Author Amy Scobee recounts abuse as Scientology executive

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Amy Scobee about her book Scientology – Abuse at the Top, and asked her about her experiences working as an executive within the organization. Scobee joined the organization at age 14, and worked at Scientology’s international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005. She served as a Scientology executive in multiple high-ranking positions, working out of the international headquarters of Scientology known as “Gold Base”, located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California.

Sweden’s Crown Princess marries long-time boyfriend

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Sweden’s first royal wedding since 1976 took place Saturday when Crown Princess Victoria, 32, married her long-time boyfriend and former personal trainer, Daniel Westling, 36. The ceremony took place at Stockholm Cathedral.

Over 1,200 guests, including many rulers, politicians, royals and other dignitaries from across the world, attended the wedding, which cost an estimated 20 million Swedish kronor. Victoria wore a wedding dress with five-metre long train designed by Pär Engsheden. She wore the same crown that her mother, Queen Silvia, wore on her wedding day 34 years previously, also on June 19. Victoria’s father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, walked Victoria down the aisle, which was deemed untraditional by many. In Sweden, the bride and groom usually walk down the aisle together, emphasising the country’s views on equality. Victoria met with Daniel half-way to the altar, where they exchanged brief kisses, and, to the sounds of the wedding march, made their way to the the silver altar. She was followed by ten bridesmaids. The couple both had tears in their eyes as they said their vows, and apart from fumbling when they exchanged rings, the ceremony went smoothly.

Following the ceremony, the couple headed a fast-paced procession through central Stockholm on a horse-drawn carriage, flanked by police and security. Up to 500,000 people are thought to have lined the streets. They then boarded the Vasaorden, the same royal barge Victoria’s parents used in their wedding, and traveled through Stockholm’s waters, accompanied by flyover of 18 fighter jets near the end of the procession. A wedding banquet followed in the in the Hall of State of the Royal Palace.

Controversy has surrounded the engagement and wedding between the Crown Princess and Westling, a “commoner”. Victoria met Westling as she was recovering from bulemia in 2002. He owned a chain of gymnasiums and was brought in to help bring Victoria back to full health. Westling was raised in a middle-class family in Ockelbo, in central Sweden. His father managed a social services centre, and his mother worked in a post office. When the relationship was made public, Westling was mocked as an outsider and the king was reportedly horrified at the thought of his daughter marrying a “commoner”, even though he did so when he married Silvia. Last year, Westling underwent transplant surgery for a congenital kidney disorder. The Swedish public have been assured that he will be able to have children and that his illness will not be passed on to his offspring.

Westling underwent years of training to prepare for his new role in the royal family, including lessons in etiquette, elocution, and multi-lingual small talk; and a makeover that saw his hair being cropped short, and his plain-looking glasses and clothes being replaced by designer-wear.

Upon marrying the Crown Princess, Westling took his wife’s ducal title and is granted the style “His Royal Highness”. He is now known as HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. He also has his own coat-of-arms and monogram. When Victoria assumes the throne and becomes Queen, Daniel will not become King, but assume a supportive role, similar to that of Prince Phillip, the husband of the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II.

Better Compete In A Competitive Industry Using Micro Learning Solutions

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byadmin

Do you feel like your company is not moving fast enough? Do you feel as if it isn’t capable of competing within a dynamic industry? Maybe your budget is too tight. There are many reasons why it is important that you incorporate microlearning solutions in your business. You’ll gain a competitive edge that makes you a forerunner at the top of your industry. This type of learning involves using learning services offered by professionals that are ready to customize training solutions that perfectly fit your employee base and company. There is no such thing as an approach that fits every business. A learning approach has to incorporate many aspects such as age as well as cost. CoreAxis is one of the top microlearning companies ready to assist you by creating a personalized solution for your business.

It’s All About the Approach

When it comes to learning strategies being able to utilize training involves being able to have it delivered in cost-effective chunks that you can afford. Your employees will be able to adapt to new information using proven techniques that help them ascertain incremental gains that increases their information retention. All of your specific requirements will be met when you have a tailored program introduced to your employees. You will find that employee engagement increases with an overall improvement of productivity. Critical information will be supplied to your employees on-demand so your company enjoy rapid development with a tailored approach. Does improving your employee’s knowledge base sound attractive? Enjoy increased efficiency as their knowledge grows so you can easily meet your goals.

Create a Collaborative Workplace

Every organization should have learning goals that include being able to create a collaborative working environment. When you use the services offered by CoreAxis it is part of the learning process they provide. Your business will be evaluated so you get the custom training you need at prices you can afford. Get where you want to be with learning solutions that truly help.

Shell quits Irish fuel retail market

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Saturday, July 16, 2005

Oil giant Shell has sold all its retail and distribution operations in Ireland to a distribution and logistics firm called Topaz. The businesses, which are believed to have an annual turnover of over €1bn, include 35 local distribution depots, 6 oil importation facilities, 55 retail service stations and the supply of fuel to 105 independent service stations throughout Ireland.

Shell is retaining its interest in the Corrib Gas field in County Mayo which it is currently developing. Shell has been known for some time to be anxious to exit the increasingly competitive Irish market. Since the arrivial of Tesco to the petrol retail market last year, a price war has raged in parts of the country. Althought Tesco only operates a limited number of stations in the republic, it has expressed a desire to expand throughout the country.

Ion Equity are the consortium behind the takeover which according to the Irish Independent is valued at over €100m. The business will be headed by former Emo Oil managing director Danny Murray.

Candlestick Bottom Reversal Patterns

Author:  |  Category: Financial Planners

By Sylvain Vervoort

With this article we have a look at the candlestick charts bottom reversal patterns. We will discuss a few strange names like bullish engulfing pattern, piercing line, bullish counter attack, bullish harami, morning star, hammer and inverted hammer, three white soldiers and more. If you need some basic clarification you can look for my articles “Introduction to candlestick charts” and “Candlestick charts basic patterns”.

Before looking at the bottom reversal patterns we have to define the rules for a bottom reversal to be a valid pattern.

– A bottom reversal is only possible AFTER a downtrend.

– Most of the patterns need a confirmation.

– A confirmation must appear one up to three candles after the pattern.

– This confirmation is a big white candle, high volume with the new up-move, a rising window, or breaking a resistance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpcSMZwDfoE[/youtube]

– A reversal pattern during price reaction must be considered a continuation pattern.

– For the best result, you must combine candlestick patterns with Western technical analysis.

An unconfirmed pattern has no further meaning.

When in a downtrend, there is a small black body, not a doji, followed and enclosed by a bigger white body; you have a bullish engulfing pattern. Though not necessary, it is better when the white body also encloses the short shadows of the black candle. An exceptional occurrence at the end of a downtrend is a white body followed by a bigger black body; this is called a last engulfing pattern.

A piercing line is a bigger black body that is followed by a white body with a lower opening price than the low of the black body in a downtrend; however, the white candle closes above the midpoint of the black body. A confirmation is required.

A bullish counterattack is a bigger black candle in a downtrend, followed by a bigger white candle. Closing prices of both candles are at the same price level. Confirmation is needed.

A bullish harami in a downtrend, a white, but preferably a black body followed by a small white or black candle that is best completely covered by the first candle body. A bottom reversal signal after confirmation. Black-white and black-black, called homing pigeon, combinations are the most common.

A bullish harami cross in a downtrend is a white but preferably a black body that is followed by a doji that is ideally completely covered by the first candle body. A bullish harami cross pattern needs confirmation.

A morning star is a bigger black body, followed by one or more small black or white bodies below the closing price of the first black body. The white candle that follows ideally lays 50% or more within the first black body and has a rising window with the previous candle body.

A morning doji star is a bigger black body, followed by one or more dojis with a falling window below the closing price of the first black body. The white candle that follows ideally lays 50% or more within the first black body and has a rising window with the previous doji body. This is a stronger reversal signal than a morning star.

A bullish abandoned baby pattern is a morning doji star with a window between the doji and the black and white candle, resulting in an island reversal. The island can have more candles and more than one doji.

A hammer is a small white or black body close to the high price. It has a long shadow below with a minimum size of twice the height of the body. There is a very small shadow or no shadow at the top. A dragonfly doji is a specific version of the hammer pattern. Confirmation is required. A white body is more positive.

An inverted hammer is a small black but preferably a small white body near the low price. It has a long shadow above that is, at minimum, twice the size of the body. It only has a very small shadow or no shadow below. A gravestone doji is a specific version of the inverted hammer. A bottom reversal only after confirmation.

Three white soldiers are three white candlesticks with each bar having higher closing prices, close to the high of the bar. Opening prices of candles two and three are within the body of the previous candles. Many times, there will be a small reaction before the new uptrend is resumed.

This concludes my overview of the most important candlestick bottom reversal patterns. In the following article we will have a look at candlestick continuation patterns and we will also talk about some candlestick trading techniques.

About the Author: Want to learn more about candle bottom reversal patterns? You can find technical analysis articles for free at my website:

stocata.org/

. Sylvain Vervoort is a trader and the author of a new book ‘Capturing Profit with Technical Analysis’ and a regular contributor to Stocks & Commodities.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=444050&ca=Finances

Brazilian Vote Buying parliamentary commission present first joint preliminary report

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Wikipedia has more about this subject:

Monday, September 5, 2005

Brazil —The Post Office and Vote Buying parliamentary commissions of investigation unanimously approved on Thursday (1) their first joint preliminary report of activities. The text was prepared by their redactors, Osmar Serraglio (PMDB) and Ibrahim Abi-Ackel (PP), from Post Office and Vote Buying commissions respectively.

The deputies cited in the report are: Carlos Rodrigues (PLRJ), José Janene (PP-PR), Pedro Correia (PP-PE), Pedro Henry (PP-MS), Sandro Mabel (PL-GO), João Magno (PTMG), João Paulo Cunha (PT-SP), José Borba (PMDB-PR), Josias Gomes da Silva (PT-BA), Paulo Rocha (PT-BA), Professor Luizinho (PT-SP), Romeu Queiroz (PTB-MG), Vadão Gomes (PP-SP), Vanderval Santos (PL-SP), José Mentor (PT-SP), Roberto Brant (PFL-MG), José Dirceu (PT-SP) and Roberto Jefferson (PTB-RJ).

The report indicts 18 Brazilian deputies and the former deputy Valdemar Costa Neto [who resigned on August 1]. They are accused of illegal campaign finance activities, of placing cronies in strategic positions in government enterprises and getting kickbacks from them, and of receiving cash payments in exchange for voting in line with the government in the Brazilian Congress.

The redactors called the allegation made by some parliamentarians that the resources were used to settle debts with electoral campaigns a “lame excuse”. According to them it is “perfectly plausible” that the loans taken by the businessman Marcos Valerio at the Banco Rural and the BMG for the ruling Workers’ Party (PT) were false and created to make the illegal funds seem legal.

In regards to the denunciations done by deputy Roberto Jefferson (PTB) the report says:

  • Everything which he said that could be investigated showed to be true, including confessions against himself .
  • Everything that must be compared to other testimonies showed a great degree of truth. As a matter of fact, all of who, hurriedly, questioned him, saw their defenses collapse, before the successive discoveries.

According to the report, the businessman Marcos Valério is a not reliable person because of his contraditory testmonies.

The report says that several documents were identified and reviewed proving that large sums of money were withdrawn from agencies of the Rural Bank, in Brasilia and Belo Horizonte, as well as from bank accounts of the enterprises SMPB and DNA Propaganda. According to the documents the beneficiaries were federal deputies who received the money in person or through relatives, advisers, or persons nominated by Marcos Valério.

The report affirms that it is possible that some payments were made on a monthly basis, and others more or less frequently. Nevertheless, according to the report the periodicity of the payments is the less important fact.

Child killed by family dog

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April 12, 2005

In what authorities call a terrible tragedy, a four-year-old boy was killed Sunday afternoon by the family dog. The Orange County, Virginia USA boy was playing in his back yard while their dog, a RottweilerGerman Shepherd mix, was chained to a stake.

The parents of the boy were home when the mauling occurred, but there were no direct eye witnesses to the attack that took place in the Placid Pines mobile home park. County Sheriff C.G. Feldman said, “We’ll probably never know what provoked the attack.” he told the Associated Press, “The boy had grown up with the dog.”

A CBS6 broadcast said investigators saw no signs of parental negligence, and the boy was their only child. No charges against the parents were filed. The dog was euthanised Monday.

Sheriff Feldman stressed there were no similarities or connection with an earlier case of an elderly woman killed in an attack by 3 pit bulls in the nearby county of Spotsylvania just over a month ago.

How Funeral Pre Planning In Forest Hill Eases Burdens

Author:  |  Category: Dog Rescue

byAlma Abell

Pre-planning a funeral can be one of the most loving things that a person does for their family. Nothing can eliminate the grief that follows the death of a loved one, but it is possible to take away some unnecessary problems. Professionals such as Evans Funeral Chapel and Cremation Services assist with Pre-planning in Forest Hill, in order to make their clients’ final wishes known, lift financial burdens, and more.

Many senior citizens who choose Pre-planning in Forest Hill want to ensure that their survivors’ inheritances are not reduced by funeral costs. Clients of any age often contact funeral professionals, who help them prepay and design services around their wishes and budgets. These experts offer a range of packages that can include cosmetology, a casket, viewing, services, burial, and more. Clients can also choose arrangements that are as simple as a cremation with no services.

The time immediately following a death can be traumatic, especially since loved ones often have to make important decisions very quickly. Pre-planning eliminates this burden, since funeral professionals will immediately begin to take necessary steps, according to their clients’ wishes. The process can help avoid the family fights that can occur when no instructions are left and everyone has a different idea of what the deceased wanted.

Many people arrange and pay for their own services because they have very definite ideas about what their services should be like. Some choose unusual arrangements, in unorthodox places. They may want to pre-order a specific casket design, flowers, music, and programs. Funeral professionals specialize in carrying out client wishes to the letter. They will design funerals that range from basic cremation to elaborate church services. Pre-planning also allows clients to notify funeral directors of their affiliations with the military or organizations. These may qualify them for military burial, honor guards, or other special tributes.

Pre-planning funerals is often a way that people show their love for family members. When they arrange and pay for their own services, they save loved ones many financial and emotional burdens that can follow death. Pre-planning is also a way for people to ensure that they have exactly the funerals they want.

GNOME to be Ubuntu’s default desktop environment, Canonical to stop investing in Ubuntu Phone

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Saturday, April 8, 2017

On Wednesday, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu operating system, announced the open source OS will end its ties with the Unity8 desktop environment and that Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Long Term Service) will be shipped with the GNOME desktop environment by default. Unity has been Ubuntu’s default desktop environment since it was released six years ago in 2011.

In his blog post, Shuttleworth explained growth of products are decided by the market and the community. Canonical, Ltd., the software company behind Ubuntu, could not gain investors from Unity8, Ubuntu Phone and the convergence shell. Instead, they are shifting their Ubuntu focus on to cloud and IoT (Internet of Things), which Shuttleworth notes finds application in “auto, robotics, networking, and machine learning”.

Canonical — after making controversial desktop environment Unity the default — launched their own smartphone in 2013, called Ubuntu Edge, with a crowd funding campaign target of US$32 million but could not cross the US$13 million mark. A couple of years later, Canonical partnered with bq, Fairphone and Meizu to launch Ubuntu phones. Unity worked for Ubuntu phones but did not perform well in the global market. “I’m not giving up! I will do my best to keep Ubuntu touch and Unity8 standing on both it’s[sic] legs!”, Ubports’ developer Marius Gripsgård posted on his Google+ profile on Wednesday.

“The choice, ultimately, is to invest in the areas which are contributing to the growth of the company”, Shuttleworth wrote in the blog. Following this announcement, GNOME tweeted, “Welcome back Canonical! Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to ship with GNOME by default!”.

Currently, Ubuntu is available in various desktop environments like Ubuntu GNOME (GNOME), Ubuntu MATE (MATE), Xubuntu (XFCE), Kubuntu (KDE Plasma), Lubuntu (LXDE) and Ubuntu Budgie (Budgie), though Unity remains the default for the upcoming version, 17.04 (Zesty Zapus).

Smoke from massive warehouse fire in Buffalo, New York USA can be seen 40 miles away

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Monday, May 14, 2007

Buffalo, New York —A massive warehouse complex of at least 5 buildings caught on fire in Buffalo, New York on 111 Tonawanda Street, sending a plume of thick, jet black colored smoke into the air that could be seen as far away as 40 miles.

As of 6:40 a.m., the fire was under control, and firefighters were attempting to stop it from spreading, but could not get to the center of the fire because of severe amounts of debris. Later in the morning, the fire was extinguished.

“The fire is mostly under debris at this point. It’s under control, but it’s under some debris. We really can’t get to it. We’re just going to have to keep on pouring water on it so it doesn’t spread,” said Thomas Ashe, the fire chief for the North Buffalo based fire division who also added that at one point, at least 125 firefighters were on the scene battling the blaze. One suffered minor injures and was able to take himself to the hospital to seek medical attention.

Shortly after 8:00 p.m. as many as 3 explosions rocked the warehouse sending large mushroom clouds of thick black smoke into the air. After the third explosion, heat could be felt more than 100 feet away. The fire started in the front, one story building then quickly spread to three others, but fire fighters managed to stop the flames from spreading onto the 3 story building all the way at the back.

According to a Buffalo Police officer, who wished not to be named, the fire began at about 7:00 p.m. [Eastern time], starting as a one alarm fire. By 8:00 p.m., three fire companies were on the scene battling the blaze. Police also say that a smaller fire was reported in the same building on Saturday night, which caused little damage.

At the start of the fire, traffic was backed up nearly 4 miles on the 198 expressway going west toward the 190 Interstate and police had to shut down the Tonawanda street exit because the road is too close to the fire.

At one point, traffic on the 198 was moving so slow, at least a dozen people were seen getting out of their cars and walking down the expressway to watch the fire. That prompted as many as 10 police cars to be dispatched to the scene to force individuals back into their cars and close off one of the 2 lanes on the westbound side.

One woman, who wished not to be named as she is close to the owner of the warehouse, said the building is filled with “classic cars, forklifts, and money” and that owner “does not have insurance” coverage on the property. The building is not considered abandoned, but firefighters said that it is vacant.

Officials in Fort Erie, Ontario were also swamped with calls to fire departments when the wind blew the smoke over the Niagra River and into Canada.

It is not known what caused the fire, but a car is suspected to have caught on fire and there are reports from police and hazmat crews, that there were also large barrels of diesel fuel being stored in one building. Firefighters say the cause of the blaze is being treated as “suspicious.” The ATF is investigating the fire and will bring dogs in to search the debris.