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Privacy policy
Last modified: January 1st, 2024
Purpose of our privacy policy
This privacy policy (the "Policy") covers the web site PathQuote.com and the other web sites operated under the domain name PathQuote.com (the "Site") and is applicable to all information about you ("you" or "your") collected through the Site.
This Policy describes the types of information that PathQuote.com ("PathQuote.com", "we", "us" or "our") gathers from you and the other people who visit the Site (the "Users"), how we may use that information and how you can contact us regarding this Policy and your personal information.
Please read through this entire Policy carefully before using this Site or providing us with any of your personal information. When you access or use this Site, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your information in accordance with this Policy. By providing personal information to the Site, all users fully understand and consent to the collection, use and processing of such information by PathQuote.com or third parties as set forth herein. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to use the Site.
Site Registration
Users are welcome to browse our Site; however, in order to participate in some of our services, Users may be required to complete brief registration forms. These forms may or may not ask for personally identifiable information. When personally identifiable information is collected, it is subject to the terms of this Policy. Information entered by Users may be transmitted to third parties.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Policy please contact us via e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Information we collect
PathQuote.com collects personally identifiable information from our Users at several different points on our Site, including, without limitation, when Users provide it to us by (i) contacting us through e-mail, (ii) registering for use of the Site or (iii) submitting information through any forms, interactive features or services available on the Site. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to, your name, mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address, or any other information which might reasonably be used to identify you individually. When other information is directly associated with personally identifiable information, this other information becomes personally identifiable information for purposes of this Policy. We collect this personally identifiable information when you, at any point, manually enter it into any online form available on the Site or voluntarily submit it to us in another manner. We may also store your personally identifiable information in our systems for use in other ways as described in this Policy. In order for you to take full advantage of the Site you may be asked to voluntarily provide your personally identifiable information to us. You may choose not to provide us with your personally identifiable information by simply not entering it on the Site or not otherwise providing it to us. While you still will have access to the Site even if you do not provide us with your personally identifiable information, you should understand that you will not be able to use certain of the services or features available through the Site that require you to enter your personally identifiable information in order to function.
Non-personal Information
If you do not input or otherwise submit any of your personally identifiable information, then the information we collect from you is limited. For example, we log your IP address in order to help us diagnose problems with our server, administer the Site and track usage statistics. Your IP address may vary each time you visit, or it may be the same, depending on whether you access the Site through an always-on type of Internet connection (such as cable or DSL), or through a dial-up connection. We match IP addresses to completed User registration forms for validation and error checking purposes. If you reached the Site by clicking on a link or ad from another site, then we may also log that information. This helps us maximize our Internet exposure and to understand the interests of our Users. In general, this information is used to generate overall anonymous reports on our Users that enable us to improve the effectiveness of the Site.
We often place a small file known as a "cookie" on your computer's hard drive. A cookie may contain information that allows us to track your path through the Site and to determine whether you have visited us before. However, unless you provide us with personally identifiable information, the cookies will not contain any information that would allow us to personally identify you. If you do provide personally identifiable information to us, the cookie is tied to this information so that our systems will recognize you each time you visit the Site. In that way, we can save your preferences from visit to visit and present you with a customized version of the Site, without requiring you to log into the Site every time you visit. Our cookies cannot be used to read data from your hard drive and cannot retrieve information from any other cookies created by other sites. We use cookies in this manner to help us understand how Users use the Site, and to help us to improve the Site. You may refuse to accept a cookie from us by following the procedures for rejecting cookies specific to your web browser.
If you visit the web site of a third party by clicking on an external link on the Site, they may also use cookies on their web site. We have no access to or control over these cookies. This Policy covers the use of cookies by PathQuote.com only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers or other third parties.
User Activity Tracking
We employ software technology that enables us to track certain aspects of a User's visit to the Site. This technology helps us better manage content on the Site by informing us what content is effective. The software uses two methods to track User activity: 1) "trackers" and 2) "clear gifs." Trackers are pieces of executable code that are embedded in a web page that track usage activity including which pages are viewed, when they are viewed, and how long the pages are viewed. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with unique identifiers which are embedded in web pages and e-mails that track whether or not a User has viewed a particular page or e-mail. User activity information may be associated with additional information about a User's session, such as IP Address and the type of browser used, and personally identifiable information, if provided by the User. If you arrive at the Site by "clicking through" from another web site, and you have registered with that other web site, then certain information about you that you provided to that other web site, such as the terms you were searching on that led you to the Site, may be transmitted to us and we may use it as described in this Policy. You should review the privacy policy of any web site from which you reached the Site in order to determine what information was collected by that web site and for what purpose(s) you agreed that web site could use that information. We may or may not retain that information; if we do, then we may use it in accordance with this Policy. This information may or may not be associated with other User activity data or personally identifiable information.
Policy Regarding Children Under the Age of 13
PathQuote.com complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA requires that web site operators never knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without prior verifiable parental consent. The Site is not intended for children under the age of 13, and PathQuote.com does not knowingly collect or use personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If we discover personal data from a child under the age of 13, we will eliminate that data.
You are not permitted to use the Site if you are under the age of 13. By using the Site, you agree to provide us with accurate information concerning your age or identity if we request it. You also agree not to assist children under the age of 13 in accessing the Site or to attempt to contact children under 13 through the Site.
How We Use the Information We Collect
We may use the information (whether or not personally identifiable) that you provide to us to, among other things:
- Make your next visit to the Site more personalized.
- Process or complete transactions requested by you.
- Contact you regarding administrative issues, such as questions about your specific request, or otherwise respond to your comments or requests.
- E-mail information and offers to you.
- Mail information and offers to you.
- Make telephone calls to you with information and offers regardless of your status on the National Do Not Call Registry.
- Provide your information to third parties to fulfill services you have requested or that may be of interest to you. Regardless of your status on the National Do Not Call Registry.
- Compile anonymous statistical information and analysis.
- Provide compiled anonymous information to third parties.
- Provide, sell, or rent your information to third parties for advertising purposes.
- Permit you to access certain web-based programs or applications on the Site.
- Help administer and protect the security of the Site.
- Process online purchases or other payment transactions.
You should be aware that any personal information that is voluntarily posted by you to a public area of the Site (for example, a message board) may be viewed and used by other Users.
Consent to the Use of Third Party Providers
Please understand that PathQuote.com may contract with third parties to provide various services to PathQuote.com relating to the Site on an outsourced basis rather than performing the services ourselves. For example, we may (i) contract with an e-mail provider to handle the distribution of e-mail messages to Users of the Site, (ii) contract with a web site hosting provider to host the Site for us or (iii) contract with a third party to provide call center services to facilitate communication in connection with our services. We may also contract with various validation services to confirm contact information you provide. By visiting the Site, all Users consent to PathQuote.com providing all information (whether or not personally identifiable) received or collected from those Users to such third party providers for the purpose of enabling the third party provider to provide these outsourced services to us. In addition, all Users consent to the collection, maintenance, and processing of their information (whether or not personally identifiable) by PathQuote.com and these third party providers. We will share information provided by Users (whether or not personally identifiable) with certain third parties in our network so that they can contact you with information about the services in which you have expressed interest. In order to provide the services available to you on this Site, we may also supplement your information (whether or not personally identifiable) with information from third party sources with whom we have contracted for the purpose of verifying the contact information you have provided. You have the option not to have your information shared with third parties by not requesting these services.
We may also share information about Users (whether or not personally identifiable) with third parties so that we can offer you a broader range of services and information to meet your needs. If you would prefer not to have your information shared with third parties, you may opt out by e-mailing firstname.lastname@example.com
We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries, to provide the services you request, and to manage your account. We will contact you either through e-mail, telephone, or postal mail. When it is necessary to do so, we will send you service-related announcements, primarily via e-mail. For example, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we may send you an e-mail. Generally, you may not opt out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account by e-mailing email@example.com.
Opting Out; Access to Collected Information
This Policy describes how PathQuote.com uses of your information. If you do not agree to our uses of your personally identifiable information as we have described in this Policy, you are not required to provide that information to us. In addition, if we send e-mails to you, you may opt out of receiving non-administrative e-mails from us simply by responding to the opt-out link provided on all e-mail communications from PathQuote.com. You may review, update and delete any personal information that you have provided to us through this Site by e-mailing email@example.com.
Surveys & Contests
From time-to-time our Site will request personally identifiable information from Users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the User therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose personally identifiable information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be shared with the contest or survey sponsors to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of the Site. [Users' personally identifiable information collected through surveys or contests is not shared with third parties who are not agents or service providers, unless we give prior notice and receive your permission for the sharing.] Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, these intermediaries will not use the Users' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Other Web Sites; Links
This Site may contain links to other third-party web sites, including web sites of our affiliated institutions, promotional partners, advertisers, employers, sponsors or other third parties. While we try to link only to third-party websites that share our respect for privacy, this Policy and our privacy practices do not extend to and may differ from those of third-party websites that can be accessed through links on this Site. PathQuote.com is not responsible for any actions, content of web sites, privacy policies or security of such third parties. You should review the applicable privacy policies of the third-party web sites before registering with, providing information to or navigating those web sites.
Disclosure of Your Information
As you might expect, PathQuote.com must cooperate with legal authorities, and may in some circumstances be required to disclose information (including personally identifiable information) in response to requests from law enforcement authorities, or in response to a subpoena or other legal process. We can also turn over information about you if we believe we must in order to prevent a violation of the law, and by accepting this Policy, you consent to our right to do so, in our sole discretion. You also consent to our disclosing information about you in the course of legal proceedings if we believe we are required to do so, if we reasonably believe that doing so may mitigate our liability, or if doing so will assist us in enforcing our legal rights. We further reserve the right to disclose your personal information to appropriate third parties: (i) to protect any other party's rights, property and safety, (ii) to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving harassment, abusive messages or potential threats to the physical safety of any person and (iii) to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of this Site. PathQuote.com may establish subsidiaries or other related companies, or merge with or be acquired by another company. When that happens, we may disclose to them your personally identifiable information, in which case we will request them to abide by this Policy. We may also disclose some personally identifiable information to a potential acquirer.
Changes to Policy
If we make material changes to this Policy, we will post a notice on the home page regarding the amended Policy, so that you are aware of what personally identifiable information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time, so please review the Site frequently for any changes. Amendments to this Policy will be posted on the Site and will be effective when posted. You will be deemed to have been made aware of, will be subject to, and will be deemed to have accepted, the changes to any amended or revised Policy by your continued use of our services or the Site.
PathQuote.com will take reasonable measures to secure the personally identifiable information Users provide to us. However, PathQuote.com cannot guarantee the security of any information you submit to us and you do so at your own risk. All personally identifiable information is protected by password and accessible only to authorized PathQuote.com personnel. However, there is a possibility that Internet transmissions containing a User's personally identifiable information may be intercepted by others. There is no way for us to ensure privacy of user information before it arrives at the Site or after it leaves the Site.


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The last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago Friday, and the date holds great meaning for many who fought the war, protested it or otherwise lived it.
While the fall of Saigon two years later is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, many had already seen their involvement in the war finished — and their lives altered — by March 29, 1973.
U.S. soldiers leaving the country feared angry protesters at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future.
Many veterans are encouraged by changes they see. The U.S. has a volunteer military these days, not a draft, and the troops coming home aren't derided for their service. People know what PTSD stands for, and they're insisting that the government takes care of soldiers suffering from it and other injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Below are the stories of a few of the people who experienced a part of the Vietnam War firsthand.
Dave Simmons of West Virginia was a corporal in the U.S. Army who came back from Vietnam in the summer of 1970. He said he didn't have specific memories about the final days of the war because it was something he was trying to put behind him.
"We were more interested in getting back, getting settled into the community, getting married and getting jobs," Simmons said.
He said he was proud to serve and would again if asked. But rather than proudly proclaim his service when he returned from Vietnam, the Army ordered him to get into civilian clothes as soon as he arrived in the U.S. The idea was to avoid confrontations with protestors.
"When we landed, they told us to get some civilian clothes, which you had to realize we didn't have, so we had to go in airport gift shops and buy what we could find," Simmons said.
Simmons noted that when the troops return today, they are often greeted with great fanfare in their local communities, and he's glad to see it.
"I think that's what the general public has learned — not to treat our troops the way they treated us," Simmons said.
Simmons is now helping organize a Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day in Charleston that will take place Saturday.
"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another. We stick with that," said Simmons, president of the state council of the Vietnam Veterans of America. "We go to the airport. … We're there when they leave. We're there when they come home. We support their families when they're gone. I'm not saying that did not happen to the Vietnam vet, but it wasn't as much. There was really no support for us."
Tony Lam was 36 on the day the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. He was a young husband and father, but most importantly, he was a businessman and U.S. contractor furnishing dehydrated rice to South Vietnamese troops. He also ran a fish meal plant and a refrigerated shipping business that exported shrimp.
As Lam, now 76, watched American forces dwindle and then disappear, he felt a rising panic. His close association with the Americans was well-known and he needed to get out — and get his family out — or risk being tagged as a spy and thrown into a Communist prison. He watched as South Vietnamese commanders fled, leaving whole battalions without a leader.
"We had no chance of surviving under the Communist invasion there. We were very much worried about the safety of our family, the safety of other people," he said this week from his adopted home in Westminster, Calif.
But Lam wouldn't leave for nearly two more years after the last U.S. combat troops, driven to stay by his love of his country and his belief that Vietnam and its economy would recover.
When Lam did leave, on April 21, 1975, it was aboard a packed C-130 that departed just as Saigon was about to fall. He had already worked for 24 hours at the airport to get others out after seeing his wife and two young children off to safety in the Philippines.
"My associate told me, 'You'd better go. It's critical. You don't want to end up as a Communist prisoner.' He pushed me on the flight out. I got tears in my eyes once the flight took off and I looked down from the plane for the last time," Lam recalled. "No one talked to each other about how critical it was, but we all knew it."
Now, Lam lives in Southern California's Little Saigon, the largest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.
In 1992, Lam made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American to elected to public office in the U.S. and he went on to serve on the Westminster City Council for 10 years.
Looking back over four decades, Lam says he doesn't regret being forced out of his country and forging a new, American, life.
"I went from being an industrialist to pumping gas at a service station," said Lam, who now works as a consultant and owns a Lee's Sandwich franchise, a well-known Vietnamese chain.
"But thank God I am safe and sound and settled here with my six children and 15 grandchildren," he said. "I'm a happy man."
Wayne Reynolds' nightmares got worse this week with the approach of the anniversary of the U.S. troop withdrawal.
Reynolds, 66, spent a year working as an Army medic on an evacuation helicopter in 1968 and 1969. On days when the fighting was worst, his chopper would make four or five landings in combat zones to rush wounded troops to emergency hospitals.
The terror of those missions comes back to him at night, along with images of the blood that was everywhere. The dreams are worst when he spends the most time thinking about Vietnam, like around anniversaries.
"I saw a lot of people die," Reynolds said.
Today, Reynolds lives in Athens, Ala., after a career that included stints as a public school superintendent and, most recently, a registered nurse. He is serving his 13th year as the Alabama president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and he also has served on the group's national board as treasurer.
Like many who came home from the war, Reynolds is haunted by the fact he survived Vietnam when thousands more didn't. Encountering war protesters after returning home made the readjustment to civilian life more difficult.
"I was literally spat on in Chicago in the airport," he said. "No one spoke out in my favor."
Reynolds said the lingering survivor's guilt and the rude reception back home are the main reasons he spends much of his time now working with veteran's groups to help others obtain medical benefits. He also acts as an advocate on veterans' issues, a role that landed him a spot on the program at a 40th anniversary ceremony planned for Friday in Huntsville, Ala.
It took a long time for Reynolds to acknowledge his past, though. For years after the war, Reynolds said, he didn't include his Vietnam service on his resume and rarely discussed it with anyone.
"A lot of that I blocked out of my memory. I almost never talk about my Vietnam experience other than to say, 'I was there,' even to my family," he said.
A former North Vietnamese soldier, Ho Van Minh heard about the American combat troop withdrawal during a weekly meeting with his commanders in the battlefields of southern Vietnam.
The news gave the northern forces fresh hope of victory, but the worst of the war was still to come for Minh: The 77-year-old lost his right leg to a land mine while advancing on Saigon, just a month before that city fell.
"The news of the withdrawal gave us more strength to fight," Minh said Thursday, after touring a museum in the capital, Hanoi, devoted to the Vietnamese victory and home to captured American tanks and destroyed aircraft.
"The U.S. left behind a weak South Vietnam army. Our spirits was so high and we all believed that Saigon would be liberated soon," he said.
Minh, who was on a two-week tour of northern Vietnam with other veterans, said he bears no ill will to the American soldiers even though much of the country was destroyed and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese died.
If he met an American veteran now he says, "I would not feel angry; instead I would extend my sympathy to them because they were sent to fight in Vietnam against their will."
But on his actions, he has no regrets. "If someone comes to destroy your house, you have to stand up to fight."
Two weeks before the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, Marine Corps Capt. James H. Warner was freed from North Vietnamese confinement after nearly 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He said those years of forced labor and interrogation reinforced his conviction that the United States was right to confront the spread of communism.
The past 40 years have proven that free enterprise is the key to prosperity, Warner said in an interview Thursday at a coffee shop near his home in Rohrersville, Md., about 60 miles from Washington. He said American ideals ultimately prevailed, even if the methods weren't as effective as they could have been.
"China has ditched socialism and gone in favor of improving their economy, and the same with Vietnam. The Berlin Wall is gone. So essentially, we won," he said. "We could have won faster if we had been a little more aggressive about pushing our ideas instead of just fighting."
Warner, 72, was the avionics officer in a Marine Corps attack squadron when his fighter plane was shot down north of the Demilitarized Zone in October 1967.
He said the communist-made goods he was issued as a prisoner, including razor blades and East German-made shovels, were inferior products that bolstered his resolve.
"It was worth it," he said.
A native of Ypsilanti, Mich., Warner went on to a career in law in government service. He is a member of the Republican Central Committee of Washington County, Md.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Duane Johnson, who served in Afghanistan and is a full-time logistics and ordnance specialist with the South Carolina National Guard, said many Vietnam veterans became his mentors when he donned a uniform 35 years ago.
"I often took the time, when I heard that they served in Vietnam, to thank them for their service. And I remember them telling me that was the first time anyone said that to them," said Johnson, of Gaston, S.C.
"My biggest wish is that those veterans could have gotten a better welcome home," the 56-year-old said Thursday.
Johnson said he's taken aback by the outpouring of support expressed for military members today, compared to those who served in Vietnam.
"It's a bit embarrassing, really," said Johnson. "Many of those guys were drafted. They didn't skip the country, they went and they served. That should be honored."
John Sinclair said he felt "great relief" when he heard about the U.S. troop pull-out. Protesting the war was a passion for the counter-culture figure who inspired the John Lennon song, "John Sinclair." The Michigan native drew a 10-year prison sentence after a small-time pot bust but was released after 2 ½ years — a few days after Lennon, Stevie Wonder and others performed at a 1971 concert to free him.
"There wasn't any truth about Vietnam — from the very beginning," said Sinclair by phone from New Orleans, where he spends time when he isn't in Detroit or his home base of Amsterdam.
"In those times we considered ourselves revolutionaries," said Sinclair, a co-founder of the White Panther Party who is a poet, performance artist runs an Amsterdam-based online radio station. "We wanted equal distribution of wealth. We didn't want 1 percent of the rich running everything. Of course, we lost."
The Vietnam War also shaped the life of retired Vermont businessman John Snell, 64, by helping to instill a lifetime commitment to anti-war activism. He is now a regular at a weekly anti-war protest in front of the Montpelier federal building that has been going on since long before the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Haslett, Mich., native graduated from high school in 1966 and later received conscientious objector status. He never had to do the required alternative service because a foot deformity led him to being listed as unfit to serve.
"They were pretty formative times in our lives and we saw incredible damage being done, it was the first war to really show up on television. I remember looking in the newspaper and seeing the names of people I went to school with as being dead and injured every single week," said Snell, who attended Michigan State University before moving to Vermont in 1977.
"Things were crazy. I remember sitting down in the student lounge watching the numbers being drawn on TV, there were probably 200 people sitting in this lounge watching as numbers came up, the guys were quite depressed by the numbers that were being drawn," he said. "There certainly were people who volunteered and went with some patriotic fervor, but by '67 or'68 there were a lot of people who just didn't want to have anything to do with it."
Dishneau reported from Hagerstown, Md., and Reeves reported from Birmingham, Ala. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Chris Brummitt in Hanoi, Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok, Gillian Flaccus in Tustin, Calif., Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati, Kevin Freking in Washington, Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt., Susanne M. Schafer in Columbia, S.C., and Jeff Karoub in Detroit.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2013 Capitol Hill Blue

subset: commoncrawl


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First Business Financial Services, Inc. [FBIZ] to Ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell
ADVISORY, Jan. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
First Business Financial Services, Inc. [FBIZ], a Wisconsin-based bank holding company, will visit the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square.
In recognition of the underwritten public offering of 1,265,000 shares of common stock, which closed on December 21, 2012, Jerry Smith, Chairman, will ring the Closing Bell.
NASDAQ MarketSite – 4 Times Square – 43rd & Broadway – Broadcast Studio
Tuesday, January 8, 2013 – 3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET
Jim Ropella
(608) 232-5970
NASDAQ MarketSite:
Jen Knapp
(212) 401-8916
Feed Information:
*As of January 7, 2013 the Ceremony feeds will be in HD 1080i.
Fiber Line (Encompass Waterfront): 4463
Gal 3C/06C 95.05 degrees West
18 mhz Lower
DL 3811 Vertical
Facebook and Twitter:
For multimedia features such as exclusive content, photo postings, status updates and video of bell ceremonies, please visit our Facebook page at:
For news tweets, please visit our Twitter page at:
A live webcast of the NASDAQ Closing Bell will be available at:
To obtain a hi-resolution photograph of the Market Close, please go to http://www.nasdaq.com/reference/marketsite_events.stm and click on the market close of your choice.
About First Business Financial Services, Inc. [FBIZ]:
First Business Financial Services (Nasdaq:FBIZ) is a $1.2 billion Wisconsin-based bank holding company that specializes in focused financial solutions for businesses, key executives, and high net worth individuals through its operating companies. It is the 2nd largest Wisconsin-based commercial bank holding company listed on NASDAQ or the NYSE. Its companies include: First Business Bank - Madison; First Business Bank - Milwaukee; First Business Bank - Northeast; First Business Trust & Investments; First Business Equipment Finance, LLC; and First Business Capital Corp. For additional information, visit www.firstbusiness.com or call (608) 238-8008.
About NASDAQ OMX Group:
The inventor of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies and provides transformative technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the U.S. and Europe, we own and operate 23 markets, 3 clearinghouses and 5 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to process more than 1 million messages per second at sub-40 microsecond speeds with 99.99+% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to approximately 3,400 listed companies worth $6 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)
In This Story
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Here at Drag Mat Artificial Turf Sports Surfaces, when carrying out drag matting to nearby synthetic sports pitches, our professionals are on hand to provide you with great results that suit your requirements. If you're in need of experienced and friendly drag mat artificial turf sports surfaces installers then look no further than us.
Drag mat artificial turf sports surfaces is a type of maintenance plan which is recommended. The sport surfacing maintenance dragging mat is used to spread and distribute the infill over the pitch evenly to maintain the required playing characteristics of the sports all weather pitch surface. Whether it is a 3G rubber infilled football pitch or 2G hockey pitch sand infilled sports surface the drag-mat will help keep the second generation or third generation pitch performing consistently.
If you would like to find out more information regarding drag mats speak to our specialist team today. We are happy to give you everything you need to know in order to get the best results possible. Simply fill out the contact form provided and we will get back to you as soon as possible with everything all the details.
Drag matting is a servicing procedure which is carried out on a local sports facility closest to you to spread the sand infill evenly around the area. As well as evenly spreading infill over the 2G or 3G pitch drag-matting maintenance will help remove any unwanted litter, weeds and vegetation from the surface. Failure to remove these from the all-weather synthetic turf sports surface could lead to pitch becoming the perfect habitat for moss and algae to grow to form a drainage inhibiting layer.
This moss and algae layer mixes with the infill and is trodden into the synthetic turf fibres causing the infill to compact and prevent water from draining through the artificial carpet correctly causing water to hold and puddle on the surface. In some circumstances to resolve or rectify this problem, the all-weather sports surface may need to undergo reactive maintenance in the form of rejuvenation or resurfacing. The turf drag brushing process http://www.syntheticturfpitchmaintenance.co.uk/proactive/drag-brushing/ can also be done to remove contaminants from within the grass and keep the surface and its surrounding area performing well.
There are many ways to use this equipment, to find out some of the choices, read the information below:
Professionals would attach the drag-mat to the back of vehicle such as a quad bike and travel around the 2G or 3G pitch to redistribute the sand or rubber infill evenly. It is also possible to drag-mat the surface by hand, hand-operated drag mats can be purchased which would allow you to drag-mat and evenly spread infill across the artificial sport surface independently.
We can offer any advice you need with regards to drag-matting and other types of maintenance for synthetic sports pitches so feel free to contact us through our enquiry form.
There are many venues and establishments that have fake grass sports pitch facilities in the form of sand filled 2G http://www.syntheticturfpitchmaintenance.co.uk/surfaces/sand-filled/ or rubber infilled 3G or 4G pitches. All establishments with synthetic sports surfaces will need a regular proactive maintenance package to keep all-weather pitches performing consistently to their best and preventing possible costly reactive maintenance such as artificial turf replacement. These establishments include:
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Developing leaders in a business
In his book The Will to Lead, Marvin Bower, McKinsey's managing partner from 1950 to 1967, urges senior managers to abandon command-and-control structures and adopt a program to develop leaders, starting with themselves. In this excerpt, he explores the attributes of leadership.
The shortcomings of command-and-control management are becoming ever more apparent. The hierarchy of bosses organized into ranks, with each superior exercising authority over subordinates who do exactly what their boss wants, has long been the dominant form of corporate organization. But recognizing that they are handicapped by their current systems, many companies are now questioning the way they manage themselves. They are striving for greater effectiveness and flexibility to cope with and capitalize on the fast-moving, ever-changing competitive conditions they see just ahead.
I believe that the old command system must be replaced. Fixing it is not good enough. My view is that authority should be replaced by leadership. By that, I don't mean that a business should be run by a single leader, but that it should be run by a network of leaders positioned right through the organization. Leaders and leadership teams working together will, I suggest, run a business more effectively than a hierarchical, command-and-control structure.
What makes a leader?
Leadership scholars define a leader as a person who sets attractive goals and has the ability to attract followers, or constituents, who share those goals. Above all, a leader must be trusted and respected. Trust between a leader and constituents opens up two-way communication, making it possible for them to realize their common goals.
Anyone who aspires to lead must develop certain qualities and attributes. By "qualities," I mean elements of character or personal makeup that are typically difficult (but not impossible) to learn. People usually bring their qualities with them when they join a company. "Attributes," on the other hand, are more like skills and hence easier to learn. Fortunately, the attributes needed for leadership far outnumber the qualities.
Leadership scholars are virtually unanimous in putting trustworthiness at the top of the list of qualities required by any leader. Trustworthiness is integrity in action. Pearl S. Buck, winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize for Literature, put it thus: "Integrity is honesty carried through the fibers of the being and the whole mind, into thought as well as into action so that the person is complete in honesty. That kind of integrity I put above all else as an essential of leadership.
Anyone seeking to be a leader should always tell the truth, if for no other reason than it is simpler. Richard Heckert, retired chairman of DuPont, put it this way: "If you always tell the truth, you won't have to remember what you said."
I have observed that the executives I trusted most were truthful about unimportant as well as important things. They went into detail to be accurate about small things, even correcting statements about things that did not matter. High-precision truthfulness is a good way to gain trust, the ticket of admission to leadership.
Ralph Hart, former chairman of Heublein and president of Colgate-Palmolive, spoke of an incident early in his career when he was hired to sell adding machines to small stores.
He was given no training, just provided with samples and sent straight into the field. When he began his route, he was too nervous to enter the first store. As it was late in the day, he decided to wait until morning and begin fresh. But the next day he was still nervous. Finally, near closing time, he approached a store owner, who wasn't interested:
"I asked, 'Would you at least look at them?' So the store owner started asking me questions, and I kept on saying, 'I don't know, but I'll find out.' Finally the owner agreed to purchase an adding machine. I was mystified, and asked him why he finally relented. He replied, 'Anyone who has a salesman as honest as you are must have a good product.' That was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. It's something that I never forgot—be honest and tell the truth.
In my years as a consultant, the most frequent complaint I heard (in confidence) about bosses has been about some form of unfairness. To get something done, the boss had used authority carelessly. In the eyes of subordinates, what the boss wanted done was unnecessary, too difficult, or impossible in the time given.
In America, to be called an unfair boss is damning, and even implies a flawed character. Conversely, a boss who is tough but fair is to be admired. In dictionaries, "fair" is variously defined as equitable, unprejudiced, impartial, dispassionate, and objective.
However it is defined, Americans—possibly because of their intense involvement in sports—are quick to recognize what's fair and what's unfair. They will forgive much, but seldom unfairness. Unfairness in a chief executive is particularly serious, because he or she sets the example for everyone else in the company.
Fairness and trust, of course, go hand in hand. Both are essential not only in the chief executive, but in all leaders throughout the company. Moreover, if fairness and trust become an integral part of a company's culture, then these qualities will flourish, to that company's great benefit.
Unassuming behavior
Arrogance, haughtiness, and egotism are poisonous to leadership. But leaders can never be hypocritically humble. They are simply unassuming in their behavior. Unpretentiousness can be learned, and it is well suited to the examples the chief executive should set.
Robert K. Greenleaf, former director of management research for AT&T, coined a useful term for the unassuming leader: "servant leadership." In a pamphlet, and later in his book Servant Leadership,3he alludes to a German tale about a group of important men who went on a long journey into the wilderness, accompanied by a servant. They got lost and fell into deep trouble.
The servant was particularly helpful and became accepted as the leader of the group. His masters came to trust him because he demonstrated attributes that helped them get out of trouble. So he, a servant, became their leader, and they became his constituents.
Having a servant leadership viewpoint helps any chief executive focus on company performance and on the needs of constituents rather than on his or her own performance or image. The chief executive knows that he or she will get credit for good corporate performance as well as blame for poor performance.
So the chief who is a leader can plunge wholeheartedly into leading other company leaders in improving overall company performance, knowing that chief executive performance is always being carefully watched by everyone in the company.
Successful leaders are as unassuming in the surroundings they create—or tolerate—as they are in their behavior. Casualness and informality contribute to a leadership culture. In some successful high-tech companies, everyone dresses and behaves informally; it's integral to the company culture.
Let me add a few more examples:
Unassuming leaders surprise visitors and company people with their offices: pleasant, inviting, and functional, but completely unostentatious in size and decor. And they leave their desks to sit with visitors.
General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Operation Desert Storm, was offered a villa by the Saudis, but he chose instead a small room tucked away behind his office
I know several executives who have "chairman" on their business cards and letterhead but not "chief executive officer," even though they hold both titles.
I know two chief executives who often stand in line at headquarters cafeterias and then join a group at one of the general tables.
The McKinsey research on excellent companies, which ultimately became In Search of Excellence,5 found that unassuming executives walk around rather than holding meetings in their own offices.
If all company leaders have an unassuming manner—with the casualness and informality that it produces—the resulting behaviors of people will fit naturally into a leadership culture.
Leaders listen
Listening may seem like an unimportant activity, but my experience convinces me that the reverse is true. In a survey, one of the participants said: "Frankly, I had never thought of listening as an important subject by itself. But now that I am aware of it, I think that perhaps 80 percent of my work depends on my listening to someone, or on someone else listening to me.
I have observed that a high proportion of CEOs in command companies don't listen very well. They may even turn off people who have valuable information to provide; and one turn-off may discourage the person from coming forward the next time with even more valuable information.
In fact, chief executives of command companies are generally such poor listeners that they can signal their change to leading simply by beginning to listen. The shift from telling to listening can be startling to subordinates—and I guarantee they will receive it well. Indeed, at first, they will be flattered. And emerging leaders will be surprised by how much of importance they will learn.
In meetings, chief executives often close off opportunities to learn by expressing their own views too early in the discussion. I know one chief executive of a world-class overseas company who does this constantly. His colleagues have concluded that he is subconsciously showing off his brilliance. That habit, together with the awe in which he is held, cuts him off from important facts and useful opinions.
Active listening helps assure the other person that he or she is being heard and understood. That involves not only paying close attention, but also asking brief, nonleading questions. These convey interest and understanding without necessarily implying agreement.
But a word of caution: listening customs vary around the world. One American executive I know went to England to negotiate an alliance. He was successful, but the affiliation proved worthless. His rueful afterthought: "I wish I had known then that when most Britons nod their heads, it means 'I understand you,' not 'I agree with you.
Listening was cited as playing an important role in the election by Fortune in 1994 of six new members of the National Business Hall of Fame, each of whom was "blessed as much with fore hearing as foresight":
"Of all the skills of leadership, listening is one of the most valuable—and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. They are hear-aholics, ever alert, bending their ears while they work and while they play, while they eat and while they sleep. They listen to advisers, to customers, to inner voices, to enemies, to the wind. That's how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities.
This seemingly simple attribute—along with open-mindedness—can have enormous importance and contribute to competitive advantage for any company.
A leader is open-minded
Over the years, I have encountered many chief executives whose minds were closed or only slightly ajar. As a consultant, I admit to being sensitive to this failing. What's the use of hiring consultants if your mind is too closed to consider their findings?
I've thought a lot about why chief executives are not more open-minded, and I lay much of the blame on the command-and-control system. The all-powerful chief executive sits at the top, managing mostly from there. People don't question chief executives much, and they seldom disagree with them. So CEOs become self-believers and commanders of others. That's pretty heady stuff, and it feeds on itself.
Self-assurance can be a plus, but excessive self-assurance leads to egotism and even arrogance; it certainly closes minds. I've seen it happen.
If a leader gets an idea—say, an acquisition—he or she keeps an open mind about its good and bad features. People in the organization then feel free to come forward with both positive and negative information. By contrast, a CEO in a command company who gets an idea about an acquisition might not want to hear any negative information about it, and if that CEO doesn't have a reputation for being open-minded, people are not likely to come forward with such information. When in doubt, people in a command company tend to keep quiet.
Any leader with an open mind makes better judgments, learns more of what he or she needs to know, and establishes more positive relations with subordinates and constituents. In a leadership company where there is no hierarchy and where people are free to speak their minds about company performance and how to improve it, people can be more productive.
Consider the great competitive advantage of having an open-minded chief executive and other open-minded leaders throughout a company, all ready to receive and consider ideas and put them to work if their judgments stamp them as useful.
As constituents come to learn that their leader does indeed listen with an open mind, they'll gain confidence in offering their opinions and in engaging in those full, free exchanges of thought that can turn into useful brainstorming sessions. Even the small ideas that emerge can be valuable, and sometimes they can be developed into ideas of real importance. The leader can easily control the time devoted to such sessions: constituents will sense when he or she wants to end the discussion and get on with other business.
It isn't hard to keep an open mind once you accept its value. However, for anyone who is learning to be open-minded, the following guidelines may help. Never say no immediately. Of course, you have to give a response of some sort, and it should be "I'll get back to you." After you have taken time for thought, at least overnight, your decision in all likelihood will be better for not having been made on the spot. Whatever you decide, don't fail to get back to those to whom you've promised to respond. Particularly, be meticulous in responding to anything submitted in writing.
Sensitivity to people
Most leadership scholars call this attribute "skill in dealing with people." To me that smacks of managing or even manipulating people, as though the leader should develop mechanical approaches or a studied synthetic style. Moreover, treating this attribute as a skill focuses the mind of the leader inwardly in a self-centered way, instead of outwardly on helping or persuading constituents.
The reality is that a leader can't motivate or persuade constituents or others effectively without having some sense of what's on their minds. So unless they are always forthcoming about what is on their minds (which is unrealistic to expect), the leader must try to discern what they're thinking and feeling. That's why I prefer to call this important attribute "sensitivity to people."
I believe a leader can develop competence in guessing what's on people's minds. Once my late partner Zip Reilly had convinced me to give up commanding and try persuading, I knew that I could persuade people better if I could tell what was going on inside them. It seemed to me, however, that I had to start paying attention to everyone I dealt with every day.
I had to stop taking them for granted and exercise insights, intuition, perception, empathy, or some combination of these in the guesswork of trying to find out what was on their minds. Eventually I got the hang of it; I suggest that nearly anyone with the will to lead can do the same.
There is a stereotype that women have more intuition than men; my own experience backs this up. At McKinsey, we work extensively with teams. I have observed that when I have worked for some time with an all-male team and then add a woman, the team becomes more imaginative, has more and better ideas, and is more sensitive to what's on the minds of client people. It is well to keep this in mind in making up leadership teams.
Sensitivity to people also means that leaders are sensitive to their feelings. Leaders are polite, considerate, understanding, and careful that what they say to someone is not dispiriting unless criticism is intended. Leaders, especially chief executives, must also be careful not to be overheard discussing someone's job performance with another person. There's nothing new in that but it's frequently overlooked.
Sensitivity to situations
Situations are created by people and must be dealt with by people. Any company leader who is called on to resolve a dispute or disagreement must combine a careful analysis of the facts with an acute sensitivity to the feelings and attitudes of the people involved.
Consider the case of a food manufacturing conglomerate that developed a strategy of acquiring other food companies to increase its share of market and profits. A small taskforce scoured the country looking for acquisition candidates. Eventually, a fast-food chain became available.
The task force studied it carefully and recommended to the president and chief operating officer that it be acquired.
The acquisition was made. After several years, however, poor results created a drag on the conglomerate's profits. On closer examination, its chief executive realized that a fast-food chain was an entirely different type of business from a food manufacturer.
Key factors for success were proper selection of sites and the selection and training of people to make and serve the products—as contrasted with manufacturing products in volume and packaging, distributing, advertising, and promoting them effectively. The conglomerate sold the fast-food chain (ironically, to another food manufacturer) and took a large charge against earnings. The president was fired.
This disaster could have been avoided if the people involved had conducted a more searching, sensitive, and intuitive investigation. In that conglomerate, managed by command and control, members of the taskforce expected a successful outcome to mean advancement for them—and the president expected the acquisition to clinch his promotion to chairman.
Thus the objectivity of the taskforce and the president were undermined by personal ambition. And poor judgment by the president cost him his job. He failed to sense intuitively that he should have challenged the taskforce's objectivity more rigorously before authorizing the acquisition. But the chief executive was really the one at fault.
Initiative, initiative, initiative
Initiative is one of the most important attributes of any leader. It is also easy to learn. Just think a bit, use judgment, and act. The important thing is to keep alert for opportunities.
American chief executives seldom lack initiative; their boards wouldn't have elected them if they did. Every board knows that the chief executive has responsibility for getting things going and keeping them going. Even so, command-and-control managing inhibits initiative, especially down the line.
But consider the dynamics of a leadership company run with a network of leaders. All leaders stationed strategically throughout the company are alert to taking initiatives at every opportunity. And constituents as well as leaders can suggest initiatives.
My late friend Bob Greenleaf once said "Nothing in this world happens except at the initiative of a single person." His observation points up the opportunities for action that are open to every leader and constituent in a leadership company. These can make an important contribution to competitive advantage.
Good judgment
John Gardner gives this definition of judgment, of which every leader would do well to memorize the first sentence:
"Judgment is the ability to combine hard data, questionable data, and intuitive guesses to arrive at a conclusion that events prove to be correct. Judgment-in-action includes effective problem solving, the design of strategies, the setting of priorities, and intuitive as well as rational judgments. Most important, perhaps, it includes the capacity to appraise the potentialities of co-workers and opponents
Following fads in running companies often reflects bad judgment. Adopting Japanese manufacturing ideas provides an example.
Some American manufacturers have found that this approach is nowhere near as effective at lifting productivity in their own plants as it seems to be in Japan. I can also think of many cases of bad judgment in making acquisitions of new types of business to shore up weak earnings (and weak management) in the core business. Too many acquisitions are based simply on the chief executive's wish to make the company larger, a prime cause of bad judgment.
In my opinion, the chief executive of a leadership company is more likely to make good judgments than the chief of a command-and-control company, simply because constituents—recognizing the leader's open-mindedness and willingness to listen—will be more willing to volunteer their candid opinions. I also believe that multiple first-among-equals leaders in a leadership company will make decisions of a consistently higher quality because many leaders and constituents will be involved in much of the decision making.
People whose judgments have been tested and usually found to be sound are an invaluable resource. Any company can strengthen the quality of its decision making by seeking out people with good judgment among its network of leaders. Moreover, in a leadership company where constituents can speak up, their judgments, too, can make important contributions
My dictionary defines the term "broad-minded" as "tolerant of varied views" and "inclined to condone minor departures from conventional behavior." This attribute is closely related to being open-minded, adaptable, and flexible. Other aspects of broad-mindedness are being undisturbed by little things, willing to overlook small errors, and easy to talk with.
This is probably as good a place as any to bring up sense of humor. It's hardly an attribute, but it can serve everybody well. A leader with a sense of humor will certainly get along better with everyone, and he or she should nourish it constantly and be thankful for having it.
Flexibility and adaptability
Flexibility and adaptability go hand in hand with open-minded listening. The chief executive and other leaders thereby show their readiness to consider change and their willingness to make changes when most agree they are needed.
When competitive circumstances call for change, I'm convinced a leadership company will always be more ready for it. From the chief executive down, all leaders will keep their minds open and alert to the need for continuous improvement in all segments of the enterprise.
In doing so, they will learn how to spot the need for change faster, how to initiate change, and how to adapt to it.
The capacity to make sound and timely decisions
A sound decision by an individual chief executive in a command company depends largely on his or her ability to think and to seek advice from others. In a leadership company, there will be fewer individual decisions, even by the chief executive. Most decisions will be checked by others, at the CEO's request or at the initiative of others. In fact, all decisions should be of higher quality because so many people are free to speak up and to disagree.
The late Charles Mortimer, chairman of General Foods, was unusual in that he was openly trying to improve his own performance. In one of our sessions, he gave me a pamphlet by Robert Rawly entitled Time Out for Mental Digestion. He told me that he followed the message faithfully and found that his decision making improved substantially. Ever since then, I've followed it too, and with surprising success. Perhaps it will work for others.
The key to the approach is "mental digestion"; these words have more meaning for me than the old phrase "mulling it over." "Mulling" connotes turning over the same thought, whereas "mental digestion" implies putting the original thought out of mind for a time. Mental digestion, at least overnight, almost always brings new options from which to choose.
For something of real importance, however, one night will usually not be long enough for new options to emerge. Then I may wait a week or two; again, I put the thought out of mind, and again, new options suggest themselves each time I go back to it. That's the "mental digestion."
All leaders—particularly the chief executive—must recognize that the speed as well as the quality of their decisions will set an example for others. I've observed a number of busy chief executives who appear to be indecisive, but are not. They can make up their minds all right, but they simply do not realize that delaying a decision (or failing to communicate it) not only erodes effective performance, but also irritates those waiting for the decision. They could correct this simply by setting priorities and asking their assistants to remind them to follow up.
Some make decisions too quickly. One chief executive I worked with surprised me with his rapid-fire decision making. It turned out that he had been a baseball umpire in college and had carried the habit over into business. Once he was aware of the reason, it was easy for him to slow down—and the quality of his decisions went up.
In a leadership company, it might not have taken an outsider (me) to help that executive improve his decision making. In such a culture, people are more likely to help each other learn how to decide. Competition among individuals to get ahead will likely be replaced by mutual support among people helping each other to improve company performance.
The capacity to motivate
John Gardner puts it well: "More than any other attribute, this is close to the heart of the popular conception of leadership—the capacity to move people to action, to communicate persuasively, to strengthen the confidence of followers.
Too often, in so-called modern managing, motivations take the form of monetary rewards for the individual, or promises of advancement within the company. Both are characteristic of command-and-control managing and should not be carried over into a leadership company.
In a leadership company, people will be motivated by example and the daily satisfaction they get from making valuable contributions to the company, and from being treated fairly, with dignity and consideration. These are motivations they can take home every day. And since everyone should participate in profit sharing and be owners of stock, they will have financial incentives as well.
In the longer term, people in a leadership company derive satisfaction from being involved in work that produces products or services that customers buy with increasing satisfaction. And for everyone, simply belonging to a leadership company will be satisfying in itself.
A sense of urgency
One of the ways currently advocated for improving the command system is to use time (that is, speed) to provide a competitive edge. Bring new products out on time, deliver orders promptly, get things done faster than competitors. All are useful practices if carried out without harming quality.
Early in my McKinsey career, I observed that many outstanding companies had a sense of urgency underlying everything they did—a refreshing difference from companies where every response is either slow or erratic. I also noticed that the chief executive invariably set the pace, which was promptly followed throughout the company.
When a sense of urgency has spread right through a company, it can make a substantial difference in both effectiveness and efficiency, and also makes it easier to speed up activities further when necessary. Moreover, people like to work in a company where "things happen." A sense of urgency is a useful
ingredient in a leadership culture.
And a sense of urgency is easy to establish in a leadership company. With the chief executive setting an example, every leader throughout the company can, in turn, set an example for his or her constituents.
Getting started
Whether or not the ultimate plan is to convert the business from a command-and-control company to a leadership company, I suggest that the CEO take immediate steps to become a leader. No matter how the company is run now, this change—from managing to leading—will, I am sure, increase the CEO's effectiveness in running the business.
The CEO will already have the trust of the board—and probably of his or her direct reports. The challenge will be to convince bosses throughout the company that they can trust the CEO. To achieve this trust and become leaders, some CEOs may need only to become more consistent in the way they currently behave; others may find that they will have to undergo a major behavioral overhaul, a prospect that may prove too daunting for them to undertake.
My experience has been that most CEOs will fall between these two extremes. They will be natural learners and eager to try what works. I'm convinced they should expend effort in three areas: learning to listen to people actively with an open mind, demonstrating high-precision truthfulness in all dealings, and becoming unassuming and approachable in behavior.
Combined, these basic changes are likely to be so surprising to constituents that they will respond favorably almost immediately. And as the CEO makes these changes, he or she will be able to judge the difficulties that others may have in changing their behavior to become leaders in their turn.


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I have been wanting to try a tabbouleh salad for a while now. A tabbouleh salad is a salad that is made with bulgar, parsley, mint, tomatoes, green onions, lemon juice and olive oil. From what I understand, in a more traditional tabbouleh the parsley is supposed to be the primary ingredient. I decided to make my salad a bit more balanced, though there was still a lot of parsley in it. This is a pretty simple salad and it is full of fresh herbs and vegetables. I quite enjoyed the tabbouleh salad. The lemon juice and the olive oil added a surprising amount of flavour and the mint brought the freshness to a whole new level. If you are a parsley lover then this salad is for you. I saw a few recipes for tabbouleh that called for the use of cinnamon and or allspice which sounded interesting. I will have to play around with the tabbouleh and different spices.
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup bulgur
- 1 cup parsley (chopped)
- 1/4 cup mint (chopped)
- 1/4 cup green onions (chopped)
- 1/2 cup tomato (chopped)
- 1/2 cup cucumber (chopped)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat.
- Mix in the bulgur, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Toss the bulgur with the parsley, mint, green onion, tomato and cucumber.
- Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Pour the dressing onto the salad, toss and serve.
Pomegranate Tabbouleh Salad
Roasted Asparagus and Red Pepper Farro Salad
Aztec Quinoa Salad
Pomegranate and Pistachio Couscous
Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad


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Let me run through the list of those eleven spices: ground ancho chile, ground coriander, ground cumin, Mexican oregano, paprika, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa, ground chipotle powder, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, salt. Additional flavor came from red wine, chopped cilantro, and chipotles in adobo sauce. All of those ingredients were measured and set aside before cooking began. To start the chili, butter was melted and olive oil was added to a pot over medium heat. Chopped onion, bell pepper, and some salt were added. After the onions were lightly browned, minced garlic and chopped jalapeno were added. Next came the mix of dry spices followed by a mix of red wine, cilantro, chopped canned chipotles, and tomato paste. The vegetables and spices were cooked, and the bottom of the pan was scraped, and then a mixture of canned tomatoes and water was added. I also added some chunks of summer squash just because I had some. After stirring everything together and scraping the bottom of the pan again, the soup was simmered for about 20 minutes. Then, canned black beans that had been rinsed and drained were added. Last, more cilantro was added. While the chili was simmering away, I cooked some rice with minced onion and added chopped cilantro. Also, I prepped the Summer Vegetable Salsa made with halved cherry tomatoes, avocado chunks, chopped zucchini, fresh corn kernels, sliced radish, and cilantro. The vegetables were tossed with a mix of olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, honey, and salt. I served the chili on white rice pilaf with the salsa on top and garnished it with sour cream, crumbled goat cheese, and sliced jalapeno.
The mix of spices used here is exactly what my previous attempts at vegetarian chili needed. In the finished dish, it's hard to pick out the cocoa powder or any one of the other spices or even the red wine specifically, but all of those flavors came together beautifully. This might not be Texas chili, but this is definitely my kind of chili.


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Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy: "The citizens of America" got my cattle back
MESQUITE, Nev. - Federal land managers say "escalating tensions" led them to release all 400 or so head of cattle rounded up on public land in southern Nevada from a rancher who has refused to recognize their authority.
The rancher at the center of the dispute said it was "the citizens of America" that brought the standoff to an end.
Bureau of Land Management Chief Neil Kornze announced an abrupt halt to the weeklong roundup just hours before the release.
"Based on information about conditions on the ground and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concerns about the safety of employees and members of the public," Kornze said in a statement.
Hundreds of states' rights protesters, including militia members, showed up at corrals outside Mesquite to demand the animals' return to rancher Cliven Bundy. Some protesters were armed with handguns and rifles at the corrals and at an earlier nearby rally.
Bundy told CBS affiliate KLAS in Nevada that it was his protests and his supporters that concluded the standoff.
"There is no deal here. The citizens of America and Clark County went and took their cattle. There was no negotiations. They took these cattle," Bundy said.
Prior to the meeting that resolved the issue between the two sides, hundreds of protesters, some armed, tried storming the BLM's cattle gate, but weren't successful. The crowd was urged to wait 30 minutes and give both sides a chance to talk.
Las Vegas Police Lt. Dan Zehnder said the showdown was resolved with no injuries and no violence. Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie was able to negotiate a resolution after talking with Bundy, he said.
The fight between Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management widened into a debate about states' rights and federal land-use policy. The dispute that ultimately triggered the roundup dates to 1993, when the bureau cited concern for the federally protected tortoise in the region. The bureau revoked Bundy's grazing rights after he stopped paying grazing fees and disregarded federal court orders to remove his animals.
Kornze's announcement came after Bundy repeatedly promised to "do whatever it takes" to protect his property and after a string of raucous confrontations between his family members and supporters and federal agents during the weeklong operation.
Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval issued a statement praising the agency for its willingness to listen to the state's concerns. He earlier criticized the agency for creating "an atmosphere of intimidation" and trying to confine protesters to a fenced-in "First Amendment area" well away from the sprawling roundup area.
"The safety of all individuals involved in this matter has been my highest priority," Sandoval said. "Given the circumstances, today's outcome is the best we could have hoped for."
Nevada's congressional delegation urged the protesters to be calm and to leave the area.
"The dispute is over, the BLM is leaving, but emotions and tensions are still near the boiling point, and we desperately need a peaceful conclusion to this conflict," U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said in a statement. "I urge all the people involved to please return to your homes and allow the BLM officers to collect their equipment and depart without interference."
The 400 cows gathered during the roundup were short of the BLM's goal of 900 cows that it says have been trespassing on U.S. land without required grazing permits for over 20 years.
Bundy, 67, doesn't recognize federal authority on land he insists belongs to Nevada. His Mormon family has operated a ranch since the 1870s near the small town of Bunkerville and the Utah and Arizona lines.
"Good morning America, good morning world, isn't it a beautiful day in Bunkerville?" Bundy told a cheering crowd after his cattle were released, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The crowd protesting Saturday recited the pledge of allegiance, and many offered prayers. Others waved placards reading, "This land is your land," and "We teach our children not to bully. How do we teach our government not to be big bullies?" according to the newspaper.
It's the latest skirmish since the 1980s when the Sagebrush Rebellion challenged federal ownership of Nevada rangeland ranchers said was rightfully theirs.
A federal judge in Las Vegas first ordered Bundy to remove his trespassing cattle in 1998. The bureau was implementing two federal court orders last year to remove Bundy's cattle after making repeated efforts to resolve the matter outside court, Kornze said, adding the rancher has not paid grazing fees in 20 years.
"This is a matter of fairness and equity, and we remain disappointed that Cliven Bundy continues to not comply with the same laws that 16,000 public-lands ranchers do every year," Kornze said. "After 20 years and multiple court orders to remove the trespass cattle, Mr. Bundy owes the American taxpayers in excess of $1 million. The BLM will continue to work to resolve the matter administratively and judicially."


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We cover Creamore Bank (Shropshire)


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The nation's increasingly powerful Spanish-language television networks show a distinct liberal bias in covering domestic news, a conservative media watchdog group asserted Tuesday.
The Media Research Center says that itsfour-month analysis of weekday evening newscasts aired on Univision and Telemundo showed that the networks' domestic coverage was "dominated by partisans" from the left.
Authors Ken Oliver-Mendez and Rich Noyes, who were particularly critical of the networks' efforts to encourage viewers to obtain insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, characterized the findings as a wake-up call for conservatives eager to reach the nation's fastest-growing demographic.
"It is incumbent upon more conservatives to effectively engage and make themselves available to these networks with relevant and compelling content," they wrote.
The report, "Hispanic Media in the Balance," co-sponsored by the American Principles Project's Latino Partnership, was released at a launch Tuesday of the center's new "MRC Latino" effort to monitor Spanish-language news.
The importance of coverage and perception of the Republican Party among Latinos was underscored by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, considered one of the top prospects for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
Republicans, he said in comments at the MRC event held at the Newseum, cannot be seen as "just the party of deportation."
"The bottom line is that the Hispanic community, the Latino community is not going to hear us until we get beyond that issue," said Paul, who opposes the Senate's comprehensive immigration overhaul. "They're not going to care whether we go to the same church or have the same values or believe in the same kind of future of our country until we get beyond that."
The MRC survey, which analyzed nearly 30 hours of coverage and 667 stories on U.S. politics and policy between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28, found that 45 percent of the stories "tilted left/liberal," 49 percent were viewed as balanced, and 6 percent "slanted right/conservative."
The networks, the authors asserted, served at times as "pawns of public relations or publicity campaigns," particularly in their formal arrangements with the Obama administration to promote the Affordable Care Act.
"That was a real red flag for us," Oliver-Mendez said. "During the four months of the study, we would see the anchors promoting enrollment directly, and referring viewers to the health care website."
"None of this type of stuff was on any of the big three networks — ABC, NBC or CBS," he said. "It was an infestation of marketing, done on both Univision and Telemundo."
Among the other findings: Democratic politicians and advocates were the dominant voices on the networks' news reports, which were dominated by coverage of immigration issues and Obamacare; the networks' international coverage was judged less partisan.
"Our first examination shows America's top Spanish language news networks are failing to fully live up to their journalistic vocation when they let their domestic news content be dominated by partisans on one side of the ideological spectrum," Oliver-Mendez and Noyes wrote.
Oliver-Mendez says that MRC has reached out to both networks, and that there are meetings being planned with executives of both.
"I'm very pleased with their response to constructive criticism, and to figuring out how we can all improve," he said.
In response to a request for comment, Telemundo sent this statement:
"Noticias Telemundo stands for accuracy, fairness and independence, while we strive to meet the highest ethical standards in the industry. We are devoted to our audience of U.S. Hispanics and strive to offer them the most reliable and objective information on the subjects that matter the most to them. The journalistic principles that rule our work ensure that our news coverage is transparent, impartial and factual."
Univision's response:
"At Univision News we are committed to providing access to all points of view and information so that our audiences can make informed decisions, regardless of their political views or affiliations. We have an open invitation to elected officials and representatives from all sides to address our community on issues of importance and relevance."
In a post at the conservative Heritage Foundation's Foundry blog, Israel Ortega noted that the Hispanic media are "hugely influential in shaping public opinion," noting that nearly all of U.S. Hispanic households are reached by Univision alone.
Ortega noted that conservatives have two options, in light of the findings of the MRC study: "The first is to complain and do nothing," he wrote. "But the second — and far more compelling — response is to heed the recommendation of the Media Research Center's study and engage with Hispanic media to better inform news reports and stories before they are disseminated."
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