text:
Dr. Porter acted decisively, and, by the time he was done trimming, he had reduced the size of the staff from 20,000 to 13,000. Those sorts of deep cuts usually bear a political price, but Dr. Porter had a unique talent for appeasing different sides. Born in the civil war-ravaged country of Sierra Leone, he connected well with the medical centre's most important demographic – Detroit's urban black community. Sources both in Montreal and Detroit said he was fond of describing his ability to bridge racial divides with an oft-repeated line: "I look black but I speak white."
But it wasn't his cost-cutting at the hospital, nor his remarkable rise from an impoverished African country, that pushed him onto the front pages of the local media. More often than not, he found himself in the news because of concerns about his ability to manage both the hospital and his many private investments.
By the end of his tenure, reporters with the Detroit Free Press, relying on public records, identified Dr. Porter and an associate as the principals behind a dozen private businesses, including a cancer clinic in the Bahamas, an auto-parts company, a medical real-estate company and several IT firms. How he was able to effectively juggle all of these duties seemed a legitimate concern, but it was not enough to deter a selection team from Montreal when they came calling.
Around that time, Dr. Porter had threatened to seek bankruptcy protection for the Detroit Medical Center if the state of Michigan didn't provide a funding infusion – which it promptly did, pledging $50-million. In some circles, this move was courageous, given that such a public threat would almost certainly cost him his job. The other interpretation, of course, was that Dr. Porter had failed to accomplish what he was hired to do and right the DMC's finances.
The Montreal recruiters – a selection committee of doctors and directors, plus professional headhunters – were more inclined to believe the former narrative over the latter. They were in a desperate hunt for a decisive leader with teeth – someone who could cut through the morass of the Quebec bureaucracy and finally build Montreal's new superhospital, which had been nothing more than a discussion for six years. And here was Dr. Porter, a man with a vocal distaste for red tape and the ideological bona fides to prove it; he was a self-identified Republican whose walls were adorned with photos of himself alongside George H.W. Bush and former vice-president Dick Cheney.
The headhunting firm, Egon Zehnder International, declined an interview request but issued a statement, through a public-relations company, that called its search "long and rigorous." It's not clear if that search included a review of publicly available court records, which turns up considerable litigation involving Dr. Porter.
A month before the search began, a medical-equipment financing company, DVI Financial Services, launched a $5-million lawsuit against Dr. Porter and two of his business partners in a California radiology clinic after they allegedly failed to pay back a loan. The suit would follow Dr. Porter all the way to Montreal, but not before lawyers unsuccessfully tried to seize Dr. Porter's property and garnish his wages. During the same period, a Nevada company, the Medical Construction Resource Group, had also sued him and his business partners after they allegedly failed to pay a $137,000 debt. (Court records show the two sides settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.)
But the alarm bells weren't confined to court records. During Dr. Porter's final months at the Detroit Medical Center, a number of board members resigned. Oscar Feldman, a prominent Detroit tax lawyer and a former owner of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, was blunt about his reason for leaving – Dr. Porter.
"My departure stemmed from the fact that too often his prognostications on DMC finances proved untrustworthy," he said in an e-mail to The Globe.
But none of this slowed down Dr. Porter. When he landed in Montreal in the spring of 2004, he sized up his surroundings and – if his subsequent actions are any indication – he came to a realization.
This was a city where he could do business.
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text:
It's no secret that every college student lives for his/her weekend. We work hard during the week so we can spend a mere 48 hours hanging out with friends, visiting family and exploring what ever city we may find ourselves in (with the occasional stint in the library of course). Like any Fashionista/o, I dwell on the weekends as a chance to get out of my traditional T-shirts and jeans and let my personal style sine through. Whether you're dressing for brunch with the girls, shopping downtown or an early evening get-together, the weekend is your chance to strut down sidewalk and rock it like Karlie Kloss did on the spring/summer 2014 NYFW DKNY runway. The secret to having an amazing weekend is in the outfit, so take advantage of our 48 hours of freedom and make the most of it!
This week's Fashionista is dressed in an outfit that is the perfect example of what to wear to make your weekends a little more stylish. Mixing a printed silk tank top with a simple pair of harem pants and leather booties, she shows off a classic all-black outfit that's both sleek and modish. The harem pant is a great option for university students to wear on weekends, as it's more or less a fancy pair of sweat pants, great for lounging on a friend's couch or somewhere on a patio. Her leather booties are a chic upgrade from the daily go-to sneakers or flip flops of most students and give an air of sophistication to her look. You can imitate a perfect weekend wear outfit with a pair of affordable harem or lounge pants from Urban Outfitters paired with a similar silk tank or one you already own.
Always keep in mind the our lives are unpredictable, especially in college you never know when the next party might be just around the corner. So put away the Crocs and be weekend-ready with a vamped up look from your daily class attire. Have fun, be young, and remember that looking fabulous is never out of style.
One Simple Change: Trade in the thin silk tank top for a tucked-in blouse, or wear a motto jacket over the top to achieve a more conservative version of your weekend wear when going out on a parents weekend or to a meeting with a professor.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sunny is an energetic and quite affectionate boisterous boy kitty. He has a strong, muscular and sturdy build. He likes to play, and is quite outgoing and would do well with another cat who enjoys playing. He needs an owner who will appreciate his loving nature, and can handle this tough little guy. He is fixed, has all his shots, and would love to meet you.
For information or to meet Sunny, contact email@example.com or petfinder.com/cactuscatsrescue.
Cactus Cats is also at the Ahwatukee Petco, 5011 E. Ray Road, seven days a week and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a multitude of kittens and cats for adoption.


text:
Ile De Re, France(9 Posts)
makemineaginandtonic Wed 23-Jan-13 19:38:42
Numberlock Thu 24-Jan-13 15:14:28
peppersquint Thu 24-Jan-13 19:59:29
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CocoNutter Fri 25-Jan-13 00:08:21
HaffertyHamster Sun 27-Jan-13 15:34:58
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Louindevon Mon 05-Aug-13 19:58:47
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text:
I was having lunch at a bistro in St. Paul
de Vence, a picturesque hill town in the south of France.
In my fractured French, I tried to order a bottle of beer.
"Je voudrais une bouteille de biere, sil vous plait." I
would like a bottle of beer, I told the waitress.
"In a can," she replied. "Non," said I, "En bouteille!"
In a bottle. With her hands on her hips and a sneer on her
face, she repeated, "In a can!"
Now I was really getting mad. "Not in a can," I insisted.
"In a bottle. En bouteille. EN BOUTEILLE!"
She threw her hands up in despair. "Monsieur, IN A CAN!"
"All right," I said. "Have it your way. Give it to me in
a can. Anything. Just give me a beer!"
She stormed off and returned with a bottle of Heineken.
Heineken, when you say it in French, loses the "H" and sounds
like, "In a can." I practically fell off my chair, I was
laughing so hard. She thought I was nuts.
The point of the story is exactly what I stress in my negotiation
presentations. We hear mostly what we want to hear, not
what the other person is trying to communicate to us. Many
conflicts can be resolved easily if we learn how to listen.
The catch is that listening is the forgotten art. We are
so busy making sure that people hear what we have to say that
we forget to listen.
The first indication I had that my education had a hole in
it occurred in the Marine Corps. A kindly colonel gave me
a bit of advice. "Lieutenant," he said, "you need to learn
how to listen." "What?" I replied. Obviously it was going
to take more than his counsel to get the point across.
Luckily for me, my next escapade was tailor made. Dun & Bradstreet
hired me as a salesman in an enterprise based upon a new technology
called data processing. D&B had just computerized its entire
data base of credit information on millions of companies and
was now selling information for marketing purposes.
For example, if your company sold ice to Eskimos, D&B could
give you a printout of all the Eskimo companies in your market
area, with pertinent information such as the number of Eskimos
in each company and the names of key decision-making Eskimos.
This was cutting-edge stuff back in 1968.
Well, my sales territory was the Canal Street area in New
York the armpit of Manhattan Island. This was the toughest
place to try selling door-to-door, which is what I was being
under-paid to do. I learned very quickly that the key to success
in selling as it is in negotiating is keeping
your mouth shut and listening to what people have to say.
I discovered that my sales prospects would tell me everything
I needed to know in order to make the sale if I just
kept my mouth shut long enough. If I tried to make a flowery
presentation, I would be thrown out. But if I let them tell
me what their problems were, they would buy anything from
me even ice.
It turns out that listening is not a difficult art to master.
In fact, it's quite simple. It's similar to what I go through
in order to keep physically fit. The easy part of staying
in shape is doing all the exercises. The hard part is getting
to the gym on a regular basis. The excuses I come up with
for not going are amazing. Once I get to the health club,
I'm home free.
Learning to listen is the same. The hard part the equivalent
of "getting to the gym" is shutting up. If you can
train yourself to keep your mouth shut most of the time, you
will be a great listener and a great negotiator.
Here are some suggestions for developing your listening
Once you have learned how to keep yourself from speaking,
the art of asking questions is the shortcut to effective listening.
Here are some tips for asking questions:
Well, there it is. Now all you need to do is practice. If
you want to watch a role model for all of this, turn on a
rerun of a Columbo episode. He's my role-model. I advise all
my negotiators to think of themselves as detectives.
One more thing. If you get to St. Paul de Vence, do me a favor.
Don't be an ugly American. Take whatever they give you.
Ed Brodow is a keynote speaker and negotiation guru on PBS, ABC News, Fox News,
and Inside Edition. He is the author of Negotiation Boot Camp: How
to Resolve Conflict, Satisfy Customers, and Make Better Deals. For
more information on his keynotes and seminars, call 831-372-7270 or e-mail email@example.com,
and visit http://www.brodow.com.
Negotiation Boot Camp®
(831) email@example.com
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text:
Volley in the non-volley zone
Posted On December 02, 2013
Author: Jennifer Lucore
Bruce from Cape Elizabeth, Maine asks: "If you go into the non-volley zone after returning a ground stroke that was not in the non-volley zone, is that a fault? I can't find it the rules book"
Hello Bruce, you can go in and out of the non-volley zone (NVZ) as much as you want as long as you do not hit the ball in the air while you are in any part of the NVZ. To maybe help you more let's review the volley. To volley a ball means to hit it in the air without first letting it bounce. All volleying must be done with player's feet behind the NVZ line. NOTE: It is a fault if the player steps over (or on) the line on his volley follow through.
Here is a good doubles visual - position of players 1 - 4 at net when volleying.


text:
The easy way to solve this problem would be to
copy the appropriate config files for KDE menu from a live BT3,
over to your hard disk install. Sorry I can't inform you as to
where these files are, as I have no idea myself :b .
But I'm sure it's possible.
Good luck


text:
Monumental Roger Darricarrere, 1965 Stained Glass Los Angeles
A once in a lifetime opportunity to own this monumental stained glass ceiling done by Roger Darricarrere (1915-1984) in 1965 for the Columbia Savings Bank in Los Angeles. Darricarrere is considered the modern master of stained glass done in the Dalle de Verre style. He would form Dalle (blocks of glass) glass and carefully place the pieces in a concrete surround. This particular ceiling measures 36´ x 36´, for a total of 1,300 square feet. It is in superb condition and ready for a restaurant, boutique, hotel lobby, theater, etc. Darricarrere won the medal for best artwork at the 1964 World´s Fair in New York. He pioneered the Dalle de Verre style in the United States, helping to popularize the technique. Installations such as this one is a once in a lifetime.
36 in. H x 36 in. W x 2 in. D


text:
I fancy moto and meeting new interesting people.
If you want to spend a nice moment let's chat or meet for a coffee !
What i am not looking for
I am not looking for "The" traditional monogamous girlfriend (as in the relationship escalator this is not who I am) .
I am not looking for one night stands either indeed first time is rarely the best and I don't see how to build a genuine friendly connection with so little time for meaningful affection.
What i am looking for here
I really hope to find affectionate friendship : let us be friend !
making people laughting and spending good time around me
: give it a try :)
My artistic part is just arising since few weeks i can't say i'm really good at it but i truly enjoy doing light painting
Movie : Euro-Trip
shows : Scrubs
Music : David guetta
Food : Sushis
Recently i've discovered Urban exploration and i'm becomming addicted
you wanna spend nice time
You are open minded and don't think freedom and love are opposite.


text:
Fabulous Apparel, Jewelry, and Fragrances: Gear Up For Summer Style
It's time to start thinking about the fabulous apparel, jewelry, and fragrances that will make you shimmer this summer. This season, it's all about the perfect glow - inside and out.
Accessories will play a huge role this summer, with diamond jewelry once again taking center stage. When selecting your diamond jewelry, however, go one or two steps beyond sensible and on to memorable. Earrings, necklaces, and rings that pair diamonds with other precious or semi-precious gems make a statement. So look for diamonds and sapphires, diamonds and amethysts, or diamonds and topaz.
A woman's style isn't complete without her signature scent, and summer is a wonderful time to try new designer fragrances. Give Giorgio Armani's Acqua di Gio a whirl, or take a whiff of 24 Faubourg by Hermes. Chanel and Givenchy are classics, but try Ungaro or Max Azria for some fabulous fun.
But even the highest fashion, the best jewelry, and the most sensuous designer fragrances can't hide parched skin. For a gorgeous summer glow, take advantage of the wonderful products that are available. Exfoliate regularly, use gentle cleansers, and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. The same goes for your hair. Your tresses get dried out in the summer sun, so make sure to regularly condition those locks.
Beauty always comes from the inside out. During the summer, your body needs plenty of water and fresh foods to look its best. And don't forget to nourish your soul as well. Indulge in good friends, great books, or whatever replenishes your spirit. When you do, you'll know that your fabulous apparel, jewelry, and fragrances simply showcase your exquisite inner and outer beauty.
To learn more about subjects like Fabulous Apparel please visit the web site at: http://www.ashoppersfantasy.com
For more information and informative related articles and links about this subject matter and content, please visit Majon's Clothing | Women's directory: http://www.majon.com/directory/clothing-womens.
About the Author
+Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon International. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014 (Thu Apr 19 2007) Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource internet marketing web site at: http://www.majon.com


text:
Tea Flavors
Give your lips the royal treatment! We've combined the world's most exotic and aromatic flavors of your favorite teas, and placed them into a luscious treat for your lips. Made with moisturizing organic shea butter, it's the ultimate tea party for your pucker!
Orange Bergamotjust like a cuppa Earl Grey tea!
Regular Price: Sale: ( $3.49 )
Special Price: $1.99
Apple Spicesweet apple and savory cinnamon
Out of stock$3.49View More
P-Mint Lemongrassrefreshing citrus and cooling peppermint$3.49View More
Spiced Chaiexotic blend of savory cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla & ginger$3.49View More
Spice Collection4 Rejuvenating Tea Inspired Lip Balms$13.49View More


text:
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/9/2013 (1415 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
SASKATOON -- Tom Mulcair has denounced Quebec's proposed charter of values as completely unacceptable.
The federal NDP leader, who had adopted a cautious, wait-and-see approach to the issue, came down hard moments after the Parti Qu©b©cois government unveiled a discussion paper Tuesday outlining its plans to ban public servants from displaying religious head wear and other symbols.
"For now, suffice it to say that the text confirms our worst fears," he said outside an NDP caucus retreat in Saskatoon.
"We're categorical in rejecting this approach. Human rights don't have a best-before date, they're not temporary and they're not a popularity contest.
"To be told that a woman working in a day-care centre because she's wearing a head scarf will lose her job is to us intolerable in our society."
Mulcair faced some criticism for not immediately coming out against the charter when details first began leaking out weeks ago. He was criticized for pandering to popular sentiment in Quebec, which accounts for 57 of the NDP's 100 MPs, including Mulcair.
But he said Monday the NDP has a "proud history" of standing up for human rights and this will be no different.
"This for us is completely unacceptable and the NDP will be standing up four-square against this project."
Unlike other federalist parties which have only a handful of seats in Quebec, the NDP has much to lose by standing up against the charter, which polls suggest is popular among Quebecers.
-- The Canadian Press


text:
We oftentimes talk about those little electronic devices in motor vehicles that help to stop drunk driving and curb drunk driving car accidents in North Carolina, we're talking about those ignition interlock devices. Nowadays, it only seems logical to install ignition interlocks in the vehicles of those who have been convicted. Unfortunately, they're only handed to some drunk driving offenders. But where do they come from and who made them?
Well, a Morrisville man makes the devices that are used by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and he had to fight to keep it that way. According to The Republic, courts decided to throw out the Monitech Inc. lawsuit, which claimed that the Commissioner of the DMV, Mike Robertson, broke state bidding rules by withholding the renewal of its state contract. Under the settlement, the company will submit its device for state certification by the 16th of April.
Our North Carolina car accident lawyers understand how important these devices are, regardless of who makes them, they're important as long as they work. States that have strict drunk driving conviction penalties and use these ignition interlock devices typically see significant decreases in the number of drunk driving accidents. Keeping tough laws and tougher penalties on the books truly helps to keep everyone safe and hopefully helps to teach bad drivers a lesson.
The Morrisville man's company has been the only provider of these ignition interlock devices to the state since 1989. These devices test the breath of those who have been sentenced to utilize the devices after a drunk driving conviction. If the device senses alcohol in the driver's system, then it can stop the car from being used. Typically, those who have been convicted of DWIs but still have driving privileges, are given these devices.
One of the company's competitors, Smart Start Inc. out of Texas, has already been certified to start selling its ignition interlocks starting in April.
The state of North Carolina has some of the highest rates of DWIs and related fatalities in the entire country. In 2008, there were more than 27,000 people who were arrested for DWI offenses in the state. There were also more than 500 people killed in drunk driving crashes during the same year. As a matter of fact, someone is killed in these kinds of accidents every 40 minutes, accounting for nearly 13,000 people who were killed in alcohol-related accidents in 2007.
Ignition interlocks need to be used by all offenders and our risks for these types of accidents will continue to decline.
The drunk driving car accident attorneys at the Lee Law Offices, P.A. are here to offer assistance to victims and the family of victims of traffic accidents in Hickory, Statesville, Charlotte or in any of the surrounding areas. Call 1-800-887-1965 to make a free appointment with an experienced drunk driving accident attorney today.
More Blog Entries:
"Laura's Law" to Help Convict Drunk Drivers in North Carolina
January 31, 2012


text:
A mere nostril separated the victorious Dreaming of Anna and runner-up Lear's Princess in the Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) following a heart-pounding stretch duel one month ago. It's time for an encore as the 4-year-old filly stars tangle again on the Tampa Bay Downs turf course in the $175,000 Hillsborough (gr. IIIT) March 15.
The Hillsborough, at nine furlongs, is one of three grade III stakes on the Florida track's schedule for the Tampa Bay Festival program, along with the Tampa Bay Derby and Florida Oaks. Six older fillies and mares are entered in the Hillsborough.
Both Dreaming of Anna, the Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly of 2006, and Lear's Princess, winner of the grade I Gazelle last year, were making their seasonal debuts in the 1 1/16-mile Endeavour. Frank Calabrese's homebred Dreaming of Anna ran as she usually does, setting a solid pace while opening up a clear advantage on the field, then fought like a wildcat through the stretch to maintain it.
West Point Thoroughbreds' Lear's Princess, stalked the leaders mid-pack into the stretch, then swung to the outside and finished with authority while coming up just short at the wire in a head-bobbing finish. It was nearly too close to call.
This time around, the Kiaran McLaughlin trainee Lear's Princess gets an extra half-furlong to work with and also enjoys a break at the weights. Dreaming of Anna, who carried 116 pounds in the Endeavour, is saddled with 122 in the Hillsborough. Lear's Princess totes 118, adding just one pound from her most recent effort.
Dreaming of Anna, to be ridden once again by Cornelio Velasquez, and Lear's Princess, with regular rider Eibar Coa aboard, will line up in the starting gate next to each other. 'Anna will be just to the inside in post 3.
Trained by Wayne Catalano, Dreaming of Anna has been nearly unbeatable since being switched to the turf full time following her sixth-place finish in last spring's Kentucky Oaks (gr. I). Since then, the chestnut daughter of Rahy has won four of five starts, the only blemish coming in a second-place showing behind Bit of Whimsy in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (gr. IT) at Keeneland to conclude her 3-year-old campaign last October.
Dreaming of Anna, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) at Churchill Downs in November 2006 to capture the divisional championship, owns an 8-2-1 record in 12 starts with earnings of $1,748,172. Her record on turf, with six wins and two seconds in eight tries, has been even more impressive.
The last victory for Lear's Princess came over 3-year-old filly champion Rags to Riches in Belmont Park's Gazelle on Sept. 15. She had a dismal trip in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) at sloppy Monmouth Park six weeks later and was given a break by McLaughlin after finishing 10th of 12. The daughter of Lear Fan also finished second in New York's Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) and Alabama Stakes (gr. I) during an outstanding 3-year-old campaign.
In eight lifetime starts, Lear's Princess has four wins and three seconds and has banked $459,100.
The two favorites stand out over the remainder of the field.
The stakes winning Maddy's Heart tuned up for the Hillsborough with a fourth-place finish facing high-level allowance foes on the Gulfstream Park lawn Feb. 15. The 4-year-old Lion Hearted filly captured Laurel's Maryland Millions Ladies on turf last fall over state breds for owner Dennis J. Federico and trainer Timothy Hills.
Earle Mack's Lady Digby, fourth in last fall's Calder Oaks, is coming off a nose loss when second in an allowance heat on the turf at Fair Grounds Feb. 9 for trainer H. Graham Motion.
The Great Britain-bred Mary Louhana, who began her career in Europe, has two wins on the Tampa Bay turf course in three tries since December for trainer Leigh Delacour. Those are the 5-year-old mare's only victories in 21 lifetime starts.
May Night, runner-up in both the Nassau (Can-II) and Dance Smartly (Can-II) at Woodbine last year, ran seventh in her comeback race for trainer Fred Seitz at Gulfstream Park Jan. 28. Fond of being a bridesmaid (she has seven second-place finishes), the 5-year-old Gulch mare has won twice in 22 starts.
$175,000 Hillsborough Stakes (gr. IIIT, Race 9, 4:20 p.m.), Fillies & Mares 4 & Up, 1 1/8 Miles (Turf)
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Mary Louhana (GB), 116, Daniel Centeno
2. Lear's Princess (KY), 118, Eibar Coa
3. Dreaming of Anna (KY), 122, Cornelio H. Velasquez
4. Lady Digby (KY), 116, Jose A. Velez, Jr.
5. May Night (FL), 116, Robert C. Landry
6. Maddy's Heart (MD), 120, John R. Velazquez
'Anna, Lear's Princess Square Off Again
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text:
Debt is a four-letter word and never more so since the global financial crisis.
Australians are paying off their mortgages faster than usual, credit card spending is growing at half the rate of a year ago and margin loan balances are at their lowest in seven years.
In its latest report on the state of the financial system, the Reserve Bank of Australia notes households are taking ''a less exuberant approach'' to borrowing.
Advisers are happy to see any move away from ''bad debt'', or credit that's used to buy ''the trinkets of life'', as an accountant with Chan & Naylor, Ken Raiss, puts it.
But there's concern in some quarters that this aversion extends to ''good debt''; that is, borrowing to buy assets that (in theory) appreciate rather than depreciate.
''For me, the fear of debt is what's principally stopping people creating a financially secure future,'' Raiss says.
Others urge caution. The head of technical services for ipac Securities, Colin Lewis, says the financial advice firm has always had the view that you don't use debt to invest unless you absolutely must. ''Our approach to debt has always been that you don't take on risk for risk's sake,'' he says.
Irrational exuberance
The idea is that debt leverages an investor's available funds into a bigger asset, then over time that asset grows in value while the debt remains static or even decreases in value in real terms due to inflation.
A financial planner with Ark Total Wealth, Chris Magnus, says that before the GFC people were much more optimistic - sometimes too optimistic - about debt and investing as a whole and ''unfortunately, people were taken advantage of''.
But debt still has a role to play today, he says, as long as investors are educated around the risks involved in gearing - in other words, taking on debt to multiply your investing power - and they take a measured approach, he says.
Lewis points to the example of the people who ''double geared'' in the Storm Financial debacle.
''Many of those people were sitting comfortably in their retirement situation. So why take on gearing just to try to hook into the [booming] market?'' he says.
Investors must do their sums on realistic rates of return.
''Yes, gearing magnifies your gains, but it also magnifies your losses. If you're sitting pretty, why take on that additional risk? It becomes about greed.'' That said, some people just won't be able to meet their financial goals through mainstream means, such as superannuation strategies, and they might need to consider gearing, Lewis says. In this event, robust gearing rules are required, he says (see box above).
Buffer is critical
Safety first, then. And, with high investment market returns seemingly less assured, there's less room for error, so doing your sums is more important than ever. ''The maths should always have been done but people don't in a rising market,'' Lewis says.
''What's happened is that the need to do so has been highlighted.''
Magnus says people who borrow must understand the assets they're gearing into (and that includes the underlying assets that sit beneath a geared financial product) as well as the time frame required to achieve the desired outcome.
Promises of quick riches should ring hollow and investors must do their sums on realistic rates of return.
''The returns the sharemarket was achieving before the GFC were a once-in-a-lifetime event,'' he says. ''What the market has returned to is in fact normality.'' This means much more time needs to be spent researching and waiting for the right investment.
Magnus and Raiss say that in property, for example, people need to be able to identify not just the right building in the right location but also the right unit in that building. They need to consider how they can add value to the property so they achieve capital growth regardless of the vagaries of the market.
Having identified an opportunity, investors then need to consider how they'll structure the debt and manage the cash flows, Raiss says.
''It's all about creating a buffer,'' he says. ''The buffer is critical if you have debt.''
If a property is negatively geared with a shortfall of $10,000 a year, for example, and you lose your job or your tenants, the worst case is a forced sale in which you don't recoup your capital.
''But imagine if you had access to $100,000 equity in another property - it would last 10 years if you needed to draw on it,'' Raiss says.
Think about how many years of safety you need to sleep at night, he suggests. For some people it might be two years (so $20,000 in this example); for others, it might be seven - historically, one property cycle.
Every asset should stand on its own, Raiss says. ''Do the numbers as if it's the first and last one you're buying.''
Tax-effective structure
Finally, let's look at a strategy that's been dubbed debt recycling or debt transformation. The idea is that you take on good debt to buy an asset that produces income and tax benefits that can be applied to eradicating bad debt, in the form of your non-tax-deductible home loan.
The managing director of mortgage management firm Australian Mortgage Options, Robert Projeski, provides an illustration. Say you have a $1 million home in Sydney or Melbourne on which you owe $400,000. You have a mortgage with an associated offset account.
You buy a $625,000 investment property, using an interest-only loan to borrow $500,000 - 80 per cent of the value, so mortgage insurance doesn't kick in. A further $125,000 is borrowed against your home, placed in a second offset account (so it's clearly separated from your non-investment finances) and used for the deposit. You now owe $1,025,000 on $1,625,000 of property, for an overall loan-to-valuation ratio, or LVR, of about 63 per cent.
Each month, all the income from the investment goes into the original offset account attached to the home loan.
Any tax refund generated by the investment costs also goes into this account.
The bulk of your wages can also be put to work in this account if you use a credit card for living expenses, clearing it at the end of the month.
You could also seek a tax variation so you pay less income tax each month, rather than annually, leaving more to go into the account.
Money comes out of the offset account to meet the interest payments and other expenses related to the investment.
But, if you have bought well and done your sums, there should be enough left over for the offset balance to gradually build to the point where the home loan is cleared, Projeski says.
Now there's only tax-deductible ''good debt'' and the cash flow that's freed up can be applied to that debt or to another investment (property or otherwise).
In the meantime, you have started investing earlier than you might have if you'd waited to clear your mortgage first, gaining the advantage of time.
Asked for his view, Lewis says debt recycling can work but you must get the cash flows and structure right so you don't attract the ire of the Tax Office. In other words, don't try this on your own - get expert tax and financial advice.
Do the maths before you borrow
Money asked ipac securities to run some numbers that would illustrate what sort of return you might need for a gearing strategy to break even.
We assumed that $100,000 was borrowed at a rate of 7 per cent, most likely in the form of a home-equity loan. (A margin loan would cost about 9 per cent.) This was invested in a portfolio of Australian shares (70 per cent franked) for seven years.
To take one example from the table: if you were on the top tax rate and this notional portfolio had an overall dividend yield of 3.5 per cent, you'd need share-price growth of 1.8 per cent a year to break even.
But if share prices rose just 1 per cent you'd be $5000 behind.
Conversely, at 3.5 per cent share-price growth a year, your profit would be more than $11,000 even after income tax and capital gains tax.
Choose higher-yield stocks and the break-even point is easier to reach and the potential gain higher.
Guide to responsible investing
Ideally, you should be able to answer yes to all these questions before going into debt:
❏ Is borrowing the only way for me to achieve my financial goals?
❏ Do I have a time horizon of at least five, preferably seven, years?
❏ Do I have a steady income to fund the borrowing costs (not just dividends or distributions)?
❏ Could I still afford the repayments if interest rates were 3 percentage points higher?
❏ Do I have insurance to protect my income?
❏ Looking at my overall portfolio, do I own at least 50 per cent of the assets?
❏ Have I considered the quality of the investment, not just the tax deduction?
Source: ipac securities


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IT's biggest money waster No. 5: Excess bandwidth
You can't be too rich or too thin, nor can you have too much bandwidth at your disposal -- at least, that's the common belief. But many companies are wasting their money on bandwidth they don't really need instead of doing a better job managing the bandwidth they already have, says Andrew Rubin, CEO of network visibility/optimization provider Cymtec.
If a problem arises anywhere on the network, IT's first response is almost always to throw more bandwidth at it, he says.
"If you've got a T1 line, then it's time for a T3. Still too slow? Then go for a 100Mb pipe. But when they look at their actual bandwidth usage they find out they've got a 100Mb pipe but are only using 1 percent of it."
Companies that have overbuilt their networks shrug and say they'll eventually grow into it, says Rubin. "A better approach is to build a little ahead of the 8-ball, but manage it as tightly as humanly possible," he says. "Understanding what's happening and having great visibility and control is how you can get the most out of your investment."
At a certain point, bandwidth becomes a status symbol; if a company buys Tier 1 bandwidth, they think it makes them a Tier 1 player, says Jun Group's Woods. That's not necessarily the case.
"Deep down, ambitious executives believe they will be the next eBay, and that's a good thing," Woods says. "So when it comes time to build, small companies buy expensive servers or managed hosting ('to grow into') when Amazon's cloud will serve them surpassingly well. Medium-sized companies buy elaborate blade infrastructure and Tier 1 bandwidth in major markets like New York or San Francisco, when they only need downmarket hardware and more affordable hosting solutions. And they will never meet a salesperson who doesn't agree."
IT's biggest money waster No. 6: IT projects gone wild
Ambitious, big-budget IT projects often seem to have failure built in from the start. In survey after survey, IT organizations have reported project failure rates of 30 to 70 percent.
The tech industry is rife with stories of multi-million-dollar projects that are late, overbudget, or simply abandoned. According to the Standish Group's 2009 CHAOS report, one out of four IT projects is never completed, collectively costing companies billions of dollars.
"The most common root causes of IT waste I see follows a theme of poor IT project management," says Chris Stephenson, partner and co-founder of Arryve, a Seattle-based strategy and management consulting firm. The biggest problems? Failure to adopt a standard way to measure a project's success (or lack thereof) and a hands-off approach from management.
"Too often, IT-related projects are a series of hand-offs from the business to the developers to the testers to operations," he says. "Without involving all parties throughout the entire project, alignment is quickly lost and duplicative work efforts occur. I'd estimate the time to complete projects that do not follow [sound IT project management] rules double the cost and time of IT projects. They also increase the risk of low business adoption or outright project abandonment."
The biggest single money suck in most failed projects isn't software or hardware -- it's the cost of employees whose time has gone into them, says Curt Finch, CEO of Journyx, a maker of Web-based time-tracking and project management tools.
"IT projects fail because they are out of control, overbudget, or broken," says Finch. "Companies must figure out which of their IT projects are high-risk and which ones are low-risk. The best way to measure that risk is to track employee time spent on projects, while simultaneously estimating how much of the project is complete. If the project budget is 1,000 person-hours and 50 percent (i.e., 500 hours) is used up but the project is only 15 percent complete, then you know you have a high-risk project -- and a big problem."
You can avoid an endless money pit by following a few commonsense rules, says Finch. For example: Don't start projects you know you can't finish or take up three projects when you have the resources to complete only one. Take the pulse of your project on a regular basis. If it's only 10 percent done but you've spent 15 percent of the money, odds are the numbers will only get worse. Give accurate status updates; if a project is behind schedule and/or over budget, hiding that fact will only hurt you later.
"This is all very basic -- not easy, but basic -- yet almost no one does it well," Finch says. "If a project is in trouble and management really wants it to succeed, they'll find a way to help. Otherwise, they'll start looking for someone to blame. In that case, you'd better start looking for a new job."
Related articles
This story, "IT's biggest money wasters," was originally published at InfoWorld.com.
This story, "IT's Biggest Money Wasters" was originally published by InfoWorld.


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Regional Theatre
If you think London is the only place to find great theatre, think again. The UK's regional theatre scene is alive and kicking with ingenuity, experiment and fun, and because they are often smaller scale they can afford to be more innovative than the big–ticket London shows. Discover some gorgeous regional theatres, catch some unique shows, and explore new places you've never been before. Regional theatre – just the ticket!
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!! Price Reduced $7,500 for Quick Sale !!
Bottom stripped and barrier coated plus anti-fouling paint in August 2016
Hull waxed and polished Aug 2016
If you desire simplicity in a handsome, economical Downeast style boat, then this boat is for you. Powered by the optional Cummins 6BT5.9 diesel w/ approx 500 hours which allows for economical fuel consumption while still getting you to your destination at a comfortable speed.
The Mainship Pilot 30 is the perfect boat for pleasure and fishing! Designed in the classic downeast lobster boat style, the Pilot 30 makes a great "Picnic Boat" for day use or a perfect little pocket cruiser for a couple or small family. Easily handled and maneuvered with the bow thruster and with the Furuno Radar & GPS you will have the confidence to do some serious cruising! She is just the right size for quick runs out to the fishing grounds, or anchoring in a quiet little cove so the family can enjoy a swim from the swim platform, and then rinse off with the cockpit shower. An extremely efficient single Cummins diesel will allow for economical fuel consumption while still getting you to your destination at a comfortable speed. The canvas can be fully enclosed giving you full protection from wind and rain with two lounges for extra berths. The cabin has great space with a large V-Berth (6'8"), dinette table, and compact galley with good counter space, refrigerator, cooktop, icebox, microwave oven, and an enclosed head with shower. Added to all that, there is a new Sony Marine Bluetooth AM/FM 4 speaker sound system. The diesel generator will keep the air conditioning running or the lights on when not connected to dock power. There are 3 new bilge pumps and LED cockpit and cabin lights.
This boat is ready for it's new owner, just call TODAY for more information or to arrange a showing!
Contact Central Listing Agent - Ryan Gessel - 415-505-9172 Cell
This handsome Pilot 30 is a no-nonsense cruiser offering a bi-level cockpit with two long bench seats with storage under, captain and companion seats, freshwater shower, and even courtesy lights in the roomy cockpit and up around the helm. The custom half tower with full enclosure protects you from the elements. Her wide side decks and high rails provide sure footed access to the bow and the swim platform gives easy access to the water.
Two steps lead down into the like new interior featuring a V-Berth with filler for sleeping and add the fold down table for dining. There are Port and Starboard single Settees, Teak and Holly floors and five opening ports with screens. The Head is to starboard and has an electric toilet, vanity with sink and shower. The Galley is opposite with Refrigerator, Stove, deep Stainless Steel Sink and storage in cabinets, shelves and in drawers.
At the Brielle Yacht Club
201 Union Ln.
Brielle, NJ 08730
United States


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My new work requires me to travel all the time and I am not able to give the attention and care that my dog requires. I am looking for a great home for…$1,500
champion bloodline English bulldogs. AKC registered and have health certificate$2,000
I have two lovely chocolate babies up for sale. One male and one female, this posting is for the male puppy. They are very social and pad trained, he has…$1,000
I have a litter of yellow Lab pups born June 25 2017 I am now taking $100.00 deposits to hold one for you. they are AKC registered fully wormed State…$900
I have one Female Silver Lab puppy she was born June 28, 2017, she will be ready to go Aug 22, 2017 I am now taking $100.00 deposit to hold her for you…$1,000
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Pearl is three years old and has lots of love to give. She is up-to-date on all her shots and is house trained and crate trained. She has also been to…$950
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Formicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
Honduras to southern Brazil. Costa Rica: in open and disturbed habitats throughout country, upper elevation limit 800 to 1100m, depending on local topography.
Minor worker: scapes with fine appressed pubescence, no erect setae; cheeks with sparse appressed pubescence only, no erect setae; mesosoma evenly arched; propodeum evenly convex, without differentiated dorsal and posterior faces; propodeum strongly laterally compressed, tectiform; propodeal suture distinct across dorsum and down to metathoracic spiracles, slightly breaking dorsal profile; first gastral tergite with abundant appressed yellow pubescence and moderately abundant erect setae; integument color dark brown to gray black, with variable amount of lighter yellow brown on malar spaces, clypeus, and scapes.
Major worker: head subquadrate; lateral margins of head devoid of projecting setae; clypeus with a pronounced median keel, and with a sparse stubble of about 6 short erect setae; face finely granular/punctate, opaque.
Similar species: JTL-011.
Natural History
This is an extremely common species in human altered landscapes throughout Costa Rica, in lowland to mid-elevation sites. It can be found in city parks in San Jose (the capital city), landscaped areas around hotels, coffee farms in Heredia, second growth vegetation and primary forest edge at La Selva and other lowland rainforest sites, seasonally dry habitats of Guanacaste Province, and in mangrove and other coastal habitats on both coasts. At La Selva it may also occur in the canopy of primary forest. Foragers are diurnal and very common on low vegetation. It is an opportunistic cavity nester. I have found nests in myrmecophytes (Cordia alliodora, Cecropia spp., and Triplaris melaenodendron), other live stems, and in dead branches of various sizes.
Type Data
Literature Cited
Mayr, G. 1870. Formicidae novogranadenses. Sitzungsber. K. Wiss. Math.-Naturwiss. Classe 61:370-417.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 firstname.lastname@example.com
Go to Ants of Costa Rica Homepage


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When Derwall was named West German national team coach in 1978, he was only its third full-time head coach, following the legendary Sepp Herberger, who led West Germany to the 1954 World Cup title, and Helmut Schoen, who led West Germany to the 1974 World Cup title and whom Derwall replaced.
"He was an important part of the German success story in the 1970s and 80s," DFB president Theo Zwanziger said. "His technical expertise was unchallenged."
Germany set a record under Derwall with a streak of 23 games without a defeat -- a record that stands to this day -- but he was replaced by Franz Beckenbauer in 1984 when Germany was eliminated in the first round at the European Championship in France.


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���� JFIF � � ���Photoshop 3.0 8BIM � BNY MELLON WORLD FOOD DAY A F FIN FOD IFG FINANCIAL FOOD 20131015# 0855( vSEE STORY 20131015/NY96289-INFO-a, MM (086787) Media contact: Amy Shipper, +1 212-635-7755, firstname.lastname@example.com 20131011T00:00:00-04:00Z NEW YORK_ NYd USAe
UNITED STATESi BNY MELLON WORLD FOOD DAYn PR NEWSWIREs
BNY MELLONx
More than 850 million people in the world don't have enough to eat, and one of every eight people suffer from hunger. A staggering amount of food is lost or wasted at almost every point in the food chain, and no country or region is immune. BNY Mellon has launched a global initiative to raise awareness of issues related to food security and waste through a series of nearly 100 employee volunteer events that will be held around the world before, during and after World Food Day on October 16. (PRNewsFoto/BNY Mellon)z AE� 1400 x 1082���http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/


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Ex-police chief sues Monroeville over firing
Monroeville violated the First Amendment, federal disability laws and the state whistle-blower protection law when officials fired former police Chief Steven Pascarella, the veteran police officer says in a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
Pascarella, 46, of Monroeville claims the municipality denied him short-term disability payments, refused to accommodate his disability and fired him in April in retaliation for reporting security breaches of Monroeville's emergency dispatch system.
Monroeville Manager Tim Little said that the municipality did not terminate Pascarella's employment, but he suggested that Pascarella was no longer able to work because of his medical condition.
"Nobody fired him," Little said, "he initiated that by applying for worker's compensation."
After Pascarella filed for short-term disability in October, two independent physicians determined he wasn't well enough to work as a police officer, so the municipality sent him a letter explaining his options that included applying for long-term disability, Little said.
Pascarella resigned as police chief in November and was appointed as a lieutenant, though he remained on short-term disability at that time. The lawsuit does not describe Pascarella's disability.
His attorney, Joseph Chivers, and Monroeville's solicitor, Bruce Dice, did not return calls seeking comment.
Monroeville Council members Ron Harvey and Linda Gaydos said on Tuesday they were befuddled by the lawsuit, because last week, the municipality's insurance provider approved long-term disability for Pascarella.
Pascarella said in the lawsuit he was denied an extension of short-term disability status in April as retaliation for reporting security breaches by the town's emergency dispatchers. He reported the violations to state and federal authorities.
Little said the municipality granted 26 weeks of short-term disability, but officials denied the extension in April.
Little said the language in the collective bargaining agreement is "ambiguous" as to whether an officer should have been guaranteed an extension of short-term disability while a long-term disability case is pending.
Brian Bowling is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-325-4301 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Kyle Lawson is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-871-2369 or email@example.com.


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by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 06, 2014
Opportunity is exploring "Murray Ridge" on Solander Point, part of the rim of Endeavour Crater. Investigation continued on "Anchor Point," Sol 3581 (Feb. 19, 2014) through Sol 3583 (Feb. 21, 2014), with Microscopic Imager (MI) and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on two soil locations.
On Sol 3585 (Feb. 23, 2014), the rover was driven to place its right front wheel on the rock "Sledge Island," then while the other wheels were kept stationary, that wheel was driven forward a quarter turn, then backwards a quarter turn. That was done three times and then the rover moved to see what it had accomplished.
Sledge Island was indeed crushed, and parts of it were in the Instrument Deployment Device (IDD) work volume. The team generated a Microscopic Imager mosaic and placed the APXS on it Sol 3587 (Feb. 25, 2014).
The subsequent integration appears to have been successful. This should largely wrap-up the work at the current location, though the team will attempt to crack "Stuart Island" under the wheel as the rover drives away.
As of Sol 3588 (Feb. 26, 2014), the solar array energy production was 464 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.498 and a solar array dust factor of 0.691.
Total odometry is 24.07 miles (38.74 kilometers).
Related Links
Mars Rovers at JPL
Mars Rovers at Cornell
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more
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The California Department of Fish and Game says DNA and other lab tests on a hiker's backpack finds no evidence that the man was attacked by a lion and saved by a bear as he claims.
Robert Biggs, a 69-year-old outdoorsman from Paradise, Calif., claimed in an interview with The Paradise Press that a mountain lion pounced on him last week while he was observing bears in the mountains above Whiskey Flats.
Biggs said the lion dug into his backpack with all four claws and refused to let go until one of the bears intervened and drove it off.
The hiker stuck by his claims even when a Fish and Game warden -- concerned about public safety as well as threats to wildlife -- showed up to check out the report.
Now, Kirsten Macintyre, communications manager for Fish and Game, tells us that only a very small amount of blood was found on the pack, and that DNA results showed that to be human blood.
"There is no indication of any lion or bear blood present on the pack," she says in an e-mail. "No saliva or even a single hair was present on the backpack, and it was clean of any dirt with only one tear (less than approximately 1/2)."
In short, she writes:
The California Department of Fish and Game takes seriously any report of a wild animal attack on a human, and I assure you we investigated this claim quickly and thoroughly. All of the evidence -- the lab results, an investigation at the scene, and the scratches on Mr. Biggs' arm -- is inconsistent with a mountain lion attack.
Informed of the findings, Biggs tells The Post that he told Fish and Game that the blood might be his and that the lion was only on him for a few seconds.
He also says:
Speaking to The Post, Biggs insists he is telling the truth and shrugs off the official findings: "I really don't care what they say."
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Also: Follow On Deadline on Twitter


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Aprahamian earns James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest 2014
Justin Aprahamian, owner and executive chef of Sanford, was named best chef in the Midwest at the annual James Beard Awards this evening in New York.
With his usual understated charm, Aprahamian pronounced the honor "surreal" and gave thanks to Sandy and Angie D'Amato, his wife Sarah, and the staff at the restaurant, among others.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee area, Aprahamian began his career working in his uncle's catering business. After graduating from high school, he worked for Steven Wade's Café in New Berlin while earning a degree from Waukesha County Technical College.
According to Aprahamian, it had always been his dream to work under Chef Sanford D'Amato at Sanford Restaurant, 1547 N. Jackson St. As the story goes, after being encouraged by industry colleagues, he knocked on the back door of Sanford and asked for a job. Turns out, his timing was perfect. Aprahamian was offered work in May 2002 and became sous chef when he was just 21 years old.
In December 2012, D'Amato turned the restaurant over to Aprahamian, who now runs the restaurant with his wife, Sarah.
The awards, often called the Oscars of the hospitality industry, took place at Lincoln Center in New York, before a room full of chefs, other industry professionals and members of the media from across the country.
It was the fourth year in a row that Aprahamian was nominated for a James Beard Award. This year, he bested five other chefs in the category of Best Chef Midwest, including Paul Berglund of The Bachelor Farmer in Minneapolis, Gerard Craft of Niche in Missouri, Michelle Gayer of Salty Tart in Minneapolis, Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Café in St. Louis, and Lenny Russo of Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market in St. Paul, Minn.
Other Wisconsin chefs who have won the Beard award include Tory Miller of L'Etoile, Sandy D'Amato of Sanford and Adam Siegel of Lake Park Bistro.
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1 item from 2014
22 January 2014 12:27 PM, PST | The Backlot | See recent The Backlot news »
The Grammys are on Sunday, so let's investigate its most bizarre category: Best New Artist. Both Christopher Cross and Esparanza Spalding have one. That's real. And that's why we're counting down the ten best winners and the five worst losers. Because maybe we'll learn something! That's what I'll go with.
10. Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee may not have had as gigantic a Billboard career following her Best New Artist win as some of the other stars here, but her debut album is such an assured, unpretentiously poetic, rich listening experience. "Chuck E.'s in Love" and "Young Blood" are whimsical and catchy while "Night Train" and "The Last Chance Texaco" are crackling, despairing portraits. She was also so rad, and that made her bohemian folksiness so much fresher than you'd expect.
9. Sade
If timelessness is a criterion for the music and musicians who win Best New Artist, »
- Louis Virtel
1 item from 2014
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It's a dark and disappointing moment for Catholics in Los Angeles -- at the request of the Los Angeles Times, the courts last week made public a deposition earlier this year by Cardinal Roger Mahony, in the case of former priest Michael Baker, a convicted child molestor who was shuttled around to various parishes in the 1980s.
As I've written before, Mahony is one of the good guys on some many things that matter to Catholics in California: human rights, social justice, immigration reform. But when it comes to the still-growing sex abuse scandal, he seems to be just another person-in-power looking first to protect the church's reputation.
In the deposition, Mahony acknowledges that Baker (who is now serving ten years in prison for molestation) came to him and confessed his actions. The cardinal sent the priest off to a "treatment center" used by the church, and then the church swung him around to several parishes - including some with elementary schools.
Reports of abuse by Baker continued but nothing more was done.
In his column in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez excerpts this moment from the deposition ):
Manly (attorney): I mean you would agree that the first thing any priest should do... when you learn that a priest has molested a child is call the police, right?
Mahony: Not neccessarily.
The most disappointing feature of the exchange is Mahony's fall-back to what has become a standard defense: he did what everyone was doing at the time, believing "treatment" could find a cure. Don't judge my actions back then, Mahony says, by today's rules.
True enough in concept -- and yet. We are talking about 1986, not 1689 ... and I am not sure there is any moment in history you can find where society's mores would make it all right for a priest to molest a child, get a slap on the wrist, and then be placed with children again. It happened -- it happened a lot because people sought to protect themselves, those they knew, and the institution that gave them power.
But it was never right.
Where does Mahony go from here? He had one year left in his long service as cardinal and archbishop -- a service that is filled with high marks and selfless service. But the scandal and his response to it threatens to define him as it has some many other church leaders. Time is running out to fix it.
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Engineers often make scale models of structures they plan to build in order to test function and stability. Sometimes, however, structures fail even when the models function, so engineers have developed extensive theory in order to determine how to build proper scale models and extrapolate reliable results from them.
At first we might assume that a model made of the same material as the intended final structure with each dimension scaled by a single factor will accurately reproduce the behavior of the final structure. That this is not so was known in antiquity by tragic observation, and it was first explained by Galileo around AD 1600. We will not present his detailed argument but will sketch some of the conclusions.
To summarize Galileo's conclusion on this point, when the linear dimensions of a structure are all increased by a factor, the load across any surface increases by the cube of that factor, whereas the strength, or the maximum force the structure can hold across any surface increases by the square of that factor. Therefore, as a structure gets larger, it tends to become unstable, more susceptible to failure.
To illustrate the point, let's consider a block of metal connected to a cylinder, which has much greater length than its diameter and is connected to the ceiling (part A in figure). The stress in the cylinder is the force per area across a cross section. Each material has a threshold stress, such that stress larger than the threshold causes the material to fail. If all the linear dimensions are increased by a factor (part B in figure), then the volume of the block increases by the cube of the factor, as well as the mass and weight of the block. The cross-sectional area of the cylinder increases by the square of the factor, so the stress increases as the factor itself.
This is the simplest example of the subtlety involved in model building.
In the previous question, how does the pressure (stress) exerted by the right front foot of statue B compare with the pressure exerted by the corresponding foot of statue A?


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YORK firefighter Kathryn Lazenby claimed fourth place at the European Cross-triathlon Age Group Championships.
The Terrington-based 37-year-old posted a time of three hours 38 minutes and 56 seconds in Sardinia to finish just outside the medals in preparation for her World Championships in Germany next month.
She said: "Fourth place is the worst position to come, because you're so close to a top-three finish."
Lazenby, competing in the 35-39 section, completed the course in the blazing Italian heat, riding predominantly along a bumpy forest track before running along Sardinia's soft-sand beach.
For most of the course, there were very few places to shade from the sun, which took its toll on the athletes' final times.
Lazenby claimed the fastest transition from the cycle to the run, but still looked for improvement in her overall performance.
She said: "I was a bit disappointed with my swim.
"I've done 18 days of open water training in Shetland and raised some money for Macmillan Cancer Support at the same time."
Lazenby has undertaken several charity fundraising challenges, completing a 1,250 mile ride from Land's End to John O'Groats in 2010.
In 2011, she and a friend set out to ride the entire route of theTour de France, before the event was cut short at the half-way point. Next year, she plans to ride the Arctic Circle in aid of Macmillan.
The next triathlon aim for Lazenby is the World Championships in Germany on Sunday, August 16.
A confident Lazenby said: "My training has been going well and I am hoping for a top-ten finish."
As an amateur triathlete, Lazenby funds her own participation in events at all levels.
She said: "I would like to thank my current sponsors CycleStreet of York and Britcom International of Market Weighton."
Lazenby is seeking new sponsors to help fund her World Championship campaign and anyone interested should email her at firstname.lastname@example.com


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CHARGES have been dropped against a man accused of twice extinguishing the eternal flame at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance.
Stewart Leigh Pike, 36, of Yarraville, was charged with 11 offences including two counts of extinguishing the eternal flame. But on Tuesday a prosecutor told the Melbourne Magistrates Court the charges had been withdrawn.
It is understood the case was dropped because Pike has mental health issues. It had been alleged that Pike snuffed out the flame in November 2011, one week after Remembrance Day, and again in May last year exactly a month after Anzac Day.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen was told in October that Pike was exploring a mental impairment defence.


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EMU's Harless receives national honor as staff person of the year for alternative spring break
YPSILANTI - Peggy Harless, assistant director of diversity and community involvement, has been named the 2007 Break Away National Alternative Break Awards Staff Person of the Year.
Break Away is the national nonprofit organization that supports colleges and universities in their alternative spring break programming. EMU's volunteer center, VISION, has been involved with Break Away since in inception. Through the program, VISION sends as many as 100 students to sites across the country during spring break to help others. EMU has participated in the program since 1992.
"I am fortunate to work with EMU students who are so amazingly committed to service and passionate about making the world a better place," said Harless. "I am honored to have been nominated by students for this award. There are so many good things going on at EMU. I'm glad to have this opportunity to bring positive recognition to the University."
"Peggy is nothing but supportive and productive in helping Alternative breaks, as well as all of the other social justice programs, in achieving their goals, missions and visions each and every year," said Rob Masen, the student leader with EMU's alternative spring break program who nominated Harless.
"Peggy Harless is a tireless, passionate advocate for student leadership and involvement with community service and engagement," said Glenna Frank-Miller, executive director, leadership and involvement. "She is a uniquely gifted advisor and mentor to students who design and lead service programs, and for students who participate in those programs. Students describe her as a role model for social justice work and for students who seek learning opportunities within service organizations and programs. We are truly blessed to have Peggy as a member of our EMU family."
Harless is responsible for bringing the Michigan Service Scholars program to campus, advocating for students who complete 300 hours of service in one year to qualify for a scholarship. She also is advisor to: America Reads, Best Buddies, SAHAH (Students Against Hunger and Homelessness), Jumpstart, Habitat for Humanity and GREEN (Gathering Resources to be Educated about our Environment and Nature), along with other VISION programs.
Eastern Michigan University is a public, comprehensive university that offers programs in the arts, sciences and professions. EMU prepares students with the intellectual skills and practical experiences to succeed in their career and lives, and to be better citizens.
Editor's Note: Looking for an expert source for a story? Check out EMU's Eastern Experts online at www.emich.edu/univcomm/easternexperts.
EMU Home | University Communications Home


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2 Bedroom
Irving Close, Staple Hill, Bristol
Price: £92,000.00 40% share
Set in the popular area of Staple Hill this two bedroom home is located just six miles from Bristol city centre and offers a perfect base to explore both the city and the surrounding countryside, with plenty to see and do.
Situated off Irving Close, this small exclusive development offers a total of 30 new luxury homes of which six are being offered for shared ownership sale.
From your doorstep you'll find lots of open space and countryside, as well as a buzzing high street offering a range of shops, bars, a butchers, a fresh vegetable/health store and several restaurants.
This location benefits from excellent access to public transport links, including Bristol Temple Meads, the M32 and M4 / M5 motorways, making commuting that little bit simpler.
More information
Read the Irving Close shared ownership brochure
How to apply
Please call our Sales and Homeownership Team on 01454 821666, or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Latest question:
How do you think the new GigE standards will influence the machine vision industry?
Respond or ask your question now!
Cambridge, UK: Plasmon (LSE: PLM), the market leader for professional data storage solutions, today announced that its customer, The Dallas Morning News, has been recognised by Storage Networking World 2005 as winner of the "Best Practices in Storage" Award in the Industry Regulation Compliance and Corporate Governance category. The Dallas Morning News was selected for its image archiving application using a Plasmon G-Series Library powered by UDO (Ultra Density Optical).
As a result of using UDO technology, The Dallas Morning News is now able to manage the nearly two million new image assets it creates every year as well as a huge volume of legacy images from its historical archives. The newspaper deployed the Plasmon G-Series Library as a long-term storage solution to deal with its growing image archive, which continues to expand as images increase in resolution.
"Ultimately, we chose to implement a UDO solution to comply with Sarbanes Oxley regulations. Considering the growing number of images and the increasing file sizes due to higher resolutions, we knew we needed cost-effective, expandable and reliable archival capabilities that were only available in a UDO solution," says Bob Mason, former director of publishing systems at The Dallas Morning News and current chief technology officer at ImpreMedia. "While working on this project, we discovered the potential to gain significant revenue for selling copies of the nearly 2 million image assets the paper manages each year."
About UDO
Based on high density, blue laser recording technology, UDO (Ultra Density Optical) is the 30GB standard for professional archival storage. UDO is designed specifically for the secure, long-term storage of high volume document images, emails, customer records, audio or video files, financial information and engineering documentation.
UDO media is available in True Write Once, Compliant Write Once and Rewritable media formats, which are certified ECMA and ISO standards. UDO True Write Once technology prevents any form of data destruction or modification, which provides the highest possible level of physical record authenticity, which cannot be matched by magnetic disk or tape technologies using Write Once emulation. Compliant Write Once media has the same operational properties as True Write Once media with one important difference. Through the use of a specially designed "shred" operation, data sectors written to Compliant Write Once media can be completely destroyed, while no data can be modified. Both True Write Once and Compliant Write Once media enable conformation to government and corporate regulations, best practice and audit trail management. UDO Rewritable media uses a specially formulated Phase Change recording surface that allows recorded data to be deleted and modified.


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Early in spring, David Shaw asserted that Stanford's defense would remain sturdy in the face of several high-profile departures to the NFL Draft. Though some question marks do still linger on that side of the ball (the Cardinal anticipate they'll be answered during August camp), Saturday's spring game ended a several-week stretch that certainly calmed some worries. Here's a rundown of the spring game's defensive action:
- As I mentioned in my complete spring game offensive report, Stanford's defense looked more than comfortable throwing an array of aggressive defensive looks at Kevin Hogan's unit early on. The Cardinal blitzed frequently, utilizing inside stunts and a healthy dose of quickness from the linebacker position. A.J. Tarpley registered the first of the Farm Boys' eight sacks after he pancaked right guard Johnny Caspers. Tarpley roared in satisfaction, producing a sound that reverberated through the nearly-empty stadium.
- Aziz Shittu again saw most of his action at defensive tackle, this time with the second team, and again held his own on the inside. He also seems to have improved his motor and pursuit speed. After the game, Shaw called Shittu Stanford's "player of the spring."
- About a month ago, Shaw suggested that Shittu's versatility (despite playing defensive tackle, he's still officially listed at defensive end) may well be his ticket to earning some consistent playing time. That scenario will almost certainly be the case if David Parry again labors through the season with injury issues. For now though, Parry, the Cardinal's top defensive tackle, looks healthy and powerful. He was hindered by a lower abdominal injury throughout most of last season, but this weekend, manhandled the relatively inexperienced interior of Stanford's line several times before capping off his day dominating second-team center Kevin Reihner on the interior. The Cardinal is certainly thrilled to see No. 58 operating with fresh strength.
- Remaining on the defensive line, end Jordan Watkins appears to have bulked into a competitively-sized frame, and he enjoyed several spurts of productivity alongside Luke Kaumatule on Stanford's second-team defense. Despite Ben Gardner and Josh Mauro's departures, the battle for defensive line playing time will still be fierce, as Henry Anderson and Blake Lueders both made life for the Cardinal offense extremely difficult this spring.
- Outside linebacker Kevin Anderson missed the spring game because of a minor injury. (Shaw said he would have played had it been a regular season game.) The resulting opening allowed redshirt freshman Peter Kalambayi to play with the first team, and the youngster capitalized. He led the Stanford defense in the box score, thanks to seven tackles and two sacks. Kalambayi's speed and hunger for the backfield were apparent; more than once, he successfully sniffed out the open lane to the quarterback.
- Kalambayi's classmate Mike Tyler, whom defensive coordinator Lance Anderson has also praised for his play at outside linebacker, delivered the day's biggest hit. He obliterated Dontonio Jordan after a disciplined read of a fly sweep. The Cardinal also received more positive second-team contributions at the position from Torsten Rotto, a walk-on who cracked the two-deep last season.
- Moving inside, Kevin Palma capped off an impressive spring when he clogged the interior and pile-drove Kelsey Young into the ground. Palma's successful work in the weight room is quickly becoming apparent: He's developed a sturdy frame that served him well throughout spring ball. Still, the favorites to replace Shayne Skov at inside linebacker remain the veterans. Joe Hemschoot got the nod Saturday, but he's been rotating with Blake Martinez as the position's top dog opposite Tarpley. Here's inside linebacker coach Peter Hansen's take on the situation.
- Second-string cornerback Taijuan Thomas, another redshirt freshman, is listed at 5-foot-10, so he struggled for a jump ball against 6-foot-4 wideout Devon Cajuste. Still, that play doesn't take away from the quickness and physicality that Thomas demonstrated this spring. The Cardinal shifted him to nickel back whenever the second team faced passing downs, and Thomas again stuck to receivers like glue on Saturday.
- Many of Stanford's defensive questions come in the secondary, particularly from Ed Reynolds' vacated safety position. Kyle Olugbode leads there, but Kodi Whitfield will have the entire summer to catch up on all-important playbook knowledge. Jordan Richards is certainly the leader at strong safety, but the situation behind him is intriguing. Converted quarterback Dallas Lloyd is officially listed at strong safety now, and he made a pair of good plays in run support. Fifth-year man John Flacco has also opened eyes. He complemented some hard-nosed run support this spring with an interception Saturday.
- Many Stanford players have told The Bootleg that Wayne Lyons
has taken his game to the next level. That may be part of the
reason why the coaching staff has also entrusted him with Usua
Amanam's old nickel back spot. (Lyons shifts over from cornerback
on passing downs.) Lyons' play, again solid at spring game, has
impressed Devon Cajuste in particular.
David Lombardi is the Stanford Insider for The Bootleg. Check him out at www.davidlombardisports.com and follow him on Twitter @DavidMLombardi.
Are you fully subscribed to The Bootleg? If not, then you are missing out on all the top Cardinal coverage we provide daily on our award-winning website. Sign up today for the biggest and best in Stanford sports coverage with TheBootleg.com (sign-up)!


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Hi, after having discussed $subject shortly over dinner yesterday, while I should have been preparing the slides for my talk I noticed that there might be a rather easy way to get rid of freezing. I think that the existence of hint bits and the crash safe visibility maps should provide sufficient tooling to make freezing unneccessary without loosing much information for debugging if we modify the way vacuum works a bit. Currently, aside from recovery, we only set all visible in vacuum. vacuumlazy.c's lazy_scan_heap currently works like: for (blkno = 0; blkno < nblocks; blkno++) { if (!scan_all && invisible) continue; /* cannot lock buffer immediately */ if (!ConditionalLockBufferForCleanup(buf)) { if (!scan_all) continue; /* don't block if we don't need freezing */ if (!lazy_check_needs_freeze(buf)) continue; /* now wait for cleanup lock */ LockBufferForCleanup(buf); } for (tuple in all_tuples) { cleanup_tuple(); } if (nfrozen > 0) log_heap_freeze() if (all_visible) { PageSetAllVisible(page); visibilitymap_set(page); } } In other words, if we don't need to make sure there aren't any old tuples, we only scan visible parts of the relation. If we are making a freeze vacuum we scan the whole relation, waiting for a cleanup lock on the relation if necessary. We currently need to make sure we scanned the whole relation and have frozen everything to have a sensible relfrozenxid for a relation. So, what I propose instead is basically: 1) only vacuum non-all-visible pages, even when doing it for anti-wraparound 2) When we can set all-visible guarantee that all tuples on the page are fully hinted. During recovery do the same, so we don't need to log all hint bits. We can do this with only an exclusive lock on the buffer, we don't need a cleanup lock. 3) When we cannot mark a page all-visible or we cannot get the cleanup lock, remember the oldest xmin on that page. We could set all visible in the former case, but we want the page to be cleaned up sometime soonish. 4) If we can get the cleanup lock, purge dead tuples from the page and the indexes, just as today. Set the page as all-visible. That way we know that any page that is all-visible doesn't ever need to look at xmin/xmax since we are sure to have set all relevant hint bits. We don't even necessarily need to log the hint bits for all items since the redo for all_visible could make sure all items are hinted. The only problem is knowing up to where we can truncate pg_clog... Makes sense? Greetings, Andres Freund -- Andres Freund http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/ PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Training & Services
Next: From: Pavan Deolasee Date: 2013-05-23 17:51:56 Subject: Re: pg_rewind, a tool for resynchronizing an old master after failover Previous: From: Heikki Linnakangas Date: 2013-05-23 17:48:24 Subject: Re: pg_rewind, a tool for resynchronizing an old master after failover


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Director of Hendrix Biopic Talks Inspiration
John Ridley Wrote And Directed The Hendrix Biopic 'Jimi: All Is By My Side.'
He said he was influenced by a Jimi Hendrix song about a woman who was influential to Jimi, called 'Sending My Love to Linda.'
"I started to research Linda and how she became connected to Jimi and became a champion of his going to London and all of these things that had not been deeply excavated," Ridley tells Tacoma, Washington's News Tribune. "I thought, 'Here's a story with a very finite amount of time to it — specifically about one year. This is a story in itself.'"
Linda turned out to be Linda Keith, a then-girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Ridley's film, starring Andre Benjamin of the rap duo Outkast, focuses on Hendrix's time in London, before he became a major star in 1967 as the leader of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
'Jimi: All Is By My Side' will open the Seattle International Film Festival on May 15th.
Getty Images


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Newberry, S.C. - Brevard swept all three doubles matches on their way to a 9-0 victory over host Newberry College on Saturday afternoon as the Tornados opened South Atlantic Conference play with their second victory of the season.
Brevard improves to 2-2 on the season, 1-0 in conference play, while Newberry falls to 1-4 and 0-1 in the SAC.
Lindsay Shaeffer and Kim Dixon defeated the Newberry duo of Autise Mortimer and Amanda Simmons in #1 singles, 8-2, while Lindsay Hostetter and Kayley Duval topped Rebekah Crouch and Stephanie Matthews, 8-0. Brevard completed the doubles' sweep as Merek Slagle and Elis Labus defeated Lindsay Kyzer and Sierra Hoover, 8-0, in #3 singles.
Shaeffer dropped her second set in her three-set win over Mortimer in #1 singles, 6-0, 3-6, 7-5, while Brevard swept the other five matches in straight sets. Hostetter topped Simmons 6-4, 6-4, while Duval and Dixon defeated Crouch and Kyzer, 6-0, 6-0. Douglas topped Matthews 6-3, 7-5 at the #5 position, while Nyman defeated Hoover, 6-0, 6-2 to end the match.
Brevard will continue play on Tuesday, March 2nd, as the Tornados host North Greenville at the BC Tennis Complex with first serve coming at 2 p.m.


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Elena Miro is one of my favourites. As with recent collections, Elena Miro has paraded her latest designs for Fall Winter 2011-2012 parallel to Milan Fashion Week.
Vogue Curvy to see an exclusive video from Behind the Scenes, as well as more shots from the collection.
Image Credits to Pour Femme xxx.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Elena Miro Milan Collection Fall/Winter 2011-2012
Posted by Em at 9:43 pm 3 comments: Links to this post
Labels: 11-12, 2011, 2012, Autumn, AW, Boombands Em, Couture, curves, Elena Miro, Fall, FW, Have you seen the Gorgeous?, Milan, models, plus-size, plussize, Review, winter
Thursday, 24 February 2011
She likes: Beach walks at sunset...
Do you know what's amazing?
The OCEAN...
No trip to Australia would be complete without a blog post sharing with you - the gorgeousness that is the Ocean.
Now, while Downunder, my Mr. Darcy and I DID head into the Pacific for a dip or two, but these photos were taken on a romantic day... LITERALLY, a walk along the beach, hand holding, ice-cream eating and a gorgeous sunset. The photo on the left is my favourite photo taken of myself in a very long time. To me, it says LIFE and HAPPINESS and at the moment this picture was taken I really felt like I was experiencing and truly enjoying BOTH.
My skin and hair felt salty after so many days on the beach and much as I love the UK, I do miss sunshiney ocean days - a lot!
Now for my day on the beach, I am wearing the City Chic Floating Flower Maxi-dress, which as you can see - I have hitched up into my underwear. I actually LOVE hitching up my dresses and walking about in the sun and in Australia, I used to do it a LOT. In fact, I miss days when I used to walk to work, through a PARK - no one around, sun shining, sunscreen on and dress hitched up - letting my arms, chest, face and legs drink in a little Vitamin D.
I teamed my dress with a macrame style bolero (also City Chic), pink Havaiana Flip-Flops and Paparazzi-Huge sunglasses (bought on Santa Monica Pier in 2009). I also took a massive bag with me carrying towels, drinking water and sunscreen. I am wearing minimal make up... my time downunder was VERY MUCH about keeping things very simple! Can you see my freckles?
In any case, it was a very romantic day... and while my blog doesn't really have a place for couples shots of Darcy and I - here's a smidge of romance for you:
Sunset at Glenelg beach.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Simply Be Competition WINNER
This month I have held a fantastic competition on the blog thanks to Simply Be. The prize was a piece from the Anna Scholz for Simply Be range - and to win, all you had to do was follow my blog, friend Simply Be on facebook and also leave a comment on my blog telling me which piece from the range you wanted and how you would style it...
There were some amazing and innovative entries and I love how many of you chose different pieces with different ideas for styling.
The competition winner is Susa Dickerson. Susa chose the Anna Scholz Frill Hem Dress - and described how she would style it for day and night.
Susa, get in contact - and let me know your details. I will contact Simply Be for you with the size you need as well as forward them your details. Perfect! x.
their winter clearance is STILL on - so... what are you waiting for?
There were some amazing and innovative entries and I love how many of you chose different pieces with different ideas for styling.
The competition winner is Susa Dickerson. Susa chose the Anna Scholz Frill Hem Dress - and described how she would style it for day and night.
Susa, get in contact - and let me know your details. I will contact Simply Be for you with the size you need as well as forward them your details. Perfect! x.
their winter clearance is STILL on - so... what are you waiting for?
Friday, 18 February 2011
A little Henna LOVE!
On my recent trip to Australia, I had a day long stop-over in Singapore on the way back to London in order to break up the trip. I actually love traveling, but a gruelling 24 hour journey NEEDS a little break in the middle.
Mr. Darcy and I had a full day in town and I knew where I wanted to go! Last time I was in Singapore it was 2002, I spent a week there and LOVED it. The city is amazing, clean and friendly. I fell in love with Little India and the art of henna body painting, I find it stunning - and this last weekend when we were in Singapore, I told Darcy we could go wherever he wanted, so long as I could leave the country with some body art... It was our first stop!
Choose your design and sit back as your Henna artist does her amazing work. I was amazed how quick she was! Quick and precise!
Once completed, you need to leave the henna on your skin to dry for as long as possible - eventually, it will crack and start to peel off naturally...
As the henna starts to come off, underneath you will see the staining from the henna... I used brown henna which was orangey to start - but darkened overnight...
(Try to never use black henna - it is not made from the same natural elements and can render you allergic to all other dyes (like hair colour) for the rest of your life)...
Here you see my completed body art, looking great - a whole TWO days later when I was back in London... believe it or not - henna body art can last from a few days up to a MONTH depending on the kind of mixture used and how long you leave the original artwork on your skin...
PS - I will post the winner of the Anna Scholz for Simply Be competition on Tuesday! So tune back then! x.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Laura & Jennifer for Plus Model Mag.
I can barely contain the hotness of this post.
I know many of you already read Plus Model Mag, well the latest issue almost defines plus-size gorgeous. Cover girls and plus size models Laura Wells and Jennifer Maitland not only feature in a completely hot picture editorial but are also interviewed by editor Madeline Figueroa Jones.
If you haven't seen the issue yet - take a look, because it really is something else.
Oh - and if you haven't already entered - head HERE for the Simply Be Competition currently running on this blog.
Smooch. x.
Pictures via Plus Model Mag and Laura Wells Plus Model Facebook page.
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