text: > Eli mused: > > I wonder if this article partly stems from "working the refs" which is > something the right-wing has been so effective at. Bronner and the Times > have been under pressure (e.g., > http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11031.shtml) because of his son's > serving in the Israeli Army, challenged as an inherently biased source with > demands for his resignation. Perhaps this is his (and the Times') conscious > or subconscious response to those charges > > My comment: Impossible to say of course. But my speculation rests within the parameters that USA is top dog and the Zionists do as they are told when the chips are down. they never have more than relative autonomy. But Zionism is a complex formation. It is a late colonialism and that is one of its weaknesses. It arose near the end of the colonial era, when ideological justification for colonialism was becoming more difficult to articulate and rendere credible. In practical terms the Zionists have always known that they needed to partner with a major Imperialist power - Britain, France and now the USA. But it is crucial to the ideology of Zionism that they act as if they have and strive for autonomy. They see themselves as returning to the Mother-country, not carrying the flag or taking up the white man's burden for her to dwell in a distant land among the savages. However as reliance on the USA grows there is I (tentatively) think a tendency for the relationship between Israel and the USA to morph into the traditional settler-mother country relationship or in other words for Israel to become more and more of a colony of the USA.words The tensions between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government, ad I feel they are real but no more than "tensions", has to do with fitting Israel into the wider plans that the USA has for the region and indeed the world. I see Netanyahu as the iron logic of Zionism. I have read many of Avnery's and Gideon Levy's critiques carefully here. Bibi Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman and Ehud Barak are an offence to the respectable Zionists. I see the latter as locked into a dreaming of a holy and decent Zionism, where happy boys and girls toil in the equality of the Kibbutz and shine out as a light unto the nations. But that dream has been crushed by the imperatives of neo-liberalism and above all by the necessity to resort continuously to dirty business -torture, arrest without trial, assassinations, collective punishment, endless war etc to complete the Zionist project. So in some ways the Zionists have to be brought to heel in order for even a botched up two-state solution to work. And I think that is the impasse where we are in at the moment. What would break this however is an uprising in Cairo. Then we would see and very swiftly so, the Zionists brought to heel. comradely Gary .


text:
ParkerVision 2010Q4 Conf Call
April 1, 2011
Ron Stabiner
Cindy Poelhman
Jeff Parker
Walter Schenker, with MAZ Partners
Duane Thomas, from Thomas Financial
Robert Cohen, with Western International
Charles Bellows with White Pine Capital
Robert Cannon with Cannon Capital
Wilson Jaeggli with Southwell
John Ziegelman with Carpediem Capital
Phillip Anderson with Pinnacle Fund
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the ParkerVision Incorporated fourth‑quarter 2010 conference call and webcast. Today's conference is being recorded, and all listeners are in listen‑only mode. Following the presentations, we will open up the conference call for questions and answers. The company has requested that the questions and answers be limited to one question and one follow-up per caller. As it is now time for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the conference call over to Ron Stabiner, with The Wall Street Group. Please go ahead, sir.
Ron Stabiner: Thank you, Sean. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Before we get started, I would like to remind listeners that this conference call will contain forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties about our business and the economy and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expected achievements and anticipated results. Included in these factors is the ability to maintain technological advantages in the marketplace, the ability to increase manufacturing capacity to meet demands, achieving timely market introduction and acceptance of product, maintaining our patent protection, and the availability of capital, among others. Given these uncertainties and other factors for our business, listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement contained within this conference call. Additional materials concerning these and other risks can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On today's call, we'll hear, first, from Cindy Poehlman, chief financial officer of ParkerVision, and she will provide a review of the company's fourth quarter and year‑end results; followed by Jeffrey Parker, chief executive officer, ParkerVision, and he will provide an update on the company's business.
And with that, I will now turn the call over to Cindy, if you would go ahead, please.
Cindy Poehlman: Thank you, Ron. And welcome to those of you joining us this morning for ParkerVision's 2010 fourth‑quarter and year‑end conference call. We reported yesterday a net loss of $3.3 million, or seven cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2010, which compares to a net loss of $4.9 million, or 13 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2009.
For the year ended December 31st, 2010, we reported a net loss of $15 million, or 35 cents per share, compared to $21.5 million, or 65 cents per share, for 2009. This represents a 30‑percent decrease in our year‑over‑year net loss. This significant decrease in our net loss was the result of a $6.4‑million reduction in our operating expenses. Approximately 2.3 million of the expense reduction relates to non‑cash items, primarily our share based compensation expense. The remaining expense reduction, of approximately $4 million, represents cash savings resulting from reduced spending in a number of areas, the largest of which was a reduction in our use of outside design resources and other related development costs during the year.
Concerning our current cash position and liquidity requirements, we ended the year with approximately 6.5 million in cash and short-term investments. We added approximately four million to our balance sheet this week with the completion of a registered direct equity offering which closed on March 30th.
We used $11.2 million in cash for operations during 2010. This was roughly four million less than our cash usage in 2009. We continue to review operations and identify additional cost savings, where possible. So far, in the first quarter of 2011, our cash usage is well below the 2.8‑million quarterly average that we saw in 2010. However, we do expect to incur some additional costs this year, for production tooling and related items, as we begin production of our chipsets.
Based on our projected capital needs for 2011, our current cash resources may not be sufficient. As a result, our auditors did include a going concern paragraph in their audit opinion for 2010. The inclusion of this going concern language does not have any impact on the carrying value of our assets or liabilities. Rather, it is cautionary language, indicating that we may need additional capital at some time later this year.
It's important to note that the four million of additional equity capital, closed earlier this week, not only significantly reduces the gap in terms of our future liquidity needs, it also provides us important leverage to negotiate better terms and conditions for both future capital resources and business opportunities.
We were pleased to be able to identify, in our 10‑K filing, the identity of our baseband partner, VIA Telecom. VIA is a leading fabless semiconductor company with a core focus in CDMA baseband processors. They're headquartered in San Diego, and they have design operations in the United States and China and sales support offices throughout the US and Asia. Their customer base includes a number of tier‑one and tier‑two handset OEMs, including three of the top five handset OEMs. They have key partnerships with CDMA network carriers, including Verizon, Sprint, and China Telecom.
I'm sure Jeff will speak more about our relationship and our recent business activities with VIA in his remarks. And so, with that, I think I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Jeff Parker.
Jeff Parker: So thank you, Cindy. And good morning, and thank you for joining us today. So, last year, we focused our resources on the goal of securing our first handset design win, with a handset OEM who would launch our d2p technology in 3G handsets. To achieve that goal, we've been working closely with our baseband partner, VIA Telecom, who introduced us to one of their significant customers, who's a rapidly growing handset OEM and who VIA feels has the right profile to be a good launch customer for our product. This handset OEM supported us in the design of our d2p chip into a 3G model of their phone, including building phone boards and working with us on the performance‑testing requirements for our solution.
In collaboration with Via, we completed the test process about a month ago, and we delivered a formal report to the handset OEM. The test report is large ‑‑ megabytes of data, many hundreds of pages. The testing was run on the sort of advanced test equipment that wireless carriers, handset OEMs, and some wireless‑chip companies use to verify the operational performance and, to some extent, the quality of various mobile‑handset functions.
The result of the testing shows that our d2p chip provides the RF signal quality that we knew our technology would deliver, and that it does so while consuming significantly less power and generating much less heat than the traditional transmit and power amplifier chains that we replace.
Just to give you a sense, the testing covered quite a number of different performance conditions. As an example, signal quality was tested over a very large, dynamic range of operating RF power and frequency, and different signal types which represent different data rates deployed by different carriers relevant to their many different networks. So as you start to put that together, you can see that the matrix of testing grows pretty quick. Or picture that same matrix now run to ensure that the operation of our transmit chip doesn't jam or interfere with the sensitivity of the receiver in the phone. These were the kind of tests that were run, and they were run on Via's test equipment by VIA staff.
So with testing successfully completed and delivered, what is the next step? An order. When? As soon as possible.
I'll be the first to acknowledge that the completion of a comprehensive test report took longer than we expected. While we're frustrated by the speed of this process, we have not and do not see roadblocks that are impeding our forward progress with this handset OEM. And we continue to stay the course, and we're working closely with a program team that includes both VIA and the handset OEM, and we remain confident that this OEM will, in fact, be our product launch partner.
But as we move through this process, there are other significant activities that we're also engaged in. From an operations standpoint, we continue to prepare for volume production. And from a marketing and a sales perspective, we've never been in a better place. With the voluminous test results from the completed testing process and the components available, there are a number of OEMs and others who we believe will find our offering to be very attractive for CDMA handsets.
Our baseband partner, Via, has a number of quality customers, and with our test reports and readied components, we can start to expand product awareness for the d2p chipsets, a product that's very attractive to any handset OEM looking to remove power consumption while delivering quality RF signals in 3G CDMA.
The capital we just raised allows us to continue to move forward in securing our first order and ramping production, while also giving us some runway to engage with additional customers. With tested product in hand, we believe that companies will start to look at ParkerVision as more than just an improved component on the come, but rather as a strategic opportunity.
Getting traction in the marketplace with an order and ramping product shipments can't come too soon. We, like you, want to see the pace of events for ParkerVision begin to move along much more quickly, and we believe the activities we've scheduled over the coming weeks will help in accelerating this pace.
The marketplace for three and 4G handsets continues to have excellent growth, and we believe it will for the foreseeable future. From what we hear from handset OEMs and other industry companies, the desire for significantly better power management within these types of products is strong and growing.
The time frame and dollars that we've invested in products and patents has been significant. And I believe that we are very well positioned at the forefront of what is a strong trend, as companies accelerate their efforts to remove power consumption from one of, if not the most, significant contributor of power consumption in three and 4G handsets, the transmit chain.
I hope to be able to provide more color concerning our sales activities as we move forward. But for now, I expect there's probably a number of questions that you may have, so perhaps let's go ahead and open for your questions so that we can have an opportunity to address them. Sean, open up the call for questions, please.
Operator: Absolutely. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question at this time, please press star then "1" on your touch‑tone telephone. If your question has been answered, or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, you may simply press the pound key. Again, ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question, simply press star then "1" on your touch‑tone telephone. One moment please. Our first question comes from Walter Schenker, with MAZ Partners. Please go ahead with your question.
Walter Schenker: Hi, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: Good morning, Walter.
Walter: Hopefully someday I'll get to Florida.
Jeffrey: [laughs] Hopefully I'll be here someday so you can come visit us. That would be great.
Walter: Given that there is a matrix, and a wide matrix, as you point out, in the testing, can you give us some sense, across that ‑‑ so therefore, it's a general term ‑‑ as to what level of power savings and head reduction in those tests the chip was able to provide?
Jeffrey: Sure. We were originally tested with VIA in a handset that was the traditional transmit chain in their baseband processor, and we've been benchmarked against that test, which happened late in 2009. They then tested a sample handset we built with them, and we created a power curve over the power‑output differences, when you're nearer or far from a base station. And we created that power curve, and it saves anywhere from, in the sweet spot of where a CDMA phone operates, which is maybe 0 dBm, five dBm, which is one to five milliwatts of power, out to maybe 17 or 18 dBm, which is 50, 60 milliwatts of power. In that range, which is where your phone is operating most of the time, we save anywhere from, on the low end, 60, 70 milliamps of power, up into the 100, 125 milliamps of power. Those kinds of numbers are what gives you the opportunity to extend the battery life by 40, 50, 60 percent over the traditional talk time or data‑surfing time.
That curve we provided them, or they tested and we created together, is exactly the same curve that we still have today, based on the recent testing that was done. So what they saw is that now, through these wide matrix of tests, we've passed all the different various performance metrics that you need to pass to get into shipping a handset on a carrier's network and that curve of power consumption that we had in the sample phones before those has been maintained and in fact in some areas is a little bit better.
So that's what they saw. And so the predictions that we've been making and what we've been talking about based on those original tests now move forward to these latest tests, haven't changed, and as I say, maybe in some of the really important areas have improved a little bit.
When we get up to the higher power output in the phone or lower which is less of the operating time for a typical handset, the numbers are little bit different. Not as great, because there isn't as much power to save on the lower end.
And on the higher end, although we do save significant power, it's not at a range where the phone operates much of the time at all. That's when you're on the very, very fringe just about to drop a call.
Walter: OK. And heat savings is also significant, you said?
Jeffrey: When you run a power amplifier in the traditional component up near the max, the peak power of the phone, it's going to in an ambient phone temperature environment 72 degrees Fahrenheit, it's going to run in the 200, 220 degree Fahrenheit range. When you run ours in the same environment, it's going to run at about 100 degrees ‑‑ half or more ‑‑ less than half the heat. And that is a big deal because handset companies today are looking to make the form factors of their phone thinner, and they're looking to pack more features into their phones as these phones do more and more applications. And heat's a problem. So this is one of the very attractive benefits of our chip is that it's generating almost no heat.
Walter: And my last question and I'll get off. The matrix of tests you ran were for a specific handset, as I understood it, may be wrong. Does that mean you have to go through similar extensive demonstration and testing for any additional handsets?
Jeffrey: Well, we don't think so, but let me put some flavor around, some color around, that. This design we believe can be lifted and used in other handset models. And so what happened is we worked with a handset OEM. They gave us a form factor. We designed the chip and the stuff around our chip so it would fit into that phone. However, if you look at the section that we're in of the phone, which would be that section that represents the CDMA modem, meaning the baseband processor and its flash memory, and the transfeed function with the filters on it, that whole section now can be lifted as a schematic and a reference design, and it can be reused in other phones.
Will it fit exactly in other phones? Probably not. They'll probably need to shift something around here and there. But it would not be unreasonable to think that the vast majority of it is reusable, 80 percent of it, 90 percent of it. What you've really proven is that in situ your chip works like it's supposed to, and that's really significant because now other interested OEMs to use this aren't going to have to go through that proof of process. We can use these test reports. We own the test reports. And we can show them, and we can give a demo of this very quickly.
And I think it's going to move conversations going forward straight away to help design into form factors that we're looking at, versus all the proof you have to do before you can get a handset OEM engaged in that kind of a dialog. So it's going to shorten the process of adoption greatly. And we're going to be working more like every other component manufacturer works once their component's been accepted, more in the design‑in phase, versus the proof first and then you get to the design‑in phase. And the proof first has been a lengthy process.
Walter: OK. Thank you.
Jeffrey: Thank you.
Sean: Our next question comes from Duane Thomas, from Thomas Financial. Please go ahead.
Duane Thomas: Sure. Hi. Good morning, Jeff.
Jeffrey: Good morning.
Duane: I have two questions for you. It is my understanding that since the beginning of the year you have spent a lot of time in Asia. Can you tell us actually how much time you have spent in Asia, number one?
Jeffrey: Well, I'll put it to you this way. I've been in Asia more than I've been in the United States. You know I haven't actually taken the calendar and laid it out on a table in front of me, but it's been a lot. Most of my year so far has been spent in Asia.
Duane: OK. And lastly, with the amount of time you have been spending in Asia, can you give us an idea of what you have been working on, and also tell us what the level of commitment from your partners are, especially VIA Telecom?
Jeffrey: Sure. So you know there are different things that I've been working on. I mean testing was done in Asia. The handset OEM we worked with is in Asia, so anything that deals with design discussion, working with program manager people, things like that, that's all there. VIA has a couple different offices in Asia. Some are focused on sales. Some of them are focused on application support and engineering support. So our semiconductor provider is in Asia. So a lot of the supply chain and the customer base and the testing is all in Asia. So all of those things have been things I've been working with this year.
In terms of what VIA's commitment is, there is a tremendous amount of support that is required to interface between their baseband ‑‑ and this is true of any baseband ‑‑ and the RF, anybody's RF. There's a driver that has to be written and supported.
These phones are getting more and more complicated. You know it's not just that the phone has a CDMA modem in it and it makes a voice call. It's now oh, by the way, it deals with data. It deals with all kinds of priorities with applications. Does a voice call come as a priority over surfing the Internet? Or what happens if X, Y, or Z occurs? It's becoming an ever more complex matrix.
So the reason I'm sharing that with you is the amount of resources to keep a driver and firmware updated for any reference design is not a trivial commitment, and VIA has been doing that, and that's a big commitment.
Perhaps their biggest commitment that they've made is when they introduced us into one of their best customers, because what they're putting out there is their reputation. And these customers are not easy to get and it's takes a lot of attention to detail to maintain them and to grow them, and the last thing you want to do is bring something to a customer that in any way impedes the progress with the relationship.
So their commitment in taking us to one of their best customers and urging them to become our launch partner is a big commitment. And it's probably their most precious asset, or certainly one of them.
So they're committed to our program. I believe they're committed to it because they not only believe in the technology, but they've seen that we've stayed the course. We have done everything that we've been asked to do, both by them and their customer. And they've seen that we've been setting up supply chain management production with some of the top production people in the world, some of whom they introduced us to. Again, they used their connections to help us even in our production set up which again is their reputation.
And I'm very appreciative of that. And I don't underestimate the value of that. Because this is not an easy marketplace to break into, but when you have someone behind you like this, it makes it possible.
So that's been kind of at a high level the nature of the relationship. And we've also taken up a fair amount of time from some of the members of the senior management team who also have a lot of other things on their plate. So I hope that give you a little bit of the sense of it anyway.
Duane: Thank you very much, Jeff.
Jeffrey: Thank you.
Sean: Our next question comes from Robert Cohen, with Western International. Please go ahead with your question.
Robert Cohen: Thank you. Good morning, Jeff.
Jeffrey: Good morning.
Robert: You talked about that you guys own these reports now.
Jeffrey: Right.
Robert: Of the test results. The test results that were done in early 2011, were those test results done by you, or were those done by VIA, or your OEM possible customer?
Jeffrey: Yeah, OK. So the OEM customer is the one that dictated, "These are the tests I want run." VIA ‑‑ we provided the hardware in terms of the RF ‑‑ and VIA ran the tests using their equipment, which is industry standard equipment, but it's a very sophisticated expensive setup. And they ran the test on their equipment and with their staff. So they did the testing. We supported it, but they did the testing.
Robert: So you were not responsible for the test, so you could not have manipulated the test of any kind.
Jeffrey: No, no. We were responsible for getting them the hardware, and they were responsible for running the test.
Robert: So in layman's terms, Jeff, can you tell us in a simple explanation what their results concluded, what did the OEM get out of it, and what did the test results prove that maybe your test hadn't proved to them, or they couldn't understand?
Jeffrey: Well, we have already run a large number of subsets of the tests that they ran. But it really takes another level of sophistication and test equipment to run the volume of testing that shows that overall of these different operating conditions that the product is working to meet the specs of the standards, which is what the handset OEM wants to see. So you know it's not that we hadn't looked before at the same kind of performance metrics, but we don't have the kind of equipment that it takes to run it over that huge matrix of possibilities.
You know I want to see every frequency in very small steps. I want to see every RF power output in very small steps. I want to record all of the important metrics during those conditions. What's the error in the data that's running through the system? Sometimes they inject noise into the signal to see that you're able to be robust enough that in the presence of real world noise that it doesn't either drop the call or degrade the data unacceptably. And it's just a huge matrix of "what if" possibilities.
And then that equipment not only runs it, but it records all that. And then it provides written report results. I mean I actually was when it was all said and done was actually surprised at the volume. We started dong the printing and I was kind of surprised, you know 100 pages, 200 pages, 300 pages, 400 pages. It just kept coming. And it takes time. It takes a lot of time to do that.
Robert: So, Jeff, look. VIA technologies has been, I guess we'll consider it, your partner now for over two years. And I've done some research on VIA. They do business with Nokia, Samsung, LG, basically most of the majors. And I know that with any company, their customers are their most important assets. I can't understand if this technology didn't work... First of all when did VIA in your view understand that the technology absolutely worked? VIA has stuck with you for two years. I can't imagine they would be out there taking you to their clients if this wasn't a viable solution. I don't understand how they could continue to spend time with you and money with you if the technology didn't do what they thought it did. Can you elaborate on that a little bit and explain that?
Jeffrey: Well, Bob, look, I think you've said it. I mean the fact is they're not going to use their most precious asset, their customers, until they're convinced that the technology is solid enough to actually go into volume shifting handsets. So they put us through quite a bit of proof of that before they're willing to do that. And I think the tipping point with them came late in 2009 when we had the sample handsets, and they were actually able to see that we'd moved from a big circuit board with demonstrative capabilities into the form factor that you have to fit into.
But then that process took time also because, OK, they have enough confidence they took us to one of their best customers. Well, their best customer picked a form factor and said, "Here. We want to see that it goes into this phone." And the space that they have in that phone for our portion of the system was pretty small and pretty thin, and we had to accommodate that.
And my hat's off to our team. They were able to do that and preserve all of the benefits that we deliver. Not an easy thing to do. And so, Bob, you're not wrong. That action by VIA I think speaks the loudest because they're not going to use their precious asset, their customer base, to tinker around with the new technology that they don't believe is ready.
Robert: I've just got a couple, just quick other little things. Why is it that VIA at this point has decided that's it's all right for you to disclose your name? Is it because you guys are so close now to working with their OEM that the cat could be out of the box anyway? Could you elaborate on that?
Jeffrey: Here's really all I want to say on that. You know, look. They're privately held. They don't have to operate in the public domain the way we do. I appreciate their willingness to allow this disclosure in our 10K. And let's just say, hey, I think it's a start in the right direction.
Robert: OK. In the customer OEM, can you give us an idea of the size and magnitude of how many phones they are manufacturing in a year roughly?
Jeffrey: I can only say this right now. They make phones for all the major cell phones standards that are shipped in Asia, so not just CDMA, but also the competing standards to CDMA. They have relationships with all the main Asian carriers. And the most important thing to me is that when I asked them, "How many of our units do you think you'll use in the first 12 months?" their answer was, "Two or three million units." And the conversations I had with them recently about the types of models and the number of models this would go into supports that statement that they gave me when I first met them in the middle of last year or spring of last year. So you know they're a good‑sized company. They're growing fast. And most importantly to me, they can give us a nice launch from which we can build with additional customers.
Robert: OK, I'm going to ask you just one other question. It may be a little bit of an uncomfortable question, but I'm going to ask it.
Jeffrey: OK.
Robert: With the test results that were done by VIA and the OEM and yourself, is there any way that the OEM could dispute that your chip does exactly what you've said it does? Is there doubt in the ability of that chip at this point?
Jeffrey: Look. I can tell you this. I sat with the program manager who went through the report page at a time, and at the end of the discussion the program manager said, "Great. This is what we wanted to see. Let's go now work on the next step," which is the phone launch and is off working on that right now. I got no hint of any issue whatsoever from the program manager at this handset company anything other than, "Hey, this looks really great." And real enthusiasm about the fact that the heat generated by our product is so much less when you can still meet...and by the way, other people can generate less heat, Bob. They just don't have a product that works at that point. People have tried to get to this result.
But they were very taken with the heat being so low, and I think it has to deal with some form factors that people are thinking about for their next phones and having trouble figuring out can you make the phones this thin and still have them be reliable with a lot of heat that's generated inside? That's challenging. We helped alleviate that problem.
So I got no feedback whatsoever other than enthusiastic, positive feedback. So let's hope this is going to lead us to an order and in the very near future. That's what this is all about from my perspective.
Robert: But my question is, was there anything in the test results that disputed your claims?
Jeffrey: No. Everything in the test results supported everything we've been saying.
Robert: OK. Thank you.
Jeffrey: Thanks.
Sean: Our next question comes from Charles Bellows with White Pine Capital. Please go ahead, sir.
Charles Bellows: Yeah, Jeff. Looking at it a little bit differently than Bob just did, does the OEM need to run any tests in your mind to confirm, i.e., belts and suspenders?
Jeffrey: We've run every test we were asked to run. I know of no other tests that have to be operated.
Charles: OK. So they're not going to try and do a sample from your perspective to make sure everything flows through?
Jeffrey: No.
Charles: OK. And could you remind me of ‑‑ it's been a long time since you talked about it ‑‑ what the potential, or what the current structure of the economics of the units are now that you're...?
Jeffrey: Sure. Yeah, OK. Well, I think the last time we talked about this we said you know we see ‑‑ remember these units we're starting with are focused on the Asia 3G handset space. The transceive function in those types of phones is typically in the, let's just say, $3 range. We see the opportunity, when you look at the margins for the components that we replace, typically those are in the 40, 45 percent region gross margin. And we see the same opportunity for ParkerVision, roughly $3 a phone, roughly, we won't start out at 40, 45‑point margins. It'll start out lower than that, but as we ramp and we get volume, we can see a pretty clear path to getting very similar margins if we keep optimizing and we're good at what we do. Hopefully we can get it beyond what industry margins are because we've got an advanced technology with the benefits that they bring, and hopefully we can get some premium on that. But that's order of magnitude of what we're looking at.
Charles: And as I recall the order that we've been waiting on to be let is a million units. Is that correct?
Jeffrey: Yes, the initial blanket purchase order is for a million units, hopefully that will be a subset required to meet the customer's first year requirement.
Charles: OK. Do you any concerns, or does VIA have any concerns, given the disruption to the silicon production that goes into TSMC in Japan? Because there's a good part of their ingot production that comes from two plants that have been shut down and just coming back. Do you have any concerns that your pieces may be put at the lower end of the pile?
Jeffrey: I don't have a concern, but it's not because I know that I shouldn't have a concern, Charlie. I haven't had time to really study it. I've been so focused on getting this order [laughs] and finishing up that testing process that I've been kind of "blindered" to everything else around me. So I'm not going to sit here on this call and tell you that we might not be affected by that. I don't know that we won't. I don't have any indication that we will. I do know that VIA is considered a very good customer of the semiconductor companies, and hopefully we'll be able to attach ourselves to the goodwill of their relationships.
They've been able to do that for us with other companies that we have been working with to get our production ramp set up. But I honestly can't tell you in this call that I've got any sophisticated amount of knowledge about how the whole Japanese disaster may or may not impact us. I don't know right now.
Charles: OK. OK. And then one last one, and you can tell me if my assumptions are wrong, and if so, how they should be changed, and then that goes to your focus. I am assuming given the fact that you are tied to the VIA baseband that the logical other OEMs for you are their customers, and that those would be the first places you would go. And in fact I think in one of the other calls you said that you were waiting until you had things really set at the first OEM before you started making calls. So have you been introduced and have you begun those conversations, and how long do you think it is before you can begin to get some traction at some of these others?
Jeffrey: I think VIA's strategy for us is to stay focused on the launch OEM so that we make sure that, number one, the introduction they made turns into good business for all of us and that it's a net positive, that we don't somehow stub our toe somewhere because we're spread too thin, and then it turns into, yeah, you've got a great technology with a great product, but for some other reason creates a problem for them. They don't want to do that, and I'm committed to doing everything in our power that that won't happen. So they really want us focused. That said, they have been willing recently to start to open up additional conversations with other companies, and I really don't want to go into any more detail other than that right now.
Charles: OK.
Jeffrey: But they are willing to do that, and they've started that. And if they listen to this replay, I appreciate that.
Charles: So the other way of looking at it is that it's been an extended period that you have worked with VIA in here and that you have been in front of the current OEM, the one you're hoping to have this order from, and that's been sort of a 12 to 18‑month process that you have been in.
Jeffrey: That's right.
Charles: Is that about correct?
Jeffrey: That's about right. And I think the way I'm feeling right now is that they continue to remain very committed to helping us get this thing launched and trying to guide use through this process in a way that we're not biting off more than we can chew, but that we take advantages of the opportunities that both of our companies see in front of us.
Charles: And I guess the question then given that period of time do you think in going to the other OEMs, when that is actually deemed by VIA as appropriate, that you can cut that time in half?
Jeffrey: If the OEMs beyond the first one want to use the existing product, not some new product or some extension of the existing product, I think it can happen very fast. I mean I hesitate to give you an exact answer, but let me put it to you at least from this perspective. The first handset OEM we've had to go through the proof of the technology in their form factor and then finally get to the program of launching a handset, which is where you are now. With the other guys, we're not going to have to go through the proof the technology in their handset. They're going to get right to the, "Let's talk about our form factor."
So you've already got the test reporting. You've already been through all that. So you've eliminated a very lengthy step that you have to go through the first time. You just can't skip over that step. But you've gone through that now. So that's going to be quite abbreviated, if at all, and then you'll get right to the design phase.
Charles: OK. Great. Thank you.
Jeffrey: Thanks.
Sean: Our next question comes from Robert Cannon with Cannon Capital.
Robert Cannon: My question was just answered. Thank you.
Sean: Our next question comes from Wilson Jaeggli with Southwell.
Paul: Hello, Jeff. It's Paul for Wilson, here.
Jeffrey: Hello, Paul.
Paul: Just to get a little further clarification on the last caller's question. From the standpoint of the OEM, you know of no additional testing required on their part. From the evaluation process, what remains from their end on evaluating your technology, if anything?
Jeffrey: Nothing that we are aware of.
Paul: OK. So from a hindrance to receiving an order, you're not aware of anything on the baseband or the OEM side that remains to be done.
Jeffrey: No, Paul, what I would hope would happen next, based on my understanding of how this particular handset OEM roles out phone programs is that we would be told, "OK, here's the phone model. We need X thousands." It wouldn't be tens of thousands. "X thousands of chips in a certain short timeframe for the first production units so we can get our production line tuned up for whatever the differences are between what we've been using and yours." And then they start to provide orders of volumes on a monthly basis that represent the ramp of that particular phone model, and you know phone models like this can be anywhere from on a low end 50, 60,000 units on a month, to 150 or 250,000 unit s on month.
And it kind of goes up and down depending on the month and what's happening on the marketplace and the time of the year. But that's what we would expect to happen next from the conversations we've had.
Paul: And for this specific phone model, do you have any color or insight as to when the OEM is planning to launch?
Jeffrey: We're trying to get that information, and I don't have that, but that's what VIA is committed to helping us get and to get going on this. And so we think we're just right in the middle of the normal process with this handset OEM, and we're working to get that next step done so we can get the component built, shipped, and get them into production.
Paul: Well, great. I really appreciate all your time and commitment, and best of luck.
Jeffrey: Thanks. Thanks. Say hi to Wilson. Appreciate it.
Sean: Our next question comes from John Ziegelman with Carpediem Capital. Please go ahead with your question.
John Ziegelman: Hi, Jeff.
Jeffrey: Hi, John.
John: How are you?
Jeffrey: I'm OK. [laughs] I want my order. Anyway, go ahead.
John: A series of connect‑the‑dot questions. I'm not that familiar with VIA. I think you mentioned that their OEMs represent three of the top five handset OEMs. Who are those top five handset OEMs?
Jeffrey: The top five handset OEMs today would be Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola ‑‑ I believe is still in the top five. You know the fifth one continues to flip up and down. There's a lot of contenders these days. I don't remember if it's Sony. It used to be Sony Ericsson. It may still be Sony Ericsson. You've got others who are getting up into that six, seven, eight slot who are contenders for that, and as smart phones grow ever more prevalent, you're seeing those guys kind of rising, and people who have just general generic product lines falling. So I mean some of the contenders you'd see below number five would be companies like RIM, HTC, ZTE, believe it or not, from China. There's all kinds of companies in that next category.
John: OK. And I'm tooling around their website, but I'm not really seeing an identification of their customers. Obviously Motorola would be off the list, so of the top five that you mentioned...
Jeffrey: Yeah, on their website they do list Nokia, Samsung, and LG.
John: So one could assume that the OEM that you're talking to would be one of those three?
Jeffrey: The one thing they've asked me is not to identify who our launch partner is, and I'm going to absolutely respect that. But I will tell you that it's one of their better customers, and it's a very fast growing company, and we'll be thrilled to be in their handsets.
John: OK. And secondly, a clarification on I think what you said earlier. I thought you said the first customer and the first 12 months would represent two to three million units, but then somebody asked specifically what the initial order was. Those aren't inconsistent. You expect a million initial and throughout the course of 12 months to do two to three million.
Jeffrey: That's right. What happens is, when a program is launched in a shipping handset, they'll do a rolling forecast, and so as their needs go up and down, your orders, they will refresh that rolling forecast every month. The forecast may roll forward for three months or four months, or something like that.
John: OK. That's really it. Thank you.
Jeffrey: Thanks, John.
Sean: Again, if you have a question, please press star one. Our next question comes from Philip Anderson with Pinnacle Fund. Please go ahead with your question.
Philip Anderson: Good morning, Jeff.
Jeffrey: Good morning, Phil.
Philip: Now that the VIA Telecom has been unblinded, I've been trolling around their website during this call trying to find some information about how a big a business they really are and what our opportunity is, and the information on the website is fairly sparse. There's some press releases that give us some tantalizing bits one of which was issued on February 24th of this year that says that VIA has 30 percent share with China Telecom. They have a 30 percent share of VIA Telecom CDMA market in China. Do you have a sense of what China Telecom's CDMA volumes are within China, and elaborating on that, can you help us understand how large a business VIA Telecom has in CDMA?
Jeffrey: Yeah, I do not off the top of my head still unfortunately have how big China Telecom's CDMA business is. I know it's been growing significantly because they've launched, I think about a year ago, the EVDO part of the CDMA standard, which is the high data rate part. So you're seeing China Telecom doing the same kinds of things that someone like a Verizon or a Sprint here is doing in terms of more smart phones or high end, or more feature‑rich feature phones. But you go to China, and you see people carrying lots and lots of phones that look a lot like the phones here with all kinds of Internet connectivity and applications to support that. I don't remember honestly what their unit volume is, but that's a good point. If people were to go on the web you could I'm sure find what their unit volume is and take that times the percentage and that'll give you a sense.
It's a good number. It's an exciting number, and they continue to grow, and I don't think it's my place to... Look, I don't know exactly what is and isn't publicly disclosed by VIA. I don't know if there's some article out there that specifically states that we shipped last year X units, so I don't want to speak out of school. Since they've been willing to go into our 10K, I don't want to abuse that, but I think if you do a little Internet surfing, that you would see some things that would be pretty encouraging to you.
Philip: Let me give you a little help on that subject. So there's a press release here from November 2009 where VIA Telecom says that they shipped 30 million chips in the first half of 2009, and expected chip set growth to be 50 percent in 2010. So if they shipped 60 to 70 million chips in 2009, they could have shipped 100 million chips plus or minus last year. What is your understanding of the opportunity to substitute our CDMA based chip with their current chip? How deep into their portfolio does our technology create an opportunity to substitute?
Jeffrey: I think it creates a very significant opportunity. Look, when you start to look at the kinds of numbers that you just described, if the ParkerVision company was able to gain a reasonable double‑digit market share of their shipments, you know 20 percent, 25 percent, let's just use that. You can see that based on the per unit guidance that I just provided earlier, you're up into the north of maybe 50 and south of 100 million dollars in revenue. So in a company that's pre‑revenue, that's a pretty good first step. My goal has been and remains, let's get this company to a cash flow push in the profitable place. That's got to be our first goal once we finally get revenue going. And the reason I've been bullish on this relationship beyond what I've discussed earlier in terms of their willingness to support the relationship in the way they have, is they do have enough volume ‑ and they are a rising star, they're growing ‑ to in a realistic way for ParkerVision to get to that goal.
And recognize they've done that growth without the competitive advantage that ParkerVision brings into their portfolio, which they now have something that no one else in the world has. So one of the things I'm hoping for is the same kind of benefit in this relationship that I've had in other businesses I've been involved in.
I was in a partnership with Carrier Air Conditioning Corporation back in the '80s and early part of the '90s, and in that relationship it started out with us attaching ourselves to momentum that Carrier Corporation had in the marketplace. However, once we got going, we actually brought new business to Carrier Corporation, and I would be very pleased and happy and I hoped they would also that we could also pull our own fair share of the product differentiation benefit, which is to bring some new business opportunities to them. And you know when that kind of synergy occurs, the relationship just continues to grow and flourish.
Look, when we started out with VIA a few years ago in this relationship, they were a significantly smaller number of units than they are today. We made, I think, a very good decision to partner up with them.
And I think if we just stay the course, heads down, keep our focus on the goal, they've told me all along, your first customer, the first sale, is going to be hardest. It's going to take the longest. It's going to be the most frustrating. We've been there. But you'll get through that, and once you do, the gates will open, and the next ones will come a lot faster and be a lot easier. So make sure the first one is successful.
Philip: OK, thanks very much for the comments, Jeff. Appreciate it.
Jeffrey: Thank you.
Sean: We have no further questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Parker for closing remarks.
Jeffrey: OK, well, listen, I appreciate you folks joining us today on our conference call, and I also appreciate some of the kind words that I've heard from people who've said, "Hey, thanks for being away so much and trying to get this job done. We know it's not easy." And sometimes it is kind of lonely being away that long, but we are very bullish that this is going to turn into something significant, and we've got to get through that next step, and we will get through the next step and get this order and get on with the opportunity to grow this technology into a meaningful business. So thank you for your support and have a great weekend. Bye‑bye.
Sean: Thank you. That does conclude today's conference. If you wish to access archived audiocast replay of this call, you may do so by visiting the company's website at www.parkervison.com. Thank you.
Transcription by CastingWords

subset: commoncrawl


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Grand Senggigi Hotel
When visiting Lombok, you'll feel right at home at Grand Senggigi Hotel, which offers quality accommodation and great service. With its location just 25km from the city center and 40km from the airport, this 2-star hotel attracts numerous travelers each year. With its convenient location, the hotel offers easy access to the city's must-see destinations.
The facilities and services provided by Grand Senggigi Hotel ensure a pleasant stay for guests. The hotel offers access to a vast array of services, including 24-hour room service, free Wi-Fi in all rooms, daily housekeeping, taxi service, 24-hour front desk.
Grand Senggigi Hotel is home to 48 bedrooms. All are tastefully furnished and many even provide such comforts as television LCD/plasma screen, complimentary instant coffee, complimentary tea, free welcome drink, linens. The hotel's outdoor pool, pool (kids), garden are ideal places to relax and unwind after a busy day. Superb facilities and an excellent location make the Grand Senggigi Hotel the perfect base from which to enjoy your stay in Lombok.


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Da'Jere Wallace doesn't take his education for granted. He is an honor student at Vincentian Academy in Pittsburgh and a recipient of the Founders Award Scholarship which makes it possible for him to attend the Academy.
In the spirit of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Vincentian Academy inspires students to achieve academic success, nurture their faith, discover and develop their talents, and live the Christian values of respect and service. The Founders Award strives to create a diverse school population while giving deserving students an opportunity for a first-class Catholic education. Award recipients include students from populations that are traditionally underserved or underrepresented.
"Having Da'Jere as a student at Vincentian Academy is as much a benefit to the school as it is to Da'Jere," says Rita Canton, principal/head of school. "He is an honor roll student every quarter and displays a high moral character which makes him a valuable presence in our school community."
"A Vincentian Academy education means that I am afforded the opportunity to reach my limitless potential. It also means that the possibility of achieving academic excellence has been placed into my hands. I am grateful for this excellent education because it allows me the chance to realize my goal of becoming an engineer." reflects Da'Jere.
The Founders Award is possible because of generous support from the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and our donors. Would you join us in providing support for students like Da'Jere?
Through the challenging International Baccalaureate program and dynamic cultural environment, Vincentian Academy strives to provide all students the opportunity to broaden their potential and to achieve success in college and beyond. Thank you for your generosity which helps provide deserving students a high-quality Catholic education that instills knowledge and values for a life of success and service.


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Endometrial Ablation: Can This Procedure Help Heavy Bleeding?
Posted byChristine Yu
While you may feel like you're the only one with a finicky period, heavy menstrual cycles are no joke. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in five women is affected by abnormal uterine bleeding at some point in her life.1
Not only does heavy and irregular menstrual cycles cause physical havoc, they can have an emotional toll too. What can you do to manage your heavy bleeding? Is a hysterectomy your only choice?
Fortunately, no. Endometrial ablation is a safe and effective treatment for abnormal uterine bleeding and an alternative to a hysterectomy. Here's what you need to know about the procedure.
What Is Endometrial Ablation?
While it sounds complicated, it's actually a fairly straight-forward procedure.
The procedure removes (aka ablates) a thin layer of the uterus (the endometrium) that you shed during your menstrual cycle and causes heavy bleeding. For many women, without this layer, they'll experience lighter bleeding. For others, they may no longer experience monthly bleeding at all. The final results may take a few months to set in.2
Hologic, the sponsor of this blog, offers the following procedures as a treatment option. There are several endometrial ablation treatment options, including the NovaSure procedure, which has been available since 2001. This treatment method uses radio frequency. Your doctor will dilate your cervix and insert a probe that extends a mesh-like net into your uterus. This net delivers a specific radio frequency for 90 seconds. Then the probe is removed.3
The best part? Your doctor can perform the NovaSure procedure in his or her office, typically in a few minutes, so it doesn't require a hospital stay. Plus, the shorter recovery time compared to a hysterectomy means fewer work days lost. It also leaves your uterus and reproductive organs intact.
Who Is It For?
If you are premenopausal, experience irregular bleeding and less invasive treatments like medication, hormone therapy or an IUD haven't helped, this may be a treatment option for you. Endometrial ablation is an option for those who don't plan on having children.4
If you're postmenopausal, have a current or recent genital, urinary or pelvic infection, or have other abnormalities of the uterus, you're not a good candidate for the procedure.
What Are the Side Effects?
After your procedure, you'll likely experience menstrual-like cramping for a few days. Don't be alarmed by watery discharge that may be mixed with blood, which may initially be heavy after the procedure. Other side effects may include nausea and frequent trips to the bathroom, especially in the first 24 hours.5 There is a small risk of infection, thermal injury and perforation.3
Because the procedure is not sterilization, you should still use contraception until menopause to prevent pregnancy. Continue with your routine cancer screenings and pelvic exams.
If you experience abnormal bleeding, a hysterectomy isn't your only option. Talk to your doctor about treatment alternatives and if endometrial ablation may be the right fit for you and your lifestyle needs.
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Blood disorders in women: heavy menstrual bleeding. Accessed January 4, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/blooddisorders/women/menorrhagia.html.
2Mayo Clinic. Tests and Procedures: Endometrial Ablation, Sept 16, 2015. Accessed December 31, 2016. http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/endometrial-ablation/basics/results/prc-20014190.
3NovaSure. What is NovaSure Endometrial Ablation? Accessed December 31, 2016. http://www.novasure.com/patients/what-novasure-endometrial-ablation.
4The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Frequently Asked Questions – Special Procedures: Endometrial Ablation. Accessed December 31, 2016. http://www.acog.org/Patients/FAQs/Endometrial-Ablation.
5Mayo Clinic. Tests and Procedures: Endometrial Ablation, Sept 16, 2015. Accessed January 31, 2017. http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/endometrial-ablation/basics/what-you-can-expect/prc-20014190.
- Posted by Christine Yu
- On April 6, 2017


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Oil exports from southern Iraq increased by almost 300,000 bpd in the first two weeks of this year, compared to the December average, according to a report from Reuters.
Exports averaged 2.35 million bpd in the first 15 days of January, up from 2.08 million bpd in December.
Although this is seen as a sign that Iraq is delivering on its plan to increase supply significantly, Iraq is still catching up with loading delays caused partly by bad weather.
The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has cut crude allocations to some customers for February.
Work is said to be finished at the new terminals, and they should be capable of handling exports of more than 2.5 million bpd.
From the north, Iraq also exports about 300,000 bpd from its Kirkuk fields to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey.
(Source: Reuters)


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Greg is a Humber College Culinary Management Graduate with Honours.
He is a recipient of the Humber College Board of Governor's Achievement Award as well as the Bronze Medalist at CCFCC National Junior Qualifier.
Greg has over 20 years of experience within the Hospitality industry, specializing in large catering events. Over the years he owned a catering company specializing in Film and Concert catering and was involved in Tour catering within the entertainment industry for Alist musicians and celebrities such as the Rolling Stones, U2, Blue Rodeo just to name a few.
He was also involved in Men's and Women's Canadian Open Golf Championships while at Compass Group Canada.
Completed traineeships at King Edward Hotel, Scaramouche and CLS Catering.


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NAHL announces Easton Hockey Divisional Stars of the Week
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) today announced the Divisional Stars of the Week presented by Easton Hockey for the week ending March 1, 2015. The Easton Hockey Divisional Stars of the Week is a weekly feature during the 2014-15 regular season that honors the top performing players in each of the four NAHL divisions. Only players that are nominated by their respective teams are considered for the Divisional Players of the Week award.
Central Division Star of the Week: Jake Kielly, goalie, Austin Bruins
Austin Bruins goalie Jake Kielly, 18, led his club to a weekend home sweep of the Aberdeen Wings, giving up just three goals in the two wins as the Bruins stayed atop the Central Division standings. For the weekend, the native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota faced 41 shots in the two wins and stopped 38 of them. On Friday night, Kielly (6'3/190) made 19 saves in a 3-2 win and on Saturday night he made another 19 saves in a 3-1 win. For the season, Kielly has a 19-4-6 record with two shutouts, a 2.16 goals against average and a 90.5% save percentage. He has won his last nine starts. "Jake made a couple real big saves to keep the games where they were at. He has been focused on just stopping the puck and it has paid dividends for him," said Bruins head coach Chris Tok.
2nd Star: John Snodgrass, F, Minot Minotauros
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Cory Dunn, D, Austin Bruins – Quinn Fuchs, F, Minot Minotauros – Luke Kania, G, Aberdeen Wings – Jared Pike, F, Bismarck Bobcats – Alex Strand, F, Bismarck Bobcats
Midwest Division Star of the Week: Darian Romanko, forward, Minnesota Wilderness
One of the hottest players in the league as of late has been Minnesota Wilderness forward Darian Romanko. The 20-year-old from Shoreview, Minnesota, had a huge weekend in Minnesota's split in Bismarck, totaling six points in the two games. On Friday, Romanko (6'1/195) had a natural hat-trick, which included the game-winning goal in a 6-3 win over the Bobcats. On Saturday, despite an 8-4 loss, Romanko had three assists to lead the Wilderness. For the season, Romanko leads the Wilderness in scoring with 49 points in 44 games played. He also played in the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament last week for the Midwest team and had two points in the two wins. "Darian has had a very good month and continues to be a force in every game. We need him to continue to be strong the rest of the way and into the playoffs," said Wilderness head coach Corey Millen.
2nd Star: Johnny Mueller, D, Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Sam Becker, D, Minnesota Magicians – Gustav Berglund, D, Kenai River Brown Bears – Tyler Cline, F, Minnesota Wilderness – Kane Durment, F, Minnesota Magicians – Hans Gorowsky, F, Fairbanks Ice Dogs – Alex Jackstadt, F, Kenai River Brown Bears
North Division Star of the Week: Alex Alger, forward, Johnstown Tomahawks
Miami University recruit Alex Alger, 19, helped the Tomahawks to a weekend split in Fairbanks this past weekend with four points in the two games. On Friday night, the native of Livonia, Michigan tallied two assists in a 6-4 loss. On Saturday night, Alger (5'11/150) scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner in a 4-3 win. Since coming to Johnstown from Odessa in a trade last month, Alger has recorded 12 points in nine games with the Tomahawks. "Alex stepped up in a huge way for us this week offensively. We acquired Alex a few weeks ago to bring in additional offense to our team and he has delivered since his arrival. Even bigger this week was the timing and magnitude of his scoring for our team. We had some tight games against a very good team and he was right in the middle of our production especially in the shootout win with two tying goals at different points in the game, and the game winner in the shootout for us. Alex is an outstanding kid and very deserving of this recognition," said Tomahawks head coach Mike Letzia.
2nd Star: Leo Lumm, F, Soo Eagles
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Mitch Fossier, F, Janesville Jets – Matt Jones, F, Keystone Ice Miners – Dryden McKay, G, Springfield Jr. Blues – Brad Pung, F, Soo Eagles – Zac Robbins, F, Johnstown Tomahawks – Austin Romzek, F, Keystone Ice Miners – Brandon Schultz, F, Janesville Jets
South Division Star of the Week: Tanner Lomsnes, forward, Corpus Christi IceRays
Corpus Christi IceRays forward Tanner Lomsnes was a one-man offensive show this past weekend as his team posted a weekend road split against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. In the two games, the 6'4/200 lbs. forward from Red Deer, Alberta racked up seven points and was a +5. On Friday night, Lomsnes assists on two of the three IceRays goals in a close 4-3 loss. On Saturday, Lomsnes had a hat-trick, including the game-winning goal, and two assists for a five-point night in a 6-3 win. Last week, Lomsnes also played on the South team at the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, recording an assist in the two games. For the season, Lomsnes ranks 2nd on the IceRays in scoring with 51 points in 46 games played. "I think it was important for Tanner to continue to try and exert himself offensively, because he has a lot of talent in that area. When he uses his size combined with his skill, he can be a very effective player at this level," said IceRays head coach John Becanic.
2nd Star: Charlie Combs, F, Amarillo Bulls
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Jake Ahlgren, F, Wenatchee Wild – TJ Black, G, Lone Star Brahmas – Kevin Charyszyn, F, Wichita Falls Wildcats – Brendan Harris, F, Wenatchee Wild – Yu Hikosaka, F, Topeka RoadRunners – Dominic Lutz, F, Topeka RoadRunners – Anton Martinsson, G, Amarillo Bulls – Wes Michaud, F, Corpus Christi IceRays – Austin Shaw, G, Wichita Falls Wildcats – Stathis Soumelidis, F, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees


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Saturday, February 7, 2015
For the Boys at Send a Smile 4 Kids!
16 comments:
- Brenda said...
Oh my goodness, that "be awesome" card is fabulous Karen! Love it!! I also love the etch-a-sketch card, how fun is that?! Yes, they still do sell the etch-a-sketch, I bought one to keep at my house for the grandkids. lol It doesn't get played with as much as some other things, but it does get played with. Hugs, Brenda
- February 7, 2015 at 7:31 AM
- fabiola jaques said...
oh! c'est vraiment sympa, biz
- February 7, 2015 at 11:04 AM
- Christine said...
Love your skateboarding card. Any teen would enjoy something that is so obviously made for them.
I used to find the etch-a-sketch so frustrating. My brother (now an engineer) used to love making elaborate pictures with it and I could only make the most basic patterns because the l could never wrap my head around not being able to have curves.
Etch-a-sketches are still sold but they are often now in different colours or whatever is the latest movie theme. The timeless red is not as common.
- February 7, 2015 at 11:23 AM
- Holly AKA KopyKat said...
This is so fabulous, I love it.
- February 7, 2015 at 12:31 PM
- Denice said...
A wonderful skater silouete....makes for a great card!Thanks for playing along with us this week at Loves Rubberstamps, good luck.
- February 7, 2015 at 4:38 PM
- Maxine D said...
Fabulous boys cards Karen - the silhouette card is a stunner! Yes, I remember the etch-a-sketch too!
- February 7, 2015 at 9:26 PM
- Kim Heggins said...
Adorable card and I love the Etch a Sketch, so much fun and just so sweet. Need to head to Pinterest to see more.
- February 8, 2015 at 12:48 AM
- Susan Renshaw said...
Thanks for following me! I have just become your newest follower!!
Love your cards -had a look at a few of your posts! Hope you will join in my blog candy...
- February 8, 2015 at 3:01 AM
- Crackerbox Palace Stamping Chit Chat said...
The skateboard card is wonderful, what boy wouldn't like that!
I loved the Etch-A-Sketch and the image you picked is perfect.
Vicky Briggs
- February 8, 2015 at 6:08 AM
- Petra Swart said...
Making cards for teenage boys are sometimes difficult hey, but you have totally rocked it with your two lovely boyish cards, Karen!!! Love that awesome skaterboy and the cute robot!!!
Have a great afternoon!!!
- February 8, 2015 at 9:18 AM
- Verna Angerhofer said...
Both your cards are awesome. Boys will love them.
- February 8, 2015 at 10:25 AM
- Dangina Martinez said...
This is so awesome! Love how you did this! Thank You so much for playing along with us at Loves Rubber Stamps this time around! Hope to see you again :)
Tons of Hugs, Dangina
- February 8, 2015 at 5:06 PM
- Michelle Kinder said...
Very cute card! Thanks for joining the Cuttin and Stampin challenge.
- February 9, 2015 at 10:46 AM
- Lydia said...
Oh my gosh this is just too cute! Thanks for joining us at Loves Rubberstamps.
- February 9, 2015 at 11:49 AM
- Vickie Y said...
What a fun, creative card! I sure remember the etch a sketch! Thank you for sharing with us at Cuttin and Stampin Challenge.
- February 12, 2015 at 9:59 AM
- Indy said...
These are such fun masculine cards! So glad you were inspired by our masculine theme challenge at Cuttin' and Stampin!
Hugs, Debbie, DT
- February 13, 2015 at 9:56 PM


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October 12, 2017
It has been another bumper month for customers switching energy suppliers as 550,000 households moved energy companies in September, up 46% on the same month in 2016.
Consumer engagement in the market is booming with more than four million customers switching energy supplier in 2017, so far.
Energy industry regulator, Ofgem, released new research into the energy industry and it showed that consumer engagement in the market has increased from 37% in 2015 to 41% in 2017. It isn't only households that have switched before that are switching again, as in the last 12 months a third of switchers that changed energy suppliers did so for the first time.
The new research also showed that nine in ten energy switchers were happy with the current process of changing energy suppliers and over two thirds were more likely to switch energy suppliers due to the commitments of a simple, speedy and safe switch promised by energy suppliers as part of the Energy Switch Guarantee.
Lawrence Slade, chief executive of Energy UK said:
"The energy market is rapidly transforming as competition continues to flourish and the numbers of consumers engaging in the energy market continues to grow. Over half a million consumers switching suppliers in the space of a month, shows the scale of the growing momentum.
"There are great savings to be made either by checking with your existing provider or by switching to one of over 50 suppliers in the market - So our advice to consumers is follow in four million footsteps and make sure you are on the best deal."
Winter is almost here. Compare energy suppliers and see what you could save on your utility bills either through the Energylinx website or by calling one of our advisors on 01259 220000.
Posted on October 12, 2017 at 01:12 PM


text:
As opposed to a lot of spy software package that may be nearly impossible to be familiar with or use, Mobistealth is usually downloaded, installed, and deployed in just minutes.
Granted, getting these applications on your iPhone will not likely cause you to a spy right away – please don't take it as challenge by us so that you can behave like that – nonetheless, you could locate several of the apps of the espionage kind right here beneficial to you.
Each individual subscription only gives the choice of monitoring one particular concentrate on machine. You'll be able to,on the other hand, change the concentrate on device approximately you need through your membership.
When you notify your son or daughter or employee they will be monitored, set up the program to the mobile phone and it'll log SMS and connect with things to do and then insert the information in your private Mobile Spy account. The computer software also logs periodic GPS areas at an interval you set.
See all the main points of sent and obtained email messages. Now it is possible to keep track of all electronic mail interaction by apple iphone spy ware by Mobistealth.
Application would not will need Net permission or any scary authorization to operate. Your details is perfectly secured and never ever transmitted.
Computer software Meant FOR Authorized Works by using ONLY. It's the violation of The us federal and/or condition legislation and your local jurisdiction legislation to setup surveillance software program, like the Certified Software program, onto a mobile phone or other unit you don't have the proper to monitor. The law usually necessitates you to inform buyers/ entrepreneurs of the product that it's currently being monitored. The violation of the requirement could result in severe monetary and prison penalties imposed on the violator.
This app safeguards your phone on a regular basis It is possible to Be sure that all of the apps over the cellphone are fantastic. I place it on my kids phones as I am aware they often lazy and obtain points they should it. Wonderful application fellas. Complete Overview bhu semsang December four, 2015
It is a spot tracker application for your personal iPhone which doesn't must be working to trace your cell phone. You have to register for an account on their own Web site and have Spot enabled to the apple iphone to ensure that it to trace your cellphone.
For our spurned Daily Dot audience during the southeast Asian industry, right here's ThaiSpy, a spying app that allows "shut boyfriends or distant sugar daddies of girls... to understand they are being honored and appreciated." What, accurately, does this entail? For $29.ninety nine per month, it is possible to monitor website your lover's social websites action, address book contacts, Skype phone calls, and text messages remotely, while not having to jailbreak your associate's cellphone or install it instantly on their own gadget.
On top of that, Mspy just introduced which they program to get started on offering bundled packages, to help you theoretically give a person a cellular telephone With all the program preloaded on to it.
You will find a no cost plan compatible with equally Home windows and Mac which you could use to broadcast your webcam. Due to this broadcasting application it can assistance any type of USB webcam or even the webcam with your laptop. [$4.99]
But Imagine if you don't care about having caught? Let's say you don't treatment about "believe in" or "mutual regard" or "honesty" or "having regard for another particular person's House" or "getting an honest person in place of a stain about the boxer briefs of humanity"?
AntiSpy Cell Cost-free is actually a totally free antispyware scanner that detects and gets check here rid of adware programs on the cellphone. This spy protector application is essential-have for every device!
5 Simple Statements About Spyapp Explained
As opposed to a lot of spy software package that may be nearly impossible to be familiar with or use, Mobistealth is usually downloaded, installed, and deployed in just minutes.


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Tricksndeal Author Hunt :- Need 10 – 20 Authors For Tricksndeal
?Tricksndeal Author Hunt:- We started Tricksndeal before some months ago and now gradually increasing our popularity. Now 2 admins are working on this site but we are unable to give much time for posting many deals and trick. Thats why we are hiring good authors for Tricksndeal. Now we have...Continue reading


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Trempealeau: One of the Top Places to Go in Wisconsin
Among the best places to go in Wisconsin, Trempealeau is located on in the west central part of the state, on a scenic riverside site at the base of the Trempealeau bluffs on the east bank of the Mississippi River. Native American burial mounds indicate that people lived in the Trempealeau vicinity for hundreds of years before the first French explorers camped in the area in the late 1600's. The locality was named for the distinctive geological landmark called Trempealeau Mountain, which is located just upriver in Perrot State Park. Area Indians referred to the water-surrounded bluffs as the "Mountain soaking in the water," which the French translated as "La Montagne qui trempe a l'eau;" hence Trempealeau (pronounced trem-pillow).
Long before the designation of Perrot State Park, Trempealeau was already on the list of places to go in Wisconsin. Trempealeau village began during the early 1840's as a fur trading center and Mississippi River landing. In 1852 the small village was platted and named Montoville as the surrounding area was settled and farms established. In 1856, the village was renamed Trempealeau and grew rapidly, as numerous warehouses and other businesses grew up along the riverfront creating a booming commercial district served by many Mississippi riverboats. The first rail line was built through Trempealeau in 1871 which temporarily gave Trempealeau two options for shipping flour and other goods, but ultimately led to an end of the dominance of steamboats in the Mississippi River commerce. The reduction of wheat growing activity in the area and the emergence of other area communities now served by the growing rail network led to a slowdown in the commercial growth of Trempealeau. No new industries or economic activity replaced the shipping and milling industries which were rapidly leaving the village. A second rail line was built in 1887, this time along the riverfront, but Trempealeau still lagged far behind the growth of the other Mississippi River towns like Red Wing, Winona and La Crosse.
The big setback came in 1888 with a devastating fire that destroyed most of the buildings along the riverfront commercial district on Front Street (now First Street). Indicative of the reduced importance of shipping in the village economy, businesses were rebuilt away from the river along a two block section of Main Street. Many of the new post-fire buildings were built of brick and were designed for service and retail purposes. This displayed a commitment by several businessmen to fire resistant building construction, to shift away from shipping-related commerce and to be away from the noise and commotion of the riverbank rail line.
Throughout the 20th century the community maintained a stable yet small residential population, but for the most part important commercial, retail and industrial activities bypassed the village. Trempealeau's Main Street that you see today is significant because of the similarity in scale and design of both the brick and wood frame buildings and the presence of two outstanding buildings: the Queen Anne commercial style EJ Hankey building and the Prairie style Citizens State Bank building. These two buildings combined with the overall continuity of the district, male the two block Main Street district an interesting and mostly intact remnant of a "turn of the century", small town commercial area that has high architectural integrity and attractiveness. The Trempealeau Main Street Historic District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984.


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good evening
- a conventional expression used at meeting or parting in the evening.
Origin of good evening
First recorded in 1860–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for good evening
Historical Examples of good evening
"Good-evening, Captain Rushton," he said, with a forced smile.Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
To this Jennie assented, and cheerily bade him good-evening.Jennie Baxter, Journalist
Robert Barr
And we spoke no more until he said "Good-evening" to me at the door of No. 3.The First Violin
Jessie Fothergill
"Good-evening," responded the Doctor, and shook hands with each.Dr. Sevier
George W. Cable
"Good-evening," she said, her attitude mechanically unbending.The Golden Woman
Ridgwell Cullum
good evening
- a conventional expression of greeting or farewell used in the evening
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
good evening
see under good day.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.


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Tour starts and ends in Macau. Pickup and drop off place can be either Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, or your hotel lobby in Macau. Experience Macau with this fantastic group tour. You will be able to visit the wonderful sites of The Historic Center of Macau.PICKUP1. We can pickup from our c…
Macau is one of the most enchanting places to visit due to its multicultural heritage background. The city is infused with Portuguese architecture and traditional Chinese architecture making it one of the best cities to experience East Meets West. Here is a rundown of some of the top 10 hottest attra…
Macau is home to some of the most delicious cuisine! For all the food lovers out there it doesn't matter if you're looking for the taste of the Orient or something that will have your taste buds wanting more, Macau has endless dining options to keep your hunger satisfied!Macau Pork Chop Bun Macau'…
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Today we will typically focus on the must-see historic sites in Macau and get a better experience of the trip to Ruins of St. Paul's and Monte Fort. The Ruins of St. Paul's The Ruins of St. Paul's, a church constructed in about 17th century, is widely recognized as the landmark of Macau and a hist…
This full-day small-group tour is designed for people who need ferry and coach transfer service to Hong Kong from Macau.


text:
274 Wild Turkey Road
274 Wild Turkey Rd
Ferguson, NC
View Map →
- Bedrooms: 2
- Bathrooms: 2
- Living Space: 1,200 sq. ft.
- Lot Size: 15 acres
- Year Built: 1992
Privacy, Nature, and Serenity abound! This is a fantastic home located in the gated community of Leatherwood Mountains. The Wild Side sits on two combined tracts of land, totaling over 15 acres. The only sounds you hear will be the birds, the waterfall located at the bottom of the property, and the stresses of everyday life melting away. This house is very well maintained and has had some wonderful additions made. A screened in porch has been added as well as a bay window.All of the floors are true hard wood, the outside has rough cut boards, newly painted. This home would make an immediate rental, as the home is being sold fully furnished. The Kitchen, Bedrooms, Laundry, and Bathrooms are fully equipped. Both the screened in porch as well as the deck have very nice outdoor dining options also. The stone fireplace is the centerpiece of the main room, and is the perfect spot to enjoy a real fire.With the two lots being combined, there is always the option of building another home as well. This is a very nice home, schedule a time to see it today!
- Basement: Crawl Space
- Heat: Heat Pump-Electric, Wood/Gas Logs, Other-See Remarks
- Fireplace: One, Woodburning
- Appliances: Dishwasher, Dryer, Electric Range, Microwave, Refrigerator, Trash Compactor, Washer
- Amenities: Furnished, Wooded
- Exterior Features
- Exterior: Wood
- Roof: Metal
- Water Source: Private Well
- Sewer/Septic: Private
- Garage: None
- Driveway: Private Gravel
- Porch/Deck: Open, Screened
- Views: Mountain View
- Water Feat: Stream/Creek, Waterfall
- Road:


text: My name is Aiden Brotman and I am a sophomore at Jserra Catholic High School as well as a member of the school's Swim and Water Polo teams. Two years ago, my older brother, Austin Brotman, dove into shallow water on a family vacation in Florida. This accident resulted in the fracture of Austin's neck. As Austin became more and more invested in college applications, him and I were eventually introduced to Swim With Mike. Austin is interested in becoming a Swim With Mike scholarship recipient this Spring, and as a result, I have developed a goal to give back to the foundation. In 2019, JSerra will be holding an in-pool fundraiser that incorporates the school's state of the art aquatics facilities in hopes of gathering funds and raising awareness for the countless scholarship recipients who are focused on striving in education and overcoming their injury. All funds raised will go directly to the Swim With Mike organization.


text:
Me: Hello.
Idiot: Good morning, Enid. This is Maria.
Me: Good afternoon, Maria.
Idiot: Maria. I said my name. You don't listen.
Me: What can I do for you, Maria?
Idiot: Yes. We have a new admission. Her name is S – M – I -
Me: Maria, I coordinated and brought that new admission to you earlier.
Idiot: Oh, that was you?
Me: That was me.
Idiot: I don't know how you say this, but she needs an eye doctor.
Me: Ophthalmologist.
Idiot: Eye doctor. I said the patient needs an eye doctor.
Me: Fine.


text:
A former key figure in the local sports scene has died.
Frederick Andrew Smith died on January 22, at the age of 87, at Princess Court Nursing Home.
He spent his entire working life with the Civil Service, first of all at the Ministry of Pensions then the DSS at Longbenton.
And it was while working there that he discovered his passion for organising sporting events, running the organisation's cricket and football teams.
During his time with the cricket team, he found himself playing against stars including Gary Sobers and Intikhab Alam.
When he retired from the Civil Service, he played competition bowls for the Civil Service Bowls Group.
Mr Smith also ran Whitley Bay Pool League for 30 years as president, writing regular league reports for the News Guardian.
Unfortunately after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he had to take a back seat and became the honorary chairman. His wife Audrey worked alongside him as treasurer before she passed away in May 2014.
The league honours the pair with the Fred Smith Trophy and the Audrey Smith Trophy for ladies.


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Running Many Batch Statements in Parallel
When designing highly scalable architectures for modern machines, you will often need to do some form of manual parallelism control. Managing this is not always easy, but in this blog I will give you one piece of my toolbox to help you.
Let us walk through an example together, a tiny case study. This is a problem which many of you will be familiar with.
Let us say you have 16 files that you want to load into the same table in your database in an automated manner. The naïve approach will do something like this:
BULK INSERT MyTarget FROM 'C:\temp\MyFile1' WITH
(FIELDTERMINATOR = ';', ROWTERMINATOR = '\n')
BULK INSERT MyTarget FROM 'C:\temp\MyFile2' WITH
(FIELDTERMINATOR = ';', ROWTERMINATOR = '\n')
… etc…
BULK INSERT MyTarget FROM 'C:\temp\MyFile16' WITH
(FIELDTERMINATOR = ';', ROWTERMINATOR = '\n')
Now here is the problem with this approach: it executes one statement at a time. Sequential execution is BAD, you need to stop thinking about the world like that if you want to scale on a modern architecture.
Lets assume we have enough hardware resources (in this case, it would take a blade server and a decent I/O system). What we really want is to run every one of these statements in parallel. Unfortunately, SQL server does not have a command to start up new connection from inside T-SQL… what to do?
Getting to the Command Line
Because you cannot execute more than one command on a single connection at a time, we will need multiple connections to SQL Server and this mean we have to go back to the command line. Let us start by creating a little batch file Worker.Cmd with this content:
REM Worker.Cmd File
CALL SQLCMD –S.\MyServer –q"BULK INSERT MyTarget FROM 'C:\Temp\MyFile%1' …EXIT
This allows us to invoke a bulk load for the first file by executing: Worker.Cmd 1
Unfortunately, we still cannot start multiple connections without manually firing up a lot of command prompts. The coders in the audience may at this point reach for their favorites programming language to write a little utility that can spawn multiple copies of an executable.
However, there is a problem with such a home made executable: you cannot generally rely on a server having the necessary runtime libraries. Typical comments might be:
"No, we don't have .NET 4.0 here, this is not yet certified by our infrastructure department. Could you recompile it for 1.1 please?".
"Power Shell is much too fancy for us, what is wrong with running this on Windows 2000?"
Perhaps this customer is just skeptical about letting you run your executable on a server. This may sound silly, but I have seen this happen too many times to make assumptions.
Start to the Rescue
There is a very nice little utility for the good old command prompt that allows you to fire up new processes: START.EXE. This comes with all versions of Windows and it takes any command line executable as input, fires it up in a new thread and returns control back to the caller.
Using start.exe, we can write batch script that fire up multiple copies of the same executable. It looks like this:
REM SpawnMany.cmd
REM Author: Thomas Kejser
REM Purpose: Spawns many copies of the same executable. Useful for running many things in parallel
ECHO Spawning %2 copies of %1
FOR /L %%i IN (1, 1, %2) DO (
ECHO Spawning thread %%i
START "Worker%%i" /Min %1 %%i %2
Each new process is started in a minimized window and we pass the thread number and the total number of threads to it. Using this little batch script, we can now do this:
SpawnMany.exe Worker.Exe 16
This starts 16 workers, each with their own thread number assigned. Very useful for running stuff in parallel in a quick and dirty way. For example, I use this to run the TPC-H data generator dbgen.exe highly parallelized.
Notice that I added the EXIT command at the end of the worker.cmd batch. This makes sure that the window closes itself when done executing.
In this blog, I have shown you how to write a little batch script to fire up multiple threads, from the command line. each doing their own work in parallel. The script is "zero dependency" which makes it ideal for server use and for hacking together quick and dirty parallelism for test scenarios.
I mentioned that SQL server does not have a way to start up new connections from T-SQL. This is not strictly true. Sorry for leading you astray, but I wanted you to see how to do this from the command line first (and go through the pain ). There is a way to hack SQL Server and implement a stored procedure I like to call sp_executesql_async. This will be the subject of a future blog, but since I am heading into a lab for a few weeks, you just have to wait for it.
More about Warehousing at: DW and Big Data
February 25, 2013 at 14:21
So what is the hack to implement sp_executesql_async?
The immediate possibilities that I see are:
– Dynamical create an SQL agent job pr. task that needs to be executed
– Use the service broker – create a job queue and have a number of processes monitoring that queue for tasks that are to be executed
Or do you have something else in mind?
February 25, 2013 at 15:36
Just thought of one more option: Use CLR to spawn the process used to execute the async call


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Holidays Coincide
Posted: March 20, 2014
Much was made earlier this year when Thanksgiving and Hanukah coincided. Just this week, the holiday of St. Patrick's Day and Purim fell together—and in Boston, St. Patrick's Day is a very big holiday. At JCHE, Purim is the occasion for serious celebration.
Both holidays are celebrated with abandon—parties, drinking and dancing. There are St. Patrick Day parades with beautiful floats and costumes—for Purim, there are plays and people in costumes.
St. Patrick's Day, according to Wikipedia, commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.[ Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them, and so celebrates the survival of Jewish heritage and culture.
In the fall, the Chinese August Moon Festival coincided with Sukkot. Both are harvest festival holidays; both are celebrated with fruits and vegetables and gathering of family and friends. At Sukkot, Jews especially bring in memories of their ancestors—Chinese festivals evoke memories of loved ones.
Clearly, all of our lives are enriched by sharing cultural experiences and joys, and the coincidence of different holidays serve to illustrate that vividly.


text:
I wanted to replace the bulky non original casters on a 1973 checkerboard cab with the Fender casters but found the holes are about 3/4" & the replacements are bout 1/2" so a bit of slop there.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj10 ... 5f85ad.jpg
Thinking it might be more secure if I fill in the holes will appropriate sized dowels then drill the 1/2" holes for a tighter fit. good idea ?


text:
Acrylic and mixed media Painted by Ciska April 07
Sold original. 30CM X 40CM
ciska glow golden intense kakadu landscape peaceful reflections sunset water australia beauty outback
love it it works really well,
Thanks Alan
Very striking and bold; love the three dimensional feel to this, Ciska. Great sense of realism that takes you there!
Cool! Love the texture in the treeline!
I love the thickness of the paint! Beautiful work!
great work!!!!
Thanx guyz
i'M A SUCKER FOR A SUNSET….AND THIS IS FANTASTIC!….LOVE THE TEXTURE TO THE TREE SILHOUETTEs!!
Thanx again Care.
So this is what they mean when they say – acrylic. I love the textured look! Then I have a photo that looks like an acrylic – one of my ice pics. hmmm – well all I know is I love the colors; I love sunsets and I love that texture!
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text: Toasty, minty and true to form, this Malbec-Cabernet blend is heady stuff, with hard tannins and plenty of ripeness. Blackberry, coffee, chocolate and herbal flavors are aggressive yet harmonious, while the finish is black and muscular in nature. With such tough tannins, this needs time to settle; best after 2017.


text:
Think of welfare
The Government has published another section of its Review on Antimicrobial Resistance which reported on the over-use of antibiotics in animal factories, grimly forecasting that the resulting antibiotic resistance will cause 10 million extra deaths a year by 2050. In the UK approximately 25 per cent of all antibiotics are given to pigs in factory farms just to keep them alive in overcrowded, stressful and contagious conditions.
However, pigs on outdoor farms, or indoors with adequate space and bedding, are healthy and hardly ever need antibiotics.
We have the choice to buy pork with the high welfare labels RSPCA Assured, Outdoor Bred, Free Range or Organic – these labels indicate that the animals have been treated properly and not irresponsibly stuffed with antibiotics to compensate for the appalling conditions in factory farms, here and abroad.
If everyone bought only high welfare pork, antibiotic use in the UK would drop by 25 per cent. My campaigning organisation, Farms Not Factories, urges readers to eat a healthier, more ethical Christmas dinner this year by choosing higher welfare pork, and to pay for the extra cost by choosing less popular cuts, or eating less meat.
This way, we can put an end to the intensive farming industry and eventually reduce antibiotic use on pigs to virtually zero.
Though the UK is one of the countries with the highest animal welfare standards for pigs, we import 60 per cent from intensive factory farming systems abroad that would be illegal in the UK, thereby undermining higher welfare UK pig farms.
It is time to take control of the way our food is produced, by only buying pork raised on humane farms, in supermarkets or better still, direct from our farmers via farmers' markets, a box scheme, or online.
Tracy Worcester
Farms Not Factories
Will there be a U-turn?
At this time of year, I am reminded of Charles Dickens' story, A Christmas Carol. I see the Chancellor, George Osborne, visited by the ghosts of social care past, present and future. In the past he sees the care of older and vulnerable adults woefully underfunded for generations, despite endless promises.
In the present he sees fewer and fewer people receiving the care they need and providers failing through a lack of funding. His future vision is of care homes closed and people out on the street.
It is hospitals unable to cope with the flow of people needing beds because of a lack of community care.
It is a country with no dignity for those in need of help.
But it doesn't have to be this way. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge realises the future can be changed: "Best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own, and he could make the best of it."
If the Government funds social care properly in the long run it will save money on NHS hospital spending and avoid our quite Dickensian nightmare. Then we'll all say: "God bless us, every one."
Mike Padgham via email
NHS parking
We hear about NHS hospitals making large profits from car park charges. It's not right to charge anyone for parking at a hospital, especially if they are a patient or visitor to see a sick patient. Patients and visitors should complain to their MP and let the Government know the public won't stand for it.
David Treacher
Address supplied


text:
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Leek and potato soup
olive oil
3 leeks
2 onions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
vegetable stock
wholegrain mustard
chilli flakes
cream for drizzling (optional obviously)
1. Sweat down chopped and cleaned leeks and onion.
2. Chop potatoes into smallish cubes and add them to the onions, when a little soft add crushed garlic and keep sweating down.
3. Add about a litre of veg stock and simmer.
4. Add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and a teaspoon of marmite, taste for seasoning.
5. When potatoes are soft zizz and adjust to the right texture.
6. Serve, drizzle with cream if you wish ... would be vegan without the cream - and is gluten free.
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