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I sent out a good number of emails on Sunday asking for opinions on OpenRTB. People were mainly dismissive, partly because of the secretive way in which it was concocted, partly because some think Google is better accomodated than challenged, but mainly because the current goals of the spec are slight. After reading the spec, I was a bit underwhelmed myself. But I've changed my mind.
In a post in April, I talked about architectural considerations in ecosystem design, taking the engineering concept of End-to-End as an analogy. In that post I was pushing for architectural change because innovation is highly dependent on a layered and modular architecture*. Architecture is important.
But architectural change is also interesting in determining winners and losers, and that was my deeper motivation. From a (technically astute) businessperson's point of view, the article to read is Rebecca Henderson and Kim Clark's Architectural Innovation: the Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms. They point out that "architectural" change favors innovators over incumbents.
In laying out their thesis, the authors talk about the failures of incumbent firms in adapting to relatively minor market changes, despite their deep expertise in the core components of the new products being built**. They also make the distinction between incremental change, radical change and architectural change to draw attention to the fact that seemingly minor changes in the architecture of a system are actually more likely to cause incumbent dislocation than radical changes in the underlying technology. This is an extremely important point.
The essence of architectural innovation is the reconfiguration of an established system to link together existing components in a new way… Architectural innovation is often triggered by a change in a component… that creates new interactions and new linkages with other components in the established product…
Established firms often have a surprising degree of difficulty in adapting to architectural innovation. Incremental innovation tends to reinforce the competitive positions of established firms, since it builds on their core competencies… In contrast, radical innovation creates unmistakable challenges for established firms, since it destroys the usefulness of their existing capabilities…
Architectural innovation presents established firms with a more subtle challenge… established organizations require significant time (and resources) to identify a particular innovation as architectural, since architectural innovations can often initially be accomodated within old frameworks. Radical innovation tends to be obviously radical–the need for new modes of learning and new skills becomes quickly apparent… the introduction of new linkages is much harder to spot. Since the core concepts of the design remain untouched, the organization may mistakenly believe that it understands the new technology***.
Architectural change is subtle. It is ignorable, for the time being. But it may–may–be enough to change the existing architecture, the architecture that is more and more contained within Google. Those that realize this and adapt to it will prosper. Those that dismiss it–either because it is too subtle or because they are a large incumbent and ignore those who profess to compete with them–might find themselves Xeroxed.
There's a subtle belief in our VC-backed community that technological innovation is the sine qua non, the ne plus ultra. Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Unfortunately, we're wrong. Build a better technology and the incumbent will copy your innovation: they will notice a better technology pretty quickly. What we need to do is change the competitive dynamic by shaping the architecture of the ecosystem. This is something we can do without the permission of the Incumbent, and something the Incumbent will have a hard time responding to.
OpenRTB is just as start. But the more new linkages we can create in the ecosystem, the better chance we have to compete based on merit.
** I am not in love with their chosen examples. In both cases the lower-cost/lower-functionality disruptive (as in Innovator's Dilemma disruptive) element is also present, so as natural experiments they leave something to be desired. Christensen, in fact, draws heavily from Henderson's work in his book–IMHO, more heavily than he seems to admit. His description of this paper, in Dilemma, mentions their thesis primarily as a study in organizational structure. Christensen then talks about "value networks" instead of architecture–and Dilemma is an essential read–but I think Henderson and Kim's work is more directly to the point here.
*** Read the article, really. The case studies alone are worth it (and might give some comfort to those of us who despair at the ever-incipient chaos in our little sub-industry by highlighting that this is not something we managed to invent ourselves but is, in fact, normal.)


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Boy, you all are quite the impatient group. Three weeks ago I gave an introduction on raspberries and how they grow. I gave you the teaser that in my next article, which is this one, we would discuss planting, trellising and variety selection.
No fewer than 20 phone calls and emails streamed in by the end of the working day Friday asking for recommendations on what varieties they should purchase. Apparently, these unseasonably warm temperatures have led to outright zeal. And I admit that I appreciate your eagerness and planning tendencies, however, there is still ample time to order plants, and its still too early to stick any bareroot in the ground.
If you want to plant raspberries, I recommend taking the time to prepare the beds. Remember, these are perennial plants, with thorns. You dont want to spend too much time or lose too much blood trying to significantly amend the soil after they are planted. According to Joel Reich, Colorado State University Extensions de facto small fruit expert, its best to add lots of organic matter and raise the bed in order to improve aeration and drainage which most berries appreciate. When preparing the soil, add 1 cubic yard of composted manure and about 5 cubic feet sphagnum peat moss for every 20 feet of a 5-foot-wide row. Reich also recommends adding a small amount of fertilizer. Try using two cups of an organic, poultry-waste-based fertilizer (8-2-1) in the same amount of space. This would be about 3 to 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. Check the local nurseries, as they are also a great resource for fertilizers.
Unless you want your berries to run amok and stab your toes, you will also want to trellis the plants to get them off the ground. Provide a support stake every 10 feet or so, stretch a support wire on either side of the row at about 3 feet off the ground. You can also place additional wires higher or lower to provide additional support.
So which varieties should you grow? Some suggestions from Joel (and to a lesser degree, myself):
Boyne and Killarney: Cousins from Canada, both are very cold tolerant. Small- to medium-sized fruit, good for eating.
Nova: Also from Canada, berries are firm, medium to large in size, with a good shelf life. They ripen later than Boyne or Killarney. Not very thorny. This summer-bearing variety may also set a late-fall crop depending on the seasons weather.
(Keep in mind that these produce on current growth, so theres less of a concern about cane hardiness.)
Anne: Large, pale yellow fruit very high in flavor. Very sweet.
Autumn Britten: Produces earlier than Heritage (older, popular variety) with large, firm fruit. Can bear fruit from late summer through fall.
Jacyln: Also produces a couple weeks earlier than Heritage with large, firm berries. Darker red in color and tends to hold tight to the cane until fully ripe.
Caroline: Produces fruit later in the season, but has an intense raspberry flavor. Not tolerant to drought.
Royalty: Purple variety with very sweet fruit. Canes can be very thorny and long. Make sure to wait until the color is consistently purple to harvest.
email@example.com or 382-6464. Darrin Parmenter is director and horticulture agent of the La Plata County Extension Office.

subset: commoncrawl


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Elbow Grease Hot Gel the first warming water-based lubricant on the market! Hot Gel entered the lubricant scene a year after the Elbow Grease Classic Gel formula. The new water-based lubricant market needed something innovative and adventurous. Elbow Grease Hot Gel was the answer. The warming agent in the formula is menthol, which awakens sensations you didn?t know you had! Elbow Grease Hot Gel is a thick long-lasting lubricant, providing a warming sensation, which enhances your sensual experience.
Ships Everywhere.
I really like this cream, it's thick and smooth without that messy, greasy feeling on the skin. I use it everywhere and on my sex toys too.Anonymous - February 5 2015
I have ultra sensitive skin and most lubes and oils i've used has cause some kind of irritation. But not this one, it feels great on my skin, it's super thick and stays on. Love the minty warming sensation it gives offAnonymous - October 11 2014
My lubes are much thicker than this one and is usually a bit sticky and messy. I like this one much better because it's lighter, thinner but still just as creamy as my other ones. My husband likes to give me foot massages, i guess he's got a little foot fetish craving going on... anyway, he uses this lube to rub my feet and toes with and it feels wonderful as the lube warms up the more he rubs them.Anonymous - October 1 2014


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Resume,Songs, My new blog, NeX-6, My facebook page
Orgs I like
The EFF - keeping free speech in the world
Musical stuff I like
Jeff, Rick, Ardour, Jack
Prior Rants - Pimps flat rate itunes Arthur C. Clarke dies Dropping privoxy, giving the firefox beta a shot Spreading safe hex IPv6 and google More Livin in the 00ze It's 3AM Empathy for Hans Reiser Tweedledum and Tweedledee The Cache Economy
Best of the blog:
Uncle Bill's Helicopter - A speech I gave to ITT Tech - Chicken soup for engineers
Beating the Brand - A pathological exploration of how branding makes it hard to think straight
Inside the Internet Mind - trying to map the weather within the global supercomputer that consists of humans and google
Sex In Politics - If politicians spent more time pounding the flesh rather than pressing it, it would be a better world
Getting resources from space - An alternative to blowing money on mars using NEAs.
On the Columbia - Why I care about space
Authors I like:
Doc Searls
Where's Cherie?
Jerry Pournelle
The Cubic Dog
Evan Hunt
The Bay Area is talking
Zimnoiac Emanations
Eric Raymond
Unlocking The Air
Bob Mage
BroadBand & Me
Selenian Boondocks
My Pencil
Transterrestial Musings
Bear Waller Hollar


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WFG also recognizes those associates who have taken their business to the next level – by sharing the WFG business with entrepreneurs and helping families prepare for their futures – during the event's Gala Awards Celebration.
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KCM reopens Nchanga mine
Minister of Mines Christopher Yaluma says the underground mine is now operating at full capacity. Mr. Yaluma says KCM management has implored advanced new methods of mining to extract ore from the underground mine. The Minister said the resumption of operations at Nchanga underground is a plus for the mining firm adding that Government expects miners who were laid off to be recalled. Meanwhile, the Mine Workers Union of Zambia -MUZ is delighted that KCM has restarted production at Nchanga underground. MUZ General Secretary Joseph Chewe said MUZ was initially opposed to the suspension of operations at Nchanga because the union believed the mine was still viable. Mr. Chewe said Chingola will now see more jobs, adding that KCM management has done well to finally formulate a plan for the Nchanga underground mine. And Government says it is making efforts to diversify the mining sector to encompass other minerals. Mines and Development Director Geological Survey Department Chipililauka Mukofu says this is to increase revenue, create wealth and employment. Mr Mukofu says Zambia despite being endowed with vast mineral resources has not realized the maximum benefits from the sector. He was speaking at the African, Caribbean, Pacific and European Union-ACP-EU development Minerals workshop in Livingstone. And ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme Manager Daniel Franks says it is high time Zambia concentrated on development minerals that can be processed and used locally. Dr. Franks says development minerals such as construction materials are more important to a country because they have a direct benefit to the economy.


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18 Comments
It was 70 degrees today in Bellows Falls, VT.
Wonderful sounds of nature. Thank you.
The sounds of Mother Springs waking up…
thank you.
Thanks for sharing
Blessedly, only the sounds of nature: lovely!
Love the sounds of nature.
Cue Spring!
As I was watching this and relishing the Simple sounds of nature, I heard an owl outside my window, after a two year absence of his or her voice and presence. A two-fer…what a sweet way to start this Friday. Thank you,all.
Spring….just around the corner!
Hi, Sir
I am watching your Videos from last few days,Wow these videos are really great. I must say that first of all this concept is a great concept, to shoot videos every day without fail.It is not a jock. Actually.this is the avenue for photographer to come very close to nature, a beautiful nature..Its a meditation with Thanks Sir, Thank you very much for showing a unique way of Meditation.
MERCI….c'est merveilleux….mais l'image n'a pas le temps de passer qu'OP ça disparait….
Peaceful and relaxing. Hurry Spring. I miss you.
thank you
Thank you for the quiet moments.
The sunrise behind the trees gives them a coppery color and the sounds makes you think that Spring may be around the corner.
Thank you.
Loved hearing that one
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sorry i made a mistake.
Can you tell me the name of the maganzine which lem is writing for?thanks
Did anyone read F. Saberhagen ? Does he writes only about berserkers/ the killing machines whose task is to destroy the life they meet/? Judging by his short stories he is not so bad as it seemed to be .


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My kids were so intrigued with the concept of Leap Year! They thought that it was pretty cool that they will be in middle school when it happens again.
Look at how cute our leap year froggies turned out!
Some of them turned out looking a little
psychotic different.I like their creativity though! :)
After watching the Leap Year Video on BrainPop, we made a web map about what we learned. So they took the facts and wrote a paragraph about why we need a leap year. They ended their paragraph with how they would like to celebrate Leap Day.
You can download the template for free if you haven't yet! It would be great for any frog activity!
Are you guys loving the TPT Sale?? There is so much more I would like to buy, but I controlled myself! Here is what I couldn't live without!
This super cute Lorax Unit from Primary Junction
I had planned on using it this week and next week for Seussy stuff, but it's so great that I'm going to save it for our recycling unit, so I can spend more time with it!
My kids always need extra practice with money! Plus it uses Ginger's Clipart. I love her stuff!
This is planned for tomorrow!
I'll be teaching time next week....
I can't wait to do this at the end of the year.
My kids loved making her football players
If you haven't shopped yet, you have to! Time is running out! Check out all the shops who are participating in this mega sale here. Be sure to stop by my 2 shops!


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In a rare television appearance on the "Kris Jenner Show," rapper Kanye West finally shed some light on his increased encounters with the paparazzi. The Yeezus crafter made note of the fact that the paparazzi are only present "to make money off of you" and credited that purpose as the reason why he's hardly ever pictured smiling.
Kanye also addressed what he feels is the "emotional bullying" done by paparazzi and compared their antics to that of a high school bully.
"It's hard to smile when you know that people—for one thing, they're around you only to make money off of you," Kanye revealed. "If you're around people that are only there to make money off of you, you already feel like, 'Wait a second, these aren't your friends.' So, if you're around your friends, your friends make you smile. If you're around someone—like think about if when you were in high school. If there was someone that came up to you every day to take your money. To get in your pocket. There's nothing they can say to you that makes it better. It's almost worse when they say something positive."
"The thing that makes me more happy than anything is to not see them," he continued. "So, if you see them obviously I'm not gonna smile. And it becomes a bit of like an emotional bullying. Someone taunting you as you're getting on an airplane or taunting you as you're just going to get yogurt."
Despite the rapper's larger than life persona both on-stage and in his music, he confessed to being a shy individual during his nearly hour-long interview with Kris Jenner, the mother of Kim Kardashian.
"People would never understand that," said Kanye, in regards to his timidness. "When I'm on stage or when I've like finished a new album, I can talk about the album and say 'Hey, I love this album. I think it's the best thing.' But when I'm just walking down the street I'm a bit more shy and nervous. And people don't really—it doesn't come off when I'm rapping. When I'm rapping, I'm in my place like I'm on the court or something or I'm in the ring. And that's where I'm my most powerful."
During his appearance on the "Kris Jenner Show," Kanye also spoke on his relationship with Kardashian and revealed a picture of their daughter, North West.
Ironically, Kanye's appearance on the talk show comes shortly after the rapper was named in a lawsuit filed by Los Angeles videographer Daniel Ramos following a physical altercation at LAX.


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Miller Park Set To Host Professional Soccer Match in July
The Milwaukee Brewers and Miller Park will host popular Mexican soccer club C.D. Guadalajara, affectionately known throughout the world as Chivas, and Swansea City A.F.C of the English Premier League on Wednesday, July 16, in what will be the first-ever professional soccer match at the stadium. Presented by Miller Lite, the event is part of the Chivas' annual U.S. Tour, which includes four matches against some of the best teams from top soccer nations – Brazil, England, Germany and Mexico.
One of the most historic and successful clubs in Mexico, Chivas has captured 11 First Division titles in Liga MX and has raised two Copa México trophies. Additionally, the 108-year-old team is the only club in Mexico to exclusively field Mexican players, a concept that has made Chivas a steady contributor of players to the Mexican National Team. Standout players include Omar Bravo, Jesus Aldo DeNigris and Rafa Marquez Lugo. The team is managed by Carlos Bustos.
Established in 1912, Swansea City became the first Welsh team to play in the English Premier League after earning promotion in 2011. In 2013 they won the Football League Cup Final, which earned them a spot in the 2013-2014 UEFA Europa League. Swansea finished in 12th place in the EPL in the 2013-14 season and is led by Manager Garry Monk and Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Bony, the team's top scorer with 17 goals.
"We're very excited to be bringing yet another major attraction to Miller Park this summer as we host this match between Chivas and Swansea City," said Brewers Chief Operating Officer Rick Schlesinger. "We are fortunate to have a facility that is adaptable for much more than baseball, and with the World Cup being staged this summer, interest in soccer is peaking worldwide."
Tickets go on sale for the match on Thursday, May 22 at 10 a.m. Ticket prices range from $25 – $70 and parking is $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the match. Tickets are available online at brewers.com/soccer, in person at the Miller Park Box Office, and by phone at 414-902-4000. A seating diagram is attached and is also available at brewers.com/soccer. The pitch will be laid out in an east-west orientation with one goal in leftfield and the other goal near first base.
The match will start at 8 p.m. and the gates to Miller Park will open at 6:30 p.m. Parking lots will open at 5 p.m.


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19 May 2010
2009 Redwood Creek Malbec
Here's what I did to the rack of lamb. I just trimmed the fat cap as usual, but brushed it in a mixture of golden syrup, Dijon mustard, and soy sauce. What were the precise ratios? I have no idea. Mix them 1:1:1 and taste, and if you want it sweeter, add more syrup (or honey/molasses/corn syrup/whatever you're using). If you want it hotter, add more mustard, or dash in some hot sauce. If you can't make up your mind, but it doesn't taste quite right, add canned tomato sauce. Bingo. I've just taught you how to make BBQ sauce on your own. Have fun. If you bottle it and make a million dollars, at least give a little shout out to Benito on the back label.
I trussed it up with string and roasted the rack of lamb in the oven with a probe thermometer, and added another layer of glaze two or three times. Note this was all done at low temperatures. A sugar-based sauce will turn black and unappetizing in a hot oven or grill, so slow and low is your friend here. I gave it a final blast under the broiler just to caramelize the exterior, and set aside the rack to rest. The end result was as mild as veal and tender as butter, with a mouth-watering sweet/salty layer on the outside. Brother Paul provided homemade creamed spinach and grilled zucchini to accompany.
I've made a lot of racks of lamb, but I think this one is the best by far. I almost stood up and applauded myself. Perfect balance of flavors, textures, and appearance. This cut is usually served in four rib sections, or as individual chops, but for this preparation I found that carving into double ribs was fun. And the dogs were growling and begging the whole time, which is generally a good sign. (Zoe, pictured above, was well-behaved, but I saw some drool once we cut into the lamb.)
For the wine, I opened up the 2009 Redwood Creek Malbec. $7, 13.5% abv, Mendoza region of Argentina. Smoky, dark black cherry, black pepper, firm tannins, lots of jammy fruit. Great bargain Malbec, not particularly smooth or complex but good for the price point. I fell in love with Malbecs as a wine newbie because of the affordability, and I found that a $7 Malbec was far superior to a $7 Cabernet Sauvignon. Higher end Malbecs deserve to be paired with more serious meals, but the entry level ones go great with pizzas, burgers, ribs, and the rest of the great summer fare we enjoy here in the Northern Hemisphere during the April to August months.
Note: This wine was received as a sample.
9 comments:
- fredric koeppel said...
have mercy, here it is 6:30 a.m. and I'm craving rack of lamb!
- 19 May, 2010 04:32
- Benito said...
I've done rack of lamb for breakfast, just once. Sometimes you'll see a carved leg of lamb on a big Sunday Brunch, but those tender ribs work quite well early in the morning.
- 19 May, 2010 05:22
- Radu Prisacaru – UK Internet Marketer & Web Developer said...
I just came from searching for a good site on Bing and came to this site. I have to say these templates are great. Thank you for mentioning them in your article. I will be sure to add this to my favorites.
- 19 May, 2010 06:13
- Samantha Dugan said...
We have carried some of those Redwood Creek wines in the past, (had no idea they were making a Malbec though) and while they are quite simple they can be great values. It's a Gallo project right? I think you are absolutely correct when it comes to Malbec being a tremendous value wine....far easier to find a great Malbec for then dollars than a great Cabernet.
- 19 May, 2010 06:47
- Allen said...
That is an excellent post on the lamb and the wine. Good pictures as always.
- 19 May, 2010 08:51
- Benito said...
It turned out very well, and I'm surprised at how well soy sauce complements lamb.
Yep, it's Gallo, but Frei Bros. is in between. Redwood is described as a part of Frei Bros.--I don't know whose project it is specifically, or if having another layer is just part of that curious marketing strategy to hide the Gallo name.
I've had a few California Malbecs, but they tended to be in a higher price bracket and weren't terribly impressive.
- 19 May, 2010 11:56
- Constance C said...
I really like the Redwood Creek Pinot Noir & Chardonnay - it's a lesser (and obviously less expensive) version of the Frei Brothers - which I believe it says on the label, but it's worth the $7 and easy for drinking if you just want a glass or two (or it even comes in mini bottles...or at least that's what I had on the plane once.) I didn't know they made a Malbec - perhaps I'll have to seek that out.
- 24 May, 2010 12:04
- Benito said...
It's worth a taste. Let me know if you try it.
- 24 May, 2010 12:34
The Redwood Creek Malbec was just launched nationally in April, so just ask for it. You can't beat the taste at that price point!!!
- 14 June, 2010 10:01


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On Friday night I romped through a couple of instances with my usual PuG tank.
Yo Viking!
He even trekked back from Northrend to help me out… See, puggers will cross the seas and stars to help each other out.
Then it was back to BGs and quests until I got an invite to Blood Furnace. The original DK tank had to go before the run started so another one was recruited.
The Reluctant Tank
Well it was a DPS DK, as a reluctant tank. Don't get me wrong, he was happy to tank, he just wasn't sure if he could pull it off.
That was his 1st clear indication to the party to be cautious. It was pretty much unnecessary, most of us measured him over the 1st couple of pulls and worked within his abilities, which were fine.
Most of us…
Not all of us…
There was one, a Ret Pally that was consistently pulling aggro… Every fight. I didn't mind too much, it gave me something to do, but the DK wasn't happy. He knew the natural order of things.
Pally was told
See the DK was the tank. He knew he was meant to be the only one getting aggro, the only one getting heals. It wasn't like he wanted to tank, he had offered the job to the Pally at the beginning of the run.
Over the course of that BF run and into our subsequent Ramparts run, the DK asked the Pally on multiple occasions:
You want to Tank?
Then stop pulling aggro!
DK tells Pally to tank
Just before we got to the 2nd boss in Ramps, just after the pull at the top of the stairs with the Dark Casters, the DK had enough.
Pally, you tank this pull, I'll be right back.
The Pally jumped in as requested
Now I was healing, spam healing, but the Pally went down. The DK hadn't gone anywhere though, he was waiting for this moment.
No sooner than my screen lit up red with AGGRO, did it revert to a more serene green as the DK leaped in and took control.
Not surprisingly there were no aggro issues while the Pally was face down on the floor.
Squishy Plate Wearer is Squishy.
As I rezed the Pally I pointed out he was too squishy and I wouldn't heal if he was tanking. The DK knew this would be the result. My statement was just the completion of his earlier statements.
If you pull aggro, you can tank, you can die.
Leave the aggro Magnet job to the tank!
Back to the DeathKnight
So the DK took over again and there weren't any more problems over the next few pulls.
Why only the next few pulls?
Because the Pally took his bubble and went home, right before the 2nd boss.
What did we do?
We four manned the last two bosses. Easy peasy single target heals for the most part. No one else pulled aggro, no one died, except the bosses and the mobs that stood between us.
Moral of the story…
- If you pull it, you tank it.
- If you can't tank it, don't pull it.
- Let the tank do their job and save on your repair bills.
Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.


text:
Petitions to Wind Up (Companies)
In the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) Leeds District Registry. No. 650 of 1999 In the Matter of PLUTO SYSTEMS LIMITED and in the Matter of the Insolvency Act 1986
A Petition to wind up the above-named Company of 45 Holy Rood Court, Old Covent Gardens, Middlesbrough, Cleveland TS4 2QZ, presented on 28th January 1999 by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise, Washington VAT Office, Coniston House, Town Centre, Washington, claiming to be a Creditor of the Company, will be heard at Leeds District Registry, The Courthouse, Oxford Row, Leeds 1, on 23rd March 1999 at 10.30 a.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Petition can be heard). Any person intending to appear on the hearing of the Petition (whether to support or oppose it) must give notice of intention to do so to the Petitioner or its Solicitor in accordance with Rule 4.16 by 1600 hours on 22nd March 1999. The Petitioner's Solicitor is Dibb Lupton Alsop, Arndale House, Charles Street, Bradford BD1 1UN. (Ref. BFD/VPC./414121/34336.) 4th March 1999.


text:
I stopped by my unit earlier in the week and one of the full-timers gave me this article from a recent Army Times. It seems enough people in the military are starting to use running shoes like the Vibram Five Fingers that I have so often raved about, that the military has decided it needs an 'official position' on the shoes. I suspect this is because traditionalists think they're 'weird' and somehow 'unmilitary' (unlike those Nikes or Asics which ooze warrior spirit). Predictably, every service is coming up with its own rules:
Marine Corps leaders say no problem. Navy leaders say no way. Top Air Force leaders have cleared them for takeoff…
And embodying the contradictions that define the Army…
The sergeant major of the Army is thinking about training for his next marathon in them, but Army officials have banned them from the PT test…
Unit commanders have the authority to (dis)allow them in unit physical training but they can't be used in the physical fitness test. Why?
…worries they might give some soldiers an unfair advantage.
C'mon guys. They aren't ACME rocket shoes or have springs in them. Saying these things would give you an unfair advantage is just stupid. Since they're designed to replicate barefoot running (and really all they do is provide a thin layer of rubber under your foot to protect it from abrasions and punctures) what the Army is really saying is that they want to maintain the disadvantage of making soldiers more susceptible to injury and poorer performance by requiring the use of traditional running shoes. I think this was the same dopey argument used in opposing the use of running shoes in the first place and defending the use of combat boots in physical fitness training. Hey, but don't take my word for it:
Down at Kandahar, however, military doctors are encouraging their use and even prescribing them for recovering runners.
"VFFs are the best thing out there for rehabilitating lower extremity injuries," says Navy doctor and physical therapist Lt. Cmdr. John Mahoney at Kandahar.
There are a couple of us at my unit that use these and we've accepted the scorn 'traditionalists' throw our way. One particularly sweet moment was when a few of us were leaving the base gym while some SF soldiers were there. One stopped me to talk about the Five Fingers and mentioned how much he loved them.
Whoa…two seconds later, guys who were suggesting that my shoes could guarantee me entry in the San Francisco Gay Pride parade were suddenly agreeing at how cool they were and how they needed to get a pair. In short, the same thing the commander above noticed:
"Once Navy SEALs start wearing them, everybody in Virginia Beach wants to wear them," he says.
I get the fact that my rather scrawny physique doesn't exactly exude credibility when it comes to physical fitness issues but give me some credit here.
Anyway, I haven't run in traditional running shoes for well over a year now and was hoping to use my five fingers on my PT test next month. Well, nertz to that, I guess. That might make things a bit difficult since you do have to change the way you run when you switch back to running shoes. Oh well, at least I'll have a built in excuse if my running time isn't any good.


text:
Fallstreak Hole
[744x1392] [852x1608]
[1600x1200] [2560x1440]
The war of the worlds has begun! Because of their rarity and unusual appearance, fallstreak holes, or punch hole clouds, are often attributed to UFOs because they form as large circular gaps in cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds. They form in these high to mid-level clouds which are comprised of tiny water droplets that are below the freezing temperature but have not yet frozen (called supercooled water droplets). Airplanes passing through the cloud help the supercooled water droplets freeze. Air expands and cools as it passes over the wings and the propellor blades, decreasing the ambient temperature just enough to allow the droplets to freeze. The ice crystals grow and start to fall, while causing the water droplets around the ice crystals to evaporate. This leaves a large hole in the cloud with brush-like streaks of ice falling below it.
Click on the posters below to learn more about the conditions and to download free high-res print and postcard files!


text:
And I am back! It's been a bit too long since I last posted and I truly apologize! I hope you had an amazing Christmas! We sure did! We had a great time with our families and were so blessed! I have been so busy with wreaths! My etsy shop has had amazing sales all fall and into the Holiday season! I also did an amazing craft sale and did amazing at the end of November! I love being creative and that my wreaths are selling! I have some great ideas for Valentines Day and some other new ideas too! My plan so I can do more sales next fall is to make flowers all year long in preparation!But I am looking forward to being able to paper craft! It's been so long since I've last posted that I do have quite a bit to post. And while Christmas is passed oh well I still feel like sharing it, I will just do it in a large mammoth post!
I wanted to share a card I had published in the November/December 2013 issue of Paper Crafts magazine! I was lucky enough to have a card and treat published in this issue! I love this card and when I made it I really thought it would get picked up, it fit three categories in the magazine, sequins, shaped card, and stamps and die combo!
For the last day of school for Ariel's class I made chocolate covered pretzel sticks. I made half with chocolate and skor bits (like heath crunch) did you know that Skor bits have Almonds as a second ingredient, me either! So I had to make a second batch since no nuts at school! I also made up a bunch to give to teachers. And to hand out to the school office workers. The night before I decided to make tags for them using some Hero Arts stamps and tag die (nothing like the last minute oh well) I loved every minute! Even though I haven't paper crafted much this fall that night showed me how much I still find joy in it!
I also made a few tags for gifts. Okay I made all the tags for gifts but I forgot to take pictures of all of them. Whoops!
When making tags last minute while wrapping gifts (so it matches the paper! not because you procrastinated) using images that you stamped before is a quick way to get it done!
Here's a gift bag I made to hold a white elephant gift!
And I shall leave you with our Holiday card this year! I made it myself using pic monkey! I made the collage with fall photos we had done, had them printed 5 by 7 at Costco and than trimmed the sides so it was a 5 by 5 card. Much cheaper and more personal and it didn't take me long at all!
Summer of Stamping with Brandi!
5 hours ago


text:
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Some mining e-cards redux
As is right and proper, there are exceptions to rules. After bemoaning yesterday the lack of any sort of human touch and thought put into the plethora of mediocre seasonal greetings cards received from mining companies, I want to show you a rare example of the opposite: A mass-coverage greetings card that's a pleasure to receive and reflects positively on the company behind it:
click to enlarge
You see, IR dumbasses of Canadian junior mining companies? These mass mailshot things can be done well, it just takes a little of your time away from one of your extended lunchbreaks to do it.
It just so happens that I'm long Lara Exploration (LRA.v), too. And it's a near-sure thing that the quality of thought behind the card and the fact that I'm a holder of the company stock are not coincidental.
Iwnattos on the Silvercorp (SWM) news
If it escaped your notice, Thursday and Friday brought news that the BCSC has charged a short seller with fraud for first shorting and then publishing his short position and argument against Silvercorp (SWM) (SWM.to). The amount of lizard brain kneejerk shown by the BCSC in this case leaves your author staggering and wondering just how rotten the core of the Canadian capital market truly is (even worse than I thought would mean a very very muchlot and big amount on top, with cherry, believe me). It's particularly amazing because even though the main accusations of the short positions way back then, starting with the top call of SWM overstating grade, have been shown by time to be true, the BCSC ignores all evidence and decides to whack the shorter on one or two parts of his call that haven't turned out to be to the letter.
I mean, can you imagine if Bill Ackman were accused of fraud by the SEC in the US for his now infamous HLF short? After all, he 1) built his position and then 2) announced it by 3) laying out a detailed case that 4) has been shown to have flaws. He may well be guilty of dumbassery, but guilty of criminal fraud and in danger of jailtime? But that's exactly what the BCSC stance is here towards a market participant who has dared to bet his cash on a company to the downside. Stupid, stupid, stupid people running the show in Canada who cannot see that the promotion of shortside trading would go a long way to help clean up its sordid capital market, they just have to side with the crony capitalism and try to stamp out any semblance of normal before it starts to sprout.
Anyway, enough of my ranting, Iwnattoss has written a strong piece on the BCSC and SVM and the short fraud accusations, you can read it right here.
Round Nine! The "Friday-Night-Bury-That-News-While-Market-Players-Are-At-Happy-Hour" NR stakes
There were plenty in the running for this week's award, but all are trumped by this short, sweet and nasty one from Colossus Minerals (CSI.to), a company that's just lost its lender of last resort.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 20, 2013) - Colossus Minerals Inc. (CSI.TO)(COLUF) ("Colossus" or the "Company") On Friday, December 20, 2013 the Company was advised by Arias Resource Capital Fund II L.P. and Arias Resource Capital Fund II (Mexico) L.P. (together, the "ARC Funds") that the ARC Funds would not be proceeding with the two tranche financing previously announced on December 18, 2013.
Somebody's talked some sense into Beto. This also explains that very hefty late-day selling in CSI and perchance your author's call concerning the need for the correct course of capitalism will now come true sooner than expected.
The Friday OT: Robert Earl Keen; Merry Christmas from the Family
For the 5th year running, IKN's Friday OT features the world's greatest ever Christmas song.
Carve the turkey turn the ball game on.
Bolivia in SPAAAAAAAACE
Yes indeed, just a few minutes ago Bolivia joined the space community via its Tupac Katari satellite, launched (Evo Morales went over to mission control in China, especially for the big occasion) and successfully deployed by Chinese rockets (China also helped fund most of the $300m cost of the thing via a Chinese Development Bank loan). The satellite's main job is to improve country telecommunications (most clients will be the 3m or so Bolivians who live in rural areas as yet without telco coverage) and joins Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela on the list of South American countries with their own machines in SPAAAAAAACE.
Some mining e-cards
When it comes to those year-end greetings that fill up our professional mailboxes, it's the amount of time spent on their creation and personalization that's most appreciated.
- You, the mining or mining related company, spend about a nanosecond of true creative thought on the subject.
- We, the recipients, think you are jerk-offs of the highest order.
So "Happy Holidays!!!!" right back at you guys, sent with precisely the same amount of love and spirit from the jerk-off at IKN.
The random nature of TSX delisting reviews
A couple of kind readers have nudged IKN Nerve Centre towards the news this morning that the TSX has placed Colossus Minerals (CSI.to) on delisting review. Which is fair enough I suppose, considering what we know now, but it does make you wonder just how the TSX decides on which companies to consider for delisting.
Take for example Liberty Silver (LSL.to), a company that's an obvious scam, run by an obvious scumbag in Bobby Genovese and has crashed and burned even more than CSI. But there's also the mysterious way in which it was given a full TSX "dot tee oh" listing straight off the bat. And the way in which TSX bigwigs were supposedly brought onside by the fetid slime that is Genovese (many rumours abound, all of which revolve around the transfer of currency) in order to secure that listing before the big rip-off pump began. And the way in which it never stood a hope in hell with its bullshit property, unlike CSI (hey, 20/20 and all that but at least Serra Pelada looked like a potential mine for a while).
So why is the TSX chasing after the likes of Colossus Minerals and studiously ignoring the type of stock it should have delisted many moons ago? The random, discriminatory and biased nature of these black box decisions makes the TSX bigcheeses look suspect, that's minimum.
How to get a "social licence" in Peru
Last night, Southern Peru (SCCO) complied with the law, had its final "social audience" meeting with locals near to the Tia Maria project in the Islay region of coastal Peru and received its so-called "social licence", a piece of paper it gets from the government which is a legal requirement for any mine project looking to get its key Environment Impact Permit approved. And as usual the whole process was one very large farce. In this case, it went something like this:
- Inside the meeting hall in the town of Cocachacra, 1,200 people assembled to hear SCCO do its thing. Which they did.
- Of those 1,200 people, those against the mine's development were very thin on the ground despite the overwhelming majority of Islay locals being against the project. Also, those against the mine, including the local priest (not normally known for telling fibs) were adamant that the assembly was filled with people shipped in from locations outside Islay and were being paid to attend by the mining company. Just the same as in other meetings, in fact.
- But even then, there was no sort of vote or formal public approval process. According to the justice-seen-to-be-done artificial Peru system, all SCCO has to do is give its presentation and hold its meeting, no sort of yea or nay decision is required, looked for or received. The people inside the hall may as well have been mannequins.
- Meanwhile, outside the hall with 1,200 people were 2,000 police officers, fully equipped with riot gear, as well as a couple of riot containment vehicles (armour plating, water cannon etc). Their job was to keep thousands of real locals away from the hall; the protesters who are against the mine project weren't allowed to attend the social audience meeting because we wouldn't want to encourage a real debate at a meeting now, would we? Anyhow, the police did a good enough job (according to all media reports), with just a few skirmish-type incidents in outlying areas and a few tear gas canisters to upset the near-total success of the containment operation.
And so, Peru's State news agency gets to trumpet the whole process, everybody happy, merry navidad and a prosperous año nuevo for all, right? And later down the line, when SCCO gets its EIA permit (because that's a given now) everybody will swear blind that the locals approved of the mine plan back in 2013. They'll also scratch their heads and wonder just why they're all suddenly protesting against the development, blocking roads, causing mayhem etc when SCCO tries to start the build-out.
The bottom line is that there was no due process yesterday evening in Islay: Sure there was a nice bit of theatre designed to comply with a national law and there is a decent overtime payment or two for a bunch of police officers who just got their turkey paid for by Southern Copper, but any resemblance to the reality of Tia Maria and the true granting of local approval via a social licence that's worth its salt was about a light year away. Thus ends another chapter of emerging market country* bliss.
*Can't say 3rd world or banana republic any more: They don't like it, or its out of fashion or something. Dunno why.
Chart of the day is...
...gold, monthlies:
And here's a suggestion for Scotia's esteemed mining analysts
If you're going to have opinions on Pan American Silver's La Colorada mine that people will consider worthy of consideration, try spelling the name of the mine correctly. Y'know, first impressions and pretending to know Spanish in-house, cos there's pedantic typo picking and there's multiple uses of basic crass errors, such as the word La going with ColoradO.
Or as an alternative, hire somebody who speaks Spanish to cover your Spanish language region projects. Because you don't. And it freakin' well shows.
Good reading on Bill Ackman's Herbalife (HLF) short
It's one year old today, so ¡Feliz Cumple! to Bill Ackman's mega-wrong short on Herbalife (HLF). On the subject, highly recommended reading is this from a newly discovered blog, Bored with the Noise. A fine overview as to just how wrong our star market person Ackman has been and continues to be on HLF.
A blog is not a newswire
For your information:
If you do not understand the difference between a blog such as IKN and a newswire service such as Reuters, AP etc, you should not read this blog. Ever. Because if you don't understand the difference between a blog and a newswire service you are a very, very stupid person and shouldn't read business news of any type, let alone be responsible for any sort of money flow through the markets, yours or other people's money.
Yours, bored with morons, Otto.
Yours, bored with morons, Otto.
Mo' Aurcana (AUN.v)
Instead of pointing the finger at the bullshit liar Lenic Rodriguez this time (though he's still as guilty as fuck of being a bullshit liar, that hasn't changed a jot) let us expand our catchment of the liars and bullshitters that populate this sorry tale that is Shafter.
Step forward, Jack W. Burgess, PE, of 165 Windover Lane, Corrales, New Mexico 87048, United States of America. Jack Burgess and his company, JB Consulting, is the man responsible for the 267 page work of fiction known as the 2011 Shafter Feasibility Study, the very study that contained key data described as "an inconsistent predictor of tons and grade" by AUN.v on December 12th 2013 (yup, we had to wait that long for those AUN fuckers to hire somebody who was reliable and had the guts to speak truth to power) and that once a re-do of the 43-101 were complete it would result in "...a significant reduction in the aggregate mineral resource estimate as compared with the mineral resource estimate contained in the June 2011 amended feasibility study".
So, close-knit mining community, can you see to it that Jack Burgess is struck off for being a liar? Or will it be just another case of you self-serving pieces of shit passing the blame from one desk to another and nobody is responsible for your pisspoor system?
Aurcana (AUN.v) news: Shafter shafted
I laughed.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 19, 2013) - Aurcana Corporation ("Aurcana" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AUN)(AUNFF) wishes to provide an update as to the status of its Shafter Project. The Aurcana Board of Directors, after careful consideration and review of the development and mining options for the Shafter Project under current economic conditions and low silver prices, has elected to put the Shafter Project on "care and maintenance". Employees were notified Wednesday, December 18, 2013.Aurcana is planning to initiate an exploration program designed to test targets within Shafter's known mineralized areas in further detail, to help determine whether additional higher grade mineralization can be delineated. Aurcana geologists have identified areas of interest to justify such a program.Lenic Rodriguez, Aurcana's President and CEO, states "Aurcana's management and its board of directors are very disappointed that (another batch of Lenic bullshit follows here)
$1,200 again?
Yup, $1,200/oz again.
Chart of the day is...
...the gold/silver ratio, 12 months:
The trend is clear and the moving averages indicate more of the same, within the daily fluctuations and noise of course. Or put another way, you think gold's had a hard year?
South American Silver (SAC.to)
Wassat you say, guv? Wot? Me?
Nah, nowt t'do wi me, mate.
(exit stage left, hands in pockets, quietly whistling)
The IAMGOLD (IMG.to) (IAG) strategy in Colombia: When in hole, keep digging
Not satisfied with its previous forays into third party juniors in Colombia for example...
Buying 15.38m shares of Tolima Gold for $10m (those are now worth $0.46m)
Buying 11m shares of Bellhaven Copper & Gold for $6.05m (those are now worth $0.36m)
Buying 12m shares of Colombia Crest for $3.42m (those are now worth $1.2m)
...FireSteve Letwin of I! AM! GOLD! (IMG.to) (IAG) today decides to earmark another $36m of his company's cash on a third party junior mining project in Colombia, with Solvista (SVV.v) the recipient of the
kiss of death welcome sponsorship. That instead of IMG paying shareholders their half-yearly dividend that would have cost the company about $47m of its treasury. Which is nice, isn't it?
Letwin should read up on what happens to company chiefs who double then triple down on their own deeply held convictions rather than face reality. Take the recent Eric Sprott happenings as your starter point, Stevie.
UPDATED: Colossus (CSI.to): We can safely say Sandstorm doesn't want to throw any more good money after bad
The 6 month interest payment was set to be around $1.6m, so that's where we are now with Colossus Minerals: From a company that blows through large sums from equity raises in a matter of months, to a company trying to save on $5m or so in interest payments over the next 13 months that wants the opportunity to raise cash via extremely dilutive equity placements in order to pay down debt. Here's the NR, here's the best bit:
As has been previously disclosed, Colossus is in dire financial circumstances. Colossus believes that the Noteholders' Resolution is necessary in order for it to improve its balance sheet in order to raise the short term equity financing needed to implement the Company's de-risking strategy and thereby make it more attractive to future investors and potential partners to a mergers and acquisitions transaction.
Cue Sultans of Swing as background music. What I like is the assumption behind it: "We've fucked you over with our woeful project execution, so now the best course of action is to trust us to be the company to bring this project to fruition." These are very, very stupid people and capitalism should be allowed to run its correct course on their sorry asses; foreclose them and throw them into the street.
UPDATE: That didn't take long. ARC Fund bites the bullet, the swimming pool dilutive placement is outlined as well as a loan that pays 20% per annum (!!) interest. Details here
UPDATE: That didn't take long. ARC Fund bites the bullet, the swimming pool dilutive placement is outlined as well as a loan that pays 20% per annum (!!) interest. Details here
Phoque it
Pamela Anderson (yeah, her, the Baywatch thing and all that) and one of the co-creators of The Simpsons take a trip over to St Johns, Newfoundland, to protest on seal hunting and offer locals a cheque for $1m to stop the culling. Hilarity ensues.
h/t reader MM
h/t reader MM
Belo Sun (BSX.to): Meet the neighbours, Stan
Care to know a little more about the people who'd eventually be affected by a gold mine if Belo Sun (BSX.to) gets its way? National Geographic has this big and highly interesting feature on the locals.
And while you're reading, see if you can work out just why they don't want the mine to happen. Y'know, I bet you can do it without any extra help.
Good news for the bullshit promo sharks in junior mining: The action in Carpathian Gold (CPN.to) proves there are still a whole bunch of suckers out there
I'd like to make it clear that I don't really have a problem with Carpathian Gold (CPN.to) itself right now; after all, it's only promoting itself as a corporate entity that wishes to survive, so it puts its best foot forward on a sketchy story and polishes it in order to shine the most amount of positive light its way.
Which is how capitalism works. Nah, the problem here is that the people buying into this story don't have a single clue about what they're buying. Listen up, folks:
1) As at end 3q13, before CPN explained to the world that it was facing a nasty cash crunch, it had a working capital of negative $102.524m (with very little of that in real cash) and on top of that, another $43m in long-term financial debt. The only thing balancing the sheets at that point was its declared property values (and if you think, for example, that its Romanian snafu is worth $50m, then jolly good luck is wished upon you) but as this isn't an asset story, it's a liquidity and (supposedly) cash generation story, what really matters isn't some mutually convenient fixed asset value but the financial parts of the balance.2) At end 3q13, it had 694.17m shares out. That means today's 12c share price gives it a market cap of $83.3m.3) According to its own Feasibility Study (that by way of a slight sidebar is looking a little long in the tooth, what with the changes in costs in the industry since its publication), at U$1,250/oz gold RDM has an after-tax 5% discount NPV of $172m.4) So therefore, even if we take a couple of giant leaps of faith, assume this perenially underperforming management team stops being crap and starts delivering 100% on its promises and then things go perfectly with operations at RDM, the NPV of the RDM project is less than the combination of the negative working cap and the current market cap. That's without even mentioning the LT debt portion.
And as far as I can see, the only logical reason for this is that the people currently buying up CPN shares because they're "cheap" and "it's going to be a producing gold mine" do not have a single clue about the definition of the word "equity", have never seen a set of financials open before them in their entire lives, if they have they didn't understand what was in front of them, or in this case, just haven't bothered looking. Quite possibly, three of those four can apply concurrently.
So anyway, scumbag promo sharks, take heart; there are still a whole bunch of idiot goldbug rubes out there, so all you need to do is wait for the storm to pass and it'll be busines as usual. CPN shows that.
Your gold mining Rorschach test of the week, courtesy of Argonaut (AR.to) and True Gold (TGM.v)
First the scenario: The world has offered up two interesting projects NR this morning:
1) The pre-feas of the large-ish Magino project, owned by Argonaut Gold (R.to), with a post-tax 18% IRR using $1,250/oz gold. Lots more details here.
2) The PEA (scoping study) of the smallish Karma project, owned by True Gold (TGM.v), with a post-tax 43.1% IRR using $1,250/oz gold. Again, mull over the details at the company NR, here.
It's interesting that both these projects have tipped their hats to the prevailing market atmosphere and used U$1,250/oz gold for their headline numbers. It's also interesting that they've managed to return mining plans that return either acceptable economics for a large project or strong economics for a small project (though earlier stage). I'd contend that in a decent market, these are the type of fundamentally good NRs that bring positive movement to the stocks and get them re-ratings.
And so to the test: We discount immediate reaction (eg this morning) and set the clock for, say, Thursday evening. Right now AR.to is priced at $5.43 and TGM.v is 38.5c, so let's see how those prices sit at the end of three days of market because if these projects can't bring love to these stocks, gawd help us all.
A brand new U$40Bn gold company to be created in 2014
And there's no catch at all. Unless you think there's anything at all that could go wrong or that there's a chance that this JV between Venezuelan State oil company PDVSA and the Venezuela Central Bank is being slightly overvalued from the outset. Here's State wire AVN (translated)
Caracas, 16 December AVN: The Vice-President of the Economy, Rafael Ramirez, said on Monday that a JV gold company would be created by the Venezuela Central Bank and PDVSA."The only partner of the State oil company in this JV will be the Venezuela Central Bank", said Ramirez, who is also the minister of petroleum and mines, during a press conference."The company is very important because PDVSA, via the Venezuela Mining Corporation, has been granted the rights over 92 billion* ounces of gold," he said.Ramirez pointed out that this JV company is valued at U$40Bn, and would contribute to the re-launching of the Venezuelan] gold sector in 2014.He added that the make-up of this JV company will allow the State to receive a larger amount of the gold that's produced in the country
*NOT an error: The report quotes Ramirez as saying "92 mil millones de onzas de oro" which is 92 thousand million ounces of gold, i.e. 92 Billion with a B
The badly reported Barrick (ABX) Pascua Lama layoffs story
The weekend brought headlines about how Barrick (ABX) was laying off 1,500 workers from the Argentina 'Lama' side of its Pascua Lama snafu. But the story has been badly reported in any of the English language notes, because the 1500 job losses isn't the real issue, the real issue is how 3,500 will still be working there when Barrick wanted to can them all. Here's how it was explained in IKN241, out yesterday:
Argentina: Barrick cuts 1,500 jobs at Pascua Lama ArgentinaThe decent local media channel covering the Northeastern Argentina region, El Diario Del Cuyo, first reported a story on Friday (13) which was then picked up by regional media and even made English language copy by yesterday Saturday (e.g. here's Reuters, reporting about ¾ of the story (14)). The need to know is:Of the 4,800 to 5,000 workers employed at Lama (the number varies), which is the Argentina side of the Pascua Lama project, the 3,500 workers who are residents of San Juan are being kept on until end April minimum. The other 1,300 to 1,500 workers, said to be comprised of 400 foreign nationals and around 1,000 Argentines from other provinces, are being laid off.At a best guess, the decision to employ the 3,500 (pre-crisis there were around 10,000 workers at Lama) instead of trimming workforce to the bone as was originally planned, will cost Barrick around U$30m until April and around U$70m if employed to the end of 2014. This would roughly double the U$60m ABX had originally set aside for care and maintenance costs in 2014 for the Lama end of the project, however it's the veritable drop in a bucket compared to the overall U$5Bn+ already thrown at the project.The decision to keep on the 3,500 local workers is almost certainly politically motivated and comes after some negotiations. As noted in the very interesting report linked on the blog last week (15) ABX was coming under pressure from the San Juan province to keep paying salaries, with the big bargaining chip being the "continued well-being" of Veladero, the ABX gold mine that lies South of the Pascua Lama project and also in San Juan. The provincial government's strategy may not have been very subtle, but it's probably the difference between full-scale lay-offs and the 3,500 who'll keep on receiving salaries. Also, the inference is that the April 2014 minimum employment will likely get extended, else cause "problems" for the other mine. It's how business is done in Argentina, ladies and gentlemen, though the April minimum decision does give ABX the chance to play hardball come the time, which is always a possibility if the world gold market deteriorates further. We shall see.Changing the subject slightly, we also had plenty of talk floating around the Southern Hemisphere last week that Barrick is actively looking for a Chinese JV partner to move Pascua Lama forward, one example of many this report in Chile's best biznews paper (16), which is one of those unsubstantiated rumours that makes a lot of sense. But as the saying goes down here, "Hay un gran trecho entre dicho y hecho" (close enough is "there's a big gap between word and deed") and as ABX really doesn't have much in the way of kudos to lose at this point in the South, there's no reason to suppose the propagation of the jungledrums equates to a near-done deal this time, either.
"The Trouble With 43-101": Garth Kirkham speaks for the defence
This next installment of "The Trouble With 43-101" brings something of a change from the tone of previous posts, both here and over at Mineweb. Peer respected geologist Garth Kirkham is the Chair of the Best Practices Committee of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), i.e. the people who created, regulate and are in charge of the NI43-101 standard.
Kirkham today takes the stand and offers a robust defence of the current 43-101 system and once again, I leave you with his words and no further comment.
Firstly, I believe in NI43-101 and its purpose of protecting the investing public. My first reaction to the comments, especially from a couple of mid-tier publically listed companies, along with a variety of anonymous anecdotal comments, is to discount and disprove.
I must say that the comments by Conway and Johnson should give us all cause for concern in so far as they are saying that all of the projects that they own are garbage because the underlying reports are garbage. Have they listed these risks in the annual MD&A's? Perhaps they are just referring to everyone else's? Not sure but I have only seen a small part of the interview. However based on their commitment to short anything NI43-101…are they shorting their own companies? I would suggest before these "relatively" influential persons call something that is designed to protect their shareholders a "joke" that they consider the bigger picture. As a shareholder of either company, I would be highly concerned that the C suite doesn't believe in the company, whose assets are valued based on the existence of the resources and reserves under NI43-101, nor does the C suite appear to believe in the industry. Again, I am only seeing a small part of the interview so I am sure there is a simple explanation and perhaps this was just off the cuff comments.
A number of comments that followed are attributed to an "old timer". I respect the fact that anyone of advanced age and experience has stuck with this industry this long, through the good, the bad and the ugly. Notwithstanding the "old timers" did find/develop many, many mines in the past, and have a wealth of historical and practical knowledge. However, I also find that selective memory, myth, anecdote, etc. tend to creep into perceptions, beliefs which gets communicated, as it is here, and given the weight of fact because of the revered source. That said, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion but I would like to try to dispel or clarify some on the misconceptions and misinformation, at least to the extent that I understand it.
Of particular vexation is the statement that he (and others) has very little respect for NI 43-101 because of the QP concept. He talks about the state certified geologist being a QP but under NI 43-101, state certified geologists are not Qualified Persons under NI 43-101. It is true that the NI43-101 system does hinge on the concept of the qualified person and I agree that it can be extremely difficult to hold QP's to account especially in foreign jurisdictions. I do agree that of there are issues and complexities related to investigation, accountability and responsibility. There are many "self regulating associations" that regulate engineers and geoscientists in Australia, US, Canada, South Africa, Europe, etc., that have varying and differing concepts related to NI 43-101. However, if any association does not have "protection of the public" as one of its prime tenants, mission statements, visions, then it follows that they are focused on membership and by extension protection of their members. These organizations should not be recognized professional organizations under NI 43-101, in my opinion.
So in support of the "old timer", there are accepted organizations that are accepted under NI43-101 that firstly do not appear to have the public interest in my opinion, as their primary goal but also do not have any practical way for the public to launch a complaint. It is also disturbing that, in many cases, it is difficult for the general public, to get a listing of members to insure that the QP's are even qualified or are what they say they are.
The comments related JORC, CIM Standards, NI43-101, etc. and that no one is accountable is patently untrue. Under NI43-101 the QP is responsible! However, the company is responsible for how they use and disseminate the technical information and the QP consents to specific use of their technical information.
The statement that the QP can "disclaim", "hold harmless" are absolutely and completely false. No author of a NI 43-101 can disclaim any technical information and the only exceptions are with respect to legal, environmental, social, marketing, etc. however these items must still be covered. So the statement that any QP can disclaim is false!
The answer to; "who is watching???", "why isn't anyone doing something about this???" when there are issues or egregious events is…us all. It is up to us, the professionals and the industry to self police and if there are significant issues then it is up the professional, self regulatory industries to investigate and discipline.
However, peer review and peer pressure can also be very effective. It is difficult to criticize and hold other geoscientists to task. There is no whistle blower protection and if it gets to a court of law then it would certainly come down to one expert's opinion against another. However, there exists the concept of the "Reasonable Person" defense and loosely explained it is "what would another reasonable professional/peer, do and would they come up with the same conclusions, under the same circumstances".
What is the real world? There has to be a complaint with the Professional Association. Was there in the case of the violated CA and what was the case? If so what was the result? If not then, why not?
On the resource comments, the comments appear to have little to do with resource than with other factors and although the thoughts are a little disjointed the "old timer" does a good job of indentifying some poignant issues:
1. The idea of the "no soup for you" with respect to the client-consultant relationship is not correct. It is paramount that independence is insured; however it is not a dictate by any means. And at the end of the day, the client is entitled to a second or even third opinion. But I agree that the client can feel "bullied" at times. In my opinion, a consultant working in a vacuum without input and guidance from the people who know the deposit best is not good practice. Certainly, the consultant must determine when and if they are being influenced or if there is an attempt to bias the results. These instances must be detected, noted and then penalized but to not consider input from the client under the auspices of independence is not in the best interest of the project or the shareholders in my opinion.
2. On cutoff, our "old timer" is exercising a time honored tradition of "back of the napkin" economics. The reason for sensitivities are simple…called price fluxuations! The last 5 years have shown us that predicting future metal prices is a difficult exercise to say the least.
3. On the Feasibility comment, my interpretation of the issue is that it had nothing to do with bulk sample and everything to do with the estimation of the potential resource and whether it had a "reasonable prospect of economic extraction". However, Strathcona did exactly what the "old timer" wanted and expected from a professional which was identify what they believe to be significant risks to the project and make those abundantly clear to the client. At the end of the day, the consultant must decide and is obliged, under NI43-101, to make this known to the public. Right or wrong, Strathcona, as per their commitment to protect the public, performed excellently in my opinion!
4. The one comment I absolutely agree with is related to the underground vein scenario. I agree that these types of deposits and especially the estimating the resources/reserves are extremely difficult. CIM definitions and by extension NI43-101 are not effective in adequately addressing resources and especially reserves for vein deposits. Creating exploration drifts to drill off a vein makes no sense when you might as well drift on the vein and mine the damn thing. I think that we need to treat these differently but this is a topic for another time.
My point is…NI 43-101 is a guidance and reporting format that is designed to protect the average investor. It is easy to say "this is crap", "doesn't protect anyone", "needs to be much more perceptive", "needs to be less", …. arm chair quarterbacking at its best. For Conway and Johnson to state that they would short more than long is saying that 50% of the companies and their underlying work is flawed and by extension false and misleading. I dispute that claim. If they believe that then perhaps someone will ask which of the two of them is below low tide. Again, I only was able to see a small part of the interview and perhaps their comments were taken out of context. I do hope so.
The concept of NI43-101 hinges on the Qualified Person and I agree that there are chinks in the armor. However, I will defend and protect it, not because of what I do but because I do believe that it brings standards, best practices and uniformity to complex technical data in a way that can be understood by all stakeholders…and it is the law.
Best regards,
Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., Qualified Person under NI43-101
President, Kirkham Geosystems Ltd.
Chair, CIM Best Practices Committee
APEGBC Councilor
The IKN Weekly, out now
IKN241 has just been sent to subscribers. 13,000 words, 26 pages, four or five new long ideas and a couple of short ideas, too. Numbers numbers, always numbers.
Labels: otto, the IKN weekly
The top city in which to do business in Latin America...isn't in Latin America
America Economia has the ranking of the top LatAm cities in which to do business and somewhat strangely (though think about it for more than a second and it makes perfect sense), Miami in The USA is top of the heap. Then comes Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Mexico City (Mexico) and Panama City (Panama) rounds out the top five.
The whole list, with 44 cities listed and plenty of stats detail for your consideration, is right here.
Peru presidential polling: Ollanta finishes the year on...
...25%, his lowest ever score:
Because he sucks, apparently. Nadine's at 32%, if you're keeping count of that one. Data from Peru's benchmark pollster, Ipsos.
Robert Frost's sonnet, Design, is best read on a Sunday:
I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,
On a white heal-all, holding up a moth
Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth --
Assorted characters of death and blight
Mixed ready to begin the morning right,
Like the ingredients of a witches' broth --
A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,
And dead wings carried like a paper kite.
What had that flower to do with being white,
The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?
What brought the kindred spider to that height,
Then steered the white moth thither in the night?
What but design of darkness to appall?--
If design govern in a thing so small.
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Bibliotheca Americana: Bibliotheca americana et philippina (2 vols.)
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I don't think it's a big secret that my passion is yoga. The asana, the pranayama, the meditation, the focus, the self discovery, the divine connection, I eat it up. My view of what yoga actually is comes from study and practice, and it's mostly a classical one. So when I was checking out the latest yoga news, I ran across a rather different approach to yoga that intrigued me. YogaSlackers are a group of yoga practitioners who practice their asanas not on a mat, but suspended on a piece of 1" flat, stretchy tubular webbing (like rock climbers use) tensioned between two anchor points above the ground.
Most of the time I would disregard this adaptation of yoga as a fad that has no real relationship to the discipline of yoga. Lately there has been an explosion of practices and people who are adding the term "yoga" onto their approach, from Yoga Facelift to Yogalates, Laughter Yoga to Naked Yoga, and please let's not forget the Yoga Booty Ballet craze (just writing that brings a tear to my eye). But are any of these practices really yoga? By my definition, no. But these YogaSlackers might be on to something.
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They are a group of adventure yogis exploring the practice of yoga on a thin rope suspended off the ground and discovering "an explosion of consciousness" in the process. I've always been intrigued by the level of focus and concentration that goes into these adrenaline-driven "extreme sports" like climbing, slacklining, and kayaking. It just seems logical that purposefully hanging off a rock hundreds of feet above the ground brings you into a state of Samadhi. So when this group of renegade yogis started practicing asana on a slackline, they took this classical practice to new heights. The presentation might be original, but the points of practice seem to be strikingly familiar. For example, concentration and focus seem to be a requirement lest you find yourself crumpled in a ball on the ground because you turned to look at bird or feel the wind, and as far as self discovery and liberation from the mind-stuff, well, just approaching this practice requires you to drop away most of your personal boundaries and surrender to a higher awareness in order to find the freedom instead of becoming paralyzed by fear.
As fascinating as it sounds, though, you probably won't find me doing ardha chandrasana on a slackline anytime soon. My advice to you is to approach any practice deemed yoga cautiously but with an open mind. Don't be too quick to assume that just because it says "Yoga" that it comes anywhere close to the constantly evolving discipline that was cognized many millennia ago, but in turn, be aware that the fortitude of this practice comes from it's ability to change to meet the needs of the current day practitioners. So explore, question, and experiment with this journey of yoga, then tell us all about it!


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The story of Hammerin' Hank is coming to the big screen. Variety reports that producers Mike Tollin and Glenn Rigberg have acquired the rights to baseball great Hank Aaron's life story. Furthermore, they've set The Natural director Barry Levinson to helm from a script by Adam Mazer (Empire State). The story will be based on Howard Bryant's book The Last Hero: The Life Story of Henry Aaron and "will follow the right fielder's chase of Babe Ruth's home run record from 1972 to 1974. Spoiler alert: Aaron finally eclipsed Ruth's record with his 715th home run in April of 1974. Hit the jump for more.
This isn't the only baseball biopic in the works, as Jackie Robinson's story is being brought to life in 42. The film chronicles Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey's work to eradicate segregation in baseball, with Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford set as Robinson and Rickey, respectively. Levinson has been hit and miss as of late, but I'm excited to see him returning to familiar territory. He won the Oscar for Best Director with 1988's Rain Man, and he's recently been working on bringing Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father to the screen.
That project has had trouble getting off the ground, but if I had to choose between Levinson's Gotti movie and Levinson's Hank Aaron movie, I'd go with Aaron every day of the week. Hopefully casting gets underway soon and production can start some time this year. I've embedded a video of Aaron talking about his career during a recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman below.


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The Rolling Stones are ready to get back on the road after postponing their North American tour because Mick Jagger needed medical treatment.
President Donald Trump used a ceremony for fallen law enforcement officers on Wednesday to criticize big-city prosecutors he asserts don't go after criminals who pose a severe threat to public safety. He singled out prosecutors in Chicago and Philadelphia.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted a full pardon to Conrad Black, a former newspaper publisher whose media empire once included the Chicago Sun-Times and The Daily Telegraph of London.
Producers made the announcement Thursday, saying the production playing at downtown Chicago's CIBC Theatre would close Jan. 5, 2020.
Watch the May 16, 2019 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."
Liliya Hrabar was arrested in February for driving Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno's stolen vehicle, but says she was given permission to use the car by the embattled 1st Ward alderman, who allegedly lied about the theft.
The young American photographer Brendan Hoffman tells us about his show at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.
The body of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was found early Wednesday. She was last seen leaving her high school on April 23, the same day paramedics were called to a home several miles away on the Southwest Side about a newborn with problems breathing.
An iconic volunteer organization has a worldwide reach – and Chicago roots. We take a look inside the renovations underway at the home of Rotary International founder Paul Harris.
A 46-year-old woman who allegedly lured Marlen Ochoa-Lopez to her Southwest Side home under the guise of giving her baby clothes is now among three people who have been charged in the teen's murder.
Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot unveils an ambitious 100-day plan. We talk to experts about what the future holds under a Lightfoot administration.
The nonprofit Working Credit says understanding how credit ratings work and building your own credit rating is much easier than you might think – and even more important than you might know.
The election is a long way off, but current polls give the South Bend mayor a decent shot at the White House.
Nationally, black women die at a rate 3.3 times greater than white women, but the statistics in Illinois are even more grim.


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(Reuters) - Qatar has cashed in its remaining warrants in Britain's Barclays Plc (BARC.L), a move that should yield a $280 million profit and still leaves the sovereign wealth fund as the bank's top shareholder following a controversial fundraising in 2008.
Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) said they would sell up to 303.3 million shares - worth 740 million pounds - to comply with Qatar's request. They sold shares at 244 pence apiece, a 4 percent discount to Friday's closing share price, but did not confirm whether all the shares had been sold.
Qatar Holding said in a separate statement late on Sunday it had monetized its remaining holding of 379 million units of Barclays warrants - instruments that convert into shares - without affecting its 6.65 percent stake.
The warrants have not yet been converted, but can do so at 198 pence per share in the next year, which would reap a 180 million pound profit at current prices.
Conversion would bring in 750 million pounds for Barclays and lift its core Tier 1 capital ratio by about 20 basis points, but it would dilute the holding of shares by other investors.
The warrants were part of a controversial fundraising by Barclays at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, when it raised billions of pounds from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to avoid taking emergency funds from the UK government.
But existing shareholders said the terms offered to the new investors were too attractive, especially the warrants they were given as part of the deal.
Barclays is now being investigated by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Financial Services Authority (FSA), which are scrutinizing payments made by Barclays to Qatar as part of the 2008 fundraising.
Qatar is one of the most active sovereign wealth funds with assets of more than $100 billion and has snapped up significant stakes ranging from miner Xstrata XTA.L to German sports car maker Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) to oil major Shell (RDSa.L).
By 0600 EDT Barclays shares were down 4.1 percent at 243.7 pence, the biggest faller in the European bank index .SX7P.
Barclays remains a long term strategic investment for Qatar Holding and an important commercial partner, the sovereign wealth fund said.
"We remain a supportive strategic investor in Barclays, and maintain our confidence in the long-term prospects for the business," Qatar Holding CEO Ahmad Al-Sayed said in the statement.
Qatar had 814 million ordinary shares in Barclays at the end of October, making it the bank's largest single shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"Barclays welcomes Qatar Holding's message of confidence in its long term prospects and continues to appreciate the consistent support it has received since Qatar Holding became its largest shareholder," Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins said in one of the statements.
Barclays disclosed the FSA investigation when it released half-year results on July 27. It relates to fees paid to Qatar on deals in June and November 2008, when Barclays raised 11.5 billion pounds, avoiding selling shares to the British government.
The SFO is investigating "payments under certain commercial agreements" between Barclays and Qatar, the bank said on August 29.
In October 2009, Qatar sold a 1.4 billion pound stake in Barclays after converting warrants it had obtained in the 2008 fundraising into shares. It sold 379.2 million shares after exercising warrants at a price of 197.775 pence.
Barclays at the time was to receive 750 million pounds from the conversion of the warrants.
The bank has recently come under scrutiny regarding manipulation of benchmark interest rate Libor and could face fines over an investigation into the manipulation of power prices the United States.
Abu Dhabi, the other big investor alongside Qatar in October 2008, sold warrants in 2010, while also keeping most of its shares in the bank.
Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Steve Slater in London; Editing by Richard Pullin, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sophie Walker


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In the past few months of writing this blog, I've learned what a warm-hearted group of people the food-blogging community is, and today, in honor of Jennie's husband Mikey, who suddenly passed away last week, bloggers and food-lovers across the world are banding together for "Peanut Butter Pie Friday". Please visit In Jennie's Kitchen for Mikey's favorite Peanut Butter Pie recipe. Tonight, make this pie, or your sweetie's favorite dessert, for someone you love.
I did not know Jennie personally, but my heart goes out to her and her daughters during their time of sorrow. Since I did not have all the ingredients on hand to make the pie, I made instead Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Brownies, in honor and memory of Mikey.
(Adapted from a recipe for Snickers Cheesecake Brownies by Bakers Royale)
Brownie Layer:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Layer:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
- 1 pound miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut into halves
Preheat the oven to 400 F, and spray a square baking pan with non-stick spray.
In a microwave-safe bowl, or in a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring frequently until completely smooth. Pour into a mixing bowl and beat in sugar, vanilla and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour, and beat for one minute.
Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for 15-20 minutes, just until the sides are starting to pull away and the center looks set. Set pan in the freezer to cool down while you prepare the peanut butter layer.
Beat all of the Peanut Butter Cheesecake ingredients, except for the peanut butter cups, in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.
Remove the brownies from the freezer. Sprinkle half of the peanut butter cups on top of the brownies, then spread the peanut butter cheesecake filling on top. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned on top and set. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with the remaining peanut butter cups. Let cool for at least one hour before cutting. Refrigerate any leftovers.