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2015 means one thing for me at the moment, I am currently 3 months into my third year as a PhD student, which means I only have 9 months left to write my thesis, I guess I should get writing sometime soon then...
Here I am, writing this blog post, after an extremely busy Christmas period involving AGU, a holiday in Colorado and the VMSG conference in Norwich. In my last post (Sightseeing in San Francisco before AGU) I blogged about some sightseeing I did involving visits to Muir Woods and the Golden Gate Bridge. In this post I said that Alcatraz really didn't look that far away, insinuating that it really should have been easy! It turns out, however, that the tides are so strong it would take a miracle to time the crossing correctly. Indeed, there was a group who presented at AGU, who modelled the flow conditions on the night of the infamous escape and concluded there was a very small time window to enable successful escape! A summary news article can be found here. Anyhow, I managed to get a bit more sightseeing done in San Francisco, including a group of noisy seals at Pier 39, a submarine (a common theme from my overseas conference visits - and all by mistake!), and a closer view of Alcatraz (all in the pictures below). AGU is certainly one of the biggest conferences I have been to so far and my first in North America. The poster halls (above) were of very grand proportions. I certainly enjoyed the afternoon poster sessions along with beer on tap which really made going round and discussing peoples work a relaxing and productive experience. The exhibit hall was also present at a significant scale, with companies such as NASA and Google giving demonstrations of their available technology and techniques. There was even a full-size model of a shuttle type craft, but I cannot recall the model - maybe shuttlex. I gave my presentation on the Wednesday at the conference, and for those young researchers and students who have given a presentation at EGU/AGU (or any conference really) before will know that the nerves can build up a bit! AGU is certainly one of the most tiring conferences I have been too as it is pretty full on for 5 days but something I have learnt from previous conferences is that you don't have to go to everything! In fact, you can be much more productive if you don't, it's important to set aside time to reflect on what you have heard or follow-up on any new connections. After a thoroughly relaxing break, it was straight to VMSG in Norwich for a much smaller but equally valuable conference. Indeed, these conferences can sometimes be more valuable, especially if the conference is of a relevant theme. I must admit I was a little skeptical of a conference in Norwich, mainly because of the reputation the city has within the UK! However, it was a very well-organised event in a unique venue. Although, for some inexplicable reason the vast majority of restaurants and pubs seemed to be shut on the Monday - importantly the Belgian Monk pub which was reputed to serve good food and even better Belgian beers, oh well, till the next time. Instead we found a very nice vegetarian curry place. The conference dinner this year was at Norwich City FCs football ground, Carrow Rd, and it was certainly a very cool location for a dinner - although I was a little disappointed that Delia herself didn't come out of the kitchen gesticulating her scarf around shouting "let's be 'aving you!".
2015 means one thing for me at the moment, I am currently 3 months into my third year as a PhD student, which means I only have 9 months left to write my thesis, I guess I should get writing sometime soon then... Here I am in San Francisco before AGU 2014, doing a little bit of sightseeing. I am staying in a fantastic hostel not too far from Union Square. Heading out yesterday morning to have a quick look around the city, I felt a little bit out of a place and a little bit like a gate-crasher! The reason? Half the city were dressed as Santa (some had made a better attempt than others)! Apparently, I had stumbled across the yearly event known as SantaCon. I have never heard of this before but the general idea seemed to be one large bar crawl - shame I didn't bring that Santa suit I have hidden away! In the afternoon, I decided to head over to see Muir Woods via a certain Golden Gate Bridge (on the recommendation of someone in the department). Muir Woods is home to some of the tallest trees in the world - the redwoods. It's a pretty cool little national park (if you have read other blog posts you will see that I have been to a few others in the US), a little bit hidden and out of the way. If I had had more time there are a network of trails around the hillside with views of the Pacific ocean if you get to the top - something for my next visit now I know that it's there. Google Earth/maps really doesn't do the view from the bridge into and out of San Francisco bay justice. Although, looking at the distance between Alcatraz and the mainland, it doesn't actually look that far. I am sure it would be different if I was the one doing the swimming (I am guessing it might be quite cold too). Today, I am off to Fisherman's Wharf to get some nom and have a look around. It has certainly been a while since my last blog post - it's getting to that time in my PhD where I am coming towards the end of data analysis (and collecting new data) and starting to think about the layout of my thesis. I have been so busy that I forgot completely about blogging. Anyhow, it always helps to have something to blog about, AGU and San Francisco the perfect example! On Wednesday I am presenting on some of the work I have been doing with observing and modelling (in the lab and computationally) slug driven activity. The abstract of this work is posted below. Abstract: The study of single gas slugs in volcanic conduits has received a large amount of focus within the literature. However, the more complex behaviour associated with the rise and burst of multiple slugs has yet to be considered in detail in a volcanic context. Here we combine observations and analyses of such activity using a three-pronged approach consisting of existing gas mass data collected during rapid slug driven activity at Mt. Etna, scaled laboratory analogue experiments, and computer simulations using the Ansys Fluent® fluid dynamics software. Particular focus was applied to the process of coalescence and wake capture during slug expansion and rise. The results indicate a variety of potential features and relationships, including: promotion of coalescence at distances further than predicted wake lengths, approximate maximum gas volume fraction and minimum magma viscosity values for the occurrence of stable multi-slug activity, and in the laboratory regimes a series of linear trends are associated with overall gas volume fraction and burst volume. A previously observed phenomenon at Mt. Etna, whereby larger slug bursting events are subject to a longer repose period prior to the following event, than smaller events, is also evident in the lab setting. By combining all acquired and modelled data, we derive an approximate relation, using existing formulae for slug base rise speed (Viana et al. 2003) and wake length (Campos and Guedes de Carvalho, 1988), to describe a minimum repose period which is likely to follow the burst of a slug at the surface. The outlined work has significant fluid dynamic implications for possible magma and conduit properties which can allow multi-slug activity at volcanic targets.
With all the rigmarole surrounding what may or may not be happening at Bardarbunga, I thought I would put together a little guide of where to get RELIABLE information and comment. The main source of reliable information is, obviously, from the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), update page here. The IMO really is the best and only source needed - primarily because they are the experts on Icelandic volcanoes and how they may or may not behave! For a detailed description of the area experiencing the unrest see this report on the volcanic system.
As with all volcanic activity there are a number of potential outcomes (for information on these see the IMO website update for the 26th August at 15:45), as such, any blogs or posts which pertain to one exact event happening are unlikely to be trusted! As always though the Eruptions blog by Erik Klemetti is a good and informative read. There are also quite a few nutters on Youtube these days, so I would be very careful what you watch there. Below is the twitter feed for the hash-tag Bardarbunga, which, among random posts, should show the most up to date news. Tweeters to look out for are @HTuffen, @Sim0nRedfern and @subglacial. This is of course not an exhaustive list! Don't forget to keep an eye on the webcams too! Links here and here, (the former link does not currently seem to be operational). One of the fantastic things about driving round the US, especially in a state like Colorado is that there is often something unexpected round the corner. Originating in Denver we drove over the Rockies using US 285 (through a little place called South Park consequently - not many cartoon characters loitering around though!), then hitting the intersection at Salida we travelled west on highway 50. On the map, just before Montrose a small national park called the Black Canyon of the Gunnison was listed, having been in the car most of the day we thought why not take a look! It turned out to be an absolutely fantastic stop with fantastic views of a canyon filled with dikes here, there, and everywhere! The lighter coloured dikes here are pegmatite cutting into Gneiss. The park is surrounded by mountainous regions including the San Juans and the Elk mountain range. One small note, on entering the park we were all expecting to see a dark black canyon (e.g. as dark as some basalts), however, it is certainly more of a dark-to-light grey (although, it may turn a darker colour when the walls are wet...). Black Canyon of the Gunnison does have a much catchier feel to it than - Greyish Canyon of the Gunnison! We continued the journey through the San Juans on the million dollar highway, which is one of the most beautiful mountain passes I have been through, on our way to Durango. By the way in Durango there is an excellent restaurant (called Durango Brewpub) which served excellent food and excellent beer too. I will give fair warning though the chilli beer was certainly hotter than expected! OK, so the next location was extremely interesting, but not for the geology, the location? Mesa Verde national park (picture below of the Cliff Palace). Mesa Verde is the ancestral location of a number of current Native Indian peoples. The fantastic thing about these people is that sometime in the 1100s/1200s they started to move into these cliff dwellings underneath the overhangs (as pictured below) in response to changing environmental conditions. These really are worth a visit and I would thoroughly recommend the guided tours by the national park rangers to Cliff Palace, Balcony House and the Long House. During these you will learn a lot about the peoples who lived there, why they moved down and how they survived. Credit must really be given to the rangers who are very knowledgeable and really seemed to care about the location and the people. We were lucky to have three different perspectives from three different rangers with three different backgrounds: the first an archaeologist by training, the second an anthropologist, and the third a historian. One more night in Durango and then the final stop on our trip, on the way back to Denver, was at the Sand Dunes National Park. This really is a surprising location, mostly because you really don't expect these rather large sand dunes (the tallest in North America) to appear out of nowhere! The picture below probably doesn't do them justice. On a vaguely volcanic note, theses Dunes are location a small distance (~100 miles) from the site of possibly the largest known volcanic eruption in history - that which created the La Garita Caldera. Climbing to the top of these dunes which are around 750 feet high was certainly harder than it looked!
This (brief!) post spawned from a series of recent video and photo discoveries from Twitter and YouTube. The first time I observed a dust devil was at Vulcano only a few months ago. Although, I suppose it should really be called a gas devil as it was the condensed volcanic gases which made the phenomenon visible! The photo on the right of Vulcano illustrates this and the video at the very bottom shows the formation and development of the "gas devil". Interestingly enough a "gas devil" was seen emanting from almost exactly the same location several times over the course of the few days we spent at the summit. This leads us to the question, what forms them? I am by no means an atmospheric expert but here goes... The key component is the heating of the ground which creates a large enough temperature difference between the air near to the ground and the air above it (i.e. creating a density difference). This then starts a process of convection (not an unfamiliar topic in volcanology, a similar process likely occurs within volcanic conduits). Following this all that is needed are appropriate wind conditions to push the dust devil into a vertical position and viola! This process probably occurs a lot more often than we observe, as it is with the entertainment of particles that dust devils become visible! A couple of good explanations (which helped a lot!) are included here and here (along with a good graphic in the latter one). So taking this new found knowledge and applying it to a couple of volcanic situations... In the case of Vulcano the heat comes from both the incoming solar radiation and potentially the heat of the fumarole(s) with a nice side wind over the edge of the crater. In the case of Sinabung (video below) it is entirely possible that the ground (and air) is super-heated by the pyroclastic density currents which have just rolled by, leading to some fantastic examples! Many thanks are due to Oliver Lamb and Rudiger Escobar Wolf for links to photos of Colima (click on on Oliver Lambs name) and Sanitaguito (photo to the left). Also to Luca D'Auria for the initial post in a Facebook group. Dust devils have also been observed at volcanoes such as Mt. St. Helens and some fantastic examples at Sinabung, which are so good I had to included the YouTube video below. Of course dust devils such as this don't just occur at volcanoes and have also been observed on Mars! I love a disaster movie, even cheesy ones with volcanoes and bad science in them...In fact one of my favourite volcano related disaster movies (there aren't that many to choose from I know!) is Dante's Peak. What isn't there to enjoy about a volcanologist who nonchalantly waltzes and swaggers his way round or over volcanic obstacles and phenomena (even though plausibility is certainly questionable!). I suppose it also helps that this particular volcanologist is associated with roles such as James Bond, which all aids to "sex and glammer up" what the vast majority of volcanologists really do! Long story short, it was no surprise that I went to this particular movie. Being A Game Of Thrones (GoT) fan too (the lead character "Milo" is also "John Snow" in GoT) it wasn't much of a hard decision.
The film, of course, revolves around the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Volcanologically and historically this eruption was important for a number of reasons, including it's complete engulfment of Pompeii and other nearby settlements (e.g. Herculaneum) and the unprecedented account of the eruption by a nearby observer - Pliny the Younger. Having never read the accounts of Pliny this was one of the first things I did. Pliny recounts the eruptions in two letters to Tacitus, a prominent historian in his own right. Pliny at the tender age of 18, witnesses parts of the eruption himself and recounts other parts from sources at the time. In these letters, Pliny remarks on significant Earth tremors leading up to the eruption, which certainly were present in the film. He also makes references to the receding of the sea and a significant amount of ashfall - which eventually kills Pliny the Elder. On a side note he also gives a fantastic description of the rising of a buoyant plume. So, scientifically, what was questionable in the film or didn't occur at the time? Pliny the Younger does mention a slight recession of the sea, which certainly suggests that a Tsunami did occur, although, I have found/heard no mention of the gargantuan waves depicted in the films. Trawling the internet I tried to find whether there was a consultant volcanologist employed on the film but was unfortunately unsuccessful. As always I am a little behind trend and you can find another summary of the movie here on live science. In this overview, they also mention the volcanic bombs, their absence in any evidence and also the size of any Tsunami. It was slightly disappointing that the film didn't incorporate more of Pliny, oh well! I would certainly recommend reading the letters of Pliny in their entirety, whilst the majority are related to his doings in the senate, they really are a fantastic insight into the Roman world - there is even a Ghost story thrown in! I had a bit of spare time in the field recently and decided to do a spur of the moment impression of Sir David Attenborough...(with the greatest respect to the man himself of course!) Vulcano is one of the most fantastic destinations I have had the chance to do fieldwork so far. Combine an easily accessible summit (on the right), persistently active fumaroles and amazing summit views, with great food and the result is a most enjoyable and productive field session. Another great thing about Vulcano as a target for remote sensors like me is that it is relatively accessible all year round (subject to somewhat erratic boat timetables) and it is less subject to inclement weather conditions. This is something that nearby volcanoes Etna and Stromboli suffer from greatly especially during winter months. However, this is certainly not to say that Vulcano doesn't have its challenges when making measurements because it certainly does! For this particular session we were taking a variety of spectroscopic measurements of the summit fumaroles (first photo on the right) using ultra-violet cameras (see Tamburello et al. 2011 for previous measurements at Vulcano) and transecting the fumaroles using a MultiGAS unit (see Aiuppa et al. 2005; Shinohara, 2005). A MultiGAS unit sucks in surrounding air through a tube and analyses for the concentration of a number of volcanic species (e.g. sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide etc), it can do this at an extremely high resolution of approximately every 2 seconds. To continue with my previous thought, what are these challenges when making measurements? Well first and foremost when using ultra-violet and other spectroscopic systems, for the most accurate of measurements a number of conditions need to be met:
To the left is the merged plume of a number of the fumaroles early on one of the mornings. As you can probably observe, the plume is a little too condensed at this stage...but a few hours of waiting and conditions improved to become almost perfect (as above). In the centre of the image you can just about make out a solitary figure clad all in white. This figure is just about to enter the plume and perform a transect of the upper crater terrace fumaroles using a MultiGAS unit. When transecting the plume it is necessary to where goggles and a gas mask to protect against the high concentrations of toxic gases. The first thing you notice when you reach the vicinity of the plume is a faint rotten egg smell (hydrogen sulphide). Anyone who has stood in the vicinity of such gases will know that one of the first noticeable effects, even at relatively low concentrations, is the irritation of respiratory tracts. This can often result in quite a bit of coughing! Of course Vulcano is a great place for more than just the summit fumaroles, previous historical eruptions (e.g. the eruption of 1888) have thrown up some quite spectacularly sized bombs with a large number of them the appropriately named bread-crust bombs which are scattered around the place. After stumbling across a book: Vulcano, Tre Secoli Di Mineralogia (Three centuries of minerals). in a little restaurant called Maurizios (which I highly recommend!), I learnt that there were in fact minute amounts of gold found in the fumaroles of Vulcano. However, don't pack your bags, and shovels yet, the amounts present would certainly not be enough to make you rich very quickly! In the photos at the bottom of the post you can see the plume of Stromboli, taken with a canon 300 mm zoom lens and a couple of the surrounding Aeolian Islands. You can find a few more photos in this section on my website!
Thanks to Tom for inviting me to contribute this blog-post. I should start by telling you a little about me and how I know Tom, so here goes. I am a PhD student at Royal Holloway, University of London, researching volcano-tectonics and specifically the mechanics of caldera collapses. Like Tom I also studied for a Master's degree in Volcanology and Geological Hazards at Lancaster University, although we did not meet at Lancaster. I first met Tom in May 2013 for a NEMOH organised field school at Stromboli volcano; where we jointly experienced an unfortunately unforgettable, and particularly rough boat back to the mainland of Sicily. I can highly recommend that if the captain of a sketchy looking boat offers to get you off an island when none of the main companies are willing to, think again! So, Tom asked me to write this post as he heard that I was working at a really fascinating and important volcano in Greece. The volcano in question is Santorini, which is a particularly famous stratovolcano in the Aegean ocean. The volcano is famous partly because around 3500 years ago the island experienced a huge caldera forming eruption, which is believed to be associated with the demise of the Minoan civilisation. Deposits from the various phases of the eruption can be seen straddling almost the entire circumference of a north-south elongated caldera, which measures approximately 10 km in maximum diameter, several hundred metres in depth and is centrally filled by ocean. In fact, at least three huge eruptions, ~100 thousand years, ~21 thousand and ~3500 years ago contributed to the shape and size of the current caldera. The global impacts of the Minoan eruption have often been overestimated (see the article of Pyle, 1995), however in terms of volume this eruption is up there with the biggest of the past 10,000 years. Active volcanism in Santorini is now constrained to a small island named Nea Kameni, located almost in the centre of the caldera. This resurgent volcano has been the site of several predominantly effusive eruptions, the latest of which occurred in 1950. Importantly, the island of Santorini lies on top of two north-east to south-west trending faults, one in the north of the island is called the Colombo fault and the other which is believed to be associated with the current phase of volcanism lies directly under Nea Kameni, and is named the Kameni fault. OK, so what was I doing in Santorini? The answer is looking for and studying dykes in the caldera walls. Just so you're up to speed, a dyke is a magma-driven fracture through which all volcanic eruptions must be fed. As such, it is really important to know the conditions for dyke propagation in a volcanic edifice. Luckily there are many fantastic geological locations (e.g. Iceland/Tenerife) around the world where geologists can see deep inside ancient volcanoes. In doing so it is possible to observe that many dykes (if not most) never reach the surface, and therefore never contribute to a volcanic eruption. They become arrested. Santorini is a stratovolcano made up of many layers of contrasting mechanical properties; for example, stiff lava flows and comparatively compliant layers such as ash, volcanic tuffs and breccia's. So it offers a great opportunity to try to understand how dykes pass through these individual layers. Specifically, I went into the field to take measurements on the thicknesses, directions and compositions of individual dykes. The walls of the caldera are very steep and largely inaccessible, so most of my work was conducted from a boat, which was a really cool experience. The data is important for me because I am trying to understand how calderas form in different volcanoes. I am using the propagation of dykes as a proxy for the propagation of caldera fractures, because presumably the fracture which created the current caldera must have passed through the same materials with which these dykes also passed. In 2011, Santorini experienced an unrest period characterised by elevated levels of seismicity and uplift (see Parks, 2012 for details). Such signals are most likely associated with magma being transported as dyke from great depths, to recharge a shallow magma chamber. When and why a magma chamber ruptures and sends a dyke to the surface is still a reasonably poorly understood phenomenon. So the important question at most caldera volcanoes is: when does a period of unrest lead to a volcanic eruption? It is a difficult one to answer!
As well as gathering data for my PhD I also took the time to help out at the run-off erosion intensive field-course organised by the University of Athens. Sandy Drymoni and I ran the course's final day visit to Nea Kameni, where we introduced some basic volcanological concepts and described some of the islands features. This was a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. The previous day I also had the opportunity to meet the mayor of Santorini at a visit to the Minoan ruins at Akrotiri. Although I wasn't able to question him about the island's volcanic preparedness, this was partly out of courtesy, but mainly because we didn't speak any of the same languages. I will now use the data collected from this fieldwork as an input for numerical models using the structural mechanics module of a program called COMSOL. In doing so, I will try to understand the stress conditions required for dyke propagation; caldera formation and magma chamber rupture in different types of volcanic edifice. The receival of a last minute NERC Impaft Fund has meant a mad dash to be ready for a sampling session at Vulcano. The volcano which all others take their name! I am quite excited about adding another volcano to my growing list.
So....what do I do to prepare for fieldwork. One of the first things you do is check all the main equipment is working! In this case, I am developing a new technique which means a brand new Matlab Application finished the Friday before I leave! Hopefully its suitably free of bugs! Next I list the equipment I need, check I know how to use it and I have plenty of spare batteries. As always, last minute clothes packing and as always I forget one thing...this time it was deodrant... Vulcano is one of the Aeolian Islands (which includes Stromboli, Lipari) and is fantastic for remote sensing for the majority of the year because of generally good measurement conditions and persistent fumaroles at the La Fossa Crater! Its easily accesible by boat from Milazzo. So, here I am writing this blog on the pier in Milazzo after surviving two days of driving in Palermo (one Italian told me if you can drive in Palermo you can drive anywhere) and the North coast of Sicily! I am going to try and do a little bit of tweeting/blogging from the field if I have time! |


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About a month or so we signed Libby up for a ballet/tap class at our local recreation center. She loved every minute of her ballet and tap class. She loved putting on her little ballet outfits and leg warmers and dancing her little heart out. I am so thankful for this sweet little girl and the joy I have to be able to see her explore and grow each day. Watching her in her ballet class gave me a little glimpse of how my mother must have felt years ago watching me in a ballet class for the first time, when I was 3. It is just pure enjoyment watching your little one learn to be graceful and coordinated. Miss Priss can't wait to start up another session this summer of dance class. Below are just some pictures of her in class. She is our little Pinkerella :>
At the end of each class they got to do a solo and share with the class what their favorite dance step was for the day.

subset: commoncrawl


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Definitions for virtuallyˈvɜr tʃu ə li
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word virtually
Princeton's WordNet
in essence or effect but not in fact
"the strike virtually paralyzed the city"; "I'm virtually broke"
about, almost, most, nearly, near, nigh, virtually, well-nigh(adverb)
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
"the job is (just) about done"; "the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded"; "we're almost finished"; "the car all but ran her down"; "he nearly fainted"; "talked for nigh onto 2 hours"; "the recording is well-nigh perfect"; "virtually all the parties signed the contract"; "I was near exhausted by the run"; "most everyone agrees"
almost but not quite.
Without exaggeration; literally
In essence, but not in fact
Of a substructure of finite index.
virtually indicable
Of a covering space of finite index.
virtually Haken
Webster Dictionary
in a virtual manner; in efficacy or effect only, and not actually; to all intents and purposes; practically
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'virtually' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2403
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'virtually' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2166
Adverbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'virtually' in Adverbs Frequency: #190
Translations for virtually
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"virtually." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2015. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/virtually>.


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The Garcia Family HistoryUpdated May 25, 2007 |
I am attempting to create a detailed, accurate account of our family's history. Please review the information posted so far and let me know of any corrections. Enjoy! |
Kristy Renee Lazanoff PO Box 447 Santa Margarita, CA 93453 United States 805-438-5304 email@example.com |
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Saracens name side to face Northampton
Saracens have named their side to face Northampton Saints in Round 8 of the Aviva Premiership at Allianz Park on Sunday, KO 13h00. Saracens welcome back Billy Vunipola to the squad for Sunday's clash, the England No.8 starts in the back row alongside Jackson Wray (blindside flanker) and Will Fraser (openside flanker). At lock, Jim


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Posted: 10/05/2013 06:01
The DAMS driver jumps to the top of the starting grid for Race 1.
Great performance by Stéphane Richelmi in Montmelo circuit at Barcelona today where the qualifying session were played for the spanish round of the GP2 championship.
The DAMS driver won the first row with an excellent time of 1'28"871, only 165 milliseconds from teammate Ericsson.This morning Richelmi was on track for free practice session in which he has become familiar with the Catalunya circuit, then he has tried the fastest time in qualifying, pushing on the accelerator until he has reached to the top of the grid.
Stephane Richelmi


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Somerset girls basketball defeated in regional final
Dowd finishes fifth at state wrestling meet
Somerset girls basketball holds off St. Croix Central; advances to Saturday's regional final
Area school districts present united front against Gov. Walker's budget
Bullseye! Archery Club takes off at SCC
NRHS students on pace to read 5,000 books this year
NRHS student named National Merit Scholarship finalist
Somerset's got talent
Farm, Feral & Stray works with Scout to care for local free roaming cats
Local author publishes first book
Somerset Community Food Pantry seeks volunteers
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Crown Castle Proposal to Add Antennas - 283 Hwy 35/64 Somerset
Village of Somerset Feb. 26 Special Meeting Minutes
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City of New Richmond - Official Notice - NR Softball Association Class B License
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January 19, 2015
An office with a view; unique job brings out creative side for man working with Hudson firm
A lot of white-collar corporate employees spend a lifetime in the rat race striving to someday get a promotion that will land them in a corner...
news / business
January 19, 2015 - 3:31pm
September 9, 2014
RF man injured in biking accident; Eau Claire woman's injuries fatal
A prominent River Falls man was seriously injured Sunday in a bike racing incident that will claim the life of a retired Eau Claire teacher. Dan Woll, 65, River Falls, former superintendent in the St. Croix Central and Menomonie school districts, saw Cheri Uelmen's crash and...
news / accidents
September 9, 2014 - 9:57am
August 18, 2014
Motor home fire causes I-94 traffic delays; state on pace for record ag exports; 8 more state news stories
HAMMOND -- A motor home that was destroyed by fire on I-94 near Hammond late Sunday morning closed both eastbound lanes for about 15 minutes and caused traffic to back up nearly six miles until all the wreckage was cleared away around 1 p.m. The State Patrol responded, along with...
news / accidents
August 18, 2014 - 9:00am
August 12, 2014
St. Croix clerk of court votes won't be reported until 4 p.m. Wednesday
Results for St. Croix County clerk of circuit court write-in candidates will be posted after 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, announced County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Campbell said that because the situation is so unusual and because state rules for write-in candidates have changed, she...
news / government
August 12, 2014 - 2:52pm
August 4, 2014
Man found dead 8 hours after motorcycle crash; Two other western Wisconsin fatalities reported
SIREN -- A Siren man died Saturday, Aug. 2 after he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed while traveling County Road B in the town of La Follete. The Wisconsin State Patrol's Spooner office reported that Jerry A. Barker, 58, was eastbound when he ran off the road in a curve...
news / accidents
August 4, 2014 - 9:03am
July 14, 2014
Probable West Nile case reported in St. Croix County; New Richmond woman faces criminal charges after St. Paul accident; More state news briefs
Neighboring Iowa has recorded its first human case of the West Nile virus this year, and Wisconsin and Minnesota might not be far behind. As of late last week, Wisconsin still had one probable human case of the mosquito-borne disease in St. Croix County. Trempealeau County recorded...
news / crime and courts
July 14, 2014 - 9:07am
July 1, 2014
GM compensation offer includes families of girls who died in St. Croix County; Man says 'tomato' but cop says 'pot'; More state news
Families of three Wisconsin victims in a 2006 traffic crash linked to General Motors' faulty ignition switches have yet to decide whether to take a company settlement. Ken Rimer says the families will meet with their lawyer tomorrow after GM announced a compensation fund Monday. Natasha...
news / crime and courts
July 1, 2014 - 9:49am
April 28, 2014
Raihala makes bid for U.S. Congress
Four years ago, Don Raihala ran for Congress because little was getting done in Washington D.C., except raising the nation's debt -- then around $14 trillion. Now, with the nation's debt more than $17.5 million, the Superior Republican — he ran as a Democrat in 2010 — is...
news / politics
April 28, 2014 - 11:17am
April 22, 2014
Update: Drowning victim intoxicated ahead of Sunday morning accident
Preliminary autopsy results on the body of a Baldwin woman found in Pine Lake Sunday morning indicates she was heavily intoxicated before she...
news / accidents
April 22, 2014 - 3:05pm
April 14, 2014
Severson not running in 28th Assembly District; lawyer is
Erik Severson (R-Osceola) has announced he won't seek reelection to the 28th District seat in the Wisconsin Assembly, and a Balsam Lake lawyer has declared his candidacy for the position. Adam Jarchow, also a Republican, announced his candidacy the same morning Severson sent...
news / politics
April 14, 2014 - 9:06am
March 28, 2014
Bridge progress
On Wednesday, March 26, construction crews began the process of pumping concrete into the forms installed atop the foundation of pier 8W near...
news / region
March 28, 2014 - 4:34pm
March 25, 2014
GM recall: Trooper says 2006 St. Croix accident prompted him to send report to safety agency
Retired Wisconsin state trooper Keith Young and his wife were sitting at the kitchen table last month when a story on the evening news jarred...
news / crime and courts
March 25, 2014 - 11:18am
March 21, 2014
UPDATED: Slippery roads blamed for death of Grantsburg woman
A rural Grantsburg woman died Friday morning when she lost control of her car on a snow-covered road and slid into the path of a semi-tractor on Hwy. 87 in Polk County. The driver was identified Monday as Cynthia L. Throngard, 61, of Grantsburg, A death notice on the Swedburg-Taylor...
news / accidents
March 21, 2014 - 4:33pm
February 26, 2014
Boater pleads not guilty to homicide
A man who was driving a speedboat the night of June 5, 2013, when it hit a rock face near Kinnickinnic State Park, was arraigned in Pierce County Court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to homicide charges in the death of a passenger. Patrick A. Puhalla, 47, Bayport, Minn., faces...
news / crime and courts
February 26, 2014 - 10:09am
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I loved this image. The colours are beautiful, the composition is great, it has a great movement feel, and it has a cuteness to the creatures that is very original when compared with most of the Cryptids pieces I know. Awesome job!
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Graceland Yard
- Location:Xidan Shopping Street
- Address:No.9 Zhengjue Lane, Xicheng District, Beijing
- Tel:010-83288366 (Book this hotel, call 800-2682918)
- Hotel Name in Chinese:北京觉品酒店
- Lowest Price: On Request
Opened in 2009, the Graceland Yard is a boutique courtyard thematic hotel with the theme of zen Buddhism. It was once the Zhengjue Temple which has a history of 500 years. It is 10 minutes' drive to the Beijing North Railway Station, 20 minutes' drive to the city center and 40 minutes' drive to the Capital Airport.
The Graceland Yard offers a total of 8 unique guest rooms. All rooms are provided with free broadband internet access and hair dryer and other service amenities. As for dining service, there is a restaurant in the hotel and western breakfast is available. Other facilities in the hotel include business center, meeting room, parking lot and wireless internet area, etc. Apart from these, the Graceland Yard also provides service such as pick up service, ticket booking, postal service and travel service and so on.
- Prices not include 18% service fee and tax.
- Payment Method: pay using our secure online payment service or pay at the hotel at some hotels.
- Triple/quad occupancy may require an extra bed at extra cost.
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Services | Luggage service, Laundry service, Room service, Wake Up Call, 24hr Reception, Business Centre, Copy Service, E-mail, Fax Service |
Room Amenities | Air conditioning, Alarm clock, Color Television, Complimentary newspaper, Coffee/tea maker, Telephone, Hair dryer, In-room safe, Electronic Lock, Iron and ironing board, Bath and Shower, , Free for Internet |
Hotel Amenities: Parking, Air-Conditioned Facilities, Business Center, Meeting Room, Deposit Box at Front Desk, Fire Detector, Wifi
Dining Facilities: Western Restaurant
Print the Taxi Directions
- Please drive me to Graceland Yard , thank you!
- 请送我到北京觉品酒店 ,谢谢
- Address:No.9 Zhengjue Lane, Xicheng District, Beijing
- 地址:北京 西城区 正觉胡同甲9号
- Tel: 010-83288366
- Our Reviews
- Reviews from TA
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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 swinging to stores March 27 You know, swinging. Like a golf club. SPORTS JOKES! Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 is coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 27 and is set to have some new features. The biggest change is the swing mechanics where players can take full control over their swing with all-new tempo, swing plane, shot power controls and an adjustable shot setup allowing players to create limitless shot types. The new Tiger Woods will also be the first Kinect powered EA Sport game with motion and voice integration. PlayStation Move owners can expect motion controls as well. Additionally, there will be a Masters Collector's Edition released alongside the standard edition that will include extra golf courses. This will retail for $69.99, $10 more than the standard edition. SPORTS! Comments not appearing? Anti-virus apps like Avast or some browser extensions can cause this. Easy fix: Add [*].disqus.com to your software's white list. Tada! Happy comments time again.
Did you know? You can now get daily or weekly email notifications when humans reply to your comments.


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How to get more than a 3% raise this year by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine February 12, 2015, 9:56 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons At first glance, the latest figures seem to defy the laws of supply and demand. The job market is booming, with more job growth than the U.S. has seen in years. Hiring is up and employers are trying harder to find and retain talent. So paychecks should be getting bigger too, right? If only. Average base pay across all industries in the U.S. went up a measly 1.8% in 2014, according to the latest analysis from PayScale. Even during the fourth quarter of last year, when the economy was growing like gangbusters, wages and salaries increased by a scant 0.6%. The first quarter of this year isn't looking much better, with average wages expected to increase 1.7% over the same three months of 2014. For the entire year, according to compensation consultant Mercer's annual employer survey, you can expect a 3% bump in salary — a tiny uptick over the average raise of 2.9% in 2014. Clearly, the long-term trend toward stagnating wages has yet to turn around. The average U.S. worker has seen his or her pay go up 7.5% since 2006. But, adjusted for inflation, real wages fell by 7.5% during those years, PayScale reports. If you feel as if you're working harder for the same pay, or even less, it's not just your imagination. So, if you want to make noticeably more money this year than last, what can you do? You could change jobs, especially if you're in a field where demand for hard-to-find skills is pushing salary offers up. Or you could stay where you are and try capitalizing on a trend that is quietly gaining ground: incentive pay. Yes, employers are determined to keep long-term overhead costs low. But most companies seem to have no qualms about pay for performance, partly because variable pay plans are usually self-funding. If you find a new way to cut costs, for instance, your bonus comes out of the resulting savings. Not only that but, unlike a salary hike, a performance bonus is paid only once. No wonder variable pay hit a new record high in 2014, according to a report from nonprofit human resources association WorldAtWork, and will keep going strong this year. Bonuses (including retention bonuses designed to keep key talent from quitting) are by far the most widespread form of incentive pay, favored by 82% of companies. Two-thirds (66%) of employers say they offer spot bonuses for doing a great job on a single task, and 42% pay extra if employees meet performance goals worked out in advance with their bosses. If 82% of employers offer some form of incentive pay, letting people earn more for accomplishing specific goals, yours probably does too. But don't be surprised if you haven't heard about it. About 40% of companies surveyed admit to communicating "minimal information" about how individuals' pay is determined, the WorldAtWork survey says. Maybe it's not surprising, then, that almost half (45%) say their employees don't understand how their compensation systems work. If you're looking at another 3% annual raise with nothing extra for performance, it could pay to ask.
Step aside Wall Street, small pharma CEO pay reaches for the sky by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine January 5, 2015, 5:16 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons They may not be running too big to fail firms, but the CEOs of many small biopharmaceutical companies are being paid like they are unquestionably indispensable, In fact, many are making more than Wall Street's chief executives and the CEOs of their much larger pharmaceutical peers. In fact, these executives are being paid more than the CEOs of much larger counterparts in a lot of other industries. Only one of these biopharma companies is part of the Fortune 500—Baxter International—and Baxter's CEO is not the highest paid. The CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals earned $36.3 million in 2013, putting him at No. 13 in this year's NYT/Equilar CEO pay survey. The CEO of Celgene, Robert Hugin, brought in $21 million that year, coming in at at No. 52. The highest paid big pharma CEO was Lamberto Andreotti of Bristol-Myers Squibb at No. 53, who earned $20.8 million in 2013. Bristol-Myers brought in $16.4 billion in revenue in 2013, compared to $6.5 billion at Celgene, and $2.1 billion for Regeneron. So, what's going on? An examination of eight biopharma company CEO salaries shows that many are paid like entrepreneurs, or rather like a hybrid of entrepreneurs and blue chip company CEOs, giving these executives the best of both worlds. Most of these CEOs were paid a base salary of $1.5 million, not a typical rate for an entrepreneur. Add in stock option grants, other stock awards, and cash bonuses and most received annual compensation of around $15 million a year (see table below). Take out the estimated value of equity awards and add in the realized value of equity pay—actual stock option profits and vested stock awards—and the compensation of most of these CEOs more than double. For the highest paid CEO in this group, John Martin at Gilead Sciences, the biggest portion of pay came from the $159 million in option profits he made in 2013, the latest year for which figures are available. While Gilead's stock is up more than 350% in the last five years, that level of growth is dwarfed by the share price increase at Regeneron of more than 2,000% in the same period. This more than accounted for Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer's $70 million in stock option profits, representing 96% of his total realized pay. Disregarding the stock price increase, almost 40% of shareholders voted against Regeneron's compensation plan, indicating that they were not impressed with Schleifer's pay package. Click to expand. Data from corporate proxy filings. The two lowest paid CEOs in the group are both mired in merger difficulties. AbbVie's terminated merger with Shire will cost the company $1.6 billion in breakup fees, which will damage the firm's performance this year. Allergan managed to fight off a hostile bid from William Ackman's Pershing Square and Valeant Pharmaceuticals by offering itself for sale to Actavis. Celgene's stock price rose by 320% in the last five years, giving CEO Robert Hugin $35 million in option profits last year. Similarly at Baxter International, CEO Robert Parkinson made option profits of $28 million. At Alexion, CEO Leonard Bell made $22 million in stock option profits, benefiting from a stock price rise of 700% in the last five years. In contrast, most of Biogen CEO George Scangos' realized pay came from performance stock, $20 million in 2013. The lowest paid CEO in this group—David Pyott at Botox-maker Allergan—didn't exercise stock options in 2013, despite a 250% increase in the company's share price over the last five years. Once the merger with Actavis goes through, however, Pyott could make a lot of money on outstanding options. At a sale price of $219 per share, that is two, three, four, and five times the price of all of Pyott's stock options. Indeed, Pyott will be sitting on almost half a billion dollars worth of stock options once the sale goes through. The consistent use of stock options as a pay tool is puzzling in this industry, although it is working out well for the CEOs. Biopharmaceutical company performance—and the market's perception of it—is all about new drugs. Shouldn't all these CEOs have their performance measured against their drug development pipeline and research and development progress? At Gilead Sciences, Celgene, Alexion, Biogen, and Allergan, annual performance is partly based on the development of new drugs, but not over the long term. You could argue that the market's opinion of the potential for growth from new drugs translates into stock price growth, so rewarding CEOs with stock options is a good idea. Unfortunately, the market's insights are neither consistent nor precise. Stock options are something of a blunt instrument over the long term, and since long-term investors are interested in seeing the development of a pipeline of new drugs for the foreseeable future, it would be better to test these CEOs against that measure.
The MBA degree and the astronomical rise in CEO pay by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine December 18, 2014, 12:36 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons During most MBA programs, business school students read numerous case studies, evaluating the strategies of many different kinds of companies, analyzing the cost of bringing new product lines to market and novel methods to cut expenses. You would think that, after all that training, MBA grads would be the perfect candidates to halt the runaway growth of CEO pay. But, in an ironic twist, could the rising number of MBAs be pushing the perceived value of a CEO ever higher? The MBA degree's growth in popularity is one of the few trends in the business world that matches the extraordinary growth in executive pay. According to the most recent data, from the 2011-2012 graduating class, MBA students accounted for 25% of the total master's handed out, with 191,571 students receiving the degree. Education and computer science/engineering students came in second and third, with 178,062 and 66,014 degree recipients, respectively. The MBA has grown in popularity for years. In fact, the number of MBAs issued has jumped 623% since 1970; education master's degrees increased 103% during that time. CEO pay growth took a little longer, waiting until the 1990s before its exponential rise, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. As the MBA-toting population has increased in general, a growing share of corporate board members and CEOs have the degree on their resumes. It makes sense. Companies want to have the best talent and, presumably, the best will have focused on how to sustain or grow a business and be willing to make tough choices to do so, which is what students learn during an MBA program. About 40% of S&P 500 CEOs have an MBA, in any given year. It is, by far, the degree with the most representation among such executives. Between 25% and 30% of S&P 500 CEOs have another type of advanced degree, like a PhD or law degree. Executive search firm Spencer Stuart found that 61% of new directors were current or retired chairs, presidents, or CEOs. Another 13% were active or retired executives and 20% were bankers, investors or CFOs. It's safe to assume that a sizable portion of these executives have MBAs or other advanced degrees. Such similarities among large company executives and board members raises concerns about diversity. If many of these people have a very similar educational background, what's the likelihood that there will be a wide range of opinions when it comes time to talk executive pay and corporate strategy? There's little research on the impact of the number of MBAs in the boardroom, but a growing amount of evidence suggests that a lack of diversity can hurt a company. In a study currently undergoing peer review, researchers found a significant link between board diversity and willingness to take on risk. "We found that the more diverse the board, the less likely [a company is willing] to take risk," said Ya Wen Yang, assistant professor of accounting at the Wake Forest University school of business and a co-author of the study in question. "If you want to curb excessive risk taking, then add diversity to the board." Yang adds that there's early evidence that diverse boards are more willing to provide investors with dividends or give money back to shareholders. In this case, diversity was taken to mean differences in race, age, professional experience, and tenure. The researchers did not specifically examine board members' educational background. With all of these MBA students entering the workforce, why hasn't the cost of the talent dropped? Executives and board members will tell you that they view their CEO as extraordinarily skilled and nearly impossible to replicate. A degree doesn't signify that level of talent. And they may be right, to a point. But at some level, as more talent becomes available, the amount of extraordinary talent on offer should increase. There may be an outlier or two of otherworldly talent—you could use the example of Steve Jobs (no MBA) in the CEO world—but for the most part, there will be more great talent to select from, which should cause a decrease in the salaries those people command. CEO pay really started to rise in the 1990s. Was there a sudden drop in talent at that time, leading to a price increase for a quality CEOs? Did MBA programs stop producing quality graduates? I doubt that many alumni of America's prestigious business schools would agree.
Goldman Sachs and the mystery of 'revolving door' bonuses by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine December 9, 2014, 3:11 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Would you prefer bankers to be doing "God's work,"—how Lloyd Blankfein described the role of banks in 2009—or the government's? And if a banker does government work, is he also, somehow, doing God's work, and therefore deserves celestial pay? Bank shareholders will need to ponder these issues, among others, as they weigh a set of proposals the AFL-CIO office of investment is now adding to bank proxies for next year. The proposals aim to get banks to explain their payouts of large, unearned bonuses to executives who choose to leave and take government jobs. In an opinion piece published in November, The Wall Street Journal said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka "and his liberal allies are on to something here, and we hope to make common cause with them in seeking more information on the important questions about Mr. Lew that were never answered in 2013." Jack Lew was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Treasury last year and, the Journal item noted, "The terms of Mr. Lew's original employment contract with Citigroup included a bonus guarantee if he left the bank for a high level position with the United States government or regulatory body." Seven banks—Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Lazard—that "provide the opportunity for additional compensation to employees who leave the bank to work for the government" received letters from the AFL-CIO, according to a press release in late November. As a first step, institutional investors often send out letters before actually putting forth proposals on a company's ballot. Late last week, the AFL-CIO's office of investment filed a shareholder proposal with Goldman Sachs—and they plan to file a similar proposal at JPMorgan this week, according to Heather Slavkin Corzo, who runs the AFL-CIO's office of investment. Previously, the organization filed similar 2015 proposals at Citi and Morgan Stanley to address their "golden parachutes" for entering government service, Corzo told me. To understand the pros and cons of the proposals in more detail, let's take a trip down memory lane – and Goldman's history is as good a place to start as any. In 2007, the board of Goldman Sachs awarded its CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, a pay package of around $70 million dollars. In 2009, in an interview discussing his salary and banking practices, Blankfein explained to the Sunday Times that he was a banker "doing God's work," a phrase that captured the imagination of headline writers everywhere. (Rather than scoff, I ask that for a moment we suspend disbelief and see the world as Blankfein did.) Now, let's fast-forward to last year, to Blankfein's remarks during a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. Blankfein discussed how technology and globalization have created a "winner take all" economy – and that income redistribution is an insufficient solution because "people don't want to just be sustained"—they want jobs. "Income redistribution is part of a fix of part of a problem," but creating competitive products is key, he said. Blankfein also said that the contribution that businesses make, including Goldman's work—in its "core," financing businesses that create jobs—is an "extraordinary contribution to the world." The Goldman CEO also argued that the bank had to pay employees sufficiently to retain them and ensure that the bank could be "stable" and function well. The letter the AFL-CIO sent to Goldman Sachs on November 20 notes that accelerated vesting of incentive pay awards goes completely against the goal of employee retention. (Goldman did not respond to a call seeking comment.) In The New York Times last week, Andrew Ross Sorkin argued that perhaps accelerated vesting practices were a good thing, as it could attract bankers to devote their time and expertise to public service. But does the government really need more bankers? Don't the banks have enough paid lobbyists? And wouldn't having more career civil servants—in other words, conscientious bureaucrats with no particular axes to grind—be better for everyone? Corzo asks why banks would make these payouts: how can the awards be both in "the best interests of shareholders and not unethical?" And if banks are doing God's work — and "lift people out of poverty," as Blankfein said at the Clinton gathering last year, how can encouraging talent to leave that work to join the government be beneficial for humankind? In the spring, bank shareholders will get to vote on whether they should receive more information from banks about these payouts. If they want to win back some trust, Goldman and other banks should support these proposals and start rethinking their practices now. Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://www.thevaluealliance.com), an independent board education and advisory firm she founded in 1999. She has been a regular contributor to Fortune since April 2010 and has advised shareholders and banks of every size on bank compensation.
Women in tech earn less than men: Here's one reason why by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine November 6, 2014, 1:18 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Women in the technology industry earn significantly less than men, according to a new study, partly because they ask for lower salaries. The average minimum pay for female tech workers is $107,000, 13% less than the $124,000 that men earn, according to the recruiting start-up Hired.com. A lot of factors may explain the gender gap. But one that gets less attention is what happens during salary negotiations. Women in tech ask for salaries that are lower than their male counterparts: $114,000 versus $124,000, the report said. The study chalks up the discrepancy in salary requests to female workers "undervaluing" themselves or interpreting the question of salary in different ways. Courtesy of Hired.com Hired.com, which vets job candidates for 600-plus clients including Facebook FB , Twitter TWTR and OpenTable OPEN , based its findings on nearly 10,000 job candidates with different experience levels who applied for jobs in the last six months. When considering all industries, women earn 22% less than equally qualified men, according to the American Association of University Women. Hired.com's data suggests that the gap between men and women in tech — 13% — is smaller than other sectors, but that it nonetheless exists. The average salaries of men and women tech workers. Courtesy of Hired.com These latest findings come just days after Amazon AMZN disclosed data indicating its workforce heavily skews male. It also following a couple of weeks after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella advised attendees at a women's conference not to ask for raises because it's not "good karma." (He later apologized for the remark.) At least 14 other tech companies including Google GOOG , Facebook and Apple AAPL published their employee demographic data this year following criticism for their hiring practices, with LinkedIn proving the most diverse of the bunch. Of course, other factors may also help explain why women earn less than men in tech including discrimination and women having more gaps in their resumes because of taking time off to raise families. But add what happens during salary negotiations to the list.
10 most lucrative MBA degrees by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine October 14, 2014, 2:55 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons
The biggest threat to CEO pay, for the short-term by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine October 14, 2014, 10:48 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons The way CEO pay has grown over the past 30 years, you might think it's bound to keep growing indefinitely. But if a suddenly stagnant market falls, we could see a stumble in top-level compensation, at least in the short-term. For the past five years, the stock market has gone wild. The S&P 500 gained 30% in 2013 and 168% since the market low in February 2007. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq have all surpassed previous highs and reached new milestones. While CEOs aren't the only ones making mint, executive compensation grew 46% while the U.S. CEO-to-worker-pay ratio jumped from 193-to-1 in 2009 to 296-to-1 by the end of 2013. Part of this rapid increase has to do with the fact that the highest paid workers link their pay to the stock market. Equilar, a firm that provides executive payment data, says that from 2009 to 2013, median "performance-based" stock compensation increased by 50% for CEOs of S&P 1500 companies, while median bonuses only increased 7%, and median salary (base pay) was up by just slightly over 3%. This isn't a new trend, though. The chart below, developed by Lawrence Mishel and Alyssa Davis at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank located in Washington, D.C., highlights the connection. They argue that since 1990—when President Bill Clinton signed a law reducing taxes on performance-related compensation—executive pay and the market have danced a Texas two-step. Some argue that linking CEO pay to performance encourages better decision-making at companies, which should ultimately benefit business. Whether it has done this or not, one thing is certain, stock and stock option awards have dramatically increased the wealth of America's CEOs. A stagnant market could have a similarly dramatic effect on executive take-home pay. What evidence do we have of a stagnant market? Over the past three months, the S&P 500 has hinted at weakness, moving downwards by almost 5%. Some experts have argued that the equities market is overvalued and with unemployment—often a lagging economic indicator—finally falling below 6%, there's some evidence a market correction could be on the horizon. Then there's the Federal Reserve. With the employment numbers improving, analysts have targeted mid-2015 as a reasonable time to expect The Fed to finally inch up interest rates. That will serve as a drag on stocks, according to S&P Capital IQ analyst Sam Stovall. "Many people think that stocks usually swoon in anticipation of a new rate tightening cycle," says Stovall in a recent report, outlining historic market reactions when the Fed increases interest rates. "Surprisingly, however … the S&P 500 held up relatively well in the three and six months before the first rate increase, but stumbled a bit in the first three months after the initial rate hike and only started to catch its breath six months after." Expect CEO compensation to react the same way if the market dips. From 2000 to 2009, top-level pay fell by 94% in the wake of two downturns. In between those years, executives saw their pay increase, but overall pay decreases from a high point in 2000. But as any financial adviser will explain to you, the longer you wait out the market, the more likely it will rebound. Over the long term, you will find yourself making far more than you put in. Remember, many CEOs receive stock options, which lets them pick and choose when to cash out. When the market drops, fewer CEOs collect on options, dragging their pay. "If the market goes down, executives get paid in ways that don't depend on the stock market," says Mishel. "They will get options and wait until the market recovers." The ability to cash in on the upside also helps explain why CEO pay has grown so quickly in the years since the 2008 downturn, all while worker wages have stagnated. A market drop may be a short-term threat to a CEO's pocketbook, which many might welcome. But expect CEO pay to fly back up when the bull market returns and as they cash in when the timing is just right.
Americans have no clue just how much more CEOs make by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine October 13, 2014, 10:55 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons You have no idea just how much more your boss' boss' boss is making compared to you. According to a study published by Harvard Business Review of 16 mostly European countries, Americans had the greatest disconnect on paycheck totals, believing that top executives make about 30 times more than average workers. Execs actually make about 350 times greater than the rank-and-file worker. Americans also have a greater misperception of the actual chasm in wealth between the poorest and the wealthiest than do people in other countries, according to the survey. Unlike people who live in other countries, Americans seem "relatively disinterested in differences in pay," says Lisa Keister, a sociology professor at Duke University. This was underscored by new research that found that people generally fret over inequality, but Americans, more than others, underestimate how vast the gap is between the average worker's compensation and the wages of top corporate executives. Figuring out who makes up the wealthiest 1% of Americans—and how they got there—is key to understanding economic inequality and social mobility, Keister says. But little is known about them, she believes, because Americans tend to stick to their own economic class and mingle little with others in different parts of the economic spectrum. "We tend to spend most of our time with people like us," she says. That's called "homophily," or love of the same, which is the tendency of individuals to associate with those who are similar. Even those "who are extremely rich or extremely poor," explains Keister, from her office in Durham, N.C., "spend most of their time in the company of other very rich or very poor people, giving them little reason to think about inequality most of the time." Typical manifestations of hyper wealth, such as huge homes, luxury cars and other similar accoutrements, do not impinge on the daily lives of others. But in big cities where people live close together— and differences in wealth are more visible—the income gap may be undeniable and the subject of resentment, but people accept it, notes Bonnie Jacobson, a therapist who sees various strata mix in group therapy sessions she conducts at the New York Institute of Psychology. "There is envy because some people can fly in private planes, have maids, and own big houses," Jacobson says, "People do care. They work for banks, for example, and they work hard, but they don't see the kinds of paychecks that the CEO is getting, and it's frustrating. "But a lot of people can get past that," she believes, "because they often have the feeling they are lucky to be working … they are lucky to have a job." Keister, at Duke, agrees. In an article in the Annual Review of Sociology, released in June, she wrote that in addition to not usually facing the country's economic disparities, "even as inequality worsens, most people have tended to fare better. "Some segments of the population have fared worse over time, but people are largely faring better than prior generations. This creates individual well-being even in the face of growing inequality." The upward mobility of some groups along with the "American ethos that anyone can make it," has kept people from fully realizing the extent of the wealth gap. Even so, Americans surveyed in the Harvard study agreed with workers in other countries that highly skilled employees are paid too much and lower-skilled workers are being compensated too little. The disconnect between perception and reality in the United States was highest among the countries studied in the Harvard Business School study. People surveyed in Australia, Chile, South Korea and Taiwan estimated even higher gaps between worker paychecks and the boss's income, the actual difference in compensation was greatest in the United States because American CEOs are the highest paid in the world, with median compensation of $10.5 million in 2013. CEO compensation has soared in recent decades, quadrupling from around 30 times the average worker salary in the 1960s to more than 100 times the average in the 1990s. The trajectory has continued relentlessly upward. In the United States today, CEOs earn an average 354 times the amount one worker earns. The stark division between the haves and have-nots may draw greater public attention once the federal government implements the salary ratio requirement Congress passed in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. It requires companies to disclose the ratio between their CEO's compensation and the salary of a median-earning employee. Corporations, fearing startling headlines, are fighting the disclosure requirements on the grounds that they set up an unfair comparison between companies, which may use different methods to calculate the ratios. Participants in the Harvard study agreed that the ideal pay ratio for CEOs to unskilled workers was 4.6 to 1, which would result in a U.S. worker making $1.8 million at a company where the CEO makes $12.3 million. Currently, that worker makes $34,645, the study found. "The lack of awareness of the gap in CEO to unskilled worker pay," says Michael Norton, a study co-author, "likely reduces citizens' desire to take action to decrease that gap." Despite recent protests by fast-food workers for a higher hourly wage, especially in the restaurant industry, where CEOs have handsome compensation packages, Norton noted that "many of the heated debates about whether CEO pay should be capped or the minimum wage increased are debates based on an extreme lack of knowledge about the true state of affairs." The data, he argues, "might force people to examine their assumptions." At Duke, in the "Getting Rich" course that Lisa Keister teaches, students learn about stocks, bonds, credit, and the practicalities of buying a house, as well as less understood topics like business cycles and the nation's social and economic stratification. "They begin to understand wealth and how it is concentrated, and they learn about economic inequality," she says. But underlining the mixed American attitudes about money and wealth, a noticeable percentage—about 15 %—of her students, she says, choose Wall Street as a first job. "It's remarkable," Keister says, "how many of them go into finance when they graduate."
No, Satya Nadella, you can't count on 'karma' to get you a pay raise by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine October 10, 2014, 11:48 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Unfortunately for women, too many of them are already following Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's hastily retracted advice and trusting that a benevolent "system" will reward them with pay hikes without having to ask. The female half of the workforce currently makes about 77 cents for each dollar men take home, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Black and Hispanic women fare even worse, at 68 and 59 cents respectively. "At the current rate of progress," says a recent Department of Labor memo on pay transparency, "it will take until 2057 to close the wage gap." Don't want to wait 43 years? Speak up. Stacks of studies show that women have a tougher time asking for what they've earned. "Part of the problem is that women are never taught how to effectively negotiate" while avoiding being labeled as bossy or overly assertive, observes Aimee Cohen, an executive coach and author of Woman Up! Overcome the 7 Deadly Sins that Sabotage Your Success. Women are also prone to what Cohen calls the "disastrous triple-D, where they routinely, and often unconsciously, downplay, dismiss, and diminish their accomplishments. It's very difficult to negotiate for more money if you describe what you've done as 'no big deal' or say 'anyone could have done that'"—phrases that male negotiators seldom, if ever, utter. So how can you make sure you're paid what you're worth? Cohen offers these tips: Practice. "Don't expect to be good at negotiating over money if you only do it every few years. It takes practice," says Cohen. Sometimes it helps to start small. "Go to garage sales and practice haggling over junk," Cohen suggests, until you're comfortable with politely but firmly stating your case. Tell someone you're going to ask for a raise. If assertiveness is hard for you, Cohen says, "rallying support can be an effective way to create accountability." Once you've told a friend, spouse, or coworker who will hold you to it, "there's no backing out and no retreat." Be realistic. Do enough research to set clear expectations, Cohen advises. "If you know a given job only pays $100,000, asking for $200,000 is obviously out of line." But if your title and your accomplishments generally pay X, and you're only making Y, be ready to bring up X. Even if it's an improbable hike of, say, 20%, you need to show you're aware of your market value—and starting high, with the expectation you'll be talked part of the way down, is a time-honored strategy. Anticipate objections. "Think out any and all reasons why the other person might say 'no' and have your responses ready," Cohen says. This includes having some alternatives in mind. For instance, if the raise you deserve just isn't in the budget, would you settle for an annual performance bonus? How about a few extra weeks of vacation, or a company car? Says Cohen, "You need to have suggestions for keeping the conversation going until you can reach a successful compromise." Write a script. Anyone unaccustomed to negotiating can get "flustered and nervous. It's a stressful situation," Cohen notes. Writing out what you want to say beforehand, including the reasons why you believe you're worth more than you make now, and then going over those points until they're fixed in your mind, can both keep you calm and ensure that you don't skip anything. Be yourself. Bring your usual personality to the conversation, rather than thinking you have to adopt a different persona—maybe a "tougher," less reasonable one—for this discussion. Says Cohen, "Nothing is more off-putting or confusing to a boss than having your alter ego do your negotiating for you." Know your bottom line. If your research has shown that you really are making much less than you're worth, Cohen suggests figuring out how big a raise it would take to keep you from looking for a better job. "You have to know how low a number you're willing to accept, and when you'll be ready to walk away." Celebrate success. If you get all or most of what you aimed for, Cohen sys, do something special for yourself as a reward. It will help make you approach your next negotiation—and, depend on it, there will be a next one—with more enthusiasm. "Most women would rather have root canal surgery than negotiate a bigger raise or a better promotion," Cohen says. "But not negotiating is not an option" —even, or especially, at companies like Microsoft MSFT .
25 highest-paid women take a (miniature) pay cut by Anne Fisher @FortuneMagazine October 7, 2014, 5:55 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons The 25 highest-paid female executives brought home a little less in 2013. Well-known female powerhouse executives like Oracle's ORCL Safra Catz, Yahoo's YHOO Marissa Mayer, and Facebook's FB Sheryl Sandberg all drew smaller pay packages in 2013 compared to 2012, according to data provided to Fortune by Equilar, an executive compensation data firm. Median pay for the 25 highest-paid female executives at publicly traded companies edged down to $13.8 million last year from $14.7 million in 2012, according to Equilar. By comparison, median pay packages for the top 25 paid male executives grew to $44.1 million from $40.7 million in 2012. It's not all bad news for top paid women, though. While the data is too small to eke out trends for anyone outside the few female executives at the very top, pay for those top female executives has grown over the years, says Aaron Boyd, director of governance research at Equilar. Looking at a much broader swath of executives, female CEOs generally made 80% of male CEO salaries in 2013, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research. Notably, the top paid female executive in 2013 was born a man. United Therapeutics CEO Martine Rothblatt made a whopping $38.2 million. Rothblatt underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1994 and told Fortune earlier this month she had benefited from male privilege earlier in her life. She also benefited from the FDA's approval of her company's pill to treat high blood pressure in the lungs, which doubled the company's stock price and quadrupled her pay package from a year earlier. United Therapeutics spokesman Michael Benkowitz said that Rothblatt's compensation is tied to the performance of the company and her pay formula hasn't changed since the company went public 15 years ago. "We think it's one of the purest performance-based compensation plans in the country," Benkowitz said. Over the years, the company's performance has translated into a less generous compensation for Rothblatt, with few or even zero stock option awards. No. 2 on the list, Oracle's co-CEO Safra Catz, saw her pay dip in 2013 to $37.7 million from $43.6 million a year earlier. It's not because of poor performance; Oracle trimmed stock options for all its executives in response to mounting criticism of its over-the-top pay packages. Oracle didn't return a request for comment. "We don't know what her pay is going to look like as CEO, but even at … $37 million as CFO, that puts her in the top 20 of all CEOs. And she's made the top 10 in the past," Boyd says. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sandberg saw her pay drop by $10 million to a mere $16.1 million in 2013. But no need to fret, last year's pay package doesn't include the $300 million she's collected over the years selling Facebook shares after the company's 2012 initial public offering. Facebook declined to comment on Sandberg's pay. Marissa Mayer's earnings slipped just a bit in 2013, mostly because she's no longer a newbie on the job. CEOs tend to make more in their first year, thanks to lavish recruiting awards. But she has a decent shot at a pay hike if the company's share price continues its upward trend, now that Yahoo is $9 billion richer from selling its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba at its initial public offering. Yahoo didn't return a request for comment. One newcomer to the top female executives list is Cheniere Energy Senior Vice President for Marketing Meg A. Gentle, who made $21.7 million in 2013. Her boss, Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki, made six times that amount—$141.9 million. The company's stock price has skyrocketed, as it's poised to be one of the first exporters of U.S. liquefied natural gas. Cheniere Energy's shareholders aren't too happy about the generous executive pay; some investors have filed a lawsuit against its "excessive, improper awards." And shareholders disapproved of the company's pay package in non-binding votes, according to recent regulatory filings. Cheniere Energy also didn't return a request for comment. In the Equilar data, compensation totals include base salary, bonuses, the value of stock options and restricted stock, performance-based incentives, and other perks like relocation stipends, attorney fees, car leases, and security for executives' homes. Overall, top female CEOs did a heck of a lot better than the average U.S. private sector worker, who is making around $44,100, according to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Executive compensation expert Nell Minow says women have been just as "disgustingly overpaid as men." Remember when Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard HPQ , asked HP to pay to move her yacht from the East Coast to the West Coast across the Panama Canal? (She didn't get her yacht moved.) "Some of the worst pay packages in history have gone to women," says Minow, who has been fighting on behalf of investors for years to stem such exorbitant pay. So far, shareholder efforts to pressure compensation committees to trim back pay have had little effect. "There's no good news about CEO pay." See the full list of highest-paid female executives.


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Love Quotes in Breaking Dawn
How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
[Leah to Jacob:] "Even though I don't think too much of her, I'd probably do the same as the bloodsucker." (16.140)
Leah identifies with Rosalie's need to have children. Apparently being a real woman and not "a genetic dead-end" means being able to bear children and experience motherhood.
Quote #8
[Bella:] So Renesmee was untouchable because of the way Jacob felt about her. I tried to concentrate on the relief of this fact rather than the chagrin, but it wasn't easy. (23.33)
Even though Bella is grateful that the werewolves now protect Renesmee because Jacob has imprinted on her, she feels a bit jealous of Jacob's claim on her daughter.
Quote #9
[Edward to Jacob:] "Goodbye Jacob, my brother… my son." (37.224)
Edward has completely accepted Renesmee's future and the fact that Jake is going to be his son as well as his equal.


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Welcome to Asian Football Feast
Asian Football Feast is your one-stop-shop for all your Asian football needs. Find the latest news, opinions, features and interviews from the world of Asian football as well as all the information you need to know about the leagues and the teams.
By Paul Williams Looking for their first continental title in more than a decade Al Hilal needed little more motivation ahead of Saturday night's first leg encounter at Parramatta Stadium.
Read moreCOMMENT – Paul Williams Enough is enough. Holger Osieck's time as coach of the Australian national team has to end. Sunday morning's 6-0 defeat at Brazil was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Read moreLucas Neill will crown his glittering Socceroos career by serving as the Captain Ambassador for AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.
Read moreBy Paul Williams There is an interesting debate taking place in Australia at the moment regarding the nation's U20 side that was recently knocked out in the group stage of the FIFA U20 World Cup…
Read moreBy Paul Williams in Seoul Korea has strengthened its grip on top spot of Group A after a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in Seoul tonight.
Read moreBy Paul Williams in Tokyo Japan has sealed their place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup after a last minute penalty denied Australia an historic win in front of over 62,000 fanatical fans at Saitama…
Read moreEXCLUSIVE: By Tom Byer There is much talk these days about Chinese football grassroots/youth development, or lack thereof to be more specific. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Read more


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Disney On Ice and Disney Live!, is taking top performing cable TV series for preschoolers to the stage in Disney Junior Live On Tour! In this original storyline, Mickey and Minnie lead the audience on an exciting adventure that will have families rooting for their favorite pirate Jake and Disney's first little girl princess Sofia. Disney Junior Live On Tour! Pirate and Princess Adventure begins with a special interactive pre-show featuring the loveable 6-year-old doctor to toys and stuffed animals, Doc McStuffins. Tickets for the performance at the Heritage Theater in The Dow Event Center, go on sale May 28th, 2013. Tickets may be purchased through The Dow Event Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, or by phone (800) 745-3000.
Disney's Pirate and Princess Adventure - Performance Web Site
The Dow Event Center
List of Ski Area Amenities and Snow ConditionsMore
Join 500,000 other people who receive the free Pure Michigan e-newsletter. View the Current Issue
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Novel Strain Detected In The Recent Outbreak Of Bird Flu At Ukraine
...5N1 virus strain. The dead birds were reduced to ashes using napalm and then the ashes were put in pits. Further new cases of bird flu were also reported in southeastern Romania. The i...Australia coughs up $15m to resurrect Lebanon
...ent $15 million to assist Lebanon to rise from the ashes following its catastrophic clash with Israel. According to Foreign Minister Alexander// Downer, Australia has managed to aid Lebanon with a total of $24 million during the post-conflict time, to help rebuild a country in ruins. "The majority of the...New 'green' Pyre to Cool Planet While Burning India's Dead
...nation that ends only with salvation. But "all the ashes go into the rivers and carbon dioxide is creating global warming," said Agarwal. UN figures show close to 10 million people die a year in India, where 85 percent of the billion-plus population are Hindus who practice cremation. That leads to the fe......illed air created a burning smell and a dusting of ashes that coated cars and buildings through much of Florida and southeastern Georgia. The haze over most of Florida resulted in the closing of several highways and caused people with breathing problems to stay indoors. The flooding was produced by the ...


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Ring-toss games recalled for high lead levels
- March 26, 2008 1:50 PM
- By Peter Hadzipetros
Illinois-based Educational Insights is recalling about 130 ring-toss games because pegs on the toys contain unsafe levels of lead, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.
The recall affects games with three blue rings and five wooden pegs sold in U.S. school supply stores from December 2007 through February 2008 for about $30 US.
The games were manufactured in Hong Kong.
High amounts of lead can harm the nervous system, kidneys and other major organs. Anemia, a decline in red blood cells, can occur, as can damage to the nervous system that may impair mental function. At worst, lead poisoning can cause seizures or death.
No adverse health effects have been reported.
Consumers should return the games to the store for a credit or refund.
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- Health Canada has recalled 16,000 Seymour Custom Solvent Blend and Water Blend aerosol products because they do not meet mandatory warning labelling requirements.... Continue reading this post
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- GUND Inc. and Health Canada have recalled three baby books because they come with a plastic handle that can separate from the book bind and pose a choking hazard.... Continue reading this post


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Young Chop on the beat.
Signed To The Streets 2 is out now.
The rumored couple hit the studio together.
New visuals off Signed To The Streets 2.
The Chi-raq native drops his latest visual.
Produced by Chase Davis.
King of Brooklyn 2 drops tomorrow.
Auto-tune struggle.
Free loosie.
Out on bail.
Still is available on iTunes now.
Audio nose candy.
Cocaine Riot 4 is out now.
New solo cut from the Chi-Raq rep.
The ChiRaq rep's take on DeJ Loaf's break-out hit receives a visual.
Another take on DeJ Loaf's catchy single.
Produced by TM808 & South Side.
Signed to the Streets 2 is out now.
<-- This just made me laugh out loud for some reason. LOL Durk?
Violence begets violence.