text:
January has been a frustrating month for Spring Hill resident Helen Konewitch and her son, Mark, who lives next door on Freeport Drive.
After Republic Services took over garbage collection across Hernando County on Jan. 1, Konewitch has gotten service just three times. On Thursday, her regular garbage collection day, it took a couple of phone calls, but finally someone came to get her trash about 9 p.m.
Konewitch, who is disabled and has arranged to have garbage attendants pick up her trash at the door, said she never had a problem with the previous hauler, Waste Management.
"I don't know why they can't come get my garbage,'' she said. "It's so frustrating.''
Her son said the service has been an ongoing problem.
"When the supervisor tells you that they are absolutely going to pick you up and they don't,'' he said, "something is radically wrong.''
The problems the Konewitches are having with the waste hauler are not isolated instances. Since Republic Services took over countywide collection, thousands of residents have missed service. But as the month comes to a close, more of the issues are being resolved, officials said late last week.
Still, some problems linger, and on Friday county officials met to compile a list of questions they want Republic Services to answer so they can provide an update to the County Commission on Feb. 14.
Some of the most common issues include missed garbage service; missed recycling pickups; trucks not coming until late in the day, leaving neighborhoods looking unkempt; garbage being picked up on one side of the street and not the other, and a variety of billing problems.
Some customers have asked about credits for missed service. Others wonder how Republic is going to keep track of who gets service and who does not in the nonmandatory pickup areas of the county.
Randy Canal, business unit manager for Republic, acknowledged that the start-up has been rocky and that issues are still arising.
The company faced a double whammy, which set it back from the beginning, Canal said.
Republic didn't get letters out to residents to tell them details of the new service before it began, so many didn't know their service and pickup days had changed. And because the company did not receive customer lists from the previous haulers, Republic had to bill virtually every property owner in unincorporated Hernando County for service, whether they wanted it or not.
One by one, Republic is working out the issues, Canal said.
"I'm very pleased about how far we've come, given the circumstances,'' he said.
Early in the month, thousands of calls swamped phone lines and frustrated customers. Initially, the company had to farm customer service phone calls to offices outside the area, but the reduced volume of calls can now be handled locally, Canal said.
That means each individual concern is getting addressed more quickly. But there still are plenty of individual concerns.
For example, since the company used property owner information from the Property Appraiser's Office, and information for people such as law enforcement and judicial services employees is exempt from public records laws, Republic didn't know to pick up garbage at those homes and send them bills.
As weeks pass, drivers are better learning their routes, Canal said, averting some of the miscommunication at the start that kept portions of neighborhoods from receiving service.
In some cases, the kinds of vehicles serving portions of the county have had to be adjusted because of narrow or difficult-to-navigate roads.
Some of the problems have been with customers who don't put their garbage out early enough or leave it out late enough, Canal said. Everyone has been asked to put trash out by 6 a.m. and leave it there for the drivers to pick up.
In many cases, the times for pickups have changed from previous haulers, he said. Some people have complained that by midday their trash is still sitting out, but they may not be scheduled for service until the afternoon.
"This is a part of the education process,'' Canal said, noting that pickup times can also change if a truck breaks down or a driver calls in sick.
Customers asking why only one side of a street is picked up may not know that the company's policy is for haulers to work one side of the street, then the other, so workers aren't crossing the street, he said.
Republic Services is also trying to work through the billing issues.
Some problems - removing a mistaken new customer fee from a bill, for example - can be resolved easily, but others cannot. In some cases, the previous hauling firms billed customers for service in 2012, even though they knew they were not going to receive the Hernando franchise. That is something customers must take up with their old provider.
Because of the multitude of problems with the start-up, Republic has been picking up all garbage left by the curb, whether or not residents have paid, and the company has not enforced its payment deadline policy. As the company establishes its actual customer list in the coming weeks, drivers will be given lists of where to pick up on a street and where not.
Canal said the company will also continue to analyze ongoing issues from customer calls and address each on a case-by-case basis.
He said he is grateful for the help Republic has received from county officials as the company has grappled with the issues affecting service.
"We appreciate all the patience they have had with our start-up,'' Canal said. "Each day is another day we're improving.''
Barbara Behrendt can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or (352) 848-1434.
* * *
How to contact
The customer service phone numbers for Republic Services are toll-free 1-800-282-9820 and (727) 868-2566. Information about Republic's service in Hernando County is available online at hernandogarbage.com


text:
The Vogue Germany 'Zeitsprung' editorial could easily be mistaken for an actual photoshoot from the '60s. Perhaps the European publication is simply republishing it in their next March 2013 issue as a fun tribute. In actuality, the editorial was contemporarily shot and simply made to look like it was from another generation. It helps that model Edie Campbell has a retro look about.
Lensed by photographer Sebastian Kim, the Vogue Germany 'Zeitsprung' editorial showcases the sweetest ensembles for the upcoming spring season. From dramatically ruffled shirts to pink peacoats and checkered jumpsuits, the fun feminine ensembles feature designs from the likes of Louis Vuitton, Celine, Chanel, and others. They were beautifully captured in vintage color as well as black and white for an added retro effect.
The Vogue Germany 'Zeitsprung' Editorial Stars Edie Campbell
Meghan Young — March 1, 2013 — Fashion

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Published on : Nov 17, 2014
The global geothermal market, which featured close to 10,000 megawatts capacity and operated in about 24 countries, observed a growth of nearly 20% from the year 2005. As of late 2013, the global geothermal market had spread to nearly 70 countries in the world and produced more than 11,000 megawatts of geothermal power; an additional capacity of several hundred MW was in the final stages of construction during this period.
Having a closer look at the various geothermal projects in pipeline, one can say that the global geothermal capacity can easily surpass 14,500 MW capacities by the end of 2014.
The pressing need for the world to switch to renewable energy sources, fueled by the concerns of energy security, sustainability of globally rising energy demands and a number of environmental issues, is at the heart of evolution of the global geothermal power market. The past two decades have seen an exceptional rise in investments in clean energy technologies on a global front. In the near future, as the world will move towards a new energy economy, the market of geothermal power will inevitably play a larger role in the clean energy mix of the future.
The traditional site-specific nature of geothermal energy utilization techniques, chiefly concentrated in world's volcanically active regions, is now being widened with recent technological developments such as enhanced geothermal systems.
The relatively small geothermal industry is continuously observing the entry of a number of new and small businesses. What is now required to make this market more productive is the entry of fewer bigger businesses to consolidate it.
For differentiating your business from the several other businesses in the enormously lucrative geothermal industry you need a proper and close analysis of the market. ResearchMoz.com helps you do this with its team of experienced research coordinators. Our extensive market research database will offer you a suitable geothermal market research report to give you a winning edge in the global geothermal industry.
Related Report
Tell Us What You Need and We'll Get Back with the Best Solutions Available.
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text:
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text:
The blog module is basically a page content module that's streamlined for blog posts. Where it diverges is its ability to define the author, post videos, show the post date, and use hashtags. I'll cover everything in further detail as outlined below:
Making a New Post
Getting Started
General Information
Page Content
Blog Comments
Blog Log
Previewing Your Blog Post
Searching for a Blog Post to Edit
How to Use the Search System
The Edit Button
Making a New Post
Getting Started
To get started click on the "Add New" button right beneath and to the left of the title "Blog Posts". There you'll see something like that which is depicted below this paragraph. As you can see there's a "Return to Blog Posts" button which as you may have guessed takes you back to your list of blog posts. There's also an "Add a New Blog Post" as well. This is useful if you're writing many blogs consecutively. No need to think about that now though. For now let's just fill out the Title field with what you'd like to make the title of the blog post. Next we have the status. There are two options that you have. The first option is "Draft" which is also the default. It will only let it be seen by those that are working with it in the module. The other option is "Published". This makes the page viewable by anyone.
General Information
In "General Information" there's a lot of fields that make your blog more bloggy.
Page Name - This refers to the URL that you want the page to have. Like this :
Allow Comments () - This checkbox determines whether comments will be allowed on this specific blog post or not.
Post Date - This simply allows you to change the date that the blog post was posted.
Author - Define who wrote the article here.
Video Type / Video URL - Here you have the choice of two video services: vimeo or youtube. You then simply find a video that you want to post copy the URL and paste that into the "Video URL" field.
General Image - General Image allows you to set a photo that will represent the article. This is best explain through a screenshot. The image shown on top are the "General Image"s. This image will also show at the top of the blog post.
Page Content
Page content consists of three fields: "Content (Short)" field , "Content" field, and "Tags". Let's go over how to use them.
Content (Short) - This is part of the meta tags for your post. If you write a description of this post that reflects its contents it will help your SEO standing.
Content - This is simply where you add the actual content to your post. In a previous KB article I covered how to work with a similar interface. If you read the part on how to work with the Page Content interface you should be perfectly apt to work with the blog "Content".
Tags - Inputting the tags is a little bit finicky. So let's go over some steps:
Type in a your tag
Click anywhere (that isn't a link/button) outside of the tag field
Your tag should appear now in a blue box.
Repeat this process for all tags that you'd like to add
Blog Comments
"Blog Comments" is a full system in which you can view and edit the comments of your blog post. In this section we'll go over what I've mentioned previously but first we'll look at how a user comments on the blog.
Viewing Comments - Here you can see that we have a many fields on top from which we can search from. A similar search system can be found in the Page Content KB article. If you'd like to learn about how to use this search system please refer to that article. Here's a link to that article:.
Managing Comments
Blog Log
The "Blog Log" is something that allows you to view a lot of information about changes made to your Blog Post. You can also search through the changes using the search fields on top.
Searching - Searching is done in the same way that was shown in the Page Content KB article. Read about it here if you need a refresher.
Edit - This allows you to view the changes made over time. Click on a magnifying glass to see the changes that were made at that time.
Category - This tells you what type of change was made
Payload - This is the actual content that was added in the change.
IP Address - Knowing the IP address can be important if you are worried about security. If you see a foreign IP you know something went wrong. Good thing our system blocks those IPs… All local IPs are not blocked so if you see an IP that isn't your business or home network of you or one of your workers then you'll know you have a breach.
Create Date - This simply logs the time at which the changes were made.
Previewing Your Blog Post
After you click "Save Blog Post" you will see this green box appear at the top of the page. Click it if you want to view your blog.
Search and Sort
When you click on the Blogs module or go back to the blogs list from creating a new Blog you should see something like this:
The use of these types of searches are covered extensively in the Search and Sort KB article here.


text:
The centrepiece of the Open Weekend is the free exhibition art + soul, which showcases over 100 works by more than 40 leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.
This major exhibition is on display in conjunction with the groundbreaking three-part documentary series art + soul, to be screened on ABC TV from 7 October 2010. Drawing on key works in the collection, the documentary is written and hosted by senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art Hetti Perkins, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Warwick Thornton.
art + soul celebrates the diversity of Indigenous culture through three themes: 'home and away', 'dreams and nightmares' and 'bitter and sweet'. Drawing on key works from the Gallery's collection, it reveals the myriad of contemporary artistic expressions that evidence the enduring heritage of Indigenous Australia, in all its diversity and complexity.


text:
Abstract library
1 results for "Ortendahl".
#1303 Budget Impact of Somatostatin Analogs (SSAs) as Treatment for Metastatic Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (mGEP-NETs) in US Hospitals
Introduction: Lanreotide depot (LAN) was recently approved by the FDA to treat mGEP-NETs to improve progression-free survival.
Conference: 13th Annual ENETS conference 2016 (2016)
Category: ...none of the above
Presenting Author: George Camba
Authors: Ortendahl J, Pulgar S, Cox D, Bentley T, ...
Keywords: GEP-NETs, budget impact, somatostatin, lanreotide


text:
Cutting, Drilling, Grinding & Polishing Services
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AristoScan, a division of Aristocut (Townsville) Pty Ltd, offers a non-invasive location of utilities, inspections of walls and floors, and measurement of slab thicknesses, using a ground penetrating radar. We operate throughout Townsville, Mackay, Mount Isa, Cairns and the entire North and Far North Queensland region.
Our radar is state-of-the-art, one of the most accurate available on the market, with features enabling it to quickly and efficiently detect underground services, as well as provide specs on all types of concrete structures, from walls and floors, through to driveways and paths.
We can also provide a detailed report, as well as a 3D image highlighting the results of the radar surface scan.
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Reports available


text:
Welcome to Paces
Paces, based at High Green in North Sheffield, was founded by parents of children with Cerebral Palsy in 1997 and has worked ever since to support those families, children and adults who are living with neurological conditions.
We offer innovative conductive education programmes to help transform their lives.
Although Paces receives some statutory funding to deliver contracted services, grant funding, donations and sponsorship's make a huge difference to the children, adults and families we support, allowing us to:
- Offer a variety of support services which would otherwise not be possible (e.g. family support, home visits and outings).
- Buy specialist equipment, enabling children and adults to achieve the highest level of independence in life.
Every pound raised on our behalf makes a significant difference to the lives of the children, adults and families we support, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for all of your efforts.


text:
Well, a long ride home from Hanky Panky Pagnell I bet. And I guess not so boisterous an hour or so in Wetherby as on previous trips out. A tough way to lose, and hard to take, especially given the draw for the next round, but you have to hold your hands up. When it is not your day and all that. And a South Shields V RCA Vase Quarter Final would have generated the biggest gate money in a long time between two Northern League sides. Which to be fair won't be cheering our committee up much.
Anyway let's hope we don't have the long post-Vase hangover we had last year, though Saturday was a bit ominous, losing to a side on a long run of defeats. Got to look for the positives though, good run again, good exemption secured for next season again, and much improved profile and publicity for the club. I think I said that last year as well.
Good luck to Shields anyway, though I don't think they will need it to get past Newport Pagnell. Strong lads, fit and determined and kept going all the way to the end is what I hear, but I doubt that will be enough at a packed Mariners Park.
So what is happening elsewhere? Big Sam and PVA looking a bit green about the gills after coming up against the free scoring, all out attacking Sunderland boys. Did I just write that? Will Sam finally lose his Premier League unrelegated record this season? Not sure, looks to me that a lot of the big boys are in a relegation fight but haven't realized it yet, might be a real shock or two methinks in the going down stakes. Great result at Palace for the SoL boys, can they build on it? Maybe, maybe not, but they have given themselves a chance as they usually do at this time of year.
As it happens your correspondent is writing this from distant parts, but there is always football to watch, Tigre v Toluca in the Mexican Cup is this evening's entertainment, on the telly I must add. Bit like large scale five a side except nobody scores. Good crowd in mind, and all up for it. Good passing on a good pitch and some proper tackles going in, Nobby Stiles would have got a game over here alright. Toluca the better side, but goalless after 90 minutes, didn't see extra time. Not much of a report I know but the wife wanted to move on.


text: This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-05-824T entitled 'Strategic Budgeting: Risk Management Principles Can Help DHS Allocate Resources To Highest Priorities' which was released on June 30, 2005. This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this document to firstname.lastname@example.com. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. Testimony: Before the Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight, Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives: United States Government Accountability Office: GAO: For Release on Delivery Expected at 3:00 p.m. EST: Wednesday, June 29, 2005: Strategic Budgeting: Risk Management Principles Can Help DHS Allocate Resources To Highest Priorities: Statement of David M. Walker: Comptroller General of the United States: GAO-05-824T: GAO Highlights: Highlights of GAO-05-824T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight, House Committee on Homeland Security: Why GAO Did This Study: Previous GAO work has outlined the nation's growing fiscal imbalance and called for a fundamental reexamination of the base of the federal government. The significant resources directed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicate that a robust homeland security program is viewed as critical to the protection and prosperity of Americans. This testimony addresses the need for a fundamental reexamination of the base of government, the role that performance budgeting tools can play in helping inform agency activities, and DHS's use of performance budgeting and risk management concepts. It also includes examples from GAO work on homeland security issues that highlight DHS attempts to define an acceptable and achievable level of risk. What GAO Found: The nation faces a long-term fiscal imbalance, and the role of the federal government is being reshaped by many forces, such as evolving defense and homeland security policies and new organizational and institutional arrangements for carrying out public activities. Given these circumstances, there is a critical need for the federal government to reexamine the base of its programs, policies, functions, and activities. A periodic reexamination of major federal spending and tax policies offers the prospect for the American government to eliminate outmoded operations and better align its operations with the demands of a changing world. The management and performance reforms enacted by Congress in the past 15 years have provided new tools to support this kind of reexamination. However, these new tools must be implemented by agencies and used by the Congress in its decision making in order to be effective. Performance budgeting can help policymakers address important questions about whether and how programs contribute to their stated goals. It can help enhance the government's capacity to assess competing claims for federal dollars by arming decision makers with better information on the results of individual programs, as well as on various federal policies and programs addressing common goals. Performance budgeting, however, cannot provide answers to every resource question—particularly where allocation is a function of competing values and interests that depend on factors other than program performance. Congress and the President have agreed on DHS's mission, and DHS has established strategic objectives for achieving its mission. However, DHS's strategic plan does not detail the associated resources necessary to carry out its mission and achieve its strategic goals. DHS has called for using risk-based approaches to prioritize its resource investments regarding critical infrastructure, and for developing plans and allocating resources in a way that balance security and freedom. It must carefully weigh the benefit of homeland security endeavors and allocate resources where the benefit of reducing risk is worth the additional cost. A comprehensive risk management framework—which includes an assessment of risk through threat, vulnerability, and criticality assessments—should be applied to guide these decisions. DHS has not completed a comprehensive national threat and risk assessment. However, some components of DHS have taken initial steps to apply elements of risk management to its operations and decision making. For example, the Coast Guard has taken actions to assess and mitigate vulnerabilities in order to enhance maritime security, and the Transportation Security Administration has conducted vulnerability assessments at selected general aviation airports. Congress and agencies have a shared responsibility for ensuring that performance budgeting and risk management approaches are both useful and used. www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-824T. To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on the link above. For more information, contact Norman Rabkin at (202) 512-8777 or firstname.lastname@example.com. [End of section] Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I am pleased to be here today to discuss how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can use performance budgeting and risk management principles to maximize program performance in an environment of increasing fiscal constraints.[Footnote 1] Today I will touch on the need for a fundamental reexamination of the base of government, given our current, imprudent, and unsustainable fiscal path. Then I will turn to and discuss the important role that performance budgeting and risk management principles can play in setting priorities for the department's homeland security activities. Finally, I will draw upon our work in DHS on homeland security issues to highlight examples of where the department has attempted to define an acceptable and achievable level of risk. The significant resources directed to homeland security and to DHS in particular indicate that a robust homeland security program is viewed as critical to the nation's protection and prosperity. It is clear that before the events of September 11, 2001, it was difficult to anticipate the array of new and challenging demands on federal programs, and to envision the claims on future budgets for homeland security concerns. Given current trends and challenges facing the nation--including the long-term fiscal imbalance--it is critical that the federal government reexamine the base of federal spending and tax programs, at the same time holding all programs accountable for spending wisely and achieving real results. By using performance budgeting tools and the priorities outlined in the National Strategy for Homeland Security, the department will be in a better position to respond to changing circumstances. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)[Footnote 2] and various assessment efforts, such as the Administration's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), can provide a foundation for a baseline review of existing policies, programs, functions, and activities in the department. In addition, they have the potential to help decision makers assess competing claims by providing better information on the results of individual programs, and on policies and programs designed to address common goals. Just as we know that the threat of terrorism will persist well into the 21st century, we also know it is unrealistic to expect future funding increases for homeland security efforts to occur at the same rate as in the recent past. Given the reality that no amount of money can make us completely safe from a terrorist attack, the National Strategy for Homeland Security provides guidance for considering how to make the best use of available funds to mitigate the most serious risks, while also assuring that the reduction in risk is worth the amount of additional cost. Since we cannot afford to protect everything against all threats, GAO has advocated that DHS make clear the link between the choices made about protection priorities and the allocation of available resources. Proposals to reduce risk must be evaluated on numerous dimensions - their dollar cost and their impact on other goals and values. Decisions on the level of resources, the allocation of those resources, and how to balance security against other societal goals and values also need to be considered. Our recent work at DHS suggests that developing and using a risk-based approach for making resource investment decisions will not be easy. Decision makers may not have complete or current information on threats, vulnerabilities, consequences, alternatives, and costs. Nevertheless, we see benefits in continuing to develop the approach, and are prepared to work with the department and others in the Administration to make it happen. This testimony is based on our wide-ranging work on GPRA, federal budget and performance integration, and 21st century challenges; as well as our work on homeland security and risk management. We conducted our work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. The Long-Term Fiscal Challenge Drives the Fiscal Future and the Need for Reexamination: Known demographic trends, rising health care costs, and lower federal revenues as a percentage of the economy are the major drivers of the nation's large and growing structural deficits. The nation cannot ignore this fiscal large and growing fiscal imbalance--it is not a matter of whether the nation deals with the fiscal gap, but how and when. GAO's long-term budget simulations illustrate the magnitude of this fiscal challenge. Figures 1 and 2 show these simulations under two different sets of assumptions. Figure 1 uses the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) January 2005 baseline through 2015. As required by law, that baseline assumes no changes in current law, that discretionary spending grows with inflation through 2015, and that all tax cuts currently scheduled to expire actually do expire. In Figure 2, two assumptions about that first 10 years are changed: (1) discretionary spending grows with the economy rather than with inflation, and (2) all tax cuts currently scheduled to expire are made permanent. In both simulations discretionary spending is assumed to grow with the economy after 2015 and revenue is held constant as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) at the 2015 level. Also in both simulations, long-term Social Security and Medicare spending are based on the 2005 trustees' intermediate projections, and we assume that benefits continue to be paid in full after the trust funds are exhausted. Long-term Medicaid spending is based on CBO's December 2003 long-term projections under their midrange assumptions. Figure 1: Composition of Spending as a Share of GDP Under Baseline Extended: [See PDF for image] [End of figure] Figure 2: Composition of Spending as a Share of GDP Assuming Discretionary Spending Grows with GDP After 2005 and All Expiring Tax Provisions are Extended: [See PDF for image] [End of figure] As these simulations illustrate, absent policy changes on the spending and/or revenue side of the budget, the growth in spending on federal retirement and health entitlements will encumber an escalating share of the government's resources. Indeed, when we assume that recent tax reductions are made permanent and discretionary spending keeps pace with the economy, our long-term simulations suggest that by 2040 federal revenues may be adequate to pay little more than interest on the federal debt. Neither slowing the growth in discretionary spending nor allowing the tax provisions to expire--nor both together--would eliminate the imbalance. Although federal tax policies will likely be part of any debate about our fiscal future, making no changes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other drivers of the long-term fiscal gap would require at least a doubling of federal taxes in the future-- and that seems both unrealistic and inappropriate. Demographic shifts and rising health care costs are not the only forces at work that require the federal government to rethink its entire approach to program performance, policy design, public priorities, and management practices. Other important forces are working to reshape American society, our place in the world, and the role of the federal government. These include evolving defense and homeland security policies, increasing global interdependence, and advances in science and technology. In addition, the federal government increasingly relies on new networks and partnerships to develop public policy and achieve positive results, often including multiple federal agencies, domestic and international non-or quasi-government organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit contractors, and state and local governments. If government is effectively to address these trends, it cannot treat all of its existing programs, policies, and activities as givens. Outmoded commitments and operations constitute an encumbrance on the future that can and does erode the capacity of the nation to better align its government with the needs and demands of a changing world and society. Accordingly, reexamining the base of all major existing federal spending and tax programs, policies, and activities by reviewing their results and testing their continued relevance and relative priority for our changing society is an important step in the process of assuring fiscal responsibility and facilitating national renewal.[Footnote 3] A periodic reexamination offers the prospect of addressing emerging needs by weeding out programs and policies that are redundant, outdated, or ineffective. Those programs and policies that remain relevant could be updated and modernized by improving their targeting and efficiency through such actions as redesigning allocation and cost- sharing provisions, consolidating facilities and programs, and streamlining and reengineering operations and processes. The tax policies and programs financing the federal budget can also be reviewed with an eye toward both the overall level of revenues that should be raised as well as the mix of taxes that are used. Reexamining the base offers compelling opportunities to both redress our current and projected fiscal imbalance while better positioning government to meet the new challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. In this regard, the management and performance reforms enacted by Congress in the past 15 years have provided new tools to gain insight into the financial, program, and management performance of federal agencies and activities. The information being produced as a result can provide a strong basis to support the much needed and long overdue review, reassessment, and reprioritization process. Performance Budgeting Holds Promise for Reassessment and Priority Setting: With GPRA as their centerpiece, these reforms also laid the foundation for performance budgeting by establishing infrastructures in the agencies to improve the supply of information on planning, performance and costs. GPRA is designed to inform congressional and executive decision making by providing objective performance and cost information on the effectiveness and efficiency of federal programs and spending. A key purpose of GPRA is to create closer and clearer links between the process of allocating scarce resources and the expected results to be achieved with those resources.[Footnote 4] Importantly, GPRA requires both a connection to the structures used in congressional budget presentations and consultation between the executive and legislative branches on agency strategic plans.[Footnote 5] Because these requirements are grounded in statute, Congress has an oversight stake in GPRA's success. Over a decade after its enactment, GPRA has succeeded in expanding the supply of performance information and institutionalizing a culture of performance as well as providing a solid foundation for more recent budget and performance initiatives.[Footnote 6] Building on GPRA, the current administration has made the integration of performance and budget information one of five top governmentwide management priorities. Under the President's Management Agenda (PMA), agencies are expected to implement integrated financial and performance management systems that routinely produce information that is (1) timely--to measure and affect performance, (2) useful--to make more informed operational and investing decisions, and (3) reliable--to ensure consistent and comparable trend analysis over time and to facilitate better performance measurement and decision making. It is critical that budgetary investments in this area be viewed as part of a broader initiative to improve the accountability and management capacity of federal agencies and programs. Over the longer term, failing to discover and correct performance problems will be much more costly. The Program Assessment and Rating Tool (PART) is a questionnaire that is designed to provide a systematic approach to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a program. PART asks, for example, whether a program's long-term goals are specific, ambitious, and focused on outcomes, and whether annual goals demonstrate progress toward achieving the long-term goals. It is intended to be evidence-based, drawing on a wide array of information, including authorizing legislation, GPRA strategic plans and performance plans and reports, financial statements, inspector general and GAO reports, and independent program evaluations.[Footnote 7] Importantly, PART can be used to identify gaps in information. The fact that a program's PART score suffers from the absence of information provides added impetus for agencies to enhance their evaluation and information-gathering capabilities.[Footnote 8] PART's program-by-program approach fits with OMB's agency-by-agency budget reviews, but it is not well suited to addressing crosscutting issues or to looking at broad program areas in which several programs address a common goal. It is often critical to understand how each program fits with a broader portfolio of tools and strategies--such as regulations, direct loans, and tax expenditures--to accomplish federal missions and performance goals. The credibility of performance information, including related cost data, and the ability of federal agencies to produce credible evaluations of their programs' effectiveness are key to the success of performance budgeting. As I have testified before, this type of information is critical for effective performance measurement to support decisions in areas ranging from program efficiency and effectiveness to sourcing and contract management.[Footnote 9] To be effective, this information must be not only timely and reliable, but also both useful and used. Federal performance and accountability reforms have given much attention to increasing the supply of performance information over the past several decades. However, improving the supply of performance information is in and of itself insufficient to achieve and sustain results-based performance budgeting and management approaches. Rather, it needs to be accompanied by a demand for and use of that information by congressional decision makers and executive managers alike. The history of performance budgeting suggests that congressional support and use of this information is critical to sustain reforms over time. Congress has a number of opportunities to provide its perspective on performance issues and performance goals, such as when it establishes or reauthorizes a new program, during the annual appropriations process, and in its oversight of federal policies and programs. Performance budgeting can do a great deal to help policy makers address important questions, such as whether programs are contributing to their stated goals, are well-coordinated with related initiatives at the federal level or elsewhere, and are targeted to the intended beneficiaries. However, it should not be expected to provide the answers to all resource allocation questions in some automatic or formula-driven process. Performance problems may well prompt budget cuts, program consolidations, or eliminations. Alternatively, as in the case of homeland security, programs that existed before September 11 may now be deemed to be of sufficiently high priority to the nation that they inspire enhanced investments and reforms in program design and management. Conversely, even a program that is found to be exceeding its performance expectations can be a candidate for budgetary cuts if it is a lower priority than other competing claims in the process. The determination of priorities is a function of competing values and interests that may be informed by performance information but also reflects other factors, such as the overall budget situation, the state of the economy, security needs, equity considerations, unmet societal needs, and the appropriate role of the federal government in addressing any such needs. Planning and Risk Management Key to Overall Approach for Allocating Homeland Security Resources: As reflected in the Homeland Security Act of 2002[Footnote 10] (enacted in November 2002) and the National Strategy for Homeland Security (issued in July 2002), both Congress and the President have agreed that DHS should be focused on preventing terrorist attacks, reducing the country's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimizing the damage and recovering from any attacks that may occur. The President's national strategy also notes that the United States "must carefully weigh the benefit of each homeland security endeavor and only allocate resources where the benefit of reducing risk is worth the amount of additional cost." It recognizes that the need for homeland security is not tied solely to the current terrorist threat but to enduring vulnerability from a range of potential threats that could include weapons of mass destruction and bioterrorism. Using the national strategy and the act as foundations, the department issued its first departmentwide strategic plan in February 2004. The strategic plan sets out the following strategic objectives for achieving DHS's mission: * Awareness--Identify and understand threats, assess vulnerabilities, determine potential impacts, and disseminate timely information to our homeland security partners and the American public. * Prevention--Detect, deter, and mitigate threats to our homeland. * Protection--Safeguard our people and their freedoms, and critical infrastructure, property and the economy of our nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. * Response--Lead, manage, and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. * Recovery--Lead national, state, local, and private sector efforts to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. * Service--Serve the public effectively by facilitating lawful trade, travel and immigration. * Organizational excellence--Value our most important resource, our people. Create a culture that promotes a common identity, innovation, mutual respect, accountability and teamwork to achieve efficiencies, effectiveness, and operational synergies. In a report earlier this year to the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, we pointed out that while DHS has made considerable progress in its planning efforts, its strategic plan did not address the relationship between annual and long-term goals.[Footnote 11] This linkage is critical for determining whether DHS has a clear sense of how it will assess progress toward achieving the intended results for its long-term goals. In addition, the plan does not include specific budgetary, human capital, or other resources needed to achieve the long- term goals. Although the strategic plan did not detail the resources DHS believes it needs to carry out its mission and achieve its strategic goals, DHS has presented some of this information as part of its annual budget materials. Congress has required OMB to present a crosscutting perspective on homeland security spending as part of the President's Budget. The discussion of homeland security spending by strategic goal across all federal agencies is an example of the impact that congressional oversight can have on budget presentations and analysis. As we have previously noted, the structure of appropriations accounts and congressional justifications also reflects choices about how resource allocation choices are framed and the types of controls and incentives considered most important. Given Congress's role in setting national priorities and allocating resources to achieve them, Congressional comfort with the structure of and analyses in budget justifications is critical. The department should work with its congressional committees to assure that the information it provides is useful to Congress in achieving its legislative, oversight, appropriations, and control objectives. Risk Management: The national strategy and DHS's strategic plan called for the use of risk-based decisions to prioritize DHS's resource investments regarding homeland security related programs. In addition, Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-7, issued in December 2003, charged DHS with integrating the use of risk management into homeland security activities related to the protection of critical infrastructure. The directive called on the department to develop policies, guidelines, criteria, and metrics for this effort. The new DHS Secretary testified on June 9, 2005, to the need for managing risk at the homeland security level by developing plans and allocating resources in a way that balance security and freedom. He noted the importance of assessing the full spectrum of threats and vulnerabilities, conducting risk management, and setting realistic priorities in guiding decisions about how to best organize to prevent, respond to, and recover from an attack. Armed with better planning and performance information, the department needs to develop a more formal and disciplined approach to risk management. Answering questions such as "What is an acceptable level of risk to guide homeland security strategies and investments?" and "What criteria should be used to target federal funding for homeland security to maximize results and mitigate risk within available resource levels?" will not be easy. Yet these kinds of questions may also provide a window of opportunity to rethink approaches to long-standing problems and concerns. A risk management framework for making homeland security and counterterrorism investment decisions consists of a number of components. Assessing risk is a critical component of a risk management approach, and it should be reflective of current and future likely threats, which should be informed but not driven by past actions. Assessing risk involves three key elements--threats, vulnerabilities, and criticality (or consequences)--that provide input into the decision- making process. A threat assessment identifies and evaluates potential threats on the basis of factors such as capabilities, intentions, and past activities. Threats might be present at the global, national, or local level, and their sources include terrorists and criminal enterprises. Threat information emanates from "open" sources and intelligence (both strategic and tactical). However, we will never know if we have identified every threat or event and may not have complete information about the threats we have identified. Consequently, two other elements of the approach, vulnerability and criticality assessments, are essential to better prepare against threats. A vulnerability assessment identifies weaknesses that may be exploited by identified threats and suggests options to address those weaknesses. A criticality assessment evaluates and prioritizes assets and functions in terms of specific criteria, such as their importance to public safety and the economy, as a basis for identifying which structures or processes are relatively more important to protect from attack. Information from these three assessments can lead to a risk characterization, such as high, medium, or low, and provides input for prioritizing security initiatives.[Footnote 12] For example, an airport that is determined to be a critical asset, vulnerable to attack, and a likely target would be at high risk and, therefore, would be a higher priority for funding than an airport that is less vulnerable to an attack. In this vein, aviation security measures shown to reduce the risk to the most critical assets would provide the greatest protection for the cost. Figure 3 depicts a risk management cycle representing a series of analytical and managerial steps, basically sequential, that can be used to assess risk, assess alternatives for reducing risks, choose among those alternatives, implement the alternatives, monitor their implementation, and continually use new information to adjust and revise the assessments and actions, as needed. Adoption of a risk management framework such as this can aid in assessing risk by determining which vulnerabilities should be addressed in what ways within available resources.[Footnote 13] Figure 3: Risk Management Framework: [See PDF for image] [End of figure] In addition to being dynamic, the approach may be applied at various organizational levels, from multiagency or sectoral down to individual investments or projects. Some adaptation of the framework may be expected--for instance, risk management choices available to site managers may entail departmental or statutory constraints. In our latest high-risk series, released in January 2005, we noted that an area of increasing concern involves the need for the completion of comprehensive national threat and risk assessments in a variety of areas, including homeland security.[Footnote 14] As GAO reported in its review of DHS's first strategic plan, stakeholder involvement was limited. Stakeholder involvement in the planning process is important to ensure that DHS's efforts and resources are aligned with other federal and nonfederal partners with shared responsibilities for homeland security and that they are targeted at the highest priorities. At the same time, this threat/risk assessment concept can be applied to a broad range of existing federal government programs, functions, and activities. A viable risk management approach would also affect outcomes beyond the federal sector. The choice and design of policy tools, such as grants, regulations, and tax incentives, can enhance the capacity of all levels of government to target areas of highest risk and greatest need, promote shared responsibilities by all parties, and track and assess progress toward achieving national preparedness goals. For example, in order to promote a stronger federal, state, local, and regional partnership to improve homeland security, Congress needs to determine how to concentrate federal grant funds in the places with the highest risks. Given the significant needs and limited federal resources, it will be important to target areas of greatest need. Congressional proposals to alter the formula for allocating homeland security funds to states reflect attention to this issue. We have noted that the formula for federal grant distribution should be based on several considerations, including relative threats and vulnerabilities faced by states and communities as well as the state or local government's capacity to respond to a disaster.[Footnote 15] Some Elements of Risk Management Being Used at DHS: Several DHS component agencies have taken some initial steps toward risk management. For example, agencies such as the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have taken actions to try to mitigate vulnerabilities and enhance maritime security. Security plans for seaports, facilities, and vessels have been developed based on assessments that identify their vulnerabilities. In addition, the Coast Guard is using a Port Security Risk Assessment Tool, which is designed to prioritize risk according to a combination of possible threat, consequence, and vulnerability. Under this approach, seaport infrastructure that is determined to be both a critical asset and a likely and vulnerable target would be a high priority for security enhancements or funding. By comparison, infrastructure that is vulnerable to attack but not as critical or infrastructure that is very critical but already well protected would be lower in priority. We are currently conducting a detailed review of the use of risk management for maritime security. In the transportation area, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has conducted limited vulnerability assessments at selected general aviation airports based on specific security concerns or requests by airport officials. Agency officials told us that conducting assessments was costly and, therefore, impractical to do for the 19,000 general aviation airports nationwide, or even the approximately 4,800 public-use general aviation airports. TSA intended to implement a risk management approach to better assess threats and vulnerabilities of general aviation aircraft and airports and, as part of this approach, was developing an online vulnerability self-assessment tool to be completed by individual airport managers. However, we noted limitations to the use of the self-assessment tool, and TSA had not developed a plan with specific milestones to implement the assessment, thereby making it difficult to monitor the progress of its efforts. Also, TSA had not conducted an overall systematic assessment of threats to, or vulnerabilities of, general aviation to determine how to better prepare against terrorist threats. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations (OI) has taken some initial steps to base future budget requests on threat assessments. To develop its budget request and workforce plans for fiscal year 2007 and beyond, OI field offices conducted baseline threat assessments on a regional basis using scenarios such as the presence of a business that transports biological materials and may employ terrorists. Related performance measures have been developed, but are not yet in use. CBP had taken some steps to address the risks posed by terrorist smuggling of weapons in oceangoing cargo containers. Although CBP's strategy incorporated some elements of risk management, we reported that CBP had not performed a comprehensive set of threat, criticality, vulnerability, and risk assessments that experts said are vital for determining levels of risk for each container.[Footnote 16] With respect to the allocation of homeland security funds to states, approximately 40 percent of the $5.1 billion in statewide grant funds awarded in fiscal years 2002 through 2005 were shared equally among the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories. The remaining amount was distributed according to state population. Therefore, this formula for allocating money is not risk-based. Several congressional proposals have been advanced to alter the statewide funding formula to base it more directly on risk considerations. This seems to be both appropriate and necessary given current and projected deficits. One proposal would largely maintain the portion of funds shared equally by the states but would base the distribution of the remaining funds on a risk-based formula similar to the one currently used for urban area grants. Another proposal (from this committee) would reduce the minimum amount of funding shared equally by states to approximately 14 percent of total funding and establish a board to allocate the remaining funds through an evaluation of threat, vulnerability, and the potential consequences of a terrorist attack. Concluding observations: As the nation faces a long-term fiscal imbalance, and the role of the federal government is being reshaped, there is a critical need for the federal government to reexamine the base of its programs, policies, functions, and activities. Performance budgeting can help enhance the government's capacity to assess competing claims for federal dollars by providing decision makers with better information on the results of individual programs, as well as on various federal policies and programs addressing common goals. In this context, the importance of DHS' mission cannot be overstated. While absolute security for the U.S. homeland is impossible, seeking to minimize vulnerability must remain a goal. Much is at stake when decisions are made about how to allocate limited resources across a large number of programs in multiple DHS agencies. GAO has consistently advocated implementation of a risk management approach for prioritizing efforts and focusing resources. This kind of approach is especially important since we seek to address threats that are seemingly limitless with resources that are limited. It is necessary to prioritize both risks and the actions taken to reduce risks. Where can resources do the most good? How should they be allocated across risks and across risk- reducing activities? Risk-based, priority-driven decisions can help inform decision makers in allocating finite resources to the areas of greatest need. Congress and agencies have a shared responsibility for ensuring that performance budgeting and risk management approaches are both useful and used. Congress can play an important role by using the resulting information in the authorization, appropriations, and oversight process. Further, to the extent that Congress wants to instill a risk-based approach, it is important to recognize that agencies need to have some flexibility in implementing it. As the Congress and DHS move to rebalance resource priorities to address the relative risks facing the nation, it is important to reexamine major existing programs and activities based on their relative contribution to reducing the areas of greatest vulnerability. This will require making tough choices to identify those activities with the greatest potential net benefit for the nation as a whole, while reassessing the need for other programs with more limited or less nationwide scale and importance. Going forward, we need to rethink certain traditional funding strategies, such as per capita based formulas and earmarks to determine whether they are consistent with a risk based approach. We should not expect this effort to be easy or the path forward to be smooth. Risk assessment is difficult in many government areas. It is especially so in the area of homeland security in which initial probabilities and consequences and the effectiveness of countermeasures are unusually difficult to determine. Getting relevant, reliable, and timely information for risk assessment is also quite difficult. Nevertheless, the effort should be made. A comprehensive approach should be developed and maintained. The state of the art for risk management will take time to mature. This will require sustained management commitment--and continued involvement, support, and oversight by Congress. Going forward, we need to rethink certain traditional funding strategies, such as per capita based formulas and earmarks to determine whether they are consistent with a risk based approach. This completes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to respond to any questions you or other members of the subcommittee may have. For future information on this testimony, please contact Norman J. Rabkin at 202-512-8777. Other key contributors included Denise Fantone, Kimberly Gianopoulos, Susan Irving, Jacqueline Nowicki, Evi Rezmovic, and Jonathan Tumin. FOOTNOTES [1] In this testimony, the term performance budgeting refers to any linkage between budgeting and expected or actual evidence-based performance and results-based information. [2] Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993). [3] For more information on reexamination of federal programs, see GAO, 21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government, GAO-05-325SP (Washington, D.C.: February 2005). [4] See Pub. L. No. 103-62, Sec. 2, 107 Stat. at 285 (1993). [5] 5 U.S.C. Sec. 306 and 31 U.S.C. Secs. 1115-1116. [6] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004). [7] The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has used PART to assess the performance of 32 programs in DHS reported in the President's budgets for fiscal years 2004-2006. The assessment consisted of programs operated by the Coast Guard, Transportation and Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, Office for Domestic Preparedness, Science and Technology, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others. On the basis of answers to 25 questions relating to a program's purpose, planning, management, results and accountability, OMB concluded performance was effective for 4 programs, moderately effective for 6 programs, and adequate for 6 programs. OMB found that results were not demonstrated for the remaining 16 programs. [8] For a detailed examination of PART, see GAO, Performance Budgeting: Observations on the Use of OMB's Program Assessment Rating Tool for the Fiscal Year 2004 Budget, GAO-04-174 (Washington, D.C.: January 30, 2004). [9] GAO, Management Reform: Assessing the President's Management Agenda, GAO-05-574T (Washington, D.C.: April 21, 2005). [10] Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2002). [11] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Improvements to DHS' Planning Process Would Enhance Usefulness and Accountability, GAO-05-300 (Washington, D.C.: March 31, 2005). [12] GAO, Transportation Security: Systematic Planning Needed to Optimize Resources, GAO-05-357T (Washington, D.C.: February 15, 2005). [13] GAO, Protection of Chemical and Water Infrastructure: Federal Requirements, Actions of Sected Facilities, and Remaining Challenges, GAO-05-327 (Washington, D.C.: March 28, 2005). [14] GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-05-207 (Washington, D.C.: January 2005). [15] GAO, Homeland Security: Reforming Federal Grants to Better Meet Outstanding Needs, GAO-03-1146T (Washington, D.C.: September 3, 2003). [16] GAO, Homeland Security: Summary of Challenges Faced in Targeting Ocean Going Cargo Containers for Inspection, GAO-04-557T (Washington, D.C.: March 31, 2004).


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I have been waiting all year for Pride Cymru to come around again as I have never felt so excited for an event before! Before you read my blog post can you please Sign this petition to keep Pride Cymru on Coopers Field.
Party In The Parc | 12th August 2016 –
Just after I met Years & Years at BBC Radio 1 Pride Cymru announced Party In The Parc with Years & Years being their headlining act, which made me hyperventilate on so many levels, simply because my ultimate crush and favorite band was coming to Cardiff (which rarely happens!).
The day was pretty hectic before the event started. Me and Kieren had to take some stock and gazebos over to the field which proved to be a handful task, because of me. Once we took all of the stock and items over to the field me and Kieren helped out anywhere we could, which ranged from putting the gazebo's up, taking them back down, carrying band's equipment onto the stage, and just lending a hand whenever we needed to be used.
After doing everything I had to do I went to the VIP area and spoke with Nathan Wyburn and Wayne for a while about Olly and whilst we was talking Olly and the band were on stage doing their sound check, the sun was out and nobody else was around, which was blissful.
From the moment I knew Olly was coming to Cardiff I was determined to see him again, and have a catch up. But for some reason I was super worried that I wouldn't be allowed to even say hello, let alone talk to him. But after a long chat with the chair of Pride Cymru and one of the trustee's I decided to go backstage and get a 'cup of tea' in case anybody was asking!. I headed backstage and Olly and his band were right in front of me as they were just about to leave the field to go for their food which was perfect timing for me! By this point I was shaking as I still haven't mastered my nerves when it comes to meeting famous people. We went straight in for the hug, Olly said 'Its Alex right?' and at that point I almost died. He asked me what I'm doing with my life, my plans for the future, We spoke about Troye Sivan and I wished him luck for tonight and then got a picture together, and afterwards I made my cup of tea that I originally went for!
After meeting Olly and being excited for hours I met up with my best friend Chelsea and we chilled with everyone from Pride until Years & Years came on. I have never seen Chelsea so happy to be sitting at a table with Robyn from Casualty! My favorite headlining act for Years & Years was Nimmo, I have loved Nimmo for quite a while and seeing them live was amazing!.
Years & Years has most definitely topped Sam Smith in my 'seen live' list, The band knew how to put on the show and they performed amazingly which is very rare for most artists.
Here are the pictures from Party In The Parc –
Pride Cymru | 13th August 2016 –
On the morning of Pride Cymru 2016 I was awake at 4am so I could do 4 hours in work before rushing to Cardiff to be a part of the parade. This year Pride Cymru was having the balloons spelling PRIDE on their parade again, and I had the honor to hold one of the letters next to some remarkable, inspiring and outstanding members of the LGBT community. Holding the letter P was Ian Watkins or as he is formally known H from steps, R was artist Nathan Wyburn, I was Paul Davies who is Mr Gay Wales, D was me, and E was Mr leather Wales. Having me in that combination was very random, but as Pride Cymru's Young Person Champion it was needed, and I felt pretty special on the day.
As the parade started we had the Samba drums behind us, so I was on ITV news/BBC news dancing along with Mr Gay Wales with no cares in the world, Looking back at the videos now it makes me feel very anxious but at that moment in time I felt as if I could be myself without anybody judging me. Overall the experiences were amazing, the images are amazing and I feel like I have made some great new friends once again. You can see the images from the parade at the end of this blog!.
For most of the day I dotted around the field helping out everywhere I could, whether it was Helen in Access, the ticket office, backstage or just wondering around. I managed to meet a few people that know me and have a good chat and I also managed to see my friend Daisy Blue perform which was fantastic!
One of my dreaded fears of Pride this year was once again speaking on stage, Last year was completely different because there was Myself, Amy James, Dan, Lu and Nathan so we were all in the same boat, but this year it was just me, myself and I. Most of my day was filled with anxiety as I had no idea on what I was saying, and I was a bag of nerves which was why I kept myself busy for the whole day.
It got to around 4:30pm when I hit my lowest point of the day. I was walking into Cardiff with Tracey and just completely broke down in tears as I was tired, hungry, dehydrated and so nervous. Thankfully Tracey kept me on the straight and narrow like she usually does (Thank you!). By this time there was a call out for me to go onto the stage, but as I was an emotional wreck I had to wait a while.
Originally me and Nathan were going to go onto the stage and do a Q&A sort of speech where he asked me three questions and I answered them, but just before I went on the whole plan changed. Instead me and Mr Gay Wales spoke on the stage and all I can say is wow, what an amazing moment to cherish. I spoke about being Pride Cymru's Young Person Champion, what I have been doing over the last 12 months and about the Youth Council and of course I thanked Pride for the amazing opportunities that they have given me. After my speech whilst still on the stage Paul said some amazing things, which brought tears into my eyes, he said that I'm shaping the future, that I am an inspiration to many and that I can go a long way which means the world to me, and afterwards I said that exact same thing to him. The crowd was amazing and I'm so glad I did it in the end, as once again I have proved myself wrong by speaking in front of the 10,000 people that were in the crowd.
You can check out this clip below by Nathan Wyburn and Wayne Courtney about the whole day:
Check out their twitter account's – Nathans & Wayne's & Wyburn&Wayne
The rest of the day was spent singing along to Danny Beard, B*witched and consuming my whole body weight in alcohol. But once again I feel as if I have gained a whole bunch of new, amazing and inspiring friends as well as made some amazing memories. Pride Cymru 2016, you smashed it!
Here are some of the Pictures from Pride Cymru:


text: e71465 Posted February 11 #1 Share Posted February 11 Hi Ladies, I'm in my 50's and just want a comfortable shoe to wear on formal night. Not something that has a high heel and hard to walk in. Something cute but comfortable with a heel". I've been looking on line at shoes but can't find anything I like. I was wondering what you all thought of wearing a wedge heel with my cocktail dress? The shoe I'm interested in buy is a basic strappy black sandal. Advice please... 4 Link to post Share on other sites


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These are the Virginia Standards of Learning that relate to Barb's storytelling assemblies, workshops, and residencies.
K.1 The student will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.
• Listen to a variety of literary forms, including stories and poems.
• Participate in choral speaking and recite short poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated patterns.
• Participate in creative dramatics.
K.2 The student will use listening and speaking vocabularies.
• Use number words.
• Use words to describe/name people, places, and things.
• Use words to describe location, size, color, and shape.
• Use words to describe actions.
• Ask about words not understood.
• Follow one-step and two-step directions.
K.4 The student will hear, say, and manipulate phonemes (small units of sound) of spoken language.
• Identify orally words which rhyme.
• Sort words orally according to shared beginning, ending, or medial sounds.
• Blend sounds orally to make words or syllables.
• Divide syllables orally into sounds.
K.8 The student will demonstrate comprehension of stories.
• Retell familiar stories using beginning, middle, and end.
• Talk about characters, setting, and events.
• Use story language in discussions and retellings.
1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.
• Participate in a variety of oral language activities.
1.2 The student will continue to expand and use listening and speaking vocabularies.
• Increase oral descriptive vocabulary.
• Give and follow simple two-step oral directions.
• Use singular and plural nouns.
• Begin to use compound words in oral communication.
1.4 The student will orally identify and manipulate phonemes (small units of sound) in syllables and multisyllable words.
• Create rhyming words orally.
2.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of oral language structure.
• Create and participate in oral dramatic activities.
• Use increasingly complex sentence structures in oral communication.
2.2 The student will continue to expand listening and speaking vocabularies.
• Use words that reflect a growing range of interests and knowledge.
• Clarify and explain words and ideas orally.
• Give and follow oral directions with three or four steps.
2.3 The student will use oral communication skills.
• Use oral language for different purposes: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain.
• Share stories or information orally with an audience.
• Participate as a contributor and leader in a groups.
3.1 The student will use effective communication skills in group activities.
• Listen attentively by making eye contact, facing the speaker, asking questions, and paraphrasing what is said.
• Ask and respond to questions from teachers and other group members.
• Explain what has been learned.
3.2 The student will present brief oral reports.
• Speak clearly.
• Use appropriate volume and pitch.
• Speak at an understandable rate.
• Organize ideas sequentially or around major points of information.
• Use clear and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas.
3.6 The student will continue to read a variety of fiction and nonfiction selections.
• Identify the characteristics of folk tales.
• Compare and contrast the characters described in two folk tales.
3.7 The student will write descriptive paragraphs.
• Develop a plan for writing.
• Focus on a central idea.
• Group related ideas.
4.1 The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings.
• Present accurate directions to individuals and small groups.
• Contribute to group discussions.
4.2 The student will make and listen to oral presentations and reports.
• Use subject-related information and vocabulary.
• Listen to and record information.
• Organize information for clarity.
4.6 The student will read a variety of poetry.
• Describe the rhyme scheme (approximate, end, and internal).
• Identify the sensory words used and their effect on the reader.
• Write rhymed, unrhymed, and patterned poetry.
4.7 The student will write effective narratives and explanations.
• Focus on one aspect of a topic.
• Develop a plan for writing.
• Organize writing to convey a central idea.
5.1 The student will listen, draw conclusions, and share responses in subject-related group learning activities.
• Participate in and contribute to discussions across content areas.
• Organize information to present reports of group activities.
• Summarize information gathered in group activities.
5.2 The student will use effective nonverbal communication skills.
• Maintain eye contact with listeners.
• Use gestures to support, accentuate, or dramatize verbal message.
• Use facial expressions to support or dramatize verbal message.
• Use posture appropriate for communication setting.
5.3 The student will make planned oral presentations.
• Determine appropriate content for audience.
5.7 The student will write for a variety of purposes to describe, to inform, to entertain, and to explain.
• Choose planning strategies for various writing purposes.
• Organize information.
• Use vocabulary effectively.


text:
Boko Haram attack in Nigerian city kills at least fourteen
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4090057Article last amended: Dec 28 at 11:44:13 UTC (history)
Monday, December 28, 2015
According to witness reports, Boko Haram gunmen and suicide bombers killed at least fifteen people in an attack in the city of Maiduguri, Nigeria yesterday, before the military drove them off.
Locals reported hearing gunfire as evening prayers ended at local mosques. The military pushed back the militants, who were on trucks and firing at civilians with guns and grenade launchers, with heavy weapons fire. Amidst the fighting, suicide bombings were carried out.
A local resident Sheshu Mala said that during the attack, "all the residents in the area fled their homes to other parts of the city." As people fled, two female suicide bombers reportedly detonated themselves in groups of people.
Government sources say ten other suicide bombers have been killed.
The militant group Boko Haram started in the city of Maidugari, where the attacks took place; they lost the territory three years ago as the military retook the city.
The news came after another Boko Haram attack on the village of Kimba killed at least fourteen people on Friday.
- AFP. "Boko Haram attacks key northeast city in Nigeria: residents" — Yahoo! News, December 27, 2015
- AP. "Boko Haram suicide bomber attack kills at least 15, say witnesses" — CBC News, December 27, 2015
- December 28, 2015