text:
Wall Street surged by 200 points overnight, mainly it seems because of a new US deficit reduction plan discussed here by the Wall Street Journal.
'WASHINGTONPresident Barack Obama on Tuesday backed a $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction plan as "a very significant step" after it gained fresh momentum from a bipartisan group in the Senate.
'Mr. Obama said the proposal, designed by a group of lawmakers known as the "Gang of Six," represents a balanced approach to cutting the deficit that he has pushed for all along.
"The framework that they put forward is broadly consistent with what we've been working on here in the White House," Mr. Obama said.
Compelling television is was (yawn!) but the 'we knew nothing' stonewall by Messrs Murdoch Snr and Jnr left us little the wiser. News Corporation shares recovered some ground, and Wendy Deng illustrated her martial arts expertise in dealing with a pie chucker who attempted to bespatter Mr Murdoch snr.
Apple Inc.'s third-quarter earnings more than doubled as the company reported surging sales of the iPhone and iPad device, another factor no doubt helping create the market surge.
The Eurozone crisis for a change took a lower profile, but will resurface with regularity until this problem is solved, most likely by partition into Big-Euro and Little-Euro country blocs - see yesterday's blog (below) for more on this matter.
RBA monetary policy
The biggest gamble of the career of Westpac chief economist, Bill Evans, has moved the markets, which are now betting that the next rate move will be down. Most of Mr Evans' fellow bank economists, however, have stuck with the view that the next rate move will be upward, thought perhaps taking longer to occur.
The June quarter consumer price result, available shortly, will decide the immediate outcome and if it exceeds expectations will leave Mr Evans deeply regretting his 15 minutes of fame.
The minutes of the previous Reserve Bank board meeting included the following gem: 'The extent to which these forces would strain the economy's productive capacity over time would be a key determinant of inflation. Members noted, however, that the flow of recent information suggested both that there was more time to assess the likely strength of inflationary pressures in Australia and that it would be prudent to use that time. Members noted that the CPI outcome for the June quarter, to be published later in the month, would be important in helping to shape views about inflation, and therefore the future path of interest rates. Accordingly, members considered that the current mildly restrictive setting of monetary policy remained appropriate'.
Michael Stutchbury of the Oz yesterday accurately reflected Henry's view, for what that is worth.
'Australia needs to maintain a tight ship and concentrate on lifting our economic game while all this is playing out'.
But, as we said in early June, while there is the mother of mining booms underway, most of the rest of the economy is mired in recession. Collins Street opinion leaders are inclined to be in the rate cut school, and Henry has had to offer some modest bets on the matter, some of which have been accepted.
And one should at least mention Mark Bouris and his Yellow Brick Road initiative.
'Time for the RBA to get real' is the headline, and the theme is confusion.
'I talk to a lot of business owners and I can't recall a time when there has been so much confusion. In the early 1990s, when unemployment was high and banks wouldn't lend to small businesses, the landscape was very clear. The pain was spread evenly.
'Today it's a different story'. Here is a link to my advice in the early 1990s. Mark, some more substance would be useful if you really want to change the game.
Another day, another country, and another free, correction, freer, trade agreement. What fun the PM and his band of 600 sherpas must be happening, except of course when the big Australian Airforce plane cannot take off. Still, this is about this government's best week, and it has produced substantitive results. Despite caveats - bad luck rice farmers - freer trade makes us stronger and builds links that go way beyond the fun of international conferences and windy communiques.
The PM has arrived in China to be greeted without a frown from his hosts (important that), allowed to review the troops (one assumes a sobering moment) and to begin talks that we hope eventually produces a freer trade agreement with China that includes the rice farmers.
Henry's review of Ian Morris' splendid Why the West Rules - For Now introduces a book that should be required reading for anyone in the China deal-making or even just the Chinese commentary business.
Meanwhile, back home, or where-ever Joe Hockey calls home these days, the battle for the budget goes on. Today's assistance comes from the International Monetary Fund, who earlier this week was helping us get our monetary policy right. 'She'll be right as it is, comrades, said the current leaders of the financial services business in Australia. Let's hope so, or there will be some hangings followed by a bonfire of the vanities.
The IMF points out that, while Australia still has one of the lowect ratios of government debt to GDP, that debt is rising faster than that in almost any other 'developed' nation, and it will require a hurculean job to rein in spending, raise taxes and produce a surplus. The hurculean effort will somply stop the rot. Repeating the effort of Howard and Costello so that the debt is wiped out and the Future Fund can start growing via new injections is just about unthinkable.
A snippet of news today says that business insolvencies are starting to mount. This reminds Henry of the situation in 1990, reported here to an unresponsive Treasury and RBA. Nothing like it was in 1990/91, with cash interest rates at record levels, a deteriorating budget and Australia's costs well above those of competitor nations. Come to think about it, it is only the RBA that is (so far) acting different.
The lead up to the experience known as the 'GFC' has been called in Australia 'The Great Complacency'. Thanks to the China boom, we sailed through the GFC virtually unscathed, a 'miracle economy'. But the signs were all there - low productivity growth, costs rising faster than in competitor nations and still complacent econocrats. Having enjoyed the dance, now the piper must be paid, and we shall all share in the payments.
Luckily, the freer trade deals will make us better able to pay the piper.
Bugger me dead, as Henry's old footy coach used say. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is chanelling Henry, via David Uren. Medium Uren reports: 'The International Monetary Fund has urged the return of multiple objectives for central banks, arguing that an exclusive concern with price stability has been shown to be inadequate.
'The fund says monetary policy faces a highly uncertain future, with doubts about its objectives, its policy decision rules and central bank independence.
Until these issues are better understood, monetary policy will involve more art and less science, the fund says'.
These stunning insights allegedly come from a 'staff paper prepared for the IMF ministerial meeting this weekend'. This is the news before the news, unless of course you have followed the debate in these pages, and summarised in Henry's submission to the Murray inquiry. We had been steeling ourselves to be ignored, but if the IMF is on the same page, just maybe Mr Murray will ask Kevin Davis to take a look and report back.
But I digress. Mr Uren goes on. 'The fund says the global financial crisis has challenged the notion that achieving price stability is sufficient to deliver macro-economic stability and raises the question of whether other objectives should enter the mandate of monetary policy.
'Yet the IMF says that while there is a consensus that financial stability must form part of overall economic policy, it is less clear to what extent central banks and monetary policy should deal with it.
Would you put two million people out of work because banks are too leveraged or house prices are rising too fast? Instead, the first line of defence should be instruments that can target financial stability more directly and efficiently, including macroprudential tools, such as loan-to-value and debt-to-income limits, and capital flow management measures.
"Yet , when these tools prove insufficient, we may have to accept a new trade-off for monetary policy, and the interest rate may have to lend a hand to maintain financial stability.
And, after a theoretical section about whether stabilising inflation may produce greater instability of output - a proposition that Henry doubts - the narrative continues with a stunning admission for Australia's free floaters at the RBA - the 'whatever don't kill you makes you stronger' boys.
'The IMF says that the success of the Swiss central bank in putting a cap on the value of the Swiss franc raises the issue of whether central banks should also target external stability'.
Gor blimey, Comrades, what are they smoking in Washington?
Mr Uren's commentary may be accessed here. Henry presumes that confidential staff papers are only available to friends of the leaky staffer, and if anyone has such a friend Henry would appreciate a copy of the paper.
Interested readers are referred to our submission to the Murray inquiry, which is available here.
To quote just a few of the relevant sentances. The issues [in this submission] concern better management of monetary policy, which requires additional ways to manage Australia's currency and credit growth - in short, effective 'macroprudential' policy.
Monetary policy defined in the usual way by manipulation of cash rates of interest - cannot by itself adequately control the financial system. ... another policy instrument is needed to modify the effects of a currency value too high to allow the country to have a balanced set of industries.
Other forms of macroprudential policy are needed to modify other asset prices. ... I recommend variable prudential ratios, ratios that rise as asset prices rise and therefore provide some resistance to the development of asset inflation.
I recently presented on 'Asset inflation and monetary policy' at one of Melbourne's distinguished universities. One of the issues our team is grappling with is how to define 'monetary policy'. Is it growth of money supply (Friedman); cash interest rates (Historic gold standard,Taylor, modern central banks); 'Chairman's discretion (Zero cash rates plus 'innovation', eg QE); or some complicated mix of all those things plus 'state of the economy'.
A young professor who had spent significent time at one of the American Federal Reserve banks said something like: 'The Fed makes a judgment on all the available evidence', which reminded Henry of Australia's long-ago dismissed 'check list'. This is what I now call 'the narrative'. A central bank should relate its decisions about monetary policy to the entire set of economic indicators, and explain itself in those terms. The question for outsiders is, or should be: 'Does the narrative make sense'.
There is nothing truly original under the sun, Comrades, but it is good to see the IMF is also stumbling slowly to a better approach. Like generals fighting an old war, however, Australia's financial system regulators are reportedly satisfied that all is well here, due to their brilliance.
Gor blimey, comrades. That Martin Parkinson has got a bit of gorm, discovered his mojo, telling the nation that we have a choice: a steadily increasing avaerage rate of income tax or a widening and broadening of the GST. What a pity he didn't say all this when Australia's least competent Treasurer, Wayne Swan, was busy creating the complete disaster that is Australia's Federal budget. Would have been a career limiting move way back then, of course, but them's the breaks if you are fair dinkum, Parko, old mate.
We haven't seen the report of the Audit Committee yet, but it presumably contains even more ungilded views, justifying the government's latest descriptions, collected here by the AFR's Phillip Coorey.
Terrible, awful and horrific Treasurer Joe Hockey told Alan Jones on Monday this week as he spoke of the legacy inherited from Labor, including a tsunami of spending.
An absolute cataclysmic mess, was how Prime Minister Tony Abbott described it to Coalition MPs and senators the week before, urging them to spend the six-week autumn parliamentary break in their electorates reminding people of the challenge we face.
Fixing the budget is indeed a great challenge. Australia's greater economic challenge is the overall cost level, which Henry has been saying is of the order of 30 to 40 % higher compared to that of competitors and customers.
No newspaper has seen fit to repeat this suggestion, though every week there is fresh evidence.
* In the week just past, BHP let it be known that it costs 50 % more to dig up coal in Australia than in the USA, and several more companies announced their closure here.* Qantas is doomed as an international carrier, because Aussies will not pay the extra 30 % for the priviledge of international travel on the big bird with the flying kangaroo.* Evey week we hear of another bunch of businesses closing down, Toyota, Holden, Forge, the list goes on.
Confirmatory indirect evidence is the detioration in the labor market. Officials and econocrats stick doggedly to the official (ABS) unemployment, which says the rate of unemployment is 'only' 6%, albeit rising slowly.
Those who ask more focussed questions, like Roy Morgan Research, or provide better research, like former Labor pollie, John Black, find a far gloomier situation.
Mr Black's expose is in two big stories in the Weekend Oz; linked here and here.
'The Rudd government inherited a labour market from John Howard and Peter Costello at the end of 2007 that was generating year-on-year almost as many jobs as could be provided annually by growth in members of the population aged 15 or older.
'In September last year, the Abbott government inherited a labour market from Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan that was generating jobs for only 28 per cent of potential new entrants to the workforce 94,300 jobs for 334,700 potential new workers.
'In December, this figure dropped to 52,400, or 15 per cent of potential new workers, before climbing slowly back to 68,700 jobs in February. This means the government was then generating enough demand for the market to find places for only one in five potential new workers'.
The fallout is worst for young people, graduating at far too fast a pace for more than a few to find jobs, as discussed here earlier this week with input from Professor Jeff Boreland of Melboure University.
Fiona Prior sees what will become a Middle Eastern classic, the film Wadjda and is swept away by the Seraphim Trio.
Last night the Hawks smashed Freo, who had started well this season after giving Hawthorn a good fight in last year's Grand final. Collingwood belted the hapless Swans last week, and meet the Catters at the 'G' today. Caaaarlton! meets Essendon on Sunday evening, a really bad time for those of us with jobs to attend, or even to watch on TV, and likely to be a really bad time for the Blues if their inconsistent form in two losses so far this season is any guide. I suppose there is just a chance they put together four scintillating quarters to beat Essendon by a point or two, but I'd rather save that result for the 2021 grand final.
The Aussie shielas' cricket team is into the T20 final and have a fair chance of winning, though I cannot for the life of me think who they are playing. The blokes salvaged a sliver of pride to finish one-three (three losses) by beating Bangladesh.
Otherwise it is the dry season for sport, though we did notice that a famous Aussie swimming family roared into Commonwealth Games contention this week. No doubt there are Aussies doing well in darts or two-up contests or boomeranging throwing in foreign climes, proving yet again that 'Global sport' ranks as highly as mining, agriculture and health services in the list of things we do well enough to make a national objective.
With Mrs Thornton, Henry plans to visit the Bendigo Art Gallery for its acclaimed show, then our next kultural highlight will be a visit to St Petersburgh. (Check out the image of the week for the image of the real Henry Thornton, with Wilberforce a great anti-slavery crusader.)
Image of the week
'The Reserve Bank of Australia has dumped its overt strategy of talking down the dollar and has ramped up warnings about steep rises in property prices.
'As the central banks board left the cash rate at a record-low 2.5 per cent for an eighth straight month, governor Glenn Stevens pointedly declined to describe the currency as uncomfortably high a term he used in December when the dollar was several cents lower than US93¢, which it hit on Tuesday.
'Mr Stevens said the currencys recent gains reduced the benefit to the economy. At the same time, low rates are expected to boost economic growth, helped by a surge in new home construction.
The shift in tone is a significant acknowledgement recent attempts to jawbone the dollar lower have floundered and threaten to undermine the banks credibility'.
Curiously, Jacob Greber, AFR's 'Economics correspondent', whose full story is available here, (including a nice video comment), fails to note Henry's clearly articulated explanation of the inconsistency in the RBA's views, posted Monday and available here.
Henry's view is based on the fact that 'monetary policy cannot serve two, [or even three], masters'.
That is, moving cash rates might have a reasonable effect on the economy, and should if managed appropriately, keep goods and services inflation controlled, as in the RBA's agreement with the government.
But moving cash rates cannot, except by chance at particular times in the economic 'cycle', also control the exchange rate or house prices.
Henry's editor's submission to the Murray Enquiry spells this point out as clearly as Henry is capable of doing, and is linked here.
Sadly, those who do not understand history are condemned to repeat it.
Memo Jacob Greber: Henry may be contacted here if you feel a tutorial may be useful.
No decent person can fail to be moved by the plight of contientious youngsters, with excellent qualifications and aptitude, who cannot get a decent job. The Global Financial Crisis must take a lot of the blame, since 'flight to quality' includes hiring processes. But in Australia's case I also blame the policy of letting 'higher ed' rip, encouraging far to many people to go to universities while downplaying the virtues of good technical training for people who are unsuited to Eng Lit, Maths or Physics or who find Economics boring.
Today's announcenment that the Victorian opposition will rescue a redundant Swinburne Campus from developers and turn it back into a good old-fashioned TAFE is likely to be a small step back to reality with the mix of types of education to match demand in Australia. I predict it will be very popular with voters.
One of Australia's finest economists - of the non-boring variety - is Jeff Boreland of Melbourne University. Jeff is on a one-man crusade to explain the facts of Australia's labor market, and today I present his summary of the youth unemployment, with a link to all articles in his series so far.
Key points
A substantial decline in the employment/population rates of the younger Australian population (aged 15- 19 and 20-24 years) has occurred since 2008. The decline has been concentrated amongst those not in full-time education who are working full-time and those in full-time education who are working parttime. The main explanation for the decline has been a slow-down in hiring during the current downturn, which has disproportionately affected young workers. Employment growth for the younger worforce has been much lower than for the aggregate workforce in manufacturing, construction, retail trade, accommodation and food services, professional services, and health care and social assistance.
Read on here for the full presentation.
Professor Boreland's 'Labour market snapshots' are available here.
Many years ago, when Henry was a visiting Professor at the University of Rome, we met over dinner a lady professor. She explained that jobs like hers were very hard to get in Italy, and she had to work for seven years without pay to get on the academic ladder, which she then climbed with great success.
In the past two years we have been helping our kids, and some of their friends, to get jobs, with a success rate of 5 out of around 8 so far. It goes without saying that all were highly credentialled, well presented and had been coached by friends and relatives in how to approach the dreaded interview. In three of the five cases, it was it seems the practical experience in a real but unpaid job as an 'intern' that seemed to make a difference.
The Roman lady professor's husband, the man who invited Henry to visit his university, explained that the magnificent apartment we were dining in had not been purchased on two professor's salaries. 'In Rome', he explained, 'you only own a property like this if you inherit it'. Australian house prices are headed up again far too quickly for this homeowner-with-children's comfort. Could we be headed for Italy's real estate problems as well as their labor market constraints and practices?
'Monetary policy should be conducted with clear focus and without surprises that confuse people in the financial system or more generally'. That is the advice given to the young Henry Thornton by the former RBA governor Sir Harold Knight.
Consider the current RBA's recent three-stage approach to currency management.
1. When the currency was initially well above parity with the US dollar, senior RBA staff delivered the unreasonably brutal message - 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'.
Perfectly reasonable, you may think. However, for businesses that were unable to become stronger, liquidation or substantial downsizing was the outcome. Manufacturing, inward tourism, exports of educational services all suffered significent overall shrinkage, while most survivers were weaker, not stronger.
2. Then there was a phase in which domestic interest rates were cut, arguably lower than was ideal, combined with gubernatorial exhortation, so-called 'open mouth' policy. This phase of policy had some success and for a while the currency seemed headed to 85 cents, a level 'mentioned' as better than levels in excess of parity. This phase of policy reminded Henry of the (unannounced) aims of cutting interest rates in the late 1980s, despite explicit board recognition that monetary policy needed to be tightened, not eased. Nemisis came when cash rates had again to be raised, this time very substantially, leading to the early 90s 'recession we had to have'.
3. Now we have moved to a 'no comment' or 'don't mention the war' in which the RBA has let it be known cash rates are likely to be stable for some time. Since the housing boom suggests the next move in interest rates is likely to be up, the Australian dollar is again moving up.
In short: no consistency of purpose, confusing changes of approach, and further squeeze on exporters and those domestic companies struggling to compete against imported products and services. Verdict - 'failure, a weaker economy, not a stronger economy, and confusion.
The current RBA management will no doubt say 'Sir Harold Who?' and 'Henry Who?' should this Blog ever come to their attention.
Yet Sir Harold's advice remains the gold standard of monetary policy, and the mistakes of his sucessors RA 'Bob' Johnstone and Bernie Fraser should resonate with Glenn Stevens and other current senior officers who were watching and in some cases advising in the late 80s and early 90s.
Maintaining a clear focus on low goods and services inflation and a viable industry structure, and to lean into excessive house price inflation, requires additional policies.
* A variable tax on capital inflow to tame the excessive Australian dollar, as argued here in January 2013; and* A pro-cyclical bank prudential capital ratio regime in which bank lending is reduced as house prices rise.
Without these additional policy 'instruments' , RBA governors will simply lose credibility and 'clients' will remain confused about the gameplan being followed.
Not a good look, and not a good outcome for the 'clients' - which means the rest of us Aussies, especially who do not have highly generous salaries and wonderful defined benefit superannuation schemes.
The latest RBA pronouncments has nothing about the (rising) currency, but a reminder that house prices can fall as well as rise.
If you miss target A, aim at target B seems to be the game.
More reading:
'Tax capital flows to tame dollar', The Australian, 12 January 2013.
'The messages of boom and bust', From Great Crises of Capitalism, 1 January 2011.
Submission to Australian Financial System Review, March 2014.
The general view of the economy , lead by the RBA, which is Australia's most reliable (but far from omniscient) forecasting agency, is that things are pretty good - glass half-full sort of view. The evidence is in the RBA leader's recent speeches, and in particular by Gov'nor Glenn Stevens' latest, 'The Economic Outlook'.
Yet, in Australia at least, today's headline about the early rollout of the NDIS that applies equally to Qantas, Toyota, Holden, Forge and many other failed or failing companies. 'NDIS trial costs blow out by 30 per cent'. The problem of what we have called 'double-digit cost disequilibrium' has nowhere been acknowledged by our leaders, including the RBA, although business leaders do talk about high costs and ask the government/IR bureaucracy to keep wage hikes to a minimum, or in some cases, to do away with overtime loadings or even to freeze wages.
Mr Stevens said of the global scene: 'The United States continues its recovery'; 'The euro area has resumed growth, albeit in a somewhat hesitant fashion'; In China 'Recent indicators have shown possible signs of slower growth in the early part of 2014 (Ark!!! says the petshop parrot); and 'Around the Asian region generally, at this stage, our sense is that economic growth is continuing at about its trend pace'. ('Sensing' a result implies some sort of sensing device, perhaps a really bright young economist from Malaysia.)
Coming to Australia - the speech was in Hong Kong - 'Australia certainly weathered the financial crisis well, and with a real GDP some 13 per cent larger than it was at the beginning of 2009, compares well with many other advanced countries'.
* 'There have been very strong conditions in the natural resources sector' though the terms of trade have fallen and investment has dived.* 'In the rest of the economy, ... consumption and residential construction have been soft for a while. And ... many businesses exposed to those sectors, including retailers, builders and banks, have found the going harder'. * 'In addition, because the mining boom was associated with a very high exchange rate, other trade exposed sectors have also faced more challenging conditions'.
Now comes the crystal ball: 'Looking ahead, as the resources sector's capital spending continues to fall, it will be desirable to see some other sources of growth strengthen'. (Ark, Ark!!! says the parrot, his version of Hear hear!.)* 'export volumes for resources, ... are already growing strongly'.* 'It will be helpful if some of the other areas of domestic demand that have been subdued start to grow faster'* 'Businesses outside of mining would need to have made some progress in containing costs, and raising efficiency'. (At last, a nod to the unspoken problem. Ark, Ark, Ark!!! says the parrot as he dances a jig on his perch.)* 'Measures of business confidence have improved over the past six months. Businesses seem, so far, to be taking a cautious approach to investment, however: they are waiting for stronger, more persistent signals of improved conditions before committing to significant increases in capital expenditure'.(The parrot is downcast.)
The cagy Mr Guv'nor points out that there is a 'very substantial' degree of uncertaintly surrounding his mildly positive central projection. 9The parrot gets lost in the detail and begins to nod off.0
Gov'nor Glenn continues, however. He acknowledges the housing boom, seems to have given up his attempts to talk the dollar down and mentions as an aside: 'There is, of course, the full panoply of other risks. (The parrot twitces a wing, but by now if sleeping upside down on his perch, snoring gently.)
And, most importantly: 'Other conditions need to be right for growth. These include ensuring the environments for competition, innovation and investment, including in human capital, are sound. In those areas, various other government policies must come to the fore'.
Read the full speech here, without the intrusive reports on the response of the parrot. 'The bloody parrot's dead', asserts Mrs Thornton, who has arrived with a cup of coffee. 'Its not dead, merely sleeping' Henry replied, but he may have just been dreaming. Coffee? Delivered by Mrs T? 'You've been dreaming Henry', asserts the parrot.
The over-hyped Aussie T20 team got beat by the West Indies, who recaptured their form of the sixties following some trash-talk by the aussies. Memo to George Baliey: talk softly and carry a big bat, mate, much better than the opposite approach. Now the swaggering Aussies have a must, must, must win match against India.
Luckily the shielas seem to be doing a bit better in their world cup. What about a female chief editor at these newspapers, comrades, then we'd might get a fair suck of the sauce-bottle on sport.
Sadly, Caaaarlton!'s gross inconsistency meant a loss to Richmond on Thursday night, leaving Mick the Merciless to ponder the two-zip start to the season. Time to make them drink Ovaltine when they go to bed at 9 PM coach, or slip some other useful substances into their breakfast muesli. And it was heart-breaking to see Eddie Betts kick three goals in the second quarterfir Adelaide against Port Adelaide.
Essendon to come next week. Henry caught the final minutes of Hawthorn's stirring victory over Essendon last night, and clearly Bomber Thompson is not a bad stand-in for Mr Hird, now one hopes happily reconciled with Mrs Hird. Essendon Chairman, Paul Little, may well have learned a thing or two about industrial law - ie an employer cannot punish a player for comments made by his or her spouse. Free speech is still a core value of Australian society. Still no charges from ASADA, and it is beginning to look as if the while supplements affair has been a storm in a sample bottle.
Very sad about that young man who got his neck broken in what one old salt on a sports show called a 'legal tackle'. Wonder how said old salt would cope with being driven head first into the ground by three beefy young blokes who look as if they've spent all their lives in a gym, with help from Steven Dank.
And Israel Falou is not playing this weekend and did Henry hear he was suffering from an injury to his neck? It one way to try to win a game. Ask Mone Morkal.
Courtesy The Oz
Mr Abbott has made a very grave mistake restoring knighthoods and damedoms. Reintroducing chivalric honours, complete with archaic honorifics, will allow Mr Shorten to paint the Coalition as the party of snobs and frustrated, wannabe, Brits. It emphasises Abbotts personal nostalgia for a world that is past. In the UK knights now mostly decline to use the honorific sir. The only British knight I know personally insists on first names. Peers, both hereditary and life, largely do the same
unless they are travelling to the USA where would-be sophisticates and rubes adore what passes for European aristocracy.
Australian knighthoods were defensible in the days when we were an Old Dominion and those who held public office could not expect high remuneration during their working life or after it. Today it is very different. We are a republic in all but name, the monarchy plays no real role in national life and senior people in the judiciary and the public sector do very nicely, and the most eminent can expect highly lucrative commercial appointments in retirement as well. There is no principled case why any Australian who has climbed the greasy pole should ape the styles and titles of their 'betters' from days past or why they should receive any greater deference than either money or personal reputation already makes available to them. As for the choice of Cosgrove and Bryce: Peter
Mr (Sir Peter) Cosgrove is worthy enough, but does Abbott think his grassroots constituency (conservative, suburban, Australia) seriously wants to honour someone like Ms (Dame Quinten) Bryce who embodies many of the least likeable features of our smug and snide national elite?
The ABC, SBS and the Fairfax press will mock many of the men and women who will be chosen to receive the new quasi-imperial honours. Who will blame them for doing so? The creepy succession of party donors, spivs, racing industry types and celebrity sportsmen who will inevitably receive such honours over time will destroy public esteem for the whole thing.
Most seriously of all, by making a fuss about the bullshit of knighthoods, Abbott has thrown away a great rhetorical advantage that was available to him: the ALP and the trade unions are the only truly feudal political institutions in the country, that is, they are institutions in which family background and hereditary ties continue to play a truly significant role. This is an Achilles heel of the labour movement the sheer number of gormless, useless and mediocre, types who continue to rise through the ranks on the strength of their family ties is a disgrace. It goes to the heart of what the trade union movement has allowed itself to become.
Now that Abbott has made himself the champion of chivalry and defender of archaic class distinctions, Shorten shall have undeserved and very suitable cover for the culture of nepotism that plagues the labour movement. Any time that Abbott wishes to focus attention on this nepotism, Shorten shall be able to change the subject merely by alluding to one or other of Abbotts knights or dames.
Mr Abbott should wise up. University debating and student politics may have been fun, but they are over now. Every day in office is a privilege, every day must count and every punch has got to hit and hit hard. Wasting energy, attention and truly irreplaceable political capital on the honours system in the governments first term is indefensible. Either Abbott re-sets the national focus where it counts or he is lost.
Other views
'Restoring knights and dames, The Oz.
'Queens man John Howard would refuse Abbotts Sir John title', AFR.
'Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham says the US Federal Reserve is killing the recovery of the world's biggest economy and the "next bust will be unlike any other".
We applaud Jared Lynch of The Age for sharing this gloomy prosnostication with Henry and his readers.
His article continues: 'Mr Grantham the cofounder and chief investment strategist at the $US112 billion ($123 billion) Boston-based fund manager GMO said he wouldn't invest his clients' money in US stocks for at least the next seven years because of the Fed's "misguided policies".
'Mr Grantham has an impeccable track record, having called both the internet bubble and then the US housing bubble. In November he said he believed the US sharemarket could rise another 30 per cent, although he believed it was overvalued, before crashing again.
"We invest our clients' money based on our seven-year prediction," Mr Grantham told Fortune.
"Over the next seven years we think the market will have negative returns. The next bust will be unlike any other because the Fed and other central banks around the world have taken on all this leverage that was out there and put it on their balance sheets. We have never had this before.
"Assets are overpriced generally. They will become cheap again. That's how we will pay for this. It's going to be very painful for investors".
A close friend, and Goldmember, sent us a link and asked what we thought of this scary prognostication.
I replied as follows: believe ultra loose US monetary policy has fuelled the last two asset booms. When the late 90s boom ended, Greenspan reversed policy to make money again cheap as chips.
Another substantial asset boom started after some time, and it was a doozy. Bernanke did the same when the GFC hit the world.
US monetary tightening now under way will produce another bust, but history says if it gets serious the Fed will then reverse engines again.
If one is willing to bet that the next bust will again be reversed one can sit and take ones medicine, then enjoy the recovery.
At some time, global investors will however cotton on to the thought that this game cannot go on forever.
Whether this makes for the worst bust ever is uncertain, but one cannot rule it out.
I plan to reduce my equity holding before the next bust, but timing is something no-one is very good at.
In case you missed it, here is our latest report of discussion essentially similar to Mr Grantham's but in modest, non-scary language.
Memo to self: must lift game.
The inter-related topics of 'Demographics, Productivity and Innovation' is the subject of a fine speech by Philip Lowe of RBA fame, as reported yesterday. Australia's population is growing faster than those of other developed nations and numbers of Australians born overseas are rising to nineteenth century levels. These are two trends that may help make Australia relatively innovative and relatively productive. Offsetting this, our population is growing older and older people are costly to look after and (mostly) less innovative even while they are still working.
Productivity growth (and therefore standard of living growth) in almost all developed nations has declined markedly since the mid 2000s compared with that in previous decades, possibly as an effect of the Global Financial Crisis which severely limited business investment. Australia is no exception. As Mr Lowe says: 'Looking back over the past two decades or so, we have enjoyed faster growth in real per capita income than almost any other advanced economy. In the 1990s, we benefited from strong productivity growth. Then in the 2000s, our collective living standards were boosted by a very large rise in commodity prices. And over much of this period our national income was further increased by the rise in the labour force participation rate that I mentioned a moment ago.
'Today things look a little different. Productivity growth over the past decade has been lower than it was in the 1990s, commodity prices are high but no longer rising, and the share of the population in employment has fallen recently. If these trends continue we face the prospect of considerably slower growth in our living standards than we have become accustomed to.
'The solution here is to lift our productivity growth. Mr Lowe did not add 'but this is easier said than done'.
He did however provide brief summaries of the main thesis of two of the books referred to by Michael Folie, plus a more optimistic view.
'Professor Robert Gordon from Northwestern University ... argues that the first three-quarters of the 20th century was a golden period in terms of productivity growth for the advanced economies. During that period, we worked out how to take full advantage of the transformational inventions of electricity and the internal combustion engine that occurred at the end of the 19th century. While there have been many breakthroughs over recent years, Gordon argues that they pale into insignificance compared with the huge advances made possible by these iconic inventions at the end of the 19th century'.
'Another sombre assessment is offered by Nobel Laureate Edmund Phelps. He argues that the problem is not so much that we have run out of really great things to invent, but that western societies are now less able to invent them. He argues that cultural changes, including the changed role of government, have stifled the desire and incentives for innovation. As a result, our economies have become less dynamic and less likely to find, develop and make use of the major technological breakthroughs that are the source of much productivity growth.
'As is usual in economics though, there is a counterview and it is much more optimistic. This view is that the so-called techno-pessimists are fundamentally wrong and, rather than facing a future of much slower technical progress, we are on the cusp of a new era of great progress in science. A prominent advocate of this view is Robert Gordon's colleague at Northwestern University, Joel Mokyr, who argues that the technological advances of recent times have given scientists a dazzling new range of tools and instruments. These advances have also greatly lowered the cost of accessing information. His argument is that, as a result, a new age of great scientific advancement is now possible'.
Which view, or which mix of views, is nearest to being correct, is impossible to tell in the current state of economic knowledge. However, Mr Lowe notes that 'if we are to improve efficiency and advance technology then innovation is required and innovation requires someone to take a risk the risk of trying a different process, the risk of changing workplace organisation and management practices, or the risk of spending scarce resources to explore a new idea'.
This brings us to the question of how to create a more innovative economy. Mr Lowe asks 'How has our society's attitude to risk and innovation evolved over time and what are the implications for productivity growth?'
His 'tentative answer is that there has been a subtle, but important, shift in the way we think about risk and innovation. In particular, our preferences appear to have shifted in such a way that we increasingly focus on risk mitigation and risk control. There are examples of this in a whole range of activities in our society from the nature of the legislation that parliaments pass, to the increase in compliance activities in the nation's boardrooms, to the amount of money we are prepared to spend to limit the probability of blackouts and even to our attitudes about the design of children's playgrounds. In each of these areas, our society has been prepared to limit options or to spend more of our scarce resources to reduce risk'.
While I am attracted to this view as a structural influence to add to the net effect of technical matters or low recent investment levels, it certainly cannot explain the recent almost halving of the growth of productivity in almost all developed nations.
This must remain a matter for further thought and perhaps for further testing, ideally in the more rigerous manner used by real scientists such as physicists.
My own pet theory is that Australia's tax and welfare system suffers major anti-innovative biases relative to those of the USA, a famously innovative society. One reason for this is because taxes on start-up companies are far higher here, and the ATO zealously tries to kill plans to reduce this bias. The ATO's insistence, for example, that shares issued in lieu of cash must be taxed at full nominal value, so that staff and directors of cash-strapped start-ups must pay full tax on a value that may, statistically will on average, be greatly overstated is a ridiculous obstacle to an innovative economic culture.
So too is Australia's relatively generous welfare system. But would we really want to make things far harder for the battlers, as it is in the USA? Logically, however, if normal jobs are hard to get and welfare is low and also hard to get, some people will create new businesses, even if it is mowing lawns or minding otherpeople's children, or walking other people's dogs.
But we must accept that America's history was in important respects far more innovative than ours. The relentless drive to the west, buying or capturing massive new territories, the massive influence of mining booms (which we share), acceptance of migrants who had to make it or fail with little help, the war between the states, the influence of colonial masters, who Americans threw off over the issue of excessive taxationwhile we outwaited ours, the differences mostly work in the direction of a more self-reliant, harsher and more entrepreneurial culture.
And, as Mr Lowe says, perhaps being rich makes a nation less innovative, or allows a rich nation to be more risk adverse. My own writing on these matters is available here.
They raise questions such as the role of gambling in creating an innovative culture, what would Australia would do if a young Albert Einstein popped up or what does the research on the mainsprings of economic growth really show? Questions a Deputy Governor is probably trained not even to think about.
But adding all the evidence and opinion (except that of the optomistic Joel Mokyr), it seems that unless something big changes, standards of living are likely to grow more slowly in developed nations like Australia. Countries, like Australia, whose standards of living have grown faster than productivity may even need to undego a reduced standard of living. Difficult to handle, especially it is only a few conomists on the recored to warn Australians of this gloomy possibility.


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At Epson, we know that planning for the future requires a strong commitment to the environment. That is why we strive to create innovative products that are reliable, recyclable and energy efficient. Better products that use fewer resources help ensure a better future for us all.
At Epson, we take pride in how we design our products with an eye towards the environment. Energy Savings and Efficiency; Preservation of Resources; Elimination of Harmful Substances; and Recycleability are all hallmarks of our efforts.
Power consumed during product use accounts for a large portion of a product's total environmental impact across its life cycle. At Epson, we set energy-conservation goals for each product and work to continuously improve upon these goals with each new product we develop.
Additionally, many Epson products carry the Energy Star logo, your assurance that the product you have purchased adheres to stringent, government directed criteria for energy efficiency.
Recognizing that the world's resources are limited, Epson is working towards a new form of business that minimizes consumption of energy and resources, recycles materials and eliminates waste cross the entire product life cycle including production, transportation and usage.
As concern grows over the use of harmful chemical substances in electronic equipment, Epson was a leader in reducing the use of six substances identified as being of particular concern (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in our products on a worldwide basis.
Epson strives to be a good corporate citizen of the communities in which we operate and environmentally responsible for the benefit of the world at large. With a commitment to extended producer responsibility, we have been building optimum recovery/recycling systems that meet local regulations and fit local customers' needs in each region in which we manufacture and sell products.
Back in FY2003, we set a recyclability (a product's calculated recyclable rate, assessed by its configuration and materials used) objective of 70% for all finished products and have had this focus ever since. We are also committed to reducing costs for disassembly and sorting. To achieve this, we incorporate suggestions from operators at our recycling sites into the design stage of new products, using 3R (reduce, recycle, reuse) Design Guide as a tool.
What sets Epson inkjet printers apart from other inkjets is MicroPiezo technology. This technology uses the property of piezo-electric elements that causes them to deform under an applied voltage. Mechanical pressure precisely ejects minute amounts of liquid, measured in mere picoliters (that is, a unit one trillion times smaller than a liter), to the exact location. The core MicroPiezo technology so essential to a printer like this is now being used in industrial applications and helping to reduce environmental burdens there. Specific examples include forming an alignment layer for liquid crystal panels, producing colour filters for large liquid crystal displays and drawing complex circuit boards.
Ink cartridges come in many different types, and preparing a unique package for each is inefficient. For this reason Epson uses boxes made from 100% recycled paper, with information printed in seven languages that can be used in any market around the world. Any necessary cartridge-specific information is provided by affixing labels to the boxes. The labels are printed out in the exact number needed, so there is no wasted inventory and resources can be used effectively and efficiently. Epson, with cooperation from the WWF, published the Seiko Epson Group Paper Product Procurement Standard to further promote the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of forests. Seiko Epson and Epson Sales Japan earned Chain of Custody (COC) certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in March 2007, and they commercialized and began selling FSC-certified photo matte paper.
CCD (Charge Coupled Device) scanners usually use a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), but Epson has developed a scanner that uses a white light-emitting diode (LED). The white LEDs provide the highest level of resolution (6400 dpi) while also improving usability for customers by shrinking warm-up times and realizing steep savings in energy consumption.

subset: commoncrawl


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We are pleased to announce the results of our recent election of two new members to the CSDH-SCHN executive. Congratulations to Christine McWebb, Vice-President (Français), and Matt Bouchard, Graduate Student representative. And thank you to Christine, Matt, and all nominees for their willingness to serve.
A new position now available:
Digital Humanities Specialist
Reporting to Director of Research Computing, Digital Humanities Specialist (DH Specialist) provides Digital Humanities (DH) and related support to researchers at the U of A and other Universities in associated research consortia (WestGrid/Compute Canada) to facilitate their research. The supports include research level consultation for DH and High Performance Computing (HPC), expert level advice on the use of HPC resources in DH, recommendation and support of DH applications, and support of information visualization. The DH Specialist also participates in WestGrid/Compute Canada's working groups and provides input to the development and implementation of local and national DH strategies, and takes a strong role in new DH initiatives. It is essential for the DH Specialist to have a strong understanding of the current and future state of information science/digital humanities research. The successful candidate can look forward to an energetic, professional team environment where there is a commitment to personal and professional growth.
[Click here for the full job description]
The following call for papers should be of interest to our members:
Digital Diversity 2015: Writing | Feminism | Culture – Orlando turns 20
Edmonton, Canada 7-9 May 2015
How have new technologies transformed literary and cultural histories? How do they enable critical practices of scholars working in and outside of digital humanities? Have decades of digital studies enhanced, altered, or muted the project to recover and represent more diverse histories of writers, thinkers, and artists positioned differently by gender, race, ethnicity, sexualities, social class and/or global location? This conference examines the trajectory of feminist digital studies, observing the ways in which varied projects have opened up the objects and methods of literary history and cultural studies. It marks the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Orlando Project, an ongoing experiment in digital methods that produces Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles, from the Beginnings to the Present (orlando.cambridge.org). Alongside pioneering projects such as the Women Writers Project, the Corvey Project, the Dickinson Electronic Archives, the Perdita Project, and the Victorian Women Writers Project, Orlando blazed a new path in the field, bringing together feminist literary studies with emerging methods of digital inquiry. These twenty years have witnessed a revolution in how we research, produce, and circulate knowledge. It is time to reflect upon the impact of the digital turn on engagement with the literary and cultural past.
We welcome presentations that will together reflect on the past, present, and future of digital literary and cultural studies; examine synergies across digital humanities projects; and stimulate exchanges across such fields as literary history, history, art history, cultural studies, and media studies.
[For more information, please visit the conference website]
Voting members of CSDH/SCHN have received an email from OUP inviting them to participate in an election for the newly created positions of Vice-President (français) and graduate student representative. Please find below the candidates' biographies. Elections will begin on 18 JULY 2014 and end on 15 AUGUST 2014. Continue reading »
The Roberto Busa Prize is an award of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organisations (ADHO). It is named in honour of Father Roberta Busa (b. 1913), the first pioneer of humanities computing, who in 1949 began experiments in linguistic automation as part of his research on the writings of Thomas Aquinas. This computational work was central to publication of the 56-volume Index Thomisticus, completed in 1980. The Busa award is given to recognise outstanding lifetime achievements in the application of information and communications technologies to humanities research. The award is given every three years, alternating with other ADHO awards, such as the Zampolli award.
The first award was given to Father Busa himself in 1998. Subsequent winners have been: 2001, John Burrows; 2004, Susan Hockey; 2007, Wilhelm Ott; 2010, Joe Raben; and 2013, Willard McCarty.
The next Busa Award will be given at the DH conference in 2016. The Award Committee now invites nominations. Nominations may be made by anyone with an interest in humanities computing and neither nominee nor nominator has to be a member of any ADHO Constituent Organisation. Nominators should give some account of the nominee's work and the reasons it is felt to be an outstanding contribution to the field. A list of bibliographic references to the nominee's work is desirable. Nominators are welcome to resubmit updated versions of nominations submitted in previous years.
The recipient of the award receives 1500 GBP and is expected to give a keynote or plenary lecture (on a topic of their choice) at the 2016 Digital Humanities conference. ADHO will host the recipient as a guest of honour for the conference at which the Prize is awarded and the lecture given-this means that all travel, accommodation and subsistence costs of the Prize recipient will be paid by the Alliance.
Nominations should be emailed to Hugh Craig (Chair of the 2016 Busa Award Committee @ firstname.lastname@example.com) no later than October 1, 2014. The winner of the Award will be announced at the 2015 meeting and awarded at the 2016 meeting.
More information about the award can be found on the ADHO web site:http://www.digitalhumanities.org/awards/BusaPrize.
Constance Crompton
June 2, 2014
Compute Canada For Humanists
Of the 8800 scholars who used Compute Canada in the last year only 42 were humanists, but Dugan O'Neil, Compute Canada's Chief Science Officer, is working with his team on a series of initiatives to increase humanists' slice of the Compute Canada pie chart. The CSO position is new this year, and comes with a mandate to develop a national strategy for data processing across disciplines. In short, his address to this year's CSDH/SCHN AGM made it clear that there is room for our community at Compute Canada, so we're invited to pack our forks.
In order to work with the digital humanities community, five of Compute Canada's 150 analysts will become the core of a new digital humanities team. Those five analysts will be led by a yet-to-be hired Digital Humanist (we can expect the job ad in the coming weeks). The first stop for the team? A week-long visit at the Digital Humanities Summer Institute.
In addition to a dedicated humanities computing team, Compute Canada will provide a few new data storage and transfer services:
- OwnCloud, a dropbox-like service for researchers, hosted by WestGrid at SFU. OwnCloud comes with up to 50MB per account and offers synching with local files. If you go to the WestGrid site you can start using OwnCloud now. If you don't have a WestGrid account you'll need to sign up for one on the site.
- GlobusOnline, a transfer service for researchers who need to move terabytes of data at a time. Coming soon.
For more, please read Dugan O'Neil's slides from the AGM, available here.
The Compute Canada announcment of the Sustainable Planning for Advanced Research Computing initiative is here.
Dugan O'Neil, Chief Science Officer of Compute Canada, came to our AGM this year to present the latest news from Compute Canada, an important partner to our community. Our members can now access his slides online.
New DHSI-partnered Graduate Certificate in Humanities at University of Victoria
Prix CSDH/SCHN 2014 Pour une contribution exceptionnelle
Le comité des prix de la Société canadienne des humanités numériques (CSDH/SCHN) est ravi d'announcer que le Prix pour une Contribution exceptionnelle de 2014 sera remis à l'équipe du Day in the Life of Digital Humanities (Day of DH) – un jour dans la vie des humanités numériques. Le Day of DH était hébergé à l'Université d'Alberta depuis son inception en 2009 jusqu'en 2012. Nous reconnaissons les six membres fondateurs de l'équipe:
- Geoffrey Rockwell
- Stan Ruecker
- Peter Organisciak
- Megan Meredith-Lobay
- Kamal Ranaweera
- Julianne Nyhan
2014 CSDH/SCHN Outstanding Contribution Award
The Awards Committee is proud to announce that the recipient of the 2014 CSDH/SCHN Outstanding Contribution Award
is the A Day in the Life of the Digital Humanities (Day of DH) team at the University of Alberta. The Day of DH founders ran the project out of the University of Alberta from its inception in 2009 until 2012. We recognize its six founding members:
- Geoffrey Rockwell
- Stan Ruecker
- Peter Organisciak
- Megan Meredith-Lobay
- Kamal Ranaweera
- Julianne Nyhan


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Master the Course IRONMAN: Wisconsin
Insider tips for one of the most popular races on the IRONMAN race circuit.Read More ▻
Insider tips for one of the most popular races on the IRONMAN race circuit.Read More ▻
German Maik Twelsiek claims his second title; American Jackie Arendt wins her hometown race at IRONMAN Wisconsin.Read More ▻
Maik Twelsiek, Hillary Biscay, and Jessica Jacobs seek to reclaim IRONMAN Wisconsin titles.Read More ▻
A dedicated competitor and father of five will take his endurance bug to Hawaii this October, just a few weeks after completing his favorite race on...Read More ▻
Things are heating up in the IRONMAN world this weekend thanks to a solid line up in San Juan, the inaugural IRONMAN Los Cabos race, and the news that...Read More ▻
Considered one of the most recognizable IRONMAN events in North America, IRONMAN Wisconsin is now completely full. General entry for the race closed...Read More ▻
IRONMAN Foundation slots are sold out at IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene. General entry remains open at IRONMAN Louisville, while Foundation entries are still...Read More ▻
Limited Ironman Foundation slots are still available for the event. Racing through the Ironman Foundation is the perfect opportunity to combine...Read More ▻


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Tucson, AZ — At times this season, FC Tucson has lacked good luck and beautiful soccer.
In the club's 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Misioneros, they had both.
"We're definitely capable of being a playoff team," said FC Tucson Head Coach Rick Schantz. "Everybody in the league knew it. We just didn't get the bounces and tonight that first goal was one of the few times we had a little bit of luck go our way this season."
Luck came in the form of an own goal.
In the 14th minute, forward Ricardo Velazco curled an in-swinging corner from the left that sailed into the top left corner of the box. That's when Los Angeles' Vincent Lucas flicked back a header that would've been beautiful only for the fact that he headed it directly into his own net.
FC Tucson's second goal was anything but luck. Midfielder Gabe Silveira handled the ball toward the endline and found himself standing over it to the right of the net. Just waiting. He finally spotted Velazco streaking toward the middle of the box. Silveira slotted his pass, hit Velazco in stride and the forward slammed a shot passed a diving goalkeeper to make it 2-0 just before halftime.
"It's all about heart right now and dedication and about the team's effort," Velazco said. "And all these people that come out and watch us, we have to give them a show and give them our best performance."
The third goal of the match was a solo act. In the 58th minute, forward Dakota Collins had the ball and was driving down the left side of the field. He spotted the goalkeeper off his line and looped a high arcing shot that sailed over the keeper and into the far side netting.
For its final tally, FC Tucson relied on a Velazco corner again but this time he found a teammate instead of an opposing player. Max Ornstil kicked out from the scrum to find Velazco's corner and kicked it directly off the volley and straight into the right upper 90 for the fourth goal of the match.
"It feels awesome," Ornstil said. "I haven't scored in awhile and to score a goal like that in front of this crowd with a game like this, it couldn't have been better."
Attendance: 1,022
FCT: '14, 19-Vincent Lucas (OG); '44, 9-Ricardo Velazco (25-Gabe Silveira), '58, 14-Dakota Collins, '67, 12-Max Ornstil (9-Ricardo Velazco)
Statistics FCT LAM
Shots 17 6
Saves 2 8
Copyright 2013 FC Tucson. All rights reserved.
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Shop Online
Mitsuwa Market Place
Sells Japanese vegetables, meat, seasonings, sweets, and lots more items online. Also, their stores are located in many cities in the US.
Mount Fuji International Limited Food Shop
Offers Japanese rice, noodles, seasonings, snacks, and lots more.
Rakuten International Shipping Services
Rakuten Ichiba is one of the largest internet shopping sites in Japan. They have a service for overseas shoppers.
MARUKAI e-STORE
A nice selection of Japanese seasonings, dry ingredients, noodles, rice, tea, cookwares, and lots more.
Asian Food Grocer
Sells many kinds of Japanese food supplies, including Japanese noodles, seasonings, and so on.
Japanese Kitchen
Sells Japanese food and Japanese items in UK.


text:
Latest Food
- Could Paula Deen be on the next Dancing with the Stars? — Grub Street
- The only way to eat expensive tomatoes — Food52
- Paula Deen's forthcoming cookbook was also canceled — Eater
- Starbucks is testing made-to-order sodas — Delish
- The latest Carl's Jr. ad sounds pretty good — HuffPost Taste
- On Food Network Star, a contestant's ditched for being "too cheffy" — The Braiser
- The best traditional American restaurants in the country — Zagat
- New Orleans icon Brennan's closes — Yahoo! News


text:
Support WCD
You can always support WCD by coming to one of our shows or buying tickets or a Flex Pack as a gift to help us grow our audience.
We can accept financial donations online through CanadaHelps.org or you can contact our General Manager for alternate methods.
We still have a couple rows of seats in our renovated theatre that you can sponsor through our Adopt-a-Seat program.
Our Derring DO! fundraiser, and other ancillary events, always need quality silent auction items. If you can support us with items or gift certificates appropriate to the occasion we would be very appreciative. Please contact our General Manager to arrange your donation .
If you would like to learn more about Sponsorship Opportunities wherein you or your company can underwrite WCD activities or purchase advertising in our show program, please contact the Communications Coordinator for further info or a sposnorship package.
Volunteer! - We can always use a helping hand at a show or event. If you have a particular skill and some spare time that a non-profit organization might be able to use, please let us know.


text:
- Publisher: Capcom
- Release Date: Mar 22, 2013
- Also On: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Summary: Resident Evil 6 is the sixth installment in the series. With 4 unique, yet overlapping story threads, each with their own pair of protagonists for either solo or co-op play, both offline and online, not only does Resident Evil 6 deliver different perspectives and play styles but, with the introduction of the innovative Crossover mechanic players are be able to team up and share the horror with others.… Collapse
- Developer: Capcom
- Genre(s): Horror
- Cheats: On GameFAQs
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
Positive: 6 out of 18
Mixed: 10 out of 18
Negative: 2 out of 18
Apr 1, 2013Fans looking to scratch the survival horror itch will likely still not come away impressed by the direction the series has taken. Resident Evil has become more of an action-horror game; a change I have welcomed with open arms.
Mar 26, 2013It's as long, intense and replayable as the console version, but there are few additions to this one. Still, if you didn't play it when it was first released, and if you don't mind the new path the series has taken, RE 6 is a great option.
Feb 4, 2014Perhaps it's still too experimental and difficult than the sixth entry in a series ought to be, but despite everything, RE6 offers top-tier cinematic action and series-high storytelling. For fans who've yet to try it, the PC version is the right choice.
Mar 22, 2013What we have here is an incredibly long, incredibly flawed, and yet paradoxically engaging experience.
Apr 2, 2013Resident Evil 6 is a long and funny cooperative action game, but you have to overlook the outdated gameplay and level design to fully appreciate it.
Apr 3, 2013Resident Evil 6 PC is arguably the definitive version of the game – best graphics, all-inclusive, best multiplayer backbone – and obviously worthy of a playthrough if you're PC-only gamer. However, if you played the console version last year (our review here), it's probably not worth double-dipping and it still handles best on a controller.
May 21, 2013An apocalyptic disappointment that never rises above mediocrity, but often sinks into tedium. [July 2013, p.72]
Score distribution:
Positive: 65 out of 151
Mixed: 22 out of 151
Negative: 64 out of 151
Mar 27, 2013I played enough of this game to recommend it to you. There's everything to love and nothing to hate. If we consider the last trilogy, Resident Evil from 4 to 6 this is easily the best of them all, the culmination of the action Capcom offers. You can do all sort of new moves which are awesome, you can slide, dodge, land on your back and shoot from the ground (which can be done when enemies drop you too), you can fight in melee with combos or switching to a melee weapon. I really like the fluidity of the game and it's even more fun with a friend. The coop of this game is great, you are not helpless per sé, you can counter enemies' grapples, you can even "stand up" for yourself if you survive long enough in a down state, but, of course, it's a lot easier if there's a team mate helping you out but that may not be always possible due to tactics gone wrong or levels where you have to stay apart for some time.
There is much to explore, some campaigns have more exploration than others, graphics are really good for my standards (which may be low since I don't really care) and it goes at 60 fps even if the benchmark told me it would go at 20-30. The campaigns are a great idea, different enemies, different characters, different playstyles and it's a hard game too! I play at Professional difficulty, invested 23 hours in the game right now and I'm something as halfway through (I'm doing chapter 3 with Chris now after doing 3 chapters with Jake and Leon). I really can't find anything wrong with this game, it gives me the challenge I seek, the adrenaline, the fear (the fear of dying but there are some jumps too), the gameplay is perfect as I see it, this was much more than I anticipated, I'll definitely play this multiple times. I'm giving it a 10 because as I said before, I can't find much wrong with it and I didn't have such fun with an action game for a while.… Expand
Sep 21, 2013This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Impressive, with a touch of old school and some new, Resident Evil 6 may be a place of horror and action, depending on which character you relate to more, not to mention the breathtaking cinematographic scenes and perfectly designed to take to realistic, taking everything good in previous installments, discarding bad ideas and adding one of the most stunning and dramatic Horror stories of the moment, besides adding the QTE (quick time event) to revive your survival instincts to get a strategic move to kill your enemy or have the misfortune to get your death.
Resident Evil 6... my favorite game and I recommend it to you...… Expand
Apr 2, 2013After playing through Leon's story on the console, I knew what pros and cons to expect from the PC version. Capcom delivered excellently! If you didn't like RE6 on console, you probably won't like it on PC, but If you liked it on console, you'll really like it on PC. 60 fps and HD resolution is a no-brainer to have! HD is a must for local co-op. The kbm controls work pretty well, snappy response even with vsync. One gripe I have is the misleading brightness adjust screen. The "6" is visible on any level and it's pointless to play without it cranked up to at least 35 cause it's too dark in most places. The lights become washed out at that level but it's worth it to see everything. RE6/Bio6 is a great addition to the series, but 4 is still my all-time favorite. The inventory and merchant was a genius idea in 4 and I wish one of them will make a return in a later game.… Expand
Jun 18, 2013Resident Evil 4 made revolution moving the serie from horror-running to action, and RE5 almost crossed that line between "great" and "just a shooter". Well, RE 6 is all about shooting. User interface is worse than ever, and invisible walls makes the game very linear without even a little hope to turn somewhere... but you just run trough this huge corridor most part of the game.
But still it's not as bad as it could be. And having good parents always gives you a point or two.… Expand
Oct 4, 2013My biggest problem is how this game feels. No i do not mean controls, I mean it's pace, it's movement, how the game played. Resident Evil 4 gave us a new RE experience, and it was a great one. The feel of that game was unique to itself. Such as the way you had to hold down a button to run, or not being able to move when shooting, which in turn made the player back away from any enemys before proceeding with firing again. Even RE5 had this feeling, it may have lost the creepy environment, but it felt like RE4 which was a good thing. Hell RE: Revelations should of been RE6. Cause that was a GOOD RE game.
RE6 throws these away for some kind of cheap action experience. No longer is the player in much danger when he is constantly running, no longer does the player have to back away from fights. It all comes down to the way it plays. If RE6 played like Revelations, 5, or 4. I would of loved this game.
Capcom seems to be confused on what they should deliver to it's public. They better figure out quickly before shoving trash like this out to us again.… Expand
May 7, 2014this was the most terrifying most hated most stupid most most awful most vs..vs.. its actualy the worst resident evil i ve played in my life in fact its not resident evil its something different..you CrapCom SHOULD give a new name to this game because its not resident evil....! i gave you ZERO point which means nothing… Expand
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In the past, I've commented that I'd like to see shorts and slacks with a bead of urethane inside the waistband to prevent shirts from un-tucking during the round.
Until that happens, I have found a solution in Hot Melt Glue Guns. Mine has a high temperature setting that allows the glue to somewhat work its way into the fabric and not wash out. It doesn't take much glue and, if your shirts tend to un-tuck during your swing, this solution may work for you.
To apply, heat the gun and draw a bead about 3 inches long in the front, inside waist band. Then, allow it to cool completely before hanging, folding or wearing the garment.
Have not give much thought to this problem. My shirts are pretty long and stay pretty tucked within my pants/shorts. But if this does become a problem, I will consider your solution. Thanks.
I have a pair from the "chevron" company that have that feature they also are pleated. I try to spend my money on FJ products as often as I can. FJ is a bit slow on market trends.
@fredcloss -- great idea! A few of my shirts that have shorter tails or are the softer, technical fabrics tend to come out while playing.
definitely a great tip!!! thanks for sharing
It looks a good idea. Let me try it.
Just be certain to use the high-temperature setting. The cool temp won't be absorbed by the fabric and may wash out or pull off. As a follow up, I've treated several slacks now and increased the length of the bead to go to the side seam - roughly 12". I've washed them and worn them again with excellent results. The polyester shirts slide very little and stay well tucked.


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On November 6, 2012 the voters approved Proposition 36 which substantially amended the law with two primary provisions:
Video: Prop 36 Amendments to California's Three-Strikes Sentencing
The Amendment of the Three Strikes Sentencing Law (November 2013) by J. Richard Couzens, Judge of the Superior Court of Placer County(Ret.) and Presiding Justice Tricia A. Bigelow, Court of Appeal, 2nd Appellate District, Div. 8


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Customer Rights
As a Yankee Gas customer, you have certain rights and responsibilities for the natural gas service we provide. This document explains procedures and your rights relating to Yankee Gas service. We hope you will find this information helpful and keep it for future reference.
Paying Your Yankee Gas Bill
Your Yankee Gas bill is due and payable upon receipt. You have 28 days from the statement date to the due date for your payment to post. If your payment does not post within 28 days after the statement date, a late payment charge of 1% may be assessed on the past due balance. Late payment charges are not applied to:
- balances of residential customers with a verified hardship
- balances that are being disputed
- accounts with an active payment arrangement
If you are having difficulty paying your gas bill, please call our Credit professionals at 1-800- 438-2278 to request a payment arrangement.
Payment Arrangements
We will make every effort to help you pay your Yankee Gas bill and avoid a service shut off. We will work with you to create a reasonable payment arrangement before we shut off your gas service for non-payment. A reasonable payment arrangement will result in payment of:
- the past-due portion of your gas bill over a reasonable period of time; and
- current or future bills within 28 days after the statement date.
If you have a payment arrangement you can't keep because of a change in your financial circumstances, you should call our Credit professionals at 1-800-438-2278 before your next payment is due to discuss your financial circumstances and determine what is required to protect your gas service from being shut off for non-payment.
If you are not satisfied with any payment arrangement we have attempted to make with you, we will refer your account to a Company Review Officer who will attempt to reach an agreement with you.
Appeal Process: If you are dissatisfied with the Review Officer's written decision or the payment arrangement, we will give you a written report and you may appeal within five (5) days to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA)'s Consumer Assistance Division. You should mail your request to:
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
Consumer Assistance Division
10 Franklin Square
New Britain, CT 06051
If you disagree with the Consumer Assistance Division's decision, you may request a hearing at the PURA within ten (10) days. We will not terminate your gas service while you are in the process of appealing. You must, however, continue to pay your current bill during this period.
Shutoff Notice: This pamphlet explains your rights as a customer if you receive a shutoff notice. If you have any questions after reading this, please contact our Customer Service professionals.
Disputed Bills
If you have received a shut-off notice, and you have a question or a complaint about your bill or about our services or our policies, please contact our Customer Service professionals promptly at 1-800-989-0900 so we can investigate your complaint. Your service will not be disconnected until we have notified you, orally or in writing, of the results of our investigation.
Appeal Process: If you are not satisfied with the results of our investigation, you may request within seven (7) days that a Company Review Officer review your account. If we do not hear from you, we may terminate your gas service without further notice. The Review Officer will give you a written decision within ten (10) days. If you still consider your bill to be inaccurate, or if you have any other complaints pertaining to this matter, you have a right to request a further investigation by the PURA within ten (10) days of receipt of the Review Officer's written decision. You should put your request for a further investigation by the PURA in writing to:
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
Consumer Assistance Division
10 Franklin Square
New Britain, Connecticut 06051
If you disagree with the Consumer Assistance Division's decision, you may appeal and request a hearing at the PURA within ten (10) days. We will not terminate your gas service while you are in the process of appealing. You must, however, continue to pay your current and undisputed bills during this period.
Medical Hardships
We will not disconnect, deny, or refuse to reinstate your gas service if you or a resident of your home has a serious illness. Your medical doctor must certify your serious illness by telephone within thirteen (13) days after we mailed you a shut off notice. Then your medical doctor must complete and return a Yankee Gas physician certification form within seven (7) days of the call. The written physician certification form must include:
- the name and address of the seriously ill person
- what the specific illness is
- the length of the serious illness; and
- the doctor's office address, license and telephone numbers.
If the length of the serious illness is not specified, the physician certification form must be renewed every 15 days. If the doctor has specified the length of the serious illness but the serious illness extends beyond that date, the certification must be renewed before it expires. The company may dispute the validity of any physician certification form with the PURA. While your account is medically protected for serious illness, you must enter into and maintain a reasonable payment arrangement by calling our Credit professionals at 1-800-438-2278.
Winter Protection:
If you are a residential gas heating customer who qualifies for our Winter Protection Program, Yankee Gas will not disconnect or refuse to reinstate your gas service from November 1 through May 1. If your gas service has been disconnected for non-payment, Yankee Gas will reconnect your gas service providing a payment is made.The minimum payment is the lowest of the following:
-20 percent of the outstanding balance;
-$100.00; or,
-payments missed on a payment arrangement between November 1 and October 31, such as the Matching Payment Program.
To determine if you qualify, please contact our Credit professionals at 1-800-438-2278. You will be required to provide proof of hardship and we may deny your claim if it is not valid. To continue receiving gas service after May 1, you should arrange to make payments on past due amounts and have an active payment arrangement in place by May 1. If you are unable to reach a satisfactory payment arrangement with us, you may request a Review Officer as described in the section titled Payment Arrangements.
Third Party Notification:
If circumstances are making it hard for you to keep track of your Yankee Gas account, you may request that a relative, friend, clergyman or social service agency receive a reminder from us when your bill is overdue and you are in danger of having your gas shut off. The third party will not be held liable for payment of your bill unless they've previously agreed to assume that responsibility. You may make Third Party Notification arrangements by contacting our Customer Service professionals at 1-800-989-0900.
Paid for by Yankee Gas customers.
Customer Rights and Responsibilities (PDF)
Click here for a Spanish version of Customer Rights (PDF).


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PEORIA Ill -- The Peoria Fire Department is investigating a fire that caused thousands of dollars in damages at a hotel.
That fire damaged an entire floor at Four Points by Sheraton in downtown Peoria.
Authorities said the blaze started in a roll-away bed mattress in a ninth floor storage room.
When crews arrived at the scene around 10 pm Friday, the hallway was filled with smoke, but the sprinkler system had put out the fire.
Guests had to temporarily evacuate the building, and no injuries were reported.
Damages are estimated at $50,000, with extensive water damage to the entire floor.
Authorities are investigating the incident as an aggravated arson.
There are no suspects at this time.


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Our Nest™ 9 Plus Compact Food Preparation Set by Joseph Joseph is the ultimate collection of practical, space-saving kitchenware, comprised of mixing bowls, measuring spoons, a sieve and a strainer. The unique design of the range allows the individual elements to be stacked together, occupying the absolute minimum amount of space. Handles make them easy to use and carry, while pour spouts eliminate messes.
We can help! Click here to chat with an expert.


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Our Large Capacity Fits More Wash ? So You Can Do Fewer Loads
Our super 3.9 cu. ft. capacity means you can wash 2.0 laundry baskets full of clothes (or 27 bath towels) in a single load.
Steam Wash Eliminates Stains Without Pre-Treatment
Save time treating stains by skipping any pre-treatments and using steam instead. Power out stubborn stains, such as grape juice and grease to help clothes last longer.
VRT™ Technology ? A Quieter Wash
Our washer is built with VRT™ Technology it's so quiet; you'll hardly know it's on. Special sensors keep your load balanced at high spin speeds. Now you can install your washer on the second floor or near bedrooms without being disturbed by noise.Watch Video
PureCycle™ - A Washer that Cleans Itself
PureCycle™ keeps the drum fresh and clean by removing dirt and detergent residue. Plus, our PureCycle™ washers use hot water, not harsh chemicals.
Diamond Drum
Smaller holes in the drum prevent fabric damage.
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Multiple cycles offer greater control for your washing needs. Cycles include: eco Wash, Normal, Heavy Duty, Permanent Press, Sanitize, Bedding, Deep Steam, Stain Away, Active Wear, Delicates/Hand Wash, Wool, Quick Wash, Rinse + Spin.


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There are no guest laundry facilities on the Celebrity so be prepared for some fancy prices for them to do your washing.
You will be automatically charged about twelve dollars a day for gratuities which you can ask to be removed from your account. We personally object to this form of tipping as Kiwis do not generally tip and we believe tipping should be at ones discretion and not just added to your account. I guess if you paid your workers a fair wage then tips would not be necessary.
Unfortunately we felt that once you were on board it was everyone's job to screw as much extra money out of you as possible - constantly bothered by waiters asking you to buy alcohol, photographers, Shore excursions, expensive restaurant cover charges,laundry charges etc etc.
The trip itself was reasonably good and the food excellent. If you heed some of the advice on being ripped off you will have more money to do some other things you enjoy.


text: Warning: fetch_template() calls should be replaced by the vB_Template class. Template name: googlescript in ..../includes/functions.php on line 4591 View Profile: KBerus - Pen & Paper Games Register Help Remember Me? Home Forum FAQ Calendar Community Groups Albums Member List Forum Actions Mark Forums Read Quick Links View Site Leaders Contribution Actions Contribute What's New? Blogs Find Players Groups Contribute Downloads Chat [5] Advanced Search Recent Chat Activity (Main Lobby)Join Chat Loading Chat Log... Player Registry KBerus Prefer not to see ads? Become a Community Supporter. Welcome to Pen & Paper Games, an online community dedicated to bringing roleplayers together!You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will automatically be added to our player registry (unless you opt not to) and will be able to privately find and communicate with other players in your area. You will also be able to post and reply to topics, vote in polls, and many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. Site News: Pen & Paper Games Gets New Leadership! [Read More] KBerus Lurker Find latest posts Find latest started threads View Articles View Blog Entries Mini Statistics Join Date 09-15-2008 Last Activity 02-15-2009 09:38 AM Blog Entries 0 Recent Visitors The last 9 visitor(s) to this page were: AlpBelCorBode, amichaell, Arkady, domjunky, Foki Firefinger, Irda Ranger, Rot King, TheGreenTeaGamer, TomQadim This page has had 830 visits Tab Content KBerus's Activity About Me Tab Content All KBerus Friends Photos New Activity () Please reload this page to view the 200+ new activity items that have been created. Older Activity More Activity No More Results No Recent Activity About KBerus Basic Information Date of Birth July 10, 1986 (28) Location City: Ponte Vedra Beach State: Florida Zipcode: 32082 Country: USA Willing to Travel: 30 miles Availability LFG/LFP: LFG Availability (Days): Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday Availability (Times): Afternoons, Evenings Desired Gaming Frequency: Weekly - Once per week Gaming Preferences Player/GM: Player Preferred Genres: Dark Future, Fantasy, Horror, Modern, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction / Futuristic, Space Opera, Strategic (Miniatures), Super Heroic Favorite RPGs: Any Gaming Worlds: Any Preferred Playing Style: No Preference Ideal Group Size: No Preference Online RPGs?: No What are you looking for?: Any game willing to teach a new player. About Me Biography: I am 22 years old and have no former experience. I am currently in college and am looking to start up the hobby. Statistics Total Posts Total Posts 0 Posts Per Day 0 Downloads Downloads 0 Uploads 0 General Information Last Activity 02-15-2009 09:38 AM Join Date 09-15-2008 Referrals 0 -- P&PG v4 -- Default Mobile Style Contact Us Pen and Paper Games Archive Privacy Statement Top All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:14 PM. Powered by vBulletinCopyright ©2000 - 2014, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. Donation System provided by vBDonate (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2014 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.Copyright ©2006-2014 - All Additional Rights Reserved - Robert A. Howard


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One Acre Fund Artificial Insemination Technician Job in Kakamega, Kenya
Organization Description: One Acre Fund is a growing NGO in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi that is innovating a new way of helping farm families to achieve their full potential.
One Acre invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income. We provide farmers with a "market bundle" that includes education, finance, seed and fertilizer, and market access.
Contract Details: Two year contract subject to renewal depending on performance
Job Description: We are looking for an extremely organised, passionate and capable individual to help expand our Dairy Cow Care and Breeding Program as One Acre Fund grows. They would be responsible for providing Artificial Insemination services to farmers who have purchased the Dairy Cow Care and Breeding package.
Essential Skills and Experience
- At least 2+ years experience conducting Artificial Inseminations
- Animal Health Assistance Certificate (provide at interview)
- Registered Veterinary Surgeon (provide at interview)
- Artificial Insemination Training Certificate (provide at interview)
- Registered AI technician with the Kenya Veterinary Board (provide at interview)
- Strong References from previous clients (provide at interview)
- Good spoken and written English
- Strong ability to work within deadlines and long hours in the field
- Ability to multitask and prioritise – You will be visiting several farmers per day and must be able to complete them in order of priority
- Attention to detail – One Acre Fund has exceptionally high standards and all visits must be completed to a high level of detail
- Excellent communication and high level of professionalism
- Must live or be willing to relocate to Kakamega, Western Kenya
- Heat Detection
- Correct AI technique
- Pelvic examination to determine semen/breed suitability
- Pregnancy Diagnostic Test
- Correct Reporting Procedure to DVS
- Ability to communicate effectively to farmers
- Universal pistolette
- Plastic sheaths
- Arm length gloves
- Pair of scissors
- Thaw monitor (or thermometer)
- Tweezers
- Lubricant
- Dipstick
- Haversack
- Thermos flasks
- Ability to work long hours – All One Acre Fund employees are passionate about what they do.
- We are a professional organisation and our employees often work outside regular hours in order to achieve fantastic results
- Good reporting and communication skills (both formal and informal)
- Deliver timely, high quality Artificial Insemination Services to One Acre Fund farmers
- Ensuring project deliverables are executed on schedule and to a high level of quality
- Spending significant amounts of time in the field quality checking project activities
- Sending through high quality updates and reports on time
Timeline: This position requires someone who can start immediately.
Compensation: A competitive compensation package will be offered. One Acre Fund will monitor your Artificial Insemination success rate and high performers will be eligible for performance bonuses.
Benefits: A transport and airtime allowance will be paid monthly.
One Acre Fund is an equal opportunity employer
To Apply


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The following is a news release from NASA Earth Observatory.
On July 15, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the aurora australis, or "southern lights," over Antarctica's Queen Maud Land and the Princess Ragnhild Coast.
The image below was captured by the VIIRS "day-night band," which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as city lights, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight. In the case of the image above, the sensor detected the visible auroral light emissions as energetic particles rained down from Earth's magnetosphere and into the gases of the upper atmosphere. The slightly jagged appearance of the auroral lines is a function of the rapid dance of the energetic particles at the same time that the satellite is moving and the VIIRS sensor is scanning.
The yellow box in the top image depicts the area shown in the lower close-up image. Light from the aurora was bright enough to illuminate the ice edge between the ice shelf and the Southern Ocean. At the time, Antarctica was locked in midwinter darkness and the Moon was a waning crescent that provided little light.
Learn more about the VIIRS day-night band and nighttime imaging of Earth in our new feature story: Out of the Blue and Into the Black.
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