ScotGrad summer placement at New Start Highland
The Inverness based social enterprise took on two summer placements students in 2013 and talks about the benefits they gained through these ScotGrad placements.
By: Highlands and Islands Enterprise
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TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands signed an agreement Friday with two major cruise ship companies expected to help boost the territory's sluggish cruise tourism sector.
Norwegian Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line promised to deliver a total of 425,000 passengers yearly beginning in 2015 for the next 15 years or pay for lost tax revenues if the quota is not met.
The deal also gives preferential berthing to both cruise lines, a move that angered Carnival. Last year, that company delivered some 53,000 passengers to the territory of 30,000 residents. Carnival said in October that it would cancel its British Virgin Islands itinerary in 2015, but it has since rebooked some of those trips.
Some 340,000 cruise ship passengers visited the territory last year, compared with 571,000 in 2008. Officials blame the decrease partly on an existing dock unable to accommodate larger ships that have gone elsewhere.
The government said the deal could help them obtain funds to lengthen the dock. The bidding process to select a contractor is ongoing and construction is expected to start in upcoming months.
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British Virgin Islands signs deal with Norwegian, Disney cruise lines
YUJ GUANG GERONTOLOGIST CHOICES MENTAL MARTIAL ART MEDICAL HEALTH CARE MISSIONARY
CALL 544 66 41 AND 0916 43688 75 AMEN.
By: jesus ogayre
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YUJ GUANG GERONTOLOGIST CHOICES MENTAL MARTIAL ART MEDICAL HEALTH CARE MISSIONARY - Video
Progress on Immigration Reform, Another Vote to Repeal Health Care, and Obama #39;s Cabinet809
By: Olive Streicher
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Progress on Immigration Reform, Another Vote to Repeal Health Care, and Obama's Cabinet809 - Video
By Daniel Schaffer M.D.
By now, almost everyone has developed an opinion about the status of health care in our country, and it usually divides along ideological lines, with the word Obamacare in the middle. This is unfortunate if it ends the discussion, because both advocates and opponents agree that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is not the final solution to our current health caredilemma.
We are still left with the fact that up to 10 percent of our population will continue to lack health care coverage. Some would rather pay the tax penalty than sign up for insurance; some because they cannot
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By now, almost everyone has developed an opinion about the status of health care in our country, and it usually divides along ideological lines, with the word Obamacare in the middle. This is unfortunate if it ends the discussion, because both advocates and opponents agree that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is not the final solution to our current health caredilemma.
We are still left with the fact that up to 10 percent of our population will continue to lack health care coverage. Some would rather pay the tax penalty than sign up for insurance; some because they cannot afford the rates even with a subsidy, some because their employers have cut their hours to part time, and others because their states have elected not to expand Medicaid. We also have not addressed the inevitable increased cost of fully enacting the ACA but once again have kicked the can down theroad.
There are many factors that will determine what our health care system will eventually look like, but one of the most important is the mechanism of paying for those services. Unlike the other industrialized nations, our payment system for those under age 65 has evolved using private insurance companies, both for-profit and nonprofit. The result is that health care and insurance have unfortunately become fused into a singleterm.
Insurance is designed to protect people from events that will rarely occur, such as an automobile accident or a house fire. The system works because the majority of people paying their premiums will never collect any benefit, so there is a substantial cash reserve to pay for those whodo.
Health care, however, is something that everyone will utilize at some time and, in fact, should be utilizing even more than they currently do to obtain preventive services. To create a large enough cash reserve, in addition to paying for administrative costs and dividends to shareholders, insurance rates continue to escalate. This is made even worse when only the people with health problems that require expensive treatment are the ones who have insurance. This system is unsustainable in the long term because at some point premiums will exceed what individuals and employers are willing to pay, or co-pays and deductibles will reach the point where having insurance will be beyond the means of mostpeople.
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GTA 5 on Xbox wRoasdkill ~Flying to freedom!~ Part 22
Hey there thanks for watching! This Is GTA 5! Obviously I am not playing this on the PC. This is the xbox version. That also means I got a capture card! horr...
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GTA 5 on Xbox wRoasdkill ~Flying to freedom!~ Part 22 - Video
BMX Freedom In Phoenix With Tammy McCarley: Crooked World
Tammy McCarley has escaped the West Coast in search of the non-stop street scene that he found in Phoenix, Arizona the home of his new frame sponsor Freed B...
By: Network A
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BMX Freedom In Phoenix With Tammy McCarley: Crooked World - Video
Freedom Idol - Launch Video
Hello and welcome to Freedom! Idol. This channel can help you grow on YouTube by giving you a place to upload your videos and get feedback to help you improv...
By: Freedom! Idol
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Collings Foundation B-17G Wings of Freedom Tour
Raw footage of "Nine-O-Nine" at Meacham International Airport 4/2/13.
By: Soundtechmic
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Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core ~ The Price of Freedom
TheB Gvideos presents our 16th cover "The Price of Freedom" from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core! Acoustic Guitar and Piano- Brandon Gatewood Violin- Godwin ...
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Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core ~ The Price of Freedom - Video
JLF-14 : Freedom (D1_CB_02)
By: Jaipur Literature Festival
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The Freedom Guilt Equation LIVE from Cornwall
Live from Cornwall for our friends in the USA.
By: FreedomGuilt Equation
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Published: Friday, 17 Jan 2014 | 4:33 PM ET
Specialty chemicals maker Freedom Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, eight days after a leak from one of the company's storage tanks contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands of West Virginia residents.
A chemical used to process coal spilled into the Elk River in Charleston last week, prompting the state's governor to declare a state of emergency and ban the use of drinking water. More than 200 people have visited emergency rooms with nausea.
Ty Wright | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Workers walk behind the fence at the Freedom Industries building in Charleston, West Virginia on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
As a result of the leak, vendors have demanded Freedom pay in cash, draining the company of financing and prompting it to seek bankruptcy, according to documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charleston, West Virginia.
"Likewise, the defense of the numerous suits filed against the debtor will exhaust the debtor's liquidity," Freedom said in a court filing. The bankruptcy filing will put a stay on more than 20 lawsuits filed against the company over the spill.
The company filed an emergency motion seeking court authority to borrow an initial $4 million from WV Funding LLC.
The company estimated it had up to $10 million in both assets and liabilities, according to the filings.
The case is In re Freedom Industries Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of West Virginia, No. 14-20017
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The Board of Directors of Freedom Industries decided during a special meeting Jan. 17 to file a voluntary petition for bankruptcy protection.
Freedom Industries is the company responsible for the leak of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, a coal cleaning chemical that leaked into the Elk River Jan. 9 causing a "do not use" order for some 300,000 people in parts of nine Southern West Virginia counties who are customers of West Virginia American Water.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said the filing does not change anything from his perspective, in terms of a federal investigation.
The petition explains that Freedom Industries is in the business of producing specialty chemicals for the mining, steel and cement industries. Its assets are listed as between $1 million and $10 million.
The petition goes on to describe the Jan. 9 "incident," explaining that "facts surrounding the incident are subject to pending investigation by Freedom and various regulatory and other governmental authorities."
"It is presently hypothesized that a local water line break adjacent to the Charleston Facility may have or contributed to the ground beneath a storage tank at the Charleston Facility to freeze in the extraordinary frigid temperatures in the days immediately preceding the Incident," the filing reads. "The debtor and investigative authorities have taken note of the hole in the affected storage tank that appears to have come from an object piercing upwards through the base of the affected storage tank.
"Investigations by multiple agencies are ongoing with full cooperation by the debtor."
The filing states that the company has at least 200 creditors, and its top creditors are owed $3.66 million. The list of the company's 20 largest creditors includes D Car LLC of Evansville, Ind. listed as having a $561,518.75 claim against Freedom Industries, FloMin Coal Inc., an Atlanta company listed with a $648,221.70 claim against Freedom along with Eastman Chemical Co., a Philadelphia company with a claim total of $127,474.83 according to the filing and Archer Daniels Midland of Duluth, Ga. listed with a $428,768.12 claim against Freedom.
Gary Southern, president of Freedom Industries, signed the filing. The corporate ownership statement lists Chemstream Holdings Inc. as a corporation that directly or indirectly owns equity interests in Freedom Industries.
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Residents and businesses in West Virginia have filed nearly two dozen lawsuits against Freedom Industries, the company that owns the storage container responsible for leaking chemicals into the Elk River on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. State officials issued a ban on water consumption for the next five days.
Freedom Industries Inc., the company responsible for a chemical spill that poisoned drinking water for more than 300,000 people in West Virginia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday afternoon.
The company submitted a petition at 1:25 p.m. to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, said Matthew J. Hayes, clerk of the court.
The petition lists estimated assets ranging from $1 million to $10 million, and estimated liabilities also ranging from $1 million to $10 million, Hayes said.
[READ: West Virginia Chemical Spill Company Slapped With Violations]
Chapter 11 allows a company to continue operating as it reorganizes.
Freedom Industries did not immediately return a call for comment Friday afternoon. The filing was first reported by The Charleston Gazette
The company has been hit with at least 22 lawsuits from residents and business owners since last Thursday, when state officials discovered that one of the company's storage containers near the Elk River had ruptured, leaking at least 7,500 gallons of a coal-processing agent into the waterway about a mile north of a water treatment plant.
[ALSO: As Water Flows Again in W.Va., Lawsuits Begin to Pour In]
The spill forced officials to institute a water ban for nine counties, barring residents and businesses from using the water for anything other than fighting fires or flushing toilets.
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Freedom Industries, Company Behind W.Va. Spill, Files for Bankruptcy
Freedom Bankruptcy Filing
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The company related to the chemical leak that caused hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia to go without water filed for bankruptcy Friday.
According to court records, Freedom Industries Inc., located along Barlow Drive, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
West Virginia American Water customers in parts of Cabell, Boone, Putnam, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Clay, Jackson and Roane counties were put under a "do not use" ban on January 9 after a chemical at Freedom Industries in Charleston leaked into the Elk River.
In the federal documents, Freedom Industries had to describe the nature and location of the dangerous condition.
Freedom Industries writes "facts surrounding the incident are subject to pending investigation by Freedom and various regulatory and other government authorities."
The company goes on to say "it is presently hypothesized that a local water line break adjacent to the Charleston facility may have or contributed to the ground beneath a storage tank at the Charleston facility to freeze in the extraordinary frigid temperatures in the days immediately preceding the incident. The Debtor and investigative authorities have taken note of the hole in the affected storage tank that appears to have come from an object piercing upwards through the base of the affected storage tank. Investigations by multiple agencies are ongoing with full cooperation by the Debtor."
Later Friday, a state DEP spokesman said a company's bankruptcy status does not absolve it of its environmental remediation obligations.
The substance released from the tank has been referred to as methylcyclohexane methanol or MCHM. MCHM is used by customers of Freedom to treat coal and reduce the amount of ash during the coal preparation process, according to the documents.
In the document, Freedom Industries said it contacted the water company.
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Bombarded by lawsuits and under federal investigation, the chemical company that spilled a dangerous solvent into a West Virginia river and fouled the drinking water of 300,000 people filed for federal bankruptcy protection Friday.
Freedom Industries Inc., owner of a storage tank that ruptured Jan. 9 and spilled 7,500 gallons of a coal-treatment foaming agent called MCHM into the Elk River, sought protection from creditors under a Chapter 11 filing by its parent company, Chemstream Holdings Inc. of Pennsylvania.
The filing will protect Freedom from creditors, temporarily halt lawsuits against it and allow the company to continue operating.
The spill prompted the governor to order residents of nine counties in the Charleston area not to use tap water for anything but flushing toilets. No baths, no washing dishes; even boiling the water could not make it safe.
In court documents, Freedom Industries says a water line break brought on by frigid temperatures may have caused "an object piercing upwards" to punch a hole in the 35,000-gallon storage tank, allowing the chemical to flow down an embankment into the river. The Freedom facility is just upstream from a major water treatment plant.
Freedom says in its filing that the water line scenario is "hypothesized" and intended for "explanatory purposes only." The hypothesis, it says, is not intended as a legally valid explanation in defense against any lawsuit.
Eight businesses and individuals filed a joint class action suit Monday in federal court in Charleston against Freedom, the local water company and the Tennessee chemical company that produced the MCHM, which is used to wash coal. The suit alleges that the companies either failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent the spill or concealed the true dangers of the chemical.
In addition, at least two dozen lawsuits against Freedom and other companies have been filed in state court in West Virginia. The U.S. attorney in Charleston has launched an investigation.
Kevin Thompson, a Charleston lawyer who filed the federal class action suit, said in an interview Friday that Freedom seemed to be claiming that a shard of ice from the water pipe rupture pierced the storage tank.
"That sounds pretty preposterous," Thompson said. "It's not much of a steel tank if a chunk of ice can pierce it."
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West Virginia chemical company files for bankruptcy after leak
Workers inspect the Freedom Industries storage facility in Charleston, W.Va.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The company, which is based in Charleston, W. Va., where the spill occurred, estimated it has assets of between $1 million and $10 million, but that it has liabilities within the same range.
The company's filing doesn't provide extensive details on last week's spill. The document says it's "presently hypothesized" that the break of a local water line near the Charleston facility may have contributed to the freezing and rupture of a chemical storage tank that then leaked into the Elk River.
The chemical in question -- methylcyclohexane methanol, or MCHM -- is used by Freedom's customers to treat coal during the coal preparation process. The disaster resulted in a state of emergency in nine West Virginia counties, causing the loss of water supplies for roughly 300,000 residents and the shuttering of a number of businesses in the affected area.
A bankruptcy filing could protect Freedom's assets in the case of court judgments against it.
A person who answered the phone at Freedom Industries on Friday declined to comment.
Related: New health hazard, same story in West Virginia?
The news came Friday as West Virginia authorities announced that thousands more water customers have been given the green light to resume using tap water following the spill.
The end of the "do not use" order for residents in the West Virginia communities of Eskdale, Leewood, Ohley and Elkview means more than 220,000 of the approximately 300,000 people originally affected by the incident have been cleared to resume using tap water.
Continued here:
Freedom Industries Inc., the chemical maker whose leaky storage tank polluted the Elk River last week and shut down water service in West Virginias biggest city, filed for bankruptcy to cope with the subsequent lawsuits.
Freedom Industries listed assets and debt of $1 million to $10 million each in a Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charleston, West Virginia. The company said the lawsuits and more stringent payment demands from vendors since the incident compelled it to seek court protection.
They are woefully underestimating their liabilities, said Aaron Harrah, a lawyer representing the owner of a Charleston bar and restaurant in a lawsuit against Freedom. Harrah said in a phone interview that hes hopeful his client will still get a payout from Freedom Industries.
A bankruptcy filing halts most litigation, forcing plaintiffs to vie with other creditors for a share of a companys assets. More than two dozen lawsuits have been filed since the accident, which led President Barack Obama to declare a state of emergency for the affected counties. The state attorney general is investigating the spill.
On Jan. 9, West Virginia officials discovered a leak from a 35,000-gallon (133,000-liter) tank of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, a chemical used in coal processing. About 7,500 gallons escaped from a one-inch hole, compromising water for about 300,000 people and sending more than 100 to the hospital.
Freedom Industries said the current hypothesis for the accident is that a local water line broke next to its plant, causing the land underneath the tank to freeze in the extraordinary frigid temperatures in the days immediately preceding the incident, according to bankruptcy papers.
A woman who answered the phone at Freedom Industries headquarters and declined to give her name said no one at the company was commenting to the media.
The petition and related pleadings speak for themselves, Mark Freedlander, the companys bankruptcy lawyer, said in a statement, declining to comment further.
Companies facing legal costs and damages following accidents may use U.S. bankruptcy law to protect assets. In August, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., the operator of the runaway oil train that exploded and killed 47 people in a Quebec town, said it was forced to file for bankruptcy because of potential liability from the crash.
Charleston-based Freedom Industries was formed in 1986 and supplies specialty chemicals to the steel, cement and coal-mining industries. The closely held company completed a four-way merger nine days before the leak was discovered.
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Posted January 17, 2014
Rainbow-colored outfits for volunteers invoked questions about gay rights to Vladimir Putin (center). (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
Gay rights has been a theme leading up to the Sochi Games because of Russias anti-gay initiatives, including a law on homosexual propaganda that was enacted last year.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said members of the LGBT community will not be subjected to harassment at the Olympics so long as they stay away from children, The Guardianreported on Friday, citing Russian media outlets.
We do not have a ban on non-traditional sexual relationships, Putin said during a meeting with thousands of Olympic volunteers in Sochi. We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia. I want to underline this. Propaganda among children. These are absolutely different things a ban on something or a ban on the propaganda of that thing.
SI WIRE: IOC: No We the people on U.S. goalie mask
Putin added that he believes Russia is more liberal on gay rights than many other countries, including the U.S., where he said homosexuality is still punishable by law in some states.
We are not forbidding anything, and nobody is being grabbed off the street, and there is no punishment for such kinds of relations, Putin said. You can feel relaxed and calm [in Russia], but leave children alone please.
The propaganda law may prevent athletes or spectators from displaying rainbow flags or gay rights placards, The Guardian reports.
And while Putin has maintained that nobody will be discriminated against at the Games, he said on Friday that Russia is a traditional country and refuses to accept European values on sexual orientation, according toThe Guardian.
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