text:
For a guy who never intended to stay at Iroquois Memorial Hospital for more than two years, Bill Cooke Sr. has certainly left his mark.
The popular, always smiling, long-time Head of the Physical Therapy Department at IMH has been honored by the Watseka Area Chamber of Commerce as its Staff Achievement Award winner.
The ISAS Team at the Iroquois Sexual Assault Services was honored as this year's Business Leadership Award winner. Kami Garrison and Tammy Barragree lead the charge in the Watseka office, a sister agency the Kankakee County – Center Against Sexual Assault. The non-profit rape crisis center provides support services and counseling for victims of sexual abuse and their families.
The official recognition came at Wednesday evening's WACC Annual Banquet and Awards event at Celebrations.
Bill joined the IMH Physical Therapy Department in 1971, having stated he never intended to stay here for more than 2 years. Instead, he's spent the majority of his professional career with the local hospital. He's popular among the staff, known as "Bill Sr." since his son, Bill Jr. is also part of the IMH Physical Therapy Department.
Bill Sr. has professional B.A. and a Master;s degrees from the U of I. He earned his Physical Therapy Certificate from Northwestern University. He has a special focus on home health and in-patient care.


text:
Tedashii speaks about his new album "Below Paradise".
Read the story by clicking 'Read More'
A Word From Tedashii on Below Paradise:
"In March of 2013 I had the worst day of my life. The loss of my son changed me forever. I experienced grief and sorrow to the depth of my soul. The veil was lifted, the smoke cleared and all I had was pain. Instantly phrases like, "It's all good" or "It'll be ok" were cliche and, at best, empty promises. The comfort of life with no pain was gone and I saw the world in an entirely new way. I felt forsaken, alone, and in a place of darkness that has been kept masked by a focus on only the good side of this life. The reality of being a Christian and suffering so harsh a thing was hard for me to grasp.
This album is my "journal" shared publicly with all of you during this difficult journey as I worked to understand all I felt, experienced, and believed. I am human, I am hurt, I am His. By his grace I am what I am. I pray this will be an album all can feel, even if you can't relate, and be moved to true emotions about the reality of life in a harsh world with a loving God, Below Paradise."
Below Paradise drops 5.27.14.
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20mm Clear Pink Acrylic Set Sail Nautical Anchor Taper$0.99
Product Details
Item sold individually, purchase two for a pair. The open sea is calling and when you answer, take along this nautical anchor acrylic ear expander taper plug. The solid clear acrylic 20mm ear stretcher is topped with pink and a clear star at the center. Pierced body jewelry straight taper ear gauge plug comes with two rubber O-rings.
13/16" (20mm), Acrylic, Rubber O-Rings, Sold Individually


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text:
The most recent information from LIPA is as follows.
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano has provided some helpful information for those putting in insurance claims.
"Homeowners Insurance:
Governor Cuomo announced that homeowners will not have to pay potentially large hurricane deductibles on insurance claims stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
The New York State Department of Financial Services has informed the insurance industry that hurricane deductibles should not be triggered for this storm.
Many homeowners' insurance policies for homes contain hurricane deductibles based on a percentage of a property's insured value. These deductibles typically range from 1% of a home's insured value to 5%. So for example, with a 5% deductible on a home insured for $300,000, the homeowner would have to pay for the first $15,000 of damage.
Homeowners who experienced property losses should file insurance claims with their insurers promptly.
Provide policy numbers and all information relevant to the loss. To best document losses, homeowners should to take photos or videos showing the extent of the losses before cleaning up.
Homeowners should make only necessary repairs to prevent further damage to property, like covering broken windows. Permanent repairs should not be made until after insurers have inspected losses. Damaged personal property should be kept until after an insurance settlement has been reached.
Homeowners should cooperate fully with their insurer and keep a diary of all conversations with the insurance agent, including the agent's name, as well as the times and dates of all calls or visits.
Homeowners are also reminded that flood damage is only covered by flood insurance, which is a federal program administered by FEMA. Homeowners who have flood insurance and have flood damage should make claims through that insurance.
The New York State Department of Financial Services has activated a Disaster Hotline to answer consumer questions and help with problems. The Disaster Hotline number is 1-800-339-1759. It is staffed Monday – Friday from 8 AM – 8 PM and Saturday - Sunday from 9 AM – 4 PM."
Residents with non-life threatening emergencies, such as sewage backup, should dial 1-888-684-4274. All those with life threatening emergencies should dial 911. For more information on the Conserve Water Order, please visit the Nassau County Health Department website
For more information on storm preparation, please visit www.nassaucountyny.gov/hurricane
If residents have LIPA related electrical concerns, please call LIPA's customer hotline at 1-800-490-0075. Please note that LIPA is experiencing a high volume of calls and that system outages continue to be restored. Please also visit LIPA's service outage map to track outages and restorations in your area. http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/outages/outagemap.html


text:
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Recital Video
You request, I comply! I am actually terrified to share this, but I'm going to anyway. Don't judge too harshly--I'm working on my singing and have only played the uke for 6 months, I'm insecure, it was taken on a phone, blah blah, etc. Here is the recital where I wore my tulle hand-dyed ombre dress. I think it looked nice on stage, don't you?
Here are some windy-day photos taken in the back yard as well.
P.S. The loud YAYYYY! you hear at the end is Jeff. So cute! P.P.S. More new fabrics in my shop today!
58 comments:
Gertie you're amazing!!!! That is such a brave thing to do and I think you did a great job. I used to sing when I was younger, but have since lost my voice. I'd love to learn to play and sing again but I still don't know if I'd be brave enough to sing on stage. Well done, Lady. You should be so proud :)ReplyDelete
What a little trouper. Yay from Australia too. Ombre dress looks great.ReplyDelete
You sound great! Good job!ReplyDelete
Awwwww!!! You just saved my super long stressed-out day with your song! I hear a tiny bit of Victoria Williams - in a very good way - in your voice. I also sing & play a few instruments & have taught voice lessons (but don't hold it against me!). Keep up the great work, Gertie!ReplyDelete
omgosh, that was so cute! You are so brave, and were fabulous! LOVE the dress, beautiful :)ReplyDelete
Way to go Gertie! Did you find it was difficult to learn the uke? I've been curious to give it a go...ReplyDelete
Wow! That was great. It's so important to keep learning new things, right? Very inspiring!ReplyDelete
I love it!! And your dress looks fabulous!ReplyDelete
I'm learning the uke too, have you checked out the Ukulele Underground site? They have so many great video lessons and play-alongs.
I love this! Performing is so hard (especially when its your own voice!) you did MARVELOUSLY! I totally wish I was as cool as you....You make an awesome ukelele girl!ReplyDelete
xx, Sunni
So so great! Your singing and playing was AWESOME! Next stop cabaret!ReplyDelete
Loved it!! Great job and you look FAB too in that beautiful dress!ReplyDelete
Does your awesomeness know no bounds? The dress was fab, you were singing on a stage, with a microphone while playing an instrument - all that adds up to a high five, girl! :-)ReplyDelete
You're awesome! Is there anything you can't do?? Very cool dress too ;)ReplyDelete
Wow Gertie! You're doing well, your voice is nice and your singing is great. I tried to sing a few times while playing guitar and it has always been a disaster, I can't do both, so I am really amazed by your performance.ReplyDelete
And your dress is really gorgeous!
You look and sound awesome!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 5, 2013 at 11:45 PM
I'm a music student and I say you did awesome! :-) Kudos!ReplyDelete
Fabulous Gertie!! You look gorgeous, the dress is amaaaazing, and I so appreciated your lovely performance. I am a singer and have taught singing too, and think you did very well. I loved the 1930s tone to your voice, you didn't ruin that lovely song but trying to put a whole lot of 'modern' silly trills and runs into it, but just paid respect to the song in its simplicity with the lovely purity of your own voice. Fantastic uke playing too.. is there no end to your talents? What next..?ReplyDelete
kudos...you were so brave; you wouldn't catch me singing in public LOL You make me want to learn the uke :)ReplyDelete
Bless your cotton socks. You look ill with nerves and I don't blame you - I am awful at any sort of public performance and my voice would have been shaking terribly. I also love how you get to the end and immediately look over to Jeff for reassurance - so sweet. You're very, very brave - to get up there in the first place and creatively. Well done!!!!ReplyDelete
Thank you, thank you! You are so brave and I loved your song. Been lurking with no intention of ever commenting, but needed to say 'you go girl' and thanks for the sewing and living life tips.ReplyDelete
Love! Love! Love! YAY!ReplyDelete
loveit! you did GREAT§ReplyDelete
Oh, goodness, lady. You were marvellous! I did some 'singing for confidence' classes last year but you've just beaten me into the ground (again!) Beautiful dress but I'm afraid that just pales next to your singing conquer-ishment. Yay, you!ReplyDelete
Applause from the UK. You look and sound very sweet in the video.ReplyDelete
I was prepared with "the pillow of shame" (as we say in Sweden - you know the pillow that you hold in front of your face when there is something really embarrasing going on on screen.) No need for pillows - you were lovely!! The singing, the playing, the smiling - fantastic! (And the dress, obviously.)ReplyDelete
You're just to cute in everything that you're doing.ReplyDelete
That is too gorgeous.. Was thinking when you mentioned this, I hope Gertie puts up a post.ReplyDelete
You rock.....
What a lovely voice you have !ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 6, 2013 at 7:13 AM
Bravo! Encore! :-DReplyDelete
That is amazing! You are sooo brave and did an awesome job: with the dress, the singing and the ukulele playing!ReplyDelete
Woo hoo! You did great!! thanks for being brave and posting....it's inspiring!ReplyDelete
OMG, you are so adorable and brave. I couldn't have done that without crying. Love the ombré dress.ReplyDelete
I feel proud of your performance, as though I were watching one of my own beautiful daughters! They also, don't realise how great they are on stage.ReplyDelete
Oh that made me so happy to watch :)ReplyDelete
I just came back from visiting my dad who is in hospital and I was feeling very depressed sitting here waiting too hear how his operation goes and watching your video has made me feel alot better, thankyou Gertie :) xx
OMG That took guts KUDOS for you!!! You sounded great and i love your dress!!!ReplyDelete
Fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing! I love the dress too!!ReplyDelete
Bravo! I sing in a rock band, but I turn into a complete failure if I try to play while singing. Kudos to you for being brave and just doing it!ReplyDelete
Great job! Love the song choice :) And you look beautiful in your dress - amazing!ReplyDelete
That was fun!ReplyDelete
That was great! I would have been completely terrified. Also, the dress is AMAZING!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 6, 2013 at 12:51 PM
You rocked it girl. And you looked amazing. I still can't get over the pink hair. Fabulous!ReplyDelete
I think no apologies are needed! It takes quite a lot of bravery to get up on stage - and personally, I think you rocked the Uke, AND the dress :)ReplyDelete
Fabulous Gertie, and your voice is lovely. I have been learning mandolin this year, but there is no way I could get up on stage with it....and sing, eek! Three of my daughters are really into folk music, one doing a degree in it, and it is so amazing to see any of them perform.ReplyDelete
Ya done good girl! And the dress looked great on stage!ReplyDelete
Awesome, great song, lovely dress, pretty lady- perfect.ReplyDelete
You are too flippin' cute!!!ReplyDelete
BRAVE! You are so BRAVE! Great job, I thought you sounded and looked great, and that was adorbs that Jeff said YAY at the end!ReplyDelete
Gertie!!! I know it took real guts to perform, and then post this video, but you were amazing! As someone else mentioned, I felt so proud of you when I watched this! You are such a badass; you killed it while looking beautiful! And Jeff is such a sweetie!ReplyDelete
You seriously rock! So cute with your dress and bright hair and swanky ukulele :).ReplyDelete
The video is adorable. Good for you!ReplyDelete
How Very Brave! You did really wellReplyDelete
YOU DID GREAT! It was a sweet performance and your dress went very well with the song, I think.ReplyDelete
Love it! I'm thinking of harmonica lessons - kind of an atypical instrument, too, huh?ReplyDelete
You have a very sweet sort of vulnerable quality in your voice. It's gorgeous. And SO BRAVE. Yay for you!! xxReplyDelete
You were wonderful! I love it, and the dress is gorgeous too. Props to you for the courage to share your first (?) recital with us!ReplyDelete
- JessicaJune 9, 2013 at 1:28 PM
OMG, you are made of adorable. And you have a wonderful voice!ReplyDelete
Awwwh, so cool! You sound great. And your dress is gorgeous.ReplyDelete
By the way, I love your pink hair so, so much. I was totally inspired and recently dyed my blonde locks red. Now I feel like a badass.
- AnonymousJune 18, 2013 at 11:54 PM
Love that song! Great job girl! You rocked it!ReplyDelete


text:
Rethink Your Drink
|This is also available as abrochure (PDF-526k).
This is part of our Weight Management Research to Practice Series.
When it comes to weight loss, there's no lack of diets promising fast results. There are low-carb diets, high-carb diets, low-fat diets, grapefruit diets, cabbage soup diets, and blood type diets, to name a few. But no matter what diet you may try, to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than your body uses. Most people try to reduce their calorie intake by focusing on food, but another way to cut calories may be to think about what you drink.
What Do You Drink? It Makes More Difference Than You Think!
Calories in drinks are not hidden (they're listed right on the Nutrition Facts label), but many people don't realize just how many calories beverages can contribute to their daily intake. As you can see in the example below, calories from drinks can really add up. But there is good news: you have plenty of options for reducing the number of calories in what you drink.
|Instead of…
|Morning coffee shop run
|Medium café latte (16 ounces) made with whole milk
|Small café latte (12 ounces) made with fat-free milk
|Lunchtime combo meal
|20-oz. bottle of nondiet cola with your lunch
|Bottle of water or diet soda
|Afternoon break
|Sweetened lemon iced tea from the vending machine (16 ounces)
|Sparkling water with natural lemon flavor (not sweetened)
|A glass of nondiet ginger ale with your meal (12 ounces)
|Water with a slice of lemon or lime, or seltzer water with a splash of 100% fruit juice
|0 calories for the water with fruit slice, or about 30 calories for seltzer water with 2 ounces of 100% orange juice.
|Total beverage calories:
|(USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)
Substituting no- or low-calorie drinks for sugar-sweetened beverages cuts about 650 calories in the example above.
Of course, not everyone drinks the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages shown above. Check the list below to estimate how many calories you typically take in from beverages.
Of course, not everyone drinks the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages shown above. Check the list below to estimate how many calories you typically take in from beverages.
|Type of Beverage
Calories in 12 ounces
Calories in 20 ounces
|Fruit punch
|100% apple juice
|100% orange juice
|Regular lemon/lime soda
|Regular cola
|Sweetened lemon iced tea (bottled, not homemade)
|Tonic water
|Regular ginger ale
|Sports drink
|Fitness water
|Unsweetened iced tea
|Diet soda (with aspartame)
|Carbonated water (unsweetened)
|*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label.
( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)
Milk contains vitamins and other nutrients that contribute to good health, but it also contains calories. Choosing low-fat or fat-free milk is a good way to reduce your calorie intake and still get the nutrients that milk contains.
|Type of Milk
Calories per cup (8 ounces)
Chocolate milk (whole)
Chocolate milk (2% reduced-fat)
Chocolate milk (1% low-fat)
Whole Milk (unflavored)
2% reduced-fat milk (unflavored)
1% low-fat milk (unflavored)
Fat-free milk (unflavored)
|*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label.
( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)
Learn To Read Nutrition Facts Labels Carefully
Be aware that the Nutrition Facts label on beverage containers may give the calories for only part of the contents. The example below shows the label on a 20-oz. bottle. As you can see, it lists the number of calories in an 8-oz. serving (100) even though the bottle contains 20 oz. or 2.5 servings. To figure out how many calories are in the whole bottle, you need to multiply the number of calories in one serving by the number of servings in the bottle (100 x 2.5). You can see that the contents of the entire bottle actually contain 250 calories even though what the label calls a "serving" only contains 100. This shows that you need to look closely at the serving size when comparing the calorie content of different beverages.
|Serving Size 8 fl. oz.
Servings Per Container 2.5
|Amount per serving
|Calories 100
Sugar by Any Other Name: How To Tell Whether Your Drink Is Sweetened
Sweeteners that add calories to a beverage go by many different names and are not always obvious to anyone looking at the ingredients list. Some common caloric sweeteners are listed below. If these appear in the ingredients list of your favorite beverage, you are drinking a sugar-sweetened beverage.
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrates
- Honey
- Sugar
- Syrup
- Corn syrup
- Sucrose
- Dextrose
High-Calorie Culprits in Unexpected Places
Coffee drinks and blended fruit smoothies sound innocent enough, but the calories in some of your favorite coffee-shop or smoothie-stand items may surprise you. Check the Web site or in-store nutrition information of your favorite coffee or smoothie shop to find out how many calories are in different menu items. And when a smoothie or coffee craving kicks in, here are some tips to help minimize the caloric damage:
At the coffee shop:
At the coffee shop:
- Request that your drink be made with fat-free or low-fat milk instead of whole milk
- Order the smallest size available.
- Forgo the extra flavoring – the flavor syrups used in coffee shops, like vanilla or hazelnut, are sugar-sweetened and will add calories to your drink.
- Skip the Whip. The whipped cream on top of coffee drinks adds calories and fat.
- Get back to basics. Order a plain cup of coffee with fat-free milk and artificial sweetener, or drink it black.
At the smoothie stand:
- Order a child's size if available.
- Ask to see the nutrition information for each type of smoothie and pick the smoothie with the fewest calories.
- Hold the sugar. Many smoothies contain added sugar in addition to the sugar naturally in fruit, juice, or yogurt. Ask that your smoothie be prepared without added sugar: the fruit is naturally sweet.
Better Beverage Choices Made Easy
Now that you know how much difference a drink can make, here are some ways to make smart beverage choices:
- Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.
- For a quick, easy, and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle and refill it throughout the day.
- Don't "stock the fridge" with sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, keep a jug or bottles of cold water in the fridge.
- Serve water with meals.
- Make water more exciting by adding slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or watermelon, or drink sparkling water.
- Add a splash of 100% juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, low-calorie drink.
- When you do opt for a sugar-sweetened beverage, go for the small size. Some companies are now selling 8-oz. cans and bottles of soda, which contain about 100 calories.
- Be a role model for your friends and family by choosing healthy, low-calorie beverages.


text:
The human papillomavirus (HPV) spreads surprisingly quickly between two people in a new relationship, a new study finds.
In fact, couples in the study were actually more likely to be infected with the same strain or strains of HPV if they had been together less than one year, as opposed to a longer period, the researchers said.
"HPV is very infectious," said study researcher Alan Nyitray, of the H. Lee Mof?tt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida. "When a couple comes together...they're going to share their HPV microbiota very, very quickly."
But people clear the virus at different rates, and so couples who have been together longer are less likely to "match" in terms of their HPV status, Nyitray said.
The study also found that in general, it's common for couples to be infected with the same strain of HPV, or to both be free of infection. About one fourth of heterosexual couples in committed relationships in the study shared at least one strain of HPV, the researchers found. And in more than a third of couples, both people were HPV free.
Nyitray emphasized that for most people, HPV infections are transient, and are not something to worry about.
But because the virus is known to cause cervical cancer, women should undergo regular screening for this cancer, Nyitray said. In addition, those eligible for HPV vaccination should receive it, Nyitray said.
Sharing HPV
Nyitray and colleagues tested 88 couples ages 18 to 70 for HPV infection. Seventy-five percent had been in a monogamous relationship for at least the last six months. None of the participants had a disease associated with HPV.
Overall, about 55 percent of men and 45 percent of women were infected with any strain of HPV.
In 31 couples (35 percent), neither partner had an HPV infection, while 21 couples (24 percent) shared at least one strain of HPV.
In 11 couples (12 percent) both people were infected with HPV, but did not share strains, and 25 couples had only one partner with an HPV infection (28 percent.)
Couples were more likely to share HPV strains if both people were of similar age, a finding that may be related to the strength of the immune response to HPV in older versus younger people. Couples with one young person, who may be exposed to the virus for the first time and take longer to clear it, and one older person, who may clear the infection more quickly, may be less likely to have "matching" strains, the researchers said.
Pairs were more likely to be HPV free if, together, the sum of their total lifetime sexual partners was low, Nyitray said.
Better immunity in women?
Among the couples in which one partner had HPV and the other did not, in 17 cases it was the woman who was HPV free, while in 8 couples it was the man. This finding suggests women have a stronger immune response to HPV, the researchers said.
Couples who were monogamous were no more likely to be infected with the same HPV strains than couples who were not monogamous.
Because the study was small, and monogamy was defined as sex with one partner for at least 6 months, more research is needed to confirm the results, and to see what happens in couples that are monogamous for longer periods, the researchers said.
Nyitray and colleagues are now analyzing information from a second study that followed the participants for two years. Nyitray said he hopes future research will reveal other ways to prevent spread of HPV between sex partners besides vaccination, which currently, most people do not receive.
The study will be published July 15 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Pass it on: About 1 in 4 couples share an HPV infection.
Follow Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner,or MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- Can Oral Sex Give You Cancer?
- 10 Do's and Don'ts to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer
Copyright 2012 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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«If you look at the typical startup, you will see the vast majority of their energy and time invested in building new technology. We act as if the biggest risk to startup success is that the technology won't work. But in reality, most products fail because they are the Ice Cream Glove, that is, because there are no customers who will buy them.»
Eric Ries, en Don't Be The Ice Cream Glove


text:
Music with acoustical guitars, grand piano, strings and pads. Suitable for website backgrounds, presentations, company idents. Naturel atmosphere, relaxation mood, easy listening. And it is also loopable.
If you are interested in this audio but it is not fit on your project, just call me and I can adapt it to your needs.
And if you purchase this track please send feedback to me about your projects. And rate it PLEASE! Thanks!!


text:
Listen, drug addicts,
listen to me, please.
My son died
from your fatal disease.
We tried and we tried to convince him
to get help,
But he put up that "Wall of deafness"
we came to know so well.
You are very sick, very sick indeed;
and you don't know what you really need.
Please, let those who love you
channel your fate,
Or your parents will be planning
your funeral date.
I've seen that "Wall of Deafness"
several times since.
One young man is dead
and another one winced…
So don't put up that "Wall of deafness"
I saw in my son.
Though I hadn't realized it then,
the sad journey had begun.
Carol Wagner 5/28/09


text:
Urlacher: "I don't care about" fans, media
He couldn't help the Bears win a game, but he could rally to the defense of his coach.
So Brian Urlacher basically insisted everyone who isn't in the locker room doesn't know anything about football, during a post-game appearance on WFLD TV with Lou Canellis.
When it was suggested after the 21-13 loss to the Packers that fans and media were critical of Lovie Smith, Urlacher went off on the lot of them.
"Two of the people I don't care about: fans or media," Urlacher said, via the Chicago Tribune. "They can say what they want to about our head coach, about our players. . . . It does bother me. They don't know what they're talking about, obviously.
"I know there are a lot of experts in the media, a bunch of smart guys out there who know exactly what they're talking about all the time. They don't know what they're talking about. Lovie is the head coach of this football team and hopefully will be for a long time."
Urlacher said the way Smith maintains composure during difficult times (without, you know, attacking his own fans) is one of the reasons he keeps the respect of players.
The long-time Bears linebacker also took a shot at his own fans in the process, the ones who have watched the home team lose five of their last six.
"Our crowd was pretty good today for the most part. They were loud for a minute there, the boos were really loud, which is always nice," Urlacher said. "The only team in our division that gets booed at home is us. It's incredible to me.
"Believe it, don't believe it, we don't care. We're going to go out there and play as hard as we can. The guys that are healthy will play and we'll do the best we can."
And the fans will continue to behave exactly as fans have, now with the full knowledge that the face of the franchise doesn't care what they think.


text:
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Owner calls his dog's survival 'a miracle'
Owner surrenders dogs chained up outside among scrap metal, garbage to BC SPCA
Shepherd-breed dogs were living in 'deplorable conditions.'
Be aware of ticks when chopping down Christmas trees
Potential for ticks to transfer to clothing
One of B.C's last surviving strip clubs baring all again for Christmas charity
25th annual event is Sunday and raises money for the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Christmas Hamper Society.
Five hedgehogs quickly adopted after being left at BC SPCA
Lucky new owners picked up their pets from Maple Ridge branch on Aug. 20
Countdown starts to 2020 BC Summer Games
Two flags unveiled at Maple Ridge city hall.
'The Fonz' gives thumbs up in letter to dyslexic students at B.C. school
Students in Maple Ridge reached out to Henry Winkler after reading one his Zipster books.
Call the 'paw'-lice: Cricket the cat caught stealing gloves from B.C. homes
Her owner has discovered 14 pairs so far with no end in sight


text:
Thursday night's battle between Stanford and Oregon has major national championship implications. With an Oregon win, the Ducks will likely leap frog Florida State in the BCS standings while a Stanford win will keep its slim national title hopes alive. This isn't just a big game for these programs; it's also a very big opportunity for their top NFL prospects. There will be more than 30 scouts in attendance and I've been told at least three general managers will be present as well. A dynamic performance in a game like this could send a prospect's stock through the roof. Here are the five players I'll be focused on during the game:
QB tracker
The big-game performance of Marcus Mariota will give NFL evaluators a chance to see him prove his mettle under pressure, Bucky Brooks says. **More ...**
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota
Mariota has arguably the most at stake in this contest. He is a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy and a strong outing against a well-regarded defense such as Stanford's would make a strong impression on voters. After studying him on coaching tape this week, I've noticed a few improvements he's made from last season. He has more velocity on drive throws and he's also improved his footwork inside the pocket. However, there is one area where I'd still like to see some more consistency: Accuracy. Outside of an outstanding performance against Washington, he's been very streaky with his ball placement. Stanford's defense will challenge the Oregon skill players on the outside and we'll get a chance to see if Mariota can be a precision passer on Thursday night.
Oregon CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu
Ekpre-Olomu is one of the top cornerbacks in college football. He doesn't have elite size (5-foot-10, 190 pounds), but he has very quick feet, outstanding toughness and top-notch ball skills. He will get a big challenge when he lines up over Stanford's talented junior wideout Ty Montgomery. Ekpre-Olomu physically beats up smaller wideouts at the line of scrimmage, but Montgomery has a powerful upper body to fight through press coverage. This matchup will be one of the key factors in deciding the outcome of the game.
Oregon RB De'Anthony Thomas
Thomas has missed some time this season while battling injuries, but he's currently in good health and he's feeling pretty confident about the Ducks' chances on Saturday night. Earlier this week, he told the media that he expected the Ducks offense to put up at least 40 points on the Cardinal. The Stanford front seven is very physical at the point of attack and they are very gap-disciplined. Thomas isn't going to have much room inside the tackle box, but his speed could be a factor on the perimeter. I'd also look for Oregon to get him more involved in the passing game. He has soft hands, and he's incredibly elusive when he gets the ball in space.
Stanford LB Trent Murphy
Murphy is Stanford's most disruptive defender. He has already amassed 13.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He doesn't have an explosive get-off or the flexibility to bend/wrap around the edge, but his combination of power, hand technique and effort is outstanding. He is also a very stout run defender. He excels at setting the edge versus both offensive tackles and tight ends. He'll have a great opportunity to improve his draft stock with a strong outing on this stage.
Stanford LB Shane Skov
Skov is the emotional leader of the Stanford defense and he's playing A LOT better than he did last fall. He's now two years removed from his knee injury, and he's moving around much better. Against the run, he has outstanding instincts, and he excels at flowing with the play and aggressively filling the hole to chest-up ball carriers. He is a very sure tackler inside the tackle box. Against the pass, he is a very effective blitzer, and he uses his instincts to cover up throwing lanes in his zone drops. The one area where he can be exploited is in man coverage. He lacks the foot speed to match up with explosive running backs and tight ends. Oregon will likely try to exploit this matchup, and I'm eager to see how Skov responds to the challenge.


text:
"We have have tried to negotiate with our landlords but have been unsuccessful in reaching an agreement with them," the tenants said in a Constant Contact note to customers. "Accordingly, without a new arrangement, the unfortunate results are the closure of a small business, the demise of an iconic restaurant and Redding landmark, and most importantly, the loss of 30 jobs."
The restaurant has been in business for 30 years, according to the Constant Contact message.
Ted Stonebely, his wife, Colleen Cook, and her brother, Wirt Cook, took over as proprietors of the Roadhouse in July 2012.
The Stonebelys, formerly of Westport, live in Weston. Wirt's wife, Karen, was also part of the group that took over management of the restaurant. "It's getting a facelift and update,'' Ted Stonebely told the Daily Voice in 2012.
The management supported the local economy by purchasing from area businesses and working with partnerships with Mark Twain Library, local schools and other civic organizations, they said.
The restaurant will be open at 4 p.m. every day for the rest of the week. There will be live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The note on Constant Contact also said remaining inventory will be donated to the Connecticut Food Bank and other pantries in the area.
The restaurant was popular with Redding residents, but also drew patrons from Bethel, Danbury, Ridgefield, Easton, Weston, Wilton, Norwalk and Westport. The restaurant's Oktoberfest celebration drew wide support.
The announcement of the closure drew an outcry on Facebook from the restaurant's supporters.
"This is devastating. Glad I was able to eat there tonight and again on Saturday, but Redding will never be the same," one patron said. Read the comments on the Roadhouse Facebook page.
For now, however, the restaurant will be vacant after Saturday.
"Once again, we want to thank all our friends, neighbors, patrons and coworkers for their support and loyalty through these years,'' the note from Constant Contact said.
Read the full note on Constant Contact online.
The Redding Roadhouse is located at 406 Redding Road, Route 53, near Hill Road. Call 203-938-3388 for more information.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Westport and receive free news updates.


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Not everybody will get the chance to see Rodrigo Cortes' BURIED, that stars Ryan Reynolds, right off the bat since it only hits select theaters on September 24th. But come October 8th, the whole damn nation will get to experience Reynolds in a coffin six feet under. But I have some new photos for you, a few of which look unfortunately familiar, that shows the suspense in Ryan Reynolds' face as she tries to escape the depths of the unknown position he's been placed in.
Images: dreadcentral / getthebigpicture


text:
Imagine the best magic, the best magicians, and the best producers all in one place.
Imagine no more...
If you could have one set of magic DVDs, this would be it! This benchmark collection features just about all of magic's most enduring and classic effects and routines. It's a fabulous compendium with many of the top masters in the world of magic teaching their handlings and routines for some of magic's classics. Each volume covers a specific subject and features new, old, and sometimes rare footage by some of the top video producers in magic.
In this volume, you'll discover the Copper/Silver/Brass and 2 Copper/1 Silver coin tricks, two of the most popular and ingenious gimmicked coin sets ever developed. In this DVD, you will learn some of the best handlings and routines for these popular gimmicked coin sets by some of their best exponents.
You'll learn good, solid basic routines from David Roth and J.C. Wagner, along with additional handlings and ideas such as Doc Eason's "Miracle Move" and Scotty York's handling with absolutely no pocket work.
I bought this DVD in the hopes of feeing five different presentations of the C/S/B set, so that I could then craft my own routine using some of the ideas. But what I got was five very similar presentations of the SAME routine by different magicians --- hardly helpful! The C/S/B gimmick is an ingenious piece of work. Unfortunately, the same amount of effort has not gone into creating routines that are entertaining and magical. The basic routine is more the "challenge" type that simply tries to show the spectators how stupid they are ("OK, I'll do this again more slowly, you weren't paying attention, etc. . . . ") This isn't magical or entertaining, it's just insulting. Finally, there was a preshow gag added by Scotty York in a feeble attempt to liven things up. But in my humble opinion, it was downright sexist and embarrassing to the female spectator. Surely we can do better than this. There are far better and more intelligent presentations of C/S/B out there, such as the Jeremy Pei's "Extreme C/S/B" DVD and Karl Heim's "Catch-Up" DVD. Better yet, once you understand how the gaff works, just create your own presentation. With a gaff that involves a Chinese coin, an American coin and a Mexican coin, it shouldn't take a great deal of effort to create a storyline and some interesting patter, instead of just recycling the same tired routine that first appeared in Bobo's "Modern Coin Magic" over 50 years ago. And for Pete's Sake, stay away from "blue" material, unless you're performing in a burlesque show! - Seth
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text:
Numpy provides several functions to create arrays from tabular data. We focus here on the genfromtxt function.
In a nutshell, genfromtxt runs two main loops. The first loop converts each line of the file in a sequence of strings. The second loop converts each string to the appropriate data type. This mechanism is slower than a single loop, but gives more flexibility. In particular, genfromtxt is able to take missing data into account, when other faster and simpler functions like loadtxt cannot
When giving examples, we will use the following conventions
>>> import numpy as np
>>> from StringIO import StringIO
The only mandatory argument of genfromtxt is the source of the data. It can be a string corresponding to the name of a local or remote file, or a file-like object with a read method (such as an actual file or a StringIO.StringIO object). If the argument is the URL of a remote file, this latter is automatically downloaded in the current directory.
The input file can be a text file or an archive. Currently, the function recognizes gzip and bz2 (bzip2) archives. The type of the archive is determined by examining the extension of the file: if the filename ends with '.gz', a gzip archive is expected; if it ends with 'bz2', a bzip2 archive is assumed.
Once the file is defined and open for reading, genfromtxt splits each non-empty line into a sequence of strings. Empty or commented lines are just skipped. The delimiter keyword is used to define how the splitting should take place.
Quite often, a single character marks the separation between columns. For example, comma-separated files (CSV) use a comma (,) or a semicolon (;) as delimiter.
>>> data = "1, 2, 3\n4, 5, 6"
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",")
array([[ 1., 2., 3.],
[ 4., 5., 6.]])
Another common separator is "\t", the tabulation character. However, we are not limited to a single character, any string will do. By default, genfromtxt assumes delimiter=None, meaning that the line is split along white spaces (including tabs) and that consecutive white spaces are considered as a single white space.
Alternatively, we may be dealing with a fixed-width file, where columns are defined as a given number of characters. In that case, we need to set delimiter to a single integer (if all the columns have the same size) or to a sequence of integers (if columns can have different sizes).
>>> data = " 1 2 3\n 4 5 67\n890123 4"
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=3)
array([[ 1., 2., 3.],
[ 4., 5., 67.],
[ 890., 123., 4.]])
>>> data = "123456789\n 4 7 9\n 4567 9"
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=(4, 3, 2))
array([[ 1234., 567., 89.],
[ 4., 7., 9.],
[ 4., 567., 9.]])
By default, when a line is decomposed into a series of strings, the individual entries are not stripped of leading nor trailing white spaces. This behavior can be overwritten by setting the optional argument autostrip to a value of True.
>>> data = "1, abc , 2\n 3, xxx, 4"
>>> # Without autostrip
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), dtype="|S5")
array([['1', ' abc ', ' 2'],
['3', ' xxx', ' 4']],
>>> # With autostrip
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), dtype="|S5", autostrip=True)
array([['1', 'abc', '2'],
['3', 'xxx', '4']],
The optional argument comments is used to define a character string that marks the beginning of a comment. By default, genfromtxt assumes comments='#'. The comment marker may occur anywhere on the line. Any character present after the comment marker(s) is simply ignored.
>>> data = """#
... # Skip me !
... # Skip me too !
... 1, 2
... 3, 4
... 5, 6 #This is the third line of the data
... 7, 8
... # And here comes the last line
... 9, 0
... """
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), comments="#", delimiter=",")
[[ 1. 2.]
[ 3. 4.]
[ 5. 6.]
[ 7. 8.]
[ 9. 0.]]
There is one notable exception to this behavior: if the optional argument names=True, the first commented line will be examined for names.
In some cases, we are not interested in all the columns of the data but only a few of them. We can select which columns to import with the usecols argument. This argument accepts a single integer or a sequence of integers corresponding to the indices of the columns to import. Remember that by convention, the first column has an index of 0. Negative integers correspond to
>>> data = "1 2 3\n4 5 6"
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), usecols=(0, -1))
array([[ 1., 3.],
[ 4., 6.]])
>>> data = "1 2 3\n4 5 6"
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data),
... names="a, b, c", usecols=("a", "c"))
array([(1.0, 3.0), (4.0, 6.0)],
dtype=[('a', '<f8'), ('c', '<f8')])
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data),
... names="a, b, c", usecols=("a, c"))
array([(1.0, 3.0), (4.0, 6.0)],
dtype=[('a', '<f8'), ('c', '<f8')])
The main way to control how the sequences of strings we have read from the file are converted to other types is to set the dtype argument. Acceptable values for this argument are:
In all the cases but the first one, the output will be a 1D array with a structured dtype. This dtype has as many fields as items in the sequence. The field names are defined with the names keyword.
When dtype=None, the type of each column is determined iteratively from its data. We start by checking whether a string can be converted to a boolean (that is, if the string matches true or false in lower cases); then whether it can be converted to an integer, then to a float, then to a complex and eventually to a string. This behavior may be changed by modifying the default mapper of the StringConverter class.
The option dtype=None is provided for convenience. However, it is significantly slower than setting the dtype explicitly.
A natural approach when dealing with tabular data is to allocate a name to each column. A first possibility is to use an explicit structured dtype, as mentioned previously.
>>> data = StringIO("1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, dtype=[(_, int) for _ in "abc"])
array([(1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6)],
dtype=[('a', '<i8'), ('b', '<i8'), ('c', '<i8')])
>>> data = StringIO("1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, names="A, B, C")
array([(1.0, 2.0, 3.0), (4.0, 5.0, 6.0)],
dtype=[('A', '<f8'), ('B', '<f8'), ('C', '<f8')])
In the example above, we used the fact that by default, dtype=float. By giving a sequence of names, we are forcing the output to a structured dtype.
We may sometimes need to define the column names from the data itself. In that case, we must use the names keyword with a value of True. The names will then be read from the first line (after the skip_header ones), even if the line is commented out.
>>> data = StringIO("So it goes\n#a b c\n1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, skip_header=1, names=True)
array([(1.0, 2.0, 3.0), (4.0, 5.0, 6.0)],
dtype=[('a', '<f8'), ('b', '<f8'), ('c', '<f8')])
The default value of names is None. If we give any other value to the keyword, the new names will overwrite the field names we may have defined with the dtype.
>>> data = StringIO("1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> ndtype=[('a',int), ('b', float), ('c', int)]
>>> names = ["A", "B", "C"]
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, names=names, dtype=ndtype)
array([(1, 2.0, 3), (4, 5.0, 6)],
dtype=[('A', '<i8'), ('B', '<f8'), ('C', '<i8')])
>>> data = StringIO("1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, dtype=(int, float, int))
array([(1, 2.0, 3), (4, 5.0, 6)],
dtype=[('f0', '<i8'), ('f1', '<f8'), ('f2', '<i8')])
>>> data = StringIO("1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, dtype=(int, float, int), names="a")
array([(1, 2.0, 3), (4, 5.0, 6)],
dtype=[('a', '<i8'), ('f0', '<f8'), ('f1', '<i8')])
>>> data = StringIO("1 2 3\n 4 5 6")
>>> np.genfromtxt(data, dtype=(int, float, int), defaultfmt="var_%02i")
array([(1, 2.0, 3), (4, 5.0, 6)],
dtype=[('var_00', '<i8'), ('var_01', '<f8'), ('var_02', '<i8')])
We need to keep in mind that defaultfmt is used only if some names are expected but not defined.
Numpy arrays with a structured dtype can also be viewed as recarray, where a field can be accessed as if it were an attribute. For that reason, we may need to make sure that the field name doesn't contain any space or invalid character, or that it does not correspond to the name of a standard attribute (like size or shape), which would confuse the interpreter. genfromtxt accepts three optional arguments that provide a finer control on the names:
- deletechars
- Gives a string combining all the characters that must be deleted from the name. By default, invalid characters are ~!@#$%^&*()-=+~\|]}[{';: /?.>,<.
- excludelist
- Gives a list of the names to exclude, such as return, file, print... If one of the input name is part of this list, an underscore character ('_') will be appended to it.
- case_sensitive
- Whether the names should be case-sensitive (case_sensitive=True), converted to upper case (case_sensitive=False or case_sensitive='upper') or to lower case (case_sensitive='lower').
Usually, defining a dtype is sufficient to define how the sequence of strings must be converted. However, some additional control may sometimes be required. For example, we may want to make sure that a date in a format YYYY/MM/DD is converted to a datetime object, or that a string like xx% is properly converted to a float between 0 and 1. In such cases, we should define conversion functions with the converters arguments.
The value of this argument is typically a dictionary with column indices or column names as keys and a conversion function as values. These conversion functions can either be actual functions or lambda functions. In any case, they should accept only a string as input and output only a single element of the wanted type.
>>> convertfunc = lambda x: float(x.strip("%"))/100.
>>> data = "1, 2.3%, 45.\n6, 78.9%, 0"
>>> names = ("i", "p", "n")
>>> # General case .....
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",", names=names)
array([(1.0, nan, 45.0), (6.0, nan, 0.0)],
dtype=[('i', '<f8'), ('p', '<f8'), ('n', '<f8')])
We need to keep in mind that by default, dtype=float. A float is therefore expected for the second column. However, the strings ' 2.3%' and ' 78.9%' cannot be converted to float and we end up having np.nan instead. Let's now use a converter.
>>> # Converted case ...
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",", names=names,
... converters={1: convertfunc})
array([(1.0, 0.023, 45.0), (6.0, 0.78900000000000003, 0.0)],
dtype=[('i', '<f8'), ('p', '<f8'), ('n', '<f8')])
The same results can be obtained by using the name of the second column ("p") as key instead of its index (1).
>>> # Using a name for the converter ...
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",", names=names,
... converters={"p": convertfunc})
array([(1.0, 0.023, 45.0), (6.0, 0.78900000000000003, 0.0)],
dtype=[('i', '<f8'), ('p', '<f8'), ('n', '<f8')])
Converters can also be used to provide a default for missing entries. In the following example, the converter convert transforms a stripped string into the corresponding float or into -999 if the string is empty. We need to explicitly strip the string from white spaces as it is not done by default.
>>> data = "1, , 3\n 4, 5, 6"
>>> convert = lambda x: float(x.strip() or -999)
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",",
... converter={1: convert})
array([[ 1., -999., 3.],
[ 4., 5., 6.]])
Some entries may be missing in the dataset we are trying to import. In a previous example, we used a converter to transform an empty string into a float. However, user-defined converters may rapidly become cumbersome to manage.
The genfromtxt function provides two other complementary mechanisms: the missing_values argument is used to recognize missing data and a second argument, filling_values, is used to process these missing data.
By default, any empty string is marked as missing. We can also consider more complex strings, such as "N/A" or "???" to represent missing or invalid data. The missing_values argument accepts three kind of values:
- a string or a comma-separated string
- This string will be used as the marker for missing data for all the columns
- a sequence of strings
- In that case, each item is associated to a column, in order.
- a dictionary
- Values of the dictionary are strings or sequence of strings. The corresponding keys can be column indices (integers) or column names (strings). In addition, the special key None can be used to define a default applicable to all columns.
We know how to recognize missing data, but we still need to provide a value for these missing entries. By default, this value is determined from the expected dtype according to this table:
|Expected type
We can get a finer control on the conversion of missing values with the filling_values optional argument. Like missing_values, this argument accepts different kind of values:
- a single value
- This will be the default for all columns
- a sequence of values
- Each entry will be the default for the corresponding column
- a dictionary
- Each key can be a column index or a column name, and the corresponding value should be a single object. We can use the special key None to define a default for all columns.
In the following example, we suppose that the missing values are flagged with "N/A" in the first column and by "???" in the third column. We wish to transform these missing values to 0 if they occur in the first and second column, and to -999 if they occur in the last column.
>>> data = "N/A, 2, 3\n4, ,???"
>>> kwargs = dict(delimiter=",",
... dtype=int,
... names="a,b,c",
... missing_values={0:"N/A", 'b':" ", 2:"???"},
... filling_values={0:0, 'b':0, 2:-999})
>>> np.genfromtxt(StringIO.StringIO(data), **kwargs)
array([(0, 2, 3), (4, 0, -999)],
dtype=[('a', '<i8'), ('b', '<i8'), ('c', '<i8')])
We may also want to keep track of the occurrence of missing data by constructing a boolean mask, with True entries where data was missing and False otherwise. To do that, we just have to set the optional argument usemask to True (the default is False). The output array will then be a MaskedArray.
In addition to genfromtxt, the numpy.lib.io module provides several convenience functions derived from genfromtxt. These functions work the same way as the original, but they have different default values.


text:
The study and teaching of International Relations is at a crossroads within and beyond Australia. The old ingredients of international order settled liberal norms, and the overarching framework of American power are today contested as rising powers seek to create their own place in the global and regional order and as existing powers face a range of internal and external challenges.
The Department of International Relations, the first of its kind in Australia, is a world-leading centre of the study of the challenges, opportunities, and processes that emerge from these momentous changes. Since our foundation in 1949, we have approached the challenge of thinking about global and regional affairs with a combination of academic rigour and ethical awareness. Today, the Department follows in the footsteps of the discipline-leading men and women who have worked here in the past and upon whose inheritance we continue to build. The quality of our academic research has been consistently recognised in various global and national rankings – along with colleagues from across the ANU, we have received a QS ranking for ANU Politics and International Studies discipline as eight in the world and a score of 5 in the most recent ERA. Read further
Professor George Lawson, Head of Department
The Department of International Relations is a world leader in teaching International Relations, whether at the doctoral, masters, or undergraduate level.


text:
The 20-year-old daughter of country star Alan Jackson has been charged with assault, underage drinking and resisting arrest. She is accused of striking a police officer and then invoking her father's name during a traffic stop in Nashville.
Alexandra Jane Jackson was a passenger in a car pulled over by Metro Nashville police on Wednesday. According to a police affidavit, Jackson was irate and refused to stay in the car. Police say Jackson raised her hand to an officer, then struck the officer in the chest.
The affidavit says Jackson resisted when officers went to handcuff her and she later told police she had been drinking. As she was being booked into the jail, she told the officer that her father "would do anything I wanted him to do." WSMV-TV reports she was released early Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Alan Jackson says there's no comment.


text:
Is Main Street Smiling With Ben Bernanke?
Considering the strong start to the year for equities, Ben Bernanke's smile must be getting as big as the Federal Reserve's balance sheet. The Fed Chairman is on record defending the wealth effect, which involves forcing investors into equities by punishing them through record low interest rates and quantitative easing. After an early lackluster reception from the latest QE announcements, Mr. Market is feeling quite optimistic these days.
In September, the Federal Reserve announced QE3, which buys agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month. The program is open-ended and will continue for as long as the central bank thinks is necessary. Stocks enjoyed a modest bump from the news, but the gains were fully retraced by Halloween.
However, Bernanke quickly put on his Santa suit and delivered an early Christmas to Wall Street. Three months after announcing QE-to-infinity-and-beyond, the Federal Reserve unveiled QE4, which purchases $45 billion of long-term Treasury securities each month.
Stocks gain across the board…
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The initial reaction from QE4 was also tepid, but stocks reigned in the new year and money printing with gains across the board. In fact, it was the best January for the Dow since 1994 and the best for the S&P 500 since 1997. Both indices posted their best single-month performance since October 2011. According to TrimTabs Investment Research, nearly $80 billion flowed into stock mutual funds and exchange traded funds in January, the best monthly haul in at least a decade.
The momentum in stocks carried over into February as the Dow Jones Industrial Average recaptured the 14,000 level for the first time since October 2007. While reaching the old milestone is generating a debate about a great rotation from cash to equities, it is important to remember that the rally should be credited to central banks rather than improving fundamentals.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer of Pimco, explains in a Fortune article, "Unfortunately, politicians both here and in many countries around the world seem more comfortable in – time and time again – kicking the can down the road rather than deal properly with economic challenges. Indeed, if it weren't for the unusual activism of central banks, the Dow would be well below 14,000 today – well below. Also, the housing recovery would be less advanced and companies' balance sheets banks less healthy; and many of the banks fortunate enough to be still operating would be struggling to restore large capital cushions and decisively overcome bad legacy assets on their balance sheets."
Main Street is not feeling the wealth effect…
El-Erian also adds, "Temper your optimism with caution: There is a limit to how far central banks, acting on their own, can divorce market pricing from fundamentals." In the meantime, Main Street does not need a reminder of the fundamentals.
The Dow at 14,000 today is a much different picture than in 2007. The headline unemployment rate in October 2007 was 4.7 percent, compared to 7.9 percent today. The latest data from the United States Department of Agriculture shows that nearly 48 million Americans are now on food stamps, compared to roughly 27 million in 2007. Additionally, the Commerce Department's first reading on Q4 2012 gross domestic product dropped at a 0.1 percent annual rate, the first contraction in three and a half years.
Over the past four years, the major central banks around the world have provided more than $6 trillion in quantitative easing. When converted to U.S. dollars, the four major central banks have expanded their balance sheets to beyond $13 trillion, according to Hayman Capital. In comparison, this amount was $3 trillion a decade ago. While the Dow is near break-even since 2007, gold prices have more than doubled and gas prices on February 1 reached an all-time high for the date.
Bernanke appears to be accomplishing a wealth effect in many areas of the market, but Main Street is not smiling.
Investor Insight: The Fed's Balance Sheet: $1 Trillion…$2 Trillion…$3 Trillion
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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS