The Law Commission’s Latest Proposals for Changes to Charity Law: Report by Paul Ridout and Jelena Serbic
The Law Commission’s Latest Proposals for Changes to Charity Law: Report by Paul Ridout and Jelena Serbic
In August 2017 the Law Commission published its report Technical Issues in Charity Law, incorporating a draft Charities Bill. The Commission’s proposals form part of its charity law reform project and also pick up issues identified in Lord Hodgson’s 2012 review of the Charities Act 2006.
By way of a reminder, the Law Commission operates independently of government and for over 50 years has been pursuing programmes of legislative reform aimed at ensuring that the law is fair, modern, simple and cost-effective. As a non-political body, it does not propose major policy changes, but selects areas of law for review and reform by identifying, with the benefit of public consultation, areas where the law is unsatisfactory and where reform would deliver benefits.
The Law Commission included selected issues in charity law as one of 14 projects in its Eleventh Programme of Law Reform announced in 2011, recognising that Lord Hodgson’s report had made around 100 recommendations for change, many of which were picked up by the Commission. The original plan had been to start work on the charity law project in late 2012 and issue a consultation document in late 2013. As things worked out, the first consultation was issued in April 2014 and focused on the power of charities to engage in social investment, leading to the inclusion of an express power in what became the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016. The remainder of the technical issues were then the subject of a major consultation in spring 2015, with a supplemental consultation on changing charitable purposes and trust corporation status following in autumn 2016.
The 350-page report proposed the removal of red tape while balancing that against the need for proper protections for charities and for the public. It says current laws affecting charities are bureaucratic, discourage volunteering and force charities to pay for unnecessary professional advice.
In particular, the Law Commission makes 43 recommendations for reform which it believes will save charities time and money. The Law Commission’s recommendations will now have to be considered by the government. If the draft Bill is enacted, the changes to charity law should deliver considerable benefits to the sector, although there will be many trustees and charity lawyers who will feel that the reforms do not go as far as they might have done.
In general, the changes proposed are technical but important, with real practical consequences for charities, including the removal of some of the inconsistencies and complexity that can make charity law difficult to apply and regulate.
Lord Hodgson has welcomed the Law Commission’s report, saying that his earlier review of the operation of the Charities Act 2006 had shown that:
“.. charities faced a number of historic obstacles under the current law. These unnecessary burdens on trustees act like barnacles on a boat, causing a drag when all should be plain sailing”.
The recommendations in the Law Commission’s report are so numerous and, in many cases, so bound up in detailed legal and historical background that this article cannot really do justice to all of them. We have therefore selected what we consider to be the key changes that charity practitioners should know about, and we heartily recommend reading the whole report for a fuller picture.
Part 7 of the Charities Act 2011 imposes certain controls on charities when they sell, let or mortgage land; those constraints are aimed at ensuring that charities get the best price or other terms when disposing of land, and only mortgage land when it is in the charity’s interests to do so. Complying with these restrictions results in charities incurring costs for professional advice. The current arrangements are based on a default prohibition: land may not be disposed of or charged without an order of the Charity Commission, but this does not apply if the charity has complied with some procedural safeguards including obtaining professional advice on the transaction, which would include the marketing in respect of any proposed disposal.
If the sale or lease is of ‘designated land’ (ie land that is held on trusts that require it to be used for a particular charitable purpose) and there is no intention to acquire replacement land, a public notice must be given of the proposed sale or lease. If the disposal is to a connected person (a trustee or a person or company connected with a trustee, including a subsidiary of the charity) it is necessary to obtain the consent of the Charity Commission.
The report comments pithily that ‘[t]he Part 7 regime is loved by some and loathed by others’, and identifies a number of ways in which it has appeared to get in the way of transactions or, in some cases, be overlooked until too late in the disposal process for it to be effective. In discussions leading up to the Commission’s spring 2015 consultation, practitioners had commented that it was no longer appropriate to treat land differently from other classes of assets, and the Commission had provisionally proposed that:
- the default prohibition on the disposal of land should be removed;
- trustees should be required, before disposing of land, to obtain and consider advice in respect of the disposition from a person who they reasonably believe has the ability and experience to provide them with that advice; but
- the requirement for advice should not apply if the trustees reasonably believe that it is unnecessary.
However, responses to the consultation made it clear that Part 7 is regarded by many as an essential safeguard against selling land at an undervalue, and one which frequently enables trustees to strike a better deal when disposing of land.
The Law Commission, therefore, recommends that the controls in Part 7 should be retained for most land transactions, but that:
- the categories of professionals who may provide the advice needed under Part 7 should be expanded to include fellows of the National Association of Estate Agents and fellows of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers;
- charity trustees, officers and employees who are suitably qualified should be able to give advice under Part 7;
- the Charities (Qualified Surveyors’ Reports) Regulations 1992 should be replaced with regulations that offer more flexibility to suit the charity’s circumstances;
- trustees should no longer be obliged to advertise the disposal in accordance with the surveyor’s report;
- Part 7 should not apply where the charity is one of a number of owners of the land in question – for example, where land has been bequeathed to a number of beneficiaries including one or more charities – and transactions in relation to such land should be governed by general trust law principles; and
- the definition of connected persons(to whom a disposal can only be made with the authority of a Charity Commission order) should exclude employees in cases where a short residential tenancy is being granted, and should also exclude wholly-owned subsidiaries.
The Commission also makes specific recommendations for closing what it refers to as ‘the Bayoumi gap’ (named after Bayoumi v Women’s Total Abstinence Educational Union Ltd ). The quirk of Part 7 means that, if the statutory requirements have not been complied with when contracts are exchanged, the buyer will not be able to enforce the contract because the requirement for a certificate in the disposition itself (which does protect a purchaser in good faith from the effect of noncompliance by the charity) does not apply to a contract for the disposition. This has led to buyers having to check whether the Part 7 requirements have been complied with whenever they are buying or leasing from a charity, adding delay and expense to the transaction.
The proposals aim to give charities more flexibility to obtain tailored advice when selling land and removing and simplifying some of the administrative procedures that need to be followed when dealing with land. The changes will be seen by some as too small, but others will welcome the continuing protection that Part 7 provides for charities when dealing with land.
Changing governing documents
The Law Commission proposes to simplify and harmonise the procedures that need to be followed by charities wishing to amend their governing documents, where possible removing discrepancies that arise from the different legal forms that charities take.
All charities have a governing document which sets out the charity’s purpose, how it is to be governed and powers and duties of the trustees. Charities can take on various legal forms ranging from incorporated organisations (charitable companies, charities incorporated by Royal Charter, charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs)) to unincorporated charities (unincorporated associations and charitable trusts). The procedure for a charity to amend its governing document depends on the legal form of the charity. The Law Commission wants to introduce greater alignment between corporate and unincorporated charities with the aim of providing simplicity and consistency.
Recommendations include extending the powers under s280 of the Charities Act 2011 that enable unincorporated charities to make changes to their governing documents by resolution of the trustees. Some amendments would still require consent from the Charity Commission, specifically:
- amendments that are currently treated as regulated alterations;
- amendments to provisions concerning third-party rights; and
- amendments relating to permanent endowment.
This would bring the amendment provisions into closer alignment with the regime that applied to CIOs and companies. The Law Commission maintains that the requirement of obtaining consent from the Charity Commission for certain changes provides an ‘important safeguard in respect of more significant, and potentially controversial, amendments’.
The Law Commission also recommends harmonisation of the criteria that are applied by the Charity Commission when considering whether to approve an amendment of a charity’s purposes. The draft Bill proposes that:
- when considering whether to consent to a company or CIO changing its purposes under s198 and 226 of the Charities Act 2011 or to consent to an unincorporated charity changing its purposes under the extended amendment power, the Charity Commission should be required to have regard to the following:
- the purposes of the charity when it was established;
- the desirability of securing that the property is applied for charitable purposes which are close to the purposes being altered; and
- the need for the relevant charity to have purposes which are suitable and effective in the light of current social and economic circumstances; and
- the Charity Commission should be given a power to give public notice, or require the charity trustees to give public notice, of any amendment by a charitable company or CIO in respect of which the Commission’s consent is required.
The report also sets out proposals to make it easier for charities established by Royal Charter to amend provisions in their charter, subject to Privy Council approval. This reform would remove many of the cumbersome and opaque requirements that apply to such charities.
Removing barriers to mergers
The Law Commission recognises that there are various problems with the law that governs the merger charities, especially with how the Charities Act deals with transfer of property and gifts by will to merged charities.
Section 268 of the Charities Act, which confers a power for unincorporated charities to transfer their property to another charity, will become redundant because of the recommendations for a new statutory power for unincorporated charities to make changes to their governing document by resolution.
The Law Commission recommends reforms in relation to gifts left to a charity where a merger has been registered with the Charity Commission, which should reduce the need for shell charities to be retained to capture legacies following a merger.
Recommendations are also made in relation to obtaining trust corporation status, which is vital if land is to be held by a corporate trustee. The Law Commission proposes that trust corporation status should be conferred automatically on any corporate charity that holds trust property, avoiding the need to rely on the Charity Commission to make a formal appointment or to make an application to the Lord Chancellor.
Further recommendations are made in relation to vesting declarations, making it clearer as to how they operate in relation to certain types of property, removing uncertainty and confusion.
The Law Commission has proposed a clarification of the definition of permanent endowment in the Charities Act 2011 so that an asset will be deemed to be permanent endowment ‘if it is subject to a restriction on being expended which distinguishes between income and capital’.
It is also proposed that charities should be permitted to draw down on permanent endowment up to a ceiling of 25% of the charity’s permanent endowment. This supplements the existing power of the Charity Commission to authorise expenditure of endowment on terms that require the capital to be recouped out of income over a period.
The existing rules that allow charity trustees to lift the restriction on spending endowment will be simplified so that Charity Commission consent will only be required if the capital value of the endowment is over £25,000.
Simplifying procedures for failed fundraising appeals
The Law Commission proposes simplifying the procedures that need to be followed in relation to a failed fundraising appeal. The Charity Commission has the power to direct funds to be used for other like charitable purposes where more funds have been raised than needed, but there is no mechanism for this to be done if the appeal fails to raise enough to achieve its stated purposes; instead charities have to try to contact donors and offer a refund.
The key recommendations are to alter the rules so that funds raised by an unsuccessful appeal can be applied cy-près if:
- the donation is small, that is, less than £120;
- the trustees have taken reasonable steps, as agreed in advance with the Charity Commission, to contact the donors;
- the funds are raised through a cash collection or from a lottery, competition or other similar activity; or
- the Charity Commission decides that it would be unreasonable to take steps to contact the donors.
Payments to trustees
One area of charity law that results in charities getting in trouble with their regulator is the question of payments to charity trustees. The Law Commission has proposed two particular changes in this area:
- the provisions of the Charities Act 2011 (s185) that allow trustees to be paid for services they provide to their charity should be extended to cover the supply of goods; and
- the power to authorise a trustee to keep money that they have been paid for work done for the charity (the grant of an ‘equitable allowance’) should be exercisable by the Charity Commission as well as by the court.
Ex gratia payments
The Law Commission’s report also offers greater flexibility for making ex gratia payments: payments that the trustees feel morally obliged to make but have no legal power to make, for example where money has been left to the charity under a will, and the testator has instructed their solicitor to draft a fresh will but the new will is not made by the time the testator dies. Recommendations include allowing decisions to be delegated by trustees and permitting payments to be made without the consent of the Charity Commission, below a threshold and on a sliding scale depending on the income of the charity.
Charity Commission powers, the Charity Tribunal and the courts
The Law Commission’s report offers a significant extension of the powers of the Charity Commission. This includes increased powers to prevent charities using misleading names; the ability to confirm if trustees were properly appointed; and increased powers to delay registering a charity and to refer a matter to the Charity Tribunal without the consent of the Attorney General.
The Law Commission also makes recommendations in relation to the Charity Commission and the courts, for example, allowing charities to apply to the courts rather than the Charity Commission for consent to commence proceedings against the Commission and giving advance assurance to trustees that legal costs in a charity tribunal can be honoured from the charity’s funds.
Conclusion for practitioners
The Law Commission’s report covers a broad range of issues in charity law, not all of which can be covered in this article. It is evident from the report that there has been an extensive engagement with charities and their advisers on these issues and that the 43 recommendations have been developed and refined so that they reflect many of the representations made during the 2015 consultation.
If enacted, the draft Bill will resolve many of the frustrations and bureaucratic obstacles faced by charities. But beyond that, the level of analysis contained in the report makes it important reading for anyone who wants, or needs, to have a detailed understanding of the inner workings of charity law.
(This article was first published in Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal (December 2017) and is available at lawjournals.co.uk.’)
Contact our charity law experts today
If you would like to discuss any issues raised in this article further, please contact our charity law solicitors on 01895 207862 or email email@example.com.


2007 Volkswagen Space Up! Concept
Are they the new New Beetles--or a Smart challenger in the works? Whichever way Volkswagen presses ahead with its New Small Family of cars, one thing's for sure now--some of them will be built in Slovakia.
Volkswagen AG Chairman Martin Winterkorn said yesterday the company would build the "NSF" family at the plant in Bratislava, which already assembles vehicles for VW, SEAT and Skoda. Production begins in 2011, and three- and five-door versions will be built for those brands, too.
Volkswagen showed the original NSF concept, dubbed the Up!, at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, followed by a Space Up! concept at the Tokyo show in 2007. At that point, the hatchback was said to be planned around 60-mpg fuel economy. The little car was to be aimed at crowded urban markets in Europe , as well as cities in emerging markets. And production was expected for some lower-cost country, like Brazil or China--which still could be on the production plate if the NSF family goes global.
Zero-emission versions are in the works, too, per the 2007 Space Up! Blue concept from that year's Los Angeles auto show.
Americans may get a version of the Up! built in Europe, but our own VW future is hinged on the development of vehicles coming from the new VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That factory is slated to build a NMS family of cars--new mid-size--beginning with a sedan sometime in 2011. A crossover to replace the very slow-selling, Chrysler-derived Routan minivan is expected from the plant, too.


The Search function is one of VitroCAD’s most attractive features. In recent years, the rate of document creation has grown exponentially. Companies of all sizes need to provide their users with quick, relevant, and secure access to the data they require
Engineering documents, drawings or models contain a lot of specific information that needs to be found urgently. The limitations of the Windows folder structure soon becomes apparent. As with any engineering document management solution, VitroCAD allows users to perform searches using file names, project numbers, creation dates, and other features.
The most appealing feature of VitroCAD search function is the ability for users to search any text contained within a document. Supported document types include DWG, DGN, Word, Excel, PDF, PowerPoint, and many more. Being able to search by attribute, content, keyword or metadata is a key benefit offered by VitroCAD


text:
Quilting is on the back burner for a bit. I have been working on some weaving ideas. When you wake up with an idea, it is best to just get to it. Apparently, my dreams have been weaving because I keep waking up with weaving ideas.
The cloth with the silk ties came off the loom today so that I could put on this warp that I made with lots of white, blue and purple. I didn't get a picture of it before I started weaving though. Here is the first section woven in white and then changing to blue. (Although it looks a bit purple in this photo, it is royal blue.)
Then I added a variegated purple/green/aqua thread followed by a gold section. Of course I have added various extra pops of color (or white) to add more interest to the piece.
My blog is http://blog.geneblack.com
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger" - I can not reply.

domain: design


Work to the surface and drainage of Chapel-en-le-Frith byway
Opens: 5 September 2016 - Closes: 28 November 2016
What this consultation is about
We seek your views on our proposal to carry out significant work to the surface and drainage of a short section of this byway open to all traffic to stabilise the surface.
Creation of bound surface with drainage to ensure the safe passage of users.
Reason for the work:
- To avoid continuous erosion of the surface.
- To manage water during periods of heavy rain.
- To provide a sustainable surface for the use of the public.
Location: Grid Reference SK 0996 8291
Extent of planned work: From SK 0931 8254 to SK 0990 8295 - approximately 770m.
How to take part
We are carrying out this consultation in the following ways:
Who is the consultation aimed at?
Which part of Derbyshire is this consultation aimed at?
Generally, who is this consultation aimed at?
How will we let you know the results?
Feedback about this consultation will be available by the following methods:


The European Football Association (UEFA) called for a minute of silence in all matches from tomorrow until the 21st of this month, in mourning for the victims of the earthquake in Morocco.
By one o’clock in the afternoon, the earthquake victims witnessed an increase in the number of deaths, reaching 1,037 people and 1,204 injured, including 721 in critical condition.
The deaths affected 9 provinces and provinces, as 542 deaths were recorded in Al Haouz Province, 321 cases in Taroudant Province, 103 cases in Chichaoua Province, 38 cases in Ouarzazate Province and one case in Tinerhir.
While no new cases were recorded for the prefectures and provinces of Marrakesh, Azilal, Agadir Edoutnan, Greater Casablanca and Youssoufia.
The public authorities continue to mobilize all necessary human and logistical means, in addition to recruiting specialized intervention units consisting of search and rescue teams, while the various health facilities in the affected areas are witnessing a comprehensive mobilization to provide the necessary treatments.
the total 0 Opinions


Budweiser’s Bringing A Hologram Of Mary J. Blige’s Made In America Show To Governors Island
Ever since that fateful Tupac hologram showed up at Coachella in 2012 and became a viral sensation, holograms have been a thing again. Which is probably why Budweiser is emphasizing the hologram aspect of their event on Governors Island; the event culminates in a 4D hologram concert projection of Mary J. Blige, who will be performing live at a previously announced Made In America show on Liberty Island. The Governors Island evening also includes IRL performances from T-Pain, Misterwives, and Big Gigantic, along with “samples” of Budweiser and complimentary burgers.
You can RSVP here to get a free ticket, which includes round trip ferry ride fare for two people, along with the burgers and beer. The event will be held this Sunday, 6/21 starting at 7 p.m. with the hologram screening slated to begin at 9 p.m.. The concert is part of Budweiser’s new partnership with the National Park Foundation and the Find Your Park movement. Conveniently, they’ll also be rolling out some special edition Lady Liberty-inspired bottles. God bless America.


text:
Manhattan College graduate Jose Carrera has hits in 11 straight games to raise his average from .156 to .253 for the Gulf Coast League Yankees East.
Carrera, signed as an undrafted by the Yankees in late June, is 21 for 83 with five doubles, one triple, one home run and 14 RBI. He has walked 11 times, giving him an on-base percentage of .361.
The Gulf Coast League is a short-season rookie league.
Msgr. Farrell High School graduate Tom Cosgrove picked up his first professional win by allowing no earned runs on three hits and striking out five over five innings for the Tri-City Dust Devils in its 4-0 Northwest League win over Everett on Aug. 18.
He threw 46 of his 67 pitches for strikes.
Cosgrove is now 1-3 with a 4.15 earned run average this season for the Dust Devils, the Class A short-season affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
Cosgrove played three seasons at Manhattan College before being drafted by the Padres in the 12th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.
Corporal Nicholas Jurek, a Manhattan College student who completed two tours of Afghanistan with the U.S. Marine Corps, was honored when the Yankees hosted the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 1.
Jurek and his family were honored on the field behind home plate during the seventh-inning stretch for Jurek’s service. The Yankees honor a veteran during the seventh-inning stretch of each home game in association with the Wounded Warrior Project Foundation.
Jurek, who is expected next to graduate next May, is studying nuclear medicine technology at Manhattan.
Jose Carrera became one of the newest members of the New York Yankees organization.
The 5-foot, 2-inch infielder, who just completed his senior season at Manhattan College, was signed as a free agent by the Yankees last week and was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Yankees, Rookie League.
“I’m thrilled for Jose to have the opportunity to play at the next level within the Yankees organization,” said Manhattan baseball coach Jim Duffy in a release from the college. “He has been the heart and sole of the Manhattan baseball program over the last four years. Now he has his chance to chase his dream. I’m proud of him and his perseverance. He’s a great example that hard work, faith and believing in yourself can go a long way.”
Carrera, who grew up in Miami, hit .266 with seven doubles, two triples and 11 stolen bases for the Jaspers in 2017.
The 14th-seeded Iona College men’s basketball team suffered a 93-77 loss to third seed Oregon in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Tournament in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, March 17.
Jordan Washington had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Gaels, who finished the season at 22-12.
Iona will enter the 2017-2018 season as the two-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champions.
The Manhattan College men’s basketball team was selected to compete in the first Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic on Dec. 1 and 2.
The Jaspers will play Holy Cross and LaSalle will meet Towson on the first day with the winners playing for the title and the losers competing for third place on the second day.
The tournament is being presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Sport Changes Life, Rory McIlroy’s Foundation (Rory Foundation) and The SSE Arena in Belfast.
Maureen Magarity-Copes is one of four finalists for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s National NCAA Division I Coach of the Year.
Magarity-Copes coached the University of New Hampshire to the America East Conference’s regular-season title and a 26-5 recording entering the Friday, March 17 WNIT opening-round game at home against Harvard. Magarity-Copes, the daughter of Army women’s basketball coach Dave Magarity, was named the America East Coach of the Year by the conference coaches.
Magarity-Copes played at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie where she helped the Warriors to a state championship. She attended Boston College, a top-25 program from the Big East in those days, before transferring to Marist where she led the Red Foxes to the program’s first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Read more here.

domain: news


text:
Man accused of killing ex-friend appears in court under security
Jamm Aquino, firstname.lastname@example.org
1 of 1
Chad Duran, middle, makes an initial appearance in Honolulu District Court with attorney Donald Wilkerson.
Photos: Solar Impulse 2 lands in Hawaii, July 3
Photos: Island Images: July 2015
Photos: Page One Gallery: July, 2015
More Photo Galleries »


text:
If it’s VIP living you’re after that Manchester has it all.
Dubbed a ‘liveable hotel’, City Suites is the crème de la crème of luxury living. Boasting 237 self-contained apartments, the entire block has been designed with relaxation in mind.
Perfect for when on business, guests are able to stay on a short-term basis, from as little as a week to up to 12 months. Equipped with the most luxurious of facilities, guests can enjoy a 24-hour gym, valet parking, a concierge service as well as a dip in the 18-metre swimming pool and Jacuzzi.
Complete with superfast Wi-Fi, a weekly cleaning service, a twice weekly-towel change and a laundry and dry cleaning service, the apartments have everything you need for the ultimate stay.
Wall to wall of ultimate indulgence, guests can choose from a studio or a one to two-bedroom apartment.
Read more: 5 ways to turn your bathroom into a spa
The apartment’s operations director, Gavin Bailey, told the Manchester Evening News upon opening: “CitySuites will revolutionise Manchester’s business travel scene and I’m looking forward to being the driving force of its operations.
Gavin, who has previously worked for luxury brands such as Ferrari and Porsche, believes that the apartments are more liveable than hotels.
“We are the only luxury serviced apartment offering in the city that provides properties that are more liveable than hotels, more personal than existing serviced apartments and more desirable than any other business travel option on the market.”
Want to find out what all the fuss is about? Discover more about City Suites at www.citysuites.com

domain: travel


text:
Lord Hutton, a former Labour minister, has been touring the TV studios brandishing his newly published public sector pensions report as "fair" and "independent". It is neither.
Governments usually only commission an independent review if they know the outcome. While Hutton might produce his party card as credentials, he was always regarded as on the right wing of Labour and has been denounced as a "collaborator" by his former ministerial colleagues.
Hutton protests that his recommendations are not about cutting the deficit but about making schemes "sustainable and affordable". This is untrue and Hutton knows it. Even his own interim report in October showed that the cost of public sector pensions is falling. The National Audit Office report in December showed that changes already agreed will reduce public sector pensions costs by 14%. In fact, Hutton was in the cabinet that negotiated the changes in 2005 which were described as "fair and reasonable" by the then trade and industry secretary, Alan Johnson.
What fatally undermines Hutton's argument, though, is George Osborne explicitly telling parliament that "from the perspective of filling the hole in the public finances, we will seek changes that deliver an additional £1.8bn of savings per year in the cost of public service pensions by 2014-15".
So public sector pensions are being cut not because they are unaffordable or unsustainable but because there's a hole in the public finances. That hole was caused by the banking crisis and the recession that resulted. It was not caused by public spending, public sector workers or their pensions. As Mervyn King said earlier this week, "the price of this financial crisis is being borne by people who absolutely did not cause it".
King then went on to say that "I'm surprised that the degree of public anger has not been greater than it has". That anger is mounting in my union, the PCS, across the public sector and in local communities up and down the country where people are not prepared to see their jobs and their services made scapegoats. Members of the UCU have already set strike dates, starting next week, and unless the government agrees to negotiate, further strike action will be inevitable.
In interviews today I have been asked: "Why should taxpayers pay for your gold-plated pensions?" My answer is: for the same reason the taxpayer should pay their wages. If we value public services and the public servants who provide them – from health workers to coastguards, from tax collectors to teachers – it seems only fair to me that we respect them with a decent wage and a decent pension. Far from being "gold-plated", the average civil service pension is just £4,200 per year – about £80 per week – which doesn't sound very bling to me.
The other argument, put by the CBI's John Cridland, is that public sector pensions act as a barrier for "third sector and private sector organisations" who want to run public services. If these organisations want to scrimp on staff pensions it begs the question, are these the sort of organisations that we want running our welfare system, our schools and our hospitals?
What becomes clear is that the attack on our pensions is about crude cuts to solve a problem we didn't cause, and a stepping stone towards the wholesale privatisation of public services. It is a blatant robbery – forcing workers to pay more for less.


text:
Policemen attached to the Ogun state Police Command Saturday morning arrested two ladies and three men for possessing human heads and some pieces of human flesh.
The five suspects were apprehended in Joju area of Otta in Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State in a joint operation conducted by the a team from Otta Divisional Police Headquarters led by Mr Gabriel Dibie and the Special Anti Robbery Squad from the Lagos Command.
It was gathered that the police team from Otta assisted the SARS, Lagos, who got the first hand information the activities of the suspects at the Joju area where they were arrested following a tip off from the people of the area.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the “exhibits recovered from them include one complete human head and pieces of human flesh in a container stained with liquid substance suspected to be human blood.”
Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) said the the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Mr Ikemefuna Okoye, has given a directive that the case be handed over to SARS Lagos for discrete investigation since its a follow up to an ongoing investigation with the Lagos men while Ogun Command will complement their effort in the course of its separate investigation.
Okoye also assured Ogun residents that the Police will not condone any act of criminality and inappropriate behaviours within the state as it’s ready to harness all available resources to have robust intelligence- driven policing.


text:
CBS.sports.com columnist Gregg Doyel said it's high time players boycott the NFL's Wonderlic test and he uses former LSU Tiger Morris Claiborne as a prime example. Claiborne's score of 8 on the 12-minute intelligence test leaked out last year and he was ridiculed throughout the media.
Claiborne is the one laughing now, says Foxsports.com's Peter Schrager.
Michael Marot of The Associated Press also has an LSU angle to his piece on the questions players will be asked in their individual interviews. Barkevious Mingo says all Tiger players at the combine are bracing for questions about Tyrann Mathieu, who to comes to Indianapolis later in the week.
Here is a team-by-team look at specific needs by former Indianapolis Colts general manager and ESPN analyst Bill Polian.
Here are The Sporting News' top 10 storylines, including Tyrann Matheiu, at the combine.


text:
Alaska is so much more than its legends and myths. Boasting lively farmer’s markets, modern art galleries, and fine dining, 21st-century Alaska blends the old and the new, and urban life with the great outdoors in towns and cities surrounded by wilderness. Journey through the wild terrain of Alaska with our Alaska cruises and discover the natural wonders that await as the rugged beauty of this pristine frontier unfolds. Set out on an unforgettable adventure where you’ll get up close and personal with 30-ton whales, zip-line through the rainforest with a visit to Mendenhall Glacier afterwards, or take flight high above the snow-capped lands and glaciers. In 2022, let any of our three award-winning ships take you there: Celebrity Solstice®, Celebrity Eclipse®, or Celebrity Millennium®, which has recently emerged from her Celebrity Revolution® modernization. And new for 2021, the revolutionized Celebrity Millennium® will sail round trip from Seattle.
And, with our 9-to-13-night Alaska Cruisetours, you can combine your Alaska cruise with an exciting land tour where you’ll stay in authentic lodges and travel remote roads and railways in deluxe motor coaches and luxurious train. A cruisetour will take you to cultured Anchorage, folksy Talkeetna, and wild Denali—a visit to these inland areas truly give you a feel for the 49th State. Experience our acclaimed Alaska cruises and take your sense of wonder to new heights.

domain: geography


Vadim Ksendzov's Email & Phone Number
Software engineer – Banuba
Vadim Ksendzov's Work Experience
June 2020 to Present
Teacher of "Software Quality Assurance & Quality Control" courses – Education center "Stormnet"
September 2017 to February 2018
February 2017 to May 2017
July 2015 to January 2017
February 2013 to August 2013
October 2012 to February 2013
Vadim Ksendzov's Education
January 2015 to January 2015
January 2007 to January 2011
In a nutshell
Extraversion (E), Intuition (N), Feeling (F), Judging (J)
2 year(s), 0 month(s)
There's 88% chance that Vadim Ksendzov is seeking for new opportunities
About Vadim Ksendzov's Current CompanyBanuba
Frequently Asked Questions about Vadim Ksendzov
What company does Vadim Ksendzov work for?
Vadim Ksendzov works for Banuba
What is Vadim Ksendzov's role at Banuba?
Vadim Ksendzov is Software engineer
Vadim Ksendzov's phone (**) *** *** 120
What industry does Vadim Ksendzov work in?
Vadim Ksendzov works in the Computer Software industry.
About Vadim Ksendzov
💼 Past Experience
Ksendzov holds a B.Sc. in Software Engineering from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. He is a graduate of the Stopirovky program of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Vadim Ksendzov has a degree in Business Administration from Big Soft. Ksendzov has been studying at Big Soft since January 2015. He is an EA at БГТУ from January 2007 to January 2011.
💡 Technical & Interpersonal Skills
Vadim Ksendzov has three years of professional experience in the software engineering field. He first joined Banuba Industry of Computer Software in June 2017 as a lead QA engineer. After a year of work, he was promoted to the role of QA Specialist. From February 2017 to May 2017, he was a QA Specialist at Panda Systems. From January 2017 to July 2015, he was a QA Specialist at SoftClub. He has also worked as a teacher of "Software Quality Assurance & Quality Control" courses.
Enjoy unlimited access and discover candidates outside of LinkedIn
Trusted by 400K users from 76% of Fortune 500 companies
The most accurate data ever
Find anyone, anywhere
with ContactOut today
Making remote or global hires? Connecting
with key decision-makers? We can help.
No credit card required


text:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Motion Book
All the trials, tribulations, and adventure has lead the Mane Six to this moment–a confrontation with the evil Queen Chrysalis…can Twilight Sparkle live up to her full potential?
This episode does not feature sound.
Written by Katie Cook
Art & Cover by Andy Price
Colors by Heather Breckel
Letters by Robbie Robbins & Neil Uyetake
Build by Evan Limberger & Henry Ong
Edited by Bobby Curnow
This Motion Book contains sequential content from print issue My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #4.

domain: artistic


text:
The House on Hope Street[text (large Print)]Book - 2000
The House on Hope Street is about learning to live again after you think life is over, about getting up when you have been knocked down, again and again. Its is about cherishing small miracles, and believing in big ones. It is about all about hope.
Publisher: New York : Random House Large Print, c2000.
Edition: 1st large print ed.
Branch Call Number: LP/FIC/STE
Characteristics: 327 p. (large print) : 21 cm.

domain: library


text:
A reasonably exhaustive search is complete when you have sufficient evidence to draw a conclusion. That may be just two independent sources. It certainly does not mean finding every record in existence. Consider:
- How long are you going to live? Vampires would be excellent genealogists if it weren’t for the blood sucking obsession.
- Do you sleep, eat, and have a life besides genealogy (recommended for health)?
Figure out which sources are most likely to yield information pertinent to the research question. To do that you need to educate yourself about the time, place and record types. Bibliographic and archival catalogues are the keys that unlock knowledge.
Archive versus Library: FamilySearch is neither
I asked fellow panellist and archivist Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana to explain the differences between libraries and archives, because it helps us make best use of them. She supplied a helpful article from the Society of American Archivists that sums it up nicely. In summary:
|Typical Holdings||Authored works e.g. BooksDerivative records e.g. Published transcripts and indexes||Original records e.g. manuscripts, letters, photographs, artwork, books, diaries, artefacts etc.,Derivative records e.g. Indexes, finding aids|
|No of copies of items||Multiple, replaceable||Unique, irreplaceable|
|Objective||Current use||Preservation, current and future use|
|Access||Open, often borrowable||Restricted, handling conditions|
|Arrangement/ organisation||Subject classification.Catalogue has single or few levels, searchable by author, title, subject||Arrangement (logical classification) reflects provenance, relationships to other records, and preservation history.Catalogue has multiple levels, complex searches may be possible|
The Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA does not fit either the library or archive categories, and is a rather unique institution. It is a microfilm library. The microfilms contain copies of archival materials, transcripts, indexes and authored works. Each microfilm is identified by a number, which is needed to access information of its contents in the catalogue.
Photographic technology of the 20th century has shaped the FHL holdings. Traditional chemically processed film came in a linear strip forcing records to be copied in a fixed sequence. The costs were relatively high, an incentive to use all of each film roll, breaking away from the archival arrangement of records in the process.
So, the Family History Library is a strange hybrid based on old technology, and its offspring, the International Genealogical Index (IGI, on microfilm and later online) and FamilySearch databases reflect that history. The ease of access of these resources is commendable, but it has influenced the thinking of many genealogists and family historians spreading widespread misconceptions of research processes.
The processes leading to the microfilm and online resources relevant to the birth of an ancestor born in the early 1800s in England might look like this:
Note that the FHL catalogue records film details, with varying quality of provenance information. Note also only some microfilms have been indexed and incorporated into the FamilySearch databases.
An archival catalogue is the most important product of the processes performed by archivists in managing the collections in their care. At risk of making Myrt cry again, I repeat my message from the hangout-on-air:
The archival catalogue is a foundation of research. Without it, records cannot be found, and without the information it contains, the nature, relevance, provenance and quality of records cannot be assessed.
In the course of our research, we each build a personal collection. So, I recommend building a catalogue as explained in Provenance of a Personal Collection – Archival Accession, Arrangement and Description. The Community Archives and Heritage Group gives helpful guidance for small archives. Genealogists need a user-friendly cataloguing tool that integrates with all the other software we use.
Recent acquisitions that have not yet been catalogued, catalogues that are not on-line, or not computerised all pose challenges to finding sources. Archival catalogues describe hierarchical groups of records, but often are not complete down the level of individual items. A competent genealogist takes account of these difficulties and records what was found in the catalogues consulted.
Tools for finding information contained in sources, called finding aids by archivists, include indexes, and databases.
Thorough research is accomplished by targeting the sources most likely to contain relevant information. Then, search within each source for the information. Have you got that?
Yet all major genealogy websites default search covers all sources. This numpty scattergun approach serves no-one well and encourages poor habits. In Kerry Scott’s nutrition analogy, it leads to a diet of poptarts rather than a healthy balance, resulting in a rickety family tree.
Even carefully compiled indexes contain errors. It is fairly easy to spot index data that is clearly inaccurate such as gobbledygook rendered by optical character recognition (OCR). No search algorithm or fancy programming can overcome such poor quality data. More subtle errors are harder to detect. Before we can hold vendors to account, we need to know what error rate renders an index unfit for the purpose of a reasonably exhaustive search.
A competent genealogist takes steps to overcome the quality issues of indexes, databases and other finding aids.
Genealogy and family history research depends so much on archival material, even if it is accessed in derivative forms. So, take time to understand the work of archivists.


text:
"Suburgatory" star Jane Levy switches gears and leads the film that will find a new group of young folks headed into the woods, where the Book of the Dead will once again be the source of some unruly havoc. Of course, horror heads already know this is a remake of Sam Raimi's beloved 1981 cult film, but everyone around the movie is swearing up and down that this effort is worth the do over. So tell us, does us the restricted trailer below deliver the goods? Are your pants sufficiently soiled? Will this be the rare remake that matches or even trumps its predecessor?
Directed by Fede Alvarez with some script help from Diablo Cody, "Evil Dead" is coming on April 12th.


text:
Mountain Biking Highlight
Kössine ... They are super nice, nice view and reasonable prices.
July 2, 2020
Wonderful area for biking and enjoying
September 7, 2021
In the know? Log-in to add a tip for other adventurers!
Our Tour recommendations are based on thousands of activities completed by other people on komoot.
Steiniger/Felsiger Trail mit anspruchsvollen Passagen
der- laß laufen- Trail


text:
Americans' Favorite Poems
offers keen proof that poetry does
make something happen, that it can give strength and perspective, inspire and alter lives, and comfort and surprise. How did this grassroots golden anthology come about? When Robert Pinsky was named U.S. poet laureate in 1997, he hoped to persuade 100 Americans to recite and discuss their favorite works. Even he may have been surprised when thousands were moved to contribute and commune. From the wave of responses, Pinsky has selected 200 poems, each preceded by one or more testimonials. Make no mistake: this collection, ranging in alphabetical order from Ammons to Zagajewski, would be a keeper without any commentary whatsoever. But Pinsky's volume again and again makes clear that for real readers Matthew Arnold is far from outmoded, that people still thrill to Robert Browning, and that Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" is--at least for one Hollywood type--a reflection of reality rather than sublime whimsy. And how about John Donne's "The Flea"? A precocious Arizona 17-year-old deems it not a thorny metaphysical work but "the best argument for sex I've ever heard."
Fans will encounter their favorites, from Anna Akhmatova to Langston Hughes to W.B. Yeats, and read them anew in the light of people's passionate comments. But there are also discoveries to be made. A New Mexican treasures "Who Says Words with My Mouth" by the 13th-century Persian poet Jalal Al-Din Rumi: "I can't live without it and I can die with it." And this reader is grateful to one New Yorker for offering up Nazim Hikmet's "Things I Didn't Know I Loved." Twenty-four-year-old Chad Menville writes: "I identify with this poem about imprisonment, censorship, longing, and belief in oneself more than with any other poem I have read. This poem needs to be heard! Please."
Americans' Favorite Poems really is a national portrait: those who took up Pinsky's challenge range from teachers to prisoners, teenagers to nonagenarians. There are even a few artists. Violinist and conundrum merchant Laurie Anderson sent a long, complex paragraph detailing how George Herbert inspired her to create a talking table: "It compressed the sound and drove it up steel rods so that when you sat with your elbows on the table and your hands to your ears, it was like wearing a pair of powerful headphones." And when it comes to A.E. Housman, the writer William Maxwell opted for simplicity with the sentence fragment: "Because I cannot read it without shuddering with pleasure." That same phrase can be applied to the entire volume. Robert Pinsky's vision is inspiring on every level, proof of his belief in poetry--and people. --Kerry Fried
Poet laureate Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project was a stroke of genius. Americans were invited to share by letter a poem they treasured; then many were recorded reading their chosen poems for inclusion in a national video and audio archive. The response was tremendous, and as Pinsky notes, many of the matches between reader and poem defy stereotypes, and all attest to the vital role that poetry plays in more lives than seems possible in a country that appears to pay scant attention to this quiet art form. Here each poem is introduced in extraordinarily moving personal disclosures by the reader who chose it. Teenagers and octogenarians, a social worker, a farmer, a nurse, a truck driver, a commodities trader, a librarian, a judge, and an alcoholic who memorizes poetry to test her sobriety selected poems by Lucille Clifton, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Haki R. Madhubuti, W. S. Merwin, Sylvia Plath, and Dylan Thomas. No one person, however well read, could have created this resounding collection, which may well become a favorite in its own right. Donna Seaman

domain: literature


text:
A team of British researchers, led by the University of York, is warning governments and healthcare decision makers across the globe to be wary of the myths and hype surrounding medical tourism.
In an article, to be published in the journal Policy & Politics by Policy Press, the researchers challenge the idea that ever greater numbers of patients are prepared to travel across national borders to receive medical treatment.
‘Medical tourism’ is where people leave their own country to seek medical treatment abroad. They are typically treated as private patients and the costs are fully recouped. This is distinct from ‘health tourism’ where there is not always an intention to pay.
In the article, the authors, who include academics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Royal Holloway University, and the University of Birmingham, looked beyond the NHS and the UK to address the wider international issues of medical tourism, examining how other countries are addressing this global phenomenon.
They describe ‘three myths’ of medical tourism: the rise and rise of medical tourism; enormous global market opportunities; and that national governments have a role to play in stimulating the medical tourism sector through high-tech investment.
The researchers say these three widely-held assumptions cannot be backed up with hard evidence but are encouraged by interested parties such as healthcare providers, and brokers and facilitators who act as intermediaries between providers and patients.
Lead author Dr Neil Lunt, from the University of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work, said: “In the past decade or so, the global health policy literature and consultancy reports have been awash with speculations about patient mobility, with an emphasis on how ever greater numbers of patients are travelling across national jurisdictions to receive medical treatments.
“Yet authoritative data on numbers and flows of medical tourists between nations and continents is tremendously difficult to identify. What data does exist is generally provided by stakeholders with a vested interest rather than by independent research institutions. What is clear is that there exists no credible authoritative data at the global level, which is why we are urging caution to governments and other decision-makers who see medical tourism as a lucrative source of additional revenue.
“Our message is: be wary of being dazzled by the lure of global health markets, and of chasing markets that do not exist.”
The paper was informed by a research project funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research (NIHR HS&DR) Programme. It uses the findings from a two-year study into the impact of medical tourism on the UK’s health system to make broader observations which the researchers believe apply to medical tourism globally.
The report authors argue that in terms of medical tourism, a level playing field does not necessarily exist and they challenge the view of open and global markets. Networks, history and relationships, they say, may explain a great deal about the success of particular destinations.
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Global medical tourism
- The Global Dental Laboratories Market is Expected to Exhibit a CAGR of Close to 5.6% Over the Forecast Period 2022-2032
Companies Profiled in dental laboratories market are Envista Holdings Corporation, Dentsply Sirona, A-dec Inc., Straumann AG, Danaher Corporation, Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., Ultradent Products, Inc ...
- North America Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market is Projected to Register a CAGR of 25.5% by The End of 2026
Leading market players featured in the report are Apollo Hospital Enterprise Limited, Bumrungrad International Hospital, KPJ Healthcare Berhad, Christus Muguerza Hospital, WorldMed Assist, Mednamaste, ...
- Medical Tourism Market to Expand at 21.1% CAGR during 2022-2028
According to Fortune Business Insights, The worldwide medical tourism market value is predicted to rise from USD 13.98 billion in 2021 to USD 53.51 ...
- Global $29.54 Bn Medical Spa Markets, Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecasts, 2021-2022 & 2030 - ResearchAndMarkets.com
Furthermore, an increase in disposable incomes in developing economies, as well as an increase in medical tourism in developing countries with lucrative service, drive the market growth. In addition, ...
- DOT promotes PH as medical tourism hub
The Department of Tourism plans to promote the Philippines as an attractive medical tourism destination by increasing public awareness in the global market, according to the agency’s top official. “We ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Global medical tourism
Go deeper with Bing News on:
- Arabian Travel Market is officially open
Dubai’s ability to provide a safe environment for both tourism and prominent global events over the past two years and its success in overcoming the repercussions of the recent worldwide health ...
- Ontario NDP promises northerners quicker medical travel reimbursement, local services
The Ontario New Democrats are making health-focused pitches to northern voters, promising quicker reimbursement for medical travel expenses and more local health centres in their communities.
- Tourism and economic agencies join forces to market Orlando
It's an idea that almost seems as compatible as Mickey and Minnie. Take the tens of millions of tourists who are thinking about visiting the Orlando area’s theme parks each ...
- Pope Francis’ Lebanon Trip ‘Delayed for Health Reasons’
Pope Francis is postponing his June trip to Lebanon, according to the country’s tourism minister. Walid Nassar announced the delay on May 9, citing “health reasons,” reported AFP. “Lebanon has ...
- Minister: Pope postpones visit to Lebanon for health reasons
BEIRUT (AP) — Pope Francis has postpone a planned visit to Lebanon next month due to health reasons, a Lebanese Cabinet minister said Monday. Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar did not specify the ...

domain: medical


text:
The freedom to spew hate can carry a heavy cost. Just ask Matthew Snyder's family. In 2006, Fred Phelps and members of his Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church flew to Maryland to picket the funeral of the 20 year-old Marine killed in Iraq. Phelps' flock routinely demonstrates at the funerals of American soldiers, waving signs that say "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" -- all to spread the word that God is punishing us for tolerating gay people.
But Matthew's father sued and won a hefty jury verdict against Phelps' church for invasion of privacy and emotional distress. An appeals court overturned the award, and the U.S. Supreme Court is now considering whether the church's free speech rights trump the Snyder family's privacy rights.
While the First Amendment plays a vital role in our democracy, it's hard to imagine it was meant to protect speech that is targeted at individuals in a setting as private as a funeral, whether the message is anti-gay, pro-gay or proudly on the fence. In fact, free speech has never been absolute in this country. The government generally can't ban speech based on its content, such as anti-abortion or abortion rights picketing, but the Supreme Court has made clear that the First Amendment doesn't protect speech intended to incite violence or panic -- and it doesn't protect picketing of people's homes, because of the important privacy interest at stake.
Similarly, school bullies and sexual harassers forfeit their free speech protection by following a person around and making her a target of their comments or insults. So it's really not much of a stretch to allow content-neutral limits on targeted picketing in front of private funerals.
Of course, even hate speech can have unintended benefits. The twisted logic and sheer cruelty of Phelps' funeral protests -- which began with picketing funerals of gay people over 20 years ago -- has likely increased public sympathy for laws against anti-gay harassment. Still, it's a shame that Matthew Snyder's parents and other victims of hate have had to bear the painful cost of that lesson.

domain: sociology


text:
The Surge of Violence: Who's to Blame
James H. Lilley
The year 2007 was welcomed with the usual grandeur and celebration we've grown accustomed to witnessing on our TV screens, or for the truly adventurous, in person. Champagne flowed, hugs and kisses were exchanged and for a few brief moments everyone was at peace with the world. But with the rising sun came the tragic news that Denver Broncos Corner Back Darrent Williams had been gunned down after leaving a New Year's party.
That was national news because of his position within the National Football League, but other lesser-known persons were being killed across the nation as well. In fact, it looked as though Baltimore and New Orleans were engaged in head to head competition for the dubious honor of the city holding the number one position for murders during the first week of the New Year.
And in Baltimore, Detective Troy Chesley was shot and killed when Brandon Grimes attempted to rob him. Grimes, a young thug with 17 prior arrests, was out casually strolling the streets of Baltimore plying his trade as a career criminal while awaiting trial on weapons charges.
Back in Denver friends of Darrent Williams were calling for stricter gun laws and taking guns off the streets while Baltimore and New Orleans went about their business. Granted, our politicians and anti-gun lobbyists beat their chests and scream for more laws, tighter gun control mandates and/or banning guns altogether when it serves their current purpose. Let's stop and face blunt reality.
MORE LAWS, TIGHTER GUN CONTROL MANDATES AND/OR BANNING GUNS ALTOGETHER WILL HAVE NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER ON VIOLENT CRIME. Why is it that people can't seem to understand that laws effect only those who obey the law in the first place? Does anybody really believe that passing a law to ban ownership of firearms would cause the criminals around the nation to run to their local police station and hand over their weapons? Wake up.
That's why they're criminals-they don't believe the laws are meant for them and therefore choose to break them whenever they please. To take this matter a step farther I'd like to point out that Australia passed a law, at a cost of 500 million dollars to the taxpayers, requiring everyone to turn in their firearms.
Over 640,000 personal firearms were collected and destroyed, but according to police crimes involving the use of firearms went up. I doubt that it was law-abiding citizens using firearms to commit crime-the government had already destroyed their handguns, shotguns and rifles. For those having difficulty reading between the lines and comprehending what happened; the criminals kept their weapons.
An article appeared in the Washington Post about four years ago, and was entombed as usual about 22 pages deep, stating "Gun Laws Not Shown to Reduce Violence." That was the heading. The article went on to say, "A broad federal review of the nation's gun control laws-including mandatory waiting periods and bans on certain weapons-has found no proof they reduce firearm violence."
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the information based on 51 independent published studies, said it didn't plan to spend more money on firearms studies. Eight types of laws were reviewed, including those with specific bans on certain weapons and ammunition, mandatory waiting periods, firearm registration and measures barring felons from buying and/or owning guns. And wouldn't you know it, gun control advocates called for more studies and wanted the government (taxpayers) to fund them.
If banning firearms and passing more laws hasn't and/or won't control violence in our streets, what's wrong? What happened in this, and so many other countries to cause such a jump in violent deaths, brutal sexual assaults against women and children and an almost carefree attitude regarding these acts? Well, a carefree attitude until the violence snuffs out the life of a celebrity, one who has star status in sports, or a head of state.
When someone of notoriety falls victim everyone takes up the cry for action and certainly this is when politicians are at their very best. That's the time for those already in public office, or those seeking offices to begin spouting a string of promises in hope of luring voters to cast a ballot in their favor. The media swoops down on everyone holding office, with star status or willing to offer a mainstream point of view and stuffs a microphone in his or her face.
The clamor for immediate and swift action by law enforcement is demanded and the call again goes out for new laws, stricter laws and bans. Yet, we're not addressing the real problem. And what is the real problem? A complete lack of respect for those around us-or as I prefer to call it the death of respect, courtesy and plain old, every day human decency. Guns and gun laws have absolutely nothing to do with the daily violence that surrounds us. It's us, the human race that's the root and cause of our problems. Yes, it's us. We truly are our own worst enemy.
Respect, courtesy and human decency was executed and unceremoniously laid to rest years ago. Their execution began in the 1960s when parents began taking Doctor Benjamin Spock's theories a little too seriously and went overboard with the pampering and coddling of their children. It also marked the beginning of the end for respect and courtesy. I was raised to treat everyone with respect-no exceptions. From as far back as I can remember I was taught to say "Yes, sir and No, sir and Yes, ma'am and no, ma'am."
And it didn't matter if I was addressing an aunt or uncle, waiter in a restaurant, store clerk, or the man picking up our trash; I gave them the respect I had been taught was due them. But there was a time in this country when being polite and respectful was the rule and not the exception. It was also a time when there were fewer murders and rapes and the words "road rage" and "politically correct" hadn't been thought of.
There was order and discipline in our classrooms and students who didn't abide by the rules were suspended or expelled. Teachers didn't fear being assaulted by their students or the parent of a student who'd been given a failing grade or suspended for misbehavior.
Drivers on our city streets and highways were far more courteous. Tailgating, cutting off your fellow driver, flipping the finger to everybody nearby for one reason or another and challenging someone to pull over and fight was unheard of.
Most often a neighborhood dispute, be it in the city or suburbs, was settled with a round of fisticuffs instead of a gun. A woman could walk down a street, or browse in a shopping district without someone spouting a string of sexual comments at her to amuse himself or impress his friends. And she didn't have to worry about being surrounded by a group of young thugs and fondled and groped.
The age of permissiveness opened the door for everything from day to day disrespect to brazen sexual misconduct and murder. The age of permissiveness began when too many parents decided to believe that disciplining their children would damage their fragile self-esteem. They thought they should follow the guidelines pointed out in the books hitting the shelves and allow their children to freely express themselves.
The more the parents looked the other way, the more the children took advantage of them. The breakdown in the home was followed by the collapse of discipline in the schools. Teachers were told to back off and let the students speak their minds. So what if they didn't pay attention in the classroom and were disruptive. They were expressing themselves. And if they didn't work and achieve a passing grade, not to worry-the new system would just pass them along.
So what if they couldn't read or write, the principal wouldn't dare have a nasty mark on his or her record because of a failure. Just push them ahead and let it become someone else's problem. And God help the teacher who tried to stand up for what was right and hold a failing student back, or have a problem child expelled.
Suddenly their job security was at stake and they either abided by the demands of the principal or found themselves in the unemployment line. And I assure you this is true because I know teachers who have been placed "under the gun" for daring to speak out against this trend and trying to do what's in the best interest of everyone.
Then too we don't have the number of dedicated teachers today as we once had in our schools. Not many are willing to spend time after hours helping students who are struggling. In fact, some are out the door and off school grounds quicker than the students when the bell sounds marking the end of classes for the day.
The combined actions of parents and teachers only helped the children and students believe they could get away with whatever they damn well pleased. I've seen parents hosting beer and wine parties for high school aged children and to be safe invited their "Know everything there is to know about the law" attorney neighbor. When police were called because neighbors had enough of the kids trashing the neighborhood, racing their cars up and down the street and urinating on their lawns and cars, the attorney jumped right in.
He informed police they had no right to intervene in the activity since it was "a private party, held at a private residence." When the "all knowing God of Law" was informed that what was taking place was a violation of the law and he'd be one of the first arrested, he suddenly found other things to do.
Here's a case where parents openly defied the law, allowed children as young as 15 to consume alcohol and then said it was nothing more than a harmless party. It was just another way of telling our youth that they can do whatever they want. Some parents allow drug use in the home and entire families have been arrested for possession and sale of drugs.
Some years ago a number of parents brought their children to me and asked if they could have them take karate lessons. I agreed and began by teaching them to show respect to not only their elders but also to each other. It wasn't long before they were saying "Yes, sir and no, sir. Yes, ma'am and no ma'am." Their parents were pleased to see the change in them and commented that even others were noticing their transformation to very polite young men and women.
Then the Howard County school year began and the first time one of them addressed a teacher as "sir" the era of politeness ended. The teacher went into a tirade telling him and every student in the classroom that they didn't have to say "sir or ma'am" to anybody. What I spent nearly three months building, he destroyed in a few minutes. But he sent a very clear message to his students-it wasn't necessary to show respect to anyone or anything, including the law.
If you'd like to see what a farce the school system has become, stop by unannounced and look things over. But don't be surprised if you see students sleeping in the classrooms while the teacher continues a lecture, hoping that those who aren't asleep might be learning.
Try not to be shocked if you find them having sex in the auditorium, gymnasium or locker rooms, because it does happen and I know several eyewitnesses to the various sexual performances. And if you really want a first rate eye opening experience, you should volunteer as a chaperone for an after school function. That way you can witness first hand the bumping, humping and grinding gyrations your 13 and 14 year olds are doing while dancing, sitting, kneeling, standing against a wall or lying on the floor.
And to learn that they truly don't give a damn about your presence or your perceived authority, tell them to cease their sexual game. You'll be treated to an obscenity-laced outburst and maybe even threatened with physical violence for interfering with their right to perform their sexual dance. Again, I know those who have been subjected to these outbursts and threats.
With the age of permissiveness the judicial system wasn't to be outdone. Thus the revolving doors of justice came to the forefront and those arrested for various offenses were often back on the streets committing yet another crime before the police officer completed his or her paperwork. And believe me, the offender was very quick to point this out to the arresting officer, usually with a smug laugh.
The cries of give them a second chance was the order of the day. But just how many second chances should one criminal get? There are people on the streets with 12, 18 and 20 second chances already showing on their records. And I'm not talking about petty offenses.
To make my case a little stronger, I'll give just one example. I was alerted to a car wanted in connection with a shoplifting at the Columbia Mall and in a matter of just a few minutes I saw the car on Route 40 headed toward Baltimore. I stopped the car in Baltimore County and found four people occupied it, two of whom were hiding on the floor.
The driver was more than willing to cooperate and told me he'd open the trunk so I could search it. A moment later the trunk went up and he promptly reached under a pile of clothing that had been stolen from a store at the Columbia Mall. I drew my weapon and ordered him to step back; a second later I pulled a snub-nosed .38 caliber revolver from under the clothing.
Three of the four occupants had prior arrests and convictions and served time for murder. But more surprising was the fact that they had actually been convicted of multiple murders on different occasions and were still out on the street. The weapon I recovered from the car had been stolen from its rightful and lawful owner only days before. And I know this is a shock, but Baltimore City Homicide Detectives told me that these same men were suspects in a string of recent murders in the city.
There seems to be no fear of punishment or retribution for impolite conduct in the home, brazen misconduct in our schools or even murder on our streets. Yet, I can still vividly recall paying the price in my youthful days for my misdeeds and often times I paid twice for the same offense. This was especially true when I repeated what I thought were a few rather colorful words uttered by a relative.
My mother promptly gave me an Ivory Soap mouth washing and when my father arrived home and was told about the addition to my vocabulary, I got to eat the rest of the soap. Ivory Soap could float and do a superb job of cleaning hands, but it wasn't all that tasty. Still, I learned that certain words were not worth the penalty for their uttering. The same held true in the classroom, not only for me, but also every student.
There was no tolerance of unruly behavior, arguing with a teacher or failing to complete class or homework assignments. Punishment was quick and sometimes severe, but it kept order throughout the school. Those rules do not apply in today's homes or schools.
Please don't forget that it's not only Middle Eastern or other foreign cultures that teach their children to hate from birth, but also our very our own. The teaching of hatred in this country isn't separated by race, religion or ethnic origin. It's a part of society regardless of the color of one's skin or religious beliefs.
The violence that's happening around us is a result of a complete breakdown of discipline and respect in our homes and schools, and the failure of our judicial system to crack down with an iron hand on those who break the law. The wave of violence that's sweeping our streets across the nation won't end overnight. Surely it won't end until each and every one of us stands up and accepts responsibility for our actions. We are the cause of our problems and only we can stop them.
Ending the epidemic of violence has to begin in our homes and spread to the schools and our judicial system. Even if we begin tonight, it could take generations to put a stop to the hate and violence that surrounds us. As human beings we call ourselves superior to all other creatures, but there are animals living on this earth that are far more civilized than we are. We could learn much about kindness, love, caring, loyalty and even discipline by simply taking time to study the wolf.
A certain protocol is demanded within their hierarchy and strictly adhered to. Yet, not a single member of the pack goes hungry, there is love and affection for each member and the loss of one of their own is mourned. The wolf survived thousands of years by living obediently within the pack and without revolting against the authority of its leaders.
As it turned out the worst enemy to the wolf was and still is the human race. If we continue on our present course, in time it might well be the wolf that sits high atop a hill on a cold winter's night and sees a new emptiness in the world below because the human race has finally hunted itself to extinction.
- Defining Fake News What to Watch For
- Democrat Identity Politics Spreads Muslim Religious Violence
- Climate Change Another Excuse for Muslim Religious Violence
- Muslim Violence from Muslim Religious Cults
- Black Criminals not Shooting Unarmed Black Men the Problem
- Crime Explodes Pubs Close in London
- Lakeem Scott and Press Incitement to Murder
- Machete Wielding Hispanic Shot Dead
- Christina Eilman Rape Costs Chicago Police Millions
- 12-Year-Old Emily Haddock Murder
- Emily Haddock killers Get Plea Bargain
- 15-Year-Old White Girl Gang Raped at California School

domain: politics


text:
[podcast_episode episode=”5349″ content=”player”]
The Big Picture – Rethinking Dyslexia provides personal and uplifting accounts of the dyslexic experience from children, experts and iconic leaders, such as Sir Richard Branson and financier Charles Schwab. Directed by James Redford, the film not only clears up the misconceptions about the condition, but also paints a picture of hope for all who struggle with it. Shining a spotlight on the latest scientific and psychological research, the film also highlights the work of Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, co-founders and co-directors of the Yale Center of Dyslexia and Creativity to illuminate the hidden origins and implications of dyslexia. Proving that dyslexia is a neurological issue and not a character flaw the movie illustrates that while the condition is an obstacle, it also carries some unique advantages, and ultimately can be overcome.


text:
This case report describes the remarkable recovery of a patient with very long-standing, medically intractable and disabling, lower-limb, complex regional pain syndrome type II following the resection, crushing, and relocation of sensory nerves.
|Number of pages||6|
|State||Published - Jun 2014|
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Surgical treatment


text:
The Florida Book Awards (FBA) panel had it all—brilliant readings, thought-provoking discussion, and a harmonica solo. It featured four of the 2011 award winners. Leonard Nash, himself an FBA winner and then judge, introduced the writers with a combination of standard credentials and lesser known facts.
Lynne Barrett (general fiction award) read from her story collection Magpies. In "One Hippopotamus," a story comes to light and a romance unfolds thanks to a so-Florida event—a thunderstorm-induced power outage.
Stephen Kampa (poetry) read from Cracks in the Invisible. Whether about a solitary compliment or Lord Byron himself, each poem was a treat of language, connection, and clever rhythm and rhyme.
Jessica Martinez (young adult) read from Virtuosity, whose protagonist is a teenage violin prodigy. The book's prelude showed how young adult fiction can be thoroughly haunting with nary a vampire or zombie in sight.
Bob Graham (yes, Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham) talked about Keys to the Kingdom (popular fiction). He wrote the book "out of frustration" (and as fiction) because the story of Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9/11 has been so thoroughly censored.
A few audience members tried to get Graham to comment on current politics, but he steered the discussion to books and writing and the panel at large, and they talked about how the personal and factual get fictionalized and poeticized. Funniest moment was when Graham estimated his novel as 40% true (with most names changed), 40% imagined, and 20% a mix—and an audience member was desperate to know which 40% was which.
The lesser known fact about Stephen Kampa is that he is certifiably the first simultaneous holder of Florida's best poetry and best harmonica player titles. With just a smidgen of prodding, he closed an unforgettable session in the latter role.


| 4'w X 2'h Aluminum Labwall Panel - Includes Mounting Brackets - Labwall - Organization - Medwall |
Gift-wrapping is not available for this product.
- Create storage space out of thin air Long-lasting, reusable mounting system Easiest way to share and transport supplies
- This is for the "4'W x 2'H Aluminum LabWall Panel - includes mounting brackets" model only.
- Categorization: Organization > MedWall
- This product may differ from image shown (i.e. product may be a different color, size, make, model, or be a replacement part for product shown). If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us before placing your order.
4'W x 2'H Aluminum LabWall Panel - includes mounting brackets - LabWall - Organization - MedWall : Vertical, open-air storage improves workflow and frees up valuable surface workspace. Durable and lightweight aluminum construction. Trimmed side edges provide a clean, finished look and eliminate sharp edges. More convenient and adjustable than standard wall-mount shelves. Choose from six panel sizes (mounting hardware included), two benchtop sizes, and one mobile unit . Interchangeable accessories meet your changing workflow needs (sold separately). LabWall is the ultimate organizing tool forany facility because it utilizes otherwise wasted space... on walls, benchtops, and yes, even on the floor. Wall. Long-lasting, reusable mounting system. Variety of sizes available. Can be placed side-by-side for larger spaces. . Floor. Easiest way toshare and transport supplies. Doubles asprivacy barrier. Easily moved when rearranging workspace. . Benchtop. Easily moved when rearranging workspace. No mounting necessary. Doubles as privacy barrier. . Installation is easy!. Install mounting brackets to wall, then hang LabWall. Each panel includes mounting brackets (hardware not included). Don't see the size you need? Call us. We're happyto help you customize your LabWall panel. Lab wall
Shipping Weight: 30lb
This item will be shipped from the manufacturer and is not one we carry in stock. Please contact us for availability, as we cannot always guarantee order fulfillment.


US M1 Garand Bayonet, Genuine Military Surplus Vietnam War, Korean War Era
Feb 23, 2021
Real deal bayonet for your M1 Garand. Comes preserved in a waxy, greasy cloth with a layer of grease still on the bayonet. Clicks in for a smooth, tight lockup. A must for any M1 Garand collector or enthusiast.
$119 firm picked up in Markham ON or shipped at buyer's expense.


text:
""The Demographic Characteristics of the Linguistic and Religious Groups in Switzerland," published in 2000 in a volume covering trends in several European nations. The numbers that trouble traditionalists came from a 1994 survey in which the Swiss government tried to determine how religious practices are carried down from generation to generation.
Apparently, if a father and mother were both faithful churchgoers, 33 percent of their children followed their example, with another 41 percent attending on an irregular basis and only a quarter shunning church altogether.
But what happened if the father had little or no faith? If the father was semi-active and the mother was a faithful worshipper, only 3 percent of their children became active church members and 59 percent were irregular in their worship attendance -- with the rest lost to the church altogether.
If the father never went to church, while the mother was faithful, only 2 percent of the children became regular churchgoers and 37 percent were semi-active. Thus, more than 60 percent were lost.
This trend continued in other survey results, noted Carrier. The bottom line was clear. If a father didn't go to church, only one child in 50 became a faithful churchgoer -- no matter how strong the mother's faith."
The Morning News, June 1, 2007
I found this terribly interesting. Especially combined with a tendency for men to be less religious.
The Morning News didn't mention what happened if the father attended church while the mother didn't, so I decided to Google a bit on the subject and found the remaining numbers:
"Surprisingly, if the father is a regular church attender the children's religious practice varied in an inverse relationship to their mothers' practice. If the mother was regular 33 per cent of children were regular. If she was an irregular attender then 38 per cent of children were regular. If the mother was non-practising then 44 per cent of children became regular attenders.
Even when the father is an irregular attender and the mother non- practising 25 per cent of the children were regular attenders and 23 per cent irregular attenders."
ad2000.com.au (Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 15 No 8 (September 2002), p. 8)


text:
The Designer Bakery!
As Ramadan is coming to an end it’s fair to say we are becoming a bit obsessed with food and food outlets, I for one am really looking forward to being able to once more, sit in a café have a coffee and grab a delicious pastry during my mid morning break. Thinking about this got me on to today’s feature project.
I was thinking about my trip to the UK recently and all of the wonderful bakeries that I went to and thought about how there was a growing trend in the “designer” bakery. Bakeries today are changing and in many ways, changing for the better. Take today’s project as a prime example.
The Das Brot. Bakery in Wolfsburg, Germany is absolutely gorgeous and gorgeous because of it’s refined vintage yet contemporary artistic design. Designed by Munich based firm Designliga, this space holds lots of yummy details that really get by taste buds and my design buds going. I think the floor detailing is fantastic, it’s a real feature especially when balanced against the quirky ceiling feature, keeping this ceiling feature white was a great decision as it really helped to extenuate the flooring.
The lighting features are very attractive even thought they are quite subtle, the furniture is gorgeous, those crisp lines and funky shapes are real eye catching design pieces and for me the final major highlight is the old menu boards and display counters, they really help to bring an old school sense of authenticity to the project. Check out the images below and see why this designer bakery is a real winner in our eyes!


text:
It’s only been a few days since The Weeknd kicked off his Legend of the Fall World Tour in Stockholm, Sweden. Now fresh off of announcing the North American leg of the event, it looks like it’s about to get more lit. Abel has announced that Rae Sremmurd, 6LACK and Belly will be joining in on the 27-day journey. The Canadian superstar took to Instagram with an updated poster that lists the “Black Beatles” duo, along with 6LACK and Belly.
The North American leg of the “Legend of the Fall’ tour will kick off in Vancouver on April 25 and will end in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 9.


text:
I am Camilla Giannini
and I am a self-taught artist.
I was born in 1985 in the evocative setting of an autumn day, when the trees begin to turn orange and the air becomes crisp.
It must have been this october magic that made the fascination for art in all its forms flow through me.
As a child I spent entire afternoons immersing myself in the beauty of the canvases that my father brought home. Thanks to my mother I got to know classical music and the works of Ennio Morricone, on which I enjoyed dancing.
From my love for dance and the reassuring way of finding refuge in it, the desire to become a dancer began to take hold in me. I would have loved to be admired on the stage, with my impeccable and bewitching movements, the red lipstick and the chignon, the bright clothes under the theater lights.
A perfect scene in my head, it’s a pity that the writer of my personal fairy tale had more in store for me.
He had me meet art.
CAMI is me when I pick up the pencil and transform myself into an artist.
I graduated from high school and bachelored in Economics in Florence. In fact, my plans were different, but when art suddenly knocked on my door, I couldn’t resist its call.
When I create, I enter a reality of my own in which time and creativity flows from my hands and arrives on my canvases.
I start drawing and I have a clear idea of where I want to go. But what happens in between is a beautiful mystery. I let myself be carried away by my creative instincts.
My works are the result of my imagination and inspiration. Some have almost manic details, others great explosions of color…it depends on the mood!
My hands trace drawings and words, the tubes of acrylic paint mix in shades of infinite colors. I no longer know what music I’m listening to, whether it’s raining or sunny outside, how much time has passed. It’s when the flow stops that I look at the clock and realize I’ve been engrossed in my work for hours.
My hands are smeared with charcoal, the clothes I’m wearing are a beautiful rainbow, and that scent of wood that hovers in the room, makes me feel at home every time.
The colors and drawings come together with words and phrases from a deep and unique book that has gotten me this far.
I’m a fan of fairy tales, but I never imagined that one of them would change my life.
It all happened in August 2016.
I accidentally found the Alice in Wonderland book before I left for Salerno. I brought it with me to keep me company during the hours of travel.
I had read and read it several times, but that day it seemed to me that those pages spoke about my life.
The story of that little girl who falls asleep and embarks on a wonderful adventure, facing more and more challenges, meeting strange characters along the way, in my eyes became mine.
I instinctively picked up the pencil and the notebook and my hands unconsciously started to trace drawings and write sentences I had just read.
I poured all the emotions I felt onto those blank pages.
This is how my first drawing was born.
It was like going down the rabbit hole of the White Rabbit, looking for the Camilla I have become today.
Every day I am a different person. Every day extraordinary things happen to me, and every day I wake up and I go in search of who I really am. An ever-evolving person, a hookah-smoking Caterpillar, who one day will become an amazing chrysalis.
A dear friend of mine once told me, “You must first discover who you are and then, only then, can you choose what your path is. When you figure it out, start running to reach that moment of happiness.”.
Like Alice, I found my Cheshire Cat who guided me through my own personal Wonderland, and my journey has just begun.
5 curiosities about me and my art
IThe supports I use to paint are not the classic cotton canvases. They are special because they are wooden canvases prepared especially for me by an artisan woodworker.
I prefer charcoal and acrylics, but I’m curious by nature so I’m always trying to experiment with different techniques and materials.
I’m a young girl who at 36 years old has put herself on the line by revolutionizing her small intimate space to show everyone what she had inside for so long.
The opportunity to set up my first exhibition entitled “Curiouser” was born thanks to my father, the person who every day spurs me to improve and continue to believe in my dream.
In my adventure in this fantasy world I always have next to me my cat Pablo, who is to all intents and purposes my Cheshire Cat. When I find myself in front of crossroads, he reminds me that it doesn’t matter what direction I take, because the future is uncertain and we can’t know where we will arrive. The important thing is to take a path, and walk!
Maybe due to the fact that his name is in honor of Picasso, he’s a big fan of everything he finds when I draw, from brushes to charcoal, even paint appeals to him. He’s the star of my drawings when the mythical Cheshire Cat appears, with that smile that you certainly don’t forget, always reminding me that he has turned my existence around.
Who talked about Curiouser
Do you have a question or do you want information?
Write to me by filling out the form below

domain: hobby


text:
July 26 - 27
It is Anderson Creek Hunting Preserve's desire to breed for puppies that will not only turn into great hunting dogs but will also be wonderful family dogs and beloved pets.
New litter of Brittany Spaniel, German Shorthaired Pointer Pups!
We have a litter of Brittany pups that were born 6/7/14. There are 8 pups, both orange white and liver white.
We also have a new litter of GSP’s born 6/19/14. Both black & white, and liver & white.
AND a friend of Anderson Creek Hunting Preserve has 7 GSP’s that are 7 wks old. They are black & white dark roan, ticked and patched.
WOOF WOOF WOOF!
What Visitors Are Saying
We want to thank you and your facility for a fantastic hunt of chukkar and pheasant. Chris and Don and I enjoyed sunshine, crisp weather and spirited birds on a great November day. Our guide, Mr. Wicker along with his dogs Jake and Jessie provided a great outdoors flavor to round it out. Watching the German shorthair dogs search out the birds and then point and then retrieve was a special treat. We took all our nice birds home and immediately cleaned and filleted the breasts for outdoor grilling. In the future we will come back for more fun.See All Testimonials

domain: pet