text:
Around 500 million smartphone users worldwide have used healthcare applications regularly by 2015 and it is expected that 1.7 billion mobile users to use mHealth Apps on a fairly regularly basis by 2018.
Just like in banking and education, the smartphone and tablet are changing the healthcare industry. The mobile revolution is truly underway- the way we access healthcare services to manage our own health.
Even Medical industry experts have recognized healthcare is one of the most under-served industries in terms of mobile app technology, regardless of its huge contribution to economic growth and personal well-being.
How Mobile Applications Engage and Retain Patients Base?
Whether it is wellness, fitness, healthcare, or medicine, technology brings changes in every piece of the health industry. With an introduction of new technologies, it's amazing to see how they can transform entire industries quickly by realizing everyone that how far one can go.
The health industry has been defined by pioneering technology for many years. However, there are many different factors affecting the health industry transformation, much of it seems to start with – what else?
With the growing adoption of health and medical applications, the amount of health data is blowing up. All thanks to portable, wearable, and user-friendly devices that using smart sensors to capture and transmit different biometric data. As we all know that mobile applications are engaging and retaining patients base, so there are many doctors recommending to use an app for different purposes. Check the graph for more details.About 80% of the physicians are now using an app in their daily routine, and amongst them about 90% of physicians use it daily, for professional purposes. The development of EHR apps and other healthcare mobile applications have been pumped in these days that can make the healthcare process mainstream and organized.
How Mobile Applications Transform the Healthcare Industry?
Improve Patient Engagement
Complexity, long lines, lack of transparency of quality, etc. discourages patient engagement. Having medical application minimizes complexity. Suppose, you are using a medication reminder application, it knows how many tablets you have taken and when you have to take your next pills.
Reduced Healthcare Fraud
An increase in the number of patient access to healthcare also results in huge medical cost and frauds. With the help of digital health care system, frauds can minimize around $60 billion annually. Mobile applications are best to trace people and transactions that ultimately minimizes frauds.
Instant Healthcare Service
Without any wait, mobile technology delivers patients a quick way to access doctor's advice or treatment information. It is useful for rural areas, where patients haven't found physicians or limited access to them.
Moreover, it is also helpful when patients are unable to visit the physicians because of chronic diseases. It enables patients and physicians to decide whether a visit to them is essential or not. Giving better care, checking prescriptions, monitoring improvements, etc. become easy with mobile healthcare app.
Under the Bonnet of Space-O Technologies
Inside Five Pharma is another reputed iOS application, dispensing quality services to the Pharmaceutical & Allied Sectors. This application enables user to stay updated with the latest GMP Regulations, key GxP legislation and related Pharma Industry Guidance Documents.
Inside Five Pharma gives monthly updates of all the needed regulations in all the major regions such as: India, China, EU, US and soon.
Developed by Space-O Technologies, SidelineMD application provides you direct access to the sports medicine specialists whenever users needed.
With SidelineMD, users can upload custom athlete profiles, communicate directly with top sports injury specialists, share data with parents and administrators, a track of your athlete's recovery and so on.
Not limited to two healthcare applications, we have created awe-inspiring health and fitness portfolio with different types of healthcare applications, including fitness, medical, weight-loss, etc.
Bells and whistles aren't our things, we deliver a solid user experience and high ROI. We work for startups and enterprises, contact us to discuss your idea.


text:
Illustrating Dynamics of time-Varying Volume Datasets in Static Images
We present visualization techniques for timevarying volume datasets, i.e., time series of 3D data volumes. Instead of sequentially displaying the consecutive 3D volumes contained in such a time series, our method allows to depict the dynamics in a single static image. We extract the motion dynamics inherent to a time-varying volume dataset automatically during a preprocessing step by using three-dimensional block matching. The final rendering of a 3D volume associated with a specific point in time incorporates the extracted information to depict dynamics in a single static image by nonphotorealistic overlays in the form of glyphs and other graphical elements. In addition the preceding and following volumes of the time series may be rendered and combined with the final image.
Images and movies
BibTex references
@inproceedings{MRVH06, author = {Meyer-Spradow, Jennis and Ropinski, Timo and Vahrenhold, Jan and Hinrichs, Klaus}, title = {{Illustrating Dynamics of time-Varying Volume Datasets in Static Images}}, booktitle = {Vision, Modeling, and Visualization}, pages = {330--340}, year = {2006} }

subset: commoncrawl


text:
But delivering broadband raises many issues for the service providers.
To get high-speed connections to urban areas means using a city's own phone infrastructure, an infrastructure that can be 100 years old.
Some of the copper expected to deliver high-speed data to our computers may have been around since Victorian times, and all of it is based on a technology dreamed up at the turn of the previous century.
"Nowadays we are trying to squeeze 25 megabits per second down a cable that was only designed to carry three kilohertz of traffic," explained Chris de Courcy-Bower of Lucent Technologies.
To prove the industry has a sense of humour it has long employed irony in naming its cabling - called Pots, or Plain Old Telephone System.
Copper technology
ADSL is the term a lot of us who use broadband will know. DSL is Digital Subscriber Line, and that refers to the connection between you and the exchange, and the "A" stands for Asymmetric, which means that you can download data faster than you can upload it.
"You have old copper lines beneath the streets of hundreds of cities and they've managed to squeeze every little bit of capability out of that copper technology.
"So it's really about making use of old technology to bring in the new technology."
In the next couple of months we will be seeing the next generation of ADSL called ADSL2+. It has been ratified by the men in suits and the manufacturers are gearing up.
"ADSL2+ will give you a much greater bandwidth to the home," said Sarah Kemp of Nokia.
"For instance, if you live within 2km of a central exchange you can have up to 24 megabits to your home.
"Alternatively, you can run ADSL in 'Reach Extended' mode and have up to 200 kilobits per second up to 7km from the local exchange. So you have it both ways. Either lots of capacity close to, or less but further out, compared with ADSL."
Reaching more people
Nonetheless, ADSL over ageing copper is not necessarily the infrastructure you would want to start with.
"If they can possibly avoid it, the companies don't really want to spend money on upgrading their infrastructure because something like fibre optic costs an awful lot of money to put down," said Mr Armbrust.
"There are great financial resource issues involved, there are great infrastructure resource issues involved, so the longer they can delay that the better off they are and the better off their bottom line is, in the short term."
For internet providers, it is all about trying to reach as many people as possible, in order to maximise revenue.
"In Europe you still have large urban areas where you have people concentrated within about 4 or 5km of a local exchange, so an operator can tackle a lot of people with one central point," said Ms Kemp.
"They can then put a remote hub out in an area or village with, say, several thousand people, put electronics closer to them and then offer DSL that way.
"A lot of those countrified areas have high users of technology, so it makes a good business case.
"This doesn't work quite the same in places like Africa, where the services that are needed may be different, and also the population is so much more spread out," she said.
The good news is that some of us are getting faster broadband, and the bad news is that this does not affect the people who need it most - the ones that live outside cities.


text:
UITP Global Public Transport Summit
Transportation, Conference & Exhibition
- Date & Time
May 15, 2017 - May 17, 2017
- Location
Montréal, Canada,
- Website
- Description
Visit Bombardier Transportation at the UITP Summit
At the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, we're showcasing how our innovative solutions address major 21st century mobility challenges and support the development of livable cities. From monorail and metro systems to light rail and services, we take the lead and we deliver.
Our stand
Visit us at the Bombardier stand (2J100) on Level 2 of the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Register for your ticket here.
Our speakers at the congress
Sebastian Schmid
Head of Product Strategy and Business Development, Light Rail Vehicles and Locomotives
Lunch session 'Paradigm shift in maintenance strategies'
Monday, May 15, 12:30 – 14:00, Level 5, Room 513 EF
Gerald Newesely
Product Marketing & Innovation Manager, Light Rail Vehicles
Focus session 5 : 'Innovative solutions for public transport vehicles'
Monday, May 15, 16:00 – 17:30, Hall 2, Stand 2N230
Get regular updates on our social media channels
Out latest news on Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook.
Our latest videos on our YouTube channel.
Our latest photos on our Flickr photo stream.
Press briefing
With Laurent Troger,
President, Bombardier Transportation
Monday, May 15, 13:30 – 14:00,
Level 4, Room 441
Please confirm attendance to firstname.lastname@example.com
Our media relations contacts at the UITP summit
Claas Belling +49 174 926 20 17 Marc-André Lefebvre +1 514 449 6832
Related documents
May 10, 2017 - Press Release
Bombardier Presents its Urban Mobility Solutions at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Montreal


text:
|Shares Out. (in M):
|Market Cap (in $M):
|Net Debt (in $M):
Amaya (AYA CN CAD$7.82) designs, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells technology solutions to the gaming industry. It has three lines of business; land based, lottery, and I-gaming, the latter of which we believe will propel shares meaningfully higher over the next 2 years. AYA's Land-based business (its largest) means actual physical slot machines and electronic games where it offers a variety of feature-rich products, game themes, bonus options, and math models. It also provides slot management services and systems, including tools to monitor and balance the mix of gaming machines on a casino floor. Its gaming machines feature proprietary games from a library of more than 100 game titles, with new titles developed on a continuous basis. Over time this segment is expected to be surpassed by the currently small but higher-growth online/i-gaming business, but as it stands now, AYA's revenue breakdown can be estimated as follows:
(one thing to note: we use estimates because there is almost no actual quantitative disclosure as to the real breakdown of revenue or costs, margins, etc., by segment. Also, other than the management's analysis excerpts quoted below, the company does not report any of the actual terms of its participation agreements, daily usage fees, lease terms or licensing fees. It is a difficult company to be granular about)
60%: Land-based, where AYA offers operators (casinos, cruise ships, etc) solutions that are physically at the operator's sites. This consist primarily of games and game systems, and related services and support, for the North American market, including tribal, casinos, commercial casinos, charitable gaming establishments/bingo halls, the video lottery terminal (VLT) market and racetracks.
Per AYA's filings: Revenues are generated primarily through participation agreements with the gaming operator, under which Amaya receives a percentage share of the revenue generated by its gaming machines and systems or in other instances a daily fee. Revenues are also generated through the sale of gaming machines either on an outright basis or on a finance lease basis, as well as from software licensing.
The company is in the process of entering the much larger and more lucrative Class 3 machine market. Class 3 machines have more sophisticated and diverse algorithms that we see in Vegas/Atlantic City casinos. This move will diversify its current almost singular (93%) focus on Class 2 machines (more standardized, "bingo-like" algorithm machines, employed typically in Indian tribes run casinos). AYA aims to benefit from the continued market share erosion experienced by IGT - the historical leader in the class 3 market. Importantly, it will allow it to create further synergies with its online offerings to its casino customers as they enter the online market.
35%: Interactive and Mobile: With its content library of 500+ popular games (Amaya has licensing agreements in place with DC Comics, Paramount, Marvel), live dealer table games, and poker games, AYA's integrated model takes care of costly and highly specialized activities (content development, technology development, maintenance, 24/7 multi-lingual technical and player support, etc.) for its partners. Allowing casinos to focus on sales, marketing and other revenue generating tasks, brings efficiency and profitability for online gaming operators. AYA positioned itself as a state-of-the-art business-to-business operator (as opposed to business-to-consumer) thus eliminating marketing and other typical b2c costs entirely, improving ebitda margins and lowering leverage. The b2b model also removes them from competing with its casino clients, eliminating conflicts of interest and making them more attractive for potential partners.
Per AYA's filings: Revenues are primarily generated via software licensing based on a percentage of the gaming operator's net gaming revenue (or rake in the case of Amaya's poker platform), hosting and network administration fees, and set-up fees for platform integrations (poker, CGS, AGO, third party tools), training, and consultancy services. Other revenues in 2013 were generated via hosted casino related to online casino operations.
AYA acts on-line in one of two capacities: a content provider or a platform provider. In the former case it simply provides the actual games with all the accompanying support and customized according to the casino's parameters. In the latter case it assumes a much larger role of building and integrating and running all of the casino's online operations. While running an individual platform is a more profitable activity, the overwhelming share of AYA's online revenues come from providing the content. That is because for competitive reasons no two casinos in a single online market would want to run the same platform as their rival, and therefore an AYA-type company can only run one platform in a given market, while it can license and customize games to all of them.
5%: Lottery/Government AYA develops and licenses its software enabling governments and regulatory bodies to run mobiles lotteries allowing players to purchase tickets via their mobile devices
The main thesis behind the trade is that you are buying a well run company with proven management at a reasonable price while you wait for the investments it made to prepare for New Jersey to pay dividends when the eventual legalization of online gaming in other states occurs. There is also scarcity value, as we believe this is one of the few ways to invest in the growth of online gaming, and the only good way if you are limited to North American companies.
The CEO, David Baazov (highly regarded in the industry) is the largest shareholder with 26% of the shares, with interest clearly aligned with that of the shareholders.
The stock only listed on TSX in 2013, does not trade in the US and has limited sell side coverage. But with NJ opening to online gaming late last year, and with regulatory landscape changing across the US and globally, AYA became one of only 2 North American vehicles to invest directly in the growing area.
CACQ (last year's spin-off from CZR) is the other name, but it has a clearly defined stock price ceiling, as CZR owns a call on it. While apparently often overlooked by the market, this was spelled out in the prospectus (p. 174) for CACQ as it went public last fall, and is referred to as the Call Right. In it, after three years post spin, CZR can buy back CACQ at a price equal to "fair market value … subject to … (ii) a maximum purchase price equal to the capital contribution in respect of such units plus a 25% per annum return on such capital contribution … taking into account prior distributions (other than tax distributions) with respect to such units."
CACQ was distributed via a rights offering with $8.64 subscription price, which gives CZR a max strike price for its call on CACQ of $16.88 as early as Nov 2016. In other words, regardless of how profitable online gaming is for CACQ, CZR has the right to buy back all outstanding shares at a maximum price of $16.88 (as long as CZR remains solvent, with net leverage less than 9x and available liquidity of at least $1B). With CACQ trading at $13.80 now, we don't believe this is a viable alternative to invest in online gaming.
That leaves us with AYA.
It is one of a handful of solutions providers used by the online gaming operators. The other main ones, such as 888, Bwin and BetFair are non-North-American based companies with the b2c expertise (meaning they run their own online gaming sites with gamers being their direct customers). And when it comes to providing a one-stop solution for a casino trying to establish its online presence AYA's offering appears very competitive despite company's smaller size.
When a Caesars-type house is looking for an online partner, they evaluate the candidates according to multiple criteria: technical expertise, experience, speed of implementation, flexibility (e.g. can we quickly change the "skins," logos, overall appearance, etc of the product?), strong back-office capability, tech/customer support, depth, uniqueness and popularity of game library, internal controls (fraud detection/prevention, monitoring) regulatory compliance, etc. AYA has developed a track record and reputation of excellence in all of these parameters as demonstrated by its successful penetration of the NJ Market.
On April 14 NJ released its 4th monthly internet gross revenue report since the market opened in December 2013. Though the early numbers fell short of very aggressive initial estimates, the growth has been steady and the aggregate win revenues grew from $7.3m in Dec to almost $12m in March. The slow start is primarily attributed to payment processing difficulties (major credit card companies are still working on their control systems to address the newly legalized online gaming world), which in turn caused the casinos to hold back their marketing effort.
At this point, more important than the absolute revenue numbers, is the distribution of revenues among the operators:
Bwin.party, Amaya
Caesars Interactive / Bally's Park Place
888, Amaya
Caesars /Boardwalk
888, Amaya
Golden Nugget
Chilligaming (Bally), Amaya
Bally IGP
Trump Plaza
GameAccount, BetFair, SHFL, Amaya
Trump Taj Mahal
Ultimate Gaming, Amaya
Ultimate Gaming
It is telling that of the 7 casinos operating gaming sites in NJ Amaya participates with 6, securing exposure to 84% of gross win for the state. While the company does not disclose the exact numbers, with the exception of www.CaesarsCasino.com (where it runs the entire platform) Amaya is compensated through participation agreements. The most recent addition to this list was Trump Taj Mahal announced on March 31.
As explained above, no two casinos want to have the same platform provider in the same market. Therefore with one platform and 6 out of 7 content partnerships Amaya did as well as it possibly could in maximizing its NJ presence. In fact, it is the only company with such stellar performance. AYA managed to secure such vast exposure during a very brief window of opportunity after NJ decided to regulate the space. Its experienced and well-prepared team quickly obtained necessary licenses and formed relationships with the casinos and the online partners.
Such impressive performance and aggressive projections driven by market enthusiasm over the online gaming potential helped the stock to a 40%+ run between Sept and early March. As the initial online win numbers reported by NJ fell short of the estimates based on the State's own and analysts' projections, the stock drifted down until it finally cracked after its earnings, when it became clear the online revenues would have to wait.
One more thing worth noting in this context is AYA's relationship with Bally Technologies. In 2012 AYA signed an agreement with SHFL to exclusively distribute AYA's Ongame Poker Platform in the US for 10 years, with AYA receiving an upfront $10m followed by a 50/50 revenue split. Further, per the agreement AYA is to receive $8m contingent upon regulated online poker commencing under either Fed statute or in California (more on CA later). SHFL was purchased by Bally in early 2013 and this deal was followed by a further agreement to integrate and license AYA's poker platform and casino suite into Bally's iGaming platform. It is through these agreements that we see AYA participating in Golden Nugget NJ online business which retains Bally.
AYA's 15% post earnings drop on March 31, followed by a slide in growth stocks lead to a precipitous drop to the high CAD$5 range. The Q4 report and the call afterwards spooked the market because it did not show the expected revenue growth and management deferred providing 2014 guidance till May. The latter was consistent with last year's guidance release timing, but disappointed the market which was eager to hear a lot more details regarding the newly opened NJ online market.
One reason for the market's unpreparedness for the Q4 results was that since its last guidance the company refrained (for what it called confidentiality reasons) from communicating the details of the sale of WagerLogic' B2C business as well as some other "strategic" asset sales. At the end of the day, disposing of the cost-intensive B2C part of the business fits well with the company's strategy of positioning itself as a pure one-stop B2B operation, but the resultant disconnect between the reported numbers and the analysts' models proved to be too confusing to the market. If anything, the disposition of Wagerlogic's B2C business reflects management's prudence when it comes to capital allocation, and the series of acquisitions we saw over the past 3 years appear to be all part of a disciplined plan, not a simple roll-up play.
Two positive developments In the past month have lead to a partial recovery in AYA stock price. First on April 16, the company made an announcement of a sale of 1100 gaming machines to existing and new customers in the US, alleviating the some of the rev growth concerns. Second, last week the company announced that NJ's Division of Gaming Enforcement approved AYA's platform and associated hardware and software for NJ use. While the first news referred to the class 2 machines, the latter one deals with class 3, supporting company's claim of making progress in this arena, and once again reinforcing the idea of future synergies between its online and land-based operations in NJ
While we wrote most our analysis when the stock was trading in the mid $6 handle, we believe the recent snapback is part of a larger move as the market finally sorts out the earnings mess, digests the recent news and learns to once again appreciate the on-line gaming optionality part of the thesis.
Today, trading around CAD$7.80 we are still looking an inexpensive option on the NA on-line gaming market. Assuming almost no growth except for the already announced land-based deals this year we are looking at a 9x EV/ consensus '14 Ebitda - in the bottom of historical range, and not far from the its 8.5x peer average (IGT, BYI, WMH.l) (Looking at any FCF metrics for the last year would be difficult at this time, as it's been obscured by large investments made in preparation for NJ market opening.)
Future catalysts:
New markets:
Its already wide network of relationships and track record, being based in North America (unlike most of its European-based peers), and successful NJ experience give Amaya a tremendous edge as the new markets start opening up across the US (CA being the most talked about, but others, e.g. Maryland, Illinois and most recently NY actively considering online regulation) .
With an estimated one million resident poker players CA would become by far the single largest Internet gaming market in the U.S. with gross poker wagers potentially exceeding one billion dollars. There is every reason to expect Amaya to do as well or even better in CA once it opens up. On top of demonstrated ability to quickly form new relationships, gain necessary licenses and capture market share, AYA has additional advantages in CA (As a caveat, please note that several of the largest Indian tribes have announced partnerships with various on-line gaming providers other than Amaya in anticipation of legalization of online poker. We believe the market will be large enough that Amaya will be able to meaningfully participate).
Amaya is already actively operating in the state and has strong long term relationships with the Indian tribes operating casinos for which it supplies class 2 machines. This also introduces potential for land-based / online synergies that AYA and its peers have been realizing for some time now in European markets.
Some of these synergies are more applicable to games-of-chance played against the "house" (e.g. slots, roulette, black jack etc), rather than poker (game of skill played against other gamers) which is the only type of on-line gaming currently on the agenda in CA. Still, these need to be considered as it is expected that the poker approval will eventually be followed by the expansion into games-of-chance. For instance, that is exactly what happened in Spain recently as the original Poker-only approval lead to approval of other on-line gaming a year later) Per company's explanation, the synergies come in several forms. E.g. empirically, a player who enjoys their land-based machine becomes accustomed to and comfortable with the characters, brand, math algorithm behind it, and has therefore been drawn to the online equivalent. So the casinos will find it compelling to complement their land-based offering with the online "extension" to capitalize on this loyalty and keep the customer playing on and off-premises. Same works in reverse.
Also there are some licensing savings, given that they already have gained licenses for the specific type of games and algorithms. Other savings for the operator such as marketing and selling costs are also realizable in this model.
As CA currently is only considering poker for its foray into online gaming, AYA becomes an immediate plug-and-play candidate to serve as the online provider, with its widely recognized market-ready online poker solution. Amaya spent a large amount of money building a new poker platform from scratch to participate in online gaming in New Jersey. Much of the costs in building out an online platform for California should it legalize online poker has already been incurred. Further, in CA (unlike the NJ market) AYA will have the ability to provide a common platform to multiple tribes enabling them to take advantage of pulled liquidity, vital for the successful poker offering.
Finally, one of AYA's board members, Harlan Goodson, is a former Director of CA's division of Gambling Control, bringing invaluable expertise in both regulatory and tribal relationships sides of the California story.
To be fair, the timeline for CA action is subject to a lot of debate and uncertainty, and whether it will happen this year is a very open question. Several competing groups have not been able to reach an agreement on a structure that would accommodate their interests and concerns for three years now. As recently as last month two competing bills were introduced by rival coalitions. Both bills are backed by coalitions of Indian tribes with divergent views on several key aspects of regulation including eligibility requirements, licensing and launching costs, security rules, number of websites a licensed operator could employ and numerous other provisions.
The current legislative session will end on August 31st and the Governor will have another month to act on any bills reaching his desk.
New Listing
Being listed exclusively in Toronto has clearly been a disadvantage for the mostly US-operating company and with most of its peers trading in NY or London. Listing in one of these two markets would be a huge benefit to the stock as it will expose it to a wider, more informed audience of investors, and more educated analyst coverage. Management is aware of this potential benefit of a dual listing and has made public statements alluding to its intention to list either in New York or London. Our base case is that this is a 2015 event. In discussing the pros and cons of NY vs London, management pointed out that given that most of its cash flow is USD denominated , NYC listed company would present a clearer security to investors.
I do not hold a position of employment, directorship, or consultancy with the issuer.
I and/or others I advise hold a material investment in the issuer's securities.
This investment may change at any time.
Please note, WMH.l mentioned in the list peers for the was put there in error. The correct name is SGMS
Please note, WMH.l mentioned in the list of peers was put there in error. The correct name is SGMS
Tyler, thank you for the write-up. I understand from the annual report that AYA has a large number of warrants outstanding. I can only see the strike price related to the convertible debentures at $6.25 in filing which represents a small portion of the total warrants outstanding. Can you break out the warrants and their respective strikes? I see that if you include the warrants and stock options that the shares oustanding increases by about 11% from your totals. Thanks.
|RE: Warrants
mm, you are correct, there are 2 warrants for AYA
1) the ones you mention: AYA-WA cn (bbg ticker) : issued in 2013 struck at 6.25, expiring 1/31/16 about 1.3m outstanding – these used to be non-transferable at issuance, but became transferable after AYA listed on the Toronto exchange
2) AYA-W cn (bbg ticker): issued in 2012, struck at CAD 3.00 expiring 4/30/15, also 1.3m outstanding
So that accounts for the 2.59 warrants outstanding listed in the last filing
|RE: +35% in 2 weeks! Nice one
nothing in particular.
|RE: RE: +35% in 2 weeks! Nice one
Let me rephrase. Yesterday there was another in a series of CA online gaming conferences and I think it had a positive tone. There was also this news out:
I think the stock is still a generally decent value at these levels. Legalized Ipoker in CA this year (I am starting to become more of the opinion that it is finally going to happen this year) or a transformative acquisition with the cash they recently raised is gravy (if they blow the money on something stupid, that would obviously be a negative).
|Amaya is buying the parent of PokerStars
For anyone following, Amaya was halted during trading today and announced after the close that it is acquiring the parent of PokerStars, by far the world's largest online poker brand, for a purchase price of $4.9 billion. This is an enormous acquisition and will make the company the largest online gaming company in the world. PokerStars has been barred from the U.S. ostensibly for failing to withdraw after the Federal Government banned on line poker in 2006 (many argue the real reason is competitors know they can't compete against PokerStars). PokerStars settled civil litigation with the Federal Government in 2012 without admitting wrongdoing, but there is a criminal indictment against Isai Scheinberg, the founder of PokerStars. I believe that Amaya will be able to operate the PokerStars brand in states where it curently operates.
In California, they have been trying to legalize on line poker for eight years. The legislature will do whatever the Indian tribes and to a lesser extent the card clubs want them to, they just have never been able to reach agreement. The Morongo band of Indians, the second most influential tribe, and the card clubs, had announced that they would be partnering with PokerStars. The rest of the tribes, fearing that they could not compete, announced that they had agreed on all issues and had submitted draft legislation prohibiting any "bad actor" who had operated in the U.S. after 2006, which would include (was really targeting) PokerStars, from operating in the state. It also prohibited any operator that purchased more than 10% or 15%, ( I forget which) of such a bad actor from operating in the state, and had a nonseverability clause. In other words, if Amaya buys PokerStars, it can't operate in California under the proposed legislation, and if it challenged the legislation in court and won, online poker would be illegal. Remember, this is proposed legislative language of the other Indian tribes, not an actual bill.
My take: re: California, a deal gets done. Amaya's entry may be delayed, but they are in it for the long term. All the Morongos were ever asking for was for the decision as to who would be suitable to operate in the state be left up to the regulator. Amaya is already in the states where online gaming is allowed, and the PokerStars brand will dominate. For online poker in general, this is huge. Until now, there have been a bunch of substandard offerings, and as a result, online poker participation has been underwhelming. Once PokerStars reenters the market things will change. They will offer much better, more trusted service, and much better promotion, which will attract much more interest and participation, and a much better experience.
|RE: RE: Amaya is buying the parent of PokerStars
I don't have much to say about Baazov other than that I think he is very diiriven to make this a big success. He has alarge stake so i thnk he is incentivized correctly. Other than that, I agree completely with Avahaz with two notes. I would note that the CA regulator has already said that they would place a lot of weight on what the NJ regulator does, and agree that Pokerstars will be allowed back into NJ. I also don't think you can call coming back into the U.S. a small part of the story, although I hope I am wroing on this. If getting back into the U.S. (including CA) turns out to be a small part of the story, than this stock is very, very cheap.


text:
Calif. firefighter awarded Medal of Valor
Alex Wallbrett was recognized for coming to the aid of a coworker who was stabbed by a bystander last year
By FireRescue1 Staff
SAN DIEGO — A firefighter received the state's Medal of Valor Monday for intervening in an assault on a colleague.
Alex Wallbrett came to the aid of coworker Ben Vernon June 24, 2015. The crew was treating a sick and drunk man in downtown San Diego, when a bystander began to stab Vernon repeatedly. The wounds left Vernon with a punctured lung and other injuries.
Wallbrett jumped a fence and placed himself between the attacker, 34-year-old Ryan Allen Jones, and Vernon. As a result of wrestling Jones, Wallbrett sustained several stab wounds, including one dangerously close to his spine.
"Alex is truly one of San Diego's finest, and his selfless bravery saved the life of a fellow firefighter," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said during the ceremony, CBS 8 reported. "His actions prove that San Diego's first responders are second to none … Alex does all of San Diego proud in receiving this award."
Jones was convicted of attempted manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to at least 23 years in prison.


text:
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July 2006
Updated July 2009
EDITOR'S NOTE: This contest is over, but if you'd like to send us your entry, we may publish it in our blog or use your ideas to update this article, with credit to you.
Dinner and a movie...brunch and a movie, or an entire year of weekends of food and films. We'd like to hear your ideas for food and film pairings.
1. Visit our Food Film Festivals section and peruse the lists of films. Come up with ideas for film and food pairings. For example:
2. You can add films that are not in our lists. In fact, you get extra points for finding new food films.
3. Disclosure. Please note that by submitting your pairings, you agree that all ideas submitted become property of the publisher. You recognize and acknowledge that ideas you submit may have been previously generated or submitted by others, and make no claims upon use of any ideas that you believe originated with you. You hold THE NIBBLE, its parent company, employees, and affiliates harmless for any actions that result from the publication of your submission on TheNibble.com. Submissions may be edited to fit space or style.
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Moody's Investor Service received on March 18. a "Wells Notice" from the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in where the U.S, regulators inform about legal actions to be taken against the company. SEC are considering "Cease & Desist" proceedings against the rating agency, which means shutting down the business.
"MIS disagrees with the Staff that the violation of a company policy by a company employee renders the policy itself false and misleading and has submitted a response to the Wells Notice explaining why its initial application was accurate and why it believes an enforcement action is unwarranted."
Moody's Investor Service
This information is being disclosed in Moody's first quarterly report of 2010, filed last night:
"March 18, 2010, MIS received a "Wells Notice" from the Staff of the SEC stating that the Staff is considering recommending that the SEC institute administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings against MIS in connection with MIS's initial June 2007 application on SEC Form NRSRO to register as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization under the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006. That application, which is publicly available on the Regulatory Affairs page of http://www.moodys.com, included a description of MIS's procedures and principles for determining credit ratings. The Staff has informed Moody's that the recommendation it is considering is based on the theory that MIS's description of its procedures and principles were rendered false and misleading as of the time the application was filed with the SEC in light of the Company's finding that a rating committee policy had been violated. MIS disagrees with the Staff that the violation of a company policy by a company employee renders the policy itself false and misleading and has submitted a response to the Wells Notice explaining why its initial application was accurate and why it believes an enforcement action is unwarranted."
"In addition, the Company is facing litigation from market participants relating to the performance of MIS rated securities. Although Moody's in the normal course experiences such litigation, the volume and cost of defending such litigation has significantly increased in the current economic environment."
(See page 40)
Moody's also reports:
"Following the events in the U.S. subprime residential mortgage sector and the credit markets more broadly over the last two years, MIS and other credit rating agencies are the subject of intense scrutiny, increased regulation, ongoing investigation, and civil litigation. Legislative, regulatory and enforcement entities around the world are considering additional legislation, regulation and enforcement actions, including with respect to MIS's compliance with newly imposed regulatory standards. Moody's has received subpoenas and inquiries from states attorneys general and other governmental authorities and is responding to such investigations and inquiries. Moody's Wall Street Analytics unit is cooperating with an investigation by the SEC and the Department of Justice concerning services provided by that unit to certain financial institutions in connection with the valuations used by those institutions with respect to certain financial instruments held by such institutions."
"From time to time, Moody's is involved in legal and tax proceedings, governmental investigations, claims and litigation that are incidental to the Company's business, including claims based on ratings assigned by MIS. Moody's is also subject to ongoing tax audits in the normal course of business. Management periodically assesses the Company's liabilities and contingencies in connection with these matters based upon the latest information available. Moody's discloses material pending legal proceedings pursuant to SEC rules and other pending matters as it may determine to be appropriate."
"Wells Notice"
A so called "Wells Notice" is a notifications issued by regulators to inform individuals and companies of completed investigations where infractions have been discovered.
A Well's notice gives recipients the opportunity to explain any improprieties and convince regulators that forward movement on such actions is unnecessary.
"Cease & Desist"
A cease and desist (also called C & D) is an order or request to halt an activity, or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization.
The term is used in two different contexts. A cease-and-desist order can be issued by a judge or government authority, and has a well-defined legal meaning. In contrast, a cease-and-desist letter can be sent by anyone, although typically they are drafted by a lawyer.
A judge may issue a cease-and-desist order with the intent to halt an illegal activity. This prohibition is sometimes used as the outcome of a trial, in which case it is a permanent injunction against the activity. It can also be used as an emergency measure to prevent possibly irreparable harm, in which case it takes the form of a temporary injunction. An injunction against speech issued before it occurs (e.g. preventing a pending publication) is called prior restraint.
However, Many government administrative agencies also have the ability to issue cease-and-desist orders and frequently use them to halt the sale of unregistered or fraudulent securities, to halt banking practices that would possibly be dangerous to institutions and to enforce licensing statutes. These orders usually specify a period of time for the recipient of the order to request a hearing. If a hearing is not requested by the recipient in the given time, the cease-and-desist order becomes final and the agency has the ability to enforce its order in a court of law.
h/t Zero Hedge
Related articles by Zemanta
- Moody's: SEC considering action against us (msnbc.msn.com)
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A Note from the President (Nov 2010)
The weather was fantastic, the trails dry, 115 people, great music, smiling faces, more demo bikes than could be ridden, great food, people from afar, kids, laughter, and more swag than we could give away.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then unfortunately, you missed WNYMBA's MTB Fest.
The only hiccup that occurred was a that week earlier a micro burst picked up about 100 trees and dropped them like toothpicks at one of the only, if not the only, major intersections of 4 trails.
So we had to be creative to get the long group ride in on Saturday. This was the first year for Team Orwat taking on the task of running the whole shebang and did they ever pull it off. A huge thanks goes out to Charlene, Brian (there were rumors, that Brian shucked his responsibilities and left the country to drink a little rum), Bianca, and Moriah Orwat.
We had a great bunch of volunteers; special thanks goes to Roger & Cathy Brath for the games, George Gilham for another outstanding T shirt, Paul Marko for kicking the whole thing off with the poster back at the Swap, Scott Potter for a cookout for the kids and beginners ride. And off course, the VOICE of it all, Todd Fiore (remind me why we purchased a bullhorn seems pretty redundant.) I'm sure I missed a bunch of people here, so thanks to all that helped out.
Your club is currently in the middle of the fall trail work days in EVL and Sprague Brook. The re route was completed around the aforementioned micro burst, and in some ways, is an improvement over the old Billygoat Trail. We took a page out the workbook at EVL from last year and decided to try and harden some wet spots a Sprague with great results so far.
We also attended a meeting in EVL on September 16th to give our input into the recently released NYS DEC Strategic Plan for State Forest Management. We are fortunate here to have established a great working relationship with Region 9 and have 35+ miles of single track already established. Seven of us then traveled to Warren PA to the ANF on September 18th for an IMBA Subaru Trail Care Crew school and work day. If you ever get a chance to attend one of these, it is well worth it. That was my third IMBA event, and I can't get enough.
Speaking of which, I just sent in our application for the IMBA Subaru Trail Care Crew to visit our area in 2011. I did a little schmoozing at the event in Warren with our IMBA regional director and the newly hired coordinator for the Trail crews nationally. I'm pretty confident this will happen next year. So once we get the word that it's a go, I'll get the dates out to everyone so you can all mark your calendars for a 3-4 day event next year, not all trail work either. Party time!
Membership continues to grow and with lots of new faces. Don't be afraid to show up at one of our meetings or trail work days and get involved. We always value the input.
If anyone knows of a good meeting place that has a separate room, doesn't charge a minimum and has great pizza and a variety of beer, let me know. The Colden Inn has worked out well for the summer riding season, but now we are looking for a winter alternative to serve our members.


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Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse
Rex Wild has a Master of Laws degree from Monash University and was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor in Victoria in 1968. He worked as a Barrister-at-Law at the Victoria Bar from 1978-1993, including a period from 1980-1984 where he was Counsel Assisting the Costigan Royal Commission into the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union.
He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1991.
Mr Wild was admitted to practice as a legal practitioner in the Northern Territory in 1992 and subsequently worked as Senior Assistant Director to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and then Senior Crown Counsel with the NT Attorney-General's Department.
Mr Wild was appointed as Acting Director of Public Prosecutions in October 1995, an appointment which was confirmed in early 1996 and which he then held until January 2006.
Whilst in this role, Mr Wild introduced the first Aboriginal Witness and Victim Support Coordinator positions (both in Darwin and Alice Springs), was a strong supporter of the establishment of the Aboriginal Interpreter Service, and instigated compulsory cross-cultural training for all staff in the Office of the DPP. It was also while in this role that he made frequent visits to Aboriginal communities and outstations and met regularly with Aboriginal leaders.
Ms Patricia Anderson is an Alyawarr woman who is well known, nationally and internationally, as a powerful advocate of the disadvantaged, with a particular focus on the health of the Indigenous Peoples. She has extensive experience in all aspects of Indigenous health, including community development, advocacy, policy formation and research ethics.
Ms Anderson has spoken before the United Nations Working Group of Indigenous people, was the CEO of Danila Dilba, the Aboriginal community controlled health service in Darwin, and has been the Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), the peak national Indigenous health organisation. She is also a prolific writer and has had many essays, papers and articles published.
Until recently Ms Anderson held the position of Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), which is the peak body of the Aboriginal community controlled health organisations in the Northern Territory.
Ms Anderson is also the Chairperson of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, and is a board member of Beyondblue.
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If you're coming to this weekend's National Family History Fair in Newcastle, why not obtain tickets for the following talks?
12.00.p.m. (Noon) to 1.00.p.m.
Researching Your Irish Ancestry
Dr William Roulston
1.15.p.m. to 2.15.p.m.
Using The National Archives Website for Family History Research
Gerry Toop
2.30.p.m. to 3.30.p.m.
Discover Scottish Family History
Chris Paton
Tickets are available at the door - places are Limited.
Tickets cost £3.00 and will be available at the Fair. (You'll be able to purchase them when you pay your admission)
Incidentally, for those attending my talk at 2.30, I've prepared a handout with some key web addresses, as it will be a packed talk to help get you started on your Scottish research!
For more on the fair, including lists of vendors in attendance, visit http://nationalfamilyhistoryfair.com/The_National_Family_History_Fair_2012.html
I'm happy to have a chat with anyone who can get a hold of me to offer advice on any Scottish or Irish genealogical problems. You can also talk to Chris Halliday or Steve McLeish on the Scotlands Genealogy and Scotia Roots stalls also (they know a thing or two!), or try Your Family Tree magazine contributor Doreen Hopwood for English based queries - not to mention all the various societies and other experts on hand.
One other quick shout - if you are interested in a professional postgraduate or masters level course in genealogy, do have a chat with the University of Strathclyde team there about the online courses on offer from the institution.
Hopefully see you there - should be another great day!
Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)
The GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top news stories and features concerning ancestral research in Scotland, Ireland, the rest of the UK, and their diasporas, from genealogist, author and tutor Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit The GENES Blog if you do. I'm on Twitter @genesblog - to contact me please email chrismpaton @ outlook.com.
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
National Family History Fair talks
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Seven terror convicts were executed early Tuesday in jails across the country, Express News reported.
The government had lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in terror cases following the Peshawar school attack on December 16 last year.
Three convicts were hanged in Sukkur Central Jail at around 6:30am. Muhammad Talha, Khalil Ahmed and Shahid Hanif were sentenced to death in 2001 for killing then director of defence ministry.
In Karachi's Central Jail, Behram Khan was executed for killing a lawyer inside court premises in 2003, while in Faisalabad District Jail, two convicts - Nawazish Ali and Mushtaq Ahmad – were hanged for attacking former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on December 17 lifted a six-year ban on the capital punishment and since then, 17 convicts have been hanged.
News Source: Tribune


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Osman is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He has significant expertise and experience in banking and finance, corporate and commercial matters, merger and acquisition, project finance, arbitration. He regularly advises and represent foreign and local clients on issues related to legal and regulatory compliance, investment structuring, company incorporation, corporate transaction, arbitration, dispute resolution, employment and labour, etc. Previously he has worked for an international law firm and a specialized financial institution where he was instrumental in closing many deals. Osman graduated from University of Chittagong and also completed his LL.M. there.
- Supreme Court Bar Association.
- Chittagong Bar Association.
Recent Notable Engagements:
- Advising Grameen UNIQLO, the Subsidiary of Fast Retailing in Bangladesh on all aspects of its activities in Bangladesh.
- Advising General Satellite Group AG, on all aspects of its investment in the first ever DTH (Direct to Home) Project in Bangladesh.
- Advising a Singaporean investment fund to implement its green-field project in Bangladesh.
- Advised Asian Development Bank on Bangladeshi laws and certain legal issues in relation to its entering a carbon emission reduction purchase agreement including legal due diligence and the CER purchase transaction.
- Advising BAPEX on various legal issues.
- Advising and representing a number of contractors in arbitration arising out of construction related dispute.
- Advising a Switzerland based pharmaceutical company on its activities in Bangladesh
- Advising the local subsidiary of one the biggest Japanese used cars exporter on its activities in Bangladesh.
- Advised DEG as Bangladesh Legal Counsel on its USD 20 Million financing to Color City Limited.
- Advised DBS as Bangladesh Legal Counsel on its USD 7.4 Million financing to Uttara Foods and Feeds (Bangladesh) Limited.


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One of the guaranteed ways of ensuring that you achieve your life goals and objectives is by trying to be a better person than you were yesterday. Francesca Flood, the author of Wick or Fuse, an inspiring and motivational book, is a professional life coach, speaker, and activist who aims at helping people discover their inherent capabilities through her books. Before proceeding, it is important to point out that this is a nonprofit book; all the proceeds are donated to the "The Innocence Project." Purchasing it will help make a positive difference in the world.
The book starts on a rather sad note; the author wakes up one early morning to see one of the popular media personalities, Patsy Ramsey at the foot of her bed. She recognized her from the media coverage that the story of her daughter, Jon Benet, who was murdered, garnered. She was only five years old when she died. As expected, she is confused and hundreds of questions rush through her mind as she tries to understand why Ms. Ramsey would come to her apartment that early. After a few seconds, Ms. Ramsey breaks the silence by asking the question, "Which would you rather be—the Wick or the Fuse?"
The book will give you a clear understanding of the current psychological state in America and the perception most people have on the world. Francesca Flood, uses her create skills to convey a galvanizing and sage message that will trigger you to think critically about your life and all the experience that you go through. Her main objective is to inspire a positive action, whether large or small. Unlike other motivation books that use warm and fuzzy language and tone, this one is crafted to remind you that there are certain things in your life that need to be fixed. It goes an extra mile to provide simple and incremental ways that you can use to effect change in your life and the world at large.


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Coleus forskohlii has been used for centuries in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, but it wasn't until 1974 that the active ingredient, known as forskolin, was identified by researchers. Still yet, it wasn't until Dr. Oz featured forskolin on his popular daytime TV show in early 2014 that everyone started talking about it—and supplements manufacturers started producing the product in droves.
Today, it's nearly impossible to surf the web or open your email without being reminded of this "miracle flower" that can act as a "rapid belly melt," at least if Dr. Oz is to be believed. Clearly, people are buying forskolin supplements left and right, but does this mean that you should too?
To help you decide, we've written reviews about some of the most popular forskolin supplements available, as well as an in-depth expose about what you can expect from taking it.


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This will give you a small glimpse on the huge stack of presents I got this year! Btw I don't want to make anyone jelaous or show off, this is just to show my appreciation of the many kind people who thought of me and made me very happy! This year there was no present fail, just many present wins! ^^
These are handknit by my friend B. and I already wore them 3 times although I unwrapped them on christmas! They are comfy and beautiful... Thanks so much!
My dad repaired my broken external harddrive and even recovered most of the data I thought was gone! I got a recipy for Rumkugeln (a traditional german sweet) including some trial Kugeln, lovely christmas letters and lush stuff from BF's grandma. It was even more of a gift to see how welcome I'm in his family!
And this is how I will spend the rest of the night...
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Eingestellt von MindLess um 9:16:00 PM
Labels: 365
3 comments:
- wollmaus said...
Have you discovered the skull pattern I included?
- December 29, 2009 at 1:42 PM
- MindLess said...
Yeah! And my mom wants the pattern... So you not only made me happy but gave her an idea what to do with her leftover yarn stash!
- December 31, 2009 at 4:51 PM
- wollmaus said...
I will copy the pattern into excel and send you the file. It is ridiculously easy, when you have figured out how to alter left and right stitches to show patterns in texture.
- January 3, 2010 at 12:20 PM
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July 16, 1997, Section B, Page 8Buy Reprints
CHARLES HALEY was one of the best pass rushers in Dallas Cowboys history. Tight end JAY NOVACEK was one of the best third-down receivers. Both retired yesterday because of similar back injuries. Between them, they have eight Super Bowl rings.
''This is a sad day for our organization,'' the Cowboys' owner, JERRY JONES, said. ''Like I said, we couldn't spell Super Bowl until Charles joined us. He was our missing link. Jay had that magic ability to get open, and it was so routine we almost took it for granted.''
Haley, 33, had 97.5 career sacks in his 11-year career and is the only National Football League player with five Super Bowl rings. ''I played with all my heart through my pain because I loved the game,'' said Haley, who has had three operations in the last four years. ''I wanted to retire as a Cowboy because of the respect I have for Jerry Jones.''
Novacek, who came to Dallas in 1990 as a Plan B free agent, showed up in a T-shirt, baseball cap, shorts and tennis shoes. ''Unfortunately, I have to talk to the media another day,'' Novacek said. ''It's been a heck of a ride.''
Talking about Dallas quarterback TROY AIKMAN, Novacek added: ''I see Troy in the audience, and I want to thank him for what he meant to me. He gave me a great compliment one day when he hit me with a pass while he was going down. I asked him how he did it and he answered, 'I knew you would be there.' ''


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TNA Impact Wrestling: Turning Point '13
Orlando, FL (Impact Zone)
November 21, 2013
Commentators: Taz & Mike Tenay
Report by: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
Back in the "Impact Zone," well the new one at least, "Turning Point" opens up with Mike Tenay and Taz at the announce table. They reveal that James Storm was attacked in a bar last night in Orlando. A video from TNA 365 is then shown of Bobby Roode jumping Storm last night and brutally beating him in the bar. At one point Roode comically picked up a pool stick and played some pool before breaking the stick over Storm's back. Roode hits Storm with a beer pitcher and then shoves money in his face and says "this one's on me…sorry about your damn luck."
A special Turning Point intro airs and then Samoa Joe is shown warming up backstage. Dixie Carter approaches him and she says that she watched her appearance on Impact over and over again. She asks Joe if he knows why she does that and when Joe asks why she does Dixie tells him that she does that so that she can improve and give her "fans" a better performance each week. Dixie says Joe's performance was lousy last week and if he ever takes the tone he did last week with her he'll find himself wrestling in "third world countries" with his "little buddy AJ Styles for pesos." She says if Joe wins the World Title which she calls a "big IF" he better get the unification match with AJ out of his head because that is never happening. She says that AJ is never going to be allowed back in her company and Joe is lucky to be here. She says that the fans want to see her first tonight so he should keep warming up.
Dixie Carter comes out to the ring to a chorus of boos. She thanks the fans and says she knows the fans are so happy for her to be back in Orlando. She thanks Sports Illustrated for their article on Dixie that was released today. A big "AJ" chant breaks out as she says that she has to address him. She says the fans are "so upset" at him for how he is being so ugly to her. She says he has to wrestle all over the world for minimum wage now and she feels no pity for him but she does feel "ticked off in trailer talk" because he is still defending her property, the World Title. She says not one more company will make a dollar off of her and her title again because her lawyers are going to put an end to this.
James Storm interrupts her as a pissed off Cowboy makes his way down to the ring holding a bull rope. Storm says he's pretty damn sure Dixie saw what happened to him last night when Roode jumped him. Storm points out the rope and says that rope isn't enough for him because he's going to use it but he wants to be able to use some chairs, tables, barbed wire, or even some chick at ringside's dentures. Storm says since they're back in Orlando he wants a "Florida Death Match!" Dixie says she doesn't care about Storm's bar room fight because that was on his time, not hers. Dixie says the "Wheel of Dixie" has spoken and she won't change it. Storm says that's funny because last night Orlando police asked him if he wanted to press charges and he refused. He says he told them he would settle it himself in the ring tonight and if she doesn't give him his match he WILL press charges. Storm just threatened to snitch on Bobby Roode to get the match he wants. Storm says Roode will get locked up and she won't have that match tonight that she's been promising.
Dixie tells Storm not to take that tone with her and Storm is trying to back her into a corner publicly. Storm gets fired up and says it's what the fans want and TNA is supposed to be about giving the fans what they want. Dixie gets pissed about the way Storm is talking to her again so he asks her nicely this time if she will give him the match. Dixie agrees as long as Storm agrees to leave the cops out of it and Storm agrees to that.
Taz and Tenay discuss what just went down and hype up the card for tonight.
TNA World Title Tournament Quarterfinals, Falls Count Anywhere Match: Magnus vs. "Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe
This is a battle between former Main Event Mafia members and former Tag Team Champions. Joe is shown in the back and he says that he didn't come here to talk, he came to scrap. He says falls count anywhere in the building so Magnus needs to come on back and get him some!
Back from the break Joe tosses Magnus into a wall and then lights him up with some chops. During the break Joe kicked Magnus into a wall and then a charging Magnus missed Joe and went flying into a pallet. Joe tossed Magnus over a table and then back live the fight has spilled onto the stage. Magnus kicks Joe and then hits an elbow drop for a nearfall. Magnus steps on Joe's throat and then rakes his eyes. Magnus hits a Knee Lift but Joe answers with a series of jabs. Magnus cuts Joe off with a forearm to the temple and then they begin fighting down the ramp. Joe and Magnus exchange some nasty chops until Magnus slams his knee into the gut of Joe. Magnus tosses Joe back into the ring and then he attempts to whip Joe into a corner, but Joe reverses it and then charges at Magnus. Magnus gets a boot up and then climbs up top and dives only to eat an Atomic Drop in midair! Joe hits a Mafia Kick and then attempts a Backsplash Senton but Magnus rolls out of the way! Magnus hits a series of body shots and then a European Uppercut. Magnus bounces off the ropes but runs into a Snap Powerslam! 1…2…NO Magnus kicks out! Magnus retreats to the corner and Joe charges but Magnus moves out of the way and hits the MDD! 1…2…NO Joe kicks out! Magnus hits a Snap Suplex and then climbs up top. Joe gets to his feet and crotches Magnus on the top rope. Joe climbs up with Magnus and attempts a Superplex, but Magnus blocks it and then drops down to the apron and hits a Leaping Knee to knock Joe off. Magnus climbs back up top and hits the Flying Elbow Drop! 1…2…NO Joe kicks out! Magnus goes for the British Cloverleaf but Joe kicks him away and then retreats to a corner. Magnus charges at him but Joe catches him in midair with a Uranage Suplex! Magnus rolls out to the floor and Joe dives onto him with the Elbow Suicida through the ropes! 1…2…NO Magnus kicks out again! Tenay points out how that high risk move wasn't as high risk because Joe could pin Magnus on the outside. Joe tries to pick Magnus up but he drop toe holds Joe into the ring apron. Magnus pulls out a chair from under the ring and wedges between the bottom and middle turnbuckle. Magnus hits a European Uppercut on Joe and then tries to toss Joe into the chair but Joe counters into the Coquina Clutch! Magnus fights it but looks to pass out before he is able to back Joe hard into the ring apron to break the hold. Joe then charges at Magnus but Magnus ducks and Joe slams into the chair, 1…2…3!
Winner: Magnus via pinfall (chair shot)
In the back Joseph Park mumbles about fighting his brother tonight.
Bad Influence make their way down to the ring as they obviously want to see Joseph Park vs. Abyss as much as me. Kaz says Bad Influence is here for everyone's viewing pleasure and they wouldn't miss tonight for the world because in mere moments an "unprecedented match" is about to take place when that "chubby piece of wiener cheese" (what the hell is that) Joseph Park is going to face Abyss. Kaz says they are going to sit ringside for this one.
Park comes down to the ring and he says he heard what the hooligans just said and they need to sit down and shut the hell up. Park says everyone knows he's been looking for his brother for the past 18 months and after everything they come to this for the first time ever, Park vs. Abyss. He says this will stop all the wild accusations going around but he's really doing this for himself because he wants to prove to the world he's not a loser and if that means getting his butt whooped by his brother then so be it. He says you could call this his personal turning point.
Abyss' music hits but no one comes out obviously. Kaz asks where Abyss is and since everyone here came to be entertained Park better start doing the "Truffle Shuffle" or something and start entertaining. Daniels says usually a story of a guy coming from the bottom to getting on TV like Park it would be an inspiration, but it's not in Park's case because he isn't a man. He calls Park a "human water bed mattress." He calls him a "bag of mayonnaise" with a cheap track suit. He calls Park a loser and says the reason his brother didn't come out here is because Park is a failure. Daniels says Park is an embarrassment and then he mocks Park by asking him if he's going to cry. Daniels dares him to punch him and then he asks if he has to punch Park in the face to make him a man. Daniels says he knows what sets Park off, blood and then Kaz pours a bucket of fake blood on Park. Daniels tells Park to show him Abyss and asks where the monster is. Daniels says the only thing inside Park's head is a loser and a waste of space. He says Park takes up air that real human beings could use and he doesn't deserve to be in his ring or even on his planet. Daniels tells Park to get out of his sight this instant.
Park leaves up the ramp as Daniels and Kazarian continue to mock him and bully him.
Gail Kim and Lei'D Tapa come out to the ring and Gail says it's time for another Open Challenge and she dares someone to take her challenge.
Open Challenge Match: Gail Kim w/Lei'D Tapa vs. Candice LeRae
Candice is a Canadian born wrestler that has wrestled for Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerilla among other promotions. She was partially trained by Manik/TJ Perkins. Gail tries to kick Candice as she slides in the ring but Candice blocks it and then decks Gail with a big right hand. Candice hits a series of forearms and then she goes for a clothesline, but Gail ducks and hits a clothesline of her own. Gail puts the boots to Candice and then slams her into the turnbuckles. Gail hits a crazy Running Dropkick sending Candice into the turnbuckles for a nearfall. Gail hits a forearm and then a front kick before whipping Candice into the corner again. Candice springs off the middle rope into a Diving Spinning Headscissors! Candice then catches Gail with a nice Sunset Flip for a nearfall. Candice then hits a running forearm and then charges at Gail for a Splash, but Gail ducks and hits a series of forearms. Candice answers with forearms of her own and then she goes for a hurricanrana but Gail OBLITIRATES her with a Powerbomb! 1…2…NO Candice kicks out! Gail talks trash to Candice and then hits the Eat Defeat for the pin.
Winner: Gail via pinfall (Eat Defeat)
Another message from the "Friends of AJ" airs with highlights of his title defense in Japan this past weekend. Clips of AJ eating dinner with Great Muta and hanging out with fans are also shown. AJ defeated young Japanese wrestler Seiya Sanada with the Calf Killa to retain his belt.
JB is backstage with Mr. Anderson and Anderson says Bully tried to take away what was most important to him in his life, his career which allows him to provide for his family. Anderson says he is in a taking mood tonight so he's going to take Bully's family from him.
Gunner approaches Storm backstage and says Storm doesn't need all the weapons Storm has gathered up to whoop Roode's ass. Storm says need and want are two different things and he says he doesn't need any of it but he wants them. Storm says he appreciates Gunner being a partner like Roode never was but he's about to give Roode an ass whooping of a lifetime. Gunner says he's got Storm's back.
A great video package highlighting the vast history between Roode and Storm is shown.
TNA World Title Tournament Quarterfinals, Florida Death Match: "Cowboy" James Storm vs. "The IT Factor" Bobby Roode
What the hell is a Florida Death Match? I don't know, I guess the same thing as a Japanese Death Match or a Mexican Death Match or a Texas Death Match… yeah I still don't know. Most "Death Matches" I've seen are just a No DQ Match, I've never figured out what the difference was. Storm doesn't even wait for Roode's entrance as he nails Roode with a kendo stick the minute he walks through the tunnel! Storm wears Roode out with the kendo stick and then slams him into the guardrail. Storm hits a big uppercut and then clotheslines him on the ramp. Tenay reveals the rules being No DQ, no countout but also no pinfalls or submission. The only way to win the match is to beat your opponent to the point where he can't answer a 10 count. So it's very different than the other "Death Matches" I've seen but I think Storm and Chris Harris had a great Death Match like that back in the day. How is this different than any other Last Man Standing Match? Doesn't seem like it's any different at all to me. Storm grabs Roode and tries to toss him into the ring but Roode shoves him into the ring post. Storm's forehead is busted open as Roode punches him there repeatedly. Roode attempts to whip Storm into the ring steps but Storm reverses it! Storm tosses Roode into the ring and then tosses a couple of trash cans in with him that are both filled with weapons. Storm nails Roode with a crutch and then tosses him into the corner. Storm charges at him but Roode backdrops him over the top. Storm lands on the apron and then hits a Leaping Enziguri! Storm climbs back in the ring and bounces off the ropes but runs right into a shot with a cookie sheet from Roode. Roode hits Storm with the crutch repeatedly and then he chokes Storm with it. Roode chops Storm and then hits him with the crutch again. Roode tries to whip Storm into the opposite corner but Storm counters into an uppercut that lays Roode out. Storm places a trashcan between Roode's legs and then nails the trashcan into Roode's nuts with a kendo stick! Storm then blasts Roode in the head with a cookie sheet. Roode gets up at the 5 count and then Storm climbs up top and attempts the Swinging Noose, but Roode blocks it and then swings at Storm. Storm blocks the shot with his foot and then hits a Diving Sunset Flip! Roode rolls through it and kicks Storm in the balls. Roode then catapults Storm into a trashcan but Storm blocks it and then throws the trashcan at Roode's head! Storm blasts Roode with the trashcan again but this time Roode gets up at 8 and Storm goes for the Eye of the Storm onto a trashcan! Roode blocks it and then Double-R Spinebusters Storm onto the trashcan obliterating the trashcan! Storm gets up at 9 so Roode blasts him with a trashcan lid. Storm grabs one and answers with a shot of his own! They begin killing each other with trashcan lid shots until both men are laid out in the ring. The referee starts counting both men out but they both get back to their feet. Roode charges at Storm with a crutch but eats the Last Call! Roode rolls out of the ring and reaches under the ring and gets back to his feet at the 9 count. Storm reaches out and grabs Roode by the head but Roode blasts him a beer bottle that he pulled out from under the ring in a mirror image of the way Roode beat Storm for the World Title back in 2011. Roode begins celebrating but Storm is able to crawl to his feet before the 10 count! Roode hits a running clothesline and then grabs a chair from ringside. Roode tosses in another chair as well and then sets them both up side by side in the ring. Roode DVD's Storm onto the chairs! Storm AGAIN is able to get to his feet before the 10 count as Roode can't believe it! Roode starts beating the hell out of Storm with a crutch and screams at him to "die you son of a bitch, die!" Roode pulls out a blank covered in a barbed wire from under the ring! Roode goes for the DVD onto the barbed wire plank but Gunner runs out and throws in the towel to a chorus of boos in a bullsh*t ending.
Winner: Roode via forfeit
Back from the break Storm is pissed that Gunner threw in the towel as he screams at him. Storm says that was BS (I agree) but Gunner says he was looking out for him because Roode could have ended his career.
A video package highlighting Sam Shaw is shown as Christy Hemme interviews him at his home. He asks her to call him Samuel Shaw and he talks about being an extreme sports fan. He says the ultimate adrenaline rush for him is pro wrestling and then says he went to art school and breaks out his art book. He shows off his artwork but as he starts to get to a couple of creepy ass bloody drawings he stops and closes the book. As the camera cuts Shaw asks Hemme out while the camera man creepily watches from behind around a corner. Hemme gives him her number and tells him to call her. As she leaves he rearranges everything on his table after Christy messed with. Got a feel this dude is going to be a creeper.
In the back EC3's jobbers are talking when EC3 walks up to them. EC3 says he personally flew them to the show tonight but this rivalry between them has to end because if he beats them again it would be "jumping the shark." EC3 says he flew them out just to tell them they suck. EC3 says he faces a returning TNA legend and he's nervous but he will prevail because he's a Carter.
JB is with Aces & Eights backstage but Knux makes JB leave and then hands Brooke the microphone. Bully says he's never met anyone in wrestling more ungrateful than Anderson and he reminds him that TNA turned their back on him last year while he was the guy that reached out to him. Bully says he is the one that breathed life back into him and he should be calling Bully god at this point. Bully says he brought Anderson back and tonight when he piledrives Anderson through the stage he'll be the one to take him out. Bully says he'll be sure to take care of Anderson's pregnant wife.
Backstage Anderson talks about Magnus and praises him saying he poses a big threat to Kurt. Someone approaches Kurt and says that Dixie Carter needs to see him right now.
EC3 comes down to the ring and I get the feeling something "fishy" is about go down. EC3 says it's time that he raises his level of competition and tonight he faces a returning TNA legend, and then he introduces Shark Boy.
Ethan Carter III vs. Shark Boy
EC3 punches Sharky in the head and then he picks Shark Boy up, but Shark Boy answers with a series of right hands. Shark Boy whips EC3 into the ropes but EC3 rolls out of the ring to avoid the fin. Shark Boy chases him back into the ring and as Shark Boy slid in EC3 went for an elbow drop but Shark Boy rolls out of the way. Shark Boy hits an Atomic Drop and then he slams EC3 into the turnbuckles. Sharky mounts EC3 in the corner and rains down right hands. Shark Boy goes for the Chummer but EC3 blocks it and hits a Front Slam. EC3 hits the One Percenter for the pin.
Winner: EC3 via pinfall (One Percenter)
TNA announced during that last match that "Genesis" is coming to Huntsville, AL in January (Spike TV special) and I may just take that 4 hour ride and give myself a birthday present.
The history of Anderson and Bully Ray is shown.
Angle and Roode are in Dixie's office and she says next week is Thanksgiving and since Roode and Angle don't get along she is going to fix that. She says they are going to pretend like they get along like everyone else does on Thanksgiving in the Main Event. She wants them to each lead a team of four in an 8-Man Tag Team Elimination Match.
Main Event, No DQ Match: Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray
Anderson has some new long tights. Members of the TNA roster walk out onto the ramp and Tenay says that the TNA roster has come out to make sure that no one from Aces & Eights interferes. If Anderson loses this he must leave TNA, if Bully loses then A&8 must disband. Anderson Spears Bully before JB got done doing the intros and then Anderson grabs the microphone and does his own intro. Anderson low blows Bully twice and then hits him with the microphone! Brooke hilariously checks on Bully's groin injury. Bully uses Brooke as a shield as Anderson chases him and then he pushes her into Anderson and then he decks Anderson and helps Brooke up. Bully slams Anderson into the ring steps and then rakes his eyes. Bully pulls out a table as we go to a break.
Back from the break Bully suplexes Anderson over the top rope into the ring. Bully goes for a Powerslam but Anderson blocks it and they begin exchanging right hands. Bully takes Anderson down with a Big Boot and then taunts the TNA wrestlers up the ramp. Bully rips off Anderson's shirt and chops him. Bully trash talks him until Anderson bitch slaps the hell out of him! Bully answers with a Corner Splash and then a huge right hand. Bully picks up his chain and stares down the TNA roster. Bully whips Anderson with the chain and then he wraps the chain around his elbow and attempts an Elbow Drop with it. Anderson rolls out of the way and then grabs the chain and whips Bully with it. Anderson swings at Bully with the chain but Bully ducks and hits a Uranage Suplex! 1…2…NO Anderson kicks out and then Bully tosses Anderson out to the floor. Bully rips up the padding around ringside and then attempts to Piledrive Anderson onto the cement, but Anderson backdrops him! Anderson goes for a Piledriver of his own but Bully blocks it until Knux comes from the crowd and attacks Anderson! Knux slams Anderson into the guardrail and then attempts to whip him into the ring steps but Anderson reverses it. Anderson screams at Brooke to get out of his way and then rips up more padding around ringside. Anderson Piledrives Knux on the floor and then strips off his cut! Bully attacks Anderson from behind and tosses him back in the ring. Bully climbs up top but Anderson punches him in the balls and hits the Green Bay Plunge onto the steel chain! Anderson goes for the Mic Check but Bully blocks it and then Spears Anderson into the table that was set up earlier! Bully covers Anderson, 1…2…NO he still kicks out! Bully yells at Brooke to get something and then she runs over to Taz and gets the hammer! She tosses to Bully but overshoots him and Anderson catches it! Anderson hits Bully with the hammer and then the Mic Check! 1…2…3!
Winner: Anderson via pinfall (Mic Check)
The TNA roster is shown applauding and Tenay starts applauding as well. Anderson rips off Bully's cut and then some of the TNA wrestlers go over to Taz and take his cut off of him too!
"Final Thoughts" will be up tomorrow morning.
1) TNA World Title Tournament Quarterfinals Falls Count Anywhere Match: Magnus def. Samoa Joe
2) Open Challenge Match: Gail Kim def. Candice Larea
3) TNA World Title Tournament Quarterfinals Florida Death Match: Bobby Roode def. James Storm
4) EC3 def. Shark Boy
5) No DQ Match: Mr. Anderson def. Bully Ray
Scheduled for Next Week:
-Elimination Match: Team Angle vs. Team Roode
-Aces & Eights Funeral
TNA World Title Tournament Brackets
– Full Metal Mayhem: Jeff Hardy def. Chris Sabin (11/07)
– Submission Match: Kurt Angle def. Austin Aries (11/14)
– Bullrope Match: Bobby Roode vs. James Storm (11/21)
– Falls Count Anywhere Match: Magnus def. Samoa Joe (11/21)
– Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode (TBA)
– Kurt Angle vs. Magnus (TBA)
– TBA vs. TBA
Follow me on Twitter: @BamaBoyJosh


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Life for Logan Havens has been a series of unexpected occurrences. With circumstances in continuous change, the constant is his desire to understand and share through storytelling. This has taken him from the small towns where he grew up, to cities and locations all over the world. He thrives in adapting and in change.
Now, based in Tucson, he tells stories through visual medias: still images, video, and moving images. He is continually evolving and pushing himself to create more immersive and experiential storytelling through whatever mediums are most expressive.


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The sinking U.S. dollar has boosted the competitiveness of American-made goods, prompting furniture chain Ikea to rethink how it sources the parts for its products, its chief executive told CNBC Monday.
"We are now starting to source more in the US from US manufacturers, because now even manufacturing in the US is becoming competitive from a global perspective because of the weak dollar," Ikea CEO and President Andres Dahlvig said.
Demand for the company's low-cost furniture has been hit hard by the slowdown in the company's key markets of the US, UK and Germany, as home sales slump across the globe.
"We've seen a slowdown in our sales in the U.S. for quite a while," Dahlvig said.
"Some of the markets in Western Europe are still holding up very well," Dahlvig said. "What's hitting us is the slowdown in big markets."
"This downturn in the economy has some new ingredients compared to the last one in the sense that we see rising costs in the salary costs we also see rising raw material prices, which has an affect on our margins and we also have a slowdown in the consumption," he said. "So the combination of all those three makes this a very challenging retail climate."
High inflation in Europe has hiked costs of the group's materials at a time when consumers will be moving to discount retailers. But Ikea's scale could help it take market share from smaller rivals by taking a hit to the bottom line to maintain competitive prices.


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6324 Route 25a, Suite 8
Wading River, NY 11792
Great Island is an extraordinary 63 acre island compound with over one mile of coastline directly on Long Island Sound. The property is beautiful; a private drive leads to the grand nine bedroom manor house, an original 19th century farmhouse, guest and caretaker houses and a charming seaside cottage. The shoreline is reminiscent of the Maine coast. Rocky promontories command incredible south facing water views to the north shore of Long Island. A white crescent sand beach is flanked by rustic beach and bath houses. An equestrian center is centered on an 18 stall granite stable with indoor and outdoor Grand Prix and Dressage arenas. A deep water dock can accommodate a 100 foot yacht. Cherished by generations for over a century, Great Island represents a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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CLAREMONT, CA. -- The Pomona-Pitzer Baseball team defeated non-conference opponent Principia 14-0 on Monday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 11-3 on the year.
The Sagehens were led by junior Jeremy Jess who went a perfect 4-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Joe Williams got the start for the Sagehens and went four innings of no-hit baseball before being relieved for junior Connor Woods who went three innings giving up no runs with just one hit, first-year Simon Heck came on in the eighth and first-year
The Sagehens had their offense going early as they scored in the first six innings of play. Pomona-Pitzer got the scoring going as Jess connected for his fourth homer of the season to give the Sagehens an early 2-0 lead.
The Sagehens added three more in their next at-bats as junior Brian Knapp tripled to right center to score first-year Kevin Lo and junior Jack Hanley and came around to score of the play after a throwing error to extend the lead to 3-0. Hanley came back up in the bottom of the third and brought home junior Jeremiah Quezada on a RBI ground out to push the lead to 3-0.
Jess added more RBI's to his total in the fourth with a double down the third base line to bring in Knapp to extend the lead to 7-0 after four. First-year Jack Damelio and Hanley registered RBI's in the bottom of the fifth and the Sagehens plated five more runs in the bottom of the sixth highlighted by back-to-back home runs by junior Jake Lialios and first-year Lincoln Pantell to take a 14-0 lead over the Panthers.
The only hit of the afternoon for the Panthers came in the seventh inning on a double to left field but the Sagehens staff was flawless all game long as they combined for 17 strikeouts in the win over the Panthers.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host non-conference opponent Puget Sound on March 19th at 11:00 a.m.


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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an advisory yesterday that there is a 90 percent chance or higher that an El Niño will persist throughout the fall of 2015. They are also 85 percent confident it will continue throughout the 2015-2016 winter, influencing the U.S. weather. El Niños form when a "three-month average warming of at least 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9°F) in a specific area of the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean" occurs. Using satellite data, the El Niño event looks like a long, jagged ribbon of warm water spreading across the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean (see Figure 1).
Side effects of a long-running El Niño event are "warmer and drier winters in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and upper Northeast United States" and "significantly wetter winters" for drought-stricken central and southern California. Other climate events associated with El Niño years are above-normal tropical cyclones forming east of the dateline, less-then-robust tropical Pacific fishing, and flooding along the coasts of northern Peru and Ecuador.
NOAA predicts that "across the contiguous United States, temperature and precipitation impacts associated with El Niño are expected to remain minimal" during the summer, but will increase into the late fall and winter. NOAA also expects the El Niño will be a factor in a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season, and "above-normal hurricane seasons in both the central and eastern Pacific hurricane basins." Because the "warm ocean waters suppress the nutrient-rich, cold water from reaching the surface," which feed and sustain large fish populations, the entire equatorial ecosystem is affected.
El Niños (also known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation or ENSO) are also accompanied by a high pressure system over the western Pacific and a low-pressure system over the eastern Pacific. NOAA predicts this still-developing El Niño will continue throughout 2015, with some computer models predicting it will persist into the late fall of 2015. NOAA did note in its announcement that the El Niño may turn out to be 'moderate,' weaker then expected, or peter out completely. If the designated area of the Pacific Ocean decreases below the 0.5 degree Celsius threshold, the El Niño is considered to have dissipated.
Currently, this still-developing El Niño shows surface sea temperatures "in excess of 1 degree Celsius, with the largest anomalies in the eastern Pacific." Some recent weekly values showed above-average temperatures in certain areas ranging from 1.4 to 1.9 degrees Celsius. Since 1979, when satellite data became available, research has shown no correlation between global warming and past El Niño events. Consequently, "there is no scientific consensus on how/if climate change may affect ENSO."
According to geologist James Kamis, deep-ocean volcanic vents are the most likely culprits for El Niño events. "These vents emit massive amounts of heat that force warm ocean water to the surface, displacing cooler water in the process," Kamis writes in an email. "This warm water then helps El Niños develop and in the process warm the atmosphere above. The vents also emit enormous volumes of gases such as methane and CO2."
Kamis doesn't think the air above the Pacific Ocean has enough energy to heat such large swaths of ocean by more than the 0.5 degrees Celsius for such a prolonged period. He also thinks these vent gases have a profound impact on our climate that's only now being understood. "The emphasis here is that the ocean is vast and largely unexplored. As such, we are finding more and more vents in the most unlikely of places," Kamis writes in an email. "These vents are very big climate controllers. Not everything can be attributed to the trace gas carbon dioxide."


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Could American Express be thinking outside the payments box…seemingly, way outside the payments box? It looks like this may be the case.
Cardnotpresent.com reported earlier this week that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had recently published a patent application from Amex bearing the title, "Third Party Digital Wallet Pay With Points"—an indication that it could be developing a system that would enable its cardholders to complete purchases at various e-commerce websites with loyalty points earned through participation in its Membership Rewards program. The patent documents, in which it is noted that Amex filed the application in 2014, describe, "a system, method, and computer product for redemptions of reward points to purchase goods and services offered by a third-party digital wallet or merchant aggregator."
According to an abstract of the patent application published here, the system, method, and computer program covered by the patent "may allow certain transaction account holders to directly pay with their loyalty points in any third-party digital wallet." Utilizing the system, the abstract indicates, account holders would earn one or more point for every dollar charged on an eligible, enrolled transaction account and then redeem their points for a wide array of rewards, including retail merchandise or travel.
Cardnotpresent.com noted that it is still unclear from the documents whether or not Amex has moved beyond the conceptual stage and has an actual payment acceptance product of this type in the development stages. However, as pointed out on the website, the card network's unique position as both card issuer and payment network, as well as its partnerships with digital wallet providers like Apple (Apple Pay), mean Amex loyalty points could conceivably be spent online like cash.
"Although many (loyalty) programs have been successful in developing customer loyalty and incentivizing customers to act, they have presented participants with limited opportunities to redeem loyalty points for the products of their choice or have provided participants with limited accessibility and control of their loyalty account," Amex states in the patent application. "Therefore, a need exists in this industry for a program that expands product choice for loyalty program participants."
Whether Amex will fill that need, or not, remains to be seen. But given consumers' ever-growing affinity for loyalty programs, there doesn't seem to be a non-technical reason why the card network's idea wouldn't fly.


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Social Security: By the Numbers
Here are five facts about Social Security that might surprise you.
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Harcourt Cemetery
Harcourt Cemetery was gazetted in 1862. The first burial took place in 1865.
Notable memorials in the cemetery include:
- Joseph Blight (quarry-master)
- George Symes (quarry-master)
- HR Bastow (influential Victorian Government Architect)
- Colonel WE James (Victoria's senior commanding military officer of the 1930′s and 1940)
- numerous pioneering settlers and orchardists.
A lawn section was opened in 1982.
- Golden Point Water
- Morris Minor Garage