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A civil war between the loyalists of the ruling Empress and a powerful noble faction broke out in Orlais. The Circle of Magi has gone rogue, and the Templar Order seceded from the Chantry to wage their own civil war on the mages. Can you save the world from itself?
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
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MOLpull: A tool for molecular free energy reconstruction along a pulling coordinate
Estimates the force required for stretching a molecule and determines the potential of mean force along the extension coordinate.
Version 1.04 - published on 22 Aug 2014
doi:10.4231/D33J39229 cite this
This tool is closed source.
Published on
This tool performs a Weighted Histogram Analysis (WHAM) using molecular dynamics (MD) for statistical sampling along an unfolding pathway. TINKER 4.2 [1] and the MM3 force field [2] are used for the MD propagation. The tool is useful in computing the PMF of arbitrary molecules. A schematic representation of the computations and the system that they model can be described as follows: a molecule is attached to a surface and an AFM tip. The distance between the surface and the cantilever (L) is controlled while the force exerted, F, fluctuates. The instantaneous applied force is measured by determining the deflection of the cantilever from its equilibrium position and is given by: F(t) = -k(ξ(t) - L) where k is the cantilever force constant and ξ(t) is the fluctuating molecular end-to-end distance.
[1] J. Ponder, TINKER: Software Tools for Molecular Design 4.2 (Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 2004). [2] N. L. Allinger, Y. H. Yuh, and J. H Lii, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 111, 8551 (1989). [3] S. Kumar, D. Bouzidam R. H. Swendsen, P. A. Kollman and J.M. Rosenberg J. Comput. Chem. 13, 1011 (1992) [4] I. Franco, G.C. Schatz and M.A. Ratner J. Chem. Phys. 131, 124902 (2009)
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text:
|Safe Haskell
List conversions and utilities.
- fromList :: [c] -> IO (InputStream c)
- toList :: InputStream a -> IO [a]
- outputToList :: (OutputStream a -> IO b) -> IO [a]
- writeList :: [a] -> OutputStream a -> IO ()
- chunkList :: Int -> InputStream a -> IO (InputStream [a])
- concatLists :: InputStream [a] -> IO (InputStream a)
- listOutputStream :: IO (OutputStream c, IO [c])
List conversions
fromList :: [c] -> IO (InputStream c)Source
Transforms a list into an
InputStream that produces no side effects.
ghci> is <- Streams.
fromList[1, 2] ghci>
replicateM3 (Streams.
readis) [Just 1, Just 2, Nothing]
toList :: InputStream a -> IO [a]Source
Drains an
InputStream, converting it to a list. N.B. that this function
reads the entire
InputStream strictly into memory and as such is not
recommended for streaming applications or where the size of the input is not
bounded or known.
ghci> is <- Streams.
fromList[1, 2] ghci> Streams.
toListis [1, 2]
outputToList :: (OutputStream a -> IO b) -> IO [a]Source
Given an IO action that requires an
OutputStream, creates one and
captures all the output the action sends to it as a list.
ghci> import Control.Applicative ghci> (
fromList["a", "b", "c"]) >>=
writeList :: [a] -> OutputStream a -> IO ()Source
Feeds a list to an
OutputStream. Does not write an end-of-stream to
the stream.
ghci> os <- Streams.
stdout>>= Streams.
contramap(S.pack . show) :: IO (
OutputStreamInt) ghci> Streams.
writeList[1, 2] os 1 2 ghci> Streams.
writeList[3, 4] os 3 4
|:: Int
chunk size
|-> InputStream a
stream to process
|-> IO (InputStream [a])
concatLists :: InputStream [a] -> IO (InputStream a)Source
Given an input stream containing lists, produces a new input stream that
will yield the concatenation of these lists. See
ghci> Streams.
fromList[[1,2,3::Int], [4,5,6]] >>= Streams.
concatLists>>= Streams.
listOutputStream :: IO (OutputStream c, IO [c])Source
listOutputStream returns an
OutputStream which stores values fed into
it and an action which flushes all stored values to a list.
The flush action resets the store.
Note that this function will buffer any input sent to it on the heap. Please don't use this unless you're sure that the amount of input provided is bounded and will fit in memory without issues.
ghci> (os, flush) <- Streams.
listOutputStream:: IO (
OutputStreamInt, IO [Int]) ghci> Streams.
writeList[1, 2] os ghci> flush [1, 2] ghci> Streams.
writeList[3, 4] os ghci> flush [3, 4]


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I've reproduced just twice. I'm ok with that.Is limiting the number of children one has a symptom of "cultural decadence"? This week in The New York Times, Ross Douthat argues that it is the niceties of modern life that are contributing significantly to the declining birthrate in America.
Fertility plunged after the recession hit in 2008, and it has yet to recover. The Pew Research Center found that U.S. birthrates hit their lowest number ever in 2011, with 63 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. In 1990, it was 71 per 1,000.
It makes sense. A lot of people (myself included) worry that they won't have the means to provide for another child. Kids are expensive, yo, what with their lessons and activities, clothes, health upkeep, and the endless supply of GoGurt they seem to consume -- and that's before we even get into the emotional toll they take on our lives.
Think about it: In poor developing nations, people don't worry so much about whether or not they'll be able to afford private school or violin lessons or a bigger house to contain all that stuff that kids come with. That stuff doesn't exist for them, so there's no need to feel like a crappy parent for not providing it.
Another aspect that may be affecting the drop in kiddos being born is that a lot of modern moms work outside the home now. Daycare is expensive for one or two kids, can you imagine paying for it for four or six? Then there's the time commitment … for better or worse, moms that work away from their children spend less time with them than those that work purely as domestic engineers. These parents may decide that their time is better spent nurturing a fewer number of children.
Megan McArdle points out in The Daily Beast that without growth, our economy is destined to become even more stagnant, especially as the population ages. She writes, "Without the growth around which all of our modern welfare states have been structured, the modern safety nets that governments have spent the last century establishing may not be politically or economically sustainable."
What are we women of childbearing age supposed to do? Take one (or two or three or four) for the team? I don't think so, but I think it's important to be aware of what this culture shift means for our individual families and our country as a whole.
The fact is that we're not producing as many babies as we once did. Therefore those nonexistent babies will not grow up and join the workforce and pay the taxes necessary to fund Social Security and Medicare. Plan accordingly.
Do you think the declining birthrate is a result of cultural decadence, or something else?


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Hong Kong, special administrative region (Pinyin: tebie xingzhengqu; Wade-Giles romanization: t'e-pieh hsing-cheng-ch'ü) of China, located to the east of the Pearl River (Xu Jiang) estuary on the south coast of China. The region is bordered by Guangdong province to the north and the South China Sea to the east, south, and west. It consists of Hong Kong Island, originally ceded by China to Great Britain in 1842, the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters (Ngong Shuen) Island (now joined to the mainland), ceded in 1860, and the New Territories, which include the mainland area lying largely to the north, together with 230 large and small offshore islands—all of which were leased from China for 99 years from 1898 to 1997. The Chinese-British joint declaration signed on December 19, 1984, paved the way for the entire territory to be returned to China, which occurred July 1, 1997.
The area of Hong Kong (Pinyin: Xianggang; Wade-Giles: Hsiang-kang) has expanded over the years, and it has continued to grow as more land has been reclaimed from the surrounding sea. Hong Kong Island and its adjacent islets have an area of only about 31 square miles (81 square km), while urban Kowloon, which includes the Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street, and Stonecutters Island measure about 18 square miles (47 square km). The New Territories account for the rest of the area—more than 90 percent of the total. The Victoria urban district located on the barren rocks of the northwestern coast of Hong Kong Island is the place where the British first landed in 1841, and it has since been the centre of administrative and economic activities.
Hong Kong developed initially on the basis of its excellent natural harbour (its Chinese name means "fragrant harbour") and the lucrative China trade, particularly opium dealing. It was the expansion of its territory, however, that provided labour and other resources necessary for sustained commercial growth that led to its becoming one of the world's major trade and financial centres. The community remains limited in space and natural resources, and it faces persistent problems of overcrowding, trade fluctuations, and social and political unrest. Nevertheless, Hong Kong has emerged strong and prosperous, albeit with a changed role, as an entrepôt, a manufacturing and financial centre, and a vital agent in the trade and modernization of China.
Hong Kong has rugged relief and marked variations in topography, which is in sharp contrast to the low-lying areas of the Pearl River Delta region but conforms geologically and structurally to the well-eroded upland region of the great South China massif. Structurally, the area is an upfold, running northeast-southwest, that was formed about 150 million years ago toward the latter part of the Jurassic Period. Lava poured into this structure and formed volcanic rocks that were later intruded by an extensive granitic dome. The harbour of Hong Kong was formed by the drowning of the denuded centre of the dome. The surrounding hills on the mainland and on Hong Kong Island are partly capped by volcanic rocks, and steep, scarplike concave slopes lead to the inner harbour.
The area is a partially submerged, dissected upland terrain that rises abruptly to heights above 2,950 feet (900 metres); its backbone is made up of a series of ridges, running northeast to southwest, that tie in closely with the structural trend in South China. This trend is clearly observable from the alignment of Lantau Island and the Tolo Channel. From Mount Tai Mo—at 3,140 feet (957 metres) the highest peak in the territory—the series of ridges extends southwestward to Lantau Island, where the terrain rises to 3,064 feet (934 metres) on Lantau Peak and 2,851 feet (869 metres) on Sunset Peak. Extending southeastward from Mount Tai Mo, the Kowloon Peak attains an elevation of 1,975 feet (602 metres), but there is an abrupt drop to about 650 feet (198 metres) at Devil's Peak. Victoria (Hong Kong) Harbour is well protected by mountains on Hong Kong Island that include Victoria Peak in the west, which rises to 1,810 feet (552 metres), and Mount Parker in the east, which reaches a height of about 1,742 feet (531 metres).
Lowlands of the Hong Kong region, including floodplains, river valleys, and reclaimed land, occupy less than one-fifth of the land. Extensive lowland regions are found only north of Mount Tai Mo, in the Yuen Long and Sheung Shui plains. The urban area that spans the two sides of the harbour, with ongoing reclamation, takes up only about one-tenth of the level area.
Hong Kong lacks a river system of any scope, the only exception being in the north where the Sham Chun (Shenzhen) River, which forms the boundary between Guangdong and Hong Kong, flows into Deep Bay after collecting a number of small tributaries. Most of the streams are small, and they generally run perpendicular to the northeast-southwest trend of the terrain. The construction of reservoirs and their catchment systems has reduced the amount of fresh water available downstream.
In general, Hong Kong's soils are acidic and of low fertility. An exception is the alluvial soils, which are found mainly in the Deep Bay area, where the sediment-laden waters of the Pearl River estuary meet saline waters at high tide and slow down to deposit their sediments to form mudflats. Paddy rice farming and, more recently, intensive vegetable cultivation have modified the alluvial soils. Elsewhere, hill soils, classified as red-yellow podzolic and krasnozem, abound. Under forest, these hill soils have a well-developed profile, with rich topsoil, but, when they are exposed, as is mostly the case, they tend to be thin and lacking in nutrients. Under tropical conditions, sheet and gully erosion is extensive and drastic.
Hong Kong lies at the northern fringe of the tropical zone. Its monsoonal (wet-dry) seasonal changes are well marked, however, with hot, humid summers and cool, dry winters. The climate is largely controlled by the atmospheric pressure systems over the adjacent great Asian landmass and ocean surface. Thus, relatively dry monsoonal winds blow from the northeast in winter as a result of the cooling of the landmass and the development of a large thermal anticyclone over Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Warm, wet southeasterly winds develop in summer when the North Pacific Ocean heats up more slowly through solar radiation and becomes a high-pressure area.
The mean January and July temperatures are about 60 °F (16 °C) and 84 °F (29 °C), respectively. The lowest recorded temperature was 32 °F (0 °C) in January 1893, and the highest was 97 °F (36 °C) in August 1900. Frost occasionally occurs on hilltops in winter. The average annual rainfall amounts to about 88 inches (2,220 mm), more than half of which falls during the summer months of June, July, and August; only about 10 percent falls from November to March. Tropical cyclones, or typhoons, generally occur between June and October, and, of the 20 to 30 typhoons formed over the western North Pacific and South China Sea each year, an average of five or six may affect Hong Kong. The torrential downpours and strong winds that frequently accompany the typhoons sometimes devastate life and property in Hong Kong and in adjacent areas of Guangdong.
Plant and animal life
Hong Kong is noted for the lushness and great diversity of its plant life. The transitional climate between humid subtropical and warm temperate maritime excludes the most sensitive humid tropical genera due to the cool, dry winter conditions, but many tropical as well as temperate-zone families are represented. Most of the land, except for the heavily eroded badlands, is under tropical herbaceous growth, including mangrove and other swamp cover. The most common forest genus today is Pinus, represented by native South China red pines and by slash pines, introduced from Australia. Some of the oldest areas of woodland are in the feng-shui wood, or "sacred groves," found in many New Territories villages. These woods consist essentially of native forest trees, some of which are of potential value to the villagers. Centuries of cutting and burning, however, have destroyed much of Hong Kong's original vegetation, leaving only about one-sixth of the land forested. A large portion of Hong Kong's present-day forest cover owes its origin to afforestation programs undertaken since World War II, which have restored some of the stands of pine, eucalyptus, banyan, casuarina, and palm trees.
Hong Kong's animal life consists of a mixture of mammals adapted to the subtropical environment. Among the few arboreal mammals are two species of nonnative monkeys that flourish in forests of the New Territories, the rhesus macaque and the long-tailed macaque. Tigers are reputed to have once roamed the area, but they are no longer in evidence. The largest remaining carnivores are rare and include the South China red fox, the Chinese leopard cat, the seven-banded civet, and the masked palm civet. Some rat and mouse species typically inhabit scrubland and grassland areas. Birdlife is abundant, and there are numerous species of snakes, lizards, and frogs.
Ethnic groups
The overwhelming majority of the population is Chinese by place of origin, the non-Chinese making up only a tiny fraction of the total. Non-Chinese groups consist largely of Asians (primarily Filipinos, Indonesians, and South Asians), with small numbers of non-Asians (mainly Americans, Canadians, and Australians). An overwhelming majority of the Chinese are from Guangdong province and from Hong Kong itself, with smaller numbers coming from other parts of China.
Chinese and English are both official languages. Chinese, especially Cantonese in the spoken form, is the common language, however, and is almost universally understood. A variety of dialects and other languages are used among the ethnic minorities. Apart from Cantonese, common dialects such as Teochew, Hakka, and Tanka are used within separate communities of the Guangdong and Hong Kong Chinese. Groups from other parts of China are also likely to use their own native dialects, and, similarly, the non-Chinese are likely to use their own native languages among themselves. The use of Mandarin Chinese has risen as Hong Kong has reintegrated with China.
The majority of Hong Kong's population does not profess a religion. Those that do practice a wide variety of beliefs. Among the Chinese, followers of Buddhism and Daoism far outnumber other groups; a large number also follow Confucianist beliefs. The numerous Buddhist and Daoist temples and monasteries, some centuries old, play an important role in the daily life of the average Chinese. Although each temple is generally dedicated to one or two deities, it is not unusual to find images of a number of other gods or goddesses inside. For a fishing and trading port, the most significant deities are those associated with the ocean and the weather, such as Dian Hau, the goddess of heaven and protector of seafarers, who is honoured by temples at virtually every fishing harbour. Other leading deities include Guanyin (Avalokitesvara), the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy; Hong Shing, god of the South Seas and a weather prophet; and Wong Daisin, a Daoist saint and deity. A small proportion of the people are Christians, with somewhat more Protestants than Roman Catholics; there are dozens of Protestant denominations and sects such as Baptist, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist. There are also small numbers of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jews.
Settlement patterns
The predominantly urban settlements of Hong Kong are typically distributed linearly, following the irregular coastline and transportation routes. The principal urban areas are established on Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, where roughly half of the total population lives. There, most of the population is concentrated around Victoria Harbour, living on the limited flatland that is being continuously extended by reclamation. Many major streets, especially those on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, as well as the entire industrial district of Kwun Tong and much of the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula, have been built on reclaimed land.
In the New Territories north of the Kowloon hills, rural settlements vary from hamlets to small towns. Most of the villages, compactly built and often walled, follow the alignment of the river systems in the low-lying but fertile alluvial floodplains or the major route corridors. Villages of the Cantonese people are located mainly in the flat alluvial regions, whereas villages of the Hakka people usually are found in narrow valleys or on foothills. The feng-shui grove and pond are characteristic of both the Cantonese and Hakka villages: the grove is generally planted on the upslope, or back side, of a village for shade and protection, and the pond is for fish-farming.
A number of new towns have sprung up in the New Territories as a result of the tremendous increase in population there. Among these are Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun (Castle Peak before 1973), and Sha Tin, which were established in the 1960s and designed to have populations of between about 500,000 and 850,000 each. Others, including Tai Po, Fanling, Yuen Long, and, more recently, Tseung Kwon O (Junk Bay), were designated as new towns in the 1970s, with population goals ranging from about 200,000 to 450,000. Thus, the New Territories, where only one-eighth of the population resided in 1961, accounted for more than half of the total by 2005; the bulk of the New Territories population is now concentrated in the new towns.
True to its original character as a fishing port, Hong Kong has a sizable, though rapidly dwindling, marine settlement. The "boat people," or Tanka as they are locally known, are essentially fisherfolk living on junks and boats, as their ancestors did for centuries before them. They inhabit fishing towns, such as Aberdeen, Shau Kei Wan, and Cheung Chau, and typhoon shelters in the harbour areas. With the advance of urbanization and the decline of fishing activity, increasing numbers of them are working ashore.
Demographic trends
As in many large urban centres of the world, Hong Kong's population has increased in the late 20th century. Since the 1950s the average annual rate of growth has fluctuated between about 2 and 4 percent, the variations based in some degree on the sporadic flow of immigrants from China. Immigration has been a chief cause of population increase, but it was slowed through changes in immigration policy in 1980 and 1982, and emigration rose from the late 1980s. Birth rates have steadily declined since the late 1950s, the rate of natural increase falling below 1 percent by the 1980s. Life expectancy, however, has been showing a gradual increase. Since the 1950s, the proportion of the population under 15 has decreased rapidly, while older age groups have shown a marked increase. Hong Kong is one of the world's most densely populated places.
With its limited natural resources, Hong Kong depends on imports for virtually all of its requirements, including raw materials, food and other consumer goods, capital goods, and fuel. Under its unique status as an international free port, entrepôt trade, mainly with China, flourished until 1951, when a United Nations embargo on trade with China and North Korea drastically curtailed it. This situation, combined with the need to export and with the availability of cheap labour, led to the establishment of competitive light industries and a transformation of the economy in the early 1960s. The market economy and the laissez-faire policy of the British colonial government provided flexibility for further industrialization and the incentive and freedom, from the late 1960s, to attract foreign investment and financial transactions. In succeeding years, with China adopting a more open foreign policy, entrepôt trade rapidly revived, while Hong Kong–China trade surged. Hong Kong developed not only in manufacturing, trade, and shipping but also as a regional financial centre and as an agent in China's pursuit of modernization. The tertiary (services) sector of the economy now makes up some four-fifths of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Agriculture and fishing
Only 6 percent of Hong Kong's land area is arable, and another 2 percent is under fishponds. Since the 1950s about one-third of the agricultural land has been lost to other uses. The growing season is year-round, however, and several crops per year are possible. Paddy rice cultivation once dominated agricultural land use, but it has practically disappeared, having been surpassed by vegetable and pond fish farming. Other minor uses include the production of fruits, flowers, and crops such as sweet potatoes, taro, yams, and sugarcane. There also is some livestock farming, mainly of chickens and pigs.
Marine fishing in the adjacent waters is one of Hong Kong's most important primary activities. Apart from pond fish, a marine fish culture has shown signs of development, notably in the eastern New Territories.
Resources and power
Hong Kong is practically devoid of any significant mineral resources. The mining for graphite and lead at Cham ("Needle") Hill and iron ore at Mount Ma On stopped long ago. The small-scale mining of feldspar, feldspar sand, and kaolin clay ceased by 1990. Some stone is quarried for use in construction. Hong Kong is similarly poorly endowed in other natural resources: no commercial timber is produced from its sparse forest cover, and there is no hydroelectric potential from the small and short streams. Indeed, even water has been in serious short supply as a consequence of the limited areal extent, the steep terrain, and the lack of catchment areas. In spite of the many reservoirs, which were built mostly before World War II, and several giant projects, such as the water desalinization plant at Castle Peak and the Plover Cove and the High Island reservoirs, which are enclosed sea areas, the bulk of water consumed is piped in from Guangdong province.
Hong Kong must import all of the fossil fuel it consumes. It produces most of its electric-power needs at thermal generating plants. The rest of its power requirements are imported from Guangdong province.
The rapid development of manufacturing in the 1950s was made possible by immigrant Chinese industrialists, mainly from Shanghai, who brought with them technology and capital. Foreign investments soon began to flow in to tap the huge supply of cheap labour and relatively cheap raw materials available in the surrounding region. Most industry has been confined to the urban areas, especially in the densely populated districts of Kowloon. With the development of industrial and other new towns, manufacturing began to disperse into Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, and other areas. In 1977 the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation was established to develop and manage industrial estates that would accommodate high-technology industries, first on reclaimed land in Tai Po and later in Yuen Long.
Manufacturing, once the most important sector of the Hong Kong economy, has been overshadowed by the vast service sector; manufacturing now constitutes only a tiny fraction of the gross domestic product and employs only a slightly higher proportion of the labour force. Textile and clothing production is the leading manufacturing activity and contributes about one-third of the value of domestic exports. The electronics industry is the second largest export earner. There are some heavy industries such as shipbuilding and repair and aircraft engineering. Steel rolling, production of machine parts and plastics, and cement manufacturing serve local needs.
Since 1969 Hong Kong has emerged as one of the major financial centres of the Asia-Pacific region, despite the fact that it is without the services of a central bank. The regional government delegates the functions of such an institution to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority—which oversees Hong Kong's monetary policy and regulates its currency, the Hong Kong dollar—and to selected commercial banks. In addition to the licensed banks in the region, there are representative offices of foreign banks, including registered deposit-taking companies.
Domestic and international currencies are traded at the Hong Kong foreign-exchange market. The stock market attracts investment from both foreign and domestic sources. Some of its major shares are also traded on the London stock market. A gold bullion market, once the world's largest, is operated by the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society. The lack of exchange controls has contributed to the success of Hong Kong as a financial centre.
Trade and tourism
Hong Kong's free-trade policy has made the territory one of the world's great centres of trade. There is no tariff on imports, except for some luxury items, such as perfumes, motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco. Hong Kong is dependent upon imported products, which make up about half of the total amount of external trade, the rest being divided between exports and reexports. Apart from trade with other regions of China, major suppliers include Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. Capital and consumer goods such as electrical machinery and apparatus, clothing, radios, television sets, stereos, and computers represent the largest group of imports. The second largest group includes mineral fuels, raw materials, semi-manufactured goods (such as synthetic and natural textiles, chemicals, and electronic components), and foodstuffs.
China became the main market for Hong Kong's products prior to 1997, and this trade remained predominant after the territory's reintegration. Other major export destinations include the United States and Japan. Textiles and clothing are the leading exports. Also important are electrical machinery and appliances, office machinery, photographic apparatus, and a variety of other manufactured items. Reexports constitute a major portion of the goods shipped out of Hong Kong.
Wholesale and retail trade also are major components of the service sector, as is tourism. The tourist trade, which is highly promoted by the government and well catered to by the huge service sector, now constitutes a significant component of the economy. The greatest number of tourist arrivals are from the mainland. In addition, a large number of business and tourist travelers from Taiwan pass through Hong Kong on their way to and from destinations on the mainland. Hong Kong Disneyland, a theme park based on the original Disneyland in California, opened in 2005 on Lantau Island and became a major amusement attraction.
Transportation and telecommunications
With roadways limited relative to the population, the government has enforced strict limitations on automobile ownership and placed heavy emphasis on the development of public transportation. The rate of car ownership is low, although it is steadily rising. There has been much road and bridge construction in the territory. Notably, a bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai on the mainland opened in 2018 after nine years of work.
The majority of the populace makes daily trips by public transport. Apart from the bus, tram (streetcar), and ferry, the public is also served by a unique minibus service, a rapid transit system, and an electric railway. Buses are the largest road carrier, responsible for roughly one-third of the daily public-transport trips excluding those by taxi, followed by the combined minibus and maxicab (a regulated form of minibus) service. Commuter rail service also accounts for about one-third of overall ridership. The precipitous Victoria Peak area is served by one of the oldest transport companies, which operates a cable-car system between the peak and the Central District.
International traffic is served by Hong Kong's international airport and its magnificent harbour, and there are good overland linkages with Guangdong province. The Hong Kong International Airport was located at Kai Tak, on the eastern fringe of Kowloon, until 1998, when it was relocated to a new, larger facility on Chek Lap Kok Island. Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the airport's passenger terminal is among the world's largest enclosed spaces, covering some 133 acres (54 hectares). The port of Hong Kong, based at one of the world's finest natural harbours, is renowned for its efficiency and capacity. The capacity of its container terminals at Kwai Chung ranks Hong Kong among the world's largest container ports. Speedy ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau and parts of Guangdong is provided by various craft, including hydrofoils and hovercraft.
Passenger and freight rail services are provided by the Kowloon-Canton Railway (in operation since 1910). Electrification and double-tracking of the railway and the growth along its lines of the new towns of Sha Tin, Tai Po, Fanling, and others caused a considerable increase in passenger traffic. The railway's commuter services expanded considerably with its merger in 2007 with MTR Corporation, which had been established in 1975 to develop and operate Hong Kong's mass-transit system. Hong Kong's rail system is connected by a line running to nearby Shenzhen and, to the northwest, Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong province; the line carries millions of tons of freight annually, as well as passenger traffic between Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Hong Kong has one of the world's most advanced and technologically sophisticated telecommunications systems, and it is one of the principal centres of the global telecommunications network. Hong Kong is a leader in integrating multiple-platform communication modes (e.g., land-line and mobile telephony) and implementing the most cutting-edge technology. Land-line telephones are nearly ubiquitous among Hong Kong households, and mobile-phone subscriptions exceed considerably the total number of inhabitants. Internet use is widespread, a large proportion of it using broadband.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
history of the motion picture: Hong KongA third Chinese-language film culture emerged in Hong Kong. During the 1960s Hong Kong filmmakers became famous throughout Asia for martial-arts action films. One of the leading directors in the genre was King Hu (Hu Jinquan), who became renowned for films such as…
China: International relations…Britain for the return of Hong Kong and adjacent territories in 1997 and with Portugal for the return of Macau in 1999; both were given special administrative status. Furthermore, China became an advocate of arms control and assumed a more-constructive, less-combative stance in many international organizations.…
China: Port facilities and shippingShanghai, Huangpu, Zhanjiang, or Hong Kong. Shanghai, the leading port of China from the early 19th century, was eclipsed by Hong Kong when the latter was reincorporated into the country in 1997.…
United Kingdom: Palmerston…Nanjing (1842), he had acquired Hong Kong for Britain. In 1857 he went to war in China again and, when defeated in Parliament, appealed triumphantly to the country. He also intervened in Russia. The Crimean War (1853–56) was designed to curb what were interpreted as Russian designs on the Ottoman…
Japan: International relationsSingapore, as well as Hong Kong when it was a British colony). These were all seen as areas capable of providing high-quality goods for the Japanese market and consequently as sites for direct investment by Japanese firms. Earlier Japanese concerns that these countries would become competitors with Japan for…
More About Hong Kong22 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- acquisition by United Kingdom
- art market development history
- Bank of China Building
- Chinese reunification policy
- clothing and footwear industry
- flag history
- importance in freight transportation
- monetary policy
- motion pictures


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Review: 'The Fame Thief' is taut crime fiction
"The Fame Thief" (Soho Crime), by Timothy Hallinan
Junior Bender is a professional burglar, and he's very good at it. He's been breaking into houses and making off with valuables for a long time and has never been arrested. Along the way, though, he's also picked up a sideline, moonlighting as a private eye of sorts whose clients are all fellow criminals; and in this line of work he's a magnet for trouble.
In "The Fame Thief," Timothy Hallinan's third novel in this series, Bender is scooped up by a couple of thugs and driven to the estate of Irwin Dressler, a 93-year-old mobster who's had a piece of just about everything that's happened in Hollywood for as long as anyone can remember.
Dressler, it turns out, is still obsessing about a 60-year-old incident that ruined the promising career of a young Hollywood starlet he cared about. He wants Bender to find out who was behind it and why. Bender figures it's a fool's errand. After all, many of the people who know anything about it are probably dead. But he knows Dressler is not someone you can turn down.
So Bender starts digging into the golden age of film, when powerful studio heads made and destroyed stars at their whim and the mob held sway over much of went on in the city. But somebody out there doesn't like the questions he's asking, and soon the people he asks them of start turning up dead.
Hollywood is familiar turf for Hallinan, who worked in the movie, television, and music industries for years before becoming a crime novelist.
As usual in a Junior Bender novel, the writing is reminiscent of the best of crime fiction's golden age — as taut and hardboiled as Dashiell Hammett's yet peppered with the sort of smart-aleck lines Raymond Chandler loved to toss off.
Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of "Cliff Walk" and "Rogue Island."
On the Net:


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Bond Set at $100K for Aggravated Assault Suspect Monty Dooner
RAPID CITY - Bond has been set at $100,000 for a Rapid City man accused of slugging another man at a casino.
Fifty-eight-year-old Monty Dooner has been charged with aggravated assault stemming from a Tuesday fight at Hideaway Casino in Rapid City.
Authorities say Dooner struck a 46-year-old man during a fight at the casino on Tuesday. The 46-year-old man reportedly hit his head on an ATM machine and is in critical condition at Rapid City Regional Hospital.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Homophobia and HIV Risk: What's Family Got to Do With It? Part One
June 9, 2011
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Defining the Problem
- "Build Your Own World": The Role of LGBTQ Youth Institutions
- Familial Homophobia and HIV Risk: Connecting the Dots
It's a familiar and haunting refrain: People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) are systematically rejected by their families. And given the norms of many cultures, staying connected to your family is expected. But to maintain these familial bonds, LGBT folks usually don't have the most empowering options. They can either hide their sexual identity from their loved ones by pretending to be heterosexual; or be open with their sexual orientation and endure dismissiveness and disrespect. In some instances, they may choose to cut ties to their family altogether and create new families within queer-affirming communities.
This familial homophobia and rejection not only deeply impact LGBT people's mental health, but their overall health -- especially their sexual health. Data collected by the Family Acceptance Project highlights clear connections between family rejection and risky behavior. Lifetime suicide attempt rates for LGBTQ folks from highly rejecting families are 8 times as high as for those reared in "low-rejection" families; and LGBTQ youth from highly rejecting families are more than 3 times as likely to use illegal drugs, and to be at high risk for HIV and other STDs.
If we're to talk seriously about an HIV prevention "cocktail" that will be sustainable and effective in curbing HIV rates among queer and transgender youth, we need to alter the emotional and material realities that can lead LGBTQ youth to engage in risky behavior. This cannot be done without talking about homophobia within families, how it renders youth vulnerable to HIV infection, and what can be done to stop it. In this two-part roundtable discussion, we will begin to do just that.
Participating in this discussion are: Sarah Schulman, longtime activist, Distinguished Professor of English at the City University of New York and author of Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences; Darnell L. Moore, Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University, and Project Manager for the forthcoming Sakia Gunn High School for Civic Engagement in Newark, N.J.; and Kara Tucina Olidge, Ph.D., Director of HMI To Go: Newark, a program of the New York-based Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI).
Defining the Problem
Olivia Ford: First, let's clarify language, and what we're talking about when we refer to "familial homophobia." Sarah, would you start us off? What prompted you, in the title and contents of your book, to identify homophobia within families as its own particular brand of discrimination, rather than lumping it in generally with institutional or interpersonal discrimination?
Sarah Schulman, Professor of English, City University of New York and author of Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences
Sarah Schulman: The family is the place where all people first experience homophobia. It's where queer people first are victimized by it, and it's where straight people first learn that they can maneuver it to increase their status. So the family is very key in the development of an anti-homophobic society.
What I found so interesting was, all these years, I would travel the world; and even though what homosexuality is, or how queer people identify, changes in every cultural context, the one thing that was always the same was that queer people were being demeaned and diminished inside their families. This seemed to be universal. It was so understood as an experience that you could get on the bus, sit next to a gay person, make some comment about your family, and they would totally understand what you were talking about. And yet it had no name; we all called it it. It seemed to be the most pervasive, painful, fundamental experience of homophobia, and yet it had never been named.
So I decided that I was going to write a book which, in fact, is the very first book analyzing homophobia in the family and what its consequences are on the individual and on the society. In order to do that I had to come up with a name for it, so I just started calling it familial homophobia.
Darnell Moore: In fact, in some ways, familial homophobia is institutional homophobia. Family is an institution, the first institution that individuals are socialized into, and where they receive the codes and norms that govern behavior. Sarah, you've introduce something to us that expands the way we think about institutional homophobia, by helping us to think about family as one of those institutions.
Darnell L. Moore, Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University, and Project Manager, Sakia Gunn High School for Civic Engagement
One of the things that I've encountered when working with queer youth, and with queer adults, is that there's a lot of trauma connected to these individuals' experiences in their families. I was trained as a clinical counselor to work with folks and tell them: "Just leave your family alone." For many there are causal implications that govern the way those types of decisions are made, but it sets the stage for the way that individuals then interact with the world.
It's an important key to consider as it relates to the work that we do -- particularly the work that I do, with queer youth.
Sarah Schulman: You know, for years and years, queer people were told, "Forget about your family. Go out and make your own family." But I really think that that's an inadequate response. People need their families. And when queer people are driven out of their families, the families are not touched; it's the queer person who pays the emotional price.
So I started to think about other examples historically where there was profound abuse within the family structure -- so bad that it would determine people's futures -- in which the society at large decided to intervene. I realized the best model was really domestic violence and child abuse. These are paradigms that have really been transformed in the last few decades. I grew up in New York City, I was born in the '50s, and it used to be that if you heard your neighbor beating up his wife, you wouldn't intervene. Now people know they are supposed to call the police. Now they know the police are supposed to intervene. We have a value that certain kinds of abuse transcend the privacy of the family, and that the society has to intervene.
I would like to see familial homophobia be put into that category, so that queer people are not alone. Right now, we're usually alone in our families. We have no one to turn to. But if there's a social ethic that familial homophobia is so pathological that as a society we have the responsibility to intervene, then neighbors, coworkers, teachers, ministers, other relatives, will start to feel that it's their social responsibility to interrupt the homophobia.
Kara Tucina Olidge, Ph.D., Director of HMI To Go: Newark, Hetrick-Martin Institute
Kara Olidge: I think it's important to be a little cautious about making generalizations about every family that has this experience with homophobia I strongly agree that many people have had very traumatic experiences within their families -- particularly people who have been isolated there. However, there have been instances where we've worked with families and found that the parents have gone through a particular type of pain themselves, that's rooted in the context of, for example, institutionalized racism, as certain stereotypes have ascribed on certain bodies.
This is work that we have to deepen, because as we look at the fact that familial homophobia is institutionalized, we also have to look at how it intersects with other forms of institutionalized discrimination. When we do the work, we almost have to approach families the way we approach youth: with wraparound services. Working with families that way, we can get at how familial homophobia intersects with other issues that are really heavy factors in families' lives.
I often hear parents talk about the pain of not seeing their child. One parent or a sibling may be going through that; so perhaps other family members feel the same way. It's important to look at the entire landscape if we want to really address the issue.
Sarah Schulman: I totally agree with you. I think most people are homophobic because they think they're supposed to be. If they got the message that they're not supposed to be, most people will change. Not everyone -- there will always be people who are pathologically homophobic. But if people get the message from their aunt, their minister, their next door neighbor, their teacher, and what they see on television -- that homophobia is a social problem -- a lot of people's behaviors would change.
But I think the main thing is, right now, all of the stigma is on homosexuality. And I think we have to shift the focus, and say homosexuality is not the subject; the subject is homophobia. Homophobia destroys families. Homophobia causes violence. Homophobia is antisocial. This is what we as a society need to focus on transforming.
Darnell Moore: I always try to think about how to bring these issues into context. I'm thinking about my own family. I grew up in Camden, New Jersey, in what might typically be described as an African-American working and, possibly, jobless poor family, in an environment that's often assumed to be non-progressive.
While there were definitely instances of prejudice, mostly through words, my family -- despite how certainly families are read in certain class and economic spaces, and certain raced spaces -- is an example of one that was very open and accepting. I remember bringing home a trans friend of mine when I was in high school. I didn't even understand the transformation that my friend was going through, and my family said nothing. So, in a different way, a family is a seat and a bed, also, for healing, as much as it is for the trauma that's produced.
Another thing: My understanding of the word homophobia is that it speaks to the pathos that exists within a person that's disconnected from social constructions and systems; instead, I would use the term heterosexism in talking about the ways we're taught to think. We're taught to be prejudiced against one other; and I think homophobia, in some ways, takes the onus off us to own how discriminatory knowledges are passed, and the ways we enact them on bodies, and in our systems and practices. I'd like to push this usage of heterosexism as a means to lift that notion up and make it visible.
Sarah Schulman: My understanding historically of those terms is that they have really different meanings: heterosexism means seeing the heterosexual reality as the objective, neutral reality; and homophobia is being actively anti-gay.
But I agree with you: Homophobia is a problematic word. When I was writing this book, I was thinking about that word and I was thinking about all the times people have been homophobic to me. I was thinking about the expressions on their faces, and I realized that they were never, ever afraid. There was a certain kind of a joy in homophobia, like there is in all kinds of supremacy ideology.
Have you seen those photos of a black man being lynched, and the white people underneath his hanging body are laughing and smiling and picnicking? We know that there's a certain kind of person who enjoys and gets pleasure from being cruel, because it elevates their sense of themselves. And so, in a way, homophobia is more of a pleasure system than it is a phobia. So I agree; it's not the right word.
More From This Resource Center
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Adolescent Experiences of Discrimination, Harassment, Connectedness to Community and Comfort With Sexual Orientation Reported by Adult Men Who Have Sex With Men as a Predictor of Adult HIV Status
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Buzzer Beaters: Ski Crashes, NBA Suspensions and Joe Flacco's Taxes
Today's biggest sports news: Lindsey Vonn's horrific crash, college football recruiting's big day, Joe Flacco's big tax bill and more.
Skier Lindsey Vonn broke her leg and tore two ligaments in a brutal crash during the super-G event at the world championships in Austria. The four-time world champ was airlifted from the mountain to a hospital. [USA Today]
The comically bad season the Los Angeles Lakers are having isn't getting any better. Metta World Peace just got suspended for punching a guy in the face, and Dwight Howard is out of action once again with a sore shoulder. [Yahoo]
Cy Young Award-winner and two-time world-champion Chris Carpenter, the longtime ace of the St. Louis Cardinals, is likely out for the season with a nerve injury. This may be the end of the 37-year-old's career. [S.I.]
Wednesday is National Signing Day, when the country's top high school football players announce which schools they'll attend. The top linebacker in Alabama got himself an Auburn tattoo—then announced he was attending Alabama instead. Ah, high school ... [ESPN]
Joe Flacco had the nerve to go and win the Super Bowl MVP award. Just for that, he now owes Uncle Sam $25,000 in taxes. "Serves him right," said a 49ers fan. [GuySpeed]


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Student leads Thorsen House restoration in Berkeley
Student leads way on restoring rare 'ultimate bungalow' that houses Sigma Phi
The brothers of Sigma Phi at UC Berkeley are expected to know the architectural history of Thorsen House, the "ultimate bungalow" where they live, but none of them know it the way that Lauren Aguilar does.
Aguilar, 21, is a junior architecture major from San Diego who has not spent so much as one night in this 105-year-old landmark on Piedmont Avenue. But she fell for it when she was invited for a Monday night dinner. Then she helped invent a class called Thorsen Restoration Project and is co-teaching it to her fellow undergraduates.
"Thorsen House is the only example of Arts and Crafts architecture by Greene and Greene in Berkeley, and there is never going to be another one," says Aguilar, who has taken on the project on top of a punishing load in the architecture school, requiring one all-nighter a week.
Now in its second semester, the class has plans to rebuild a fence and add a gate and ramp at the service entrance that will make the historic home wheelchair accessible for the first time. Construction of the redwood gate and fence will take place in the shop at the architecture school, Wurster Hall, with the students doing the building.
The two-unit course is open to anyone, though none of the 20 men who live in Thorsen are enrolled.
"We contribute to the house already," says George Syrop, president of Sigma Phi, which, he is careful to point out, is a society as opposed to a fraternity. "We call ourselves a bro-op. We are dedicated to upholding the architectural prestige of the house."
Prospective members are vetted for their dedication to the ideal of living in a brittle home of old growth redwood and stained glass. In lieu of an initiation ritual, they are put to work three hours every Saturday morning, working side by side with the active members and alumni. But that is just to stay ahead of the damage.
A first for architecture class
"You've got a situation where the private organization that owns it (Thorsen) is far from wealthy, and there isn't a lot of money floating around to preserve it," says architecture Professor Dana Buntrock.
The Department of Architecture has been around more than 100 years, but this is the first time an architecture class has taken on a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"We do not normally do preservation," says Buntrock, who sparked the idea while teaching the lecture course Introduction to Construction last spring. A field trip was mustered to study the wood construction of Thorsen.
"The columns and beams are very large and beautifully put together," Buntrock says, "and it has rot up the wazoo so it's a great building for looking at decay."
Aguilar got so excited seeing this decay that she joined with Max Edwards, a graduate student who serves as Buntrock's teaching assistant, to map out a class. They approached the brothers of Sigma Phi, who brought in the alumni organization that runs the house as a nonprofit, always looking for donations at www.thorsenhouse.org.
"In architecture school, a lot of what you get is new and experimental, which has great value," Aguilar says. "But there is also value in restoring what we already have."
Only a handful designed
Heavy on stained wood, misshapen clinker brick and stained glass, Thorsen was a singular achievement of brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, who practiced in Southern California in the early 20th century. The firm of Greene and Greene designed a handful of what they called "the ultimate bungalow" for which they also designed furniture. The most prominent of these is Gamble House, a Pasadena museum that attracts 25,000 visitors a year.
Thorsen House, which is 10,000 square feet and has 11 bedrooms in three stories, was built in 1909 for lumber man William Randolph Thorsen, whose estate sold it to the California Sigma Phi Society for $29,000 in 1942.
"That house is more original than any Greene and Greene besides the Gamble House," says Ted Bosley, director of the Gamble House, who lived in Thorsen as a Cal student from 1972 to '77. "Thorsen is one of the great jewels of architecture in the Bay Area, and a lot of people don't appreciate that fact."
The curious who walk under the lantern at the entrance and up the brick staircase to ring the bell are always surprised to learn the house is operated by undergraduates who flush in and out with the tide.
The last time Thorsen was opened for extended tours with its original furniture was during the summer of 1996. "We had 11,000 people come through," says Bosley. "They paid $15 apiece and there was a line around the block."
'A price we can afford'
Typical of a student project, there are some loose ends in the Thorsen restoration effort. In Aguilar's mind it may be farther along than it is in the minds of the alumni who will pay for the materials, estimated to be $10,000. Half the work is brick masonry and concrete, which may require a contractor. The labor will be volunteers.
"I have respect for what Lauren and the rest of the class is doing, especially to do it in their spare time," says David Munroe, alumni adviser. "They made it possible to do this thing for a price we can afford."
Plans for a wheelchair ramp and gate have been around Thorsen since 2007, and have already been approved by the Berkeley Landmarks Commission. But the City of Berkeley required a sprinkler system on all three floors and the basement, which cost $100,000.
Aguilar has another year left to get the wheelchair entryway done and another project already in mind: to repair the timber bridge connecting the second story to the garage. She'd also like to see Thorsen Restoration Project become a regular course offering after she has graduated.
"Thorsen is a time stamp on how culture was in the early 1900s, and that's important to preserve," she says. "They just don't build houses like that anymore."
Thorsen House restoration: To watch a short video, go to www.sfgate.com/news/item/Thorsen-House-restoration-28520.php.
Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @samwhitingsf


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The department of music and Collegium Musicum at Hope College will present the college's annual Christmas Madrigal Dinner on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8, in the Maas Center auditorium.
Wassail and seating will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7pm. The dinner will begin at 7 p.m.
The program is led by Hope College faculty member Jim DeBoer and the Collegium Musicum student vocal ensemble.
As in the time of Shakespeare, guests gather at the royal court for an evening of singing, dancing, feasting and general merry-making. The feast will feature fine food, a wassail toast, figgy pudding and a boar's head procession.
The auditorium will be decorated in the manner of a castle's grand feasting hall, complete with tapestries and suits of armor to help lend atmosphere. The wait staff will be garbed in period attire.
"Come and enjoy the laughter, great vocal and instrumental music, and fine cuisine as you will receive a full-course meal," said DeBoer, an adjunct associate professor of music. "Be transported back into medieval days with a king, queen and their court."
Tickets are $25 for regular admission and $15 for children under 12 and Hope students, and are available at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and may be called at (616) 395-7890, although because of the Thanksgiving holiday the office will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 22, and on Friday, Nov. 23, will be open only from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are also available online at tickets.hope.edu/ticketing/
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 22 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.


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Lotta Mattila is a Helsinki-based Finnish sculptor who is currently the artist-in-residence at Skylab Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. Mattila finds meaning in the contradictions between her sculptures' form and their content (a literal battering ram made of glass), and uses those material contradictions to comment on human nature, often by punning off of Finnish sayings.
Mattila's Skylab exhibition Gravitation opens Friday (11/30) and runs until December 10th. Gravitation takes the "weight of the world" – its physicality and heaviness when one is depressed – as its central metaphor. More of Mattila's work can be found after the jump.


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According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Coliseum Capital has acquired 2.8 million shares of Accuride (ACW), a provider of wheels and other parts to truck manufacturers, dealers and distributors. Coliseum, which is managed by Christopher Shackelton and Adam Gray, had not reported any shares of Accuride in its 13F filing for the end of the third quarter, so it is likely that the fund purchased all of these shares in the last two months. Accuride shares are down 47% since the beginning of October, following an announcement that it would underperform its previous guidance. The stock is now down 65% year to date, and down 82% from its initial-public-offering price in March 2010.
In the third quarter, Accuride reported an 11% decline in revenue compared with the same period in 2011. Since the company had taken a net loss in the third quarter of last year, even moderate cost cutting failed to deliver a profit; however, the net loss showed very little change despite lower sales. Revenue had actually been up in the first half of 2012, and so the company has reported higher revenues year to date, yet slightly higher net losses than in the first nine months of 2011.
If Accuride's business is going to shrink further, even with more aggressive expense reduction plans (for example, management has announced that it will shut down a plant), the company will continue to struggle. Its balance sheet at the end of September showed about $20 million in cash and cash equivalents; therefore, the company is depending on its substantial receivables and inventories to pull its current assets above its $108 million in current liabilities. With cash flow from operations very narrowly positive in the first nine months of the year (since depreciation is responsible for Accuride's entire net losses), we'd guess that figure has gone negative in the last few months. The company is also highly levered. We'd note that Cetus Capital, a large shareholder in Accuride, has also been buying shares this November, so Coliseum isn't alone in its optimism on the company. We also believe it's odd that Coliseum -- which, according to its 13F filings, has historically favored healthcare and services stocks -- is getting involved in a near-distressed business in a very different industry.
Wall Street analysts expect that Accuride will be unprofitable both this year (unsurprisingly, given the hole the company is already in) and next year (again, as might be expected given management's new guidance). Even on an EBITDA basis, the company doesn't look like a good value with an EV/EBITDA multiple of 6.3x (and EBITDA, like earnings, is likely to decay as the business performs more poorly). Accuride also stands out for being extremely exposed to the broader economy with a beta of 5.8.
We don't believe it's a good idea for investors to follow Coliseum's lead here. While the fund is probably confident in its thinking to take such a large percentage stake in a company whose business is outside its historical comfort zone, it's tough for us to call Accuride cheap as is. With the financials expected to remain poor next year, it seems like any investment would be speculative. Transportation, and trucking in particular, could well be good investment opportunities if the U.S. economy holds steady or even picks up, but we expect that we would be able to find more stable and profitable companies selling it reasonable valuations in the market.


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UA engineering team looks to top last year's 8th world ranking05/01/2014
The SAE Formula-style racing team to unveil the car they hope will zip them to the top.
Members of Zips Racing – the University of Akron SAE Formula team – are ready to unveil their 2014 competition car, the ZR14, to a group supporters, faculty, friends and family on Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.
The team is currently ranked 8th in the world among 500 other universities, and has its sights set on breaking through to the top five this year.
"This year's car is an evolution of the ZR13," says team captain and mechanical engineering senior Ryan Kruse. "We found a few areas where we could make changes to further improve the car's performance."
Design changes to the ZR14 include improved aerodynamics, a weight reduction of 15 pounds, and a significantly modified engine.
"Last year's engine proved reliable," says engine subsystem leader and mechanical engineering student Kevin Musial. "So we decided to use the same model this year and make modifications to increase its power and the efficiency."
The team conducted computer simulations to test and optimize the engine's air flow to minimize friction loss and focused on careful placement of the fuel injection for optimum fuel efficiency.
Zips Racing has been competing in design competitions since 1990. Dr. Richard Gross, mechanical engineering professor emeritus, serves as the team's academic adviser.
The first SAE Formula race of the year is at the Michigan International Speedway May 14 - 17. Twenty-three members of Zips Racing will travel to Michigan where they will compete against engineering students from more than 100 colleges and universities. The competition includes acceleration and skid pad, autocross and endurance categories.


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Master Gardener instructor Sharon Tepe will demonstrate Seed Starting Basics from 6 to 8 p.m. March 3 at the Grant County Extension Office, 105 Baton Rouge Road in Williamstown.
Tepe, an avid gardener, graduated from the Master Gardener training class at the Civic Garden Center in Cincinnati. The class consisted of 50 hours of classroom training with the topics ranging from botany and soils to pests and diseases and a hosts of other gardening related topics.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — It was a quiet, nondescript moment deep in the pine trees at the end of a sunny practice round. It was a moment unspoiled by smartphones or smart alecks. It was the perfect Masters moment.
At a spot where fans could cross the 18th fairway Wednesday afternoon, the marshals did not spot any oncoming golfers and dropped the ropes. But the fans didn't move. In the distance, they could hear a shuffling and a whistling, and so they waited. And waited.
Finally, coming down the hill, with no caddie or entourage, accompanied only by his twirling golf club, was smiling former Masters champion Angel Cabrera.
He was close enough for fans to touch him, but nobody did. He could have easily heard any sort of heck or cheer, but nobody said a word. The fans politely watched him pass, and then carefully crossed the fairway behind him.
It's like that here. It's forever 1950. It's the last major American sporting event dominated not by bluster, but respect.
This week's 78th Masters at Augusta National is not about the players, as it will continue in earnest with 24 rookies and without Tiger Woods. It is not about the course, as many of its trees were stripped of branches during this winter ice storms, the famous Eisenhower Tree on the 17h fairway being so badly damaged it was turned to kindling.
This week's Masters, like every Masters, is about far more than the golf. It's about a four-day journey into the way sporting events used to be, should be, could be, but can never be again.
Yes, even though the club now has active African American and female members, it is hard to forget that for years this place was run like a Southern plantation. Beyond a history that its officials are trying to move past, there lies a delightful throwback of an event that strives to remain as unchanged as those giant magnolias.
The Masters is about the cellphones. Officials don't just tell you to turn them off, they order you to get rid of them, now. Cellphones aren't allowed anywhere on the course, so fans hand their expensive new toys to workers outside the front gate, and retrieve them when they leave, and where else does that happen?
With no phones, there are no selfies, no loud conversations, no distractions. There is nothing happening here but fans watching golf, and it's amazing how well-mannered crowds can become when it's not about them.
You need to make an emergency call to check in with the boss or the kids? No problem. In the main fan gathering courtyard, there is a bank of 24 phones offering free long distance calls. Seriously.
The Masters is about running. There is none. It's specifically against the rules. No jogging to catch up to Phil Mickelson's group. No loping across open grassy areas to hurriedly buy one more beer. Fans have been thrown out for running, which means everyone strolls, which means the vibe here is one of a beautiful park that just happens to be inhabited by the world's best golfers gnashing their teeth.
The Masters is about bathrooms. If there is a line at a bathroom, an official will stand outside and inform fans of the wait time — it was "10 to 15 minutes from this spot," said one Wednesday. At one bathroom near the golf shop, several workers stand outside offering to hold the shopping bags for fans while they go inside. Seriously.
There is also a story in those souvenirs, mostly famous green shirts and caps adorned with a little yellow logo, much of it costing $50 or less. There is a reason the golf shop is the most visited place on the course. You can't buy this official stuff, at these prices, anywhere else. Augusta National does not sell golf's most famous souvenirs online.
The entire grounds are a souvenir, really, stately white brick buildings set among rolling hills, towering pines and flowers bursting out in rainbows . But it's the smallest touches that stand out. The sheets of papers containing the pairings and starting times are available in little green-and-white mailboxes. The ATM machine is located in a well-appointed hut that could sleep one. Even some water fountains are built within stone monuments filled with plaques honoring past record holders. And everything is spotless, with the trash thrown in plastic bags adorned with the words, "Please, please, please."
More than anything, the Masters is about a different era. It's the toughest ticket in sports, but if you can buy one through the club's lottery, it costs only a fraction of the cost of major sporting events — only $50 for a practice round and $75 for a regular round.
Once inside, the costs and presentation of food is even more wonderfully antiquated. A regular-sized bottle of water is $1.50. A ham and cheese sandwich is $2.50. There is only one thing on the concessions menu that is more than $3, and that's the $4 beer. And, really, where else can you get a Georgia Peach ice cream sandwich and wash it down with a big plastic cup of sweet tea that epitomizes the tourney itself?
It's a bit syrupy, a bit saccharine, but, man, on a sports-weary weekend between the start of baseball season and the beginning of the NBA playoffs, it hits the spot.
Twitter: @billplaschke


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Love The Beano? Can't get enough of superheroes? Read The Phoenix? Always wanted to have a go at making your own comic? You must visit the brand new Comics exhibition at Seven Stories.
Seven Stories has gathered together an eclectic mix of original comic art to impress and inspire all comics' fans. See Desperate Dan and Dennis the Menace as they were drawn in the 1940s and 50s; find old friends like Oor Wullie, Minnie the Minx and Roy of the Rovers; imagine yourself on an adventure with Dan Dare from The Eagle.
The exhibition will feature Captain America, Wonder Woman, Superman and Hulk as drawn by British artist Ian Churchill. Ian works for Marvel and DC Comics, America's largest comic corporations.
Current British comics creators like Kate Brown, Jamie Smart and Laura Ellen Anderson have prepared storyboards, sketches and 3d models to lend to the exhibition as well as giving Seven Stories' visitors unique insight into their creative processes.
• Comics: Explore and Create Comic Art at Seven Stories runs until June 2018 at Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books, Newcastle, NE1 2PQ. More details here: www.sevenstories.org.uk/exhibitions/comics


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Kristen Johnson and Yassi Motamed work about 10 miles away from each other, but on Tuesday morning, they got the same surprise in their respective classrooms.
Newport-Mesa Unified School District selected them as elementary and secondary school teachers of the year.
Just after 8 a.m., school officials sneaked into Johnson's class at Newport Coast Elementary School, and then Motamed's, at TeWinkle Middle School in Costa Mesa.
"It was a whirlwind yesterday — everything was a blur," Johnson said, adding that staffers at the front desk thought something might be wrong when the superintendent and school board members showed up asking for her.
But they brought good news.
"I was completely caught off-guard," Johnson said. "I wasn't even thinking I would win it."
After being selected a top-10 teacher for the year, evaluators visited Johnson and Motamed's classrooms.
Johnson's fourth graders were sitting in a circle, discussing literature. She has them practice dialects while they discuss, and awards them points based on the books they read.
Motamed's math class was playing a review game in which rows of students compete by writing the answers on white boards and then holding them up for all to see.
They were also each evaluated on a bevy of written submissions and an in-person interview.
Both teachers said they were ecstatic to be selected as top talent in the district, but deferred to their peers, saying they admire their competition.
"I felt really honored just to even be hired," said Motamed, 27. "I just felt really honored to be part of the school."
She grew up in San Francisco and began teaching at Newport-Mesa in 2009 after going to UC Irvine and cutting her teeth teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Now she instructs algebra and pre-algebra at TeWinkle, where she says her personal brand is making sure she connects with students inside and outside the classroom.
"I just make sure I get to know them and their families," she said, adding that her goal is to make them feel accepted as they learn.
Johnson, 33, is from Anchorage, Alaska, and began teaching in Newport-Mesa after going to school at California State Fullerton.
She got her job at Newport Coast Elementary when she was 24 and worked her way from second to third to fourth grade.
Along the way, she has tried to instill honor, integrity, empathy and compassion in her kids, she said.
But her pride in winning the award is as much a testament to her parents and colleagues as her, she explained.
"It's an amazing feeling," Johnson said. "I'm very proud, but I am a product of my environment; I really am."
Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck


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Paul Burke, who received two Emmy nominations in the early 1960s for his role as Det. Adam Flint in the acclaimed dramatic TV police series "Naked City" and later starred as a World War II Army Air Forces colonel in the action-adventure series "Twelve O'Clock High," has died. He was 83.
Burke, who had leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, died Sunday at his home in Palm Springs with his wife Lyn at his side, said family spokeswoman Daniela Ryan.
During a four-decade career that included roles in the movies "Valley of the Dolls" (1967) and "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968), Burke starred as U.S. 8th Air Force Col. Joe Gallagher on "Twelve O'Clock High," which ran from 1964 to '67.
He also was a frequent TV guest star and played the recurring role of congressman Neal McVane on "Dynasty" in the '80s.
One of the roles Burke was most proud of was Flint on "Naked City," the 1958-63 ABC series shot on location in New York City and known for its gritty realism. He joined the show in 1960, the year it expanded from half an hour to an hour.
When the series ended, Los Angeles Times TV columnist Cecil Smith wrote that it "may be remembered as television's finest weekly hour."
"It took the police show and gave it a dignity and compassion that at times approached high tragedy," Smith wrote. "And it shot them on the harrowing schedule of television, trying for impossible deadlines. But the end result was films and productions of such quality that they rivaled the finest theater films."
Burke did numerous stunts on the show, including climbing to the top of the 59th Street Bridge.
"Another time," he told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper in 1963, "I had to jump from one roof to another when the stunt man refused because it was too windy to take the chance."
To get a feel for the role, Burke went on raids and arrests with New York police detectives.
"I know areas of the city that are truly jungles," he said. "I wouldn't be a detective there for $1,000 a day."
For an episode in which his detective character is sent to Sing Sing prison to witness the execution of a man he arrested, Burke actually spent a night at the facility.
"The area of the condemned has barred windows that look down over the Hudson," he told Smith in 1963. "You can see trains going by -- as if to emphasize the life outside that is to be taken away. I was not against capital punishment before we made that show -- but now, I don't know.
"It's experiences like that on 'Naked City' that make it tough to see it end," Burke said of the series. "It went beyond the monetary -- it was something you were proud to be associated with."
Born on July 21, 1926, in New Orleans, Burke was the son of prize fighter Martin Burke, who became a promoter and nightclub owner. While growing up, Burke's family owned the popular French Quarter nightclub and restaurant Marty Burke's.
After moving to Hollywood as a young man in the late '40s, Burke studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse for two years. Movie director Lloyd Bacon, a friend of Burke's father, got him his first role: an uncredited bit part in the 1951 Betty Grable musical "Call Me Mister."
Small parts in films such as "Francis in the Navy" and guest roles on series such as "Highway Patrol," "Navy Log" and "Dragnet" followed.
Burke also starred in the short-lived 1956-57 series "Noah's Ark" and the 1957-58 series "Harbourmaster."
His last credit was the 1990 movie "The Fool."
In addition to his wife of 30 years, Burke is survived by his three children from his first marriage, Paula Burke-Lopez, Paul Brian Burke and Dina Burke-Shawkat; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is pending.


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Posted on September 12, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Thank you for visiting our website! Below you will be able to find the answer to Exasperate crossword clue which was last seen on Crosswords With Friends, September 12, 2017. Our website is updated regularly with the latest clues so if you would like to see more from the archive you can browse the calendar or click here for all the clues from September 12, 2017.. Since you landed on this page then you would like to know the answer to Exasperate. Without losing anymore time here is the answer for the above mentioned crossword clue.
We found 1 possible solution on our database matching the query Exasperate
|Edge of a hat
|Ontario or Tahoe, for example
|"Grandma Got Run ___ by a Reindeer"
|NFL team known as "the Monsters of the Midway"
|Dizzy feeling
|Gazillions: 2 wds.
|Krusty the ___ (character on "The Simpsons")
|"What's Going On" singer Marvin
|"May the odds be ___ in your favor" (line in "The Hunger Games")
|Grant permission to
|The last word of the New Testament
|Frosts, as a cake
|Varicose ___ (enlarged blood vessel)
|Gently pat with a napkin
|2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, for short
|Travel by helicopter, perhaps
|Come-___ (pickup lines)
|___-Cat (winter off-road vehicle)
|Affirmative vote
|"... or ___ just me?": 2 wds.
|"Thriller" singer Michael
|"Sexy ___ Know It" (LMFAO hit): 2 wds.
|Taken-back auto, for short
|"Attention, ___ shoppers ..."
|Take a whiff of
|Curly ___ (leafy ingredient in salads)
|Opponents of the Allies in World War II
|Goldfish in "Pinocchio"
|Romance author Roberts
|Was in debt to
|Statistician Silver who founded FiveThirtyEight.com
|___ and far between
|Shapeless mass of stuff
|Shop-___ (industrial cleaning tool)
|Semisolid substance found in some shoe inserts
|Rant and ___
|English singer Henderson
|Thoroughfare that might cross a street: Abbr.
|Big Swedish home furnishings seller
|Section of a house
|Until this point
|2013 winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for "Nurse Jackie": 2 wds.
|___-fi ("Star Wars" genre)
|Direction 180° from SSW: Abbr.
|___ Jam Recordings (Kanye West's record label)
|___-surf (Google one's own name)
|Actress Fisher of "Nocturnal Animals"
|2014 and 2015 winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for "Mom": 2 wds.
|The Backstreet ___ (pop band)
|___ Jose Sharks (NHL team)
|Poem typically filled with flowery language
|Music fan's purchases: Abbr.
|2016 winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for "Saturday Night Live": 2 wds.
|Send a document via phone lines
|Corn Belt state east of Nebraska
|First name of Joe Morton's character on "Scandal"
|Black-and-white cookie
|Worry (about)
|Craven who directed all four "Scream" movies
|"This weighs a ___!"
|___ out (gradually disappear, like a movie scene)
All Images and Logos are property of their respective owners. We are in no way affiliated or endorsed by Zynga Inc. This website is provided for informational purposes only.


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The Dayton "HAMVENTION" (www.hamvention.org) is organized by The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA), USA every year since 1952. This event attracts largest gathering of amateur radio enthusiasts from all over the world and is scheduled to be held during May 15-17, 2015. The event offers forums, exhibiting Space and a flea market, often combining a trade show and various other activities of interest to amateur radio operators (Hams).
Dayton Hamvention 2015 is the prime destination for thousands of amateur radio enthusiasts, meet old and new friends, get first hand information from innovators, developers and vendors of products and services, for the advancement of the art of Amateur Radio Communications and public welfare as well as to learn from the numerous lecturers and forums, which is also more of a reason to attend this event.
Many amateur radio enthusiasts take keen interest to attend the Dayton Hamvention, travelling from all across the United States, Canada, Mexico, even from as far as Asia, Europe, UK, Australia, Japan and Russia and various other parts of the world.
This is a great chance to meet some of the innovators who continue to push the technological envelope and improve amateur radio service, and to learn from the people who are finding interesting ways to use amateur radio, and also to see the hard work to protect our spectrum and preserve our hobby from external and internal threats.
National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Hyderabad is coordinating those willing to participate the above event from India. The Indian Hams and Hams Associations who are interested to attend this Hamvention may contact NIAR for any assistance and coordination.
The participants/hams willing to attend the Dayton Hamvention 2015 at Dayton, Ohio are responsible for their travel arrangements, admission to the event, and all other expenses incurred in connection with their visit.
Needless to say Dayton Hamvention is the best platform to exchange the views and understanding the technical and social developments and participation in the same would benefit the participants.
This year there have been several changes to the Request of Invitation Letters. First there is an on line form each person has to fill out. This form can be found on their website:www.hamvention.org under the International Relations Committee section which is located within the Travel Section.
In addition to this form they also will need the following information:
-Date of Birth
-Passport number
-VISA number
Please contact us for any assistance for your participation in the above event.
Thanking you.
Yours sincerely,
S.Ram Mohan, VU2MYH
National Institute of Amateur Radio


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Look Who Has a Megaphone!
In an interview on TN TV Channel, Argentina in November 2013 Pope Francis said [1] that, "Today we are living in an unjust international system in which 'King Money' is at the center." He continued, "It is a throwaway culture that discards young people as well as its older people. In some European countries, without mentioning names, there is youth unemployment of 40 percent and higher."
It seems Pope Francis has heard the rallying calls from youth around the world.
In 2010, youth in Mozambique staged protests [2] in Maputo and Matola against rising food prices.
The 'Geração à Rasca [3]' (Scraping-by Generation) of Portugal took to the streets in March 2011 as a spontaneous Facebook event to call attention to underemployment, lack of social protection, and unemployment that many experience.
Youth protests flared in Sao Paulo, Brazil [4] in June and September of 2013 in reaction to high unemployment, low-paying jobs, inflation, and the high cost of living in big cities.
And just a month ago, around 2,000 unemployed Moroccans marched [5] through their capital in January 2014 to demand jobs, a particularly thorny problem for university graduates.
The more famous protests of Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement and the Gezi Park protests in Turkey were also spurred, in part, by young people.
This news is not surprising considering the globally high unemployment rates among young people.
The International Labour Organization [6] (ILO) states on its youth employment channel that "The world is facing a worsening youth employment crisis: young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and almost 73 million youth worldwide are looking for work." The ILO's global employment trends 2014 report [7] states that 74.5 million young people between the ages of 15-24 were unemployed in 2013. The total represents about 13% of the labour force and is three times the amount of adult unemployed.
A World Bank report entitled "Inclusion Matters [8]" states that, "Globally, the youth cohort is the largest in history, living mostly in developing and conflict countries […] Consequently, reaping the demographic dividend requires concerted action to include young people in markets, services, and spaces, as well as skillful management of the political economy."
Social media has had a huge impact on the way these and other protests are organized. Many young participants of protests and other collective campaigns hear about an event through social media, update social media threads while attending an event, and then, if law enforcement attempts to control or end an event, they communicate the encounter through social media.
There is a gap, however, between governments and the youth and the way in which these two groups communicate in the public sphere. Governments, by and large, do not use technology and new media in collaborative ways; their first impulse is to manipulate social media, engaging in censorship and propaganda. There is, of course, a spectrum of government tactics, from slowing down connection speeds to complete shutdown of national networks. Surveillance and political pressure lie somewhere in between.
According to a study conducted by Freedom House [9], Arab governments employed a variety of responses to the Arab Spring, including increased website blocking and filtering, content manipulation, attacks on and imprisonment of bloggers, punishment of ordinary users, and coercion of website owners to remove content.
Similarly, in a report by Tahseen Consulting, the authors state that Arab government entities use social media [10] primarily to conduct one-way government to communication that records activity rather than offering additional avenues for public transparency or citizen participation and collaboration. Open government programs in the Arab world focus on providing information on low priority activities that are already available via traditional media and institutional websites. Thus, rather than adopting open government reforms, some Arab governments have perpetuated secrecy, centralized decision making, and paternalism in social media platforms.
Governments also increasingly use social media to identify and locate activists, pressuring them to avoid the spotlight. The U.K. Government set up a dedicated social media task force [11] during the 2012 London Olympic Games to ensure safety at the event. They followed known activists on Twitter and were able to engage them in a dialogue and pinpoint their exact locations using geolocation tools.
The problem is clear: youth unemployment threatens the livelihoods of young people, lowers national GDP figures, and hurts the investment stability of national governments and private enterprises. If governments want to remain legitimate, they need to engage young people, their current and future population bases.
The solution seems almost as clear: use new communication technologies, in particular social media, not to silence young activists but to develop ways to reach out with messages, employment opportunities, and more. An open, two-way conversation would allow governments and youth to co-evolve, identifying solutions and building legitimacy into any programs that might result.
If governments engage their citizens via social media, it may also remove some of the fear associated with its use. This will be critical in encouraging citizens to use social media to grow their businesses or become entrepreneurs, finding markets and customers and promoting their products.
Yes, it's true that social media is not a panacea for all communication problems. Yes, it's true that two-way conversations can breed hostile comments and may not always result in practical ideas. But, it's also true that using social media to conduct surveillance and pressure activists is not a solution to the underlying problem.
- Tags:
- youth unemployment [15]
- Youth [16]
- social media [17]
- Mass Protest [18]
- Middle East and North Africa [19]
- United Kingdom [20]
- Portugal [21]
- Brazil [22]