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Age: Adult.
Location: Florida.
Fictionpress Penname: Julietish
Most Embarrassing Moment: Too many to describe.
One Book You Think Everyone Should Read: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
What You Look For When Judging: Character-driven stories. Polished grammar.
Pet Peeves When Judging: Excessive dialogue tags.
Writing Advice:I strongly believe that the more you read, the better you get. Also, you can't improve if you're not writing, so write, write, write.
Fun Fact: Juliet is a pseudonym.
Age: 17
Location: London
Fictionpress Penname: Mr. Ree
Most Embarrassing Moment: I'm actually not sure about this, though I'm pretty sure it has something to do with me being too drunk and thinking I'm not too drunk.
One Book You Think Everyone Should Read: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is definitely a book that all humans should read, regardless of age, gender, etc. etc. It's a pretty deep children's book about being bored and wasting time and I just think that anyone who reads it will look at the world in a different light.
Do You Write?: Very badly.
What You Look For When Judging: Aside from the obvious (grammar, etc.) I want to see something that I'd enjoy the second time around, because those are the best stories around. But more specifically, I love characters who drive the plot, not the other way around. I love originality. There are so many stories being told that are the same as loads of others, same characters and events basically,and I like the ones that go against that.
Pet Peeves When Judging: I know it's weird, but I lose my mind every time I see someone write "anyways" instead of "anyway," because "anyways" isn't an actual word. Random POV changes drive me bananas, and so do author's notes in the middle of chapters. Punctuating dialogue incorrectly kind of puts me off, too.
Writing Advice: I've seen so much good writing advice and methods over the years, and I have to say that most important thing I've taken from that is try these methods! You never know what's going to happen when you make your brain do something different. I recently saw something about not re-writing, not editing, and I think it's the best idea I've ever heard. I'll be saying the same thing about something else I've heard in about a week's time.
Random Facts: I love Europe, especially England. My hope is to one day speak English, French, Cantonese, Italian, and Greek; I already speak two of them fluently and am learning the third, so here's hoping. I'm majoring in journalism. I love love love fashion, music, and art because I think creativity is the savior of man. I'm probably too spontaneous which is probably why I can never ever finish anything (ever). Anything unorthodox makes me happy.
Location: UK
Fictionpress Penname: Freekydisaster18
Most Embarassing Moment: Truthfully, my life is filled with embarrassing moments that I don't actually get embarrassed by them any more – now isn't that a bad sign? However, I will always remember the time in university when we had a party in the study room. This is back in the beginning weeks so it was an ice breaking party; you know the type, come meet the other residents in halls and make friends! Well we all got pretty wrecked on house vodka (paint stripper if there ever was another demon!) and I woke up the next morning in my bedroom only wearing my tee shirt and no jeans. To this day, we still don't know where my jeans have gone but it sure did break the ice! My friends and I still laugh (it's only four years later but oh well) about it and I think they'll probably tell my children.
One Book You Think Everyone Should Read:
Do You Write?: RomanceWhat You Look For When Judging: I look for a few things and they are: strong character development; realistic dialogue; believable drama; and tidy grammar.
Pet Peeves When Judging: A few things that I dislike when reading are: an unbalanced ration between narration and dialogue, IMO the more dialogue the better!; unrealistic dialogue between characters as if people never share conversations ever in their life; point of view changes that aren't obvious so you have to reread the chapter over and over again to understand; and finally, layout errors. Star or line out a paragraph break when we're changing time or place, please!
Writing Advice: I'm full of advice but I rarely follow it... Typical right? Here goes: Never follow a strict plan. Have a loose spider web of ideas and expand on them. That way you're not stressing because something you've thought of no longer fits in. The flow is always key. Handwrite notes in different colours, in every direction of the page and just make the page a damned mess! It'll help get the writing started and you'll feel much better for it.
Random Facts: I'm allergic to cosmetics, I have a scar running from the centre of my lip down to my chin from when I fell off the toilet as a child (I was dancing on it to keep my sister amused) and caught it on the step we used and I'm obsessed with crime shows.
Location: Italy
Fictionpress Penname: Stuck in bed
Most Embarrassing Moment: (I actually had to ask my mum because I'd completely forgotten all of them. Voluntary amnesia is nice.) A few years ago, my school did sport sessions at this local gym, and so we were obviously not the only ones using it. I was the first one to arrive with my friends and when I opened the door, there was a group of elderly men using it (the changing rooms were interchangeable gender-wise). I don't remember exactly what I did - it was a blur - but apparently I made this inhumane sound and slammed the door shut (the latter an extremely wise move). I was reminded of this for a long, long time by my classmates.
One Book You Think Everyone Should Read: 1984 by George Orwell
Do You Write?: Lately I've been writing more. I'm sort of writing a mystery/crime romance story. I've also got a number of one shots going on.
What We Look For When Judging: Something realistic. An emotional drive. I can't get involved in a story if I keep remembering I'm the reader - I need to feel and experience what you're showing (not telling) me.
Pet Peeves When Judging: Random change in characterisation just to move along a plot. More than one POV. Bad grammar. Love interests that just happen to be very, very rich.
Writing Advice: "You can fix anything but a blank page." - Nora Roberts
Random Facts: I love skiing and watching movies. I have an odd passion for family trees and sweaters. Everything about the ocean freaks me out, which is why I advocate going to the mountains during the summer.
Location: Maine.
Fictionpress Penname: fellintothemoon
Most Embarrassing Moment My life is one big embarrassing moment.
One Book You Think Everyone Should Read: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Do You Write?: Sometimes, but it's hard to keep myself focused.
What You Look For When Judging: Memorable characters, realistic dialogue, engaging plot.
Pet Peeves (Dislikes) When Judging: Abusive relationships, slut shaming, self-entitlement, stiff dialogue, misogyny, poor world building, 2D characters.
Writing Advice: "Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either." -Meg Cabot
Random Facts About You: I have my nose pierced. I really like turtles, coffee, waffles, Irish accents, Sailor Moon, Adventure Time, and slime videos. I frequently marathon TV shows.
firstname.lastname@example.com: 22
Location: Sydney, Australia
Fictionpress Penname: rosieroo
Most Embarrassing Moment: When I was taking a class as a ski instructor and I fell over in my uniform in front of all my kids and other randoms. They all then skied down the rest of the hill screaming 'INSTRUCTOR WIPED OUT!' so everyone knew!
One Book You Think Everyone Should Read: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. It's without a doubt the best example of an incredible fantasy book.
Do You Write?: I most definitely do! I love writing fantasy the best, as well as romance and slash.
What You Look For When Judging: I always look for an original story with an author that writes beautifully. It helps if the story is memorable as well, the characters likeable/3D and the writing emotive.
Pet Peeves (Dislikes) When Judging: I can't stand a story that is corny and makes me cringe, mainly when things that are so utterly unbelievable are happening. I also dislike it when the author can't use punctuation at all and when he/she confuses words that sound the same - like 'apart'/'a part' and 'accept'/'except'. I can overlook the whole their/there/they're and your/you're pretty easily as they can be common! 'Anyways' instead of 'anyway' pretty much ruins everything for me.
Writing Advice: I've found that the best way to improve your writing is to read widely. It's always hard to capture a whole personality into words and not fall into stereotypes (as I sometimes do), so I suggest planning out your character before writing, as well as the key points of your plot. I don't believe in the whole 'just let the words flow out' idea - I am 100% all for the 'force out what you can until it gets easier, and then you can edit later'. That's why I love NaNoWriMo so much!
Random Facts: I'm studying journalism/international studies at university, will be spending 2015 studying in China, work at an organic food market, and am a ski instructor.
Staff banners made by Melissa, with the exception of her banner, which was made by Marta.


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Colorful places: Wynwood, MIAMI
Since I love color and traveling, for years I have been working on a book of colorful places. I'm not sure if the book is ever gonna see the light, but at least I can share some of the places I photograph here:
This past summer, I made a quick trip to photograph an awesome neighborhood in Miami, Florida. (Nick is in some of the pictures because he was my only subject around).
Let me introduce you to...

subset: commoncrawl


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Zombie makeup tutorial: how to create a Zombie wound for Halloween
Face it: you people love a good zombie face.
You love a good zombie chase. Or, a good zombie penguin.
I mean, who can forget one of the original zombie movies that started it all?
Or, better yet, the song?
Nowadays, zombie herds are simply unstoppable, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
In preparation for the annual Denver Zombie Crawl, I decided to do just that.
I went straight to eat the — er — meet the brains behind Kate McCarthy, lead makeup artist at VERT Beauty, and makeup professional here in Denver, with more than ten years of experience in Special FX makeup.
A graduate of both film school and MKC in Los Angeles, McCarthy specialized in creating gruesome bruises, gashes, bullet holes and more, atop faces and limbs of actors in horror movies.
For research, she'd even visit the waiting room in Cedars Sinai's emergency department, to discreetly gape at the gapes that came through the doors.
While transforming my face from alive to un-dead, McCarthy and I came up with tips to help you zombify in the most efficient, grisly way possible:
1). Know your zombie narrative. If you want to go zombie – but often wait until the day before Halloween to flesh out your character – kill that idea now.
Start today, and look at pictures, watch videos, even listen to The Cranberries to help pin-point exactly what kind of zombie you want to be.
How many years dead are you, and how should your skin tone look to accompany that? How did you die? What were you wearing when you died; where were you going? Fully commit to your story.
2). Choose one wound. Focus on creating and manipulating one realistic wound, based on how you died (was it from a bullet? Stabbed with a plastic fork? Run over by a tractor?).
Work on making that one wound precise, rather than creating several with less effort.
3). Stay away from cheap makeup kits. Avoid over-priced Halloween stores that may sell low quality makeup that fades easily, or could make you break-out.
Head to Makeup Mania, and bring the list at the bottom of this post to grab what you need – you'll spend a little more than $100.
Remember to pay attention to what you're allergic to, and what could cause health issues.
For instance – "zombie" contact lenses can block the flow of oxygen to your eye. If you're going that route, remove the lenses after four hours.
Or – scrap the lenses completely, and stay safe with blood eye drops.
4). Show some skin. When you become a zombie, so does your entire body. Not just your face.
Will your neck be showing? Your arms? Your hands?
Smear some makeup from your Death Wheel on the exposed parts of your skin, add some Plains Dust, and you should be as good as un-dead.
5). Don't rush it. Set aside at least two hours to create your zombie, and your wound.
Pay attention to color, and apply makeup with a light touch. Use detail when creating veins and contouring (defining) your cheeks. Create depth on your face by shadowing the parts that sink in or concave.
Don't forget about your teeth, the inside of your lips, your temples, and the sides of your nose.
Blend similar creme makeup colors for your base, and layer, layer, layer.
Zombie face supplies:
Death Wheel – $18
Bruises and Abrasions Wheel – $13
Dark Blood – $3.50
Tooth Color – $6
Blood eye drops – $22
White face powder, to to lay on top, or 'set' the creme makeup – $6
Black eyeshadow – $10
Makeup remover – $2.50
Spirit gum remover – $2.50
Foundation wedge or sponge, to apply your creme base layers with – $3
Blush brush, for the white powder, to set the creme layers – $4
Fluffy eye-shadow brush, to apply eye-shadow on lids (apply creme underneath eyes) – $3.30
Pointed defining brush, for drawing veins – $3.60
Stipple sponge for applying fake blood. Dip sponge in blood and press into skin, rather than rub. Think 'sponge panting' – $3
Face painting sponge, for latex use – $3
Liquid latex – $5.50
Spirit gum – $3.50
Modeling or Mortician's wax – $4
Toilet paper
1). Before you start creating your basic zombie face, separate your toilet paper plys.
Mix a penny-size amount of liquid latex with each ply, and lay out on foil to dry. Create seven or eight strips of this.
2). After basic zombie makeup application, apply spirit gum to area you'd like to place the wound.
3). On top of spirit gum, apply your wax. The wax will help you mold and "pull" the liquid latex.
4). On top of the wax, begin to apply latex strips, two or three at a time. Use your face-painting sponge to 'smear' it on.
5). Wait ten or fifteen minutes for your first layer of strips to dry (do NOT use a blow dryer).
6). Once dry, the consistency will become malleable. You can begin manipulating, molding and 'pulling' the wound, to create a rotting effect.
7). Add another layer, and repeat steps 4-6. The more layers you add, the more dimensional your wound will become, and you'll end up with a 'flesh-peeling' look.
8). Cover and dress the wound, and the area around it with lots of blood using your stippling sponge to make the wound 'puss.'
9). Take a step back. Is your face missing anything? Do you need to add more blood? Another layer to the wound? Is your zombie face exactly how you imagined? Decide what you need, if anything.
10). Terrorize your neighborhood.


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I hope it will be agreeable to the Society if I make known some of the results of a study of a rare disease of bones. The patient on whom I was able to study it was a gentleman of good family, whose parents and grandparents lived to old age with apparently sound health, and among whose relatives no disease was known to have prevailed. Especially, gout and rheumatism, I was told, were not known among them; but one of his sisters died with chronic cancer of the breast.
Till 1854, when he was forty-six years old, the patient had no sign of disease, either general or local. He was a tall, thin, well-formed man, father of healthy children, very active in both mind and body. He lived very temperately, could digest, as he said, anything, and slept always soundly. At forty-six, from no assigned cause, unless it were that he lived in a rather cold and damp place in the North of England, he began to e subject to aching pains in his thighs and legs.
They were felt chiefly after active exercise, but were never severe; yet the limbs became less agile or, as he called them, "less serviceable", and after about a year he noticed that his left shin was misshapen. His general health was, however, quite unaffected.
Chronic Inflammation of Bones


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Semaphore Conductus is a choral sound installation sung in surround, inspired by the conduction of energy, the language of signals, and sound. Performed within a sound design of Morse code, radio signals, cellphone sounds, and heartbeats, the surround choir and Bora Yoon create a stereophonic performance piece, incorporating altered early music techniques of Latin conductus through hocket, ventriloquated double choir, and antiphonal calls through the history and evolution of signaling and sound devices (conch, gramophone, megaphone, cellphone).
The selected text is comprised of new and old Latin proverbs that alludes to the cyclical nature of communication and technology, and all of its pulleys and strings that are thusly affected as a result. It is perhaps, a feeling as timeless as the means to communicate, as music is certainly one of the greatest mediums in which expression conducts the best resonance.
Sum quod eris, fui quod es
unda est ortus
sepulchrum pluvia, festina lente
esse quam videri
in lumine tuo, videbimus lumen*
I am what you will be, I was what you are
the water is rising
gravity's rainbow, make haste slowly
to be rather than to seem
in your light, we shall see light.*
* motto of Columbia University
PERFORMED & COMMISSIONED BY: the Young People's Chorus of New York for the Transient Glory Symposium. Alongside new works by Joan Tower, Bill Morrison & Michael Gordon, Ko Matsushita, Douglas Cuomo, Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens.
DIRECTED BY: Francisco Nunez
WORLD PREMIERE: April 27, 2008
TO BE PUBLISHED BY: Boosey & Hawkes in 2010
Engraved and assisted by Dana B. Haynes
©2019 Swirl Productions | NYC
Get news about upcoming shows and releases.


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A recent New York Times article "revealed" that about half of all voters hold unfavorable views of both presidential candidates. Six in ten republicans, democrats and independents all say they are not looking forward to the coming weeks of this election.
I didn't need to read the New York Times to get a sense of the despair permeating our country, I just had to drive through my neighborhood.
I haven't seen one single "Vote for Hillary," or "Trump" sign on my street.
Or on the adjoining streets.
Or in the neighborhood.
Not one.
Come to think of it, it's not like they're popping up all over Silicon Valley where I live and serve.
This election is as the young people say, "Cray-Cray".
So what are we to do?
In Peter's first letter he stepped into the political fray and spoke very poignantly to the role of Christians when it comes to government. Now I know Peter's context is different. He's writing to Christians under a very authoritarian form of government, while we live in a democracy. But I do believe the principles extend beyond forms.
Peter tells believer's to "honor the emperor" (2:17). Many scholars believe the specific emperor is Nero.
Nero. Now he was "Cray-Cray". He stabbed his mother to death. Poisoned his aunt with a laxative. Kicked one of his pregnant wives to death in the stomach. Had a boy castrated, and married him. And we haven't got to the part of burning Rome down and blaming it on Christians followed by his persecution of them.
Well, to be more specific, "Honor the emperor".
Notice Peter doesn't mention a name, just a position. Peter is saying that no matter how much we might dislike the person, we are to honor the position.
Korie and I have friends who are trying to teach their young loquacious daughter to show honor. So they came up with an idea. If ever she felt like she was going to say something unkind or disrespectful, to simply cover her mouth. Not long after that the mother and daughter were in a store, and the mother asked her to not do something. Immediately the young girl placed her hands over her mouth. Curious, the mother wanted to know why she did that. The girl said because she was going to tell her to shut-up. The mother took her hand and acted like she was going to smack her on the backside but stopped her hand with her other hand. The daughter asked why she did that? The mother said she was going to spank her!
Funny, but maybe something we Christians should consider. No matter where you land in this election, both candidates have very glaring weaknesses. To honor doesn't mean we agree with everything, nor does it mean we don't voice our opinions. Thank God we live in a democracy that allows us to have a voice and a vote. But to honor means we express our views, even our dissenting one's with respect and kindness and love, even if the other is seen as being unworthy.
Let's be careful to honor, even those we assume to be Cray-Cray.
Bryan Loritts
Lead Pastor, Abundant Life
Author, Saving the Saved
President, Kainos Movement


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Thursday, June 20, 2019
Price Early Registration │ Jan. 31-Mar. 31, 2019
$250 ASA Members
$275 ASA Non-Members Regular Registration │ Apr. 1-Jun. 20, 2019
$275 ASA Members
$300 ASA Non-Members Live Stream Registration
Where KPMG 550 South Hope Street, Suite 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90071
The American Society of Appraisers is pleased to present the ASA/USC 14th Annual Fair Value Conference to be held on Thursday, June 20, 2019 at KPMG in Los Angeles, California.
The conference agenda will feature presentations from nationally recognized speakers who are profession leaders, covering a range of fair value measurement and valuation topics, as well as other current and future expected trends regarding the FASB, SEC and international accounting standards.
Can't make it to Los Angeles for the ASA/USC 14th Annual Fair Value Conference? Click here for information on live stream registration provided by Business Valuation Resources.
Timely Updates on Topics of Current Interest - The topics represent leading edge topics selected for their importance to professionals that perform financial reporting valuations.
Nationally Recognized Speakers - This is an opportunity to obtain insights from many of the leaders in our profession. In all prior years, we've assembled rosters of nationally recognized speakers. Practitioner Focus - This conference is focused on the needs of valuation and accounting professionals involved in the development and audit of fair value estimates. Insights can be immediately employed in your technical or business management of your professional practice. Exceptional Networking Opportunity - With valuation practitioners from the leading accounting firms and top boutique valuation firms, this continues to be an exceptional networking opportunity. ASA and AICPA Continuing Professional Education - The conference will provide continuing professional education credit by both the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This is a timely and cost effective means of obtaining CPE hours for your reaccreditation. CEIV(TM) Continuing Professional Development - The conference qualifies for Certified in Entity and Intangible Valuations™ (CEIV™) Credential Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit. Competitive Pricing - ASA continues to price the conference at an extremely low cost as a benefit to its membership and the community at large.
The American Society of Appraisers is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have the final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website www.learningmarket.org.
CPE Credit: TBA
Program Level: Advanced
Delivery Method: Only group-live courses are approved for CPE
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Policies: ASA's Refund and Cancellation Policy and ASA's Complaint Resolution Policy
Early Registration (by 3/31/19)
$250 Member; $275 Non-Member Regular Registration
$275 Member; $300 Non-Member
Note: Limited availability, event anticipated to sell out. Early registration is recommended.


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Lack of Sprinklers
Too often firefighters are injured in a blaze that spread as a result of someone's negligence or because there was a violation of an applicable code. For instance, a working sprinkler system is required in certain buildings in New York City, yet many landlords do not comply. As a result, firefighters can be exposed to serious, sometimes deadly, situations where fires grow out of control.
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo has proudly represented injured firefighters for decades, including those hurt as a result of a lack of sprinklers in buildings. Please contact us to speak with an attorney if you have been in injured in the line of duty.


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JMC Range
Whether you're looking for the perfect bakkie to whack the African bushes or cruise the city streets, JMC has a bakkie for you. Our carrying vehicles complete the range with fit-for-purpose JMC vehicles to make hauling loads and delivering easier on small businesses. The most recent addition to the JMC family, the Vigus bakkie, proves that style doesn't need to come at the expense of power. Whatever your lifestyle, JMC has a vehicle to help you along the adventure.
JMC Boarding
JMC Carrying
|JMC offers a range of boarding vehicles including 4x4 and 4x2 models, as well as single cabs and double cabs, and petrol and diesel engines.
|Mover? Plumber? Caterer? Transform the way your small business transports goods and equipment with a fit-for-purpose JMC carrying vehicle.
|Read More
|Read More
JMC Vigus
|Rugged, tough and powerful, the JMC Vigus can handle anything Africa can throw at it with ease while also featuring beautiful, modern design.
|Read More


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KP Blog
Elizabeth Thomas-Reading, Writing, & Rock 'n' Roll24 Sep 2014
- Details
- Hits: 30156
An old Guess Who song playing on the radio on my drive to work recently brought it home to me that music has fueled my writers' imagination since before I even knew what writing was. I didn't realize writing stories was an active thing I could do until I was nine years old; at the time this song had regular airplay I was only a second-grader, making up things my cousins and I could play with our stuffed animals. Something about the lyrics of the Guess Who's "Raindance" will always bring me back to the scenario of a tiny stuffed rabbit named Hopper (real in our imaginations) trying to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Yes, I was a weird kid, and probably am an even weirder adult. I even find myself daydreaming in the realms of my favorite books while listening to music during my dayjob commute; there are several songs at the moment that always evoke Preston and Child's Diogenes Pendergast for me. Some of these overlap with music that puts me in mind of a mystery work I'm planning currently, while others put me in mind of another planned novel about the reincarnation of Jonathan Swift and one of his little girlfriends. In fact, for most of the things I've written, I can point to the music that helped inspire them. For instance, The White Squirrel, which my short piece More Than the Quest is something of a teaser for, owes a great debt to the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours albums.
So why, then, can't I tell you what bits of popular music to listen to while reading my upcoming historical romance, Arden's Act, if you are kind enough to do so? For one thing, it is set during the time and place of England's Restoration—early 1660s London. The actual music of that time was Baroque, and you know the old adage: "If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it." (Sorry, couldn't resist.) But more accurately, it's because I hope someday it has a soundtrack of its own.
I started writing Arden's Act many years ago. At the time, my good friend and sometimes writing partner (like, back in junior high!) Deborah Caldwell was going through radiation and chemotherapy for an inoperable brain tumor. She had asked me to send her some of my writing to help keep her occupied and distracted during the process. (What writer can resist a request like that?) I sent her a few short stories, and the first six or so chapters of Arden's Act.
She fell in love with Arden's Act, the story of a fictional young woman who becomes one of the first female actors to regularly perform on the English stage. I have to give Deb a lot of credit; if it weren't for her fierce belief in the project, I might never have finished this novel. She also convinced me that it would make a great Broadway (and/or West End?) musical, and wrote a few songs for it. She was a composer of music, so I wrote the lyrics for the songs. Though she went into remission for seven years, the tumor eventually returned and took her life. During our last phone conversation before she passed away, I promised her I would keep trying, and seek a composer to help me finish the task. Any takers out there? Deb would be so thrilled to see the upcoming release of Arden's Act by Keith Publications. I am so grateful to this publisher for this opportunity, and I am proud to help them celebrate their fourth anniversary by writing this blog post. Here's to much success to come!
Short Bio:
Elizabeth Thomas was born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. She earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her first job after leaving U of M was as an editor and writer for the Gale Group's Contemporary Authors.
For a few years Elizabeth lived in Tucson, Arizona, where her children, Lisa and Joseph, were born. In 1996, she moved to Cedar Park, Texas, a suburb of Austin, where she still resides. In the Austin area, she worked for Barrett Kendall Publishing, and continued to work on her own writing projects. When Barrett Kendall began a precipitous decline, Elizabeth realized she had to change careers, and in 2005 graduated as a registered nurse from Austin Community College.
Elizabeth has won prizes in numerous writing competitions, and has had a short story published in Mytholog. Her full-length play, The Circle has received a stage reading in Birmingham, Michigan, and full production as a special event by the Way Off Broadway Community Theater in Leander, Texas. In gratitude to the latter organization, she subsequently served on its board of directors, and even had a brief stint as its president—she gave new meaning to the term "lame duck."
Elizabeth is thrilled that Keith Publications is offering More Than the Quest as one of their e-books, and can't wait until her historical novel Arden's Act comes out from Keith. Her short story Lot's Daughter is available as a Kindle e-book on Amazon, and her middle-school novel, Confessions of a Mixed-Up Weasel Hater is available in both print and electronic versions.
To find out more about Elizabeth Thomas follow the links below.
Blog: http://elizabeththomasfaocb.blogspot.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeththomaswriter
Coming Soon
Leave a comment for your chance to be one of the first people to read Arden's Act for FREE!
Blurb: Arden's Act
In 1661, Arden West runs away from an abusive Puritan stepfather with the goal of becoming one of the first actresses of the London stage. One of the first people she meets is the jaded and sensual aristocrat Robert Courtenay, and sparks fly hot and fast between them. Will he help or harm her new career? Will she give up her quest for fame for him? Will he give up his arranged betrothal for her?
Will her stepfather succeed in dragging her back to his peculiar brand of torment? And what of Charles II's desire to make Arden his royal mistress? Royal intrigue, assassination plots, ghosts, and kidnappings are among the obstacles standing in the way of Arden and Robert's chances for happiness.
Excerpt of Book:
Courtenay stood before the small fireplace with his back to her, a glass of brandy in his hand. He had helped himself from the cut glass decanter on the mantelpiece. The stopper, still out, lay beside it. The things one noticed on the edge of panic. Arden forced down her nervousness even though she feared Brian also guessed Courtenay's mission correctly.
She drew in a breath, trying to summon resolve along with it. Courtenay pivoted at the sound, turning those brilliant black eyes upon her. Arden had never seen eyes like that before she'd met him. Her heart raced as she realized exactly what she feared―not force, as in the alley, but willingness. What would it be like to have those lips on hers again, not in surprise as before, but in full readiness to welcome them? And to feel those fine, strong arms around her?
"Good evening, Mistress West," said Courtenay. He took her hand, now ungloved, and pressed it to his warm lips. "Please sit down," he urged her, drawing her to a misleadingly delicate cushioned bench upholstered in pale blue silk. He remained standing.
Arden sat, but quickly found her voice. "Good evening, Lord Robert. I am happy to have this opportunity to thank you, both for rescuing me, earlier, and for speaking to Lord Davenant on my behalf."
Courtenay smiled, arching his dark brows. "You are entirely welcome, Mistress West," he replied. "May I pour you some brandy?"
"No, thank you, sir," she answered, waving her hand at the offered glass and decanter.
Courtenay laughed, low, but hearty. "You've probably never had it except in the middle of a raging fever, too weak to move! Are you sure you're not a Puritan at heart?"
"How many Puritan actresses do you know?" Arden retorted, heat rushing to her cheeks.
"There is a first time for everything," said Courtenay. His dark eyes glittered with merriment as he replaced the empty glass and the decanter. "But Mistress West, I did not call for your verbal thanks, pleasant though they are. I have a proposition for you, one I believe will be of great pleasure and benefit to us both." As he spoke, Courtenay sat down on the bench beside Arden. She knew she should edge over, to put more distance between them. But her body did not wish to cooperate. In her moment of hesitation, Courtenay clasped one of her hands in both of his, making the option of movement even more awkward. He brought her hand up to his mouth once more but gently turned it palm upwards to kiss it. The heat of his lips, their feathery touch on the fortune lines of her hand, made Arden fight to keep her shivers invisible to him.
"I would be your lover, Arden," Courtenay confessed in a low voice. "I would teach you to feel things every woman should experience."
Arden forcibly withdrew her hand and stood up. "So," she said, trying to keep fear from her voice. "All day, whenever I thought of you, I would wonder―why do you keep such friends? Of course, one is an influential Duke, but still―I thought you nothing like them! But here, you prove yourself not so different after all!"
"Oh, Arden, no!" Courtenay cried, rising impulsively. He moved to put an arm around her, but when she backed further away, he dropped his hands to his sides. "Arden, I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly. "What almost happened to you today was wrong, terribly wrong. And yes, my friends can frequently resemble jackasses, but, part of it, you see, they thought you an actual Puritan. And we've all spent so many long years in exile with the King . . ."
As he trailed off, Arden knew she should retort with: "And it would have been all right, if I had been a Puritan?" Her lips wouldn't even try to form the words. She knew what he meant. Treadwell and his clumsy attempts to touch her sickened her in their own right, sickened her even more because he had married her mother and played the role of parental protector. They sickened her most, though, because he was one of them. He had joyously recounted many times seeing the old King murderously beheaded, and took such obvious pleasure in the destruction of everything her late father held dear. She could understand wanting to hurt one of them, even though she knew it was wrong.
"What I propose would be so different, Arden," continued Courtenay. "You would be cherished, caressed, showered with comforts. And protected. You would be treated with gentleness, always."
Her fears quieted, Arden could feel her cheeks growing warmer. She had no hope Courtenay hinted at an honorable offer, but the riot her blood made rushing through her body demanded she ask. If a chance existed that she could allow him to continue. . . . Not impossible, was it? For a man like Courtenay to fall in love with her quickly and wish to marry her? She might be an actress, but the blood in her veins had not come from commoners. Not unheard of, for a future lord to take a wife from the gentry? "Then . . . you wish to court me?" Arden managed, her voice barely a whisper.
"No, my dear," he answered gently, sitting back down beside her and reclaiming her hand. "Your innocence is touching, and I will honor it with the truth. My bride has long been chosen, but has a few years before she reaches marriageable age. I want you as my mistress."
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I have notified Microsoft about this issue and it is being investigated internally. They have kept it pretty quiet so far, but I am sure there will be a response eventually. In case anyone doesn't know what the problem is, it goes like this… After a Windows 8 Pro computer with Microsoft Office 2010 32 bit installed, the Windows Update from March 2013 KB2760600 is attempted and the user is asked to reboot. Upon rebooting, all other updates install smoothly, yet there is one last update that refuses to install and reboot the computer. The screen looks like this:. In fact, this has happened everytime I reboot my computer even after hiding the update, and if I check installed updates, this update is listed as installed, but I know this is the problem, because if I unhide the update and check for updates again, this is the only update that shows up.
Some users on the Microsoft Community forum have suggested that turning off the Print Spooler Service has fixed this problem for them, unfortunately this has not eradicated the problem on my system. (I have tried it twice). Now my system may not be normal because I have Microsoft Office Home Premium 2013 also installed alongside Office 2010, but this should not be an issue. I have not had much time to really dive into this problem yet, as I am currently enrolled in WGU and have been spending all my time studying for exams and trying to swiftly move along in my studies.
Here are some links that reference people also having this problem…
If any of the solutions here work for you, then you are lucky. I have tried them all and everytime I reboot I have to forcefully shutdown the computer again. Anyway, hopefully this may be answered on a future episode of Defrag on Microsoft's Ch.9 since I have forwarded the issue to Gov Maharaj and Larry Larsen.
EDIT: Apparently, it has come to light that many of the people reporting this issue actually have HP printers installed. I have not confirmed this yet, but some people have said that they uninstalled their HP Printers / HP software and then the update installed. Updates will come as soon as we verify this after testing.


text: "Art is a gift from the spirit world. We all have the ability to visualize, and that is our connection to the spirit world. When we crystallize these ideas, that is, to bring them into this world, we are giving birth to new images, new ideas and new directions. This can only come from the knowledge and experience." Robert Davidson, Haida Artist


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This is the third episode of the shopping habits of women, with information extracted from a survey by Hakuhodo, a Japanese advertising company that looks into market search and conducts advertising surveys has found several traits among women shoppers in South East Asia. The agency surveyed women aged 15-54 in seven major cities in the region, asking them about their interests and habits.
They later categorise the habits that the women exhibited during their shopping escapades. This information is crucial because it helps you know about your target audience better. Knowing them will allow you to make the right decisions to target them towards your business or educate you about the relevance of your business to the community.
The most populous city in Indonesia and not falling too far from the top 10 most populous cities in the world is Jakarta. At 10.2 million people (as stated by worldpopulationreview.com) on this western part of Java island, with an estimated 5 million being women. Now that is a lot of people that will be exposed to your store if it is located there.
According to the survey 40.3% of the women in Jakarta show the trait of Family and Community First shoppers. These women abstain from impulsive and emotional buys. They will usually head to a trusted store that provides items for a lower price. Thrifty and careful, another survey (Consumer's Shopping Behaviour in Jakarta, Indonesia) that looked into the places where these ladies buy their everyday items; the findings stated that most chose to go to the market to purchase them (approximately 64% of the surveyed women with low to high income). Traditional marts that are located close to residential areas are also very popular among the women.
This links accurately with the findings of Hakuhodo. Most probably lack brand information and has low involvement with brands. Unlike the women in Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, shopping appears to be viewed like any other housework for the women. Of course, this is also the result because most of the women are paid lower incomes than the other groups with more married and full-time housewives.
However, when thinking of ways to target to the people in this bustling metropolitan, it lies in social media. McKinsey & Company released a research on The Evolving Indonesian Consumer and the results will be able to help project possible marketing plans for businesses in Jakarta.
It is said that Jakarta has the most active Twitter users with 29 million accounts. It is now the most active Twitter city in the world. Despite heavy reliance on traditional retail channels, there is a steady growth of modern trade shares. It is expected to continue growing over the next few years with a projected reach of 87 billion by 2017 (according to the research). This means that there will be a growth in the numbers of malls, supermarkets, hypermarkets and stores.
If Jakarta is where you are heading for a business boom, there are several things that you need to take into consideration. Among them are your social media presence and a business model that enables fast scale-up. Do invest time in exploring social media to better engage with customers, drive brand awareness so that the consumers trust your brand.


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All laid before me in an instant and all time was now. Suddenly I was everything, from the tiniest grain of sand to within the molecules of the birth of stars. I could see everything, the Earth and its flora and fauna, man and woman, as we developed on this planet, our history, the great wars, from spears and arrows to the boom of artillery and the mushroom of mass destruction, even the evolution of life in other systems. I was not only observing these things but I also was those events, and those animals and peoples. Cycle after cycle presented itself, souls coming in and going out of the dance. There was no emotion attached to any of it, except the hum of the Universe, the sound it makes, which is a song that goes on forever; a limitless place where everything, every time, is now.
A pure energy runs through all things. Death and life are an innate part of it; there is no thing outside of this energy. It is beyond love and hate. There is no fear; that is nowhere outside of ourselves, an illusion that we have constructed. Fear is based on the concept that we are limited and we have not, and that has no meaning, because we are made up of the very material that the stars are made of, all falls under the lens of our intention.
I watched planets as they spun off gargantuan suns, bits of molten metal, saw peoples and histories on foreign planets rise and fall, explosions of stars, watched as far away galaxies were born, danced in awe and joy as the pattern of all things revealed itself. An endless Moebius strip, looping on itself, no beginning and no ending.
I thought of all the people I knew, those I loved and those I thought had opposed me, and in that instant I was seeing from their perspective. I saw their lives, past and present, like an overlay, faces and lives and timelines diverging and converging. It's a strange thing to witness, all the things we are. But in that moment I developed real empathy, for I saw the fear and the isolation that we all labor under everyday. It is the idea that we walk this life separate and alone, and that we each knock on the final door of death by ourselves. That is the illusion; none of these things are real. The matrix that binds us is one fabric; there is no "other." It's all one thing, no one or thing is outside of this vast array of experiences known as life, it's all there for the asking. Those who had opposed me had done so out of the mistaken idea that I had the power to take something away from them, or they wanted something they thought I had. In All That Is, that idea has no meaning.
I thought of other worlds, and as I've said before, in the world of thought and energy, the moment you think it, there you are. Instantly I was in another physical dimension on a planet very far away. If there were laws of gravity, that's not how I would have explained them. There was no "up" or "down," it was only "here." I became aware that I was in the presence of a creature half my height; the basis of their physical matrix, I think, was silicon rather than carbon, it resembled something vaguely out of Dr. Seuss. I didn't want to be rude, but I was trying hard not to laugh. I thought he was very funny-looking, he was sort of a pastel-green and rather pudgy, but I knew I must have looked just as funny to this little creature.
We spoke wordlessly, or rather because we were of the same matrix and were each other, we knew instantly; pure communication, no ego, no masks, no dust thrown in the eyes, just authentic connection. We almost never get that here, but it's as comfortable as a pair of old shoes. They know everything about you and you know everything about them, and it's all fine, pure acceptance. I saw a soul like mine, the same lessons and the same path, just a different context.
You mustn't get the idea that this was all drama and seriousness, I was as thrilled and happy as a kid on roller blades, zooming around, the Universe is pure music and laughter, you can't help but join in. You don't have to take lessons to learn how to fly, you are born knowing.
Many years ago I had a vision of talking to Jesus. I had been raised Catholic but I had gone through a period when I started down this path of questioning my handed-down beliefs. I was starting over from the beginning at this point. I am truly a skeptic. Years before this vision, though, I had been at a retreat and I had considered the question, 'Who was this Jesus, and why had he come here?' Well, the Universe will always answer your questions; you just have to be open to the answer.
One of my first visions came in a meditation at a retreat. In it, I saw a man in white walking towards me. His energy was tremendous, radiating all around him, but very gentle, all in white-gold. Still, I had a hard time believing he was who I suspected he was. I look back on it now and think that it was screamingly obvious; I just couldn't believe he had come through for me.
'Uh…who…who are you???' I asked. I was stuttering, I was so freaked out.
'Who do you think I am?' The man smiled.
'Are you Jesus?'
He smiled again and said nothing, and then to use a terrible cliché, I got blinded by the Light. Emanating from this being was the most intense energy, light and love that I had ever experienced. When you are at that level of energy, physical boundaries become meaningless, and I felt myself merging with him and All That Is. There was no such thing as other, it was all One. I was not ready for such love and connection yet, so I panicked. I felt I was losing who I was in the onslaught.
'Stop, I can't handle it!' He pulled his energy back immediately.
'OK,' he said, still smiling gently.
'Thanks…thanks, I…thank you, I just can't handle that level of energy yet.' I felt ridiculous for refusing.
'OK, you…you are…him…' I couldn't even say his name.
'I am always here…'
'OK…thanks.' I avoided looking at him, I wasn't too sure I was comfortable with the idea of seeing Jesus, either. This vision had really scared me. He slowly faded out before me, but I thought about it for a long time afterwards.
So now we come forward again to this out-of-body experience. I was now eager to finish the interaction that had begun so long ago; there was something I had missed and I wanted to find out what it was.
The closest I can come to describing what I was feeling is the joy of experiencing music, only multiplied a million times over, with nothing between you and forever. Star formations, black holes, thousands upon thousands of galaxies, colors with no names, sounds, tones like the largest pipe organ you will ever hear, it went on with no limit. Everything is resonant and harmonized and seems to work perfectly together, although not in the way you would expect. It is the blending of creation born of chaos.
No sooner had I thought of finishing the meeting with 'that person', than immediately I again shifted perspective. I was now hanging above a planet in a solar system very far away. It looked like Jupiter, huge, red, gas-covered, rotating slowly and majestically around a fiery sun, hanging in space, although I knew somehow that it was a million galaxies away from Earth. The backdrop of stars on blue velvet hung behind it, but the constellations were completely different from the ones we know here.
Up to now, I had perceived myself as looking like I do now, a woman from Earth, small, but still human in form. Now, instead of this woman, I was pure energy, a huge ball of white light edged in gold, and I realized that it was my true nature. To be your true essence is like no other feeling, it's like coming home. Another ball of white light hung near me. Again, this tremendous level of loving energy flooded me, merging us together. This time I recognized immediately who it was and didn't fight it. We merged into two personalities with one consciousness.
Then immediately like lightning striking, I got it. I started laughing, and he laughed with me. All That Is sparkled and danced at the sound.
'You get it now, don't you?' He said.
'Yes. I get it now.'
Years ago, back in the forties, there was a comic strip called Pogo, about a little fox-like creature who was environmentally conscious long before it was fashionable. In one strip, Pogo took a famous quote from a World War I general and turned it around for his own purposes. The general had said it after winning a battle, the name and the general now long forgotten. What he said was "We have seen the enemy, and we have won." In an ironic twist of words, Pogo, referring to our misuse of the Earth and its resources, said, " We have seen the enemy and it is us." What came to me was the reason for our existence, why and where God is, all of this. I was laughing now because it was so obvious; it's right in front of our noses.
'I have seen divinity, and it is us.' I replied, I could hardly even think, I was laughing so hard. Tears of laughter flew off like sparks. There was no difference; him, us, everything, it was all the same, and all of this, this magnificent, real illusion, had been created solely for us.
His energy sobered down, and he became serious.
'You have to go back, you know.'
'I don't want to go.' I have never said anything so heartfelt in my whole life. This was where my true nature lives, where we all live. I thought about what he was asking me to do.
'You promised.'
'I know.' Somehow I knew that I had made that promise. Later when I looked back on it, I realized that I had really been given a choice as to whether I wanted to come back, so the closest description to this vision would be of sort of a near-death experience.
My perspective never quite went back to the way it was before, although there's always more work to do. I don't think we're ever done if we're still here. But this is the question, this is it, the canvas we've been given, to create, to love, to be here now, to find out that the reflection in the mirror is really us. Are you there in your life? It's for you.


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The multi-agency Emergency Planning Group for the Western Isles, WIEPCG, met today (Thursday) at 1:30pm to discuss the severe weather forecast for the Islands on Friday 29th January 2016.
High winds are expected with gusts of up to 80mph. An amber warning has been issued.
All schools in the Western Isles will be closed tomorrow, Friday 29th January.
The following notification of severe weather was received from the Met Office which is valid from 03:00 to 10:00 on Friday 29th January 2016: " West to southwesterly gales are expected to develop widely across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England early on Friday.
"Winds are expected to widely gust 60-70 mph, possibly up to 80 mph along exposed coasts and over hills.
"Be prepared for the likelihood of difficult driving conditions and disruption to travel, such as cancellation to ferry services and bridge closures.
"Some structural damage is also possible, as well as disruption to power supplies. Heavy rain and surface water will be additional hazards in places. Winds will moderate from the west later on Friday morning."


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I'm sorry but I can't be silent any longer. I don't see why a brand a great as Porsche continues to struggle along with merchandise, especially clothing, that is just second rate. I don't mean in terms of manufactured quality, just in terms of design.
Their T shirts are a case study of uncool. There is no brand identity or theme. They look like they come from several different companies. They don't reflect the shared values of ownership or the varied qualities of their vehicle range, historic and present. The colours are apparently random. The pricing is too high. A cycling shirt? Seriously? They bought a licence to use the Steve McQueen name and then used it for this lot. I'm not a fan of baseball caps but you have to ask, would McQueen be seen dead wearing any of this stuff?
Have you ever seen anyone wearing one of these official Driver's Selection shirts? No other part of Porsche's business is so poorly thought out.
Worse still, take a look at some of the competition (eg here and here).
Effortless cool, colour themed, reflecting brand values and tight, dramatic designs.
I won't get into a discussion about Audi, BMW or Aston Martin because they aren't even trying. How odd is that in a market sector that lives for competition and in which brands are so important to so many fanfolk? (both owners and wannabes).
This is one of my reasons for starting Class Action Designs. Porsche people surely want to wear stuff that effectively communicates "This car marque reflects who I am, what I really care about."
My suggestion would be for Porsche to invite 20 of the World's top designers to submit some ideas for where to go with their merchandising. In the meantime, do please consider buying something from this independent source. Next up, in 2016, is a 917 design, based on a painting of mine.


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The supports for prefabricated flooring can be used with any type of slab and self-supporting tile and can be used on any type of terrace even with exposed waterproofing.
Their function is to ventilate the slab, protect the waterproofing membrane by distributing the load over an adequate surface, make the waterproofing system easy to inspect and repair, making it practicable without overloading the existing slab.
The circular shape, perforated in some cases, adapts perfectly to the floor sub-base even when it is not fully regular.


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Global Strategy Framework- An illustration of Tata Steel.
Introduction: Most managers have to face the increasing globalisation of markets and competition. That fact requires each company to decide whether it must become a worldwide competitor to survive. While deciding to go for globalization, the managers face two challenges. . First, they need to figure out what a global strategy is. Then, when they know what to do, they have to get their organisations to make it happen. Developing a global strategy is complicated by the fact that there are at least five major dimensions of globalisation such as playing big in major markets, standardizing the core product, concentrating value- adding activities in a few countries, adopting uniform market positioning and marketing mix and integrating competitive strategy across countries.
Global strategy framework given by George.S. Yip, Pierre .M. Loewe and Michael .Y. Yoshino helps the manager to decide whether it should globalise a particular business and what sort of global strategy should it pursue. The global strategy framework/audit involves seven steps as shown in chart-1.(shown at the end)
1. Identify Strategic business unit to audit: This step involves identifying the particular business unit for which the company is planning for globalisation.
2. Evaluate industry potential for globalisation: Managers should look first to the business's industry. An industry's potential for globalisation is driven by market, economic, environmental and competitive factors (see Chart 2 at the end of the paper) Market forces determine the customers' receptivity to a global product; economic factors determine whether pursuing a global strategy can provide a cost advantage; environmental factors show whether the necessary supporting infrastructure is there; and competitive factors provide a spur to action.
Market factors like homogeneous market needs, global customers, shortening product life cycle, transferable brands and advertising and internationalising distribution channel determine the potential for global strategy. Factors like economies of scale in manufacturing and distribution, steep learning curve, significant differences in country costs determine the potential for global strategy from economic point of view. Environmental factors like falling transportation costs, govt policies and technology changes push for global strategy in some industries. Competitive interdependence among countries and global moves of competitors also affect the potential of an industry for global strategy.
3. Evaluate current extent of globalization: The current extent of globalization of SBU under study is evaluated from five dimensions such as market participation, product standardization, activity concentration, marketing uniformity and integration of competitive moves.
Playing big in major markets – countries that account for a sizeable share of worldwide volume or where changes in technology or consumer tastes are most likely to start – brings benefits such as, larger volume over which to amortise development efforts and investments in fixed assets, ability to manage countries as one portfolio, including being able to exploit differences in position along the product life cycle, learning from each country, and being at the cutting edge of the product category by participating in the one or two major countries that lead development.
The core product can be standardized while customizing more superficial aspects of the offering. This will help the firm to enjoy the economies of scale relating to production.
Instead of repeating every activity in each country, a pure global strategy provides for concentration of activities in just a few countries. For example. fundamental research is conducted in just one country, commercial development in two or three countries, manufacturing in a few countries, and core marketing programs developed at regional centres, while selling and customer service take place in every country in the network. The benefits include gaining economies of scale and leveraging the special skills or strengths of particular countries.
The more uniform the market positioning and marketing mix, the more the company can save in the cost of developing marketing strategies and programs. Again it is easy to manage one or two brand than having several brand names.
Instead of making competitive decisions in a country without regard to what is happening in other countries, a global competitor can take an integrated approach. Another benefit of integrating competitive strategy is the ability of a company to cross-subsidise. This involves utilising cash generated in a profitable, high-market-share country to invest aggressively in a strategically important but low-market-share country.
4. Identify strategic need for change in the extent of globalisation: From the previous analysis, a firm's extent of globalisation is compared with the industry potential. In case the firm's extent of globalisation is less than industry potential, there is a need for global strategy for that firm. Then the next issue would be to check whether the firm has the internal ability to implement such global strategy.
5. Evaluate organisational factors: Organisational factors can support or undercut a business's attempt to globalise. Therefore, taking a close look at how the organisation will affect the relative difficulty of globalisation is essential. Four factors affect the ability of an organisation to develop and implement global strategy: organisation structure, management processes, people and culture (see chart 3 at the end of this paper)
a) Organisational structure:
· Centralisation of global authority: One of the most effective ways to develop and implement a global strategy is to centralise authority, so all units of the business around the world report to a common sector head. In a company pursuing a global strategy, the business focus should dominate the country focus.
· Domestic/ International split: A common structural barrier to global strategy is an organisational split between domestic and international divisions. The international division oversees a group of highly autonomous country subsidiaries, each of which manages several distinct businesses. A global strategy for any one of these businesses can then be coordinated only at the CEO level.
b) Management processes: The appropriate processes can even substitute to some extent for the appropriate structure..
· Cross Country coordination: Providing cross-country co-ordination is a common way to make up for the lack of a direct reporting structure.
· Global Planning: Too often strategic plans are developed separately for each country and are not aggregated globally for each business across all countries. This makes it difficult to understand the business's competitive position worldwide and to develop an integrated strategy against competitors who plan on a global basis.
· Global budgeting: Similarly, country budgets need to be consolidated into a global total for each product line to aid the allocation of resources across product lines.
· Global performance review and compensation: Rewards, especially bonuses, need to be set in a way that reinforces the company's global objectives.
· International groups and forums: Holding international forums allows exchange of information and building of relationships across countries. This in turn makes it easier for country nationals to gain an understanding of whether the differences they perceive between their home country and others are real or imagined. It also facilitates the development of common products and the co-ordination of marketing approaches.
c) People: Being truly global also involves using people in a different way from that of a multinational firm.
· Use foreign nationals: High-potential foreign nationals need to gain experience not only in their home country, but also at headquarters and in other countries. This practice has three benefits: broadening the pool of talent available for executive positions; demonstrating the commitment of top management to internationalisation; and giving talented individuals an irreplaceable development opportunity.
· State global intentions: The senior management of a company that wants to go global needs to constantly restate that intention and to act accordingly.
d) Culture: Culture is the most visible aspect of organisation. If the company lacks global identity and has strong national identity, then it will face difficulty in designing global products and programmes. A high level of autonomy for local business can also be a barrier to globalisation.
6. Identify organisational ability to implement globalisation: From the internal or organisational factor analysis, the firms ability to implement global strategy has to be identified.
7. Diagnose scope and direction of required strategy and organisational changes: From the above analysis, it will be clear whether the firm can implement global strategy or not? What are the changes required in the organisation to implement global strategy?
Illustration of Tata steels global strategy with the use of global strategy framework:
1. Identify business unit: Amongst the various SBU of Tata groups, I have selected Tata steel company (with special reference to their take over of Corus) as the SBU for the study of global strategy framework.
2. Evaluate Industry potential for globalization: Market factors pushed for globalization. The market needs for steel was homogeneous and they had global customers. Because of homogeneity of needs, the brands and advertising were transferable.
Economic factors were also favourable for globalization. Because of standardization of core products, the company was able to enjoy economies of scale in manufacturing. Since the company is ninety nine years old, they also enjoy the benefit of steep learning curve. Again, the raw material cost in U.K. is high. This can be offset by sourcing from India, where raw materials are comparatively cheaper.
Environmental factors increased the potential for global strategy. Since Corus had good sales network at various countries, the transportation costs of Tata steel will be reduced. Again, government policies like easing foreign currency restrictions both in UK and India were favourable for global strategy.
Global moves of competitor i.e. Mittal acquiring Arcelor also forced the Tata steel to go for global strategy.
3. Evaluate current extent of globalization: The current extent of globalization is measured under 5 dimensions.
· Market participation: Tata steel has sales in various countries like USA, Srilanka, Nepal, Shanghai etc but it lacked global identity or image.
· Product standardization: The basic product was standardized throughout the world. At final stages the product was customized as per the requirements.
· Activity concentration: Tata steels technological and integration, finance, strategy etc were concentrated only in India whereas the manufacturing activities were dispersed in India, USA, UK, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia etc. Trading was done in Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, South Africa, Hong Kong, etc.
· Marketing uniformity: The market positioning and marketing mix strategy were uniform throughout the world.
· Integration of competitive moves: Tata steel has taken an integrated approach to global competitors. They have tough competition with Mittal steels in almost all countries.
3. Identify strategic need for change in the extent of globalization: From the previous analysis, Tata steel concluded that its extent of globalization was significantly lower than the industry potential and lower than its competitor's global strategy. The Mittal Arcelor is ranked number one in steel industry in the world whereas the Tata steel ranked fifty sixth (before acquiring Corus). Furthermore, the industry potential for Tata steel had a strong need to develop a more global strategy. The next issue was whether Tata steel would be able to implement such a strategy.
5. Evaluate organisational / internal factors: To internal ability of Tata steel to implement global strategy is tested under the following factors:
· Structure: The head quarter of Tata steel was located in India. The five main functions such as technological and integration, finance, strategy, corporate relation and communication and global minerals were centralized. While the production, selling and distribution was decentralized and the divisions heads were given autonomy to take decisions.
· Management processes: The management processes were favourable for global strategy. Since the strategy and corporate communication was centralized, there was well cross- border co-ordination.
· People: There were no foreign nationals working in India either at corporate or divisional levels. There were many foreign nationals overseas, but these were mostly in their home countries and there was little movement between international and domestic jobs. But the leader Ratan Tata, through his action and statements had a global approach.
· Culture: Tata steel had a strong Indian national identity than a global identity. But some SBU of Tata group like Tetley Tea, Taj group of Hotels had created global identity.
6. Identify organizational ability to implement globalization: Tata steel had the ability to implement globalization because of its rich experience of 99 years of running a business successfully in India. Hence it had the ability to acquire big steel company like Corus.
7. Diagnose scope and direction of required changes: The most important change, the Tata steel has to do is to encourage the transfer of people between nations. According to IISI data, the average hourly rate of pay in UK steel was 6 times that of Brazil and 10 times that of India. So by movement of people, the company can reduce the cost and strengthen its competitive advantage of low cost leadership.
Tata groups in foreign countries should blend into the adopted corporate culture. For better brand visibility, more Tata companies will have to go abroad and learn to flourish abroad.
Conclusion: The global strategy framework provides a relatively simple and quick way to get answers to some of the most complicated questions facing corporate management today. It also greatly facilitates the undertaking of the strategy development phase that follows, because it has identified the major thrusts that are needed. Furthermore, it has the potential for avoiding major errors such as a move towards globalization when none is warranted. Finally it sensitizes the organization to the issues and to the commitments needed if it really decides to compete globally.
- George .S.Yip, Pierre.M. Loewe, Michael .Y.Yoshino, "How to take your company to global market", Columbia journal of world business, 1988.
- Pocha Jehangir, "Tatas Titan", Business world, Jan 14th 2008.
- Singh Piya, "Eyes on the World", Business world, Jan 14th 2008.


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Using Internet Marketing Training Course
Bit of a rant today, but the positive message is how I used some training to fix something that made me cross!
As an aside: We've probably all bought online courses before. It's one thing to buy them, but USING Internet Marketing Training Courses we've bought often gets forgotten after the first flush of enthusiasm. And there's little wonder if you don't have success with a course you haven't applied!
Regular readers may remember that I am working with Neil Stafford as my coach, and one of the courses we have access to in our training is Copy and Profit Blueprint.
Here is my review of Copy and Profit Blueprint.
Another "Challenge" Hits Me!
I'm enjoying working with Neil in the limited time I have available, however, as always seems to happen to me, life gave me a business side-swipe again last week:-(
I have been very proud of the fact that I one of the first online systems I set up makes me regular sales, world-wide, in the complementary health market-place. Most of my clients are outside the UK.
I've done my best to provide a good service and have had regular repeat clients, especially from certain countries.
Banned From Worldwide Trading
So imagine my irritation to find that I am now banned from selling this service in those countries. Why? Because, despite selling at RRP (Recommended Retail Price) my price is lower than suppliers in other countries, so clients in those countries were buying from me, instead of from the more expensive suppliers in their own country. Well, you would, wouldn't you?
Is that my fault / problem?
Well, apparently it is and "they're bigger than I am", so I have to "roll over and conform" or lose my supplier. So much for free trade and eCommerce!
I was tempted to just change my supplier and sell a different product, but the one I sell is the one I believe is the best on the market.
Yet with a single email "head office" has wiped out the value of my customer list – I'm no longer allowed to sell to most of them. And they rendered useless, work I have been doing for three or four years now.
Giving Up?
I was so upset that my first reaction was just to shut down the website or put it up for sale.
I took the problem to Neil, my coach, and he suggested I change my site to sell an affiliate product instead, rather than waste the traffic and work. This sounded like a good idea, but when I hunted round for affiliate programs for the same service I hit the problems below:
- Those selling the same product ALSO had the same country specific ban
- One affiliate program selling a similar product by a different supplier didn't pay commission on this product, only on supplements
- They also didn't guarantee other products (e.g. supplements) would be delivered world-wide for the price on the site because of import duties etc
Reviewing the Original Online Business Model
If I'm honest, the original business model has a bit of a problem…. it's not entirely automated and relies on me being available to receive a physical sample from a client and send it to a laboratory in the USA. This isn't always convenient, and if I'm away I have to pay an assistant to check for the arrival of samples and post them off.
This isn't worth the cost for the few orders I get from the reduced number of countries I am now permitted to trade in. Most of my clients are in the "banned countries".
Also, the "back-end" sales (of supplements recommended by this service) have dropped off because clients now order direct from head-office and rarely bother to include my name to receive commissions. There is no "proper" affiliate program running for this company.
So there was SOME merit to the giving up option.
But it annoyed me enormously that all the work I have done would be wasted, or someone else would get the benefit of it, and probably offer me a derisory amount of money for the site.
A Better Solution
What I needed was to sell an information-only product that could be delivered with no intervention from me. But it was SUCH an unusual service that I haven't come across an information product, so that seemed another non-starter.
Until I remembered that I had actually written one of my own 🙂
The pre-ban-service gave away a free eBook (26 pages long) which encouraged people to buy the test and got them onto my "list".
Originally I was selling this eBook for a few dollars, and then, a couple of years ago, I was "taught" to give it away free so that it would do the job of selling people on the service.
What if I were to start charging for the eBook again…..?
- It's a lower price for people to pay than ordering the test outright, so they may be more likely to send a small sum of money as a test purchase
- In the eBook I can explain the country ban and direct people to their local (more expensive!) suppliers. I try not to be too scathing!
- If eBook purchasers are in countries I AM permitted to sell to, I reduce the cost of the test by the price of the eBook that clients have already bought
As an aside, I have altered my sales pages to make absolutely sure anyone (who reads them) knows they have ordered a downloadable PDF eBook rather than a physical book, as one irate customer recently thought.
Using Internet Marketing Training Course
So I applied the information in the Copy and Profit Blueprint course to do all this, and have now changed my sites to SELL the 26 page book that I used to give away free, and I give away a shorter "Report" that "pre-sells" the eBook.
The single paragraph above, of course, doesn't actually do justice to the whole process, which is explained in great detail in the course, with brain-storming tips and marketing ideas.
So USING this Internet Marketing Training Course (plus an afternoon's work) has saved me from "giving away" a site and product I had worked hard on for several years.
Check out my review of Copy and Profit Blueprint.


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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:11:56 — 65.9MB)
It's the rare film that comes along and totally redefines the medium, but such a film is BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR. From its striking visual style to its Oscar-worthy performances to its dazzling special effects to its powerful, environmental subtext, this tale of a small, California town enduring the wrath of a vengeful Mother Nature — in the form of merciless attacks by flocks of deadly birds — is no mere light entertainment, but a truly life-changing experience, as immersive as AVATAR, as revolutionary as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
Andrea Lipinski and Kevin Lauderdale join Cinefantastique Online's Dan Persons in a sober, critical analysis of this landmark film, analyzing how director James Nguyen has taken the lessons learned from his spiritual mentor — Alfred Hitchcock — and exceeded the master in every regard. Click on the player to hear the podcast, and discover how the pantheon of cinema greats — from Griffith to Scorsese; from Eisenstein to Kubrick — will soon have a new name added to its ranks.


text: Why does my furnace keep shutting off? Published on September 15, 2017 There is always a sense of dread when you notice something isn't quite right with your furnace. You're resting at home and you notice your furnace is continuously kicking in and shutting off. However, before you panic, there are several items you can check when you feel like your furnace seems to be shutting off more than usual than it should be. Check the air filter in your furnace—You may think that air filters are only used to help keep the indoor air cleaner, but air filters also work to keep your system clean. Your first step when you realize there is an issue with your system should be examining your air filter to see if it needs to be replaced. If it's clogged or dirty, it can make it hard for air to flow over the heat exchanger. Look at your thermostat—For lots of us, we may have set our thermostats several months ago and forgot about it, especially when using a smart or programmable thermostat. Look at your thermostat to see if anything strange is taking place or if it could need new batteries. The site of your thermostat could make a difference, as well. If it's located in a place that's often hotter than the rest of your home, such as in direct sunlight or by another heat source, it could be mistakenly assuming your home is already up to the desired temperature. Check out your windows for proper insulation—If your home doesn't have appropriate insulation, your furnace is likely to shut off more frequently. Walk around your home and check the windows to make sure they are all closed and take a look at the seals around your windows for any drafts or cold air entering into your house. While you can certainly check for some of these issues yourself, if issues still continue after these checks, it might be time to call in the pros. When your furnace is always turning off, it can result in unnecessary work and stress on your system that could cause more pricey repairs or even a replacement. Our experts are willing to help you evaluate the situation and identify the root of the cause, so you can enjoy the rest of the season with the optimum indoor comfort. If you have questions, you can call our experts at 605-223-0307 or check out our online scheduler to conveniently request an appointment. Back To BlogContact Us


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Would love to buy more in the future.Keep innovating.
- Rosy KC
Use Coupon: 2076 to get 10% Discount* | 2019 Planner | We deliver our products within Ring-Road, Kathmandu and few selected locations – Details
"Two years ago (28 December, 2014) we started Bhav Products for the sheer love of notebooks, planners and DIYs. Gradually, being able to provide handmade products put together by skilled Nepali with various relatable designs to choose from to stationery lovers in Nepal fuelled our passion. We have learnt a lot from you all. Thank you for sharing your valuable suggestions and encouraging us. Hoping for the best. Happy New Year. Stay warm.😊💖"
-Bhintuna "Jya-Poo", Founder


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We always publish the best, low-cost packages available anywhere on the island!Read More
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In contrast, the beaches along the windward coast are in more secluded and undeveloped areas. Here magical coves carved out of limestone and inlets formed by the relentless pounding of waves are overlooked by craggy desert terrain. Because of strong undertow and crashing waves, swimming here is not recommended. But the beaches on Aruba's wild coast do afford tranquility, privacy and unique natural phenomena. Both coasts afford spectacular, glittering Caribbean views that will surely take your breath away. All beaches are open to the public.
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Aruba's casino scene sizzles with expectation and exhilaration as bells sound with each win and where lively crowds ring each game table. As the originator and home of Caribbean stud poker as well as the host of professional poker tournaments and everything in slots from progressive jackpots to nickel machines, Aruba welcomes both veteran gamblers and casual players in experiencing the excitement of courting chance. Whether pursuing luck with a roll of the dice or a spin of the roulette wheel.
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History of Davis-West House I
- Published in Davis-West House
- Written by Claude Reese
Our publisher thinks the series I did on antebellum Greenwood was well received. He has asked me to do one on the Davis-West House. We will start with two pictures of one of the earliest occupants, Dr. Theophilus West. The house is located at Putnam and Madison Sts in Marianna.…Read more...


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With summer only being weeks away it's time to think about what are the flavors and influences of the season. Summer and Fall are probably my favorite seasons to cook. There is so much bounty it can be a daunting task to try to focus in on the flavors that showcase the season best but I have a few things up my sleeve that I am really excited about.
The first piece is the breakfast. Typically I do a seasonal porridge but with the weather warming up I wanted to do something different. That's when I thought about a trip to Bali. Breakfast there was good but the thing that really stood out was their fruit bowl. It was chunks of melon, slices of the sweetest banana I have ever had and topped with a tasty granola with a little drizzle of honey. To me not much else screams summer like melons so this will be a perfect way to start the day. Thankfully so many grocery stores are carrying more exotic fruits so getting something fun like Jack Fruit isn't hard. I will also come up with my own granola type topping that I think might include a puffed whole grain for added crunch so be sure to check back as I am sure it's to be a good one!
The other piece to my summer planning is seafood. Each season I work with limited meats. Fall was all about pork, winter was all about beef, spring was all about chicken and lamb, so summer is when I work mainly with fish and seafood. Not is this only a nice accompaniment to all those veggies that will soon be hitting the farmers markets but the light fresh taste of seafood will be great for those hot summer days and thankfully most of the dishes are quick to cook.
The biggest issue I was and to some scale am still having is trying to find great resources for recipes that use fish or seafood as the main component to the dish. Often recipes I look at are too quick, too simple, and overall just uninteresting. Sure there's a time for a quick pan fried fish or something like shrimp cocktail but I also want something interesting. The irony is that I recently discovered that a cookbook in my collection, that I have never used, could potentially be the answer or at least point me in the right direction.
That cookbook is Jose Garces: The Latin Road Home. When I got the book I had cracked it open but I didn't take the time to read it and instead just thumbed through the recipes. Nothing was jumping out at me. I just didn't get how to use this cookbook so it sat untouched on my book shelf since then. I don't know why but something prompted me to grab the book when I started thinking about new menu plans. So yesterday I gave it another go. Immediately I found something interesting, Braised Rabbit, Shrimp, and Lobster Rice Stew. I have been wanting to work with rabbit for a while now so this piqued my interest.
After finding something that got me excited I dug into the book even more. I think I counted a half a dozen recipes for ceviche and countless more that use either seafood or fish. This got me even more excited so I dug deeper into the book. What I learned was that the cook book actually has a brilliant layout. It covers Ecuador, Spain, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru. He has devoted one chapter to each country and at the beginning of each chapter he offers four menus. The first three menus are designed to serve four and the final menu is designed to be a dinner party completed with multiple courses, desserts, and even cocktails.
Understanding how this book is laid out makes it much more accessible on understanding how to approach each section and how to end up with something that will give me authentic experiences in trying these new cuisines. All in all this seems like the perfect discovery as I venture into the world of fish and seafood. I have yet to cook out of it but as I do I will be sure to share my experience.


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Understanding The Mysteries Of "Affordable Housing"/
Our incoming mayor thinks that New York City has a "crisis" of not enough "affordable housing." And certainly if you try to rent or buy an apartment in the private market, you will find that in Manhattan and the trendy areas of Brooklyn there is no such thing as a place you can afford with a middle class income. Should the government try to fix this problem? Any such effort is doomed to be a very expensive failure.
The old real estate cliche is that there are three important things: location, location, and location. It's an exaggeration, but contains a huge element of truth. In housing, the bricks and mortar are generic, and the thing above all others that makes a home special (or not) is the location. A place in bad condition but a good location can be fixed up; a place in a bad location is always going to remain in the same location. For better or worse, in Manhattan you could have the smallest, most broken down one-room studio apartment and it would still be worth around $500,000. Two bedroom apartments start at close to $1 million. Meanwhile, in Detroit you can buy mansions for about $10,000 -- and if you have one of those to sell, you may not even get the $10,000.
And it's not just Detroit. Many cities in the U.S. are losing population, and in those cities the price of housing falls way below the cost of new construction. A good way to look at it is that if new construction is allowed and essentially unlimited, then the cost of new construction puts a cap on the price of housing -- if you don't want to pay what someone is asking for an existing home, you can just build a new one. But if a city is shrinking, then there is no reason to build new houses, and the price of existing ones can just keep falling. Detroit is one example, but there are many others, In upstate New York, cities like Utica, Syracuse and Buffalo have long had declining populations and extremely inexpensive housing. In Buffalo there are hundreds of houses for sale for under $100,000. Syracuse and Utica are smaller cities, but the situation is comparable.
Closer to home, we have Philadelphia. Take Amtrak through there and you will see vast tracts of abandoned houses that could be bought up for a song. But nobody wants them. And still closer, we have New Haven, Bridgeport and Norwalk, Connecticut. Bridgeport is the sorriest of that sorry group, although not so down and out as Buffalo. Lots of houses in Bridgeport are available for under $100,000. They also have excellent train service into New York. You could buy a family a house in Bridgeport for approximately the one-year cost of subsidizing them to live in Manhattan. Does the breadwinner need to get into the City to work? The annual cost of an unlimited Metro-North ticket from Bridgeport to Grand Central is about $4500 -- a small fraction (about 5%) of the cost of subsidizing this family to live in Manhattan for that year.
But can the price of housing rise way up above the cost of new construction? Easy -- just restrict how much can be built in a high demand area. Here in New York, we have endless ways of doing that, from rent regulation (making it extremely difficult to remove existing tenants) to landmarking to zoning to Community Board approval for any significant change to anything. And then, of course, there's the reservation of a substantial portion of the very limited land for affordable and low income housing. I'm not saying I'm necessarily against all of that (just most of it), but at least we should be honest with ourselves and admit that the "crisis" of affordable housing is largely artificially created, an unintended consequence of pursuing other seemingly desirable goals.
When the demand for housing is so strong that it drives the price well above the cost of new construction, then the price of the land will rise to make up the difference. So existing landowners are huge beneficiaries of Manhattan's restrictive development policies. That would be some small fraction of the hated top 1%. I wonder if de Blasio realizes the extent to which policies he favors benefit this group? Very unlikely.
In the very restricted private development market in Manhattan, we now have super-expensive projects setting price records and competing on the basis of luxury amenities and special finishes. But how's it going in the government-controlled subsidized sector? Not so good. It seems that, despite many good locations that would be highly valuable in today's marketplace, the New York City Housing Authority is running out of money and the buildings are falling apart. From Nicole Gelinas in the New York Post on October 21:
Gotham's public housing, more than half a century old, is crumbling. Fred Harris, real-estate chief at the New York City Housing Authority, told the Municipal Art Society last week it would cost NYCHA $17 billion to get its 2,596 buildings into a "state of good repair."
With about 170,000 apartments in its buildings, that $17 billion repair bill would be $100,000 per family -- enough to buy every one of them a house in Bridgeport. (OK, there aren't enough houses in Bridgeport to take them all. But if you're willing to consider places like Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo and Detroit, there are plenty.)
And the $17 billion is going to come from where exactly? Many NYCHA projects have substantial amounts of unused land -- they are of the "towers in the park" architecture style that became trendy back in the 50s. NYCHA came up with a proposal to generate some real money by selling or leasing some of that land to private developers to build market-rate buildings. Of course the public housing tenants protested -- it would block their views! Their champion was of course de Blasio. For now, it looks like that proposal is dead. However, it's unlikely that the Feds are going to be coming up with the repair money, so good question, what is de Blasio's next move.
We have in plain view all over the city the results of failed socialist housing theories, and we have just voted to double down on more of same. It's just one of the mysteries of "affordable housing."


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Geir Fillip Haseth is a brave man. Every day, come sun, high winds or driving rain, he sails his small boat from Fræna to work at the Nyhamna gas processing plant on the far side of the fjord.
The plant receives natural gas from the Ormen Lange deep-water field 120 kilometres (75 miles) offshore, removes impurities from it, then pipes it to the UK, where it meets around 20% of the country's gas needs.
Haseth's choice of transport might be traditional, but his job developing new technologies is anything but.
"We combine our knowledge of operations and technology with a natural curiosity to constantly explore more efficient ways of doing things," he says.
The scale of the operation, which sends up to 70 million cubic metres of gas a day to the UK, demands in-depth planning to safely and efficiently manage hundreds of people working across the site. When the gas plant was being expanded to receive gas from more fields, Haseth came up with the idea of connecting teams around the site using iPads and a new app to manage the task better.
"The app provides an overview of everything happening on site and highlights any potential conflicts," says Haseth. "Staff on site update progress in real time using their iPads, improving accuracy, efficiency and safety."


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Pompey midfielder Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain has joined Eastbourne Borough on loan.
The 18-year-old has moved to the National League South side on a one-month deal after spending a similar period at Salisbury earlier in the season.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has made one senior appearance for the Blues – against Exeter in last term's Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
Eastbourne boss Tommy Widdrington welcomed the signing of the Pompey Academy product, who will be included in the squad for The Sports' game against Truro tomorrow.
Speaking to the Eastbourne Herald, he said: 'Obviously, his name will get the attention but we have signed him because he's a decent young player in his own right.
'He will join on an initial one-month loan deal from Portsmouth and goes straight into the squad for the long trip to Truro this weekend.
'Unfortunately, he is cup-tied so he won't feature in our FA Cup matches but I'm sure he'll prove to be a tremendous asset to us for the league fixtures.
'Christian can play across the midfield and in wide areas.
'We are grateful to Paul Cook and his staff at Fratton Park for allowing Christian to join us at this time.'