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road.cc regular and early-onset Parkinson's sufferer appeals for help with the switch to three wheels
"It's changing my life in ways I could never have imagined," says Keith McRae of appeal to help him fund a recumbent trike
Can you help a fellow cyclist out? Keith McRae is just 28 years old but he's been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease. A long-term sufferer from depression, Keith's only escape is cycling, but the new diagnosis means that he'll have to switch from two wheels to three. Without the funds to set himself up with a recumbent trike he's turned to the cycling community for help, and the good news is he's already nearly half way there.
We don't know him as Keith round these parts, but as Gkam84; he's been a regular contributor on road.cc for a couple of years, racking up a post count in excess of even some of the people that work here full time; he's active on other cycling forums too. And it's thanks in no small part to the generosity of the forum-goers on this site that his trike fund has got this far. But it needs a boost, so Keith has also been approaching cycling teams and companies to donate prizes that he can auction or raffle to keep the money trickling in. So far he's already received items from Philippe Gilbert, Yanto Barker, Richard Mitchelson and a host of professional teams.
"My only passion in life is cycling," Keith says on his GoFundMe page. "I can escape everything while out on my bike. This has become almost impossible lately though, because my balance has become affected. I have tried asking friends, family, charities and companies for help with the expense of a new bike so that I am at least able to keep enjoying the one thing that gets me through all the bad times. I've even sold off my bikes I did have, without coming near the price of a recumbent." But the cycling community is rallying round to help get him back on two wheels. Well, three.
"I found it very hard to finally publish my GoFundMe page, not knowing how it would go down with people in this age of austerity when people are watching the pennies more than ever," Keith told us. "But it seems to have struck a chord with many and after it was posted by a user on road.cc, it took off from there. I have been truly amazed by the response I've had from everyone in the cycling community and some who don't even have a connection with cycling at all."
The response to the requests for auction items has been really good too. "Over the last two weeks, I've had more than 200 mentions, replies and retweets on Twitter, to add to 53 emails from various companies, teams and riders who have responded to my tweets, either asking how they could help or giving me information of those who could help. Having contacted many pro teams and riders through email and twitter, their response has been awesome, many items are promised and in the post to me, to auction/raffle off to raise even more funds towards my target." The auction isn't live yet, and won't be until Keith has all the stuff he's been promised and decides exactly what to do with it, but when it does go live we'll let you know on here.
More important even than the money, though, is the change it's made in Keith himself. "Every email or tweet I get raises my spirits even more," he told us. It has given me so much confidence that I have ventured out on my own, just a walk around the block, but two weeks ago, I would never have done that. So not only I am raising money to get myself a recumbent trike, but I am drawing on all the positives that this campaign has had. Its changing my life in ways I could never have imagined."
If you can help Keith out at all, head over to his GoFundMe page - every little helps. And we'll post details of the raffle when we have them.
Always good to put a face to a name good luck fella.
Thanks, I may just have to furnish Dave with a better photo though......
Nice to see a story on this. Hope we can get you on your bike in the new year Keith.
Good luck Keith
Nice idea, not trying to be rude or disrespectful but why does he need almost £4000 for a recumbent?????
Good luck, sure you'll have that trike in no time.
Nice idea, not trying to be rude or disrespectful but why does he need almost £4000 for a recumbent?????
Hi, I had the target set at £2500, after working out that ICE, the company who build the trike best suited to my needs, I raised it to £3500, sold off my bikes and parts £495, added my own savings £350, Just waiting for a backdated payment from the benefits centre that will be adding another £200
So thats £1045 that I'd put in myself so far.
Onto the price of a trike (from new).
1, it needs to be folding so that I can use it without help to load and unload it from storage. Because of weakness in my left side.
2, Because of the weakness, bar end shifters are the best option for long term use, as I may not be able to use grip shifts in time to come.
So taking those two things into account. The base price for the trike is going to be £3,022.91
With the target being £3500, that is almost met once you take off the fee's for using GoFundMe and Paypal.
Just to add, if after donation's and auction/raffle. I go over my target, a little will be used to fit mudguards and a head rest. Anything still left over after that, Will be donated to charity.
That will be put out to all donors if the situation arises and then will be decided on which charity should benefit.
I am not trying to make any money for myself and will not be spending any of the money on anything bar getting me back cycling.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask and I'll answer them for you, email, twitter or here.
Yep, good to have a face to the name Gkam, hope it all works out.
More pictures to put a face to the name that aren't so covered up
Pre Shave
Post Shave
The shave pictures aren't that new, but I haven't change any, apart from having the beard back
You can have some better ones done when you get your bike i'm sure Dave won't mind sending up a photographer.
Best of luck Keith.
Just a thought, have you tried the Tandem Club? they have an official who handles disability issues who may be able to put you into contact with someone with a tandem who could help, just google tandemclubuk and take it from there, me and wor lass have been TC members for 30yrs they are a friendly and helpful club.
onward ever onward
Just a thought, have you tried the Tandem Club? they have an official who handles disability issues who may be able to put you into contact with someone with a tandem who could help, just google tandemclubuk and take it from there, me and wor lass have been TC members for 30yrs they are a friendly and helpful club.
Thanks for the reply, a couple of things. The reason I've had to go recumbent is because of the position, cycling upright, even on an upright trike, my leg would still be shaking all over the place and it slowly became impossible to cycling that way.
The other thing, a Tandem would still require having someone else around every time I wanted to go out cycling. Sometimes daily, some times more that once daily.....It wouldn't quite work
OK understood good luck Marra
onward ever onward
Great progress Keith. Also loving the idea that this is making you feel more positive generally.
If the bicycle was invented tomorrow, it would be seen as the solution, not the problem
Great progress Keith. Also loving the idea that this is making you feel more positive generally.
Today has been MENTAL, I'm actually knackered with emotions, since Dave put this story up. I've had 40 donation's. While every donation is amazing and I blown away every time an email comes though.
Some have reduced me to a wee cry, now I'm not trying to get anyone to donate more than they can afford, 5 donation's have been £40 or above today, with one guy donating £100 and another giving £250.......#holysh*t was my reaction, followed by emotions which made my cry like a baby for a couple of minutes and then was a bit hyper. I just didn't know what to say. I also don't know if he's on the site or whatever. But will be getting an email from me, thats for sure.
Also Garmin have just requested my address to post something.
One other thing lined up that might not come off, but thats top secret and more amazing for me than anything I could have dreamt of.
Just broken the 70% mark.......WOW, Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would get here so fast. I thought it might take months to get half way.
Just broken the 70% mark.......WOW, Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would get here so fast. I thought it might take months to get half way.
The power of the internet... At least it's not all bad!!
Good luck. Those ICE bikes look nice. All that advertising they are getting must be worth something surely Does your disabilty allow you to claim anything ref. mode of transport?
Every day and in every way I'm getting slower and slower
Cheers Edglass, I wish I got something for all the advertising. I don't qualify for any help after applying for various things through the benefits department.... But thats DWP for you. I live on £71 a week while the PM and his lot can claim £39 breakfasts each on expenses
I've run out of amazing's, astounded's and all other superlatives to describe the support that has been shown to me.
This story went live a little under 24 hours ago and has since put 50 donations my way and send me very close to 75% of my goal.
Holy mother of the lord Jesus....Thats just me being polite because I could be swearing all over, I'm that enfused with happiness, love, confidence and so much more that some of you will never know.
Just hit 79.37% of the goal. Only just over 20% left and still waiting for all the donation items.
Please keep sharing the link, shouting out on twitter or whatever you guys are doing, the support has been overwhelming so far this weekend.
without looking into ice trikes would you be buying direct from them or via a shop. bearing in mind if thats the case and as you stated previously ice wont give you a discount. maybe a shop would do a trade+vat + 10% deal for you. put it this way if i had a bike shop i would.
if so then you are there already, bit of left field thinking maybe?
Russy, thats not as left field as it sounds. That's sort of the TOP SECRET thing I mentioned above, that might or might not come off.
But I also had another email to just confuse me totally, so there are feelers out. Just need some advice if anyone wants to help and knows about buying things at trade......email me
GET IN! Result. I'll start using JEJames just for this.
Right Keith, I hope you realise we're looking for a write-up and pics when you get it!
If the bicycle was invented tomorrow, it would be seen as the solution, not the problem
Don't worry, there will be picture's, video's, write up and also a blog via here coming soon
Fantastic news and as "Notfastenough" says JEJames can expect some buisness.

subset: commoncrawl


text: View Selected book: Code Type Dewey Title Author Subject Education and Acceleration in the US Publisher Comments Endorsed by the National Ass for Gifted Children. Informed responses to reasons often given regarding acceleration. See book 332 for Volume 1 which is a more summarised version. Hands-on (experiments, crosswords etc) Date Entered Date last updated Select books where:    Title Author Code Subject Publisher Comments is like If requesting a book from this page please enter your phone number, name or membership number so librarian can establish who you are. Click here to recommend a book the librarian should purchase. (each search is limited to 20 books) Title Author Comments  (George) E.L. Konigsberg Details Request100 Ways to Build Teams Carol Scearce Have you read all the great books about the theory of establishing teams, but still don't know how to transfer this information to real life? If so, 100 WAYS TO BUILD TEAMS is for you 100 WAYS TO BUILD TEAMS puts in your hands easy to use techniques for: - building trust - establishing a team mission - selecting a leader - celebrating success In addition, a special chapter offers techniques to use when you encounter the resistance that sometimes surfaces when building teams Details Request101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids Christine Fonseca This is for gifted kids ages 8-12, there are quizzes and facts in an easy to read format. From the back cover: Want to know a secret? 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids: The Ultimate Handbook is a must-read for gifted kids ages 8 to 12 who want to find success in school and life. If you know gifted kids, they will love the 101 awesome secrets, tips, and tricks included in this book! Chock full of fun suggestions and practical strategies, 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids covers topics including bullying, school performance, perfectionism, friendships, and sibling rivalries. Fun quizzes, tip sheets, and practical Q & A sections from other gifted kids and preteens make this book fun to read and give gifted kids insight into everything they've ever wanted to know about being gifted. Proven strategies for dealing with stress management, parents' and teachers' expectations, anxiety, cyber-bullying, friendship troubles, and more make this the must-have guide for every gifted kid! Christine Fonseca has worked in the field of education for more than a decade. Relying on her expertise as a school psychologist, behavioral consultant, speaker, and parenting expert, she has been a resource for parents and children in understanding the social and emotional needs of gifted children. Details Request1991 Glaxo New Zealand Associations For Gifted Children Medical Sciences Workshop Details RequestA Beginner Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorders Paul G. Taylor This book was recommended to the library and is by a New Zealand based paediatrician. From the back cover: What is Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? What does a diagnosis of ASD mean for the child and you? How can you learn to fully understand behaviours common to ASD and help the child grow and prosper? This short introduction is an ideal starting point for anyone encountering ASD for the first time. The book covers all of the essential information needed to ground an understanding of the condition and offers effective practical strategies for assisting children who are living with ASD. It advocates putting aside conventional thinking and considering things from a different perspective the way that the child with ASD sees the world. This concise and straight-talking guide to ASD will ensure parents, carers, teachers and other professionals feel confident, informed and able to cope with the road ahead. Details RequestA Guide to 300+ NZ Secondary Schools Cheryl Lilly Details RequestA Little Bit More Training Kit Details RequestA Love For Learning - Motivation and the Gifted Child Carol A. Strip, Ph.D with Gretchen Hirsch Member review 2010: 'This book was a pleasure to read. It is organised into a clear progression of chapters with a succinct summary at the conclusion of each chapter. The book focuses on the gifted student. Firstly it looked at the key characteristics of the gifted including that of high levels of motivation. It then described the major theories of motivation and the various types of motivation. Following this a large portion of the book looked at an array of factors that undermine motivation. Finally it went on to recommend in detail a recipe for conditions that support motivation. The text was kept interesting by plenty of anecdotal case studies the authors had encountered throughout their working careers. While it is written about American students it seems to have a lot of relevance to families in NZ.' Aims to provide vital information to help educators and parents supply the four C's needed to create and nurture enthusiasm. Four C's: Challenge, Committment, Control, Compassion. Motivation in Gifted Children often wanes and there are many demotivating factors, which can lead to academic underachievement and even depression. The principles and techniques described in this book counteract these factors, and will spark and cultivate excitement for lifelong learning. Chapters include: Physical Reasons for lack of Motivation, Emotional Reasons for Lack of Motivation, Social Reasons for Lack of Motivation, School Reasons for Lack of Motivation, The Four C's in Action, The Classroom that Works, Motivating Every Student. Details RequestA Mind at a Time Mel Levine "Different minds learn differently" writes Dr Mel Levine, one of the best known learning experts and pediatricians in America today. Some students are strong in certain areas and some are strong in others, but no one is equally capable in all. Yet most schools still cling to the one-size-fits-all education philosophy. As a result, many children struggle because their learning patterns don't fit the way they are being taught. In A MIND AT A TIME, Dr Levine shows parents and those who care for children how to identify these individual learning patterns, explaining how they can strengthen a child's abilities and either bypass or help overcome the child's weaknesses, producing positive results instead of repeated frustration and failure. 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Details RequestA Parent's Guide to the Montessori Classroom Aline D. Wolf Details RequestA Parents Guide to Gifted Teens: Living with Intense and Creative Adolescents Lisa Rivero From the Publisher: Gifted teenagers require special understanding in order to thrive. Learn how to understand your adolescents intensity and excitability, how to nurture creativity and self-directed learning, how to offer support without taking control, and how to care for yourself as the parent of an intense and creative teen. This book helps parents to view the challenging years of middle school and high school not merely as college prep, but as a preparation for life. Review by Susan Daniels, Ph.D Lisa Rivero draws from a wide background and experiential base in writing this insightful, informative, tender and, at times, humorous, book on one of the most pivotal times in a young persons development. Adolescents are stretching and reaching in search of their identities and making choices that will shape their path into young adulthood. Add to this the asynchronous development, intensity, and creativity often experienced by gifted teens and the horizon ahead presents even greater complexity. A Parents Guide to Gifted Teens is a must read to better understand our gifted youth during this time of accelerated growth and change, and I recommend it wholeheartedly for teachers, counselors, and other helping professionals as well. I only wish this resource was available to me when I was raising my very gifted, intense, and creative son! Review by Pauline Bowie, NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children, US): Lisas words will ease parents anxieties about the many stages of raising a gifted teen. I wish every parent of a gifted teen could read this book. Details RequestA Teacher's Guide to Fighting Invisible Tigers Connie Schmitz with Earl Hipp A teacher's guide to fighting invisible tigers; - helps young people to identify and manage stress - explains the emotional and physical results of stress - is interdisciplinary and experiential - provides complete and easy to use instructions - includes student and teacher master orginals - offers student assessment and course evaluation tools "a course for every student who wants to move beyond merely coping, and on to the achievement of their full potential" Details RequestA Wind in the Door Madeleine L'Engle Details RequestAdministering for Excellence Taskforce to Review Education Administration Report Details RequestAdventures and Challenges; real life stories by girls and women Frances Karnes & Suzanne Bean Every woman should have opportunities to experiences adventures and challenges. 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Jill Green
Jill Green, 76, of State College, Pa., and formerly of Longboat Key, died Monday, June 22.
Born Jan. 20, 1933, in Ottawa, she worked as merchandise manager of apparel for Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Frederick Atkins Inc.
Mrs. Green moved to Longboat Key in 1988 with her husband, Al, who served as a Longboat Key town commissioner. She was a member of the Longboat Key Club and enjoyed playing bridge. The Greens moved to State College in 2006.
Mrs. Green is survived by her husband, Al; sons, Anthony and Timothy; sister, Sally Morris; and one granddaughter.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
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Hat's off to Dee Pelton, volunteers
Dee Pelton held a luncheon that will be tough to top. -
Youth sailors descend on City Island
Approximately 250 people hit the water Saturday, April 20 through Sunday, April 21, for Sailfest. The regatta, Sarasota Youth Sailing's biggest fundraiser of the year, included four classes of competition — Optimus, 420, Laser and Multi-hull — and a barbecue feast. -
Book club sunsets for the season
The Sunset Beach Book Club, in its 10th year, ended this season with a luncheon and discussion of the book "Gone Girl," by Gillian Flynn, April 18, at Lazy Lobster. Discussion moderator was Ricki Carroll. Together, the group read five books this season.


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A kayak full of ghosts : Eskimo folk tales / gathered and retold by Lawrence Millman ; illustrated by Timothy White
Northampton, Mass. : Interlink Press, 2004, c1987
American sniper : the autobiography of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history / Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
New York : W. Morrow, c2012
Atlas of the great Irish famine / edited by John Crowley, William J. Smyth, and Michael Murphy ; GIS consultant, Charlie Roche
New York : New York University Press, 2012
Canadian Indian policy : a critical bibliography / Robert J. Surtees
Bloomington : Published for the Newberry Library [by] Indiana University Press, c1982
Crooked paths to allotment : the fight over federal Indian policy after the Civil War / C. Joseph Genetin- Pilawa
Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c2012
Crosscurrents of change : Concord, N.H. in the 20th century
Concord, NH : Concord Historical Society, c2011
Dancing on our turtle's back : stories of Nishnaabeg re- creation, resurgence and a new emergence / Leanne Simpson
Winnipeg : Arbeiter Ring Pub., c2011
Empire of the summer moon : Quanah Parker and the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history / S.C. Gwynne
New York : Scribner, c2010
Fascism and resistance in Portugal : communists, liberals, and military dissidents in the opposition to Salazar, 1941 -1974 / D.L. Raby
Manchester [England] ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York, NY : Distributed in the USA and Canada by St. Martin's Press, c1988
How we survived : 52 personal stories by child survivors of the Holocaust
Santa Monica, Calif. : Child Survivors of the Holocaust, Los Angeles, c2011
Insight on Portugal : the year of the captains / by the Insight team of the Sunday Times
London : A. Deutsch, 1975
New Hampshire families in 1790 / edited by Diane Florence Gravel, David Watson Kruger
Concord, N.H. : New Hampshire Society of Genealogists, c2007-
New views of New England : studies in material and visual culture, 1680-1830 / Martha J. McNamara, Georgia B. Barnhill, editors
Boston : The Colonial Society of Massachusetts : Distributed by the University of Virginia Press, 2012
Noble savages : my life among two dangerous tribes--the Yanamamo and the anthropologists / Napoleon Chagnon
New York : Simon & Schuster, c2013
Nomads and networks : the ancient art and culture of Kazakhstan / edited by Sören Stark and Karen S Rubinson with Zainolla S Samashev and Jennifer Y Chi including contributions by Nursan Alimbai [et al]
[New York] : Institute for the Study of the Ancient World ; Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2012
On the Oregon Trail in 1851 : canaries, buffalo-chips, and elephants / [compiled] by Albert Edward Belanger
Salt Lake City, UT : American University & Colleges Press, c2010
On the periphery of the periphery : household archaeology at Hacienda San Juan Bautista Tabi, Yucatán, Mexico / Sam R. Sweitz
New York ; Springer, c2012
One world, big screen : Hollywood, the Allies, and World War II / M. Todd Bennett
Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, c2012
Os firangis na chancelaria Mogol : cópias Portuguesas de documentos de Akbar, 1572-1604 = The firangis in the Mughal chancellery : Portuguese copies of Akbar's documents, 1572-1604 / [compiled and edited by] Jorge Flores, António Vasconcelos de Saldanha
Nova Deli : Embaixada de Portugal, 2003
Pacific worlds : a history of seas peoples and cultures / Matt K Matsuda
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012
Portugal : the revolution in the labyrinth / edited by Jean Pierre Faye ; from the papers of the Russell Committee for Portugal ; [translated from the French edition by Sue Kortlandt and Micki McCarthy]
Nottingham : Spokesman Books, 1976
Remembering Medgar Evers : writing the long civil rights movement / Minrose Gwin
Athens : University of Georgia Press, c2013
Running the Amazon / by Joe Kane
New York : Vintage Books, 1990
Savage continent : Europe in the aftermath of World War II / Keith Lowe
New York : St Martin's Press, c2012
Shooting Victoria : madness mayhem and the rebirth of the British monarchy / Paul Thomas Murphy
New York : Pegasus Books, 2012
Some of my best friends are Black : the strange story of integration in America / Tanner Colby
New York : Viking, 2012
The American intellectual tradition / edited by David A. Hollinger and Charles Capper
New York ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011
The Basques of Lapurdi, Zuberoa, and Lower Navarre : their history and their traditions / by Philippe Veyrin ; with an introduction by Sandra Ott ; translated by Andrew Brown
Reno : Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, 2011
The battle for Spain : the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 / Antony Beevor
New York : Penguin Books, 2006
The eloquent president : a portrait of Lincoln through his words / Ronald C. White, Jr
New York : Random House, c2005
The endgame : the inside story of the struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama / Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor
New York : Pantheon Books, c2012
The golden empire : Spain, Charles V, and the creation of America / Hugh Thomas
New York : Random House, c2010
The ocean of life : the fate of man and the sea / Callum Roberts
New York : Viking, c2012
The potlatch papers : a colonial case history / Christopher Bracken
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1997
The tribunal : responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid / edited by John Stauffer and Zoe Trodd
Cambridge Mass : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012
The war machines : young men and violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia / Danny Hoffman
Durham : Duke University Press, 2011
Unfinished revolution : the early American republic in a British world / Sam W Haynes
Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, c2010
Voices of early modern Japan : contemporary accounts of daily life during the age of the shoguns / Constantine Nomikos Vaporis
Santa Barbara, Calif. : Greenwood, c2012


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District 86 holds off on earlier start to school year
Updated: June 11, 2012 9:06AM
Feeling the need for more information from all members of their community, the Hinsdale High School District 86 Board will work on surveying parents, students, faculty and staff before deciding on a new academic calendar.
Superintendent Nicholas Wahl said potentially moving first semester final exams before winter break has been talked about ever since he joined the district seven years ago.
New air conditioning being installed this summer at Hinsdale Central and South high schools could allow an earlier start to the school year which could move the final exam dates.
The board has discussed the new potential school calendar at its March 19 and April 9 meetings and have been holding discussions with parents through meetings, emails and phone calls.
District 86 has 181 school days and has two even semesters. In order to have final exams prior to winter break the board would have to start the school year earlier, possibly in mid-August.
Wahl said at a recent PTO event parents warmly received the idea of finals prior to break, but said they didn't like it at expense of August family or vacation time. Wahl said the district prefers to keep each semester as close to even as possible.
"We have no interest in compromising that," Wahl said. "Those days won't go away. We don't want first semester to have 11 fewer days than second."
Board members said they have received negative emails about the earlier start, but said reception to the proposal seems to vary.
"One day it's all pro the next day it's all con," board member Jennifer Planson said. "In order to get a true representation is to go through with that survey. We need to put dates in (the calendar) so people can get an idea of what we're talking about."
Board member Kay Gallo suggested hiring an independent company to survey the entire District 86 community to get a true assessment of what people want.
The board had hoped to move finals up beginning with the 2013-14 school year at the earliest, but with time winding down discussed putting it off one more year.
"We should put real dates on the proposals we're looking at," board member Richard Skoda said. "I think there should be three options; the way it is now, an earlier start and an even later start."
Wahl said he would begin discussion with some companies and bring back suggestions and cost estimates to the board regarding surveys. Wahl indicated he will remain in communication with District 86's seven feeder districts and their parents.
"This gives everybody some breathing room and allows us to quantify the interest," Wahl said. "It's really important to get our feeder district parents too. We can take a look at this and gather some really good information."


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Cg-Char was formed in 1996 as a way for 3D CG character animators and riggers to communicate about their craft. It started as a mailing list and as the number of subscribers swelled to more than a thousand, it morphed into a forum.
At its height of popularity, there were more than 5,000 subscribers from every corner of the globe and practically every CG animation studio in existence. The forums accumulated hundreds of thousands of posts. Many juicy bits of information from some of the best animators in the world. Some of the original members of Cg-Char went on to become some of the most well known animators, supervisors, and directors in the industry.
Cg-Char was founded and maintained by animator/supervisor Rick May (me). It was a non-profit adventure that absorbed countless hours of my energy. In 2011, I decided that it was time to move on. Family and life outside of Cg-Char was far more important.
While the forum no longer exists, the posts are still available. We are currently trying to put them together and make them available on this blog. Further, if you wish to join the Cg-Char linkedIn Group, please do. There are almost 5,000 members and we'd love to add you.
The forums made for some great times and I'll never forget how much fun we had. Not only in the forums, but the Events we had at Siggraph that attracted hundreds of guests to hear incredible animators talk about their work on some of the most high profile projects. However, everything must come to an end. And Cg-Char came to its end in 2011.
Please keep in touch.
Rick May
CG-CHAR Founder


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Please join the city of Jacksonville as we "Take Pride in Jacksonville." It is a day for the residents to spruce up their neighborhoods and their community. Stop by City Hall on Church Street and register at 8:45 AM on April 13, 2013 to help pick up litter around the city.We will take electronics for recycling including computers, monitors, fax machines, etc. Residents can also bring their recycling, including paint cans, to the Jacksonville City Hall beginning at 8:30. There will also be a large truck there to collect discarded household items. The Jacksonville-Piedmont landfill will be free from 7:00 AM until 11:30 for Jacksonville residents.Cub Scout Pack 19 will be at City Hall collecting aluminum cans.The day is sponsored by the City of Jacksonville, RSVP, Calhoun County Recycling Center, Calhoun County Beautification Board and County Commissioner Rudy Abbott. For more information, please call RSVP at 256-435-5091,
Although the weather today on March 26th does not feel much like a spring day, the calendar says that spring is here. Many of you will soon begin to scrutinize your lawns and decide it is time to renew or replace. If your lawn is not healthy, your first step should be a soil test as your soil conditions have a huge impact on the state of your lawn. Your soil report will contain recommendations on how much and what type of fertilizer you might need to perk up your lawn. If you have lots of weeds, disease or fungus in the grass and are not sure what your plan of action should be, you can also send off lawn and soil samples to help identify the problems and possible solutions. There are many givens, such as the amount of sun or shade, that can't be easily changed. At this point the homeowner may have to decide what level of imperfection he/she can tolerate.
If you have decided to replace your lawn (or perhaps are installing one for the first time), there is a lot of information that you should gather about your site before you choose a turf grass. Just as with ornamentals and trees where we strive to choose the right plant for the right place, we also want to choose the right grass for the right place. Please take note of your environmental conditions: whether the grass will be in sun or shade; whether you have poor or good drainage; whether you are able to keep your lawn watered, the type of soil (clay, sand) in your yard, and what your soil pH (acid or alkaline soil) is.
More questions need answers to help the homeowner determine the best turf for the site: how much time and effort and money are you willing to spend maintaining your lawn? How much work do you personally want to do to keep up your lawn? (Some folks refer to centipede as the lazy man's grass because fertilizing too much can ruin it; however, it is very picky about its growing conditions.) Do you enjoy watering, mowing, fertilizing, etc.? What kind of turf are you looking for: a lawn that looks like a golf course or are you happy with a peaceful green lawn with a few weeds here and there? Another important consideration is how much use will your lawn get. There are lawns, like centipede, which do not react well to lots of foot traffic; thus, if you have a team of young soccer players, perhaps centipede is not for you.
One of the most important considerations for the homeowner to evaluate is how much shade the lawn will get. Grass and full shade do not go hand in hand. The more light a lawn gets the better it will grow, but our blazing hot summers and continued droughts can also be very stressful on a lawn.
Once you have thought through some of these issues, consider consulting the many publications available either online at ACES.edu or at our local Extension Office on Noble Street for information regarding specific turfgrasses, planting times as well as the best planting and care techniques. A healthy lush lawn is a delight but like the rest of gardening requires thought, preparation, and continued effort.
Many thanks to Dr. David Han from Auburn University whose class on turgrasses for our MG intern training class was the inspiration and factual source for this blog.
May 22 "Alabama the Beautiful"
Lisa Harris, Scenic Alabama
June 26 "A Simple Water Feature for the Garden"
Hayes Jackson, ACES
July 24 "Herb Gardening"
Dani Carroll, ACES
August 28 "Getting to Know the Talladega
National Forest: Part 2"
Jonathan Stober, District Biologist
September 25 "Gardening for Dry Places"
Hayes Jackson, ACES
Speakers & topics subject to change.
Contact the Extension Office to confirm. 256 237 1621
Join the Calhoun County Tree Amigos Master Gardeners for the first plant sale of the season. Unusual perennials, trees, and shrubs will be featured at the sale, Saturday, April 20th, 8am - noon, Cane Creek Community Gardens at McClellan.
Sale proceeds benefit the Tree Amigos program. For information please call 256-237-1621.
Two weeks ago at our Master Gardener training class Dr. Jim Jacobi, an Auburn pathologist, discussed the many diseases–viral and bacterial, etc. that can afflict our beloved plants. One of those that really caught my attention was Rose Rosette disease. This is not a new disease but due to the widespread use of Knockout Roses in landscapes the plant pathologists are seeing a huge rise in outbreaks of this disease. Knockout Roses appear to be very susceptible to this disease. It is spread by a mite on wild roses but the mites are finding our Knockouts and having a field day. Symptoms of RRD are witches broom on the rose stem, red pigmentation of new growth, and excessive thorns. Before you completely panic, new growth on all Knockouts is red but when you have RRD the growth stays red. Up in North Alabama hundreds of roses were taken out of a park. There is no chemical to treat this disease. The only way to rid your garden of it is to get rid of the rose–root and all. Then throw it away, do not compost it. The disease is in the branches so good hygiene is really essential when you prune your roses. Clippers should be cleaned with chlorox.
Pay careful attention to the next sentence. If you are concerned you may have RRD in your garden, do not start tearing your hair and roses out. Please take a sample down to the great folks at our Calhoun County Extension Office and let them send the sample to the pathology lab.
Here is a link to a very informative article:
PUBLICATION 450-620. Rose Rosette Disease. Chuan Hong, Extension Plant Pathologist, Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center ...
Our Master Gardener intern class recently had a soils class with Auburn professor, Dr. Charles Mitchell. Good soil is the backbone of a garden, whether that garden contains vegetables or flowers or whether the soil supports a beautiful stand of grass. When we talk about soil we are not talking about dirt (which is soil with all the nutrients and other good stuff removed) but about the soil.
Soils can vary from one neighborhood to another and even from one house to another. Since some plants thrive in a more acid soil (like azaleas and gardenias) and others thrive in lower acid soils (lilac), it is important to know more about the soil you have in your garden. Thus, the first thing all Master Gardeners (as well as any Extension Agent) will recommend when asked most plant questions, especially as the question relates to fertilizer, is that the homeowner do a soil test. It is very easy, relatively inexpensive, and the best thing you can do for your yard and soil and even for the environment. A soil test costs way less than a bag of fertilizer. Phosphorous in fertilizers can end up in the groundwater eventually polluting our waterways. Too much of the wrong kind of fertilizer can even hamper the health of your grass or your plants or your vegetables. If someone comes in and wants to fertilize your lawn without a soil test, just say no. Be an educated consumer. Get a soil test first.
Soil test kits may be obtained from your County Extension Office.
Feb. 18, Monday, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m, Calhoun County Beautification Board Tree Give-away at Golden Springs (Fred's Dept. Store)
Feb. 21, Thursday, 3:30 p.m., Arbor Day Celebration at JSU International House
Feb. 22, Friday, 3 p,m to 5 p.m., Tree Give-away on the Jacksonville Square
April 20, Saturday, 8 a.m. until noon, Master Gardener Tree Amigos 4-H Plant Sale, Cane Creek Community Gardens at McClellan
April 24, Lunch and Learn (4th Wednesday of each month thru September), noon to 1 p.m. Cane Creek Community Gardens, McClellan. First program is "Batty about Bats" and Vicky Smith from A to Z Animals is bringing bats for her presentation.
May 3, Friday, noon to 3 p.m. and Saturday May 4th, 9 until 2 p.m., Master Gardener 4H Tree Amigos Volunteers and the Anniston Museum of Natural History Volunteers Plant Sale at the Longleaf Botanical Gardens
Jacksonville Garden Club Plant Sale, date TBA


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I have a small sole proprietorship in the U.S. When I do my taxes at the end of the year I deduct my business expenses from my sales to figure about my taxable income. For example, I deduct my web hosting costs.
If I donate money to an open source software project that is not a 501(c)(3) (or anything else like that), can I deduct this as a business expense?


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NEW YORK — A casino bus driver at the helm of a New York crash that killed 15 people last year was found not guilty of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide on Friday.
Ophadell Williams was found guilty on one count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Williams wept and covered his face with his hands as the verdict was read. On the one count he was found guilty of, the judge sentenced him to 30 days in prison, which he has served. He also has to pay a fee of $500.
Prosecutors alleged he was so exhausted it was as though he was drunk behind the wheel.
Defense Attorney Patrick Bruno says Williams was well-rested and the crash was the result of a tractor-trailer that swiped the bus and drove off, causing Williams to lose control.
Williams was driving from a Connecticut casino to New York's Chinatown when the bus crashed around 5:30 a.m. on March 12, 2011.
Authorities say the speeding bus ran off the highway, hit a guardrail, then toppled. A sign pole sheared off the roof.
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Guide to Religious Services
Note: All listings are paid advertisements.
Unity in the Foothills
102 Prospect Street, Torrington, Ct 06790
A Course in Miracles Tuesday evenings 7 p.m
Transformational Prayer Group Thursday 1:15 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.
First United Methodist Church
21 Fern Drive, Torrington, CT 06790
Rev. Barbara B. Shaffer, Pastor
860-489-8084 www.fumctorr.org
Email email@example.com
Sunday Service at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday School from 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Pre-K thru Adult
Northfield Bible Church
10 Camp Hill Road, Northfield, CT 06778
860-283-9598 www.nccindependent.org
Bible Doctrines Class: Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
Sunday Service at 10:00 a.m.
Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
Pot Luck Supper every 4th Friday of the Month at 6:15 p.m.
First Assembly of God
387 New Harwinton Road, Torrington, CT 06790
860-482-7464 www.firstagtorr.org
Sunday School for all ages 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service at 10:45 a.m.
Family Night Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Adult Bible Study Prayer Service: Saturday at 9:15 a.m.
Cable 5 Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 3 p.m.
Founders Congregational Church
41 Birge Park Road, Harwinton, CT 06791
Sunday School and Services 10:00 a.m.
Bible Study: Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
Center Congregational Church
155 Main Street, Torrington, CT 06790
Email firstname.lastname@example.com
Sunday Services and Church School at 10:00 a.m.
Second Congregational Church of Winsted
Biblical, Traditional, Protestant Worship
800 Main Street, Winsted, CT 06098
Baptist and Congregational
Worship 10:00 a.m.
Sunday School 9:00 a.m.
July - August Worship 9:30 a.m.
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday - Thursday
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Friday
email email@example.com
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The Russellville baseball and softball teams have headed back to the field to start the 2013 season. The weather has not cooperated with the teams but they have been working hard to prepare for the upcoming season.
The Lady Panthers are starting the year off with young talent, but head coach Greg Meacham is happy with the team he has. Last year the Lady Panthers had a rough season with no wins, but the girls are ready to get back on the field.
"I feel like we are way ahead from last year. We are very young. We have had better practices this year, we are more focused. Right now we are trying to teach the girls to compete and when they learn that then the wins will come. I think we are going to surprise people," said Lady Panther head coach Greg Meacham. "We are getting better and working hard. I feel happy and confident with what I got. The future is bright if the girls stay with it."
The Panther baseball team welcomes new coach Greg Shelton. Shelton has been working hard with the players and getting them used to his new coaching techniques. Last year the Panthers ended the season with a season record of 29-10 and are hoping for another successful season.
"We've got a lot of work to do. We haven't been able to be consistently on the field to where I feel comfortable. I think the boys are tired of practice and ready to play. I think getting to play will be beneficial to us," said Panther head coach Greg Shelton. "I feel like we have a good group of kids and a good core group but we can't go very deep. We have got the talent but it is critical that we avoid injuries. I'm looking forward to the season and I want to thank the school for the support they have given me."
The Lady Panthers will play their second game on Thursday at home against Trigg County and the Panthers will play on Thursday at Caverna.


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Monday, 11 July 2011 07:37
Costs to consider when purchasing a small business phone systemSmall offices with only a hand full of phones and phone lines have the challenge of how much phone system will be right for them. Buy too much and you waste money, buy to little and you don't get the features that you need.
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Scrapbooking with Cricut
I remember my aunts were very involved with it decades ago. Everything the did was with scissors, glue, tape, material and so on. That still goes on today but one of the products that seem to really revolutionized the scrapbooking world are the Cricut machines made by Provo Craft. Continue reading
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S. A. Ibrahim - CEO
Bob Quint - CFO
David Applegate - President, Radian Guaranty, Inc.
Steve Cooke - President, Radian Asset Assurance Inc
David Hochstim - Bear Stearns
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
Steve Stellmach - FBR Capital Markets
Howard Shapiro - Fox-Pitt
Donna Halverstadt - Goldman Sachs
Radian Group Inc. (RDN) Q1 2008 Earnings Call May 12, 2008 10:00 AM ET
Welcome to the Radian's first quarter 2008 earnings call. At this time all participant lines are in a listen-only mode. Later, there will be an opportunity for your questions with instructions being given at that time. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to the Chief Executive Officer S.A. Ibrahim. Please go ahead.
S. A. Ibrahim
Thank you, operator. Thank you everyone for joining us today. As always I will start off by making some opening remarks followed by Bob Quint with detail comments on the first quarter financials. David Applegate and Steve Cooke will then give more color on the Mortgage Insurance and Financial Guaranty businesses. We will then take your questions and I will wrap up with some closing remarks.
First, let me remind you that any forward-looking statements that we make this morning should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary statements set forth in the Safe Harbor statement included with our webcast slides and the statements contained in our SEC filings. These are available on our investor relations website at www.radian.biz.
As anticipated, in the first quarter of 2008, Radian along with others in the industry continued to be affected by the weak credit and housing markets we saw in 2007. Even so, Radian was able to make significant progress, on a variety of fronts.
In the first quarter of this year, Radian reported a net income of $195.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $2.44. Excluding the impact of net unrealized gains on derivatives on hybrid securities, our net operating was $215 million and the net operating loss per share was $2.69. Net operating loss is a non-GAAP financial measure and we had provided a detail reconciliation of these numbers to our GAAP results in our press release and in the web cast slides in our website.
Bob, will give you more detail in just a few minutes. Our Mortgage Insurance paid claims were inline with our guidance while our loss reserves continued to increase, reflecting market conditions. Across both businesses, we ended the quarter with $1.9 billion in reserves.
Looking ahead, although it continues to be challenging for us to forecast the markets in the near-term, I am confident that the initiatives we are taking, will position Radian well for the long-term.
In the last few months, we have taken several steps to recruit key talent and improve operational efficiency in our business units. We have been steadily improving our business mix by taking on a higher percentage of prime loans and by making prudent decisions to discontinue business lines, which carry disproportionate risk.
Our task is to do what is right for the business, so that we are well positioned when the market stabilizes. Our past decisions to consistently grow reserves at higher rates than our peers, even with similar default rates, have enabled us to approach the hurdles that the market has thrown at us with a greater degree of flexibility.
We will continue to take this approach to reserves as current market conditions remain challenging. So while there is little Radian can do about the current state of market, we can certainly do and are doing our best to mitigate the effect of the housing downturn.
We are continuing to monitor the rate of defaults in our MI business and are taking action to help our servicing partners and homeowners, manage through difficult situations with strategies to avoid foreclosure. As we work to limit the effect of the housing downturn on old book of business we are also transforming a new MI business so that the insurance we write can deliver strong profitability in the future.
The priority for Radian Asset, our Financial Guaranty business as you will hear in more detail from Steve Cooke is to build on our strong capital position, work with the rating agencies to maintain our AA status, and take measures that enhance our franchise value. While this has been a highly volatile market for financial guarantors, our solid capital base allows Radian Asset to work at different ways to diversify our exposure while pursuing attractive market opportunities to write quality business only available to a select few in the financial guaranty industry.
As we said before, we have been evaluating the need to raise capital and alternatives for doing so. We now intend subject to market conditions and other factors to raise capital in the near-term primarily by issuing equity. We plan to use the proceeds of the capital raised to repay amounts drawn on our credit facility and to provide significant additional capital to Radian Guaranty.
Although we continue to believe that Radian Guaranty has sufficient capital to pay its claims, the additional capital infusion will allow our mortgage insurance to business to continue to write new business on favorable terms, while maintaining appropriate risk to capital levels.
Also, additional capital is an important component of our plans to regain our AA status with S&P over time and in a manner that is acceptable to us as well as to the GSEs and our lender counterparties.
In conjunction with evaluating our capital option, we also announce that we are considering strategic alternatives to enhance and maximize the value of our Financial Guaranty subsidiary Radian Asset Assurance. Our current intention is to not withdraw capital from our financial Guaranty business.
We have also been working through the ways in which we can create more independence in the corporate governance of Radian Asset, for example, by appointing some independent directors. The goal is to demonstrate through concrete actions that the capital in the Financial Guaranty business is secure. We are effectively ring-fencing the business to protect its franchise and to enhance the long-term value of its contribution to Radian Group.
That said, we will continue to evaluate opportunities as they arise overtime, particularly, as market evaluations for the financial guaranty sector recover and there is greater appreciation of Radian Asset Assurance's strong relative position in the industry.
Our focus is to earn recognition of the true value of Radian Asset and to continue to enhance our franchise, so we can go out and capture business. This, along with the ability to sell our remaining interest in Sherman, uniquely positions Radian Group to generate additional capital in the future, if necessary.
As the Mortgage Industry continues to navigate through these unprecedented times, Standard and Poor's Rating Agency announced credit rating changes with regard to several companies in the mortgage insurance sector including Radian. In response to this announcement, and months before the deadline we submitted remediation plans to the GSE's that are intended to restore profitability and an AA rating to our Mortgage Insurance business.
We have recognized that returning our MI business to an AA status is a multi-year process, but are prepared to take the actions necessary to do so. As Dave Applegate will discuss we will be maintaining a close dialog with the GSE's about managing through the market downturn and its impact on our business, since last year.
The same is true about communication with our clients. Radian remains committed to working closely with our lender partners and the GSE's to provide solutions that will improve the future of the housing industry. Importantly, Radian remains a top gear company with both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and we are dedicated to maintaining our partnership with them.
On the legislative front, there has been considerable speculation on several proposals that are pending in Congress. We generally support legislative and administrative proposals that create opportunities for borrowers that default to refinance their loan or modify their loan to terms that allow them to avoid foreclosure. Since there are several proposals and they're subject to change we will continue to monitor these developments and will take a more definitive position if and when appropriate.
And now I will turn the call over to Bob who will take you through our financials. Bob?
Bob Quint
Thank you S.A. For this quarter again, I will again be updating you on the unusual item that impacted our financial statements in 2007 and so far in 2008, including the adoption of SFAS 157, as well as going over the highlights of a normal P&L activity and trends for the first quarter of 2008.
The change in fair value line for the quarter was significantly impacted by the adoption of SFAS 157 in 2008. The main qualitative difference in our mark-to-market methodology with 157 is the incorporation of the markets perception of Radian's credit in computing fair value. This has the impact of reversing some of all of the negative spread related marks previously booked mostly on corporate CDO's in our finance guaranty business.
I think it makes sense to explain exactly what our fair value calculation does on these products. These are not assets we own. They are financial guaranty and mortgage insurance credit exposures that we took in the form of derivatives. The fair value calculation potentially re calculates the premium we would have received in today's current credit environment compared to the contractual premium.
Here is an example. If we wrote a guaranty on a synthetic corporate CDO and charged 10 basis points per annum, than the current market price for the same deal based on the credit quality of the underlying collateral would be 60 basis points We used a 50-basis point difference to book a negative mark because of pricing when we did the deal was less than it would be in today's' market.
That is the reason for the significant negative adjustment during 2007, which we said repeatedly was not credit related. With SFAS-157 offsetting much of that large negative mark is incorporation of Radians credit spread. The isolated pretax income of SFAS-157 component of our own credit is $2.1 billion offsetting much of that large fed-related negative mark that has accumulated, with much of that actually occurring in the first quarter of 2008 when spreads widened considerably.
With all the complexity regarding the past fair value negative marks and the current quarter's positive marks, we believe our balance sheet derivative liability is currently much closer to the actual credit impairment reserve. We will have several disclosure tables in our 10-Q filing to detect the impact of SFAS-157 adoption and other mark-to-market movement, as well as including a breakup in our press release and webcast slides.
With regard to NIMS we have risk-in-force of $604 million and a mark-to-market reserve of 434 million as of December 31st, 2007. Since then, our risk has been reduced by another $82 million to $522 million as of March 31st, 2008. The updated balance sheet liability on NIMS is $316 million, with a positive change occurring due to our implementation of SFAS–157 offset by a negative adjustment related to greater expected loss. We think the present value of future principle credit losses on NIMS will be approximately $400 million.
This quarter, we have also consolidated several other NIM trust, which doesn't change our exposure at all, but essentially, moves the net amount of about $84 million of the $316 million liability to a different place in our balance sheet. With risk-in force of $522 million, as of March 31st, our liability relating to NIM is currently 60% of our total exposure.
The premium deficiency on second lien, necessary because future projected losses and expenses are greater than future expected premium was initially booked in the third quarter of 2007, and was on the balance sheet at year-end at a $196 million. An updated projection at March 31 results in a net increase in the PDR in the balance sheet of $18 million, to $214 million, arising primarily from an update to the future projected losses to $465 million.
This increase is necessary, due to the continued deterioration of the performance of our second lien portfolio. The risk-in-force on second lien is $843 million as of March 31. So between a loss reserve of $176 million, plus the premium deficiency of $214 million; this exposure is 46% reserved.
Our traditional MI first lien loss provision reflects the higher delinquencies and claims that occurred this quarter, although, the delinquency trend was much higher in January, and up less in February and March.
Also please note, that there was a reporting change this quarter by one of our large national services to cumulatively catch-up in reporting 60 days delinquencies. This change will be made formally in April, however, we have estimated and included an additional 2,500 delinquencies with an incremental loss provision in reserve of $39 million and included these in our March numbers. Our understanding is that this is an industry wide occurrence with respect to this servicer.
Our paid claims came in at a $190 million, slightly lower than our previously forecasted number consisting of a $145 million of first liens and $45 million of second liens. Looking forward into the balance of 2008, we expect the claims paid will be approximately $240 million in the second quarter and still in the $1 billion range for the year, which is the same guidance we gave in the previous two quarters. Both of those numbers include second lean loss payments.
The total provision for the quarter was $571 million, comparing favorably to incurred losses of $630 million for the fourth quarter of 2007 and is broken down by $462 million for first liens and $109 million for second liens. We expect a substantial recovery both captive and smart home reinsurance over the next several years, at least in the $200,000 million to $300,000 range and possibly higher. As of March 31st most of the $36.9 million reinsurance recoverable on our balance sheet relates to smart home reinsurance.
Low premiums earned have continued to grow, which reflects that low insurance-in-force grew due to good penetration and persistency. Dave will be talking about our mix of business, which has clearly improved pretty dramatically.
Please note a change in presentation on premiums owned from derivative contracts in both financial guaranty and MI, those premiums have been excluded from the premiums written and earned line and now included within the change in fair value of derivatives, in accordance with the Financial Guaranty industry change, after discussions with the SEC.
Financial Guaranty results this quarter were as expected with lower premiums written. Premiums earned were strong, reflecting heavy refunding and losses were as expected with relatively stable credit performance. As we have said, our book-of business in Financial Guaranty contains relatively less exposure to mortgage and mortgage related credits than the rest of the industry.
Claims paid in Financial Guaranty for the quarter consisted primarily of $100 million for the CDO of ABS transaction that was fully reserved for, in the third and fourth quarters of 2007. The domestic mortgage insurance CDS business had a further negative mark this quarter of $18 million and the current mark is negative of a $105 million, which approximates the expected credit losses.
The international CDS had a negative mark of $13 million. Although the notional exposure on this business is very high, at $8.9 billion, changes in exchange rates have increased the dollar exposure. Please remember that Radian's attachment point is Super AAA and we still see no reasonable scenario in which we would incur any credit losses in such exposure.
Sherman continues to perform well with overall pretax operating income of $64.5 million of which Radian's share is $12.5 million. Sherman has an option to acquire our remaining interest and we continue to view Sherman as a potential source of additional capital.
C-BASS was fully written off in 2007. There is a possibility that we will recover some of our $50 million demand note, but that wouldn't be for many years.
Our liquidity position remained strong. As we reported, we have secured an amendment to our credit facility that removes the rating covenant and gives us more flexibility with respect to our GAAP equity covenant among other changes. We expect this amendment to be completed shortly after receiving a few remaining legal opinion.
We expect to pay down the $200 million outstanding amount under the facility as part of our planned capital raising effort. After the pay down, we would retain a $150 million in liquidity from the facility. We still have over $100 million of Radian Group in minimal immediate need for cash from the holding company.
Operating cash flow for the quarter was a small negative. Our MI risk to capital is 17.7 to 1 at 331.08. However, if we exclude the Super AAA international credit default swap, which need very little capital to support that risk, the risk to capital is 14.1 to 1.
At quarter-end, the statutory surplus, which includes contingency reserve in our MI business, was $2.4 billion, and we have another $2.3 billion in loss and other reserves. The rating agencies still view our MI capital as being strong, and hopefully we can demonstrate the change in business profile to gain back the AA ratings over time.
Our investment portfolio continued to perform relatively well in the stressed environment. Its extremely safe credit profile, emphasis on liquidity and our policy of our generally not investing in residential mortgages has proven sound, and the value of our portfolio held up well this quarter. Our current book value stands at $2.9 billion or $35.64 per share.
I'd now like to turn the call over to Dave Applegate, President of our Mortgage Insurance business.
Dave Applegate
Thank you, Bob. The mortgage insurance business had another very challenging quarter, posting an after-tax loss of $226 million, but outperforming Q4 '07 where we lost $335 million. Bob did a very thorough review of our financials, so I will focus on the key operating considerations for the MI business.
And I'm going to address the following areas. The first is the impact of the ratings downgrade to our GSE status and our clients. Second is the steps we're taking to improve the mix and quality of NIW and the overall future profitability of the business. And third is the steps we're taking to manage our existing risk-in-force exposure and the trends we are seeing in the portfolio.
Let me start with the existing portfolio performance. Bob already addressed the deterioration of our second lien book and the positive impact the implementation of FAS 157 had on our NIMS portfolio. So, I will address the delinquency and reserve trends for our primary first liens.
In Q1, our first lien net reserve build was lower than Q4, thanks to a slower increase in our default account. Q4 defaults increased approximately 10,000 or 20%, while Q1 defaults increased 8,000 or 13.5%. And that's inclusive of the service or reporting adjustment Bob previously referenced.
As a result, in Q1, we added $300 million of reserves for primary first liens, $100 million lower than the prior quarter. Our primary book default rate is now 7.63%, and that's up from 6.8% in the prior quarter. Although the slowdown in gross defaults is a positive development, it is likely driven by traditional seasonal factors.
So, stepping back on the quarter's performance, the underlying trends that have been developing over the last six months are still evident. We continue to see the poorest relative performance in our Alt-A book, and California and Florida continue to heavily influence overall portfolio performance.
50% of the increase in defaults in Q1 was attributable to Alt-A loans, and 50% of the first lien reserves we put up can be attributed to California and Florida. The states experiencing the greatest property value declines are clearly seeing a sure pickup in defaults.
We estimate property values will fall peak-to-trough on a national basis using the OFHEO index in a range between 8% and 13%. That would be in line with the Case-Shiller approximated range of 16% to 20%. We could clearly see declines in many areas of California and Florida that are as much as twice the national average.
These challenging fundamentals make it imperative we work closely with our business partners and invest in unique strategies. For example, we just launched a new more consumer friendly website to educate borrowers on their home preservation options.
In addition, we have contracted with a third party, nonprofit consumer credit counseling fund that fosters a friendly, non-confrontational and supportive calling effort. This agency is able to reach the consumer at a rate 25 times greater, than our standalone effort and will drive significantly more home preserving options that we could do on our own.
We have also now placed Radian staff in the operations of two of our major customers to mutually facilitate loss mitigation options, and our recently launched Fast Advance loss mitigation program is getting excellent traction. Fast Advance is where we advanced to the servicer up to 15% on the claim amount, to invest in a rate buy down or loan modification to cure a defaulted loan. We are clearly moving aggressively, to preserve our capital and increase communication with our clients and partners in this distressed times.
And now, I would like to shift to the impact of S&P down grade to our business, which has been minimal. First let's discuss the GSEs. We have been maintaining a frequent and productive dialog with the GSEs about the market downturn and its impact in our business since last year. Fannie and Freddie previously announced that a reduction in a rating to below AA minus would not necessarily result in a loss of top tier status with the agency, but a remediation plan to regain your AAA or AA will be required. Radian's plans were presented on April 10th, 2008 to each agency just days after the S&P actions.
We have received positive feedback from the GSE's on that profitability transformation plan. At our meetings, we outline various initiatives we were executing that make new business, very accretive, and efforts we have taken to manage our existing exposure.
We are pleased that both organizations have expressed their support for our top tier status. We and they realized it will be multi-year endeavor to return the desired AA status but we have a plan that accomplishes that goal and we will continually update the GSE's on our progress and share needed information with them to serve their needs and the needs of our lender partners.
Turning to our clients, we have been meeting with all of our clients, large and small, educating them, on what the downgrade means; our confidence in our claims paying ability and strategic options relating capital.
To date we have lost no domestic clients and see no impacts to our market share. Our client base has been extremely supportive. Our estimated total market share in Q1 is in the 14% range, which is very consistent with last quarter. They, our clients realized the unique nature of the times we are in and are supportive of the guideline changes and other initiatives we are pursuing, that will have the effect of improving each of our bottom lines over time. However we are willing to forego some share to make sure that we get the correct mix of business.
Now, I will discuss the efforts we are pursuing to improve the long-term profitability of our business. In Q4 and Q1 we made numerous guideline changes, which are having a dramatic impact on quality. We implemented a declining markets policy, which pulls down LTV's in soft MSA, and we capped our maximum LTV at 97% in stable MSA's. We've eliminated the alt-A business. We have raised our minimum FICO scores and have eliminated other forms of layered risk.
Based on the changes to date and shifts in the market, we are seeing a dramatic improvement in our mix of business. 90% of our production was prime this quarter. That's up from 77% the prior quarter and up from 40% prime in the first quarter of last year. We are also seeing a significant contraction in the above 95% LTV loans.
We also announced a series of price changes that went into effect on April 1st. The goal of our price and guidelines changes is to improve our risk-reward posture and generate appropriate returns on new businesses. I would caution that some of these changes take time to work through that system, but the $10 billion of NIW this quarter is our best book in many years.
Despite these improving trends, we intend to make a second round of price changes in near future to further combat market conditions. The combination of these price and guideline adjustments will push expected returns on new business into the plus 15% range.
The mortgage industry is clearly facing unprecedented conditions and P&L pressure will continue on the older vintages. But we feel we have taken wise and prudent steps to restore our business to long-term profitability and regain a stronger rating.
With that I will turn the call over to Steve Cooke, President of our Financial Guaranty business.
Steve Cooke
Thank you Dave. Despite the difficult and challenging environment for the financial guaranty industry as a whole, during the quarter, which has caused reduced new business production, our Financial Guaranty business continue to maintain a strong its capital position with limited exposure to vulnerable asset classes.
S.A. has addressed his earlier remarks with some details, the corporate priorities with respect to the FG business related to preserving and enhancing the current and future value of the franchise.
Although new written premiums were down in both our public finance direct and structured financed sectors, there remains certain positive developments of note. Our reinsurance business remained strong during the quarter, with net written premium of $23 million only down slightly from the comparable period in 2007.
Net earned premium increased period-over-period, primarily due to an increase in net premiums earned in our public finance direct business, which offset smaller decreases, in other FG business lines.
We have also experienced a high level of refunding activity during the quarter. $11.7 million versus $6.6 million in the comparable period of 2007. We made a conscious decision at the end of the first quarter, to refocus our efforts in the structured finance arena. Due to deterioration and uncertainties in the credit market that have significantly reduced a volume of CDO and other structured products, we have decided to discontinue for the foreseeable future insuring CDO's.
We will now focus our structured finance efforts in the areas of infrastructure finance, i.e. providing credit protection on PFI, PPP and project finance projects, involving a sincerity of purpose, financial solutions, where we act as a leading provider of soft capital solution to global financial institutions and asset backed securities involving target niche issuers, in well understood sectors and strong credit in non-traditional factors.
In the public finance area, we continue to target undeserved segment of the municipal market characterized by smaller and infrequent borrowers, with a particular emphasis on sectors related to land-secured financing, education, healthcare, and senior living facility.
At March 31st, 2008 our FG net credit derivative liability was $211.7 million, primarily attributable in changes in credit spread and not to any material amount of credit impairment. We continue to vigorously monitor both our direct and assumed exposures, which has resulted in a higher provision for losses, primarily in the structured finance and the insurance business as a result of assumed mortgage exposures.
However, in general although the overall credit performance of our FG portfolio continue to show some deterioration, it still remained stable during the first quarter, given market conditions.
I will now turn the call over to S.A who will make some concluding remarks.
S.A. Ibrahim
Thanks Steve. Let me summarize the teams prepared remarks as follows. We are managing for the present while preparing and positioning for the future. At the moment, the markets in which we operate are cyclically tough but we have the ability to our pay our claims and we have an eye on the future with the business we are writing.
As we see demand, discipline and profitability return to the mortgage insurance and financial guaranty markets, we look forward to a more positive and profitable future for Radiant as the current cycle bottoms out and we move inevitably to the recovery period, a period that historically has presented participants with exiting shareholder value creation opportunities.
With that operator we will now start taking questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
(Operator Instructions). And we will first go to the line of David Hochstim with Bear Stearns.
David Hochstim - Bear Stearns
I had a couple of questions just on the SFAS-157, is that option consistent with the number, somebody, maybe Steve, explain what would happen now, as assuming spreads tighten, would you realize less of a benefit than you had if you hadn't adopted 157?
Bob Quint
Yeah. I mean, we received a sort of a big positive benefit this quarter from incorporating our own spread. So I think in the future, you have to look at the relative spread between the underlying collateral. So that's going to go the way it goes either, plus or minus. And then, Radians own spread would be taken as well. So assuming they go in the same direction, they would, they may offset. If they are going to different direction, that would have a different impact.
David Hochstim - Bear Stearns
But over time, assuming you get paid the way you expect and this would all kind of washout and you recover those losses you booked last year?
Bob Quint
That's right. Whatever is left, assuming it is only spread related, no matter whether it was the underlying collateral or Radian spread over time as deals expire the marks will be reversed out to zero.
David Hochstim - Bear Stearns
Okay. Can one of you provide some more color on the service adjustments, that you referenced and, and then may be also just again on the trend over the course of the quarter? Are we starting to see some more normal seasonality in delinquencies or is it just way too early to know that things aren't looking all worse?
David Applegate
The servicer adjustment was from a large national servicer where a previously standard processor was to report loans that were 90 days delinquent and greater. The MI industry as a whole traditionally looks for loans to be reported in 60 days. So that adjustment had to be made. We anticipated what that number would be through a discussion with the partner and then put up another accordingly a consistent reserve amount.
The general trends in terms of delinquencies we are seeing. I think at this point you would have to describe as seasonal. There was definitely in February and March a strong seasonal benefit, but as I referenced in my points all day books are seeing continued weakness and the areas of the country where you have seen property values decline are certainly in some level distressed. So it's too premature to say that we would pass this thing.
David Hochstim - Bear Stearns
Did you see some seasonal benefit in Florida and California or was it other places?
David Applegate
I couldn't state specifically how cures and seasonality hit California and Florida.
David Hochstim - Bear Stearns
Okay. Fine thanks.
Next we will go to the line of Mike Grasher from Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead.
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
Thank you. David, a couple of follow up questions from your comments? I think you spoke to the Fast Advance program, as a tool in terms of loss mitigation. How much of an impact, did that have in terms of cures for your book of business?
Dave Applegate
The Fast Advance in terms of number of units; I don't have the specific number at my finger tips. We have to follow up with you on that.
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
Okay and then just a follow up to the question. I am just curious, as to how you are differentiating among those that are delinquent in terms of helping them cure?
Dave Applegate
Well, the way the Fast Advance program is set up, as we work with our servicer partner. And we will advance to them up to 15% of our financial claim amount. And so what we will do is work with them, to determine if there is a loan modification option, for example that contribution with whatever the servicer may be dealing, will cure the loan. And so for us to advance the loan has to cure at the same time and then that's just an additional tool in conjunction with the other traditional loss mitigation steps we would take, but we have seen a significant to its is including a third party service, the not-for-profit counseling agencies are creating a lot of value right now. We are just a more friendly tone to recall. We are more a switch-around like feel to it and there is a better preparation for the consumer on what some of their options could be. Rick, we are seeing a lot of traction with that as well. So lot of new things and more aggressive postures we are taking than we would have in the past.
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
Okay and I guess just a follow-up on that. My concern would be are you throwing more good money or chasing more bad loans with good money here in terms of keeping home owners in a loan or curing them when perhaps they had no business having a mortgage to begin with.
Dave Applegate
Now look the way that Fast Advance works, it's truly an advance of the potential claim amount. So if the loan goes back in a default and eventually the claim then we remit the claim minus the 15% advance.
We will now go to the line Steve Stellmach from FBR Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Steve Stellmach - FBR Capital Markets
Hi good morning and this is for Dave. If you could, could you please sort of give some context about what we should expect in some of the growth in the book of business, if you layer in, when your capital demands? And two, and sort of, the more competitive FHA potentially in throughout '08 and '09 and then lastly your underwriting changes, which I think obviously can be applauded but at the same time has some negative impact to the gross in the book of business.
Dave Applegate
Well I think, lot of points in there that we can address, first the overall change in guidelines has had a pretty dramatic benefit to the book of business. I think it is probably fair to say that it does shrink the total size of the conventional market to some degree. Then what we are seeing is some surge in FHA, VA business. That the first quarter stats, I don't think are a pure indicator of what's going on but there are directionally valuable. And my penetration it was a little bit over 17% in Q4. This quarter it is around 13%.
So FHA definitely picked up share but another driver there, there was a large amount of refinanced business down in the first quarter and that would generally lead to a little less MI penetration. So, I think we will see some shrinkage of the market that will have some minor impact on our ability to grow NIW, but I would say its probably pretty prudent in that the product that we are doing before has proven to be challenging from a loss perspective. So I think it's a business that is wise to see at this stage.
Steve Stellmach - FBR Capital Markets
Sure. Would you expect, insurance-in-force could be a lower number in '09 than '08 or are you still think sort of incremental growth year-over-year?
Dave Applegate
We really haven't forecasted publicly what we think insurance-in-force levels are going to be for the full year.
Next we go to line of Howard Shapiro with Fox-Pitt. Please go ahead.
Howard Shapiro - Fox-Pitt
Hi. I just wanted to ask on, I guess the potential capital raised and what you are planning to do with Financial Guaranty. Obviously a pure common raise will be tremendously dilutive at this point. Can you tell us what kind of capacity you might have for issuing preferred and then kind of may be an waterfall like description. Your preferences in terms of preferred, com and selling businesses or what other alternatives you are looking at right now.
S.A. Ibrahim
Sure. First, it's difficult given the stage we are into comment in more specific terms, about our exact capital raise strategy. What we have said in our statement, in terms of raising sufficient capital to pay back the bank clients, outstanding amounts, and to inject significant capital in to Radian Guaranty.
With respect to Financial Guaranty, what I said in my comments was, we at this point do not have any intention of taking capital out of Financial Guaranty. As the market valuations for financial guarantors recover we would remain open to a strategic alternative, particularly strategic alternative, that will enhance the franchise value of the Financial Guaranty business and will highlight very powerfully, the value we believe we have at in our Financial Guaranty business for the future value we have in it.
Howard Shapiro - Fox-Pitt
Okay. Thank you.
Next we go to the line of Donna Halverstadt with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Donna Halverstadt - Goldman Sachs
Good morning. Maybe I just wanted to make sure I copied the comments you made about the credit facility and liquidity at the HoldCo? You said at that time, you did plan to pay the facility down? The $150 million you mentioned that besides the facility would be after you repay it?
Bob Quint
That's right.
Donna Halverstadt - Goldman Sachs
And you made a comment about a $100 million. Did you say that you plan to maintain a $100 million of the proceeds at the HoldCo?
Bob Quint
No, the comment was we have currently over $100 million at the HoldCo.
Donna Halverstadt - Goldman Sachs
Okay and then the last thing, I wanted to ask, you said that you have minimal holding company needs, even before you drew the facility you had roughly $50 million of interest expense. Are you calling them minimal because you are in fact continuing to get reimbursed from the OpCo through the tax and expense sharing arrangements?
Bob Quint
That's right.
Donna Halverstadt - Goldman Sachs
And you expect that will continue in the future that the regulators won't stop those payments.
Bob Quint
Well we, they're currently in place, that's what we would expect.
Donna Halverstadt - Goldman Sachs
Okay, thank you.
Bob Quint
You are welcome.
And ladies and gentlemen we have time for one final question. It's a follow-up Mike Grasher with Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead.
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
Just a quick follow-up from Halverstadt question, Bob what is the general target on debt to total cap, that rating we're looking for?
Bob Quint
I think Mike, long term in the 20% range.
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
20 being the ceiling?
Bob Quint
Well, yeah. I mean I think long-term as both S.A and Dave said were, it's our target to get back to the AA level of the OpCo in MI and therefore the A level at the HoldCo and that's around where we see a appropriate debt to cap ratio.
Mike Grasher - Piper Jaffray
Okay thanks Bob.
Bob Quint
S.A. Ibrahim
Okay. Operator that was the last question. I would d like to thank all the participants for participating in our call and look forward to seeing you on our next call. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen that does conclude your conference for today. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.
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