text:
A long time ago, I was mentored by a wonderful man at General Radio. Like most of the executives at GR, he had a engineering degree from MIT, and he was a very literary, very well read gentleman. He was active in the stock market, and I listened carefully to the pearls of wisdom he would cast. He had two portfolios, one designed to generate dividends, one designed to generate capital gains. And he noticed a curious thing: The dividend portfolio regularly outperformed the trading portfolio, even without considering the dividends! Of course, that may have been a sign of the times (the fifties), but dividend-paying companies tend to be stronger financially, and these are times that try one's balance sheets.
These days I have two portfolios, one designed for trading, one designed for current yield, and they exhibit the same results that my mentor found in the fifties. Of course that may be because I'm a lousy trader, but I think there's something more basic going on.
Lately, oil stocks have been plummeting, and that hurts returns from these stocks, which are heavy dividend payers. But there's an offset: Utilities tend to use lots of oil, and these stocks, also heavy dividend payers, benefit. Besides, the year is early, and it's too soon to declare dividend-payers a loser.
Focusing on dividend-paying stocks needn't mean giving up excitement. Even Apple pays a dividend. It's only 1.5 percent, but that's a lot more than you'll get on a CD from your local bank, and Apple is, to put it mildly, solvent. And Apple may well raise the dividend in the future.
So my thought for the day is this: Favor dividend payers. Check the dividend, and then look at the consensus estimate for earnings in the coming year. The lower the dividend as a percentage of the consensus, the better.
the literary beachcomber
Monday, March 30, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
The State of the Union
President Obama has just finished his 2015 State of the Union address, and here are my reactions:
We have in Barack Obama the best orator since FDR. He's a masterful speech-giver and also an expert speech-writer, for it is obvious to me that he at least guided and probably wrote much of the speech. (I know whereof I speak, since I have written and delivered dozens of speeches.) There was precious little to complain about. It was a trifle long, and the barbs at Russia and China did not go well with the over-all pacifist spirit of the speech. And the reference to the person in the balcony (a "typical" person who just happens to illustrate his point) has become a staple of SOTU speeches in recent years, and it is getting a bit tired.
Of course, the President made only passing reference to the "loopholes" he would close to pay for all the goodies he was promising. And the percentage of the world's wealth controlled by the top one percent of the world's population (a subtext of the rhetoric these days) neglects to mention that the world's population includes billions of people who live in Asia and Africa - people beyond the reach of the President's policies (and who need the jobs President Obama wants to bring back to the U.S.).
But these are minor quibbles. Let's give President Obama his due: He gives a helluva speech. There is no one in either major party who is in his league.
We have in Barack Obama the best orator since FDR. He's a masterful speech-giver and also an expert speech-writer, for it is obvious to me that he at least guided and probably wrote much of the speech. (I know whereof I speak, since I have written and delivered dozens of speeches.) There was precious little to complain about. It was a trifle long, and the barbs at Russia and China did not go well with the over-all pacifist spirit of the speech. And the reference to the person in the balcony (a "typical" person who just happens to illustrate his point) has become a staple of SOTU speeches in recent years, and it is getting a bit tired.
Of course, the President made only passing reference to the "loopholes" he would close to pay for all the goodies he was promising. And the percentage of the world's wealth controlled by the top one percent of the world's population (a subtext of the rhetoric these days) neglects to mention that the world's population includes billions of people who live in Asia and Africa - people beyond the reach of the President's policies (and who need the jobs President Obama wants to bring back to the U.S.).
But these are minor quibbles. Let's give President Obama his due: He gives a helluva speech. There is no one in either major party who is in his league.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 11:10 PM
Thursday, December 18, 2014
A Party of Hawks?
I don't pretend to be a political expert, but it occurs to me that Marco Rubio took himself out of the presidential sweepstakes when he angrily attacked President Obama for his decision to normalize relations with Cuba. And those Republicans who fulminate against the Administration for the decision to support the Congressional report on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (read torture) may effectively brand their party the Party of Hawks and seal their defeat in 2016.
Now, I am an unabashed conservative, one who instinctively opposes most of the economic tendencies of President Obama. I am convinced that he is no friend of business, and the more successful a business, the less likely it will find favor at the White House. But on Cuba and on foreign policy, the President, it seems to me, is on the right side of history – and of the American electorate.
The hawkish wing of the Republican Party, which is in control of their party, argues for a "more muscular" foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, and they have enough supporters to persuade them that their position is popular. Dick Cheney has famously supported torture, and Marco Rubio has a position paper in today's Journal attacking the thawing of relations with Cuba. Both receive standing ovations from what they see as their base.
They should be careful. If they are successful in derailing the normalization of relations with Cuba and in promoting American boots on the ground in the Middle East, they will be setting up a Democratic landslide in 2016. Most Americans are war-weary, and the reaction of most of my friends on Cuba is "about time." Of course, I could be wrong, and Americans could be spoiling for a fight. Time will tell.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 10:43 AM
Monday, November 24, 2014
Stock Talk - 6
Your greatest risk in playing the market is the black swan, the geopolitical event that can send the market down 500 points in a heartbeat. If you understand that and have limited your exposure accordingly, fine. But a lot of people overlook that risk and keep betting 50 or 60 percent of their wealth on a continuation of the bull market. So far, they have done well.
The talking heads on CNBC keep reminding us that over the long term stocks outperform bonds. They are talking their book. People on CNBC - and the station itself - make money by promoting the stock market. One should never forget that fact.
The talking heads on CNBC keep reminding us that over the long term stocks outperform bonds. They are talking their book. People on CNBC - and the station itself - make money by promoting the stock market. One should never forget that fact.
We are about 5 percent of the world's population. A lot of the other 95% don't like us, and the number of haters has risen in the past decades and continues to rise. Some of this is the result of My Lai or Abu Ghraib or, more generally, Iraq and Afghanistan, some is because we are conspicuously wealthy and successful; the point here is not to argue philosophy, but to factor in risk.
The degree of risk you can tolerate depends partly on your age; if you are too old to recoup a major loss (as I am), you may want to limit your market stake to 10 or 15 percent. The black swan doesn't have to be a repeat of 9-11; anything that induces sudden, mass fear will do. And a sudden spike in hysteria will motivate people to pull money out of the market and into Treasury bonds. Some of that is already apparent in the low interest rates available in the bond market.
The fact that the U.S. is an open society is both our strength and – increasingly – our weakness. With social media available to everyone, including potential terrorists, the question is not if but when. So what is an investor to do? Consider well-protected yield, which include short-term Treasuries but is not limited to them. Tax-advantaged municipals are attractive, but one has to consider the municipalities. In the battle between pensioners and investors, the pensioners will win in many states. It's better to shun municipals in those states – which may include your own. It's better to pay state income tax than to risk principal.
It's possible that terrorists will never attack the U.S. I hope so. But meanwhile, I'm avoiding the momentum ("mo-mo") stocks, like Netflix, Facebook, Tesla, Keurig Green Mountain Coffee, and Amazon. Let the risk-takers make the profits, while they can.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 10:31 AM
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Stock Talk - 5
A new reality has come to the stock market: The founders and leaders of the flashiest companies listed on the stock market don't give a damn what their stock does. This may be good or it may be bad, but them's the facts, and you should be aware of them.
Amazon reported disappointing earnings today, and the stock promptly tanked 10 percent. Do you think Jeff Bezos cares? Do you think the founders of Google or Facebook or Alibaba really care if they or their key employees are worth a few hundred million less than they were a week ago? They do not, and, as I say, that may be a good thing – as long as you understand the fact.
Years ago, when I was serenading Wall Street, it used to be different. People left big companies to join start-ups on the promise of wealth that would eventually be realized via stock options. Today, a hot company goes public and - wham! – dozens of new millionaires or billionaires are minted overnight, and if years later the stock drops 10 percent in a day, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Page and their top lieutenants are still very, very wealthy.
Given that reality, how should you invest? Personally, I don't invest in Amazon or Google or Facebook or Alibaba, though for many investors they have been great investments. It's just that I like my companies' leaders to have skin in the game. Mind you, I don't expect the CEO to be a pauper; that would be unrealistic. But I do want him or her to care what the stock does, just as I care.
I have nothing against great wealth. God bless Bill Gates and the others on the Fortune list. The opportunity to make unlimited wealth is one of the qualities that has made the United States the most powerful nation on the planet. I devoutly hope that the CEOs of the companies I invest in will make billions and billions. But by then I will be long gone, looking for the next batch of billionaire wannabes.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 5:44 PM
Monday, October 06, 2014
Stock Talk - 4
The total stock-market valuation of Netflix, Amazon, and Facebook is about $400 billion, or about the GNP of Sweden. Amazon stock sells for hundreds of times earnings, Netflix sells for over 100 times earnings, and Facebook sells for "only" 80 times earnings. Now, it's true that if you bought the three stocks a year or two ago, you'd have made a pile of money. And I missed the boat on all three. But nosebleed territory is not for me, because as soon as I bought Amazon at $320 a share, it would drop 20 percent, as it did from its high of about $400 a share. Life's too short to spend it throwing dice.
The financial news today is that Hewlett-Packard has decided to split into two companies. Now, I happen to know H-P well, because I spent a lot of time competing against them. As a matter of fact, in 1956 I remarked to the then Chairman of the Company I worked for, "H-P has just passed us in sales." His answer: "They'll pass us on the way down, too."
It never happened, and H-P went on to become a Goliath in electronics, before it lost its way, while being run by Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd, Leo Apotheker, and now Meg Whitman. You know what all of these people have in common? They were all outsiders. Think of it: The Company was saying to its 300,000-plus employees, "We don't think any of you is capable of running this Company, so we're bringing in someone who hasn't worked for H-P for a day." This is not a knock on any of the chosen CEOs; I happen to think Meg Whitman is a very savvy manager. But really, doesn't it prove that at H-P leadership succession hasn't been a priority since Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett departed? So H-P is not on my stock-market shopping list.
Some trends are well established, and you would be a fool to ignore them. So you will probably not invest in newspapers and magazines. But if you dig down a bit further, you will find other trends worth noting. Shopping malls are likely to become dinosaurs, although it might take a while. So will movie theaters, as home screens get larger and cinema screens get smaller. It may take years for these trends to play out, but do you want to invest your hard-earned money in endangered species?
The price of oil has been tanking (pun intended) lately, and so the oil stocks have been falling. But this is not a long-term trend. There are just too many cars and factories dependent on oil. So if a dividend-paying oil stock is falling, that means the yield is increasing, despite the turmoil at OPEC. So not all collapses are bad, and though I am happy to see the pump price at $3.30, I am too much of a realist to sell my oil stocks.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 4:14 PM
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Stock Talk - 3
President Obama doesn't like Wall Street. That much is clear from his comments about "fat cats," "homes in the Hamptons," and the like. That much is clear and permissible. He was elected President by a majority of voters in 2008 and reelected in 2012. But you should be aware of the fact when you are investing. He and his Administration think (correctly) that big companies spend a lot of time and talent trying to minimize their tax bite, and he and his associates especially hate the practice of "inversion," in which a U.S. company merges with a foreign company and reincorporates in the more tax-friendly nation, which is never the U.S. But they're not the only targets. Financial institutions have been repeatedly fined for various transgressions, and the fines can be huge.
That being so, you have to ask yourself, when investing, "Do I really want to bet my money against the President of the United States?" The question doesn't just involve financial institutions. The prevailing attitude in the political world is that small businesses are good and big business is bad. In this political season, how often do you hear candidates taking that line?
(The other day President Obama, explaining the quick rise of ISIS in Iraq, said that the U.S. had given Prime Minister Al-Maliki a functioning government, but that Maliki was too intent on building up his political base among Shiites and thus squandered his legacy, As I read this, I thought the same might be said of President Obama, who was too concerned with strengthening his base among Democrats and thus contributed to the divisive climate that characterizes Washington.)
Although the odds are that President Obama will lose the Senate in November, the divisiveness will probable continue through 2016. Question: How does one tailor his stock portfolio given this situation?
Favor medium-size companies. Big companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon are inviting targets for politicians, and small companies (those with annual sales of less than $1 billion) are too vulnerable to economic crosswinds. The ideal company is one with sales of a few billion and in a business that is out of the headlines. A dividend is a plus but not essential.
International exposure used to be a plus. No more. The geopolitical situation is volatile, and companies that are seen as surrogates for Uncle Sam are probably going to attract unfriendly attention.
There are many sizable, profitable, growing, U.S.-based companies that are worth considering. Many of them are companies you probably have never heard of. I'll give you some hints in future blog posts.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 11:31 AM
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Stock Talk - 2
Since there's no way to tell whether a given stock will rise or fall tomorrow, it makes sense to invest in stocks with a long-term objective in mind. Not too long term, because stocks with a five-year gestation period could wear out your patience. So you look for a stock that will prove itself in a year or two.
3-D printing and package delivery by drones are examples of concepts that probably will take too long to pay off. If you happen to believe that shopping malls and newspapers are in for a long period of decline, you avoid stocks in those sectors – or even short them.
A word about shorting: Shorting means selling borrowed stock, on the hope that you will buy it back (and close out the position) at a lower price and thus make a profit. Shorting is dangerous, because the loss is theoretically infinite, but having a small part of your stock-market portfolio short is not a bad idea – if the shorts are in sectors that are in long-term downtrends. Risk-tolerance comes into play here; the shorts in my own portfolio are about 20 percent of the total.
Day trading – buying a stock in the morning and selling it in the afternoon – is something you should not even consider. Especially now, with the geopolitical situation so volatile, you can lose money for reasons that have nothing to do with your stock. The popularity of day trading probably has something to do with the rock-bottom commissions brokerages are charging.
It pays to be well informed. My own tastes center on the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. There are others, but that's all I have time for. I watch CNBC during the day – but very skeptically, because most of the people on that channel are "talking their book" – touting positions that enhance their own portfolios. That's also true of the writers at the Times and the Journal, but they are more subtle about it.
As we saw in a previous blog on the subject, dividend yields are all-important. My trading portfolio is smaller than my yield portfolio, and the yield portfolio has done better for years. There is little mystery to this; we have been in a bull market for bonds for decades, but most people have been sure that runaway interest rates are around the corner – and most people have been wrong. Low-interest rates shift wealth from rich people (the lenders) to poor people (the borrowers), and that fits nicely into the Administration's objective. As long as President Obama is in office and has a compliant Fed, the bull market in bonds will continue.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 2:23 PM
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Stock Talk
--> -->A friend recently asked why I didn't write more about the stock market, since this is the field I worked in for most of my career – and, presumably, that I know best. I answered that I didn't want to play the role of investment advisor, but on reflection, that was a cop-out. So here goes.
Stocks are risky. No matter how much you think you know about a company, there are people who know more, and these are the people who want your money. Forget the rules that say if you plug your age into a formula, you will know what percent of your wealth should be in stocks and what percent should be in bonds. The risk is the same whether you're 35 or 75.
A friend of mine (and my mentor in the 50s) told me that he had two stock portfolios, one specializing in stocks designed to generate capital gains, the other investing in stocks that paid high dividends. And – funny thing – the yield-oriented portfolio had a consistently higher total return! Moral: Stocks that pay a dividend are almost always better, and the results are even better if the dividend is well protected (i.e., a smaller percentage of estimated earnings).
Of course, one can always point to exceptions. You could have made a killing if you bought some Netflix a year or two ago, and Apple (a dividend payer, now) has been a good long-term investment. I have a small percentage of my investments in such speculations. I read all the business papers and am reasonably well informed, but you know what? The yield portfolio out-returns the trading portfolio, just as it did for my mentor in the 50s. Some things just don't change.
So my initial advice is this: Look for a well-protected yield. That's especially timely now, when bank yields are so low. Second, use the low-cost, on-line brokerages. You can buy or sell a stock for $8 a trade or less, which is a small fraction of what I paid 20 or 30 years ago.
Now that I've broken the ice, I will indulge in more "stock talk" in future blogs.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 11:47 AM
Thursday, September 11, 2014
I've Heard It All Before
As I listened to President Obama last night, I kept thinking, "I've heard it all before." We began the Vietnam War, our longest at the time, by sending in advisors, the first arriving in Saigon by helicopter in 1961. How easy it is to start a war, how hard it is to end one!
Then it was the Domino Theory, the notion that if Vietnam fell, China would have hegemony over all of Southeast Asia. In the case of Iraq, it was Weapons of Mass Destruction. Today it is the threat of ISIL. There's always a threat, sometimes real, often magnified by the hawks or the neocons or, as President Eisenhower had it, the military-industrial complex. There's never a lack of threats, because we live in an imperfect world, and there's never a lack of appetite for violence - unless you are one of the victims.
Although I disagree with President Obama on most issues, I am grateful today that he is our President, and not John McCain, who would surely have us at war with Iran, ISIL, and possibly Russia. Thank God for small favors.
If you missed it, scroll back a couple of blogs and read the lyrics for "I've Heard It All Before," from the musical Shenandoah. It's very timely.
Then it was the Domino Theory, the notion that if Vietnam fell, China would have hegemony over all of Southeast Asia. In the case of Iraq, it was Weapons of Mass Destruction. Today it is the threat of ISIL. There's always a threat, sometimes real, often magnified by the hawks or the neocons or, as President Eisenhower had it, the military-industrial complex. There's never a lack of threats, because we live in an imperfect world, and there's never a lack of appetite for violence - unless you are one of the victims.
Although I disagree with President Obama on most issues, I am grateful today that he is our President, and not John McCain, who would surely have us at war with Iran, ISIL, and possibly Russia. Thank God for small favors.
If you missed it, scroll back a couple of blogs and read the lyrics for "I've Heard It All Before," from the musical Shenandoah. It's very timely.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 8:14 AM
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
The Ministry of Truth
In George Orwell's world. The Ministry of Truth was the government's propaganda agency, the unit whose job was to rewrite history according to the government's wishes. We need a Ministry of Truth in Washington. Or maybe we already have one. Consider the following:
You don't have to be an archivist to find quotations from Washington in which Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq was hailed as just the kind of leader his country needed, a trustworthy ally of the United States who could be counted on to deliver, whatever the provocations. The Ministry of Truth is today rewriting history to delete all those quotations.
In similar vein, the United States promoted itself as the world's leading advocate for democracy, the principle that the people of a nation should be entitled to vote for their leaders. The vote, we said, was the ultimate guarantor of the peoples' liberties. In Egypt, Ukraine, Syria, and now Iraq, the Ministry of Truth is rewriting history along the following lines: The leaders who are elected can be thrown out when the people show, by mass protests or by polls, that they want someone else.
President Obama lashes out at rich Wall Streeters by telling them they "can keep their homes in the Hamptons." The President could have said "in the Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard," but the Ministry of Truth wouldn't hear of it.
A terrific Front Line report on PBS recently revealed some of the falsehoods our government tells us in the name of security. It was called "The United States of Secrets." I thought it was one of the best pieces of investigative journalism I've ever seen, and it was fair, affording the NSA chiefs ample opportunities to express their positions. But the take-away was that George Orwell's fantasy was increasingly realistic.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 10:40 AM
Sunday, August 03, 2014
In 1975, Jill and I took my parents to Boston's Colonial Theater to see John Cullum in Shenandoah. It was a very good production of an excellent show, which ran on Broadway for over 1000 performances. Later, I bought the original-cast LP, which has been sitting unplayed in my basement, along with many other OC LPs, for many years – until now. A friend told me that he had transferred his LP collection to CDs, and, intrigued, I bought a similar device and have started the long transferral process.
So far, I have burned CDs of many musicals, some brilliant, some not. But Shenandoah made me sit up and take notice. Based on the 1965 movie, it was an anti-war musical about a Virginia family's Civil War hardships, and it was in sync with the public's distaste for Vietnam. Here are the lyrics for one of the memorable songs, sung by Cullum:
Stand and show your colors. Let's all go to war. The Lord will surely bless us.
I've heard it all before. I've heard it all a hundred times. I've heard it all before.
They always have a holy cause to march you off to war.
They always have a holy cause to march you off to war.
Tyranny or justice, anarchy or law. We must defend our honor.
I've heard it all before. I've heard it all a hundred times. I've heard it all before.
They always have a holy cause that's worth the dyin' for.
They always have a holy cause that's worth the dyin' for.
Someone writes a slogan, raises up a flag. Someone finds an enemy to blame.
The trumpet sounds the call to arms to leave the cities and the farms.
And always the ending is the same, the same, the same, the same.
The dream has turned to ashes, the wheat has turned to straw.
The dream has turned to ashes, the wheat has turned to straw.
And someone asks the question: "What's the dyin' for?"
The living can't remember, the dead no longer care. But next time it won't happen.
Upon my soul I swear I've heard it all a hundred times. I've heard it all before.
Don't tell me "It's different now." I've heard it all, I've heard it all, I've heard it all before.
Don't tell me "It's different now." I've heard it all, I've heard it all, I've heard it all before.
The music was by Gary Geld, the lyrics by Peter Udell.
Shenandoah's Civil War story had two sides, one of which was told by the play. But there is never a shortage of people to tell the other side. These days, with the hawks urging a "more muscular" foreign policy over Ukraine, Syria, Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Gaza, and God knows where else, we could use a play like Shenandoah today.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 10:50 AM
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Bombs Bursting in Air? Not.
What this country needs – oh, does it need – is an issue on which liberals and conservatives can unite and on which the country can voice its approval, loudly and enthusiastically. Here is such an issue.
It is time we should change our national anthem. The Star Spangled Banner is hard to sing and is out of step with the national mood, which is less militaristic than it used to be. The country, according to most polls, is tired of "bombs bursting in air" and is ready for "amber waves of grain" or "the oceans white with foam."
You like bombs bursting in air? Then the present anthem fails on musical grounds. How many of us, hearing O, Canada sung at the hockey playoffs or the Russian national anthem sung at Sochi, sighed, "I wish we had an anthem like that." (How many singers have had the same thought?)
If it were put to a popular vote, two candidates would probably emerge: America the Beautiful and God Bless America. Either one, in my opinion, is better than The Star Spangled Banner. They are both stirring melodies. America the Beautiful was written by Samuel Ward, a choirmaster, and Katherine Lee Bates, in 1910. God Bless America, as everyone knows, was written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him (for Kate Smith) in 1938. Both are well known and sung often; in fact, God Bless America has become a surrogate national anthem, sung at the home half of the seventh inning at many major-league baseball games.
For more than 150 years, the United States had no national anthem. Then, in 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed an act making The Star Spangled Banner the national anthem. It has had a long and distinguished life, but now it is time for a new national anthem, easier to sing and having more inspired lyrics. It is time to move on. Is there a political leader around who will take up the cause?
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 4:13 PM
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
Buy Stocks in What You Know?
A long time ago, Peter Lynch, the Manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund, became a hero of investors by popularizing the idea of buying stocks in companies with which one is personally familiar, either as a customer or as an employee. Enough successful examples of that strategy were around to promote Magellan and Lynch to well deserved cult status, and investors began asking their wives and children which stores and which products they liked – and why.
All that was true then. But does it make sense today? Yes, if one doesn't confuse notoriety with knowledge. Take, for example, Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce colossus that is about to go public in what may well be the biggest IPO in history. People are angling to buy stock in Alibaba or in Yahoo, which owns a big stake in the Chinese Company. Other people are buying "momentum" stocks – stocks such as Tesla or Facebook or Twitter or Netflix. Some of these will make money for their buyers, but many are plunging on the basis, not of personal knowledge, but of hype. There's a difference.
Look, with any of these momentum stocks, no matter how much you think you know, hundreds of Wall Street's best and brightest know a thousand times more. They know more and they trade faster. You don't have to believe the market is rigged, as one author plugged his book by charging. It's just a fact of life, much more so now than in the golden age of Peter Lynch.
Publicity attracts crowds; that's the idea, after all. In my stock trading, I scour the table of contents in the Journal and Barron's, and if I find a company listed in which I am interested in trading, I cross it off my list. It is hard enough making a buck in the market without competing with the sharks. There are plenty of companies, even NYSE-listed companies, that never appear on those tables of contents.
I'm not saying that investing in what you know is a bad idea. I am saying that trading in hyped stocks is a loser. I bought some Apple several years ago because I believed in the Company, and I still own those shares. Score one for Lynch. But I trade other stocks, and those are the stocks where publicity is the kiss of death. Which ones? I'm not going to tell you, because that would be dumb.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 1:59 PM
Friday, April 25, 2014
Triangular Diplomacy
Politicians, mostly but not entirely Republicans, urge President Obama to adopt a more "muscular" foreign policy. There are headlines to be won with hawkish talk, and members of Congress, especially those who are considered Presidential hopefuls, are not averse to headlines. So there are those who chide the Administration for taking a "wimpish" stance on Syria and Ukraine. At times the President and his Secretary of State seem to be bending with the wind and threatening tougher sanctions against our presumed enemies.
Who are these enemies? Russia heads the list, and seldom a day passes without Obama or Kerry delivering a volley of threats against Putin and his associates. China is not far behind. The President's trip to Asia this week is designed to reassure Japan and the Philippines that we will back up their territorial disputes with China with our muscle.
It is time for a reality check. There are three major powers in the world: the United States, Russia, and China. We can out-muscle Russia or China, but we can't take on both of them. If we threaten both, we will simply drive them to join forces in an attempt to defeat us. In a new Cold War, not just against Russia but against Russia and China combined, we would either (a) lose or (b) win at a cost that would leave the world in shambles.
Henry Kissinger, in his excellent book Diplomacy, outlines the background of Nixon's "opening to China" in 1969:
Nixon decided to concentrate on the broader issue of China's attitude toward a dialogue with the United States. Priority was given to determining the scope of the looming Sino-Soviet-American triangle. If we could determine what we suspected – that the Soviet Union and China were more afraid of each other than they were of the United States – an unprecedented opportunity for American diplomacy would come into being.
So it's time, hawks, to decide whether to make nice with Russia or China. Threatening both just doesn't make sense. It's idiotic. Decide whether some islands in the East China Sea are more important to the United States than Crimea, whether North Korea's nuclear ambitions are more important than NATO's interest in extending its reach.
Of course, best of all would be a world in which the United States is friendly with both Russia and China, but that seems highly improbable.
Whatever else one might think of Nixon, his trip to China was a master stroke. In these turbulent times we need more negotiations, less bluster, more give-and-take, less "you do this, or else." We need triangular diplomacy.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 12:17 PM
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
A few days ago I talked about the demalling of America. Today I heard a rebuttal on TV from a booster of shopping malls. She said that on-line shopping is not replacing trips to the mall; it is replacing catalogs. I am not convinced.
Another transformation that's happening before our eyes is the slow but inevitable disappearance of the movie multiplexes that, like shopping malls, were overbuilt at the end of the 20th century. The last few times I went to a movie theater, there were an average of about six people scattered in a space that held about 200. All right, they were afternoon trips, but still…..
Why go to the theater? Home TVs are getting bigger, while the multiplex screens are getting smaller. At home, you control the environment; at the multiplex, your neighbors may talk, rattle their popcorn bags, or use their cell phones. Then there are the interminable previews and the inane pre-movie quizzes and commercials. I have it on good authority (my children) that some showings of some movies are packed, but it seems to me that there is a shrinking cohort of people who absolutely, positively, definitely must see the latest Matt Damon or Johnnie Depp movie NOW.
Then there is the fact that the hours spent on the iPad and the smart phone and the electronic games have to come from somewhere, since no one has figured out how to squeeze more than 24 hours into a day.
Finally, there is the cost of converting the film projectors to digital format, a substantial sum. I read that many theater owners just can't afford it, but the trend is clear: celluloid is on the way out – and so are movie theaters.
Actually, I think the fade-out of the movie theater is sad. I remember warmly the nights I used to accompany my parents to the Codman Square Theater ("the Coddy") to see a Fred Astaire musical, a "B" picture, previews of coming attractions, Movietone News, and a cartoon. They are great memories. But, as they used to say in the movies, "Time Marches On."
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 9:30 PM
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The Entertainment Wars
Netflix did two things the other day: It officially opposed Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, and it announced its decision to hike fees on new subscribers by a dollar or two a month. Netflix stock soared (up more than 27 dollars a share) on the announcements – and on the fact that Netflix earnings and new-subscriber count both exceeded the market's expectations.
All of which causes one to consider whether, in the three-way competition among the cable owners (the pipes), the movie studios (the content owners), and, increasingly, companies like Netflix and Amazon (the streamers), who holds the strongest hand.
The truth is, all three need each other. Without content, the pipe owners are helpless. Without pipes, the studios can't reach our homes. And the streamers need both content and pipes. Wireless technology may eventually replace coaxial pipes, but that's a long way off, and anyway, the new pipe owners would be wireless companies.
Still, certain facts cannot be ignored. The first is that content, unlike the installed base of hardware, is mobile and will flow to where the money is. Kevin Spacey was drawn to Netflix's House of Cards by money and is free to leave Netflix when someone offers more money. So content is king, in a way that pipes are not. However, viewers (especially people in the cherished 20-to-35 age group) are a fickle and unpredictable bunch, as Hollywood and the TV networks find out every week. Certain talent is bankable until it is not; and while content is a crapshoot, the pipes are not. A length of coaxial cable is a length of coaxial cable, and it can be depended on to deliver both quality content and garbage. So the owner of the pipe is king.
On the other hand, there is no question that the trends favor streaming. Netflix has about 50 million subscribers in 40 counties, and it adds more every day. The market values Netflix at over $22B, which means that it can afford pricey talent. So Netflix is king, which exactly is what the Netflix bulls are betting on.
In other words, I don't know how the contest will play out. I don't know whether Comcast's takeover of TWC will be approved. I don't know whether Netflix's next show will be as successful as House of Cards or a turkey. In short, any bet on any of these stocks is a pure gamble.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 11:17 AM
Friday, April 18, 2014
Thanks to Edward Snowden, we now have some idea of how awesome the NSA's power is. The spooks there and at the CIA can monitor every phone call we make, every e-mail we write. If we "like" something on Facebook, or buy something on Amazon, or search for something on Google, chances are that someone somewhere will know it.
So why can't our government, which certainly has the technology, protect us from robo-calls?
Today I received about four or five of these calls, from, according to my caller ID, "Out of Area," "Anonymous," "800 Service" and other aliases. I didn't answer any of these calls, but sometimes I search the calling number on-line and read angry reports from dozens of people, some of whom took the trouble to identify the callers, many of whom are political parties. Therein lies the tale.
When politicians authorized the FCC to give us the Do Not Call Registry, which presumably shields us from such garbage, they exempted certain classes of callers from the DNC embargo. Among these are charities and (surprise, surprise) politicians and political parties. The Do Not Call Registry is aimed at telemarketers, not politicians – which happen to comprise most of the calls we get these days.
Thus we are protected from the private sector, but not from the public sector. Hmmm. The Do Not Call Registry offers no protection whatsoever from the Democratic or Republican National Committee, individual office-seekers, Citizens United, and advocates who just want to talk to you about ObamaCare.
Thus we are protected from the private sector, but not from the public sector. Hmmm. The Do Not Call Registry offers no protection whatsoever from the Democratic or Republican National Committee, individual office-seekers, Citizens United, and advocates who just want to talk to you about ObamaCare.
Some people answer these calls, bent on chewing out the callers. Others leave the phone off-hook until the caller realizes he or she is being had. Best bet is simply not to answer. Picking up the phone simply verifies that your phone number is good. Moreover, some calls, which may be from overseas, initiate a scam designed to extract money from your bank account.
Some phone services offer blocking programs that allegedly intercept designated calls and serve as your private do-not-call list. But robo-callers are sneaky, changing their numbers periodically, so any list of blocked numbers could prove a moving target.
If you want to rid your life of these nuisance telephone calls, your first step should be to demand that your congressman eliminate the exemption that politicians, political parties, PACs, etc. enjoy in the law that authorizes the Do Not Call Registry.
Good luck with that.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 5:10 PM
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
The Demalling of America
Once upon a time, not so long ago, when you shopped for non-food items, you went to a mall. Malls were everywhere, often just a few miles apart, and your basic shopping decision was which mall to go to. Now, if you haven't noticed, things are different. You buy things on-line – not everything, because that would trigger panic in the retail community, and there are no signs of panic. But the trend is clear.
In Biddeford, a small city near here, a new mall opened a few years ago. It was the worst possible time to open a new mall, compounded by the fact that the mall was hopelessly misdesigned, with traffic patterns that defy motorists to choose the correct lanes to drive in.
So, in a breathtakingly short time, stores began failing. Lowe's and a Best Buy, both large stores, were among the first to fold, but they were not the only casualties. Several restaurants closed or were sold to new franchisees. A Market Basket supermarket replaced Lowe's, undaunted by the existence of three supermarkets nearby – including a Super Wal-Mart and a Shaw's within a half mile. A Target store still stands hopefully in the mall, next to the vacant Best Buy, but few people expect it to become a mecca for shoppers.
I'm not picking on Biddeford Crossing. The same thing is happening across America.
There is a sea change underway in consumer shopping patterns. The old, brick-and-mortar stores are under siege, and it's hard to see anything that can change the trend. Those stores that have successfully added an on-line shopping option will do better, but the question remains: What will become of all that brick and mortar?
The effects of the demalling of America will be felt in many quarters, including employment (that new Market Basket, it is reported, employs 450 workers!) and investment. Best Buy and Target, notwithstanding recent bounces, sell for about 15 times earnings, while Amazon stock sells for 75 times 2015 earnings estimates!
What will become of all that brick and mortar? Stores will fail, and malls will disappear. The process will be painful for many employees and investors, but it is inevitable. Technological change is often painful, but those who play it wisely will do well.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 11:58 AM
Monday, February 03, 2014
The Final Cut
The Final Cut, a compilation of blogs about the arts - books, movies, plays, music, etc. - has just been published. It's a 205-page paperback containing 64 mini-essays dating back to 2006. No politics, no memories of growing up in Dorchester, no travelogues, no sports talk, no discourses on the passing scene in Maine - just commentary on the arts, as watched, read, and listened to over a long lifetime. If this sounds like your thing, you might enjoy sharing the journey with me. The book is available at www.lulu.com.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 2:31 PM
Monday, December 09, 2013
The Sound of (Live) Music
It has been four days since NBC presented a live performance of The Sound of Music, time enough for all the critics to lambast Carrie Underwood because she isn't Julie Andrews and to lament the play's cloying sentimentality. Enough, already. Someone should speak up for the production, which, despite a few shortcomings, was a high-quality rendition of a high-quality musical. And Carrie Underwood should hold her head high; she was an excellent Maria. As a matter of fact, hearing that the network was planning to air a live performance, I sensed a disaster in the wings, but I needn't have worried. NBC pulled it off with flying colors.
First, the material: This Sound of Music was not based on the movie, which everybody has seen, but on the Broadway musical, which relatively few people now alive have seen. That play opened on November 16, 1959, ran for 1433 performances, and won mostly rave reviews, especially for Mary Martin, its star. (Theodore Bikel was the baron.) At least two of the songs were not used in the 1965 blockbuster movie: but were fortunately resurrected for the NBC production: "No Way to Stop It" and "How Can Love Survive?" For the broadcast, the producers also decided to use one song written specially for the movie: the lovely "Something Good."
As I said, most critics loved the play. Frank Aston of the World-Telegram called it "The loveliest musical imaginable," and Richard Watts of the Post wrote that the "show has a warm-hearted, unashamedly sentimental, and strangely gentle charm that is wonderfully endearing." The raves are worth noting, because the movie, so beloved by the public, has become a favorite piñata of the critics, who routinely savage its sentimentality (The Sound of Mucus).
The cast: It was up to Carrie Underwood to carry the production, just as it was up to Mary Martin and Julie Andrews, and Ms Underwood did far better than one could reasonably expect, given her limited dramatic experience. She looked right, and that alone put her on second base. Add a fine voice, and that put her on third. There was not a flat note (none that I could detect, anyway) and not a jarring line or reaction. No, she's not Julie Andrews (who is?), but remember that if Julie flubbed a line or didn't hit a note right, why, they simply shot it over, as many times as necessary, until it was perfect. As for Mary Martin, she was 46 (!) when she played Maria, and she had decades of stage experience behind her.
The supporting cast was excellent, notably including Laura Benanti as Elsa Schrader. Laura is a real singer and played the role with warmth and wit. (Eleanor Parker, the movie's Frau Schrader, was edgier and did no singing.) Christian Borle was a fine Max Detweiler (the impresario), particularly when singing with Laura Benanti, and the children were adorable – and good singers, to boot. If there was a weak link it was the baron. Stephen Moyer was stiff and sang poorly. He looked the part, and that must have landed him the job. But that only got him to second base, where, alas, he died. Audra McDonald, as the Mother Superior, was formidable, as she always is.
The interior sets were well executed. As for the exteriors (the Austrian Alps), they were embarrassingly bad, although I don't know how they could have finessed that except by bringing in video of the real Alps or resorting to computer graphics – both of which would have brought howls from viewers who were promised a live production. In 1959, faux mountains probably didn't matter, but expectations have been inflated since then.
Carrie Underwood is 30 now – the same age Julie Andrews was when she made The Movie. Let's hope Carrie's career has the same kind of arc that Julie's had. And let's hope that NBC doesn't let the naysayers keep it from televising more live musicals.
Posted by Fred Van Veen at 10:11 PM
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text:
The Immigration Policy of Governor
Esteban Miro in Spanish Louisiana
an attempt to accommodate itself to changing conditions, departed
from its traditional role of excluding American Protestants. Unable
to secure Spanish or European Catholics at little or no expense, with
whom to develop and protect the colony, Spain at last turned to the
nearest available source for settlers-the United States. Esteban Mir6,
governor of Louisiana during these crucial years, was extremely im-
portant in the formulation of this policy. The influence he exerted,
both directly and indirectly, on the Spanish court to modify and
determine Louisiana's immigration policy has not been previously
Spanish immigration laws in Louisiana before Mir6's governorship
already displayed increasing flexibility. From the time of Spanish
acquisition of Louisiana following the Seven Years' War, the value
of this border colony as a buffer zone to protect Mexico was recog-
nized, and Spain endeavored, as best a declining empire could, to fill
the vastness of Louisiana with a loyal and Catholic population. From
the i760's Spain allowed the entry of Acadians into Louisiana and
assisted them in their settlement." In the 177o's the court permitted
and encouraged the settlement of Acadians, Frenchmen, Germans,
and Irish who were Catholic." At the end of the decade, in order to
*Mr. Din, associate professor of history at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, is
the author of articles on Spanish colonial and Spanish medieval history.
'While Mir6 and immigration in Louisiana have previously been studied, no one
has appreciated his part in determining royal policy. To cite two examples: Arthur
Preston Whitaker, The Spanish American Frontier: 1783-1795 (Boston, 1927), 97-107,
attributes immigration policy to the count of Floridablanca, the Spanish secretary
of state, while Mattie Austin Hatcher, in "The Louisiana Background of the Colo-
nization of Texas, 1763-1803," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXIV (January, 1921),
169-194, gives an early survey that does little to trace the development of policy.
2Vicente Rodriguez Casado, Primeros ai~os de la dominacidn espaiola (Madrid, 1947),
1o4-10o6; Lawrence Kinnaird (ed.), Spain in the Mississippi Valley, I765-z795 (Wash-
ington, 1946-1949), Part II, xxiii; Joseph de Loyola to Antonio de Ulloa, September
. . , Archivo General de Indias (Seville), Papeles procedentes de Cuba, legajo
o9. The Archivo General de Indias, Papeles procedentes de Cuba will hereafter be
cited as AGI, PC.
8Yndice, May 26, 1774, AGI, PC, leg. 174A (the royal order is missing); "Ynstrucci6n
reservada al Coronel Bernardo de Gialvez para su direcci6n en el Gobierno de la Provincia
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970. Austin, Texas. The Portal to Texas History. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/. Accessed March 31, 2015.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Persuasive copywriting with Andy Maslen in partnership with Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival 2015
- Film, Media & Entertainment
- The Guildhall, CV37 6HB Stratford
An introduction to self-publishing (Manchester)
Guardian Masterclasses
Saturday, November 30, 2013 from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM (GMT)
Self-publishing may seem like the easiest route to getting your manuscript into print, as well as potentially the most lucrative. But being your own publisher means being your own editor, designer, PR, distributor and marketing department too.
This comprehensive one-day course offers advice on all the finer points of self-publishing. From self-editing your manuscript to managing your costs (and projecting your profits), plus essential tips on how to promote your work, get inside knowledge from a panel of experts, including former publisher and course leader for MA Publishing at Kingston University, Dr Alison Baverstock, GETpublished.tv's Ed Peppitt, and Nick Sidwell from Guardian Books.
Course content
The masterclass will cover:
• The book marketplace
• The economics of self-publishing
• The publishing process
• Selling your book
It will be applicable to fiction and non-fiction, printed and ebooks. There will be passing mention of photobooks, but it will not be a specific or central part of the content or any session.
Dates: Saturday 30 November 2013
Times: 10.30am-5.30pm
Venue: University of Salford, MediaCityUK, Plot B4, Salford Quays M50 2HE
Price: £99 Early bird ticket (limited)
£119 Standard ticket
(includes VAT, booking fees, lunch and refreshments)
Event capacity: 120
This masterclass is run in association with the University of Salford
Welcome to Guardian masterclasses – a unique programme of learning embedded within one of the world's most forward-thinking media organisations.
Masterclasses offer a broad range of short and long courses across a variety of disciplines from creative writing, journalism, photography and design, film and digital media, music and cultural appreciation.
Harnessing the expertise and specialisms within the organisation, our courses are led by first class and award winning guardian professionals whilst also drawing on the skills and expertise of other leading figures at the forefront of the creative and digital industries.
The programme is aimed at anyone interested in personal or professional development whether that be refining your skills, focusing your ambition or simply broadening your mind and gaining inspiration.
In order to purchase these tickets in installments, you'll need an Eventbrite account. Log in or sign up for a free account to continue.


text:
Category Archives: Competition
Do This, Not That
Competition weekends should be easy enough, right? Rehearse your stuff beforehand, arrive at the venue with your costumes ready to … Continue reading
A Tale of Many Cities
You've seen it before: That girl standing front and center in the convention ballroom, who seems to pick up the … Continue reading
Competition Confidence
Competition dancers work hard to polish their routines. But when they're finally backstage on the big day, even the veterans … Continue reading
Ready, Set, Nationals!
The week leading up to Nationals can be nerve-racking. You're about to perform in front of an audience of peers … Continue reading
The Comparison Trap
Hilary Harrison always looked up to her best friend, Kayla, the star of the Michelle Latimer Dance Academy in Colorado. … Continue reading
Your Top 10 Competition Fears
You've worked all year to perfect your routines, and now it's time to show off on the competition stage. But … Continue reading


text:
J.K. Rowling Responds to Fan Who "Can't See" Dumbledore as Gay
Perhaps you've been the victim of a Blinding Jinx?
It's been almost eight years since Deathly Hallows was released, but homophobia and heteronormativity know no statute of limitations. J.K. Rowling still fields questions about Dumbledore's sexuality and any potential LGBTQ students at Hogwarts fairly regularly, answering a since-deleted tweet from a fan yesterday with aplomb.Read More


text:
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text:
Pretty pale yellow, lined in white, baby blanket with matching sham. There are embroidered flowers and applique cat, bunny and baby chickens. The sham has one embroidered flower. Made of silky nylon, the kind babies love to hold in their hands and finger until they fall asleep. Trimmed in lace, sham has opening in back for insertion of small pillow. Sham is approx. 17" x 12". Blanket is 24"w X 39"l, top 7" folds down. Freshly laundered and pressed, there are 2 tiny dots on the sham which may soak out, otherwise in unused condition.
Item ID: 3243
2 other shoppers have this item in their Cart or Wish List.
Attitude is everything- pick a good one!
Vintage Bakelite ,vintage needlework, jewelry, fun items.


text:
Douglas J. Brandner, New Brighton, MN US
|Patent application number
|MEDICAL DEVICE WITH LIQUID FILLED HOUSING - Embodiments of the invention are related to medical devices filled with a liquid composition, amongst other things. In an embodiment, the invention includes a hermetically sealed housing defining an interior volume, a component module disposed within the interior volume, the component module comprising a circuit board, the component module displacing a portion of the interior volume. A liquid composition can be disposed within the housing, the liquid composition filling at least 80% of the interior volume not displaced by the component module. Other embodiments are also included herein.
|THERAPY CIRCUIT PROTECTION FOR IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE - A medical device can include a therapy circuit configured to provide a specified electrostimulation therapy to a tissue site, the specified electrostimulation therapy including a scheduled completion, the therapy circuit including a protection circuit configured to adjust specification of the electrostimulation therapy being provided so as to provide an adjusted electrostimulation therapy before the scheduled completion. The medical device can include a monitoring circuit comprising a comparator. The monitoring circuit can be configured to trigger the protection circuit to inhibit the therapy circuit when the therapy circuit output parameter exceeds the specified threshold as indicated by the comparator.
|MANAGING CROSS THERAPY SENSING IN A MULTIPLE THERAPY IMPLANTABLE DEVICE - An apparatus comprises a cardiac signal sensing circuit configured to sense an electrical cardiac signal from at least one of an atrium or ventricle of a heart of a subject, a therapy circuit configured to provide electrical pacing therapy and electrical autonomic neural modulation therapy to the subject, and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to initiate delivery of the autonomic modulation neural therapy, and the control circuit includes a signal detection circuit configured to detect delivery of the autonomic neural modulation therapy in the sensed cardiac signal. The control circuit is configured to change, in response to detecting the delivery, a sensitivity of the cardiac signal sensing circuit during delivery of the autonomic neural modulation therapy.
|SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING NEUROSTIMULATION DOSING - Various implantable device embodiments may comprise a neural stimulator configured to deliver a neurostimulation therapy with stimulation ON times and stimulation OFF times where a dose of the neurostimulation therapy is provided by a number of neurostimulation pulses over a period of time. The neural stimulator may be configured to monitor the dose of the delivered neurostimulation therapy against dosing parameters. The neural stimulator may be configured to declare a fault if the monitored dose does not favorably compare to a desired dose for the neurostimulation therapy, or may be configured to record data for the monitored dose of the delivered neurostimulation therapy, or may be configured to both record data for the monitored dose of the delivered neurostimulation therapy and declare a fault if the monitored dose does not favorably compare to a desired dose for the neurostimulation therapy.
Patent applications by Douglas J. Brandner, New Brighton, MN US
Edward D. Brandner, Mount Pleasant, PA US
|Patent application number
|Vacumag magnetic separator and process - An apparatus for separating a stream of particles with individual sizes smaller than 300 μm and magnetic properties ranging from collective magnetism as in ferromagnetism to paramagnetism to diamagnetism. The apparatus includes a plurality of stages for separating a stream of particles. The apparatus includes a magnetic component producing a magnetic force associated with each stage. The apparatus includes an aerodynamic component producing an aerodynamic force associated with each stage, where the more magnetic component or components of a feed of particles for each stage is separated and either or both the less magnetic product and the more magnetic product of each stage are the feed for separate succeeding stages with each stage and where the magnetic and aerodynamic forces along with gravimetric forces of each stage are chosen to separate more strongly magnetic particles from less magnetic particles. A method for separating a stream of particles with individual sizes smaller than 300 μm and magnetic properties ranging from collective magnetism as in ferromagnetism to paramagnetism to diamagnetism.
Friedhelm Brandner, Erlenbach DE
|Patent application number
|Pulverulent mixtures containing hydrogen peroxide and hydrophobized silicon dioxide - The present invention is directed to pulverulent mixtures comprising hydrogen peroxide and hydrophobized, pyrogenically prepared silicon dioxide powder, preferably with a methanol wettability of at least 40. The pulverulent mixtures exhibit good storage stability and can be used for the controlled release of hydrogen peroxide and/or oxygen. The invention also includes methods of making these pulverulent mixtures and methods of using the mixtures in detergents, cleaning compositions, topical medications, antimicrobials and other products.
Patent applications by Friedhelm Brandner, Erlenbach DE
J. Brandner, Sandhausen DE
|Patent application number
|MICROPROCESSING FOR PREPARING A POLYCONDENSATE - The present invention relates to a process for preparing polydextrose by using a microdevice. It further relates to the use of a microdevice for the polycondesation reactions.
Juergen Brandner, St. Georgen AT
|Patent application number
|MEDICAL OR DENTAL HANDPIECE - A medical or dental handpiece comprises a grip sleeve, a handpiece head, an engagement element and a retaining member. The handpiece head comprises a head housing and a hollow connecting sleeve extending from the head housing for connecting the handpiece head to the grip sleeve. The engagement element has a first end positionable to extend through the grip sleeve and a second end engageable within an opening in the handpiece head. The retaining member is spaced proximally from the handpiece head. The first end of the engagement element is connectable with the retaining member to secure the second end of the engagement element against the handpiece head and to retain the grip sleeve around the engagement element and against the handpiece head.
Kevin J. Brandner, Streamwood, IL US
|Patent application number
|GAS-SOLIDS SEPARATION UNITS AND METHODS FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF - Embodiments of a gas-solids separation unit and embodiments of a method for manufacturing a separation unit are provided. In one embodiment, the separation unit includes a cyclonic separator and a vessel having a flue gas chamber, a clean gas chamber, and an entrained solids chamber between the flue gas chamber and the clean gas chamber. The cyclonic separator includes, in turn, a cyclone barrel extending from the flue gas chamber toward the clean gas chamber, a swirl vane positioned across the cyclone barrel, a gas outlet tube fluidly coupling the cyclone barrel to the clean gas chamber, and a first check valve opening formed through the barrel sidewall upstream of the gas outlet tube.
Marco Brandner, Oy-Mittelberg DE
|Patent application number
|INTERCONNECTOR FOR A HIGH-TEMPERATURE SOLID ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL, METHOD OF PRODUCING A FUEL CELL, AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE SOLID ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL - An interconnector, or bipolar plate, for a high-temperature solid electrolyte fuel cell is composed of a sintered chromium alloy which has sintering pores and contains >90% by weight of Cr, from 3 to 8% by weight of Fe and optionally from 0.001 to 2% by weight of at least one element of the group of rare earth metals. The chromium alloy contains from 0.1 to 2% by weight of Al and the sintering pores are at least partially filled with an oxidic compound containing Al and Cr. The interconnector has a high impermeability to gas and dimensional stability.
|SHAPED PART - A shaped part that is particularly suited as an interconnector or an end plate for a fuel cell stack, is produced by pressing and sintering a pulverulent starting material. The shaped part has a disc-shaped or plate-shaped basic body with a multiplicity of knob-like and/or ridge-like elevations with a height h. In cross section, each elevation has two inclined side flanks which lead, proceeding from an end contour of the elevation, via rounded corner portions, with a radius r or r′ directly or via intermediate rectilinear portions, into curved portions, with a radius R or R′, which in turn merge into the surface contour, of the basic body. The rectilinear portions, or, in the case of a direct transition of the rounded corner portions, into the curved portions, the tangents at the point of the transition, have an angle of inclination α or α′ with respect to the surface contour, in the range of 95° to 135°. The radius R or R′ is in the range of 0.15 to 1 mm and the height h is dimensioned such that the ratio R:h or R′:h is in a range of 0.25 to 1.
|MEMBRANE TUBE AND REACTOR HAVING A MEMBRANE TUBE - The invention relates to a diaphragm pipe for permeative separation of hydrogen from gas mixtures containing hydrogen, a method for the production thereof as well as a reactor comprising a diaphragm pipe, wherein the diaphragm pipe comprises a porous pipe (S) made of a sintered metal and a diaphragm (M) containing palladium or made of palladium enclosing the outer surface of the sintered metal pipe (5). The sintered metal pipe (S) has at least on one end a fitting (F) made of gasproof material, which is firmly connected with the sintered metal pipe (S).
|ANODE FOR A HIGH-TEMPERATURE FUEL CELL AND PRODUCTION THEREOF - The substrate-supported anode for a high-temperature fuel cell comprises an at least three-layer anode laminate on a metallic substrate. Each of the layers of the anode laminate comprises yttria-stabilized zirconia and nickel, wherein the mean particle size of the nickel decreases from one layer to the next as the distance from the substrate increases. The last layer of the anode laminate, which is provided for contact with the electrolyte, has a root mean square roughness of less than 4 μm. The overall mean pore size of this layer is typically between 0.3 and 1.5 μm. Starting powders having a bimodal particle size distribution of yttria-stabilized zirconia and nickel-containing powder are used at least for the first and second layers of the anode laminate. The mean particle size of the nickel-containing powder is reduced from one layer to the next, whereby it is advantageously no more than 0.5 μm in the last layer of the anode laminate.
|ASSEMBLY FOR A FUEL CELL AND METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF - The invention relates to an assembly comprising an electrode, an electrolyte, and a carrier substrate. The assembly is suitable for a fuel cell. An adaptation layer for adapting the electrolyte to the electrode is disposed between the electrode and the electrolyte, wherein the mean pore size of the adaptation layer is smaller than the mean pore size of the electrode.
|LAYER STRUCTURE AND USE THEREOF TO FORM A CERAMIC LAYER STRUCTURE BETWEEN AN INTERCONNECT AND A CATHODE OF A HIGH-TEMPERATURE FUEL CELL - The invention relates to a layer structure which is formed between an interconnect and a cathode of a solid oxide fuel cell and can be used for forming a ceramic layer structure between an interconnect and a cathode. In this respect, the interconnect comprises a metal alloy containing chromium. The object of the present invention is to provide a layer structure between an interconnect and a cathode of a solid oxide fuel cell with which a good protective function (from corrosion and from chromium vaporization), a high electrical conductivity and also a good thermal expansion behavior adapted to the materials of an interconnect and of a cathode can be achieved. The layer structure in the green state is formed by a powdery spinel as well as at least one of the below-named metal oxides CuO, NiO, CoO
|MOLDED PART - A powder metallurgical molded part includes a disk or plate-like main body and a row of knob-shaped and/or ridge-shaped elevations in a row direction having a height perpendicular to a main plane of the main body and a cross section with side flanks leading from an outer end contour in height direction of the elevation via rounded corner portions into curved portions with a curve radius. The curve radius merges into the surface contour of the main body and a rectilinear flank portion or tangent of the side flank lying at the point where the rounded corner portion merges into the curved portion is disposed at an angle of inclination to the main plane. At least two different angles of inclination are on the same side of the main body and the at least two different angles of inclination represent at least first and second geometries.
|METHOD OF PRODUCING A SHAPED PART - A shaped part that is particularly suited as an interconnector or an end plate for a fuel cell stack, is produced by pressing and sintering a pulverulent starting material. The shaped part has a basic body with a multiplicity of knob-like and/or ridge-like elevations with a height h. Each elevation has two inclined side flanks which lead, proceeding from an end contour of the elevation, via rounded corner portions, directly or via intermediate rectilinear portions, into curved portions with a radius R or R′, which in turn merge into the surface contour, of the basic body. A ratio of the radius R:h or R′:h ranges from 0.25, or preferably from 0.5 to 1.
Patent applications by Marco Brandner, Oy-Mittelberg DE
Marco Brandner, Hofen AT
|Patent application number
|FUEL CELL AND METHOD FOR PRODUCTION THEREOF - A fuel cell (
Markus Brandner, Graz AT
|Patent application number
|Measurement Method, Sensor Arrangement and Measurement System - In a measurement method, an array of magnetic field sensors (MS
Michael Brandner, Buchloe DE
|Patent application number
|CONTROL METHOD FOR AN ACCUMULATOR BATTERY AND A HAND POWER TOOL - A control method for a system of a hand power tool and an accumulator battery is disclosed. The hand power tool is connectable to the accumulator battery via a current interface for supplying the hand power tool. The hand power tool features a data interface for communicating with the accumulator battery. Characterizing data of the hand power tool and/or data about an operating process of the hand power tool is transmitted to the accumulator battery via the interface.
|METHOD AND DEVICE TO MONITOR THE CURRENT OF A BATTERY-OPERATED HANDHELD POWER TOOL - A method to monitor the current of a handheld power tool (
Michelle Brandner, Woodridge, IL US
|Patent application number
|METAL FABRIC BASED MULTIPLE PLY LAMINATED STRUCTURE - The invention is multilayer laminate comprising at least one scouring layer and at least one nonmetal layer; wherein the scouring layer includes a scouring surface and a laminating surface such that the laminating surface is laminated to the nonmetal layer.
Mike Brandner, Gross-Gerau DE
|Patent application number
|METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF 3,6-DIHYDRO-L, 3, 5-TRIAZINE DERIVATIVES FROM METFORMIN AND PARALDEHYDE DERIVATIVES - Process for the preparation of compounds of the formula I
Wolfgang Brandner, Waldmunchen DE
|Patent application number
|Device and Method for the Contactless Personalization of Chips That Are Integrated into Passports - The invention relates to a device and a method for the contactless personalisation of chips integrated into passports within a system for processing, sorting and packaging a large number of passports comprising a straight main transport path with a first transport direction for transporting the passports one behind the other through the system comprising a plurality of system modules for processing, sorting and/or packaging, with a respective straight first auxiliary transport path connected to the main transport path and arranged on either side thereof for leading the passports away from the main transport path in a second transport direction running perpendicular to the first transport direction, a plurality of coding stations arranged along the two first auxiliary transport paths and next to one another with respect to the first transport direction for coding the chips of the passports, and an equal plurality of transport elements which are respectively assigned to the coding stations and can be displaced in the first transport direction for picking up the passports from the auxiliary transport paths, positioning them above the associated coding stations and then depositing them on second auxiliary transport paths running back towards the main transport path with a third transport direction running parallel to the second transport direction.


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Quick Fixes
As much as it pains us to say it, Broadway is full of shit: the show must not go on. Yes, every TV series must end (except for maybe The McLaughlin Group, which we're pretty sure airs only in graveyards these days).
And when it comes to your favorite shows, over-analytical fans from all across the Internet have their theories on what amazing twists we have yet to see, a few of which are actually worth looking at. Such as:
#5. The Walking Dead: Rick Survives His Coma Because He's a Walker
In a world where dead people are reborn as mindless, flesh-eating zombies, the biggest reality stretch comes in the Walking Dead's first episode. Rick, the main not-zombie, wakes up in an abandoned hospital after a long coma. When we say "abandoned," we don't mean "everyone went home for the night save for one drunk at the switchboard" -- we mean it was fucking abandoned. Everyone's dead or undead, and it's been this way for at least two months.
So how the fuck did Rick survive? He sat there for weeks, unmolested by zombies, like a BLT in a force field. Furthermore, his IV couldn't have lasted more than a few hours, meaning he somehow went months sans food or water. Not only should he be starved, delirious, and brain-dead, he should be dead, period.
AMC Studios
Less popular fan theory: either Rick shaved his beard while in a coma, or he is secretly 12 years old.
For most of us, eating out is a simple luxury that fulfills one simple need: to stave off starvation in the laziest way possible. But for others, eating out is a form of entertainment akin to a 1920s freakshow or the act of ogling a tuft of chin hairs on one's own grandmother.
And thankfully for those of us who simply wish to shovel in our nutrients without smoke and mirrors, these gourmands tend to pen themselves in temporary "pop-up" restaurants. Here are four new restaurants you should probably avoid, unless you consider carbohydrates and Vitamin B12 performance art.
#4. Tink's House Wants You to Get Intimate With Strangers
Tink's House in Los Angeles describes itself as "an immersive dining experience and sensory installation where the food and the environment work together to present familiar concepts in an unfamiliar way," which reads like a tacit admission that the proprietors have fuck-all to say about the quality of the food itself.
Diners are placed in a group of strangers and served four courses in four rooms with different themes: a den, a dining room, a kitchen, and a bedroom. For example, snack-like appetizers are served in the den, which is covered in sand and plays "trippy" music to suggest that you're at the beach, even though you're clearly in an apartment that's probably used to film porn and/or sell drugs in the off-hours.
Leo Duran
"Does anyone have sunscreen? I always get burned at the beach."
More than half of Americans older than 16 are now single, which is the first time there have been more singles than non-singles in America since the government cruelly started keeping track of that information 40 years ago. Whether it's because the current generation is terrible at relationships or just doesn't like being tied down for too long, the end result is a churning, jealous ocean of ex-boyfriends and -girlfriends posting cryptic song lyrics on Facebook and driving through their former squeezes' neighborhoods with their headlights turned off.
But thanks to 21st-century technological innovations, jilted exes now have a whole new array of methods to creepily cling to their past relationships, which is another way of saying that, in all probability, someone you used to date is putting your face on a talking robot right this second.
#4. Match.com Will Find You Someone Who Looks Like Your Ex
So let's say you just broke up with your significant other and you want to get back into the dating scene, but you're horrifically superficial. The last person you dated was a perfect physical specimen, and you don't want to let that sculpture of genetic triumph go. Luckily, Match.com has teamed up with a Los Angeles matchmaking service called Three Day Rule to make it so you don't have to, provided your new partner can be convinced to suddenly start answering to a different name like a rescue pet and doesn't mind "looks like my high school girlfriend" being at the top of the list of compatible interests ...
Goran Bogicevic/iStock/Getty Images
"OK, I'm going to call you Bunny, and you call me Emotional Robot. It's a thing we did."
Remember when the Oculus Rift was first announced, and you jokingly asked how long it would take for someone to turn it into a bizarre virtual sex helmet? Well as it turns out, the answer was "immediately." Thanks to this fabulous new piece of immersive technology, howling sexual maniacs around the world are now free to ...
#4. Kiss, Fondle, and Sleep With An Anime Character
Not all anime fans are off-putting social outcast weirdos who fantasize about having sex with cartoon characters, but all off-putting social outcast weirdos who fantasize about having sex with cartoon characters are anime fans. There's a whole subculture of lonely fetishists out there who pretend to be married to body pillows depicting animated women with eyes bigger than their waists and breasts larger than most celestial objects. Well, no longer will these poor misfits have to inappropriately cuddle decorated cushions, because virtual reality developers have been working on several new projects that will allow them to inappropriately cuddle their favorite video game systems.
First, there's Summer Lesson for the PlayStation 4's Project Morpheus headset, which seeks to authentically simulate the experience of being in a study session with a Japanese schoolgirl and leering at her chest the entire time.
Sony Computer Entertainment
If you enter the Konami code, you can unlock Chris Hansen.


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Despite the thrill of competition, Greendale firefighters at the 2008 Paul Davis Restoration Midwest Regional Firefighter Combat Challenge had other things in mind than winning.
The main draw was the opportunity to personally challenge themselves, build camaraderie with other fire departments and give the public a glimpse of what they do on a daily basis.
"There's this perception out there that firefighters do nothing but sit in the firehouse and collect a pay check," said Lt. Dean Kozelek. "But when the bell rings, we go, and this is probably the closest the common man will get to what we do on a daily basis, without the heat and smoke."
Kozelek was one of four Greendale firefighters to compete in the individual portion of the Sept. 13 event at Konkel Park in Greenfield. Luke Amann, Kyle Kierzek and Kurt Risberg also competed in the course, which required contestants to suit up in full gear and breathing apparatus while climbing a five-story tower, hoisting and dragging hoses, using their axes as needed and, finally, rescuing a life-size, 175-pound dummy — all head-to-head with another firefighter.
Several firefighters volunteered for the contest last year, but this was their first experience tackling the course, Kierzek said. Although they practiced several times on a mock course set up at the Greendale Fire Station, they weren't sure what to expect in the actual competition — except for an environment free of pressure to perform well.
"No matter how we do, everyone cheers for everyone and they're all supportive," Kierzek said.
Still, Kierzek said before the event that he and his Greendale colleagues aimed to keep their times to 3 minutes or less.
All four came close to achieving that goal, and their times were within about 30 seconds of one another. Amann finished fastest, with a time of about 2 minutes 31 seconds, and Kozelek rounded out the group, with a time of about 3 minutes 2 seconds.
Firefighters described the experience as exhausting.
"When I got to the dummy drag at the end, there was pretty much nothing left, but I knew I had another 100 feet to go yet," Kozelek said.
Likewise, Risberg said there was nothing that could have prepared him for lifting the 42-pound, coiled hose up the tower — or the rainy weather, which made for a slippery course and slightly slower times.
In order to qualify for the world challenge to be held in November in Las Vegas, male firefighters under the age of 40 had to complete the course in 1 minute 50 seconds or less.
"It gives us something to shoot for next year," Kozelek said.
Greendale Fire Chief Jonathan Cohn said he was happy with the level of participation from his department this year.
"We went from zero (participants) last year to four, so it's obviously a proud moment to see our members competing," Cohn said.
Julie Becker can be reached at (262) 446-6606.
Time(in minutes)
Rank(of 114)
|Luke Amann
|Kurt Risberg
|Kyle Kierzek
|Dean Kozelek
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- Election Forum: Greendale trustee incumbents discuss TIF, veterans' memorial in pre-election questionnaire
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- Greendale High School boys bet on 'Guys and Dolls' spring musical
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- Primary elections in Greendale and Oak Creek set for Feb. 17
- Greendale Middle School's Bob Kosky to retire after 40 years of teaching math
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and the Tour of Britain. The new team kit by Castelli will be revealed Thursday, June 28, at a Tour de ...
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Canary Century Anti-Cancer Benefit Coming Up
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Backcountry.com Launches New Stores
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Arizona Cycling Wind Tunnel Unveiled Oct. 1
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Interbike's 2010 Numbers Up
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Tag Archives: Mayor Tom Bates
Target to open small city store in downtown Berkeley
Target is coming to town.
The Minneapolis-based retailer is poised to turn a long vacant building at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way into one of its new-concept TargetExpress stores by March 2015. The store will only be 12,000 square feet — compared to the average Target store size of 80,000 square feet — but will sell food, clothing, accessories and consumer electronics that will appeal to students, commuters and downtown's growing residential population. … Continue reading »
Sundays on Telegraph street festival continues to Sept. 21
Sundays on Telegraph is continuing on Telegraph Avenue through Sept. 21. The street festival, which started last year, closes Telegraph to vehicle traffic on Sundays from July through September, and offers a smörgåsbord of entertainment, including live music, street performers, giant board games, model car racing, jugglers and much more.
The photos shown here from previous Sundays offer a flavor of the event. … Continue reading »
Berkeley's Sundays on Telegraph photo contest winners announced; fun continues through September
Sundays on Telegraph is going strong on Telegraph Avenue, and Berkeleyside is excited to announced the winners of the event's first photo contest, which wrapped up in July.
Mayor Tom Bates' office launched the photo contest earlier this summer, in collaboration with Berkeleyside, to award the shooters who captured the best images of the event so far this year. The street festival, which started last year, closes Telegraph to vehicle traffic on Sundays from July through September.
Street performers of all stripes are part of the annual event, from the bubble man to live music to board games, jugglers and many other entertainers. … Continue reading »
Berkeley zoning ballot language heading to court
Berkeley City Councilman Jesse Arreguín filed a lawsuit against Berkeley on Wednesday seeking to overturn ballot language that will be used to describe a downtown zoning initiative.
Arreguín wants an Alameda County Superior Court judge to take up the matter immediately, since final ballot language for the November 2014 election is due Sept. 2. … Continue reading »
$750K grant may bring big changes to South Berkeley
The city of Berkeley is hoping to dramatically rethink many elements of South Berkeley, thanks to a $750,000 planning grant it received from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in May.
South Shattuck Avenue and nearly 1 mile of Adeline Street in South Berkeley might see more affordable housing, pedestrian- and bike-friendly neighborhoods, more park areas, a new theater, mass transit improvements, and more.
Those are just some of the ideas that have been proposed so far. Before any plan is adopted, officials will hold community meetings and do other outreach to gather ideas from residents, businesses and local groups and institutions. The grant will also permit Berkeley to do an environmental study, the city said earlier this year. (That study would "allow streamlined CEQA review for future projects on Adeline and south Shattuck Avenue," according to project materials.) … Continue reading »
Tagged Adeline corridor, Adeline Street, Alcatraz Avenue, Ashby Avenue, Ashby BART, Berkeley Bowl, Christine Daniel, Ed Roberts Campus, Lorin District, Max Anderson, Mayor Tom Bates, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Office of Economic Development, Shattuck Avenue, South Berkeley, South Shattuck
Wording of Berkeley ballot initiative headed to court
The backers of a downtown Berkeley initiative that voters will consider in November plan to file a lawsuit next week to force the city to change the wording in the ballot measure. They contend that the summary is inaccurate, biased and misleading.
The decision to go to court was in response to Berkeley's decision not to voluntarily change the wording of the ballot measure. City Councilman Jesse Arreguín had sent a letter on July 21 to City Attorney Zach Cowan asking for changes, but Cowan responded in a July 24 letter that he did not have the power to modify the wording. Only the Berkeley City Council, which is in recess until September, can make those changes, Cowan said.
"It is unfortunate that the City Council was not advised, at the time the biased and factually inaccurate Ballot Statement language was put forward, that such language violates legal standards," Arreguín wrote Cowan on July 30. "In light of that omission, and given that the City Council is on recess, we have no choice but to seek judicial relief to protect the rights of all Berkeley voters to fair elections."
Berkeley parks advocates push back after council drops bond from November ballot
The public dismay was palpable last month when the Berkeley City Council decided, in a surprise move, to put a parks tax before voters this fall without a related bond measure that would have infused parks and pools around the city with much-needed cash, reversing an earlier vote on the items.
The $1.7 million parks tax, if approved by voters, would essentially maintain the status quo for maintenance and staffing needs, and cost the owner of an average-size home an additional $43 a year. (That same homeowner already pays about $240 a year for the existing parks tax.)
Had it gone to voters, the proposed $20 million parks bond could have helped re-open Willard Pool, improve the King and West Campus pools, put millions toward Aquatic Park, James Kenney Park and the much-loved rose garden, and repair tennis courts and ballfields around the city, in addition to addressing other significant needs. (See a financial breakdown of several possible iterations of the bond and tax proposal.)
The city estimated that the joint bond and tax measure would have added just $15 more than the tax alone to the bill for owners of an average Berkeley home, defined by the city as 1,900 square feet. … Continue reading »
Tagged Beebo Turman, Berkeley City Council, Berkeley elections, Berkeley parks, Berkeley politics, Christine Daniel, Election 2014 Berkeley, George Beier, Jacquelyn McCormick, Jesse Arreguin, Jim McGrath, John Steere, Kriss Worthington, Laurie Capitelli, Linda Maio, Mayor Tom Bates, Measure F, Parks bond, Parks tax, Robert Collier, Santa Fe Right of Way, Willard Pool
City Council member says Berkeley's ballot is biased
Berkeley Councilman Jesse Arreguín has asked the city attorney's office to amend the wording that will be used to describe the downtown initiative in an election pamphlet because it is "inaccurate," "misleading" and does not comply with the law. He also said council's adoption of that wording was in violation of the Brown Act.
Courts have ruled that "the government may not 'take sides' in election contests or bestow an unfair advantage on one of several competing factions," Arreguín wrote in a July 21 letter to City Attorney Zach Cowan. Yet the ballot wording adopted by council June 24 is biased and not impartial, said Arreguín. … Continue reading »
Don't forget: Share your Telegraph Avenue pics to win
Sundays on Telegraph kicked off in Berkeley last weekend, and returns to the avenue every Sunday through Sept. 21. The car-free street party began with a mellow vibe, great music and attendees of all walks of life.
For the next two weekends, Berkeleyside and Mayor Tom Bates' office invite visitors to the event to submit their photographs of the party for a chance to win very cool prizes: theater tickets for adults and other items for youth 17 and under. … Continue reading »
Win prizes with your photos, as Sundays on Telegraph returns to Berkeley for the summer
Berkeleyside, in collaboration with Mayor Tom Bates' office, is launching a photography contest through July to collect reader images from Sundays on Telegraph, which begins its second season this weekend.
The weekly street fair began in 2013 as a way to draw more families and visitors to Telegraph Avenue south of the UC Berkeley campus.
As described on the event's website: "Telegraph Avenue becomes a car-free people zone stuffed full of musicians, dancers, artists, craftsmen, vendors and poets. People from all walks of life – locals, visitors, and students alike come out to enjoy the pleasant weather and festivities. Many UC Berkeley student groups participate in the fun and visitors get a chance to experience the breadth of culture Berkeley has to offer in the radius of a few blocks." … Continue reading »
Council weighs in on new downtown Berkeley plaza plans
Berkeley's main downtown plaza is set for some major changes in the next few years, and the Berkeley City Council had a chance to share ideas about the project last week.
The project is driven in large part by BART, which intends to renovate its station entrances, improve travel through the plaza, at Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, repave the area and make it easier to for visitors to navigate the area.
BART announced plans for the plaza late last year, and held public meetings in February and April to collect public feedback. … Continue reading »
Berkeley puts sugar tax on November ballot; could be first city in country to take on Big Soda
The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to include a proposal that would tax distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages on the November ballot.
The measure, which proposes a 1-cent-per-ounce charge at the distributor level, would be the first such tax passed in the country. Richmond tried to pass a similar tax in 2012, but it was voted down after a $2.7 million campaign by the soda industry. … Continue reading »


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Golf: Holes in one
Holes in one must be faxed on the golf course's stationery to The Bee at (916) 326-5503.
Oct. 1
Marty Sakai, 98-yard seventh hole at Pebble Beach, sand wedge
Tak Toshita, 129-yard eighth hole at Bartley Cavanaugh, 9-iron
Oct. 4
Maureen Parnell, 107-yard second hole at Empire Ranch, 9-iron
Oct. 7
Ed Reeder, 140-yard third hole at Granite Bay, 7-iron
Oct. 8
Bill Schmidt, 139-yard 16th hole at Cameron Park, 7-iron
Joyce Schaeuble, 97-yard sixth hole at Bradshaw, 6-iron
Oct. 9
Dan Kennedy, 130-yard seventh hole at El Macero, 8-iron
John Sorenson, 120-yard 16th hole at Davis, pitching wedge
Oct. 11
Jeong Hee Kim, 92-yard 12th hole at Empire Ranch, 7-hybrid
Oct. 12
Donald Atteberry Jr., 172-yard seventh hole at Campus Commons, 7-iron
Brittany O'Bryant, 116-yard seventh hole at Morgan Creek, pitching wedge
Steve Williams, 119-yard 14th hole at Ancil Hoffman, 8-iron
Oct. 13
David Laverne Orr, 84-yard first hole at Bradshaw, sand wedge
Bill Radakovitz, 110-yard ninth hole at Foothill, 3-wood
Joe Ahkiong, 115-yard third hole at Foothill, 7-iron
Lane Savage, 139-yard 11th hole at Dry Creek, 5-hybrid
Oct. 14
Camille Wagg, 113-yard eighth hole at River Oaks, 9-iron
Oct. 15
George Fisher, 128-yard fourth hole at Timber Creek, 7-iron
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