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December 31, 2014
The Oakmark Global Select Fund returned 2% for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, outperforming the MSCI World Index's 1% return. For the calendar year, the Fund returned 3%, underperforming the MSCI World Index return of 5%. The Fund has returned an average of 9% per year since its inception in October 2006, outperforming the MSCI World Index's annualized gain of 5% over the same period.
Oracle (U.S.) was the top contributor for the quarter, returning 18%. Oracle's share price continued its recovery after reporting solid results this quarter, which were better than investors had expected. Over the past few months, we have spoken with both of the newly appointed CEOs (Safra Catz and Mark Hurd, who were promoted as Larry Ellison moves from CEO to Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer), and we remain comfortable with the company's leadership, strategy and prospects. Additionally, we continue to be excited about Oracle's transition to cloud-based services and its strong reported revenue growth of 45% year-over-year. It was also reported during the quarter that Oracle and SAP reached an agreement on copyright infringement litigation, providing Oracle with $357 million in damages. We believe that Oracle is a solid investment that will reward shareholders into the future.
The largest detractor for the quarter was Apache (U.S.), a global oil and gas exploration and production company, falling 18%. As with most oil and gas exploration companies, Apache's share price is sometimes influenced by the direction of oil prices, which have fallen dramatically in recent months. The weakness in oil prices enabled us to purchase the name for the portfolio during the quarter at what we believed to be an attractive price. Apache has outlined a strategic plan to divest its nearly fully valued oil and gas assets and announced its intent to spin-off or sell all of its international assets and use the proceeds from these transactions for share repurchases. In line with this plan, in December Apache announced a deal to sell two of its natural gas projects. Although the price of the deal was a bit short of our estimates, we remain confident in management's ability to divest fully valued assets and return proceeds to shareholders. Furthermore, newly appointed COO John Christmann recently changed the company's capital allocation process and implemented a system for ranking the internal rates of return on wells across North America that should ensure a more efficient use of capital. In addition, Christmann replaced the operating heads of each region, changing their compensation metrics to focus on returns, and he also put in place a new geoscience team, which he considers to be the "best in the business." In our view, these improvements are strengthening Apache's underlying value, and we believe the true quality of this company is currently under-appreciated by the market.
There was abundant trading activity during the quarter. We sold our positions in Canon (Japan), Capital One Financial (U.S.), FedEx (U.S.) and Intel (U.S.); the positions were sold because they either approached our estimate of fair value or we identified other investments with what we believe is a better risk-return profile. We purchased three new names during the quarter: Apache (discussed above); MasterCard, a global payment system company; and Samsung Electronics, South Korea's top electronics company and world leader in semiconductors.
Geographically, 43% of the Fund's holdings were invested in U.S.-domiciled companies as of December 31, while approximately 48% were allocated to equities in Europe, 5% in Japan and 4% in South Korea.
While the U.S. dollar appreciated versus many foreign currencies during the quarter, we continued to believe some currencies are overvalued. As of quarter-end, approximately 25% of the Fund's Swiss franc exposure was hedged.
We would like to thank our shareholders for continuing to support us and our value investing philosophy. We wish you all a happy and prosperous new year!
William C. Nygren, CFA
Portfolio Manager
David G. Herro, CFA
Portfolio Manager
Average Annual Total Returns (12/31/14)
Since Inception (10/06) 8.55%
5–year 12.20%
1–year 2.57%
Expense Ratio as of 9/30/14 was 1.13%
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The performance data quoted represents past performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. The investment return and principal value vary so that an investor's shares when redeemed may be worth more or less than the original cost. To obtain the most recent month-end performance data, view it here.
As of 12/31/14, Oracle represented 5.6%, SAP 0%, Apache 4.8%, Canon 0%, Capital One Financial 0%, FedEx 0%, Intel 0%, MasterCard 3.4%, and Samsung Electronics 4.2% of the Oakmark Global Select Fund's total net assets. Portfolio holdings are subject to change without notice and are not intended as recommendations of individual stocks.
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Contractors began work re-surfacing the inside eastbound lanes of the W/X section of Highway 50 last Tuesday. They now plan to begin work on the outside eastbound lanes tomorrow night.
There will be new closures during the second phase, including the 11th and 16th street on-ramps and the eastbound U.S. Highway 50 connectors to southbound Highway 99 and eastbound Business 80.
The second phase of eastbound work is expected to take about 15 days, so Highway 50 should be open again ahead of schedule.

subset: commoncrawl


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Bob Dylan has rubbished the last 20 years of recorded music.
The veteran criticised the sound of modern albums, attacking the quality of the recordings.
"You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them," he told Rolling Stone. "I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past 20 years, really."
The legend added the he disliked the modern formats explaining "CDs are small, there's no stature to it", while the music had "no definition of nothing, no nothing, just like… static".
However Dylan did admit he was in favour of music downloads, though not for the usual reasons.
"Well, why not?" he said when he asked about file-sharing. "It ain't worth nothing anyway."
Dylan, meanwhile, releases new album 'Modern Times' on August 28.


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In preparation for that day I would like us to journey through a declaration of repentance that I first read two years ago on Friday, July 31, 2009. The next few days we will walk through this declaration:
We gather here today as citizens of the United States of America and as citizens of God's Kingdom. Our American citizenship being conferred to us by mutual place of birth and residence in God's providence; our Heavenly citizenship being purchased for us by the finished work of Jesus' death and resurrection on the cross in which we corporately trust. We recognize that as members of both this earthly and heavenly kingdom, it is our sacred duty and trust to bridge the gap between our nation and the Almighty. It has fallen to us, and to our watch, to bear witness of His righteous judgments in the face of impending calamity. We now endeavor to sound the trumpet of a watchman thus commissioned by God and stationed upon the ramparts of our great nation. (Ezekiel 33:1-7)
On behalf of our national sins and to any degree in which we have personally partaken we do now repent for:
The Sin of Hypocrisy: With great shame do we confess our profound tendency to allow our speech and our actions to suffer violence one against the other. For allowing ourselves to be called by Your Name while casually denying the responsibility of that calling, we repent. On behalf of the Body of Christ we repent for the sins of preaching purity yet refusing to abstain from immorality; for speaking unity but demonstrating competition and judgment among our fellow saints; and thinking more highly of ourselves then we ought. Above all we repent for allowing Your Name, O God, to be defamed by those who neither know you nor your Son, on account of our actions. Matthew 6:1-5 – Matthew 23:28 – Romans 12:9 – 1 Peter 2:1
Lord we are guilty; we beseech You to have mercy!


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They are also great lap dancers who know how to tease and satisfy their clients whether male or female. They are highly skilled in lap dancing and this is one aspect that constantly gets men coming their way. Anyone who would like to become a great lap dancer just like Leyton escorts of https://charlotteaction.org/leyton-escorts and should practice hard on how to incorporate body movements with immense sexiness. One has to be sexually courageous, sensual and daringly open minded knowing well that lap dancing is all about showing off.
Escorts in Leyton are known to be naughty and willing to go over the edge. This dangerous thrill is what makes them more desirable and many admire what they do. Lap dancing is quite easy and hard at the same time. In order to be perfect the art one can even enroll for lap dancing classes. In these classes, one learns how to be confident and to perfect their moves and eye contact. Most of these ladies take up these lessons to help them understand how their bodies are supposed to gyrate and grind without losing musical rhythm.
Lap dancing is a great form of foreplay that entices whoever is watching and it is such a turn on even for couples in relationships. It brings in a new and daring element that contributes positively to the overall sex life and adds that stimulation that is always lacking especially for couples who have been dating or married for long. A good lap dancer has to feel and be empowered just like Leyton escorts are since this comes out and is visible in their personality as they are dancing. Being empowered is all about knowing how to control moves without getting too carried away.
One must learn how to grind as they draw circles with their back arched. There should be slow bending of knees as one ensures comfort by bending as far as they can without causing strain. The dancing should be erotic as one shows off their assets. Turning around should be slow and occasional. One should perfect the circling of hips while also remembering to add in arm movements. During the turn one must keep their gaze on their client or lover. One should maintain a straight back since it comes off as more sexy.
There should be gradual opening of the light stroking, teasing and minimal allowance of touch. The main aim of giving a lap dance is to leave the mine of whoever is giving it open to receiving more. It should be a light form of torture. Leyton Escorts often know how to use the power they have to hold their clients captive and stirring their imagination to drive them wild without revealing everything. This keeps someone interested. A great lap dancer should know how to use what they have that is within their power to tease as they maintain their control and grasp. With such moves one is bound to be at the top of their game and get clients to spend money.


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Lone wolf Obama
"In 2012, President Obama signed executive orders that essentially said to about 1.7 million unlawfully present immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthdays and who are not yet 31 years of age that if they complied with certain conditions that he made up out of thin air they will not be deported.In 2014, the president signed additional executive orders that essentially made the same offer to about 4.7 million unlawfully present immigrants, without the age limits that he had made up out of thin air. A federal court enjoined enforcement of the 2014 orders last month.Last week, the Federal Communications Commission — the bureaucrats appointed by the president who regulate broadcast radio and television — decreed that it has the authority to regulate the Internet, even though federal courts have twice ruled that it does not."
I should also add, I understand Obama´s frustration with the Congress. But the emergence of the imperial presidency worries me, and Obama is following on the path of previous presidents, who have abused their power way too much.
I think the problem is bipartisan. Here´s a quote from the Cato Institute bitching about Clinton´s imperial attitude:
"In his his classic 1973 book The Imperial Presidency, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. warned that the American political system was threatened by "a conception of presidential power so spacious and peremptory as to imply a radical transformation of the traditional polity." America's rise to global dominance and Cold War leadership, Schlesinger explained, had dangerously concentrated power in the presidency, transforming the Framers' energetic but constitutionally constrained chief executive into a sort of elected emperor with virtually unchecked authority in the international arena.
As William Jefferson Clinton came to power in January 1993, there was some reason to hope that the imperial presidency would be scaled back. Clinton, after all, was the first post-Cold War president and a member of a political party that had in the wake of the Vietnam War striven to restrain presidential aggrandizement in foreign policy.
Such hopes proved illusory. Throughout his administration, President Clinton has adopted a view of his executive power that is positively Nixonian in its breadth and audacity. The administration insists that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty still binds the United States under international law, even though the Senate explicitly declined to ratify that agreement. Administration officials likewise insist that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is still in effect even though one of the contractual parties (the Soviet Union) no longer exists.
The administration has attempted to implement provisions of the Kyoto Protocol on the environment while continuing to refuse even to submit the treaty to the Senate for ratification. Those actions demonstrate that President Clinton has routinely abused the treaty power."
Link: http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/arrogance-power-reborn-imperial-presidency-foreign-policy-clinton-years
To make sure the Democrats don´t get pissed at me for being one sided, president Bush was guilty of presidential abuses of power, as discussed in this NY Times article:
"The war is hardly the only area where the Bush administration is trying to expand its powers beyond all legal justification. But the danger of an imperial presidency is particularly great when a president takes the nation to war, something the founders understood well. In the looming showdown, the founders and the Constitution are firmly on Congress's side.
Given how intent the president is on expanding his authority, it is startling to recall how the Constitution's framers viewed presidential power. They were revolutionaries who detested kings, and their great concern when they established the United States was that they not accidentally create a kingdom. To guard against it, they sharply limited presidential authority, which Edmund Randolph, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the first attorney general, called "the foetus of monarchy."
The founders were particularly wary of giving the president power over war. They were haunted by Europe's history of conflicts started by self-aggrandizing kings. John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States, noted in Federalist No. 4 that "absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal."
Many critics of the Iraq war are reluctant to suggest that President Bush went into it in anything but good faith. But James Madison, widely known as the father of the Constitution, might have been more skeptical. "In war, the honors and emoluments of office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage under which they are to be enjoyed," he warned. "It is in war, finally, that laurels are to be gathered; and it is the executive brow they are to encircle."
When they drafted the Constitution, Madison and his colleagues wrote their skepticism into the text. In Britain, the king had the authority to declare war, and raise and support armies, among other war powers. The framers expressly rejected this model and gave these powers not to the president, but to Congress."Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/opinion/23mon4.html
Here´s a link to Judge Napolitano´s webpage:
Just to make sure, I want to make it clear I really hate Fox News.


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Gastown MGP Tonawanda
Digital Files
Below is an abbreviated version of work plans in PDF form for download. To view the complete document, please contact DEC or visit the document repositories listed under Where to Find Information.
- February 2016 Fact Sheet (6 page PDF, 99 KB)
- May 2015 Fact Sheet (5 page PDF, 103 KB)
- January 2013 Fact Sheet (5 page PDF, 394 KB)
- November 2009 Fact Sheet (2 page PDF, 114 KB)
- August 2009 Tar Tank Removal Work Plan (29 page PDF, 2.7 MB)
- March 2007 Record of Decision (56 page PDF, 4.8 MB)
Site Timeline
1884 - 1921
Site operated as an MGP
March: Coal tar leaks into Gastown Sportsman Club
2001 - 2004
Remedial Investigation
March: original ROD approved
National Fuel Gas entered into a Consent Order with DEC to remediate site
Phase 1 of the remedy was performed to remove an on-site tank containing tarry-soil, debris, and water
An MGP was operated at this site from 1884 until 1921, making a combustible gas from coal and petroleum which was used for cooking, heating and lighting. The hot gas was stored in on-site gas holders. As it cooled, the gas released a condensate called "coal tar," which was a black or brown liquid with a strong odor. Coal tar is the primary contaminant at this site. Coal tar is a type of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL), an oily substance similar to driveway sealant, which does not readily mix with water.
Site Investigation
In March 1993, the DEC Spill Response Unit responded to a complaint that an unknown oily substance was entering basement sumps at the Gastown Sportsman's Club. This substance was subsequently identified as coal tar, and chemical analysis showed that it contained enough benzene to be defined as a characteristic hazardous waste.
In September 1998, a groundwater/tar extraction and treatment system was installed just west of the Gastown Sportsmen's Club building. The purpose of this system was to intercept the tar and the contaminated groundwater associated with it, before it could enter the basement sumps.
From June 2001 through July 2004, the DEC conducted a Remedial Investigation (RI) to determine the nature and extent of contamination at this site. The RI started with test pits and soil borings in the areas of known coal tar contamination, and then expanded outwards until the limit of the contamination was defined. This primarily involved the use of direct push soil borings to delineate the extent of coal tar and contaminated soil, which was then followed by the installation of monitoring wells to define the extent of groundwater contamination. Soil vapor samples were collected following the delineation of groundwater contamination.
Additional site investigations were performed to refine the remedial approach by National Fuel Gas following the execution of the Consent Order with DEC in 2008. The findings from these remedial design approach investigations were used to evaluate the basis for the proposed ROD Amendment.
Figure 1 - Proposed amended ROD excavation
Additional site details, including environmental and health assessment summaries, are available on DEC's website.
Superfund Cleanup Program
New York's State Superfund Program (SSF) identifies and characterizes suspected inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. Sites that pose a significant threat to public health and/or the environment go through a process of investigation, evaluation, cleanup and monitoring. DEC attempts to identify parties responsible for site contamination and require cleanup before committing State funds.
Where to Find Information
Public interest in this project is valued and appreciated. Project documents are available at the following location to help the public stay informed. You may also view electronic versions of project documents in the Digital Files section above (if available). Large documents may be abbreviated to meet DEC's file size requirements for posting to the website. Hard copies of full project documents are available at the listed locations.
City of Tonawanda Public Library
333 Main Street
Tonawanda, NY 14150
NYS DEC Central Office
Attn: Richard Dana, CPG
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233
(518) 402-9662
NYS DEC Region 9 Office
270 Michigan Avenue
Buffalo, NY14203
(Call for appointment)
Whom to Contact
For more information about activities at the site, or if you have questions, comments, or concerns, we encourage you to contact the representatives listed below. If you know anyone who would like to be added to the e-mailing list to receive project updates, please have them contact one of the DEC representatives listed below.
Project Related Questions:
Richard Dana
DEC, Division of Environmental Remediation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233
(518) 402-9662
Site-Related Health Questions:
Matthew Forcucci
584 Delaware Ave
Buffalo, NY 14202
For More Information
We encourage you to share this fact sheet with neighbors and tenants, and/or post this fact sheet in a prominent area of your building for others to see.
*Receive Site Fact Sheets by Email
Have site information such as this fact sheet sent right to your email inbox. DEC invites you to sign up with one or more contaminated sites county email listservs available. It's quick, it's free, and it will help keep you better informed.
As a listserv member, you will periodically receive site-related information/announcements for all contaminated sites in the county(ies) you select. You may continue also to receive paper copies of site information for a time after you sign up with a county listserv, until the transition to electronic distribution is complete.
Site Location
Aerial view of Gastown site


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So the Found Footage genre decided to play a few ghost hunting games again – is there really any more room for this type of film in the horror genre?
Same Old Story
Getting excited about a story line I've sat through many times before is getting increasingly difficult.
Enter Documenting The Grey Man – more ghost hunting games gone wrong!
One of my favorite Found Footage offerings is Grave Encounters but that film seems to have a lot to answer for. First of all it gave the Found Footage industry the ghost hunting yarn. Secondly it gave the Found Footage community a haunted asylum!
Neither of these two aspects are bad things if used correctly and with a little originality.
That doesn't seem to happen to often…
Documenting The Grey Man
This Particular Found Footage effort was released on July 17, 2012 and it seemed like it was going to be quite the experience. When I first saw the front cover of the DVD depicting a young girl levitating out of bed I was more than a little excited!
It was directed by Wayne Capps – someone I had no knowledge on beforehand (and I have little knowledge on now if I'm honest!).
The film attempts to be a little different in it's approach by including a set of ghost hunters that have a conscience for once. By this I mean this group actually want to demonstrate to the public how easy it is to be a fraud in this business.
The first half of their documentary is set up to film fake hauntings within a family household whilst the second half is reserved for showing the world how they faked it!
The household that they choose has reported instances where they have been haunted by the Grey Man. This is a local legend about a man who lost his wife in a severe storm. For decades since his death he has roamed the beaches looking for people wandering alone so he can whisper in their ear warnings of coming harsh weather.
This family think that the Grey Man used to inhabit the plantation near their new home so he must be responsible for the paranormal activity…
No Need For a Script
After watching about twenty minutes of the film I started to pick up on a few flaws that sort of astonished me. Firstly the script – there didn't seem to be one!
I'm serious – there didn't seem to be any sort of script in this film and each scene was just thrown together in a series of takes!
Normally this would put me right off a film but for some reason this film worked alright with this setup.
As the housewife walks our band of merry ghost hunters around the house it is plainly obvious that she has no idea what she is going to say next. It's sort of similar to listening to a tennis commentator when the rain starts pouring – just rambling on about anything to fill the time!
This tells us that the film is pretty much a zero budget offering and that puts things into perspective. I actually enjoyed it a little more when I realized this!
Yeah this WAS NOT a CGI blockbuster but what it did offer was above average. We had the fake blood and then characters being dragged through doors and underneath beds. No effects over $10 but hey – they sort of worked!
This is not really the top of the tree when it comes to Found Footage horror but it does have some nice touches. For long periods of the film I was pretty sure that all the actors were film school rejects with a point to prove.
The acting itself was average and the character development was also pretty average but things came together enough to work (on some levels).
There were some moments in the film that made me laugh out loud but I've got to the point where I sort of expect that these days anyway (the team leader's awful green polo shirt in the first scene was one of them!).
If you like Found Footage you will find something to enjoy in this film. It's not great and it's based on an idea that has been covered many times before but it does work.
I'd give these ghost hunting games a go and see where they take you!