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"Flying Dutchman" Marcel Broekmaat worked for Engineering and Construction firms in the Netherlands before joining the Vico team in 2005. Marcel is the Director of Customer Success and champion for our virtual construction solutions.
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Editor's Note: Whether your firm uses the acronym BIM, VDC, or even Virtual Building to describe how models impact preconstruction and field operations, this article reminds us that proper deployment requires executive sponsorship, a core group of champions, attainable goals, and sharing the success.
It seems that the days of "exploring the benefits of BIM" will soon be behind us. Companies that are serious about adopting new technology and processes are using Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) to replace traditional practices today. Traditional practices include parallel cost estimating and scheduling work, working based on non-coordinated design information, and "4D schedule simulations" put together for the sole purpose of "wowing" the client.
Companies that roll out technology and processes that prepare them for the next 20 years are thinking about value for the owner through an integrated planning approach, which allows for better communication with the client, improved feedback to the designers and subs, and higher overall predictability and manageability of their projects.
An important question for companies who are not ready to compete with VDC early adopters is: "How do I start and what are the steps?"
One benefit of not being an "early adopter" is that there is an opportunity to learn from the struggles and successes of the BIM Pioneers. A path to VDC usage can now be defined by looking at the things that did and did not work for the trailblazers.
Caption: BIM Trailblazers like Webcor, Hartela, Hathaway Dinwiddie, Hoar Construction and many others have discovered and honed Virtual Design and Construction best practices. Now the construction industry can learn from their experiences.
When planning your VDC rollout, it is important (as with adoption of any other disruptive technology) to recognize and assign the following roles within the organization:
Recommended team structure:
Caption: The VDC Director manages all BIM initiatives in the company and works with Modeling Experts, Cost Experts, and Scheduling Experts to accomplish the desired level of integration. Experts are involved on a part-time basis. The VDC Director is assisted by VDC Experts/ Trainers and reports to the Executive Sponsor who promotes wide-scale deployment of integrated construction planning throughout the organization.
With the described roles recognized and assigned, we recommend the following six steps:
Step 1: Initiate
VDC Experts learn about successful use of VDC in other (usually competing) companies and propose exploring and usage. Developing a plan for approval by an Executive Sponsor (a VDC Investment Plan) is recommended at this point. (Let us know if you would like to see an example.) The plan preferably contains a budget, broken down into required labor hours and technology cost (which contains a hardware and a software aspect) to prevent hold-ups later on in the process.
Step 2: Select Technology
VDC Experts define required functionality and contact technology vendors to explore options. Required software and hardware purchases are mapped out and compared to the budget defined in Step 1. Technology vendor(s) are selected and perform benchmark tests that are aligned with targeted goals. If you would like to include Vico in your selection process, we have a 4-week Structured Evaluation Program for your team.
Step 3: Purchase Technology
Sign-off on selected technology and purchase by Executive Sponsor. The purchase is preferably based on the documented selection process by the VDC Experts to provide insight in expected benefits. And because purchasing software should include more strategy than simply signing a check, we offer the Vico Customer Success Plan to keep everyone focused on your firm's goals.
Step 4: Plan First Project
The BIM Implementation plan prepared by the VDC Experts should include goals and expected results for the first project; based on these goals the appropriate project (or project scope) can be selected.
Planning also includes assigning team members and hands-on training to master the selected software.
Step 5: Deploy
Use VDC on the first project with participation of the VDC Experts. During this step, workshops are organized for further training and assistance on the project, as required. If it turns out that the overall project size is too much to handle, select one to three scopes to work on. It is recommended to define intermediate milestones that can be validated on a monthly basis to keep the team on track and to be able to adjust goals if needed.
Step 6: Disseminate and Expand
Share the results realized by the team within the company through internal newsletters, e-mails from executives, a publication board, and "lunch & learn" sessions.
Key Learnings
It is undeniable that combining training and workshops with direct use on a real-world project is the best way to adopt VDC. Preferably, the VDC process is used to replace the traditional process, and not run in parallel or stopped as soon as "normal work" becomes more important.
Following up on training with a real project also makes it possible to share experiences and results throughout the organization that are based on work that other employees can relate to. This makes it easier to understand what deployment on the next project might involve and can result in.
VDC involves integration of information produced by various roles in the company. It does not replace one tool with another but it replaces the existing process with a new process. Approaching the adoption of VDC with a company-wide, executive-supported, and planned process is therefore instrumental for succeeding with BIM beyond the "low hanging fruit" of clash detection and bid day 4D simulation movies.
Vico can help with planning for successful adoption by leveraging the experience of 8 years of VDC and truly integrated design, cost, and schedule planning tools. The knowledge that we have obtained over the past years has been converted into a Customer Success Plan, which provides companies with the right resources, materials and support to help your organization go through the outlined steps successfully.
Caption: Some people think that buying a copy of Photoshop will make them a better digital photographer. Does owning a copy of Microsoft Word make you a better writer? Yet many construction executives believe that if they buy the requisite BIM software, they will become trusted VDC experts. But changing your firm's DNA involves serious process change which cannot be taught with simple software training. Just like all positive changes, it requires hard work, dedication, and high energy.
Here are more resources to help you learn more:
Blog: When Estimators Block BIM
Blog: Resistance to Change in 5D BIM Implementations
Blog: 10 Things Every BIM Manager Should Know
Blog: 10 Reasons PMs Should Champion BIM
Blog: Superintendents Just Get Vico
Blog: What Role Do YOU Play in the BIM Strategy?
Blog: Can You Say Change 24 Times?
Blog: BIM Staffing Options
Webinar: The Vico Customer Success Plan featuring Hoar Construction
Program: Vico Office Structured Evaluation Program
Program: Vico Customer Success Plan
Tags: virtual design and construction, vdc, bim department, virtual building, bim staffing, vdc trailblazer, vdc organizational chart
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Mehrunissa movie
2 Mehrunissa movie Articles
Sudhir Mishra reverses ageing process with yoga!4 years ago 1
The Mehrunissa director is a total believer in the goodness of Hot Yoga Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra is currently on an all-time high. Ever since the… Read Article ▶
Anubhav Sinha to make action flick with Sudhir Mishra!4 years ago 0
The two directors have planned a collaborative film along the lines of the Bourne series Anubhav Sinha has resurfaced. You would think that after a… Read Article ▶

subset: commoncrawl


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16:06, UK, Friday 23 March 2012
French authorities have defended their actions amid mounting questions after a gunman who was known to intelligence services was able to kill seven people.
Mohammed Merah, who was shot dead by police in a violent shootout in Toulouse on Thursday, was on a US no-fly list, banning him from travelling to the United States, according to American officials.
The claim is one of a number which are causing unease for French authorities as they try to explain why he was not detained before he carried out three shootings.
Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent, travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009 where he was reported to have attended terrorist training camps.
He claimed to have links to al Qaeda and said he killed to avenge the death of Palestinian children and punish France for sending troops to Afghanistan.
But a senior French official said there was no evidence al Qaeda ordered him to carry out the murders, or that he had any contact with terrorist groups.
Merah returned to France, probably in 2010, and was questioned by French authorities as recently as November last year.
According to French media sources, the authorities accepted Merah's explanation that he had travelled to Afghanistan as a tourist.
Politicians at the top of the French government are now being forced to explain what went wrong as France examines whether Merah could have been stopped before he murdered three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three French soldiers in the past fortnight.
Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's spy chief said Merah only attacked a school after missing his original target - a French soldier.
Intelligence adviser Ange Mancini told French TV that Merah had wanted to kill a serviceman he targeted in Toulouse, but arrived too late and instead opened fire at a nearby Jewish school.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon said French police had no grounds to detain him before he carried out the killings and said authorities cannot "permanently monitor without judicial authorisation" someone who has not committed an offence.
Merah "was interrogated, surveilled and listened to", said Mr Fillon, adding that he was a man who appeared to live "a normal life".
Mr Fillon defended the intelligence services, saying they "did their job perfectly well; they identified Mohamed Merah when he made his trips".
He said intelligence agents "surveilled him long enough to come to the conclusion that there was no element, no indication, that this was a dangerous man who would one day pass from words to acts".
Earlier, French foreign minister Alain Juppe said an inquiry would have to be launched.
"I understand that one might wonder if there was a lapse or not. We need to bring clarity to this," Mr Juppe told French radio.
Pressure on President Sarkozy is huge as he prepares for this month's election.
His main opponent, socialist Francois Hollande, has called for an investigation into what he called a "failure" of law enforcement.
US officials in Washington say Merah was placed on a US no-fly list because FBI officials believed he posed a possible risk.
The Americans claim the French would have known about Merah's inclusion on the list.
Merah was killed after a fierce gunfight with French police. Officers entered his apartment in a quiet suburb of Toulouse after a stand-off of more than 30 hours.
Merah was found in the bathroom. According to Claude Gueant, the French interior minister, the gunman came out firing "wildly".
Automatic gunfire could be heard before Merah eventually fell from a window in the flat. He was found dead with a bullet wound to the head.
:: The six questions authorities need to answer:
1. Police traced an email, connected to the first shooting, to Merah's apartment - when did they get that address?
2. French media reports suggest they had Merah's address a few days BEFORE the Jewish school shooting. Did they?
3. Authorities knew Merah had been to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Jordan and perhaps Iran too. Why did they accept his excuse that he was a "tourist" in those countries when they questioned him as recently as November last year?
4. Reports in Kabul suggest Afghan police arrested Merah in Kandahar and handed him over to Nato forces who then deported him back to France. If this is correct then why didn't the French keep an eye on him?
5. Merah was reported to police by a woman who claimed he was trying to radicalise her child. Did police investigate?
6. US authorities place Merah on a no-fly list banning him from the US. They claim the French would have know about this. Did they?


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A Jewish community center and a Jewish elderly care facility were the locations where three deadly shootings occurred in Overland Park, Kansas on Sunday afternoon, according to a Chicago Tribune report and a CBS News report on Sunday. One suspect has been taken into custody by authorities. There is no motive asserted for the shootings, but police are considering the possibility of the incidences being hate crimes against Jewish persons. The FBI has been summoned to assist with the investigation, according to Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass, and he says, "We know it's a vicious act of violence."
The first of several shootings was at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Overland Park. It occurred at approximately 1 p.m. on Sunday. From there, the shooter went to the Village Shalom which is described as a retirement community that gives skilled nursing services to the persons residing there. The suspected shooter, Fraiser Glenn Cross Jr. of Aurora, Mo., was apprehended at a school. He is the former leader of ther KKK who now goes by an alias for his real name Frasier Glenn Miller.
The Jewish Community Center is the site of Kansas City's only Jewish community day education facility as well. The school is called the Human Brand Hebrew Academy, and it is where the bulk of the Sunday afternoon incidents occurred. At the time of the crimes, groups of school children were meeting in preparation for a school dance. The facility was locked down after the shooting, and students were rushed out of the building. Locals have said that they are shocked that such an incident would happen there.


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Last night was the annual awards ceremony hosted by the Phins.
Ricky Williams was named the MVP. I really have no beef here. As you may recall our voting came down thusly:
MVP: Ronnie Brown led the way through midseason. Ricky did well. Randy Starks looked like he might take the award at some point, but dropped off. Nate Garner deserved a nomination because he came on strong and played 4 of the 5 positions on the line. But in the end, it was the 5th guy on that o-line, the only player to make the pro bowl, who quietly stole the show. Our MVP is Jake Long.
The community service award (which we learned was NOT given to the guy who did the most community service based on his plea agreement with the law, imagine that!) was given to Lousaka Polite. I have to admit that I didn't know much about his work in the community; he doesn't grab headlines the way some players do.
The team leadership award was a split decision between Yeremiah Bell and Jason Taylor. I'm sorry? Come again? First off - a split decision? And while Y-Bell was adequate last year, I didn't get the sense he was "leading" the team. Hunh. Maybe I missed that week. And as for Jason Traitor, he was the only team captain that was going to meetings and was a fairly vocal leader. And to reward him, the Dolphins let him get away....naturally he was not in attandance last night.
I am puzzled and perplexed by the leadership award....


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Questions to ask students once they have learned about mapping. Give them a topographic map or a copy of one.
1. When was the map last revised? 2. What is the maps scale? 3. A 1:24,000 map is also called a _____ minute quad. a. 7.5 c. 2.9 b. 16.3 d. 8.6 3. What does the map scale mean? 4. Circle one (for each): latitude lines run east-west north-south longitude lines run east-west north-south 5. 0 latitude line is the ________________________. 6. 0 longitude line is the _______________________. 7. What do the numbers in brown mean? 8. The contour lines (brown lines) mean an area is ______________ when they are close together or when ______________ they are farther apart. 9. Latitude and longitude coordinates are given in what units? 10. How many seconds in one minute? 11. How many minutes in one degree? 12. Ask students to find specific points (latitude and longitude) on the map you have given them.


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Paper Chase is a research database designed to offer abstracts of research articles published in journals that have a highly rated impact factor as determined by ISI Impact Factor and PageRank. Abstracts are organized by date, with the most recently published papers listed first.
Paper Chase
The human K-complex represents an isolated cortical down-state.
Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. email@example.com
The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a mainstay of clinical neurology and is tightly correlated with brain function, but the specific currents generating human EEG elements remain poorly specified because of a lack of microphysiological recordings. The largest event in healthy human EEGs is the K-complex (KC), which occurs in slow-wave sleep. Here, we show that KCs are generated in widespread cortical areas by outward dendritic currents in the middle and upper cortical layers, accompanied by decreased broadband EEG power and decreased neuronal firing, which demonstrate a steep decline in network activity. Thus, KCs are isolated "down-states," a fundamental cortico-thalamic processing mode already characterized in animals. This correspondence is compatible with proposed contributions of the KC to sleep preservation and memory consolidation.
View Papers by Journal
View Papers by Institution
- Harvard Medical School
- Harvard School of Dental Medicine
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- Hebrew SeniorLife
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- VA Boston Healthcare System


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Stolen passports used in the missing Malaysia flight have deepened theories that the plane was taken down under duress, or possibly via an act of terrorism. Troubling questions remain regarding the actual identities of the two men who used passports stolen over a year ago to board the flight, as well as lax security that failed to identify that the passports had been reported as stolen.
According to NBC News today, "two passengers using passports on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were recorded in Interpol's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, the international police organization confirmed on Sunday."
Missing 777 Malaysia Airline flight 370 is entering its third day, and in other latest developments, officials say debris spotted in the Gulf of Thailand by a Vietnamese navy plane may be the door and fragments from the tail section of the Boeing 777.
Vietnamese authorities probing waters in the 320,000 square kilometer Gulf spotted an object Sunday that they believe to be one of the jet's main fuselage doors. They also have what may be pieces of wreckage from the rear of the aircraft.
The two individuals who were listed as passengers on the flight both reported their passports stolen over a year ago while they were in Thailand on separate visits. The passports belonged to an Italian man, 37-year-old Luigi Maraldi, and an Austrian citizen, 30-year-old Christian Kozel.
Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said Sunday that his organization "is asking why only a handful of countries worldwide are taking care to make sure that persons possessing stolen passports are not boarding international flights."
Noble added, "It is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol's databases."
It is highly unusual that two stolen passports, taken over a year ago, would be used on the same plane and not be connected in some manner. However, officials cautioned that the passports may have been used simply for purposes of drug trafficking and not in connection with any extremist ideals.
The lack of any concrete information has fueled rampant rumors: Malaysian airline missing: Social media spreads false rumors about missing plane
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The Public Domain - 4th Edition
Stephen Fishman
2008 / Nolo
446 pages
Reading about The Public Domain and copyright law sounds as interesting as watching paint dry, but this incredibly well-written reference book is readable and comprehendible to individuals without any legal background; it is also complete enough for the more experienced researcher. I freelance in both the music and the fine arts fields and run my own website, so I found a wealth of useful information in this book. There is a whole treasure trove of material in the public domain that is available for use for free by anyone - a lot more than I ever would have imagined. The book opens up this world while advising what you can and cannot do with public domain material and how to tell if a work is in the public domain. The chapters are well-organized and very concise, making finding help on the fly easy. I read the first six chapters (about a third of the book) like a novel and then skipped around; it was consistently fascinating. Citing actual legal cases and giving clear examples and tips, this is likely the most comprehensive book on the subject available. The art forms that are covered are writing, music, art, photography, movies and television, computer software, architecture, maps, choreography, databases and collections, and titles. Obviously some of the information overlaps with each art form, but that means that you can go to your specific field of interest and still have the complete information you seek without having to keep flipping to other chapters. The last several chapters cover restored copyrights, the public domain outside the US, the internet and the public domain, aspects of copyright protection, traps, and research tips. Anyone working in any of the arts should have a copy of this remarkable book for reference. It could save us all a lot of time and money!
Kathy Parsons


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How Bad Is The New Spider-Man?
Back to the Future Predicted 9/11
6 TV Finales That Failed Spectacularly
7 TV Time Jumps That Were Done Right
The 10 Most Promising TV Shows of Fall 2015
First Look At Leaked Warcraft Movie Trailer
10 TV Cancellations Still Worth Raving About
Netflix is About to Spend $50 Million On Something Awesome
The Long, Troubled Future History of 'Back to The Future Part IV'
Star Trek: New Series Could Run Many Seasons
Will Christian Bale Ever Play Batman Again?
Teen Titans Live Action is Headed to TNT
New Doctor Who Spinoff Announced!
10 Celebrities Who Almost Died While Filming
The James Bond Movies Ranked
10 Actors Who Played a Movie Character Until They Died
The Voice of Gideon from The Flash Revealed
The 50 Most Watched TV Shows This Season
Marvel Studios Announces New Dates and Titles
The 10 Fall TV Shows We Can't Wait To Watch
Quentin Tarantino Got Offered The Biggest Movies After His Biggest Flop
FOX is Bringing X-Men to Television with the Producers of 24
This Japanese Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer May Have Dropped a Huge Spoiler
Game of Thrones Spoilers: Season 6 Parade of Lies
20 Movies You Need To Watch At Home This Week
Game Of Thrones Season 6 Delayed!
James Cameron Boasts About Avatar 2, 3 and 4
New Wonder Woman Photo Revealed as Filming Begins, Cast Announced
Kaley Cuoco Shows Off Her Tennis Skills
The Best Movies of Summer 2015


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Navient Foundation, the company-sponsored philanthropic fund,
awarded a $5,000 grant to help underwrite the costs of the volunteer
phone bank. The Navient Foundation has also committed to matching donor
funding of up to an additional $2,500 for total company support of
$7Navient joins annual radiothon to help raise money for
Nemours/ Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
Navient, reported to be "the nation's leading loan management, servicing and asset recovery company," has announced that it is joining with other Delaware employers in raising funds during the 4th annual "Help Our Kids" radiothon September 3-4. The fundraiser is held each year in support of kids being cared for at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, and sponsored by Delmarva Broadcasting Company.
Six local radio stations will broadcast from the hospital: WDEL 1150 AM; WSTW 93.7 FM; Eagle 97.7 FM; WXCY 103.7 FM; Cool 101.3 FM; La Exitosa 930 AM. Their on-air personalities will interview patients and families, physicians, nurses, and volunteers staffing donation lines. etc.
In addition to having its employees manning phones during the 2-day event, the Navient Foundation, has awarded a $5,000 grant to help underwrite the costs of the volunteer, and has pledged to match donor
funding of up to an additional $2,500 for total company support of $7,500.
"We are so grateful to have such strong support in the community. Navient has been a great partner in helping to make the 'Help Our Kids Radiothon' so successful each year," said Marie Hiddemen, associate
director of the Nemours Foundation, who stated that "100% of all donations go to helping hospital patients."
For more information about the radiothon visit email@example.com.,500. Readers interested in making donations can also call call 855-636-6877.


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Many business owners, both large and small, have yet to adopt mobile payment processing. Why? It may have something to do with the most pervasive myths surrounding the mobile payments space today.
In a recent blog post by the leading mobile payment processors at PayAnywhere, some of these common myths are debunked.
Myth #1: It Is Too Complicated
Many retailers already have a POS system that processes cash, debit, and credit card transactions—and are concerned about the time and training required to make the move to mobile payment processing. The fact of the matter is, set up is fast and easy—even easier than setting up your initial POS software. Not only that, the reporting tools that come standard (and for free) with PayAnywhere Storefront are often more detailed and advanced than what most businesses currently utilize.
Myth #2: The Risk For Fraud Rises
We have all heard about privacy concerns regarding public wireless Internet. However, just as with your POS transactions, mobile payment processors have advanced security features, including encrypted payment processing. On top of that, credit card and payment information is not stored in the device—meaning that if a mobile device is lost, payment information is not accessible.
Myth #3: Only Large Businesses Have a Need For Mobile Payment Processing
This is quite the contrary, since mobile payment processors were initially designed for smaller businesses who operate in public locations such as farmers markets and fairs. In the past, these businesses have only accepted cash because it is the only option available in most public settings, not to mention that many small businesses cannot afford standard credit card processing fees. Not only are mobile payment processors more affordable than traditional debit and credit card processing, but they are advantageous to businesses of all sizes.


text: 9 out of 10 Hazel Hastings elderly, self taught pianist Good Points+ It is great to be able to play the familiar operatic arias without a struggle. Bad Points− This isn't a bad point, really, it's just that I am not familiar with a number of the songs but I am sure an opera buff would be. Confirmed purchase: 21 July 2015 Published on: 05 August 2015


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Spain bank bailout only small fix in the European debt crisis — Eurozone policies the root of the problem?
On Saturday, June 9, 2012, Spain became the fourth country in the 17-nation Eurozone to receive bailout funds to save its ailing banks from meltdown. Unlike bailouts to other Eurozone countries, Spain will use its funds only to help stabilize … Continue reading
Posted in Industry trends Tagged bailout, debt crisis, European debt crisis, eurozone, Spain Leave a comment
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The Best Foods For Bones: Fruits and Vegetables
From Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live:
Green Vegetables, beans, tofu, sesame seeds, and even oranges contain lots of usable calcium, without the problems associated with dairy. Keep in mind that you retain the calcium better and just do not need as much when you don't consume a diet heavy in animal products and sodium, sugar, and caffeine.
Many green vegetables have calcium-absorption rates of over 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk.1 Additionally, since animal protein induces calcium excretion in urine, the calcium retention from vegetables is higher. All green vegetables are high in calcium.
The American "chicken and pasta" diet style is significantly low in calcium, so adding dairy as a calcium source to this mineral-poor diet makes superficial sense---it is certainly better than no calcium in the diet. However, much more than just calcium is missing. The only reason cow's milk is considered such an important source of calcium, is that the American diet is centered on animal foods, refined grains, and sugar, all of which are devoid of calcium. Any healthy diet containing a reasonable amount of unrefined plant foods will have sufficient calcium without milk. Fruits and vegetables strengthen bones. Researchers have found that those who eat the most fruits and vegetables have denser bones.2 These researchers concluded that not only are fruits and vegetables rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium, and other nutrients essential for bone health, but, because they are alkaline, not acid-producing, they do not induce urinary calcium loss. Green vegetables in particular, have a powerful effect on reducing hip fractures, for they are rich not only in calcium but in other nutrients, such as vitamin K, which is crucial for bone health.3
1. Weaver, C.M., and K. L. Plawecki. 1994. Dietary calcium: adequacy of a vegetarian diet. AM. J. Clin. Nutr. 59 (supp.): 1238-41S.
2. Tucker, K. L., M. T. Hannan, H. Chen, et al. 1999. Potassium, magnesium, and fruit and vegetable intake are associated with greater mineral density in elderly men and women. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 69 (4): 727-36; New, S. A., S. P. Robins, M.K. Campbell, et al. 2000. Dietary influences on bone mass and bone metabolism: further evidence of a positive link between fruit and vegetable consumption and bone health? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 71 (1):142-51.
3. Feskanich, D., P. Weber, W.C. Willett, et al. 1999. Vitamin K intake and hip fractures in women: a prospective study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 69 (1):74-79.


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High Point University is at it again. Strategic communication students from HPU created fresh, new marketing campaigns for local non-profit organizations this spring. Just released today is news that the students spent the past semester creating campaigns to inform the public about services provided by High Point Community Against Violence (HPCAV) and High Point Swim Club.
Part of a campaigns management course in the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication at HPU, the class offered students an opportunity to work with a client to solve a real-world communication challenge, and gave local nonprofits a chance to receive marketing and public relations advice free of charge.
The teams were made up of HPU graduating seniors, who combined the skills they learned in prior coursework to develop public awareness campaigns.
Students working on the campaign for HPCAV, which included Allyson Hill, Emily Koehler, Alexander Oberlander, Melissa Cattai and Ana Rallis, redesigned some of the organization's existing graphic design aspects, including the logo, a brochure, billboard and newspaper ad, giving the campaign a unified look and feel.
"The main thing we wanted to do for HPCAV was create better awareness in the community," says Cattai, a member of the student team and May graduate of HPU. "We wanted to make sure we were investing our client's money in strategies that were going to get the client noticed around the community."
The campaign project was a great collaboration between HPU and non-profits in the High Point community, says Dr. Sojung Kim, assistant professor of strategic communication at HPU. "Thanks to the hard work and creative ideas completed by students, HPCAV is now left with specific campaign plans to help them reach their goals. They are eager to start using the students' innovative campaign ideas."
Jim Summey, executive director of HPCAV, says he was inspired by the ideas the communications students shared with his organization and impressed by their knowledge and professionalism.
"These students – every one of them – were so very much connected with the course, were intelligent, hard-working, seeking, competitive, driven and purpose-filled to give our organization the best that they could give," Summey says. "High Point Community Against Violence is so fortunate to have met Dr. Kim and her students, and to have received so much help toward our needs for marketing."
The "Swim to Learn" campaign for High Point Swim Club, created by HPU seniors Connor Brackett, Grace Connors, Chelsea Donnigan, Mary Hancock, Joseph Marra and Joel Wilson, focused on swim education both in and out of the pool. The team proposed a new logo and slogan, and suggested digital communication to help the organization reach its target audience and stay within budget.
Donnigan, one of the student team members, says they were particularly proud of three swim-related promotional events they created, and that is what gave them the edge in the competition. Working closely with their client also made a difference, she says.
"It was challenging at times, but it was rewarding to work with an actual client as opposed a mock client in previous courses," Donnigan says. "Throughout the semester, we kept in mind how important it was to keep open communication with the client, so that we could be confident in our job incorporating their wants and needs for the campaign into our own work."
Helping a client solve a real-world communication challenge is just one of the many benefits of the project, Kim says. Through the class, students experience the entire process of creating a communication campaign – from start to end – as a team.
"It teaches them professionalism and work ethic," Kim says. "After the course ends, students are left with a professional portfolio with all of the campaign materials they produced, so they can easily take this as a work sample to future job interviews."
Beyond the benefit to students, the nonprofit clients that volunteer to participate also come away from the project with new ideas for marketing their services to the community.
"The class was a great experience for our staff, and we learned as much as the students, if not more," says Aaron Reeves, chief executive officer and head coach of High Point Swim Club. "The students at HPU conducted themselves very professionally through the class. They spent time listening to what was important to HPSC and helped develop an online profile we can implement going forward. The creativity of the finished product was terrific."


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Time: July 27, 2009 at 8pm to July 28, 2009 at 12am
Location: Chris' Jazz Cafe
Street: 1421 Sansom Street
City/Town: Philadelphia PA
Website or Map: http://chrisjazzcafe.com
Phone: 215-568-3131
Event Type: concert
Organized By: Chris' Jazz Cafe
Latest Activity: Jul 18, 2009
Matt returns to Philly's #1 jazz venue with his trio for an evening of highly improvised, interactive music.
Featuring Matt on guitar and glissentar, Dylan Taylor on upright bass and Adrian Valosin on drums.
© 2016 Created by Acoustic Guitar. Powered by


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Registration and Class Information
- The class is mandated for any parent in the process of divorce or who is involved in after-divorce proceedings in which there are minor children involved. Parents involved in parentage actions, and ordered by the court must also attend.
- This program is designed to offer parents the opportunity to learn about, and discuss the effects of divorce and separation on minor children. This class is intended to educate parents, not counsel them.
- Participants attend either two, two-hour classes or one, four-hour class. You may attend either two consecutive Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m., two consecutive Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m., Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. combination (when available), or a four-hour Saturday class from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. (when available).
- Classes are held at McHenry County College, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake. Room location and class date will be included in the confirmation letter that will be mailed to the address you register with. Map and driving directions ⇒
- Course fee is $75 per person (materials included) and is due in full at the time of registration. Pay the fee to McHenry County College; DO NOT pay the Court. We accept personal check (no starter checks), certified bank check, money order or Visa, MasterCard or Discover. You must make a cash payment in person in A258 at MCC, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake.
You should know that:
- When you complete the class, we will communicate your attendance to the Court if you have registered with a case number. If you register without a case number, it is your responsibility to file your certificate of completion with the court.
- Effective January 1, 2015 each reschedule will result in a $25 reschedule fee. To reschedule call (815) 479-7591.
- You will be charged a $15 fee for replacement certificates.
- Participants must be on time for each session. Latecomers will not be admitted to class.
- It is court mandated that parents can not attend the same class.
- Children are not allowed in the class. Please make childcare arrangements.
All program facilitators are mental health professionals with a master's degree in the field of mental health or attorneys who specialize in divorce cases. All facilitators have extensive experience in dealing with divorce and its effects on children.


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Utah Treatment Centers : In todays world, its all too common for teens to make bad decisions. Even the best kids perhaps some you know and love can lose their way. Since 1990, the LifeLine for Youth program has brought hope and healing to thousands of families suffering from substance abuse, depression, family relationship problems, criminal behavior, school problems, pornography, out-of-control and other destructive behaviors that prevent youth from being happy an
Prominence Treatment Center : Prominence Treatment Center is an alternative, non 12-step program. We have deep experience in a full spectrum of addictions. Our highly trained staff is equipped to be able to handle any addiction or combination of symptoms. We stay up-to-date on the latest, most effective treatments for our patients to ensure that were giving you the best opportunity for recovery.
We treat Alcohol, Cocaine, Meth, Ecstasy, xanax, Vicodin, Oxycontin addictio
Sovereign Health Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center : Sovereign Health dual diagnosis treatment center helps people struggling with mental health and addiction.
New Life House - Structured Sober Living : New Life House has been changing lives and restoring families since 1985. New Life House Sober Livings have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of men since opening its first house in 1985. We offer a strong foundation and immediate community to new house members as our graduates remain highly involved with us following their graduation. This instant community proudly has thousands of years of collective sobriety. The New Life Houses are s
Drug Rehab Austin- covenanthillstreatment : Covenant Hills Treatment Center offers alcohol treatment facility in Texas which includes group therapy and individual counseling about these addictions.
U Can Quit Smoking Cigarettes : Find out how using tobacco products, mainly cigarettes, affects the quality of your health and your life.
Smokeless Cigarettes Reviews : There is a variety of Smokeless Cigarettes available to purchase on the Internet. We are presenting below a selection of the brands that we consider being the most representative in the marketplace. They are popular brands being used by people all over the world.
Halo Electronic Cigarettes : The Halo electronic cigarette is very easy to use electronic cigarette. An electronic cigarette, e-cigarette or vaporize cigarette, is a battery-powered device that provides inhaled doses of nicotine or non-nicotine vaporized solution.
St. Louis' Premeir Drug and Alcohol Rehab Program : A Modern Day solution to drug and alcohol addiction.
Proven medications and effective counseling in a non-12 Step, Non-AA, outpatient environment.
Treatment at INSynergy is affordable, practical, local, and effective.
Recovery through science.
Company Overview: INSynergy is committed to implementing scientific advancements and discoveries in the field of addiction medicine.
Mission: INSynergy uses medical and psychological
Florida Drug Rehabilitation Center : Florida drug rehab, alcohol recovery, drug rehabilitation and substance abuse treatment facility for addicted men requiring partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient & dual diagnosis treatment. Our drug rehab and alcohol recovery programs treat the addicted individual in a comfortable, real life setting, located in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
Meditation Techniques : The concept of meditation is not new to the world. People are well aware of it since ancient times. Earlier it was popular among the saints but now common people have also understood the significance of meditation and how it can help them in handling daily stress, tensions and worries.
Smith Dental Care : Imagine looking in the mirror and seeing that beautiful smile you've always wanted. The team at Smith Dental Care can make that dream a reality! Specializing in cosmetic and sedation dentistry, we have the experience and the technology to give you that perfect smile, safely and comfortably, with simply amazing results.
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Last year Costco opened its doors in Auburn, in Sydney's West, and in Canberra.
Since its opening, J and I have been itching to go visit but neither location is super convenient for us, and you need to be a member to both get in, and shop.
J's dad and sister in law both have a membership, so when we visited Canberra last weekend we were determined to visit! Each member can bring in 2 guests, so J's dad dropped us off, and his SIL (also a J!) and brother picked us up and took us through the checkouts.
So what did we buy on our first visit to the land of supersize and bulk buying?
As you can see, we didn't really buy that many things, but the stuff we did get is in pretty big quantities. We tried to pick up stuff we needed at home / stuff that is normally quite expensive. I was going to include how much we paid for everything, but I appear to have lost the receipt! Sorry! All up we spent just under $80.
J was determined to pick up some nuts - so we got a 1.3kg pack of pistachios.We were also out of barbeque sauce, so picked up a bulk 4L bottle of that to refill our smaller bottle at home. We grabbed a 3 pack of aioli, and a 4 pack of Waterthins wafer crackers (easily my favourite but so expensive at Woolies!)
I picked up a massive 1.2kg bag of Carman's gluten free muesli (so yum!), and almost a kg jar of sundried tomatoes. We picked up a box of Maltesers ($5 yo...as if you could say no?), and some Australian beef jerky.
Bargains aside, the best thing about Costco is the free samples. So many people set out with little tables happy to give you something to nom on while you shop. Incredible! We nommed on some of the smoked chicken (which is how it ended up coming home with us), apple juice, Korean beef and Korean chicken, jelly belly jelly beans (I may or may not have gone back for
now I don't know if you remember that Simpsons episode "Lisa Gets an A" where they head to the grocery store after church and Homer just runs around eating everything he can stick a toothpick into? I felt like that. So much free food, I actually felt a little guilty taking it all and eating it.
What's the best free food sample you've ever had?
Ever been to the land of bulk buy and bargains?
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Thanks to the recent rise in vampire popularity, people living within the Idiocracy are beginning to believe that they might actually be vampires.
We don't any hard data, but we believe a lot of vampire attacks are going unreported, as victims possibly believe that by going to the press they will be staked. We do have one video here of a brave victim who did contact WZZM13 in Michigan and provided her account of a real vampire attack during the filming of New Moon.
Vampire Attacks on the Rise
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Wed Nov 25, 2009 11:17 AM
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The Number of people paying for Mutuelle de Sante in Nyabihu District has greatly decreased according to the 2012-2013 performance contract presentation in the District.
The presentation revealed that only 62 percent of the population has so far subscribed to the Health insurance of 2013-2014.
Nyabihu district has about 295.580 people and about 65.387 households. It is estimated that there are 556 people per kilometer squared most of whom do not pay the medical health care.
Explaining why the number of people contributing to insurance is still low, John Bagirishya the district director of mituelle de santé said that they still had time for this and he hoped that people will contribute because most of them expected better harvest from their crops.
"Because of the constant encouragement to people to pay up for the medical insurance which is mostly done by local leaders, am very hopeful that the percentage will go higher by the end of December", said Bagirishya.
He added that leaders had several meetings and retreats with religious leaders and other local leaders from sectors and cells aiming at encouraging people to pay for the health insurance.
"Through the performance contracts signed by cells and sector executive secretaries about paying the remaining half of the contribution by the end of December, Barigishya believes this will be met.
It is believed that most people will be able to get money to contribute to the insurance t the end of the planting season," said Barigishya.


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Scottsdale police are looking for a man who robbed a convenience store armed with a large hunting knife early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The robber entered the Circle K at McDowell and Hayden roads at about 4:30 a.m., went behind the counter and demanded cash, according to authorities.
Police say he left southbound on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. The store clerk was not harmed.
Police described the robber as 20 to 30 years old, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches, 140 to 150 pounds, with black collar-length shaggy hair and brown eyes. The man was last seen with a shirt covering his face, a grey baseball cap and what was believed to be a sweater on backwards.
Scottsdale police are asking anyone with information to call 480-312-5000, 480-312-TIPS or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.


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The imagination is a stretch of highway that bends through the universe. Its lanes unmarked, its exits limitless, yet it is, nevertheless, the shortest road to anywhere. Many years have passed since I last visited the Land of Israel. Yet if I set my mind to it, I can walk its beaches, its banks, its valleys and its vineyards. I can stare at hills that flow with unearthly grace. Hills of tall trees and shade, hills blanketed with knee-length grass interwoven with wildflowers of luminous color: blossoms of canary yellow, orange hues like autumn leaves. Upon a gray misty slope overlooking the Jordan Valley, fresh grass is dotted with purple stars that surpass any painter's mixture of burgundy and blue. Below, in twisting valleys, course wadis of white milk and rivers of red wine. Atop cities, limestone towers turn golden at sunrise. And what desert may be compared to the Judean Desert, where mountains glow like honey in the light?
Such is the Land of Israel, a land of unending grace; a land of livestock, a land of farming, a land where every family is iridescent, and a land where every fig tree offers shade.
But what if there was another land, also promised, perhaps in the north, perhaps to the east, or somewhere over an ocean, in a place far away? Can we imagine such a thing? Such is the question posed by the returning spies in this week's Torah portion.
Our story begins with 12 men who set out to survey the future settlement of the Jewish people. Their mission is simple: "Go and observe, return and report." Although these scouts, these spies, go and observe, and though they return bearing an example of the land's riches of fruit and vine, what they report is anything but good. For somewhere along their journey, perhaps in the gray shadows of twilight or a heavy afternoon haze, 10 of these men experience a frightening vision. To paraphrase Dante, their imaginations tangled them in knots. They saw that those things were "not towers, but giants, sunk into the basin there behind the banks" ("Inferno," Canto XXXI).
Back in the camp, their dread of the Canaanites pours out: "We were as grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:33). Panic ensues, and without so much as shift of the feet, the rest of Israel entered the Promised Land, envisioning the people there, not small or vulnerable, but as dinosaurs — savage, murderous beasts.
"That night the people broke into cries and wept." And on the morrow, the Lord decreed swift punishment for all. Many ask why a pessimistic military report should have caused the spies to be struck by plague as well as the demise of an entire generation of Israelites in the wilderness. How difficult would it have been to validate fear, to find another Land?
The midrash suggests that it was not the sin, but its psychology that was their true failing. It asks, "How could the spies know that they appeared as grasshoppers to others? Perhaps in the eyes of the Canaanites, the Israelites appeared as angels, and the Canaanites felt like grasshoppers underfoot?" If one thinks oneself an ant, then every ant seems a giant. Lacking conviction, it would hardly matter which country they scouted.
Rabbi Yitzchak Arama offers another explanation. "It was not so much the land that they were rejecting, but God Himself." These "heads" of Israel (Roshei Benei Yisrael) were meant "to go up to the Land." But instead they descend from heady leaders to petrified footmen. The Hebrew for "spies" is meraglim, derived from regel, meaning "foot." The narrative ends with the people demanding that they return to Egypt, a country steeped in oppression, violence and a religious devotion to death. For Arama, "Coveting Egypt was tantamount to idolatry." Their failure was a lack of faith in God, and a wanton disregard of God's faith in them.
In my shul Shabbat morning, I often get asked why we do not regularly recite the Prayer for the State of Israel. I answer simply. Praying for Israel is so intrinsic to Jewish prayer, that if we enter a synagogue and recite a Psalm or the Amidah without a thought to Israel, it is as if we have not prayed at all. Pleading for Israel's welfare is not merely an expression of concern for fellow kin, it is a declaration of faith in God and a declaration of faith in God's destiny for his people. If in our mind's eye, we cannot imagine the Land as ours, if we cannot see its pristine hills and lush valleys, we may as well return to Egypt. Anything less is a failure of faith and imagination. Children slay giants every day; they know them to be big, but they also know them to be stupid. As Herzl put it, "If you will it, it is no dream."
Rabbi Yehuda Hausman is a Modern Orthodox rabbi who teaches at American Jewish University's Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies, the Academy of Jewish Religion, California, and runs an independent Modern Orthodox minyan in Beverlywood. He writes about the weekly parasha on his blog, rabbihausman.com.
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While the Obama administration passes economy-killing legislation on the nation's power plants from the imaginary threat of global warming, no action at all arises in response to the real threat of an EMP attack.
What is EMP? An electromagnetic pulse.
What is an EMP attack? The detonation of a nuclear device in the atmosphere over the United States that destroys the nation's power grid.
What would an EMP attack do? The destruction of the nation's power grid would deliver a nationwide blackout that would disable electrical systems that the whole country depends on daily for practically everything. It is estimated that twelve months of such a nationwide blackout could cause 90% of the U.S. population to perish from starvation, disease, and societal breakdown.
What is the EMP Commission? A governmental body established in 2001 to monitor, investigate, make recommendations, and report to Congress on the evolving threat to the United States from an EMP attack resulting from the detonation of nuclear weapons at high altitude within the next 15 years.
Ten years ago, Russians reported to the Commission that Koreans had contacted their scientists to develop Korea's capabilities for an EMP attack. In 2012, Korean capabilities advanced to include an orbiting satellite capable of delivering an EMP attack over the U.S. that would totally destroy the nation's power grid.
So, what is the U.S. doing about it? Not much, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Last year President Obama signed an executive order to guard critical infrastructure against cyberattacks. But so far this administration doesn't seem to grasp the urgency of the EMP threat.
Also last year, Republican representatives from Texas and Arizona introduced acts that would enable emergency planning, training and resource allocation for survival and recovery from an EMP catastrophe. Both pieces of legislation never came to a vote.
What is lacking in Washington is a sense of urgency. Lawmakers and the administration need to move rapidly to build resilience into our electric grid and defend against an EMP attack that could deliver a devastating blow to the U.S. economy and the American people.
What a warped sense of priorities when, instead, the administration empowers the EPA to impose strangling CO2 standards on coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions, which will yield zero effect on the climate, yet takes no action to protect the same power plants from EMP attack.
Republicans recognize a national threat when they see one, while Obama and his statist nitwits think Republicans are the greatest threat to the nation.


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The implementation of the Modesto Police Department "Volunteers in Police Service" has proven to be a valuable tool,
greatly appreciated by the City of Modesto and its residents. The Modesto Police Department draws on the time,
talents and experience of volunteers to allow officers to better perform their frontline duties. We attempt to
match volunteers to jobs according to their strengths and abilities.
Some of the duties currently being performed by volunteers include:
Requirements and abilities:
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Cleber Pacheco is a Brazilian novelist, poet and playwright who holds a Master's Degree in Brazilian Literature. He has sixteen books published in Brazil, two in the United Kingdom and he has contributed to various poetry collections in India, Canada, the United Kingdom, United States and Ireland. His short story THE CAT AND THE SEA was translated into English in the U.S.A. He is an illustrator as well. His book of poetry MYSTERIES won a contest in United States, and his play INTIMACY has received two awards.
Brian Wrixon Books (Canada) publishes anthologies of world poets as well as the poetic and prose works of individual authors who are members of the international writers' group, Poets with Voices Strong. Brian Wrixon Books (Canada) is a publisher registered with Library & Archives Canada.
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Transition Publicado 23 de noviembre de 2015
Who Am I Publicado 03 de noviembre de 2015
GIRLCHILD Publicado 15 de mayo de 2015
The Art of Being Human: Volume 14 - Insomnia Publicado 11 de abril de 2015
The Art of Being Human - Volume 13 Publicado 13 de marzo de 2015
Women of One World Publicado 06 de marzo de 2015
The Art of Being Human - Volume 12 Publicado 24 de enero de 2015
Jungle Love & 2 dozen other naughty stories... Publicado 24 de enero de 2015


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This is the second in a series of online articles published in advance of The Boston Consulting Group's 2012 Value Creators Report. In February 2012, we identified the key value-creation trends in 2011. In the fall of 2012, we will publish the full report, including detailed rankings of the top performers worldwide and in 20 industries for the five-year period from 2007 through 2011.
As global economic recovery has been buffeted by events ranging from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami to the ongoing fiscal crisis in the euro zone, investors have become more pessimistic about the level of total shareholder returns (TSR) that companies will deliver. In response, investors have significantly shifted their focus to the strength of a company's free-cash-flow yield as a primary indicator of its current health and value-creation potential, as well as on direct distributions of cash in the form of dividends as an increasingly important component of TSR.
This is the picture that emerges from a recent survey conducted by The Boston Consulting Group. During the first quarter of 2012, BCG invited approximately 650 portfolio managers and buy-side and sell-side analysts to participate in an online survey. The survey is the fourth in a series that BCG has conducted since 2009, probing investors' views on the global economic environment and priorities for business value creation.
We received 165 responses to our 2012 survey (a response rate of about 25 percent) from individuals at firms that, collectively, are responsible for approximately $1.2 trillion in assets under management and cover a wide range of industries and locations. Four key findings stand out:
Renewed Pessimism. Respondents have shifted from the "cautious bullishness" we identified last year to a more pessimistic take on the global economy. They believe the recovery is happening more slowly than they thought it would last year and expect less economic growth, less earnings growth, and lower TSR in 2012 and subsequent years as a result.
The Primacy of Free-Cash-Flow Yield. In an environment in which investors have scaled back their expectations for growth, respondents have made a company's free-cash-flow yield their top investment criterion. And they increasingly want to see more of that yield in the form of higher dividend-payout ratios, a value creation strategy that, earlier this year, we dubbed "the rise of the cash machine."
Diverging Views of the U.S. and Europe. Investors are also differentiating more carefully between regions such as Europe, with relatively poor prospects for future growth, and those such as the U.S., where prospects are more promising. Investors who focus on European equities are significantly more pessimistic than those who focus on U.S. equities.
The Imperative of Alignment. Given the impact of the ongoing volatility in equity markets on investor expectations, it is critical for senior executives to develop and communicate a clear and compelling investment thesis, in which an organization's business, financial, and investor strategies are carefully aligned and mutually reinforcing. Although our survey suggests that companies are getting better at such alignment, nearly two-thirds of investors continue to believe that the companies they follow are not well aligned across these three dimensions.
The biggest change in the survey results, compared with last year, is the marked increase in pessimism about the prospects of the global economy and global equity markets. Last year, for example, the number of respondents to our survey who said that they were "extremely bullish" or "bullish" about equity markets grew by a substantial 13 percentage points from the year before to include a majority (53 percent) of respondents. This year, however, the portion of bullish or extremely bullish respondents has declined to about a third (34 percent), a level that corresponds roughly to that found in our 2010 survey. (See Exhibit 1.)
It's clear that the ongoing fiscal crisis in the euro zone has been a major cause of this increased pessimism. Indeed, a majority of respondents (57 percent) who focus on non-U.S. (and primarily European) equities and about a third (32 percent) of those who focus on U.S. equities believe there is either a "highly likely" or a "somewhat likely" possibility of a double-dip recession in 2012—about twice the percentage who thought so last year.
Increased investor pessimism extends to expectations for the likely average TSR over the next few years. Last year, nearly half the respondents to our annual survey (46 percent) estimated that TSR would be in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 percent over the next few years; an additional 31 percent thought it would be higher (8 to 10 percent), while 20 percent thought it would be lower (4 to 6 percent). In 2012, 40 percent chose the 6 to 8 percent range; but only 15 percent thought TSR would reach 8 to 10 percent. Meanwhile, a full 31 percent chose the 4 to 6 percent range.
This increased pessimism is also reflected in the top investment criteria of the respondents to our survey. Every year, we ask survey participants: "Which characteristics would be most important for you in deciding whether to invest in a financially healthy company?" Exhibit 2 compares the responses in the 2012 survey with those in 2011.
What is most striking is the dramatic increase in the importance of free-cash-flow yield, which has risen 12 percentage points since last year to take the number one spot. Also growing in importance are two related criteria: levels of return on invested capital (ROIC), which help to highlight the financial health of a business, and dividend yield, an indication of how much cash is returned directly to investors.
This rise is accompanied by a relative drop in importance of the criteria that the survey calls "management credibility" and "three-to-five year revenue growth." This is not to say that somehow the quality of a company's management team and its future growth prospects have ceased to be important for these investors. After all, both criteria are within 1 or 2 percentage points of the leader. However, at a time when many companies have become much more efficient in the aftermath of the global financial crisis (to the degree that in the U.S., corporate profits are at an all-time high), and when prospects for future growth have dimmed, a company's capacity to generate superior free-cash-flow yield is becoming an increasingly important indicator of future financial health. What's more, the fact that dividend yield has risen in importance signals that, as far as these investors are concerned, there is more than one way to deliver above-average TSR. One survey respondent put it this way: "Correct the identity crisis. It's OK not to be a growth company. A company can still generate a ton of value by getting valued properly, growing earnings strongly, and returning most of their free cash flow to investors."
This perspective becomes even clearer when we look at respondents' opinions on the use of a company's free cash flow. Every year, we ask respondents to rank their preferences for a company's use of excess cash. Exhibit 3 takes a longer view and compares the 2012 responses to those in our first survey in 2009, in the midst of the global economic downturn. As the exhibit makes clear, investments in organic growth remain the number one priority but barely rank higher than they did in 2009 (and significantly lower than they did last year). At the same time, strategic M&A has dropped 9 percentage points, perhaps reflecting growing concern about the riskiness of M&A in today's volatile economic environment.
What's more, in a world in which growth of any kind is hard to find, paying a higher percentage of free cash flow directly to investors in the form of dividends has become an increasingly important priority. This reinforces one of the key conclusions of last year's survey: investors want management teams to be disciplined stewards of capital—to strike a delicate balance between investing in profitable organic growth and returning excess free cash flow to shareholders.
The growing importance of dividend yield was also a consistent theme in the comments of the respondents to our survey, and they cited a variety of reasons for it. In a period of relatively modest average TSR (and low stock-price appreciation), dividend yield becomes a relatively more meaningful component of TSR. Or, as one respondent put it, "all else being equal in terms of value creation, a big dividend yield is like running a 100-meter dash, but I get to start on the 40-meter line." What's more, as previous BCG research has demonstrated, significant dividend increases that are sustained over time often strengthen a company's market valuation. "If you bring back the dividend constituency," said another respondent, "you bring back some of the confidence and some demand for a company's stock. And you put a floor on the multiple." Finally, increasing dividends can even benefit a company's growth agenda. "High payout ratios discipline management to focus its attention on the core business," one respondent pointed out. "It makes executives more creative in looking for growth without spending too much money and taking unnecessary risks."
Exhibit 3 also suggests that respondents in the survey prefer to see free-cash-flow distributions in the form of dividends rather than share buybacks. This is largely due to the fact that 69 percent of them believe that companies do a poor job of timing their share repurchases. "There are many companies that have a current market value well below the levels at which shares were repurchased in the last five to ten years," said one survey respondent. "For that reason, we are significantly more dividend focused."
It's important, however, to note that the aggregate survey findings mask some significant differences between investors who focus on U.S. equities and those focused on Europe. The fact is, the respondents see the two economies differently and, therefore, have somewhat different priorities.
Earlier this year, BCG drew attention to the fact that nine of the top-ten large-cap value creators in 2011 were U.S. companies. What's more, of the local stock markets in 40 countries, the only developed economy in the world with a positive TSR in 2011 was the U.S. (2 percent, according to the S&P 500, and 8 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average). This positive performance was in contrast to across-the-board declines in European equity markets.
So it makes sense that, even as they share a growing pessimism about the world economy as a whole, respondents also make a clear distinction between economic prospects in the U.S. and Europe. For example, half of the respondents who focus on U.S. equities believe that U.S. GDP growth will be in the modest but still relatively healthy neighborhood of 2 to 3 percent—and a full two-thirds of respondents who focus on non-U.S. (and primarily European) equities think so. By contrast, majorities of both groups think European GDP growth will be between 0 and 1 percent—and more than a third of respondents in both groups actually expect negative growth for Europe in 2012.
This divergent view of the two economies explains one of the more curious findings in Exhibit 3: some renewal of concern about the health of company balance sheets and a desire for companies to improve their cash positions. At first, we were surprised by this result—especially given the record amounts of cash on company balance sheets. The explanation came when we separated out the responses to this question from those who focus on European equities and compared them with those of last year. (See Exhibit 4.) The results suggest both a substantial flight from growth investments and a pronounced increase in concerns about shoring up company balance sheets. Once again, this is an indicator that the euro zone's continuing fiscal crisis is having a major impact on investor confidence and expectations.
What are the implications of our survey results for a company's strategy to deliver attractive and sustainable TSR? Clearly, investors are looking for companies with strong free cash flow and a growth agenda disciplined by relatively high dividend and buyback-payout ratios. In short, companies have to be excellent stewards of capital and strike a delicate balance between investing in growth and returning cash to shareholders.
For a number of years, BCG has been emphasizing the importance of clear alignment across a company's business, financial, and investor strategies. More than a third (37 percent) of our survey's respondents said that the companies they had invested in were well aligned across these three dimensions. That represents considerable improvement since 2009, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, when only 22 percent thought so. Nevertheless, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) continue to believe that the companies they were following or invest in were only "partly" or even "poorly" aligned. Imagine what they must think of the companies in which they have chosen not to invest.
We believe that four steps are especially important in defining a company's value-creation strategy in today's investment environment:
Transform the agenda. The respondents to our survey clearly believe that equity markets are entering a phase in which organic revenue growth, earnings growth, and share price appreciation will be considerably below the historic norm for a number of years. Companies can choose not to accept this new normal—but only if they transform their business model, competitive position, and value-creation strategy to drive stronger margins and organic growth that will deliver superior free-cash-flow generation and TSR.
Don't give up on growth. Because organic growth prospects are so limited, the transformation needs to include a rigorous review of the company's growth strategies. Do business units have realistic plans for where and how they will grow profitably in the future? Have they identified the full range of organic and acquisitive organic growth opportunities in what is likely to be a relatively low-growth economy? Executives must keep in mind, however, that investors want companies to be highly selective in growth investments. They are looking for disciplined growth, not growth at any cost.
Strike the right balance between growth investments and payout. At the same time, companies need to recognize that investors are expecting higher payout ratios and yields in today's low-growth environment. Getting the balance right between growth investments and cash payout and the resulting yield will be a critical value-creation challenge in the years to come, with major implications for a company's financial strategy as well as investor strategy and messaging.
Define a compelling investment thesis. As the above makes clear, the investor priorities reflected in our survey should be an important—but not the only—consideration in a company's investment choices. And yet, strikingly few companies have a coherent process for managing their investment choices to deliver attractive and sustainable TSR. By developing an explicit corporate investment thesis, much as professional investors do, a company can more effectively assess the tradeoffs among competing priorities and evaluate the performance of its investment decisions over time.
BCG will expand its consideration of these and related topics in our next annual Value Creators report, which will be published in the fall of 2012.
Download a copy of the complete findings to the BCG 2012 Investor Survey.
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text:
2007, new yearDecember 28th, 2007
I'm traveling and hanging out with some old friends right now, so I'll see you in the new year. Happy new year!
I'm traveling and hanging out with some old friends right now, so I'll see you in the new year. Happy new year!
Posted every Thursday On Sale Soon is a weekly series of the tickets going on sale that weekend.
Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim's, Fillmore, Warfield, and other Livenation venues. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. Bimbo's.
Not much going on sale this week.
On sale Sunday Dec 30:
1/14 Eek-A-Mouse, Pato Banton & The Mystic Roots Band @ the Independent
1/30 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals @ the Independent
Double check all information as venues and promoters often change on-sale times and days up until the last minute.
These are hilarious. Buffalax has taken some Indian music videos and "subtitled" them, not with the translations of what the lyrics are, but with Buffalax thinks the Hindi (or Urdu?) sounds like.
Another one after the jump.
This is the songs I've been most obsessed with in 2007. I have been doing the song obsessions weekly series since nearly the beginning of this blog, giving me a good record of what I've been obsessed with this year. Most of them (click to see full list) were among mentioned previously in the song obsessions series but some were before that time and some were other peoples obsessions that I then became obsessed with or some were just slow-burning obsessions (if there can be such a thing).
I'm not picking these songs; they picked me, getting jammed in some little nook of my brain that made me need to hear them many times, often on repeat. This list isn't simply my most played songs this year, though that does factor in–obsession requires a need to hear it again. I also take into account the urgency of that need initially and the urgency over the longer term. The level of my music evangelism of each song–that is, how much I wanted to tell others about it–also was taken into account.
In a way this is the third of my best of series of year-end "best of" 2007 pieces, after concerts and releases (albums, EPs, box sets).
The songs that I've been most obsessed with in 2007 in order of approximate level of obsession:
Jenda Wight – Luxury of Time (mp3) (available at artist's myspace)
Beatbeat Whisper – Lulu (mp3) (buy)
Magnolia Electric Co – Shiloh Temple Bell (mp3) (buy)
Or, the Whale – Call and Response (mp3) (buy)
The Lightning Bug Situation – Message To Myself After Franny was Born (mp3) (buy)
Port O'Brien – I Woke Up Today (mp3) (buy)
Mobius Band – Friends Like These (mp3) (buy)
Coconut Records – West Coast (mp3) (buy)
Octopus Band – Queen (mp3) (buy)
Kanye West – Everything I Am (mp3)
Madvillian – Money Folder (Four Tet Remix) (mp3) (buy)
Dr. Dog – Heart It Races (mp3) (buy)
The Berg Sans Nipple – Mystic Song (mp3) (buy)
Andy Samberg and Adam Levine (and Richard James) – Iran so Far (mp3) (buy the original Aphex Twin tune)
Listening back through this list I feel like I could get obsessed with each all over again.
Honorable mentions:
I think I'm out of lists for a few days now…
As I mentioned I would, I returned to KZSU this week to do two shows, my best-of show and my Christmas special.
I had a lot of fun. I was a bit rusty and made a couple technical gaffs–I thought most of those were behind me after 5 years on the air, but I guess not.
Anyway, if you want to list to them or check out the playlists, here you go:
I once was Canadian Best of 2007 (playlist)
12/19/07 I Once was Canadian Best of 2007 (mp3, starts during Vanderslice's "White Dove" and runs long)
3rd Annual I once was Canadian Christmas Extravaganza! (playlist)
12/21/07 3rd Annual I Once was Canadian Christmas Extravaganza! (mp3, starts during Darlene Love)
I'll return to the air Jan 3 and 10 in the late evening before (probably) resuming a regular show the third week in January.
No need to rely on my unofficial schedule (though you may still) as the official Noise Pop 2008 schedule is up on their site (though it's still partial).
Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I've collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their "song obsessions of the week." Quite often it's easy to explain why the song is good; it's much hard to explain why we're obsessed. Maybe you'll become obsessed with one of these.
Adrian (me):
Oh No! Oh My! – the Party Punch (mp3) (buy)
In preparing my best of 2007 list I was listening through some releases last minute and this one really stuck out. It' really good, quirky pop. I've been listening to the whole EP (all 5 songs, 15 songs) pretty obsessively with this song and "Oh Be One" being the leaders in obsession by a slight margin.
Hello Saferide – Long Lost Penpal (mp3) (buy)
My obsession with Swedish pop both current and past knows few limits, and when you add a female singer relating past teenaged angst through a darkly humorous filter … we'll just say multiple buttons have been pushed. This song takes its time setting up the listener but the reveal is certainly well earned.
Natalie K:
Okkervil River – Listening to Otis Redding At Home During Christmas (live) (mp3) (live, buy the studio version)
The version off of the Golden Opportunities Mixtape. I'm not one of those people that gets depressed during Christmas time, but there is something strange about going home when that's not really where your life is anymore. Fewer and fewer friends from high school make it back each year, or if they do, it's only for a few days and it's hard to get in touch. It's even weirder for me, because my parents moved into a new house when I was in college, so it's not even the place I grew up. But thankfully, I have three siblings that I've gotten closer to as I've grown up, which more than makes up for the lack of old friends coming home. I think this song perfectly encapsulates that strange feeling of calling someplace home when you're only there a week or two out of each year.
mewithoutYou – Messes of Men (mp3) (buy)
I realized a while ago that every time this song comes up on my shuffled iPod I play it back again at least two or three times. This happened again this week (only this time it turned into a dozen or so listens) and in the process I was reminded how much I love Aaron Weiss' vocals and lyrics. Though Brother, Sister isn't anywhere near as good as Catch For Us The Foxes [CFUTF is to my listening habits as Light Poles and Pines is to Adrian's— nothing can touch it on Last.fm], they really haven't ever put out anything that isn't solid. I don't know why this song in particular grabs me so much, though, only that for some reason just about every line in the song has jumped out at me
at one point or another… And then of course there's the chimes. I'm such a sucker for chimes.
Posted every Thursday On Sale Soon is a weekly series of the tickets going on sale that weekend.
Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim's, Fillmore, Warfield, and other Livenation venues. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. Bimbo's.
On sale now:
1/12 Zion I @ The Independent
2/13 Drive-By Truckers @ Mezzanine
On sale Sunday Dec 23:
1/27 Poison the Well / The Locust / Dance Gavin Dance / A Girl A Gun A Ghost @ Slim's
1/31 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals / Brandi Shearer @ Slim's
2/1 Mary Gauthier / Mark Olson (co-headlining) @ Great American
2/3 Lyfe Jennings @ The Independent
2/14, 2/15 Buckethead / Kid Beyond @ Great American
2/15 Tab Benoit @ Slim's?
2/21 Perpetual Groove @ The Independent
2/27 @ Jay Farrar @ Great American
3/26 k.d. lang with Dustin O'Halloran @ Palace of Fine Arts
Double check all information as venues and promoters often change on-sale times and days up until the last minute.
I'm back. I drove my car for the first time in four months and got a neat peek into what I was listening to on rotation in August 2007 from the car's six disc CD changer that I had left stocked with CDs and hadn't changed since.
Six CDs I was listening to a lot in August 2007:
Hmm. A number of those look familiar…
I'm on my way back to the Bay Area.
I'll be back to blogging soon enough, but make sure to listen to me on the radio later this week. Why don't you also peruse my lists?