text:
Cars that drive hundreds of miles on a tank of hydrogen and spew nothing from the tailpipe but water will hit the market this month in California.
But it wasn't customer demand that drove automakers to build fuel-cell cars – it was basic economics, with a nudge from regulation.
California and other states are pushing automakers to offer cars that don't contribute to global warming. Many companies turned to electric cars and plug-in hybrids in response.
However, executives at Hyundai, Toyota and several other automakers are convinced that fuel-cell cars, which can fill up in five minutes, are better suited to Americans' driving habits than electric cars will ever be.
And if the cars prove popular enough to make money someday, automakers that develop and build their own fuel cells may be able to keep a bigger slice of the profits than they can from electric cars.
The most expensive component of any plug-in vehicle is its battery, and while some electric car makers such as Tesla Motors and Nissan build their own battery packs, many don't.
"When you develop all the technology for yourself, and you don't have to pay any patents, you can reap the benefits down the road," said Derek Joyce, manager for product public relations for Hyundai.
Slow sales
His company spent more than 14 years developing and testing its own fuel cell. Next week, Southern California drivers will become the first in the nation to lease Hyundai's fuel-cell version of its Tucson sports utility vehicle. It will go for $499 per month – about double the price of leasing a gas-burning Tucson.
The company won't say how many people have signed up. But Hyundai plans to make about 600 of the cars by the end of 2015. For comparison, Nissan sold 954 electric Leaf hatchbacks and GM sold 1,529 Chevy Volts, an advanced plug-in hybrid, in their first year on the market.
Eco-minded drivers who spent years badgering the auto industry into building electric cars haven't done the same for fuel cells. Many of them even call the new technology a waste of time, requiring a whole new network of expensive fueling stations. Fuel-cell cars, as a result, will jump into the market without a safety net.
"Nobody wants them," said Felix Kramer, founder of CalCars, a plug-in vehicle advocacy group. "Nobody's asking for them. People who wanted a zero-emission car can now get any number of electric vehicles. I'm kind of bewildered about why Toyota and Honda and the others are hanging so much on it."
The car companies know they need to convince people – electric-vehicle fans and ordinary drivers alike – to give fuel cells a chance.
"I certainly won't argue with you that the awareness for fuel cells is very low compared to the awareness of EVs," said Craig Scott, manager of advanced vehicle technologies for Toyota Motor Sales, USA. "We have to do our job to make people aware that this is here, now, and it's not some kind of science project."
Fuel-cell cars operate much like electric cars, relying on an electric motor rather than an internal combustion engine to turn the wheels. But instead of drawing their electricity from a big, rechargeable battery pack, they produce it onboard. A fuel cell uses an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to generate current.
California requirements
That reaction yields no carbon dioxide or smog-forming chemicals, only water. As a result, automakers can use fuel-cell cars to meet California's requirements that a small percentage of the vehicles they sell in the state produce no greenhouse gas emissions. The California Energy Commission last month agreed to spend $46.6 million building 28 hydrogen fueling stations in the Bay Area, the Los Angeles region and along the Interstate 5 corridor.
"Our goal is really zero-emission vehicles," said commission Chairman Robert Weisenmiller. "So if it's electric, if it's hydrogen, if it's biofuels – we're agnostic."
The same zero-emission rule helped make California the center of electric-car culture in America, with more than 32,000 battery-powered vehicles sold in the state so far. But while sales of electrics are slowly rising, some automakers still doubt the average driver will ever embrace them.
Most electric cars can't travel 100 miles without recharging their batteries, a process that often takes more than an hour at public charging stations. Tesla's Model S sedan can go 208 to 265 miles on a charge, depending on the size of its battery pack, but most drivers can't afford its starting price of $71,070.
Fuel-cell cars, in contrast, run for more than 250 miles on a tank of hydrogen. Filling up takes five to seven minutes and uses equipment similar to traditional gas pumps. Unlike electric cars, fuel-cell vehicles can't fill up at home.
"It's the only option we think that doesn't ask customers to sacrifice how they live," Scott said. Toyota plans to introduce a fuel-cell sedan in California next year.
"We think that's a fool's game, to try to get people to change their lifestyle," Scott said.
Toyota has long been considered an electric-vehicle skeptic, focusing on hybrids instead. Although the company collaborated with Tesla to create an electric version of its Rav4, Toyota didn't throw much effort into promoting the car, and production is expected to end this year.
Technological lead
Roland Hwang, director of the transportation program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Toyota may see in fuel cells a way to retake the technological lead in green cars. Other companies that didn't jump on the electric bandwagon may feel the same.
"They're concerned about the leapfrogging of their technology," Hwang said. "They clearly know they no longer have the pole position in this space."
Critics question the safety of driving on a big tank of hydrogen, which could ignite in a crash. They also note the difficulty and expense of building hydrogen fueling stations, which cost $1 million to $2 million apiece.
Ten years ago, California's then-governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, committed to building 200 hydrogen stations by 2010. Today, the state has nine, with another 17 under development. The new funding from the Energy Commission will bring the total to 54. Prices at those stations remain unclear, as they aren't yet open to private vehicles.
"To the extent that there's an infrastructure problem with EVs, there's an infrastructure problem on steroids with hydrogen," Kramer said.
Fuel-cell believers consider the safety question overblown, noting that drivers don't think twice about the tanks of flammable gasoline in their cars. As for fueling stations, most of the early ones will be located near oil refineries, which use hydrogen in their daily operations.
"The automakers have never truly gauged the interest of consumers in fuel cells in the past," said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at the Kelley Blue Book auto information service. While he thinks the cars have potential, he said, "It's going to be a slow start, for sure."
David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF


text:
Want to write a historical romance? Prepare to agonize over anachronism.
Devotees of the genre love feeling transported back to a different time period, and they will put up with minor anachronisms and historical inaccuracies, especially if the storytelling is great. But everyone has their breaking point. A narrative littered with words and ideas that don't belong in the era will jolt readers from the "dream" of the story. Pretty soon they can feel like they're reading someone's Twitter feed.
Maybe you'd be okay with a pioneer woman named Kayzeene whose parents caught onto the made-up-name fad 150 years before the rest of us. Okay, so she tells her brother to "suck it up" (slang popularized in the 1980s) when she takes a moment between wagon train duties to have period-inappropriate sex with a"hot" frontier doctor who sets aside her Winchester automatic (not yet invented) while (you guessed it) unzipping her fly. It goes without saying that both women are familiar with a sexual vocabulary only introduced to startled Americans a century later by Masters and Johnson.
If you've paid nothing for this story as a self-published Kindle book, who cares? But no one wants to spend ten bucks on a historical romance only to discover that the author didn't think basic research mattered.
All authors of historical romance find ourselves constantly balancing fiction with reality. Time, place, and language must convincingly convey the feel of another era and invite readers to suspend disbelief. At the same time, too much accuracy can disturb and even offend modern readers. Just because animal cruelty did not raise eyebrows 200 years ago, doesn't mean your main character is obliged to flog her horse for the sake of realism.
No intelligent reader expects a character from the past to share 21st Century sensitivities and values, but they do expect authors to make thoughtful choices about where to draw the line. Authors of historical romance are in the business of world-building. We get to choose where and how we interweave fantasy and fact to serve story and character goals.
Debate over realism is nothing new. In the early 1990s, author Diana Gabaldon included a wife-beating scene in Outlander, now a TV series. Back then, Gabaldon was criticized for inaccuracies in her first book and went on to build a reputation for authenticity. Her decision to have her main character Jamie Fraser beat his wife Claire was controversial at the time, and with the advent of the TV series, you can find it litigated all over the Internet.
Gabaldon wrote Jamie as an Enlightenment thinker–an honorable, exceptional man for his era. Late 18th Century writings by Enlightenment men offer a genuine historical basis for this character. However, the same historical writings also show that domestic violence was considered loutish and unacceptable among men of Jamie's social class and outlook, so it's hard to fathom why Gabaldon has cited "historical accuracy" to excuse Jamie's sudden sudden lapse into domestic abuse.
It seems more likely that, having included the scene as a first-time author, she simply made a poor choice. Characterization 101: behavior reveals character. When behavior is at diametric odds with characterization, there's a problem with craft, not a dilemma over real-world accuracy.
Anachronism is not always a crime against good writing. The time-travel trope allows an author to transplant a modern-day character into a past era, along with her contemporary viewpoint and vernacular. The humor virtually writes itself and conflict is built in. At least, this is what I've discovered working on one of my current projects, Dark Charmer, a romance set in a haunted Scottish castle. My heroine, Tiana, travels back in time to solve a mystery.
I'm a research junkie, so writing this story is a lot of fun; I find fact is stranger than fiction, and even more so three hundred years ago. There is a ton of great material I can weave in as realism – my goal is to stay true to the era, while also penning an entertaining romance. My biggest dilemma is deciding which fascinating historical gems to include!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Survey: Advancements in leadership, talent, and innovation limited by misalignment of investments, priorities, and incentives has been added to Bookmarks.
Press releases
Survey: Advancements in leadership, talent, and innovation limited by misalignment of investments, priorities, and incentives
Deloitte business confidence report 2016
New York, May 4, 2016 — For the second year, Deloitte's Business confidence report reveals that America's top leaders, chief executive officers (CXOs) and chief executives-in-waiting (CXOWs), the latter including those who are next in line to the C-suite, have a very high level of confidence despite global volatility. Results show 69 percent of CXOs and 56 percent of CXOWs feel very confident they will outperform the competition in the next year, compared to 66 percent of CXOs and 63 percent of CXOWs in 2014. However, some doubts are emerging as executives, particularly those just outside the C-suite, struggle with how to transform their businesses and disrupt their industries in an unstable and increasingly competitive marketplace.
This year's report titled Deloitte business confidence report 2016: The bold organization—innovate, lead, attract took the pulse of 600 of America's top business leaders and examined their levels of confidence on key business issues. The report examines how the confidence level of leaders shifts in relation to the priorities of innovation and technology, the need for bold leadership, and increasing pressure to find, develop, and retain the right talent. C-suite leaders cited rapid technology changes, talent skills gaps and a lack of investment in their own products and processes as their top concerns in the survey.
In order for business leaders to transform their organizations, they have to look more broadly across the organization and align changes, incentives, and investments with their priorities—even across organizational silos. Our survey shows that there are opportunities to carry desired changes through every element of a company's business model rather than just focusing energy in one or two areas. A more holistic approach will create new opportunities to outperform in an environment where competition is increasingly fierce.
– Janet Foutty,
Survey responses revealed that while business leaders are focusing on key areas of concern to transform their organizations through innovation, bold leadership, and talent, they are still not comprehensively integrating strategies across the organization.
Innovation: The C-suite's narrow approach
The report found C-suite leaders repeatedly exhibit inconsistencies when it comes to prioritizing and investing in innovation. Executives stated that besides their own leadership, their ability to innovate more than competitors is the highest source of their business confidence. However, survey results show that business leaders are taking a particularly narrow view of innovation, which could hinder their efforts.
- When leaders prioritize innovation, they almost exclusively focus on product and services (51 percent of CXOs and 54 percent of CXOWs) or customer experience (48 percent CXOs and 57 percent of CXOWs) and are missing critical opportunities to explore innovation outside of these boundaries. For example, only about one in four companies are focused on investing in other key innovation areas including staff, organizational models, and business process.
- Although executives say innovation is a major priority, more than half of CXOs (53 percent) and 44 percent of CXOWs are not prioritizing investments in employee recruitment and retention needed for new and different skills their companies require to foster innovation. Subsequently, business leaders are not rewarding their employees for innovation breakthroughs, as only 50 percent of CXOs and CXOWs say they are awarding innovation, and only 41 percent of CXOs and 40 percent of CXOWs offer compensation and promotions to those who take risks. However, that's still an increase from 2014, when 36 percent of CXOs stated they were incorporating contributions to innovation in performance reviews.
- The report shows that the passive innovation strategy most C-suite executives are implementing, which is centered around making the same, traditional business investments they have made for years, is not actually leading to innovation. It allows only for incremental change and does not foster the disruption today's businesses need to avoid becoming obsolete.
- In 2014, 45 percent of CXOs said they were allowing time for employees to innovate and 42 percent are adopting new technologies. In 2016, that has increased as 51 percent of CXOs stated they are offering at-work training on new technologies, displaying investment, and priority improvements in innovation and technology training, but that still means nearly one in two (49 percent) are not offering this training to staff.
Talent "brain drain" looming
As the war on talent continues and the C-suite looks for new ways to come out on top, business leaders are now faced with another major problem—a "brain drain" of their superstars. According to the 2016 report, C-suite leaders are very concerned that their most talented might leave before they take senior management positions available at their companies. Sixty-three percent of CXOs and 80 percent of CXOWs feel that one in three—or more—of their best managers will leave before joining their senior ranks.
- Eighty-eight percent of CXOs and 93 percent of CXOWs believe the rapid pace at which technology and the markets are changing is creating a skills gap at their companies. Nearly half of these same executives also feel the gap is not being adequately addressed (44 percent of CXOs and 46 percent of CXOWs). However, a majority of CXOs and many CXOWs (almost half of them) are not prioritizing investments in employee recruitment and retention to address the need for new and different skills at their companies. This echoes a similar finding in "Strategy, Not Technology, Drives Digital Transformation," a recent study Deloitte completed with MIT Sloan Management Review, which found that this skills gap is even larger among less digitally mature organizations.
- Fifty-four percent of CXOs and 60 percent of CXOWs cite that the desire to work with more advanced technologies is the top factor that will drive away their best managers to a new company. Fifty-two percent of CXOs and 57 percent of CXOWs highlighted the desire to work for a more innovative company as the second highest reason why top talent is likely to leave before they reach the management ranks at their current company. These themes also emerged in the Deloitte and MIT Sloan Management Review study, which found that over 72 percent of employees across all age groups want to work for an organization that is digitally enabled or is known as a digital leader.
- Executives also say there is a significant variation of "in demand" skills needed at their companies, with a shift from technical skills towards "soft skills" that are often hard to find and even harder to cultivate. CXOs and CXOWs specifically identified the ability to quickly develop expertise (57 percent and 56 percent respectively), work across multiple roles (51 percent of each), and work with advanced technologies (50 percent and 52 percent respectively) as the top skills in demand for their business.
- In 2016, 72 percent of CXOs stated they are training current employees to develop new skills to promote innovation. As the demand for innovation has increased, so has the demand for training. In Deloitte's 2014 report, 39 percent of CXOs said they were providing ongoing employee training and development programs in regards to what the organization is doing to foster or drive innovation.
The bold leadership requirement
In the face of today's challenging business environment, nearly all executives agreed that bold leadership is required to transform challenges into opportunities for growth. For the 2016 report, Deloitte identified the following six qualifiers to define "bold leadership": sets ambitious goals; invites feedback from colleagues at all levels of seniority; innovates and looks for new ways of doing things; proposes ideas their company might consider controversial; takes risks; and builds strong teams and empowers them to succeed.
- Survey results show that executives overwhelmingly agree (97 percent of CXOs and 98 percent of CXOWs) that breakthrough performance requires bold leadership. However, most companies are not cultivating bold leadership traits and nearly all leaders (9 in 10 CXOs and CXOWs) admit to not regularly demonstrating all aspects of bold leadership.
- Despite the fact that nearly all leaders say bold leadership is a "must have," when ranking their own performance as a bold leader, fewer than half of CXOs (48 percent) and CXOWs (47 percent) feel they demonstrate these qualities all or most of the time.
- In 2014, 48 percent of CXOs and 41 percent of CXOWs said their direct reports had the skills to become part of the C-suite in the organization. Those concerns have remained largely consistent in the 2016 report, as 46 percent and 44 percent of CXOWs stated that they definitely have an adequate supply of qualified and rising leaders.
- Similar to the findings of the first report, this year's survey results also show that the leadership pipeline for the C-suite is lacking. More than half of CXOs (52 percent) and CXOWs (61 percent) believe they may not have enough bold leaders in the highest ranks at their companies. The pool of future bold leaders also appears to be less than adequate, as only 44 percent of CXOs and 36 percent of CXOWs said that their rising executives successfully demonstrate bold leadership all or most of the time.
- When it comes to recruiting the next generation of bold leaders, 54 percent of CXOs and 67 percent of CXOWs stated they are not emphasizing bold leadership skills in recruitment.
"Being a bold leader is about having the confidence to make decisions that disrupt and therefore transform your business, preparing it for the future. It's also about taking an integrated approach to decision making," said Foutty. "As the survey shows, a more united and collaborative approach to change would create greater coherence across the organization. These bold leadership perspectives are not easy to adopt, but without a 360-degree approach, innovation and transformation progress will remain stuck in neutral."
About the Survey
The Deloitte Business confidence report 2016: The bold organization—innovate, lead, attract survey was conducted among two groups: 1) 300 US "CXOs," defined as US adults employed full-time with C-level titles at companies with 1,000 or more employees, and 2) 300 US "CXOs-in-Waiting," defined as US adults employed full-time, with a professional title of SVP, executive VP, or equivalent, at companies with 1,000 or more employees, who will likely be promoted to a C-level position in the next 5-10 years. All survey respondents also had a college degree or advanced degree.
The survey was fielded between November 18 and December 16, 2015, using an email invitation and an online survey.
Follow us at @DeloitteUS for further insights from the 2016 Deloitte Business confidence report and to participate in the #CXOConfidence conversation.
About Deloitte Consulting LLP
Deloitte helps organizations grow their businesses and enhance value by identifying actionable insights. More than 23,000 professionals provide a broad range of capabilities across human capital, strategy and operations, innovation, and technology that are aligned to the particular needs of specific sectors, businesses, and organizations. Deloitte provides clients with leading business insights that can help generate a tangible and measurable impact.
Media contacts:
Alexandria Andreeff
Public Relations
+1 312 486 0005
Melissa Doyle
Public Relations
+1 617 585 5886
Emily K. Graham
Public Relations
MWW Group
+1 646 215 6895


text:
Hello from the Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative,
We've been hard at work making sense of the data we've gathered from more than 100 organizations providing STEM programming in out of school time across the city. Thank you for being part of this effort!
We've also been checking in with individuals, STEM and education funders and stakeholders, and networks (like the Museums in the Parks, Chicago Wilderness and HIVE) and learning about how people are trying to work together, the issues organizations face when it comes to collecting and sharing data, and the great desires people have to do better supporting young people to get – and stay – involved with high-quality science, technology, engineering and math experiences.
The data are confirming what you probably already know: there are HUNDREDS of opportunities being offered to young people across the city. But we're also seeing gaps in program availability in terms where and when programs are offered, diversity of program content available, and the ages of students being targeted for program services. As soon as the numbers get a little cleaner we'll send out some of the initial findings for you to take a look at.
As we work on drafting a summary of the findings, we're curious about the questions YOU have about the STEM and out of school time landscape:
What are you curious about when it comes to Chicago's STEM and out of school time opportunities? What do you wish you knew more about or understood better?
Please feel free to email me back directly, or post your questions or comments on the Ideas Page. We'll keep all the input we get in mind as we draft a summary of the findings and as we plan a fall convening when we can share the findings in their entirety with you and other stakeholders involved in STEM programming.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and work in this critical arena,
Gabrielle Lyon on behalf of the STEM Cooperative Leadership team


text:
If there's one thing the Italians know, it's style. Whether it's casual cool or smart and sharp, they're world experts in looking good, so it should come as no surprise that the stylish men's shaving products of Italian shaving experts Proraso deliver such stylish results.
Proraso have been perfecting the art of shaving for over 100 years, and it's safe to say they've picked up a thing or two in that time. Specialising in shaving products, their range of shave creams, shave soaps and shave foams are ideal for helping your razor blade glide across your face, reducing irritation whilst protecting your skin and looks.
Where Proraso really come into their own is in the natural ingredients they choose to combine when making their iconic shaving products. The two staples of the Proraso range are their Green selection and their Red selection - hardly surprising given their Italian heritage. The green range combines eucalyptus and menthol, to deliver intense cooling and soothing whilst you shave. The red range merges Sandalwood with shea butter, for a sophisticated scent and a smooth feel. What colour could go alongside red and green to form their third range than white? This is Proraso's dedicated sensitive skin range, for men who need that extra dose of protection to get the best out of their shave.
And for those of you men with beards, fear not, you can still enjoy the sense of poise and purpose that comes with Proraso, whilst keeping your facial style. Proraso have created beard oils, beard balms and moustache wax, to help you condition and style your facial hair.
With luxurious lathers, elegant fragrances and unbeatable blade glide, Proraso have left nothing to chance when creating their men's shaving range.


text: I'm looking to trade my Eden D410XLT (8 ohm version). I'm interested in either: 1) Two Bag End S15-D's (Deep Red series) or 2) One Epifani or Bergantino 2x12. Cab is in excellent condition. I'm original owner. I'd prefer Tri-state area (I'm in south suburbs of Chicago), and would consider driving a reasonable distance to facilitate a trade. Cab(s) must be in equally excellent condition. Let me know. My 'For Sale/Trade' stuff at: home.att.net/~t.wick/wsb/html/view.cgi-photos.html-.html


text:
Our family had dinner w the President & First Lady, who were warm & gracious. Catherine brought Joe–her kindergarten class stuffed giraffe! pic.twitter.com/fJ5GvuZ98B
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 9, 2017
Good morning Austin:
Well, there you have it ladies and gentleman.
Ted and Heidi and Caroline and Catherine Cruz, and Joe the kindergarten class stuffed giraffe, had dinner with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump last night at the White House.
And that's about all we know.
No tweets from the president.
No photo from the White House.
No pool report, except this, in advance of the dinner yesterday, from Real Clear Politics' Alex Simendinger.
The president remained hidden from POOLers' view Wednesday. Still on his schedule this evening: dinner in the residence with the first lady and Sen. & Mrs. Ted Cruz.
That's it.
Oh to have been a fly on that wall.
I mean considering their history, this was like Rosie O'Donnell and Megyn Kelly stopping by for a nosh.
As I wrote yesterday:
The dinner, Cruz said, came at the president's invitation and demonstrates just how far their complicated and often venomous relationship has come since a bitter primary rivalry — which included an extraordinary exchange of tweets about their wives and ended with Cruz, on the last day of his campaign, saying, "I will tell you, as the father of two young girls, the idea of our daughters coming home and repeating any word that man says horrifies me."
But Cruz eventually endorsed Trump, campaigned for him and has emerged as a booster of the president's agenda in the Senate.
Las week, I recounted Cruz's earlier animus to Trump in a First Reading: Who's bat-crap crazy now? Or how Ted Cruz learned to stop worrying and love The Donald.
If you want more details take a look at yesterday's Fixin the Washington Post: Donald Trump is having dinner with Ted and Heidi Cruz. Here are nine things that might make it awkward.
At the daily White House press briefing yesterday, Sean Spicer was asked whether President Trump might take the opportunity to apologize to Heid Cruz for a tweet – what else – comparing her looks unfavorably with his wife's.
I guess not.
So, in the absence of any actual information, we are left to imagine how last night's dinner might have gone.
For those who have started watching Feud: Bette and Joan,one can only hope that dinner did not begin with the president casually remarking, "You know, Ted, there are rats in the White House basement."
We would know by now if If Ted had gone all Michael Corleone on the president in retribution for Trump's blood libel against Cruz's father, Rafael.
I also don't see our senator doing what Uncle Junior did at Sunday dinner here, disparaging the Big Guy's small hands. (Who knew that was such a thing.)
Considering all the brain power at the table, the conversation could have taken an intellectual turn.
Or, it's quite possible that Cruz broke the ice with a little Princess Bride.
Or he might have riffed on how in the world that meme about him being the Zodiac Killer ever took hold.
I do truly believe that a good meal can seize the spirit …
And melt the heart.
As Spicer noted, last month, Trump had Sen. Marco Rubio and his wife over for dinner.
Little Marco – the inspiration for what had to be Trump's most fully realized pieces of performance art in the primary campaign, at a rally in Fort Worth.
The only comparable performance was Trump's takedown of Ben Carson in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
And now Ben Carson is Trump's secretary of housing and urban development..
And they make a fuss about Lincoln's Team of Rivals.
Here was Carson addressing his new department a few days ago.
BEN CARSON: That's what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder, for less.
But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.
That is one optimistic slave, who chained in the bottom of a slave ship dreams that one day – maybe a century from now – a great Civil War will emancipate his great-great-grandchildren, and then, another century after that, a president from Texas will see to it that those great-great grandchildren's great-great-grandchildren will actually be able to exercise their right to vote.
Where is Dave Chappelle when you need him?
But this is what happens when a bunch of political neophytes are running the show.
On the other hand, if you want to see how it's supposed to be done, go to a pro.
Here is Rick Perry speaking to his new department last Friday.
Dr. Carson. President Trump. Watch (beginning a little after the 3-minute mark) and learn.
My lifetime dream was to be a veterinarian. From a very young age I knew I wanted to go to school at Texas A&M. And I wanted to be a veterinarian. And organic chemistry made a pilot out of me.
Getting to be able to come to this agency is an extraordinary journey for me. I still get reminded on a regular basis about something I couldn't remember in a debate about this agency.
Hey, President Trump, when are you having Rick and Anita over for dinner?


text:
An asteroid will fly past our own planet on January 29, 2008. At closest approach, 2007 TU24 will be 1.4 lunar distances from Earth. There's no danger of a collision, but the 400m-wide space rock will be close enough to photograph through backyard telescopes as it speeds through the constellation Cassiopeia glowing like a 10th magnitude star.
Orbit Diagram
CHRISTMAS PROMS: "The promenences on the sun's limb today have a real Christmas feel to them!" reports Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland. Here is the view taken by Greg


text:
|Oliver is not impressed with Rambo
So I'm signing off at least until February, barring interesting announcements or cosmic events or just an overwhelming desire to violate my own resolutions. (It usually happens.) I will also likely be only slowly or vaguely responsive to emails, etc. Please don't take it personally. I've got three weeks in which to get real work done, then life returns to its normal craziness.


text:
Better use of existing regulation and the development of a register for complying products are critical strategies in the battle against building materials which do not meet required standards in Australia, a leader in the construction products manufacturing sector says.
As the Senate Inquiry into non-conforming products (NCPs) produces its interim report, Productwise managing director Peter Mulherin said Australia should make better use of existing regulations relating to product conformity before considering any new regulation.
According to Mulherin, a large part of the problem with regard to the regulation of non-complying products revolves not so much around a lack of regulation but moreover a lack of communication and coordination amongst three tiers of government and two industries – manufacturing and construction – resulting in a lack of control with regard to what is going into our buildings.
He says rather than introducing new regulation into this environment, it would be better instead to tighten enforcement of existing regulation and to improve coordination with regard to efforts aimed at reducing the incidence of NCPs in Australia.
"My experience in manufacturing lends me to believe that unless you tightly control the situation as it is under the status quo, making more changes will bring on unintended consequences," Mulherin said. "Let's say you are building a ship. If you keep on making changes and you don't establish a baseline design or a baseline program, if you add more change, you are adding change to change, you are adding change to something that in an existing state of flux.
"My argument is that you actually need to stabilise existing regulation. You need to make existing regulation work and understand the implication of that before you make more change."
Mulherin's comments follow the release of an interim report from the Senate Inquiry into NCPs which concluded that there had been "a serious breakdown in the regulation and oversight of both non-conforming and non-compliant building products" which required determined action.
The report also concluded that the committee should continue its work once the new Parliament is established.
The senate report alo followed the release of a draft consultation report by the Senior Officers' Group that was established by the Building Ministers' Forum which noted that there were a number of barriers preventing the collecting and reporting of NCP data in Australia, serious gaps in investigative and enforcement processes with regard to NCPs and that there was confusion regarding responsibilities and how to obtain information regarding NCPs.
As well as stabilising existing regulation, Mulherin says Australia needs a technological solution through an online register of certified products which brings together the National Construction Code, each state's interpretation of the Code and local council enforcement of the Code.
Under this idea, builders looking to buy a sheet of external glass to install in the fourth floor of a commercial office building, for example, would be able to use the register not only to determine whether or not the material complies with the Code but also find out about the standards, codes of practice and regulations which apply to glass in the situation concerned.
Whilst he acknowledges his vested interest in this area as his company has in fact created a register of compliant products, Mulherin says this would help in compliance by enabling suppliers to identify what they need to comply with and designers to understand with confidence which products they are able to specify. It would also enable builders to select products from the register which they knew had been certified as compliant.


text:
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Bobby Beige - On Ibiza
Here's a mix by my friend Bobby Beige recorded whilst his first residency on Ibiza this autumn. He usually plays lovely records all summer long in the wonderful Garden in Zadar, Croatia. Ibiza isn't bad either - especially La Escollera where the magic happened that you'e about to hear ;)
Bobby's in the music biz for a long time already. Being part of the Pork collective (he recorded as Bullitnuts, Opik and Momma Gravy) Bobby's playing chilled out music since the mid nineties. Apart from being a supernice guy Bobby got TASTE and knows his shit from Azymuth to Thrill Jockey. I had the pleasure to play some hours of back to back with him this summer and every tune that he dropped was brilliant! Just as this selection. Thanks a lot Bobby!!
Labels: 2014, Balearic, Bobby Beige, Chill Out, guest mix, Ibiza, Pork, Summer vibes
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Sony continues to shake up the market by re-introducing the PS Vita line with brand new colors. Not only will the new vita have new colors but it will be thinner and 15% lighter than the original. The battery life has now been extended by an hour giving your PS Vita experience 6 continuous hours of game play!
Check out the video and photos below for more details!


text:
Meet Later Mom: Tina Angelotti
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Domesticated
RESIDENCE: Culver City, CA
CHILDS NAME/AGE: Madison Olivia Mora, 14 months
Tina Angelotti holds a degree in Kinesiology which has lead to her extensive knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology, and Biomechanics as it relates to human movement and performance. She is a seasoned CrossFit competitor and has competed in 2011 and 2012 So Cal's CrossFit Games Regional competition as an individual competitor. Formerly a competitive gymnast, she found her love for movement at a very young age. She has been with Krav Maga Worldwide as the Director of Fitness for the past 16 years where she is ranked a blue belt in the system at the instructor level. Visit www.kravmagaworldwide.com.
What was your road to parenthood like? I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to take on the responsibility of being a mother. I'm kind of an all or nothing person, so whatever I choose to do, I get a little obsessed with doing it the best I possibly can. Of course, once I became pregnant, there was no turning back. I quickly had to learn everything I could about being a mindful parent in every way possible. The day my daughter came into my life, I had no doubts in myself. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and now I love the things she teaches me.
What fitness tips can you offer a busy 40 or 50 something mom? You have to schedule it into your life the same way you schedule yourself an appointment to get your hair done, go to the doctor, or get a bikini wax. It must be part of your routine. The truth is, if you can maintain a healthy diet, your exercise bouts can be incredibly effective in a short period of time if programmed correctly.
What's the best one piece of advice you might offer a later mom to balance practicing self care with parenting? I teach my daughter what I'm doing when I'm doing it. For example, blow drying my hair, putting on make-up or filing my nails. She wants to be involved in everything I'm doing so I try to include her in the process as much as possible. It does require more time, but it's worth it! For appointments outside of the hous,e this is where your friends and family become essential. All of my appointments outside of the house such as pedicures or haircuts are scheduled with a friend so we can take turns hanging out with the munchkin. It's great time for my daughter to bond with the people close to me, and it gives me a scheduled time to spend with friends that I may not end up seeing since life gets busy with a little one. Everyone wins in this situation.
What do you see as the positives and challenges of having a child at age 35 or over? The positive sides of having a child over 35 is that I had the chance to go out and explore the world and experience being independent, to live in the moment, to be free of responsibility of others and develop myself as a contributing member of society. In my opinion, the ability of having that experience allows me to share more abundantly in raising my child. There are also challenges to having a child over 35. In my twenties, it seemed so easy to stay out late, wake up early and hit the day in full force! Ya, those days are far gone for now at least. I definitely need more sleep than I used to, and having an infant will make sleeping the required hours incredibly difficult. My brain is firing on fewer cylinders these day,s but it's manageable and all worth it to see the smile of your sweet child when you walk through the door.
Has anything about being a mom later in life surprised you? If so, what? What do you love the most about it? I love being a mother so much more than I thought I would. Seeing the subtle steps of development from that first smile, taking the rattle from one hand to the other, to understanding what you are saying for the first time, to first words… it's just amazing to see the processes developing daily. It's inspiring for me as a parent, and it keeps me interested in being present with her as much as possible. I didn't realize how easy it would be to find the time she deserves to spend with her mother. I absolutely love being with her.
Can you share a funny or AHA parenting moment with our readers? They weren't joking when they said your child is your greatest teacher! Ya, I am learning a lot about everything I do from my tone of voice, to being personable, to talking with my hands… and she's only 14 months by the way. I'm sure the best is yet to come.
What do you most want to teach your daughter? I want to teach her the power of the mind. Have the ability to be a high level thinker, be disciplined, confident, strong, and proud of who she is and what she can do. And lastly to have fun, be spontaneous, adventurous, and laugh a lot!
What words of wisdom would you most like to share with others contemplating becoming a parent, particularly if they're 35 or older? Don't contemplate any longer! Go for it!
Do you recall anything from your own upbringing that really stuck with you that you'd like to pass on to your child or other parents? The best thing that my parents could have done for me is enroll me into my gymnastics program. I was part of the girls competitive team and being part of something that involved community, camaraderie, team building and also had exercise, skill building, discipline, fear, courage, accomplishment, heart break… you get the point. It doesn't have to be gymnastics but something that has the elements of life. That is a powerful practice for the development of any human being on many levels.


text:
"Timecamp has become an essential part of my work flow. I am very happy to be able to track time in this way as I have tried many, many tools and integration with Wrike is the simplest and easiest to use."
Wrike is a flexible project management and collaboration platform that enables you to organize your projects, tasks, plans and discussions. It helps you sync your team's efforts and track your work progress in real time.
TimeCamp allows you to integrate with Wrike – project management software for teams. Wrike is a work management and collaboration platform used by high-performance teams everywhere. Wrike makes day-to-day work easier, more transparent and efficient for thousands of companies. Wrike time tracking gives you information to important data about resources planning.
Note: to enable the integration you'll need administrator's privileges. To start the integration login to your TimeCamp account go to the Settings (1). Navigate to the Addons bookmark (2).
Find Wrike on the list of available addons and click on "Enable" button.
Click on the green "Enable the integration" button.
You'll be redirected to Wrike and asked to authorize TimeCamp access to your account. Proceed with authorization by clicking on the blue "Accept" button.
TimeCamp will automatically import your projects, along with tasks. From now on you will be able to track the time spent on each assignment. Go to Project Management page. Note that your projects and tasks are already there, under the main project simply called "Wrike". You can now track time using TimeCamp's timesheets, or using our mobile or desktop applications.
As integration creator, you automatically gain access to all imported items. Other users are assigned automatically based on their email addresses, which need to match in both TimeCamp and Wrike. You can always assign tasks manually as well.


text:
gilo.adi necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 19 diseños de 7 diseñadores freelance.
In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas
My sister and I are designing a family crest for my brother for his wedding.
My brother and his future wife are a fusion of two cultures. We want to create a family crest based on these two cultures family history and personal characters.
First I have included a few charts that break down the styles of different crests. We would like the Italian shaped crest with probably four quadrants. Feel free to play around with this
We would like there to be an olive tree or branch with an orange and a fig combined in some way. Their astrological symbols are gemini and scorpio I have included images of the constellations . Please only use the constellations if at all
you can also use any of these elements
Gold (or): generosity and elevation of the mind
Silver or white (argent): peace and sincerity
Blue: truth and loyalty
Grapes: liberality, felicity, and peace; also associated with wine-making
Eagle: person of noble nature, strength, bravery, and alertness; or one who is high-spirited, ingenious, quick-witted, and judicious. If wings are displayed, it signifies protection. An eagle with two heads symbolises conjoining forces
Hand/red hand: pledge of faith, sincerity, and justice; two right hands conjoined represent union and alliance/mark of a baronet
Scallop shell: traveller to far places or victorious naval commander
Sphere: geographical or scientific reference
Sword/dagger/dart: justice and military honour
This crest needs to walk a fine line between modern and classical. THIS SHOULD NOT BE A GIMICK OR A LOGO
we don't want it to look like something from game of thrones or D and D.
There are several examples of different kinds of crests that we think might work some better then others. The important thing is to keep it very clean and visually between ornate and contemporary.
an Olive branch is also an option as apposed to a tree. I want you to have fun with this and bring some passion and art into it. all the images are there for guidance and NOT direct interpretation
You do not need to use all of the imagery or suggestions that we have put forward. These are just the things that most closely represent the two of them
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Hamptons price drop' tag.
April 20, 2010 UPDATE…
A little known fact is that in mid 2007, Blankfein was in the process of purchasing Old Trees, an estate in Southampton for over of $40M.
Interestingly enough, he backed out of the deal and stayed in his Sagaponack home.
But, guess who stepped in a bought Old Trees a few months later? That's right – Paulson.
How many degrees of separation? md
June 12,2006 Update – SOLD for $9.5M
John Paulson in Southampton, Estate of the Day
Paulson bought the home for $12.75 million in 2006 so when he put it on the market in April he priced it at $19.5 million, anticipating a tidy profit. No takers so in late August he dropped the price to $16.9 million. In October he finally got a nibble but he had a buyer with a signed contract walk away from the deal. Paulson really needs to unload this puppy so now it is down to $13.9 million which means he resigned himself to not making a huge profit on the sale.
See whole post here


text: Burgundy LaRue 4,439 Posted October 20, 2019 1 hour ago, LoneWolf&Subs said: Jeez, did you guys forget Camp WWE, or that stop motion animated program? All currently featuring extremely outdated rosters. ...And probably why they haven't really invested in more original content? It's because they've all bombed, they're expensive, and no other network wants to pick them up. Also the WWE Network isn't going to be a channel anytime soon, as they originally wanted. TNBC wasn't animated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
Shai Desai
Learning Plan
Contact details
Shai Desai
Learning Plan
(02) 8036 6450
Profile details
I'm a co-founder of Learning Plan, a learning consultancy that helps companies understand their skills gaps and design learning that works. Over the past 7 years, we've been awarded 37 local and international learning awards while designing blended learning solutions for a range of corporate, government and not-for-profit clients. These solutions have included instructor-led training, eLearning, mLearning, eBooks, mobile app development, learning portals, performance support tools, change management solutions and contract staff. Learning Plan is now also an Adobe Partner and offers training, license sales and support of Adobe's Captivate, Connect, Presenter and Prime software solutions. Please contact me via firstname.lastname@example.com or 0413 080 967.
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, International
Administrative and Support Services, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Arts and Recreation Services, Building and Construction, Consumer Goods, Education and Training, Environment and Energy, Financial Services, Government, Health Care and Social Services, Hospitality, Information, Media and Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Mining, Other, Professional Services, Science and Technical Sevices, Transportation
Change Management, Coaching and Mentoring, Communication, Corporate, Customer Service, Instructional Design, Leadership, Learning Technology, Organisational Development, Project Management, Technical, Training Evaluation, Training Needs Analysis, Training Techniques, Workplace Health and Safety
External links


text:
Click above to view the video after the jump
The latest video from Casual Mafia, called "In My Prius," would be a winner if for no other reason than it uses a dad wearing a Snügli as a backup dancer. It gets better though, with references to the ozone layer (back in effect!) and the HOV lane that shows a deep understanding of what makes the Prius so appealing. Given that Casual Mafia is the sketch comedy team behind the "Douchbag Anthem," there's a real good chance (read: 100%) the new video is nothing more than love/hate snark, but who cares when it feels so fun to watch?
[Source: Casual Mafia]


text:
January 14, 2012
Healthy Benefits of Beer
Yes, beer does have health benefits but that does not mean that you should consume a lot of beer. To get these health benefits, women should have no more than one twelve ounce beer a day and men should only have two. If you drink too many beers you could risk liver damage, heart problems and some cancers. In addition, drinking too many beers can help put on the weight. A regular twelve ounce beer has approximately one hundred fifty calories.
Here are some of the health benefits of drinking a beer a day.
Stronger bones—beer contains a high level of silicon which has been linked to bone health. For the beer that has the most silicon and the best bone building benefits is pale ale.
- Stronger heart—it can help reduce the risk of heart disease, including dying from cardiovascular disease and heart attacks by twenty-five to forty percent. It can also help raise your levels of good cholesterol which helps keep arteries from being clogged.
- Healthier kidneys—it can help lower your risk of getting kidney stones by forty percent.
- Boost brain health—it may help to keep dementia and Alzheimer's disease at bay by twenty percent.
- Boosts vitamin levels—drinking a beer a day can give you a thirty percent higher level of vitamin B6. In addition, beer also contains folic acid and vitamin B12
- Helps to guard against strokes—it can help prevent blood clots which can block the blood flow to the brain, hear, and neck. These are the clots that can cause ischemic strokes, which are the most common strokes.
- Helps to reduce the risk of diabetes—the risk of developing type 2 diabetes went down by twenty-five percent.


text:
About This Starter
This Starter provides you will all of the necessary page layouts for any e-course website. It includes an excellent marketing page to promote your course(s). The courses page displays each course along with its brief description in well designed grid layout, perfect for listing any amount of courses. The CTA at the bottom of each page is also a really smart addition.
- Click the image to view the Starter in a new window or tab
- Note the name of the Starter if you want us to start with that one for you.
- For the most part, we can incorporate features from one Starter in your design:
We suggest taking notes when you find something you like. Note the Starter site (e.g. "pottery.sitedev.us" would be "pottery") and the page "(e.g. the About page is "pottery.sitedev.us/about", so we need to know "pottery about page") and jot down what you do and don't like.


text:
Chad Smith
Associate Broker
Why did you choose to work with Atlas Real Estate Group?
I like the company culture and the insight that each of the partners have into real estate growth and market trends. The team offers a good balance of support and autonomy to develop as a professional and personal real estate investor.
What part of town do you live in and why?
I live in Firestone, North of Denver. I'd recommend the Frederick, Firestone, Dacono area to anyone. There is a lot of development going on with houses available in almost any price range. It offers a good balance of living outside the city with a manageable commute downtown.
Where did you grow up?
What types of things do you do when not assisting Atlas?
I love spending time outdoors and spending time with my kids. We take time to explore and go hunting as often as we can.
Favorite place to eat in Colorado?
Not sure I have a favorite.
What are 3 things you want to accomplish in the next 3 years?
Travel, grow more in my real estate career, build a personal real estate investment portfolio.


text:
Hummer, Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Finally Strike Deal
General Motors has reached a deal with Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery to sell its Hummer brand. After months of negotiations, the sale is almost final, pending the government approval of both parties. The deal should be finalized by the end of the year.
The Chinese company is estimated to have paid $150 million, one-third the priceat which GM valuedHummer earlier this year. Having just emerged from bankruptcy, GM said Hummer would be one of the brands it would sell. The American automaker is also poised to sell its Saab brand. Saturn will fizzle out, as a deal to sell it to Penske Automotive fell through. The Pontiac brand will also cease to exist after bankruptcy restructuring is complete.
Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery is just that, a heavy machinery manufacturer with almost no automotive experience. During the transition period GM will assist in managing the company. Hummer will most likely keep its headquarters in southeast Michigan, as we reported a few weeks back. As for vehicle manufacturing, "GM will manufacture on contract for the Chinese company" for an undetermined amount of time.
Li Yan, head of Tengzhong, is ambitious about the acquisition, including a possible small mass-market vehicle to appeal to the Chinese public. "It's an entrepreneurial decision by a very entrepreneurial man who thinks he's acquiring a unique brand asset at a very low price," an anonymous source told The Washington Post.
The deal does not include the HMMWV military vehicle, which is owned and produced by AM General, based in Mishawaka, Indiana.


text:
WASHINGTON — Banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the U.S. government of taxes owed by thousands of American clients.
As part of the deal struck in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., UBS has made the unprecedented step of agreeing to immediately turn over to the U.S. government account information for U.S. customers of the bank's cross-border business.
In doing so, federal authorities have struck a big crack in Switzerland's vaunted bank secrecy laws.
UBS will pay $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution for conspiring to create sham accounts to hide the assets of U.S. clients from the U.S. government.
The financial hit on UBS is more than double the penalty imposed by federal authorities just last month on a different international bank, Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, for helping its clients skirt U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Iran and Libya.
"We accept full responsibility for these improper activities," Peter Kurer, chairman of Swiss-based UBS AG, said in a statement. He added that the bank was determined to abide by the terms of the deal with U.S. criminal and securities officials.
"Client confidentiality, to which UBS remains committed, was never designed to protect fraudulent acts or the identity of those clients, who, with the active assistance of bank personnel, misused the confidentiality protections," he said Wednesday.
About 17,000 American clients concealed their UBS accounts from the IRS, hiding total assets of roughly $20 billion, U.S. officials said.
According to U.S. officials, when an acquisition in 2000 of a U.S. company brought UBS a host of new, American clients, the bank set about to evade new reporting requirements for those clients. To do so, UBS executives helped U.S. taxpayers open new accounts in the names of sham entities.
Prosecutors contend that UBS executives used encrypted software and other counter-surveillance techniques to prevent anyone from detecting that they were actively marketing such Swiss bank secrecy — and tax evasion — to American taxpayers.
The clients, in turn, filed false tax returns that omitted the income they earned in their Swiss accounts, according to the court papers.
Federal officials said they had pulled aside a veil of secrecy that hid a corrupt international banking practice.
"This was not a mere compliance oversight, but rather a knowing crime motivated by greed and disrespect for the law," said Alexander Acosta, U.S. attorney for southern Florida.
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman warned U.S. taxpayers hiding money overseas that it was time to come clean with Uncle Sam.
"People who have hidden unreported income offshore need to get right with their government. They should come forward and take advantage of our voluntary disclosure process," Shulman said.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has estimated that abusive tax shelters and hidden offshore accounts cost the U.S. government nearly $100 billion a year in lost tax revenue.
Prosecutors are still hunting for UBS executive Raoul Weil, who was indicted in November 2008 on charges he conspired to defraud the government when he was managing the bank's cross-border business.
After the UBS settlement was announced Wednesday, Weil's lawyer Aaron Marcu said the charges should have been dropped against his client as part of the deal.
"Mr. Weil is an innocent victim of a political dispute between the United States and Switzerland over Swiss bank secrecy," Marcu said.
In June 2008 former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to a similar charge.
If UBS fails to turn over the clients' information, or stops cooperating with authorities, federal prosecutors could refile charges against the bank.
Under the deal, UBS also will completely stop engaging in the type of cross-border banking business that got them into trouble.
Secret Swiss Bank Accounts to Be Revealed
About 17,000 American clients have used the secretive banking system to conceal about $20 billion in assets from the IRS.
WASHINGTON — Banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the U.S. government of taxes owed by thousands of American clients.


text:
Beverley Picture Playhouse, Feasibilty Review, Alun Bond – Artservice
4.1 Beverley Memorial Hall
The Memorial Hall is located just off the main town centre and is owned by the Beverley Memorial Hall Trust, which is made up of Town Council and independent members. The building is operated by Beverley Town Council, but with East Riding of Yorkshire Council providing some services, including bookings, cleaning and caretaking. The Hall is used as a performance venue by two local amateur theatre/operatic societies and for a range of other uses including fairs, shows, auctions, blood donor sessions, lectures, training courses, dance classes and band practice.
The Hall consists of a large flat-floored central hall, licensed for around 200 people, with a raised stage, catering facilities off one side and dressing rooms and storage to the rear of and beneath the stage. The Hall lacks meeting space and users generally use the main hall for meetings, which is too large for many groups and restricts the Hall's capacity to accommodate some organisations. The Hall is currently viewed by many as lacking sufficient parking.
The Hall trustees have developed a capital scheme for the complete re-design of the Memorial Hall building. This would involve the creation of a first floor performance space with bleacher seating for up to 240, a re-designed ground floor with office accommodation for staff, two meeting rooms (seating 60 and 30 people) and other ancillary facilities, including Town Council Chamber and offices. The entrance to the building would be reversed to face the Library gardens with new foyer areas and a café bar area facing onto the gardens.
The entrance would therefore be closer to existing car parks (the Lord Roberts Car Park is located about 500 metres from the rear of the building which would become the new entrance if the building was re-designed) and would link via the upgraded park to public parking behind the planned Treasure House building which is to be built on land adjacent to the Library. The existence of the Library and Art Gallery, Treasure House and a refurbished Memorial Hall would therefore create a cultural focus for this civic (or cultural) quarter of the town with the Hall as the main focus for evening events and activities.
The Memorial Hall capital scheme was costed at around £2.6 million in 2002. The capital scheme is ambitious and could provide the town with an excellent performing arts facility, but no work on fundraising has yet been undertaken and the achievability of the capital funding required remains untested. Work on this and preparation of a business plan are however planned. In considering the Memorial Hall's positive and negative attributes we need to take into account the potential improvements to parking and location which would be brought about by reversing the front of the building.
The Memorial Hall's positive attributes are:
· the building is of generous proportions and could accommodate a range of facilities
· the building is not listed and could therefore be adapted
· it is trust-owned and a capital scheme could possibly attract funding from charitable sources
· the building is operated in partnership with East Riding of Yorkshire Council
· the trustees have played an active role in developing plans for the building and are pursuing the development energetically
· the re-developed building could benefit from improvements to the area and increased local parking
· though relatively close to the town centre, the building is apart from the main evening 'drinking' areas
However, on the negative side:
· the building's location is not at the heart of the town centre
· providing adjacent parking would be dependent on the Treasure House development
· the capital scheme as planned would be very difficult if not impossible to deliver in phases
· the scheme may be over-ambitious – the capital funding required could prove very difficult to secure.
The Memorial Hall has the potential to provide the town with an acceptable solution to its venue needs, whilst also meeting other community and social needs, but at this stage in the process it is impossible to say whether or not it is achievable given the level of capital investment required and the absence of a business model.
4.2 Longcroft Theatre
Longcroft School is a specialist arts college and is located about a mile out of the town centre to the north-west of the town. The School is set back from the main road and the school hall (now referred to as the school theatre), located adjacent to the main entrance, has recently been refurbished with the installation of bleacher seating and improved stage lighting. The theatre can accommodate up to 450 seated, including about ten rows of seats on the flat area between the raised seating and the stage which can seat up to 150. We have been told that this can create difficulties in using the space with audiences of under 200 as the audience is either seated mainly on the flat-floored area or on the raked seating leaving a large gap in front of the stage.
The theatre is available for use by local community and arts groups and has been used as a venue by several of the town's festivals. However some groups and organisations feel that community use is constrained by availability, the pattern of school usage which restricts access to the theatre before 4p.m., and the difficulty of communicating with the school over bookings. The venue lacks a dedicated bar and café, refreshments and interval drinks are served in the school refectory and in an area which is converted into a bar for performance evenings. The lack of a dedicated and fully-equipped bar area adjacent to the theatre reduces the venue's attractiveness to some potential users.
Longcroft Theatre is a valuable venue for the performing arts in Beverley, and is an excellent space for larger events requiring a capacity in excess of 300, but it is an educational facility. The theatre lacks the range and quality of ancillary amenities and services which make an arts venue an attractive place to visit in its own right and the building suffers to some extent from its educational ambience. Furthermore, like many school venues, operational factors may limit the venue's availability to the local community and it can only meet some of the town's arts venue needs.
The Council's Music Service uses the lower school premises for its youth music activities involving up to 350 young people every week. These activities include youth orchestra rehearsals and performances, and regular Saturday youth music rehearsals and activities.
4.3 Other Venues
A variety of other venues in Beverley are used for arts events and festivals, including the Minster, the Friary, St Mary's Church, At Mary's Parish Hall, the Methodist Church, the Guildhall, Beverley Art Gallery, the Leisure Centre and The White Horse (Nellie's). The Council is also in the process of developing plans for a new archive building, the Treasure House, to be sited next to the Library, which will include a 90-seat lecture theatre.
4.4 East Riding of Yorkshire Community Music and Dance Centre
The Council's Music Service is based in cramped premises adjacent to the Magistrate's Court close to Beverley Town Centre. The Service's teaching staff of 44 and nine other permanent staff operate out of the building. The Service uses Longcroft Lower School as the base for its ten music ensembles based in the Beverley area, which meet every Saturday during term time.
The Music Service has expanded considerably in recent years and is finding it increasingly difficult to accommodate all of its activity in the School premises. It is currently exploring the possibility of creating a new purpose-built music and dance rehearsal and performance facility with accommodation for the Service administration on the Longcroft School site.
Land has been identified to the rear of the campus and the plan is to create a new dedicated centre with a large concert and dance performance space, an external performance area, large rehearsal and ensemble room, instrument teaching rooms, administrative offices, a piano workshop and storage rooms. The large performance space seating between 250 and 300 is intended to be available as a community facility for use by local groups, festivals and visiting companies. It is intended that the facility would be used in the evenings for a range of community music activities.
The scheme would need to secure capital funding from the local authority and also possibly from other external funding sources, though no detailed work has yet been undertaken on funding sources, other than initial contact with the Arts Council to explore the potential for Arts Lottery capital funding. The estimated capital cost is £2.4 million.
The scheme could provide Beverley with an excellent concert venue with a first class acoustic, possibly capable of accommodating dance and small-scale theatre performances. It could prove particularly attractive to specialist music groups, including choral societies and amateur ensembles and orchestras from around the County and would provide a quality performance venue for schools work. It might also be used by some of Beverley's festivals, such as the Chamber Music Festival.
However, in order to meet the needs of the Music Service the facility would need to be designed specifically with acoustic music (and classical music) in mind and to ensure that it accommodated the Service's academic requirements. While the scheme would include audience facilities, its prime focus would be educational activity and educational needs would take priority.
As a shared Music Service and community facility for music and dance there are challenges for the scheme and several issues which might inhibit its suitability as a community venue and would require more detailed consideration:
· designing a performance space which could accommodate live orchestral music which was also suitable for dance (which needs a large flat sprung stage with generous wing space and backstage areas
· providing adequate front of house facilities for an audience of up to 300 people
· the location of the venue to the rear of the school campus making it invisible from the road
· the out of town location of the school
· ensuring that there was adequate parking at all times
· balancing Music Service demand (including the planned community evening programme) with the requirements of other users
· balancing the operational needs of the building between educational and community usage
· the reluctance of some organisations to use out of town facilities
· the ambience of the building
Ultimately the Music Service requires a concert facility and music rehearsal facility and it has to be questioned whether a specialist concert space can also function effectively as a venue for a range of other performing arts uses. As a music facility there is little doubt that the Centre would greatly enhance Beverley's facilities, but it is unlikely that it could meet the full range of performing arts needs. Neither can it be assumed that it would become the natural venue for the town's music festivals.


text:
40,000 words!
I never knew I had it in me. I've never seen so many words that I wrote myself in one place at the same time.
How did these words connect together to form a single coherent story*? It's magic, I tell you!
Right, only 10,000 words to go. Listen to me... only 10,000 words to go. Hah! Madness. A month ago, 10,000 words was like a gajillion bajillion words. Writing so much was nigh impossible.
*a matter of one's opinion
Also! Check out Chet's blog where she reflects on what lessons NaNoWriMo taught her this year.
Friday, 23 November 2007
NaNoWriMo 07: Day 23
By Ted Mahsun at 1:57 am
Labels: NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 07, Writing
3 comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Currently Available E-Books
|Amazon | Smashwords | iTunes | Google Play | Kobo
Available from: Amazon | Smashwords | iTunes | Google Play | Kobo
|Amazon | Smashwords | iTunes | Google Play | Nook


text:
Words from a master
"Primal fusion is one of the few truly holistic health coaching and therapy companies in the world. They offer everyone a chance to cultivate awareness of the key areas of their life that need focus to maximize vitality, improve illness/disease resistance, enhance sexual performance, athletic performance, creativity, and regain their sense of connection to the wholeness of life on earth."
Paul Check
C.H.E.K Institute
Programs & Services
Sports Performance • Athletic Development • Training • Fitness • Posture / Form / Breathing • Work-in / Recovery • Identifying Weak LinksLearn More
Programs & Services
Pain & Injury
Chronic Pain Conditions • Rehabilitation • Prevention • Management • Psychic / Spiritual Effects of Injury • Metaphysical Correlations • Systemic InterrelationsLearn More
Programs & Services
Health & Nutrition
Diet / Nutrition • Food / Hydration • Health Conditions • Reverse Disease • Weight Loss / Management • Hormones • Sleep / Rhythms • Energy • Holistic Lifestyle Tips • Toxins / Detox • Self-Assessing Dietary NeedsLearn More
Ready to change your life? Our online coaching program provides the blueprints to building your new future by unlocking a higher state of consciousness.
Programs & Services
Anxiety / Depression • Stress management • Life Transitions Relationships • Healing trauma • Beliefs, Thoughts, Feelings • Recognizing Our Blind SpotsLearn More
Programs & Services
Meditation • Flow state • Connection • Authentic Soul Expression • Introspection / Shadow Self • Creative Expression • Spiritual DevelopmentLearn More
Programs & Services
For Women
Hormones / Health • Stress, Anxiety, Depression • Relationships • Family / Motherhood • Feminine / Masculine Balance • Joy, Bliss, Happiness • Authenticity • Purpose / Passion • AccountabilityLearn More
Blakeley CampOnnit, Austin TX
"Game changer, life changer, so happy and relieved to have found this style of holistic therapy. #byechronicpain"
Eli HelfmanSan Francisco CA
"I flew from San Francisco to Austin to work with Aleks and Sara--they are incredible. I highly recommend their services to people with recurring injuries and chronic pain."
Charlotte DorothyAustin TX
"Alex is amazing! He has provided incredible work for me twice; once when recovering from a heel-hook related injury and once for some over-use recovery. He is incredible! I highly recommend his services."
Sarah H. Marble Falls, TX
"I've been athletic for most of my life but working with Sara took things to a whole new level. She was personal, intentional, and really motivating. I appreciated her take on holistic health and would recommend her to anyone!"
Trevor ColmAustin TX
"Alex did some neurosomatic work on me for pain I had from an injury and not only did I finally get the relief and recovery I needed, I also found a huge benefit in mental clarity and how my body feels and functions. I highly recommend Aleks and his work! I got far more than I was expecting."
Teo Ledesma Personal Trainer, Austin TX
"One of a kind. You will not find anything like NST or anyone like Aleks. I've tried almost everyone in Austin and they don't even come close to the depth of practice he shares."
Contact Us
We specialize in orthopedic rehabilitation, Neurosomatic Therapy, integrative corrective exercise coaching, holistic nutrition, health & lifestyle coaching, cognitive-behavioral training and mindfulness therapy for enhancing conscious awareness.
Austin HQ
2900 Cardinal Dr.
Austin, TX 78652
Direct Email:


text:
Working alongside small businesses as a trusted partner
Business Arch offer:
Web design and training; Social media; Marketing and communications
Business support; IT advice; Project and change management
Jenny is an extremely talented and knowledgeable web designer who has on several occasions got me out of a jam last minute without hesitation. She works quickly to produce a top quality solution in tight timeframes and seems to know everything there is to know about website building. She's very easy to work with and a true expert. She explains all the technical stuff in an easy to understand way without making you feel patronised or talked down to. I recommend Jenny without any hesitation at all and know you won't be disappointed! Top rate service every time.
I cannot thank you enough for all of your incredible work! I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything you have created.
We work as an extension of your team offering:
tailored solutions
personal service
end to end project management
Based in Guildford, Surrey, we work with local businesses in Surrey including those in Reigate, Gomshall, Normandy, Woking, Dorking and more.
We also work with individuals, organisations and companies further afield including Kent, Sussex and Yorkshire amongst other places.
Jenny Monro has a background as a senior business professional with management experience in a variety of areas including process improvement, IT and marketing communications. Jenny will get to know your business and find the right solution for you.
© Copyright Business Arch 2018 | Website developed by Business Arch Expertise Ltd


text:
The thick, bristly bunches of hair shooting off your pet's snout not only give them character, but they also provide them with important information about their surroundings.
Whiskers serve many important purposes for both cats and dogs. The tactile hairs allow pets to determine if
5 Fun Facts
1. Chameleon Characteristics
Just like humans, our pets go grey with age. The aging process also applies to whiskers. That is why you may see a white whisker on the muzzle of a Black Labrador.
2. Basic Anatomy
Whiskers are like regular body hair in that they can fall out and grow back, but, unlike body hair, they are embedded in follicles filled with blood vessels and nerves.
3. Shun the Shears
Trimming a pet's whiskers can affect how your pet feels around their face. Whiskers may appear unkempt to some, but they serve an important purpose.
4. Tip to Tail
Whiskers go way beyond just the nose. The fine filament may also appear on a pet's chin and above their eyes. Cats can even grow them behind their wrists.
5. Practical Protection
Long grass or other potentially pokey objects are detected by whiskers and, thereby, kept from harming your pet's eyes or nostrils. Whiskers also aid night vision.


text:
Maybe the nice guys will actually win - but it'll be hard to tell
One can submit ten locations per valid email address. It's pretty certain that some people are right now experimenting to see how many email addresses it's possible to register given the amount of identities and email accounts they can lay hands on - but it presumably won't be enough to try out every possible combination of ten locations. One does note, however, that DARPA merely says that automated entries are "discouraged", not forbidden.
Given that the number of entries a team can practically submit is limited, it becomes worthwhile to feed false information to rival teams. Fake balloons are likely to make an appearance on the day, but DARPA has said that it will announce special authenticating details at the last minute. In any case a team would need to put up much larger numbers of fakes than anyone else to gain a substantial advantage. This would probably prove too expensive to be worthwhile.
Much more likely is infiltration of rival reporting networks to feed fake reports into their systems. A lot of this will probably take place, especially with those groups advertising publicly to gain members. The groups communicating reports by public means such as Twitter can also expect to have their locations hoovered up by rival teams. It also seems qute possible that there are unseen groups which actually control more than one of the publicly-known teams, perhaps in a bid to recruit both mercenary and unselfish reporters.
All in all, there has to be at least a chance that the prize will actually be won by some team which either piggybacks off its' rivals' efforts or actively sabotages or glovepuppets other groups, perhaps combining such methods with large numbers of registrations using many individual identities and/or automation.
A group like this would be unlikely to make its methods public, so there's a sporting chance that details of all the skulduggery will never be known; or not to us, anyway. DARPA would be quite likely to offer an extra, undisclosed sum to a winner for details of methods used, we'd submit, especially if these seemed likely to be of use to the US military.
Alternatively, the prize may actually be scooped by some naive and fluffy group like the charitables or the flying-cupcake mob - though a group of the first and darker sort might also credibly pretend to be of this type.
You have to ask just how much DARPA, or anyway the rest of us, are actually going to learn here. What is for certain is that some interesting - probably largely unseen - shenanigans seem likely to take place this weekend. ®
Sponsored: Practical tips for Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migration


text:
Product Description
Suitable For Vegetarians
Product Marketing
Oat, whole wheat and raisin cereal bar half coated in milk chocolate
Oat, raisin and honey cereal bar on a bed of milk chocolate
Other Information
Best before end: see side of pack
*Reference intake of an average adult (8400kJ / 2000kcal)
Glucose Syrup, Oat Flakes (23%), Milk Chocolate (22%), Whole Wheat Flakes (10%) (Wholewheat, Salt, Barley Malt Extract), Raisins (9%) (Raisins, Cottonseed Oil), Palm Oil, Honey (2%), Stabiliser (Sorbitols), Rice Flour, Wheat Flour, Caramel (Glucose Syrup, Water, Sugar), Dextrose, Emulsifier (Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids), Salt, Milk Chocolate Contains: Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifiers (Sunflower Lecithins, Soya Lecithins), Flavouring, Milk Chocolate Contains: Cocoa Solids 34% Minimum
Nutritional Information
|100g contains
|Each bar (32g) contains
|Energy (kJ)
|1727 kJ
|552 kJ
|Energy (kcal)
|410 kcal
|131 kcal
|12.2 g
|3.9 g
|of which saturates
|6.9 g
|2.2 g
|67.0 g
|21.4 g
|of which sugars
|33.6 g
|10.8 g
|4.9 g
|1.6 g
|5.7 g
|1.8 g
|0.3 g
|0.1 g
Reference intake of an average adult (8400kJ/2000kcal)
Product Information
Country of Origin - Spain
Preparation and Storage
Store in a cool, dry place
Name and Address
Manufacturers Address
Produced for Tesco Stores Ltd.,
Cheshunt EN8 9SL,
Importer Address
Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.,
Level 3,
No. 3 Jalan 7A/62A,
Bandar Menjalara,
52200 Kuala Lumpur,
Recycling Info
Card - Card - Widely Recycled
Wrap - Plastic - Not Currently Recycled
Number of Units
Number of Units - 6
Numeric Size
Numeric Size - 192
Unit (specific)
Unit (specific) - Grams
Average Measure
Average Measure (e)
Unit Type
Recycling Scheme
Using Product Information
While every care has been taken to ensure product information is correct, food products are constantly being reformulated, so ingredients, nutrition content, dietary and allergens may change. You should always read the product label and not rely solely on the information provided on the website.
If you have any queries, or you'd like advice on any Tesco brand products, please contact Tesco Customer Services, or the product manufacturer if not a Tesco brand product.
Although product information is regularly updated, Tesco is unable to accept liability for any incorrect information. This does not affect your statutory rights.
This information is supplied for personal use only, and may not be reproduced in any way without the prior consent of Tesco Stores Limited nor without due acknowledgement.
Tesco © Copyright 2020


text:
The GY-HM660 is JVC`s latest and most advanced handheld mobile news camera. Small and light enough to be used anywhere, this camera surpasses the performance of many traditional ENG style units and offers reliable, high quality streaming without the use of a backpack or external encoder. Dual codecs make it possible to record full HD on solid state memory and at the same time stream the footage for live broadcast.The GY-HM660`s long (23x) wide angle lens is perfect for fast paced ENG. The camera offers superb low light performance with F12 sensitivity at @2000 lux.The GY-HM660 has JVC`s latest streaming engine employing Zixi or SMPTE 2022 forward error correction (FEC). And it`s the world`s first camcorder with a built-in IFB audio channel. Zixi advanced streaming is included and provides forward error correction, automatic repeat request, and adaptive bitrate control. Multiple Zixi enabled cameras are easily managed with the optional ProHD Broadcaster (BR-800). The camera also provides an RTMP stream for content delivery networks such as USTREAM and YouTube. Transmission at selected resolutions, bitrates and formats is possible independent of the recording mode. Stream 1920 x 1080 (3, 5 or 12 Mpbs), 1280 x 720 (1.5 or 3Mbps) or 480i (0.8, 0.2 Mbps).
Main features:
Newly designed 1/3-inch 12-bit CMOS sensors (1920 x 1080 x 3)
F12 Sensitivity —Improved
23x Fujinon Auto focus zoom lens with manual functionsF1.6-3.0, 23x, f=4.1-94.3mm (35mm conversion:29 to 667mm)
Optical image stabilizer
3 position ND filter (1/4, 1/16, 1/64)
0.45-inch 1.22M pixel color viewfinder
New, brighter 3.5-inch 920K pixel LCD display with focus assist —Upgraded
SDXC/SDHC memory card recording(2 slots for dual-backup, continuous recording)
Large file size support with SDXC card
50Mbps H.264 Extreme High Quality mode (XHQ)
Dual Codec: Recording simultaneously HD + SD or HD + 480 x 270 (for Web delivery)
Live streaming w/advanced Zixi error correction and adaptive bitrate control
SMPTE 2022 Forward Error Correction —New Feature!
Streaming withstands up to 50% packet loss in new high reliability mode—New Feature!
RTMP protocol lets you stream directly to USTREAM, YouTube
High bitrate streaming (up to 12 Mbps)
Background FTP clip transfers while recording
Clip trimmer (basic editor)
Multiple encoding formats:
HD MPEG2 (35/25/19Mbps)
AVCHD 1920x1080 60i
1080/60p recording capability
480x270 H.264 (web)
960x540 H.264 mode
Wide media format compatibility:
.MXF with rich Metadata (optimized for asset management)
.MOV (Final Cut Pro)
AVCHD with additional lower bitrate AVCHD modes
Professional switch layout and comprehensive video settings.


text:
Write about a 'larger than life' character from your country – fictional or real.I think All Japanese admit Ichiro Suzuki is the most popular Japanese professional baseball player. He began his career with Orix Blue Wave in Japan in 1992 when he was 19 years old. Then, he went to the United States and became a player of the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Since then, he has been spending his seasons in the United States.
He is the outfielder and can catch long fly balls. Moreover, he can strongly and quickly throw the ball back to home like a rocket. When he belonged to the New York Yankees, I had a chance to see the game. His performance as the center fielder was just outstanding and I was so excited to see his performance in the field.
He also set a new record as a great hitter. In 2016, he collected the 3,000th hit. By the end of 2016 season, he played in his 2500th games in MLB in the United States. This is the greatest record because there are only two players who have achieved such a great record.
He becomes 44 years old this year. I hope he keeps breaking a record and playing in MLB as long as possible.


text:
Matthews Heating Solutions Inc
Services / Heating and Air Conditioning
Call (336) 501-1618Directions
Get directions to thisWebsite
location on Google Maps.
location on Google Maps.
Open websiteShare
in new tab.
in new tab.
Share this business
on social media.
on social media.
We are your Central Boiler Outdoor Wood Furnace dealer serving NC, SC, VA and the surrounding area.


text:
You have no items to compare.
This 6 arm silver candelabra, as well as the other Judaica silver pieces in the Tuscana collection, are highly decorated, reflecting the dominating renaissance style the artists chose to use as the primary theme for this collection. Vines, leaves, grapes and flowers; these are all featured throughout this collection, which is inspired by Tuscany, Italy that is home to all these elements.
The round, wavy base is set on 4 attractively engraved and vine-shaped feet. The height from top to bottom of this 6 branch sterling silver candelabra is an elegant 56 cm. The main branch is slightly elevated over the remaining 5, which are placed evenly around it.
What draws the eye to this piece is the fact that each part of it is invested with personality and style. The branches and trunk are covered with leaf-shaped embellishments, the base is highly stylized and engraved, and the cup holders are covered almost entirely with leaf and flower engravings. The drip pans on this 6 branch candelabra are unique in that they point downwards rather than upwards and are beautifully shaped in a rounded, wavy design to match that of the base and pull the whole piece together.
Replace your candlesticks with this sumptuously handcrafted 6 arm silver candelabra to bring it all together and show your family members that each one counts towards a whole.
The Tuscana Collection is a unique range which draws its inspiration from the views of Tuscany, Italy. It's no secret that Hazorfim's designers and silver artists share a special, personal and professional connection with Italian art. The province of Tuscany has a privileged role in this relationship as the site where the Renaissance and Rococo movement flowered.
The designs in the Tuscana Collection are inspired by the romanticism which characterized the Renaissance. Each piece in the collection is adorned by Hazorfim's master silversmiths with ornate engravings of vines, flowers, grapes and leaves- all hand-crafted from pure silver. The Tuscana Collection seeks to preserve the traditions of exquisite design in pure silver, granting the collection the majesty of eternity.


text:
Made with precision and care, this hoodie will last you years to come. One of our best sellers, and has left many customers happy.
All of our apparel is created and hand crafted for absolute precision. We pay great attention to detail and ensure that all of our products are long-lasting.
NOTE: Please refer to our sizing chart before placing your order. Sizing Guide.
Collections: Bodybuilding Clothes, Fitness Clothing, Gym Apparel, Men, Mens Gym Wear, Mens Hoodies, Mens Tops
Type: Hoodie
Category: gym, hoodie, men, men's tops, top
Grid Iron Hoodie
Grid Iron Hoodie