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Banta Reports 2002 Performance: Launches Restructuring Plan
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Press release from the issuing company- closing of the corporation's catalog plant in St. Paul, MN, one of Banta's oldest and least efficient print operations. - restructuring plan will involve pretax charges totaling $15 million to $18 million MENASHA, Wis., Jan. 28 -- Banta Corporation today reported solid results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2002 with net earnings and diluted earnings per share above the prior year, before impairment charges. Banta also announced a restructuring involving its consumer catalog business and a realignment of operating activities within its supply-chain management sector. The plan, which will be implemented in 2003, will consolidate certain operations, leverage existing capacity, improve efficiencies and reduce costs. Full-year net earnings were $43.8 million for 2002 versus $50.0 million the prior year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.71 in 2002 compared with $2.01 the prior year. The 2002 results included a fourth quarter non-cash impairment charge of $26.8 million, pretax (64 cents per diluted share). The 2001 results included a first quarter non-cash investment write-off of $12.5 million, pretax (30 cents per diluted share). Excluding these charges in both periods, 2002 net earnings reached a record $60.2 million, 5 percent higher than 2001's $57.5 million, and diluted earnings per share totaled $2.35 in 2002 versus the prior year's $2.31. Sales for 2002 were $1.37 billion versus $1.46 billion in 2001. Fourth quarter net earnings were $392,000 (2 cents per diluted share) compared with $16.1 million (65 cents per diluted share) for the same period last year. Excluding the asset impairment charge, 2002 fourth quarter net earnings were 4 percent above the prior year at $16.8 million versus $16.1 million. Diluted earnings per share for 2002's fourth quarter were 66 cents, before the charge, compared with 65 cents in 2001. Fourth quarter sales were $348 million versus the prior year's $367 million. President and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie A. Streeter says Banta recorded strong operating performance during 2002, despite a very difficult economic environment. "Reduced advertising and promotional spending negatively impacted many of our businesses, especially direct marketing and publications, yet before the asset impairment charge we were able to deliver an all-time high in net earnings and match our record for diluted EPS established during an exceptionally strong 2000," says Streeter. "We also produced record free cash flow during the year, lowering our debt levels and interest expense. Financially, Banta has never been stronger. Our balance sheet is in excellent condition, with strong borrowing capacity. We are well positioned to continue investing in the latest technologies and capabilities, and to aggressively pursue acquisition opportunities. "While operationally most of our units are performing at excellent levels, there are always opportunities to improve," explains Streeter. "As we have previously indicated, given the continuing soft economy, over the past several months we have been actively examining various options to properly balance our revenue and production capacity. The restructuring actions we are announcing today are a result of that analysis." The major portion of the restructuring involves the consolidation of Banta's consumer catalog group, with the primary cost being the closing of the corporation's catalog plant in St. Paul, MN, one of Banta's oldest and least efficient print operations. Catalog production will be consolidated at the corporation's largest and most efficient catalog plant in nearby Maple Grove, MN, and at other Banta facilities with available capacity and similar production capabilities. Actions within Banta's supply-chain management sector entail realigning various operating activities to maximize efficiencies and create greater facility utilization. The restructuring plan will involve pretax charges totaling $15 million to $18 million, the majority of which is expected in this year's second and third quarters. This plan is expected to generate annual savings of $8 million to $10 million, beginning in 2004, with modest benefit expected in 2003's fourth quarter. "We remain committed to the consumer catalog market," emphasized Streeter, noting Banta's catalog plant in Maple Grove expects to launch a major expansion program later this year. "By closing an inefficient plant, leveraging our existing catalog capacity at other facilities, and expanding our largest catalog plant, we will provide customers with the highest quality and most efficient production at a competitive price. "We regret any job loss due to our restructuring, and are taking every possible action to keep that number to a minimum," said Streeter. "Affected employees will be encouraged to apply for positions at our other operations, and for those employees displaced, we will provide severance packages and assist with outplacement services." Operational highlights for the fourth quarter and 2002 include the following: * Banta's print sector reported mixed results, with lower sales and profitability in both the fourth quarter and full year due to adverse market conditions, including reductions in advertising and promotional spending, and lower pricing. However, nearly all of the sector's sales decline can be attributed to paper price reductions. Actual print manufacturing activity for 2002, or unit production, was modestly higher than the prior year as strong sales efforts helped maintain good plant utilization. * The book division turned in a good fourth quarter and an excellent 2002. For the year, strong activity in the educational market and encouraging growth in value-added literature management services drove higher sales and a double-digit increase in profitability. * Continued market share gains in Banta's publications division helped produce good results for the fourth quarter and 2002, despite experiencing a 10 percent advertising page count reduction for the year. Sales and earnings improved in the fourth quarter and results for the full year were only modestly below 2001. * Banta's commercial print businesses were hardest hit by the sluggish economy. Consumer catalogs and direct marketing materials both reported lower sales and earnings for the year and fourth quarter, with business activity especially slow during the final three months of 2002. Market share gains in consumer catalogs helped generate full-year results that were only modestly below the prior year, however direct marketing performance fell significantly below 2001. * The corporation's supply-chain management sector recorded strong profitability in a continuing difficult technology market. Both fourth quarter and full-year earnings were above the prior year, on lower sales. Disciplined expense control and a favorable product mix that includes more value-added services helped produce the strong bottom- line results. * Banta's single-use healthcare products business continued to benefit from its global sourcing initiatives, cost controls and new product introductions. While sales decreased for both the fourth quarter and year due to pricing and foreign sourcing of lower-cost products, profits increased significantly in both periods. "Overall, we are pleased with our performance in 2002," notes Streeter. "Our diverse business portfolio allowed us to deliver record earnings in a very difficult economic climate. Before the asset impairment charges, we improved operating margins, matched our all-time high for diluted earnings per share, produced record cash flow, increased our product and service offerings, and expanded our business with existing clients. Our many efforts, including today's announced restructuring, are intended to position Banta for continued growth in 2003 and beyond." Banta management believes that despite the prospect of sluggish economic conditions continuing through the first half of 2003, Banta's earnings for the first six months of 2003, before the restructuring charges, should equal or modestly exceed the same period in 2002. Expectations for the full-year 2003, excluding the restructuring charges, are for continued growth in sales and earnings, with growth rates in the low- to mid-single digits, depending on the timing and pace of the economic recovery.
Industry News
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Eighteenth-century design will always have its detractors-those who condemn the Golden Age of furniture as impractical, uncomfortable, and outrageously expensive for modern American lifestyles. Atlanta interior designer Dan Carithers turns a deaf ear to the diatribes, not only ignoring them but disproving them-one eminently livable house after another.
A convincing case in point is the 1930s Georgian-style home of Virginia and James Ellis-an Atlanta house Carithers sumptuously decked in 18th-century French, English, and Italian furniture and objects d'art. His design renders the constellation of stellar antiques viable not only for the adults but for their 12- and 15-year-old daughters and all their pals.
"We wanted to live up to the house, with its great moldings and 11-foot ceilings," says Virginia, a TV investigative reporter-turned-full-time mom, "but we also wanted our home to be comfortable and approachable. We're just as likely to invite three families with all their children for the evening as we are to have formal dinner parties. It's not unusual to have as many as 10 children running around the house—and it works. This is Dan's special gift. He not only makes rooms pretty, he makes them practical."
Yellow paint brings the entry's pleasing scale and rich white moldings to life. Both the fluted console and trumeau are late-18th-century English. Still in its original silk velvet, the ottoman is from the Buenos Aires shop of the famed 1930s French manufacturer Jansen. The console's lamps are antique Baccarat; tea tins are French antiques. An antique French "head" stand by the door displays 18th-century delft.
Circumscribed by displays of 18th-century delft and sang de bouf (oxblood) Chinese porcelains, three old swivel chairs of no special provenance are integral to the living room's main conversation area. "When Dan first suggested these, I had to pause," admits Virginia. "Swivel chairs? I thought of my grandmother. But Dan explained how they could be angled to ease conversation; how we would grow to really appreciate them-and he was right. We do."
From the entry, the view extends through the living room into the sunroom and outside.
Further, Carithers liked the aged look of the chairs' original upholstery and urged his clients to leave the chairs unchanged. "It might be 25, 50, or even 75 years old," Carithers says. "What's important is that mellow, slightly weathered look it brings to the room."
When orchestrating an elegant design like the Ellis home, Carithers is constantly on the prowl for that perfect piece of furniture that will sound a slightly discordant note to keep the design, and those who are viewing it, on their toes. He explains: "If it's a really grand room, I like to bring it down. I always like to do something that introduces a humble quality."
A "little jewel" of a Regency table, a silk damask wing chair, and an Italian mirror all hail from the 18th century.
In the living room, it's the 18th-century "cartoon" (drawing for a tapestry) behind the silk sofa that relaxes the room's highbrow tone. "It was very crudely done," says Carithers, "and was exactly what was needed here." The piece's scale, too, is right on.
The living room is ornamented with 18th-century delft (on brackets) and sang de boeuf vases (on the end table). The coffee table is a 1930s French gilt design by Jansen.
"I've never lived in a house with 11-foot ceilings before," says Virginia. "It takes a special eye to find pieces of furniture that will work on this scale." Two such pieces of furniture are the mirrors above the living room fireplace and above the chest in the upstairs landing. "I'd been looking at this great 18th-century carved English mirror for about three years," says Carithers of the landing's mirror. "I was waiting to find a space with enough scale for it to work." The antique living room mirror required some convincing by Carithers to win over his clients. "They said, 'But, Dan. It's falling apart!'" recalls Carithers. But he insisted the 18th-century Italian piece exhibited "what I call 'good crud.' It adds a wonderful patina."
Beaded trim adds youthful kick to a pair of chairs. Sisal covers black-and-white floor tiles, which "didn't work."
A tufted chaise makes the sunroom inviting. To avoid a fish-bowl feel, the designer added horse chestnut-pattern draperies, which he had the manufacturer recolor a cheerful yellow and blue.
In addition to juxtaposing the humble with the fine, another tool Carithers employs to ease the starch in a roomful of 18th-century objects is color. Sunshine yellow saturates the home, creating an upbeat first impression in the entry. "Yellow is soft, and it looks good anywhere, anytime, and in any climate," insists Carithers. Yellow also makes a beautiful backdrop for the blue-and-white porcelains Carithers loves to collect for his clients. "I've always liked blue and white," notes Virginia, "but I had never lived with it. Now I love it combined with the yellow."
Carithers calls the dining room's Regency sideboard with Egyptian motifs "extraordinary." The Chippendale-style table and chairs were the Ellises' first buys.
One corner of the dining room features a 1790 grandfather's clock still wearing its original blue paint.
Downstairs, yellow is the dominant color, with blue and white as accents. But in the master bedroom, blue and white take the lead. "I used a lot of blue-and-white toile, then brought in some relief with the bed curtain's woven embroidery lining," Carithers observes. He detailed the bed and window valances with scallops, then repeated the scalloped shape to trim out a fauteuil. He also painted the Ellises' mahogany Chippendale-style sofa and Martha Washington chairs white. "I can't stand a room full of brown furniture," Carithers says, crediting this as perhaps one more reason his period-rich rooms feel fresh.
Upholstering the powder room in a historic print quiets the space and makes it "look ancient," says Carithers. The sink was existing.
An extra-deep custom bench, upholstered in silk, exactly fits its space.
Other strategies are not so easily pegged. How did he know, for instance, that covering the dining room's Chippendale chairs in a velvet-and-woven check would lighten up their weighty stature? Or that using small drinking goblets for bouquets would be more effective than a massive centerpiece that competed with the scale of the fine English silver candelabras? "A lot of it is just tried and true," Carithers says dismissively of his intuitive touch. Displaying 18th-century delft on brackets above a period bull's-eye mirror in the dining room, he illustrates, is simply more interesting than "lining it all up along the sideboard."
The upstairs landing looking into the master bedroom is furnished with an 18th-century Italian chest and a magnificent 18th-century English mirror, plus old Swedish chairs.
"I don't know how he does it," says Virginia. "The checked fabric on the dining room chairs certainly isn't the most formal choice or the one most people would think of, given this architecture and furniture, but it makes the room feel younger. And that's what we wanted." Sparkly beaded fringe on a pair of chairs in the sunroom also adds more zing.
Beige-on-beige striped wallpaper creates a respite from the dynamic rhythm of the toile fabric in the master bedroom.
A pair of antique oval mirrors in tortoiseshell-finish are quiet, allowing the eye to absorb the bed curtain's detailing.
"We are a young family," says Virginia. "We wanted a formal home, but we wanted it to feel youthful. That's what we got."
Martha Washington chairs and a Chippendale sofe in the bedroom sitting area are painted white.
Designing for more than 20 years, Dan Carithers is adamant about how a design should work, as well as how it should look. And he's not too shy to be outspoken with his clients, even on lifestyle issues: "I hate hearing clients say 'my formal china.' I tell them to get that term out of their mouth! We all have everyday stuff and more formal things, but we mix it. That's how to live." He and his wife, Nancy, live in Atlanta but travel the globe, designing, procuring, and pleasure seeking. Design is like fashion, he contends. "I was wearing jeans yesterday in Palm Beach, but with a coat and tie. In New York I may wear jeans with a velvet blazer and velvet shoes. There are no rules," he insists, succinctly summing up his magic.
Photography: Emily Minton-Redfield
Produced by Eleanor Roper

subset: commoncrawl


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This goes onto the fields for fertilizer. And this is where I thank my lucky stars that it is 14 degrees. Frozen poop smells much less worse than non-frozen poop.
And still others stay home and get fancy.
And when all the manure has been spread, that's when the sh!t really hits the fan. Because Mommy comes back to pick you up. And you haven't had near enough time with the manure. Or the tractor. Or the skid loader. And you're mad. You're really, really mad.
But then Mommy brings you in for hot cocoa and cookies. And you thaw out and realize Mommy isn't so bad after all. She might not compare with cow manure, but she'll do. For now.


text: On Thu, Apr 03, 2008 at 03:41:08PM +0200, Helge Klein wrote: > [...] top-posting > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or previous e-mail messages attached to it, may contain confidential information that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this message is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify us by reply e-mail at my email address or by my telephone number, and destroy the original transmission and its attachments without reading them or saving them to disk. Thank you. idiotic legal footer current lameness score: 2 points Diego


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A federal jury in Texas has reached a $247 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. unit in a bellwether trial over DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant injuries. (A bellwether trial is a case that the court and the parties select to test their arguments, with the goal of moving the overall larger litigation towards resolution.)
This verdict is intended to compensate plaintiffs for past and future medical expenses, as well as their pain and suffering from hip implant failures. As reported by Law360, the jury unanimously found that both J&J and DePuy were liable "for a series of design and manufacturing defects, fraud and deceptive business practices, and found the companies had acted with wanton, reckless or malicious conduct."
From 2002 to 2012, DePuy manufactured metal-on-metal hip implants sold under the brand name Pinnacle with a metal liner (called the Ultramet metal liner). Numerous patients alleged that these metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants failed, requiring painful and expensive revision surgery. Common symptoms of a failing hip implant include pain in the groin, hip or leg, swelling near the hip joint, or a limp or change in walking ability.
"During the trial, the six plaintiffs told jurors they'd suffered a range of injuries, including severe tissue damage that caused permanent muscle loss, intense pain, loss of hip movement and walking with a permanent limp. They say the Pinnacle product shed microscopic metal ions into their bodies, causing side effects that J&J and DePuy didn't warn surgeons about and that could have been avoided with a safer design," noted Law360.
Plaintiffs accused the companies of utilizing cheaper, less safe alternatives to develop the implants that led to a defective product which turned people's hips into "ticking time bombs."
The jury awarded $90 million in punitive damages against J&J, and another $78 million in punitive damages against DePuy.
The consolidated cases are Alicea et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. et al., case number 3:15-cv-03489; Barzel v. DePuy et al., case number 3:16-cv-01245; Kirschner v. DePuy et al., case number 3:16-cv-01526; Miura v. DePuy et al., case number 3:13-cv-04119; Stevens v. DePuy et al., case number 3:14-cv-01776; and Stevens v. DePuy et al., case number 3:14-cv-02341, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.


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The good-natured rivalry between UCD and Trinity's students is a long-standing tradition, and is likely to continue into the future, as it is second to no other pair of Irish universities. We laugh, we joke, we insult – and for the most part, it doesn't pose a problem as each university takes quips in their stride. But how far is too far and how low a blow are we willing to inflict?
A recent article in the University Times regarding the rivalry between the two institutions appeared to be, for the most part, written in good nature and proved to be highly enjoyable reading. However, a jab at a former UCD sabbatical officer is the questionable line that proved to be the unnecessary addition to an otherwise entertaining piece.
What for some may be considered a minor, innocuous joke, is in fact an attack on a person's physical appearance. A blow like this is as cheap and common as can be found and in fact demonstrates the lowest form of humour, or lack thereof.
To single out one person who is no longer in the public eye and making as underhanded a comment as was made is a tasteless gesture for which an apology should be issued. Indeed, one would have assumed that such a personal attack would not have appeared in as reputable a publication as The University Times in the first place. However, as it was published both in print and on the newspaper's website it became readily available to those outside of Trinity College. This drew the article in question to UCD Students' Union President Pat de Brún's attention, and led him to lodge a formal complaint to Trinity College Students' Union.
This complaint did not seem to be taken with the serious consideration that it merited as the University Times Editor Ronan Costello dismissed it as one made on behalf of a friend as opposed to the attitude of UCDSU, which, as confirmed by de Brún, it was.
The mockery of UCD's facilities, location and accomplishments is one aspect of the article, and one that was handled in an undeniably humorous manner. However, to pick out one student from the university and poke fun at them is just unreasonable. It is nothing short of bullying. The whole scenario seems very out of character with the fantastic student publication that has hitherto been produced.
Each respective institution's successes and failures will ultimately be drawn upon when sourcing material for a piece such as 'You Should Have Gone to UCD' and it is these accomplishments and these failures which should have been not only the crux of the argument made, but the sole focus. As is clear when reading the piece, the basic argument of the article regarding the rivalry between the two institutions was more than sufficiently covered without needing to throw in a jibe about one particular, current UCD student.
It is not only via student publications that the competition between the two universities is expressed. Colours matches that take place every year over a variety of sporting disciplines including rugby and hockey see teams from both Trinity and UCD furiously competing with nothing at stake but their own, and their university's, pride. Since when did the physical appearance of an individual student represent the quality of a university and why did a comparison of, for example, these sporting abilities not suffice?
Given all the attempts to raise awareness among students that physical appearance should not matter and should not undermine your self-confidence, why would a newspaper of such a highly regarded university contradict some of the ideals that the university is trying to teach its students?
As it stands, it would appear that the perceived rivalry between UCD and Trinity is nothing but a desperate effort to instill a pseudo-patriotic loyalty into incoming first year students. As motivating as this may be for some people and as good a punchline as it makes, it is still necessary to remember where the line should be drawn.


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Managing Director, HealthPlus Limited Mrs Bukky George said asthma killed over 10,000 Nigerians last year, according to World Health Organisation's (WHO's) statistic.
This, she said, was far more than the number of deaths recorded from HIV/AIDS .
According to her, the new medications such as nebuliser, spacer, steroid tablets, preventers inhaler among others are now available, in the country.
Mrs George spoke during a fundraiser for Elias Nelson Oyedokun foundation to create awareness on asthma in Lagos.
She claimed Nelson Ilaka Oyedokun died of Asthma in 2010 at 13 while visiting his friend in Lekki, Lagos State.
Mrs. George attributed the popular awareness of HIV/AIDS to the stigma involved because people find it difficult to say even when they are infected.
She said another reason for the serious awareness of AIDS is the means of contracting it which could be via sexual intercourse, sharp objects and other means.
She said: "Ability to take control when they have attack is very important, when they know how to take control of the situation, the problem is already solved. Asthma victims should inform all the people around them on the conditions of their health and how to use the medication available in case they have attack."
Mrs. Goerge said asthmatics need to inform all the people who are close to them of the medication they take so as to rescue them whenever they are under attack and lack of ability to apply the medications.
She advised parents of asthmatics to inform their teachers, friends, drivers, of the way to use the new medications so as to use it effectively whenever they are attacked.
While talking on the need for setting up a foundation for the deceased, the organiser of the event and the father of Nelson Oyedokun, Hon. Bisi Ilaka, said there is a need for people to know how deadly asthma is, and that is why they embarked on the programme to collaborate with the major stakeholders and organisations like schools, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and government organisations like Federal Ministry of Health.
Ilaka said the aim of the foundation is to reduce the number of the people dying of asthma in Nigeria by sensitising them of what to do when they have attack.


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Taipei, May 10 (CNA) MediaTek Inc., one of Taiwan's leading integrated circuit designers, ranked as the world's fourth largest fabless IC supplier in 2013, up one notch from the previous year, market information advisory firm IC Insights said Saturday.According to IC Insights, MediaTek, which specializes in smartphone chip design, enjoyed a 36 percent year-on-year increase in sales in 2013 to US$4.59 billion, surpassing U.S.-based graphics processing unit developer NVidia Corp. in the rankings.NVidia's sales in 2013 fell 2 percent from a year earlier to US$3.90 billion, leaving the company ranked fifth in the world, the report said.MediaTek's sales growth was the second highest in the global IC design industry, trailing only China's Spreadtrum Communications Inc., which saw sales rise 48 percent from a year earlier to US$1.07 billion.Spreadtrum was the 14th largest fabless IC supplier in the world in 2013, up from the 18th place in 2012.U.S.-based smartphone chip developer Qualcomm Inc. retained the title as the world's largest IC designer with US$17.21 billion in sales in 2013, up 31 percent from a year earlier. Qualcomm's sales growth was the third highest in the sector last year.Broadcom Corp. of the U.S. was the world's second largest IC designer in 2013 with US$8.22 billion in sales, up 5 percent from a year earlier, followed by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of the U.S., which saw sales fall 2 percent to US$5.3 billion, IC Insights said.Of IC Insight's top 25 IC design houses, 14 were headquartered in the U.S., five in Taiwan, two in China, two in Europe, one in Japan and one in Singapore.Sales of the top 25 firms rose 12 percent to US$63.03 billion, while sales generated by the IC design sector as a whole rose 8 percent to US$77.91 billion, the statistics showed.In addition to MediaTek, four other Taiwanese firms were ranked in the top 25. Novatek Inc. ranked 11th with US$1.40 billion in sales and MStar Semiconductor Inc. had the 13th highest sales at US$1.14 billion.Realtek Semiconductor Corp. ranked 16th with sales of US$951 million, and Himax Semiconductor Inc. finished 19th with US$771 million in sales.Because MediaTek brought MStar fully under its corporate umbrella in February 2014, MStar will drop out of the rankings this year. (By Jackson Chang and Frances Huang)enditem/ls
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text:
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center has updated its analysis of billion-dollar weather disasters in the U.S. (here). As Reuters reports:
The United States has already tied its yearly record for billion-dollar weather disasters and the cumulative tab from floods, tornadoes and heat waves has hit $35 billion, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday.
And it's only August, with the bulk of the hurricane season still ahead.The number of billion dollar disasters in any year, by itself, isn't a scientific measure of climate change, since many factors influence the cost of weather disaster. On the other hand, the scientific literature has been clear for a while that human emissions are making the weather more extreme, as predicted by climate scientists (see "Two seminal Nature papers join growing body of evidence that human emissions fuel extreme weather, flooding that harm humans and the environment").
"I don't think it takes a wizard to predict 2011 is likely to go down as one of the more extreme years for weather in history," National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes told journalists on a conference call.
And last year, Munich Re, one of the world's leading reinsurers, issued a news release in late September, "large number of weather extremes as strong indication of climate change," which concluced:
Munich Re's natural catastrophe database, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, shows a marked increase in the number of weather-related events. For instance, globally there has been a more than threefold increase in loss-related floods since 1980 and more than double the number of windstorm natural catastrophes, with particularly heavy losses as a result of Atlantic hurricanes.
The rise in natural catastrophe losses is primarily due to socio-economic factors. In many countries, populations are rising, and more and more people moving into exposed areas. At the same time, greater prosperity is leading to higher property values. Nevertheless, it would seem that the only plausible explanation for the rise in weather-related catastrophes is climate change. The view that weather extremes are more frequent and intense due to global warming coincides with the current state of scientific knowledge as set out in the Fourth IPCC Assessment Report.A related story by the Omaha World Herald, "So long, '500-year flood'?" explains:
As the Missouri River flood of 2011 unfolded, federal officials said the slow-motion disaster was caused by a once-in-500-year combination of rain and snow.
While some found comfort in that number, many who live along the river have seen too many big floods in too few years to trust that statistic.
They are on to something.
World-Herald interviews with experts show the bases of such terms as "500-year flood" are constantly evolving and increasingly questioned….
"As humans we are too tied to preparing for what we have observed or witnessed before. This year may not be as bad as it gets," said Mark Anderson, director of the USGS South Dakota Water Science Center. "Much larger floods are possible, especially if we look beyond the historical record."
… Like the USGS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is noticing changes in the watershed that feeds the Missouri.
Anderson said a changing climate only compounds the shortcomings of using existing data to estimate the frequency of floods.
"If the climate is shifting, all those earlier records may not be as relevant today," he said. "The point is, the future isn't always a reflection of the past."If?
How about "since"?
We ain't seen nothing yet.
Related Post:
- Mother Nature is Just Getting Warmed Up: Stanford climate scientists forecast permanently hotter summers
- NOAA: Monster crop-destroying Russian heat wave to be once-in-a-decade event by 2060s (or sooner)


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Promote Learning and Development
Create an e-learning extranet portal for your stakeholders to assist with ongoing corporate training and development. Share information and enable stakeholders to access learning material whilst encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing in real-time. The Claromentis Learning Management System (LMS) additionally supports the creation of bespoke courses, modules and assessments.Try our software
Custom e-learning courses and assessments
Create custom online courses and assessments to suit the requirements of your e-learning users. Predetermined learning paths allow for e-learning users to complete courses, modules and assessments in the preferred sequential order. Courses related to annual compliance procedures such as Health and Safety Policies can be assigned validity time-periods. The built-in permission and notification systems ensure that e-learning courses are presented to the appropriate users.
SCORM compliant
The Claromentis Leaning Management System is SCORM 1.2 complaint and can be used to create interactive learning material for any module or assessment. Alternatively, the learning material does not have to be SCORM compliant; it can consist of PowerPoint presentations, instructional online video training and external URLs
Collaborate in real-time
Collaboration tools allow for permission-based activity streams to be created within the e-learning software portal to support real-time collaboration. E-learning users can post questions and comments and they can gain responses and 'likes'. Additional corporate social networking features such as the ability to tag and follow fellow e-learning portal users is also available.
Assign subject experts
The review mode supports training course validation, as one or many subject experts can be assigned to review the online training courses before being made available to e-learning users. Subject experts can also be assigned as a tutor, to provide help and information to users, as and when it is needed. Each tutor will have his or her own profile, where contact information can be stored. E-learning users can complete a training module as part of a team using the classroom mode.
LMS reports
Reduce time consuming administrative activities with the detailed reporting functionality. Reports can be run to determine the learning behaviours of e-learning users, which detail completed courses including enrolment and completion dates, and scores. Reports can also be exported as CSV files for further consideration.
Surveys and polls
Survey and polls can be efficiently created within the Learning Portal to discover the views and opinions of e-Learning users. Once users have placed their votes, an overview of votes previously placed is viewable.
View training documents
E-learning portal administrators can securely store and share documents through the allocation of permission rights to individual users and groups. Version control removes duplication of effort when learning documents are being updated or modified as they must be checked-out. Documents can be quickly added to the Document Management System from a user's browser through the drag-and-drop feature. The ability to preview documents in the browser is also available along with Google Docs integration.
Share corporate information
Keep users up-to-date with important information through the intranet news application. Permission-based news channels can be created to distribute specific information to appropriate users. Commenting can be enabled, disabled or set to the 'review' status on individual news articles.
E-forms and workflows
The Claromentis Business Process Management modules supports the creation of bespoke e-Forms and workflows within the e-Learning portal. E-forms to capture user-based information can contain numerous fields with dynamic capabilities.
Knowledge base
Articles can be created, stored and shared within the collaborative Knowledge Base application. A range of media types can be added to the articles using the WYSIWYG Editor. Users can 'like' individual articles and input feedback by submitting their comments.