text:
Predatory home loan sharks are coming under increased pressure from consumer campaigners concerned at the number of Australians falling victim to rogue lenders.
It is feared the problem could get worse as interest rate hikes force struggling families to refinance their home loans. The need to keep a roof over their head head could leave some families vulnerable to lenders operating on the fringes of the credit market.
Typically, predatory lenders target people in financial trouble, who have assets, such as a home, but little ability to repay a refinanced home loan. Often the sole intent of predatory lenders is to strip as much cash from their victim as possible by charging very high interest rates, excessive responsibilities and charges.
Cases of predatory lending are characterized by high levels of default. The Credit Ombudsman Service Limited has pointed out most predatory lending cases see borrowers default quickly, due to the high interest rates charged. Defaults sometimes occur as soon as the first month.
Often the tragic exit for those who fall victim is the loss of their home and any equity they may have built up while repaying their home loan, causing real hardship for the families affected.
The issue has become so serious that a coalition of consumer groups and financial industry bodies has been set up to help raise awareness and to help tackle the problem. The Coalition includes the Public Interest Law Clearing House, The Australian Banker's Association, Legal Aid NSW, the Consumer Credit Legal Center, Abacus and the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia.
According to Australia's Credit Ombudsman service, many victims of rogue lenders are vulnerable people who are less able to stand up for themselves. They are pre-dominant people already in financial difficulties, Centrelink recipients, pensioners, non-English speakers or people with learning or mental health disabilities.
Rogue lenders get around consumer protection rules, such as the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, by structuring loans to fall outside of the credit code's jurisdiction.
Two sad cases highlighted by the NSW Consumer Credit Legal Center show just what can happen. An unemployed couple, with four children, contacted the consumer watchdog, after being stung by unscrupulous money men. The family had gone to a broker when their home was threatened with repossession by their lender. The couple, who had fallen into serious arrears on their original home loan, also needed to raise money to pay off debts, register their car and convert a garage into an extra bedroom for an expected fifth child. The broker, who had been informed of the couple's income, set up two high interest loans, one at a whooping 23.6%. The broker was paid $ 15,000 dollars in fees and commission on top of the lender's fees. The family ended up owed $ 65,000 more than their original home loan, with little hope of ever repaying the debt.
In another devastating case, a migrant couple, who had lived in Australia for 35 years, lost their home after going to a broker to refinance their home loan to repay debts incurred due to a family crisis. The couple in their 60s had been repaying their home loan for 25 years, but after the broker arranged three loans in a couple of years they found they were unable to meet their repayments.
Home owners facing financial hardship and considering refinancing their home loan loan can get free, independent financial advice . They can contact one of Australia's state sponsored financial counsels such as the Victoria state 'Consumer Action Law Center', who are keen to help people avoid falling prey to the home loan sharks.


text:
Nasa chief hails new era in space
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News
- Published
The head of Nasa has hailed a "new era" in exploration after the launch of the first cargo delivery to the space station by a private company.
The Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST).
The launch system has been built by California-based firm SpaceX.
The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes.
Within moments of being ejected, Dragon opened its solar panels.
It also unpacked its navigation equipment.
Nasa's administrator Charles Bolden said: "Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration... The significance of this day cannot be overstated; a private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time.
"And while there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are certainly off to good start."
It will take a couple of days to reach the station. The plan currently is for the vessel to demonstrate its guidance, control and communications systems on Thursday, at a distance of 2.5km from the International Space Station (ISS).
If those practice proximity manoeuvres go well, Dragon will be allowed to drive to within 10m of the station on Friday. Astronauts inside the platform will then grab the ship with a robotic arm and berth it to the 400km-high structure.
They will empty Dragon of its 500kg of food, water and equipment, before releasing it for a return to Earth at the end of the month.
For Elon Musk, the CEO and chief designer at SpaceX, Tuesday's lift-off was a special moment.
"Every bit of adrenalin in my body released at that point," he told reporters. "There's so much hope riding on that rocket, so when it worked, and Dragon worked and the solar arrays deployed, [company employees] saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should - it was tremendous elation. It's like winning the Superbowl."
The mission has major significance because it marks a big change in the way the US wants to conduct its space operations.
Nasa is attempting to offload routine human spaceflight operations in low-Earth orbit to commercial industry in a way similar to how some large organisations contract out their IT or payroll.
The carriage of freight will be the first service to be bought in from external suppliers; the transport of astronauts to and from the station will be the second, later this decade.
The US space agency hopes these changes will save it money that can then be invested in exploration missions far beyond Earth, at destinations such as asteroids and Mars.
SpaceX has many new systems it has to demonstrate in the coming days, and has tried to lower expectations ahead of the mission, repeating often that its aim is to learn things it did not previously know.
Nasa has set the California company a series of development milestones. Only when those have been met fully will a $1.6bn ISS re-supply contract kick in.
The agency is also looking to engage a second cargo partner. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia is slightly behind SpaceX in its development schedule, although it started work on its Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule system later. Orbital expects to fly a first mission to the vicinity of the ISS later this year or early in 2013.
"We're really at the dawn of a new era in space exploration, and one where there's a much bigger role for commercial space companies," Mr Musk said.
"I think perhaps there's some parallels to the internet in the mid-90s where the internet was created as a government endeavour but then the introduction of commercial companies really accelerated the growth of the internet."
Tuesday's Falcon launch was also notable for the small and rather unusual payload that piggy-backed the ride to orbit.
This was a container holding the cremated remains of more than 300 space enthusiasts, among them the late Star Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan.
The ashes had been placed in the Falcon's discarded second stage.
They will continue to circle the planet for about a year before falling back to Earth and vaporizing.
firstname.lastname@example.com and follow me on Twitter

subset: commoncrawl


text:
LAKE FOREST – Let's get real.
Deep down inside, Bears quarterback Josh McCown must have been fuming mad. He must have been punching walls. He must have been swearing up a storm.
Because all of this Mr. Humble Teammate stuff made for great sound bites on TV, but there was no way a millionaire quarterback possibly could be this gracious and selfless. You win NFC player of the week and you get benched for Jay Cutler the very next day, and you smile and shrug it off as the best decision for the team?
Please. Not buying it.
The time had come to discover the dirt on McCown from inside of the Bears' locker room.
"Any dirt?" receiver Earl Bennett said. "Nothing, man."
"None," right tackle Jordan Mills said. "I like to say Josh is like the white version of me."
"That's the real deal, man," offensive lineman Eben Britton said. "There's no dirt."
We all know the saying: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Both on and off of the field, McCown seems too good to be true. He stepped in for an injured Cutler and set a team record with three consecutive games with 300-plus passing yards. And once the Bears cleared Cutler to play, McCown stepped aside without complaint.
"I understand my role on this team," McCown said. "It's the backup quarterback. So, that being said, if Jay is healthy, he's ready to go. I'll support him and help him as much as I can."
So maybe my dirt-digging mission wasn't going to unearth some sort of secret criminal past. At least tell me that McCown dropped a bunch of swear words when he was in the huddle.
"No," Britton said. "He chews gum the entire game. He comes into the huddle chewing gum. 'All right, guys, here we go! We've got flex right, twin, 784…!' Something like that.
"That's what you love about Josh. You love him as a teammate."
OK, so he didn't swear.
At least tell me that he clenched his fist and screamed something like, "Fiddlesticks!"
"I've never seen him get frustrated," Bennett said with a smile. "I've never seen him get mad, turn red, nothing. He's just a great guy."
Wait a minute.
This was starting to feel like one of those situations in which players on offense looked out for one another. What happens on offense stays on offense. Gotcha.
Maybe somebody on the defense would dish some dirt. They hate quarterbacks, right?
Defensive end David Bass offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into McCown.
"Say they'd get a three-and-out and they'd have to punt," Bass said.
Yes, failure!
This should be good.
"He'd say, 'Yo, D, we need you one more time. Keep it coming. We're going to help you on our end,' " Bass said. "He's always like that. Always positive reinforcement coming from him.
"So, I don't think he's acting. That's from the heart."
Almost all hope was lost.
McCown was as genuine as advertised. There was no dirt. He was unblemished.
At least, it seemed that way until Britton heaved a "Hail Mary" pass toward a determined dirt-digger.
"He has a tattoo," Britton said.
Finally. Something.
You know who else has tattoos? Prisoners.
"It's pretty [great]," Britton said.
Only, Britton didn't say great. He said a word that McCown never would say. It started with "bad" and ended with another description for "donkey."
Armed with this information, it was time to grill the veteran quarterback.
McCown's group interview already had ended, and if he were like most other players on the team, he would have turned down any additional requests. But he stopped what he was doing and politely agreed to answer a few more questions. What a mistake.
The tattoo, Josh.
We know about it.
Are you going to fess up, or what?
McCown lifted up his right sleeve to reveal a tattoo of a large cross on his right shoulder. Inside the cross was the face of a lion.
"It's just my faith," McCown said. "It's a cross with a lion in it, and the lion represents Christ. And, obviously, the cross.
"As a follower of Christ, that's what is central to my faith. So, that's all it is."
It was time to stop digging.
McCown really was a nice guy.
• Shaw Media sports columnist Tom Musick can be reached at email@example.com and on Twitter @tcmusick.


text:
"Within our communities, social and environmental responsibility is a way
of life, practicing organic and biodynamic agriculture is cultural, self subsistence
is a necessity and social responsibility
is the single biggest priority."
Our farms are home to 25,000
people - our family.
Higher than industry wages and
bonuses, specialized medical facilities, mandatory education for the children, scholarships to students wishing to
pursue higher education, housing and utilities are among the many benefits provided at no cost to the families living within Ineeka's self sustaining farms.
These organic farms are considered, within the tea and
organic community worldwide, as how self sustaining communities can be viable
on a large scale; how they can truly be environmentally responsible; and more importantly how
they serve as a model
for the fair and equitable social and economic conditions for the people whose lives are dependent on the economic viability of these projects.
Nurtured by fresh mountain air and mineral-rich spring water, our 12 family farms (encompassing 15,000 acres) are located within the pristine Himalayas - the best tea growing region in the world.
The most important consideration within our system is the welfare of the people, which are no doubt our biggest assets.
Additional land and resources to cultivate herbs, fruits and vegetables and livestock for dairy products are provided to the people living on the farms. This helps generate additional income for the families.
These healthy farms support and stabilize our people, and therein inspire meticulous attention to quality. Their passion and dedication to cultivating these high quality infusions, which embody purity and freshness, exemplify their harmony with each other and nature - a tradition passed down through generations since 1861.
The result is communities that are happy, content and proud of being part of the family.


text:
Extreme measures: dating resources reach family-ville
Charlottesville may be many wonderful things: beautiful, quaint, and family-friendly come to mind. But a dating hot spot? No way.
At least until now. After 6, a "speed dating" service, arrived on the scene Thursday, June 21, with a premier event at Rococo's restaurant, and organizer Candy Schoner says the evening and two subsequent events have been smash hits.
Schoner compares speed dating to musical chairs for adults– without the music. It's a safe and fun way for singles to connect, Schoner says, limiting each participant to a series of quick five-minute "dates."
The turnout for the first event was so good, Schoner says, that she had to turn some people away. This week's event, for adults over 50, is set for Thursday, August 21, at Rococo's restaurant from 6-9pm.
According to Schoner, in this age group she has had no trouble registering women, but men have been slower to spring for the $30 registration fee. While she normally doesn't accept registration at the door, she may accept a few walk-ins Thursday night.
The number of people at the first event was the selling point for Dixie Barnes, a 35-year-old professional counselor who has tried a variety of dating situations.
"The town is set up to please the college student and the young married professional," Barnes explains, "but there's not a place to go to meet someone who's neither of those things." More info: 295-4080
When you're 39 years old....
While everyone with email is aware of the plethora of jokes about women waiting with casseroles in hand for widowers on the funeral home porch, the fact is that many older adults fail to make connections with others because of shyness or lack of opportunity to meet suitable mates.
To counter that problem, the local senior center offers two meeting options each month: a "singles lunch bunch" gathering at a restaurant, and a senior center social.
Both are afternoon events, the former happening at various restaurants around town every third Thursday of the month at 1pm, and the latter an informal chance for socializing and light refreshments every second Wednesday at 2pm.
One catch: To attend, you have to join the Senior Center ($55/year) More info: 974-7756
Dating for daredevils
And for courageous risk-takers of any age, there's always the infamous Hook Blind Date Challenge, set for a return next week in an expanded, higher-intensity form.
Extreme Blind Date Challenge has already lined up couples for encounters such as rock climbing dates, and one lucky pair, rising to a different sort of challenge, visited a local psychic on their introductory date. More info: 295-8700x236
Chances for Cavs
While you'd think that having been in town for four years or so would have provided a long list of contacts for single Wahoos, apparently some UVA alums are still on the loose and lookin'. UVA grads, guests, and friends gather the first Wednesday of every month, 6-8pm at Starr Hill on Main Street to nosh and nibble and see what develops.
Organzer Tina Cote says the happening attracts people in all age ranges, and every month the crowd is a little different.
As for whether they sing the Good Old Song at the end of the evening, well, you'll have to check it out next week and see for yourself. More info: 296-6415.


text:
Tappers Caffee offers a kopitiam style dining experience reminiscent of the good old colonial days. The interior is charmingly designed with rattan chairs, white marble tables and old photographs which exude a warm colonial ambiance once you stepped into this cafe.
One of their recommended dish is the Tappers Hainanese Chicken Chop (RM 10.80).
Described as northern Hainan-style chicken chop, the dish came with a generous serving of potatoes, peas as well as carrots.
The chicken was nicely cooked albeit a bit cold. Nevertheless, the potatoes are soft and complimented the gravy nicely.
Too bad the carrot looks a bit stale in comparison.
We also tried the Soda Goo Leng Ping (RM 2.80). Using a mixture of red syrup with milk, the drink is reminiscent of 'Syrup Bandung' which is commonly served at Mamak stalls.
Tappers Kopi (RM 2.70) was pretty aromatic.
The Hainanese Fried Mee is also another noteworthy dish.
Stir fried using thick yellow noodle, the inclusion of chicken, fish and cuttlefish made this meal really appetizing.
For those who like the extra 'kick', the sambal willl definitely suit their taste.
I like the fact that the noodle was not too wet or dry.
Overall, I find Tappers Caffe to be a nice place for dining. The reasonable price with nice ambiance were definitely a plus point.
Tappers Caffee
Unit G-1, Ground Floor The Sphere
No. 1, Avenue 1 Bangsar South
No. 8, Jalan Kerinchi
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-22412963


text:
Search terms
The dual IBP adapter is a cost-effective solution that facilitates dual invasive pressure monitoring via a single socket on the patient monitor. This simple, effective adapter helps reduce your bedside monitoring footprint, while supporting
Request contact
By clicking on the link, you will be leaving the official Royal Philips Healthcare ("Philips") website. Any links to third-party websites that may appear on this site are provided only for your convenience and in no way represent any affiliation or endorsement of the information provided on those linked websites. Philips makes no representations or warranties of any kind with regard to any third-party websites or the information contained therein.


text:
The YBike Evolve, the world's first 3-in-1 smart bike for kids, launched on crowd-funding site Kickstarter. Starting at $50 for early backers, the new Evolve trike-bike "evolves" as your child's riding ability progresses.
The Evolve begins as a trike to develop peddling skills, before transforming into a balance trike, and then finally into an advanced balance bike—all with a simple and easy mechanism. The Evolve's 3-in-1 function is based on a design that helps develop balance and coordination in children, while also saving money and space.
The YBike Evolve is recommended for kids ages 2 to 5 depending on size of your child; features silent rubber wheels that are perfect for indoors, but durable for outdoor activities; and has passed all the relevant child safety regulations for Europe and the U.S.


text:
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Encryption for Kerberos 5
|RFC - Proposed Standard (February 2005; No errata)
|Kenneth Raeburn
|Last updated
|plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex
|WG state
|Document shepherd
|No shepherd assigned
|IESG state
|RFC 3962 (Proposed Standard)
|Consensus Boilerplate
|Telechat date
|Responsible AD
|Russ Housley
|Send notices to
Network Working Group K. Raeburn Request for Comments: 3962 MIT Category: Standards Track February 2005 Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Encryption for Kerberos 5 Status of This Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005). Abstract The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has chosen a new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which is significantly faster and (it is believed) more secure than the old Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm. This document is a specification for the addition of this algorithm to the Kerberos cryptosystem suite. 1. Introduction This document defines encryption key and checksum types for Kerberos 5 using the AES algorithm recently chosen by NIST. These new types support 128-bit block encryption and key sizes of 128 or 256 bits. Using the "simplified profile" of [KCRYPTO], we can define a pair of encryption and checksum schemes. AES is used with ciphertext stealing to avoid message expansion, and SHA-1 [SHA1] is the associated checksum function. 2. Conventions used in this Document The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119 [KEYWORDS]. Raeburn Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 3962 AES Encryption for Kerberos 5 February 2005 3. Protocol Key Representation The profile in [KCRYPTO] treats keys and random octet strings as conceptually different. But since the AES key space is dense, we can use any bit string of appropriate length as a key. We use the byte representation for the key described in [AES], where the first bit of the bit string is the high bit of the first byte of the byte string (octet string) representation. 4. Key Generation from Pass Phrases or Random Data Given the above format for keys, we can generate keys from the appropriate amounts of random data (128 or 256 bits) by simply copying the input string. To generate an encryption key from a pass phrase and salt string, we use the PBKDF2 function from PKCS #5 v2.0 ([PKCS5]), with parameters indicated below, to generate an intermediate key (of the same length as the desired final key), which is then passed into the DK function with the 8-octet ASCII string "kerberos" as is done for des3-cbc- hmac-sha1-kd in [KCRYPTO]. (In [KCRYPTO] terms, the PBKDF2 function produces a "random octet string", hence the application of the random-to-key function even though it's effectively a simple identity operation.) The resulting key is the user's long-term key for use with the encryption algorithm in question. tkey = random2key(PBKDF2(passphrase, salt, iter_count, keylength)) key = DK(tkey, "kerberos") The pseudorandom function used by PBKDF2 will be a SHA-1 HMAC of the passphrase and salt, as described in Appendix B.1 to PKCS#5. The number of iterations is specified by the string-to-key parameters supplied. The parameter string is four octets indicating an unsigned number in big-endian order. This is the number of iterations to be performed. If the value is 00 00 00 00, the number of iterations to be performed is 4,294,967,296 (2**32). (Thus the minimum expressible iteration count is 1.) For environments where slower hardware is the norm, implementations of protocols such as Kerberos may wish to limit the number of iterations to prevent a spoofed response supplied by an attacker from consuming lots of client-side CPU time; if such a limit is implemented, it SHOULD be no less than 50,000. Even for environments with fast hardware, 4 billion iterations is likely to take a fairly long time; much larger bounds might still be enforced, and it might be wise for implementations to permit interruption of this operation by the user if the environment allows for it. Raeburn Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 3962 AES Encryption for Kerberos 5 February 2005 If the string-to-key parameters are not supplied, the value used is 00 00 10 00 (decimal 4,096, indicating 4,096 iterations). Note that this is not a requirement, nor even a recommendation, for this value to be used in "optimistic preauthentication" (e.g., attempting timestamp-based preauthentication using the user's long-Show full document text


text:
Kent Smetters may have achieved the Holy Grail for advisors who care about clients: a service called Veritat that provides personalized advice to a broad swath of underserved clients using an effective technology platform that boasts a Wharton pedigree for the investing sleeve of this fiduciary advice model. Oh, and the advisor can get paid for providing advice.
The financial planning process can leave a lot of people cold, investors and their financial advisors among them. Clients may not be receiving appropriate planning advice and their expenses may seem too high. Advisors have the challenge of offering proper investment guidance while managing a business and earning a living. Brokerage firms, to stay profitable, must see to it that their advisors are sufficiently productive while ensuring that clients are happy and that all regulations are complied with.
These conflicting concerns are not always easy to harmonize, and Wall Street is littered with attempts to build a better mousetrap. Yet attempts to lower costs by automating financial planning and providing it online can be problematic since studies have shown that the relationship with the advisor may be the most critical element in helping investors stay the course to achieve their goals.
Along comes the aforementioned Mr. Smetters, a Wharton Professor of Business who has devised a unique advisory model that aims to greatly change the way advisors do business, solving all these problems, and pleasing advisors and investors alike. Smetters proposes to enable financial advisors to do the kind of work that motivated many to get into the business in the first place–that is, help clients properly plan their finances–while helping advisors earn a good living and ridding them of the headaches of running a business.
"A growing number of advisors hope to adopt a fiduciary standard but usually face substantial overhead for getting their job done. So we recently opened up Veritat to allow independent advisors to directly join our RIA," said Smetters (left) in an interview with AdvisorOne. The new advisory firm whose Latin name means "truth," has been operating in stealth mode since 2009, but marks its fully built-out platform with the launch on Monday of its new advisor-facing website. The Veritat network currently has several dozen advisors either in its network or at some point in the firm's evaluation process. With its revamped site, the firm aims to recruit 25-35 financial advisors per month onto its fully automated, advisor-friendly platform.
"Veritat handles all the heavy lifting. We even do the scheduling, collection of client information, creation of the personalized plans and the portfolio management," Smetters says. "So our advisors increase their book straight away and focus on what they tell us they enjoy most–building personal relationships and offering advice."
To make the headaches go away and enable advisors to enjoy financial planning bliss, Veritat takes what Smetters calls a "Turbo Tax approach" to financial planning. The clients themselves input the data online, prompted by user-friendly guidance from Veritat's website. Veritat's model generates a plan, which is transmitted to the advisor, who approves the plan before it is transmitted to the client portal.
"The advisor … can look at it and see if they want to make changes. The advisor has some dial control" Smetters says. "They can say 'Maybe I want to take a little more risk.'
"Over 90% of the time they agree with our plan," he adds. "We don't let them dial up like crazy."
Veritat also seeks to help clients on the marketing side and says it is different from other models like Garrett Planning Network that are uninvolved with the execution or substance of the financial advice offered.
"We're not just an association. We really are an RIA and a full platform for actually executing," Smetters says. "Our advisors get access to the entire platform. We gather all the client information. All the advisors get their own website … we create a community."
Smetters says the online platform makes it convenient for advisors–including wirehouse and independent advisors–to focus on building their book and minimize their costs, even operating out of their homes if they wish. Working mothers in particular should find this model appealing, he says.
"Of the 65,000 CFPs, 25% are females raising families," Smetters says. "They essentially exit the workforce. They can use the webinar format to meet with clients."
And younger advisors looking to get started amid the high hurdles of forming an RIA and doing paper-based work with heavy compliance burdens may find Veritat, which prefers its advisors to have a CFP or other planning credential, an easy entrée into financial planning.
"For the younger people, if they are CFP designees, but don't have the three years' experience [Veritat wants of its advisors], they get paired with a senior advisor," Smetters says. "After a couple of years the senior advisor rolls off and the junior advisor inherits the client. The only thing that changes is the revenue-sharing agreement. It's kind of like an apprentice program but it allows them to build their book immediately and see how advice is given."
At Veritat, advice is given more in tune with principles of academic finance than with Wall Street notions of aggressive equity investing whose wild swings time is supposed to smooth out. "Retirement–you don't gamble with that," Smetters said. The planning approach is based on "goal-based investing," the Wharton professor says. "You should be matching investing to make sure a given goal has an appropriate investment."
Goal-based investing is a concept that Boston University professor Zvi Bodie has written about, and indeed Bodie serves on Veritat's Board of Advisors, along with Barra co-founder Andrew Rudd and Rodney Sullivan of the CFA Institute.
Smetters dismisses Wall Street notions of "risk tolerance" for what he calls "risk security," saying "people's willingness to take risk is not about the person but is [connected] to that specific goal." So one should be more cautious with funds needed to pay rent during retirement than with funds set aside for vacations.
Veritat's planning mandate goes far beyond investments to encompass the kind of comprehensive planning many advisors would like to do but find hard to do in a product-oriented brokerage firm. Advisors help clients pay down debt, set aside emergency reserves, obtain the right amount of life insurance, plan for college and set up wills and plan estates. The firm has worked out arrangement with product and service providers in which Veritat derives no economic benefit.
"We are using Scottrade as our main custodian," Smetters says. "We use no transaction cost, no commission ETFs. We don't get any form of commission or kickback. Most of the trades don't even create ticket charges; Scottrade gets some of the expense ratio [as owner of Focus Morningstar ETFs].
"In terms of insurance, we use a broker that works with fee-only advisors. We tell the broker that here is the amount of insurance this person needs; they're not allowed to upsell the client. They will go out and solicit policies from major insurance policies that are highly rated. These policies are typically cheaper. The broker will get a much smaller load; we get no commissions or loads from the insurance company."
For wills and trusts, Veritat has a relationship with Legal Zoom, which can provide the four documents Smetters says most clients who are not ultra-high-net-worth need. And if they do need a fancy estate plan, Veritat refers them to an appropriate provider.
The cost to clients for comprehensive financial planning is remarkably affordable, yet Veritat has found a way for advisors to earn a decent living through relationships with clients who value ongoing advice and portfolio management. Clients pay a $250 initial planning fee, and if they want regular access to a personal financial advisor, a single client pays $25 a month, a family pays $40 a month and a retiree pays $35 a month.
Clients seeking a hands-off approach with the advisor managing their ETF portfolios pay a 0.7% asset management fee. Smetters says that in Veritat's experience so far, initial planning engagements generally lead to more comprehensive advisor services.
Veritat's website details the advisor compensation structure and offers various income scenarios. An advisor that is aggressively adding clients (50 a year) and assets ($20 million a year) could be earning over $1 million in income in as few as eight years. An advisor raising her family while working on the side and seeking to achieve Veritat's minimum expected production, would be earning $86,800 a year after 10 years, by adding 10 clients and $1 million in assets per year.
"Our ideal advisor is relationship driven; they focus on gathering clients and giving advice, but they are client-focused," Smetters says.
Perhaps the greatest benefit to advisors and clients alike of Veritat's system is that the advisor has but two tasks to perform: gathering clients and giving advice. Veritat handles all execution, customer support, technology, marketing, compliance and business operations–a value to the advisor which Veritat estimates exceeds $100,000.
"Our best advisors are very much about the relationship," Smetters says. "They have to understand how to explain the plans and why they do what they do." But they are not knee-deep in the headaches of running a business, he says.


text:
Seek some help. Thanks a lot.
Below is the IVR-menu in extension.conf
- Code: Select all
exten => 500,1,Goto(ivr-menu,s,1)
exten => s,1,Answer(500)
same => n(loop),Background(press-1&towards&press-3)
same => n,WaitExten()
exten => 1,1,Playback(you-entered)
same => n,SayNumber(1)
same => n,Playback(custom/quality_test_HarvardSentences)
same => n,Goto(s,loop)
exten => 2,1,Playback(you-entered)
same => n,SayNumber(2)
same => n,Playback(custom/quality_test_Noise)
same => n,Goto(s,loop)
exten => 3,1,Playback(you-entered)
same => n,SayNumber(3)
same => n,Playback(custom/quality_test_Echo)
same => n,Goto(s,loop)
But, when I press any number on the phone, it will play nothing.
From the CLI, I catch the asterisk CLI will disconnected.
- Code: Select all
Disconnected from Asterisk server
Asterisk cleanly ending (0).
Executing last minute cleanups
Is there anything wrong with this IVR dialplan? and I don't understand why the CLI will disconnected when number is pressed on the phone?


text:
Playing this video requires the latest flash player from Adobe.
Download link (right click and 'save-as') for playing in VLC or other compatible player.
The minimal dimension of the Hilbert space that hosts states of an entangled pair of photons can be extremely high. The process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) is a possible way of producing highly entangled photon pairs, in both the spatial and temporal parts of the wave function. However, the most common approximations that are used in the analytical treatment of SPDC hinder the possibility of noticing further structures of the single joint modes. We used a more general formalism, showing that the entangled modes are still eigenfunctions of the orbital angular momentum, but the radial modes are far from the usual ones and they show novel interesting features that might be explained by introducing an additional quantum number. The problem of dealing with SPDC states has two faces: we need to know with enough confidence what state are created, and we need to know with enough confidence what states we are projecting on, upon measurement. We tried to approach both these problems together, and we showed that high dimensional entanglement shields the amount of information that can be stored in a photon from imperfect measurements. In my talk I will present both these aspects of high-dimensionally entangled states of photon pairs.


text:
There are 3 modes: enforcing, permissive, and disabled.
In enforcing mode SELinux policy will be enforced and is most useful in production systems. In permissive mode SELinux will not enforce policy, but will log any denials. permissive mode is used for debugging and policy development. In disabled mode SELinux policy will not be enforced (or logged).
It is not recommended to set an SELinux system into disabled mode. Doing so will almost certainly result in files on disk being mislabeled and require a relabel to fix. It is also not possible to change the mode of the system when it has been booted in disabled mode. It is best to set selinux into permissive mode instead.
The mode may be changed in the boot loader, selinux config, and at runtime with setenforce.
In /boot/grub/menu.lst, find a line similar to this:
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=5d8bcca0-b763-41b8-ab2c-d68880f8f4b5 ro quiet splash apparmor.enabled=0 selinux=1
An additional parameter 'enforcing=[0|1]' can be passed to set the mode:
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=5d8bcca0-b763-41b8-ab2c-d68880f8f4b5 ro quiet splash apparmor.enabled=0 selinux=1 enforcing=0
In the example above the mode has been set to 'enforcing=0' (which means permissive).
SELinux may be disabled by changing 'selinux=1' to 'selinux=0'
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=5d8bcca0-b763-41b8-ab2c-d68880f8f4b5 ro quiet splash apparmor.enabled=0 selinux=0
Setting the mode at the command line overrides the setting in the selinux config /etc/selinux/config.
SELinux Config
The SELinux config file is /etc/selinux/config:
# This file controls the state of SELinux on the system. # SELINUX= can take one of these three values: # enforcing - SELinux security policy is enforced. # permissive - SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing. # disabled - No SELinux policy is loaded. SELINUX=permissive
# SELINUXTYPE= can take one of these two values: # default - equivalent to the old strict and targeted policies # mls - Multi-Level Security (for military and educational use) # src - Custom policy built from source SELINUXTYPE=ubuntu
# SETLOCALDEFS= Check local definition changes SETLOCALDEFS=0
The mode can be changed by setting SELINUX to either enforcing, permissive, or disabled.
Mode set in the boot loader overrides the settings in this file.
The mode can be changed between enforcing and permissive at runtime via the setenforce command:
# getenforce Permissive # setenforce 1 # getenforce Enforcing # setenforce 0 # getenforce Permissive


text:
"AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL" ?? (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET)
"The Girl Who Graduates" (TV-14, DL)
ROMANTIC PHOTO SHOOT WITH FABIO ?? Tyra picks up her camera for a "scary" impromptu photo shoot. But a few models struggle when burlesque icon Dita VonTeese asks them to get in touch with their sexy side. Romance novel cover boy Fabio shows up for an unforgettable photo shoot. Special guests include Tyra Banks, model Kylie Bax, editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, Atoosa Rubenstein, Beau Quillian of Seventeen magazine, photographer Jeffrey Jones, photographer Randee St. Nicholas and guest judge Elite Director, Cathy Gould.


text:
Forsyth County Government is committed to providing Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) to all qualified persons regardless of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability or political affiliation. All employment and personnel policies and practices will be administered according to EEO principles.
In support of our commitment to provide Equal Employment Opportunity, Forsyth County has developed an Equal Employment Opportunity Plan (EEOP) Short Form which provides a summary demographic comparison of the County's workforce to the available labor market. In addition, it identifies areas of underutilization where we are not in line with the available labor market and details specific strategies designed to remedy those areas of underutilization.


text:
The Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life is Canada's most important HIV/AIDS annual fundraising and awareness event. This year, the Walk takes place from September 17-25, in over 50 communities across Canada.
As many as 68,000 Canadians live with HIV/AIDS. Another person is infected every two hours. There is no cure or vaccine. That's why people from coast to coast are walking this September to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and funds. More than half a million Canadians have participated in the Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life.
Santa Margherita is the Platinum Sponsor of the 2011 Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life in Canada. This is their fifth year of involvement. They were recognized by the Canadian AIDS Society in 2010 with the Corporate Leadership Award. In addition to the sponsorship, Santa Margherita donates funds from each sale of their popular Pinot Grigio during specified periods across the country during the summer prior to the Walk events.
Funds raised through the Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life and the Santa Margherita donation program help provide housing, food, medication, counseling and other support to Canadians living with HIV/AIDS, while providing prevention and education to at-risk groups.
For more information, visit Santa Margherita or facebook.com/santamargheritacanada


text:
- (800) 953-7108
- https://hhsales.com
- Album is empty. Click Here to edit and add images »
Your Vehicle
Home - Return to Previous Page
Omix 11620.60 Fender Liner Rivet
Pricing: $3.86
Omix - Fender Liner Rivet P/N 11620.60 Features:
- OE Style
- Direct Fit
- Limited 5 Year Warranty
Product Series
Omix-Ada is the world's largest independent manufacturer and wholesale only company with a full line of Jeep parts and accessories. With over 16,000 Jeep parts in stock, with a retail value over $30 million, we are the company behind almost all Jeep parts retailers and warehouse distributors in USA and over 50 countries worldwide. Moreover, Omix-Ada is the top business partner to many Jeep parts retailers, warehouse distributors, installers and Internet merchandisers in the USA and around the globe.
- 11620.60
- 11620.60
- 804314296025
- Omix
- New
Product Series
Shipping Information
- Item Requires Shipping
- 0.5 lbs.
- W0.5000" x H0.5000" x L2.0000"
Customer Reviews
Total Reviews (0)
Write the First Review!
You must login to post a review.


text:
Professional Community for Car Dealers, Marketing, Advertising and Sales Leaders
This is a group for the exchange of strategies and tactics related to using online video in a variety of ways to help sell more cars and trucks at a dealership.
Website: http://www.autonews.com/ANplayer.html
Location: Detroit, MI
Members: 276
Latest ADM Activity: Jun 29, 2015
Started by David T. Gould. Last reply by David T. Gould Jan 30, 2010. 11 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ted Frazier. Last reply by Ted Frazier Feb 26, 2009. 19 Replies 0 Likes
Loading feed
Dealer Music Video-Entertaining and informational. Created and produced by WeSellDigitally.com - Automotive Video Marketing.
@Richard Winkler ..Nice looking car. Would love to see a version of this video that is shorter in length, 90 seconds to 120 maybe and with more action shots.
This is a typical video that we make to go with the vehicle ad we produce on our website. Any constructive comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
© 2020 Created by Ralph Paglia. Powered by


text: Now in its ninety-eighth year of publication, this standard Canadian reference source contains the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical information on notable living Canadians. Those listed are carefully selected because of the positions they hold in Canadian society, or because of the contribution they have made to life in Canada. The volume is updated annually to ensure accuracy, and 600 new entries are added each year to keep current with developing trends and issues in Canadian society. Included are outstanding Canadians from all walks of life: politics, media, academia, business, sports and the arts, from every area of human activity. Each entry details birth date and place, education, family, career history, memberships, creative works, honours and awards, and full addresses. Indispensable to researchers, students, media, business, government and schools, Canadian Who's Who is an invaluable source of general knowledge. The complete text of Canadian Who's Who is also available on CD-ROM, in a comprehensively indexed and fully searchable format.Search 'astronaut' or 'entrepreneur of the year,' 'aboriginal achievement award' and 'Order of Canada' and discover a wealth of information. Fast, easy and more accessible than ever, the Canadian Who's Who on CD-ROM is an essential addition to your electronic library.


text:
CTT vinnare ATW Award
Air Transport World announces its 2013 Airline Industry Achievement Awards NEW YORK, NY (February 14, 2013) – Penton Media's Airn Transport World®, the leading monthly magazine covering the global airline industry, announced the selection of All Nippon Airways as its Airline of the Year for 2013 as part of the ATW39th Airline Industry Achievement Awards.
Japan-based ANA is being honored for its exceptional financial performance, fiscal management, customer service and technology leadership that set the bar for the entire global airline industry. This year's ATW Airline Achievement Awards winners also include former Lufthansa CEO and Star Alliance founder Jûrgen Weber(Joseph S. Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award); Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling (Value Airline of the Year); Florida-based Silver Airways (Regional Airline of the Year); German flagship Deutsche Lufthansa (Airline Technology Leadership); KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Airline Market Leadership); and Sweden's CTT Systems(Aviation Technology).
To merit ATW's top award of Airline of the Year, a carrier must demonstrate excellence and outstanding performance across the board. The ATW editors look for superb innovation and leadership by executive management; strong financial discipline; a consistent and excellent safety record; proven leadership in community, eco and technology endeavors; and consistent high standards of customer service. ANA has achieved this despite a fiercely competitive home market, devastating natural disasters and political spats that have further hurt the marketplace. "When you put in the kind of financial reports that ANA consistently posted through 2012 and provide excellent customer service despite a challenging market, that's the signature of a first-rate airline," said ATW Editor-in-Chief Karen Walker.
Dr. Weber is being honored for a remarkable career in which he transformed German airline Lufthansa into one of the world's most successful and highly-respected Group carriers. He also is a recognized industry gamechanger, creating the world's first global alliance, the Star Alliance that now boasts 27 member airlines. Vueling has shaken up the European airline scene with its combination of low-cost discipline and full-service, high-quality customer products.
Silver Airways has radically rejuvenated the US regional airline scene with its adoption of comfortable and fuel-efficient Saab 340Bplus aircraft and rapid expansion to become Florida's largest carrier in terms of intra-state services.
Lufthansa was selected for its technology leadership in pioneering eco-aviation research programs as well for as its aircraft modernization program that will give it one of the most efficient fleets in the business; Lufthansa was launch customer for the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental and for the Bombardier CSeries.
KLM is awarded for its approach to making social media tools integral to its entire business and for programs such as its Meet & Seat program that allows passengers to connect ahead of their flights.
CTT's innovative de-humidification products, Zonal Drying System and Cair, improve profitability and flight safety as well as enhance comfort for passengers and cabin personnel.
The awards will be presented at a Gala Awards Presentation Dinner on the evening of March 26, 2013 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
About Air Transport World
Air Transport World (www.ATWOnline.com) is the leading monthly magazine serving the airline and commercial aircraft manufacturing and support industries. Its awards program was launched in 1974. ATW is published by Penton Media.
About Penton Media
As a leading, independent, business-to-business media company, Penton knows business and how to create and disseminate the vital content that moves markets. Penton is where professionals turn to gain the critical insight, expert analysis, and relevant connections needed to compete and succeed. Headquartered in New York City, the privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its co-investors.
For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.
Karen Walker – Editor-in-Chief
Tel: +1 301 755 0165 E-mail:firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Kimya Dawson
Remember That I Love You
Released: 01-08-2006
Buy Now
- Tire Swing
- My Mom
- Loose Lips
- Caving In
- Better Weather
- Underground
- I Like Giants
- The Competition
- France
- I Miss You
- 12/26
- My Rollercoaster
Remember That I Love You has the kind of intimacy that pop producers dream of, the kind of intimacy that's impossible to imitate. Kimya Dawson continues to expose the subtle and sometimes serious pains we all face, in order to temper them with understanding and laughter. In the process she has emerged as a seriously talented wordsmith, at once intoxicating and irresistible.
Along with Rolling Stone, Spin, Magnet and many others, Dawson has been called "compelling" by Pitchfork, while Under The Radar said, "It's not what Kimya says, but how she says it. She's got a knack for playing with words. In the end you want to laugh and cry and probably hug someone. Kimya delivers deeply personal, uncompromising songwriting tucked into intelligent and clever lyrics."
--- Kimya performing "Loose Lips" live ---


text:
Finland (April 9, 2013) -- Ruokangas Guitars has launched a semi-hollow version of their Unicorn model–a singlecut carved top electric and a 5-string version of their Steambass. Master luthier Juha Ruokangas is known as a pioneer of using Spanish Cedar and Arctic Birch tonewoods in his guitars, and the Unicorn Artisan follows this trademark wood recipe as well.
Unicorn Artisan / General Specifications:
The light weight body and the set-in neck of the guitar are made of Spanish Cedar, the top wood is Finnish Arctic Birch and the fretboard options include East Indian Rosewood, Brazilian Rosewood (CITES), Ebony and Arctic Birch. Other specs include handwound Unicorn Custom pickups, TonePros locking bridge and aluminium tailpiece, 2-way truss rod, stainless steel frets and Gotoh SD510 tuners.
Steambass 5 / General Specifications:
There are two versions available - Classic and Deluxe. The difference between the models is the body construction - the Classic comes with Alder body, and the Deluxe with Spanish Cedar body and Arctic Birch top. The neck of the Steambass is made of thermo treated (roasted) Maple and the fretboard options include East Indian Rosewood, Ebony, Maple and Arctic Birch (pic). Other specs include handwound Steambass Custom pickups, Hipshot bridge, 2-way truss rod, stainless steel frets and Gotoh tuners.
Custom Options:
As always, you can customize your Ruokangas guitar in a lot of different ways. We offer loads of colors, various top grades, neck profiles, fret sizes, wirings, finishes etc. Go create your own custom model in the Ruokangas Guitar Builder online guitar configurator tool.
For more information:


text:
Welcome to Tuesday Night Fights, a weekly celebration and analysis of street-fight videos found on YouTube. Tonight's fisticuffs: "Girls Whoop Dude Ass." Tonight's commentator: friend of Deadspin and Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe.
Kickers are pussies. You've all heard it, and you've all probably said it at one time or another. Just don't ever say it to a kicker's face or else you'll get fucked harder and more painfully than Catherine the Great at the Kentucky Derby (that's right, I made a mixed historical reference, deal with it). For evidence, we have this video featuring one jizz-gargling Brosef in a tank top starting some shit.
With a girl.
You can think of this as the throwdown between a middle linebacker and a kicker; we all know how the fight's going to end. With the linebacker crying and grabbing his face after it gets caved in by a well placed 60 yard bomb because YOU DON'T START SHIT WITH KICKERS.
Highlights of the fight include, but are not limited to:
- Broheim's garishly loud shorts that manage to outdazzle whatever the fuck store it is behind them, I think they sell neon baby Jesuses or something.
- A solid punch from Sir Bros-a-lot to the mug of Streetwalker Girl - unfortunately for him he brought a fist to a footfight.
- A full windup kick to the head of Brotato from one of Streetwalker's friends. Speaking as a professional, her form was good but she should've really locked her foot out for full extension and impact power; excellent follow through though.
- Random douchenugget screaming "ohhhhh" the entire time; we get it buddy, you're hammered as fuck off Zimas and this is the most amazing thing you've seen since Cops this afternoon, now shut your noisehole so we can hear the sounds of foot hitting flesh.
- Superbro clutching his face and crying like a little bitch because he realizes the world of hurt he just entered by fucking with kickers. This isn't turning out at all like he thought it would.
- Brosington the Third of Brohambria thinking about starting some shit again, but realizing he's a miserable fucking failure and sadly slipping on his lost sandal as he wanders down the street searching for back tattoos.
Safe to say, I think we can all learn a valuable lesson from this: Get a goddamn sober cab and save yourself some humiliation.
And now, the rest of your Tuesday Night Fights:
• This is an exquisite human moment in which a young man wallops a street fighter in the head with a frying pan and then, after it is seized from him, returns with a stick, which is also seized. Of worry to the cinematographer is onto which of two simultaneous scrapes to focus. This is 3:36 of win. Particularly when pan wielder gets on screen to explain his defense of his mama. (SoV, instantly).
• This is what the Wu Tang Clan was talking about when they were talking about people who you don't want ta fuck wit. (SoV, instantly)
• Not much left to the imagination in this here "Girls Brawl In The Street" entry. (SoV, instantly)
• Nor is there in this live Sunday-night look-in on the streets of Austin. (SoV, instantly)
• Or this one. (SoV, 0:04)
• The Jesse and Domo Crush One Another's Faces And Shake Hands Intermission:
• Your Weekly Philadelphia Street-Fight Update: This isn't so much a brawl as it is a "dude cold drops another dude after a softball game and then another dude, who looks blazed, turns the camera on himself for a while. (SoV, 0:06) Bonus Coverage: Looks like "JIMMY POWERbottom" got himself into a bit of a situation! :_(" Bonus Coverage II: "Topless Street Brawl."
• And now, we go out to the field where TNF Beijing Correspondent Anthony T. has some battles to share: "If You're A Chengguan, It's Probably Best Not To Fight An Old Man Surrounded By Townsfolk" (SoV, 2:16) Also, "A Fight That Appears To End With One Man Biting Another's Leg." (SoV, instantly)
• This hotel-bed lady fracas was apparently spurred on by a $3 debt, and one of the participants having been acting "stupit." (SoV, 0:30)
• Here, a couple of utes in tuxedos resort to fisticuffs on a field. (SoV, 0:04)
• Your Harlem Fight (Brought to you by The Jewgent Show) Interlude (First contact, 1:41; First weave hits the ground, 1:41 1/2):
• Well, this is a little different from house parties back in my day. (SoV, 2:17)
• So, БОЙ НА СЕЛО must translate into oldhead's pretty badass, yo. (SoV, 0:15)
• "Norwegian bros, they're just like us," say American bros. (SoV, instantly)
• "Topless foreign dudes, they're just like us," say survivors of a cockfighting ring. (SoV, instantly)
• Per YouTuber Khaos969, "Apparently the black guy said 'u gotta bigger tits then my girl' to the white dude in the changing room ..argument continues to car park ;)" (SoV, 1:15)
• Your "Use Of Opponent's Rigidity In A Knife Fight" One to Grow On:
• Man gets choked out outside the Dublin House in Colorado Springs. Someone thinks to retrieve his Knicks hat. Lala just chilled in the background, content that he finally got his. (SoV, instantly)
• This. (Just watch it all)
• Decent little alley scrape here. (SoV, 0:09)
• Other: "Moral Of The Story: Don't Play In Traffic." "Fighting for a bike!lol" "WHITE FIGHT!" "Fat red neck gets whooped up!" "Street Ghetto Fight." "Drunken Fight Club The Rematch Round 2." "Road Rage:Two Taxi Drivers Hop Out Their Benzes and Fight In Middle Of Street." "Chula Vista fight." "Ahoskie Hood Fight." "Street fight E MONEY." "Student and teacher fight." "North Miami High School Street Fight." "Gogetta goin hamm on hater." "Gerald vs Bryan buffalo ny strreet fight!" "Dude gets laid out!!" "Schlägerei, Security vs Kaukasen. Russland 2012." "Trashy old girls fighting." "Toronto tough guy gets knocked out."
• Your Utterly One-Sided Spectacle Of Near Boob-Exposure Proportions Coda:


text: Disclaimer: The products and the claims made about specific products on or through this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. Please view our full Terms Of Use Agreement for more information and the terms and conditions governing your use of this site.


text:
Art, Inspiration and General Musings
June 30, 2010
On the Street...Sacramento, CA
Posted by Bows and Sparrows
I don't normally make a habit of harassing random people on the street, but when I spotted Raquel last weekend at the Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour I couldn't resist! She was wearing the most adorable dress and I just had to know where it came from. Turns out she made it herself! I loved everything about it: the neckline, the material, the simple silhouette - not to mention the shoes and skinny belt she paired with it. I asked if she sold them anywhere and she said no - laughing and joking that maybe she should. We exchanged names and I made her promise to send me a photo of her and her totally covetable dress. Well, she made good on her promise. Here she is with her pooch Benny 2.0. Thanks, Raquel. It was lovely meeting you! P.S. If you decide to start selling these dresses email me!
Labels: Fashion, Sacramento, Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour ·
8 comments:
- the Citizen Rosebud said...
That Raquel looks fantastic! What a great dress, and her style is lovely.
- July 1, 2010 at 7:15 AM
- Monica said...
Very cute dress! And brave with heels on a tour.
- July 1, 2010 at 8:04 AM
- Anonymous said...
I think Raqqquel looks beautiful in her dress!
- July 1, 2010 at 9:42 AM
- thezenofmaking said...
That neckline is great! Thanks so much for sharing.
- July 1, 2010 at 10:37 AM
- thursday said...
She really should start selling! That's beautiful!
- July 1, 2010 at 3:47 PM
- rainy day rose said...
Yes, I really do hope that she starts selling them. I am a buyer right here in Sac for her!
- July 1, 2010 at 6:03 PM
- Kimberly said...
Gorgeous! And so perfect for the occasion! :)
- July 1, 2010 at 6:40 PM
- jenni kaufusi said...
what a beautiful dress
- July 1, 2010 at 9:19 PM


text:
Season three of V is by no means a sure thing: The producers and cast told Wondercon they remain hopeful, but there's no news yet. But one thing is sure: if V comes back, it'll be a totally different show.
Producer Scott Rosenbaum and star Elizabeth Mitchell took some time to tell us, and a few other reporters, what to expect if V comes back. In a nutshell: More action, faster story-telling, and Erica becoming a vengeful warrior. In other words, the show we all wanted from the beginning.
Minor spoilers ahead.
Rosenbaum told the panel at Wondercon that he's "very hopeful" for a third-season pickup. The show has "amazing fan support," and its viewership was actually growing a bit by the end of season two. In roundtable interviews, he said that if the show does get renewed, it could well be for the fall — but more likely, it would probably be another spring midseason slot.
Season three would pick up the pace
Rosenbaum said that the first two seasons were about turning Erica into "the most hardened warrior possible, to allow her to do what she needs." And that meant taking away everything that matters to her, including her son, so she could "become a soldier in the war." Erica will find out about Tyler's death, and this will move her on to the next phase of her development.
There's no room left for the "scattershot" Fifth Column, adds Rosenbaum — now it's all about the vastly more organized and well-equipped Project Aries.
Mitchell is excited about the possibilities that Project Aries opens up. "We've got nuclear weapons," she exults.
And Erica's first order as a member of Project Aries will be to track down Hobbes, because he has information that the resistance needs. Erica's superiors need Hobbes alive — but there's some question as to whether Erica will obey that order, says Rosenbaum. Once Erica realizes that her lover helped kill her husband, she will want revenge.
"She's devastated that the man she's been sleeping with is the one who actually got her husband killed," says Mitchell. Once Erica's "rage gets going," it should be really something to watch. "Someone's going to have to stop her from doing something rash. Someone's going to have to physically stop her, and from what we've seen, that could be really rough."
I asked Mitchell if she thought Erica would regret not telling Tyler everything she knew earlier, and she responded: "I think she's going to regret like crazy, but that's not going to stop her from doing what she needs to do." Losing a son "would change you. It would deaden you, I think." And she hinted that Erica may be both vengeful and suicidal.
When I asked if she thought it would be good for Erica to be defined less as a mother now that Tyler is gone, she said: "She will always be a mother. That's where her rage will come from." And that's what will make her a full-on warrior. "It's always interesting to see what makes a warrior, but how a warrior behaves is even more interesting. She is a fully formed combatant, a warrior, [which] is going to be way more interesting than watching a tug-of-war with her conscience, which is more internal."
Rosenbaum played it coy as to whether all three of the deaths in the season two finale will stick — but he did promise that Tyler is absolutely dead. "As for the audience disliking [Tyler], I feel bad, because I feel partially responsible, that I didn't write a more interesting version of him," says Rosenbaum. "Logan is a really great actor, but unfortunately this one role for him seemed to [rub] fans the wrong way."
Mitchell says there's definitely some chemistry between Erica and Father Jack that could develop in season three, now that he's no longer a priest. They shot some scenes in season two that showcased Erica and Jack's romantic chemistry, which they never aired, including one where Jack just leans in close and looks at Erica meaningfully.
What went wrong?
Rosenbaum said he would definitely pay attention to fan reaction after each episode aired — especially on the show's Facebook page, where there was a very active discussion. And it was frustrating, because fans would ask why the characters didn't do a particular thing, or express a desire for a storyline to go a particular way. "Things that people wanted were out of my control," said Rosenbaum. "I would say, 'I was going to do that, but I couldn't do that because of reason A, B, C, or D."
Rosenbaum says that he had a lot of external constraints on the storytelling on V, and it sounds like they came from the network. "I've never had this experience before. When I was on The Shield and Chuck, we did the show we wanted to do." But with V, "I had to adjust my storytelling style, and not do the show I wanted to do... I've never been in a situation where there were more constraints on the storytelling than there were on V."
In particular, "I was asked to slow things down tremendously," says Rosenbaum. "That was hard for me to do, because that's not my instinct." But as the show's second season went on and the number of episodes in the season got reduced, "everybody started saying, 'Maybe Scott's right and we should speed it up.'"
The season two finale is finally the show Rosenbaum wanted to be making from day one. "What's beautiful about the last episode is there's a sense of desperation that's palpable," and that feeling "should have been there from day one." The good news is, the game-changing ending to season two means there's no going back. If the show comes back, there's no way anyone can argue that the story shouldn't move forward.
Mitchell sounded a similar note, saying the final six episodes of season two were moving in the right direction: "I want active. I want vicious. I want people struggling with their moral compass. I don't want people sitting around talking." Adds Mitchell: "I felt like the second half of our second season deserves a pickup, and I don't say that lightly. I didn't feel that way about the first season."
Another thing that happened due to time constraints: A lot of Hobbes' storylines got cut out of the show, and his character got "short-shrifted," says Rosenbaum. Even in the final episode, there were scenes filmed where Erica found out that Hobbes was a traitor who helped kill her husband, but those scenes all had to be cut out.


text:
Leadership Skills: Building More Effective Teams
The most effective teams are energising and productive, delivering breakthrough results. In an effective team, everyone understands how to contribute in ways that support team outcomes that go above and beyond what any individual could accomplish alone.
Teamwork isn't easy. Even the best teams, with the most well-intentioned colleagues, can encounter problems that hinder their collective accomplishments.
In this 1-day workshop, you will learn strategies and facilitation techniques for building great teams and creating successful team dynamics. You will develop skills that enhance communication and trust, and align team members around shared goals so they can effectively plan, communicate, execute, and deliver.
Designed for managers and team leaders, this team-building training will teach you how to cultivate maximum team productivity by understanding how to navigate the stages of team development and address team challenges. It includes team leadership techniques for local, satellite and virtual teams.
- Understand why teamwork is so important to today's organisations
- Learn to plan and prepare for team success
- Develop practical skills for leading and motivating team members
- Build strategies for coping with team challenges
- The DNA of successful teams
- Common team dysfunctions
- Effective communication
- Leadership strategies
- Local, satellite and virtual teams
- How to change a team's culture
After the workshop
Every participant will receive a certificate of attendance and be eligible for a free 1-on-1 follow-up coaching session.
This is what people who have already attended this workshop have said:
"This workshop helped me to put things into perspective for both a volunteer leadership role and a paid management role. I hope that these skills will help my two respective teams become better functioning & myself a better leader" - Margaret Smith
'Great information and delivery. Some very useful skills that I can't wait to use in the workplace." - Daren Grove, Project Jonah
'The course covers a wealth of situations that come up with Leadership and through Marks guidance & knowledge things are put in perspective" - Adrienne Dodge Kaipara council
'It's very helpful to look at your own teamwork/leadership from a different perspective. I found it very empowering" - Sarah Hepper, Barnardos
'Fantastic workshop on how to motivate staff. It was great how you could ask questions and have the discussion at the workshop on issues people were having in the workplace" - Sarah Thomas. Te Waiwhanau Waiperiera
"Mark has considerable experience in the art & skills of leadership. He tailored the session to suit the individuals in the group and made sure he addressed the specific issues raised" - Penelope Janes, Barbados
"The Workshop was tailored to my needs with practical strategies that are realistic" - Fiona Campbell
"The use of real leadership cases and their outcomes provides real insight into initiatives I could use" - Lee Wilson, Performance Reporting Manager Fire & Emergency Services NZ
About the Australasian Leadership Institute
Based in New Zealand the Australasian Leadership Institute is the premier organisation for developing Leaders across the Asia Pacific region. Many of the world's top organisations have benefited by having their Leaders attend our workshops including Amnesty International, ARISE Church, AUT, Barnados, The Blues, Cure Kids, Department of Internal Affairs, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Fisher & Paykel, Girl Guiding NZ, Heartland Bank, Kiwibank, Ministry Of Justice, Ministry of Primary Industries, NZ Netball, New Zealand Rugby League, NZ Soccer, Oxfam, Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust, Save The Children, St Johns Ambulance Services, Sofitel Resort & Spa, SPCA, Radisson Blu Resorts, Unicef, Van Asch School For The Deaf, Wellington Phoenix, Weta Workshops FX, WWF and many more.


text:
Ohio State recommends $312 tuition-fees increase
Ohio State is recommending a $312 annual increase in the amount students pay for tuition and fees, or 3.2 percent in additional costs.
The increase includes a 3.5 percent rise in tuition, coupled with a continued freeze of the fees students pay for everything from recreation facilities to bus passes.
The recommendation, expected to be approved by trustees next month, brings total costs to $10,036.
The university is also boosting financial aid packages to help additional students attending Ohio State.
Provost Joe Alutto says the university's increases are well below the average of 4.7 percent at similar schools in the Big Ten and elsewhere.
Miami University, Ohio's most expensive public college, raised tuition and fees by $442 last month, while Ohio University raised the cost by $345.


text:
Engel Holding GhbH and Cantoni Srl worked together to create a process called inject2blow, combining injection molding and blow molding in one mold on one injection press.
The process significantly reduces the time and cost to manufacture cosmetic, drug and food containers.
An Engel Victory injection press with 90 metric tons of clamping force, running a two-by-two cavity mold made by Cantoni can mold wide-necked jars with a cycle time of less than 14 seconds.
Normally, preforms have to be first have to be made using injection molding, then subjected a second process on a blow molding machine. Inject2blow happens in one process.
The system includes a Cantoni sliding-table mold and an Engel Viper linear robot to remove finished parts. Engel
S CC 200 controller runs both injection and blow molding.
Engel is based in
The machinery maker's
Tel. 717-764-6818, fax 717-764-0314, email [email protected]/na.


text:
Today at their E3 press conference, Microsoft announced a new music app for the Xbox 360 called "Xbox Music," which will allow users to buy and stream music on their Xbox 360, which can be accessed from any screen. Users can download music from a new music store, or subscribe to streaming channels or artist-based radio stations.
Read more about Microsoft's E3 2012 press conference at our liveblog roundup.


text:
Now that Carmelo Anthony is officially a New York Knick, he must endure the same rite of passage as every other New Yorker: renting a Manhattan apartment. However, unlike the majority of first time renters, Melo's budget hovers around $30,000 per month. The Post reports that the NBA star has checked out pads at Soho Mews, home to Justin Timberlake, as well as units at 158 Mercer Street, where Jon Bon Jovi resides. With a sizeable budget, whichever downtown pad Melo and his wife LaLa Vasquez choose to call home is sure to be spectacular, and hopefully, spacious enough to accommodate his 6' 8" frame.
Copyright LXTVN - LXTV


text:
Let Us Help You Get Registered
Whether you're educated in Canada or internationally, you must be registered to practice occupational therapy. Each Canadian province has its own process – learn more about what you need to do to get practicing.
ACOTRO Projects
ACOTRO is working with all of the ten provincial regulators to harmonize the way in which we assess the qualifications of internationally-educated occupational therapists. We hope to bring greater fairness and simplicity to the registration process.


text:
If you want to survive in the game of sports betting, Football Betting Prediction Sites in Gauteng then you have to use effective money management. I recommend that you follow these guidelines at all times.
- Only invest what you can realistically afford to lose. Net Predictions For Today Matches you have to remember that you really do not need to start with al a lot of money. I got started with only $100 dollars and I followed the system and my money has doubled over and over again over the course of years.
- Do not make your initial bet too high. Only invest 5% of your total bankroll for a flat betting system (in which you bet the same amount each time) and no more than 2% for a progressive system. You need to be patient here and allow your systems to do their slow and steady work.
- Increase your initial bets when your bankroll has increased by 25%. This will increase your earning power, Football Betting Prediction Sites just remember to stick to the suggested percentages in #2.
- Remember to Diversify your portfolio. If you have a total bankroll of $1000 and 4 systems that you would like to use, then each system should be allotted $250 and you have to keep those amounts separate.
You have to be disciplined in your use of your systems and in your money management strategy. It can be difficult especially you are doing exceptionally well or if you are losing badly. You may be tempted to deviate from the systems or the money management guidelines in either of those situations. But do not, Top Football Predictions Today just remain diligent and the rewards are sure to follow.
Football Betting Prediction Sites in Gauteng?
Wasn't it me that predicted that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would be the first baseball manager to be shown the door in 2006? Yes I also think that Barry Bonds is being unfairly accused of using performance enhancing drugs? No Gardenhire is doing just fine these days as he and his troops prepare for a crucial three game set in the Twin Cities tonight.
Minnesota (59-41) has won 34 of 42 since June 8 to cut what was an 11-game deficit in the wild card to a half-game.
"We're just playing really good baseball," said manager Ron Gardenhire, whose team was 25-33 nearly seven weeks ago. "People keep talking about the streak we're on, but streaks don't last two months or a month and a half."
The Twins caught the struggling Chicago White Sox, who have led the wild-card race for most of the season, by completing a three-game sweep with a 7-4 victory Wednesday. Minnesota and Chicago are right behind the New York Yankees, who open a three-game home set against Tampa Bay on Friday night.
The Tigers under veteran skipper Jim Leyland have maintained their composure and now must deal with the newest phenom in the American League and that would be none other then rookie pitcher Francisco Liariano. The Twins look to keep rolling Friday behind Liriano (12-2, 1.93 ERA), who pitched poorly against the Tigers in two relief outings this season, allowing seven runs and 11 hits in 3 2-3 innings for a 17.18 ERA.
Since being moved into the rotation, though, the rookie left-hander has become a leading contender for the CY Young Award, going 11-2 with a 1.59 ERA in 13 starts. Minnesota is 2-7 this season against Detroit and has been outscored 64-25. In a three-game sweep from April 28-30 at Comerica Park, the Twins were outscored 33-1. The Tigers (68-33) have the best record in the major leagues, and their 30-13 mark against divisional opponents is also tops in baseball. Detroit leads the AL Central by 8 1/2 games over Minnesota and Chicago.
The question mark for all contending teams is the starting pitching and the Tigers send a struggling Zach Miner to the hill tonight. Miner has lasted only 6 2-3 combined innings and given up 10 earned runs in losing both of his starts since the break. In his first seven starts after being recalled in early June, the right-hander was 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA and didn't allow more than three runs in a game.
Detroit gave Miner a five-run lead after one inning Saturday against Oakland, but he surrendered five runs in the top of the second and was pulled after a season-low 2 1-3 innings of a 9-5 loss.
Detroit has lost 9 of the past 12 in Minnesota and will be a dog tonight!
Bob Acton
Online Sports Betting
Betting On Horse Racing ~ Sensible Money Management (Part 2)
In this article, we'll explain 6 popular betting systems that you can experiment with in your online casino gaming experience. Truth be told, these timeless, tried and true betting systems originated in the world of offline betting, but they apply equally as well to online casino gambling, no matter what the game, no matter what the betting structure.
Before You Begin: For most of these systems, you will need to decide what your betting unit will be ahead of time (such as the minimum allowable bet at the game and online casino in question).
1-3-2-6 Betting System
This is what's called a Positive Progression system, meaning that as you win, your bets increase. The foundation of this online casino betting system is the premise that a player can win any game a maximum of 4 times in a row before they'll probably lose.
Here's how the system works:
- Bet 1 unit each betting round until you win a round;
- After you win a round, bet 3 units on the next (second) round;
- If you win a second round in a row, bet 2 units on the next (third) round;
- If you win a third round in a row, bet 6 units on the next (fourth) round;
- Then, no matter what happens (win or lose) return to the beginning of the pattern, betting 1 unit per round until you win one, etc.
The risk-reward scenario with the 1-2-3-6 betting system is simple. You can win as much as 6 times your original bet after 4 rounds of play while only putting 2 units of your own at risk.
The worst case scenario with the 1-2-3-6 betting system is that you lose 6 consecutive times in the second round. No matter, though. You can make it all up by winning 4 times in a row.
The Martingale System
This is a Negative Progression system, meaning that as you lose, your bets increase.
The foundation of this online casino betting system is the premise that a player cannot possibly lose an infinite number of times without ever winning a single round. Therefore, what the Martingale system is designed to help you do is offset all of your accumulated losses with a single win.
Whether you consider it cynical, realistic, or both, this system works best in cases when the online casino game is paying out a 1 to 1 payout ratio on each bet. Here's how it works:
- First, place whatever bet you've decided to start with;
- If you win, bet the same amount again, but if you lose, bet double the amount;
- If you lose again, you double your bet again.
The downside to the Martingale system is that you need a large bankroll to start out with as well as the resolve to keep increasing your bets as your losses compound. Not just anyone can pull this online casino betting system off.
In the rarest of cases, you may, after enough losses, reach the online casino's betting maximum and then not be able to raise your bet further or offset your losses with one win.
The D'Alenbert System
This is another Negative Progression system. It's also considered an Insurance System in that, as you win, the size of your bets increase. Here's how it works:
- Each time you lose, you raise your bets by one unit;
- Each time you win, you lower your bets by one unit;
This system also requires a large enough online casino bankroll to pull it off.
By adding the insurance system to the negative progression system, you're hedging your increasing losses by pulling some profits off the table each time you win.
The Labouchere Betting System (a.k.a. The Cancellation System)
This system, another Negative Progression, is somewhat more complicated than those listed so far. Depending on the odds in whatever online casino game you're playing, you'll come up with some sequence of numbers -- of any length you wish -- and not necessarily sequential.
Each number in your sequence is a multiple of your predetermined betting unit (7 therefore is 7 times your betting unit; 5 is 5x, etc.) Here's how it works:
- Your first bet should be the sum of the first and last numbers in your sequence;
- If you win, cross out those two numbers you just added together (the two outermost in your sequence) and bet the sum of the next two;
- If you win again, cross out those two outermost numbers and repeat the process
- If you continue winning until you have no more numbers in the sequence to add together, you simply start from the beginning with the entire, original sequence.
- If you lose, you add to the end of the sequence, the sum that you had just used, thus creating a new sequence;
- Crossing out no numbers at all (because you didn't win yet), add the first number in the sequence to the new last number that number and use that new sum as your multiple;
The supposed benefit of this complicated betting method is that anytime you have to start over with the original sequence, you come out with a profit. The drawback is that you can accumulate enormous losses before you ever win (if you ever win).
Your success at the Labouchere system really depends on selecting the right sequence.
The Paroli System (a.k.a. The Anti-Martingale System)
This is another Positive Progression system. More than simply selecting a unit of betting, with the Paroli system you also need to determine two other criteria before you begin:
1. A cap: The uppermost amount at which you will stop increasing your wager and return to your starting unit;
2. A multiple: How much you'll increase your bet every time you win (1 unit, 2 units, 3 units, etc.)
You should base these factors on the odds of the online casino game you happen to be playing. The appeal of the Paroli System is that you can play at the online casino for a while with a small bankroll. You cut your losses and let your profits ride.
The Parlay System
This is another Positive Progression system. Similar to the Paroli System, the effect of the Parlay system is to "pyramid" your profits, meaning that every time you win you wager both your winnings and the amount of your initial bet as your next bet.
The reward of the Parlay system can be huge. The risk is that you can lose it all in a single bad online casino beat.


text:
Known to all, Ideawheel is home to many kinds of products, like the mini electric scooter, electric skateboard, smart e bike and smart helmet and so on. Ideawheel Z5 provides an effective and flexible way of daily commuting for riders, bring convenience to people's daily life. Many Ideawheel riders make use of the tiny and powerful Z5 fast electric scooter for work and daily entertainment, and it has been applied to many practical situations.
Here is a story from a young rider who does a part-time job with Ideawheel Z5. This rider loves helping others and giving in-time assistance to those people who need love and help. In his neighborhood, many people have a trouble when they are not in house and receive a call from a courier, asking them to picking up the package. With the development of internet services, many people tend to do shopping online and it has become a big problem when people cannot receive the package on time.
Then the young and warm-hearted Ideawheel rider comes up with a very good idea, and he starts his career of picking up and delivering the package to his neighbors by riding with Ideawheel Z5 foldable electric scooter. With the help of Z5, the rider is able to start his new part-time job in the neighborhood. Since he is always working at home as a copy writer, he is able to pick up packages for his neighbors quickly with his Z5.
It can easily speed up and provides a very flexible way of scooter riding. So he can ride towards the courier and receive a package easily. And he sorts out the packages and delivers them to his neighbors one by one by riding with Ideawheel Z5 2-wheeled electric scooter later in the day. Truthfully, the package receiving and delivering is really a relaxing and easier activity for the Ideawheel rider.
Media Contact
Company Name: Ideawheel Technology
Contact Person: Jonas
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: +32 494 26 71 78
Country: Belgium
Website: http://www.ideawheel.com


text:
NEWS-Contract controversy: Is Social Club paternalistic?
We're a sporty bunch here in Charlottesville, and if you need proof, just look at the success of two outdoor social clubs: the Outdoor Adventure Social Club, which after nearly three years has approximately 200 members, and the Charlottesville Sports and Social Club, which launched this fall and has already gathered nearly 200 members who play kickball each weekend. The latter will expand to include dodgeball and wiffleball games this winter.
While no one argues that meeting new friends and engaging in healthy activities is a bad thing, the Outdoor Adventure Social Club has raised some eyebrows with its strict contract that forbids members from getting together for any type of outdoor activity that is not club-sponsored.
"From time to time, members may also organize their own social events," reads the contract, "but never any activity involving physical exertion other than walking (hiking not permitted)." Also verboten: activities that involve an "overnight stay."
In addition, the contract has a broad no-compete clause that prohibits OASC members from using Yahoo or Google groups to contact other members and from starting any sort of outdoor social club anywhere in Virginia– or West Virginia.
If anyone might see those rules as paternalistic or overreaching, OASC founder Matt Rosefsky says the contract is designed to protect members and to help keep the club in business.
"The bottom line is we do live in a legalistic society," says the 33-year-old Rosefsky, a 2003 Darden grad. "Anybody who creates anything in this legalistic society is going to have to put protection in place."
Well, maybe not anybody. Though he acknowledges that someone could start a competing club, Charlottesville Sports and Social Club founder Chad Day says he does not require members to sign such a document.
"We encourage people to get outside and do whatever they want," says Day, who adds that he has invested time and thousands of dollars of his own money into the club.
But Rosefsky says preventing people from undertaking their own outings is necessary because of the greater danger in the wilderness than on a kickball field. "Being out there in the woods is not safe if you don't know what you're doing," says Rosefsky, pointing out that he is "deeply devoted to ensuring the safest outdoor experiences possible."
That includes making sure all leaders are CPR and first-aid certified. But that's not all. "The majority of our safety measures are behind the scenes," says Rosefsky, "with emergency situation management training and continuous learning among all club leaders." On one recent trip, says Rosefsky, the group came upon a poisonous copperhead snake in the middle of the trail. In that situation, Rosefsky asks rhetorically of neophyte hikers, "Do they know what to do?"
As for the non-compete clause, Rosefsky says that's just the way it has to be.
"I put this club together," he says. "It took me six months of 100 hours a week, busting myself for no reward. I have not paid myself back yet for the money I invested to get this going."
And it's not just his own investment he worries about. Rosefsky's work has created such intense loyalty among members that several wrote to the Hook to express support for the club and disdain for anyone who would criticize the contract.
"While I can see how such a policy might rub some the wrong way, it's important to keep in mind that any organization must meet the 'bottom line' if it wants to continue to function and offer its services," writes OASC member Mike Schutz, who teaches at Longwood University in Farmville. "Should the club suffer from competing organizations taking advantage of Matt's hard work laying the groundwork, founding, and building up OASC, current and future members would suffer along with the club."
More than a dozen other members also touted positive experiences. "If there was no OASC, I would have moved out of Charlottesville a long time ago," wrote Brian Eisenhower, who says the events vary from "fun to the most fun imaginable. He says, "After the last hike, I was smiling for days. We were sitting around on a sunny rock in the woods, talking like we had known each other for years, and I had just met these people!"
"This club is probably the best thing that has happened to me since I graduated from UVA in '04," writes Ellen Alford, who adds that she gladly signed the membership agreement. "In the five months that I've been in the club," she says, "I've found myself participating in activities I would never have imagined doing or have the capability to do on my own."
Rosefsky points out that he has never needed to enforce any portion of the contract, and does not intend it to limit the relationships. And while he stresses that the club is not intended to be a singles club, there have been several marriages among members, Rosefsky says, and one couple who met in the Club will soon welcome the first Outdoor Adventure Social Club baby. Rosefsky says he's also never heard anyone complain about the contract, and worries that if people focus only on the contract, they'll get the wrong idea about the club, which offers an average of two activities every day.
Member Rich DiStefano offers a succinct opinion on the critics of the contract. "If someone doesn't like the rules, they can politely not join the club," he says. "We have several hundred members who have no problem with any of the agreements for membership."
Copperhead = Need for contract?


text:
Stocks are higher on still weak economic data this morning. The dollar is lower, bonds are lower, oil is higher, gold & silver are up, and food commodities are mostly lower.
The market is shooting higher this morning, choosing once again to pretend that weak economic news is good news. Of course we know that the market was oversold and looking to bounce, the ever sloshing hot money just has to look for something to do, all of yesterday's ridiculous and superfluous M&A activity is a shining bubble example.
Let's start with the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index. It seems small business owners are not very optimistic at all, as this index fell for the third straight month, landing on 90.2 in June from 91.2 in May. Here's Econoday acting shocked that small businesses don't see economic recovery – and I say no kidding, just look at all the trillions thrown at too big to fail businesses while the small guys and middle-class are left to foot the bill:
You would never know the economy is in recovery based on reports from the National Federation of Independent Business whose small business optimism index continues to move south, down three tenths in May to a recessionary level of 90.9. The report points to weak consumer spending as the main factor, one that's hitting services which is a central sector to small businesses. The report has a sharp political tone saying, without much detail, that Washington policies aren't encouraging small businesses to hire. The report's job creation indications are deteriorating with capital spending and inventory plans weakening. One in four respondents say weak sales are their top problem. Inflation is also cited as a major concern.
Here's the entire report below. Again, weak consumer spending and also weak services which is counter to other, perhaps more manipulated statistics:
NFIB Small Business Trends June 2011
The PPI is slowing rapidly now that oil has backed off. Rising .2% in May, this is down sharply from the .8% month to month rise in April, still high, but decelerating. PPI less food & energy left the 'core' also at .2%. While the market may like this reading today, all I can say is that the reading went sky high with the money pumping and is now creating a brand new trend that is very obvious – namely that increase in prices is falling off rapidly as we face the prospect of ending the flow of hot money. In other words, without the hot money we can swing very rapidly from inflation to deflation as the deflationary forces of debt saturation are extremely powerful. Here's Econoday, as the year over year PPI chart shows, overall inflation is still quite high:
At the producer level, inflation slowed but there were still f hot spots in the data. Overall PPI inflation in May softened to 0.2 percent from April's 0.8 percent jump. May came in higher than the median projection for a 0.1 percent increase. By major components, energy still gained, by 1.5 percent after a 2.5 percent gain in April. Specifically, gasoline increased 2.7 percent, after jumping 3.6 percent in April. However, food fell 1.4 percent, following a 0.3 percent rebound the month before. At the core level, PPI growth eased to 0.2 percent after a 0.3 percent rise in April and equaling the median forecast for 0.2 percent.
Retail Sales in May are reported as falling .2%. This is also a sharp deceleration from April's prior supposed .5% gain. Since I know this report vastly overstates real retail sales, I take a negative print here to mean that sales are really decelerating. Remember, this report does not correct for real inflation, and it also suffers from survivor bias. Here's Econoday, note that gasoline sales increased solely due to the rising price of gasoline – that does NOT equal more products sold, it equals more money printed. Also note the downward revision for April… again:
Headline retail sales slipped in May, tugged down largely by auto sales and with other components mixed. Overall retail sales in May dipped 0.2 percent, following a revised 0.3 percent gain in April (originally up 0.5 percent). May's decline was less negative than the median forecast for a 0.3 percent decrease. Excluding autos, sales advanced 0.3 percent, following a 0.5 percent rise in April. The consensus called for a 0.3 percent increase. Gasoline sales gained but only moderately. Sales excluding autos and gasoline in May printed at a 0.3 percent rise, matching the increase the month before. Overall, the trend is upward but at a modest pace the last two months following strong months in March and February.
The market is in a dangerous position from my point of view. The hot money players I'm sure will try to engineer a bounce, justified or not by economic data. Remember that bubbles require fuel for the fire, so we need to see where the fuel is, not just assume that it'll be coming immediately. The market is all fluff, so removing or even slowing the flow of hot money will allow the deflationary forces to take over.
Another point for caution here is that yesterday the market was flat to slightly higher, yet the VIX rose and jumped over the 200 day moving average:


text:
|CCC Team
|Birth date
|May 6, 1982
|I knew I wanted to be a pro cyclist when:
I only knew the moment I signed my first contract.
|Greatest racing memory:
|It has to be my first professional win at the Tour of Qatar in what was only my second race a professional. I won against the guys who up until that point I had only seen on TV.
|Race I dream of winning:
|UCI World Road Race Championships
|If I wasn't a pro cyclist:
|I think I would be a car mechanic or maybe even a bike mechanic
Francisco Ventoso is one of the most experienced riders in the peloton with 16 years or pro racing in his legs. He has multiple grand tour stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, and 27 pro wins in all. Many of those have been on home soil at major Spanish races such as the Vuelta a Burgos, Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, Ruta Ciclista del Sol, and Vuelta a La Comunidad de Madrid. In recent years the former Spanish national road race champion has assumed the role of key domestique at one-day races and grand tours. With 35 monuments to his name, plus 17 grand tours, Ventoso plays an important role in CCC Team's ambitions.