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Black Opalite Admiral, 13" Gemstone Globe
The Black Opalite Admiral is an exquisite piece of art! Featuring a 13" globe, it is studded with 241 semi-precious gemstones, each colorfully representing an individual country. Each jewelry grade gemstone is hand fitted to mirror the stones making up the neighboring countries and continents.
The elegant black oceans are made from crushed Black Jasper, Mother of Pearl, and Abalone shells rendered in a single, seamless expanse.
The delicate latitude and longitude lines are Antique Silver, plated onto a durable brass ribbon core.
Designed for table top display, the elegant four legged stand is made of durable metal alloys plated with an exquisite Antique Silver finish. Featuring ornate beads and graceful tapers, the legs display the artistry inherent in turnings created by master craftsmen. With an integrated horizon ring and beautiful yet functional 4 lobed cross brace, the elegant silver table stand provides a functionally stable yet visually perfect setting for the exquisite globe.
The Admiral features a full ring dual axis meridian, marked in degrees for easy reference, which allows the globe to rotate and swivel for unobstructed access to any place or information on the globe. Completing the artistic composition is the ornamental compass rising from the center of the cross brace.
Providing the perfect showpiece for your discerning home or office, you will experience countless hours of enjoyment admiring the intricacy and beauty of this incomparable work of art.
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Architectural-grade insulation is energy-efficient, moisture resistant
ACH Foam Technologies' new EPS architectural-grade insulation, Foam-Control Plus+, can be used in a wide range of applications, such as perimeter insulation, under-slab insulation, cavity wall insulation, sheathing, precast concrete applications, green roofs, plaza decks, and waterproofing applications—especially where its moisture-resistant properties can be a benefit. ACH Foam provides Foam-Control Plus+ in 2x8-foot and 4x8-foot sheets up to 36 inches thick.
ACH Foam Technologies
Ceiling panels increase fire rating
Class-A fire-rated panels from WoodTrac are available in three finishes: Abbey Oak, Bank Alder, and White/Paintable. Panels can be installed in any 2x2-foot or 2x4-foot suspended ceiling. The manufacturer has provided three profiles of moldings: Tear Drop, Colonial, and Cove. Moldings can be installed over any 15/16-inch or one-inch-wide ceiling grid. Panels can be combined with any molding profile and molding finish to match the desired look. Class-A panels are made of 3/8-inch-thick fire-rated board laminated on both sides with high-definition micropaper.
Sunshades reduce solar heat, improve energy performance
Architectural sunshades from Gamco include pre-engineered louver blades, outrigger supports, and mounting brackets. The sunshade blades are offered in several standard and custom shapes, including tubular profiles. Fabricated from lightweight aluminum, the sunshade blades are available in anodized or a wide variety of painted finishes. Outriggers are available in standard depths of 24 and 30 inches, as well as custom sizes, in either stainless or painted steel to assure strength and durability. Gamco's adaptable mounting bracket systems are used to securely anchor the sunshade outriggers to the building façade.


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|The Tilden Park Scarf is an easy ruffled and ruched infinity scarf that adds a feminine touch to any outfit.
Near the end of September (yes, this cat hat is a little tardy), there is this little thing called Oktoberfest that happens in Munich. When I went a few years ago, I have fond, yet hazy, memories of drinking liters and singing the ultimate drinking song for all ages: Ein Prosit. Perhaps this is not the name of the song, but it was the only lyric I could sing convincingly in German. So, anyway, many liters later, I found myself wearing a hat. An Oktoberfest hat. Kind of like this hat that Fifty-Fifty is now sporting.
I believe I was clutching the floor in this exact position, too. Let's just say that drinking a "mass" at 9 in the morning is unnatural for this lady. Seriously, you may all think I'm drunk to post such silly things, but let me assure you that I do not drink and post with reckless abandon.
For those of you just stopping by just for this pattern, rest assured that this hat is not an anomaly. Don't forget to check out my other free patterns listed on the sidebar!
• 70 yards of Cascade 220 in gray
• 8.5 yards of Sugar 'n Cream in white
• 8.5 yards of Sugar 'n Cream in blue
• 1 US size 7 16 inch circular needles OR needle size needed to achieve gauge.
• 1 US size 7 circular needles, any length, OR needle size needed to achieve gauge
(US size 7 DPNs may also be used instead of 2 circular needles)
• Row counter
• Tapestry needle
Special Skills Needed
• Knitting in the round using two circular needles
• Picking up stitches
• 6 stitches = 1 inch on US size 7 needles in stockinette stitch
Finished Measurements
Finished hat circumference is 10 inches
[ ] repeat instructions between brackets
bo bind off
co cast on
k knit
k2tog knit two stitches together
m1 make 1 stitch
sts stitch(es)
Loosely CO 60 sts on the 16" circular needle (needle A). Slip half of the stitches to the other circular needle (needle B). Join to knit in the round, placing a marker at that point so you know where the round begins.
Main Body
Rounds 1-20: k all sts
Round 21: [k4, k2tog] until end
Rounds 22-24: k all sts
Round 25: [k3, k2tog] until end
Round 26-28: k all sts
Round 29: [k2, k2tog] until end
Round 30-32: k all sts
Round 33: [k1, k2tog] until end (20 sts)
Round 34-36: k all sts
Round 37: [k1, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k1] twice
Round 38-40: k all sts
Round 41: k2tog until end (8 sts)
Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail. Using a tapestry needle, thread yarn tail through remaining 8 sts.
Pick up 60 sts around the base of the hat using the 16" circular needle. Join to knit in the round, placing a marker at that point so you know where the round begins.
Round 1: k all sts
Round 2: [k3, m1] until end
Rounds 3-5: k all sts
Round 6: [k4, m1] until end
Rounds 7-9: k all sts
Round 10: [k5, m1] until end
Rounds 11-13: k all sts
Round 14: [k6, m1] until end
Round 15: k all sts
Round 16: BO all sts
I-cord Ribbons
CO 4 sts using white yarn
Knit i-cord for 20 inches
BO sts
Repeat for blue yarn.
Weave in all ends. Twist blue and white i-cords together, and tack them around the hat. Place the hat on your cat, and guard your booze just in case Fluffy gets a hankering for beer. Oh, yes, and please send me a picture if you make this! Your pictures make this crazy endeavor worth it.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.


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Turn your eyes into your favourite Twilight Character with ColourVue Daily Twilight Contact Lenses. The epic design covers all eye colours and look amazing with a range of different Twilight or Vampire inspired costume. For the past 10 years, Twilight has been the go to movie for vampire and werewolf inspiration. Superior comfort, easy to handle and maintenance free, our SmartEdge technology and patented Hydrogel ensure the most comfortable wearing experience possible.
Our range of ColourVue Crazy One Day Lenses are brilliant for Halloween, Cosplay and any type of party you can think of. Why? Because our One Day Crazy Lenses are the best of the best when it comes to convenience and comfort. Once you have finished your night out, you can dispose of them safety without any worry. You will never have to fear contracting an infection from storing lenses incorrectly again!
YouKnowIt is the largest and most trusted Crazy contact lens site on the internet. Established in 2005, we have the largest selection of contact lenses available in the world. Our teams are always ensuring our designs are up to date with the latest fashion trends, making sure you have the latest fad. At YouKnowIt, we do not only supply cutting edge lenses to consumers, but also to various studios, film companies, makeup artists, festivals and Halloween events. Many famous faces around the world have also been seen sporting our range of Crazy Contact Lenses. YouKnowIt is and has always been a worldwide leader in Funky Contact Lenses.
- Sold As A Pair
- Comfort for Long Wearing
- Easy To Use – No Curling
- Smart Edge – Zero Body Sensation
- Patented Hydrogel Material
- Lasts For One Day Once Opened
- 55% Water Content
- Packaged in Sterile Buffered Isotonic Saline
- Produced under ISO International Standards Quality Control
- Base Curve: 8.6mm
- Diameter: 14mm
Additional information
|0.015 kg
|1 × 1 × 0.1 cm
|Lens colour
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Moderator: Tournament Directors
Gilligan wrote:Round 1 is underway save for 4 games.
And since the vast majority of the players were very boring and didn't give a costume, I didn't feel like coming up with 40 of 'em cause you guys couldn't.
jak111 wrote:Never mind, I see the points now XD they weren't up before I swear
Jurasu wrote:Are there still on-going games that we are waiting on?
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Listings in Catering & Food Services, Mortgages and Chilliwack Rotary Club
Music Director/Musician - Paula DeWit
in Fine Arts, Entertainment, Chilliwack Rotary Club
Paula DeWit is a well known musician and conductor with a great interest in the artistic direction of both choirs and orchestras. She has performed extensively throughout Canada and internationally. She resides, teaches and performs in Chilliwack.
Chilliwack, British Columbia
KPMG - Sean Reid, CPA, CA
in Accounting & Bookkeeping, Chilliwack Rotary Club
Sean Reid is a partner with KPMG, working in the Chilliwack, BC office. KPMG is a Canadian leader in delivering Audit, Tax, and Advisory services.
200-9123 Mary Street
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2P 4H7
RE/MAX Plowright - Residential and Commercial Real Estate Services - Bob & Ron Plowright
in Real Estate Services, Chilliwack Mt. Cheam Rotary club, Chilliwack Rotary Club
Commercial and Residential Real Estate Experts serving Chilliwack and Fraser Valley. When you make the important decision to buy or sell a home, we are committed to going the extra mile to ensure that all of your needs are met successfully.
1-7300 Vedder Road
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2R4G6
Peoples Bank (Burlington) - Holly Peterson
in Mortgages, Financial Services, Burlington Midday Rotary Club
Holly Peterson, with the Burlington branch of Peoples Bank, will help you through the loan process by keeping open lines of communication and providing you with ample time to answer any questions - from origination to closing.
822 South Burlington Blvd.
Burlington, Washington 98233
United States
Fax: 360-404-2208
Realtor RE/MAX Nyda Realty - Henry E Klop
in Real Estate Services, Chilliwack Rotary Club
Henry Klop has been a top producing real estate professional serving the Fraser Valley for over 20 years.
):#1 – 7300 Vedder Rd,
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2R4G6
Fax: 604-858-7197
Seriously Good Catering - Janine Maclean
in Catering & Food Services, Semiahmoo Rotary Club
We craft a unique menu for every client, based upon your desires and needs. We are able to accommodate your dietary restrictions and preferences by transforming the highest quality, locally sourced ingredients into much more than a meal.
13378 15B Avenue
Surrey, British Columbia V4A 6L9
Fax: 604-636-7035
Cowork Chilliwack - Michael Berger
in Business Services, Professional Services, Counselling and Consulting, Training/Facilitation, Advertising, Promotion & Marketing, Communication & Media, Photography, Entertainment, Chilliwack Rotary Club
Do you self-identify as a creative type? Perfect. Cowork Chilliwack is a shared, collaborative workspace designed for working creative professionals! Working from home, car or coffee shop? Become a member of Cowork Chilliwack or drop in as a visitor
#12-8465 Harvard Place
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2P 7Z5
Assante Capital Management Ltd. - David Robinson
in Financial Planning, Investment Services, Chilliwack Rotary Club
At Assante Wealth Management, we understand that everyone's financial situation is unique and that managing your wealth can be complex and time-consuming. An Assante Wealth Management Advisor can simplify your life.
205 - 46167 Yale Rd.
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2P 2P2
Wagner Appliances Ltd. - Mark Blessin
in Retail General Merchandise, Chilliwack Rotary Club
Wagner Appliances Ltd has been a proud member of the Chilliwack community since 1969. Family owned and operated, we are your one-stop appliances store for sales, parts and service. Our reputation is for honest, straightforward, customer service.
45855 First Avenue
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2P 1R3
Fax: 604-792-4744
Dominion Lending Centre Mortgage Broker - Robin Klassen
in Mortgages, Chilliwack Rotary Club
I help people find the right mortgage for their purchases, refinances and mortgage renewals. I work for you – not the lenders – to ensure you receive the best rates and products available in today's marketplace.
15-45966 Yale Road
Chilliwack, British Columbia V2P 2M3


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The Financial Services finance function faces deep challenges that are prompting transformation projects. Finance leaders are working to:
Improve finance's cost efficiency
Address regulatory compliance issues and constraints
Secure financial processes, such as financial quality control, and sustainably manage finance IT
AFTS is a preconfigured solution—containing standard financial services processes—for banks and insurance companies.
It is based on the latest SAP technology—ECC 6.0 and SAP BW-BO—and has been migrated to HANA.
The solution is a project accelerator. It reduces project implementation and maintenance efforts in terms of time, cost and risk. It contains a full range of documentation—covering process, development, training and master data.
AFTS provides a complete set of project deliverables for all transformation phases.
It leverages Accenture's finance transformation know-how, and best practices honed over the last 10 years.
The solution is compliant with local accounting standards as well as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It is currently being enhanced with Solvency 2 Pillar 3 QRTs.
AFTS offers centralized finance and accounting processes, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, month-end close and balance sheet reconciliations. AFTS's business processes fall into these five domains:
From purchase orders to payments, AFTS offers a complete non-technical, third-party accounting SAP solution.
The CA&A process domain includes overhead cost follow up (such as budget control), direct and indirect cost allocations, and functional area reporting.
Our AFTS solution is based on the SAP New GL module, and covers key bank and insurance GL closing processes such as multi-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and intercompany reconciliations.
Standard statutory, regulatory and financial management reports are already included in AFTS. Reports catalogue available.
With complex data models, especially in banks and insurance organizations, MDM presents a huge challenge. AFTS offers an integrated MDM solution.
AFTS lowers risk, enhances efficiency and maximizes value due to these components:
Delivery models and industrialized teams
Assessment phase jump-start deliverables
Financial processes optimization
Solution deliverables and 5preconfigured system
Business and IT shared service centers deliverables
AFTS delivers the following benefits:
Reduces TCO by up to 30 percent
Maximizes value through process & sytem best practices
Reduces business teams contribution
Shortens implementation timeline
Reduces risk with secure project delivery
SAP standard usually covers
of Bank & Insurance needs.
With AFTS, client benefit from additional
of finance processes (based on best practices) already available in the pre-configured system.
This can lead to a cost reduction of
Data quality improved up to 30 percent for inbound controls
Accounting quality improved 20% by reducing post-closing corrections up to 20 percent
Costs optimized up to 30 percent due to process offshoring
Processing and typical closing calendar approach optmized by allowing Day+4 to Day+10 closing
Link between consolidation and accounting established by enbaling-near real time analysis of consolidated statements
AFTS is a long-standing Accenture offer that provides finance and risk support to our Financial Services clients. We regularly invest in this asset to ensure it incorporates current best practices and new technology trends. The chart below illustrates the various industry-leading technologies we have baked in to AFTS.View the larger image


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Set sail for The Harbor Court, offering Assisted Living and Memory Care services in Rocky River, Ohio. Offering attentive service and professional staff available 24 hours a day, our community provides a continuum of care that allows residents to "age in place" with our full spectrum of services and care. The Harbor Court offers privacy and the freedom to live the way residents choose in comfortable surroundings. At the same time, it offers companionship. Say goodbye to the worries of living alone. Say goodbye to home maintenance and housework. Say hello to a relaxed lifestyle at The Harbor Court. Apartments strike the perfect balance between safety features and welcomed amenities that make life enjoyable. Outside of the apartments, our community thrives and brings residents together over special events and entertainment. When residents wish to explore the surrounding area, a convenient bus stop in front of our community can take them to local restaurants, shopping destinations and much more.
Our courteous staff members are ready to answer questions or schedule a tour.Contact Us
We offer a number of apartment sizes with desired amenities and services that will fit any lifestyle.Galleries


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Simply enter your ride information and we'll find you the top taxi and limo providers in the Twin Cities to choose from along with the guaranteed
fare for your ride. View rates for your ride and then simply click to book. See our How it works, FAQ and Guarantee pages for more information.
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Beanie Sigel Calls Memphis Bleek Fake & Down Talks On Jay-Z For 40 Minutes! (Talks About Hov Manipulating Past Situations Like Dodging Wayne's Disses & Downplaying Kanye's Big Brother Record) [40 Min][Audio]
Mr Exclusive reports " Beanie Sigel Goes In On Jay-Z For 40 Minutes & Talks About Past Situations Like Jay Manipulating Kanye & Wayne situations + Calls Bleek A Fake"
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


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Katya Lebedeva
Blog Posts
Now that we've had a week to recover from the craziness of FIBO, an international fitness industry tradeshow held in Germany, I can firmly say it's been the best yet.
This year FIBO went back to Cologne after 22 years and what a great place to be! It has international appeal, it's easy to reach, and offers a great selection of hotels and restaurants, which I'm sure all attendees appreciated. In fact, FIBO hit a record number of visitors this year in it's 28-year history - 96,700 attendees. More than 30% of trade visitors came from outside of Germany.
Life Fitness booth


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Cadence CD
Cadence CD
Cadence effortlessly weaves ambient, downtempo, blues, reggae, house and electro-acoustic into one experience. Featured vocalists include Norah Jones and Louis Armstrong. Embrace a range of dynamic beats from artists such as The Peter Malick Group, Kaskade, Kaya Project, Rena Jones, Shaman's Dream and Alex Alcyone.
item # 0736211022554
Sorry, this item is currently out of stock.
Please check back soon!
Please check back soon!


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Sep 23, 2013
Press Release
New York – A new investment fund structured by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will, for the first time, allow individual and institutional investors the opportunity to finance late-stage global health technologies that have the potential to save millions of lives in low-income countries.
With $94 million committed by a pioneering group of investors - including anchor support from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (acting through KfW) and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation - the Global Health Investment Fund ("GHIF" or the "Fund") will help advance the most promising interventions to fight challenges in low-income countries such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and maternal and infant mortality. To help mitigate the risk of investing in the clinical development of new technologies, the Gates Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have committed to partially offset potential losses in the Fund, which will seek a financial return for investors by targeting high-impact technologies with public health applications in both developed and emerging markets.
"The Global Health Investment Fund demonstrates the potential for innovative collaborations and thoughtful financial structures to mobilize new sources of capital for social challenges," said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. "This product brings a diverse group of investors together around the shared objective of developing life-saving technologies in a financially sustainable way."
LHGP Asset Management ("Lion's Head"), a London-based asset manager specializing in sustainable development, will be responsible for originating, managing and exiting GHIF portfolio investments. In addition to the anchor supporters, the Fund's investor group includes organizations such as the International Finance Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, The Pfizer Foundation, Storebrand and JPMorgan Chase, in addition to qualified individuals and family offices.
"We invest in global health because we know that when health improves, life improves by every measure," said Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Private sector financing for global health research and development is more important than ever. Philanthropy, government funding and pharmaceutical industry support have built a remarkable pipeline of global health innovations-with as many as 200 new products currently under development-but late-stage clinical trials are costly and development expenses are outpacing charitable support. Traditional investment capital can play a meaningful role in solving this problem, particularly when it is supplied by investors who include the expected social impact of their activities in their return calculations.
"This innovative fund is mobilizing financing for medical advances that could potentially save millions of lives," said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. "It shows that we can align the needs of investors with the need for cures for diseases which cause so much suffering in developing countries."
The GHIF will invest in new drugs and vaccines, emerging diagnostic tools, child-friendly formulations of existing products, expanding manufacturing capacity and other applications that will help bring affordable technologies to those most in need.
"Innovation and investment in global health research and development are the way forward in tackling pressing health challenges and delivering meaningful results for those most in need around the world," said the Hon. Christian Paradis, Canada's Minister of International Development. "This Fund is blazing the trail, and Canada is proud to have played a key role in its establishment."
"Millions of children die each year or suffer from debilitating conditions because the right treatment does not exist for them," said Jamie Cooper-Hohn, Chair of the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). "Relatively little investment goes to the development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics specifically targeted at children in developing countries where child mortality is most dire. CIFF is very pleased to be a major investor into the Global Health Investment Fund, which promises to deliver new finance and focus to this neglected area."
Additional Partner Endorsements
For additional background on the Fund and the organizations involved, please visit www.GHIF.com.
This press release does not constitute an offer or solicitation with respect to interests in GHIF or any other securities. Offers and sales of interests in GHIF have not and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and such interests may be sold only to accredited investors. Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory authority has passed upon the merits of an investment in GHIF or the accuracy or adequacy of this press release. Interests in GHIF are not subject to the protections of the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940.


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Bottoms up: Foxfield braces for students
Most people come to Foxfield to watch the horse races, with one notable exception.
The college students who flock to Foxfield from across the state have another objective in attending the spring running of the semi-annual steeplechase races: getting stinking drunk.
And that's a rite that Foxfield officials would like to change.
The behavior of intoxicated students has drawn the scrutiny of the Alcoholic Beverage Control board, which is poised to revoke Foxfield's already-precarious liquor license at the slightest infraction. In recent years, the Foxfield Racing Association has had to spend big bucks to keep the unruly boozed-up students under control.
Foxfield boss Benjamin Dick equates public drunkenness with bad manners. "My philosophy as president of Foxfield is that people should police themselves," says Dick. "That's what my mother taught me– not to create havoc at social functions. If you did, she'd show you the door."
Foxfield's equine sporting event license was yanked April 30, 2003, for 15 months. But "They can still use it if they comply with the order," says ABC spokeswoman Becky Gettings. That ABC order– which Foxfield officials call "an official vendetta"– required the nonprofit group to hire one uniformed private security officer for every 200 tickets sold. Foxfield also had to pay an $8,000 fine.
Students who create havoc at the Saturday, April 24, event may be shown the door– or the fence. Approximately 75 state police and ABC agents, eight to ten sheriff's deputies, and 35 county police will cover the grounds and surrounding roads, according to Dick. That's in addition to Foxfield's private security force of 100.
"It's overkill, in my opinion," says Dick, "but it does comply with the state order."
This year's races will be an even safer event, he promises: "We've hooked up with UVA emergency services as part of their program to reach out to the community."
Foxfield will be ready for any emergency, says Jeff Cutruzzula, administrator of UVA's emergency medical services, which is working with the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad.
In addition to emergency medical technicians and paramedics patrolling the grounds on bicycles, a doctor and two emergency medical residents will be on duty. There will be first aid tents, and a communications station will be ready to deploy help to any part of the grounds. Ambulances and fire equipment, as well as UVA's medical helicopter, Pegasus, will be available, says Cutruzzula.
Last year, Foxfield used Henrico County emergency services at a cost of $2,000. Using UVA's emergency medical services costs almost $10,000, says Dick.
"The scope of the services and the presence of UVA medical staff brings much more value to Foxfield," says Cutruzzula.
That includes attending an educational session with UVA students, adds Cutruzzula.
Foxfield officials have been preaching the gospel of responsible drinking to students at JMU, Sweet Briar, Hampden-Sydney, Georgetown University, Hollins, and Washington and Lee. (Only Virginia Tech refused Foxfield's efforts at education, says marketing director Anne Browne.)
"This is in the only social event in Virginia with this amount of education," says Dick, not to mention this much law enforcement.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving think it's about time. "We have nothing against horse racing," says MADD president-elect Andrew Torget. "It's become a venue for a drunken good time, and the students going out there aren't going to watch the races."
Dick says it's tough to teach students to not drink– especially when people their age are dying in war.
"You see the faces of those kids killed in Iraq who are 18, 19, and 20," says Dick. "Those kids can't have a cold beer in the state of Virginia. Students see that very cynically."
And the alcohol issue is a distraction for horse lovers as well. "[Foxfield director] Patrick Butterfield says, 'What is this all about– a horse race or controlling students?' " relates Dick.
Nonetheless, says Dick, "Students should come and have fun." Just not too much fun.
Foxfield has printed hundreds of posters on responsible drinking in hopes of educating students eager to imbibe.


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I was super excited to arrive in Sydney last Sunday to help launch the new range of Barbie Basics as part of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week! As soon as I landed I picked up an issue of Grazia Magazine that had the most adorable Barbie Basics fashion spread. You can see all the behind the scenes action here.
Also while I was down under I attended a few shows to check out the local designers and see what Barbie may like for her new Spring & Summer wardrobe.
First stop for the week was the MAC RAFW launch party. I was completely wowed by the paper couture dresses made for the event by N.Y. designer, Zaldy Goco. I can totally see Barbie wearing a paper dress! My personal favorite was a meringue-like confection, so good you could have eaten it...
Also it was wonderful to bump into Kirstie Clements, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Australia, whom I met while I was in town last year at the Barbie Forever exhibition in Melbourne. Kirstie introduced me to internationally renowned blogger Tim Blanks from style.com so I invited him along to the May 4th Barbie Basics launch.
By Guest


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Check out a full list of our holiday hours for the year.
Read articles about finances, saving and community news.
Our team of experts is ready to help you manage your wealth.
Access all the commercial banking resources your business needs to succeed.
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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
The Early Church Fathers consisted of the group of Christian theologians who were active in the first five centuries of the Christian Church. They interpreted Christian doctrine, laid down the canonical texts, and created the institutions of the early church.


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Best Late night music venue in San Antonio. Enjoy late night food & drinks with live music by local & independent musicians. Bands interested in booking with Sanchos, please fill out our Band Booking form.
- This event has passed.
The Chris Cuevas Project
December 4, 2019 @ 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 9:00 pm on Wednesday, repeating until March 25, 2020
Blues, Funk, Soul, Jazz with the Chris Cuevas Project


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Tommy Long and Andrew Duignan are network software engineers for Intel.
The IP phone market is growing rapidly, thanks in part to increased broadband availability and the cost/feature benefit of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) versus standard analog and proprietary digital phones. Moreover, the increase in bandwidth availability for home and business has allowed an ever increasing number of services to be provided over IP -- streaming radio, video streaming, news feeds, and the like.
Given this increase in available services and Internet availability, opportunities have arisen for new converged products that provide a range of services and Internet accessibility in a single system. One of these products is the media phone. In this article, we present the design of a Linux-based VoIP media phone framework that has the ability to scale up to support media gateway and IP PBX applications. In the process, we address the use of a multi-threaded framework to take advantage of multicore IA systems.
Framework Design
Voice processing frameworks can range from IP phone endpoints at the low end, through gateways in the mid range, and on to IP PBXs in the high end. Each of these applications has a different set of requirements. Endpoint applications will generally only be required to support a small number of channels, run on systems with a single CPU, and have one type of PCM input. On the other hand, an IP PBX is expected to support from 10 (SMB market) to 10,000 (enterprise market) channels and run on multicore systems. IP PBX calls are generally over Ethernet using SIP as a signaling protocol. The key to supporting all this in a single framework is scalability and flexibility. The framework needs to be able to scale up or down depending on the targeted application. By making the framework modular, the flexibility needed to support the various configurations can be provided. The definition of modularity can be divided into two separate levels: system level and framework level.
At a system level, the core framework should be made interface-agnostic. All interface-related code (hardware or network) should be kept outside of the core framework. This offers the advantage that the core framework does not need to be changed to support different interfaces. The voice processing framework (VPF) only works on one packet at a time. This means that any queuing of data should occur within the Interface code. The framework should support up- and down-sampling of data inputs as necessary. Figure 1 shows the component interaction and interfaces into the VPF. (A full system setup would include other blocks such as SIP, but we don't discuss them here.)
Again, all queuing of data occurs in the interface blocks. This means that there are only two options available when selecting the method of communication between the VPF and the interface blocks:
- Framework Callback. The PCM/IP Interface registers a callback function with the VPF. The framework calls this callback when it requires input data or to present output data.
- Framework API. The framework provides an API that the PCM/IP Interface calls prior to sending/receiving data from the framework.
Both methods can work equally well, but the Framework Callback method has some slight advantages. Using this method, the VPF can be used to control the timing of the entire system. This negates the need for the framework to have to buffer multiple data packets. One strict condition that the callback functions must meet is that they must not block. If these callbacks block then they will slow down the framework and cause deadline misses.
The PCM interface to the framework should be kept agnostic. This gives the advantage that any hardware interface can be plugged into the framework without having to modify the framework. On Linux there are numerous options available when interfacing hardware to the framework:
- ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture). Many audio interfaces can be supported simply by changing the hardware ID and changing the sample rate.
- Custom Interface. When interfacing cards not supported by ALSA (such as FXO/FXS), a custom interface block must be written.
Linux is not a true real-time operating system and there is a possibility that the framework will miss a processing deadline. This can lead to a buildup in latency on the call if the scenario is not handled properly. For example, ALSA contains a read and write software buffer, the size of which can be set on initialization of the ALSA channel. ALSA will fill the read buffer before it passes any samples to the client application. The simplest implementation of the framework inbound callback would just read from the ALSA buffer using the snd_pcm_readi() API every time the callback is called. With this solution, every time a processing deadline is missed by the framework, the number of buffers in the ALSA hardware queue would increase by one and the latency on the call would increase accordingly. One solution to this problem would be to use double buffering for the PCM interface.
The IP interface consists of an Real Time Protocol (RTP) stack. As the framework only handles one packet at a time, the jitter buffer must reside in the IP interface. The benefit of this design is that the jitter buffer implementation can be modified and changed without having to modify the VPF. A custom RTP stack may be used or an open source stack such as Open RTP (ORTP) may be used. ORTP provides a full RTP/SRTP stack and a jitter buffer implementation. If Secure Real Time Transport Protocol(SRTP) is needed, IA processors such as the Intel EP80579 Integrated Processor can provide SRTP hardware acceleration support.
Memory allocation is an expensive operation in a real-time system. Allocating large chunks of memory can take a lot of time and a real time system can be intolerant of such large delays. Allocating memory on-the-fly also increases the length of time it takes to set up a call. The options available for memory allocation are:
- Static Allocation. Using this method, all memory, buffer pools, call configuration storage, etc., needed for the system is allocated up-front at initialization time. With this system, no memory allocation takes place on the fly and therefore no major delays are introduced during call setup. The disadvantage of this system is that the maximum amount of memory needed by the system is always allocated no matter how busy the system is.
- Dynamic Allocation. This option is the complete opposite of static allocation. Using this method, all the memory needed by a call is allocated on call setup. With this method, only the necessary amount of memory is allocated by the system at any one time. The disadvantage of this option is that call-setup time can be very long, which can lead to unacceptable delays in large PBX systems. High rates of call setup/teardown can also have an adverse effect on the overall system.
- Static and Dynamic Allocation. This option combines both static and dynamic allocations. Common system memory is allocated up-front at initialization while call-specific memory is only allocated at call time. This limits the memory usage when the system is running with low call levels and also can help to reduce call setup times.
Historically memory was expensive and many hardware platforms had limited memory available so the memory footprint of applications was an important consideration. Today, however, memory is relatively cheap and, for this reason, memory footprint size is not a limiting factor on modern platforms. This means that static allocation should be used as this gives the shortest call setup time. The lack of dynamic allocation also reduces the risk of real-time processing deadlines not being met.
A timing source is required to maintain synchronization between input and output streams. Linux is not a real-time operating system, so we must make our system approximate real-time behavior. There needs to be some timing source to start the data processing thread(s) at regular fixed intervals. If the data processing starts at a fixed interval, and data processing takes less than the length of the interval, the system should operate well.
There are several options for a timing source:
- Hardware. This is the most reliable option. An external piece of hardware provides the timing synchronization. The hardware could be a PCM audio device (for example, a sound card). This should provide an accurate way to time the system. A dedicated hardware timer could also be used. Available on Intel silicon, High Precision Event Timers (HPET) are specifically designed as media timers and have the effect of improving the timing source.
- Software. There are various timing sources available:
- POSIX RT timers. Sends a signal to a process on the expiration of a timer. The timer can be set to nanosecond granularity. However, as Linux is not an RTOS, this timer may drift, depending on Kernel tasks. For example, if there were many hardware interrupts, the Kernel would have to handle these, and the timing signal may be delayed compared to the gettimeofday clock. Note: Linux Real Time Extensions need to be enabled for nanosecond granularity. If this is not done, the granularity will be to the nearest millisecond.
- setitimer. Similar to POSIX RT timer. Granularity is in microseconds.
- Real Time Clock. This creates a file descriptor that blocks on a read until an interval expires. On expiration, the read unblocks. A separate on-board hardware clock is used for this timer. However, the timing interval can only be set for intervals of the order of 2 nanoseconds.
- timerfd_create.This creates a file descriptor that blocks on a read until an interval expires. On expiration, the read unblocks. This can be set to nanosecond granularity. This is not standard in all versions of Linux however.
The hardware timing mechanism is preferred over the software timing mechanism. Any IP phone with a PCM interface can use this as the timing source. If there is no PCM interface available (for example, IP-IP calls only), a software timing mechanism can be used. However, if the system is under heavy load, software timers are not sufficiently accurate. The user should be able to define the timing source; it should be external to the IP phone framework software. The framework could call a user-defined callback function, leaving the implementation of the timing up to the user.
Multicore CPUs are now becoming more commonplace. Also, some single-core CPUs such as select Intel Atom processors support Intel Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel HT Technology). With hyper-threading, there can be two "virtual cores" on one core -- there are two hardware threads running on one core. Use of multiple threads can take advantage of the parallelization made possible by multiple cores.
For example, if an application is I/O-bound, the CPU is delayed while waiting for I/O to complete, it may be beneficial to make the application multi-threaded. Once multithreaded, a thread of execution awaiting I/O can halt, thus freeing the CPU to process other data. This should improve throughput in an application. Different functions of the IP phone application should be run on different threads. Control and data paths can be kept on separate threads (control path meaning commands from the user, and messages to the user. Data path meaning processing of voice audio traffic). There may be a thread dedicated to synchronizing the data processing threads. The greatest benefit of parallelization can be realized if there are multiple data processing threads.
In the single data processing thread model, there is only one thread dedicated to processing voice traffic. This is the simplest model to implement, but it fails to take advantage of many of the features of modern CPUs. This model is most suitable for a single-endpoint application with one voice channel.
In the multiple data processing threads model, the number of threads can be configurable by the user. This can depend on how many channels the system will support, what type of application -- PBX, conference server, etc.
It is possible to have a configuration that uses one data thread per channel. But this model is inefficient and leads to excessive thread switching, which affects performance.
There should be at least one data thread of execution per CPU core. If hyperthreading is used, there should be one data thread of execution per virtual core. For example, on a 4-core CPU with hyper-threading, at least eight data threads should be used.
The OS should schedule the execution of threads. Note: For an IP phone application, it is important to give the data processing threads a very high priority to ensure quality of service. This prevents a background application running on the platform from taking CPU cycles.
All of the data processing threads should have the same priority.
Lip Synchronization Support
If the VPF is to be used in a video phone application, it must at least provide the capability to support lip synchronization. In a video call, the video and audio streams are transmitted separately, and may not necessarily arrive simultaneously. Lip synchronization is necessary to compensate for any delta between the arrival of the voice data stream and the video data stream; it helps ensure that both streams are played in sync. Without synchronization, a noticeable lag between the video and audio output would be experienced by the user.
The VPF must be designed in such a way that packets can be traced through the framework. This is done by providing a gettimeofday field in the data buffer header. This field remains untouched by the VPF. The PCM interface sets this field when the voice data packet is received from the hardware. The data packet is then processed by the hardware. The IP interface can then use this gettimeofday field to match the VPF-generated voice timestamp for the data packet to the corresponding video packet timestamp for RCTP.


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#AirMaxMondays: Patriotic Air
Every week, Finish Line brings you the Air Max heat our fans submit to us. This week, we saw a lot of people getting out into the warm weather and showing off their kicks in the bright light. And in that setting, the leather shines, colors pop, and patterns look just a bit zanier. If you think you've got what it takes to be featured next week, break out your Air Maxes today, show them off on social media with the #AirMaxMondays hashtag, and check back next Monday. Stay tuned to Finish Line by following us on Twitter and Instagram.


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Welcome to the United States Eurasier Club
Once Eurasier Always Eurasier
While screening through the USEC website you might fall in love with the Eurasier breed, you might consider getting one, or you already are the happy owner of a Eurasier .... or two?!
We, the members and friends of the USEC, have fallen in love with our Eurasiers. The club's work is done by a pool of volunteers. Under the rubric "The USEC" you find our mission, code of ethics and policies that we adhere to.
Would you consider to further the USEC with a donation? You can do so by donating to the club, the rescue service, or becoming a member.
The United States Eurasier Club is an approved 501c(7) non-profit organization. We truly appreciate your financial support.


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MIAMI (TNS) — The public should not see security camera footage that may shed light on what law enforcement officers did during the deadly Parkland school shooting, attorneys for the Broward County School Board and Broward State Attorney's Office argued in state court Tuesday.
Releasing the footage could jeopardize the "integrity" of the video surveillance system at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, putting students at risk, a school board attorney told a three-judge panel at the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach. A lawyer representing the Broward state attorney said the footage constituted "criminal investigative information" that should not be disclosed under Florida's broad public records law.
Some Broward Sheriff's Office deputies are said to have taken cover during the Feb. 14 attack by former student Nikolas Cruz that killed 17 people. The exterior camera footage — sought by nearly a dozen media outlets, including The Miami Herald — may show what actions deputies took during and shortly after a six-minute shooting spree that left students and staff bleeding to death from grievous wounds.
"The footage is the only objective evidence of what occurred and when," said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, which joined the media in suing for the footage. "The whole purpose of our open government laws is oversight and accountability. Access to the video footage allows us to hold those accountable who may not have done their jobs."
The media organizations sued the school board and BSO to compel the release of surveillance footage. A lower court judge ruled in the media's favor in April, saying that releasing the tapes served the public's interest. That prompted an appeal from the school board and from the state attorney, which had intervened in the case seeking to keep the video from becoming public.
In contrast, Veda Coleman-Wright, a spokeswoman for BSO, said Tuesday that the agency has "no objection" to the video being released. BSO was a defendant in the original case but did not appeal the ruling.
The footage requested by the news media outlets comes from a small number of exterior cameras at Stoneman Douglas. The media did not request interior footage showing Cruz killing students and staff. Members of the state Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission Parkland, set up to improve the security of Florida's schools, have also seen the exterior footage.
In court Tuesday, attorneys for the government repeated the arguments that failed to sway the lower court judge, Jeffrey Levenson, who watched the tapes privately in his chambers.
Eugene Pettis, an attorney for the school board, said a future attacker could watch the exterior footage and figure out where its blind spots were.
"It could put the school's safety in jeopardy," Pettis said.
Joel Silvershein, an assistant state attorney, said the footage was gathered as potential evidence in the case against Cruz and therefore should not be released. The 19-year-old Cruz was arrested shortly after the attack and is awaiting trial.
But Dana McElroy, an attorney representing the media, said the public's right to know how law enforcement responded — and to potentially prevent future tragedies — outweighed those concerns. She also pointed out that Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie said earlier this spring that the school district planned to "upgrade" cameras and surveillance by June 2018, meaning a new system should be in place that would render potential vulnerabilities in the old system irrelevant. And she said the release of the footage should not, as one judge suggested, wait until Cruz is tried, which could take years.
"News delayed is news denied," McElroy told the court.
It's not clear when the appellate court will rule, although a decision could happen as soon as this week. CNN and the Sun Sentinel are among the other news organizations involved in the suit.
Levenson, the lower court judge, had previously ordered the release of security footage showing the school's former resource officer, BSO Deputy Scot Peterson, taking cover during the shooting. (Peterson was later lambasted by Broward Sheriff Scott Israel and resigned.) The school board and state attorney did not appeal that ruling.
Gov. Rick Scott ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the law enforcement response to the shooting in February after potential missteps became public. Many state Republican politicians, including the leading candidates for governor in the GOP primary, have called for the ouster of Israel, a Democrat.
BSO and Coral Springs Police Department, the two law enforcement agencies that responded to the shooting in the greatest numbers, have traded jabs about who bears responsibility for a chaotic response that saw communications break down and active shooter protocols seemingly not followed.
BSO deputies took cover instead of rushing to the freshman building where Cruz killed 17 students and staff, according to Coral Springs Police Department officers who arrived on campus minutes after the shooting began at 2:21 p.m.
At least three BSO deputies arrived in time to hear gunfire but couldn't locate its source, those deputies wrote in official reports. Peterson was already on campus when the shooting began but also said he could not discover where the shooting was happening and took cover.
One Coral Springs officer said he saw a BSO deputy sheltering behind a tree even though the deputy said he believed the shooter was on the building's third floor, according to an incident report filed after the massacre. Another officer said he saw BSO deputies "taking positions" behind their cars when the shooter was still at large and students inside the building were begging 911 operators for help.
By the time first responders entered the freshman building 11 minutes after the shooting began, Cruz had blended in with other students and fled.
(Miami Herald staff writer Colleen Wright contributed to this report.)


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It's ok that you waited until the last minute to buy a gift. There's no law saying you have to get your Christmas shopping done early. But just because you procrastinated doesn't mean your gift has to look like you did.
Some of us stress-shop our way through the holidays, making lists and checking them innumerable times to make sure we've crossed everyone off. Others of us take a more laid back approach and wait until the last minute to choose gifts for our loved ones. Given the ease of online shopping and the speediness of delivery services these days, there is absolutely no shame in that game.
Here's a selection of gorgeous jewelry, available to ship up until 12/22 (at 7 p.m. Eastern time). Barring any unforeseen snowstorms, it should arrive to your doorstep just in time to sneak it under the tree.


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At its WinHEC event in Shenzhen last week, Microsoft revealed more of its hardware and software plans for Windows devices. This included major announcements, such as Windows returning to ARM systems with built-in x86 emulation, but the company also had things to reveal about the evolving Windows platform.
Mary Jo Foley spotted a presentation describing the next iteration of Cortana and Microsoft's speech-driven user interface that will be coming in the Creators Update in spring of next year and, beyond, in future Windows iterations. The plan is to make Cortana ever more widely available and accessible, with better hardware capabilities and a greater number of Cortana-capable devices.
First up, Cortana is being added to Windows IoT, the version of Windows for all kinds of embedded devices (in spite of the branding, it's not just for "Internet of Things" gizmos; it's also for traditional embedded applications such as point-of-sale systems). Frustratingly, however, this update still isn't going to enable Cortana on cheap Amazon Echo-style headless hardware. Although Windows IoT itself can be used on headless systems, only IoT devices with screens will be able to enable Cortana.
Second, Microsoft is bringing capabilities already found on Xbox One to other systems. A sleeping Xbox One can be woken with the command "Hey Cortana." PCs can't yet do this same wake-on-voice trick. The Anniversary Update includes a new option to disable system sleeping so that the system can always respond to "Hey Cortana," but this feature comes at a heavy power/battery cost. While the screen can be turned off, the rest of the system remains fully powered up.
In the Creators Update, Microsoft is enabling true wake-on-voice on machines that support the S0ix power state. The S0ix power state, dubbed "Modern Standby," is a kind of hybrid between the S0 state (full power) and the traditional S3 power state (system sleep, where the system is mostly powered down, except for retaining the contents of system RAM). In the Creators Update, the keyword spotter (the piece of software that detects the magic trigger phrase "Hey Cortana" or its non-English variants) will be able to run during S0ix, meaning that it will be able to listen for the special phrase, and if it hears it, it can turn on the screen and switch the system to the full S0 state.
A future Windows update will go further still, enabling the use of hardware DSPs to run the keyword spotter. With this hardware, wake-on-voice will be possible even from S3 sleep.
None of this is particularly useful if you have to be within mouse and keyboard distance of the system in order to speak to it. Most PC microphones are near-field devices, only good for speech recognition at a distance of about 0.5-0.8 metres, depending on the specifics of the implementation. In this context, the ability to wake-on-voice isn't a big deal, because you can just waggle the mouse or tap the spacebar to break out of sleep mode. Again taking the lead from the Xbox One, Microsoft is encouraging greater use of far-field microphone arrays. These extend the spoken range to as much as 4 metres, making wake-on-voice much more relevant.
Some hardware vendors have already started on this path, with systems such as HP's Pavilion Wave including far-field microphone arrays. Windows 10 also includes algorithms for handling arrays of up to four microphones in a linear array (and "soon" will support circular arrays of eight microphones). In the Creators Update, these things will be joined together; "Hey Cortana" activation will support the far-field processing, albeit only for US and UK English. The other twelve supported languages will have to wait.
Widespread availability of systems with Modern Standby, far-field microphones, and wake-on-voice is expected in holiday season 2017.


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Lil B - Like A Martain
"Bay Area Legend Lil B, Book Author, Composer/Producer, And Actor Comes With A Legendary Slap For The Clubs And The Partys With The BADDEST CHICKS, GIRLS,FEMALES, and the Pretty Boys 100 Million Making Cash The Pretty Bitch Is HERE AND HES NOT LEAVING " - Lil B
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Investigators say the woman who claimed she was the victim of a violent racially-motivated attack fabricated the claims and actually set herself on fire. Paige Brown reports.
The Louisiana woman who told police that she was set on fire by three men and that her car had racial slurs smeared on it did the heinous actions she described herself, authorities now believe.
Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, told police she parked her car by a walking trail in Civitan Park in Winnsboro, La., on Sunday evening to go exercise when she was set on fire by three men who she described as wearing white hoodies. She was able to extinguish the flames herself and when police found her car, the letters "KKK" and the N-word had been scrawled across the hood.
But what had the rumblings of a hate crime was all apparently a "self-inflicted situation," police said.
"In less than 24 hours, the state crime lab was able to analyze the evidence found at the scene, including a cigarette lighter, lighter fluid and also the hood of the car that had a paste-like substance spread across it, and it identified [Moffitt's] fingerprints as well as some female DNA," Louisiana State Police Capt. Doug Cain told NBC News. "With this evidence, investigators were able to determine that she was alone in the park that night and made up the story."
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Authorities released their findings at a press conference Tuesday evening. The Louisiana State Police, the Winnsboro Police Department, the Franklin Parish Sheriff's Department and the FBI were all assisting in the investigation.
"This has been a very disturbing case for all involved," Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb said. "All of the evidence indicates this was a self-inflicted situation."
Cain said police have not yet spoken with Moffitt, who underwent surgery Tuesday to treat burns covering more than 60 percent of her body on her chest, back, arms and legs. "We certainly hope to speak with her about it, but her health comes first," Cain said. Moffitt remains in critical condition in the burn unit at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, the Shreveport Times reported.
A few hours after police said Moffitt had lied, nearly 130 residents of the tight-knit Winnsboro community attended a candlelight vigil at Civitan Park Tuesday night to offer prayers and support to Moffitt and her family.
In a statement, Moffitt's family said, "Our family is devastated to learn the circumstances surrounding our daughter's injuries. While this was not the resolution we had expected, it is a resolution, and we appreciate the thorough investigation by the local and state police, as well as federal agencies."
Val Horvath Davidson / The Shreveport Times
Edna Moffitt, the mother of burn victim Sharmeka Moffitt, wipes away tears during a press conference at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, La., on Tuesday.
"We are sincerely sorry for any problems this may have caused and wish to express our appreciation for the outpouring of love, prayers and support we have received from friends, acquaintances, church organizations and government officials."
While Cain said he hasn't seen anything of this nature in the area before, this isn't the first time alleged hate crimes have been exposed as hoaxes.
A Nebraska woman who claimed she was the victim of a homophobic hate crime in July was subsequently charged with making false claims to police after they spent three weeks investigating the case and discovered no clues or leads in the case.
The woman, Charlie Rogers, 33, told police three men wearing black ski masks broke into her home during the early morning hours, bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties, beat her and carved anti-gay slurs into her arms and abdomen. Because of inconsistencies in Roger's various accounts of the attack and conflicting forensic evidence, police arrested Rogers.
Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com
A Washington state woman who falsely claimed a stranger had thrown a cup of acid in her face in August 2010 later admitted her injuries were self-inflicted and part of an attempt to kill herself.
28-year-old Bethany Storro was charged with three counts of felony theft for allegedly taking more than $28,000 in donations from people believing she had been assaulted by a stranger. When the acid proved not to be fatal, Storro told a detective that she could at least get plastic surgery on her face.
Police have not yet said whether Moffitt will face criminal charges due to the attack.
Frankin Parish District Attorney Mack Lancaster told NBC News that "there is a distinct possibility that [Moffitt] might at this point be charged, but I have not yet received any investigative reports on the incident," he said. "We will review those reports just as in all cases and determine what, if any, charges will follow."
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Terry Riley: The Book of Abbeyozzud. 1999. New Albion Records: NA 106 CD.
Terry Riley: composer
David Tanenbaum: guitar
William Winant: percussion
Tracy Silverman: violin
Gyan Riley: guitar
The amazing thing isn't that each Terry Riley record is its own, unique oddity as much as the unpredictable way each one has its own quirks. Here we have the music of Terry Riley in the hands of extremely capable classical guitarists who play from deep inside this music. Not to mention a resonating reason to mourn the passing of the New Albion label and its track record for documenting such incredible corridors of American composed music. It's arrangements such as these that make the argument for re-evaluating Terry Riley's music for generations to come. It endures. And this disc is aging rather agreeably.
Ava Mendoza: Shadow Stories. 2010. Resipiscent: RSPT037.
Ava Mendoza: guitar
A couple of things jump out when listening to Ava Mendoza's excellent Shadow Stories. First there is this wonderfully elastic sense of time that stretches melodic materials across ever-shifting sonic surfaces (often with the help of some creative processing) that knows when to shatter a groove or when to snap into an unerring sense of swing. The second is the remarkably fresh set of ears being brought to bear on this wonderful re-invention of the blues. The intimacy of the performer and her sound is ever present even as she carves out expansive territories of raw sonic material. The range of flights through relatively contained, composed materials and free improvisation gives this music its lungs and breath. This is clearly an opening salvo from a significant talent.
Charity Chan: Somewhere the Sea and Salt. 2009. Actuelle: AM 188.
Though transformed, the timbre of piano is never obscured in these explorations of the physical qualities of coiled strings, felt hammers and keyboard. The acoustic presence of the instrument's body takes on a luminous role as the timbre field expands to reveal the sonic expanse of its interior explorations. The "objects" skillfully draw out further resonant qualities of the instrument they are applied to. Also contributing to the longer expression contained within Somewhere the sea and salt is the balance of improvisation informed by the history of innovation in solo, composed piano music. The strummed strings of "J'ai manque son depart" reminding these ears of Henry Cowell's "Aeolian Harp" as a whisper of inspiration. Yet this is music that breathes. The vibrations of strings through striking and frictions is never far from the pulse and heartbeat of this music's energetic performer and composer. Each gesture is carved out and carefully exposed without a hint of indulgence. Indulgence is left to the listener.
Saturday, December 08, 2012
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To be "more than a molder"—it's an ambition held by many top plastics manufacturers. Few have pursued that goal farther than Mack Molding Co. and its parent company, Mack Group. The company that started in 1920 with custom injection molding has since added structural foam, two-shot molding, overmolding, and internal and external gas-assist molding—plus sheet-metal fabricating, CNC milling and turning, rapid prototyping, plastics design, printing/decorating, painting, assembly, test development, materials development, and total product manufacturing.
Mack specializes in combining its multiple talents to produce complex products. Increasingly, Mack defines itself as a contract manufacturer—a producer of major assemblies and complete products, even offering customers direct order fulfillment. Today, Mack is a $300-million company with 10 locations and 1800 employees in the U.S. and Mexico. Its six U.S. plants operate 120 injection machines from 28 to 4000 tons. They comprise a Northern Division with four plants and 84 machines, including operations dedicated to prototyping and medical products; and a Southern Division with two plants and 36 presses (as well as an automated paint line), specializing in large parts.
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The headquarters plant in the wooded hills of Arlington, Vt., is a good example of the mix of capabilities that has fostered Mack's success. It has 310,000 ft2, more than seven acres, under one roof. That houses 35 presses from 40 to 1000 tons, an enormous assembly floor (see photo), a new clean room for MackMedical, CNC machining and sheet-metal departments, and an Application Development Center.
The corner office at Arlington belongs to Jeff Somple, president of Mack's Northern Div. He has spent 24 years at the company and saw it go through a major upheaval and renewal around the turn of the millennium.
"In 1999 or 2000," Somple recalls, "about 75% of our business was with three big computer companies—Sun Microsystems, Xerox, and Hewlett-Packard. All three legs of that stool fell off in one year, when that business went to China and Mexico.
Also, the Y2K computer bubble burst. Businesses stocked up on new computers in 1999—our best year ever, up to that point—and then bought nothing the year after. Fortunately, Mack is a private company that is financially conservative and carries no debt. We endured our first layoffs in the history of the company, but mainly temps. We kept our core people.
"We spent a day and a half feeling sorry for ourselves, then we got together, set up a whiteboard, and brainstormed. We asked ourselves, 'What makes us relevant?'" The management group came up with these answers:
•Large-parts capability.
•Robust supply chain and skill at managing numerous suppliers.
•A professional quality system. Mack was one of the first in the U.S. to get certified for ISO 9000.
•Full-service capabilities—it had sheet metal, plastics, and a design group that specialized in disciplines such as design for manufacturability.
The next question was, "What are we not good at?" The answer: "Small parts made in high volumes with lots of labor. That's what China is good at," says Somple.
"We wanted to make our company China-proof. So we then asked, 'What is China not good at?' "1. Fast delivery—it takes 30 days to ship products across the Pacific.
"2. Supplying multiple flavors of a product quickly. That would require massive inventory.
"3. Upfront engineering collaboration.
"4. Protecting others' intellectual property.
"The answer for us, then, was that we needed products that were 'BBC'—'big, bulky, and complicated.' For example, we make office furniture that customers need quickly and in low volumes. We also decided that instead of a three-legged stool, we were going to build a centipede with a diversified customer base. The end result of this corporate redefinition, Somple says, was that "we lost money for just one quarter. We turned it around in 2003 and never looked back. We continued to do well through the last recession."
In the midst of its rebuilding effort, medical markets seemed a promising target for Mack. "It's not as likely to go offshore," explains Somple, because of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) standards enforced by the U.S. FDA. "FDA makes OEMs responsible for their supply base. We make that easy, since under one roof we have molding of large and small parts, machining, sheet metal, assembly, and design assistance for metal and plastic. Also, medical equipment manufacturers have a five-year development cycle. They want a molder that will be around that long."
Medical is really a lot of different markets, and Mack doesn't aspire to participate in all of them. "We're not in implantables—too much risk," says Somple. "And we don't want to be a Nypro
There are already many companies good at high-volume precision molding." For Mack, "medical" means three sectors:
•Orthopedics—cases, trays, trials, and instruments. MackMedical was formed in 2009, and it launched an orthopedic business sub-group last year.
•Devices—large, complete systems for diagnostics and testing.
•Large molded parts—skins for medical-equipment cabinets, some of them still made in structural foam.
These medical sectors were only 1% of Mack's business back in 2000, but are now its single biggest market at around 40% and headed toward 50%.
But if medical is Mack's number one segment, "There's no real number two," Somple says. The remainder of Mack's activities are broadly divided among computers and business equipment, large industrial batteries, furniture, floor tiles, and large commercial equipment, such as a self-serve frozen-beverage blender. Mack has exercised its supply-chain management skills to build a growing contract manufacturing business, assembling some products—like a new solar light pole—for which it doesn't even make any of the component parts.
Besides diversifying its customer base, Somple believes the reinvention of the company has been successful in another respect. "We don't have to bid against foreign competition. And we vet our accounts almost as closely as they vet us. When a new job proposal comes in, I ask, 'Why isn't this product being made in China?' I have to like the answer. I told one customer, 'Why in the world do you want to make this in North America?' And we walked away from it." Rather than fighting imports, a number of Mack's products are shipped overseas.
A tour of the Arlington plant gives new meaning to the term "full-service." The molding area, like most Mack plants, has a mix of large and small machines. Among the jobs running there is a new crate for Quirky Incorporated. A piece of casual furniture as well as a storage container, it's a 14-in. cube perforated with holes, molded in 4.3 lb of glass-reinforced PP on a 750-ton press. As explained by plant manager Bryan Campbell, the Quirky crate is one of Mack's few high-volume jobs, and could grow to a "couple hundred thousand parts a year." More common are jobs such as orthopedic parts and "legacy" industrial batteries that run a few hundred parts a year, or even as few as 20 parts a year—like a testing device to analyze chemical emissions from factories.
Campbell points out the unusual presence of a metrology cell right on the molding floor, with a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and "shadow graph" inspection devices. "It speeds up first-article testing," he explains.
To support its new orthopedics business unit, Mack installed its first permanent clean room this year. (There's also a portable clean room for manufacturing blood filter plates.) The 2000 ft2 modular enclosure has removable wall panels to allow for future expansions. It currently houses six 110-ton, all-electric Toshiba presses, all with Wittmann pressurized-water mold-temperature controllers that allow molding PEEK medical parts at up 350 F without need for hot oil or electric cartridge heaters. The identical presses have all been validated so any part can run interchangeably in any machine.
Mack does quite a bit of overmolding, mostly with manual transfer, though it has one Engel two-shot machine. A number of surgical tool handles involve overmolding soft-touch TPE onto metal. Campbell notes that the shutoffs are particularly tricky because no gaps between the metal and plastic can be tolerated to trap dirt and make sterilization difficult. It can be hard to keep the TPE from shrinking away from the metal. Some tool handles require two shots of PP to build up sufficient thickness without long cycles. And one involves overmolding PP onto metal and then overmolding the PP with a thin layer of TPE that allows a raised logo to show through without creating crevices to trap dirt.
Another particularly tricky overmolding job is an office chair that involves overmolding a stretchy copolyester TPE fabric with a solid TPE ring and glass-filled nylon 6 over that. What makes it difficult is that the third shot of nylon has a melt temperature 100° F higher than that of the TPE, which must not remelt in the process. Also, it's difficult to shut off on the porous fabric without cutting it or melting through it with the overmold shot.
Beneath the molding room is a basement service area for raw-material storage ("No gaylords of resin on the molding floor," says Campbell) as well as auxiliary equipment such as dryers, blenders, chillers, and air compressors. Two scrap granulators occupy their own subterranean room, fed through chutes from the molding area above.
Other manufacturing areas in Arlington include the sheet-metal department, which has 4000 active part numbers, processed on six CNC press brakes and several laser cutters. Mack's machining department, established in 2010, has two Swiss lathes and multi-spindle turning and milling machines. These are used to machine some 400 metal parts in active production, but also for drilling holes in some low-volume plastic parts. "It saves tooling cost," Campbell explains.
At least equal in size to the molding area is the enormous assembly floor, the heart of Mack's contract manufacturing operations. Managing a supply chain of thousands of parts is a critical skill for Mack. Just one product, which Somple calls "our most complex job ever" requires more than 1400 parts. It's a Cellex photophoresis machine for Johnson & Johnson, a Class 3 medical diagnostic device. Another example is the commercial self-serve frozen-beverage blender for f'real foods, which comprises more than 400 outsourced components, plus 120 sheet-metal parts and 20 machined metal parts produced in-house. Mack makes all the plastic parts as well—the large skins are molded in the East Arlington sister plant.
Another element of Mack's full-service capability is its Application Development Center, staffed with five design, development, and tooling engineers who have access to outside design services when needed. They also have their own Stratasys FDM 3D printer to build fixtures and prototypes.
"Our design services are a major sales tool," says John Zuk, director of application development. "We offer design for plastics and sheet metal, moldability analysis, and advice on parts consolidation, resin selection, and on which process to use, using different cost scenarios."
These skills are all the more important, he says, given these challenging customer trends: "Metal-to-plastic conversions using more exotic materials that combine strength, chemical resistance, and recyclability. Requiring ever tighter tolerances—or no tolerance at all! And designing multifunctional parts—such as a portable keyboard for a medical device that incorporates carrying handles and a platform to hold a laptop computer."
Dr. Michael Hansen, senior technical development engineer, sees an increasingly valuable tool for meeting these challenges in use of internal and external gas assist. "It's really good for parts consolidation and reducing costs. An example is a boiler cover that has 1250 in.2 of surface area. It would ordinarily require a 3500- to 4000-ton press. With external gas assist, we can mold that part on a 1500-ton press, which is much more cost-effective."
And there's more to it, Hansen points out: "This part has a large cosmetic surface and no paint. External gas assist allows use of just one gate, providing no knit lines and minimizing tool cost. External gas pressure also allows designing a 1:1 rib to wall thickness with no sinks."
Internal gas assist, he notes, does more than hollow out thick sections. "It also allows molding a thin section next to a thick, hollow section. You can inject through the thin section first, which is not the normal way to fill a part."
Hansen reports that work at the Application Development Center has yielded patented technology for encapsulating magnets in plastic without either overheating or crushing the brittle magnet material.
These are medical parts that require total encapsulation of the magnet to permit sterilization. In one case, Mack molds two halves of a polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) surgical shim, places the magnet inside the two halves, and overmolds a seal around the assembly. In another case, for a shaftless magnetic drive, the magnet is insert molded. It is set on pins in the mold, which retract into the tool during the cycle to allow complete encapsulation of the magnet.
Located as it is within Arlington State Forest, which is embedded in Green Mountain National Forest, it's hardly surprising that Mack's management emphasizes "green" principles. "We are very conscious of our environmental impact," says Somple. "So are our customers—they ask questions like, 'What's your carbon footprint? What's your sustainability plan?' We score very highly on such assessments."
In 2011, Mack was only the third manufacturer in Vermont to earn the state's Environmental Leader designation. Mack replaced 2100 lighting fixtures in its three Vermont plants with more efficient fluorescent bulbs that are estimated to save 1.75 million kWh annually, enough to power 300 average homes. The firm also reuses or recycles plastic waste (920,000 lb/yr), sheet metal (212,000 lb/yr), and cardboard and other packaging (270,000 lb/yr).
Mack has cut back on its cardboard consumption by installing a machine to make its own custom cartons—in more than 400 sizes designed to fit its products precisely. It also brought in well known efficiency consultant Robin Kent (a Plastics Technology contributor) to perform an energy audit on the three Vermont plants. The results of the audit are being studied now to consider the next steps to optimize the plant's energy usage.
Somple also says Mack is utilizing its in-house materials expertise to find creative ways to recycle plastics. "That could be another niche for us," he speculates. The company has developed proprietary blends of recycled LDPE and paper pulp, as well as PP and wood fiber. The latter is used in a new injection molded chair made at a sister plant in Cavendish, Vt., from post-industrial PP with wood and glass fibers, using internal gas assist. Mack also produces decorative floor tiles from recycled PVC carpet backing.


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Senate Bill No. 350
(By Senators Minard and Stollings)
[Introduced January 31, 2011; referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §33-16G-1, §33-16G-2, §33-16G-3, §33-16G-4, §33-16G-5, §33-16G-6, §33-16G-7, §33-16G-8 and §33-16G-9, all relating to an all-payer claims database; declaring purpose; defining terms; developing the database by the Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of Health and Human Resources and Chairperson of the Health Care Authority; authorizing joint emergency and legislative rules; providing for compliance with privacy laws; permitting fees and assessments to be assessed; authorizing penalties to be set by rule; authorizing injunctive relief; establishing special revenue account; and allowing other sanctions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §33-16G-1, §33-16G-2, §33-16G-3, §33-16G-4, §33-16G-5, §33-16G-6, §33-16G-7, §33-16G-8 and §33-16G-9, all to read as follows:
§33-16G-1. Purpose; conflicting laws.
The Legislature recognizes that the costs of health care are rising at rates that are not sustainable and that consumers should have access to the highest quality care; therefore it is imperative that the cost and quality of health care be understood so that effective solutions can be found. One means that other states have used successfully to illuminate trends in health care costs and quality is the development of a database of health insurance claims to capture information about the provision and payment of health care. The purpose of this article is to establish such a database and thereby facilitate the analysis and reporting of health care utilization, access, cost, and quality to inform the health care and health planning decisions of consumers, providers, payers and policy-makers.
To the extent any provision of this article conflicts with any other provision of this code related to the collection and dissemination of health care data, the provisions of this article shall control.
§33-16G-2. Definitions.
(a) "Commissioner" means the West Virginia Insurance Commissioner.
(b) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services.
(c) "Chair" means the chairperson of the West Virginia Health Care Authority.
(d) "Data" mean the data elements from specified types of claims to be included in the all-payer claims database.
(e) "Personal identifiers" means information relating to an individual member or insured that identifies, or can be used to identify, locate or contact a particular individual member or insured, including but not limited to the individual's name, street address, e-mail address, telephone number, fax number, photograph, social security number, medical record number, health plan beneficiary number, account number, certificate/license number, vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers, device identifiers and serial numbers, web universal resource locators, Internet protocol address numbers, and biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints.
(f) "All-payer claims database" or "APCD" means the program authorized by this article that collects, retains, uses and discloses information concerning the claims and administrative expenses of health care payers, health care payers' contracted prices with health care providers, and other information on provider payment methods and levels.
(g) "Health care payer" means any entity that pays or administers the payment of health insurance claims in this state, including accident and sickness insurers; nonprofit hospital, medical and dental service organizations; nonprofit health service corporations; prepaid limited health service organizations; and health maintenance organizations; the term also includes any third-party administrator or pharmacy benefit manager that administers a fully-funded or self-funded plan.
§33-16G-3. Establishment and development of an all-payer claims database.
(a) The secretary, commissioner and chair, collectively referred to herein as the "MOU parties," shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to develop an all-payer claims database program.
(b) The memorandum of understanding shall, at a minimum:
(1) Provide that the commissioner will have primary responsibility for the collection of the data, the secretary will have primary responsibility for the retention of such data, and the chair will have primary responsibility for the dissemination of the data;
(2) Delineate the MOU parties' roles, describe the process to develop rules required by this article, establish communication processes and a coordination plan, and address vendor relationship management;
(3) Provide for the development of a plan for the financial stability of the APCD, including provision for funding by the MOU parties' agencies; and
(4) Provide for the use of the hospital discharge data collected by the West Virginia Health Care Authority as a tool in the validation of APCD reports.
§33-16G-4. Additional powers of commissioner, secretary and chair; exemption from purchasing rules.
(a) The MOU parties may:
(1) Accept gifts, bequests, grants or other funds dedicated to the furtherance of the goals of the APCD;
(2) Select a vendor to handle data collection and processing and such other tasks as deemed appropriate;
(3) Hire an executive director to exercise ongoing oversight of the operations of the APCD, including making disclosure decisions regarding APCD data: Provided, That the memorandum of understanding executed pursuant to section three of this article may provide that any contracts related to the establishment and operation of the APCD may be executed by the executive director;
(4) Enter into agreements with other states to perform joint administrative operations, share information and assist in the development of multistate efforts to further the goals of this article: Provided, That any such agreements must include adequate protections with respect to the confidentiality of the information to be shared and comply with all state and federal laws and regulations;
(5) Enter into memoranda of understanding with other governmental agencies to carry out any of its functions, including contracts with other states to perform joint administrative functions; and
(6) Enter into voluntary agreements to obtain data from payers not subject to mandatory reporting under this article.
(b) Contracts for professional services for the development and operation of the APCD are not subject to the provisions of article three, chapter five-a of this code relating to the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration.
(c) The MOU parties shall make an annual report to the Governor, which shall also be filed with the Legislature, summarizing the activities of the APCD in the preceding calendar year.
§33-16G-5. Data subject to this article.
(a) All health care payers shall submit data to the commissioner or an entity designated by the commissioner at such times and in a form and manner specified in rule.
(b) Data submitted in accordance with this article shall be considered confidential by law and privileged, are exempt from disclosure pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, are not open to public inspection, are not subject to subpoena, are not subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any criminal, private civil or administrative action, are not subject to production pursuant to court order, and shall only be used and disclosed pursuant to law and rules promulgated pursuant to this article.
(c) In accordance with this article and the rules adopted hereunder and to the extent otherwise allowed by law, data submitted to and retained by the APCD shall be available as a resource for insurers, researchers, employers, providers, purchasers of health care, consumers, and state agencies to continuously review health care utilization, expenditures and performance in West Virginia and to enhance the ability of consumers to make informed and cost-effective health care decisions.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the APCD shall not disclose any data that contain personal identifiers: Provided, That the executive director, in accordance with procedures and standards set forth in rule, may approve access to other data elements not prohibited from disclosure by the APCD, as well as synthetic or created unique identifiers, for use by researchers, including government agencies, with established protocols for safeguarding confidential or privileged information: Provided, however, That the MOU parties' use of the data shall not constitute a disclosure.
§33-16G-6. Fees; waiver.
(a) Reasonable user fees may be collected, in amounts and in the manner established in rule, for the right to access and use the data available from the APCD: Provided, That the chair may reduce or waive the fee if he or she determines that the user is unable to pay the scheduled fees or that the user has a viable plan to use the data or information in research of general value to the public health.
(b) The MOU parties may by rule set fees payable by health care payers and health care providers.
§33-16G-7. Enforcement; injunctive relief.
In the event of any violation of this article or any rule adopted thereunder, the commissioner, secretary or chair may seek to enjoin a further violation in the circuit court of Kanawha County: Provided, That injunctive relief ordered pursuant to this section may be in addition to any other remedies and enforcement actions available to the commissioner under this chapter.
§33-16G-8. Special revenue account created.
(a) There is hereby created a special revenue account in the State Treasury, designated the "West Virginia All-Payer Claims Database Fund," which shall be an interest-bearing account and may be invested in the manner permitted by article six, chapter twelve of this code, with the interest income a proper credit to the fund, unless otherwise designated in law. The fund shall be administered by the commissioner, secretary and chair, and shall be used to pay all proper costs incurred in implementing the provisions of this article. Moneys deposited into this account are available for expenditure as the executive director may direct in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(b) The following funds shall be paid into this account: (1) Fees and penalties imposed on providers and health care payers pursuant to this article and rules promulgated hereunder;
(2) Funds from the federal government received and dedicated for the purposes of the APCD;
(3) Appropriations from the Legislature; and
(4) All other payments, gifts, grants, bequests or income from any source.
§33-16G-9. Rule-making authority.
To effectuate the provisions of this article, the MOU parties may propose joint rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code as necessary to implement this article, and may initially promulgate emergency rules pursuant to the provisions of section fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code; such rules may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Procedures for the collection, retention, use and disclosure of data from the APCD, including procedures and safeguards to protect the privacy, integrity, confidentiality and availability of any data;
(b) Penalties against health care payers for violation of rules governing the submission of data, including a schedule of fines for failure to file data or to pay assessments;
(c) Fees payable by health care providers and health care payers;
(d) Fees for users of the data and the process for a waiver or reduction of user fees;
(e) A proposed time frame for the creation of the database;
(f) Criteria for determining whether data collected, beyond the listed personal identifiers, is confidential clinical, confidential financial data or privileged medical information, and procedures to give affected providers and health care payers notice and opportunity to comment in response to requests for information that may be considered confidential or privileged;
(g) Penalties, including fines and other administrative sanctions, that may be imposed by the commissioner for a health care payer's failure to comply with requirements of this article and rules adopted hereunder and by the secretary or chair for a provider's failure to comply with such requirements; and
(h) Establishment of advisory boards to provide advice to the MOU parties with respect to the various functions of the APCD.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish an all-payer claims database. The bill sets forth its purpose and defines terms. The bill requires the database to be developed by the Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of Health and Human Resources and chairperson of the Health Care Authority. The bill authorizes joint emergency and legislative rules. The bill provides for compliance with privacy laws. The bill also permits fees and assessments to be assessed. The bill authorizes penalties, injunctive relief and other sanctions. The bill further establishing a special revenue account.
§33-16G-1, §33-16G-2, §33-16G-3, §33-16G-4, §33-16G-5, §33-16G-6, §33-16G-7, §33-16G-8 and §33-16G-9 are new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.