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Friday, January 29, 2010
Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Two)
However, when God introduces humanity and marriage, the first thing He does is to put it on a spiritual plane. His initial concern is that we have been created in His image—after the God-kind. Our relationships, then—especially our marriages—should include this God-plane quality. While there are many physical aspects to marriage, the most important facet of married life is spiritual in nature, concerning our preparation for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus' teaching on marriage follows the pattern set in the first two chapters of Genesis. Matthew 19:4-6 appears in a passage on marriage and divorce in which Jesus answers a question posed by some Pharisees about divorce, specifically, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" (Matthew 19:3). At that time, divorce was quite rampant because of the general notion among Jews, taken from a misreading of Deuteronomy 24:1-4, that the law allowed a man to divorce his wife simply by giving his wife a certificate of divorce and sending her away.
Notice, however, how Jesus answers their cynical question: "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female' . . .?" (Matthew 19:4). He answered their question with Genesis 1:27! This gives us insight into what Jesus based His understanding of the institution of marriage on: God's original instruction just after creation. In the very next breath, He quotes from Genesis 2:24: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (Matthew 19:5).
So what did Jesus do in answering their question? He reached back to the very beginning of mankind and reminded them of God's intentions at that time, explaining that, in God's judgment, nothing has changed. His purposes and instructions regarding marriage have not "evolved" over the millennia. He still considers marriage a God-plane union between a man and a woman with significant implications regarding being created in God's own image. In other words, God's reasons for the marriage institution have not been altered by mankind's inability to fulfill them.
Jesus continues in Matthew 19:6, "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." His answer can be paraphrased as, "Look, you have got things all wrong. Marriage is not just a physical relationship that one can make or break at any time and for any reason. Genesis shows what God intended when He created people male and female, and clearly, He made marriage a divinely ordained, lifelong institution." He explains in verse 8, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning, it was not so." He then proceeds to give the biblical reasons for divorce.
In this New Testament context, Christ shows that God has endorsed the marriage relationship from the beginning as an excellent way to produce righteous character in His children. He is preparing children in His image—not just children who look like He does, but also ones who live as He does. Thus, His creation of mankind was not complete with His physical creation in Genesis 1, but it continues to move forward spiritually within the conversion process. As can be seen in Jesus' comments, the marriage institution plays a large role in it. Divorce, sundering the union of man and wife, can be a great hindrance to the spiritual growth of both parties involved.
The first purpose of marriage, then, is that it provides a fitting environment for producing divine character.
Immediately after He created humans as male and female, "God blessed them" (Genesis 1:28). The Theological Word Book of the Old Testament says that a blessing is "to endue with power for success," which is its essential meaning in just about every usage in the Old Testament. We can also define it by recognizing its opposite—a curse—the intention of which is "to bring great evil upon" in order to hinder success.
Thus, God gave the newly created couple a blessing to bestow power for success on them. We could also say that in the context, this divine blessing was their wedding ceremony. By this blessing, God gave Adam and Eve the right and the authority to enter this union, just as a marriage ceremony does today. It also gives them the authority and power to produce what God expected of them. With God's blessing given to the institution and to the individuals involved, the chances for success become significantly greater. In fact, with God's eager blessing, a married couple really has no excuse for failure!
The marriage ceremony used by the churches of God stresses that the bride and groom are making a covenant before God and man. The ceremony includes a laying on of hands that sets the couple apart in their union, showing that God Himself seals the contract—the marriage covenant—between the man and the woman. In addition, in the prayer that accompanies the laying on of hands, the minister normally asks for blessings to come upon them—a blessing on their relationship, a blessing on their offspring, a blessing for their prosperity, etc.
The apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:9, "God is faithful." When God gives a blessing, He follows through by giving what is needed for its fulfillment. God's Word is not empty: "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). So a groom and his bride have little excuse for not producing what God desires to result from their marriage.
To provide godly blessings, therefore, is a second purpose for this institution. Marriage is truly a blessed arrangement. Not only does marriage have God's sanction, but He also loads it with benefits from His own hands. He blesses a man and his wife with advantages that are in no other union because He is intimately involved, a party in the covenant. In a Christian marriage, the power that is needed to make it work is available from God.
Part Three will consider this divine blessing further and introduce the third purpose for marriage.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part One)
On January 1, 1970, California's no-fault divorce law went into effect, and before long many other states followed suit, easing divorce. In the same decade, feminism reared its head in two major efforts: the legalization of abortion and the push for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution. Abortion—of which there are about a million performed each year—made the consequences of illicit sexual activity easier to avoid.
The next decade saw the onset of AIDS, early on traced to perverse sexual activity among homosexuals, and the rise of the homosexual movement, which has pursued such goals as homosexual rights, hate-crimes legislation, and most recently, homosexual "marriage." Along with AIDS, gonorrhea, and syphilis, at least 25 new sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)—some of which are viral like AIDS—have ravaged many who have participated in the "sexual revolution." Modern medicine cannot really "cure" any of these, only make the symptoms more bearable (although antibiotics can kill Chlamydia and gonorrhea, scars and sometimes infertility may result). These diseases have reached pandemic proportions, as 15.3 million new STD infections happen each year, including over three million in teens.
All of this so-called progress has its effect on marriage. In addition, we cannot forget that potentially huge problems are inherent simply in two different people trying to create a life together. One that should not be minimized is each mate's unique set of sins and weaknesses that must be overcome. Everyone has "baggage," and when a man and a woman try to make a marriage work, they must be prepared to deal with such potential "skeletons in the closet" and their aftermaths.
As the end draws near, those who are married as well as those who desire to be married seem to have the deck stacked against them. Even in good times, marriage has its difficulties. There always seems to be communication problems because men and women do not communicate the same way. Men and women also typically approach life differently—men have a tendency to act first and think later, while women often let their emotions lead. The diverse backgrounds of the bride and groom can set up another possible obstacle, not to mention in-law problems, and when children arrive on the scene, childrearing problems. The inability to harmonize such differences makes many marriages unstable and prone to collapse. Marriage is not an easy proposition.
Marriage is a complex social institution, but it is an important, even vital, part of most people's lives. Although God has not commanded everyone to marry, the greater part of us do. Yet, not everyone is suited to marriage. Jesus teaches in Matthew 19:12 that "there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs [decided not to marry] for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." Paul echoes this in I Corinthians 7:8, 32: "But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am. . . . He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord." As Jesus says, remaining unmarried is fine if one can master his sexual drive and devote himself to God's work. God is able to work out a person's salvation without the aid of the marriage environment.
However, for the majority of us, the route of marriage is the one we are most likely to take. And, after baptism, the decision to marry is the most important decision we can make, one we should consider most deeply, not only before we make such a sacred vow, but as we go through it. In fact, the marriage vow is merely the beginning of a process of refinement and growth that will not only bind husband and wife more closely, but also enhance the development of holy, righteous, godly character.
Notice Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." In this one verse appears several important, foundational points that relate to marriage. The first is that God created both men and women in His own image.
Before God, a man and a woman are equal, meaning that both have the same potential: to be transformed into the image of God and inherit His Kingdom. Marriage, then, is a union of equals before God. However, Scripture clearly shows that God placed husbands in the position of authority—he is, as has been said, first among equals. Yet, though they are equal in potential, they may or may not be equal in many areas of mental and physical abilities, and they are certainly not the same in emotional makeup or strength. It is evident that men and women have different natural inclinations, skills, and abilities—all the while not making one better than the other.
Being fashioned after God's own body and mind implies that both have human equivalents of God's abilities, desires, goals, preferences, etc. While creating Adam and Eve, God took many of His qualities and distributed them between the male and the female human. Clearly, humanity's God-like qualities are not as excellent as His, since there is a great gulf between what God is and what humanity is, but we have human-level counterparts of what God Himself possesses. As Herbert Armstrong often said, we are made after the God-kind.
This fact makes the relationships that we undertake with others quite important. Genesis 1:27 indicates that we are no longer dealing with just physical associations. In his first mention of mankind in the Bible, God begins by putting man's existence on a spiritual plane by letting us know that He made us in His image. Our relationships, then, also have a God-plane quality to them, suggesting that we need to take them very seriously.
Why? Because the goal of every human being, whether he or she realizes it or not, is to be just like God. Male and female, created in God's image, are on the same track to the same place. So, the relationship between a man and his wife assumes a very spiritual and imperative quality.
In Part Two, we will see that Jesus' teaching on marriage begins in the same place.
Friday, January 8, 2010
What Is Real Conversion? (Part Six)
The first-century Corinthians provide a negative example from which we can learn. Immediately after the apostle Paul declares that Christians "have the mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:16), he informs the Corinthians, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. . . . [F]or you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" (I Corinthians 3:1, 3). Despite their having become Christians through baptism and the laying on of hands, these Corinthians had retained their pre-conversion natures. How do we know this? It exposed itself in their carnal behavior! As Paul says, they were acting just like other people who had not received God's grace.
Their conversion had never really left the starting gate because they had failed to continue in the process of spiritual transformation. The author of Hebrews explains what must occur:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
Conversion, then, is the process of exercising our senses, not the five senses, but the mental and spiritual faculties of reason, understanding, and judgment. If we are not making judgments about events that are happening in our homes, in our communities, in our workplaces—if we are not determining whether they are right or wrong, and if we are not endeavoring to correct those that are wrong, then we are failing in our conversion. We are, in fact, in danger of neglecting our salvation and drifting away.
The writer, however, is not finished with his instruction. In the next chapter, he shows them what they need to do:
We are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:9-12)
Notice what he encourages them to do: to show diligence, that is, "earnestness," "zeal," "deep commitment with eagerness." He advises them to dedicate their lives to this spiritual transformation and to stick with it to the end, as this is what those who will inherit the promises do. In other words, they need to launch zealously into a campaign of regaining all their lost ground. As he implies, Christianity is not a religion for the lazy.
The apostle Peter says much the same thing in II Peter 1:2-8:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He mentions that, since the Father and Christ have given us so much—even allowing us to share in God's nature—we should strive to add to our faith. Just believing that God is and that He has forgiven our sins is not enough (James 2:19). Among other things, we must grow in these qualities: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. If we work to instill these godly attributes into our characters, we will be producing the kind of fruit that God wants to see in us (John 15:1-8).
Peter concludes his instruction in verses 10-11: "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Spiritual growth and producing fruit are what makes our calling sure. Our maturity as Christians is based upon us zealously, diligently working to move our conversion along.
What is real conversion? It is the transformation of our characters, our intellects, our emotions, our actions, our words, our very thoughts, from the evil way inspired by Satan and man's carnal nature into the divine nature—the very nature of God Himself!
So, how much like God are we? How straight and true is our trajectory to putting on the image of Christ (Romans 8:29)? How much of the old man have we put off, and how much of the new man have we put on (Colossians 3:9-10)? Are we growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (II Peter 3:18)? Are we cooperating with God in being transformed to His image (Romans 12:2)? Are we making becoming more like Christ a daily goal (Luke 9:23)?
Though the Corinthians had their problems with carnality—as we all do—they worked to overcome them and began growing. Paul's final words to them in his second epistle should give us encouragement as we "work out [our] own salvation" (Philippians 2:12): "Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. . . .The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (II Corinthians 13:11, 14).
Friday, January 1, 2010
What Is Real Conversion? (Part Five)
The apostle Paul presents our marching orders directly. We are to sacrifice our bodies while we still live, that is, we are to submit ourselves wholly to God and to His way of life, which is only reasonable, since having redeemed us, He owns us completely. In addition, we are to reject this world's attempts to pull us back into its ungodly lifestyles, despite its many allurements. Instead, we are to engage in the transformation of our minds into perfect alignment with God's will.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Paul calls it "the renewing of your mind." This renewing is not making the mind new in the sense of time. For instance, to say one has a new bike suggests that it was recently purchased; someone else has not used it. The renewal of Romans 12:2, however, speaks to quality. We might understand it better by using the terms "refresh," "revive," or "rejuvenate." When a tool—say, a chisel—is old and dull, a craftsman will renew it by cleaning off the rust, sharpening the edge, and perhaps putting on a new handle. Essentially, this is what God is doing in renewing our minds. He is taking an old, ill-used mind, cleaning it, sharpening it, and putting it to use in His work.
Consider that another spirit has had many years to shape our minds to follow his way (Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9). Satan the Devil's way of life is that of pride, vanity, lust, greed, envy, deceit, murder, adultery, and covetousness—all the evil things that we are supposed to be putting off. While he had a hold on us, Satan impressed his ungodly way on our minds, but now God has called us and is now in us by His Spirit, transforming us, refreshing our minds, so that we can change the quality of our minds from carnal to spiritual. The transformation that we are undergoing will take us from the self-absorbed, degenerate, sensual mentality to the outgoing, pure righteousness of God's own mind.
The last part of Romans 12:2 can be paraphrased as, "so that you may test or experience all the benefits of His will." Without His mind being formed in us through the Holy Spirit, we would have no way of truly understanding His will or His way. Our minds must be transformed so that we can have even the capacity to understand the differences between God's way and Satan's way, as well as the overwhelming benefits of living as God prescribes. Only then, as it says in Deuteronomy 30:19, can we truly "choose life." This process is happening in us so that we can make the choices that will allow us to live eternally.
Paul covers this transformation of our minds in I Corinthians 2:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (I Corinthians 2:7-8)
Without the ability to distinguish between God's way and Satan's way, the leaders of Judea put their Savior to death. What He said and did was a mystery to them, as they had no basis within them to comprehend Him. Without God's Spirit working in them, they had no understanding and therefore no ability to make proper judgments. As we will see, truly converted Christians do.
But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (I Corinthians 2:9-10)
The apostle proclaims that, by God's Spirit, not only can we understand some of the things of God, but the Spirit is so powerful that we can plumb their very depths! Of course, we do not know these things just by having the Holy Spirit in us; we learn them over time and through much experience in using the Word of God (Hebrews 5:14). This is why conversion is largely a process, as transformation into Christ's image occurs over years of study and growth.
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (I Corinthians 2:11-14)
In verse 11, Paul explains the Spirit's work in us by an analogy. Just as the human spirit enables us to understand material things (Job 32:8), God's Spirit works on a similar but higher plane, allowing us to grasp spiritual matters, specifically, "that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God" (I Corinthians 2:12)—the benefits of doing God's will, as Romans 12:2 suggests. Of course, this spiritual insight sets us apart from people in the world, so we should not expect them to understand either our doctrines or practices. Frankly, Paul says, it is beyond them.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16)
At this juncture, the apostle reaches his goal in this passage: the subject of judging or discernment. With the Spirit working in us, we now have the ability to discern true from false, right from wrong, good from evil from God's perspective. By writing that "we have the mind [Greek nous] of Christ," Paul means that we can have the thoughts, intellect, or understanding of Christ! However, in this context, the meaning of nous is even more specific: "the faculty of judgment; the ability to discern." In other words, we can learn to judge just like Christ. This is overwhelming to consider, but it is ultimately the goal of the work of God's Spirit in us.
Obviously, this fact places tremendous responsibility on us, as well as an extraordinarily high goal before us. It requires us to exercise our spiritual faculties of understanding and judgment far more than we probably do, but what great purpose does not call for equally great effort?
Next time, we will tackle the daily grind of the conversion process.


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MRISG Members are Liars or Not?
Since May, 2009 the MRISG members and organisers have been intimidated, abused, spied upon, libeled and received legal threats from MacAnthony Realty International Directors and lawyers, Carter-Ruck. Although the Mirror Blog, Financial Mail, Olive Press, The Phoenix, The Times, Diarmaid Condon and Guardian/Observer have taken up the story, no one has yet done a full and in-depth investigation of MacAnthony's collapsed empire. Could it be that when they do report on MacAnthony's past property empire, they automatically receive legal threats for libel from MacAnthony's pet Lawyers, despite the lawyers being fully aware of the truth. It is worth knowing that not one of his spurious complaints has ever going to court or gone further than those initial empty threats. This situation has perpetuated because of the stupidity of UK Libel law and greed where corrupt commercial ventures are allowed to use people like Carter-Ruck to intimidate their victims to keep the corruption about their clients from the public and where the rich can buy their own justice: the greedy lawyers are always found face down in the trough. In the mean time MacAnthony has been free to pushes his own self publicity about his mediocre football team Peterborough United and his questionable charity work and self declaration to being an Entrepreneur and false Philanthropy.
The MRISG will soon expose the conspiracy of silence and inaction demonstrated by the UK Media and expose both Carter-Ruck and Darragh MacAnthony for their contempt for justice, truth and greed for money. Yet you will not see published anywhere cases where MacAnthony has lost court cases in Bulgaria, UK and Spain…. You run a search and you would believe MacAnthony to be a 'Saint' but the truth is far more sinister where corruption, money, body guards and his ego are his gods. The upcoming Court Case against MacAnthony and his Directors in Spain should reveal the depth of only part of the contempt and corporate corruption overseen by MacAnthony until December 2010. Yet will the UK mainstream media finally do their own investigations and reveal the extent of that corruption?
There are 1393 members of the Private Members Forum. Of those members over 700 have never posted their reasons for being on the forum so remain locked out of the main members area despite confirming on application to join the forum they are a victim of one or more of the MRI Group or Lawyers. These 700 members are broken down into three main groups:-
- those who are too frightened to speak up for fear of being intimidated by MacAnthony,
- those who are there to support the MRISG, including law enforcement agencies and Lawyers from around the world, and of course
- MacAnthony spies who have lied and hacked to get sight of the forum content to try and foil any legal action and to close the site down.
Of the 700 members who have been given full access to forum 143 have posted details of the sums of money lost having had dealings with MacAnthony's treacherous group of companies and lawyers. The amounts lost are worrying but are believed to be far less than the true total losses inflicted on victims:
|Min Loss
|Max Loss
|Total Losses
|143 People Voted meaning an Average loss of Between € 37,797.20 and € 73,355.64
Worldwide MacAnthony is suspected, by the MRISG, to have exploited tax law, company law, criminal law and civil law to maximize his wealth and victimise 'customers' yet to this date he has refused to address his 'customer's' complaints but instead has threatened, abused and intimidated them both legally and otherwise. Yet he continues to defy the truth and claims to be the victim of a smear campaign… by MRISG Members, this website and a Spanish Lawyer Antonio Flores. If there are so few disgruntled victims why not settle. The answer is believed to be two fold:-
- There are thousands of Victims and not a handful, and
- MacAnthony's very own inflated Ego and self belief.
MacAnthony the only reason this website exists is because you have failed to address your customers' concerns in the beginning and through greed or utter arrogance or both you chose to attack those customers instead of dealing with the problems turning them into your victims. Yet not once have you, your directors or lawyers contacted the Webmaster of this site to offer conciliation or commented on this blog to rebut any of the allegations. Can readers assume you agree with the comment and content.
MacAnthony you can employ as many On-line Reputation Companies and lawyers you like but this forum and website will continue to report on your activities and expose you to the wider public for what you are. The site is safe from your attacks despite being hacked by your unscrupulous lawyers, On-line Reputation Companies and less savoury individuals. You can employ as mane SEO companies as you like but this forum and website remains at the top of search engines and will remain there because real Web Developers and SEO experts have stepped forward and give their superior skills and services free because they feel that people like you should not be allowed to simply buy prominence and intimidate or abuse your victims.
The MRISG welcome your comments.
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony ordered to appear in court in Spain
Reported in the OlivePress MARCH 8, 2022
By Wendy Williams
PETERBOROUGH United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has been ordered to appear in court in Spain next month over fraud allegations.
The property millionaire is accused of selling nearly 50 British and Irish victims non-existent properties and furniture.
Last month over 40 victims travelled to Marbella to tell a judge how the football boss' company MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) failed to deliver over half a million euros of furniture to them.
Angry customers call for charges against holiday home tycoon
Full Report Independent.ie
By Fergal MacErlean
Thursday January 26 2012
A SPANISH judge will decide whether football club boss Darragh MacAnthony will face charges after a raft of complaints from disgruntled customers who claim furniture ordered from his firm never arrived.
MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) developed resorts in several countries from its Marbella headquarters and sold furniture packs to clients.
Hugely popular on the holiday market, MRI had hundreds of Irish customers and boasted an annual turnover greater than €100m before the credit crunch.
It made the 35-year-old Dubliner, who now owns Peterborough Football Club, a multi-millionaire.
However, a group of 51 Irish and British buyers claim that €492,000 worth of furniture, ordered more than five years ago for apartments in Morocco, Bulgaria and Cape Verde, was never delivered.
Antonio Flores, the Spanish lawyer acting for the group, claims "many other" MRI customers are affected. He alleges that missing furniture is just one of the irregularities linked to MRI, or related companies.
Read the full Report at Independent.ie

subset: commoncrawl


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The term soft drinks covers a wide range of beverages, usually carbonated, taking in things like colas and lemonades but also flavoured waters and sports drinks. It's important that when they're manufactured steps are taken to prevent soft drinks from becoming contaminated and to ensure that they reach the customer in peak condition.
The high sugar content makes this type of drink prone to mould or yeast, which means that their microbiology needs to be carefully managed during the production process. This applies whether making bottled, canned or draught soft drinks.
Production process
Soft drinks are popular, selling millions of litres each year, so the process used to make them is big business. The biggest portion of soft drinks is water and this is mixed with a syrup to form the finished drink.
The syrup is a mixture of essences, flavours and sugar, which goes through a clarification process to remove any crystals and other particles. This is added to the water, which itself will have gone through a comprehensive filtration process to remove microorganisms, yeast and mould to ensure it's free of contaminants.
The next step is to carbonate the drink. This involves adding carbon dioxide gas to give it its fizz. Again the CO2 needs to be checked to ensure it's free from contaminants. Obviously, non-carbonated drinks don't receive this step. Similar are carbonated and have water added as they're dispensed, not in the factory.
Once the drink is made, it needs to be packed for shipping. Again this process needs to ensure cleanliness at each stage. Draught drinks are usually supplied as syrup to which water and gas are added in the dispensing process. They're packed in bags within a box to protect them in transit.
Bottled and canned drinks are mixed in the factory, then undergo a filling process. Modern plastic bottles are supplied in a compressed form that is blown into shape before filling. Some places how ever will have pre made plastic bottles all ready to go that probably were made with a Plastic Moulding machine. Several products can be made with these so to see if it would benefit your company you might look at https://www.meadex.co.uk/materials/plastic/#moulding and ask any questions to enable them to do the best for you. Once again, attention to cleanliness is needed at all stages of the process in order to ensure the quality and purity of the finished product. This plus a reliable, stable and properly sealed container is essential to ensure that the final consumer receives the drink in the best possible condition.


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Wicked Blood (CD)
Hannah Lee (Abigail Breslin) is a bright teen girl trapped in the dark Southern underworld of violence and guns, drugs and vicious biker gangs. Neglected by her angry sister Amber (Alexa Vega), her only refuge is her troubled uncle Donny (Lew Temple) who is a drug addict. Both live in fear of "Uncle Frank" Stinson (Sean Bean) who runs the illegal family business with an iron fist, aided by his psychotic younger brother Bobby (Jake Busey). But when Amber falls in love with family rival Wild Bill (James Purefoy), Hannah realizes there is no escape from the ruthless Stinsons and cleverly schemes to pit one pawn against another in a cunning game of revenge.
Elia Cmiral, best known for his classic Ronin (1998), here delivers a beautiful score centered around evocative and rural writing for guitar and piano. An exciting new sound and direction for the versatile Cmiral.
Limited Edition of 1000 copies
Tracklist1. Opening (2:31)
2. Broken Dreams (1:51)
3. Bike Ride (1:54)
4. In Relation (2:11)
5. Hannah Kills Bobby (2:18)
6. Remember Dad (2:02)
7. Bobby Visits Amber (2:19)
8. Move On (:59)
9. Frank Gets Complaints (2:03)
10. Bobby Beats Amber (1:40)
11. What's The Matter (2:05)
12. Hannah's Request (2:44)
13. Hannah And Amber (1:47)
14. Bobby's Rage (1:13)
15. Hannah's Theme (1:26)
16. Garage Shootout (4:03)
17. Hannah's Plot (1:49)
18. Donny's Dead (3:46)
Contact Us
To follow-up on previously placed orders or on ordering new items, please contact Second City Prints:
- By Email: firstname.lastname@example.com (Include first and last name, address (including zip code), telephone number and order number (if available).
If you want to write to us, please send all correspondence to:
Varese Sarabande Records
5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Shipping Methods and Costs
Varese Sarabande offers Media Mail, USPS First-Class, and USPS Priority Mail for orders shipped within the US. For international orders. including Canada, products will ship USPS International.
Shipping costs vary greatly and are calculated at checkout depending on weight, destination, and shipping method. To calculate your shipping cost, simply add items to your Cart, enter your shipping address, and proceed to checkout. You will then be provided with the shipping methods and costs associated with your shipping address.
Orders shipped outside of the United States may be subject to import taxes, customs duties and fees levied by the destination country. Additional charges for customs clearance must be fulfilled by the recipient; Varese Sarabande has no control over these charges, nor can we predict what they may be. Applicable customs and duty charges at the point of delivery are to be borne by the buyer.
We comply fully with the regulations imposed by US Customs & Border Protection and thus cannot declare your order as a "gift" or with a lesser value than is required.
Please note that we are unable to ship to all countries listed on USPS' International Service Alerts page.
Customs policies vary widely from country to country; you should contact your local customs office for more information. When customs clearance procedures are required, it can cause delays beyond our original delivery estimates.
Estimated Shipping Times
Most orders are expected to ship from our facility within 2-3 business days unless an item is on backorder or pre-order. A package of multiple items will not ship until all items are available and in stock. Once your order ships, you should receive a shipping confirmation email which will include tracking information.
Shipping times vary greatly based on shipping method and location. However, estimated shipping times are as follows. Please note that these shipping times are estimates, not guarantees.
Media Mail: 2-8 Business Days*
USPS First-Class: 2-3 Business Days
USPS Priority Mail: 1-3 Business Days
USPS International Shipping: 5-30 Business Days
FedEx International Economy: 2-5 Business Days
*While most Media Mail shipments are delivered within 8 days of shipping, it may take up to 30 days to reach your destination. This is especially true for residents of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and APO addresses.
If you have not received your order within 48 hours of the tracking information claiming that it has been delivered, please contact your local post office and provide them with the tracking number associated with your order. Most of the time, these packages are either dropped off at an unexpected location at your address, are being held at your local postal carrier office, or are with one of your close neighbors. If the post office is not able to find your items, please contact us at email@example.com and we would be happy to assist you further!
Sales Tax
We only charge sales tax to customers who reside in Texas. The sales tax rate is equivalent to the rate set by that particular state.
Return Policy
Within 30 days of receipt of your order, you may return any of the following items under the stated conditions:
- Any unopened media (music CD, vinyl record, DVD) will be granted a full refund of the purchase price.
- Any non-media merchandise, (t-shirt, mug etc.) that is in new condition accompanied by its original packaging and accessories, will be granted a full refund of the purchase price.
- Any defective merchandise of any kind can only be exchanged for an exact copy of the defective item. Cosmetic imperfections to plastic CD cases, or minor seam splits to sealed LP jackets, minor scuffs to packaging, etc., are not considered defective.
- Any order with the wrong product enclosed can be exchanged for the correct product.
All items should be returned with a note which indicates your order number and the reason for the return. Please wrap the package securely. For your protection, we recommend that you use USPS with tracking, (if available). Varese will reimburse your return shipping cost only for items being returned due to our error (defective product or wrong product sent).
Please send returns to:
Second City Prints // Varese Sarabande
1020 Olympic Dr
Batavia, IL 60510
We will notify you via e-mail of your refund once we have received and processed the returned item. Refunds will be credited to your account within approximately 10 business days from the date the return is received. The credit may be reflected in your account on your next statement depending on the issuing bank and/or billing cycle. Please note that we can only process returns and refunds for items purchased from VareseSarabande.com.
Every record is inspected before it is packed and shipped using the highest quality materials. We stand behind every record that leaves our warehouse. We are not responsible for damages that occur while your package is in transit. Depending on the severity of the damage, we will try to accommodate replacement requests provided with photos of the damages. Please note that some of our limited edition products may no longer be in stock to be replaced. In cases where a replacement is warranted but not available, store credit will be issued in the amount of the product. Please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com
All pre-orders are charged at the time of the order. Unless otherwise indicated on the product page, any pre-order is fully refundable up until 2 business days before street date, at which point the product may have shipped. Some specialty items such as "made to order" product are not refundable. In those instances, notations will be made on the product page for complete transparency. Once a pre-ordered product has been shipped, it falls under the general 30 day return policy listed above.
Login/Password/Account Issues
Varese Sarabande launched a brand new eCommerce platform and payment processor in April 2015. As a result, we were unable to port over user account information such as credit card numbers, past purchase history, and passwords. If you haven't created a new account since April 2015, unfortunately you will need to create a new account. Only an email address and password is required. If you have created an account since April 2015, double-check you are correctly spelling your email address and/or password. Click the "forgot your password?" button to easily reset your password. For help relating to an unrecognized email address you are certain is linked to your account, please contact Awesome Distribution. at firstname.lastname@example.com or (512) 456-3445 (Monday to Friday 8:30AM CST – 5:00PM CST, closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays).
Digital Downloads
Lossless digital downloads are made available in your choice of MP3, WAV, ALAC or FLAC. Purchased albums are delivered via email on release date and can be downloaded up to three times with no DRM restrictions.
Please note that digital audio downloads only contain audio files and do not contain any liner notes, booklets or physical/digital versions of printed media available in other formats.


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It's good practice to check your credit report and credit score to see where you stand before applying for a loan. However, the credit score you see is unlikely to be the same one your lender uses when making a decision on your creditworthiness. Both scores likely are accurate, but lenders use specialized scores calculated differently depending on the type of loan.
While this means you won't be seeing exactly what the lender sees, it's still generally a good idea to review your credit report and credit score to gauge how likely you are to be approved or if you should work on your credit more before you apply. However, don't get your mind set on a specific interest rate or even on guaranteed loan approval based on a credit score you purchased over the internet. Use the score to gauge your general credit rating and don't forget that lenders consider other factors besides your credit.
The Credit Scores Lenders Use
The score you pulled from the credit bureaus or another third-party provider was an educational credit score, provided just to give you a perspective on your credit standing. They're not the scores that lenders actually use to approve your application. Services that provide credit scores include this information in their disclaimers.
On top of that, you likely purchased a generic credit score that covers a range of credit products. Creditors and lenders use more specific industry credit scores customized for the type of credit product you're applying for. For example, auto lenders typically use a credit score that better predicts the likelihood that you would default on an auto loan. Mortgage lenders use a score developed specifically for mortgage loans. Your lender also might also use a proprietary credit score that's developed for use by just that company.
Many lenders use the FICO score, but even the score you receive through myFICO may be different from what your lender sees. Some lenders also use VantageScore, but again, their version is different from yours.
The score the lender pulls might differ from the one you used sometimes by several points, possibly enough to disqualify you from the best interest rate or maybe enough to have your application denied. When you order your credit report and score from myFICO, you'll receive access to the most widely used FICO industry scores. This will give the best idea of what the lender sees when they check your credit score.
Credit Report Discrepancies
There are two common reasons why the information in your copy of your credit report might be different from the information in your lender's copy. There are three major credit bureaus, which means there are three versions of your report. Plus, data may have been updated in the time between you pulled your report and when your lender pulled it.
Minor discrepancies among your credit reports from the three credit bureaus can be attributed to factors such as the timing of updated data, but it's a good idea to monitor all three reports. A major discrepancy often is a red flag in need of immediate attention.
The three credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each is collecting the same information about your credit history, but it's not uncommon for there to be slight variations among the different reports. If, for example, you pulled a copy of your Experian report and your lender is looking at your TransUnion report, the data may not be identical.
Changes to your credit report also might explain major variations. If it's been several days or weeks since you accessed your credit report, changes in data might lead to updated information. If the score you pulled is based on one credit report, and the lender's is based on another, there will be differences due to differences in data between the two reports. It's also possible the score the lender is using is based on all three of your credit reports.
Required Disclosures
If a lender denies your application or approves you with less favorable terms because of your credit score, it is required to send you a copy of that credit report and score. If you're applying for a mortgage, the lender must provide you with a copy of the credit score used to qualify you for the loan.
Remember that your credit score is based on your credit report. Before applying for a loan, review your credit reports to be sure the data on each of them is accurate. Take care of past due balances and errors before you apply for the loan to be sure your credit is in the best shape possible.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do you check your credit score?
Federal law guarantees everyone the right to check their credit score once per year with each major credit bureau. You can request these reports online or call 1-877-322-8228. You can also use third-party credit monitoring services that track any changes in your credit score, but you may have to pay for those services.
Will my credit score go down when a lender checks my credit?
Your credit score may decrease after a lender checks your credit, but the negative impact won't be too significant as long as it's only a single check. Some lenders only do a soft check that won't hurt your score at all, but you should generally expect lenders to perform a hard credit inquiry. Your credit score will drop more noticeably if you apply with many lenders at once and they all perform hard credit checks.


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What's in my Garage? 2010 WG HD
I am 26 and have been riding since I was 14. Started like most kids on dirt bikes and then progressed to crotch rockets. But things changed when the year 2002 came around and my Dad brought home his brand new Electric Glide HD. I new at that time in my life crotch rockets are out and HD was in!Just being a honest rider I stuck with the dirt bikes and crotch rockets it was what I could afford and what I could borrow from my friends. Where I am from at that time it was a lot of getting drunk and doing drugs. So doing these certain kind of activities it slowed down my riding and hanging with the family. When 2005 came around I decided to straight out my life. The best way at that time was to totally get away from where I lived and who was around me. So, I joined the Army. I went on to OSUT at FT. Sill Oklahoma, graduated from Ft. Sill in January 2006, moved on to Ft Hood TX, deployed to Iraq October 2006 came back state side January 2008, deployed to Iraq again January 2009 and came back again to state side January 2010. Finally at that time in my life that was filled with a permanent job security, wife, house, and a daughter! I decided to get a 2010 Wideglide HD and finally get back on the saddle again. I had to PCS to Ft. Bliss TX about 2 months after I got the bike so I have been out here taking rides here and there with other fellow Soldiers. Pretty disappointed in what I have been seeing out here at Bliss and also my Odometer on my Wideglide. So if you want to ride or send some routes my way please do.
joarmy321 has been a member of our motorcycle community for 12 years, 95 days. joarmy321's home location for riding is El Paso, TX.
The best of the best. These folks have ridden and shared more roads than any other ORJ member this month.
Road Trips & Trip Planner:
Bike Routes, Roads, and Maps:


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Work for us
It is an exciting time to be at the Kirana Education family, as we continue to grow there are a variety of roles that are immediately available around Australia.
- E-learning Content Developers – Contract
- Online VET Teacher – Aged Care and Disability
- Curriculum Coordinator – Generalist (Business, Warehouse, Retail and Fitness)
- Curriculum Coordinator – Community Services, Aged Care + Disability, Counselling
- Curriculum Coordinator – Early Childhood Education and Care
- Contract Trainer and Assessors
- VET Teacher – Aged Care, Disability and/or Community Services
- Contract Trainer and Assessors
- Business Development Manager
- Contract Trainer and Assessors
- Business Development Manager
- Contract Trainer and Assessors
If you'd like to contribute to helping us change the world through any of these roles, apply today. You're welcome to submit your CV and application letter in response to any particular role. If you believe what you've got to offer is so compelling that you're not willing to wait to see the right role available, call us direct on 1300 885 791 or submit your CV and application now.
In your introductory letter please outline your abilities and skills, your passions, hopes and expectations, and where and how you believe you can make a difference and contribute towards changing the world.
We can't promise everyone a job, but we promise every application received with an introductory letter will be responded to. CVs not accompanied by this letter will not receive any response and will not be considered for a position.
Apply now. Please only submit PDF documents.


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Appointments for individuals 5+ can be booked through the provincial vaccine booking site, or by calling 1-833-943-3900 from 8 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week.
Due to limited supply, HPEPH will initially be prioritizing available bivalent vaccine for residents and workers at identified highest-risk facilities. Some HPEPH vaccination clinics MAY offer the bivalent vaccine, as availability allows. Vaccine clinics in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties will continue to offer monovalent vaccines (the same mRNA vaccines given as the primary series) for all eligible individuals until a steady supply of the bivalent vaccine is available.
Visit the HPEPH vaccine booking web page for details.
Symptoms or exposure? Visit www.ontario.ca/exposed for the most up to date information about what to do.
For the most up to date information on current provincial restrictions, visit https://covid-19.ontario.ca/public-health-measures.
The Ministry of Health has launched a new toll-free line as an additional resource to help answer questions from the public regarding evolving COVID-19 testing and isolation guidance. The line can be reached at 1-888-777-0730, and is available from 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week.


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The Map
There was a map
upon my table
coated in
weather-proof plastic.
With time on my hands and
dirt under my nails
I trailed my finger along its
A-roads until they reached
their conclusion
at the papers edge.
The clock struck 12 .
I turned to see
but while I bowed my neck
the map began to shake.
Without warning it grew beneath me.
It rose from its synthetic casing
and broke through my studys walls
in an explosion
of swelling grid lines.
I lost my footing
and dropped to the ground.
The new real red-road
felt firm under foot
but flowed like a river and
twisting with an uncertain desire,
It tossed and turned me to
an unknown quarter.
When I arose
I saw the maps borders
had vanished
over the horizon.
Above me
an enormous compass
hung in the sky
like a stray balloon.
Its sharp needle skipped
one way then the next,
as if at the whim of the wind,
pointing me in
a multitude of directions.
I ran,
half through fear
and half through passion
but the landscape curved,
dived and leapt
at the Norths shifting impulse.
I could not stop so
I stumbled between sandy bunkers,
Ox-bow lakes
and crossed church spires.
But they all lead to spilt ink fields
and I was left unsatisfied.
Tiring of the search
I settled on the curved forest.
Even though I could not see
beneath its muffled, triangle top.
it looked appealing.
Flirtatious contours
bent towards its rim
and beckoned in my direction
before they slipped inside.
I looked up at the compass
but its needle was now missing
and it hung there,
blank like a dead sun.
I took the first step
and followed the contours
but not without first
sparing a thought for
the nearby canal,
wishing we were more alike.


text:
Salinas' Martin brothers have summer to remember
When Alex and Sterling Martin see each other at the starting line before a race, they know it's serious time, and they won't hold back against each other.
The Salinas twins, both motorcycle racers, have shined on dirt tracks throughout the state.
As school takes over their lives starting now, the 10-year-olds will have plenty of moments to share with friends, classmates and teachers.
Earlier this month, the twins finished first and second in the AMA Youth National Speedway Championship at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn.
Sterling Martin finished first in the national championship, and Alex Martin was second in a close battle for the top spot.
"The experience is a once-in-a-lifetime deal," Sterling said.
The trophies Sterling and Alex received in the awards ceremony were nearly as tall as them.
The twins have been racing for about five years, although Alex said it feels like all 10 years they've been alive. Veterans on the track, they combined to reach the podium in nearly every race they've entered this year.
To win the national championship, they had to compete at Fast Fridays, where both of them said it's trickier than other tracks they go to on a regular basis.
"It's harder to get around people," Alex said of the Auburn track. "In Southern Califronia it's pretty easier. You can bonzai around people on the outside."
The championship was decided by total points after five rounds of racing. Sterling scored a perfect 15 points. Alex had 14 points.
And there wasn't much turnaround time for the twins to get ready for that race in Auburn.
Five days earlier, they competed in the AMA/FIM Youth Silver Cup Championship at the Grand Industry Hills Expo Center in the City of Industry.
Sterling took first place in his division, winning the championship for a third time.
"I knew if I kept on scoring points and kept on getting first I could do it," Sterling said. "If I didn't crash and made solid rides each time I would make first."
Alex, competing in his first Silver Cup race, was third.
"It was my first experience and it was enjoyable," Alex said.
The brothers said the best part about racing is getting on the track and competing.
They were taught by their father, Steve, who was a former racer himself.
And they want to see each other succeed.
"When we're getting ready to start, what's going through my mind is who's going to win, me or Sterling," Alex said. "I hope for the best that we both get a good place or a first and second finish."
With the twins into fifth grade at Lincoln School, they know the twilight of the 2015 racing season has arrived.
But perhaps it's ideal timing. They've spent nearly every weekend during the summer taking family trips up and down the state competing.
Friends at school have praised them for their success.
"They've said, 'I hope to be on the podium with you next year,'" Alex said.


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Internships: A Win-Win for Students and Employers
[Note: Today's guest post is provided by four members of MASU's Career Services Directors Committee.]
There is a lot of talk today about internships. Parents want to know, "What should my student major in to get the best internships?" Students ask, "I heard that I should be looking for an internship, where and how do I start?" Employers indicated in the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2017 Internship and Co-Op report that they transitioned 51.3% of their interns into full-time employees within their organizations. This strategy suggests that over half of the positions are already filled, prior to employers posting their full-time opportunities more broadly. Since employers are using internships as a "pre-recruiting" tool, students between their junior and senior year are highly sought. In Michigan, DTE Energy has a comprehensive internship program, recruiting students on many campuses throughout the state. Their internship pool provides DTE with 80% of its new hires.
Sophomores, and even some first-year students, also secure internship opportunities, but their fields of interest and skill sets also play into their marketability. For example, Ashley Bone, a human resources recruiter for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, welcomes college freshmen to apply for internships after completing just two semesters of academic work. "Students benefit from exploring multiple disciplines within their chosen area of study while in school. Students who only pursue internship opportunities in their junior year really limit the exposure they have to real world experiences which are so important in shaping their job searches."
The career centers at Michigan's 15 public universities devote a significant proportion of time to educating students about internships, how to be competitive candidates, providing opportunities through their recruiting portals, and hosting campus interviews and job fairs. More and more institutional funding is being made available to support students who may need additional assistance if, for example, they find themselves in areas with higher costs of living for housing or transportation. At Western Michigan University, 89% of their undergraduate programs either require or recommend internships as part of a student's academic experience.
Campus career centers work closely with organizations that may not have previously offered internships, but plan to in the future. Career center staff have the expertise to assist employers with developing job descriptions, identify ways to recruit students, schedule campus visits to promote their organizations, and connect to faculty and student organizations in their targeted areas of interest. Support is also available through the Michigan Career Educators and Employer Alliance (MCEEA).
University career centers prepare students to consider all the opportunities that exist in an internship. Certainly learning about a position or industry through project work provides clarity to students and helps them develop a focus on particular interest areas. Additionally, career centers help students understand the skills employers seek in their employees. Drawing on the NACE competencies of problem solving, leadership, professionalism/work ethic, oral/written communication, collaboration/team work, intercultural fluency, and career management, staff assist students with understanding their strengths and areas for development as they enter their internships. Students' ability to apply skills in professional settings allows them to understand the relevance of their curricular and co-curricular experiences in "real world" situations.
When students return to campus after their internships, they are better able to understand the connections between their academic pursuits, skills they are developing and their career paths. Drake, a University of Michigan student, explains, "My internships taught me technical skills (e.g. Excel, corporate platforms such as ADP), how to use my interpersonal skills with senior staff, and succeed in a corporate setting. I was motivated to perform well on school work in order to get a prestigious full-time position." Internship experiences enhance the classroom experience, too. An engineering student at Michigan Tech reflected, "This experience has been the best thing I have ever done. I learned way more than I thought, and I got real world experience while I am only halfway through school. Now, everything I do every day seems meaningful and important, and I enjoy every moment. If I was offered to do this again I would not hesitate to say 'yes.'"
Internships also serve as motivation to excel. Once students experience success in real-world settings they understand the importance of developing professionally. Shane Stout, a graduate of Saginaw Valley State University, brought his GPA above a 3.0 and maintained it, after his first internship experience. "Without taking that first internship, he may have failed altogether," said SVSU career services director Mike Major. "That experience changed him."
Prepared candidates are what employers are seeking. Employers are looking for students who are a "good fit" with their organization and culture. Exposure to the world of work also matters to students. Whether a student interns, or participates in a program developed for freshmen and sophomores (i.e., week-long experiences over campus break periods) to introduce them to the world of work, learning is taking place. Learning through experience can also have an impact on selecting a major, minor, elective classes, or co-curricular involvement. The goal is to move students to a new level of career maturity.
Finally, one student's experience perfectly encapsulates the point of university internships:
"I have seen myself grow in these four months. My experience taught me how to operate in a real world business setting, work with multiple generations of people from diverse backgrounds, not only communicate effectively with more superior adults, but also make my voice and ideas heard. I know how to take initiative and provide solid data to back up the choices I make, and carry myself as a professional who knows how to act… I am not a young millennial struggling to find my way."
Kerin Borland is the Director of the Career Center at the University of Michigan. She can be reached at email@example.com.
Lynn Kelly-Albertson is the Executive Director of Career and Student Employment Services at Western Michigan University. She can be reached at email@example.com.
Mike Major is Director of Career Services at Saginaw Valley State University. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Steve Patchin is the Director of the Career Center at Michigan Technological University. He can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
No president chasing re-election runs alone.
His Cabinet secretaries fan out across swing states, bearing money for local schools or hurricane relief. White House staffers cater to key constituencies. A platoon of federal employees trumpets accomplishments, large and small.
This crowd comes courtesy of the taxpayer, a perk of the office — just like free trips on Air Force One — so long as there is a veneer of official business.
If President Bush's re-election bid differs from recent predecessors, it's a matter of degree. Some say Bush has elevated the routine milking of government resources to an art form.
"He's just better at it," said Paul Light, professor of public service at New York University. "Bush has a mastery of this perquisite that no previous president had, and he uses it to extreme."
Not surprisingly, Democrats grouse about the thousands of miles Bush Cabinet members have logged visiting political battlegrounds. While they travel, vice presidential candidate John Edwards asks, "Who's minding the store?"
Vice President Dick Cheney had similar complaints in 2000, when the shoe was on the other foot. As Bush's running mate, Cheney expressed outrage that then-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers had "jumped right in with both feet in the partisan debate" with comments supportive of Democratic nominee Al Gore.
Cheney noted that Treasury secretaries — like the leaders of the State, Defense and Justice departments — traditionally stay mostly above the election fray.
That was then.
Nowadays, Cheney isn't complaining about Treasury Secretary John Snow's frequent flights, almost exclusively to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and other states key to this year's presidential race.
Working or campaigning?
Last week, Snow visited Lancaster, Pa., and Tampa and Orlando, Fla., "to discuss the president's efforts to strengthen the economy and create jobs," according to his office. Snow says he's doing his job, not campaigning.
There are risks in sending presidential surrogates onto the field: Sometimes they fumble. In Ohio, Snow declared it a "myth" that the nation has lost jobs under Bush, and John Kerry jumped on the comment as evidence the administration was out of touch.
The Kerry camp is also criticizing Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, for a final-days spate of speeches in battleground states. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser to President Carter, called Rice's speeches "excessive politicization of an office which is unusually sensitive."
The White House said Rice was performing her duty of explaining the administration's war policies.
More attention given to battleground states
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says his department doesn't "do politics." Yet over the past seven months, nearly three-fifths of his public events beyond the Washington area were in the 17 states considered the most hotly contested.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., has asked the Government Accountability Office, a congressional agency, to investigate whether political considerations played a role in trips by Ridge, Rice or Snow.
Others among the 15-member Cabinet doing quasi-stumping include Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale Norton.
Like the president himself, they like to herald federal goodies — a strategy dating at least to Carter.
Chao hands out job-training money, such as $10 million for a church-based program in Jacksonville, Fla. Veneman's grants include $207 million to clean up drinking water for Columbus, Ohio. Norton announced, only weeks before Election Day, a new wildlife refuge in Minnesota and a new national park in Colorado — both projects in the works for years.
Commerce Secretary Don Evans is especially effusive. In Cincinnati, he assured a Realtors' group that "President Bush is a steady, principled, determined and decisive leader." On the other hand, "the president's critics offer higher taxes and a larger federal government."
Even career federal employees — who are forbidden by law from politicking — are drawn into work that dovetails with campaign messages.
The Treasury Department analyzed Kerry's tax proposal, and its findings were posted on a Republican Party Web site.
The Health and Human Services Department spent millions promoting Bush's prescription drug plan with what Democrats called thinly disguised campaign commercials.
Presidents increasingly set up White House outreach offices to cater to their base of support, such as Bush's office for faith-based initiatives, said Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. "You can't separate the politics from the policy," she said.
Over time, such efforts may attract new supporters, Light said. But he doubts Cabinet speeches have much effect in the final weeks of a heated race.
"At this late date you could throw the entire 3,000 appointees out there on a bus tour and it wouldn't make much difference," Light said.
"The only thing that could make a difference now is if (Health and Human Services Secretary) Tommy Thompson went on the road with 10,000 doses of flu vaccine."


text:
TRIIBE ORGANICS mindfully produces the highest quality herbal supplements from ancient traditions for the pace of modern living.
But don't mistake us for a supplement company.
TRIIBE is the drumming. The heartbeat. The adventure that calls you forward into the real. The genuine. The true. The life you've always been meaning to live.
The Explorer & the Magician.
"It was a gray, mid-afternoon in New York City. I had spent all night spinning tracks at a club in Williamsburg. My throat was sore. My ears were ringing. There was an empty flash of light whenever I closed my eyes. From the outside, I looked to have it made. Established career. Nice apartment in a world-class city. But this wasn't my life. It was someone else's. I'd just suddenly woken up inside it. In a world awash in noise, Victor and I started TRIIBE to keep us tracking to what's important: awareness, balance, and performance."
- Eduardo Oliver | Mindful CEO, volcano seeker.
"My life started once I decided to quit. As an engineer at one of the world's largest construction companies, everything I had done up until that point was about making it. Schools. Exams. Networking. By every worldly measure, I'd succeeded. Just not in the one area where it counts. A horrific car accident allowed me to realize that I'd been living someone else's life. And now there was no choice but to understand what it meant—for me—to be alive. Eduardo and I started TRIIBE to give people the tools, the encouragement, and the support necessary to retain the integrity of your true direction."
- Victor Galan | Soulful COO, world traveler.
We don't believe in supplements. A "supplement" denotes a lack, something amiss in you. We believe you're always exactly as you should be. The reason you might not always feel that way is because of the external static—the media, politics, and technologies that are so out of whack.
As the world drowns in the noise of itself, your TRIIBE keeps you tracking to what's important—giving you the tools, the encouragement, and the support to retain the integrity of your true direction. Awareness. Balance. Essence.
We're currently looking for warriors to help amplify our message. You ready?
From the Sanskrit words "ayur," meaning life, and veda," meaning knowledge, Ayurveda is the science of life based on the Vedas, the Hindu books of knowledge and wisdom. More than four thousand years old, Ayurveda is perhaps the most complete system of living, embracing not only medicine, but also philosophy, psychology, lifestyle, and health.
Ayurveda is a holistic science of health, focusing on maintaining a physically and emotionally balanced state. Ayurveda began about 5,000 – 6,000 years ago when Indian monks were looking for new ways to be healthy. Revering their bodies like temples, the monks believed that preserving their health would help them meditate and develop spiritually. Over thousands of years of observations, they gathered all their conclusions and advice and preserved it for future generations. This collection of knowledge came to be known as the "science or knowledge of life."
In Ayurveda, every individual is unique and there is no diet or lifestyle routine that works for everyone. Prevention is key. Ayurveda focuses on providing specific advice and guidance on how to maintain physical and emotional health. Food and lifestyle routines are considered the most important medicine. If you come to an Ayurvedic doctor with a complaint, you are more likely to leave with a recipe than with a prescription for pills.
And it's from this ancient wisdom that TRIIBE makes its products.
Service to All
Full Commitment to Quality
Love and Respect to Mother Nature
Being True to Who we Are
Our wish is to help educate these values to our planet's future inhabitants and everyone else in conscious ways by providing organic products that are derived sustainably to enhance our mind, body, and inner energies. To help make all the members of TRIIBE enjoy the greatest adventure of all: Life.
That's our commitment!


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from the Smoky River Express:
With a shortage of qualified water and wastewater operators in the north, Northern Lakes College now offers online training for that work.
Water / wastewater operator preparation program level 1 starts in September.
"The program meets entry-level training requirements with Alberta Environment and no other courses are required to be able to take the provincial certification exam," says Brianne Nettelfield, continuing education and corporate training liaison, based in Peace River.
"Communities are continuously searching for qualified individuals to fill the complex roles of water and wastewater treatment plant operators, water distribution system operators and wastewater collection system operators."
The course is the first of the course in the north.
"Most of the time, people had to travel south to Edmonton for training and take time away from work and family," Nettelfield says. "Now they can get all the training they need right at home."
The course is a preparation program and does not provide certification.
Students completing the components of the program that lead to certification will have to write the exam with Alberta Environment.
NLC and ATAP Infrastructure Management Ltd. have partnered to deliver the program that will address critical demand for training in northern Alberta.
Read the full article here.


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Lusher, Dean< Back to all Authors
2012 | 2013 | December 2013 | 4 November 2018 | 17 April 2019 | 9 October 2020
Spaaij, Ramon, Farquharson, Karen, Lusher, Dean, Gorman, Sean, Jeanes, Ruth, Magee, Jonathan, Marjoribanks, Timothy and Morrissey, James (2012) Managing diversity in recreational sport organisations. In: Proceedings of 'Emerging and Enduring Inequalities', the Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference (TASA 2012), St Lucia, Queensland, Australia, 26-29 November 2012. The Australian Sociological Association.
Jeanes, Ruth, Magee, Jonathan, Spaaij, Ramon, Farquharson, Karen, Gorman, Sean, Lusher, Dean and Morrisey, James (2012) Providing for the community? Examining junior sports clubs and provision for young disabled people. In: Making a Difference in Leisure, Sport, Tourism & Hospitality: Exploring diversity, equity and social change, 26 November 2012, University of Technology, Sydney. (Unpublished)
Magee, Jonathan, Jeanes, Ruth, Spaaij, Ramon, Farquharson, Karen, Lusher, Dean and Gorman, Sean (2013) 'It costs us to be a diverse sports club: Junior sports clubs and provision for young disabled people'. In: Understanding leisure in a complex world: Promoting a Critical Leisure Studies, 11th Biennial ANZALS Conference, 4-6 December 2013, Monash University, Peninsula campus, Australia. (Unpublished)
Farquharson, Karen, Spaaij, Ramon, Jeanes, Ruth, Magee, Jonathan and Lusher, Dean (2013) 'It's the resources of having someone available': Valuing and managing diversity in junior sport. In: TASA Conference 2013 : Reflections, Intersections and Aspirations 50 years of Australian Sociology, 25-28 November 2013, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
December 2013
Spaaij, Ramon, Farquharson, Karen, Magee, Jonathan, Jeanes, Ruth, Lusher, Dean and Gorman, Sean (2013) A Fair Game for All? How Community Sports Clubs in Australia Deal With Diversity. Journal of Sport and Social Issues. ISSN 0193-7235 (print) 1552-7638 (online)
4 November 2018
Jeanes, Ruth, Spaaij, Ramon ORCID: 0000-0002-1260-3111, Magee, Jonathan, Farquharson, Karen, Gorman, Sean and Lusher, Dean (2018) Developing participation opportunities for young people with disabilities? Policy enactment and social inclusion in Australian junior sport. Sport in Society. ISSN 1743-0437
17 April 2019
Spaaij, Ramon ORCID: 0000-0002-1260-3111, Lusher, Dean, Jeanes, Ruth, Farquharson, Karen, Gorman, Sean and Magee, Jonathan (2019) Participation-performance tension and gender affect recreational sports clubs' engagement with children and young people with diverse backgrounds and abilities. PLoS ONE, 14 (4). ISSN 1932-6203
9 October 2020
Jeanes, Ruth, Spaaij, Ramon ORCID: 0000-0002-1260-3111, Farquharson, Karen, McGrath, Georgia, Magee, Jonathan, Lusher, Dean and Gorman, Sean (2020) Gender Relations, Gender Equity, and Community Sports Spaces. Journal of Sport and Social Issues. ISSN 0193-7235


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When they hit the scene back in 2006, the TechShop business model had everything going for it: a fitness gym-like membership program for the use of manufacturing and other shop equipment.
For many urban-dwelling designers or engineers, the wide open shop floors provided a haven to work on weekend projects and use industrial machinery. For educators and parents attempting to introduce children to STEM skills, the friendly facility became an indispensable classroom.
Sadly, the business model proved to be unprofitable for those involved, and today, TechShop CEO Jim Newton announced that all TechShop locations are closing immediately. Anybody with existing memberships to the company is instructed to email the trustee handling the bankruptcy process (firstname.lastname@example.com).
TechShop—like the many projects that came out of it—was the result of multiple iterations across what would become a total of ten US locations and four international locations. From community engagement to educational programs, the locations also functioned as local community centers for discovering laser cutting, 3D printing, and numerous other digital fabrication technologies that have unfolded over the past decade.
"I'm very proud of what my team and I did to build TechShop," says Newton. "I'm very sad that we were not able to make TechShop into a sustainable business. It is my prayer that each of the people we touched will take those little sparks they received while they worked on their dreams at TechShop, and turn them into their own grand experiment."
In total, TechShop provided access to over $1.41 million of high-quality tools and machinery
to its users for a membership fee of less than $4 per day. With over 9,000 active members across all of their locations, the company estimates that they engaged over 100,000 individuals since opening.
Find out more over at TechShop.


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Open for business outside Quebec City, Hotel de Glace is apparently North America's only hotel made entirely from snow and ice. Built in the winters, the hotel is built with a new design every year. It takes 60 workers a month working with 15,000 tons of snow and 500,000 tons of ice to sculpt the hotel.
The hotel has up to 36 rooms, a bar and an ice chapel. The hotel is constructed using metal molds and is let to harden in the cold winter air for a few days before the supports are withdrawn and the hotel is ready for use.
Rooms are topped with mattresses, deer pelts, and then arctic sleeping bags to keep guests warm, but of course, the temperatures remain low and the hotel advises guests to wear three layers of clothing and use outdoor spas and saunas to warm up before going to bed.
Via Inhabitat


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Air Force beats NAIA-member McPherson College 88-71
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) Hayden Graham scored 16 points and Air Force beat NAIA-member McPherson College 88-71 on Friday night.
Air Force went on a 19-2 run in the first half to take control and led 45-31 at the break.
Frank Toohey and Zach Kocur added 14 points apiece for Air Force (1-0). Graham was 7 of 11 from the field and grabbed five rebounds. The Falcons made 28 of 50 field-goal attempts and 24 of 46 free throws.
The Falcons, who returned 13 letterman and all five starters, have won 10 straight season openers at home dating to the 1991-92 season.
Chris Crook scored 18 points for McPherson (4-1) and Grant Raleigh added 12. The Bulldogs hit 12 of 34 3-pointers (35.3 percent) but went to the free-throw line 25 fewer times than the Falcons.


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Heatwave Foil Pen Video
Heatwave Foil Pen
This heat activated foil pen is perfect for giving your work a brilliant metallic signature that won't rub off. Designed for adding foil accents to all types of craft, home décor and more, you can write freehand or use stencils, dies and templates when transferring the foil to your work. Battery operated so there aren't any cords to get in your way, the Heatwave pen has a wide tip for broader coverage making it perfect for signing most sizes of work.
Shop now
Shop now


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Monday, July 9, 2012
Book Shelf: Before I Wake (Soul Screamers #6) by Rachel Vincent
More info: Goodreads
Review: (Warning, contains some spoilers from previous books in the series!)
Rachel Vincent's Before I Wake kicks off the 6th instalment of her Soul Screamers series and proves once and for all that this series just gets better and better with every book!
As I was reading Before I Wake it was hard for me to believe that I ever had issues with this series. Back when I first began it I struggled to stay interested at times and there were moments when some of the characters got on my nerves. Now I wonder what I was ever thinking! Rachel Vincent had me completely captivated from start to finish and considering that the wait from Before I Die to this one was excruciating, I couldn't devour this book fast enough. I had to keep reading, simply because I needed more--it was addicting!
It was easy to get engrossed in this book as there was so much going on, with Avari continuing to cause his normal heart-ache for Kaylee and the rest of the main characters. Rachel Vincent sure knows how to add in plenty of twists and turns while still managing to keep the suspense and mystery flowing as she weaves her tale of Kaylee's life. There's that perfect balance of romance, high drama, humour and danger that makes the whole novel exciting and interesting. As usual, there's an almost stand-alone plot, so very different from the previous books, but still incorporating aspects already seen throughout the rest of the series.
I admit I was really excited to see what Vincent would do with Kaylee after the events of the last book and I'm pleased to say I found Before I Wake to be as exciting, if not more so, than the last book. As always Kaylee was the great self-sacrificing character she always is, but it was nice to see her struggle adjusting to her new status as a living-non-alive being. It made it seem so much more realistic that not everything was perfect for her and that she didn't just flow into her new state of being without some necessarily issues. It wasn't a smooth transition and instead she struggled with her feelings and emotions and more importantly the lack there of at times.
Of course the relationship Kaylee has with all the other characters continues to remain strong and for some, Nash mainly, those relationships begin to slowly rebuild, but none are as brilliant and as intense as the one she has with Tod. After everything they went through in the previous book, they're in a really wonderful place during Before I Wake and their relationship just continues to strengthen as the series continues to progress. The intensity and electricity is there in abundance and the desperation and power behind the way they feel about each other is enough to make a girl swoon. Tod is hot, sexy and the type of guy any girl would want to have feel about her the way Tod feels about Kaylee. He's fiercely protective and incredibly devoted and there's nothing he wouldn't do for her. She's his whole world, as he's hers and as they look at eternity together it's obvious that nothing will come between them, especially as Tod begins to win over her father in a very un-sarcastic Tod like manner.
However even as things look good for Kaylee and Tod, Avari continues to drive the plotline in the story and this time he's back in a way that threatens the very world. Vincent once more sets our main characters up as the heroes and yet still throws plenty of pain and dire circumstances their way. There's certainly a lot of surprises and as the series is set to come to a close with the next, and final book, With All My Soul, fans of the series can rest assured that Rachel Vincent will not disappoint with what I'm sure will be the most explosive and exciting book yet!
Source: Sent for review from HarlequinTEEN Australia (Thank-you Polina)
AU Release Date: Available now!
Buy it: Booktopia // The Nile
Reccomendation: Such an incredibly unique series, this is one you don't want to miss.
Cover: So pretty. All the covers in this series is beautiful and this one is no exception.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes! I need to know how it all ends.
Labels: 5 Star, Book Shelf
2 comments:
Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for leaving a comment at The Rest Is Still Unwritten! I read each and every comment, even if I don't reply to them all and appreciate your interest in my blog.
Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!
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What is Shopify?
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that allows to create an online store quickly and start selling online. It provides typical features like shopping cart, notifications, reports, customizable store theme, payment gateway etc. out of the box. This saves customers from all the legwork to develop an online store from scratch and setup their own infrastructure to host it. They can simply subscribe on shopify and start customizing their store from the admin interface.
Uses of Shopify Integration in TractionNext:
A Shopify vendor can now import data from their store to TractionNext platform. The following data is imported:
- Customer Information (contact details, order count, total spends)
- Basic information about the products published on the store (name, type, tags, variants, price)
- Order details (purchase date, status, total amount, order items)
- Abandoned cart details (date, total amount, cart items)
This data can be used to:
- Gauge the spending behavior of customers
- Segment customers based on this data
- Generate product recommendations
- Engage customers through relevant campaigns
- Track revenues and conversion rates as a result of enhanced customer engagement
Abandoned carts, product recommendations and other campaign / promotional emails can be sent to Shopify contacts imported in Traction Next and this will help our customer boost their online sales.


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The times are a-changing
After a crazy Saturday waking up at 6 am and trekking down to the big smoke. I can say that there is an air of change in the UK at the moment.
I've been hanging out with many like-minded individuals at the Sonos Studios in Shoreditch. The Mycelia make and do weekend was at its peak with more going on through Sunday.
There were new and old faces and a buzz (almost literally) was about the room.
If you haven't been following Mycelia's progress you can read more about the project here.
So under the watchful command of Lloyd Davis, the day got underway. After the usual traditions, everyone split off into groups to discuss the question.
What do we need to do to make Mycelia a reality?
There were plenty of deep discussions, falling down rabbit holes and devils' advocates. But, that's what makes these sessions so exciting. The random mix of minds is intoxicating. I feel like I've consumed a week's worth of knowledge on the blockchain, the music industry, and much more.
After speaking with Imogen and others about the project. Many feel the same about the music industry and that a change can and should happen. Collectively we gathered our ideas and it was great to hear input from the varied backgrounds. The Mycelia project is beginning to take shape.
There were developers who had pieces of the technology puzzle. Service providers working out contracts and many other philosophical discussions. A pilot scheme will be put in motion and many who were there signed up to offer their talents.
The day ended in the circle (which has been captured in full 360 footage, take a look at VRSUS) and a game plan set in motion. The next few months should be interesting as various developments should pan out.
I would also like to say a massive thank you to Imogen! She kept me and many others fuelled up on coffee, wine, and cheese! It's been amazing and I'm even more excited for the next event.
To quote Dylan.
The times they are a-changing… and I'm excited to be part of it.
– Alex


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In SimCity Will Wright gave you the power to build and control cities... with The Sims you'll create and control people!
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
For the love of classic Sims <3
Oh gosh! I remember this trailer! haha when the EP came out, I was always checking the back for the cool new items! Still do that, though they don't show as much anymore on the TS3 covers
It's the best Idea! I love Classic The Sims so much, I sometimes dream about The Sims. I always act like Sims in The Sims (Robotic >> It's the best when Sims in The Sims typing at the Computer, xD). When I get up in the morning, I'll say (Booth martha, shooth martha << I don't know exactly, but this do stuck in my ears!)Decided I will post a classic video here every now and then. Just because it's fun!
Here's the trailer for The Sims: Livin' Large!
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
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The 2018 PyongChang Olympics will be the most accessible Winter Games in history, according to NBC Olympics and Comcast. The media companies announced coverage of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in South Korea will include video description services (VDS) for viewers with visual disabilities.
NBC and Comcast will partner with Descriptive Video Works to provide the service. The narration, which describes key visuals as context to the programming, will go along with 18 primetime telecasts of the Games.
The Opening Ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games airs tonight, Feb. 9th at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
For more info, see NBC Olympics and NBC's press release.


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About Us
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
About Us
Project Quote
Contact Us
About Us
Core Values and Future
Sales and Pricing Policy
Benefits of Hiring Us
My Background
About Us
Project Quote
Contact Us
Sovereign Exteriors LLC
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About Sovereign Exteriors
Sovereign Exteriors is owned and operated by me (Don Schneider). I have been in the siding and window business since 1989. I started my own business in 2000, then adopted the name "Sovereign Exteriors" in 2002. I run a small operation that is focused on very high quality, good communication, no pressure, and the highest integrity. Estimates are free. To request a free estimate click on the quote form tab.
Core Values and Future
I believe that the best way to build a company for the future, or long term, is to build it on integrity, quality, fairness, professionalism, honesty and courtesy.
My pledge is to do the best possible job I can do on every house. I do each job as if it were my very own home.
I pledge to treat others as I wish to be treated in return.
My pledge is to do things right. I pledge that I will not cut corners to try to save a dollar.
Referrals and repeat business are the bread and butter of Sovereign Exteriors. This is why I pledge to do outstanding work for reasonable prices. I strive for 100% customer satisfaction.
My son wishes to join me in this family business when he is of age. I plan to pass the company along to him when I reach retirement. With that in mind, I am doing my best to build an honest and reputable company now. This will help my customers NOW, and will help my son in the FUTURE.
Sales and Pricing Policy
I don't start with a false high price in order to give a false discount. I do my best to price my work fairly and consistent with market prices. I believe that pressure tactics and discounts to
"sign up today for a cheaper price"
are not in the customer's best interest. When salespeople push the customer, they are more interested in their own commission than really helping you.
I will honor any quotation for 3 months. Review is required on older bids.
My pricing structure is designed to be fair to both the Homeowner and Sovereign Exteriors.
My prices are not the
nor are they the
most expensive
. My prices are generally middle of the road. My prices are consistent to what other good and reputable companies charge for similar products and quality. My strength is value not price. A cheap price does not usually indicate a good value.
My bids are detailed and itemized so there is no confusion about the charges.
If you get a
cheaper bid
, there are several factors to consider:
1. They may be using cheaper products
2. They may be using cheaper labor or less experienced labor
3. They may not be bidding all the same items I am bidding.
4. They could unknowingly be bidding too cheap which could cost
in the long run. When someone sells a job too cheap, they try to make up for it in other ways to minimize their mistake. Cutting corners is popular.
5. Even with good materials, a poor installation will ruin the outcome.
6. In years to come, you won't care or think about the price you paid if you are thrilled with the final result, but if you get a poor quality job for a cheaper price, you will look at your house everyday with regret.
7. Companies that have cheap prices are typically not going to give you good service if you have a problem down the road.
8. The bitterness of poor quality will stay with you long after the sweetness of the low price is gone.
We charge
market fair
prices for
above average
quality. We win and you win. That is where value is discovered. Price alone means nothing.
Benefits of Hiring Sovereign Exteriors
You will know up front who the installer will be…me, Don Schneider, the owner of the company. Who do you think will cares more about their reputation? The owner of a company, or some random subcontractor?
When you hire a "large" company, you never know who the installer will be. It is a crap-shoot. Most installers are subcontractors. Some installers do very fine work, and some don't.
Most don't.
I know this for a fact. I have a long history as a siding manufacturer's rep, and I have seen the poor workmanship and have seen the unhappy homeonwers.
I care. I really do.
My reputation is flawless. I'm
saying I'm perfect, but I have never had a problem that I didn't resolve to the customers satisfaction. I have
had a complaint with the BBB, not even one....EVER.
I have all the appropriate insurance for your protection, work comp, general liability, etc.
Cutting corners and rushing through the job are huge temptations for many installers who work as subcontractors. The installer has nothing to loose when he cuts corners, since it is not his company or his house. Many of the problems won't show up right away. Most jobs look good when they are first completed. The problems show up later, and the installer is long gone.
Communication and accuracy – Since I am the sales person as well as the installer, miscommunications are minimized. With the larger remodelers you have the "he said, she said" syndrome between the sales department and the production department.
My Background
1989 – I began in the siding and window business as a rookie, selling home improvements for the 3 years.
1992 – I accepted position as a Manufacturer's Representative for Reynolds Metals Company (Now operates as Norandex). This was the distribution end of the siding and window business. I eventually became the manager of the entire St. Louis Area for Reynolds Building Products. I was with Reynolds for nearly 9 years, and gained valuable knowledge regarding vinyl, aluminum, as well as manufacturing and distribution. I became an expert field rep.
Oct. 1999 – Oct. 2000 – I was production manager for Choice Remodeling of St. Charles. I measured jobs, ordered materials and scheduled jobs & ran the crews. My job was to make remodeling jobs happen.
Oct. 2000 – I started my own company. I never really wanted to be a business owner. In this initial stage, I did not even have a company name. I wasn't even sure if I would succeed. In less than 2 years it became obvious that I was here to stay so I incorporated and named the company.
April 2002 – I named the company Sovereign Exteriors, LLC. People often ask if Sovereign has to do with God. Yes, it does. I believe that my ability to work and earn a living, my future, and my very life, are all subject to the sovereignty of God Almighty.
Present – Well I have been in the industry since 1989 and running my own company since 2000. I have a lot of experience and I never stop learning. I was even requested to be a 3rd party "expert witness" in a lawsuit between a siding company and a subcontractor.
If there is ever anything that we can do to help you along, please contact us
or by phone at 636-262-4606.
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