Keeping up with emerging policy, regulations, and issues happening in peer or neighboring communities is an important part of delivering effective solutions for your electorate. But pulling together scattered data of local governments and constructing useful insights is not easy.
That’s why we decided to use Curate, FiscalNote’s local legislative tracking tool, to surface some of the common issues showing up in local governments across the country.
What we found was, during the first quarter of 2023, hundreds of local governments all over the country grappled with the same three emerging issues: the incredibly fast growth of the sport of pickleball, new techniques for engaging constituents in the budget process, and expanding access to high-speed internet. To understand the impact of these issues, we spoke with a public official from Long Beach, California, about the city’s response to these issues.
1. Meeting the Demand for Pickleball Courts
Q1 Mentions: 16,389
Number of Communities: 1,414
With the Sports and Fitness Industry Association naming pickleball the fastest-growing sport in the country, local governments are facing a significant challenge keeping up with the demand for courts.
The Curate database found more than 16,000 mentions of pickleball in local government meeting minutes and agendas during the first quarter of 2023. These discussions mainly focused on court construction, park development, and events.
How to Support Your District Through Effective Communication
To be an effective local official, you have to represent the interests of area residents while also navigating the complexities of local-level issues and processes. Learn how technology can help when it comes to communicating and interfacing with residents.
Tyler Bonanno-Curley, manager of government affairs for the city of Long Beach, California, says the city’s first response has been to add pickleball court lines to existing tennis and basketball courts. The city has grown from just eight dedicated pickleball courts to now having around 70 shared courts.
“Being able to accommodate the needs across the different sports is always a challenge — not just with pickleball,” he says.
2. Engaging Constituents Through Participatory Budgeting
Topic: Participatory budgeting
Q1 Mentions: 311
Number of Communities: 58
Participatory budgeting is a civic engagement tool that engages the public in the budget process and provides them with opportunities to allocate funds to projects that benefit their communities.
The tool has exploded in popularity since the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided many communities with a significant amount of relatively flexible one-time funding. In Q1 of 2023, there were 311 mentions of participatory budgeting in local government meeting minutes and agendas in the Curate database.
Major cities like Seattle and New York were early adopters of participatory budgeting and allocated funds to solve community problems like police violence, crime, and community safety through a participatory budgeting process. But the trend has continued to spread to smaller cities.
Last year, Grand Rapids, Michigan, allocated a total of $2 million through a participatory budgeting pilot program. Programs selected for funding include a Citizens Advocacy Skills Academy, a Mental Health Community First Responder, and a project to remove lead service lines. Now that the public voting has concluded, the city is partnering with a local university to evaluate the results of the pilot program, according to an agenda from Feb. 21.
Bonanno-Curley says that while the city of Long Beach has not done a formal participatory budget process, the city has made a more concerted effort to gather public input during its budget process, building on relationships developed during the pandemic to reach previously underserved communities.
How to Effectively Track Funds from Major Programs at the Local Level
Learn how to efficiently monitor which local governments are using funds from specific federal programs and get insights into how they’re using the money.
3. Closing the Digital Divide with Public Wi-Fi
Topic: Public Wi-Fi
Q1 Mentions: 169
Number of Communities: 76
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted disparities in broadband access across many localities. In response, many communities have been working to expand access to high-speed internet. One approach that was discussed frequently during the first quarter, with 169 mentions found in the Curate database, was public Wi-Fi. Programs include adding free public Wi-Fi infrastructure in city parks, libraries, and buses.
Bonanno-Curley says Long Beach was proud to be a leader in implementing public Wi-Fi in parks.
“The digital divide was a key challenge in the pandemic,” Bonanno-Curley says. “We had already started developing our digital equity strategy before the pandemic, so this gave us funding that we had been looking for to engage in that work.”
However, in Urbandale, Iowa, city staffers mentioned that Wi-Fi in parks was one of the least requested amenities community members asked for, with services such as water, electrical, and flushable restrooms being ranked as higher priorities by residents.
Technology Can Help You Monitor Trends and Identify Concerns
By monitoring local governments of similar sizes and collaborating with peers, officials can learn from others and prepare for future challenges. Local officials and policy researchers, as well as government affairs leaders and business development strategists, rely on local monitoring software to be aware of emerging issues and trends. Curate, part of FiscalNote, offers the most comprehensive database of local government documents in the country with tools designed to help teams be more efficient in managing their organization’s most critical issues.
But before taking action, it’s critical to know where your constituents stand on the issues. A constituent communication tool like Fireside, also part of FiscalNote, can help you organize and track messages from your electorate to help you accurately assess the public’s opinion on emerging issues. For example, as the pickleball craze continues to spread, many cities are seeing an influx in messages from tennis players who are concerned about losing access to courts. By tagging those messages with topics and sentiments, officials can accurately assess the public's opinion on emerging issues.


Protesters are gathering across Sudan today for what they say that they hope will be a "Tahrir-style" national movement for the downfall of the autocratic government of President Omar al-Bashir. So far, protests are numerous but relatively small, with state security forces cracking down heavily. It's not Tahrir yet, but, while the two countries share a border and the Nile River, neither is Sudan quite like Egypt. Protesters, pushing for democracy and an end to Bashir's much-hated austerity measures, are calling today's demonstrations "The Friday of Elbow Licking," a reference to a senior Sudanese official who'd said that the Arab Spring would spread here "only if you can lick your elbow." Here's a helpful map of protests, arrests, and violence so far, as mapped by Sudanese activists at SudanChangeNow2012 based on media coverage and what they call "trusted reports" from the field. You can zoom in to city block-by-block protests and clashes in, for example, the capital city of Khartoum. Below that are a series of photos that tell the story of today's "elbow-licking" would-be Sudanese Tahrir. You may notice that there are not many photos, and that none of them are by professional photographers. Sudan has tough restrictions against journalists: state security raided the AFP's Khartoum office, arresting a photographer who had taken pictures of the protests. This leaves the world to rely largely on citizen journalists, who often face even harsher punishments for reporting.
Wired Sudanese are passing around this photo of a protest in the city of Al-Ubayyid. Here's a photo of al-Ubayyid 50 years ago to give you a sense of how dramatically Sudan has changed since its 1956 independence from British colonialism. The banner readers, "Al-Ubayyid 29th June Lick Your Elbow Friday." (Twitter/Shamarat)
Protesters march in Omdurman, Sudan's largest city, just across the Nile from capital Khartoum. Their movement has listed 15 demands, the biggest of which is for the regime, in power since Omar al-Bashir's 1989 coup, to leave power. They're also asking for basic freedoms, inflation controls, and an end to religious discrimination. Though some of the country's youth and educated elite have long pushed for such a movement, it was Bashir's June 18 announcement of new austerity cuts, including to fuel subsidies, that sparked today's protests. (Twitter/Kumboya).
A young Sudanese girl licks her elbow, holding a sign that reads, "We licked our elbows and there's no going back. Revolution until victor." (It rhymes in Arabic.) Bashir has dismissed the protesters, saying, "The people who are burning tires are a few agitators." The country's feared state security have recently clamped down, arresting journalists, activists, and opposition figures. (Twitter/AbdallahFHD).
Protesters burn tires in Khartoum. Prominent Sudanese activist Amir Ahmad Nasr recently wrote at Foreign Policy, "As the fear barrier crumbles, Sudanese have a chance to topple Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP) cronies -- and to build a better future for their country." That's a more optimistic take than most observers share. And even if protesters do oust Bashir, it might not matter: "An Arab spring? Not yet. More likely is that al-Bashir is losing the support of the ruling National Congress Party," John Campbell writes at CFR. "Essentially the ruling party would be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Most of the same people would remain in charge and continue largely isolated from the Sudanese people. But there really is no credible opposition ready to step in." (Activists, via AP).
An elderly man sits during a protest. He may well have seen the entire breadth of post-colonial Sudanese history, which began with the 1956 independence from British rule (and from attempted Egyptian rule) as a single country that should have been two. The country's north and south have been in and out of conflict since then, starting with a civil war that began the year before independence, and continues today, even a year after the south finally won independence. (Twitter/Kumboya).
A tense protest gathers in Bahri, a district of Khartoum just across the Blue Nile. Security forces have used tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live ammunition against demonstrators, according to reports as well as a statement from the UN human rights office urging the Sudanese government to show more restraint. "Its clear, though most protestors are peaceful, some throwing rocks and a teenager had a homemade molotov," one Sudanese activist tweeted. Violence has slowly escalated throughout the day, with so far one protester allegedly killed by tear has asphyxiation and several wounded hiding out in a Khartoum mosque that's currently surrounded by state security, according to Al Jazeera. (Twitter/Moez Ali).
Women clap at a demonstration today in an unknown Sudanese town. Demonstrations earlier this month have mostly consisted of 100 or 200 young men throwing stones and burning tires, but today's protests are reportedly somewhat larger and more representative of society. (AP).
Demonstrators gather around burning tires in Khartoum. State media has been largely silent, with cell phone service down nationwide for several hours today as police cracked down. A Reuters analysis of the movement concluded, "The government, running out of policy options that can both stabilize the economy and soothe discontent over inflation, may have to depend on such security measures to maintain order at least in the short term." (Activists, via AP).
Protesters march toward the city center in Omdurman, across the river from Khartoum. Blogging at Arabist on the Sudanese regime's struggles to keep order at home, challenge the newly independent south, and absorb the staggering economic losses that came when the oil-heavy south seceded, Paul Mutter writes, "None of this month's events this bodes well for the government, especially if violence escalates and it finds itself confronting major demonstrations all over the country." (Twitter/Yousif Elmahdi).
This short and inscrutable video is circulating rapidly on Sudanese social media. Purportedly, it shows an injured protester being carried away after clashes with security forces. With so little information coming out of the country, it's difficult to know for sure what's happening, or what will come next. (Twitter/Kumboya).
Even when a dentist kills an adored lion, and everyone is furious, there’s loftier righteousness to be had.
Now is the point in the story of Cecil the lion—amid non-stop news coverage and passionate social-media advocacy—when people get tired of hearing about Cecil the lion. Even if they hesitate to say it.
But Cecil fatigue is only going to get worse. On Friday morning, Zimbabwe’s environment minister, Oppah Muchinguri, called for the extradition of the man who killed him, the Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer. Muchinguri would like Palmer to be “held accountable for his illegal action”—paying a reported $50,000 to kill Cecil with an arrow after luring him away from protected land. And she’s far from alone in demanding accountability. This week, the Internet has served as a bastion of judgment and vigilante justice—just like usual, except that this was a perfect storm directed at a single person. It might be called an outrage singularity.
The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.
What is the Islamic State?
Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.
The new version of Apple’s signature media software is a mess. What are people with large MP3 libraries to do?
When the developer Erik Kemp designed the first metadata system for MP3s in 1996, he provided only three options for attaching text to the music. Every audio file could be labeled with only an artist, song name, and album title.
Kemp’s system has since been augmented and improved upon, but never replaced. Which makes sense: Like the web itself, his schema was shipped, good enough,and an improvement on the vacuum which preceded it. Those three big tags, as they’re called, work well with pop and rock written between 1960 and 1995. This didn’t prevent rampant mislabeling in the early days of the web, though, as anyone who remembers Napster can tell you. His system stumbles even more, though, when it needs to capture hip hop’s tradition of guest MCs or jazz’s vibrant culture of studio musicianship.
The Vermont senator’s revolutionary zeal has met its moment.
There’s no way this man could be president, right? Just look at him: rumpled and scowling, bald pate topped by an entropic nimbus of white hair. Just listen to him: ranting, in his gravelly Brooklyn accent, about socialism. Socialism!
And yet here we are: In the biggest surprise of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, this thoroughly implausible man, Bernie Sanders, is a sensation.
He is drawing enormous crowds—11,000 in Phoenix, 8,000 in Dallas, 2,500 in Council Bluffs, Iowa—the largest turnout of any candidate from any party in the first-to-vote primary state. He has raised $15 million in mostly small donations, to Hillary Clinton’s $45 million—and unlike her, he did it without holding a single fundraiser. Shocking the political establishment, it is Sanders—not Martin O’Malley, the fresh-faced former two-term governor of Maryland; not Joe Biden, the sitting vice president—to whom discontented Democratic voters looking for an alternative to Clinton have turned.
A controversial treatment shows promise, especially for victims of trauma.
It’s straight out of a cartoon about hypnosis: A black-cloaked charlatan swings a pendulum in front of a patient, who dutifully watches and ping-pongs his eyes in turn. (This might be chased with the intonation, “You are getting sleeeeeepy...”)
Unlike most stereotypical images of mind alteration—“Psychiatric help, 5 cents” anyone?—this one is real. An obscure type of therapy known as EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is gaining ground as a potential treatment for people who have experienced severe forms of trauma.
Here’s the idea: The person is told to focus on the troubling image or negative thought while simultaneously moving his or her eyes back and forth. To prompt this, the therapist might move his fingers from side to side, or he might use a tapping or waving of a wand. The patient is told to let her mind go blank and notice whatever sensations might come to mind. These steps are repeated throughout the session.
Forget credit hours—in a quest to cut costs, universities are simply asking students to prove their mastery of a subject.
MANCHESTER, Mich.—Had Daniella Kippnick followed in the footsteps of the hundreds of millions of students who have earned university degrees in the past millennium, she might be slumping in a lecture hall somewhere while a professor droned. But Kippnick has no course lectures. She has no courses to attend at all. No classroom, no college quad, no grades. Her university has no deadlines or tenure-track professors.
Instead, Kippnick makes her way through different subject matters on the way to a bachelor’s in accounting. When she feels she’s mastered a certain subject, she takes a test at home, where a proctor watches her from afar by monitoring her computer and watching her over a video feed. If she proves she’s competent—by getting the equivalent of a B—she passes and moves on to the next subject.
The authors in the running for Britain's most prestigious literary award come from seven countries and include seven women writers.
The longlist for the Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards, was announced Wednesday. For the second year, the prize was open to writers of any nationality who publish books in English in the U.K., and this year five American writers made the list of 13 contenders, chosen by five judges from a pool of 156 total works.
The U.S. is, in fact, the most well-represented country, with other entrants hailing from Great Britain, Jamaica, New Zealand, Nigeria, Ireland, and India. There are three debut novelists and one former winner on the list, and women writers outnumber men seven to six. From dystopian and political novels to a multitude of iterations on the family drama, the selections capture the ever-changing human experience in very different ways.
An alpenhorn performance in Switzerland, a portrait of Vladimir Putin made of spent ammunition from Ukraine, Prince Charles surprised by an eagle, wildfire in California, a sunset in Crimea, and much more.
An alpenhorn performance in Switzerland, a portrait of Vladimir Putin made of spent ammunition from Ukraine, fireworks in North Korea, Prince Charles surprised by an eagle, wildfire in California, protests in the Philippines and Turkey, a sunset in Crimea, and much more.
On July 16, 1945, the United States Army detonated the world’s first nuclear weapon in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert.
On July 16, 1945, the United States Army detonated the world’s first nuclear weapon in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert. The test, code-named “Trinity,” was a success, unleashing an explosion with the energy of about 20 kilotons of TNT and beginning the nuclear age. Since then, nearly 2,000 nuclear tests have been performed. Most of these took place during the 1960s and 1970s. When the technology was new, tests were frequent and often spectacular, and they led to the development of newer, more deadly weapons. Since the 1990s, there have been efforts to limit the testing of nuclear weapons, including a U.S. moratorium and a U.N. comprehensive test ban treaty. As a result, testing has slowed—though not halted—and there are looming questions about who will take over for those experienced engineers who are now near retirement. Gathered here are images from the first 30 years of nuclear testing. (A version of this article first ran here in 2011.)
A leading neuroscientist who has spent decades studying creativity shares her research on where genius comes from, whether it is dependent on high IQ—and why it is so often accompanied by mental illness.
As a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who studies creativity, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many gifted and high-profile subjects over the years, but Kurt Vonnegut—dear, funny, eccentric, lovable, tormented Kurt Vonnegut—will always be one of my favorites. Kurt was a faculty member at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in the 1960s, and participated in the first big study I did as a member of the university’s psychiatry department. I was examining the anecdotal link between creativity and mental illness, and Kurt was an excellent case study.
He was intermittently depressed, but that was only the beginning. His mother had suffered from depression and committed suicide on Mother’s Day, when Kurt was 21 and home on military leave during World War II. His son, Mark, was originally diagnosed with schizophrenia but may actually have bipolar disorder. (Mark, who is a practicing physician, recounts his experiences in two books, The Eden Express and Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So, in which he reveals that many family members struggled with psychiatric problems. “My mother, my cousins, and my sisters weren’t doing so great,” he writes. “We had eating disorders, co-dependency, outstanding warrants, drug and alcohol problems, dating and employment problems, and other ‘issues.’ ”)


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Commercial Services and Supplies
Company Overview of Woods Cross Holding Corp.
Woods Cross Holding Corp. is a holding company which through its subsidiaries supplies office products and provides business services to corporate customers in North America, New Zealand, and Australia. The company offers stationery supplies, commercial printing solutions, furniture, and vending machines. In addition, it operates book stores, as well as offers postal services. The company was formerly known as BRM Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Woods Cross Holding Corp. in May 2002. Woods Cross Holding Corp. was incorporated in 1994 and is based in Woods Cross, Utah.
1608 West 2225 South
Woods Cross, UT 84087
Founded in 1994
Key Executives for Woods Cross Holding Corp.
Similar Private Companies By Industry
|Vision International, Inc.||United States|
|Butler Woodcrafters, Inc.||United States|
|Waste Management Of Pennsylvania, Inc.||United States|
|BMX Entertainment Corp.||United States|
|Mo-Mex Corporation||United States|
Recent Private Companies Transactions
|No transactions available in the past 12 months.|
To contact Woods Cross Holding Corp., please visit --. Company data is provided by Capital IQ. Please use this form to report any data issues.

domain: economics


ICS Risk Assessment – Protecting Our Critical Infrastructure
- ICS cyber security, ics cybersecurity risk assessment, ics security, ics security assurance, ics security vulnerabilities, risk assessment
As critical infrastructure systems become increasingly digitized, they also become vulnerable to cyber threats. A cyberattack on these systems can have far-reaching consequences, leading to disruptions, economic losses, and potential harm to human life. Therefore, we need some mechanism to provide a proper risk study against the underlying risk potential in our critical infrastructure. An ICS cybersecurity risk assessment is the process of evaluating the security posture of ICS systems, identifying vulnerabilities, and implementing measures to mitigate risks. It serves as a proactive approach to protect critical infrastructure from malicious actors and enhance its resilience.
An ICS (Industrial Control System) risk assessment is important due to the following reasons:
By conducting an ICS risk assessment, we can identify vulnerabilities in our ICS infrastructure. These include potential entry points for cyberattacks, sources of errors, outdated software or hardware, or inadequate security measures. Understanding these vulnerabilities is the first step to reducing risk and strengthening our overall system security posture.
An ICS risk assessment allows us to assess the potential impact of a security breach or system failure on our production operations. By understanding the impact of different scenarios, we can prioritize and allocate resources to protect our critical assets and minimize business disruption. This information is invaluable for making informed risk management and emergency planning decisions.
Compliance and Regulations
Many industries such as energy, manufacturing, and transportation are subject to regulatory requirements and standards related to ICS security. Conducting an ICS risk assessment helps ensure compliance with these regulations and demonstrates due diligence. It also helps identify compliance gaps to take corrective action and avoid any potential legal consequences.
Proactive Risk Management
As the threat landscape evolves, a proactive approach to risk management is essential. Conducting regular ICS risk assessments can help our environment to stay ahead of potential threats and vulnerabilities. By identifying emerging risks and implementing appropriate controls, we can reduce the likelihood of security incidents, minimize the impact of disruptions, and keep people and critical infrastructure safe.
ICS risk assessments help ensure business continuity. By understanding the risks associated with production operations, we can develop robust contingency plans, backup systems, and recovery strategies. This proactive approach helps minimize downtime, maintain operations in the face of adverse events, and protect business continuity.
Demonstrating the commitment to ICS security through regular ICS risk assessments increases stakeholder trust. This includes customers, investors, regulators and partners who trust in the organization’s ability to protect critical infrastructure and maintain operational resilience. A comprehensive risk assessment can help inform our security posture, build trust, and differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
In summary, ICS risk assessment is essential to ensure the safety of production operations. It helps identify vulnerabilities, assess the impact of potential threats, ensure regulatory compliance, enable proactive risk management, maintain business continuity, and build stakeholder trust. By understanding and mitigating risks, organizations can protect critical infrastructure, protect employees, and maintain operational resilience in an increasingly connected and threat-prone environment.


Darren Hauck/Getty Images
News about Neil Young, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
Chronology of Coverage
Nov. 4, 2014
Jon Pareles reviews album by Neil Young; Stephen Holden reviews album by Bette Midler; Nate Chinen reviews album by Miguel Zenon. MORE
Jan. 8, 2014
Nate Chinen reviews performance by singer Neil Young at Carnegie Hall. MORE
Dec. 8, 2013
Nate Chinen reviews new music releases, including Paris 1969 from Thelonious Monk, Neil Young's Live at the Cellar Door, Mastodon's Live at Brixton, Xiu Xiu's Nina and Thanks from Shelby Lynne. MORE
Dec. 5, 2012
Ben Ratliff reviews performance by Neil Young at Barclays Center. MORE
Oct. 30, 2012
Jon Pareles reviews new album by veteran rocker Neil Young and band Crazy Horse; Jon Caramanica reviews latest record by country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith; Ben Ratliff reviews current album by jazz pianist David Virelles. MORE
Oct. 29, 2012
Janet Maslin reviews book Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream by Neil Young. MORE
Oct. 28, 2012
Howard Hampton reviews book Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream by Neil Young. MORE
Oct. 1, 2012
Jon Pareles reviews performances by several rock bands, including Neil Young as headliner, at the Global Citizen Festival, benefit concert at Central Park sponsored by the Global Poverty Project. MORE
Sep. 23, 2012
Neil Young's autobiography Waging Heavy Peace eschews chronology and skips the score-settling and titillation of other rocker biographies; Young expresses little regret for the way he has lead his life. MORE
Jul. 1, 2012
Jon Pareles reviews new albums by rapper El-P, country singer Brandi Carlile, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Smashing Pumpkins and indie rock band Starring. MORE
Apr. 26, 2011
Ben Ratliff reviews solo performance by rocker Neil Young at Avery Fisher Hall. MORE
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Highlights From the Archive
‘The straighter I am, the more alert I am, the less I know myself.’September 23, 2012 magazineNews
Pop and jazz critics of The New York Times recall some of this year’s standout performances.
December 30, 2014, Tuesday
New books by Joe Perry, George Clinton, Viv Albertine, Billy Idol and other music stars.
December 7, 2014, Sunday
Neil Young, Bette Midler and Miguel Zenón have all released new music.
November 4, 2014, Tuesday
With a coalition of farmers, ranchers, Native Americans and urban environmentalists, the state has become the center of opposition to the project.
September 30, 2014, Tuesday
Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse canceled a concert scheduled for Tel Aviv this week, as hostilities continue between Israel and Hamas.
July 13, 2014, Sunday
Music Vault’s YouTube Page offers 13,000 performance clips, estimated to be roughly 2,000 hours of music.
July 8, 2014, Tuesday
Billy Talbot, who has played with Mr. Young since the 1960s, is recovering from a stroke and will be replaced by Rick Rosas.
June 30, 2014, Monday
PonoMusic, the high-definition digital audio business from Neil Young, found lots of online backers on Kickstarter.
April 15, 2014, Tuesday
Long a critic of digital music formats, Mr. Young has developed PonoMusic in a collaboration with Ayre Acoustics.
March 10, 2014, Monday
On “Post Tropical,” the Irish singer-songwriter throws out his acoustic sound in favor of hip-hop beats and ’90s soul. Here, he takes T on an audio tour of the making of his album.


text:
Search SAMHSA Publications and Digital Products
Store Facets Summary
- Clear all filters
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Main page content
Published: August 2018
This quick guide contains an overview of the challenges associated with tobacco cessation and the benefits of being tobacco-free for individuals as well as those of a smoke-free workplace. It also includes tips that substance use disorder treatment settings can use to implement their own tobacco cessation programs.
Matrix Intensive Outpatient Treatment for People with Stimulant Use Disorders: Counselor's Family Education Manual w/CD
Published: January 2015
This comprehensive kit provides substance use disorder treatment professionals with a year-long intensive outpatient treatment model. Professionals can use this model when treating clients who are dependent on stimulant drugs, such as methamphetamine and cocaine. Access family education sessions and handouts.
Published: October 2015
This manual provides guidance for substance use disorder treatment clinicians and case workers on how to assist offenders in the transition from the criminal justice system to life after release. It discusses assessment, transition plans, important services, special populations, and confidentiality.

domain: psychology


Stay dry on the course in these Callaway waterproof golf pants. Three layers provide a breathable feel and keep water out completely so you always remain dry. UPF 50 protection blocks out the sun's harmful rays. The Swing-Tech design provides an exceptional range of motion..
- 100% Polyester
- Inseam: 2RG = 31 inches , 1SH = 29 inches
- Single Knit Fabrication
- Weather Series™
- Machine Wash


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What a weekend we had!!!
Friday it rained and rained and rained!!
We had more rain than the last big rain.
Last time we had 104mm and this time we had
108mm. That's about 4 inches!!!!!!
See the puddles it left in the driveway
This puddle is in the front yard!
When the rain stopped, Mom took
pictures of the river by our house.
It was moving very fast and Mom
said the levels were really high!!!
This river is moving toward Lake Echo.
The water is pretty high and close
to our neighbour's grass!!!
Good thing it stopped raining.
The puddles in our yard are gone now.
I am glad I am not near that water!!!
I think my box is safer and
way more comfy, heehee
Want to see a few more pics?
Pop over to House Panthers
and Tillie will show you.

domain: geography


text:
Immediate and all-day pain relief of Osteo-arthritis pain of the knee, foot, or hip.
ē Shock Guard - absorbs shock to reduce stress with every step you take
ē Stabilizing design - stabilizes the foot so joints are not aggravated
ē Clinically proven to relieve osteoarthritis pain
ē Orthopedist tested
ē 3/4 length design prevents toes from crowding
ē For casual shoes, dress shoes, and sneakers

domain: medical


April 2, 2007
Ithaca, NY - In a makeup of a game postponed by rain on Sunday, the Brown baseball team (7-13, 2-2 Ivy League) dropped its second game in as many days to Cornell (9-11, 3-1), 5-4, on Monday at Hoy Field. Although they were able to cut into the lead every time the Big Red scored, the Bears stranded tying runs on third base three times in the loss.
Junior Alex Silverman (Wilmington, NC) got the start for the Bears, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits and one walk, striking out four. Freshman Matt Boylan (Danvers, MA) gave up the fifth run, and was followed by junior Peter Moskal (Glastonbury, CT), who got a fly out to end a rally in the sixth before allowing two baserunners in the seventh. Junior closer Rob Hallberg (River Edge, NJ) entered in the seventh with runners on second and third with no outs and was dominant, striking out four of the seven batters he faced, allowing one walk and no runs.
Junior Jeff Dietz (Altamonte Springs, FL) had his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a hit-by-pitch. He was one of seven Bears with an extra-base hit, as junior Brian Kelaher (Farmington, CT) had a pinch-hit triple and Dietz, junior J.J. Eno (Kahului, HI), and sophomores Steve Daniels (Fox Point, WI), Matt Nuzzo (Everett, MA), Dan Shapiro (Basking Ridge, NJ), and Robert Papenhause (Hillsborough, CA) all roped doubles.
The Bears opened the game by jumping out to a 1-0 lead. Daniels led off with a double down the left field line. During Eno's at-bat, he advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by the Cornell catcher. However, the Big Red got a pair of unearned runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, as a fielding error by second baseman Bryan Tews (Park Ridge, IL) prolonged the inning, and a steal, a single and a triple got two runs in.
The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when Cornell got a run to double its lead. In the meantime, the Bears had stranded a pair of runners at third. In the fourth, Dietz doubled with one out and advanced to third on a balk, and in the fifth, Shapiro doubled to lead off and moved to third on a ground out for the second out of the inning, but neither scored.
In the sixth, Brown finally cashed in an early baserunner. Eno doubled to lead off, advancing to third when senior catcher Devin Thomas (Gainesville, FL) flew out to center during the next at-bat. Dietz brought him in with a single to cut the lead to one.
Cornell got a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, as Boylan gave up a two-RBI triple, but again Brown rallied to cut the lead to one. Senior Adjatay Nyadjroh (Somerville, MA) led off with a pinch-hit walk, then scored on Papenhause's double, although the sophomore was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Kelaher pinch hit next, roping a triple to center, scoring two batters later when freshman Chris Tanabe (Jupiter, FL) pinch hit for Eno and singled to center.
Despite Hallberg's domination of the Cornell lineup the next two innings, the Bears could not score the tying run. In the eighth, Nuzzo doubled with one out, and pinch runner Ryan Murphy (Mantoloking, NJ) moved over to third on a wild pitch. However, a strikeout and groundout ended the threat.
The Bears will play a doubleheader against intra-state rival URI on Wednesday in Kingston at 2 p.m., then play their first home games this weekend with doubleheaders against Columbia and Penn on Saturday and Sunday. Both sets start at noon.


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Days after a massive cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Republican US senate candidate Larry Hogan called for the federal government to foot the bill for the bridge’s reconstruction. Hogan’s demand follows his efforts as Maryland’s governor to attract such outsize cargo vessels to Baltimore’s port in the first place — despite safety warnings from an insurance giant and transportation experts.
Regardless of those concerns, Hogan’s gubernatorial administration pledged that bringing ever-larger cargo ships to Baltimore would strengthen the economy — and even improve safety.
His administration’s major public-private partnership to attract such megaships promised that it “reduces the occurrences of crashes, fatalities and injuries among transportation users.”
As the insurance conglomerate Allianz was spotlighting the dangers of large cargo ships, Hogan positioned himself as his state’s highest-profile supporter of the megaship industry — at one point declaring that thanks to his administration’s investments, “every year we are seeing larger and larger container ships choosing the Port of Baltimore.”
During the Republican governor’s tenure, megaship traffic in Baltimore exploded, transporting record amounts of cargo through the port worth billions of dollars. But as the port expanded with Hogan’s support, experts say the Key Bridge, as it was commonly known, may not have been fortified for the possibility of a collision with such large ships — even though a cargo vessel had already crashed into the bridge a few decades earlier, when ships were smaller.
Hogan, who is now running for one of Maryland’s US senate seats, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Expansion Amid Warnings
In 2015, two institutions sounded alarms about the push for ever-larger cargo ships.
“Ship size growth raises risk management concerns,” warned a report that year from insurance giant Allianz. “Larger ships could also mean larger losses. . . . Maximum exposure will not necessarily be limited to vessel and cargo value but could also include environmental, social or business interruption backlash.”
In a report published that same year by the International Transport Forum, a consortium of sixty-six governments, researchers wrote, “The costs to salvage hulls of [the] largest existing containerships in case of accident will increase because of the lack of salvage equipment and technology capable of removing a wreck of this size.”
The International Transit Forum report explicitly warned cities against using public money to retrofit ports to encourage larger ships.
“In the case of megaships, this situation risks [leading] to situations where the public sector picks up the bill of costs imposed by shipping lines,” the report said. “Especially where ports are engaged in fierce competition to attract megaships, port authorities might be tempted [to] use public funds to attract these. . . . There is no inherent public interest in stimulating megaships, so there is no reason why public funds should be used to favour mega-container ships.”
Nonetheless, in 2017, Hogan’s port officials, who manage operations and strategic planning for the Baltimore port, purchased additional land to build infrastructure to attract ever-larger cargo vessels. At the time, Baltimore’s port on the Chesapeake Bay was one of the busiest in the nation and just one of four on the East Coast that could handle these megaships.
The following year, the Maryland Port Administration requested millions of dollars of federal funds to accommodate the “ever-increasing size of container ships.”
The proposal specifically touted the port’s additional safety enhancements, asserting that it “improves navigational safety, thereby reducing the potential for release of hazardous materials into the nation’s waterways.”
Hogan, first elected governor in 2014, reportedly had an active role in championing the expansion.
Maryland Port Administration executive director James White, who oversaw large parts of the port’s expansion during his eighteen-year tenure, emphasized Hogan’s support for the project in a 2019 statement. “Governor Hogan’s support for the Port of Baltimore from day one has set the course for the future of the port from the Howard Street Tunnel to key infrastructure investments,” noted White.
In 2020, Hogan appointed William P. Doyle, previously the CEO of the industry group Dredging Contractors of America, to lead the Port Administration. Doyle was also appointed to be a sitting member of the federal Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee, which helps shape national shipping policy, by US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg in November 2022.
The Hogan administration’s 2018 port-expansion application included implementing safety requirements for dredging the channel, widening the space needed for these boats’ turning radius, and fortifying the wharf structure, among other considerations. But it did not make any adjustments or designate protections for the nearby Key Bridge, which the ultra-large crafts would be traveling under.
Meanwhile, the port administration said the project had “few and well-mitigated risks.”
“While approach channels to existing ports have been dredged deeper and berths and wharfs extended to accommodate ultra large vessels, the overall size of existing ports has remained the same,” wrote one of the insurance company’s senior marine risk consultants. “As a result, ‘a miss’ can turn into ‘a hit’ more often for the ultra large container vessels.”
A Previous Collision
Maryland officials pushing the port expansion offered safety reassurances despite engineers and marine experts previously expressing concerns about the safety of the Key Bridge, which was completed in 1977 and was at the minimum height needed to accommodate such ships.
“Extra capacity and safety tends to be needed all the more when the bridge is older,” researchers wrote in the International Transport Forum report, recommending bridge updates in busy port areas.
“The preferred method for building bridges today is that there is redundancy built in,” Jennifer Homendy, chair of National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the recent crash, told the Washington Post following the Key Bridge’s collapse on March 26. “This bridge did not have redundancy.”
In 1980, when a ship collided with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, killing thirty-five people, a top state engineer said the Key Bridge could not withstand a similar crash. “I’m talking about the main supports, a direct hit — it would knock it down,” the official reportedly told the Baltimore Sun.
In the last decade, officials managing the Port of New York and New Jersey raised the nearby Bayonne Bridge to accommodate megaships traveling through the New York harbor. Federal, state, and local governments also invested more than $1.5 billion into replacing the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach, California, with a taller bridge that could accommodate larger vessels.
Despite the lack of such upgrades to the Key Bridge, in December 2018, Hogan announced that the state had been awarded the $6 million–plus in federal funding to expand Baltimore’s port. Less than a year later, the port welcomed its largest-ever ship, the Triton, at 1,210 feet long — longer than three football fields. That record was eclipsed in 2023 with the arrival of Ever Max, which holds one thousand more containers than the Triton.
“Thanks to Maryland’s investment in a 50-foot berth, every year we are seeing larger and larger container ships choosing the Port of Baltimore,” Hogan said in May 2019.
Yet the Key Bridge barely allowed for the arrival of new, larger cargo cranes for Baltimore’s expanded port. Maryland’s then transportation secretary Greg Slater boasted in a 2019 blog post about shutting down the bridge to allow “four new, massive Neo-Panamax container cranes . . . [to] pass beneath the Key bridge with just 3 feet of clearance.”
Since 1968, container ships like the one that hit the Baltimore bridge have increased their carrying capacity by almost 1,500 percent, according to a fifty-year analysis by the business insurance company Allianz. These megaships are attractive to shipping companies because they’re more profitable: the larger the ship, the more goods it can transport while requiring less fuel per container.
The push to modernize and expand Baltimore’s port’s infrastructure was part of a race among East Coast cities to accommodate these megaships and the economic activity they would bring, once the Panama Canal completed its 2015 overhaul to allow for supersized cargo ships. In early 2012, Baltimore was already competing with other cities to expand its port infrastructure, installing enormous cranes and dredging its harbor.
But as the boats got bigger, so did the risks. In 2022, the Ever Forward — owned by the same Hong Kong–flagged company that grounded a different ship in the Suez Canal in 2020, an accident that is estimated to have cost the global economy up to $60 billion in delayed cargo — was grounded in the Chesapeake Bay for over a month.
The Chesapeake Bay features a characteristically shallow ecosystem, further exaggerating the risks of these megaships. Consequently, Maryland’s port administration and the US Army Corps of Engineers have to dredge 4.5 million tons of sediment from the port’s channel each year to keep ships from beaching.
Baltimore’s port expansion faced other objections. Environmental justice advocates had long sounded the alarm over the ship exhaust and toxic dust being generated by the second-largest coal-exporting port in the nation, and suggested that the expansion would open the door to greater hazards for portside communities in South Baltimore that have long faced environmental injustices.
Other advocates voiced concern about making the port a hub for liquefied natural gas exports, which emit more greenhouse gasses than coal when exported, as well as the ecological impacts of intensified dredging in the area.
But Hogan, a pro-business Republican who said the port project fit the state’s “Open for Business” agenda, has largely championed the industries and businesses that rely on the supersized ships. In doing so, he echoed the Baltimore business groups that pushed for the port expansion. Business sectors like construction and natural resource extraction, which heavily rely on the port, have been some of Hogan’s largest campaign donors.
Hogan recently stepped down from his position as honorary chairman of the new No Labels party, a moderate party aligned with secretive corporate interests, while launching his own bid for a Maryland senate seat.


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A well groomed pet is a happy, healthy pet!
Frequent visits to your pet stylist aren’t always possible, and can get costly! Bring the equipment into your home, turn your room into a mini grooming salon and achieve the same professional results. Now feel like a pro in the privacy of your own home!
The designers have created a durable grinder head made from Carbide Stone, powerful yet gentle enough to remove thin layers from your pals nails leaving them soft, smooth and rounded. A low noise and low vibration motor for a more zen experience. Completely safe and easy to use, your fluff ball will appreciate the gentle nature compared to traditional clippers.
We recommend using clippers for longer nails and larger dogs first and then using trimmers for regular maintenance.
Nail care is one of the most important things you can do for your pal. They require regular clipping and grinding, however many dog parents are afraid to injure their pets. It is important to be aware that ignoring nail care is just as harmful.
An awesome gift for all dog lovers, so share the love with family & friends!
Keep your furry friend happy, healthy & hygienic. Products created by designers who love their dogs!
NOTE: If you have any questions regarding our products, feel free to contact us at Happy Paws. We are happy to help!
Celebrate the love, joy & happiness with your furry friends!
Subscribe to our value packed newsletter!
Each week you will be among the first to hear about our free weekly giveaways and special offers! ❤

domain: pet


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The EU has entered a very dark period. The Brexit in June 2016 and the rise of populism in many countries across Europe are putting at risk the European project. There is a growing lack of trust and understanding among people about the EU and therefore, an urgent need to address this issue and to foster public understanding and support for the EU. The Global Compass has been tasked by the Hippocrène Foundation to make an assessment of the way information about the EU is spread to the public and to come up with recommendations aimed at building public understanding and support for the European project. The project is due to be released in January 2017 and will be discussed with policy makers, EU Institutions, Government, business leaders and medias.
About Jean-Christophe Bas
Jean-Christophe Bas - Founder of the Global Compass
Previous United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Global Summit in Baku (Azerbaijan) : The Global Compass organized a business symposium on the Role of the private sector in promoting Inclusive Societies

domain: sociology


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Betting On Our Future (BOOF)
The California Friday Night Live Partnership, with funding from the California Office of Problem Gambling, has provided funding to 30 sites across California to create multimedia awareness campaigns as part of the 2017-18 Betting On Our Future Project. Be on the lookout for this year’s youth led, youth-driven, youth-created problem gambling prevention & treatment projects!
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Betting on Our Future (BOOF) is a youth-driven problem gambling awareness campaign supported by the California Friday Night Live Partnership through a grant from the California Office of Problem Gambling.
The Betting on Our Future media campaign is intended to empower young people to raise awareness of problem gambling and cause change in their communities. Students are responsible for scripting, coordinating, and producing live dramatic performances, video projects, and public service announcements to communicate the risks and signs of problem gambling among youth. Young people also have the opportunity to create gambling themed artwork to be used in printed publications for parents and other concerned adults to inform them of the warning signs of problem gambling and the resources available to help their families.
Current research shows that parents, educators, and other adults should consider the potential pitfalls of problem gambling among young people. For instance, teen problem gamblers tend to have higher rates of:
- Crime (theft, robbery, embezzlement).
- School problems (e.g., lower grades, truancy, behavior issues).
- Family problems (e.g., withdrawal, behavior issues).
- Peer relationship problems.
- Legal and money troubles.
- Suicidal thoughts and/or attempts.
- Dissociative, “escape” behaviors.
- Risk for co-occurring addiction(s), including alcohol & substance abuse.
Seeking to obtain youth voice on the emerging issue of problem gambling, California Friday Night Live Partnership (CFNLP) along with the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), engaged youth in focus group discussions regarding their perceptions of problem gambling and its prevalence in their communities. The focus groups found that gambling behavior is common among youth, takes on many forms, and occurs in many places. Participants report that youth gambling is subject to a variety of influences, such as boredom, peer pressure, media exposure, and the thrill of winning money. Most participants seemed to feel that youth are not capable of gambling responsibly and are more likely to develop problems as a result.
The main objective of Betting on Our Future is to empower youth to be advocates of change by raising awareness not only about the risks of problem gambling but also by informing others about existing resources.
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Book early for the best bargains on cheap holidays, advises Freedom Direct
September 13, 2007 (PRLEAP.COM) Travel NewsConsumers are largely unaware of the way the travel industry sets costs for flights and accommodation. If they realised that flights are often cheaper close to the time they are first scheduled, customers would really benefit by being able to book real bargain holidays.
The strong message to holidaymakers looking to book cheap flights and find bargain holidays is to book as early as possible.
Nick Jackson of Freedom Direct says: “The last minute holiday booking culture has become popular for a good reason – there are a lot of great last minute holiday deals available from Freedom Direct and other travel websites.
“But the very best way to book a cheap holiday is to book as early as possible.”
Top tips from Freedom Direct for booking a cheap holiday:
1.Pick some approximate holiday dates well in advance, long before you decide where to go.
2.Make a list of the places you want to visit alongside your priorities. What is most important to you? Hot weather, beach near to your hotel, facilities for children, or maybe the nightlife and culture?
3.Research the places on your initial list by consulting destination guides. Freedom Direct has guides to its most popular holiday destinations, which can be accessed from the home page at www.freedomdirect.co.uk
4.Research and compare prices for your flights and accommodation as early as possible. Flight schedules and prices for the start of the summer holiday season (which starts in May) are made available at least three months ahead.
5.Look at the prices of flights seven days either way of your ideal departure date.
6.Consider flying early in the morning or last thing at night as these flights are cheaper.
7.By researching accommodation early on you will have the pick of rooms on offer. Remember, hotels closest to beaches and attractions get booked up the quickest.
8.The best value holiday hotspot in 2007 was Spain. There’s a huge range of cheap holidays to choose from in Spain with a lot of bargain self-catering apartments that are great for cheap family holidays.
9.It’s more than possible to enjoy cheap holidays in more exotic locations – Tunisia is renowned for providing a wide choice of 5* hotels, at 3* prices.
10.Book your holiday through a reputable, ABTA-affiliated holiday agency, such as Freedom Direct.
About Freedom Direct
Freedom Direct is in its tenth year selling holidays online. Customers can search flights, hotels and other accommodation on www.freedomdirect.co.uk , either together or separately for the most popular holiday destinations.
Freedom Direct Ltd is a fully bonded member of ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents), and act as a booking agent on behalf of a number of approved suppliers of holiday accommodation, flights and ancillary products.
As well as the online booking service, the Freedom Direct Ltd holiday booking experts are available to advise by phone on 0800 109 9246 Monday to Sunday, 9am to 11pm.
The Freedom Direct website www.freedomdirect.co.uk also features resort information, details of available excursions and other useful advice for holidaymakers.


GW Squash's Anna Porras Competing at World Team Championships for Native Colombia
Nov. 12, 2012
WASHINGTON - George Washington women's squash freshman Anna Gabriela Porras is competing for her native Colombia at the World Squash Federation's Women's World Team Championships, Nov. 12-17 in Nimes, France.
The top-rated recruit in program history, Porras is returning to the international stage after competing in the World Junior Championships this past summer. This time, she is competing as a member of Colombia's National Team.
Colombia opened pool play against Hong Kong on Monday, falling 3-0. Porras, playing at No. 4, fell in her match 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 to Tong Tsz-Wing. Colombia will also face Nambia and the Czech Republic in the opening round.
No stranger to international competition, Porras competed at the World Junior Championships last summer and was the 2012 Gold Medal winner at the South American Junior Championships. She played scholastically at The English School in Bogota, Colombia, where she was voted the Best Colombian Junior three times.
Porras contributed an 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 victory at the No. 1 position in GW's season-opening win over Georgetown on November 3.


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Sarah Nightingale , UC Riverside
A new analysis of recently available U.S. Census data finds that ownership, revenues, and hiring are growing significantly faster among businesses owned by blacks than they are among ‘total’ businesses in the United States, California, and the Inland Southern California region. Equally impressive, in Inland Southern California, the share of black-owned businesses is converging closer to, and even outstripping, the share of all blacks employed in the region.
The study, released today by the UC Riverside School of Business Administration Center for Economic Forecasting and Development, examines data from the U.S Census Bureau’s newest Survey of Business Owners, which is published once every five years and provides the most current snapshot of the nation’s proprietors. The most recent Survey includes data on business owners through 2012 and was released this past December.
The analysis finds that from 2007 to 2012, the number of black-owned businesses grew 40.4 percent in the U.S., 32.3 percent in California, and 24.3 percent in Inland Southern California. This compares to 3.4 percent, 5 percent, and 8 percent growth among total businesses in the three geographies, respectively.
“Strong growth in the number of businesses owned by African Americans occurred between 2007 and 2012, a period that included the Great Recession,” said Robert Kleinhenz, executive director of research at the Center for Economic Forecasting and Development and one of the report’s lead authors. “Given today’s stronger economic conditions, there is little reason to believe the expansion won’t continue.”
The growth in Inland Southern California means that the number of black business owners is very much in step with the total number of blacks employed in the local workforce (7.3 percent vs 6.3 percent), Aligning ownership shares with the share of employees is an important measure of socio-economic advancement.
Jobs at black-owned businesses rose nearly 25 percent
Moreover, in almost every case, black-owned businesses are outpacing total businesses in revenue and hiring growth. From 2007 to 2012, revenue growth soared by 50.4 percent among black-owned businesses in Inland Southern California and jumped significantly at black-owned businesses at the national level (17.4 percent). In California as a whole, however, revenues at these businesses fell by 19.9 percent. Across total businesses during this time, revenues grew by 9.1 percent in Inland Southern California, 8.2 percent in California, and 9.3 percent in the United States.
Hiring saw an even starker contrast with employment growing at black-owned businesses and shrinking at total businesses in all three locations. Jobs at black-owned businesses escalated by 24.3 percent in the region, 11.9 percent in California, and 10.6 percent in the nation. At the same time employment declined among total business’s in all three locations (-5.6 percent, -5.4 percent, and -1 percent).
Despite the growth, black-owned businesses lag in terms of their share of the total revenue and employment pie. Black-owned businesses make up 7.3 percent of all Inland Southern California businesses but account for just 1.4 percent of total revenues and employ only 1.9 percent of the local workforce. In California, black-owned businesses comprise 4.8 percent of all businesses but only generate 0.9 percent of all revenues and employ just 1.4 percent of the state’s workforce; in the nation they make up 9.1 percent of all U.S. businesses, but generate 1.2 percent of total national revenues and employ 1.7 percent of the nation’s employed workforce.
So while the growth is positive, said Kleinhenz, black-owned businesses continue to have lower reveunes and employ fewer people. “It would be ideal to see more of a balance between the share of ownership and the share of revenue and employment,” he said. “But, some of these disparities may be related to the early stage of development of so many minority-owned businesses. The situation should improve as these businesses mature.”
The Center for Economic Forecasting and Development is releasing a series of reports exploring minority business ownership in Inland Southern California and beyond. A copy of the current report, Minority Business Ownership in Inland Southern California: Changes and Trends, Black-Owned is available for download. The first reports, on Women-owned and Hispanic-owned businesses, were released March 17 and April 13.


A former in-home caregiver has been charged with first-degree manslaughter for allegedly causing the death of a disabled Vancouver woman by withholding medical treatment, prosecutors said.
Karin M. Depee, 61, was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection to the June 23 death of 39-year-old Rachelle Beverly Law. The arrest warrant also charges Depee with first-degree criminal mistreatment.
She was arrested in Beaverton, Ore., where she’s currently living, and booked in the Washington County Jail, said Vancouver police Sgt. Scott Creager. It’s uncertain when she will appear in Clark County Superior Court, as she first has to be extradited.
Depee’s arrest followed a six-month investigation by Vancouver police into the circumstances that led to Law’s death.
According to charging documents, Law met Depee through the Special Olympics program and moved into Depee’s Vancouver apartment in February. Law was developmentally delayed and needed help managing her diabetes.
Depee was paid living expenses by Law’s family. However, she’s not a licensed medical provider.
On June 21, Law, after several days of being sick, was admitted to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. A doctor told Law’s mother that the woman had aspirated vomit and now had pneumonia. Law also had bruises on her upper arms, consistent with being grabbed by the arm, according to court documents. She also suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis, or a life-threatening complication of diabetes resulting from a shortage of insulin.
Vancouver police detectives discovered Depee had alerted Law’s mother four days prior that Law was continually vomiting. Prompted to call 911 by Law’s mother, Depee declined because she said Law was not listed on her lease and she didn’t want to get evicted, according to charging papers.
Law’s mother called 911 and Law was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. Doctors said in addition to Law’s pneumonia, her glucose level, 597, was nearly six times higher than the normal range and her low potassium level could have led to a heart attack, according to court documents.
Law’s mother told investigators she had warned Depee to ensure she injected Law with the correct amount of insulin. However, police found two metered glucose tests performed the month before: Law’s glucose level was well above average, according to charging papers.
Law was taken off life support on June 23. Clark County Medical Examiner Dennis Wickham concluded her cause of death was pneumonia and reportedly determined it was a homicide “based on the deliberate act of not providing medical treatment,” according to court documents.
First-degree manslaughter, a Class A felony, is defined as recklessly causing the death of another person.
Laura McVicker: www.twitter.com/col_courts; www.facebook.com/reportermcvicker; firstname.lastname@example.org; 360-735-4516.


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Contemporary Music & Technology Program Opens Doors to Africa
A blossoming relationship between the Selkirk College Contemporary Music & Technology Program and Rwanda’s Nyundo School of Music has been formalized.
Earlier this spring, music program instructor Gilles Parenteau and three Selkirk College students traveled to the African nation to repay a visit that took place this past September when a group from Nyundo spent a few days at Nelson’s Tenth Street Campus. During their two weeks in abroad, Parenteau signed an agreement on behalf of Selkirk College with Rwanda’s Ministry of Education aimed at promoting student and staff exchange, expertise on areas such as on-line training, joint field studies, internships, cultural tours and more.
Selkirk College Contemporary Music & Technology Program instructor Gilles Parenteau and students Amanda Jane Cawley, Blake Unruh and Mitchell Hahn with their Nyundo School of Music peers during a visit to Rwanda this past March. The two music schools have signed an agreement that will see the relationship grow in many ways over the coming years.
“It started back in September with everyone taking a little bit of a leap-of-faith… which I’m so glad we did,” says Parenteau.
The Nyundo School of Music is part of Rwanda’s Ecole des Arts and was established in 2014 by the government to encourage confidence, musical expression, professional development, existing traditions and musical instruments, and transferable skills in all aspects of the Rwandan music industry.
The school is under the direction of Canadian musician Mighty Popo. A Rwandan/Burundian refugee who survived the horrors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Popo’s family fled to Canada where he eventually established himself as one of the country’s leading world music performers. He won a 2005 Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year as part of a project called “The African Guitar Summit.”
Mighty Popo and 10 of his students came to Canada in September and one of the stops was Nelson where strong bonds were developed with both students and faculty. A pair of concerts that brought together students and faculty from both schools raised money for advancing the exchange. The trip to Rwanda by the Selkirk College contingent was the next step.
Read the entire story at selkirk.ca.

domain: news


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H.B. 228: Veto override is start of push to protect Ohioans' Second Amendment rights
The recent battle over House Bill 228 proves that power and money don't always win when it comes to Ohio law. But it also proves that the fight never ends when it comes to protecting Ohioans' Constitutional rights.
The Ohio General Assembly showed true grit in returning during Christmas break to override Gov. John Kasich's veto, but it took removing "duty to retreat" and other provisions to get it done.
"The key with H.B. 228 was that it shifted the burden of proof to the prosecution," said Dean Rieck, executive director of the Buckeye Firearms Association. "The 'duty to retreat' provision often is misunderstood. Even still, we're not settling. A new slate of lawmakers and a new governor will start this month, and we'll continue fighting to protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Expect 'duty to retreat' to be part of that effort."
As for H.B. 228, Kasich used the full power of his office to kill the bill that sought to update Ohio gun laws. Not only did he vow to veto it, representatives from his office also worked with legislators to introduce poison-pill amendments and strip away Republican support.
When the act came to his desk, he held it until the very last day of the 10-day veto window, hoping that legislators would go home for the Christmas holiday and be unavailable for a vote to override.
However, with gun owners across the state delivering thousands of emails and phone calls in support of the bill, House members voted 67 to 22 to override the veto. Senators likewise overrode the veto, in a 21 to 11 vote.
The Governor wasn't the only one working against the bill. Gun control groups from outside Ohio, including Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety, funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, descended on the Statehouse to convince lawmakers that H.B. 228 would "make murder legal" and cause a wave of violent crime and racist violence across the state.
Other opponents included the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, State Highway Patrol, Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, CAIR-Columbus, Ohio Conference of NAACP, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, Columbus City Attorney’s Office, Amnesty International USA, Cleveland City Council, League of Women Voters of Ohio, Corporation for Supportive Housing, ACLU of Ohio, National Council of Jewish Women, Catholic Conference of Ohio Ohio Municipal League, and many more.
"In the end, gun owners won and did so without big power or big money to back them up," said Dean Rieck, Executive Director of Buckeye Firearms Association, a nonprofit, grassroots organization that advocates for Second Amendment rights.
"Despite the apocalyptic and insulting predictions from gun control advocates, H.B. 228 sought simple, logical changes that most people find reasonable. I have to wonder if opponents even read the bill before deciding to oppose it," Rieck continued.
While the widely misunderstood "duty to retreat" provision was stripped from the bill in the Senate, the provisions in the final version of the bill included common sense concepts, such as:
- Shifting the burden of proof to the prosecutor in matters of self-defense. Ohio is the only state in the U.S. that makes gun owners "guilty until proven innocent" when they defend themselves with a firearm. H.B. 228 brings Ohio into line with all 49 other states and preserves the core doctrine that every citizen should be innocent until proven guilty of a crime.
- Strengthening "preemption" provisions in Ohio law that prevent local governments from passing their own gun laws. This prevents a confusing patchwork of municipal ordinances around the state where you could literally be a law-abiding citizen in one city and instantly become a criminal if you drive into another city.
- Eliminating the requirement to post no-gun signs in locations which have authorized the carrying of firearms. Such Illogical and confusing requirements have no place ion Ohio law. Property owners should be able to decide for themselves whether they allow firearms and whether they post no-gun signs.
- Putting teeth into the law so that authorities can prosecute criminals who make "straw" purchases for felons. Why would anyone oppose giving prosecutors the tools they need to enforce the law and punish those who furnish firearms to individuals who are legally ineligible to possess them?
"It's frustrating to hear people talk about the powerful and rich 'gun lobby' in Ohio," says Rieck.
"People like Michael Bloomberg are literally pouring millions of dollars a year into big national groups like Everytown to come into Ohio from the outside to oppose our bills, organize gun control advocates, and furnish attorneys to fight legal battles against us.
"Who is the gun lobby in Ohio? That's us. We're real grassroots. We don't have millions of dollars. All we have is 4 million gun owners who want their voices heard. They want to be left alone to enjoy their Constitutional rights as law-abiding American Citizens.
"We won a stunning victory with H.B. 228. Not because of power or money. The other guys have all of that. We won because we're right and because we reminded legislators that they represent us. And sometimes, legislators do the right thing for the right reason."

domain: politics


These posts have the purpose to raise interest and awareness for these artists. They are in 256 kbps which is not CD quality.
I encourage everyone to buy the CDs if you like what you hear.
Oct 1, 2008
Mahler - Solti - Symphony no. 8
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 8 in E flat major "Symphony of a Thousand"
Heather Harper, soprano I - Lucia Popp, soprano II Arleen Auger, soprano III - Yvonne Minton, contralto I Helen Watts, contralto II - René Kollo, tenor John Shirley-Quirk, baritone - Martti Talvela, bass
Wiener Staatsopernchor - Wiener Singverein - Wiener Sangerknaben Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Géorg Solti, conductor Download here


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Sunday, August 20, 2017, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Come one, Come ALL to our 2nd Annual Fall Kick-Off Pool Party FOR THE ENTIRE PARISH! This is a great way to kick off the fall season, reconnect with friends you've missed over the summer, meet new friends, and celebrate what it means to be a Palmer! Come out and join the fun on Sunday, August 27th, from 7:30-9:00 p.m. at the Colonial Park Pool in West University - 4130 Byron Street 77005. Children, youth, and adults of ALL ages are invited! Please bring a plate of goodies to share! There will be lots of food, fun, and fellowship! Palmer will provide nonalcoholic beverages but you are invited to BYOB if you would like.

domain: entertainment


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Campbell's Goldfish Pepperidge Farm Cheese Flavor Bulk 31 Oz. 6-31 OUNCECheddar Cheese Tiny Goldfish Crackers are one of America's favorite bar top snacks.
The unique, trademarked shape is exclusive to Pepperidge Farm.
Tangy cheddar cheese flavor with a touch of salt.
Goldfish Crackers are widely recognized by their unique shape.
They complement all cold beverages.
With Goldfish crackers, the smiles come naturally. Baked with 100% real cheddar cheese, Goldfish Cheddar crackers are a snack the whole family will adore with no artificial flavors or preservatives. For Pepperidge Farm, baking is more than a job. It's a real passion. Each day, the Pepperidge Farm bakers take the time to make every cookie, pastry, cracker and loaf of bread the best way they know how by using carefully selected, quality ingredients.

domain: food


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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has left rates on hold at their record low 0.10 per cent, even as banks race to hike mortgage rates.
In the last meeting of the year, the RBA chose to leave settings unchanged as it waits for inflation to lie comfortably between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
"The Australian economy is recovering from the setback caused by the Delta outbreak," Lowe said on Tuesday.
"High rates of vaccination and substantial policy support are underpinning this recovery. Household consumption is rebounding strongly and the outlook for business investment has improved."
The Bank is also monitoring the Omicron variant, with experts split on whether the RBA will shift rates higher in the second half of 2022 or wait until 2023.
“The market is signalling interest rates will rise sooner than the RBA's official position, and with central banks in other countries starting to lift rates, the RBA may be forced to move sooner than anticipated,” forex broker CLSA Premium chairman Peter Boehm responded to the Finder interest rate survey.
“The key will be the period over which the RBA increases rates to their neutral position of between 2.5 per cent and 3.0 per cent, and by what increments. Even a 0.25 per cent increase could have negative impacts on the economy.”
Today’s meeting is the last time the RBA board will meet before February 2022, as the Bank won’t meet in January.
Changing mortgage landscape
Even as the RBA is unlikely to lift rates until late 2022 at the earliest, Australia’s banks are beginning to move.
April 2021 saw some 180 fixed rates below 2 per cent, but as of today, there are just 73 such rates, according to RateCity analysis.
And fixed rate borrowers with the big four banks are already feeling the difference.
Someone with a four-year fixed rate would have been paying an average 2.04 per cent rate in January 2021. Today, they’re paying an average 3.07 per cent - a $268 difference per repayment on a $500,000 loan.
Jan 1 rate
Difference in repayment on $500K
1 yr fixed
2 yr fixed
3 yr fixed
4 yr fixed
5 yr fixed
“Fixed rates are likely to keep rising across 2022 as global economies continue to recover from the pandemic and central banks around the world start to lift official interest rates,” RateCity research director Sally Tindall said.
“By this time next year, there could be no fixed rates under 2 per cent. In fact, the majority of fixed rates for owner-occupiers are likely to start with a ‘3’.
“Anyone currently on a fixed rate needs to prepare to pay significantly more when their term ends.”
The Commonwealth Bank believes the RBA will begin increasing rates in November 2022, and rates will hit 1.25 per cent by August 2023.
“Even if the RBA doesn’t hike rates in 2022, it’s entirely possible banks will,” Tindall said.
“To date, the rising cost of funding has only affected fixed rates. However, it could get to a point where lenders decide they also need to hike variable rates ahead of any official move from the central bank.”


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Preparing for Your DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction
Posted Dec 01 2012 8:46am
DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction to Enhance Your Femininity
DIEP flap breast reconstruction is a breast enhancement procedure that provides a more feminine and natural look. Women who have undergone mastectomy can consider this effective and advanced surgery. Advanced technology and techniques are utilized to regain the lost breasts. To complete the surgery successfully, it takes approximately three to six hours. A few days of hospital stay is also recommended after the surgery to ensure maximum post-operative care and treatment. Preparing for your DIEP flap breast reconstruction according to the instructions of the surgeon will surely increase the success rate of this invasive surgery.
Why Women Prefer to Undergo DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction
This breast reconstruction process offers natural looking and attractive breasts that will restore your lost self-esteem. There are other benefits also such as the following:
No possible risks of inflammation or rejection, as body tissues from the patient’s abdominal region are transplanted to the chest area
Abdominal muscles are not taken for the surgery, hence recovery is faster
Surgery preserves abdominal muscles intact
Helps to contour your abdominal area also by removing excess fatty tissues
This breast surgery can be done while having mastectomy or after a break
Preparation for DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction
As the surgery is invasive and intricate, significant preparation is very essential. It is necessary to have a positive attitude when preparing for and undergoing breast reconstruction surgery. Moreover, you should maintain a healthy body and mind to ensure the expected aesthetic results. Some general preparations recommended for the surgery are:
Keep your body healthy by following a balanced diet. You can also start taking multivitamin tablets two weeks before the surgery. This will prepare your body for easy recovery. On the night before the surgery, you should not drink or eat after midnight.
Engage in daily exercises to keep your body fit and fine.
As smoking will impair the circulatory system, do not smoke two weeks prior to the surgery. This preparation will increase blood circulation and make your lungs healthier. The chance for quicker recovery is also increased.
Certain medicines that increase bleeding are to be stopped two weeks prior to the surgery. It is strongly recommended to discontinue aspirin and other anti-inflammatory pain medicines.
Talk with your surgeon about your age, medical history and recent medications to minimize the surgical risks.
Be aware about general surgical risks such as bleeding and infection. Certain precautions need to be taken for patients with chronic diseases related to the heart, lungs and kidney.
Where to Undergo DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction?
The role of a qualified and experienced surgeon is very significant in this surgery. Only a surgeon specialized in DIEP flap breast reconstruction can give you the best results. Search dedicatedly to find an accredited plastic surgery facility with advanced equipment and infrastructure, with service provided by reputable plastic surgeons. Such plastic surgery centers would provide customized treatment solutions to achieve the outcomes you seek. Thus preparing properly for your DIEP flap breast reconstruction is important if you want to have a pleasant and successful surgical experience.


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ERIE — Senior pitcher Chad Zurat (Clearfield) was one of five Penn State Behrend players named to the 2014 All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Team.
The 6-2, 215-pounder was a third-team selection after his first season as a starter for the Lions.
He was Behrend’s closer when he was chosen to the second team in 2012 and the third team in 2013.
Zurat made five starts during the AMCC’s regular season, posting a 4-1 record.
The right-hander ranked fifth in conference statistics in wins but was second in innings pitched (32) and third in strikeouts (37) and earned run average (0.84). He surrendered only 19 hits and five runs, two of them unearned.
Zurat pitched No. 2 seed Behrend’s opener in the AMCC Championship and was on the hook for a loss until the Lions rallied in the late innings to pull out a 9-8 win over Mount Aloysius.
Behrend’s season didn’t end with losses in the next two tourney games as the Lions were tabbed to host the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Region Tournament.
That gave Zurat one more start, and he pitched into the sixth inning and logged his 16th career victory as the Lions defeated Bethany (W.Va.) 8-2 for coach Paul Benim’s 500th win.
Behrend (30-14) followed up with a 7-3 win over Gallaudet for its fourth ECAC title.
Zurat (8-2) pitched 63-2/3 innings with 62 strikeouts and a 2.54 earned run average in 12 appearances, all but one as a starter.
In the final AMCC overall statistics, Zurat was third in wins, tied for third in starts, fourth in strikeouts, fifth in ERA and sixth in innings pitched.

domain: sports


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Calm Your Mind by Watching These Whales Swim Along the Hawaiian Coast
Outside's long reads email newsletter features our strongest writing, most ambitious reporting, and award-winning storytelling about the outdoors. Sign up today.
This short film from Embrace Someplace follows a pod of whales as they play and glide through the waters off the coast of Maui. Take a break from working or prepping for the holidays to watch.

domain: artistic


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Nebraska nurse practitioners are celebrating their profession during National Nurse Practitioner Week, November 9th through the 15th. Peggy Pelish is an associate professor at University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Nursing and says their program allows nurses to focus on specific fields of medicine.
Pelish says, “Nurse practitioners are licensed, expert clinicians with advanced degrees with extensive training in primary, acute and specialty health care services.”
Pelish says nurse practitioners are also helping to fill the doctor shortage gap in many areas of the state.
The UNMC College of Nursing currently has 253 nurse practitioner students enrolled in their master’s program.


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Using tear gas and rubber bullets during peaceful protest is illegal
A Colorado Federal District Court ruled on June 5, 2020, that police use of tear gas and rubber bullets was illegal as an excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, the First Amendment as a violation of free speech as the First Amendment bars retaliation, and that protesters suffered irreparable harm. The Federal District Court held […]Read More
Are Atlanta Georgia Curfews Legal
The United State Supreme Court has yet to examine civil curfew laws. In Toyoshaburo Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), the United States Supreme Court professed to apply “the most rigid scrutiny” to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II but nevertheless found the “assembling together and placing under guard all those of […]Read More
Can police use blood taken at a hospital against me in a DUI?
Can the police use my hospital records after a car accident for a DUI? The short answer is yes even though there are 25 reasons that they should not. In King v. State, 276 Ga. 126, 577 S.E.2d 764 (2003)(King II), the Georgia Supreme Court approved the use of search warrants as a means of obtaining […]Read More
New Georgia protections to guard against eye witness misidentification in lineups and showups
O.C.G.A. 17-20-1, 17-20-2 and 17-20-3 went into effect on July 1st, 2016 to ensure fairer and more balanced procedures for eyewitness live lineups, photo lineups and show ups. These new procedures were created to help reduce wrongful convictions due to faulty eye witness identification in court. Memory is fabricated and not real. Recency has the potential to […]Read More
Georgia DUI breath test Intoxilyzer 9000 gets an F
Alcohol Breath testing is the cornerstone of Georgia DUI law enforcement. A state administered breath test is really just a guess at the true blood alcohol level of a person. Accuracy is paramount in alcohol breath testing. The number one enemy of accuracy in alcohol breath testing is interference from mouth alcohol. The threat of […]Read More
Can a DUI keep your from traveling to Canada?
May 26, 2015. The Winona Daily News ran a story about issues surrounding traveling to Canada after a DUI conviction. Driving under the influence of alcohol is considered serious offense for immigration purposes in Canada and a border officer can refuse you entry into Canada if you have been convicted previously of a DUI. A little […]Read More
Can you run from the Cops in Georgia if you have done nothing wrong?
Yes, you can run if you have done nothing criminally wrong. Police must be able to articulate a crime that you are committing or have committed to stop and question. If they then can not, then it is a first tier encounter and you are free to ignore, walk away or run -even if you […]Read More
How drug convictions and DUI drug convictions affect your drivers license
License Suspensions for Drug Crimes and Drug DUI convictions Violations of the Georgia Controlled Substance Act and Drug DUI drivers license suspension are governed by O.C.G.A. §40-5-75. Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Title 16 is known as The Georgia Controlled Substance Act (VGCSA). Drug DUIs including both illegal drugs and prescription drugs under O.G.C.A. 40-6-391(a)2, (a)4 […]Read More
Why is there a presumption of innocence?
A law review article by Alexander Volokh, n Guilty Men raises the issue of why protecting the innocent matters even at the expense of freeing the guilty. From the earliest days of law school, students were told that the law favors a guilty man to be set free over the conviction of an innocent man. We heard law […]Read More


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With consumer Virtual Reality hardware due to be flooding the market in Q1 2016, most people expect it to be 'The Year of VR'.
The likes of Unity CEO John Riccitiello reckons the technology might not count as being properly mainstream until 2020.
AR > VR
And where does that place the technologically more complex Augmented Reality wave?
Last week, Microsoft announced developers would be able to get their hands on the development kit version of its anticipated HoloLens in Q1 2016.
Not all big technology companies seem so sure, however.
Chip outfit Qualcomm has been developing its Vuforia mobile AR vision platform for five years.
But now it's announced it's selling the division to Internet of Things company PTC for $65 million.
Qualcomm says the technology has developers in 130 countries, and has been used in more than 20,000 apps which have accumulated more than 200 million installs.
"We are pleased with the prospect of adding the market-leading AR technology platform, together with its large developer community, to our technology portfolio," commented PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann.
"Vuforia will accelerate our leadership position helping companies to fundamentally change the way their products are created, operated, and serviced"
"We are excited about leveraging Vuforia's technology leadership in the consumer market while unleashing the Vuforia capabilities into the enterprise."
[source: Street Insider]


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The road to engineering cars and trucks for global markets can be littered with potholes - both the literal kind that tear up suspensions, and the figurative kind that are tough to anticipate.
Consider this old story that still circulates aroundCorp. After Chrysler received complaints repeatedly from wealthy Egyptian owners that air conditioning systems in their Jeeps were no good because they conked out prematurely, it dispatched engineers to find out why.
Since no one else reported similar incidents,wanted to see how the Egyptians were using their Jeeps. Typically, they discovered that when the owners went on picnics with their entourages they'd leave their engines running with the A/C turned on full blast to keep the food and beverages cool, in effect using their Jeeps as picnic coolers! No word on how Chrysler resolved the problem.
Whenintroduced the Rabbit in the U.S. during the '70s, the first wave of shipments were all painted the same color: deep green. Why? Because that color was popular in Germany. Not so in the U.S., at least not then. Result: Rabbit got off to a slow start in America.
In the '80s,exported cars from Japan with standard radios popular in its home market only to learn that American buyers were ripping them out and replacing them with custom sound systems. Honda's solution: Remove the radios when the cars arrived in U.S. ports, leaving it up to dealers or buyers to spec them out.
Most of these wrinkles have smoothed out in recent years as buyer tastes and preferences have come closer together in world markets.
But the wave of automaker globalization reflecting the realities of economic and political forces can give engineers fits on occasion.
WhenMotor Co. engineered the Escort for assembly in India it selected a 1.3L 4-cyl. gasoline engine and a 1.8L 4-cyl. naturally aspirated diesel, figuring the latter to grab 10% to 15% of the sales mix.
At the time the price of both fuels was about the same in India. A change in government tax policy to balance refining requirements, however, dropped diesel prices 25% to 30% under gasoline, sharply boosting demand for diesel-powered Escorts. "We called the mix wrong,"'s new Group Vice President for Product Development Richard Parry-Jones concedes. But on the plus side "we are one of the few manufacturers with a diesel in that market," he adds.
Before launching Escort in India, Ford dispatched 20 cars for on-the-road testing, he says. Although Ford knew that Indian drivers lay on the horn incessantly, it wasn't prepared for what happened. "In a relatively short time, all of the bloody horns started failing," says Mr. Parry-Jones. "We changed the design of the horn and the horn bracket so we had a more robust design that was louder and longer-lasting.
"We did a retrospective analysis of the number of times an Indian driver uses a horn, and it's 20 times higher than any market we've ever encountered," he adds.
Indeed, local testing is increasingly common at Ford before entering new markets. Last year Ford spent $2 million to test Taurus, Fiesta and the European Transit van/bus in seven Chinese cities located in two provinces.
"We learned a lot," says Charles B. Centivany, manager of worldwide cycle plan development in Ford's product and business strategy office. "It's congested, so it affects the batteries. And they brake four to five times more than in the U.S. The fuel also is uneven and they frequently drive off-road," he says.
Ford began building Transits in collaboration with Jiangling Motor Corp. last December. It helped that 14 Chinese engineers spent a year in England working with Ford engineers. "We made numerous changes," says Gerald J. Kania, vice president of Ford Motor (China) Ltd.. "For example, they tend to overload their vehicles, so we maxed the specs."
The up-front work paid off. "We built 10 vehicles (pre-production Transits)," says Mr. Kania, "but found only 47 things 'gone wrong,' compared to 60 in a typical program."
The moral? As Mr. Parry-Jones might put it in his British accent, "Mind the potholes."


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Taylor Swift's House Pelted With Beer Bottles by Drunk Fans
Taylor Swift's mansion in Rhode Island was attacked on Saturday, June 14 by three drunk fans. Police arrested them, two guys and a woman who are in their 20s, took them into custody and charged them with disorderly conduct.
The local Westerly Police Department told E! News that the incident took place at 7:43 P.M. Police were called after Michael Horrigan, 29, Tristan J. Kading, 28, and Emily E. Kading, 26 threw beer bottles onto the property from the neighboring east beach. Per TMZ, the suspects threw the F word to Swift's security guards and gave them the middle finger.
Swift was not home at the time of the incident. When asked by TMZ about the incident, Tristan said they had nothing against the "I Knew You Were Trouble" singer and blamed the alcohol for their uncontrolled act. Regarding flipping the bird, Tristan said they were throwing peace sign like Swift did in her "22" music video.
The same house was trespassed back in May 2013 by a 22-year-old male fan who walked on a private road about five minutes walking distance from the house.
More Taylor Swift News
- Nick Jonas Shares His First Photo From 'Jumanji' Set, but There's a Catch
- The Internet Mocks Donald Trump for Sniffling and Drinking a Lot During Presidential Debate
- Listen to DNCE's New Single 'Body Moves'
- New 'Luke Cage' Trailer Reveals Surprise Cameos
- Jessica Simpson's Marriage in Trouble? She and Husband Reportedly 'Fighting Non-Stop' for Months
- 'Dancing with the Stars' Recap: Which Pairs Win Immunity in Face-Off Week?
- Rob Kardashian Tweets Kylie's Number as He Blasts His Family for Snubbing Blac Chyna
- Report: Drake Is Actually Gay and His Rihanna Romance Is Fake

domain: celebrity


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Tomorrow marks a year since my divorce was finalized. This year has, in all honesty, flown by. Today, I am going to share a sort of life update, but also offer some encouragement to anyone who may be in the same position. I understand that my situation is pretty unique, and most people don’t stay friends with their ex, especially if they don’t have children. However, we have always been a little different.
What changes happen during the year following a divorce? What can you expect a year after your divorce?
It may not hit you right away
It took months for it to hit me that I was officially divorced. For the first several months, it didn’t seem real. I stuck to my routine and didn’t really notice a change. Then, it hit me in waves. One week, I would just be sad, confused, and sort of disoriented, then I would be back to normal. Some days something would happen that would make me feel frustrated and even angry. Point being, everyone experiences the stages of grief differently, and it’s completely normal to experience them on your own terms, at your own pace, and with your own intensity.
Your friendships will change
This may seems obvious, but it’s still unexpected exactly what friends you don’t carry with you. I lost one of my very best friends as a result of the divorce (and I don’t mean Colton, because that’s a given). However, I have also grown closer to a few other friends the last year. Friendships are constantly evolving, and a life-changing event like divorce definitely affects them. Cherish the friends that stick it out with you and support you.
You will experience a lot of firsts
Obviously, the first year following a divorce is full of adjustments and change. It’s an entire “year of firsts.” Every holiday post-divorce is full of new traditions and feelings. Some notable low points include first holidays, my first birthday without my second family, first mother’s day only celebrating one mom, first anniversary (dating and wedding alone) alone, and even my first hospital stay. Not all of these firsts are sad, however. I moved in to my first place that was only mine and love it. I have experienced a lot of firsts with my boyfriend this year to balance it all out. Honestly, every day was a first of something as a divorced person in some small way, but all of those firsts are behind me now. I survived.
You will still be accepted
One of my biggest fears was that I was a failure. Divorce meant that I failed at marriage, and therefore people would assume I was a failure. There’s a lot of negativity that comes with being divorced. While I will never know what has been said behind my back, everyone has been incredibly supportive. I don’t feel like I have been under any kind of microscope or judged. While I still struggle with the feelings of failure from time-to-time (thanks Enneagram wing 3), I know that is a me thing, and on no one else.
You can “treat yo self”
Just to clarify, I was not in the sort of marriage where I felt oppressed and couldn’t buy or do what I wanted. However, when you share a home and finances with someone, you have to think about more than just yourself. Now, I don’t have to check in with anyone but myself when I make a crazy purchase, and there have been a few of them the last year. While, I miss being a DINK (Double Income, No Kids), I do appreciate and take advantage of not having to ask or consider anyone else when I spend money. This has helped me to not only reward myself at times, but to be more generous too.
Every divorce is different, and everyone experiences different things. I am so grateful I am still friends with my ex, and have been able to heal from the end of our marriage with the support of my friends and family. It hasn’t always been easy, and this has been a weird year for sure, but I am in a good place and happy.