text:
|Georgi Ivanov*
|Centre for Security and Defence Studies, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Canada
|*Corresponding Author :
|Dr. Georgi Ivanov
Centre for Security and Defence Studies
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs
Carleton University
Tel: +613-618-8672
E-mail: [email protected]
|Received December 05, 2011; Accepted December 30, 2011; Published January 17, 2012
|Citation: Ivanov G (2011) Global Finance and Collective Security. J Def Manag 1:101. doi: 10.4172/2167-0374.1000101
|Copyright: © 2011 Ivanov G. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Visit for more related articles at Journal of Defense Management
|The question addressed in this paper concerns the unexplored relationship between collective security alliances, the impact global financial flows have on them, and what security alliances, in turn, can do about that dependency. Put more simply, how do the mechanisms behind global financial flows affect international security and the functions of security alliances like NATO?
|The uncertainty surrounding the global economic turmoil is placing both states and alliances under significant stress to re-organize by streamlining costs and minimizing the impact of the crisis on publics, capabilities and future growth prospects. This paper is rather expansive in the ground it covers, and it is divided into several sections. In the beginning, there is a discussion of the importance of global finance and an overview of the current system, along with some of the existing measures and challenges to managing the level of risk. I use the China- America relationship as a real-world reference to the deep connections that already exist between finance and security, and as manifested into one of the fundamental relationships of the international system. The next major section presents the perspectives of securitization and complex interdependence theories in an attempt to call for the need of a synthesis that will allow for predicting and internalizing the risks that global finance poses to collective security; implications are drawn immediately after. The final important component of the paper presents a discussion of the normative and practical measures that existing security alliances need to adopt and emerging ones have to embrace, in order to stay viable and relevant; before I conclude, a consideration of potential reforms for NATO shows how such normative considerations might turn out in practice.
|The Importance of Global Finance
|The size of global capital flows is roughly equivalent to $212 trillion in 2011 [1]. This number is approximately three times the size of global GDP [2]. The economic crisis that began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, 2008, is the result of systemic overloads brought on by over-speculation, an accumulation of bad debts, and the gradual decline of the real economy in the United States. Lehman Brothers was the trigger that saw other major banks and corporations receive hundreds of billions in bailout funds to avoid total economic collapse. In a global perspective, there are even more stark imbalances: China's overwhelming currency reserves relative to other major powers in the global system, Beijing's ownership of a sizable share of American debt, the trade imbalance between the two countries, and on the other hand, Europe's debt woes and the speculation they bring about the very survival of the Eurozone [3]. Back in Washington, the recent Super committee's inability to agree on a deficit reduction plan has triggered $1, 2 trillion in debilitating cuts across the board, with a notable reduction of military spending [4]. The purpose of these recent examples is to illustrate that global finance has incredible political, social and economic consequences that invariably affect military capabilities and their direct ability to meet security needs.
|Neoliberalism, Causes, Attitudes, Effects, Regulations
|The purpose of this section is to outline the current precedents and mechanisms behind the management of financial flows. It has been recognized that the causes of the current financial crisis lie in the irresponsible level of risk taking and speculation on investments, unsustainable levels of borrowing, and regulation capture of national and international oversight bodies [5]. The neoliberal ideological environment, consciously ushered in with the 1980s through the Thatcher-Reagan reforms, was accelerated following the end of the Cold War in 1989 and the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The international environment at the time left the liberal democratic and capitalist system as the only coherent alternative in a disoriented world. However, the current crisis has revealed the systemic errors and limits of this model and prompted a search for a new paradigm of world economic organization.
|Specifically, banking activities on the international level are controlled by the Basel II accords, specifying conditions on types of investment and level of reserve capitals among others, but it highlights that the loosening of regulations on the international and national levels and the inadequacy of monitoring capacities created dangerous precedents in respect to the volatility of the global financial system, borne from speculative behaviour around irresponsible risk-taking [6]. The neoliberal trend in the global economy made the flow of capital towards the world's developing regions easier than before. The practical outcomes of this trend are the rise of East Asia as the locus of global manufacturing and conversely, the stagnation and decline of manufacturing in North America. Access to easy credit, facilitated precisely by the aforementioned lax regulation and conductive politico-economic policy environment, made possible the creation of speculative balloons and macroeconomic imbalances that facilitate short term growth at the price of long-term stability [7]. The size of China's currency reserves and the overwhelming debt Europe and America find themselves under at the present time, are a result of these trends in the global economy in recent decades.
|A worrisome trend in the global economy over the last 30 years has been ideological and intellectual. That is the dissemination of the neoliberal dogma among governments, educational institutions and financial sector institutions and the exchange of cadres between all three in key positions of influence and power. The phenomenon is known as the Wall Street – Treasury Complex, in which bank managers trade top floor offices for economic advisor positions to the President of the United States, or equally powerful position in the Treasury [8]. They can conversely return to previous assignments at investment banks on Wall Street or pick up a position in the higher education industry after a spell in government. Sustaining such practices helps create a unified and coherent version of neoliberal economics across education, industry and policy-making, which in turn make it acceptable as truth and norm. The revolving door complex is not effectively addressed, if recent European appointments are also taken to be the criteria: namely, former Goldman Sachs man Mario Monti becoming Prime Minister of Italy and Greece's Lucas Papademos, who has also been involved with the aforementioned institution [9]. At the same time, we must not forget the hypocritical role of Goldman Sachs in helping Greece conceal its debt problems through accounting machinations that produced false statistical data about the country's fiscal and economic parameters [10].
|Important to mention here is also the role of rating agencies and their influence in sustaining investor confidence, when countries in precarious fiscal and monetary positions should have been placed in higher risk categories before, not after the crisis broke out [11]. Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's are the three main credit rating agencies, and they have received significant amounts of bad press in respect to their responsibility for the crisis. While it is their job to assess the ability of countries, firms and institutions to service their debts and their capability of taking on new loans, I do not think they bear direct responsibility for the financial crisis. Conversely, rating agencies attempt to forecast the ratings of various international actors based on current trends. While they may have some degree of prior information about the potential fiscal problems of the major Western countries, their role as observers and issuers of ratings follows investor confidence, rather than when a state might implode as a result of overburdening debt. For this reason, I think that while rating agencies may have helped mitigate the effects to a certain degree, their marginal positions in respect to influencing decision-making factors does not give them direct responsibility for the development and the unfolding of the crisis.
|Interdependence Between Finances and Security - The China - America Relationship
|One of the core geopolitical tensions in global politics during the 21st century will be the relationship between China and the United States. Already, the multidimensional nature of this relationship is apparent both through the deep economic connection between the two countries and the simultaneous friction between Washington's Pacific hard power capacities and the rising assertiveness of China's foreign policy in the region [12]. In economic terms, China is one of the biggest foreign creditors to the United States, its vast foreign reserves are overwhelmingly denominated in the greenback and it relies on the American market to drive its export-oriented economy; conversely, American industry is simply not able to compete with its Chinese counterpart in terms of volume, effectiveness or price. In other words, a pillar of the global economic and financial system is formed by this very interdependent Pacific relationship.
|From the perspective of international security from the hard-power perspective, America and China are competitors. America as of yet still maintains the world's largest ocean-going navy, which is also the only one in the world to have global reach at any point in time. In terms of military expenditure, Washington's share is nearly half of total world spending on defence [13]. However, China's foreign policy is growing more assertive and this trend can effectively make the Asian giant a competitor to US hard power dominance in the Pacific. It is not a shortterm prospect that will see this happen; however, the assertiveness of Beijing's foreign policy, exercised through more military spending, more conflicts with its neighbours in East Asia and a clearer stance on sovereignty disputes region are all signs of a coming regional power with potential global reach. Particularly symbolic is the acquisition by Beijing of the incomplete ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag [14]. While it has little operational value in contrast to its American or European counterparts, the carrier shows a decisive shift in Chinese foreign policy that envisions a return for the Celestial Empire to the global stage.
|It is these trends that worry Washington and precisely that it is not the current, but future Chinese potential that can become a direct competitor to American global interests. It can be expected that while the two countries will remain geopolitical competitors, their economic links are going to grow horizontally and vertically during the course of the 21st century and this trend of mutual dependency will constrain the degree to which they clash over questions of relative power.
|The spending limits imposed on America from the ongoing debt crisis will also have a negative effect on total expenditures in the coming years and decades; that is, there will be a systemic shift towards spending less on defence, while we may see the needs for security provision to increase around the world. For both Washington and Peking, then, it might make more sense to engage in a Pacific collective security framework to avoid potential confrontation over security issues and contribute to the diffusion of regional and global tensions rather than sharpening them.
|Conceptually, we must draw the connection in the Sino-American relationship between global finance and security. If the ongoing financial crisis has taught as anything about security, it is that military expenditure by states and the degree of collective security are both directly related to the health of the global economy; should the latter of those receive a shocking enough jolt from a crisis, the very existence of state sovereignty and the existence of international security architectures can be potentially threatened. In practical terms, the ability of the United States to maintain current expenditure, commitment and readiness levels for its military establishment will decline relative to other global powers, and together with the growth of emerging players, will leave a global security void to be filled.
|The underlying premise of the example here is that geopolitical competition is not the best use of available resources, bur rather, the promotion of collective security with a healthy respect for the impact of global finance is a more sustainable project for redefining security in the 21st century. The volatility of global capital flows and the immense consequences that we are seeing it has in a time of crisis mean that managing finance is above the capacity of any one state and we must look at more comprehensive risk management solutions on the international level. The level of financial integration between America and China, from the unsustainable American debt to China's disproportionate currency reserves produces systemic imbalances in the global financial framework that threaten its fundamental stability, and these imbalances are the main source of risk to the stability and predictability of the global economy – and from there, the stability and predictability of global security. In respect to the Pacific, in this century, the US and China form one of the core strategic multidimensional strategic relationships, whose economic consequences for the world are largely clear, but whose security dimensions stand to produce new paradigms of security cooperation, borne from the long-term implications of today's global financial imbalances.
|Theoretical Considerations For Linking Global Finance and Collective security
|It can be said that the US-China dynamic today in respect to security represents an incomplete evolution towards a new way to thinking and the question at hand is about coming up with a complex, interdependent definition of collective security, which incorporates financial security, and in turn opens up new avenues of thought about the risk management of global finances, as they relate to collective security. The purpose of this section is to offer some theoretical considerations behind the evolution of such a concept. As a first, step, we must adapt the same nuanced and integrated perspective to the limits of a heightened degree of multilateral cooperation in general. If the nationstate continues to be the innate unit of analysis for the international system, the actions of one state or another will have greater systemic effect than ever before, and this maxim will hold truer for the largest members of the international community. That is, the relative power of anyone state will impact the overall global vulnerability more or less, depending on the intensity of political, economic and military trends on the national level. In effect, a paradox emerges: an integrated world constrains the actions of the single state, but enhances the number of available multilateral options.
|The extension of the above discussion should logically ask what can be the conditions of a new kind of security architecture in a multilateral world. A security alliance must have some way to exert control over capital flows, as they relate to security; given the wide-ranging impact that we have seen they have, this kind of arrangement goes through deep lateral and vertical cooperation with national and international monetary and fiscal organizations. The second condition is coming up with a definition of financial security that can be operationalized across the whole range of activities of any security alliance. The third condition is that once this definition is created and applied, it would cause a shift in orientation away from the predominance of the military focus in security alliances, and its incorporation into a much more broad and sophisticated interpretation of security and its practical challenges. Solutions will be more relative than absolute, and consensus may need to evolve into a more sophisticated form of decision-making that will take into account the opinions of a larger number of third parties and show their impact when it comes to carrying out said decisions
|There are two theories I would consider synthesizing towards conceptualizing the integration of global finance with collective security alliances: complex interdependence and securitization, with an added dimension of supranationalism towards describing the institutional arrangements that would come with monitoring global financial flows; the last of these will be incorporated in the subsequent section of this paper. The most striking feature of complex interdependence theory is precisely the declining importance of coercive and military power to affect change on the international stage [15]. Instead, a lack of a clear hierarchy of relations and a multitude of communication channels create more ground for cooperation between states. In practice, increasing economic and other interdependence between states is critical in making cooperation and integration the norm of international relations. If we apply this thinking to the reality of the modern world, we do indeed see systemic interdependence between major and minor powers alike: the aforementioned US-China relationship is a core dynamic of the modern global system in many respects – but an economic and financial one most of all, and the European Union is a historically unprecedented integration project in attempting to coalesce the diversity it embodies into a coherent continental governance structure. Again I will raise the point that the current financial crisis has produced negative effects on security expenditures and constrained the ability of collective security alliances to maintain their commitments and respond to future challenges in the international system. The very multidimensional character of the impacts of global finance demands a similar stance by evolving conceptions of security. The existence of risk management institutions and agencies to deal with the implications of global finance, such as the IMF and the World Bank, already attest to the recognition about the global impact of these flows and the global management tools needed to govern it. The task for the 21st century is two-fold then, in the spirit of this theory: today, our world is bigger and more interconnected without historical precedent, and this trend will continue in the coming years and decades. The growing interdependence between states is a result of this trend, to the point where challenges and solutions have an increasingly global nature and purely national responses are no longer fitting, nor adequate.
|The second theoretical consideration to implicate is securitization [16]. It is a process-oriented conception of security that implicates constructivist and realist points of view, and is tied with the actions of a state to make an issue of some nature – be it political, economic or military – as a threat to the stability of some aspect of the state. The process is three-fold: recognizing an issue, the object it threatens and convincing a target audience of the validity of the assertion. The flexibility of the term also allows it to be misused for political purposes, as securitization of issues that do not represent legitimate threats may be used to get around what might otherwise be violations of international laws, regulations or norms. When talking about global finance and its impacts, however, securitization is seemingly a good idea. With the ability of global finances to compromise the integrity of states (e.g. Greece and Ireland), it is a legitimate argument that their securitization is a matter of not only national, but collective security: both countries cited in the brackets are NATO members. Applying the theory in practice, the threat is global finance, the object to be protected is collective security, and the audience to convince includes the taxpayer, the policy planner and the head of state. In other words, it is about a fundamental shift about the re-imagination of collective security through a focus of global finance.
|In my view, the conceptual challenge is to create a synthesis out of these two theoretical approaches in developing a new, robust framework in respect to the impact of global finance on collective security. The risks are visible: it would be unprecedented for a member state to be unable to pay its dues to an alliance out of being unsustainable fiscally, and this is the precedent we might see develop around the current financial crisis, especially with Greece. The uncertain fiscal situation of the United States is also a cause of concern, because Washington is challenged not only by overall budget cuts, including cuts, but also by the re-orientation of American foreign policy away from Europe and towards the Pacific [17]. That is, the international security environment becomes unpredictable, if viewed from the viewpoint of finance as it currently stands. From a theoretical stance, I propose that we need to securitize global capital flows for the threat to security that they truly represent, and apply a nuanced and complex perspective when relating them to security analysis.
|Normative Policy Recommendations For Collective Security Architectures
|In the previous paragraphs, I outlined the conditions that will constrain the behaviour of collective security architectures when it comes to internalizing global finance into conceptions of security. In this section, I will talk about some practical measures that security alliances can affect to reflect the need to put reins on global finance. There are three dimensions to be discussed: normative treaty amendments, changes in the decision-making procedures and supranational authority.
|Normative treaty amendments have much in common with the systemic financial reforms we are talking about today: for instance, constitutional constraints in states on how much budget deficits can be, certain regulations stipulating the degree of minimal bank liquidity, tighter credit lending rules, and reigning in speculative risk taking on financial markets. I see two options here. The first one is to change the normative treaties of existing and emerging security architectures to incorporate specific financial requirements that member states need to meet and accession requirements for any aspiring members. In this way, it would be possible for a security alliance to at least monitor global financial trends and how its members fit into the grander global financial scheme. The second option is to create tight partnerships between collective security alliances and international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and create common security policies that would be applicable to all states with overlapping memberships. While the second option is more logistically complex, it is more likely to be better enforced given the higher number of stakeholders in a design of its kind. There is, however, another implication in this discussion, and it is about giving collective security alliances the power to affect financial flows, not only the ability to monitor them more closely. The justification is that capital flows have adverse effects on security alliances and may threaten their very existence, and by extension it is logical that they have control over the variable in question. In this respect, the normative provisions of a founding treaty can feature penalties for a member who does not maintain financial discipline, or engages in risky behaviour directly or indirectly by hosting third parties behaving in a similar manner. There are two further related options here: penalties can be either distributed on an internal basis in the alliance, or done in concert with other international institutions responsible for monitoring and managing capital flows and state behaviour in respect to them.
|The second aspect of reform concerns decision-making. This is where a true revolution in the practical approach to collective security might occur. Currently, salient decisions are performed internally, through consensus, qualified majority voting, or some other procedural means among the members. As per observed earlier, however, the impact of global finance is not constrained to collective security. Effectively, decision-making must incorporate a much wider diapason of institutions and stakeholders and give them critical influence on the outcome of the internal decisions by a given security alliance. The reason is that global interdependence, financial, economic and political, is far greater than the extent of the raison d'être and objectives of collective security alliances as they currently exist. It would be myopic to think that these alliances exist independent of the world around them and that it does not have any effect on them beyond their adjustment to its behaviour. If finance is incorporated into security, it may mean a rethinking of membership to include international financial institutions, banks, states on other continents and supranational regulatory bodies. In other words, the military dimension of politico-military alliances will be still relevant, but far lower on the priority scale, to be superseded by a much-needed multidimensional conversation on what is the place of a security alliance in the world, how it relates with it and vice versa, and how do global finances figure into its operation and reason for being.
|There is one last practical consideration to discuss: a supranational review authority. A lack of accountability is one of the contributing factors in facilitating the current global financial crisis, and especially visible when considering that entire states were allowed to become bankrupt. A strong, independent supranational review authority with the capacity to enforce and sanction financial discipline in all members of a collective security alliance will provide key auditing services to making sure that these new rules are kept, and prevent the recurrence of opaque and destructive behaviour. The institutional designs can vary: it can be a global organization monitoring all existing and emerging security alliances, or each alliance can have its specific body to be the members' financial discipline auditor. In a global age, this option may be the best available tool to internalize financial flows, make them predictable, and prevent them from ever threatening the stability and predictability of global security again.
|Implications For Fractical Recommendations
|Our current global climate is one of uncertainty, retrenchment and public distrust in governments and institutions. For the measures in the previous section to take effect, qualitative change in the way national and global politics are handled needs to happen. The recurring theme throughout the previous section is that national sovereignty will be severely limited in favour of deep and comprehensive horizontal and vertical multilateral management mechanisms. It is unlikely that at this point in time, any major state in the international system will sacrifice its autonomy from other players in the system for the advancement of our political condition as a whole. In effect, what we need is a critical mass of forward-thinking politicians, who also may be willing to commit political suicide, to produce policies that may not meet public approval, but will put in place a long-term focus and trend to produce a more stable international system that will be less vulnerable to systemic shocks than its contemporary counterpart. Collective security alliances will not disappear, but they also cannot afford to remain ignorant to the dangers that global finance poses to their very survival as such – thus, at least they must be able to monitor global financial flows and how members fit in that context, and at most, control and sanction their members' financial behaviour.
|Case Example
|The current financial crisis hit NATO rather hard in respect to the constraints the debt crisis has imposed in Europe and in the US. On the Old Continent, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Romania and Hungary received either bailouts or transfer loans to prevent them from collapsing entirely. Italy and Spain are burdened with debt themselves, and doubts persist on their ability to stay fiscally afloat. As a backdrop, the free speculations on the future of the Eurozone do not help NATO's general position. Across the pond, Washington is dealing with a worsening economic situation, a seemingly insurmountable level of national debt and a budget deficit that tops a trillion dollars.
|If we apply the above prescriptions, the first step would be to apply the Maastricht criteria for applying for the Eurozone word for word in the Articles of Agreement of the Alliance, and make them a precondition for membership as well [18]. In this way, NATO can implement a crucial guarantee on assuring the financial security of the Alliance. This step proceeds with establishing close relationships with the IMF, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the governance organs of the EU to make sure that more extensive requirements for global capital flows are in place and are monitored to a degree that will not allow the compromise of the integrity of any single member-state; as it stands, this is the case of several states that are also members of NATO. Once such predictability is established, NATO will have a much better chance of anticipating a crisis and preparing to meet it, rather than scrambling to respond in the aftermath of one, while gambling with its survival on account of several bankrupted member-states.
|The second step, in respect to decision-making, is to expand the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and make it as salient as the North Atlantic Council, if not give it more weight. Alongside, the NATORussia Council must also receive much higher priority and alongside it, all Partnership for Peace countries. The reasoning behind that is on account of the interdependence that already exists between Russia and Europe, the growing strategic value of PfP countries in economic and political terms, and the fact that the crisis impacted everyone, not just NATO or the countries around it. Effectively, when we talk about finances, NATO must expand its engagement with third parties, states and global institutions alike, if it is to effectively internalize the systemic risks of global finance.
|An auditing agency is the final instrument that NATO must apply to ensure that it is largely immune from shocks to the global financial system. An internal one would be more effective than an external agent, but it must still be strong and independent of third-party influence if it is to do its job and prevent any member from running away from financial discipline. In this respect, it must also apply a much broader array of financial criteria, such as bank liquidity and budget deficits to form a fair and realistic assessment of a member's financial health, in order to avoid the re-emergence of cases like the Greek scenario. The existence of such an agency would even catalyze reforms in the very thinking about defence and future NATO strategic doctrines would include a thorough assessment of global financial trends, members' places in them, and what the objectives for each one would be in respect to the overall aims of the Alliance for that period of time covered by the strategic review.
|Overall, what is clear is that if NATO is briefly taken as a model for how security architectures can evolve to incorporate financial governance, then we are looking at both quantitative and qualitative change for the North Atlantic Alliance on an unprecedented level in the history of global multilateralism as a whole.
|The premise of this paper was to present an analysis on the impact of global financial flows on collective security alliances and present possible reforms that would enable said alliances to control the systemic risk they incur along with the economic consequences of these capital flows. The first half of the paper outlined that global financial flows are important for the wide-ranging politico-social-economic impact they have, as witnessed by the debt crises in Europe and the United States. The second portion outlined the relationship between America and China as an illustration of a dynamic that underlie the global financial and economic system, while simultaneously producing notable security tensions; both of these aspects must come to a compromise at some point during this century. The subsequent section considered complex interdependence theory and securitization and put forward the need to synthesize these two approaches towards producing a unified framework that is able to, at first, not only account for the dynamic between America and China, but also be applicable to reforms in existing security architectures and explain the emergence of new ones. The next section introduced some of the normative and practical measures that can potentially be applied by a hypothetical security alliance towards monitoring and controlling global finance in assuring its own survival interest. The final section loosely applied these theoretical proposals to a brief case study of NATO into what can be said are medium and long-term policy goals that would not only make the Alliance flexible, but also relevant in this century, and perhaps, beyond. Overall, this is an exploratory piece tackling an as of yet unexplored relationship that will be crucial to understand in the emerging multipolar world – we must spend much more time and effort talking about it.


text:
Guwahati, April 6 (IANS) Police in Assam's Jorhat district have nabbed three persons, including a minor, for their alleged involvement in hurting religious sentiments by openly displaying beef in a market place, an official said on Thursday.
The police said the three nabbed in the case — all construction workers — had gone to a vegetable market in Gohain tekela area and while interacting with someone openly displayed the meat.
"Local people in the market objected to the open display… and lodged an FIR with the police complaining that it has hurt their religious sentiments," police said.
"Based on the FIR, we have arrested them and produced them in the court on Wednesday," the police official added.
The court remanded them to 14-days' judicial custody.
While the two adults were sent to Jorhat Jail, the minor was sent to a juvenile home in the town as per the court's order.
"When questioned, the three admitted that the meat was beef. However, we are also taking the help of the Animal Husbandry Department to ascertain whether the meat was beef or something else," the police said.
This is published unedited from the IANS feed.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Neocamera just published an in-depth comparison of all current cropped-sensor weather-sealed mirrorless cameras. This feature article takes a close look at the features, image-quality and performance of these mostly professional offerings. It breaks down and analyses differences between these models to help choosing between them.
Take a look at how the Fuji X-T1, X-T1 Graphite, Nikon 1 AW1, Olympus OM-D E-M1, E-M5 Mark II, Panasonic GH4 and GX8 compare and offer alternatives to weather-sealed DSLRs: Weatherproof Mirrorless Cameras Compared.


text:
Design Teams past and present and GDT
Monday, August 26, 2013
Inkspirational Challenge #34
7 comments:
- Cathy said...
Love this card Cornelia, great take on the inspiration pic. The grey shading looks fantastic :) Cathy x
- August 27, 2013 at 3:52 AM
- maria f. said...
Modern, graphic, mod colors but still a sweet birdie. Love this.
- August 27, 2013 at 5:06 AM
- sandie said...
wow I love this, it is a fabulous design. The gems are placed perfectly and the red lines are the perfect finishing touch. Thanks for joining us at Inkspirational.
- August 27, 2013 at 6:18 AM
- Mynnette said...
This is SO cool looking!!! LOVE the pop of red with the black and white--so fabulous! Thanks for joining us at Inkspirational--hope you join us again soon! :) Mynn xx
- August 27, 2013 at 1:26 PM
- Pia S said...
This card looks fantastic! Love the pop of red with this black and white design! Cool!
- August 27, 2013 at 3:07 PM
- Yvonne Garner said...
I love modern and I love your card! Thank you for joining us at Inkspirational!
- August 28, 2013 at 1:59 PM
- Kanan Pandya said...
Beautiful card, Cornelia. Love the masking and inking, so unique, the red color really looks cool. :-)
- September 17, 2013 at 10:23 AM


text:
The UK's lack of long-term storage and dependence on imports during winter will put it in a "difficult" position when negotiating gas supply arrangements as it exits the European Union.
The EU could impose fees, taxes and "severe and costly regulation" on the pipelines used to import gas from the continent with "little risk of retaliation", a new report by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies has concluded.
"Brexit is coming at a time when UK North Sea gas production is in terminal decline and the main UK storage facility is facing technical issues that will reduce its capacity with a possible extreme outcome, namely total decommissioning," the report said.
"These specific issues will make the Brexit negotiations even more difficult for the UK as far as gas is concerned."
In a world "awash" with liquefied natural gas (LNG) security of supply is not currently a key priority for the UK. However, as LNG supplies "tighten" during the 2020s this will become a growing concern.
The report continued to say that the UK has an "obvious" interest in maintaining integrated energy markets in order to limit the de-coupling of Britain's gas trading hub, the National Balancing Point (NBP), from its continental equivalent, the Dutch-based TTF.
However, it questioned why the EU would want to provide a level playing field to the UK when it is "not part of the same club any longer".
"Some countries in Europe could be tempted to impose severe and costly regulation on EU-UK pipelines to push up energy prices in the UK allowing de facto the EU to be slightly more competitive.
"It is possible that the EU could add some fees or taxes when piped gas is exported, with little risk of retaliation as the UK is now an energy importer."
Britain's departure from the EU will leave Ireland cut off the from the rest of the bloc as well as its solidarity mechanism for ensuring secure gas supplies. The report said this issue could be used as leverage by the UK to preserve the status quo.
In terms of maintaining security of supply, one option would be to make use of both LNG and the ample storage facilities in the rest of the EU which can be accessed via interconnectors. As the EU is "very long in storage" it would still have an economic interest in making them accessible.
The UK could alternatively build new long-term storage itself, but the report said this would require government intervention, as the EU's storage surplus means winter-summer spreads are too low to encourage investment.
Another possibility is that the Russian gas supplier Gazprom could "offer to go back to its original plan" and change Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to "Brexit Stream". Channelling gas straight to the UK would give Russia security of demand and the UK security of supply.


text:
Order a Premium Listing for your business for only $39.95/year. Click here!
Bruce Crossing is located at the junction of US-45 and M-28 in Ontonagon County. Originally named Military Road, the name was changed in Bruce Crossing on March 19, 1889. August Neuman built a sawmill here and a town formed around it. Donald M. Bruce had a store near where the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad crossed the old Military Road, and when he was named the first postmaster on March 5, 1888, it was called Bruce's Crossing. Since August 13, 1891, the name has been Bruce Crossing. Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.
Red Fox
Ebony Jewelwing Damsel Fly
Daisy Fleabane
Agate Falls
O-Kum-De-Kun Falls
Three Rapids Falls
Tulppo's Motel & Restaurant, P.O. Box 86, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912, Phone: (906) 827-3971
Tell Them You Found Then in Upper Peninsula Online
Ontonagon Chamber of Commerce [Chambers of Commerce], 725 Greenland Rd, Ontonagon, MI 49953, Phone:(906) 884-4735
Bergland to Sidnaw Route - Ontonagon County [ATV/ORV Trail Maps] - East Map | West Map
North Country National Scenic Trail, 229 E Main Street, Lowell, MI 49331, Phone: (616) 897-5987.
Ontonagon County Snowmobile Trail Map [Snowmobile Trail Maps] - Ontonagon
Perttu's Big Spruce Golf Course, 5022 US Hwy 45 North, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912, Phone: (906) 827-3727
Pioneer Trail - Ontonagon County [ATV/ORV Trail Maps] -Map
Stannard Township Park, P.O. Box 216, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912, Phone: (906) 827-3778
Voyager Charters, 5531 US-45 South, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912, Phone: (906) 827-3466
Enchanted Forest Web Page Design Service Internet Services: Domain Registrations, Website Design, Website Hosting], 3980 Curtisivlle Road, South Branch, Michigan 48761-9704, Phone: (989) 735-2206, Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Settlers Federal Credit Union [Banks & Credit Unions], 14623 M-28, P.O. Box 260, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912, Phone: (906) 827-3240
A&A Hardware & Auto Supply, Inc. [Hardware Stores, Automobile Parts Suppliers], 15021 M-28 W, P.O. Box 49, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912, Phone: (906) 827-3944
Copyright © 2005-2017, Enchanted Forest Web Page Design Service. All rights reserved."Promoting Michigan Businesses Since 1997""A Veteran Owned & Operated Business"3980 Curtisville Road, South Branch, Michigan 48761Email: email@example.com updated on Monday, September 25, 2017. Number of Pages 417


text: Redirect pageAkimitsu Retrieved from "http://konohaseries.wikia.com/wiki/Eiichi_Akimitsu?oldid=3921" Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you've made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected. Categories: Add category Cancel Save


text:
STW Communications Group Limited
STW Comms(SGN)
Unlock this content
Advertising and communications conglomerate STW Communications has finally announced the sale of its struggling Indonesian television network SCTV. But, in a strange development, it has sold it to a consortium which includes chairman Mark Carnegie and company founder John Singleton. The group is no stranger to related-party transactions, having tried to acquire Singleton's investment in the Macquarie Radio Network a few years ago, but then changing its mind when institutional shareholders kicked up a stink. Of the proceeds of $53m for SCTV, $17m will be received upfront with a further $...
Latest Q&A With Our Experts
STW on the radarQ.
STW Communications' price is 10% below your last Buy Trigger. Interested in your current thoughts.Read full Q&A +
STW facing debt problemsQ.
SGN has fallen to half its cost of a year ago but profits have only fallen 10%. It now looks reasonable value. What do you think?Read full Q&A +


text:
Diversity Celebrations
Cleveland Public Library again celebrated the City's rich diversity throughout the year through a number of special events and programs. Starting in January in preparation for Black History Month, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch featured award-winning author George Fraser, who is also the chairman and CEO of Fraser Net, Inc.
On March 12, the Main Library hosted an array of performers to celebrate Lunar New Year. Since this was the Year of the Rabbit, traditional Asian entertainment with a rabbit theme was featured. The event drew nearly 350 guests.
On March 17, the Library's Book Cart Drill Team made its debut performance in the local St. Patrick's Day parade.
Nearly 200 people attended the Library's Hispanic Heritage Festival on September 17 at the Carnegie West Branch. The celebration, held in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month, included various musical groups and food from multiple Hispanic regions.


text:
Expand your product offerings with our strong portfolio of cloud-hosted communications, including UCaaS offerings, multi-channel contact centers, and business application integrations. We empower companies of all sizes with faster, more efficient communications. You'll have access to training and sales material to enable you to be successful with Vonage Business solutions. We represent an immense income opportunity for cloud resellers and motivated agents seeking quality, relevant products.
As a channel partner with Vonage, you can offer your small, mid-market, and enterprise customers a scalable, reliable, and affordable business communications solution. And we stand behind our products. If there's any issue, we are quick to provide in-house customer and tech support and onsite service so that business interruption is minimized and your customer stays happy.
We make it easy to get the information you need to make your sales. So expect to get budget and service questions answered quickly and quotes turned around faster. We understand that our job is to make you look good with your business customers.
With 15+ years of cloud communication experience, we're already a household name. Many know us for our residential network, but businesses are quickly impressed with our full-featured product portfolio and one of the largest purpose-built MPLS networks in the country. And our dedication to innovation means that our portfolio of products you can sell, and business markets you can tap, will only continue to grow.
With the largest team of regional channel managers across the country, we can support all our business communications and cloud resellers on a local level. We offer dedicated engineering and sales support when you need it. Our thorough onboarding program lets you train directly with our experts. On-demand product training helps you maximize your knowledge base.
Become a Vonage reseller to offer your Sub-Agents a strong portfolio of fully managed, fully hosted PBX solutions that increase customer's business productivity. Vonage Business' Master Agent Program offers robust support and competitive SLAs, along with our progressive compensation plan. This program is designed to help your business succeed. We represent an immense income opportunity for cloud resellers and motivated agents seeking quality, relevant products.
This full-featured Vonage reseller program offers recurring revenues for you driven by your sales organization. Vonage Business provides extensive training and support so you can become fully certified and self-sufficient with our products and services. We deliver the tools needed to ensure you have everything to drive and execute successful sales. Plus, our commission structure escalates with your sales production.
The Vonage Channel Partner program empowers VARs to expand their customer reach with industry-leading unified communications solutions. The result? Higher margins and recurring monthly revenues for our cloud reseller partners and support that grows in accordance with the business that you build. As a Value-Added Reseller Partner you will have:
Partner with a company that offers rock solid performance and industry-leading services. The Vonage Channel Partner program rewards MSPs with a very competitive compensation model. As your customer base grows with Vonage, your compensation and support grow to ensure you and your customers are in great hands. As a Channel Partner, you'll earn monthly residual income by offering our cloud-based unified communications solutions.
Anytime between 8 AM - 9 PM EST
Enter your information to learn more about partnering with Vonage
You can contact us any time by calling
By clicking the "Call Me" button, you consent to receive a phone call from Vonage at the phone number provided. Your consent does not require or imply that a purchase be made. These calls may be connected through an automated technology.
Didn't work? Try again


text:
The Best Five Destinations for a Summer Honeymoon [LIST]
Now is the time couples planning on a summer wedding have to decide where to go for their honeymoon. During the summer months, they will most likely not be alone during their moment of romance. If you need some help deciding, here is a list of five great honeymoon ideas.
1- Windjammer Cruise. Here you can be all alone, with nothing more than a training crew onboard your own private sail-training vessel. Choose your desired destination from a list. Sun, water, fun and romance.
2- The Maldives or Seychelles. These islands in the Indian Ocean off of Africa's east coast are known as a "playground for the rich". They are places to pamper yourself and enjoy wonderful spa treatments and exotic food. They are well worth the expense if you have been saving for this spccial occasion.
3- Anna Maria Island, Florida. For the more humble still wanting an island experience, delight yourself on some of the most private and gorgeous beaches not only in the US, but in the world. Just off of the Bradenton/Sarasota spot of the Gulf coast, there is a long causeway connecting the island to the mainland.
4- Provence, France. Provence is a well known province in France reaching from the Med to the inalnd and a small range of hills and mountains. It is the dryest section in France and full of culture and atmosphere leading you back to the dreamy days of art, wine and chivalry.
5- Aruba, Caribbean. This is perhaps the most posh area of the Caribbean. Here you can find plenty of coves and cottages to hideaway, live on a boat or combine the two. Some hotels offer your own private servants as well.Tags: best places for a honeymoon, five best places for a honeymoon, Lists, places to go on honeymoon, summer honeymoon destinations


text:
RODE Dead Wombat Fur Windshield for Rode Blimp
Estimated 2-3 Days Delivery
Jigsaw Code: G112AAE
Manufacturer Code: deadwombat
- Compatibility: Rode Blimp
Platform: general
Availability: Estimated 2-3 Days Delivery
£33.00£39.60 incVAT
Select a quantity
more info
The DeadWombat windshield is designed for minimising wind noise when recording in high wind conditions using the RODE Blimp.
Its artificial fur is specially designed so as to minimise wind noise while remaining acoustically transparent.
Open all
General Specifications
- Type
- Windshield
- Compatibility
- Rode Blimp
- Material
- Fur
- 1 year
What's in the Box
- Dead Wombat Fur Windshield
Load moreback to top


text:
The (-/19) DU women's lacrosse team secured a narrow, 11-10 three-overtime victory at home over the (18/RV) University of Louisville Cardinals. It marked the team's first overtime victory since April 10, 2011, while also propelling DU to a program-best 4-0 season start.
A wild first half included six lead changes, though the Pioneers would eventually head to the locker room with a 6-5 advantage. Sophomore attack Kendra Lanuza (Littleton, Colorado) continued her strong season, contributing two goals and two assists in the first half.
Senior goalie Maddy Stevenson (Bainbridge Island, Washington) made four of her five saves on the afternoon in the first half. She would allow 10 goals in 72:37 of action.
Although Denver would strike first in the second half to extend their lead to 7-5, Louisville answered swiftly, eventually grabbing a 8-9 advantage with 10 minutes left in regulation.
At 6:28, sophomore attack Julia Feiss (Baltimore, Maryland) capitalized on her only marker of the match, tying the score at 9-9. The teams traded goals in the final five minutes, sending the game to overtime tied at 10.
Louisville held the advantage in shots in the first overtime, 2-1, while Denver had more in the second overtime, 7-1. The Cardinals' goalie was forced to make four superb saves in the second overtime, as the Pioneers were unable to solve the keeper.
A crucial yellow card gave Denver immediate control of the ball to begin the third overtime, which the team was able to take advantage of. Sophomore attack Elizabeth Behrins (Basking Ridge, New Jersey) drew a free position attempt 30 seconds into the period. She proceeded to rifle home the game-winner, securing Denver's thrilling victory.
The undefeated Pioneers will face the University of California-Davis on Feb. 24 at home in their next matchup.


text:
Guided Tours in 2017
During 2017 we will offer booked tours throughout the year, and in addition will offer drop-in tours at set times during the summer months. Tours are normally of one hour duration, and tours are given by trained volunteers.
Visitors to the Garden can join an introductory drop-in tour at 2.30pm each day during August, except for Sundays, Mondays and Saturday 12th August when there are no tours. Each tour has a capacity of 15 and places cost £2.50 in addition to your entrance ticket.
Booked 'Introduction to the Botanic Garden' group tours are available on weekdays throughout the year starting at any time from 10 am to 3 pm. Two new subject tours are also being offered this year: 'The History of the Botanic Garden'; and 'Introduction to the Harcourt Arboretum'. Other special subject and general garden tours led by horticultural staff can be booked on weekdays at 11 am and 2 pm.
All group tours should be booked at least 4 weeks in advance and a non-returnable deposit for the minimum charge will be taken at the time of booking. The normal group size is 15 people but larger groups can be accommodated. Those in excess of 20 people will be divided between 2 or more guides.
Tours led by the Director or the Curators and tours in the evenings or at weekends are also available on application.
To book a tour please contact our administrator on firstname.lastname@example.com or telephone 01865 - 610305.
Tour prices for 2017*
|Tour leader
|Charge per person
|Minimum charge/deposit
|Horticultural staff


text:
Bishop Hollis to launch major parish website initiative
Bishop Crispian Hollis, chairman of the Communications Committee for the Catholic Bishops Conference is launching CathCom 'Websites for Parishes' this Wednesday at 4.30pm in Westminster Cathedral Hall. Under the scheme, parishes and organisations will be able to easily build and maintain their own websites, as well as link into other networks. Designer Nick Layton, explained: "Information from one site is stored and can be re-used by others. For example, a deanery website would want to contain all the information about its parishes. Rather than having one set of information for each parish website and a second set for the parishes' entries in the deanery site, the one source of information would be used in both places. When a parish or organisation updates its information it is updated on every site it appears on. In the case of the Deanery website, the webmaster would only have to link the parishes to their site- and it would be automatically kept up to date by updates to the parish websites." He said: "In turn, parish websites can include their parish groups, which are directly maintained by someone in each group. This means the website can include more information without it becoming unmanageable. The system is designed so anyone can update and design their own website without any prior website experience". CathCom has received support from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Communications Committee for the Catholic Bishops, Conference of England and Wales, and many Bishops and Priests. Bishop Tom Burns said: "For some time, I have searched in vain for the very kind of Church internet facility that CathCom has now come up with. What makes it attractive is that it is simple to set up and maintain. Yet, whilst making a basic package available, it can also be adapted to add extra functions according to local needs. As a communication tool, it is second-to-none." Fr Tony Lester O Carm, Prior Provincial of the British Province of Carmelites said: "The 'Websites for Parishes' system looks set to be a major resource for parishes and religious communities. Well done to CathCom for their imagination and hard work in realising this project. Communication builds community and I am sure that this new system will aid the Church in its ongoing mission of communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ." Bishop Edwin Regan, Bishop of Wrexham, said: " St Paul, on his missionary journeys used the web and network of trading ports as he sailed around the Mediterranean. If he were alive today, he would certainly commend this initiative of pressing the modern web into the service of the Gospel. I support this venture and wish it every success. May it enable parishes to grow closer together, and so be more energizing signs of the Gospel in today's world." For more information, or to attend the launch, contact: Nick Layton on: 01 959 569 589; 07005 800 830 (24hr) or e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Visual DOORSTM Graphical Access Control Client
Graphically-Enhanced, Easy Access Control
– Simple
– Easy To Train
– Easy To Learn
Graphically access the most commonly used features of Doors.NETTM
VisualDOORSTM is Keri Systems' answer to those looking for an access control system with powerful software and abundant features, yet simplified, the way you've always envisioned it.
VisualDOORS builds upon the strong foundation of Doors.NET and presents itself to the user in a clean and highly graphical, user interface.
VisualDOORS manages a traditional version of Doors.NET and is implemented as a "second steering wheel," metaphorically speaking. While operating within the VisualDOORS Client, most of the often-used access control features of Doors.NET are graphically presented and easily executed. If advanced features are required, the user can log out of VisualDOORS and log into the full interface, affecting whatever changes are necessary. Alternately, if a second Client license is purchased, users may operate simultaneously in both Clients and switch back and forth between Clients seamlessly.
Configurable/Available Features:
- Controller Setup:
(PXL, Entraguard, NXT, and MSC)
- Reader Setup
- Add, Edit and Delete:
– Cardholders
– Credentials
– Time Schedules
– Access Groups
- Assign Access Groups
- Add, Edit and Delete Holidays
- Temp Unlock, Lock, Unlock, Lockout, and Lockdown Doors
- Manage Auto-Unlock Time Schedules
- View Live Events
- Adjust Strike Time/Unlock Time
- Adjust Held-Open Time
- Configure and Monitor Door Contacts
- Interface with Enrollment Readers
- Manage First Person In
- Run the Report Wizard
"I must say once again thank you for the excellent standards of service we received from Keri Systems … to complete the remedial repairs and installation of replacement components to our Clients system."
— Paul Briggs,
PSB Systems Ltd


text:
High quality content curation for law firms & reputation management for law firms: What the pros know!
Even though digital marketing is absolutely essential for any business out there, high quality content curation & reputation management for law firms still remains elusive to and for many lawyers. In fact, a recent survey conducted by the American Bar Association (ABA) discovered that more than half of all law firms in the United States — a whopping 65% of all firms — did not, in fact, maintain a high-quality and content curated blog. In addition, another 9% of all firms didn't know if they maintained a blog.
What does that mean? It means that there's only 26% of all law firms nationwide who maintain a high-quality content curated blog…meaning that there's not only a huge gap in information available to those seeking some form of legal information, but there's a huge gap in digital marketing opportunities for the legal profession.
How, then, are lawyers able to bridge this gap and create high quality content for law firms? There's a two-fold answer to this, and both parts deserve exploring:
- Creating a high-quality content blog allows you, as a lawyer, to demonstrate not only your proficiency in your field of practice, but to recognize valuable information and, subsequently, share it with your audience.
- Creating a high-quality content blog allows you, as a lawyer, to connect not only with your colleagues, but with potential clients, on social media. There's really no better way to make a valuable connection on social media than to share someone's content with your general audience.
In both of these cases, you as a lawyer will be establishing yourself as an authority in your field of expertise, as well as generating new clientele, by sharing a high-quality content-curated blog.
For more information about me and my services, contact me today to see what I can do for you.


text:
BARREL Status Report #5
December 31, 2012
Today we had our Flight Readiness Review and got the green light to start launching! Both teams now have one payload ready to launch. The SANAE team was hoping to launch this afternoon, and completed their launch brief and preparations. But the wind picked up and was projected to get worse. So, we have scrubbed for today. Tomorrow looks like a possibility for both launch sites. We are going to re-assess the weather in the morning (UTC) and send out an update then.
Here's Nick wishing you a Happy New Year!!
Alexa Here, as I've kicked my fiancé out of the room for our daily telecon, just want to wish him Happy B-day and thanks for being patient with all these meetings!
BARREL (Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses) is a multiple-balloon investigation that will study Earth's Radiation Belts. Atmospheric losses of relativistic electrons play an important role in radiation belt dynamics; precipitation into the atmosphere may even completely deplete the radiation belts in some cases. BARREL is the first NASA Living With a Star Geospace Mission of Opportunity, and will support NASA's RBSP (Radiation Belt Storm Probes) mission.
Monday, December 31, 2012
BARREL Status Report #5
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
PARSON Drove made it two wins in five days in the Peterborough Premier Division on Saturday by beating bottom side Alconbury 3-0.
The six-point haul has taken them to fifth from bottom in the table and removed their fears of relegation.
On Saturday Dominic Pintillie, Sam Kilby and Scott McManus scored the goals for what was a comfortable win.
In midweek Drove had performed even better to beat second placed Peterborough Sports Parkway 2-0 with Anthony Melton and Jamie Muffet on target. Earlier in the season Sports had won 5-1.
Drove boss Nick Markillie said: "We put in a very good performance to beat Peterborough Sports and well deserved the win with some good football. On Saturday we did what we had to do against a poor side. The two wins have lifted us clear of the danger zone as well."
Leverington manager Stu Webb was disgusted with his side's performance the previous weekend but delighted to see a makeshift side triumph 5-0 against Oundle Town on Saturday.
Webb's team had the better of the play in the first half but it still finished goalless.
But after the break Leverington began to find the goals their play deserved. Dale Palmer scored the first and then Michael Chow made it 2-0 soon after.
Sam Cubberley had gone off injured in the first half and his replacement A team striker Wayne Wallis hit a third goal.
Nathan Watson was also on target for 4-0 and Wayne Garner and Craig Ablett combined well to set up Wallis for his second goal to finish the proceedings at 5-0.
Webb said: "We had been unlucky in midweek when we played well to draw 2-2 with Coates who scored their second goal late on. We had a few players missing on Saturday but could have had 10 or 12 goals.
"The attitude and performance was a lot better than the previous week that is for sure."
Long Sutton made it four wins in their last five Division One games by beating Thorney away 3-1. Matt Radeloff 2 and Matt Cawthorn were on target.
Leverington Sports Reserves lost out 2-0 to Division Three leaders Langtoft Reserves.
Manager Shane Milner said: "We are lacking a bit of confidence but I am sure things will be better for Wednesday night's cup final."


text: Hello Landscapers, My name is Jimmy, I have been working for 5 years know. I curently have 12 mowing accounts and 15 snow removal accounts, witch I plan on expanding on every year. To my customers I provide Mowing, Snow Removal, Hedge Trimming, Fall+Spring Clean-ups and also Mulch Instillation. My current equimpent is a 05 Exmark Metro 32, Shindaiwa EB601, Shindaiwa Home Pro, and a Shindaiwa hand held blower, Giant Vac 5 Horse, Toro 21in mower, Toro 26in 8 horse, 20in 5 horse Snow Blowers, 3.5 hores edger. I also work for another company a few days a week. In a little over a year I will be able to drive. My plans for Trucks are my uncle's 04 Ford F250 w/ 8 foot Fisher and a family friends 03 Ford F350 Dump w/ 9 foot Fisher. I also plan on getting a 12 or 14 foot trailer to pull around my mowers and other things. Also in a year or two I will get a 60in Exmark Lazer XS. If any of you have any tips please reply. I do not think this is a bad set-up for a 15 year old. Thank You


text:
Dismiss Notice
You are browsing this site as a guest. It takes 2 minutes to CREATE AN ACCOUNT and less than 1 minute to LOGIN
Dk. Hoseah kuhojiwa Live Channel Ten leo Saa 2.30 usiku
Discussion in 'Jukwaa la Siasa' started by kookolikoo, Sep 10, 2012.
Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2


text:
Implementing the Precautionary Principle
Perspectives and Prospects
Edited by Elizabeth Fisher, Judith Jones and René von Schomberg
Chapter 10: Precautionary Only in Name? Tensions between Precaution and Risk Assessment in the Australian GMO Regulatory Framework
Jacqueline Peel
* Jacqueline Peel INTRODUCTION More than a decade on from the enunciation of 'Principle 15' in the Rio Declaration,1 debate regarding the precautionary principle is shifting from issues of scope and definition to questions of implementation. Notions of precaution now advanced – including that in this chapter – emphasize the role of the principle as a broad framework for decision making, directed to anticipating possible adverse effects that, although scientific uncertainty persists, are cause for reasonable concern. In Australia, as elsewhere in the world, support is growing for a concept of precaution that focuses on the responsiveness of health and environmental decision-making processes to scientific uncertainty (Fisher and Harding, 2001). This represents a departure from more conventional understandings of precaution, which have seen its operation as dependent upon 'threshold' findings of some minimal level of risk, variously expressed as a 'non-negligible threat of harm' (Cameron and Abouchar, 1996, p. 44) or a risk of 'reasonable scientific plausibility' (de Sadeleer, 2002, p. 160). Moving from thresholds of risk as a basis for precautionary measures, to an approach concentrating on the process by which determinations of risk are reached in circumstances of scientific uncertainty, highlights potential tensions between the implementation of precaution and orthodox 'science-based' decision-making processes of risk assessment. In particular, I argue that a focus on the decision-making process required for implementation of precaution reveals the importance of exposing risk assessment to a broader range of views * A more detailed version of the argument in this...
You are not authenticated to view the full text of this chapter or article.
Elgaronline requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books or journals. Please login through your library system or with your personal username and password on the homepage.
Non-subscribers can freely search the site, view abstracts/ extracts and download selected front matter and introductory chapters for personal use.
Your library may not have purchased all subject areas. If you are authenticated and think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.


text:
Shredded Beef & Cheese Quesadilla's
2 photos of Shredded Beef & Cheese Quesadilla's Recipe
Lynn Socko
I use leftover roast for these, or cook some round steak in the crockpot. Quesadilla's are one of my "go to" meals. Super simple & quick. You can sub ground beef, chicken, or pork for the beef. Change up the cheese's or onions & salsa. The tortilla is you canvas, anything goes.
- 2 lb
- steak or roast
- 3
- garlic cloves, diced
- 1 tsp
- cumin
- 1 tsp
- pepper
- 1/2
- onion, sliced
- 1
- green bell, opt
- 4 large
- or 8 small, whole wheat or flour tortillas
- 8 oz
- asedaro cheese, sliced or grated
How to Make Shredded Beef & Cheese Quesadilla's
- 1Cook beef in crock pot with garlic, onion, cumin, salt & pepper. Cook on low overnight completely covered with water, or on high with small amount of water for 4-6 hours. Remove, shred, & reseason with cumin, garlic, & salt if needed.
- 2Sauted onion and bell pepper slices till tender, add to meat.
- 3Using a very hot griddle or skillet spray one side of tortilla with spray oil, place sprayed side down on hot griddle, layer cheddar cheese, and beef and veggies on half of the tortilla, flip other half of tortilla on top. When bottom half browns, flip over & brown top side. Cut in halves or quarters.
About Shredded Beef & Cheese Quesadilla's
Course/Dish: Beef
Regional Style: Mexican
Other Tag: Quick & Easy
Hashtag: #food


text:
Baker Said To Be Closing San Diego Office This Month
"People were expecting it, but didn't know when it was going to happen," one source said, referring to news reports speculating about the closing of the office since mid-January. "The writing was on the wall."
Requests for comment were not immediately returned Friday...
To view the full article, register now.
Try Law360 FREE for seven days
Already a subscriber? Click here to login


text: Seller: bouf_dog (1,237) 100%, Location: Alexandria, Virginia, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 320768914391 ULTRA RARE!!! PING KARSTEN LATE 1950'S PATENT PENDING REDWOOD CITY NO-MODEL PUTTER WITH LARGE 3 Own a piece of history from a putter master who changed the world of golf and revolutionized the putter design. This putter is one of the first Redwood City Putters made by Karsten. The large 3 signifies the early weight/displacement measurement Karsten used when first experimenting with this putter head design. Later models had the smaller stamped numbers signifying the heads displacement in water. From discussions with Pongman, the man Ping turns to with hard to answer questions wrt older ping items, Karsten would place the head into a container and it would overflow, the overflow would fill another container with markings of 1, 2, 3 and possibly higher. Where the water level stopped was the marking on the bottom of the putter, thus the large 3. Pongman states he has one or two with large numbers on them, I have another. These are the first I know of and I've been collecting these putters for over 10 years, and Pongman states these are quite unique and rare. Given that this is most likely one of the first of the Redwood City putters made, I've set the Buy it Now price accordingly. Last rare No Model sold, went for over $5,000, so the Buy it Now price is not unreasonable. The Redwood City Croquet putters, if you can find one, fetch over $15,000. It's been quite a while since I've seen one offered, they do appear though. Up for auction is a used 1959 Patent Pending Ping Redwood City No Model putter. Putter is 36 inches in length with steel shaft and a hand wrapped leather grip, original. Club head and shaft show their age and bag wear. But for a putter that's over 50 years old, it is in outstanding shape. Bottom stampings are very crisp and clean. Karsten did not receive his patent for the 1A until 1962, so his Redwood City and some of his first Scottsdale 1A/2A do not have patent numbers on them. The Redwood City putters were cast in Karsten's garage in Redwood City, CA - hence the name Redwood City putter. After casting they were hand filed and milled, and then shafted in the kitchen/garage. Since they were cast and not milled like today's putters, you'll notice cast pits where there may have been a bubble in the mold and it was too deep to file/mill out without impacting total weight of the putter head. The leather grip was hand wrapped by Karsten or his son. This truely is a handmade putter. There is no machining or mass producing. The first models were 'No Model', then the MOD I and finally, the MOD 1A. The no model is the only one of the 1A series that is center shafted. The other two have their shafts more towards the heel of the putter. The history of ping putters from Ping website: It was there that Karsten, a General Electric mechanical engineer, invented the PING 1-A putter. He applied his theory of heel-toe balance with the idea of reducing the twisting of the putter head at impact. It worked. From there, he went on to revolutionize putter design with classic models such as the world-famous Anser, which continues to be the winningest—and most copied—putter in golf. The most prolific of any PING product category, hundreds of putter models have been offered over the years to golfers hoping to find the answer to their putting woes. Fortunately for most, PING's variety of styles and materials have come through more often than not. If you use Buy it Now, I'll include a 50th Anniversary Gold Plated Limited Edition Ping Redwood City 1A (Retail price of $1500) Email me with your questions. More pictures available upon request. Happy offering and thank you for looking. Condition: Used, Shaft Material: Steel, Dexterity: Right-Handed, Gender: Men, Club Type: Putter, Brand: Ping, Model: 1-A


text:
"Upside Down & Inside Out": OK Go's new zero-gravity music video!
Hello, Dear Ones. Please enjoy our new video for "Upside Down & Inside Out". A million thanks to S7 Airlines. #GravitysJustAHabit
Posted by OK Go on Thursday, February 11, 2016
It seems that with each new music video, the band OK Go breaks new ground in creativity. Today the band just released a new music video for the song "Upside Down & Inside Out." The 3-minute video, shown above, was shot in one take in zero gravity in a real plane flying through the sky.
The video was shot in Russia with S7, the country's largest airline. Zero gravity is achieved when the airplane dives towards Earth, providing momentary weightlessness for the passengers inside. Since the outside world can't be seen in the video, it just looks like gravity has been magically suspended.
"The process is basically: dance practice, dance practice, dance practice, airplane," says OK Go.


text:
Sold! 59 Washington Ave., Oakville, Ontario - Sold in one ONE DAY for full asking price. This comfy 5 bedroom home is located in trendy Kerr village in Oakville. Homes for large families like this one, (especially affordable homes) are in high demand in Oakville and in and around the entire GTA. This sale proves affordable homes for large families are still available, even in exclusive areas like Oakville.
If you or your friends or family are looking to buy or sell your home please contact me today so I can explain my proven marketing system which will get you the same great results.


text:
I am flying to San Francisco on Monday and I'm so excited. It was fifteen weeks ago that my good friend Lara and I started our drive from the corner of Jones and Bush streets in lower Nob Hill and continued on through Sacramento, across the gorgeous Sierras,
through the Nevada desert, into Salt Lake City, onto a stretch of breathtakingly beautiful highway near Aspen, through Denver, and then discovered the bright, peaceful plains of Nebraska,
and drove on through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and finally New York. It was a long trip, but not nearly as arduous as the journey I was to begin when I arrived at my destination.
And now, fifteen weeks later, it's time to go back and visit the place I loved and left behind. But first, I need to pack.


text:
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
CommitteeHide Overview icon-hide
Recent Activity
Committee Proceedings
- Committee Meetings/Hearings Schedule (Senate.gov)
Website: http://commerce.senate.gov/public/
Information on subcommittees, membership, leadership, news, and more.
More on This Committee
Committee Activity
Committees may hold hearings on policy issues and on specific bill proposals, consider and further develop bill proposals through a markup process, and report legislation and recommended changes to the full chamber.
1-1 of 1
- BILL1. H.R.1773 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Safe American Roads Act of 2007 Sponsor: Rep. Boyda, Nancy E. [D-KS-2] (Introduced 03/29/2007) Cosponsors: (52) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure | Senate - Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Reports: H. Rept. 110-147 Latest Action: Senate - 05/16/2007 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (All Actions) Tracker:
This bill has the status Passed House
Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:
- Introduced
- Passed House


text:
Hyde + Hyde Architects – Design Commission for Wales
Hyde + Hyde Architects present their latest research for a new contemporary house – Colts Hill House, Mumbles
The Design Commission for Wales is a national organisation which was established in 2002 and is core funded by the National Assembly for Wales. The commission is one of four UK Commissions established to champion good design and a high quality built environment.
In August 2008 Hyde + Hyde Architects presented the following project to the Design Commission for Wales in Cardiff. As a practice we were pleased to receive overwhelming support. Endorsement was given with regards to the integrity of the design proposal.


text:
ENGINE11 Vortex – Best for both world
Bike commute, training, racing or whatever you can call it, satisfaction guaranteed.
Also we're very happy about the new color ways. The colors came out better than we expected. Those of you who are tired of seeing same color frames over and over, these are the frames we made for you guys.
What's new on NEW Vortex frames?
We added XS size. Yes, we did it. Some of riders having hard time finding right size, specially smaller size. We've got lots of requests asking for smaller size and we made it happened. Also the colors. We'd like to make a nice frames and yes we want you guys ride pretty bikes. We used unique type of gradient which formed by dots, not just colors. The old frames came with black carbon-aluminum fork but new Vortex frames come with 'matching' painted carbon-alu fork which looks fantastic!


text:
We have a dedicated Enforcement Team which is responsible for handling complaints alleging breaches of planning control and for monitoring new developments.
Whilst it is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that development is carried out in accordance with approved plans and any conditions attached to the planning permission we will monitor new developments and follow up on failures to submit information.
© New Forest National Park 2018
Powered by Jadu Content Management


text:
Our versatile cameras are optimized for a wide range of applications.
A hallmark of the DE camera is versatility. From biological cryo-EM to materials science, DE cameras deliver optimum performance for a widest range of experiments. A true test of this has been at research centers where TEM instrumentation are successfully shared by different groups. These institutions reap the benefits of our exceptional performance, high throughput, and flexibility across many different disciplines and imaging methods.
Biological Cryo-EM
DE cameras offer ultimate resolution, sensitivity, and the largest available field-of-view to optimize low-dose applications such as single particle cryo-EM and cryo-tomography. Collect high-quality data quickly, use our powerful movie-mode processing algorithms, and generate stunning and reliable 3D reconstructions.
Learn how DE optimizes Biological Cryo-EM
Materials Science
DE cameras provide a unique combination of ultra-high resolution imaging with the flexibility and dynamic range demanded by a wide range materials science applications such as high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), energy-filtered TEM (EFTEM), tomography, scanning TEM (STEM), electron holography, and more. No other direct detector is built for materials science like our DE cameras.
Learn how DE optimizes Materials Science
In Situ TEM
DE cameras deliver high speed (user adjustable frame rate up to 1000+ fps) with exceptional signal-to-noise ratio and large field-of-view to capture TEM movies in unprecedented speed and detail. Our cameras have better signal-to-noise ratio in each frame, yet are significantly lower cost, than any alternative.
Learn how DE optimizes In Situ TEM
DE cameras deliver high speed with exceptional signal-to-noise ratio and large field-of-view to capture TEM movies in unprecedented speed and detail.
Learn how DE optimizes LEEM/PEEM


text:
Renaissance Family Magazine conducts independent reviews of products and services. We prefer to purchase products and services in order to deliver objective reviews for our viewers.
PR agencies, manufacturers, and other representatives may contact us with information about products and services they feel may be of interest to our readers.
We generally seek out::
– Natural toys
– Clothing (men, women, children, babies)
– Accessories
– Gear (strollers, baby gear, bikes, packs, etc.)
– Automobiles
– Natural health remedies
– Hotels
– Cultural attractions/Amusements
– Car rental
– Restaurants
– Beauty products and services (esp. natural/holistic)
– Specialty holidays/Spas, etc.
– Photographers
– Movies
– Books
– Educational/Homeschooling materials
We will accept sponsored reviews of any of the above products and services, or any other product or service of a family-centered, family-friendly nature. The nature of our relationship with manufacturers or service providers will be clearly indicated in our reviews, whether sponsored or independent.
We strive to give honest, constructive reviews, whether positive or negative. Recommendations to our readers will be fair and based upon our editors' personal experience regardless of our relationship with the manufacturer or service provider. Representatives of products and services will be notified of our review prior to posting, along with a copy of the review to be published.
Occasionally, Renaissance Family Magazine will choose to conduct a giveaway of products or services. Family members of staff and contributors are not eligible to enter.
Product Returns
We do not return products to manufacturers unless requested to do so. Such requests should be accompanied by a Return Authorization (RA) number.
In the event that we review the product or service of a current advertiser, Renaissance Family Magazine will clearly indicate that relationship. Advertisers do not receive preferential treatment in regards to product or service reviews.
Relevant announcements of products and/or services from Renaissance Family Media, publishers of Renaissance Family Magazine will be published from time to time.


text:
Sanchez and Ozil must find form quickly with Tottenham looming
If Phil Jones starts as expected for Manchester United against Newcastle United on Saturday at Old Trafford, it will be the first time he's started 12 consecutive Premier League games since moving to the club over six years ago.
The defender managed 11 in the autumn of 2014-15 under Louis van Gaal, but he's never hit 12 in a row. Injury usually sees to that.
Until the Chelsea defeat, United had never been behind in a league game this season with Jones on the pitch. At Huddersfield, he went off after 23 minutes with the score at 0-0 after he banged a nerve in his hip and couldn't feel his leg. There was no time for it to settle and he had to come off. He still couldn't feel his leg after the game, which United lost, in part because of an error by Jones' replacement Victor Lindelof. Jones was fine to play in the next game when he again impressed in the win against Tottenham, though he'd limp off in an England friendly against Germany last week.
Jones keeps United's physios on their toes, and that sometimes means literally looking after his toes -- and the rest of his body. In six years, he's missed games because of a toe injury, several knee injuries, a malleolar injury, something called venous occlusion, a sprained ankle, concussion and separate injuries to his hamstring, shinbone, thighs, shoulders and back. He's football's Evel Knievel, the motorbike stunt man of a hundred broken bones who put his body through hell.
Though Jones would rather holiday in Nevada than attempt to jump the Grand Canyon like the U.S. daredevil, his all or nothing attitude is hugely desirable to managers. Jose Mourinho rates Jones, a Lancastrian raised 30 miles from Manchester, though he worries about the injuries.
"Phil puts his head where people wouldn't put their feet," says former United defender David May. "He's not everyone's cup of tea, but if you can keep him fit he's a great player. Out of four central defenders, Phil is the most consistent and reliable when he plays. I like him and Eric Bailly together, too. They work well.
"Phil was brilliant at start of the season and he was different class when United went so many games unbeaten last season," May adds. "He reminds me a little of Steve Bruce in that he reads the game really well and would run through a brick wall for the team."
Jones is patently not as quick as the fleet-heeled Bailly.
"It doesn't matter," is May's opinion. "He's really improved in his reading of the game. He's in position first, he understands his own game, when to make decisions and the right decisions. A few years ago he'd think less and had more of a 'I've just got to win that ball' mentality."
Mourinho tries to protect Jones by having him focus on the Premier League. He's not played in one of United's seven cup games so far, where Lindelof and Chris Smalling have been given more minutes. With Antonio Valencia now permanently in the right back role, Jones is also used only as central defender.
Jones made his United debut in the 2011 Community Shield against Manchester City after agreeing to join the club, a decision he made at a hotel overlooking the Mediterranean in the South of France where Sir Alex Ferguson was holidaying. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea also wanted the 19-year-old from Blackburn Rovers. Ferguson was not even sure what Jones' best position would be, but felt he could play anywhere.
David de Gea, Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley made their debuts in the same game. While De Gea has played 285 times for United since, Jones has started 155 times, with 23 appearances as substitute. Ashley Young, who is considered an effective squad player rather than an automatic starter, has started 124 and come on in another 49 as a sub.
Jones is still only 25. The ninth 'Jones' to play for United (Smith, with seven, is the second most popular surname for United players) may have played more than any of the other eight Joneses, but he's never started more than 36 games in a season.
First-choice centre-halves are usually virtually ever-present. Former legendary central defender Steve Bruce managed that eight times, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Pallister seven times, Nemanja Vidic four times. All those players had seasons where they started more than 50 games. In Bruce's case, he started 50 or more games four seasons on the bounce and started an astonishing 61 times in 1993-94, when United won the double.
The success of the partnership of Ferdinand and Vidic is one reason why Jones wasn't initially starting every week. And it's true that football has changed with bigger squads, but Real Madrid, with Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, had a settled central defensive partnership last season while Juventus' defence has been the most settled in football for years.
Jones needs to be well managed, for the benefit of the club and for himself. He's the one who has to live in his body after he's retired. Many a former player, including those at United, regret playing through injury because their manager pressured them to do it.
Jones also plays for England as he seeks to add to his 24 caps. He should play in Russia next year, but Mourinho and United fans will be nervous when he does -- and for good reason.
Man City fans mock Jones in song because "You signed Phil Jones, we signed Kun Aguero" in the summer of 2011. But Jones, who cost £16.5 million, less than half of Aguero's fee, can answer that by pointing out he has won more with United than Aguero.
For now, he's also starting every week alongside Bailly. The pair have started eight of the 11 league games together, a strong partnership that has contributed to United having the best defence in the league this season.
Can they be the first United defensive partnership since Vidic and Ferdinand a decade ago to start more than 30 league games in a season? It certainly worked then as they helped the team become crowned English, European and World Champions.
Andy Mitten is a freelance writer and the founder and editor of United We Stand. Follow him on Twitter: @AndyMitten.
Manchester United's Andreas Pereira has said he wants to remain at Valencia beyond his current loan deal.
The 21-year-old midfielder joined the Spanish side for the 2017-18 campaign on Sept. 1 in search of playing time and has made nine league appearances, including four as a starter, for a side that is second in the La Liga standings, just three points behind leaders Barcelona after 11 rounds.
Asked if he would like to play for Los Che beyond June 2018, Pereira told Valencia-based sports newspaper Superdeporte: "Of course, that would be a very good option for me, it would be positive. I'm happy at Valencia CF.
"Valencia is a big club and seeing our current form, everyone wants to remain here.
"Everything is going so well, everyone in the squad is happy. We want to maintain this."
Pereira signed a one-year contract extension with United shortly after arriving at Valencia and is tied to the Premier League side until June 2019.
United do have an option to recall Pereira during the winter transfer window but the Brazil under-21 player wants to remain at the Mestalla stadium at least until June 2018.
"In my mind I want to be here and help Valencia until June," Pereira said. "That was my intention when I came here. I know there is a clause inserted into the loan deal and I will have to wait and see. But my focus is on Valencia and I would like to stay here."
Pereira impressed while on loan at Granada last season where he scored five goals and set up three more in 34 La Liga starts.
However, the Andalusian club finished bottom of the standings and were relegated.
Pereira has been likened to former Manchester United great Paul Scholes, including by former United player Phil Neville.
"It gives me great pride and to hear those words is beautiful," he said. "I really liked Paul Scholes, he was my coach when I was young. For me, he was one of the best and I was lucky that he coached me. Paul is one of the football greats."
Jose Mourinho said he was disappointed Pereira chose to join Valencia on loan instead of fighting for a starting place at United this season.
However, Pereira says he is learning a lot from Valencia coach Marcelino and has heaped praise on the former Villarreal boss.
"He has given me a lot of confidence and I feel important in this team," the Belgium-born Pereira said. "Marcelino tells me what I have to do. He is the one that has created all of this, this great environment. All that we are achieving is because he has built this group. He is a great coach. He tells us with clarity what one in particular has to do as well as what the team has to do at a given moment.
"I think if we continue to listen to him, we can go very, very far. I want to continue doing what I'm doing, helping the team win and offering the best of my football for the collective aim that we have, which is to continue winning games."
Valencia head into Sunday's game at Espanyol unbeaten in La Liga and on an eight-game winning run in the league, which is their best ever start to the competition.
Adriana Garcia is a Valencia-based football writer who covers La Liga for ESPN FC.
The North London derby always means a lot to Arsenal and Tottenham. In years past, when Arsenal were dominant, it was a way for the neighbours to try and put a spoke in their rivals' wheel, and it's a fixture which has generally seen an equalisation of talent for the duration of the 90 minutes.
When the Gunners had Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires, they were miles ahead of Spurs on paper. Yet there was rarely ever anything more than a single goal between the sides, the games often settled by the tightest of margins in Arsenal's favour.
In recent times the dynamic has shifted, and Tottenham look the better side right now. Aided by the non-stop scoring of Harry Kane -- a player who has scored in every league match he's played against Arsenal -- and the fact Mauricio Pochettino has fashioned a well-organised, hard to break down team, it's now over three years since an Arsene Wenger side has tasted league victory in the derby.
It makes this weekend's encounter all the more pivotal, and it's a game that could have a real impact on the rest of Arsenal's season. If they win, they cut the gap to Tottenham to just a single point, and take from it the confidence and belief that could help reignite what has been a stuttering campaign thus far.
Should they lose, Spurs would have taken three massive points at the Emirates, an already restless fan base would find itself further agitated and the gap would be a substantial and unhealthy seven.
The Gunners' form has been patchy, especially away from home, and it's hard not to draw some parallels between that and the fact their two star players, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, have yet to make the kind of contribution you'd expect from players of that talent.
There have been some mitigating circumstances, with the Chilean arriving back late from international duty during the summer, and the German hampered by injury, but here we are heading for mid-November and between them they have just two goals and four assists. By comparison, at this stage of last season they had nine goals and six assists, and Sanchez's shortfall this time around has really been significant.
There have been questions raised over their commitment, with neither looking likely to sign new terms with the club, and every time a player finds himself in a poor patch of form in circumstances like this, fingers get pointed. It's not something Arsene Wenger is hugely concerned about, choosing to believe that professional players will always do their job.
"When you sign a contract somewhere, you commit to give your best until the end of the last day of that contract," he said during the summer. "I would say: 'Why should they not give their best?'"
However, when contracts remain unsigned and the prospect of two players of that quality leaving on a free looms large on the horizon, it's understandable fans can take a dubious outlook. The only answer either of them can give is on the pitch, and as yet they haven't been convincing.
Wenger needs both of them to step up, and soon, because his team are more likely to win games if they're playing anywhere close to their potential. They score, they create, and when they're on song -- as they were in that 5-2 win against Everton a couple of weeks ago -- they make Arsenal a much more dangerous team.
Not to mention that disquiet over their futures will be dispelled if they start chipping in with goals and assists. People will still have concerns about what they might do next summer, or even what the club might decide to do in January, but if there's end product then it go a long way to silencing some of the dissenting voices.
Arsenal are heading into a hectic and difficult period of the season. With Spurs at the weekend and Manchester United in early December, they could find themselves back on track in a big way if they can get good results in those games, but to do it they need Ozil and Sanchez to start firing.
Andrew Mangan is one of ESPN FC's Arsenal bloggers. You can follow him on Twitter: @arseblog.


text:
Critical Context
(Critical Edition of Young Adult Fiction)
The Caesars is included in high-school library collections because it endures as a valuable resource material for younger scholars, as well as a lively account of individuals ranging in personality from the humorless and dutiful Tiberius to the depraved and reckless Nero. The book serves as a resource tool for young adults because it is a collective biography as well as a political history of Rome during the formative years of the empire. Although it is not primarily a social history, it nevertheless affords young readers a glimpse of Roman society and mores that is necessary for an understanding of the era.
Another valuable facet of the book for history students is the frequent comparison of the individual caesars to more recent historical figures as a means of illustration. Vespasian, for example, is compared with Ulysses S. Grant—both competent sol-diers redeemed from obscurity when called upon to salvage a difficult military situation. The author frequently uses Latin tags, immediately followed by translations, which adds to the authenticity of his narrative. Massie also compares events in Roman history of this period to events in more recent history, such as his observation that Rome's troubles with Parthia correspond to Great Britain's troubles with Afghanistan in the nineteenth century.
The author indicates where some of the more lurid information from Tacitus and Suetonius was based on hearsay and salacious gossip and contrasts this with accounts substantiated by more recent research. He juggles the sensational with the sober and gives young readers a balanced introduction to the caesars.