text:
A. M. Castle & Co. (NYSE:CAS)
Q3 2010 Earnings Call Transcript
November 4, 2010 11:00 am ET
Usman Ahmed – IR, FD Ashton Partners
Mike Goldberg – President and CEO
Scott Stephens – VP Finance, CFO and Treasurer
Edward Marshall – Sidoti & Co.
Tim Hayes – Davenport & Company
Mark Parr – KeyBanc Capital Markets
Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the A.M. Castle & Co. third quarter 2010 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following today's presentation, instructions will be given for the question-and-answer session. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded today, Friday, November 5, 2010. I would now like to turn the conference over to Katie Pyra with FD. Please go ahead.
Usman Ahmed
Good morning. Thank you everyone for joining us for A.M. Castle's 2010 third quarter conference call. By now, you should have all received a copy of this morning's press release. If anyone still needs one, please call my office at 312-553-6731 and we'll send you a copy immediately following the conference call.
With us from the management of Castle this morning are Mike Goldberg, President and CEO; and Scott Stephens, Vice President of Finance and CFO. As a reminder, this call is being recorded.
Certain information relating to projections of the company's results that will be discussed during today's call may be characterized as forward-looking under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially.
Additional information concerning these factors is contained in the risk factors section of the company's most recent Form 10-K and other reports and filings with the SEC, and also in the cautionary statement contained in today's release. The company does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements.
This presentation also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures in an effort to provide additional information to investors. All non-GAAP measures have been reconciled to the related GAAP measures in accordance with SEC rules. You will find the reconciliation in the financial information attached to today's release, which is available on the company's website at www.amcastle.com under the Investors tab and in the Form 8-K submitted to the SEC.
And with that, I'll turn the call over to Mike Goldberg. Go ahead, Mike.
Mike Goldberg
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us on today's call. I will start with a recap of our third quarter highlights, and comment on the current business environment, share our outlook for the year, fourth quarter and beyond. And after that Scott will speak to our third quarter year-to-date results in greater detail and then we will obviously have the Q&A session.
As you have seen from the press release, third quarter consolidated net sales were $244.9 million, or 33.1% higher than the third quarter of last year. The company reported net income of $0.1 million for a quarter or break even on an earnings per share basis, compared to a net loss of $6.3 million or $0.28 loss per diluted share in the third quarter of 2009.
Third quarter net sales in our metals segment rose by 34.7% to $218 million, compared to $161.8 million for the same period last year, primarily driven by stronger sales volumes as tons sold per day were up 30.5% from the comparable period last year.
The larger sales increase were in our alloy and carbon bar products, primarily reflecting continued improvement in our general industrial and our oil and gas markets. Sequentially, third quarter metals tons sold per day were up 1.6% versus the second quarter.
Net sales for our plastics segment were $26.9 million, an increase of $4.7 million or 21.2% over the third quarter of 2009. So, as we look back upon the third quarter, it was a real study in contrast. As you remember from the last call, we started 2010 with four constitutive months of growth. Then business activity slowed at the end of the second quarter, and we recorded sequential declines in volumes in May and June.
The decline continued in July, and in fact July matched January as the weakest month of 2010 from a volume perspective. After July, we saw business activity pick again. In the metal business daily volumes increased sequentially from July to August, and from August to September, and our September volumes were actually the best that we have recorded thus far in 2010, and the best since February of 2009.
Somewhat difficult to explain all the ups and downs, but we think that the lack of inventory in the manufacturing and supply chain is the likely cause of this variability of demand.
From a product volume perspective, the market for carbon and alloy bar showed the most strength in the third quarter, and lead times from their suppliers continues to extend. The mills are seeing strong order books and most of the key bar markets are also forecasting better results into 2011. Stainless bar has not been as strong, but there are pockets within the specialty grades where lead times are extending as well.
Pricing in the general market place increased slightly in the third quarter, and we saw increases in carbon and alloy bar and low pricing, whereas plate remained stable. Scrap surcharges rose a bit in the third quarter, but we expect it to drop in the fourth. Nickel pricing moved higher throughout the quarter.
The third-quarter gross margins were consistent sequentially with the second quarter. The market remains highly competitive, particularly in aerospace where aluminum heat-treated plate is still in oversupply and will likely remain so for at least the first half of 2011. Our plastics business also saw sequential improvement in volumes in August and September, and in fact our plastics backlog in September was the strongest since late 2008.
In general, customers remain cautiously optimistic. Few customers are predicting rapid or significant mid-term growth, but most expect 2011 to be better than 2010. With that said, we expect our business to grow moderately next year. Destocking has ended except in aerospace, but most customers continue to purchase only to fill immediate needs and not hedge for the future.
Now I will make some specific end-market comments. First, I will talk about our general industrial business. Overall, we saw strong third-quarter pickup for long [ph] products, and a modest recovery for plates compared to the second quarter. Customer inventory seem to be back in balance.
Looking at specific markets, heavy equipment continues to improve. The construction equipment business is stronger, especially in earth moving equipment. Demand from the semiconductor industry is increasing, and so positive impact on stainless aluminum plate consumption for the third quarter. Underlying demand appeared to be improving in the heavy truck and mining end markets. And in the UK, business remained strong in the nuclear [ph] segment. The outlook for crane and lift segment, which serves commercial construction and municipal projects remains weak.
Next 1'll move to oil and gas, another market where we have seen a pick up from second quarter levels. Customer sentiment continues to be very positive and business activity is the strongest it has been since early 2009. Customer inventory levels are currently long, and lead times have expanded for many products. The prices have risen slightly with more significant price increases expected in '11.
Now onto aerospace. In the commercial aircraft business, the airlines are seeing a pickup in demand and better conditions to upgrade their fleets. Passenger and cargo traffic has now surpassed the pre-recession levels of early '08. Numerous production rate increases have been announced over the past several months in response to these improving market conditions. Although we have not yet seen any direct significant impact on activity levels, we believe that our presence across a broad range of commercial platforms will benefit Castle as the aerospace recovery continues.
Business in general aviation sector is improving, but remains slow and severely overstocked. Our defense-related aerospace business remains relatively strong and current projection still call for a slow ramp up of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program reaching full-scale production in 2016. Lead time for heat-treated remains short and capacity continues to exceed demand.
Aluminum continues to be overinventoried, and industry sources expect destocking to continue into next year. So as a result the market is extremely competitive and gross margin recovery to historical levels will continue to be a challenge for the near term. Aerospace demand for non-aluminum products, nickel, titanium and alloy is strong, and the supply chain appears in good shape.
Finally, a few words about our plastics business. Activity has been relatively good with particular strength in the office furniture and semiconductor markets. Automotive remained strong. The general industrial markets there are also improving.
Moving on to make a few additional comments on our critical business developments, throughout 2010 we have continued the tight focus on inventory reduction. As of September 30, we are ahead of our plan on our turnover improvement, and our core plate, oil and gas and plastics businesses have returned to historical inventory levels, and aerospace is the one area with a continued overhang. And our team is continuing to make progress in bringing inventories back in line, and by early 2011, we expect the overall DSI number to be approaching historical levels.
Also in the quarter, we are very pleased to report that we have a new contract with the United Steelworkers that covers our Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City plants. And this contract goes through September of 2014.
We continued to make good progress on safety. Year-to-date through September, we have had just 4 recordable safety incidents resulting in lost time versus 9 for the same period of last year. Activity seems to be picking up on the M&A front. Strong balance sheet, low debt level position positions us well to explore very strategic acquisitions. So we continue to look for those opportunities to increase our investment in the complementary products and services for our targeted end markets on a global basis.
Before I hand things over to Scott, I like to make a few comments about our outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond. The fourth quarter is traditionally our slowest quarter due to fewer shipping days, and various customer shut downs. We expect underlying demand in Q4 to be similar to Q3 levels, but the reduction in total actual shipping days in Q4 will have an impact. So as a result, we expect to see overall sales revenue to decline somewhat for Q4.
As we think about 2011, we and everyone else are still looking for that catalyst that will spark significant revenue growth. In the absence of that catalyst, most experts predict continued slow and modest growth. So looking at the macroeconomic data, GDP is expected to grow 2.9% in 2011, up from 2.4% in 2010, and overall industrial production is expected to grow 4.1% next year.
So while these numbers are not as strong as past recoveries, they do show that the recovery still has a lot to go and a lot of life left in it. Year-to-date through the third quarter, we experienced 12% revenue lift compared to 2009. As we said earlier, we believe that this economic recovery will continue at a modest pace into next year, and at this point we would expect next year's revenue growth to be similar to what we have seen this year.
In this environment, we will continue to focus on managing our costs, balance sheet and our capital deployment. Longer term, we remain very optimistic about opportunities for growth in our key markets, not only in 2011, but well beyond.
So I will turn things over to Scott now to give you a more detailed review of the numbers.
Scott Stephens
Thank you Mike. Good morning everyone. I'll start with a summary of our third quarter and year-to-date financial comparisons, and then provide some commentary on our balance sheet and cash results through September 30.
Consolidated third quarter sales of $244.9 million, were $60.9 million or 33.1% higher than the third quarter of last year. In the metals segment, we reported third quarter sales of $218 million, which was 56.2% or 34.7% higher than last year. Overall tons sold per day were up 30.5% versus the prior year.
Sequentially, third quarter metals segment sales revenue was 2.2% higher than the second quarter on a 1.6% sequential increase in quarterly volume. On a year-to-date basis, metal sales are now 11.3% through September and tons shipped are up 11%. We talk often about the late cycle nature of most of our customers' businesses, and the impact that has on Castle's revenue cycle lagging the trends of the general industrial economy and PMI. This lag cycle is evident in our quarterly year-over-year metals volumes trends for 2010, where Q1 volumes were down 10.9% versus prior year. Q2 volume was up 20.6% over prior year, and now Q3 was up 30.5% over Q3 2009.
On the plastics side, Q3 2010 net sales were 26.9 million, which was 21.2% higher than the third quarter of 2009. The consolidated gross margin rate for the third quarter was 25.7% of sales, as compared to the prior year period at 25.2%, and comparable to the 25.7% in the second quarter of this year. We had anticipated continued recovery for Q3, which would have provided for margin improvement opportunities, but as it turned out Q3 activity was only slightly better than Q2 by 1.6% overall, and as a result our gross margins remain consistent as well.
The company recorded $2 million of LIFO expense in the third quarter, comparable to $2 million recorded in Q1, and 3 million in Q2.
Third quarter consolidated operating expenses were $63.2 million, which was $8.2 million or 14.9% higher than last year, primarily due to higher shipping levels this year. Compared to Q3 2009, warehouse and delivery costs accounted for 4.8 million of the increase, and 3.6 million was due to selling and G&A cost increases. Most of the cost increases we have seen are related to higher shipping volumes as Q3 metals activity was up 30.5% year-over-year.
Other factors contributing to higher costs in 2010 include 401(k) benefit reinstatements and the elimination of furloughs and work restrictions that had existed in Q3 2009. We recently announced the consolidation of facilities in our metals segment. During the fourth quarter this year, we will relocate our Arlington, Texas facility into our Dallas location. We are also in the process of consolidating facilities in the UK.
If all planned moves are completed by year end, we expect to record a Q4 charge to earnings of $1.5 million, which includes non-cash lease extrication costs and moving expenses. These moves will result in annual operating cost savings of approximately $2 million beginning in Q1 2011. Including these facility consolidation charges, Q4 total operating expenses should be comparable to Q3. Consolidated operating loss for the quarter was $0.2 million compared to a prior year loss of $8.7 million. EBITDA was $6.5 million in Q3 compared to an EBITDA loss of $3.3 million in the prior year, and comparable $7.1 million in Q2 of this year.
Joint venture equity income was $1.7 million for the quarter, compared to $0.2 million in the same period last year. Interest expense of $1.4 million for the quarter was $100,000 lower than the prior year period.
Net income for Q3 was $0.1 million or breakeven on an EPS basis compared to a net loss of $6.3 million or $0.28 per share in the prior year quarter.
Now I will briefly go through the nine month comparative results, where consolidated net sales for year-to-date September was $708.1 million, which is 76.8 or 12.2% higher than the first nine months of 2009.
The consolidated gross margin rate for the first nine months was 25.2% of sales compared to 26.4% in the prior year period.
Year-to-date 2010 consolidated operating expenses were $185.5 million, which is $4.6 million or 2.5% higher than last year. Consolidated operating loss for the first nine months of 2010 was 6.9 million versus the prior year operating loss of 14.5 million.
EBITDA was 12.5 million for the first nine months of 2010 versus 1.7 million for the prior year. Joint-venture equity income was $4 million for the first nine months of 2010 versus 100,000 for the same period in 2009. Interest expense is 3.9 million for the first nine months of 2010, or $900,000 lower than the prior year period.
Net loss for the first nine months of 2010 was $4.1 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, compared to a prior year loss of 11.4 million or $0.50 loss per diluted share.
Now onto the balance sheet and working capital, during the third quarter inventory decreased by approximately $7 million and our days sales in inventory remained constant at 142 days at the end of Q3, the same as Q2. Inventory turn rates have returned to near normal in most of our businesses except aerospace. We expect the oversupply situation in heat treated aluminum plate to begin moderating in 2011. Year-to-date September 2010 accounts receivable DSO was 49.2 days compared to 53.8 in the prior year period.
Our bad debt write-offs remained at low levels, under 300,000 for Q3, and approximately 900,000 for year-to-date September 2010. Net debt for Q3 2010 remained unchanged from the end of Q2 at 59.4 million, which represents total debt outstanding of 87.6 million, less cash and cash equivalents of 28.2 million. This results in a net debt to capital ratio of 15.8% at September 30, 2010.
Capital expenditures in the third quarter were $1.9 million, and year-to-date capital expenditures through September were $5.1 million. We anticipate full year 2010 capital spending to be approximately 6 million to 7 million, which will be down from 8.7 million incurred in 2009.
And lastly before we open up the call for questions, I like to summarize our outlook for the balance of 2010, as Mike discussed earlier, we anticipate end market demand for Q4 to be consistent with Q3. However, as usual in Q4 the reduction in total effective shipping days, which is estimated to be approximately 5% to 9% lower than Q3 will impact total sales for the fourth quarter. We would expect margins to remain constant at Q3 levels, if overall demand remains consistent, which is what we anticipate at this point.
However, the final year end LIFO calculation will be a sensitive factor to our final net profit results for Q4. And in addition, we expect the facility consolidation charges to impact Q4 as we discussed earlier. So with all that said, at this point, we would expect to report a small net loss for the fourth quarter of 2010.
And now operator, we will open up the call for questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
Thank you sir. (Operator instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Edward Marshall with Sidoti & Co. Please go ahead.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Good morning and thanks for taking the call.
Mike Goldberg
Good morning.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
The first question is that just a clarification on the fourth quarter guidance, does it include the small net loss that you said – does that include the $1.5 million charge in moving expenses that you're going to be recording?
Scott Stephens
It does, yes.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Okay. So on an adjusted basis, you could be slightly – okay. That's fine. The September – you discussed September being your strongest month of the year as far as volumes, I believe is what you said in your prepared remarks. Is there a particular end market that recovered – that wasn't as strong, say the first six months of the year, and now has stepped up in maybe one of your later cycle markets or is it just kind of across the board broad-based improvement?
Mike Goldberg
We – certainly the oil and gas market was significantly stronger at the end of the period than it was at the beginning. That market is one which is – has significantly turned around through the year. Otherwise, I would say there was just the general industrial markets, where we saw a substantial amount of carbon, alloy bar and tubing have certainly been the stronger markets that was experienced, and then maintained that strength, but the market, which I will say has changed the most kind of if you look at say Q1 to Q3 would be the oil and gas markets.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
And what do you think might be driving that? Obviously, what might be driving that? Have you done anything different? Is there any market share gains? Obviously, there's a recovery a little bit in that market, but could you talk to that a little bit?
Mike Goldberg
I think we had market share gains. Very tough to know what – if that is the case. I think the market corrected inventory position. So that made a big difference. We have seen rig counts go up. We have seen the shale drilling go up. We have – in the early part of the year we opened up our facility in Lafayette, Louisiana. That's what helped us improve our service to that market.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Okay. That's good news. The trends that you saw in September, the volume trends, how does it look for October? Or at least how did you trend through October? Was it equally as strong?
Mike Goldberg
Yes, we kind of we can't pretend not to look what October looks like since it's November. Yes, October looked pretty similar to September, which is kind of a good thing.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Right. And then finally, the number of base-pricing increases across a lot of the mills, and I'm just wondering what kind of inventory is still left, maybe some of the higher-priced inventory what that can probably do to some of the leverage that you may see in the model, from a margin perspective as we progress it to the end of the year? And then I guess relating to the LIFO catch ups that you talked about in the prepared remarks as well, will that have any impact there? Thanks.
Scott Stephens
Okay. Well, two things, on the inventory position, as we have continued to improve and moderate our inventory, we have seen less of a margin headwind throughout this year. So, with the exception of aerospace, which we have talked about, our inventory is relatively normal. It is never perfect in terms of aged items, but there is less of a drag today, and a margin headwind on our inventory position than there have been throughout this year. So, yes, there will be more leverage anticipated forward-looking than back as far as the inventory position goes.
And in terms of LIFO, at this point, we anticipate our Q4 LIFO charge to be consistent with the balance of the quarters this year. It would look like Q3 at this point, and that is our best guess. As we said, the year end inventory mix and final inflation numbers that go into LIFO are pretty tricky. But on balance right now, we expect a similar LIFO environment in Q4 to what we experienced in Q3. And that is what is reflected in our outlook comment at this point.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Excellent. Thank you guys very much.
Scott Stephens
Okay. Thanks.
(Operator instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Tim Hayes with Davenport & Company. Please go ahead.
Tim Hayes - Davenport & Company
Good morning.
Scott Stephens
Good morning Tim.
Tim Hayes - Davenport & Company
Just two quick questions. On the revenue guidance that you provided for 2011, for that growth, how would that split between say volume and pricing? Do you have a feel for that? Or in your assumptions what are you thinking on that?
Scott Stephens
It is predominantly volume Tim. There is we will call it a small single digit price inflation expected at this point. And that is not consistent with what we have seen really this year, including mix, for us by the way. So it is mostly volume. There is a small element of price.
Tim Hayes - Davenport & Company
Okay. And I missed the LIFO in Q3, you said was $2 million. Was that charge or income? I just couldn't quite jot that down fast enough.
Scott Stephens
Expense. That is LIFO charge expense in Q3, $2 million.
Tim Hayes - Davenport & Company
Okay. Thank you.
Scott Stephens
Thank you.
Thank you. (Operator instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Mark Parr with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Hey. Thank you very much. Good morning, guys.
Scott Stephens
Good morning Mark.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
I was wondering if you could help us a little. I don't think you've given much color on what you expect for gross profit margins in the fourth quarter. Could you talk to us directionally about whether you think they may move up or down on a FIFO basis from the third quarter?
Mike Goldberg
We think that will be fairly consistent with the third quarter. As we said, the third quarter was about the same as the second, and so at this stage our thoughts are about the same level.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
All right. If you were going to handicap a bias in an upward or downward direction, which way would you be leaning right now?
Mike Goldberg
It depends who I am talking to. If I'm talking to our employees, I would say it was going to be upwards, and you know, I think any bias is going to be relatively small. I think it could be a few hundred points here and there, but I think the range of likely results on a pre-LIFO basis is relatively small. I think the bias for '11 is upwards, as we continue to see the markets improve, our industry situation, the customers inventory situation, the whole supply chain being very lean, I think I would say that 2011 opportunities is enhanced kind of pre-LIFO margins for next year.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Okay. Do you think – again I'm just trying to put this in perspective, and your – most of your base business seems to be fairly normalized at this point. The price costs mismatch is pretty okay, with the exception of the aerospace aluminum. And if that was normalized, would it be fair to think about the third quarter as 100 basis points higher from a gross margin perspective or 150? How would you normalize things if you normalized the aerospace business?
Mike Goldberg
Okay. The easy answer said, the aerospace business is never normal. It is either kind of down or up, but those numbers you gave would be pretty consistent with what we would say. We would – that is exactly what I would say about a 1.5 point for the company, would be normal. And if you put that in that gets us right in that normal range. So, we are reporting 25.7, we get 1.5 point, it gets us to 27.2, and that would be right in the middle of the range the company has traded at for a decade.
So that kind of gives us, as we've kind of gone through the same thinking, that has given us the kind of some degree of comfort that the balance of the business is running on a kind of normal kind of commercial basis. We know that the aerospace, aluminum side is lagging, and the number that you suggested is a number that we think is the impact, and that kind to reconcile to pre-recession type of numbers on that basis.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Okay. That's really helpful. I just had one final question. You've talked about October being in line with September from a – I think you're talking about from a daily sales or daily sales perspective. And could you give us a little bit of sense of what does October look like compared to the whole third quarter?
Mike Goldberg
The comments I made in the third quarter, after the quarter was kind of pretty strange in that July.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
It started of weak and got stronger, right?
Mike Goldberg
Right. The summer months, kind of June, July, early August period were surprisingly weak. And then the kind of the middle of August and September came along, they were kind of surprisingly strong. And so it really ends up, the average for the third quarter ends up 1.5 point more then the second quarter in terms of volumes. The way that we are thinking about the fourth quarter is a bit of a mirror image. So, October or September and then there was the perennial question of the strength of the business as you go through into the holiday season.
First two weeks in November is no reason why that shouldn't be good. And then once you get, once you get towards Thanksgiving and then into December, it is always a bit of crapshoot. I mean, last year we were surprised by the strength of that period, relative strength compared to what preceded it. And it is kind of a tough one to know about how long business keeps going, whether people take extended shutdowns in the end of December.
But kind of most probably our expected case would be that the fourth quarter looks a bit like the third but in reverse, starting off strong and then weakening because of the holidays, and then there is no reason why the new year shouldn't start out kind of back on a strength, relatively say strong basis, relatively kind of strong basis, more like the October, November levels than the December levels. This is typically what you would see.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Okay. If I could just ask a follow-up here, do you think – I mean if you think about your visibility today versus 30 days ago, are things any better than they were 30 days or 60 days ago?
Mike Goldberg
They are. I can't see them. I think things have – I wouldn't say that. I don't think they are any worse. But I can't think materially that it is better today than it was at the beginning of September or middle of September. I would say at this stage it is pretty much the same.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Okay. All right. So, at least we have a fourth quarter that's starting off stronger than the average for the third quarter, and then depending on how the seasonality plays out we'll just have to see. Okay.
Mike Goldberg
Yes, that is – you have got it.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
All right, Michael, thank you very much. And hey, congratulations on getting the inventories in shape and the margins really were encouraging. So that's a good sign for your business and for your execution momentum.
Mike Goldberg
Yes, thanks, and there has been a lot of hard work done by everybody to do that and I think that is going to position us well as we move into the new year here. So, it is a lot of hard work and we're pleased with what we have done and still more to do.
Mark Parr - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Okay. Terrific. Thank you.
Scott Stephens
Thanks Mark.
Our next question is a follow up question from the line of Edward Marshall with Sidoti & Co. Please go ahead.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Thanks again. You made some comments to top line growth next year. And in your prepared remarks, you discussed the industrial drivers that might be behind it. But I was hoping maybe you could dig a little bit deeper and talk about maybe the bigger variable for the business next year, or maybe your assumptions for aerospace, and with its respect to the inventory with the heat-treated plate and it's in the market right now. And then what is your assumptions for either the sharpness, or lack thereof, of recovery in aerospace next year that could add up side or down side to that estimate that you made?
Mike Goldberg
I will kind of look to my CFO to make sure that he doesn't disagree with me here. I would say there is no downside on the aerospace side. There would be something which we hadn't anticipated. So, I think there is an upside. I think it is cautious. The market dynamics themselves are good. I think that is reflected by, I mentioned in my remarks about the non-aluminum participation that we have in titanium, kind of stainless and nickel. That has been going very strongly for us over the last 3 to 5, 6 months.
And so, it all goes in planes whether it's kind of engines, or engine mounts, or landing gears, things like that. And so to me that kind of gives us a reflection that the market itself is relatively strong, and what is holding us back is the relative weakness in the air framing part and the oversupply of product, which we have been talking now for at least two years.
And we also speak to a lot of people and get a lot of input on this. And as much as we would like to hope and think that that market is correcting itself, there is ways to go. And it should get better, but at this stage we are not anticipating that it is going to get substantially better in the first half of next year and then our visibility kind of gets a bit foggy after that.
So, just to kind of summarize these thoughts, cautiously optimistic about aerospace. The market itself is relatively strong. We participate on multiple platforms with multiple products. And as that aluminum business does correct itself, there is some real good margin upside, and there is some real good volume upside, whether we see that substantially in 2011, tough to say. I would say, I would be more confident about 2012 than I would in the total year of 2011. It will get better, and it is very difficult to know the timing of that.
Edward Marshall - Sidoti & Co.
Okay. Thank you guys.
Thank you. And I show no further questions in the queue at this time. I like to turn the conference back to management for closing remarks.
Mike Goldberg
Well, once again, thanks for everybody's time and attention. We look forward to a nice holiday season. Good business and we will speak to you early in the new year with our year-end results. So, thanks very much.
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Prudential says it is suspending sales of life insurance polices though Wells Fargo until it finishes inquiry into bank's sales tactics; announcement follows filing of whistle-blower lawsuit against Prudential by former employees who alleged company hid evidence of fraudulent insurance policy sales at Wells Fargo; Alex Perea, Wells Fargo customer and alleged victim of scam, also sues Prudential; Well Fargo stops selling Assurant renters' insurance. MORE
Dec. 6, 2016
Wells Fargo is trying to kill lawsuits filed by customers in connection with as many as two million unauthorized or sham accounts by moving cases into private arbitration; process, which takes place outside public view, frequently favors corporations and decisions are nearly impossible to overturn; lawyers for bank's customers say actions are aimed at limiting bank's accountability for widespread fraud and denying customers day in court. MORE
Nov. 24, 2016
Wells Fargo asks Federal District Court in Utah to order plaintiffs in first-class action lawsuit over opening of unauthorized accounts to resolve disputes in private arbitrations; cites mandatory arbitration rules inserted into account-opening agreements. MORE
Nov. 10, 2016
New York State Atty Gen Eric T Schneiderman files Medicaid fraud and money laundering charges against Yury and Rimma Baumblit, and lawyer Anthony Cornachio, after they forced residents living in Baumblits' flophouses to seek help from two outpatient substance abuse programs; Baumblits already face similar charges in similar arrangement with other outpatient providers. MORE
Oct. 30, 2016
Michael Wilson Crime Scene column profiles Andrew Jones, one of the last remaining practitioners of once-ubiquitous New York City street scam known as three-card monte; Jones has decided to retire after his recent arrest. MORE
Oct. 27, 2016
Federal prosecutors bring charges against dozens accused of participation in international crime ring involving Indian call centers from which they posed as tax collectors, American customs agents and other authority figures; ring took in over $300 million by threatening arrest or deportation if bogus debts were not paid; Justice Dept officials will seek to have Indian authorities extradite defendants to United States to stand trial on fraud, money laundering and other charges. MORE
Oct. 23, 2016
Daily fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel are close to reaching agreement on settlement with New York Atty Gen Eric T Schneiderman regarding claims that companies used false advertising in half-billion-dollar advertising campaign in 2015; deal will likely involve fines ranging from $8 to $12 million, along with acknowledgement on their part of findings of investigation into fraudulent practices. MORE
Oct. 20, 2016
Brooklyn district attorney's office arraigns Xuekun Su on eight counts, including grand larceny as a hate crime, for swindling local older Chinese immigrants with ruse known as 'blessing scam'. MORE
Oct. 20, 2016
Several former Wells Fargo employees share firsthand accounts of how pressure to sell unauthorized accounts to customers affected them, and of ethical shortcuts they saw colleagues pursue. MORE
Oct. 20, 2016
Legal filings show that Wells Fargo bankers, scrambling to attain high sales goals and not be fired, targeted people, including elderly, who would put up the least resistance to opening of unauthorized or unnecessary accounts; lawmakers and regulators are continuing to pursue bank, despite replacing chief executive John G Stumpf and refunding $2.6 million to customers. MORE
Oct. 18, 2016
High-profile Pakistani news network Bol TV makes inaugural broadcast after year's delay due to fraud scandal surrounding parent company Axact. MORE
Oct. 17, 2016
Suit filed by Wall Street trader Andrew J Hall in New Hampshire claims history Prof Lorettan Gascard and her son Nikolas tricked him into purchasing 24 art works fraudulently attributed to American postwar painter Leon Golub for $676,250; whereabouts of Gascard and her son are not known. MORE
Oct. 16, 2016
Michael Wilson Crime Scene column examines recent arrest of Andrew Jones for swindling young clubgoers in Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan with timeworn three-card monte game; scam originated in mid-19th century and thrived until early 1990s crackdown on crime in New York City. MORE
Oct. 13, 2016
Wells Fargo chairman and chief executive John G Stumpf announces he is leaving company, effective immediately; move, which comes in wake of sham-account sales scandal, is rare instance of banking chief stepping down due to outside pressure; Stumpf will be replaced by Timothy J Sloan. MORE
Oct. 13, 2016
James B Stewart Common Sense column says case of Wells Fargo chief executive John G Stumpf, who resigned after being held accountable for multiyear sham account scandal, offers all-too-rare example of corporate governance working in its intended way. MORE
Oct. 12, 2016
Dozens of Wells Fargo employees tried to draw attention to colleagues opening accounts without customers' consent starting in 2005, but were thwarted; many managers who heard ethics complaints did nothing and still work at bank. MORE
Oct. 7, 2016
State's attorney David E Nachman, at civil fraud trial in New York Supreme Court, fails to break former American International Group chief exec Maurice R Greenberg despite methodical layout of his culpable actions; Greenberg left stand after 15 hours and almost two weeks of testimony still denying his any active participation in fraudulent reinsurance deals that misled investors and stuck them with major losses. MORE
Oct. 5, 2016
Former American International Group chief exec Maurice R Greenberg testifies for fourth day in his state civil accounting fraud trial in New York Supreme Court; denies knowledge of sham reinsurance deals with General Reinsurance Corp, which raised AIG's reserves by $500 million and potentially misled investors. MORE
Oct. 1, 2016
Op-Ed article by attorney and whistle-blower advocate Jordan A Thomas argues Wells Fargo scandal highlights need for whistle-blower programs to encourage bank employees to come forward with reports of wrongdoing and to provide both incentive and protection; contends banking regulators are unable to effectively carry out their jobs without help from inside banks they monitor. MORE
Sep. 30, 2016
House Financial Services Committee interrogates John G Stumpf, Wells Fargo chief exec, about his role in bank's sales incentive program that led to creation of illegal and unauthorized bank and credit card accounts; Stumpf is also grilled over report from Office of Comptroller of the Currency revealing bank has been fined $20 million for violating lending rules for military members. MORE
Sep. 29, 2016
California treasurer John Chiang, citing Wells Fargo's 'venal abuse of its customers,' suspends many of state's ties with San Francisco bank for at least one year following sham account scandal. MORE
Sep. 28, 2016
Wells Fargo, engulfed in scandal over illegally created sham accounts, says it will claw back compensation valued at $41 million from its embattled chairman and chief executive John G Stump; Carrie Tolstedt, another executive, will surrender stock grants valued at about $19 million. MORE
Sep. 28, 2016
Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column observes Wells Fargo's board, thrust into spotlight over sham accounts scandal, seems to recall its role; says its clawing back of compensation for chief executive John G Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt is welcome move, although slow in coming. MORE
Sep. 28, 2016
Former American International Group chief executive Maurice R Greenberg testifies for first time in his state civil accounting fraud trial in Manhattan. MORE
Sep. 27, 2016
Wells Fargo employees who claim they were penalized for being ethical are starting to coalesce around two lawsuits filed in California that are seeking class-action status; attorney Jonathan Delshad says bank booted employees who did not engage in illegal practice of opening accounts without consent of customers; expects class of current and former employees could grow to tens of thousands of people nationwide. MORE
Sep. 23, 2016
James B Stewart Common Sense column suggests Well Fargo chief exec John G Stumpf is perfect test case for Justice Dept to prove it is truly committed to combating corporate misconduct; opines department's latest guidelines call for Stumpf to be held accountable for defrauding bank customers. MORE
Sep. 22, 2016
Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column contends Wells Fargo's opening of fake accounts and charging customers fees for them echoes mortgage abuses by banks after financial crisis; points out more judges hearing foreclosure cases have realized banks cannot always be trusted. MORE
Sep. 21, 2016
Wells Fargo chief executive John G Stumpf, while testifying before Senate Banking Committee, expresses regret that bank had created up to two million fake bank and credit card accounts without its customers' approval, and apologizes for not halting illegal behavior sooner; senators from both parties, in rare display of bipartisanship, denounce bank and Stumpf's lack of leadership. MORE
Sep. 20, 2016
Series of troubling failings and allegations of violations have emerged in regard to Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, NY, including billing fraud and failure to report death of patient on premises; disclosures come two years after whistleblowers reported widespread dysfunction at VA hospital in Phoenix and point to broken system. MORE
Sep. 20, 2016
Wells Fargo chief exec John Strumpf will face Senate Banking Committee to answer questions regarding bank's widespread scandal; is expected to apologize for unethical behavior of employees and deny their actions were orchestrated by bank; those who know Strumpf say hearing is big blow for him because he took great pride in keeping Wells Fargo clear of 2008 financial crisis scandals. MORE
Sep. 18, 2016
Editorial highlights absurdity of Republican efforts to paint Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as unaccountable rogue agency, even in wake of bureau uncovering fraudulent practices at Wells Fargo; notes investigation into bank has resulted in $100 million penalty for institution; points to legislation passed by Republicans in House designed to cripple agency as indication of what they will do should Donald Trump win presidency. MORE
Sep. 17, 2016
Wells Fargo, despite warning employees not to set up sham bank accounts in name of unsuspecting clients, nevertheless pushed them on sales goals that caused workers to violate ethics training and bend rules anyway; chief exec John G Stumpf denies there was aggressive sales culture or unethical incentive system, and other bank officials say any occurrences of such behavior were caught and stopped as far back as 2013; 5,300 employees have lost jobs over scandal. MORE
Sep. 15, 2016
Wells Fargo is subpoenaed by three United States attorneys' offices, intensifying probe into how thousands of bank employees secretly issued over one million sham accounts without customers' consent. MORE
Sep. 14, 2016
Trial begins for former American International Group chief executive Maurice R Greenberg in Manhattan, who was charged with accounting fraud in 2005. MORE
Sep. 13, 2016
Andrew Ross Sorkin DealBook column discusses 'staggering' misbehavior at Wells Fargo involving at least 5,300 employees who were engaging in unnoticed sham deals with many customers; points out bank then charged customers at least $1.5 million in fees for unwanted sham accounts. MORE
Sep. 12, 2016
New York State case against American International Group chief executive Maurice R Greenberg is set to go to trial more than 11 years after original civil lawsuit was filed; Greenberg faces charges of fraud over reinsurance transactions dating from 2000 and 2001. MORE
Sep. 9, 2016
Wells Fargo receives $185 million in fines for opening bank and credit card accounts without customer consent or knowledge; federal banking regulators say practice dates back to 2011 and reflects serious flaws in bank's corporate culture; fines include $100 million penalty from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, largest it has ever issued. MORE
Sep. 2, 2016
Office of Switzerland's attorney general announces that legendary German soccer player and manager Franz Beckenbauer is one of four top officials who are under investigation for fraud and other offenses in connection with Germany's bid to host 2006 World Cup. MORE
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As Australian Open Begins, Match Fixing Still Casts a Shadow
A year after a report raised concerns of potentially widespread match fixing in the sport, tennis officials are still working to address the problem.
January 15, 2017, Sunday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Tennis , Australian Open (Tennis) , Federer, Roger , Kermode, Chris , Frauds and Swindling , Assn of Tennis Professionals
Volkswagen's Diesel Scandal: Who Has Been Charged?
A look at the executives charged in the company's diesel emissions scandal paints a portrait of an organized deception carried out over several years.
January 13, 2017, Friday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Volkswagen AG , Liang, James Robert , Fuel Emissions (Transportation) , Automobiles , Frauds and Swindling , Neusser, Heinz-Jakob , Hadler, Jens , Dorenkamp, Richard , Gottweis, Bernd , Schmidt, Oliver , Peter, Jurgen
More VW Executives Could Be Charged, Court Documents Suggest
Two suspects were conspicuously missing from the group of six Volkswagen executives indicted on Wednesday in the emissions scandal.
January 13, 2017, Friday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Volkswagen AG , Justice Department , Frauds and Swindling , Fuel Emissions (Transportation) , Environmental Protection Agency
Wells Fargo Struggling in Aftermath of Fraud Scandal
New credit card applications were down 43 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, the bank said, and new checking account openings fell 40 percent.
January 13, 2017, Friday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Wells Fargo & Company , Company Reports , Frauds and Swindling
3 Takata Executives Face Criminal Charges Over Exploding Airbags
U.S. prosecutors charged the executives in a case that involved 11 deaths and instigated the largest automotive recall in American history.
January 13, 2017, Friday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Takata Corp , Automobile Safety Features and Defects , Frauds and Swindling , Falsification of Data , Justice Department
Shadow Utility Company Accused of Installing Illegal Gas Meters in Brooklyn
Among the defendants are National Grid employees, landlords and property managers who prosecutors say skirted safety rules in gentrifying areas.
January 12, 2017, Thursday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Natural Gas , Frauds and Swindling , Buildings Department (NYC) , Department of Investigation (NYC) , Brooklyn (NYC) , Explosions (Accidental)
Making an Example of Volkswagen
The Justice Department has delivered a strong message to multibillion-dollar companies and their executives: No one is "too big to jail."
January 12, 2017, Thursday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Volkswagen AG , Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , Clean Air Act , Fuel Emissions (Transportation) , Frauds and Swindling , Justice Department , Environmental Protection Agency
Justice Department Toughened Approach on Corporate Crime, but Will That Last?
After "too big to jail" criticism from the financial crisis, the department has had success pursuing corporate employees. Now the two prosecutors who led the push are leaving.
January 12, 2017, Thursday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Justice Department , Caldwell, Leslie R , Yates, Sally Q (1960- ) , Banking and Financial Institutions , Frauds and Swindling
E.P.A. Accuses Fiat Chrysler of Secretly Violating Emissions Standards
Federal regulators said the automaker used secret software that allowed more than 100,000 vehicles to emit illegal levels of harmful pollutants.
January 12, 2017, Thursday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , Fuel Emissions (Transportation) , Frauds and Swindling , Environmental Protection Agency , Automobiles , Marchionne, Sergio
6 Volkswagen Executives Charged as Company Pleads Guilty in Emissions Case
The officials charged in the case include a former head of development of the Volkswagen brand and the head of engine development.
January 11, 2017, Wednesday
MORE ON FRAUDS AND SWINDLING AND: Volkswagen AG , Frauds and Swindling , Fuel Emissions (Transportation) , Justice Department , Fines (Penalties)
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This review is from: EnGenius EAP350 N300 High-Power Wireless Gigabit Indoor Access Point/WDS/Repeater
Pros: Set-it and forget-it; no problems, zero dropouts (so far).
Cons: A little weird to install.
Other Thoughts: I used three of these to provide wireless connectivity in 40,000 sqft warehouse. Once wired and setup, I haven't had any problems -- the warehouse operates smoothly without any dropouts.READ FULL REVIEW
This review is from: ORICO H4999-U3 -SV Aluminum 4 Ports Super Speed USB3.0 HUB with 12V2A Power Adapter
Pros: Fast, independently-powered, small desktop footprint.
Cons: Short USB cord.
Other Thoughts: Other than an exceptionally-short USB cable, this item is great. It's small, fast, and gets the job done reliably.READ FULL REVIEW
This review is from: SUPERMICRO MBD-X9DRL-3F-O ATX Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 DDR3 1600
Pros: Lots of good specs on paper; price is right. Getting a dual LGA-2011 board onto an ATX form factor is the main reason I bought this board.
Cons: There are two reasons I gave it 3-eggs instead of 5.
(1) Of the 8 mounting holes, 3 are located where you (including Antec, Corsair, and Cooler Master) don't expect them. To mount this in typical enthusiast ATX cases, you'll have to use nylon stand-off's which gives the middle of the board more ability to flex than I'd like.
(2) The two CPU sockets are placed so closely together that there is no room for the fan on the stock SuperMicro heatsink / fan (SNK-P0050AP4). This means you'll have to run one CPU with a fan and one without.
Other Thoughts: If you're putting this in a 2U rack-mount case using a low-profile (fanless) heatsink, this is a top-notch board. If you're putting this in a pedestal ATX case to run a meaty Hyper-V server next to your desk, you may want to consider something else. As an alternative, the ASUS Z9PA-D8 looks like it has more-standard mounting holes, but still suffers from sockets being too close together.READ FULL REVIEW


text:
Goat Cheese with Fresh Dill
- Two 11-ounce packages fresh goat cheese
- 6 tablespoons fresh dill, more if needed
- Crackers, for serving
Place the packages of goat cheese into the freezer to slightly harden, about 15 minutes.
Finely chop the dill and spread it out a bit on the cutting board to let it dry for a few minutes.
Remove the goat cheese from the packaging. Gently roll it over the fresh dill, coating it almost completely. It should look lovely and "mossy."
Carefully wrap the roll snugly in plastic wrap and chill until it's time to serve. Serve with crackers.
2011 Ree Drummond, All Rights Reserved
Cooking Tips
More Recipes and Ideas
Pimiento Goat Cheese Spread
Recipe courtesy of Katie Lee
Ham and Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Recipe courtesy of Food Network Kitchen
Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes
Recipe courtesy of Damaris Phillips


text:
As a writer, your goal is to break the boundaries of your own voice, so you can write with a fresh perspective.
5 Brainstorming Techniques for Better PR WritingOctober 19th, 2015 by Julie Lellis
5 Brand Identity Writing TipsSeptember 21st, 2015 by Julie Lellis
It is the PR writer's job to develop and craft relevant and potent messaging that reinforces identity. Here are some tips to help you write with identity in mind.
PR Insider: The Write Stuff – Telling the StoryMarch 23rd, 2015 by Sean Carney
Whether writing a press release, an annual plan, or just a simple pitch – you're always simply telling a story.
12 Things to Take Note of in PR Job CandidatesJanuary 28th, 2014 by Richard Brownell
PR News asked followers on Twitter and Facebook, "What's the first thing you notice about a PR job candidate?" Here is what they had to say.
Are You a 'So What' PR Writer?December 19th, 2013 by Richard Brownell
As communicators, we like to think of ourselves as good writers, but many of us are just reinforcing bad habits. Learn how to write copy that stands out.
Keep Your Email Pitches Short—Then Make Them Even ShorterNovember 22nd, 2013 by Richard Brownell
Learn the tools to craft an email pitch that grabs a journalist's attention.
Write a News-worthy and Share-worthy Press ReleaseNovember 21st, 2013 by Richard Brownell
Here's how to create an informative, well-written, and shareable press release that cuts through the clutter and reaches media and consumers.


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Bardem's a would-be Hollywood actor hoping to make it as a stereotype Spanish hunk, who falls for Sánchez-Gijón when she calls him up at the Madrid phone-sex company where he works. Things are difficult: she tells him she got his number from her husband, another of his clients, who's just decided he's gay. Complications ensue. Strangely similar in places to Girl 6, this is a stylish but none too funny slice of sub-Almodóvar farce, full of teasing, chic eroticism and absurd plot twists.
Release details
|96 mins
Cast and crew
|Manuel Gómez Pereira
|Joaquín Oristrell, Juan Luis Iborra, Naomi Wise, Manuel Gómez Pereira
|Javier Bardem
Josep María Flotats
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Maria Barranco
Myriam Mézières


text:
Colonial Resort i tropisk djungel
Storlek270 ft²
Våning Nr.
- Kök
- Luftkonditionering
- Tv
- Parkeringsplats tillgänglig
- Frukost
- Lämpligt för tillställningar
- Låsbart rum
- Balkong/terrass
Översikt av fastigheten
|Upper Aljunied Lane, 360004 Singapore, Singapore
|Typ av bostad
|Privat rum
|Fastighetens ID
The design of this beautiful colonial building is an open concept, and since it is situated on one of the highest plateaus with no obstructions around the area, it enjoys strong cooling breezes all year round. Every guest who has graced this dwelling has told me that this apartment is a breath of cool air in this tropical island.
After my description above, one might think that I live in seclusion. In fact far from it. According to the map, we are more central then the entire down town area of Singapore. We are literally 10-20 minutes away from anywhere by cab – the main shopping district of Orchard Road, the historic Chinatown and Clarke and Boat Quays or the restaurant oasis of Club Street. The Central Express Way aka CTE is at our next junction. You can't get anymore convenient than that.
As a guest, you will be very much welcomed in my home. So let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. I used to be an entertainer, starting out as a model in San Francisco when I was sixteen, followed by being a MTV and Channel V VJ before I got myself a talk show spot in Taipei, Taiwan. I have now traded glitz and glamor for a Ph.D. I'm quite open on (website hidden); please do check it out if you want to know more about who Rick Tan, (website hidden) really is. I do believe that wisdom is knowledge through one's experience, so let's trade stories about our life experience.
I also feel that everything is possible - all you need to do is ask. I'll make your stay in Singapore an amazing experience that you will brag about it to your friends for years to come. I have been told time and again that I'm a great ambassador for Singapore, so rest assured you will go back with plenty of knowledge, insights and wonderful moments.
You might want to do the touristy thing, but if you are looking forward to a true local Singapore experience, then I'll show you around whenever I want to catch a breather from my Ph.D. research, I'll let you know so that you can plan in advance. I look forward to seeing you in Singapore. Rick.
If you like airport pickup please let me know in advance, it's will only cost your S$30 for each trip.
Husregler1) Smoking is only allowed on the balcony.
2) Help save the environment by not wasting water and electricity.
3) Close the windows and turn off all electricity if you leave the apartment for substantial time.
4) Most importantly relax and communicate with me to make you stay much more comfortable.
|Pris för > 1 gäster
|377 SEK extra per gäst/natt
|Check-in efter
|Check-in före
|Enligt arrangemang
|Utcheckning före
Recensioner för andra bostäder av denna värd
In general very friendly and clean country and of course the apartment is good located and clean.
I don't like to write a lot...It was amasing stay in SG because of our host, Rick.
We had a lot of fun together.
Thank you, Rick!
(We already start to miss you...)
Oh my goodness, I have only one regret about Singapore & that's not getting to hang out with Rick more. I've never met someone who is so switched on & positive about life. Not to mention his unbelievably superb taste when it comes to decorating an apartment. Awesome clean bathroom & super comfortable bedrooms. I can't fault the apartment its just stunning! Almost as stunning as the host...Rick is super friendly & you would be crazy not to stay at any of his apartments. I'm definitely going back, it was even easy access to the city centre. Its cheaper than any accommodation in Singapore & with a host like Rick you'd be crazy not to stay here!
Nice place, in a green and quite area, not too distant from the city since Woodleigh MRT station is at 10 minutes walk. The room is large, clean, comfotable. Rick is very kind, likes to meet his guests and to tell stories on Singapore, he even drove us back at the airport.
- Kvalitetssäkrat boende
- Varje värd verifieras över telefon
- Säker betalning med SSL-kryptering


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Carefully researched, selected and tested by our highly dedicated and skilled team. Our products cover the alternate energy spectrum and include Solar PV, Solar Thermal, water heating, Solar Collectors, Biogas, Fireplaces, Solar Caravan, Solar Pool heating, LED, Wind Power, generators and much more. Contact us to help you get off the grid and explore this exciting world of alternate energy.Learn More
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We consider ourselves to be the go-to alternate energy specialists and take pride in our engineering expertise, industry-wide connections and friendly, personal and pragmatic approach.
Combined with our up to date knowledge of solar, biogas, wind, LED, composite energy solutions, power monitoring and a host of other supporting services we are confident we can create a working solution specific to your needs.
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Native American proverb
Another pioneering project: Namibian farm waste converted.


text:
The Green Bay Packers have found their stride, and the rest of the league may have a long two months ahead. Aaron Rodgers threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns Sunday as Green Bay steamrolled Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings; Greg Jennings snagged three of the scoring passes himself. Clay Matthews registered a sack, giving him 11.5 already, and Tramon Williams intercepted his fourth pass of the season.
The Packers have won their last two contests by a combined 66 points and now stand at 7-3, ready top challenge the Falcons for NFC supremacy next week in Atlanta. That game could determine who has home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Meanwhile, the New England Patriots managed to take down the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, keeping pace with the New York Jets at 8-2. Those two teams look more and more every week like the class of the AFC, and are ticketed for a big showdown on Dec. 6 in Foxboro.
These head-to-head matches of top-tier teams are a great way to see firsthand who is better. But when such determinate games are not available, a good secondary guide is to turn to the numbers.
Who eats up yardage on offense? Whose defense is stingiest? Who is dominating the turnover battle? Who has benefited from an easy schedule, and whose has been a nightmare? Statistics can answer all of these questions and more clearly show us who the best teams in the league are.
Therefore, let's look strictly at the numbers accrued by each team this season, and decide who we think is the best. Forget projections of future improvement--if a team is still underachieving by now, maybe that is not going to change. We will use simple math to weight the performance of each team in a variety of categories, then see who comes out looking a bit better than we thought.


text:
Protective Measures
Several years ago I participated in a volunteer tutoring program. It was for an hour and a half once a week, each tutor was assigned the same kid the entire year, mine was 9 years old, she was actually a twin and both her and her sister were the "challenges" of all the kids. My student would throw books, build fences around her work so I couldn't see what she was doing, or sit and pout and refuse to do her homework. She started the year seeming to hate me, wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't let me help her.
I talked to the head of the program, Tori, asked her what I should do, what I could do to make this relationship work. I asked if my student would be better with someone else. She told me I was doing fine, she told me just to keep trying and she would talk to the student (Emily) to try to calm her down. It never really worked.
A little more than halfway into the school year, Emily had a complete meltdown during tutoring. She threw a book at me. She ended up finally calming down and spending the remainder of the session reading off by herself. That evening I talked to Tori again, I just didn't know what to do, it seemed like I was doing more harm than good. She told me to take a week off, that she would spend next week with Emily, and see if she could get any more information from her about what was happening, why Emily was having such a hard time.
Two weeks later I returned, I felt a little better after my week off, Tori had told me that Emily had not misbehaved the week before, mostly sat on her own doing homework, but they had talked a little as well. She asked the three of us to go to another room to talk for a minute. Sitting there with this 9 year old across from me, Tori told her that she had two choices, she could continue working on her own without a tutor each week, or she could work with me, but would have to behave. Emily wouldn't look at either of us, would say anything. Tori looked to me and sort of shrugged her shoulders, I think at that point she thought if Emily couldn't even say whether she wanted me as a tutor or not that this wasn't going to go very far.
At that moment I asked Emily, "Do you want me to tutor you?" Emily sort of shrugged but still wouldn't look at me. My response was "Emily, there is nothing I would like more than to be your tutor, I leave my job early every week and come here because I enjoy my time with you. And even when you don't seem to want me around, I still want to be here, I still want to be your tutor. so if you are okay with it, I would really like to continue tutoring you." Emily looked up finally, she looked me in the eye actually and almost smiled. When Tori again asked "do you want to continue having her tutor you?", finally she actually said yes.
It was six years ago this week that this exchange happened. After that point my relationship with Emily totally changed, she was pleasant with me (most of the time). She stuck out the rest of the year with me, never having another major incident. I know she got better at reading, learned some geography, and thrived at her math work, but more I know she had met an adult who had no reason to stick with her and did anyways. I still have this picture of her and I by my desk at work, she is smiling in it, and when I see it I think of how my view of her changed so drastically, she wasn't a kid who hated me because I was trying to make her do her homework, she was a kid who was used to disappointment and pushed people away to protect herself.
I thought of Emily, of this experience recently as I heard an adoptive Mom talk about how her child didn't seem to want visits with the birth family anymore. She was talking about her son acting up, not wanting to participate, pouting and objecting through the entire visit. What I might say may not be agreed with by others out there, but as I sat there and heard this, my thought wasn't "Oh this child is having a hard time, maybe a step back is appropriate". My thought was "sounds like this kid wants to push the limits and see if the birth parents keep showing up". Maybe there is something else going on, but I think most of the time when a child is so adamant about pushing away an adult it seems to me that it's not usually because they don't need that person, it's because they are starting to realize that they do need them and they want to push them away before the adult leaves. Maybe that's oversimplified, but truthfully I've done the same thing as an adult in relationships, I have no doubt that a child who is struggling with trusting that people will stick with them wouldn't use this kind of protection. Plus I know that an issue adult adoptees have talked about in the past is fear of abandonement, why would anyone think that fear wouldn't be a major factor in their relationship with their birth parents.
As I look ahead I know there will be days where J won't want me around – although there haven't been visits where he's been openly hostile with me, there have definitely been moments where he acted like he could care less that I was there. Lately this issues hasn't been at the forefront, but that is not guarantee it will stay that way. And on those hard days where he makes it known he doesn't want to be around me, I still show up. And I will keep coming. If I have any say I won't cut back on how often visits are, I won't cut visits short, even if J is adamant he doesn't want the time with me, I'll be there, I will show up, I will stick around, even if its hard for me, even if my son treats me poorly. I may spend hours sitting waiting for him to come around, and I acknowledge there may be days, months even that he never does. But it is my job to show up no matter what. And if he decides to see how much he needs to push me before I disappear, then it's my job to show him there are no limits, if we plan a day I will be there, whether he's nice to me or not, whether he acts like he wants me there or not. It's my job to show him that I love him and there are no conditions on that love.
mrskolasa permalinkMarch 10, 2014 9:30 pm
Amen!!! I wish everyone could realize this! Kids act out and push boundaries because they want to see if you'll still love them. I'm so glad that J has you in his life! It's hard, and it gets harder (my 14 year old is doing this with his bio-mom) but it's so worth it to teach them that they are worth it.


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Highlands and Islands (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Scotland)
This volume covers the vast area of the Highland region, the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland and highlights buildings and monuments as varied as its landscapes: brochs, cairns and ceremonial settings of standing stones; cathedrals and abbeys, both medieval and Victorian; churches of every period and denomination, their interiors and graveyards often housing unexpected delights. Castles and tower-houses and a string of Hanoverian forts contrast with prehistoric farmsteads and Georgian and Victorian farmhouses. Country houses range from the display of ducal splendour at Dunrobin, through the Georgian elegance of Cromarty and Culloden and a mass of Victorian baronial, to expressions of the high ideals and simple life of the Arts-&-Crafts movement.
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21 posts tagged with race and art.
Displaying 1 through 21 of 21. Subscribe:
Can we go back to Hannibal? Or Mansa Musa?
Creed's star, Michael B. Jordan, and director, Ryan Coogler, talk about film and race. [more inside]
Stars in His Pocket Like Grains of Sand
Science Fiction grandmaster Samuel R. Delaney interviewed by SF Signal, with a very long answer in part 2, and by The New Yorker where he talks about race, recent Hugo controversies being nothing new, and the past and future of science fiction.
Run time: 8 seconds
Kehinde Wiley, turning traditional portraitists into contemporary art
Brooklyn Republic recently closed the exhibition Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, a mid-career retrospective, going back 14 years, from Kehinde's early styles to the more well-known mix of young black men in casual attire, recreating traditional portrait scenes, with a backdrop of vivid patterns, as seen in the National Portrait Gallery, among other settings. More recently, he has expanded his street-casting to include African American women, as captured in the PBS Arts documentary, Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace. More videos and critical commentary below the break. [more inside]
Our Thing
"African Americans," he wrote in one of his section introductions for Hokum, "like any other Americans, are an angry people with fragile egos. Humor is vengeance. Sometimes you laugh to keep from crying. Sometimes you laugh to keep from shooting … black folk are mad at everybody, so duck, because you're bound to be in someone's line of fire." Paul Beatty on Satire, Racism and Writing for "Weirdos", from the Paris Review.
Nobody is free until everybody is free.
Unsung Heroines provides bite-sized biographies of Black women who changed the world, and is a great way to learn history you were deliberately not taught in school. Women profiled include Fannie Lou Hamer, the civil rights hero who first said "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired;" Mary Church Terrell, an early advocate for civil rights and the suffrage movement; Melba Roy Mouton, a NASA mathmatician; as well as: [more inside]
Our Complicity With Excess
"[In] the face of a culture that would deny them, it becomes necessary for an artist of color in the west to defiantly announce to the world: I am a fact." In April 2014, at the first ever Yale Asian Alumni Reunion, Vijay Iyer delivered a powerful speech "on two intertwined issues: the role of Asian Americans as upwardly mobile minorities and the role of the artist as a potential transgressor within elite institutions."
Hennessy Youngman/Art Thoughtz
It's been over two years since Hennessy Youngman's made an Art Thoughtz video, but that doesn't change the relevance of what he's posted and the deeper meaning behind them all. (NSFW SLYT) [more inside]
"A Subtlety" & We Are Here
Why I Yelled at the Kara Walker Exhibit: "Anger shot up my body like a hot thermometer. Face flushed, I walked to the Mammy sphinx. Couples posed in front of it, smiling as others took their photos. So here it was, an artwork about how Black people's pain was transformed into money was a tourist attraction for them... Something snapped... I yelled that this was our history and that many of us were angry and sad that it was a site of pornographic jokes." [more inside]
I Am Donelle Woolford
How did Donelle Woolford's work cause Yams Collective (mNSFW) to withdraw from the Whitney Biennial? [more inside]
Naturalis Historia
"My subject is a barren one – the world of nature, or in other words life; and that subject in its least elevated department, and employing either rustic terms or foreign, nay barbarian words that actually have to be introduced with an apology. Moreover, the path is not a beaten highway of authorship, nor one in which the mind is eager to range: there is not one of us who has made the same venture, nor yet one Roman who has tackled single-handed all departments of the subject."Naturalis Historia was written by Pliny the Elder between 77 and 79 CE and was meant to serve as a kind of proto-encyclopedia discussing all of the ancient knowledge available to him, covered in enough depth and breadth to make it by a reasonable margin the largest work to survive to the modern day from the Roman era. The work includes discussions on astronomy, meteorology, geography, mineralogy, zoology and botany organized along Aristotelian divisions of nature but also includes essays on human inventions and institutions. It is dedicated to the Emperor Titus in its epistle to the Emperor Vespasian, a close friend of Pliny who relied on his extensive knowledge, and its unusually careful citations of sources as well as its index makes it a precursor to modern scholarly works. It was Pliny's last work, as well as sadly his sole surviving one, and was published not long before his death attempting to save a friend from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, famously recounted by Pliny's eponymous nephew Pliny the Younger.
Here is a reasonable translation that is freely available to download from archive.org for your edification.[more inside]
People of Color are not an anachronism
The Tumblr blog People of Color in European Art History, or medievalpoc for short, has a simple mission: to showcase works of art from European history that feature People of Color. All too often, these works go unseen in museums, Art History classes, online galleries, and other venues because of retroactive whitewashing of Medieval Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. [more inside]
The Mothership Connection
The Art of Anton Kannemeyer
Black Gynaecologist (2008), 'I love the white middle class ...' (2008), Say! if you speak English... (2008).
The works and life of Anton Kannemeyer.
The works and life of Anton Kannemeyer.
Art and Activism: Five Tips for Queer Boys
Yosimar Reyes, a champion slam poet has collaborated with artist Julio Salgado, who is "out and proud" as gay and undocumented, on a new set of works called "Five Tips for Queer Boys" (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and extra). [more inside]
Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing"
In Do the Right Thing, the subject is not simply a race riot, but the tragic dynamic of racism, racial tension, and miscommunication, seen in microcosm. The film is a virtuoso act of creation, a movie at once realistic and symbolic, lighthearted and tragic, funny and savage... I have written here more about Lee's ideas than about his style. To an unusual degree, you could not have one without the other: style is the magician's left hand, distracting and entertaining us while the right hand produces the rabbit from the hat. It's not what Lee does that makes his film so devastating, but how he does it. Do the Right Thing is one of the best-directed, best-made films of our time, a film in which the technical credits, the acting, and Lee's brazenly fresh visual style all work together to make a statement about race in America that is all the more powerful because it blindsides us. - Roger Ebert (SPOILER) [more inside]
Oh Beautiful, for Super Skies
With Marvel Comics hinting that Black Panther will become "American Panther", a typical storm of controversy and speculation has occurred over the supposed Americanization of an African character. The artists over at The Temple of Cartoon Mojo on the other hand, wondered what would happen if MORE iconic characters were made patriotic. The results range from the silly, to the utterly awesome.
Lighten it up a little.
A group of artists has been asked to lighten the faces of children depicted in a giant public mural at a Prescott school. The project's leader says he was ordered to lighten the skin tone after complaints about the children's ethnicity. (via Wonkette)
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, the Black Panther Party's Minister of Culture from 1967 to 1979. Douglas is still alive and making posters for the cause, in this case the San Francisco 8, who were arrested earlier this year for the murder of a police officer in 1971 -- despite the fact that evidence was thrown out of federal court in 1976 because "officers stripped the men, blindfolded them, beat them and covered them in blankets soaked in boiling water," and "used electric prods on their genitals." The SF Weekly published a detailed 5-page story about the case in November 2006.
Got MLK?
When he's not writing for The Adventures of Chico and Guapo or MadTV, Colin Quashie is creating his own brand of political art (with some help from elementary school kids on that last one). He has even put together a free coloring book to help you sort out the civil rights movement. What does it all mean? He'll tell you.
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Hilton Niseko Village048-1592, Abuta-gun, Niseko-cho, Higashiyama Onsen, Japan TEL: +81-136-441111 FAX: +81-136-443224 Email us
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In and Around Town
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Learn more about what Niseko Village Resort has to offer for all seasons.
Find information about Golf and other summer activities at Hilton Niseko Village.
White Guide
Find information about skiing and other winter activities at Hilton Niseko Village.White Guide (PDF)


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SEO Success – Tony Rauti Luxury Homes
July 5, 2011 | Comments Off on SEO Success – Tony Rauti Luxury Homes
As a search engine optimization consultant, I always like to re-visit a project 6-8 months after it's been completed to see how it's doing in the search engine rankings. Tony Rauti Luxury Homes was a web design I completed back in January. They also wanted some search engine optimization done because the old version of their website wasn't achieving the results they desired in the search engine rankings.
Initially they wanted to go after general terms such as; "home builders" and "luxury homes", but since they target traffic in the Windsor and Essex County area, I explained that they would be better off being a bit more specific. We eventually decided that going for keywords such as; "custom home builders Windsor", "luxury homes Windsor" and "home builders Windsor" would be much more beneficial.
I focused most of my time doing on-site SEO, making sure my web design was optimized for the search engines. I used my META tags properly and created content that focused on the particular keywords we discussed. I then did a little off-site SEO by changing the text on any link that was pointing to Tony Rauti Luxury Homes to ensure it had our main keywords in it.
After roughly 7 months, I'm happy to report that Tony Rauti Luxury Homes is doing very well in the search engines, in particular on Google.
"custom home builders Windsor" – Result #5
"luxury homes Windsor" – Result #2
Even though these particular keywords don't have that much competition, I still consider this a great SEO success! The domain/site is less than a year old and it's already gaining a lot of Google's respect. Most importantly, in the last 6 months Tony Rauti Luxury Homes has received 159.9% more search engine traffic than it did in the previous 6 months!
*If you test these results yourself, you may see slightly different results. I was using Google Chrome and searching Google.ca without being logged in.
Top 5 SEO Mistakes Beginners Make
May 31, 2011 | Comments Off on Top 5 SEO Mistakes Beginners Make
The other day I had a meeting with a potential client and we got into a discussion about search engine optimization. She had done a bit of reading about it and had a couple of questions about what she should and shouldn't do to help SEO her websites. One of the first questions she asked me is whether or not she should throw a bunch of her keywords in the footer of her page and hide them by making them the same color as the background. This is a HUGE no-no when it comes to search engine optimization. It did give me a good idea for a post though! Here are 5 SEO mistakes beginners tend to make.
1) Overusing keyword(s) in content – Even people with a minimum amount of SEO experience tend to know that you want your keyword(s) in the content of your site. This makes them think the more they use it in the content of the site, the better it is. That's not the case. You definitely want to use your keyword in content, but you definitely don't want to overuse it. I usually say 3 or 4 times on a page is more than enough.
2) Doing too many link trades too quickly – Google changed the search engine when they decided that the more links your website has going to it, the more your page will climb up the rankings. This started the world of link trades. No, Google doesn't want you doing link trades – Yes you should still do them. Just don't go crazy. Mix up the keywords you get for your trades and DON'T get too many trades all at once. If Google sees your site go from 0 links to 100 in a week, they'll penalize you.
3) Only using keywords in meta description – The meta description tag is just that – a description. You don't want to use a bunch of your keywords in your meta description, separated by commas, pipes or just spaces. You want to write out a full description for you meta tag in paragraph form.
4) Hiding keywords in the footer – I touched on this in the opening. You don't want to place a bunch of your keywords in the footer of your site and hide them by making them the same color as your background. This type of thing worked for maybe a month or two back in 2004, it definitely doesn't work anymore.
5) Only targeting one keyword – I understand that most people only want to target one keyword like "wedding shows" by why limit yourself? When acquiring links from link trades or creating content for your website, you should target 2 or 3 keywords. Why not go with "wedding shows", "wedding dresses" and "wedding planning"?
There are probably another 10 SEO mistakes beginners make, but these are a few glaring ones. Stay away from these 5 and you're on the right track. The last thing you want is Google to penalize your site or even worse – ban it from their search results all together!
Outsmarting Google by Evan Bailyn
May 24, 2011 | Comments Off on Outsmarting Google by Evan Bailyn
For those of you looking to increase your knowledge on search engine optimization, I want to recommend the book titled Outsmarting Google by Evan Bailyn. I've read several SEO books, tutorials and blogs in the past few years, however Outsmarting Google is the one I agree with most. Evan focuses most of the novel on how to get to the top of Google's search engine rankings organically. He also has a chapter or two about social network marketing, Yahoo, Bing and also his thoughts on where search engine optimization will go in the future.
Mr. Bailyn preaches that there are five keys to getting to the top of Google's search rankings; keyword rankings, inbound links, TrustRank, Meta page title and URL structure. He claims that everything else you've heard from SEO forums and SEO "experts" is mostly hearsay. He spends a lot of his time talking about inbound links and TrustRank and says anyone who believes these two aren't the most important factors in search engine optimization, have no idea what they're talking about.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who is considering learning about SEO. Evan clearly has years of experience in the field and it comes across that way very clearly in his book. He even shows examples of his work and offers a view "secret tips" that are only available in his book. To give you an idea of how interested in Outsmarting Google I was… I downloaded the book to my iPod on a Monday and was finished it by Friday.
My Designs – Flash Frwd
February 11, 2011 | Comments Off on My Designs – Flash Frwd
About a year and a half ago a friend of mine asked me if I could do a web design for him for the television show Flash Forward. He was crazy about the show and wanted to create a fan site for it to update people with news, information and secrets about the show. He thought the show was going to be as big as "Lost" and wanted to jump on it. He purchased the domain flashfrwd.com and already had an idea for the design. We discussed it for a bit and came up with what you see below. Sadly, the show only lasted one season and wasn't very popular so he let the domain expire a few months ago and now the site isn't online anymore.
Since you can't view the website design online anymore, I'll try to describe it the best I can. The header of the site was done in flash. When you first opened the page the characters flew in across the top and them settled into the position you see. The rest of the site was used to update people on what was happening with the show as well as promote the next episode. On the left side of the page you may be able to see an input box where fans of the show could enter their email address. I set up an email marketing strategy for him that actually worked quite well for the few people that signed up. I also did a bit of on site search engine optimization for him by adding proper meta tags as well as well as using bolded titles for each section.
Meta Tag SEO Tips For Beginners
February 8, 2011 | Comments Off on Meta Tag SEO Tips For Beginners
There are plenty of different ways to help the big search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing to find your site, but one of the most simple ways to being your on-site search engine optimization is to add a few select meta tags between thetags on your website. Some search experts may tell you that this makes no difference whatsoever, however I think when used correctly meta tags can still be very beneficial. The key to meta tags is not to cram them with too many of the same keywords and not to use too many of them. Another key is to change certain tags (title, description) for every page on your site. Below you'll find a list of the meta tags I always use when doing seo for my web designs.
title – Probably the most simple of all the tags. Most people get taught how to use these tags on day one of web design class. I usually choose three our four keywords, making sure not to go over a character limit of 60 (with spaces) and separate them by "-" or "|".
meta name="description" content="" – Here you'll want to describe your site and paragraph form. Usually the search engines grab this and use it as the description you see under the links in search results. Sprinkle in two or three of your keywords as best as you can, but don't over do it. Also, don't go over a character limit of 160 characters.
meta name="keywords" content="" – This is one of the tags that I don't think matters as much as it used to, however I still add it to all my sites. Pick ten to twelve keyterms and list them separated by commas.
meta name="robots" content="index,follow" – Set this exactly as you see it here. This is used to tell the search engine spiders to follow and index your site.
Those are the four I make sure to use on every design I do. That's not to say those are the only four out there. Those are just the four I make sure I use every time. Use these four meta tags on all your websites pages and you'll be sure to see at least a slight increase in traffic from search engines.