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I just read a repost on Passive Voice called Pay the Writer. And I disagreed with most of it.
Because no one owes me a living.
Repeat that to yourself. Say it out loud if you need to.
No one owes me a living.
A sense of entitlement is a dangerous thing. If you're lucky, you'll find readers. If you're really lucky, you'll make a few bucks.
But just because you can string a few pretty sentences together doesn't mean you get to earn a living.
I know how hard you work, because I also work hard. But I'm not entitled to earning a living, either.
It's a very dangerous thing when writers start to believe that they are owed something for their work. It's also fallacious.
Let's say you're a ditch digger, because--as a wise man once said--the world needs ditch diggers too. And you spend 8 hours digging a ditch, busting your ass in the hot sun.
Do you deserve to be paid?
Sure, if someone hired you to dig that ditch. If you're just randomly digging ditches that no one commissioned, on property no one owns, you don't deserve anything. You're an idiot. Or a dreamer. Or both.
Same thing with writing. Just because you wrote it, doesn't mean you deserve to be paid for it.
Q: But! But! But! But what if someone reads what I wrote? Don't I deserve to be paid then?
A: Someone reading your book is not the same as someone hiring you to dig a ditch.
First of all, when you write a book, you can potentially have an infinite number of readers. Let's say you work on it for three months. Well, someday your great-great-great-great grandchildren might read that book in the year 2155. Do you really think you deserve to get paid for something you wrote 139 years ago?
That ditch digger, assuming he was hired, dug a ditch and got paid for his time. He doesn't continue to get paid every time someone looks at his ditch. He got paid for the hours he put in, then he didn't get paid anymore.
The doctor who got a $700,000 salary for 2015 got paid $700,000 for 2015, and no more. He doesn't continue to earn money on hours he worked last year.
Are Khufu's relatives still getting royalties every time someone visits the pyramids?
Intellectual Property, which is protected by archaic copyright laws, can allow creators to continue to get paid for things they wrote long ago, for long into the future.
Personally, I don't think that's fair. And I've blogged about that at length in the past. But we'll hold off on making this an argument about reforming copyright, and focus on the belief that if a writer spends an hour on a story, they deserve to be paid over and over for that hour for eternity.
It doesn't make sense.
Q: But! But! But if someone reads a book, shouldn't they pay?
A: Not necessarily. You don't pay the writer if you check out a book at a library, or buy it used, or borrow it from your buddy.
Q: That's because readers haven't been properly taught that those venues don't pay writers.
A: Kinda like teenagers haven't been taught that drugs are bad? Do you think being taught makes a difference? While you answer that I'll be over here, getting stoned with my teenage son.
Heads up: there has always been free media. You could spend fifty lifetimes reading books and watching videos and never pay a cent. Welcome to the digital world. It's here to stay.
And beyond the free stuff out there, I believe subscriptions are quickly outpacing sales when it comes to ebooks (according to my own numbers). Kindle Unlimited pays me less for borrows than it does for sales, and my sales continue to go down as borrows go up.
Also, whining to your customers that they should spend more money on your work because you're not getting paid, and calling that "education", isn't a wise way to get in their good graces. Just sayin'.
Q: So are you okay with this borrowing trend?
A: It is what it is. Educating readers isn't going to change anything. Pleading with Amazon for scraps won't change anything. I expect this trend to continue, and whining isn't the answer.
Q: What is the answer?
A: The answer is looking for new ways to monetize your IP. But, again, that isn't the object of this blog post. This blog post is about writers who believe they deserve to be paid. I think this attitude is bad, and potentially dangerous. Encouraging a sense of entitlement isn't a good thing. Irritating readers is shitting where you eat. Believing that you deserve to earn $100 an hour on a book you wrote in 2005 is nuts--and I say that having ran a BookBub ad yesterday for Bloody Mary, which I wrote in 2005. I sold over 3000 copies and made about $2400.
I don't deserve this. I'm lucky as fuck.
Q: So what attitude should writers have?
A: I hope to be read. Any way possible. Free books, libraries, loans, used, whatever. I believe that the more readers who find me--whether they pay for it or not--the better off I'll be.
Q: But what if two million people read you but no one pays you?
A: If I have two million fans and I can't figure out how to make money off of that, then I'm an idiot.
But rather than try to squeeze money from every single person who ever glances at one of my IPs, I think the smarter thing is to sell stuff to people who want to buy stuff.
I don't fear free ebooks. I fear obscurity.
Q: And what if everything becomes free and no one buys ebooks anymore?
A: That could happen someday. But something will come along and monetize that model. Where there are fans, there is cash spent. I can't think of any situation that works differently.
But we shouldn't be expecting all fans to pay. We shouldn't be whining that we're owed something. As a writer, you're contributing to the collective creative output of the species. Good for you. But no one is forcing you to this. If you can get paid, awesome. If you can't, go find someone to pay you to dig a ditch.
Blaming Amazon, or bookstores, or libraries, or ebooks, or readers, for your inability to turn your clever words into eternal and infinite cash isn't the way to go. Less time whining and blaming, more time writing and innovating.
Q: But what about piracy? What if people are stealing my stuff?
A: You mean like someone broke into your house and stole your bike, thereby preventing you from continuing to ride that bike?
Q: No. I mean stealing my IP.
A: You mean plagiarism and bootlegging? They're selling your ebooks without your permission and keeping all the money?
Q: No. I mean they're reading my ebooks without paying.
A: Like at a library or used bookstore?
Q: Yeah! I mean no. What it they got it by file sharing?
A: Are you telling me that it upsets you when someone goes through the trouble of downloading your ebook and reading it?
Q: Yes. Without paying me.
A: Because you think you deserve to be paid every time someone reads you?
Q: Yes.
A: Do you pay the creator of every YouTube video you watch for free?
Q: No. But they have ads.
A: Then maybe your ebooks should have ads.
Q: They choose to put their work on YouTube. I don't choose to be file shared! I'm being pirated, man!
A: I've blogged at length at how I don't mind piracy. But, again, that's a topic for another blog post. This one is talking about writers who feel they deserve to be paid.
If you feel you deserve to be paid, and get upset that people are pirating you, there is an easy solution: stop writing.
There is no one forcing you to write. And certainly no one forcing you to try and sell what you've written. You wouldn't go swimming in shark infested waters, would you? Especially if you were bleeding.
Well, writing an ebook and then being shocked that you were pirated is the same thing. If you don't want to get eaten, stay out of the water.
Piracy isn't going away. Go do something else with your precious time if piracy bothers you, because if you create any sort of IP that anyone is interested in, that IP will be pirated.
Not only are you not owed a living, but you will never stop people who want to experience and share your work for free. Our species shares information, freely. It's the reason civilization exists. To try to limit that is a fast track to censorship and flies in the face of net neutrality. The reason oppressive regimes have always existed is because of their ability to limit information and the free exchange of ideas. Sorry, but I support open and free sharing of ideas over your insistence that you earn $2.74 from every person your reads your opus.
Q: You're a hypocrite. Why don't you write for free if you love free so much?
A: I'm not saying writers shouldn't be able to make a few bucks if they can. I'm saying the world doesn't owe them, so stop whining about it. I consider myself lucky to be read, and even luckier that there are avenues where I can make some money. But I also understand that getting rid of libraries and used book stores and piracy would be a bad thing, even though I don't make money in those venues.
Do you really want to prevent people from reading your work because they can't afford it?
Do you want to miss making a fan because they don't want to spend any money on you until they've tried you for free first?
Do you really think they only value books have is what people pay for them? And that everything available for free has zero value?
Do you believe that berating your customers and potential customers is ever a good thing?
You insist the writer get paid?
Instead, thank the reader.
Because if you get enough readers--no matter how you acquire them--the money will follow.
Sunday, January 03, 2016
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AHL Game Night: 10-12-12 Crunch at Americans
A Syracuse comeback takes away a point on opening night.
Dustin Tokarski allowed 5 goals on 24 shots and 1 of 5 shooters to convert for the shootout loss. That's an ugly stat line for a young man trying to stave off a Riku Helenius challenge for the starting job.
First Period
RCH Tropp, (1) (Hodgson), 0:24
SYR Barberio, (1) (Namestnikov, Killorn), 5:28 (PP)
RCH Tropp, (2) (Adam, Schiestel), 14:52
RCH Foligno, (1) (Porter, Mancari), 16:12
Second Period
RCH Pysyk, (1) (Rankin, Varone), 3:22
SYR Angelidis, (1) (Wyman), 19:14
Third Period
SYR Conacher, (1) (Palat), 1:42
SYR Johnson, (1) (Conacher, Taormina), 8:01
SYR Johnson, (2) (Conacher, Palat), 10:09 (PP)
RCH Mancari, (1) (Brennan, Foligno), 12:42 (PP)
SYR- None
ROC- Mancari
Cory Conacher (pictured) was the game's second star after posting 1 goal and 2 assists on opening night.Tyler Johnson had a pair of goals and Ondrej Palat also had a multi-point night with a pair of helpers. Youngster Vladislav Namestnikov also posted his first professional point on an assist on Mark Barberio's game opening goal.
I'm stunned that Syracuse threw out a shootout lineup of Palat, Connolly, Panik, Johnson, and Conacher and got nothing. That's five stud prospects with a lot of skill and... nada. I wouldn't have bet on that.
Syracuse outshot Rochester 34-25 in the game, and was very game to come out of a three goal hole to get a point out of the night. When Johnson pulled Syracuse ahead for the first time in the Third Period, you even had to think for a moment that maybe that killer instinct from Norfolk last season was still in effect. There was plenty of good, plenty of bad, and plenty of coachable moments for Jon Cooper to work on the team with after this one.
On to Syracuse tomorrow and the home opener against perennial power Hershey.
Box score from TheAHL.com.
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Human evolution
Human evolution, the process by which human beings developed on Earth from now-extinct primates. Viewed zoologically, we humans are Homo sapiens, a culture-bearing upright-walking species that lives on the ground and very likely first evolved in Africa about 315,000 years ago. We are now the only living members of what many zoologists refer to as the human tribe, Hominini, but there is abundant fossil evidence to indicate that we were preceded for millions of years by other hominins, such as Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and other species of Homo, and that our species also lived for a time contemporaneously with at least one other member of our genus, H. neanderthalensis (the Neanderthals). In addition, we and our predecessors have always shared Earth with other apelike primates, from the modern-day gorilla to the long-extinct Dryopithecus. That we and the extinct hominins are somehow related and that we and the apes, both living and extinct, are also somehow related is accepted by anthropologists and biologists everywhere. Yet the exact nature of our evolutionary relationships has been the subject of debate and investigation since the great British naturalist Charles Darwin published his monumental books On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). Darwin never claimed, as some of his Victorian contemporaries insisted he had, that "man was descended from the apes," and modern scientists would view such a statement as a useless simplification—just as they would dismiss any popular notions that a certain extinct species is the "missing link" between humans and the apes. There is theoretically, however, a common ancestor that existed millions of years ago. This ancestral species does not constitute a "missing link" along a lineage but rather a node for divergence into separate lineages. This ancient primate has not been identified and may never be known with certainty, because fossil relationships are unclear even within the human lineage, which is more recent. In fact, the human "family tree" may be better described as a "family bush," within which it is impossible to connect a full chronological series of species, leading to Homo sapiens, that experts can agree upon.
What is a human being?
When did humans evolve?
Did humans evolve from apes?
Are Neanderthals classified as humans?
The primary resource for detailing the path of human evolution will always be fossil specimens. Certainly, the trove of fossils from Africa and Eurasia indicates that, unlike today, more than one species of our family has lived at the same time for most of human history. The nature of specific fossil specimens and species can be accurately described, as can the location where they were found and the period of time when they lived; but questions of how species lived and why they might have either died out or evolved into other species can only be addressed by formulating scenarios, albeit scientifically informed ones. These scenarios are based on contextual information gleaned from localities where the fossils were collected. In devising such scenarios and filling in the human family bush, researchers must consult a large and diverse array of fossils, and they must also employ refined excavation methods and records, geochemical dating techniques, and data from other specialized fields such as genetics, ecology and paleoecology, and ethology (animal behaviour)—in short, all the tools of the multidisciplinary science of paleoanthropology.
This article is a discussion of the broad career of the human tribe from its probable beginnings millions of years ago in the Miocene Epoch (23 million to 5.3 million years ago [mya]) to the development of tool-based and symbolically structured modern human culture only tens of thousands of years ago, during the geologically recent Pleistocene Epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). Particular attention is paid to the fossil evidence for this history and to the principal models of evolution that have gained the most credence in the scientific community. See the article evolution for a full explanation of evolutionary theory, including its main proponents both before and after Darwin, its arousal of both resistance and acceptance in society, and the scientific tools used to investigate the theory and prove its validity.
Background and beginnings in the Miocene
It is generally agreed that the taproot of the human family shrub is to be found among apelike species of the Middle Miocene Epoch (roughly 16–11.6 mya) or Late Miocene Epoch (11.6–5.3 mya). Genetic data based on molecular clock estimates support a Late Miocene ancestry. Various Eurasian and African Miocene primates have been advocated as possible ancestors to the early hominins, which came on the scene during the Pliocene Epoch (5.3–2.6 mya). Though there is no consensus among experts, the primates suggested include Kenyapithecus, Griphopithecus, Dryopithecus, Graecopithecus (Ouranopithecus), Samburupithecus, Sahelanthropus, and Orrorin. Kenyapithecus inhabited Kenya and Griphopithecus lived in central Europe and Turkey from about 16–14 mya. Dryopithecus is best known from western and central Europe, where it lived from 13 to possibly 8 mya. Graecopithecus lived in northern and southern Greece about 9 mya, at roughly the same time as Samburupithecus in northern Kenya. Sahelanthropus inhabited Chad between 7 and 6 million years ago. Orrorin was from central Kenya 6 mya. Among these, the most likely ancestor of great apes and humans may be either Kenyapithecus or Griphopithecus.
Among evolutionary models that stress the Eurasian species, some consider Graecopithecus to be ancestral only to the human lineage, containing Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo, whereas others entertain the possibility that Graecopithecus is close to the great-ape ancestry of Pan (chimpanzees and bonobos) and Gorilla as well. In the former model, Dryopithecus is ancestral to Pan and Gorilla. On the other hand, others would have Dryopithecus ancestral to Pan and Australopithecus on the way to Homo, with Graecopithecus ancestral to Gorilla. This morphology-based model mirrors results of some molecular studies, which show chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans to be more closely related to one another than any of them is to gorillas; orangutans (Pongo) are more distantly related.
In a phylogenetic model that emphasizes African Miocene species, Samburupithecus is ancestral to Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Orrorin, and Orrorin begets Au. afarensis, which is ancestral to Homo.
The Miocene Epoch was characterized by major global climatic changes that led to more seasonal conditions with increasingly colder winters north of the Equator. By the Late Miocene, in many regions inhabited by apelike primates, evergreen broad-leaved forests were replaced by open woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, and mosaic habitats, sometimes with denser-canopied forests bordering lakes, rivers, and streams. Such diverse environments stimulated novel adaptations involving locomotion in many types of animals, including primates. In addition, there were a larger variety and greater numbers of antelope, pigs, monkeys, giraffes, elephants, and other animals for adventurous hominins to scavenge and perhaps kill. But large cats, dogs, and hyenas also flourished in the new environments; they not only would provide meat for scavenging hominins but also would compete with and probably prey upon them. In any case, our ancestors were not strictly or even heavily carnivorous. Instead, a diet that relied on tough, abrasive vegetation, including seeds, stems, nuts, fruits, leaves, and tubers, is suggested by primate remains bearing large premolar and molar teeth with thick enamel.
Behaviour and morphology associated with locomotion also responded to the shift from arboreal to terrestrial life. The development of bipedalism enabled hominins to establish new niches in forests, closed woodlands, open woodlands, and even more open areas over a span of at least 4.5 million years. Indeed, obligate terrestrial bipedalism (that is, the ability and necessity of walking only on the lower limbs) is the defining trait required for classification in the human tribe, Hominini.
Striding through the Pliocene
The anatomy of bipedalism
Bipedalism is not unique to humans, though our particular form of it is. Whereas most other mammalian bipeds hop or waddle, we stride. H. sapiens is the only mammal that is adapted exclusively to bipedal striding. Unlike most other mammalian orders, the primates have hind-limb-dominated locomotion. Accordingly, human bipedalism is a natural development from the basic arboreal primate body plan, in which the hind limbs are used to move about and sitting upright is common during feeding and rest.
The initial changes toward an upright posture were probably related more to standing, reaching, and squatting than to extended periods of walking and running. Human beings stand with fully extended hip and knee joints, such that the thighbones are aligned with their respective leg bones to form continuous vertical columns. To walk, one simply tilts forward slightly and then keeps up with the displaced centre of mass, which is located within the pelvis. The large muscle masses of the human lower limbs power our locomotion and enable a person to rise from squatting and sitting postures. Body mass is transferred through the pelvis, thighs, and legs to the heels, balls of the feet, and toes. Remarkably little muscular effort is expended to stand in place. Indeed, our large buttock, anterior thigh, and calf muscles are virtually unused when we stand still. Instead of muscular contraction, the human bipedal stance depends more on the way in which joints are constructed and on strategically located ligaments that hold the joints in position. Fortunately for paleoanthropologists, some bones show dramatic signs of how a given hominin carried itself, and the adaptation to obligate terrestrial bipedalism led to notable anatomic differences between hominins and great apes. These differences are readily identified in fossils, particularly those of the pelvis and lower limbs.
Although we are bipedal, our pelvis is oriented like that of quadrupedal primates. The early bipedal hominins assumed erect trunk posture by bending the spine upward, particularly in the lower back (lumbar region). In order to transfer full upper-body mass to the lower limbs and to reposition muscles so that one could walk without assistance from the upper limbs and without wobbling from side to side, changes were required in the pelvis—particularly in the ilia (the large, blade-shaped bones on either side), the ischia (protuberances on which body rests when sitting), and the sacrum (a wedge-shaped bone formed by the fusing of vertebrae). Hominin hip bones have short ilia with large areas that articulate with a short, broad sacrum. Conversely, great-ape hip bones have long ilia with small sacral articular areas, and sacra of the great apes are long and narrow. The human pelvis is unique among primates in having the ilia curved forward so that the inner surfaces face one another instead of being aligned sideways, as in apes and other quadrupeds. Curved ilia situate some of the gluteal muscles on the side of the hip joint, where they steady the pelvis as the foot swings forward during a step. This special mechanism allows us to walk smoothly, with only slight oscillations of the pelvis and without gross side-to-side motions of the upper body. Humans have short ischia (and long lower limbs), facilitating speedy actions of the hamstring muscles, which extend the thigh at the hip joint, while great apes have long ischia (and short hind limbs), which give them powerful hip extension for climbing up trees. Characteristically, a human thighbone is long and has a very large, globular head and a short, round neck; at the knee a prominent lateral ridge buttresses the groove in which the kneecap lies. The femurs are farther apart at the hips than at the knees and slant toward the midline to keep the knees close together. This angle allows anthropologists to diagnose bipedalism even if the fossil is only the knee end of a femur. The femurs of quadrupedal great apes, on the other hand, do not converge toward the knees, and the femoral shafts lack telltale angling.
Human feet are distinct from those of apes and monkeys. This is not surprising, since in humans the feet must support and propel the entire body on their own instead of sharing the load with the forelimbs. In humans the heel is very robust, and the great toe is permanently aligned with the four diminutive lateral toes. Unlike other primate feet, which have a mobile midfoot, the human foot possesses (if not requires) a stable arch to give it strength. Accordingly, human footprints are unique and are readily distinguished from those of other animals.


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Peru, Research Station Panguana
(September-October 2004)
Frank Hennemann & Oskar Conle
Mid of October 2004 we and four of our colleagues from the State Zoological Collections Munich (ZSMC) started for an expedition to the research station Panguana in the Amazone rainforest of Peru not far away from the Andes.
With an area of 1 285 216 square kilometres Peru is the after Brazil and Argentinia the third largest of the South American countries and can geographically be divided into three major regions: the 2300 km long coast (Costa), the central mountainous region (Sierra) and the tropical lowland of the Amazone (Oriente). Along the coast which covers about 11 % of the countries area, there is a desert band with an average width of 10-18 km and interrupted by numerous, green oases at the river-mouths. The Sierra divides into several mountain ranges which run from north to south an reach altitudes of up to 6500 metres. The lower valleys of the Andes are intensively used for agricultural purposes, while the higher regions in southern Peru are rather stingy and rocky. The Oriente (also La Selva) covers about 60 % of the countries area and is very sparingly settled. So far, only about 5 % of the primary rainforest have been destroyed. 3,2 % are National Parks and are under national protection.
From Munich via Madrid we took an Iberia flight to Peru's capital Lima (about 7 million inhabitatants). Our expectations of this versatile metropole and former Spanish colonial city, which is positioned directly at the Pacific coast, were high but our first impressions were disappointing. Chaotic traffic, dilapidated houses, slums, the garbage filled river-bed of the Rio Rimac and all covered by a grey, depressing sky. Our hotel was situated in Miraflores, Lima's "New Centre". Numerous hotels, restaurants, shopping passages and gardenings give Miraflores a western flair which makes even Europeans feel homelike. The historic colonial centre of Lima with it's beautiful colonial palaces, cathedrals and the governemental palace was declared a world heritage by the UNESCO.
For obtaining the collecting and export permits and recognition of our project from the INRENA (Instituto Nacional de Recuras Naturales) and arrangements with the Natural History Museum, we had three days in Lima before and after our travel to Panguana. The spare time we used for sightseeing and visited the colonial centre of Lima, several cathedrals and museums like the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Antropologia which provides a good survey of the many old Peruvian cultures and Spanish colonial era.
Pucallpa (Province Ucayali)
On our fourth day we took a flight with the Peruvian Aero Continente from Lima to the Amazone metropole Pucallpa at the Rio Ucayali, which is with a length of 3000 km the longest of all Amazone affluents. Pucallpa counts some 300.000 inhabitants and in its surroundings of the natural resources are badly exploited. Rivers are systematically searched for gold, which makes alarming amounts of quick-silver polluting the nature, in the local saw-mills giant jungle-trees are manufactured into paper or boards and oil is extracted from the soil. In all, a rapidly growing, chaotic and unattractive city with oil-industry and uncountable, small shops. Furthermore, there is the San Juan brewery which produces real good beer.
Some 12 km west of Pucallpa towards Tingo María we had booked a bungalow in the holiday resort Divina Montaña. In addition to rather simple cottages this resort offers a restaurant, swimming-pool, and different bars and is mainly visited by the more wealthy locals during the weekend. During the week it is rather quiet with only a very few visitors and guest there. The hinder part of the garden-like resort is boardered by secondary rainforest which at once appeared prolific to us for collecting Phasmids. Already at our arrival we recognized several, large Ensifera to rest on the walls of our wooden bungalow. After a refreshing shower and a nice dinner we started our search. Collecting was however complicated by innumerable mosquitos which breed well in the small pond which is situated in the resorts centre. In the bright lights around and on our bungalow we were able to locate several different Praying-mantids (Mantodea), further Ensifera and many different butterflies (Lepidoptera). Most interesting was the discovery of an ootheca of the giant Mantid Macromantis hyalina (De Geer, 1773) from which we saw some males close to the roof of our bungalow.
Already after a few minutes we found the first Phasmids in the low vegetation around our bungalow. These were several adults of Pseudophasma velutinum (Redtenbacher, 1906), a few Prexaspes viridipes Redtenbacher, 1906 and some specimens of the at that time still undescribed Ocnophiloidea dillerorum Hennemann & Conle, 2007.
The next day we took two taxis to Pucallpa were we met Moro, the administrator of the research station Panguana. After a cool beer and some arrangement we ordered the pickups for our travel south to Panguana and began to purchase all kinds of things for our 12-day stay in the station. These included food (rice, maniok, biscuits etc.), plenty of drinks (water, coke, coffee and of course beer) and collecting equipment like plenty of plastic-boxes for storage of the collected insects or ethanol for preservation. In the evening we searched the vegetation around Divina Montaña once more and again found many large Ensifera and several specimens of the three mentioned Phasmid species. Around and beneath the lamps along the paths leading through the resort we found numerous small, black rhinoceros beetles (Dynastinae), which we could easily collect from the ground.
The next morning our drivers and two ordered pickups arrived at the resort by time at 6.20 am for loading our luggage and equipment. The supply of food and drinks, which Moro had purchased the day before, were already stored. Carefully all our bags and suitcases were stored and fixed to the loading-spaces of the two pickups and so we left Divina Montaña punctually at 7.00 am. Before us a strenous 170 km drive southwards with four persons plus the driver and two companions per car.
Research Station Panguana (Province Huanuco)
The research station Panguana was founded by the German zoologists couple Maria Koepcke and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke in 1968, where they conducted years of reserch on the animal fauna of the Amazone rainforest. The station comprises an area of about 2 square kilometres and is situated in the Peruvian rainforest (Province Huanuco) close to the western slopes of the Andes on the southern bank of the Rio Llullapichis (= Yuyapichis) an eastern affluent of the Rio Pachitea, some 170 km south of Pucallpa. When beginning with their studies, two abandoned wooden cottages of local Indigenas were used for accomodation. In subsequent years the area was measured and passed through by a 15 km long network of paths. Just recently the foodpaths were re-measured and numbered. Several scientific publications on the fauna of Peru were the result of their research which includes the well-known "Birds of Peru" by Maria Koepcke. In the early 1970's Mrs Koepcke died during a tragic airplane crash in the Peruvian Oriente, which meant the end of their zoological research in Panguana. Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke returned to Germany where he worked as the manager of the Herpetological section in Zoologische Institut and Museum of the University of Hamburg (ZMHU) and made the station for years accessible to different European scientists. After his death, his daughter Dr. Juliane Diller (presently manager of the library in the State Zoological Collections in Munich, ZSMC) inherited the station and since carries it on in her father's sense. Since the early 1980's it is administrated by the the local Moro Módena and his family. Because of the "Leuchtende Pfad", a terrorist group which had also settled down in the close surroundings of Panguana, the station could not be used for scientific reasearch for a couple of years. In the 1990's however, the station was again visited by scientists and since Juliane Diller has made it accessible to all kinds of scientists for conducting field studies. In the meanwhile Moro has built two new wooden houses, one of which is used as an accomodation for visitors and offers space for up to eight persons.
For interested biologists a stay in Panguana undoubtly is an unforgetable experience and adventure, as it inherits a great diversity of different biotopes. Almost perfect conditions for biologists of different subjects are represented by the rich primary rainforest, areas of secondary forest, palm-swamps, plantations, pasturages, different river-bank biotopes as well as flowing rivers and small ponds. The living and working-conditions are still simple and ask the visitor for a great degree of improvisation and dispense to do without luxury. Up to now there is no flowing water nor are there toilets. The close Rio Llullapichis is the only possibility to wash ones laundry or take a bath.
From Pucallpa the station can be reached by a strenous 8-hour drive a muddy and stony track, which ends at the small village Yuyapichis on the western bank of the Rio Pachitea. When we arrived in Yuyapichis our luggage and equipment was stored on small boats, with which we crossed the Rio Pachitea. About 2 km south of Yuyapichis on the opposite bank we reached the cattle-farm Casa Modena. After carrying our luggage up a steep slope, we were already awaited by Alex with his tractor, who kindly transported it to the station which is still some 3 kilometres away from Casa Modena. Alex is an Austrian, who stayed in Peru and married a local woman after being member of an expedition to the close Sira Mountains in the 1980's. Now he conducts stock-farming and has since become father of three children. From the Casa Modena it is an one-hour walk to Panguana, which crosses the Rio Llullapichis and leads through several wide pasturages.
Exhausted and swet-covered we arrived in Panguana in the late afternoon and were heartly welcomed by Moro's son Ibrahim and his family. Directly we moved into our cottage and began to unpack our luggage. Shortly after darkness arised we were given a delicous and rich dinner which Ibrahims wife had prepared for us. After dinner we could not await to take a refreshing bath in the Rio Llullapichis and have a few bottles of beer. With great curiosity of what would await us the next morning, we fell asleep in our mosquito-net covered beds.
Animals of Panguana
Due to the almost untouched nature, Panguana inherits many many wild animals. Among them the Jaguar (Panthera onca, Fam. Felidae) with a body length of 1,80 m and a maximum weight of 150 kg the largest South American carnivore or the smaller Ocelot (Felis pardalis, Fam. Felidae). Regularely Caimans (Caiman crocodilus, Fam. Corocodylidae) can be observed along the banks of the Rio Llullapichis. Although these small crocodiles, which reach body lengths of up to 2,5 m do luckily not attack humans they make a bath in the river an adventure. The adventure is increased by innumerable small fishes which begin to nibble ones skin as soon as the water is entered. The well-known Red Piranha (Serrasalmus nattereri, Fam. Characidae) is not found in the Rio Llullapichis but other Piranha-species instead. Scientific observation however shows most of the horror-stories around these fishes to be strongly overstated. Only four of the 18 known species can cause harm to humans, and do so only when one has before endured blooding injuries. The clearly most dangerous animal in the rivers of the Amazone region is the fresh-water ray or "Pez Raya" (Potamotrygon motoro, Fam. Potamotrygonidae). This ray reaches a body length of about 30 cm including the tail and is predominantly found in sandy or swamy soil where it hides in the ground being almost invisible. The tail is armed with a very sharp and long spine, which is immediately thrown up when one steps onto it. The spine is easily capable to beat through rubber boots and even human bones. Due to a fluid which disintegrates texture, the injuries caused by a ray take extremely long to heal, tend to infect and can torment for several years. Although the ground of the Rio Llullapichis at the station is rather stony, we placed a long stick on the bank where we entered to river in order to carefully search the ground in front of us. Apart from different Ara-Parrots, there are many common birds like the Red-breast fisher (Megaceryle torquata, Fam. Alcedinidae) or the Amazone-fisher (Chloroceryle amazona, Fam. Alcedinidae). The latter is commonly encountered on the banks of the Rio Llullapichis. In the forest there are many different snakes, among them the very harmful and venomous Lanzenotter (Bothrops atrox, Fam. Viperidae), which is well camouflaged in the leaf-litter on the forest floor, and the Bush-Master (Lachesis muta, Fam. Viperidae). With a length of 3,5-4 m the latter is the largest venomous snake of South America and due to the large amount of venom inserted into the texture by a bite, it is considerably harmful for humans. During night-collecting we commonly encountered Banana-Spiders (Phoneutria ferox, Fam. Ctenidae) in the lower vegetation, which reaches a leg-span of 8-10 cm and is one of South Americas most dangerous spiders. They can jump over a distance of up to 1 m and their venom causes incredible pain, convulsions and the loss of coordination which can last for several hours. In some cases it can even cause death due to shortness of breath. Commonly the striking yellow and black coloured but poisonous Three-striped frog (Epipedobates trivittatus, Fam. Dendrobatidae) is see, which is one of the most typical animals of Panguana.
Captured Insects
The second day we conducted a guided walk through the stations area. Immediately we recognized the immense richness of insects in Panguana. For the satisfaction of our colleagues we were able to locate numerous butterlies (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera) and grasshoppers (Saltatoria) along the paths. On the trunks of tall, living trees we found several specimens of a small Tree-mantid of the genus Liturgusa Saussure, 1869 (Fam. Liturgusinae). In the afternoon, after returning from our walk, our colleagues installed the first traps (Malaise- and Light-traps) and we looked out for a suiting locality to search for Phasmids at night. During our stay in Panguana the Malaise-traps in particular would prove to be most prolific for various insect orders. But also the light-trap attracted innumerable nocturnal Lepidoptera, Microlepidoptera, various wasps (Hymenoptera), bugs, cicadas and Praying-mantids (Mantodea). With the use of pheromone-traps our Hymenopterologist Prof. K. Schönitzer was able to collect a considerable number of the beautiful metallic green or blue bees of the genus Euglossa (Fam. Apiidae).
During our nocturnal search for Phasmids we very commonly encountered Pseudophasma velutinum (Redtenbacher, 1906) and Lobolibethra panguana Hennemann & Conle, 2007. Both species were very numerous and undoubtly the two most common species in Panguana. But also Ocnophiloidea dillerorum Hennemann & Conle, 2007 which we already found in Pucallpa was quite commonly encountered. Furthermore, we found several specimens of Dyme bifrons Stal, 1875 and another, unidentified species of Dyme mamillata Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1907. Less commonly, we found adult specimens of the beautiful Metriophasma stollii (Gray, 1835) and of Creoxylus corniger Audinet-Serville, 1838. Both species we found almost exceptionally on various plants of the Family Araceae. While the Creoxylus were found in the lower vegetation, Metriophasma stollii was only find in heights of up to 5 metres. Quite rarely we located predominantly nymphs but also a few adults of the large Phanocles virgulatus (Redtenbacher, 1908) whose females reached body lengths of up to 18 cm. In addition we located single specimens of Isagoras brevipes Redtenbacher, 1906 and an adult couple of a slender, brown Agrostia-species which we found on a small tree in a height of about 3 metres. On the same tree we also found several small and medium-sized nymphs of Agrostia. One night, the head-torch of our colleague Tanja Kithe (ZSMC) attracted a very beautiful and extremely colourful female of a so far unidentified species of Parastratocles, which remained the only specimen to be found during our stay. Undoubtedly this species usually lives in the canopy-region of the rainforest. Unfortunately we were not able to locate any specimens of the nice Neophasma scabriusculum Redtenbacher, 1906 from which we had before our departure seen photos taken in Panguana.
Apart from the Phasmids we commonly encountered specimens of two different Proscopiidae. These were Apioscelis bulbosa (Scudder, 1868) and the giant Pseudoproscopia latirostris (Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1890), the latter of which reached body lengths of up to 16 cm in the females. Also many different species of Ensifera were commonly found but they were less numerous than in Pucallpa. Highlights were several Leaf-crickets (Pseudophyllinae), among them three different species of Mimetica Pictet, 1888 and a giant so far unidentified species with beautifully coloured wings. In addition we found specimens of two different species of Stick-mantids, namely Angela guianensis Rehn, 1906 and Angela armata (De Haan, 1842) both members of the family Angelinae and a female of the striking, brown Leaf-mantid Acanthops erosula Stal, 1877. Tanja found further praying-mantids, among them a second, much smaller species of Acanthops. The most common Mantid was a green species of Stagmatoptera (Subfam. Vatinae) with yellow tesselated hind wings, the males of which were commonly attracted by the light-traps. Apart from several large nocturnal Lepidoptera, interesting captures at the light-traps included the giant Tobacco-sphingid (Manduca sexta, Fam. Sphingidae) with a wing-span of 12 cm and large male of the typically South American rhinoceros beetle Enema pan (Subfam. Dynastinae).
At day-time we regularely found innumerable, often beautiful grasshoppers (Caelifera), among them the colourful Stenopola boliviana Rehn 1913 and the larger, blue and yellow coloured Chromacris icterus (Pictet & Saussure, 1887). Whilst checking the light-trap next to the river in the early morning, Klaus Schönitzer found a beautiful male of the largest South American Flower-beetle Inca clathratus. While searching for Longicorn-beetles (Ceramycidae) and Bark-bugs in the wood of fallen trees, Tanja was able to locate a specimen of the colourful giant Buprestid beetle Euchroma gigantea (Fam. Buprestidae). Directly at the station numerous Lepidoptera were observed, including the beautifully coloured Urania leilus (Fam. Uraniidae). More rarely we could observe large species of Papilio (Fam. Papilionidae) and the very fast-flying Morpho-butterfly Morpha menelaus (Fam. Morhidae).
One night we decided to search for Phasmids along the "Carretera" a broad track crossing the station in the southern region. This locality appeared quite prolific to us, but the collecting was meant to be less successful than we expected. We found several adult specimens of a so far unidentified species of Pseudophasma with bright red bases of the femora and some Creoxylus. The most impressing capture was an adult female of the giant Mantid Macromantis hyalina (De Geer, 1773) which had a body length of about 13 cm. On our way back to the station we found a giant specimen of a Heterophrynus-species (Fam. Phrynidae) which had an amazing leg-span of 60 cm ! In addition to this large, brown species, a smaller black species with reddish legs is found in Panguana. At day-time we commonly observed Morpho-butterflies along the "Carretera".
We would like to express our thanks to our colleagues and friends Prof. Klaus Schönitzer (ZSMC), Tanja Kothe (ZSMC), Dr. Andreas Segerer (ZSMC), Magdalena Breitsameter (Munich) as well as Prof. Joachim Oehlke (DIE) and his wife for the wonderful time in Peru. Prof. Lamas of the Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima (MUSM) shall be thanked for access to the collection and help in obtaining the collecting and export permit. Finally, we are most gratful to Dr. Juliane Diller (ZSMC) for allowance to visit the scientific station Panguana and her immense help in organizing the expedition.
Some of the Phasmatodea collected on this expedition were published in the following paper:
HENNEMANN, F.H. & CONLE, O.V. (2007): Studies on neotropical Phasmatodea VII. Description of a new genus and four new species of Diapheromerinae from Peru and Bolivia. Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 97 Supplement, S. 1-113.


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Player of the Week nominees, Feb. 4-10
Here are this week's player of the week nominees. We'll have a Q&A with the winner as decided by the StarNews staff online on Thursday and in print on Friday. Christian Caveness, Sr., Laney swimming: Cavenness won the boys 100-yard butterfly at the 4A state championship meet in Cary, finishing with a blistering-fast 50.09 final time. He beat the next-closest competitor by .88 of a second, landslide victory in swimming, and also took seventh place in the boys 50 freestyle.… Read More »


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Doctor of Dental Medicine : Certificate in Orthodontics : D.M.D./M.P.H. Dual Degree Program
ATSU-ASDOH students also have the opportunity to obtain their Master of Public Health degree while in dental school. The Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health prepares caring, technologically adept dental students to become community and educational leaders serving those in need. The school offers students an experience-rich learning environment where health professionals approach patient health as part of an interdisciplinary team. The relationship of oral health to total healthcare is an essential component of the mission, teaching, and clinical experiences at ASDOH.
Upon completion of the four-year program, graduates receive a doctor of dental medicine (D.M.D.) and a certificate in public health.
ATSU-ASDOH also offers an advanced education program leading to a certificate in Orthodontics.


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Ceramic artist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper collaborate to create a stunning installation commemorating the centennial of the First World War. A scarlet sea of 888,246 ceramic red poppies will be "planted" around the Tower of London. Titled "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red", the installation pays tribute to soldiers who perished during the war.
For the past few weeks, volunteers have been carefully placing the flowers all around the famous dry moat around the Tower. Poppies burst through one of the windows and then flow loosely, forming an arch over the footbridge to the castle. Each poppy represents a soldier from the United Kingdom and its colonies who was killed during WWI. Cummings says he was inspired by a line in the will of a soldier from Derbyshire.
"I don't know his name or where he was buried or anything about him. But this line he wrote, when everyone he knew was dead and everywhere around him was covered in blood, jumped out at me: 'The blood-swept lands and seas of red, where angels fear to tread.' I believe he meant the angels to refer to his children."
Poppy is considered a flower of remembrance in Britain. The reason is because most of the soldiers died fighting in the trenches in the poppy fields of Flanders.
The blooming field will continue to grow throughout the summer. The final flower will be symbolically planted on November 11th, Armistice Day. The ceramic blossoms are for sale for £25 ($42) each. 10 percent of the proceeds go to benefit six different charities. You can find out more about the project by following the #TowerPoppies hashtag on Twitter. (via Colossal)


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Great that you are doing your own RV navigation package, finally! I can hardly wait. When a trip is exported to an HTML file, all the colums with numbers in them are left justified so reading and comparing the numbers in them is very hard. All numbers should be right justified and decimal aligned.
Just for the future.


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Searching our site for Utmost degree crossword clue. This clue was last seen today, February 15 2018 at the popular crossword puzzle, Wall Street. In case something is wrong or missing do not hesitate to contact us by leaving a comment below and we will be more than happy to help you out with the clue that you are stuck.
CROSSWORD CLUE: Utmost degree
Posted on: February 15 2018
Publisher: Wall Street
Posted on: February 15 2018
Publisher: Wall Street
Done with Utmost degree crossword clue? Go back and see the other crossword clues for Wall Street crossword February 15 2018.


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Robert Shiller has a new NYT column riffing on an academic paper from economists Mark Grinblatt (UCLA), Matti Keloharju (Aalto University), and Juhani T. Linnainmaa ( University of Chicago) on the subject of IQ and investing.
You can download it here from SSRN.
The gist: People with higher IQs follow better rules for investing.
Here's the abstract:
Stock market participation is monotonically related to IQ, controlling for wealth, income, age, and other demographic and occupational information. The high correlation between IQ, measured early in adult life, and participation, exists even among the affluent. Supplemental data from siblings, studied with an instrumental variables approach and regressions that control for family effects, demonstrate that IQ's influence on participation extends to females and does not arise from omitted familial and non-familial variables. High-IQ investors are more likely to hold mutual funds and larger numbers of stocks, experience lower risk, and earn higher Sharpe ratios. We discuss implications for policy and finance research.
What's cool -- as Shiller notes -- is how they did the study. Everyone in the Finnish military has to take an IQ test, and tax records are public, so they were able to get a detailed look at people's holdings, and compare them against IQ results.
ADDED: Looking through the paper more, the wealth of information from Finland seems pretty remarkable. It's quite the useful dataset.
We study Finnish stock market participation at the end of 2000 as a function of IQ measured early in adult life; we also study the relation between IQ and various contributors to portfolio risk and return. The IQ scores are comprehensive for Finnish males in a 20-year age range because they are obtained on induction into Finland's mandatory military service. We have IQ data on all inductees entering service between 1982 and 2001, as well as stock registry and mutual fund ownership data that unambiguously assess inductees' stock or mutual fund ownership later in life. We also have the year 2000 tax returns of approximately 160,000 of these inductees. The tax returns contain subject-level controls for different types of wealth, income, marital status, children, age, home and foreign asset ownership, primary language, employment status, and occupation (including whether one is an entrepreneur, farmer, or finance professional). We control for education, using zip code level data for each age grouping.


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The Headley family would like to thank the entire community for all their prayers, support, and generosity. The Headley benefit was a huge success. We were able to raise over $7,000 to help our mother "Melissa Headley" with all of her medical expenses. It is amazing to see an entire community come together to help in a time of need. A special thanks to IGA in Sistersville, Sistersville Fire Department, Boggs Pizza and Grill, Witschey's, Wal-Mart, and Sistersville General Hospital for donating items to make the benefit a success. It's impossible to list everyone but thank you to all the individuals, businesses, friends, family, and even strangers who made a difference in our family. We are truly thankful for the love that so many of you have shown us.
The Headley Family


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Quad Cities, USA
From Geo Hashing
|Cedar Rapids, Iowa
|Dubuque, Iowa
|Rockford, Illinois
|Cedar Rapids, Iowa
|Quad Cities
|Sterling, Illinois
|Burlington, Iowa
|Galesburg, Illinois
|Peoria, Illinois
Today's location: peeron geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox
Davenport, Iowa redirects here.
Today's Location: [Quad Cities]
The Quad Cities graticule is at latitude 41, longitude -90. It includes all of the Quad Cities (Moline, Rock Island, East Moline, Davenport & Bettendorf [Yes, the Quad Cities include five cities]), areas northwest in Iowa and areas south and northeast in Illinois.
- 2013-03-06 - Along a road in rural Bettendorf, IA
- 2012-06-11 - Behind building on farm near I80 Truck Stop
- 2010-12-23 - Near Interstate 74 in Bettendorf, IA.
- 2010-04-13 - 160th St and Vail Ave, SE of Pleasant Prairie, IA.
- 2009-10-15 - In the yard of a house in Bettendorf, IA.
- 2009-10-13 - First successful expedition, in Bettendorf, IA.
- 2009-08-24 - A drive-by, with picture, but doesn't qualify for a No Trespassing since there was a fence with no sign.
- 2009-03-04 - Genuflected to by an anonymous contributor.


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Brussels, 25 October 2011
Proposal for Directive on transparency requirements for listed companies and proposals on country by country reporting – frequently asked questions
The European Commission has proposed amendments to the existing Directive on transparency requirements for listed companies and to the Directives on accounting rules for annual accounts and consolidated accounts, inter alia to introduce country by country reporting, as part of a Responsible Business Initiative package of measures (see IP/11/1238).
The existing Transparency Directive (2004/109/EC) requires issuers of securities traded on regulated markets within the EU to ensure appropriate transparency through a regular flow of information to the markets. This information consists of:
(i) yearly, half-yearly and quarterly financial information;
(ii) on-going information on major holdings of voting rights and
(iii) ad hoc information disclosed pursuant to the Market Abuse Directive (for example: inside information has to be made public as soon as possible to the market under the conditions of the Transparency Directive).
1. The existing Directive foresees a number of notification thresholds for acquirers when they reach a certain stake in a listed company. However, the current rules contain a notification gap: holdings of certain types of financial instruments that can be used to acquire economic interest in listed companies without acquiring shares are not currently covered by the Directive's rules for disclosure. This was much less of an issue in 2004 when the existing Directive was adopted. But it can eventually lead to secret stake-building in listed companies with a view to acquire significant influence which in turn can give rise to possible market abuse situations, low levels of investor confidence and the misalignment of investor intentions with long-term interests of companies.
2. In addition, some of the current transparency requirements result in a disproportionate administrative burden: the requirement to publish quarterly financial information contributes, in particular for small and medium-sized issuers, to the high costs of compliance linked to listing on the regulated markets. This requirement is also perceived as a regulatory incentive encouraging the culture of short-termism on financial markets.
1. In order to close the existing gap in the notification requirements, the proposal to modify the Transparency Directive would require disclosure of major holdings of all financial instruments that could be used to acquire economic interest in listed companies and had the same effect as holdings of equity.
The proposal would also provide for more harmonisation concerning the rules of notification of major holdings in particular by requiring aggregation of holdings of financial instruments with holdings of shares for the purpose of calculation of the thresholds that trigger the notification requirement.
2. In order to reduce the administrative burden and to encourage long term investment, the requirement to publish quarterly financial information would be alleviated. Companies could of course continue to publish quarterly information on a voluntary basis if they wished to.
In order to reduce the administrative burden linked to listing on regulated markets and encourage long-term investment, the requirement to publish quarterly financial information [this covers both interim management statements and quarterly reports] would be abolished for all listed companies. For the sake of efficiency and in order to provide for a harmonised regime for disclosure, Member States would not be allowed to continue to impose such an obligation in their national legislation. Listed companies would have the discretion to publish quarterly information if they so desired.
A thorough impact assessment was carried out before deciding on this option. Its results show that quarterly financial information is not necessary for investors' protection even if it can provide useful information for some investors. Investor protection is already sufficiently guaranteed through the mandatory disclosure of half-yearly and yearly financial results, as well as through the disclosures required by the Market Abuse Directive.
In addition, quarterly financial information as currently required by the Transparency Directive is not prepared according to the accounting standards and therefore this information might not offer adequate quality nor give sufficient assurance to investors. Information disclosed is also not easily comparable at the EU level.
The proposals to amend the Accounting Directives (78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC) would introduce a new obligation for large extractive and logging companies to report the payments they make to governments (the so called country by country reporting-CBCR). Reporting would also be carried out on a project basis, where payments have been attributed to specific projects. The existing Accounting Directive regulates the information provided in the financial statements of all limited liability companies which are registered in the European Economic Area (EEA).
The same country by country requirement has been incorporated in the proposal to revise the Transparency Directive in order to include all companies which are listed on EU regulated markets even if they are not registered in the EEA and incorporated in a third country.
See specific questions on country by country reporting at the end of this memo (from question 13 onwards)
In order to close the existing gap in the notification requirements, the proposal to modify the Transparency Directive would require disclosure of major holdings of all financial instruments that could be used to acquire economic interest in listed companies and have the same effect as holdings of equity.
The definition of financial instrument would be broadened to cover all instruments of similar economic effect to holdings of shares and entitlements to acquire shares, whether giving right to a physical settlement or not. It would cover cash-settled derivatives (a derivative contract where one party holds a long position and the other party holds a short position in a particular stock, with any nominal value difference at maturity settled in cash) as well as other similar financial instruments not yet available on the markets but which could be the result of future financial innovation.
The proposed new definition focuses on the economic effect of a financial instrument rather than enumerating the types of financial instruments covered. The general principle of notification of all instruments of similar economic effect to holdings of shares and entitlements to acquire shares would be subject to exemptions in order to avoid providing the market with irrelevant information and spare notification costs for market players which by definition should not exercise any influence on voting policies or acquire a secret stock in the underlying company. The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) would be responsible for developing draft technical standards to adapt the existing exemptions if necessary.
The holdings of financial instruments would be calculated taking into account the nominal amount of the underlying shares.
In order to provide a sufficient level of transparency with regard to major holdings, holdings of financial instruments would be aggregated with holdings of shares for the purpose of calculation of the thresholds that trigger the notification requirement.
However, to avoid any confusion as to the nature of holdings, the holder of shares and financial instruments would have to specify separately the amount of holdings of shares and the amount of holdings of financial instruments in its notification.
Taking into account the differences of ownership structures in listed companies in different Member States, it did not appear appropriate to harmonise the thresholds for notification of major holdings and to prohibit Member States from setting lower thresholds for notification in the proposal. Consequently, Member States with dispersed ownership of listed companies would continue to be able to set the lower thresholds than those provided for in the Transparency Directive.
The Transparency Directive requires each Member State to establish a storage mechanism to ensure access of the public to regulated information. However, access to such information on a pan-European basis is currently complicated: interested parties need to go through 27 different national databases which are not sufficiently interconnected. The lack of a centralised storage system is thus a major barrier to the functional integration of European securities markets, and the creation of an effective pan-European marketplace for capital. It can also be a barrier for cross border visibility of small listed companies.
For this reason, it is proposed that the European Commission receives further delegated powers in this respect, in particular regarding the access to regulated information at the Union level. ESMA would assist the European Commission by developing draft regulatory technical standards concerning, for example, the operation of a central access point for the search of regulated information at the Union level. These measures would also be used to prepare for the possible future creation of a single European storage mechanism which could ensure storage of regulated information at the Union level.
Following the European Commission Communication on Sanctions in December 2010 (see IP/10/1678), today's proposal would require Member States to provide that appropriate administrative sanctions and measures could be applied if violations of the Transparency Directive were identified. The lack of sufficient sanctions had been identified as one big weakness in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008. The proposed rules mirror those in the approach taken recently in the revisions of the Capital Requirements Directive IV (MEMO/11/527) and the Markets in Financial Instrument Directive.
The revised Transparency Directive would require Member States to adopt common minimum standards on:
types and addressees of sanctions;
These provisions would be without prejudice to the provisions of national criminal law.
12. Who would benefit from the revised Transparency directive and how?
13. What Directives are you proposing to revise in order to introduce a country by country reporting system?
The Accounting Directives (78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC) currently regulate the information provided in the financial statements of all limited liability companies which are incorporated under the law of a European Economic Area (EEA) Member State. These rules will now be revised.
But in order to ensure a level playing field between companies, the country-by-country requirement is also proposed to be incorporated in the Transparency Directive (2004/109/EC). It would include all companies which are listed on EU regulated markets even if they registered in a third country.
14. What is the country by country reporting system proposal about?
The Commission proposes to introduce a new obligation for listed and large non-listed extractive and logging companies to report all material payments to governments broken down by country and by project, when these payments have been attributed to a specific project. The following types of payments shall be reported:
15. What are the main objectives of the proposal?
The proposal aims to improve the transparency of payments made to governments all over the world by the extractive and logging industries. Such disclosure would provide civil society in resource-rich countries with the information needed to hold governments to account for any income made through the exploitation of natural resources, and also to promote the adoption of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in these same countries. The information disclosed on payments to governments would be publicly available to all stakeholders either through the stock market information repository or the business registry in the country of incorporation (in the same way as financial statements are made available).
16. What is EITI? How does it compare with the EU proposals?
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a voluntary initiative with the objective of improving transparency and accountability in countries rich in oil, gas, and mineral resources. Once a host country endorses the initiative, the EITI process is mandatory for all extractive industry operators (including those that are state-owned) operating within that country.
An EU mandatory disclosure requirement would complement the EITI efforts by legally requiring companies registered or listed in the EU to disclose payments to governments along the same lines as EITI. In doing so, the EU proposal's ultimate objective is to contribute to the strengthening of the EITI and to extend its scope to all resource-rich countries.
17. Why are you proposing to introduce such a system?
The Commission is responding to international developments in particular the inclusion of a requirement to report payments to governments in the Dodd Frank Act in the United States. The SEC (the Securities and Exchange Commission) is currently working on the implementation rules.
In September 2010, the European Parliament made a request to the European Commission for action in this area. In May 2010, President Barroso publicly expressed the Commission's willingness to propose legislation mandating disclosure requirements for extractive industry companies. A similar pledge was made in the concluding Declaration of the G8 Summit in Deauville of May 2011, where G8 governments committed "to setting in place transparency laws and regulations or to promoting voluntary standards that require or encourage oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose the payments they make to governments." The proposals today deliver on that commitment and help deepen the G8's special commitment to Africa.
18. What types of companies would be required to disclose payments to governments on a country by country basis?
The Commission proposes to introduce a disclosure requirement for payments to governments by listed and large1 non-listed companies with activities in the extractive industry and the logging of primary forests.2
Both of these industries are often associated with a great source of wealth in resource-rich developing countries. By disclosing payments to governments by the extractive and forestry industries, communities in resource-rich countries would be better informed about government income from licensing such activity and whether the cost to society from losing the natural resource is adequately compensated.
Targeting both listed and large non-listed companies would create a level playing field in the EU. It reflects the fact that large non-listed companies can potentially make significant payments to governments in the countries in which they operate.
19. How would the proposal benefit stakeholders in resource-rich countries?
In general terms, the reporting of payments to government by the extractive and logging industries would provide civil society with significantly more information on what specifically is paid by EU companies to host governments in exchange for the right to extract the relevant countries' natural resources.
By requiring disclosure of payments at a project level, where those payments had been attributed to a specific project and were material, local communities would have insight into what governments were being paid by EU multinationals for exploiting local oil/gas fields, mineral deposits and forests. This would also allow these communities to better demand that government accounts for how the money had been spent locally. Civil society would be in a position to question whether the contracts entered into between the government and extractive and logging companies had delivered adequate value to society and government.
20. Would such disclosure requirements not harm the competitiveness of EU business?
The Commission's approach is balanced. EU companies would be required to report payments to governments (e.g. taxes on profits, royalties, bonuses) on a country and project basis where those payments had been attributed to a specific project, and with appropriate thresholds. The material critieria would be further defined by the Commission in delegated acts. The reporting on a project basis would be made on the basis of companies' current reporting structures.
Given that some extractive industry multi-nationals have already voluntarily decided to disclose some payments to governments, the Commission considers that the effect on the competitiveness of EU extractive and logging companies would be limited. The system would be reviewed and modified, as appropriate, within five years of coming into force, taking into account inter alia, international developments and the competitiveness of EU industry.
21. How do the EU proposals for country by country reporting differ from the US requirements within the Dodd Frank Act?
The EU proposals are broadly similar to the US Dodd Frank Act requirements, but go further in two respects. Firstly, the EU logging industry is within the scope of the proposed reporting requirement in addition to the oil, gas and mining industries (in the US oil, gas and mining are the targeted sectors). Secondly, the EU rules would apply to large unlisted companies, as well as listed companies, whereas the US rules are restricted to listed extractive companies only.
22. Does this proposal include conflict minerals disclosure requirement?
No, conflict minerals disclosure requirements are not covered by the proposal.
The Commission supports the Kimberley Process (Kimberley Process Certification System Certification - KPCS), which requires participating countries to certify that imported or exported rough diamonds are not conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process has had considerable success, even though there is still scope for improvement in the system (e.g. improvement in controls in some countries).
23. Why would the proposal not require the reporting of payments to governments where it would be a crime to do so?
Some businesses that would be within the scope of the proposed rules have claimed that in certain countries in which they operate it is illegal to report details of what may have been paid to governments by way of royalties, bonuses, taxes etc. A very limited exemption is therefore being proposed in order to protect employees working for such companies from disclosing payments, and potentially being subsequently charged with breaking local criminal law. As a safeguard and to prevent abuse of the exemption, a company would nevertheless have to disclose that it has had to invoke the exemption and name the particular country for which payments information had been withheld.
More information:
See MEMO/11/730, MEMO/11/732 and MEMO/11/735
The revised Accounting Directives defines a large company as one which exceeds two of the three following criteria: Turnover €40 million; total assets €20 million and employees 250.
Concession-based logging of natural and semi-natural forests.
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text:
Howdy folks,
I do various limited-run clothing designs as a break from my normal work, and heres a new one I finished up recently, thought folks on here might be interested.
All shirts are premium American Apparel, DTG printed.
Prices include shipping to anywhere in North America. (And are in CDN $, y'all Americans end up paying a lot less)
Holler at me or check out my website at http://willoid.com/product-tag/forever/ to see more of my designs inspired by accumulations of metal, glass, and plastic. info [at[ willoid ]dot[ com
Notteq Red/white Jersey (limited to 14 units) - (M,L,XL - other sizes available on special order) - $45
Visit the https://www.facebook.com/willoid page to check it out
Notteq Black Edition (limited to 5 units) - (L) - $35
Notteq Heather T-shirt (limited to 20 units) - (M,L,XL - other sizes available on special order) - $30
And coming soon; I've been working with a friend who is an amazing illustrator on a design that I am really excited about...
T-shirts & Jerseys!
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|Learning Center About Track My Order Cart
Talk to a Hitch Expert
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|Aries 3 Inch Bull Bar
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From the cattle rancher on the open range to the industrial man of the asphalt jungle to the jerky-jawing trail hog of the north woods, the Aries 3 inch bull bar is made for those who face the uncertain road without fear. This particular model is constructed from 304 stainless steel. 304 stainless is high in nickel content, allowing the bull bar to easily resist water, road salt and rust and maintain its mirror-like polished finish in spite of the elements. Other available finishes include high-gloss black stainless steel, textured black steel and semi-gloss black steel. Customizing the look of your vehicle is simple with the Aries 3 inch bull bar. It is equipped with pre-drilled light mounting holes and a removable skid plate. The center crossbar features two pre-drilled holes that readily accept an LED light bar or two LED work lights. The skid plate is made from 304 stainless steel and has a brushed finish to stop rust and hide scratches and scuffs. It also features an aggressive, Aries-exclusive cutout pattern and can be removed for a customized look. Each Aries 3 inch bull bar is made a vehicle-specific design, meaning that for each make and model, the bull bar has a custom bend and unique mounting brackets. This allows for the best possible fit on your vehicle and ensures solid attachment. The brackets also use pre-existing factory holes in the vehicle's frame to eliminate drilling, speed up installation and increase rigidity. For a different breed of bull bar, Aries has what you're looking for.
ARIES is a fast-paced marketer and innovator of truck, Jeep, SUV and CUV accessories. From automotive enthusiasts to professional builders, our products are built for the champions of individualism, innovation and attitude.
We offer the perfect combination of unique style and durable construction, specializing in custom-fit grille guards, bull bars, side bars and running boards, as well as Jeep Wrangler accessories.
ARIES products are made vehicle-specific for a custom fit, and they are available for a wide variety of makes and models sold in North America.
The above information has been provided by the Manufacturer, and we cannot guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the opinions expressed.


text:
Course ID Conversion 2007
Effective with Summer 2007 enrollments, Santa Barbara City College converted to the SCT Banner Student Information System. In doing so, many course name/numbers were changed to conform to the SCT Banner course mask requirements. Institutions receiving transcripts from Santa Barbara City College may refer to the Course ID Conversion reference document (PDF) or may contact Admissions & Records for questions that may arise due the changes in course name/number effective Summer 2007.


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
New Compliance Manual Section Addresses Wide Range of Contemporary Workplace Issues
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a new Compliance Manual Section regarding workplace discrimination on the basis of religion.
The Section includes a comprehensive review of the relevant provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the EEOC's policies regarding religious discrimination, harassment and accommodation. The EEOC also issued a companion question-and-answer fact sheet and best practices booklet. All three documents are available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.
"Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 seeks to ensure that applicants and employees enjoy the freedom to compete, advance and succeed in the workplace, irrespective of their religious beliefs," said EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp. "This Compliance Manual Section serves as a valuable resource for employers, employees, practitioners and EEOC staff seeking information on Title VII's prohibition against religious discrimination."
The Section addresses what constitutes "religion" within the meaning of Title VII; disparate treatment based on religion; the requirement to reasonably accommodate religious beliefs and practices; religion-based harassment; and retaliation. The Section also provides guidance on the sometimes complex workplace issues involved in balancing employees' rights regarding religious expression with employers' need to maintain efficient, productive workplaces.
The EEOC issued this section in response to an increase in charges of religious discrimination, increased religious diversity in the United States, and requests for guidance from stakeholders and agency personnel investigating and litigating claims of religious discrimination.
Religious discrimination charge filings with the EEOC nationwide have risen substantially over the past 15 years, doubling from 1,388 in Fiscal Year 1992 to a record level of 2,880 in FY 2007.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.


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$299 Sorry that selection is not available. Please choose another option.
Piet Boon is world famous for the incredible sophistication in his designs. The robust yet elegant classic Piet Boon style combines natural materials with subdued colour palettes for an unrivaled look that is authentic in every way. His attention to detail and esthetics can be found in private homes, beach houses, retail stores, resorts, hotels, public spaces, the furniture label and numerous product designs all over the world. Concrete Wallpaper by Dutch designer Piet Boon is digitally printed to give the illusion of distressed concrete surfaces. Printed using ultra high resolution on a heavy-duty wallpaper, it looks totally real and can completely transform a space. Works equally well on walls or ceilings. Colourfast and washable with soft cloth, the wallpaper is easy to maintain and apply. There is no need for wallpaper table, just apply the paste straight onto the wall and attach the wallpaper.
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Fire rating USA ASTM E 84-10 EU B-s1, do.
19 W x 354 L (47 SQFT) - 48.7 x 900 cm (4,4m2)
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Have a question about this product? Need help finding something? Our expert Customer Service team is here to help. Give us a call at (888) 222-4410 or email us.


text:
HOUSTON (AP) The Houston Astros have hired John Mallee as hitting coach and added Dave Trembley to the coaching staff.
The team said Friday that Doug Brocail will return as pitching coach and the team is bringing back Dave Clark. General manager said the exact jobs for Trembley and Clark will be announced later.
The Astros have lost 100 games the last two seasons and have a new manager in Bo Porter.
Mallee, 43, was the hitting coach for the Miami Marlins while Trembley, 60, spent the last two seasons with the Atlanta Braves. In 2000 with the Cubs, Trembley managed Porter in Porter's first season in the majors.
The Astros also named Quinton McCracken as their new director of player development and promoted Allen Rowin to be his assistant.


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You are :
England v Sri Lanka, Day 3, afternoon session Sangakkara reaches century but England reply through Broad and Anderson
England v Sri Lanka, Day 3, morning session Anderson strikes early but Sri Lanka reach lunch on 212 for two
England v Sri Lanka, Day 2, evening session Chris Jordan takes his first Test wicket as Sri Lanka close on 140 for one
England v Sri Lanka, Day 2, morning session England reach lunch on 473 for eight with Root unbeaten on 152
England v Sri Lanka, Day 2, afternoon session Joe Root reaches a double century as England declare on 575 for nine
England v Sri Lanka, Lord's, Day 1, evening session Joe Root hits an unbeaten century as England close on 344 for five
England v Sri Lanka, Lord's, Day 1, afternoon session England rebuild through Root and Ali to reach 195 for four at tea
England v Sri Lanka, Lord's, Day 1, morning session Highlights from the morning session as England reached 98 for three at lunch
Kids grill Broad at press conference England star answers questions after appearing as a surprise guest
England v Sri Lanka 2011 - The best Test moments Remember some of these moments the last time Sri Lanka were in town? Which is your favourite?
Alastair Cook v Kumar Sangakkara The Investec Test Series starts on Thursday. Who will win in the battle of the lefties?
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shooters corner
What is the modern handgun? Why is this piece of crafted metal and (recently) hard plastics still in great demand not only
in military forces and police departments ALL around the world? The answers are: They are small, lightweight (well, most of
them ) and provide good firepower; suitable, not only for defensive situations, but for offensive ones, and even for medium
game hunting. Of course, for each situation, careful choice of the proper handgun AND ammunition must be made. Handguns are
divided into a few classes: semi-autos (or pistols), revolvers, and non-autos (single or multi barreled, single-shot or magazine
One of the latest semi-auto handguns - SigSauer SIG-Pro Semi-autos use part of the energy produced by burning cartridge
powder to remove the used cartridge from the chamber, cock the hammer (or striker) and load a new cartridge in the chamber,
so the pistol will be ready for the next shot. Cartridges are usually fed from a box magazine, located in the pistol's handle.
Box magazines may contain up to 15 cartridges (or more) in single or double columns, depending on the pistol model, and are
easy (and very quick) to reload.
Customized revolver with heavy barrel. Cylinder in open position Revolvers got their name from the rotating (or Revolving)
cylinder, which contains cartridges. Usually the cylinder holds from 5 to 7 loads, although some .22 caliber revolvers may
contain up to 8-10 cartridges. Loads in the cylinder may be reloaded in 2 ways (depending on revolver design) - one by one,
as, for example, the Colt peace keeper does (and almost all old-timers), or all simulateounosly - when the cylinder is switched
to the side or when the is frame "broke open."
Both revolvers and semi-autos have two main "action styles": Single action and Double action.
Single Action means, that the Revolver must be manually cocked (and, thus, the cylinder is rotated to the next cartridge)
for each shot. This mode was the only one available in all old-time revolvers (such as the Peacekeeper), and is still available
in most double-action revolvers. This mode improves accuracy but slows the fire rate. For Semi-autos, Single Action means
that the pistol must be manually cocked for the first shot (usually, this is done by pulling the slide - this action cocks
the hammer and feeds a cartridge into the chamber). For the second, and all consecutive shots, cocking is done automatically,
when recoil force pulls back the slide.
Double Action for the Revolver means that the hammer for each (including the first) shot is cocked by trigger pull (this
action also rotates the cylinder to the next position). This mode speeds up the firing rate and simplifies shooting actions,
but greatly increases trigger pull (from 2.2-4.4 lbs usually found in single-actions, to 8.8-12.2 lbs in double-actions).
For the Semi-autos, the hammer is usually cocked by trigger pull for the first shot only; the second and the rest are done
in single-action mode. However, first load must be fed in the chamber by the slide pull. Some (most of them - compact) semi-autos
and revolvers employ Double-action-only mode, which cocks the trigger for each shot, thus excluding single-action.
One of the biggest questions about handguns is: Why the Six-guns (a slang TERM for Revolvers) are still alive when there's
a big lot of the very reliable and larger capacity semi-auto handguns? The oldest answer is - reliability. Usually, given
the same price (in low- or mid-range of prices), the revolvers were more reliable, primarily, because of the simplicity of
the design. Today there's a lot of inexpensive semi-autos, that can hold twice or even triple as much loads ready to fire,
than the common sixguns. But revolvers still alive. One of the main reasons to keep the revolver is that they're almost insensitive
to ammunition. If your cartridge is capable of pushing a bullet threw the barrel of the sixgun - you got the working gun.
No jams, no stoppages. Even in the case of the misfire you just got to pull the trigger again - and next round will go. In
semi-auto, you need sufficient power to cycle the slide, thus rendering underpowered loads almost inoperable in semi-autos.
Also, in case of the misfire, or jam, you should manually cycle the slide to fire the next round. In defensive scenario, this
may cos you another second, and may be - your life. So, in general, sixguns are far less sensitive to ammo quality, and, due
to simplicity and inherent design features, could withstand far more abuse. Also, when you go to the other, high-end of the
loads (speaking in the terms of power), no semi-autos could withstand the power of loads such as .454casull or .475Linebaugh.
Sixguns could.
Main drawbacks of the sixguns are small ammo capacity, slower reloading and bulkier size. While 6 rounds may be sufficient
for self-defense scenarios, it may be really insufficient for the police or spec ops actions. Also, replacing the magazine
in semi-auto usually is much faster process than reloading a revolvers' drum. And, due to significant cylinder diameter, even
the 5-shot revolvers are harder to carry concealed, than the modern compact handguns, while the latter could hold twice as
much cartridges.


text: So i'm having some troubles with Postfix on an Ubuntu Server 12.04, the thing is that i need Postfix to send and recive mails from domains other appart from mine. In fact, i just want it to work with the other domain on the other server on my own network. We are having 2 servers, each one with his own domain and they are both on the same network (172.16.9.20 and 172.16.3.20). I belive i need to configure the parameter "mynetworks" or "mydestinations" and something related with the "relay_hosts" but i'm not sure. Thanks for the help. PD: Sorry for my english, it's not my main language.


text:
Monsanto Company has announced it has formed a separate business unit, Cotton States, to serve as a foundation cottonseed licensing business. Cotton States will develop and license germplasm from various cotton genetic providers — including a wide variety of small and large cotton breeders, universities and cotton seed companies — that can be used by seed companies and distributors to create new cotton varieties for American producers.
"Variety development is an important building block and is essential to provide the best products to the American cotton producer," said Mark Edge, lead for Monsanto's Cotton States unit.
"Monsanto is committed to making a broad range of varieties widely available so that breeders have greater access to the marketplace, and that growers will ultimately have more cotton varieties from which to choose."
Cotton States complements Monsanto's long-standing commitment to broadly license traits developed through biotechnology and will provide an additional delivery mechanism for our biotech innovations in cotton, Edge noted.
"Monsanto will continue to support our broad licensing strategy and our commitment to put the best possible products into the hands of our customers," Edge said.
"Cotton States will enhance Monsanto's ability to successfully introduce new cutting-edge technologies into leading germplasm and that means the latest technological advances in cotton will be made available to seed companies," said Edge.
"This unit and the on-going work with our established seed partners helps to insure that American cotton growers are provided these technologies in the best genetic packages available from a variety of sources," Edge said.
Cotton States will expand the American cotton producers' access to Monsanto's cotton traits developed through biotechnology — including Bollgard insect-protected cotton, Roundup Ready cotton and Bollgard II insect-protected cotton. In the future, once appropriate regulatory approvals have been granted, Monsanto will offer new biotech traits through both existing seed partners and Cotton States licensed germplasm.
Anticipated new products include the next generation of agronomic traits such as Roundup Ready, Flex cotton, as well as a new generation of yield and quality traits for cotton producers.