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Politics is abstract, and politics is confusing. We are bombarded daily by political statements from politicians. The views to which we are constantly subjected are usually loose, intangible, and transient. People – especially young people – complain that they do not know what politicians and the parties they represent stand for. The more we are pandered to by precisely formulated and isolated statements, the more alienated we feel. In short, politicians try to appear to be everything for everybody, and consequently don't really become anything for anyone.
Such is the nature of our political system that politicians often need to be slippery. But this has led many of us to feel alienated. The Office for National Statistics reports that 42 per cent of young people have no interest in politics. What is needed is a definite yet accessible way to solidify in our minds who and what our politicians are, so that we can begin to understand them, accept them, and, if necessary, reject them. By themselves, they can be who they want to be. But brought together, battle lines are drawn, contrasts are made; our politicians become defined for who they are.
TV debates are the best way of doing this. Very rarely do we see the leaders of the parties go head to head and tackle an issue. The jeering and point-scoring of Prime Minister's Questions doesn't come close; watch any two from this Parliament and the pattern that emerges is one of pedestrianised questions and answers, interspersed with some animated name calling. Such debates are unfocused and often irrelevant to the concerns of the voting public.
Those in powerful positions are forced to define themselves when brought together with their opponents. In the same way, politicians of minor political standing, but growing political influence, such as the Greens, are also challenged. They have the opportunity to debate on equal terms with those of a more established standing and get to prove their worth where they would have previously been unable. The Green Party has not been heard properly in the political forum, yet is gaining traction, especially with the young demographic. Thanks to the recent changes to the TV debates, the Greens will be joining the fray. The voices of their leaders will finally be heard in a fair and proper setting. Let's see them debate their ideas and prove their worth. Will David beat Goliath, or is David not as cunning as we think he is? TV debates provide us with the opportunity to find out.
I am not arguing that TV debates are the perfect answer to our fraught political system. They are by no means conducive to political involvement and will not revitalise our political system overnight. No one thing can completely cure the political malaise from which we seem to be suffering, but refusing to do this one thing because it is not enough is better than doing nothing at all. We have had to drag some politicians to agree to the current format, and we should keep on pressuring them to do the things some of them are obviously reluctant to do. Their reluctance is a good sign: it means that they fear their proposals being transparently presented to the public.
TV debates provide a valuable forum and opportunity to force our politicians to be forthright and consistent in their positions. Keeping the debates is a step towards pressuring politicians to be clearer and more accountable. In a confusing and abstracted political world, who could possibly argue with that?
I do not attempt to deny for one moment that political discourse, debate, and discussion are essential ingredients of a democratic society. Yet the proposed re-run of the 2010 party leader debates is not the best recipe for this. Nor is it a particularly good way for voters to decide how to cast their vote.
Ostensibly, the 2010 televised debates were a roaring success. Yet the forthcoming General Election promises to be quite different to the last. In particular, there are many more parties attempting to challenge the hegemony of Labour and the Conservatives. Since the war, it has been only the Liberal Party and, since their 1988 merger, the Liberal Democrats who have had the de facto capability to threaten the ascendancy of the two main parties. Now the Lib Dems have been joined, even usurped, by UKIP and the Greens. The SNP and Plaid Cymru are regionally based movements and do not field candidates across the UK, but they too should not be forgotten. Indeed, the SNP may find itself in coalition government with Labour should the electorate not give a clear mandate for either of the two largest parties to rule alone.
The existence of so many parties poses a problem for the broadcasters. It is almost impossible to draw a fair line between parties which are important enough to be included in the televised debates and parties which are of insufficient importance. Indeed, there has been considerable controversy regarding the selection of party leaders to take part.
The present plan it to include seven of the UK's political parties in at least one of the proposed instalments. This will hardly be conducive to a constructive debate. Debates are best held between two opposing sides, not seven. The proposed format is likely to lead to point-scoring rhetoric and pie-in-the-sky promises rather than mature and informed debate. Voters, many of whom are already disillusioned with politics, will struggle to make sense of the seven different opinions being offered on every issue.
There is also a danger that TV debates will once again undermine the remainder of the election campaign. In 2010, the attention of voters and political commentators focused on the oratory skills of each of the party leaders above anything else. The rest of the election campaign, such as the canvassing carried out by committed local politicians, was rendered somewhat meaningless.
Indeed, having televised party leader debates just does not fit squarely with the nature of the democracy that we have here in the UK. In the US, where there is a two-party race for the presidency, the adversarial style of a televised debate between two candidates has been popular and constructive. Yet in the UK, with a voting system which requires citizens to vote for a candidate standing for election in their constituency, rather than for a Prime Minister, debates between party leaders are somehow less relevant. Voters may like a party leader, but dislike the party's candidate for election in their constituency. The inherent contradiction between having party leader debates and having the electoral system that we do divorces us from having a direct say in who the Prime Minister will be.
Of course we need to ensure that voters are adequately engaged with politics and have sufficient access to information regarding policy on both a national and local level. A few short televised debates between point-scoring party leaders, however, cannot achieve this.


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Oh boy. Some independent, true blue fundie (not like those other, pseudo-fundamentalists, this guy is the real deal!) is claiming some sort of unverifiable yet incontrovertible proof that John Piper is having Rick Warren as a keynote speaker at the Desiring God conference in 2010. Granted, the Desiring God 2010 conference webpage doesn't list the speakers yet but this guy is in the know! I have a hard time believing that Desiring God hasn't listed or verified the speakers on their own webpage but they did verify it to this guy with an axe to grind with Piper, with John MacArthur, with Al Mohler, with the Sharper Iron blog, with....well with everyone apparently.
Ugh. Maybe this is true, more likely it is not. It sounds out of character for Piper. It certainly is not verified (although one commenter suggests that perhaps Piper is not saved based on this unfounded rumor). I will reserve any judgment on this until we hear from Dr. Piper. Regardless, this blog posting of a rumor is further incentive to steer clear of people who are more concerned with being "Jen- Ewe - Wine!" fundamentalist than pretty much anything else.

subset: commoncrawl


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Rural Sports Storm Center-Stage
The reason behind this democratisation of unglamorous, earthy, hinterland sports for popular, urban, TV-driven consumption.
Until recently, cricket was the sole hero, religion and passion of India, with hockey, football and badminton relegated to supporting roles. Tennis, golf and squash sporadically entered the frame, but in terms of the big picture and pre-sold blockbuster — media coverage, public attention, fan-following, sponsorship — cricket ruled. If even in jest you mentioned the Kabaddi, you'd be either jeered off the stage or given strange, weird looks.
Kabaddi, wrestling and other earthy sports, loved and played for generations in villages and small towns — and even parts of cities — were considered by the post-91 consumerist aspirational and global Indian as ganwaar and downmarket sports, totally declasse and infra dig. India was India and Bharat was Bharat — and the twain could never meet.
It was maverick Lalit Modi — and before him Kerry Packer? — who with his seductive Indian Premier League, sowed the first seeds of the professional league bimaari by broad-basing cricket's presentation via an amazingly viewer-friendly format in both form and content. No one had ever dared dream of tampering with the revered, sacrosanct, traditional model of India's loved sport, but Modi, audaciously sexed it up, blending glamor and entertainment with big bucks and took the world by storm.
Overnight, he converted a sport into a product and brand, with all cylinders firing and pressed hard on the promotion and marketing button to make IPL both eminently saleable as everyone's preferred brand and crazily spectator-friendly. Soon, this league syndrome caught fire and on cue, football and hockey followed.
However, the surprise package was the Pro Kabaddi League. Could something as totally off the popular radar as this rustic sport have any hope of gaining popular currency with city-slickers? Surprise-surprise, it has proved to be a big hit with the glamorous Bachchans coming to the party as team owners, as also the Ambanis. The promo, marketing and media coverage is rocking, proving that Bharat with its very own rustic sports repetoire, is slowly moving centre-stage and that, the days, years and decades of staying in the shadows and perceived as a backward sport of a lesser god seems to be over. Bharat is but a heartbeat away from India.
Now, hot on the heels of kabaddi comes the latest from the heartland — wrestling. Before there's a collective gasp of "OMG, really – what next?!" from the well-heeled, a brief history of this ancient sport, initiated and valorised by European countries.
It is believed to have kicked off in ancient times, but recorded history traces it to the end of the 19th century, when Greco-Roman wrestling style was considered fashionable in the sporting arena. Re-enforced by the rise of gyms and athletic clubs, Greco-Roman wrestling and modern free-style wrestling were soon inducted into the formal competition stream. Across several competition centres, big prize money was also offered to the participants. over time, this model spread to UK and USA as well.
In 1898, Frenchman Paul Pons, known as "The Colossus," became the first professional world champion. Other leading wrestlers during that time, such as Frank Gotch and William Muldoon, were elevated and lionised as heroes. In the USA, Martin 'Farmer' Burns dominated the ring with a record of winning 5,990 of the 6,000 bouts he fought. Interestingly, professional wrestlers during this period would participate in both sporting competitions and perform shows focussing on spectacle, dramabaazi and entertainment. Why? Because wrestling was introduced to the public as a variety act to lend masala to the limited action related to body-building-wala strongman's attraction at the turnstile. One of the earliest gimmicks was Cornish-American ex-miner Jack Carkeek who would gamely challenge audience members to last 10 minutes with him, sowing the seedsm say historians, of differentiating between professional and amateur wrestling.
India was not totally out of the Kushti frame. Dara Singh's King Kong face-offs attained folklore status in the 1950s. Even if it wasn't the favorite sport of sophisticated city-slickers, who dismissed it as some uncouth and uncool grappling of oily, ugly, naked bodies, there was always a section of people who enjoyed and followed the sport.
However, post 1991, in the changing landscape, Garadi Manes or Vyaam Shalas have had to re-invent themselves, especially in the last few years. The word Garadi comes from Garuda, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Garuda was known to have enormous physical strength and wrestling as a sport therefore goes back to the Vedic age. However, in the age of new-age multi-gyms and fitness centers, Garadis have been dying out as weight-lifting, power-lifting and body-building — Salman Khan style — zoomed centre-stage. The gym culture is in and in the absence of patronage, government funding, but most importantly, youth-connect, Garadis are rapidly and predictably losing their grip on this celebrated sporting activity.
It is precisely at this critical juncture that the Pro Wrestling League has muscled in. While many critics are perplexed and shocked at this lift for a sport that they perceive as "dehati, ganwaar and way out of focus," many others believe its an idea whose time has come.
Says Charu Sharma, the articulate creator of the hugely popular Pro Kabaddi League: "I wish you guys had an inkling of the massive struggle we experienced getting PKL off the ground. To say that we were greeted as (un)certified lunatics and they laughed so that they may not weep, is to put it very, very mildly. It's not as if, like the great Martin Luther King, we had a dream and wanted to instantly activate it …. We went into the practicalities with tooth and comb before deciding to throw our hats into the ring.
"Sure, it was a calculated risk and we knew from day one, that good intent and potential is one thing, but in year 2015, heavy-duty marketing and promotion are components that are impossible to ignore. The challenge was to convince and persuade TV channels to invest big bucks and push it, big time with equal passion and purpose."
Sharma explained that PKL was lucky to get Star Sports to come on board and pull out the stops to popularize the event, as also get like-minded, market-savvy sponsors to move in, adding,"Of course, the star and glamour participation — Bachchans and Ambanis — also gave PKL a further fillip since it's a visual event and a little entertainment does no harm for India's glam-crazy crowds.
Sharma reckons that Pro Wrestling League will follow a similar template, "There will be huge roadblocks and challenges and investors will have to be patient and understand that ROI and positive feedback will take time. The journey is the excitement and today with PKL making waves, PWL has a great chance in going that route. After all, monetizing an ancient physical contact sport, loved by many, could revive the grass-root connect and help in bridging the gap between Bharat and India."
The PWL is scheduled from Nov 8 to Nov 29 and will showcase 66 top wrestlers, including eight current world champions. The league has set a base budget of Rs. 20 crores with a prize purse of Rs. 5 crores. Each team will comprise of 11 players, six men and five women. The teams are expected to have six Indian and five international wrestlers. Nearly 20 Olympic medallists will fight for the six city-based franchises. India will field its biggest stars — Sushil Kumar, Bajrang, Phogat-sisters Geeta, Babita and Geethika Jakhar. They all walked the ramp at the launch event of the PWL and confessed "awkwardness," but admitted that they need to adjust to these changes, where auctions also play a significant part.
Kumar is enthusiastic about the initiative, because of the ''international exposure and will help our wrestlers prepare for the Rio Olympics."
Meanwhile, PKL is all set to launch a series of Kabaddi-centric entertainment products, ranging from gaming app to a movie.
The Mumbai franchise U Mumbai says that it is meant to be a part of their ''popularirising and urbanizing the sport." Kabaddi-themed birthday parties have already been introduced and the first of the apps is scheduled to hit the market early January.
So the seed is sown. Can a similar model for PWL be far behind?


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The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) acknowledged South Korea as the most active country that pursues scientific and technological innovations.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría announced the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2015 during this year's ministerial-level meeting of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy in Daejeon, Korea on Oct. 19.
Korea's R&D investment-to-GDP ratio is said to have doubled over the last 20 years, from 2.2 percent in 1995 to 4.15 percent in 2013, which is well over 2.4 percent, an average score between OECD member countries. During the period of 2010 to 2012, the nation accounted for 14.1 percent of the total patents that were registered worldwide in the fields of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, quantum computing, and telecommunications. Korea's weight in cutting edge materials and nanotechnology, such as graphene, meta materials, and wearable tech grew to 21 percent during the period.
In particular, the nation is acknowledged to be a dominant player in 11 areas among 20 disruptive technologies, including data transmission human interface technology, which is the basis of the IoT. Disruptive technologies refer to radically innovative methods that can disrupt existing industry, unlike gradual innovative ones that improve the function or quality of products.
However, it was pointed out that making an investment in basic research while leading technological advancement has become the greatest challenge for Korean companies. Compared to the nation's R&D investments, Korea showed mediocre performance in the number of papers published scientific journals, at a level similar to Australia or Spain. In addition, the nation's score in international cooperation in the science and technology field is lower than the average score worldwide.
"Korea is ready for next-generation innovation in production by equipping them with intensive manufacturing fields, high performance workforces with technical skills, and some corporations leading global technologies," said Andrew W. Wyckoff, the director of the OECD's Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
The next-generation innovation in production was coined by the OECD, meaning a new industrial revolution that would fundamentally change the existing production method, resulting from an advance in cutting-edge convergence technology such as IoT, 3D printing, bio, and nanotechnology.
Korea was also recognized as one of the most innovative countries in the OECD Innovation Strategy 2015. The nation's "creative economy" policy was introduced as a successful case of strategic access to innovation, along with Germany's cutting-edge tech strategy and Finland's R&D innovation strategy.


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Yet another study has come out asserting the impact that eating less meat could have on our planet. Whether you believe the Greenhouse gas problem is overhyped or not, the facts remain that methane release is almost certainly warming earth's environment! The problem with meat is that it comes from animals, and to meet demand there has to be a LOT of animals, and the problem with this is that a LOT of animals means a lot of methane is released into the environment.
Changing the amount of cattle and poultry we produce is a sure fire way to save the planet, but an added incentive is that too much red meat is almost certainly increasing your risk of developing heart disease and some cancers. Is it time we changed?
Science Daily, (2015). New Report Could Hit U.S. Meat and Grain Industries Hard. Retrieved 2oth February, 2015, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/fc684f5b2a99e3fba84ca817c48073e3.htm


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Rich (@rmanlan) and Anthony (@anthonyslai) have been heads-down enhancing the WebCenter Chrome extension for quite some time now.
Today, Rich let me know it's nearly done and almost ready for some beta testing.
The extension still posts to WebCenter and shows you your activity stream, which is pretty sweet in and of itself, but it also does browser capture, markup and upload to WebCenter UCM. Rich teased adding upload to consumer sites, e.g. Flickr and Picasa, but I'm not sure they've had time to build those yet.
What's the big deal?
Well, think about all the times you've wanted to show someone what you see in a browser window. It's more than you'd think offhand, and this use case is the bread and butter of web application developers, which we are.
You might already use OS tools like OS X's native screen capture shortcuts (or the little-known Grab app that comes with OS X), Skitch, Jing, HyperSnap, etc. to accomplish this.
How much easier would it be if you had this same functionality in your browser? With the ability to markup the capture. And the ability to upload it to a location for sharing. Oh, and the ability to share it to a collaborative application like WebCenter, where it could be displayed inline in the activity stream?
Pretty sweet, right.
Anyway, I've included a sanitized screen capture that Rich shared. I'm hoping to get the extension updated later this week and take it for a spin.
If you're an employee, hit me up for details on how to get and use this extension. If you're not, come to OpenWorld and attend our session, where the guys will be demonstrating this and other cool WebCenter stuff they've built, as well as sharing code and ideas.
Find the comments.


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Five UCR Professors Among Most Influential Scientists in Their Fields
University of California tops annual Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list with 165 influential faculty
UCR's Highly Cited Researchers, clockwise from top left, Yadong Yin, Charles Wyman, Alexander Balandin, Wei Ren and Julia Bailey-Serres.
Five UCR professors are among the 165 UC faculty named as the most influential scientists in their fields in 2015, a number unmatched by any other university in the world, according to an analysis by Thomson Reuters.
The UC system led the 2015 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list, which named more than 3,000 scientists from around the globe whose work was in the top 1 percent of most referenced research in academic journals from 2003 to 2013.
The purpose of the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers List is to identify contemporary authors whose research has significantly influenced others in their field.
"Undeniably, Highly Cited Researchers have demonstrated that their work is central to current, ongoing research across the range of scholarly and scientific advancement and that they are the ones to watch," Thomson Reuters said in its story about the rankings.
The UCR professors named in the UC's Highly Cited Researchers list are:
- Julia Bailey-Serres, professor of genetics and geneticist
- Alexander Balandin, UC Presidential Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, founding chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Program in BCOE and director of the Nano-Device Laboratory
- Wei Ren, professor of electrical and computer engineering
- Charles E. Wyman, distinguished professor of chemical and environmental engineering and the Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering
- Yadong Yin, professor of chemistry and principal investigator of the Yin Group, whose research is focused on properties and formation of nanostructures
Read more about the UC's ranking here. The entire Thomson Reuters article and rankings can be found here.
Archived under: Inside UCR, Science/Technology, Alexander Balandin, Charles E. Wyman, Julia Bailey-Serres, press release, Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list, Wei Ren, Yadong Yin
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And one for late afternoon.
Being a morning person, it is pretty easy for me to be up and moving early in the day, even before the sun is up. So many of my en plein air paintings are morning scenes. But, Vermont is experiencing an arctic cold snap and the temperature at 6am this morning was -18. It is possible to paint in sub-zero temperatures, but it is not pleasant. "Tunbridge Hills" was done on a morning when the temperature was -17. You could say I learned my lesson that morning.
I've painted this scene a number of times before. It is a secluded spot that looks south into the Hoosick River valley around Pownal, Vermont. But never in late afternoon winter light.
The most attractive feature of this scene is the contrasting patterns of open fields and tree lines. In this weak, afternoon light, most of the snow covered fields were in patterns of blue-gray shade and shadow, but still light enough to provide contrast with the trees and forests around them.
The scene was dramatic, but it seemed that by the time the sun was about to disappear, it would be even more dramatic. So color and value choices were dictated by what I was expecting to happen, rather than what I was seeing in the moment. The sun was about to disappear, just as the painting was finished. The result was not far from the reality.


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Linking ≠ endorsement.
1) US Issues Draft Rules on Commercial Use of Drones; Insurers Welcome
2) [292] Mosler: weak Greek position because of refusal to consider Grexit – YouTube
3) A new era for monetary policy – Adair Turner – YouTube
4) JLL: Investor Appetite for Multifamily Housing is Booming – YouTube
5) Northeast and Eastern US Winter Storms
6) Mortgage applications plunge as rates hit highest level of the year
7) Producer Price Index News Release text 8:30 am (EST), Wednesday, February 18, 2015
8) Construction Materials Prices Plummet in First Month of 2015
9) Farmers disappointed by restrictions in proposed drone rules | Reuters
10) FAA Opens Skies to Drones in First US Unmanned Flight Regulation – Bloomberg Business
11) High court rules state-level oil-and-gas regulation not violation of city's home rule rights | Fox Business
12) Inequality Has Actually Not Risen Since the Financial Crisis – NYTimescom
13) German economic growth smashes expectations | ETF,GDP,Germany,PMI | Markit Commentary
14) For Home Prices, The Rebound Effect Is Over. Long Live Job Growth – Forbes
15) My Experience With The Troika In Ireland
16) Is the $1tn China carry trade imploding? | beyondbrics
17) Why Greek Exit From The Euro Would Be A Very Bad Idea – Forbes
18) New bill would raise Washington minimum wage, kill Seattle's $15 minimum wage law – Puget Sound Business Journal
19) Ocean Acidification Seen From Space Calls For Attention – American News
20) Firefighters warn against dangers of space heaters – WMBFNewscom, Myrtle Beach/Florence SC, Weather
⇧ U.S. Issues Draft Rules on Commercial Use of Drones; Insurers Welcome
"Insurance coverage for drone operators and clients will likely be a practical requirement for any commercial use, but the FAA wisely chose not to make this a federal requirement," said Jimi Grande, NAMIC vice president of federal affairs.
See numbers 9 & 10 below. Also see Hill & Usher's https://aerialpak.com/index.jsp for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) coverage: A comprehensive insurance program designed in partnership with the Remote Control Aerial Photography Association (RCAPA) and administered by Hill & Usher Insurance & Surety.
⇧ [292] Mosler: weak Greek position because of refusal to consider Grexit – YouTube
…Warren Mosler — president of Valance Co., Inc and chairman of Consulier Engineering. Warren tells us the EU's approach to the Greek debt crisis has failed to lift the Greek economy. He explains the difference between a currency issuer and a currency user and warns that Greece cannot maximize its negotiating leverage given its insistence that it will not exit the eurozone. If Mosler were to negotiate on Greece's behalf, all options would be on the table, as he believes the potential for Greece to manifest currency issuer status best allows it to fulfil public purpose and return Greece to economic health.
We agree with Warren Mosler that it would be completely doable; however, leaving should be a very last resort. It would be extremely politically counter-productive for the EU project of a United States of Europe, which Europe really needs and ought to include Russia.
Germany is the problem, not Greece. Warren Mosler knows that by the way. We aren't suggesting otherwise. He seems to think Germany won't relax enough, so the breakup will happen.
If Greece does exit and does benefit economically relative to its current situation, Spain and others will quite possibly follow that lead. Germany may will have killed the EU and eurozone as we know them. Also see number 17 below.
⇧ A new era for monetary policy – Adair Turner – YouTube
A high-level workshop "A new era for monetary policy" with Lord Turner, a Senior Fellow at the Institute of New Economic Thinking took place on October 7th 2014 in London to explore new thinking on debt, economic instability, and monetary policy.
This is very fine at explaining how we arrived where we are but not the solution.
Even Positive Money's full-reserve idea is not radical enough.
What we need is full democratization of the monetary and financial system wherein we completely eliminate debt, both private and public, and eliminate inflation and deflation while lifting all boats until technology replaces mandatory human labor/work for compensation.
⇧ JLL: Investor Appetite for Multifamily Housing is Booming – YouTube
Job growth drives the multifamily sector's growing momentum, according to this video segment from JLL: "Multifamily fundamentals are firing on all cylinders, setting the stage for a robust lending environment in 2015."
It's more than job growth. It's also the lack of it. People can't afford to purchase. Hopefully, the vast majority will be too smart and knowledgeable to fall for the lower lending-standards being pushed at them.
⇧ Northeast and Eastern U.S. Winter Storms
Boston had received 90.2 inches of snow since January 23, breaking the record for snowfall amounts over such a short period of time.
⇧ Mortgage applications plunge as rates hit highest level of the year
Just 25 percent of buyers in 2014 using conventional or FHA loans put less than 3 percent down on their home purchases, according to RealtyTrac. That is down from 27 percent in 2013 and down from a peak of 46 percent in 2009, when the first-time homebuyer tax credit went into effect. First-time buyers are more likely to put less cash down on their home purchases.
It just shows how sensitive today's buyers are to the slightest moves in rates. The 30-year fixed is still below 4 percent, historically very low, but home prices are still rising. Prices are not being driven as much by demand as they are by incredibly tight inventory.
Demand is unlikely to improve this week, not for refinances nor for purchases. Interest rates jumped again Tuesday, reacting quickly to a selloff in the bond market. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury, which moved markedly higher. Investors fled the safe-haven bond trade, as fears about Greece and the euro zone abated.
⇧ Producer Price Index News Release text 8:30 a.m. (EST), Wednesday, February 18, 2015
The Producer Price Index for final demand decreased 0.8 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices moved down 0.2 percent in both December and November. On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand was unchanged for the 12 months ended in January.
That will give the Fed pause concerning raising the Fed rate.
⇧ Construction Materials Prices Plummet in First Month of 2015
"The decline in oil and petroleum prices finally showed up in the PPI data. In general, falling input prices are good for contractors but for those involved in oil exploration and mining activities, the news is not nearly as positive." —ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.
⇧ Farmers disappointed by restrictions in proposed drone rules | Reuters
U.S. farmers hoping to use drones to locate lost livestock or monitor trouble spots in their fields were disappointed by what they say are overly restrictive commercial drone rules proposed Sunday by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Two of the long-awaited draft rules were singled out for particular criticism: a requirement that pilots remain in visual contact with their drones at all times and a height restriction that limits the crafts to flying no more than 500 feet above ground. These constraints, farmers and drone operators say, would limit a drone's range — and consequently its usefulness.
We haven't studied the FAA's rationales in depth. We can, nevertheless, think of many rationales on both sides of this technology.
⇧ FAA Opens Skies to Drones in First U.S. Unmanned Flight Regulation – Bloomberg Business
…the FAA is considering creating more flexible rules for "micro" drones lighter than 4.4 pounds, which pose lower risks. The agency is asking for the public's reaction to the idea.
There will be a 60-day public comment period on the regulations.
We'd still want them regulated. The use of UAV's without any regulations no matter the vehicle's size would be anarchistic, chaotic, and dangerous.
We think noise is also an issue, and we haven't seen that addressed, though we're sure it's been discussed or being discussed somewhere in the federal agency. Limited hours of operation should be considered.
Should the vehicles have to emit a GPS and serial-number signal tied to the specific operator, at least for the larger vehicles?
What about hackability? What minimum levels of security should be mandatory?
⇧ High court rules state-level oil-and-gas regulation not violation of city's home rule rights | Fox Business
Certain local zoning laws can't be used to supersede Ohio's state-level system for regulating oil and gas drilling, a fiercely divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Three justices — Paul Pfeifer, Judith Lanzinger and William O'Neill — dissented in the decision.
"Let's be clear here," wrote O'Neill. "The Ohio General Assembly has created a zookeeper to feed the elephant in the living room. What the drilling industry has bought and paid for in campaign contributions they shall receive. The oil and gas industry has gotten its way, and local control of drilling-location decisions has been unceremoniously taken away from the citizens of Ohio."
Fracking and its negative consequences are at issue. Real estate values can plummet after the damage has been done. Insurance rates can shoot up or coverage become unavailable. Health and life can be put in harm's way. If fracking money buys state-level politicians, local communities are left unrepresented and defenseless.
⇧ Inequality Has Actually Not Risen Since the Financial Crisis – NYTimes.com
David Leonhardt:
No question, inequality is extremely high from a historical perspective — worrisomely so. But a new analysis, by Stephen J. Rose of George Washington University, adds an important wrinkle to the story: Income inequality has not actually risen since the financial crisis began.
How could that be? Because the crisis, which ran roughly from 2007 to 2010, reduced the pretax incomes of the wealthiest Americans more than the incomes of any group. The wealthy have indeed received the bulk of the gains since the recovery began, but they still haven't recovered their losses.
…Washington's recent efforts to fight inequality — as imperfect and restrained as they've been — have made a bigger difference than many people realize.
…. The Great Depression and the New Deal helped reverse the high inequality of the 1920s. The last several years haven't reversed more than a small fraction of the post-1980 rise in inequality.
It's even possible that inequality will soon surpass its 2007 peak, because the affluent often fare better than any other group in the second half of an economic expansion. …
In the last several years, however, the federal government has tried to combat inequality, through a combination of tax and spending policies. These efforts weren't aggressive enough to bring major raises to most families. The financial crisis was too big, and Washington's response was too restrained. Yet the efforts were aggressive enough to make a difference.
They are a reminder that rising inequality is not inevitable, and that the country has the power to shape its economy.
This is old news in that it was all stated when Thomas Piketty's book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, was the hot topic.
In addition, we now have a Republican Congress.
The trend is far from over unless the "99%" actually stop that long-term trend.
Furthermore, the issue isn't with a flat tax. It's with the degree of what should be a progressive tax.
Let's also not forget hidden wealth. We've seen some secret bank accounts exposed (but all?). We've also seen corporations offshore their tax burden. Who are the shareholders (wealth, not just income)?
⇧ German economic growth smashes expectations | ETF,GDP,Germany,PMI | Markit Commentary
The weak German GDP numbers in the second and third quarters (-0.1% and 0.1% respectively) always sat uncomfortably with stronger signals from the PMI surveys (see our note here). Like the surveys, the GDP data now indicate that Germany in fact had a reasonably good year over 2014 as a whole, growing 1.6%. The GDP data for Germany have simply been more volatile than the PMI….
That will only hurt Greece in negotiations.
⇧ For Home Prices, The Rebound Effect Is Over. Long Live Job Growth – Forbes
This is big news. For much of the recovery, the rebound effect was more closely tied to local price gains than job growth was. But today, things have reversed: Job growth is now much more important than the rebound effect. As home prices have increased and gotten close to long-term normal levels, and as investors and foreclosure sales have become a smaller part of housing activity, fundamental drivers of housing demand — like job growth—have taken over again.
Nationwide, rents rose 6.5% year-over-year in January. The three large rental markets with the steepest rent increases — Denver, Oakland, and San Francisco — all have had job growth of 2% or more. In general, metros with faster job growth have larger rent increases, though some Sunbelt markets like Riverside-San Bernardino, Houston, and San Diego have had impressive job growth with more limited rent increases.
It is good news, but sustainability is the issue. We won't run through the litany of things that could go wrong. We're also still having to wait for the oil-price shock to settle enough to really tell what's happened. The Trulia data is too old for that.
⇧ My Experience With The Troika In Ireland
Paul Sweeney was Chief Economist with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions:
While there was growth in jobs and incomes in the 7-year period after 2001 until the Crash of 2008, policy was now boosting a massive bubble. It was based on uber-liberal economic policies of de-regulation, privatisation, massive tax shifting from direct to indirect taxes, many of which were based on property, large tax "incentives" and pro-cyclical fiscal policies.
In the latter years of the boom it may have appeared as if ultra-free market liberalism was working, but it was a gross illusion. We lost almost a decade of economic progress, many Irish businesses closed, all Irish banks collapsed, unemployment and emigration soared and we lost our dignity.
The Troika bailout team of the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank took over the running of the country for 3 years on 18 November 2010. …
The key elements were to rescue the banks, asset disposals (privatisations), a programme of fiscal consolidation (austerity), a range of structural reforms (interference in labour affairs, pay cuts and firings) and a downsizing of the state in 'a business friendly environment.'
The new government of Fine Gael and Labour renegotiated the MOU and the first thing it did was to reverse the cut in the minimum wage, which had just been implemented by the previous government. It also reduced the proportion of the consolidation taken by cuts and increased the tax element — a more progressive balance. This early adjustment in the fiscal balance between cuts on public services, which hurt the poor, and targeted tax rises, sought by the trade unions, was important and progressive.
The new government also had a major success in February 2013 when it negotiated a deal (the Promissory Notes) to extend the length of time of the debt repayments for up to 40 years, at lower interest rates. This has a major economic impact. It failed, however, in 'burden sharing' of the cost of rescuing the banks with other foreign banks and other creditors. This failure did not go down well with the Irish public.
For a Europhile, the attitude, policies and arrogance of the Commission was deeply disappointing as I had believed that it was there to serve the people of Europe and that social solidarity and society were an integral part of what Europe was about. Ecofin is clearly run by a group of economists who are slaves to an out-dated ideology. This ideology is failing Europe today.
⇧ Is the $1tn China carry trade imploding? | beyondbrics
Analysts say these outflows reveal an unwinding of the "China carry trade", through which speculators have borrowed short-term from overseas banks at relatively low interest rates and then invested in high-yielding Chinese assets amid expectations of a renminbi appreciation.
"As for the source of outflows, we believe that the unwinding of carry trades, and other speculative short-term flows, has played a major role," said Jason Daw at Societe Generale in Singapore. "Outflows in those short-term accounts are likely to remain sizeable," he added.
In an economy engorged by debt — currently estimated to amount to around 240 per cent of GDP — China faces the threat that if liquidity depletes sharply, it may depress growth. Thus Beijing has to find a way to replenish the liquidity lost through capital outflows.
One option, analysts said, would be to cut interest rates, invigorating companies by reducing their debt service burden while making it cheaper to borrow. But this course of action may also depress the renminbi, triggering further outflows as investors dump the "carry".
This is the reason why, analysts said, Beijing decided…to cut its bank required reserve ratios (RRR), a move that does not involve altering interest rates but nevertheless replenishes liquidity lost through capital outflows by liberating effectively frozen deposits in the banking system.
They also cut rates.
They loosened capital controls, allowing more Chinese to invest outside China.
We think all of this is part of China more internationalizing their currency against the US dollar as the world's reserve currency.
It's one of many steps (an international bank, various trade deals, etc.) China has taken to help free up China and its allies from US financial and economic global domination.
⇧ Why Greek Exit From The Euro Would Be A Very Bad Idea – Forbes
Frances Coppola:
…insolvency of the Greek central bank would frankly be the least of anyone's worries in the event of a Greek sovereign default. The majority of Greek sovereign debt is held not by banks — even Greek ones — but by a range of EU institutions including the ECB, the EFSF and Eurozone governments through bilateral lending. And by the IMF. All of these institutions would lose substantial amounts of money if Greece defaulted on its debt. This would be the case whether or not Greek default was accompanied by exit from the Euro.
It is in no-one's interests for Greece to default, and very foolish indeed for the Eurozone to indulge in the sort of brinkmanship that could force it to default. Have we so soon forgotten the failure of the last-minute talks intended to rescue Lehman Brothers? We surely are not going to make the mistake of believing that there would be no systemic consequences from a Greek default. Default of a sovereign is NEVER without systemic consequences, however small the country — and Greece, although a small country, is certainly not insignificant.
But should Greece leave the Eurozone anyway? Some think that it would be better for it to leave. It could then set up its own currency, re-denominate its debts into the new currency and reflate its economy. The currency would devalue significantly, giving it competitive advantage, while monetary reflation would stimulate the economy and payment of debt in the (devalued) new currency would be far less onerous. What's not to like?
There is a great deal not to like. For Greece, the consequences would be pretty unpleasant, at least in the short term. [Frances continues by explaining how it would be hard and risky for everyone.]
True, but if Germany won't be flexible, Greece will be shoved out and will have to make the best of a bad situation.
The problem is neoliberal economics and the bankers' hatred of the leveling inherent in real democracy.
⇧ New bill would raise Washington minimum wage, kill Seattle's $15 minimum wage law – Puget Sound Business Journal
The bill would raise the minimum wage annually to match inflation….
That part makes good sense. We've always been for it going back many decades. Index the minimum wage to inflation, but make that the local-inflation rate: Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).
⇧ Ocean Acidification Seen From Space Calls For Attention – American News
About 1/4 of the carbon dioxide released through human interactions is absorbed by the oceans, where water can transform the gas into carbonic acid. Even though this process has temporarily slowed the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere, it has also raised acidity in oceans, potentially harming marine wildlife.
"Oceans around the globe have become 30% more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)."
⇧ Firefighters warn against dangers of space heaters – WMBFNews.com, Myrtle Beach/Florence SC, Weather
While they make look small and safe, space heaters can cause a lot of problems. They are one of the leading causes of home heating fires across the country.While they make look small and safe, space heaters can cause a lot of problems. They are one of the leading causes of home heating fires across the country.
There are insurance policies where the use of space heaters is prohibited, including by type of heater. Check your policy, and understand that not all space heaters are created equal.


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Saturday 6 August 2016
St Helens to East Cowes
9 miles (+ bus)
Waverley Park Caravan Site
The wind had died to nothing overnight and so my tent and the long grass were soaking in the morning. The situation was not helped by my pitch being totally in the shade on a very sunny day. Not too much of a problem because the wind had picked up again so I just took my tent down, stood in the sunshine, and "flew" it like a kite.
The campsite/farm had an onsite cafe that opened at 9am. By 8.50 there were 30 people outside. I was hungry so went in the back door that had been opened to let some cool air in. The lovely lady let me get my order in before the rush and so, when the doors opened at 9, I was already eating scrambled eggs and drinking a mug of tea. I left a big tip (even though the fare wasn't that good so I've no idea why there was such a queue).
I set off feeling happy with the world.
Before Nettlestone and after Ryde the path veered inland. It seemed to be taking me on a tour of the posh homes. Seaview in particular seemed to be where the sailing fraternity live. There were some lovely houses facing the Solent around Nettlestone Point, and lots of people milling about near dinghies. On such a beautiful, sunny day I wished I was joining them on the water (or in it).
It was so hot that I stopped at The Boat Inn, at Puckpool Point, for a break in the shade. They had newspapers so I lounged around for a bit pretending that my Saturday was just like everyone else's.
It wasn't far to Ryde, just along the seafront through Appley Park. I stopped to admire the lovely Appley Tower; a coastal folly built in 1875 and used as a summerhouse.
There were lots of people strung out along the very thin beach and in the sea. Some people were really quite far out in the sea and yet still stood up, which was a good indication of just how shallow the water was at high tide. With such sheltered, shallow water it's no wonder Ryde has been such a popular resort since Victorian times. It is also a SSSI and supports many migrating birds, eating on the mudflats at low tide.
I watched the hovercraft ferry coming and going; there was no way a boat would make it anywhere near the shore. There is a very long pier to service the regular ferry.
It was not a day for walking far so I stopped again, this time for a spot of lunch in a nice Italian restaurant near Ryde seafront. I wasn't getting very far very fast, but it was too hot and I had decided to catch a bus the last few miles to avoid walking on the road.
I walked through Ryde suburbs (more nice houses) before hitting the parkland around Quarr Abbey. By now it was early afternoon and there were scores of yachts in the Solent, taking part in Cowes Week.
I walked past the ruins of the Mediaeval Quarr Abbey. I thought rather ironic that a building of peace should have 2 gun loops for self defence against pirates. I wonder if the monks carried out regular firing practices?
I reached the current Quarr Abbey and stopped to admire it. It was a very large building to be built using small bricks and was architecturally very striking. It was designed by Dom Paul Bellot and built with Belgian bricks.
I walked through Fishbourne, up Kite Hill and across the bridge over Wooton Creek. Here I stopped and waited for the bus. The coast path to East Cowes followed a road and I thought I'd rather see it from the top deck of a bus.
I couldn't get a glimpse of Osborne House as we went past it and down the hill into East Cowes. Although it was Cowes Week the campsite was happy to let me stay and I pitched in a nice sheltered patch. There was a bar on site and high speed wifi so I stayed put to eat and catch up with my blog. There was a singer crooning old favourites in the bar and I had a lovely view of the Solent. All was well. I had debated heading across the River Medina to Cowes to see what was going on for Cowes Week but was advised it would just be full of drunken partygoers. I could hear the music loud enough until well after midnight anyway. It sounded like a good party!


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Buccaneers, offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford part ways
The Jeff Tedford era in Tampa Bay never truly began, and it never will.
The Buccaneers offensive coordinator who's been on medical leave all year after an offseason heart procedure won't return next season, the team announced Friday.
MORE: Bucs-Lions preview | Black Monday looms for NFL coaches on hot seat
"Throughout these difficult circumstances, our primary concern was for Jeff's health and well-being," said coach Lovie Smith. "After speaking with Jeff in recent days, it became obvious that a mutual decision to release him from his contract was the best way forward. We wish Jeff continued success in the next phase of his career."
Tedford, who came to Tampa with Smith, was billed as an offensive innovator who worked with quarterbacks as head coach for 11 years at California. Tampa's offense without Tedford has struggled mightily this season. He provided a lengthy explanation of his departure.
"My wife and I want to thank the entire Buccaneers organization — from the Glazer family, to Head Coach Lovie Smith and General Manager Jason Licht — for all the faith and confidence they expressed in me. I will always be grateful to them for the opportunity to participate in the off season program, the draft, free agency, training camp, the preseason and the beginning of the regular season. I have built friendships here with administration, coaches and players that will last a lifetime.
"When my health issues arose, I simply tried to ignore them and then I made the mistake of twice trying to come back too early. At that point, the organization proposed, and I agreed, that an indefinite leave of absence would allow me the proper amount of time to rest and rehabilitate myself. I am happy to state that I'm healthy now and feeling great.
"The Buccaneers have been very accommodating to me and my family during this time and, while they left the door open for a possible return, I feel that coming back at this point would disrupt the trust and continuity that builds throughout the season in offensive meeting rooms and on the sidelines. Quarterbacks Coach Marcus Arroyo, along with the rest of the offensive staff, had to step up and shoulder the load and they have done a great job under very difficult circumstances. I simply could not, in good conscience, become more of an obstacle to Lovie, to Marcus, the offensive staff and the whole organization – after all they have done for me. You just can't go backwards. I can see that they are so close to turning the corner and I don't want to hinder that progress.
"Therefore, I have decided — with the organization's blessing — that it would be best if the Bucs moved forward without my return and I, now healthy and stronger for having gone through this temporary setback, will pursue other opportunities.
I would also like to express my deep gratitude to all of the Bucs fans who expressed their support, best wishes, and prayers for me during this season. I wish the entire Bucs organization and fan base great success and there will always be a very special place in my heart for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers."


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Thankfully, more people are choosing to adopt companion animals, and the term "puppy mill" is now well-known and understood. Even still, there are still people out there who haven't heard of puppy mills, or who don't understand the connection between puppy mills and puppies purchased online or through pet stores.
Puppy mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding facilities, typically run on a "factory farm" model. In these places, the welfare and happiness of the dogs tend to be a far lower priority for the owner than the aim of simply turning a profit. Dogs are usually held in small, crowded wire cages and provided with the bare minimum of care required to keep them alive. Lack of space, inadequate nutrition, poor hygiene, and rampant overbreeding are commonplace in puppy mills, leaving the dogs with a host of health issues ranging from dental problems, severely matted fur, eye, ear, and throat infections, and severe genetic deformities.
According to the ASPCA, there are an estimated 10,000 puppy mills in the U.S. Approximately 2,000-3,000 of these are operating legally and licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It's shocking to many that these places are even allowed to exist, but due to weak laws and poor enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act — which only requires minimum standards of care to begin with — puppy mills are incredibly difficult to shut down.
But now we have a chance to give the USDA feedback! Harley's Dream, a non-profit organization created to educate the public about puppy mills, shared the news. Harley was a six-pound chihuahua who spent ten years living in a cramped cage on a puppy mill. He was finally freed, immediately given medical treatment and advocated for the end of puppy mills with his devoted family until his death in 2016.
Harley's Dream is encouraging animal lovers to submit a comment to the USDA on, "potential revisions to the licensing requirements under our Animal Welfare Act regulations to promote compliance with the Act, reduce licensing fees, and strengthen existing safeguards that prevent any individual whose license has been suspended or revoked, or who has a history of noncompliance, from obtaining a license or working with regulated animals."
You can submit your comment HERE and make sure to do so soon because the deadline for comments is November 2nd! Suggested comments include:
OPPOSE: Encourage the USDA to keep the license expiration at 1 year instead of extending the expiration date from 3 to 5 years.
OPPOSE: Ask the USDA to raise the licensing fee instead of reducing and/or eliminating it.
SUPPORT: Applicants should have to disclose any animal cruelty convictions or other violation of Federal, State, or local laws or regulations pertaining to animals.
SUPPORT: Strengthening existing prohibitions to expressly restrict individuals and businesses whose licenses have been suspended or revoked from working for other regulated entities, and prevent individuals with histories of noncompliance from applying for new licenses through different individuals or business names.
If you don't want to submit a comment online, you can also mail in your thoughts to Docket No. APHIS-2017-0062, Regulatory Analysis and Development PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8 4700 River Road Unit 118 Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Your mailed comments must be received by November 2nd.
According to Harley's Dream, the USDA is responsible for ensuring that those with a license to breed must comply with the AWA's humane standards of care. The USDA also has the authority to suspend or revoke license's if the AWA's standards are not met.
Dogs in puppy mills don't have a voice, so it's important for us to speak up for them. Please take a moment to speak out against puppy mills, that only exist because of consumer demand, as well as weak laws that allow these operations to remain in business. And be sure to send this to your other animal loving friends and ask them to submit a comment, too!
Image Source: Harley's Dream


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In his first interview since the tightened FDI rules for the e-commerce sector came into effect in February, Flipkart Group CEO talks about the next phase for the e-tailer, synergies with Walmart in grocery & supply chain and getting Flipkart IPO-ready. Edited excerpts below:
How has the last one year been after Walmart acquired Flipkart?
Flipkart has been built on very strong foundations and the credit for that goes to the founders. When the company started in 2007, the big opportunities the founders saw was in organising the unorganised commerce industry and the ecosystem surrounding it like logistics, payments, and supply chain. And if we look at where we are today, we are leaders in all of these sectors and we continue to grow and expand the market.
What's the next phase for Flipkart?
The big focus is how do you get to the next 100 million and then the next 100 million customers. There has been no change in the operating philosophy of the company. It is what it used to be. We used to stand for giving access to good quality selection and that is still the case. One of the founding missions of the company was to be known as the Make In India technology powerhouse and we continue to do that.
Read: New players will expand e-commerce market more: Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy
Over the last one week, there's been media speculation about you quitting Flipkart. Could you comment on the reports?
I am absolutely not going anywhere and I am super committed to the Flipkart and Walmart partnership. The opportunity and ability to impact the daily lives of hundreds of millions of customers is a rare one. We get to organise old industries like commerce and logistics, and that too in a country like India.
Will we see some of Walmart's competencies in grocery and supply chain play out in Flipkart?
There is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn from Walmart. We are an 11-year-old company while Walmart has a lot of history behind them. And across several functions, be it compliance, supply chain, commercial, sourcing, we are very happy to be learning all this from them.
They have by far among the most sophisticated grocery businesses in the world. But our grocery business is a hyperlocal one so I would call it more learnings and education than synergies with Walmart. Since the partnership started between the two companies last year, the engagement has been pull-based from Flipkart than a push-based from Walmart.
Anything happening on the food retail front? Would you apply for a food-only retailing licence?
We have not got into fruits and vegetables retail. A huge amount of problem solving still has to go into commerce for grocery in India. We took up that challenge about two years ago in one city and we did dry grocery and FMCG, and not fresh. What we thought was, we will solve for product experience, selection, supply chain, customer retention, understand the category better and then continue to expand in other cities. When we believe the problem is solved, we will expand it further and at that time we will experiment with fruits and vegetables.
Do you plan to enter the fresh category in the future?
Even if we do it, it will be a pilot to get learnings for the business, and not a full-fledged launch. The growth of fruits and vegetables category is also linked to the development of the country. If you look at the contribution of fresh fruits and vegetables to the total grocery market in India, it is still not as big as some of the Western countries. The bigger focus is staples, FMCG and dry groceries, after which we will experiment and problem solve for fresh as we grow.
What are your plans for expanding grocery?
Right now we are in five cities. In the next six months, we will launch 3-4 more cities. We are taking it a little slow as we are still problem-solving.
How are you looking at the competitive environment given that Reliance Industries is expected to launch later this year and Amazon is already a formidable rival?
Today the e-commerce market is very thinly penetrated in single digit and a lot of problem-solving and work has to go into it to become 15-20% of the overall retail category. We believe that if more players operate in this space, it will further expand the market, and it will benefit all the stakeholders - kirana stores, SMBs merchants, consumers. There will be more innovation in the space.
We welcome anybody to come into the market. We also welcome any regulation that will help create some stability in the sector. Ideally, a growth-driven regulatory framework which benefits all merchants and customers.
How have the latest FDI regulation in e-commerce impacted the business?
We have always been compliant and take pride in the fact that since the company was set up we have embraced regulatory framework and in many cases collaborated with the government.
Is Walmart expecting Flipkart to be IPO ready soon?
Our current structure, provides absolutely all the right incentives for the local leadership to acquire talent to grow. If we look at the long-term strategy, IPO has been a part of the strategy but no timeline.
With regard to Myntra-Jabong, there's been a slew of restructuring in the top management, what's the road ahead?
The business is performing extremely well and we are very proud of where we are. There is a huge amount of focus which will continue in the fashion business across all three companies. The right word to use is not synergies, at Flipkart, we have always tried to collaborate and if there are areas to collaborate and learn from each other in the future, we will continue to do that.
On the fashion business, from consumer transaction point of view, it is the biggest category after grocery and continues to be a big focus for Flipkart.
How has the overall growth been in the e-commerce market over the last couple of quarters?
The way we look at the market is - there are few categories which are highly penetrated, anywhere between 20-40% the likes of consumer electronics and mobile phones. If you look at the market related to home, general merchandise, women, mom and baby care, appliances, - then our belief is that it is growing at 60-70% in the last one year.
Is e-commerce growth coming from smaller towns and cities or top 10 cities?
I will have to use our own data as proxy, so without giving specific numbers, growth in the non-top 10 cities in the country is the double of that of the top 10 cities. Over the last year, growth has also been skewed towards the next 30-40 cities.


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Comment: Use Twitter for News
Being part of a fast-paced generation, where time is essential and something is happening every second, can be difficult to keep up with. There's a place with millions of people where you can receive the latest events, news, have direct access to media members, public officials, attorneys, law firms, and other internet users who want to communicate with you. This place is Twitter; its users see their popularity increase with each mention and new follower. By using 140 character messages, hash tags, retweets and direct messages you'll be able to connect with potential customers, businesses, friends and reconnect with old ones. Twitter gets you on search engines, group similar tweets together and be listed among other well-known Twitter users. The newsfeed is accessible either on your mobile device or computer and the codes are available for your website. If you've ever wondered how to have access to all these benefits, then all you have to do is join Twitter and when you do, don't hesitate to follow us with one simple click to this button.
Article: New York Times Exposes 'Shame of America's Family Detention Camps'. By Wendy Feliz
Blogging: Old Asylum Cases Are the New Priority. By Jason Dzubow
Blogging: Immigration Lawyer Issues Formal Request for Obama's Prosecution. By Matthew Kolken
News: USCIS Updated DACA F.A.Q.
News: DOS FAQs on Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program AppointmentsFocus: The EB-5 Summit For Attorneys and Developers Los Angeles, CA - Final Deadline
ILW.COM is proud to announce that the EB-5 Summit For Attorneys and Developers will be taking place on February 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, CA. Speakers include: Angelo Paparelli (Discussion Leader), Allen Chi, Nima Korpivaara, Dawn Lurie, Michael Petrucelli, John Roth, Reid Thomas, and others to be announced. The curriculum is as follows:
- Where does EB-5 fit in the Capital Stack?
- How does one find investors
- Lawfully Advising on Choosing A Project
- Developing the I-924 Application
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- I-829 Applications and Documenting Job Creation
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- Roundtable with all speakers on all EB-5 Matters
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Fax: http://www.ilw.com/workshops/February2015eb5.pdf
The Final Deadline is February 17th. Don't delay, act today!
Headline: How the CDC Responded to GOP Questions About Immigration and Measles Click here
Headline: Immigration Protests Return to Hill, Activists Convene on Exec Action Click here
Headline: Can This Republican Win the Immigration Fight that Marco Rubio Couldn't? Click here
Headline: Unauthorized Immigrants' Access to Driver's Licenses Is at Risk Click here
Headline: Homeland Security Chief To Outline US Immigration Efforts Click here
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Publisher: Sam Udani ISSN: 1930-062X
Advisory Board: Jason Dzubow, Rami Fakhoury, Matthew Kolken, Chris Musillo, Lory Rosenberg, Greg Siskind, Joel Stewart, Margaret Wong


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Country: Canada
Genre(s): Alternative Progressive Rock/Metal
Format: digital
Release date: May 18, 2018
1. Awaken (0:37)
2. Walk With Me (3:01)
3. In Silence (4:39)
4. These Wars (4:50)
5. Awakening (3:51)
6. So Blind (4:20)
7. Fading (3:54)
8. Join The Parade (4:39)
9. Divide (4:48)
10. Back Again (5:31)
Nathan Da Silva - vocals, guitars
Sarah Westbrook - keyboards, synthesizers, samples
Alberto Campuzano - bass guitar, vocals
Brendan Soares - drums, vocals
In true prog fashion, THE SLYDE stays true to their mission statement with their quirky arrangements, aggressive edge, and ominous lyrics. The result is a thought provoking, high-octane album for fans of Rush, Dream Theater, Haken, Coheed and Cambria, and Megadeth. Driven by Nathan Da Silva's elegant vocals, Sarah Westbrook's powering keyboard skills, and the powerful rhythm section of Alberto Campuzano (Warmachine, ex-Annihilator) and Brendan Soares, the band are to catch the ears of any technically minded melodic prog rock fan.Media/Samples
Back Again
Web page


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Fictional Timeline of the Great Brain Series
Although John D. Fitzgerald was actually born in 1906, he set his series of books just a little bit earlier. Here is a reconstruction of the series timeline based on information presented within the books. The date that each book was published is in parenthesis beneath the title. The only break in the serial nature of the series is that Book 3 (Me and My Little Brain) occurs at the same time as the first half of Book 4 (The Great Brain at the Academy). Book 3 covers events that occur in Adenville with John and the rest of the family while Tom and Sweyn are off at the Catholic Academy in Salt Lake City, as described in Book 4. That was certainly an exciting year for the Fitzgerald clan!


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Texas Book Festival Runner-Up Alisha Gabriel on the Pitchapalooza Experience
One of the highlights of the day was attending Pitchapalooza with Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. The blurb in the festival schedule says they "are co-founders of The Book Doctors, a company dedicated to helping authors get their books published. They are also co-authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How To Write It, Sell It, and Market It… Successfully. "
Randomly selected audience members were given one minute to pitch their books and then received feedback about it. The panelists were nice about it, too, and gave every single person good advice. Guess what? I was randomly selected! It was scary, but exciting. My nonfiction book, Catgut and Toenails: A Guide to Musical Instruments, was met with enthusiasm and helpful comments for improvement, as well as ways to successfully market myself and the book. Every panelist chimed in, which was inspiring.
As I made my way back to my seat, a tween sitting nearby whispered, "I'd read your book!" It made my day.


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I'll be taking notes. 😉
Posted on June 9, 2016 by Cindy Bruchman
A quick reminder to watch a musical you have not seen or revisit your favorite. Join in the discussion on June 13 and talk with Robin and I regarding musicals from stage to the screen. Sure, if your favorite on the screen didn't adapt from the stage, you can talk about it. Are you a fan of Bob Fosse? Rogers and Hammerstein? Who's better Andrew Lloyd Webber or Stephen Sondheim? Tell us what you think on Monday, June 13.
Just a sampling of common ones people have loved. Yes, lots of memories I've had on the stage in high school productions. West Side Story, my mother introduced me to that and I've loved it more than any other musical. An opinion about a couple of your favorites would be most welcome, Allen.
I will be there for Cabaret, as well as for some others.
This is one of my favourite 'films with music', but has no songs. Not sure if that disqualifies it? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085297/
Best wishes, Pete.
No singing. It is about a Flamenco version of Carmen. They dance to interpret the story. Saura's films are well-worth watching, if you ever get time. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082088/
I was always a fan of the lighthearted musicals (Seven Brothers for Seven Brides, Brigadoon, An American in Paris, Mary Poppins, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. . . ) So many have serious themes, which it seems almost inappropriate to sing about unhappy experiences. . .
That being said, WWII was an integral part of "The Sound of Music," prejudice was evident in "South Pacific," "The King and I," "Flower Drum Song," and "Porgy and Bess,"
"West Side Story" and "Carousel" have the main love interest(s), love is bittersweet with a couple's misunderstanding in the first and in the latter, a "carnival worker" or "carny" being rather shifty
Just some snippets I was pondering about musicals and why do they have such angst involved in them? (Phantom, Les Mis, Rent and Sweeney Todd wouldn't be around if death and misery weren't included!)
I am looking forward to reading what Cindy thinks about these all time favorite musicals! Thank you so much for allowing me to put my two cents in! 🙂
Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. --Eleanor Roosevelt
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. --Benjamin Franklin
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.--Milton Berle
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. -- Robert Louis Stevenson


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Niles Illich
Appeals Attorney
Niles was born in Dallas and attended Good Shephard Episcopal School before being admitted to Jesuit College Preparatory School. After graduating from Jesuit, Niles spent more than a decade in academia, first as an undergraduate student, then a graduate student, and finally a law student.
When Niles graduate from the University of Houston's Law Center he started his real legal education—a coveted clerkship on Houston's First Court of Appeals under the Honorable Evelyn V. Keyes. Niles attributes nearly everything he knows about legal writing and legal analysis to Justice Keyes.
Since leaving the Court, Niles has worked primarily as an appellate attorney representing clients in a variety of criminal and civil matters. These varied representations have covered the legal spectrum but include:
Criminal (Federal and State)
- Capital Murder
- Murder
- Aggravated Robbery
- Aggravated Assault
- Fraud
- Variety of Sex Offenses
- Variety of Drug Offenses
- Variety of Intoxication Offenses
- Variety of Firearms Offenses
- Theft
- Burglary, and many other offenses (including some misdemeanors).
Niles has also represented a variety of clients (both plaintiffs and defendants) in civil appeals. These include representation in federal and state courts in cases concerning:
- Contracts
- Property Division
- Maritime Appeals
- Foreclosure
- Shareholder Liability
- Personal Injury and,
- Protective Orders and a variety of other civil appeals
In addition to appellate practice, Niles also represents clients on writs of habeas corpus, writs of mandamus, and 2254/2255 motions. This representation has included:
- Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel
- Challenges to requirement to register as a sex offender and,
- Challenges to federal sentences.
Writs are a particular challenge for any attorney. But many writs require considerable research into nuanced psychological conditions. Niles' experience in academics permits him to do the required academic research into a particular condition to establish whether that condition provided a legitimate basis for a defense.
Finally, Niles has a limited administrative practice which has included seeking administrative relief for:
- Wrongful requirement to register as a sex offender, and
- Complex challenges to sales tax assessments.
Niles also has an active motion practice in which he writes or responds to motions in civil or criminal cases in state and federal court. Niles was often hired by other attorneys to write or respond to their motions.
Niles is admitted to all State Courts in Texas and has practiced before nearly all of the fourteen intermediate-appellate courts, the Court of Criminal Appeals (highest criminal court in Texas), and the Texas Supreme Court (highest civil court in Texas). The Court of Criminal Appeals is a discretionary court and thus very few defendants have a right to have the Court hear their case. Most cases that the Court hears are brought forward on a petition for discretionary review. The Court has granted leave to hear cases that Niles has brought.
Additionally, Niles has been admitted to numerous federal courts including the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Chicago).
For many years, Niles had his own office, The Law Office of Niles Illich, Ph.D., J.D. Niles and Scott worked together and eventually Scott encouraged Niles to join Scott H. Palmer, P.C., which Niles was delighted to do.
When not at work, Niles is usually taking his daughter to a birthday party. But if he has a free moment he can often be found at the Interabang bookstore looking for a new novel to read. Niles' favorite book is either Catch-22 or East of Eden.
Niles, his wife, and their daughter live in Dallas but dream about the mountains.


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The Patrologia Graeca is a collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers in Greek. This website links to the complete works edited by Jacque Paul Migne. For each volume there are several links to digitized versions, not all of the links are still working, but it should be possible to… Continue Reading Patrologia GraecaContinue reading
Tag: Greek
Studies on Christian Hagiography
A Blog on the Studies of Christian hagiography: It is mainly a collection of conference programmes and calls for papers up to 2016, when it was last updated. The entries are grouped according to topics (column on the right below call for participation, labels and blog archive). Useful, if you want… Continue Reading Studies on Christian HagiographyContinue reading


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This evening I had a thought about it and decided to also use DokuWiki on my own website. I've used it at c64tapes.org and I reckon it would be a good fit in order to consolidate and publish the information I have put together over time, such as my study of tape loaders. I plan to also include some loader disassembly that I have not published elsewhere so far, in order to make it widely available for future reference. I reckon this is going to look awesome 🙂
For the time being I am checking the availability and effectiveness of spam- and bruteforce- prevention systems for DokuWiki.
I am also going to look at a proper backup process in order to make sure that the information will be highly available for the years to come 🙂


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Product Code: PRPPFF
Use this Graduation Photo Fun Frame as a fun photo prop or decoration at your graduation party. This Graduation Photo Fun Frame measures 15 1/2" tall by 23 1/2" wide and is convenient for two people to hold for an amazing photo op.
Please allow ample time for delivery. The delivery date for this product is noted above for US shipping only. Please refer to checkout for delivery dates outside of the Contiguous 48 States.
Shipping charges are based on the value of the merchandise and not the number of shipments. For additional shipping information, please contact our Customer Service Department at 800-314-8736.


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Are you serious about cargo shipping? If YES, then you must have
already started looking for Nigerian freight forwarding companies.
But, did you know that not every Nigerian cargo and freight company
can provide you with all kinds of shipping services which you may
require when you to moving to different country or state. Some of
Nigerian freight forwarding companies are really professional in the
services they offer, while there are many of them which you may not
find good for your needs.
SEE ALSO: 7 Reasons Why You Need A Nigerian Freight Forwarding Company For Your Business
Now, the main thing is what you should be really doing so that you can
make the right choice of freight forwarding company. Here are few
rewarding points which you should really consider when choosing a
freight and cargo handling or haulage company:
- The international freight and cargo moving company should provide international car shipping services. Transferring your vehicle to another country along with household goods is definitely a tough and cumbersome task. And if the car which you are moving to another place is expensive like an Hummer Jeep, you get more concerned about it. You should be choosing a freight and cargo movement company which can protect your car from scratches, denting etc. Usually such kinds of denting, scratching and micro scratching is quite common during international freight forwarding.
- The freight and cargo moving company should provide affordable international moving solutions. Price is always one of the key factors which can either make or unmake your decision. For example if you are opting for international car shipping then you would need to look for container services. If the price of container is high, it would simply add to cumulative shipping price and as the result of which you have to pay huge shipping fee. Therefore, it is always better that you shop for budget international moving company so that you do not drill a hole in your pocket.
- The Nigerian freight and cargo moving company should be reliable and professional. An unprofessional company will play havoc with your cargo. There are chances that such types of international moving companies may even break your fragile goods without accepting the responsibility for it. Therefore, make sure that you shop and compare the services and solutions offered by the international moving company prior to making a final decision for it. The crux is that you should not be in a hurry to make the choice.
- The international freight shipping and cargo moving company should not take extra charges for providing door to door shipping services.
When you sign the service contract with international moving company
make sure that the company is including the charges of door to door
shipping. Discuss with the cargo and freight company on this point in
as much detail as you can, for eliminating the air of doubt, if any. A
delay in the beginning will rather be a safe start.
SEE ALSO: Chibyke Global's Warehousing & Distribution Services – All You Need To Know
Follow these points seriously so that you can hire smooth freight
forwarding services which are meant to fulfill your international
moving needs and requirements.
Happy Shipping!
About the Author:
Chibuike Ogbuanu is the Founder/CEO of Nigeria's Foremost Freight-Forwarding & logistics Company – Chibyke Global Systems Limited. Where he provides reliable air freight-forwarding services across Nigeria consistently.
Contact us today & get a discount on our freight-forwarding solutions. Also join us on Facebook and Twitter to stay on top of the latest in Freight Forwarding News, Tips & Discounts.


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- Facom 440 Series Metric Combi Wrench 14 Piece Set / 14 Piece Set
Facom 440 Series Metric Combi Wrench 14 Piece Set
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am a woman sixty-nine years old. On August 13, I was walking
and had a heart attack. I didn't know what it was. The next
morning I had another spell at five in the morning and asked
my husband to take me to the local hospital, which he did.
They determined through tests I had suffered a heart attack
and they put me in intensive coronary care.
The next morning,
which was August 15, I was told I would have to be taken
by ambulance to a larger hospital that did heart procedures.
I was put in an ambulance with a team of paramedics and
rushed to this hospital, through the emergency room to the
heart catherization lab where they proceeded to put a stent
in my heart.
I was awake but
don't remember much of the procedure. I remember calling
to someone that I was sick and something was wrong. I heard
two voices shouting, "She is in cardiac arrest. She is in
cardiac arrest."
At that point I
slipped into blackness and, what seemed like a second later,
I was beeped, transported into the most beautiful, shimmering
gold space more beautiful than you can imagine.
I was standing there
with a feeling of, "I am not afraid I am dead."
I looked over to
my left and I saw a group of children. They were kneeling
and some were looking over others' shoulders. They had old
fashioned hair styles like the twenty's or thirty's parted
in middle with two rolls on each side they were shimmering
They were looking
down. I looked down too at a figure on the heart cath table.
They seemed very interested in her. The figure was a woman
who was very young. My thoughts were they are guarding her.
The figure was draped in a gold sheet and was slightly turned
on the stomach reaching up toward the children.
At that moment,
I felt so much love, happiness, peace and contentment. It
was all around me and the shimmering gold was as far as
you could see. It was beauty beyond belief. There was no
sign of life, just stillness.
One of the figures
on the end turned and looked at me and her face was not
of a child but of a woman, small and with a beautiful face
of maybe 35.
I slipped backwards
to the black and when I woke up my husband and daughter
was at my side.
The doctors told
me I was clinically dead for five minutes.
When I left the
hospital I thanked the surgeon for saving my life. He shook
his head "no" and looked up toward heaven.
That is my experience.
I don't know where I was or why I was given a peak of so
much beauty, peace, love, happiness and contentment, but
I know when it is my time to go I will not be afraid.
Some people tell
me I was in heaven. Some people tell me I was in the glory
of God. Some people say nothing at all but I know I was
somewhere beautiful.
"The best way to get
to heaven is to take it with you." - Henry
Return to NDE Archives


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Research Methodology
Select Equities publishes a range of research reports - including stock research (initiation reports), stock updates, on the horizon and beyond the horizon reports, as well as a range of thematic and industry publications. The level of detail contained in each type of research report varies greatly. As does the scope and limitations of each report, which are explained in the various notes.
Select Equities employs a number of expert research analysts to analyse these securities. A list of Select Equities employees and a description of their job title, job function, qualifications and experience is provided elsewhere on this website.
Select Equities generally provides equity research on securities that are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and are outside of the top 100 largest stocks. These businesses will normally have a market capitalisation of between $50 million to $1 billion. We focus on industrial businesses, as opposed to resource companies, and businesses that we believe are under researched. Select Equities also publishes targeted research in relation to large cap stocks and companies listed overseas that are within the firm's scope of expertise.
At any given time we might be conducting detailed research on up to 30 different industrial companies. These securities can generally be found in the All Ordinaries Index, which contains 500 securities.
In addition, Select Equities may publish market commentaries on certain small, mid and large cap companies, both domestic and international, themes and market sectors that are written by our Institutional Research Sales team. Where these market commentaries contain recommendations on particular stocks, they are subject to review, approval and conflicts management procedures in the same way as 'normal' research reports.
Quality is one of the filters that Select Equities applies when selecting stocks for research or conducting research. A simple example of how this filter can be applied is that we will generally exclude unprofitable businesses from our research universe. Stocks selected for research by Select Equities may therefore be considered, to a greater or lesser extent, best of breed and this may explain why our research reports do not often contain sell recommendations.
Select Equities standard research process involves looking for high quality businesses, which have a sustainable competitive advantage, and identifying investment catalysts relevant to those or other businesses. We apply outlook, valuation and risk filters to the businesses that we research. We also consider how a business that we research is performing compared to market expectations and industry peers.
We normally conduct due diligence on a business before publishing any research on the company. This due diligence generally entails reviewing announcements from the issuer to the market, interviewing management of the business and assessing competitors of the business. Our standard research process also involves looking at the industry within which the business operates and any macro trends to which the business and industry are exposed.


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Saturday, December 12, 2015
NEWS: Savage
www.savageband.com/ www.facebook.com/savageuk
Posted by Metal Bulletin Zine at 12:27 AM
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Metal Bulletin Zine (est. 2006) is a metal music zine (Seattle region), online and on paper. 160 issues so far. * * online pdfs available at www.fuglymaniacs.com * * on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MetalBulletinZn * * www.issuu.com/metalbulletinzine