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Farm Night Dinner Parties!
Fresh-from-our-fields organic, vegetarian food, grown and catered with love by our family Farm.
Live music, dancing, artisanal cocktails. al fresco dining with the best views in Vermont.
Every Wednesday, 7:00 - 9:00 pm from June 12 -September 11, 2019
$25 plus tax and gratuity. Call 802-362-2500
Farm Night Lodging Package
Book 2 nights in any Wilburton Inn guest room through our front desk & farm night dinner for 2 is our gift to say thanks!
Farm Night dinners at the Wilburton Inn are a joyful celebration, the most delicious and festive weekly dinner party in Vermont! Organic vegetarian food from our fields to your table. Live music, dancing, the most breathtaking views from our marble terrace. delicious vegetarian food and great people make these nights a sold out success for the past 7 years! Each week is a different internationally themed vegetarian feast with flavors from Greece, Italy, Mexico, India and more.
Oliver Levis and his wife Bonnie turned our childhood homestead into Earth Sky Time Farm, a thriving organic farm staffed by an international crew of idealist young farmers and bakers who care about sustainability, community and the environment.
This event occurs every summer Wednesday . Each week is an internationally themed different vegetarian feast.
Read rave reviews in the Berkshire Eagle and Stratton Magazine.
Dinners sell out, so call ahead for reservations: 802-362-2500.
Last Year's Music
June 13: Woven Collective
A soulful band of folks who travel the world seeking alternative living solutions (work/trades, DIY initiatives, sustainable architecture, fresh food, etc.). We hope to launch first a blog, then an online community for those interested in maintaining a quasi nomadic lifestyle while still contributing, living comfortably, and gaining practical skills. Our music swings from kickin' and alive to mellow and introspective. We love fun, real food, and infusing our audiences with creative energy.
Best pals croonin' country, oldies, and sassy originals. The Franklin County Sweethearts began in May 2016, when best friends Lexi Weege, Madeline LaPorte, and Tom LeBeau decided to form a trio. Bringing with them a lifelong love and appreciation for classic country, honky-tonk, country rock, and the harmonies of such groups as the Beatles and the Everly Brothers, the Sweethearts surprise and delight their audience with their selection of material. With the recent addition of AJ "Big Sal" Del Negro on bass and "Doc" Benoit drums, the Franklin County Sweethearts will get you dancing, laughing, singing, swooning, and remembering when.
JULY 11: MOWGLI GIANNeTTI
Part bluegrass, part gypsy jazz, part "string band", Marc and Mowgli draw upon classical and jazz styles to deliver a fast-paced and inventive improvisational sound, grounded by traditional songs and melodies. The group is focused on the duo - Marc and Mowgli; an old friendship and deep musical familiarity - and draws from the pools of excellent New England musicians to create a sound sized for any venue.
Lula Wiles is a band deeply rooted in traditional folk music, but equally deep is their devotion to modern songcraft. Their songs span from heartbreak-drenched acoustic ballads to honky-tonk swagger to contemporary grit and back again, all anchored by powerful three-part vocal harmonies. Their lyrics are fiercely honest, littered with reinvented folk tropes and evocative images – a rainy field of daisies, a dusty bar lit by Christmas lights, an unmade bed. They deliver love songs that are at once defiant and heartsick, as well as new contributions to the folk ballad canon and timely explorations of what it means to live in America today. Drawing from the deep wells of traditional old-time music, classic country, and contemporary indie-folk-rock songwriting and arranging, Lula Wiles melds diverse influences to create a sound all their own. The three band members deftly swap instruments and frontwoman duties, with Ellie Buckland (vocals/guitar/fiddle), Isa Burke (vocals/guitar/fiddle), and Mali Obomsawin (vocals/bass) each contributing their own singularly expressive vocals, instrumental lines, and songwriting. Onstage, the band gathers tightly around a single microphone for a spirited and emotionally resonant live show.
September 5: Oliver The Crow
Kaitlyn and Ben's chameleon-like ability to skip between genres stems from their roots as classically-trained performers (Kaitlyn has a masters degree in classical cello from McGill University and Ben has performed as a soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic) but also from their love of bluegrass, gypsy jazz, everything from Hank Williams to Prince. Raitz is a founding member of folk duo Bride & Groom, tours with The Bombadils and has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Station Inn. Ben is a primary member of the JUNO award-winning folk string quartet, The Fretless, and has contributed to hundreds of recordings as one of North America's elite fiddle players.
One thing is certain: Oliver the Crow cannot be defined by genre, and yet is timeless, indelible. Kaitlyn and Ben have mastered the art of anchoring a folk song in epic pop sensibility, and it is so fun to hear them smash all the rules.
SAMPLE Menus
Here is a recap of some of our inventive, whole grain, organic menus:
Roasted Chickpeas and Potatoes with Green Garlic & Dill
Lemon Tatsoi and Barley Pilaf
Gingery Bok Choi Slaw
Green Salad with Hakurei Turnips
Parsley Aioli
Rhubarb Kantan
Bok Choi and Green Garlic Quiche
Lentil Apple Salad with Parsley and Mustard Greens
Millet and Kasha with Orange and Basil
Green garlic pesto
Spinach and Nasturtium salad
Minty Turnip Slaw
Cilantro vinaigrette
Caramelized Apple-Walnut Cake
Potato, Turnip, Zucchini Pesto Gratin
Barley Pilaf with Roasted Garlic Scapes, Toasted Almonds, Scallions, Green Onions and Maple-Dill Vinaigrette
Black and Kidney Beans with a Parsley-Mint Vinaigrette
Thyme Roasted Beets and Summer Squash
Green Salad with Carrot-Orange Dressing
Cilantro-Lime Sriracha Pesto
White Bean Dip with Mustard and Cumin
Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Chickpea Salad with Scarlet Turnips and Coconut-Lime-Basil Dressing
Cumin Roasted Potatoes, Carrots and Zucchini
Pesto Bulgar with Snap Peas, Green Onion, Currants and Mint
Roasted Beets with Arugula, Toasted Walnuts, and Dill Dressing
Minty Yogurt Sauce
Mama Ghanoush
Chocolate Beet Cake
Spani-faux-pita (vegan spanikopita)
Deconstructed Dolmade Salad
Lemony Roasted Potatoes
Black Beans with Fennel, Scarlet Turnips, Scallion
Greek Salad
Tofu Tatziki
Melopita (Honey Cake) with Fresh Raspberries
Chard, Zucchini and Garlic Scape Cornbread Bake
Black Beans, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Scallions in a Lime Vinaigrette
Bok Choy and Red Cabbage Salad with Sunflower Seed Dressing
Parsley-Cumin-Chili Carrot Turnip Slaw
Garlic Roasted Potatoes and Green Peppers
Very Spicy Roasted Pepper and Garlic Scape Sauce
Peppercorn Pickled Red Onions
Spiced Mexican Chocolate Tart
Lentil Tagine with eggplant, cabbage, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, raisins, and garlic scapes
Pearl Barley Pilaf with Parsley and Toasted Almonds
Apricot Glazed Roasted Carrots and Turnips
Cucumber Salad with Mint, Oregano, and Honey
Gingery Beet Salad with Toasted Almonds, and Greens
Quinoa Tabouli
Minty dressing
Sesame Almond Cookies


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Four semesters per year! Eight new classes per week!
Become the technician you should be with our new system at no extra charge to our students! This is a personal development project that Professor Madama created for himself that he is using to help his students and teammates dramatically improve their grappling.
The college courses will cover eight broad subjects and rotate every three months. The covered subjects are:
- Closed Guard
- Open Guard
- Half Guard
- Mount
- Cross-Side
- Back Mount
- Ashi Garami
- Takedowns
Detailed college class information is available at the academy. Team rashguards MUST be worn during these classes!
Come with Professor Madama as he helps take our Jiu Jitsu to another level.

subset: commoncrawl


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|Refresh the image
Highlights: Drive through the quaint sugar mill town of Paia, explore Kaumahina State Park and the Keanae Valley Lookout, and drive along the winding road to Hana. Also visit Pua'a Ka'a Wayside Park, Waianapanapa State Park, the town of Hana (including the Hasegawa General Store), Ohe'o Stream and Pools (weather permitting), Cascading Wailua Falls Lookout, and colorful windsurfing beaches. Roundtrip ground transportation and tour guide.
You can use this tour reference to customize you vacation
|Child (3-11 yrs)
We're constantly adding new departures dates and times, as they're made available to TakeTours by our local suppliers.
In some cases our suppliers have not yet confirmed their future schedules. So bookmark this page and keep checking back with us if you don't see the dates you're looking for.
We also recommend you sign up for TakeTours's monthly email newsletter, in order to stay on top of the latest deals & travel news.
|Date / Date Range
|Yes - Gold Lunch at Hana Fresh - Surcharge
|Year round
Highlights of our drive to Hana include:


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PA Systems
If you're looking for a PA System that's usually ready to go, then this is the section for you. Whether it needs to be powerful or portable, suited to schools or fitness classes, for a DJ or a band, we've got you covered. PA System prices vary, so view our entire range below. Can't find what you're looking for? Give us a call to find out more about how we can create a bespoke package specifically for your needs.


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A few weeks ago our staff gathered together in Chicago. Normally we are spread across five states. Our annual meeting is important for the health and life of DOOR. The relationships that are renewed and built during this gathering inspire creativity throughout the rest of the year. One of the first things we do is check-in with each other. One of the focus questions that I asked everyone to answer was, what is one question you have for the group? The questions varied from personal to theological. It was during this time that one of our staff brought up HGTV. They have multiple programs that follow people as they purchase homes. One of the regular lines that is used to sell homes goes something like - "this is an up-and-coming neighborhood." The staff person's reflection was how this kind of statement is code language for gentrification, a process where persons of privilege and means move into economically depressed neighborhoods and begin "fixing it up."
There are all kinds of assumptions behind this code speak. Up-and-coming also says others are leaving. More often than not those others are people of color. It was almost 20 years ago when our family moved from the suburbs to the city. At that time we were warned by almost everyone how silly our decision to move was. Our house would only decrease in value. The schools were so bad that we would either have to home school or find a private school to send our boys to. Then there were all the assumptions about who our new neighbors would be. Interestingly enough none of this turned out to be true. Our house is worth more today than when we purchased it. The boys survived and thrived in the neighborhood school. Our neighbors have become family.
Today my neighborhood is described as up-and-coming. When houses sell, the new owners tend to be people of privilege. The park up the street now has a dog park. Coffee shops and pubs are starting to appear. In many ways this is bringing new life and new jobs into the neighborhood. There is also a downside to these changes. Many up-and-coming neighborhoods started off as places that immigrants, the working poor, and people of color moved to. These folks brought with them their culture, food, and values. Something important is lost when they are displaced by rising rent, increased property taxes, and a growing sense of not being welcome any longer.
What is it that drives us to be surrounded by people just like us? As I reflect on our almost 20 years in the neighborhood it is the differences that have been enriching and life-giving. Our family has learned to eat new foods and we have helped our neighbors to appreciate a few of our Mennonite traditions. We have celebrated Quinceañeras, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays appreciating the differences we all bring to these days.
The next time you are tempted to move into an up-and-coming neighborhood, be careful that you are not becoming part of a tide that is undermining the culture and traditions that have made that neighborhood so desirable and unique.


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Got it
Hotel deals in Barcelona
Mon, Sep 23
Tue, Sep 24
El Palauet (4 people)
64 Ratings
Barcelona - Eixample
Why We Like It
Room fits 4 (!) & boasts a bounty of high-tech extras, ranging from the smart TV to the touchpad-controlled lighting, temp & sound system.
Did we mention the spa-worthy bathrooms (hello, soaking tubs & colour-therapy lighting) + kitted-out kitchen?
Cool décor mashup is a design-mag-worthy blend of sleekly modern with authentically Catalan flair.
Relaxation-centric deets like a personal assistant (!), rooftop terrace (with bar service) & private spa? Check.
6 rooms.
Complimentary WiFi.
No self-parking.
No fitness center.
Rooftop deck.
Complimentary turndown service.
Dogs OK, no fee.
Spa services available, 60-minute massage €88.
Room approximately 150 m².
Flat-screen TV.
Full kitchen.
Bath products by Aveda & Osmè.
Suite can accommodate up to 4 guests. Extra guests are at the hotel's discretion and may be subject to additional fees.
Drinks served at Honesty Bar.
No restaurant onsite.
Room service available.
Passeig de Gracia, 113
Barcelona, ES
What Our Bookers Think
95% Liked It
64 Ratings
Lauren F.
This place is amazing! Like a hotel Beyoncé and JayZ would stay in. If your even questioning if the price is worth it... it is!
2 years ago
Need to Know
This booking is for your HighRoller suite.
Check-in 3pm. Check-out 12pm.
18+ to book.
Photo ID and credit card required at check-in.
100% non-smoking rooms.
City tax will be collected by hotel at check-in or check-out.
Heads up: you may be assigned a double bed.
Construction work being done on next door building, between 9AM to 5PM during weekdays.
After you book, the hotel will email you to confirm check-in time and instructions. If you don't get an email, or are booking same-day, contact the hotel directly at +34 932 18 00 50 or firstname.lastname@example.com. A deposit of €100.00 per night will be taken upon check in.
Mon, Sep 23
Tue, Sep 24


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Legal clinics challenge Canadas Human Rights record
Friday, April 26, 2013
The Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (MTCSALC) and African Canadian Legal Clinic are taking part in a panel presentation on Monday, April 29, to discuss the United Nations (UNs) review of Canadas human rights record and to watch the Canadian governments response to the review.
The event, organized by the two clinics as well as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Colour of Poverty-Colour of Change (COPC), highlights concerns over what the groups consider Canadas foundering human rights record. Among the clinics concerns are the targeted policing of Aboriginals and people of colour, whom the clinic says are overrepresented in Ontarios jails and prisons.
The joint submission by MTCSALC and COPC also noted challenges with growing income inequalities and discrimination in the job market, education and other aspects in society.
Notwithstanding the many well-established human rights laws and systems in Canada, there remain serious challenges facing members of racial communities, says Avvy Go, Clinic Director of MTCSALC.
The panel discussion will also raise some of the recommendations the groups made in papers submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in March about Canadas compliance with international human rights.
The groups hope the UN Human Rights Council will discuss some of these concerns with the Canadian government when they meet on April 26, 2013.
Details of the presentation are as follows:
Monday, April 29, 2013
3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Peter Bronfman Learning Centre, Ryerson University
For more information:
MTCSALC and COPCs joint submission paper to the United Nations Human Rights Council
Canadian Civil Liberties Associations submission on the second periodic review of Canada
ACLCs submission to the UN universal periodic review of Canada


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Zelda Rings
The most beautiful, hand made and interesting Zelda rings are here for you!I've had a look around, and included cool looking Legend of Zelda rings you can purchase based on theme. These rings also can make beautiful engagement rings, what could be better for an awesome geeky couple than to seal the deal with one of these beautiful rings? They reflect the love of the sacred triangle, the spiritual stones and the quirky characters you can find in the games. Let's start off with the General Zelda theme:


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Mon., Nov. 9, 2009, 5:50 p.m.
UCLA comes to town Friday
This blog post is coming to you from the upper reaches of Beasley Coliseum, where we get ready to watch the Washington State men's basketball team play its only exhibition game of the preseason. The opponent is Lewis-Clark State. But we'll get to basketball later, after we have a chance to see the Cougars in action. What we have for you now is the unedited version of our first look at UCLA, this week's football opponent. Read on.
• Before we get to the first look, I'll pass on the news about Jeff Tuel's MRI yesterday. It didn't show any other damage, so he's being listed as questionable for Saturday. Before Tuel can return to the field, even with a brace, he'll have to be able to perform a few tasks with the leg, tasks that aren't easy if there is still a problem. We'll see when he returns to practice.
• Now, here's the first look ...
Time: 2 p.m. (PST) Saturday. TV: FCS (live); FSN (delayed to 7 p.m.)
The records: WSU (1-8, 0-6 in Pac-10); UCLA (4-5, 1-5)
Last week: UCLA defeated Washington, 24-23
WSU lost to Arizona, 48-7
Last time: UCLA defeated WSU, 28-3, in Pasadena last year.
The line: UCLA by 18.5
What it means for WSU: If the Cougars are going to snap their losing streak, which has reached six games, this would seem to be their best chance. The Bruins were tied with WSU in the Pac-10 cellar going into last week, then held off UW for their first conference victory. A lot will depend on freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel's health, as he's been the Cougars most effective passer this season. If he can't go, sophomore Marshall Lobbestael will have to try to move WSU down the field against a decent UCLA defense. If the Cougars can't find a way to win on Dad's Weekend, they might be destined for a one-win season.
What it means for UCLA: Believe it or not, the Bruins still have a shot at a bowl game. A win over WSU would move them within one win of qualifying for one the Pac-10 conference's six bowl berths, as long as seven other teams don't get to seven wins. But UCLA can't afford a stumble, with Arizona State and USC still remaining. The Bruins also get a chance to prove they can play in cold weather, something they haven't done well in the past, having lost five of their last six games in Pullman.
Key matchup: UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince or Kevin Craft vs. WSU's secondary.
It looks like Prince will be healthy enough to play Saturday after being knocked out of the Washington game by a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet blow. The redshirt freshman has been the Bruins' best option at quarterback, having thrown for 1,264 yards in seven games with five touchdowns and interceptions. Craft, last year's starter, came in against UW and led the Bruins to a touchdown and a game-winning field goal in what may have been his best performance of the year. Either will face a WSU secondary depleted by injuries. The Cougars have had five safeties and two cornerbacks miss extended time with injuries, including four that ended seasons. WSU hopes strong safety Chima Nwachukwu will be back after missing last week's Arizona game with a sprained ankle.
• That's it for now. We'll be back in the morning with some thoughts – we only ever have "some" – and links. Until then …
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September 2017: Congress Set to Miss CHIP Renewal Deadline
Congress Set to Miss Saturday CHIP Renewal Deadline
The current Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is set to expire on October 1st -- a deadline that Congress almost certainly is going to miss. If the program isn't renewed, millions of vulnerable children would face a loss of critical health insurance coverage.
While most states will manage to keep CHIP running past the October 1st expiration of federal funding, at least ten states will run out of funding by the end of the year and most other states' funds will be exhausted by March 2018. Advocates also stress that there will be disruptions to the program before states exhaust their funding, and some states are beginning to issue warning notices to families. Minnesota's state health department sent an urgent letter to its Congressional delegation warning that its funds are depleted and it will have to take "extraordinary measures" to keep kids covered.
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced that it will markup legislation to reauthorize CHIP on October 4th -- days after the program is set to expire.
Nine million American children are covered by CHIP. Approximately one-third of children with cancer depend on either Medicaid or CHIP for their treatment.
As advocates for children with cancer, we're asking Congress to pass a clean, five-year CHIP renewal without any extraneous, complicating attachments -- without further delay. Take action.
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Comes to a Close
September was packed full of awareness events around the country, and we were proud to take part in several here in Washington, DC:
- CCCA Social Event: Children's Cause held a fundraising event at Takoda Restaurant, bringing together friends old and new for a fun social evening at a great spot in DC earlier this month. We're grateful to everyone who showed up and bid on the terrific silent auction items available. We're especially thankful to the event sponsors, including these Silver Level Sponsors: The Association for Accessible Medicines, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Lilly Oncology, Pfizer, Russell and (CCCA Board Chair) Lori Ring, and our founder Susan L. Weiner, PhD.
- Congressional Childhood Cancer Summit: The 8th annualCongressional Childhood Cancer Summit on Capitol Hill brought lawmakers together with pediatric cancer advocates, experts and survivors to discuss recent legislative victories - like the Race for Children Act - and identify ongoing challenges facing kids with cancer and survivors. We thank the co-chairs of the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus - Representatives Michael McCaul, Jackie Speier, GK Butterfield, and Mike Kelly - for their strong leadership and support.
- Atlantic Forum on Children and Cancer: AtlanticLive! hosted a well-attended forum on childhood cancer at the Newseum. Along with substantive panel discussions on immunotherapy and big data, we also had the pleasure of hearing perspectives from several childhood cancer survivors.
- CureFest: The highlight of the month for many childhood cancer families was CureFest on the National Mall. Children's Cause was proud to be a sponsor of this year's CureFest, which brought over 80 foundations and hundreds of families together in the nation's capitol for two days of speeches, marches, rallies, walks and entertainment. We made many new connections with families impacted by childhood cancer and thank everyone who stopped by our booth to say hello.
Aside from CureFest, other notable coalition events from the month included the Rally for Medical Research Hill Day, an Alliance for Childhood Cancer Luncheon and Art Exhibit on Capitol Hill, and a Coalition for Childhood Cancer (CAC2) networking reception. We thank our coalition partners for their hard work to bring a real sense of community collaboration to awareness month.
These are just a fraction of the events that took place in the Capitol and around the country. We'd be remiss not to mention that Hyundai Hope on Wheels held its own set of events in DC, as they do every September.
Capitol Hill Briefing on Access Issues
The Children's Cause, in partnership with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, hosted and moderated a panel discussion earlier this week on issues impacting childhood cancer patients and survivors, including how they access coverage and receive treatment.
Attendees at the briefing heard from Melissa Horn, a 14-year survivor of Hodgkin's lymphoma, who spoke about her insurance challenges as a young adult survivor and her fears about the future stability of quality coverage. The University of Utah's Anne Kirchoff, PhD, MPH, discussed findings from a national study of long-term pediatric and adolescent cancer survivors. Dr. Kirchoff's findings show that childhood cancer survivors have a history of insurance coverage denial and spend a much higher percentage of their income on medical expenses. Survivors are more likely to have problems paying their medical bills and therefore delaying necessary screenings and/or care.
Dr. Kira Bona of Boston Children's Hospital discussed the impact of poverty and financial hardship on families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis, including the associated negative health and survivorship outcomes. Finally, Elizabeth Wright Burak, MPP, MSW, at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, provided some policy perspective to the discussion, including the critical importance of Medicaid and CHIP in providing health coverage to children.
A full recording of the briefing is available on our website.
Children's Cause Launches Advocacy Toolkit
Children's Cause launched a brand-new advocacy toolkit for families impacted by childhood cancer and those who want to make a difference on their behalf.
The CCCA Advocacy Toolkit is a guide to grassroots advocacy, arming both new and experienced advocates with tools and resources needed to contact and impact Members of Congress about policy issues relating to childhood cancer.
The free 50-page PDF is available for immediate download at www.childrenscause.org/toolkit. We hope this tool will bring new advocates into the fold, to expand our growing community's collective voice.
Please help us spread the word about this toolkit by sharing the download link with your friends and family.
Tickets Now Available for 11/2 New York Reception
Tickets are now on sale for our annual cocktail reception and silent auction in New York City. This year's event is taking place Thursday, November 2nd from 7pm - 9:30pm at the James Burden Mansion.
The reception will feature Gregory Reaman, MD, Associate Director for Pediatric Oncology at the FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence, as our guest speaker. Also at the event, the 2017 Leonard M. Rosen Memorial Research Award will be presented to Aaron Kesselheim, MD, JD, the Director of the Program on Regulation, Therapeutics and Law and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.


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Hello! Thank you for visiting my website. I make and produce videos for a living, which is nice. For my day job, I am Sandwich Video's Head of Post, which means I supervise the post production for pretty much every Sandwich video. Since 2015, I've produced 100+ (and counting!) web and TV commercials. That's a lot!
I've had the opportunity to work with big brands, small brands and everything in between. I've done ads for cool new tech products, major corporations, legal pot and even a couple of political ads. I've helped launch new apps, new services, new ideas. I've listened to thousands of stock tracks, and reviewed thousands of screen replacements. I've written "Hey guys! Just checking in on these edits" about a billion times to my very lovely clients.
Anyway, thanks again for visiting. I hope you enjoy the samples of work I've put up on this webpage. You can email me using the form below, and I hope to see you again soon.


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Noisy restaurants and cafes are an increasing source of frustration for anyone looking to have a quiet night out with friends or family. Especially for those who are hard of hearing, noisy venues are problematic. Loud background noise can turn a night out into a nightmare for people with hearing loss.
Here are ten tips to make sure you don't end up in an unbearably noisy social environment.
- Before you make a reservation at a restaurant, check online reviews and if any mention the words 'noisy', 'lively', 'loud' or 'bustling', it might be worth booking elsewhere.
- Go to the restaurant's website and look at the photos. If the decor is minimalist – bare walls and floors, polished concrete and lots of glass – the restaurant is highly likely to be noisy. You should avoid if you like talking to the rest of your table.
- If you can't find reviews or pictures online, simply call the restaurant and ask about their noise levels. Explain that background noise is a problem for you and they should give you an honest answer.
- When you are being seated in a cafe or restaurant, ask to not sit anywhere near speakers, open kitchens or coffee grinders.
- If the restaurant has an outside area that's not on the street, ask to be seated there.
- Avoid dark restaurants. Even those with perfect hearing read lips and facial expressions to a certain extent.
- When choosing a restaurant, consider old-fashioned establishments with carpet, drapes and tablecloths. Such soft furnishings absorb sound and create a peaceful, intimate atmosphere.
- If there is a noise issue, do not hesitate to let the manager know. This may prompt them to turn down the music, or at least benefit other patrons in future.
- Try to pick cafes or restaurant that don't feature a bar section where people tend to talk loudly.
- Last but not least, simply ask for a quiet table! There's bound to be at least one.


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Monthly Archives: June 2015
Being Here EP Released
1. This is the Time [2015 mix] 02:20 2. As a Mellotron 04:10 3. A Song (Summer Heat) 03:12 4. Out of the Music Box 03:05 5. Mendacity in Motion [2015 mix] 04:43 6. Tahini 02:28 A compilation EP of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
New EP & Upcoming LP
It's been a while since I posted here; a lot has happened in the last few months. Suddenly, I'm not only a married man but also a family man! I've also developed my interest in photography (in fact I will feature some … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment


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The Aosta Valley has always offered an unique natural environment in which you can live the great experience of the horse riding, surrounded by the extraordinary nature of the Alps…
The horse riding is in fact a great way to discover the natural beauty preserved from the Aosta Valley: imagine to be into the silence of the forest, on the saddle of your horse , enchanted by the rhythm of the sound of his hooves on the path and delighted by the landscape unique, wild, unspoilt surrounding you.
The equestrian tradition in Aosta Valley
The tradition that binds the people of Aosta Valley to horses is a thousand years. This region has always established a very special relationship with horses. Very famous are in fact the horse riding of the noble family of Savoia, who had their summer residence privileged in the Aosta Valley.
Horse riding in Aosta Valley
The Saint- Vincent Resort & Casino offers you the opportunity to experience the powerful emotions that a horse riding in the great local fauna and flora can you give. Simply you have to contact our reception, in the moment of your arrive at our Resort or when you will make your reservation.
The duration of the horse riding is about three hours, the service fee for the horse riding experience is 50€ per person and the availability is up to 10 people per single horse riding session.
Live the wonderful experience of the horse riding surrounded by the extraordinary nature of the Aosta Valley: visit our website!


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It seems like I've been working on Part II of my gatekeeping post forever. And I'm not done. Sigh. So (not) funny how the specter of failure creeps into all of life's crevices, even a personal blog with no deadlines, no commitments, no expectations. Yeah, right.
I fret about not getting my next post out, yet I've been attending to all the other parts of my life: kids, live-in parent, and that pesky career thing, to name just a few. A conspiracy to impede my progress! Like it is for so many others, time is my most valuable – and scarce – resource. I have to remind myself that there's only so much of it, and that priorities have to be set. Or, rather, they're set for me.
Life. The primary theme of my tenure denial …
Failure or not, I will adapt. I may not be ready for my planned post, but I can make progress by writing about my appeal instead.
Besides, the appeal is a perfect segue to a post on gatekeepers in the academy.
Here, I give you the last two arbiters of my tenure case at AU: the Committee on Faculty Grievances (CFG) and the University President.
Actually, I have (relatively) little to say about this part of the process.
When I read them again after so many years, I realized how remarkable the letters were in representing the whole of my tenure denial experience.
The university committee—an external, independent evaluator of the process—arguing point by point the irregularities in the process.
The university president, seemingly disinterested and dismissive of each and every point.
You can read them for yourself in the Library, along with my appeal letter.[1]
It was—and is—rather anticlimactic.
Not that the CFG letter didn't give me hope—less for myself, but for the larger issues I'd presented in my appeal. This was a committee of seven faculty, none of whom I knew personally, and only one by reputation. They investigated my claims by examining—and recording for the record and to provide some degree of transparency—relevant documents and interviewing relevant actors in the process. They found procedural and discriminatory irregularities in the evaluation process.
Most rewarding was their finding that the Dean had indeed changed his evaluation of my scholarly record after I delayed my tenure clock. The Committee flatly rejected the Dean's explanation that his views were consistent over time, and they suggested that the President look carefully at the assessment of my scholarship.
Additionally, the Committee found that the focus of the Chair, Dean, and the Provost on future productivity and potential—at the expense of my previous work—was inconsistent with the Faculty Manual.
Similarly, it concluded that the Chair's consultation with the senior faculty was not in keeping with routine procedures of the Department or the School, as the Dean had claimed. This violation of the Manual—which informed the evaluations by the Chair and the Dean—led the Committee to suggest that the weight of these reviews should be lessened in the President's review of my case.
Furthermore, the Committee argued that I'd made a prima facie case for gender discrimination in the Department. They suggested that one sign of discrimination might be the Chair's and Dean's—and then Provost's—dismissiveness of the external letters submitted in support of my tenure and promotion. Importantly, the Committee argued that the source of discrimination might not lie (only) in the evaluation process, but perhaps in the Department's hiring and mentoring of junior faculty. The Committee asked the President to initiate an investigation.
Alas, as far as I could tell, there was no investigation by the President of any part of the process.
The review of gender discrimination in the Department by the Interim Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs mentioned in the President's letter (and in my appeal) took place many weeks before the CFG made it's independent determination that there was a prima facie case for discrimination.
Notably, her review—which she indicated was stimulated by the letter of support from my colleagues—was conducted many weeks after that letter was submitted and after the Provost had made the decision to deny tenure.
I do not know who else the Interim Vice Provost spoke to or how she conducted her investigation. I don't remember hearing anything about a final determination about gender discrimination in the Department until I received the President's letter. Indeed, it seems from the CFG letter that the Committee didn't know anything about her review either as it is not mentioned in their letter to the President.
In the absence of transparency, I have no way of knowing if the President carried out his own, independent review of my case.
The failure of my appeal didn't come as a surprise. I'd hired a lawyer several months before knowing full well how this story would end. Familiar with the tenure process at AU, she'd laid out a number of options for me to consider.
With the standard terminal contract in hand, I had a year to figure out what to do next.
*Quoted in Williams, Joan C. and Nancy Segal. 2003. "Beyond the Maternal Wall: Relief for Family Caregivers Who Are Discriminated Against on the Job," 26 Harvard Women's Law Review 77, 77. [Accessed November 9, 2016, at http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlg/vol26/williams.pdf]
[1] One of the most distasteful parts of writing the appeal was comparing my record to the records of my colleagues. I have redacted these portions of my letter.


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Ann Taylor may be primping herself for a sale — but it's not clear how many suitors will come knocking.
Shares of Ann Inc., the women's clothier's New York-based parent, rose nearly 5 percent Tuesday on a news report from Reuters that the company had hired JPMorgan Chase to explore a potential sale.
The jump followed a day-earlier rally, spurred by the news that a pair of activist hedge funds, Engine Capital LP and Red Alder LLC, were prodding the retailer to put itself on the block.
Ann reps didn't comment Tuesday.
Insiders say an auction would likely attract buyout funds, including TPG, Leonard Green & Partners, and possibly Golden Gate Capital, which earlier this year disclosed a 9.5-percent stake in Ann, calling the shares undervalued.
Engine Capital and Red Alder, which together own little more than 1 percent of Ann's stock, argued that Ann could fetch as much as $50 to $55 a share if acquired by a private-equity fund or an overseas retailer.
Ann shares — which hit a 52-week high of $43.61 in May after trading as low as $30.71 in February — gained $1.83, or 4.8 percent, to close at $41.87, giving the company a market cap of $1.87 billion.
That makes Ann a bit pricey for a buyout, according to Richard Jaffe, a retail analyst at Stifel, a New York investment bank.
"We view Ann Inc. as a nearly mature business with limited square-footage growth remaining," he wrote in a report.
In their Monday letter, the activist hedge funds said they had held discussions with Ann's management in recent weeks about the company's strategic options and had grown impatient with a lack of progress.
"We think the status quo is untenable," the funds said.


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Five of the key traits of a civilization are a writing system, public architecture, professions, urban centers and the existence of a class of elites who remain exempt from manual labor. Literacy is an important part of a civilization because it serves as a means of recording its history and its world-view. The collection of taxes or tribute in order to provide for basic infrastructure and protection is another trait of a civilization.
Other characteristics of a civilization include a separation from the natural environment, the development of distinct societal classes and a trend towards increasing urban development. In the historical sense, a civilization differs from tribal or feudal societal groups by its possession of a planned and centralized power structure.
Those scholars who subscribe to systems theory view a civilization as a societal group structured in the form of a complex system. In this respect, a key trait of a civilization is its ability to serve as an organized framework by which specific results are achieved.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the term "civilization" began to be used in the singular sense and as a reference to the whole of humanity. The use of the term in the plural sense as a way of defining a variety of distinct societies was relatively infrequent by the 1900s, but came back into use as a countable noun during the 20th century.


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BTPT Will Have Booth, Host Giveaways at 84th Annual Conference
Fayetteville, NC (PRWEB) May 12, 2014
BreakThrough Works (BreakThrough Physical Therapy's worker's compensation program) will attend the upcoming 84th annual North Carolina Statewide Safety Conference this May 13-15 at the Joseph Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, NC.
In addition to educating about their worker's compensation services, BreakThrough Works will be hosting a raffle at their booth. Visitors will receive free miniature hand sanitizers and will also be able to enter a drawing for the Kindle that will be raffled off during the conference.
BreakThrough Works provides custom, innovative worker's compensation plans designed to keep employees safe, healthy, and on the job. Should an employee be injured, BreakThrough Work's physios can treat any number of injuries due to slips, falls, lifting, and twisting at a fraction of the cost of most other North Carolina providers.
"We're proud to offer worker's compensation programs that provide excellent care without all the red tape that can come with the current healthcare system, – in fact our process works to keep them out of the healthcare system." said Dr. Jeff Hathaway, PT, DPT, BreakThrough Physical Therapy Owner. "We understand that the safety of employees is vital to any business and we work hard to ensure that our clients receive the most expert care possible and remain injury-free."
For more information on the NC Statewide Safety Conference, please visit the official website. Should you be unable to attend the conference, more information on BreakThrough Works may be found online or by contacting Jeff at 336.274.7480.
About BreakThrough Physical Therapy (BTPT):
BreakThrough Physical Therapy (BTPT) is a private physical therapy practice with seven locations in Cameron, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Morehead City, and Winston Salem, North Carolina. BreakThrough Physios pride themselves in having advanced training in delivering hands-on treatment to achieve optimal results in a shorter timeframe for patients suffering from all orthopedic conditions. Common conditions treated include sports and work related injuries, neck and back pain, headaches, and muscle and tendon disorders. For more information visit BreakThroughPTclinics.com.


text: Join us for an original music showcase of local songwriters and instrumentalists playing together in a singer in the round format. Each week there will be a different lineup of local songwriters with a guest instrumentalist. The songs will be recorded and features on Swampfire radio as well as an online database of all the shows and songs from each night.


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For the first blog post of the New Year we would like to thank all the friends and guests who thought of us in a special way during this period of festivities:
Bronwen, Carine, Carl, Denise, Elke, Els, Emma, Filip, Franky, Gaia, Gerd, Hadewych, Hans-Jürgen, Hildegard, Jacqueline, Jan, Jean, Joachim, Kerstin, Koen, Liesbeth, Loth, Ludo, Lut, Maaiken, Maggy, Margarethe, Maria, Mariangela, Marijke, Martine, Mathilde, Michael, Michel, Michele, Myriam, Nicola, Phil, Pierangelo, Quinten, Rita, Ruben, Sandra, Stefaan, Sylvie, Thomas, Toni, Tony, Werner, ...
Moreover we would like to thank everybody for their support in the past year, their lovely attentions, their nice company. Be sure that we appreciated all you did.
In 2010 we will again do our utmost to be good hosts.
The holiday period was an excellent period to try out new recipes. Just to lift a little bit of the veil :
- tarte aux chicons with mozzarella and pomodori secchi,
- soupe champignons-cèpes aux lamelles de canard,
- quiche aux poireaux et au roquefort,
- feuilletés au chorizo,
- home made ice aux fruits exotiques,
- petits pains aux noix,
- ...
See you.


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Happy Weekend!
I'd like to wish you a very happy weekend! Next week I will be reviewing a book that I know you'll love, Leslie will be back with an inspirational Color Me Pretty post, I'll round up some "London must-see" stops for those of you planning a trip there in the near future, and I'll be sharing some of my highlights from London as well including a few favorite cafes that I know you will love (I did!). I'll see you back here on Monday for a new week of inspiration and beautiful thoughts + things to inspire you. I also want to talk about something next Thursday that was inspired by a recent article that I read in a woman's magazine that I think many women reading this blog will want to read so stay tuned for that -- it's a heavy topic but I feel like posting it anyway so next Thursday I will!
Above is a bit of a glimpse of what afternoon tea looked like for me in London. I loved the gold teapot and had to capture the moment. Another thing I must tell you is this... you know when you travel there is always one song that will forever remind you of that particular journey? Well my "theme song" for my London trip is Guns and Horses by Ellie Goulding (it has a great hook). I picked up her CD (you may like it?) and think it's just grand... And this leads me to a question because now I wonder if your last trip also had a theme song.
Where did you travel last and what was your "theme" song?
See you in a few days on Monday!
(image: holly becker for decor8)


text: Aida Navasargian June 6, 2012 Aida Navasargian June 6, 2012 ND Tip: Pull colors from bold graphics like this lamp by icon Jonathan Adler, and get inspired to liven up your space. CARNABY FLAME LAMP$295 Bold patterns on a posh lamp.Our Carnaby lighting is made from high-fired porcelain with polished nickel accents and a handmade paper shade. Grab a lamp for an illuminating pop of color for your console or side table or grab a pair for the night tables. • high-fired porcelain with a high gloss glaze• diffuser included• one 150 watt max bulb, 3-way switch base: 5" wide and 15" high, total height 31


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On Friday, April 20,2018 there will be a North of 55 Event at ACC Apohaqui hosted by Judy Friars' Life Group. Please invite your North of 55 friends from both Apohaqui and Hampton to come. Potluck supper will start at 6:30 with a festive punch at 6:15. The evening will start with a great meal followed by some fun activities. Signup sheets will be at both sites on April 8 and 15 which will help us with planning. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: April 8Hampton Soup Luncheon Fundraiser for Guatemala Mission Team
Later Event: April 29Multiply Worship & Prayer Evening - Hampton


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How I Shoot Wedding Videos
It wasn't until I really sat down to think about it that I realized there are patterns in almost every wedding I shoot. Honestly, there are patterns in almost every video I shoot, but weddings are a different thing entirely because they require you to capture keen details as well as fleeting moments, so you have to be sensitive to when things happen and then shoot all of the story around that single moment. Here's how I do it:
Talk to the Bride, the Groom, Officiant and the DJ
The one piece of advice I give every single bride and groom who begins to feel the stress of the day weighing down on them is this: Nothing starts or stops without you. Stick close to the bride and groom throughout the day, suggest ideas for getting a great shot when they're not wholly bombarded by friends, family, or people from the venue.
I've been in a few circumstances where I have expressly been forbidden from filming during the mass, and only allowed to capture the vows. I knew this because I spoke with the priest beforehand and had him lay out what he was comfortable with me doing. In other churches or synagogues, I've had carte blanche about setting up cameras and moving about during the ceremony. Make sure you know beforehand, which usually means showing up early.
Finally, make friends with the DJ or event coordinator. Make a point to remember their name. They keep the evening running smoothly, and it'll be invaluable to getting a great shot if they're able to give you a heads up for things like toasts, dances, and the other events that transpire.
Travel light, less is more
Every videographer will have strong opinions about the ideal gear to have with them, but let me assure you that carrying two camera bodies, four lenses, a DJI Ronin, and a shotgun mic is really only slowing you down most of the time.
For capturing the getting ready, first look, formal photos, and things of that nature, I'll have a single camera body with a small shotgun mic on it, a 50mm lens, and a 24-70mm. For making sure the shots are stable I use a monopod, nothing too fancy there. This keeps me agile and ready to move on to the next set of shots as quickly as possible.
Do not shoot handheld
Even if the bride and groom's favorite film is The Bourne Supremacy, I can guarantee they're not going to want their wedding day filmed with shaky cam. Keeping in mind what I just talked about in regards to staying light, make sure you have at least one thing on you at all times to keep your shots steady. You can buy a great, lightweight travel monopod for around $120, so there's no excuse not to have stable shots.
Anticipate awful lighting
I'm not talking about just low-light (which you'll definitely have to anticipate), I'm referring to indoor ceremonies that are either very orange (incandescent light) or very blue (fluorescent light). In an ideal world, we'd all be shooting in places like this:
But more often than not we're shooting in environments with 600 unique colors that look a little more like this:
Counteract color casts the best you can with the white balance setting on your camera. You can even bring along something like an X-Rite Color Checker if you know you'll be doing the editing/color grading of the final result. It'll make your life a LOT easier.
As for low light situations, bring along an on-camera light or two but only use them if absolutely necessary. You've never seen a truly evil look until you've witnessed an older relative of the bride or groom on the dance floor with a camera-mounted LED light pointed directly at them. (Bonus: you've captured that look on video. Remember it always)
Whenever possible, bring along fast glass—this means prime lenses, ya'll—and try to capture the moments using available light. Don't be afraid to crank your ISO up on newer full-frame cameras, as most times I've had clients comment that the noise sometimes makes it "look like film".
How many audio feeds do you capture? Triple it
That's actually a bit much, but seriously, make sure you don't miss audio, especially of the ceremony and vows. My setup throughout the ceremony like this:
- Lav on the groom
- Lav on the officiant
- If there's an audio board, I'm capturing that
- If there's an accessible speaker, I have an audio recorder in front of that too
When it comes to the reception, it's a similar setup:
- Clean feed directly from the DJ board
- I record mono with a safety track of -6dB from whatever seems balanced. The DJ will raise the volume as the night progresses
- Audio recorder positioned almost directly in front of one of the DJ's speakers
Compared to video, audio is super lightweight even when you're recording totally uncompressed WAV files, so don't skimp on it. The audio alone can make or break a wedding video.
"We got that b-roll"
In the event that reference escapes you, you should watch this video and then come on back. No one I know captures a ceremony in its entirely start to finish. It's actually pretty inefficient from a storage point of view to do it that way. However, you absolutely should capture inserts that you can use for segues between sections.
Some videographers choose timelapses for this, others use detail or macro shots, while others will use more candid moments of people unaware the camera is pointed their way. Always remember you're ultimately telling a story and while you might not be able to get all of the details, you'll want to capture as many as possible, especially the ones that are unique to the couple.


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Investors in Vestfold - Sell or Finance your Business in Vestfold
400+ Investors in Vestfold as on September 2019. Find Investors in Vestfold and 164 countries, 950+ industries with Investment Capacity ranging from NOK 27 thousand - 450 million. Sell or Finance your Business in Vestfold by sending your business proposal to pre-screened Investors in Vestfold with verified contact details and background information and investment requirements. Join our 910,000+ Member Network Today to Sell or Finance your Business in Vestfold.
Account Manager, Oil & Gas
Individual Buyer in Stavanger, Norway
Interests: I am planning to start my own business since the last 7 months. I am open to established or startup companies that fall within my investment limit.
Background: Working professional, have more than 12 years of corporate experience.
Fast Food Restaurants + 11 more
Investment Size
Upto USD 56 K
Owner, Staffing
Corporate Acquirer in Porsgrunn, Norway
Interests: Well managed company, good and qualified workers, no litigation and financial issues, no issues with banks or government regarding taxes. Solid company with good reputation.
Background: We are a staffing firm for temporary workers located in Porsgrunn, Norway. Interested in buying a business.
Norway + 1 more
Employment Services
Investment Size
Upto USD 220 K
Founding Partner
Financial Advisor in Oslo, Norway
Interests: We are mainly interested in medium-sized companies looking for growth capital or a buy-out. We have a specific sector focus across 3 verticals: - Food & Beverage (Alcoholic & Non-alcoholic beverage, new food concepts) - Retail & Luxury Goods. - Hospitality (mainly 4*-5* properties hotel properties and restaurant chains)
Background: We draw on over a decade worth of experience in private equity and corporate development within the consumer retail sector to provide founders and management teams with strategic guidance on the following business matters: - Fundraising efforts (Debt / Equity financing) - Buy-side & sell-side mergers, acquisitions and disposal projects, - Strategic partnerships (JVs, distribution / licensing deal structuring, etc. )
Luxury Cosmetics + 19 more
Investment Size
USD 5.5 Mn - 28 Mn
Business Development Consultant
Financial Advisor in Kristiansand, Norway
Interests: Business longevity, profitable and acquired IP rights.
Background: Business consulting company helping in M&A, equity & debt raising services. We are headquartered in Cumberland, RI. Our advisory charges will be based on the transaction.
Europe + 2 more
Medical Testing Equipment + 25 more
Investment Size
USD 110 K - 22 Mn
CEO, Travel & Tourism
Corporate Acquirer in Switzerland
Interests: Looking for EBITDA positive, tourism, travel and critical software companies.
Background: A leading group of vertical software companies providing mission-critical software.
Europe + 8 more
Custom Application Development + 7 more
Investment Size
USD 4 Mn - 10 Mn
Head Of M&A, Diversified
Corporate Acquirer in Netherlands
Interests: Turnaround opportunities. Add-ons for current portfolio companies.
Background: Company owns a number of companies. Our main holding is in a large manufacturing group with multiple factories across NL and Germany, active in Engineering, Machining and Assembling of large metal (or related) components and products.
TV Manufacturing + 18 more
Investment Size
USD 1.1 Mn - 110 Mn
Investor, Financial Services
Individual Buyer in United Kingdom
Interests: High turnover, healthy cash flow businesses. either in evolving or mature stages with potential to explore further.
Background: Hands on management and executive direction to assist with strategic planning based on lean / hoshin approach.
Europe + 9 more
Application Software + 11 more
Investment Size
USD 12 K - 1.2 Mn
Director, M&A And Investments
Individual Buyer in Cyprus
Interests: To have good portfolio of clients, repeatable customers, looking to expand, have young management team, ready to learn and grow, be co-operative.
Background: Our Mission is to bring alternative ways of seeing businesses and investments from our investor's point of you. Our ultimate goal is to make a contribution to the real economy and to achieve the highest returns for our investors. We invest and contribute to the real economy, to make an impact in the lives of hard-working people, such as ambitious and talented entrepreneurs and founders. Our Services: 1) Management Consulting a) IT Advisory Service b) Strategy & Operation c) Financial Management d) Human Resources Management. 2) Investment Finance a) Equity Finance b) Business Loan 3) Business Turnaround 4) Mergers & Acquisition 5) IPO (Agglomeration)
Europe + 13 more
Accounting + 52 more
Investment Size
Associate Partner, Business Broker
Individual Buyer in Spain
Interests: Would be interested in business opportunities in Europe.
Background: We are into business valuations, sell and buy side acquisitions from initial search to post-acquisition due diligence.
Europe + 1 more
Specialty Chemicals
Investment Size
USD 2.2 Mn - 9 Mn
Director, IT
Corporate Acquirer in Germany
Interests: Well established, proper books, scalable, solid MRR, no customer concentration and should be innovative.
Background: Company is in Web Development, App Development, Web Marketing, IT Services. Looking to expand the business.
Europe + 3 more
IT Services + 2 more
Investment Size
USD 500 K - 2 Mn
Owner, Hospitality
Corporate Acquirer in Greece
Interests: Stability, good ROI, Expansion Possibilities, Good Ratings.
Background: Company is into hospitality and travel boutiques business. We own a tier of hotels in Greece.
Europe + 1 more
Hotels + 5 more
Investment Size
USD 11 K - 10 Mn
Managing Director, Quality Inspection Service
Individual Buyer in Malta
Interests: Manufacturing mainly of automotive components, plastic and / or injection moulding shops. Business should be able to relocate to Malta.
Background: I am an engineer by profession, and after working for 20 years in the manufacturing industry, I set up my own company (currently 80 employees) in 2005 servicing local and overseas manufacturing firms.
Europe + 2 more
TV Manufacturing + 16 more
Investment Size
USD 550 K - 2.2 Mn
Chief Executive Officer, Packaging
Individual Buyer in Italy
Interests: Become an owner or an active shareholder in the new businesses which has potential growth opportunities.
Background: I've been a senior executive in the packaging industry for more than 30 years.
Europe + 1 more
Paper Packaging
Investment Size
IT Infrastructure Architect, Financial Services
Individual Buyer in Ireland
Interests: Revenue, reasonable margins and future expansion plans.
Background: Have 14 years of experience in IT, telecommunications, and management. Expertise in IT analytics.
Europe + 5 more
Telecom Infrastructure + 24 more
Investment Size
General Manager, Automations
Individual Buyer in Italy
Interests: Business should be flexible, owner operated, have innovative product or an idea, well managed company and trained staff.
Background: Have over 16 years of experience in automation domain. Also have worked in various roles in the IT industry. Looking to start my own business.
Europe + 1 more
Fabric Dyeing + 20 more
Investment Size
Upto USD 70 K
Owner, Pelican Capital Ltd
Business Broker in Sweden
Interests: Our core competencies are Structured Products, Alternatives and Real Estate. Our teams work hand-in-hand with our clients over the entire process through to completion of each deal.
Background: Independent brokerage firm in United Kingdom. Identify and facilitate cross-asset brokerage opportunities that improve the efficiency of transactions where capital markets fall short in supplying required funding, inventory and hedging support.
Europe + 1 more
Business Consulting + 4 more
Investment Size
Upto USD 2 Mn
Sales Manager
Financial Advisor in Romania
Interests: Terms of Engagement: Depending on the projects, we charge between 3 and 10% success fee. The exclusivity can be granted through a LoI accepted by all parties. We charge sometimes investors for finding the appropriate businesses for sale. Services offered: Business Consulting.
Background: I have the pleasure to inform you that we are a consultancy company active in Renewable Energy, Real Estate and Healtchcare sectors in Romania. We offer both management and financial services to our customers and we literally can't stop until any project we are involved in is finalized. Our goal is to contribute to the development of Romania, and we are constantly interested to find new business partners interested to invest in our country. Deal Experience: We have experience in the sale of photovoltaic parks and projects in Romania and Slovakia. We also have experience in developing and building Photovoltaic parks in Romania. In the field of Healthcare, we are developing and financing 2 big private hospitals.
Real Estate Agencies + 2 more
Investment Size
CEO, Dr. Fraud Consulting
M&A Advisor in Bursa, Turkey
Interests: Should have a clean commercial background, transparent and strong ethical perspective. Should preferably be located in an English speaking country.
Background: Turkey based audit and M&A consulting company. Also provide due diligence services to our clients. We don't charge any upfront fee.
Norway + 33 more
Luxury Cosmetics + 39 more
Investment Size
USD 330 K - 44 Mn


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Flynn's girlfriend has disappeared. How can he uncover her secrets without revealing his own?
Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January's boyfriend, he must know something.
But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.
Add to TBR:
You know those books that you want to end but you never want to end?
Last Seen Leaving.
The mystery was good. So good. And I love that I knew knew knew who who who.
And that I knew knew knew that tricky part at the end. I knew.
Happy dance you guys. I love when I figure out a good mystery well in advance. I feel super smart 🙂
Anyways I tweeted yesterday that all my Adrien with E lovers should read this book because Flynn was hands down Adrien @ 15 except without the heart issues.
I loved Flynn. I wanted to wrap him in my arms and just rock him. He reminded me of my kid in lots of ways. And it was rather endearing to this mama Bear.
January…. I swear I liked her less the more the book went on.
Ohhhhh those tangled webs we weave when 1st we practice to deceive……..
But in the end, I was happy for her….. maybe happy is too strong a word…. but I was resolved with the end. Except you know I'd like a follow up story ok.
Like say 10 years down the road.. that would be really really nice.
And I love any character with the name Kaz. Its like I have to love them just for that name alone 🙂
Also, the writing was lush.
The author really can weave a story. I love books for the way words flow together and these flowed so lovely you guys. It was like lyrical music for my soul.


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Double Helix Water, a revolutionary line that goes beyond hydration by redefining health and the body's role in self-healing, has partnered with Nutritional Products International (NPI) for the marketing of its products throughout the United States.
Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) August 28, 2012
Stable Water Clusters found in Double Helix Water may act as the body's fundamental building block; a foundation for self- healing and protection from environmental toxins we encounter each day. Double Helix Water may help bypass blocked or misaligned Meridians and allow Qi, or healthy energy, to flow freely. NPI is eager to get the line of products in front of consumers across the country.
"With all of the chemicals and unhealthy foods that we put into our bodies on a daily basis, we throw our systems completely out of balance," said Cathy Perrou, President of Cobalt Distribution Company, the exclusive distributor of Double Helix Water in North America. "This is a truly revolutionary product that allows the body to realign itself. We are completely changing the way that people hydrate their bodies, maintain and improve their wellbeing."
Double Helix Water, which is best taken with distilled water twice daily, is backed on scientific breakthroughs over the past 17 years and has been the subject of research at major universities world wide, including a double-blind study at UCLA that found stable water clusters to stimulate the bodies immune system's response capabilities.
In addition to the Double Helix Water, Cobalt Distribution also offers its Full Force Sports Cream, a joint and muscle- soothing blend that comes in unscented and eucalyptus oil versions. There's also the Full Spectrum Skin and Face Creams, which soothes, softens and promotes healthy skin, all of which are completely natural and enriched with Double Helix Water.
Users can often see the effects of Double Helix Water within 15 minutes with the use of Thermal Imaging. However, it works best when used regularly over time, a process that gets the body back into its proper balance.
"Double Helix Water is tremendously unique in that it promotes a balanced internal system based on the substance that makes up over 70 percent of our bodies—water," said Brian Gould, Director of Operations for NPI. "These products have the potential to change the way that athletes and everyday people take care of themselves. We are very excited to reach out to consumers and show them everything that this brand has to offer."
NPI (http://www.nutricompany.com), one of the world's leading nutraceutical companies, offers sales and distribution services for global brands. The company works with key buyers across the United States, providing a fast track to the world's most important market.


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A classic jumper refined and technically advanced. Our Matterhorn Merino wool sweaters are just what you need for the coldest days both on and off the mountain. We coated the Italian yarn with Teflon for the ultimate in water-repellant protection. Hand woven and accented with our signature nylon elbow patches.
Gotta love a sweater that performs all day on the hill and still makes my wife tell me I look handsome at apres.
- 100% Water Resistant Merino Wool
- Exterior Chest Pocket
- Nylon Elbow Patch Detailing
- Teflon Coated
- There is nothing more upsetting to us than when you buy something really nice and it breaks after only a few times. There is no excuse for this. Aztech Mountain is committed to delivering to you exceptional product that is made to last. If it breaks, wears out, busts opens contact us and we will work with you to get it fixed. We promise.
Questions about fit, materials or policies?
Email us at email@example.com


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NEW YORK CITY - Johnny Depp may soon learn exactly how Mel Gibson felt when he had to give half of his $1 billion to his wife in their divorce settlement.
The ex-Mrs. Gibson is now one of the richest women in Australia, who is worth a cool $500 million thanks to old Mel "From Hell" engaging in some horizontal hokey pokeying with the much younger Oksana Grigorieva.
And Miss Grigorieva herself ended up with a pretty good chuck of the "Mad Aussie's" money since she had his baby.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: At the rate that "Romeo" Gibson is going, in a few years he may find himself receiving unemployment benefits and food stamps].
Depp has just learned that his soon-to-be-ex-wife's attorney, the infamous Gloria Allred will insist that Depp give half of his $350 million to Vanessa Paradis, who he unmercifully dumped for the much younger, sexier, and prettier Amber Beard.
An unnamed source stated that he wonders if Beard could possibly be so good in the boudoir department that Johnny is willing to part with $175 million.
Interestingly enough Depp is being represented by Ginger Allred, who just happens to be Gloria Allred's cousin.
A close friend of Depp's informed The Hollywood Innuendo News Agency that Johnny is very depressed and that he just sits in his hotel room with his good friend Jose Cuervo (Tequila) and keeps repeating over and over again - "Dammit! Half of $350 million is $175 million! WHAT the hell was I thinking?"
SIDENOTE: This will be the second time that the Allred's, Gloria and Ginger go against each other in a divorce case. The first time was back in 2009, when Gloria represented billionaire King Fafarooki Pampanini and Ginger represented his wife Evelyn Pampanini. Gloria kicked her cousin's butt all over the Sudanese desert as King Fafarooki ended up only having to give Evelyn $900 in cash, two camels, and half of her clothes.


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Every device that's being used can be identified these days due to some important techniques used by the makers of the devices or the provider of the network services. This technique involves the use of an address in the form of a set of numbers with periods in between. These numbers are called the Internet Protocol address or the IP address in short.
These addresses can enable a device that's connected to any network to be tracked down and the devices include printers, computers, mobile devices and also routers and these addresses are provided by the Internet Service Provider, the ISP, or the person who manufactures your device. These addresses are assigned to all the addresses that are connected to an IP/TCP network.
How to Reset Router 192.168.1.254 Username and Password?
Today let's find out how to reset the password and the username in a 192.168.1.254 wireless router.
Also Read: Router Troubleshooting Problems
This 192.168.1.254 is an IP address and it's a private one and it is reserved for private networks. These addresses help one to identify a device and locate its address and its function is so simple and easy to use. Every network should have a private IP address to prevent conflicts. These addresses are used by many manufacturers of routers and devices and some of the famous companies that use this address are listed below:
- some 3Com OfficeConnect routers
- Netopia / Cayman Internet gateways
- Billion ADSL routers
- Linksys SRW2024 managed switches
- Westell modems for Bellsouth DSL Internet service in the U.S.
They use these as their default addresses and these addresses usually have the same passwords and usernames to login while setting up the router, but once logged in, you can set your own password. But the problem arises with remembering the password. Or sometimes other problems might arise that might force you to reset your password.
Setting up 192.168.1.254 Username and password:
Before finding out how to reset the password and username with 192.168.1.254, one has to know how to set it up. Follow the below steps to do so:
- First, ensure that all the connections to your router are made properly, that is, from your computer to your router maybe by a wired Ethernet cable or a wireless mode. Then, on your computer, go to your web browser and search for this address by typing it. You'll be taken to their login page. The password and username are same here and once inside, you can do the setup because you'll be guided throughout.
- Start the router over and in the settings, the router's model is the SSID name. Give a password here to prevent problems and thus all that's to be done here is done. Reboot your router.
- Then enable a wireless card and search for signals that have the name of your SSID in order to connect to the internet. When you find your name, double-click on it and enter the password and wait for it to connect. After a while, you'll be connected to the internet.
Now that you've learned to set it up, let's move on.
Steps to Reset 192.168.1.254 Username and Password:
To reset the Username and password in the 192.168.1.254 router, do the following:
- There's a button on your router that may be placed anywhere based on the router that you use. Use a needle or toothpick and press and hold it. It's the reset button. Now you have done a factory reset.
- You have to now follow the same path done while setting up the router and you can give a new password and username as convenient.
I hope you like this article on how to reset your 192.168.1.254 router username and password, to share your opinion on this article, visit our Facebook page.


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I'll be posting more updates this weekend, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share this mini documentary about artist Luca Dipierro, who also created this amazing trailer for Robert Lopez's Asunder (Dzanc). Enjoy!
I think it's important to know what you cannot do and use that to make art.
Luca Dipierro from McNair Evans on Vimeo.
Via HTMLGIANT.


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Robert Stone: Beware the Curse of Asylum in Russia
The fate of ex-CIA agent Edward Lee Howard may contain a cautionary tale for Edward Snowden.
Dear Edward Snowden:
Congratulations on finally getting out of Terminal E at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and receiving what must seem like a great gift—asylum in Russia.
But before you celebrate with another round of vodka, I want to offer the cautionary tale of another American I once knew. This man also ran afoul of the U.S. intelligence...


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Monday, November 28, 2011
The Descendants (2011)
We all do it when someone dies. We talk nicely about them, we ignore or excuse their faults. In many cases, we rewrite history to make the person look better, which is another way of saying that we lie about them to simplify our own feelings. We create a plaster saint to which we can then pay homage and move on.
But the truth lingers, doesn't it? And the truth is that other people are a mystery. All that's really left when someone dies is the mystery. Alexander Payne's new film THE DESCENDANTS (based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, with a screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash) knows this brutal reality very well. This is a film about grieving. How do we confront the passing of someone we love but with whom we have unresolved issues? This, of course, is only more true the more you love someone. They pass on, but the issues remain.
In the film, George Clooney plays Matt King, a lawyer in Hawaii whose wife Elizabeth is lying in a coma dying after a boating accident. King has two daughters, a precocious 10-year old named Scottie and a surly teenaged daughter named Alexandra. The girls are dealing with their mother's accident in different ways. Scottie is morbidly obsessed with the idea of death and creates a photo album of her mother hooked to a ventilator while Alexandra is furious and getting drunk with a goofball boy named Sid.
Even before the accident, King had a lot to worry about. He and his wife were on the skids and he was thinking that maybe they should "have a talk." He's also managing the eminent sale of a large chunk of his family's land holdings in Hawaii, a sale worth hundreds of millions of dollars. That's all before Alexandra drops the bombshell that her mother was having an affair with a local real estate agent.
Alexander Payne is the logical director for this kind of material, and this film seems of a piece with his Jack Nicholson film ABOUT SCHMIDT. Both films are about men who lose their wives and then regain some sense of themselves in the process of grieving. (What this says about Payne's opinion of marriage is anyone's guess.) This is not to say that what Clooney is doing here is playing the same character. Poor Schmidt was a man who bought into a certain life only to find himself spat out on the other end of it with nothing to show. ABOUT SCHMIDT has a tender ending, but it's a tragedy, THE DEATH OF A SALESMAN with a comic streak.
THE DESCENDANTS, on the other hand, is a story about reconnection. Matt King has enough time to find a place for himself in the lives of his daughters. He is able to make Alexandra an ally in this process, and this film, more than anything else, is really about how father and daughter get to know each other.
The movie has its flaws (the land sale subplot never rises above the level of metaphor), but the film contains some scenes of startling emotional clarity, especially when the family gathers around Elizabeth. These are not the usual scenes of plaster saint homage. These are scenes of anger and frustration. The troubled marriage of the Kings, and its impact on their daughters, did not end when Elizabeth was injured, nor does it end as she lays dying.
This is an interesting role for George Clooney, not the first actor one would think of for this material. Of course, he long ago demonstrated that he was able and willing to complicate his leading man image either by playing against type (O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, THE AMERICAN) or by playing to type but revealing hidden weaknesses in the character (UP IN THE AIR, THE IDES OF MARCH). Still, this may well be his least heroic turn. Clooney is excellent at playing men in charge, men in the know. Here he is convincing as, of all things, a normal man thrown off course by life.
The rest of the cast is uniformly good, but especially Shailene Woodley as Alexandra. The film is largely a duet between Woodley and Clooney, daughter and father circling each other warily as they attempt to navigate the new terrain of their lives. It is up to these two actors to create the emotional core of the family, to create the space left by the absent wife and mother, to fill it with anger and recrimination. And, maybe, redemption.
On a side note here: Clooney may well win some awards for this role. Good for him. It's a fine performance. But sometimes movie stars have to play against what makes them great before some people are willing to give them awards. This is a bullshit process that once again reveals how utterly meaningless awards are. Such has always been the case (Bogart winning for THE AFRICAN QUEEN for "proving" he could act--as if a trained chimp could have starred in CASABLANCA). The most obvious recent example is Denzel Washington winning an Oscar for playing a bad guy in TRAINING DAY when MALCOLM X and CRIMSON TIDE had already proved Washington was a great actor and screen presence. If Clooney wins awards for THE DESCENDANTS it will "prove" nothing. His work in OUT OF SIGHT and THREE KINGS wasn't simply the result of sprinkling movie star dust on a handsome face, it was great acting.
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Power and Productivity after the Great Recession
The economic news is bleak. Dean Baker warns that we are very close to a second Great Depression. Tim Duy says that the economy is "circling the drain." Doug Henwood observes that while the US economy used to be a "brutal but dynamic place" for workers, now it's just brutal. If employment growth continues at May's pace (a rate typical of post-financial-crash economies), it will take us a decade just to gain back the jobs lost in the Great Recession.
Back in 2008, many weighed the relative likelihood of deflation or hyperinflation. Today's via media is stagflation. Commodities are becoming dearer, and consumers feel the squeeze, whatever the mathemagicians behind inflation stats say. We have entered a "great stagnation," and our political leaders are content to utter platitudes about "expansionary austerity" or "innovating our way" to "win the future." How either strategy will save the 22 to 29% of US jobs that are offshorable remains unclear.
Since nobody likes an unhappy ending, a boomlet of "soft landing" stories has emerged, explaining why (as Tyler Cowen puts it) "we'll feel better" eventually. I want to take a look at a few of these, discuss why I think they're implausible, and turn our attention to what the real stakes of the crisis are.
A Japanese Denouement?
At the beginning of the financial crisis, economists worried that the United States would end up like Japan after its real estate bubble burst in the late 1980s. It is a measure of how bad things have gotten that Japan's "lost decade" now looks downright pleasant compared to America's likely economic future. Philip Pilkington has endorsed the Japanese "steady state," based on its high employment and life expectancy, and low crime rate. But, as Yves Smith observes, there is little chance the United States can emulate the Japanese approach to post-crash stabilization:
Even though its post-bubble growth has been dreadful, Japan is still a well-run, tidy country with a low crime rate, universal health care, long life expectancy, and tolerable unemployment. That in turn is due to factors that do not obtain much of anywhere else: Japan was very cohesive to begin with, and its elites chose to have their incomes fall relative to everyone else to save jobs. Wage compression at large companies has increased dramatically. This is the polar opposite of what has happened in the rest of the world, where the gap between the haves and the have-nots has widened.
I agree with her last point particularly, and I think that a spirit of shared sacrifice has been crucial to Japanese resilience. It is entirely lacking in the US, where a bevy of right-leaning think tanks and enforcers has ended any chance that our John Galts will be taxed another penny of income or bequests. They apparently now have a durable veto point in a Congress that would rather see the economy collapse than raise more revenues, even though "federal taxes are at their lowest level in more than 60 years" (according to one of the economic advisors of former President Reagan). Material deprivation is going to loom larger in the lives of an ever-more-pressed lower class, and will likely creep into the middle class soon.
Ecstatic Haves, Happy Have-nots?
But even if that occurs, there is another possibility: a declining middle and lower class happily reconciles itself to a straitened material existence in exchange for digital entertainments or pharmaceutical consolation. This future would entail a "real" decline in living standards, but a subjectively experienced increase in positive emotions. In such a world, gross national happiness could be on the rise even as gross national product falls. For example, Tyler Cowen has worried that GDP figures don't adequately reflect the joy people get from sorting or viewing thousands of Facebook photos. True, "providing an alternative measure of what we produce or consume based on the value people derive from [things like] Wikipedia or Pandora proves an extraordinary challenge." Nevertheless, in a few posts on virtual consumption, SEC Advisor Rick Bookstaber offers a glimpse of light at the end of our economic tunnel.
For Bookstaber, rising inequality obscures a more fundamental trend: "If you look hour by hour at what anyone is doing, it is hard to differentiate the super rich from those a few rungs above subsistence level." A representative man in either class "eats, sleeps, works and then veges out," either playing games or watching audiovisual works. Give them food, shelter, and a sufficiently advanced computing system, and they are "happy as a clam." By projecting a bit into the future, Bookstaber can also sidestep the methodological objections that have dogged other advocates of a "consumption inequality" (rather than wealth or income inequality) focus. We can think concretely of, say, a laid off worker, who now makes minimum wage, but who really doesn't have much need for vacations or consumer goods any more, since a pink tractor in Farmville only costs $4 and is so much more interesting and cheap. Indeed, play can even be profitable.
Nevertheless, I'm not convinced by Bookstaber's sanguine views. He doesn't mention health care, a constantly contested topic of experience inequality. (Just try getting a specialist in a timely fashion if you're on Medicaid, or uninsured and poor.) He neglects the degree to which homes that afford good educational opportunities, or easy commutes, are often very expensive. And what is the value of a bank account that assures you won't be turned out on the street 6 months, a year, or a few years after losing a job? I'm sure the 72 percent of Americans living paycheck to paycheck would love to have that security, and experience its absence with some degree of anxiety.
Knowledge, Voice, and Legibility
The critical inequalities of a democratic society also include disparities in information, influence, and legibility—that is, susceptibility to being "read," watched, or monitored by some powerful entity. You don't need to look hard at our current economic mess to see their importance. After a brief struggle in 2010, it's now settled: no more discussion of tax increases for the rich. Our government will slash food aid, Medicaid, education, and investments in the future, causing untold suffering, just to assure that the richest continue to enjoy their lowest effective tax rates in decades. That elite consensus is the product of what John Gaventa calls hidden power, the ability to keep certain topics from even being discussed or on the public agenda. James Kwak and Simon Johnson see such power at work in the intellectual landscape funded by TBTF financial institutions. And it also wends its way into economics, and economically informed discussions like Bookstaber's.
For example, Bookstaber assumes in his post that the "contribution of labor to production" has declined over time. But the contribution of labor is distinct from what labor is paid (which, presumably, is the measurable value Bookstaber is referring to here). As Daniel JH Greenwood recently observed, "for a generation, American workers' wages have lagged behind their productivity gains." Productivity is increasing, but it is being captured by top executives and a concentrated class of shareholders. Can we really say that the designer of 100 pairs of jeans has contributed 5 times more to their value than the seamstresses who sewed them, merely because the designer gets paid five times more than they do? Or, to use an example from Ha Joon Chang, consider that a driver in Norway may be paid 25 times more than a rickshaw operator in New Delhi, even though the latter job takes far more effort (and perhaps skill) to do well.
As technology and design contribute more to production, disputes over the value of labor will accelerate. For some time, they were muted by geographical distance: the poor seamstresses lived in China, the designers lived in America, and each was paid a rate appropriate for their station in the global economic order. China also developed a far more repressive security apparatus to quash protests. But increasingly, job opportunities are mobile, putting everyone into the same global labor pool. And this is yet another problem for the Bookstaber thesis, because laborers in the developing world undoubtedly spend their time, hour by hour, in a different way than the "super rich," even though they are a "few rungs above subsistence level."
Power and Productivity
There are occasionally disputes over the value of their endeavors, as recent developments at Foxconn illustrate. But for the most part such disputes can be suppressed, via another sector of the economy that Bookstaber does not pay adequate attention to: guard labor. Vilfredo Pareto once observed that individuals' efforts "are directed to the production or transformation of economic goods, or else to the appropriation of goods produced by others." Arjun Jayadev and Samuel Bowles, expositors of the guard labor concept, confirm the importance of that dichotomy. Inspired by Pranab Bardhan's exploration of the "range of tactics which are most likely to result in the successful conversion of resources into power," they delineate the necessary conditions for B to have power over A: "by imposing or threatening to impose sanctions on A, B is capable of affecting A's actions in ways that further B's interests, while A lacks this capacity with respect to B."
Jayadev and Bowles argue that, in order to understand the relationship between productivity and power, "we need to study not only the production of goods and services as conventionally defined" but also "the reproduction (or alteration) of the economic institutions governing the process of production." Institutions are "the laws, informal rules, and conventions which give a durable structure to social interactions among the members of a population." Guard labor, in the form of "prisoners and guards (police, corrections officials and private security personnel)," among other actors, is necessary to reinforce institutions.
Inequalities of knowledge, voice, and legibility shape the (re)production of economic institutions, and they do not bode well for non-elites. At one point unions could try to pool the voices of a sizeable plurality of private sector workers; today, they're on death's door. A fragmented media landscape leads to what Jodi Dean calls the decline of symbolic efficiency. Finally, any political views too far out of the mainstream can be easily marginalized, stigmatized, and even punished by a somnambulant press, invasive "human resources" apparatus, and enveloping surveillance state (respectively). Former derivatives trader Satyajit Das sums up the result of this convergence of inequalities:
Human beings and societies are unable to see their own products and social relationships for what they are . . . . French philosopher Michel Foucault identified a carceral continuum, the system of cruelty, power, supervision, surveillance and enforcement of acceptable behaviour affecting working and domestic lives. Economics and economic systems are part of this system of power. In Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland, Humpty Dumpty understood the issue: "The question is which is to be master – that's all." Economics and economist have been always been part of the mechanism of social control and power. The rest is just noise.
Thus when we hear for the 1000th time from John Boehner that any more taxation of America's millionaires will hurt those who "create jobs," we never get a clear sense from mainstream economists about the real composition of investment activity. To return to our Farmville player mentioned above: a tycoon may choose to invest in a cupcake shop that gives him a job, or buy the building he lives in, convert it to luxury condos, and evict him. The investor class can opt for green technology that promises to make everyone's life less polluted and costly, or a gold and land-buying spree that promises to further concentrate wealth. The central problem of contemporary economics is that it has no language to even begin to make such distinctions. As Willem Buiter has diagnosed, mainstream economics has been driven by "aesthetic puzzles . . . .rather than a powerful desire to understand how the economy works." Only in the hall of mirrors of ketchup economists and efficient markets theory could paper "wealth" take on the overweening significance it now has. As Michael Hudson has argued,
[Many financial institutions'] "product" is not a tangible consumption good, but interest-bearing debt. These debts are a claim on output, revenue and wealth; they do not constitute real wealth. This is what pro-financial neoliberals fail to understand. For them, debt creation is "wealth creation" (Alan Greenspan's favorite euphemism) when credit – that is, debt – bids up prices for property, stocks and bonds and thus enhances financial balance sheets.
The "equilibrium theory" that underlies academic orthodoxy treats asset prices (financialized wealth) as reflecting a capitalization of expected income. But in today's Bubble Economy, asset prices reflect whatever bankers will lend. Rather than being based on rational calculation, their loans are based on what investment bankers are able to package and sell to frequently gullible [or internally betrayed] financial institutions. This logic leads to attempts to pay pensions out of a "wealth creating" process that runs economies into debt. . . .
There amount of debt that an economy can pay is limited by the size of its surplus, defined as corporate profits and personal income for the private sector, and net fiscal revenue paid to the public sector. But neither today's financial theory nor global practice recognizes a capacity-to-pay constraint. So debt service has been permitted to eat into capital formation and reduce living standards – and now, to demand privatization sell-offs.
Hudson isolates the deep problem with financialization of the economy: it is unmoored from projects that improve our long-term prospects.
Restoring Rationality to Capital Allocation
Is there any hope for change? The most heartening examples I've heard recently come out of the private sector. Shareholders are starting to organize online. Certain businesses are succeeding by taking sustainability seriously. Businessweek has highlighted Subaru's green culture, including zero-waste initiatives that generate gains for the company's shareholders and its workers. Umair Haque's book The New Capitalist Manifesto highlights a number of companies (ranging from Starbucks to Interface to WalMart) that have begun to focus on the real costs and benefits of their business strategy. These companies are focusing less on squeezing out labor costs and piling new responsibilities on the harried employees who remain. Rather, they are researching "value cycles" that minimize waste and isolate them from increasing or volatile commodities prices.
Haque argues that we need to "reset the incentives for everyone to make more authentically wealth-creating (and less wealth-extractive) choices." Real wealth crucially depends on shared security and opportunity, not the baubles and privileges with which it is metonymically identified. Haque is not afraid to frame the issue in the moral terms that the times demand:
The biggest unintended consequence and hidden cost of the pursuit of opulence might not be outside us, but inside us; might not be poisoning the skies, emptying the seas, or even fracturing societies, but withering and blighting human potential itself, what an economist with a heart might call a negative consumption externality of the soul: that it rots a society from the inside out by imploding the institutional capacity, organizational ambition, and personal hunger to take on tomorrow's greatest world-changing challenges, solve really big problems, and work on the stuff that matters most.
Today's engines of financialization are drawing our best math, science, and engineering talent away from "the stuff that matters most." They instead work on securing claims to a fragile global productive capacity that can only shrink if it is not better tended to. This zero-sum game ranges from martial finance to cloak-and-dagger obfuscation to political influence peddling. Returns to finance must become a much smaller part of our economy if it is ever to reward productivity as much as it pays off raw power.


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