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Behind The Sounds: Game Music's Orchestral Revolution
Good Gaming Conduct
Like a human q-tip David Valjalo embarks on a fantastical voyage into the realm of videogame music. Rounding up three of the most high-profile composers working today, let's call them The Three J's: Jason Graves (Dead Space, Tomb Raider), Jesper Kyd (Freedom Fighters, Assassin's Creed) and Jack Wall (Splinter Cell, Black Ops 2), he gets the inside story on a revolution in game music budgets, practices and thinking that has changed our game soundscapes forever.
Games have changed. Keyboards and mice have maintained largely the same dimensions, but the worlds within our desktop screens have evolved massively since they started out in that ancient time before tweets, emails, inverted look and alt-fire. Not least, the sounds blasting out of our speakers have changed, too. We've gone from catchy little MIDI numbers (The Secret Of Monkey Island's opening tunes turned my teenage den into a sort of geek dancehall) to full-blown orchestral scores to rival – and indistinguishable from that of – a Hollywood movie. Jason Graves, who recently scored Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider reboot, believes the rapid evolution in game soundtrack quality is partly down to the developers themselves:
"The biggest reason [game] music has become more cinematic and, dare I say it, better written, is that game producers and music-audio directors of games are fine-tuning their ears more than they were ten years ago," he says. "I mean, you can have a live orchestra play C-scale and it sounds incredible, beautiful, but just because it's a live orchestra doesn't mean anyone can write for it. There's a gap that is being filled between audio directors and producers accepting any sort of orchestral score. You know [before it was like] 'we can get a guy who hasn't composed for live orchestra before and it's going to sound great', where I think they have more discerning tastes now. It needs to be put together by an experienced composer. That change has been in the last three years."
The evolution of game scores has also been a result of developments in the tech behind the tunes, Graves explains: "What a lot of it comes down to is the music implementation that a developer is using. With Tomb Raider, as with most big titles, the more time you have to compose the music, the more tools you have for implementation. The interactive aspect has really come into its own in the last three years with the third-party music audio packages developers use."
Jesper Kyd, who cut his teeth on Commodore 64 and Amiga hobbyist projects before moving onto franchises like Hitman, Assassin's Creed and Borderlands, is a rare breed of composer who's managed to survive the shifting sands of the industry, graduating into the modern orchestral era from his 8-bit origins. "I was always very much into the technology of the game industry," he explained. "When I started making music it was on the Commodore 64 and it's evolved all the way to where we are today with orchestras, choirs. I've been there all the way, I've seen music systems come and go. I've worked with all the interactive music systems and have a good understanding of all that stuff.
"Always in the back of my mind, even on the Amiga, has been: 'What's the ultimate in videogame music? Well, it's when it makes the transition to CD-based music so we can use live performances.' So I always made sure to keep writing live music as well because I knew that was where it was going to go. I think one of the biggest shifts was when Sega came out with the Mega CD. There were PC games using the disc to stream music as well at that point, but the Mega CD was the moment I really thought OK, now we're suddenly using regular, CD-based music in games."
Kyd agrees the shift in developers' mindsets has been a recent one. "The industry has really embraced the fact that we have to improve game music. Game music has steadily been improving, but not too long ago it certainly didn't have the respect it does today. Probably – I don't want to say with good reason – but there was probably something to it. I think maybe the connection between the team and the composer was not looked upon as being as important as it is now. There was a time in the 90s where it seemed like you could put some rock music on a game and it would be a game score. It just didn't have that full-on connection with the world. There's now much more work being done to tie the composer and the game together so the score fits the project perfectly."
Jack Wall, who's conducted over 50 orchestras in a career that kicked off right at the dawn of CD-based, live recorded music in games back in 1996, shares Kyd's sense that respect for his craft in the game industry is something quite new. "You have to understand when I first got into it, I'd tell people I was composing music for games and they looked at me cross-eyed, like, 'you make those bleeps and bloops – those kinds of sounds?' So from my perspective it's improved a great deal now. The fact that I was recording at Abbey Road for Black Ops 2… everyone's really passionate about making sure the music is an important part of the game now, and I love that, I love that my clients take it seriously and expect a lot from me."
Though developers are now more attuned to a good cello solo, the new-found respect for – and value placed on – composers hasn't been an across the board movement.
"It all comes down to the audio or music director," says Graves. "How long they've been doing it, their relationship previously with other composers, their experience with music. I find the bigger games obviously have more tenured, experienced audio directors who are a lot more comfortable working with composers early and experimenting. With Tomb Raider they had no preconceptions about the music. It was literally 'we want cool, iconic, memorable and thematic music – what can you do to fulfil that goal for us?' Usually the less experienced audio directors have a plan in place – probably because they have to – in order to justify what they're doing moving forward, why they're picking a certain composer, they're answerable to more people. They have a list of what they want. Sometimes there's freedom but oftentimes it's 'this is what we want, how quickly can you give it to us?'"
As the allotted budgets for game soundtracks have risen, and the technology and practices have developed to film production levels of quality and control, the creative opportunities for composers have exploded, says Graves. "You're limited only by your imagination, as long as you've got the RAM budget for the music and the disc space allowed. It's just a matter of how you want to work it. Tomb Raider's a great example. It all takes place on an island, so we ended up using different instruments for different geographic situations. If Lara's combating the environment, the island, climbing the terrain, fighting a storm, we use certain sounds, and we've got the likes of tiger drums for certain enemies, different themes for different characters you're interacting with. But the overall structure for me, we always fall back to 'what's Lara feeling right now?' In the early part of the game she's uncertain, later she's more sure of herself, so the music reflects that arc."
The creative freedom afforded game composers is now attracting names from film and TV to the industry, says Graves. "[You're seeing more] film composers getting into games and they're not doing it for the money, they get lead there because of the creative freedom and because the game producers are listening to film scores and saying wow, we want our scores to sound like that, that professional polish is what we're looking for."
"The Hans Zimmer camp, certainly other composers like Danny Elfman, they're all doing games now," says Wall. "It raises the bar for people like me. It's nice to be in that company, I'm a fan of all those guys."
Before a film or TV music talent flocks to game soundtrack work, however, it may be worth paying heed to the lessons of Kyd's own experience. He broke from tradition and made the leap from games into film and TV at the turn of the millennium, finding the disciplines to be very different indeed. "I had to reinvent my music-style from scratch [when I moved into film and TV]. Film and TV is so incredibly different. You have to make sure everything works with what happens on screen every second. That's really a big difference – in games players control the experience, the music has to be a little more open-ended. There's also a little more room in game music for the score to really represent the world. Things like exploring a game world – that's my favourite thing about videogames: here's the world, go and have fun in it. That's direction games have been going for a while and I think they'll continue in that direction. It's very open-ended, it can be very quiet as you're exploring this world, there's room for music to come out and set the mood whereas in a movie there's usually either dialogue, action or sound effects. I think music in videogames is something that can really set the tone and get under the skin of a player."
With Kyd's passion for the open-world genre as both a player and composer, it's unsurprising to find him a little less excited by the more restrictive nature of other titles on the market: "I'm one of those gamers that just like games to be games, I'm not that thrilled about this other direction that seems to be taking the gameplay out of games so they can be more cinematic. I want as much control and gameplay [as possible]. I like to just be thrown into a huge world and see what happens. It's a very strange and mysterious thing. I love scoring that sort of experience, there's a lot of opportunity to be surprising."
Scoring a game is a huge undertaking, whether it's linear or not, and hearing the way each composer works offers a fascinating insight. With a project like Tomb Raider, Graves' approach was less freeform as he worked his arrangements around the context of the action and characters on-screen. "It could be just exploration – come across a bunker, there's two bad guys, they have some dialogue, you shoot one, have combat with the other and move on. We'd break that down into eight or ten micro-events. I'd give complete pieces [of music] that represented each part of the stage – some would be one-shot stingers, others would be quiet little loops, or a 30-second loop. It's almost micro-composition, it's very interactive, the music's constantly changing. You might not even hear a full loop because you've moved to the next event before that one's even over. It's all sequenced though, if you listened to it on its own, it'd sound like it was from a film. It's moving, it's evolving. It's a point-by-point, trigger-by-trigger, small event by small event kind of thing for Tomb Raider."
Graves also uses his score to help tell, and punctuate, the actual story of the game. "The first half of the score, for combat music, is very unsure. Like with Dead Space. You never really know where the downbeat is coming from, lots of dissonance. No strong melody or harmony. The second half of the game is a much more straight-forward 4-4 or 7-8, 3-4 or even 5-4, it's confident, you know where the beat is, you've got your feet, the theme plays a lot bigger, she's gained her confidence. She's made a decision to go from reacting to what happens to her to being proactive, trying to save her friends, essentially, which is what it comes down to, and the music reflects that."
Wall's process, perhaps unsurprisingly for a composer who's typically worked on more linear action and narrative driven titles like the Splinter Cell and Mass Effect series, mirrors the way a film composer works more closely. "I'll sit down with a video capture of a level and we'll spot it like we're spotting a film, looking at the video. That's how I understand the rises and falls of the story. If you were watching a film, you're looking at the whole film to get a sense of where the acts, the moments are. If I can understand the whole story I can start to craft themes that are appropriate in certain places. It's like scoring a film. [The studios I've worked with] all have writers that are really serious about the script, the story and the campaign. It's always about helping them tell their story."
In a game like Black Ops, a title so committed to making things go "boom", you would expect it poses a difficult proposition for a composer trying to get their chords and choirs heard. "The way I deal with all that is, whenever I do a level, when I look at that video capture, I have all the sound, the voice-overs and such, I'm always listening to that. I check my work against the sound design, the effects, the explosions, the gunfire – I check it. What I've noticed doing that is if there's about 40 machineguns going at a time, the more staccato you make the music at that point, the work gets lost. So I'll just create these long, soaring gestures over the top to create a better sense of drama." But sometimes, as Wall explains, silence can be golden. "There's a huge part in Panama [in the game], where there's just so much going on – sirens, loudspeaker announcements, tons of gunfire – it was just kind of a dark atmosphere, early evening, and it just had a really cool feeling without any soundtrack. And the people at Treyarch were like 'we need music here!' But it works, it just allows the sound design to do its work, you know? It's not about silence, it's about the space between the notes."
Both Kyd and Graves agree that the way a score comes out can often hinge on how early in the process they're brought onboard. "It really depends on the game," says Graves. "Each game is really different, I've noticed, going on my 11th or 12th year in games, the last two or three years – starting with the first Dead Space – I started getting involved earlier in the process. They didn't even have a green light but they brought me on for that vertical slice, same way with Dead Space 2 and Tomb Raider. But it's not always the case. I just did a DLC pack for another game and had like ten days to do an hour's worth of music. That was the opposite, I got videos of gameplay and there was hardly any time to discuss anything. There wasn't time to get in and massage stuff, to experiment, it was about going with my gut and that's why they hired me. They're the two extremes – there's Tomb Raider where I'm spending three months purely on the themes for each character and then this where it's seven days for an entire score, cutscenes, the lot."
"It usually doesn't happen right at the last minute, but it has happened before," says Kyd. "It becomes a more functional score because you don't have the same amount of time to experiment. You go for safer choices to make that deadline. The earlier the better. With Assassin's Creed I was involved from the beginning, there was nothing for them to show other than concept art and I started from that moment."
The trend to bring composers onboard as early as possible reflects the general goodwill toward to the role that has come to fruition in the last few years. But with game soundtracks reaching unprecedented heights of budgetary resources and attention, where next for the future of this profession?
"You're going to see the quality increasing, it's going to become more and more prominent," says Graves. "The quality will increase [to the point where] it's either a super-low budget game or a super-high budget game and there's not a lot in between."
Kyd agrees with the idea of a future landscape divided against itself: "I see it going in two directions. One is the indie and social scene, where you have composers pushing the limit of what interactive music can be. The other side is huge triple-A titles where you go out and record with orchestras. I seeing it splitting off and going in those two, extreme directions."
The great respect for the composer's craft, the revolutions in thinking and hardware, may have benefited those already in the industry – and those who've ridden it's many waves – then, but this new world of extremes would presumably make for a difficult barrier to entry for the composers of tomorrow. But there's always hope, says Kyd: "The most important thing is to be a good composer, to be able to write good melodies, put good songs together. That's the most important thing. Everything else can be learned. Anything else, with enough passion and time, you can learn. I think passion is even more important than going to school [for music]. I don't have a degree or anything."
"What's wonderful is – the way the record business reinvented itself – games are doing that," says Graves, chiming in with his own optimistic take. "You've got all these indie game developers. If I was right out of grad school, those are the guys I'd be aligning myself with. Even if it was a free score, they needed five minutes of music, anything to get my foot in the door. Even for 500 bucks it'd be great – you align yourself with a developer, they get picked up by a bigger publisher for their next title and then they've got a bigger budget."
Wall has his own positive angle, too, offering a succinct summary of why the orchestral revolution actually means the future is now brighter than ever: "I would say now, because everything's become much more specialised, it's almost easier, my job just becomes: make some great music. It's just really knowing how to deliver good music."


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Intellectualised Christianity, a four page PDF document that briefly introduces the science of Universal love.
The aim of The Third Testament is to show how loving our neighbour and God, is the highest science in life. God should be understood as an all embracing living being, synonymous with the universe. Questions about "eternity" are placed under the microscope and analysed in the bright light of intuition. As mankind has increasingly left the stage of blind belief behind, verifiable facts are needed also regarding the spiritual problems of life...
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Joseph Zellner of Bedford and Benny White of Boston, both over age 60, were the centerpiece of the excellent 90-minute program "The 54th Mass. Volunteer Infantry Regiment: They Served With Glory." It was held at the National Archives to observe the 150th anniversary of the mustering of the regiment in March 1863, in Readville, part of Dedham at the time but now part of Boston.
I think of Civil War soldiers as young men, even boys. Most were. So I was surprised last week at a program on the 54th Massachusets Volunteer Regiment to see two re-enactors in their 60s.
Joseph Zellner of Bedford and Benny White of Boston were the centerpiece of the excellent 90-minute program, "The 54th Mass. Volunteer Infantry Regiment: They Served With Glory." It was held at the National Archives to observe the 150th anniversary of the mustering of the regiment in March 1863, in Readville, part of Dedham at the time but now part of Boston.
Archivist Joe Keefe described how the 54th, the first military unit of black soldiers raised in the North, was created by Gov. John Andrews of Hingham. The regiment gained its greatest fame at Battery Wagner in Charleston, S.C., in July 1863, portrayed in the film ''Glory.'' Sgt. William Carney of New Bedford became first black man to earn the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor.
The gallantry and steadfastness of the men of the 54th spurred President Lincoln to recruit 180,000 black solders into the Union Army.
The 54th remains the most famous black regiment of the war, Keefe said, and in 2008, it was designated as the Massachusetts National Guard's Honor Guard. Zellner and White have marched with the regiment in both of President Barack Obama's inaugural parades.
Zellner, 65, is a retired history teacher at Concord-Carlisle High School. He was recently elected president of the regiment's Company A. He is also a first-person interpreter for Solomon Pierce.
In 1999, Zellner, 51, was researching records for a soldier to portray and he came across Pierce, who was 42 when he joined in December 1863. "What is a 42-year-old doing volunteering when he had a son who was 21 and volunteered and died at Battery Wagner," Zellner wondered.
He learned that Pierce and his younger son, 19, signed on in December 1863, leaving Pierce's wife, who was expecting, and 9-year-old daughter at home. They both survived and Pierce returned to Monson as a farmer and liveryman. "I gained a lot of respect for him," Zellner said.
The scope of the 54th is fascinating. Keefe and other speakers described its creation as part of a strong tradition of civil rights and equal rights activism in Boston. "We can get at the throat of treason and slavery through the state of Massachusetts," abolitionist Frederick Douglass said.
The 54th re-enactors do include some teenagers and men in their 20s, but there is, Zellner said, "a dearth of men in the middle-age range," who comprised the heart of the unit.
"Older people have the time to devote to it," he said.
We are richer for it.
Reach Sue Scheible at firstname.lastname@example.com, 617-786-7044, or The Patriot Ledger, Box 699159, Quincy 02269-9159. Read her Good Age blog on our website. Follow her on Twitter @ sues_ledger. READ MOREGood Age columns.


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"The Iranian Regime Is Now More Vulnerable Than Ever Before"
The political situation in Iran is tense. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the United States Embassy in Iran on November 4th tens of thousands of protesters were on the streets of Tehran despite severe warnings from Iranian security forces. The demonstrations took place not only in Tehran but also in various other cities around the country. Mr. Sadjadpour, for how long do you think will the opposition be able to keep up the pressure against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government?
Karim Sadjadpour: There remains an enormous sense of outrage and injustice at a popular level after the disputed presidential elections in June and I think that every time we have seen the opposition show their numbers they have exceeded people's expectations. But I think people realize this is a long-term process, results will not be achieved overnight.
What do you think is going to happen over the next few months?
Sadjadpour: I think we will see a further deterioration of the economic situation in Iran, due to poor management, external pressure, and the contraction of oil prices. Rather than reach out to his domestic opponents and try to build bridges I think Ahmedinejad is going to continue to alienate them. The gulf between the opposition and the regime is likely to increase. University students will continue their agitations'. In general I don't think 'people are going to forgive or forget what happened last June any time soon.
During the demonstrations on November 4th we heard for the first time people chanting "Obama, Obama – either you're with them or you're with us" along with the slogan "Down with the dictator". Do you think the Obama administration responded in an apt manner to the developments in Iran?
Sadjadpour: I think the Obama administration could stand to be more outspoken about Iran's inability to adhere to international standards of human rights and justice. I have no illusions that raising the issue of human rights will cause the regime to have second thoughts about employing repression and brutality; but if we neglect talking about human rights, the United States sends the signal to the Iranian people that America is a cynical superpower willing to "do a deal" at their expense. This could unwittingly pour cold water on the momentum of the movement. Our philosophy should be to "do no harm".
Does the opposition feel betrayed by the West?
Sadjadpour: I think part of the opposition is certainly concerned that the US has focused far too much on the nuclear issue and far too little about their plight. Iranian political culture is very conspiratorial, and I think the Obama administration has to reconcile how they engage the regime without betraying the will of the people. '
Sadjadpour: I think that's likely the case, in the sense that the regime is more likely to feign compromise on the nuclear issue to stave off external pressure until it gets its internal house in order. If there were no internal crisis in Iran and oil prices were still soaring, I don't think Iran would show any signs of compromise. All that said, I don't think an internal consensus has yet been reached on the nuclear issue. I think that the Iranians would like to delay or draw out the process as long as possible.
The Obama Administration shows first signs of patience running low. First Tehran seemed to have agreed to send its Low Enriched Uranium to Russia and France in order to get it back in a higher enriched form for use in a medical reactor. Then the Iranians backpedalled. For how long will Obama keep committed to the diplomatic talks?
Sadjadpour: The Obama administration has every desire to try and resolve this issue diplomatically, and they've gone much further than the Bush administration in seeking a compromise. Whereas the Bush administration's red lines were to prevent Iran from enriching uranium, I think the Obama Administration's red lines are simply to prevent Iran from weaponizing its nuclear program.
I'm not sure if anyone in Washington still believes that zero enrichment is a feasible outcome. But there is tremendous internal pressure on the administration to take a tougher approach toward Iran. If there is no diplomatic progress in the coming few months the administration will be forced to pursue harsher measures.
If no compromise can be found on the basis of the International Atomic Agency's proposal increased sanctions will be on the agenda. How do you rate the chances that such sanctions will lead Ahmadinejad to change course?
Sadjadpour: In the past sanctions have not brought about more conciliatory Iranian policies. Remember, this is a regime that has been willing to endure severe economic hardship in order to further its political and ideological aims. But they're now more vulnerable than ever before.
The Obama administration believes that the breadth of sanctions is more important than the depth, meaning a more robust international coalition – including Russia and ideally China – will concentrate Iranian minds much more than simply amplifying existing US and US sanctions. Whether or not Moscow or Beijing will come around is a huge question though.
The Obama administration hasn't taken the military option off the table. Under which circumstances do you think a US military operation would be possible?
Sadjadpour: I think the likelihood of a US attack on Iran is very low. Afghanistan has become a very important domestic political consideration for the Obama administration and the last thing they want is to open up another war front which would inflame the situation in Afghanistan and also Iraq.
The greater concern is that if these negotiations fail, Israel will at some point in the next year feel compelled to take action. And many US officials believe that Israel won't ask permission from Washington first if they truly feel they're facing an existential threat.
The IAEA chief until end of November, Mohammed ElBaradei, told the New York Times "there is total distrust on the part of Iran". Mr Sadjadpour, you have authored a study on the speeches and writings of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader in Iran. Is the most powerful man in Tehran indeed viscerally opposed to the US?
Sadjadpour: Yes, I believe that. For Khamenei enmity towards the US was a fundamental pillar of the revolution and it remains central to the identity of the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution, once said the relationship between the US and Iran is like that between a wolf and a sheep, and Khamenei recently repeated this mantra.
That said, during times of existential crisis – and the last four months have been a time of existential crisis – survival is paramount. So at those times I think he is willing to talk to the US in order to try to stave off pressure. But I don't think his ultimate objective is to reach an accommodation with Washington. On the contrary, I think he believes that could seriously jeopardize the integrity of the Islamic Republic.
What do you think he is most worried about?
Sadjadpour: Based on his writing and speeches it's clear he's most concerned that the US is trying to foment a velvet or soft revolution in Tehran. He fears that greater interaction between the US and Iran, meaning a greater US or Western presence in Iran, would dilute the 'Islamicness' of the Islamic Republic and undermine their hold on power. In a way I think a rapprochement with the US is more of an existential threat to him, to the hardliners in Teheran, than the status quo of the adversarial relationship.
Interview conducted by Birgit Kaspar
© Qantara.de 2009
Iran's Green Protest Movement
Cracks in the Foundation
Little strokes fell big oaks. Despite major repressions, the reform-oriented movement around Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi is continuing its protests, discovering new forms of resistance against the regime. By Ghasem Toulany
History of the Iranian Nuclear Programme
The Trauma of Vulnerability
Originally, the Iranian leadership considered nuclear weapons un-Islamic. However, the experience of the Iran–Iraq War led to the political conviction within Iran that the country needs nuclear arms. Katajun Amirpur looks back at the history of Iran's nuclear programme
USA – Iran Relations
"Charm Offensive" to End the Ice Age
Obama's video message to the Iranians contained an appeal for renewed dialogue with Teheran's political leaders. But who would be the most likely candidate for entering into such a dialogue with Washington from the Iranian perspective? Answers from Katajun Amirpur in Teheran


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The Blurry Frontiers of Economic Policy
Michael Spence
19 September 2013
MILAN – Around the world, policies, technologies, and extended learning processes have combined to erode barriers to economic interaction among countries. Pick any indicator: trade relative to global GDP, capital flows relative to the global capital stock, and so forth – all are rising.
But economic policies are set at the national level, and, with a few notable exceptions like trade negotiations and the tracking of terrorist funding and money laundering, policymakers set goals with a view to benefiting the domestic economy. And these policies (or policy shifts) are increasingly affecting other economies and the global system, giving rise to what might be called "policy externalities" – that is, consequences that extend outside policymakers' target environment.
Of course, such externalities have always existed. But they used to be small. As they grow more significant (the result of greater global connectedness), they inevitably become harder to manage. After all, global optimization would require a global policymaking authority, which we do not have.
These external effects are particularly consequential in the financial sector, owing to the potential for large and relatively abrupt changes in capital flows, asset prices, interest rates, credit availability, and exchange rates, all of which have powerful effects on output growth and employment.
The economic crisis and its aftermath is a case in point. Defective growth models in advanced countries, based on excess credit and domestic aggregate demand (and complicated by structural flaws and limited adjustment mechanisms in Europe), led to instability, a crisis, and a large negative shock to the real economy. Emerging economies were immediately affected by credit tightening (including trade finance) and rapid declines in exports, leading to similar shocks there.
Advanced countries moved to prevent a downward spiral using monetary and fiscal policy tools. These, too, had external effects; but, at least in the short run, the medicine (distortions in capital markets) was generally considered less damaging than the disease (economic collapse in the advanced economies).
This was followed by an extended version of the assisted-growth model in the advanced countries, largely revolving around unconventional monetary policy; in the United States, this implied several rounds of quantitative easing, which is simply the government borrowing from itself – a form of price control. Savers were repressed in order to lower the costs of credit for debtors (including governments) and those seeking to borrow for business expansion.
This did not work very well, because investment was constrained by deficient domestic aggregate demand relative to capacity. So savers did what one would expect: seek higher risk-adjusted returns in emerging economies, causing increases in credit and fueling upward pressure on exchange rates and asset prices.
This obvious externality required policy responses in the emerging countries: limits on capital inflows, reserve accumulation, and measures to restrict credit and restrain asset-price inflation. Complaints from emerging-market policymakers about the distortionary effects of the advanced countries' policies were largely ignored.
All of that has changed dramatically since May, when the US Federal Reserve began signaling its intention to "taper" its massive monthly purchases of long-term assets. Asset prices shifted, and capital rushed out of emerging markets, causing credit conditions to tighten and exchange rates to fall.
At a minimum, a short-term growth slowdown is nearly certain; some wonder whether the destabilizing impact of capital-flow reversals will have longer-term adverse effects. For the most part, the latter fear appears overblown, though the risks caused by unexpected policy shifts and related financial adjustments should not be underestimated or dismissed.
The emerging economies generally have the policy instruments, balance sheets, and expertise to respond effectively. In addition, while China's output is affected by advanced-country economic performance, its financial system is largely insulated from monetary-policy externalities. The capital account is less open, foreign-currency reserves of $2.5 trillion mean that the exchange rate is controllable, and, with savings exceeding investment (the current-account surplus is declining but still positive), China is not dependent on foreign capital.
China's systemic importance with respect to emerging-market growth, its relative stability, and other emerging countries' domestic policy responses suggest that the main effect of the Fed's coming policy shift will be a new equilibrium with less distorted asset prices. This should create opportunity for investors, especially if there is a downward overshoot as the new equilibrium emerges.
Some level of policy coordination might be achieved by an early-warning system, which would provide sufficient time for an organized response. But multilateral communication of significant policy shifts would almost inevitably result in leaks and confidence-damaging insider trading.
Given an expanded mandate and a much larger balance sheet, the International Monetary Fund, with advance notification, could in principle reliably act to stabilize volatile international capital flows, buying time for more orderly domestic responses. But that would be a rather large step in the direction of global economic governance and management.
Decentralized policy and growing externalities will result in partial de-globalization, especially in macroeconomic configurations, finance, and capital accounts. Thus, it is not a good idea to run persistent current-account deficits and become dependent on (temporarily) low-cost foreign capital.
Open capital accounts may be replaced not by whimsical ad hoc interventions that heighten uncertainty and weaken confidence, but rather by predictable rules-based constraints on financial-capital flows.
Second, as we learned from the crisis, substantial domestic ownership of the banking sector is crucial, in part because multinational resolution mechanisms in cases of insolvency are largely non-existent. Moreover, the pattern of accumulating reserves via current-account surpluses, net private capital inflows, or both – a legacy of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis – will continue and perhaps become even more pronounced. Finally, public purchases of domestic assets to stabilize asset prices and net capital flows will become increasingly common.
We are in the process of learning how to manage growing policy interdependence without much policy coordination. The challenge is to identify policy circuit breakers that have relatively high benefit/cost ratios. Time and experience will help – that is, so long as high volatility does not destabilize many economies in the interim.
Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics at NYU's Stern School of Business, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Academic Board Chairman of the Fung Global Institute in Hong Kong. He was the chairman of the independent Commission on Growth and Development, an international body that from 2006-2010 analyzed opportunities for global economic growth, and is the author of The Next Convergence – The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World.


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I'm going to sticky this for a while and see how it goes as its an important thread that might answer some of the questions that spring up here every season.
Keep the questions civil and just about football.
PS: Thanks Ref.
If anyone would like advice on the laws of the game, I will answer them how I see them.
I'm a referee myself with over twenty years experence, and like everybody else I have made some clangers , but every clanger I make, I learn something new, and hopefully I will never make the same mistake again.
I will not get into slanging matches about referees and mistakes they may have made. Referees are only human and make mistakes (like players and managers alike) only they don't have a team to cover for them.
I'm going to sticky this for a while and see how it goes as its an important thread that might answer some of the questions that spring up here every season.
Keep the questions civil and just about football.
PS: Thanks Ref.
Last edited by the 12 th man; 22/08/2006 at 7:58 AM.
hi ref,
just 1 on the quick free kick, when a player wants to take it quick and he kicks the ball off an oponent who is in the way,a yellow card i thought but alot of junior football refs dont use it, is it ever brought to notice at meetings??
well done btw i hope this thread will be of benefit to us all.
Two conditions must be met before a caution (yellow card) can be given:
1. The referee must be happy to allow a quick free kick and;
2. The player must be deliberately trying to stop a quick free kick.
If the player who is not 10 yards away is there unintentionally (i.e. he is not deliberately attempting to stop the quick free kick) then no yellow card is to issue, in fact the referee can allow play to continue.
If the player is attempting to stop the quick free kick then a yellow card should be shown.
If the referee is not happy for the free kick to proceed e.g. a player is injured or referee is not in a good position, he is under no obligation to allow it. I personally allow quick free kicks as often as possible but what annoys me is the attacking team attempting to hit an opposition player who is not ten yards away to get him cautioned.
I hope this clarifies this for you
Will the LDMC be bringing the refs up to speed on the offside rule. A ref at the weekend was lost. Ball played forward by player for team A, team A attacker offside, Team B defender tried to get head to ball but just grazes it, team A forward runs onto it, still offside from the initial pass. Ref deems him onside as team b defender touched it. Team B show amazing restraint after pathetic call.
has the rule changed inrelation to offside. if a a ball is played through to a striker and another striker is walking back from an offside position and does not make an attempt to get involved what is the rule. The players in question were 20 yards apart and you could not mistake who the ball was played to and who was going for it. It was mid way inside the half so the keeper was not obstructed??? i expect that this should have been play on ?
Is that in relation to my post? If so, no your situation has nothing to do with mine.
The LDMC has no part to play in discussing rules of the game with referees, this is a matter for the referees society. But if clubs feel strongly they can write to the LDMC and we can bring their concerns to the Refs.
I will let the expert answer your query on the offside rule, as i would probably just muddy the water
Last edited by Old keeper; 21/08/2006 at 4:13 PM. Reason: grammar
Just one other question Old Keeper, he insisted on not giving the offside till the offending player touched the ball, or at least he said he was doing this after about 20 minutes. Its junior football without linesmen, surely this will just cause a lot more problems.
Last edited by the 12 th man; 21/08/2006 at 4:52 PM.
What is the rule on the above. There are some refs that stop games every couple of minuites cos players are swearing. Now i understand the fact that you can't go around the pitch using bad language but just say a player makes a mistake and say's B0llox or something like that. Is it in the rules that they are to be booked or what is the story....on telly players are constantly telling the ref to Fcuk off and nothing is done.
If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later
Just so you know, these laws and their interpretation are set by FIFA and they have caused uproar with referees up and down the country, unfortunately we only uphold the laws, we don't make them.
Also may I reiterate what Old Keeper said "The LDMC has no part to play in discussing rules of the game with referees, this is a matter for the referees society. But if clubs feel strongly they can write to the LDMC and we can bring their concerns to the Refs." The FAI and the Referees Society are the competent authorities for keeping the referees up to date with the rules.
Last edited by The Ref; 21/08/2006 at 8:08 PM. Reason: additional comment
Smile........ it confuses people
Smile........ it confuses people
1. Discent - yellow card
2. A player uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures - straight red card (this was once foul and abusive lauguage)
Its really a judgement call, I would agree that some referees get hot and bothered about this, I was at a game in Dublin last year and a player missed an open goal from 1yard and roared "ah B0ll0x" and the referee sent him off, technically he was right, but come on!
The rule is if the if the referee deems it as disscent to one of his discision (or lack off) he may stop the game and caution the player.
If he feels it is more serious and is offensive or insulting he must stop the game and dismiss the player.
He should never stop the game, give a free kick and not issue a card.
Is this what you where looking for and does this help?
Smile........ it confuses people
I remember someone saying to me once that a certain amount of - non-directional - swearing shuld be let go as it's just the players' way of letting off steam. So the example you mention above should be ignored, but if a player aggressively said "Boll0x" after a penalty decision, that's dissent and should be booked.
Smile........ it confuses people
Everybody should remember that a referee acts as judge, jury and in the case of red cards Executioner. Of course we get it wrong on occasion and as Old Keeper said the results can be catastrophic. Another thing, if I'm having a bad game, I know it, 22 others on the pitch telling me doesn't help.
When you have a bad game, there's no worse feeling in the world, even one error (that changes the course of the game) can sully your mood. In saying that there is no better feeling in the world when you perform well.
I personally don't do it for the money, and contrary to popular belief most referees don't either. The match fee, which seems at first glance quite generous, is no reward for the stick that you put up with week in, week out. When players and managers appreciate you it makes it all worthwhile.
I appreciate everyone taking the time to post their questions to the site and as I said in my introduction I will answer them as best I can. If I don't explain something and you want clarification, just ask, I will endeavour to give you what your looking for, it is only through dialogue that we can all understand one another's point of view.
Just for the record, this has not been given the support of the FAI or the Referees Society (I have not sought it, nor do I intend to seek it).
The life of a referee isn't easy, but maybe this will give us all a better understanding (and a bit of fun along the way)
Talk Soon
The Ref
Smile........ it confuses people
Last edited by soccerc; 22/08/2006 at 1:19 AM.
"It's time for the FAI to grow up." John O'Donoghue, Minister for Sport, RTE , Sunday 7 Nov 2004
1. A shortage of people "mad enough" to become referees
2. Most Junior clubs resent having to pay match fees, never mind having to pay more for assistants.
The number of referees has dwindled in recent times, old keeper could tell the number of active referees in Limerick (LDMC) (I don't know) and I'm pretty sure, that if he checked the names of referees five years ago, there would be few new names (maybe two or three). This is the same all over the country.
A worrying aspect is the amount of verbal abuse vented toward the referee and in worst case seranio assaults, thankfully the latter is not prevelant but if the various leagues don't keep it in check it will become a real problem in five to ten years time.
From what I can gather, the LDMC (which from reading through th threads is where the majority are from) is a progressive and well run league. Of course players, administrators and referees will have disagreements, but thats the nature of sport, if we all had the same opinion, life would be boring.
A final word to Old Keeper - your web-site is great, one of the best in the country. Your league and Leinster Senior League have put a lot of effort and time into putting a quick and easy line of communication out to the public - keep up the good work.
The Ref
Last edited by the 12 th man; 22/08/2006 at 7:57 AM.
Smile........ it confuses people


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NATO Ambassador addresses UN Security Council on Afghanistan
On 27 June 2012, Ambassador Stephen Evans, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations, briefed the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan.
During his briefing, he took stock of progress made in the transition of security reponsibility to the Afghans and the ever growing capacity of the Afghan security forces. He welcomed the significant reduction in the number of security incidents since January, while reaffirming ISAF's continued efforts to prevent and minimize the risk of civilian casualties.
Looking back at the NATO Chicago Summit decisions from 20-21 May, Ambassador Evans pointed out NATO Allies and partners' commitment to completing transition and concluding the ISAF mission by end-2014; to establishing a new mission post-2014 to pursue support to Afghan national security force and contributing to their long-term financial sustainement.
He further underlined the importance of a continued commitment by the Afghan authorities to 'face up the challenges of good governance and to promote human rights", and the need for a broader regional and international effort to stabilise Afghanistan: "NATO recognises that its contribution to the stability of Afghanistan is just part of a much wider effort by the Afghan themselves, and by the International Community to tackle the broad spectrum of security, governance and development challenges faced by Afghanistan".
This 6793rd meeting of the United Nations Security Council aimed at reviewing the UN Secretary General's report on Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security.


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The intrepid binary pair, Librarian Millie and the employee who is searching for mythical Sheridarp, have reached the roof of the Dreamwalk Library. Rather than the urban environment they'd expected, their surroundings are desolate, and an unfriendly cloud of wasps is approaching. Part 1 is here.
Imperturbable Millie ignored the fearsome kilowasp.
I'm thinking that your so-called Sheridarp
is just a symbol, merely naming
what your soggy heart is seeking.
It stands for what you've never found.
I considered my reply.
Should I comment on the penguins
taking selfies, conjecturing
that they were denizens of Sheridarp?
Or perhaps I'd keep my counsel.
Scout wasps from the mother cloud
were buzzing all around us,
and my open mouth
might prove to be inviting.
Before I could decide,
a curiously dysmorphic shape
appeared above the parapet.
It alighted on the rooftop
and sidled over for a tête-à-tête
with Millie.
The creature was a contradictory miasma,
animate and not, perilously dull,
a silhouette reminiscent of a stranger,
of a ski mask draped across a fur-lined
overcoat hanging in a disused wardrobe.
I knew at once: it was a Dark Solarian.
Without a word of greeting,
the creature held its arms outstretched,
and points of coruscating light
glowed in Millie's aura.
It was as if they'd always been there,
but only now were visible.
The creature drew her brightness to itself,
and as it did, Millie shed more light,
a radiant continuum peaking
at 380 nanometers,*
streaming to the Dark Solarian.
It was draining Millie's life force,
the luminosity of her being.
The rooftop penguins cowered in the corners,
but I stood firm. My plan was simple
and impressively naïve:
I'd distract the Dark Solarian,
and Millie would be saved
when I sacrificed myself.
Mother penguins would tell their chicks
my story, hopefully embellished somewhat.
to continue in hexadecimal
*One of the penguins had a spectrometer handy.
artwork remembered by the penguins (detail above)


text:
Yellow 2 Single Pastel.
Yellow 2 Single Pastel.
Yellow 2 Single Pastel.
There are no reviews yet.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
A colourless, non-yellowing medium for Pastel, Pencil, Charcoal, Crayon, Chalk Drawings and Paintings.
Please note that during this period, we can't allow visits to our premises.
Or give us a call on +44 (0)1434 240203
For sales enquiries, including trade, please contact us as below:


text:
Underwater Waterproof Housing Case for Canon PowerShot SX200IS Digital Camera
- Waterproof underwater housing usable up to 16.4 (5.0 m)
- Meets standard requirements for JIS (Japan Industrial Standards) IPX8 at 0.5 water pressure (underwater 5.0m), tested for 30 minutes
- Can be used for a high-end digital camera with a zoom lens function
- Included extension ring for cameras with longer zoom lenses
- Protects a camera from water, sand, dust, etc. in the ocean and mountains
All controls are accessible – The DiCAPac WP610 Waterproof Underwater Case (Clear/Dark Brown) is a PVC vinyl housing with a polycarbonate lens made to allow a high-end digital camera to operate underwater to 16.4 (5.0 m). It can be used with a camera that has a zoom lens. It protects the camera from water, sand, dust, etc. in the ocean and mountains. The housing meets JIS IPX8 requirements for underwater usage. This case has a UP ring extension. A neck strap is included.


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Results 1 to 1 of 1
#1 Mainstream Media Has a Great Fall08-25-2008, 02:48 PM
Godless MSM
They need to be called out every chance.
Mainstream Media Has a Great Fall
by Douglas MacKinnon
With all due respect to Lewis Carroll and the originator of the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme, I give you this:
The mainstream media sat on Obamas wall;
The mainstream media had a great fall.
All the slanted polls
And all the corrupt journalists,
Couldnt put the mainstream media together again.
If you really pay attention to the networks, cable networks, and newspapers, you can look at their faces, read their body language, or read between the lines and come to a fairly reasoned conclusion. That being, that they are in a panic.
In violation of every ethical standard that allegedly governs their profession, a great many journalists and editors have gone into the tank so deeply for Barack Obama, that they have become an embarrassing extension of his campaign communications operation. So much so, that a few honest ombudsmen and media critics at In-the-tank newspapers, have been forced to criticize the practice.
No matter. In the tank they are. And yet, to the horror of these biased journalists, the American people seem to be mostly dismissing their predicable pro-Obama sermons and anti-McCain rants in favor of actual information gathering and an honest comparison of the two presidential candidates.
Like a character in the comics these left-of-center newspapers carry, you can almost see the balloon thoughts appear above their heads: How can Obama be blowing this? We are giving him every advantage possible. We even threw Hillary Clinton overboard because she was less liberal than him and yet, the guy we pretended to like all these years, is overtaking our anointed candidate. How?
The reason the liberal media is so perplexed by this development is because they are just coming off a massive and successful manipulation of the news and felt if they could do it then, they could do it at will. The past and ongoing manipulation to which I refer is the coverage of the war in Iraq.
For months and years, through the television, newspapers, books, and even blogs, the mainstream media relentlessly portrayed the war in the most negative terms possible. In the guise of ink-stained vampires, they purposely shunned the positive light of progress, a successful surge, and heroic sacrifice, in lieu of any story that would harm or discredit the Bush administration.
Shockingly, the most despicable way some in the mainstream media worked to manipulate the opinion of the American people against the war, was to act as a propaganda arm of the very terrorists killing our troops. How? Just think back to how many times the networks and cable networks showed that montage of multiple U.S. military vehicles -- and more importantly, the troops inside of them -- getting blown to bits. Who do you think shot that video? Only the very terrorists who just killed or maimed the troops in those vehicles.
When I speak to some of my former colleagues from the Pentagon, it is this video, and the networks disgusting and almost treasonous airing of it, that most upsets them. All of the networks and cable networks knew exactly who shot the video, and yet they still aired it. Is their hatred of Bush so intense, or their compassion for the families of U.S. troops who have to watch that video, so insignificant that they had no problem running an Al Qaeda snuff film?
:Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
I wondered why the rock was getting larger. Then it hit me.
|« Previous Thread | Next Thread »


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Before you ask: yes, RealPlayer and its parent company RealNetworks still exist.
Now that that's out of the way, let's take a look at the recently released RealPlayer app for Android, which hopes to distance itself from the strong negative opinions that have historically surrounded its desktop counterpart.
In sum, RealPlayer for Android is actually a solid media manager. It offers an all-in-one interface for playing music, watching videos, and viewing photos, plus a few extra conveniences that add to its value.
The app's interface is simple. It opens up to a clean, icon-based dashboard, with all of the audio controls at the center of the screen, and icons for Videos and Photos sitting at the bottom. When you first install it, the app automatically takes inventory of the media on your device and populates its menus with your content. That way, you can start playing your stuff right away.


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Mornings / MSN Australia / NineMSN
MSN Au Thanks Lucy for the heads up.
Morning Juice (Australia)
ShowtimeMovieNews (Australia)
Kristen describes the curious dynamic of playing a character devoid of vanity in a movie that is all about beauty. Or watch @ShowtimeMovieNews
via @mel452 kstewartnews /fiercebitchstew/Youtube veronicaspuffy
More SWATH Interviews. Mornings, Movie Juice, and Showtime (Australia)
Mornings / MSN Australia / NineMSN
Posted by RobStenation at 4:25 AM


text:
A policeman pulls a driver over for swerving in and out of lanes on the highway. He tells the guy to blow into a breathalyzer.
"I can't do that, officer, I'm an asthmatic. I could get an asthma attack if I blow into that tube."
"OK, we'll just get a urine sample down at the station."
"Can't do that either, officer. I'm a diabetic. I could get low blood sugar if I pee in a cup."
"Alright, we could get a blood sample."
"Can't do that either, officer. I'm a hemophiliac. If I give blood, I could die."
"Fine then, just walk this white line."
"Can't do that either, officer."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm drunk."
I can't do that
11:34 PM Bar - Drunk Jokes No comments
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text:
Speaking skills are hard to improve over the net, but here are some websites that deal with listening:
Hello, I am a new immigrant who want to improve his spoken english and hearing, would anybody give me some advice? or any website?
I know the most useful way is talk more and hear more, but i cannot find a person like that. I can speak mandarin so if you want learn some, i can teach you.
Thanks in advance.
Speaking skills are hard to improve over the net, but here are some websites that deal with listening:
your reply is so quickly.
I have a couple of questions for you, but not too many, I hope. :)Originally Posted by eric
What country are you a new immigrant to? (I have recommended listening to VOA (Voice of America), but I won't know how well that works until somebody tells me. You could also listen to BBC.)
(Rather than hearing, the term you are looking for is listening skills.
Some of our favorite posters speak Mandarin. :)Originally Posted by eric
(Rather than hear, you need to say listen. Also, capitalize all your Is.)
Welcome to our forum! Make yourself at home.
May I make a suggestion?Originally Posted by eric
Say: "Your reply was very quick." (So was yours. :wink: _)
Eric, welcome to UsingEnglish. We do try to reply as quickly as possible, but you were lucky tonight as I was in the forum.
:D Thanks RonBee and tdol very much! Thanks your guys.
I am living at canada now, and working as a sales. it is really a challenge for me to do such a work,you know,so i need to improve my english ASAP.
I love the forum very much.
If your first language is Mandarin, then learning English must be quite a challenge. We are here to help. In that spirit, I will offer some corrections. (Sometimes I call them suggestions.)Originally Posted by eric
- I am living at canada now, and working as a sales.
I am living in canada now and working in sales.
I am living in Canada now and working as a sales rep.
(The term sales rep is one that you have probably heard, and it is informal for sales representative.)
- it is really a challenge for me to do such a work,you know,so i need to improve my english ASAP.
It is really a challenge for me to do such work, so I need to improve my English ASAP.
My first impression is that you are not doing badly, but, of course, the devil is in the details. (It's those "little things" that cause the most trouble.)
I suggest that you practice speaking the new phrases. Speak them many times. Also, I would appreciate any feedback on the usefulness of my advice. (Please tell me how useful you think it is.)
So, what part of Canada do you live in? Do you live in British Columbia?
thanks RonBee, your suggestion is very useful for me! Most of the time,i don't know where the mistakes are and I don't know how to express myself accurately. I will try the method that you taught me and i will give you my feedback whether it is useful or not.
I am living in Tornoto now,do you know much about this city?
Well, I hope my advice is helpful to you. :)Originally Posted by eric
I know that it is the largest city in Canada and that it is in the province of Ontario. I know that I wouldn't want to stay there during the winter. Other than that, I don't know much about it. Do you like living in Toronto?Originally Posted by eric


text:
About Us
About me
|My grandfather, Henry Minor, initiated the watchmaking fascination that would shape the lives of future generations in the Minor family. He worked on watches at night and on rainy days, stirring the interest of his sons. Each son had his own box of watches like boys today have Matchbox cars. Grandpa opened his first watch repair shop in Alabama during the 1930's.
In 1986 I opened Minor Jewelry in Nashville, Tennessee. Since then I have worked diligently to improve the means by which I may assist customers. In 1996, I started Minorjewelry.com in an effort to extend my services outside of the Nashville area. With generations of experience, Minor Jewelry strives to courteously provide skilled assistance to customers. Our goal is to adequately aid you in a friendly environment.
Left: Three generations of watchmakers.
Right: Young watchmaker in training.


text:
Executive Committee
Executive Committee 2020
About Us
The Alabama Association of REALTORS® (AAR) is the largest statewide organization of real estate professionals comprised of over 16,000 members from 25 boards and 1,200 real estate companies. United by adherence to a Code of Ethics, our members work as real estate professionals in the sale, lease, appraisal, management and development of residential, commercial, rural and resort properties throughout Alabama.
Copyright © 2019 Alabama Association of REALTORS®
All rights reserved.
Get In Touch
522 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104
Tel (334) 262-3808
Fax (334) 263-9650
Free | 1-800-446-3808


text:
Bourbon Pecan Turtles with Fleur de Sel Recipe
Swapped by Lee Anne Shaffer
Adapted from the Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook.
These recipes from our annual Serious Eats Cookie Swap are provided by Serious Eats staff, friends, and family. They have not been tested by our recipe team.
- Yield:makes about 20 turtles
- Rated:
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk (unsweetened)
- 1/3 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped out, pod reserved; or 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon bourbon (I used Redemption Rye Bourbon)
- 80 to 100 toasted pecan halves (a generous cup or about 4 1/2 ounces)
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 2 cup chopped dark chocolate
- Fleur de sel, for garnish
Stir together the sugar, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and vanilla bean and seeds (if using) in a large (6-to 8-quart) saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, uncovered and without stirring.
While the caramel mixture is heating up, arrange the nuts on the prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment): place 4 or 5 whole pecans in a star shape for each turtle, about 20 stars in all, leaving at least 1 inch between stars.
Once the caramel mixture has come to a boil, insert a candy thermometer. Add the light corn syrup, and stir gently with a heatproof spatula until everything is mixed well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often and making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to keep the mixture from burning, until the mixture reaches 230F/100C, about 30 minutes.
Add the butter to the caramel mixture, and fish out the vanilla bean with a slotted spoon. Stirring continuously, cook the caramel until it reaches 241°F/116°C, 15 to 20 minutes; it will be a deep tawny color and have slow, rolling bubbles in the center. Remove it from the heat.
Stir in the salt, bourbon, and the vanilla extract (if using), making sure to mix well so that they're distributed evenly. Wearing oven mitts, carefully pour the caramel into candy funnels. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, stirring it a couple times, until it thickens up a little bit and has the consistency of hot fudge. (Alternately, spoon directly from the pot after letting cool for about 5 minutes.)
Pour a couple tablespoons' worth of caramel onto each pecan cluster. Allow them to set up until they are no longer warm, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, temper the 2 cups chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over boiling water.
Once the caramel has set up, pour some prepared chocolate into a clean funnel. Top each turtle with about a tablespoon of chocolate. (Alternately, spoon directly from bowl.) You want enough chocolate so that it covers most of the caramel, but the turtles' heads and tootsies should still be visible. Gently tap the baking sheet on the counter, one end first and then the other, to even out the chocolate. Garnish the center of each turtle with a few flakes of the fleur de sel - but make sure to do it before the chocolate sets up completely.
Store the turtles, layered with wax or parchment paper, in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 1 week.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Natural Areas
Reserves that are full of life and protect the ancient Mundo Maya
Jungles full of the sacred tree, the towering ceiba, where the cry of a howler monkey silences the prowl of a mythical jaguar. Rushing rivers that spill into white waterfalls and dig out deep canyons. Impenetrable blue cenotes and intense turquoise seas. Sanctuaries for birds and the giants of the sea.


text:
Are you looking for Racine Peters Wedding ideas? For your wedding inspiration we gathered many different Racine Peters Wedding pictures! If your big day is soon and you are planning to have some special pictures to record the best moments then this collection will be of great help for you. Racine Peters Wedding are carefully selected images to help inspire you for your big day.
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text:
More than 9,000 sign online petition calling for end to coyote killing; Calabasas adopts model coyote management plan.
San Francisco, CA -- The City Council of Calabasas, California, voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit any city funds from being spent on coyote trapping and to instead adopt a coyote management plan that shifts the focus from killing to coexistence.
The news follows a popular campaign on Change.org created by Project Coyote and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI). The online petition campaign offered to help the city create and implement a humane management program and asked it to support a progressive coyote coexistence plan. By Wednesday's council meeting, more than 9,000 people had joined the campaign on Change.org.
"We commend the city for adopting the changes that Project Coyote and the Animal Welfare Institute put forth to make this a model plan," said Fox, executive director of the California-based Project Coyote and wildlife consultant with AWI. "We believe this is one of the best coyote coexistence plans out there and we look forward to working with the city, the National Park Service and other agencies in assisting in public education."
Fox delivered the 9,000 petition signatures and presented testimony on behalf of Project Coyote and AWI at the October 12 public hearing prior to the council's vote.
Camilla Fox and local Calabasas resident Randi Feilich Hirsch, who first brought this issue to the attention of city council, worked with city officials to strengthen the plan and shift the focus from killing to emphasize long-term education, reduction of wildlife attractants, and implementing hazing for habituated coyotes. The city is already using Project Coyote's educational resources and airing its film American Coyote: Still Wild at Heart weekly on its public access TV station.
"It really shows that concerned citizens can speak up at the local level and make changes in city policy," said Feilich Hirsch, Calabasas resident and Project Coyote's Southern California representative. "We are optimistic that local residents will embrace this plan and become actively involved in coexisting with our wildlife neighbors."
Calabasas Mayor Pro Tem, Mary Sue Maurer, said, "With the expertise of Project Coyote, the Animal Welfare Institute and the National Park Service, Calabasas residents and coyotes will mutually benefit and live more harmoniously together. I encourage all Californians that live alongside coyotes to learn more about these wondrous creatures and how we coexist together."
"Project Coyote started the campaign on Change.org to give a voice to both the people and coyotes of Calabasas," said Stephanie Feldstein, Director of Organizing for Change.org. "More than 9,000 people from around the world joined their call for coexistence, and the Calabasas Environment Commission and City Council listened. It has been impressive to watch residents, activists and officials come together to take action on this issue."
Media Contacts:
Camilla Fox, Petition Author, Project Coyote/AWI, (415) 690-0338, email@example.com
Randi Feilich Hirsch, Calabasas Resident and Project Coyote Southern California Representative, email@example.com
Stephanie Feldstein, Director of Organizing, Change.org, (734) 395-0770, firstname.lastname@example.com
To view Project Coyote and AWI's campaign on Change.org:
For more information on Project Coyote, please visit:
Project Coyote promotes educated coexistence between people and coyotes by championing progressive management policies that reduce human-coyote conflict, supporting innovative scientific research, and by fostering respect for and understanding of America's native wild "song dog."
For more information on the Animal Welfare Institute, please visit:
The Animal Welfare Institute is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1951 to alleviate the suffering caused to animals by humans.
For more information on Change.org, please visit:
Change.org is the world's fastest-growing platform for social change - growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.


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Acknowledgements - Newcastle Jayco
Website Imagery
The South Australian Tourism Commission releases photographs and/or video footage solely for the purpose of positive promotion of South Australia as a tourism and travel destination. Any breach of this condition may result in legal action. southaustralia.com
LAKE ILLAWARRA SOUTH COAST NSW © Tourism Australia / Con Poulos
SOUTH EAST WINERIES Tourism Australia / Adam Bruzzone
KANGAROO ISLAND © Tourism Australia / Adam Bruzzone
KANGAROO ISLAND Tourism Australia / Adam Taylor
AUSTRALIAN OPALS BASKETBALL Simon Peters Photography


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Reuters Staff
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is holding on to her wide lead over potential rivals and would win a second term outright in the October 5 general election, according to a poll published on Thursday.
The survey of voter intentions found Rousseff has 43 percent of the electorate's support, against 15 percent for Senator Aecio Neves of the main opposition party PSDB and 7 percent for Eduardo Campos, governor of Pernambuco state.
Brazil's presidential election race will get serious after the World Cup for soccer ends in mid-July and while no one has officially declared themselves a candidate, all three are expected to run.
The results are virtually unchanged from the previous Ibope poll in November, with Neves gaining just one percentage point.
While Rousseff is the front-runner, the Ibope poll found 64 percent of Brazilian voters want the next president to change the way Brazil is governed. Of those, 63 percent said they want the change of course to come with another president at the helm.
That is not likely to happen, according to the Ibope poll published online by the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.
Even if there was a runoff, Rousseff would defeat Neves by 27 percent points (47 to 20). If Campos made the second-round instead of Neves, Rousseff would beat him by 31 percentage points (47 to 16), the poll showed.
Rousseff's popularity plummeted last June due to massive street protests by Brazilians angered with poor public services, corrupt politicians and the cost of building stadiums for this year's soccer World Cup.
Though she steadily recovered her numbers by yearend, recent polls have shown a dip in her approval ratings, with rising prices, crime and inadequate health and education services ranking high as the main concerns of Brazilians. The polls show most Brazilians believe the money spent hosting the World Cup would have been better spent on solving the country's problems.
Rousseff suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of her coalition allies in Congress last week when they voted to set up a committee to look into allegations that a Dutch company bribed officials at state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA when then minister Rousseff was chair of the board.
The committee has no teeth but the case can provide fodder for Rousseff's opponents on the campaign trail.
Expectations that Rousseff would lose ground to her opponents drove up shares of Brazil's largest state-run companies this week before the Ibope poll came out. Many investors are critical of her heavy-handed intervention in the economy with policies that hurt the performance and market value of the companies.
Petróleo Brasileiro preferred shares, the most traded Petrobras shares, closed up 4.87 percent at 13.99 reais, electric utility Eletrobras was up 2.49 percent at 9.89 reais and lender Banco do Brasil ended 5.45 percent higher at 20.9 reais on the Sao Paulo stock exchange.
The Ibope survey of 2,002 people was done between March 13 and 17 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points. With the vote six months away, much can change in poll numbers as Brazilians have yet to become engaged in the presidential race.
(Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Sao Paulo; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Reuters (Estados Unidos)


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Leukemia is a cancer of the blood. It begins when healthy blood cells change and multiply uncontrollably. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of leukemia that is a cancer of the blood-forming tissue in the bone marrow, the spongy. AML may also be called acute nonlymphocytic leukemia or acute myelogenous leukemia.
About bone marrow and blood cells
Bone marrow is the spongy, red tissue in the inner part of the large bones. It is where a person's blood cells are made. Healthy immature blood cells are called blasts. Blasts mature into one of three different types of blood cells:
White blood cells, which fight infection in the body
Red blood cells, which carry oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body
Platelets, which help the blood to clot
About AML
In AML, the bone marrow makes many abnormal cancerous cells, also called blasts or myeloblasts because they look similar to healthy immature blast cells. Instead of becoming healthy mature blood cells, cancerous cells divide rapidly and uncontrollably. The cancerous cells are unable to mature and work like healthy blast cells, and they do not die easily.
Eventually, these myeloblasts fill up the bone marrow, preventing healthy cells from being made, and then build up in the bloodstream. They can also move into the lymph nodes, brain, skin, liver, kidneys, ovaries (in girls), testicles (in boys), and other organs. AML cells occasionally form a solid mass or tumor, called a chloroma.
Both children and adults can develop leukemia. This section is about AML that occurs in children, sometimes called pediatric AML. Learn more about AML in adults.
Looking for More of an Overview?
If you would like additional introductory information, explore these related items. Please note these links will take you to other sections on Cancer.Net:
ASCO Answers Fact Sheet: Read a one-page fact sheet (available as a PDF) that offers an easy-to-print introduction to this type of cancer.
Cancer.Net Patient Education Videos: View short videos led by ASCO experts in childhood cancer and leukemia that provide basic information and areas of research.
Cancer.Net En Español: Read about childhood AML in Spanish. Infórmase sobre la leucemia mieloide aguda infantil en español.


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Each zone maintains a virtual console, /dev/console. Performing actions on the console is referred to as console mode. The zone console is closely analogous to a serial console on a system. Connections to the console persist across zone reboots. To understand how console mode differs from a login session such as telnet, see Remote Login.
The zone console is accessed by using the zlogin command with the -C option and the zonename. The zone does not have to be in the running state.
Processes inside the zone can open and write messages to the console. If the zlogin -C process exits, another process can then access the console.


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Pet Friendly Senior Living
Meadowbrook is pet friendly. It is a known fact that having pets decreases stress responses in those with memory loss and contributes towards the long-term psychological well-being of seniors. Our furry friends strengthen self-esteem, eliminate loneliness and encourage seniors to be more active. That's why pets are wanted and welcome at Meadowbrook! If caring for your animal has become too difficult, you can enjoy other fuzzy friends who are part of our community.


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SportsDirect Inc.
Bulls 93, Bucks 86: Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 19 rebounds while Richard Hamilton also scored 22 points as visiting Chicago snapped its three-game losing streak by taking the opener of a home-and-home set.
Luol Deng contributed 14 points and eight boards for the Bulls, who completed a 2-3 road trip with their ninth consecutive victory over the Bucks.
Brandon Jennings scored a game-high 23 points and Monta Ellis added 17 for Milwaukee, which has lost three games in a row overall and five straight home meetings with Chicago. Jennings was helped off the court with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.
In a game that was tight throughout, Nate Robinson hit a jump shot with 4:45 remaining in the fourth to snap an 81-81 tie and put Chicago ahead for good. The teams traded baskets until Boozer's dunk with 29.8 seconds left gave the Bulls an 89-85 advantage.
Hamilton and Joakim Noah each buried a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to seal the victory.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hamilton scored 11 of his 22 points in the first quarter, while Jennings recorded 13 of his 23 in the same period. ... Ellis had only five points in the second half. ... Both clubs struggled from 3-point range, combining to make only 7 of 33 shots.


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1 Tbsp oil
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the pie crust for 5-7 minutes, until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and reduce oven to 325°F.
I think this might be a weekend meal, thanks!
Hummmm delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe Celeste i love quiches!!
Kisses from Portugal!
Mmmmm, been a while since I had one of these, had them all the time when I first started a low carb diet. I guess I got tired of them and forgot ... thanks for the inspiration!
This is a really great recipe. I've made it twice, but it seems runny and I it was in the oven for a little over an hour. Would you recommend 1 more egg and less milk, or substitute some milk with yogurt?
Anonymous - Thanks for your comment! Depending on how runny it was, I might suggest using a little less milk like you mentioned. That will hopefully do the trick!
Made this for dinner tonight. YUM!!
YAY! I'm so happy that you liked it, Anonymous!
This turned out perfectly! Thanks for the recipe. My fella's gonna come home so happy :)
Also, if you're interested, a lot of my art is on wordpress and etsy. I hope you enjoy browsing as much as I'm enjoying the quiche. (If you do, let me know, I'll send along a coupon for a discount.)
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I absolutely love it. I make it once a week and eat it for breakfast the whole week!
Does skim milk work ok?
Is it possible to freeze this?
Made this tonight for a church function for women. It turned out so great. Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe!
Very tasty! If trying to save some time you can use a frozen deep dish 9" pie crust.
Really good! I love how it looks. Just a tad too salty (used Swiss cheese).
This turned out so awesome! I used half-and-half instead of milk and paper toweled my vegetables and it cooked for 45 minutes. Great recipe.


text: Please use the form below, or click here to contact a specific agent, or click here for our general contact information. First Name Last Name Phone Email Best Time to Call Preferred Contact Method Phone Email Question/Comment I am interested in seeing the property located at 521 E 6th in Fremont. [MLS# 22028368] Please contact me to arrange a showing.


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NY_KnicksPR @NY_KnicksPR
August 6, 2013 - NY Knicks EVP & GM Glen Grunwald announced that the team has signed free agent forward Jeremy Tyler.
6:25 PM - 6 Aug 2013
NY_KnicksPR @NY_KnicksPR
August 6, 2013 - NY Knicks EVP & GM Glen Grunwald announced that the team has signed free agent forward Jeremy Tyler.
6:25 PM - 6 Aug 2013
He's nothing but a project and I mean a huge project still. More importantly we'll see how Woody handles minutes for
Tim Hardaway Jr.
C.J. Leslie
Jeremy Tyler
Iman Shumpert
The Youngans
Funny how we are all like "when are we going to get anyone else" and Tyler is signed...Where does he end up, last seat on the bench, or do you guys think this kid can contribute
I give it 30 games before Amare and Andrea are injured and Tyler breaks out
this kid will get his minutes when Chandler goes down with another nagging injury...
he will earn his respect from the naysayers then...
something that we are not used too is a big that rebounds and that is what Tyler brings, second chance points on offense and stopping opposing teams getting offensive boards... a young version of K-Mart, with a lot of upside...
Rebound. Defend. Bang. Scrap.
Hustle, Loyalty and Respect.
Pushups, Vitamins, and Prayers.
He will earn minutes the old school hard knocks enforcer way.
He will be learning it all from KMart, World Peace, and Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
Tyler, Shump, Hardaway, and Leslie will become the new Knick Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Rick Flair will even pass them the torch.
Are you feelin' me yet? :-)
Little bit of a post game. Jumper good out to 18 feet. Tyler looks better than Harrelson to me and guys were going GAGA about him when he got drafted by the Knicks.
A 3rd tier backup center (Jeremy Tyler)
A 2nd tier backup center (Bargani)
A 1st tier backup center (Starting PF-Amare)
A 1st tier backup PF (Kenyon Martin)
A 2nd tier backup PF (Jeremy Tyler)
A 3rd tier backup PF (Starting SF-Melo)
A 1st tier backup SF (Meta World Peace)
We still have no shot blockers.
We seriously need to make a trade involving Amare, Chandler or Bargnani that will get us someone like Reggie Sanders...sigh.
Why don't we go after more pass oriented players?


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There's been a new controversy brewing lately in the publishing world — literary agencies taking on the role of e-publisher.
For those of you who don't know, an agent is a writer's best friend. They're your advocate when dealing with publishers. They negotiate with publishers in order to get the best deal and the most money for the writer. They are also the mediator when things aren't going so well between writer and publisher.
This, obviously creates a conflict of interest when that agent puts on a publisher's hat. Where does the line get drawn between an agent's duty to get the best deal for his/her client and the publisher's duty to make money? How hard is that agent going to work for his/her client at getting those good deals when they can simply steer them towards e-publishing through their company?
My personal feelings about this match those of many other agents and writers. I have no problem with agents opening up their own publishing arm AS LONG AS their clients don't overlap.
Actually, I lie, I do have a problem with it. And that problem lies in the area of time management. As it stands now with agents simply being agents, they're pressed for time to get everything done. Where is the extra time going to come from? Who is going to get skimped for attention? The agent's clients? The publisher's clients? Those poor, desperate souls hopelessly querying trying to snag an agent?
Romance author Courtney Milan has a fabulous post on her blog about this whole fiasco. Go check it out and give her some love because she is one intelligent, classy lady.


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Thursday, December, 03, 2020 02:24:47
Trending News:
- Unruly & LG partnership to allow advertisers access to native smart TV
- Cutler Bay & Enphase deploy 1.5MWh battery storage systems in Florida
- Trip.com and airlines teams up to improve customer travel benefits
- PopPack, PPi Tech jointly introduce flexible yet sustainable packs
- BGN-ECOIBÉRIA ink research collaboration deal on plastic degradation
- Fibank brings Apple Pay to customers with VISA debit or credit cards
- Nelnet Bank Launched to Provide Education Loan Refinancing to Students
- Victorian Government calls for public comment on proposed CDS
- Reveille launches MSP program to aid partners in managing IT services
The news article is moved on trash. Need help? You can reach out to us by writing on [email protected].


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I am well aware that everybody else posted their 'Best Of 2011' lists at, well, the end of 2011 or back in January, but I wanted to be a little different. Mainly because I still had a fair few films to catch up on and because I wanted to compare my list to what the Academy deemed 'fit' and what eventually won.
So, finally, I present to you my Top Ten Films Of 2011. And when I say 'Top Ten', I mean what I enjoyed most as opposed to what I think I should say to be congratulated on. No, this is my Top Ten and simply that. And I'm pretty sure a lot of you won't see my #1 coming – unless you follow me on Twitter (@iamnotwaynegale) in which case you've probably known for a while!
So, as usual, please leave comments if you want to argue this thing out – you'll definitely realise I'm a sucker for big performances as opposed to big films – and check out my Top Ten below, starting with the films that didn't quite make the cut: Continue reading


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RALEIGH, NC — Mims Distributing Company (http://www.mimsdistributing.com), a beer distributor that services a nine-county area in and around the Triangle, has announced that it has won the 2012 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Community Appearance in the industrial category. The distributor received the honor Oct. 9 for the positive impact its recently opened warehouse has made on Raleigh's visual environment. The facility, located at 8605 Ebenezer Church Road near Interstates 40 and 540 and RDU International Airport, is approximately 144,000 square feet and occupies 13.5 acres.
The high-efficiency building has one of the largest private solar rooftop systems in Wake County, featuring a photovoltaic rooftop net metering system that allows the company to collect and use solar power onsite, and offset approximately 20 percent of the building's energy needs.
Mims Distributing has installed energy-efficient high-performance insulation, cooling and lighting systems in the new facility, minimizing water consumption through a smart storm water retention strategy that includes a bio-retention pond, the installation of low water use plumbing fixtures and the strategic landscaping of drought-tolerant plants and shrubs. The company began operating at the facility, which was previously a pharmaceutical distribution building, in October 2011. Mims Distributing chose to renovate the building instead of building a new one as part of its mission to be as ecologically friendly as possible.
This is the 30-year anniversary of the Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Community Appearance recognizing outstanding new contributions to the character, environment and appearance of the City of Raleigh. Since 1983, the Raleigh City Council has presented more than 200 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards to developers, designers, building owners, community groups, civic clubs, churches and citizens. For more information, visit http://www.raleighnc.gov/sirwalterraleighawards.
About Mims Distributing:
Established in 1964 and based in Raleigh, N.C., Mims Distributing Company provides domestic, import and craft beer brands to licensed retailers in nine central N.C. counties — Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Orange, Person, Vance, Wake and Warren. It is the area's distributor for all Miller brands, including Miller Lite, Miller High Life and Icehouse. Mims' imports include Newcastle Brown Ale, Dos Equis, Red Stripe, Palm, Rodenbach, and Sapporo. It handles such craftbrews such as Yuengling, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Magic Hat, Anchor and Narragansett. Mims also carries cider from Crispin and non-alcoholic Arizona Tea. In 2007, Mims received the prestigious High Life Achievement Award from Miller, which recognized its top distributors in the nation. That same year, Mims also won the Newbie of the Year Award from Magic Hat as its best new distributor. In 2009, Mims was awarded Magic Hat's Pouring Partner of the Year Award as its top distributor in the country. Active in the local community, Mims supports efforts such as the Walk for Hope, and the Frankie Lemmon School. For more information, visit http://www.mimsdistributing.com.


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How to prepare for hiking and mountain climbing
Thomas Welch, MD, chair of Upstate's Department of Pediatrics, and medical director, Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital, shares a recent journey with his daughter to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, and offers advice on preparing for a safe and enjoyable hiking experience. Welch is a licensed New York State guide and a certifying instructor for the Wilderness Education Association who regularly teaches field courses and guide groups in Alaska, Montana and New York. He's known as The Adirondoc. Read more: Dr. Thomas Welch prescribes 3 great Adirondack hikes


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Specifications have hurt Java more than they've helped. Is it any wonder that NONE of the most popular frameworks conform to any sort of specification? And what's a Java standard anyway? None of it is standard JCP/JSR or not. Any CIO looking to build an application on JCP/JSR "standards" is on glue. Java itself is not a standard!!!For all intents and purposes, some specifications are unavoidable; while it's possible to service HTTP requests without the servlet API, very few would attempt to ignore servlets. Even JSP is optional in few containers - Jetty is notable in this regard, and Your Editor is unaware offhand of any other containers that have JSP as an option (as opposed to being built-in and bundled with the container).
Hani Suleiman, in the same discussion, suggested that standards are indeed important and relevant:
Hibernate and toplink (and even JDO) resulted in EJB3, which will (pretty safe bet) become the standard persistence solution, instead of the current proprietory API's that hibernate/toplink offer. The differentiator will no longer be the API, it'll be the extra vendor-add features on top of the baseline.Another point Hani implied in passing was that development communities can certainly have their own internal standards, formal or otherwise. For example, an informal group of developers hacking away at an IRC bot for amusement might have no interest in a standard API (such as a XMPP implementation), but a Fortune 100 working on an automated messaging client (i.e., a bot) might refuse to use anything not based on XMPP.
Without EE, there'd be no Spring. Spring's value-add is that it piggybacks on top of Java EE and makes the easy stuff easy, and the hard stuff less painful.
What do you think? Where does Java take standardization too far, and why do you think that's the case? What can or should be done about it?


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PART THREE: Europe remains embroiled in fiscal crisis--what to expect next from policy makers22 June, 2012 | (01 hr)
The global economic outlook remains extremely uncertain, highlighted by the continued fiscal crisis gripping Europe and the concern that the U.S. expansion is losing steam and the Chinese economy may be slowing more than anticipated. The upcoming Presidential and congressional elections in the U.S. and leadership change in China add further to the uncertainty. What key monetary and fiscal policy actions can we expect out of Washington and Beijing in the coming year? And what are the next steps for European policy makers likely to consider in terms of monetary and fiscal policy action in order to deal with the ongoing crisis?
Audience: Any business professionals who need to understand the expected future path for global economic policy.
Sign In to access this Webcast
Recent tumult in the European financial markets and large shifts in political control following key governmental elections raises questions as to what direction policy makers will take in the near to medium-term in Europe. Will the deterioration of the fiscal crisis force one or more countries to exit the European Union and abandon the Euro? Learn what to expect going forward.
Series Host
Kathy Bostjancic
Director, U.S. Macro Investor Services
Oxford Economics
Kathy has extensive experience providing insightful global economic and financial market analysis and forecasts to institutional and retail investors and Fortune 500 business leaders and professionals. She has a deep understanding of U.S. monetary... Full Bio
Jean-Claude Manini
Jean-Claude Manini, The Conference Board's former Senior Economist in Europe, is now working at a Swiss financial services firm. During his time with The Conference Board he helped analyze macroeconomic and financial conditions in Europe. He also worked with our Business Cycle Indicators te...Full Bio


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- Status Assigned
Percent Complete
- Task Type Bug Report
- Category QCAD (main)
Assigned To
- Operating System All
- Severity Very Low
- Priority Very Low
- Reported Version 3.23.0
- Due in Version Undecided
Due Date
- Votes
- Private
Attached to Project: QCAD Bugtracker
Opened by CVH - 30.07.2019
Opened by CVH - 30.07.2019
FS#1923 - Faulty rendering Polylines with Global/Local Widths and Global or local Z not zero
Win7pro 32bit Qcad 3.23.0
The Arc segments of Polylines with Global or any Local Width render faulty where Global Z or any of the arc's local Z is not zero.
In the attached drawing setting the Global Z of the inner poly to 5,10,...
The setting of Z to not zero affects the radius of the projected arc and not the bulging of the poly.
It also affects the projected widths of the line inversely, but not by changing the widths properties.
Pritty rare combination! True.
Qcad is 2D native! True.
Flatten will resolve this.
It is not a purely visual rendering fault, the poly will explode as such.
Maybe similar flaw as with uneven scaling blocks with arcs.