Meeting SummaryThis meeting was a continuation of the previous week’s briefing, which was postponed since the Deputy Minister could not attend to answer policy questions, and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) had also not been present to answer questions about its operations. Once again, SASSA had not been invited, and so, although the Department of Social Development could attend to some policy issues, a number of the questions would have to stand over to be answered by SASSA directly. The Deputy Minister suggested that the Committee should engage with the agencies, and the Ministry would also attend.
A number of questions were posed by Members as a follow up. Members focused on the problems around adoption and fostering, pointing out that although in the rural communities there tended not to be formal adoption, the Department was encouraging that this happen, in order that the children could inherit, and so that there was better protection. The Children’s Act would streamline this process. The Department was interfacing with community and religious organisations on the issue. Another substantive issue was the system of payouts, with concerns being expressed over long queues at paypoints, few facilities for the frail and elderly, the fact that not all paypoints had ablution facilities or were safe or had seats. Members questioned the pressures on the Department in terms of the grants, particularly the social relief of distress grants, and the need for the Department to balance its priorities carefully. They questioned under spending and the Department explained the difference between the underspending in some areas and the savings in others, occasioned by grants no longer needing to be paid, and therefore being stopped after monitoring. The Members also questioned and were advised about the training of Assistant Probation Officers and Social Auxiliary Workers, both of which were scarce skills. The anti-poverty strategy was also explained, in consultation with Civil Society organisations and other social partners. The largest poverty alleviation measure currently was the social assistance programme, which commanded R76 billion. Community based initiatives should not be looked at in isolation from that poverty alleviation, and the Department explained that having tried to use food parcel initiatives, it had now reverted to using cash transfers and vouchers.
Other questions addressed the targets, the Social Development Information Management System, and pilot projects on disabilities, the statistics for abuse of the elderly, and the different forms of alternative care for children. Questions were also raised on the criteria for the old age grant, the Department’s plans for recruitment and retention of staff, what steps had been taken to discipline those who had not included the correct information in the documents, and how this was being addressed now, the lack of standardisation, why task teams were still being used, and clarification of the systems and the capacity of officials to do the work. Members asked what lessons could be learned from the pilot programme, conducted by the Department, in six correctional services facilities, for children awaiting trial, how far implementation of protocols and guidelines for foster care had reached, whether the expected results were obtained from the probation officer training, and when the care dependency grant implementation plan would be finalised by the Department. They also questioned if any priority programmes been identified previously by the Department for poverty eradication, the youth programmes, and the Early Childhood Development programmes, asked what challenges the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals had, and asked for an explanation as to whether SASSA was accountable to the Department. Members also asked about the costing and implementation of the Children’s Act. Written responses would be sent to any questions not answered in the meeting.
Department of Social Development Annual Report 2008/09: Continuation of presentation
The Chairperson welcomed the Department of Social Development and the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini. She noted that the Committee had taken a briefing from the Department of Social Development (DSD or the Department) the previous week.
The Deputy Minister apologised to the Committee for her inability to be present at the meeting the previous week and assured the Committee that this would not happen again.
The Chairperson noted that a written apology had been received from her office. The Committee was looking forward to working with her.
Mr Vusi Madonsela, Director General, Department of Social Development, explained that the Department of Social Development had two agencies associated with it, the National Development Agency and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), both of which were established in terms of Schedule 3(a) of the PFMA. Those agencies had their own accounting officers, programmes and Annual Reports, based on their own plans, over which DSD exercised oversight.
He noted that several questions posed related specifically to SASSA, which should be able to interact with the Committee on its own accord to deal with questions relating to the capacity of staff, the percentage of data verified by SASSA, the filling of critical posts, and so on.
DSD as a national Department remained responsible for policy, but the day-to-day administration remained with SASSA. Several questions posed did not relate directly to matters of policy insofar as SASSA was concerned but to the administration. DSD would be able to field questions on social security insofar as they dealt with matters of policy.
Discussion on matters arising from previous presentation
Mr M de Villiers (DA, Western Cape), asked a question about South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), whether the data was verified, in relation to the 70% of priority grants on Child Support Grant (CSG)and Old Age Grants (OAG).
Mr de Villiers also asked why the Improved Grants Application Process (IGAP) was rolled out in one region instead of four.
Mr de Villiers also asked why there was no reporting by SASSA on the implementation of a registry module or the workflow for grant administration, and development of a record management solution for bulk scanning.
The Department responded that it would be best to speak with SASSA directly in terms of the verification of data and the reasons for the rollout in only one province.
Mr T Mashamaite (ANC, Limpopo) referred to the Social Development Information Management System. It had been reported in the Annual Report that the Department, under Stakeholder Management and Donor Coordination, met with various donors such as National Treasury, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, but had deviated from the targets of impact analysis of officials and other targeted assistance by 90%. He asked the Department to explain how and why it deviated from that target.
Mr Mashamaite noted that seven provinces were implementing the Social Development Information Management system by the end of the financial year. He asked for the names of those provinces, and what information had been rolled out in the other two provinces, as also what the Department was doing to ensure that all provinces had the system in place.
The Department responded that the Social Development Information Management System (SDIMS), was rolled out in seven provinces, excluding North West and Gauteng. Provinces had the right to make the choice whether to roll this out.
Ms D Rantho (ANC, Eastern Cape) asked in which provinces the implementation strategy for the policy on disabilities had been piloted, and how did the Department had chosen the pilot site.
Dr Maria Mabetoa, Deputy Director General: Welfare Services, DSD, responded on the implementation of minimum standards and policies on residential facilities for people with disability that was piloted in the Eastern Cape. The pilot was finalised in the Eastern Cape and evaluated, and in this financial year full implementation was taking place in all provinces. The reasons for choosing the Eastern Cape was that it had shown willing to be the pilot, when all provinces were consulted.
Ms Rantho asked how far the Department had proceeded on compiling statistics on, or registering the abuse of elders.
Dr Mabetoa said that statistics to populate the register on elder abuse had been received from four provinces, Limpopo, Western Cape, KZN and Free State, and other provinces intended to send their statistics before the end of this month. This financial year the framework for the collection of statistics had been developed, people had been trained and statistics were flowing in. Statistics would also come from Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ) and other relevant departments.
Ms Rantho also asked how many children were benefiting from alternative care, and how was that form of care rolled out in the different provinces.
Dr Mabetoa informed her that there were 614 931 children in alternative care, of which 537 785 were in foster care. 60 731 children were in adoption care and 13 885 children were in residential care. She added that alternative care was a statutory service provided to all children in accordance with the Child Care Act of 1993. The services were provided to children who were found to be in need of care and protection through the courts. Once a finding to this effect was made, the social worker concerned had to find alternative care for that child if the court order had so requested. 80% of children in foster care were orphans, and were being looked after by their relatives. The guidelines on foster care were drafted last year and were being finalised through consultation with the provinces. When the Children's Act came into operation in April next year the guidelines would be operational.
Mr S Plaatjie (COPE, North West) asked what were the qualifying criteria on the old age grant, as he had heard that two women of 68 and 70 years old did not qualify on the basis of their spouses' income.
The Department responded that, apart from the normal administrative documentary requirements, the criteria for a grant to be given were the age, the income and the assets of the applicant. If the income of a single person exceeded R2 400 per month, or R29 112 per annum, that person would not qualify for the benefit. In the case where the applicant was married, the income was considered to be joint income, and the income means test threshold for a couple was R58 224 per annum, or R4 852 per month. If an individual applying for the grant owned property then the value of that asset was also taken into account.
Mr Plaatjie asked what the 356 posts filled “additional to establishment” referred to. He asked if these people were contract-based employees, and at what level they were categorised.
Mr Plaatjie asked how SASSA aimed to fast track recruitment for critical posts.
Mr Plaatjie asked what SASSA planned to retain critical skills or employees.
Ms M Makgale (ANC, North West) asked when the Integrated Foster Care Management framework would be piloted, and in which areas this would take place.
Ms Makgale asked the reasons for overspending on social relief of distress.
The Department responded that government set up a task team to deal with social relief of distress when there was an escalation of food prices. At the beginning of the financial year there were already indications that, given the rising cost of basic foodstuffs, government would have to intervene. In addition to the R134 million budgeted, an additional R500 million was allocated in October. Many South Africans, who did not qualify for the basic social grants, became aware of the social relief of distress provisions, and decided to make application for this as a way of boosting their income. This led to an increase in the number of applications, so that the additional budget was not sufficient, and resulted in overspending. Given the higher levels of unemployment and poverty, if were there more moneys given for social relief of distress, they would always be depleted before each financial year end.
Ms Makgale noted that some of the requirements for the SASSA pay points had been set out, including toilets and the need to be conducive to waiting. She asked what the monitoring mechanism was, because in Klerksdorp it was frustrating to see long queues in town, where it was questionable that people in those queues were safe, and there were no toilets.
Ms M Moshodi (ANC, Free State) referred to Programme 4: Communication and Marketing. She asked what time frame did SASSA have in mind for developing and implementing the Stakeholder Management Strategy, and what prevented SASSA from achieving that target previously. She also asked whether anything had been developed to prevent non-delivery in the new financial year.
Ms Moshodi asked, in relation to Programme 5: Corporate Services, why SASSA failed to develop and implement a chain management strategy.
Ms Moshodi also asked why only 16.5%, instead of 40% of district and local office facilities, were produced.
Mr W Faber (DA, Northern Cape) referred to Programme 3: Adoption. The problem of Aids orphans in the country was growing. Often older grandparents, uncles and aunts took care of the children, but when they passed on there was no one to look after those children. An alternative solution would be to look at adoption. He asked whether the Department had anything in place to make the adoption process shorter and easier, as also to make it affordable for people to adopt.
The Department responded that it was aware that children who were fostered by grandparents, were often precluded from claiming from grandparents’ estates when they died. A strategy to promote adoption in South Africa was developed and was taken to the Heads of Social Development Forum for approval before implementation. There were cultural barriers. DSD would hold community dialogue with various communities about adoption, highlighting the barriers. Under the Children’s Act the surname of an adopted child did not have to be changed, and this Act also sought to shorten the process. Currently, under the Child Care Act, the provinces were not fully involved in adoption. However, when the Children's Act was implemented they would be more involved. DSD intended to train as many social workers as possible in dealing with adoption. There was also a media drive to interface with as many organisations as possible, including churches, in popularising adoption in South Africa. Prior to embarking on that, DSD would need a database of all adoptable children, to match them with prospective adoptive parents.
Mr Vusi Madonsela added that the Children's Act made it easier for people without means to adopt, as distinct from the previous person where a prospective adoptive parent was required to demonstrate financial means. Now even poor people, and those in the rural areas, would be in a position to adopt. The call for the processes to be shortened should be counter balanced by the need to be guided always by what was in the best interests of the child. Certain processes needed to be undertaken and social workers must ensure that the court, upon granting adoption, was satisfied that it was in the best interests of that child to be placed with the new adoptive parent.
He noted that the expression “Aids Orphans” was used to describe children whose parents may have died as a result of AIDS, but that labelling was not encouraged, as children could be orphaned through any cause.
Mr Faber said when he used the term “Aids Orphans” it was not intended to be degrading, but the reality was that most children were orphaned through Aids. He however agreed that people should not be labelled.
Mr Faber said that the Auditor-General had indicated that food vouchers and aid purchases that were supposed to be distributed, were not. He asked what system the Department was putting in place to address this. He was concerned about the amount of fraud and corruption taking place, specifically regarding food vouchers and grants.
Ms D Rantho (ANC, Eastern Cape) asked if there was any strategy to shorten the long queues. One elderly lady had died in a queue in one of the provinces. There was nowhere for people to sit while waiting at pay points and at the banks, and she wondered if the DSD could arrange seating for the elderly at these places.
The Department responded that one of the most challenging areas was the number of people living in rural areas, without access to the formal financial system. The Department was looking at a more optimal payment system. One step that could be implemented in the short term was to stagger the payments and the dates on which people were required to visit the banks. SASSA had deliberately moved people to Post Offices and banks, to try to address the queue problems at paypoints. DSD was also in discussion with the banks, through SASSA, also to make special provisions for the elderly and disabled. The more payment systems were rolled out, the more the number of beneficiaries grew.
Ms Rantho asked what had been the results of the various poverty alleviation programmes conducted in poor communities in South Africa. She asked if the Department had any plans to increase the number of beneficiaries, and, if so, how this would be done.
Ms B Mncube (ANC, Gauteng) supported the formalised adoption of children. If parents died, under the ubuntu system, family members would often take in those children, but there was not a culture of adopting relatives, with the result that these children would be precluded from inheritance.
Mr Mashamaite referred to Programme 2: Comprehensive Social Security. He asked the Deputy Minister to address the point made by the Auditor-General about officials who failed to ensure that documentation critical for the application of the grants was not complete, and asked what steps were taken.
The Department noted that this comment had referred to incomplete information provided in documents. A distinction had to be made between what was meant by a system of Comprehensive Social Security and the comprehensiveness of the administration. DSD accepted that at present the administration did leave much to be desired. That was the reason why the IGAP system was rolled out by SASSA. Here, the information notation was automated. Officials would not be able to fully process a document unless all information was provided. Only one pilot project on this system had been done, but it looked promising and proved that an application could be processed within forty-five minutes. However, DSD cautioned that additional personnel capacity would be required.
The Department added that there were three pillars to the Comprehensive Social Security System. The first was that all those who were poor should receive social assistance if they were unemployed and vulnerable. The second pillar was that those who were employed should contribute to social insurance, so that if for any reason they became poor they should be able to draw on their savings. The third pillar was to encourage saving for contingencies by all people.
Mr Mashamaite said that because there were varying standards of competency of officials and systems across the provinces, distribution of relief aid was not performed in a standardised or consistent manner. He said that an official found not to be doing his or her work properly should be disciplined.
The Department responded that the Office of the Auditor General had done an intensive investigation and made several recommendations. One involved standardisation. The current lack of standardisation had arisen, in part, from the history of certain provinces always relying on food parcels or cash. A decision had now been taken not to resort to this as much. Other than creating problems of storage and inefficiency, people tended to sell their food parcels for cash. Because of the current system of payment through payment contractors, it was also costly to deliver two or three months of payments. DSD and SASSA had taken a decision to focus on vouchers for this year, but vouchers also presented problems. A study would be done into a better way of dealing with social relief of distress.
Mr Mashamaite was surprised to see that a strategic task team on the social assistance grant debtors had been formed. After fifteen years, he was not expecting to see task teams still being formed. He asked for clarification on the systems and the capacity of officials to do the work.
The Department agreed that decisions could be taken more quickly by individuals than by task teams and committees, but task teams ensured better buy in, and facilitated better implementation. Comprehensive Social Security ran across five government departments, with significant implications. Government decided on a task team to ensure coherence in the development and formulation of such policies.
Ms Mncube asked what lessons could be learnt from the pilot programme, conducted by the Department in six correctional services facilities, for children awaiting trial. She also asked when the Department intended to roll out this programme in other correctional facilities for children awaiting trial. She noted that fourteen-year-old boys who had committed serious crimes and were in custody would be exposed to ways to commit further crime. Syndicates used children under sixteen for purposes of drugs and crime.
The Department realised that children awaiting trial in Correctional Services were not being kept occupied, and had started with the pilot project to address that. It was a good programme, that was currently being evaluated. The intention was to roll it out, but provincial departments needed to budget to implement the programme. Ideally, children should not be in Correctional Services facilities, but rather belonged in secure facilities run by DSD, or diverted to home-based supervision programmes. Those who had committed very serious offences would have to await trial. DSD was also responsible for the implementation of the Child Justice Act, that would be operational from April 2010. This dealt mainly with services to children that were awaiting trial, such as diversion programmes. DSD current focus was on strengthening of diversion programmes, finding non government organisations (NGOs) that delivered those services, and ensuring that children who were in correctional centres had access to those services.
The Chairperson asked the Deputy Minister how far Programme 3:Alternative care had gone in implementation of protocols and guidelines for foster care.
The Chairperson also asked how far the programme of training for probation officers on norms and standards, report writing and customer care had gone, and whether it was yielding the expected results.
The Deputy Minister responded that 308 Assistant Probation Officers were trained, with the intention that after training they would be registered as Social Auxiliary Workers. DSD was still trying to register them. They were mostly young people, supporting Probation Officers, who were few in number and who found their load greatly reduced to manageable caseloads with the support of Assistant Probation Officers. Given the shortage of social workers, and the need to implement the Children’s Act next year, DSD would need as many Probation Officers and Assistant Probation Officers as possible.
The Chairperson pointed out that poverty alleviation was a critical area for government and the Department. It was imperative to protect the rights of children and other vulnerable groups as far as social security was concerned. She asked when the care dependency grant implementation plan would be finalised by the Department.
The Department responded that during the course of last year the Department undertook pilots of the new assessment tool for care dependency, so that it relied less and less on subjective opinions of medical practitioners, especially doctors. The pilot took longer than anticipated, as there were challenges with the team and the quality of the report. It had only been possible to report on the pilot, not the full implementation plan. The Department would finalise the implementation plan in this financial year, but looked to using the new application tool for care dependency during the course of next year.
The Chairperson asked if any priority programmes been identified previously by the Department for poverty eradication.
The Department said that it had realised that the DSD itself could make a serious impact in addressing poverty and hunger, but sustainability was a challenge. A more sustainable approach was to focus on assets residing in communities, to ensure that those projects established or developed by communities were sustainable, and also to link them with opportunities to market their products, ensure sustainability, and derive job opportunities.
Since the Department's approach to poverty alleviation was to ensure sustainability of interventions, it tried to ensure that the work done initially in terms of poverty alleviation projects was also used to encourage community members to take ownership of their programmes. DSD encouraged communities to form Social Development Cooperatives, to consider how assets in the community could be organised to work together to market a product and ensure sustainable livelihood. The Department was also able to link vulnerable communities with projects to produce or process agricultural products.
The Department implemented programmes such as the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programmes, intended to address poverty challenges facing the youth, and giving them skills capacity and employment opportunities. The programme recruited youth pioneers and trained them to address poverty challenges of the country. On exit from the programme, they were linked to further education, where they would be able to identify areas of interest to further their qualifications, or work opportunities. This also encouraged communities to take ownership of community development initiatives that would improve the quality of life. The National Youth Service programmes were intended to ensure that the youth were mobilised to provide community services to communities, whilst also receiving a stipend to support themselves. These programmes were also intended to address lack of employment by teaching skills that would help people to be employable outside the department. Expanded Public Works Programmes fulfilled a similar function.
Mr Madonsela added that government was quite advanced in the development of its anti poverty strategy. This strategy was being finalised, in consultation with Civil Society organisations and other social partners. Various anti poverty interim interventions, such as the War on Poverty Campaign, were operating. DSD was part of government’s overall effort and would, in due course, interact with the Committee on the strategy and the role of DSD. Government's biggest poverty alleviation measure at present was the social assistance programme, which commanded R76 billion. The presentation outlined the extent of coverage of numbers of people and the different grant types. Community based initiatives should not be looked at in isolation from poverty alleviation through cash transfers to households.
Dr Connie Kganakga, Chief Director: HIV/AIDS, DSD, added that Community Based Care and the Early Childhood Development programmes also related to skills development through learnerships. A stipend was given to caregivers at community level. Cadres also received accredited training, with the intention that on their release they would move to other levels to do Child and Youth Care work, become Community Development Workers, Community Health Workers, Auxiliary Workers or Auxiliary Social Workers. They could get priority when Further Education and Training (FET) College learnerships in social work or nursing were offered.
Ms Boroto referred to the Independent Tribunal for social assistance appeals and asked what challenges had the Tribunal experienced in addressing appeals lodged with the Minister. She also asked what the Department or the Tribunal was doing to ensure that more appeals were considered and finalised.
The Department responded that prior to SASSA becoming operational, in 2006, social assistance funding was a provincial function, so that people who were unhappy about the outcome of their application for social assistance appealed to the MEC. When that function was shifted nationally, it meant that all applicants for social grants who were unhappy about a decision of SASSA could appeal to the Minister. There were large numbers doing so, and there was already a backlog in the provinces. When it was realised that it was not practical for the Minister to entertain the high number of appeals from dissatisfied applicants for social assistance, the Social Assistance Act was amended to allow for the establishment of an Independent Tribunal. The backlog, when the unit started, was at about 45 000 appeals, the bulk of which related to disability grants, with people being unhappy about the doctors’ assessments or interpretation of their medical reports. Another category related to those who had appealed because they were poor and unable to provide for their dependents. This was not a criteria for social assistance.
The Independent Tribunal consisted of a panel of independent practitioners, chaired by independent legal practitioners, and eminent people from society. The budget originally started at R10 million and grew over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, but the budget allocated by Treasury for this purpose was far outstripped by the numbers of appeals. The independent practitioners would have to be paid for the work done. The biggest challenges lay with insufficient resources to deal with the cases, the backlog, and the high number of new cases. Different options were being explored and there was a working relationship between the Independent Tribunal and SASSA on how to process the cases.
There were also challenges relating to capacity, budget, and systems, as well as the way SASSA had dealt with some of the grant applications. The DSD was looking into how to improve this. One proposed system recommended that when an application for a grant was turned down, there should be an automatic review process within SASSA, as the first officer may have overlooked some aspects. This would limit the number of cases that came to the Tribunal for appeal.
A further challenge was that people who did not understand appeal processes often wrote to the Independent Tribunal to complain, without disclosing the basis of the appeal. Many appellants had to be invited to present their cases before the Tribunal, and there were budgetary constraints in trying to convene the panels close to the complainants.
Associated with those challenges were the number of people who lost their appeals or were unhappy about SASSA's decisions on their applications. They sometimes resorted to the courts, as had happened with several cases in KwaZulu Natal. DSD was ordered to set matters down for adjudication within sixty days of receiving notice of appeal from the applicant.
Mr de Villiers understood that SASSA had its own accounting officer, but pointed out that some of the questions around SASSA arose from the documents delivered by DSD. He thought SASSA should also be present at the meeting.
Mr Mashamaite asked DSD to explain whether SASSA was not accountable to DSD. He understood that SASSA received money from DSD. In terms of the Public Finance Management Act, an entity using public funds must be able to account for them. He agreed that it may be the responsibility of the Department to make policies, but the administration of entities must work in line with what was contained in the policy. SASSA was accountable to the Department. If the administration was not in order the Department must call the CEO of that entity to account.
Ms Makgale supported these comments. She said that previously, the Deputy Minister had given monitoring requirements for the Department. SASSA was an entity but was not operating entirely alone. Given that position, she enquired how the Department monitored and ensured compliance.
Mr Madonsela confirmed that the Department did have a team monitoring services at pay points, offices, and a report would be made available soon.
Mr Madonsela agreed that in future it would be useful to include SASSA and the NDA. The Department had been invited to attend this meeting on its own, but perhaps in the future it should be advised that the total portfolio of Social Development, inclusive of the agencies, would be entertained for discussion.
He noted that DSD did not allocate money to SASSA but money was appropriated by Parliament specifically for SASSA. SASSA accounted to Parliament and had its own Annual Report. The Department would interact with it on matters of social security. However, he was alerting the Committee to the fact that SASSA was better placed to answer questions around the details of the administration. DSD would not be in a position to say what SASSA was doing to fill critical posts, but the Chief Executive Officer of SASSA would have to respond. DSD could only give a response on questions that straddled both policy and administration. He hoped the Committee had already scheduled interactions with SASSA on its own Annual Report.
The Chairperson welcomed the explanation on the questions posed by members. Plans for interaction with SASSA, NDA and other agencies linked to the Department were already on the Committee programme for next year.
The Deputy Minister then made some comments on the questions posed earlier. She said that a very emotive issue was that of queues at pension pay out points. It was regrettable that older persons continued to die in queues, although in fairness this was reducing. Although she accepted that people were standing in queues, for many older people this was one chance for social interaction.
Although people they were allowed to go to banks on different days, they tended all to attend on the same day, which made it difficult for bankers. The banks' interest was different from that of Parliament, but the DSD would try to negotiate with the banks to see what could be arranged. She urged Members to tell the older constituents that they should attend on staggered days. DSD was introducing new processes to ensure that at least 70% of people got their money from either the Post Office or other financial institutions, and 30% from the other service providers who were available in remote areas where there were no banks. They should also be advised of the correct times to call. In some offices, DSD and SASSA were sharing premises, which made it very difficult.
The Deputy Minister agreed that there was lack of ubuntu. Over the last few months, the Minister had been strongly advocating for the formal adoption of children, for reasons including the fact that foster care applied only up to the age of eighteen. The rights of the child had to be taken into consideration, and it would not be correct to fast-track processes of adoption, only to find that adopted children were, for instance, being trafficked, so there was a need for extreme care.
She disagreed that many people, in fostering, were only “after the money”. Most foster care was usually done by ordinary poor people, and the amounts received were too small to be attributed to greed on their part. Some people did not want to adopt children but were prepared to support fostering, and others could pay the family to enable them to keep the child. Members had a responsibility to talk to communities about the importance of adopting children.
The Deputy Minister noted that a report had been received from a member of the National Assembly who resided in the North West, about conditions in the North West, and the Department was following up on that.
She commented, on competency aspects, that the Department, in accordance with labour laws, was training people who were not competent to better their skills to do the job.
A Member commented that shortage of social workers was a problem. Social workers apparently did not check whether those fostering were receiving a grant, which demoralised community members. She felt that not enough was done to make people aware of probation officers.
The Department commented that the remark about probation officers was correct. The focus was more on the arrested children, to ensure their proper placement and their supervision, but the Department was developing a social crime prevention strategy which was to be implemented by social service professionals, to divert young people through skills programmes at community level.
A Member asked how far the Department had gone in registering the community sites, as they could not even be monitored and there were poor standards and atmosphere.
The Department was surprised to hear that. The intention was to register as many sites as possible at community level, and this programme was linked to the EPWP. The drive was to register Early Childhood Development (ECD) sites so that ECD practitioners working in those sites could be trained to offer good quality programmes. DSD requested a database of the unregistered sites to facilitation registration. These sites had to be registered done on a continuous basis, not only for the children to receive subsidies, but to ensure that the sites complied with the norms and standards.
Ms Boroto was disturbed about the terminally ill who received disability grants. Some were unable to get to the pay point, or, if they did, would be on the verge of collapse and would have to be carried in by others. They also had to pay for special transport. She felt that conditions at paypoints were inadequate and these people were in need of better assistance.
The Department responded that the Social Assistance Act and Regulations made provision for a procurator to be appointed when a person could not, on a regular basis, collect the grant himself or herself. This had created serious problems in the past and there were now detailed regulations and conditions. If a person’s health condition deteriorated, and there was no procurator, the payments were held back. A social worker could also be called upon to verify the person's condition and help the person to access the disability benefit. The Department considered that part of the whole community based care programme was to give comprehensive care and support to people living with chronic illnesses, and to offer psychosocial support. The need was recognised, and guidelines were developed so caregivers could be able to offer the psychosocial support, which would be more comprehensive than merely being responsible for caregiving in the home, and identification of orphans.
Mr Mashamaite said that most of his questions related to SASSA and would be raised with them. However, he was concerned with under spending of millions of rands while the people were suffering. He asked what measures were in place to ensure that that money for Community Development was spent.
The Department responded that the final output on programme 3 was still awaited, on the minimum quality of services to older people.
Mr Mashamaite asked when would the two pilot projects in KwaZulu Natal resume again for implementation.
The Department said they would take place in this financial year.
Mr Madonsela said that there was a fine balance in the public service as to what could be regarded as under spending and what could be regarded as saving. When money was allocated for social grants, it was based on projections of the numbers of people who qualified for certain types of grants, based on population size and level of poverty of the various provinces. Both the Department and SASSA were charged with the responsibility of ensuring increasing improvement on the integrity of the social grant system, and part of the integrity improvement included that certain grant types had to be reviewed at different intervals. Temporary disabilities had to be reviewed every six months. If a person did no longer qualify, then the money that was being paid to them was held back and saved. That money could not be diverted into other areas of need, but had to be given back to National Treasury, who would then reallocate it. What was seen as under spending here was in fact a saving, because improved measures for integrity and efficiency of the system were made. There were significant improvements on the part of SASSA as to how it had implemented the requirements of the policy.
He reiterated if the Department was unable to provide details now to any of the questions, it would send a written response.
Mr de Villiers was interested in the costing of the Children's Act.
Ms Dorothee Snyman, Acting Chief Financial Officer, DSD, responded that the Children's Act was costed in 2006. The Department was working with the provinces on the implementation of the Act in the next financial year to ensure they were ready, and to look at what parts of the Act the DSD would be ready to implement. The Children's Act was an improvement on the Child Care Act that was currently being implemented so it was not altogether new in concept. Provinces needed to look at those programmes that talked to the improvement.
A Member noted that there were problems around monitoring and evaluation of spending money in the Department, and there had been financial crises in the last few months, which affected service delivery. The question was why the Department had not detected that problem earlier.
The Department responded that the problems in fact related to a general increase in tariffs and costs and a general decrease in funding, so that the needs became greater. The DSD had to constantly weigh up what it could or could not afford, and sometimes there was unforeseen expenditure with regard to critical projects that needed to be implemented. It sometimes needed to reprioritise in order to stay within budget. The monitoring system was based on the government's financial monitoring system, where it continually introduced additional non-financial spreadsheets to assist in keeping track. There were management meetings to discuss matters such as inflation.
Ms Makgale said there were three types of sites, one for schools, one for the private sector, and one for the community. However, there was a problem getting data from interactions even at provincial level. The community sites did not appear to comply with norms and standards, and she asked how the Department was going to improve on that.
The Department understood the concern with regard to community sites and would ask the provinces to disaggregate the aggregated information, and focus on sites in the neglected areas.
Ms Boroto requested that male workers should be recruited into home based care centres, as older men preferred to be assisted by their own gender.
The Deputy Minister thanked the committee for the opportunity for such good engagement. She confirmed that the Ministry was committed to working positively with the Committee. She recommended the committee call in SASSA to get the information on some of the issues. If the whole Department were to be invited she would like the Ministry to be notified of this so that it could attend, but pointed out that a full day session would be required, to thoroughly interrogate the work of the agencies as well.
The Chairperson said the Committee would definitely visit some of the community sites in its oversight visits, and would also visit some of the secure care centres, old age homes, and child centres. It would also invite SASSA and the NDA and agencies linked to the Department. She requested the Department to furnish the committee with the steps to be followed in preparing for registration of an ECD site, to be able to assist people who were struggling to get their sites established. She thanked the Department, and the Deputy Minister, for sharing very important information with the Committee in a useful, lively and vibrant interaction.
The meeting was adjourned.
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text:
Hearing loss patients are 7.5 times more likely to report social isolation1
The impact of social isolation is often cited in the national press as a societal issue. According to a recent LeadingAge/CAST white paper, about 13% of older adults report being often lonely and 30% report that loneliness is sometimes an issue.2 But how does this relate to hearing loss?
Download the brief, For Hearing Healthcare Professionals: Technology Can Reduce Patient Isolation, now and find out.
- Harvey Abrams, PhD, “Hearing Loss and Associated Comorbidities: What Do We Know?” The Hearing Review, Nov. 2017
- LeadingAge, “Social Connectedness and Engagement Technology for Long-Term and Post-Acute Care: A Primer and Provider Selection Guide,” 2018

domain: medical


text:
Designed by Fabio Di Bartolomei, the double sided Admiral mirror from Fiam is created in beautiful 12mm glass with a spherical base. Perfect as a dressing mirror for a stylish bedroom. See more Fiam mirrors
H 187. W 40. D 37 cm
Product Code: 104-070
UBER Interiors are one of a selected few UK suppliers for Fiam Italia’s luxury Italian furniture. Passion, design and research together with the culture of glass are the founding values of Fiam now and in the future.
“Glass is a magical and ever lasting material, as if it possessed an innate sacredness. I was young when I first accepted the challenge that this material represented and I set the basis for a project that initially seemed so unlikely possible: making glass become a furnishings star. Charm and poetry are still what glass conveys to me. The magic of a timeless material. Poetry is the vanity of a material capable of mirroring all that surrounds it and to multiply our perceptions of reality.” – Vittoro Livi, Fiam

domain: artistic


text:
Why Humans Experience Fear
The physiological and behavioral changes associated with fear are highly correlated with the intensity of the arousal evoked by a particular physical stimulus. These changes are a result of a primitive mechanism to protect an organism from danger. It may have also evolved to help an organism avoid death. This response to threats, called a primitive fear, elicits a wide variety of behaviors. In fact, different types of fear trigger different neural structures in the brain.
Researchers have suggested that fear is a cohesive concept with fewer subtypes than memory. For example, animals lower their heads and tails when they are afraid of a threatening situation. This is similar to the behavior of humans. The underlying mechanism explains why humans experience fear. Interestingly, these behaviors are a consequence of a physiological process called arousal, which increases the likelihood of survival. The psychological mechanisms responsible for these actions depend on the type of arousal.
Regardless of the physiological mechanisms that trigger a fear response, a person’s mind is the primary cause of that response. In addition to the physical effects, the brain sends signals to different parts of the body. In many cases, these responses result in an increase in blood pressure and heartbeat. In addition to these physiological effects, a person may experience sensations in the hands, legs, or stomach. Further, when the brain perceives a threat, it generates memory-based expectations for a physical response.


The technique of sound therapy has its roots in Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound, as well as in Yoga Nidra, the deep relaxation of yoga. Since time immemorial, sounds of Indian stringed instruments have been applied for healing and harmonization.
In former times people have used stringed instruments for playing sacred music and as an accompaniment and assistance for the pujas (rituals), meditations and also for the yoga-asanas. And also today musicians in India are still invited to perform at rituals, healings and Yoga Nidra. In the course of our society's media development, the CD has replaced the quality of live music. But Indian music always emerges newly in every moment and is a transmission from heart to heart.
Sound therapy contributes to the relaxation of tensions and blockades caused by stress. The getting down to a deep state of peaceful mind revitalizes and restores the self healing forces.
The sounds produce a tender massage reaching more or less deeply into the inner body. Selected tone scales (Ragas) of the Indian music tradition support the re-discovery of the basic harmonic condition of the mind. Using relaxation exercises at the beginning, the listener opens up for the nourishing and healing tones. The music leads to an extended self perception. It activates the inner experience and can help to discover a new access to one's own inner resources. All body organs and senses come to peace hardly found even asleep. Crucial for this deep relaxation is the experience of real live music, as only this way a true dialog between musician and audience can begin, while the musician is sensitively in accordance with the immediate experience of the listener.
The Bin or Rudra Veena is a zither and belongs to the oldest classical instruments of India. According to traditional sayings Shiva has created it while he meditated on the beauty of his wife Parvati. The Rudra Veena is an early form of the popular Sitar and has been called the mother and queen of Indian strings. Rich in basses and overtones the Rudra Veena has been the ideal musical instrument to arouse a meditative condition of mind since centuries. Due to it's sound frequencies it is possible to resolve blockades very effectively in a quite easy manner.
The sound massage table is a body monochord with 47 strings, tuned on three octaves. The vibration is transferred onto the whole body and you can thus receive a complete massage and a deep relaxation.
Freelance musician Thomas Meisenheimer was born in 1966 and works as a music therapist at a special school in Wiesbaden/Germany.
In 1991 he started his Sitar studies, and under the guidance of Professor Tribhuvan Nath Nagar (Varanasi/India) he absolved an apprenticeship in Indian music therapy.
Since 1999 he has been studying the old classical music of Dhrupad and has been learning to play the Rudra Veena under the guidance of Pandit Asit Kumar Banerjee.
Since 2005 he is in touch with Swami Ji who gave him much support for his work.
"Music is for me a language of love. It is my daily food, my prayer, my connection to the source of being. When I listened to an Indian Sitar for the first time, tears came up and I was deeply touched like somebody is calling my true nature.
The Indian music is not strange or exotic for me; it is a possibility to experience the inner truth.
Swami Ji has encouraged me to share this experience with others. That's why I would like to support his charity projects with my sound therapy."
Inquiry for meditative concerts or individual sound therapy under: firstname.lastname@example.org


Password Manager eXtra Protection (XP) is a program specially created to help people systematize and store securely valuable information. It rids computer users of headaches caused by lost passwords, forgotten access codes and other sensitive information. With this program, you safely store all your logins, passwords, PIN codes, credit card numbers, access codes, files, and any other confidential information in one place.
Allows you to create several databases for storing desired information. Each database has its own access password and is encrypted with the algorithms of your choice. This means capability to apply several different encryption algorithms at a time, which significantly increases protection against unauthorized access of your data.
In addition, you can create passwords databases at shared resources and access them from multiple computers across the network. Removable devices Wizard will help you to install the Password Manager XP to any removable media such a USB flash drives. You can run Password Manager XP and work with password databases directly from removable device.
Password Manager XP can considerably simplify your work with the Internet and usual Windows applications. It can autofill web pages, registration forms, logon windows, etc. This feature is compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and majority of usual Windows applications.
Screenshots are not available


text:
Fans of Mac Miller are sure to want this unique tee featuring a custom design for his popular 2018 album, Swimming. This Mac Miller long-sleeve T-shirt simply says Swimming on the front, but the back features a larger graphic with a white-capped wave and a lyric from "Small Worlds:" "The world is so small 'til it ain't."
Unisex long-sleeve T-shirt
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domain: design


text:
By: David Sheward
February 19, 2022: The African-American experience in different decades of the 20th Century is explored with ingenuity and passion in two new Off-Broadway musicals. Both feature eclectic and captivating scores, but one succeeds in telling a relatable story while the other pushes too hard to make its valid points. Intimate Apparel, at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, is an operatic version of Lynn Nottage’s award-winning 2003 play about a lonely seamstress seeking love and security. Black No More, produced by The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center, is a rap-hip-hop stage adaptation of George S. Schuyler’s 1931 satiric novel imagining a machine that transforms black people into whites. They both have many entrancing and effective elements, but Apparel is the more integrated and powerful piece.
Set in 1905, the Apparel opera focuses on Esther (Kearstin Piper Brown in a searing vocal and dramatic performance) who earns a living creating sexually provocative bedroom wear and yearns to find the kind of romance that her garments facilitate. (Catharine Zuber’s dazzling costumes clearly delineate the roles these women must play in order to survive.) Oppressed because of her race and gender, Esther is self-reliant but isolated.
Her clients represent different strata of society, but each faces her own form of degradation. The white socialite Mrs. Van Buren (regal yet sensual Naomi Louisa O’Connell) has no feeling for her wealthy husband yet she commissions Esther to create scandalous negligees to keep him interested. The black entertainer and prostitute Mayme (sexy yet vulnerable Krysty Swann) needs Esther’s designs to earn her living since she cannot find employment in any other field. Mrs. Dickson (Adrienne Danrich, particularly moving in her biographical aria), Esther’s landlady, runs a social club for respectable young African-American ladies to find suitable husbands. Esther sews wedding gowns for them. But Mrs. Dickson’s girls are just as much for sale as Mayme since they must put security above love.
Esther appears to have found a way out of her loneliness when she begin corresponding with George (virile and sly Justin Austin), a laborer on the Panama Canal, but her dreams are shattered when the real George arrives in person to wed her. She eventually realizes her true love is forbidden since she is drawn to a white, Orthodox Jewish fabric salesman (empathic Arnold Livingston Geis). Director Bartlett Sher skillfully employs Michael Yeargen’s spare, revolving set for a fluid production, perfectly integrated with Ricky Ian Gordon’s melodious music melding ragtime with blues and Broadway, played by two pianos under the masterful music direction of Steven Osgood. Nottage wrote the libretto, paring down her own play for maximum musical expression. The exquisite voices of the cast blend with their dramatic skills for a heart-wrenching portrait of the struggle to overcome oppression and find comfort in a racist and sexist world.
Black No More employs a harsher attack on the same subject. Subtitled, “Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free AD 1933-1940,” George S. Schuyler’s source novel takes a Swiftian sword to America’s fractured race relations about twenty years after the events of Intimate Apparel and the issues it raises are still sadly relevant. The show starts with the wily Dr. Junius Crookman (played with an arched eyebrow by Tariq Trotter who also wrote the sharp lyrics and collaborated on the diverse music) addressing the audience with news of his miraculous invention, a process to change African-Americans’s skin tone to become indistinguishable from that of Caucasians. The procedure devastates the newly thriving Harlem community and changes the opportunistic Max Disher (Brandon Victor Dixon in a captivatingly funny performance) from a street con man into a leader of a white racist movement.
The premise is a potentially fascinating one. Melvin van Peebles created a reversal of the idea in his cult film Watermelon Man and Douglas Turner Ward made a variation on it in his one-act play Day of Absence with black actors in white face. While its intentions are honorable and its claims are perfectly valid, John Ridley’s book is too broad and the characters are too narrow for the musical to be entirely effective. It’s more like an SNL sketch stretched out to a full evening.
The score written by Trotter, Anthony Tidd, James Poyser and Daryl Waters who also is credited with musical supervision, orchestrations and vocal arrangements, seamlessly combines hip-hop, rap, rock, reggae, soul, and even country-western for a smorgasbord of delights. Scott Elliott’s direction is well-paced, but Bill T. Jones’ choreography is truly outstanding with elaborate and intricate movement indicating character and social status. Dixon is a riot as he conveys Max’s metamorphosis into how he would imagine privileged white people would move. He’s equally captivating when the masquerade ends and he must confront the raw face of bigotry. Tamika Lawrence infuses her supporting role of Buni, Max’s friend who attempts to rescue him from a Southern klan community, with compassion and grit. The talented Ephraim Sykes, a highlight of Ain’t Too Proud, is unfortunately wasted in a functional part while Lilias White makes the most of the no-nonsense hair salon proprietor who realizes her hair-straightening and skin-lightening techniques have contributed to black self-hatred. Jennifer Damiano also infuses depth in her role of the white Southerner who falls in love with Max, but Howard McGillin, Tracy Shayne, and Theo Stockman are stuck in stereotypes as her racist relatives. The musical has many valid observations and intriguing staging and dancing, but its themes are too obvious and broadly presented, unlike Intimate Apparel which gives us a real woman in a believable situation.
Intimate Apparel: Jan. 31—March 6. Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater, 150 W. 65th St., NYC. Tue 7pm, Wed 2pm & 8pm, Thu 7pm, Fri 8pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 3pm. Running time: two hours and 30 mins. including intermission. $82—$92. www.telecharge.com.
Black No More: Feb. 15—27. The New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd St., NYC. Tue—Fri 7:30pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 2pm & 7:30pm. (Check website for any schedule changes.) Running time: two hours and 30 mins. including intermission. $38—$113. www.thenewgroup.org.

domain: entertainment


text:
Middle School Bandmates Join Parade in San Jose
Three eighth grade musicians represented Lincoln Middle School (LMS) recently at the California Music Educators’ Bay Area Section Winter Conference and Honor Band Concert. The students were specially selected by the California Music Education Association (CMEA) committee.
The three honored students — Sharon He (oboe), Emily Tran (clarinet) and Armen Phelps (trumpet) — are members of the Advanced Band at LMS and students of Tyra Ingram Cable, the Lincoln music director. LMS was one of 65 middle schools in the 15 counties of the Greater Bay Area and Central Valley that had band students participating in one of eight sections. Each year music departments all over the state nominate outstanding students in band, choir and orchestra to perform in the CMEA Honor Band, Honor Choir and Honor Orchestra concerts held at regional centers around the state. Student musicians attended rehearsal all day Friday, Jan. 10, and Saturday morning, Jan. 11, at San Jose State University (SJSU) in downtown San Jose.
The CMEA Honor Band Concert was held in the Concert Hall in the Music Building at SJSU Saturday afternoon. Renowned music educators and professional musicians led the rehearsals and conducted the young musicians in their spectacular honor concert. Sharon He is the daughter of Jing and Kevin He. Emily Tran is the daughter of Jasmine and Minh Tran. Armen Phelps is the son of Nayree and Armen Phelps. All three students live in Alameda with their families. All three students are in their third year of playing their instruments in the LMS band.


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Faster Than Light (more commonly known as FTL) is a top-down, real-time strategy game on Steam, made by indie team Subset Games. The player takes control of the crew in a space vessel that’s in possession of critical information that must be delivered to an allied fleet several sectors away. However, to make the game more challenging, you are pursued by a large rebel fleet in every sector.
Valve is fervently working on the new operating system and users can now trick the Steam client to think that is running under SteamOS.
Valve has started to integrate functionalities between Steam and SteamOS. In order to get a glimpse of that you will have to get the latest Beta.
Wow, there's a nasty poke in the eye to Linux and Mac gamers. id Software seems to be regressing in its support of Linux. This is quite odd given what Valve is doing with SteamOS.
I guess Valve is just going to have to convince id Software that Linux is worth supporting. For the record, my money is on Valve. They know what they are doing, and I think the folks at id will do a quick turnabout when all is said and done.
engadget.com: Take a good hard look at Valve's Steam Machine, because it's the last time you'll see it. Er, something like that. Only 300 of the metal beast above will ship to beta testers, and then Valve says it's cutting off its own supply of Steam Machines.
- Forced’s Successful Launch on PC, Linux and Mac
- Battle Worlds: Kronos initiates advance wars November 4
- Trilobyte Games Titles Now on Steam
- War for the Overworld now supports Linux
- Secrets of Rætikon flies to Indiegogo
- Sweeney and Carmack chime in on Steam Machines
- ‘Monaco’ Holloween update brings zombies, Blondes, and Linux
- The 7th Guest, 11th Hour bundle up for safety on Steam
- Here’s your October 24, 2013 Indie Game Bundle Update
- GamingOnLinux Reviews - Trine 2: Complete Story
- 7 Days To Die Taken Down From Steam
- Torvalds gives the thumbs up to SteamOS
- SteamOS could really help desktop Linux adoption, says Torvalds
extremetech.com: Ever since Valve announced its three-tier approach to bringing PC gaming to the living room — Steam OS, the Steam Machine, and the Steam Controller — people have been divided on whether or not it’s a sound idea. John Carmack, a man who changed the face of PC gaming at Id Software, thinks the Steam Machine’s odds of succeeding are “a bit dicey.”
- Linux Gaming Is Cleared for Takeoff
- The Long Dark hits goal three days before fundraising lights go out
- Shadowrun Returns patch 1.1 introduces Linux support, now in beta
- The Humble Bundle 7 has arrived featuring six new games
- Which of These Open Source Consoles Is Destined for Greatness?
- Planetary Annihilation Massive Updates & Video
- Fancy Skulls Random FPS Will Add More Options For Linux
- Lords of Discord seeking disciples, demons for battle
- Democracy 3 now available
- Dominions 4 Launches
phoronix.com: While more and more closed-source games -- ranging from indie titles to AAA games -- are heading to Steam ahead of SteamOS and Steam Machines, there still isn't too many open-source games on Valve's digital distribution platform. Here's some information why one of the more popular cross-platform open-source first person shooters isn't yet to be found on Steam.
- All "The Bard's Tale" Games Arrive on Steam for Linux in One Package
- Montague's Mount Released
- Total War developer ‘absolutely intends’ to support SteamOS
- Having fun with sed, easter eggs, hidden in plain view
- Cannons Lasers Rockets to Blast PC, Mac and Linux in November
- Steam and Oculus Rift

domain: game


By: Kalin Goble
Last week, Sesame Street launched a new suite of recourses developed on racial justice. Sesame Street’s new Coming Together initiative focuses on discussions around racism. Sesame Street has introduced two new characters, Wes and his father Elijah, as part of their new “ABC’s of Racial Literacy” series.
In one of their introductory videos, Elmo, Wes, and Elijah have a conversation explaining what race is. During the conversation, Elijah tells Elmo,
“The color of our skin is an important part of who we are, but we should all know that it’s okay that we all look different in so very many ways.”
The free, open-access digital resources are constructed to address racism, racial literacy, and how racism impacts everyone. Sesame Street continues its commitment to a research-based curriculum for strengthening individual, family, and community resilience and empathy. Resources include:
- Printable activities
- Guiding conversation prompts
- And workshops
These lessons and resources have been carefully created using a Racial Justice educational framework.
A LIFELONG JOURNEY
Anti-racist work is a lifelong journey and we all play a role in addressing and standing up against racism. Patricia Taylor, mom, educator, and activist emphasizes this message: “For the rest of our lives, we get to partner together to make it a better place for everyone.”
Having conversations on these important topics can often be tough, and Sesame Street has worked to create workshops focus on skills for parents to talk about racism. Visit the Helping Parents Talk About—and Stand Up Against—Racism to watch discussions from experts to guide parents in becoming comfortable with these discussions.
Continuing to create a kinder, more fair world…
Sesame Street will continue to provide new resources as this ongoing Coming Together initiative continues to grow! This series is a part of Sesame Street in Communities. For professional development opportunities from our OneOp collaboration with our friends at Sesame Street for Military Families, visit our Kids Serve Too! Series homepage here! You can also view our most recent webinar, Sesame Street and You: Caring for Each Other During COVID-19 and Other Emergencies, and obtain free continuing education credit!
And stay tuned, as our OneOp team will be continuing our collaboration with Sesame Street. We’ll welcome back the Sesame Street team to discuss the Coming Together initiative and resources for military families and communities!


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Sue Vincent and I have been talking about pictures you take that are so different that no one even believes they are real. So here are my scarlet mountains which are reflections of the red sunset in the west. The mountains are east of Phoenix.
When I first saw them, I didn’t even believe they could be so red. I’d never seen a sunset so red it reflected a whole range of mountains. So these are the pictures. No filters. No special processing. Just the reflection of a scarlet sunset on the mountains nearby.
Red Mountain – Phoenix
As the sun drops lower, the red begins to fade
It was the theme for my son’s fourth-grade graduation ceremony. Funny that I should remember it so clearly. My son is turning 50 in a few weeks and I’ve forgotten a lot, but this I remember. And I remember that I cried.
Sunrise – Ogunquit, Maine
Early morning – Vermont
Sun in the living room
Sunshine on a lady Cardinal
Sunset at home
Sunset at the end of the year
Time begins when the sun rises in the morning and ends as it sets at night … well it doesn’t end. It just changes from day to night. Night getting shorter now as we pivot our way around the sun …
It rained in the morning, cleared up briefly mid-morning, went back to drizzly and gray by lunchtime … and suddenly, just before sunset, the light turned that beautiful amber that screams OCTOBER!
The sun, just over the gate. If you look, you can still see the roses
Towards the road
It was cold, but I pulled on a heavy sweatshirt and a camera and took pictures. For almost an hour, it really looked like Autumn.
Leaves are gold
A hint of scarlet and a flash of sunlight from the setting sun
About half an hour later, the meteorologist on the news was pointing out t was a beautiful sunset, but we should not be deluded. It will be even colder tomorrow.
I took in the aloe. I was afraid it would freeze tonight.
It could be the first light of the sun creeping over the horizon or the last rays of light as the sun sets below the horizon. It’s impossible to know. I always wondered if there was any way to tell the difference between dawn and dusk and the answer turned out to be “no” — not really.
I have seen sunrises so brilliant that they came through the window and the room in which I lay seemed to be on fire … and I’ve seen the setting of the burning orb over a bay that set the entire sky alight — 365 degrees of solar magnificence.
And yet, for all that, my favorite times are the soft rising and setting of the sun. The glimmering. A quiet rising and a gentle departure. Soft blues, golds, and pinks — the beginning and end of an ordinary day.
There has been so much craziness in our world. A peaceful start and close to the sun’s passage seems a good choice.
I am trying to find some peace in a world that seems at war with itself and certainly at war with me. I cannot fix it. The best I can do is find a bubble of quiet and hope greater powers than mine grab hold of the world and tenderly bring it back.
This continent on which I live — the northern end of the “new” world — was and still is magnificent. We have great mountains and prairies and lakes the size of small oceans. Giant rivers where the salmon have run for centuries and if we allow it, will continue for centuries more.
I’m not much on prayer. I have no idea where prayers go or if anything or anyone hears them … but for those spirits who might be listening, I offer a humble hope to hold fast to this beautiful planet.
May our better selves emerge to save us from our own savagery.
I was amazed at the sunsets everywhere in Arizona. Maybe it was because it never rained, but the colors were amazing. Just when I thought they couldn’t be better, the subsequent night would be even more extraordinary.
And so it went from one night to the next night, glorious sunset after sunset. In the mountains and even from city streets. Some nights, the sunset was so red it turned the mountains red, too.
Sunset – Phoenix
What is your favorite beverage?
Favorite hot drink? Coffee.
Favorite cold drink? Not so clear. I like Coke, but I also love fruit juice. All kinds of flavors, too.
What is your interpretation of ‘The Golden Rule”? Are there ramifications to breaking it?
I go with the Jewish version: “Don’t do to someone else what you wouldn’t want to be done to you.” It is the summary of most religious law.
Are there ramifications? Only if you have a conscience. Too many people don’t seem to have even a minimal sense of right and wrong. But they go to church.
Sunrise or sunset person?
A gull at sunrise
It used to be sunrise because you can’t see a sunset on this property. Lately, it has been sunset when I’m somewhere not so “treed” in.
Photo: Garry Armstrong
Do people in modern society anthropomorphize animals too much?
I don’t think we do, but some do. I don’t have a “count” on how many do what. I do know we love them a lot and why not? They love us back and they never pick on you for your faults.
What were you grateful for during the past week?
Our anniversary, seeing old wonderful loving friends, and making an amazing clam and shrimp chowder 😀


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The Ferrari 360 is a two-seater, mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian manufacturer Ferrari. One of the most notable aspects of the Ferrari 360 is its innovative design. It was the first production Ferrari to be constructed entirely of aluminium, resulting in a lighter, more rigid structure than previous models. This use of aluminium extended to the chassis and bodywork, contributing to improved performance and handling. The car's styling was a departure from previous Ferrari models, with softer lines and a more aerodynamic shape, a result of extensive wind tunnel testing.
Under the hood, the Ferrari 360 featured a 3.6-litre V8 engine. This engine was notable for its high power output and distinctive Ferrari exhaust note. Coupled with a six-speed manual or F1-style automated manual transmission, the 360 delivered an exhilarating driving experience, with rapid acceleration and a top speed that competed with the best in its class.
The interior of the 360 was a blend of luxury and functionality, with a driver-oriented cockpit that featured leather upholstery and modern electronic systems for its time. The 360 was available in two main models: the Modena, a coupe, and the Spider, a convertible. Both models were well-received for their performance, handling and distinctive Ferrari styling.
Throughout its production run, the Ferrari 360 was also involved in motorsports, with the 360 Modena Challenge and the 360 GT racing versions participating in various GT championships around the world.
The Ferrari 360 remains a popular choice among Ferrari enthusiasts and collectors, appreciated for its combination of striking design, advanced technology, and pure driving pleasure. Its introduction signalled a new direction for Ferrari and set a new standard in the sports car segment.
A Ferrari kids driving experience is a dream come true for young car enthusiasts, offering a chance to take the wheel of one of the world's most iconic sports cars in a safe and controlled environment. Tailored specifically for children and teenagers, these experiences are conducted in junior-sized Ferraris, which replicate the exhilaration of driving a real Ferrari while ensuring maximum safety.
Under the guidance of professional instructors, young drivers learn basic driving skills and car control, gaining confidence and an understanding of safe driving principles. The kids driving experience is not just about handling the car; it's also about inspiring a passion for motoring and introducing the thrill of high-performance vehicles in a fun, educational, and unforgettable way. For many kids, this experience is not only an exciting adventure but also a first step in a lifelong appreciation of cars and driving.
It's rather simple actually
Buy your experience and receive your voucher via email or post
Activate your voucher on our website
Call or email booking provider to reserve your day of fun
Why our customers love us
Change to an experience that suits your current mood
eVouchers are sent directly to your email inbox within seconds
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text:
"Dec. 17, 2012 -- Milk is an important source of vitamin D and calcium in young children's diets. But drinking more than two glasses a day may lower how much iron is stored in their bodies, raising the risk for anemia, a new study suggests."...
(lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate) Powder Intradermal Injection System
Zingo™ (lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate) powder intradermal injection system contains 0.5 mg of sterile lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate.
The chemical name is 2-diethylamino-2',6'-acetoxylidide, monohydrochloride, monohydrate. The molecular formula is C14H22N2O · HCl · H2O with a molecular weight of 288.8 Da. Lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate, a local anesthetic of the amide class, has the following structural formula:
Lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate is freely soluble in water, soluble in alcohol and chloroform, insoluble in ether, and melts at around 74–79°C.
Zingo™ (lindocaine hydrochloride monohydrate) is a ready-to-use, sterile, single-use, disposable, needle-free delivery system. Zingo™ (lindocaine hydrochloride monohydrate) consists of the following components: a drug reservoir cassette filled with 0.5 mg lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate as a powder with a nominal particle size of 40 Ám, a pressurized helium gas cylinder, and a safety interlock. The safety interlock prevents inadvertent actuation of the device. Once Zingo™ (lindocaine hydrochloride monohydrate) is pressed against the skin, the interlock is released, allowing the button to be depressed to actuate the device. A sound similar to that of a popping balloon is emitted at the time Zingo™ (lindocaine hydrochloride monohydrate) is actuated.
Last reviewed on RxList: 2/27/2009
This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.
Additional Zingo Information
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domain: chemistry


Okay so i know there are threads about this already but they didn't help because i have done what they said already so any advice would help. I have an 02 wrx wagon Stock. The CEL came on about a month ago so i ran the codes and the P0301 was the only one that came up so i changed out my plugs, but thanks to the morons at autozone put the non turbo plugs in so it came on again but still only on the #1 cylinder so i got some double platnum plugs and moved the coil packs around and everything was good for about a month. Out of no where Yesterday my CEL came on again so i went and ran it and its she same code P0301.
Could it be the Pack wires? or do i need to think more expensive like injectors?


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Getting arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) does not always involve the use of alcohol. Indeed, a South Dakota driver could be charged with DUI without ever drinking a drop of alcohol.
That’s because any substance that impairs a driver’s ability to operate their vehicle safely can result in the driver being arrested for driving under the influence.
Your prescription medicine could be a problem
Simply because your doctor legally prescribed your medication to you does not mean that you can’t face legal consequences for driving under its influence. Many prescription medicines cause impairment that affects the patient’s ability to drive a car or operate machinery safely. If you have any doubts about a medication’s affect on your driving skills, refrain from getting behind the wheel after you take a dose.
You don’t get a pass for over-the-counter meds, either
As anyone who has ever taken Nyquil to treat the symptoms of a bad cold or case of flu can attest, the fact that the medicine can be bought legally without a prescription has no bearing on its ability to impair those who take a dose. Ditto for Benadryl, the common antihistamine taken by many allergy sufferers. Both medicines contain ingredients that make people very drowsy and shouldn’t be taken before driving.
Not a good mix
Sometimes, a drug’s effects can be exacerbated by mixing the medication with another drug that enhances its sedative (or other) effects. You might think that you are able to drive when taking your regular dosage of prescription medicine. But its interaction with another prescription drug or over-the-counter (OTC) medicine could throw you for a loop.
What about marijuana?
While medical and recreational marijuana usage will both be a prominent feature of the upcoming November ballot, make no mistake: marijuana usage here in South Dakota remains illegal at this time. It is also illegal on the federal level.
Driving while under the influence of marijuana could result in your arrest for DUI as well as for possession of marijuana if the arresting officer finds some on your person or in your vehicle. Even if it winds up getting legalized, that gives no one a pass to drive after smoking pot.
The problem is vast
In 2010, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducted a survey to learn how many drivers in the United States actually drove under the influence of illegal drugs. They learned that a staggering 10 million Americans self-admitted to driving after consuming illegal drugs in the prior year.
In fact, when they tested drivers who died in fatal crashes, they found that over 18% were positive for an illegal or prescription drug, as per statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s a major problem.
Busted for DUI?
As a backlash, over-zealous police and prosecutors may wind up arresting drivers for marginal impairment. The problem here is that unlike tests for determining alcohol intoxication, there are few reliable indicators of prescription drug impairment. You could inadvertently get caught up in one of those dragnets.
If so, exercise your right to remain silent and seek the counsel of a Rapid City criminal defense attorney.

domain: health


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- Oprah throw a margarita-fueled party for the Wrinkle in Time cast - TMZ
- Who killed Wes on How to Get Away with Murder? - Gossip Cop
- Meghan Trainor releases her new song "I'm a Lady"! - Just Jared Jr
- Amber Rose just bought herself a new business - Wetpaint
- Tom Hiddleston looks handsome at Milan Fashion Week - Lainey Gossip
Ashton Kutcher Pushes His Body to the Limit with Jiu Jitsu!
About Photo #3083638: Ashton Kutcher carries a big duffel bag while arriving for his jiu jitsu class on Wednesday (April 2) in Beverly Hills, Calif. Over the weekend, the 36-year-old… Read More Here

domain: celebrity


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I wasn’t sure how my kids would take to the fennel, my youngest has had it before roasted and although she did eat some, she didnt seem overally impressed. However she really enjoyed this risotto. I served her portion with a little bit of pecan and date bread (see recipe here) and she ate the lot.
Fennel and Sweet Cipollini Onion Risotto
Serves 4 (2 adults and 2 kids)
- 3/4 cup (175ml) of arborio rice
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 fennel bulb, stalk removed and finely chopped
- 4 sweet cipollini onions (or shallots), finely chopped
- 900ml of no salt chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons of Italian Herbs
- 60g of Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- black pepper
- fresh Italian Parsley
Place your stock in a small saucepan over a low heat and add your Italian herbs.
Add your olive oil to a large frying pan over a medium high heat.. Add your onions, garlic and fennel and cook until softened, then stir in the balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until onions and fennel becomes lightly caramelised. Add the arborio rice and fry for a couple of mins stirring constantly until the rice becomes slightly transparent.
Start gradually adding your stock a few ladles at a time, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed before repeating the process of adding more stock until all your stock is absorbed and rice is creamy, but still has a slight bite.
For the last few ladles of stock, stir in your parmesan cheese.
Season with a little black pepper, divide among two bowls and top with some finely chopped Italian parsley.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I’D LOVE TO SEE IT!
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domain: food


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A family farm used support from multiple Rural Development Programme (RDP) measures to ensure the farm’s viability and diversify towards a quality focused and profit-oriented business.
Projects & Practice
A rural women’s association used Rural Development Programme (RDP) support to organise wool processing training courses and to create employment opportunities by valorising wool, a by-product of sheep meat production.
The construction of a new production facility to process minced fava beans and to take advantage of the market shift from meat to plant-based protein foods.
Reintroducing the traditional practice of controlled forest burning, as means to promote biodiversity and create new business opportunities in the forestry sector.
A company that produces ice-cider in northern Sweden, combined RDP support and crowdfunding to plant an apple orchard that would support its production needs.
Setting up a fruit juice processing plant that operates with renewable energy.
On-farm processing can add value to the product and can also make farming a more attractive choice for young farmers - as demonstrated by a berry farm in Finland.
The challenge of increasing food production without harming the environment might be solved through innovative production techniques, such as aquaponics.
A winery in response to changing consumers’ preferences, decided to restructure its bottling plant in order to widen the range of high quality wines produced.

domain: agronomy


Using Automated Rhyme Detection to Characterize Rhyming Style in Rap Music
MetadataShow full item record
Publisher:Empirical Musicology Review
Citation:Empirical Musicology Review, v5 n4 (Oct. 2010), 121-145
Imperfect and internal rhymes are two important features in rap music previously ignored in the music information retrieval literature. We developed a method of scoring potential rhymes using a probabilistic model based on phoneme frequencies in rap lyrics. We used this scoring scheme to automatically identify internal and line-final rhymes in song lyrics and demonstrated the performance of this method compared to rules-based models. We then calculated higher-level rhyme features and used them to compare rhyming styles in song lyrics from different genres, and for different rap artists. We found that these detected features corresponded to real- world descriptions of rhyming style and were strongly characteristic of different rappers, resulting in potential applications to style-based comparison, music recommendation, and authorship identification.


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Copyright Dublin SPCA 2023
Charity number CHY1047
Registered Charity Number 20001735
Catit Nibbly Jerky has a unique, natural texture and are very soft, which makes them easy to chew and swallow. Therefore, Nibbly Jerky is a great, easily digestible treat for older cats. The handy, resealable bags contain plenty of Jerky strips to keep your cat happy and purring for a long time.
Made with delicious, non-GMO ingredients, high meat content, low in calories. Does not contain grain, wheat or corn
Size: 30g bags


text: Nico Yektai is a creative designer trained in both arts and crafts. We have already shown one of his great works – a bench made of natural wood and concrete. Here is one of his latest works – Desk # 2. The entire desk is designed for the dynamic energy and movement of wooden curves. It is made of maple and has three drawers. Each of these drawers opens in a slightly different direction, so the experience of opening them is part of the discovery of the piece. The desk can definitely become the focal point of any room it’s in.


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Ecuadorian Dark Chocolate
Raw cacao has a rich history amongst ancient Central American cultures. Associated with nobility and abundance, cacao was known as ‘the food of the gods’ or ‘black gold’ and traded as currency. All chocolate comes from cacao beans, which is the nut of the cacao fruit. Cacao paste is the nibs conched at a low temperature to make a paste, which is easy to melt and use in chocolate recipes.
Most cacao products are roasted at high temperatures and then refined through machinery using high heat. Soaring Free Superfoods raw cacao products are carefully dried and cold processed ensuring truly raw cacao that keeps the delicate nutrients intact. Our cacao is certified organic and tested for heavy metals.
Indications and Benefits
° Heart Support
Contains high levels of magnesium to keep your heart healthy
° Lowers Blood Pressure
Theobromine relaxes muscles and dilates blood vessels
° Slows aging
Super rich in antioxidant, anti-aging flavanols
° Mental Clarity
PEA (phenylethylamine) improves cognitive function
° Natural Antidepressant
Contains plenty of feel-good neurotransmitters
Contains B vitamins, iron, manganese and theobromine
° Immune Boosting
High content of B vitamins to keep your immunity strong
Natural appetite suppressant helps you eat less
° Feel younger
MAOIs keep you feeling more upbeat and positive
How to take this product
Make the best chocolate sauce or easily create your own healthy chocolates at home by combining melted cacao paste, cacao butter and your sweetener of choice.
Recommended 5 – 20g per day.
No fillers and binders
100% organic cacao paste
Serving size: 10g
Number of servings: 20
|Per 100g||Per Single 10g Serving|
|of which total sugar (g)||0||0|
|Total Fat (g)||38,7||3,9|
|of which saturated fat (g)||24,7||2,5|
|Dietary Fibre (g)||26,4||2,6|
|Total Sodium (mg)||6||1|


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Ponce City Market
165,000 SF | Adaptive Reuse
Market Hall: Structor Group prepared the infrastructure and demising walls of this 150,000 SF space in preparation for future retail tenants. The space was anticipated to house seven restaurants, a tenant kiosk and a mobile cart restaurant. Scope included installing custom steel, glass, and wood storefront systems for tenant demising walls, new paint throughout the market hall and installing a new custom, ornamental spiral staircase.
General Assembly: A 4,540 SF continuing education and entrepreneurial incubator space. Features exposed structure and visible ductwork as well as sealed concrete floors.
Binders:10,029 SF retail space includes an art gallery and classroom space. Scope included custom displays, a unique layout and reclaimed wood flooring.


Plea to get on your bike in towns
A national project encouraging thousands of people to cycle for everyday journeys is coming to Cambuslang and Rutherglen.
The Big Bike Revival, an awardwinning programme developed by Cycling UK and funded by Transport Scotland, helps people in Scotland to bring their bikes back into use by providing bike health checks, sharing maintenance knowhow and giving people more confidence in the saddle.
Partnered by 100 community groups and bicycle recycling centres across the country, the Big Bike Revival aims to reach thousands of people to encourage them to get cycling again and to replace short car journeys with the bike.
CamGlen Bike Town in Rutherglen has been awarded Big Bike Revival funding to deliver activities in the local community.
Events include guided rides, go further Thursdays, bike maintenance and an open day all of which are free to access.
Participants will get the chance to enjoy bike rides through the streets with other cyclists and a trained ride leader, learn how to fix their bikes under the watchful eye of Bike Town’s expert mechanics or take a trip down to the community cycling project’s new premises.
Nick Watt, marketing officer for Camglen Bike Town said:“The Big Bike Revival is a great opportunity to get a real taste about what Bike Town can offer and experience the benefits cycling has to offer.
“As a community cycling initiative we are always trying to promote how awesome cycling can be not just for the individual but also in terms of how it can foster a real sense of community spirit. Moving into our new bike shop is certainly a testament to that.”
Transport minister Humza Yousaf said:“I am delighted that the Scottish Government is once again supporting The Big Bike Revival in Scotland this year.
“This is an ideal opportunity for people across the country to give those old bikes sitting in the shed a new lease of life by re-discovering the joys of cycling.
“I would encourage everyone to go along to their nearest event and take part in the various projects that will be running over the next two months.
“Cycling is a wonderful way to keep fit and healthy and to spend time in our great outdoors.”
There are hundreds of events and activities planned across the nation. To find Big Bike Revival events in Cambuslang & Rutherglern, visit www. bigbikerevival.org.uk


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PEMBROKE PINES — His tenacity as a top labor leader has won Mayor Frank Ortis crucial support from employee unions that has all but guaranteed his re-election over the last 14 years.
Ortis lobbies for Big Sugar and the machinists union in Tallahassee. He's also the union vice president of the Florida AFL-CIO board, and legislative director for the Broward Workforce Development Board. His email address, firstname.lastname@example.org, trumpets his allegiance and the license plate on his white Cadillac reads "1 union."
But his labor loyalty ran smack into economic reality recently when he and other city officials brokered a backroom deal to outsource 200 unionized city jobs. Growing public anger over the stealth deal forced city officials to retreat. Instead, on Wednesday they accepted $7 million worth of labor concessions, including a 4 percent pay cut and an agreement to forgo longevity pay and city pension increases and contributions.
"I think the word [for Ortis] is hypocrite," said Jim Silvernale, president of the Federation of Public Employees, which represents about 300 general employees in Pembroke Pines. "How can he represent labor on one side and forget your brothers and sisters on the other who work for the city of Pembroke Pines? He forgot where he came from."
Ortis, 66, a one-time union chief at Eastern Airlines who became a labor lobbyist, scoffed at the notion he was trying to bust the union. A budget shortfall of $11.2 million next year left city officials little choice, he said.
"There's no conflict there," said Ortis, former president of the Florida League of Cities. "I have a fiduciary responsibility to balance the city budget, and I also have a union background when I can do it. I also try to lobby for legislation for unions in Tallahassee."
One of Ortis's fellow commissioners, Iris Siple, described the topics of outsourcing and pay cuts as emotionally "devastating."
"All of the meetings we've had about this subject have been difficult," she said. "It's about those people that we did this to. It is not about the mayor."
Ortis's clients demurred when asked to comment on what some suggest is two-faced political behavior.
"Clearly this is a local matter, and one that does not involve the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers," said Rick Sloan, the union's communications director.
Workforce One President and CEO Mason Jackson declined to comment. Mike Williams, president of the Florida AFL-CIO, could not be reached for comment despite two messages left with his assistant.
Ortis said he agonized over the problem, especially since he would be dismantling generous pay packages he helped approve during flush times.
"Since I got on the commission, we increased workers' pension benefits and pay increases," he said.
Chief among them: Annual pay increases of 1 to 7 percent most years; pension increases of 1 to 3 percent; and the establishment of deferred retirement option plans, interest-bearing accounts for employees who have reached retirement age. Workers collect a lump-sum payment--on top of a pension--when they retire.
Because of the drop in tax revenue driven by the recession, Ortis explained, those benefits are bleeding the city.
"I don't want anybody out of a job," Ortis said. "In today's economy, it would be terrible. We will achieve a balanced budget with this option [cuts to pay packages] until times get better."
The secretive nature of the outsourcing deal left city employees and exports on Government in the Sunshine Law fuming. Union leaders said the plan to outsource 200 workers came as a complete surprise.
City officials say confidentiality rules related to employment negotiations permitted them to hold the closed-door meeting. Open government advocates disagree.
"The law is clear about what can and cannot take place in a closed session," said Alexis Lambert, Sunshine law expert in the state Attorney General's Office.
Ortis has a strong labor background. As a leader of the machinists' union at Eastern Airlines, he coordinated a bitter strike beginning in 1989 against deep cuts to pay and benefits. Pilots and flight attendants walked out, forcing the airline to cancel domestic flights. The Miami-based airline filed for bankruptcy before folding in 1991.
Ortis continued working for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers as a legislative lobbyist in Tallahassee. He also lobbies on behalf of the Sugar Industry Labor Management Committee, which includes Clewiston-based U.S. Sugar Corp. and Florida Crystals Corp. in West Palm Beach.
In 2003, Ortis bemoaned the potential loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to cheaper sugar producers in countries like Guatemala and Brazil and urged the World Trade Organization to embrace global reforms.
"We will not stand by and let our … good-paying jobs in this country be forced to go overseas," Ortis said at the time.

domain: news