating the possible endorsement of GRI guidelines.
7. In your opinion, should companies be required to disclose the steps they take to fulfill the corporate responsibility to respect human rights?
We believe that to some extent, corporate resonsibility with respect to human rights, is an extension of CSR in general. As in our response to earlier questions, it is important to distinguish whether there is a material impact on the business itself. Certainly, we would expect companies, in their own interests to take into account the consequences of their activities on stakeholders in respect to human rights, and if these are material to the business, we would expect them to make relevant disclosures on how those risks are being addressed. However, at this stage we do not believe it should be a legal requirement to disclose such information for all companies, especially as it is unclear what level of disclosures might be required.
8. In your opinion, should companies be required to disclose the risks they face and the policies they have in the field of corruption and bribery?
This is a fundamental aspect of discharging social accountability and where companies face material risks in this regard, they should be required to disclose their policies with regards to the ethical principles they follow, allowing a more transparent understanding of the risks they face and how they are being addressed. From April 2011, the Bribery Act will come into effect in the UK, requiring all companies in the UK to have in place appropriate policies in this respect. Therefore, where companies have such policies in place, we would expect disclosure of the level of risk they face and their policies towards mitigating them.
9. In your opinion, what companies should be required to disclose non-financial information?
Many of the key elements of non-financial information are not dependent on size or status. Some disclosure is necessary by all companies (eg CSR, key business risks etc.) although we do believe it is important that detailed disclosure requirements even in these instances should be proportionate to the size and complexity of the organisation. We would therefore support a phased approach for any mandatory reporting requirements, initially geared towards publicly accountable (all listed companies) and large entities similar to the existing requirements incorporated in the Directives and in the UK Companies Act. However, all entities should have the option to voluntary apply the requirements, which would also act as a guide of best practice to other smaller entities. Furthermore, this would allow time for further assessment of the extent to which they are being applied by SMEs and whether a simpler, but mandatory regime for other companies should be developed.
10. In your opinion, should institutional investors be subject to specific or additional disclosure requirements, for example to disclose whether and how they take into account environmental and social issues in their investment decisions?
We recognise that institutional investors have the power to influence the behaviour of organisations. However, we are concerned that singling out particular types of industry is not conducive to a principles based reporting framework and therefore would require clearer evidence for the need for such a distinction to be made. In fact we believe that the question of such disclosure being required for institutional investors should not be seen as necessarily distinct with the wider question of requiring such disclosure for all companies in general.
11. In your opinion, should European policy promote the concept of "integrated reporting"?
In principle we agree that a holistic and integrated approach to reporting will have significant benefits for all stakeholders to enable them to assess the ongoing performance of an entity as well as its longer term sustainability. We believe the advantages of an appropriate framework for integrated reporting, linking financial, social, environmental and governance reporting, would include making better links between financial and non-financial information. It would also emphasise that the economic results of an organisation's activities are just one part of its impacts. Integrated reporting also recognises that the non-financial aspects, which have always been relevant to stakeholders other than shareholders, are increasingly relevant to financial performance. However, the understanding of integrated reporting is at a fairly nascent stage and it is therefore essential that the EC take into accounting the forthcoming findings of the IIRC, which in fact includes a principles based definition of what integrated reporting is. We also believe it is important to differentiate integrated reporting and the combined corporate reporting that many entities already deliver. Many organisations are already producing separate CSR reports for wider stakeholders, but which are not necessarily linked, physically or otherwise to the financial reports. We believe that such reporting, where it is indeed for wider stakeholders, other than investors, is of benefit, as it does not ‘clutter’ the annual report. However, where any non-financial information is material and relevant to the performance of the organisation it should be integrated with the financial information.
12. In your opinion, should disclosed nonfinancial information be audited by external auditors?
We certainly believe that non-financial information should have some element of independent attestation or assurance. We note that the questions uses the term, ‘audit’, which we consider as inappropriate and quite distinct from the wider term assurance. The level of any assurance itself will equally depend on the nature of the disclosures and whether they were part of the financial statements required to be audited. Again, it is important to draw attention to the distinction between CSR reporting which is separate to the financial statements and that which is an integrated part of them. Currently many parties provide assurance (audit firms, NGOs, quality assurance consultants and individuals – ‘opinion leaders’). Larger accounting firms are able to use multi-disciplinary teams that include the necessary scientific and technical skills and that can assure using standards other than auditing standards (eg ISO 14064, AA1000AS and ISAE 3000). Whether the level of assurance provided by such standards would provide the credibility required of an integrated report is questionable. As integrated reporting emerges and develops, we believe it is likely to cause financial statement auditors to adapt their methodologies to properly address the more forward-looking, qualitative and nonfinancial information concerned.

domain: law


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The first recording that surfaced of Warren Mayor James Fouts allegedly making vile and disparaging remarks was not electronically engineered and is not a fake.
That’s the conclusion of an audio expert, according to a report by WDIV-TV (Channel 4) and clickondetroit.com.
In that recording, a voice that sounds identical to Fouts is heard making disturbing comments about the mentally impaired, describing such individuals as “retards” and saying they belong “in a cage.”
The recorded remarks, released by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel in December to a local media outlet, touched off a political firestorm. Additional recordings, again purportedly of Fouts, were released later.
Fouts has steadfastly denied he made any of the disparaging remarks and claimed his life has become a nightmare. On Jan. 16, the mayor told a crowd attending the city’s annual Martin Luther King Day celebration at Warren City Hall that he did not make the racist remarks about African Americans, and ridiculed women, in audio recordings first revealed that morning by motorcitymuckraker.com – although claiming he had not heard the recording on the website.
“I will overcome this,” Fouts told the audience of approximately 250 people.
Other than one statement to The Macomb Daily, Fouts has used social media to insist the recordings are phony and assert it’s retaliation by Hackel and friends of the county executive because of Fouts’ request to the Michigan Attorney General to investigate the dumping of approximately 200,000 cubic feet of dirt at Freedom Hill County Park.
WDIV-TV reported late Friday that it obtained from a source the actual recording of the conversation between Fouts and a city employee, in which the mayor complains about having to attend a Special Olympics event. The station reported it took the entire recording to audio expects Primeau Forensics, and after analysis of metadata on the recording, that the recording is authentic and not altered electronically.
WDIV also reported it received a copy of another secret recording. In it, a former employee recorded remarks allegedly by Fouts, ridiculing religion.
“It’s a crock of (expletive). You’re intelligent. You’re bright. Have you seen any image of Jesus coming down?” said the person sounding like Fouts while recalling a church service where those around him were kneeling before adding: “Kneeling. I’m not kneeling for anybody.”
Ed Primeau of Primeau Forensics said he does not have the metadata for that recording but told WDIV, “Based in all the listening I’ve done to Mayor Fouts over the last several weeks it sure sounds like him to me.”
The recordings prompted calls for Fouts, who is in the second year of his third term as mayor, to take a lie detector test and agree to a voice analysis. Some public officials – including county, state and federal officials representing portions of southern Macomb County – urged him to resign.
At a stormy City Council meeting in January, several people including African American clergy said they were not convinced it’s Fouts on the tapes and called on those who released the tapes to identify themselves. But even more were incredulous toward the mayor and demanded he resign. Fouts seldom attends council meetings and was not at the recent emotionally charged meetings.
--Norb Franz, The Macomb Daily

domain: sociology


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If you are visiting Alaska a trip into Glacier Bay is a once in a lifetime experience. We stopped to pick up a park ranger (Glacier Bay is a national park) around 8am. She narrated our trip into the bay, pointing out interesting things along the way. “Look, at 2 o’clock, there are some mountain goats. See those little white dots half way up the mountain. There they are,” she would tell us. Unfortunately, I was did not see any goats or bears or any wild life. What I did see was nature; rivers of ice, mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, clouds and mist. I did my best to capture it for you.
Lets start with a photo taken from my seat in the Explorations Cafe, as we entered the bay.
The day, as we had grown accustomed to, was rainy, windy and cold with wind gusts of over 40 miles per hour. Taking photos in these conditions was a challenge; I was concerned about exposing my cameras to the elements. Even with a “rain coat” for my equipment it was a difficult. Ultimately, I used my iPhone. It’s water resistant and has a good camera. It was a life saver, and I developed a new respect for that little phone and plan to use it a great deal more in the future.
I decided to post the photos individually so that the rugged beauty of Glacier Bay can be appreciated.
Mountains beyond mountains; they fade into the mist.
As you gaze at my photos look for color.
The pictures were all taken in color and not black and white. In some instances you will discern the green in the trees and brush but most of the time you will see shades of grey in the mountains and white in the clouds.
A river of ice flows as if from the clouds.
The scenery everywhere we looked was extraordinary. The misty clouds floating around the mountain peaks gave an etherial feeling to the mountains and provided interesting, photogenic views. I tried to capture what I felt and in one or two instances I think I succeeded.
When we reached the end of our voyage we arrived at Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers. Glaciers are rivers of ice moving inexorably to the sea carrying within their massive, frozen bodies the mountains, ground to a fine power, through which they travel. While there we were fortunate to see Margerie calf. According to the ranger, Margerie is 21 miles long.
I am not sure how far away we were but consider as you look at this that the face of the Margerie Glacier is one mile wide and taller than our twelve deck ship.
In this photo, taken with my iPhone, the glacier is calving. You can see the water splashing in the center of the photo.
As ice calved from the face of the glacier it formed this ribbon in the water.
Here is a photo of us, on the left, and Caden, Valerie and Colin on the right. All outside enjoying our trip into Glacier Bay. The day may have been miserable but we still enjoyed our day in the bay.
I love the contrast created when clouds meet the mountains. It is a challenge for me to accurately replicate nature on days like this. I did my best. Here are a few of the ones I think are best. Let me know what you think and enjoy our day in Glacier Bay.
Ah, the majesty of nature!

domain: artistic


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Witton Gilbert is located in the county of Durham, North East England, three miles north-west of the city of Durham, 11 miles south of the major town of Gateshead, 100 miles south-east of Edinburgh, and 236 miles north of London. Witton Gilbert lies five miles south of the Tyne & Wear border. Witton Gilbert falls within the unitary authority of County Durham. It is in the DH7 postcode district. The post town for Witton Gilbert is Durham.
Witton Gilbert is in the ceremonial county of Durham, the historic county of Durham, and the administrative county of County Durham.
Witton Gilbert is situated towards the northernmost extremity of Durham, and roughly centrally between the easternmost and westernmost extremities of Durham.
The nearest postcode to the centre of Witton Gilbert is DH7 6SZ.
Witton Gilbert is situated roughly centrally between the southernmost and northernmost extremities of the DH7 postcode district, and towards the easternmost extremity of the DH7 postcode district.
The post town for Witton Gilbert is Durham. Witton Gilbert is in the DH7 postcode district, which corresponds to the post town of Durham.
The centre of Witton Gilbert is located at position 54.80555° latitude and -1.64006° longitude.
The centre of Witton Gilbert is located at the grid reference easting 423235 and northing 545690 within the British National Grid (OSGB36) system.
Position of Witton Gilbert relative to nearby towns. Distance is measured from the centre of Witton Gilbert to the centre of the town.
Position of Witton Gilbert relative to nearby cities. Distance is measured from the centre of Witton Gilbert to the centre of the city.

domain: geography


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DANVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A 4th grader who walked away from Danville South Elementary School was found safe Wednesday afternoon.
The Danville Community School Corporation said the 10-year-old student walked away from the school around 9:15 a.m. after being escorted into the building by one of his parents.
School officials believed the boy was having an emotionally difficult day and wanted to leave the school, according to a release.
Police said the boy was found safe in a nearby neighborhood shortly after noon.


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Warner Bros. have organised a contest for their upcoming film ‘The LEGO Movie’.
From March 25th, entrants will have the chance to submit their own homemade clips featuring LEGO merchandise with the aim of getting their video featured in the final film.
The theme of the clips must relate to a scene from the movie where the nefarious President Business (Anchorman’s Will Ferrell) is threatening the citizens of the LEGO universe, with the figures quickly taking apart their world and rebuilding them into escape vehicles and weapons to face off against Ferrell’s character.
Entrants should submit their clips to YouTube and bookmark them on ReBrick.com to be in with a chance of winning. The twenty-five clips with the most likes will be assessed by the film’s directors.
What do you think of a LEGO movie? Interesting or just plain bizarre?


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Vicki of Queen Kat Designs celebrates her birthday today. So we are celebrating with a huge QKD blog hop!
My card features the beautiful Fire Fae by Myka. She is very sassy as I'm guessing just like Vicki! I have used an embossing folder as the background. The addition of a few pretty charms and glass bead finish off the card to perfection.
So hop on over to Linda Harris to carry on the celebrations.
Thanks for popping in.


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domain: design


The Eagle Festival takes place in Northern Mongolia every winter. It is a celebration of mid-winter and brings together communities from all over the region. It’s also an opportunity for individuals to showcase their skills and abilities in training eagles to hunt prey such as rabbits and foxes. It is not well documented but it is recognized that women have participated in these traditions since tenth century Persia but none as young as Aisholpan. In present time there are only c.250 eagle hunters left participating in the annual festival.
In 2014, an image of her smiling as a fifteen-pound eagle soars off her arm went viral. From a young age, she recalls being interested in being an eagle huntress. Her parents have always supported her ambition, especially her father. He has always stood by her despite her community being critical of her ambitions. She says she was worried but was never afraid. The man that photographed her recalls that the atmosphere around her participating in the event. Saying how it was still tense as the community was still grappling with a girl, especially one as young as Aisholpan, participating in the event.
Aisholpan hopes her story has inspired girls and women from around the world. Since her photograph went viral there has been a notable increase in the number of girls choosing to train as eagle huntresses. It appears her legacy has already taken root. She hopes that girls and women will continue to persevere and pursue their dreams in the face of criticism and patriarchal systems.She has been immortalised in a 2016 documentary about the eagle festival and her own participation in it. She also features in the Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls book. She continues to inspire and make change from afar.
-Megan Clout, Junior Girl


This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around The Rink
What's wrong in Pittsburgh? That's a multi-faceted question, starting from ownership down, but for fantasy purposes let's look at the current on-ice product.
The Penguins have forgotten how to score. In their last 82 regular season games, the team is averaging 2.18 goals per game. How can an organization with its weapons put out such putrid production?
When asked what the problem encompasses, Evgeni Malkin called out his teammates following Saturday's 4-0 loss in Newark.
"Everything," he said. "We don't play right. We don't work hard. It's tough right now. We're mad at each other. We need to just stop, look in the mirror and start working."
Malkin, who has taken seven offensive-zone penalties in 17 games, wasn't finished.
"It's not only goals. It's bad penalties. It's turnovers. It's everything. Not playing right in the system. Not just the goals. Always, if you score, it's a little better. You can't score if you don't play right. Bad mistakes."
Sidney Crosby has scored two goals and nine points in 17 contests. He's already been held pointless 12 times.
Blueliner Kris Letang took four minor penalties Saturday and recently complained about his comfort level with partner Ian Cole. Coach Mike Johnston paired Letang with Olli Maatta for the next game but the results remained the same.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is having the best year of his career. But at some point — most likely in February or March — he'll cool off, if history is any indicator.
#JohnstonWatch is already trending in Pittsburgh. It's been said more than once that you can't fire the whole team, you fire the coach.
At this point, it'd be shocking to see Johnston make it through the season as the Pens coach.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Arizona Coyotes (Mike Smith) at New York Islanders (Jaroslav Halak), 7:00 PM
Anaheim Ducks (Frederik Andersen) at Carolina Hurricanes (Eddie Lack), 7:00 PM
Vancouver Canucks (Ryan Miller) at Montreal Canadiens (Mike Condon), 7:30 PM
Detroit Red Wings (Petr Mrazek) at Ottawa Senators (Craig Anderson), 7:30 PM
Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Florida Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 7:30 PM
Winnipeg Jets (Ondrej Pavelec) at St. Louis Blues (Jake Allen), 8:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Monday
Nicklas Grossmann, D - Grossman (lower body) traveled to Columbus with the Coyotes for Saturday's game against the Blue Jackets, Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic reports. (11/13/2015)
Steve Downie, RW - Downie (upper body) didn't make the trip to Columbus for Saturday's game against the Blue Jackets, Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic reports. (11/13/2015)
Chris Pronger, D - Pronger was dealt to the Coyotes over the weekend along with defenseman Niklas Grossmann in exchange for forward Sam Gagner, a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2016 or a third-round pick in 2017, Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic reports. (6/29/2015)
Joe Vitale, C - Vitale will be sidelined for the next 4-to-6 weeks with a fractured orbital bone, Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic reports. (10/21/2015)
Dylan Reese, D - The Coyotes said that Reese (Achilles) suffered a severed Achilles tendon during his off-season training and is out indefinitely. (9/15/2015)
New York Islanders
Eric Boulton, LW - Boulton (lower body) will be out for Tuesday night's contest against the Sharks, Kevin Kurz of CSNBayArea.com reports. (11/10/2015)
Thomas Hickey, D - Hickey (lower body) will miss at least a month, Arthur Staple of Newsday reports. (10/26/2015)
Kirill Petrov, RW - Petrov will be out of action for at least the next month with a broken foot, reports Newsday's Arthur Staple. (11/5/2015)
Nate Thompson, C - Thompson (shoulder) is a week or two away from taking contact, Curtis Zupke of NHL.com reports. (11/9/2015)
Simon Despres, D - Ducks general manager Bob Murray told reporters Saturday that Despres is dealing with a concussion, Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports. (11/14/2015)
Jiri Sekac, RW - Sekac (ankle) is no longer requiring crutches to walk, according to Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. (11/14/2015)
Kenton Helgesen, LW - Helgesen (foot) was placed on injured reserve Monday, Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports. (10/5/2015)
Ryan Murphy, D - Coach Bill Peters indicated Sunday that Murphy is dealing with a concussion, Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer reports. (11/15/2015)
James Wisniewski, D - Wisniewski is expected to be sidelined six months after undergoing surgery on his left knee Friday to repair the torn ACL he suffered in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Predators, NHL.com's Michael Smith reports. (10/9/2015)
Alex Burrows, RW - Burrows has returned to Vancouver for personal reasons. "It's a good thing," coach Willie Desjardins indicated Sunday. (11/15/2015)
Brandon Prust, LW - Prust (ankle) thinks he is about a week away from returning. (11/15/2015)
Brandon Sutter, C - Sutter (lower body) did not practice Sunday, but coach Jeff Blashill indicated that he could return Monday, Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun reports. (11/15/2015)
Luca Sbisa, D - Sbisa (ankle) said he felt better while skating Sunday. (11/15/2015)
Zack Kassian, RW - Kassian was suspended without pay by the Canadiens on Monday, TSN's Bob McKenzie reports. (10/5/2015)
Michael Bournival, C - Bournival (concussion) skated following Monday's practice session and took shots on goalie Mike Condon, the Montreal Gazette reports. (10/20/2015)
Alexei Emelin, D - Emelin will miss Saturday's game against the Avalanche due to a lower-body injury. (11/14/2015)
Carey Price, G - Price (lower body) skated Saturday, Eric Engels of Sportsnet.ca reports. (11/14/2015)
Detroit Red Wings
Kyle Quincey, D - Quincey will be out 9-to-12 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair bone chips in his right ankle Saturday, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports. (11/12/2015)
Johan Franzen, RW - Franzen (concussion) was placed on IR on Thursday, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports. (10/15/2015)
Brendan Smith, D - Smith has been sidelined over the past week with an illness, and he will also miss Monday's contest because of it, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports. (11/15/2015)
Landon Ferraro, RW - Ferraro (knee) skated with the team for the first time Sunday since suffering the injury, and indicated that he's well ahead of schedule and hopes to return next week. (11/15/2015)
Teemu Pulkkinen, RW - Pulkkinen revealed Sunday that he missed Saturday's contest with a sore neck, but he skated Sunday and coach Jeff Blashill indicated he will decide on the lineup Monday, Anshar Khan of MLive.com reports. (11/15/2015)
Brad Richards, C - Richards (back) logged a full practice for the first time since Oct. 21 on Thursday, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports. (11/12/2015)
Clarke MacArthur, LW - General manager Bryan Murray confirmed Tuesday that MacArthur has been dealing with a concussion, Ian Mendes of TSN 1200 reports. (10/20/2015)
Andrew Hammond, G - Hammond suffered an undisclosed injury in practice Sunday, Dean Brown of TSN 1200 reports. (11/15/2015)
Jared Cowen, D - Cowen (lower body) won't play Saturday against the Rangers, Gord Wilson of TSN 1200 reports. (11/14/2015)
Chris Phillips, D - Phillips (back) said last week that he's "turned a corner" in the recovery process, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun reports. (9/22/2015)
Tampa Bay Lightning
Mattias Ohlund, D - Ohlund (knee) was placed on long-term injured reserve Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Times reports. (10/2/2013)
Ondrej Palat, LW - Palat will miss three-to-five weeks with a lower-body injury. He was spotted wearing a brace on his left ankle. (11/9/2015)
Mitchell Stephens, C - Stephens is out indefinitely with a broken foot, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports. (10/17/2015)
Marc Savard, C - The Panthers acquired Savard's (concussion) contract Wednesday along with forward Reilly Smith in a deal that sent Jimmy Hayes to the Bruins, TSN.ca reports. (7/1/2015)
Dmitry Kulikov, D - Kulikov will miss at least a week due to the lower-body injury suffered in Saturday's game against the Lightning, Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. (11/15/2015)
Grant Clitsome, D - Clitsome did not pass his pre-training camp physical and, as a result, will not play for the Jets this season, Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press reports. (9/19/2015)
St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz, LW - Schwartz will miss at least 12 weeks after receiving surgery on a fractured left ankle, Andrew Allsman of KMOV reports. (10/24/2015)
Steve Ott, C - Ott (upper body) is still without a timetable for his return from injury. (11/13/2015)
Paul Stastny, C - Stastny (foot) was spotted at the Blues' practice facility Friday. He has shed his boot and is walking without restrictions, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports. (11/13/2015)
Patrik Berglund, C - Berglund (shoulder) has been placed on long-term injured reserve. (10/7/2015)
Corey Perry, RW, ANA — The winger started the season with one assist in eight games. Since then, Perry has scored five goals and 10 points in his last nine tilts. The 30-year-old has turned his game around and fantasy owners can breathe a deep sigh of relief.
Duncan Keith, D, CHI — Keith returned Saturday after missing 10 games with a torn meniscus in his right knee. He picked up right where he left off, tallying an assist on a 60-foot shot while registering three shots. Perhaps most impressively, Keith played a season-high 27 minutes and 34 seconds.
Nick Foligno, F, CLB — It's still early, but 2014-15 is looking more and more like an outlier season for the versatile forward. He's scored two assists in his last nine games and is a minus-7 in his last four. Foligno totaled a career-high 73 points in 79 games last year but has just seven in his first 18 contests. He had 20 points in his first 18 tilts last season.
Mark Streit, D, PHI — Streit will miss the next six weeks with a pubic plate detachment. If that's not cold, I'm not sure what is. Despite a slow start in Philly, Streit was contributing more than his fair share with three goals and nine points. Fantasy owners with limited IR spots will need to determine whether to keep Streit or cut bait. Generally speaking, he's probably worth keeping but leagues vary so much that one size doesn't fit all. The Flyers recalled top defensive prospect Shayne Gostisbehere, who will see power-play time in Streit's absence, according to GM Ron Hextall.
Jared Spurgeon, D, MIN — The blueliner with perennial fantasy potential apparently is putting it to good use this year. Spurgeon has already scored 11 points in 16 games. He's currently riding a five-game point streak which includes one goal and five helpers. Spurgeon has teased fantasy owners before, but perhaps this time his production continues throughout the season.


06 September 2021
Real trains get dirty – Phil Parker shares how to replicate this on models to make them more realistic, using a selection of accessible techniques and products.
Before attacking any model, go and take a look at the real thing. These photos of a Midland 1F were taken at a Borrow Hill shed and happily, they keep it in typical working condition - grubby, but not really filthy.
The prototype might use gloss paint, but this looks toy-like on a model. A little bit of shine showing through the dirt is a nice idea if you imagine your loco is well cared for by its crew. Polish the paint gently with a cotton bud dipped in car colour restorer (T-Cut) or even mild metal polish (Brasso). Try this on a hidden area first if you aren't sure how the paint will react. When polishing, try to imagine where a real cleaner would be able to reach, or a proud driver would wipe an oily rag.
We are going to use an airbrush to add the first layer of dirt. To make cleaning the wheels easier, a bit of WD40 is applied to the tyres as paint won't stick so well to this.
In the spray booth, the lower areas are heavily misted with earth colour and rust, the top dark grey and a hint of black and everywhere with track colour (dark brown). There's no science to this, we are just chucking mucky colours around. You might need to consider where your railway is set - if modelling a Cornish clay line, the model needs plenty of off-white on the lower regions as you'll see from photos. Sitting it on a box makes spraying under the valances easier. We are assured it doesn't affect the taste of the cats' dinner.
When spraying, it's essential you take precautions to avoid breathing in paint vapours. This spray booth came from Expo Tools and uses easily replacable filters to clean the air rather than needing a pipe poking out of a window. It's a wise move to wear a suitably rated face mask at the same time and Expo can supply one with a cartridge filter for a price of a couple of coffees.
Move the wheels occasionally during spraying to avoid clean "shadows" behind the spokes and valve gear. On a DC model, a 9v battery will do the job. For DCC, you are better placing it on the layout and rotating the wheels about 1/8th of a turn.
The end result is a really filthy locomotive. You could stop now if that's the state the prototype ran on your railway, but we are going to go further.
Before the paint has hardened, a stiff brush damp with thinners removes most of the weathering. Work downwards as though the dirt has been washed away in the rain, the colour remains in nooks and crannies.
Another quick blast in the spray booth and now the loco looks as though it's been cleaned but the dirt is returning.
Surfaces that would wear in use such as steps and handrails are tickled with a dry brush of Metalcote gunmetal. The slightly shiny paint contrasts nicely with the dirty model but don't overdo the effect, subtlety is the key. Finally, weathering powders not only simulate dirt, but they also provide texture. Try some rust colour around the bottom of the smokebox door, bufferbeams and cylinder fronts.
Now, let the paint dry fully, clean the wheel treads and your loco is ready for realistic service on your layout.


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There is no veritable veracity than the umbilical cord. It is the perfect manifestation of elaborate trust and pure truth.
“Tumahre to pehle se hi ek ladki hai Kaka (You already have a girl Kaka)?” enquired one of the visitors. Is baar ladka hoga (this time it will be a boy), he continued, while Bahauddin and I were heading towards the medical shop to buy some routine medicine before delivery. Bahauddin responded to the visitor with utmost maturity and to my delight, “kya farq padta hai ladka ho ya ladki (what difference does it whether it is a boy or a girl). The known visitor sarcastically smiled and said “farq to padta hai kaka (it does make a difference Kaka)”. I wondered why does this middle-aged family-man was put to unnecessary pressure by the society without any of his faults, who is not leaving a single stone unturned to get his family going.
Bahauddin, a 45-year-old man, calls himself to be a Mewati but never claims to be a proud Mewati. As, he often tells me, “Bhai I do not attach myself too much to these Mewatis” since they are very austere in their day to day life.
While we waited outside the labour room, the observer in me was awakened by a discussion with one of my friends who is a gynaecologist abut women’s rights a few days back. He told me “if you really want to feel the dastardly, despicable and double standards of society just spend half an hour outside any labour room of any hospital”. “You will get to know the true diabolical picture of the society” he added.
The worried face of the father to be was nerve-racking. There was giggling and the occasional laughter of the nurses, the hurried and random movement of the doctors and the hustle bustle of patients. But the old ladies who were sitting outside were eating Aloo Poori with absolute calm and composure as if the hospital is a picnic spot. Their body language was full of pride that ‘we have seen it all and done it all’.
All of a sudden, a nurse, heavily built, surely a veteran, shouted with discordant voice “Tabassum ke saath kaun hai (Is there anyone with Tabassum)”? She shouted thrice, and when nobody responded, she got irritated. “ladki hotey hi saanp soong jata hain logo ko (when girl takes birth, they behave as if they have been sniffed by a snake)”. She went back to the labour room- annoyed and disgusted.
I was astonishing to see the father of a child not claiming her to be his child. This is possibly the most gruesome tragedy of this society- The hypocrisy. It was clearly visible outside the labour room that the birth of the son is euphoria and the birth of a girl is not a happy moment in most of the cases.
After around fifteen minutes Bahauddin came back to me. I enquired, what happened? He, impassively with straight face, said “bhai phir se ladki hui hai (brother, again a girl). Nonetheless I congratulated him and offered him sweets.
On my way back from the hospital, I wondered kyun farq padta hai (Why does it make a difference)? Understanding my visible restlessness my four-year-old daughter enquired why you are so upset dad. I held her in arms and said, “I really do not know honey.”
About the Author: Naved Ahmad is an Aligarh based writer and an Alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University.

domain: literature


text:
Unexplained Explained: Ghostlyparanormal Activity
- Rated NR
- Genre: Special Interest-Documentary
- Release Date: 9/27/2011
Unexplained Explained is a compelling documentary that looks deeply inside the world of the Paranormal and Supernatural. Producer Paul Wookey decides to go on a personal journey to investigate the universal ghost and spirit experience joined by psychic medium Diane Howe and a very curious film crew. Paul travels to Pendle known for it's history of witchcraft and medieval practices. The Anchor Pub, based in a beautiful part of the Dales in England, holds secrets and paranormal activity yet to be discovered.
|This product is a special order|

domain: entertainment


The government's drought relief programmes are bound to fail in the long run. Even the Planning Commission acknowledges that funds for the drought relief is becoming illegal income for officials, politicians and contractors
Out of focus
The biggest hurdle in providing the much-needed drought relief is corruption in the government machinery. Rajasthan has spent almost Rs 6,500 crore on drought relief works like employment generation, fodder distribution and drinking water facilities in the past 45 years. Another Rs 628 crore has been spent in the last 27 years to stop the spread of the Thar desert. But there is no impact. Three of the districts in the Thar, Jodhpur, Churu and Barmer, have had drought in 31 of the past 38 years. The state government admitted that there were huge leakages in its drought relief works last year, and officials say at least 30-40 per cent of the money never reached the people.
In the case of the districts in the Nasik division of Maharashtra, the public distribution system ( pds ) has collapsed. Recent raids on some pds shops revealed that the foodgrain meant for drought-hit tribal people was being diverted to black market. It might have caused the food scarcity in a drought year, which claimed the lives of 8,000 children. "Today Rs 60 out of Rs 100 in wage schemes is reserved for wages, but in reality only Rs 10-15 actually goes to the poor worker, the rest is illegal income for bureaucracy, contractors and politicians," notes the approach paper of the Planning Commission for the Tenth Five Year Plan. Whatever actually reaches the people in the name of drought relief is not spent wisely, and doesn't go a long way in drought-proofing.
"Drought is not like most other disasters: it can be seen coming, slowly, from a long way off," wrote Lloyd Timberlake in Africa in Crisis , a book on drought in Africa. India has seen it come for almost 5,000 years. How can such a frequent phenomena become a disaster in Rajasthan, where drought extended to 16 of the last 20 years? Drought becomes an annual disaster when effort is not made to drought-proof -- provide long-term relief against drought. This can be done by regenerating the natural asset base in villages, in other words, good management of land, water and forest so that there is a buffer for times when rains are below normal. But when drought occurs in the absence of drought-proofing, the only thing to do is to make sure that it doesn't become a famine. In times of famine, food for work programmes are used to provide employment, so that the people have money to buy food, water and fodder. Over the years, the Indian government has devised numerous schemes built on this concept.
India has more than a dozen programmes with a budget outlay of more than Rs 11,000 crore per year to fight drought and reduce rural poverty. The magnitude of the current drought indicates that these programmes have gone haywire somewhere. "The government emphasis is on developing infrastructure like roads and buildings. It didn't focus on the real assets of communities," says Koda Ramakrishna Reddy, expert on minor irrigation projects at the Krishna Deva Raya University, Ananthapur, commenting on drought relief work in Andhra Pradesh.
The first drought management programme in India, the Rural Works Programme, was started in the 1950s (see box: Programmed for drought ). Its focus was employment generation. It was rechristened as the Drought Prone Area Programme ( dpap ) in 1974, with the focus shifting to using employment generation for creation of assets. A recent audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India shows dpap has consumed Rs 2,195 crore since 1974 (see table: Money down the drain ). Yet drought-prone area has increased from 55.3 million hectares (mha) in 1974 to 74.6 mha in 1995. Since 1995, 5. 9 mha has got added to it. This is besides the 2.6 mha which is under the Desert Development Programme ( ddp ), which started as a programme to revive the ecology in hot and cold deserts. According to estimates of the Planning Commission, up to the end of the Eight Five Year Plan, about 16.5 mha rainfed/ degraded land was treated. However, the net sown area has remained stagnant at about 142 mha. It is estimated that this might be due to an equal area getting degraded every year.
The high-level Hanumantha Rao Committee was set up in 1994-95 to review dpap and ddp . The committee observed that these two programmes had failed grossly, and recommended their implementation on watershed basis with people's participation to make the programme sustainable.dpap created physical structures that are either useless in drought-proofing to begin with or become useless without the social institutions to take care of them. Thus once the programme is withdrawn, it is back to square one. The second most important hurdle is that the programme works on a target basis. So, if 500 hectares has to be treated in five years, it would mean four years of activities and one year of gradual withdrawal. By the time the government withdraws, the structures are ready, but the village community is not organised enough to maintain it. A major survey of 70 villages in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ( icar ) in 1998 found that increase in agricultural production due to watershed development activities lasted no more than two years. It brought into focus the post-project bankruptcy in institutions at the village level.
"Strict orientation to achieve physical targets leaves field staff little time to promote social organisation," says the icar report. To make village institutions mature enough to take up watershed development more intensely, a watershed development fund was created in 2000 and the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development has been entrusted to take up 100 districts in three years. One-third of the money would be spent in empowering watershed committees. According to a undp report on environment regeneration and poverty alleviation, it takes 10-15 years for a village to regenerate its ecology and create prosperity. Villages such as Ralegan-Siddhi in Maharashtra and Raj-Samadhiyala in Gujarat have put in more than 15 years of efforts to insulate themselves from drought.
Fund crunch and institutional vacuum at the village level can threaten major watershed programmes, like that of the Madhya Pradesh government, perhaps the world's largest watershed development mission. The highly participatory programme's success has been measured by the regeneration of one of its most backward and drought-prone districts: Jhabua. Without a realistic time frame to put the ecology on a sustainable path and in the absence of empowered village institutions, Jhabua might see a reversal of fortune.
The first phase of the programme is over and 69 watersheds have been handed over to the community. But an evaluation by the Dahod-based N M Sadguru Foundation shows that due to absence of mature institutional backing, the impact of the programme might disappear in the long run. On the funding pattern, the evaluation report says that in all the sample watersheds, money was not available to take up all the activities drawn up in the project report. In October 1999, the first phase of funding under dpap stopped and by this time most of the watersheds in the districts had hardly completed 40 per cent of activities as mentioned in the guidelines.
To meet their targets, the district authorities took up the development of 113 watersheds with the money sanctioned for 54. "With the restraint in flow of money, the interaction between the villagers and the government collapsed," says Jam Singh, a former member of the watershed committee of Kakradara village, one of the most successful watershed villages in the district. Out of its 650 residents, 400 have migrated for the second consecutive year. Badli Bai, who was heading the once thriving women's thrift group in the village, says, "The awareness created in the last four years can't die. But, what we need now is a few more years of help to make our village self-dependent." One programme that can address this concern is the Jawahar Rozgar Yojna ( jry ), which for the first time gives the relief funds in the hands of the village councils.
jry was launched on April 1, 1989, by merging two other employment generation programmes. It was for the first time that local government institutions ( panchayat s at the village, block and district level) were given the charge of implementing employment generation programmes and also to maintain the assets created. While 70 per cent of the project fund was given directly to the village councils, the remaining was allocated to the block- and district-level panchayat s.
Financial bungling at the district level by government officials and, in some cases, by panchayat members, however, have made the project a huge failure. According to an evaluation by the Union ministry of rural development between June 1993 and May 1994, jry generated an average of 11 days of employment per person per year.
According to an assessment by the Planning Commission, the programme did start a process of community involvement and management in structures created by the programme and evoked a response from elected representatives. "It was an experiment to gauge the response of the village-level leaders. And it was encouraging," says NCSaxena, secretary, Planning Commission. But, the way the programme is designed has left enough scope for the district bureaucracy to manipulate it. A panchayat has to get projects technically certified before implemention begins, and then again after implementation. This only led to delays and harassment of local leaders. "Unless technical officials are also transferred to the panchayat s along with funds and functions, such dependence on bureaucracy will continue and will not be in the interest of effective implementation of anti-poverty programmes," the Planning Commission warns.
One decade later, the government has renamed the scheme Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana to create more wage employment and more village structures. In this new incarnation, jry wage generation was made secondary and creation of infrastructure to create sustained employment was made the priority. Again nothing substantial changes were made to the jry to right its shortcomings. Rather, it strengthened the district bureaucracy's control over the programme. Under the new programme, designed as an integrated rural development programme, villages still don't enjoy absolute autonomy. The district bureaucracy still has control over panchayat s. And the bureaucracy wrested control by bifurcating the money through the eas .
Money down the drain
Funds released by the Union government under the Drought Prone Areas Programme (in Rs crore)
|Jammu & Kashmir||2.60||1.98||1.13||0.40||2.20||3.69|
|J R Y||E A S|
|Village councils selects works and implements them||Collector decides the project areas|
|Village council decides the type of works to be taken up. It reflects the village's needs.||Line departments decide the type of works and the village's needs are not taken into consideration|
|Money (70 per cent of the project) comes straight to the village council.||Collector and the DRDA manage the fund. Often, political pressures decide the places to be taken up, thus diverting money from areas that need it|
|The target beneficiary remains pointed, that is those below the poverty line and people from the scheduled castes and tribes.||Though started in drought-prone areas, now it is spread to all blocks in the country. It has led to competition among states to get the maximum share of the programme|
|Transperancy can be achieved as it is implemented through a community body||Community doesn't have any control over this project and transperancy yet to be incorporated into this project.|
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text:
I don’t even know.
Posted 1 year ago
tricking, parkour, freerunning, pk, flips, twists, gif, urban,
Played off like a champ.
Hey. My name is Mark and I'm 19.
Martial Artist | Tricker | Nerd
Most of the stuff on here will be Tricking, martial arts, Comic Book , Avatar/Korra, Anime, Star Wars or just general nerd stuff/humor related. There. Now 'nuff said.
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domain: hobby


MEDIATECH SIGNS UP FOR ENDORPHINA GAMES
Gaming technology provider signs content deal with Czech games developer.
Omni-channel gaming platform provider Mediatech Solutions has reached a content agreement with fast-growing Czech software supplier Endorphina.
The deal will see Mediatech integrate slots from Endorphina, including Safari, Satoshi’s Secret and Jetsetter, as well as recent releases, Twerk, Voodoo and 7up!
The slots will join more than 1,500 other titles on Mediatech’s next generation IRIS platform, and all Mediatech clients will now have access to the rapidly expanding Endorphina slots portfolio.
Mediatech Solutions executive director Daniel Graetzer said in a press statement Thursday that his company was always on the look-out for engaging new content, and the Czech game developers portfolio certainly provided this.
Mediatech recently signed a deal to supply Dutch land-based chain Fair Play with a new online casino using its IRIS platform under a Maltese license


text:
The mission of the Canadian International Development Agency has traditionally been a stand-alone agency to help people living in poverty.
It reported to Parliament through the Ministry of International Cooperation.
But now, the federal government is folding CIDA into the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
That has some humanitarian organizations concerned about tying aid to Canada's self-interest rather than to simply helping those in need.
David Jefferess is chair of the cultural studies program at UBC Okanagan and has studied humanitarian aid.
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domain: news


text:
NYCIF 2019 Workshop Series: A Taste of Musical Improv
About the class
Have you been tempted by musical improv but haven’t yet found the courage to try it? Then this workshop is for you! Come dip your toes into the pool of musical make-em-ups with a three hour introductory class that will touch on melody, music and being brave enough to sing without a script! No musical or singing background needed!
The PIT Loft
154 W 29th St
(between 6th and 7th avenues)
Katie Hammond, a Michigan native, earned her BA in Theatre from The College of Wooster in Ohio before starting her career in improv. In Chicago, she studied and performed at The Second City, iO and The Playground Theater. She relocated to Florida to improvise full-time at Walt Disney World and at SAK Comedy Lab in downtown Orlando. After moving to NYC she studied and performed at The Magnet Theatre and at The People’s Improv Theatre. At the PIT she can be seen performing weekly with her musical house team VERN, as well as on her two-man made-up musical What Town? The Musical. She tours the country with Broadway’s Next Hit Musical and performs regularly with The Story Pirates and This Is Your Life: The Musical. www.katiehammond.com


Delta VFD220C43E 30Kw Inverter: Empowering Precision and Efficiency
The Delta VFD220C43E 30Kw inverter stands as a pinnacle of advanced engineering, designed to cater to industrial needs with unparalleled precision, reliability, and efficiency. Engineered by Delta, a globally renowned leader in power electronics, this inverter is meticulously crafted to optimize operations across diverse applications, offering superior control over motor-driven systems.
With a power output of 30 kilowatts, the VFD220C43E model from Delta ensures seamless operations for heavy-duty machinery and industrial applications. Its cutting-edge technology empowers precise speed and torque control, guaranteeing consistent performance in varying load conditions.
Featuring state-of-the-art vector control algorithms, this inverter maximizes energy efficiency while minimizing power loss. Its intelligent design adapts to load variations, significantly reducing energy consumption and operational costs over time.
Robust and Reliable:
Crafted from high-quality components, the Delta VFD220C43E ensures durability and reliability even in demanding environments. Its robust construction and adherence to stringent quality standards make it a dependable choice for continuous and uninterrupted operations.
Intuitive Interface and Connectivity:
The user-friendly interface simplifies configuration and monitoring, allowing for seamless integration into existing systems. Additionally, its compatibility with various communication protocols enables easy connectivity and integration within diverse industrial setups.
Safety and Compliance:
Committed to safety, Delta has equipped the VFD220C43E with comprehensive protection mechanisms, including overload protection, overvoltage protection, and overcurrent protection. Furthermore, this inverter complies with industry standards, ensuring a secure and compliant operation environment.
The Delta VFD220C43E 30Kw inverter finds its applications across a wide spectrum of industries, including but not limited to:
- HVAC systems
- Industrial pumps and fans
- Conveyors and machinery
In summary, the Delta VFD220C43E 30Kw inverter represents the epitome of technological innovation, offering unparalleled precision, efficiency, and reliability for industrial operations. Trust Delta's expertise to elevate your processes, optimize energy consumption, and drive productivity to new heights.
Invest in the Delta VFD220C43E inverter today and experience the power of precision engineering.


What is HDMI QMS and Do You Have It?
One of the HDMI 2.1 features some people have been looking forward to is QMS – Quick Media Switching. The overarching promise that has some users excited is the elimination of black screens in between your content when you switch from one video to another. QMS utilizes HDMI VRR, but for video sources instead of just games. So the idea is, when you switch from a 60 Hz menu to a 24 Hz movie source and then to a 30 Hz video, there won’t be any interruption. It’ll just be video on your screen the entire time. Sounds great, right? Well…
But, of course, this is HDMI we’re talking about. The reality isn’t anywhere near what some people were envisioning. First and foremost, devices have to either be updated or come with QMS supported out of the box. At the moment, only the newest Apple TV 4K box and LG’s 2023 OLEDs (and a couple of QNED models) actually have QMS active and functioning. But Vincent Teoh from HDTV Test tried them out and discovered some disappointing results.
Getting QMS to Work
First, and hilariously, you need to manually turn QMS OFF before you begin! Otherwise, when you plug a fresh, new Apple TV 4K into your new 2023 LG OLED, you’ll just get endless HDMI handshaking errors until you perform firmware updates on both of them. And the only way to get to the firmware update screen is to either turn QMS Off, or plug your Apple TV 4K into a different display that does not have QMS. The fun part? QMS is ON by default! Surely that won’t confuse some customers and cause them to return their “defective” products!
Once that’s done, you’ll then discover that HDMI QMS is ONLY about frame rate switching. If your signal changes resolution…or HDR…you’re still going to get a black screen in between. So this is hardly the seamless video experience that some people were envisioning. At least having QMS turned on does seem to reduce the duration of the black screen when both the HDR format and the frame rate are changing.
But Wait, There’s More!
There’s also the AV Receiver conundrum. QMS was listed as a feature on the HDMI 2.1 receiver models that came out a couple of years ago (currently listed on the Marantz SR5015 as available after an update). It now turns out that the manufacturer of the HDMI 2.1 boards that were used in those models – Nuvoton – has confirmed there’s no way to get it working. The HDMI 2.1 specifications for QMS were not finalized back then. And now that it’s here, with the newer HDMI 2.1a specification, they don’t have any way to update those older HDMI 2.1 boards to make it work.
Denon and Marantz’s newest Receiver models specifically list that they do NOT have Quick Media Switching. Does this mean they can’t enable it via firmware update? We don’t know. But we are happy that they are not promising firmware updates that may never happen.


text:
Cheap shots wrong about California
Back in 1936 and 1972, when California was in the midst of serious recessions, no Republican presidential candidate would have dared bash this state the way Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Peggy Noonan and others lately have.
Back then, California was pretty safely Republican in presidential voting and no GOP bigwig would do anything to risk changing that.
But times have changed; California has become pretty safely Democratic in presidential and U.S. Senate votes, so the GOP has nothing to lose in making false and misleading claims about it.
We see this regularly here from a corps of right-leaning bloggers who almost never say anything positive about the state they call home, trashing it at every opportunity. Their constant tide of belittling commentary moved Gov. Jerry Brown to describe them as “declinists.”
But was there merit in Romney’s likening California to financially troubled nations of similar size like Spain, Italy and Greece?
Was Palin correct to call California “a cautionary tale” for the rest of America? Was former presidential speechwriter Noonan on target while blasting California on national television?
The left-leaning magazine, The Atlantic, quickly responded with a series of graphs and some expert quotes that among other things called comparisons between California and troubled European countries “superficial” and “silly.”
One thing for sure: The same Republicans who blast California, come here at every opportunity to fatten their personal pocketbooks and campaign funds. Romney, for one, has milked Californians for about one-fifth of his campaign dollars, mostly via high-priced dinners and receptions in the hotels and mansions of the ultra-rich who have somehow survived this state’s supposed decline.
The Atlantic’s graphs show California not only has a higher gross domestic product than any of the three European countries to which Republicans compared it, but has had far higher economic growth, lower unemployment, a far lower debt-to-gross domestic product ratio and far lower budget deficits.
In fact, California surpasses many other states, large and small – Illinois, New York and Nevada to name three – in all those categories, and scores of others (including Texas) in some of those departments.
But it’s a convenient target because the absolute numbers are always higher here because California this has the largest population.
A new report from the International Trade Association shows California exports growing rapidly, with first-half 2012 sales to foreign countries at $82 billion, a 6 percent increase over last year. And California continues to lead the nation in charitable contributions, kicking in about one-eighth of the national total, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Exponentially more small businesses start up each year in California and private sector employment here grew over the last year, by a higher percentage than in any other state.
So the cheap shots are just that; the facts tell a different story.


Sebastian de la Cruz performs national anthem again at NBA Finals, receives positive response
Sebastian de la Cruz, the 11-year-old performer from San Antonio, Texas, has had quite the week. Not only was he asked on the spur of the moment to perform the national anthem before Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but the young mariachi singer was asked to come back and perform again before Game 4.
Thursday night, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and his wife, Erica, formally introduced Sebastian to the audience before his second performance. The young man received loud applause from the crowd as he began to sing, once again dressed in his mariachi outfit.
After he finished, both NBA coaches, Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs and Erik Spoelstra with the Miami Heat, walked up to Sebastian and shook his hand.
During a press conference, Popovich spoke about the character Sebastian has shown.
"He’s a class act," Popovich said. "He makes you feel that the future can be very bright."
Before Thursday night's game, Castro posted a statement to Facebook addressing the negative comments that flooded Twitter Tuesday night after Sebastian's first performance.
"I'm proud of our young San Antonio superstar Sebastian de la Cruz for a spectacular rendition of our national anthem at last night's Spurs game," Castro posted. "Sebastian, don't let a few negative voices get you down. You are a true talent and you represent the best of our nation's future!"
Even President Barack Obama mentioned the young performer on Twitter:
"Don't miss @selcharrodeoro's encore performance of the national anthem at the NBA Finals in San Antonio tonight."
In an interview with ABC, Sebastian was asked what he would say to those who made negative comments regarding his performance.
"To the people who do have hatred in their hearts, I just want to tell them that they should think before they say things."
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Charlie Roy Daniel, 83, of Millersville died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.
He was born May 11, 1929, in Johnsonville, Tenn., to Roy and Flora McCaleb Daniel. He and Carolyn M. Friese were married Nov. 16, 1956. She preceded him in death on April 15, 1998.
Daniel graduated from Benton High School and attended Southeast Missouri State University.
He served with the U.S. Army in Korea during the Korean conflict from 1951 to 1952.
Daniel was vice president of manufacturing at Lenco Inc. in Jackson, where he worked from Jan. 4, 1956, until retiring March 31, 1986. He also was owner and operator of Daniel Farms in Millersville.
He was a member of Millersville United Methodist Church and served in various capacities including Sunday school superintendent. He was a 50-year member and past master of Westview Lodge 103 AF&AM of Millersville and a member of Cape Girardeau Shrine Club.
He is survived by a son, Chuck (Ann) Daniel of Imperial, Mo.; a daughter, Benita (Jim) Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau; three sisters, Beulah McClain of Jerseyville, Ill., Bessie Buck of Jackson and Gayla Volz of Oak Ridge; seven grandchildren, Cory (Kristen) Daniel of Jackson, Caleb (Nikki) Daniel of Millersville, Katie (Steve) Foristal of Glendale, Mo., J.P. Limbaugh of Houston, Maggie Limbaugh of Memphis, Tenn., Heather Zapp of St. Charles, Mo., and Danielle Zapp of Fairview Heights, Ill.; three great-grandchildren, Masyn Daniel and Steven and Hudson Foristal.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; a brother, Joe M. Daniel; and two sisters, Lula Jane Pattengill and Oneida Ziegler.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home, with a Masonic service at 6 p.m.
The funeral will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Michael Davis officiating. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park with full military honors.
Memorials may be made to SoutheastHEALTH Hospice or Millersville United Methodist Church.
Online condolences may be made at www.cracraftmiller.com.


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Adi Ana Raliwalala put on an impressive performance to help defending champion Police beat Savusavu 39-0 and secure their first win in the Fiji Bitter Marist 7s women’s competition
Raliwalala says it was always her dream to represent Fiji on the world stage ever since she had started playing rugby six years ago while being a student at Immaculate Conception College in Bua.
The 23-year-old kicked three conversions in the first half and displayed speed and fancy footwork to beat four defenders and score a try in the second half.
Other tries came from Fijiana reps Laisana Likuceva who scored two tries and Verenaisi Bari.
In other women's results, Seahawks thrashed Saint Teresa 52-0
In the Under 21 category; Ravuka Sharks beat Vuda Kings 20-0, Cautata Eagles beat Western Marine 19-5, Dominion Brothers beat Namuaniwaqa 30-0, Service Labasa beat Cloud Break Brothers 12-7, Navakawau beat Belovula 19-0, Navatuvula beat Sseekadah 22-7 and Ba River beat Waqadra Brothers 14-0.
Stay with us for updates
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The name of an Australian medium Charles Bailey (about 1870 – 1947) most often mentioned in connection with its ability to create apporty – some strange distant objects, which materialized in the room where sessions were held. He was a member of the Melbourne cup spiritualist Thomas Stanford, a wealthy American businessman and brother of the founder of Stanford University.
In 1903, Bailey took part in several meetings organized by Charles McCarthy, a doctor in Sydney. They were attended by 30 people. Bailey always searched, however, not stripped, and then placed in a canvas bag, which is tightly tied around the neck and wrists. His hands were asked to leave free, to “take apporty fragile. When the sessions are not conducted, enter the room could only McCarthy and his two assistants. Total appeared 54 apporta, among which were plates with inscriptions, small birds, coins, semi-precious stones, the newspaper in Arabic, crab and a big shark dying.
Although McCarthy in the book “Rigorous testing in the occult sciences” (1904) excluded the deception, many considered the submission Bailey suspicious. Museum experts have argued that the antiquities had been fabricated. Nevertheless, in its heyday, the turn of the century until his death in 1947, Charles Bailey, nevertheless became a celebrity in Melbourne and Sydney, where he is about once a week arranged magical passages. Bailey was subjected to testing in Australia, Britain and European countries, and often it is found guilty of fraud. He bought two “birds for apportov” immediately before a session in France, and in 1914 when, during a session in Sydney four men “materialized” a spectator grabbed one of them, found in his hand a thin mosquito setka.Chtoby avoid further checks it uses questionable methods, Bailey went into hiding under the name of the medium Mills-Tanner.

domain: history