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3 ways to know it is time for an automation upgrade
Figuring out the right time to update your control system can be difficult. The following factors determine if the time is right. Three reasons show why 'It works fine' isn't fine anymore. A fourth consideration may lift any final objections.
Updating a control system in any application is a daunting task. The cost of engineering, the downtime needed to replace the hardware, and the hours required to organize and assemble the system are high. But there comes a time when the gains realized from modern capabilities developed within the last few years can quickly pay off any initial costs for the upgrade, especially with the technological leaps and bounds made from networking. Concepts such as intelligent preventive maintenance, leveraging IT technologies, and the data-driven world exist to increase revenue and decrease "panic cases" where a situation rapidly spins out of control without someone in the loop.
Some might say these technologies are pushing the operator out of the system, but the reverse is true: The operator is now more informed and more involved than ever. If a control network doesn't take advantage of these concepts, it could be losing the very competitive advantage that automation was intended to garner.
1. Intelligent preventive maintenance
One of the biggest goals of preventive maintenance is to decrease the amount of "panic cases"—that is, to avoid when a part suddenly fails without any signs prior to the event, causing unscheduled downtime. Not only are these events big stress points for the engineering and maintenance staff, but they also can be more costly to the business than scheduled downtime. Spare parts must be acquired, and the part must be replaced. Sometimes, another part of the system is affected, such as if a surge passed into a particular piece of the control system. This must also be replaced and sometimes reprogrammed. Meanwhile, the rest of the machine or plant that is connected is idle or operating at less than ideal efficiency levels. Intelligent preventive maintenance empowers the system to alert operators and engineers when something is operating beyond its limits, or sometimes just operating differently than it used to.
For example, a motor is operating in a manufacturing line. It usually draws about 5 amps during a given process. Using modern motor managing equipment, the programmable logic controller (PLC) controlling the system is logging the average load during this process. It takes simple logic to program the controller to recognize that over the course of a given period of time, the average load has increased outside of normal levels and is continuing to increase. In this case, the PLC can now take steps to alert the operator to check the motor. If a problem is found, a maintenance cycle can be scheduled to take care of the problem. Without the awareness of the increased levels, over time the motor might have eventually burned out for one reason or another. Since a new motor is ordered, maintenance is scheduled and the operating motor is now being watched more closely for additional failure indications. What could have been an unscheduled panic downtime situation has become a routine maintenance cycle.
2. Leveraging IT technologies
When the industry chose to use Ethernet infrastructure, questions arose about what to do with the IT team in the plant. Some people advocate for the complete division of IT and automation teams. Alternatively, there are those who create teams composed of automation and IT professionals, where the synergies created between the two generate a healthier, more efficient plant. In addition, the IT professionals learn to understand the unique needs of industrial automation, while the automation professionals learn more about networking and how to leverage existing, open and reliable technologies, such as SNMP, to increase the uptime and transparency of their network.
As mentioned, one implementation of the synergies created when IT and automation teams work together is the leveraging of simple network maintenance protocol (SNMP). SNMP was originally designed for the corporate office environment, but because of the architecture, SNMP also lends itself well to industrial and control applications. For example, ever want to monitor the network usage in real time during a particular process? An SNMP-enabled switch and controller can monitor this statistic as part of its code without compromising the real-time properties of the controller. Another implementation might be in a situation where a network component needs to be replaced. The user might interact with an HMI, and the HMI could call the controller to make an SNMP call to find out exactly which port the specified network component is connected to, thereby decreasing the downtime needed to replace the malfunctioning network component.
3. Data-driven world
In today's data-driven world, plants and automation systems both require and supply more bits and bytes than ever. The use of the database to tie operations all the way from the supply chain to the point-of sale-systems is closing in on universal. It only makes sense that automation should be tying into this system. Between connecting and automating a great deal of data transfers, such as warehousing, supply locations, and offloading from logistics, additional opportunities such as allowing greater visibility into the manufacturing process, unclogging bottlenecks, and determining what equipment requires an upgrade are all possible from the high-data throughput control system.
A good example of this seamless movement of data is a plant where the control system for the manufacturing line communicates with the warehousing system, such that the supplies for the manufacturing line are kept in the same warehouse as the finished products. Manufacturing sends the warehousing unit a retrieval command. When the material is delivered, the finished product is taken away. Supplies are tracked in real time, failures can be logged during manufacturing, and particular batches can be set aside for quality check. Serialized finished products can be identified down to the exact batch of each component and kept in a database for quality purposes. Logistics can keep track of the day-to-day usage of different components, so that less of each is required in stock.
4. Running fine may not be fine
While a 20-year-old automation system may be running fine, remember that automation was intended to cut down on operator costs and unreliability issues and speed up production or generic task execution. It might be the case that the same 20-year-old system no longer has replacement parts or those parts have become extremely expensive and rare. This compromises reliability and cost. Finding a trained user of the control system might be getting more difficult, and now there are far faster and more efficient systems to do the type of task that the 20-year-old system is doing. The automation system has now lost all major advantages.
The time has come to upgrade. Now is the chance to take advantage of new technologies to tie in the automation system more concretely to the rest of the company's systems.
- Dan Fenton is product marketing specialist, controls and software, control systems technology, Phoenix Contact USA. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering and Plant Engineering, firstname.lastname@example.com.
At www.controleng.com/archive September, see more detailed advice and more photos.
At www.controleng.com, search upgrade for other advice.
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Many times what is needed to modernize the automation is not necessarily a new control system but more sensors because using the same sensors, a new control system can only do so much better. I personally believe that what is required for a quantum leap in performance is a second layer of automation for pervasive sensing of missing measurements. Moreover, plant improvements are possible without changing the system.
This second layer of automation covers asset monitoring, energy conservation measures, and HS&E improvements. For example, additional sensors on heat exchangers, pumps, air cooled exchangers (fin fans), cooling towers, and blowers etc. tells the run & maintain organization the health of these equipment. This information is used for preventive maintenance; a data driven organization that can better plan daily maintenance and turnarounds avoiding panic maintenance and shortening the turnarounds. Learn more from this blog:
I also agree this doesn't push the operators out of the system. Compare an old car to a new. An old car only has sensors for fuel level, temperature, and low oil. A new car has 3 times as many or more sensors. These sensors are networked throughout the car using 3 or more onboard bus systems as well as wireless sensors (tire pressure) for diagnostics and other functions. These sensors do not take the place of the driver or the mechanic – both are still needed. However, the sensors make the car a lot more efficient, environmentally friendly, and safer etc. The second layer of automation in a modernized plant is used for the exact same thing, not to rake the place of the operators or maintenance technicians, but to make the plant more efficient, environmentally friendly, and safer.
The motor is a good example of predictive maintenance for electrical equipment. In the case of process equipment predictive maintenance may include monitoring the degradation of heat transfer coefficient of a heat exchanger. If it is not fouling, there is no need to waste time cleaning it. If it is fouling, cleaning can be scheduled at a suitable time. Computing the heat transfer coefficient requires temperature and flow measurements, and ideally also DP measurements. These are "missing measurement", non-existent in plants today, Using WirelessHART it is possible to deploy these instruments without opening junction boxes or cable trays to lay cable; this means minimal risk to the existing installation. Moreover, there is no need to change the control system. The new WirelessHART transmitters can be interfaced to any control system; DCS or PLC; old or new. Indeed, more of these measurements are "beyond the P&ID" and the data goes beyond the control room; into asset management software in the maintenance office, reliability office, and energy manager etc.


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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
In this work we present a theoretical study of the effect of disorder on spin polarisation at the Fermi level, and the disorder formation energies for Co2Fe
Full Co-based Heusler alloys are predicted to be half-metallic ferromagnets,
Full Heusler alloys are of the form X2YZ, where X and Y are
In order to determine the likelihood of each type of disorder occurring, the disorder energy was computed for CFMS as a function of the Fe concentration,
Calculations of the XZ (Co–Si) disorder energies show that it is consistently larger than those of the XY disorders, regardless of the Fe concentration, with the value for
As an indication of these finding,
The effect of the disorder on the half-metallic properties of the Heusler alloys may be deduced by calculating the spin DOS, and examining the spin polarisation at the Fermi level. For a true half-metal this spin polarisation should be 100%, so that only one spin channel has states at the Fermi energy. As discussed previously, in the Co-based Heusler alloys it is the majority spin that has states at the Fermi level, and the minority spin that has a band-gap.
Detailed results of the spin polarisation at the Fermi level are discussed next. Since
The results in
The half-metallicities of the disordered Heusler alloys show clear trends. As illustrated in
In contrast to Mn, each Fe atom adds an an extra electron to the majority-spin electron, leading to an increase of 1 μB in the total magnetic moment per 16-atom unit cell for each increment of 0.25 in
Finally we discuss the Co–Fe disorder, which has the lowest energy of formation and hence is of particular interest. Across the chemical compositions it is clear that in general a moderate level of spin polarisation at the Fermi level is maintained, around 30%–50%, with the notable exception of the pure CFS alloy. The disorder concentrations of 25% studied here are large, so whilst these spin polarisations are too low for device applications they do suggest that the half-metallicity of these Heusler alloys may survive in the presence of small amounts of Co–Fe order. In contrast both the Co–Mn and Co–Si disorders can completely reverse the spin polarisation at the Fermi level, which would ruin the performance of any Heusler-based device; fortunately these disorders have high energies and so are unlikely to occur in significant amounts.
To illustrate the ordering in CFMS and how it relates to CFS and CMS, films using Co–Fe–Mn–Si, Co–Mn–Si and Co–Fe–Si alloyed targets were deposited on MgO substrates. To improve the film crystallinity, annealing was performed in the sputtering chamber at 500°C for 2 h. Structural investigation was done by cross-section scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) using High Angle Annular Dark Field (HAADF) techniques which are
In order to study the effect of disorder on the half-metallicity of the Heusler alloys,
The effects of disorder were studied across a range of chemical compositions from pure CMS to pure CFS, starting from CMS and generating new compositions by systematically replacing Mn by Fe. The 4 Y atomic sites in the conventional 16-atom Heusler cell, allowed the study of Co2Fe
The disordered simulation systems were constructed by exchanging pairs of atoms in the ordered CFMS unit cells. Since there are four Y sites and four Z sites in the conventional cell, exchanging one Y or Z atom with an X atom corresponds to an incorrect site occupation of 25%. In this nomenclature, 50% would correspond to "full disorder," where the correct and incorrect occupations are equally likely. For each new unit cell the lattice and atomic positions were relaxed until the maximum force on any atom was less than 0.04 eV/Å and the stress was under 0.02 GPa.
It has been shown that common semi-local approximations for exchange and correlation such as that proposed by Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE) [
The authors are grateful for computational support from the UK national high performance computing service, HECToR, for which access was obtained via the UKCP consortium and funded by EPSRC grant ref. EP/K013564/1, and the N8 Consortium for access to the N8 supercomputer Polaris. Philip J. Hasnip wishes to thank EPSRC and UKCP for financial assistance (EPSRC grant ref. EP/K013564/1); Vlado K. Lazarov acknowledges financial support from EPSRC (EPSRC grant ref. EP/K013114/1 and EP/K03278X/1).
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Schematic of the fully ordered L21 phase, and the XY and XZ disordered phases. (
Spin density of states (SDOS) for CMS, CF0.5M0.5S, and CFS. (
Disorder energies (eV/atom) for a range of Fe-concentrations (
|Disorder type
|Co–Mn (XY)
|0.11 (3)
|0.11 (8)
|0.11 (5)
|Co–Fe (XY)
|0.08 (5)
|0.08 (2)
|0.07 (1)
|0.06 (1)
|Co–Si (XZ)
|0.16 (2)
|0.17 (3)
|0.19 (2)
|0.19 (2)
|0.18 (6)
Spin polarisation at the Fermi level for Co2Fe
|Disorder type
|Co–Mn (XY)
|24% to 38%
|−12% to −16%
|−23% to −28%
|−24% to −37%
|Co–Fe (XY)
|28% to 34%
|29% to 43%
|31% to 48%
|−36% to −38%
|Co–Si (XZ)
|31% to 56%
|−12% to −14%
|−19% to −24%
|−48% to −49%
|99% to 100%
Total spin polarisation (magnetic moment) of Co2Fe
|Disorder type
|Co–Mn (XY)
|Co–Fe (XY)
|Co–Si (XZ)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
(Research):CENSUS: 1850 William Weatherford (pobably a son of Wm or Richard)
Father: Martin WEATHERFORD b: 1728 in VA
Mother: Isabella b: Abt 1728
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text:
Losing weight is a challenge almost as difficult as reading an entire dictionary or climbing a tree that's covered in canola oil. Enlist expert help with this Groupon.
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Universal Treatment and Recovery Center
Licensed chiropractor Dr. Gary Van Skyhock steers the ship at Universal Treatment and Recovery Center, where he and his staff treat patients using a "whole person" approach. Instead of simply treating individual symptoms, Dr. Van Skyhock susses out the underlying issues causing pain or discomfort and works to ameliorate these problems via chiropractic treatments and lifestyle adaptations or changes. In line with this thinking, the center offers chiropractic adjustments, nutritional counseling, massage therapy, and postural screenings to ensure optimal nerve flow and overall good health.


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The Eastern Front is calling again with the recently launched DLC pack Red Turn: The Road to Berlin 1943-45 for Unity of Command. The $9.99 expansion adds a 17-scenario Soviet campaign, two standalone Axis scenarios, including the Battle of Kursk, four dedicated player-versus-player scenarios, 39 units, new specialist steps, and the 1.04 scenario editor. Owners of Unity of Command can also get the new scenario editor separately for free.
Red Turn: The Road to Berlin 1943-45 is available at unityofcommand.net, and each purchase includes a Steam code.
Official Site: UnityofCommand.net


text:
Multi-day & Extended Tours
2-Day St. Petersburg Shore Excursion
On this 2-day cultural tour of St. Petersburg, disembark from your cruise ship and explore the city's most impressive sights and splendors. Visit the world-famous Hermitage Museum, explore Russian Imperial palaces, venture to the Versailles-rivaling Peterhof Fountain Park, and go for a canal cruise – it's no accident that St. Petersburg is also known as the "Venice of the North." Guides will ensure your tour of the city goes smoothly during this 17-hour excursion. You can also sign on for an additional, 3-hour extension, during which you can experience St. Petersburg's various nighttime attractions, from the theatre to folklore performances.
• 20 hours
Multi-day & Extended Tours
St. Petersburg Shore Excursion: Small-Group 2-Day Visa-Free Tour Including Boat Ride
Explore St. Petersburg with an English-speaking guide, on this two-day tour. Visit Peter and Paul's Fortress, St. Issac Cathedral, Church of our Saviour on the Spilled Blood, the Hermitage Museum and more. Ride on the canal, enjoy traditional Russian lunches and immerse yourself in this beautiful city on this small-group shore excursion for ships in port for 2 days.
• 2 days
Cultural & Theme Tours
Small-Group St Petersburg Hermitage Museum Tour
Beat the crowds and lines at St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum with this 3-hour tour inside one of the world's greatest art galleries. With an expert guide, enjoy skip-the-line entry, and between May and September, gain early admission so you can start your tour before the crowds. Enjoy personalized attention from your guide on this small-group tour, limited to six people.
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Cultural & Theme Tours
Moscow Metro Tour
See the best examples of underground Soviet-era architecture on a 1.5-hour walking tour of Moscow's metro stations! With an expert guide at your side, visit five of Moscow's must-see stations, including iconic Mayakovskaya, and learn all about Stalin's visions for the former Soviet Union. Hear about the Metro-2, a secret line said to have been used by the government and KGB, and see grandiose architecture, mosaics, sculptures and more!
• 1.5 hours
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Shore Excursion: 2-Day St. Petersburg City Tour
This city tour is the perfect way to explore St. Petersburg in 2 days. During this comprehensive tour you will see the major attractions of St. Petersburg including the Hermitage, Peterhof summer residence with Fountain park, and Catherine palace with Amber room. You will also pay a visit to the Church on the Spilled Blood and Peter-and-Paul Fortress. You will also enjoy a stroll along the main city's street - Nevsky prospect and take a ride in one of the most beautiful subways in the world! During the tour you will hear stories about the city, its foundation, emperors and empresses that changed its appearance through centuries, interesting facts about the Soviet period and learn a lot about modern life in Russia: housing, transportation, health care system, family life and much more.
• 16 hours
Tours & Sightseeing
Half Day Tour of Peterhof (Petrodvorets)
Peterhof is perhaps St Petersburg's most famous and spectacular Imperial estate. The Grand Palace, filled with fascinating and elaborate interiors, sits on top of a high seashore ridge overlooking the vast Lower Park. The palace at Peterhof sits amidst an enormous park, adorned with fountains, statues and pavilions. Numbers are limited to 6 people on this small-group tour, ensuring you'll receive personalized attention from your guide.
• 5 hours
Cruises, Sailing & Water Tours
Helsinki Sightseeing Canal Cruise
See the sights of Helsinki from the water on a 1.5-hour sightseeing cruise! Relax inside in the lower saloon or out on deck, and admire the beautiful islands that make up Helsinki archipelago. Cruise past top city attractions like the UNESCO-listed Suomenlinna Maritime Fortress and hear about Helsinki's 16th-century history from the onboard commentary. Free WiFi is available on-board for your comfort.
• 1.5 hours
Tours & Sightseeing
Small-Group Moscow City Walking Tour
See the stand-out sights of Moscow's Red Square, Nikolskaya Street and Alexandrovsky Garden on a 2-hour small-group walking tour! While listening to captivating commentary about the Russian capital, scout out some of Moscow's top attractions to learn about their history and take photos. See St Basil's Cathedral, the Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb and the Bolshoi Theatre alongside other lesser-known but equally laudable landmarks.Numbers are limited to 10 on this small-group tour ensuring personalized attention from a guide.
• 2 hours
Cultural & Theme Tours
Communist Moscow: Evening Walking Tour
Discover hidden remnants of the Soviet communist regime on this 2-hour historical tour of Moscow, capital of the Soviet Empire for more than 70 years. With an informative local guide, you'll learn all about the history of the Soviet Union, from the 1917 Great Socialist Revolution to Perestroika, and see important landmarks of the Soviet era, such as the former KGB headquarters and Revolution Square.Numbers are limited to 20 on this small-group walking tour, ensuring you'll enjoy personalized attention from your guide.
• 2 hours
Multi-day & Extended Tours
St Petersburg Shore Excursion: Visa-Free 2-day Tour
This small-group (max 16 people) visa-free St Petersburg Cruise Excursion will give you an opportunity to see all highlights of St. Petersburg.
• 2 days


text:
Labor has spent this week determined to prove to any voters who still need convincing that it really does lack the capacity for leadership normally associated with the politically ambitious.
Even the Prime Minister's closest allies privately concede her leadership is finished but self-righteously insist they will not get their hands dirty by pushing her out.
Cabinet ministers look hopefully to
What happens next depends on the extent to which Labor's woes are seen as a test of Shorten's leadership credentials. The ambitious Shorten appears the only one who can puncture the Labor leadership vacuum created by a terminal leader and a pretender,
Shorten, as the only person who seems interested in leading Labor in opposition after the election, has a lot at stake in minimising Labor's losses, and in being seen to take on the mantle of someone prepared to put the party's interests first.
The Prime Minister has been careering around the country this week in a desperate attempt to keep herself afloat.
Almost drowned out by gender politics were Gillard's attempts to get Queensland, Western Australia and other states to sign up to the Gonski education reforms, whether by bribing them, shaming them or some combination of both.
She did so knowing that, while the circus next week will be focused on her own future, a crucial development in the Parliament will be the Senate's passage of the Australian Education Bill.
There is little question that the bill – which legislates the Gonski reforms – will get through the Senate.
But there is a bigger question about where that will leave school funding after September 14. And that question will affect almost everyone, unlike what happens to Gillard.
Much of the reporting of Gonski these days is built around the presumption that the reforms are dead in the water even before they go through the Senate because only two states have signed up and because the Coalition is hostile.
Education funding is seen only through the prism of Gillard's capacity to score a win with one of the states. Her actions this week, when she went to Perth to meet WA Premier
Reinforcing the view the government was making up the whole school funding thing as it was going along, she breezily announced that – whoopsies – the West actually needed three times more money than original estimated to bring schools up to the national standard.
The fact she didn't bother explaining where the extra $590 million of federal money would come from, after all that palaver at budget time about the spending cuts that would finance Gonski, only made the offer look more desperate, particularly when the chances of getting Barnett to sign up before September 14 are zilch.
But what happens to education funding turns on more complications than Gillard's personal fortunes.
What happens after the election
When the legislation passes through the Senate next week it will mean the funding model for schools for six years from January 1 is the law of the land.
Forget all the noise about whether the Catholic and independent schools will sign up. They will get the funding government gives them.
They may have been doing their best to negotiate the best deals for their sectors but there is not an option for them to say, "No, we won't take the money".
As for the states, well, they will either sign up to the funding model or not. The expectation in Canberra remains that South Australia and Tasmania will join NSW and ACT as signatories to the deal. Victoria is not out of the question.
Those states that don't sign up will continue to receive funding under the existing scheme but they will not get the disadvantage loadings offered by Gonski, nor the higher rates of indexation on offer.
That will be the situation when we wake up on September 15.
We will have a divided and imperfect system which is complex enough to be certain to require further modification.
But what happens after September 15 is a matter of hot dispute.
The Labor view – shared by many in the education sector – is that, despite the huffing of the Coalition's education spokesman
For a start, undoing them will require repealing the Australian Education Bill.
Since the Senate numbers won't change until July next year, the argument goes, the Coalition would have little chance of getting a repeal through before the funding starts flowing to schools on January 1.
There is the further problem that NSW, the ACT and the non-government schools have all done well enough out of Gonski that they would have to be persuaded that they aren't going to be one dollar worse off if the legislation is overturned.
The fact the Coalition waved the Gonski bill through the House of Representatives without any real attempt at amendment, and without a division, only reinforces the view Pyne would quietly accept the new scheme, and index the non-signatories at the same rate as the signatories to minimise their disadvantage, while he goes through the complex and time-consuming task of negotiating a new deal.
Alternatively, some in the education sector argue, he might just keep the system and modify it.
Pyne rejects this, insisting he will repeal the legislation before January 1 and that the Senate must accept the Coalition's mandate. In its place, he says, the Coalition will roll over current funding for two years while he comes up with a new system.
His argument is that schools will be no worse off than they are currently are. Labor points out they will be worse off than they would be under Gonski.
Pyne's position, of course, confirms the Coalition will be going to the poll without a new school funding policy other than 'not theirs'. The Coalition's health spokesman
In any other time, a political party going to an election without substantive health and education policies would be laughable.
The fact no one is laughing says more about the current state of politics than who is or isn't laughing at revolting, sexist jokes on restaurant menus.
The Australian Financial Review


text:
The rapper said that his retirement from music industry is more into the studio work part only.
When Lupe Fiasco announced his retirement from music industry earlier this year, it was not intended for a full one. The rapper has told the press that he will quit spawning studio albums but will not give up performing on stage completely. In a statement, the hitmaker whose real name is Wasalu Muhammad Jaco said, "I'll keep performing but I doubt if I'll make any more albums."
The upcoming album "LupEnd" will be his third and last before he moves on becoming a literature figure. He announced in January, "I've been doing this music hustle for eights years and have more things I still want to do. There are other ways besides putting out an album that allow me to channel my creative energy and I'm writing a book about a window washer. I will have more than enough to keep me busy."
"LupEnd" is scheduled to hit the stores in 2009. Speaking on the naming of the new album, he said, "'LupEND' - that's going to be my last album's title. When you play a video game, you can only put in three letters for your name and when the game's over, those three letters and 'END' pop up."
Beside as a solo artist, Lupe is a part of supergroup Child Rebel Soldier that he formed with Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. The group reportedly will release a self-titled album sometime this year.


text:
The job of police commissioner is only available in some areas, usually large cities where a police commissioner is used in place of or as a supervisor to a chief of police. Obtaining a career as a police commissioner is through appointments from mayors or elections; therefore, the job is a political one, whereas chiefs of police are often hired based more on their professional qualifications than on their political savvy.
A police commissioner supervises the work of those in lower ranks in the police force and acts as a representative of the city's police force to politicians and the public. Police commissioners are most often employed as the heads of police forces in large cities such as New York, Chicago, Singapore, and London.
Prospective police commissioners should study criminal justice in college, and should strongly consider starting their careers in law enforcement. Following college, the future police commissioner should pass written tests and physical exams and training at boot camp in order to become an entry-level police officer. Numerous years as a police officer may be required before advancing to leadership or administrative jobs within large police departments or the security divisions of large corporations. Further years at such positions may additionally be required before one can hope to be appointed to the position of police commissioner.
Not all police forces, particularly those in small towns and rural areas, have police commissioners. Those who wish to pursue the rank of police commissioner must be willing to relocate to large cities. Because the job of police commissioner is obtained through city-council election or mayoral appointment, it is also important for a potential police commissioner to network and establish a close working relationship with future or potential mayors, council members, and other commissioned officers.
The position of chief of police or police captain is very similar to the job of a police commissioner. In rural areas or small towns, the elected sheriff will serve as the chief law enforcement officer. Although the title is different, the jobs are very alike. The difference lies in the amount of responsibility. Police commissioners of large cities have significantly more responsibilities than the chief of police does in a small town.
A police commissioner performs many duties from supervising, the police force of the city, to acting as the intermediary between the police officials and elected officials of the city. The police commissioner relates police force recommendations or requests to the mayor and other elected officials or commissioners in the city. In addition, the police commissioner institutes changes in the force that are implemented by governmental officials, such as mayors or city councils.
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The goal is to capture one thing repeatedly on the first of each month. It can be a landscape, a person, an animal, a project; whatever your focus is, is fine. It can even be a record of where you are each First of the Month.
My theme is my three grandchildren, Zbub, Mizelle, and Dinkum. It is called:
Of course this was actually the last day of the month - but who could blame me for wanting to capture a Ninja, a Transformer, and a Lady Pirate.
(Archives - previous months posts)


text:
- Biography
Pierre M. Fiorini, Ph.D.
Managing Partner of CF Search Marketing
An Automotive SEO Firm
About CF Search...
CF Search Marketing will get your company noticed.
CF Search uses proven techniques, innovative proprietary software, powerful Web analytics tools to generate solid, measurable results at every stage of the search engine marketing process. This includes automotive SEO and SEM. CF Search applies proven marketing methodologies, which have consistently gotten our clients top natural search rankings on Google and other major search engines.
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The world of search marketing for car dealerships grows everyday. I remember when I first started performing SEO for sites it largely consisted of content writing and some fundamental link building. Today it's significantly more complicated as we tackle things like social media, social networking and reputation management (which is an important one for dealers). No one likes to have a bad review pop-up in the search results when someone searches for their business' name, and hiring an SEO firm to handle that is a good way to go. There are things that can be done to turn an unhappy customer around, change the negative review to a positive one, and push other positive pages up in the rankings.
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- 9 years 4 months
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Mortgage Refinancing for Divorce Situations
In the past, if two people couldn't agree how to handle a shared home, a family court judge simply ordered the house sold and the proceeds split. In a volatile market, though, there's no guarantee the house will sell. That's why it's important to keep a few things in mind:
The spouse leaving the marital home should avoid being obligated on the mortgage for two primary reasons:
- The mortgage credit history will appear on your credit report. So if your ex misses a payment, your credit is going to feel the sting.
- It's going to be hard to qualify for a new mortgage. To do so, you must first prove (using canceled checks) that your ex-spouse has been making the monthly payments for at least three months.
Called a "novation," this process requires the spouse keeping the house to submit a complete application package to his or her lender. Borrowers requesting a novation must qualify independently for the loan and if approved, the lender will remove the departing spouse.
This may not work if the spouse keeping the home needs to use equity to pay the departing spouse. The FHA program may help in this situation. It allows you to refinance up to 85% of the value of your home and take cash out, while conventional programs only go up to 75%.
Many divorcing parents want to keep their children in the family home until they graduate high school. In this situation, the spouse keeping the home may want to consider refinancing option that could keep payments low for a set period of time, like a 5/1 adjustable rate or an interest-only adjustable rate mortgage.
If alimony and child support alone can't cover the payments for a fully amortizing fixed-rate mortgage, choosing one of these options (and then qualifying for it) can help for a fixed period of time.
Alimony and child support income can help you qualify for a refinance, but only if you show you have received that income for at least three months. Lenders usually require canceled checks, but some will accept a bank statement showing receipt.
Speak to a Mortgage Expert
Still have questions? Call 1-877-868-2503 for a free no-obligation consultation with one of our mortgage experts.
Mortgage rates, guidelines, and eligibility are highly variable depending upon your personal financial situation as well as investor overlays. Guidelines and eligibility are subject to change at any time and without notice. The above information was written on 10/1/2014.


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Click below to filter your search results
Committee Opinion Number 688, March 2017
ABSTRACT: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists considers first-trimester ultrasonography to be the most accurate method to establish or confirm gestational age. Pregnancies without an ultrasonographic examination confirming or revising the estimated due date before 22 0/7 weeks of gestation should be considered suboptimally dated. This document provides guidance for managing pregnancies in which the best clinical estimate of gestational age is suboptimal. There is no role for elective delivery in a woman with a suboptimally dated pregnancy. Although guidelines for indicated...
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
409 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2188 | Mailing Address: PO Box 70620, Washington, DC 20024-9998


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Love the Look: Dree Hemingway's Sweater/Dress (PHOTOS)
Sweater or dress? Model Dree Hemingway proves you don't have to choose between the two at the reopening of the Dior boutique in New York on Wednesday night.
We Love the Look of Dree's pretty whimsical floral dress layered beneath a cozy grey pullover. Instead of ditching her spring-like frock, Dree made it cold-weather appropriate with her comfy sweater, pulling it all together with an eye-catching pastel purple belt.
Click through to check out Dree, Taylor Swift and all of the other lovely ladies who made the cut for Love the Look.


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Playtime is over. Find your soul mate and settle down, the prophet of the Mormon church told the men of faith this weekend.
Salt Lake Tribune writer Peggy Fletcher Stack says President Thomas Monson told the all-male priesthood session of the church's 181st Annual General Conference that:
... there may be financial or emotional reasons for them to hesitate, or maybe they are just having too much fun -- "taking extravagant vacations, buying expensive cars and toys and just generally enjoying the carefree life with your friends" -- to settle down.
"Brethren," Monson said, "there is a point at which it's time to think seriously about marriage and to seek a companion with whom you want to spend eternity."
Monson coupled his marital cheer-leading with a caution about divorce. Stack writes that when two Mormons have their wedding "sealed" for eternity in the temple, Monson said, that unsealing or canceling this "is the saddest and most discouraging responsibility I have."
It may be the result of financial problems, lack of communication, uncontrolled tempers, interference from in-laws, entanglement in sin...Do not let your marriage get to the point where it is in jeopardy."
It's not clear if he means marry young -- a high trigger for divorce in any religion. But Monson clearly wants these well-scrubbed, caffeine-free Mormon men to make this a higher priority than, say, Broadway tickets to the new smash musical Book of Mormon.
THINK ABOUT IT: Has your clergy every talked to you about stepping up on getting wed? Did it make a difference?
Cathy Lynn Grossman is too fidgety to meditate. But talking about visions and values, faith and ethics lights her up. Join in at Faith & Reason. More about Cathy.
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Almond-Plum Cake with Crème Fraîche
"When I started delivering produce to Alex, it was a reality check," Don Jones says of his son, chef Alex Jones. "He has very high standards and didn't hesitate to send stuff back. I'm very proud of Alex, and I think he's glad that we can accept criticism from him." For this incredibly moist almond cake, Alex demands the very best just-picked plums, which sink into the batter as they cook. "You can also make it with all kinds of seasonal fruit, like cherries or apricots," he says.
Slideshow: More All-American Desserts
- Active:
- Total Time:
- Servings: 8
- Time(Other): plus cooling
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup almond paste (9 ounces)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean—split lengthwise, seeds scraped, pod reserved for another use
- 3 large plums (12 ounces)—halved, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
- Crème fraîche for serving
- Slivered almonds for serving
How to make this recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. In a small bowl, mix the cake flour with the baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the sugar with the almond paste until crumbly. Add the butter and beat at high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated between additions. Beat in the vanilla extract and vanilla seeds. Gently fold in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the plums over the top of the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until the cake is deeply golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Transfer the cake to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and remove the outside ring of the pan. Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with crème fraîche and slivered almonds.
Make Ahead
The cake can be made one day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.


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The Juneau Rotary Club is building a greenhouse at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. So far the foundation has been laid at the east end of the campus.
A city attorney, master brewer, architect, a reporter and several gardening enthusiasts are part of the Rotary work crew at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. The project was chosen by the Juneau rotary club as a way for volunteers to give back to the community.
Rotarian Sharon Gaiptman came up with the idea in 2010. When a prisoner told her that flowers lining the runway in a fashion show were the first things he'd seen grow since being locked up. The annual event called "Success Inside and Out" is aimed at preparing prisoners for the outside. Gaiptmen says her Rotary colleagues liked the idea.
Construction began three weeks ago on a rainy day when the cement foundation was laid. Gaiptman says it's rewarding to see so many volunteers committed to the project.
"I am so happy to be here. I don't care, it's beautiful and it's sunny today. But it wouldn't matter if it were raining again, it's happening as you can see," Gaipman said.
Sandy Williams, Wayne Jensen, Denny DeWitt and Clark Gruening are the main project crew.
Gruening expects the greenhouse will enable some of the inmates to learn something about horticulture, agriculture, greenhouses.
Rotarian Denny DeWitt jumped on board as the community service director for the project. Dewitt says the greenhouse will be less obvious to the community than past projects.
"It's the kind of project that is not gonna be on Egan, not everyone is gonna see it. But that's not the important part. The important part is it's gonna do some constructive things for folks that are in our community," Dewitt said.
DeWitt has coordinated with prison superintendent Scott Wellard. The prison actually had a greenhouse in front of the facility for twenty years, but it was destroyed by high winds.
The new greenhouse will be maintained by prisoners and will grow edible produce and possibly flowers. DeWitt says it's likely some of the vegetables may be used to feed the prisoners.
As for the materials, it all came in a greenhouse kit that contained plastic siding, wood, aluminum doors, and tools like riveters and nails. The kit was paid for by fund-raising efforts done throughout the year like the Rotary rose sale and wine auction. The total cost of the greenhouse is around $13,000. Architect Wayne Jensen is supervising the construction.
He has used his expertise on many previous projects for the rotary club, including the picnic shelter in Cope Park, another picnic shelter in Auke Bay, and the wetlands viewing deck off Egan drive. Jensen says he's constantly looking for what to do next for his community.
"Once there's an opportunity to do some more projects, you always want to take advantage of it," Jensen said.
Rotarian Mary Lou Gerbi, who is also a gardner in her spare time, says she believes the project may help prisoners.
"This is a unique community so I truly believe there is the possibility of reform and maybe finding yourself, finding a different self. Maybe nurturing yourself through nature," Gerbi said.
Rotary volunteers will work on the greenhouse until it's completed. Jensen says it could take anywhere between 2 to 20 Saturdays.
Recent headlines
CDC: Half of all female homicide victims are killed by intimate partnersThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that black women and indigenous women are killed, in general, at higher rates than other races.
Juneau cops and homeless strike common ground at the bowling alleyThe event raised $3,325 from food sales, a silent auction and donations. All of the gifts will go to the Glory Hole homeless shelter.
Veteran prosecutor nominated to be the US attorney in AlaskaTrump nominated Bryan Schroder for the post, the acting head of the Alaska district since Karen Loeffler and 45 other U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama were asked to resign after Trump's election.


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Rare clip from my hometown band The James Gang . Kent Ohio band. Joe Walsh went on to be in some well known band, Ahh wasnt the Byrds. The parrots no the sparrows no that isn't it but something close.
James Gang - Walk Away (live)
Current Status: Published (4)
Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:51 AM
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The Maya, who originated around 2600 B.C. in current day Southeastern Mexico, grew to prominence and size during the next three millennia, building temple step-pyramids and developing highly accurate astronomical and calendar systems. Why some of their larger cities were abandoned a thousand years ago is largely a mystery. Though weather shifts have been proposed previously, the stalagmite findings may offer the data that was lacking, said Douglas Kennett, the lead study author....
The scientists found that a wetter period corresponded with an increase in food production, and population growth, from 450 to 660 AD. During this time, cities such as Tikal, Copan and Caracol expanded, and the ancient civilization reached the pinnacle of its power, covering all of Guatemala, Belize, parts of Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.
A drying period occurred during the next four centuries, punctuated by droughts. Mayan records show an increasing number of wars being fought in this period, and eventually larger cities gave way to smaller settlements, Kennett said.
'Losing Control'
"You have a loss of a large number of these polities," he said. "You get this major reduction in the production of these stone monuments -- that's a reflection of kings losing control and losing power at these primary centers."
The final blow came with a 90-year drought that started in 1010 AD, leading to the decline of the last of the major Mayan centers.


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In a blog post announcing a new Skills Kit SDK for Cortana, Microsoft's digital virtual assistant, the company revealed it will be working with Harman Kardon and others to launch its competitor to the Amazon Echo next year. The interesting thing about Microsoft's Echo challenger is that the company doesn't appear to be working on smart speaker hardware itself, as Amazon and Google are doing. Instead it looks like Microsoft is more interested in building up its Cortana skill sets by reaching out to third-party developers and making Cortana smart speakers as appealing as possible by partnering with existing speaker manufacturers who will no doubt design the smart speakers in all different kinds of styles and forms.
Microsoft is launching its Amazon Echo competitor next year
Citymapper doesn't just want to give you directions—it wants to drive you there
Back in May, Citymapper test drove its "smart" (if it does say so itself, which it totally does) bus service, which ran around London for a few weeks making all the other buses look dumb by comparison. Now, the company is expanding on the concept. It's been approved by the city for its first commercial bus route: CM2 – Night Rider.
The bus service will only run late night (9 p.m. to 5 a.m.) through the heart of East London, helping hipsters get home from a night of sipping cocktails at Super Lyan in Hoxton or making eyes at each other at Sager + Wilde in Shoreditch. The service will launch in late August or maybe early September ("you know how it is," Citymapper resignedly writes in a Medium post today) and will run on weekend nights for now. Check out more details here.
[Image: Citymapper] ML
Elon Musk's latest Boring Company tweet is a doozy
Not sure what he means here, but the tech billionaire just claimed on Twitter that he has received "verbal govt approval" for a hyperloop network connecting New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Seems like a stretch given that area he describes is served by multiple transportation agencies and government bodies—and hindered by a bloat of bureaucratic red tape—but we'll reach out anyway.
City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Earlier this year, Musk unveiled a conceptual look at an underground tunnel network he says could alleviate traffic congestion in cities like Los Angeles. More on that here.
Update: Important context. Thanks, Elon.
Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
You'll never want to go outside again thanks to PBS's space TV lineup
When it comes to space TV, Star Trek is not the final frontier (neither is Babylon Five or even Battlestar Galactica). That's because science-fiction has nothing on reality. PBS has just announced a new lineup of space-themed programming and you won't need to leave the house to see the stars for a long time. Plan your viewing parties now.
* NOVA "Eclipse Over America," Monday, August 21, 9 p.m. ET
"Join scientists and citizens alike as they observe the first total solar eclipse to traverse the U.S. mainland in more than a generation."
* The Farthest – Voyager in Space, Wednesday, August 23, 9 p.m. ET
"Learn how NASA's epic Voyager mission, launched in 1977, revolutionized our understanding of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their dazzling moons and rings."
* NOVA "Death Dive to Saturn", Wednesday, September 13, 9 p.m. ET
"A suspenseful ride during Cassini's final hours as it dives into Saturn's atmosphere."
* A Year in Space, Wednesday, November 15, 8 p.m. ET
"Follow astronaut Scott Kelly's record-breaking 12-month mission on the International Space Station, from launch to landing, as NASA charts the effects of long-duration spaceflight by comparing him to his identical twin on Earth, astronaut Mark Kelly."
* Beyond A Year in Space, Wednesday, November 15, 9 p.m. ET
"Picking up where the first film left off—Scott Kelly's last day in space and return to Earth—the final installment also introduces the next generation of astronauts training to leave Earth's orbit and travel into deep space."
If you're one of those pesky cord-cutters, a bunch of the shows will be available to stream the morning after broadcast on PBS.org and the PBS apps.
[Image: NASA] ML
Intel, still seeking life beyond PCs, abandons wearables for AR
Intel is reportedly giving up on wearables as hype around the technology cools off. CNBC reports that the company laid off its entire Basis group two weeks ago–after a round of deep cuts in November–and is now shifting the focus of its larger New Technologies Group toward augmented reality.
Intel had acquired Basis, a maker of fitness-focused smartwatches in 2014 as part of a broader push into wearable technology, but the company hasn't found much success since then. Fossil's Intel-powered Android Wear watch was a poor seller on a platform that's struggling in general, Basis had to recall its Peak smartwatches due to overheating, and Intel's talk of smart shirts never went anywhere. Rather than persist in wearables, Intel seems to be pursuing the next big thing in AR. We'll see in a few years how that turns out.
Meanwhile, read our interview today with Intel's chief of self-driving cars, one of the company's recent ambitions. JN
Air France doesn't want you to call its new millennial-focused airline "low cost"
Like an old guy on Tinder, Air France wants to make itself more appealing to young people. The airline just announced its new plan to hook up with the "young and connected" travel market—an airline called Joon. (Because they couldn't just call it the dollar-sign eye emoji?)
The new airline is aimed at "the millennials (18 to 35 year-olds), whose lifestyles revolve around digital technology," Air France said in a statement, adding that the new brand has been "entirely designed to meet their requirements and aspirations." The company didn't release any details about how they will appeal to those flying net natives, but we're guessing free in-flight wi-fi, Instagrammable snack options, and selfie-worthy décor in millennial pink.
While much has been said about how millennials love saving money (or at least the money they aren't spending on avocado toast), they won't be able to do it on Joon, because Air France adamantly says it is not a low-cost airline, but "will offer original products and services that reflect those of Air France." Joon will start on short flights in the fall, before rolling out long-haul flights in 2018. [H/T The Local]
The ACLU is suing the Trump administration over its secret "religious liberty" plan
The ACLU is trying to force the Trump administration to provide concrete details about a vaguely worded May 4 executive order supposedly aimed at promoting free speech and religious liberty. Louise Melling, the group's deputy legal director, said in a Daily Beast post today that the order is woefully short on specifics and, so far, federal agencies have refused to be more transparent about it.
"Earlier this year, the ACLU filed requests with various federal agencies demanding information on how the administration was planning to expand religious exemptions that pave the way for discrimination. None of those federal agencies complied. That's why we are suing today. We are looking to unmask everything we can about Trump's plan, so we can best expose the threat he poses to the rights and dignity of countless Americans."
The order is feared to be an attempt to let employers discriminate against women and members of the LGBT community based on religious objections. Check out Melling's full post here.
And if you want to learn more about what the ACLU is doing to take on Trump, you can meet the man leading the resistance at Fast Company's New York headquarters on Monday, July 24, where ACLU executive director Anthony Romero will be on hand as part of our "Inside Story" series. Get tickets here.
[Photo: Flickr user Jom Mattis] CZ
Cortana's next gig is on a slick thermostat
Microsoft wants to take its Cortana voice assistant beyond just smart speakers and Windows devices, and its next move appears to be onto a connected thermostat from Johnson Controls. The GLAS thermostat will detect when someone's in the room, alter its settings based on indoor and outdoor air quality, and of course respond to spoken commands.
The notion of a voice-controlled thermostat isn't new. The new Ecobee 4 has Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant built in, and connected speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home can both control thermostats from Nest and Honeywell. But like the Cortana-powered Invoke speaker, GLAS seems to be a bit more business-focused. Johnson Controls doesn't currently sell thermostats direct to consumers, and while a promo video mentions home use, it also shows the device in lots of office and industrial settings. Pricing and availability information might help clarify the matter, but Microsoft isn't offering that just yet.
Twitter says its new anti-abuse efforts are working, but others aren't convinced
For years, Twitter users have complained that the social platform doesn't adequately protect users from abuse, and that the reporting system it uses is opaque. So earlier this year, the company pledged to crack down on this problem and completely revamp how it handles reported abuse.
Today, Twitter published an update on its progress, indicating that, by some measures, the efforts are working. According to Twitter, it takes action on 10 times as many abusive accounts now compared to last year. The company also says that one solution—which puts first offenders into a sort of "time out" and tells them why they're there—has produced promising results:
"Accounts that we put into this period of limited functionality generate 25% fewer abuse reports, and approximately 65% of these accounts are in this state just once."
The company admits there's still a lot of work to be done, and anecdotal evidence on Twitter corroborates that. BuzzFeed, for example, looked into recent Twitter abuse situations that the new system did not protect against. In most cases, it took heightened public attention for Twitter to take action, instead of the abuse being handled by the system itself. When asked, Twitter declined to comment about those examples to BuzzFeed.
You can read Twitter's blog post about the new anti-abuse system here. CGW
Good job, humans: The world is basically a pile of plastic garbage now
Since the 1950s, humans have produced 18.2 trillion pounds of plastics, and most of it is sitting in trash piles that never degrade. That's according to a really freaking depressing new study published in the journal Science Advances, which reveals that all those straws, fidget spinners, sandwich bags, water bottles, and whatever else, produce a mind-numbing amount of garbage. While 9% of plastic has been recycled, and 12% incinerated, nearly 80% of the plastic we produce just sits in landfills, where they will probably remain until the apocalypse (when only the water bears will be left). We're not exactly learning our lesson, either—by 2050, scientists expect another 26.5 trillion pounds of plastic trash will be produced worldwide.
As USA Today points out, that's about as much as 1 billion elephants weigh, not that there are a billion elephants left on the planet, either. But who needs majestic animals when you can have the real-life version of Marjory the Trash Pile from Fraggle Rock? [via USA Today]
[Photo: kanvag/iStock] ML
Funding for cultural orgs would be tied to diversity under NYC plan
Employees and board members of such cultural landmarks as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the American Museum of Natural History, and others could soon get a lot less homogenous. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is mandating that these organizations provide data on their boards and staff to the city. Future funding for the groups would then be linked to efforts to "meaningfully" diversify the ranks currently dominated by white male executives and wealthy industry mavens.
Sixty-seven percent of city residents identify as minorities, but only 38% of the workforce of these organization are minorities. De Blasio didn't set specific goals overall, rather the organizations will be required to target "meaningful goals."
During a time when so many diversity programs are failing to make a measurable difference, some suggest tying compensation to diversity goals as a way to ensure progress.
Detroit 1967 social media accounts will live-tweet the events of the 1967 Detroit riot and unrest
This July will mark the 50th anniversary of the Detroit riot that began in the early hours of July 23, 1967. It was one of the most contentious events of the 1960s, which exposed just how strained race relations were in most of the U.S. at the time as well as shedding light on the institutional racism ingrained in our society. In order to commemorate the historic event, the Detroit Free Press, which won a Pulitzer for its original coverage, wants to reimagine what the reporting of the event would be like if social media existed at the time.
That's why the publication will be live-tweeting the unfolding of the 50-year-old as if it were happening live on its anniversary days this year. "The result will be our approximation of what social media would have looked like if digital journalism existed at that time," the Detroit Free Press said in a statement. You can follow along with the live-tweeting of the historic events via the Detroit1967 account on Facebook, the @Detroit_1967 account on Twitter, and the @Detroit_1967 account on Instagram.
Follow along here as @freep brings the #Detroit67 unrest to the present, with real-time updates starting July 23. pic.twitter.com/ZeBHFWA3em— Detroit 1967 (@Detroit_1967) July 14, 2017
Here's everything Facebook says it's doing to help journalists (and publishers)
The company published a lengthy post today giving a six-month updated on its Facebook Journalism Project. The project aims to establish stronger ties between Facebook and those in the news industry—and probably also aims to defuse the mounting tensions between it and publishers, who fear the social network has too much control as the gatekeeper of their content. In the post, Facebook breaks down the improvements it's made to better supports publishers' and journalists' needs. They include:
• Instant Articles enhancements, including the ability to support simultaneous publishing on Google AMP and Apple News (coming soon) through the Instant Articles SDK
• an upcoming tool that will support subscriptions in Instant Articles
• an improved Rights Manager, which helps publishers better protect the rights to the videos they post
• the introduction of the Facebook for Journalists Certificate, a three-course curriculum designed by the Poynter Institute and Facebook.
• the introduction of Facebook Safety for Journalists resources, which teaches journalists how to protect their accounts and themselves on Facebook
Facebook also announced that its Instant Articles now pays out over $1 million per day to publishers via the Facebook Audience Network. MG


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4 Min Read
* December hog futures benefit from spreads * Live cattle firm after beef prices rebound * Feeders inch upward as corn drift lower By Theopolis Waters CHICAGO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - U.S. hog futures finished higher on Monday as some packers raised bids for cash hogs whose numbers have tightened in recent weeks, said analysts and traders. Spreaders also bought Chicago Mercantile Exchange December hogs as the spot October contract prepares to expire on Oct. 12. Some traders also sold distant trading months and bought December with the view that premiums in the deferred contracts may not be warranted if corn prices continue to come down. CME spot October hogs closed up 0.150 cent per lb to 81.475 cents. Most-actively traded December ended 0.325 cent higher at 76.875 cents and February at 82.300 cents, up 0.300 cent. "There are still a lot of hogs out there that could soon work against cash prices. But for now, there aren't as many hogs as a month or so ago when producers actively liquidated their herds as feed costs skyrocketed due to the drought," a traders said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated Monday's hog slaughter at 435,000 head, 2,000 less than a week earlier but 9,000 more compared with the same period a year ago. Packers will compete for hogs as long as their margins hold up and grocer stores buy product to feature during National Pork Month in October, he said. HedgersEdge.com estimated the average pork packer margin for Monday at positive $3.20 per head, which dropped $5.50 from Friday and was down $1.85 versus the margin for Oct. 1. CATTLE FIRMER Live cattle futures settled moderately higher in thin choppy Columbus Day action as wholesale beef prices bounced back after dropping on Friday, traders and analysts said. USDA Monday morning estimated the wholesale price for choice beef at $190.61 per cwt, 62 cents higher than on Friday and select cuts rose 77 cents to $176.41. Futures sagged briefly at the start on profit taking. Traders also cited Friday's wholesale beef price lapse, which typically occurs this time of year as grocers feature more hams and turkeys during the year-end holiday season. The recovery in wholesale beef values Monday morning had more to do with packers cutting slaughters to get a grip on their elusive margins than demand for beef by retailers, a trader said. The estimated average beef packer margin for Monday was negative $43.60 per head, compared with negative $15.92 on Friday and negative $52.15 for Oct. 1. Spreaders also sold deferred contracts and bought nearby trading months as corn prices retreated and amid simmering domestic economic worries. "I'm wondering if traders may be very hesitant to have long positions in the back end of the market, at a sizable premium, with the problem of the fiscal cliff looming at the end of the year," said David Hales, president of Hales Trading Co, Inc. Meanwhile, investors waited for cash cattle to change hands against the backdrop of 10,600 fewer animals available for sale than last week and unprofitable packer margins. Today is also the first notice day for deliveries against the spot October live cattle contract that will expire on Oct 31. Spot October closed up 0.300 cent per lb higher at 123.350 cents. Most-actively traded December settled up 0.200 cent at 126.400 cents. Feeder cattle at the CME settled steady to firmer helped by modest live cattle market gains and lower corn prices, easing input costs for cattle feedlots. CME spot October closed unchanged at 144.825 cents per lb. Most-actively traded November ended up 0.100 cent to 146.300 cents and January finished at 149.150 cents, up 0.150 cent. (Editing by Marguerita Choy)


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- September 2010 >Be a Wise Healthcare Consumer
New Feature! Beginning this month, the UT System Office of Employee Benefits (OEB) is introducing a new feature to your monthly "A Matter of Health" newsletter. This new section will focus on providing expanded information about the UT System group insurance plans and programs that make up your UT Benefits package and help you be a proactive healthcare consumer. Being a well-informed healthcare consumer is an important step on the road to keeping yourself as healthy as possible and controlling your out-of-pocket costs for health care. To help you become a savvy consumer, your newsletter will now regularly include a section featuring in-depth articles, specific facts, and consumer tips that go beyond the basics to more fully examine the background and details of your benefits and how they fit into the health care system as a whole.
Timely information will help you understand exactly how your UT Benefits work, learn how you can use your coverage most wisely, and will identify steps that each of us can take to improve our own health and wellness. Making the most of your UT Benefits and making living well a priority will help to lower the overall cost of health care for you and your family and ultimately will help to keep down the costs of our UT Benefits for each of us participating in the program.
The first article of this new feature examines the direct relationship between the actual cost of providing medical and prescription benefits and your UT SELECT insurance premiums.
The UT System Office of Employee Benefits (OEB) places a high priority on providing a robust benefits plan design at an affordable rate. The long-term financial health of the Plan is one of the most important functions OEB undertakes on behalf of UT System and the nearly 200,000 employees, retirees and dependents participating in the group insurance plans.
The cost of health care nationwide continues to rise at record rates. The UT SELECT Medical plan (the Plan) has historically performed better than average, but claims cost for plan year 2009-2010 rose at levels close to the national trend. Because the Plan is a self-funded health insurance plan, its performance is monitored closely throughout the year taking into account the potential for higher plan utilization and increased claims experience. The total claims for the Plan during the 2009-2010 plan year increased by approximately 9%. Additionally, reserve funds were used to meet 5% of projected funding needs for 2009-2010 to minimize an increase to premium rates. Premium rates and plan design for the 2010-2011 year were adjusted by 14% in order to address the funding gap created by these two factors.
Setting Premium Rates for UT SELECT
The UT SELECT Medical plan is not a traditional fully insured plan in which risk is transferred to a commercial insurance company. Instead, in order to minimize cost, the Plan is self-funded and administered by OEB in partnership with a third-party administrator. Typically, a premium rate is set with up to 30% of premium being used for administrative cost. In comparison, OEB's administration of the complete UT Benefits program is funded by only 3% of your medical plan premium which results in savings to the plan and to members. Currently, OEB contracts with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) to establish health care provider networks, pay claims and assist with a variety of communication and program initiatives. While BCBSTX handles these functions as the third party administrator for the Plan, UT System retains final authority regarding the Plan in accordance with state law.
The costs associated with the Plan are financed with a combination of employer, state and employee contributions deposited in the Medical Fund maintained by the System solely for the purpose of providing medical benefits for members. Each month, premiums are deposited in the Fund which earns income through investments until balances are needed to pay claims and administrative expenses. OEB requires Blue Cross and Blue Shield to pay claims before requesting reimbursement from the System. By minimizing third party administrator fees, managing costs through wellness programs, encouraging plan participants to make wise health care decisions (such as having annual physical exams) and maximizing investment income, self-funding allows premium rates to be set at the lowest level possible and insures a financially strong plan for years to come.
The distribution of the premium between the employer and the member is specified by the Legislature. For a number of years, including FY10 and FY11, the Legislature has specified that the employer will pay 100% of the cost of basic health coverage for a full-time employee or retiree and 50% of the cost of coverage for their dependents and that the employer will pay 50% of the cost of basic health coverage for a part-time employee and 25% of the cost of coverage for their dependents. Inflation, plan utilization (the cost and frequency of care) and legislative funding all impact the establishment of premium rates. Each year after OEB determines how much is needed to fund the Plan and the Legislature determines the level of funding to be provided, the premium rates are established.
In the coming months, visit this newsletter section for tips and information on being proactive with your health and your healthcare consumer habits. Together we can learn to be as healthy as possible and help keep the insurance plan affordable.
If you would like a specific topic discussed or have a question you would like answered in a future issue of this newsletter, please send your suggestions to firstname.lastname@example.com.
UT System Employee Benefits Website: www.utsystem.edu/benefits/
UT System Retirement Programs Website: www.utretirement.utsystem.edu
Your Local Benefits Office: www.utsystem.edu/benefits/contacts.asp#1


text:
Casting for Prisoner of Azkaban has now most definitely closed.
But if you're absolutely desperate to be in Goblet of Fire, Leavesden Studios have set up a special casting office to which you can write from January 2004.
But they are not promising anyone anything!
There are addresses of casting agencies going around the internet. But ignore them - you won't get anywhere if you write/phone or fax these addresses.
You can only contact the casting office at the Studios. Send a short letter and a recent photograph to:
Casting Office
Leavesden Studios
PO Box 322
They've asked us to ask you NOT to phone or fax. Only write.
And they can't reply to everybody, but you may stand a better chance of getting a reply if you include a self-addressed envelope.


text: In hopes of coming fast and furious with a t-shirt(s) per week pace for their 1 year anniversary, Purist Boutique are serving two more collaborations this weekend on the back of their inaugural release with Futura Laboratories. Seen here are co-branded products with both Recon and Black Scale. The Recon joint revolves around a military inspiration that has manifested itself with Recon since the start with a twist on mortality, faith and war. The friends & family black/3M version is seen here while the general release will be white/black. With Black Scale, Purist felt the need to create a design which was indicative of the direction that Black Scale was striving for as a beyond the masses fashion forward label. The general release black/3M version is seen here. Available this Saturday, June 14th only at Purist.


text: While Photo Boy and I were being intrepid online editors who took Friday off to watch Captain America and eat burritos, a 1996 episode of The Big Date went viral thanks to 25-year-old contestant Jon Hamm who somehow lost despite possessing the mythical hammer Hammbonejnir. Even more ridiculous, TMZ actually told the woman about the Hammaconda over the weekend, and she said she'd do it all over again because she's a giant lesbian. You can't see it in the video, but there's a Subaru parked in her driveway. That's how quintessentially lesbian she is. Ask her if she likes hiking. Go on, I dare you.


text:
Browse News
Everything you need to know about CWFC 48…
IT'S a landmark weekend in the history of Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, as we celebrate 10 years of top-class MMA with Cage Warriors 48.
The organisation's very first show – Cage Warriors: Armageddon – took place in July 2002. Ten years and 54 shows later we're back in London, where it all began, for our eighth show of 2012.
It happens tonight at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town and it'll be headlined by a clash of two of Europe's best middleweights.
John Phillips (15-5-0-1nc) had been scheduled to take on Faycal Hucin, but when Hucin was forced to withdraw a fortnight ago due to injury, Chris Fields (9-3-0) stepped in to take his place.
Depending on the fitness of middleweight title tournament finalist Victor Cheng, the winner of tonight's meeting of Phillips and Fields could secure a title shot against Pavel Kusch at CWFC Fight Night 7 in Jordan on September 1.
Due to the late notice at which Fields accepted the fight, it will now be contested at a catchweight of 192lbs.
Having recently signed an exclusive deal with Cage Warriors, Ultimate Fighter 12 contestant Aaron Wilkinson (9-5-0) debuts for the organisation in a welterweight bout against fellow Manchester native Leigh Cohoon (8-5-0).
Brett Sizeland (6-1-0) faces into the biggest fight of his career so far against veteran middleweight Denniston Sutherland (16-8-0) and Jack Mason (20-10-0) has his first bout at welterweight against hot prospect Danny Roberts (6-1-0).
Also on the main card for Cage Warriors 48, ex-Ultimate Fighter lightweight Ido Pariente (12-5-0) makes the journey from Israel to take on Dale Hardiman (8-3-0) and Kris Edwards (7-3-0) cuts to flyweight for the first time to face Brian Hyslop (5-1-0).
All six bouts will stream live on MMAJunkie.com from 9pm (UK). However, due to the terms of Cage Warriors' broadcast agreement with Sky Sports, this will not be available in the UK and Ireland.
Three of our prelims – Mortimore v Lake, Ptaskinski v Toczydlowski & Del Gaudio v Faulds – will be free to watch worldwide on our Facebook page from 8pm (UK).
Cage Warriors 48 will be shown on Sky Sports 4 on Wednesday night at 10.30pm (UK).
Weigh-ins for Cage Warriors 48 took place yesterday afternoon in London. Click HERE for information.
Online ticket sales have now closed, but a limited number of tickets will be available at the HMV Forum tonight.
Doors open at 6pm, with the first of our two amateur fights scheduled to start at 6.30pm.
If you'd like to bet on Cage Warriors 48, odds are currently available from Paddy Power, William Hill and BetOnFighting.com.
Main card (live on MMAJunkie.com at 9pm)
John Phillips v Chris Fields
Aaron Wilkinson v Leigh Cohoon
Denniston Sutherland v Brett Sizeland
Jack Mason v Danny Roberts
Ido Pariente v Dale Hardiman
Kris Edwards v Brian Hyslop
Preliminary card (live on Facebook at 8pm)
Jay Mortimore v Dayman Lake
Piotr Ptasinski v Jacek Toczydlowski
Leon Del Gaudio v Mehmet Faulds
Non-televised pro prelim
Charlie Watts v Victor Peixoto
Amateur undercard
Tim Stokes v Lukas Bienas
Dean Simmons v Daniel Thompson
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Event: Cage Warriors 72
Date: 13/09/2014
Venue: Newport Centre, Newport, Wales
Cage Warriors 71: Review
Event: Cage Warriors 71
Date: 22/08/2014
Venue: King Hussein Boxing Arena, Amman, Jordan


text:
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My Line
February 2, 1950 - September
3, 1975
Television's longest running primetime game show. For seventeen
years the show aired Sunday nights at 10:30 P.M. on CBS. The game,
which remained unchanged throughout its long run, consisted of four
panelists trying to guess either the unusual occupation of a
contestant or a product associated with them. A panel member asked
questions and the guest would answer yes or no. The panelist
remained in control of the questioning until he or she received a no
answer. The next member of the panel could then ask questions. A
contestant received $5 for each no answer and ten "no"s
ended the game in favor of the contestant. In the last round of the
evening, the panelists put on blindfolds and tried to guess the
identity of a celebrity mystery guest, who often disguised his or
her voice to avoid identification.
Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf were continuing
members of the panel for 15 years.
September 19, 1954, "What's My Line?" became the first
panel show broadcast in color. And the program won the Emmy Award
for Best Quiz or Audience Participation show three times, in 1952,
1953, and 1958.
Tragically, Kilgallen died suddenly of an overdose of medication in
"What's My Line?" ended its network run in 1967, producers
Goodson-Todman only had three shows left, all running daily on
daytime television: To Tell the Truth, The Match Game, and Snap
Judgment.Both Truth and Snap were gone the next year, with only
Match running. Goodson-Todman executives had to do something, since
they didn't want to be a one show company. They came up with an
idea: Why not bring back "What's My Line?" as a daily show
running five times a week? So rather than pitch the ideas to the
networks, they turned to the newly formed production company Viacom
(Spun-off from CBS and re-merged in 1999) and asked them to
syndicate the new show to local stations. A deal was successfully
worked out and by the fall of 1968, What's My Line would return.
thing Goodson-Todman did was something unheard of at the time:
Produce five shows in one day! Now with videotape becoming a
standard, five shows would be taped, edited, and sent out to
stations all over the nation. It's a practice that is now the norm
in today's industry! Five shows in one day meant this: The same four
panelists for the entire week, plus ten contestants and five mystery
guests were needed. At first it was assumed impossible, but it was
accomplished! A new, "mod", set was designed for the new
What's My Line, featuring icons of different trades behind the panel
and host, a new chalkboard inside a fancy display that can be rolled
away off stage, and a center stage with a curtain and the WML logo
hanging above. The animated intro used during the final two years on
CBS returned (It was shot in color) to open each show. New music,
including a new theme song, was recorded by Score Productions. And
of course, a new host was needed.
John Daly now working as the Voice of America, the producers
discovered Daly's perfect replacement: Veteran newscaster Wally
Bruner (who died in 1997), who at the time anchored the news on a
Washington DC TV station, and previously reported from the Vietnam
War for ABC. Arlene Francis returned as panelist and Johnny Olson
returned to announce, too. Eventually, Soupy Sales was tapped to be
the other regular panelist, with the other two chairs open to weekly
first shows were taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in the summer of
1968 (Later episodes were taped at NBC in New York). The panel on
the first week of shows were Francis, Sales, Meredith MacRae
(Petticoat Junction), and Gene Rayburn. The game play was the same
as the CBS version, except to make the game go quicker, Bruner would
give the panel clues to help them identify the contestant's
occupation. Another new feature on the shows was an element used on
I've Got a Secret, demonstrating one's product or skill, which is
why a stage has been set and the chalkboard moved away if needed.
show was an immediate success. So successful that Goodson-Todman
brought back both Beat the Clock and To Tell the Truth the following
1972, with over 1000 episodes under his belt, Wally Bruner decided
to leave What's My Line in favor of his own show, Wally's Workshop,
a do-it-yourself instructional show he hosted with his wife,
Natalie. In the fall that year, the show began a new season with a
new host, Larry Blyden, fresh from his hosting duties on The Movie
Game. Blyden's enthusiasm and his warm and friendly approach to the
contestants, panelists, and mystery guests brought a new dimension
to the show.
that wasn't the only change to the show. In addition to the flip
cards being replaced by pull cards to keep score, a new segment used
an an extra time filler (if needed) was added: Who's Who? In Who's
Who?, four people selected from the studio audience stood on stage.
An easel with names of occupations written on cards were beside
them. Each panelist had thirty seconds to match the cards with the
right person.
the fall of 1974, a new set was unveiled, red throughout with the
familiar question mark scattered behind the desks, and the music
slightly remixed. Gone was the animated intro, as well as the panel
introducing themselves. Instead, Chet Gould (who replaced Johnny
Olson in 1972 when Olson moved to both The Price is Right and
Wally's Workshop) started each show with a profile of the first or
second contestant of that particular show, then introduced the panel
and host.
by the beginning of 1975, when renewal time came, few stations were
interested in renewing the show and not enough did Production of the
series was discontinued. The final episodes were taped near
Christmas time in 1974, with enough shows, including reruns, in the
can to last the rest of the season. At the time, no one knew that
these were the last shows, which is why the final show wasn't even
close to the final CBS episode back in 1967. In all, 1,315 episodes
were produced for syndication.
on June 6, 1975, while on vacation in Morocco, Larry Blyden died
from serious injuries sustained in an automobile accident a week
before. He would have turned 50 only twenty-two days later, and was
set to star in a new game show, Showoffs.
1978, Prentice Hall published the "What's My Line?" book.
Written by longtime producer Gil Fates, it included the complete
history of the show, plus never before published pictures of the
show. The book has since been long out-of-print.
Episodes Known To Be In Existence
Listed by Mystery Guest & Year
Lucille Ball & Faye Emerson 1/1/61
Wilt Chamberlain & Joan Crawford 1/8/61
Henry Fonda & Gig Young 1/15/61
Mahalia Jackson 1/22/61
Julie Newmar & Shelley Berman 1/29/61
Debbie Reynolds & Tony Perkins 2/5/61
Talluah Bankhead 2/12/61
Barrie Chase & Joey Bishop 2/19/61
Bobby Darin 2/26/61
Genevieve 3/5/61
Ritz Brothers 3/12/61
Nat King Cole & Joey Bishop 3/19/61
Gary Crosby 3/26/61
June Allyson 4/2/61
Julie London & Tony Randall 4/9/61
Gordon & Sheila McRae 4/16/61
Peter Ustinov & Hugh Hefner 4/23/61
Anna Marie Alberghetti & Johnny Carson
Carol Burnett & Cyril Ritchard 5/7/61
Crosby Brothers 5/14/61
Tony Martin 5/21/61
Sophia Loren - 5-28-61
Phil Silvers 6-4-61
Mort Sahl & Harry Belefonte 6/11/61
George Burns 6-18-61
Alan King & Suzy Parker 6/25/61
Yogi Berra 7/2/61
Bill Cullen 7-9-61
McGuire Sisters 7/16/61
Eartha Kitt 7/23/61
Nancy Walker 7/30/61
Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy - 8-13-61
Mitch Miller 8/20/61
Connie Francis & Jerry Lewis 8/27/61
Ben Gazzara 9/3/61
Maria Fletcher 9/10/61
Dick Powell & Art Linkletter 9/17/61
Victor Borge & Garry Moore 9/24/61
Gertrude Berg 10/1/61
Joe E Lewis - 10-8-61
Piper Laurie & Art Linkletter 10/15/61
Barry Nelson 10/22/61
Louella Parsons & Danny Kaye 11/5/61
Simone Signoret & Ray Bolger 11/12/61
Bob Hope 11/19/61
Rudy Vallee & Darin McGavin 11/26/61
Janet Leigh 12/3/61
Michael Redgrave 12/10/61
Carol Burnett & Abe Burrows 12/17/61
Hugh O'Brien & Martin Gabel 12/24/61
Mickey Rooney & Martin Gabel 12/31/61
Tuesday Weld 1/14/62
Bob Newhart - 2-4-62
Johnny Carson & Tony Randall 2/11/62
Jane Russell - 3-18-62
Chubby Checker/Joan Collins 4-1-62
Casey Stengall 4/15/62
Hedda Hopper - 4-22-62
Abe Burrows - 5-6-62
Diahann Carroll & Merv Griffin 5/20/62
Willie Mays & Paul Anka - 7-15-62
Benny Goodman - 7-22-62
Dick Powell - 9-9-62
Daniel Zanuck/Jacqueline Mayer - 9-16-62
Robert Ryan & Nanette Fabrey - 10-21-62
Tony Martin - 10-28-62
Bette Davis 11/11/62
Vaughn Meader - 12-30-62
Anthony Quinn - 2-3-63
Judy Holiday - 4-28-63
Gil Hodges - 5-28-63
Peter Paul & Mary - 7-7-63
Van Heflin - 1-19-64
George Burns - 2-2-64
Johnny Mercer/Jane Fonda - 2-9-64
Bert Lahr - 2-23-64
Debbie Reynolds - 3-1-64
Stan Musial/Steve Allen - 3-8-64
McGuire Sisters - 5-3-64
Beatrice Lillie - 5-10-64
Frank Fontaine - 6-21-64
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme - 9-27-64
James Garner - 10-25-64
Gene Kelly - 12-27-64
Floyd Patterson - 2-7-65
Tommy Sands & Nancy Sinatra - 2-28-65
Lucille Ball - 3-7-65
Eli Wallick/Alan Arkin/Anne Jackson - 3-14-65
Art Carney - 3-21-65
Robert Mitchum - 3-28-65
George Jessel - 4-11-65
Marian Anderson - 4-18-65
Barbara Streisand - 4-25-65
Anthony Newly & Joan Collins - 5-30-65
Talluhah Bankhead - 6-6-65
Art Linkletter - 6-13-65
Ethel Mermen - 6-27-65
Trini Lopez - 7-4-65
Jack Dempsey -7-11-65
Milton Berle - 7-18-65
Carol Channing/Ginger Rogers/Lucille Ball - 7-25-65
Vonda Kay Van Dyke/Allen Ludden & Betty White -
Edgar Bergen & Candace Bergen - 9-12-65
Muhammad Ali - 9-19-65
Sean Connery/Henry Fonda - 10-3-65
Gordon & Sheila McRae - 10-10-65
Oscar Levant - 10-17-65
Danny Kaye/Bette Davis - 11-24-65
Joey Heatherton - 11-7-65
Maureen O'Sullivan - 11-14-65
Ray Milland - 11-21-65
Haley Mills - 11-28-65
Edward G Robinson - 12-5-65
Kate Smith - 12-12-65
Alan J Lerner & Buddy Hackett - 12-26-65
Hugh Hefner & Polly Bergen - 1-9-66
Carol Channing - 2-6-66
Carol Burnett - 3-20-66
Gwen Verdon - 5-15-66
Soupy Sales - 5-29-66
Carroll Baker - 6-26-66
Jayne Mansfield - 7-17-66
Pearl Bailey - 8-28-66
Peter Ustinov - 9-18-66
George Hamilton - 10-16-66
Michael Caine - 11-13-66
Frank Sinatra & Mia Farrow - 11-27-66
Steve McQueen - 12-18-66
Abbe Lane - 1-15-67
Vince Lombardi/Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass -
Tony Randall - 2-5-67
Andy Griffith - 2-19-67
Marty Allen & Steve Rossi - 2-26-67
Jacqueline Susann/Judy Garland - 3-5-67
Raquel Welch - 4-30-67
Allan Sherman - 5-14-67
The Supremes - 5-21-67
Lawrence Welk - 5-28-67
Jack Jones - 6-4-67
Betty Grable - 6-18-67
Everett Dirksen - 7-9-67
Lauren Bacall - 7-23-67
Jack E. Leonard - 8-6-67
Woody Allen - 8-13-67
Jill St. John - 8-20-67
Hugh O'Brian - 8-27-67
John Daly - 9-3-67
TV Shows On DVD
1960's 1970's


text:
Group laminates and panels chief executive Mark Adamson said the Formica and Laminex brands were well known in the Indian market and two years after bringing the product distribution licence back inhouse, it was time to seek production assets.
India has the largest high-pressure laminate market and is forecast to double in size from about 225 million square metres to roughly 500 million sq m by 2020. China's high-pressure laminate market, by comparison, represents around 223 million sq m but is only expected to grow to 316 million sq m in the same time frame.
High-pressure laminate is typically used on kitchen benches to mimic a stone or marble finish.
"We have gone through a process and identified a number of potential companies who we are in negotiations with," Mr Adamson said. "I would be looking to take a proposal to the board for a laminate plant probably in the next six months. I think that is the first of many."
"India is predominantly a residential product because a lot of people there make their own furniture. You can roll a sheet of laminate up and transport it easily."
In January Fletcher Building bought the remaining 50 per cent shareholding in Homapal Plattenwerk, which manufactures and distributes high-quality metal and specialty laminates. While the company is German-based, the deal provided the group with additional products and capacity to service the growing Asian market, particularly China.
"There is a niche in the Asian market where some of the higher-end products that we sell in the rest of the world, which are more expensive, sell really well in China," Mr Adamson said. "They like something different."
Meanwhile Fletcher Building continues to restructure in Europe as housing development activity wanes and as the group attempts to arrest declining revenue. While Formica, which represents 50 per cent of revenue in the laminates and panels division, has recovered earnings from restructuring efforts since 2008, revenue has stagnated.
Mr Adamson said Europe, particularly Spain, had dragged revenue down and masked the development and success of the business in Asia. He expects revenue to recover as the restructuring strategy continues.
Fletcher Building is assessing the financial viability of its five existing European plants, excluding Homapal. Mr Adamson said at least two factories could be shut down.
"We would like to run a manufacturing and supply chain model that had three factories: one in Scandinavia, one in the UK and one in Spain to provide a 'spine' of operations in Europe," he said.
Fletcher Building is also grappling with a poor residential and commercial building demand in Australia and New Zealand. Cost initiatives are being implemented and management expects demand for laminates and panels to be flat at best for the next year in both countries.
Deutsche Bank has maintained its "hold" recommendation on Fletcher Building because the stock is trading in line with the broker's target price.
Merrill Lynch said reducing European capacity was the most "visible" earnings growth opportunity.
The Australian Financial Review


text: Rosalee Ochoa – Babe of the Day By Patrick Bateman September 23, 2015 12:00 AM | GuySpeed.com Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Facebook Rosalee's a 21-year-old model who was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She's been posing professionally for about 2 years now and we don't see her ending that career anytime soon. Please, please don't stop any time soon. We have to admit it's unusual to see a lifelong Salt Lake City resident who's NOT white and Mormon, but if the basketball team can be nicknamed the "Jazz" we guess anything's possible. Yup, we keep imagining her in a pair of John Stockton's shorts too. She'd make a great sister wife, especially if she has sisters who'd also be interesting in being our wives. If the board of tourism needs a way to bring in more visitors to Salt Lake City, they can't lose with Rosalee as a poster girl. Height: 5′ 2″ | Weight: 103 lbs (via Facebook) Facebook Follow Rosalee on Facebook | Twitter | ModelMayhem Click Here For Yesterday's 'Babe' Read Original: Rosalee Ochoa – Babe of the Day Filed Under: babe of the day Share on Facebook Share on Twitter More Send to a friend! Print this page Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr! Best of ESPN1420 Louisiana Ragin' Cajun Basketball Schedule Set For 2017-2018 Louisiana Picked To Finish 5th In Sun Belt Coaches Preseason Poll FAST FIVE: Rondo, Federer The GOAT, Saints Rookies, Gunner Leger's Elbow [Video] Travin Dural Put On Saints' Non-Football Injury List Recommended for You ZergNet Best of the Web ZergNet


text:
Happy Smurfsday!!
for a little boy who loves Smurfs. this is one of my favorite designs and I really had lots of fun decorating this cake. everything is edible. mushroom house is chocolate cake (including the top) with vanilla buttercream filling. grass is piped buttercream and smurfs are MMF mixed with gum paste. TFL!
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