text:
The P1 Aqua X Series had a "make up" round in St. Cloud, Florida for the Amateur racers this past weekend. After the events of Miami and St. Petersburg – dealing with the extreme marine holds – the series felt that it was necessary to add another round for the year so the Amateurs could get some racing in so they could earn points. Since Aqua X has been labeled as a way for Amateurs to race, this seemed like adding a round was a good idea.
There was a good level of participation from the racers for this event with more than 30 racers attending even with World Finals in Lake Havasu getting ready to start this upcoming week. Professional racers Eric Francis and Sophie Francis came to the event to give their support and advise the amateur racers prior to going to Lake Havasu.
The day was set to be extremely hot in St. Cloud on Lake Tohopekaliga, with no rain in the forecast. The racers kicked off the day with the mandatory riders safety briefing. At the briefing it was announced by P1 staff that the issues with marine holds from the previous rounds was addressed and that they have now partnered with a new marine observer crew that would be tested out at the next and final round in Ft. Lauderdale in November. Hopefully this new partnership will be more forgiving with the marine holds and racing will be happening with little to no holds.
Race director Lisa Barsby made the trip from England for this round and went over the rules for racing and what penalties would be given if the rules weren't adhered to. [Keep in mind, as it would have affect on some of the racing later in the day. –Ed.] The racers all suited up and put their boats in the water and everything was running smoothly. The racers were marshaled out to the course and did their practice laps to get the lay of the course and were then lined up in order at the start. Race control gave a "go" for racing and the green flag was dropped and the racers sped to the first turn buoy.
The racers looked like they took the information by Barsby as it was a clean line start and racing was underway. Taking the hole shot was Jason Taylor on his Sea-Doo RXP-X. Domenico Barilla and Enrique Chia gave chase throughout the race. During the moto, a buoy was missed and Taylor took the penalty buoy along with Barilla. However, the rest of the field didn't take the penalty buoy. Taylor maintained a 9-second lead over the rest of the pack giving him the win for the first race, followed by Barilla in second and Chia in third.
After a short break for the racers to refuel, it was time for the second race of the day. Again, Taylor would take the hole shot and if he rode like he did, it would be a second win for him. Barilla, Chia, Dave Davidson and Greg Radulski again chased him. Taylor again maintained a sizeable lead and it was looking like Sea-Doo would have their first top podium spot for the year. As the race progressed with just a little under ten minutes left in the race, a racer started to take on water to their Kawasaki JetSki and it began to sink. There was also a separated shoulder injury that took place that caused the safety marshals to attend to.
This caused a shortage of marshals able to maintain a safe course and the red flag and checkered flag was flown ending the second race. Taylor again took the win followed by Barilla, Chia, Dave Davidson and Greg Radulski. After review it was determined that a penalty was assessed to Taylor for another missed buoy and he received a 12-second penalty. This changed the finish order and gave Barilla the win for the second race and Taylor tying with him. It now made it down to the third race of the day to see who would get the top spot on the podium.
After a briefing with the racers by the race director and the safety marshals another orientation lap was given and the racers were lined up for the start. The green flag was dropped and the racers headed to the first buoy. It was Domenico Barilla who got the hole shot as he had the pole position on the start due to his win of the second race. Taylor would have the number two position on the start. Dave Davidson, who would have the fourth position on the start, took the lead during the race due to Barilla having some unforeseen mechanical issues. This was the first time all season that the Amateur racers were racing three races in a single day and it was going to be a challenge.
Davidson held off the pack by getting and maintaining a half course lead over Jason Taylor. It looked like doing a third race in a day was putting Chia to the test as he fell back into the sixth spot causing Radulski to move up to the third position. The checkered flag dropped, giving Davison the win and Taylor coming in second. The racers went through tech and Taylor was DQ'd, causing him to lose all points for the day. This would thereby give Davidson the overall top spot on the podium along with Barilla taking second and Radulski third. Chia grabbed the overall fourth place and missed the podium by one point.
In the 200 Class Jose Gonzalez, Scott Reeves and Amanda LeCheminant would race all three races for the day and finish one two and three giving them the podium spots in their class. It was a great day of Amateur racing and the racers and fans enjoyed themselves. The next and final stop for this year's race season will be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the 17th and 18th of November where not only will the Amateurs be racing but the professional racers will be rejoining the tour. Then we get to see who the top Amateur and Professional will be for the year.


text:
By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Toby Lightman, who is headlining a show on July 26 at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com), released her latest album "When The Lion Sleeps" earlier this year.
Lightman, a talented pop singer-songwriter, has been making albums since 2004. Her new LP is unlike anything she has ever done before.
"When The Lion Sleeps" is a collection of acoustic covers – and so much more. It is an album of rock songs performed as lullabies for her two-year-old son Leo.
"There are acoustic versions of songs I listened to when I was young and want my son to hear," said Lightman, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from Manhattan, where she currently lives with her husband and young son.
"When I was pregnant, I got a lot of gifts and a lot of lullaby albums. A lot of the lullaby albums were instrumentals and Leo didn't really react to them.
"At the same time, I was having a hard time writing anything original. So, I looked for and found songs that were so right to sing to him."
The songs Lightman chose to record come from a variety of genres — classic reggae ("Three Little Birds" by the Wailers); doo-wop ("Goodnite Sweetheart Goodnite" by The Spaniels); jazz (Louis Armstrong's "(What a) Wonderful World"); Motown ("How Sweet It Is" by Marvin Gaye; "The Way You Do The Things You Do" by the Temptations); classic R&B ("That's How Strong My Love Is" by Otis Redding: "Dedicated to the One I Love" by the Shirelles; "In the Still of the Night" by the Five Satins); classic rock ("Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens; "Blackbird" by the Beatles).
There is also one original "You're the Best") as well as the title track – a remake of a traditional African song that was turned into a chart-topping hit by the Tokens in 1961.
"I'm working on a new album," said Lightman. "I'm compiling songs and hoping to release a single in late fall or early spring. I'm working on a lot of songs and singles are part of the plan."
Lightman is currently producing her new recordings entirely on her own, playing all of the instruments and mixing the tracks as well. These songs represent and were inspired by her desire to get pregnant — something she had to struggle to accomplish.
According to Lightman, "These songs are extremely personal to me as they are what came out of a hard battle with infertility. I wanted the song as well as the production to be 100% from me and it is."
Lightman still prefers albums.
"Right now, I'm working on building a story and making an album," said Lightman. "I've done so many singles which are fun but not representative of the emotional journey an artist is on. I like to think of the whole picture. I have seven songs written. Some might be stand-alones.
"I'm just letting the creativity flow. I start with a melody. I'm a melody person tried and true. The melody is most important and then the lyrics come after. I have a lot of melodies circulating in my brain. In the end, melodied sand lyrics have to be the perfect match."
Lightman grew up in the Philly suburbs on the Jersey side of the Delaware River and graduated from Cherry Hill East H.S. So, coming back to play a how here is a welcomed homecoming.
According to Lightman, "I am always excited to play a show at World Cafe Live, but this show feels extra special because I'll be playing some new material off of my latest release as well as trying out new songs for my next project. My Philly crowd is always so fun and energizing. I know it will be great"
Video link for Toby Lightman – https://youtu.be/TAVtALpSZ-U.
The show at the World Café Live, which has Andrea Nardello as the opener, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17.
Other upcoming shows at the World Café Live are Philly Music Fest on September 27 and 28 and Lucinda Williams on October 1.
On September 27, The Voltage Lounge (421 North Seventh Street, Philadelphia, 215- 964-9602, www.voltagelounge.com) is hosting Aetsthetic Perfection's "Into the Black Tour" – a large stateside tour that has Empathy Test and LAZERPUNK as support acts.
"Into the Black" is also the name of Aesthetic Perfection's latest album which was released on March 29, 2019 via Graves' own label –Close to Human Music.
"This is the first tour of the album in the states," said Graves, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"We toured the album in April in Europe. Our live lineup is Elliott Berlin on keyboards, guitar and bass and Joe Letz on drums. We've also brought Empathy Test and LAZERPUNK with us.
"At the beginning, I played a couple shows solo. I found them to be uninspired and uninteresting. We've been a three-piece ever since."
Since forming Aesthetic Perfection nearly two decades ago, Graves has released five full-length albums, numerous singles and music videos, all the while reinventing what it means to be a dark electro artist. Blending industrial, pop, goth, and everything in between, Aesthetic Perfection 's music defies definitions.
Aesthetic Perfection makes brutal industrial music that rattles listeners' ribcages and at the same time soothes their ears – often in the same song.
According to Graves, "For me, this era of Aesthetic Perfection feels like a new beginning. New album, new live band… it's an entirely different and amazing vibe. I can't wait to share it with the world."
"Into the Black" features Letz, recognized for his work with artists such as Emigrate (also featuring Richard Z. Kruspe), Combichrist, Wednesday 13, Genitorturers, along with several other top-shelf heavy music artists such as Rammstein guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe, Jinxx of Black Veil Brides, Mick Kenney of Anaal Nathrakh and Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand.
"I'm the primary songwriter/producer," said Graves, an L.A. native who now lives near Linz, Austria. "I consult the other guys for their feedback. I co-wrote several of the songs with Mick (Kenney). I called Jinxx and he played guitar on all but 'Gods & Gold' which had Richard (Kruspe).
"I told myself I'd finish 20 songs and then choose the best. I recorded 15 and chose 10 songs for the album. I started making all the tracks and had to arrange the songs in a way that told a vague story.
"I've been writing a lot of these songs over the last four or five years – ever since my last full-length ''Til Death' in 2014. Albums are a snapshot of who you are at the time."
Video link for Aesthetic Perfection – https://youtu.be/JMBzgU2z6WQ.
The show at The Voltage Lounge, which has Empathy Test and LAZERPUNK as openers, will start at 10 p.m.
Tickets are $20.
Other upcoming shows at the Voltage Lounge are Hangman on September 26, Hail the Sun on September 28, Stand Atlantic and The Faim on September 29, and Jinjer on October 1.
"Triple G" is the nickname of Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin, a Kazakh professional boxer who is ranked as the world's second-best active middleweight and was the #1 pound for pound fighter in the world in 2017 and 2018.
"Triple G" could also be used to describe the three-act bill at Johnny Brenda's (1201 North Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-739-9684,
www.johnnybrendas.com) on September 27.
The lineup of acts scheduled to play at the music venue in Fishtown Friday night includes Generationals, Gemma and Gianmarco Cilli.
Cilli has been part of the Philadelphia's music scene for almost two decades – but it took him a while to get here.
"I moved here in 2001," said Cilli, during a phone interview Tuesday evening from his home in South Philly.
"I was born in New York. I grew up in Atlanta and then went to college in Colorado – Colorado Colle in Colorado Springs. I started out as a chemistry major and then switched to a major in English with a minor in film.
"I was always into music. One of my many goals when I was in college was to be in a band. I started playing guitar when I was 10 and then started playing in bands with friends in middle school and high school.
"I played in two different bands when I was in college. One was The Project Project. That band moved to Philadelphia and eventually became National Eye."
National Eye is an American indie-rock band. The band formed in 2002 from a core of five members who had met in college. The band's sound has been described as psychedelic, post-rock, and lo-fi. National Eye evolved from The Project Project which moved to Philadelphia in 2000.
The band adopted the name National Eye, when it started recording "The Meter Glows." For its first two two albums, National Eye adhered to a communal approach to songwriting and recording. Band members William Baggott, Gianmarco Cilli, Richard Flom, Douglas Kirby, and Jeffrey Alan Love contributed equally in a "democratic, collective" recording philosophy.
"I was still in Colorado playing with a band there," said Cilli. "But they were all a year behind me in school. The guys from The Project Project contacted me because they had to replace a band member who left. It was good timing. It was the right time to go.
"That led to me meeting all the players in the Philly music scene – Dr. Dog, Spintoi Band, Kurt Vile, Capitol Years. National Eye never really broke up. It just gradually became inactive after releasing the 'Ramparts' album in 2012.
"I was also playing with Winsor for the Derby around 2005 and 2006. I also played with The Silver Ages at the end of the 00s."
Cilli also began his solo career at the start of the decade.
"I was still in National Eye," said Coilli. "We all wrote songs but there were only so many that would fit on the record or in a set.
"I started accumulating extra songs that I liked. My first solo album was 'Homely Joys' in 2008. I made a home-recorded EP in 2012 and my new album is my second full-length."
Cilli's new album is "The Feel is Now." His musical collaborators include Charlie Hall and Dave Hartley of The War on Drugs, Zach Miller of Dr.Dog, James Lavino and producer, engineer and mixer Nick Krill.
"It had been seven years since I've done any shows," said Cilli. "I'm a bit of a reluctant performer for my solo stuff.
"I started making my new album in May 2016. It took quite a while. My wife and I had our second child that year. And, I needed a hip replacement because of a disease that was eroding my femur. I finished the album earlier this year."
Video link for Gianmarco Cilli – https://youtu.be/PGcA6jJUyac.
The show at Johnny Brenda's, which features Generationals, Gemma and Gianmarco Cilli, will start at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20.
Other upcoming shows at Johnny Brenda's are Speedy Ortiz on September 26, Dressy Bessy on September 29, Acid King "Busse Woods" 20th Anniversary Tour on October 1 and Fred Frith on October 2.
Singer-songwriter Michael Sackler-Berner just released his new album "Short Stories" on The Orchard label and is touring in support of the LP. The tour brings him to Philly on September 27 for a show at Connie's Ric Rac (1132 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia, https://conniesricrac.com).
Sackler-Berner grew up in the Tribeca area of New York City and now lives and has his recording studio in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. The two areas are less than four miles apart, but it took a long time and a roundabout path for Sackler-Berner to make the trip.
"I grew up in Tribeca and then went to college at McGill University in Montreal," said Sackler-Berner, during a phone interview Wednesday morning from his Brooklyn home.
"I got into a few other schools and did the college tour with my parents. We visited schools like Duke and Vanderbilt that were in college towns. Then, we went to Montreal. I met a kid who was studying music tech – and it was a city. I'm a city kid."
So, McGill was his final choice. Soon, he realized how good a music town Montreal was – and still is.
"That was a good time to be in Montreal," said Sackler-Berner. "Arcade Fire was breaking. A real music thing was happening. The arts get good government support in Canada.
"When I was living in Montreal, I played in a band called Hearts of Palms. We started as a college band and then made a record. We even were one of the acts at International Live8 in Montreal. After I graduated, I hung around Montreal for about six months until I headed back to New York."
Sackler-Berner performed solo concerts in Greenwich Village, New York City from 2006-2009. His debut album, "MSB," was released in 2010. "MSB" was produced by Bob Thiele Jr., and featured contributions from longtime Bob Dylan bandmates Jim Keltner and David Mansfield. Songs from "MSB" went on to be licensed more than 30 times on cable and network television programs including FX's Sons of Anarchy, and NBC's Law and Order. Sackler-Berner was then signed to Razor and Tie Music Publishing in 2013.
"I met David Mansfield," said Sackler-Berner. "He was a friend of my father. He had played pedal steel, fiddle and mandolin in the Rolling Thunder Revue with Bob Dylan.
"He was the only real musician I knew. I played my songs for him. He said – they're good but you need to work on them more. He introduced me to a guy named Bob Thiele, Jr. from L.A. and Bob was a big help – especially getting me started in film and TV placements.
"When I was making the 'MSB' album, I was pretty young, so I didn't know a lot of the session men Bob brought in for the recording sessions.
"I didn't even know who Jim Keltner was. It was like a master class working with him. He knew so much, and he shared it all with me."
Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America." The outrageously long list of acts with whom he has played includes Neil Young, Carly Simon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Traveling Wilburys, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Delaney & Bonnie, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Pink Floyd, George Harrison, Brian Wilson and John Lennon.
"After 'MSB,' I was experimenting to find the sound I loved – something that would hold up for a full album," said Sackler-Berner. "I got signed to a publishing deal and did co-writing.
"A year or so ago, I took all my best songs that I'd been saving up. I took each song and had it produced based on what the song called for. I recorded it at Studio G in Brooklyn, and it has a lot of different styles – synth-pop, big band, Moroccan chants, some soul things and two pop ballads.
"It represented six years of writing. I cut the album over five months in three-to-four-day spurts. I had to do it that way because different songs needed different players. For my current lives shows, I'm not using a band. It's just a duo featuring Canadian pianist Cat Toren and me."
Video link for Michael Sackler-Berner — https://youtu.be/FELCle4ZfPc.
The show at Connie's Ric Rac will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7.
Other upcoming shows at the Mojo Machine on September 28 and This Is So Fetch on October 1.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org)
Bonnie McFarlane Stand-Up Comedy Show on September 27, StringSongs featuring Michael Manring, Christopher Garcia, and Tim Farrell with special guest Lisa Jeanette on September 28 and Latin Dance Party with Conjunto on September 29.
The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com) will host Joseph Parsons and Ross Bellenoit on September 27 and ETC Theater Company: A Night of Stand Up Comedy on September 28
The Colonial Theatre (Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610- 917-1228, www.thecolonialtheatre.com)
The Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com) will present Jeff Bradshaw & Friends on September 26, Steve Kimock & Friends on September 28, and Jimmy Herring with special guest Rugby Road on
Sunday, 9/29 – 7pm
118 North (118 North Wayne Avenue, Wayne, www.118northwayne.com).will host Roots of a Rebellion and Big Mind on September 26.
The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) presents Steve Hackett on September 27 and 28.
Annenberg Center (3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, https://annenbergcenter.org/events) hosts Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal from September 26-28 and "Sugar Skull" on September 27 and 28.
The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will present Jason Petty on September 26, Purple Xperience (Tribute To Prince) on September 27, An Afternoon Of Conversation & Song With Peter Yarrow (Of Peter, Paul & Mary) on September 28, CSNsongs (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Tribute) on September 28, Red Hot Chilli Pipers on September 29, and Blues Project on October 2.
The Grand Opera House (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577, www.thegrandwilmington.org) presents Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi onSeptember 28 and George Thorogood and the Destroyers on October 1.
The Locks at Sona (4417 Main Street, Manayunk, 484- 273-0481, sonapub.com) will host Patrick Sweany with special guests The Levee Drivers on September 26 and The Nields on September 28.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ostoria is one of BotCommander® products, meant to serve the e-commerce sector in the Middle East.
Industry: e-commerce.
Product type: Saas.
Target: MENA.
Market Size: US$69 billion by 2020.
Investment Opportunity: US$500K.
Use of Proceeds
Expand to the MENA region to hit the two biggest markets "KSA &UAE", which offers the social commerce their a better chance to keep up with the massive expansion of the market size.
Number of Employees: 9.
Management Team
Eng. Mayla (as CTO) has years in experience in the AI and machine learning solutions, working in companies like IBM and Microsoft. then united with Eng. Maher (as business development director) and his experience in e-commerce and digital marketing that he acquired from working for more than 7 years in this field in GULF countries.
with their combined knowledge
and months interviewing and testing prototypes with e-commerce businesses they started building their Solution with Maher as the business development director, and the marketing rockstar, and Mayla as a chief technical officer. they gathered a team, Esraa, and Yahia our Engineering gurus, Marwa our sales ninja that can sell your pen to you, Naglaa our content artist and Linda our researcher. together we are aiming to change the shape of the future with the new electricity "AI".
Contact Information:
Cairo, Egypt.
≈ Investment Opportunity
The problem :
There are more than 30 million social commerce brands that sell on social media. They suffer from high operation cost, managing social media, orders, shipping, and finally marketing. Till they lose focus on the most important thing… their product.
The solution :
All in one e-commerce platform backed with AI utilizing the 3 edges of the internet web, mobile, and chatbots. Work with brand owners analyzing interactions, provide marketing tips, and recommendations, simple, and will increase brand sales by 180%.
The innovation:
When you hear about AI in e-commerce you say without thinking product recommendation for customers, and that is great, but why limiting AI to the end user, why not to integrate AI in the whole process from beginning to end. That is our mission in Ostoria, to be the most intelligent e-commerce platform that brand owners will use from the start to end, as channels for selling, an operation assistant to handle your payment and orders and, to be your own marketing specialist that study the market and provide you with insights, marketing advice, and recommendations.
The second edge Ostoria have is the integration with local payment, and shipping providers, for example, Aramex, Payfort, and Fawry, and you don't have to do any special step to integrate, it all happen seamlessly.
Third and the coolest part, a chatbot that is integrated with your social media, that talk with your customers and sells your products for you.
Think of it as one of the core team members and your own assistant that will carry the burden with you, so you can only focus on the most important thing… your amazing product.
validating the market
we did realize the actual need in the market after validating our product. that was not an easy task. between performing "The Mom Test" and following bad leads, our way became as clear as a sunny day. to be able to create a full eCommerce solution you have to get your hands dirty, I'm not only talking about making surveys and asking the owners about the problems they face in their industry I'm talking about starting our own online store to face the real struggle. and that exactly what we did.
After finishing the MVP we gathered more than 200 Free users & 24 prepaid Customers in a period of two months.
the substitutes our potential customers are currently using
they have to hire a marketing specialist, Social media specialist, customers service team, and operations director. to get things running smoothly as Ostoria Does.
The competition:
Shopify: lack integration with local providers and lack of AI engine for brand owners.
Magento and WooCommerce: Hard to configure and start, lack integration with local providers, and not powered by AI.
Target Customers:
Social commerce brands that get most of their order traffic from social media, +250K in Egypt, and +30M worldwide.
We generate our revenue from 3 channels:
1- Monthly subscription by $23.
2- Shipping fees: $0.5 per order.
3- online payment fees: 1% per order.
Let's run the numbers now on 1000 stores:
1- Monthly subscription for all stores: 1000 store * $23 = $2,3000 per month, which is $276,000 per year.
2- Average orders per store are 2 orders daily, so monthly we generate from all stores 1000 store * 2 orders * 30 days * $0.5 = $30,000 monthly, which is $360,000 average yearly revenue from shipping.
3- Average order price is $15, so total transaction fees on online payments monthly are 1000 stores * 2 orders * $15 * 30 days * 1% = $9000 monthly, which is $108,000 average yearly revenue from payments.
minimal total annual revenue for 1000 Stores = US$744,000. which equal to 0.003% from the market.
in other words, we can generate US$223.2M from only acquisition 1% of the market size. "minimum"
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text:
Pair Negotiation When Developing English Speaking Tasks
Main Article Content
This study analyzes what characterizes the negotiations of seventh graders at a public school in Bogotá when working in pairs to develop speaking tasks in EFL classes. The inquiry is a descriptive case study that follows the qualitative paradigm. As a result of analyzing the data, we obtained four consecutive steps that characterize students' negotiations: Establishing a connection with a partner to work with, proposing practical alternatives, refusing mates' propositions, and making practical decisions. Moreover, we found that the constant performance of the process of negotiation provokes students to construct a sociolinguistic identity that allows agreements to emerge.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The authors of the manuscripts accepted for publication in HOW journal are required to sign a nonexclusive license agreement allowing ASOCOPI to reproduce the full text on the Internet or in any other available source. Authors retain copyright of their manuscripts with the following restrictions: first publication is granted to ASOCOPI; nonexclusive agreements with third parties can be established as long as the original publication in the HOW journal is properly acknowledged.
Bonilla, E. & Rodríguez, P. (2005). Más allá del dilema de los métodos: la investigación en ciencias sociales. Bogotá: Grupo Editorial Norma.
Breen, M. P. & Littlejohn, A. (2005). The significance of negotiation. In M. P. Breen & A. Littlejohn. (Eds.), Classroom decision-making: Negotiation and process syllabuses in practice (pp. 5-38). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=ktTKcd6b_9IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Classroom+Decision-Making:+Negotiation+and+process+Syllabuses+in+Practice.&hl=es&ei=Bz1pTe_1DJGltwf_uKTmAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Bygate, M. (2001). Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hannay, M. (2009). Developing negotiation skills in the classroom: A case simulation [Adobe Digital Editions version]. Journal of Human Resources Education, 3(1). Retrieved from http://business.troy.edu/JHRE/Articles/PDF/3-1/23.pdf
Kajornboon, A. B. (2006). Using interviews as research instruments [Adobe Digital Editions version]. Retrieved from http://www.culi.chula.ac.th/e-Journal/bod/Annabel.pdf
Meister, M., Urbig, D., Schröter, K. & Gerstl, R. (2005). Agents enacting social roles. Balancing formal structure and practical rationality in MAS design. In K. Fischer, M. Florian & T. Malsch (Eds.), Socionics. Scalability of Complex Social Systems (pp. 104-131). Retrieved from http://books.google.com.co/books?id=ABQcgnKaScgC&pg=PA118&dq=social+negotiation+step+propose&hl=es&ei=CFKrTKjQDsP58Abv_sSMCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moore, M. G. (1993). Three types of interaction. Retrieved from http://cdl.panam.edu/Home/Files/MMOORE.doc.
Ochoa, M. (2004). Meaning negotiation in EFL project work: How students express themselves and interact with others (Unpublished master's thesis). Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá.
Ramos, S. (2009). The role of collaboration and negotiation among English teachers when implementing an EFL curriculum (Unpublished master's thesis) Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá.
Stake, R. E. (1995). Investigación con estudio de casos (Original title: The art of case study research). Madrid: Morata.


text:
April 05, 2016, Irvine, Calif. –
Forecast Projects Increase of 5.2 Percent by February 2017
CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ data for February 2016 which shows home prices are up both year over year and month over month.
Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year over year by 6.8 percent in February 2016 compared with February 2015 and increased month over month by 1.1 percent in February 2016 compared with January 2016,* according to the CoreLogic HPI.
The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices will increase by 5.2 percent on a year-over-year basis from February 2016 to February 2017, and on a month-over-month basis home prices are expected to increase 0.6 percent from February 2016 to March 2016. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.
"Fixed-rate mortgage rates dropped more than one-quarter of a percentage point in the first three months of 2016, and job creation averaged 209,000 over the same period," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "These economic forces will sustain home purchases during the spring and support the 5.2 percent home price appreciation CoreLogic has projected for the next year."
"Home prices continue to rise across the U.S. with every state posting year-over-year gains during the last 12 months," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Improved economic conditions and tight inventories continue to drive exceptionally strong gains in many markets, especially for homes priced below $500,000."
Full-month February 2016 national data can be found at the CoreLogic Home Price Insights page.
*January data was revised. Revisions with public records data are standard, and to ensure accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates the newly released public data to provide updated results.
The CoreLogic HPI™ is built on industry-leading public record, servicing and securities real-estate databases and incorporates more than 30 years of repeat-sales transactions for analyzing home price trends. Generally released on the first Tuesday of each month with a five-week lag, the CoreLogic HPI is designed to provide an early indication of home price trends among that include the Single-Family Combined tier representing the most comprehensive set of properties (including all sales for Single-Family Attached and Single-Family Detached properties). The indexes are fully revised with each release and employ techniques to signal turning points sooner. The CoreLogic HPI provides measures for multiple market segments, referred to as tiers, based on property type, price, time between sales, loan type (conforming vs. non-conforming) and distressed sales. Broad national coverage is available from the national level down to ZIP Code, including non-disclosure states.
CoreLogic HPI Forecasts™ are based on a two-stage, error-correction structural model that combines the equilibrium home price—as a function of real disposable income per capita—with short-run fluctuations caused by market momentum, mean-reversion, and exogenous economic shocks like changes in the unemployment rate. With a five-year forecast horizon, CoreLogic HPI Forecasts project CoreLogic HPI levels for two tiers—Single-Family Combined (both Attached and Detached) and Single-Family Combined excluding distressed sales. As a companion to the CoreLogic HPI Forecasts, Stress-Testing Scenarios align with Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) national scenarios to project home prices under baseline, adverse and severely adverse scenarios at state, CBSA and ZIP Code-levels. The forecast accuracy represents a 95-percent statistical confidence interval with a +/- 2.0 percent margin of error for the index.
Source: CoreLogic
CORELOGIC, the CoreLogic logo, CoreLogic HPI, CoreLogic HPI Forecast and HPI are trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
POST NOTE: Check this Riverside County stat – Could the prices in Riverside county be trending downward?


text:
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Then please upload it!
|Appears On
|The Color Before the Sun
|Written By
|Coheed And Cambria
|Produced By
|Jay Joyce
|Preceded By
|"Here to Mars"
|Followed By
Ghost is the fifth song from Coheed and Cambria's 2015 album The Color Before the Sun.
Like the rest of the tracks on this album, this song exists outside of The Amory Wars canon. According to singer Claudio Sanchez, Ghost tells of the uncertainty he faced upon learning he would soon become a father. Sanchez explains, "It was all so new to me, and I wondered whether it was going to be an original experience, or if I was going to echo the ghost of my parents and their upbringing. I'm sure it'll be a little bit of both, but that's why I approached the song in such a stripped down manner. It's me contemplating my future as a father."
Lyrics Edit
I fuss and fight my curiosity with welcome arms
And frightened fingers twitched anxiety
Here it comes
A clean slate, picture perfect, no mistakes
How am I to keep from blemishing this masterpiece?
How am I to know?
How am I to know?
As a boy I watched the world through broken eyes
Given to me to me by a man, his wife and all they had disguised
Uncertainty now keeps me asking how I'll lead the most
As they became or will I teach the examples of their ghosts
Free me from this body
I just wanna, wanna be on the outside
Looking in… on you
Free me from this body
I just wanna, wanna be on the outside
Looking in on you


text:
Log Furniture
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Add Personal Touch with Furniture
You who really want to improve look of your living room or other rooms in your home can add Country style furniture now. You can purchase furniture with various materials. The price of furniture will depend on the material and place you buy the furniture. You can also choose some other design of furniture such as French country style for your furniture. If you have modern living space, you should forget about country style of furniture because it is not suitable with your compact and simple home design. You can add futuristic furniture style for your modern home. Now, you can purchase furniture via online. What you need to do is choosing furniture that you like and please read detail information about furniture before you buy furniture that you want.
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Back to Country Style Furniture


text:
Fate uncertain for now-shuttered Northcliffe Golf Course
The fate of the now-shuttered Northcliffe Golf Course appears to be up to local residents.
While city government will try to help, the future of the course is in the hands of local residents who will have to take the lead on this issue, said Mayor Michael Carpenter during the June 4 Schertz City Council meeting.
"We'll help. We'll provide information. We'll work to make introductions. We'll try to knock down walls where we can," Carpenter told the crowded city council chambers. "But this is no small task. This is nothing where the city is going to come in with a checkbook and save the day."
Earlier in the meeting, however, a majority of the 14 Northcliffe area neighbors, expressing concerns of falling property values and the environmental threats of a possible overgrown eyesore, asked the Schertz City Council to do exactly that.
Council members, in turn, suggested the creation of a public improvement district (PID). Under that scenario, residents would petition city government to levy fees on themselves, paying for a project "that promotes an interest of the municipality," explained City Attorney Daniel Santee.
On Express-News.com: Windcrest golfer Dan Ellis sinks 17th hole-in-one
By state law, creation of that district, however, is a complex undertaking, he added, and the petition has to include critical details such as the boundaries of the proposed assessment district, the estimated costs, how those costs would be assessed, who would manage the district and how costs would be divided between the district and the city. More than half of all landowners in the proposed district have to agree to be taxed, Santee said.
"And a person who signs this has to . . . acknowledge that they received this information prior to signing onto the petition and concurring with the (district's) establishment," he said.
The 147-acre golf course, at 5301 Country Club Blvd., north of FM 1103 and southeast of Interstate 35, opened in 1978 and was purchased by Taiwanese businessman Darsen Chen in 1995, according to Dave Roberts, former general manager of the Northcliffe Golf Course.
The course is in Comal and Guadalupe counties and, according to tax records of both, is valued at $1.47 million. Tax records also show Northcliffe Golf Course is officially owned by Nolley Caribbean Properties LLC, a corporation registered in Wyoming, but based in Pittsburgh, Pa.
While the course reportedly saw good revenues between 2011 through 2016 — Roberts said he booked 48,000 rounds of golf for $1.8 million and recorded $250,000 in net profit in 2015 — investment in the course fell off and business declined. Roberts said Chen announced in 2017 that he was going to walk away from the property.
"He's done this with at least four other courses," Roberts said, including the Texas National Golf Course near Conroe. "He's a good businessman but naïve about the golf course business."
Roberts said he bought Chen's Northcliffe golf management company, Gez Investments, for $10, leased the course from Chen for a dollar a month, and was given $10,000 to operate the facility. Chen, as owner, was supposed to pay for continued maintenance, but reneged on the deal, Roberts said.
Related: Northcliffe Golf Club closes operations
Roberts ran the facility, but as course conditions deteriorated and business declining, he said he was forced to shut down the operation May 28.
"I put a lot of my personal money into this to keep it going for the neighborhood," Roberts told city council. "I could have walked away at any time, but I didn't — until I got $40,000 in the hole. And then decisions had to be made. . . . I did everything I could until it broke me."
Saying he loves Schertz, Roberts, lives in Northcliffe, offered to be a consultant and liaison between the city and Chen or any other entity that might want to buy the property.
"I will help you out any way I can and give you all the information you need from the ground up," he said.
All seven city council members and the mayor expressed hope the course could be saved, and they expressed support for residents to band together to accomplish that. But the lack of hard facts on exactly how to do that, and the potential cost to the city — estimated by Carpenter at $10 million or more over 10 years — were dominant themes in all of their comments.
The city of Schertz — as well as local county governments and school districts that might chip in — have finite resources, said Councilman Scott Larson. "I fully support a citizen initiative to go to their neighbors and make the case for a PID, to get enough people to say they'd pay $80 or $90 a month for a long period of time, if you can get 1,500 to 2,000 homes involved," he told the crowd.
"But I don't know if that's possible. Otherwise, looking at it from the viewpoint of somebody who's tasked with the stewardship of already incredibly limited resources for the city of Schertz, it's just not there for the city to take over this process or the golf course," he said. "It would put a financial weight around our neck that couldn't be sustained."
Carpenter noted water to irrigate the course now comes from greywater generated by a city water treatment plant "that is end-of-life" and due to be decommissioned. The mayor estimated revamping that plant would take $3.6 million beyond any costs of golf course land acquisition and maintenance, but added there might be other potential water sources. "But we'll have to discuss those," he said.
Councilman Mark Davis added another element. "I can't commit one way or the other simply because the fact is we just don't have the data," he said. "So far I haven't heard the number one question in my mind answered: Can we even buy the golf course? I mean, the city doesn't own it. The residents of Northcliffe (subdivision) don't own it. Some guy owns it and, unless he's willing to sell it, I don't know of a way forward."
Roberts, in an interview after the meeting, expressed confidence Chen would sell, citing more than $40,000 a year in property taxes that the businessman is still obligated to pay local government entities.
Chen, who reportedly lives in Taiwan, could not be reached for comment.
Roberts said there may be buyers out there, some who would want to put commercial and residential development projects on the land. He said he already had been contacted by one broker with that potential goal in mind.
Part of the property within 500 to 750 feet of Interstate 35 is already zoned for general business use, including retail, office and restaurants, while the rear portion of the land is zoned pre-development, basically a placeholder status, according to city staff. Any projects destined for that back area would have to go through a zoning change process.
But, Roberts said, the longer the course sits idle, the more expensive it will become to save, whatever form it might take. Roberts said he thinks city ownership of the golf course was the best solution, and the property — once upgraded, maintained and with the addition of a good restaurant to attract other clientele — would be able to turn a profit.
"They are looking at this in the short term," he said. "I know it can make money because I did it with word-of-month marketing and no restaurant. You put all that in place with a good professional management company, I think it could be a real money maker for Schertz."


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Compatible with most phones, it is a standard SIM, with a push out micro SIM if needed. You can enjoy super-speedy 4G at no extra cost when you're in an area with 4G coverage. Want to see the 4G coverage in your area With Triple Credit you get free credit when you top-up - use it on UK calls, texts and data. Top-up £10 and we give you £20 free credit Top-up £15 and we give you £30 free credit Top-up £20 and we give you a whopping £40 of free credit Plus, every month that you top-up £15 or more, you can choose a free bundle: 150 minutes, 5000 texts or 500MB data. Furthermore, you'll collect a Clubcard point for every £1 you top-up with Tesco. You get points for top-ups made through our free top-up line on 4444, at any Tesco store and online.
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text:
This Valentine's Day, Sam and I decided to keep it relatively simple.
Not because we think splurging on V'day is a waste of money, but because we're going overseas soon and I tend to spend a lot more than I can afford on my travel adventures so yeah, V'day can take second place this time!
Last year we had a spa session, stayed at an idyllic hotel and had a nice dinner by the sea side.. This year we did almost all of that again except the spa part, which I think I would've appreciated the most. ;_; *aching muscles*
Nevertheless, we managed to spend quality time with each other, and at the end of the day, that's what matters!
Long before Valentine's Day actually happened, Sam decorated my room with a bunch of roses and twinkly lights. :') It is incredibly prettyful and romantic at night!!!!!!! I don't think I'll ever find another guy in this world to do this for me. He knows just the right ways to sweep me off my feet. It's so simple but it lights up my world every night. Literally.
Here's sort of how it looks like, without any editing done to the colors / lighting:
Except that this was taken with my iPhone (as with many other pictures in this post) so the quality isn't the greatest, it is in fact a lot less harsh looking and more dreamy in real life!
Set me in mood for lovin' wayyy before the 14th of February. ♥
My V'day activities officially started on the 13th of February.
I woke up in the morning, and baked about 100 cupcakes! But I'll tell you more about that later.
Sam, seeing me hard at work, decided to cook an amazing Pre-V'day lunch all for meeee!
♥ ♥ ♥ It was delizziioouuss.
1st dish: Golden mushrooms soaked in sukiyaki sauce, wrapped with bacon, on a bed of buttered baby asparagus.
2nd dish: Honey glazed marinated pork belly pieces, with super caramelized onions and accompanied by flame grilled portobello mushrooms
3rd dish: Baked red skinned potatoes with heavy dollops of sour cream, cheese, bacon pieces & spring onions!!!
SUPER DUPER YUMMY. I was like this :'DDDDD FER ME?!
10/10 points for the sweet gesture, effort and taste!! The way to a man's heart, they say, is through his stomach. I reckon it goes the same way for women. Or any living creature for that matter.
…Back to the cupcakes!
They were butterscotch cupcakes with luscious chocolate buttercream, topped off with gold sprinkles and red hearts then packed them into boxes of 12. Here they are, obscenely squashed in between my thunder thighs for maximum support, hastily squeezed into Nich's car. LOL.
His car is the tiniest 2 seater convertible ever and it's quite a miracle that we could squeeze 100 cupcakes into the passenger seat WITH ME in it and that none of the cuppycakes got squashed during transport.
Thanks to Nich who agreed to help me deliver to their far away, obscure locations! You're a champ!!!
These cupcakes were on their way to Childrens' Homes. I watched the movie "Patch Adams" recently, and was inspired by how the main character in the movie helped needy children feel better. Something then popped into my head, telling me it'd be a good idea to deliver cupcakes to children's homes for Valentine's Day, just to spread some love… and hopefully put a grin on a few kid's faces. Well 90+ kids in fact.
I only wish I could've been there in person to see their expressions when their whole face gets covered with chocolate buttercream!!! Unfortunately I had to rush off to meet Sam for our own plans.
Everyone deserves to be loved.
V'day doesn't have to be all about romance. It can be going shopping with your girlfriends, spending time with your parents / grandparents or even doing charity and making a stranger's day. Everyone has a different way of expressing their love. For me, charity was a piece of cake.
I think people should take a chill pill, and stop saying things like "I hate Valentine's Day!!!" or "FUCK LOVEY DOVEY COUPLES AND THEIR MUSHY BULLSHIT." It's not very pleasant.
Sure, it's commercialized, but so is every other holiday in the calender. Commercialism isn't always a bad thing. People are happy, and business booms. What is there to complain about? Just because people celebrate Christmas once a year and make a big hooha out of it during that period, doesn't mean they only love Jesus / God one day out of that whole year. They love God every single day, they just make their worship and affection extra obvious on that one special day.
So it's not fair at all to say that couples who indulge in Valentine's Day activities are superficial and hypocritical. Single people who whine and bitch about V'day are no different from the scrooges and grouches that put down X'mas because they are too bitter to be happy for other people.
Just because your friends give you presents and throw a part for you on one specific date annually (your birthday) to celebrate your existence, would that mean they don't actually care enough about you every other day of the year? No, it just means that people are imperfect, and sometimes we're too caught up with our own thoughts and doings that we forget to take time to smell the roses. Or to give your special girl roses. Valentine's Day lets couples all over the world do that.
So dear single, angry people..
If you don't stop sulking, you might miss the chance for somebody special to fall in love with your smile.
After delivering the cupcakes to their respective locations, Nich dropped me off at Marina Bay Sands where I met up with the boyfie, and….
He surprised me with flowers!!!!
He had the cheekiest smile on his face when he showed up and walked through the door with a big bouquet of roses. Ok not as big as the 100+ roses one he got me last time but still big enough considering I was actually expecting zero!
I was genuinely surprised to receive a bouquet, because I was with him 24/7 and I don't see how he had the time to buy flowers without me knowing.. after all, we live in the same room. I think he ran out of the house when I went to deliver the cupcakes and hastily bought the bouquet then. I told him not to buy flowers, because they're so overpriced on V'day… but he did anyway.
I'm not complaining!!! ♥ Thank you for the gorgeous flowers!
Frolicked around in the room for a bit before heading downstairs for the buffet dinner, where we stuffed our faces till we could eat and move no more.. and then we chatted the night away.
I love it when we have the time to have slow dinners, just talking about everything and nothing. A constant flow of meaningful conversation is essential to a healthy relationship! My favorite thing to do with Sam is 1) cuddling and 2) talking about life
I first fell in love with him 3 years ago just listening to his voice online. It wouldn't be the same if he didn't have the same deep, hunky voice he does.
Cheers to everything we've shared, and everything else that is to come.
The rest of the day… was just glorious lazying around. My favorite kind of activity. Falling in and out of naps, watching TV, soaking in bubble baths and watching candlelight flicker. Losing track of time.
I always come to MBS for every special occasion (X'mas, birthdays, anniversaries, just for fun, whenever) it is like a true sanctuary to me. I feel like it's the only place in Singapore I can TRULY leave Singapore while being right in the middle of it. When I'm here, I either switch off my phone or turn it on silent mode, and forget the world.
No cupcakes to frost, no 2 tiered cake to decorate, no blog hater to leave a rude comment, no twitter drama to follow, no emails to reply, no whatsapp buzzing my phone every few minutes, to cake customers to hound me relentlessly, no errands to run, no maid to come into my room and annoy me….
Absolutely NOTHING to do, except anything that I WANT to do.
That's what I call a good day. And I will never ever ever get sick of MBS. Lol. Never. I see myself coming back here 30 more times.
Phillip enjoying the view!!! I squealed in delight when I found out that Sam had actually packed Phillip into the suitcase. He is the cuddliest thing to ever exist. Usually when I forget to bring him I get bummed out. I love Phillip. I tell him all my problems and he talks back. Don't ask how, but he really does, lol.
Let me give you an idea. Sam hides behind the penguin and puts on the funniest high pitched voice and thus Phillip the real penguin is born. :3
It's the CUTEST thing ever coz Sam makes Phillip look like he is moving on his own and makes him flap his arms up and down and bounce hyperactively hahaha I have trouble believing Phillip isn't actually alive. To me he is. I LOVE LOVE LOVE PHILLIP.
The next morning, on Valentine's Day itself -
It was the most difficult thing getting out of bed, despite having a late check out at 1pm. MBS has the softest sheets I've slept on.
Thankfully we had food to seduce us out of bed. Or we might have just stayed in there forever!
My V'day dress!!! ^.^
Sam likes me in white. So I'm going to hunt more white dresses for my birthday, his birthday, etc. White's a tricky color… If you pick the wrong dress you'll look extra wide for nothing. Hopefully this turned out to be a good choice!
My roses!!! ♥ ♥ ♥
If you don't normally wear red lipstick, V'day is the only day you can, without anyone asking why.
Double the trouble!
Paired my new royal blue knitted cardigan with my embroidered white dress!
After bumming around some more and watching Discovery Channel (our main source of entertainment at MBS), we checked out, I did some shopping at La Senza and we went home!!!
Oh oh – what we got each other for Valentine's Day!
I was happily napping back in my own bed at home, when I was awoken by Phillip being bounced up and down on my tummy.
And then I saw the card.
And I was like… AWWWWW.
Then he probed me to open the card and to read the inside,…
It made me sosososososo happy!!! I was like, "Phillip drew this?! Oh Phillip you sweet, sweet thing!" And Sam just stands there wishing he had written "From Phillip & Sam" coz I was showering the penguin with kisses. LOL.
Since we agreed on no expensive presents this year, I also gave him a hand drawn card in return.
Most of you probably won't know what the image above signifies.
But big ♥ to you if you get it!!! You've been a dedicated reader and I love you for it!!!!
The rest of the day was quiet, the way we wanted it.
He whipped up some heart shaped mushroom bites (it tastes likes the one you get at TCC but better!!!) and a beef dish for dinner. Oh and he also made dessert that was heart shaped pavlova which I forgot to take a picture of. Lovely, as always.
I hope your Valentine's Day was fabulous and filled with love, no matter who you spent it with!!!
Don't forget to show the people closest to your heart that you love and cherish them, even when it's not Valentine's Day.


text: Navigation Book Now Close Book Now WelcomeAbout the ResortToggle Sub-navigationExplore our ResortOur Villas OffersSports & RecreationToggle Sub-navigationOcean AdventuresVillingilli Golf CourseOutdoor AdventuresRelaxationToggle Sub-navigationChi, The SpaYoga & MeditationCulture & CommunityToggle Sub-navigationAuthentic Cultural ExperiencesEco ActivitesOur Reef Care ProjectCommunity InitiativesFamily FunDining Toggle Sub-navigationRestaurants, Bars & LoungesDine by DesignChef's GardenFestive SeasonToggle Sub-navigationOcean's Encounters by Greg LecoeurBook Now DINE BY DESIGNThe culinary craftsmanship of Dine by Design at Shangri-La's Villingili Resort & Spa provides exquisite, bespoke dining opportunities throughout the island's most idyllic, hidden locations. The Perfect Romance Enjoy a truly magical way to end the perfect day with your loved one in a private candlelit dinner in the intimacy of your villa or on our most romantic Serenity Beach Bay. A dedicated chef and waiter will present an exquisite experience that is beyond compare, with a themed menu or bespoke selection of your own creation, served on the deck facing the ocean on the white sandy beachfront, soothed by the gentle lapping of the waves. Return to NatureExplore an extraordinary dinner destination deep in the jungle, enveloped within the enchanting sights and sounds of the rich, unspoilt vegetation, or on a tranquil pontoon overlooking the Green Lagoon. Serenaded by nature herself, enjoy a selection of delicious, Maldivian inspired cuisine in an environment of total serenity. Nourishment for Body & Soul Discover a complete sensory journey with a holistic spa dining experience in the secluded meditation pavilion to align both mind and body. While the invigorating smells of aromatic herbs and spices enliven your senses, our gourmet experts will prepare a delicious, balanced meal full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals tailormade to compliment your holistic health and well-being. Heart of the World Enjoy lunch on the equator on a private yacht, a once in a lifetime, unique experience that highlights the wonders of this incredible destination. Charter an evening cruise to take in a mesmerising sunset over the seemingly endless waters of the Indian Ocean. Cocktails and appetizers on the bow set the scene for this unforgettable evening, before your butler escorts you below deck for a gourmet dinner.


text:
Estonian researchers' organizations in a joint statement addressed to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, members of the Riigikogu and the Estonian public condemn declarations by Minister of the Interior Mart Helme aimed at Tallinn University.
The Estonian Young Academy of Sciences, Estonian Chamber of Research, the trade unions of the University of Tartu and Tallinn University said in their statement that the bizarre comments made by Helme with respect to teaching and research activities at Tallinn University are destructive by nature.
"Such fact-ignoring declarations against Estonia's research and educational establishments by someone holding a minister's position are unacceptable and destructive. The minister's defamatory position insults both the university as well as its graduates and undermines the motivations of the people who are daily doing important work for the Republic of Estonia," the statement reads.
The organizations said that the scientific quality of Estonian universities is assessed by independent international experts, while assessments and accreditation of the quality of teaching in colleges is carried out by the Estonian Quality Agency for Higher and Vocational Education.
"The minister in his statements has called into question the work of the said institutions and the experts thereof. Our position is that those who have been elected to govern the Republic of Estonia should be accurate and respectful in their declarations regarding research and educational establishments and also value education. We call on the prime minister to instruct members of his cabinet on how to express themselves in a way that is suitable to their position and how to remain committed to their field of work, as well as urge them to apologize to Estonian universities," it says in the statement.
Minister of the Interior Mart Helme said during an EKRE council meeting last Sunday that Tallinn University, "with its nonexistent level of research," has "manifestly become a propaganda institution" that is "producing horse thieves."
Helme's utterance was more recently sharply condemned by leading members of the Center Party, Minister of Public Administration Jaak Aab and chairman of the Tallinn city council Tiit Terik who have both graduated from Tallinn University. "Helme's inappropriate remarks are not fitting for a minister and have nothing whatsoever to do with reality," Aab and Terik were quoted to have said by Center Party spokespeople.
"One can only imagine how offended the lecturers, researchers, students and graduates of Tallinn University must feel. A declaration such as this does not just offend lecturers, students and graduates, but is also abusive and irresponsible," their statement reads.


text:
Youpipe – YouTube downloader
Youpipe YouTube downloader
Download link:
Why I created this app?
I personally faced a lot of problems in downloading a video online from my mobile or tab.
Normally you face a lot problems to download
1. There is no single app which guaranties this.
2. Even if I need to use some site YouTube app does not give us the actual link
3. The redirected links do not work in video downloaders.
4. I tried more than 10 apps from Google play all of which fails to download a video properly
Here is what I did:
I created an app myself tailored for YouTube download. Which works in all the ways possible for YouTube download through app or browser through just a share.. It works for other sites also but it's easy to download from sties other than YouTube..
How to use?
1. While browsing through YouTube videos in your YouTube app or your browser just click share and select the app 'youpipe'
That's it. It downloads to your downloads folder
Automating ..
I am that interested in automating human life to pay for my laziness that most of the human beings are prone to have.. 😉
The context is announcement of our s5 results (improvement) All of us are interested in knowing the whole set of result of our batch in one stretch since most of them will be interacting at that time since all aren't having Internet access .. This made me think of downloading the whole result at a stretch .
Took python.. wrote few lines ..there it is … A single piece file archiver + batch dowloader for downloading results as a single file from http://universityofcalicut.info .You are the hero with an 18 line code all results at your hand before your friends receive even theirs.
Here is the code : You can just download the code change it to suite your batch ,roll numbers and your url to get a single page output.html for your batch .Often everyone in your class may not support you for the deed since their unwanted exposure of results. ( In a sense there is no point in that privacy policy 😉 ,since your result is viewable for everyone who knows your roll number)
File : result.py
Download your batch's calicut universiy btech results in a file..Code is for s5 ..You find the path of download and edit..
oh my pythonnn ..!!
Our robo in quintessence
The applause must have made the photographer (who gave it in mathrubhumi) think that we were first . I think that (applause) was for a genuine reason . It was only him (our bot) who was capable of finding and coming back to the track even after missing it.
Our robo at Quitessence -a tech-expo at our neighbouring department- EC.
- November 2014 (1)
- September 2012 (1)
- March 2012 (1)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (3)
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Hluhluwe / Umfolozi : Wednesday 27 August 2014
It was a very strange day in the bush today… we had a cracking first hour during which we saw wild dogs, a cheetah and a small herd of elephants. After that it was extremely tough going and very unpleasant from a weather point of view, very hot with a gale force easterly wind. Along with countless fires burning in the Park it was not a very nice place to be. We did get elephants again later in the day near Nyalazi Gate. Rhino sightings were good today but bird and general game sightings were few and far between.


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Monday, November 14, 2016
The dark stuff
Reflecting on Leonard Cohen's death for the Independent, a former colleague of mine Sam has drawn comparisons between Cohen's You Want It Darker (a tongue-in-cheek title, surely?) and David Bowie's Blackstar, concluding astutely that only the latter has come to seem like a meditation on mortality in the wake of its creator's death - Cohen's final record, by contrast, looked that way as soon as it was released.
Posted by Ben at 11:13 AM
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Susan Wright
Administrator and Founder of the school in 1970, which later became the Ballet Centre in 1986.
Susan Wright received her training from the late Jean Reneé and has taught locally for 47 years. In addition, Susan designs and produces many of Ballet Center Utah, Inc. costumes, stage sets, and props. Susan is a published author of 2 books and a entrepreneur.
Michelle Armstrong
Artistic Director
Michelle Armstrong received her early ballet training with Susan Wright and later studied with Willam Christensen. She danced a professional career with Ballet West, Utah Opera and New York City Ballet/Sun Valley, ID. Michelle has been an instructor for over 30 years and is currently the Artistic Director of Ballet Center Utah, Inc. where she is the principal choreographer, producing and directing many one-act ballets. Armstrong has a BFA in ballet-teaching emphasis from the University of Utah, and is certified in the National Teaching Curriculum with ABT. In 2016, she traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to study ballet pedagogy under Mr. Oleg Vinogradov, Artistic Director Emeritus of Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet Theater-St. Petersburg and his highly qualified faculty of Russian ballet masters.
Michelle presently continues her work with Mr. Vinogradov, participating in his International Youth Ballet Festival "Vivat Ballet!" as his rehearsal assistant, ballet instructor, and répétiteur. In August 2018, she organized the 5th International Youth Ballet Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah, hosting the festival at Ballet Center Utah, Inc. This July, she brings the 7th International Youth Ballet Festival once again to Utah. In August, Armstrong will be on the ballet faculty for the first ever International Ballet Summer Intensive in Incheon, South Korea. Michelle Armstrong also serves as the ballet instructor at the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts in Salt Lake City, UT and as an adjunct professor of ballet at Westminster College for their BFA program
Elizabeth Armstrong
Elizabeth Armstrong has been a part of Ballet Center Utah, Inc. for her entire life. She has danced leading roles in Ballet Center Utah, Inc.'s productions as well as staged and choreographed many of the ballets for "Ballet Under the Stars." Elizabeth traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia in 2016 where she performed as well as studied ballet, character dance, and historical dance with many outstanding Russian ballet masters, under the direction of Oleg Vinogradov. Elizabeth continues as a teaching assistant in character class and ballet class and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Utah.
Isabelle Armstrong
Isabelle Armstrong has developed a great understanding for teaching ballet as well as dancing and choreography. In 2012, she began ballet pedagogy under the direction of Susan Wright. For the past four years Isabelle has been dancing lead roles in Ballet Centre productions, along with choreographing many pieces for various shows. In 2017, Isabelle's choreography was featured at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. Along with her international status as a choreographer, Isabelle participated for the third year in the International Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg, where she performed and studied ballet pedagogy from Oleg Vinogradov and his highly qualified faculty of Russian ballet masters. Isabelle is pursuing a degree in Dance at Westminster College.
Kaitlyn Daugherty
Kaitlyn Daugherty has been dancing at Ballet Center Utah, Inc. since 2003, and is currently in the Centre class. In 2010 she became a teacher's assistant and taught various classes at Ballet Center Utah, Inc. as a substitute where she quickly developed a love of teaching. This is her sixth year as a faculty member. Kaitlyn has a BA in English from Westminster College, and has attained her Master's in Education and is an eighth grade English teacher.
Megan Fotheringham
Megan Fotheringham has been dancing with Ballet Center Utah, Inc. since 2006. She joined the Centre Class in 2012; she has since performed many soloist roles in Ballet Center Utah, Inc. productions and has had the opportunity to choreograph many pieces for the company. In 2014, she began assistant teaching for two years before joining the faculty in 2016. Since 2017, Megan has participated in the International Youth Ballet Festival held in St. Petersburg, Russia and Salt Lake City. There she had the privilege of studying with Oleg Vinogradov and his qualified ballet masters. In 2019, she traveled to Incheon, South Korea with the University of Utah to train under the artistic direction of Mr. Vinogradov and Jay Kim. In addition, Megan is currently a student at Westminster College pursuing a BFA in dance.
Amber Giles
Amber Giles has been dancing at Ballet Center Utah, Inc. since 1999. In 2005 she became the stage manager for Ballet Center Utah, Inc. productions after joining Centre Class, where she currently dances. She also serves as a teacher and rehearsal assistant for Ballet Center Utah, Inc. She has also served as a coordinator and rehearsal assistant for the International Youth Ballet Festival in Salt Lake City, under the direction of Oleg Vinogradov. She holds a BA in Graphic Design and uses those skills to promote Ballet Center Utah, Inc. classes/productions as well as the International Youth Ballet Festival through various media outlets.
Lusiano Pasillas
Since the age of 13, dance has always been a part of Lusiano's life. He has been teaching dance for over 20 years, and has had many opportunities to teach over seas. With a variety of experience from Latin, Ballroom, and Ballet. Lusiano trained many hours excelling in dance, which have landed him many lead rolls, and winning first place in competitions.
During Lusiano's training he has had the privilege to receive world-class training from professionals such as Rufus, Isabella, German Mustuck, Freddie Moore, Randall Flinn and Michelle Armstrong.
Private lessons for Ballroom are available. Please call to schedule a lesson.


text: SkyHighNation is a sister concern company of The Creative BD. Bringing out different peoples talent and creativity and showing it to the world, is the main mission of the SkyHighNation. We believe in creating quality contents for YouTube & other media platforms. Watch our videos in our official Youtube channel to learn more about us!


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Skip Hire Edgeworth
At Bolton Skip Hire, we have a superior range of skip hire provisions with our commercial, industrial, and domestic skips. We are waste disposal experts with over 20 years of industry experience. Our team of specialists will help you to find the best solution for you waste management requirements.
If you are based in the Edgeworth area and you need to remove large volumes of industrial and construction waste products, our industrial skips are perfect for your business. We can process your unwanted waste items quickly and efficiently. Our skips range in size from 8 yard enclosed skips, to 22-40-yard roll-on roll-off skip. We also supply enclosed compactor bins. In addition, we have an impressive collection of large commercial containers for you to choose from. We believe that there is no job too large for us. Your business needs are unique to you, so we personalise our service to meet your individual requirements.
Are you undertaking a project at home? Our domestic skips are perfect for any home improvement work, including garden and house clearance jobs. If you are tempted to handle your own domestic waste, you could damage your own vehicle. It may also take up a lot more time than you expected. Using our skips is a cost-effect way to process your unwanted products and allows you more time to concentrate on your project.
For those in the Edgeworth area, our skip hire facility is an affordable option and easy to use. We don't have hidden costs when you hire our skips and we offer excellent all-round value. If you need help selecting the correct size skip, we are here for you.
For additional information, you can phone us on 01204 383737. You can also contact us by using our online query form today.


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Get in Shape with Shapewear
Being creative about looking good can remove the drudgery from what for many women is an ongoing struggle, and that is looking good while being overweight. For many women its an annual thing; getting rid of holiday flab, but when your diet hasn't produced the body you'd like, there are some surprisingly simple techniques to shape up for 2014 and look good after the festive season. Even if you have managed to start a diet and increase your exercise, it still takes a while to start actually losing kilograms and this is where shapewear for women becomes a lifesaver.
You CAN Wear Figure Hugging Clothes
Long leg bodyshapers for instance can flatten your stomach and streamline your buttocks and hips. Best of all, the silky smooth memory fabric will remove the dimpled cellulite look from your thighs. These fabulous undergarments provide one with confidence when mixing with women who are super svelte. You will be able to feel calm and collected in anything from that little black number to a fitted pair of trousers or leggings.
Look and Feel in Good Form
Flatter Your Bridal Figure
Lightweight Comfort
Each kind of control wear for women targets a different area and this beautiful lingerie is available from top brands which create a unique look. By researching and comparing, you can find stylish leg, tummy, waist, midriff or full body shapewear in-store or online. Some designs, especially those based on retro or vintage styles, can also be very sexy as well as practical, such as a long line girdle with suspenders or corset style control pants with hook & eye fastenings.
Undergarments Adapted to Your Shape


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SAUG Webinar_ Understanding the future path for SAP ERP HCM customers is now ready to watch on Vimeo.
30 May 19
It was a pleasure to have SAP Mentor Danielle Larocca providing insights to help us get up to speed on the changes in the SAP HR & Payroll space and the options available for existing SAP ERP HCM on-premise customers as they make their journey from SAP ERP HCM and on-premise payroll to SAP SuccessFactors and the cloud.
The topics included:
- Understanding the evolution from SAP in 2012 to SAP SuccessFactors in 2015 and why a migration to the cloud was required
- Learning the particulars and pros and cons of each deployment model — on-premise, core hybrid, talent hybrid, side-by-side and full cloud
- Understanding the payroll models and the differences between SAP Payroll and SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll
- See your high-speed, low-risk route to SuccessFactors' Employee Central Payroll
To access the slides from this event CLICK HERE
Make sure you take a look at all of our upcoming webinars and events. Note our Webinars and SIG meetings are available for SAUg Members ONLY. If youre not currently a SAUG Member, please contact George Papadopoulos on firstname.lastname@example.com


text: Here are some of my favorite senior portait images from this Senior season. It was very easy to get great images with this beautiful BYU bound senior. She was very photogenic and I love that red hair. We got so many spectacular shots. I thought I would post a few for you to enjoy.


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Joining IER means opting for a career at a company with an international mission, with customers and partners all over the world. IER has a presence throughout France and in eight other countries, in the form of regional agencies, subsidiaries and offices.
Coming to IER thus means giving yourself a chance to seize career opportunities and to be part of the development of a dynamic company on different world markets, and also means joining a member of the diversified Bolloré Group, which is one of the top 500 in the world, with a workforce of more than 58,000 in 156 countries.
Our business: A range of jobs is open to you, at any level, including training, whatever your skills – engineering, trade, finance, marketing, quality assurance or production.


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Chiral vs multidimentsional spectroscopy of biomolecules: IR and UV spectral labeling
Jan Helbing, Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Switzerland
Lieu(x) : Amphithéatre Curie, Ecole Polytechnique
Contact : François Hache
francois.hache at polytechnique.edu
One of the main motivations for developing broadband non-linear spectroscopies in the infrared (IR), visible and more recently the ultraviolet (UV), was to be able to monitor the couplings between chromophores and their evolution as a function of time. Nevertheless, quantifying these couplings and extracting structural parameters of peptides and proteins has proven to be difficult even in the IR, where isotope labelling can isolate individual peptide bonds and provide local information. The same exciton coupling models used to understand these multidimensional spectra also describe circular dichroism (CD) signals, which show very characteristic signatures even in the case of highly congested absorption spectra. This makes it very interesting to record broadband time-resolved CD spectra, which we have originally attempted in the mid-IR, where typical femtosecond laser pulses cover the characteristic amide I region of the peptide backbone.1,2 However, the difficulties caused by the small couplings and CD signal strengths in the mid-IR have led us to transfer the concepts of spectral labelling and local coupling into the UV spectral range. We could recently show that ultrafast changes to the backbone CD signal can thus be recorded3, reflecting changes in local coupling that are not resolved in 2D-UV spectroscopy.
(1) Bonmarin, M.; Helbing, J. A Picosecond Time-Resolved Vibrational Circular Dichroism Spectrometer. Opt. Lett. 2008, 33 (18).
(2) Dutta, B.; Helbing, J. Optimized Interferometric Setup for Chiral and Achiral Ultrafast IR Spectroscopy. Opt. Express 2015, 23 (12), 16449.
(3) Oppermann, M.; Spekowius, J.; Bauer, B.; Pfister, R.; Chergui, M.; Helbing, J. Broad-Band Ultraviolet CD Spectroscopy of Ultrafast Peptide Backbone Conformational Dynamics. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2019, 10, 2700–2705.
Download : Séminaire Helbing


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October 2018 Newsletter
We are pleased to share our October 2018 Newsletter with you. A copy is emailed to parents/carers.
Click to read previous Newsletters or visit our Newsletters page (which can be found on the 'Parents' drop down menu)
We love to hear about your child's activities outside of school or hear from former students.
Please send your news to: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Instead of pork sausages, Wohlen AG will only be serving halal sausages made out of poultry, to be more inclusive to Muslims, Swiss tabloid Blick reports.
Since the 1960s Wohlen AG has given away free sausages at the carnival. Not everyone is happy about the change from pork to only poultry.
The Board President Peter Michel welcomes the change and doesn't believe the community is losing anything or making a sacrifice.
He further stated the sausages were produced at a local butcher shop, passed all taste tests and were just as good as before.
"We want to keep the carnival tradition alive and reach as many people as possible", Michel said. Excluding pork was done for practical reasons of avoiding mix-ups of the sausages and because it is easier than offering two options.
"Is it the 1st of April again? ", Jean-Pierre Gallati of the Swiss People's Party asks. He believes this is clear surrender to further Islamisation.
Gallati went on to say: "The festival has clear Christian roots and to ingratiate oneself to Muslims is stupid. That can't be the solution."
The carnival board made clear it will not change its position on the issue. The board believes as long as children are having fun the rest doesn't matter.


text: Want to visit a remote, pristine beach right in the middle of a quiet community? Go to Anna Maria Island Walk almost alone along one of the most beautiful, sandy white beaches in Florida. Shells everywhere to choose from. Sitting at the end of the island is a fishing pier. You can park anywhere without having to pay. Once you step into the water look to your right and you can see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.


text: The daughter of an Evangelical preacher, Essie Hicks has grown up on reality television. When Essie becomes pregnant the handlers of Six For Hicks need to decide what will be best for ratings, not what will be best for Essie. However, Essie has a plan of her own. An eye-opening novel in this age of the Kardashian's and Dugger's that will cause the reader to question if reality TV is in fact real. ~ Reviewed by Sarah Donner


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With veteran kicker Olinda Mare struggling, the Carolina Panthers have signed rookie Adi Kunalic, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer reports. Mare remains on the roster as linebacker Jason Phillips has been placed on injured reserve with a calf injury. Originally signed by the Panthers as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska, Kunalic was […]
Posts Tagged 'Adi Kunalic'
Panthers Sign Rookie K Adi Kunalic
December 14th, 2011 Matt Loede Posted in Roster Moves
Panthers Reach Terms with Six Undrafted Free Agents
July 26th, 2011 Matt Loede Posted in Main
WR Darvin Adams, Auburn – Only player in AU history with two seasons of 900-plus receiving yards … Caught at least two passes in 26 of the last 27 games and last 19 consecutive games dating back to 2009 … 6th in AU history in career receptions with 115 … 6th in AU career receiving […]


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April 4, 2003
Primatech has complimented its line of flooring fasteners with the introduction of a pneumatic stapler and staples. Entirely manufactured by Primatech for optimal quality, the 15 1/2 gage, 1/2" crown galvanized staple features a blunt chisel point to reduce wood splitting. The P-220 pneumatic stapler, features the same patented valve system as the P-210 nailer which sets fasteners at optimal depth, independently of the striking force.
I want to hear from you. Tell me how we can improve.


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FREE Shipping For Orders Over $75
Drop Stitch Alpaca Scarf Knitting Class
In stock
Product Details
You've learned how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off, and now you're ready for a more advanced knitting project. In this class you'll be learning a horizontal drop stitch. It is quite beautiful, and easy to knit! When it comes to creating dropped stitches in your knitting, you gain the great advantage of adding an endless amount of variety by intentionally dropping your stitches! You will also be learning The Infinite Tail Cast On Method. We will be knitting the scarf pictured above using our Swizzle Yarn, in the color of your choice. Two skeins of yarn are included in the fee for this class.
You will need to bring Size US 8 - 5.0 mm Knitting Needles. The pattern we'll be using is here.
See the Class List here.
Save this product for later
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- Members
- Discover Jonesboro
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- Your Chamber
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Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
Saturday, May 12, 2018 - 6:00am
26th annual National Association of Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
Please leave your non-perishable food donations by your mailbox.
All donations stay local and help feed our neighbors in Northeast Arkansas.


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October was… well it was something. For the second time this year, global equity markets had a substantial selloff. Also for the second time this year, the financial media tried to one-up each other with inflammatory headlines:
Source: Business Insider, CNBC, ABC News, CNN, news.com.au, The Chronicle Herald
Taking a step back from the bearish headlines, the following chart quantifies just how bad October was for some major indices. The biggest selloff came from the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, as investors decided to turn their backs on the once high-flying FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet).
Source: Bloomberg
Taking a second step back from the headlines, the next chart shows year-to-date returns for these same indices. Although the Nasdaq suffered the worst drop in October, the FAANG stocks had a tremendous year up to the end of September. As a result, it is still the best-performing index year-to-date, with a 5.8% return. Across the other indices, it has been a noticeably different year than it was 12 months ago, when emerging markets were up 30% and one of the worst-performing indices was the S&P/ASX 200, which was up only 3.1%.
We have been cautious about equity valuations for some time now, so the market action in October didn't surprise us. As a result we won't paint this most recent pullback in a negative light. It is what it is: stock prices went down. Admittedly, we do have a net-long position in our Absolute Return Fund, so a broad market pullback does cause the value of the Fund to decrease. But pullbacks also make it easier to find securities to buy at bargain prices, which may be the hardest thing to do as a professional investor.
U.S. Markets
You would be forgiven for thinking that the October selloff resulted in a plethora of buying opportunities popping up. While there were some, the next chart shows that markets (specifically the S&P 500) still look quite expensive. Compared to one year ago, many of these metrics do look cheaper. But compared to the market's long-term history, these metrics are still hovering near their most expensive deciles.
Source: Goldman Sachs Investment Research
Why are equity valuations still so elevated? Well, for one thing, equities are currently popular investments. The next chart shows that investors' current allocations to equities is on par with where it was prior to the financial crisis, and is second only to where it was during the dot-com bubble. Trending the other way has been cash allocations.
With interest rates declining steadily over the period shown in this chart, we believe investors have been finding it difficult to generate acceptable returns from fixed-income securities. Thus, they have chosen to allocate more cash to equities in the hopes of offsetting the decreasing fixed-income returns. In a bull market, a reallocation like this can look like a brilliant move. However, equities are riskier than debt investments. So if equity markets continue their recent downward trend, many of these investors may find themselves realizing losses that eat into their previous returns quickly.
The next chart shows that even though investors have been increasing their equity exposure, there has been only one main vehicle though which they have been doing so: ETFs. ETFs are largely thought to be passive investments, as the holdings of the largest ETFs mirror major indices like the S&P 500 (the constituents of which are chosen by a committee employed by Standard & Poor's). However, we have previously shown that individual investors in ETFs are anything but passive: when markets selloff, investors tend to liquidate their ETF holdings, which could put more downward pressure on equity valuations.
You'll also notice that the single-largest net buyer of U.S. equities has been corporations; in other words, corporate buybacks. This has been another topic we have discussed in detail; in sum, there is ambiguity about whether buybacks can put upward pressure on share prices, so it would be interesting to see if a decrease in buyback activity would temper other investors' enthusiasm for equities.
Lastly on the U.S., the unemployment rate is currently at historic lows and the economy looks to be firing on all cylinders. That's the good news. The bad news is that if the unemployment rate is so low, where will new workers come from to fuel additional growth? With such strict immigration laws, the U.S. cannot benefit from an influx of new workers in the same way Canada has. This means that employers will have to entice new workers to join by offering higher wages. Indeed, the following chart shows that management teams cite increasing wages as the single-biggest item putting downward pressure on margins.
Don't get us wrong. We're happy to see workers being paid more. But this money is going to have to come from one of two places. Either: (1) companies raise prices to offset the increasing wages, or (2) companies eat the increased cost, which puts downward pressure on earnings. In the case of (1), these increased wages are simply passed on to consumers, which puts upward pressure on inflation. This would then put the burden on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly. In the case of (2), decreased earnings are passed on to shareholders, which puts downward pressure on equity valuations. In either case, it's hard to see how the economy can keep going at the pace it has been without a readjustment from either (1) interest rates or (2) equity valuations.
Canadian Markets
Back home in Canada, things have not been going well for investors. Lacking a technology sector that has benefited from FAANG-like valuations, equity markets are in the red across the board. In fact, as the next table shows, the only major asset class generating positive returns year-to-date has been the boring three-month Government of Canada T-Bill. This almost means that the best domestic investment philosophy for Canadians has been to stuff their cash under their mattresses.
Source: RBC Capital Markets
Looking at the S&P/TSX Composite index specifically, the next chart shows us where the negative returns have been generated. Two years ago we pointed out that one of the biggest risks facing Canadian investors is their lack of diversification (#5 in this list). As we said at that time, "the S&P/TSX Composite index is dominated by the Financials (banks), Energy (oil and gas), and Materials (mining) sectors". While we were primarily concerned with the banks at that point in time, 2018 has proven to be a perfect storm affecting all three of those sectors, contributing to driving the TSX down 7.3% year-to-date.
Source: RBC Capital Markets
We realize we sound like a broken record, but we're going to say it anyway: we will continue to position the Absolute Return Fund defensively. October may have been emotionally difficult for some investors to endure, but that doesn't mean that the selloff is behind us forever. Valuations, especially in the U.S., still look expensive, and we don't buy expensive stocks. We would much rather stuff cash under our mattresses.1
What we did do in October, though, was add a few new positions and increase the size of the positions of our favourite names. We also realized some of the gains from our inverse ETFs that do well during broad market selloffs like these. This will continue to be our approach during any future market selloffs, as we keep our focus on how the Fund performs over the long-term, not during periods of short-term volatility.
1 Note: we wouldn't actually stuff cash under our mattresses. Nor should you. That's an unambiguously bad idea. If you're going to stuff it anywhere, stuff it under the insulation in your attic.2
2 Note: don't actually do this either.


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Venezuela: The battle of Contract Sanctity vs. Resource Sovereignty
Venezuela: The battle of Contract Sanctity vs. Resource Sovereignty (Special)
Sovereignty Over Natural Resources Versus Rights Under Investment Contracts: Which One Prevails?B.S. Vasani, Ivanyan and partners
D.E. Vielleville, Esq., Assouline & Berlowe, P.A.
What is a Distressed Investor to Do?M.D. Nolan, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy LLP
F.G. Sourgens, Washburn University School of Law
Options for the Nervous Investor in Venezuela: Structuring for Bit Protection and Preserving the ICSID OptionR.D. Deutsch, McGuireWoods LLP
T.J. Tyler, Vinson & Elkins LLP
Investment Arbitration Within the Legal Promotion and Protection Framework in VenezuelaV.J. Tejera Pérez, Oracle
The Local Remedies Issue in Venezuelan Investment Treaty DisputesR.B. Love, Reed Smith
Survey of Recent Governmental Measures in Key Latin-American Countries (Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador) and Comparison with the Venezuelan Case by R. Chirinos, Macleod DixonD.E. Arias, Universidad Católica de Salta
R. Chirinos, Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal
R. Guevara, Guevara & Gutierrez S.C.
D.G. Lamanna
J.P. Zaldumbide-Serrano, Perez Bustamante & Ponce Abogados
An Update of Bolivia's Recent ActionsR. Guevara, Guevara & Gutierrez S.C.
Argentina's Hydrocarbons Export RegimeD.E. Arias, Universidad Católica de Salta
D.G. Lamanna
Windfall Profit Tax in Ecuadorian Petroleum IndustryJ.P. Zaldumbide-Serrano, Perez Bustamante & Ponce Abogados
Venezuelan Investment: Locating a Safehouse and Achieving A Reverse CalvoJ.L. Alexander, Baker Botts L.L.P.
D. Krishan, Lawyer
Nationalization Trends in the Venezuelan Oil IndustryG. Rachadell de Delgado, InterJuris Abogados, S.C.
N. Vojvodic, Dentons
A Closer Look At the National Treatment Standard: Stocktaking of Venezuelan Bits and Review of Arbitral PracticeJ. Albites-Bedoya, Institute of International and European Law, University of Göttingen, Germany
From Gunboats to ArbitrationJ.E. Anzola, International Arbitrator
The "Statization" of the Pre 2001 Primary Hydrocarbons Joint Venture Exploitations: Their Unilateral Termination and the Assets' Confiscation of Some of the Former Private PartiesA.R. Brewer-Carías, Baumeister & Brewer
Property and Control of Upstream Gas Projects in Venezuela - Evolution, Trends and OutlookA.R. Romero, Esq., Chevron USA
The Rising Tide of Expropriation in Venezuela: A Look at 21st Century Resource NationalismJ. Dargin, Middle East energy expert
Rule of Law and the Resource Industries' Cycles: Acquired Rights versus the Pressures inherent in the Political Economy of the International Energy and Resource IndustriesT.W. Wälde (†), CEPMLP, University of Dundee
The 2007 Nationalization of the Venezuelan Orinoco Oil BeltE. Eljuri, Sierra Oil
D. Jaimes Cifuentes, Dentons
State Consent to ICSID Arbitration: Article 22 of the Venezuelan Investment LawG.M. Lemenez, United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS)
Venezuela issues New Rules for Royalties on Non-Associated GasA. Lezcano Huncal, InterJuris Abogados S.C.
Venezuela: Migrating Away from the Apertura PetroleraJ.L. Keffer, GE
M.V. Vargas, Ecopetrol America Inc.
The Impact of the Organic Hydrocarbons Law on the Venezuelan Natural Gas IndustryA. Lezcano Huncal, InterJuris Abogados S.C.
G. Rachadell de Delgado, InterJuris Abogados, S.C.