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Churchs Chicken plans to bring back a short-lived menu item just weeks before larger rival KFC debuts a much-anticipated sandwich line. The AFC Enterprises division will launch a boneless chicken breast sandwich to take advantage of an expected heavy ad blitz from KFC Corp.
"Overall media attention to a specific type of product can stimulate demand for everyone," said Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for Churchs.
He declined to provide details about the sandwich, and said the company has no plans to make it a permanent menu addition.
KFC's long-anticipated, five-item sandwich line is being eyed as more than a limited-time offer. The chain, a unit of Tricon Global Restaurants, seeks to boost lunch business and grab chicken sandwich sales from burger chains.
Y&R Advertising, New York, is handling. KFC spent $161 million last year on advertising, according to Competitive Media Reporting.
Churchs' product will be supported with TV and radio ads in spot markets.-the last creative from Austin Kelley Advertising, Atlanta.
Following a two-month review, Churchs last week tapped Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York, to handle creative duties, and Carat North America, New York, to handle media planning and buying for its $15 million account.
Austin Kelley had handled the entire account for the past 19 months and was a finalist in the review. Other creative finalists were Lowe & Partners/SMS, New York, and Merkley Newman Harty, also New York, in partnership with Bayless Cronin, Atlanta. Western Initiative Media Worldwide, Atlanta, also pitched for the media business.
The review, handled in-house, was initiated by Mr. Haley, who joined Churchs last spring from Foodmaker, parent of the Jack in the Box burger chain. He said Freeman's winning pitch likely will be used in its first work for Churchs.
"Their creative was really exceptional, coupled with the fact they've had a great track record," he said. The shop, well-known for its humorous fast-food work for Little Caesars pizza, proved it would "create appetite appeal for the product."
The new agency comes as AFC, also parent to Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, Cinnabon International and Seattle Coffee Co., positions itself for an expected initial public offering of stock in the next year.
"It sounds like they are definitely dressing up" for the IPO, said Mitchell


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subset: commoncrawl


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Cave Hollywood is a music and entertainment destination where you can find music industry insider interviews with legends in rock n roll, jazz and country, or anything using an instrument!
Get cool merchandise, cool music CDs, music downloads, cool t-shirts and more at The Hollywood Tiki Hut.
The Soul Kitchen Connection features stories and interviews of the rock n roll famous (and infamous) from one of the most renown rock journalists.
Cavemania! Combining the musical worlds of punk, rock n roll, jazz, new media technologies and entertainment, David Kessel has set out to combine all of these fascinating elements into documented stories and conversations.
The Hollywood Tiki Lounge features great new music from some of today's great new artists. Take a tour, learn about the artists and listen to some of their tunes and also watch their videos!
Cave Paintings: We've hung out with some pretty famous faces and put them all in one place. Check out some of our historic photos and watch a few videos of some of our rock n roll friends.
COMING SOON! Cave Hollywood VIP Club, which will feature EXCLUSIVE subscriber-based content that includes mutlimedia, interviews, and things you wouldn't see in the public eye.
Links: Take a tour of the sites of some of our coolest colleagues!


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Transit - Bus
Leave the driving to someone else and arrive at work relaxed for a change. Timely, comfortable, and affordable, riding the bus is a great way to commute. It allows you to catch up on the important aspects of your life that you just can't do when you drive alone like reading a book or the newspaper, making a grocery list, playing solitaire on your laptop or just catching a few zzzz's.
Spokane Transit has 39 bus routes serving the communities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Millwood, Medical Lake, Cheney and Airway Heights. In addition, two shuttle routes serve the downtown core and the hospital facilities. Adult monthly bus passes can be purchased for $50.00 at the STA Plaza downtown or the Bus Shop on 1229 W. Boone. Please check with your Employee Transportation Coordinator at your worksite to see if your employer offers bus subsidies. For information on bus schedules, click here or use STA's new Trip Planner. It's easy and convenient! Click here to plan your trip.
Thirteen area Park and Ride lots also make it handy to leave your car behind and let Spokane Transit do the driving. All of Spokane Transit's park and ride lots are well lit and secure. Just park your car, get on the bus, and go. You can save money on parking downtown, and sometimes your insurance premium goes down if you don't drive your car to work. Be sure to check with your insurance carrier.
If you've thought about riding your bike to work but don't want to go the whole distance, you can utilize the Bikes on Buses program. STA provides bike racks on all their buses with the exception of the Plaza/Arena Shuttle. Whether you are going to work, school or play, you and your bike can ride the bus. Permits are no longer required to take your bike on the bus.
Give transit a try! It's easy, relaxing, and you'll save money!


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MEGA - Longing To Be Knotted Together at China Heights Gallery.
MEGA is from out of town and as there was just Nyk, myself, 'Dot' Girl and this guy with a neckerchief pulled over his face AKA a mask; I just knew it had to be the artist. This show fitted in quite well with my current Box-Set-Viewing of classic Spaghetti Westerns & it really was I suppose remiss of me not to ask MEGA around to knock-over a couple of Spag Westerns with me, seeing as how he is a stranger 'round these parts and all that.
But of course it would be remiss of YOU if you did not get your buttskie over to China Heights to see his show. And if you are in other parts of Australia and want to find out more about the 'Lost Boys of Bali' and their tribal ways then you are in luck; national show dates can be found here - www.ilovemega.com/. www.chinaheights.com/
Friday, May 13, 2011
MEGA - Longing To Be.. at China Heights
Posted by Kent Johnson at 9:59 PM
Labels: Art Opening, China Heights, handkerchief, MEGA, Sydney
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by Juliette Rocheleau, Senior AmeriCorps Member serving on the Capital Area United Way team at Capitol Middle School
Last night, City Year Baton Rouge celebrated our Annual School House Rock Gala presented by Bain Capital and ExxonMobil! The event honored the combined effort for education equality here in Baton Rouge and across the nation. We were privileged to honor the Albemarle Foundation for their support and belief in our City Year AmeriCorps members proudly serving across six schools in the East Baton Rouge Public School System. Thank you to all our City Year champions who joined us for the event, including our City Year Baton Rouge advisory board members, our Lead Partners, East Baton Rouge Public School System, and Volunteer Louisiana, as well as our Team and Site Sponsors: Albemarle Foundation, The Capital Area United Way, Entergy Louisiana, New Schools for Baton Rouge, The Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation and the Lamar Advertising Company.
Gala guests were welcomed to the event (how else?!) by enthusiastic CYBR AmeriCorps members power greeting and high fiving to get by.
City Year Baton Rouge advisory board members Lori Bertman, Jennifer Eplett Reilly, Gala Honoree representing the Albemarle Foundation Sandra Holub, CYBR Executive Director Laura Hamm, and advisory board member Gwen Hamilton on the red carpet.
CYBR AmeriCorps members circled to prepare for the event.
CYBR Alumna Sara Ross sat down with former student Patrick Carter to discuss how having a City Year presence in school has affected his education today. Sara served in the 2011-2012 school year at Broadmoor Middle School where she met sixth grade Patrick. Patrick is now at Belaire High School and on track to graduate!
AmeriCorps members (from left to right) Ajita Harrison, Tavidee Hoskins, and Christine Fuentes shared stories about their impact working with high achieving students. Christine spoke about working with third grader Neicy, whose first language is Spanish. Christine used her Spanish skills to work with Neicy, who moved from scoring below proficient to proficient on her recent state assessment in math.
Sean Doherty, Managing Director and General Counsel of national presenting sponsor Bain Capital, spoke about Bain's long term investment in City Year and the innumerable rewards of reaching students across the country.
Honoree Sandra Holub, Executive Director of the Albemarle Foundation, gracefully accepted her red jacket from Tavidee Hoskins, first year corps member serving on the Albemarle Foundation team at Merrydale Elementary School.
CYBR closed the evening's program with the Annual Night Of Ask, where the generosity of the Baton Rouge community is strong.
Congressman Garret Graves from Lousiana's 6th district, applauded the CYBR 2014-2015 AmeriCorps members for committing this year of their lives to service.
To celebrate a night spent with champions and supporters, School House Rock 2015 ended with a dance party!


text: Hello Tesla Owners! Name is Ezekiel and I am currently located in the Los Angeles Area. I'm a student putting together a portfolio piece and am in need of a 2011 Black or Dark Blue Tesla Roadster 2.5 or 2.5(s) for a video segment I am putting together. I was planing on shooting this coming Friday April 22nd starting from 3pm and going until about 7 or 8pm depending on set up and shots needed for the spot. I have been heavily involved in the autmotive photography scene for a little over two years now and have covered events such as Pebble Beach Concours, Porsche Club of America Events, Local Drift events, Los Angeles Concours, Art Center Car Classic and have done feature articles for various Shops in and around California. Here is a link to the site I work for www.automotive-styles.com and to my flickr account Visual Mechanics Media Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you all soon. Thank you! P.S. i have driven a tesla roadster and all I can say is, WOW, its like a daily roller coaster ride you never want to stop. That instant power is amazing!


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Jay-Z pushes back the release of new music again and provides more lyrics. Check Jay-Z's explanation of the song above and lyrics below.
Jay-Z pushes back the release of new music again and provides more lyrics. Check Jay-Z's explanation of the song above and lyrics below.
Well well, I'm still excited.
There are so many artist to hate on…and clearly for his success Jay-Z is one of those artist. If you look at this video and pay attention to the logic he breaks down about lyrics and the way he explains his messages. How can you not appreciate what he does for music? #ill
man this is why Hov is just the best. metaphores are crazy.
I don't understand why some people (rap fans) are acting like this is the second coming of Christ… Jay z is releasing an album cool, some people are acting as if the world is about to change with the release of this album
you must be "sea sick"
I hope they dont get 'see sick' lol!!!!!
I hope you don't get sea sick lol
@Hendogg247 it's the fact that he's continuing to change the game in so many ways.. Announcing his album while promoting Samsung in a commercial during the NBA Finals andd starting a Sports Agency?? It's insane
Where ya getting the lyrics from? where's he posting it at?
this is gone b a great album………… but im not payin for it, i need my money b4 dat nigga
I understand the man's impact. I'm excited about the album. That doesn't change the fact that it is still an album. This isn't thriller and the pedestal people put him it's as if this album will fix the economy, stop the wars in the middle east and capture Edward Snowden. Relaxxxxxxx
@Yessir alright I'll give you that, but for me personally I'm over Jay z in that his music is good his delivery is amazing but he dosen't rap about anything. He just has a million different metaphores about how rich he is
@LBX good one, typical rap fan response… If I'm not feelin a rapper you like I must be a hater…
…i can't believe niggas getting hype over "sea (see) sick" that verse was ok…nothin' to jump out of my seat over
Well at least this is far better than the "White House" line people were going crazy for in the My President is Black remix lol… I think it's a good line but I think you guys need to start watching the URL Smack Battles… some of the shit those guys come up with is really fuckin ridiculous, again this is a good line but I don't think it "Earth shattering" or "life changing" as some of you all are acting… because the bottom line is he still talking materialistic shit which has been a main running topic of his for quite a bit of his career.
HOV, its funny how even the hater refer to jay as Hov lol his greatness undeniable.


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Buried beneath Ellen and Alvey Horine's front yard in Pleasant Valley is a maze of copper coils designed to save money while helping heatand cool their house.
The Horines are the first in Carroll Countyto "turn dirt into dollars," as in the slogan used to tout a system called Ground Source Direct Exchange.
Only about 1,000 homes in the country have the system, which was invented nine years ago in Kansas City, Mo., according to the president of USPower Climate Control Inc., which owns the patent.


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Child Support is calculated using a myriad of factors. It is strongly recommended that you see a lawyer about the factors needed to be used in determining the child support in each and every case. Here is the link for the Georgia Court calculator:
Again, remember that the facts that are put into the calculator determine the proper amount or proposed amount of support but it is ultimately in part a decision made by and at the discretion of the Court.


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Washington, DC--The Regional Airline Association (RAA) has elected Jim Rankin (Air Wisconsin) as Chairman; Dan Garton (American Eagle) Vice Chairman; Keith Houk (PSA Airlines) Treasurer; and Dan Wolf (Cape Air) Secretary. In addition to electing the new 2011 officers, the membership also extended by one year the terms of each of its current Board of 12 members, which also includes John Bendoraitis (Comair), Tim Komberec (Empire Airlines), Doug Voss (Great Lakes Aviation), Joseph Randell (Jazz Air), Phil Trenary (Pinnacle Airlines), Bryan Bedford (Republic Airways Holdings), Rick Leach (Trans States Holdings) and immediate past chair Russell "Chip" Childs (SkyWest Airlines).
Also at its recent meeting here, the Associate Member Council (AMC), which represents RAA's nearly 200 regional airline industry suppliers, voted Lucas Aardenburg (SNECMA) as Chairman and Andre Robert (GE Aircraft Engines) as Vice Chairman.
"Last week's Fall Meeting was just another example of how much support and participation our valuable RAA members provide us throughout the year," said RAA President Roger Cohen, underlining "the AMC's guidance has been particularly helpful in making our 2010 Convention in Milwaukee so successful and will make May 16-19, 2011 in Nashville even bigger and better." The Board and AMC also approved Minneapolis as the 2012 Annual Convention site.
The upcoming calendar is currently empty.
Click here to view past events and photos »


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Ideas for Coping with Darker Days January 23, 2018 13:08
You can brighten your mood during winter's dark days with simple strategies, including light therapy for SAD (seasonal affective disorder).
Does winter get you down? Plenty of people suffer mood changes ranging from mild "winter doldrums" to full-blown seasonal affective disorder (aptly acronym-ed SAD), all due to the decrease in daylight that occurs in fall and winter and the hormonal changes that coincide with it.
"SAD is a serious condition—a subtype of major depressive disorder in which life can be severely compromised by fatigue, low mood, anxiety, reduced sex drive, and more," says psychologist and SAD specialist Michael Terman, PhD, director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at New York–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. "But SAD is really just the tip of the iceberg," he adds. Far more of us experience similar but less intense symptoms, becoming just short of clinically depressed. And that's just, well, sad.
Light Therapy for SAD and other tactics, will combat both general seasonal sadness as well as full-blown disorder, Terman says. Here's what you can do:
That is, try your best to keep to the same sleep hours on workdays and weekends. "Oversleeping even if only on weekends, allows your circadian rhythms [your internal body clock] to drift later, out of sync with local time," says Terman. "And that can trigger the lethargy and low mood associated with winter."
And no later than 8 p.m. for dinner (to avoid interfering with your sleep). "Just as with light, our biological clocks respond to meal timing," says Terman, "and consistency is the name of the game."
Light therapy for SAD or milder mood problems begins outdoors. If your schedule allows it, make a point to exercise outside, after the sun is up. "Less exposure to natural light is at the root of the winter doldrums," says Terman. "By working out in daylight, you're getting more light than you otherwise might and you're fighting depression with aerobic exercise." When your schedule precludes outdoor time, gym workouts can still make depression less likely. Make sure you work out at the same time most days, says Terman, and avoid working out in the late evening hours before sleep.
To counter the season's reduction in light, create it—by purchasing a light-therapy box (a box that emits bright light that mimics natural outdoor light, which is more intense than normal household lighting). "By my estimate," says Terman, "half the U.S. population would benefit by using a light box for 30 minutes before work [light therapy can cause insomnia if performed late in the day]. It's just a highly convenient and effective breakfast-table routine." By the time you're done with your eggs and the paper, he says, you'll likely have received enough light therapy to prevent any mood shifts and stay energetic throughout the day.
The trick is to opt for the best box. "Light boxes come in all shapes and sizes, and with many uncontrolled properties, so the choice of device is very important," says Terman. He recommends light boxes that have been clinically tested and provide a broad field of illumination from above the line of sight. Also, UV radiation should be filtered out, and the light should be smoothly diffused, to eliminate glaring bright spots.
To a lesser extent, indoor light can also help combat the doldrums. But you don't need full-spectrum light bulbs, which can cost more than 10 times their non-full-spectrum cousins. "At the intensity needed to achieve an energizing/antidepressant effect, full-spectrum lighting is glaring and uncomfortable and it's no more effective than regular indoor light, at an appropriate intensity, at easing winter symptoms," Terman says. Instead of scouring the aisles for full-spectrum bulbs, Terman suggests choose light bulbs based on color temperature ratings. "A color temperature around 4100 Kelvin is ideal," Terman says. "Higher color temperatures of 5500 Kelvin and above should be avoided."
Still feeling blue, despite actively trying to lighten your days? You may have clinically significant depression. To get an objective assessment of where you fall on the seasonal-depression spectrum, check out the Center for Environmental Therapeutics' Personal Inventory for Depression and SAD—an online symptom self-assessment at www.cet.org. And, of course, consult your doctor.


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Application for Professional Development Funds (pdf)
Educational Assistance Programs and Guidelines
Forms in above link, at the bottom of the page:
Form in above link, at the bottom of the page:
Employment Eligibility Verification (Form and Instructions)
Family and Medical Leave Request (FMLA)
Memorial Payroll Deduction Form (pdf)
OSHA Form 301 for Workplace Injury & Illness Recordkeeping
Outside Employment Notification
Performance Evaluation - Administrative/Professional Staff
Performance Evaluation - Support Staff
Position Request Packet
Post-Retirement Service Program for Tenured Faculty
Request for Alternate Work Schedule Guidelines (pdf), (doc)
Request for Alternate Work Schedule Form (xls)
Sick Leave Bank - Faculty
Sick Leave Bank - Staff
Supervisor Development Feedback Form
TBR Support Staff Job Descriptions
Travel Guidelines - Nonexempt Staff (html), (doc)
Odell Fearn • (865) 354-3000 ext. 4212 • email@example.com
Roane State Community College is a TBR and AA/EEO employer and does not discriminate against students, employees, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or any other legally protected class with respect to all employment, programs and activities sponsored by Roane State. View full non-discrimination policy.


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Release Date: June 25, 2012
Format: CD
|Track listings not available for this album. If you have track listings for this album, please e-mail them to us at email@example.com (including the lengths of each track, if known) and we will add it to this page.
Enter your e-mail address to receive weekly soundtrack and film score news:
If any information appears to be missing from this page, contact us and let us know!
The Fantasy Film Music of George Pal
Released: 2004


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Julie MarshOn Saturday afternoon, my girls and I watched on C-SPAN as the Senate voted to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The issue was resolved quietly and with dignity -- a befitting end to a policy that does more harm than good.
I was genuinely pleased to observe more bipartisan support than expected in terms of votes cast. Eight Republican senators voted for the repeal, and I congratulate them for recognizing this as a civil rights issue. In 1964, both the majority of Republicans and Democrats -- over two-thirds, in fact -- in Congress supported the Civil Rights Act. I only wish the bipartisan support for this repeal had been as strong.
A few friends reminded me that outside Congress, widespread bipartisan support for the repeal exists. Most people do recognize that allowing gays to serve openly is a civil rights issue, not a political or religious matter. I received positive feedback on the repeal from friends all over the political and religious spectra.
Another friend reminded me that while Tea Party candidates Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell did not support the repeal, Senator-elect Pat Toomey cheered the repeal, as do many other Tea Party members who are far more invested in the movement's fiscal conservatism than its socially conservative bent. I wish more of them would voice their embrace of the repeal more loudly.
In the movie Biloxi Blues, one of the soldiers admits to the others that he's half black. Shortly thereafter, he's pulled out of formation and taken away, ostensibly to the brig. Our military was still racially segregated in World War II (coincidentally, that's why there are a ridiculous number of bathrooms in the Pentagon -- Jim Crow laws), and while he appeared to be white and had been an exemplary soldier, once the drill instructor realized he was black, he had to be removed.
That sounds ludicrous to us now. But that's essentially what happened to my gay friend, former Air Force Major Mike Almy, who never even told. His emails were searched, suspicious ones were reported to his commander, and he was pulled out of formation and taken away -- not to the brig, but escorted off the base by police after he returned to the states following his fourth deployment to the Middle East.
And yet, people think that's okay. Not just John McCain and Jon Kyl and Saxby Chambliss -- other friends of mine, former military officers themselves, don't see anything wrong with that. It's maddening.
Let Saturday's vote mark the beginning of a new era, one in which we will eventually regard the discharge of gay troops simply for being gay as being as ludicrous as any other sort of segregation.


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Man Demands Doctor Hand Over His Parcel Of Pot
Forty-one year old Brooklyn resident, Marlon Morris, has been arrested after storming into a doctors office in Ozone Park, Queens, where he attempted to claim a UPS package containing 30 pounds of marijuana as rightfully his. Morris was taken in by NYPD officers on Friday and is being charged with disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana. Read more at nydailynews.com.


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Beck has been such a smart-aleck for so much of his career that it's hard to take his new album, ''Sea Change'' (Geffen), at face value. After reshuffling any number of styles and perfecting his half-ironic deadpan, Beck has now come up with an entire album of slow songs about heartbreak and desolation, solitude and death. ''These days I barely get by/ I don't even try,'' he intones in the album's first track, ''The Golden Age,'' and he stays glum through a full dozen songs. Beck, who was the paragon of post-modern multiplicity in the 1990's, has never made such a monolithic album. Like a true depressive, ''Sea Change'' barely budges from its woes.
''Sea Change'' continues Beck's oscillation between skewed party albums (most recently ''Midnite Vultures,'' from 1999) and folksier, downtempo albums like ''Mutations'' (1998). But in either guise, Beck has mostly flung his free-associations at the state of the world, looking over his shoulder at Bob Dylan and Prince. This time, he sings about private miseries, while the music hints at romantic brooders like Nick Drake, Palace and Smog. Many of the songs on ''Sea Change'' also hark back to the stately despair of ballads like the Rolling Stones' ''No Expectations'' and Pink Floyd's ''Comfortably Numb.''
Beck's stolid, bleary voice has always been inexpressive, and on ''Sea Change'' it is often pitched so low it's nearly unrecognizable, making the songs seem more resigned than self-pitying. While the arrangements generally begin with an acoustic guitar or two and use plenty of unhurried fingerpicking, ''Sea Change'' is no folk album.
Nigel Godrich, who produced ''Mutations'' and Radiohead's recent albums, returns for ''Sea Change,'' helping to give the songs a gravity that narrowly avoids turning bombastic. Glockenspiels add twinkling pinpoints above the melodies; string sections open recesses below them. Layered keyboards and electric guitars creep in, quietly feeding back until the noise spills over.
Beck is still style-hopping, but on ''Sea Change'' he sticks to the 1960's and 1970's. That still gives him ample leeway for his borrowings, from modest folk-rock to the orchestrated opulence of ''Pet Sounds'' (in ''Sunday Sun''), ''A Day in the Life'' (in ''Lonesome Tears'') and ''2000 Light Years From Home'' (in ''Little One''). The album's oddest song, ''Paper Tiger,'' starts as subdued early 1970's funk, with a string section that initially answers Beck's voice but then commandeers the song.
Beck and Mr. Godrich don't hide their contrivances. Songs end with dangling production gimmicks -- a synthesizer tone, a stray backup vocal -- as if to give listeners a peek behind the curtain. But the self-consciousness doesn't last, and the melancholy does. Whether or not Beck is as morose as he sounds, ''Sea Change'' sustains its mood meticulously, luxuriating in the ache of spurned love. JON PARELESContinue reading the main story


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So as I try to fall asleep after a long day of painting woodwork and plastering the nail holes from photos of long ago I thought that maybe you might enjoy dreaming of making this card for a friend.
Stamp Free Fallin' = 191F onto a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of cardstock.
Mask the image with Liquid Masking Fluid (another name for this product is Liquid Frisket which can be purchased at your local Michael's craft store in the watercolor / acrylic department) by painting it in with either a q-tip or your stylis. Place a few drops randomly around the image. Let the liquid mask dry for at least 45 minutes = believe me it will be worth the wait! Besides, this gives you a break to either make dinner, pick the kids up from school, gab on the phone with a gal pal or even do the laundry = gasp!
Using a brayer and a Kaleidacolor pad in shades of red, orange and yellow, brayer in the background. If you would like to make your own rainbow colors with our wonderful Pan Pastels, this would be your chance! PS - they are on sale for $ 5.75 each through Aug. 31, 2011.
Peel off the liquid mask by rubbing your fingers over the dried masking fluid until it starts to roll up. If you have a rubber cement eraser, that makes the removal much easier.
Color in Free Fallin' and hold on to your leaf = your card is ready to be layered and sent out!
Easy, Breezy Fall Fun.
Have a wonderful tomorrow as I try to catch a few zzzzzzzz's before the sun comes up.
Laura Anne and Bella Boo


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HANNITY'S "TICK TOCK" REVEALED: Obama Ensured Uranium Exportation — Ignored Glaring National Security Fears (VIDEO)
The Hill's John Solomon and Circa News' Sara A. Carter joined Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday evening. They revealed former President Obama ensured the exportation process of uranium to Canada went through amid fears the Russians would put U.S. national security at risk with a pump and dump scheme.
All the while, the FBI knew of the criminality Russian energy executives were engaged in amid the Clinton-Uranium One deal approval process.
Below is a partial transcript of the exchange between Hannity and Solomon.
HANNITY: "Barack Obama purposely manipulated the process to allow this trucking company to be the conduit by which they got the uranium out of the country. Tell us what you found."
SOLOMON: "Yeah, there wasn't just one decision, we look at Uranium One and say we let them buy the mine and 20% of the ore that was being mined at that time under their control. But there was a series of decisions made by the Obama administration time and time again, between 2010 and 2012 that are incredibly favorable to Russia's ROSATOM, the state owned nuclear energy industry, time and again these decisions are being made while the FBI knows that there is criminality going on by that company's executives"
HANNITY: "The bribery, exhortation, money laundering, the racketeering, and so on."
SOLOMON: "Yeah, kickbacks. And there's a second thing that I'm just starting to report on now. There were concerns in the Obama administration that were very specific concerns that Russia was engaged in a Uranium scheme that it was going to get enough control of uranium, dump it on the market, drive all the prices down –"
HANNITY: "Wow!
SOLOMON: "And put all the other people out of business. Those are two legitimate national security concerns that don't seem to have had an effect on all these give aways."
On Wednesday, Hannity warned a damning report on Obama would be released today. The Fox News host delivered once again.
So @BarackObama news tomorrow!! Hint; Tick Tock
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 1, 2017
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text:
US Pharm. 2011;36(6):44-45.
Method of Preparation: Calculate the quantity of each ingredient for the amount to be prepared. Accurately weigh each ingredient. Blend the powders together until they are uniformly mixed. Add a small amount of the vehicle and mix to form a smooth paste. Add sufficient vehicle to final weight and mix well. Package and label.
Use: This preparation has been used for the prevention of infection of cracked nipples, as well as for the treatment of susceptible infections of the nipple and surrounding areas.
Packaging: Package in tight, light-resistant containers.
Labeling: For external use only. Keep out of the reach of children. Discard after ____ (time period).
Stability: A beyond-use date of up to 6 months may be used for this preparation.1
Quality Control: Quality-control assessment can include theoretical weight compared with actual weight, pH, specific gravity, active drug assay, color, texture–surface, texture–spatula spread, appearance, feel, rheologic properties, and physical observations.2
Discussion: Nipple infections may be treated with combination therapy such as the preparation presented here, as well as with a variety of other combinations. The affected area should be thoroughly washed with a mild soap and warm water prior to the application of this ointment each time it is applied. The oleaginous base of this preparation has an emollient effect and can help overcome any skin cracks associated with the nipple infection. This preparation also supplies bacterial action.
Betamethasone acetate (C24H31FO6, MW 434.50) occurs as a white to creamy white, odorless powder. It is practically insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol.1 Betamethasone acetate is used for its anti-inflammatory properties and is available in various dosage forms, including creams and gels.
Mupirocin (C26H44O9, MW 500.62) occurs as a white to off-white, polymorphic crystalline solid. It is freely soluble in dehydrated alcohol, but only very slightly soluble in water. The pH of a freshly prepared saturated solution in water is 3.5 to 4.0. Mupirocin should be protected from light.1,3
Nystatin (C47H75NO17, MW 916.09) is a substance—or a mixture of two or more substances—produced by the growth of Streptomyces noursei (family Streptomycetaceae). It has a potency of not less than 4,400 U/mg. Nystatin occurs as a yellow to light tan, hygroscopic powder with an odor suggestive of cereals. It is affected by long exposure to light, heat, and air, and it is practically insoluble in water and alcohol. Nystatin is a polyene antifungal antibiotic that interferes with cell-membrane permeability of sensitive fungi by sterol binding, chiefly of ergosterol. It works primarily against Candida species and is used topically for the treatment of candidiasis of the skin and mucous membranes.1,3
Hydrophilic petrolatum is an anhydrous absorption base containing cholesterol, stearyl alcohol, white wax, and white petrolatum. It has the ability to absorb water and aqueous solutions. Hydrophilic petrolatum has good emollient effects and occlusiveness. Some similar preparations that may also be used include Aquaphor, Aquabase, Lanaphilic, and others.4
1. USP Pharmacists' Pharmacopeia. 2nd ed. Rockville, MD: US Pharmacopeial Convention, Inc; 2008: 775-779,1426,1449,1450.
2. Allen LV Jr. Standard operating procedure for performing physical quality assessment of ointments/creams/gels. IJPC.1998;2:308-309.
3. Sweetman SC, ed. Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference. 37th ed. London, England: Pharmaceutical Press; 2011:329,590.
4. Block LH. Medicated applications. In: Gennaro AR, ed. Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy. 19th ed. Easton, PA: Mack Publishing Company; 1995:1586.
To comment on this article, contact email@example.com.


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This year at the Minnesota shop hop, my brother went with me to a couple of stores. Little did I know when we had the family Christmas party last week, that he had bought me a couple of goodies. Aren't these little pins just adorable. The fabric, one of them has a border that says Minnesota on them. I may not use the pins and just look at them because they are sooooo adorable.
This pic didn't turn out so well but I bought this little pot and it has dual purpose, a hot pot that will heat up food as well. My dad has one he uses at the craft fairs to heat up stew/soup/water for tea. Well I was sold when last we (his girlfriend and I) heated up my bbq pork. The trick is it has to have enough liquid in it to not stick to the cooking plate inside. A hot pot has coils, this is a hot pot deluxe. So....I just washed it and heated up my tea water, it works awesome. My next venture with the pot other than to take to the mall for the craft show this weekend, is to use the car plug adapter and see if it will heat water off the lighter jack in the car. How fun and healthy this could be, limited to stews and ultra moist hot dish but, when the seal a meal is working I can have other things. :) And I will be saving lots of money by not eating the mall and fast food.
Today I started my sewing room and have found the two desks in the room. It will probably take me a little while to get itall under control, decluttering making the room useable for something other than storage, but I will feel so much lighter to get all the extra stuff out of my house. Clutter free is the goal, not working 2 jobs it is a little easier to get organized. I had a couple of interviews but they didn't pan out. I have another one I would have to stay over night but it pays really well. Wish me luck.
Well hope all is well in your world....Have a great day and God Bless All of YOU!!!!!!


text:
new in box NGK CM-6 Spark Plug.
100% guaranteed NGK Plugs.
Specifications: NGK CM-6 spark plug. will fit DLE, DA, DL & 3W engines,plus many more that take a M10 shot spark plug.
Spark Plug Thread: M10 Thread Length: 6.5mm (bottom of washer to thread end) Spark plug overall Hight:35.6mm
 Images may not be used without express permission. Images for illustrative purposes only.
Copyright © 2018 Innovative-RC, All rights reserved.


text:
The Nikon D600's Live View Photo mode is not WYSIWYG. Changing the aperture, shutter speed and ISO while in Live View Photo mode will not show any changes to the Live View Photo display. You won't see any change to the depth of field, blur, or noise. Changes to exposure compensation show up only within a range of +/- 3EV (or -3 to +1EV when it's dark). Many people would prefer WYSIWYG although one advantage of the non-WYSIWYG is that it's easier to work with when you are using flash and you are deleting the ambient light.
Anyhow, I found out that you can see the depth of field in Live View Photo mode. The trick is to select the aperture before you activate live view. If you do this, then the Live View image will show the actual depth of field for the chosen aperture. A couple of notes:
- After Live View is activated, changing the aperture will not show any changes to the depth of field in the Live View display.)
- If you select a narrow aperture, it will be harder for the camera to focus.
- When I want to change the aperture and see the change in DOF, I change the aperture even while LV is active. Then I just press the LV button once to deactivate it and press it again to activate it. It's smoother to me than exiting LV, changing the aperture, and reactivating LV.


text:
This storytime including simple books, songs, bubbles, parachute fun, and free play will allow your little one to start becoming familiar with the library and will meet on Wednesdays, July 5th until August 2nd at 10:15 am.
Open to infants and toddlers up to 18 months with a caregiver.
Please register here.
|Event Date
|07-12-2017 10:15 am
|Event End Date
|07-12-2017 10:45 am
|Riverdale Public Library


text:
White Hat SEO for German Web Shop
Budget €30-250 EUR
Task: Organic Google Rank FIRST PLACE/RESULT
Difficulty: Medium (Niche + one keyword)
Keyword: "Krallenbacken"
Problem: [url removed, login to view] is on the 2nd page
We have a new web shop with one main product (+ different variations): [url removed, login to view]
We have the main company page: [url removed, login to view]
This main page links/refers to [url removed, login to view]
All language is in German. So it is necessary that you speak fluent German.
You should check all the content (main page, product pages) and create a concept with the right content (maybe there are some little SEO issues) in order to push this web shop to the first place. We are running Adwords and we are on the 1st place but not organic.
Before editing any content you need to ask for approval. We appreciate if you leave a good proposal so we can see if you got familiar with [url removed, login to view] and already see the problems.
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text: So before i went into work today i was using pandora to listen to music while i drive. Then i set my phone to vibrate and put it in my pocket and went into work. After i got off of work i pull my phone out and try to check engadget but it wouldnt connect to the internet. So i figured i should just put it into airplane mode and pull it out of airplane mode to fix it. This didnt fix the problem either so i figured i should reset the phone so i did that and the problem still isnt fixed. I have no idea what caused this. Im running the OTA 2.2 update. Does anyone know what could possibly be the problem?


text:
Once upon a time, there was a business reporter who got assigned to go to Excitement Video and Toys for work.
Yes, work.
"It's an economy story," she convinced herself, as she nervously perused the displays of kinky gadgets not suitable to describe to her 58-year-old mother — let alone an entire county of print subscribers.
The goal: to tastefully write about how the erotic novel 'Fifty Shades of Grey' was affecting sales of … um … products.Yep, that happened.
I never in my life imagined I'd be asking random women, "Hey, how has this book changed your sex life?"
First and foremost, I never imagined that would be a business story.
But it was. You can read the my story by clicking here.
Since being chosen for Digital First Media's ideaLab, I've been tweeting like crazy about everything with my new iPhone 4S.
I'm shooting photos of weird-looking people in line at the grocery store.
I'm collecting photos of weird things on porches in North York.
I'm live tweeting my own birthday parties.
But last night, I kept the phone in my purse once inside the doors of the store.
(I got the mobile reporting bug out of my system after work by telling a friend some what-I-would-have-tweeted faux tweets.)
Anywho, there are place where you're better safe than sorry when it comes to Twitter.
The adult store is one probably on that short list.
Because you don't know who or what might be in the background of a photo.
As a journalist, you don't know who you might seriously offend.
And you never know how far is too far.


text:
A Social Security reality check for deficit hawks
President Barack Obama's fiscal commission is expected to recommend changes to Social Security to help reduce the deficit when it issues its report in early December. But protests in France over pension reforms there could serve as a reality check to U. S. deficit hawks who want to raise the U.S. retirement age and make other benefit changes to the popular retirement plan.
While they may not go on strike or take to the streets in protest — like is happening in France over a plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 — older Americans are more likely to show up at the voting booth in November than other groups.
A new survey by the influential AARP, which advocates for older Americans and has 35 million readers for its magazine, shows that lawmakers who embrace deficit reduction proposals that include cuts for Social Security may do so at their own peril.
The survey of AARP members who are likely to vote in the November 2, congressional elections showed that 60 percent would be less likely to vote for a candidate who would support cutting Social Security benefits to reduce the deficit.
AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said the survey shows that older Americans see Social Security as "their investment and their money."
Deficit hawks have discussed raising the Social Security retirement age, which already is gradually rising to 67 from 65 under current law, to as high as 70 years. The proposal worries many older Americans, LeaMond said.
"One of the things we've noticed is the tremendous concern of people over the age of 50 about finding jobs and keeping jobs, LeaMond said.
With Democrats fighting to maintain their majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, many are affirming their commitment to protecting the 75-year old retirement program and bashing Republicans who have supported private Social Security investment accounts. Dozens of House Democrats signed a letter to Obama saying they will oppose any effort by the president or his fiscal commission to cut Social Security.
While many older Americans oppose using Social Security to cut the deficit, the vast majority are worried about the economy and the gap between federal revenues and government spending — 91 percent said they were worried about the deficit and 82 percent are unhappy about the current economy.
The survey involved telephone interviews conducted in September with 1,000 AARP members who are likely voters in November.
For more political news, click on: http://www.reuters.com/news/politics
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier (Demonstrators in Paris protest against pension reforms)
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
[…] Social Security reality check for deficit hawks (Reuters) An AARP survey demonstrates strong opposition to Social Security cuts among older Americans, who […]


text:
|Shares Out. (in M):
|Market Cap (in $M):
|Net Debt (in $M):
What asset would you prefer to own? BRK or zero coupon US treasuries? (I use zero coupon US treasuries as BRK does not pay a dividend.) I consider BRK to be a better credit than the US government, while I can't think of other companies that are. Well, I feel I am pointing out the obvious... but that, the safe part, is actually why I like this investment so much. I am getting a growing asset with a 40% plus upside where I have minimal risk of permanent loss of capital. I like investments where I don't have to think very hard and BRK at this price seems to be one of those ideas. (Btw. 10 year zero coupon bonds yield 3.56%, significantly lower than BRK's long-term growing earnings power.)
I am valuing BRK based on what I think it should be worth on December 31, 2012. A 20 month holding period seems to be a reasonable holding period for its price to adjust to intrinsic value.
I believe BRK will be worth $125.05 per B share by the end of 2012, providing an intrinsic value about 47% higher than the current stock price. I value BRK as the sum of the IV of the operating businesses using normalized earnings, the current value of the cash, bonds and stocks and the expected earnings stream through Dec 2012.
Value of the operating businesses per share.
Start with the December 31, 2010 BRK Pre -Tax Normalized Earnings of $17 billion.
I was quite intrigued when WEB decided to list his normalized earnings power, ex cat events. He just made things a lot easier for all of us. So I start with the $17 billion number. One adjustment one could make is related to the cat events. First I thought of taking down the $17 billion by $1 billion for cat events. But on the other hand I think WEB does not include the underwriting results in the $17 billion. So as BRK's average combined tends to be below 100 in the long term, I think it is correct to offset the long-term cat losses by the long-term underwriting profits and use the $17 billion.
In order to get to the normalized earnings for the operating businesses I exclude the investment income.
The investment income for 2010 was $5.1 billion. WEB mentioned that the normalized earnings did not include the GE, GS and Swiss RE investments which collectively provided $1.16 billion in interest income in 2010. WEB then also mentioned he included $500 million in expected interest on cash and expected higher dividend for WFC and other public stock holdings. For WFC I took $340 million and for the rest of the stocks I added $150 million in dividends. I know I am aggressive regarding the WFC dividend, but as the more conservative scenario it made sense to me to use $340 million. This gives me a normalized investment income of $4.93 billion.
$17 - ($5.1 - $1.16 + $0.5 + $0.34 + $0.15) = $12.07 billion in December 31, 2010 pre tax normalized earnings ex income from investments.
Then we adjust for the Lubrizol impact.
Lubrizol was purchased for $9.7 billion. I am assuming WEB wants at least a 10% pre tax normalized income which makes $0.97 billion in normalized pre tax earnings. Adding that to the $12.07 billion in Dec 31, 2010 normalized pre tax earnings ex income from investments, gets me $13.04 billion in post Lubrizol pre tax normalized earnings ex income from investments.
$12.07 + $0.97 = $13.04 billion
I use a 30% tax rate.
Over the last few years, BRK's tax rate has been around 30% and in the normalized earnings calculation WEB uses a 30% tax rate too. A 30% tax rate gets me $9.13 billion in post tax post Lubrizol normalized earnings ex income from investments.
$13.04 * 0.7 = $9.13 billion.
Now I adjust for some growth potential
I assume it to be reasonable that the normalized earnings potential of the current operating businesses increases by about 5% a year. Making an adjustment for the 20 months until the end of 2012, I get a cumulative growth of 8.33% or $9.88 billion in post tax post Lubrizol Dec 2012 normalized earnings ex income from investments.
$9.13 * 5% * (20/12) = $9.88 billion.
A 5% annual growth rate?
o Why only 5%, especially since the total earnings of the operating businesses has grown faster over the years? I am only looking at the current normalized earnings of the current businesses owned. A big reason why BRK's earnings from operating businesses has grown so fast is that new businesses have been added over time. In order to add more businesses WEB needs cash. That cash is currently included in my valuation as part of the investment assets, the sum of cash, bonds and stocks. If I would add growth from earnings from businesses not yet purchased, I would be double counting.
o Why the 5%? Well 5% seems to be a conservative, but still reasonable number. I do believe that the BRK operating businesses have an operating advantage in that they can focus solely on building the business long-term, rather than having to deal with the "beating the quarterly earnings crowd", which I believe to be a meaningful differentiator.
I use a 15 multiple for the operating businesses per B share.
So the $9.88 billion in post tax post Lubrizol 2012 normalized earnings ex income from investments translates to $4.00 post tax post Lubrizol 2012 normalized earnings ex income from investments per B share.
In the past WEB has directed towards a 12 pre tax multiple, which at a 30% tax rate comes to a post tax multiple of 17.14. To be more conservative I use a multiple of 15 times. 15 times $4.00 gets me $60.00 in IV per B share.
Value of the investments (Cash, Bonds, Stocks)
$155.86 billion in investments
On Dec 31, 2010 BRK had about $155.86 billion in investments. There is not much to add when it comes to the cash and fixed income portfolios, but I do believe the portfolio of stocks seems somewhat cheap. I can't add much when it comes to BYD, Tesco and Sanofi. But if you look at the rest of the stocks, AXP, JNJ, KFT, Munich Re, POSCO, WMT, USB and especially WFC, all seem cheap. P&G and KO seem reasonably priced. My conclusion is that the intrinsic value of the investments is probably higher than the current $155.86 billion.
So what if we enter another bear market and stocks sell off as well as a period where interest rates spike and bonds sell off? For one it would be great as WEB would be able to allocate cash towards buying cheaper assets, but also I really only care about the IV of those investments not their short-term price volatility. The portfolio of assets getting cheaper does not mean its intrinsic value declines at the same time.
Should I adjust for deferred taxes?
I know the deferred tax issue is somewhat controversial. BRK had about 27.8 billion on Dec 31, 2010 in gains on its book of stocks. If we pay a 40% tax rate, that gets us a tax payment upon sale of $11.12 billion. On the other hand, almost all the gains, $24.4 billion, are related to AXP, KO, PG and WFC, all companies that are unlikely to be sold. There is a (small) chance that some sale might happen, but it is unlikely that all will be sold. So it seems reasonable to me to take half of the $11.12 billion in deferred tax liability which equals $5.56 billion and deduct that from the $155.86 billion in investments for a total of $150.3 billion in investments.
Should I adjust for the float?
Well, that is also a controversial issue. I am on the side of not adjusting for float. My reasoning is that if I give you the full usage rights to an asset for a very long time at no cost, then in practical terms you become the owner. Here is an example, I do not own the parking space at my house, but I have been granted the perpetual usage rights at no cost, so in practical terms I am the owner of that parking space. In the case of the float, if someone lends me an amount of money on a perpetual basis at no cost, then in practical terms I become the owner of that money. The other reason is that WEB has laid out a number of times that he considers his float to be permanent zero cost capital and thus thinks of it as equity. (I know I defer to WEB, but the way I look at it is why try playing Michael Jordan at basketball if he offers to join your team.)
Adjustments for Lubrizol, the prepayment penalty related to GS, GE and Swiss Re and 2011 interest payments GS and GE.
I deduct $9.7 billion from the $150.30 billion (post deferred tax payment assets) to compensate for the post Dec 31, 2010 purchase of Lubrizol. I add the $1.4 billion in pre-payment penalty after tax related to the post Dec 31, 2010 repayments made by GS, GE and Swiss Re (I assume GE will redeem to in 2011) and lastly I add one quarter of interest after tax for GS and 3 quarters after tax for GE as GE can only redeem post September 2011.
$150.30 - $9.70 + $0.84 + $0.08 + $0.14 = $141.65 billion in investments or $57.41 per B share. The $0.84 is the pre payment penalty of $1.4 billion after tax. The $0.08 is the Q1 interest payment for GS after tax. The $0.14 is the Q1, Q2 and Q3 interest payments for GE after tax.
Adding the earnings through Dec 31, 2012.
I start with the $17 billion in pre tax annual normalized earnings. From that I deduct the $500 million WEB expects at some time to earn on his cash, but short-term interest rates might stay low so I keep it out. In addition I also deduct $300 million in the dividend adjustments WEB mentioned as the dividend increases aren't all going to be realized within the next 20 months. Adjusted for the 20 months that gets me a pre tax normalized earnings though Dec 31 2012 of $27.00 billion. After tax that makes $18.90 billion or $7.65 per share.
I did not adjust for depreciation and capex. The reason is that when I am dealing with great capital allocators, I do not punish them by deducting growth capex from the depreciation number. And in a company this large and diverse, depreciation and maintenance capex will come close to balancing each other out. I know there is an inflation impact, but on the other hand much of that inflation impact often is cancelled out by productivity improvements.
($17 - $0.8) * (20/12) * (1-30%) = $18.90 billion or $7.65 per B share.
Intrinsic Value
The sum of the operating businesses, investment per share and earnings through Dec 2012 is $125.05. ($60.00 + $57.40 + $7.65), a 47% upside from the current price.
This intrinsic value does not include the potential impact from WEB's future capital allocation decisions, potential underwriting profits and a soft insurance market turning hard. All three are free options that are valuable.
The high yield exposure is pretty much behind us. There is still exposure of equity puts. The current liabilities at current exchange rates are $3.8 billion. The premiums received until now on the equity puts are $4.2 billion. Remember, these equity puts can only be exercised from 2018 through 2026. For those that are worried about this exposure I offer up the following:
o WEB stated in his letter that while the overall number of contracts has gone down he has added a few new exposures. So even after the financial crisis he still feels comfortable with the exposure.
o But just to be conservative ... What happens if things go wrong again? We have $0.4 billion in excess premium over liabilities. $4.2 billion in received premium is available for investments for periods from 7 to 15 years. If I take an average duration of the contracts of 10 years and compound at 7%, I get a double. It seems we have some wiggle room, but lets say things get worse again quick. Well, every $5 billion in losses represents $2.02 in assets per B share pre tax or $1.21 in assets per B share post a 40% tax. Lets assume now that BRK takes a $20 billion hit tomorrow on these puts and has to realize that loss at the same time. In that case, the cost would represent $4.84 per B share after tax. I'd rather not see that happen, but with an intrinsic value of $125.05 it would not be a disaster.
What about WEB becoming incapacitated?
Yes, it is clearly an issue, but it does not bother me much for the following reasons:
o I am just valuing the current operating businesses. I took the normalized earnings of the current operating businesses, grew that at 5% which seems reasonable and put a reasonable multiple on it. I did not include a scenario where WEB would take lets say $20 billion, allocate it to a new acquisition at high rates of return and increase normalized income that way. In essence, in this scenario my BRK valuation treats WEB's future capital allocation decisions as a free option. Not including WEB's future capital allocation decisions in the valuation mitigates WEB's incapacitation in a big way.
o It is not as if BRK will fall apart if WEB becomes incapacitated. A. There is a strong corporate culture that permeates the whole company, from the board on down. B. WEB is not very involved in the daily operations of the business. So there should be little direct impact on daily operations of the operating businesses.
What about the "why not buy the day when WEB becomes incapacitated" argument? First, how does one know the stock will sell off big and for long enough so one can buy? For a massive sell off to take place we must assume that the current owners haven't noticed that WEB is 80 years old by now. The succession story is well publicized and current owners do understand that at some point WEB will not be around. So if we know that, why would we sell en masse when it happens? And what if it means buying BRK at $140 after it falls from $160 when the stock can currently be bought for $85? The only reason why one shouldn't own BRK is because one has better alternatives. Not buying BRK or waiting for WEB to pass away while the company is cheap, even when one treats WEB's capital allocation skills as a free option, makes little sense to me. Third, might it be possible that there is another scenario, where WEB decides to fade out of BRK. A scenario where he appoints the people to run the company, slowly handing over responsibility. The assumption seems to always be that it will be all or nothing, one day he is here and the next day he will be gone.
So what will happen to all that cash if WEB is not around anymore? Well we have a great board and nothing prevents the board from handing it back to shareholders. Also senior management and the board, although not as talented as WEB, should be able to find opportunities to invest in. Senior management and the board might not as good as WEB, but they are sure better than almost all other boards and managements out there.
o The economy.
o WEB becomes incapacitated and the board botches the transition or changes the corporate culture.
If you want to be more adventurous this might also work for you. A few days ago when BRK was trading in the $82s, one could sell the Jan 2013 $70 puts and buy the Jan 2013 $95 calls for little more than a $1 debit. Normally I would not like one of these spreads, but I felt comfortable in this case. I would gladly buy BRK at $70 and it seemed like a reasonable outcome for BRK to sell for more than $100 per B share before Jan 2013, which would multiply your investment. The problem is that there isn't a lot of liquidity in the options. Anyway, just thought of bringing it up. The stock price increased so the spread has widened, but maybe the stock comes down again.
|RE: $10B to cancel the float liability
Not to be too much of a 'fanboy' to counter your $10B offer to cancel the float liability but this is from the 1996 BRK meeting transcript:
Would I accept $7 billion for our float? The answer is no....
Buffett: So it's a very important asset. And you ought to pay a lot of attention over the years to what's happening with that asset - both as to growth and cost. And that will aid you in calculating intrinsic value....
But I will tell you this: We have $7 billion of float presently.... And if I were offered $7 billion for that float and did not have to pay tax on the gain, but would thereafter have to stay out of the insurance business forever - a perpetual non-compete in any kind of insurance - would I accept that? The answer is no.
That's not because I'd rather have $7 billion of float than have $7 billion of free money. It's because I expect the $7 billion to grow.
It would have been a mistake - and one I'd have made.
Buffett: If I'd been offered that trade 27 years ago of $17 million for the float we had at that time with no tax to be paid - float for which we'd just paid $8.7 million - in return for us to have gotten out of the insurance business, I might have said yes....
Munger: You would've.
Buffett: Yeah.
Munger: But he keeps learning. That's one of his strengths.
|RE: RE: RE: RE: Not adjusting for the float
Isn't the question at about the quality of Berkshire's insurance businesses? For whatever reason, when I hear this topic debated, it is framed as a matter of valuation philosophy (float-based vs. BV based valuation, float adjustment vs. no adjustment, what did Buffett say, what would Buffett require, etc.) rather than about business analysis. I believe this prevents the real questions from being addressed.
The important question is simply whether Berkshire's insurance companies will earn an underwriting profit on average and over time. To answer this question is to answer the question of whether the float will be free, will have a negative cost, or a will have positive cost. I'm not saying that this is an easy analysis, but neither is it particularly confounding. After all, when you're valuing any company you are typically trying to roughly quantify the future profits that will be generated. In this case all we are trying to do is say whether the underwriting profits will be positive or negative. Berkshire's insurance businesses have a long history to go on, and, arguably, some competitive advantages.
So I guess my overall point is that I don't know why this conversation is usually so theoretical / philosophical, because it is ultimately about a business analysis that seems far from imponderable.
Another observation is that if you value Berkshire's insurance companies as a multiple of book value, the result might not be hugely greater than if you use a float-based methodology.
The tangible assets of the insurance subs were $144 billion at 12/31/10. To get their book value I'm subtracting the total liabilities of "insurance and other"--excluding $8.4 billion of debt attributable to Berhshire parent--on the balance sheet, equal to $97 billion. So the tangible book value of the insurance subs is about $47 billion. The float was $66 billion. So if you value the insurance companies based on the float, then you're effectively assigning a 1.4x multiple of tangible book.
The appropriateness of this valuation can be debated--but again it will come down to your view of the future profitability of the insurance businesses, not valuation philosophy. If you think that Berkshire's insurance businesses will continue to be profitable then the appopriate comps are companies like WRB, MKL, and PGR. These companies trade at 1.2x, 1.3x, and 2.2x book value and are arguably cheap themselves.
|RE: RE: rjm59
It was from OID, I only have a couple though. The last 10 years are posted on motley fool also, I'd love to get the transcripts from the 80's if those are out there. email me @cornell.edu if you want the 96 and 98 ones
|RE: RE: RE: RE: Thoughts on Sokol's resignation?
I hear that China MediaExpress is looking for a new operations guy. Sokol could be just what the doctor ordered.
|RE: Sokol - Clear Insider Trading
Spoke to a laywer last night and he thinks it is not insider trading, but clearly an offense against his fiduciary duty towards the company and its investors.
I don't think the "he was the front runner" argument holds anymore as he had already tried to resign twice. I can't imagine he would have been on that list if he had already tried to resign twice before.
I know this all may be a bit of heresy, and let me make clear that I think Buffett and Munger are terribly intelligent and have shown themselves to be two of the best, if not the best, investors of the modern age. They have had tremendous insights throughout their career.
However, I think the holier-than-thou Uncle Warren bit has always been WB playing "the game." He has consistently manipulated his media image. Going to Omaha for the annual meeting is like going to a David Koresh seminar on water walking. If I had to describe the atmosphere in one word, I would choose "cultish."
His judgment may or may not be slipping (from what I have seen of him on TV, I would guess it has not slipped), but I would suggest that the best explanation for the behavior over the past few years is that the actual WB is not the model of super ethical behavior that his image would suggest. In fairness to WB, he is no worse and probably significantly better than others. But he has created a self-perpetuating brand of the highest ethical standards. This has enabled him to avoid negative media coverage and when he is interviewed, the deference is uncomfortable to watch. We are simply observing that in the complexity of life, WB (or anyone else in his position) cannot live up to this impossibly lofty brand.
|RE: Heresy
Amen to all that. You only need to go back to his verbal gymnastics regarding derivatives (i.e. weapons of financial mass destruction, except of course when used in his "responsible" hands) to realize that he's been slipping down a slope of hypocrisy for some time now.
|RE: Alice Schroeder has been subpoenaed by NetJets
Alice Schroeder Misses Chance to Cease Lucrative Anti-Buffett Opportunism, Finds Way to Blame Buffett for Sokol TradesProceed to hit piece.
|Sokol - PA over BRK
I honestly felt that Sokol didn't do himself any favors at all on CNBC this morning. I wasn't that bothered by this whole thing until listening to the guy talk. To say that, if he could do it all over again, he would have just bought LZ stock and not told Berkshire about the potential deal? That's ridiculous. His first duty is as a senior manager to Berkshire Hathaway and it's his fiduciary responsibility to look out for the shareholders of the company rather than trade his PA on the job. If he could have done it all over again, he should have bought the deal to Buffett first, waited for Buffett to reject it (as he has done 19 out of 20 times, according to Sokol), and only then bought the stock. Instead, he sets up a meeting w/LZ's CEO under the guise of representing Berkshire, through a contact at an investment bank who's sole purpose is to pitch Berkshire deals, and trades his PA under the table while all of this is going on. And then he shows no remorse whatsoever and says he'd do it the same way again, but with the amendment that he'd choose his PA over Berkshire.
Frankly I think he's lucky Buffett didn't take him out to the woodshed in the press release.
|RE: RE: Sokol - PA over BRK
Exactly...or imagine if Byron Trott was pre-buying equity stakes in the stuff he pitched to Buffett when he was at Goldman...
|RE: we're gettin' a little bonkers here
Do you really think that a guy that tried to resign twice before was the front runner to take over from WEB?
Adding a few dimensions to the water cooler chat on this subject:
Sokol mentioned Munger "did it too" by buying 3% of BYD before BRK acquired a stake. This is amazing!
Is it part of the Berkshire culture to let bright, talented managers (like Sokol and Munger) operate in the gray area outside of Berkshire because losing them would be so costly?
How many other BRK deals have been front-run over the years by employees/directors/etc.?
They say it's not part of the culture, but I do not know how in the world a senior member of BRK's team (Sokol or Munger) could even have a personal trading account without pre-approval for all trades. Isn't their salary and equity stake sufficient compensation to "eat home cooking" exclusively?
|In the short term, does this mean anything?
This incident has exposed some cultural issues with Berkshire, as well as called into question WEB's judgment. All of this is important for value investors considering purchasing a position. My question is whether any of this matters to current shareholders. One of the issues I have trouble with in general is understanding who my fellow shareholders are, and what their mentality is. In Berkshire's case though, it seems much less difficult. Index funds won't sell, and WEB has a cult following. Additionally, what money manager is going to get fired for owning Berkshire? As long as WEB is around, the cult members won't sell, and it is certainly an easy name to recommend to retail, particularly conservative investors who are looking for an alternative to bonds due to low yield. What is easier then Berkshire to recommend to a risk adverse client that feels they need to take the plunge into stocks?
My question is two fold. 1) do I have the dynamics of the current shareholder base down? 2) Is there something worse that this triggers that is not obvious? You may get an SEC investigation into Sokol, and there will be some blogs criticizing Buffet, but I really don't see any meaningful impact in terms of serious damage to Buffet's reputation that would jeopardize his cult status. Does anyone on this board think that this event or the chain of events that result will cause current shareholders to sell their stock?
I would say the Munger BYD situation is very different than Sokol's LZ situation.
Also check out this article http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/04/06/warrent-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-munger-on-sokol-gate/
|RE: Munger
|RE: BRK worth more with or without WEB?
I'll take the other side of that bet.
|RE: RE: railroads
also, W.E.B. likes Western railroads much more than Eastern railroads (eastern railroads make a lot of money from coal... have less ag exposure, etc.) if BNSF were to ever merge with another rail, it would probably be Canadian National...


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Blago Redaction Snafu Offers Bad Example of eDiscovery Practice
There have been three recent examples of bad digital redaction processes of documents, that as a result, have revealed privileged information. One involved the TSA revealing confidential security practices in what they thought to be a redacted document, another involved a case against Facebook where privileged information thought to be redacted in court documents was exposed. These documents were available on the Web. The most recent was this past week when a motion was filed to issue a subpoena to President Obama in the Rod Blagojevich criminal trial in the U.S. District Court in Chicago. Whoever was responsible for redacting information from the motion failed to properly do so, so that anyone who downloaded and viewed the PDF of the motion was able to copy and paste the "redacted" information. The topic of this article focuses on the technological snafu and its relation to the world of eDiscovery. For more on the actual meat of the motion and what was suppose to be redacted, you may visit the Web sites of NBC Chicago, Fox News or Chicago Breaking News for WGN/Chicago Tribune.
This inability to properly redact information from documents is disconcerting from two perspectives: 1. It's not that difficult to redact information in a document. 2. How often are documents assumed to be redacted but just aren't?
LexTekReport checked in with Christine Musil, Director of Marketing for Informative Graphics Corporation, an Arizona-based technology company that creates collaboration, annotation and redaction software. Christine tells us that there are fairly common misunderstandings of redaction software tools and several big examples of misuse.
Christine says that a common misuse of redaction tools in either MS Word or Acrobat is that they use drawing shapes to cover the text, not realizing that all they are doing is covering the visual text. Christine says that "A person could highlight the text under the drawing shapes, copy the text and paste it into another document to see/read the hidden text. It appears in this particular [Blagojevich] case, the representative from the Blagojevich legal team or the court, may have started using the Acrobat redaction tool, but did not finalize the redaction process within the document." They would have had to apply the redactions and resave the document following the redaction process. "There is a way you can use the redaction tool in Acrobat and not finalize it, so that the text underneath the crossed-out sections can be copied digitally."
According to Christine, proper redaction is easy to do, but it must be done completely and tested properly. "It's pretty simple. There is a plug-in for MS Word. We suggest people use a tool specifically designed for redaction. Adobe Acrobat Professional also has redaction in it. That is the most common tool used to do it and the most common way to have it be wrong. I don't think I've seen a single redaction mistake like this happen with anything besides Adobe Acrobat Professional. They either miss that final step or they heard it had redaction and they grab a drawing box and they think that's it. People don't understand that what they see on the screen doesn't completely correlate to what is inside the document. A lot of people don't understand this, even among legal professionals."
We checked in with our resident eDiscovery expert, Tom O'Connor, to lend his perspective to the redaction issue in regard to eDiscovery document exchanges. Tom tells us that, "Some reports may have indicated that there was a 'glitch' in the software. This is a competence issue, not a computer software issue. Either the users of the software were not trained properly, or did not pay attention during training. This is a 'user' issue. Folks kind of fumble and stumble around with technology. They don't pay for training. They don't buy a good product like "Redact-It", where they're going to get good training. Instead, they kind of teach themselves and this is what happens, they make a mistake. This isn't a technology issue, it's a people issue.
"And unfortunately then, for the implications for eDiscovery, what if you inadvertently in the course of litigation revealed some privileged communication to the other side and that person clicked on the document and lo and behold, there's privileged information?
"There's two different points to consider there. The first is: have a 'claw-back' provision when you're going into your 'meet and confer'. Now that presupposes that you actually do a 'meet and confer' and understand what you should be presenting and asking for. The first piece of advice I give my clients is 'read the rule book' because people don't understand that. I would venture to say that in well over 90% of the meet and confers, people are not asking for a 'claw back' provision. This would be a perfect example of when you could use it. Because you could say, 'Hey, we inadvertently produced something that was privileged and you have to give it back.' And under the Federal Rules, if you've given it to another party, you have to get it back from them. Now, that still doesn't help the damage being done, if somebody has opened that and read it. And they can use it in their thought process.
"You've got to understand in the wonderful world of technology what it is you're doing. And people don't. You could inadvertently do exactly this in a big case. You could think you're redacting some privileged information, send it to the other side in a production. Then realize that you didn't use the redaction tool properly. A. If you have a 'claw back', you can automatically get it back. B. Even if you don't have a 'claw back', you can probably request it and the court might order it back. However, sometimes, some Judges have been in a position of "If you didn't do a thorough job…" The 'claw back' provisions are designed to talk about inadvertent mistakes in production and the inadvertent piece is when you did your best to protect the privilege. I'm not sure the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence consider the ineffective use of technology as a good faith effort to protect privilege. If you have not protected your privilege within documents, for which you have a duty to your client, you may be exposing yourself to a malpractice case. You have to take the steps necessary to protect a case. You don't need a computer science degree to properly redact privilege information in documents. Not having done the training, having learned the product, are you in effect breaching your duty to your client?"
According to our experts, redaction is an easy process in theory, but must be tested properly before document release to ensure effectiveness. There are a some good redaction products out there – one would be Redact-It, AIRedact for large volumes of documents, another would be Adobe Acrobat Professional. But most importantly, proper training by the individuals using the products is absolutely essential.
About our experts:
Christine Musil (left) is Director of Marketing for Informative Graphics Corporation, an Arizona-based technology company that creates collaboration, annotation and redaction software.
Tom O'Connor (below) is the Director of the Legal Electronic Documents Institute.
Tom is a nationally-known consultant, speaker and writer in the area of computerized litigation support systems. Tom's involvement with large cases led him to become familiar with dozens of software applications for litigation support and he has both designed databases and trained legal staffs in their use of eDiscovery tools. Tom is the author of The Automated Law Firm, a guide to computer systems and software published by Aspen Law & Business, now in its fourth edition and The Lawyers Guide to Summation, published by the ABA.
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Welcome to "Why Is My Dad Mad?", MTV's occasional inquiry into issues that may come up on your Facebook feed or over dinner.
My dad is yelling at the TV again. What's going on now?
What channel is he watching?
Well, he was bawling during that old West Wing episode with the smoking in the National Cathedral … but now he's just watching MSNBC.
And what exactly is he yelling?
I think I heard something about H&R Block and why we can't have a Home Alone 2 extra in the White House?
Ah. He's upset about Donald Trump's tax returns.
That seems like a weird thing to be yelling about.
Well, the problem is that he won't release them to the public. He's the first presidential candidate to refuse to do this since Gerald Ford in 1976.
Trump has listed many reasons, none of which would actually prevent him from releasing anything. The main reason, he says, is that he's being audited — something that didn't prevent President Nixon from releasing his tax returns during Watergate. Trump has also said voters don't care about his tax returns. Sixty-two percent of Republicans said they wanted to see them.
Since there is no good reason for Trump to keep the returns secret, everyone just assumes that there must be something in there he wants to hide. Donald Trump Jr. told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that his father's returns hadn't been released "because he's got a 12,000-page tax return that would create … financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that would distract from [Trump's] main message."
Uh, does Trump even have a main message?
Yes. It is that everyone's lives suck and death surrounds us and only he can make all the problems go away with deals [insert long tangent about polls] but he can't tell us his plans because they are so great that everyone would steal his ideas if he told us, so he'll just surprise us.
He talks all the time about how he's so good at business. Wouldn't his tax returns just be a useful way to prove that?
Unless it's all an illusion! Until we see the returns, we'll just have to use this video about Trump Steaks as proof of his business acumen.
This is starting to sound familiar. Haven't we talked about tax returns a lot before this?
Yeah, it's becoming a campaign tradition. Mitt Romney didn't release his 2011 tax return until September 2012, which left plenty of time for people to speculate about what they might say — including Donald Trump. A New York magazine article on Romney at the time also offers a succinct explanation for why people want to see Trump's returns: "While his career-long refusal to release his tax returns was damaging in itself, it resonated even more so as a proxy for all the other secrets he has kept and still keeps."
Here is what Trump said about presidential candidates and tax returns almost exactly four years ago:
That seems … hypocritical.
Mmhmm. Trump's reading of the situation has changed somewhat since then. He now thinks that maybe it isn't the best idea to release your highly anticipated tax returns only a month or so before the election. "I will say this," Trump said in February. "Mitt Romney looked like a fool when he delayed and delayed and delayed and Harry Reid baited him and Mitt Romney didn't file until a month and a half before the election and it cost him big league."
Romney himself now has a different perspective on this issue too. He wrote a Facebook post in May that said, "There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump's refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them. Given Mr. Trump's equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it's a bombshell of unusual size."
What's in there? From the times I've had to do taxes, I can't say there's much interesting information in them.
Your taxes are a bit less complex than Trump's. Also, I don't know much about you, but I'm assuming you don't have a reputation for exaggerating information about your wealth. If the public had access to Trump's tax returns, they'd be able to find out how much money he actually has — he says he's worth $10 billion, Forbes says he's worth $4.5 billion, others think he might not even be a billionaire. Trump said during a deposition in 2007 — for a libel suit he filed after a reporter said he was only worth a few hundred million — that his "net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feeling."
His feelings? What the hell does that mean?
In The Art of the Deal, Trump (or his ghostwriter) says that "truthful hyperbole" is "an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion." "Truthful hyperbole" is basically a synonym for Trump's feelings. These truth-plated lies take facts and obscure them in the way that most benefits Trump. The only important thing to take from those "feelings" is that Trump's stated net worth changes about as often as his political positions. Which is why people would like to see what his tax returns say.
My dad has also been doing Google image searches for six-foot portraits of Donald Trump — does that have anything to do with the tax returns?
It's a long story, but yes. The tax returns would also show how much Trump has given to charity, which, as the Washington Post has shown over the past few months, is very complicated. Reporter David Fahrenthold has been trying to fact-check Trump's assertion that he has given tens of millions of dollars to charity. He has found proof of just one donation that Trump personally made. His reporting has also shown that the Trump Foundation relies mostly on other people's money. That money has been used to make donations in Trump's name, to buy huge paintings of Trump at charity auctions, and to buy a football helmet signed by Tim Tebow.
Trump also used at least $258,000 from the foundation to deal with his own legal problems, like the time he got in trouble with Florida for using a flagpole that was too tall. (Trump's lawyers complained that anything smaller "would fail to appropriately express the magnitude of Donald J. Trump's ... patriotism.")
It's much easier to investigate these issues if you have access to Trump's tax returns.
So, if Trump released his tax returns, it might be like a reality-TV version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, except when we find the painting in the end, it's six feet tall and has a picture of Donald Trump trapped under a mountain of Monopoly money?
That's one way to put it.
Do we know anything about Trump and his money?
You could basically rename the search for Trump's tax return "Donald Trump and the Chamber of Secrets," given all the questions it could answer. For example, does Trump even pay any taxes? (He has had years where he hasn't had to pay a cent, and he bragged in May that he works "very hard to pay as little tax as possible.") Real estate is infamous for offering massive tax breaks and loopholes for those who know where to find them. Does Trump have financial ties abroad? His campaign says no, but you can't fact-check that without — you guessed it! — a tax return. Back in 2008, Trump Jr. said, "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Does he use tax shelters, despite arguing that we should get rid of them entirely? We don't know!
Hillary Clinton's tax returns have led to a bunch of stories about her and Bill's financial history — reporters have been forced to find other ways of writing about Trump's.
So … is my dad ever going to stop being mad about this?
Probably not. It's like Trump is in the middle of a staring contest with everyone who wants him to release his tax returns, and no one will notice that he swapped in an unblinking Madame Tussaud's sculpture of himself until after the election is over. And although voters say they want to see the returns, it's not their biggest Trump-related concern.
Is there any other way that the tax returns could get out? Isn't everything getting hacked nowadays?
Someone at the IRS could theoretically leak them, but that would be a felony — and the agency tracks every single person who accesses this kind of information. WikiLeaks has joked about accessing Trump's returns. Dean Baquet, editor of the New York Times, said that if he received Trump's tax returns, he would publish them — even if it meant jail time. Others have suggested that reporters should either only ask Trump about the tax returns, or stop talking to him unless he releases them. So yes, there are ways that the tax returns could go public — but there are also only 47 days until the election.
Can you help me make my dad get over this?
Is he already pre-writing letters to the editor to send out in case Trump becomes president?
He is writing things and muttering, so ... yes?
We're only here to tell you why your dad's mad, not solve it. Sorry.