text:
why moats fail
"Moats are terribly important to the long-term investor. Any company that can maintain a wide moat over twenty or thirty years can smooth out an awful lot of poor investment decisions. Conversely, getting a moat wrong (through either not understanding its durability or its existence at all) can crush your investment returns. If I have one piece of advice for new investors, it's to look to your holding's moat – understand its components, understand its durability, and understand its role in your estimated intrinsic value".
This quote is from a speech I gave in 2011 to a collection of healthcare analysts who were grappling with understanding a company's moat and its importance in a company's valuation. Re-reading it eleven years later, I'm not sure I'd change a single word. The only addition I might make is to be "very" conservative in your estimates (not just conservative) when valuing a possible investment's moat.
Generally, when we get moats wrong at Nintai, it's because of two things. The first is that business conditions change enough to impair the company's ability to maintain the characteristics of a wide-moat business. Secondly, as investors, we convince ourselves the company has achieved a wide moat when one has never existed. In the final analysis, the damage is the same in both, though it generally goes much quicker in the latter than in the former.
I'm going to discuss both cases in much greater detail. Both can be deadly when it comes to long-term performance. I recently wrote an article about New Oriental Education and Technology (EDU), a holding in some Nintai investment partner portfolios that lost 75% of its value in two days in 2021. That poor choice was a combination of Option # 1 (the company lost its ability to maintain a moat due to changes in governmental policy) and Option #2 (the moat we thought the company had was much weaker in reality).
In today's article, I wanted to discuss Option #1 (why a company's moat might fail) in much greater detail. Before I get started, it might be helpful to quickly review what Nintai thinks are the primary sources for sustainable moats.
A Brief Review of Moat Characteristics
A competitive moat is a term first used by Warren Buffett to describe a company's competitive advantage over time. This competitive advantage creates an "organizational moat" that makes it more difficult for competitors to capture market share, increase prices, or build a better mousetrap. The broader and deeper the moat, the better the protection and the greater the likelihood the moat is sustainable over the long term. No company has better articulated Buffett's concept of moats than Morningstar. Their "Economic Moat Ratings" are essential in understanding how a company derives its moat, sources, durability, and trend. The company's "Why Moats Matter: The Morningstar Approach to Investing" by Heather Brilliant and Elizabeth Collins remains a true classic.
Morningstar's Types of Moats: We agree with Morningstar that there are certain forms of moats.[1] These include Network Effect (whereas more users join a network, the more powerful it becomes as dictated by Metcalfe's Law), Intangible Assets (where patents, brands, or regulatory approvals can create legally-derived moats around a business), Cost Advantage (where a company can keep costs down, but profits up regularly), Switching Costs (where it becomes cost and skills prohibitive to remove a product from the customer's business processes), and Efficient Scale (where several players dominate a market that lends itself as too expensive to build out a competitive offering – like pipelines). We use some specific measures at Nintai that we think are critical components to any company with a moat.
High Returns on Invested Capital: Companies with wide moats can use capital to produce high returns on said capital. In plain English, this means a company can utilize capital (such as cash, debt, or money raised through stock sales) by deploying it into either existing operations (such as building a new plant) or new operations (such as an acquisition or creating a new product) that generates high returns on the invested capital. Great companies find ways to use the money to increase their moat, while poor companies generate inadequate capital returns by squandering it on bad business deals or product development.
High Free Cash Flow Conversion: At Nintai, we look for companies that convert 25% or greater revenue into free cash flow for at least the past ten years. After paying all the bills to keep the business running (labor, SG&A, leases, capital expenditures, etc.), the company clears over one-quarter of all revenue as wholly theirs. This demonstrates that the company can achieve extremely high profitability and has enough cash to little to no need to go to the capital markets or raise debt.
Competitive Strength: We also look for companies with obvious competitive strengths. Easily identified strengths are monopoly or duopoly (when there are only one or two companies in that line of business, an investor should expect to see higher growth rates and increased profitability. Another example is dominance achieved through regulatory or patent protection. When a pharmaceutical receives a patent for a particular molecule or product, this guarantees exclusivity for anywhere between 7 - 15 years. Not bad if you're the only company treating a specific disease.
Excellent Capital Allocators as Managers: Just because a company can achieve high returns on invested capital and find ample opportunity to invest in the current business doesn't mean they will. An equally important component has a management team with the discipline to stay with projects that aim for high returns on invested capital, as well as the discipline to reject those that don't have those characteristics.
Why Moats Fail or Get Filled In
Of course, nothing is better for an investor than bringing a company into the portfolio and watching it broaden its moat, grow revenue, increase profitability, and successfully allocate capital to grow the company over a ten to twenty-year period. At Nintai, we've been lucky to have a couple of these, including Manhattan Research (MANH), Intuitive Surgical (IRSG), and FactSet Research (FDS). Unfortunately, we've also had more than our share of portfolio holdings where the moat disappeared, along with our investment case and investment returns. Several great (perhaps that's not the word) examples from Nintai's past include Corporate Executive Board (merged) and New Oriental Education (EDU), and Computer Programs and Systems (CPSI).
Each of the latter cases involved companies that faced a rapid decline or collapse in their competitive moat. This further led to a near-complete collapse in stock price and competitive position. In each of these cases, one of three reasons led to such rapid changes.
Government Regulations Change: The old phrase goes that the good Lord giveth, and the good Lord taketh away. Indeed, nothing could be more accurate than the case of New Oriental Education and Technology. For nearly two decades, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) encouraged families to invest in learning English as a second language, getting tutoring services to improve those skills, and leveraging EDU's country-wide infrastructure to increase their skill sets. In 2021, the CCP pulled the rug out from tutoring companies complaining they were forcing families to spend too much on education as a percent of their total family income. In one week, the government completely obliterated the business and investment case in the mainland China for-profit education market.
New Technology/Product/Process is Developed: Sometimes, it's as simple as competitors exploding on the scene with a new product or offering that instantly makes a business or product obsolete. For instance, in most major cities, there are a limited number of hackney medallions that allow you to drive a taxi. In Boston, there are 1,825. At its height, cabs picked up 14.6M fares in 2012. That number dropped to 5.9M in 2018. In 2021 it was estimated to be roughly 2.3M. The cost of a medallion has fallen from $900,000 in 2013 to $34,000 in 2021. The reason for this collapse? The democratization of ride-sharing through Uber and Lyft. In the blink of an eye, the entire business model of the taxicab in major cities was blown apart.
Management Takes Their Eye Off the Ball: Occasionally, great companies will have management takeover that aren't as good capital allocators as their predecessors. A former holding in the Nintai Charitable Trust portfolio - Computer Programs and Systems (CPSI) - saw return on equity drop from 43.3 in 2014 to -11.6 in 2017 under new management. This type of collapse in return on equity reflected a broader breakdown in the company's moat, leading to the permanent impairment of Nintai's capital. In this instance, management took its eye off the ball of the electronic health/medical record (EHR/EMR) space and lost its competitive advantage over the next few years. The stock price shared an equally severe drop, and Nintai's investment was permanently impaired.
Signs of a Deteriorating Moat
What should an investor look for when identifying if a portfolio holding's moat is deteriorating in size or scope? Here are some things we look for at Nintai Investments.
Revenue Decrease: a slight and consistent decrease in revenue tells you more about an eroding moat than one awful year. When a company sees revenue decrease year-over-year for an extended time, it can mean the company's product is losing the loyalty of customers, loss of pricing power, or that the company simply isn't executing its strategy very well. Whatever the reason, decreasing revenue is not what an investor is looking for in a company with a narrow or wide competitive moat.
Profit Decrease: Another sign of a deteriorating moat is squeezed gross and net margins, or most importantly, a decrease in free cash flow or free cash flow as a percent of revenue. Any of these three might suggest the company no longer can keep costs contained (raw supplies costs have increased or the labor market is too tight) or worse; it is losing the battle of maintaining control over pricing versus customers who don't see the value anymore.
Decreasing Market Share: A clear sign of an eroding moat is when a portfolio holding sees a marked deterioration in market share. Numbers like this reflect something either very wrong at the portfolio company or something very right at a competitor. As an investor, we prefer to see it the former, not the latter. Why? Because this is something in the company's control that with the right management team, strategy, operational team, and adequate capital, can be solved. That said, any solution must thread the needle of all these listed issues as well as complete them in a reasonable period. Many customers won't have the patience to see a vendor go through a series of missteps.
Specific Government Action: In some instances, a government may change its policies and have an enormous impact on a company's moat. For instance. Mexico's government provides supportive policy to three Mexican publicly traded airport operators – Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (PAC) holds the most significant passenger market share at 26%, compared with 23% for Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASR) and 15% for Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMAB). Any change in government policy - such as moving to a more free-market model or a change in licensing – could dramatically impact each of these companies' competitive moats.
A Note on Speed
Some of the previously mentioned events can lead to much quicker moat deterioration than others. For instance, a change in government policy - created by a change in administration or simply an unplanned policy change - can destroy a moat in days. For example, Nintai's investment in New Oriental Educational (EDU) lost its entire moat and most of its valuation in just 72 hours in the summer of 2021. Others, such as decreasing market share, can take years of erosion to eat away at a company's moat. In Computer Programs and Systems case, it took several years before the extent of damage to the company's moat was identified.
Questions to Ask Going Forward
Inevitably, an investor will own a portfolio holding that shows the signs of a weakening moat, as described in the previous section. When this happens, there are several questions the investor should ask relative to the future of the moat, can/will it return, or is there an opportunity to create an entirely new moat.
Is the Moat Permanently Impaired?: The first question an investor should ask is whether the moat has been permanently impaired. Events such as the loss of a patent, a radical change in government policy, or the launch of a truly ground-breaking new product by a competitor can usually mean the damage can be ascertained quickly. But most cases aren't so clear-cut. Sometimes it can take several quarters or even years before the erosion, and its certainty becomes clear. We've found the best way to mitigate the risks associated with this long-drawn-out process is to know your portfolio holding, market, and competitors exceptionally well. If the investor isn't willing to do some real, in-depth leg work, then find a quality index fund.
Can the Company Rebuild the Moat?: This is one of the more difficult questions an investor will have to answer about moats. The company and its team have already built a moat, so we have a cognitive bias in our thinking that says they should be able to do it again. But you have to let all that information go and dwell on the facts of why and how they lost the moat. It would seem unlikely they can rebuild the exact same moat because that one blew up. So, what would need to change? Strategically? Operationally? Does the company have a management team capable of identifying the required changes? Does the company have the capital required to make the changes? Again, an investor needs an in-depth knowledge of what made up the previous moat, what a new one might look like, and all the necessary information on competitors, markets, strategy, operations, financials, etc.
Can the Company Build a Different Moat?: This question can usually be answered the quickest of the post-impaired questions. We have found over time that it is challenging to not only rebuild a competitive advantage but to build a moat in an entirely different field. You certainly want to believe in management. After all, they've shown remarkable skill and drive in creating a solid business already. Who says they can't do it again? But building a moat in an entirely new field or industry is another whole ball of wax. Having confidence in your management to rebuild an existing moat is one thing, having it in them to build a moat in an entirely new industry or vertical? That's more likely to be a pipe dream.
Building a business surrounded by a deep competitive moat is quite a task. Identifying a market, creating a product, fending off competitors, and achieving long-term growth are all marks of a great management team. Inevitably, the hallmarks of such success tend to get weathered and fade away. For a host of reasons (listed previously), a portfolio company's moat can (or will) deteriorate with time. The challenge for the investor is to purchase shares when the moat is in the ascendancy and not overpay in those circumstances. The second key is recognizing when a moat is weakening, identifying the causes, and ascertaining whether management can turn the situation around. A wise investor can sometimes avoid conditions that lead to crack-ups in a business's competitive moat. But we all make mistakes. This article can't guarantee you won't make such a mistake in the future. But it hopefully outlines some of the issues an investor can keep in their desk drawer and pull out now and then to refresh their memory.
As always, I look forward to your thoughts and comments.
DISCLOSURE: Nintai currently owns New Oriental Education and Technology (EDU) and Manhattan Associates (MANH) in both client and my personal investment account.
[1] These examples are components of Morningstar's "Economic Moat Rating" and "Moat Sources". More information can be found here.


text:
Fees & Appointments
7 High Street, Forest Lake QLD 4078 Australia
Welcome to Forest Lake General Practice
Forest Lake General Practice is located next door to Sam Riley Swim School. We are open 7 days a week to provide healthcare to the local community. Our GPs offer a range of services including antenatal care, cosmetics, Mirena insertion and iron infusions. We also treat and manage Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) conditions, skin cancer and chronic diseases. Our medical centre has a treatment room for minor procedures, wound management and immunisations. Forest Lake General Practice is an accredited practice. This means that things like instrument sterilisation, vaccine management and IT security meet or exceed General Practice standards.
Please note, the preferred method of contacting Forest Lake General Practice for scripts and appointments is via phone. Any messages received via email or Facebook will not be viewed.
Indigenous Acknowledgement
Forest Lake General Practice acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
Forest Lake General Practice is part of IPN Medical Centres
Visit the IPN website
© IPN Medical Centres Pty Ltd 2020 | 7 High Street, Forest Lake QLD 4078 Australia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Fetching cover art via the Spotify API I'm trying to work a bit with the Spotify API to get the cover art URL pulled from their response. In this example, I'm trying to get the cover art from Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". It seems really straight forward, but I'm no expert at all - I'm just playing around to see if I can work this out.
Visit the following URL:
https://embed.spotify.com/oembed/?url=spotify:track:5ChkMS8OtdzJeqyybCc9R5&format=json&callback=spotify

Returns the following JSON response:
  spotify({"provider_url":"https:\/\/www.spotify.com","version":"1.0","thumbnail_width":300,"height":380,"thumbnail_height":300,"title":"Michael Jackson - Billie Jean - Single Version","width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/d3rt1990lpmkn.cloudfront.net\/cover\/e337f3661f68bc4d96a554de0ad7988d65edb25a","provider_name":"Spotify","type":"rich","html":"<iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify:track:5ChkMS8OtdzJeqyybCc9R5\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>"});

What I'm trying to do is to get the PHP script to pull the thumbnail_url and echo it in the document. However, I only get error messages. Can anyone help me out, and point out what I'm doing wrong?
This is my script so far:
<?php
$track = "spotify:track:5ChkMS8OtdzJeqyybCc9R5";
$url = "https://embed.spotify.com/oembed/?url=".$track."&format=json&callback=spotify";
$get_data  = file_get_contents($url);
$get_json  = json_decode($get_data);

$cover = $get_json->spotify->thumbnail_url;

echo $cover;
?>

A: The reason file_get_contents wont work is if you enable error reporting you will see the error:

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: Unable to
  find the wrapper "https" - did you forget to enable it when you
  configured PHP?

See answers related to that error here.
So the easiest solution without fiddling with PHP is to use cURL instead with the CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST & CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER properties set to false.
So the code is: See in action!
<?php
$track = "spotify:track:5ChkMS8OtdzJeqyybCc9R5";
$url = "https://embed.spotify.com/oembed/?url=".$track."&format=json";

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERAGENT, "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; curl)");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
$json = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$json  = json_decode($json);

$cover = $json->thumbnail_url;

//https://d3rt1990lpmkn.cloudfront.net/cover/e337f3661f68bc4d96a554de0ad7988d65edb25a
echo $cover;

//Debug - Complete response
echo '<pre>'.print_r($json, true).'</pre>';
/*
stdClass Object
(
    [provider_url] => https://www.spotify.com
    [version] => 1.0
    [thumbnail_width] => 300
    [height] => 380
    [thumbnail_height] => 300
    [title] => Michael Jackson - Billie Jean - Single Version
    [width] => 300
    [thumbnail_url] => https://d3rt1990lpmkn.cloudfront.net/cover/d45aa25bbd45872c0b1e97223af57fe94588820a
    [provider_name] => Spotify
    [type] => rich
    [html] =>
)
*/

A: Looks like you need to set a User Agent, not 100% as I haven't checked the docs, but setting a User Agent with CURL allows me to receive the data. Try the following:
<?php
$track = "spotify:track:5ChkMS8OtdzJeqyybCc9R5";
$url = "https://embed.spotify.com/oembed/?url=".$track."&format=json";

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERAGENT, "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:x.x.x) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/x.x");
$output = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$get_json  = json_decode($output);
$cover     = $get_json->thumbnail_url;
echo $cover;

Using CURL allows you to be more granular with your request. In this example we are setting a User Agent.

A: This is how I'm doing it in Python, and this has been working well for me. The main difference I see is the &callback= in the url, which seemed to be required at the time I wrote this.
import requests
def getArt(spTrackURL,x=False):
    """
        Takes a uri to a spotify track
        -> Use uri to query Spotify web service for album art path
        -> modify art path to produce 300 px image (larger than default, no logo)
        -> return art path as string
    """
    if (not x):
        log("getArt","for '" + spTrackURL + "' -> Getting cover art from Spotify")
    spEmbedUrl = 'https://embed.spotify.com/oembed/?url=' + spTrackURL + '&callback=?'
    try:
        r = requests.get(spEmbedUrl)
        while (r.text == ''):
            time.sleep(1)
        t = r.text.split(',')
        for i in t:
            if (i.find('thumbnail_url') != -1):
                t = i
        t = t.replace('"thumbnail_url":"','').replace('"', '').replace('\\','').replace('cover','300')
        #print t
    except:
        t = ''
        #print 'something bad happened when getting art, trying again'
        t = getArt(spTrackURL, True)
    return t

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


'Origin' was developed for the porter's lodge. An installation that has much in common with the monumental work 'Breathing Cloud' from 2007.
In the historic inner court of Het Kruithuis in 's-Hertogenbosch, a luminous inflatable enclosed by a greenhouse was exhibited. In the entrance hall of the Willem II factory the enclosed, secure inner space of the porter's lodge is also used to good effect. Passers-by are invited to ponder for a moment on the transition from one space to another: from inside to outside, from outside to inside.
Mary van Erp, Brabants Dagblad, May 8, 2008.
Opening hours: Thursdays through Sundays,1 to 5 p.m.


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text:
American Banker Celebrates the Most Powerful Women in Banking
The growing media and social interest in workplace diversity and inclusion is an exciting and encouraging phenomenon. For 18 years, American Banker has recognized the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking. These women pioneer paths for equity, opportunity, and innovation through inclusivity within the banking industry. Join us in celebrating them and bringing awareness to their accomplishments. We are particularly thrilled to see one of our customers recognized. Congratulations to President and CEO of Citizen's Bank of Edmond, Jill Castilla.
Women: moving the industry forward
At Q2, our mission is to build strong and diverse communities by strengthening their financial institutions. By promoting the influence of women leaders in our field, we reinforce our mission while driving the industry forward.
We have been a proud sponsor of the Texas Conference for Women, which is designed to promote, communicate, and amplify the influence of women in the workplace and a long-time advocate of Code2College, an economic empowerment, college access, and workforce development program that furthers the workforce placement of women. Since 2016, we've held workshops, provided volunteer instructors and mentors, hosted summer interns, and recently made a $100k donation to Code2College's Vision 2024 initiative, which aims to place 200 Black and Latinx women into STEM roles by 2024.
Q2: building a diverse work force
Women are contributing their talent and experience to our board, executive team, and throughout all levels of the organization. We are dedicated to recruiting, hiring, and empowering women who, in turn, bring a wealth of expertise to Q2. Learn about Q2's extraordinary culture and discover our latest career opportunities.
Written by Q2
Customer of the Year (Bank) – Mercantile Bank of Michigan
Q2 Equips Texas Security Bank's Commercial Clients With Valuable, Time-Saving Digital Banking Solutions
First United Bank Leverages Q2 Digital Banking Platform to Improve its Customer's Financial Health


text:
Lib Dem leader Vince Cable holds successful visit to Hinckley
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable MP visited Hinckley to meet local Lib Dem supporters and to talk to local school and college principals and students about problems with education under-funding.
Vince Cable said "It was great to see the wonderful work being done at the Hinckley Academy and the North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.
"The message that was clearly being put across though was the lack of funding for education. This is particularly a problem in Leicestershire which has one of the lowest levels of funding in the country, with Leicestershire getting nearly £5,000 less per pupil than the best funded schools. I'm glad to hear that local Lib Dem Councillors are arguing the case for fair funding for Leicestershire schools.
"It was good to meet the local Lib Dem team. The Lib Dems need to gain only six seats to win back Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council from the Conservatives in May. Whilst at the last general election the Lib Dem vote in Bosworth was the highest number of votes for the Lib Dems in any seat in the Midlands."
Lib Dem parliamentary spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth Councillor Michael Mullaney said "It was excellent to have Vince Cable visit Hinckley to hear about our local campaigns and the need for fairer education spending for Leicestershire. Hinckley and Bosworth was rated in the lowest ten places in the country for social mobility recently. It's vital that every local young person gets the chance of a quality education that is properly funded to give them the best chance of succeeding in life."
Lib Dem leader SIr Vince Cable had a successful visit to Hinckley


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Fiji and India signed (09-Mar-2017) a new Air Services Agreement, replacing the previous ASA signed in 1974. Fiji Government said the new ASA "has been negotiated to meet the conditions that exist now and will exist in the foreseeable future", while noting that under the new ASA, Fiji Airways has already signed a codeshare agreement with Jet Airways. Fiji is now in the process of reviewing and updating ASAs with other countries, with the "goal of increasing the scope and quality of economic activity and connectivity while at the same time protecting the Fijian aviation industry".
New Plymouth Airport manager Wayne Wootton stated he hopes construction on the new terminal can commence in late 2017 (Stuff, 08-Mar-2017). As previously reported by CAPA, the council selected a more extravagant NZD22.2 million (USD16 million) proposal for the project. The airport hopes to operate the new terminal by early 2019.
New Plymouth Airport launched a customer survey to gain insight into passengers' travel habits, which will help airport authority design the new terminal accordingly (Stuff, 08-Mar-2017). As previously reported by CAPA, the airport plans to develop a new NZD22.2 million (USD16 million) terminal in 2017. The survey is open until 19-Mar-2017.
Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon, commenting on the formation and launch of Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ), noted that for regional airlines to be competitive costs and quality in all parts of the travel experience "must continue to improve" while airlines are "constrained by a legacy of under investment and over recovery at key airports" (Stuff/Australian Financial Review, 08-Mar-2017). A4ANZ will "add its voice" to that ambition" said Mr Luxon.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce welcomed the formation of Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ), the first unified airline industry body for Australia and New Zealand (Australian Financial Review, 08-Mar-2017). According to Mr Joyce, the goal of the group is to "achieve regulatory reform that will promote a competitive and sustainable airline industry in the interests of Australian and New Zealand travellers". Mr Joyce noted that airfares continue to decline, while airport fees and charges "continue to increase".
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare urged his government to accelerate the procurement of a biosecurity screening machine at Honiara Henderson International Airport (Pacific Islands Report, 07-Mar-2017). The SBD3 million (USD387,000) machine will enable the nation to export root crops overseas. Honiara Henderson International Airport is the country's only international airport.
Regional Express (Rex) executive chairman Lim Kim Hai welcomed the formation of Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ), the first unified airline industry body for Australia and New Zealand (Stuff/Australian Financial Review, 08-Mar-2017). Mr Lim said the industry group will be "critical for regional communities as major airports are all too ready to sacrifice critical regional interests".
Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ), a new industry group formed by Qantas Group, VirginAustralia Group, Air New Zealand and Regional Express (Rex), officially launched, with former Australian Competition and Consumer Competition chairman Grame Samuel as independent chairman (Stuff/Australian Financial Review, 08-Mar-2017). A CEO will be appointed "in the coming months". The A4ANZ board will also include representatives from each carrier, including Jetstar Airways and Tigerair Australia. The group's intention is to address regulatory and airport issues, fares and charges, encourage more investment in aviation infrastructure and push for market reforms.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce stated that the "big focus is on the tax policy" to make Australia more competitive (CNBC, 09-Mar-2017). He noted a need to make sure that people are incentivised to invest back into their businesses. According to Mr Joyce, 98% of Australian companies reported a profit during the Feb-2017 "reporting season" but 89% of these invested money back to their shareholders, rather than back into growth. Australian need to make sure its tax system, education, industrial relations and energy security are all reformed to ensure that investment is made in Australia in the future.
Brisbane Airport stated the need for dedicated bike lane on the proposed AUD120 million (USD90.7 million) Dryandra Road underpass "will be further investigated" (Courier Mail, 08-Mar-2017). The airport noted the existing road does not "have a dedicated bike lane and is not part of the cycling or pedestrian network at Brisbane Airport". As previously reported by CAPA, Dryandra Road underpass will provide continued public access to key airport facilities such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, General Aviation Terminal and Acacia Street viewing area following its new parallel runway project.
Canberra Airport rejected (08-Mar-2017) claims that the airport is unsafe for operation due to the proximity of commercial buildings to the runway. The airport stated infrastructure developments on the airport site comply with safety regulations and were assessed and approved by CASA and Airservices Australia.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce stated the most concerning issue that would worry the airline about the future is if protectionism became a "big item" in the US, China and elsewhere (CNBC, 09-Mar-2017). My Joyce stated that this in not good for globalisation, trade and travel and he believes that it is a responsibility of business communities to ensure that people understand the implications of protectionism.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce reported the share of total capacity dedicated to Europe has declined from over 35% to less than 12% over the past decade, and "we're reducing our exposure" to Europe even further by flying nonstop to the UK from Australia, with a route from Perth (CNBC, 09-Mar-2017). Qantas is "still seeing very good growth out of the UK in terms of demand" despite the 2016 Brexit vote, said Mr Joyce.
Wellington lobbying group Guardians of the Bays welcomed (06-Mar-2017) news that Wellington International Airport requested an interim adjournment of proceedings from the Environment Court regarding its runway extension application. This request comes in response to Court of Appeal's ruling that the Civil Aviation Authority must reconsider its decision on the length of the proposed runway safety area. As previously reported by CAPA, Wellington Airport's request was denied and its resource consent application hearing will be held on 23-Mar-2017.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said he sees little impact on the carrier's business from Brexit and the US travel ban (CNBC, 09-Mar-2017). According to Mr Joyce, the outlook for the US market is for continued good growth and Qantas is "fairly optimistic" about the outlook for the US market, particularly if the Trump Administration implements its planned USD1 trillion stimulus package and tax reforms. The US is a "huge growth market" in business travel and in leisure travel. Mr Joyce noted that Qantas has over a 50% share of the US-Australia travel market.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said he believes in taking "calculated risks", although this is helped at Qantas by the diversity and strength of the carrier's management team that produces "good strategic debates" about the business directions, risks and solutions, and implementing these with a "full understanding" (CNBC, 09-Mar-2017). According to Mr Joyce, even then sometimes the strategies don't work, and you "just have to be adaptable and flexible to move on to other things". He cautioned that sometimes not doing anything "produces a worse outcome than doing something, and if it doesn't work, adapting and moving on".
Canberra Airport welcomed (09-Mar-2017) a decision by Transport Canberra to provide direct bus services between the airport and city centre from 20-Mar-2017 onwards. The bus service will run 64 times per week with 26 frequencies on Saturdays and 24 on Sundays. Airport MD Stephen Byron stated this transportation option "will be particularly welcomed by our low cost carrier passengers".
Brisbane Airport launched (09-Mar-2017) a trial of SITA Smart Path, a system that utilises facial recognition technology to allow passengers to complete the aircraft boarding process without presenting boarding pass or passport once travel documents are registered into the system at check-in. Smart Path can be extended to include any processes and checkpoints that require document checks. Airport GM strategic planning and development Roel Hellemons revealed plans to "integrate with various government systems for immigration and border checks".
Tourism New Zealand reported (24-Feb-201) New Zealand's increasing popularity as a destination for international business events. Tourism New Zealand business events manager Lisa Gardiner said New Zealand is performing well as an "attractive and unique" business and conference destination, reporting an estimated value of NZD96.3 million (USD66.5 million) for all conferences bid by Tourism New Zealand in FY2015/16. The body said it will be focusing on promoting New Zealand as a business events destination in Australia, China, Southeast Asia, the US and the Global Association markets.
Tourism New Zealand reported (07-Mar-2017) "significant growth" from European markets, with a 15% year-on-year increase in international visitor arrivals from Germany for the year ending Dec-2016 and a 12% increase from the UK. Tourism New Zealand regional manager Europe Pip Casey commented that New Zealand is: "also witnessing a continuing trend of these visitors coming to New Zealand in the shoulder seasons".
Tourism New Zealand CEO Brighid Kelly said the organisation will focus efforts on shoulder season campaigns to spread the visitation year round.
Tourism New Zealand reported (07-Mar-2017) increasing popularity with Chinese tourists with over 400,000 Chinese visitors traveling to New Zealand p/a. The comments follow the Chinese online forum Qyer naming New Zealand as its destination of the year. Tourism New Zealand GM Asia David Craig said the Qyer online community is an "increasingly common" way for Chinese free independent travellers to investigate countries to visit, and the award is "a real boost to New Zealand tourism".
Air Canada requested (08-Mar-2017) a statement of authorisation from the US Department of Transportation(DoT) to operate a codeshare agreement with Virgin Australia on services operated between the US and Canada, primarily from Toronto, Montreal and Calgary to Los Angeles.


'A… Aa' is an upcoming Telugu romantic comedy film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas. Starring Nithin, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Anupama Parameswaran in the lead roles.
Qatar shows off army power on the national day and it is mind-blowing!


You don't have to spend a fortune to look FORGEOUS! We stock a concoction of unique Italian design clothing, shoes, handbags and jewellery that will make you look and feel fantastic. The atmosphere is warm and friendly. New collections arrive weekly so there is always something unique and exciting to inspire and surprise you.
Small personal and individual boutiques set within the bustling market towns of Berkhamsted, Gerrards Cross and Wendover. The Forge Boutique sells a complete range of Italian style clothing, shoes and accessories all at affordable prices.
We do not exchange eveningwear or sale goods and will only issue a credit note on goods returned within 14 days of receipt. This does not effect your statutory rights.


Holistic Hemp Company proudly provides the finest American-grown and produced hemp oil products, that are rich in phytocannabinoids. We source our industrial hemp oil directly from American farms, where it is carefully grown without the use of harmful pesticides. Our products are made of oil derived from a high quality hemp, which is cultivated specifically for cannabidiol density. This makes our products more phytocannabinoid-rich, and stronger than others on the market.
To ensure our product's accuracy, and encourage our customers' confidence, we test our full-spectrum, phytocannabinoid-rich oil at a third-party lab. Some of our competitors test their products in-house, which can lead to inflated phytocannabinoid counts, and mislead customers. We want to build relationships with our customers, and we feel like this is an important part of maintaining transparency and honesty in our relationships.
Holistic Hemp Co. LLC was born from the culmination of market opportunity and the belief in the benefits hemp products. When the 2014 Farm Bill passed under President Obama, sisters Amber and Alaina Lansing decided that it was time to make a positive impact on the hemp market. After years of professional work in traditional industries, Amber and Alaina founded Holistic Hemp Hompany LLC in early 2016.
Alaina's background in education and real estate helped prepare her for launching her own business, but she was further inspired by criminal justice reform to launch Holistic Hemp Company. She hopes Holistic Hemp Co. will help people reconsider some of the common stereotypes associated with those that use Hemp-based products, and that lawmakers will work to weaken the legal penalties given to non-violent criminals in jail for cannabis-related charges. A Texas native and lover of nature, Alaina also understands the importance of agricultural hemp and it's use as a sustainable, multi-use resource.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management, a Master's degree in Economics and a Master's in Business Administration. Her work in Business and Economics helped her realize the opportunities in the Industrial Hemp industry. Alaina is passionate about the quality and variety of Holistic Hemp Company's products, and advocates for more transparency in the legal Hemp procurement process.
Before launching Holistic Hemp Company LLC, Amber was a Certified Public Accountant registered in the state of Texas. She always had an eye on the legal cannabis industry – which continues to flourish in each of the states with legal recreational marijuana – and knew that she wanted to involve herself in the young market. Having a passion for all things natural, organic and sustainable, Amber saw the unlimited potential of the hemp industry.
Amber holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management, and understood early on in her professional career that she wanted to run her own business. When the 2014 Farm Bill passed, legalizing industrial Hemp to be produced in the United States once again, she acted on the opportunity and began laying the framework for Holistic Hemp Company. Although her formal training is in business, Amber has always been an artist at heart. She hopes to bring a more professional and creative approach to this ever-changing industry.


Regardless of your pest problem-- be termites, cockroaches, or rodents-- no one takes pleasure in the sight of a insect scooting across their walls and hallways. After all, lots of bugs are understood to provide a range of health dangers, with some even understood for bring diseases into your home. Unfortunately, when you spot one pest that often suggests there are hundreds of them concealing someplace and ready to additional infest your house. When this takes place, you'll want to work with the best pest control specialist around to safeguard your house.
When the bed bugs remain in your home, they'll be going from 1 place to another. Bed bugs are intrusive insects North Adams, MA that may be challenging to identify. They are best dealt with by an skilled expert.
Bed bugs are rather more resistant and resistant than every other bug, consisting of rats and cockroaches in North Adams, MA . Unless a bed bug was identified, the first symptom of an problem is typically the presence of skin irritation. As soon as bed bugs have invaded your house, they can be rather difficult to get rid of. They can be harder to treat than other family bug insects for a few reasons. Considering that they are tough to see, use a magnifying glass. They do not stay on the human that they are eating and so they will usually conceal in clothing and try to get to a new area. They are not able to make it through high temperatures, making heat a extremely efficient treatment method .
Charge of bed bugs can take some time and multiple follow-up treatments. Total control takes a carefully planned and developed integrated technique. Bed bug control does not have to be costly North Adams, MA .
You will have to understand the signals of a bedbug problem. An infestation is something which can occur to anyone North Adams, MA . As an example, be specific to take a look at where you need to look after your bed bug invasion. If you're worried you own a bed bug invasion, begin trying to find physical signs of their existence. Bed bug problems can impact a single bed in 1 space or a entire home or home. Chemical approaches aren't the only technique to manage bed bug infestations.
Ways To Get Going with Bed Bugs Exterminator or Pest Control Expert North Adams, MA ?
Typically, skilled bug control business will employ a few selections of treatment approaches like vacuuming, cleansing, steaming and other mechanical methods to completely eliminate the bed bug problem. There are a number of pest control business that might assist you for the specific very same. Normally speaking, most great pest control businesses will at first send down a professional to run a visual examination of your home before estimating you a rate North Adams, MA .
If you're not required to leave your house for more than a number of hours throughout the extermination, or in case you are preparing yourself for the pest control expert, there are a variety of methods to prevent taking bed bugs with you. When you have the ability to observe that bed bugs have actually certainly entered your house, it's never prematurely to try and find an outstanding bed bugs pest control man North Adams, MA North Adams, MA . Throughout a fumigation, your house will be dealt with in tarpaulin, which is usually anchored using huge containers of water you must supply. Whether a complete home is infested, it might be needed to spray listed below the house, which would increase the overall cost of services. Your house doesn't have to be plagued that you get bed bugs. Try to remember that DIY insecticides alone are unlikely to rid your home of bed bugs, particularly products which do not keep eliminating after they dry.


There's an after-party, and then there's an AFTER after-party, am I right? Let's start off by saying this is a SPOLER ALERT for anyone who hasn't seen Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp, starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"We knew at some point that we were a fairly stand-alone movie, but we knew we could not ignore the events of Infinity War," director Peyton Reed says in an interview with Polygon.
After the film ends, Reed hits us first with a post-credit sequence that relates the film to the Avengers: Infinity War timeline. Hank miniaturizes his quantum tunnel until it fits inside a van, and Scott shrinks down into the quantum realm to harvest energy for Ghost so that she won't revert back to a state of constant pain (which happens when she cannot control her phasing power). When Scott calls for backup to pull him out of the quantum realm and back to normal size, there's no response. Back with the normal size folks, Thanos' 50 percent purge of the universe takes full effect. Hank, Janet, and Hope are gone, leaving Scott stuck inside the quantum realm. How will he escape without someone to pull him out using the quantum tunnel?
Reed decided to wait until the after-credits to make the connection to Avengers: Infinity War timeline rather than planting Easter eggs along the way, which he felt would be too obvious,.
Then comes an AFTER after-credits scene. The enlarged ant that Hank trained to imitate Scott's movements to spoof his ankle monitor is plays the drums in Scott's house. A phone rings and there's no one there to answer it. No one is there except the drumming ant… "Ant-Man and the Wasp will return," says the screen.


Too Cold for a Football Game? No Problem!
This musical has taken over the Broadway scene since it first premiered on Broadway, and theater fanatics have been obsessing over the hit musical ever since. The beauty of this musical doesn't stop at the stage, though, and its excitement translates to their wonderful performance on 34th Street, which opened the parade with a bang. The cast performed the popular song, "You Will Be Found" from the show. Click here to see the full show-stopping performance.
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Miracle on 34th Street is no doubt a classic that anyone, whether you're eight, sixteen, twenty-five, or fourty, can enjoy. This movie one of the most famous Christmas movies ever created to this day, and last year, the classic movie celebrated its 70th birthday during the Parade. Macy's established a tribute to the popular film through one of their giant balloons that have become a trademark of the parade. This balloon was meant to be identical to a balloon that made an appearance in the movie: a balloon of Harold the Baseball Player.
I'm sure many, myself included, have dreamed of becoming a Rockette after seeing them perform in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Rockettes are a staple of the parade year after year, and with their high-energy, Christmas-inspired, sparkly routines, they are always a crowd pleaser. The Rockettes were first given the title of "Roxyettes" in the early 1930's when they first began performing at Radio City Music Hall. It wasn't until 1934 for the group to be given the famous title of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. However, the first time they performed in the Parade was thirteen years later in 1957, and they have continued performing year after year ever since. In 2017, their performance consisted of candy cane-inspired costumes, upbeat music, and of course the kick-lines for which they have become famous. Click here to see their full performance for yourself.
So much took place at the 91st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that it basically impossible to squeeze it all into one blog post. If you want to learn more about what occurred at last year's parade, click here or here. If for some reason you're still unsure whether or not to watch the parade, check this out so you can see some exciting attractions to look forward at this year's parade. Hope you tune in!
history/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.
Angelica Hale. angelicahale.com/about. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.
I really like how you incorporated things that people of all ages and with different interests can enjoy. I also liked how you added links so if someone wanted to learn more about the topic, they could. I clicked on the "Dear Evan Hansen" one and thought it was very fun to watch!
So glad you enjoyed it! Hope you consider watching the parade! Thanks for stopping by!


text:
Q: HTML z-index for filter effects I am using images for my radio button. I am aware that the CSS filter effects will impact the z-index properties.
I have created a sample fiddle:
https://jsfiddle.net/iambong/2kcvv3bL/1/
CSS:
.colour-black{background-image:url(https://s28.postimg.org/p585381cd/Colour_Black.png);}
.colour-blue{background-image:url(https://s24.postimg.org/clxbf89g5/Colour_Blue_suede.png);}
.colour-chestnut-brown{background-image:url(https://s23.postimg.org/swdj7nh6z/Colour_Chestnut_Brown.png);}

.colour-selector input{
position:relative;
z-index:2 !important;
overflow: hidden;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
border: none;
margin:0;padding:0;
-webkit-appearance:none;
   -moz-appearance:none;
        appearance:none;
 }

.colour-selector input:active +.colour-cc{opacity: 0.9; position:relative;    z-index:2;}
.colour-selector input:checked +.colour-cc{
position:relative;
z-index:2;
-webkit-filter: none;
   -moz-filter: none;
        filter: none;
}

.colour-cc{
positon:relative;
  z-index:3 !important;
background-size:contain;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
display:inline-block;
overflow: hidden;
padding: 8px;
margin-bottom: 8px;
align: left;
width:100px;height:70px;
-webkit-transition: all 100ms ease-in;
   -moz-transition: all 100ms ease-in;
        transition: all 100ms ease-in;
-webkit-filter: brightness(1.8) grayscale(1) opacity(.7);
   -moz-filter: brightness(1.8) grayscale(1) opacity(.7);
        filter: brightness(1.8) grayscale(1) opacity(.7);
}

.colour-cc:hover{
 positon:relative;
 z-index:10 !important;
 overflow: hidden;
 display:inline-block;
-webkit-filter: brightness(1.2) grayscale(.5) opacity(0.9);
   -moz-filter: brightness(1.2) grayscale(.5) opacity(0.9);
        filter: brightness(1.2) grayscale(.5) opacity(0.9);
-webkit-transform:scale(2.5); /* Safari and Chrome */
-moz-transform:scale(2.5); /* Firefox */
-ms-transform:scale(2.5); /* IE 9 */
-o-transform:scale(2.5); /* Opera */
 transform:scale(2.5);

}

HTML:

Colour Selection

     <input id="colour-black" type="radio" name="properties[colour]" value="colour-black" style="position:relative; z-index:3;"/>

       <input id="colour-blue" type="radio" name="properties[colour]" value="colour-blue" style="position:relative; z-index:3;"/>

     <input id="colour-chestnut-brown" type="radio" name="properties[colour]" value="colour-chestnut-brown" style="position:relative; z-index:3;"/>

What I want:
What i hope to achieve is that on mouse-over (hover), the magnified image will be whole and not show parts of the neighbouring images
What is wrong now:
If you hover your mouse over the middle picture, the magnified image (using the transform scale in the CSS) shows parts of the neighbouring images
Thank you for any help!

A: use something like this:

#nav{z-index:2}
#nav li{display:inline-block;
    text-align:center;
    padding:10px;
    color:#fff;

    cursor:pointer;
height:50px;
  width:100px;
list-style-type:none;}

#nav ul li:nth-child(1){background:#b4b4b4;}
#nav ul li:nth-child(2){background:#cecece;}
#nav ul li:nth-child(3){background:#b4b4b4;}

#nav ul:hover li {
          transform: translateX(-24%);
    z-index:4;
}
#nav ul:hover li:hover {

          transform: scale(1.5);
          transition-duration: 0.18182s;
}
#nav li:hover ~ li {
          transform: translateX(24%);

}


text:
Art On The Rocks Exclusive: Interview with Reptar
June 2, 2015 May 24, 2018 / Interviews - Programs
For the first Art On The Rocks of the summer on Friday, June 12, the Museum is excited to welcome Reptar, with a special opening by Breathers. Athens, Ga. has churned out a steady stream of great bands in the last three decades, including Reptar, which includes members Andrew McFarland (drums), Ryan Engelberger (bass) and William Kennedy (analog keyboard). Still, the ability to amuse and arouse their fans is just as important to them as indulging their musical curiosities. This sonic wanderlust extends from African Music to post-punk to psych-pop and converges joyously in songs such as "Blastoff" and "Rainbounce," and it's won them high fives from NPR and NME alike.
Check out our recent interview with Reptar, and click here to purchase your tickets to June's event. Reptar will perform at 10PM.
BMA: Everybody wants to know the band's story. How did you all meet, and how did you compile musical tastes?
Andrew: William, Ryan, and Graham have all been friends since childhood and played in a band together in high school. I met William at UGA, and we started playing music together and with a couple other bands in Athens. Over Christmas break of 2008-09, William invited me to come jam with Ryan and Graham in Atlanta. We got together for a couple days and decided to have a show in Grandma's bedroom the day after Christmas. After that, we all moved into a house in Athens in the summer of 2009 and really started focusing on the band. After that summer, we were all still going to school in different places, so over the course of the next year, we would get together on the weekends and practice and play shows.
I think we all have pretty similar musical tastes, but each of us has different interests. For instance, William is really into African music, and Graham is way more into dance music. I think we are able to start on somewhat of a common ground but then reach into these other interests to make the music more exciting for us.
BMA: What has surprised you the most about becoming a professional musician/ completing an album with a band?
Andrew: When we started the band we were really unambitious, hence the name Reptar. That being said, I think we are all still pretty amazed that anyone even likes our band. The same goes for making records; I think we are all just pretty amazed that we get to do what we do and work with the people we get to work with. Ben Allen is incredibly talented, and Andy LeMaster, who we worked with on Lurid Glow, is definitely one of my favorite people I've ever met, not to mention one of the best engineers I've ever heard or worked with.
BMA: Do you (each of the band members) have a favorite lyric from one of your songs?
Andrew: That's a really good question. Yes, everyone probably does have a favorite lyric, but I can only speak for myself here. I personally really like the lyrics to a song called "Hard Way," which is a B-side of Lurid Glow.
BMA: Art On The Rocks is about blending the best of Birmingham culture (music, performances, food, and more) with the beautiful Museum environment. In the spirit of fusing music and art, if the BMA was to curate an exhibition based on your band, which artist(s) would make "Reptar" art?
Andrew: It would honestly probably just to be an exhibition of a lot of our friends' work. It's a long list: our friend Addison Adams, who did the covers of both "Oblangle Fizz" and "Body Faucet," Ross Brubeck, who has done a lot of videos for us, etc. I feel like I can say this because I'm not William, but William has been doing some totally amazing installation work recently that is very similar aesthetically.
BMA: In Birmingham, we have a really great food culture. If your music was perfectly paired with a delicious meal and cocktail, what would be on the menu?
Reptar:
Meal:
First Course: slivered wasabi almonds and wasabi ginger Lays potato chips crushed to centimeter squares over a tossed Lacinato kale salad with quick pickled red onion, a Daikon radish, and a light Thai peanut dressing
Entrée: vegan pad thai pizza
Dessert: ice cream, duh.
Cocktail: "The Heeby Jeebser"- 1.5 oz green chartreuse, 1.5 oz Electric Blue Mad dog 20/20, 1/2 oz. Orgeat stirred together with ice in a can then strained into a Collins glass, filled with Creature Comforts Athena, and garnished with a Twizzler straw


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Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi addresses lawmakers during a ceremony in Naypyidaw marking the third anniversary of the second parliamentary sessions, Feb. 1, 2019.
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said Friday that the country's lawmakers are responsible for dealing with a proposal approved earlier this week to form a committee to amend the constitution and urged them to tolerate constructive criticism from members of different political parties instead of attacking each other.
Her comments came three days after parliament approved an emergency proposal to form a joint committee to make changes to the 2008 charter drafted by a former military junta that ruled the country.
Aung San Suu Kyi also said MPs should have courage to change for the better if they have wrong attitudes but should hold steadfastly to their convictions if they are correct.
Aung San Suu Kyi made the comments during a ceremony in Naypyidaw marking the third anniversary of the second parliamentary sessions, attended by President Win Myint, the country's two vice presidents, the parliamentary speakers, the defense minister, and lawmakers.
Win Myint also urged legislators to be receptive to different views and discuss them with a positive attitude.
"As MPs come from different classes and different groups of people, it is natural to have different opinions and views among them," he said.
Myanmar's bicameral legislature comprises a 440-seat House of Representatives and a 224-seat House of Nationalities, both controlled by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won the general elections of 2015 in a landslide vote.
Military lawmakers, who control a quarter of the seats in the legislature by appointment, have a critical veto to block any proposed changes to the constitution, especially ones that would erode their political power.
They heavily opposed the measure to form a committee to amend the charter and boycotted the vote by standing in silence in parliament.
The proposal put forward by an NLD legislator calls for lawmakers from all parties to be included in the committee, though military MPs said Thursday they would not participate in discussions regarding the measure and that they had submitted a formal letter of objection to the parliamentary speaker.


Szechwan (also spelled Szechuan) peppercorns are a true taste sensation like none other in the spice world. They are very fragrant, slightly woody with a hint of citrus. When you bite into a berry, you'll taste an immediate citrus like flavor followed by a slight numbing effect which bursts into a tingling sensation on the tip of your tongue. This sensation is caused by an enzyme releasing; waking up your mouth and intensifying all the intermingling flavors.
Szechwan peppercorns are a true taste sensation like none other in the spice world.
Dry-roasting these berries will bring out their best flavor. Roast berries for 3-4 minutes over medium heat. After they cool, grind and use as needed. Great for stir fries, grilling and roasting. Try on chicken, fish, beef and veggies.
These peppercorns are from the Central Province of China.
These peppercorns are fragrant with citrusy and woody notes and cause a tingling sensation when eaten.
Dry-roast 3-4 minutes over medium heat for best flavor. Add to stir fries and grilled or roasted dishes. Try with chicken, fish, beef, and veggies.


Physicians in New York with several malpractice court suits filed against them are good candidates for state investigations into possible violation of state medical conduct rules, a state Health Department study says.
An analysis of medical malpractice claims filed against New York doctors between 1980 and 1983 showed that the fact a doctor had six or more malpractice claims filed against him would in itself warrant consideration of investigation for misconduct.The study said there's long been uncertainty about the relationship, if any, between malpractice claims filed in court against doctors and the administrative misconduct investigations handled by the state Health Department's Office of Professional Medical Conduct.
According to state statistics, of the doctors in New York who had six or more malpractice cases closed between 1980 and 1983, 25 percent or 10 of 40 doctors were charged with misconduct by the state. That compares to the 1.6 percent of state's 50,000 physicians who were disciplined by the state in 1987.
We think we can use that statistic when deciding good candidates to investigate for misconduct, said Peter Slocum, a Health Department spokesman, of those doctors hit with several malpractice claims.
The state can punish doctors in several different ways, including fines, license suspensions and license revocations.
closed between 1980-83. They were closely followed by general practicioners at 15.8 percent of all malpractice claims and general surgeons at 14.8 percent.
When it came to the $343 million paid out in awards during those years, obstetrics and gynecology accounted for $70.3 million or 20.5 percent of the total. General practicioners were responsible for $49.6 million or 14.5 percent of the total.
* Neurosurgeons were most likely to have paid claims with nearly 58 percent of those closing cases having been found liable for an award. Other frequent-payers were obstetricians-gynecologists (57 percent), orthopedic surgeons (56 percent) and general practicioners (53 percent).
The specialists who had to pay awards less frequently included dermatologists (35 percent), psychiatrists (38 percent) and radiologists (42 percent).
* Cases involving Cesarean section deliveries in which grave permanent injuries were suffered resulted in the highest mean award from malpractice litigation in New York at $213,401.
* There were 9,268 malpractice claims made against doctors for 1980-83, 4,305 of which resulted in cash awards. Only 16 of those awards was larger than $1 million, the study found.
* It took nearly six years from the time of medical treatment to the time a claim was settled to work out a malpractice case in the state.
* The frequency of misconduct disciplinary actions against doctors continues to rise. The Office of Professional Medical Conduct took disciplinary action 297 times in 1987, compared to 206 times in 1986, 83 times in 1985 and 75 times in 1984.
Mr. Slocum said increasing allocations from the state Legislature to boost the office's investigatory capabilities have accounted for the increase, rather than more frequent instances of misconduct among doctors.
I think we're getting better at finding them, he said.


The epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude have been called Catholic Epistles since the time of the church father Origines (around 185 to 254 AC). This expression is to express that these epistles are not addressed to a certain assembly, nor to certain Christians neither to individuals but to the Christians in general (catholic meaning general). This expression however is partially correct only. The Epistle of James specifically mentions addressees, and so does the First Epistle of Peter as well as Second and Third of John.
The salutation of James reads: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting." There has been a lot of speculation over the expression "twelve tribes". Some think James speaks of the whole people of Israel whereas others think of the whole Christianity as spiritual Israel. On the one hand a pure Jewish-Israelite document would have no room in the NT on the other hand the relations to Judaism in this epistle are so strong that it cannot be an epistle seeking to address the Christians as a whole as most of them, by the end of the apostolic time already, came out of heathenism. Chapter 2:2 mentions the synagogue as place of gathering (New Translation) and the Law is mentioned several times (chapter 2:9; 4:11). Also Abraham is called "our father" (chapter 2:21). How do we explain this?
The first chapters of Acts describe the early time of the church which to start with consisted of Jews only (Acts 2; Acts 3; Acts 4; Acts 5; Acts 6; Acts 7; Acts 8; Acts 11:19). Obviously the Jewish Christians did not separate at once from their unbelieving compatriots. They also gathered in the synagogues and continued to keep the Law (Acts 15:1; Acts 15:5; Acts 21:20). The Epistle of James is addressed to this mixed party of Jewish Christians and Jews. When James speaks about "brethren" (e.g. 1:2; 2:1; 3:1; 4:11; 5:7) he thinks of the believers amongst them who own the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory. Is he speaking of "sinners" (chapter 4:8) and of "rich" (chapter 2:5.6; 5:1) he means unbelieving Jews.
The writer sees all Israelites, be they believers or non-believers, when addressing the "twelve tribes which are scattered abroad". A large part of the people of Israel did not return to Palestine from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but were dispersed across the whole earth. But the thought of the unity of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel always remained alive among the God-fearing Israelites even after the division under Rehoboam. Elijah the prophet built an altar with twelve stones "according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob" (1 Kings 18:31). Daniel prayed for all Israel and not for Judah only (Daniel 9:7). Ezra offered twelve he goats for a sin offering for all Israel according to the number of the tribes of Israel (Ezra 6:17). Finally Paul calls Israel "our twelve tribes" before the king Agrippa (Acts 26:7). James also sees the people of God as God sees them. He therefore goes further than the author of Hebrews and Peter in his first epistle. For they only addressed those Jews who had accepted the Lord Jesus in believing and who now belong to the believing "remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5) in the present age.
In the course of time many a suggestion has been made regarding the author of the Epistle of James. Some have thought of James being a pseudonym of an author who lived later on. Others have thought James to be an allegoric hint to Jacob the progenitor of Israel who wrote to his twelve sons, that is to the twelve tribes. Others again want to see James the apostle, brother of John and son of Zebedee who was killed as a martyr by the sword (Acts 12:2). Some even thought of James son of Alphaeus. But James son of Alphaeus is mentioned for the last time in Acts 1:13. James mentioned in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13 and father or brother of Jude is not known otherwise.
Of the four different James in the NT most researchers consider the brother of our Lord Jesus to have been the author of the epistle (compare Mark 6:3). James, Joses, Jude and Simon, although initially not believing, later belonged to those believing in the Lord Jesus after his resurrection (Matthew 13:55; John 7:3-5; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:7). When Paul came to Jerusalem for the first time he saw no apostle but James the Lord's brother (Galatians 1:19). After the death of James the apostle this very James had a special position among the believers in Jerusalem. This we see by Peter's words in Acts 12:17. Paul is calling James together with Peter pillars of the assembly (Galatians 2:9). Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18 also confirm the leader position of James.
As does his brother Jude (author of the epistle of Jude) James calls himself very humbly servant and not brother of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1).
According to Josephus (around 37 to 100 AD) James is thought to have died as a martyr in 62/63 AC (according to Hegesippus who lived in the second century AD it was in 66 AD). This determines the latest time at which the Epistle could have been written. On the other hand the epistle shows a state of things as we find it especially in the early time of Acts among the gatherings in Judea and Jerusalem. There is no mention of either the great Christian teachings, the believers' position in Christ, the blessings and duties of the church nor the wonderful future in eternity as Paul especially had announced. Thus it is well possible that the epistle of James may have been written at a very early time. Several researchers would tend to date the epistle as early as the year 45 AC. An exact time of writing however cannot be fixed. It might well be though that the epistle is the oldest writing of the NT.
Martin Luther's negative judgment on the epistle is known. Luther called it an "epistle of straw". Erasmus the great humanist also disapproved of the epistle. The main reason for Luther's objection was James' teaching of justification. James' teaching seemed to contradict Paul's teaching on the subject. And Paul's teaching was so very decisive for Luther. Compare James 2:21 with Romans 3:28.
Already in the Antiquity James' epistle needed quite some time to be generally accepted. The main reasons for this are probably that the epistle was not written by an apostle and does still bear partially Jewish marks.
The first certain traces of the epistle are found around 200 AC in the east of the Roman Empire in Egypt and Palestine. Both the church fathers Origines (around 185 to 254 AC) as well as Eusebius (around 263 to 339 AC) mention the epistle. The epistle does not yet appear in the Muratori Canon which is a partially preserved enumeration of the NT writings from the end of the 2 nd century.
The Eastern Church confirmed that the epistle of James belonged to the canon of Holy Scriptures at the synod of Laodicea (around 360 AC). The west accepted the epistle in the known synods in Rome (382 AC), Hippo (393 AC) and Cartago (397 AC). This is also where the writings of the NT (inspired by the Holy Spirit) found final acceptance for the protection from false doctrines being propagated at the time.
The epistle is addressed to Jews believing in the Lord Jesus and to Jews who had not yet accepted this faith. This special condition could only exist at the very beginning of the Christian church and mainly so in Palestine. As the prophet Jonah in the OT is an exception because he addressed the heathen so is the epistle of James a speciality in the NT because God in His grace addresses His earthly people.
In contrast to many epistles of the NT James' epistle does not have a logical structure. The epistle contains many diverse admonitions. Of total 108 verses 54 contain an imperative. These admonitions refer to the correct behaviour in trials of faith, in speaking, in respect to our neighbour and the world and in sufferings. Faith (which appears 16 times) and works (15 times) are the main thought going through the whole epistle.
As the subject changes constantly the epistle reminds us a little of Ecclesiastes or the Proverbs in the OT and also of the so called Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5; Matthew 6; Matthew 7.
The epistle is also lacking an underlining teaching structure as most epistles do have and especially so the ones by the apostle Paul. Neither the teaching of Christ's redemption work, nor the Christian's position towards God, nor God's assembly as body of Christ are treated.
His return is imminent (chap. 5:7-8).
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is also known (chap. 4:5).
James speaks little of the Lord Jesus. The Lord's name is mentioned twice only (chap. 1:1; 2:1). But one can say that James often speaks like the Lord Jesus. We already alluded to the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus in his discourses often spoke to a mixed audience of believing and unbelieving Jews telling them what practical faith must consist of. Thus James' epistle is a very practical one also admonishing to a life of faith in the spirit of Christ. Such a life is marked by good works. So far the epistle is not in contradiction to Paul but is even an addition to his epistles.
justification is of God .
Against that James sees a totally different side of justification by works (chap. 2:21.24). He does not look at the sinner but at the believer . Works are not works of the Law but works of faith . Justification is not given before God but before men. These works are the fruit of faith. As there cannot be truly good works without faith so there cannot be true faith without works. Paul looks at our position whereas James at our practice .


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When you're in the mood for a meaty, savory comfort-food classic, serve Alton Brown's Shepherd's Pie from Good Eats on Food Network.


text:
Africa Renewal
African News and Analysis from the United Nations
Africa Watch
For better quality education in Africa
From Africa Renewal:
For Africa to thrive in the 21st century, its students must be much better equipped with the necessary skills and capabilities.
Photo: Panos / Giacomo Pirozzi
Amid continuing calls to increase primary school enrolment in Africa, a new report urges greater emphasis on the quality of what students learn. The Africa Progress Panel, a policy think tank chaired by Kofi Annan, a former UN secretary-general, noted in September that "many of the children in school are receiving an education of such abysmal quality that they are learning very little." Its report, entitled A Twin Education Crisis Is Holding Back Africa, says that Africa's children are leaving school "lacking basic literacy and numeracy" and without "21st century skills."
The report argues that while African governments have rightly stressed the importance of macroeconomic growth, such growth can only have a lasting impact if the continent's people have the necessary skills and capabilities.
The report recommends a three-step solution. First, African countries must strive to meet the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015. Second, they must pay more attention to the quality of education. And third, they should ensure that poverty, living in rural or conflict regions, or being female do not impede children's education.
According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the percentage of African children in primary school increased from 60 per cent in 2000 to 76 per cent in 2009, while the number of children out of school dropped from 42 million to 30 million. The panel report highlights progress in a number of countries. Tanzania had more than 3 million out-of-school children in 2000, but is currently "within touching distance of universal primary education." It adds: "From Burkina Faso to Ethiopia, Mozambique, Senegal and Zambia, one country after another has made a breakthrough in enrolment."
Still, Africa as a whole may not meet the 2015 MDG education target. "If the trend from 2005 to 2009 is continued, there will still be 17 million [children] out-of-school in 2025," maintains the report.
Mr. Annan said, "Given the critical place of education in poverty reduction and job creation, we urge governments to deliver on the commitment to provide education for all by 2015 and to strengthen their focus on learning achievement."
No SMS incitement to violence in Kenyan elections
In an effort to help forestall violence in the March 2013 general elections in Kenya, the Communications Commission of Kenya is requiring politicians to submit for screening all short message service (SMS) texts for bulk dissemination. The commission is also asking mobile service operators to block any SMS texts that it deems may incite violence.
The new rules, which some consider overly stringent, stipulate that prepared text messages, which must be in KiSwahili and English, should be submitted to mobile telephone service operators 48 hours before scheduled dispatch. The messages also must be authorized by political parties and accompanied by signed copies of their registration certificates.
The Kenyan government is seeking to avoid what happened in the 2007–08 elections, when hate messages were rampantly disseminated through SMS, helping to fuel violence that killed about 1,300 persons, reports IRIN, the UN humanitarian news service.
Kenya is not the only country to clamp down on text messages. Following post-election violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in December 2011, that government ordered mobile phone service providers to block all text messages.
There are concerns, however, that a blanket ban on text messages could also block efforts to prevent violence. Following the SMS ban in the DRC, Daniel Solomon, a blogger, started an online petition to reverse the ban and quickly collected thousands of signatures. He argued that Kenya's post-election violence was lessened because peace activists were able to put out their own messages through SMS.
"SMS-based crowd-sourcing methods have become an essential tool of election monitoring and mass atrocities prevention in conflict zones," Mr. Solomon maintains. "With few journalists reporting from the ground in the DRC, SMS technology represents the only opportunity for an active stream of information from grassroots actors and civil society."
For now, Kenya's new rules affect only politicians and political parties. This will permit election monitors and civil society organizations to continue using SMS to sensitize people against violence.
Desmond Tutu honoured for 'speaking truth to power'
No former African head of state will receive the Mo Ibrahim prize for African leadership in 2012 because "none met the criteria needed to win this award," announced the selection committee. Those criteria include providing exceptional leadership and leaving office when the country's constitutional term limit ends. But the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced that a $1 million special grant would be awarded to veteran anti-apartheid fighter Archbishop Desmond Tutu, for "speaking truth to power."
Since it was launched six years ago by Mr. Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born mobile communications entrepreneur and philanthropist, the prize is normally given to former leaders "for transformation of their countries and citizens' lives during their tenure." It consists of $5 million, paid over a period of ten years, $200,000 annually for life thereafter and another $200,000 per year to support the leaders' "public interest activities."
So far, the prize has been awarded to three former leaders: Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique in 2007, Festus Mogae of Botswana in 2008 and Pedro Verona Pires of Cape Verde in 2011. There were no winners in 2009 and 2010. John Githongo, an anti-corruption fighter from Kenya, said "it is absolutely no surprise whatsoever" that there was no winner again in 2012, given the shortage of exceptionally good leaders in Africa.
In deciding to give a one-time special prize to Mr. Tutu instead, the foundation cited his long work in promoting peace, human rights and social justice in both his native South Africa and around the world. According to Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo, who presented the award at a ceremony in Dakar, Senegal, Mr. Tutu "continues to show himself to be the scourge of injustice, ready to rock the boat if necessary and speak out against those political leaders who he believes have let down their citizens and the wider world."
'Renewed energy for women's empowerment'
An African chorus on climate change
China in the heart of Africa
Stabilizing Somalia: a new chapter begins
By Jocelyne Sambira
What went wrong? Lessons from Malawi's food crisis
By Masimba Tafirenyika
Africa's food policy needs sharper teeth
Ghana's 'new path' for handling oil revenue
By Efam Dovi
Politics of succession: coping when leaders die
After Africa's wars, a 'new day' for building peace
'Ensure that everyone benefits from economic gains'
By Africa Renewal
Reconstructive surgery brings hope to survivors of genital cutting
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In March this year, I had the opportunity to attend the Creative Innovation event - Ci2015: From Disruption to Sustainable Growth in Melbourne.
We've all heard the buzz words and seen countless articles on the rise of technology, but it's easy to dismiss these as white noise. We convince ourselves that it doesn't really apply to us as we're in a 'people' business. Even as an industry we clutter our conferences and PD Days with speakers who remind us that our business is based on personal relationships, technology is for 'the big institutions' and not us.
When we look at how connected the world is, and will be in the near future, it's clear that technology offers us a broader audience than we've ever had access to before. The thought of being able to reach out to a billion people at the touch of a button a decade ago would've seemed a fantasy. Now it's possible for all of us. It's also possible for our competitors, however small they may seem today.
In 2010, 1.8 billion people on earth were connected online.
In 2020 it will be 5 billion.
In March this year, I had the opportunity to attend the Creative Innovation event - Ci2015: From Disruption to Sustainable Growth in Melbourne. I have attended dozens of conferences in my professional career. This was without doubt the most valuable of them all.
The highlight for me was the presentation by Dr. Peter Diamandis, a fearless innovator from Silicon Valley in the United States. Peter has created 17 start-ups, and is the co-founder of visionary companies such as Planetary Resources whose vision is to expand Earth's natural resource base by developing technology to mine asteroids for resources.
Another venture he co-founded is Human Longevity Inc. Using the power of mapping the human genome, informatics, DNA sequencing technologies, and stem cell advances, its purpose is to solve the diseases of aging and extend the quality of life for all humans.
The key message of his presentation is that we're no longer on a linear path of technology growth – but an exponential one. We're in a unique period of history where the world no longer advances in steps, but instead advances in leaps and bounds over previous iterations.
I spoke to Dr Diamandis after his session enquiring about how he felt exponential growth transferred into conventions that exist today around strategy and business planning. He said simply that If you have a business plan that you think will take 5 years to execute, chances are someone is figuring out a way to do it in 6 months.
Peter suggested in his presentation that there is no such thing as privacy and creating in secret is no longer possible.
In an industry that has been traditionally slow to move, we need to consider the implications of competitors with this agility. Consider the plight of businesses like CabCharge who enjoyed a monopoly for so long, only to see this slip away to Uber, GoCatch and other new entrants. Complacency is the first ingredient of disruption, ask the CEO's of Detroit how they feel about Tesla.
Peter believes the future is bright as these forces will bring those less fortunate into the first world through advances in clean energy, food and medical care. This will build bigger global consumer markets through an abundance of resources.
We're in a time of information and communication abundance which we can use to our advantage.
If you're interested in finding out more, you should read Peter's book Abundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think, a New York Times best seller.
He also has several TED talks and blogs you can access via his channel that cover his ideas on abundance, space travel and much more.
$0 to $40 billion in 5 years.