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How self storage is bedding in with mixed-use developments
Self storage facilities are no longer the preserve of industrial estates as more open in vacant retail units and are included in residential developments.
Self storage facilities are becoming a part of mixed-use developments as changing living patterns and rising levels of urbanisation drive consumer demand for space in convenient locations.
Traditionally, self storage facilities were located on city outskirts or industrial parks. Now, operators are looking to get closer to consumers, offering small sized facilities in densely-populated urban areas, or building much larger stores in high value locations.
"There's growing demand for self storage as more people move into cities and living spaces get smaller," says Ollie Saunders, lead director of JLL Alternatives. "At the same time, we're seeing less urban land available for development."
As such, self storage facilities are starting to appear alongside residential, retail and offices in newly redeveloped or recently approved mixed-use schemes.
In London, Big Yellow Group plans to extend its Battersea facility into a mixed-use scheme featuring self storage, housing, retail and office space while in Oldham, a former mill is being converted into self storage, office, business and events space. Schemes are also afoot in other UK cities including Bristol and Brighton and Hove.
For now, the move to incorporate self storage is largely happening during redevelopment although some new schemes are also seeing its potential.
Access, for example, has received planning consent for 90,000 square feet of self storage space with 63 build to rent homes above. It's also seeking planning permission for another five London sites totaling over 1,000 homes and 475,000 square foot of self storage.
"Combining self storage with a mixed-use scheme lowers development costs and maximise the use of land," says Saunders. "This can open up previously out-of-reach opportunities for self storage in major metropolitan areas where land prices are at a premium."
Taking empty retail space
A growing number of empty retail units across the UK is also providing opportunities for the growing self storage sector.
"Empty retail space has emerged, particularly in the UK, leaving many retail landlords scratching their heads on how best to preserve rental income," says Saunders.
Accommodating self storage stores at the rear of shopping centres or in place of redundant retail car parks is relatively straightforward: "From a practical perspective, self storage facilities are becoming increasingly digital, meaning minimal staffing and management," Saunders says. "More generally, there's also less resistance to the idea of blending uses nowadays."
In Berlin, for example, the self storage and fast-food sectors have come together, with operator MyPlace joined by an adjacent KFC. In the UK, Starbucks Drive-Thru and operator StorageGiant are similarly positioned in Cardiff and Bristol.
"Fast-food outlets are generally in convenient locations and have a steady stream of visitors for much of the day, which makes them a place to keep goods safe and secure," says Saunders.
A growing sector
Europe's self storage sector has grown rapidly over the past decade to reach 4,290 facilities providing almost 10 million square feet of storage space, with the UK the largest market.
However, rising demand leaves plenty of room for more growth. A recent study by the Federation of European Self Storage Associations (FEDESSA) and JLL estimates that there are just nine self storage stores per million inhabitants in Europe, compared to more than 160 in the U.S.
Coupled with structural changes in the retail and office markets, the self storage facilities of the future will be less isolated than in previous years, Saunders believes. Existing failing retail facilities, for example, could be converted into flexible space for the office and self storage sectors with a small retail offering on the side.
In some cases, self storage could even become an anchor tenant of future mixed-use developments in established markets such as the UK and Germany, Saunders adds.
"There's a convenient matching of demand for space right now from self storage operators with landlords who need to find tenants," he concludes. "There's certainly greater cooperation between previously siloed sectors and we'll see the growth of mixed-use developments open up more opportunities for self storage."


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As travel writers, taking solo trips goes with the territory, so to speak. Sometimes, we're able to take along significant others or friends, but that's the exception. For my part, I prefer to travel alone, be it work or pleasure (which, given my occupation, generally turns into work in some form).
I just returned from a two-week-long solo assignment in Hawaii; it was my 15th visit, 14 of which have been made solo. In the early and mid-90s, I lived on Maui, and those experiences are what really cemented my love of traveling by myself, even in a place marketed to, and dominated by, couples. Sure, it can be lonely or a bit depressing at times to be a lone nomad, but I prefer to focus on the numerous advantages:
- You generally get more of a cultural immersion when you're by yourself. Depending upon where you are, locals may either pity you or find you an object of curiosity. This results in invites to dinner in private homes or to local events, and other experiences not easily had when you're a twosome or in a group.
- There's no one to get pissed off at you when you inevitably get lost.
- You'll likely get more out of your trip, because you can focus on your interests.
- Even without someone to watch your luggage while you purchase train tickets or run to the bathroom, it's usually less stressful to travel alone. Bickering is inevitable, no matter how great your relationship, be it romantic or platonic.
- Locals are usually happy to show you the sights. Again, this depends upon where you are, but by way of example, on a recent trip to Paraguay, I encountered palpable national pride among every single person I met. Everyone was eager to show me why their country is incredible (and it is).
- Per the above, you'll see things "tourists" don't, like hidden waterfalls, swimming holes, sacred sites, rituals, festivals, etc. As with accepting an invitation to someone's home, you need to use good judgment so you don't compromise your safety, but without question, my best travel experiences have come about in this manner.
- Watching a sunset alone on a deserted beach is highly underrated.
- You may save money; single rooms can be less expensive and cover charges are often waived for women.
- While I don't often go out alone at home, I usually love to grab a drink at a dive bar when I travel. It's a great way to meet locals as well as like-minded fellow travelers (who are always happy to share tips).
- I find I push yourself more when I travel by myself. My friends aren't as adventurous or outdoorsy as I am (they might use the term "dirtbaggy"), so hostels, janky buses and ferries, extreme sports, weird street foods and backpacking are out. I happily partake in these activities on my own, which has also been a big confidence-builder.

subset: commoncrawl


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Optical Supervisor - King of Prussia
Warby Parker
This job is no longer accepting applications
See open jobs at Warby Parker.See open jobs similar to "Optical Supervisor - King of Prussia" General Catalyst.Job Status: Full-Time
Warby Parker is searching for an Optical Supervisor to join our growing team of in-house optical professionals. In this role, you'll rely on your optical prowess, friendly demeanor, and product expertise to create incredible customer experiences. Whether you're helping longtime Warby Parker fans or first-time wearers, you'll leave them excited and confident about our glasses. (Our frames are really special, after all. Take a peek at how our glasses are made.) Acting as a key-holder to the store, you'll help open and close up shop as well as maintain internal operations. As a leader of the team, you'll foster an upbeat and productive work environment for the opticians and retail advisors. Our ideal candidate is an energetic self-starter and a lifelong learner who's eager to help Warby Parker grow. Sound like your cup of tea? Read on!
What you'll do:
Optical duties
- Work directly with customers to help meet all of their eyewear needs
- Take and record measurements, adjust and fit eyewear, and execute these details with flawless accuracy
- Check that our finished eyewear meets our optical standards, as well as customer requirements and requests
- Use your expertise to explain prescription terminology and product offerings to customers
Leadership responsibilities
- Set your store up for success each day by ensuring that all operational, service, and staff zoning procedures are executed to Warby Parker standards
- Drive the store vision and sales by providing above-and-beyond service on the floor and acting as the main contact for customer and operational questions
- Work with store management to lead and mentor the Optical team, including participants of our Optician Apprentice Program, and exemplify what great service looks like
- Help maintain general store systems, inventory databases, and business operations
- Foster and support a productive, positive employee culture in your store
Who you are:
- A licensed dispensing optician in states that require a license (or an ABO-certified optician in non-licensing states) with 2+ years of experience, including supervisor responsibilities
- Passionate about the eyewear and retail industries
- A clear, effective, and professional communicator—you can break down technical terms for customers to easily understand
- Dedicated to going above-and-beyond to make customers (and your teammates!) happy
- An energetic, positive team player who's able to adapt in a fast-paced, ever-changing work environment
- Not on the Office of Inspector General's List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE)
Some benefits of working at Warby Parker for full-time employees:
- Health, vision, and dental insurance
- Life and AD&D Insurance
- Paid time off
- Paid Holidays
- Retirement savings plan with a company match
- Parental leave (non-birthing parents included)
- Short-term disability
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Bereavement Leave
- Optical Education Reimbursement
- Snack Pantry
- And more (just ask!)
If you are a California resident, please review the additional privacy disclosures available in Section 8 of our Privacy Policy, which provides a summary of how we collect, use, disclose, and share personal information about you and explain your rights under the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA").
About Us:
Warby Parker was founded with a mission: to inspire and impact the world with vision, purpose, and style.
We're constantly asking ourselves how we can do more and make a greater impact, and that starts by reimagining everything that a company and industry can be. We want to demonstrate that a business can scale while doing good in the world, without charging a premium for it. And we've learned that it takes creativity, empathy, and innovation to achieve that goal.
Since the day we launched in 2010, we've pioneered ideas, designed products, and developed technologies that help people see. We offer everything you need for happier eyes at a price that leaves you with money in your pocket, from designer-quality glasses and contacts to eye exams and vision tests, and you can meet us online, at our stores, or even in your home. Wherever and whenever you need it, we're there to make exceptional vision care simple and accessible. (Delightful, too.)
Ultimately, we believe in vision for all, which is why for every pair of glasses or sunglasses we sell, a pair of glasses is distributed to someone in need through our Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program.
This job is no longer accepting applications
See open jobs at Warby Parker.See open jobs similar to "Optical Supervisor - King of Prussia" General Catalyst.


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Inflation and consumer prices
The main task of the ECB is to maintain price stability. The ECB's Governing Council considers that price stability is best maintained by aiming for 2% over the medium term.
In the euro area, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is used to measure consumer price inflation. That means the change over time in the prices of consumer goods and services purchased by euro area households.
It is "harmonised" because all the countries in the European Union follow the same methodology. This ensures that the data for one country can be compared with the data for another.
The HICP is compiled by Eurostat and the national statistical institutes in accordance with harmonised statistical methods. The inflation rate is also used in assessing whether a country is ready to join the euro area.
Data services
Euro area HICP per countryBreakdown by purpose of consumption
Breakdown by type of product (mainly used by the ECB)
Inflation dashboard
Explore euro area inflation interactively
How is inflation measured and what is the difference between measured and perceived inflation? Find comparable and always up-to-date inflation data with interactive visuals and your personal inflation calculator, available in 23 EU languages.
Explore moreConcept
The HICP aims to be representative of the developments in the prices of all goods and services available for purchase within the euro area by consumers.
It measures the average change over time in the prices paid by people for a specific, regularly updated basket of consumer goods and services.
Which goods and services are covered?
Basically all consumer goods and services purchased by means of monetary transactions come within the scope of the HICP. The technical name for these expenditures is "household final monetary consumption expenditure". This includes everyday items such as food, newspapers and petrol, durable goods such as computers and washing machines, and services such as hairdressing, insurance and rented housing.
Following the 2021 Strategy Review, the Governing Council recommended that home-ownership costs be included in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices to better reflect people's experiences of rising prices.
Implementing this will take time. The Governing Council welcomes the European Statistical System's related work on the statistical compilation of owner-occupied housing. This could pave the way for a move to an HICP that includes owner-occupied housing costs as the main index to be used for monetary policy.
Until then, we will use available measures of inflation that include home-ownership costs to support our understanding of how prices are changing in the economy. This will inform the Governing Council's monetary policy assessments.
Only monetary transactions conducted directly by households are included in the HICP. This is important to remember when analysing some expenditure categories, such as healthcare and education, where provision by the state is common. For example, if a student pays a fixed tuition fee to a university, only the amount of the fee is included in the HICP consumption basket even if the full cost of providing the education is much higher. Similarly, goods and services produced by households for their own consumption (such as home-grown vegetables) are not included.
The full range of product groups covered by the HICP consumption basket is given by the European Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (ECOICOP/HICP).
What types of household are covered?
The HICP covers the expenditure of all households within a country's economic territory. This includes spending by both resident and non-resident households in that territory (following the so-called "domestic concept").
Unlike some national consumer price indices, all types of households (including all income classes as well as foreign tourists) and all geographical areas are included.
The HICP and cost-of-living indices
In the literature on consumer price indices, two index types have a prominent role. Fixed-basket price indices, i.e. "Laspeyres price indices", define a basket of goods and services in the base period that is priced in each subsequent period. These goods and services are weighted according to their share in overall consumption in a certain base period.
By contrast, in cost-of-living indices it is the "consumer utility" obtained from the purchases in the base period that is kept constant. The cost-of-living index therefore measures the change in expenditure necessary to maintain the utility of the base period.
Conceptually, the HICP is a Laspeyres-type price index rather than a cost-of-living index. But the HICP is not a strict fixed-basket index. It measures the development of prices over time for fixed product categories according to the European Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (ECOICOP). Although these categories are fixed, the specific products that are included in particular categories may change over time. In other words, certain items may be removed from the basket and new ones may be added as they become relevant to household consumption expenditure.
In the same way, and also different from a fixed basket price index, the HICP weights are updated every year to reflect – to the extent possible – the latest changes in expenditure patterns.
In any case, the conceptual differences between the two types of price index do not generally lead to substantial differences in practice.
Quality of the HICP
The HICP is supported by a set of legally binding standards that cover the essential aspects of the index. Eurostat has a programme of compliance-monitoring visits, during which the compilation practices of individual national statistical institutes are scrutinised.
The HICP has been developed according to international standards and benefits from the experience of all EU Member States in consumer price statistics. It is the best measure of inflation in the euro area and is well-suited to assess the maintenance of price stability. However it is not perfect. Further work is ongoing to improve the quality and comparability of the index. The key priorities for the coming years are the integration of price indices of owner-occupied housing into the HICP and increased harmonisation of methods for quality adjustment and sampling.
Another main working area for Eurostat and the National Statistical Institutes is how to utilise new data sources (such as supermarket scanners, transactions and web scraping).
Basket of goods and services
In practice, prices cannot be collected for all of the millions of different goods and services available in the euro area. Sampling is used to derive a representative basket of goods and services to be priced every month. The national statistical institutes are responsible for defining the precise basket by selecting the most representative items for each product category. Therefore, each national HICP will cover bread and cars, but the type of bread and the brand and model of car may differ across countries, reflecting national consumption habits. Nowadays prices can also be obtained directly from retailers using supermarket scanners. However, in these cases the process of obtaining valid and representative price indices can be challenging.
Updating the basket
The HICP basket is updated on an annual basis to include new products that have become an important part of household consumption expenditure (such as music and video streaming services), while other products that are no longer representative (such as video tapes) are eliminated. In addition, within the year, old models of some products are replaced with newer ones. This occurs, for example, when sales of the old model are so low that its price falls sharply.
Collecting prices
For the HICP, millions of prices are collected in shops and online thanks to automated web-scraping, cash desk scanners, and surveys. They cover the whole euro area and are grouped into up to 295 product categories.
These price observations should reflect the prices actually paid by the consumer by including product taxes such as VAT, taxes on alcohol and tobacco, as well as reductions in prices. To combine all prices collected every month into a single figure for the euro area, information is needed on the relative share of each product category in households' spending.
Adjusting for changes in quality
The aim of the HICP is to measure "pure" price changes over time. Whenever a product's characteristics (e.g. package size and technical performance) change, observed prices are adjusted for these differences in specifications or quality in order to derive the pure price development.
Example: Car prices may have gone up but new models often include, as standard, features that were previously sold as optional extras (for example, satellite navigation systems, air conditioning and airbags). In such cases, the price increase is due partly to an increase in quality and not only to inflation. If car prices went up 5% on average, but one fifth of this change was due to quality increases, then the HICP would reflect a 4% price increase for this product.
National statistical institutes use several methods to account for quality adjustment, including methods based on expert judgments, regression techniques ("hedonic methods") and methods that derive estimates of the pure price change from similar products, for example those that are available at unchanged quality ("bridged overlap method").
While the effect of quality changes is usually small for many items in the HICP (e.g. butter), for some items the effect can be large (e.g. for cars and computers). Work is underway in Eurostat to ensure that all countries use comparable techniques for quality adjustment.
Product weights
The HICP for each euro area country is calculated as a weighted average of price changes for a wide range of product groups, using the respective share of each group in the total expenditure of all households for the goods and services covered by the index.
The information used to calculate the weight of each product group is collected mainly from national accounts and cross-checked and updated with information from other sources (e.g. VAT revenue statistics and households budget surveys). The product group weights are representative for the total household consumption expenditure at national level. As such, for each country they capture national consumption habits, which may depend on climate, product taxes, lifestyles, cultural traditions and other factors (e.g. the availability of products).
The HICP takes into account the consumption expenditure of all the households in a country and not some "typical" household (see "Concept" section above). For example, expenditure on petrol is included for those households with a car and, at the same time, expenditure on bus tickets is included for those that use public transport. What is important in the HICP is its composition, which encompasses the total consumption expenditure of all households together.
In order to keep the index up-to-date, product weights are updated regularly to reflect changes in consumer expenditure patterns. By law, the weights are updated every year.
From national to euro area HICP
The HICP for the euro area as a whole is calculated as an average of the national HICPs for the euro area countries, weighted by the countries' relative household consumption expenditure shares in the euro area total. The weights are updated annually and are derived from national accounts data.
The euro area HICP covers those EU Member States whose currency was the euro during the time period to which the data relate. When a country joins the euro area, the national HICP for that country is included in the euro area HICP using a chain index formula.
The HICP is compiled by Eurostat together with the National Statistical Institutes of the Member States of the European Union. Currently 34 countries (all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the USA, and the European countries seeking to join the EU: North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey) compile national HICPs.
Breakdowns of data
Two breakdowns are available, both based on the same 90 product groups:
- By purpose of consumption: data is broken down according to the European version of the international Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) classification, the so-called ECOICOP. Most statistical offices around the world use a variant of COICOP. HICP breakdown by purpose of consumption: latest data for euro area.
- By type of product: this is the breakdown generally used by the ECB and referred to in its Economic Bulletin. This breakdown divides the basket into components comprising product groups that are assumed to be influenced by certain economic developments. For example, developments in energy prices are grouped together since they are closely related to oil price movements. Food prices are divided into processed and unprocessed food, because prices of unprocessed food are more strongly influenced by factors such as weather conditions and seasonal patterns than those of processed food. Services prices are subdivided into five components which, on account of different market conditions, typically show distinct developments. HICP breakdown by type of product: latest data for euro area.
Eurostat also publishes some special aggregates, such as the overall index excluding unprocessed food and energy and the overall HICP excluding tobacco.
Seasonal adjustment
Many prices show a seasonal pattern. For example, end-of-season sales often cause the HICP to fall systematically in spring and summer. In order to extract the "news" from these seasonal changes and therefore aid short-term inflation analysis, the ECB compiles seasonally adjusted figures for the main HICP components. These data are published on the ECB's website on the same day as the regular HICP figures are published by Eurostat.
Most recent seasonally adjusted HICP data - Interactive data in the Statistical Data Warehouse Technical details on the seasonal adjustment of the HICPRelease calendar
HICP data are published every month by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
At the end of each month, a euro area flash estimate for headline inflation is released for that month. This is accompanied by flash estimates for the main components of the euro area HICP: energy, food (including alcohol and tobacco), non-energy industrial goods and services. Flash estimates for the special aggregates "all items excluding energy" and "all items excluding energy and food" are provided as well. The data are available for the euro area as a whole as well as for its Member States. The flash estimate is followed by a full release in the middle of the month, which comprises all country and euro area breakdowns and special indices.
HICP release calendarRevisions
HICPs are not normally revised. The HICP for the current month is final with its full release. Revisions are only made in the event of errors. Further revisions of the national HICPs have to be agreed with Eurostat.
Find out more about related content
Find comparable and always up-to-date data for inflation across the entire euro area with interactive visuals and comprehensive explanations on inflation.
Inflation insights


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YARMUK (modern Shari'at al-Manaḍirah):
River of Palestine; its various sources rise in the mountains of Hauran and Jaulan; it flows generally west and empties into the Jordan four English miles south of the Lake of Gennesaret. Although it is narrow and shallow throughout its course, at its mouth it is nearly as wide as the Jordan, measuring thirty feet in breadth and five in depth. The Matthew Bridge, which crosses the Yarmuk at its confluence with the Jordan, and which is built of volcanic stones, is celebrated. According to R. Johanan, the Yarmuk was the second largest river in Palestine (B. B. 74b), but its water was not to be used for the water of atonement with the ashes of the red heifer (Parah viii. 10).
- Sepp, Jerusalem und das Heilige Land, ii. 287 et seq., Regensburg, 1876;
- Schwartz, Palestine, p. 53, Philadelphia, 1850;
- Neubauer, G. T. p. 31;
- Ritter, Comparative Geography of Palestine, ii. 299 et seq.


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White House Fast and Furiously gave $500 million to Company under Investigation
September 14, 2011
Washington Post
September 14, 2011
EXCLUSIVE | The Obama White House tried to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion-dollar loan to the solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra so Vice President Biden could announce the approval at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company's factory, newly obtained e-mails show.
The Silicon Valley company, a centerpiece in President Obama's initiative to develop clean energy technologies, had been tentatively approved for the loan by the Energy Department but was awaiting a final financial review by the Office of Management and Budget.
The August 2009 e-mails, released exclusively to The Washington Post, show White House officials repeatedly asking OMB reviewers when they would be able to decide on the federal loan and noting a looming press event at which they planned to announce the deal. In response, OMB officials expressed concern that they were being rushed to approve the company's project without adequate time to assess the risk to taxpayers, according to information provided by Republican congressional investigators.
Solyndra collapsed two weeks ago, leaving taxpayers liable for the $535 million loan.
One e-mail from an OMB official referred to "the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra." Another complained, "There isn't time to negotiate."
"We have ended up with a situation of having to do rushed approvals on a couple of occasions (and we are worried about Solyndra at the end of the week)," one official wrote. That Aug. 31, 2009, message, written by a senior OMB staffer and sent to Terrell P. McSweeny, Biden's domestic policy adviser, concluded, "We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews."
White House officials said Tuesday that no one in the administration tried to influence the OMB decision on the loan. They stressed that the e-mails show only that the administration had a "quite active interest" in the timing of OMB's decision.
"There was interest in when a decision would be made because of its impact on whether an event involving the vice president could be scheduled for a particular date or not, but the loan guarantee decision was merit-based and made by career staffers at DOE," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.
Solyndra spokesman David Miller said he was unaware of any direct involvement of the White House in securing or accelerating the loan.
The e-mail exchanges could intensify questions about whether the administration was playing favorites and made costly errors while choosing the first recipient of a loan guarantee under its stimulus program. Solyndra's biggest investors were funds operated on behalf of the family foundation of Tulsa billionaire and Obama fundraiser George Kaiser. Although he has been a frequent White House visitor, Kaiser has said he did not use political influence to win approval of the loan.
The White House has previously said that it had no involvement in the Solyndra loan application and that all decisions were made by career officials based on the merits of the company.
It is not clear from the e-mails whether the White House influenced a final decision to approve the loan guarantee.
The Sept. 4, 2009, groundbreaking event went ahead as scheduled, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu in attendance and Biden speaking to the gathering by satellite feed.
Republican investigators for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is holding a hearing about Solyndra on Wednesday, concluded that the White House set a closing date for the OMB approval even before the OMB review had begun.
The White House pressure may have had a "tangible impact" on the OMB's risk assessment of the loan, the congressional investigators concluded.
In one e-mail, an OMB staff member questioned whether the review team was using the best model for determining the financial risk to taxpayers in evaluating the Solyndra deal.
"Given the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra, we don't have time to change the model," the staffer wrote.
Solyndra was a favorite of the administration until two weeks ago, when the company abruptly shuttered its factory and filed for bankruptcy court protection, leaving 1,100 people out of work and taxpayers on the hook for the loans. Last week, FBI agents searched the company's Silicon Valley headquarters in a raid that Miller said appeared linked to the loan guarantee.
In one e-mail, an assistant to Rahm Emanuel, then White House chief of staff, wrote on Aug. 31, 2009, to OMB about the upcoming Biden announcement on Solyndra and asked whether "there is anything we can help speed along on OMB side."
An OMB staff member responded: "I would prefer that this announcement be postponed. . . . This is the first loan guarantee and we should have full review with all hands on deck to make sure we get it right."
In another message, a White House staff member wrote that officials were "walking a fine line with Solyndra needing to begin notifying investors to fly in" for the groundbreaking. It stressed that "this OMB piece" of the review was not final and pointed out that if word of the groundbreaking leaked to the public prematurely, that would "leave us in an awkward place."
The e-mails also raise questions about whether the administration should have foreseen financial trouble. In August 2009, e-mail exchanges between Energy Department staff members pointed out that a credit-rating agency predicted that the project would run out of cash in September 2011. Solyndra shut its doors on the final day of August.
The House committee has been investigating Solyndra's dealings with the Energy Department for six months. In July , subcommittee members subpoenaed White House documents related to the guarantee.
Questions about the selection process were first raised in a July 2010 audit by the Government Accountability Office. It concluded that the Energy Department "lacked appropriate tools for assessing the progress" of the loan program and that the department treated applicants inconsistently, "favoring some applicants and disadvantaging others."
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of that panel's oversight and investigations subcommittee, said last week that the FBI raid confirmed their belief that the "darling" of Obama's green-jobs program was a "bad bet" from the beginning.
"Solyndra was the hallmark of the President's green jobs program and widely promoted by the administration as a stimulus success story, right up until its bankruptcy and FBI raid," Upton and Stearns said in a statement on Tuesday. "Let's learn the lessons of Solyndra before another dollar goes out the door."
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) — Democrats on the committee who had once defended the choice of Solyndra — last week also questioned whether they had been misled. In a letter, they wrote that Solyndra chief executive Brian Harrison "did not convey to us the perilous condition of the company, and the Committee should know why. "
Read more on PostPolitics.com
Firm fails after getting federal loan guarantees
An alternative to Social Security?
Elizabeth Warren announces campaign in video


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MILAN (AP) — The Italian coast guard has rescued and revived a drowning kitten at a Sicilian port, after children on shore drew attention to its plight.
A sailor jumped in the sea to rescue the cat, which was floating apparently lifeless in the water, as the coast guard ship entered the port Marsala after a patrol mission.
A video released Friday showed crew members administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and massaging the kitten to remove water from its lungs, encouraging it: "Breathe, breathe. Wake up." After a few minutes, the kitten emitted a few weak "meows."
A veterinarian on shore says the kitten is now in good health. He has been given a home at the Marsala maritime district office and has been named Charlie.


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Winter Lights festival in Milford this weekend
By Anya Tikka
MILFORD, Pa — It's going to be a special celebration this year — the 10th anniversary of the Milford Winter Lights Festival.
There's plenty of pent-up demand for some real, lovely, old-fashioned ice after last year's festival was first postponed and then cancelled altogether because temps were too high. Keep your frostbitten fingers crossed for continued cold, at least until the festival weekend, Jan. 20-21.
In preparation, artist Tom Holmes has been busy creating a ice sculpture at the Ann Street Park ice rink that will be illuminated with colored lights at night. He first creates the frame, and then his vision, by spraying water that quickly freezes up.
"It's a give and take between mother nature and Tom," chuckled organizer Mike Carson.
The main show at the rink is "Merlin Awakens," to be performed at 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. The rink will stay open for free skating, for all to enjoy, until warm weather returns.
The whole event is free with funding provided by grants and donations by corporations and individuals, including The Community Trust Fund and Pocono Arts Council.
Mystery macsCarson said festival-goers will see the usual Mac 'n Cheese and Chili contests kick off the festivities. The Dimmick Inn will again host them, starting 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. There will be some new, improved rules for the contests this year.
"We're changing the approach," Carson said. "Now it's going to be totally unknown to the participants whose food they're tasting."
The food by area restaurants and home chefs will be served by seven volunteers. The ballots will carry no names, only numbers.
"We wanted it to be totally open," Carson said.
The ballots will be counted at 2 p.m., and then the first-, second-, and third-place winners will be invited to the ice rink's main stage. The show starts at 2 and goes on until 2:45.
"We'll break at 2:20, announce the cook-off winners, and they get pictures taken," Carson said.
Merlin vs. Morgan Le FeyThe festival will end with a celebratory ice show, performed by Frozen Feet Theater and sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Committee. Some of the skaters are from Ice Theatre of New York, and Milford's own Jordan Hardy will also skate. In between there will be a jazzercize warm-up led by a Jen Murphy Fitness instructor, a young skaters' performance, and free skating — some by torchlight.
In the main show, "Merlin and Morgan Le Fey battle each other," Carson said. "Each one wants to prove they are the better magician, but Morgan wants power and Merlin want good for everyone. We'll see how they are going to solve that battle."
Because this is an Olympics year, organizers wanted to highlight the hard training required of all world-class skaters. They once had to do "numbers," in which they skated an exact figure — like 8 or 2 or 3 — to show their skills on the ice. This requirement has now been eliminated from the Olympics, but it will be featured at Winter Lights.
"Were going to put up an exciting piece that shows what it is," said Carson.
The show will show what young skaters, ages 13 to 15, can do.
"They are going to be the champions of America when the go to Olympics," Carson said.
A piece called "Flight" features "a very large blue skirt that billows out when she performs."
Each day, when the show is over, it'll take a few moments to clear the rink, then it's open for free skating. The rink has been set up by a committee and by hundreds of dedicated volunteers. Carson gave credit to the borough council's Parks and Recreation Committee, Scott Shelton, Mike Zimmerman, Jeff Mackey, and President Beth Papa. Borough representative Annette Haar has been in charge of overall organizing.
Carson expects this year's festival to go ahead, even though day temperatures are projected to rise into the 40s. But it will be okay, he said, because the nights will be chilly, which wasn't the case last year.
"We're going to do what we like to do, combine our stories on ice with puppets in stages," said Carson. "It should be a very interesting show."


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The Company's Development of Innovative RF Chips Began in 2009 with Just 3 Engineers
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 17, 2015-- Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT®) (NASDAQ: IDTI) announced today that it has surpassed the 10 million shipments milestone of radio frequency (RF) devices, less than 4 years after entering the market. Since beginning RF development in 2009, IDT has advanced wireless infrastructure technology with a stream of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-enhancing innovations for leading RF developers.
"The wireless infrastructure market acceptance of IDT's RFIC products is clear given this significant milestone, and the expansion of the product portfolio over the past four years," said Earl Lum, president of EJL Wireless Research LLC.
"Our RF division was started from the ground up with a team of just three people less than six years ago, and the market's response has been remarkable," said Dave Shepard, vice president and general manager of IDT's Timing & RF Division. "By targeting the needs of 4G base stations and other high-performance applications, we clearly found a segment that was being underserved."
IDT has a broad lineup of RF products including DSAs, switches, mixers, modulators, demodulators, VVAs, VGAs, and integrated receivers. These products offer a combination of extreme linearity and very low power consumption. In addition to wireless infrastructure, IDT's RF innovations can be found in such diverse industrial applications as commercial radar, point-to-point backhaul, and public safety networks.
For more information, visit http://www.idt.com/go/RF.
IDT offers high-performance and full-featured radio frequency (RF) mixer and gain control products that deliver exceptional performance in compact packages. The RF signal path products include low-power, low-distortion RF to intermediate frequency (IF) mixers, low-noise high-performance intermediate frequency (IF) variable gain amplifiers (VGA), low-noise high-performance digital step attenuators (DSA), and high-performance low-insertion loss RF switches. These devices are ideal for products such as cellular 4G base stations, broadband repeaters, distributed antenna systems and microwave backhaul equipment.
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. develops system-level solutions that optimize its customers' applications. IDT uses its market leadership in timing, serial switching and interfaces, and adds analog and system expertise to provide complete application-optimized, mixed-signal solutions for the communications, computing and consumer segments. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., IDT has design, manufacturing, sales facilities and distribution partners throughout the world. IDT stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Stock Market® under the symbol "IDTI." Additional information about IDT is accessible at www.IDT.com. Follow IDT on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.
IDT and the IDT logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Integrated Device Technology, Inc. All other brands, product names and marks are or may be trademarks or registered trademarks used to identify products or services of their respective owners.


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Male doctors are four times more likely than female doctors to be disciplined for misconduct, and sexual misconduct is the most common reason for disciplinary action, a University of Melbourne, Australia study has found.
Lead author, Ms Katie Elkin from the School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne said obstetrician-gynaecologists and psychiatrists had the highest rate of disciplinary action, followed by general practitioners.
"This study provides for the first time, an accurate picture of the cases in which tribunals in Australia and New Zealand have found doctors guilty of misconduct," she said.
"Previously, public perceptions in this area were largely based upon media reporting of particular scandals."
Published in the Medical Journal of Australia today, the study analysed disciplinary cases before tribunals in five jurisdictions (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand) in 2000-2009. These jurisdictions encompass 85 per cent of doctors registered in Australia and all doctors registered to practice in New Zealand.
Sexual misconduct was the primary type of misconduct in 24 per cent of cases handled by tribunals, followed by unethical or illegal prescribing, which accounted for 21 per cent of cases.
Other types of misconduct included missed diagnosis, breach of registration conditions and failure to obtain informed consent.
In 43 per cent of cases, tribunals ruled to remove the doctor from practice.
Of the 485 cases analysed, eight per cent involved patient death and an additional nine per cent involved physical harm to patients.
"These findings indicate that boards and tribunals interpret their public protection role fairly broadly. Regulators are not sitting back — they are trying to be proactive when professional misconduct poses risks to the community, even in the absence of physical harm" Ms Elkin said.
Professor David Studdert, a co-author and leader of the research team at the University of Melbourne said improving public understanding of these cases was important.
"Without that, anecdotes and media reports can lead to quite a distorted perspective," he said.


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Out of stock.
Martin D28 LEFT-HANDED
All of our Martin D-28 Lefty guitars are brand new, factory-fresh, come with a Martin hardshell case and Martin Lifetime Warranty.
Sometimes innovation is in the details and this is certainly true with Martin's re-imagined D28. After nearly a century at the helm, and as the quintessential workhorse of music legends like Hank Williams, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and so many more, Martin's legendary D-28 has been lovingly and artfully enhanced in 2017.
"The post WWII D-28 had a slightly different look than its predecessor and became the centerpiece of the folk and folk rock movements at their pinnacle in the 1950s and 1960s." says Chris Martin, Chairman and CEO of Martin Guitar, "We have extracted the finest features from the D-28 of both my grandfather's and my father's respective eras." The all new D-28 blends the rich history of the guitar with Martin's newest and most heralded innovations.
The 184 year old guitar maker has combined vintage appointments, including open gear tuners, an aged toner top, antique white accents, and a faux tortoise pickguard with a new neck profile to give D-28 enthusiasts a modern feel and comfortable playing experience. Martin has also added forward-shifted bracing to allow greater vibration of the top. The legend just got better! Looking for a right-handed model? See our Martin D-28 Guitar.
Other versions of the Martin D-28 include:
Maury's Music thoroughly inspects every guitar before it ships (learn more). We can even set it up to your specs upon request! Simply choose between "Factory Setup" or "Custom Setup" when placing your order. Click here for more details.
Read our Martin D-28 vs HD-28 blog to see how they compare.
Please note: Adding a guitar pickup or strap button to this model will disqualify it from our return policy and therefore it cannot be returned after these uprades are added. Upgrade prices below include installation; these fees are non-refundable. Also, we cannot ship Walrus Ivory products to California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington or Washington D.C. due to legislation in those states.
This Martin Guitar can only be shipped to a US address. Please contact Martin for a retailer in your country.
Click the IMAGES TAB to view actual pictures!
CONSTRUCTION: Dovetail Neck Joint BODY SIZE: D-14 Fret TOP MATERIAL: Spruce with Aging Toner TOP BRACING PATTERN: Non-Scalloped, Forward Shifted "X" Bracing BACK/SIDE MATERIAL: East Indian Rosewood NECK SHAPE: Modified Low Oval w/ High Performace Taper NUT MATERIAL: Bone SCALE LENGTH: 25.4" FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT NUT: 1-3/4" FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT 12TH FRET: 2-1/8" BRIDGE STRING SPACING: 2-5/32" SADDLE: 16" Radius/Compensated Bone RECOMMENDED STRINGS: Martin MA550T Authentic Acoustic BRIDGE & END PINS: White Plastic with Faux Tortoise Dots CASE: 12C640 Martin 640 molded hardshell ELECTRONICS: Optional
Buy Online - Pick Up IN-STORE


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Bring life and hope to suffering children around the globe. Take Action!
Be an Ambassador for World Children's Fund. Spread the word, Tell others about our programs. Share the World Children's Fund vision with family, friends and co-workers. Be the change you want to see!
We have had groups and individuals host garden parties, dinners and other events to raise funds for projects and programs. Other ideas? Help a child organize a fundraiser at school and raise awareness of the plight of suffering children around the world. Kids can be powerful philanthropists! There are many different ways to participate and raise funds - and have fun in the process.
Always, drop us an email to let us know how we're doing, or share a great idea!


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Top TV Shows
A bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.
]]>Ashes To Ashes
DCI Gene Hunt swaps the Ford Cortina for an Audi Quattro and joins the London Metropolitan Police to deal with the 'Southern Nancy' criminal scum.
]]>Follow Jeremy, Richard, and James, as they embark on an adventure across the globe. Driving new and exciting automobiles from manufacturers all over the world.
]]>An unpopular 15-year-old gains immediate, yet unwanted, popularity at her high school when the student body mistakes an accident she has for a suicide attempt.
]]>In a world replete with greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry, "Marco Polo" is based on the famed explorer's adventures in Kublai Khan's court in 13th century Mongolia
]]>A wealthy young man undergoing heart transplant surgery discovers that the surgical team intend to murder him
]]>Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is missing and presumed dead when his yacht is lost at sea. He returns five years later a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante armed with a bow.
]]>Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal and Billy Thomas were going steady throughout their childhoods. Ally even followed Billy...


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Broken Hill is an overlook and interesting example of erosion at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in San Diego, California. The erosion features are carved into the loose sand and mud of the Bay Point formation, deposits of inland sediments dropped along the coast when the oceans were higher around 120,000 years ago. The orange and brown hues of the formation are visually striking against the backdrop of the blue Pacific ocean in the distance.
The namesake Torrey Pines are a rare kind of pine tree found only here and on an island 100+ miles to the north.
Known as "Americas Finest City", elegant and sunny San Diego is truly a city with something for everyone. In town, a whole day or more could be spent in Balboa Park, playing golf, touring the world-famous San Diego Zoo or visiting a museum. Just outside of town, Torrey Pines State Reserve offers a somewhat wilder terrain where visitors can view rare birds and the stately trees the park is named for. Children, and in turn parents, will be delighted with the city's wide range of family-oriented activities. From SeaWorld to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, there are events and exhibits to keep even the most hard-to-please happy. San Diego boasts an array of fine and trendy restaurants covering a melting pot of cuisines, world-class shopping and hotels from lavish to budget. San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United Sates and the second largest city in California. Relatively free from smog and byzantine freeways, San Diego, set around a gracefully curving bay, represents the acceptable face of southern California. Although it was the site of the first mission in California, the city only really took off with the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in the 1880s, and in terms of trade and significance it has long been in the shadow of Los Angeles. However, during World War II the US Navy made San Diego its Pacific Command Center, and the military continues to dominate the local economy, along with tourism and the Biotech Industry. San Diego is also home to one of the 2009 top ten beaches in the US. Coronado beach has just moved up from the number 8 position to number 4. You can enjoy the 100 year old Hotel Del Coronado visited by Kings, Presidents and movie stars behind you while taking in the ships and sail boats in front of scenic Point Loma.


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We buy and sell used cranes and equipments
Our Crane Spare Parts and Repair Service:
We supply all type of crane spare parts, parts for American crane brands , European crane brands and Asian crane brands. Crane Parts For Mobile, Truck Mounted, Tower And Other Cranes OEM (original) crane parts and replacement crane parts are available for most types of crane. We also offer worldwide crane repair services.


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The City of Riverside welcomes your interest in doing business with us. The City processes nearly $240 million ($90 million in goods and services and $150 million in Public Works projects) in orders and contracts annually. The City operates under a centralized purchasing division established by our City Charter and is staffed with professional Procurement & Contract Specialists who are assigned specific City Departments. To do business with the City, these are a few things you need to know.
Everything that is required to keep the City operating on a daily basis, from office supplies to equipment, computers and vehicles. Services utilized, but not limited to, include janitorial services, security services, landscape maintenance, printing, temporary staff services and courier services. Public projects (construction) vary from street repairs to construction of buildings.
Our objective is to purchase the required goods and services in a timely manner to meet City department's needs at a fair and reasonable price utilizing an open competitive bidding process.
The City makes its purchases under the authority granted in the City Charter. Competitive bidding is the primary method for obtaining solicitations. Competitive bids are not subject to negotiations. Awards are made to the lowest responsive and responsible bidders meeting City specifications. Remember, only the Purchasing Division is authorized to commit City funds for the purchase of goods and services. No payment will be made for any goods delivered or services provided without a purchase order number or contract.
Purchases are made utilizing techniques such as telephone quotations for items of small value (under $10,000), or where time limitations, sole source or emergency conditions prevail. Written informal quotations are used for items of greater value ($10,000 or more), but not exceeding $50,000 where a competitive market exists. Formal bid procedures are used when the procurement is estimated to exceed $50,000 for goods, services and Public Works construction projects. Bids submitted to the City are public information, therefore, you may access the City's website for bid results.
The City establishes no preferential list of sources. Procurement orders are awarded on the basis of the best price meeting City requirements, whether a large or small supplier. The City Council adopted a 5% local preference for those suppliers located within the City limits. Therefore, a 5% price preference may be applied to the total procurement price during evaluation of the supplier's response as long as it supports Local, State or Federal Law.
The Purchasing Division Procurement & Contract Specialists maintain a "Potential Vendor/Contractor's List" for all classes of commodities and services which are regularly purchased and needed by City departments. The Potential Vendor/Contractor's List is compiled of vendors and contractors who have expressed interest in being contacted when the City needs such items or services. These lists are researched by the Procurement & Contract Specialist prior to soliciting bids. By being on our list, a vendor or contractor has a greater assurance of being notified of such needs.
Become a registered planholder on the City's electronic Current Planholder's list by registering at the PlanetBids portal (Google Chrome required). Registering as a planholder tells us about your company and will place you on our potential vendor/contractors list. It is best if you or your sales representative contact our Purchasing Division at City Hall. 951-826-5561. The Purchasing Receptionist will direct you to the Procurement & Contracts Specialist that would handle the commodity or service you provide. The Procurement & Contracts Specialist will interview you over the phone and may set up an appointment for you to meet in person or virtually. When attending this appointment, please provide additional information about your products or service. Our goal is to allow both parties to converse and help develop a business relationship.
The City of Riverside established a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program plan to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant funding obligations and the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 26. The DBE Program plan ensures nondiscrimination in the administration and award of State and Federally funded contracts.
The City welcomes vendor visits by appointment in our Purchasing Division. Appointment hours are 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. We actively encourage participation from all businesses, large and small as it is our policy that everyone who comes to sell to the City be given every opportunity to do so if the need arises. We place high value on friendly, personal contact with our suppliers and potential suppliers. It is our hope that a visit to our purchasing office will be both informative and mutually beneficial.
Address: 3900 Main St. Riverside, CA 92522 Phone: (951) 826-5454 |


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Fall 2012
Instructors: Angela Belcher, Bevin Engelward, Shannon Hughes-Alford, Natalie Kuldell and Agi Stachowiak
Writing Instructor: Leslie Ann Roldan
Oral Presentation Instructor: Atissa Banuazizi
Graduate TAs: Jenny Kay, Eric Ma, and Jackie Ohmura
Lecture: T/R 11-12 (16-220)
Lab: T/R 1-5 or W/F 1-5 (56-322)
Seminar Room: 16-336
Welcome to 20.109! For many of you this will be the first time in a research lab and for others it will not, but it is our goal to make this class a useful and fun introduction to experiments and techniques in biological engineering. There is not time enough to show you everything you'll need to know if you go on to do research, but after taking this class you should feel confident and familiar with some fundamental experimental approaches and lab protocols. You will develop good habits at the bench, ones that will increase the likelihood of success in your work and ensure the health and safety of you and those around you. By the end of the semester, you should also be aware of good scientific practice, having had some experience with report writing, notebook keeping and publicly presenting your data. All of us involved in teaching 20.109 hope you will find it a satisfying challenge and an exciting experience that has lasting value.
- To submit your major assignments, access the Stellar drop-box that's here
- Grades for Module 2 rewrites are on the Stellar site! Nice improvements all around. Congrats....
- Module 3 oral presentation grades are posted to the Stellar site. Be sure to download the comments sheet! Grades for written proposals and pre-proposals will be posted soon.
- Pictures of you and your solar cells are here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/a9qvsqlryizg0ke/pk5hoeMzrW
- Efficiency data for your solar cells is linked here! Congrats on the success you all enjoyed with this module and a HUGE thanks to Jackie for all her hard work to make this experiment run so smoothly.
- Clarification: Written proposal length is 5 single-spaced pages + bibliography (references)
- Here is a copy of the written proposal grading guidelines sent on 12-3-12: rubric
- For those who are wondering: Mod 3 Proposals should be single-spaced... assignment page will be clarified to reflect that.
- Reminder: Blog post for Module 3 is due not later than Wed Dec 5th at midnight
- TEM images for all sections: Tem images
- Solar cell handout Solar cell handout
- Mod 2 re-writes (if you choose to try it) are due at midnight on Friday 11/30. This re-write assignment is subject to the 1/3 of a letter grade penalty for each 24 hour period late-- should you need that option.
- Given the nature of the remaining assignments, Agi will hold individual meetings by request rather than group OH for the (so brief!) remainder of the semester.
- You can find old announcements here


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IKEA today opens up its first India store in Hyderabad City. The Swedish furniture retail giant continues to be ranked the most valuable Swedish brand according to an annual survey by the brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance. In a new report listing the top 50 brands in Sweden, IKEA holds the number 1 position in terms of brand value, followed by H&M and Nordea.
"IKEA's brand value dropped 5% over the last year to SEK197.1 billion, as the brand faces many of the same issues as other conventional retailers, especially increasing global competition from online-only sellers and digital home-improvement offerings."
The top 10 list remains intact from 2017 but there are significant changes in value among the leading brands. For example, Nordea is the only brand among the top 6 that actually sees an increase in value, up 7% according to the metrics used in the report.
Top 10 most valuable Swedish brands:
- Nordea (+7%)
- Ericsson (-15%)
- Telia Company (-12%)
- Volvo (-7%)
- Swedbank (+7%)
- Handelsbanken (+3%)
- Skanska (+7%)
Among the losers on the list is for example forestry and paper giant SCA which drops from number 18 to 38, with an estimated drop in brand value of 86%. The highest new entry on top 50 is hygiene and health company Essity which enters the list at number 20. The explanation for this dramatic shift (which the report fails to mention) is of course that SCA in 2017 split its business into two different brands: SCA and Essity.
The fastest growing brand is the e-casino B2B provider Evolution Gaming which increased its value by 82%.
Press photo: IKEA.


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Experts say progress made in 2019 in the area of mental health deaths was likely undone by the pandemic.
"The increase in terms of alcohol, drugs and suicide may have to do as well with the pressures people are experiencing in their lives," said John Auerbach, President and CEO of Trust for America's Health, a nonpartisan nonprofit.
Trust for America's Health found increasing deaths due to drug and alcohol use, but a slight drop in suicide deaths in 2019. But preliminary data from during the pandemic suggests all that will increase.
The organization's report "Pain in the Nation" suggests looking at social and economic factors for early intervention. It suggests schools can help with screenings in young children showing behavioral problems.
"We believe these are medical conditions and should be treated the same way that we treat other medical conditions," said Auerbach.
"It's not your fault to get addicted to an addictive substance that's addictive in humans," said Emily Lynn Paulson, founder of Sober Mom Squad.
Paulson gave up drinking alcohol four and a half years ago. Now, she's trying to help other women who may be questioning their drinking through her support group, Sober Mom Squad.
She says as people start to reenter society, they're noticing more issues around alcohol use.
"Maybe drinking was fine at home because I could keep it protected, but now, I'm going to drive my kids to school or now I actually have to go to an office, and I can't hide my drink on the side of the computer," said Paulson.
There are already stats on increased alcohol use during the pandemic. In an NIH survey, where mostly women younger than 50 responded, they reported drinking about 27 drinks over the course of 12 days within a month. More than 40 percent reported binge or extreme binge drinking.
Paulson says many moms aren't comfortable when their children start to recognize their drinking.
"And it doesn't mean that you need to be all done. It doesn't mean you need to tell everyone that you're done drinking or you have to put some label on yourself. It's just that, you know, obviously, alcohols not serving you and let's figure out how we can find better ways to fill those needs," said Paulson.
Sober Mom Squad meets online.
There are also other resources for anyone interested in changing drinking habits. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a helpline to connect you.


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venez avec moi à Marrakech
recipe: Harira soup
When it comes to summer vacation I try to blend new adventures with familiar ones. This summer the new adventure was Marrakech, Morocco. It was a trip that the three of us have discussed many times at the dinner table. With autumn eyes, I give you a summer photo journal and a popular and tasty Moroccan recipe you and your family will love (at least once the weather catches up with the calendar).
Venez avec moi à Marrakech (come with me to Marrakech).
bisou, LM
Read the rest of this entry »


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For the fourth day in a row, the number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea reached 200,000 due to an increase in the number of infections. According to authorities, as of Thursday alone, there were 621,328 new cases of the virus reported daily, and 429 deaths had been reported sending shockwaves across Asia. Among newly reported WHO data, South Korea leads the world with 2,358,878 cases, followed by Vietnam with 1,795,380.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, the country reported 205,333 new COVID-19 infections, including 31 cases from abroad. The total number of cases now totals 14,983,694, as reported by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). As of Friday, there were 373 new COVID-19 deaths, up from 348 on Thursday and 371 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 18,754.
While the KDCA reported the record wave of infections was driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant, a public survey revealed that few people feared serious health consequences if they contracted the disease. The number of infections per day is much higher than expected. On Wednesday, the government predicted that the wave would peak with daily cases in the mid-400,000 range. A month ago, it was expected that the wave would peak in mid-March at 140,000 – 270,000 daily cases.
Despite the numbers, the government appears unconcerned about the removal of almost all social distancing restrictions in coming days and weeks. During the past few months, it has pushed back an eatery curfew to 11 pm, stopped enforcing vaccine passes, and is planning to end quarantines for travelers who are already immunized.


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As I flew from JFK to Port-au-Prince Airport on August 11, a fellow journalist handed me the front section of that day's New York Times with a laugh. My friend pointed to a passage in an article about Russia's war with Georgia that had prompted her bitter chuckling.
The piece quoted Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad of the United States, who charged that the Russian foreign minister had told Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice "that the democratically elected president of Georgia 'must go.'" Khalizad described the Russian's comment as "completely unacceptable."
Of course, Washington's posturing as a beacon of peace and freedom has become increasingly more ludicrous as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue with no end in sight and Bush explains that we do not torture while testimony to the contrary accumulates around the globe. But the U.S. role in supporting the February 29, 2004 rightist coup in Haiti makes the hypocrisy of Khalizad's statement especially galling.
The Bush Administration made it clear that Haiti's democratically-elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide had to go, then flew him to the Central African Republic under U.S. Marine Guard (as detailed in Randall Robinson's excellent book An Unbroken Agony) as a brutal right-wing military takeover seized Aristide's homeland. The coup government, UN forces, and anti-Aristide paramilitaries killed around 4,000 people in the next two years, according to a study published in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet.
Among the many pro-Aristide activists who were forced into exile was the grassroots leader Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine. Lovinsky, a key figure in the Port-au-Prince base of Aristide's Lavalas movement, returned to Haiti during the apparent democratic opening after the 2006 election of President Rene Preval.
I saw Lovinsky speak in July 2007 at a demonstration across from the headquarters of MINUSTAH, the UN mission in Haiti. The occasion was the anniversary of the 1915 U.S. marine takeover of the island nation. Lovinsky led a spirited crowd of around 50 Haitians, many elderly. The psychologist-turned-activist forcefully read out a bill of indictment against the UN: MINUSTAH's legitimizing the 2004 coup by replacing the initial wave of U.S., French, and Canadian troops, and propping up an illegal government; UN troops engaging in massacres of unarmed civilians; and carrying out a modern-day colonial occupation of Haiti. As a few reporters and activists taped audio or shot video of this fiery speech, across Ave. John Brown at the UN entrance a mix of uniformed and plainclothes military representing a handful of the countries participating in MINUSTAH clicked away on digital cameras pointed at Lovinsky. This seemed a tactic of intimidation, given the close operations the UN has conducted with the notoriously brutal Haitian police (as documented in reports from Harvard Law School and the University of Miami Law School). A few weeks later, Lovinsky was abducted after meeting with a human rights delegation from the U.S. He hasn't been heard from since.
August 12 was the one year anniversary of Lovinsky's disappearance. I walked with a sinking feeling to the demonstration commemorating the sad day. It was hard to believe such an impressive, committed figure had been missing for an entire year. Between 150 and 200 demonstrators, many wearing t-shirts bearing Lovinsky's likeness, marched in a circle around the statue of a man holding aloft a dove in the center of the Plaza of the Martyrs. Aristide built the monument in memory of the thousands killed in the first (U.S.-backed) coup against him of 1991-1994.
Lavalas activist Rene Civil, imprisoned on trumped-up charges in 2006 but freed under a conditional release after an international campaign on his behalf, addressed the crowd. He said that Lovinsky's disappearance was a threat to Lavalas supporters, intended to stop them from struggling for Aristide's return.
As the demonstration wound through downtown Port-au-Prince, several police vehicles followed. Police had already blocked off streets near the Plaza of Martyrs, which protest organizers claimed was done to discourage more people from participating. The police presence as the march ended in front of the National Palace was low-key, but a jeep with six heavily armed Brazilian troops was a bit more hostile. I took photos of them as one of them photographed me.
The next day I returned to the Palace of the Martyrs, where the September 30th Foundation, a group co-founded by Lovinsky to support reparations and justice for victims of the 1991 coup, holds a protest at 11am every Wednesday. Since their leader (one member told me, "we see Lovinsky as a father and a brother") has been abducted the primary focus of the weekly action has been calling for the safe return of Lovinsky.
Edwidge (for her safety, a pseudonym), a woman participating in the protest, told me "Lovinsky used to help us. All the time we're hungry, now we have no one." She continued, "Lovinsky was not a criminal. We know when the wealthy are kidnapped the government does everything it can to recover the victim. Lovinsky is not a dog, not an animal. He deserves the same treatment as the wealthy people. Give us a report. If he's dead, give us the bones and we'll bury him."
Many of his supporters hold out hope that their sorely-missed friend is alive. The forty present at the Wednesday protest sang political lyrics set to traditional evangelical tunes (and, in at least one instance, a vodou song). One roughly translated as "The victims are asking for the key/ give us the key so we can open the door of justice/ who are we asking for? Lovinsky!"
In an interview later that day, human rights lawyer Mario Joseph of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) told me that in some ways the current Preval Administration is "worse than the interim [coup] government." Joseph said he told the Haitian ambassador in Washington, "your government needs to launch an investigation … [but] on Lovinsky, they don't want to do anything." Joseph argues, "The Preval government continues the policies of the Latortue [coup] government," and says most of those now in power are holdovers from the illegal 2004-2006 government.
(A Lavalas activist who has worked with Aristide since 1984 and who was diplomatic about Preval, told me, "on the social and economic plane, we can work with him." But this member of the National Cell for the Reflection of the Grassroots, who was beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized in prison under the 2004-2006 regime, said all "ministers, ambassadors, and delegates" left over from the coup period are "criminals" who should be fired.)
Joseph's family has had to relocate to Miami because of death threats. Noting that human rights abusers he helped put behind bars under Aristide had escaped prison after 2004, the lawyer said, "They need to arrest people escaped from jail. My life is in danger."
Meanwhile, Joseph remains extremely busy defending prisoners, some of whom have been moved to outlying regions he has a hard time getting to. Of the political prisoners still behind bars, he said, "I have too much work to do, it's hard to keep track," but that there "were more than 100." Most high profile Lavalas figures have been freed but many less well-known progressive activists remain locked down. Joseph explained, they "had contact with the Lavalas movement, that's why they're in jail." Some think the number of political prisoners is higher, given the many poor people picked up in sweeps of "popular," or pro-Lavalas, neighborhoods. (The majority of inmates in the country's overcrowded prisons have still not seen a judge, though the Haitian constitution stipulates that all prisoners must have access to a judge within 48 hours of their arrest.) Joseph stressed the "really vague" nature of charges made in such sweeps. "They accused kids of being gang members, bandits, and of 'association with malefactors,' the same techniques as under [former dictator] Duvalier."
Joseph filed a rape complaint against Sri Lankan soldiers accused of sexually abusing Haitian girls, but there was no prosecution. The Sri Lankans were shipped home. To add insult to injury, the UN presence has had a harshly inflationary effect on rents and other basic expenses. UN SUVs are in evidence throughout exclusive Port-au-Prince gated communities, but UN money doesn't trickle down to many of the country's poor majority, who are having a harder and harder time surviving. Several street vendors perched in a heavily flooded corner of an outdoor market in the city's Lasaline neighborhood told me the cost of a cup of rice had doubled since the capital's food riots of April. The vendors could no longer save anything, and had no idea how they were going to scrape together enough to pay school fees for their kids in September. In the stagnant water at their feet parasites were visible. A health care worker later confirmed a huge number of kids have worms in their bodies.
BEN TERRALL is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. He can be reached at: email@example.com


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We stamped cards for a few hours yesterday.
These 3 are my favorite of the 7 that I made.
I LOVE this one.
These will be added to my stash of cards.
I like to have several made ahead of time just in case.
I like those cards I'm not much into card making you have inspired me.
I recognize some of the papers you used...I believe I have them in my stash. They look great! I like the fist one best. I will be working in a card making zone this week and will certainly be posting all about it
I love the paisley paper you used. (Or was it stamped?) All of your cards look great! I need to build up a supply of cards like you have.
It always amazes me that it takes so much time to make so few cards, but I love it anyway. The ones you showed are just fabulous! How nice to have a sister you can quilt with.
How perfectly lovley. Have fun with the laundry! I have a laundry date tomorrow...
I love that last one, too. This type of project seems perfect for a quilter, since you're good at piecing colors and shapes together.
Glad you and Clair had a nice time together. Sisters are the best! Love the cards. You have such a wonderful eye when it comes to color and matching patterns together.
very cute cards!
oh sounds like a fun time :)
Your cards are totally terrific!
I love that last card too! :) Sounds like a fun time getting to hang out w/your sister:)
Sounds like a fun time with your sis! As always you inspire me to get card making. By the way, how did I get so far behind on my comments!?
Beautiful cards. How is the new baby doing? What do you think they need the most? Ahh -- Tyler would love playing army men with the boys. Enjoy the time outside before the snow comes! I feel trapped (like ya must during winter) because it's so smokey here from the fires, they say not to be outisde much the next couple weeks.


text:
Support for the Joomla! CMS can be found on several places. The best place to start would be the official Help Site. Here you can help yourself to the information that is regularly published and updated as Joomla! develops. There is much more to come too!
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Obama competitive in North Carolina
Voters in the state narrowly like Mike Huckabee, with 42% rating him favorably and 39% unfavorably. As a result he fights Obama to a draw at 45%. A plurality of voters have a negative opinion of all the rest of the Republican candidates and Obama leads each of them. Mitt Romney's favorability breaks down 32/41 and he trails Obama 42-44. Newt Gingrich's is 29/48 and his deficit against the President is 47-42. And Sarah Palin continues to be the weakest potential GOP candidate in the state at 37/57 with an 11 point deficit against Obama at 51-40.
The fact that Obama's even money or better to win North Carolina again while Democrats appear to be in dire shape in the Gubernatorial race speaks to how much things are changing in the state's politics. The last time the state went Democratic for President and Republican for Governor was 1896. The only times it elected Republican Governors in the 20th century it simultaneously voted for Republican Presidential candidates by margins of 40 points (in 1972), 24 points (in 1984), and 16 points (in 1988). But it looks entirely possible that the state will elect a GOP Governor next year without winning the Presidential contest at all, much less winning it in the sort of landslide that has previously allowed the party's Gubernatorial candidates to come along for the ride.
Full results here
15 comments:
I don't know how much of an effect having the DNC convention in North Carolina will help Obama. The effect could baked in or he could have a post convention NC bounce. I think it will add a point or two to Obama's final margin.
I think the GOP holding their convention in Florida will have a similar positive effect for the eventual GOP nominee.
Start preparing now. - March 23, 2011 at 1:47 PM
It's mostly the moderates and conservatives that are undecided at this point, so Obama'll probably need that convention boost.
- March 23, 2011 at 2:06 PM
- Dustin Ingalls said...
"It's mostly the moderates and conservatives that are undecided at this point, so Obama'll probably need that convention boost."
Eau contraire. If you assign the undecideds proportionally to where each ideological group falls now, Huckabee would be up only 50-49. - March 23, 2011 at 2:39 PM
Any chance we could see Rand Paul in an upcoming poll? After his comment that the only decision he has made is that he will not run against his father, it makes me wonder if his Ron is that serious about running or setting up Rand for 2012.
- March 23, 2011 at 4:26 PM
- JTB said...
@ Dustin Igalls if the margin is as close as you say the swing could go either direction. I believe Huckabee will take NC.
- March 23, 2011 at 9:25 PM
Huckabee is not going to run...
- March 24, 2011 at 1:32 AM
Obama will win NC 51/49.
- March 24, 2011 at 10:22 AM
- Jonny V said...
People must also remember that while everyone knows everything about Obama and people have been trying to destroy his reputation for years now... the average American doesn't know that much about Mike Huckabee (or Mitt Romney) ... there's a long way to fall. I do not think Huckabee's positive approval ratings will stand up to a general election campaign. He is way *way* too conservative on social issues.
There may have been a time when that would have helped him, but not in 2012. The country is getting more socially liberal every year. - March 24, 2011 at 12:11 PM
NC is a prime state for Obama to target for the following reasons:
*Population growth
*High AA population
*Moderate state, overall
*Highly educated voters in Triangle
*Becoming a younger population
*DNC will boost him at least 2-3 points.
Go Obama! - March 24, 2011 at 2:25 PM
One factor that you fail to take into account is "ENTHUSIASM GAP". In 2008, when obama won the state, college students were euphoric and worked overtime to call people 3 or 4 times and remind them to vote. Honestly, we all know that this is not going to happen in 2012. To be honest, so many of them are very depressed that they are not able to find jobs. Also, African Americans will not come out to vote with same numbers like 2008. The election will be decided by wake county - March 24, 2011 at 7:34 PM
I can agree with you slightly, that the college aged voting block, will not vote in as high of volume, but it will still sway heavily towards Obama. People seem to forget, that NC is transforming into a more "Urban" state, and of course, that is where most of the voters are. As long as Obama can win in Forsyth/Guilford/Buncombe/Cumberland, he will win the state, assuming that he will obviously win Durham/Orange/Mecklenburg, by large margins. I can also agree, that it may come down to Wake in the end, but he should pull it off there by 10 points or so. IMO, the DNC will help boost new voter registration, which will add to the Democratic advantage that NC already has.
- March 25, 2011 at 9:04 AM
- Dustin Ingalls said...
"One factor that you fail to take into account is "ENTHUSIASM GAP""
That term means a gap between the enthusiasm of the two parties. In 2008, Democrats were more enthusiastic than Republicans, and the reverse last year. 2012 will be more like 2008, and I'd expect pretty similar turnout from young people and definitely from African-Americans.
Obama will win Wake easily. It's not exactly a swing county. Marshall lost it to Burr, but that's not saying much. - March 25, 2011 at 9:35 AM
It will probably actually come down to the margins, in Forsyth/Guilford? Wouldn't you think?
Thanks, for the good work! - March 25, 2011 at 10:30 AM
- Dopper said...
I know this is hard to believe, so I'll site my source NBC's Chuck Todd "How Obama won". But NC was the only state in the country where the share of the Black vote went down between 2004 and 2008. Black voters didn't turn out in the numbers that most people expected. Which is why Obama's win was so impressive. One can speculate if this was a result of AA remembering how Jesse Helms used race to beat an AA senate candidate who was up 10 point with a month to go. But in any event the black vote will most likely go up in NC unlike all the other 49 states.
- March 26, 2011 at 9:27 AM
Dopper, that's a shocking statistic because it's not true. In 2004, black voters were 19% of the electorate (about the same as they were in the midterms last year). In 2008, they were 23%. Could you quote exactly where Mr. Todd says this?
- March 28, 2011 at 5:08 PM


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