text:
September 12, 2007
by Ogi Overman - Editor
(Part one of an ongoing series about gang activity in Guilford County)
Last September, Corporal L.G. Welch was attending a presentation at Ragsdale High School. He walked into one of the school's bathrooms and immediately caught sight of the graffiti on the walls and in the stalls. In a simpler day and time it may have been a “Kilroy was here” drawing, but in 2006 it wasn't Kilroy who'd been there but three gang members representing three different gangs. To the untrained eye, the symbols may have meant little more than youthful petty vandalism, but Welch's eye is anything but untrained. He knew all too well what the symbols meant and who had spray-painted them there.
“It was the Latin Kings, the Black Gangsters Disciples and the Bloods,” he said. “Three active gangs that had marked their territory in that one boy's bathroom.”
That one episode only confirmed what Welch already knew - has known for years - that gang activity has pervaded
literally every high school in Guilford County. More alarming, it has filtered down to the middle schools and has even made inroads into some of the elementary schools. Welch has been sounding the alarm for a full decade, and has been monitoring gang activity even longer, but only in the past year or so has he been able to cut through the wall of denial.
“I've been preaching to them and doing gang classes for teachers, administrators, neighborhood-watch groups and churches since 1997,” he said, “showing them the identifiers, what to look for in the schools and neighborhoods. I told them it's going to be a problem if we don't get a handle on it and I've been trying to get the schools to look at the issue. They were saying back then that we don't have gangs in our schools.”
But, with few exceptions, they're not saying it anymore.
Corp. Welch has been on the vanguard of the gang problem since 1994, shortly after the first evidence of gang activity revealed itself in Guilford County. He was one of five officers selected to start the school resource officers program in Guilford County. Currently he is the School Resource Officer at Southern Guilford High School and is a past president of the N.C. Association of School Resource Officers.
A subtext of Welch's message of convincing the local populace that it has a serious gang problem is dispelling myths associated with youth gangs; namely, that it is an inner-city problem, that it is predominantly disadvantaged minority kids, that it is exclusively males, and that only a handful of gangs have infiltrated the area. All those assumptions are false.
“People want to think that it's a big-city, strictly urban problem, and that's simply not the case,” said Welch. “It's going on at Southern Guilford, and we're the smallest school in the county. We see evidence of it all over.”
As for its being confined to the low end of the socio-economic scale, Welch countered with, “Don't think it's just your low-income black kids. It's whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, low to high income. There are no economic boundaries; we see it all the way up to kids of doctors and lawyers.”
Somewhat surprisingly, female gangs are a growing phenomenon. According to Corp. Welch, “We're seeing more and more all-girl gangs coming up. And sometimes they are more vicious than the male gangs. Whereas the guys will do a normal beat-down fighting and kicking, the girls will use razor blades and cut you on the face. They'll go for the cosmetic part; they want them to realize they messed with your gang.”
While Welch could not give a figure for individual gang members, he did offer a startling revelation: “We just started the county program, so there's no way to say exactly how many individuals are involved, but what I can say is at a recent Greensboro public forum, Ernest Cuthbertson (who is Welch's City of Greensboro counterpart) said he knew of at least 45 gangs in Greensboro. I took that to mean 45 individual, identified gangs, just in Greensboro.”
Part of the reason for the increase in numbers as well as the backgrounds of the various gang members is the emergence of “non-traditional” gangs.
“We're dealing with two types,” said the veteran SRO. “The traditional national gangs from Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York and Aurora, Colorado, have people moving here. They've brought the big gang knowledge and are leading it and forming gangs here. But the biggest rise has been these non-traditional gangs, groups of individuals, male and female, who go all the way up the economic ladder, who form these neighborhood clique gangs. They dress alike, communicate with non-verbal codes and hand signals, called ‘stacking,' and commit the same types of criminal acts, and that makes them a youth gang. They'll do the car break-ins, the house break-ins, the car larcenies, the drugs and some of the hardcore stuff too, like drive-by shootings and prostitution rings.”
One of the most unsettling aspects of the gang demographic profile offered by Welch is the young age at which potential members are recruited.
“Middle schools are definitely the big recruiting area,” he noted. “ The majority of the youngest hardcore gangbangers in Guilford County are between the ages of 13 and 15. By the time they get to the 9th grade they're full-fledged gang members. They might flirt with the idea in middle school, but there's no such thing as a wannabe. If you're hanging with them you're just as much as in. They're using you.
“And, yes, they're even targeting elementary school kids. They'll use them as lookouts or tell them to go in a store and steal a couple of steaks, to get them used to that gang lifestyle. Then they'll buy them ice cream and tennis shoes and new bikes.
“Unfortunately, the parents might be getting their drugs from this gang, and they're letting their kids be used by the gangs so they can support their drug habit.”
In that gang rivalries are essentially battles over turf, Welch fears that Jamestown's proximity to both High Point and Greensboro makes it a nexus of gang activity.
“The problem is that the Greensboro gangs and the High Point gangs are big rivals, anyway,” he said. “They're both fighting for territory and they both want to claim their school as their territory. I know Ragsdale has that problem and I suspect Southwest is the same.”
Next week: What neighborhoods, schools and communities can do to help curb gang activity.
Ogi Overman can be reached at (336) 841-4933 or firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
If Bleach characters and Danny Phantom characters met...
As requested by anon. :)
Oh man. I’ve been waiting for this one, because I do love Danny Phantom. And crossing over two shows about high school boys with super powers? Seems right, somehow. So, in any event, what would happen if the characters from Bleach met those from Danny Phantom?
1. Danny and Ichigo
Ichigo: I don’t mean to alarm you, dude, but I think we may be identical.
Danny: What are you talking about? I’m in high school, and you’re clearly older.
Ichigo: Nah, I’m in high school. I’m just drawn this way.
Danny: Well I have super powers.
Danny: I can turn into a ghost!
Ichigo: Soul reaper. Ghost. Same thing.
Danny: I have an evil alter ego!
Ichigo: Yeah, evil alter egos are so much trouble.
Danny: I make a lot of trips to the Ghost Zone!
Ichigo: Oh gosh. A realm full of dead souls. What must that be like?
Danny: I guess I’m not ‘much more unique than the other guys’ after all.
2. Sam and Ulquiorra
Sam: Fellow goth! Greetings.
Ulquiorra: …I am not a goth.
Sam: Please! With that makeup? You are totally a goth.
Ulquiorra: It is not makeup. It is my -
Sam: And that voice! It’s like despair had a child with emptiness.
Ulquiorra: I get that a lot.
Sam: Anyway, enjoy writing poetry or whatever, fellow goth! I gotta go.
Ulquiorra: I wrote poetry one time.
3. Tucker and Tatsuki
Tucker: I love Danny 'n’ all, but occasionally I get a bit jealous that he’s all special and I’m….not.
Tatsuki: Oh. Are you the obligatory single friend without super powers?
Tucker: What? No. Danny’s the only one with super powers. Well aside from all of the ghosts.
Tatsuki: How difficult for you.
4. Jazz and Karin
Jazz: I never believed in ghosts, but then I found out my brother WAS one!
Karin: Yeah, same here. Although in my case it was less “disbelief” and more “denial.”
Jazz: But once I knew - well, I did what I had to do. I offered him a supportive and well-educated environment in which to be his special self!
Karin: We never spoke of it again.
Karin: It’s how we show love.
5. Jack Fenton and Hitsugaya
Jack Fenton: …
Jack Fenton: GHOST?
Jack Fenton: GHOST!
Jack Fenton: GHOOOOOOOOST!!!
Jack Fenton: MADDIE I NEED THE THERMOS
Hitsugaya: I hate world of the living assignments.
6. Maddie Fenton and Hitsugaya
Hitsugaya: LOOK I’M NOT A GHOST
Maddie: Jack, hang on, he says he’s not a ghost.
Maddie: Are you alive, then?
Hitsugaya: Well…not technically.
Maddie: Can you walk through walls?
Hitsugaya: Well sure.
Maddie: Can you float?
Hitsugaya: Of course I can float.
Maddie: EAT THERMOS, GHOST
7. Valerie and Ishida
Valerie: And my dad’s all, “No, Valerie! You can’t dedicate your whole life to destroying ghosts just because you hate them! That’s not a good life choice.” And I’m just like, “Dad, a life of revenge is a perfectly valid life choice, thank you very much.”
Valerie: Dads, you know? Not as supportive as you might want.
Valerie: And another thing I learned? Sometimes you have to work with the enemy. I’ll destroy that Ghost Boy someday, but other days, I just gotta fight alongside him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t hate ghosts and want to obliterate them!
Ishida: I think I love you.
8. Dash and Ikkaku
Dash: Me? I’m nobody special. Just the greatest jock in the entire school, thank you very much!
Ikkaku: A jock, huh?
Ikkaku (drawing sword): LET’S DO THIS
Dash: W-what the hell are you doing, man?!
Ikkaku: 'Jock’ must mean something different in your show.
9. Paulina and Orihime
Paulina: And all the boys want me, of course, but it doesn’t matter. Because the only boy I want is one who doesn’t want me - the Ghost Boy!
Paulina: But instead it’s all stupid jocks and Danny Fenton.
Orihime: Danny Fenton?
Paulina: Frustrating, right?
Orihime: Danny Fenton who always disappears before the Ghost Boy shows up? Danny Fenton who looks exactly like the Ghost Boy except for hair color? The Ghost Boy whose name is DANNY PHANTOM?
Paulina: See? That is why my life is hard!
Orihime: I think your problems are solvable.
10. Mr. Lancer and Shinji
Mr. Lancer: WUTHERING HEIGHTS!
Mr. Lancer: Are you drinking water upside down while floating in the sky??
Shinji: Um, yeah.
Mr. Lancer: Normal Tuesday, I guess.
11. Walker and Aizen
Walker: Mmmm…this is a good prison chair.
Walker: Very strong. Very right.
Walker: I’d hardly need any rules if I had everybody in my prison be in chairs like these!
Walker: Maybe then I could keep prisoners for more than like 5 episodes then.
Aizen: But on the other hand it sounds like you suck.
12. Dark Danny and Hichigo
Dark Danny: …
Dark Danny: [bro nod]
Hichigo: [bro nod]
13. Desiree and Rukia
Desiree: Hello there. I am a ghost who can grant wishes. Is there anything you…desire?
Rukia: Get the hell away from me!
Desiree: …was it something I said?
Rukia: I once had a wish-granting thing INSIDE OF ME. And it led to nothing but my own execution!
Desiree: Nothing like that would happen with MY wishes!
Desiree: Right. I’ll look for a stupider target, then.
14. Ember and Ichigo and Ganju
Ember: You will remember my name!
Ichigo: Cool song, Amber!
Ganju: Yeah, not bad.
Ember: It’s Ember.
Ember: Ember. Em-ber.
Ichigo: That’s too hard.
Ganju: We’ll just call you Amber.
Ember: THAT’S NOT MY NAME
Hanataro: Trust me, it’s hopeless.
15. Johnny 13 and Kyoraku
Johnny 13: Nobody can beat me, thanks to Shadow!
Johnny 13: He does my fighting for me!
Johnny 13: And how can someone fight against a shadow?
16. Skulker and Grimmjow
Skulker: I am the Ghost Zone’s GREATEST HUNGER
Grimmjow: What a coincidence? I recently met a guy who claimed to be some sort of great hunter.
Grimmjow: And I cut him in half.
Skulker: But right now I’m on break.
17. Spectra and Ichigo
Spectra: I feed on the negative emotions of people. Mostly teenagers because NOBODY is more emo than a teenager.
Ichigo: When I’m sad my soul turns into an ocean of tears.
Spectra: Can I keep you forever?
18. Technus and Matsumoto
Technus: COWER MORTALS! I, Technus, am about to infiltrate all of your technology! Soon all of your electronics will be beholden to my will!!!!!
Matsumoto: Good luck with that.
Matsumoto: We communicate via butterfly.
Technus: The fuck?
19. Vlad and Yhwach
Vlad: A super villain needs only three things: lots of money, super powers, and a creepy attachment to the hero’s mother.
Yhwach: How about an army, super powers, and you kill the hero’s mother?
Vlad: Mmmm….do you at least call the hero 'son’?
Yhwach: Well of course.
Vlad: Now we’re talking!
20. The Box Ghost and Urahara
Urahara: Well, here I am. Locked in a kido box. For a whole month. It won’t be so bad though! I love having time to think! It will basically be a vacation.
Box Ghost: I-I-I-I-I-I-I am the BOX GHOST!
Box Ghost: I am now haunting this BOX!
Urahara: It’s gonna be a long month.

domain: artistic


text:
In Small Fry, Ho-jun is a struggling actor who tries to build his following as YouTuber for fans of fishing. As he arrives at his favourite fishing spot, he’s immediately confronted by Director Nam, an obnoxious independent film director who seems frustrated with life and everything in it. Meeting with Nam is Hee-jin, a rising actress who he believes is the next big thing. However, Hee-jin isn’t entirely convinced about Nam’s latest project (or his motives). Seeming trapped together in their fisherman’s bay, Ho-jun, Nam and Hee-jin soon discover that their worlds are more entangled than they realize as they attempt to land the fish (and the fame) that eludes them.
Directed by Joongha Park, Small Fry almost has the sensibilities of a one-act play. Taking place over 24 hours in a fishing facility, these are everyday people who are bound together by their experience, leaving them trapped together by fate.
For each character, fishing becomes a metaphor for waiting for something bigger. Each feel as though they should be more successful than they are and struggle to deal with their feelings of inadequacy in a world of perceived fame and fortune. Although Ho-jun has found success on YouTube, his list of followers is solid but not particularly impressive. Nam and Hee-jin also haven’t achieved what they want.
In this way, like the world of fishing itself, they seem stuck between the now and the ‘not yet’. As the film progresses, the trio attempt to reconcile their dreams with the reality of moderate success. In this way, there’s a certain sense of beauty about the film, as it never judges its characters for their ambition yet never fully supports their dreaming either. Instead, Small Fry sits in the in-between, recognizing that every fish (and person) matters, no matter the size.

domain: entertainment


Correction: the survey summary as originally posted contained an error in calculations on the chart and graph of per capita respondents by zip code on pages 14 and 15. The information has now been corrected.
Last Wednesday we closed our online, non-scientific survey of residents about the 2013-2014 City budget. We’ve spent the last few days compiling the results into a summary presentation, which you can view here.
The survey asked 19 questions regarding priorities for city spending, what residents value most about their neighborhoods and how they feel about city services.
The results show that people want to be safe, they want good schools and they want to be able to get around town in a variety of ways. Respondents gave public safety, public schools and transportation the highest ranks when asked to order the “most important” local government services and, separately, the priorities “local government should focus on.”
Slightly more than half of survey participants believed the City was “responsive” (26.6%) or “becoming more responsive” (25.8%) to the needs of Seattle’s most vulnerable residents.
Here is a graphic that highlights some of the words survey participants used in writing what they liked most about their neighborhood. The larger the word in the graphic, the more often it was used:
The chart below shows residents’ basic satisfaction levels with city government services:
This survey gives us another window into what matters most to the residents of Seattle. More than 1,000 Seattle residents responded to the non-scientific survey, which was available online and promoted via blogs, newsletters and handouts at community events around the city. The Council also received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls about the budget and heard hours of testimony at public hearings.
The Council will vote on its amendments to the Mayor’s budget proposal later this week.


The toy is made from 3 layers of material, 1 layer of soft fleece on the outside, 1 layer of industrial grade luggage material on the inside and 1 layer of plastic coating on the inside.
All of the toy layers are sewn together to make one super strong layer of material. Each toy is sewn together with 2 rows of cross stitching and 2 rows of linear stitching.
These toys are "Built to Last", but keep in mind no toy will last forever. This toy is designed as an interactive "play" toy and is not a chew toy. Dog toys are meant for you and your pet to enjoy together.


text:
Staff vote for industrial action on four Tube lines
Piccadilly line workers vote for strike in row over agreements and procedures, while drivers on Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Circle lines have voted for action over introduction of new trains
Friday 10 May 2013
Tube services could be hit after RMT transport union staff on the Underground voted in favour of industrial action over a series of disputes.
RMT train staff on the Piccadilly line have voted for a strike in a row over agreements and procedures.
Also, drivers at a range of depots serving the Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Circle lines have voted for industrial action short of a strike in a dispute arising from the introduction of new trains.
The RMT also announced that Tube cleaners working for Danish multi-national ISS on London Underground have voted by 100% for strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions.
In addition, electricians and engineers working for contractors Mitie on a Transport for London contract have voted for strike action in a dispute over redundancies and working conditions.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "The outcome of these separate ballots will now be considered by RMT's executive but the message could not be clearer - we are stepping up the fight to protect agreements, jobs and working conditions across the whole of London and to eliminate the scourge of poverty pay on cleaning contracts."
London Underground's operational development and upgrades director, Nigel Holness, said he was disappointed at the threat of industrial action over new trains.
He said good progress had been made in talks with the RMT on Wednesday and a further meeting was planned today.
"I would urge the RMT to work with us to bring about these improvements and remove the completely unnecessary threat of pointless disruption from hanging over our customers," Mr Holness said.
On the Piccadilly line ballot, Phil O'Hare, LU's Piccadilly line manager, said he was hopeful the issues with the RMT could be resolved.
He said there had been two "very positive meetings" with the union, and management was "due to meet with the union's regional organiser next week to finalise an agreement".
- 1 Students heading off to 'charity challenge' grounded at Gatwick after travel firm goes bust
- 2 Notting Hill Carnival: Woman shares selfie after being ‘punched in face for telling man to stop groping her’
- 3 Daily Show's Jon Stewart destroys Fox News for its Ferguson coverage
- 4 When elitism grips the top of British society to this extent, there is only one answer: abolish private schools
- 5 Like Jennifer Aniston, I am no less of a woman because I am childless
Ashya King missing: Police hunt five-year-old boy with brain tumour snatched from Southampton hospital by his parents
YouTube video posted by Isis militants shows 'execution of 250 Syrian soldiers'
Daily Show's Jon Stewart destroys Fox News for its Ferguson coverage
Californian drought is so severe it's 'causing the ground to move'
Botched ice bucket challenge leaves man critically injured after plane drops hundreds of gallons of water
Exclusive: We share blame for creating 'jihad generation', says Muslim strategist
Robin Williams Emmys tribute led by Billy Crystal criticised for including 'racist' joke about Muslim woman
The Rotherham child abuse scandal is a tale of apologists, misogyny and double standards
Scottish independence TV debate: Pumped-up Alex Salmond bounces back in bruising second round against Alistair Darling
Do you realise just how foolish the UK looks?
Ukip Douglas Carswell defection: Tory MP jumps ship to join Nigel Farage
- < Previous
- Next >
£350 - £400 Per Day: Clearwater People Solutions Ltd: Our client based in Cent...
£17000 - £20000 Per Annum Bonus, Life Insurance + Other Benefits: Clearwater P...
£450 - £500 per day: Orgtel: SAS Business Analyst, London, Banking, Credit Ris...
£32000 - £38000 Per Annum Bonus, Life Insurance + Other Benefits: Clearwater P...

domain: news


text:
Fidella Fly Tai - Amors Love Arrow
The Mei-Tai carrier was produced with the complex jacquard classic weavingand is made of 100% organic wool. In order for your baby not to sweat and the carrier not to be unnecessarily heavy this carrier was made with an area mass of only 205g/m². The carrier is suitable from birth and loadable with a weight of up to 15 kg.
To make sure its comfortable for your baby, the carrier is adjustable to its size. You can modify the back panel steplessly in a range of 26- 36 cm and the bridgein a range of 11- 37 cm as well. Furthermore the leg holes are padded. When producing our carriers a lot of attention is payed to carrying comfort as well. Also here you can adjust the carrier to suit the wearers needs. You can adjust thebridge cords, which have a total length of 200 cm, and the waist belt, which is between 57 and 190 cm long to fit your size and weight.
This has the advantage that skinny women from a cloth size of XS (32) but also bigger men up to a size of XXL (52) can wear the carrier without a problem.
Special features of the Fly Tai Babysize:
- The Mei-Tai is adjustable individually and steplessly -back panel (26 - 36 cm) -bridge (11 - 37 cm)
- To distinguish between the cords both ends have different colors each
- Suitable from birth
- No disturbing materials like plastic and metal
- The leg holes are padded, making it comfortable for your baby
- Cloth size of wearer XS (32) up to XXL (52)
This carrier fulfills the US American safety standards ASTM F2236-14 and the European safety standards CEN/TR 16512-2015
Features of the Fidella Fly Tai babycarrier
- to 104 cm / 41 inches (child)
- Completely manufactured from sling fabric (100% organic cotton); foam padding 100% polyester)
- without accessories made of plastic or metal
- without Velcro closures that can injure the sensitive sling fabric
- Infinitely adjustable backpanell (30 - 48 cm), fixed by double knot.
- Infinitely adjustable bridge (11 - 45 cm), fixed by double knot.
- To better distinguish the strings: different ends (waist string round, shoulder string pointed)
- from size XS (4) up to clothing size 6XL (24) (caregiver)
This carrier is compliant to ASTM F2236-14

domain: design


text:
I've been looking for something like that for ages. In fact, I'd settle for a 1-3/4" nut width. About the only ones I can come up with are Eastman archtops and thinline electrics, which are 1-3/4".
2013 Jeff Medlin '37 Hauser 640mm sp
2006 Michele Della Guistina Concert 10 string 650mm ce
2005 Jose Ramirez 4E 650mm ce
2005 Manuel Rodriguez Model C3F 650mm sp
2003 Manuel Rodriguez Model D 650mm ce
As an amateur builder I have made a couple of steel strings aimed firmly at the finger picking player - perhaps at the converting classical player also. I make the neck at the nut around 47 mm with a fretboard curvature of 16 inches. This is a bit of a compromise between the classical at around 52 - 54 mm at the nut and a flat fretboard, although I radius my classicals at 20 inches and find it more comfortable than the flat one.
The electric though really is a rather different animal. I am not sure that the classical style of neck dimensions would work very well. It may be though that the sort of figures I suggest for a steel string could work reasonably well. Bear in mind that the normal electric playing technique is worlds away from either classical or steel string playing.
In any case a guitar maker who does bespoke work ought to be able to make whatever you decide is worth trying.

domain: hobby


text:
Vinegar-based drink is one of CJ’s most popular exports
The beverage started selling overseas in 2015. Export volume in the last three years has grown from 7 billion won ($6.4 million) to 23 billion won through November this year. The average growth rate per year was 50 percent.
CJ CheilJedang attributed the drink’s popularity to the rising prevalence of Korean beauty and skin care products.
Vinegar-based drinks have been around in Korea since the 2000s. The item has been especially popular among Korean women, who see it as a good detox drink for the skin and for weight loss.
Petitzel Micho has especially sold well in Japan, where the company is expecting to rake in 20 billion won in sales, double that of last year, from the drink.
By Song Kyoung-son


text:
There isn’t any logic in spending money on matters which may be availed for free. These days, there exist several sites on the Web such as 123movies that offers free movies on line. One shouldn’t invest in purchasing tickets in DVDs theatre halls, and rental stores. But one just should look for anyone sites like 123movies from good search engines like Yahoo or Google since internet movie sites are easy to discover. Watching pictures enable folks to see their favourite movie or TV show anytime they desire.
As stated previously, there are distinct sorts of how movies which one can love. There are pictures based on biography, love, drama, sports, comedy, horror flicks, history, etc.. Nonetheless, it is dependent upon one’s choice to watch and select any type of movies. No matter what, movies gives people a chance to live life with a few of the most funny , reckless, and beautiful men and women in a dream world apart in reality. It helps individuals to forget their worries and issues at least for a while.
Another fantastic thing to Watch Free Movies Online is that, an individual could watch the many versions of movies that are certain that he is searching for. In actuality, this feature of movies that are online brings more people. All you need is just a laptoptablet, or cell phone and a high speed online connection. With only some few clicks, anyone can hunt in order to find their favourite movies and television shows conveniently and readily.
123movies can also be obtained as one of the alternatives for Netflix and primewire because it’s as good as some other picture watching sites. Users may watch some movies in the convenience of their own house and at any time they want.


text:
A second person in New York City died as a result of vaping and e-cigarette use, the city's medical examiner has ruled.
Jonathan Sosa, 34, died on November 9, 2019 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. More than three months after his death, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson ruled that Sosa died as a result of a combination of respiratory distress syndrome, heart disease, heart failure and pneumonia — all of which were complicated by the illness known as EVALI, or e-cigarette vaping associated lung injury.
Sosa's "pre-existing medical problems and complicated hospital course made it unclear the full extent to which vaping may have contributed, making the manner of death undetermined," Sampson said in the determination of death. "However, based on our thorough investigation and medical record review, we have determined the death to be vaping-related."
A 17-year-old boy from the Bronx was the first person to have died as a result of vaping. He was pronounced dead at Montefiore Hospital in October, although it was unclear what type of vaping product he had been using.
While it still is not clear what in particular from e-cigarette use leads to the health complications, the CDC says that many of the patients have used THC vaping products and that national and regional findings suggest that products with the compound play a role in the outbreak.
As of February 18, 68 deaths as a result of EVALI cases had been confirmed in 29 states. There have been 2,800 hospitalizations across the country as well.

domain: health


text:
Breast augmentation refers to surgical procedures designed to enhance the size and shape of the breast by increasing the volume of the breast either by placing an implant behind the breast tissue or using fat grafting. Sometimes both (implant in combination with fat grafting) can be used to achieve enhancement of the shape and size (composite breast augmentation).
Most commonly patients request breast augmentation to improve the appearance of the underdeveloped breast, breast asymmetry, constricted shape or because they have lost breast volume and shape as a result of hormonal changes associated with pregnancy, aging or weight loss.
Evidence shows that effects of surgery can not only improve the physical appearance, but can also enhance self-esteem and quality of life.
Consultation will allow assessment and detailed discussion about what is possible taking under consideration personal circumstances and desires. There will be an opportunity to discuss alternatives, long-term implications and risks of surgery.
Breast augmentation is designed to enhance and improve the appearance of one's own breast, but is not designed to completely change one's own natural breast characteristics in order to perfectly match the ideal.
The information below will provide basic explanation about what is involved in surgical procedures used for breast augmentation. If you have more questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Before arranging a consultation, it is important to think carefully about what one would like to achieve to be able to discuss specific concerns and desires in detail with the surgeon.
What to expect from the consultation
During the consultation, you will be asked about your desired size and anything related to the appearance of the breast that you feel is important to you. This will help the doctor to understand your expectations and determine whether they realistically can be achieved. You will be asked about your medical history, current medications, drug allergies, smoking and history of breast disease including family history. You will also be examined and the doctor will consider factors such as size, shape, nipple position and skin quality. If your breasts are sagging you might consider having an uplift in addition in order to achieve enhancement. You will try implant sizers and you might consider having 3D simulations in order to determine the size you wish to have. Medical photographs might be taken as well. You will receive a letter summarizing the consultation along with surgery fees. Typically, minimum 2 consultations will be required in order to allow time to absorb information and agree on the size prior to surgery.
Clinical psychology consultation might be suggested in order to better assess your expectations and the degree the problem is affecting you. Joined effort from multidisciplinary team helps to improve the overall outcome of surgery. If you are are over 40 years old, you would be required to have a screening mammogram before surgery.
What does the surgery entail
Silicone breast implants are typically placed behind the breast tissue or in dual plane (behind the muscle) depending on the amount of breast tissue you have and your anatomy. The surgeon will discuss this in detail during the consultation. Incisions will also be discussed. Every effort will be made to ensure the incision is placed so that the resultant scar is as inconspicuous as possible.
Through the incision, the breast tissue is carefully lifted to create symmetrical pockets under the breast or behind the muscle (the pectoralis major). The surgery usually takes 1-2 hours and sutures used will dissolve. You will need a front-fastening surgical bra which will help to support the breast, reduce the swelling and provide comfort.
Recovery takes 4-6 weeks. You will require a nurse appointment a week after surgery and consultant appointment in 4 weeks or earlier if required.
Fat grafting to the breast is a very natural way of achieving enhancement of the breast size and shape whilst at the same time we can sculpt the areas of the body where women typically tend to accumulate fatty tissue. Fatty tissue is obtained via liposuction typically to the hips and flanks. Fatty tissue is then carefully processed and carefully injected into different planes of the breast tissue in order to allow maximum fat graft survival. It is expected that 50-70% of fat graft will survive at one time. Depending on the desired enhancement required, you might require several stages of fat grafting in order to gradually build up the desired size and shape.
Recovery also takes 4-6 weeks. You will require a nurse appointment a week after surgery and consultant appointment in 4 weeks or earlier if required. Scars for liposuction are situated in the groins. They are typically very small (approximately 5-10mm) and stitches will dissolve. You will need a front-fastening surgical bra which will help to support the breast, reduce the swelling and provide comfort.
Risks and implications will be discussed in detail during your consultation.
Regarding future breast cancer screening, in patients with breast implants special views (Eklund views) are typically required to visualise the breast tissue in front of the implant. If you have any concerns regarding implications of breast augmentation surgery on future breast cancer screening it would be recommended to see a Consultant Breast Surgeon or Clinical Oncology Consultant to discuss this in detail.

domain: medical


These 10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers will make your Wednesday morning.
1. President Buhari presents 2020 budget of N10.33 trn
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, presented the 2020 appropriation bill to a joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja. The N10.33 trillion budget proposal includes statutory transfers of N556.7 billion, non-debt recurrent expenditure of N4.88 trillion and capital expenditure of N2.14 trillion (excluding the capital component of statutory transfers).
2. 2020 BUDGET: Revenue from increased VAT to be invested in health, education – Presidency
The Presidency on Tuesday said revenue accruable from increased Value Added Tax (VAT) would be invested into developing the health and education sectors. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Mr. Umar el-Yakub, said this while speaking to journalists after the budget presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari at the National Assembly complex on Tuesday.
3. 2020 Budget: Buhari has done what his predecessors could not – BMO
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for the early presentation of the 2020 Budget proposal to the National Assembly, saying he has succeeded in doing what his three predecessors in office could not do. According to the group, the presentation of the budget would go a long way in ensuring that the country finally began implementing its national budget from the first day of the fiscal year.
4. 2020 budget to be passed on November 28
The 2020 Appropriation Bill proposal presented on Tuesday to the joint sitting of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari will be ready for passage on the 28th of November, 2019. This was disclosed by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Benjamin Kalu while addressing journalists after the presentation of the budget proposal by President Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja.
5. APC excited at collaboration between 9th Assembly and Executive to ensure early budget passage
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has commended the commitment of both the executive and legislative arms in ensuring the budget passage returned to the January-December cycle. Speaking on President Muhammadu Buhari’s presentation of the 2020 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, APC applauded the President stating that the early presentation would give the lawmakers near three months to consider and pass the budget.
6. Army to commence new Python Dance, Crocodile Smile operations Nov 1
The Nigerian Army announced that it would commence fresh operations Python Dance and Crocodile Smile in the South East and South South on November 1. According to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, the army would also conduct Exercise Ayem Akpatuma on the same day in the North-Central.
7. Police arrest lawyer over $1.5m bribery allegation against Emmanuel
A lawyer, Leo Ekpenyong was Tuesday arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja for alleging that the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel bribed the election petition tribunal chairman in the state with $1.5 million to secure favourable judgement. The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, Uwemedimo Nwoko revealed this on Tuesday in Uyo, the state capital, adding that Ekpenyong was picked up in Abuja and flown to Uyo where he would be arraigned in an Uyo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
8. Governor Okowa hints at ceding power to Delta Central after serving out his tenure
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has hinted that he would lobby for a candidate from a Delta Central to occupy the governorship stool if, and when, he serves out his tenure. While pushing for this position, he also told critics that he had no apologies for appointing one of his daughters as an aide. Governor Okowa argued that his daughter was highly qualified for the position and therefore deserved the appointment.
9. Student swept away, properties destroyed as heavy downpour ravage Ondo communities
A student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State was on Tuesday swept away in a heavy rainstorm that ravaged some communities in the state. Properties worth millions of Naira and belonging to the residents of the communities were lost in the rain that lasted more than 13 hours.
10. TARABA KILLINGS: Panel recommend punishment for soldiers, policemen
A captain, 5 soldiers and two policemen have been recommended for punishment by the joint investigative panel set up by the Defence Headquarters to investigate the killing of three policemen and a civilian on August 6 in Ibi, Taraba State. The panel headed by Rear Admiral Ibikunle Olaiya, in its report said Captain Tijani Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim Mohammed and Corporal Bartholomew Obanye, as well as the Divisional Crime Officer of Ibi Police Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police Aondoona Iorbee, and Inspector Aliyu Dadje must pass through disciplinary measures over the incident.


It is essential to maintain a clean home to prevent moth infestations. Clothes moth larvae and eggs are easily destroyed with the use of a freezer. © 2008-2020 ResearchGate GmbH. Usually, they crawl upward, ending up in a corner, wall, crack, or the ceiling where they make a silken cocoon. How to update ALDMD (Energy dissipated in the whole (or partial) model by damage.) Pantry moths consume every foodstuff, including salt. "If it's in carpet, vacuum it up and expose the area to as much light and openness as possible," Dr Edwards said. I don´t think it will make me sick but I have never done it. Cardboard, thin plastic and paper will NOT keep them out. Looking at it this way, the Mason jar is an airtight container that will protect the food from a further infestation of the moths. Best stainless steel sinks for your Kitchen, Offset Kitchen Sink pros and cons (A Comprehensive Guide), How to fix a slow draining bathroom drain not clogged. When it comes to carpet, consider periodically moving furniture and vacuuming those dark corners of a room. The second time I used it there were many clumps of cobwebs nest material. The moths lay these eggs on food areas or in the processing industry. In this comprehensive article, we delve into the most common basic info about these pests. Indian meal moths are the most popular food moths in all the environments. Problem is that the insects fly onto such areas and lay their eggs there. The common pantry moth won’t hurt you, but there’s an ick factor to finding out your food is infested, and it … Food stains, urine, sweat, and moisture also attract adult moths. When the larvae are ready to pupate, they leave the food had been feeding on. Think of airtight containers to keep these bugs away. The female moth lays clusters during the night. Cedar chips, blocks, and cedar oil sachets (fumigants) are great for long-term storage of sensitive fabrics. hope it gives you lead to work on and research. So after production the rice should be stored in a more controlled environment, recommend that you do not store next to unprocessed rice. I am happy to share such ideas and reviews of home and related products. Could any one clarify me how these moths and larvae formed in rice bags. You could also put out a sticky pheromone trap to capture adult moths that have been flying around or hiding in corners of the pantry. Mostly, people keep their sugar in cupboards and pantries, and these bugs can access and eat it mercilessly. In the long run, the caterpillars will feast on the food found in this sealed container and eventually damage and contaminate them. "They're very secretive as adult moths and you don't see them flying around very much at all," Ted Edwards, honorary fellow with CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection, told ABC Radio Canberra. To prevent them from infesting your bedroom, apply the following measures: Pantry moths form a large superfamily of moths, known as the Pyraloida. The thing is, every type of grain or cereal has the possibility of moth or beetle larvae. Insecticidal dusts such as Borid Boric Acid Dust or PyGanic 1% Pyrethrin Dust can safely be used for cracks, crevices, inside trim, wall voids, carpeting edges – anywhere moths, larvae, and eggs might hide. This will certainly kill any moth larvae or eggs. The Department of Parliamentary Services this month issued an alert to all Parliament House staff, declaring the house on the hill was suffering from an outbreak of case-making clothes moth. If you think you have pantry moths in your home, first check everything in your pantry and kitchen cabinets. Angoumois grain moth prevention and control starts with a careful inspection to identify infested products. You have an infestation of Indian Meal moths. I know of two ways to make pantry moth traps – both kill moths. Yes, pantry moths eat sugar if it is exposed to them. So keeping woolens clean will lend them some protection. Depending on temperature and humidity, these eggs will grow and hatch into weevils. They also enter the packages by eating up the nylon or paper covers of the packages or the containers. Have you ever dealt with pantry a moth infestation? Professionals in shops and museums wrap susceptible items in thick craft paper and tape seams and edges. But then one day a tiny moth flies out of your pantry. Can anybody help me regarding this. Often leave the electrocutors on at night when the whole warehouse and production is stopped. Therefore, is simply counting the soma/cell bodies sufficient enough for quantification of microglia for purposes of publication in the future. I use to do this on a regular basis weekly. Dab a cotton ball in the fish oil and stick it to the fly paper. After that, get the right pantry moth killers to trap and kill them. Larvae are a slightly different category. So, it all adds up to this answer that baking soda is a delicacy for these bugs. 1. This is why items that are consistently used rarely suffer moth damage. Once you discover a moth infestation, you need to clear out all the moths, caterpillars and eggs. Once you get rid of the moths, it is time to look at prevention methods. Pro-Pest, Safer Brand, and EnviroSafe all make effective pheromone traps for both pantry moths and clothes moths. pantry moths can get into sealed packages, just in the same way they enter into tightly covered containers. It is one of the most efficient means of controlling pantry moths. What luck! I've also tried using the skeletonize approach but I'm of the opinion that this is only useful for focusing on individual glia to assess morphology to infer activation state which is not the aim here since we have other markers to probe for that will give us that information. Moths infest highly sensitive areas – areas near food and clothing. I have fluorescent microscopy images in LIF format. If possible, also seal off any place crumbs and filth tend to build up. An adult moth can survive without food for 1 to 2 weeks before it dies. APPPC, 1987. The moths will contaminate all the food that their larvae or pupae get in contact with. The Rice Moth has a pale, buff-brown colour which is uniform and features no distinctive markings, the veins may appear darkened and the hind wings are almost translucent. However, as you can see from the attached images, I have a lot of glia where the processes are visible without cell bodies (which are probably out of focus). Sometimes all you need to do is to take a critical step of eliminating moths from their hideout. My natural repellent (also fumigant) of choice is camphor, which comes in flake, ball, or cake form. Tyre wear is considered to contribute 3-7% to PM. Updated - March 25, 2020 / Julianne Ragland. These pests are frequent unwelcome guests that can pose a health risk if they get into your food. Any relevant tutorials or research supplement is also welcome. Traditional moth balls are also effective, but they contain toxic chemicals, so instead consider using natural alternatives like sachets of dried lavender or a mix of cloves and bay leaves. The answer might not surprise you because of a big percentage of pantry moths like sugar. House moths can also be introduced by larger pests such as rodents or birds. Throw away all infested foods as well as items you’re uncertain about. The lifecycle of pantry moths varies depending on the environment.


Swingin' Under The Stars - David Booker
Mountain Standard Time
5707 Olde Wadsworth Blvd
Saturday nights will be swinging with big bands and modern swing quartets in collaboration with Swingin' Denver and Little Man Ice Cream. Free swing dance lessons at 7:30pm and the first band break...


text:
Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which transforms a flat sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. There are a lot of creative ways to make origami roses. Here is just another example. Unlike most origami roses which involve folding, rolling and twisting, this one involves only folding and sculpting with tweezers to form the rose petals, which look really unique and beautiful. You can use your favorite colors of paper to create your own design. You can make a bouquet of these origami roses and place it in a nice woven paper basket or vase. Or you may make a flower wreath, as shown in the above photo. Either way, they are nice decoration for your home. Happy crafting!
Here are the things you may need:
- Square origami paper;
- Ornaments: paper leaves, ribbon, etc.
source (translated version)
For a closer look at how to make it, here’s a nice video tutorial for you…
You may also like this Origami Kusudama flower ball decoration.


text:
School pupils faced a race against time to achieve their aim to bring the sounds of the Caribbean to East Middlesbrough.
The talented pupils from Unity City Academy had three days to learn eight songs on the steel drums to perform outside Berwick Hills' Neptune Centre.
The years six and seven pupils learnt the drums as part of a Caribbean themed week-long summer school.
Paul Lickley, art and design teacher ran the summer school with head of academy programme Sally Norman.
He said: "The kids have been awesome to do this in three days. The summer school is about team building and mentoring."


text:
09:03 | 22/04/2017 Trade
(VEN) - High export growth and the firm position of Vietnamese industrial and agricultural products in foreign markets reflect the effects of production, business and market development policies and measures.
Data recently announced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) show that global export value in the first 11 months of 2016 reached about US$13.5 trillion, down 3.1 percent compared with the same period in 2015. This downward trend was also demonstrated in some countries in the region, such as China - down 7.2 percent, India - 1.3 percent, Indonesia - 3.9 percent, Malaysia - 4.9 percent, and Singapore - 4.9 percent.
In this context, Vietnam recorded continuous increases in its export value, and even a trade surplus.
A report on the 2016 foreign trade recently issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) shows that last year, Vietnam’s export value reached US$176.6 billion, up nine percent compared with 2015, while its import value reached US$174.11 billion, up 5.2 percent. These results brought Vietnam’s trade surplus to about US$2.52 billion – compared to a trade deficit in 2015.
Receptivity to business
This success was attributed not only to business efforts but also to suitable policies and mechanisms enforced by the government, ministries, sectors and localities, especially the MoIT.
Opinions solicited by the government from companies helped the MoIT make suitable amendments to many legal documents to facilitate business operations. A typical example is circular 23/2016/TT-BCT dated October 12, 2016 issued by the MoIT to replace one from October 2015, which stipulates the content of formaldehyde and aromatic amino acids transformed from azo dyes in textiles and garments. The new circular was welcomed by businesses as it removes previous obstacles they faced.
On December 28, 2016, the MoIT issued Circular 36/2016/TT-BCT to replace one from 2012 on energy labeling for vehicles and appliances. The new circular has abrogated stipulations which businesses found burdensome.
Along with amending legal documents, the MoIT has taken export promotion measures to further implement the Goods Import and Export Strategy for the 2011-2020 period, with an orientation towards 2030.
The MoIT keeps a close watch on the export situation so that it can take timely measures to help businesses overcome internal difficulties and export barriers. It has coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to follow up supply, demand and price changes in the domestic and global markets, especially for agricultural and aquatic products. At the same time, the MoIT has maintained effective management over the export of seafood, rice and other agricultural products.
The MoIT has also coordinated with the MARD to accelerate the consideration of reports on pest risk analyses and quarantine regulations applied to Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic exports, in an effort to promote exports to Australia, the US and Japan. The MoIT sent delegations to persuade the US House of Representatives to adopt a resolution on terminating the US supervision on Vietnamese catfish.
In 2016, the MoIT worked with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China to speed up the completion of necessary legal procedures to open the Chinese market to Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products. These efforts significantly contributed to the US$22.2 billion export value of agricultural and aquatic products in 2016, a rise of 7.7 percent compared with 2015.
The MoIT has also set up a hot line to deal with problems facing import, export businesses. It has provided businesses with updated information about trade defense measures, anti-dumping investigations and trade barriers of importing countries.
Effective implementation of the National Trade Promotion Program, the National Branding Program, and an awards program honoring successful export businesses has also encouraged businesses to expand their operations.
Along with helping businesses overcome difficulties, the MoIT has put in place many policies and mechanisms to facilitate trade. It has put the National Single Window into operation. Currently, four kinds of licenses are granted via this mechanism, including certificate of origin (Form D), license for importing motorized vehicles of high cylinder capacity, license for importing substances that deplete the ozone layer, and licenses for exporting, importing industrial explosive materials.
At the same time, the MoIT has coordinated with the General Department of Vietnam Customs to set up technical connections to exchange electronic certificates of origin (Form D) via the ASEAN Single Window with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
The ministry has also upgraded technical facilities catering to the implementation of other administrative procedures to ensure that 100 percent of formalities are handled in an electronic environment.
The MoIT expects that in the future, all administrative procedures which it deals with will be implemented via the National Single Window, and that connections with the ASEAN Single Window will allow it to exchange information with non-ASEAN trading partners to facilitate exports and tighten controls over imports.
The MoIT has become a pioneer in implementing Government Resolution 36a/NQ-CP dated October 14, 2015 regarding administrative reforms towards implementing e-government. Currently, the ministry provides a total of 166 public services online.
Effective implementation of policies and mechanisms significantly contributed to Vietnam’s export growth in 2016, helping
improve the trade balance, promote gross domestic product growth, generate jobs, and facilitate the sale of farm products.


text:
America’s war on drugs has produced questionable success in the decades since its implementation. For every bit of good that has come out of it, there has also been an equal amount of bad. Much of the dichotomy is illustrated by the fine line between legal cannabis and law enforcement.
On the one hand, federal law enforcement officials have an obligation to investigate and prosecute cannabis-related crimes. And because cannabis is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, all production, processing, and distribution is technically illegal.
By the same token, thirty-seven states have now given the green light to cannabis for medical use, recreational use, or both. That makes state law in opposition to federal law. It also puts state and local police agencies at odds with federal officials. It is a position no one in law enforcement enjoys being in.
Table of Contents
1. Before Utah Legalization
A Utah case from 2012 shines the spotlight on the fine line state authorities must continually walk. Back then, cannabis was still illegal in Utah in any form. So when Ogden’s Matthew David Stewart chose to use cannabis to treat PTSD, he knew he was doing so illegally. So did law enforcement.
Unfortunately, actions taken by local police officers to enforce the law resulted in tragic gunfire that claimed one life and resulted in injuries to multiple officers. Stewart eventually committed suicide, allegedly due to the pressure of being branded a cop killer.
The tragedy in all of this is that it did not have to happen. It turns out that lawmakers included PTSD on the list of qualifying conditions when they legalized medical cannabis in Utah. Had the law been passed a decade earlier, Stewart could have completely avoided contact with police by obtaining a medical cannabis card prior to purchasing his medicine.
2. A Lot Has Changed
Needless to say, a lot has changed since 2012, both in Utah and across the country. For starters, the number of states still considered prohibitionist is dwindling. We are now down to just thirteen. That number is expected to drop further this year and next. It is quite reasonable to assume that cannabis will be legalized in all fifty states within two to three years.
In Utah, recreational cannabis use is still illegal; their program allows for medical use only. As such, local and state law enforcement still has a legal obligation to investigate and arrest those who deal in cannabis outside of the legal framework put in place by lawmakers.
Although legalization has made it a lot easier for medical cannabis patients to obtain and use their medicines, the opportunity for misunderstandings still exists. Patients also must abide by strict guidelines in terms of purchase and possession limits. It is still not a free-for-all in Utah.
3. Enforcing Business Regulations
Above and beyond medical cannabis patients are the businesses involved in getting medicines into their hands. You basically have four entities involved in the process: the grower, the processor, the independent tester, and the distributor. In Utah, all distributors are licensed pharmacies, like Provo’s Deseret Wellness. Recreational states like California and Colorado allow dispensaries as well.
All these businesses must abide by the letter of the law. Meanwhile, it is common knowledge that the black market still exists. And once again, this puts law enforcement in an awkward position. They are still obligated to go after illegal operators. At the same time, they have to be very careful about not trampling on the rights of those doing things by the letter of the law. It is not an easy situation to navigate, that’s for sure.

domain: law


Just a week after Nikola founder Trevor Milton was indicted, in part, for allegedly misleading investors with footage of a moving truck that was secretly rolling downhill, the hydrogen-trucking startup released footage of a newer prototype driving uphill.
The startup showed the video during a presentation of its second quarter financial results on Tuesday. (It also published the footage on YouTube.) While it may be a moral victory for the company to show its truck climbing a 12 percent grade hill in light of the more infamous clip Milton once orchestrated, the release of the footage nonetheless came alongside some bad news: Nikola now expects to deliver half the number of trucks this year than it had originally estimated. Worse, the company said global parts shortages could make it tough to even hit the new, lower target.
Nikola was the first high-profile transportation startup to merge with a special purpose acquisition company at the beginning of the SPAC boom last year. Many others have followed, including a half-dozen EV startups that also have not made or sold any production vehicles. Nikola is also not alone in drawing regulatory scrutiny, or the attention of prosecutors. The Department of Justice is investigating Lordstown Motors and the Securities and Exchange Commission is poking around a few other would-be EV manufacturers.
But Milton’s belligerence, as well as his alleged subterfuge, made Nikola a tantalising target for closer examination — including from the short-seller research firm Hindenburg Research that kicked off Milton’s downfall. That the company is still around to show that it has a truck that can go up a hill is a small miracle in its own right.
As the public spotlight shifts to other startups’ problems, Nikola now has a chance to be among the first of its peers to emerge from this period of intense SPAC merger scrutiny. It has a major reputation overhaul to execute, a parts shortage to navigate, and it’s still losing more than $100 million per quarter. Oh, and it’s also still trying to prove its basic premise that hydrogen fuel is a practical solution for long-haul trucking.
In other words: an uphill climb, though one that seems steeper than 12 per cent.


text:
The UP Constable Bharti 2018 news is reported on 16th Nov 2018. According to the news, from 19th Nov 2018, the application form of new UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018 is getting activated on uppbpb.gov.in. For a huge count of vacancy that is 49, 568 UP Constable Vacancy candidates are recruiting now. Get the UP Constable Application Form link from this page.
UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018
- 1 UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018
- 1.1 Uttar Pradesh Police Constable Bharti Form
- 1.2 UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018 Details
- 1.3 UP Police Constable Eligibility Criteria (requirements)
- 1.4 Apply Online UP 49568 Police Constable Vacancy @uppbpb.gov.in
Check UP Police Constable Bharti 2018 Notification is saved here. With the thought of giving the correct and simplified info to our respective viewers, this post has helped us. From the terms in this post, the interested candidates in accordance with this Uttar Pradesh Police 49, 568 Constable Posts procurement can know the entire details of this recruitment like educational conditions, up to which age they can eligible, amount of application fees, selection rounds, when will be the application form opened and closed, how to apply for these UP constable posts etc. All of these very prominent details can be seen by the applicants through this single page. Want to know more Latest Recruitments in India ? Then check into our page.
Uttar Pradesh Police Constable Bharti Form
UP Police Constable Recruitment details: Uttar Pradesh state has separate recruitment board for the recruitment of Police jobs in that state. That recruitment board is known as Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UP PRPB). It only hires freshers or experienced candidates only for the jobs in the Police department. In a few hours back, a job advertisement for UP police Constable Bharti is opened from this board official site. That advertisement contains the very promised info for the applicants. By simplifying that huge data, short and clear information of the recruitment is posted here. By dragging the cursor through all this post, the viewers will be fully aware of this 49, 568 Constable Vacancy in UP notification. List out the latest UP State Government jobs.
UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018 Details
|Organization Name||Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UP PRPB)|
|Job Name||Constable Civil Police, Constable in Reserved Territorial Armed|
|Number of Vacancies||49568|
|Job Location||Uttar Pradesh|
|Job category||State Govt Jobs|
|Date of Notification||16th Nov 2018|
|Starting date of Application||19th November 2018|
|Ending Date of Application||8th Dec 2018|
|Exam Date||Jan 2019|
UP Police Constable Eligibility Criteria (requirements)
The complete qualifications for UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018 notification as per the job wise.
- Willing competitors for this recruitment they must possess 12th Class passed certificate from a recognized board or an equivalent exam.
Candidates, age must be as per the UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018 that is Male 18-22, Female 18-25 as on 01/07/2018 Age. They must be born between 02/07/1993 to 01/07/2000.
4.8 KM in 25 Minute
2.4 Km in 14 Minute
All the category candidates have to pay Rs.400 as application fees.
Selection Process :
To join in UP Police Constable Vacancy, They must follow the selection rounds
- Written Exam
- DV Exam
- PET / PST Exam
- Selected candidates for the Police Constable positions with the pay scale of Rs. 5,200-20,200 Grade Pay Rs. 2000/-
|Post Name||Total Post|
|Constable Civil Police||31,360 (Gen- 15,681, OBC- 8,467, SC- 6,585, ST-627)|
|Constable in Reserved Territorial Armed||18,208 (Gen- 9,104, OBC- 4,916, SC- 3,824, ST- 364)|
See the Application Procedure of the UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018:
- Open the official site of UP Police @ uppbpb.gov.in or prpb.gov.in
- See the Opportunities Option
- See the UP Police Constable Recruitment 2018 notification
- Download that notification
- Clearly refer all the details in it
- If you have that eligibility criterion you can apply for these vacancies in Online mode
- Fill the form with correct details
- Submit the form
- Payment is completed
- then completed application is posted to the given address
- Save the submitted details.
Apply Online UP 49568 Police Constable Vacancy @uppbpb.gov.in
UP Police Constable Application Form has been freed by the UP Police job employment board. By considering the dates mentioned in that notification, the contenders who are making preparations to attend for this UP Police Constable Selection Process, first they have to finish the application process which will open from 1st Nov to end on 30th Nov 2018. These the dates also applicable for making the application fees of Rs.400/- by all the applying contenders.
For the participation in this UP Constable Recruitment, the people who are born in between 02/07/1993 to 01/07/2000 dates are only eligible. Both the starting and ending dates also included. It is clear note that, it is a police job so for these jobs recruitment apart from the technical or logical knowledge, physical measurements also needed compulsory. So check both educational qualifications and physical standards of UP Constable Bharti 2018 which are given separately for both male and female candidates. Check then wisely.
Also Download: UP Police Constable Syllabus 2018
Notification Date: 16th Nov 2018
Application Form starting Date Begin: 19th Nov 2018
Last Date for Application Form Online: 8th Dec 2018
Exam Date: Jan 2019
Application Form (Opens on 19th Nov 2018)


February 18, 2021
For Immediate Release
Raleigh, NC - The Washington Free Beacon reported on how Cal Jr. (Jeff Jackson) first legislative priority is expanding voting to violent felons.
“Cal Jr. (Jeff Jackson) confirms that he will push the far left’s radical policies like enfranchising violent felons who have not paid their full debt to society,” said NCGOP Communications Director Tim Wigginton.
Here are some of the key excerpts from the Free Beacon Report:
“Jackson expressed support for H.R. 1 in a Medium post, calling the legislation one of his ‘top priorities’ should he serve in the upper chamber. Often presented as a campaign finance reform measure, the 700-page bill also guarantees voting rights for all felons who are not currently incarcerated, including those released on parole or probation and those convicted of murder and sexual offenses.”
“If enacted, the bill would place the federal government in conflict with a majority of U.S. states, likely sparking legal challenges. Thirty states currently bar felons from voting until they are discharged from parole, and 11 states disenfranchise felons convicted of certain crimes, such as murder, rape, and election-related offenses. Public Interest Legal Foundation spokesman Logan Churchwell called H.R. 1 ‘a brave new experiment in pushing the Elections Clause of the Constitution to the limit and beyond.’”
“‘It doesn't matter what Texas or Florida have to say about felon re-enfranchisement—Capitol Hill leadership wants to throw their trump card on the table. Federalism be damned,’ Churchwell told the Washington Free Beacon. Felons in both states cannot vote on probation or parole, and Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2018 that enfranchised 1.4 million felons but excluded those convicted of murder or sexual offenses. House Democrats first passed H.R. 1 in 2019 before then-Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) blocked it from consideration, calling the proposal a ‘one-sided power grab.’”


Our email newsletter allows us to treat, delight and surprise our amazing customers. With new products and exclusive promotions.
The URBAN LUXURY Knit Sweater is a 3/4 sleeve, oversized knit. Perfect to layer with a singlet or long sleeve underneath! Match it with a pair of jeans or black pants for a smart casual outfit!
60% Acrylic, 15% Alpaca, 15% Wool, 10% Viscose
URBAN LUXURY Knit Sweater


text:
Love it. Good printing.
I love, the size is perfect the material is light it fits perfectly with the description, I recommend this seller.
Synthetics, but soft, pleasant, sew neatly, on 52R XXL just, delivery is super fast!?
Threads do not stick out, sewn neatly. At its 50 size ordered 2XL


text:
Story | Aug 7, 2014 | 7:44 PM
A collection of news and information related to Ryan Kerrigan published by this site and its partners.
Top Ryan Kerrigan Articles see all
Displaying items 1-5
Story | Aug 19, 2014 | 1:04 PMCleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine came to Washington planning to announce his quarterback for the regular-season opener in the next couple of days. However, neither highly-touted rookie Johnny Manziel nor holdover Brian Hoyer played very well against the Redskins Monday night, leaving the Browns in a quandary.
Story | Aug 27, 2014 | 9:47 AM
The Sports Xchange By Frank Cooney, The Sports Xchange NFC Battles of Week: Final chance for lasting impression While some NFL players may be on cruise control to stay healthy in this final week of preseason, others are going full throttle to nail down...
Story | Aug 27, 2014 | 12:18 AM
The Sports Xchange NFL Team Report - Washington Redskins - INSIDE SLANT Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather was suspended two regular-season games without pay for his sixth violation of the NFL's policy on player safety. The NFL's...
Story | Aug 25, 2014 | 6:23 PM
The Sports Xchange By David Elfin, The Sports Xchange DE Hatcher better friend than foe for Washington ASHBURN, Va. -- Defensive end Jason Hatcher is impressing some of the Washington Redskins he once depressed. Outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, for...

domain: sports


Polling data from the Washington Post reveals that a sizable majority of adults who identify as transgender have not undergone medical interventions to aid their transition.
The article from The Washington Post, titled “Most trans adults say transitioning made them more satisfied with their lives,” found that a majority of the 515 trans-identifying respondents have only “socially transitioned.”
— Will Oremus (@WillOremus) March 23, 2023
The article explains:
While most trans people have socially transitioned, meaning they’ve changed their clothing, names or pronouns, far fewer have medically transitioned. Less than a third have used hormone treatments or puberty blockers, and about 1 in 6 have undergone gender-affirming surgery or other surgical treatment to change their physical appearance.
The main medical interventions which are used by those who identify as transgender and are attempting to change their sex include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone therapy, and a wide range of different surgical procedures, which usually occur last in the process.
Double mastectomies, hysterectomies, and phalloplasties are all used in the “gender-affirming” healthcare model. Some patients even undergo surgery to masculinize or feminize their face.
But even though the majority of adults who identify as transgender do not undergo irreversible medical interventions, activists have vocally condemned states such as Tennessee, which have passed legislation to defend children from puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and even surgical sex change operations.
Spencer Lindquist / Breitbart News
Many of these medical interventions are expensive for patients and profitable for the corporations that provide them. Studies have found that the market for so-called “gender-affirming” surgery is rapidly growing, especially in North America.
A series of investigations from Breitbart News has revealed that there has been a concerted effort on behalf of surgical sex change clinics and the manufacturers of puberty blockers to promote transgender identification, especially among the youth.
Breitbart News found that the “Gender Odyssey” conference, which encourages children to identify as transgender and attempt to change their sex, was sponsored almost entirely by a number of different surgical clinics that offer sex change operations.
Meanwhile, Abbvie Pharmaceuticals, which creates the puberty blocking drug Lupron, is the sponsor of the GenderCool Project, an organization that promotes child transgenderism through media appearances.
Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at firstname.lastname@example.org


MONTREAL -- The Molson family yesterday unveiled the future ownership in its $575-million US acquisition of the Montreal Canadiens, a deal that includes BCE and Hamilton Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer.
Geoffrey E. Molson also confirmed the family had received $75 million in guaranteed financing from the Quebec government in order to finalize the sale. The announcement, made at the Canadiens annual golf tournament, ends months of speculation over the team's future. The sale by current owner George Gillett is now expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.
Former Montreal stock exchange head Luc Bertrand and Quebec-based investment fund, Fonds de solidarite de la FTQ, also are onboard.
Molson declined to reveal exactly what percentage each new partner holds.
Flames eyeing Fleury?
CALGARY -- Where there's smoke there's usually Heat. In this case the Abbotsford Heat, which is where Theo Fleury may very well be heading.
On a day in which the former Flame met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in Phoenix to get the final word on whether he'll have clearance to play, rumours swirled, suggesting the Calgary Flames will give Fleury a tryout.
Yes, starting tomorrow when the club's veterans check in for physicals, a 5-foot-6, 41-year-old former concrete worker who hasn't played for six years may be in their midst.
However, given the Flames' youth movement and Fleury's obvious deficiencies he won't be there long as the ultimate goal would be to send him to Abbotsford, where the controversial mighty-mite will help sell a ton of tickets for the club's new AHL partner.
Comrie, Oilers reunited
EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran forward Mike Comrie.
The 28-year-old Comrie was drafted by Edmonton in 1999 and played for the Oilers from 2000 to 2003.
Pens hit White House
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the 2009 Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins to the White House, and celebrated the hockey team for its performance on and off the ice.
Spengler for MacTavish
CALGARY -- Former Oilers coach Craig MacTavish has been named head coach of Canada for this year's Spengler Cup tournament.


text:
Improving International Activities at USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been involved in international activities throughout its history. An early example was helping to plan and design the Panama Canal. A new report from the National Research Council, International Science in the National Interest at the U.S. Geological Survey, showcases the benefits of international activities to the USGS mission and U.S. national interests and examines ways to improve these activities over the next five to 10 years.
Advance copies of the report will be available to reporters only beginning at 2 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 14. The report is embargoed and not for public release before 11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 15. To obtain an embargoed copy, contact the Office of News and Public Information; tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.

domain: geography


text:
QPR are interested in Chelsea’s Izzy Brown.
The 23-year-old has just completed a season on loan at Luton Town.
It was Brown’s sixth loan move since joining Chelsea, who signed him from West Bromwich Albion in 2013.
He played Premier League football during a loan spell at Brighton, which was cut short by a long-term knee injury.
Brown has also been on loan at Leeds, Huddersfield, Rotherham and Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem.
He has a year remaining on his contract at Chelsea, who are considering his options for next season.
Brown, who is primarily an attacking midfielder but can also operate up front or as a winger, has made one first-team appearance for the Blues – against West Brom.
Brown made just one league appearance for the Yorkshire club – as a late substitute against QPR – and managed 17 Championship starts during his season at Luton.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace were last night considering matching Club Brugge’s £4.7m bid for QPR winger Bright Osayi-Samuel, who has been discussing personal terms with the Belgain club.


text:
Busy day today at Pertino. I got up around seven, got ready and drove into the office. Only my second day driving around and I feel like I am getting to know town a bit.
I was one of the later Spiceheads to arrive and I had to jump almost immediately onto a call for Dominica’s office. We have so much going on there that needs my attention that I’m doing something nearly every day.
The main part of the day was all scheduled events at Pertino. Whether group meetings, one on one user experience testing, company town hall or being filmed by a video crew (that’s the third time this year that I’ve done film work, I’ve done that for Pertino, Spiceworks and Drobo.)
For lunch today we had pizza like we did the last time that I was out with Pertino. California certainly seems to have amazing pizza. It is the only region of the country that I think, in any way, competes with New York for the quality of the pizza but the style is pretty different.
It was a very productive day, lots of good work done at Pertino. Before we completely wrapped up for the day, Craig took my out for a ride in his new Tesla S P85 – the all electric sports car that we have been looking at for a few weeks. I’ve wanted an electric car for a while and this one is really amazing. It is big and luxurious but also a sports car giving the best of a luxury sedan and a hard car sports car in one while having enough seating for five to seven people and lots of trunks space.
The ride was amazing. I have definitely never been in a car like the Tesla. Truly amazing. The acceleration is truly unreal. And the interior space is so much more than I would have guessed. Far more practical that I thought. We could probably do away with having the SUV completely with a Tesla.
After the day was done I ran back to the hotel and freshened up, dropped off my stuff and then drove up to Testarossa Winery where we had the “after work” wind down party. I drove up on my own since I was coming from a different hotel as everyone else but managed to pull in as the same time as AJ, Jeff and Kris.
We all had a really nice time there. My first California winery too. Got a chance to hang out with a bit of the Pertino crew for a few hours.
After the winery the Spiceheads went down to the Willow Street Pizza (the same pizza place that Rich, Mark and I went to before going to Pertino the last time that I was in California) and did beers and pizza. Some of them were there a bit before Kris and I arrived, since we drove down to the hotel, dropped off the car and walked from there. It was a brisk evening but as long as we were walking quickly the temperature was great. But it is too cool to hang out outside without a jacket if you aren’t moving around enough.
The pizza was excellent, just like last time, at Willow Street. We had a good time just the Spiceheads hanging out. One of the girls wanted to do kamakazis by the pitcher at the Black Watch because apparently we did that last time that we were here (not a memorable enough drink for me to remember that we had these but Dominica confirmed that we did) so we walked down there, did a quick pitcher (which was really just a big glass) and then went back tot he Tollhouse where everyone else was staying and joined Nick and his wife Jenn out on the patio and had California wine out there until people straggled off to bed one or two at a time.
After midnight on Kris and I were left awake. He had to walk back to my hotel with me because he left his iPad in my rental car and I needed to get that back to him. So we went back there and ended up standing out on the street talking till about a quarter till two.
Once back in the hotel I decided that I was going to have so little sleep that I had better pack everything now and be ready. So I spent twenty odd minutes getting everything possible picked up and packed and only the bare necessities for tomorrow morning left out. Had all my clothes ready to go and everything. I got to bed at a quarter after two and my alarm was set for five minutes before four. A very short night indeed.
I will be driving to San Jose airport first thing in the morning. Then dropping off the rental. Flight to Phoenix. Layover (short.) Flight to DFW and back home around two tomorrow afternoon.


text:
You are here
Leading Executives from Across the Country Urge Senate to Repeal the Device Tax
New Tax Threatens Domestic Jobs and Medical Innovation
Washington, D.C. – A broad coalition of medical technology companies, physician groups, venture capital firms and leading associations today submitted a letter to Senate leadership urging policymakers to repeal the onerous medical device tax that threatens U.S. jobs, medical innovation and patient care. The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) were among the 805 signatories that represent hundreds of thousands of medical technology jobs. Beginning January 1, 2013, the health care law will impose over $30 billion in new excise taxes on medical technology companies.
In coordination with the coalition letter, tomorrow more than 50 executives from across the United States representing the two million that work for and support the medical technology industry will meet with members of Congress to encourage them to protect research, development, investment and innovation by repealing the excise tax.
“Without action from Congress, implementation of the medical device tax will cost our economy thousands of high paying jobs,” said Gail Rodriguez, Executive Director of MITA. “These job losses will directly impact patient access to the most advanced, life-saving medical technologies available.”
Employing more than 400,000 workers nationwide, the medical device industry generates approximately $25 billion in payroll, pays out salaries that are 40 percent higher than the national average ($58,000 vs. $42,000) and invests nearly $10 billion in research and development (R&D) annually.
“This damaging tax will force job cuts and investments in tomorrow’s treatments and cures,” said Stephen J. Ubl, President and CEO of AdvaMed. “Continued medical innovation is key to driving public health gains by reducing costs associated with chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity and catalyzing economic growth through healthier more productive people and by creating high quality manufacturing jobs. Simply put healthier lives mean healthy economies.”
“We are already seeing the negative impact this onerous policy is having on jobs and innovation, and America’s med tech innovators can’t afford to find out what implementation of the device tax would bring,” said Mark Leahey, President and CEO of MDMA. “At a time when elected officials are looking for more manufacturing jobs based in innovative industries, repealing this tax is a win-win for patients and workers.”
The letter notes that the medical device industry is fueled by innovative companies, many of which are small businesses. In fact, 80 percent of them have less than 50 employees and 98 percent have less than 500 employees. The impact of the device tax is expected to be especially hard on smaller companies whose innovations are not immediately profitable.
The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, is the collective voice of medical imaging equipment, radiation therapy and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers, innovators and product developers. It represents companies whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for medical imaging technology. For more information, visit www.medicalimaging.org.
AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies.
The Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) is the voice for entrepreneurial and innovative medical device companies. MDMA’s mission is to promote public health and improve patient care through education and the advocacy of research-driven medical device technologies.


text:
KC Streetcar's headquarters is located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA 64106. KC Streetcar has an estimated 10 employees and an estimated annual revenue of 10.0M....
There are no competitors identified for KC Streetcar
There have been no acquisitions found related to KC Streetcar
Funding data cannot be found related to KC Streetcar
Recent investment data cannot be found related to KC Streetcar

domain: economics


text:
(Crain’s) — U.S. Cellular Corp. is slightly expanding its space in an early renewal of its headquarters lease at Citicorp Plaza, some badly needed good news for the O’Hare-area office market.
The cell phone service provider signed a deal to take 212,000 square feet through October 2017, according to a release Friday from Parkway Properties Inc., which owns the three-building, 637,000-square-foot complex in a joint venture with the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
U.S. Cellular’s lease had been slated to expire in September 2011. The company currently has 197,506 square feet in the building, making it one of Parkway’s 25 largest customers, according to a first-quarter Parkway filing. The expansion of just over 7% gives U.S. Cellular the entire building.
Jay Buckley, a senior vice-president in Chicago for Mississippi-based Parkway, declines to comment on details of the deal.
“Citicorp Plaza’s easy access to expressways and its unique proximity to both O’Hare International Airport and the Blue Line (CTA) train to downtown Chicago allow U.S. Cellular to attract talented employees from both the city and suburbs,” Brian Whiting, a senior vice-president at J. F. McKinney & Associates, said in a separate release.
The deal gives U.S. Cellular flexibility to expand, according to Chicago-based J. F. McKinney.
The carrier also has about 38,000 square feet at 1 Pierce Place in west suburban Itasca, according to CoStar Group Inc. It was unclear whether the renewal affects that space. U.S. Cellular represesntative were not available, according to a spokeswman, and an e-mail message sent to several representatives of building owner Hamilton Partners was not returned.
Citicorp Plaza is now just over 80% leased, according to Parkway. The overall vacancy rate in the O’Hare submarket was 25.8% at the end of the second quarter, second-highest in the Chicago area, according to a report from CB Richard Ellis Inc.
However, the submarket is one of three that’s shown positive net absorption this year, the report says.
U.S. Cellular is the country’s sixth-biggest wireless carrier, with 6.2 million customers, according to its Web site. The company, where former McDonald’s Corp. executive Mary N. Dillon started last month as CEO, had $3.9 billion in revenue last year, according to its Web site. Its majority owner is Telephone & Data Systems Inc.
CB Richard Ellis Inc., which represented U.S. Cellular, declines to comment.


GOP Pushes HHS Appraisal of Health Reform Proposal Rather Than Waiting for CBO's Evaluation
In an 11th hour push to repeal Obamacare, Republicans are leaning on a murky analysis that supports their plan.
The Department of Health and Human Services does a great number of things, but providing authoritative analysis of legislation isn’t usually one of them.
That task is left instead to the Congressional Budget Office, the independent agency lawmakers typically rely on to score each and every bill. Yet when it comes to health care, Republicans seem willing to put their trust in the evaluation that’s best for them, regardless of who prepared it—and dismiss assessments that will only make Obamacare repeal harder.
As the prospects for passing a repeal-and-replace law have grown dimmer over recent weeks, Republicans have increasingly divorced themselves from the CBO, which has repeatedly assigned negative scores to the party’s plans. Instead, the GOP has opted for a much more insulated approach to mathematics. Most recently, lawmakers seized on a “preliminary draft” of HHS’s appraisal of a controversial amendment to the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act.
The amendment in question is one proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. It would allow Obamacare insurers to provide additional plans off of the exchanges that would also qualify for tax credits and wouldn’t have to comply with Obamacare regulations. Insurance-industry predictions have found that those provisions—along with the BCRA’s base measures that allow less comprehensive plans, repeal the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion, and provide less generous tax credits—would essentially splinter Obamacare risk pools and create the conditions for a “death spiral.”
Their suspicions have yet to be confirmed by the CBO, because the Cruz amendment was left out of its most recent score of the BCRA. Although the amendment was submitted for a score last week, the agency needs more time to evaluate it, thanks to both the substantial changes it’d make to the way exchanges work, and the sophisticated simulations those changes would entail. But Senate Republicans—facing defections from both moderates and conservatives in the conference—might not have that kind of time.
Perhaps uncoincidentally, the HHS’s draft models of the Cruz amendment reached the internet just before the latest CBO score, giving lawmakers another way to ignore its assessment. Published Wednesday by the Washington Examiner, the models paint a rather favorable picture for the package. While even HHS concedes the Cruz amendment could create separate risk pools, its analysis predicts that dynamic would actually cover more people than the current law does and would perhaps lower premiums:
These predictions have come under fire from health-policy experts for a number of reasons. First, the HHS analysis does not apply the Cruz amendment to the BCRA, but to a modified ACA, with both its tax credits and insurance mandate in place. Both of those, of course, help pay for risky patients and improve the health of the exchange markets, and would mitigate the effects of Cruz’s measure overall. Also in its evaluation, HHS “assume[s] that an adequate number of issuers offer at least one bronze, silver, and gold qualified health plan.” That assumption seems dubious given: insurers’ own warnings about the senator’s amendment, the current precariousness of exchange offerings, and the CBO’s findings that removing the mandate and reducing tax credits could leave millions of Americans living in places with no exchange offerings at all.
As Vox’s Sarah Kliff points out, the report’s premium models benefit from some rather obvious misdirection. In the chart above, the scenario under current law is presumably a weighted average of the people in exchanges, where the average age is 48 years old. But the chart uses an age-40 benchmark for predictions under the Cruz amendment. Insurance for 40-year-olds is simply cheaper than it is for 48-year-olds.
Additionally, as the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicates, the skimpy “freedom” options allowed under Cruz’s amendment would have $12,000 deductibles. It’s hard to see many Americans signing up for such a plan without there being a mandate to do so. As the most recent CBO score reportstates about other low-premium plans, that deductible is higher than the ACA’s out-of-pocket limits, and under it, “many people with low income would not purchase any plan even if it had very low premiums.”
The biggest problem with the preliminary report is that its methods are opaque and the assumptions that went into the charts are largely indecipherable. Experts have focused on the “proprietary elasticity estimates”—reportedly created by consulting firm McKinsey—as a special black box because all of the assumptions on how people would actually respond to insurance are wrapped up within it. But some murkiness is more fundamental: The terms on charts aren’t clearly laid out; there’s no discussion of any of the decisions authors made about future premiums under Obamacare or implications of the report’s results; and the “limitations” section, which would ordinarily describe how useful the report’s results are in the real world, doesn’t actually list any limitations.
Compare that with the CBO’s typical analyses: The basic framework of its health-care simulations is known, and each report building on those simulations carefully details its working assumptions.
The new HHS report is inscrutable and sparse even when compared with the department’s previous analyses of health-care laws and regulations. It’s not unheard of for HHS and its constituent agencies to release regulatory-impact analyses that supplement—and sometimes contradict—CBO scores. In fact, that’s a core job of certain offices, and the rich combination of data from multiple authorities with deep expertise and analytical power sharpens policy. But this preliminary draft is just not useful in its current form as a policy analysis, let alone as something that could approximate a CBO score.
Yet, that seems to be how Republicans are trying to use it. Senators Ron Johnsonof Wisconsin and John Thune of South Dakota have floated the unprecedented idea of using the HHS score alone, or in concert with an evaluation from the White House Office of Management and Budget, as a substitute for the CBO’s score. But OMB Director Mick Mulvaney has stated point-blank—of his own office—that “we admit we don’t know how to count coverage.”
The involvement of any White House-aligned parties in the scoring process—if it’s even allowed under Senate rules—would also invite skepticism. Can, for example, a department run by HHS Secretary Tom Price, one of the leading opponents of Obamacare since its inception and a frequent CBO critic, really be counted on to make an unbiased assessment? Especially if it doesn’t reveal its methods?
Republicans have ignored those concerns in favor of agitation against the CBO. A June Fox News op-ed from North Carolina Representative Robert Pittenger claimsthe CBO “only provides unsupported conclusions, as it is based on highly questionable predictions.” The president’s aides called recent CBO scores “little more than fake news” in a Washington Post op-ed, and the White House has also released videos on social media attacking the agency’s conclusions. House Speaker Paul Ryan attempted in March to preempt an earlier CBO score with a presentation of his own analysis, and on Thursday he called the most recent CBO report “bogus.”
It seems clear that the party is positioning itself to be free of the agency’s continually gloomy forecasts for its health policies. But on the BCRA, those forecasts have been—more often than not—generally comparable to those compiled by groups across the health-care industry, as well as by expert consultants and think tanks. Instead of engaging with those analyses and building policy that can make the numbers work, Republicans are opting to embrace a post-factual opaqueness. It may serve their political efforts well, but it won’t do much for reality when the resulting policies actually kick in.
NEXT STORY: The War on the Freedom of Information Act


DETROIT — Police say two people are dead and several others wounded following a shooting at a vigil on Detroit’s west side and a vehicle crash afterward.
Authorities told reporters at the scene the shooting took place following a vigil Thursday night and eight people were shot, including one who died. Residents said the vigil was for a recent victim of violence in the neighborhood.
Police say some vehicles sped away and one person died, possibly after being ejected from one of the vehicles during a crash.
Assistant Police Chief Steve Dolunt called the incident “senseless and it’s stupid.”
Two people were taken into custody in the area of the shooting and crash; five others were taken into custody at a hospital.
Police recovered three weapons.


text:
Well today i went to dublin to collect one of the new guys thats going to be working with us in our new offices. I was driving from home to dublin. The temp was around 24C and the humidity was fairly high. I got to dublin no problem. Got lost trying to get to Conolly station. Still not a problem, as I got myself sorted eventually.
However on the way out of dublin we were doing about 50Kph and the engine just calved. tried to restart it and there was a very nasty noise coming from the car. The timing belt snapped. Bollox. Needless to say, stuck on a dual carrage way, in todays heat beside a broken assed car was a smidgen upsetting.
I had to pay 80 euro for a guy to come out to the car and say “yes thats fucked” and to tow it back into town. We left it at the top of Gardiner street beside a fairly busy public park. Safe. I arranged for Greg, a living saint, to come and collect it. I brought Jon to eddie rockets for a bit of dinner and we awaited for Greg. Due to its weight we couldnt do much more than 80kph on the main roads in Gregs jeep. I just got home around 1:40am after leaving for dublin at 3pm on sunday.
Apparently because the timing belt was only changed in the past 6 weeks, there is a good chance I’ll be able to get it fixed for nothing. I practically spent 220 euro getting it back to carlow, between the tow into town, food, paying greg etc . Not happy considering I spent 1000 euro on it in April between servicing and a new head gasket. Needless to say once its fixed, its gone. I’m sick to my toncils at this point with it. So its bye bye out the door for it.