#how to recover oil and gas losses

[rexsecuritieslaw]

"Rob" Eisenberg- Lincoln Financial Broker-Has Pending Customer Disputes Involving Oil & Gas Investments-Vienna, VA

 “Rob” Eisenberg Investigation June 2023- Vienna, VA The FINRA records of Robert “Rob” Eisenberg ,   a stockbroker  employed by  Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation  disclose a pending customer dispute. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the agency that licenses and regulates stockbrokers and brokerage firms. FINRA requires brokers and brokerage firms to report customer…

[chaitalitrivedi]

How To Take Care Of Your Body After Hysterectomy

Generally, after the hysterectomy, the recovery period lasts around six to eight weeks, as prescribed by the doctor. Mostly the recovery time after a vaginal or laparoscopic hysterectomy remains shorter. The recovery time and care after post-surgery depends on the age of the woman and underlying health condition. However, till that time, a healthy lifestyle no longer remains an option. It becomes a necessity that you need to adopt a healthy lifestyle anyhow to remain fit after your hysterectomy treatment.

If you have recently gone through the treatment and are concerned about what to do, you can find answers to your questions here. We have come up with this article after briefly consulting with Dr. Chaitali Mahajan Trivedi, the best doctor for Hysterectomy treatment in Mumbai at Nanavati Superspeciality Hospital. We have collected information about how you can take care of your body after a hysterectomy, so let’s start now!

Tips For Recovery After Hysterectomy

Diet Changes

Listed below are some of the diet tips to follow to recover after hysterectomy surgery. These suggestions will help to promote healing and prevent the risk and complications chances.

Consuming a lot of legumes and whole grains like muesli, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, and cereals are all the perfect fibre choices. Also, red and black kidney beans and rich in antioxidants and fibre.

The perfect balance of lean protein, such as skinless chicken, fatty fish like salmon (high in omega-3 fatty acids), and vegetable protein, is required. Try to avoid eating fried foods and saturated or trans fats, such as butter, salad dressing, margarine, and sweets; instead, you can use good fats such as vegetable oils like olive oil and peanut oil for your food.

For a smooth and fast recovery, taking an adequate amount of calcium is required. Get at least 1,200 mg of calcium and vitamin D daily for strong bones. You can add three to four 8-ounce servings of low-fat dairy each day or take supplements like canned salmon, yoghurt, broccoli, hard cheese, and orange juice.

Physical Activities

After hysterectomy surgery, you can walk and stretch, there is no limitation of not doing it. In fact, walking is one of the best ways to recover and heal more quickly. However, if you anyhow feel tired or weak after a walk, you can rest or take a nap. You can use the stairs and make sure your speed remains slow at first. As it takes time for your body to heal, make it easier and easier. It is also suggested to avoid lifting objects greater than 20 pounds for at least six weeks after surgery. However, you can resume driving after two weeks if you feel well enough and stop your medication after consulting your doctor.

Bowel Functions

The first bowel movement usually occurs 4-5 days after the surgery. You can also experience “gas” pain post-surgery. In order to relieve the pain and discomfort, drink hot liquids and go for a walk. Also, you can take a stool softener and a mix of laxatives until you have stopped taking the pain medication or your stools become unusually loose.

Body Changes

You can expect vaginal discharge for up to eight weeks post-surgery. In some cases, women may experience an increase in vaginal bleeding for at least 24 hours. Though bleeding after surgery is normal, if it persists or becomes very heavy, you should immediately call your gynaecologist and seek medical help.

Sexual Activities

It is usually recommended to avoid putting anything into your vagina, including douch products, tampons, and any sexual activities for at least eight weeks. After a certain time, if you experience physical changes, such as vaginal shortening, decreased vaginal sensation, complications reaching orgasm, or loss of vaginal lubrication, you should consult your doctor right away.

Hygiene/ Incision Care

Try to keep the incision clean and pat dry. Wash it every day with warm water and mild soap. Rinse and pat dry it thoroughly. Check the incision area every day for swelling, drainage, or wound opening. And in case you have drains, make sure you wash them by taking a sponge bath or a shower, ensuring that the drain and incision areas are dried carefully.

Medications

If you experience a lot of discomfort when your activity starts to increase, try taking pain medications one hour before the activity. Take all the prescribed medication before your pain becomes severe. However, if your pain doesn’t get relieved by medications, consult your gynaecologist right away. Meanwhile, some pain medication may result in constipation. So, to prevent constipation while reducing your pain, drink more fluids, include more high-fibre foods in your diet, and take a stool softener, laxative, or milk of magnesia daily.

Menopause Symptoms

If you have not already gone through menopause naturally and your ovaries are also removed while undergoing hysterectomy, in this situation, your body goes through surgical menopause. As a result, you will no longer menstruate and experience menopause symptoms, such as

Night sweats

Insomnia

Hot flashes

Vaginal dryness

Skin thinning

Because of the loss of estrogen production from your ovaries, you will be at increased risk of getting diagnosed with bone loss, which indicates a high risk of developing a bone fracture. Not only that, you are also at increased risk of getting heart disease, which affects all post-menopausal women.

To ease the surgical menopause symptoms and to lower your risk of developing osteoporosis, your doctor may recommend hormone therapy.

Emotional Well-Being

Women who may have undergone a hysterectomy (whether their ovaries were removed or not) are at a higher risk of developing depression than any other women. And that is not enough; some women may also get disturbed due to their loss of fertility. Thus, if you are experiencing depression symptoms and getting sad most days without exactly knowing why, or if you are losing interest in activities that you once enjoyed, be sure to consult with your doctor.

The-Bottom-Line

Hysterectomy is a surgical procedure in which your uterus is removed. After surgery, you cannot become pregnant and no longer menstruate. Reasons for this surgery may include abnormal bleeding, fibroids, and uterine prolapse. And the recovery time generally lasts four to six weeks, depending on the type of surgery you are undergoing. However, the treatment success rates also depend on the doctor whom you are consulting.

One can consult Dr. Chaitali Mahajan Trivedi, the best gynaecologist in Mumbai at Nanavati Superspeciality Hospital. She holds 20+ years of experience in performing hymenoplasty, labiaplasty, mentoplasty, genital rejuvenation treatments, sexology, and fertility-enhancing treatments along with hysterectomy. To start your treatment, consult her by visiting Nanavati Superspeciality Hospital today!

[lovieyou]

ZERO WASTE

"Zero Waste" is an advocacy effort aimed at guiding people toward shifting their lifestyles and activities toward sustainable systems in an ethical, economical, and efficient manner, as well as ensuring that waste becomes valuable for other uses.

The collection, transportation, and disposal of trash and other waste products is referred to as waste management. Landfills in the Philippines receive 21 million tons of garbage each year. Food waste is the most common sort of trash found in landfills. Aside from economic losses, food waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Plastic is the second-most common sort of garbage discovered in landfills. Plastic trash contributes significantly to climate change and endangers pollution, biodiversity, and human health. While some types of plastic waste, such as single-use plastic bags and straws, cannot be recycled, the majority of what we throw away may be recycled or reused.

4Rs IN WASTE MANAGEMENT:

REDUCE:  The easiest thing to do to reduce waste is to stop the use of single-use plastics. If you’re going shopping, take a reusable shopping bag with you. You can also buy in bulk to reduce plastic packaging.

REUSE: Why not give some of your old items if you don't want to retain them? Unwanted toys and books can be donated to schools. You can give your old clothes to Goodwill. Take your old magazines to your local dentist's office. 

RECYCLE: We've been trained to recycle since we were in elementary school. However, due to a loss of inventiveness as we age, most of us have forgotten how to do it. Paper, cardboard, glass, tin, metal, and plastic containers can all be recycled to make something new. Simultaneously, organic waste can be recycled to create worm farms and compost.

RECOVER:  Recovery of waste is a technique where waste such as oils can be used for energy recovery.

[besttrucksinjurylawyers]

How to Choose a Truck Accident Lawyer

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, it is crucial to seek help from an experienced truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. This will ensure that you get the compensation you deserve for your injuries, losses, and damages. Read more great facts on oilfield injury lawyers houston, click here.

When choosing a lawyer, you should select someone who is reputable and recommended. You should also consider whether or not the lawyer specializes in truck accidents and has experience settling cases favorably in the past. A lawyer with experience in personal injury law and a background in handling complex negotiations will be best able to assist you with your claim. For more useful reference regarding oil and gas attorney houston, have a peek here.

Gathering Evidence After a Truck Accident As you recover from your injuries, you will want to start collecting evidence of the accident. This is important in proving that the truck driver was negligent and caused your injuries.

You should make sure that you document every detail of the incident, including photos and videos of the accident scene. In addition, you should take down all contact information from the truck driver and anyone who was a witness to the crash.

Insurance Adjusters Are Tried and True The moment you call the insurance company after a truck accident, you will likely receive several phone calls from their “adjusters.” These are people who manage claims for insurance companies and have a long bag of tricks they use to try and get you to settle your claim for a low amount.

This can be very stressful, especially if you are in the middle of serious medical treatment and have lost a large amount of income due to your injuries. A good truck accident attorney will be able to handle all these details and file the necessary paperwork on your behalf.

Negligence is Key A truck accident lawyer will examine your case and determine if the driver of the truck was negligent in some way. For example, if the truck driver was distracted at the time of the accident, they may be found liable for your injuries.

If the trucker was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident, they may also be liable for your injuries. This is a common cause of truck accidents and is covered under federal and New York state regulations.

Liability can be difficult to prove in a trucking accident, which is why it is essential to work with an experienced lawyer who will fight for your rights. The lawyer will look for evidence of the trucker’s negligence and the other parties involved in the accident to build a strong case.

Damages After a Truck Accident As you begin to evaluate the accident, it is imperative that you keep a record of your medical expenses. This will give your truck accident lawyer a good idea of how much money you will need to cover your medical bills and lost wages. Please view this site https://www.findlaw.com/injury/accident-injury-law/using-a-personal-injury-lawyer.html for further details.

The value of your damages will vary depending on the nature and severity of your injuries. Your truck accident lawyer will help you calculate the damages and negotiate a fair settlement for your injuries and losses.

[plapacitor]

What are the common protection devices for power capacitors?

Power capacitors are widely used as one of the z economic ways of reactive power compensation. However, due to the high failure rate of capacitors, which are directly connected to the power grid, any problems may cause economic losses or more serious casualties. Therefore, each capacitor manufacturer will set certain protection devices for capacitors according to the relevant technology when producing capacitors, which is also one of the selling points of capacitors.

What are the common protection devices for power capacitors? What is the working principle? How to choose the  Motor Run Capacitor Manufacturers focus according to your needs? Come and see today's article! Common power capacitor protection measures: 1. Over-voltage pull-off protection Over-voltage pull-off is one of the common protection devices for power capacitors Z. It adds connection points to the top cover terminals and internal terminals of the power capacitor. When the top cover pressure rises gradually, the following connection points will be separated gradually.

It manifests itself in the form of active disconnection of the capacitor to avoid the undesirable consequences of a fault. Once the power capacitor has common faults such as oil leakage, bulging, breakdown aging, etc., it will lead to a large amount of gas generated by the metal film inside the capacitor, increasing the internal pressure and thus triggering the overpressure pull-off protection.

2, protection of high current fuse In addition to overvoltage operation, the grid harmonics will also have a certain impact on the capacitor. Once there is a large current in the capacitor, the fuse will immediately disconnect the capacitor link. 3, equal pressure explosion-proof protection permeable hole power capacitor bulging, oil leakage and other faults are common faults of capacitors, timely replacement can be properly solved. Once there is high current in the capacitor, the fuse will immediately disconnect the capacitor link.

3、Equal pressure explosion-proof protection permeability hole power capacitor bulging, oil leakage and other faults are common faults of capacitors, which can be properly solved by timely replacement. Capacitor explosion is what everyone does not want to see, and once it happens, it will not be able to recover to the original state in a short time.

Therefore, some manufacturers in the market design and produce power capacitors with unique vent design, which can always keep the pressure balance inside and outside and completely eliminate the possibility of capacitor explosion. Such explosion-proof power capacitors are more suitable for scenarios with complex working conditions or unfortunate explosions.

[skincellprotagremoveserum]

Skincell Pro Tag Removal Reviews: Anti Aging Formula Benefits & Price

Skincell Pro Anti Aging Serum: If you ever before look a girls, the extraordinarily first factor that each person’s notification is her face and individuality that makes her the attractive one. Your eyes should be maintained locked while seeing her face and charm. Therefore magnificence is a further mark that makes your personality a lot of more stylish and conjointly favorable, which you have got to keep safe and secure along with safe. Being pretty and trying gorgeous is required for each single females this is the rationale market has a lot of drugs that usually confirm valuable for your skin but often create your skin dull, itchy, utterly dry, redness, discomfort as well as tons of troubles.

Click Here And Get Skincell Pro Anti Aging Serum Free Trials In the USA

Although after a explicit age our skin showing is that the signs of ageing which bring out fine lines and also later it winds up being the creases. For curing this trouble we have a tendency to build use of some Serum which is chemical net content and impacts our skin and additionally make our skin dry and spot treatment. It is suggested by skin doctor solely to use natural and organic material product for your skin.

Introduction To Skincell Pro Serum:

Skincell Pro Anti-Aging Serum could be a new skin care selection item that exfoliates the skin and increases the collagen production, with the complete-new anti-aging formula. The Serum works because the Serums and refortifies the skin which is cause by the dead skin cells. The merchandise with the countless of benefits not solely give you the skin care edges nonetheless also moisturizes your skin and moisturizes it. The Serum improves your magnificence and conjointly restores the collagen degrees thus that you'll get a additional youthful look.

There are numerous indications which will damages your facial skin, the UV rays makes your skin tan and additionally take away the cells accountable for your complexion, this Serum goes under the deep layer of the cells in addition to removes the cells which are accountable for the skin tan. The Serum contains the several of anti-oxidants, vitamins, firming peptides and also a lot additional. The formula of Skincell Pro Serum boost your skin and conjointly offers you a oil value-free and glowing look at intervals making use of simply 3 weeks.

What Are The Active Ingredients That Are Created Use Of In Skincell Pro Serum?

Vitamin E- the advantage of Vitamin E gas the producing of the skin cells that helps them in repairing and safeguards it from the a lot of harm.

Hyaluronic Acid- the fabric of this ingredient will assist the skin to get hydrate and plumps out the skin from the completely dry to damp area along with replaces the skin that are damaged.

Vitamin C- Vitamin C is a natural anti-oxidant which reduces the creases, defends from the skin that is broken by radicals and also repairs the extent of smoothness of the skin.

Palmitoyl Peptide- It recovers the injury tissues of the skin and improve the production of collagen with provides firmness in the skin.

Glycerin- The content of the glycerin within the Serum makes your skin from the surplus water loss and conjointly enhances it.

Phytoceramides- The content of this active ingredient locks the skin layer plus makes skin additional enticing.

How Does Skincell Pro Anti Aging Serum Work?

Skincell Pro Serum may be a new vary of skin care item which declares to carries with it the vitamins, anti-oxidants plus humectants. These all active ingredients works in your skin normally and conjointly moisten it enhances the collagen with reduces the indications of aging and tiny creases. The merchandise is made t operate in your skin thus that your skin will develop an elastin cells. The Serum passes through in your deep skin gets to the right down to the layer and also offers you a more youthful plus swish skin look. People that have numerous complexions will additionally use the Skincell Pro Serum.

What Are The benefits Of Using Skincell Pro Serum?

The advantages of Skincell Pro Serum are merely to supply a oil free, radiant skin:

It balances your skin from the irregular dryness plus dullness. It cost-free your skin from the dryness which can in the longer term irritation that will offer you a exceptional and younger look.

Injections freezes your face that will build your face appearance strange instead of young, this Serum can actually helps you to get rid of this trouble,

It erases the dark areas and marks that are caused by the sunlight. the 80percent spots which lined our skin are caused by the exposure of sun, Bella Radiant Serum eliminates all those spots and marks.

The very best factor regarding this Serum is that it improves the manufacturing of collagen which makes your skin tight and distributes the wrinkles from your skin.

The Serum makes your skin moisturizes and provides you a utterly dry free look, it secures the wetness and provides your skin a radiant and also beautiful look.

How Will You Make Use Of Skincell Pro?

There are just straightforward with straightforward actions of using the Serum for the tried and tested also far higher results, there are merely straightforward actions to follow up making use of Serum:

1st wash confront with a moderate warm water with utilizing an all-natural cleanser or face-wash.

Rub your skin dry with a soft towel of cotton towel, don't scrub the face.

Utilize an all-natural toner which can lower your pore presence and conjointly raise the Serum absorption formula.

Take a coin size of Skincell Pro Serum on your hand along with apply it on neck, face, and back of your hands till the Serum gets completely soaked up by your skin.

You'll repeat this task for two or 3 times a day.

The Skincell Pro Anti-Aging Skincare Serum works as the moisturizer, sun-screen and elegance Serum with the three-approach advantages.

Does Skincell Pro Anti Aging Skincare Contain Any Kind Of Adverse Effects?

The Skincell Pro Serum may be a trusted vary of skin treatment wellness which is use by the individuals living in globe vast. It is the relied on complete in skin treatment array that is made beneath the cluster of specialists. The ingredients that are detailed in the Serum are a hundred% pure, all-natural and additionally reliable that never ever damage your skin. The Serum with the many of advantages glided by the skin doctor suggestions and additionally is laboratory tested and conjointly made. You can simply depend upon over the Serum without having any sort of reservation.

Where To Purchase Skincell Pro Anti Aging?

Do you want a stunning and glowing skin? Intend to seem a lot of youthful? Thus you'll get the Skincell Pro Serum at your doorstep in merely few actions. By mosting possible to the main web web site of the item you'll be able to obtain your item equipped anyplace you want. Keep in mind a issue that in Skincell Pro Anti Aging Serum purchases the product just from the official web site of the item that is given below. Once filling all of your information and selecting the mode of settlement, your item will definitely be equipped to you at your designated shipment address in simply 4-half dozen service days.

Last Verdict:

The Skincell Pro Serum skin Serum is one of the foremost relied on and natural whole Serum which not solely offers your skin an oil totally free look but likewise makes it a ton additional radiant with exceptional. The Serum assured you to offer the advantages of getting a terrific and additionally enticing skin. The active ingredients which are used within the Serum are all-natural and organic that won’t affect your skin and provide your skin a face-lift. It can not have an effect on your skin and also gives you the advantages of having a glowing also soft skin. The Serum is providing in a very very budget friendly price which is priceless to you and can definitely create you and also your skin beautiful.

[stratviewresearch]

Firefighting Foam Market 2022 Growth Drivers, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Forecast up to 2027

Stratview Research delivers key insights on the global Firefighting Foam Market. According to Stratview Research, the market is estimated to grow at a decent CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period to reach a value of US$ 310 Million in 2027.

Get a free sample report here:

The present report can be of high utility for the key decision-makers and growth strategists in terms of precise market insights, forthcoming growth opportunities, and key success factors. Especially, the report also analyses and mentions the possible impact of COVID-19 on the market dynamics. This will not only help in mitigating the uncertain business environment, but also help in rearranging the strategies and future- decisions in a fruitful manner.

Key Players

The following are some of the key players in the Firefighting Foam Market:

Angus Fire Limited

Auxquimia

Buckeye Fire Equipment Company

Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.

Dafo Fomtec AB

Fireade Inc.

Johnson Controls International PLC.

KV Fire Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.

Oil Technics (Fire Fighting Products) Ltd.

Growth drivers and Market Value:

This report, from Stratview Research, studies the Firefighting Foam Market value and growth drivers over the trend period of 2022-27. According to the report -

Firefighting Foam Market is likely to witness an impressive CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period. Increasing use of environmentally-friendly products and rise in fire-related accidents leading to fatalities and loss of property are the major factors expected to drive the growth of the global firefighting foam market during the forecast period.

Segment Analysis:

Based on Type:

Based on the type, the market is segmented as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), alcohol resistant aqueous film forming foam (AR-AFFF), protein foam, synthetic detergent foam (High & Mid Expansion Foam), and others. The demand for AFFF was the highest in 2018, owing to its extensive usage by the oil & gas industry, which is due to the huge risk of fires from flammable liquids. AFFF is favored as it owns such fires effectively and bears a longer shelf life.

Based on Region:

In terms of regions, Asia-Pacific is the largest and fastest-growing market for firefighting foam and is estimated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period as well. The market is driven by various countries, adopting downstream activities, such as refining and processing because of the increasing demand for oil & gas in the region. Further, the enormous investments by various national oil companies in the region are boosting the growth of the oil & gas industry and hence, these factors are underpinning the demand for firefighting foam in the Asia-Pacific region. North America and Europe are also expected to offer substantial growth opportunities in the coming five years.

Know more about the report, click here

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The report answers several questions related to the market. The user can get to know the answers to the following questions…

What is the global demand for Firefighting Foam Market in terms of revenue?

Which are the prominent players in the market?

At what CAGR is the market projected to grow within the forecast period?

What are the driving factors fuelling the growth of the market?

Which region accounted for the largest share in the market?

How did the Covid19 impacted the market?

How long will it take to recover from the Covid impact?

Why Stratview Research?

Exhaustive qualitative and quantitative data

Uninterrupted post-sales support

Appropriate market trend and forecast analysis.

All-inclusive report

Decent price-performance ratio

Reliable data

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Customised report services

About Us –

Stratview Research is a leading global market research firm providing expert research solutions, trusted by clients worldwide. To keep our clients ahead of the curve, we provide data backed by extensive market research and in-depth industry knowledge. The broad spectrum of integrated insights is referred to, and cited by press releases, interview with key players, white papers, journals, etc. Stratview research also offers custom research services across the sectors. In case of any custom research requirement related to market assessment, competitive benchmarking, sourcing and procurement, target screening, and others, please connect with our team.

Get in touch with us for more details –

Call: +1-313-307-4176

Or Mail Us:  sales@stratviewresearch.com

[rexsecuritieslaw]

William Seibert- Raymond James Broker- Discloses $897.5K Settlement with Customer and a Pending Customer Case- Houma, LA

William Seibert Investigation March  2023-Houma, LA According to publicly available records William Colin Seibert,  a Raymond James & Associates, Inc.  broker, discloses a $897,500 settlement payment and a pending customer dispute. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the agency that licenses and regulates stockbrokers and brokerage firms. FINRA requires brokers and brokerage…

[route22ny]

Visitors to the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center are encouraged upon arrival to enter a corridor and enjoy a ‘walk through time.’ The corridor, lined with outlandish fashions and records taped to the walls, features exhibits on McKeesport’s former department stores, its now shuttered daily newspaper, and a former landmark hotel. Perhaps atypically for a former steel town, the images featured focus not on smokestacks or furnaces, but on McKeesport’s former central business district, and the pleasant Boomer memories of post-Second World War prosperity.

McKeesport today bears little resemblance to the city commemorated in its history museum. It’s no longer the nation’s leading producer of steel pipes, nor the commercial and industrial center of the Mon Valley Region, but rather a small suburban community on Pittsburgh’s periphery. The city’s poverty rate is more than double the state and Pittsburgh metro levels, at more than thirty-one percent, with forty-nine percent of children under the age of eighteen living in poverty. Its median home value, $48,000, is a quarter of the state’s and a third of the rest of the Pittsburgh metro. Twenty percent of housing units are vacant, and half the population moved between 2000 and 2014. In 2019, a national trade association for the home security industry ranked McKeesport America’s fourth-most dangerous city.

The story of what happened to McKeesport, like so many places in the Rust Belt, is a story of the relationships between labor and industry, of the collective power of communities to shape their circumstances, and of the forces that conspire to keep this power at bay. Its history is shaped by two ‘Great Depressions’—first, the one everybody knows about, in the 1930s, and again in the 1970s and 80s, when the oil crisis led to a downturn in steel production and a tremendous loss of jobs and industry (cumulative job losses since the mid-1970s are estimated at 175,000).

The Mon Valley and the community of McKeesport never recovered from that second crisis. This contrasts sharply with the first, when organized labor succeeded, albeit briefly, in securing for steel industry workers the wages, benefits, and job security that had so long been denied them by U.S. Steel and its local political allies. That hard-won prosperity and security would ultimately last only two decades before a combination of factors conspired to undermine and overwhelm what was once the beating heart of the American steel industry—but it carries important lessons for those who hope to rebuild thriving communities in the Rust Belt.

Well into the third decade of the twentieth century, working conditions in the large industrial concerns that defined the McKeesport community bordered on intolerable. Most workers toiled for excessively long hours in dangerous conditions for pitiful wages. Discipline in the mills could be enforced with beatings or firing without cause. Complaints could result in losing one’s job, as could sickness or even an injury incurred while at work; in 1910, in more than half of the workplace accidents resulting in injury or death in Pittsburgh, the employer bore absolutely no responsibility whatsoever. There was no recourse outside of organizing, and even that brought with it serious challenges. In Pittsburgh specifically, union organizers were harassed and beaten by Pinkerton detectives working for the major steel companies, and meeting halls were closed by the Board of Health for unsanitary conditions. (Duquesne mayor James Crawford famously boasted that Jesus Christ himself couldn’t hold a union meeting in his town.)

Engraving of the manufacture of steel tubing pipe mills at the National Tube Works, as printed in Scientific America, McKeesport, PA, 1897. American Stock Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images.

Though the American steel worker had secured a modicum of job security and a reprieve from this brutal exploitation during the First World War, at the war’s conclusion the steel industry sought its own ‘return to normalcy’ and an elimination of all the benefits that had been gained to keep the industry running. The Great Steel Strike of 1919 demonstrated that there was considerable labor unrest in the immediate aftermath of the First World War.

McKeesport was at the center of considerable labor organizing during the 1920s and 1930s. This was the era of the Red Scare, and anti-union sentiment was widespread. Phil McGuigan, a McKeesport worker, recalled that private detectives spied on employees to prevent unionizing. McGuigan also remembered an informal system of patronage was the primary means for gaining employment, and that Mayor George Lysle forbade the renting of halls for union meeting purposes. In 1923, several members of the Workers’ Party were fined for holding an outdoor meeting on private property after being denied the right to rent a hall for the same purpose. After the meeting, McKeesport’s major employers went about dismissing “…all employees who were known to have attended the meeting or to have been identified in any way with it or the Workers’ Party.”

McKeesport resident Junious Brown, interviewed in 1983 by the McKeesport Oral History Project, recalled that the steel mills of the Mon Valley largely fell silent during the Great Depression, noting that McKeesport’s primary employer, National Tube, ceased operation during the Great Depression, as did the nearby Duquesne Works. Nearly all the locals interviewed for the said that jobs, food, and money were all in short supply, but that most people didn’t leave their homes or the community unless they were forced out. Those interviewed, Brown included, spoke in glowing terms about the union movement, which helped the citizens of the Mon Valley weather the storm of widespread economic collapse.

Labor organizers, including communists, were known for taking direct action to help people in trouble. Rocky Doratio, who was active with the Unemployment Council (UC) movement prevalent in the Mon Valley at the time, said when peoples’ utilities were shut off, UC members would “go around turning the gas on; water and electric too,” and that UC’s membership would show up in force in case one of their members were threatened with eviction. Similar tactics were employed to ensure the prompt distribution of welfare checks. (Joseph Odorcich, who became vice president of the Steelworkers’ Union in the 1980s, told interviewers: “I said in the ‘30s we were that close to going communist. One of the reasons was, in those days they were the only ones who would help you. If the company shut off the gas, the commies come in at night and turned it back on.”)

Several of the interviewees related how social solidarity during the Great Depression knocked down interracial and inter-ethnic barriers that had been previously exploited by major employers and the political class alike. Junious Brown recalled that the unions improved his job prospects, such that he and other Black people were no longer limited to “…the hardest, dirtiest jobs.” Andrew Jakomas, who served three terms as mayor of McKeesport from 1953 to 1965, recalled McKeesport during the Depression was a multi-ethnic melting pot, but that politically the city was a “closed corporation” where “ethnics and Blacks” had no chance of holding political office. Jakomas summarized the general support of citizens for the various federal government ‘make-work’ initiatives of the New Deal, stating that “…we all became Democrats with Roosevelt.”

As McKeesport native and veteran labor reporter John P. Hoerr relates, the ‘good old days’ of working in the steel mills was in the post-World War II period, when organized labor had secured a good deal for the working man. The postwar period witnessed considerable labor action on the part of the United Steelworkers (USW), which contrasts sharply with the stereotypical image of postwar domestic tranquility and social conservatism. In fact, in the fifteen years that followed the Second World War the USW went on strike five times (in 1946, 1949, 1952, 1956 and 1959), the last of which involved more than half a million workers and lasted 116 days.

The steel industry employed about eighty thousand people in the late 1940s, with most of the jobs concentrated in the Mon Valley. While the majority of principle employers were involved in steel (and U.S. Steel was without question the dominant employer in and around McKeesport), the city had a sufficiently diversified economy that it had emerged into a regional center and not merely a mill town. Despite this economic diversity, and despite increased labor activism that led to the formation of the United Steelworkers, U.S. Steel remained both locally and nationally dominant, such that major changes to the industry were bound to have a serious and negative ‘trickle down’ effect on mill-dependent communities and the various industries involved in steel.

In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act, one of the most sweeping pieces of anti-union legislation in U.S. history, was passed over the veto of Harry Truman. Among the act’s various provisions was the right for states to pass ‘right to work’ legislation, which outlawed “closed shop” union organizing and allowed non-union workers to hire in—a major blow for union power, and perhaps the singular aspect that secured bipartisan support from the ‘Dixiecrats’ and curtailed union organizing in the South.

By the middle of the century, as the economic foundation of the Mon Valley was being hollowed out, so too was its urban environment. Whole sections of the city, including much of its antique affordable housing stock, was razed to make way for large-scale urban renewal projects that never materialized, and the land was ultimately handed over to the steel firms. Population displacement was motivated first by a desire to ‘clean up the slums’ and ‘reduce crime,’ but ultimately served to provide inexpensive land to massive corporations. While communities across the country wiped the slate clean of urban neighborhoods, they were simultaneously losing residents and their tax bases to new suburbs.

The racial characteristics of McKeesport were also changing, with the Black population representing about twenty-one percent of the total by 1971 (it’s about thirty-six percent today). After the city desegregated public housing in April of 1971, white people began distributing thousands of crude racist pamphlets. Anti-Black racism in McKeesport and the Mon Valley Region was not limited to the distribution of pamphlets or lethargy in the integration of public housing, however; Black people generally had few options for employment and fewer still for advancement, and were first to be laid off from the mills.

By the time of the second oil crisis, in 1979, a global recession was brewing and analysts started warning of the possibility of an oil glut. By 1981, the American economy was in full recession, and demand for American steel, like McKeesport’s tubes and pipes, was plummeting. The company laid off more than six thousand workers in the Mon Valley by November of that year. The following month, it used $6.3 billion in federal aid to purchase Marathon Oil as part of an economic diversification strategy meant to satisfy the interests of shareholders; steelworkers complained the funds should have been used to upgrade mills to make steel products more internationally competitive.

More than five hundred companies declared bankruptcy in America during one week in June 1982, with more than fifty thousand businesses failing across the county in that fiscal year. Unemployment in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area reached nearly sixteen percent in 1983, with 168,000 people seeking work. Though the rate declined to under eight percent by the end of 1986, in mill towns the numbers often exceeded twenty percent in terms of real unemployment. Research from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work revealed that between 1981 and 1986, in one out of three Mon Valley households, at least one member had been jobless for a year or more.

McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Photo via Flickr (creative commons).

In October of 1986, twenty-two thousand USW members walked off the job as negotiations broke down; the strike would last six months. When the strike ended in February of 1987, the 189 remaining employees who reported back to work at McKeesport’s National Tube Works were told their plant, in operation continuously since the 1870s, would not re-open. Twenty-one employees were retained to conclude the last shipments and assist in stripping the plant of its remaining useful technology and equipment. (U.S. Steel would transfer its tube and pipe operations to Fairfield, Alabama, where union organizing was more difficult.)

By 1986, population loss had left five hundred abandoned homes throughout McKeesport and over half a million dollars lost in tax income. Young people had been moving out in droves for some time; seventy-four percent of the 1986 graduating class of Duquesne High reported they would leave the Mon Valley for better opportunities elsewhere. Public services, from police and firefighters to street cleaners and public works employees, were cut in communities large and small throughout the region. Though McKeesport would experience a brief resurgence of activism in an effort to save the community in the mid-late 1980s, their efforts were largely unsuccessful. With the loss of the economic foundation of the region, those who could afford to move elsewhere did so, and the population of McKeesport continued to shrink and grow older.

It’s hard to be hopeful walking past the endless rows of abandoned storefronts and the crumbling buildings of McKeesport’s once bustling downtown, and yet, a century ago, at a time in which nearly all hope had been lost, the people of this city secured for themselves a new and better deal. Though McKeesport transitioned from a bustling regional commercial and industrial center to a declining residential suburb over the course of the last century, there may yet be a stable foundation for renewal.

The community that remains occupies land once reserved for the local elites, stretched along Eden Park Boulevard and focused on the few remaining community institutions, such as the local high school, Renziehausen Park, and the churches that proudly boast of their ethnic heritage—Polish, Ukrainian, Hungarian. Down the hill, toward what was once McKeesport’s central business district, is an abundance of open lots and derelict buildings. Racial divisions seem to remain, with the upper part of the community noticeably whiter and better off than the segment that lives down the hill; McKeesport’s Black population has increased substantially over the past decade, like the other communities of the Mon Valley, as Black people are displaced from Pittsburgh’s gentrifying urban neighborhoods.

In the Mon Valley, the organization of municipalities still reflects the preferences of U.S. Steel from more than a century ago. Communities remain disconnected from one another, despite geographic proximity and near socio-economic uniformity; McKeesport is only about twelve miles from downtown Pittsburgh, but the drive can take as long as forty-five minutes. This planning was often deliberate, as major industrial concerns like U.S. Steel simply didn’t want their employees mixing with the employees of other mills for fear they may unionize.

Politicians often say there are no simple solutions for what to do with America’s devastated industrial cities, but the beleaguered citizens of these communities are under no illusion that easy solutions exist. Despite baked-in divisions, the workers of the 1930s found common cause, and learned, as did working people across the country, that the power of the industrial bosses was largely an illusion. It was easy to stop evictions when masses of people showed up to stare down the sheriff, and relatively simple to turn the utilities back on with the help of the neighborhood electrician or plumber. The likelihood of police violence and suppression fell with every new person attending an outdoor rally right in the middle of town. Churches and schools, street corners and shops became the venues for impromptu meetings, discreet sharing of information, and the ever-increasing organizing web.

Residents of today can take a powerful lesson from McKeesport’s first Great Depression. The strength of the town in the twentieth century was built on an infrastructure of connection and organizing across differences—geographic and otherwise—and offers a compelling blueprint for rebuilding strong Rust Belt communities in the future. The steel mills may not be coming back to the valley, but that’s no matter–they weren’t really what brought these communities together in the first place. ■

The author, Taylor C. Noakes, is an independent journalist and public historian currently based in Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of Duquesne University’s MA Public History program and is currently working on preservation and rehabilitation projects for a Pittsburgh-based architectural firm.

***

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[politicaltheatre]

A Perfect Storm

Wednesday, February 17th, 2021 was a big day in the history of so-called “conservative” America. It may not be a day they want to remember.

It started with the long overdue demolition of Donald Trump’s long since failed and abandoned Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as perfect an emblem of him and his presidency as could be found anywhere.

It was a poor investment paid for with other people’s money. Poorly run, it ran up huge debts and a seemingly endless list of unpaid contractors and vendors before finally going out of business, dragging down the economy around it and costing taxpayers millions. It leaves behind a pile of rubble, poor air quality, unpaid bills, bitter memories, and the utter lack of accountability that led to all of it.

Later that morning came news of the death of Rush Limbaugh, a talk radio “personality” who perfectly embodied everything toxic in our culture and everything corrupt in our politics. He was a bully - a bully’s bully, in fact - one who made a mountain of cash filling America’s airwaves with racist, sexist, fear mongering bile.

He succeeded for the same reason any bully succeeds: he appealed to short term thinking, offering people looking for an excuse not to have to be accountable to others an excuse and people looking for justification to hurt others that justification. In doing this, by offering victims to pick on and humiliate, he made people who felt bad about themselves laugh and maybe even forget why they felt so bad about themselves in the first place, the powerlessness and loneliness that we all feel when things have gone wrong.

Back in his formative years, his childish behavior might well have been waved away as “looking for attention”, “boys being boys”, or “locker room talk”, but those were just excuses, as much for those saying them as they would have been for him. It would have been easier that way, for them. The price paid for that is something so much worse, a full grown man not only acting like a spoiled, bullying child but preaching it as a virtue, as what it is to be a man.

The one thing to understand about Limbaugh is that he loved it. He loved it. He knew what he was doing and he knew that his actions hurt people. He loved the sense of power that hurting people gave him. He loved that he could do that and get away with it and make millions. And, god, did he love that so many people loved him for it. He loved every minute of it and he was a monster.

He may be gone, but like Trump’s boondoggle in Atlantic City his effect on our lives will long outlive him, and in the long term it will cost those who placed their faith in him as much as it cost everyone he scapegoated on his way to the bank.

The afternoon of the 17th brought more, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott joining right wing scapegoaters filling Limbaugh’s sizable void by blaming statewide blackouts on “frozen wind turbines” and the Green New Deal. 

As anyone living in Texas knows, or should, the Texas power grid isn’t connected to the rest of the country and isn’t part of any Green New Deal. As Abbott’s own Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) helpfully pointed out, the loss of wind and solar power during the rare winter storm only accounted for about 13% of the lost power.

If a 13% loss of power is enough to blackout an entire state, that state is run by morons.

Abbott and one or two of his immediate predecessors notwithstanding, Texas isn’t run by morons. They have, however, made decades of mistakes that led to the problems they’re facing right now, from a failure to anticipate or prepare for winter storms, including insulating natural gas supplies and distribution, to the loss of power feeding gas and oil pumps, to Texas’ incompatibility with neighboring states’ power grids, to a culture in the state of corporate deregulation and lack of accountability going back well past the Enron scandal.

Abbott doesn’t want anyone talking about any of that, or the Enron-like price gouging now imported back home for use on Texans. Nor does his and Trump’s Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, whose praise of the dead Limbaugh betrays his all too recent, post-Trump public rehabilitation. These failures date back to Bush’s tenure in Texas and before. This was very much a crisis waiting to happen.

What makes it worse is that the warnings were there all along, from previous winter storms to decades of climate scientists making rational arguments none of those listening to the Trumps, Limbaughs, and Abbotts of this world want to hear. They want easy answers, and what’s easier than it being somebody else’s fault, somebody trying to tell people how to live their lives, somebody telling them they have to be accountable for their own mistakes.

Right now, as millions suffer through bitter cold without drinkable water either because their pipes burst or the utilities shut down output to try to prevent more damage, they’re all looking for somebody to fix it. If somebody else could pay for it, as well as those Shock Doctrine $17,000 energy bills, they would be very happy. In the absence of that, their short term thinking will gladly accept Abbott and friends’ scapegoating.

Maybe. Maybe not.

The good news is that a lot of Texans think Abbott’s claims were just as stupid as the rest of America did. The bad news is that Abbott’s performance was played as much for out of state audiences as his own. Knowing how he could do very little for Texans, and thinking about his own needs, Abbott played for a friendlier audience that might help him with his own future prospects out of office, which will come sooner than later.

Texas will recover, just as we all will from the pandemic, battered, exhausted, and hopefully with an understanding of what they need to change to make sure they don’t go through that again. Mistakes don’t have to be bad. They don’t have to fill us with shame. We can learn. We do. In truth, making mistakes is how our species has learned most of what now keeps us alive, and we’ll go on making more.

The Republican Party doesn’t look like it will learn those same lessons, at least, not easily and not any time soon. It is suffering its own perfect storm: personalities overwhelming reason and emotional maturity; decades of deregulation and failures to hold corporations accountable have left Americans paying for them both literally and figuratively; and a growing number of Americans are realizing, at long last, that a party representing the extremes of selfish behavior cannot and should not represent them.

Which brings us to last Wednesday’s final event, which was Texas Senator Ted Cruz flying his family to a luxury vacation in warm and sunny Cancun while many of his constituents suffered, froze, and died.

The memes may make us feel a little better for how little we know we can do for Texans right now, but they also point to a deep, systemic problem in both this country and the present day Republican Party, both of which Ted Cruz sadly represents. Like Trump, Limbaugh, Abbott, and the right wing social media industries they have fed with lies and scapegoating, Cruz is aggressively selfish, an extremist cloaked behind a term that hasn’t represented the Republican Party in generations: “conservative”.

To be conservative, properly conservative, is to be cautious. It is to avoid going too far, too fast in any direction. It is to protect what exists, and not merely because it represents where we came from but because we should not go forward blindly abandoning the safety of our society for the benefit of a few. This is important to us, as important as the ability to make and learn from mistakes, because it is part of the same process.

This Wednesday, February 24th, 2021, with Texas still struggling to recover from its literal and figurative storms, and the country having passed 500,000 mostly avoidable, confirmed deaths from Covid-19, the America Conservative Union will hold its annual conference, CPAC. Like its star attraction, Donald Trump, and those, like Abbott and Cruz, seeking its attendees’ approval, donations, and votes, it is “conservative” in name only.

If you tune in, you’ll hear a lot of speakers at CPAC eulogizing Rush Limbaugh for “popularizing conservative values”, for literally giving them a voice, but the values he preached and profited from were anything but conservative, not in any meaning of the word.

The themes of the conference will be those pushed by Rush Limbaugh in his life right up through those last, failing months: that the perfect world is one in which you need not be accountable to anyone but everyone must still be accountable to you; that the values that make America great, such as creating and exploiting imbalances of power and not having to give a damn about people weak enough to be struggling to survive a winter storm, should be shared openly and loudly and without shame; and that those beliefs are a god-given right that should be protected by any means, including violence, because to win is to be in a constant state of war.

You won’t hear talk of failure in any of these speeches, not of the failures in Texas, not of the failures in the White House or in Congress, not of failures in Covid deaths, not of failures that led to the attack on the Capitol and its police, and certainly not of failures in the 2020 election. That, you will be reminded again and again and again, was stolen. 

The closest they’ll get to it is talk of disloyalty and the scapegoating of representatives and senators who voted for Trump’s impeachment and conviction. Don’t worry, the hypocrisy of people decrying “cancel culture” urging people to cancel people disloyal to Trump will be completely lost on them.

That would be denial blending with bargaining and anger, cycling through them again and again and again. Like a movie studio, they will attempt to repeat the success of their surprise hit without understanding why it actually succeeded, going for the big and loud bits, with failure after failure after failure only making them try harder the same way. They can’t learn if they can’t see the mistake.

No, the great irony of failure is how it can often stem from success. The right wing has succeeded over the past half century in pulling this country into its toxic, increasingly unsustainable world view.

Industries that once held memories of the dangers of instability and speculation now once again function around denying those dangers. Politicians who courted fascism and white supremacists were once shamed and ostracized by those who remembered fighting against them, but now they flaunt their support openly because those have become their most rabid fans and campaign donors. Fear mongers and grifters, once expelled for their crimes to wander the political wilderness, have now won so many elections under the Republican banner that it’s hard to remember when they weren’t its brand.

Is this merely a return to form? A week ago, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, some who have left the party and some who keep threatening to, got together to discuss the possibility of starting a rival party for disaffected political moderates. Don’t hold your breath.

This isn’t a new discussion. They come back every few years to blow off steam and then do nothing. This time, they seemed more concerned with coming up with a good party name than anything else. Perhaps they’re waiting for more than a few thousand voters to leave the Republican Party to make theirs viable. They can’t count on Democrats leaving theirs, not when they’ve finally gotten Congress back and with such narrow margins. Such are the calculations of these honor-bound political moderates.

If they have any intention of reclaiming the Republican Party of their youth, they’ll have to start by trying to reclaim that word, “conservative”. To do that, they’ll have to acknowledge their complicity in allowing the right wing to gain so much power and influence in our country. They’ll also have to rid themselves of grifters and abusers of power, because to be properly conservative you must be neither.

Again, that’s unlikely. More likely is that they, like someone who has literally just lost power on a cold, winter night, will try to deny their newfound lack of power by finding someone else to blame, choosing to live in the fantasy of overcoming that scapegoat rather than the reality they face.

That’s certainly what Trump and Limbaugh’s fanbase at CPAC will be doing, huddled together in their auditorium, proudly not wearing masks, sharing crackpot conspiracy theories, and making fun of the same “liberal elites” and “socialists” now raising money and gathering supplies for the people of Texas.

And why not? It’s worked for them for years.

- Daniel Ward

[crawfordlm]

How Ecological Restoration is Achieved & What Are Its Benefits?

What is meant by Ecological Restoration?

Ecological Restoration is defined as the process in which maintenance specialists of natural sites whose biological communities (interaction of various species present in a common location) and the ecosystem which has been degraded or destroyed.

Cause of destruction of ecosystem

The ecosystem is mainly destroyed due to human activities. Human has introduced invasive species replacing the local native population of plants and animals. They have converted natural communities to extractive use (such as mining and agriculture), degraded soil resources, and fouled water.

Ecological Restoration mainly focuses on repairing the damaged natural ecosystem, which is due to human activities. In this, we try to return nature into its earlier state or to another state that is closely related to the one which is unaltered by human activities.

Ecological Restoration practitioner doesn’t carry out the ecosystem recovery process. They create a condition needed for the recovery so that plants, animals, and microorganisms can carry out the work of recovery of themselves.

The recovery process is easy, and it involves the process of removing the invasive species or introducing a loss species, planting vegetation, changing the hydrology, and reintroducing wildlife. The individual restoration process may complete, but this process continues as the ecosystem matures and recovers in most cases.

Wetland Consultants aim to make things easy and understanding for their clients. They offer a variety of environmental consulting services which range from single-family homes to large-scale developments. Nick Roach, an environmental consultant, founded it. He had professional experience in both and public sectors.

Vista Management mainly deals with Vista Resources. It was founded in 1987. It’s a well-established natural gas and independent company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has made a contract with nationally recognized corporations to provide consistent year-round markets for natural gas and oil.

[fitnexs]

Health & Fitness

                                                                                               by Abhishek Yadav

There is a reason as to why we are advised to stay fit and healthy- It is to keep your body protected from all from all the health hazards . It is really not easy to stay fit, be consistent and maintain your clean  and healthy diet, but do you know what’s more difficult? To not feel good in your body, to  have a unhealthy mind and body, to  be unhappy with what you wear everyday- so choose your hard accordingly.

Research shows that exercising regularly and eating clean has its own benefits . Advantages of staying fit and healthy are that it could make you feel happy,  it strengthens your bones and muscle thus making you stronger, it increases your energy level, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, brings glow on your skin , it improves your brain health and memory ,relaxes your body, improves your sleep cycle and it can also help you with your fat loss journey.

Here are some fitness tips that could make your fitness journey easier .

1. Consistency is the key.  Set your goal and be consistent .Exercising regularly will only show some changes . If you have to skip a workout class, don’t skip two days in a row. If you want to be consistent with your workouts until they become a habit, you need to work on those goals.  

2.Listen to  music.  Listening to your favorite  songs can keep you in peace, will motivate you , will elevate you , will distract you in a good way and will get you in grove and will make you want to move.

3. Make the world your gym. Do stretches in the grocery line. Do ballet moves while pumping gas. Take the stairs. Sitting in traffic? Squeeze your lower abs, then release. You'll be amazed at how much you can develop your core strength while driving.

4.Say no to unhealthy food.  It might look very tempting and tasty  but all it gives your body is unhealthy calories and unwanted fat. Continuous Consumption of junk food will make your body unhealthy and fat . Junk food is high in oils, fats and carbohydrates, while low in  nutrients that are essentially for body.

5.Swap your exercises. Changing your exercises in frequent interval will prevent you from boredom. And will give chance to your used muscles to rest and recover and thus preventing injuries.

6.Streaching.  It is the most important part of working-out as it reduces chances of injury , increases the range of motion between your joints , reduces muscular tension and improves efficiency and overall functional performance.

This article has been written by abhishek yadav intern at collegetips.in

[cnbiz]

Small Business Tax Deduction: Capital expenses

Before digging out the capital expenses we should be clear in expenses and losses as both decreases owner’s, shareholder’s equity. The difference between expenses and losses is that we can’t get any benefit from losses vs. we will get benefit from the expenses. Expenses can be of two types: Capital nature expenses and revenue nature expenses. Revenue nature expenses are short term in nature and benefits can be derived only for short period of time e.g. for less than one year. In this article we are going to discuss about capital expenses which can be claimed as amortization. We will discuss Depreciation and revenue nature expenses separately in next article. Any expenditure whose benefit can be derived for more than one year is capital expenditure.

The IRS views capital expenses as investments in the business, thus the business can't simply deduct the money spent on the asset from its gross income. The money hasn't really left the business, it was just transformed into an asset that the business hopes will generate more money. Deductions for capital expenses typically must occur over several years, except where Section 179 applies. Spreading the deduction over multiple tax years - also known as "amortization" or "depreciation" or depletion - helps businesses to accurately assess their profitability from year to year.

The Internal Revenue Service has provided several rules for capital expenses which can be claimed as depreciation, amortization and depletion in preparing income tax return. If the capital nature expenses are incurred to obtain asset which has physical existence those we can touch, feel and see, then this type of expenses can be claimed as depreciation. If the capital expenditure is incurred to obtain benefits for several years whose physical existence does not exist, such type of expenses can be claimed as amortization or depletion.

Amortization of Capital Expenses can be summarized as follows:

a) Start-up Cost: Expenses which could be deducted as an ordinary and necessary business expenses if the business is already operating or in existence and incurs before the active trade or business begins are start-up cost. Start-up cost include an analysis or survey of potential markets, products, labor supply; advertisement for the opening of the business; salaries and fees paid to employees or professionals; travel and other necessary cost for securing prospective distributors, suppliers or customers.

The IRS says that start up costs are amount paid or incurred for:

Creating an active trade or business or

Investigating the creation or acquisition of an active trade or business.

The IRS regulation state that business start-up costs are typically considered capital expenses because they are for the the long term, not just the first year. Start-up cost can be deducted up-to $5,000 in the first year of business. This deduction is restricted if you have over $50,000 in start-up costs. Any start-up cost which can’t be claim as deduction in first year can be deducted in 180 months as amortization.

b) Organizational Costs: Organization costs for tax purposes are costs incurred in forming a partnership or corporation, including the legal fees for drafting a partnership agreement or corporate charter and bylaws, necessary accounting services in forming the entity, filing fees, and costs of organizational meetings of stockholders and directors. Amounts paid to organize a corporation are the direct expenses of creating the corporation or partnership. A corporation using the cash method of accounting can amortize the organizational cost in the first year of business even if doesn’t pay cash to them. A partnership using the cash method of accounting can deduct an organizational cost only if it has been paid in that year.

Examples of cost of organization include cost of temporary directors, the cost of organizational meetings, state registration fees, the cost of legal services etc. The organizational cost treatment for IRS is almost like start- up cost. If the expense is below $50,000, the amount of$5,000 can be deducted in the year of first year of business. Remaining expense can be claimed as amortization in 180 months.

c) Cost of Getting a Lease: Very often when  an existing lease is obtained from another lessee,  the amount must be paid to the previous lessee to get the lease, besides having to pay the rent on the lease Cost paid to previous lessee for getting the lease besides having to pay the rent or lease should be amortized in remaining period of lease. For example, if $10,000 is paid to get a lease and there are 10 years remaining on the lease with no option to renew, $1,000 can be deducted each year. The cost of getting an existing lease of tangible property is not subject to the amortization rules for section 197 intangibles discussed in.

d) Improvements by Lessee: Cost of the improvement in leased property or making permanent improvement to leased property should be depreciated using the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS). Depreciate the property over its appropriate recovery period.  The cost of improvement in leased property can’t be amortized over the remaining term of the lease. If the improvement has to give up at the end of lease, gain or loss should be figured out based on adjusted basis in the improvements at that time.

e) Exploration Costs: The costs of determining the existence, location, extent, or quality of any mineral deposit are ordinarily capital expenditures if the costs lead to the development of a mine. These costs can be recovered through depletion as the mineral is removed from the ground. However, it can be elected to deduct domestic exploration costs paid or incurred before the beginning of the development stage of the mine (except those for oil and gas wells). A corporation (other than an S corporation) can deduct only 70% of its domestic exploration costs. It must capitalize the remaining 30% of costs and amortize them over the 60-month period starting with the month the exploration costs are paid or incurred. A corporation may also elect to capitalize and amortize mining exploration costs over a 10-year period.

f) Barrier Removal Costs The cost of an improvement to a business asset is normally a capital expense. However, it can be elected to deduct the costs of making a facility or public transportation vehicle more accessible to and usable by those who are disabled or elderly. The facility or vehicle for use in connection with trade or business should be owned or leased. The most you can deduct as a The cost of removing barriers to the disabled and the elderly for any tax year can be deducted up-to $15,000. However, any costs over this limit can be added to the basis of the property and depreciated these excess costs.

g) Section 197 Intangibles: Generally, the section 197 intangibles in connection with trade or business or in an activity engaged in for the production of income should be amortized ratably over a 15-year period.

The following assets are section 197 intangibles and must be amortized over 180 months. 1. Goodwill. 2. Going concern value. 3. Workforce in place. 4. Business books and records, operating systems, or any other information base, including lists or other information concerning current or prospective customers. 5. A patent, copyright, formula, process, design, pattern, know-how, format, or similar item. A customer-based intangible. 7. A supplier-based intangible. 8. Any item similar to items 3 through 7. 9. A license, permit, or other right granted by a governmental unit or agency (including issuance and renewals). 10. A covenant not to compete entered into in connection with the acquisition of an interest in a trade or business. 11. Any franchise, trademark, or trade name. 12. A contract for the use of, or a term interest in, any item in this list.

[newstfionline]

Monday, November 23, 2020

Trump Using Last Days to Lock In Policies (NYT) Voters have decided that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. should guide the country through the next four years. But on issues of war, the environment, criminal justice, trade, the economy and more, President Trump and top administration officials are doing what they can to make changing direction more difficult. Top officials are racing against the clock to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, secure oil drilling leases in Alaska, punish China, carry out executions and thwart any plans Mr. Biden might have to reestablish the Iran nuclear deal. In some cases, like the executions and the oil leases, Mr. Trump’s government plans to act just days—or even hours—before Mr. Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. At a wide range of departments and agencies, Mr. Trump’s political appointees are going to extraordinary lengths to try to prevent Mr. Biden from rolling back the president’s legacy. They are filling vacancies on scientific panels, pushing to complete rules that weaken environmental standards, nominating judges and rushing their confirmations through the Senate, and trying to eliminate health care regulations that have been in place for years. Mr. Biden and his top aides have not publicly criticized the president’s policy actions at home or abroad, abiding by the tradition that there is only one president at a time. But the president-elect has vowed to move quickly to undo many of Mr. Trump’s domestic and foreign policies.

Doctors and nurses want more data before championing vaccines to end the pandemic (Washington Post) Doctors and nurses, coping with the daily risk of coronavirus exposure, are expected to get top priority to receive vaccines that could become available as soon as next month. But it’s an open question how many will seize their place at the front of the line. The hesitancy of some health-care workers is attracting attention as the first two vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, near deployment. Government, academic, and health-care officials say that significant numbers of providers want more data about the vaccine before it is deployed. A report released Thursday by the University of California at Los Angeles researchers said that 66 percent of Los Angeles health-care workers who responded to an online questionnaire (not a randomized sample) said they would delay taking a vaccine. The American Nurses Association, a national union, said one-third of its members do not intend to take the vaccine, and an additional third are undecided. Among professionals contacted by the state of New Jersey, “some did not want to be in the first round, so they could wait and see if there are potential side effects,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith M. Persichilli said at a Nov. 9 news briefing. Health-care leaders say President Trump’s frequent promises about vaccines have raised doubts about the objectivity of agency reviews, as have the speed of the manufacturers’ clinical trials, and unfamiliarity with the novel techniques used by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to trigger natural antibodies.

Music to get us through (NYT) At the fearful height of the pandemic in April, Simon Gronowski, an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, began playing jazz tunes on his piano from his apartment window in Brussels, bringing relief to his besieged neighbors throughout the lockdown that lasted into late May. “Music is a means of communication, of connection,” said Mr. Gronowski, who taught himself how to play the piano as a teenager after escaping the Nazis. Piano was a way for him to connect with his sister who had died in Auschwitz. Throughout the summer and into the fall, live jazz has become a near-constant presence across New York City. The makeshift outdoor shows have been therapeutic for musicians and fans alike.

Homicides skyrocket across U.S. during pandemic (Washington Post) In Greensboro, N.C., the violence has gotten so extreme that a shootout erupted in front of the county courthouse the other day, across the street from the sheriff’s office, leaving a 20-year-old man dead. Greensboro set a city record with 45 homicides last year, and, as of Friday, already had 54 this year. “We’ve always had a level of gang activity,” Greensboro Police Chief Brian James said in an interview, “but it’s more prolific now. I’m not sure what’s changed, but the offenders are more bold than they’ve ever been.” Homicides across America rose more than 28 percent in the first nine months of this year, and aggravated assaults increased nine percent, while rapes and robberies saw significant drops compared to the same period last year, according to statistics compiled this month from 223 police agencies. Some police commanders say the twin impacts of the coronavirus and civil uprisings against police violence caused them to redirect their officers away from proactive anti-crime programs, whether due to virus-related budget cuts or strategic redeployment of forces to handle the unrest. Other officials point to job loss and other stresses of the pandemic as fueling tension and leading to violence. And with many schools shuttered, police say, many areas have seen a rise in violence involving juveniles.

Charleston weighs wall as seas rise and storms strengthen (AP) Vickie Hicks, who weaves intricate sweetgrass baskets in Charleston, South Carolina’s historic city market, remembers climbing onto the table at her grandmother’s booth downtown when the floodwaters rushed by. Decades later, the seasoned seller of this art form passed down by descendants of West African slaves still works downtown, where merchants regularly set out sandbags and scrutinize daily weather forecasts. Hicks says the flooding’s only gotten worse. “God’s taking back his land,” she said. Now, the low-lying Atlantic seaport is considering its most drastic measure yet to protect the lives and livelihoods of residents like Hicks from the threats of climate-driven flooding: walling off its peninsula from the ocean. In 2019, the downtown flooded a record 89 times according to the National Weather Service—mostly from high tides and wind pushing water inland. And the city could flood up to 180 times per year by 2045 according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There’s also the threat each year that hurricane-driven storm surge could inundate the city’s peninsula, which is at the confluence of three rivers and mostly less than 20 feet (6.1 meters) above sea level.

Protesters in Guatemala Set Fire to Congress Building Over Spending Cuts (NYT) Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Guatemala’s capital on Saturday, setting fire to the nation’s congressional building in a show of anger over a budget bill passed this week that cut funding for health care and education. The demonstrations in Guatemala City, which also included peaceful marches in the central plaza, rocked a nation still recovering from back-to-back hurricanes that displaced thousands of people, destroyed homes and obliterated critical infrastructure. As heavy rains brought on by the second storm pummeled impoverished towns in Guatemala’s highlands and coastal regions on Wednesday, the country’s Congress passed a budget that cut spending on education and health in favor of increasing lawmakers’ meal stipends. The bill, which also proposed gutting funding to combat malnutrition and slashed funding for the judiciary, set off immediate outrage and led to demonstrations across the country. One group of protesters kicked in the windows of the Congress building and set a fire that sent flames billowing out of the entrance, social media videos showed. Police officers sprayed tear gas at demonstrators and firefighters quickly put the blaze out, according to local news reports.

Russia’s health system under strain as the virus surges back (AP) When Yekaterina Kobzeva, a nurse at a preschool in Russia’s Ural Mountains, began having trouble breathing, she called an ambulance. It was four days before she managed to find a free hospital bed. She was only admitted after her story made local headlines. Russia’s health care system, vast yet underfunded, has been under significant strains in recent weeks, as the pandemic surges again and daily infections and virus death regularly break records. Reports in Russian media have painted a bleak picture in recent weeks. Hospital corridors are filled with patients on gurneys and even the floor. Bodies in black plastic bags were seen piling up on the floors of a morgue. Long lines of ambulances wait at hospitals while pharmacies put up signs listing the drugs they no longer have in stock. Russian authorities have acknowledged problems in the health system. President Vladimir Putin even urged regional officials not to paper over the situation, saying that “feigning the impression that everything is perfectly normal is absolutely unacceptable.” During the fall resurgence of the virus, the Kremlin has consistently pointed fingers at regional governors. Regional governors find themselves in an impossible position, explained political analyst Abbas Gallyamov. They face public frustration if they don’t impose tough restrictions and the outbreak continues to rage, and they face it if they do because they don’t have the funds to ease the pain of closures.

Azerbaijanis who fled war look to return home, if it exists (AP) As Azerbaijan regains control of land it lost to Armenian forces a quarter-century ago, civilians who fled the fighting decades ago wonder if they can go back home now—and if there’s still a home to go back to. An estimated 600,000 Azerbaijanis were displaced in the 1990s war that left the Nagorno-Karabakh region under the control of ethnic Armenian separatists and large adjacent territories in Armenia’s hands. During six weeks of renewed fighting this fall that ended Nov. 10, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself and sizeable swaths of the outlying areas. More territory is being returned as part of the ceasefire agreement that stopped the latest fighting. But as Azerbaijani forces discovered when the first area, Aghdam, was turned over on Friday, much of the recovered land is uninhabitable. The city of Aghdam, where 50,000 people once lived, is now a shattered ruin.

China to launch moon probe, seeking first lunar rock retrieval since 1970s (Reuters) China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon this week to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from Earth’s natural satellite since the 1970s. The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon, will seek to collect material that can help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins and formation. The mission will test China’s ability to remotely acquire samples from space, ahead of more complex missions. If successful, the mission will make China only the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, following the United States and the Soviet Union decades ago.

In Lebanon, army courts target anti-government protesters (AP) Khaldoun Jaber was taking part in an anti-government protest near the presidential palace outside Beirut last November when several Lebanese intelligence officers in plainclothes approached and forcibly took him away. The demonstration was part of a wave of protests sweeping Lebanon against corruption and misrule by a group of politicians who have monopolized power since the country’s civil war ended three decades ago. Jaber didn’t know it then, but Lebanese security forces targeted him because of his social media posts criticizing President Michel Aoun. What followed were 48 harrowing hours of detention during which security officers interrogated him and subjected him to physical abuse, before letting him go. “Three of my teeth were broken and I lost 70% of my hearing in my left ear,” Jaber said. A year after mass protests roiled Lebanon, dozens of protesters are being tried before military courts, proceedings that human rights lawyers say grossly violate due process and fail to investigate allegations of torture and abuse. Defendants tried before the military tribunal say the system is used to intimidate protesters and prop up Lebanon’s sectarian rulers. The trials underscore the growing perils of activism in Lebanon, where a string of court cases and judicial investigations against journalists and critics has eroded the country’s reputation for free speech and tolerance in a largely autocratic Arab world.

Palestinian rocket fire draws Israeli air strikes in Gaza (Reuters) Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel, drawing Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Sunday. There were no casualties reported on either side of the border. Israeli police said the Gaza rocket fired on Saturday night damaged a factory in the southern city of Ashkelon. The Israeli military said its aircraft struck in response against several military sites belonging to Hamas, the Islamist armed group that controls Gaza.

‘Save yourselves’, Ethiopia tells Tigrayans as it moves on rebel-held capital (Reuters) Ethiopia’s army plans to surround the rebel-held capital of Tigray region with tanks and may use artillery on the city to try to end a nearly three-week war, a military spokesman said on Sunday, urging civilians to save themselves. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is refusing to surrender its rule of the northern region, said its forces were digging trenches and standing firm. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal troops have taken a string of towns during aerial bombardments and ground fighting, and are now aiming for Mekelle, a highland city of about 500,000 people where the rebels are based. The war has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, sent more than 30,000 refugees into neighbouring Sudan, and seen rockets fired by rebels into neighbouring Amhara region and across the border into the nation of Eritrea.

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The Trump administration took its final step Monday to weaken the Endangered Species Act, a bedrock law that brought the bald eagle, the American alligator, the California condor, the humpback whale and the grizzly bear back from the brink of extinction.

New rules will allow the administration to reduce the amount of habitat set aside for wildlife and remove tools that officials use to predict future harm to species as a result of climate change. It would also reveal for the first time in the law’s 45-year history the financial costs of protecting them.

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The rules would affect listing decisions in the future, officials said, and are not retroactive. They will go into effect 30 days after being published in the Federal Register.

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Only Congress can change an act, but rule revisions reflect an administration’s interpretation of a law and how it should be applied. The 1973 Endangered Species Act passed unanimously in the Senate and by an overwhelming margin in the House.

Under the administration’s new rules, it would have been nearly impossible to designate the polar bear as threatened in 2010 because of the loss of sea ice in the Arctic, one of the fastest-warming areas in the world. Nearly 200,000 square miles of barrier islands in Alaska were listed as critical habitat.

Officials relied on climate models to predict how warming would impact polar bear habitat more than 80 years into the future. The new rules called such predictions into doubt and said officials can now only determine impacts in what it described, vaguely, as the “foreseeable future.”

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The new rules would also limit the area of land that can be protected to help species recover and survive. Currently, land that plants and animals occupy is set aside for their protection, in addition to areas that they once occupied or might need in the future.

Now, critical habitat that is not occupied might not be protected, opening it up for oil and gas exploration or other forms of development.

Another rule change stripped away language that said a secretary “shall make a [listing] determination solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial information regarding a species’ status,” regardless of its costs.

By removing that sentence, the administration allowed the interior and commerce secretaries to consider the economic impact of a listing. Potential threats to business opportunities and other costs can now be factored by the government and shared with the public.

Administration officials said those considerations would not affect listing decisions, but lawmakers and conservationists noted that it could inflame public opposition to proposals to rescue fragile populations.

“There is no reason to do this except to deliberately inflame public opposition to the species or to the act as a whole,” said Bob Dreher, a vice president for conservation at Defenders of Wildlife.

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Speaking during a telephone news conference, Healey said the new rules “continue the Trump administration’s agenda to benefit oil and gas … and allow the federal government to ignore the devastating impacts of climate change, ignore the U.N. biodiversity report and the alarming crisis facing a million species.

“These changes violate the purpose of the Endangered Species Act,” Healey added, “and sounds like the plan of a cartoon villain and not the president of the United States.”

12 August 2019

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9 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Eat Avocados Every Day

They say an apple each day keeps the doctor away. But what are you alleged to throw at him once you run out of apples?

In all seriousness, what we eat features a major impact on our overall health. And eating certain foods every day can cause you to happier and healthier than ever before.

Avocados are one of these foods. additionally, to tasting great, avocados provide a variety of awesome health benefits once you eat them each day! Here are nine things that happen to your body once you eat avocados a day.

Avocados may help slow signs of aging

One of the primary big avocado benefits is additionally one among the foremost important: avocados provide anti-aging effects for your body.

How does one hamper aging, exactly? It all starts with ensuring your body gets the nutrients it needs, including essential fatty acids. These EFAs protect your cells and your skin, helping you look a touch younger every day.

Ultimately, avocado is like salmon: it helps your skin glow.

Avocados may help reduce stress

One thing we all have in common is stress. regardless of who you're or where you reside, the likelihood is that that you’re trying to find easy ways to scale back stress.

Fortunately, one of the advantages of avocado is that it reduces stress. Why is that? Simple: avocados provide the magnesium your body must reduce stress and sleep better. And this creates a cycle where recuperating sleep reduces your stress even further!

If you’ve been handling tons of stress, it's going to be time to find out the way to make an avocado toast!

Avocados may assist you to reduce

Speaking of that dish, ever wonder why avocado toast is so popular among millennials? One reason is that, like coffee, it helps people lose weight!

In theory, losing weight may be a matter of mathematics: we just got to eat fewer calories and burn more calories through exercise and activity. But it gets difficult because certain foods cause you to feel fuller than other foods.

Due to the essential nutrients and healthy fats in avocado, you are feeling fuller for extended after eating. And while avocado calories are often on the high side, you'll dine in moderation and not feel the necessity to snack afterward.

Avocados may help fight depression

Depression is one of the worst things in the world. It can leave an individual feeling helpless and miserable from day today. However, eating avocados may assist you to fight back against depression.

Why is “fighting depression” one among the avocado health benefits? The healthy fats in avocado help fight depression. and that they also help prevent later mental decline which could cause depression (or simply make it worse).

Additionally, avocado provides magnesium to assist you sleep and potassium to spice up brain function. With regular avocado consumption, you’ll feel better, think better, and sleep better, all of which help fight depression.

Avocados may help your muscles get over workouts

Working out is pretty tricky. you would like to seek out exercises that challenge your body and strain the proper muscles. But you furthermore may get to eat the proper recovery meals to assist your muscles and joints heal after an intense workout.

That’s why more people are turning to avocado recipes after they compute. Avocado provides the potassium, healthy fats, and amino acids your muscles got to recover. Add some avocado oil to your recipes and you’ll be able to compute again before you recognize it!

Avocados may lower your risk of a heart condition

In some ways, your heart is the most vital organ in your body. If you’re not careful, things like heart conditions and heart attacks can permanently change the standard of your life.

Avocados, like romaine lettuce, are great for your heart thanks to the ingredients we mentioned earlier. Healthy fats help to scale back your chances of strokes, heart attacks, and various other heart diseases. and therefore the potassium helps keep your heart strong and your arteries clear.

Avocados may assist you to grow stronger nails

Few things are quite as annoying as a cracked nail. But have you ever asked yourself why your nails crack so often? the likelihood is that that you simply don’t get enough biotin in your diet.

Those with a biotin deficiency often experience weak and brittle nails. However, avocado naturally provides the biotin you would like to form your nails healthy and powerful. As another bonus, avocado also provides iron to further strengthen your nails.

Avocados may assist you to grow strong, shiny hair

Regular avocado consumption provides quite strong nails. It also can provide stronger and shinier hair!

If you’re wondering why it all comes back to biotin. even as a biotin deficiency can cause weak and brittle nails, it also results in hair damage and loss.

Once again, avocado provides a number of the biotin that your body needs. If you’re really worried about hair health, though, you'll want to urge biotin supplements so that your body gets a minimum of 30 micrograms per day.

Avocados may aid digestion

Whether you’re trying to reduce or not, everybody strives for a healthy gastrointestinal system. Unfortunately, many of the packaged and processed foods we eat every day are seriously disrupting our digestion.

The good news is that avocado can help put your digestion back on target. it's enough nutrients and fiber to market regular digestion, and therefore the low levels of fructose make avocado less likely to offer you gas.

Also, the potassium in avocado helps improve digestion. And consuming avocado can assist you to fight inflammation caused by other foods like meat. Between fighting inflammation and boosting digestion, avocado has what it takes to urge your body back on target.