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Song Title | The Spill Canvas - Rock Bottom Lyrics |
The Spill Canvas – Rock Bottom Lyrics
You know you've hit Rock Bottom
When you're mumbling the words to all her favorite songs
Until the neighbors hear your drunken slurs
You know the end is creeping up
When all that you could feel
Were the faint remnants of touching her and wishing they were real
You know you've hit Rock Bottom
When you constantly refuse
To take down all the photographs of the times when she was with you
You know the end is nigh
When you repeatedly deny
The fact that she is in the Earth and you never got to say
Marigold, ripped away
and this world never felt so cold
My marigold, oh it's a miracle
That you kept me alive this long
I'm seriously contemplating chewing off my tongue
To prevent from screaming out your name in these endless nights to come
Well I'm seriously contemplating chewing off my tongue
To prevent from screaming out your name in these endless nights to come
[The Spill Canvas – Rock Bottom Lyrics]
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Birth of an entrepreneur
Tiffany Weber @tiffanyannweber I JUST QUIT MY JOB! A lot of it because of @stevejagler.
The above Tweet greeted me when I opened up my TweetDeck in the office the other day.
Without a doubt, it was the most startling Tweet I have read since the first day I was on Twitter when CNN was reporting that a Colorado boy was racing across the sky in a runaway weather balloon.
The balloon story, of course, was a hoax. But the Tweet by my Twitter friend Tiffany Weber was 100 percent legit.
Allow me to explain. A few months ago, a little puppy joined our family. Through Twitter, I was remotely connected to Tiffany, although we had never met in person. She had Tweeted that she is an accomplished dog trainer and sitter. So, I sought her advice about how to discipline our little Frankie.
Tiffany was kind enough to give me some very helpful insights.
Curious about my newfound Twitter friend, I checked out her website, tiffanyannweber.com, where I learned that she had 14 years of experience in advertising and marketing, including production and development programs on the side, in addition to her "While You Were Out Pet Sitting Services" in the Bay View neighborhood.
Much to my amazement, Tiffany also told me she held down a day job at a real estate management company.
At least, until the day she wrote the aforementioned Tweet.
I'll let Tiffany tell the rest of the story from her blog.
"Last year I was talking with Steve Jagler of BizTimes and he said something that stuck like a burr on a warm day in a field… 'Let me get this straight, basically – you're in the business of being yourself?' I paused. 'No. I give all my pet sitting money away and I do all my marketing consulting for free for small businesses. I work a real job as well.' Well. Not as of today. Today, I am in the business of being myself."
Tiffany said the grind of all her multi-tasking had begun to take a physical toll on her.
"People took notice, I was exhausted from the exchange to the point where Steve sat me down and talked to me. You need a break. You need to remember you. And I thought about what Steve Jagler had said. Could I really be in the business of being me? So we talked and talked and talked. And today I'm announcing my decision to go full-time with pet sitting and consulting. I'm nervous. I'm scared. I'm excited. I'm 950 emotions of 'What the heck am I doing?' But I'm ready for the jump. I'm ready to remember what it's like to live and breathe everything you think is right. We safely can give three months of falling flat on my face, so I have three months to prove that I'm ready, willing and good enough. So cheers to new beginnings!"
So fare thee well, my friend. And when the time comes that our little Frankie needs a sitter, you'll be the first person I call!
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Key funder of Ecuadorians' suit against Chevron quits by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine February 16, 2015, 1:17 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons The largest funder of the $9.5 billion Ecuadorian environmental suit against Chevron threw in the towel today, pledging to give no more money and to turn over his entire stake in the judgment–7%–to Chevron CVX . The funder, James Russell DeLeon, did so to settle a suit the oil company had filed against him in Gibraltar, where he lives, alleging that he was knowingly funding a fraudulent suit. (The full settlement is here.) The development is striking in that DeLeon is a Harvard Law School classmate and longtime personal friend of Steven Donziger, the New York lawyer who has acted as the key strategist and driving force behind the Ecuadorian suit. DeLeon had invested $23 million in the litigation, and had also provided 60% of the funding behind Joe Berlinger's documentary film Crude, which presents the case in a heroic light. "Commencing in March 2007," DeLeon said in a statement, "I provided funding to support the litigation in Ecuador … in the good faith belief that I was supporting a worthy cause. However, I have since reviewed the March 4, 2014 opinion of Judge [Lewis] Kaplan of [Manhattan federal district court] and I have considered the evidence presented during trial. As a result, I have concluded that representatives of the Lago Agrio plaintiffs, including Steven Donziger, misled me about important facts. If I had known these facts, I would not have funded the litigation." Judge Kaplan found last March that the $9.5 billion judgment the Ecuadorians won against Chevron in a Lago Agrio, Ecuador, provincial court in February 2011 had been procured by Donziger and his co-counsel in Ecuador through fraud, extortion, bribery, and other crimes. In a statement, Karen Hinton, a spokesperson for Donziger, said that DeLeon had provided no funds for two years, and that Donziger's team welcomed the settlement, "because it will allow a significant stake in the winning judgment of the affected villagers to be used for clean-up of their ancestral lands rather than be paid to an outside investor." She also argued that "Chevron's willingness to drop all of its claims against Mr. DeLeon for no financial consideration … reflects the company's increasingly weak position in the overall litigation." In his own statement, Chevron vice president and general counsel R. Hewitt Pate said, "We are pleased that yet another long-time supporter has ended his association with this scheme. Chevron will continue to hold accountable those who associate themselves with this fraudulent litigation." The Ecuadorian suit sought damages for oil pollution allegedly left behind by Texaco—acquired by Chevron in 2001—after it drilled for oil in Ecuador from about 1964 to 1992. Kaplan's ruling, in a civil racketeering case Chevron filed against Donziger and his co-counsel, is now on appeal, and is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit during the week of April 20. An earlier funder in the case, the publicly traded, third-party litigation finance outfit Burford Group, renounced its involvement and stake in the case in 2011, less than a year after making the investment, alleging that it had been defrauded by Donziger and others about key facts in the case. Burford was being threatened with a lawsuit by Chevron at the time it renounced the suit. Chevron also has a suit in Gibraltar pending against still another funder of the case, U.K.-based Woodsford Litigation Funding. Woodsford has denied wrongdoing.
Stocks rally for second straight day as oil continues to surge by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine February 3, 2015, 5:28 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons For the second straight day, stocks rose sharply with the help of rebounding oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8%, or 305 points Monday, to close at 17,666. The S&P 500, meanwhile, jumped 29 points, or 1.4%, to 2,050 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 51 points, or 1.1%, to 4,727. The market's rise came as oil made a strong showing after falling for most of the past six months. Crude prices rose 7%, or $3.48, to $53.05 a barrel. Rising oil prices are, of course, good for energy companies and the businesses that cater to them. Over the past few weeks, a number of oil services firms have announced plans to cut jobs and investment. Caterpillar's CAT shares rose nearly 4%, while Exxon Mobile XOM and Chevron both rose around 3%. Goldman Sachs GS also ended the day up with a gain of 2.7%. After the closing bell, shares of Chipotle CMG dipped 5.9% to $684 while shares of Walt Disney DIS gained 3.1% to $96.97. The market's gains Tuesday followed a strong performance a day earlier during which the Dow added nearly 200 points with the help of rising oil prices. In addition to rising oil prices, investors welcomed January car sales results that beat expectations because of lower gas prices. Ford Motor F gained 2.5% to $15.65, General Motors GM rose 2.6% to $33.98 and Fiat Chrysler climbed 3.3% to $13.95. Reuters contributed to this report.
Oil price rebound helps to lift stock market by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine February 2, 2015, 5:46 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Stocks made big gains on Monday with some help from an unlikely source these days: the energy industry. Oil prices, which have cratered by around 50% over the past six months, reversed course with a modest increase. The rebound helped to lift stocks across the board by signaling a possible bottom in the recent slide in the oil patch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196 points, or 1.1%, to 17,361. The S&P 500 gained 25 points, or 1.3%, to 2,020. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 41 points, or 0.9%, for 4,676 total. Shares of Exxon Mobil, which reported lower profits Monday, but managed to beat Wall Street expectations, rose 2.5% XOM . Shares of Chevron CVX gained 3.4%. Other companies to post increases Monday included Verizon VZ , which was up 2.8%; Microsoft MSFT , which rose 2.2%; Goldman Sachs GS , which gained 1.8%; and General Electric GE , which jumped 1.34%. Crude oil futures gained 2.8% Monday to $49.57 a barrel after rising another 8.3% increase Friday. The S&P 500 Energy Index kicked off the week Monday by adding 1.7%. Correction: An early version of this story incorrectly said the Dow Jones Index gained 96 points Monday. In fact, it rose 196 points.
Big Oil needs to go on a diet now that the $100 a barrel party is over by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine January 30, 2015, 3:14 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Energy companies will need to do more than just cut costs and renegotiate service contracts to remain afloat at $40 a barrel oil—they need to quit being so darn sloppy. A decade of strong oil prices made Big Oil rich and fat, which has led to waste across the industry. This not only translated into runaway spending at the corporate level—including everything from executive jets to overly-generous pay packages—it also led to poor planning and greater engineering mistakes on the field. The energy companies could hide their bungling when oil was at $100 a barrel, but with prices where they are today, there is nowhere to hide. This week saw the first earnings reports from energy companies since oil prices collapsed. As expected, Big Oil didn't fare well in the fourth quarter of 2014. Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips COP both reported a 57% drop in earnings compared with the same time last year, when oil prices were much higher. Chevron CVX , which reported its earnings on Friday morning, announced a 30% decrease in net income during the quarter. Its strong chemical earnings helped offset the decline in oil. ExxonMobil XOM , which will report on Monday, isn't expected to fare much better. Pretty much all the oil companies announced cuts to their 2015 capital plans to adjust to lower oil prices. Shell said it would defer or cancel about 40 projects worldwide, knocking about $15 billion off their capital spending plan over the next three years. ConocoPhillips announced cuts of around $2 billion for its 2015 spending plan, which is on top of the $2.5 billion in cuts the company announced last year, equating to a 30% decrease in overall projected spending to $11.5 billion. Meanwhile, Chevron announced Friday morning it would cut capital spending for the year by 13% to $35 billion. Cutting costs makes sense given the rapid drop in oil prices, but how this drop will affect these companies' operations will depend on several factors. For example, it doesn't (or shouldn't) translate to simply cutting projects, as Shell outlined. Instead, it should also reflect the cost savings all of Big Oil should reap after renegotiating oilfield service contracts with drilling partners, such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes. These contractors, which basically do Big Oil's dirty work, like physically drilling and maintaining oil wells, still have agreements with Big Oil based on $100 oil, not $40. Big Oil will renegotiate those contracts to reflect the realities of today's market, with giants like ExxonMobil squeezing the hardest. So far, project managers at major oil firms tell Fortune that while prices for some services, such as rentals for offshore drilling rigs, have fallen significantly in the last few months, overall service costs are down by only 10% to 15% from when oil was in the triple digits. It is safe to assume that those rates will fall rapidly in the next few months, probably not as much as the nearly 60% drop in oil prices from last summer, but far more than what we have seen so far. Much of the "cuts" in Big Oil's capital plans will come from these savings, not by canceling projects or boosting efficiency. All these cuts won't equal a commensurate decline in oil production, but they disregard a major issue in the oil complex—waste. While exploration and production costs have become more complicated over the years, as geologies have deteriorated and competition for choice plays and for talent has surged, the industry is still spending more than it should to pull oil out of the ground. Credit Suisse analysts calculate that legitimate production complications have added only 40% to 50% to the overall cost of oil production in the last 15 years. But during that time, real production costs have tripled. What accounts for the discrepancy? Waste. Exxon and the rest of the oil majors can only blame the cost overruns on their service contractors so much. For the rest of the cost increases, they need to look within their own ranks. For the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the energy industry, this might seem shocking given their normally conservative nature. Let's focus on capital budgeting, as that is where the major oil companies seem so keen on cutting. IPA, a consultancy specializing in capital projects, analyzed over 1,400 energy projects led by a mix of 50 energy producers and found that the industry has some explaining to do. They calculated that the industry had "destroyed value versus initial expectations on 75% of all projects completed in the last decade" and that the total value lost, relative to what was initially assumed by the brilliant bean counters at headquarters, came in at a whopping 35%. Either the executives and engineers at the Big Oil companies can't build a financial or production model to save their lives or there is a lot of waste in the system that needs to be addressed. It is probably a little bit of both. A model is only as good as the data that's in it. The production data comes from engineers, many of whom have decades of experience and some who have just graduated. Ed Merrow, who heads IPA, writes in his recent book that the industry is making poor decisions when funding new projects. Credit Suisse analysts say that this is "predominately a human process failure." But the biggest, and probably most disturbing, example of waste in the industry has to be engineering mistakes. Merrow says that engineering errors in the industry have "doubled in recent years," wiping out billions of dollars in profits. The errors associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 have cost BP $42 billion so far. And the pain continues. A judge ruled this month that the company may be on the hook for another $13 billion in fines on top of that amount. Deepwater Horizon is an extreme example of a problem that should have been stamped out years ago. Advances in technology and all the extra money spent on new equipment and engineering talent should have reduced mistakes and accidents in the industry, not increased them. While oil production has admittedly become more complicated over the years, such as ultra-deep water drilling, it isn't rocket science. The same engineering and safety principals that apply to ultra-deep water drilling apply to more commonly drilled shallow-water wells. We know the industry can mitigate errors if it wants to. How many super tanker spills has Exxon had following the disastrous Alaska Valdez incident back in 1989? Zero. In addition to becoming mistake-prone, the industry has also run up costs due to a combination of unnecessary spending and conspicuous consumption. While Wall Street analysts and associates now sit in coach, energy employees all too often ride in first class, if they even fly commercial to begin with. Private plane use by energy companies is ubiquitous, not just for C-suite employees, but also for their subordinates. This makes sense when oil fields are located in the middle of nowhere, like western North Dakota or southern Chad, but it doesn't pass muster when, say, flying between Moscow and Paris. Travel is just one example of waste in the industry. Corporate structures also need to be reformed and relocated. Why do Chevron and Exxon maintain their respective headquarters in the expensive suburbs of San Francisco and Dallas when pretty much all their important operations and project managers are in Houston? It's time to move. After all, Exxon just spent what must have been an ungodly chunk of change to build a brand new 385-acre operations center in the northern suburbs of Houston. The 20-building oil city will house some 10,000 employees when construction ends sometime this year. At the center, there will be a 10,000-ton floating cube that appears to hover over one of the many plazas below. The campus will also have a 100,000-square-foot "Wellness Center" featuring a three-story glass atrium, cardio and strength training facilities and classes, a basketball court, personal training services, and healthy dining venues. It will also offer a "child development center" for children ages six weeks through pre-kindergarten, so all the moms and dads can save a trip to daycare. Such extravagance is out of character for Exxon—or at least it used to be. Exxon's efficiency is legendary, but all this spending, combined with lousy acquisitions, such as the $41 billion deal to buy XTO in 2009, has cost them that crown. Indeed, the company's return on capital employed (ROACE), peaked in 2008 at 33% and has fallen ever since. In the last five years, Exxon's ROACE has declined to 20%. Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer, estimates that if crude prices remain weak, Exxon's ROACE could decline below 10% for the first time in over a decade. This could force the company to slash or suspend its generous share repurchase program. The same goes for its legendary dividend. Exxon isn't alone. All the major oil companies have wasted money in some form or another during the boom. But now is the time to correct those mistakes. Energy companies should be more discriminating in evaluating new prospects and they should cut down on the extravagant spending. Those that move quickly to address these issues will be the ones who come out of this oil slump in the best shape.
Falling oil prices have cost Fortune 500 energy companies billions of dollars by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine January 9, 2015, 1:37 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons It has been a pretty rough six-month stretch for the energy industry. Crude oil prices have fallen about 55% since the middle of last summer, resulting in some of the world's largest energy companies losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value. The price of crude oil has been relatively flat over the past two days, but it still sits below $50 per barrel — the lowest point in about 5 and 1/2 years — thanks to a global supply glut exacerbated by the ongoing U.S. shale boom as well as decreased oil consumption in Asia and Europe. As oil prices have steadily declined, so too have the share prices of many large energy companies. Out of 24 oil, gas and coal producers in the Fortune 500, 22 saw their stock price decline between the beginning of July 2014 and Wednesday's close. In total, the 24 companies lost more than $263 billion in market value combined, according to data from FactSet Research Systems. (A company's market value is found by multiplying its share price by the number of its shares outstanding.) Exxon Mobil XOM and Chevron CVX , the two largest U.S. energy companies, accounted for more than $95 billion of that figure as the two have seen their respective market values decrease by 11.7% and 17.9% in just over six months. In terms of total lost market value, ConocoPhillips COP and Occidental Petroleum OXY finished behind Exxon and Chevron, with more than $20 billion shaved off each of their respective market caps during the period — a 26% decline. Only two of the qualifying companies on the Fortune 500 list actually improved over the past six months: Marathon Petroleum MPC and Tesoro TSO , both of which are oil refiners who benefit from lower crude prices. Meanwhile, even coal producers have not been immune to the energy sell-off, as both Peabody Energy BTU and Cliffs Natural Resources CLF have seen their market values drop by more than half since July. And, Halliburton's HAL 44% stock dip since last summer is one example of how ancillary companies in the energy industry have been hit hard as well. What's more, the energy industry's woes are likely far from over. While the broader stock market has rebounded sharply over the past two days, oil prices have yet to show significant improvement. In fact, some analysts see prices hitting $40 per barrel at some point in 2015 as oversupply in the global oil market shows little sign of abating.
As Halliburton grabs Baker Hughes, here are 4 other big energy deals by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine November 14, 2014, 4:48 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Halliburton HAL said Monday it will acquire rival Baker Hughes BHI for $34.6 billion in a deal with huge implications for an industry pressured by plunging oil prices. The merger will allow the oilfield services company to take on market leader Schlumberger NV. Over the years, including as recently as this summer, there have been massive restructuring plans and acquisitions by oil companies seeking an advantage in the energy industry. Here's a roundup of some of the biggest transactions, according to Bloomberg data. Kinder Morgan (2014) Kinder Morgan KMI underwent a $70 billion reorganization in August, buying out its sprawling assets and consolidating into a single entity. Those transactions amounted to the second largest energy deal in history, according to information compiled by Bloomberg. Kinder's objective was to consolidate its assets, creating a $44 billion energy giant. The combined company took on around $27 billion in debt held by individual partnerships, according to a Fortune story about the announcement. "In the opportunity-rich environment of today's energy infrastructure sector, we believe this transaction gives us the ability to grow KMI for years to come," said CEO Richard Kinder in a statement. ChevronTexaco (2000) and Socal-Gulf (1984) At the turn of the century, Chevron CVX and Texaco merged, creating what's currently the second largest U.S. energy company (it trails ExxonMobil on the Fortune 500). The deal was valued at $45 billion, bringing into existence a new company with a market capitalization of $97 billion. "Our goal is to be No. 1 in total stockholder return among our industry competitors. With this merger, two companies with a long history of partnership will join together to create greater value for our stockholders and put us on the path to our goal," said CEO Dave O'Reilly at the time. Before Chevron became Chevron, however, the company was known as Standard Oil Co. of California, or Socal. The company made history in 1984 by merging with Gulf, the fifth-largest petroleum company in the U.S., in what was the biggest corporate merger at the time, according to the company's website. After Socal made a $13.3 billion bid and won, the new corporation changed its name to Chevron. ExxonMobil (1998) In the largest energy transaction in history, Exxon merged with Mobil in 1998 in a deal worth $81 billion. Antitrust issues held up the deal for nearly a year, and the two companies ultimately sold a total of over 2,400 stations across the U.S. to appease the Federal Trade Commission, according to an FTC statement released at the time. FTC chairman Robert Pitofsky explained the thinking behind the required restructuring at the time: "Because Exxon and Mobil are such large and powerful competitors, and because they now compete in several product and geographic markets in the United States, the commission insisted on extensive restructuring before accepting a proposed settlement," he said in a statement. "This settlement should preserve competition and protect consumers from inappropriate and anticompetitive price increases." The impetus for the ExxonMobil XOM merger, like with the Halliburton and Baker Hughes deal, was due to falling oil prices. "This merger will enhance our ability to be an effective global competitor in a volatile world economy and in an industry that is more and more competitive, " said Lee Raymond and Lucio Noto, chairmen and chief executive officers of Exxon and Mobil, respectively, in a joint statement on the company's website.
A love letter to Chevron. Really. by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine October 23, 2014, 9:03 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Dear Chevron, I will not compare thee to a summer's day. But make no mistake: I love you. You are unaccustomed, I know, to getting letters like this. Love is usually reserved for younger, sexier companies—Apple AAPL or Twitter TWTR —across the bay from your San Ramon, Calif., headquarters. You and other oil companies are villains in today's California—polluters, price gougers, perpetrators of climate change. In this fall's gubernatorial debate, Jerry Brown disapprovingly noted your $21 billion in profits last year while blaming oil for forest fires and rising sea levels. And I'm not going to get into the 2012 explosion at your refinery in Richmond that caused thousands of people to seek medical treatment. I forgive you none of your sins. Still, I can't help loving you. You've always been what's most important in any relationship: present. In California, companies come and companies go. But not you. You've stayed, for 135 years, making you one of our state's oldest firms. And while you're aging, you're still potent. You're the state's top oil producer, and you're number one among all California companies in revenue. But I'm not just a gold digger. I love how your facilities connect the state in a way that few institutions, other than our universities and our prisons, have managed. Your operations bridge north and south, coast and inland, with refineries in the Bay Area (the aforementioned Richmond) and L.A. (El Segundo, a small city named after your second refinery) and oil fields and other facilities in Kern County. You also connect us to a past too many Californians have forgotten. Your story reminds us of the first quarter of the 20th century, when we were the leading oil-producing state in the country. You were incorporated as the Pacific Coast Oil Company in 1879, became part of the Standard Oil empire in 1900, then struck out again on your own after the 1911 breakup of Standard. In those years, oil attracted millions of people here and kept them employed (including my grandfather, who once reported on Long Beach wells for a publication called the Munger Oilgram). Then in the 1980s, you bought Gulf Oil to become the mega-company Chevron CVX . Even as other companies, most recently Occidental Petroleum, departed California, you stayed and served as a stabilizing force in a volatile state. When it seemed no one could get a job in L.A. during the Great Recession, advertisements for your job fairs still played on Southern California radio stations. Now, despite all these ties, California and Chevron have grown apart. For all your slick publicity about your alternative energy investments, you're fundamentally a global oil and natural gas company, and California's political leadership is committed to moving the world away from carbon. I sometimes wonder if you still love us. On a recent trip to Texas, it didn't escape my notice that you've been messing around with Houston—relocating hundreds of jobs there and becoming the title sponsor of the Houston Marathon. So let me say this now, since I doubt anyone else in California will: Please don't go. I know we don't make it easy on you, but you and California are still better together. It is precisely because you and California are so different now that we remain useful to each other. Your CEO John Watson gets this, telling Forbes: "There are some pluses in being here. It gives you a window on what a non-oil community thinks about our industry. That helps prepare us for what we see around the world." This dynamic cuts both ways. Your armies of lobbyists and political strategists are a healthy check on our tendency to adopt restrictions on energy production. You won't be able to derail our environmental movement, but you do slow us down. You are essential because California still runs on oil, and will for quite some time. While our environmentalists will never admit it, your wholesale departure from the state would be bad for the environment. The void you would leave would be filled by smaller companies that are less responsible than you and don't have your history with California. It's hard to change those you love, but I do have one request. I wish you would give yourself a human face—preferably of a powerful Chevron executive who is a Californian and can become a constant, recognizable presence in the state's debates over energy. Yes, you run ads with California-based employees, but because it's always somebody different doing something different, it's hard to get a fix on who and what you are. You're not unlike California itself in offering so many faces that you're faceless. This state needs an oilman with whom we can talk and argue. Sure, activists will continue to protest you, but many Californians would appreciate sharing in your knowledge and perspective. You may be a big ruthless oil company, but we shouldn't forget that you're our big ruthless oil company. Very truly yours, Joe Mathews Joe Mathews wrote this missive for Zocalo Public Square (zocalopublicsquare.org), where he is California columnist and innovation editor.
After CEO's tragic death, energy giant Total has a mountain to climb by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine October 22, 2014, 4:24 PM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Patrick Pouyanné, the newly named chief executive of French energy giant Total, will need more than luck and a posh French accent to keep his company relevant on the world stage. Pouyanné, who takes over the top job following the tragic death of former Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie this week in Russia, inherits a company with little raison d'etre and few choice drilling plays. Total's TOT business strategy of doing deals with the devil has yielded nothing but heartache. It may be time for the company to scale back its ambitions to become a world oil giant and focus on things it has more control over. The death of Christophe de Margerie this week came as a shock to the energy community—not so much that he died, death is nothing new to the oil industry, but rather how he died. The private plane carrying de Margerie apparently crashed into a massive snow plough while taking off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport late in the evening on Monday, killing everyone onboard (the allegedly drunk snow plough operator walked away unharmed). The crash at Vnukovo came a bit too close to home for those who do business in Russia, especially energy executives. Oil chieftains regularly fly in and out of Vnukovo dozens of times a year to meet with Russian officials and have done so for ages without an issue. One energy executive summed up the tragedy succinctly, telling Fortune the crash was simply nothing but "bad luck, which seems to be the theme at Total these days." Indeed, the loss of Total's chief executive is just the latest bit of bad fortune that has hit the company in recent years. It seems that whatever move the company makes causes it to fall on its face. Year after year, the company has had to embarrassingly readjust its production projections downward due to errors made from the wellhead to the boardroom. The company's so-called "high risk, high reward" strategy has backfired with only four out of 10 wells drilled last year yielding oil or gas, which is a pretty terrible record for a major oil company given today's technology. Part of Total's problem has to do with the bad luck of being based in France, which has no oil or gas. This deprives Total of a safe and secure drilling platform available to most, if not all, of its competitors on the world stage. ExxonMobil XOM , Chevron CVX , and Conoco COP can always fall back on U.S. energy production, while Shell RDSA and BP BP can fall back on production from the North Sea or from their former colonies (including Canada). Also, France isn't as powerful as it once was on the world stage, so brokering choice deals with other nations isn't as easy as it once was. China's energy companies, for example, have the full backing of the Chinese money-making factory, allowing them to gain contracts through major "investments," like roads, weapons or new palaces—all with the backing of the government in Beijing. But Total, like Italy's ENI, has managed to keep pumping and refining oil despite its handicap. It has done so by "going where the oil is," a quote often used by de Margerie to explain the company's dealmaking. This has meant taking secondary or tertiary positions in joint ventures with other oil companies in choice fields and taking on primary roles in places that other oil companies consider too risky. That means doing deals with Libya, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Venezuela, and Myanmar, with major investments in Kazakhstan and Nigeria. Now, all the oil giants have stakes in one or two of these "fringe" petro-states but none have interests in all of them across the board like Total does. To do so would be taking on undue political risk as contracts with these nations can be pulled or revoked at any time. To complicate matters, Total has had to play a little dirty over the years to secure contracts in many of these states, bribing officials and bending the rules when it comes to sanctions and so forth. While they were successful in winning contracts, they also found themselves having to pay fines for violating the law, further dinging its bottom line. Investment in fringe oil states can be profitable, nonetheless. That is, of course, unless things get too profitable; then the whole venture could blow up. Total has had to "renegotiate" its contracts again and again over the years in places like Kazakhstan and elsewhere after oil prices jumped unexpectedly in favor of the company versus the state. This immediately attracted the attention of the dictator who wanted a bigger piece of the pie. This phenomenon has placed a ceiling on Total's ability to profit from its overseas ventures and has put a cloud over its valuation in comparison to its rivals. Total's shares trade at 9.5 times their 12-month future earnings estimates, which is far below U.S. rivals Chevron and ExxonMobil, which trade at 11.1 and 12.7 times forward earnings, respectively. Pouyanné comes into the CEO's office from the refining side of the business, so he hasn't had to deal with the headache of trying to find new sources of oil like his predecessor. That may be why Total's management committee held off from making him chairman of the board right away and gave that role to Total's old chief executive, Thierry Desmarest. Before he left the company in 2010, Desmarest was responsible for negotiating many of the deals that are now going live today. Desmarest agreed to come out of retirement for a few months, though, and said the chairman job would be Pouyanné's in 2015. So, Pouyanné has some time to mull over how he wants to shape Total. Will he continue spending wildly on projects that carry a large amount of operational and political risks, or should he be more prudent with investor cash? Investing in politically sensitive areas shouldn't be off the table, but it should be minimized. In 2012, de Margerie promised investors that he would sell off around $30 billion worth of assets through 2017 to pump up the company's sagging valuation. While the plan worked to stabilize Total's valuation versus its European peers, the company remains dangerously exposed to a great deal of risky projects, which more than likely will not yield the great rewards they are hoping for. For example, instead of exiting Russia, where new dollar investments are restricted under new U.S. and EU sanctions, de Margerie doubled down on the country, telling investors that he would try to raise the $27 billion in financing needed for its Yamal joint venture project in the Arctic in euros or renminbi. Sanctions and such aside, given Russia's history of screwing over energy companies like Yukos and most recently BP, it is shocking that Total would consider raising the equivalent of one-fifth of its market value to fund a long-term project in the country. It is borderline negligent. Meanwhile, Total is selling off safe assets, like its 25% stake in Cardinal Gas Services, a gas transport company in Ohio's Utica shale region, for $450 million. Such an asset provides the type of safe cash flow Total needs to pay its bills. While it wouldn't have made them rich, it gave them insight into a dynamic market inside a free country. There is a great deal of uncertainty in the oil patch these days, especially with the recent dive in oil prices. Total needs to reevaluate what it means to be an energy company based in a marginally powerful country with no energy resources. Maybe it is time for Total to cut back and refocus its investments on its lucrative energy trading business or its budding alternative energy projects instead of battling it out with the jackals of the oil world and fighting over scraps with the other energy majors. Total has around 15 major projects in the piepline, many of them in areas which seem way too risky for comfort. Redirecting that cash flow to support shale drilling projects in China, Poland, or even Argentina seem safer than sinking more cash into its investments in Kazakhstan or Northern Iraq. Taking the money it would have committed to developing LNG in Russia and doubling down on its LNG project in Qatar, which used to be run by Pouyanné, seems smarter, at least while the sanctions against Russia are in place.
Women's rights group weighs in for—Chevron?!? by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine October 9, 2014, 10:33 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Chevron CVX has won support from some unexpected allies in its civil racketeering case against New York lawyer Steve Donziger, who obtained an allegedly fraud-and-bribery-marred $9.5 billion environmental judgment against the oil giant in Ecuador in 2011. Among seven friend-of-the-court (amicus) briefs filed yesterday supporting aspects of Chevron's case, the most surprising came from the oldest women's rights group, Legal Momentum—known until 2004 as the NOW Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Its brief supports Chevron's position on the key legal question of whether courts can issue injunctions in private civil racketeering cases. The group has previously used the federal statute in question—the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 (RICO)—to obtain injunctions against violent protesters at abortion clinics. A second notable brief came from a group of six "human rights and anti-corruption jurists" who are evidently attempting to rebut, if not rebuke, the arguments of Donziger and New York University professor Burt Neuborne, a lawyer for Donziger's clients, who have argued, for instance, that the litany of crimes Donziger was found to have committed by a Manhattan federal judge last March are a "distasteful sideshow" that should not distract from Chevron's alleged wrongdoing in Ecuador. "Advocates for human rights do not advance human rights by violating them," these new amici argue, "and the corrupt pattern of fraud, extortion, and bribery described by the District Court, if accurate, denies the fundamental human rights to due process of law and a fair trial. … Human rights ends, in short, cannot be promoted through corrupt means." The seven briefs were filed in connection with an appeal by Donziger and two of his Ecuadorian clients of a 485-page, 1,842-footnote ruling by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, entered last March in Chevron's suit against Donziger under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Kaplan found that Donziger had procured the Ecuadorian judgment—for contamination left behind by Texaco, which drilled in the Ecuadorian Amazon from 1964 to 1992 and was acquired by Chevron in 2001—through a pattern of racketeering activity, including extortion, fraud, bribery, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, money laundering, and other crimes. (I summarized highlights of the alleged wrongdoing in this essay.) Kaplan entered an injunction barring U.S. courts from enforcing the judgment, and attempting to bar Donziger from profiting from it even if another country's courts eventually do enforce it. A key issue on appeal is whether injunctive relief—court orders as opposed to monetary damages—are available in a private civil RICO case. (Though it's clear that injunctions are available in criminal RICO cases and in civil RICO cases brought by the government, federal courts are split on whether they're available in private civil cases.) The issue became crucial when, shortly before trial, Chevron dropped its damages claims against Donziger, which could have come to over $100 million. It did so, it has said, in order obtain a written opinion from the judge detailing Donziger's wrongdoing—a jury would have rendered a simple yes-no verdict on liability, with no explanation. (I have also speculated elsewhere that, in addition, Chevron may have feared jury nullification, given Donziger's skill at politicizing the case, and the legitimate, underlying, unresolved questions about Texaco's conduct in Ecuador.) A third amicus brief, also arguing that injunctive relief is available in civil RICO cases, was filed by G. Robert Blakey, professor emeritus at Notre Dame Law School, who was chief counsel of the Senate subcommittee that worked on the bill that became RICO in 1969 and 1970. The remaining briefs come from the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, joined by four international law scholars; the Washington Legal Foundation; and three specialists in Latin American law. In July, amicus briefs were filed supporting reversal of all or aspects of Judge Kaplan's ruling by the Republic of Ecuador; close to 40 international law professors from all over the world; a group of amici including Amnesty International and 17 environmental groups (including two that have received substantial funds from Donziger's team); EarthRights International; and Judith Kimerling, a law professor at City University of New York's Queens College and School of Law, who unsuccessfully tried to intervene in the RICO case to represent an indigenous minority group, the Huaorani, whom, she alleges, Donziger has represented inadequately and without authority.
Chevron sues another funder of Ecuadorian litigation by Roger Parloff @FortuneMagazine September 24, 2014, 7:25 AM EST E-mail Tweet Facebook Google Plus Linkedin Share icons Chevron has sued Woodsford Litigation Funding Ltd. for financing the lawyers who are trying to enforce a $9.5 billion environmental judgment against the oil giant that was obtained in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, in 2011. Chevron CVX contends—and, last March, a federal judge in Manhattan held—that the judgment was procured by fraud, bribery, and many other crimes. Chevron's suit against the funder—filed in Gibraltar last June, but not previously reported—alleges that Woodsford conspired with the leaders of the Ecuadorian litigation to advance "a dishonest and fraudulent prosecution of a claim" against the company. The allegedly fraudulent claim in question is the one that led to the billion-dollar judgment, which purports to compensate residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon for contamination left behind by Texaco, after it drilled for oil there from 1964 to 1992. (Texaco was acquired by Chevron in 2001.) Woodsford invested $2.5 million in the Ecuadorian case in March or April of 2013, according to trial testimony provided last November by Steven Donziger, the Ecuadorians' lead U.S. lawyer. The testimony came at a civil racketeering suit Chevron filed against Donziger in Manhattan in 2011. Woodsford's involvement came remarkably late in the game. In July 2012–about nine months earlier–U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had found that the "uncontradicted evidence" showed that important parts of the plaintiffs case were "tainted by fraud," though he reserved judgment at the time as to whether the entire judgment was therefore tainted beyond enforceability. As far back as March 2011, Kaplan had written a 126-page opinion finding strong evidence of fraud and granting a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the judgment, though the ruling was later vacated on jurisdictional grounds unrelated to the accuracy of his findings. In addition, by the time Woodsford invested, at least five other U.S. district courts had found "prima facie" evidence of fraud infecting the plaintiffs' judgment–i.e., evidence that, if left uncontradicted after a full trial, would make out fraud. This past March, after completion of the racketeering trial, Kaplan ruled that the Lago Agrio judgment had, indeed, been obtained by bribery, extortion, fraud, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, money laundering, and other offenses, and he barred U.S. courts from enforcing the judgment. (Since Chevron has virtually no assets in Ecuador, the Ecuadorian judgment is worthless unless the plaintiffs can convince a court to enforce it in a country where Chevron does have assets.) Judge Kaplan's ruling is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. (For a summary of portions of Kaplan's findings, see here.) Woodsford has not yet filed papers in Gibraltar responding to the complaint. A spokesman for Woodsford denied that it was inappropriate to provide a loan at the stage it did, but he declined to elaborate. Chevron had previously sued, also in Gibraltar, the key funder of the case at this point, Russ DeLeon. An old friend of Donziger's from law school, DeLeon made his fortune though the online poker company, PartyGaming, and now lives in Gibraltar. In July, in a filing in that case, DeLeon acknowledged having invested $23 million in the Ecuadorian litigation, giving him a 7% stake in the judgment. This is more than twice what Chevron suspected when it filed its suit against him last December. In that same filing, DeLeon denies wrongdoing, stating that he knew of (and knows of) no conspiracy to employ fraudulent tactics in the case, and that if any were used, he was among the victims of them. He has also counterclaimed against Chevron for defamation. (Chevron's reply to DeLeon's defamation claim is here.) Gibraltar is also the home to Amazonia Recovery Limited, a vehicle the plaintiffs set up to distribute any moneys they eventually may recover from the judgment. Woodsford's finance agreement was with Amazonia, which is also named as a defendant in the suit against Woodsford. While it is not known why Amazonia was set up in Gibraltar, a 2010 memo authored by the Patton Boggs law firm, which then represented the plaintiffs, recommended trying to distribute funds recovered from the judgment outside of Ecuador to circumvent an Ecuadorian law that, it was feared, might limit recoveries for attorneys and funders to just 10% of the judgment. Two earlier key funders of the Ecuadorian suit withdrew from the case long ago, alleging wrongdoing by the plaintiffs. Burford Capital, which invested in late 2010, froze its investment shortly thereafter, and formally withdrew in September 2011, accusing the plaintiffs' representatives of having tricked the firm into investing through a "multi-month scheme to deceive and defraud." The original funder of the suit, the Philadelphia law firm of Kohn, Swift & Graft, has also eventually disavowed any stake in the case. In an August 2010 letter to the plaintiffs' representatives, the lead Kohn lawyer said he was "shocked by recent disclosures concerning potential improper and unethical, if not illegal," conduct by the plaintiffs representatives, whom he accused of having made "blatant lies" to him. (The plaintiffs have denied making any misrepresentations, and claim that Burford backed away after Chevron pressured law firms and corporations to shun the lender. They say Kohn, Swift was fired for unrelated reasons.) Karen Hinton, a spokesperson for Donziger, says, "Chevron's case against Woodsford is yet another attempt by Chevron to retaliate against anybody who tries to help the communities holding Chevron accountable for its environmental crimes and wrongdoing, as found by three layers of courts in Ecuador." "A U.S. federal court has ruled that the judgment against Chevron in Ecuador is the product of a fraudulent scheme intended to extort billions of dollars from the company," says Morgan Crinklaw, a spokesman for oil company. "Chevron believes that the perpetrators of that scheme should be held accountable for knowingly advancing the fraud." Woodsford was founded in 2010. Its chief executive officer is Thomas Manduca, a former law partner at the London firm of Lovells, now Hogan Lovells. According to Woodsford's web site, investment officer Timothy Mayer is a founder and board member of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales, and "played a key role in agreeing the Code of Conduct for Litigation Funders." The Woodsford spokesperson said Manduca and Mayer had no comment at this time.


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wHO wE are
The Relatives & Residents Association exists for older people needing, or living in, residential care and the families and friends left behind at home.
12 February 2015
The following is a statement by Judy Downey, Chair of the R&RA, in response to the CQC's latest guidance here published today, on the use of hidden cameras in care homes:
"The Relatives & Residents Association (R&RA) is generally against the use of secret cameras by the regulator or anyone else and think it's inappropriate as a substitute for proper supervision. We also know that where they have been used by our clients, it was usually because they got no response or action from the provider, the regulator or the local authority and sometimes, all three, where abuse or neglect was suspected. Cameras are no substitute for more rigorous and more frequent inspections and better regulation.
It is not good enough that only 11 care homes were closed by the regulator in the last year. This is less than .01% of homes, when CQC's own figures suggest that between 20% and 30% of homes fail important standards. We don't understand why care homes should be inspected less frequently than children's homes. CQC must be open to receiving - and acting promptly on - complaints and then following them up and not deflect them elsewhere. They have huge powers to take enforcement action to make a home improve or close down which they need to use more effectively.
What about those residents who have no-one to watch over them or speak up for them? There are many thousands with no kith or kin as well as an equal amount who have families and friends too far away or too disabled or disconnected to be in touch. This could amount to 30-40,000 older people in care homes.
We cannot rely on undercover surveillance by those with the energy and knowledge to install it. It is no substitute for good quality control by providers. The government should reinstate the old Regulation 26 where providers had to appoint someone independent to visit and report on each of their homes on a monthly basis and report back to the manager, the regulator and the board or partnership on compliance with standards in a number of key areas of care.
Care workers already feel disaffected and vulnerable and turnover is too high. We also need to consider the effects of 'undercover' scrutiny on this poorly paid and undervalued workforce. A better approach would be for there to be a plan to train, pay and support care workers better with improved staffing ratios and standards. The government talks about ratios for nurses but avoids making similar statements about care workers.
If CCTV is to be used, except in dire circumstances, it should be with the knowledge and consent of all parties: managers, staff and residents. It can then be used to sample care practice and for training, as well as to give praise and encourage good practice openly and fairly."
25 January 2015
Still auctioning off older people
Another authority, this time Kent County Council, has been reported to be using the 'eBay' style bidding system to find care placements for vulnerable older people. Back in August last year the Guardian revealed Birmingham City Council's use of this system and that Matrix SCM was the company promoting and selling the software to councils. According to their marketing manager they were in talks with 30 other councils about using the system. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/27/councils-care-contracts-online-auctions
Auctioning off older people's care in this way is, like 'bed-blocking', reducing older people's experiences to a mechanistic approach. Not only does it ignore the need for personal contact with care home staff, it reduces people to little more than a catalogue of disabilities and vulnerabilities.
This increase in cost driven auctions of care home placements by local councils challenges the current mantras about focusing on the individual. It also makes a nonsense of genuine choice and consultation. Instead of placing the older person at the centre of their care it introduces a dehumanising process which could result in poor and dangerous placements for older care home residents.
This system of allocating 'care' could result in someone being placed far away from family and friends. It could also lead to devastating isolation and loneliness and clearly highlights an institutional failure to put the needs of the older person first. It may well also be in breach of the person's human rights and their need to maintain family relationships.
John Lister, of the campaign group Health Emergency, condemned the system in the Guardian: "Local authority care budgets have already been slashed to the bone, there's nothing left to cut. This system is auctionyourgranny.com, it's a race to the bottom," he said.
The R&RA has become increasingly worried about this new auction style system taking hold and being used by more and more councils. At a time when 'person centred care' is the buzz word in social care, older people continue to get a raw deal and are now being treated as little more than commodities to be traded on auction sites.


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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
Pilonidal cyst | |
Classification and external resources | |
Two pilonidal cysts that have formed in the gluteal cleft of an adult man. | |
DiseasesDB | 31128 |
eMedicine | emerg/771 |
MeSH | D010864 |
Pilonidal cyst | |
Classification and external resources | |
Two pilonidal cysts that have formed in the gluteal cleft of an adult man. | |
DiseasesDB | 31128 |
eMedicine | emerg/771 |
MeSH | D010864 |
A pilonidal cyst, also referred to as a pilonidal abscess, pilonidal sinus or sacrococcygeal fistula, is a cyst or abscess near or on the natal cleft of the buttocks that often contains hair and skin debris.[1]
Pilonidal cysts are often very painful, and typically occur between the ages of 15 and 35.[2] Although usually found near the coccyx, the condition can also affect the navel, armpit or genital region,[3] though these locations are much rarer.
Some people with a pilonidal cyst will be asymptomatic.[4]
A sinus tract, or small channel, may originate from the source of infection and open to the surface of the skin. Material from the cyst may drain through the pilonidal sinus. A pilonidal cyst is usually painful, but with draining, the patient might not feel pain.
One proposed cause of pilonidal cysts is ingrown hair.[5] Excessive sitting is thought to predispose people to the condition because they increase pressure on the coccyx region. Trauma is not believed to cause a pilonidal cyst; however, such an event may result in inflammation of an existing cyst. However there are cases where this can occur months after a localized injury to the area. Some researchers have proposed that pilonidal cysts may be the result of a congenital pilonidal dimple.[6] Excessive sweating can also contribute to the cause of a pilonidal cyst. Moisture can fill a stretched hair follicle, which helps create a low-oxygen environment that promotes the growth of anaerobic bacteria, often found in pilonidal cysts. The presence of bacteria and low oxygen levels hamper wound healing and exacerbate a forming pilonidal cyst.[7]
The condition was widespread in the United States Army during World War II. More than eighty thousand soldiers having the condition required hospitalization;[8] the average length of these wartime hospital stays was 55 days.[9] The condition was termed "jeep seat" or "Jeep riders' disease", because a large portion of people who were being hospitalized for it rode in Jeeps, and prolonged rides in the bumpy vehicles were believed to have caused the condition due to irritation and pressure on the coccyx.
Treatment may include antibiotic therapy, hot compresses and application of depilatory creams.
In more severe cases, the cyst may need to be lanced or surgically excised (along with pilonidal sinus tracts). Post-surgical wound packing may be necessary, and packing typically must be replaced once daily for 4 to 8 weeks. In some cases, two years may be required for complete granulation to occur. Sometimes the cyst is resolved via surgical marsupialization.[10]
Surgeons can also excise the sinus and repair with a reconstructive flap technique, such as a "cleft lift" procedure or Z-plasty, usually done under general anesthetic. This approach is especially useful for complicated or recurring pilonidal disease, leaves little scar tissue and flattens the region between the buttocks, reducing the risk of recurrence.[7]
Pilonidal cysts recur and do so more frequently if the surgical wound is sutured in the midline, as opposed to away from the midline, which obliterates the natal cleft and removes the focus of shearing stress. An incision lateral to the intergluteal cleft is therefore preferred, especially given the poor healing of midline incisions in this region.
A new, minimally invasive technique is to treat the pilonidal sinus with fibrin glue. This technique is less painful than excisional techniques and flaps, can be performed under local or general anaesthesia, does not require dressings or packing and allows return to normal activities within 1 to 2 days.[11][12][13][14]
A pilonidal cyst can resemble a dermoid cyst, a kind of teratoma (germ cell tumor). In particular, a pilonidal cyst in the gluteal cleft can resemble a sacrococcygeal teratoma. Correct diagnosis is important because all teratomas require complete surgical excision, if possible without any spillage, and consultation with an oncologist.
Pilonidal means nest of hair and is derived from the Latin words for hair (pilus) and nest (nidus).[2] The condition was first described by Herbert Mayoin 1833.[15][16] R.M. Hodges was the first to use the phrase pilonidal cyst to describe the condition in 1880.[17][18]
NHS Choices for pilonidal sinus treatment
Pictures of pilonidal sinus and glue treatment http://www.learncolorectalsurgery.com/#/pilonidal-sinus/4549818668
Pictures of Rhomboid Flap http://www.learncolorectalsurgery.com/#/pilonidal-sinus-rhomboid/4549818699
This article has not been added to any categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles. (August 2014) |


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LeBron is Coming To Town, Let's Be Nice About It
How you hanging in there Miami? I know, I know - you don't want to talk about it. But we need to talk about this. He's gone. He left and I know it hurts, but it is what it is. These things happen, people change and they move on and you just have to figure out how to deal. Here's the thing...and you're not going to like it, but...he's coming back to town. We need to talk about how to handle this. Photo by Alex Broadwell
Miami, you have a bit of a reputation for being something of an asshole. Don't get me wrong, it's undeniably part of the charm, but sometimes it goes too far. And I get that it helps smooth out that big ol' chip on your shoulder to be petty and piss on anything that isn't MIAMI, it might just be time to show a certain degree of restraint and, dare I say it - maturity. And with Lebron rolling into town for Christmas, we ought to take a minute to talk about how to go about showing a little class and civility - neither of which are your strong suits - namely by not booing number 23 when he takes to the hardwood at the American Airlines Arena come the 25th.
See also: The Ten Most Festive Spots in South Florida
More »


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You Never Know Who's All Up In The Family Tree/ David McMillian, LPC, LMFT
Letter to God from Bernie Siegel, MD / Bernie Siegel, M.D.
My Life Contract / Joel Fotinos
The Who The What and the When/ Jenny Volvoski and Julia Rothman
Love and Immortality / William Pillow Long Journey of My Heart
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Lance!: Racism
Berlin, 1936.
The defeat of racism.
Cape Town, 1994.
The defeat of racism.
L! You see first in sports.
Advertising Agency: Heads Propaganda, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Creative Directors: Flavio Medeiros, Luis Christello, Kike Borell
Art Director: Fernando Maciel
Copywriters: Rafael Simi, Flavio Medeiros
Illustrator: Manipula
Published: February 2011
3 comments
ProfMar 07, 2011 - 3:01
how was the berlin olympics the defeat of racism? and why does everyone ALWAYS get confused with what racism / fascism / antisemitism is? quit failing with cultural ignorance brazil.
Quite really.
CuriousPencilMar 07, 2011 - 8:12
Brazil, when you gave the world Wax, did you strip off logic, sense, creativity, understanding and effectiveness too?


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Gas Prices Rise Over Libya's Turmoil
Gas Prices Rise Over Libya's Turmoil
187 results for 'brian'. Showing results 163 - 180
Gas Prices Rise Over Libya's Turmoil
Wisc. Republicans May Force Compromise
Calif. Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8 Appeal
Will 'Demographic Suicide' Cause Japan's Downfall?
Will Maryland Stay 'Blue' on Gay Marriage?
Obama's State of the Union: What to Expect
Family: 'Empty Rhetoric' over Border Agent's Death
Border Patrol Agent Killed in Southern Arizona
World's Largest Airlines Now in Latin America, Asia
Family TV Movie Has Lesson About Judging Others
All Eyes on Spain, Portugal after Ireland Bailout
European Officials Move to Stabilize Irish Banks
Stars Unite for 'Stand Up to Cancer' Telethon
Iowa Hopes for Gay Marriage 'Wake Up Call'
Officials: Illnesses Linked to Eggs May Increase
Judge Overturns CA Prop 8 Barring Gay Marriage
America's Approaching Debt Disaster
Minn. Gay Pride Fest Seeks to Block Evangelists


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Search Result
Search Tags: Ask the CIO
Magnifico reshaping the Army Contracting Command
This week, host Jason Miller talks with Gino Magnifico.
March 11, 2010
Tags: technology , contracting , Army Contracting Command , Gino Magnifico , Jason Miller
Leiss pulls double duty as CIO of Office of Thrift Supervision
Wayne Leiss is not your typical chief information officer. Learn why on this week's show.
Feb. 11, 2010
Tags: technology , Wayne Leiss , Office of Thrift Supervision , Jason Miller
Office of Government Ethics retooling network to meet demands
Host Jason Miller talks with OGE CIO Ty Cooper, who says his agency is in the final stages of revamping its computer network.
Jan. 21, 2010
Tags: technology , Office of Government Ethics , Ty Cooper , Jason Miller
DoD wants to adopt iPhone apps model
Dave Wennergren, the Defense Department's deputy chief information officer, explains why on this week's show.
Dec. 10, 2009
Tags: technology , Dave Wennergren , DoD , defense , cybersecurity , Gov 2.0
Baker taking his own advice to improve Veterans Affairs
Roger Baker, the VA assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer, talks about being the 'ultimate consultant'.
Nov. 12, 2009
Tags: technology , Roger Baker , Web 2.0 , government 2.0 , Veterans Affairs , Jason Miller
Drug Enforcement Administration
Preston Grubbs, CIO at the DEA, talks about trying to keep up with cartels.
Encore Presentation
Tags: technology , DEA , Preston Grubbs , Jason Miller
Simon Szykman
Sept. 10, 2009
Tags: technology , NIST , Simone Szykman , Jason Miller
Government Accountability Office
Joe Kraus
August 6, 2009
Tags: technology , GAO , Joe Kraus , Jason Miller
Komatsoulis striking security, accessibility balance at NCI
Freedom versus security. It's an issue many information security experts deal with. George Komatsoulis, acting chief information officer and the deputy director in the Center for Biomedical Informatics and IT at the National Cancer Institute, talks with Jason Miller about the challenge.
January 13, 2011
Tags: George Komatsoulis , NCI , IT , technology , cybersecurity , Skype , Cloud computing , mobile apps , Jason Miller ,
Gardner applies scientific method to NASA Goddard IT
Adrian Gardner, the CIO at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, tells Federal News Radio's Jason Miller how his past experiences are shaping his current job.
December 23, 2010 (Encore Presentation)
Tags: Adrian Gardner , NASA Goddard , CIO , technology , NASA , Jason Miller


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Possible Duplicate:
Why did we bother with line numbers at all?
I'm curious about why early versions of the BASIC programming language had line numbering like in:
42 PRINT "Hello world!"
The text editors back then had no line numbering?
EDIT: Yes, I know they are used for GOTOs, but why? I mean having labels was too computationally expensive?


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The Mortgage Team at First National Community Bank is dedicated to helping our customers with all their home financing needs! Some of our customers are so satisified, they have allowed us to share their comments with you.
"I have been a customer of FNCB for 13 years now & feel like they Always have my best interest in mind. They are true partners to me and my family!" Paul Korn
"Closing on this loan was pain-free. No matter what time I called - I was able to talk with someone and my questions were always answered!" Tammy & Craig Roder
"Brian Campbell did a great job in arranging our financing. Being local, he knew the territory and made all things fit our needs. Even worked a Saturday morning for us. Thanks!" Dave Johnson
"Our Loan Officer, Eric Tostrud, was exceptional! Always seeking to find the best for us, not for the Bank. He even used his new GPS to lead us to where our daughter's volleyball team was playing after our closing. Talk about service way above and beyond our expectation!" Bave Birckelbaw
"We are "completely satisfied" customers of your Bank! We have been customers since we moved to town in 1999. We are always treated professionally. Brian Campbell, Mark Casey and Tom Mews are Superstars!" Chris & Darla Wheeler
"Eric did an excellent job, making the loan process easy and accurate!" Jim Mattson


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U.S. Cavalry Revolver .44 Cal. 1860 Framed Replica
- Sold for: Start FREE Trial! or Sign In to see what it's worth.
- Item Category:
- Source: eBay
- Sold Date: Jul 15,2010
- Channel: Online Auction
U.S. Cavalry Revolver .44 Cal. 1860 Framed Replica
From the collection of BENCHMARK Sour Mash Premium Bourbon In Great condition!, the frame has just a couple of knicks out of the edge You can see the authenticity mark on the back of the frame I took a close up of it. Don't pass up your opportunity to add this quality item to your collection!Items in the Worthopedia are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members' research needs.


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Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ) is the recognised New Zealand representative of Transparency International, the global civil society organisation against corruption. We are a not-for-profit incorporated society with charitable status. We are non-political and non-partisan.
A world with trusted integrity systems in which government, politics, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption.
Transparency International announced on 3 December, 2014 that Denmark has overtaken New Zealand to become the country with the lowest level of perceived corruption in the public sector in 2014.
New Zealand score of 91 was pipped by Denmark who moved up one point from last year to 92. The perceived most corrupt countries were North Korea and Somalia, both with scores of 8, ranked 175.
For more: TINZ Media Release and Transparency International Secretariat media release.
"New Zealand's high trust public sector is its greatest competitive advantage"
-Phil O'Reilly Chief Executive of Business New Zealand
New Zealand's public sector is consistently ranked among the least corrupt in the world. This reputation is not a coincidence. New Zealand has a long tradition of being first with legislation aimed at promoting human rights. Milestones include the Public Service Act 1912 and the Official Information Act 1982.
TINZ is committed to continue this tradition through actions that increase public sector transparency and extend good governance throughout all New Zealand institutions.
Integrity and good governance are important in that they underpin government legitimacy and the freedoms, civil liberties and ability to participate in a democratic state. When people trust their institutions, they are more likely to pay their taxes, fill in their census forms and to comply with laws and regulations.
New Zealand's high trust society is both a national treasure and an economic asset. Forbes magazine ranks New Zealand first on its 2012 list of the Best Countries for Business thanks to a transparent and stable business climate.
Trading partners recognise cost savings for dealing with New Zealand through less need for due diligence, lower contracting costs, and a culture intolerant of corrupt middle men with whom to transact business.
Join TINZ and help us increase awareness and improve New Zealand transparency.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 New Zealand Drops to 2nd "Least Corrupt Country" in 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index 3 Dec, 2014
In Honour of Jeremy Pope 16 Nov, 2014
Anti Corruption Training Tool Launched 19 Jun, 2014
NZ Rugby Union Makes Strong Stand Against Corruption in Sport New Zealand Rugby announced yesterday it was prohibiting everyone involved in professional, semi-professional, or any Rugby where players are paid, from betting on all forms of rugby anywhere in the world. 2 Apr, 2014
TINZ is looking for an Executive Director and a Fundraiser. These are volunteer positions leading to paid upon sustainable funding.
Please send applications to Alexandra Mills, Administration Officer at firstname.lastname@example.com by 24 February. Job descriptions: Executive Director Fundraiser.
Read the latest
TINZ Transparency Times
Commit to Zero Tolerance for Corruption in New Zealand
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Exhaust System, Thrush Header Back, Steel, Aluminized, Chevy/GMC, C/K/R/V Pickups, V8, Kit
Estimated Ship Date: Monday 3/2/2015 Would you rather pick it up? Select Location
Order this item and get free delivery and handling on your entire order! Oversize fees also waived on this item. Valid on orders shipped in the contiguous United States.
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Brand: Thrush
Manufacturer's Part Number: 89024
Part Type: Exhaust Systems
Product Line: Thrush Header Back Dual Exhaust Systems
Summit Racing Part Number:
System Style: Header-back
System Material: Steel
Exit Quantity: Two
Exit Location: Split side
System Finish: Aluminized
Catalytic Converter(s) Included: No
Intermediate Pipe Diameter (in): 2.250 in.
Muffler Included: Yes
Muffler Quantity: Two
Muffler Configuration: Single inlet/Single outlet
Muffler Style: Turbo
Exhaust Type: Dual
Hardware Included: Yes
Inlet Quantity: Two
Tailpipe Diameter (in): 2.250 in.
Tip Included: No
Quantity: Sold as a kit.
Notes: Designed for use with long tube headers. H-Pipe not included in this kit. Due to variations in different manufacturers headers, modifications to the length and or angles of the intermediate pipes may be required when connecting to the header collectors.
In-Store Pickup: Choose In-store pick-up (OH, GA, NV) on our web site.
Give your vehicle a performance-sounding exhaust. These Thrush header back dual exhaust systems come complete with smooth-bent exhaust pipes, Thrush turbo mufflers, an H-pipe balance tube (included in most kits), and all hardware needed for a complete installation. Thrush header back dual exhaust systems are designed for use with full-length headers, and the tailpipes will exit in the stock location.
Some parts are not legal for sale or use in California on any pollution-controlled motor vehicles
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