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wind0wg0blin · 5 years

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[Raffle prize for Wthtorke. Request of their OC Damien X My Oc Frost]

Damien was never really the type of person to venture out for public events. The crowded venues and ensuing chaos of those who over indulged themselves in the wine was enough to give anyone a headache. Though when it was announced that this event was going to be a gala it certainly piqued his interest. At work that afternoon Damien asked around with some of his more sociable co-workers and found out that the gala was being held in honor of the stations 20th anniversary. While he wasn’t quite sure how those two thing held any correlation he was interested none the less.

Damien wasn’t about to lie and say that it didn’t sound like fun. Being a professional dancer, you would think he would want his free time to consist of anything but the sport yet he was entirely too excited for this event. Especially now when he caught word that his brother Soulell would be attending, meaning he wouldn’t be dancing alone for most of the night. Or at least he hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

As soon as the bell chimed for his shift to be over Damien practically ran home from the studio to prepare for the gala. He had even picked up a new vest for the event wanting to look his absolute best. Soulell was waiting at his door when he arrived at his home looking utterly unconvinced about the approaching night. Damien could only smile as he let them both in quickly getting to work at making them both look presentable.

Things had run a little over time due to Soulell’s constant stream of complainants. Damien refusing to be late all but ran to the top deck where the gala was being held. The massive arching glass doors of the Garden Center where the event was taking place soon came into view as Damien all but dragged Soulell along behind him. The two guards at the door smiled understandingly at them as they ushered them inside finding the place already a whirl of activity and dancing figures as vaguely familiar songs played in the background.

“Wow.” Damien muttered aloud as he took it all in. Massive crystal chandeliers hung from the glass ceiling that looked out at the endless expanse of space. The sweet scent of the blooming fruit trees in the surrounding greenhouses filled the room only increasing the excitement. Damien was practically buzzing as he took a deep breath letting everything settle within him as he looked about at the many faces around him. All lost in their own little worlds, genuinely enjoying themselves.

Soulell had quickly disappeared from his side and was swept away into the sea of people leaving Damien to his own accord. Despite his former fears Damien didn’t see this as much of a problem as Damien felt himself being instinctively drawn to the dance floor where he quickly fell into rhythm with the people around him.

Damien chuckled happily as he let his long hair bounce around as he jumped along to the bass of the song bobbing along with a girl beside him who was laughing happily. So, caught up in his own little fantasy Damien didn’t notice the eyes on his till he glanced up and felt his face flush seeing a large intimidating figure watching him from across the dance floor. They were very clearly a Yautja from their mandibles to the dreads and those talon-like nails that tapped steadily on the side of a champagne glass. Damien had just barely glanced at the man before they disappeared in a sudden wave of dancers flooding the area in front of the band.

Damien shook it off as just a coincidence refusing to let some weirdo ruin his night. Finding the girl from before they hit it off and dance together for a time letting themselves simply enjoy their time as they jumped to the heavy bass of the song. Damien was truly enjoying himself as he partied along side this new friend of his. Though that was until a slow song came on and the girl politely excused herself to dance with her boyfriend who had just arrived.

Damien smiled at her and excused himself as well about to make his way off of the dance floor considering to call the night in early seeing as he had no one else to talk to. Stepping to turn Damien let out a quick gasp of surprise as he bumped right into the chest of a large man who hadn’t notice walk up behind him.

“Oh! Im’ so sorry-“Damien said quickly as he glanced up and felt his tongue become caught in his mouth. It was the same yautja from before though now much closer and much larger. Though any worry Damien may have had vanished as he looked up into the large playful eyes that stared back down at him. Damien laughed softly to himself as a rumbling laugh sounded out from the yautja.

“No need to apologize it was just as much my fault.” They spoke inclining their head slightly in apology. Damien could only smile and nod suddenly flushed by their demeanor. He couldn’t point it out but something bout this yautja made his heart speed up and his face flush. Maybe it was those eyes that seemed to just look right through him as they scanned over him. Damien felt his blush only deepen as those around the two looked at them impatiently as it was clear they were waiting for them to start the next song. Damien was just about to rush off when the yautja stepped towards him chuckling softly.

“It seems that fate would have it that we share this dance.” The Yautja teased as his mandibles flared into what Damien could only assume was their equivalence of a smile.

“May I have this dance?” They asked holding out their hand as they bowed slightly playfully imitating something a prince from a movie would do. Damien could only laugh as he took his hand.

“You might as well, everyone else got taken.” Damien teased and was happy that it was received well as the yautja laughed boisterously pulling him closer as they began to sway gently to the tune.

A few moments were spent simply watching the other dancers and listening to the chime of the music. Damien quickly found himself entranced to the small world they were creating between themselves. His heart fluttered when he felt the yautja’s beating just as heavily under the palm of his hand which now rested carefully on the alien’s large chest. The aliens two toned eyes watching his every move with such piercing intensity it made him feel a way he had never felt before.

“My name’s Frost by the way.” The yautja explained leaning down in an attempt to talk privately seeing as the dance floor was now crowded with many curious people watching the two dance. Before he could manage a reply Damien felt himself be ever so carefully dipped to the lull in the song. This yautja clearly knew a bit about dancing which was a definite plus in Damien’s book but judging by the way he was constantly stepping backwards he wasn’t very practiced at it.

“I’m Damien. Its nice to meet you.” Damien finally introduced himself as he was swept in close to the larger male momentarily resting his head on the yautja’s chest. Damien smiled sweetly up at frost earning him a toothy grin just before he was spun suddenly to the side being lifted clearly off his feet. Damiens eyes widened as frost lurched slightly as a large man crashed into him before dropping to the floor clearly intoxicated.

“Sorry about that didn’t want you taking a spill from that guy.” Frost explained ushering them aside as a group of on lookers rushed over to check on the drunk who was now struggling to stand.

“Maybe we should move this conversation to somewhere less crowded.” Damien offered as the band stopped completely seeing as the dance floor was now flooded with worried by standers all flocking the drunken fool crawling about.

“Lead the way.” Frost motioned towards a remotely clear pathway leading off the dance floor. Damien took hold of the cuff of the yautja’s jacket and took the lead. He was able to find a clear path that lead them out of the main room into the actual gardens which were scare of any people thankfully. Well, shy of a few workers that were going about and spraying down the many hanging baskets.

Damien released Frost as they wandered further into the garden, Damien craning his neck to look out the massive arching windows. The stars outside twinkled brightly as the two came to sit down together on a clean bench near a small collection of apple trees that were heavy with fruit. The smell was delightfully sweet and mixing with the heavier musk of the yautja beside him it doing wonders for Damien’s senses.

“How come we’ve never met before; it seems like it would be hard to miss someone as handsome as yourself passing by.” Frost offered smiling softly as his hand brushed against Damien’s. Shyly Damien rested his fingers over the yautja’s much larger ones not brave enough to hold hands.

“I don’t go out often, never see much interest in the little parties that are thrown.” Damien admitted looking away a bit embarrassed by the fact he just indirectly admitted he’s a shut in. Frost just laughed happily as he scooted closer butting his shoulder into Damien’s.

“No worries I’m the same way. Only here to support a friend of mine. Though had I known I would’ve met you tonight I would’ve dressed my best.” Damien’s felt his brow raise instinctively as he glanced at Frost’s attire. If this was him not trying what’s his best look like? Damien pondered before both Frost and himself were screaming in surprise.

The two shot up in surprise as they were sprayed with a stream of ice water. The worker who hadn’t over heard their conversation due to their overly loud headpohones, apologized profusely as the hurried over offering a small hand towel in condolence.

The two were literally dripping from their unprecedented showers and making small puddles beneath themselves. Despite this very apparent wrench in any plans they might have had frost still managed to laugh at the absolutely crazy situation they were in.

“Well it looks like we best go our ways for the time being. Though if you’re up to it we can continue this conversation another time.” Frost offered as he wrung out a large amount of water from his jacket as he pealed it off revealing a lot as his white button up clung to his chest and sides.

“Yeah, I can give you my number and you can just text me if you want.” Damien chuckled nervously as he made his move, genuinely wanting to know more about this alien.

The two quickly exchange numbers before frost excused himself leaving a trail of water behind him. Damien, despite this night turning out unlike anything he had predicted, was quite happy with the outcome.

Smiling to himself Damien made his was home uncaring of the puddles he left in his wake or the mess he was bound to leave in his house as he made his way into the bathroom stripping off the now cold and soggy suit for some nice warm and fluffy pjs. Curled up snuggly in bed happy to retire for an early night Damien noticed his phone dimly glowing on his nightstand. His smile only brightened as he read the words scrolling across his screen.

‘Date this Saturday? I promise no one will get wet this time.’

[This is a gift for @wthtorke and its also their prize for the raffle I did some time ago. I of course had to add more to it as I wanted to find a way to repay them for being such an understanding a great friend. I only wish I could do more cause even though i spent idk how long on these things I still feel its not enough to properly repay them for being them.]

#yeet #raffle prize #gift #goblinart #mywriting #yautja x human #yautja boyfriend #yautja #interspecies romance #But like seriously torke is the best person ive ever met and ive never been happier then when im hanging out with them so hopefully they #like this lmao

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audrami · 5 years

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#Repost @fullbodyfrequency ・・・ #Repost @thesilverroom with @get_repost ・・・ This is so dope! 🔥 If you ride the Green Line, catch #soulEl, a performance program with @thefloatingmuseum running EVERYDAY this week, specifically on the @chicagocta Green Line, along with visual art exhibitions & more. @coreywilkesmusic & @meaganmcneal kicked it off this week with this fire right here. 😍Definitely tag us if you catch another performance, we want more! (📹 by @jeremiahspofford)⠀ . ⠀ . ⠀ . ⠀ . ⠀ #ChicagoCulture #ChicagoHouseMusic #WeLoveHouseMusic #TheFloatingMuseum #ChicagoArtists #chicagotransitauthority #CTAGreenLine #ChicagoMusic #Chigram #Chicagogram #MusicForTheSoul https://www.instagram.com/p/B2mDMrTpZwFdv_zOztViJ1YzUHxyVVBmpxipVQ0/?igshid=1nwmga5gz8r8y

#repost #soulel #chicagoculture #chicagohousemusic #welovehousemusic #thefloatingmuseum #chicagoartists #chicagotransitauthority #ctagreenline #chicagomusic #chigram #chicagogram #musicforthesoul

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trascapades · 5 years

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❤👏🏿🎶🎤#ArtIsAWeapon - Another view (see previous post) of @meaganmcneal & @coreywilkesmusic rocking the @dennisferrerofficial #HouseAnthem "Hey Hey" - This time reposted from @jeremiahspofford >> #soulEL performance today with @meaganmcneal and @coreywilkesmusic on the GreenLine. ✨ @thefloatingmuseum @avery_r_young @chicagocta H/T @professionalblackgirl #publicart #chicago #soultrain #floatingmuseum #thefloatingmuseum #greenline #lunchtime #meaganmcneal #coreywilkes #MusicIsLife #HouseHead #Commute #TraScapades #ArtIsAWeapon https://www.instagram.com/p/B2hyslUFiUW/?igshid=zjtq3map6frq

#artisaweapon #houseanthem #soulel #publicart #chicago #soultrain #floatingmuseum #thefloatingmuseum #greenline #lunchtime #meaganmcneal #coreywilkes #musicislife #househead #commute #trascapades

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rainbowchibbit · 5 years

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All the doggo’s looked the same as in the game. Does everyone Except the main characters look the same? I’m curious because you said that magic changes is what caused the more Edgy looking monsters, so I wonder if the dogs looking the same in both undertale and soulell is on purpose. Or I could just be looking into it to much. 😅 In which case, I’m sorry, I have a bad habit of doing that lol

Honestly I didn’t change much other than little angry eyebrows on the dogs LOL mostly honestly because I didn’t take time to redesign them because their role is pretty minor. but all dogs are Good Dogs so it would make sense they wouldn’t change tooooo much, right? ;) (but really it’s because I didn’t take the time to redesign them)

#anon #asks #soulfell #soultalk #Anonymous

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dmp11160 · 2 years

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Week 7 – Prepare three Instagram posts for a sports team, utilising Photoshop skills.

While creating the three graphics for the Casey Thunder Football Club (CTFC) I was able to focus more on my photoshopping abilities, ensuring I stayed true to the club’s brand. Working with graphic design has assisted my ability to make creative decisions, on a deeper level I believe it has assisted my communications skills (Ellmers, 2020). When speaking to the club, they asked me to create these graphics to promote their upcoming matches, social memberships, and sponsors. The CTFC are a recently established club, only playing their first season in a covid interrupted 2021. They have ambitions to attract new sponsors and members using this material to increase revenue and eventually fund growth. Sharing these graphics on the club’s social media platforms will drastically increase their reach, there are extreme benefits with Facebook in regards to its communicative potential (Souleles, 2012). Current members of the club can share these graphics and promote the CTFC brand alongside their partners, fans can engage with enticing graphics which provide an additional level of professionalism to the club. All the graphics created can feature sponsors, there is no limit to the communication potential they have so sponsoring the graphics also assists the club in the long run.

Ellmers, & Foley, M. (2020). Developing Expertise: Benefits of Generalising Learning from the Graphic Design Project. The International Journal of Art & Design Education, 39(2), 461–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12260

Souleles. (2012). Perceptions of undergraduate Graphic Design students on the educational potential of Facebook. Research in Learning Technology, 20(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.17490

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worklabournewsresearch · 2 years

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Ottawa Looks to Roll Out Trusts That Would Allow Workers to Take Over Their Company

Rubin, J. (2022, April 20). Ottawa looks to roll out trusts that would allow workers to take over their company. The Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/04/20/ottawa-to-make-it-easier-for-owners-to-sell-a-company-to-their-employees.html UTL Link: https://search.proquest.com/docview/2652502796?pq-origsite=primo

Josh Rubin writes: “ A new business structure which could make it easier for owners to sell a company to their employees is a step closer to becoming a reality after the federal budget earlier this month. The budget, tabled in the House of Commons on April 7, committed the government to exploring the idea of employee ownership trusts. It’s the second year in a row the concept was mentioned in the budget, without providing firm timelines or details...While Canada will chart its own course, the U.S. and U.K. give business owners a break on capital gains tax if they sell their companies to employees, said Shell.”

“While the attraction to business owners looking to sell is obvious, the structure can also appeal to employees, who can end up with a chunk of the business they’ve been working for. But longtime labour economist Jim Stanford says the reality is that it benefits the original owners far more than the workers themselves. Stanford, economist and director at the Centre for Future Work, says cutting capital gains tax is the real goal...In the U.K. and U.S., employee ownership trusts are set up to own a company on behalf of its workers. When the original owner decides to sell, the trust will take out a loan, either from a bank or from the company itself, to buy the company for the employees. The loan is typically then paid back over several decades. Rather than paying millions of dollars up front, taking out a loan and paying it off long-term makes business ownership possible for ordinary workers, Shell argues...Typically, workers at a company controlled by an employee ownership trust get a few more shares each year. But the rules governing employee ownership trusts in the U.S. and U.K. also mean that workers can’t just turn around and sell their stake in a company on the open market, Shell acknowledged. There’s only one buyer for the shares — the trust itself.”

Additional Information

Pek, S. (2022, April 18). New budget offers Canada a chance to get employee ownership right. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/new-budget-offers-canada-a-chance-to-get-employee-ownership-right-181019

What is Employee Ownership? National Center for Employee Ownership. https://www.nceo.org/what-is-employee-ownership

Shell, J. (2021, February 16). Make employee ownership a cornerstone of Canada’s economic recovery. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2021/make-employee-ownership-a-cornerstone-of-canadas-economic-recovery/

Social Capital Partners. (2022). Building an employee ownership economy. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f6a6b8c96aa5713717e1cd0/t/6220d736513d41589c18b23c/1646319417114/Building_an_employee_ownership_economy_white_paper_March+2022.pdf

Gomez, R. & Gomez, J. (2016). Workplace Democracy for the 21st Century Towards a New Agenda for Employee Voice and Representation in Canada. Broadbent Institute. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/broadbent/pages/7736/attachments/original/1592501160/Workplace_Democracy.pdf

Pek, S. (2019). Drawing Out Democracy: The Role of Sortition in Preventing and Overcoming Organizational Degeneration in Worker-Owned Firms. Journal of Management Inquiry 30(2), 193-206. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492619868030 UTL Link: https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1177%2F1056492619868030

Souleles, D. (2019). Another workplace is possible: Learning to own and changing subjectivities in American employee owned companies. Critique of Anthropology 40(1), 28-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X19840416 UTL Link: https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1177%2F0308275X19840416

Summers, J. & Chillas, S. (2019). Working in employee-owned companies: The role of economic democracy skills. Economic and Industrial Democracy 42(4), 1029-1051). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X19835319 UTL Link: https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1177%2F0143831X19835319

McGranahan, L. (2020). Meaningful Labour, Employee Ownership, and Workplace Democracy: A Comment on Weidel (2018). Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 21(4), 389-397. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2020.1786677 https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1080/19452829.2020.1786677

Mendelsohn, M. & Zon, N. (2021). No Country of San Franciscos: An Inclusive Industrial Policy for Canada. Canadian Inclusive Economy Initiative. https://brookfieldinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/No_Country_of_San_Franciscos-1.pdf

Corfe, S. & Kirkup, J. (2020). Strengthening employee share ownership in the UK. Social Market Foundation. https://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Employee-Share-Ownership-February-2020.pdf

Photo Source: Davidson, L. (2020). A person walking through a modern, minimalist office of chairs and desks [Photograph]. Unsplash. DOI: https://unsplash.com/photos/SRhqHvdotuI

#industrial relations #the toronto star #employee ownership #employee share ownership

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transsolar · 6 years

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Calgary’s MacKimmie Tower to be completely transformed

The double-skinned facade is designed by DIALOG in consultation with Transsolar KlimaEngineering: “After studying the energy and solar model, we concluded that this allows us to more easily provide an integrated vertical photovoltaic system on the southeast corner of the block building,” Souleles states.While Low-E coatings help to provide maximum daylight and increase thermal performance, the facades also have a deployable shading system for sunlight and glare control.

Read article from “Journal of Commerce”

#home #blog #MacKimmie Tower #DIALOG #Transsolar KlimaEngineering

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antoine-roquentin · 7 years

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As Kuran (2004) noted, prior to the 19th century there were no durable financial institutions recognizable as banks in the Muslim world. Although many banks (mostly non-Islamic or traditional) in several Muslim countries had appeared in the 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, the first “modern” commercial “Islamic” bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, was established in 1979.

Coincidentally, 1979 is the year of Iranian revolution which brought Islamists to power in a “modern” state for the first time and some have argued Iranian revolution gave rise to a wider resurgence of Islam across Asia, Africa and elsewhere in the world (Hefner 2010).

But this is not the only interesting coincidence.

The year 1979 coincides also with the beginning of the Deng–Volcker–Thatcher–Reagan revolution (also known as the neoliberal restoration programme) of 1978–80. With this revolution, the economies started to polarise between creditors and debtors, and the debt burden started to shift from the public sector to the private sector (see, for example, Öncü 2016).

If you cannot convince Muslims to participate in the financial system (don’t they call this convincing “financial inclusion” these days?), how can you shift the debt burden from public to private in Islamic countries?

Both the Muslim World League (MWL) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are organisations that came to existence relatively early in the era that started when the United States (US) took over the world leadership from the United Kingdom (UK) at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. Both of these organisations had the blessing of the US and have been supported by the petrodollars of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region. Together with the now world renown Muslim Brotherhood, they have been among the major instruments of the well-known US green belt project to construct a barrier against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) along the USSR’s southern border.

The MWL (known in the Muslim world as Rabitat al-Aalam al-Islami or Rabitat) is a “non-governmental” organisation based in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It was established by the government of Saudi Arabia in 1962 and has been funded by it till now. Many of Rabitat’s Jurisprudence Committee members are prominent figures in the world of “Islamic Finance” advising governments as well as “Islamic Banks” on the subject.

The OIC came to being in 1969 upon a decision of a summit held in Rabat, Morocco by Muslim countries following the arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Its first conference of foreign ministers was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1970 and it was decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Jeddah headed by the OIC’s secretary general. Together with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank–not to mention Wall Street− the OIC has been one of the main promoters of “Islamic finance” for decades. Indeed, among the OIC’s current priorities is investment and finance, and hence “Islamic finance”.

Let me allow a scholar who knows Malaysia way better than I to speak (Rudnyckyj 2013):

Islam has played a pivotal role in the state’s development strategy, as the state has sought to develop industries and services deemed suitable for an increasingly educated and skilled labouring population. Scholars have noted how the state has strategically deployed Islam to discipline the population and create an environment conducive to economic growth…

With the active encouragement of the developmentalist state, Japanese, American, and European firms set up shop in extensive industrial zones and hired a vast number of new workers to provide the labour for export-oriented growth. Islam was deployed by corporations and the state as a means of disciplining especially the young, female labouring population involved in high-tech assembly…

Thus, ‘government policies seek to bring Islam in line with capitalism’ by promoting a form of Islam that is fully compatible with the state’s development objectives…

The promotion of Malaysia as a global hub for Islamic finance is part of state strategies to sustain the nation’s impressive record of economic development since the early 1970s. In part, efforts to foster the growth of Islamic finance are an outcome of how religion and ethnicity have been integrated into …”postdevelopmentalism” in Malaysia.

Let me finish this section with one last quotation from Rudnyckyj (2013):

Islamic finance experts had long bemoaned the dearth of potential employees with training in Islamic finance and the lack of educational programs to train such professionals … For example, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank, Dato’ Muhammad Razif, who was responsible for the Central Bank’s Islamic finance portfolio, stated, ‘If you critically review, even in Malaysia, [Islamic finance] has been based on imitation rather than innovation … Our starting point is compliance, it’s not sharia-based. The bankers right now are converts; conventional bankers transformed into Islamic bankers. Of course [their] mind sets are conventional … My suggestion [is] that banks would employ sharia scholars as bankers’ …

Most “Islamic finance” products are some form of special purpose vehicles (SPVs). And SPVs were invented in Wall Street in the 1970s when the Government National Mortgage Association wanted to sell securities backed by a portfolio of mortgage loans.

Let me now allow Gorton and Souleles (2007) speak:

An SPV, or a special purpose entity (SPE), is a legal entity created by a firm (known as the sponsor or originator) by transferring assets to the SPV, to carry out some specific purpose or circumscribed activity, or a series of such transactions. SPVs have no purpose other than the transaction(s) for which they were created, and they can make no substantive decisions; the rules governing them are set down in advance and carefully circumscribe their activities. Indeed, no one works at an SPV and it has no physical location.

They also say:

In short, SPVs are essentially robot firms that have no employees, make no substantive economic decisions, have no physical location, and cannot go bankrupt.

Given what I have said about “riba” so far, I have doubts that Allah would accept any of these.

Let me mention one last thing about “Islamic banking”. In any country where there is “Islamic banking”, “Islamic” banks and conventional banks coexist. And “Islamic” or not, all banks are subject to reserve requirements.

Do you think any bank can obtain reserves without paying interest on them?

Let me now conclude with what I started.

Is “Islamic finance” Islamic?

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toruusoulelement-blog · 7 years

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hello~

toruu new here.. nice to meet you >////<

#toruu #soulelement #petsoul #kawaii #cute #tiger #furry #furry_art #furry_kawaii #toruu_diary #art #fursona #hello #blush

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beblk · 5 years

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@thefloatingmuseum & @streetlevelchicago Wrappin up #soulel (at Arts Incubator) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2pMdqkB5p7/?igshid=c10vl2p1gvko

#soulel

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

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Public Health Officials Face Wave Of Threats, Pressure Amid Coronavirus Response

Emily Brown was stretched thin.

As the director of the Rio Grande County Public Health Department in rural Colorado, she was working 12- and 14-hour days, struggling to respond to the pandemic with only five full-time employees for more than 11,000 residents. Case counts were rising.

She was already at odds with county commissioners, who were pushing to loosen public health restrictions in late May, against her advice. She had previously clashed with them over data releases and had haggled over a variance regarding reopening businesses.

But she reasoned that standing up for public health principles was worth it, even if she risked losing the job that allowed her to live close to her hometown and help her parents with their farm.

Then came the Facebook post: a photo of her and other health officials with comments about their weight and references to “armed citizens” and “bodies swinging from trees.”

The commissioners had asked her to meet with them the next day. She intended to ask them for more support. Instead, she was fired.

“They finally were tired of me not going along the line they wanted me to go along,” she said.

In the battle against COVID-19, public health workers spread across states, cities and small towns make up an invisible army on the front lines.  But that army, which has suffered neglect for decades, is under assault when it’s needed most.

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Officials who usually work behind the scenes managing everything from immunizations to water quality inspections have found themselves center stage. Elected officials and members of the public who are frustrated with the lockdowns and safety restrictions have at times turned public health workers into politicized punching bags, battering them with countless angry calls and even physical threats.

On Thursday, Ohio’s state health director, who had armed protesters come to her house, resigned. The health officer for Orange County, California, quit Monday after weeks of criticism and personal threats from residents and other public officials over an order requiring face coverings in public.

As the pressure and scrutiny rise, many more health officials have chosen to leave or been pushed out of their jobs. A review by KHN and The Associated Press finds at least 27 state and local health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 13 states.

From North Carolina to California, they have left their posts due to a mix of backlash and stressful, nonstop working conditions, all while dealing with chronic staffing and funding shortages.

Some health officials have not been up to the job during the biggest health crisis in a century. Others previously had plans to leave or cited their own health issues.

But Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said the majority of what she calls an “alarming” exodus resulted from increasing pressure as states reopen. Three of those 27 were members of her board and well known in the public health community — Rio Grande County’s Brown; Detroit’s senior public health adviser, Dr. Kanzoni Asabigi; and the head of North Carolina’s Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services, Chris Dobbins.

Asabigi’s sudden retirement, considering his stature in the public health community, shocked Freeman. She also was upset to hear about the departure of Dobbins, who was chosen as health director of the year for North Carolina in 2017. Asabigi and Dobbins did not reply to requests for comment.

“They just don’t leave like that,” Freeman said.

Public health officials are “really getting tired of the ongoing pressures and the blame game,” Freeman said. She warned that more departures could be expected in the coming days and weeks as political pressure trickles down from the federal to the state to the local level.

From the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, federal public health officials have complained of being sidelined or politicized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been marginalized; a government whistleblower said he faced retaliation because he opposed a White House directive to allow widespread access to the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.

In Hawaii, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard called on the governor to fire his top public health officials, saying she believed they were too slow on testing, contact tracing and travel restrictions. In Wisconsin, several Republican lawmakers have repeatedly demanded that the state’s health services secretary resign, and the state’s conservative Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that she had exceeded her authority by extending a stay-at-home order.

With the increased public scrutiny, security details — like those seen on a federal level for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert — have been assigned to state health leaders, including Georgia’s Dr. Kathleen Toomey after she was threatened. Ohio’s Dr. Amy Acton, who also had a security detail assigned after armed protesters showed up at her home, resigned Thursday.

In Orange County, in late May, nearly a hundred people attended a county supervisors meeting, waiting hours to speak against an order requiring face coverings. One person suggested that the order might make it necessary to invoke Second Amendment rights to bear arms, while another read aloud the home address of the order’s author — the county’s chief health officer, Dr. Nichole Quick — as well as the name of her boyfriend.

Quick, attending by phone, left the meeting. In a statement, the sheriff’s office later said Quick had expressed concern for her safety following “several threatening statements both in public comment and online.” She was given personal protection by the sheriff.

But Monday, after yet another public meeting that included criticism from members of the board of supervisors, Quick resigned. She could not be reached for comment. Earlier, the county’s deputy director of public health services, David Souleles, retired abruptly.

An official in another California county also has been given a security detail, said Kat DeBurgh, the executive director of the Health Officers Association of California, declining to name the county or official because the threats have not been made public.

Many local health leaders, accustomed to relative anonymity as they work to protect the public’s health, have been shocked by the growing threats, said Theresa Anselmo, the executive director of the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials.

After polling local health directors across the state at a meeting last month, Anselmo found about 80% said they or their personal property had been threatened since the pandemic began. About 80% also said they’d encountered threats to pull funding from their department or other forms of political pressure.

To Anselmo, the ugly politics and threats are a result of the politicization of the pandemic from the start. So far in Colorado, six top local health officials have retired, resigned or been fired. A handful of state and local health department staff members have left as well, she said.

“It’s just appalling that in this country that spends as much as we do on health care that we’re facing these really difficult ethical dilemmas: Do I stay in my job and risk threats, or do I leave because it’s not worth it?” Anselmo asked.

In California, senior health officials from seven counties, including Quick and Souleles, have resigned or retired since March 15. Dr. Charity Dean, the second in command at the state Department of Public Health, submitted her resignation June 4. Burnout seems to be contributing to many of those decisions, DeBurgh said.

In addition to the harm to current officers, DeBurgh is worried about the impact these events will have on recruiting people into public health leadership.

“It’s disheartening to see people who disagree with the order go from attacking the order to attacking the officer to questioning their motivation, expertise and patriotism,” said DeBurgh. “That’s not something that should ever happen.”

Some of the online abuse has been going on for years, said Bill Snook, a spokesperson for the health department in Kansas City, Missouri. He has seen instances in which people took a health inspector’s name and made a meme out of it, or said a health worker should be strung up or killed. He said opponents of vaccinations, known as anti-vaxxers, have called staffers “baby killers.”

The pandemic, though, has brought such behavior to another level.

In Ohio, the Delaware General Health District has had two lockdowns since the pandemic began — one after an angry individual came to the health department. Fortunately, the doors were locked, said Dustin Kent, program manager for the department’s residential services unit.

Angry calls over contact tracing continue to pour in, Kent said.

In Colorado, the Tri-County Health Department, which serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties near Denver, has also been getting hundreds of calls and emails from frustrated citizens, deputy director Jennifer Ludwig said.

Some have been angry their businesses could not open and blamed the health department for depriving them of their livelihood. Others were furious with neighbors who were not wearing masks outside. It’s a constant wave of “confusion and angst and anxiety and anger,” she said.

Then in April and May, rocks were thrown at one of their office’s windows — three separate times. The office was tagged with obscene graffiti. The department also received an email calling members of the department “tyrants,” adding “you’re about to start a hot-shooting … civil war.” Health department workers decamped to another office.

Although the police determined there was no imminent threat, Ludwig stressed how proud she was of her staff, who weathered the pressure while working round-the-clock.

“It does wear on you, but at the same time we know what we need to do to keep moving to keep our community safe,” she said. “Despite the complaints, the grievances, the threats, the vandalism — the staff have really excelled and stood up.”

The threats didn’t end there, however: Someone asked on the health department’s Facebook page how many people would like to know the home addresses of the Tri-County Health Department leadership. “You want to make this a war??? No problem,” the poster wrote.

Back in Colorado’s Rio Grande County, some members of the community have rallied in support of Brown with public comments and a letter to the editor of a local paper. Meanwhile, COVID-19 case counts have jumped from 14 to 49 as of Wednesday.

Brown is grappling with what she should do next: dive back into another strenuous public health job in a pandemic, or take a moment to recoup?

When she told her 6-year-old son she no longer had a job, he responded: “Good — now you can spend more time with us.”

This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and Kaiser Health News.

AP writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu and KHN correspondent Angela Hart in Sacramento contributed to this report.

Public Health Officials Face Wave Of Threats, Pressure Amid Coronavirus Response published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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stephenmccull · 4 years