text: CDD> About the Department About the Department From Assistant City Manager Iram Farooq Welcome to the CDD web page. Our goal for the site is to provide you with a wide range of easily accessible and useful information. Over the past year we have furthered our social media presence on Twitter and Facebook and have expanded our outreach with the goal of making it easier for the public to engage in the programs, projects, and public processes that will shape the future of our community. Cambridge is widely recognized as an urban success story—a place where people want to live, work, learn and enjoy. The City's longstanding policy commitments are clearly paying off: our affordable housing stock is growing; biking is up while automobile use down; and commercial and residential property owners of all sizes have embraced green building as a strategy for cost-saving and marketing. Cambridge remains a strong choice for technology, life sciences and research companies, and start-up entrepreneurs seeking competitive business advantages. They are drawn by the city's accessibility for walking, biking, and public transit; the mix of neighborhoods and vibrant commercial centers; a culture of arts, creativity and culinary stand-outs; the presence of world-class educational and health care institutions; and a storied history of being a place where everyone is welcome to take root and thrive as part of a larger community. The focus of our work at CDD is to maintain the balance among these components in a way that contributes to the overall health and sustainability of the city. We invite you to engage in this effort and to explore our web site for more information on the following: Affordable rental and homeownership resources Business and commercial district assistance Biotech and innovation resources Initiatives to promote safe and sustainable transportation Energy efficiency resources and climate protection activities Creative zoning, land use, urban design and community-based neighborhood planning Working together, we will make Cambridge the best possible place to live, work, learn and visit. Please feel free to contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com to share your thoughts and ideas with us. - Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development How CDD Works With four programmatic divisions, Community Planning, Housing, Economic Development and Environmental and Transportation Planning, CDD takes an interdisciplinary approach to manage and guide physical change in a manner consistent with the City's priorities, engaging and collaborating with community partners and other government agencies to make Cambridge a desirable place to live and work. CDD advances City goals by: Creating and preserving affordable rental and ownership housing; Planning and implementing initiatives to protect the environment and to institutionalize sustainable practices in municipal operations and in the broader community; Conducting neighborhood-focused and comprehensive planning efforts, and multidisciplinary review of large projects; Strengthening the vitality of the city's commercial districts; Attracting, retaining and providing direct assistance to Cambridge businesses; Renovating neighborhood parks and playgrounds, and working to provide a variety of open space and recreational opportunities; and Planning transportation infrastructure that enhances safety and encourages walking, cycling and public transportation. The Department's agility in implementing best planning practices allows it to address immediate priorities within the context of larger trends and issues, and to continue progress toward long term goals. CDD's work is funded through a combination of grants, taxes and state and federal programs, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME; these resources are strategically deployed to maximize their impact and leverage new investment. In addition to direct program staff, CDD is supported by a fiscal and administrative team that manages funding and operations, and provides technical services across divisions. Contact the Assistant City Manager for Community Development To contact Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development, please call 617/349-4606 or email email@example.com.


text:
Malky Mackay insists he is 'no racist' after offensive texts
Malky Mackay has used a television interview to apologise for three offensive text messages he sent, but insisted he was "no racist" and "no homophobe".
The former Cardiff City manager and Iain Moody had been accused of sending "sexist, racist and homophobic" text messages during their time at the club.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the League Managers Association, Richard Bevan, is facing calls to resign after his organisation apologised for the wording of a statement that appeared to defend the messages as "friendly banter".

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A 2001 Sunseeker Predator 56 with 2 x 800Hp MAN. This Sunseeker Predator 56 has everything that one would expect from a Sunseeker performance motor yacht, with an excellent turn of speed and long cruising range, coupled with easy handling and spacious outdoor facilities. She has very comfortable accommodation with a well appointed luxurious interior and furnishings finished to the highest quality. Additionally, she has the advantage of having Spanish matriculation tax paid and should be on the shortlist of anyone looking for a performance sports cruiser for use in the Med.
Email us on: firstname.lastname@example.com
Banus Yachts (previously known as The Brokerage Division) opened its doors for the 2016 nautical season operating from our offices in Puerto Banus, on the Spanish Costa del Sol. We pride ourselves in providing a professional and comprehensive International brokerage service, with an ever increasing client base, both buyers and sellers, from all over the world.
We have strong relationships with a large number of other marine professionals and send regular brokerage lists to an ever increasing list of co-brokers Worldwide.
As well as our day to day brokerage activity we also provide after-sales services to our clients such as guardianage, berth sales and rentals, crew placement, deliveries, yacht management and bespoke packages as per the clients requirements.
We pride ourselves at providing the best service for our clients and for this reason we have a dedicated service and after sales department. The burden of having to remember to arrange lift outs, bottom cleans, antifoul, anodes, hull, shaft, rudder, props and through hull fittings checks along with main engine and generator services, fire extinguisher and life raft service etc will all be carried out by us along with taking the boat round to the yard and prepping her.
After sales and warranty is looked after in a professional way so that owners do not encounter problems or bad experiences.
For further details please do not hesitate in contacting us on email@example.com
Muelle Benabola, Casa D, Portal 2, Apt. 101
Puerto Banus


text:
- Home
- Editor's Desk
- Features
- Columns
- Arts & Culture
- Special Editions
- Advertising
Wednesday December 12, 2018; 02:54 pm EST
From the Bay, you can enjoy a little more
After yet another great rockfish dinner, I decided to do a little research on past warnings about contaminants in our Bay waters, hence in our striped bass.
Checking out the latest Maryland Department of the Environment Updated Fish Consumption Advisory for Maryland, I found great news and a little bad news.
Good news first: The most recent testing of Bay rockfish showed a decided decrease in contaminant levels, meaning more rockfish can now be safely consumed from our waters. The differences between the old and new advisories reflect a significant decline in the level of polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, in striped bass analyzed by the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Livelining for rockfish has been the way to go, while chumming has fallen to second place for light-tackle angling. Trollers are continuing to pick up good limits.
PCBs, the culprit in the majority of serving limitations on how much fish is safe to eat, were once widely used by utility companies and other industries as coolants in transformers, electric motors and other electrical applications. They were determined to be a toxic and a persistent pollutant and banned by the U.S. Congress in 1979.
The disposal of these outlawed compounds was not carefully monitored, and a great deal ended up in the Chesapeake and its tributaries. Because of this lingering contamination, consumption advisories for finfish harvested throughout the Bay have continued to be guarded. Now, that contamination level is dropping.
It's now considered safe for adults to eat three eight-ounce servings per month of rockfish up to 28 inches in length from the Bay proper and its tributaries. Two three-ounce servings is the safety level for children.
Meals from rockfish larger than 28 inches from both the Bay and all Atlantic Coastal waters should be less frequent: Recommended servings are only one per month for adults and one every other month for children.
That's not much fish for a guy like me.
Norfolk spot from throughout the Bay are relatively contaminant-free, since they only reside here during a few months in the summer. Adults can safely enjoy five servings per month, children four smaller servings.
White perch are localized and do not generally travel far from home waters, so they are are rated by specific area. Those from the Eastern Bay are regarded as unaffected by contaminants and can be consumed without restriction.
Other good perch areas are the Patuxent and Nanticoke rivers, rated at eight servings per month, the Choptank at six, the Pocomoke and Gunpowder at five, and the Chester and Magothy at four servings.
Near the bottom of the list, unfortunately, with only one to two servings a month of white perch recommended, remain the Severn, the South, the Rhode, the West, the Sassafras, the Elk and the Northeast rivers as well as Herring Bay.
The mid-Bay waters from Pooles Island to Bodkin Point, plus waters in the Patapsco, Middle and Back rivers, are the most severely restricted zones with only one serving of perch every other month recommended for adults and none for children.
However you can eat all you can catch of white perch from the main stem of the Bay.
Saving the best news for last, I can tell you that our Chesapeake Bay blue crabs remain fine for unlimited consumption almost everywhere.
The lone exception is those harvested from the mid-Bay. Consumption of crabs harvested from the Middle River to Baltimore Harbor and the Patapsco should be limited to six eight-ounce servings per month for adults and five three-ounce servings for children. Eating the mustard from these crabs is unfortunately a no-no. That's where contaminants tend to concentrate. The crab mustard from all other areas of the Chesapeake can be eaten, but only sparingly, for the same reason.
You'll find additional details at www.mde.state.md.us. Search Fish Consumption Advisory.


text:
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Review
A case is probably one of the most important components when building a PC. It provides an enclosure to protect your parts. Is a case just simply that or should it be something more? Thermaltake makes a wide variety of cases for a wide variety of users. Not only do they cater to the higher end user, but they also cater to those on a budget. So whether you're looking for a case that has looks and plenty of features, or are simply looking for a case, Thermaltake has something for you. Today, in particular, we are looking at the V3 Black Edition. The V3 Black Edition does come at a modest price and, as the name suggests, it is painted black inside and out. The case is more than just a black mid tower case, there are other notable features, but we'll save those for later in the review.
Closer Look:
With just a quick glance at the box, you can see it comes with a blue LED fan and the case has a sleek, yet basic, design. The right side of the box shows support for the case in multiple languages. On the back, we are shown the features of the case - one of which points out that there is only a single rear 120mm LED fan for exhaust. Considering the price of the case, it is understandable that only one fan is included, but it would be nice if manufacturers in general included at least two fans. Also notable are the included fan filters, like the one on the front panel and the one below the PSU. Lastly, the left side of the box shows there are two models of this case, although it does not note the difference between the two models.
We are met with the usual in terms of packaging when we unpack the case. The case is wedged between two pieces of Styrofoam and is in a plastic bag for protection. Sensitive areas of the case that could be prone to scratches are covered in plastic.
So far, so good, but what else does this case have to reveal about itself? Let's find out.


text:
Browse by Author/Editor
Group by: Type of Work | No Grouping
Jump to: Article
Number of items: 2.
Law, Mansun and Maruyama, Toshiaki and Lewis, Jamie and Giang, Erick and Tarr, Alexander W and Stamataki, Zania and Gastaminza, Pablo and Chisari, Francis V and Jones, Ian M and Fox, Robert I and Ball, Jonathan K and McKeating, Jane A and Kneteman, Norman M and Burton, Dennis R (2008) Broadly neutralizing antibodies protect against hepatitis C virus quasispecies challenge. Nature medicine, 14 (1). pp. 25-7. ISSN 1546-170X
Lindenbach, Brett D and Evans, Matthew J and Syder, Andrew J and Wölk, Benno and Tellinghuisen, Timothy L and Liu, Christopher C and Maruyama, Toshiaki and Hynes, Richard O and Burton, Dennis R and McKeating, Jane A and Rice, Charles M (2005) Complete replication of hepatitis C virus in cell culture. Science (New York, N.Y.), 309 (5734). pp. 623-6. ISSN 1095-9203


text: If you have been anxiously awaiting Verizon's 4G LTE for your area, and you are on the list below, then you can officially do a happy dance if you want. dancedroid Verizon just issued a press release indicating they have expanded their 4G LTE network to 14 new markets. Here they are: Little Rock, Ark. Savannah, Ga. Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa Lexington, Ky. Starkville, Miss. Kansas City and Springfield/Branson, Mo. Lincoln, Neb. Orange County, N.Y. Greater Providence, R.I. Rapid City, S.D. Roanoke, Va. Appleton/Oshkosh, Wis. The company is also making major 4G LTE expansions on Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.; and Pittsburgh, Pa. Source: Verizon Wireless - THE NATION'S LARGEST 4G LTE NETWORK COMES TO 14 NEW MARKETS AND EXPANDS IN FOUR MARKETS ON NOV. 17 - Full Press Release


text:
Morgan County Commission to pay nearly $100,000 in back pay lawsuit
The Morgan County Commission owes Louella Pryor more than $93,600 after a judge ruled in the Morgan County Treasurer's favor in the back pay lawsuit she filed in April 2012.
"This has been very hard for me. It is really easy for me to stand up for others - elderly, handicapped, innocent people - but it was hard to stand up for myself. I hope that this does not ever happen to anyone else in Morgan County, regardless of their job, political party or gender. I hope the citizens of Morgan County will now realize that not only do I stand up for others, my family, but I will stand up for them," Pryor commented.
On Oct. 2, Judge Ralph Jaynes granted Pryor's motion for summary judgement and denied the county commission's cross motion for summary judgement.
The retired Howard County judge found that Pryor is owed back pay after eight years receiving only 74 percent of the state-mandated maximum salary while the other elected officials all received 100 percent of their maximum salaries.
Jaynes was given the case after Morgan County Circuit judges Stan Moore and Ken Hayden were recused.
From 2003-2010, Pryor received a salary of $33,300 per year instead of $45,000.
The judgement awarded Pryor the difference in pay for those years - $93,600 - with interest. Pryor will be allowed to make contributions to her retirement plan retrospectively for those years based on the salary of $45,000. The county commission has also been ordered to make contributions to Pryor's retirement plan in an amount equal to the amount that would have been paid for those years based on the $45,000 salary.
Prior to filing the suit, Pryor offered to settle for four years or $46,800 without interest, but the county commission refused to settle.
After preliminary findings from the judge indicated that he would like to see a compromise between the two parties, the county commission considered a settlement with Pryor in a closed session Sept. 19 but ultimately voted against it.
In 1997, the Morgan County Salary Commission established the salary for each elected official at 100 percent of the then-existing statutory upper limit.
The next set of recorded meetings took place in 2001. The salary commission met again and "took no action" regarding salaries, according to minutes from the meetings.
In 2001, the assessed valuation of Morgan County also increased from approximately $266 million to $306 million. Crossing the $300 million assessed valuation threshold put Morgan County into a different statutory category for salaries.
At that time, all elected officials except for the treasurer received a salary increase to 100 percent of the maximum statutory amount effective Jan. 1, 2002. For some of these officials, that meant a mid-term salary increase.
No vote of the salary commission was ever made to effect those increases, and there was neither a motion nor a vote to provide for a lower percentage for the treasurer, the court judgement stated.
When Pryor took office in 2003, RSMo Section 54.261 Subsection 2 and 3 did authorize the salary commission to set the treasurer's salary at $33,300 or up to $45,000 but no measure was ever taken to set the salary at less than 100 percent of the maximum.
Then in 2003 during Pryor's first term, the Missouri General Assembly repealed Subsection 2 of Section 54.261 to set the salary for treasurers - of county's with assessed valuation of $300 million or more - at $45,000. The change removed even the option of setting the salary at $33,300. If there was any doubt about what the salary should be, it was made plain that it had to be $45,000 on the effective date of the legislation on Aug. 28, 2003, the court judgement stated.
Yet, at the November 2005 meeting of the salary commission, a list distributed by then-prosecuting attorney Marvin Opie gave the treasurer's "base" salary as $33,300 - 74 percent of $45,000 - while all the other elected officials received 100 percent of their salaries ranging from $16,000 for the coroner to $50,000 for the sheriff.
If the term "base salary" had been used consistently for all offices, the treasurer's "base salary" would have been reported as $45,000, according to the court judgement.
As a third class county, the Morgan County Salary Commission had no authority to establish a salary for the treasurer at $33,300, the judgement also states.
The only way the salary commission could have set the treasurer's salary at 74 percent of the maximum only was with a two-thirds vote to set all elected officials' salaries at 74 percent.
All officers must receive the same percentage increase or decrease, according to RSMo 50.333.6.
By never voting to set the salary at 74 percent, the treasurer's salary was also not stated as a percentage of the maximum allowable compensation, making the salary commission's action unlawful and void, also outlined by RSMo 50.333.6.
The position should have been at $45,000 before Pryor took office, but even if not, there should have been no issue over giving Pryor the raise mid-term, the court judgement stated.
In State ex rel. George, supra, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a midterm salary increase for a county official because the increase resulted from a change in state statute regarding calculation of compensation. The midterm increase was supported because the purpose of the provision in the state constitution against these increase it to prevent officials from using their power to gives themselves raises.
As Pryor did not participate in the decision by the General Assembly to change her compensation, there was no misuse of power for personal benefit.
According to the court judgement, other elected officials in Morgan County had received midterm salary increases without action from the salary commission prior to this case.
The judgement also ruled that the five year statute of limitations did not apply in this case because Missouri courts have consistently ruled that a cause of unpaid compensation does not accrue until the last date on which services are performed or when employment is terminated.
The last date Pryor received less than 100 percent of the salary was Dec. 31, 2010.
With no action changing the salaries from 100 percent of the maximum and the application of RSMo Section 54.261.1 placing elected officials' salaries into a higher range, the treasurer's salary should have been the maximum statutory amount of $45,000 when Pryor first took office Jan. 1, 2003.


text:
Contemplative Modern indie rock track.
As the track progresses, it builds into a beautiful guitar/ synth driven crescendo at the end – very reminiscent of a Downtown LA indie rock/skate scene.
Ideal music bed use for advertising/tv campaigns, radio background jingles, websites, or other media.
- Please help support the Envato Community. If you like purchase this file and like it, please remember to Vote *
The dynamic range 16 bit/44.1khz range really bring out the sharp audio quality


text:
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Pinocchio Part 2
6 comments:
- Hans Perk said...
Great work, Mark - looking forward to the continuation, as I bet a lot of people are!
- March 06, 2007 6:50 AM
- Michael Sporn said...
I think I came to this page five times yesterday just looking. It's excellent, Mark. You make me hungry for more. Disney should release books like this of their features.
- March 06, 2007 8:12 AM
Doesn't "Terrell" mean Terrell Stapp rather than Ernest Terrill?
- March 08, 2007 7:28 AM
- Mark Mayerson said...
I'm not sure who Terrell is. Based on Alberto Becattini's site, it could be either of them. Does anybody know?
- March 08, 2007 9:14 PM
I just assumed it was Stapp because there's a "Terrell" credited on the drafts for two major sequences and one short transition (so far) and only one "Stapp", co-credited with Putnam. Unless there's a whole ton of "Stapp" scenes in the remainer of the film, there are far more scenes credited to "Terrell". If they weren't the same person then it would seem strange that they'd credit (Terrell) Stapp rather than (Ernest) Terrell.
What exactly did these layout artists do anyway? Usually they design backgrounds, right? But it seems there area lot of scenes (in Geppetto's house, in Stromboli's wagon) which use the same backgrounds / set design but which credit different layout artists...
- March 09, 2007 4:05 AM
- Nancy said...
Did you notice Walt Kelly in Scene 55? That was his first scene in the picture, I believe.
- March 09, 2007 3:30 PM


text:
Warm Springs Ranch holds spring opening
A cool but sunny day did not deter visitors and media from touring Budweiser's Warm Springs Ranch located in eastern Cooper County near the Overton-Wooldridge exit on Monday. This marks the third year the ranch has been open for tours since it opened in 2008.
Warm Springs Ranch may best be known now for being the main location for a Super Bowl commercial this year. 'Hope' is the name of the new born (foal) Clydesdale who was featured in the commercial, of whom still resides at the ranch. According to a release from the ranch, 35 new foals are expected in 2013. The ranch also houses more than 100 Clydesdales.
In 2012 the ranch had 16,252 people tour the facility, which was up more than 36 percent from the previous year. Children like Natalie and Lexy Hirsch, said the love of horses has brought them out to the ranch.
"It is nice that we know they are being taken care of," Hirsch said.
They were excited they were going to see the foals as well.
The tour last for almost an hour after an introduction in the breeding part of the facility. While exiting through the back of the facility, the Clydesdales can be seen grazing on the 300 acre farm. Among items seen on the tour include the vehicles the Clydesdales are transported in and one of the original wagons used after prohibition ended. Clydesdale history is also told to get visitors acquainted with the importance of the horses.
According to Budweiser, the ranch is one of the premiere Clydesdales breeding facilities of the world.


text:
Intel Corp (INTC) Falls 2.63% for January 04Equities Staff Follow |
One of the S&P 500's big losers for Monday January 04 was Intel Corp (INTC). The company's stock fell 2.63% to $33.55 on volume of 17.1 million shares.
The stock opened the day at 33.88 and traded between a low of $33.49 and a high of $33.96. The stock finished the day down $0.905 per share. Intel Corp has an average daily volume of 27.82 million and a total float of 4.72 billion shares. The 50-day SMA for Intel Corp is $34.21 and its 200-day SMA is $31.32. The high for the stock over the last 52 weeks is $37.49 and the low is $24.87.
Intel Corporation is a semiconductor chip maker. It develops integrated digital technology products like integrated circuits, for industries such as computing and communications.
Intel Corp is centered in Santa Clara, CA, and has 106,700 employees. Today's trading day leaves the company with a market cap of $158.3 billionwith a P/E Ratio of 14.8. The company has a P/S ratio of 4.02, P/B ratio of 2.77, and a 35.1.
For a complete fundamental analysis analysis of Intel Corp, check out Equities.com's Stock Valuation Analysis report for INTC. To see the latest independent stock recommendations from Equities.com's analysts, visit our Research section.
The S&P 500 represents the industry standard for large-cap indices. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) may be the most visible stock market index in the country, the S&P 500 has long been relied on by industry insiders and fund managers as the more reliable gauge of portfolio performance.
While the DJIA is price-weighted and only includes 30 stocks, the S&P 500 uses a weighting system that factors in market cap and the size of a company's free float while including some 500 stocks for a more comprehensive look at the broader markets' performance. Its performance is far more representative of the large- and mega-cap stocks for any period of time.
For more news on the financial markets, go to Equities.com. Also, learn more about our independent proprietary equity research reports and our robust do-it-yourself Stock Valuation Analysis reports in our Research section.
All data provided by QuoteMedia and was accurate as of 4:30PM ET.
DISCLOSURE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer


text:
Comfort Inns Ponchatoula properties are provided below. Search for cheap and discount Comfort Inns hotel prices in Ponchatoula, LA for your personal or business trip. We list the best Comfort Inns Ponchatoula hotels/motels so you can review the Ponchatoula Comfort Inns hotel list below to find the perfect place.
Our search will list Ponchatoula, LA hotels & lodging that have similar quality of Comfort Inns.
How should we direct your call?


text:
Government Financial Professional Training
April 8, 2014
Sponsored by:
Lancaster County Treasurer's Office
Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C.
Lincoln Chapter Association of Government Accountants
|8:15 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Breakfast sponsored by Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C
|8:30 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
|Early bird session
Topic: The Budget Process: Budgeting for Outcomes
Speaker: Ben Hart, CPA, Vice President, Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C
|9:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Andy Stebbing, Lancaster County Treasurer
Shelly Hammond, V.P., Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C
|9:45 a.m. to 10:25 a.m.
|Keynote Speaker - Honorable Shane Osborn, Former Nebraska State Treasurer
Topic: Leadership
|10:25 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
|Break with Vendors sponsored by Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC
|10:50 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.
|Topic: Strategies for Public Fund Investing in a Sluggish Market
Moderator: Andy Stebbing, Lancaster County Treasurer
Speakers: Bradley Cole, Regional Director, Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC.
Joan Ingram, Vice President, U.S. Bank, N.A.
|11:45 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.
|Topic: Internal Controls: Understanding the Best Practices and Preparing a Plan
Speakers: Shelly L. Hammond, CPA, CGFM, Vice President, Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C.
Michelle Raphael, CTP, AAP , Lancaster County Treasurer's Office
|12:40 p.m. 1:30 p.m.
|Topic: Basics of Governmental Accounting
Speaker: Shelly L. Hammond, CPA, CGFM, Vice President, Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C.


text:
Proximity to train station a boon to office landlords
Offices close to train stations: Distance spells difference in rental rates
If you're standing in a commercial building near a Metro-North railroad line station in lower Fairfield County, you're most likely situated in the highest-priced property in the community.
Proximity to a rail stop can nearly double the rent for space in an office building, compared with only a mile away, particularly in Stamford and Greenwich, where office-occupancy levels often are in the 90 percent-plus range or higher. In many cases, occupancy levels are as low as 50 percent when train stations are farther than walking distance.
Companies want their employees to have the convenience of walking to and from a station, and many are willing to pay for it, according to James Ritman, managing director of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Greenwich office.
In Greenwich, that could mean paying more than $100 per square foot for Class A office space at 55 Railroad Ave., near the train station, compared with the low-$40s to mid-$60s for a building that would require workers to take a cab or shuttle to their office.
Ritman cited 1 Lafayette Place, which commands $75 to $80 per square foot and 1 E. Putnam Ave., with rents ranging from the mid-$40s to the mid-$60s. The properties are nearly a mile from the train station, just beyond the north end of the Greenwich Avenue retail mecca.
"You have groups (businesses) wanting to be close to the train," Ritman said. "You have multiple bidders. You haven't seen this since 2007. You have more groups looking from New York."
Ritman said he is familiar with two New York City businesses that are finalizing deals to move some operations near the Greenwich train station, where they would each occupy 30,000 square feet of office space.
`No vacancy'
"You can do better rent in Manhattan. They want to be here because of their income taxes for their employees or management lives here," Ritman said, adding that despite the high rental rates, downtown Greenwich has a dearth of office space. "Take away the 120,000 square feet of available space at 600 Steamboat Road, and there's no vacancy left."
Space at Class A office buildings near the Stamford Transportation Center, several of which are owned by RFR Realty and Malkin Properties, is difficult to find. The rental rates are among the highest in the city, ranging from the high $30s per square foot to the mid-$60s.
"RFR and Malkin -- their buildings are 95 percent full. Metro Center (a Malkin building) is 100 percent full," said Laure Aubuchon, Stamford's director of economic development. The last six corporate relocations we've seen have all been by the train station.
"It's the closeness to New York and the proximity to its talent. People will pay a premium," she said.
Most of the recent locations to Class A office buildings near the Stamford train station have been companies from New York City and Greenwich, said Jeff Newman, executive vice president of Malkin Properties, which owns Metro Center and First Stamford Plaza and plans to build Metro Tower, a 385,000-square-foot office building just a short walk to the station.
"Companies really recognize the value of an easy employee commute for retention and recruitment, and their clients as well. That's what we hear from the tenants who sign leases with us. Location can't be replicated," said Newman, noting that Metro Center is fully leased despite asking rents between $56 and $64 a square foot.
Malkin's massive First Stamford Place, an 810,000-square-foot, three-building complex, costs $50 a foot. Located a block from the train station, the complex is 90 percent leased.
Occupancy rates are at similar levels at Four Stamford Plaza, 300 Atlantic St., Canterbury Green and 177 Broad, RFR-owned buildings that are all within walking distance of the train station. Asking rates start at $38 per square foot at Canterbury Green and 177 Broad and at $54 at 300 Atlantic and Four Stamford Plaza.
Despite providing shuttle services to and from the train station and lower rental rates, owners of office buildings more than an easy walk away are challenged to fill space, said Jeff Williams, executive managing director at the Stamford office of Colliers International.
`Flock to downtown'
"You can get deals at the end of Summer Street in the mid-$20s," he said, estimating that despite the lower rates, most office buildings farther from the train station have vacancy levels of 20 percent or more. "It's supply and demand. Larger corporations are going to flock to downtown."
The arrival of Charter Communications and Navigators Group at 400 Atlantic St., less than two blocks from the Stamford Transportation Center, has pushed the occupancy level of the building to 90 percent, said Scott Landis, principal in the Landis Group, which is offering space at $52 per square foot.
"There's always a flight to quality -- even in a downturn," said Landis, whose company has owned the 509,696-square-foot building for 13 years.
Building and Land Technology's 614,000-square-foot Financial Center at 695 E. Main St., a vacant office complex in search of an anchor tenant, could play a role in asking prices for buildings near the train station.
The Stamford-based developer, who did not respond to requests for an interview, owns 1 Harbor Point and 2 Harbor Point, two office buildings constructed to take advantage of easy access to the Stamford Transportion Center. A 260,000-square-foot building, 1 Harbor Point has 168,000 square feet available, including 4,500 square feet of retail, and 2 Harbor Point, a 140,000-square-foot building, has 42,000 square feet available.
Like Malkin, the company is putting its faith in the Transportation Center by advancing plans to build a 490,000-square-foot, 15-story office building called Gateway Harbor Point.
Colliers' Williams said asking rates for new office space in Harbor Point are generally higher than those sought by RFR and Malkin.
Search for tenants
Farther from the train station, Building and Land Technology's 423,000-square-foot building at 333 Ludlow St. is fully occupied.
But BLT is seeking tenants. Its office buildings at 260 Long Ridge Road and 292 Long Ridge Road are vacant, while 120 Long Ridge Road has ample sublease space available.
Office buildings in Stamford's Central Business District have an occupancy rate of 85 percent compared with 77 percent for the overall assemblage of Class A Stamford office buildings, according to CBRE Group, the world's largest commercial real estate services firm.
The district submarket had an average rental rate of $42.54 per square foot in the first quarter of 2013, CBRE reported, higher than the $32.73 per-square-foot average outside the district.
While the disparity between office lease rates near the Greenwich and Stamford train stations is documented, the numbers grow fuzzier the farther east and north along Metro-North lines.
Tenants pay in the low- to mid-$30s per square foot for space at the Merritt 7 complex, a short walk from the stop on the Danbury line.
"A lot of tenants use it. I include it in all my showings," said JoAnn McGrath, director of leasing the 1.4-million-square-foot complex, managed by Marcus Partners.
The property is 90 percent occupied, compared with an office occupancy rate in Norwalk of 82.3 percent, according to Stamford-based Choyce Peterson.
"There's no doubt that offices near railroad access ought to be more expensive because workers like the convenience," said Tad Diesel, Norwalk's director of marketing and business development.
Downtown Fairfield does not have the same number of office buildings near its train station as Greenwich or Stamford, but an R.D. Scinto building at 140 Sherman St. is nearly full at $18 per square foot, said Mark Barnhart, Fairfield's director of Community and Economic Development.
"You can't do better than that for downtown," he said.
Bridgeport, Danbury stations
Farther up the main Metro-North line, demand is growing for office space near the Bridgeport train station, but at a fraction of the cost. Rents at office buildings like 1000 Lafayette St., 10 Middle St., and 855 Main St., are in the $18- to $20-per-square-foot range, said Bruce Wettenstein, partner in the Westport brokerage firm of Vidal Wettenstein.
"We just did the Zeisler & Zeisler deal for 10 Middle St.," Wettenstein said, adding the Bridgeport law firm is taking 12,000 square feet on the 15th floor. "One of the features that they liked is that it is very close to Metro-North. The downtown office market is picking up. It will be a matter of time before we see an increase in absorption rates."
For Ernest Trefz, whose company, Trefz Corp., owns 10 Middle St., a site near the station is essential to attract tenants. The site is nearly 85 percent occupied, he said.
While access to a train station is a boon to office building owners in the lower county, such is not the case in Danbury, according to Joe Wrinn, vice president of Goodfellow-Ashmore, a Danbury-based real estate brokerage firm.
"There are very few offices there. Most are on the west side," he said.
An ordinance limits building heights near Danbury's downtown train station. Office buildings are allowed, but there hasn't been a demand, said Dennis Elpern, the city's planning director.
But Mark Nolan's 60,000-square-foot office building at 30 Main St. is 70 percent filled. Asking $15 to $20 per square foot, he said it's within walking distance -- only a half-mile from the station.
"The train station hasn't been a draw in Danbury," he said. "I think a lot of employers are missing an opportunity."


text:
A few weeks into the New Year, it's not uncommon for New Year's resolutions to have gone by the wayside. But surely the tradition of reflection and resolve that they embody has merit. We should at least aspire to thoughtful consideration and hope we might do better going forward.
Accordingly, I present some resolutions for the New Year that I hope will find wide agreement among readers. May we actually fulfill them!
Demand simple but meaningful honesty. MarketWatch recently ran a piece claiming that "beating the market is easy." Full disclosure: I am a MarketWatch contributor. The thrust of the claim focuses upon various sectors and approaches—such as small caps or value—that have beaten the S&P 500 index historically as well as suggesting that investors use leverage and lower-fee products. While strictly accurate, the claims are misleadingly so because the comparisons are all of an apples-to-oranges variety.
Suggesting that one can readily "beat the market" by taking on more risk via volatility and leverage is hardly a meaningful recommendation for most investors and especially for those —the target of the article—who are engaged in retirement planning. Moreover, defining "the market" as the S&P 500 and pointing out that various other indexes can and do outperform it historically isn't very helpful either. For performance measurement to have value, one must use an appropriate measuring stick. Even if (when!) it doesn't make us look great, let's offer and demand meaningful honesty.
Address issues head-on. As I have noted repeatedly in this space, our nation faces a serious retirement crisis. Few of us have planned well enough and few of us are saving enough to expect to live a comfortable retirement. These undeniable facts demand that we face some serious personal and policy challenges.
The defined contribution landscape—never intended as a stand-alone retirement solution—isn't working nearly well enough. Some more fundamental and far-reaching choices deserve careful consideration. These include mandatory retirement saving, portable pensions, and comprehensive Social Security and Medicare reforms. What we are doing at present isn't working. Accordingly, some difficult policy choices we might not otherwise prefer or endorse need to be considered.
Acknowledge reality. Our behavioral biases are alarming in their scope and impact. They can be astonishingly difficult to perceive and overcome. Yet because of what's called the "bias blind spot," even when we recognize these biases, we tend to think that they apply to others but not to ourselves. For 2013 and beyond, let's all resolve consciously to try to acknowledge and deal with our biases on a consistent and comprehensive basis.
Embrace personal accountability. Because of our behavioral biases, it's also easy for us to take credit for our successes while blaming our failures and failings on bad luck. Let's instead resolve to be accountable for our choices and our actions, even (especially!) when they do not work out well. In one way or another, we would all like to privatize our gains and socialize our losses, take credit for success and blame failure on somebody else. Stop! We all know a lot less than we think.
Insist on effectiveness. Too many of our planning and investment choices are based upon ideological commitments of various sorts. Whatever our market "schools," economic and political preferences and party persuasions, we all tend to act first and ask questions later. Let's demand instead that the choices we make actually be predicated upon good data and evidence such that what we want to achieve has a reasonable likelihood of actually happening. As the saying goes, we are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts.
Focus. We are all prone to being distracted by the new, new thing. Being new isn't necessarily bad, obviously, but it isn't necessarily good either. A well-researched and supported new idea or approach can be of value—even tremendous value. But at least as often the new thing is a chimera that makes promises it can't keep. If that object of desire makes bold assurances like easy, huge, safe or revolutionary, be especially wary.
Develop a comprehensive plan (and put it in writing). In the same way having to teach a class on a given subject demands that we understand it really well (and, in my case, always engenders a lot of new research even on subjects I already know), developing a comprehensive plan is a great way to find and establish goals, ideas and priorities. Going through this process goes a long way toward ensuring that the final result will be well thought-out.
Moreover, only a clear plan allows for an evaluation of how things are going and thus if any changes are called for. Recent research from Advisor Impact goes one step further and shows that those who create their plan in written form and include a recitation of how they plan to react when trouble comes are a good bit more likely to deal better with the trouble that inevitably comes.
Too many of us let our investment and retirement planning strategies develop haphazardly, virtually guaranteeing that they are not thorough and making the likelihood of inconsistency in goals, purpose and execution astonishingly high. An otherwise great investment plan can readily become a disaster is it doesn't line up with our understanding, goals, objectives and risk tolerances.
Set appropriate defaults. On a related note, our planning default settings need to be carefully considered and implemented. These can relate to asset allocation, investment type and time horizon. When in doubt, lower fees win, passive beats active, manage risk first, simple beats complex, save more, spend less, and this time probably isn't different.
Evaluate and re-evaluate. Every plan, no matter how good, should be subject to regular scrutiny and evaluation. Adjustment based upon new or better evidence is always in order. This process also demands clear goals and targets, both interim and longer term. Most of us are aware of the Lewis Carroll paraphrase, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there." It's a great warning. We also need to know where we are at all times for planning to be truly effective.
Be willing to ask for help. My late father reminded me often of the Abraham Lincoln saying, "Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." We would all be wise to think more, study more and reflect more while saying and doing less.
Similarly, most of us resist asking for help. We all like to think we're the smartest person in the room even though we would all benefit from asking for help often. None of us knows nearly enough to do it all and to do it all alone. Resolve not to try.
Thanks for reading, and here's to a joyful and prosperous year.


text:
During the reconstruction phase that followed the Lebanese civil war, many important buildings were torn down. Conservationists were, however, able to save a number of individual structures. One of the most important of these buildings is the so-called "Yellow House". Martina Sabra reports
Anyone walking through the reconstructed city centre of Beirut to the SODECO shopping centre can easily overlook the valuable old structures that line the street. One of the city's most important architectural cultural monuments, the so-called "Yellow House", which once belonged to the Barakat family, is closed to the public and largely boarded up.
Yet the City of Beirut has big plans for this Art Nouveau building, which is steeped in history: the intention is that by 2012, it will house the first Beirut museum of municipal history, the "Bait Al-Madina" (City House).
Lavish parties and diplomats
The heavily damaged structure looks back on a glittering history. Since being built by the famous Lebanese architect Youssef Aftimos in the 1920s, generations of well-to-do, upper-class Beirut families have worked, lived and loved in this house. Lavish parties were held inside its walls and prominent local politicians and international diplomats passed through its doors.
In the early days of the civil war, in 1975, the "Yellow House" increasingly became a site of armed conflict due to its strategically important position on the front line between East and West Beirut. Snipers occupied the house, from where they could monitor entire streets and districts of the city. By the time the war ended in 1989, the fabric of the building had been severely damaged by countless gun battles.
Turning back the clock
That the house wasn't torn down is due to the tenacity and dedication of the Beirut architect Mona Hallak. In 1994, she began investigating the house during one of her expeditions with the APSAD, an independent organisation for the protection of historic monuments and buildings. "People were afraid to enter the house because of the possibility of unexploded bombs or mines," recalls Hallak.
"But I just had to go in. It was unbelievably fascinating, mainly because it looked as if the inhabitants had just left a few hours previously." Hallak pulls a few large photos from her bag: "Look at this," she says. "One of the flat owners was a dentist. His dentist's chair was still in its place when I entered the house. It was covered with a thick layer of dust, but it was still working. His cupboard drawers contained personal letters from prominent Lebanese politicians."
Unusual rescue operation
Despite its cultural and historical importance, the Barakat house was almost demolished several times in the 1990s. In 1997, Mona Hallak managed to prevent its demolition at the last minute. While workers were already busy ripping out the valuable tiled floors, Hallak started an unusual rescue operation. She collected signatures, wrote petitions to parliament and the city administration, and mobilized support both locally and internationally. She was finally able to convince the powers that be.
In the summer of 2003, the Lebanese government decreed that the building be signed over to the City of Beirut and transformed into a museum. Nevertheless, general political insecurity and bureaucratic and financial obstacles delayed the project.
Non-transparent awarding of contracts
Now the City of Beirut has launched a new initiative. The City of Paris has pledged both financial aid and support in terms of the presentation of content. An exhibition with the most important findings from the building has been organized and a conference is to be held in September 2009 to allow the public to get involved in the debate about the content of the new museum.
Moreover, after much to-ing and fro-ing, an architectural company has been commissioned to restore and rebuild the Barakat house. Mona Hallak, however, was not entirely happy with the procedure. "The selection was not made in a competition; it was a random decision." Despite this quiet criticism, however, Hallak says that she is glad the house is being preserved for the general public.
A museum of municipal history for Beirut
According to the current schedule, the Beirut museum of municipal history is to open its doors to the public in the year 2012. It is still unclear as to which role the civil war will play in the content of the museum's displays. A few politicians would prefer to leave the subject well and truly alone.
Others consider it the most natural thing in the world for the 15-year collective trauma that saw hundreds of thousands die and the old quarter of Beirut almost razed to the ground to be reflected in a museum of municipal history.
Whatever happens, Mona Hallak will remain closely involved, if only to ensure that the renovation of the building will not cover up the traces of the civil war, but retain them in an appropriate manner.
Martina Sabra
© 2009 Deutsche Welle / Qantara.de 2009
Photography Project "Missing"
Lebanon's Shadows of the Past
The legacy of the civil war weighs heavily on Lebanon. With a photo exhibition in Beirut various initiatives hope to make people aware of the countless persons who vanished during this period and to encourage Lebanese society to start coming to terms with its past. Arian Fariborz reports
The Lebanese Civil War
Reviving Memories
In 1975, the Lebanese civil war began. Thirty years later, the Lebanese organization "Umam D&R" has marked this anniversary with a youth project focusing on collective memories. Bernhard Hillenkamp spoke with participants and organizers
Reconstructing Lebanon
High Expectations
Despite the stationing of UN troops in Lebanon the population still has no confidence in the peacekeeping capacity. And also the leadership in Beirut comes under increasing pressure since the Lebanese people are waiting for government action to rebuild the country. Bernhard Hillenkamp reports


text:
The 2010 American Music Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Sunday (November 21) in Los Angeles.
The show featured performances from a wide array of performers including Rihanna, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, the Black Eyed Peas, and New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys.
CLICK INSIDE to see performances from Pink, Usher, Kid Rock, Enrique Iglesias, Bon Jovi, Diddy Dirty Money, Ne-Yo, and Train.
Watch now! Watch now! Watch now!


text:
A still from an advertisement paid for by Pennsylvanians for Accountability.
by Bill Heltzel
Pennsylvanians for Accountability runs television ads that accuse Gov. Tom Corbett of playing a shell game with the state.
But what game is the Pittsburgh advocacy group itself playing? It refuses to name its officers and directors. It conceals its funders. It uses a mail drop for an address.
"I don't know who's in it," said Georgeanne Koehler, a Pittsburgh resident who is one of three people who incorporated PFA. "I'm not sure who started it or why it was started, other than they want to fight for a better life for our citizens. I don't know what kind of money they have. … I don't know who's in charge."
PFA is a "social welfare" nonprofit group. The Internal Revenue Service has admitted that its Cincinnati office singled out applications for this type of tax-exempt status filed by conservative groups with "tea party" or "patriots" in their name.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced recently that the Justice Department and FBI will investigate whether the IRS broke any laws by targeting the conservative groups. There is no indication that PFA, which is associated with unions and a liberal group, was singled out by the IRS.
PFA is just one example of the so-called 'dark money' groups who attempt to sway public business, yet whose identity is unknown.
Social welfare nonprofits are popular with political operatives because tax-exempt groups do not have to disclose their funders. Political groups regulated by the Federal Election Commission do.
Members of good government groups said the social welfare nonprofits should make public who they are and where their money is coming from so citizens can evaluate their positions.
"The citizens of Pennsylvania have a right to know who is really behind all these organizations with glorious sounding names," said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania.
"Who is paying your expenses? Who are your officers? What is your agenda? What do you hope to accomplish?"
PFA looks like a political group. Its ads attack Corbett's record on corporate tax cuts and denounces budget cuts for education. Corbett, who has not announced his intention to run for re-election in 2014, is in the midst of fighting for his budget.
So far, PFA has spent at least $250,000 on ads in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Lancaster and York, according to incomplete Federal Communications Commission reports. BerlinRosen consulting firm, a campaign consulting firm in New York, said ads also are appearing in Erie, Johnstown, Altoona, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.


text:
If you love an image (whether it's yours or someone else's) and want to make sure others get a chance to see it, you can "feature" it by choosing the "Spotlight" button.
When an image is Spotlighted, it receives enhanced visibility in premium spots throughout the site. Spotlighted images are rotated through these higher-visibility positions to ensure the best opportunity for the images to be seen by JPG users.
If you see a great photo that would make a perfect entry for one of our Shoot Out photo contests but it was uploaded by another user, now you can enter that photo in the contest and, if it wins, you get to share in the contest winnings.
Like a photo editor, if you've got an eye for great work, find it and submit it to a contest. If it wins, since you staked the entry fee, you'll take home part of the prize (the rest, of course, goes to the member who shot the image).
Collections are a JPG+ feature. You must be a JPG+ member to create new collections and to add photos to collections.
Sign up for JPG+ to start using collections now!
Photo license: © All rights reserved
3 responses
Warren ~Mangione~ gave props (3 May 2009):
Totally gorgeous shot! Those flowers are beautiful and the clouds just do such nice things to the colors.
Alina Hahn (Deleted) gave props (3 May 2009):
Melody Kristensen said (3 May 2009):
Thank you both! :)
Please Login or Sign Up
Login or Sign Up
Need contest credits? Get 'em here!
Payments are processed by PayPal and you will be automatically forwarded to PayPal to complete your transaction. It may take a few minutes after you complete your transaction for you contest credits to update. We will send an email to your registered email address once we have received a successful transaction from PayPal and updated you credits.
Select a Shoot Out contest credit package below.


text:
Jerry Brown spoke about water and drought in his State of the State speech on Wednesday without mentioning his $25 billion Delta-bypass tunnel proposal.
He talked about the need to restrain spending and build a reserve in preparation for the next economic downturn, but made only passing reference to the high-speed rail he hopes to construct, and didn't bring up the $68 billion price tag.
He cited accomplishments in his first term – stabilizing the budget, expanding health care and reducing prison population among them – but didn't spell out much of a vision for the coming year.
As he read his roughly 17-minute speech from paper and not a teleprompter, Brown made clear that he intends to avoid missteps as he heads into his final re-election campaign.
That is a perfectly fine campaign strategy, given his lead in the polls. But it's hardly a recipe for a compelling, soaring or inspiring State of the State speech.
An opponent, Republican Neel Kashkari, chastised him for failing to mention poverty. From the left, billionaire Tom Steyer called for an end to fracking, urged Brown to recognize petroleum's toll, and called for an oil severance tax. Brown addressed none of it, at least not on Wednesday.
The high point came when he showed officials gathered in the Assembly chamber one of a series of playing cards featuring his dog, Sutter, although no one other than the people directly around him could make out what he was displaying.
On one side of the cards, a chart depicts the volatile nature of California's tax revenue. The flip sides include quotes attributed to the dog, like always keep a bone buried in the backyard.
The message of fiscal restraint is important, and one the governor should enforce in this year. But if he wins a fourth and final term, as seems likely, he should consider a bolder State of the State speech for 2015.


text:
Squarebirds, Rocketbirds, and Fifties/Sixties Ford Discussion Forum
Lost Password Recovery Form
User Name
Remember Me?
Members List
Today's Posts
Mark Forums Read
Lost Password Recovery Form
If you have forgotten your username or password, you can request to have your username emailed to you and to reset your password. When you fill in your registered email address, you will be sent instructions on how to reset your password.
Email Address:
All times are GMT -4. The time now is
Driving, racing or working on cars can be hazardous. The procedures and advice on this website including the message board are opinion only. Squarebirds.org and its webmasters and contributors do not guarantee the correctness of the advice and procedures. The Squarebirds.org and its webmasters assume no liability for any damage, fines, punishment, injury or death resulting from following these procedures or advice. If you do not have the skills or tools to repair your car, please consult a professional. By using this site you agree to hold harmless the Squarebirds.org, its authors and its webmasters from any resulting claim and costs that may occur from using the information found on this site.
-- Squarebirds Style
-- Plain Style
Contact Us
Squarebirds Main Site
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2018, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Any submissions to this site and any post on this site becomes property of Squarebirds.org . The webmasters reserve the right to edit and modify any submissions to this site. All material on this is site is copyrighted by the Squarebirds.org. Reproduction by any means other than for personal use is strictly prohibited. Permission to use material on this site can be obtained by contacting the webmasters. Copyright 2002-2019 by Squarebirds.org.


text:
- checkArchive :: String -> String -> IO ()
- webciteArchive :: String -> String -> IO ()
- alexaArchive :: String -> IO ()
Error check the URL and then archive it using
webciteArchive and
webciteArchive :: String -> String -> IO ()Source
Request http://www.webcitation.org to copy a supplied URL; WebCite does on-demand archiving, unlike Alexa/Internet Archive, and so in practice this is the most useful function. This function throws away any return status from WebCite (which may be changed in the future), so it is suggested that one test with a valid email address.
Warning! WebCite has throttling mechanisms; if you request more than 100 URLs per hour, your IP may be banned! It is suggested that one sleep for ~30 seconds between each URL request.
alexaArchive :: String -> IO ()Source
Request http://www.alexa.com to spider a supplied URL. Alexa supplies the Internet Archive's caches. TODO: currently broken? Alexa changed pages? is down?


text:
Targeted direct marketing, giving individuals information about products and services, is a perfectly legitimate activity - provided it respects the individual's right to privacy. Sending unwanted direct marketing is neither in your interests nor the interests of those receiving it.
Data protection law imposes strict obligations on the use of personal data for direct marketing. Because marketing using electronic means is more intrusive than postal marketing, stricter rules apply to it.
The basic rule that applies to direct marketing is that you need the consent of the individual to use their personal data for direct marketing purposes. As a minimum, an individual must be given a right to refuse such use of their personal data both at the time the data is collected (an "opt-out") and, in the case of direct marketing by electronic means, on every subsequent marketing message. The "opt-out" right must be free of charge.
You must also make clear who you are and where you obtained the individual's personal data (where this is not obvious).
The rules governing postal marketing are mainly contained in Section 2 of the Data Protection Acts.
Marketing through the post is the traditional and oldest form of direct marketing. For mail to be considered to be direct marketing it must, generally speaking, be addressed to a named person and must be promoting a product or service. Unaddressed mail or mail addressed to "the occupant", "the resident" or "the householder" does not normally involve the use of personal data and consequently data protection legislation would not apply. However, where a data controller can identify "the occupant", "the resident" or "the householder" from the address in conjunction with other data in or likely to come into his possession, this may involve the processing of personal data and data protection requirements would apply. Also, the rules do not normally apply to postal marketing of corporate entities (companies, agencies etc) - including marketing of office-holders within such an entity (provided that the marketing is related to the organisation's business needs and that the details of the named person in receipt were obtained fairly).
Before you can use personal data for postal marketing, you must tell customers (or potential customers) that you intend to use their data for this purpose and give them an opportunity to refuse such use. Where you yourself have collected the personal data, this should be done at the time of collection (for example, by providing a "tick-box" on a form). Where you have obtained the personal data from a third party - including a source of information that is publicly available by law - the opportunity to refuse direct marketing material must be provided before any such material is sent.
If any customer objects, you may not use their personal data to directly market them. The individual may withdraw their consent to direct marketing at any time. If your only reason for holding an individual's personal data is direct marketing, then you must erase the personal data from any lists or databases that you hold once the individual has objected.
You may use names and addresses drawn from the Edited Electoral Register for postal marketing. The "Edited Register" contains a sub-set of the names and addresses on the "Full Register" of voters. Individuals on the Edited Register are those who, when registering to vote, did not object to their personal data being used for marketing or other non-statutory purposes. It is an offence under electoral law to use information drawn from the "Full Register" of electors for direct marketing (or for any other purpose not provided for in legislation). It is also your duty to make sure that you are using the most up-to-date version of the Edited Register (see separate guidance-note).
The rules governing electronic marketing (phone, fax, text message, email) are mainly contained in Regulation 13 of the Electronic Privacy Regulations. Different rules apply to phone, fax, text message and e-mail marketing. The rules are more restrictive in the case of marketing by electronic mail of individuals(1) who are not your customers. Unlike in the case of postal marketing, certain restrictions also apply to electronic marketing to businesses and other corporate entities(2).
Phone (All Subscribers)
You may not make a marketing phone call to the phone number of an individual or business, other than a current(3) customer who has given consent to the receipt of such calls, if his/her/it's preference not to receive such calls is noted in the National Directory Database.
You also may not make a marketing phone call to an individual or business phone number if s/he/it has previously told you that s/he/it does not consent to the receipt of such calls.
You may not make a marketing call to a mobile telephone number unless (i) you have been notified by the subscriber or user concerned that he or she consents to the receipt of such calls on his or her mobile telephone or (ii) the subscriber or user concerned has consented generally to marketing calls and that such consent is recorded in the National Directory Database in respect of his or her mobile telephone number.
Individual Subscriber
You may not send a fax for the purpose of direct marketing to the line of an individual subscriber unless that individual has previously consented to the receipt of such a communication.
NOTE: The line of the subscriber on which the fax operates must solely be used for domestic/personal purposes. If the line is used (in any part) to run a business, that line will be treated as a business, not a residential line.
(1) The terminology in the Regulations is "natural person"
(2) The terminology in the Regulations is "not a natural person"
(3) "current customer" is interpreted by the Commissioner as one with whom there has been a transaction within the 12 months prior to the call
(4) The same rules apply to the use of automatic calling machines
Business Subscriber
You may not send a fax for marketing purposes to a business fax number if that business has its preference not to receive marketing calls noted in the National Directory Database.
You also may not send a fax for marketing purposes to a business fax number if that business has previously told you that it does not consent to the receipt of such faxes.
Electronic Mail
Electronic mail includes text messages (SMS), voice messages, sound messages, image messages, multimedia message (MMS) and email messages.
Individual and Business Customers
Where you have obtained contact details in the context of the sale of a product or service, you may only use these details for direct marketing by electronic mail if the following conditions are met:
- the product or service you are marketing is of a kind similar to that which you sold to the customer at the time you obtained their contact details
- At the time you collected the details, you gave the customer the opportunity to object, in an easy manner and without charge, to their use for marketing purposes
- Each time you send a marketing message, you give the customer the right to object to receipt of further messages
- The sale of the product or service occurred not more than twelve months prior to the sending of the electronic marketing communication or, where applicable, the contact details were used for the sending of an electronic marketing communication in that twelve month period.
NOTE: In relation to 4 above, if the subscriber fails to unsubscribe using the cost free means provided to them by the direct marketer, they will be deemed to have remained opted-in to the receipt of such electronic mail for a twelve month period from the date of issue to them of the most recent marketing electronic mail.
Individuals ("Natural Persons") who are not Customers
If an individual is not a customer, you may not use electronic mail to send a marketing message to their contact address unless you have obtained the prior consent of that individual to the receipt of such messages - a consent that can be withdrawn at any time.
Business Contacts (Customers and non Customers)
You may not use electronic mail to send a marketing message to a business contact address/number if the subscriber has notified you that they do not consent to the receipt of such communications.
The following table summarises the rules that apply.
Postal Marketing
Text/Email Marketing
Phone Marketing to Landlines
Fax Marketing
Phone Marketing to Mobile Phones
Individual Customer
Opt-0ut** (provided similar product or service)
Individual Non-Customer
Opt-In* if on NDD,
Business Contacts (Customer & Non-Customer)
Opt-In* if on NDD,
Opt-In* if on NDD,
*Opt-in means you can only market an individual where you have their explicit consent to do so. Similarly, selected third parties with whom you share your marketing lists may only market an individual where you have obtained the explicit consent by the individual for marketing by each specific third party.
**Opt-out means that you can market an individual provided you have previously given them the option not to receive such marketing and they have not availed of this option.
For all Electronic Marketing Communications, an option to unsubscribe must be included.
Failure to comply with the rules can attract heavy penalties. In the case of breach of the rules on electronic marketing, the onus is on you to prove that you had a subscriber's consent to send a marketing message. You should retain such consents for a period of 2 years after the sending of the most recent marketing message to the recipient. Further information on offences and penalties is available here.
Some Case Studies relevant to this topic:
The following Case Studies, which have appeared in Annual reports of the Data Protection Commissioner over recent years, may be of some interest. Click on the Case Study details to see the full text.
Case Study 15/07 - Unsolicited postal marketing from Supermarket
Case Study 4/07 - Company ordered to suspend phone marketing
Case Study 5/06 - Company ordered to delete database used for sending unsolicited SMS messages
Case Study 11/05 - Prosecution of company for unsolicited marketing communications
CASE STUDY 12/2005 - Nightclub - collection of mobile numbers for marketing


text:
Exponential West Conference Inspires Church Leaders to Multiply Disciples to 'Empty Hell, Fill Heaven'
During the second and third days of the Exponential West conference this week, speakers shared five discipleship essentials and encouraged church leaders to train and equip their flock to go out into the world to share the Gospel in order to empty hell and fill heaven.
Pastor Rick Warren, whose Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., hosted the three-day conference that was attended by 2,000 church planters, spoke about multiplying and exponentially reproducing disciples. The four core ingredients he said are necessary to make disciples are: having a disciple-making pastor; having a disciple-making ministry at church; using the method of Jesus as the process; and lastly, pain, problems and persecution.
Warren noted that no one wants pain, problems and persecution, but quoted from Acts 14:21-22 and said that believers, "enter into the kingdom through much suffering."
He then emphasized that pastors and church planters must do more than simply teach the Word, adding that growth is a choice and spiritual maturity is a process. He said that maturity isn't measured by beliefs but by behaviors, and how people act at home and at work, and the habits they develop. Warren said that, in reality, Christians only believe in the parts of the Bible that they do, which become their habits.
To explain this he said, "You don't believe in forgiving your enemies unless you do it." And added that "partial faithfulness is unfaithfulness and partial obedience is disobedience."
Warren also stated that believers cannot grow simply by attending church or by acting alone, but rather growth develops in-community and by letting Christ inhabit their lives.
Church planting
The Rev. Wilfredo "Choco" De Jesus, senior pastor of New Life Covenant in Chicago, Ill., shared the history of his church, which went from 68 members to seven campuses and seven plant churches, including one in Peru and Puerto Rico, and the importance of expanding God's kingdom through church planting.
"We started doing amazing things in the community," De Jesus said, which in turn transformed the 68-member congregation to one where in 2000 held 11 services on Sundays. "Services grew because of outreach, building leaders and go out into the city, state and the world – to multiply to reach the world for Jesus Christ to the glory of the Lord. Our job is to empty hell and fill heaven, and you cannot do that if everybody is under the same roof."
De Jesus also said that it's time for Americans to get out of the huddle and go out into the world to engage those who are lost; and implored pastor to not "use prayer as a crutch to not do anything," for their communities, but to take action and work relationially to transform people's lives.
As an example, De Jesus spoke about the problem of prostitution in the city of Chicago and shared how through outreach his church has been able to save 252 women from prostitution in the last 10 years, simply by inviting women into the church, hosting a banquet in their honor and sharing Jesus Christ's love for them. Even though the method he uses to reach out to those who are lost is unconventional, he asserted that the methods used to reach people aren't what's sacred; it's the message that's sacred.
The reason why De Jesus emphasizes that pastors and church leaders should be less concerned about growing the numbers of their church than equipping disciples to go out into the community and the world, is because one individual cannot reach everyone who needs to be saved.
"You cannot reach them all. You have to empower other people to do it," he said, encouraging pastors and church planters to dream beyond their capabilities. "America needs the Gospel and church bodies that care more about the poor not about tithes, positions and numbers."
He continued, "There's much more you can do if you're willing to give it away and empower other people to do the work of God and birth another church. God honors that—when you think about kingdom work and not just your own work."
Michael Frost, director of the Tinsley Institute, the mission study center at Morling College in Sydney, Australia, was the last speaker at the 10-session conference on discipleship and posed one question to the pastors: "To whom did you get sent?" He commented that if church leaders cannot answer that question, then they're not equipped to make disciples.
"You cannot make sent disciples unless you identify as a sent one," Frost said. "We are sent into the world to bring glory to God's name."
Frost added that the mission of God's people is to "alert everyone, everywhere to the universal reign of God through Christ. To go out into the world to share the Gospel with people who have not yet been set free by the truth."
According to Frost, "Just growing bigger and bigger churches isn't actually telling people what the reign of God looks like. But feeding the poor does; befriending the lonely does."
He then said that if pastors were to go out into the streets and ask Americans what they think about the reign of God by looking at the church, "you shudder to think what they would say, don't you? he asked.
Others speakers at Wednesday and Thursday sessions at the Exponential West conference include: Dori Gorman, Lance Ford, Caesar Kalinowski, Chris Hodges, Gene Appel, Larry Osborne, Dave Ferguson, Efrem Smith, Jeff Vanderstelt, Miles McPherson, Brandon Hatmaker, Laurie Beshore, Hugh Halter, Matt Larson, Neil Cole, Jon Ferguson and Dave Ferguson.


text:
April 27, 2001 (idea)
See all of April 27, 2001, there are 16 more in this node.
|April 26, 2001
|April 28, 2001
|The Lorax
|gomi no sensei
|April 24, 2001
|Instant Karma
|Longest insult in Shakespeare
|April 27, 2000
|Arbor Day
|I got married on E2, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt and a husband
|name dropping
|April 27, 2002
|Dizzy and Katyana's Wedding
|Visiting Hours
|Nebraska City, Nebraska
|January 27, 2001
|to explain...
|Stuck in a moment you can't get out of
|What happened to the mobile phone industry?
|A Watcher's Regret
|an empty dream is a motive of my hope


text:
CINCINNATIŚThe popular diabetes medication metformin works in different fashion than the current widely accepted view. This new finding could lead to wider use of the drugŚparticularly in people with cancer and diseases linked to TSC deficiency like tuberous sclerosis and lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM).
The results of this study, led by George Thomas, PhD, scientific director of the University of Cincinnati (UC) Metabolic Diseases Institute, are published in the May 5 edition of Cell Metabolism.
Metformin, marketed first by Bristol-Myers Squibb as Glucophage and now available in generic form and a number of combinations, is widely prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes and may be extended to the treatment of certain cancers. The drug blocks the production of glucose (sugar) and increases sensitivity to insulinŚa hormone that converts sugar and other foods into energy within the body.
Researchers have thought that metformin, an energy-deprivation agent, disables the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) complex by first activating the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) proteins through the enzyme AMPK.
ThomasÆ team determined that mTOR could actually be disabled without AMPK, and even without TSC. The team was able to determine that metformin works to knock out mTOR through another enzyme, RAG GTPase.
"WeÆve poked a hole in dogma,ö says Thomas, a professor in the cancer and cell biology department. "Scientists can and should go back and ask about things they had crossed off their list.ö
The importance of this finding, says Thomas, is the possibility it holds for broader use of metformin.
"Metformin is already prescribed to 100 million people worldwide, and our study raises the question, æCould this drug be used even more widely?Æö
A drug like metformin, which improves insulin sensitivity, could be seen as a possible viable alternative to drugs that target mTOR, but that may have long-term deleterious effects on insulin production
Type 2 diabetes results from the bodyÆs inability to properly use insulin. If left unmanaged, diabetes can lead to vision loss, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and nerve or blood vessel damage.
Study co-authors Nabeel Bardeesy, Sophie Bruł le┤, Patrick Dennis, Pawan Gulati, Adem Kalender, Bruce Kemp, So Young Kim, Sara Kozma, Andre┤ Marette, John Schlager, Anand Selvaraj and Benoit Viollet.
Kalender and Selvaraj are supported by appointments to the Research Participation Program at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Bioscience and Protection, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. Thomas and Kozma are supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Mouse Models for Human Cancer Consortium, and the NIHÆs National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
UCÆs Metabolic Diseases Institute, named in 2009, is located on UCÆs Reading Campus, formerly the Genome Research Institute, and is home to a team of researchers who focus on the genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms of metabolic disorders, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Thomas, the John and Gladys Strauss Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, is part of the Cincinnati Cancer Consortium, a joint cancer program involving the UC College of Medicine, Cincinnati ChildrenÆs Hospital Medical Center and UC Health University Hospital. The collaborative initiative brings together interdisciplinary research teams of caring scientists and health professionals to research and develop new cures, while providing a continuum of care for children, adults and families with cancer.


text:
2012-08-22 / Obituaries
Hazel E. Grefig, longtime Massapequa resident, Our Lady of Lourdes R.C. Church parishioner
Hazel E. Grefig, a longtime resident of Massapequa Park, died July 26, 2012, following a lengthy illness. She was 77 years old. Mrs. Grefig was born in Queens to Charles and Myrtle (Gross) Truhn. She attended New York City Schools and, following her marriage to Richard D. Grefig, became a full-time mother and homemaker.
You must be an online subscriber to view this story.