text:
Report: Washtenaw County's chronically homeless population doubled in last two years
The number of chronically homeless individuals in Washtenaw County has doubled over the past two years, according to the latest report from the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development and the Washtenaw Housing Alliance.
Additionally, the number of unsheltered homeless individuals reporting a mental illness increased by 12.5 percent from 2011 to 2013, according to the report.
Amy Biolchini | AnnArbor.com file photo
It's the result of a census conducted Jan. 29 of homeless people found living on the street and the number of homeless individuals living in area shelters at the time.
Surveys of people living on the street are conducted every two years, while homeless shelters track their residents each year.
Chronically homeless is the designation given to people or families that have been without a home for a year or more, or who have experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years and have a disability.
Courtesy of Washtenaw Housing Alliance
The 2013 count found 344 individuals living in homeless shelters and 166 people living on the streets -- a total of 510 people.
On average each year, 3,000 to 4,000 individuals are homeless in Washtenaw County.
Veterans who are homeless are increasingly finding shelter through area services, as the portion of the unsheltered homeless population that are veterans decreased from 3.2 percent in 2011 to 2 percent in 2013, while the percentage of homeless veterans in area shelters increased by three percent from 2011 to 2013.
Julie Steiner, executive director of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, attributed the decline to the increased collaboration between the Veteran Affairs Medical Center and shelter programs.
Courtesy of Washtenaw Housing Alliance
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, email@example.com or on Twitter.
Outside(:-o)looking in
Sun, Apr 28, 2013 : 3:05 p.m.
Can we get serious here and ask some important questions? I want to know who makes the best tent for the money? What sleeping bag do they recommend? How do they sleep through the freeway noise? Do they pay taxes on the money they collect at the entrance ramps? Why do they choose to be homeless? This would be good information.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 6:57 p.m.
Homelessness and a disability ...how do we attack both issues at the same time to create a "Chronic Homefullness" (with home) condition? Are agencies that are helping capable of looking at both sides of this coin?
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:48 p.m.
They need to all move deep into the U.P. and live off of the land.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3 p.m.
"If you build it, they will come." I guess it was built and they came.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:26 p.m.
I thought homelessness was only an issue when a republican was in the white house.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
I'm glad that so many people are looking for more information about the situation involving people in our community affected by homelessness. I offer these clarifications on the story: 1) these statistics are not just for Ann Arbor---the count goes all over the county including in some of the most rural and remote areas. 2) this is merely a snapshot of a particular time...the numbers are affected by the weather as well as where we look and find people 3) our annualized numbers, taken from our sophisticated data base system which is used by all service providers told us that 4,069 people experiened homelessness in 2011 (we are about to release our 2012 numbers). 4) Many of you ask where did people come from--we know the answer: 67% came from Ypsilanti; 30% came from Ann Arbor less than 5% came from outside Washtenaw County. While many people believe that we are a "magnet", the truth is we are them most expensive rental market in the state of Michigan, therefore, we are not a great place to re-settle. If you are used to spending $450 for a 2 bedroom apartment in your home community, the prospect of needing to pay $901 for the same thing here is a bit daunting! If you need more information, feel free to go to the WHA website at www.whalliance.org.
Alan Benard
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:48 p.m.
The State of Michigan tells me that the recession ended two years ago, in 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i-b6x0-GeM&feature=share&list=PL62C7D0350EEBA9EF Rick Snyder became governor on Jan. 1, 2011. Two years later, homelessness in our county has doubled. And the AAPS prepares to dismantle public education as we know it. Rick Snyder has managed to run a more destructive and negative administration than John Engler.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 11:39 a.m.
MS doesn't understand that the veterans for the most part have paid their way with the unsigned checks written when they joined the military to protect this great free speaking country.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 10:30 a.m.
Of course the number of homeless in Ann Arbor is growing. Ann Arbor has become a welcoming destination for the homeless. They know they can get free meals and spend their days panhandling on the streets. Residents who go into town are harassed by them while the police look the other way. Summer is coming. Problems are going to increase. The homeless population needs to be encouraged to find another destination.
Jay Thomas
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 1:03 a.m.
The ones that are from here are our problem. But Ann Arbor has been made too welcoming for out of county people (as mentioned in previous a2.com stories). The genius city government actually hired someone as chief of police who was dumping off homeless people from Wayne County making the problem WORSE!
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 11:09 a.m.
And the answer starts with you, Barzoom. Start talking with the homeless and encourage them to leave Ann Arbor.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 7:49 a.m.
How many of these homeless individuals are from Washtenaw county? Seems like a large majority are from other counties.We cannot provide for all of SE MI's homeless. It is detrimental to our community to have so many mentally ill and drug addicted people swirling around our streets. I know I would not feel at all comfortable raising a family around these people. Something needs to be done at a state level. We need to reopen the mental health institutions.
Basic Bob
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 1:39 a.m.
Of course there are drug addicted people. And the worst offenders are completely legal alcohol and prescription drugs.
Jay Thomas
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 1:07 a.m.
It's a myth that they were closed solely for financial reasons. The ACLU has a lot to do with it; you can't put away people unless they are deemed a threat to others, thanks to the ACLU. After those changes people had to be let go and without warm bodies the funding wasn't there to keep those institutions open.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:18 a.m.
Something has to be done. There is a school right around the corner from where this picture was taken. Now, they are loitering around the school trying to get in. Ann Arbor Police Dept. better step up and handle this before something happens around the school!!!
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:52 p.m.
"As children are one of the largest demographic groups of people who are homeless" Do you have anything to back this up?
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 11:03 a.m.
As children are one of the largest demographic groups of people who are homeless, there's a good chance that at least one child attending this school is homeless. Want to call the cops on him/her?
Basic Bob
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4:09 a.m.
There was a zombie preparedness drill last week. I think the same techniques could work on the homeless.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:28 a.m.
Which school is that? How many of them are there? And, what do you expect will happen around the school? And, did you call the police already?
Sheri Wander
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:04 a.m.
I'm glad to see someone took time to put down some numbers. It is far to easy to look away, walk by, pretend, ignore... and I am thankful for those who took the time to to make this happen. Of course we should also be aware that the count happened in January when the rotating shelter and the warming shelter have closed. This means the number of "unsheltered" had gone up. Additionally the housing vouchers provided to some members of the community and former organized, democratic tent city known as Camp Take Notice will start to expire all to soon. Without wrap around services to support them , and many isolated from their community in places without good (or any) bus service many will sadly find themselves back on the streets. Yes, the problem is continuing to grow. We need another camp.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 7:55 a.m.
Put it in your backyard Sheri. Make sure it has over 60+ people with no sanitation, is within feet of a daycare, and houses drug addicts and sex offenders like the last one.
Caleb G Poirier
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:21 a.m.
Thank you to everyone who spent time executing the point in time count! The collection of this information involves walking through dark, damp, hidden spaces. It is tour of all the places that are normally avoided when one traverses a town. These statistics, which are so hard won, are of enormous utility. We, the homeless (my recent state) are grateful that our existence can be described not just with human interest stories but also with hard numbers.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:42 a.m.
The government needs to stop sending humongous amounts of aid abroad and use some of that money here are home. For a country as wealthy as the US, the number of homeless and unsheltered mentally ill is appalling. The US is becoming a 3rd world country. As far as Washtenaw Cty is concerned, there is unlikely to be more funds for homeless populations or the mentally ill populations from the state or local governments. It's just simply not a priority. Homeless and mentally ill don't have a powerful lobby. Wash Cty has become a magnet, with police dropping off homeless arrested in other cities in Ann Arbor. This has got to stop.
Jay Thomas
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 1:15 a.m.
Foreign aid is in more places than just the part listed "foreign aid". There's UN money. IMF bailout money that is asked for every few years. Money in the defense budget. Etc, etc.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4:12 a.m.
Foreign aid is only about 1% of the Federal budget. Look closer to home.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:56 a.m.
Agreed. This is evidenced by the fact that, if you are a parent looking for help for your child, it can be VERY difficut to find a child psychiatrist with openings in Washtenaw County. Even with the many excellent facilities in the area. And Fixing this problem goes beyond which religious or political side you are on. It starts with helping and protecting our most vulnerable, the children.
Joe Hood
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:30 a.m.
I always wondered why the homeless have nice tents and bicycles until I found out that St Vincent de Paul saves the really good stuff for those on the street; Coupled with the free breakfast at St. Andrews and the county programs, there is a little cushion for these folks.
Joe Hood
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 12:13 p.m.
Nicholas: Yes, it is cold sleeping in a tent in winter (been there, done that). The hardest part about sleeping out in the cold is to have an insulating layer between you and the cold ground. bobslowson: I agree, it is good for the homeless to have at least something nice. Would be better for them to have everything nice. And I've probably missed a great deal of the others that help out the homeless.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:50 p.m.
God forbid a homeless person should have something "nice".
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4:09 a.m.
About that little cushion - have you ever slept in a tent in winter, during a snow storm? How cold was it?
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:14 a.m.
This article is a kind reminder to the chief of police, the mayor and the city council that summer is on its way !!!
Kai Petainen
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:02 a.m.
That particular location of the photograph is fascinating. If one were to 'zoom out' and photograph the surrounding area, it would create quite a dynamic photo.
Kai Petainen
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 10:26 p.m.
Amy... agreed. Yup, that's why I didn't want to state the exact location.
Amy Biolchini
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:56 p.m.
I would agree with you there -- when I took the photo in January I purposefully kept the shot tight to keep the location private so as not to make the people that live there vulnerable to harassment.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:38 a.m.
Wealth disparity continues to spiral out of control. Pair this story with the one last week about University salaries.
Jay Thomas
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 1:19 a.m.
Well, you could take the money the state gives the universities and use it on the homeless, I suppose. That's the only connection I see. But it usually has to be a tax break to get people riled up that money is being taken from the homeless.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:24 p.m.
whojix- Explain to me in detail how University salaries and homelessness are connected. A nice bumper sticker, but I do not see any possible correlation. People who think there is a finite pie do not understand the economy and I wish they'd stop misinforming the masses. Unless of course, the homeless are actually aspiring University leaders able to do a better job. Might be an interesting experiment. The plot to Trading Places comes to mind...
Basic Bob
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4:07 a.m.
Hush up about the overpaid University employees. It's not like the state could use the money to pay for education, crime prevention, or easing the burden of homelessness.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:09 a.m.
Everyone should watch the South Park episode "Night of the Living Homeless".
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:01 p.m.
Give them all train tickets to California?
Michigan Man
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:50 p.m.
Another Obama accomplishment? My how people have fallen on hard times during the Obama debacle. Obama will have 8 years of absolutely nothing positive accomplished - Nada, Zero, Zilch of anything menaingful in 8 wasted years under Team Obama.
David Briegel
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:20 a.m.
And that we be on account of all the "help" from the party of NO!
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:47 p.m.
The solution: more bike lanes and art
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:41 p.m.
This month's feel sorry for the homeless update. As usual, the headlines screams about the homeless population doubled in Washtenaw County the last two years. I wonder if it ever occurred to the survey taker to find out if these people were actually from Washtenew County or if they are transients who moved here because the handouts and public sympathy are better than the surrounding cities and counties.
Dirty Mouth
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:41 p.m.
It is an unfortunate side effect of living within a capitalist economic system; a few folks will fall through the cracks (as I start my BMW to make sure it's warm and cozy before I have to go outside).
Robert E.
Sat, Apr 27, 2013 : 3:06 a.m.
I hate BMWs...
Jay Thomas
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 10:18 p.m.
The county is run by democrats and has been forever. But I know it's the other party's fault.
Jay Thomas
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4 a.m.
Okay, so just to help understand the leftwing psychosis: Municipal level: run by Democrats County level: run by Democrats State level: run by Republicans Federal level: Senate and White House in the hands of Democrats. Responsible party for homeless problem: Republicans at... oh yeah, the state level. That's the ticket. Every branch of government could be (D) and the problem wouldn't be any better; there has been basically the same rate of it the whole time. The only difference is that when there is a (R) in the top job the tv news discovers that people are homeless! When Clinton and Obama had just gotten into office all of those news stories disappeared. So kudos to a2.com for running this story.
Homeland Conspiracy
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:27 p.m.
8 yrs of Ronald Reagan 12 yrs of Bush Just to name a few
David Briegel
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:11 p.m.
That is delusional. America is a center left nation being run by a right wing cabal.
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:47 p.m.
Per the NYtimes, the top 7% of Americans enjoyed an income increase of 28%. The other 93% saw an income decrease of 4%. Yep Mr. President, the economy sure has improved - for the top 7% anyway. With some more of that trickle down voodo magic at work, the homeless might find relief around the time the next "liberal" president is elected. Or conservative puppet. It no longer matters.
you can't handle the truth
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1 p.m.
There is a piece missing to this story. Where did these people come from? Are other jurisdictions bringing people here and dumping them because AA provides 4 star accomodations while their jurisdiction can't afford the problem?
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 10:19 p.m.
@LX - I believe those numbers are for net worth, not income. The explanation being that the higher worth people have more in stocks which have done relatively well. The DJIA is up from ~8400 when Genius W. Bush left office to 14600+ today.
Floyd R. Turbo
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:58 p.m.
Obama in five years has a policy record that is definitely to the right of Reagan. I vote for who is not the worse or stupidest. If you are a candidate obviously behind the curve, I'm not going for you. Lets try to not get ourselves into the End Times prematurely if you know what I mean! Ludicrous candidates from the other party make voting a no-brainer
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:38 p.m.
Maybe annarbor.com could hire a couple of these people and help them get back on their feet. Then write about it, it would be amusing to say the least. I've had dealings with these people and they are very hard workers, at least at getting out of work. And the excusses they give for being late or not showing up to work almost made it worth while.
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:40 p.m.
I have to agree with ormad. Yes, some people are just plain lazy. But, this is a very unfair generalization. And, nobody benefits from being clumped into a "these people" category.
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:54 p.m.
Said no one who understands what the word stereotyping means and the intellectual dishonesty of that practice.
David Briegel
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:30 p.m.
American Exceptionalism. That Shining City On The Hill. America is a christian nation. Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these You did not do for me.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:57 p.m.
What have YOU done, David? or is this somebody else's problem.
Basic Bob
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4 a.m.
David expects someone ELSE to take care of them.
Usual Suspect
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:17 a.m.
A lotta hate for America going on around here with some people.
Michigan Man
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:47 p.m.
Maybe Dave wants em all in his backyard?
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:23 p.m.
David, if you want to go that route, I wonder what the political and religious demographics of Ann Arbor are. Since, this article is specifically about Ann Arbor's homeless population. If the commentors on annarbor.com are a true representation, I already know the answer.
David Briegel
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:09 p.m.
In one of the wealthiest counties in America, I'm certain it was the MOST we could possibly have done!
Michigan Reader
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:52 p.m.
Washtenaw County's various social service agencies have done a LOT for the needy in this county.
Tom Todd
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:13 p.m.
how many trillions do we send to foreign countries every year.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Apr 27, 2013 : 10:50 a.m.
@Ivor Ivorsen: The final price tag for the endless wars will be between $4 and $7 trillion, actually, though it is true it will not all be paid in one year, but over time.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:50 a.m.
Yeah, we borrow money from China just to send it to other Countries.
Ivor Ivorsen
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:44 p.m.
Easy, the answer is "0" trillions. Per the Washington Post: "Since the 1970s, aid spending has hovered around 1 percent of the federal budget. International assistance programs were close to 5 percent of the budget under Lyndon B. Johnson during the war in Vietnam, but have dropped since." WaPo; "Five myths about foreign aid" 4/28/2011.
An Arborigine
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 8:57 p.m.
Are there degrees of "homeless", with "Chronic" homelessness being the most homeless? Slightly Homeless, Good 'n Homeless, Seriously Homeless, Fairly Homeless, Critically then Chronically?
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:10 p.m.
missmisery, nothing like a good laugh at the expense of the homeless.
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 10:08 p.m.
Homelessness is a serious problem, in Washtenaw county and all over the state. Your response, An Arborigine, is funny. Thanks for the laugh.
Jack Gladney
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 10:04 p.m.
I believe the term "chronic" refers to an extended length of time, with "acute" being its antonymous term. One may hear of someone having an acute or perhaps a chronic illness for example. This is probably the wrong thread to comment on budget cuts in our schools.
Michigan Reader
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:17 p.m.
I don't think there are degrees of homelessness, either someone is or isn't. Those terms you apply to homelessness are adjectives. What a sorry state of affairs. The liberal "if it feels good, do it," and the "anything goes" mentality of previous decades hasn't paid off for a lot of the homeless. NOT all of them, though.
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 8:56 p.m.
Ann Arbor = magnet Homeless = steel Veterans = heros parasites = no deal.
Robert E.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:42 p.m.
How would you stereotype homeless veterans and children cibachrome? Are they also "parasites"?
Homeland Conspiracy
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 11:20 p.m.
With you I'm not shy to show the way I feel With you I might try my secrets to reveal For you are a magnet and I am steel
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 8:42 p.m.
You get what you pay for.
Robert E.
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 12:11 a.m.
Thanks for clarifying that Jack...I was referring more to overall mental health services rather than psychiatric hospitals per se...I stand corrected on that point...although I do know that when I started my career Engler put the final nail in the coffin...of what was left in the Detroit and metro Detroit area, several faciliites including some psychiatric hospitals that served primarily low income individuals and families were no more. I did not see it as a coincidence that there appeared to be many more homeless individuals on the streets who clearly were suffering from severe mental illness...
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 8:54 p.m.
Robert E. - I know it is popular to blame Engler for shutting down the mental hospitals. I didn't like the man either, but he was not really responsible. The largest mental institution in Michigan, Eloise, shut during the Blanchard years. The Comprehensive Mental Health bill in 1964, and the Medicare and Medicaid Acts in 1965 and 1966, resulted in the transition of mental health patients to general hospitals with psychiatric wings. That pretty much sealed the fate of mental hospitals. A federal court ruled in 1972 that mental hospitals had to compensate patients for the work they performed and whatever institutions were left couldn't really afford it. I know it is easy to stereotype and I know Engler cut funds to mental institutions, but the fact is there was not much left to cut.
Robert E.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:40 p.m.
...to be so callous?
Robert E.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:37 p.m.
Who said anything about not lifting a finger to contribute themselves? The point is providing homeless individuals with sufficient resources to have the opportunity to demonstrate responsibility...the rest is up to them. Are you saying we should just ignore the homeless and hope they go away? That results in people, including children, ending up dead. I'm not o.k. with that. The problem with a simplified comment like "You get what you pay for." is that it completely ignores the complexities and realities of homeless individuals and families. How does a statement like that contribute any substance to "the debate"? Isn't it people like you who are "refusing to discuss the issue"? Have you ever volunteered at the Delonis Center? I have. Doing so will illustrate the complexity and reality you so easily dismiss. Age-old and convenient stereotypes of homeless individuals who allegedly "take advantage of the system" may apply to some but I guarantee they don't apply to most. Programs designed to help the homeless DO help. The key is adequately sustaining these programs so they can help individuals and families become functionally independent. Accordingly, these are not simply"blind rewards". They have a specific purpose. However, there may be some in our community who "blindly" choose to provide a person in need with a hot meal or a warm jacket without "requiring anything in return". It's called human kindness and decency. I admit I was unaware that other communities are counting so much on people like me to support the homeless individuals they are transporting here. I need to do a better job then. Can you please tell me where the drop-off station is for the "Ann Arbor Homeless Express" so I can direct people to appropriate resources and shelter? Honestly, does the homeless population in Washtenaw Co. really detract from your quality of life in such a significant way to be so call
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:55 p.m.
and I read that 86.4% of all statistics are made up. ...What's your point.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:47 p.m.
The average age of a homeless person here is 9. 9! Furthermore, I've read that 25% of our nation's veterans are homeless. It is shameful how we treat children and vets.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 5:35 a.m.
Because a debate should be conducted about responsibility. I'm tired of hearing how shelters won't work and family won't work and churches won't work and government programs won't work and still, not one expectation that people should lift one finger to contribute themselves - only make it more difficult to provide anything. Other communities transport their homeless here specifically because they're counting on people like you - people who refuse to discuss the issue and simply name-call those who dare question the wisdom of blind rewards without requiring anything in return.
Robert E.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 4:07 a.m.
And also...why would one go out of their way to comment on a population their comment clearly indicates they care nothing about unless said comment was meant for nothing other than provocation?
Robert E.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 3:51 a.m.
How can they invest in the community when they have no home, no money, no family or none that cares, and likely a severe mental illness? Many of those with mental illness were kicked out on the streets when our friend Johnny Engler basically shut down the mental health infrastructure of this state. Are those without the ability to "pay for" their way just supposed to magically make it all better when they have been driven to the point of destitution and living on the streets? And how interesting it is when the same people who were supporting Johnny Engler's actions back then are now astounded that there aren't more mental health facilities available to those who clearly need it when violent gun crime occurs, all the while either fully supporting or doing absolutely nothing to reduce the widespread availability of guns? You know, I imagine some of these homeless adults also might have homeless children, many of whom who are likely traumatized from living on the streets. How do you suggest these children "pay for" their way? We're not talking about providing "everything for everyone". We're talking about providing homeless people and families with a chance at dignity, and also by providing that chance, the potential to fully vest in their community. Howz that for adding to the debate?
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 2:36 a.m.
No, not an attempt to bait. Just that if you try and provide everything for everyone, you will indeed attract people who have nothing vested in the community. It's sad that there are so many people out there who seek not to add to the debate, but merely to name-call those who disagree with them.
Robert E.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:27 a.m.
Indeed ordmad...thank you...if people truly feel the way ms does, its a sad commentary...the fact that its the first post on this thread obviously indicates an attempt to bait...
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:52 p.m.
Similarly the kindness you show others comes back to you. Best of luck.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Thank you in advance


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FAT has resurrected Postmodernism and turned it radical in the latest issue of Architectural Design, but it's still not cool, writes Steve Parnell
Postmodernism is back, but this time it's radical! According to Charles Jencks, who is half responsible for editing the Sept/Oct issue of Architectural Design, it never disappeared, but has merely been lurking in the shadows (or the closet) of late 20th and early 21st-century Modernists. The issue has a surreptitious agenda of outing architects as unlikely as Carsuo St John, Foreign Office Architects and even David Chipperfield as closet Postmodernists. But of course, like everything that the other half of the editors (Sam Jacob, Sean Griffiths and Charles Holland of FAT) of this issue do, there's a serious point propping up the facade. Those who say there's no more to Po-Mo than this rather camp front are the very people who look no further.
Unlike Brutalism, which is fashionably unfashionable, Po-Mo (at least the Anglo-American construct we have here) is unfashionably unfashionable. Unless, of course, you're being ironic. Any architect worth his black polo-neck would rather paint his MacBook Air a tangerine tartan than be called Postmodern. For not only is Po-Mo tasteless, it whiffs of 1980s commercialism. However, Postmodernism's origins were a critique of a High Modernism that had lost its values and got into bed with capitalism (and actually liked it), an anecdote nicely related by Kester Rattenbury's brief underground history. As FAT points out, architecture's inevitable link to capital also means that it is 'subject to fashion', one of architecture's most heretical taboos.
The 'radical' prefix is an attempt to reclaim Postmodernism's original motivation, highlighting Pierre Bourdieu's contention that taste is highly political and divides as well as unites. It's all about class and classification, an activity that this issue is keen on. The real difficulty with Po-Mo though is that its eclecticism is all inclusive – if everything is underlined, nothing is underlined. We're all Postmodern now, after all.
John Wiley & Sons September 2011 £22.99
Patrik Schumacher on parametricism - 'Let the style wars begin'
Jim Eyre: No Modernist conspiracy in architecture
Neo Avant-Garde and Postmodern: Postwar Architecture in Britain and Beyond
Postmodernism redux
Classicism vs parametricism: It's no contest
Unloved in Birmingham: Why modernism has so few defenders
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Rate of Interest Illustration
We have attempted our best to keep the most recent data refreshed as accessible from RBI, clients are asked for to affirm data with the respective bank before utilizing any provided information. The creator holds the privilege not to be responsible of the topicality, rightness, culmination, quality or nature of the data gave. Risk claims with respect to harm brought about by the utilization of any data gave, including any sort of data which is deficient or erroneous, will in this way be rejected.BankCircle | Your Own Financial Circle team


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Changing name and password for my Wi-Fi Hotspot
Setting up my router for internet manually
Selecting settings for automatic connection
Inserting a SIM into my router
Start using my router
You can select which network modes your router should use. Your choice determines the data speeds you can achieve. Remember, you need to end the internet connection.
Turn on your router
Tap and hold On/Off.
Establish connection to Wi-Fi Hotspot
Do the following in Windows:
Click the Windows icon.
Click Connect To.
If required, click the refresh icon.
You can see the name and password for your Wi-Fi Hotspot by tapping the WPS key twice in quick succession.
Highlight the name of your Wi-Fi Hotspot and click Connect.
Key in the password for your Wi-Fi Hotspot and click Connect.
Click Close.
A connection to your Wi-Fi Hotspot is established.
Establish a connection to the router web interface
If an incorrect PIN is entered three times in a row, your SIM will be blocked. To unblock your SIM, you'll need to key in your PUK. The PUK can be obtained by contacting Customer Service.Please note:If an incorrect PUK is entered ten times in a row, your SIM is blocked permanently. In this case, you'll need a new SIM from SingTel.
Open a browser.
Key in 192.168.1.1 in the address bar and tap Enter.
If you're asked to key in your PIN:
Highlight the field next to "PIN code" and key in your PIN (default is 1234).
Click Apply.
Click Log In.
Highlight the field below "User name" and key in admin
Highlight the field below "Password" and key in admin
Find "Network Settings"
Click Connection Settings.
Click Network Settings.
Select network mode
Click the drop down list next to " Preferred mode".
Highlight the required setting and tap Apply.
Click Log Out.
Click OK to confirm.
Tap anywhere to dismiss
Share this article via email! Just fill in these details and the characters in the box.
Fields marked with * are mandatory.


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✔64 farmhouse bathroom decor ideas on a budget 64
The Death of Farmhouse Bathroom Decor Start selecting fixtures once you've got your bathroom's in general style in mind. Whether your bathroom is large or little, all decor items can be put in ways that bring about your general relaxation. If you feel too cramped and rather claustrophobic in your bathroom, all you need to do is buy some lighter-colored paint and put it to use on the walls and ceiling. When you decorate a little bathroom, attempt to organize the functional refreshment space and prevent clutter. The kitchen is also a big focus in the home. Since it is an important room in the house, there are numerous ways to go about remodeling and improving it. For instance you may have a great rustic kitchen that makes you feel as if you're in a big farmhouse somewhere in rural France. The very first step to beginning a house remodel is to choose what room you want to work on first. It's essential to be organized and plan out your specific remodel before starting. Whether you prefer to finish an extensive remodel or an extremely straightforward home decoration undertaking, there are endless possibilities to improve any room in the house.… Continue Reading Read More


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Hollywood Stuntman Couldn't Pull Off This Crazy Parking Job
Russian dash cams have proven time and again drivers over there may not always put safety first.
This video once more backs up that claim.
It seems like an ordinary roadway until you see an out-of-control motorist veer across four lanes before switching directions and pulling perfectly into a parking space.
Basically, it looks like a stuntman went out for a joy ride to scare the bejesus of everyone.


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Pharmaceuticals in the US
Roche has brought many highly effective drugs onto the market and is a world leader in innovative cancer drugs. Other areas include viral infections, metabolic, central nervous system disorders and inflammatory diseases.
In the US our pharmaceuticals are marketed by Genentech.
Or visit our local website www.gene.com
Solutions for Diagnostics in the US
As the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, we supply a wide range of rapid, reliable instruments and tests for disease screening and diagnosis in laboratories, at the point of care, and for patient self-management.Or visit our local website diagnostics.roche.com


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NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee State University women's basketball team used one of its best shooting performances of the year to dispatch Austin Peay, 96-61, Saturday night in the Gentry Center.
The 96 points was a season-high for the Lady Tigers who extended their home winning streak to four with the victory. TSU had four players to score in double-digits, led by Jayda Johnson's 17 points. Rachel Allen added 15 while Chelsea Hudson and Alana Morris each tallied 14. I'mani Davis just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
Tennessee State improved to 9-14 overall and 6-4 in league play while Austin Peay fell to 9-15 (6-5 OVC).
The Lady Govs were led in scoring by Jennifer Nwokocha's 15 points while Nicole Olszewski tallied 13.
In the first half, Austin Peay burned a timeout with just 2:28 ticked off the clock after TSU jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Lady Tigers extended their advantage to 15-6 before the first media timeout but the Lady Govs responded with a run to cut the deficit down to four.
Over the next several possessions, however, TSU regained control and posted the next nine points to increase its advantage to 27-14.
The Lady Tigers dominated the rest of the half and outscored the opponent, 27-13. TSU led by as many as 30 points before going into the break ahead, 54-27.
The home team shot a scorching 61.1 percent from the field while Jayda Johnson exploded for 17 points off the bench in the first half.
Austin Peay made the first two buckets of the second frame but Tennessee State scored the next six points to go up, 60-31.
At the 15:24 mark, Alana Morris buried a jumper from near the top of the key to make the score, 67-31, in favor of the home team.
The Lady Tigers swelled the advantage up to 38 points and maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
The Lady Tigers forced Austin Peay into 23 turnovers, in which they turned into 25 points. TSU also controlled the glass, outrebounding APSU, 46-33.
TSU shot 53.6 percent from the field and 70.4 percent from the free-throw line. APSU finished the game with a 40.3 percent clip from the field but only managed to connect,54.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Tennessee State returns to action on Monday against Murray State. Game time is slated for 6:00 p.m. in the Gentry Center.


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The latest freebies in Mt Zion, IL
(updated June 7, 2020 at 5:12 am EST)
- Free Lemon Coffee Body Scrub Sample
- Free USB Christmas Tree
- Free Shea Butter 2oz Sample
- Not Sure If Anyone Has Posted This But I Emailed Chobani (yogurt Company) And They Sent Me Some Free Stickers And Some Free Coupons! The Yogurt Won't Be Free, But The Coupons And Stickers Are!!!
- Free Earthly Body CBD Wellness Products
- Quicklane: Free Oil Change/Tire Rotation For Essential Workers Expires June 30th
- FREE Key Made At MinuteKEY Kiosks Now Through June 30th!
- Free Online Neuroscience Course (aimed At High School/early College) By A STEM Nonprofit. Feat. Speakers From NINDS, Harvard, Etc. Disclosure: I Volunteer For The Nonprofit.
- Free Telemedicine Service For Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan And Florida Residents
- The University Of Minnesota Press Has Made All Their Ebooks On Racial Justice Free To Access Through August
- Free EBook "The End Of Policing"
- Free Cloth Mask From MaskHelpers
- Free Beef Booster Gloves
- RedRobin Free Birthday Burger
- A Total War Saga: TROY - DIVE INTO GREEK MYTH (Free Only For First 24 Hours During August 13th Launch)
- [US] "I Can't Breathe" Free Popsocket (free Shipping Also)
- A Reminder That If You Got A Free Pizza From Pizza Hut For Their Recent Promotion, It Expires Today.
- The Movie "Just Mercy" Is Free All This Month In US On Digital Platforms.
- Request A Free HRC Equality Sticker
- T-Mobile Tuesday 6-2-20: Free 1-night Disc Rental At Redbox, 3 Months Free Of Stadia Pro, 50% Off 1-month Learning Subscription Of KiwiCo, 40% Off + Free Shipping At Reebok, 10c Off Per Gallon At Shell
- Free Birthday Cake For Baby's 1st Birthday From Harris Teeter
- Overcooked - Crazy Co-op Cooking Action! (Free Now Until June 11 On Epic Games Store)
- Run The Jewels Released RTJ4 For Free
- [Google Play Store] G-Stomper Producer (pro Audio App) $12.99 But FREE For Now.
- Free Individual Meal When You Sign Up For Boston Market's Rotisserie Rewards Program
- Free MyFitnessPal Premium
- Free Sample From Rituals Cosmetics (reposted Because The Last Link Didn't Work)
- Tinyprints/Shutterfly: 48 Personalized Address Labels
- 7-Eleven Fights Back With 7 FREE Any Size Coffee And Fountain Drinks
- Free Hot Or Iced Coffee Every Friday In June At QuickChek
This is the list of freebies you can potentially get in Mt Zion, IL.
Please don't hold your breath that you'll get it all. Companies are often have limited quantities of items to give away. So move fast, click, and request while it's fresh.
If you requested some free stuff before and haven't got it in a month or two, politely write to a company and ask what happened. They often re-send free samples if you ask.
Please note: we only provide links to other websites. We don't send out any freebies.


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Sona, the Maven of the Strings
|Release date (US)
|September 21, 2010
|Highlights & notes
|Related links
|Patch chronology
|← Previous
|Next →
New Skins in the Store 编辑
PVP.net v1.19.14 编辑
- Users who are Level 30 will now be blocked from buying XP boosts from the Store, as they cannot earn further XP.
- Improved the matchmaking algorithm to match more effectively.
- Added a ticker to PVP.net to provide helpful information regarding the current server status.
- Fixed a bug where users could get non-functioning ban buttons for a Practice Game they were not the owner of.
- Fixed a bug where users were not properly notified if they searched for an invalid Summoner Name.
- Fixed a bug where the wrong map images would display in Practice Game lobbies.
- Fixed a bug where renaming Rune Pages would not show up properly in Champion Selection.
- Fixed a bug with the Rune Combiner tooltips.
- Fixed a bug with viewing other users' Rune Books.
- Fixed a bug where Bots could not be removed if a Practice Game changed ownership.
- Fixed a bug where users in chat rooms were not showing up in the Invite Screen.
- Fixed a bug where the Chat Room button was slightly misaligned.
League of Legends v184.108.40.206 编辑
英雄 编辑
Sona, the Maven of the Strings
- Hymn of Valor: Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, granting nearby allied champions bonus Damage and Ability Power. Additionally, casting this ability sends out bolts of sound, dealing magic damage to the nearest two enemy champions or monsters.
- Aria of Perseverance: Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, granting nearby allied champions bonus Armor and Magic Resist. Additionally, casting this ability sends out healing melodies, healing Sona and a nearby wounded ally.
- Song of Celerity: Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allied champions bonus Movement Speed. Additionally, casting this ability energizes nearby allies with a burst of speed.
- Crescendo (Ultimate): Sona plays her ultimate chord, forcing enemy champions to dance, taking magic damage over time.
- Power Chord (Innate): After casting 3 spells, Sona's next attack deals bonus magic damage. Additionally, Sona's Auras persist for 3 seconds after deactivating and set off a 2 second global cooldown.
- Power Fist Power Fist now resets the auto-attack timer.
- Terrify will now grant assists.
- Courage: damage reduction reduced to 30% from 35%.
- Perseverance is no longer removed by combat dehancing effects such as Blood Scent Blood Scent.
- Fixed various bugs that caused Demacian Justice to not work correctly sometimes.
- Explosive Cask Explosive Cask now interacts properly with spell shields like .
- Counter Strike now has a buff that shows the duration of the effect.
- Death Defied:
- It now also grants 20% death timer reduction to compensate for the 8 seconds Karthus is active after dying.
- The code has been remade to fix some bugs and usability issues.
- Lightning Rush Lightning Rush is no longer castable while disabled.
- Nether Blade: mana cost reduced to 25 at all ranks from 30/40/50/60/70.
- Riftwalk:
- It no longer shows cast particles over fog of war.
- It now leaves a buff showing the duration of the increased cost and damage of subsequent casts.
- Shunpo no longer ignores enemy spell shields like .
- Killer Instincts Killer Instincts no longer reduces true damage when used with Shunpo.
- Fixed a bug where Caustic Spittle was giving multiplicative attack speed rather than base.
- Defensive Ball Curl can now be cancelled.
- Fixed a bug where Jack In The Box Jack In The Box fearing enemies didn't grant an assist.
- Fling now deals damage at the start of the spell rather than when the target hits the ground.
- Radiance now has a brief cooldown when activated with the goal of preventing quick cancellation after initiation.
- Ambush:
- The first attack after breaking stealth will now benefit from the bonus attack speed.
- It will now provide its attack speed bonus if you break stealth by casting a spell.
- Crimson Pact no longer heals Vladimir when his ability power increases.
- Fixed a bug where Transfusion was not restoring enough health from Spell Vamp.
- Fixed a bug where Transfusion's tooltip showed it restoring less health than it did.
- Chrono Shift:
- Duration reduced to 13 seconds from 15.
- Cooldown increased to 180 seconds at all ranks from 180/160/140 seconds.
物品 编辑
- New
- Recipe: + 425 gold.
- +200 Health.
- UNIQUE Passive: Reduces ability cooldowns by 10%.
- New
- Recipe: + + 500 gold.
- +330 Health.
- +25 Health Regen per 5 sec.
- +12 Mana Regen per 5 sec.
- UNIQUE Passive: Reduces ability cooldowns by 15%.
- UNIQUE Active: Nearby champions gain 40% movement speed for 2 seconds (60 second cooldown).
- Combine cost reduced to 450 from 850. New total cost is 2250.
- +430 Health.
- +450 Mana.
- Unique Aura: Nearby allies gain 20 hp/5 and 9 mp/5.
- Unique Passive: Reduces ability cooldowns by 10%.
- Unique Passive: When you cast a spell, you regenerate 50 health and 20 mana over 2 seconds. This effect has a 3 second cooldown and no longer affects allies.
- : proc damage raised to 100% from 80%.
- : proc damage raised to 150% from 130%.
- Combine cost increased to 700. Total cost is now 2110.
- Unique passive conversion percent dropped to 1.5% from 2%.
- Unique passive changed to: Each time you attack, you gain one maximum mana (3 second cooldown). Each time you use an ability, you gain four maximum mana (3 second cooldown.) Bonus caps at 1000.
- no longer lists as building into .
- s and s now show their remaining duration (in seconds) in their mana bar. Both teams can see the remaining duration.
- no longer deals damage when held by a clone.
- Blood Scent Blood Scent. : effect is no longer removed by combat dehancers such as
Summoner Spells 编辑
- Ghost: movement speed increase reduced to 27% from 32%.
- Haste Haste: movement speed increase reduced to 6% from 8%.
General 编辑
- Fixed a bug where some knock up and knock away spells failed to interrupt enemy channeled spells.
- Fixed a bug where Summoner Teleport refreshed your W slot's cooldown when used.
- Fixed a bug where the aggro outline was not appearing.
- Disconnected players will now run home if their Recall is interrupted.
- Disconnected players now gain 1000 Magic Resist after 1 minute of continuous disconnection.
- 20px Ebonmaw: no longer grants the Crest of Crushing Wrath buff to dead allied champions.
- Crest of Crushing Wrath: now has a proper cooldown timer.
- Decreased loading time by up to 30% depending on the hardware.
- Fixed several client crashes.
|League of Legends: Release History
|Season Three
|Season Two
|Season One
|Closed Beta
|Alpha Stage


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There's a new old Star Fox coming to the Nintendo 3DS, a remake of the Nintendo 64 classic that, according to Nintendo, "ups the Star Fox mania" with a pair of new features, seemingly designed for Star Fox maniacs.
It's not the improved take on Star Fox 64's multiplayer mode, though that's in the 3DS update and playable over a local wi-fi connection. There are new multiplayer modes and weapons in Star Fox 64 3D. It's also not the graphical overhaul of the Nintendo 64 original.
It's these additions:
- "The new Score Attack Mode allows the player to revisit any planet and play for a high score on that level."
- "New features also allow first-time players to enjoy the excitement of Star Fox."
Crazy. Just crazy. Star Fox 64 3D doesn't have a firm release date yet; Nintendo says 2011. The Nintendo 3DS game wasn't playable during this week's event in New York City—even though it was playable at E3 2010—so we don't expect it to be among those launch window games due by June.


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Just a brief revelation to share with any readers (perhaps they stumble here through Google, or by some horrible accident :).
I've had an Abit IP35-E motherboard in my HTPC setup for six months now, and while a great overclocking board, stable and packed with nice features (yeah, right, this is the budget version), I haven't been able to coerce my Debian Lenny installation copied from previous IDE hard drive, or any Linux Live-CD to properly recognize my 500GB Samsung SATA hard drive.
Because booting to Linux rebooted with USB keyboard on, and IRQ options sometimes seemed to work their magic and temporarily get me to login prompt, I figured there was some IRQ conflict at work. I searched for the fix just half a year ago with no luck, but after 5 months of complete Linux abstince (spelled that wrong, I did), I stumbled upon this:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/812946/ (search for "Linux")
Turns out all I needed was to swap SATA cable from SATA1 port to SATA5. Voila, now everything works great, no IRQ conflicts there (only SATA1-SATA4 ports conflict with USB controller).
Hope this helps someone!


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DULUTH, Ga. - Authorities say a missing red Porsche may be a key to solving a slaying in Gwinnett County.
Police in Duluth have issued an alert seeking information on a 1988 Porsche 944 that belonged to 57-year-old Don Singer.
Police say Singer's daughter found his body wrapped in blankets inside his garage on Thursday. He was last seen alive on March 23.
Authorities say the Porsche is believed to be stolen.
Duluth police detectives are awaiting test results before determining a cause of death.


text:
BestLifeDesign necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 87 diseños de 22 diseñadores freelance.
Best Life Design
I'm Dr. Mollie Marti. My mission is crystal clear: to use every drop of my potential and to help as many others as possible live their best life.
I'm a sports and performance psychologist who has brought together a tremendous group of fresh, transparent, authentic, passionate voices to collaborate at Best Life Design (read: not same old, same old!). This membership community will be a hub for conscious entrepreneurs and service professionals to grow thriving businesses while living their best life. Best Life Design provides leading edge tools, education, and inspiration in all areas of life design, including business, health, fitness, relationships, finances, spirituality, and success. It has a built-in corporate tithe to Habitat for Humanity.
I am an entrepreneur, lawyer, professor of psychology, and a coach to elite performers. I'm author of The 12 Factors of Business Success: Discover, Develop and Leverage Your Strengths and Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success.
With my unique ability to combine the science of success with the art of exceptional living, I'm a frequent speaker, trainer, and resource for local and national media. I live with my husband, 3 children, and large family of pets on an apple orchard in scenic northeast Iowa. Can you tell I'm passionate about taking a bite out of life - and helping others make a BIG impact?!
-Business owners and principals who serve others (speakers, coaches, consultants, solo-entrepreneurs, sales people, professionals like lawyers, doctors, dentists)
-70% women - want to be welcoming to men and move toward 50/50 split
-Ages 40-55
-Members have a strong desire to make a big impact and improve the world
Self standing logo, easily replicable on websites, shirts, and merchandise.
Need logo to lend itself to incorporation into a website and newsletter header.
Attaching 2 headers I've had designed - very different from each other. Answer lies in between.
Final Best Life Design tagline: Your Home for High Impact Living
Attaching general color scheme - blue, green & orange (with white or charcoal)
Attaching badges that will be displayed on member and contributor websites.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Runway Looks We Love: Marc Jacobs
Designer: Marc Jacobs
Location: 69th Regiment Armory
Notable guests: Drew Barrymore, Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci, Michelle Dockery and Rachel Zoe
What was it like: An "end-of-the-world" environment: A black sandy runway, larger-than-life heaters (that turned the armory into a vast sauna), littered debris and destroyed fashion glossies, a wrecked ship and strategically placed teepees.
Why we love this collection: Always the non-conformist, Marc Jacobs was adamant about breaking away from the "spring" theme (think: soft fabrics, pastels and florals). So, he went in the opposite direction, with dark laced-up Victorian-style gowns, cool-weather heavy fabrics (like, wool), fringed boots and moody prints in dark shades. And he succeeded—none of them scream "spring," save for the occasional hibiscus print and white accents.
• All Fashion Week News: Everything You Need To Know
• The Latest From Marc By Marc Jacobs
• Runway Looks We Love: Ralph Lauren
— Wendy Wallace


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In an earlier post for ThinkAdvisor, I highlighted the fact that many Americans in the 76-million-strong baby boom cohort are relying on 401(k) plans to fund their retirements. With more than $4.6 trillion in assets, these plans represent a sizable market that is increasingly moving toward the open-architecture model familiar to many independent advisors.
This move toward open architecture is creating new opportunities for qualified advisors to provide investment services to both plan participants and plan sponsors, but "qualified" has become a more rarified concept. New government regulations, part of the 2012 update of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), have strengthened the definition of a "qualified advisor" and focus on the industry's "F" word: fiduciary. Now understanding your fiduciary responsibility as a retirement advisor is crucial.
Advisors who are new to retirement plan services may never have been subject to rules mandating fiduciary responsibilities, but ignorance is no excuse — you need to learn all about the F-word to thrive in the competitive retirement plan space.
There are two new sections of ERISA that govern the fiduciary relationship between a retirement plan and a service provider: ERISA 408(b)2 and 404(a)5. For both, service providers are required to disclose in writing whether or not they are fiduciaries. ERISA 408(b)2 requires that all service providers — including advisors — fully disclose their fees to plan sponsors. ERISA 404(a)5 requires the same disclosures to plan participants. These rules are designed to ensure that plan sponsors can determine the cost of services, and that plan participants receive all relevant information concerning the plan's investment menu and related service and administrative fees.
With new fee disclosure and written fiduciary identification mandates, 401(k) plan sponsors now need and desire to work with fiduciary advisors. So, advisors should put into place fiduciary best practices to effectively manage liability for the plan sponsor. These best practices include developing and maintaining an investment policy statement; establishing a documented investment selection process; and evaluating and monitoring, on an ongoing basis, all investment options available to the 401(k) plan.
Advisors also need to be aware of an older, legacy rule, 404(c). This section of the vast ERISA law requires that they provide a diversified and broad range of investment menu choices, with benchmarked performance disclosures.
The fiduciary requirements of ERISA 408 and 404 apply to all 401(k) plan advisors. This creates a problem for registered representatives who want to serve the plan market but are not registered investment advisors. They cannot serve as fiduciaries, which creates compliance exposures for broker-dealer firms. Broker-dealers and their registered reps can comply via outsourcing the fiduciary advice and management components of a 401(k) plan to qualified, competent and well-resourced investment advisors with the requisite level of expertise and resources. In fact, ERISA's "prudent expert rule" implies that plan owners should outsource to independent experts if they themselves do not have the necessary qualifications.
In outsourcing these responsibilities, different levels of fiduciary protection are available. Outsourced ERISA 3(21) fiduciary advisors assume, in writing, "co-fiduciary" responsibilities with the plan sponsor. These advisors offer objective advice and recommendations to the plan sponsor or its investment committee, who in turn make the actual decisions about selecting, monitoring and replacing plan investments. Outsourced ERISA 3(38) investment managers go a step further – they actually assume the responsibility, discretionary authority and liability for selecting, monitoring and replacing investment options, and implementing diversified asset allocation portfolios.
Outsourcing's benefits to the advisor are clear. First, the advisor can operate from a position of trust and loyalty that deepens the relationship with the client. Second, the advisor can tap investment and administrative expertise and delegate liability, while remaining the primary service provider and relationship manager for the plan sponsor.
Plan sponsors and participants both can benefit from outside fiduciary guidance and expertise, whichever type of relationship they choose. Outsourcing the advice and management components of a 401(k) plan helps to reduce owner liability and client risks, and tends to increase employees' chances of successful participation in the plan. Research by behavioral finance experts Shlomo Benartzi and Richard Thaler have documented in their paper "Heuristics and Biases in Retirement Savings Behavior" that employees can be encouraged to save more, take fewer loans and stick with retirement plans when they are well-constructed.
As a result of the landmark changes to ERISA, the standards for advisors to 401(k) plans have been raised from suitability, which governs the broker-dealer industry, to the higher fiduciary standards of loyalty, care, prudence, diligence and skill that are required for investment advisors acting solely in the best interests of their clients. The new ERISA regulations are important and complicated. Advisors need to learn and use fiduciary best practices to fulfill their new obligations and avoid liability — and should be aware that they can turn to outsourcers for help.
Author's disclaimer: For investment professional use only. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The opinions expressed herein reflect our judgment as of the date of writing and are subject to change at any time without notice. They are not intended to constitute legal, tax, securities or investment advice or a recommended course of action in any given situation. Investment decisions should always be made based on the investor's specific financial needs and objectives, goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Information obtained from third party resources are believed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Any mention of a specific security is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as a recommendation or advice regarding the specific security mentioned. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or guarantee protection against losses.


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Wow-- I really underestimated their popularity.
Small decisions, made consistently, have huge impacts. Think about what you do, be mindful of the results. Accept responsibility for your choices & do not blame others for your behavior. I speak for myself.
I thought this part was interesting :
"...one industry expert, who asked to remain anonymous, tells us: "Rarely does a famous star want to do their own thing.
Large beauty companies do an enormous amount of research. Celebrity perfumes usually begin with a focus group. They'll ask consumers, 'Who do you most respond to? Who do you want to be?' Armed with that information, they'll usually approach a celebrity."
I don't really buy this:
Stephen C Mormoris, senior vice-president, global marketing at Coty Beauty, says the celebrities on its roster (among them SJP, J Lo, Kylie Minogue, Beyoncé and the Beckhams) spend, on average, about 100 hours (or 14 working days) developing each of their perfumes. The finished product is not, as you might cynically think, merely wafted under a star's nostrils to elicit a yes or a no.
Facebook group: Perfume Lovers in Singapore, Unite! (You don't have to be in Singapore to join.)
Let's hope bubblegum pop will not bring about a bubblegum-type, fast food-type fragrance industry
The other day my friend and I went perfume shopping, and as we approached the counter, she said "Oh! I wonder if they have Brittany Spears! What? I like her perfume." She went straight to the celebrity perfumes and did not sniff anything else. On the ride home she kept saying things like "I think I like my Rihanna arm better than I like my Katy Perry arm." Which sort of brought to mind the image of my friend as a zombie ripping off pop stars arms and sampling to see which tastes best. Anyway, I did smell the Rihanna and it smelled... good, but it's too hard for me to separate a fragrance from the person whose name is attached to it, even if he of she has nothing to do with the creation of the perfume.
I think we can be confident that, most of the time, these things are created by a plethora of market researchers. I go back and forth on that too. I believe everyone can appreciate beauty, and there's no reason to think that a panel of ordinary people can't figure out what smells good. In fact, they'll probably come up with something lovely--not a single out of place note. On the other hand, what does that do to art? What is the role of the artist in light of that kind of approach? Not just with fragrance, but with EVERYTHING. Isn't there something lovely about an out of place note, something just a little discordant, something different? I don't want to be a snob, and I don't want to rage against the masses just because they're the masses, but I think we might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater by thinking too much in terms of the bottom line and not enough in terms of artistic expression.
Seeking: Bottles/decants : of Pomegranate Noir, Midnight in Paris EDP, Feeling Man, Essence of John Galliano, Azzaro pour Homme (vintage),...etc.
Seeking decant/sample of Aramis Calligraphy Rose, Penhaligon's Esprit de Roi, PdE Ambre Russe, Jil Sander Feeling Man ....etc. I have samples to swap.
More HERE
Please PM me !
Some celebrities don't even use the products they promote. Jessica Simpson was sued in 2006 by her own brand of jeans for not promoting them publicly.
"That lover which is like fragrance
Whose voice is as beautiful as Urdu.
She who hides in the flowers
you can only find her from her fragrance."
"Chaiyya Chaiyya," from the film, "Dil Se."
This link should be required reading before discussing celebrity fragrances. Great find!
There is no beauty / That cannot be more abused / To beauty's effect.
/ blog:// https://cologniac.com / raging for the machines


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This is a basic tutorial on C++. If this has already been done, sorry. Part of the reason for this tutorial is to ring in my upgraded membership to AO member instead of newbie. The other reason is to educate those who need it. Lets start the tutorial.
A beginners guide to C++ (Written by beginners for beginners)
First off, finding a good compiler. I use MSVC but I have heard good things about DevC/C++. there are other forums which address this problem. The most important part of coding is making readable code. I will include some examples that are in good form in another post. I will also talk about form throughout this tutorial. To include text that won't be compiled (Meaning C++ compiler will skip over it) use this /*insert text here that you wish to be ignored. This is good for as many lines as are kept between the asterix and slash*/ or //this is only good for the current line.
1) The libraries; you must always select a library to use. The only library you will be dealing with right now is "iostream.h". The code for a library looks like this:
#include <iostream.h>
#include must always be used and the library must always be between <>. This is always the first line of code. Next line of code should be:
int main()
Just include this and don't ask why yet. We will hit that later. Remember int main() must always be in your program outside of the brackets.
Lets skip ahead to the fun stuff:
/* Ian A. AKA Dark Star Prometheus 10/19/03 Hello world*/
#include <iostream.h>
int main()
{ //always use this bracket here
cout<<"Hello World!"; //cout *, "" *!, ;*|
return(0); //return (0) just tells the computer that the program executed normally
} //need bracket here too.
* cout stand for console out, it just means that the computer is going to display text.
*! "" are just used to denote text that will be displayed.
*| ; this symbol just means the end of a line. You will almost always use this(Except for IF statements and some others. that will be later though.)
You should indent the lines after the bracket so your code is easier to read.
2) More with cout. cout can be used for more than just printing text, it can also play with numbers. Mathematical operations in C++ are addition "+", subtraction"-", multiplication"*", and division"/". That's it, Yes that is really it. Oh so I lied, shoot me. There is also Modulus "%". This mods the numbers, example: 22%5 = 2. This is basically the left over amount from 5 going into 20 - current number. I hope you get it, it is hard for me to explain. It is the remainder, that is the word I wanted! 22 mod 5= 2 the remainder (cause 20/5 4 times and 2 is left over from 22) Anyway mod is used often, so learn it.
now on to practical use of this info.
cout<< Oh yeah I forgot to mention before, you always need "<<" it signify's the start of a new command.
cout<< 20 * 5;
the above line will not print "20 * 5" when the program is compiled, it will display 100, which is the answer. This is how one creates math problems in C++.
Some code to demonstrate:
#include <iostream.h>
int main()
cout<<"This program will display the area of a circle"<<endl; //endl just skips to the next line
//when the program is compiled and run.
cout<<"Radius = "<<10<<endl;
cout<<"Area = "<<3.14*10*10;
When run this program will display the following lines:
This program will display the area of a circle
Radius = 10
Area = 314
See what it did? It did exactly what I told it to do. Multiplied 3.14 *10 *10 the equation for calculating the area of a circle. This is all for now. I will do more tommorow.
Any questions/comments/flames should be posted or emailed.
If you have an urgent question feel free to E-mail me at firstname.lastname@example.com
More on this tommorrow. Bye!


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GASTONIA � Three former local standouts have helped East Carolina into Saturday�s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and highlight a year in which several local products had impressive seasons.
For the Pirates (8-4, 7-1 Conference USA), who play Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday at noon, Josh Clark (North Gaston Class of 2008) played in seven games (five starts) at offensive center, Maurice Falls (South Point 2008) had 20 tackles, including 2 1-2 sacks, one fumble recovery and three forced fumbles in 12 games and Zeek Bigger (Ashbrook 2011) had 13 tackles in 12 games.
East Carolina is one of six teams in bowl games that include local products.
For Duke (6-6, 3-5 ACC), which plays Cincinnati Dec. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in Charlotte�s Belk Bowl, Carson Ginn (South Point 2011) played in three games on the offensive line for the Blue Devils and Carlos Wray (Shelby 2012) had three tackles in eight games.
For Florida (11-1, 7-1 SEC), which plays Louisville Jan. 2 at 8:30 p.m. in New Orleans� Sugar Bowl, Jonathan Bullard (Crest 2012) had 26 tackles, including 1 1-2 sacks for the Gators. Bullard also was named to the All-SEC freshman team.
For Navy (8-4), which plays Arizona State Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. in San Francisco�s Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Buddy Green (Stanley 1972) is the Midshipmen�s defensive coordinator.
For N.C. State (7-5, 4-4 ACC), which plays Vanderbilt Dec. 31 at noon in Nashville, Tenn.�s Music City Bowl, C.J. Wilson (Lincolnton 2008) had 12 tackles, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and one pass interception for the Wolfpack.
And for South Carolina (10-2, 6-2 SEC), which plays Michigan Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. in Tampa, Fla.�s Outback Bowl, Patrick Fish (Burns 2010) had three punts for a 35.0 average in two games for the Gamecocks.
Here�s a look at other local products who played college football this fall:
Appalachian State � Drew Stewart (North Gaston 2009) had 34 extra points and six field goals for 52 points for the Mountaineers (8-4, 6-2), who were Southern Conference tri-champions and played in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Brevard � Kelvin Jeter (Forestview 2010) had 58 yards rushing in one game, Ty Jeter (Forestview 2011) had 189 yards rushing and three touchdowns in nine games, Jalen Littlejohn (Lincolnton 2012) had six tackles in two games, Bradley Newton (West Lincoln 2010) played in six games and Shelton Price (Kings Mountain 2012) played in seven games (six starts) on the offensive line for the Tornados (2-9, 1-6 South Atlantic Conference).
Carson-Newman � Tyron Douglas (Clover 2010) had 812 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns and five catches for 51 yards in 11 games for the Eagles (9-3, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference), who advanced to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. Douglas was named second team All-SAC running back for his efforts.
Chattanooga � Former Forestview standout Keon Williams (Chattanooga, Tenn., Red Bank 2010) had 155 yards rushing and three touchdowns in nine games for the Mocs (6-5, 5-3 Southern Conference).
University of Chicago � Ben Cheaney (Shelby 2011) had two tackles and averaged 52.1 yards on 31 kickoffs in 10 games for the Maroons (4-6, 0-3 UAA).
The Citadel � Aaron Miller (Clover 2011) rushed for 262 yards and five touchdowns and passed for 513 yards and one touchdown in 11 games for the Bulldogs (7-4, 5-3 Southern Conference).
Clemson � Charlie Harbison (Crest 1978, Gardner-Webb 1982) was co-defensive coordinator for the Tigers (10-2, 7-1 ACC) before taking a similar position at Auburn in December.
Colorado State � Lanston Tanyi (Shelby 2008) had 77 tackles, including three sacks, and two fumble recoveries in 12 games (11 starts) and was named second team All-Mountain West Conference for the Rams (4-8, 3-5).
Davidson � Tim Hines (Kings Mountain 2011) caught 17 passes for 162 yards in six games (four starts) and Cameron Harris (Kings Mountain 2011) had two tackles in four games for the Wildcats (2-9, 2-6 Pioneer Conference). Also for Davidson, Tripp Merritt (Burns 1986) was fired as head coach after eight seasons and a 31-51 coaching record.
Elizabeth City State � Tyler Gill (Burns 2008) had one tackle in 10 games for the Vikings (8-4, 6-1), who were CIAA runnerup and Pioneer Bowl champions after a 28-13 win over Tuskegee earlier this month.
Fayetteville State � Michael Adams (North Gaston 2010) had seven yards rushing in one game for the Broncos (2-8, 1-6 CIAA).
Gardner-Webb � Trever Austin (Crest 2011) had eight field goals and 23 extra points for 47 points, Jonathan Sherrill (Lincolnton 2012) had 11 tackles in 11 games, Michael Cunningham (Lincolnton 2012) had nine tackles in 11 games and Dylan Hopper (Crest 2012) started 11 games at offensive guard for the Bulldogs (3-8, 2-4 Big South Conference).
Greensboro College � Josh Thompson (East Lincoln 2008) played in two games for the Pride (5-5, 3-4 USA South Conference).
Guilford � Shelton Watson (Kings Mountain 2011) had 11 tackles in five games and Daniel Biggerstaff (South Point 2009) had 19 tackles in 10 games for the Quakers (5-5, 4-3 Old Dominion Athletic Conference).
Lenoir-Rhyne � Josh Justice (South Point 2010) had eight yards rushing in two games and Chris Coleman (Crest 1995) was a wide receiver coach for the Bears (9-3, 6-1), who were South Atlantic Conference champions and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Livingstone � Damien Greatheart (Cherryville 2009) played in one game for the Blue Bears (2-8, 2-5 CIAA).
Louisburg � Bubba McDowell (East Lincoln 2012) had 451 all-purpose yards, including 389 kickoff return yards, for the Hurricanes (6-3), who lost 30-27 to Ellsworth Community College in the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Falls, Iowa earlier this month.
Mars Hill � B.J. Richmond (South Point 2002) averaged 38.8 yards in 48 punts for the Lions (6-4, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference).
North Carolina � A.J. Blue (North Gaston 2008) had 433 yards rushing and nine touchdowns and nine catches for 80 yards and one touchdown in 12 games, Norkeithus Otis (Ashbrook 2011) had three tackles, including one sack, and one forced fumble in 10 games and Jheranie Boyd (Ashbrook 2009) caught four passes for 44 yards and one touchdown in six games for the Tar Heels (8-4, 5-3 ACC).
North Carolina A&T � Major Kay (North Lincoln 2012) played in one game and Larry Raper (Shelby 2009) caught 16 passes for 309 yards and one touchdown for the Aggies (7-4, 5-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference).
North Greenville � Griffin Marsh (Clover 2011) played in three games and Tyrece Crawford (Kings Mountain 2012) played in two games for the Crusaders (5-6).
Southern Mississippi � Jeep Hunter (East Lincoln 1985) was a secondary coach for the Golden Eagles (0-12, 0-8 Conference USA), but was fired at season�s end a long with head coach Ellis Johnson, a former Gardner-Webb coach.
Southern U. � Tyrone �Dawson� Odom (Crest 1992) became interim head coach and led the Jaguars to a 4-5 record and was promoted to full-time coach of Southern U. (4-7, 3-6 SWAC).
UNC-Pembroke � Jason Perry (East Lincoln 2009) had 24 catches for 220 yards and one touchdown in 10 games and Preston Perry (East Lincoln 2010) had 38 tackles and two interceptions in eight games for the Braves (6-4).
VMI � Justin Price (Crest 2011) had six tackles in five games for the Keydets (2-9, 1-5 Big South Conference).
Western Carolina � Darius Ramsey (Burns 2012) had 775 all-purpose yards, including 503 yards and two touchdowns rushing, in nine games (four starts), Richard Sigmon (East Gaston 2011) had six field goals, 23 extra point kicks and one two-point conversion for 43 points, London Richardson (Burns 2012) played in 10 games and Quevalas Murray (Shelby 2009) started in 11 games at center for the Catamounts (1-10, 0-8 Southern Conference). Also, Ramsey was named to the all-conference freshman team.
Wingate � Josh Clawson (Clover 2009) had 23 catches for 198 yards and one touchdown in 11 games (10 starts), Raymond Grant (Burns 2004) played in 11 games, Nortavius Otis (Ashbrook 2012) had 18 tackles in 10 games (one start), Will Poteat (West Lincoln 2010) had one tackle in 11 games (10 starts), Dillon Tucker (North Lincoln 2011) had one tackle in 10 games, Brandon Carpenter (Lincolnton 2011) had three tackles and two fumble recoveries in 11 games and Hamilton Bradley (Ashbrook 2007) had 19 tackles, including 3 1-2 sacks, and a fumble recovery in 11 games for the Bulldogs (6-5, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference).
Winston-Salem State � Curtis McGill (Lincolnton 2008) had 26 tackles, three pass interceptions and two fumble recoveries in 13 games for the Rams (14-1, 7-0), who won the CIAA championship and advanced to the NCAA Division II championship game.
Wofford � Jack Teachey (Cherryville 1987) was a defensive line coach for the Terriers (9-4, 6-2 Southern Conference), who advanced to the FCS quarterfinals.
Richard Walker: 704-869-1841; twitter.com/JRWalk22


text:
Here is an interesting photo from 16 October 1942. These boys all knew they would likely be drafted. These men decided to enlist together so they could at least choose their branch of the military. This picture was snapped in Ogden, Weber, Utah before catching the train to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
Kenneth William Barrow (1921-2011)
Ellis Marion Lund (1921-1984)
Milo James Ross (1921-2014)
James "Jim" Fay Jardine (1921-1994)
Glenn Geilmann (1920-2013)
Victor R Wayment (1920-2013)
Richard Earl Collins (1921-2003)
All of them were fortunate to return alive from the war.


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Grand Junction, Colo., May 15, 2013-The success of the Colorado Beacon Consortium (CBC) represents one leg of an ongoing journey–a journey that began before the three-year Beacon project and will continue well into the future. CBC Director Patrick Gordon will deliver this message to a national audience during a May 22, 2013 meeting, "The Beacon Community Experience: Illuminating the Path Forward–Lessons from the field."
At this event, sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), Gordon will share lessons learned; specifically, he will talk about how local leadership within the community leveraged technology infrastructure to move toward better value in health care.
Joining Gordon on the stage will be the following thought leaders:
Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health IT.
Carol Beasley, MPPM, vice president, business development, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH, FACP, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care
Susan Dentzer,senior policy advisor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and health policy analyst, PBS NewsHour
Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform; senior fellow, Brookings Institution
Gordon will provide the "boots-on-the-ground" perspective, describing how Western Colorado is moving toward establishment of an accountable community in which health care providers adopt advanced practice-based tools and develop new skills that allow them to account for the health of the community as a whole and fundamentally change the ways they practice medicine.
Addressing past, present and future experience in Colorado, Gordon will explain how the Beacon work has helped build a bridge to population health accountability, payment reform and patient activation–within a single strategy.
"Resources developed during the Beacon demonstration–including the health information infrastructure, workforce development for practice transformation, data collection and measurement–provide ongoing support as care teams work to redesign physician practices. Beacon helped us build a more effective framework for whole-person care," he explained.
CBC's practice transformation resources support the deployment of tools and the development of skills required to deliver comprehensive primary care. This, in turn, creates a viable foundation for value-based payment and accountability for the total cost of care. CBC's approach has emphasized person-centered care, patient self-management and integration of behavioral health.
CBC's 2012 annual report and accompanying video describe how CBC fosters better health by meaningfully using health IT to transform care delivery.
CBC has earned national recognition for its efforts on several fronts. It received a Healthcare Informatics Innovator Award, and a profile appeared in the February 2013 Healthcare Informatics. In addition, The Commonwealth Fund recently released a case study describing how CBC managed to build the capacity needed to exchange health data and transform clinical care, and how CBC uses health IT for quality improvement.
The ONC meeting will be videocast; the link is available here. For more information about this videocast or the Beacon Community Program, please contact the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT at http://www.healthit.gov/newsroom/contact-us.
About the Colorado Beacon Consortium
The Colorado Beacon Consortium is made up of executive-level representation from four mission-driven, not-for-profit, Western Colorado-based organizations, all of which have nationally acknowledged track records of coordination to achieve superior outcomes. They are Mesa County Independent Physicians' Practice Association, Quality Health Network, Rocky Mountain Health Plans and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. The Colorado Beacon Consortium's mission is to optimize the efficiency, quality and performance of our health care system, and integrate the delivery of care and use of clinical information to improve community health. The geographic focus of the Consortium's activities includes the Colorado counties of Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Garfield, Gunnison, Pitkin and Rio Blanco. To learn more, visit www.coloradobeaconconsortium.org.


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The following is an adapted excerpt from the 2018 edition of Investing Made Simple.
When putting together a portfolio, the first thing to decide is your desired asset allocation. That is, how much of your portfolio should be invested in each asset class (e.g., U.S. stocks, international stocks, and bonds)?
Your tolerance for risk is the most important factor in determining an appropriate asset allocation. The primary factors determining your risk tolerance are:
- The degree of flexibility you have with regard to your financial goals, and
- Your personal comfort level with volatility in your portfolio.
Financial Flexibility
Example 1: Jason is a construction worker. He's 57, and each day he is becoming increasingly aware that his body is unlikely to be able to continue in his line of work for more than two or three more years. Between his Social Security and savings, Jason is pretty sure that his basic expenses will be covered — but only barely. Because Jason can neither delay his retirement nor reduce his expenses, Jason has a low ability to take risk.
Example 2: Debbie is 54. She hopes to retire at 62 with enough savings to provide for $50,000 of annual spending. Debbie likes her work though, so she wouldn't terribly mind having to work until her late 60s. And $50,000 is just a goal. She knows she could get by just fine with about 70% of that. Because Debbie's goals are flexible, she has a greater ability to take risk.
Comfort with Volatility
Your risk tolerance is also affected by your comfort level with volatility. One way to estimate this comfort level is to ask yourself, "How far could my portfolio fall before I started losing sleep, feeling stressed, or wanting to sell everything and move to cash?"
When answering this question, be sure to answer both as a percentage and as a dollar value — otherwise you may come to inaccurate conclusions. For example, you may remember that at age 25 you experienced a 40% loss and handled it just fine. But if you're 45 now, and your portfolio is 10-times the size that it was at age 25, a 40% loss could be an entirely different experience.
When assessing your risk tolerance, it's generally wise to guess conservatively. If you end up with a portfolio that's slightly too conservative for your tastes, you'll only be missing out on a relatively small incremental return.
In contrast, if you end up with a portfolio that's too aggressive, you might end up panicking during periods of high volatility. Even one instance of getting out of the market after a sharp decline can be more than enough to eliminate the extra return you were hoping to earn from having a stock-heavy allocation.
Stocks vs. Bonds
Once you have an idea of your risk tolerance level, it's time to move on to the first (and most important) part of the asset allocation decision: your stock/bond allocation.
One rule of thumb that serves as a reasonable starting point for analysis is to consider limiting your stock allocation to the maximum tolerable loss that you determined above, times two. Or, said differently, assume that your stocks can lose 50% of their value at any time.
The most important thing to remember with asset allocation guidelines, however, is that they're just that: guidelines. For example, with regard to this particular rule of thumb, it's important to understand that a loss greater than 50% certainly could occur, despite the fact that such declines are historically uncommon. This is especially true if your stock holdings are not well diversified or if your non-stock holdings are high-risk such that they could decline significantly in value at the same time that your stocks do.
U.S. Stocks vs. International Stocks
It's not terribly surprising to learn that the U.S. stock market isn't the best performing market in the world every single year. In fact, it's often not in the top 10.
The difficulty in international investing — as with picking stocks or actively managed mutual funds — is that it's nearly impossible to know ahead of time which countries are going to have the best market performance over a given time period. The solution? Own each (or at least many) of them.
The primary goal of investing a portion of your portfolio internationally should not be to increase returns, as there is no guarantee that international markets will outperform our own. Rather, the primary goal is to increase the diversification of your portfolio, thereby reducing your risk.
In total, the U.S. stock market makes up roughly half of the value of all of the publicly traded stocks in the world. However, most investment professionals recommend allocating more than 50% of the stock portion of your portfolio to domestic equities. Why? Because investing internationally introduces an additional type of risk into your portfolio: currency risk.
Currency risk is the risk that your return from investing in international stocks will be decreased as a result of the U.S. dollar increasing in value relative to the value of the currencies of the countries in which you have invested.
EXAMPLE: A portion of your portfolio is invested in Japanese stocks, and over the next year it earns an annual return of 8%. However, over that same period, the value of the yen relative to the dollar decreases by 3%. Your annual return (as measured in dollars) would only be roughly 5%.
So how much of your portfolio should be invested internationally? There's a great deal of debate on this issue, with investment professionals recommending a very wide range of international allocations.
The trick is that without knowing how the U.S. market will perform in comparison to markets abroad, there's simply no way to know what the "best" allocation will be. In my own opinion, allocating anywhere from 20% to 40% of the stock portion of your portfolio to international index funds would be reasonable for most investors.
No matter how perfectly you craft your portfolio, there's little doubt that in not too terribly long, your asset allocation will be out of whack. The stock market will have either shot upward, thereby causing your stock allocation to be higher than intended, or it will have experienced a downturn, causing your stock allocation to be lower than intended.
Rebalancing is the act of adjusting your holdings to bring them back in line with your ideal asset allocation. A periodic rebalancing program helps keep the risk level of your portfolio in line with your goals.
It's worth noting that rebalancing can be extremely difficult from a psychological standpoint. It can feel as if you're selling your "good investments" to put money into your "bad investments." The key is to remember that just because something has performed well (or poorly) recently doesn't mean that it will continue to do so in the immediate future.
How often should an investor rebalance? That's a tricky question. Some people advocate in favor of rebalancing once your portfolio is off balance by a certain amount (such as your stock allocation being either 10% higher or 10% lower than intended). Others argue that rebalancing should be done at regular intervals (annually on your birthday for instance) regardless of how off-balance your portfolio becomes in the interim.
Unfortunately, the best-performing rebalancing strategy varies from period to period, and it's no easy task to predict which one will do best over the course of your investing career. Rather than spending a great deal of time and effort thinking about it, my suggestion is simply to pick one method and resolve to stick with it.
Simple Summary
- Your tolerance for risk should be the primary determinant of your stock/bond allocation. Your risk tolerance is determined by how comfortable you are with investment volatility and how flexible your financial goals are.
- Generally speaking, it's better to have an asset allocation that's too conservative than an asset allocation that's too aggressive.
- For the sake of additional diversification, most investment professionals recommend investing somewhere from 20% to 40% of your stock holdings internationally.
- Rebalancing is the act of bringing your portfolio back to its targeted asset allocation (and, therefore, its targeted risk level).


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GateHouse News Service National Budget
For 6/27/08 editions
Here are the top national stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/. Please submit stories below no later than 6 pm local time, unless you have breaking news that is changing significantly.
Contacts: Jean Hodges, (630) 348-3350, (630) 956-8834, firstname.lastname@example.com
Michael Toeset, (630) 348-3356, (630) 835-8870, firstname.lastname@example.com
FOURTH OF JULY CONTENT: Check out content related to the Fourth of July, including columns, food features and more.
BAD WEATHER, GOOD WRITING: Read Casey Laughman's writing coach blog at http://www.ghnewsroom.com/blogs.php?aid=16.
Lifestyles (Friday is Religion and Travel)
RELIGION NEWS: Weekly rail, leads with pope to change Communion method.
MICHAEL MILLER: Messianics bring Old Testament traditions to Christians. PEORIA
TRAVELOGUE: Weekly travel rail, with a look at some roadside monsters in the U.S., how to get free gas from Vermont and more. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/lifestyle/travel/x415945664/Travelogue-Discover-some-monsters-this-summer
TRAVEL PAGE: Whaling history comes alive at Mystic Seaport.
TRAVEL VIDEO: This week, importing items made from endangered wildlife.
WIIHAB: Patients find 'Wiihab' a fun way to recover – When Lisa Cline told Orville H. Cannedy — who had difficulty even standing following surgery — that he was going to play golf as part of rehab, he had his doubts. SPRINGFIELD
MICHELLE TEHEUX: Time has come for community gardens – again -
I have a fantastic idea whose time, I think, has come again. Why not start some community gardens?
FARR SIDE: Now that "American Idol‰ is over, I've been trying to desperately get myself wrapped up into "Nashville Star.‰ The only problem is, it's not "American Idol.‰ http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/x1346871986/The-Farr-Side-Nashville-Star-is-no-replacement-for-AI#
NANCY HALL: In an age of music downloads and declining album sales, it was an amazing feat last week when Lil' Wayne sold more than 1 million copies of "Tha Carter III.‰ http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/dvds_cds/x1026895573/Nancy-Hall-Lil-Waynes-million-a-big-feat#
JIMMY LANE: Dollywood part of the pleasure of Pigeon Forge. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/x1713649402/Jimmy-Lane-Dollywood-part-of-the-pleasure-of-Pigeon-Forge
FLICKS: Donna Antonacci says "WALL-E" and "Hancock" are the new releases to see. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/x2010596804/Flicks-Hancock-WALL-E-among-good-choices-headed-to-theaters
BRITT: Toon on the Supreme Court's gun ruling. Will be posted this evening.
EDITORIAL: A 'pact' about parenthood needed – Gloucester's "pregnancy pact" is increasingly looking like an urban legend. Time magazine first reported that around half of the 17 pregnant students at Gloucester High had made a coordinated effort to get pregnant, but the source of the story has now backed off and some of the pregnant girls have responded to the national media frenzy by saying they knew of no such agreement. MetroWest, on wire now
EDITORIAL: The truth comes out in Entwistle murders - Veredictum. It is Latin for "to speak the truth," the root of the word verdict. And the truth from 12 citizens is that Neil Entwistle callously, calculatingly and in cold blood murdered his wife Rachel and their baby, Lillian Rose. Ledger, on wire now
LLOYD GARVER: Border crossings, sex and gas – oh, my! - I only bring up the world of prostitution to demonstrate just how widespread the effect of high gas prices is on American life. And of course, it gives a whole new meaning to the question, "Would you like regular or super?" On wire now
NASCAR CONTENT: Includes NASCAR page, as well as story on David Gilliland and 3 questions with Jeff Gordon, as well as the NASCAR rail.
NASCAR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: More to NASCAR Weekend in New Hampshire than the Sprint Cup race. LEDGER
DIRK HAYHURST: Bullpen Gospel, occasional column by minor league pitcher. CANTON
(for Sunday)
AROUND BASEBALL: Weekly column wrapping up the MLB. CANTON
(for Sunday)
ENTWISTLE SENTENCED – Life in prison for Brit who killed his wife and infant daughter.
MetroWest, Miller, on wire now
PREGNANCY PACT: Pregnancy pact's existence still unproven - Gloucester, Mass. - With news of Gloucester High School girls planning to become pregnant making local, national and international headlines, Mayor Carolyn Kirk says she has not confirmed the existence of a "pact" among students, and that there is no evidence to believe that there was one. CNC, Silverstein, on wire now
MINIMUM SENTENCES FOR RAPE: Taunton representative's comments cause uproar - State Rep. James Fagan has drawn widespread criticism from victims' rights advocates after arguing against mandatory minimum sentences for child rapists, saying defense attorneys would "rip apart" young victims on the witness stand in order to defend their clients. Taunton Gazette, Tuoti, on wire now
GAS PRICES AND RVs -- High gas prices force RV owners to skip road trips – Until recently, Charles and Pat Meado of Quincy pulled their 28-foot camper to Colorado at least once year. This summer, they're camping at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site near Petersburg. SPRINGFIELD http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1470893169
GRAIN STORAGE: ADM converts soybean processing plant into grain storage facility – Archer Daniels Midland Co. continues to weigh into the grain-storage business in a big way with the opening of a 5-million-bushel-capacity elevator near Taylorville. SPRINGFIELD
CATERPILLAR IN INDIA - Cat to expand manufacturing in India - Caterpillar Inc. announced Thursday it will invest more than $200 million in its India manufacturing facilities over the next four years to keep up with demand in the Asia-Pacific Region. PEORIA http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x222997016
National budget for 6.27.08
GateHouse News Service National Budget