text:
Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/DumZiBoT
- The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
Automatic or Manually Assisted: Both. I choose at every run.
Programming Language(s): Python. pywikipedia framework
Function Summary: Idea from Wikipedia:Bot requests#Incorrect Ref Syntax
Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Every time that a new dump is available.
Edit rate requested: I_don't_know. Standard pywikipedia throttle settings. Edit : from my test runs on fr:, from 5 to 10 edits per minute
Already has a bot flag (Y/N): N.
Function Details: Read User:DumZiBoT/refLinks. Please feel free to correct English mistakes if you find any, it is intended to be a runtime FAQ ;)
The script has been maually tested on fr, where I already have a botflag for fr:Utilisateur:DumZiBoT and ~40k automated edits. From the ~20 edits that I've made overthere, I've found several exceptions, which are fixed by now.
- Why am I requesting approval here instead of fully testing it on fr ?
- There is another concern on fr : most of the html titles I retrieve are in english, and I'm pretty sure that sooner or later, someone will have something against that. I must fully test it somewhere else, where english titles are fine, to be sure that my script is correct, technically speaking, before trying to solve any ideologic problems on fr ;)
- Besides, the bot owner community on fr is *very* small, and very un-reactive during these holidays. Developement and test runs will be far more effective here.
- Update : I eventually made a full run on fr.
- I may use this account occasionally to perform edits using the basic pywikipedia scripts. For now, I'm thinking about running interwiki scripts on Warning files generated from the French wiki.
Do you have an estimate of the total number of pages to be edited in the first full run on enwiki? Does your parser for the dumps match things with extra spaces such as
<ref> [http://google.com ] </ref>?
— Carl (CBM · talk) 21:50, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
- I can easily count this. I currently have troubles getting the last en: dump, so it will have to wait...tomorrow I'd say, but as an estimate, the number of pages to alter on fr is ~5500, not that much. For your second question, the answer is yes. NicDumZ ~ 23:05, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
I did another run on fr, longer this time : [1]. I had some rare encoding problems ([2]) which I need to fix, but everything seems fine to me. NicDumZ ~ 00:07, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
I was thinking about doing similar to this for a while, except my bot would have been tailored to placing {{cite news}} with most parameters (date, title, author) filled from the website? Any similar ideas? And will you be placing a comment notify editors that the title was automatically added (so they aren't left wonder why some of the links have strange titles)? I look forward to seeing your source code. —Dispenser (talk) 08:47, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- At first I thought about using {{Cite web}}, but some French users objected that using a rather complex template when the simple wiki syntax would do was unnecessary... The sole advantage of this is that the
accessdateparameter could be stated. (how would you retrieve an
authorparameter ?) Does that worth it ?
- Your comment idea was nice. I just added the functionality, thanks =)
- Are you checking that the link isn't inside a comment block? Some editors will comment out links. —Dispenser (talk) 18:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- I'm wondering if I should do it. I mean... A commented out "bad" reference might be converted into a commented out reference with an automated title. And... ? Is it a problem ? Does anyone have a problem with that ? NicDumZ ~ 19:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- I was merely asking if it would do something like this
<!-- [http://example.org] -->into
<!-- [http://example.org <!-- bot generated title -->title] -->, which yields title] -->. —Dispenser (talk) 20:02, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Now I see what you mean ! I forgot that case :( To avoid that problem, now the pagetext goes through wikipedia.removeDisabledParts(), which removes text inside
<pre>, <includeonly>, and <nowiki>markups and inside comments. Thanks ! NicDumZ ~ 22:17, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Now I see what you mean ! I forgot that case :( To avoid that problem, now the pagetext goes through wikipedia.removeDisabledParts(), which removes text inside
- I was merely asking if it would do something like this
- I'm wondering if I should do it. I mean... A commented out "bad" reference might be converted into a commented out reference with an automated title. And... ? Is it a problem ? Does anyone have a problem with that ? NicDumZ ~ 19:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Are you checking that the link isn't inside a comment block? Some editors will comment out links. —Dispenser (talk) 18:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- I will post my code in a subpage, before the final approval, but after a successful run-test.
- My scripts now also logs http errors in a file for me to check later the concerned pages with weblinkchecker.py NicDumZ ~ 12:21, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
I would definitely be interested to read through the code. I think that using {{cite news}} isn't a good idea, since in most cases you won' be able to fill in the detail. You could add the string "Accessed YYYY-MM-DD" after the link, inside the ref tags, without much trouble. — Carl (CBM · talk) 15:37, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- The {{cite news}} template would have to coded for each specific site. The ideal form would be to store this in a dictionary which would allow easy adding of new sites. Having proper citation would immensely help with dead link problem in citations.
- Ah ! No offense, but you don't seem to know what you're talking about. My bot will have to edit thousands of different websites : would you write a different handler for each website ? xD NicDumZ ~ 19:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- No, but I would write it for the 20 biggest that regularly remove content after a few month, especially those that block access to the Wayback Machine via the robots.txt. Some which I'd like to see are New York Times, Yahoo News, Reuters, The Times, Los Angeles Times. Most of these will probably use the same regex anyway. —Dispenser (talk) 20:02, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- I checked yesterday for NYTimes links. Happens that (rare) links which looks like http://www.nytimes.com/* could be easily parsed to retrieve an author name and a publication date. But the huge majority of other links http://select.nytimes.com/*, for example, don't appear to have a common format, nor to give the author on every article... NicDumZ ~ 08:11, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- No, but I would write it for the 20 biggest that regularly remove content after a few month, especially those that block access to the Wayback Machine via the robots.txt. Some which I'd like to see are New York Times, Yahoo News, Reuters, The Times, Los Angeles Times. Most of these will probably use the same regex anyway. —Dispenser (talk) 20:02, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Ah ! No offense, but you don't seem to know what you're talking about. My bot will have to edit thousands of different websites : would you write a different handler for each website ? xD NicDumZ ~ 19:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
An issue with JavaScripts in the HTML. Will
application/xml mime types be accepted? What about server that don't sent out any types? —Dispenser (talk) 10:03, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for this one. I saw it, but thought that it was some strange title. About the problem, I'm a bit... stuck. (By the way the source of the page, is... so wrong ! ) I don't think that I should ignore text inside <script> markups, should I ? NicDumZ ~ 13:29, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
application/xmlmime types links are ignored, same goes for server not sending out types. If you have examples of links where I *should* not ignore them, I can try to improve this behaviour. NicDumZ ~ 14:12, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
- I disabled the parts of the content checking in my link checker tool. Encyclopedia Britannica website was not sending out a content type, and most of them since fixed this. You should follow the W3C XHTML Media type recommendations. Again here are the problematic links
Dispenser (talk) 04:08, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks a lot for your help... !! I will add support for
application/xml, and
text/xmlmime types NicDumZ ~ 08:11, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
I encountered encoding problems with exotic charsets that BeautifulSoup couldnt handle properly (arabic charset windows-1256). I now try to retrieve charset from meta tags to give an accurate hint to BeautifulSoup : Problem solved for that particular charset. (
TODO: When able to fetch a valid charset from meta tags, convert document encoding by myself, and retrieve title with a simple regex. When no valid charset is found, keep the current behavior, i.e. parse <title> markups with BeautifulSoup, encoding is "guessed" by BS) NicDumZ ~ 13:29, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
- TODO was done. I now only use the lightweight UnicodeDammit module from BeautifulSoup to help with encoding : Performances have been greatly improved. NicDumZ ~ 21:38, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Is there any code to prevent the bot from download large file or extensions that are non HTML? Example. —Dispenser (talk) 04:08, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
I rely on a 10 seconds socket timeout.Pretty bad answer, wasn't it ? Sockets don't timeout when downloading large files. I now never download more than 1 Mb... (And download is only started when no content-Type Header was given or when content-Type header gave a valid mimetype) NicDumZ ~ 21:36, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Be careful if your querying the server with HEAD instead of GET, as some site break when using the former (ex: http://telegraph.co.uk/). —Dispenser (talk) 06:56, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
- Is there any code to prevent the bot from download large file or extensions that are non HTML? Example. —Dispenser (talk) 04:08, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
I also just implemented a soft switch-off : User:DumZiBoT/EditThisPageToStopMe. NicDumZ ~ 21:38, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Typically it is the talk page with
page.site().messages(which look for the "You have new messages" in the HTML), this way you don't need to check manually page. —Dispenser (talk) 03:38, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Not sure here. I also check for messages, but it is a bit different. I've encountered at least twice users who wanted to "+&*%#&//$öä#" DumZiBoT for some misunderstanding of its behavior, asking on the French VP for a community ban, and so on... without even trying to contact me. This solution has the advantage to give non-admin users the illusion that they *can* stop DumZiBoT, and calm down the "bot-haters". If I find abuses, I'll turn this feature off. NicDumZ ~ 08:11, 3 January 2008 (UTC) Also, this is only an easy latestRevisionId check.
DumZiBoT and deadlinks[edit]
How will you take case dead link such as those at User:Peteforsyth/O-vanish and special cases and redirecting to 404 page and the root page that are handled by my linkchecker tool? —Dispenser (talk) 18:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- I tested the behavior of my script on the three link examples given in User:Peteforsyth/O-vanish, log is :
fr:Utilisateur:DumZiBoT/Test : http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1144292109305320.xml&coll=7 No title found... skipping http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1142733867318430.xml&storylist=orlocal No title found... skipping http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/politics/index.ssf?/mtlogs/olive_politicsblog/archives/2006_08.html#170825 HTTP error (404) for http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/politics/index.ssf?/mtlogs/olive_politicsblog/archives/2006_08.html#170825 on fr:Utilisateur:DumZiBoT/Test [...]
- Both behaviors are fine to me, aren't they ? I guess that redirects to 404 pages will raise a 404, as the third link did, and that redirects to root pages will most likely raise 404 (when redirected because page is not available anymore), 301 or 303 (moved). But I do not deal with errors handling, servers do. NicDumZ ~ 19:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Here's a list I got from tool, these may pose issues for bots:
- These are not as common as 404 (9% of all links) but enough that it will be a problem (1-2%). —Dispenser (talk) 20:48, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for these. I tried, only two links are ignored, others are proceeded : See resulting page.
- These are not as common as 404 (9% of all links) but enough that it will be a problem (1-2%). —Dispenser (talk) 20:48, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Now, if an editor looks at the resulting page, he/she will see that refs #3 & #8 were not processed, and will most likely check and remove the links. Then, he/she will see that refs #1, #4, #5 and #10 have strange titles (including "session cookies", "login", "ressource secured", "Page not Found") and will check and remove them. That leaves invalid links contained in refs #6, #7, and #9 (#2 is correct)... Not bad for a script that is not intended to remove invalid links !! :)
- If, for some reason (high load leading to a timeout, strange restrictions) DumZiBoT does not process link (valid or not, that's not the question), it's fine. Chances are that at the next check, it will get converted. If not, well... bots also have limits ! :)
- Giving a title to a dead link which reflects that it is a dead link, without actually removing it, *is* fine. (e.g. ref #10, {...} - Page Not Found )
- Giving a normal title to a dead link (e.g. ref #9, FIFA.com) is not so good, but definitely not worse than having a bad refs AND a dead link without title :).
- What I must avoid is the last case : Giving an erroneous title (e.g. "Forbidden") to a valid link. I don't think that it has happened in my tests yet, and I can't think of an example that would trigger this... (Some page where my bot would get tricked in an Error while regular browsers wouldn't) But this is definitely the worst case :
- An user might think that the link is dead/invalid and delete it without actually checking it
- And it adds extra work to an user who would notice that the link is valid but not the title.
- NicDumZ ~ 22:17, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
- Here are the regex that my tool that you may find relevant:
- Now, if an editor looks at the resulting page, he/she will see that refs #3 & #8 were not processed, and will most likely check and remove the links. Then, he/she will see that refs #1, #4, #5 and #10 have strange titles (including "session cookies", "login", "ressource secured", "Page not Found") and will check and remove them. That leaves invalid links contained in refs #6, #7, and #9 (#2 is correct)... Not bad for a script that is not intended to remove invalid links !! :)
regreq = re.compile(r'register|registration|login|logon|logged|subscribe|subscription|signup|signin|finalAuth|\Wauth\W', re.IGNORECASE)
soft404 = re.compile(r'\D404(\D|\Z)|error|errdoc|Not.{0,3}Found|sitedown|eventlog', re.IGNORECASE)
directoryIndex = re.compile(r'/$|/(default|index)\.(asp|aspx|cgi|htm|html|phtml|mpx|mspx|php|shtml|var)$', re.IGNORECASE)
# Untested
ErrorMsgs = re.compile(r'invalid article|page not found|Not Found|reached this page in error', re.IGNORECASE)
- I haven't seen anything in your worst case. The closest thing I've seen is that a very few site actually give 404 errors for every page they serve up. I've also seen page that act completely wrong with a browser agent (sending a soft404) and perfectly fine with a bot agent. I've heard that some site give access to everything when the agent is googlebot. Like those entries you label 404/403 they don't do that in firefox. —Dispenser (talk) 10:03, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
(←) I'm worried about false positives with you regexes. What about pages like [18], [19], or [20] ? Their titles matches regreq or soft404, and yet they are valid. Or are you talking about checking the links where you are redirected with these regexes ? (Even here, what if a SSHlogin.htm is moved permanently to an other address, but with the same name ? 'SSHlogin.htm' does match regreq !) I do not understand everything... NicDumZ ~ 14:12, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
- The regex are designed to test redirects. They are designed to have low false negatives, but allow for false positives as the tool present them as possibilities. With your bot you would be writing an unwritten rule that external links that don't have a title are need to be fixed and replaced with a title. Additionally, the link title is the most significant keywords for finding dead links again. However, they're not of much use if the title simply states that the link is not found. —Dispenser (talk) 04:42, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- With your bot you would be writing an unwritten rule that external links that don't have a title are need to be fixed and replaced with a title : I understand your concern, but I can't delete links if I'm not 100% sure that the link is dead, that's what I was trying to say... A final human check before deletion, is, to me, necessary.
- Additionally, the link title is the most significant keywords for finding dead links again. However, they're not of much use if the title simply states that the link is not found.. I'm not sure how to understand this. If I "flag" a link in a reference, with e.g. 404 - Page not found from its html title, it's much better than leaving this link unmodified, isn't it ? NicDumZ ~ 19:06, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Sorry if this is disjointed. As your bot will leave 404 pages unmarked it will eventually give the impression that such links need to be reviewed. Second, (I do not recall this being written anyway) by not giving a title to a page it allows for a second pass by the bot at a later time. This allows for retrieval of the title if a site is being slashdotted. On the regex above are relatively accurate if you use them to check the redirecting URL, of course you need to test the first URL that the keywords don't appear. This will ensure consistency between errors and possibly the site will correctly forward all the old links. —Dispenser (talk) 06:56, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
French wiki got reflinks.py'ed[edit]
The last days, I ran several 1000 edit batches on fr, and eventually, the whole db got reflinks.py'ed. Still waiting, but for now I got signaled only
a single error 2 errors :
- [21]. It happened because the webpage linked uses characters from both utf-8 and windows-1252 charsets. From now on, these pages should be skipped.
- [22], for failing at handling correctly html comments. 'Fixed.
I guess that DumZiBoT is now ready for the big jump... NicDumZ ~ 10:19, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
Some comments, questions, updates, maybe ?
NicDumZ ~ 08:22, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
- Approved for trial (15 edits). βcommand 18:59, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
- Done : Special:Contributions/DumZiBoT :) 01:25, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
Trial went fine, I believe. We're discussing code improvements with Dispenser, but none of these improvements will alter significantly the bot's behavior : Do I need something else before getting fully approved ?
NicDumZ ~ 00:51, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
Source code[edit]
Is now available at User:DumZiBoT/reflinks.py.
Please edit it if you think that it needs improvements. I mean it. NicDumZ ~ 18:05, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
- I looked over the source code and made the following changes:
- Better link parsing (not perfect - http://example.org/j!;? will be prased as http://example.org/j!;)
- Functions for the replace link
page.get()cache the result so eliminated duplication
- All regex use ur which preserves the \ as is
- Removing more than scripts from the HTML, includes CDATA, and style tags
- 1,000,000 != 1 MB see binary prefixes
- convert HTML space entities to regular spaces (some site try to hide the Browser ID)
- Will check for messages after every edit (this comes at no additional cost)
- I haven't tested my changes. Still unsure about the method used in the cases where the link is not titled as it still changes the wikitext. With the bug mentioned in the first bullet would cause a loss of data. Should it be possible to simply skip the replacement in those cases? —Dispenser (talk) 22:34, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
- Thanks again.
- I had to correct a few minor syntax errors, and converting HTML entities is not necessary because that's the purpose of the next line
t = wikipedia.html2unicode(t), but you definitely improved my code. I quickly tested it on fr:, and as expected, it seems to be working.
- About your question the wiki is only edited if the links looks like "[1]", i.e. bracketed untitled links. It only edits to unbracket the link, which was the original behavior requested on Wikipedia:Bot requests/Archive 16#Incorrect Ref Syntax. NicDumZ ~ 22:57, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
- Bot trial run approved for 50 edits. ßcommand 05:17, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
- Done. By the way I've already run a trial, and your last edit summary, Betacommand, was somewhat confused ?! Looks like you've mixed up this request with that other one, haven't you ? :þ
- NicDumZ ~ 11:05, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
- So look those the edits and here are things:
- [23] Bot had missed ref since user added to many brackets, consider using [* ]* instead of [? ]?
- [24] All uppercase title don't look very nice and aren't as readable. Perhaps, if more than 80% of letter are upper change using title(). (Implemented a simple version already)
- [25] Bad title given. Seems to be related User-Agent sniffing, if you use a Firefox UA you'll deal with a different set of issues. The only sure fire method is to spoof googlebot.
- [26] Bad title "Sign In Page". Maybe there should be a black list for titles?
- [27] Bad title "Loading...", JavaScript redirect.
- I should mention that there two different URL matching methods the one with the bracketed which allows more characters an is simpler to implement and the non-bracketed which you've seen the regex for. Consider what parts you matching a simplification of your original would work well in most cases. I've also gone ahead an implemented limited soft 404 and redirect to root detection. This should ensure a much lower false positive rate than my tool ever had (its purposely inflated to catch those exceptional corner cases. —Dispenser (talk) 07:36, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
- So look those the edits and here are things:
(ident) Thanks a lot for your input. It was, as always, very, very useful... I'm somewhat running out of time these days, but :
- I have implemented a not-so-basic version to check for ugly uppercase versions. (if > 60%, if length>6). Funny that you caught this, it was in my TODO-list.
- I will now try to keep updated fr:Utilisateur:DumZiBoT/Test with your links, the last errors and borderline cases I find. Please feel free to add overthere links for me to check DumZiBoT's behavior on them : As you can see, your soft redirect detection/root redirect seems to be working quite efficiently:)
- I tried to spoof Googlebot UA. It seems easy ([28]), but unfortunately the website you found seems to be sniffing UA quite efficiently : all my tries resulted on the same title. The bot error page HTML page prints at the end "Your IP: x.x.x.x Browser: Python-urllib/2.5" : I'm afraid that this old python hack (november 2003) might not be working anymore to spoof UA.
- Using [* ]* seems way too risky (Think about internal links). Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but adding risks of fetching wrong urls just to correct some rare syntax errors does not seem to be the right way... ?! I don't really mind if erroneous links are skipped ?! Also, I can't afford to deal with *all* the cases... Users will have to correct their syntax errors themselves, don't you think ?
- Black list : Good idea, we'll have to be careful about false negatives...
- There's pretty much nothing that I can do for the Javascript redirect, isn't it ?
- I'm really sorry, but I read thrice the two first sentences of your last paragraph, I just... can't understand what you wrote, sorry... Could you *please* rephrase this for me ?
NicDumZ ~ 00:08, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
- I have modified the algorithm, it now checks for letters instead of characters and added a digit check to avoid titles such as RFC 1234. I'm unsure which is better as yours weight all lowercase characters against the string for version numbers and dates.
- The advantages and disadvantages to URL spoofing a browser User-Agent.
- Browser UA - Advantages to spoofing are assurance that the page is the same that is given
- Browser UA - Disadvantages include getting sign-in, ad-preview, and previews
- Bot UA - Advantages some website will give pay-for content so it appears on the search results, remove advertising, and make the website more bot friendly
- Bot UA - Disadvantages some webmasters hate bots and will do anything to hide themselves
- For your task I'd stick with a non-browser UA. It is probably a good idea to change the library's default UA, such that site can identify what your program is doing. Wikipedia for example block all python's default UA and ask people to use the name of bot. Give a URL to this RfA so people can read up on it.
- I only recommended GoogleBot since website need to allow it, but they operate from a fixed range of IP address.
- I tend to optimize too much stuff functionality in as few characters as possible. This creates all sorts of problems in maintenance (I have to complement your code, it's very clean). I saw that you were only matching inside ref tags in such a way that it wouldn't actually do any harm to change it.
- Here's a sample of registration title, All of these were pulled from my link checker which I think means that they're all redirect urls.
- There's just about nothing for JavaScript redirect short of a fully blown Engine.
- I've implemented a work around. Count the number of printed bytes in the page, if it is more than 2x larger than the title then the page contains more than just the title (and reprinted title).
- I type this up late at night so it tends to suffer from that. Because of the way you changed my link parser it now doesn't do it correctly. Of course this doesn't matter because its inside < > tags.
- Now lets take a look at edged cases for links. The characters
. , \ : ; ? ! [ ] < > " (space)are significant at the end of URLs. Observe
- There's just about nothing for JavaScript redirect short of a fully blown Engine.
URLs ending with .,\:;?!
Character that break the url from the title in the bracketed case are:
Due to the way text is processed the follow quirk happens when leaving out the space and using formatting:
Most parser not implementing HTML rendering will fail with these links.
- —Dispenser (talk) 05:14, 16 January 2008 (UTC), updated
- I've implemented the blacklist feature, Google allintitle: feature was useful to evaluating keywords.
- Additionally, I added some support for marking links as dead when the server returns with the rather obscure HTTP 410 code.
- As of now I see no significant reason why this bot request should not be approved. —— Dispenser 06:04, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
- One month and two successful trials. Time for approval, isn't it ? NicDumZ ~ 17:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
- bot Approved. βcommand 03:27, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.


text:
DETROIT (AP) -- U.S. sales of General Motors cars and trucks rose 6.3 percent last year as a strong lineup of new models helped the company make a comeback from its 2009 bankruptcy.
GM sold 2.2 million cars and trucks in 2010, nearly 131,000 more than the prior year, even though it got rid of four brands to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC.
The sales increase lagged expectations for the industry. Analysts expect that overall sales last year rose 11 percent as the economy slowly recovered and Americans felt more comfortable taking on hefty car payments.
GM is the first of the major car companies to report year-end U.S. sales on Tuesday.
The company's December sales rose 7.5 percent because of hot sellers such as the Chevrolet Equinox, a smaller SUV that seats five people. Equinox sales rose 80 percent.
For the year, the number of cars, SUVs and pickups sold in the U.S. will rise to 11.5 million, said Truecar.com analyst Jesse Toprak. In 2009, sales notched their worst performance since 1982 at 10.4 million. Sales reached 16.1 million in 2007, the final year before the Great Recession took hold.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
John Brown (Rhode Island)
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
|John Brown I
January 27, 1736
Providence, Rhode Island
|September 20, 1803
(aged 67)
Providence, Rhode Island
Slave trader
|James Brown III
Abigail Brown Francis
Sarah Brown Herreshoff
Alice Brown Mason
|James Brown II
|Chad Brown, ancestor
Nicholas Brown, brother
Moses Brown, brother
Joseph Brown, brother
John Brown Francis, grandson
John Brown I (January 27, 1736 – September 20, 1803) was an American merchant, slave trader, and statesman from Providence, Rhode Island. Together with his brothers Nicholas, Joseph and Moses, John was instrumental in founding Brown University (then known as the College of Rhode Island) and moving it to their family's former land in Providence.[1][2][3][4] John Brown laid the cornerstone of the university's oldest building in 1770, and he served as its treasurer for 21 years (1775 – 1796).[2][4] Brown was one of the founders of Providence Bank and became its first president in 1791.[1][2] He was active in the American Revolution, notably as an instigator of the 1772 Gaspee Affair, and he served in both state and national government. At the same time, he was a powerful defender of slave trading, clashing aggressively—in newspapers, courts and politics—with his brother Moses, who had become an abolitionist.[1][4] John Brown's home in Providence is now a museum and National Historic Landmark.[2]
Early life[edit]
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, on January 27, 1736, to James Brown II and Hope Power, Brown went on to own a successful farming and shipping business with his brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, and Moses Brown. He was active in the slave trade and China trade and invested heavily in privateers during the 1760s through 1780s. In 1775, during the American Revolution, John Brown sold the United States Navy its first ship, the USS Providence (previously, the Katy). Brown was named as a delegate for Rhode Island to the Continental Congress in 1784-1785 but did not attend.
American revolution[edit]
John Brown played a leading role in the Gaspee Affair of 1772 that increased hostilities between the thirteen colonies and the British Empire and helped catalyze events leading up to the American Revolutionary War.[5] He was an active Federalist and pushed against Rhode Island's anti-federalist, "Country Party" in getting Rhode Island to become part of federal union.
Providence, the first warship to sail for America's Continental Navy, was built in 1768 by John Brown. It was purchased by the colony of Rhode Island after British men-of-war began attacking Rhode Island's shipping lanes. The General Assembly ordered its committee of safety to fit out two ships to defend the lanes, one of which became the Providence. The ship — at one time under the command of John Paul Jones, considered the father of the American Navy — went on to participate in 60 battles and to capture 40 British ships before it was dismantled in 1779 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the British.[6]
Political activity[edit]
Brown was eventually elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1798 and served there from 1799 to 1801. Brown was the first person prosecuted under the federal slave importation laws in 1796.[7] John Brown died at Providence, Rhode Island on September 20, 1803, and is buried in the North Burial Ground there.
John Brown was also an active slavetrader. On March 22, 1794, Congress passed the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which prohibited the making, loading, outfitting, equipping, or dispatching of any ship to be used in the trade of slaves.[8] Subsequently, on August 5, 1797, John Brown was tried in federal court as the first American to be tried under the 1794 law. Brown was convicted and was forced to forfeit his ship Hope.[7]
Brown's involvement in the Triangular Trade in African slaves and financial contribution to the early years of Brown University's development are addressed in the official Response of Brown University to the Report of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.[9]
Business interests[edit]
Brown's business interests were varied. In addition to the slave trade he was involved in shipbuilding and real estate speculation. He was the founder of the Providence Bank - the first bank in Rhode Island, and organizer of the Providence South Bridge Company.[10] He was also a partner (along with his brother Moses Brown and Rhode Island Governor Stephen Hopkins) in the Hope Furnace (located in Hope Village on the border of towns of Scituate and Coventry, RI) which made cannons during the American Revolution and through the War of 1812.
Family ties[edit]
John Brown was a descendant of Chad Brown, a co-founder of Providence and early Baptist minister at the First Baptist Church in America following Roger Williams. His wife was Sarah (Smith) Brown (1738–1825).
John Brown's father was James Brown II (1698–1739) of Providence, and his grandfather was Elder James Brown (1666–1716), a pastor at the First Baptist Church; his grandmother by Elder James Brown was Mary (Harris) Brown. James Brown II established himself early in the mercantile business, trading in slaves, rum, molasses, and other goods. James Brown II married Hope Power (1702–1792), daughter of Nicholas, in 1723. They had six children. Mary Brown (1731–1795), the one daughter, married Dr. David Vanderlight. James Brown III (1724–1750), the eldest son, was a sea captain who died young. The other four children of James Brown II were Nicholas (1729–1791), Joseph (1733–1785), John (1736–1803) and Moses (1738–1836).[11]
John Brown's uncle was Obadiah Brown I (1712–1762) of Providence and son of Elder James Brown (1666–1716). Obadiah joined his older brother James Brown II (1698–1739) in the mercantile trade in cocoa, rum, molasses and slaves. Obadiah's initial role was as master of his brother's shipping vessels in the West Indies trade. After the death of James Brown II in 1739, Obadiah retired from the sea himself, but continued the business. He also helped to raise James' young children, later forming a partnership with James' four surviving sons as Obadiah Brown & Co. Obadiah died in Glocester, R.I. in 1762. In 1737, Obadiah Brown I married his first cousin, Mary Harris (1718–1805), daughter of Toleration and Sarah Harris. They had eight children. All four of the sons died in early childhood. The four daughters were Phebe (b.1738), Sarah (1742–1800), Anna (1744–1773) and Mary (b.1753). Phebe married John Fenner of Glocester, R.I., brother of Governor Arthur Fenner. Sarah married Lt. Gov. Jabez Bowen (1739–1815). Anna married her first cousin Moses Brown (1738–1836). Mary married Thomas Arnold (1751–1826).[12]
Another uncle was Rhode Island Deputy Governor Elisha Brown.
John Brown's younger brother, Moses Brown, was a notable abolitionist, and his brother-in-law and business partner, Jabez Bowen was a notable Rhode Island political figure. John Brown's nephew the philanthropist Nicholas Brown, Jr. is the namesake for Brown University. Brown's grandson, John Brown Francis was later a U.S. Senator and Governor of Rhode Island.
John Brown's son James Brown III was born on September 22, 1761 and educated at Harvard University where he graduated in 1780. In 1789 James was elected a member of the Board of Fellows of Brown University, and regularly attended meetings until his death. He never married, and died on December 12, 1834.
John Brown's daughter Sarah Brown Herreshoff (1773–1846) was married to Charles Frederick Herreshoff (1763–1819), an engineer derived from Germany. Their son Charles Frederick Herreshoff (1809–1888) and their grandsons, James Brown Herreshoff (1834–1930), John Brown Herreshoff (1841–1914) and Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (1848–1938) founded the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, a boat-building establishment in Bristol, Rhode Island.
See also[edit]
- ^ a b c "John Brown (1736-1803) Papers". Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division. 1995. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "John Brown". Gaspee Virtual Archives. April 2013 [originally posted 2003]. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ The Charter of Brown University (PDF), Providence, RI: Brown University, 1945, retrieved 27 January 2015
- ^ a b c "Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice" (PDF). Brown University. October 2006. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ "John Brown, American Raider on English Ship Gaspee". Gaspee.Info. Joseph Bucklin Society. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ Dujardin, Richard C. (April 16, 2011). "Replica of Sloop Providence sets sail again". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on 2011-04-20.
- ^ a b Coughtry, Jay; Schipper, Martin, eds. (1998). A guide to the microfilm edition of Papers of the American slave trade (PDF). Series A: Selections from the Rhode Island Historical Society. Part 1: Brown Family Collections. Bethesda, MD: University Publications of America. ISBN 1-55655-650-0. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ Finkelman, Paul (2007). "Regulating the Trade - U.S. Constitution and Acts - The Abolition of The Slave Trade". The Abolition of the Slave Trade. The New York Public Library. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ "Response of Brown University to the Report of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice : February 2007" (PDF). Brown.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
- ^ Allen, Richard Sanders (2004). Covered bridges of the Northeast (Dover ed.). Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. p. 78. ISBN 0486436624.
- ^ "James Brown II (1698-1739) Papers". Rhode Island Historical Society. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
- ^ "Obadiah Brown I (1712-1762) Papers". Rhode Island Historical Society. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
Further reading[edit]
- Charles Rappleye, Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2006).
External links[edit]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Brown (Rhode Island).
- United States Congress. "John Brown (id: B000927)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Encyclopedia Brunoniana
- Biography of James Brown and catalog of original manuscripts held by the Rhode Island Historical Society
- Biographical notes on John Brown by the Gaspee Virtual Archives
- Final report and other materials from Brown University's Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice reflecting on the university's historical relationship to slavery (including through John Brown and his family)
- Providence Journal (2006) article on the conflict between John and Moses Brown, from a series on Rhode Island's Slave History.
- John Brown's Mansion
- "Hidden in Plain Sight: Slavery and Justice in Rhode Island" - an address by Brown President Ruth J. Simmons at St. John's College, Cambridge University on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Act of Parliament abolishing the British slave trade[dead link]
|United States House of Representatives
|Preceded by
Thomas Tillinghast
|Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Rhode Island's at-large congressional district
|Succeeded by
Joseph Stanton, Jr.
- 1736 births
- 1803 deaths
- People from Providence, Rhode Island
- American people of English descent
- Rhode Island Federalists
- Brown University people
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island
- American slave traders
- People of colonial Rhode Island
- University and college founders
- Patriots in the American Revolution
- People of Rhode Island in the American Revolution
- American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain
- American proslavery activists
- Baptists from the United States
- Brown family
- Burials in Rhode Island
- Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives


text:
For all you tech junkies and Apple fans tomorrow is iPhone 5S day. Where we'll finally see Android's competition and what Apple has been working on for their new iPhone, not to mentioned that often rumored 5C. Last week Apple sent out invitations for a September 10th launch event full of pretty colors, and it's clear they want to offer customers more color choices. Just like Nokia, and now Google with the Moto X. Oh, and we can't forget about that colorful iOS 7 reboot.
It's possible we could see a full tablet refresh with the iPad as well, but for now we want to talk about the iPhone instead. At this time of writing we're not exactly sure what they have planned, but our friends at SlashGear have been covering every tiny piece of news. If all goes according to rumors we'll be seeing two iPhone's tomorrow, both which will rock dual-core processors and compete head to head with the new Moto X smartphone.
We know the comparison and competition argument is usually all about Samsung, but it's clear at this point the 5-inch quad-core, 13 megapixel camera rocking Galaxy S4 is in an entirely different league. Add in the fact we'll probably have multiple iPhone 5C color options for those who want variety, and it makes sense to compare with the Moto X instead. Either way, things are about to get exciting.
Recent leaks suggest the iPhone 5S will sport a newer and faster A7 dual-core processor, have an 8 megapixel f/2.0 camera, the same (but improved) awesome 4-inch "retina display" and can even record 1080p at 120 FPS. Finally we're hearing it will sport a fingerprint scanner (Motorola Atrix, anyone) and 250 hours of standby battery life.
The exciting part is about the newly rumored iPhone 5C. Which could stand for cheap, consumer, color, or just C. Bad name aside, the iPhone 5C is set to come in with tons of different color options. It won't be customizable like the Moto X, but we've seen gold, silver, blue, black, grey, pink, yellow and more. Just like the latest iPod Touch, Apple's set to offer tons of color choices to all you fans.
The difference here being the iPhone 5C will be built with plastic, instead of the lightweight durable aluminum of late from Apple. It also will be slightly thicker with a few tweaks to the design of the buttons and speaker grill down below. There won't be a fingerprint scanner, which is rumored for the 5S, but they've got to drive the price down somehow. Reports suggest the 5C will replace the 4S eventually, which means it should come in fairly cheaper than the 5S will.
So add in the 4-inch screen, dual-core processor, 8 megapixel f/2.0 camera, great battery life, and color options with the 5C, and the Moto X will have some strong competition. Considering it also has a dual-core Snapdragon processor and 2GB of RAM, a 10 megapixel camera, 4.7-inch 720p HD display, and a 24 hours of mixed usage battery claim. These devices will be fighting head on.
How will Android fare against the latest slew of Apple devices? Just fine. We've been hearing the impressive Moto X will actually be dropped $100, to around $99 on-contract, which will compete heavily against both new iPhone options. Then of course we'll still have the HTC One, Galaxy S4, and massive Galaxy Note III to take care of the rest of the world's needs.
We cant forget the upcoming Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat, which hopefully are both coming soon too. Tomorrow will be an exciting day as we're always looking forward to taking a peek at the competition. Because in the end competition is needed, and we welcome the challenge. Oh, and Apple will also "invent" the colorful smartphone too.


text:
There are 80 alumni chapters in the U.S. and one in London. They are a great way to build personal and professional networks by discovering the paths of your fellow alumni. Active participation in your local chapter will result in new relationships and opportunities. And of course, W&L people know how to have fun! Our Alumni Chapters are organized by zip codes. Most alumni are automatically assigned to a chapter based on their home address. If you are not already receiving communications about chapter events, please access Colonnade Connections and update your contact information.
Chapters are named after metro and geographic areas, entire states, and larger regions that combine multiple states. After you've located the chapter nearest you, contact the Chapter President or Alumni Affairs Office to see how you can get involved.


text: Share Your Story: Dale Wakasugi by Anne S. on Monday, December 9, 2013 Dale Wakasugi Woodbury, MN I am alive today because Lindsay, a high school student, had recently completed CPR and AED training. I collapsed refereeing a local high school basketball game in 2007 and Lindsay ran out of the crowded stands and started CPR and used the AED while others called 911. My story could have ended tragically if this courageous high schooler didn't have CPR and AED training. I am a two-time sudden cardiac arrest survivor. I was saved by the use of an AED and again 3 years later by my ICD, both advanced technology that without, I would not otherwise be here today. My father passed away in 1980 at age 53, the exact age I am now. He suffered cardiac arrest and did not have access to a portable defibrillator. As a former pharmaceutical/biotechnology employee, I understand and appreciate the value of advanced technology from research and development and the role it plays in today's world of cardiology. Please continue supporting research in the area of heart attack, stroke and heart disease. It is critically important to those who may benefit down the road and increase survival in this #1 killer. I am here today living as a husband, father, brother, friend and advocate because I was fortunate enough to survive sudden cardiac arrest. « Now share your story Share This


text:
Balancing Risk and Reward in Your Job
We often hear risk versus reward discussions in the investment realm, but they can exist in our careers as well. Below are a few scenarios that may help to identify your tolerance to this type of risk.
The Short but Dangerous Job
Images of Sig Hansen and crew working their crab pots come to mind. These men often make significant amounts of money quickly, but the work can be grueling and loss of life is always a possibility.
The Far Away Job
Work assignments in distant locations often force the tradeoff between time away from family and higher potential earnings. What value do you place on seeing everyday life moments or tucking your kids into bed each night?
The Far Away Dangerous Job
A combination of the previous two types of jobs, an example of the far away dangerous job was covered in depth when myinvestingblog.com profiled a friend who was offered $290,000 per year to work in Iraq, performing the same job for which he was being paid $60,000 per year in the U.S.
The Startup Job
Working for a startup can get you in on the ground floor of a budding company. You may trade long hours and lower pay for company stock, which could potentially explode in value in the future. The downside is the possibility of failure for the business.
The Part-Time Job
Working part-time gives you more free time to spend with your children or to devote to other interests. For that freedom, you may have to give up more than just a portion of your potential earnings, as few part-timers are eligible for company benefits.
All of these examples present different tradeoffs. Depending on the value you place on money, time, and other intangibles, you might decide that any of these scenarios are worth it. A young, single worker would likely consider completely different jobs than an older married worker whose spouse's job provided benefits.
Which of these scenarios would you consider?
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Comments (0)
- Recent
- 2015
- 2014
- Archives z


text:
Share Photo
Kaufman county law enforcement vehicles are shown parked across the street from the county courthouse, rear, Monday, April 1, 2013, in Kaufman, Texas. Law enforcement officials throughout Texas remained on high alert Monday seeking to better protect prosecutors and their staffs following the killing of county district attorney whose assistant was gunned down just months ago. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)


text:
Arrow of God
by Chinua Achebe
Character Role Analysis
Ezeulu is the main character. His actions or reactions drive the plot. Though we like Ezeulu and sympathize with him, he is something of an anti-hero. Like Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, who fights to keep kids from growing up so they can maintain their innocence, we recognize something pure and true in Ezeulu's desire to keep his people on the straight and narrow path of Igbo cultural norms and spiritual truths. Nevertheless, we also recognize that maybe he has some control issues, and that he is fighting a losing battle. Ironically, he contains the seeds of his own destruction within himself.


text:
The Latest: Murray faces foe he once told 'no one likes you'
August 26, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open, which starts Monday (all times local):
5:10 p.m.
Andy Murray is facing a first-round opponent at the U.S. more »»
US Open top seeds Williams, Djokovic coming off injuries
August 26, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams is "starting to feel a little better." Novak Djokovic is "getting there."
The U.S. more »»
The Latest: Murray resting up for US Open after Rio, Ohio
August 26, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open, which starts Monday (all times local):
3:35 p.m. more »»
The Latest: Nadal says left wrist still isn't 100 percent
August 26, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open, which starts Monday (all times local):
3:10 p.m. more »»
AP source: Chiefs safety Berry reporting to camp Sunday
August 26, 2016
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — All-Pro safety Eric Berry plans to report to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, giving him two weeks and one preseason game to prepare for the start of the regular season. more »»
Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress charged with DWI in Dallas
August 26, 2016
DALLAS (AP) — Texas Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress, who was suspended twice as a minor leaguer for violating drug rules, has been arrested in Dallas on a drunken driving charge. more »»
Del Potro could loom in US Open 1st round for seeds
August 26, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — When the U.S. Open draw sets the first-round matchups, a top player could find himself with a daunting task. more »»
SAfrican judge denies appeal for harsher Pistorius sentence
August 26, 2016
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African judge on Friday dismissed an appeal by prosecutors for a harsher sentence against Oscar Pistorius who was found guilty of murder for killing his girlfriend in... more »»
Ryder Cup comes into view at FedEx Cup
August 26, 2016
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — The FedEx Cup is all about the $10 million bonus at the end of the four playoff events. more »»
Moore loses no-hitter with 2 outs in 9th, Giants top Dodgers
August 26, 2016
LOS ANGELES (AP) — After losing his no-hit bid with one out to go, Matt Moore just smiled. more »»
Romo gives Cowboys scare as Seattle rolls past Dallas 27-17
August 26, 2016
SEATTLE (AP) — Three plays were all it took for Dallas to get yet another injury scare surrounding Tony Rom. more »»
Giants' Moore loses no-hit bid with 2 outs in 9th vs Dodgers
August 26, 2016
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Moore of the San Francisco Giants has lost his no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning on a soft single by Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. more »»
Man gets house arrest for trying to extort ex-football star
August 26, 2016
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A quadriplegic man who admitted to trying to extort money from former Ohio State star and NFL player Christopher "Beanie" Wells has been sentenced to a year of house arrest... more »»
Cowboys' Romo leaves after getting pulled down awkwardly
August 26, 2016
SEATTLE (AP) — Dallas quarterback Tony Romo lasted just three plays in Thursday's preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks after getting pulled down from behind by Cliff Avril. more »»
Wainwright loses and game, too, as Mets beat Cardinals
August 26, 2016
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Slugger Yoenis Cespedes turned out to be a nifty slider, to. more »»
LEADING OFF: Ruiz joins Dodgers, Wright returns to Red Sox
August 26, 2016
A look at what's happening all around the majors Friday:
Carlos Ruiz is set to make his debut for the Dodgers, a day after them got him in a trade of... more »»
Catcher swap: Phillies send Carlos Ruiz to Dodgers for Ellis
August 26, 2016
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Carlos Ruiz from Philadelphia in a trade of popular backup catchers Thursday, getting a player with a world of postseason... more »»
US swimmer Lochte's legal troubles mount in Brazil
August 26, 2016
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police charged American swimmer Ryan Lochte on Thursday with filing a false robbery report over an incident during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. more »»
Reed, Laird share early lead at Barclays
August 25, 2016
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Patrick Reed didn't break anything Thursday except par. more »»
Browns trade linebacker Barkevious Mingo to Patriots
August 25, 2016
CLEVELAND (AP) — Barkevious Mingo never really fit in with the Browns.
The Patriots will try to find an ideal spot for him.
A major disappointment in Cleveland, Mingo, the No. more »»


text:
Stock Information
|Fiscal Year-end
|March 31
|General Meeting of Shareholders
|Record Dates for Dividends
|Stock Exchange Listings
|Number of Shares per Trading Unit
|100 shares
|Shareholders' Register Manager for Common Stock
Shareholders' register manager:
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited
4-1, Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
The Account Management Institution at which special accounts of the Company have been opened;
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited
4-1, Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Contact Address:
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, Stock Transfer Agency Department
8-4, Izumi 2-chome, Suginami-ku,
Tokyo 168-0063, Japan
TEL: 0120-782-031 (toll free within Japan)
|Depositary and Transfer Agent for American Depositary Receipts
|JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, Floor 58,
New York, NY 10005, U.S.A.
Contact Address:
JPMorgan Service Center
P.O. Box 64504
St. Paul, MN 55164-0504, U.S.A.
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Ratio: 1 ADR = 1 share of underlying stock
Ticker symbol: HMC
Note: With respect to taxation and other matters relating to the acquisition, holding, and disposition of the Company's common stock or ADRs by non-residents of Japan, please also refer to "Item 10E. Taxation" of Form 20-F included in the "Investor Relations" section on our web site.
As of March 31, 2015
|Number of Shares Authorized
|7,086,000,000 shares
|Total Number of Shares Issued
|1,811,428,430 shares
|Breakdown of Shareholders by Type
|Major Shareholders


text:
My granddaughter is a Girl Scout Daisy and it was my understanding that the contest didn't start until Saturday. But I saw pictures in the paper today of some troops that had already started. Is that fair that they get to start before the contest officially starts?
- - -
I was reading the paper tonight and I don't think it's fair that the one Daisy troop painted their window on Sunday when the competition of the contest doesn't start until next Saturday. I have a daughter also in Scouts. Most of the group I know, in fact all of them, will not paint their window until Saturday. I don't think it's right that ones painted theirs a week in advance.
Kudos to Mike Jensen for putting the facts about Hillary Clinton in the paper. She's always out there electioneering. Her ideas are wrong, wrong, wrong and I do mean wrong.
I absolutely agree with Mr. Heckemeyer's letter when he says our judicial system should be protected from political influence. But I wish he had been clear about where he stands on this St. John's Levee issue. I saw in SpeakOut where somebody said he was against it, but that's not what I read. He didn't really say. I want to say that I am against it. It's just another way to spend the taxpayers' money and lots of it! They've admitted it won't stop the flooding so why are we doing it? Spend, spend, spend, that's all these politicians know.
I was taking a walk and these two dogs came charging at me and my daughter, out of a yard at the house next to the Dolly Madison building. There was a lady that came driving up in a gray car and she was so nice to us. I just want to thank her. As for the owners of the dogs that were in the yard, you need to keep your dogs tied up because me and my daughter were almost killed.
The last time we had a Clinton in the White House, we went from a deficit to a surplus. It's going to take another Clinton to make that happen again.
This is to all the Webmasters for the Sikeston Public School System. I wish the various schools would update their Websites. I like to go on there to find out information about my child's school. Several of the websites have not been updated.
When I hear so-called Christian men point to their version of the Bible for "proof" of the superiority of men over women, it brings to mind an old saying, "The Devil can quote scripture to suit his purpose." These men harbor an irrational fear of powerful women and suffer from a severe case of infantile genitalia.
Oh, come on, Mike. Calling someone a partisan idiot just because they disagree with your ragging on Hillary Clinton tells me you need to get a grip. However, these are trying times for Republicans, and I can understand why you're losing control of yourself.
I'm glad to see Tony Heckemeyer is still around giving the local politicians fits. I wish he was still on the radio. It's fun to see so


text:
by Jim
(Augusta, Ks. U.S.A.)
2003 100th Anniversary Harley Davidson Sportster 2003 XL1200C Anniversary
The 2003 100th Anniversary Harley Davidson Sportster for Sale is a 2003 Harley XL1200C Sportster that has new tires (installed at the start of last year's riding season),fresh oil and plugs changed, brakes changed in the middle of the 2012 riding season, Screaming Eagle exhaust pipes, forward controls, luggage rack mounted on Quick Release back rest, Stock Anniversary edition seat and a wider HD seat, Harley Sportster soft saddlebags with custom mounts and last but not certainly not least; I had the carburetor modified to eliminate the sputter when coming out of a corner and then I bought a bigger bike.
This bike has never been laid down (to my knowledge, I am the second owner) and I would trust it to ride to Sturgis and back with no problems.
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER CLASSIFIED AD INVITATION.


text:
Translation of tea dance in Spanish:
- té (masculine) bailable or danzanteExample sentences
- Running in conjunction with the celebrations is the 19th Day of Dance next weekend which will see 51 dance, music and song workshops, a family ceilidh on Saturday evening and a tea dance on Sunday afternoon.
- A creative writing workshop will be held in Brownes Road Library on Tuesday next May 18th and an afternoon tea dance will take place in Carrick-On Suir on Sunday 23rd May.
- It is also profoundly touching when the Wallflowers and the Dream Girl, three adolescent girls, sit, bored and uncomfortable, eager and afraid, hoping to be chosen at a tea dance.
Definition of tea dance in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
Grammar and usage help for Spanish:
= trending


text:
ZYWICKI: Durbin regulations are aimed at your wallet
The Washington Times
ZYWICKI: Durbin regulations are aimed at your wallet
The Durbin amendment seeks to regulate interchange fees on debit transactions. This fee is an element of the price a merchant pays whenever a consumer uses a credit or debit card. It partially compensates the cardholder's bank for the cost and risk of offering payment cards to consumers such as clearing costs, billing and collection, fraud recovery and customer service. In a provision reminiscent of Soviet-style economic planning, the Durbin amendment requires the Federal Reserve to determine interchange transaction fees for debit that are "reasonable and proportional" to the "actual cost" to issuers with respect to the transaction.


text:
Grizzly Bear Mascot Tote Combo
Grizzly Bear Mascot With ToteMCTGBR
In Stock - 1 business day processing+shipping
Sale Price: $719.99 set
Was $791.99, You save 9%
Roar with excitement over this grizzly bear mascot!
This Grizzly Bear Mascot Tote Combo features a brown grizzly bear with a fan in it's head that comes with a black nylon tote bag. The black tote bag measures 34 inches high and has a 29 inch opening and holds two mascots. Each tote bag has a backpack type strap with a clip top closure that includes a zippered pocket for feet and mitts.
Mascots fit men and women measuring 5 feet 2 inches tall to 6 feet 2 inches tall.
A custom color change is available on this mascot for an additional charge.
Please allow ample time for delivery. Our ship date for this product is noted in your shopping cart. Many items are shipped separately, so please allow extra time for these items to arrive. Shipping charges are based on the value of the merchandise and not the number of shipments. For additional shipping information, contact our Customer Service Department at (firstname.lastname@example.com or 1-800-527-4499).
Recommended Products
People who viewed "Grizzly Bear Mascot Tote Combo" also viewed


text:
STARmeterSEE RANK
Down 25,462 this week
Tanedra Howard
Tanedra Howard was born on August 15, 1980 in Inglewood, California, USA as Tanedra Reniese Howard. She is an actress, known for Saw VI (2009), Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010) and Filmmakers Anonymous (2014). See full bio »
Born:in Inglewood, California, USA
More at IMDbPro » Contact Info: View agent


text:
Reviews and ratings of local lawyers.
Post a review of your attorney.
Learn when to hire and how to choose the right attorney.
Browse articles and Q&A on different legal topics.
Starting from $39 - Local, qualified attorneys offer fixed-fee legal services.
For $39 talk directly to a top-reviewed lawyer on the phone using Avvo Advisor. Get your questions answered in a 15-minute call.
Get started
Post an anonymous question on our forum and get free advice from multiple lawyers.
Create your legal document in minutes. Add your details, save your work, and invite others to add their electronic signature.
Not yet reviewed
Avvo Rating: 6.7
Licensed since 1997
Avvo Rating: No Concern
Licensed since 2009
Practice areas & skills: Bankruptcy & Debt, Business, Contracts & Agreements, Litigation
Avvo Rating: 6.5
Licensed since 1979
Licensed since 1995
3.0 stars 2 reviews
Licensed since 1998
Review: "Don't understand other review. Ms. Bowman was awesome for me and my family. She has handled several matters for us from family law to real estate. She came through for us. From the first time we met her, we have b...
Practice areas & skills: Real Estate


text:
Definition of spooky in English:
adjective (spookier, spookiest)informal
1Sinister or ghostly in a way that causes fear and unease: I bet this place is really spooky late at night
More example sentences
- Jigsaw has locked a bunch of strangers in a spooky old house with nerve gas slowly killing them off.
- The less said about the spooky music and creepy lighting the better.
- The effect is uncannily scary and spooky - you can almost hear the bones rattling.
eerie, sinister, ghostly, uncanny, weird, unearthly, mysterious;
frightening, spine-chilling, hair-raising
informal creepy, scary, spine-tingling
- Example sentences
- Indeed, movies seemed spookily to have pre-reacted.
- The deep, humming major chords of this track suggest the forces of order being spookily restored, as cops storm ranch houses, kids plead innocence, and the eight-minute ambient-house track follows the teens right into the defendant box.
- The odd, wandering vocal melody appears and disappears spookily.
- Example sentences
- It almost seems too emotionally manipulative for a horror show, it doesn't truly rely on scares or spookiness, just loss and pain and the suggestion of mental illness.
- In addition, the new Asian horror movies blend their supernatural spookiness seamlessly into modern contexts.
- It is a shame that this material was cut out of the picture; it sounds very intriguing, and could have added a layer of spookiness and mysticism that could only have enriched the final product.
Words that rhyme with spookyadzuki, bouzouki, fluky, kabuki, kooky, pukey, saluki, Sukie, Suzuki, verrucae
For editors and proofreaders
Syllabification: spook·y
Definition of spooky in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
= trending


text:
Shore Leave
1,852pages on
this wiki
this wiki
Season : 6
Episode: 5
Directed by: Alex Zakrzewski
Written by: Elwood Reid
Production Number:
Airdate: 26 October 2008
Date of Crime: September 8/9, 1951
Previous: Roller Girl
Next: The Dealer
External Links
IMDB Site
The remains of a marine who was thought to have gone AWOL while on shore leave back in 1951 are discovered in an an oil drum at a toxic waste dump. The detectives talk to his former comrades and learn he may have been killed trying to help a friend.
Main CastEdit
- Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
- Danny Pino as Scotty Valens
- John Finn as John Stillman
- Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera
- Thom Barry as Will Jeffries
- Tracie Thoms as Kat Miller
Guest CastEdit
- Wilson Bethel as Jimmy Tully
- Nicholas Braun as Lenny Snow (1951)
- Maria Cellario as Nora Lee (2008)
- Matthew Florida as Max Heidhorn (1951)
- Max Gail as Ray Lisi (2008)
- Richard Herd as Gene Karnow (2008)
- Rich McDonald as Hal Chaney (1951)
- Rebecca Mozo as Nora Lee (1951)
- Charles Napier as Hal Chaney (2008)
- Conny Van Dyke as Sue (2008)
- Kenneth White as Lenny Snow (2008)
- Luke Askew as Max Heidhorn (2008)
- Reid Collums as Gene Karnow (1951)
- Preston James Hillier as Shore Patrol #1
- William Jones as Steve Tully
- Adam Leiphart as Ray Lisi (1951)
- Unknown actress as Sue (1951)
- Stephen Blackehart as Lt. Putnam (uncredited, deleted scene)
- Terrance Carter, Marlene Bradford and Damont Henderson's case boxes are visible when Kat Miller puts away Jimmy Tully's case box in the case room.
- Vaughn Monroe "Sound Off"
- Peggy Lee "If You Turn Me Down"
- Keely Smith and Louis Prima "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah"
- Melvin "Sy" Oliver "Go, Man, Go"
- Nat King Cole "Mona Lisa"
- Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats "Rocket 88"
- Closing Song: The O'Neill Brothers "Taps"


text:
Recycled Percussion combines beats, humor and athleticism
You've seen them on NBC's "America's Got Talent," now YOU can play along…
LIVE at The Quad in Las Vegas. Grab drumsticks and an instrument as you enter the theater, or just kick back and watch the most exciting show on the Strip!
Post a comment
You must sign in before you can post comments. If you are experiencing issues with your account please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Web Suggestor Toolbar is a frustrating adware that spoil your windows system without your consent. It installs without any manual intervention together with the free programs that you download either from any harmful source or from any anonymous website or torrent. Apart from the appearance actions that it does, it also tracks the browsing tendency of the PC users and collects their secret materials to relocate them to cyber criminals or so, who exploit that information for their own benefit. It is shaped so cleverly that it could easily dig out the faults in your computer. Once they are discovered, it makes ways for the other malevolent infections or threats to get into the system and mistreat it ruthlessly. You will observe that the performance of your computer system will degrade tremendously and its swiftness too is slowing down. When you seek to connect your PC through internet via any network, that too will increase issues because of restricted accessibility. All of your windows system resources will be negotiated and crucial characteristics or capabilities of the computer will be deactivated1. computer tools like Task Manager, Registry Editor and others will not be active at all and you won\'t be able to use any of those simply. So, what are you digging around? Just free download Web Suggestor Toolbar Malware Scanner from below and remove this malicious adware from your computer system before it hinders its security and integrity any further.
How to detect if PC is infected with Web Suggestor Toolbar?
Usually, malware's get into the PC using several tricky ways without your knowledge or permission. They try their best to hide themselves and remain undetected by the security programs. Noticing its malicious effects on the PC you can easily find the super group to which they belong to. But in order to know the exact threat and its location in the PC it is very important that you scan your PC for the same. Now the question is which scanner to use in these conditions which can effectively detect each and every traces of any threat that can attack the PC.
Advice: Well, we have tried several scanners in this regard who claim to effectively detect the potential threats in the computer system but most of them have failed to keep what they claim. So, after lot of research and experimentation our computer experts have picked up the most powerful and effective malware scanner that really works. So, just download it from the link provided below and scan your PC for free.
Powerful malware scanner that comes with Malware Scanner, FREE to try and effectively removes upcoming lethal PC threats effortlessly from Windows system.
Complete Removal Instructions for Web Suggestor Toolbar – Virus Removal Guide!
Option 1: Automated Web Suggestor Toolbar Removal
Option 2: Manual Web Suggestor Toolbar Removal
Perform all the steps in the order it is mentioned. If you have any question or doubt at any point while performing these steps then 'STOP' and ask for assistance.
Option 1: Automated Web Suggestor Toolbar Removal
Automated removal of this malware is really very simple and effective. Just follow some easy steps and your PC is free from any potential threat reside in your PC along with the targeted threat.
- Step 1: Reboot your PC in 'Safe Mode with Networking'.
Read here for complete information on different options of 'Safe Mode'.
- Step 2: Download and install Web Suggestor Toolbar Malware Scanner.
To read the complete installation guide and removal steps, see User Guide.
- Step 3: Fix web browser options starting from its settings to other stuffs by downloading CCleaner.
For complete installation guide and working of CCleaner by Piriform, see how to use CCleaner.
- Step 4: As a final step 'Restart' the PC in normal mode and see if it is working normally.
Option 2: Manual Web Suggestor Toolbar Removal
Step 1: – Start your PC in 'Safe Mode with Command Prompt'.
Step 2: – Remove related program from 'Control Panel' using 'Add/Remove' feature.
NOTE: To represent Web Suggestor Toolbar, we used the term 'Unknown' here. Be aware that it may also use other names or terms.
Step 3: Remove from Mozilla Firefox
- Open Firefox and type 'about:config'? in URL bar and hit 'Enter?'.
- Enter ?'keyword.URL'? in the search box, right click and select '?Modify'?.
- Reset this parameter by leaving the box empty or setting something different from what it set.
- Next enter ?'browser.search.defaultenginename'? in the search box and reset it to your favorite search engine.
- Now type ?'browser.search.selectedEngine' in the search box and reset it to something different from what is set
- Last but not the least, search for 'browser.newtab.url?' and modify it to 'about:newtab'.
- Restart Firefox to complete the removal process.
Step 4: Remove from Google Chrome
- Start Google Chrome, click on '?Wrench' or 'Bar'? icon in the top right corner.
- Choose 'Settings' > '?Search' > 'Manage Search Engines?'.
- Next select your preferred search engine and click on 'Make Default'.
- Restart browser after completion.
Step 5: Remove from Internet Explorer
- Start the IE and select '?Tools'?(from Top Menu) > '?Internet Option'?.
- Click 'General' tab > '?Change Search Defaults'? > '?Settings'.
- Now select your preferred provider and click ?'Set as default'.
- Restart browser.
Protect PC from Future Malware Attacks!
You should always take good care of your Windows system because it is something that you use quite often and you want it to be safe and secure so that you can work on it properly. So, to avoid any future intrusions from any malware you must follow or take some precautions and keep PC safe and healthy. Some of the basic things that you can do are ?
- Turn on Safe Browsing feature of the browser you use.
- Update security program in a regular basis.
- Use a powerful Firewall to block any incoming connections from malicious hosts.
- And various similar.
To know more on how to avoid future malware attacks & boost PC protection, read – Tips & Techniques to Boost PC Protection Against Malware?s.
Powerful malware scanner that comes with Malware Scanner, FREE to try and effectively removes upcoming lethal PC threats effortlessly from Windows system.


text:
"It was tough to come out and play a good team with a short bench," East Prairie head coach Steve Stokes said. "We definitely played them with everything we had, and we hit everything hard, but right at them today. I had a few get hurt earlier this week in a game, so today's lineup was a totally different look than we've had yet.
"We held on to them, They just put it in play and hit the ball extremely well. I'm proud of us for how well we hit the ball."
Oran held the home team to just three hits, as nearly every ball that was hit was on a line, but right at the Oran defense.
Oran, however, pounded out 13 hits in route to the win, with the top three of the lineup providing some damage, accounting for eight of the 13 total hits.
Leadoff hitter, Jodi Urhahn, was 2-for-4, with two singles, three runs scored and a stolen base, Taylor Irwin was 3-for-4, with two singles, a double, two runs scored and four RBIs, while Amanda Williams also went 3-for-4, with three singles, four RBIs.
All nine spots in the lineup recorded at least one run in the game.
On the East Prairie side, the three hits came off the bats of Grace Swann, Mallory LaPlant and Stephanie Morgan, who each recorded a single.
On the rubber, East Prairie's Adalyn Woodard was given the loss, giving up 13 runs, on 13 hits, three walks and recorded one strikeout.
Oran's Claire Seyer took the win, throwing all five innings, giving up zero runs, three hits, four walks and recorded three strikeouts.
"I'm proud of the win," Oran head coach Sara Heisserer said. "It's great to be building towards the end of the season. Districts are just a week and a half away, and we're hitting the ball really well up and down the lineup."
The win improves the Oran squad to 11-2 on the season, and will have them hosting their district tournament.
"Districts will be at home," Heisserer added. "That will be good for us. There's several good teams in our district."
Oran will play again on Saturday, making up a rain-out game from earlier in the season with Chaffee. The game is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Oran.
East Prairie's next competition will come from Twin Rivers on Monday afternoon. The game is in East Prairie and is scheduled for 4 p.m.


text:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — U.S. Paralympics announced that the 2014 Warrior Games will take place Sept. 28 – Oct. 4 utilizing venues at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and theAir Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
The competition for wounded, injured and ill service members and veterans was created in 2010 by the USOC, in partnership with the Department of Defense and United Service Organizations (USO), to create competitive sports opportunities for injured service members and to enhance awareness about the impact and need to create sustainable physical activity programs for thousands of injured members of the Armed Forces at the community level.
"The USOC is incredibly humbled to have played a small role in providing our nation's heroes with competitive sports opportunities through the Warrior Games, and more importantly, by significantly enhancing the availability of sports programming for injured service members and veterans with physical disabilities throughout the country," said Charlie Huebner, USOC Chief of Paralympics. "These programs could not have been accomplished without the generous support of private sector sponsorships with Deloitte, AT&T, BP, Semper Fi Fund, The Fisher House Foundation, The Daniels Fund and USO, along with outstanding commitment from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force Academy and local community and military leaders."
The competition has become a springboard for many service members and veterans to continue participating in sports programs in their communities after the event, with many having gone on to compete at the national and international levels.
About 200 service members and veterans are expected to compete in seven sports (archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track & field and wheelchair basketball) over six days in 2014. Five teams representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations Command will select their own rosters; each team will be comprised of 40 athletes.
The Marine Corps team has won the Commander's Cup, the award given to the team that earns the highest overall points in competition, for four years running.
The 2014 competition will also feature the Ultimate Champion, an individual competition comprised of five events.
All Warrior Games competitions will be free and open to the public. Additional details will be provided in the coming months on the U.S. Paralympics website, USParalympics.org and the Warrior Games Facebook page.


text:
Kuly from RDB passes away; huge blow to bhangra music and bollywood
Soul musician and singer of popular Brit-Asian bhangra group RDB (Rhythm Dhol Bass), Kuly Ral, has passed away under causes suspected to be cancer. The Punjabi DJ production team that brought together brothers Kuly, Manj, and Surj, travelled extensively to bring their music to the world. The brothers were best known for blending western genres with traditional Punjabi beats and vocals and were behind such popular chartbusters as Shera Di Kaum Punjabi from 'Speedy Singhs', Yamla Pagla Deewana, and Aloo Chaat. Their latest Bollywood song, Sadi Gali from the film 'Tanu weds Manu', was an instant hit amongst the Indian youth and continues to be played in nightclubs around the country.
Kuly played a large role in driving RDB to conquer both the UK and the Indian bhangra industry. The hip-hop bhangra band that collaborated with international artist Snoop Dogg and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, will sorely miss the charismatic singer who was an inspiration to many British Asian musicians.
Kuly's death is a huge blow to the Punjabi music industry and has affected celebrities and fans alike. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar tweeted: "Just heard about Kuly from RDB`s sudden demise. Still reeling from the shock of the news. RIP." Svee Kaur Bains, an RDB fan from Vancouver, said: "So sad and what a tragic end. I hope it draws attention to the illness. May God rest his soul and help his family. 2012 has lost too many music greats!"
Kuly's death comes in the wake of recent plans by RDB to open a studio in India. The band had earlier expressed its desire to be more involved in making music for Bollywood. Band member Surj said: "Bollywood market has always opened its doors for different kinds of music and our band's sound was adored. I must say Bollywood is one of the biggest markets for our kind of music. Our music goes out to places where we would not expect it to reach."
Here's another amazing track/video from the RDB brothers:


text:
Sigma Pi Fraternity has been invited to join the Fraternity and Sorority community at the University of San Diego. The history of the Epsilon-Chi Chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity at USD dates back to April 16, 1983. The chapter has a history of excellence which includes winning Sigma Pi's national Triad Award in 1984 and 1986 and winning a Grand Council award as a top 12 chapter of Sigma Pi in 1986.
In collaboration with the university and with the help of our alumni, Sigma Pi will be returning to campus in January of 2014. Our staff will be on campus throughout January and February recruiting the founding fathers that will create their own fraternal experience at USD.
Becoming a founding father of Sigma Pi Fraternity offers students a unique way to access collegiate life. The chance to build a brotherhood of students who will work alongside one another creates bonds that go well outside the classroom.
If you are interested in becoming a founding father of or if you would like to recommend a man for membership, then please complete our interest form below or contact our staff:
Connor Schwalm
Senior Expansion Consultant


text:
Alzheimer's Disease
Maybe you've faced Alzheimer's disease in your family or the family of a friend. As many as 10 million baby boomers will eventually be diagnosed with this disease that wipes out memory in a slow inexorable process. Life (Part 2) looks closely at the disease from a number of perspectives-including those of a brilliant and inspiring woman who is now experiencing the early stages of the disease-and the families who must do the caregiving.


text:
Prince Hints at Heartbreak with New Song 'Da Bourgeoisie'
Did Prince get dumped for a lady? The artist posted a new song to his official Twitter account this week called "Da Bourgeoisie," and its lyrics hint at heartbreak: "I guess a man is only good for a rainy day," he sings. "Maybe you're just another bearded lady at the cabaret."
While his Tweet didn't address any personal blues, it did clear up the title: "'Da Bourgeoisie' is the title of the new song, not Ray Charles, Bearded Lady or anything else prejudicial," it said. "No mammals were harmed during the recording of this track."
The song is the most recent in a string of playful new releases that the Minnesota-based singer has dispensed through social media: Other new songs, "Breakfast Can Wait" and "The Sweeter She Is," were posted to Twitter this fall, as well as a music video and cover art for the former (the cover art features comedian Dave Chappelle dressed as Prince and holding a stack of pancakes).
In October, he and his band 3rdEyeGirl released a remix EP called "The Breakfast Experience" and celebrated with a pajama dance party at his Paisley Park Studios, located in the Minneapolis suburbs. The event, which was open to the public and cost $50, included the debut of his new music video, a live performance and pancakes.
The 55-year-old artist hasn't indicated plans to release a new album, but the possibility shouldn't be ruled out. Throughout 2013, he's remained just visible enough to keep fans guessing, shifting between large festivals and intimate concerts with 3rdEyeGirl and longtime backup band New Power Generation, and releasing new material often without notice and for free.
On Dec. 3, the Numero Group will release a book-and-disc compilation, "Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound," that sketches the cultural history behind the city's music scene before Prince rose to fame in the late 1970s. Watch a trailer for the set here.


text:
Overseas Filipinos Remittances for Development Project: Building a future back home
Jojo delos Santos is a 47-year-old father of two from Bohol province, in central Philippines. Each year, Jojo leaves the warmth of his family to spend seven cold months in the Arctic Ocean working as a cargo ship engineer. Jojo is typical of the phenomenon that is the Overseas Filipinos Worker (OFW), now estimated at 10 million and deployed in 197 countries. Most OFWs are motivated by economic reasons to ensure that their families have a better life – food on the table, education for the children and over time a house, a car, other amenities of comfort and leisure, and some investment.
"With the money I've earned after many years of working abroad, I was planning to buy a house and lot so we no longer have to rent a small place. This house will also be big enough for my kids and their own families when they get married," Jojo says. His wife, Alice, is a high-school teacher, and is unemployed. Jojo adds "I also want to start a tutoring school for my wife for students who want to pass college entrance exams. It's a nice idea because my family doesn't have to depend entirely on the money I send, and it can help high-school graduates get into college as well."
It would have been ideal to put earnings from working overseas to savings and investments, but like most OFW families, Jojo's family has been caught in the consumer spending trap. Money he had sent home was spent on needless luxuries. Rather than investing in the future, Jojo's remittances bought an expensive car, mobile phones, and trips out of town. Although his wife managed to set aside a small sum for the tutorial school, she lacked the training and thus, the confidence to run it.
- An average of 3,700 Filipinos leave daily either to work abroad or migrate permanently, making this sector the country's top dollar earner in the last two decades.
- UNDP and Western Union launched the Overseas Filipinos Remittances for Development: Building a Future Back Home (OFs-RED) Project with the Philippine government to tap the potential of overseas remittances for local economic development.
- With pooled overseas remittance going to development, the investments are expected to stimulate a flurry of economic activity, especially among the poor.
An average of 3,700 Filipinos leave daily either to work abroad or migrate permanently, making this sector the country's top dollar earner in the last two decades. Overseas Filipinos often work as doctors, physical therapists, nurses, caregivers; accountants, IT professionals, engineers, architects, technicians, teachers; entertainers; military servicemen; seafarers; and domestic helpers. The Philippines is now the 4th largest recipient of foreign remittances behind India, China, and Mexico. An estimated 20% of all Filipino households receive remittances. In 2010, Overseas Filipinos sent home US$ 18.76B –an enormous amount that remains to be tapped for development.
The consumption spending mind-set needs to change. Overseas remittances offer a huge potential of producing a multiplier effect that might stimulate the economy.
Remittances for Development
On April 5, 2011, UNDP and Western Union, the global leader in money transfer services, launched the Overseas Filipinos Remittances for Development: Building a Future Back Home (OFs-RED) Project with the Philippine government to tap the potential of overseas remittances for local economic development.
The OFs-RED project believes that overseas remittances taken collectively could become a powerful driver of development, with emphasis on investing in economic opportunity. On another hand, the public policy landscape must encourage investment and ownership of income- generating projects must lie with migrant workers and communities. The project will thus support the creation of an enabling environment to encourage OFs to save and invest. In partnership with local governments, two pilot sites will test a model that will channel collective remittances into job-generating ventures rather than the usual donations to charities, waiting sheds, or basketball courts that already abound in the country's rural areas.
OFs-ReD will identify business ventures that OFs could choose to invest in. Ventures will focus on essential social services that support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).There will also be opportunities for those willing to invest in agricultural businesses, including cottage industries and microfinance organizations.
These ventures will be financed by a collective remittance fund earmarked for the OFs communities. UNDP will also be working to raise the national and local capacities of local governments in managing the project. OFs families will learn financial literacy and the benefits of savings and investments.
Providing Jobs for Family and Community
With pooled overseas remittance going to development, the investments are expected to stimulate a flurry of economic activity, especially among the poor. Many OFs come from this sector and the lower-income classes, and by pooling their remittances, they can be empowered to leverage their interests in the economic arena. In the end, this will be a very meaningful outcome of their hard-earned money – a feeling of reassurance that may well keep Jojo warm during those long, cold months at sea.
Related News
- 19 Jun 2014:PHL Human Development Report wins 2014 outstanding book award
- 05 Mar 2014:21,000 Swiss Show Solidarity with the Philippines at 11th Annual Football Match Against Poverty
- 21 Oct 2013:UN exec supports Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, says conditional cash transfer breaks cycle of poverty


text:
New York Renaissance
Enshrined 1963
One of basketball's first true dynasties, the all-black New York Renaissance moved the ball around with such wizardry and deception that their opposition were often rendered helpless. From their founding in 1922 to their disbanding in 1949, the fancy-passing Rens barnstormed throughout the country making easy work of their opponents. While named for Harlem's Renaissance Casino, the second-story ballroom which served as their home court, the Rens rarely played uptown. Since no existing pro league would accept a black team into its ranks, the Rens were forced to barnstorm. Despite facing discrimination in virtually every city and in every arena, the Rens won more than 2,000 games. In one remarkable 86-day stretch during the 1932-33 season, the Rens won 88 straight games.
Career Highlights


text:
QT Axes Jambi: Possible Future as Community Project?
The coming March release of QT Jambi will probably be the last. QT Software will discontinue support for the Java version.
Jambi is a QT port to the Java programming language. With the release of version 4.5 in March, development will officially end with QT Software concentrating its resources on the cross platform C++ Toolkit QT.
Following the release of version 4.5.0_01 in March 2009, developers will maintain Jambi for one year, and in a move designed to encourage the community to continue with the further development, it will then be made available under the LGLP license on the QT website. QT Software is promising to host and maintain a community-driven Jambi project.
Paralell to the announcement, QT Software released a Technology Preview of QT Jambi 4.5.0_01 complete with a Tar.gz-archive. In addition, a special mailing list will be created to collect feedback on the current version: email@example.com.
QT vs. QtThanks for the hint, of course it should be Qt throughout the text.
QT what?Is this QT thing that you are going on about (QuickTime, an Apple product) in any way related to Qt (a Nokia set of libraries and development tools that work on a few different platforms)?
Issue 191/2016
Buy this issue as a PDF
LinuxCon North America Convenes in Toronto, Canada
Linux Foundation's big event celebrates the 25th anniversary of Linux
Linux Turns 25
Linux has evolved from a "won't be a professional" project to one of the most professional software projects in the history of computers.
Mirantis Joins Hands with SUSE To Offer RHEL Support; Red Hat Not Happy
Competitors get in the game with RHEL without Red Hat
Linux on Windows 10 Poses a Security Risk
Security researchers have already notified Microsoft; some fixes are available
Mirantis to Refactor OpenStack Fuel for Kubernetes
The company is collaborating with Google and Intel to use Kubernetes as an engine for Fuel
Canonical Joins Document Foundation Advisory Board
The upcoming release of LibreOffice will be available as a snap package
SUSE Joins the Microsoft Test Drive Program
Customers can take a free test drive of SLES for HPC on the Azure Cloud
SiFive Launches a Line of Open Source Chips
San Francisco-based chip company announces their first fully open source chip platform.
Fedora 24 Released
The whole distro gets rebuilt on glibc 2.3
Canonical Announces Cross-Distro Support for Snaps
Ubuntu Vendor tries to solve app packaging and distribution problem across distributions.


text:
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
More ways to enter for a mystery prize
I've been watching out here in Australia for gifts for winners of one of the Mystery Prizes from Down Under. Today, I added 3 more opportunities to add your name for the drawing. Go on over to my travel blog, Tell Me When to Pack, and throw your name in.
One Response to "More ways to enter for a mystery prize"
Opera House Sydney 6: At first I thought my pick would be the one with a clear blue (cloudless) sky, but when I viewed the photos enlarged, this one is my clear choice. Great pics, Noel! :)
Leave a Reply


text:
Arsenal Message Board
We're a little over two weeks before the start of the season, rivals have strengthened, the pick of the talent has been hoovered up by ambitious clubs. And the team beaten by Blackburn and Bradford before squeaking into the Champions League has stood still. Again.
The noises emanating from Emirates Stadium may have been all the right ones to cajole fans as their season ticket renewal forms dropped on the doormat. But, within the inner sanctum of the transfer bunker - where we know there to be at least £70million burning a hole in the floor - the sound of the famous fax machine whirring into action has been conspicuous by its absence.
There have, of course, been bids, big bids. But one by one, targets have slipped away when Arsenal were laughed out of the negotiation room. Bullied, out-muscled and outfought. In some cases, they weren't even outbid, yet still lost out.
Stevan Jovetic, flirted with, bid for, negotiated over... then watched move elsewhere. Gonzalo Higuain, the same. Wayne Rooney, Jackson Martinez, Edinson Cavani, Radamal Falcao, Robert Lewandowski are all or have all been on the market this summer. So too was Yaya Sanogo, but luring an out-of-contract, injury prone Under 20 international from the second division in France is a very different ball game.
Even Tottenham have managed to spend £50million.
Every summer starts with the promises of available funds and ends with second rate acquisitions. The change of tact this time feels like nothing more than posturing to appease fans.
'At least we tried this time, they just wouldn't sell. But I am happy with the belief in my squad,' says Arsene Wenger in early September. Probably.
Arsenal didn't win the lottery, the vast transfer fund didn't just suddenly appear overnight. So why the poor planning? Why the scattergun approach to centre-forwards? Is there a good enough support network to Wenger? And until something, or someone, changes in the dugout or the boardroom, expect little different.Sort: Newest | Oldest | Most Replied Expand all replies
FABONGRASS FABONGRASS Aug 1, 2013 17:41 Flag
Patience is a virtue Govinda, patience is a virtue!
- 1 Reply to FABONGRASS
Inter city Inter city Aug 1, 2013 19:20 Flag
Yeah right, and your boyfriends not lying when he tells you size doesnt matter little Pixie woofter!


text:
IQ Derma Ageless Free System Review
IQ Derma Ageless Free System is a French brand that was introduced to US market fairly recently. The IQ Derma Ageless Free System consists of an anti aging serum and an anti- wrinkle cream, the system proved to be an effective anti aging treatment. If you are interested in this product, you can try it free 30-day trial and see if it works for you.
IQ Derma Ageless Free System claims to
-reduce wrinkles
-moisturize your skin
-reflect the sun light, so it doesn't cause sun spots
-great alternative to Botox
- contains great key ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and matrixyl 3000
- great at diminishing large pores
- proved to be effective anti aging system
- improves skin's tightness
- over priced product
- you need to use both products to achieve greater results.
It's a good product with impressive key ingredients, but I wouldn't purchase it. It's too expessive, there are products with the same key ingredients that are cheaper and works as good as IQ Derma Ageless Free System. I suggest you to take the advantage of the offer of 30-day free trial
Check out my reviews of the best anti wrinkle cream. You may also check out Elite Serum


text:
On a winding road at night, Adaptive Headlights move in harmony with the bend ahead: the beams of the 5 Series Gran Turismo's headlights stay on the road, and the light beam is adapted according to the vehicle's speed. The high-beam assistant recognises oncoming vehicles and automatically switches the headlights from high beam to low beam. When driving in the city, the Bi-Xenon headlights are lowered to better illuminate the road immediately ahead without dazzling oncoming drivers. And when driving at higher speeds, the headlights are raised to increase visibility. The result: outstanding illumination and a more relaxed driving experience.
BMW Security VehiclesBMW X5 Security BMW X5 Security Plus