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Saint Victor Features
Springfield's Saint Victor is the ideal refinement of the time-tested AR-15 design and represents everything that a defensive carbine should be. It features extra-tough, forged aircraft-grade 7075 T6 aluminum upper and lower receivers joined using the Accu-Tite system and Type III hard coat anodized finish. It utilizes a free-float M-Lok handguard, mid-length direct impingement gas system paired with a heavy tungsten buffer, the Saint also has an M16 bolt carrier group machined from Carpenter 158 steel, shot peened and magnetic particle inspected. The 16″ Chrome Moly Vanadium barrel is treated with Melonite and has a 1:8″ twist rate for complete ammunition flexibility.
Optic-ready out of the box, the flat-top receiver is topped with Springfield Armory's low profile flip-up dual aperture rear sight with 1/2 MOA windage adjustment capability, and flip-up front sights. The Bravo Mod 2 6-position buttstock is rattle-free with positive cheek weld areas, a rubber butt plate, and one fixed and two QD sling attachment points.
Saint Victor Specifications
- Brand: Springfield Armory
- Category: Tactical Rifles
- Caliber: 5.56 NATO
- Model: Saint
- Series: Victor
- Action: Semi-Automatic
- Barrel Length Range: 16.00″ to 17.99″
- Sights: Flip-Up Front and Rear
- Capacity: 30 1
- Muzzle: Muzzle Brake
- Hand: Right
- Metal Finish: Black Hardcoat Anodized
- Receiver Material: 7075 T6 Aluminum
- Stock Description: 6-Position Black
- Trigger: Single-Stage
- Twist: 1:8″
- Weight: 6.9 lbs
- Barrel Description: Chrome Moly Vanadium
- Barrel Length: 16″


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If there's a programming language that just don't get no respect, it's BASIC. One could make a pretty good little bathroom reader from all the snarky comments it's attracted over the years. My favorite is this gem from Edsger W. Dijkstra: "It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC. As potential programmers they are mutilated beyond hope of regeneration." (I think Dijkstra's slightly stilted phraseology works better if you imagine it being said with a heavy Dutch accent.) That's a bit hyperbolic, to be sure, but certainly BASIC has a lot to answer for. When I was a kid trading software on my trusty Commodore 64, saying a program was written in BASIC was as good as saying that it sucked. And things haven't changed that much today. Has any development environment, ever, produced as much awful software as Visual BASIC? I must admit that learning that a program was written in Visual BASIC is still sufficient reason to make me not even try it.
But despite all that, BASIC's importance in the history of computing is immense. Before it, there existed two principal computing cultures. First there was the mainframe culture. Centered around IBM and a few other big companies that tried to compete with it, it was marked by what Steven Levy so memorably called the "priesthood" model of computing common to government and big business: a few highly trained, lab-coated elites serving as minions of The Machine, doing everything by (IBM's) book, with creativity and fun strictly Off Limits. The other culture was the hacker culture that sprung up at MIT and similar technical universities and perhaps the occasional smaller company: a group of generally young savants who were fascinated by the world inside the machine and lived to hack, who scoffed at the conservatism and groupthink of IBM and particularly embraced the smaller machines of the more freewheeling Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Different as they were, neither of these cultures cared much about making computers accessible to the everyman. Neither culture had any time for or interest in anyone who did not think in bits and bytes and registers.
When John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz designed and implemented the Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code at Dartmouth College in 1964, they were not trying to please hackers or computer scientists. They were, rather, trying to make it possible for "ordinary" individuals to productively use computers. Today the idea of a programming language for the masses is almost oxymoronic; they simply load up their computers with the latest from Microsoft, Apple, or whomever, and leave the programming to the professionals. Back in 1964, however, and for quite a long time afterward, applications software in the way we know it today did not really exist. Using a computer for any but the most rote of tasks virtually required programming it; certainly, at any rate, using a computer creatively did. In attempting to bring computing to the masses, Kemeny and Kurtz's goals were not so much technical as sociological, political, even ideological. A third computing culture, one I already began to discuss when mentioning HP Time-Shared BASIC and Creative Computing magazine in the context of The Oregon Trail, began with BASIC at Dartmouth in 1964 and remained associated with the language for many years.
While the priests in their climate-controlled data centers and the hackers sequestered away in their cubbyholes at MIT were oblivious to the changes that were wrenching society in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the BASIC culture was full of counterculture excitement. They were all about bringing these machines out of the banks and the ivory towers and putting them at the disposal of the street. That makes their work as important as that of the hackers who were inventing C and Unix and laying the foundation of the Internet at about the same time. Sometimes, more perhaps than either would first want to admit, the two cultures even intersected, as they did in the case of the game I want to talk about in my next historical post, Hunt the Wumpus, which originated in HP Time-Shared BASIC but was novel and appealing enough to be attractive to the traditional hacker mindset as well — appealing enough to influence the first works of true IF.
As for BASIC, let's remember to give it its historical due. If you're excited by computers as artistic tools with relevance to the world and the people around them, you should recognize its place in forging those connections. The sniffing condescension of elitists like Dijkstra seems pretty unattractive indeed in this light.
So, yeah, respect is due. Now just don't ask me to actually use the thing.

subset: commoncrawl


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Contrary to popular belief, a daiquiri does not involve berries, bananas, or frozen bits of any kind. When freed from the shackles of dive bar Slurpee machines, a true minimalist is revealed. A rum based sour, the daiquiri is fundamental, founding a family of cocktails defined by rum, citrus, and sweetener. Its simplicity allows for easy adaptation and respectable variations exist, most notably the Hemingway daiquiri. Unfortunately, left in the wrong hands, adaptability led to adulteration and the daiquiri became synonymous with a premixed distortion of itself.
The classic daiquiri requires only three ingredients: rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. This drink is at its best, crisp, bright, and pool appropriate, especially when light rum is involved. Plantation 3 Stars, with a subtly sweet and tropical profile, is ideal for mixing. If feeling experimental, a dark rum will result in a richer, smoother concoction, though it requires some fiddling with ratios. When properly balanced, the sweet and sour step back, and the daiquiri becomes an ideal way for a rum lover to enjoy good rum.
If you want to keep it interesting, try an alternative to shaking. Once upon a time the drink was built in a tall glass over cracked ice. Start by pouring the sugar over the ice, add the lime juice, and top with rum. Slide in a straw and give it a little stir. No matter how it's prepared—shake it, stir it, layer it—just drink it!


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Storm Damage in Winnetka, California
Have you experienced storm damage in Winnetka lately? Once storms clear they can leave significant damage to your home or business. Here at M & M Developers Inc. we strive to restore your property quickly and accurately ensuring you will be stress-free when it comes to repairing your home or business. M & M Developers Inc. has been restoring homes and commercial properties back to their pre-storm condition in Winnetka, California since 1999. We know how overwhelming the aftermath can be and will do the heavy lifting for you. Give us a call at (424) 297-5099 for a fast quote and be one step closer to recovery.
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What to Expect Working with M & M Developers Inc. in Winnetka
When you call the professionals at M & M Developers Inc., we can guarantee the following,
- Unmatched professionalism and customer care
- The highest of quality products to protect and extend the lifetime of your property
- All local building codes and manufacturer specifications to be followed and respected
- Upon inspection, we can assist you in deciding if there is enough evidence to file an insurance claim or not
- If filing an insurance claim, we will advocate on your behalf ensuring a smooth and stress-free process
M & M Developers Inc.'s Winnetka Window Repair from Storm Damage
Even with modern windows, glass can still shatter when exposed to intense storm conditions. After a storm, you will want to contact a Winnetka professional storm damage restoration contractor as soon as possible to quickly have any broken windows replaced. Here at M & M Developers Inc., we offer emergency services for a speedy window repair and replacement. Promptly completing the necessary window repairs will prevent further water damage in your interior space as well as prevent any waste in energy consumption. Give us a call at (424) 297-5099 for a free quote on storm damage repair on your Winnetka windows.
Has a Storm Damaged Your Winnetka Roof? M & M Developers Inc. Can Help!
Your Winnetka home's roof is the 1st line of defense against the outside elements and a major part of your home's structural integrity. When you experience storm damage to your Winnetka home or business M & M Developers Inc.'s expert roofers can provide emergency roof tarping and priority roof repair and roof replacement services as needed. When you call M & M Developers Inc. for storm damage roof repair in Winnetka we will promptly inspect and repair your roof and help get your home or business restored to its pre-storm condition. Give us a call at (424) 297-5099 for a fast, free quote to get started.
Storm Damaged Siding in Winnetka?
Do you have broken or missing siding from your home or business due to storm damage in Winnetka? Broken or missing siding can expose the interior of your home or business to additional weather damage, excess moisture as well as allow entry points for insects, rodents and other nuisance wildlife. The majority of insurance policies will cover siding damage that was caused due to wind and hail, making paying for repairs one less thing you have to worry about. If filing a claim, M & M Developers Inc. will handle the process directly with your insurance company for you. Call us today at (424) 297-5099 for a storm damage restoration quote in Winnetka that is fast and free.


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When you're working on a long, complicated document, you can collapse everything except the part you want to focus on. Or, if you think you might be overloading your readers with too much information, you can display summaries and leave it to your readers to open the summary and read the details if they want.
The ability to collapse and expand content in your document is based on its outline level. You can quickly add an outline level and make part of your document collapsible by adding a heading using Word's built-in styles.
After applying the heading style, you'll see a small triangle when you move your cursor over the heading. Click the triangle to collapse the body text and subheadings below it.
Tip: If you're working on a touch device, tap to place your cursor in the heading to see the triangle.
Click the triangle again to expand that part of the document.
To collapse or expand all the headings in your document, right-click the heading and click Expand/Collapse > Expand All Headings or Collapse All Headings.
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Place your cursor in the heading.
On the Home tab, click the arrow in the Paragraph group.
In the Paragraph dialog box, click the checkbox next to Collapsed by default.
Click OK.
When you're working on a long, complicated document in the Word desktop application, you can collapse everything except the part you want to focus on. Unfortunately, this feature isn't in Word for the web yet.
If you have the Word desktop program, you can click Open in Word to open your document in Word and collapse or expand parts of the document there, but those sections will be expanded when you view your document in Word for the web.
After opening your document in Word, collapse or expand parts of a document there. Then, press Ctrl+S to save your document to its original location.


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Brothers Osborne Reflect on 2017 Success: 'We Stayed True to Ourselves'
Brothers Osborne's impressive success of the past few years is attributed to their perseverance.
In 2017 alone, the duo of John and TJ Osborne celebrated back-to-back wins at the ACM Awards for Vocal Duo of the Year and New Vocal Duo of the Year, plus Vocal Duo of he Year at the CMA Awards. In addition, their hit "It Ain't My Fault," which peaked inside the top 15 on both the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, earned them a CMA Award for Video of the Year and a nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2018 Grammy Awards.
These significant victories are a result of plenty of blood, sweat and tears shed over the years. "It's amazing," TJ reflects in an interview with Taste of Country about their accolades. "We've worked so hard to get where we are and I think there's a lot of ups and downs along the way. We've always stayed true to who we are, kind of stuck to our guns, so I really feel that where we are now is just really a product of us just being constantly relentless and just trying to make it work."
While they find themselves making a significant impression on the genre now, it wasn't always that way. TJ says there were times when they could have gone done a less authentic path and gained more notoriety, but see their current success as a reward for standing firm in their character.
"I think there were many, many times where we could've taken some routes that would've been easier and had some success," he says. "And we just stayed true to ourselves and stuck to our guns, and I think that we're getting rewarded for that now and it just makes it only the better."
The award-wining duo gave back to like-minded people during the holiday season in 2017 when they performed a surprise show for truck drivers out in the Nevada desert as a way to say thank you to them during the busiest time of the year, a grounding experience for the brothers.
"They're doing the job that I think a lot of us couldn't ever do, so it was really nice to get in front of these people and show our appreciation," John says of the intimate show. "They're the life blood of America as far as I'm concerned, and it was good to shake the hands of the people putting in the labor. They were just really cool—just good, solid, real folks that just remind you of where you come from."
Brothers Osborne recently released their latest single, "Shoot Me Straight."
Country's Best Guitarists? Check These Men and Women Out!


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The Catholic Church Gives Away the Store to Skeptics
English is filled with delightful idioms that describe in a colorful way what happens in discussions. For instance, the phrase "give away the store" means that a person makes a concession that so weakens his position that he might as well give up defending his belief. A recent article written by Philip Pullella shows the extent to which some people who call themselves Christians have "given away the store" when it comes to the creation/evolution discussion.
On January 6, 2011, Pullella posted an article titled, "God Was Behind the Big Bang, Universe No Accident: Pope." In the article, he reported on a speech given by pope Benedict in Vatican City in which Benedict conceded that the Big Bang occurred, but that "God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang" (2011). Pullella further commented that the Catholic Church "now accepts evolution as a scientific theory" and "no longer teaches creationism—the belief that God created the world in six days as described in the Bible."
The problem with Benedict's position, and that of the Catholic church, is that they have "given away the store" to the evolutionists and atheistic cosmologists, in spite of the fact that real, experimental, verifiable science shows that the Big Bang is a scientific impossibility (see May, et al.) and that evolution is patently false (Sarfati, 1999). Gainsayers of Christ's teachings can see exactly where such concessions logically lead. One skeptical reader who wrote a comment at the end of the article said, "sure, once you take out all the conflicts with science, you can have a guy who existed and taught stuff and was killed… but then how is that the son of god…?" In their attempt to appeal to the secular world, and make their message more palatable, the Catholic Church has conceded so much that its message does not contain the one thing that can set people free—the truth.
All those involved in defending the truth should keep in the forefront of our minds the reality that the majority of people in this world choose to believe things that are false and they travel down the broad road (Matthew 7:13-14). When we stand up for the truth, the world will hate us, just like it hated Jesus when He was on the Earth (John 15:18). Christians are not called to conform their minds to the false theories of the world, but to transform their minds by accepting and defending the truth (Romans 12:2), regardless of the social and political pressure to fit in. The Big Bang didn't happen, evolution is not true, and there is much truth left "in store" for those who are willing to stand up against "science falsely so called."
Pullella, Philip (2011), "God Was Behind the Big Bang, Universe No Accident: Pope," http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/06/us-pope-bigbang-idUSTRE7052OC20110106.
Sarfati, Jonathan (1999), Refuting Evolution (Green Forest, AR: Master Books).
May, Branyon, et al. (2003), "The Big Bang Theory—A Scientific Critique," Reason & Revelation, https://apologeticspress.org/articles/2635.
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Hello Everyone! I hope you're having a lovely weekend. Mine has been full of good food and drink, library books and some sewing.
A Raspberry beret for the lady, two red stripe for the gent.
New Look 6886 bodice awaiting skirt attachment.
The velvet photograph cover of Daniel Vosovic's lovely book
Final touches to my Sassy Librarian Blouse.
There is also some good news to share. Last week the lovely people at Simplicity got in touch.
They actually offered to send me a couple of their patterns which I was over the moon at.
I generally find that New Look patterns fit me straight out of the envelope and Simplicity patterns only ever require a few tweaks.
… Vogue, McCalls and Butterick are *ahem* another story.
I picked two favourites out of a short list of many and I literally ripped open my parcel in glee when the patterns arrived!
I've mentioned to a few people lately that I'm interested in making a shirtdress. This seems like the natural progression of my desire to conquer blouses. I chose the very popular Project Runway 1880. Ami's version really made me believe this was the pattern for me so I requested this as my first choice.
For my second choice I went with the Leanne Marshall 1755 party dress. Oh yes I'm making the lace version.
I want this to be my Birthday party dress. I have a lovely maroon lace with maple leaf pattern and I'm eager to try a pattern where the instructions actually help you create a lace overlay, rather than trying to wing it alone.
But wait! The good news doesn't stop here.
Simplicity also gave me two of their amazing fit patterns to give away — 1800 (sizes 10-18) and 1652 (sizes 6 – 14).
Two dresses with princess seamed bodices and a variety of skirts, sleeves and special features to bring together and create your perfect garment.
I'm actually kind of jealous one of you will get to try the cool cut out back of 1652.
And hang on, there's a little bit more!
I'm also throwing in a lovely Sylko bobbin head button badge!
When I saw these lovely badges I just had to get one and I picked out a second just for you my lovely readers.
One reader will win both amazing fit patterns and the badge.
All you have to do to win this lot is to leave a comment saying what your favourite Simplicity or New Look pattern is.
I also think it'd be worth your while following Simplicity on twitter – @SewSimplicity – to gather inspiration, hear about other giveaways to enter, and laugh with them about some of the crazy pattern envelope imagery the company cooks up.
The competition is open for a week, until Sunday July 7th at Midnight BST.
Good luck!


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Heel Spur Surgery/Endoscopic Heel Spur Surgery
Heel pain is caused by the excessive pull of a ligament in the arch of the foot called the plantar fascia. Generally the pain can be treated successfully without the need for surgery. However there are instances where non-surgical treatment of heel pain may fail and surgery may be necessary. Very often, the patient with heel pain will demonstrate a heel spur on an x-ray. In the past, many of the surgeries that were performed to relieve heel pain were designed to remove the bone spur. An incision was made on the side of the heel or the bottom of the heel, the spur identified and removed. Unfortunately, the healing time was very protracted and continued pain following the surgery was not uncommon. Now that the cause of heel pain is better-understood (See heel pain) the surgery is much more successful and the recovery time greatly diminished.
The Surgery
Most surgical procedures are aimed at detaching the plantar fascial ligament from its attachment into the heel bone. This may be accomplished with a small incision on the bottom of the heel or on the side of the heel. The procedure is performed by "feel". The surgeon inserted the scalpel blade and felt for the plantar fascia. Once they were confident that they had identified the plantar fascia they would cut the ligament free from the heel bone.
In the mid 1990's a new procedure was developed called the "Endoscopic Plantar Fascial Release". This procedure developed by Dr. Steven Barrett DPM and Dr. Steven Day DPM of Houston, Texas uses technology similar to that used in arthroscopic surgery. A small incision is place on the side of the heel where a small cannula is placed allowing the insertion of an arthroscopic camera. The plantar fascial ligament is visualized and then cut using a small surgical blade. This allows the surgeon greater control during the surgery. The surgeon can control where and how much of the ligament is freed from the heel bone. Some surgeons still perfer to remove the spur at the time of surgery. This is the surgeon's choice and based upon their training and experience.
The surgery is generally performed in an outpatient surgical center or hospital operating room. It can be performed under a local anesthesia, twilight anesthesia or a general anesthesia. At the completion of surgery a gauze dressing is applied and the patient placed in a post operative shoe or cast.
Recovery Period
Most patients are allowed to walk on the foot immediately but they are encouraged to limit their activities. The first week it is recommended that they stay off their feet except to use the restroom or have something to eat. After the first 3 to 7 days the bandage is removed and Band-Aids placed over the incision site. At this point the patient may attempt to wear a good supportive walking shoe if allowed to by their surgeon. Some surgeons perfer to protect the foot with a cast or have the patient use crutches. In 10 to 14 days the sutures are removed and the patient is allowed to bath the foot. It generally takes a minimum of three weeks before the patient is able to walk normally, with minimal discomfort. The patient should return to wearing their orthotics as soon as they are comfortable to wear in their shoes. Because the surgery does not address the cause of the heel pain (See heel pain) it is a good idea to wear orthotics following the surgery to reduce reoccurrence of the heel pain or other foot problems that might arise from excessive pronation of the foot.
The amount of time needed to be off from work depends upon the demands of the job and the type of shoes that must be worn. If a limited amount of walking is required for the job and the patient is able to return to work wearing a cast the patient may be able to return to work in one week. If the job requires a lot of time standing, walking climbing or kneeling the patient may be required to be off work for three weeks or longer. These are general guidelines and it is important that the patient follow their doctor's instructions and guidance. Each surgeon has their own set of criteria to guide the patient through their surgery based upon their experience.
Possible Complications
Overall this surgery has a very high success rate, but as with any surgical procedure there are possible complications. If the patient walks excessively on the foot during the healing period following the surgery, it may damage the weakened soft tissues in the area of the heel. This can lead to continued pain in the heel or in other areas of the foot, particularly on the top and outside of the foot. This is due to jamming of a joint in the area. Infection is another possible complication. The risk of infection will increase if the surgical site gets wet while the sutures are in place. In some instances a continuation of the pain may occur. This can be due to the ligament not being cut all the way through at the time of surgery. Another cause of continued pain might be the presence on a pinched or damaged nerve called a calcaneal neuroma. A calcaneal neuroma is relatively rare and not easily identified and may only be recognized with the failure of the initial surgery. Some instances of failure of the surgery cannot be identified. In these cases the initial cause of the heel pain maybe due to something other than abnormal foot mechanics. Unfortunately, there are no tests for identifying these other causes of heel pain. They are generally diagnosed as a matter of exclusion, rather than with direct diagnostic testing.
Article provided by PodiatryNetwork.com.
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Micro Engineering code 70 non-weathered rail is recommended for use in all Fast Tracks assembly fixtures and hand laid track in general. The rail is very precisely made from nickel silver and can be easily soldered. Each piece is 36" long.
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Micro Engineering rail is precision drawn and maintains very tight base and head width tolerances (+/- .001"). These precise tolerances ensure that the rail is held precisely in gauge when a Fast Tracks assembly fixture is used to build a turnout.
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text: find the origin of this myth, since it was the totem of Queen Móo, whose name means macaw; and she is generally pictured, in the sculptures and inscriptions, by the figure of that beautiful bird, whose plumage is composed of brilliant feathers of various colors. GODDESS ISIS AS A BIRD.1 'Gardner Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. iii., chap. xiii., p. 115. II. ON examining the adornments of the atlantes that supported the altar, we could not help exclaiming, "Why, this is Burmah!" And so it is. But it is also America. Yes, ancient America, brought back to light after slumbering many ages in the lap of Time, to show the people of the nineteenth century that, long, long ago, intimate communications existed between the inhabitants of the Western Continent and those of Asia, Africa, and Europe, just as they exist to-day; and that ancient American civilization, if not the mother of that of historical nations of antiquity, was at least an important factor in the framing of their cosmogonic notions and primitive traditions. Of that fact no better proof can be obtained than by comparing the symbols of the universe found among the Mayas, the Hindoos, the Chaldees, and the Egyptians. The simplest is that of the Mayas. It seems to have served as model for the others, that evidently are amplifications of it. We find it many times repeated, adorning the central fillet of the upper cornice of the entablatures of the eastern and west |


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Along the ancient, bustling back streets of Istanbul, two food stores sit just two kilometers apart. The neighborhoods are similar, a vibrant mix of old and new, with similar customer demographics. So why does a global confectionary maker sell significantly more of a certain snack—a high-margin item—in one market than the other?
The store with stronger sales is an example of what Bain & Company calls Perfect Sales Execution. Most companies treat sales like an art, but they are discovering that the sales process needs to become more of a science. With that in mind, the Perfect Sales Execution model is rooted in the belief that consumer products makers can use a scientific methodology to increase market share and profits by targeting the right stores and the right products and taking a disciplined approach to supporting sales execution.
The approach is unique. Perfect Sales Execution provides the flexibility for companies to maintain centralized control and empower local operations. Creating the best of both worlds, companies use a simple globally standardized metric for measuring sales performance and growing sales in targeted regions and outlets while giving country managers the power to locally define such important factors as product assortment and positioning.
Such concerns are top of mind for many consumer products CEOs. When we recently surveyed 120 consumer products executives, 90% ranked sales execution as one of their top five business priorities, but fewer than half of the respondents felt their salesforces were operating at full potential (see Figure 1). More than half of all respondents ranked investments in salesforce capabilities and channel strategy as one of their most important issues for addressing salesforce effectiveness (see Figure 2).
Our work with clients has shown that many companies lack a clearly defined way to increase sales, and they are unable to mobilize their salesforces to meet growth objectives. That creates high variability in sales rep performance within a market and across country markets in a region. Through its Perfect Sales Execution program, one Asia-based fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company was able to identify where certain markets had capabilities ahead of others, and draw on the experiences of Vietnam and Singapore, for example, to raise the competency level in other markets like China and Indonesia.
While important in developed markets, creating such a perfect store is even more urgent in emerging markets, where consumer products makers are looking for much of their growth. In emerging markets, where traditional trade still dominates, achieving Perfect Sales Execution is more difficult since mom and pop shops are not homogenous and typically don't use a standardized format for tracking sales and enhancing performance. That said, companies that are able to create a solution in emerging markets reap significant benefits in terms of growth, market share gains and securing and maintaining leadership positions. But consumer products companies selling to developed markets are also finding huge value in using the Perfect Sales Execution approach to help them focus on segments that matter and make the most of shopper insights (see below, "Perfect Sales Execution in developed markets").
Getting it right
Consumer goods makers often simply lack the capabilities for determining which outlets are most valuable in a region, which products to target within those stores, how to position targeted products on the shelves, how to motivate sales teams to sell more of those items and how to measure execution with a few simple metrics at every step. The Perfect Sales Execution methodology helps consumer products makers develop these capabilities and gives them a repeatable process for continuous improvement:
- The methodology recognizes that consumers and customers do not have equal value—it gives the salesforce the tools to segment the marketplace and target where to play. And just as critical, companies learn how to link brand strategy to sales execution in the store. When we asked surveyed executives about the status of their sales operations, only half said there was a clear link between strategy and sales execution.
- The process breaks down channel strategy into a few critical activities that sales reps execute in the store. Companies minimize the differences between markets and salesforces by using a standardized methodology to improve brand sales, including having the right assortment, making products more visible with better placement and having effective product promoters in stores.
- Companies measure store execution with objective key performance indicators (KPIs) to eliminate subjectivity. And their sales teams use benchmarking to continuously improve. They establish aggressive—but realistic—individual KPI targets. Sales team members and distributors receive incentives based on the KPI targets they achieve, keeping them focused and motivated.
The Perfect Sales Execution approach swiftly boosts sales of high-margin products. The confectionary selling its snack product in the food stores rolled out the approach in 30,000 locations in Turkey in just a few weeks and quickly saw the impact. A hidden store camera demonstrated to the skeptical salesforce that by just changing the placement, sales for a snack product jumped as much as sixfold. Why? Customers who purchase cigarettes, which carry a relatively low profit margin, often also reach for the snack—which has up to a 30% margin—if it is close at hand. So by convincing retailers to use brightly colored snack displays and place them near the register, sales shot up. In fact, the grocer achieved a 20% increase in the high-margin item in the first month alone. Overall, the company's snack product sales have already grown 10% on a like-for-like base.
Improvements in sales performance lead to market share gains. A beverage player in Latin America discovered that the market share among its "perfect" stores was more than 30% higher than that of stores where the company had not yet implemented the program. And there is huge potential for improvement: only 15% of its stores had been transformed by the Perfect Sales Execution approach. An FMCG company watched its market share grow over two years by 1% to 3% in the 10 countries where it launched the program (see Figure 3).
In addition to gaining market share, the approach is designed to create a more committed and enthusiastic salesforce. Here, too, the reports are positive. When the FMCG company surveyed its sales executives in those 10 countries about the effectiveness of the program, more than 80% of them rated it a 5.5 on a 1-to-6 scale.
The need for a cultural shift
All major change initiatives require a culture shift and the Perfect Sales Execution methodology helps companies make the transition to science-based sales. Companies adjust their focus from pursuing arbitrary outputs—such as the need to improve sales by 10%—to the important inputs that will actually deliver better results. For example, beverage makers know that clean, well-stocked coolers with the right brand highly visible increase turnover by 20%. But they need a process for ensuring that both retailers and sales teams are compensated for installing and maintaining the coolers.
As part of the culture shift, companies learn how to adequately assess the marketplace to spot critical gaps in stores, including missing products, missing displays and incorrect product positioning. Without understanding those shortcomings, they're unable to craft a well-focused market strategy to address the gaps and translate the strategy into activities that increase the sales of targeted products.
Another reason for the change: consumer products executives often are frustrated by an inability to systematically measure, track and hold their salesforces accountable for results.
The president of one consumer products maker summed up the dilemma: "What I can't measure, I can't control; what I can't control, I can't target; what I can't target, I can't improve."
Once companies find a way to measure where to invest and how to create incentives for the sales teams and track their performance, they often are surprised at what they learn. For example, a confectioner realized that a lack of discipline in segmenting the market and targeting the most attractive segments meant it penetrated less than 40% of the attractive kiosk segment—and that it was investing much of its resources in groceries without high-profit potential.
Keeping the salesforce focused on what matters
Too many consumer products companies struggle with basic misalignment. The marketing team wants to increase sales of high-value products, so it designs a campaign that defines a winning product assortment, creates in-store displays and improves product visibility. But winning means something different to the sales reps and distributors: frequently, they focus on volume, not high-margin products. The higher their overall sales, the bigger their bonuses. When a soft-drinks producer invested heavily in a direct salesforce to promote secondary brands, it discovered that only 20% of the orders actually carried those brands.
Another common shortcoming involves leaving the "last mile" to individual sales reps to figure out and manage themselves. A company may invest a great deal of effort in developing brand and country-specific strategies but do a poor job spelling out what the sales team needs to do differently. Take the spirits producer that carefully segmented its outlets to help tailor sales execution to different store categories. Trouble is, the resulting 30 store segments simply confused the field force, making it impossible for reps to follow guidelines for improved performance. And sales reps of a leading brand in Singapore were well aware of the different influencers on shopping behavior, but could not articulate how they should best be addressed in different channels.
And sometimes companies fail to clarify the roles and responsibilities of their own sales reps, the distributors' sales reps and their in-store brand and sales promoters. One beverage producer found that approximately 40% of its investments for expensive merchandising materials, such as tables, chairs and umbrellas, went to outlets lacking the growth potential to justify such investments. The company left decisions about allocating resources to the field force without precise guidelines about where to invest.
Enter a store that's perfect
To overcome these common pitfalls, companies can adopt a new model that strongly links their strategic goals with improved sales execution.
Here's how a consumer products company used the Perfect Sales Execution approach to expand market share in selected emerging markets, systematically improve sales on a store-by-store basis and gain more control over marketing and sales. Instead of a one-time project, the company embarked on a multiyear cultural transformation program rooted in five major initiatives:
- To reassess its channel strategy, the company identified the most attractive outlets for profitable growth by looking at each store's potential market volume, share, value and profitability as well as its strategic importance within the brand portfolio. It segmented customers to see which stores had high-value customers and to gain insights into what products they want to buy. Based on the data, the company prioritized customer segments and focused its energy and investments on five channels over the next three years. The process also looked at whether the channel was mainly for eating or drinking—a restaurant versus a bar—and their relative profitability for the particular product segment.
- Next, the company translated its strategy into an action plan that detailed how to win at the cash register in targeted stores. The plan spelled out the major roles, steps and KPIs and backed it up with a budget and a way to monitor performance. To ensure success, the company armed the sales team with the necessary tools to boost store sales— mobile devices such as personal data assistants (PDAs) loaded with sales software that creates an automatic checklist of product items for every store on a field rep's daily route. They also received instructions for different customer segments and regions, including a list of standards for stores such as mandatory product assortments and optimal product placement. Standing in a store, sales reps used these tools to enter specific information about the outlet. The system provides prompts about what needs to be stocked, reminding them to track competitors' pricing and telling them where to go next on their route.
- The company enforced the sales standards by mapping out which stores merited frequent visits based on an outlet's attractiveness. For example, a store with high sales but a low brand share won a top-priority ranking. Armed with the PDAs, the sales reps were able to easily run through a checklist, tracking inventory, pricing, placement, stocking orders and scheduling future store visits.
- To monitor a salesperson's compliance with Perfect Sales Execution standards, the company tied each action to clearly defined sales KPI targets.
- Based on a sales rep's execution proficiency scorecard, the company calculated compensation on a monthly basis, using its sales reward system. Frequent compensation reviews help motivate the sales team—and improve sales execution on a daily basis.
The company made two critical investments before launching the Perfect Sales Execution program in 20 countries. It invested in the technology—PDAs—to give the sales team a live data flow in the field and constant updates. While we found that PDAs help, at a minimum a structured manual process is required to support a program. It also invested to transform the organization's structure to fully support optimal sales execution. The change effort delivered results. Two years after implementing Perfect Sales Execution, the company's market share rose by 1 to 3 points. Rewarded for their improved performance, the salesforce became enthusiastic supporters of the new model.
The company now has a focused channel strategy based on consumer and customer insights, and the strategy is translated into an action plan with realistic, easy-to-understand performance metrics. It has a more accountable and engaged sales team. And senior executives are empowered as never before because they can measure sales effectiveness and are in control of the process needed to grow profits and market share. They can set targets and align incentives with those targets, creating a realistic way to constantly encourage the sales team to do better.
Giovanni Arnese is a Bain & Company partner based in Rome. Mike Booker, based in Singapore, leads Bain's Consumer Products and Retail practices in Asia. Louis Lim is a partner based in Singapore. Marcello Tripodo is a partner based in Milan.
Perfect Sales Execution in developed markets
One noteworthy finding from our survey of consumer products executives: store selection and sales execution are as much a concern for those selling to developed markets as they are in emerging markets. The fact is, even in developed markets, which for decades have been dominated by modern trade, there is an enormous dividend for suppliers who are able to consistently activate the right assortment, product display, pricing and promotion—with the channels, customers and outlets that matter most.
Consider how the approach helped two companies regain lost market share in Australia. A snack food company segmented its stores and identified for each segment the three to five most important inputs that make a real difference to the bottom line. Rather than focusing on pushing sales overall, sales reps had a limited set of simple deliverables, such as increasing shelf space and giving priority positioning to about 10 to 15 high-margin SKUs. That encouraged retailers to comply by tying discounts to those deliverables. To persuade sales reps to adhere, it linked compensation and sales rewards to these KPIs.
Within the first six months, volume rose 3% and profits jumped 7% in participating stores. By comparison, stores that did not participate experienced a 6% volume decline and a 2% drop in profitability during the same period.
A similar approach helped a beverage company to identify the specific outlets where it could sell more products, using geodemographic data to compare total beverage sales by ZIP code with sales of its own products in those locations. Once it knew which stores to target, the company translated this new channel strategy into a practical action plan and focused the salesforce's effort on the outlets offering the most potential for growth. It also used ethnographic research to discover which in-store merchandising tactics were most effective in these stores and developed a simple set of merchandising standards to be used by its salesforce and its customers. These changes had an immediate impact, with sales growing 5% faster in outlets receiving the new sales service levels and merchandising standards.
—David Zehner, Bain & Company partner based in Sydney
A sales rep's view of Perfect Sales Execution
Along the cobblestoned backstreets of Besiktas, an ancient quarter in Istanbul, not much has changed in how small, independent shop owners do business. But the Perfect Sales Execution approach now provides a way to marry the old and new in retailing. It preserves a culture defined by the neighborhood stores while using modern techniques to boost performance for the consumer products companies that serve them.
Two and a half months after a global food maker launched its program in Turkey—including this area on the European shore of the Bosphorus—Fahim, one of the company's local sales reps, already sees the difference. He convinced 48 of his 150 shop owner customers to place brightly colored displays for a snack product near the cash register, not far from cigarettes. Consumers who buy cigarettes often reach for the snack, a product that typically carries a 30% profit margin. For every stand he placed, Fahim received a cash incentive. On a Saturday afternoon, he checked in with the traditional retailers scattered through the neighborhood to chart progress. Fahim estimated that snack product sales for participating outlets on his route are up between 10% and 20%.
Sales reps often are initially skeptical about the approach, but Fahim was sold on it after seeing the compact plastic displays in training sessions for the multinational's sales and distributor reps. The stands are designed for the "hot spot" in small mom and pop shops: the cramped counter space near the cash register. Fahim believed that the lack of displays made it difficult for the company's targeted snack products to stand out from those of competitors.
To maximize the displays' potential, Fahim and other reps learned three Perfect Sales Execution fundamentals. First, where to best locate the stands—in this case, near the register. Second, how to select the right high-margin and best-selling brands to place in the stands. Third, how to execute on merchandising principles, such as determining which among different stands are best suited for which stores.
Before the training began, the company laid the foundation for the reps' success by identifying the right stores for its program. The multinational looked at its major snack product channels: gas stations and kiosks, where there's a high correlation between purchases of cigarettes and the snack product; traditional mom and pop stores, segmenting them by size and snack product sales; and liquor and dried fruit stores. After pinpointing outlets with strong growth potential, it armed reps with a target list of retailers on their routes.
Fahim admits that not every shop owner welcomed the snack product display. One grocer rejected it because he wanted to keep counter space free for shoppers' bags as they paid the cashier. But a couple of kilometers away, a dried fruit market owner says even after school closed for the summer and foot traffic dropped, sales of the snack product increased after he placed the display stand near cigarettes and the cashier.
Fahim uses two tools to help him consistently hit his Perfect Sales Execution goals. First, a PDA gives him a product checklist for individual retailers, grouping them into each of the three major snack product channels. Also, he has a paper-based sales folder that includes an additional checklist with pictures. It serves as a guide for achieving perfect standards. For example, the sales folder shows what Gold and Silver stores look like, featuring the types of snack product displays, how they are used in different store segments and how to achieve performance-based incentives tied to the different standards.
As the company continues its Perfect Sales Execution launch throughout Turkey, Fahim has set his own goals. By the end of the three-month rollout, he hopes to double the number of his retailers using the display stands in the hot spot—a win-win-win for the mom and pop, the company and Fahim, whose monthly incentives would increase by $140.
The value in trade marketing
Among the 120 consumer products executives participating in our recent survey, more than 90% feel they need to improve the effectiveness of their investments in trade marketing. Why is it so important? Trade marketing serves as the critical link between a consumer products company's marketing efforts and its sales team. It supports sales reps in their day-to-day jobs by developing commercial investment strategies and planning outlet activation programs aimed at increasing demand at the retailer, distributor or wholesaler.
A company's trade marketing unit generates shopper insights, with input from sales and marketing. Those insights help the company to develop a channel segment strategy and activation plans, as well as to instill sales discipline. In a company using the Perfect Sales Execution approach, trade marketing activities typically would include:
- Setting merchandising standards
- Developing point-of-sale materials
- Generating shopper insights
- Developing segment strategies
- Designing outlet activation standards and performance indicators
- Supporting routing criteria definition
- Allocating and managing assets
- Managing and supporting PDA systems, if applicable


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Fresh floods in India claim sixteen lives
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Floods in the eastern state of Orissa in India have left 16 dead. Over 180,000 people have been evacuated to safer places, while hundreds of others have taken shelter on national highway and cyclone shelters. The flood, described as the worst since 1982 by officials, has marooned 191 villages. The rising Mahanadi river over flowed at Mundali along 28 breaches to inundate and cut off several villages.
A total of 1.5 million people living in 17 out of 30 districts of Orissa have been affected. Crop areas of over 2,470 square kilometers have been inundated. Cuttack, Kendrapara, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts are worst affected. All major state rivers and their tributaries are flowing above the danger level due to the heavy monsoon rains.
The new flooding comes just weeks after Kosi river that flows from Nepal to India, burst its embankment and submerged nearly 1,000 villages in the neighboring state of Bihar in the north, killing at least 48 people and driving more than a million others from their homes. "The worst is yet to come," said Benudhar Dash, Additional Relief Commissioner of Orissa.
Related news
- "50,000 people refuse evacuation after flooding in India caused by river changing course" — Wikinews, September 9, 2008
- "Four die in Orissa floods, worst yet to come" — Hindustan Times, September 19, 2008
- "Orissa floods hit lakhs" — The Statesman, September 20, 2008
- "India floods, rain kill at least 32" — Agence France-Presse, September 20, 2008
- "16 Dead, 220,000 Stranded in Flooding in Eastern India" — Foxnews.com, September 20, 2008


text: Recently I got to watch the new Dark Tower movie, very, VERY, loosely adapted from the epic 7 book series by Stephen King. We didn't go into the theater with expectations of a true-to-text adaptation – after all, it wasn't called The Gunslinger and Roland was played by a black actor when he was explicitly white in the book (which actually mattered, as a black character had racial issues with him). This positively affected our experience, but we still felt the movie had significant problems. Watch our video to hear them in detail!


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Federal Reserve Initiates End Game As Trump Heads To White House
By Brandon Smith – AltMarket.com
For years, alternative economic analysts have been warning that the "miraculous" rise in U.S. stock markets has been the symptom of wider central bank intervention and that this will result in dire future consequences. We have heard endless lies and rationalizations as to why this could not be so, and why the U.S. "recovery" is real. At the beginning of 2016, the former head of the Dallas branch of the Federal Reserve crushed all the skeptics and vindicated our position in an interview with CNBC where he stated:
"What the Fed did — and I was part of that group — is we front-loaded a tremendous market rally, starting in 2009.It's sort of what I call the "reverse Whimpy factor" — give me two hamburgers today for one tomorrow. I'm not surprised that almost every index you can look at … was down significantly." [Referring to the results in the stock market after the Fed raised rates in December.]
Fisher continued his warning (though his predictions in my view are wildly conservative or deliberately muted):
"…I was warning my colleagues, "Don't go wobbly if we have a 10-20 percent correction at some point. … Everybody you talk to … has been warning that these markets are heavily priced."
Here is the issue — stocks are a mostly meaningless factor when considering the economic health of a nation. Equities are a casino based on nothing but the luck of the draw when it comes to news headlines, central banker statements and algorithmic computers. Today, as Fischer openly admitted, stocks are a purely manipulated indicator representing nothing but the amount of stimulus central banks are willing to pour into them through various channels.
Even with the incredible monetary support pooled together by international financiers, returns on equities investments continue to remain mostly flat. It would seem that the propping up of indexes like the Dow has been only for the sake of keeping up appearances. For many people, revenue is barely being generated.
Unfortunately, the majority of Americans do not care to educate themselves on the finer points of finance. Their only relation to the health of the economy is their daily glance at the Dow. If it is green, or at all time highs, they assume that all is well, even if their gut is telling them something is not quite right.
The elites that stand at the helm of the Federal Reserve understand this dynamic very well. They are not stupid. They know that the whole of the global economy could be in a shambles but as long as stocks remain positive the masses will continue to ignore reality until the flames of destabilization are at their very doorsteps.
With this fact in mind one might think that the Fed would consider it in their best interest to keep stimulus measures operating indefinitely; but that is not what they are doing.
In fact, the Fed along with other central banks like the ECB has been slowly peeling back pillars of support from markets that have been in place since 2008-2009 and leaving the system open to a crisis event that should have been dealt with years ago. I examined this process of deliberate destabilization in my article 'The Global Economic Reset Has Begun.'
In that piece I outlined the three major pillars holding up the U.S. market system and certain parts of our economy and how they were being systematically removed. The first pillar was the use of bailouts and quantitative easing measures. These were diminished through the implementation of the Fed "taper," which I predicted would happen three months prior that year.
The second pillar was the use of near zero interest rates, which allowed numerous banks and corporations to access low-cost and no-cost overnight loans from the Fed. These companies then used these loans in large part to support a never-ending program of stock buybacks, which reduced the stock pool and artificially boosted the values of the remaining stocks. I predicted in August of 2015 that the Fed would hike interest rates and that this would be the beginning of the end for the stock buyback bonanza. The Fed hiked rates in December of that year.
This process of removing backdoor manipulation through low interest rates should be our main concern right now. Early in 2016 I believed that the Fed would reach a position in which it would finally unleash a series of rate hikes. I did not think they would be so blatant as to wait until right after the U.S. presidential election to do so. I was wrong.
This is why I eventually predicted the launch of a series of rate hikes starting right after the election of Donald Trump in my article 'World Suffers From Trump Shell Shock — Here's What Will Happen Next.' The Fed has now once again hiked interest rates with assertions that they will be "accelerating" such hikes throughout 2017.
As I have been arguing for most of the past year, the election of Donald Trump was inevitable and would precede the triggering of the final stage of our ongoing economic crisis. I came to realize that the Fed's timing of their latest rate hike is highly strategic. Not only does it set the stage for a series of hikes that will crush U.S. stock markets this coming year and finally shock the public out of their fiscal stupor, but it also maneuvers the crisis right into the lap of Donald Trump and the conservative movements that support him.
Beyond this, it perpetuates an increasing Left/Right division in America. Think about it — during a fiscal crisis under Trump, tiggered by accumulating Fed rate hikes, liberals will immediately set upon Trump as the culprit, while conservatives will immediately defend Trump as a victim of Federal Reserve meddling.
The Federal Reserve and the mainstream media are already composing the narrative by stating that Trump's potential economic policies and a widening budget deficit would REQUIRE higher rates at a faster pace in order to be accommodated.
I have heard arguments from some that this tactic would simply not work. That people would "never buy" a narrative in which Trump and conservatives are blamed for a market collapse that was at least eight years in the making. I have to say, this view is incredibly naive.
I understand why people would want to embrace the notion that the public is as savvy as the liberty movement when looking at economic events, but this simply isn't reality. A large portion of the U.S. population identifies with the "Left" end of the political spectrum. We have already seen how they react in the face of a Trump election win. They are predisposed to believe that Trump is responsible for a market crash regardless of the facts. Not to mention, much of the rest of the world is economically ignorant and will likely jump on the anti-conservative bandwagon during a crisis as well.
But the real master stroke of this strategy on the part of the elites is that it creates the perfect platform for the destruction of the U.S. dollar's world reserve status — the third and final pillar I mentioned months ago that is supporting our economic system.
Imagine that the Fed's rate hike frenzy sparks an open feud between the central bank and Trump? Some people might say "Good! Shut the bastards down!" However, this is exactly what the elites want. With the Fed "at odds" with the president of the U.S., faith in the U.S. dollar will plummet. Its world reserve status will be destroyed. And instead of being blamed on central banks, the majority of people around the world will claim it was the fault of Trump.
With a historically sufficient excuse for the end of dollar dominance in hand, the elites can move forward with their great global reset, which includes the replacement of the dollar with the IMF's special drawing rights as the go-to reserve currency mechanism. The SDR basket is an essential bridge in the formation of a single global monetary authority and a true single global currency.
I believe that the Fed will not only continue hiking interest rates throughout 2017, but that some of these rate hikes may be LARGER than many people expect (50 basis points or more). I believe this will be designed to foster extreme tensions between the executive branch and the central bank.
A few months ago I would have said that Trump may or "may not" be aware of this dynamic and the potential that he is a scapegoat. Now that I have seen Trump's cabinet picks which include neo-con and Goldman Sachs alumni, I have little doubt that he is fully cognizant of the plan. I will be writing more on the issue of Trump as a "Trojan horse" in my next article. In the meantime I would point out that all of the elements of psychological support for stock markets will also disappear in the face of a Trump verses establishment narrative.
All those leftist media outlets cherry picking economic stats and telling half truths to support the recovery lie now have no reason to continue cheerleading for the economy. I expect that propaganda rags like Reuters and Bloomberg will quickly change their tune with Trump in the Oval Office and begin a consistent chorus of negative financial data. Not only will the Fed remove all support from the system, but the mainstream media will be pounding day traders with the kind of "doom and gloom" headlines that they have been criticizing us for over the years.
Make no mistake, the election of Trump may have some in the liberty movement ready to pack up their preps and forget about any national crisis in their lifetimes, but the truth is, vigilance is needed now more than ever. I said it before the election and I'll say it today — do not get comfortable; the times are about to get even more interesting.


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text:
The Judds' Songs: 10 Essential Tracks From Their Influential Career
The Judds, comprised of the late Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna Judd, were one of the most successful acts in country music history. They signed to RCA Records in 1983 and have released five studio albums, garnered 14 No. 1 hits and won five Grammy Awards and eight CMA Awards.
The duo, hailing from Ashland, Ky., carved a path for themselves in country music, and their legend continues to this day. Throughout the years, the Judds' songs have remained a staple on country radio stations and in country fans' ears. After all, the genre just wouldn't be the same without the following 10 tunes, would it?
- 10
"Girls Night Out"
From 'Why Not Me' (1984)The Judds had some fun with "Girls Night Out," and, 30 years later, the No. 1 hit became the name of their Las Vegas residency, which kicked off on Oct. 7, 2015. Released in 1985 as the second single from Why Not Me, "Girls Night Out" is the perfect weekend anthem for any group of girlfriends ready to get out and paint the town.
- 9
"Let Me Tell You About Love"
From 'River of Time' (1989)"Let Me Tell You About Love" was the Judds' 14th and final No. 1 on the country charts. It was released in 1989, as the second single from the album River of Time, and it made another appearance on the Judds' 1991 Greatest Hits Volume Two collection. "Blue Suede Shoes" hitmaker Carl Perkins played guitar on the song's recording.
- 8
"Love Is Alive"
From 'Why Not Me' (1984)"Love Is Alive" garnered the Judds a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. It showcases love in its everyday appearances: at the breakfast table, and every day of the week. The Judds sing, "It's made a happy woman out of me," and even if you think love is dead, this song will make you believe otherwise.
- 7
"Have Mercy"
From 'Rockin' With the Rhythm' (1985)This sassy number, written by Paul Kennerley, was the Judds' lead single from Rockin' With the Rhythm. It shot to No. 1, giving the Judds their fifth chart-topping tune, and it's pretty easy to see why it was a hit with fans: The song speaks of a woman who's wronged by a cheating and lying man, but it's sung in a way that evokes interest, not pity.
- 6
"Give a Little Love"
From 'Greatest Hits' (1988)The Judds released "Give a Little Love" as the first single from their Greatest Hits record in 1988. By this era, the Judds were known as one of country's greatest duos, and "Give a Little Love" was just one more reason to love them (and give them another Grammy). It describes the ideal man -- and while he could be "some big hunk" and "handsome, dark and tall," what he really needs to do is show a little love. A squeeze and a little kiss go a long way!
- 5
"Rockin' With the Rhythm of the Rain"
From 'Rockin' With the Rhythm' (1985)"Rockin' With the Rhythm of the Rain" became the duo's seventh consecutive No. 1 when it dropped in May of 1986, spending 12 weeks on the country charts. It makes a rainy and dreary day seem utterly romantic, with lyrics such as, "Slide on over / Baby, hold me closer / Movin' to and fro / Just swayin' like a slow freight train / Rockin' with the rhythm of the rain."
- 4
"Why Not Me"
From 'Why Not Me' (1984)"Why Not Me" was the Judds' second No. 1 hit. It dominated the charts for two weeks and spent a total of 15 weeks on the country charts after its release in September of 1984, as the first single and title track from Why Not Me. Harlan Howard, Sonny Throckmorton and Brent Maher penned the hit, which asks a man why he's searching the world for the perfect woman, when "the girl next door" is right in front of him.
- 3
"Mama, He's Crazy"
From 'Wynonna & Naomi' EP (1983)This chart-topping tune was the Judds' first-ever No. 1, and it was only the second country No. 1 sung by a female duo ... ever. "Mama, He's Crazy" captured the hearts of fans right away, with a daughter telling her mother about a man she's met -- and he's crazy over her. The song is one of the Judds' most recognizable hits, and it propelled them into the country music scene in a huge way. Plus, it won them a Grammy Award!
- 2
"(Grandpa) Tell Me 'Bout the Good Ol' Days"
From 'Rockin' With the Rhythm' (1985)"(Grandpa) Tell Me 'Bout the Good Ol' Days" is the story of a granchild asking her grandfather about the "good ol' days": Is it true that couples stayed married, praying was the norm and fathers never left their families? Naomi Judd had recently lost her own father, Wynonna Judd's grandfather, so this song deeply touched the duo upon first listen. It kicked of 1986, as the second single from Rockin' With the Rhythm, and was the Judds' sixth No. 1 song.
- 1
"Love Can Build a Bridge"
From 'Love Can Build a Bridge' (1990)When it debuted in 1990, "Love Can Build a Bridge" struck a chord with country fans. Naomi Judd co-wrote the song with Paul Overstreet and John Jarvis, as a sort of goodbye to her family and fans, after revealing that she had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C and had decided to retire due to her condition. When heard through that perspective, "Love Can Build a Bridge" takes on a very special meaning; the tenderness of the song could make even a statue shed a tear or two.


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access(2) | System Calls Manual | access(2) |
access, faccessat, faccessat2 - check user's permissions for a file
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
#include <unistd.h>
int access(const char *pathname, int mode);
#include <fcntl.h> /* Definition of AT_* constants */ #include <unistd.h>
int faccessat(int dirfd, const char *pathname, int mode, int flags); /* But see C library/kernel differences, below */
#include <fcntl.h> /* Definition of AT_* constants */ #include <sys/syscall.h> /* Definition of SYS_* constants */ #include <unistd.h>
int syscall(SYS_faccessat2, int dirfd, const char *pathname, int mode, int flags);
Since glibc 2.10: _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L Before glibc 2.10: _ATFILE_SOURCE
access() checks whether the calling process can access the file pathname. If pathname is a symbolic link, it is dereferenced.
The mode specifies the accessibility check(s) to be performed, and is either the value F_OK, or a mask consisting of the bitwise OR of one or more of R_OK, W_OK, and X_OK. F_OK tests for the existence of the file. R_OK, W_OK, and X_OK test whether the file exists and grants read, write, and execute permissions, respectively.
The check is done using the calling process's real UID and GID, rather than the effective IDs as is done when actually attempting an operation (e.g., open(2)) on the file. Similarly, for the root user, the check uses the set of permitted capabilities rather than the set of effective capabilities; and for non-root users, the check uses an empty set of capabilities.
This allows set-user-ID programs and capability-endowed programs to easily determine the invoking user's authority. In other words, access() does not answer the "can I read/write/execute this file?" question. It answers a slightly different question: "(assuming I'm a setuid binary) can the user who invoked me read/write/execute this file?", which gives set-user-ID programs the possibility to prevent malicious users from causing them to read files which users shouldn't be able to read.
If the calling process is privileged (i.e., its real UID is zero), then an X_OK check is successful for a regular file if execute permission is enabled for any of the file owner, group, or other.
faccessat() operates in exactly the same way as access(), except for the differences described here.
If the pathname given in pathname is relative, then it is interpreted relative to the directory referred to by the file descriptor dirfd (rather than relative to the current working directory of the calling process, as is done by access() for a relative pathname).
If pathname is relative and dirfd is the special value AT_FDCWD, then pathname is interpreted relative to the current working directory of the calling process (like access()).
If pathname is absolute, then dirfd is ignored.
flags is constructed by ORing together zero or more of the following values:
- Perform access checks using the effective user and group IDs. By default, faccessat() uses the real IDs (like access()).
- AT_EMPTY_PATH (since Linux 5.8)
- If pathname is an empty string, operate on the file referred to by dirfd (which may have been obtained using the open(2) O_PATH flag). In this case, dirfd can refer to any type of file, not just a directory. If dirfd is AT_FDCWD, the call operates on the current working directory. This flag is Linux-specific; define _GNU_SOURCE to obtain its definition.
- If pathname is a symbolic link, do not dereference it: instead return information about the link itself.
See openat(2) for an explanation of the need for faccessat().
The description of faccessat() given above corresponds to POSIX.1 and to the implementation provided by glibc. However, the glibc implementation was an imperfect emulation (see BUGS) that papered over the fact that the raw Linux faccessat() system call does not have a flags argument. To allow for a proper implementation, Linux 5.8 added the faccessat2() system call, which supports the flags argument and allows a correct implementation of the faccessat() wrapper function.
On success (all requested permissions granted, or mode is F_OK and the file exists), zero is returned. On error (at least one bit in mode asked for a permission that is denied, or mode is F_OK and the file does not exist, or some other error occurred), -1 is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.
- The requested access would be denied to the file, or search permission is denied for one of the directories in the path prefix of pathname. (See also path_resolution(7).)
- (faccessat()) pathname is relative but dirfd is neither AT_FDCWD (faccessat()) nor a valid file descriptor.
- pathname points outside your accessible address space.
- mode was incorrectly specified.
- (faccessat()) Invalid flag specified in flags.
- An I/O error occurred.
- Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving pathname.
- pathname is too long.
- A component of pathname does not exist or is a dangling symbolic link.
- Insufficient kernel memory was available.
- A component used as a directory in pathname is not, in fact, a directory.
- (faccessat()) pathname is relative and dirfd is a file descriptor referring to a file other than a directory.
- Write permission was requested to a file that has the immutable flag set. See also FS_IOC_SETFLAGS(2const).
- Write permission was requested for a file on a read-only filesystem.
- Write access was requested to an executable which is being executed.
If the calling process has appropriate privileges (i.e., is superuser), POSIX.1-2001 permits an implementation to indicate success for an X_OK check even if none of the execute file permission bits are set. Linux does not do this.
C library/kernel differences
The raw faccessat() system call takes only the first three arguments. The AT_EACCESS and AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW flags are actually implemented within the glibc wrapper function for faccessat(). If either of these flags is specified, then the wrapper function employs fstatat(2) to determine access permissions, but see BUGS.
glibc notes
On older kernels where faccessat() is unavailable (and when the AT_EACCESS and AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW flags are not specified), the glibc wrapper function falls back to the use of access(). When pathname is a relative pathname, glibc constructs a pathname based on the symbolic link in /proc/self/fd that corresponds to the dirfd argument.
- access()
- faccessat()
- faccessat2()
- Linux.
- access()
- SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.
- faccessat()
- Linux 2.6.16, glibc 2.4.
- faccessat2()
- Linux 5.8.
Warning: Using these calls to check if a user is authorized to, for example, open a file before actually doing so using open(2) creates a security hole, because the user might exploit the short time interval between checking and opening the file to manipulate it. For this reason, the use of this system call should be avoided. (In the example just described, a safer alternative would be to temporarily switch the process's effective user ID to the real ID and then call open(2).)
access() always dereferences symbolic links. If you need to check the permissions on a symbolic link, use faccessat() with the flag AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW.
These calls return an error if any of the access types in mode is denied, even if some of the other access types in mode are permitted.
A file is accessible only if the permissions on each of the directories in the path prefix of pathname grant search (i.e., execute) access. If any directory is inaccessible, then the access() call fails, regardless of the permissions on the file itself.
Only access bits are checked, not the file type or contents. Therefore, if a directory is found to be writable, it probably means that files can be created in the directory, and not that the directory can be written as a file. Similarly, a DOS file may be reported as executable, but the execve(2) call will still fail.
These calls may not work correctly on NFSv2 filesystems with UID mapping enabled, because UID mapping is done on the server and hidden from the client, which checks permissions. (NFS versions 3 and higher perform the check on the server.) Similar problems can occur to FUSE mounts.
Because the Linux kernel's faccessat() system call does not support a flags argument, the glibc faccessat() wrapper function provided in glibc 2.32 and earlier emulates the required functionality using a combination of the faccessat() system call and fstatat(2). However, this emulation does not take ACLs into account. Starting with glibc 2.33, the wrapper function avoids this bug by making use of the faccessat2() system call where it is provided by the underlying kernel.
In Linux 2.4 (and earlier) there is some strangeness in the handling of X_OK tests for superuser. If all categories of execute permission are disabled for a nondirectory file, then the only access() test that returns -1 is when mode is specified as just X_OK; if R_OK or W_OK is also specified in mode, then access() returns 0 for such files. Early Linux 2.6 (up to and including Linux 2.6.3) also behaved in the same way as Linux 2.4.
Before Linux 2.6.20, these calls ignored the effect of the MS_NOEXEC flag if it was used to mount(2) the underlying filesystem. Since Linux 2.6.20, the MS_NOEXEC flag is honored.
chmod(2), chown(2), open(2), setgid(2), setuid(2), stat(2), euidaccess(3), credentials(7), path_resolution(7), symlink(7)
2024-06-13 | Linux man-pages 6.9.1 |


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Two Alleged Members of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation Indicted for Murder in Aid of Racketeering
WASHINGTON—Two alleged members of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation have been indicted for their alleged roles in a 2007 murder in the Southern District of Florida.
Acting Assistant Attorney David A. O'Neil of the Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI's Miami Field Office made the announcement.
The indictment returned by a federal grand jury on May 1, 2014, and unsealed today in the Southern District of Florida charges Jose Herrera, aka "Spyro," 27, and Leonel Carrera, aka "Leo," 25, both of Miami, with murder in aid of racketeering activity. Herrera and Carrera were both arrested this morning.
The indictment alleges that Herrera and Carrera participated in the murder of Hockynson Sanchez, aka "Jaxx," on November 20, 2007, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing their position in the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation.
According to the indictment, the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation is a nationally known organized street gang that originated in the northwest side of Chicago and spread to other regions of the United States, including South Florida. Members and associates of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation allegedly engaged in acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault, as well as narcotics distribution and other criminal activities.
This case is being investigated by the FBI field offices in Miami, Chicago, and Merrillville, Indiana, along with the Miami-Dade Police Department, the City of Miami Police Department, the Chicago Police Department, the Franklin Park, Illinois, Police Department, and the East Chicago Police Department. The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana, the State Attorney's Offices of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, the Florida Department of Correction, and the Broward County Sheriff's Office assisted with this case.
The case is being prosecuted by Joseph A. Cooley and Rebecca A. Staton of the Criminal Division's Organized Crime and Gang Section, as well as the Forfeiture Section of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.


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When the No. 12 Arizona men's basketball team takes on Charleston Southern in McKale Center on Sunday at 4 p.m. for its season opener, the Wildcats will have two unquestioned leaders: Senior Solomon Hill, who has been the one constant on the Arizona roster since head coach Sean Miller arrived in Tucson four years ago, and fifth-year senior Mark Lyons, who transferred to the Wildcats with NCAA tournament appearances for every year spent at Xavier.
But there is another voice asking to be heard on the court, shouting orders and offering praise — that of sophomore Nick Johnson.
"I think it's great that Nick is really stepping up and taking a role as a leader, especially as a sophomore," Hill said. "It just adds to the respect that he gets from the teammates and from the younger guys, and everybody loves it. It's a part of the team that he's helping us build."
Miller has said that Johnson is one of the team's most vocal players, and while he might lack the experience of Lyons, the accolades of Hill (an All-Conference First Team member) or even the life experience of senior Kevin Parrom, Johnson has the personality to lead.
"I was a big leader last year as far as vocally, even though I was just a freshman," Johnson said. "Just coming in, we got a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces. So me playing a lot last year, even though I'm a sophomore, I just have to come in and show the younger guys how to do it."
This time around, though, Johnson has some on-court credentials to back up his leadership role. Johnson was fourth on the team in scoring and rebounding last season with 8.9 points per game and 3.3 boards. His 36.9 shooting percentage was a little low, as was his 32 three-point percentage, but he still did enough to earn a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team.
Hill and Lyons may have superiority, but Hill feels Johnson brings an added element to the veteran leadership of a team that has a mix of both young and old.
"[Johnson] is a vocal guy," Hill said. "He's very passionate on the court. Me, I'm kind of different. I don't really talk as much as the game comes on … I let my engine do the talking. I just let my hard work go out there and show guys how it's done."
Hill's 12.9 points per game, team-high 7.7 rebounds and .500 percent shooting did plenty of talking last season, but it doesn't account for the vocal void Hill's methodical play creates. That lets the young sophomore fill the silence and take a leadership role without stepping on older players' toes.
"Solomon and Kevin, they both lead by example, so they're not as much talking," Johnson said. "So I think they accepted the fact that I'm more the vocal person on our team. It all helps."
Through Arizona's two preseason games, Hill, Lyons and Johnson have proven to be the Wildcats' most consistent players. While the two seniors have consistently put the ball in the basket, Johnson has contributed in ways other than scoring — though he averaged 10 points per game.
The sophomore shooting guard had five steals against Humboldt State and two blocks and two steals against Chico State, displaying a level of effort a leader should have even in exhibition games.
But no matter what Johnson does on the court, and how vocal he is on and off it, this is still Hill's team.
"Solomon Hill is our natural leader because he is the most experienced," Miller said. "He is returning All-Pac-12 player. He has led by example for many years in a quiet way because of his work ethic. He has a lot at stake in his last year. One person can't do it alone (though)."


text:
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