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Funnyman Will Ferrell began his career in comedy with the Los Angeles comedy group The Groundlings, which led to his SNL discovery.
In 2003, Ferrell gained movie stardom with the release of his hit holiday comedy, "Elf." He also starred in a slew of other popular comedies, including "Old School," "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
Ferrell changed pace when he starred opposite Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson in the 2006 drama "Stranger Than Fiction," which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. In the film, Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS worker who continuously hears a narration of the story of his life -- and he doesn't like the ending.
Ferrell returns to film this summer in the adventure comedy "Land of the Lost," a big-screen remake of the 1970s TV series.


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I am a new professor in Mathematics and I am running an independent study on Diophantine equations with a student of mine. Online I have found a wealth of very helpful expository notes written by other professors, and I would like to use them for guided reading. I am wondering whether it is customary to ask permission of the author before using his or her online notes for my own reading course.
Also, if anyone has suggestions for good sources Diophantine Equations please feel free to enlighten me.

subset: commoncrawl


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We accelerated up to about 47 mph and then hit cruise control to retain a constant speed when we hit the flooded pavement.
Then we slammed on the brakes.
We did the exercise four times with four different sets of tires all on 2018 Toyota Camrys. Two sets of tires were from Brand A, and two were from Brand B. Each brand then had one set of completely new tires and one worn down to 3/32nds.
We then witnessed a repeat of this exercise in 2018 Ford F-150s.
While there was certainly a difference between the new tires in stopping distance, there was a huge difference between the worn tires.
Though Michelin hosted this tire-testing event, we never learned which tires were theirs, or if both were theirs, or if neither were theirs.
Michelin's point was simply this: Worn tires need to be tested, and the results need to be shared with consumers.
Yet, currently, the testing either isn't being done or isn't being shared publicly.
Michelin walked us through some of the testing it did, identifying tires by letters not brands.
One of the charts used showed how new tires testing well for grip don't always test well when worn – but there are some that test better than others.
Wouldn't you want to know which is which?
Unlike crash test ratings performed by NHTSA or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, no independent entity does worn-tire testing.
Oh yes, Consumer Reports does some tread testing, clearly showing that worn treads are bad. But Michelin argues that's only part of the story.
The other part of the story involves the pattern of the tread and the tire rubber compound.
First, you want a tread pattern that will wear well over time, so that it has the same number of biting edges worn as it did when new. Brand A held up well with 44 biting edges maintained when it was ground down to 3/32nds. But Brand B went from 35 biting edges to 10.
Second, you need a rubber compound that will maintain its grip over time.
When someone says compound doesn't matter, I actually have rubber samples in my freezer that I pull out to show the difference between summer, all-season and winter tires. The summer tire rubber is stiff as a board and the winter tire rubber is supple and grippy.
Compound matters – and it will vary from by manufacturer and tire type.
But right now, we're making an educated guess, based on the manufacturers' marketing claims, about which tires are best.
Let's go back to the wet braking tests we performed for a minute and reiterate that the depth of tire treads of the worn tires for both brands were exactly the same. And yet, we experienced a huge difference between Brand A and Brand B worn tires. In some instances among these testing tires, worn tires from Brand A actually performed better than new tires from Brand B.
That's something to ponder.
After the wet braking test, we went out to a wet handling course and did another exercise with Brand A and Brand B new and worn tires. This time, we were in Nissan Jukes, and the results were quite similar.
Though I noticed more slippage on the slick autocross, Brand A worn tires continually had better grip through slaloms and aggressive turns than Brand B – new or worn. In fact, with Brand B worn tires, I could have sworn I was on a sandy drift course. The only control I had was using the momentum of the sideways-sliding vehicle to make drifting turns.
The Bottom Line
If you're looking for me to tie up this story with a neat bow, prepare to be disappointed.
There is currently no way to test whether those tires you bought for your vehicle will stand up over the test of time. All you have is the manufacturer's word that they will.
You can look at Consumer Reports' testing and see that more tread is better than less tread. But if you look at tires that have equally worn treads, which one is going to help you avoid crashing into the person who just slammed on the brakes in front of you?
I dunno. But I'd like to.


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xbay wrote:The Magic are currently evaluating the status of Jameer Nelson. They said there is a possiblity he could be in uniform on Thursday. What you guys think of this?
I dont like the idea of Jameer trying to play in the finals. There is no way he is going to be fully healthy and without rust. He will need a lot more than 3 days of practice to get up to Finals speed. If he can do it, he is truly a stud...and I would love to see him come in and run little bitch D-fish ragged. I just hope if he does try to play, he doesnt f-up what the Magic have going for them right now.


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Battle over big energy infrastructure heats up
Building electric power lines across long distances and state boundaries can be a daunting task for developers, as the best-laid plans can go awry over local opposition. That was the case for an independent transmission company called Clean Line Energy and its proposal to ship wind power from Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle across Arkansas to the southeastern U.S. Five years ago, regulators in Arkansas turned down the so-called Plains & Eastern project, saying Clean Line Energy didn't qualify as a public utility serving the state's electricity consumers.
Moreover, the project triggered public protests, including complaints that the power line and its towers would mar landscapes and that landowners would not be adequately compensated for property taken for the development's corridors. But Clean Line Energy found a sympathetic ear in Washington, where the U.S. Department of Energy last week agreed to participate in the development of the 700-mile high-voltage line despite Arkansas' objections. The DOE decision marks the first time that the agency has exercised a provision in a 2005 energy law giving it the option to enable new transmission lines in western and central states if certain criteria are met, including easing congestion and accommodating growing demand for electricity, and if developers pay fully for the costs.
"We need to get to a place where the big infrastructure gets built," Jimmy Glotfelty, a founder of Clean Line Energy and its executive vice president, said of projects like the Plains & Eastern transmission line. "If we don't get it built in a timely fashion, the capital will go somewhere else, and that will have an impact on energy prices. This is a challenge that folks are going to have to continue to wrestle with for some time." Congress sought to facilitate modernization of the U.S. electric grid by including the DOE provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a law passed with bipartisan support and signed by a Republican president, George W. Bush. Section 1222 of the law allows DOE to assist the development of transmission lines in 21 states where the department's Southwestern and Western power administrations distribute and sell electricity from federally built dams.
Clean Line Energy, whose investors include National Grid, one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world, and ZBI Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ziff Brothers Investments, is the only applicant for such DOE involvement, according to the department. "Only time will tell how much it's used," Glotfelty, who was an official at DOE during the Bush administration, said of the department's authority. Clean Line Energy also indicated previously that it might take the same course of action for another project called the Grain Belt Express, a 770-mile line from southwest Kansas to Indiana, which was turned down by Missouri regulators last year.


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Anyone setting out on the famous Appalachian trail in the United States knows there is a long journey ahead. These days, that journey could end on the other side of the Atlantic
It's 2,200 miles long, and growing. It's roughly 300 million years old and it's the only trail in the world to span an ocean. It's safe to say that the Appalachian Trail isn't your average walking route.
Separated by tectonic shifts millions of years ago the once-shared mountain ranges of North America and Europe are again linked for walkers and hikers by the International Appalachian Trail.
It was 2010 when Donegal on Ireland's north west coast was officially added to Appalachian Trail maps. On that map, the trail features a watery gap we know as the Atlantic Ocean. From its origins in Georgia, USA, the trail eventually reaches land again in the most spectacular way: Donegal's Slieve League Cliffs.
Starting the Irish leg of the trail there's no escaping the Slieve Leagues. But why would you want to? Some of the highest cliffs in Europe, the Leagues path leads up to nearly 2,000 feet. That's almost three times the height of Clare's Cliffs of Moher.
Awesome and imposing, the cliffs include a heart-stopping stretch of trail, the aptly named One Man's Pass. Of course novice hikers needn't be worried, the trail is nothing if not varied. Routes such as Pilgrim's Path offer the vistas without the vertigo.
Close to the summit of Slieve League is the Eagle's Nest, boasting the type of birds-eye views the name would suggest. To the south lies counties Sligo and Mayo and the Wild Atlantic Way while to the north sits Mount Errigal and the 'Seven Sister' mountains.
Local man Sean Mullan brings walking tours all around the north of Ireland and relishes the reaction from visitors when they reach Donegal's Appalachian Trail.
"Normally when we get to south-west Donegal and the Wild Atlantic Way we've spent three days in beautiful Antrim with its green fields and wooded valleys," Sean explains. "The contrast is stark; here it's primordial, next stop America; rock, heather, stone walls, fishing boats, yellow sanded beaches."
From Slieve League cliffs the trail crosses the homeland of an Irish saint: Columba. This isolated area is close to where St Columba was born in the sixth century. Columba is remembered along the Slí Cholmcille path which brings travellers down from the cliffs to the sandy beaches of Silver Strand and Maghera.
That same path takes in a chunk of the gaeltacht (Irish speaking) region of Donegal. Almost all locals are bi-lingual and can be relied on to teach visitors cúpla focal (a few words).
Moving inland, the salmon-rich Owenea river stands between you and the market town of Glenties. Expect warmth, hospitality and pubs. A welcome end to your 119 kilometer trek.
But to simply label Donegal's Appalachian route a 'trek' doesn't really do it justice. Sean Murray believes the route to be almost mystical:
"Even when it's misty the atmosphere is magic – more so perhaps – you expect to see some ancient being approaching as you come over a hill," Sean says. "Naturally I'm prejudiced but I'd say it's the best coastal/hill walk in Ireland."
Mystical mists and happy hikers. Trust Donegal to bring the magic.


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Scientists have discovered how electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) works in people with severe depression, The Independent has reported.
During ECT, patients are anaesthetised and given a controlled electric current through the brain. But although ECT has been used to treat severe depression for decades, how or why it works has never been clear.
However, a new study has investigated this by performing brain scans on nine patients with severe depression before and after their ECT sessions. It found that, after treatment, the patients' depression improved and there was a reduction in the connections in an area of the brain previously linked to both depression and cognitive function.
The main limitations to this study are its small size and the fact that it didn't report what happened to patients who weren't given ECT treatment. This means that it's not possible to say what changes (if any) would have occurred over time to the patients not given ECT. However, it may be difficult to obtain a control group of similar people with severe depression who would not be offered ECT or an alternative treatment.
ECT is used by the NHS to treat severe cases of depression under specific circumstances and can have benefit for certain patients, although it can also have side effects. This type of research should help scientists to understand how it delivers its effects, and possibly develop other ways to achieve similar results with fewer side effects.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the University of Dundee, and was funded by the Chief Scientist Office of Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).
The news sources have provided reasonable coverage of this study, although they do not discuss the lack of a control group receiving no ECT. Including a control group helps to establish a treatment's effects as it allows researchers to see what patients experience when given a particular treatment and compare this with what happens when they are not.
There might be some difficulty in recruiting a control group who would not receive ECT, as the patients involved have severe depression that had not responded to other treatments such as medication. Therefore, not offering ECT might not be ethical.
What kind of research was this?
This was a before-and-after study looking at the effects of ECT on connections between nerve cells in the brain. The researchers say that previous studies have suggested that certain aspects of depression might be caused by increases in the connections between certain areas of the brain.
The researchers report that ECT has been used to treat severe depression for more than 70 years and that it is the most potent and rapidly acting antidepressant treatment for the condition. However, it does require administration of a general anaesthetic and is associated with side effects such as memory problems. The researchers also point out that we still do not fully understand how ECT works. They hoped that if they could understand how ECT has an effect, it might be possible to develop other ways to produce the same effect that would have fewer side effects and be less invasive.
As the study only looked at people who had ECT it isn't possible to say what changes (if any) would have occurred in the brains of people not treated with ECT over the same time period.
What did the research involve?
The researchers studied nine adults who had been successfully treated for severe depression. They carried out brain scans of these patients before and after they received their treatment and then used special methods to analyse the scans to determine how "connected" each region of the brain was. The researchers were interested in areas where connections displayed changes after the ECT treatment, as these changes could be responsible for the beneficial effects seen after a course of ECT.
The participants in this study had severe depression that had not responded to drug treatment, and they had voluntarily accepted ECT. They received ECT twice a week until their doctors decided that they had recovered from their severe depression. This took an average of 8.3 treatments. Their level of depressive symptoms was assessed before ECT treatment, after the fourth session of treatment and at the end of the ECT treatment. The researchers did not target any specific areas of the brain in their analyses; they looked at the entire brain instead.
What were the basic results?
The researchers found that participants' depressive symptoms improved significantly after ECT. Brain scans showed that after ECT there was also a decrease in the connections in an area called the "left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex". This area of the brain has previously been linked to both depression and cognitive functioning, which the researchers thought might explain why efforts to achieve the benefits of ECT without adverse effects might not have been successful.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that their findings support the emerging idea that depression might be linked to having too high a level of connectivity in certain areas of the brain. They say that detecting this "hyperconnectivity" might be used as a way of identifing mood disorders, and that these connections could be a target for future treatments.
This small study has found a reduction in the connectivity of one area of the brain in patients who had received successful ECT treatment for severe depression. Previous research has shown that this area, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is implicated in both depression and cognition.
One limitation to the study is that it did not include a control group (patients not treated with ECT), therefore it is not possible to say what changes, if any, would have occurred in their brains. However, due to the severity of their depression, it may be difficult or unethical to obtain a control group of people who would not be offered ECT. Analysis of a larger number of patients receiving ECT would help to confirm these findings, particularly if such studies looked at whether the level of brain changes seen related to how much improvement a patient showed.
ECT has been used in the treatment of depression for a long time, and research such as this should help scientists to understand how it has its effects, and possibly develop other ways to deliver the same results. However, despite understanding better how ECT has its effects, developing new treatments based on this is likely to be a slow process.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on depression in adults currently recommends that ECT should be considered for severe, life-threatening depression and when a rapid response is required, or when other treatments have failed. They say that ECT should not be routinely used for people with moderate depression but that it can be considered if their depression has not responded to other treatments. They recommend that the decision to use ECT should be made jointly with the patient if possible, and that the patient should be fully informed of the risks and benefits associated with having ECT. The risks they describe include the risks associated with the general anaesthetic needed for ECT and the possibility for side effects such as cognitive impairment (a deterioration in memory). However, this needs to be balanced with the risks associated with not receiving ECT.
- Perrina JS, Merzb S, Bennett DM et al. Electroconvulsive therapy reduces frontal cortical connectivity in severe depressive disorder. PNAS, March 19, 2012
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I'm sorry, but Les Misérables is overrated. Or perhaps more accurately, it just wasn't for me.
Director Tom Hooper, coming off his 2011 Oscars triumph with The King's Speech, appeared to have a winner on his hands. One of the most beloved musicals of all-time. The likable singing and dancing Hugh Jackman as the protagonist Jean Valjean. Probably the hottest actress on the planet right now, Anne Hathaway, to play poor Fantine and sing the classic "I Dreamed a Dream." Amanda Seyfried. Russell Crowe. Even Helena Bonham Carter and Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen). It was a sure hit and an Oscar certainty.
But Les Misérables ended up getting mixed reviews from critics, and I find myself siding with those who didn't fall for its charm. Those who love the musical will love this film no matter what, but I personally found it to be an exhausting and often dull experience that I couldn't really get into until it was almost over. Technically, the film is supposedly quite a remarkable achievement, with spectacular sets, strong performances and a lot of long single takes and live singing (rather than recorded in post-production like most other musicals). But really, who cares about all of that if the film isn't any good in the end?
I had never seen a stage production of the musical so I'll assume there are others who aren't familiar with the plot. The story is set in 1815 and Jackman's Valjean is a thief who is paroled by Crowe's ruthless prison guard Javert after years of imprisonment. Basically, Valjean decides to turn his life around and be a good guy and Javert can't seem to let go of the past. It's a miserable time to be alive (hence the title) and the remainder of the film focuses on the struggles of the masses, Jackman trying to be good, and Crowe not letting him. It goes on for years and years.
The biggest problem with Les Misérables is that 99.9% of all vocal interactions between characters is sung. There is essentially no dialogue except a stray word here or there. As a result, we get a lot of long singing monologues where we have to listen really carefully to the lyrics (which is not always clear) just to figure out what the heck is going on.
That can get annoying and takes time to get used to, but fine, it's a musical, so I get that. What bothered me more was that most of this talk-singing was awful to listen to. Not that the actors' voices were bad — it's just that there's no real tune or melody. It just sounds like a bunch of people playing a lame game where they have to sing everything and are making up the tune as they go along. It's really monotonous and challenges the audience not to tune out, so to speak, after a little while.
Yes, there is a handful of REAL musical numbers that are pretty good, with Hathaway's much-lauded "I Dreamed a Dream" number being the highlight, as well as Carter and Borat's "Master of the House" (which I was familiar with through that Seinfeld episode with Elaine's dad and Jerry's inside-out coat), but these are few and far in between. The vast majority of the film was dominated by this crappy talk-singing or sing-talking and I just could not stand it.
The performances were good, I'll admit that, but was Hathaway's performance really that good? Oscar-favourite good? I personally think it's a little overrated, especially considering (spoiler alert!) she only has a few minutes of screen time. Then again, Judi Dench won for something like 9 minutes of acting in Shakespeare in Love, so why the heck not?
I do, on the other hand, have to defend Russell Crowe a little bit here. Crowe has been panned for his singing, but I thought he was perfectly adequate. A little wooden, perhaps, but he's freaking Pavarotti compared to Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia.
Anyway, Les Misérables turned out to be a huge disappointment. It probably would have been great as a stage show, and Hooper has basically shot an extravagant stage show on film, but that's why we have different media formats. I finally got into the story and the characters towards the latter part of the film's third act, but by then it was too little too late.
2 stars out of 5
PS: Dang, the trailer made the film look so awesome. If only it really was.


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Yamaha chose this year's MCN London Motorcycle Show to announce the release of an updated version of the Yamaha YZF-R125 sports bike, which is scheduled to hit dealers in the Europe this April.
For 2014 the performance numbers remain largely unchanged from the 2013 model, still claiming 14.75 hp at 9,000 rpm, and just over 9 lbs•ft of torque at 8,000 rpm.
As a small displacement sports bike targeted for young riders and learners, Yamaha decided to upgrade stability and stopping power by coupling an upside-down front fork, a new radial front brake caliper design that clamps down on a 292 mm floating disc, along with a redesigned rear suspension linkage.


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Teri Fattig / 3/11/2019 - 5/9/2019
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African-Inspired Quinoa Peanut Soup
I thought I'd share this recipe today since I made it for the second time last night and really enjoyed it once again. This is African-Inspired (but not) Quinoa Peanut Soup from Nava Atlas' soup book. I seriously love this book, I have the newer all-vegan version. I tend to modify from it, but come on, what cookbook don't I do that from (maybe Dreena's?!). Anyway, this soup is more like a stew or a hearty protein-filled all-in-one bowl of goodness.
I created the soup the first time with a few modifications, specifically the following: I added paprika to the recipe, about a teaspoon. I also added a bunch of red pepper flakes to oomph up the spice. I didn't have zucchini and I didn't care, so I subbed one green thing for another, using a small bell pepper. I also had a yam instead of sweet potato, but at this point I am so confused as to what's what, I don't care what it is called... they are good, both yams and sweet potatoes. Finally, the last and what I think is the most important modification, is that I used a lot (like, a real lot, for me) of salt and pepper. I probably used at least a teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper (maybe more?) and at least 1-1.5 teaspoons of salt. The boullion I use is low-sodium, so that could be the reason I added more salt. Anyway, I swear, it's the salt that perks it up, which is weird because I usually don't say that about salt and spices. So, those were my modifications and it came out really earthy and good.
I didn't have as chunky peanut butter. I grinded my own at the co-op yesterday and it was pretty smooth. I enjoyed it better the first time (peanut-wise) with more chunks. Yesterday I didn't add a green bell pepper, instead I added red and yellow and a few local green chilis. Yum! I also think I had a yam again, but I am still confused. All of these photos you see are from round one. I took photos last night but they pretty much look the same... just with more red and yellow. I highly suggest trying this soup. The flavors are unique and interesting and very tasty.


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This is an excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated veterinarian who is seeking a rural environment in a practice with a long standing well-respected history of service to the local community practicing high-quality veterinary care. We are looking for a practitioner who wants to make a long-term commitment.
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Belly pork cooked
£14.00 kg
£14.00 kg
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User Profile
Joakim Lindblom is responsible for product development and operations at Trunity, as well as chief architect of the Trunity platform. Joakim has over 20 years experience in Internet information architecture, global R&D and technology business management, space science instrumentation and solar astrophysics, including VP of Platform Strategy at ManyOne Networks, Global R&D Management Consultant at Nokia, as well as Chief Scientist for NASA's UHRXS Space Station project and MSSTA solar observatory while at Stanford University. Joakim has a Ph.D. in Applied Physics and Astrophysics from Stanford University, as well as a B.S. in Physics with honors from the California Institute of Technology.


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Twenty Years of AIDS
"On Friday, June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published what would be the first report on the epidemic, based on the Los Angeles cases of pneumocystis that Drs. Michael Gottlieb and Joel Weisman had seen in the previous months."
-- Randy Shilts
And The Band Played On
I won't even bother trying to describe the mess of emotions I feel as we approach this dreadful anniversary. No doubt every long-term survivor and every longtime activist feels the same. I remember cutting that clip from the MMWR and tacking it to my bulletin board 20 years ago. I remember all my friends and lovers who died. I remember the street battles, the funerals, the bigotry, the betrayals, the courage. I remember it all.
In a few weeks we'll all be remembering, as the nation and the world pauses -- however briefly -- to note the 20th year of the pandemic. How we choose to mark this tragic milestone has been the subject of discussion around the country and observances are being planned by AIDS organizations in every city. In my opinion, the last thing we need is a month of self-congratulatory black-tie galas, fundraisers for the AIDS bureaucracy, or sentimental ceremonies.
While our hearts may be filled with many emotions, there are only two worth expressing at this perilous time: grief and rage. Grief for the millions who have died and the millions who are dying. Rage at the indifference, greed, and stupidity that permit this grotesque calamity to continue. We should cancel the cocktail parties and awards banquets and start the month of June in the streets of Washington, DC -- screaming bloody murder.


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Class of 2016 Finishes Orientation Working• August 22, 2012 Share:
After three days of meetings, speeches, and learning the way things work at Wabash, more than 250 freshmen got the chance to sweat and work. The Class of 2016 spread across Montgomery County to do community service work.
Learning to 'live humanely' has long been a part of Freshman Orientation. The annual work day also provides local organizations with manpower they could otherwise never afford.
Approximately 15 students started their morning at 8 a.m. at the Habitat for Humanity work site across the street from the Wabash baseball field. Dr. Richard Bowen's tutorial students were shoveling and moving gravel.
"Typically on a normal week day we have a lot of people who are not capable of doing some of the heavier work," said construction coordinator Kym Bushong. "So today I'm hoping we can get a driveway extended so the homeowner doesn't have to step out into the mud. I'm hoping we can get all of our grass mowed. I'm hoping we can move some dirt so we can frame up our sidewalks and steps to the back porch.
"These guys can accomplish a lot more than we can. In their four hours today they will accomplish what we normally would in two Saturdays."
Larry Pollitt, who was directing the freshmen at work at the Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church's FISH Clothing Pantry, was also grateful for the time and work saved by the students.
"These guys get done in an hour what it takes a whole day for me to do myself," he said. The students transformed the Pantry's inventory from its summer clothing to winter clothing for the upcoming season.
Another group of students, who are in Dr. David Kubiaks' freshman tutorial, were working at the Crawfordsville Municipal Golf Course. The guys had taped off all of the windows to the pro shop and applying a new coat of paint under the watchful eye of their student leader Anton Crepinsek '13.
Students from Professor Ethan Hollander's freshmen tutorial helped prepare the Lew Wallace Study grounds for this weekend's Taste of Montgomery County, one of the area's largest public events.
"You wouldn't believe how helpful these guys are," said Study Grounds Manager Deb King. "And it's perfect timing, having these Wabash gentlemen help set this up. I don't think we could pull this thing off without volunteer help." Wabash alum Dale Petrie '75 was also on hand, supervising the set-up of the performance stage for this weekend's event.
More News
- New Interdisciplinary Major Made Possible Through Walsh Endowment
- Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield Named Wabash Center Director
- Wabash Gateway Project Begins Construction
- GHI Experience Aids Jawed '17 En Route to Kenya
Photo Galleries
Freshmen Service and Downtown Welcome
Freshman Community Service '12-Album Two
Freshman Community Service '12


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Are emerging markets losing their brand appeal? has been added to your bookmarks.
Many emerging markets faced financial volatility in the wake of the US Federal Reserve's discussion about tapering. Countries with poor fundamentals and weak policies have been hardest hit during this period of uncertainty, and sustaining growth will require a renewed focus on fundamentals.
This past summer, markets in the emerging economies went on a roller-coaster ride as investors worldwide started selling risky emerging-market assets. What led to a "sky is falling" reaction among investors was the indication by the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States (Fed) of a possible reduction in its monetary policy stimulus on May 22, 2013, which somewhat eased after the Fed deferred its decision to taper its monetary policy stimulus on September 18, 2013.
While panic gripped almost all of them, the economies that belonged to the weaker end of the performance spectrum were punished the most by investors.
What was noticeable was that the degree of impact during this period of heightened uncertainty (PoU refers to the period between May 22, 2013 and September 18, 2013) differed for different emerging economies. The extent of vulnerability in some of the emerging economies made it evident that risk perception of investors associated with the emerging economies differed substantially due to their relative performances and economic fundamentals. While panic gripped almost all of them, the economies that belonged to the weaker end of the performance spectrum were punished the most by investors.
The Fed's decision not to taper turned out to be short term when it decided to reduce its stimulus in the FOMC meeting in December.1 In the following 10 days, Turkey was the first emerging market to experience a 5 percent depreciation in its currency against the US dollar and a 10 percent fall in the equity index. Will other emerging economies soon follow suit? Will there be a repeat of the events experienced last summer? Are the emerging economies fundamentally strong enough to deal with the uncertainty associated with Fed's actual tapering? In the last two decades, the share of emerging economies in global output has increased from 35 percent to over 50 percent. The global growth momentum during 2003–2011 was driven primarily by these fast-rising emerging economies, as the growth contribution of advanced economies took a back seat. However, if these emerging economies are hurt by heightened global uncertainties, would that put an end to the era of outperformance of emerging economies? This article attempts to answer some of these questions by comparing the economic fundamentals of 12 emerging economies, spanning all continents.
It all started in May with a taper tipoff by the Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, which triggered turmoil in the market. Investors were unaware of its inevitability, but sooner-than-expected tapering of the Fed's quantitative easing policy made them wary of the potential impact of liquidity shortages and uncertainties in emerging markets that have grown accustomed to unprecedented flows of short-term capital from abroad. Ironically, a close assessment of Bernanke's speech made to the Joint Economic Committee, US Congress, on May 22, 2013 reveals that there was no formal mention of the Fed's tapering. What markets reacted to was a statement made by Bernanke in the question-and-answer session after the speech that said, "In the next few meetings, we could take a step down in our pace of purchase." In the months that followed, uncertainty regarding the Fed's policy heightened as some of the economic data pointed to a better recovery in the United States; Bernanke also reaffirmed in some of his speeches in the following two months that tapering may happen sooner in light of an improving economy. However, it was the investors who got ahead of themselves, anticipating with confidence that the Fed would announce its tapering in September's meeting. Investors worldwide started pulling money back to the United States by selling risky assets, mostly those of the emerging markets, in favor of US securities as well as cash. Consequently, almost all emerging economies experienced a sudden capital outflow that sent shock waves to their stocks, currencies, and bond markets. To the markets' surprise, the Fed unexpectedly refrained from reducing the $85 billion pace of monthly bond buying in its much-anticipated FOMC meeting on September 18, 2013. This decision to maintain quantitative easing helped bonds, stocks, and currencies in emerging economies to claw back up to restore their summer losses.
However, the relief was short term, and the Fed finally announced on December 19, 2013 that it would start tapering its massive stimulus program, showing confidence in the recovery of the US economy and the job market. Beginning in January, the Fed will add $75 billion per month in agency-mortgage-backed securities and longer-term securities to its holdings, down from the $85 billion monthly asset purchases it has made for more than a year.2
While all 12 emerging economies were affected during this PoU, the extent of volatility differed substantially among these economies. The four panels in figure 1 analyze the year-to-date experiences in the currency, bonds, and stock markets and the currency reserve situation of the emerging economies as well as volatility during the PoU. Figure 1a shows that, while local currencies in all these economies depreciated against the US dollar during the PoU, currencies in India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, and Malaysia fell by double digits. Extreme volatility in currencies compelled the policy authorities of these economies to intervene with urgency in order to correct the course of depreciation. India is the only economy to have gained some of the ground it lost after the deferment of the Fed's tapering announcement in September; currency is still depreciating for rest of the economies. For China and South Korea, the currency appreciated this year, despite a brief fall during PoU.
In contrast to the impact on currency, only a few of the emerging bond and stock markets suffered an extreme adverse impact due to the fierce selloff as shown in figures 1b and 1c. While high demand for US Treasuries drove down bond rates, only a few economies witnessed a sharp widening of the interest rate spread with respect to the 10-year benchmark rate of the United States. Turkey, Indonesia, India, and Brazil saw a sharp rise in the interest spread while it narrowed in Russia, South Korea, Malaysia, and China during the PoU. Indonesia and Brazil—whose interest rates spread vis-a-vis the 10-year benchmark rate of the United States had been rising prior to the PoU—saw the gap widening further during and after the PoU.
Stock markets in Turkey, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand were strongly hit during the PoU. Fierce asset selloff and a sudden outflow of portfolio investment led to a sharp fall in equity prices. For the Philippines, Malaysia, and India, there was a severe reversal of their stock market trends during the PoU. However, markets in Malaysia and India were back on the rising track after September and exceeded their levels prior to the PoU. Surprisingly, markets in South Africa, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, and China, which have been falling prior to PoU, improved during the PoU and continued to strengthen after that period. This probably indicates that a portion of capital withdrawn from all other nations flowed into these economies.
Due to strong domestic currency depreciation, currency reserves fell for most of the economies during the PoU, except for Mexico, South Korea, and China (see figure 1d). One of the reasons for this fall was the selling off of US currencies by central banks in order to halt the local currency depreciation. Reserves fell the most in Indonesia, the Philippines, and India due to high currency and stock market vulnerabilities, as shown in the panels above. While the Philippines gained some of the ground it lost after the Fed's announcement to delay tapering, reserves have continued to fall in India and Indonesia.
Figure 2 summarizes the market responses of the 12 emerging economies discussed above during the PoU and their relative positioning in terms of the degree of impact. Markets in Indonesia, India, Turkey, and Brazil were the worst affected among the 12 economies, while China and South Korea were relatively unaffected. India saw correction in two of its markets since September.
The question is why markets in some economies were battered during the PoU while others remained unscathed. The reason could be that either investors were irrational, which may not be completely untrue, or they cautiously moved out of countries whose economic outlook did not look promising in the long run. The second reason underlines an investor's risk perception of an economy as an investment destination. These perceptions are based on various economic and non-economic factors. The four panels of figure 3 elaborate on a few selected economic fundamentals and the relative economic performance of the 12 emerging economies and analyses their risk profiles relative to each other. The color of the country represents the degree of relative risks; red indicates relatively high risk, yellow indicates relatively moderate risk, and green indicates relatively low risk.
Among the most important criteria for assessing the risk of an economy as an investment destination are its growth outlook and its stability.
Among the most important criteria for assessing the risk of an economy as an investment destination are its growth outlook and its stability. Economies with high growth and low inflation are usually deemed as low-risk and high-return investment destinations. Strong growth increases the probability of higher returns on investment, while low inflation prevents the erosion of their investment returns in the long run. In figure 3a, the economies are positioned relative to each other based on their real economic growth and consumer price inflation in the latest quarter 2013 Q3. China, Philippines, and Malaysia are economies with relatively high growth and low inflation. On the other hand, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa are at the other extreme of growth and inflation. Though India, Indonesia, and Turkey have relatively higher growth, these economies have also been experiencing very high and persistent inflation in the last couple of years. As a result, these economies are experiencing high uncertainties with respect to their growth sustainability and returns on investments.
A second important consideration is the governance, political situation, and fiscal responsibility of the government of these economies. Figure 3b positions the economies with respect to their current political and policy uncertainties. Transparency in policy making and bureaucracy, measured and ranked by the IMF,3 is high for most of these economies. However, for some economies, political uncertainties due to the impending elections at the national levels are resulting in policy paralysis and delays in the implementation of meaningful reforms. Six of the 12 nations are up for election in the next two years. This has implications for the stability of the institution as well as the direction of actual policy decisions, which tend to be sub-optimal.4 Not only does a change in governance influence policy implications, even the margin of victory of the winning parties (electoral margins) can also matter in determining policy risks.5 For example, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and South Africa will have their government elected in 2014. However, uncertainty in Turkey and South Africa is lower because their present leaders are expected to remain dominant in the future. On the other hand, current ruling parties in India and Indonesia are losing support and public confidence.
For India, Malaysia, and Brazil, the fiscal deficit has been widening, putting additional pressure on their high levels of public debts (see figure 3c). A bout of populist spending in any year, especially for economies that are close to an election, can throw the budget management off the balance, raising the probability of a sovereign default.
The last panel depicts the relative volatility of domestic currency to that of the inflows of portfolio investments in these economies from 2009 until the first half of 2013. While currency valuation can be an important factor in determining the direction of capital flows,6 strong capital flows also influence the valuation of currency. Hence, their relationship runs in both directions. Again, volatility in capital flows may not be the only factor resulting in currency instability. The objective of this comparison is to indicate whether or not the monetary policies were effective enough to stabilize currency after the financial crisis when capital flows turned highly volatile. While none of the economies belonged to the region of high volatility in capital and currency during this period (this does not include the period after June 2013), monetary policy appears to have been relatively less effective in Turkey, Russia, South Africa, Brazil, and India.
Most of the emerging economies also suffer a skewed balance of payments. Figure 4 compares the current account balances of the emerging economies and the direct investment inflows during the second quarter of 2013, the latter representing a stable source of investment and revenues for the economy.7 Economies like Turkey, Thailand, South Africa, India, and Indonesia have reported a large and growing current account deficit as a percentage of GDP. However, the proportion of direct capital investment is mere a fraction of GDP. In other words, a very small proportion of the capital account is being invested in production and building long-term assets in these economies. Although these economies have a strong reserve balance to finance their imports, a rising deficit can quickly deplete their exchange reserves in the absence of a stable source of investment income. This is not simply a possibility; the turmoil this past summer is an evidence of that.
It is evident from the above two sections that economies with poorer fundamentals and weaker policies have been hit harder. Digging deeper, it is apparent that poor fundamentals are due to structural problems. The three panels of figure 5 show that most of the economies have grown in terms of market size, but they lack basic infrastructure to support the market.
Some of these economies are highly uncompetitive (as ranked by the IMF, Global Competitiveness Index), and business and investment decisions are often sub-optimal. According to figure 5a and 5b, India, Russia, Brazil, Philippines, Mexico, and South Africa are relatively poor in terms of infrastructure and competitiveness. Over the last two decades, these economies have successfully moved away from agriculture to manufacturing and into the services sector. However, most of these economies lack the ability to innovate and the knowledge to broaden their scope of production and income generation.
The last 10-odd years have been a good run for emerging markets. The remarkably rapid growth of the emerging economies during 2003–2011 marks the biggest economic revolution in the modern history. Growth in most of the emerging economies gained substantially due to a combination of an inflow of excessive and cheap capital from advanced economies and high commodity prices fueled by strong growth and rising demand in China.
But for some economies, the problems are more deeply rooted, and short-term fixes will probably not help.
But now, many of these emerging economies face severe economic crises as global uncertainties increase. This implies that these economies have to rely more on economic fundamentals in order to grow. However, a tightening of global financial conditions in recent months has exposed a divergence in the fundamentals of these economies.8 The Federal Reserve's decision to postpone the announcement of reducing monetary policy stimulus in September 2013 might have eased the tension for the moment and bought some time for these economies to bounce back. But for some economies, the problems are more deeply rooted, and short-term fixes will probably not help. The Fed's recent announcement to taper implies that global uncertainties are here to stay. The question is, can these emerging economies sustain their growth story in the future? Are the emerging economies losing their brand appeal? While we continue to ponder over these questions, I leave you with a relative risk positioning of these 12 economies, based on the economic fundamentals discussed above.


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We told you this week Mazda has to recall 52,000 Mazda6 sedans because spiders like to nest in its fuel system, but that's not the worst thing a spider can do in your car. According to the Detroit News, although animals are involved in a very minor percentage of fatal crashes, Spiders, Bees and other insects are very high on the list of dangerous in car distractions that can lead to accidents.
(Photo Credit: srboisvert)
[Detroit News]


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Taylor Swift Would Love To Make A Cameo On 'Glee'
Wouldn't you love to see Taylor singing her heart out with Mr. Schuster and Finn Hudson on Fox's Golden Globe winning show? Yeah, we bet they would too!
Taylor Swift is itching to get her Glee on. But then again, who isn't these days?
"I'm really loving [the show] right now," she revealed to E! Online at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy gala on Jan. 30.
And if producers do swiftly come a-callin', Taylor, 20, is open to all possibilities of what she could play. "If it did happen, I'd love to see what they would do with me," she added.
Imagine the possibilities: maybe a cheerleader from a competing high school? How about a shy new girl who makes Puck stop in his tracks? Or how about something completely outlandish, like a rebel from the wrong side of the tracks wearing more leather than Olivia Newton-John did in Grease?
If producers are dragging your feet, Tay, just show them a reel of your performance in the ensemble romantic comedy Valentine's Day, which releases wide on Feb. 12. That should sway 'em!
Hey, at least we know why you've been hanging out with Glee star Cory Monteith, 27, so much lately…you're gunning for a role! JK. We know you're hanging out with Cory because he's so cool. And cute…
Get More on Taylor Swift:


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Button Gwinnett
|Founding Fathers
|Button Gwinnett
|Christian- Episcopalian; Congregationalist [1]
|Founding Documents
|Declaration of Independence
Georgia's Constitution
Button Gwinnett (b. circa 1732-1735 [2] - d. May 19, 1777) was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Gwinnett was president of Georgia's Revolutionary Council of Safety, developed Georgia's Constitution which was ratified. He led a failed invasion of British East Florida. He was killed in a duel with his arch-enemy Colonel Lachlan McIntosh.
Early life
Button Gwinnett was born in England. Not much is kn own of his early life other than as a young man he became a merchant. Some time after his marriage in England he moved to Charleston, South Carolina and became a landowner in Georgia. Gwinnett staked his personal fortune in the welfare of the colonies.
Button Gwinnett's first foray into government was his election victory for Commons House of Assembly in 1769. In 1776, he was elected by the general assembly congress in Savannah, Georgia.[3] Also in 1776, he was appointed commander of Georgia's continental militia. This action was hotly contested by Colonel Lackland McIntosh, brigadier general of the continental brigade. Subsequently, Gwinnett resigned and represented the Continental Congress, signing the Declaration. When he returned home, Gwinnett was elected president in Georgia. Once again, he took control of the continental militia and the rivalry with McIntosh ensued. With the assumption of great power, he relieved General McIntosh of his troops. Gwinnett led an expedition force against British East Florida. His actions failed miserably and it was thwarted by Lachlan McIntosh and his brother George. Gwinnett was charged with malfeasance but acquitted. Subsequently, the public soured on him, Gwinnett would lose election for Governor.
As fate would have it, a duel over personal honor was proposed outside of Savannah. On May 16, 1777, both men were shot in the duel, only Gwinnett failed to recover and he would die three days later.
- ↑ http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html
- ↑ Button Gwinnett, USHistory.org
- ↑ http://colonialhall.com/gwinnett/gwinnett.php Button Gwinnett, ColonialHall.com


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Today's Specials – Local flavors, broader choices: how Haverford's food has evolvedFriday, July 18th, 2008
The cover story of the spring 2008 Haverford alumni magazine focused on food at the College. The article, written by Cheryl Sternman Rule '92, takes a look at the coming of age of Haverford dining services – including the wide variety of options from vegan to allergy conscious, the eco-friendly choices, use of locally grown produce, and more.
The entire article is available online in PDF format, starting on page 38 of the document.


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The following is a guest post by Damien Joyce
However you feel about the huge sum of money Facebook spent on a company with no revenue, the fact remains that Instagram is a huge success story for cloud computing and is a great example of how the cloud can be used effectively for scalability, when going from 0 to 80,000,000 users in just 18 months. Instagram's co-founder, Kevin Systrom, apparently had no formal programming training; he's a marketer/product guy who learned to code by night! But he was passionate and focused on his product right from the start as you can hear in this excellent interview that he did with Robert Scoble in 2010.
Instagram's extraordinary success is also great tale about the culture of the Bay Area tech scene and recently co-founder Mike Krieger described their journey. Check out the slides from his talk where he mentions to "Surround yourself with awesome advisors" and promote a "Culture of openness around engineering". With that culture firmly in mind (I know the piece Tom Murphy wrote a few years ago on Galway possibly being a new kind of San Fran resonated with people) and continuing with our user group activity, we have a FREE day-long tech event in association with the GMIT, ITAG and supported by HP taking place on Friday, September 14th and hosted on the GMIT campus.
CloudBusting will be a "cross-over" day, with over 20 sessions covering aspects of the Cloud spread across 5 tracks on start-ups, DevOps, web, social media, and music. The keynote speaker is Dave Allen, foundational member of post punk band, Gang Of Four.
Dave is Director, Interactive Strategy at North, Inc and an Adjunct Lecturer, Digital Brand Strategy at the University of Oregon and has some interesting ideas, experiences on music, design, UX, technology, and on the web in general with what he refers to as "thinking about Webism".
The plan is that attendees will go away from CloudBusting with the understanding of what is necessary for the different ways to architect, develop and deploy applications and IT solutions in the cloud but also that they leave with some food for thought for working on the web in general.
All details for the event are available on the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CloudBusting2012 (Note you don't need a Facebook account) including a stellar speakers list and a link to the Eventbrite page for registration.
Recent additions to the speaker list include Josh Holmes, Stephen Nelson Smith, Bob Duffy, and Jan Jongboom from Cloud9 who have a IDE for the cloud aimed at Javascript developers. Check out the Robert Scoble interview last year on their company for more background on what they do.
Also, Claudio Perrone, who is an excellent speaker and LEAN practitioner. He will be the opening keynote speaker for the Italian Agile Day conference in November.
There will be also be an after-party in Kelly's Bar that night with emerging Irish music talent including Sive, Twin Terrace, and ImYourVinyl.
Is there an appetite for a day of technology in Galway? I hope so and would love to see the event supported across the tech ecosystem in Galway.
If you can't attend, maybe you can support CloudBusting by promoting through your social networks?
Also, don't forget to keep up to date with what is happening by following the ITAG Twitter stream @itag_ie and ITAG: The Information Technology Association of Galway LinkedIn group.
Damien is a business technologist working for Hewlett Packard interested in Tech, Social Media and all things LFC (Liverpool Football club) related. Also an all too occasional music blogger with a passion for good music.


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The price of a gallon of milk could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon next year if Congress fails to pass a new farm bill before Jan. 1, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey warned Friday, though some cautioned any price hike could be smaller and not immediate.
How do higher milk prices affect you? How much do you drink in a week? Send comments to firstname.lastname@example.com
Casey, a Democrat, urged the Republican-led House to approve a Senate farm bill that passed overwhelmingly in June with bipartisan support.
"If the House doesn't take action, we could revert to a 1940s-era law that could waste taxpayer dollars and cause milk prices to skyrocket," he said. "By refusing to take up the farm bill, the House is forcing the Department of Agriculture to implement a dairy policy which is decades old. It could cost the government, by one estimate, $12 billion to $15 billion."
A farm bill has been tied to the economic "fiscal cliff," with The Associated Press reporting agriculture industry leaders hope the farm legislation can be added to any final fiscal package.
Under the law, the secretary of agriculture would be required to set federal price support subsidies at levels equivalent to those used in a 1949 law that Congress has overridden repeatedly in the decades since. Those levels are several times higher than current levels.
Without a permanent solution, the potential exists for a "huge, huge impact (on) something as fundamental to people's lives as picking up a gallon of milk," Casey said.
Others agreed prices could rise, but said the warning is mainly a way of pushing final action and milk prices that much higher are unlikely.
Arden Tewksbury, manager of the Progressive Agricultural Association, who lives in Meshoppen, said the state Milk Marketing Board told him the worst-case scenario is a price hike in Northeast Pennsylvania from slightly more than $4 a gallon for whole milk to about $5.64 a gallon.
Tewksbury doubts prices would rise right away.
First of all, the United States Department of Agriculture would have to gear up and producers would have to prove their dairy products are part of a surplus, the only time the federal government directly steps in and buys products to keep prices down.
FISCAL FALLOUT: Milk could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon; how does this affect you?
The price of a gallon of milk could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon next year if Congress fails to pass a new farm bill before Jan. 1, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey warned Friday, though some cautioned any price hike could be smaller and not immediate.


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Northbrook, Ill.-based Underwriters Laboratories (UL) recently introduced a new holographic UL mark that will be required in 32 common consumer product areas, including power supply cords, nightlights, and ceiling fans. According to UL, the redesigned label incorporates cutting-edge technology, elevated security features, and a unique hologram design, making it easy to identify and validate, yet difficult to replicate.
"Counterfeiters will copy and sell anything that turns a profit without regard to quality, safety, or the law," says Brian Monks, UL's vice president of anti-counterfeiting operations. "As part of our zero-tolerance policy concerning products bearing counterfeit UL marks, we are constantly working with government and law enforcement agencies worldwide to help prevent counterfeit products from entering the marketplace."
Distinct features of the new hologram label include:
A gold background to help U.S. Customs officers and other law enforcement agencies, distributors, retailers, and consumers quickly identify the new label.
Color-shifting ink similar to that used in the new U.S. paper currency.
Repeating pattern of floating UL symbols, a distinctive burst pattern around one of the floating UL symbols, and wavy lines.
Additional covert security features to assist with the authentication of a UL holographic label.
Made available to manufacturers on July 1, 2008, the new holographic label will be required worldwide on all new production in the 32 hologram categories starting July 1, 2009.
For more information, visit www.ul.com.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — In November 2012, Hewlett-Packard Co. stunned investors with news that it was writing down almost $9 billion of its $11.1 billion acquisition of the British software company, Autonomy Corp.
H-P HPQ, +0.79% attributed the hefty write-down to "serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations at Autonomy" that occurred prior to H-P's acquisition.
At the time, H-P said it was turning over the investigation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom, where Autonomy was based, to look into its allegations. "This will take a long time to work through, but we are committed to seeking redress for the benefit of our shareholders," H-P Chief Executive Meg Whitman told investors.
Nearly two years later, events have taken an interesting twist. This Monday, in Federal Court in San Francisco, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer will hear two motions challenging a recent settlement that H-P reached in June, a class action derivative lawsuit alleging that H-P directors breached their fiduciary duties in buying Autonomy and later writing off the bulk of the deal.
One challenge has been filed by Autonomy's former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, who contends that the proposed settlement H-P poses a threat to his own legal rights, in part because of an order in the settlement which "would appear" to bar Hussain in the future from asserting any counterclaims against H-P or its officers or directors in any future litigation.
H-P said in its response that Hussain is simply seeking discovery in advance of being sued himself by H-P in the United Kingdom. Hussain, which H-P calls "one of the chief architects of the massive fraud on H-P," is described by H-P as someone wrapped "in a mantle of self-righteousness in an attempt to obtain discovery that he hopes will help him stay out of prison and defend the civil litigation he expects H-P will file in the U.K."
H-P also countered Hussain's claim about his future legal rights, saying his "cognizable rights" are not affected in any substantive way. The company says he has no standing to object to the settlement because his interests are averse to H-P's, citing previous cases where objectors in derivative cases cannot have interests deemed "hostile" to other shareholders.
But the more interesting point in Hussain's motion, filed by well-known San Francisco lawyer John Keker of Keker and Van Nest, is his allegation that the settlement between H-P and the plaintiffs's lawyers is "collusive" and that H-P has been "engaged in a vigorous game of 'Whack-a-Mole,' batting at various investor lawsuits that pose the threat of discovery and disclosure of H-P's own mismanagement."
Hussain and another shareholder who also filed a motion to challenge are dismayed by the proposed settlement, ranging from $18 million to $48 million, in which shareholders get nothing.
"H-P and respected plaintiffs's lawyers entered into an agreement where H-P insiders pay nothing and are absolved of all wrongdoing, and the respected plaintiffs's lawyers get at least $18 million and as much as $48 million for 'assisting' some other law firm to sue Autonomy's former officers, no doubt in England where discovery is limited and those respected lawyers are not even licensed to practice law," Hussain stated in his motion. "Any normal person would say, 'Are you kidding me?'"
In addition, one of the law firms that represented the shareholders in their case against H-P directors, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP, now working with H-P, is being accused of a conflict of interest. Cotchett was previously the lead counsel in another class action against H-P. That suit, which also recently settled, alleged that the company's inkjet printers falsely warned consumers when they were out of printer ink.
Theodore Frank, of the non-profit Center for Class Action Fairness, has filed a motion contesting the ink jet settlement, seeking to disqualify the Cotchett firm from the H-P inkjet class action settlement. "It's just a black letter ethical violation," Frank said in an interview.
"The inkjet litigation has no bearing on the Autonomy settlement," an H-P spokeswoman said in an email. "We believe the motion to intervene in the derivative case is just a lawyer-driven attempt to seek attorneys' fees. It is meritless, as will be shown in court filings."
Rodney Cook, the other shareholder opposing the proposed settlement over Autonomy, has a motion that will also be heard by Breyer next Monday. Cook, who has his own separate derivative action against H-P regarding the Autonomy deal, also seeks to remove the Cotchett law firm as the lead plaintiff's counsel, citing conflict of interest.
But Hussain's motion brings up a bigger question about the Autonomy acquisition. He states in his motion that with the settlement, "H-P seeks to forever bury from disclosure the real reason for its 2012 write-down of Autonomy: H-P's own destruction of Autonomy's success after the acquisition." In his separate motion, H-P shareholder Cook contends that the current lead plaintiff and the Cotchett firm "have engaged in no meaningful litigation activity at all."
H-P has said that $5 billion of the write-down was due to accounting improprieties at Autonomy. But so far, the accounting problems found at Autonomy are said to be around $200 million in either hardware sales at a loss or fraudulent transactions, out of just over $1 billion in annual revenue.
How this became a multi-billion-dollar write-down is a big question among investors. Perhaps these legal maneuvers will shine some light on the mystery. But it probably will be a long time before investors know what really happened.


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Tablet devices help kids with autism speak up
Speech-generating iPads show promise in helping nonverbal children communicate
Marina Mladenovich
Withdrawn children with autism become surprisingly talkative after using chatty iPads as part of an experimental treatment program focused on play and language skills.
Tablet devices featuring icons that can be tapped to produce vocal comments and requests help bring largely silent kids with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, at least partly out of their shells, say education professor Connie Kasari of UCLA and her colleagues.
For six months, 5- to 8-year-olds with ASD used handheld, speech-generating tablet computers, including iPads adapted for that purpose. Up to three months after completing the treatment program, those children spoke to others more often than did kids given tablets halfway through the six months or not at all. The scientists report the findings in the June Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Most iPad participants had no


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22 August 2012
For the first time in history, luxury shopping emporium Selfridges on London's Oxford Street will be devoting all of its 24 windows to one brand, and the work of a very unique woman.
Yayoi Kusama, the 83-year-old Japanese artist, has collaborated with French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to create a capsule collection of bold clothes and accessories in black, red, yellow and blue, adorned with her signature spot-print design. While the first instalment of the collaboration went on sale last month, Selfridges is the only outlet to stock the second drop way ahead of its global release in October, and to celebrate, the store has created a concept boutique and invited style blogger Bip Ling to mark the occasion.
Two playful, short films starring Ling see her replicate in movement the verses of a poem by Kusama, and fitting in with the "Spot the Difference" theme, viewers are invited to literally, spot five differences between the two films.
Click here to watch video 1 . Click here to watch video 2 .
Participants can submit their observations into the "Spot the Difference Competition" on the UK Twitter handle @LouisVuitton_UK including #LVKusama. Five winners will be selected at random and will receive each a copy of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" illustrated by Yayoi Kusama. The concept store and windows launch will take place on August 24.
The competition will run from August 22 to September 7. Winners will be announced via the @LouisVuitton_UK Twitter account on the September 12, 2012.


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Semi-reliable British news source The Sun reports that terrorists are using Call of Duty and Halo to keep in touch with each other and train for terrorist attacks.
"Kids' fave keeps their plots secret," The Sun blares, which may well be possible. Scum terrorists may be using Call of Duty voice chat over Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 as they would Skype or burner cell phones to discuss plans to kill innocent people.
But why Call of Duty? Why Halo?
The Sun reports: "Sources say plotters choose realistic conflict games so they can mask their deadly discussions as harmless web chat."
Oh, yes. That's why they play Halo, of all games. This makes total sense unless you know anything about Halo and the wide gulf between it and the phrase "realistic conflict."
But maybe Call of Duty is a good fit for terrorists? After all, the paper does report that: "The terrorists choose incredibly realistic 'first person games' where the controller works through a complex simulation of war scenarios, carrying out missions and battling enemy fighters."
We can only hope that the terrorists are stupid enough to consider Call of Duty to be "incredibly realistic". If the next big terror plot is architected through Call of Duty, may we only have to wait for the terrorists to fall back and let their health regenerate before the authorities take them out.
Game Fanatics: TERRORISTS are using online war games like Call of Duty to plot attacks, The Sun can reveal. [The Sun]


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The Nexus 4's lack of LTE may be fixable for some, Facebook Gifts now includes iTunes credit, Netflix strikes a deal with Warner Brothers for Canadian customers, and Twitter users will soon be able to download their tweet histories.
- Nexus 4 Includes Support for LTE on Band 4 (AWS) Nexus 4 users in Canada have found that switching their preferred network type to Band 4 (AWS) will enable LTE-strength connections. Of course, carriers have to be running LTE on the band for the phones to use it—which isn't the case in the US. T-Mobile, however, does plan to use AWS for its LTE network. [AnandTech]
- iTunes Gifts Now on Facebook As of today, Facebook users will be able to gift anything available on iTunes. You can give either $10, $15, $25, or $50 in credit, in addition to recommending a song or album to spend it on. [Facebook Newsroom]
- Netflix Announces New Deal With Warner, Will Deliver Popular Content to Canadian Streamers Today Netflix announced a deal with Warner Brothers that will bring new TV shows and movies to its Canadian customers. Included are recent and upcoming releases like The Hangover Part II and The Dark Knight Rises, which will be available for a limited time after their pay television window. [Engadget]
- Twitter CEO Dick Costolo: Users Can Download Their Entire Archive By Year-End; Now Sees 1B Tweets Every 2.5 Days During a talk at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo stated that Twitter users should be able to download a full archive of their tweets within a few weeks. This is the second time Costolo has made this promise, the first being at another talk in September, where he said the archives would be available by the end of the year. [TechCrunch]
- Motorola Closes Dedicated Websites for Several Markets Motorola is shutting down its dedicated websites in a number of markets. Reported as closed so far are the sites serving India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Rest of Asia, Rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Customers who attempt to visit one of these sites are being redirected to one in a larger market, like the US. [HEXUS]
Photo by photastic (Shutterstock), a2bb5s (Shutterstock), and Feng Yu (Shutterstock).


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Got an image you'd like to see in here first thing in the morning? Send it to firstname.lastname@example.com. Subject: Morning crap.
Ah Spring, time of renewal, when all things seem possible and the world is your oyster. Mmm, oysters. Old Don Rickles joke: "I'll bet when this guy goes to the bathroom the toilet paper roll goes fffuuuudddddddddddddddtthhhhhhhhh!"
Pictures From Spring Training [It Is About The Money, Stupid]


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At Regional Vascular & Vein Institute our physicians and staff are committed to offering the most comprehensive care in the area. The institute is a collaborative partnership between Vascular and General Surgeons. We strive to provide a complete range of outpatient vascular and general surgery services. In addition to treatment capabilities, we offer an in-house vascular lab with diagnostic abilities. We provide surgical treatment of vascular disease, including minimally invasive repair of aneurysms and revascularization of the lower extremities.
We pride ourselves on being accessible to both you and your family physician, providing the quality medical care you've come to expect from our physicians at Regional Vascular & Vein Institute.


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Find Your Perfect Home.
Wellston Real Estate
Wellston is located in Michigan. Wellston, Michigan has a population of 284. Wellston is less family-centric than the surrounding county with 0% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 22.42%.
The median household income in Wellston, Michigan is $27,022. The median household income for the surrounding county is $40,408 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Wellston is 55.2 years.
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The average high temperature in July is 80.5 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 15.7 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 34.9 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
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State comptroller and police fight illegal gambling
Illegal gambling has saturated Southeast Texas in the form of game rooms using casino style coin-operated amusement machines known as "eight-liners." Local authorities and the State Comptroller's office say these "arcade games" have a potential legitimate use, but Sgt. Mike Custer of the Beaumont Police Department's special assignments unit said he has never seen one being used legally. Rather than paying out in prizes valued at under $5, as is allowed by law, gamblers are receiving cash.
Police said in many cases the state comptroller's office could do more damage to these illegal enterprises with a calculator than police can with a search warrant. In this final installment in a three-part series, The Examiner investigated the power of the comptroller and what is being done to punish offenders.
R.J. DeSilva, spokesperson for the state comptroller's office, said his office works to ensure the proper licensing of amusement machines throughout Texas. He said they enforce the licensing and penalize those operators who do not comply with Texas law.
The coin-operated machines tax is in Chapter 2153 of the Texas Occupation Code and applies to various types of machines. Examples include pool tables, video games, jukeboxes and arcade games. The business sets the amount a customer pays to use any of these machines. A business that has these machines has to get a general business license or registration certificate from the comptroller's office and pay an annual occupation tax on each machine.
The annual occupation tax is $60 per machine. If a business has machines at its own location, it gets a registration certificate, which costs $150 per year. If a business has machines it puts in another location, then it gets a general business license. The fee for a general business license is between $200 and $500 a year. The businesses can place the different types of machines at locations around the state, so the statewide number of machines is what is tracked by the comptroller's office. Last year there were approximately 183,000 licensed machines, according to DeSilva. The machines must have decals issued by the state indicating they are licensed for operation.
According to DeSilva, only the state can issue the decals and machines are inspected thoroughly.
"We have criminal investigators and enforcement officers throughout the state that check for state tax compliance on all state taxes," he said. "With the coin-operated machines law in the Texas Occupation Code, they enforce the occupation tax and inspect locations for licenses and occupation tax decals. If machines don't have decals, they are sealed and cannot be used until fees and penalties are paid. Last fiscal year we sealed approximately 3,450 machines."
The coin-operated machines law does not authorize gambling, which is illegal under Chapter 47 of the Texas Penal Code. Agency criminal investigators have authority under Chapter 14 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures to make an arrest if an offense occurs within their presence or within their view, including gambling violations, while conducting an inspection. Generally, local law enforcement agencies investigate gambling under the Texas Penal Code. Those law enforcement agencies contact the state comptroller if they need to check ownership information or other assistance as part of their investigations.
According to Custer, sealing or seizing the machines costs the illegal gambling operators a lot more than the Class A misdemeanor charge levied against them by police. With the machines out of use, the operators potentially lose thousands of dollars each day the machine is not properly licensed rather than a mere $4,000, the maximum amount for the misdemeanor charge. Custer said as the law stands now, the police are not able to enforce the licensing and cannot seize the property. Only the comptroller has that power due to restrictions in state legislation.
Crime and punishment
Custer said the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office faces challenges in prosecuting illegal gambling operators, but they are working hard to convict offenders.
"The DA is helpful in prosecuting," Custer said. "We work well with the DA on this, but it is just a tough case to make."
As mentioned in The Examiner's Oct. 4 issue, Beaumont Police have been pursuing illegal gaming operators and have made some progress. Arrests have been made in the past and some of the offenders have been prosecuted. Kamran Zaki, suspected of operating game rooms throughout Jefferson and Orange counties, was prosecuted after an investigation into potential gambling activities led authorities to uncover other illicit activities. According to police, Zaki ran several game rooms in Beaumont. Records held at the Jefferson County Courthouse show the only punishment placed on Zaki at the local level was forfeiture of roughly $11,000 in cash and the circuit boards from roughly 30 machines confiscated when officers raided one of Zaki's alleged gambling businesses.
According to Zaki's brother, Rajan Zaki, who called after seeing his brother in The Examiner, after the arrest, his brother was detained for four months at a facility in Houston. He maintains that his brother did not own the gambling business but could provide no supporting evidence. He said his brother was told to either leave the country or face federal prosecution and jail time. He indicated he could not reveal his brother's location due to concern for his family's safety but implied Kamran had left the country. Whether he fled or was deported by authorities remains in question. Local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers would not release the information, saying it is protected under privacy laws.
More recently, the Jefferson County District Attorney filed a case against Farid Datoo on May 7 of this year for "promotion of illegal gambling," a Class A misdemeanor, on or around March 29. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office arrested Datoo on May 8. A hearing regarding the charges is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 18, at 9 a.m. at the Jefferson County Courthouse. The complaint against Datoo states he "unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly operated and participated in the earnings of a gambling place and for gain became the custodian of money of bets and money offered for bets."
This is Datoo's second arrest for promotion of gambling. He was arrested in June 2007 for the same charges he now faces. In January 2008, Jefferson County ordered Datoo to pay $11,596 considered "illegal gambling proceeds" by the court. Datoo had to surrender 54 machines used in illegal gambling, according to court documents. Components of the machines were removed to make them unusable.
The penalties assessed in 2007 apparently did not deter Datoo or others making huge profits from the illegal enterprise.
Custer said that around four years ago, officers raided a gambling den and seized over $10,000. Recently, he said the same operator was arrested and police found around $11,000 in what they believe to be illegal gambling proceeds. That is more than $20,000 for two days of business for the operator. The operator might have to forfeit the money, but Custer said that is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the profits they earn regularly.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods said he agrees with Custer that the law as it stands now is ineffective in combating the problem of illegal gambling in the state of Texas. He said that change is necessary.
"We get complaints from time to time," Woods said regarding the game rooms in Jefferson County. "We keep an eye on the places we hear about. This is going to be a recurring problem until the legislature does something to address the issue. We need to do more than charge (the operators) with a Class A misdemeanor. They are making too much money. They are going to continue to operate illegally. It's not just in this area. It's all over Texas. The legislature in all its wisdom thought people would really just use the machines for amusement and only payout with up to $5 in prizes. These places are making a ton of money operating illegally, paying out cash."
Until these necessary changes are made by the state legislature, officers believe illegal gambling will continue in Texans.
This is the final installment in a three-part series. For Part 1 in this ongoing series, click here:
For Part 2, click here:


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Watch How Ecstatic This Young Man Is When He Gets Accepted to College [VIDEO]
Like many young men, Rion Holcombe wanted desperately to go to college. But unlike most young men, Holcombe has Down syndrome. And next year, he'll be a Clemson Tiger.
Holcombe, 20, of Roebuck, South Carolina, was accepted into Clemson University's LIFE program, which is "designed for students with intellectual disabilities who desire a postsecondary experience on a college campus."
His parents filmed the moment he found out where he'd be going, and his joy is infectious.


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New 2019 Acura TLX 8-Speed Dual-Clutch with Technology Package
For 36 Months
$309.00 per month for 36 months. $2,699 total due at signing. Includes down payment with no security deposit. Excludes taxes, titles and either dealer fees or documentary service fee. For well-qualified lessees. Closed-end lease for 2019 TLX 8 Speed Dual-Clutch with Technology Package vehicles (UB1F5KKNW) available from May 1, 2019 through July 1, 2019,available to well-qualified lessees approved by Acura Financial Services. Not all lessees will qualify. Higher lease rates apply for lessees with lower credit ratings. Lease offers vary based on MSRP. MSRP $37,695.00 (includes destination, excludes tax, license, title fee, registration, documentation fees, options, insurance and the like). Actual net capitalized cost $25,993.00. Net capitalized cost includes $595 acquisition fee. Dealer contribution may vary and could affect actual lease payment. Total monthly payments $11,124.00. Option to purchase at lease end $18,470.55. Must take new retail delivery on vehicle from dealer stock by July 1, 2019. Lessee responsible for maintenance, excessive wear/tear and 15¢/mile over 10,000 miles/year for vehicles with MSRP less than $30,000, and 20¢/mile over 10,000 miles/year for vehicles with MSRP of $30,000 or more. See your Acura dealer for complete details.