Wednesday, March 9, 2005File:Plastic bag stock sized.jpg
They are cheap, useful, and very plentiful, and that is exactly the problem, according to researchers. A report issued on Feb. 23 by a cadre of environment and economics researchers suggested that Kenya should ban the common plastic bag that one gets at the checkout counter of grocery stores, and place a levy on other plastic bags, all to combat the country’s environmental problems stemming from the bags’ popularity.
Monday, September 7, 2015
The US economy added 173,000 jobs in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. The unemployment rate fell from 5.3 to 5.1 percent, the lowest since April 2008.
Although August job gains were lower than most economists forecast, job growth numbers for June and July were revised upwards by a combined 44,000. Average job gains over the past three months stand at 221,000, compared to March-May’s 189,000 monthly average. Over the past twelve months, job growth has averaged 247,000 per month.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent, or 8 cents, marking the largest increase in earnings in seven months. Hourly earnings had risen by 6 cents in July. Wages have risen by 2.2 percent over the past year.
Job growth in August was primarily concentrated in the health care and social assistance, financial activities, and professional and business services sectors. Those three areas of the economy added a combined 108,000 jobs. Food service and drinking places employment increased by 26,000 over the month, and other economic sectors saw employment hold steady. Manufacturing, on the other hand, saw employment decline by 17,000 in August. A stronger dollar and worldwide economic weakness make US exports less desirable, leading to a flattening in manufacturing employment so far this year after steadily rising in the early years of the US economic recovery.
The solid overall job gains led analysts to slightly raise expectations for a decision by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month. Investors raised the likelihood of a September rate increase from 26 percent before the jobs report to 30 percent, and stocks dropped by over one percent on Friday. “The payrolls data is certainly good enough to allow for a Fed rate hike in September,” said Deutsche Bank’s head of currency strategy, Alan Ruskin. “The big question is still whether financial market volatility will scupper the plans.”
“This is the first time the market has looked at a Fed meeting and really has no idea what the Fed is going to do,” said Mark Kepner, a New Jersey equity trader with Themis Trading. “Right now you’re looking at the overall uncertainty and that’s what’s hanging on the market. I don’t think this number in and of itself changes how somebody’s going to vote.”
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
A Knoxville, USA woman has sold her name on eBay and received an offer. Terri Iligan, age 33, will legally be named “goldenpalace.com” after the required legal work is complete.
The casino owning the website paid $15,199 over the eBay auction service.
She said that she got the idea when trying to find how much it would cost to send one of her children to a golf school previously attended by Tiger Woods.
In an interview by Knoxville TV station WATE, she said, “To my kids and to my husband, I will always be Terri.” As to the opinion of her husband and children, she said, “He thinks it’s funny. As long as they get to call me mom, they don’t care.”
By Faye Wong
The future of South Park has been up in the air for a little while. The show ending their mid season episode on a strange note that left many people wondering. Of course they have an additional few episodes left for the end of the season, but the future thereafter has been a matter of great speculation.
What happened in the last episode? South Park Seasons 1-15 DVD Box Set
The last episode aired to date features the main character Stan as he is getting older. He recently has a birthday and started to dislike many of the things he previously liked, such as music. In this episode everything he hears and eventually sees literally turns to excrement. In a classic gross-out, South Park fashion they come across a point. During this episode Stan’s parents start to grow apart and disagree with each other more than they usually do. This leads to Stan’s friends not wanting to hang out will him any more as they feel he is a buzz kill. This also leads to his friends Kyle and Eric playing and laughing with one another though they are typically enemies and bitter rivals. This cynical outlook on life leads Stan to visit a doctor. The doctor plays newer music for him that he feels sounds like excrement and then plays some older classic style music for him that has the same result. This leads the doctor to a diagnosis that he is stuck between liking what old and young people like in a disorder known as being a cynical A-hole.
Deeper than normal reflections
In this episode they reflected upon more deeply rooted feelings than other episodes. This is because the characters opinions seem to specifically reflect the views of the creators. You can tell that they are burnt out and want to be known for things that are more creative and less low brow. The creators of the show have since written a very successful Broadway musical about the Mormon religion. The program has undergone several changes over the years. There have been many revamps such as better animation styles and with that a more in depth writing. Undertones and lessons are featured seamlessly throughout the show and make it a very entertaining thing to watch. If you were not a fan of the show when it first aired to do its perceived intention to be merely for shock value you will be surprised by the contemporary episodes. They are over the top and feature some shock value, but focus more on having a good story with identifiable characters.
You’re getting old
The episode entitled you’re getting old ending with a dramatic twist. A sad montage shows Stan’s family packing up and moving and his parents presumably getting divorced. The writers have stated that this does not mean the show is going to end. Much concern over whether or not the show would continue arose from the last aired episode. This was addressed on Comedy Central’s daily show shortly thereafter. They stated that though it was clear to see that they were strained and tired of the show in some regards that it did not mean the show was going to end.
In fact one might go so far as to speculate that this is the show’s creators going one step further to “mess with” the general public. South Park has been known for doing things to get a rise out of their audience. Being one of the first shows to use the S word, and over 100 times in one episode is just one claim to fame of the show. Keep in mind that this is the same show that was popularized for a character by the name of Mr. Hanky who was a Christmas themed piece of poo. So, it is a good idea not to read too much into the underlying messages of the most recent show. What this means for the show is that they are definitely finishing the season and more than likely going to be renewed for another one. An important thing to take into consideration is that even though the creators of South Park have tired of being associated with the program this television show has not at all declined in quality. South Park continues to push the envelope and be a very watch able and quality show, unlike programs such as The Simpsons and Family Guy, which have both run out of relevant ideas due to having seemingly inferior writing staffs, which is very much not the case with South Park.Check More DVD Movies, please visit our web.
About the Author: Michael Birbeck is an expert author from Australia. He has written many articles in various interesting DVD Movies stories like
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1-7 complete series. For more information about
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Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Robert ‘Bob’ Edmonds, who sued the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), died Monday in hospital at age 83 of cancer.
“He’ll be remembered as the guy who just wouldn’t go away,” said Ontario Ombudsman André Marin speaking of the loss. “I was the speakerphone and he was the speaker – I merely amplified what he had to say. He deserves the credit for the entire thing.”
Edmonds of Coboconk, Ontario first came to fight the OLG in 2001 when he was “robbed” of his lottery winning of CAN$250,000 by a store clerk. He asked the store clerk’s wife Phyllis LaPlante to check the tickets and she said he did not win but won a free ticket (when someone wins a lottery prize in Canada a small sound goes off in the store). Days after, the couple who owned the store were in the local newspaper saying they had won the jackpot of $250,000. When he contacted the OLG they denied the allegations, and when the couple were arrested for fraud they refused to return his winnings. He sued the LaPlantes for the winnings and settled for $150,000.
In 2002, Edmonds sued the corporation and signed a confidentiality agreement on behalf of the OLG after a judge asked them to rightfully give him the money he won. They gave him $200,000 three years later. Last Friday they gave him $50,000 dollars more, for a total of $250,000.
In October 2006, CBC’s The Fifth Estate showed that more retailers from 1999 to 2006 were winning instead of the customers. After the broadcast OLG’s former CEO called him and personally apologised and the company started to create more security measures for customers.
Following the allegations, 1,000,000 scratch tickets were recalled and on March 23, 2007 CEO Duncan Brown announced he resigned his position. Days later Ontario Ombudsman André Marin sparked up an investingation into the OLG however it is still ongoing.
Edmonds leaves his wife, daughter, and two sons.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Two CH-47 Chinook helicopters were called in on Wednesday, September 2nd, to help contain the wildfires on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai.
Smaller helicopters that were fighting the fire since it started around noon on August 29th were redeployed as well.
According to Gen Iinuma, Maui County Civil Defense administrator, the CH-47s carry 2000-gallon buckets of water, whereas the smaller helicopters only have 100-gallon buckets. The Chinooks can dump more water in fewer trips than the smaller helicopters. On the other hand, the tremendous downdraft from the bigger aircraft may make the fire worse.
“If they don’t do it right, they’ll fan the fire,” Iinuma said.
According to Iinuma, ground crews are continuing to maintain the fire’s perimeter, which remained unchanged from Tuesday. The helicopters are being used to fight the fires where ground crews can’t reach, such as steep mountain passes and valleys.
Iinuma also expressed concern about a red flag advisory the National Weather service put out for all leeward areas of the Hawaiian Islands, meaning conditions are ripe for fires.
Lieutenant Governor James “Duke” Aiona, who took an aerial survey of Molokai’s brush fire area, said it was “no immediate threat”. He also noted that the fire seemed to come right up to the perimeter of some properties, but almost always stopped there.
Aiona’s observations are mirrored by a local business owners’ story. The wildfires destroyed the beehives of Molokai Meli, a family-owned honey business in Kapaakea, but residents admit that the beehives were not their main concern.
“We were just beating the edges with wet towels and sheets to try and keep it from getting to the houses that are just right over that ridge,” said co-owner Brenda Kaneshiro. Luckily, the property was spared, though the beehives weren’t.
“All that metal right there, that’s where they all were, there were 33 of them,” said Elijah Kaneshiro, the owner’s son.
| This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. |
Thursday, October 22, 2020
2020 Melbourne Lord Mayor candidate Wayne Tseng answered some questions about his campaign for the upcoming election from Wikinews. The Lord Mayor election in the Australian city is scheduled to take place this week.
Tseng runs a firm called eTranslate, which helps software developers to make the software available to the users. In the candidate’s questionnaire, Tseng said eTranslate had led to him working with all three tiers of the government. He previously belonged to the Australian Liberal Party, but has left since then, to run for mayorship as an independent candidate.
Tseng is of Chinese descent, having moved to Australia with his parents from Vietnam. Graduated in Brisbane, Tseng received his PhD in Melbourne and has been living in the city, he told Wikinews. Tseng also formed Chinese Precinct Chamber of Commerce, an organisation responsible for many “community bond building initiatives”, the Lord Mayor candidate told Wikinews.
Tseng discussed his plans for leading Melbourne, recovering from COVID-19, and “Democracy 2.0” to ensure concerns of minorities in the city were also heard. Tseng also focused on the importance of the multi-culture aspect and talked about making Melbourne the capital of the aboriginals. Tseng also explained why he thinks Melbourne is poised to be a world city by 2030.
Tseng’s deputy Lord Mayor candidate Gricol Yang is a Commercial Banker and works for ANZ Banking Group.
Currently, Sally Capp is the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the Victorian capital. Capp was elected as an interim Lord Mayor in mid-2018 after the former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle resigned from his position after sexual assault allegations. Doyle served as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne for almost a decade since 2008.
By Alec Nelson
As a vacuum technician I am constantly repairing vacuums that develop problems because the owners were not told how to maintain their vacuum cleaners. I am going to focus on vacuum cleaner inlet filters in this article.
I would estimate that at least 40% of my repairs are related to filter maintenenace in one way or another. When I ask the customer how often they are cleaning or replacing their filter a very common response is that because they paid so much for their vacuum they assumed it would not be neccesay. I agree that in a perfect world vacuums would be self cleaning but the reality is you need to check and maintain your vacuum cleaner filters regularly to get the best out of your vacuum. The good news is it’s easy to do and only takes a couple of minutes.
Even though vacuum cleaners come in a variety of shapes and sizes they are all relatively similar in structure. A vacuum is basically built around a motor which is sealed except for an inlet for air to enter into and another for the air to exit. The will always be a filter at the point that air enters and exits the motor cavity. The main reason for this is to prevent dust and debris from entering the motor and also to stop any material from being exhausted into the air.
If you have a bagged type vacuum, the bag itself is a very effective type of filter. There will always be another filter sitting just behind the bag to protect the motor, on the rare chance that the bag may break. This filter is called a pre motor or disaster filter. One of the biggest benefits of having a bag in the vacuum is that every time you fill it up and replace the bag, you have a brand new filter protecting the motor. It is very important to check your pre motor filter regularly, if it starts to get a build up of material on it the amount of air flowing into the motor will be slightly restricted.
Now this will probably not result in enough of a difference for you to notice that the suction is reduced but it will cause the motor to run at a higher temperature. This will in turn cause the carbon motor brushes to wear out sooner than they would under normal conditions. By simply cleaning or replacing this filter your vacuum cleaner motor will run cooler and last longer.
The ideal way to clean a filter is to use another vacuum to suck the dirt out of the filter, another good way is use an air compressor to blow the dust out. If neither of these options are available I would suggest simply replacing the filter. The cost is far outweighed by the benefit of a vacuum cleaner lasting longer. A lot of people will suggest washing the filter as a good method of cleaning. Generally I would caution against this unless you have a foam or songe type filter. Any other fabric style filters will be affected by the process of washing, they may warp slightly or wear thin which will reduce their efficiency.
Most user manuals will tell you to check the inlet filter every couple of months but it is so easy to do I would encourage you to check it each time you change the bag. A cursory glance can tell you if you need to take it out and give it a good clean or if it is okay to leave in place.
Simple maintenance like this will make a huge difference to the lifespan of your vacuum and can save you hundreds on repair or replacement.
About the Author: Alec Nelson has been in the Vacuum Cleaner business for over 10 years. Initially as a retail only store. Now he has a service centre and two websites VacuumSpot, the best place to Buy Vacuum Bags Online and Nelson Vacuums, The best place to Buy Vacuum Cleaners
Source: isnare.com
Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=735364&ca=Home+Management
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Wikinews correspondent J.J. Liu spoke with Technological University Dublin (TUD) senior lecturer at the School of Surveying & Construction Management, Dr Lorcan Sirr on Friday regarding the supply of housing in the Republic of Ireland and relevant parallels across the rest of Europe, as well as recent developments by the government and private sector that are causing a rise in rents and home prices in the Irish real estate market.
Dr Sirr is a regular contributor to The Irish Times and has provided commentary to Irish radio station Newstalk, national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and various other publications. In addition to being a chartered planning and development surveyor and assessor to the Society of Chartered Surveyors, Dr Sirr is a Peace Commissioner and former external examiner for the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, according to his profile on Worky.
Dr Sirr was a lecturer and former head of research for the Faculty of the Built Environment at the Dublin Institute of Technology, which entered a merger with two partner institutes to become TUD January 1, 2019. He received his bachelor’s degree in estate management at the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom, and master’s degree in urban design and PhD in town planning at the University of Manchester. He has a second master’s in literature from KU Leuven, Belgium, and speaks French.
Monday, December 3, 2007
At Thanksgiving dinner David Shankbone told his white middle class family that he was to interview Reverend Al Sharpton that Saturday. The announcement caused an impassioned discussion about the civil rights leader’s work, the problems facing the black community and whether Sharpton helps or hurts his cause. Opinion was divided. “He’s an opportunist.” “He only stirs things up.” “Why do I always see his face when there’s a problem?”
Shankbone went to the National Action Network’s headquarters in Harlem with this Thanksgiving discussion to inform the conversation. Below is his interview with Al Sharpton on everything from Tawana Brawley, his purported feud with Barack Obama, criticism by influential African Americans such as Clarence Page, his experience running for President, to how he never expected he would see fifty (he is now 53). “People would say to me, ‘Now that I hear you, even if I disagree with you I don’t think you’re as bad as I thought,'” said Sharpton. “I would say, ‘Let me ask you a question: what was “bad as you thought”?’ And they couldn’t say. They don’t know why they think you’re bad, they just know you’re supposed to be bad because the right wing tells them you’re bad.”