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Brian Lund's ten commandments for trading include "turn off CNBC" and "find a mentor."
• Smart post from The Interloper on how investors should approach China today: "Economic changes to the degree being experienced in China have never occurred in history without a serious hiccough that makes every investor wet their pants for a considerable period."
• U.S. Marine and portfolio manager Ben Wong sold out of Microsoft MSFT, +0.17% but is liking his Frontier Communications FTR, +7.73% position.
• The Fed isn't "forcing" investors into anything, as Roger Nusbaum sees it: "I hate this line of thinking."
• The 10 best stocks money can buy in the U.S., according to Morgan Stanley, include CBS Corp CBS, +0.25% and Target TGT, -0.04%
• These beauty stocks look ready to breakout, as Greg Harmon sees it: Avon Products AVP, -1.39% Sally Beauty SBH, +0.50% and Ulta Salon ULTA, +0.11%
• IndexUniverse's Paul Baiocchi professes his love for the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio SPLV, -0.14%
• John Paulson's fund buys more NovaGold NG, -0.59% stock. Jay at Market Folly has the filing details.
• How Tom Konrad's cleantech portfolio is doing so far in 2012.
• The bull case for Exxon Mobil XOM, -0.77% from Mel Daris.
This commentary does not constitute individualized investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities.


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Among other things, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "Act"), commonly referred to as Obamacare, requires "large employers" to provide qualified health coverage for all of their full-time employees, or pay an annual penalty. A large employer is generally an employer with 50 or more full-time employees.
In order to prevent employers from dividing businesses into several smaller businesses to avoid the "50 full-time employees" rule, the Act also contains rules that require businesses with common ownership to be treated as a single employer.
These rules refer to two Code sections – Code §1563 which deals with groups of corporations that qualify to file consolidated tax returns, and Code §414 which deals with commonly controlled businesses under ERISA. These rules are quite complicated though also somewhat mechanical. For groups of family-owned businesses with 50 or more employees in total, the ownership structure must be evaluated against the tests detailed in the statute and regulations to determine if the businesses are aggregated. Below is a brief summary of the rules and a discussion of potential planning opportunities.
Under the statutory tests, a controlled group can be either (1) a parent-subsidiary controlled group, (2) a brother-sister controlled group, or (3) a combination of parent-subsidiary and brother-sister controlled groups. There are also rules for attribution of ownership between related individuals, trusts and non-corporate entities.
A "parent-subsidiary controlled group" exists when a common parent corporation owns 80% or more of the stock of subsidiary corporations. This does not apply to most family businesses because they typically are not owned in parent-subsidiary ownership structures.
A brother-sister controlled group is a group of two or more corporations, in which five or fewer common owners (a common owner must be an individual, a trust or an estate) own directly or indirectly a "controlling interest" of each group and have "effective control." "Controlling interest" is defined in Regs §1.414(c)-2(b)(2) and generally means 80% or more of the stock of each corporation (but only if such common owners own stock in each corporation). "Effective control" is defined in Regs §1.414(c)-2(c)(2) and generally means more than 50% of the stock of each corporation, but only to the extent that such stock ownership is identical with respect to such corporation.
Under Code §414(m), there also can be aggregation for entities that are considered to be part of an "affiliated service group," which applies to companies whose principal business is the performance of services.
For most closely held businesses, the key analysis will be whether the entities constitute brother-sister corporations. Also, in most cases, the first prong of the brother-sister test – the "controlling interest test" – will be satisfied because five or fewer shareholders together frequently own 80% or more of the ownership interest in each company. (On the other hand, it is worth noting that if two family members whose interests are not attributed to each other, such as father and son-in-law, each own a separate business, the businesses may fail this prong of the test.)
The second prong of the brother-sister test – the "effective control" test – looks at the common ownership in both entities and deems them to be effectively controlled by an owner group that owns more than 50%. One must first calculate the ownership interest that each owner has in both entities, and then determine if they exceed 50%.
For example, if A, B, C and D are each 25% owners of two companies, they each own 25% of both companies and together they effectively control 100%, so the companies would be brother-sister companies.
But, for example, assume that the ownership of the two companies is as follows:
Company 1
Company 2
In this example, A, B, C and D together own 100% of the stock of both companies, but they do not have "effective control" because the sum of each stockholder's common ownership in both companies does not exceed 50% (A = 20%, B = 10%, C = 5% and D = 5%, and the sum is 40%). See Larry Lawson and Jeff Nelson, Controlled and Affiliated Service Groups, IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities, pp. 7-7 – 7-8 (available here).
The effective control test raises some interesting possibilities, as stock ownership can be arranged to flunk the test and therefore avoid aggregation as a large employer. The following charts show ownership percentages for corporations with two and three shareholders that will not pass the effective control test.
Example for two owners (no attribution):
In this case, A has 24% common ownership in both companies, and B has 24% common ownership in both companies. The total is 48%, which is below 50%, and the companies should not be a brother-sister controlled group.
Example for three owners (no attribution):
Company 3
In this case, A, B and C together will not have more than 48% common ownership in any two companies. The total is 48%, which is below 50%, and none of the companies should be considered a brother-sister controlled group.
While the controlled group rules will effectively cause many family-owned businesses to be aggregated for purposes of Obamacare's large employer test, for some businesses there may be planning opportunities to avoid these rules.
In addition, for more information on the Act, see Michael Morea and Lauren Manduke's recent article, "Preparing for the Employer Mandate," New Jersey Law Journal, April 29, 2013.
See more »
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
© Cole Schotz | Attorney Advertising
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Inefficiency of Writing
Karol Nielsen's memoir Black Elephants has just been released. She will be blogging all week for MyJewishLearning and the Jewish Book Council.
The facts of my story were always clear but the meaning eluded me for years. I took creative writing courses with a gifted, generous man who asked essential questions: Who are the characters? What is the conflict? What are you saying? Now I am a memoir writing instructor at New York University, asking students the same questions. Straightforward but difficult questions when telling a true story.
I finished a draft of Black Elephants a few years after the Gulf War, hoping the story itself would show me the answers, but the facts alone weren't enough. I had to dig deeper, wading through memory, waiting for hard-earned clarity. Even my own character was a mystery to me, until I understood how I was drawn to adventure like my mother's father, a storyteller and pilot who flew men and cargo over the Himalayas, the camel's hump, from India to China during World War II. I wanted big adventure like Bobby, action like a new recruit. A simple line that took almost a decade to articulate.
I don't know an efficient way to become a writer. I only know that through writing you become a writer. For me, that meant writing nights, weekends, vacations while working full-time as a journalist, and then mornings once I became a freelance writer, editor, and writing instructor. I accumulated drafts of the memoir, rewriting long sections by hand, as well as hand-written drafts of a novel, a play, a screenplay, tiny Moleskine notebooks full of poems, and boxes full of leather and suede journals filled with daily musings. I also read poetry, memoir, and fiction by Mary Karr, Tobias Wolff, Tim O'Brien, and others who became exquisite models of storytelling and style.
Along the way, I turned the memoir inside out several times. The first draft was mostly backstory about working as a staff writer for the Buenos Aires Herald in post-"dirty war" Argentina and traveling solo through South America. I showed the manuscript to a mentor who had been in The Best American Short Stories. She said the story began when I met Aviv, an Israeli traveler dreaming about peace on the way to Machu Picchu. The central love story between Aviv and me, moving from Peru to New York to Israel during the Gulf War, was contained in a 70-page nonfiction novella at the end. It was an overwhelming, but accurate observation. So I began again, and again.


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Full profile →'">
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
So you didn't save. Maybe the costs of raising a family left you with nothing to squirrel away for your child's higher education. Or perhaps you did save, but you've been hit hard by the downturn in the economy through the loss of a steady job or a sharp decline in the value of your portfolio.
Either way, you're not out of luck. The education you've been hoping to provide for your children is within reach—provided there's some pragmatic financial planning involved. The bevy of available options ranges from scholarships and grants to service commitments and tax tricks. Sometimes, the hardest part is simply knowing where to begin.
"Prioritize your financial aid efforts and start early," recommends Steve Juetten, a financial planner in Bellevue, Wash. "First, apply for financial aid, even if you don't think you will qualify … who knows, maybe you'll qualify."
Familiarize yourself with financial aid terminology. You and your child will need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form in order to have a chance at receiving federal or institution-specific aid. The institution-specific aid may require you to fill an addition CSS/Profile form too. A few of the top private schools automatically offer a full scholarship to any accepted student whose household income falls below a certain threshold; for Harvard and Yale, the cutoff is $60,000 per year. Others promise to meet whatever financial "need" they calculate you have, but still require families with modest incomes to kick in something.
Make sure your that child casts a wide net. Applying to plenty of schools means a better chance of getting into more than one; getting into more than one translates to a higher likelihood of receiving a big financial aid package. Some colleges offer merit-based awards as well as need-based scholarships, but even schools that provide only need-based aid often come up with drastically different offers. If you have more than one package on the table, you may be able to negotiate a better deal at your top choice institution.
Just as important is applying for national grants and local scholarships. Pell Grants, Academic Competitiveness Grants and National SMART Grants are a few options; school guidance counselors can point you toward others, especially ones available only to local applicants. High schools, civic organizations and religious institutions can be sources of meaningful aid.
"Do your homework," says Juetten. "While the payoff is typically less for these types of aid, the odds of receiving a scholarship of this type are also higher."


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Where did Parksville resident's 500,000 litres disappear to?
While the question remains of what happened to over half a million litres of water, Parksville city council may not charge the resident for it.
Last week, John Whitehouse explained to council that his 77-year-old mother sold her house after his father died and she moved into a retirement home, but then she got a surprise.
Lawyers for the new owners notified Whitehouse of a bill for the final six-month billing cycle of $1,900 for the use of 541 cubic metres (541,000 litres) of water, almost enough to fill Ravensong pool.
By comparison, individuals in Parksville use an average of 58 cubic metres per billing cycle.
To make it even more of a mystery, Whitehouse's mother wasn't even in the house for much of the September-February billing period in question.
She spent most of October and part of November in the hospital and then moved out, leaving the house vacant, but there were still friends and neighbours taking care of the house who would have noticed a tap running, he pointed out.
Whitehouse immediately searched for but couldn't find any signs of a leak and pointed out that the outside taps were still turned off for the winter from the inside.
"I've had nothing but help from everyone with the city," he said of his next step, outlining numerous conversations he had with various staff and the mayor.
Director of finance Lucky Butterworth confirmed all the facts of the story. The city reviewed past bills which were consistently low and they did a meter reading a month after the problem came to light and found just four cubic metres had gone through since the mystery period.
The city has a policy under which people can apply for relief if they get a high bill due to a leak between their house and the city main, but that only counts if a leak is actually found.
Council unanimously voted for staff to bring back an option to treat Whitehouse's situation as a leak and forgive the balance of the bill above the property's three year average.
Worried about setting a precedent, they will require documentation of the occupant's absence, which Whitehouse said will not be a problem.


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In the holiday tradition of The Santa Clause, Disney presents a hilarious comedy that celebrates the believer in all of us. Jake Wilkinson (teen star Jonathan Taylor Thomas), a wheeling and dealing, self-centered college student, has one thing on his mind - get home for Christmas dinner or forfeit the vintage Porsche his father promised him. Just days before his deadline, Jake awakens in the California desert - stranded and penniless, wearing a Santa suit and a white beard glued to his face! Desperate to claim his gift, he flies, crawls, cons, races, bullies, and even sleighs his way east. But his non-stop mission turns into a non-stop comedy of errors as a multitude of weird and offbeat strangers look to Santa for help and kindness. The closer Jake gets to home, the closer he gets to the true meaning of Christmas and the importance of family. ILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS is a trip your entire family will enjoy taking all year long!Special Features:None Listed.
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Women's structured tote bag from BOSS Hugo Boss with grained leather construction and tonal colouring. Showcasing an exterior slip pocket with magnetic closure and a pair of rolled top handles the 'Malia G' features an open top with magdot closure and a spacious internal with centralised zip pocket and two open compartments. Multiple pockets within create additional storage and an adjustable removable shoulder strap makes for easy versatile carrying. Complete with chic metal branding. K.N. Grained Cowhide Dimensions: H:30 x W:40 x D:17cm
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Thu, 04/11/2004 - 06:13
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) is introducing a Tracker Certificate linked to the hedge fund asset class - a first in the UK covered warrants market.
Shahzad Sadique, DrKW's UK Head of Covered Warrants, said: "Our new product has all the attributes normally associated with covered warrants including price transparency, daily liquidity guaranteed by London Stock Exchange regulations and tradability. Thus for investors wanting exposure to the hedge fund universe our Tracker Certificates represent an attractive opportunity."
From 27 October 2004, the bank is offering a 3-year Tracker Certificate based on the HFRX Global Index as the underlying asset class. The Tracker Certificates will be available to private investors through their stockbroker. The minimum trade size is one Certificate.
DrKW launched its initial line of UK covered warrants in February 2004 with warrants covering the FTSE index and UK bluechip stocks (Astra Zeneca, Vodafone, Prudential, Unilever, HSBC and Shell). It has since added further major UK stocks and index warrants to its range as well as warrants based on commodity and currency asset classes.
John Godden, Managing Director of HFR said:"This is an important milestone in increasing the accessibility of hedge fund returns to a wider investor community. HFR is pleased to be working with DrKW to deliver these products in the UK given our successful track record teaming with Dresdner in other countries, including Germany and most recently Switzerland, where similar product initiatives have been well received."
Covered warrants are securitised obligations to be fulfilled by the issuer. They give the holder the right but not the obligation to buy (call) or sell (put) an underlying asset at a specified price (the strike price) during or at the end of a specified time. The UK Covered Warrants market was launched by the London Stock Exchange in November 2002. DrKW entered the market in February 2004 becoming the fifth overall issuer of UK Covered Warrants products.
Certificates are another form of securitized derivative, which belongs to the same family as Covered Warrants. They are distinguished by having a zero strike price in the case of call warrants.
In Germany, DrKW's parent Dresdner Bank offers a range of over 2,500 warrants including products based on underlying assets such as shares, bonds, interest rates, commodities, currencies and financial futures as well as basket and bespoke tailored products. With a significant presence in other established warrants markets such as France and Switzerland as well, Dresdner Bank is one of the leading Covered Warrants issuers in continental Europe and trades a total of more than 5000 warrants and other securitised products internationally.
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A rash of burglaries hit Placentia over last week
PLACENTIA – From Sept. 14 through Monday, Placentia saw six home burglaries and three vehicle burglaries – many times in broad daylight, police records show.
Monday, Placentia police took a report of a beach cruiser bicycle stolen out of a garage in the 500 block of El Cabrillo.
Sunday, two vehicles were raided for electronics, one on Comanche Drive and one on Sheffield Street, police said. Another earlier in the week had a catalytic converter ripped off of it – that's the engine part valuable for the small amount of platinum it contains.
Saturday, a burglar broke a window of a residence in the 200 block of South Kraemer Boulevard and took a $200 keyboard, according to police.
Thieves broke into a residence in the 1600 block of Kingston Road on Sept. 17, and made off with televisions and jewelry, according to police. The same afternoon, reported about two hours apart, residents at two houses came home to find their places ransacked and robbed.
Also on Sept. 17, a caller reported that burglars stole two model airplanes worth $3,000 a piece out of the garage of a residence, according to police.
Placentia police Detective Corrine Loomis said she's working on a comprehensive public service announcement to make sure people know the best ways to avoid being victimized by burglars – especially vehicle burglars.
She warned residents that, ideally, they shouldn't keep valuables in their parked cars. If it's necessary, however, keep them locked in the trunk and out of sight.
Other Placentia Police Department literature warns residents to avoid leaving empty boxes for expensive items out for the trash collector, and a home's blinds closed during the day to avoid home burglaries.
Also, write down all the serial numbers of electronic devices, and take close-up photos of valuable jewelry next to a ruler for perspective. Stow these for use in case of a burglary. They'll help property crimes detectives track the items.
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text: The PRS Paul Reed Smith Mark Tremonti Signature 10 Top is a beautifully crafted instrument with features specified by Mark himself! The PRS Tremonti humbuckers are a little more aggressive to complement his rhythm playing which contains a lot of palm muting. The mahogany neck of the Mark Tremonti Signature features the Pattern Thin profile for great comfort and a fast feel. The beautifully figured flame maple tops of these guitars have PRS's 10 Top designation, which mean they are their best with tight grain and no 'dead spots'. With a classic, resonant voice that is eminently recordable and gig ready, this beauty won't just take everything you've got and keep asking for more, it will do it with unforgettable sound and style. V12 Finish Finish should enhance the look, sound, and feel of a guitar by accentuating the wood's inherent beauty and feel without hindering its natural resonance. 'V12' is a very thin, hard, and clear finish that will not crack or react with thinners. After roughly 12 years in development, it is halfway between acrylic and nitro but with a classic feel all its own. 'PRS models with this new finish feel like old instruments,' said Paul Reed Smith. Pattern Thin Neck Shape Neck shapes have always been a high priority for PRS. A guitar should feel comfortable, like home, as soon as you pick it up, and the neck is paramount to that connection. The Pattern Thin neck is an updated version of PRS's traditional Wide Thin neck. This neck shape reflects modern tooling and programming that allows PRS to even more precisely shape and consistently reproduce their necks.


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Paris (November 9, 2010) — Tasked with the objective to promote a service from Europcar in such a way that it would gain quick awareness and stir interest amongst car owners in France to consider an alternative to car ownership Ogilvy Paris exploited a simple consumer insight in a radical way: owning a car can be a downright pain in the neck. Leveraging an existing local media relationship between Europcar France and popular local radio station NRJ, Ogilvy proposed a content partnership whereby the well-known radio host would provoke discussion with radio callers around the stress or issues related to car ownership. This discussion was further fueled by the host as he dropped news of hearing that there was a movement underway in France whereby cars were being compressed. No mention of the Europcar brand name or service, this important phase of the campaign took place over the period of a concentrated week to establish the identified insight that car ownership can be downright stressful and often difficult and set the necessary stage for what was to come next. Meanwhile, Ogilvy had filmed a series of viral videos that capture a well-orchestrated stunt whereby car owners would park their car, only to return minutes later to find what appears to be their car compressed. After the car owner's disbelief and panic is at its high, the Europcar team come to the car owner's rescue and presents the AutoLiberté subscription offer that allows you to rent a car as you need to, as often as you need to at a preferential price. The series of stunts were filmed and later played out on both the radio station's website NRJ.fr and the NRJ Fan page. Each video is also linked to www.youtube.com/autoliberté and the Europcar AutoLiberté website http://www.autoliberte.fr where engaged parties can find all the information they need on the offer to answer the question for themselves: why be a slave to your car when you have an alternative to ownership.
About Ogilvy & MatherOgilvy & Mather, France is an advertising agency of the Ogilvy Group since 1972 and a part of WPP, one of the largest communication conglomerates in the world. Key clients of Ogilvy France include Louis Vuitton, Dove, Perrier, Ford, IBM, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Duracell, WWF, Vittel. . . among others.
International Press Contact, Ogilvy Paris: Kim Ball +33 673 98 0523
Credits Brand : Europcar Product : Autoliberté French Title : La grande compression Format : 6 films viral, radio, Youtube Channel, Creative Director : Chris Garbutt Art Director : Emmanuel Bougneres Copywriter : Benjamin Dessagne TV producer : Laure Bayle, Antoine Bagot Director : Gustav Johansson Production film : Moonwalk Films Production Sound : Teleski Head of Digital & Brand Content : Frédèric LevronOgilvy Paris Contacts : Natalie Heckel, Delphine Watenberg, Maurin Launay Clients : Laurent Tonnellier, Albane Weil Launch : November 2, 2010
Contact: Kim Ball Date: November 09, 2010 Office: Paris


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Sisters, as we sat around the table having a discussion, regarding what issues are important to black women, of course, it was mentioned breast cancer should not be discussed one time of the year, similar to how AIDS has taken the many lives of black women.
We want you to know in every life of a black woman, breast cancer has attacked someone close to us, whether it was a family member or a close friend. Many of our sisters are gone now…Read full article, here.
Source: Sanctified Church Revolution
We are very sadden by the news of Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of Presidential candidate John Edwards. Elizabeth Edwards discovered her diagnosis after John lost his bid for vice presidency. After going through treatment, the doctors told her she was in remission, but at the start her husband's 2008 presidential campaign Edwards discovered the cancer returned and spread.
Remember, Mrs. Edwards had discovered her husband having an affair with another woman and had a child with her. Their troubled marriage seemed as though it caused her sickness to get worse. We hope John made up for the affair before her death. In February of this year, 2010, it was reported he proposed to his mistress and offered to buy her a $3.5 million dollar beach house, see here.
Breast cancer is a spiritual matter just like any other disease, so if you are not a spiritual individual, please do not waste your time reading this article. For this reason, we must first deal with our spirits, before we can begin to heal. This article is not saying that all women disrespect each other, but there is a high number of women who think nothing of verbally insulting or humiliating another woman, for what ever reason and we must begin search inside our souls to see, if there are things we may have said or done to cause women not to be in unity. Many women who have died may have been the sweetest spirits. There are many women who are dying of breast cancer who are very sweet; however, for many women who have been guilty of not being sweet spirits toward other women have only helped breast cancer to spread at an alarming rate.


text:
what a little embarresment can do
what a little embarresment can do
ok so i went into the gym tonight already was in a pissed off mood. girl situation is a mess, had to mow the lawn b4 going and its like 90 degrees. didnt really have plans for tonight. last day off... i was going to do rack pulls and go and these ppl are doing BO rows on the power rack .
So i said **** it im just regular deadlifting. warmed up did 135 185 225 285 315 then pulled 370? i think it was without straps anyways used the straps for 435... and i pulled it and yelled idk why and then got stuck half way and was like hell no no way im letting it go and i locked it out.. wow seemed like a 3 minute long!
soo pumped for that im getting real close to 455 which i wanted by the end of summer and i still got june july august to go. 7 pounds a month dont seem to hard at all!
just wanted to brag a bit but mostly say thanks to everyone for the help around here cheers. - 05-23-2009, 08:23 AM
You must have been in the zone if you don't know if you were using straps or not. Ugg pissed off. Ugg lift heavy things.
370 is f*cking strong weighing 170, keep it up. I'm afraid to ask, but how was form? Did you rock and roll to lock out or did your feet dig a little deeper into the floor?
What's wrong with rows in the rack?
Don't drink the haterade on BO Rows, save it for curls in the rack."I am legally blind and if I can Squat,deadlift and over all get myself to the gym then anyone can get their a$$ in gear and get strong!!" - malleus25
i was hating on the rows in the rack its just that lik 5 ppl were rotating in and out and it took forever for them to finish lol... and i meant i couldnt remember if i went 370 or 375... i didnt use straps i used straps for the 435 i needed em lol.. but without strap max and chalk im only like 10 pounds lower.
Solid lift man. You should be pulling 455 in no time.
(Btw, rack holds work magic on grip strength. Especially since your strap vs. non-strap lifts are in 10 lbs range)
That's what is great about the gym, imo. No matter what sh*t is going on in your life, when you're there it's only you and the weights. - 05-23-2009, 07:08 PM
i love the weights man its like how football players feel every sunday.. i workout its the biggest adranline rush when im lifting esp max effort days.. when its over all i can think bout is the next workout.. i love. no girls will ever keep me out the weight room thats for damn sure.
Lifting is definitely awesome therapy. You have those ****ty days the woman is pissing you off. I just go in, put on some metal and an hour later I feel great. **** paying some head shrink


text:
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The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
The world is full of possibilities. The problem is that most of them look much less attractive than they are.
Consider four different bets, progressively riskier. To make the question easier to relate to I have based it on drawing cards from a pack, but think of equivalent bets you could take in your business:
- Bet $100 dollars on drawing a red card, to win $500
- Bet $100 on drawing a heart, to win $1,100
- Bet $100 on drawing a king, to win $3,800
- Bet $100 on drawing the ace of spades, to win $15,500
When I present these to audiences and ask them to tell me if they think their organisations would be attracted to investment projects with these risk profiles, I always find that the riskier the bet, the fewer the takers.
The funny thing is that although in one sense these bets are very different, in another sense they are all exactly the same. You would be unlikely to notice it unless you were are trader, a professional poker player or a slightly obsessive ex-mathematician like me, but these four propositions are all the same in that the average return (the "expected value" in mathematical language) is exactly twice the stake. That is to say that, provided you play enough times, all four will produce the same result.
It is really hard to see this, because of the psychology of risk. As we look at the riskier bets we are much more likely to pay attention to the increasing risk of failure than to the increasing value of success. Mathematically the size of the reward increases enough to make each riskier bet as attractive as the previous one, but we don't calculate risks and rewards mathematically. We weigh them psychologically, and the psychological weight of the increased risk of failure is far more than the weight of the increased return, so the "riskier" bet seems less attractive.
Think how this would apply to your organisation. Suppose that historically you have been comfortable with investment projects which offer a 75% chance of success and where success means a return of three times the investment. This means that on average you double your money. But the world changes, and there aren't any projects available with a 75% of success which offer a return of three times your money in the event of success.
So what do you do? Most often you will continue looking from projects which offer a 75% chance of success, and take the best available even if they don't offer the same return. An alternative, much better approach, would be to start looking for projects with say a 50% chance of success. If these offer a return of 5 times if successful, then you still on average double your money.
If you find your world becoming more volatile and uncertain, you will need to start looking at relatively "riskier" propositions. This has several consequences that I will be talking about in future posts, but the biggest change required will probably be in the way you deal with failure. You will still win the same amount on average, but you will fail more often.


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Battle.net Leagues
Note: Much of this article is based on empirical research and scattered Blue posts, so there might be errors and inaccuracies.
The Battle.net Leagues are SC2's replacement to SC1's ladders and are Blizzard's official player ranking system. There are currently seven Leagues, each divided into numerous divisions as well as a Practice League for rookies.
League Descriptions[edit]
Icon | Name | WoL Target[1] | HotS Target[2] | LotV Target[3] | Current Size (not necessarily active players)[4] |
Grandmaster | 1000 players | 1000 players | 1000 Players | 787 players | |
Master | 2% | 2% | 4% | 10.82% | |
Diamond | 18% | 18% | 23% | 34.07% | |
Platinum | 20% | 20% | 23% | 20.05% | |
Gold | 20% | 32% | 23% | 17.50% | |
Silver | 20% | 20% | 23% | 13.82% | |
Bronze | 20% | 8% | 4% | 2.69% |
Ranked from the lowest to the highest, the Leagues are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master and Grandmaster. The Copper league, which was formerly below Bronze, was removed in favor of Diamond in beta patch 13. The Master League was added with patch 1.2, and the Grandmaster League was added in 1.3.
Players are placed in a league after having completed 5 placement matches. After that, a player may get moved to another league, depending on performance. Though the time and frequency of these movements are kept explicitly hidden. Regardless of a player's performance, however, placement matches currently do not place players in the highest league, Grandmaster. With even a perfect placement record, a player must work their way through the initial placement division(s) before being placed in Grandmaster.
There are numerous divisions within each League, with each division being composed of up to 100 players. The name of each division is made up of a word from Starcraft terminology, and a letter from the ICAO phonetic alphabet, such as Gold League/ Division Zeratul Juliet.[5] The process of matchmaking is based solely on MMR and not on a player's division or league. This means players will often face opponents from other divisions, and may face opponents from different leagues. Players do not usually move from one division to another within the same league, though it is technically possible for a player to manually leave their division, and happen to be placed back into the same division.
Prior to Season 9, leagues below Master were subdivided into narrow skill ranges called division tiers.[6] The purpose of these tiers was to normalize displayed point ranges across a league via modifying point totals with fixed offsets. The lower the skill level of a tier, the larger the hidden point offset. Season 9 removed[7] division tiers, thereby widening the player pool for any given division in a league. As a result, points after Season 9 can be compared across divisions (but still not across leagues). Aggregators such as SC2Ranks.com can be used to compare points within a league over an entire region.
Grandmaster League[edit]
Grandmaster league was added in patch 1.3 for 1v1 only.[8] This league represents the Top 200 players in each region. Players are automatically drafted into the Grandmaster League shortly after a new season starts, and will remain in the Grandmaster League (unless removed for inactivity) until the end of the season. To enter the Grandmaster League:
- There needs to be an open slot within the ladder.
- A player need to be in the top 200 players according to a rolling average of their skill rating.
- A player's unused bonus pool must be less than 90.
If a Grandmaster player's available bonus points gets higher than 180 due to inactivity, they will be automatically removed from the league and a replacement player will be drafted in. This means Grandmaster players can't get more than one weeks behind which is equivalent to roughly 30 games.[9] (At an average of 12 bonus pool spent per game, 180 bonus pool would be spent after 15 games.)
Practice League[edit]
The Practice League is separate from the rest of the ladder, which allows new players to practice multiplayer matches prior to their placement matches. Practice league is completely optional. Players may conduct up to 50 matches in Practice league, which uses a special "novice version" of the ladder maps. The novice versions differ from the standard version as they include additional destructible rocks in rushing paths to slow the game down. This provides early game protection for newer players, which affords them time to explore and learn both the interface and game. Additionally, the game speed in Practice League is "Normal" instead of "Faster". After 50 matches, regardless of whether a player wins or loses, all players will progress to their placement matches for the competitive leagues.
You cannot initiate 3v3 or 4v4 if you are in the Practice League. But you can play 2v2 with a friend, even if they are in a higher league. Moreover, you can join friends in 3v3 or 4v4 if one of those friends are not in Practice League and if he or she is the group leader. When you play with your out-of-Practice League friends, those games will count towards your limit towards 50 games in Practice League. Consequently, you can play all of your Practice League games with non-Practice League settings if you play them with a group leader who is out of Practice League.
"The other thing we're introducing is a casual league. It will work just like the regular league, except it doesn't do a bunch of ladder stats, so you don't have to worry about your rank and where you are. It'll be at a slower game speed setting, so it will be what you're used to from the campaign, and it will be on a bunch of maps that are anti-rush -- that are designed specifically to prevent rushing. Now, I can't promise you that you won't die at minute six -- you could be minding your own business and here comes a fleet of Banshees and, "Aaauugh! I'm dead!" -- but you won't die in minute two. I can promise you that. You'll at least have a chance to get your feet wet and experience some of the tech tree before you get rolled." (Quote by Dustin Browder - lead game designer)
Using the Practice League as a rookie is discussed controversial, regarding forum posts and other people's opinion. It is often suggested (in forums) to skip the Practice League, because rush and All-In strategies are part of the game. On the other hand getting better mechanics is a fundamental part of improving your skills. Solid mechanics and good macro will help you to climb the Ladder. As a rookie, you can concentrate on your mechanics more easily, if you play more slowly. And to develop solid mechanics is important to improve in SC2.
Ladder Points[edit]
Players are ranked within their division based on their Points. The function of points is to determine a player's rank within their division. After having completed their placement matches, players start out with 0 points. The number of ladder points is only weakly correlated to skill. Especially if players have unspent bonus pool, ladder points tend to measure activity level much more strongly than performance.
Promotion Levels from Season 4[edit]
On November 15, 2011, Blizzard released a chart for season 4 explaining the point cutoffs required to almost be guaranteed a promotion.[10] This chart is a rough estimation of the number of points necessary to go from the bottom end of one league to the bottom of the next-highest league. The charts also contain information for team formats and for all regions. Note that this chart reflects the Wings of Liberty ladder, and no such chart has been published for Heart of the Swarm, where the league populations, bonus pool accrual rate, and season length are different.
2011 Blizzard Wings of Liberty Chart (Points including Bonus Pool, assumes an 8-week season) | |||||||
North America | 1v1 | 2v2 Random | 2v2 Arranged | 3v3 Random | 3v3 Arranged | 4v4 Random | 4v4 Arranged |
Bronze to Silver | 1200 | 1100 | 1000 | 1000 | 900 | 1000 | 900 |
Silver to Gold | 800 | 800 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 |
Gold to Platinum | 800 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 600 |
Platinum to Diamond | 800 | 800 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 |
Diamond to Master | 900 | 900 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 700 |
Master to near Grandmaster | 1400 |
Earning and Losing Points[edit]
You earn or lose points by winning or losing matches, respectively. To simplify how it works in practice[11]:
y = (+/-)12 + x + z
- "y" : the total number of points
- "x" : the relative expected skill level between one player's points and the other's MMR (can be negative, calculated independently per player)
- "z" : the points you get from your bonus pool
=> "x" is a value in the interval of [-12,12], positive numbers are when your opponent is favored
- if the game says you are even, "x" is part of {-2,-1,0,1,2}
- if it says your opponent is slightly favored, then "x" is part of {3,4,5,6,7}
- if it says your opponent is favored, then "x" is part of {8,9,10,11,12}
(of course, if you are the slightly/favored player, then "x" is negative, which means you will lose more or win less than 12 points)
"z" will be greater than zero when your bonus pool is > 0. In which case z = 12 + x, permitted you have enough points in your bonus pool.
As of Patch 2.0.4, Players no longer lose points immediately. When a game is lost, points are subtracted from the bonus pool of the player.
After a player is promoted or demoted into a different league, points are always reset to 73 + spent bonus pool.[12] Because of this, bonus points earned are never lost when changing leagues.
Bonus Pool[edit]
The Bonus Pool is the sum of all "bonus points" a player can get, which are added to the rating points a player earns after a victory or, in the case of a defeat, points are deducted from the bonus pool rather than the player's ladder points. The Bonus Pool serves two purposes: to encourage players to play games so their points are always trending upward, and as a global decay mechanism since all players have equal access to the same amount of Bonus Pool.
Players receive Bonus Pool points at a set rate per league. Before Season 3, all players received points at the Master league (original) rate. Season 3 introduced a separate accrual rate for leagues below Master. A player joining StarCraft freshly after the start of a season instantly receives the Bonus Pool as if he started at day 1 of the Season. (Example: Master League Player 1 joins on week 3 after the beginning of the Season he will receive a Bonus Pool of (180*3) 540 Points instantly after finishing his Placement Match.)
League | Time per 1 Bonus Pool | Bonus Pool per Week |
Grandmaster | 56 minutes | 180 |
Master | 56 minutes | 180 |
Diamond | 96 minutes, 3 seconds | 104.4 |
Platinum | 96 minutes, 3 seconds | 104.4 |
Gold | 96 minutes, 3 seconds | 104.4 |
Silver | 96 minutes, 3 seconds | 104.4 |
Bronze | 96 minutes, 3 seconds | 104.4 |
Arranged 2v2 teams receive Bonus Pool at 66% the rate of 1v1. Arranged 3v3 and 4v4 teams receive Bonus Pool at 33% the 1v1 rate. This change was made in Patch 1.3 to make it easier to spend Bonus Pool on arranged teams, because of the logistics of having to play with the same teammates every time. Random 2v2/3v3/4v4 uses the standard 1v1 Bonus Pool accrual rate because those game modes can be played whenever the individual player decides to queue.[13]
Bonus pool accrual rates have been tuned for team matchmaking modes to make them more competitive:[14]
- 1v1: no change
- Random Team: 50% reduction
- Arranged Team: 75% reduction
- Archon Mode: 75% reduction
Matchmaking Rating[edit]
Performance is measured via hidden MMR rating, very much like the WoW Arena Matchmaking System. This rating decides which opponents a player will meet, and tries to quantify their skill level. The aim of the MMR is to rank players in such a way that they have a roughly 50% win ratio when paired against those of similar MMR. When a player's MMR climbs above a certain value, they will be promoted into the next league.
Each play-season the visible points will be reset, while the hidden skill rating, MMR, stays intact.[15] Accurately measuring the hidden MMR of a player is difficult. One useful approximation is adjusted points, or points without factoring in Bonus Pool. Find a player in a division who has not spent any bonus pool (they have 0 points and minimal matches played) to get the max accumulated bonus pool so far, and deduct a player's displayed points from that number to find their adjusted points. The fewer the Bonus Pool remaining for a player, the more accurate their adjusted points are, and effectively the more accurate their skill level. A player with high points but negative adjusted points, for example, should not be surprised if he is demoted next season because a majority of his points originated from spent Bonus Pool.
There also is a value "sigma" that measures how uncertain the system is of a player's MMR. This is usually high if a player has not played many games recently, or if they are on a winning or losing streak. Sigma is used to calculate how wide a player's search range should be, and by extension how much their MMR will change as a result of playing rating-distant opponents (i.e. for Bayesian inference).
For more information on Blizzard's MMR system, see:
- Microsoft's TrueSkill rating, which is quite similar.
- Former Blizzard designer Josh Menke's lecture on Blizzard MMR at the University of California.
- Josh Menke's presentation at Blizzcon 2010.
League MMR Ranges[edit]
In Patch 3.4, as part of the Ladder Revamp, Blizzard made numerous changes to the ladder system. MMR is now visible for players, each ladder league below Grandmaster is split into three tiers, and the post-game screen now shows specific information about a player's current skill rating, how close they are to the next tier, and the upper and lower limits of their current ladder tier.
The MMR boundaries are based on a prior distribution from the previous season, and during each season roll, the values are recalculated for the upcoming season.
League | MMR Floor | |||||
Master | ||||||
1 | 5301 - 5531 | 5304 - 5556 | 5798 | |||
2 | 5071 | 4976 | 5339 | |||
3 | 4840 | 4800 | 4880 | |||
Diamond | ||||||
1 | 4533 | 4493 | 4560 | |||
2 | 4227 | 4187 | 4240 | |||
3 | 3920 | 3880 | 3920 | |||
Platinum | ||||||
1 | 3787 | 3747 | 3800 | |||
2 | 3653 | 3613 | 3680 | |||
3 | 3520 | 3480 | 3560 | |||
Gold | ||||||
1 | 3400 | 3360 | 3453 | |||
2 | 3280 | 3240 | 3347 | |||
3 | 3160 | 3120 | 3240 | |||
Silver | ||||||
1 | 2947 | 2907 | 3053 | |||
2 | 2733 | 2693 | 2867 | |||
3 | 2520 | 2480 | 2680 | |||
Bronze | ||||||
1 | 2289 | 2228 | 2221 | |||
2 | 2059 | 1976 | 1762 | |||
3 | 1828 | 1724 | 1303 |
Decay and Persistence[edit]
In Heart of the Swarm, if a player did not play any matches for an extended period of time, their MMR would decay, or automatically decrease. The details of the system are unknown, but it appears to be a linear decay,[17] and Blizzard has confirmed that decay begins after 2 weeks of inactivity, and decay stops after 4 weeks of inactivity.[18] MMR persists from one season to the next for each game type, as long as a Seasonal Placement Match was played for that season. If a Seasonal Placement Match was not played last season, then MMR and uncertainty are both reset to their default values and the system effectively "forgets" about that player. A special note about this, though: Random Team MMR is linked with 1v1 MMR, which means that if no 1v1 games were played last season, but Random Team games were played, a player's 1v1 MMR would not be reset at the start of the next season.
MMR decay was removed in April 2015.[19]
2v2 Mechanics[edit]
Every arranged pair of 2v2 players is given a single rating. So players A+B's team will have a ranking completely unrelated to players A+C's team. In 2v2 random match-ups, an average rating of the two players will be compared to their opponents rating. This rule presumably applies for 3v3 and 4v4 as well.
Starcraft II ladder is divided into several seasons per year, and the final results are generally recorded at the end of a season.
See also[edit]
- ↑ TL: SC2 Master League Information
- ↑ Battle.net: Heart of the Swarm League Percentages
- ↑ Battle.net: Patch 3.4 - The StarCraft II Ladder Revamp
- ↑ "Rankedftw homepage". Retrieved 4 Nov 2016.
- ↑ Battlenet: Overview
- ↑ SC2 Ladder Analysis: Division Tiers
- ↑ Season 9 Changes Announcement
- ↑ Battlenet: Patch 1.3.0 Now Live
- ↑ Battlenet: Grandmaster League Preview and FAQ
- ↑ Climbing the Ladder: How to Earn a League Promotion
- ↑ TL: An incomplete guide to bnet 2.0 ranking system
- ↑ SC2 Master League Information
- ↑ Excalibur_Z's Comprehensive Ladder Guide
- ↑ Battle.net: Patch 3.4
- ↑ StarCraft II Secrets of the Masters
- ↑ . http://sc2unmasked.com/.
- ↑ Excalibur_Z (20 Sep 2013). "Ladder Deflation and MMR Decay". Team Liquid Forums. Retrieved 21 Mar 2014.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment (18 Dec 2013). "Situation Report: The StarCraft II Multiplayer Ladder". Battle.net. Retrieved 22 Mar 2014.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment (27 Apr 2015). "StarCraft II Ladder Update -- April 27, 2015". Battle.net. Retrieved 4 Dec 2015.


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A note of caution to online advertisers: That flood of Web users seemingly based in Vietnam may not simply be the result of a vibrant emerging economy coming online. According to new research from advertising traffic analysis firm Anchor Intelligence, it's more likely a sign of click fraudsters routing their scams through the country's growing number of hijacked PCs.
A report Anchor published Thursday shows that nearly half of all the advertising clicks coming from Vietnam are composed of fraudulent traffic aimed at inflating online publishers' advertising revenue, according to an analysis of billions of clicks a month on its clients' advertising networks. While the U.S. still tops the report's ranking as a source of sheer volume of fraudulent clicks, followed by Canada and the U.K., Vietnam shows an unprecedented ratio of criminal to innocent clicks. Fully 48% of the country's clicks are fraudulent, according to the report, compared with 28% of U.S. clicks and 26% of those originating in Canada.
Richard Sims, Anchor's vice president for products, suggests that the high rate of fraud coming from Vietnam is likely a result of the country's growing online population mixed with a lax security environment. That's made their PCs easy prey for international cybercriminals who use malicious software to infect PCs, turning them into click fraud "zombies." "Vietnam has a lot of PCs and Internet service providers with outdated software and other vulnerabilities," Sims says. "It's likely that users running Windows 98 on their machine have been infected with malware so that while they might be sleeping, their machines are still engaging in click fraud."
Data from the Shadowserver Foundation, a group that tracks PC infections worldwide, backs up that notion of Vietnam's high rate of infections. According to Shadowserver researcher Andre DiMino, Vietnam's number of detectable signals from the Conficker worm, a piece of malicious software that has spread to millions of computers worldwide, has increased 100-fold since January, putting it fifth in the ranking of total number of Conficker infections behind Brazil, Russia, India and China, despite Vietnam's relatively small population.
Anchor's data on the overall trends in click fraud are somewhat murkier. While the Anchor study claims that ad networks are experiencing a 22.9% attempted click fraud rate this quarter, up from 21.7% last quarter, another study released Thursday by click fraud trackers Click Forensics writes that click fraud has decreased to 12.7% from 13.8% in the first quarter, a discrepancy that Anchor chalks up to methodology and the definition of a fraudulent click.
Whether or not click fraud is on the rise, it's certainly on online giants' radars. Last month
See Also:


text:
taxes Archives
3 Tax Tips for 2017
Dale A. Walters, a CPA who is one of the leaders at KeatsConnelly, offers these tax tips for 2017: 1. Be aware that a number of tax forms have new filing deadlines. Key deadline changes under the new law, which took effect Jan. 1 are: Partnership (Form 1065): New deadline March 15 (a month earlier)… Read More →
Arizona regulations, taxes boost economic outlook
Lower taxes, fewer regulations and right-to-work laws helped push Arizona toward the top of a report this week ranking states on their economic outlook. The annual "Rich States, Poor States" study, released Tuesday by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, put Arizona in fifth place for the second year in a row in its report… Read More →
How to boost your tax returns
Thanks to Emancipation Day, everyone gets an extra three days to file their taxes for 2015. So, why not spend those extra three days productively? Jon Frutkin, principal at Frutkin Law Firm, has three quick and easy tips, one for each extra day, that you can follow to lower your taxes. Expand your home office deduction: Many… Read More →
Flinn Foundation names Stacy Tucker new CFO
The Flinn Foundation named Stacy L. Tucker as its new vice president and CFO, a position responsible for overseeing the Foundation's investment, financial, accounting and business activities. Tucker, who joined the Foundation in early March, also is responsible for financial reporting, auditing, budgeting, internal controls, insurance, employee benefits and the preparation of annual tax returns… Read More →
Tips for filing your 2015 tax returns
For many, the oncoming tax season can be stressful, overwhelming, and even confusing, especially as the April 18th deadline draws nearer. From deductions to exemptions, there are many items to consider when filing a 2015 return, leaving plenty of room for errors and costly mistakes. That is why proper organization and proactive planning are necessary in order… Read More →
"Joggings" Are Happening AND are Actually Pretty Cool
While it may not be socially acceptable to take a jog in jeans, one of the trends for men and women this fall/winter season is bending the rules. Jog jeans, a unique fusion of not only style and comfort but of design and denim, are the perfect medium for anyone deciding which pair to wear:… Read More →
Taxes and The Defense of Marriage Act
In their recent decision, the Supreme Court found that a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violated the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution as applied to same sex couples legally wedded under state law. The decision means that same-sex married couples will now enjoy many federal tax-related… Read More →
Despite Fiscal Cliff deal, taxes will rise for most
While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013. That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012,… Read More →
Avoiding the fiscal cliff
The Obama administration and House Republicans have unveiled their opening offers in talks to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. Details are scant but the White House estimates its plan would carve $4.4 trillion from the deficit over the coming decade, including previously enacted cuts ($1 trillion) and savings from reduced costs for overseas military operations… Read More →
Go Green With Government Tax Incentives
The increased cost of energy, the country's dependence on foreign oil and the environmental impact of current energy use have inspired many companies to "go green." Federal and state governments are expanding tax credits, tax incentives and grant programs to create economic incentives to help companies produce and/or use energy from renewable sources. Here are… Read More →


text:
There really are very few true surprises in life, but one of the biggest — and most memorable — has to be the day you found out you were pregnant. Whether you were trying, it was a surprise, or somewhere in between, the news is still exciting!
One of the best parts about finding out you're pregnant is that you, and only you, have the honor of telling your partner the big news. And since it's a moment both of you will want to remember forever — and your child is bound to ask you at some point how you told Daddy — why not make that story more interesting by having a little harmless fun? These moms-to-be certainly did.
I've rounded up some of the funniest and most unexpected ways to tell your partner you are pregnant. Click through to check them out!
How did you tell your partner the news?
Read more from Devan on Accustomed Chaos & Unspoken Grief
Follow Devan on Facebook and Twitter for all updates!


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Journal Article
Review: A Democracy of Facts: Natural History in the Early Republic by Andrew J. Lewis
Reviewed Work:
A Democracy of Facts: Natural History in the Early Republic
by Andrew J. Lewis
Review by:
Emily Pawley
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
Vol. 137, No. 3 (July 2013), pp. 332-333
Published by: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
DOI: 10.5215/pennmaghistbio.137.3.0332
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5215/pennmaghistbio.137.3.0332
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HAC estimation in spatial panels
We propose a HAC estimator for the covariance matrix of the fixed effects estimator in a panel data model with unobserved fixed effects and errors that are both serially and spatially correlated.
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Volume (Year): 117 (2012)
Issue (Month): 1 ()
Pages: 60-65
Handle: | RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:117:y:2012:i:1:p:60-65 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.04.006 |
Contact details of provider: | Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet |
References listed on IDEAS
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- Joris Pinkse & Margaret E. Slade & Craig Brett, 2002. "Spatial Price Competition: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(3), pages 1111-1153, May.
- John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
- Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014.
"A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix,"
Applied Econometrics,
Publishing House "SINERGIA PRESS", vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
- Newey, Whitney K & West, Kenneth D, 1987. "A Simple, Positive Semi-definite, Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance Matrix," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(3), pages 703-708, May.
- Whitney K. Newey & Kenneth D. West, 1986. "A Simple, Positive Semi-Definite, Heteroskedasticity and AutocorrelationConsistent Covariance Matrix," NBER Technical Working Papers 0055, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Kelejian, Harry H. & Prucha, Ingmar R., 2007. "HAC estimation in a spatial framework," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 131-154, September.
- Conley, T. G., 1999. "GMM estimation with cross sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-45, September.
- White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
- Harry H. Kelejian & Ingmar R. Prucha, 1997.
"A Generalized Spatial Two Stage Least Squares Procedure for Estimating a Spatial Autoregressive Model with Autoregressive Disturbances,"
Electronic Working Papers
97-002, University of Maryland, Department of Economics, revised Aug 1997.
- Kelejian, Harry H & Prucha, Ingmar R, 1998. "A Generalized Spatial Two-Stage Least Squares Procedure for Estimating a Spatial Autoregressive Model with Autoregressive Disturbances," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 99-121, July.
- Ullah, Aman, 2004. "Finite Sample Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198774488.
- Bester, C. Alan & Conley, Timothy G. & Hansen, Christian B., 2011. "Inference with dependent data using cluster covariance estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 165(2), pages 137-151.
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text:
Can ya see my massive paws? I got thumbs I tell ya! |
Mittens Speaks!
24 comments:
Nice to meet you! I've often wished I had thumbs, since humans seem to make such a big deal out of them.
If I were you, I'd be a little careful making friends with the humans of the house. Once they think you are down with them, you will never be able to get away from that confounded flashy box.I found your site on BlogCatalog and would love to include it on PostZoom.com
PostZoom is a directory of the best blog posts which helps consumers find great blog posts and blog owners drive more traffic to their blog.
If you are interested in joining, please visit http://postzoom.com/register.aspx (yes, it's completely free).
Eric Castelli
PostZoomHow do you do Mr Mittens. I'm charmed to meet you and your mighty poly paws. Now I had the impression that you were a lost sort of soul, homeless et al. But I see you are mighty, muscled up and rather glossy. So dear chap, I give you many props for convincing the LOTH and MOTH otherwise, ensuring they provide you with regular vittles.
Toodle Pip
(and keep yer fat paws off MY Fin)
Whicky Wuudler


text: Last Night's Winner: Steeler PrideDashiell Bennett4/13/10 9:45amFiled to: Last night's winnerPittsburgh SteelersBen RoethlisbergerTerry BradshawJeff ReedNfl41EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalinkIn sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like the good of people of Pittsburgh, who don't stand for miscreants, rabble rousers, or hippies. Plus, their heroes very rarely get charged with crimes.AdvertisementLost in yesterday's madness about whether Ben Roethlisberger did or didn't leave his DNA in some stranger—you can't prove anything!—is the fact that teammate Jeff "The Situation" Reed also escaped serious punishment for his run-in with the law last fall. Unless you consider 40 hours of community service with the Salvation Army to be serious punishment. A judge agreed to drop resisting arrest and assault charges against Reed as long as he puts in his used clothes selling time and doesn't punch any cops. Still worse than what the QB got, but I guess he'll take it.So I guess that wraps everything up in a nice and tidy package. Or it will, once someone asks Matt Bahr what he thinks of the current Steelers place kicker. You see, the only opinion that really matters in this life is the opinion of the guy who had the same job title you did 30 years ago. It may have been a long time since Terry Bradshaw stopped being the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but his opinions about groupies are still relevant. And if he's not happy with Ben Roethlisberger's attitude, well ... actually, I'm not sure why that matters.Advertisement(You know what? I just remembered that Terry Bradshaw is the guy who helps explain football to America every Sunday morning during the season. The guy from Hooper!)As for Santonio Holmes, well ... he won't be bothering Western Pennsylvania anymore will he? Terry's still grumpy, no one is going to jail, and America's most morally upright sports franchise remains unblemished. UNBLEMISHED. No wonder I slept so soundly.[Image via]Reply41 repliesLeave a reply


text:
Posted on 10/15/2011 2:31:21 PM PDT by Just4Him
Actor Sean Penn says the Tea Party wants to lynch President Obama, launching the latest celebrity attack on the conservative grassroots movement that has grown into a political force.
During an interview with CNNs Piers Morgan on Friday in which Penn rambled about the need for more infrastructure spending, affordable health care, bolder actions from President Obama and an end to the Afghanistan war all in the same answer -- he segued into whats wrong with the Tea Party.
And yet theres another problem. You have what I call the get the N-word out of the White House party, the Tea Party, he said.
Asked about fellow actor Morgan Freemans claim that the Tea Party just wants to get the black man out a claim that he made on the same show last month Penn said, I dont think theres any doubt about it.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
All that dope screwed up Spicoli for life.
Nope. Just want to give his current job to an adult.
Sean Penn is an idiot. Shut up and act. Hmmmm... never mind, just shut the hell up!!
Lynch him no; get him out of the WH, YES!!!!!
Hey Sean, have u taken a look at the Occupy Wall Street protestors lately..seen an awful lot of white folk in there
I'd pay for this guy's one way ticket to Venezuela, they can keep him
We just want to fire him for doing a lousy job.
I wouldn't waste the rope.
However, deportation to his native Africa.....
Maybe Sean likes all that Jew hating?
Maybe you're a racist Nazi, Sean?
Isn't Sean a millionaire/billionaire who needs to spread his wealth around more?
Per SOP the drug addled little punk gets it wrong again.
As a TEA "party" guy, I don't know anyone that wants any harm at all to come to that narcissistic little Marxist bastard, Ubama. No, Sir!
Rather, I (and many others, I'm sure) want to see him lose his re-election bid in 2012 on a historic and epic scale. I (speaking for myself, naturally) want to see him escorted out of OUR White House and be forced to watch as a real and patriotic administration cleans up the mess that he left behind. I want him to witness first hand the way that Americans show the world that we are, without any doubt, an exceptional country and people.
Then it will be more than satisfying to see his name become synonymous with failure and disgrace.
No, Spicoli, its "Get the M-word (Marxist) out of the White House."
Obama is a Narxist???
Isn't it strange how liberals keep telling us Zero is black?
This is what happens when you suck at being an actor.
He's been hitting the bottle again....
Birds of a feather.
I must be tired. I thought I saw Sean Penn wants to have lunch with 0bama.
HUMMM, I guess Chavez gave him his marching orders.
Doesn't this dillweed have a boat to bail out somewhere?
*rolling eyes* Sean, aren't you supposed to be in France or Tibet, or somewhere?
Sean's projecting again....
Maybe to Uganda when the (Christian) Lord's Revolutionary Army cleans out all of the militant Islamists now running that cesspool.
I really wonder what our special ops guys are thinking to themselves.
Penn is bonkers.
I'd want the communist out regardless of the color of his stupid skin.
This creeps are going to be spinning like whirling dervishes if we get Cain elected.
Yes the Tea Party has come up with a Brilliant plant to get the "Black man" out of the White House. Defeat him and put in Herman Cain.....Oh Wait. (It will be sickening to see the hypocrite Media Racism that will be launched at Cain.) Meanwhile Spicoli.. Haiti is still a mess why aren't you doing more to help?? Do you hate Black People??? LOL
That's the same Tea Party that is starting to come behind Herman Cain who is more genuinely black than Barak Obama.
Only if that N-WORD is NARCISSIST.
Another rich white poseur heard from on the alleged racism of those awful middleclass people he'd never want to be mistaken for.
I consider Obama a white man. Why does Sean Penn consider a pigmentation gene of a white man born of a white mother as lesser of a person by referring to him negatively as black is just wrong.
After all, Barack came into this world between the milky white legs of his mother and was raised as a child by a white grandmother and white grandfather. Why all the race talk about our dark skinned white president? answer...because Sean Penn is a racist.
Penn and all his liberal friends just can't get past obama's skin color. Who's the racist?
Why waste the energy...Obama is doing a good job of hanging himself.
This is the kind of stuff you get when really stupid people try to look smart to impress their equally stupid friends. I will say one thing for Shawn, he doesn't have to worry about losing his looks. If you have a famous relative in Hollywood, even an uggo can become a "star". (See also Cage, Nicholas)
Just damn, I have been to a few Tea Parties. I haven't got that memo yet.
Wonder where the idiot Penn got it from. Hugo Chavez?
Has Penn been to any Tea Parties ever?
Just think, he used to date ScarJoh.
If Penn actually thinks that the large number of people who support the Tea Party would seek to lynch a black man, then it says volumes more about him than it does about those who are part of the Tea Party.
Was he high, drunk or just being a moron when he said it?
Sean (or whomever you are inside), think what a great thing it would be for you to send your entire wealth to the IRS. Boy, then you would have us by the short hairs wouldn't you. I mean, putting your money where your rhetoric is would be so much more convincing than vacationing with Hugo and so on. So just do it and then I will believe that you are sincere ... waiting ...
Some of us would rather "lynch" him!
I don't want to lynch Obama, but I do want him in jail for the Murder of 200 Mexicans and One Border Patrol Agent that we know of.
I want his fundraising for the 2008 campaign audited.
So people will know Fox has to report what they said because no one watches Piers Morgan on CNN!
Post of the week!
I support Herman Cain as the 2012 Republican nominee and intend to vote for him. If Cain, on his considerable merits, wins the primary race and becomes the Republican nominee, the fact that he is black will effectively negate the ridiculous charge of 'racism' against the tea party, which enthusiastically backs Cain. I can't wait.
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text:
Silicon Beach Startups Spawn From the Ashes of MySpace 44
McGruber writes "The NY Times reports how the alumni of distant also-ran social network Myspace have created an impressive number of spinoff internet companies. These companies have so significantly changed the Los Angeles area's tech scene that the area has been dubbed the 'Silicon Beach.' The article also provides details about the demise of Myspace under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. When YouTube launched in February 2005, many at Myspace wanted to introduce a similar feature. Travis Katz, who had joined Myspace as general manager of international business just after the acquisition, said he remembered telling News Corporation representatives that they would need to hire 40 developers immediately and 200 the next year. 'That was much faster than anything they were accustomed to,' Mr. Katz said. 'They said, "We're going to do a hiring freeze for six months and take a deep breath and determine then what we really need." But we couldn't wait six months. In six months, YouTube went from two million to 80 million users.'"