A childhood friend of mine has made a nice career in coaching college football. As with most coaching careers, he's had to make several moves over the years. He was the Linebackers Coach at a national powerhouse FBS school for a few years before getting promoted to Special Teams Coordinator. From there, he moved into a Defensive Coordinator at another FBS school. Not a national powerhouse, but he was the D.C. – a huge promotion. Although I've kept up with his progress, and have been proud of his accomplishments, we lost touch with other shortly after high school. Until recently.
A few years ago, my friend took a job as the Head Football Coach at a Division II college. It was then that I started hearing from him. First, asking me to like their Facebook page. Then, reaching out to me to donate to his organization to help them buy new helmets. Yes, new helmets. He's the Head Football Coach, and he's reaching out personally to raise money for helmets for his players. On their Facebook page, I see pictures of him in the weight room with the players, and I read most of the content which is written by him – the Head Ball Coach, the HBC. I'm waiting to see photos of him mowing the grass one day.
My friend's not a control freak – he's the Head Football Coach at a Division II college. That's what they do. They don't have powerful boosters, full-time strength trainers, or social media coordinators. Most of these duties, and about 1,000 others, fall on the shoulders of the Head Ball Coach.
Sound familiar? If you manage a sales team in the security industry, it probably sounds like your job. You've got 1,000 things to do every day, and a staff of one – the person that looks back at you in the mirror every morning. Most of you have a personal quota to deliver, and some of you also manage other departments. How do you effectively manage the sales people? What do you do? It can be so daunting that your jobs blend into each other, and you find yourself is reaction mode all the time … always, always, always putting out fires. I've found that clarity can sometimes help shift professionals out of reaction mode and throw them into a strategic and proactive stance.
Below I've listed six best practices of sales management that I hope adds some clarity to your job and sales leader. Use this list to define your weekly activity, and to check yourself at the end of each week.
1. Growing the top line. Above all else, your job is to grow the top line revenue of your business. There will be dozens of requests and temptations throughout the week that will not lead to you growing the top line. Instead of trying to create the willpower necessary to ignore these requests, simply define the things you must do each week to grow your top line, and make sure those things are done. All the distractions will take care of themselves if you take care of the things that matter most.
2. Always be in recruiting mode. Almost every sales team I encounter needs sales people. Many times, they're not interviewing because they don't have any candidates. There is no more important action you can take as a sales leader than to keep you team fully staffed with the most talented and hard-working performers possible. The best way to accomplish this is to always be in recruiting mode. If you have three openings, you should be looking. If you have a full staff, you should be meeting potential future team members. You'll either be expanding or replacing within months – get out there and meet those people before you need them.
3. Effectively on-board new sales people. After working extremely hard to find, interview, and hire new sales people, most companies drop the ball during those critical first 90 days. When your new sales people join your organization, they should have a program that takes them through their initial three months of employment, with the goal of having them fully ramped. Too many companies lose precious time by giving their new sales people 12-18 months to start performing. Not only have you lost several productive months, but you have no idea if they're succeeding until it's too late. Develop a plan, create short-term Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and coach them to achieving those KPIs within their initial 90 days of employment. You'll be shocked at the success you have from this simple activity.
4. Set the right expectations. When I ask sales people about their expectations, I usually receive an answer that includes their sales quota. When I push for more, I get nothing but blank stares. Sometimes I'll hear an arbitrary metric like "I need to quote three times my quota every year". Your sales people need to understand the expectations you have for them, and they need to know that you'll hold them accountable. Calculate KPIs that make sense, and that are unique to each performer. Don't blast a blanket statement to everyone like "quote 3X your quota". Understand the ratios for each person to develop accurate KPIs, and then break them down to weekly or monthly numbers.
5. Get in the field and coach your people. If you're not in the field managing your people, then you're not managing your people. You can't improve your team's performance in a conference room or by reading CRM reports. Get out there. How are they managing their days? How are they presenting your company? How are they supporting your channel partners? Get in the field, work with them, and debrief at the end of each day to clearly communicate how they can improve.
6. Run productive meetings. Sales people don't hate meetings. Sales people hate bad meetings, and most sales team meetings are bad. They're long, redundant, and don't serve a purpose for the team. Learn to run a productive sales meeting, and run it. There are many methods and philosophies, but a few cardinal rules that I have: don't conduct pipeline reviews in team meetings, keep every meeting under an hour, and follow an agenda.
Sales Management is a job that can't be summed up in one article or a list of six best practices. However, if you use this list to help define your weekly routine, and you hold yourself accountable to this list, then you'll be much further along than your competition.
Download: Is Your Access Control System As Secure As You Think?


The timing of the second Clasico in five days is just right for Barça to put Tuesday's defeat (1-3) behind them and recover the brilliant league form they've been showing all season. A win at the Bernabéu – where Roura's team could easily have won the first leg of their Cup semi-final which ended in a 1-1 draw – would be a massive step towards confirming the league title, with second place Atlético currently second, 12 points adrift, and Real a distant 16 points off the pace.
In contrast, the game comes at just the wrong moment for Madrid, who three days later travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United for a place in the Champions League quarter finals. After the 1-1 draw against Sir Alex Ferguson's side at the Bernabéu, Mourinho seems certain to give priority to his team's trip to England, with the league leaders already well out in front and rest a number of key players.
Apart from any tactical decisions, Madrid will be without Di María who is suspended, whilst Barça will be without Xavi who has a hamstring strain, as well as Abidal, Montoya and Dos Santos, who Roura has left out of his 19-man squad for the game. Víctor Valdés seems sure to return to the starting 11 and Roura may also make other changes from Tuesday's team.
This is the sixth Clásico of the season and it provides the perfect opportunity for Barça to once again stamp their authority on a league competition they are already dominating.


modern and contemporary interior design. More knowledge about modern and contemporary interior design has been uploaded by admin and tagged in this category. House, residence or business office is among the most places where we quite often use to spend time in our living. its appearance need to cause us feel at home. In some cases, we may have to slightly change the layout, colour, or even accessories. We require a new concept for it and one of these is modern and contemporary interior design.
modern and contemporary interior design is one of the pics we located on the web from reputable sources. We attempt to talk about this modern and contemporary interior design pic in this post just because based on data from Google search engine, It is one of the top rated queries key word on the internet. And that we also think you arrived here were looking for these details, are not You? From several choices on the net we are sure this photo might be a right guide for you, and we sincerely we do hope you are delighted by what we present.
We are very grateful if you leave a comment or suggestions about this modern and contemporary interior design article. We will apply it for better future reports. We thank you for your visit to our website. Make sure you get the information you are looking for. Do not forget to share and love our reference to help further develop our website.
Living Room Trends For 2016 Sofas Pinterest Design Trends .
Contemporary Interior Design Dreams House Furniture.
Receiving Room Ideas Modern Contemporary Interior Design Living .
Modern Contemporary Interior Design Modern De 16516 Decorating Ideas.
0 Contemporary Home Interior Design Modern Contemporary Home .
Modern Contemporary Interior Design Ideas Home Interior Design Ideas.
Captivating Contemporary Interior Design Modern Villas Contemporary .
Contemporary Interior Design Ideas Impressive Modern Contemporary .
Fabulous Contemporary Interior Design Ideas Contemporary Interior .
Modern Contemporary Interior Decorating Ideas Decobizz Com Art .
LUXURY ANTONOVICH DESIGN UAE Modern Contemporary Interior Design Of .
How To Natural Materials Living Room ID 574.
Modern Contemporary Interior Design Living Room.
Modern Contemporary Interior Design Of Katrin .
Decoration Contemporary Interior Design Ideas.
Modern Contemporary House Photos Small Contemporary House Plans .
Modern Contemporary Interior Design Of Katrina Antonovich .
Contemporary Design Workshop By Sita Nanda.
Contemporary Interior Design Contemporary Interior Design The Chapel .
Spacious Bright Modern Contemporary Classic Bedroom Stock .
By J Design Group Panels Wall Paneling Miami Interior .
Modern Vs Contemporary Interior Design Interior.


The perfect combination of technologies made it possible to create the most accurate, transparent and high-resolution sound, with excellent dynamics of musical material playback!
The basis for this result is a highly efficient motor of this mid-bass unit, which in conjunction with the lightweight moving system of the speaker allows achieving the reference playback even in difficult car compartment conditions.
The tweeter is in ideal match with the mid-bass speaker, thanks to the precise selection of the components used in the crossover unit.


If you have an account on an RDP or Citrix server, Remote Login lets you run applications from that server.
If you have an account on an RDP server, Remote Login lets you run applications from that server.
You need an Ubuntu Remote Login account to use this service. Would you like to set up an account now?


text:
Q: How to manage HTTP Request from a Silex API REST I'll start this topic with apologies for all mistakes I'll do. I'm French and this is obviously not my mother tongue.If you are French, I invite you to respond me in french.
I'm an internship student, I have to create an API REST. I'm using Silex PHP Frameworks to help me. I'm gonna explain my problem:
I created a connexion system in PHP that ask your login and your password. Those informations are going to the API by the action of the HTML form:

When the api get informations, it will test those informations with informations stocked in database. If an account are similar, it will send an HTTP code: 201 because everything will be OK. Else, it will send a 401 (Identification issue).
But this HTTP code is send to API.php/api/connexion not to my connexion.php!
I wanna make a thing like: if the http code of connexion.php change to 201, make a redirection to accueil.php (home page in english) else if the code is 401, display an error message.
I hope your eyes ain't bleeding that much and I succeed to be explicit.
Have a nice day !

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Tag: Borders
Jon Stewart Mocks Bookstores
August 19, 2011 August 19, 2011 meandmykindle	4 Comments
A very funny skit just aired on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Returning from a commercial break, Stewart switched to a cultural news story — the demise of Borders bookstores — in a knowing, affectionate segment with a contrary look at writers and book-sellers.
(You can watch video of the six-minute segment at tinyurl.com/StewartBorders)
JON STEWART: Books! You know them as the thing Amazon tells you "You might be interested in…" when you're buying DVDs. But did you know books used to be available in what were called… "bookstores"? Well they were…
FOX NEWS: The bookstore chain Borders is going out of business.
CBS NEWS: Borders just could not keep up with 21st century technology and trends.
CBS NEWS: The latest brick-and-mortar victim of a digital age…
JON STEWART: Borders! Now where am I going to return all my guests' books for store credit?!
For more we turn to resident expert John Hodgman! Now let me ask you, how can — how can the beloved bookstore, an institution, compete with downloading and mail order books?
JOHN HODGMAN: Well, Jon, it's not going to be easy. People have gotten used to the convenience of having books delivered right to them. If bookstores want to compete, they have to give the customer a better home experience than they can get in their own homes.
JON: So you're saying re-create…
HODGMAN: Exactly, Jon.
JON: I didn't finish what I was saying. The — the…
HODGMAN: I wasn't listening.
HODGMAN: What I'm talking about is getting rid of all those old-fashioned bookshelves, and replace them — with beautiful, well-appointed downloading pods. Book-lovers simply seal themselves inside, strip down to their underwear, pick up a cold slice of pizza, and start downloading the great works of literature… It's all the fun and isolation of home, with the inconvenience of a 20-minute car ride.
JON: There's stuff bookstores can do…
HODGMAN: Uh-huh.
JON: …that the internet can't!
HODGMAN: Oh, you mean like shelter the homeless?
JON: I'm talking about having authors visit stores!
HODGMAN: Oh, well now we're just splitting hairs. The reality is, there's nothing more depressing than seeing some pasty shut-in author bare his soul in front of a half-filled row of folding chairs. Believe me, I know! (Picture of John Hodgman appearing at a Borders bookstore)
JON: So what — what is the alternative to this?
HODGMAN: Well, instead of hosting readings, why not host exciting live writings? Bring the author in, tie him to a desk, and make him write a novel to order. Customers can shout out their own ideas while pelting the writer with $4.00 scones. It'll be fun! George R. R. Martin not finishing that new "Game of Thrones" book fast enough for you? Well maybe some hot chai latte down his neck will speed him up. (Picture of angry reader dumping latte on the bearded author)
JON: You know, I'm not sure a lot of authors would agree to that sort of thing.
HODGMAN: Well, Jon, I think you're underestimating authors' desire for free chai. And, the occasional human touch.
JON: But see, that brings up an interesting point. What about the human element? Bookstores build a personal relationship with their customers you simply cannot get from a computer. There are, uh, employee interactions, employee recommendations…
HODGMAN: Oh yes, yes. Thank you. Employee picks. Thank you, pudgy neck-beard counter guy, for clueing me in to Philip K. Dick — again. What's the matter, are you sold out of Confederacy of Dunces this week…? But you do raise a good point, Jon. Bookstores employ a very special class of condescending nerd. These are the types of people who used to work at video stores (before they went under).
JON: Where were they before that?
HODGMAN: Record stores, obviously. It's been a tough couple of years for condescending nerds. And if bookstores fall, Jon, America will be inundated with a wandering, snarky underclass of unemployable purveyors of useless and arcane esoterica.
JON: I'm not sure I understand.
HODGMAN: No, well you wouldn't.
JON: You seem to hate bookstore employees.
HODGMAN: Oh, I loathe them, Jon. They shelved my books under "Humor", Jon! Not "Witticism", as I asked! I ask you, do I look like Marmaduke to you?
JON: (Laughing stupidly) Marm– Marmaduke is a very big dog. Hee hee hee hee hee! Hee hee! Ahh! Ahh…
HODGMAN: Pathetic. We have to face facts, Jon. The big-box bookstore has passed into history. And that's something we should embrace and be proud of. By preserving Borders as a popular historical attraction.
JON: Like, uh, colonial Williamsburg?
HODGMAN: Well yeah, exactly! Bring the kids down to Ye Olde Borders Towne! Let them see what it felt like to paw through a clearance bin of Word-a-Day calendars. Or sneak a peek at pornography printed on actual paper! Right there on the giant rack of weird magazines you've never heard of. Including my personal favorite, Bookstore Magazine Rack Aficionado magazine.
JON: You know, I think a bookstore preserve might appeal to a — a very small market.
HODGMAN: Well, it can't be smaller than the market of people who buy books anyway! This is what it'll be like. (Puts on a colonial hat) "Hey! Gather round, young 'uns, and come see how we used to sell this here itty bitty book light. Because in the One-nine-eighties, pages didn't glow, and eyestrain was a sign of wealth!
JON: Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be right back.
Sports Illustrated vs. the Kindle
March 31, 2011 March 31, 2011 meandmykindle	Leave a comment
Today is the first day of baseball season. And perhaps fittingly, CNN's web site just ran a very strange article complaining about the Kindle and e-books — by a baseball writer for Sports Illustrated.
It headline? "My Bookstore is on Death Row." Author Jeff Pearlman continues the morbid theme by writing "I just just returned from the morgue… It is dark inside. Smells stale. The walls are decayed, the echo resounding." But he's describing a recently-closed bookstore — his local Borders in Scarsdale — which was "adjacent to a Starbucks and a gym and a couple of overpriced clothing shops…"
Even writing later on his personal blog, Pearlman still seems deeply moved. "It's an odd thing," he writes in a new blog post. "Five years ago I would have never imagined feeling glum over a Borders or B&N shutting down. Nowadays, however, it symbolizes a shifting tide. Technologically. Culturally."
Pearlman has a special fondness for this particular bookstore, because it was where he wrote his third book, "at a rickety wood table inside the store's small cafe." He fondly remembers all the people he met there — like "the clerk with tattoos running down his arm who, one day, left to join the army and fight in Iraq…" But more than that, he remembers the feeling of the bookstore. "Borders was cozy; safe; easy…
"Now, the shop is next up on death row."
It's a fairly traditional argument against e-books — though the personal details make it feel more poignant. Flashing forward to the present, Pearlman notes the deep discounts at the closing Borders, where "people pick at the remains like vultures atop a rotting calf." Then he looks ahead to the future, and writes sadly about the "seemingly inevitable extinction of print." (" "Look on the bright side," my sister-in-law recently said. "More people will read. The Kindle books are cheaper, so they're going to be more widely embraced. This will work in your favor.")
"I just don't know. …" Pearlman writes glumly.
"At the risk of sounding like my great aunt, I love books. I love holding books. I love thumbing through books. I love marking up pages, I love perusing bookshelves, I love feeling the paper between my fingers.
As a boy growing up in Mahopac, New York, I used to rush to Waldenbooks at the nearby Jefferson Valley Mall for the start of every sports season. My mission was to pick up "Zander Hollander's The Complete Handbook of (fill in the league)" annuals. Upon making the $6 purchase, I'd rush home, lie on my bed, stare at the mug shots of Magic Johnson and Joe Montana and Steve Kemp, read the bios, imagine myself one day joining their ranks. Those books — all 27 of them — remain inside my home, yellowed and tattered and beautiful. I turn to them often. For nostalgia. For joy.
He concludes by saying that he'd still prefer a book. But there may be more to the story. It turns out that Pearlman has already written four different printed books over the last six years — three of them about baseball, and two of which became New York Times best-sellers. And all four of them are already available as e-books in Amazon's Kindle store.
The Bad Guys Won! A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing, and Championship Baseball…
The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality
Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero
Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty
In fact, each one has achieved an impressive rank in one of the Kindle store's special sub-categories. (For example, "The Bad Boys Won" is the 10th best-selling baseball biography in the sports section, and "Boys Will Be Boys" is the section's third best-selling football biography.) And meanwhile, Zander Hollander's "Complete Handbook" series of sports annuals apparently stopped publishing long ago. Even before Amazon invented their Kindle, one beloved childhood book had already fallen a victim to the high costs of traditional printing.
So when Pearlman's sister-in-law says more e-book readers will simply mean more sales for his book — she's probably right. (Pearlman's best response is an ambiguous "I just don't know…") I e-mailed Pearlman through his web page to ask how he feels about the new readers he may be finding on the Kindle? (And whether he's worried he'll earn less money through e-book sales than he will in print.) But so far, I haven't heard a response.
I'm a little surprised that Sports Illustrated isn't available on the Kindle yet — though that's true for nearly every sports magazine. (In fact, currently there's only one magazine available in the Sports magazine section of the Kindle Store — "Winding Road Weekly", a magazine about cars). But maybe it's also because sports writers prefer a sunny stadium outdoors to exploring all the technical specs of a new electronic gadget. Taking another look at his article, I realized that most of Pearlman's understanding is based on a sports writer's gut instinct.
For example, printed books still represent a large majority of all books that are sold, but Pearlman already feels that books are old news. Why? "[J]ust ride a train and glance around. Everyone — everyone — is holding a Kindle. Or a Nook. Or an iPad." But the biggest "tell" comes from his statement that he's not interested in a reader like the Kindle because "Come day's end, I'm tired of staring at a screen. I do it all day, I do it through much of the night."
I just think he'd change his mind if he'd actually tried reading on the Kindle's e-ink screen — mainly because I also spend a lot of my day staring at a screen. Once I discovered the Kindle's screen, it was such a wonderful relief to discover it didn't have any of the glare that usually comes from a back-lit screen. And for me, the most interesting part of the article was where Pearlman inadvertently revealed that real-world bookstores had their own unique disadvantages. "When nobody was looking, I'd do the ol' author two-step and relocate my books from the bottom of the sports shelves to the 'Must Read' sections," he writes.
"If you think I'm the only writer who does this, you're on crack."
How Ebooks Conquered the World
February 17, 2011 February 17, 2011 meandmykindle	Leave a comment
Last May, a competitor emerged for the Kindle. It was called the Kobo, and it was available in Walmart stores, and also Borders. But today the news finally came down that Borders has now, officially, filed for bankruptcy. All their recent moves "failed to make up for sagging book sales in the face of competition from Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc," Bloomberg News reported today.
It's interesting that one of Borders' last desperate moves was trying to sell a digital reader for ebooks. New York Magazine once interviewed the 69-year-old founder of Barnes and Noble, who conceded, they wrote, that "the superstores can serve as platforms for marketing their own replacement technology." Today as soon as you walk into a Barnes and Noble store, you're now greeted with a prominent counter dedicated to trying to sell you the Nook. Barnes and Nobles' new CEO calls that counter "the shrine."
But today I stumbled across an interesting statistic. An Australian newspaper interviewed the managing e-commerce director at RedGroup Retail, which owns all the Borders stores in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. He bragged that they'd sold out of Kobos when they first introduced them, but that over the next nine months, they'd only sold 50,000. That comes out to just 185 a day — for the entire continent of Australia, combined with sales in both Singapore and New Zealand. To put that in perspective, Amazon is estimated to have sold at least 6,000,000 Kindles in the last year. That is, for every Kobo that was sold in those three regions, Amazon sold 120 Kindles. It's hard to make a dent in your competition when they're outselling you 120 to 1…
Of course, Australia is only one part of the global market for digital readers — but they offer a unique perspective. "The best predictions are that Australia is probably likely to take up e-books faster than the US and the UK," according to chief executive of the Australian Publishers' Association, "but that's simply because of the population size." She predicts that within five years, 40% of the books that are sold in
Australia will be ebooks. And that can't be good for booksellers like Borders…
If we're seeing a major change, then it'll eventually reach every part of the globe — and the experience of Australians might be a harbinger of things to come. It was interesting to read the comments that were
left on the newspaper's web site. "Nothing can replace the tangible feeling of having a physical book in your hands," wrote one reader who called themselves Bookworm. "However my eyes sadly are not what they used to be so like the surging numbers turning to e-readers I have embraced this new technology. With the size of the text adjustable, it is the perfect device for me to continue my love affair with books which started when I was but a wee lad." And while Kindle owners are complaining that ebook prices have started rising, in Australia they've been complaining about the high cost of printed books! "Australia's take up of eBooks has less to do with being 'nimble'," wrote a woman named Mary, "and more to do with Australians being sick to death of the price gouging by local retailers that sees us pay three times what the rest of the English speaking world pays for the same book. Finally we can fight back."
But even with that perspective, ebooks still seemed too expensive, according to another comment from JG. "Two-thirds the cost of a physical book is of course still far to expensive for what is essentially a few megabytes of data at most. I am all for authors getting farily paid for their hard work, but since the only costs involved in digital distribution are editing/formatting and hosting services, should the artificially high prices for books we pay in Australia really be the benchmark for e-book prices?"
I was reading the news headlines late last night, so I ended up getting stories from around the globe. But it seems like no matter which country the news came from, there was somebody who was raving about ebooks and the Kindle. One British columnist even headlined his story: Three 3 New Reaons Why My Amazon Kindle Grows in My Esteem. Just like he'd the easy bookmarking, the ease of switching books, and the ability to change font sizes. "When I first got my Amazon Kindle USA," he wrote, "I was half expecting that it would be a fad that would only last for a short while before I returned to my life-long habit of reading books…
"…but this is not proving to be the case!"
The Last Hours of Borders Bookstores?
February 7, 2011 February 7, 2011 meandmykindle	Leave a comment
I've been wondering if the Kindle will one day lead to the end of the printed book. But maybe first, we should be worrying about the future of the bookstore! The picture above shows a Borders bookstore that closed in September. But now the entire Borders Group chain "may file for protection from creditors", Bloomberg News reported last Tuesday — citing three different people who were "familiar with the matter."
The three sources predicted that the filing could come as soon as this week, and one of them added that as many as 30% of the chain's bookstores could close! (There's over 500 Borders bookstores across America…) Ironically, last month Borders bookstores appeared in an episode of NBC's "The Office" — while in real life the chain was stopping (or "delaying") their payments to the publishers of the books Borders sells! Borders itself seems to acknowledge big changes are coming, announcing two weeks ago they'd received over half a billion dollars in funding to "provide Borders with the financial flexibility and an appropriate level of liquidity to move forward…" But further down in the press release a disclaimer noted it was contingent on "Borders' finalization of a store closure program" to identify under-performing stores "that will be closed as soon as practicable…"
Ironically, for Barnes and Noble, that's good news, and their stock price actually jumped up 7.4% last Tuesday. But Friday Borders stock closed at 39 cents a share — and then Monday even dropped two cents lower, down to just 35 cents a share. (Though that two cents represented 5.3% of the stock's total value.) In fact, Borders stock may be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange, which has a rule that every stock must be worth at least $1.00 a share. If their stock price doesn't improve within six months, it can't be listed on the exchange.
In the middle of the meltdown The Washington Post actually tracked down Mr. Borders himself — Louis Borders, one of the two brothers who co-founded the chain back in 1971 — at his home in Silicon Valley. ("Louis Borders declined to discuss his namesake's problems or even whatever fondness he may hold for what's left of his first big idea. 'I've been away from the company for a while, and I just don't want to talk about it,' he said, before quickly hanging up.") But they also uncovered the real story behind the closure. "Whatever progress publishers and Borders make toward a temporary deal, analysts and industry observers say the larger problem is much more daunting: There are just too many big bookstores selling a product fewer and fewer people want, at least in printed form… For many in the industry – and for this group of Borders regulars – the question is not whether the chain will go under, but when."
Inevitably the article points at least one finger towards the popularity of new digital reading devices like the Kindle. (In the same article, the founder of Barnes and Noble jokes, "Sometimes I want to shoot
myself in the morning.") And though the bookstore refused to talk to the newspaper's reporter, he still looks for a reason tries to understand why. The Post notes that now Borders "confronts the limitless, more efficient supply chain of Amazon's online emporium." But he also looks for an answer buried deep in the company's history.
Ironically, the company was started in 1971 because the Borders brothers had developed a new technology for booksellers! Originally the two brothers planned to license a software that they'd developed which helped predict the best-selling titles. But when they couldn't interest the bookstores, they opened new stores themselves, and along with Barnes and Noble, created the phenomenon of superstore book-selling. "Readers rushed in for the latest Oprah Book Club pick. John Grisham became very wealthy, with one bestseller and movie after another…"
But technology continued marching forward, the Post notes. ("As the two book mega-stores clobbered each other in their battle for market share, the chains, and especially Borders, missed the next big cultural shift, analysts say.") In fact, Borders eventually had to partner with Amazon for their web presence! By the end of the story, Amazon had developed the Kindle, Barnes and Noble created the Nook, and Borders had…nothing. "These trends were not a secret," explains a retail expert at the Harvard Business School.
"They should have seen them coming…"
Borders, the Kobo and The Office
February 3, 2011 July 10, 2013 meandmykindle	Leave a comment
It's not just the Kindle. Other TV shows are also featuring digital readers — and sometimes, in a big way. In January, NBC's The Office built an entire episode around the Kobo ereader, suggesting that there may even have been a product placement deal — that is, that the writers were paid to work it into the plot!
I'm just fascinated by these little moments of pop culture that show how the Kindle and other readers are working their way into the popular imagination. They're appearing in stories that would never have occurred to anyone in even five years ago. This episode opened with Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), who plays the boss at the Scranton branch of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. "January 23, 2011," he says into the camera. "A day which will live in famously."
He's not the one using the digital reader. (He's just worried that his former girlfriend had gotten engaged – although he does add that "If she's engaged, I'm going to go crazy and I'm going to start attacking people.") But back among the workers, there's a lively discussion about New Year's resolutions, with creepy Dwight Schrute teasing his former girlfriend that his goal for 2011 is "Meet a loose woman". (And his co-worker Andy agrees.) "You know what you guys should do?" suggests Darryl from the warehouse. "Go to the bookstore at lunch. There's tons of cuties and it's easy to talk to them. 'Hey, what book is that? Cool, let's hang out tonight. Sex already? Whoa…!'"
Suddenly this strange sitcom is veering towards a visit to the bookstore. And it's really because digital reading devices are a hot consumer trend in 2011. The writers, based on whatever motivation, now find themselves leading their characters into a Borders bookstore. They cut away to a private interview with Darryl, where he reveals that he isn't really going there to pick up women. Darryl's New Year's resolution was to read more books — and he'd really just wanted a ride to the store!
And that's when the Kobo appears.
"Well, if you read a lot, you should check out our ereaders," a sweet, middle-aged cashier tells Darryl at the register, adding…
"They're really neat."
"I work at a paper company. Those things terrify me. They could put us out of business. I heard those things hold like 10 books at once."
"Actually, it's 10,000."
"Holy ####! What? Let me see it…"
Darryl is impressed. ("It's so light. Like a croissant.") But his co-workers are having no luck picking up women, and Dwight announces "This place is kind of tapped out, so let's roll." But as they're leaving the store, it turns out that Darryl is carrying a bag that he doesn't want his co-workers to see. He claims it contains "A book about oceans," then later tries to claim that it's pornography. But later in the episode — as the men somehow end up at a roller-skating rink — Darryl is seen slipping away, to read on his brand new Kobo.
In a way, I feel bad for the Kobo, though. On their Facebook page, they announced a contest to celebrate the episode — asking "What are you reading at the Office." You didn't even have to own a Kindle to enter the contest — the prize was 10 free ebooks or a Kobo eReader — but the response was underwhelming. They received just 40 photographs from people entering the contests. You could also enter just by leaving a comment on their web page, but the total number of comments was just 218. (Although to be fair, you could also enter the contest just by clicking the "Like" button the Kobo's Facebook page, and there's now 15,712 people who have done so.)
Maybe they would've gotten a larger response if they'd given away a Kindle!
Bookstores Seek Authors: Chains Rushing to Become eBook Publishers
October 18, 2010 October 18, 2010 meandmykindle	2 Comments
It's very simple. As of Friday, Borders joined Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and even Apple in the new self-publishing revolution. They're all now offering cheap-and-easy ways to self-publish an ebook. In literally seconds, you can now convert the feed for a blog into an ebook with Borders' new service — and even give it an ISBN number. ("Edit content and drag it into chapters," explains their web site, "then congratulations … you're an eBook author!")
Its slogan is "Blog to ebook in minutes," and Borders CEO said they were "excited to give new writers and bloggers an opportunity to reach an expanded audience." They're launching the service — called "BookBrewer" — next Monday (October 25), and it's part of an unmistakable trend. Just last week, Amazon announced the launch of "Kindle Singles," a separate ebook format which is also geared for shorter-than-a-novel texts. And if you want to self-publish your book in Apple's new iBookStore, there's a package available at Lulu.com.
But what does this all mean? "In some ways, it's like the early days of the Gutenberg revolution," Business Week argued Sunday, "when authors published short manuscripts and 'chapbooks,' and everything in between." The first, obvious change is that more things will get published. (The article seemed to acknowledge that boundaries were shifting, asking in its headline: "When is a Book Not a Book?")
But inevitably, this will also create more authors.
I mean, there's a couple of obvious technical changes here. With no need to find an agent or publisher, "The advent of tablets and e-bookstores dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for these kinds of writers…." notes Business Week. And instead of paying a commission to that agent or publisher, they can break into the world of published authors for just a small upfront payment and an ongoing commission. But it's more exciting to focus on the end result. When I fire up my Kindle, I'll be seeing a new kind of ebook — and one that was much less likely to exist even a few years before.
It's ultimately not about what it means for books, or authors, or publishers, but for readers. Yes, I'm pre-supposing that there's a micro-market for these new authors, but I think the web proves that we're endlessly fascinated by personal stories. If you take a close look, Facebook and Twitter are really just an endless stream of very short and personal moments. C.S. Lewis once quipped that ultimately the purpose of reading is "to know that we are not alone."
eCommerce Times found a senior analyst at Simba Information who says major publishers may actually see this as a blessing, since they can scan the best-seller lists for ebooks to determine which authors are worth publishing. ("It's just another part of the filtering process for them.") I want to believe that someone will devise something entirely original in these new short-form ebooks, and then find a brand new market for it. I like the way it was explained by the CEO of Borders' new BookBrewer service. "Everyone has a story to tell, pictures to share or advice to give.
"It turns out that those are exactly the kinds of things people want to buy and read as eBooks."
A Funny Comment on the War Between Print Books and eBooks
September 9, 2010 September 9, 2010 meandmykindle	3 Comments
This was too good not to share. "I had an interesting/amusing experience today at the mall," writes my friend Mike in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
"Went into a Borders Express to see if I could find some titles that aren't available for Kindle yet. I noticed that there was only one Leisure Horror title available. The cashier and I got to talking and she started complaining about e-books and how they were killing off the bookstores. I was the only one in the store. As I walked out, I noticed she went back to reading whatever book she was reading — on her Kobo.
"I was chuckling as I walked out of the store…"
Mike posted his comment in a Kindle discussion forum, where it drew an even funnier reaction from Andrew E. Kaufman, author of the ebook While the Savage Sleeps. What did he think of the employee at Borders?
"A clear case of e-denial."
In his personal blog, Andrew also makes an interesting comment about the sales of print books. "Regardless of all the gloom and doom we hear about the publishing industry, there are still some authors who are ten feet tall and bulletproof." (James Patterson, for example, was paid $100 million for the rights to his next 17 novels, and Stephenie Meyer will earn $40 million this year…) And according to Amazon's own figures, no Kindle ebook has ever sold more than one million copies. (Stieg Larsson has sold a total of one million ebooks, but that's for all of his titles combined, according to Amazon's recent press release.)
PC World reported that Nora Roberts is just now closing in on 500,000 total ebook sales, though she's already sold over 280 million print editions of her books (according to Wikipedia). And in the same article, PC World suggests Stephenie Meyer must be close to selling one million ebooks, though she's sold over 100 million printed books. J.K. Rowlings has sold over 400 million print editions of her Harry Potter novels, and Robert Ludlum has sold more than 290 million books. Even the Goosebumps series has sold more than 300 million print editions — and they aren't even the best-selling authors of all time.
Wikipedia offers an amazing rough list of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. Agatha Christie is tied with William Shakespeare for the #1 spot, with at least 2 billion books sold. Harold Robbins has sold 750 million novels, and romance novelist Barbara Cartland is somewhere between half a billion and an even billion. It's a staggering amount of printed books, especially when you consider that for ebook sales, there's only one author who has ever squeaked out of the six-figure range.
I've started to become skeptical of Amazon's claim that the ebook is outselling the printed book. I'll share more data in a few days, but it's always exciting to hear stories from the actual bookstores. Maybe it's the "front line" in the war between printed books and ebooks.
And if so, this next year will be very interesting!
Are Publishers Lying about the cost of eBooks?
August 25, 2010 August 25, 2010 meandmykindle	Leave a comment
Last week the Wall Street Journal ran a controversial opinion piece about ebooks. A former book editor and a business professor argued that publishers needed to sell advertisements in ebooks in order to offset their shrinking profit margins. "[A] digital book is far less profitable than its hardcover cousin priced at $25," their article argued. But according to responses on the web, there's a problem with that argument. It isn't true.
"Baen, a publishing house that specializes in fantasy and sci-fi, mostly with a militaristic bent, says that they've found that e-books significantly increase profits," responded one commenter at a technology web site, even though that publisher sells DRM-free versions of their ebooks "for substantially less than they sell dead-tree versions." And then another commenter backed up their skepticism with actual data provided by the New York Times.
Publisher's Profits Before Overhead
On a $26 hardcover: $4.05
On a $12.99 ebook: $4.56 – $5.54
On a $ 9.99 ebook: $3.51 – $4.26
This isn't speculation. The Times based their statistics "on interviews with several publishers and consultants who work with the publishing industry." eBooks eliminate many of the costs associated with stacks of hardcover books, including printing costs, storage fees, and the cost of shipping books (and then shipping back the unsold copies).
"That, obviously, is exactly what logic would tell you," one commenter concluded. And the Times article suggested the publishers' real motive might be simple self-preservation — they're trying to keep up the demand for printed books. In a future with even more digital readers, lower ebook prices would mean "print booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Borders and independents across the country would be unable to compete… if the e-books are priced much lower than the print editions, no one but the aficionados and collectors will want to buy paper books."
One publisher's consultant even tells the newspaper point-blank that "If you want bookstores to stay alive, then you want to slow down this movement to e-books. The simplest way to slow down e-books is not to make them too cheap."
So are publishers being honest about the costs of publishing a book? It's a hotly-debated mystery, even to those people who are most affected by it: the authors who are actually writing the books! At the end of their article, the New York Times tracked down best-selling author Anne Rice, who admits that "None of us know what books cost. None of us know what kind of profits hardcover or paperback publishers make."
Most of Rice's books are available on the Kindle — though not her most famous book, Interview with the Vampire But as the publishing industry faces historic changes, it was nice to see that Anne Rice still remains firmly committed to the future of the ebook. "The only thing I think is a mistake is people trying to hold back e-books or Kindle and trying to head off this revolution by building a dam.
"It's not going to work."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Glickman's Confectionery, established in 1903, is the oldest sweetie shop in the heart of Glasgow where nostalgia nestles in every jar. We offer customers the opportunity to purchase confectionery at discounted prices whilst ensuring exceptional customer care to all our local customers and tourists.
Our free local delivery service offers communities, schools, playgroups and social clubs easy access to our wide range of confectionery. We provide a fast efficient service with quality fresh products including many special offers from our famous shop on London Road .
With old favourites such as Macaroon Cake, Candy Balls, Lucky Tatties, Soor Plooms and with endless jars filled with mouth-watering delights in every colour of the rainbow – Who could resist taking their taste buds on a trip down memory lane!
Children's Party Boxes have been very successful over the years, saving busy mums time and money. We offer great value for money with filled boxes costing from as little as £1.00.
Like previous generations we hand make our famous confectionery using traditional copper pots with the same recipes dating back to the early 1900s, a hot spot for the media.
Glickman's offer a range of favours, a delightful accessory to any wedding, birthday celebration, christening or first holy communion. Contact Us for further details.
For a complete customer-care experience and to place an order please contact, Irene or Julie at Glickman's.
………It's the sweetie shop of your dreams!


text:
[ 26 janvier 2023 ] Délibérer est le fait de plusieurs… Agir est le fait d'un seul (De Gaulle) Pages d'Histoire
[ 26 janvier 2023 ] Úmysl je dílem mnoha… čin je dílem jednoho (De Gaulle) Pages d'Histoire
[ 22 janvier 2023 ] Franco-Allemand : Développer une culture stratégique européenne Défense
AccueilDéfenseGas Might Be Expensive, but Freedom is Priceless
Gas Might Be Expensive, but Freedom is Priceless
6 juin 2022 Défense, Ukraine, zslider homepage
« There are no signs Russia has changed its aims and calculus » according Estonian PM Mrs Kaja Kallas « until the Kremlin gives up its goal of conquering new territory in Ukraine, it is difficult to believe in the prospect of any real peace talks.»
Source: Government of Estonia — June 6, 2022 — Mrs Kallas' speech at Grotius Prize award ceremony on 6th June 2022 in London.
Gas Might Be Expensive, but Freedom is Priceless 1
I am really honoured to be here today. Actually, it is somewhat unbelievable that I'm receiving this prize, because it is literally the first lesson in law school that you are learning Hugo Grotius. It was also the first exam I ever failed. Had someone said to me back in 1995 that one day you will receive a Hugo Grotius prize, I would have laughed so hard – and so would have my professors. But miracles happen and here I am.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of Estonia receives the Hugo Grotius Award – Photo Twitter #Estonia
The international rules-based order begins from home. I was a teenager 30 years ago when Estonia climbed out of its totalitarian prison in 1991.
Totalitarianism is fixated on the destruction of individuals and freedom. In autocracy the individual does not matter. The individual does not have any rights.
After restoring independence and freedom following Soviet occupation, Estonia had a very difficult task: to build a free and open society, a parliamentary democracy with the rule of law at its core.
This was not an easy task – re-establishing a democratic relationship between the citizen and the state is nothing you do overnight, and it is nothing you can from books.
We started from zero or even sub-zero as the Soviet Union had normalised corruption, there was no rule of law – collective cause always prevailed over individual rights and liberties. This is best illustrated by the fact that during the Soviet occupation we practically only had criminal law as there was no private property – so there were no laws for safeguarding individual rights.
Autocrats do not care for the people, they only care for their power. Last year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitri Muratov called this a question between, and I quote, "people for the state, or the state for the people."
Life under Soviet occupation shaped the attitude of our people back then – the state was not ours but theirs – the occupiers', so it was fine to steal from the state.
Establishing market liberalism and parliamentary democracy demanded a turnaround in attitudes and identity – the state was no longer "theirs" but "ours". The assets were no longer "theirs" but "ours". The rights of individuals and the rule of law were placed at the centre of governance. This meant rooting out corruption and building up strong institutions in support of a society and safeguarding individual rights.
I'm a lawyer by profession. Upholding agreed commitments and laws is central to my worldview. This ensures stability at national as well as at international level – in fact the way states treat their own citizens tells a lot about their international behaviour.
Staying true to laws and norms is a question of peaceful co-existence – it should stop countries from conquering their neighbours. It should allow countries to choose their own paths, their own foreign policy orientations, and their own alliances without being threatened by force. It should keep individuals safe and prevent grave human sufferings.
The best way to secure peace and stability is by staying true to the principles and commitments we have made to each other. This should mean that might makes no right and all countries would settle disputes peacefully. That is not the case today.
Russia is the most direct threat to European security right now. In fact, should it get away with its aggression, it would undermine peace and security around the world – if aggression pays off somewhere, it serves as an invitation to use it elsewhere.
That is the reason why we are so committed to helping Ukraine push back Russian aggression. What we are defending is the very idea of freedom, territorial integrity and sovereignty – that is, the right to exist as a country and the right to live free from repressions.
Securing and establishing this very idea was at the core when my own country was born in 1918. The United Kingdom played a key role in our ability to enforce this idea back then.
The decisive moment for the Estonian War of Independence against Soviet Russia over a hundred years ago came when a British naval squadron arrived in Tallinn. The arrival of British ships prevented the landing of the Soviet fleet in Tallinn at a time when the Estonian troops would probably not have been able to resist.
The British Navy in the Gulf of Finland ensured Estonia's maritime security practically throughout the entire War of Independence from 1918 to 1920. And the weapons you sent in the winter and spring of 1919 were of critical importance to the Estonian battlefront. This ensured Estonia 20 years of independence prior to falling under Soviet occupation for 50 years.
Estonia celebrating 5-year anniversary within NATO – Parade on May 12, 2022 – Source : Estonian MoD
You do not need to look hard for parallels with today and the importance of giving support to Ukraine. The United Kingdom plays an essential leadership role in securing these very same principles today.
We live at a moment when aggression has come right up to Europe´s borders. Coming today from Estonia, I come literally from the frontline of the free world and democracy.
The Kremlin is trying to build another divisive wall in Europe and this time Estonia is lucky enough to be on the right side of it. The same cannot be said for Ukraine.
The rules-based order requires that crimes committed would get investigated, evidence saved and those in breach of laws held accountable. As a lawyer, it is in my DNA to demand justice for every crime committed.
Let us zoom out and have a closer look at what is at stake in Ukraine. We are witnessing Russia´s state-orchestrated calls for genocide.
The Russian killing machine wishes and I cite: "to change the bloody and false consciousness of a part of today's Ukrainians". These are the words of Dmitry Medvedev.
A "Nazi" is simply any Ukrainian who resists.
The Kremlin including Putin have made it clear with their statements that their aim is to wipe Ukraine off the world map. "Denazification » is the official Russian label of this policy of destruction of the Ukrainian state and its people.
According to the Genocide Convention, what distinguishes genocide from other international crimes is the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, [a protected group], as such."
This intent can be attributed to a state through evidence of a general plan – derived also from official statements or assumed from a systematic pattern of atrocities.
And incitement to commit genocide is a distinct crime whether or not genocide really follows.
High-level officials including Putin and state media commentators make propaganda with the clear intent to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians, in whole or in part. We hear public denials of the existence of Ukrainian identity. And the Kremlin repeatedly invokes "denazification" as one of the main goals of its invasion, describing Ukrainians as subhuman. All those who self-identify as Ukrainian threaten the unity of Russia and are Nazis according to Russian propaganda. A "Nazi" is simply any Ukrainian who resists. All this rhetoric is used to portray Ukrainians as enemies and make them a seemingly legitimate target for destruction.
And it works. What we hear from the battlefields is that Russian soldiers have internalised and are responding to this genocidal campaign. For example, reported statements from soldiers as they're committing atrocities include: threats to rape "every Nazy whore," boasting about "hunting Nazis," saying "we will liberate you from Nazis."
No impunity for war crimes must form a cornerstone of our long-term policies. As the Nuremberg Tribunal historically declared in 1947 – crimes against international law are committed by individuals, not abstract entities. We need to have a very clear understanding – Putin and all those who have committed atrocities must know that their judgment day will come.
For that purpose, 20 years ago, the international community established the International Criminal Court in Hague. Many countries, including Estonia, referred crimes in Ukraine to this Court for investigation. The UK has played a leading role here. It is good that the Prosecutor launched an investigation promptly. Importantly, several countries, including my own, have initiated criminal proceedings also in their national courts, exercising universal jurisdiction. This demonstrates the gravity and scale of war crimes in Ukraine.
We must deliver accountability for war criminals and justice for victims. This would also send out an important message to would-be perpetrators. We should also make sure that aggressor pays reparations – the Kremlin must pay for every road destroyed, every building shelled and every bridge ruined.
And we must make sure that the civilian victims of this war would get compensation – for example via a separate fund for victims. For that, we should use Russian assets and central bank reserves frozen by sanctions.
For holding perpetrators accountable, Ukraine must win back its territories and Russia must fail. We must do all we can to help push back the Russian invasion and end massive war crimes at our doorstep. Otherwise, worse will follow. This is the lesson from our own history.
We must keep in mind that peace does not automatically mean that atrocities will end. Here I am speaking from the experience of many in Central Eastern Europe. For Estonia, peace after the Second World War meant the beginning of repressions. It carried a huge human cost and brought renewed suffering through mass killings, repressions, mass deportations and other crimes against humanity.
90 000 people from the Baltic states were deported to Russia
20 000 from Estonia alone to Siberia (Estonian Archives)
My mother was only six months old when she was deported on a cattle-car, along with her mother and grandmother to Siberia while my grandfather was sent to Siberian prison camp. It was a miracle my family survived but many didn't. While Estonians were deported, Russians were occupying Estonia, trying to erase our culture and language. In 1922 the Russian minority amounted to 3,2% of our population, by the end of Soviet occupation the Russian population had increased to over 30%.
We are now seeing this being repeated in Ukraine in the Russian occupied territories– children being deported en masse to Russia, women raped, men imprisoned. Pictures from Irpin and Bucha, brought the brutality and massiveness of Russian war crimes against civilians to the global limelight. And we don't yet know the full scale of atrocities from Mariupol and elsewhere. And we probably won't know until these areas are liberated by Ukraine – but all signs suggest it will be Bucha many times over.
The experience of half of Europe after the Second World War should remind us that we cannot give anything to the aggressor that it didn't have before – otherwise the aggression will sooner or later return. We have done this mistake several times before – be it in case of Georgia, Crimea or Donbas.
PM Kaja Kallas affirming Estonia's Support for Ukraine in Kiiv (May 22, 2021) – Source UKRGate
That is why I am worried about premature calls for ceasefire or peace – there are no signs Russia has changed its aims and calculus. Until the Kremlin gives up its goal of conquering new territory in Ukraine, it is difficult to believe in the prospect of any real peace talks. I do not believe in goodwill by an outright aggressor and a cold-blooded war criminal.
The free world has made many right decisions in support of Ukraine. But we have not been quick enough in implementing them – we need to speed it up.
What Ukraine needs today are arms to fight back aggressor and liberate their territories.
Our policies must be rooted in the understanding that the Russian threat will not go away tomorrow. There should be no return to business as usual with war criminals. In fact, there should be no business at all.
That is why we need to continue isolating the aggressor economically as well as politically.
Economic isolation means we need to dry up Russian war machine by making sure that the Russian troops run out of equipment and the Kremlin runs out of money.
Also, political isolation of an outright aggressor and war criminal is necessary.
We saw a strong judgment by the United Nations General Assembly which adopted with more than two-thirds majority a resolution condemning the Russian invasion and demanded a full withdrawal of Russian troops.
The International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend military operations, and the Council of Europe expelled Russia. United Nations member states suspended Russia from its seat at the Human Rights Council.
We have seen unprecedented reaction against the Russian aggression not only by states, but also by private individuals as well as companies. Their actions complement and support those by governments. And they also send out a clear signal of expectation to their governments.
In light of all this, let us review our engagement with Russia in international organisations and ask the following:
Are we really going to keep exchanging often sensitive data within INTERPOL – the International Criminal Police Organization – with obvious war criminal? Does it make sense to debate norms on responsible state behavior in cyber space with a pariah who has thrown out of window not only the Charter of the United Nations, but each and every norm of human decency. By the way even in war, there are rules and Russia has demonstrated its blatant disregard for all of them.
I often get questions how we can improve relations with Russia. My reply is very frank – we should be courageous enough to admit that if it's necessary for stopping the aggressor, we must be ready to face a long and gruesome war.
Address by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to the European Parliament (March 10, 2022)
There should be no fear of a bad relationship or a non-existent relationship with war criminals.
Ukraine is not the victim of a one-time miscalculation by a madman. We are witnessing a long-planned campaign by the Kremlin to exert control over neighboring countries by brute force, no matter the human cost. We need patience and long-term persistence with policies to halt this aggression and also to prevent future ones.
Standing up against tyranny has a cost to all of us. Gas might be expensive, but freedom is priceless. It's up to every government to decide how much of the burden its people are ready to carry. But it is equally necessary we get the message through to our people – what is our neighbour's problem today will be our problem tomorrow. We are all in danger when our neighbour's house is on fire.
Hitting the right balance with policy is understandably one of the biggest challenges for democracies and for our freedom today.
We mustn´t get tired. After all, Ukrainians are not tired. Leadership matters. And it is the moral clarity of each and every one of us that helps drive policies to the right direction.
If we fail here, the international rules based order is at stake and no country and no nation can feel safe. We don't think about freedom and world order until they are gone. Let's make our best efforts so that nobody has to experience it.
« Le gaz est peutêtre cher, mais la Liberté n'a pas de prix »: Discours de Madame Kaja Kallas, Premier ministre d'Estonie, lors de la cérémonie de remise du prix Grotius le 6 juin 2022 à Londres. Source : Gouvernement estonien
The UK and Estonia confirm their commitment to support Ukraine by all means possible (Joint leaders statement by the Rt Hon Boris Johnson and the PM of Estonia, Mrs Kaja Kallas. This statement builds on and complements the UK-Estonia statement of intent, signed in March 2021, to mark the centenary of UK-Estonian diplomatic relations. London, June 6, 2022.
« Sustaining America's Strategic Deterrent Forces in the 21st Century »
« Marine Aviation for the Coming Century »
« Re-Engineering Defense Logistics »
Defense Acquisition Reform
DOD FY 1998 Acquisition and Technology Program
The UK and Estonia confirm their commitment to support Ukraine by all means possible
Le gaz est peut-être cher, mais la Liberté n'a pas de prix
EU! Radio
La chronique de Quentin Dickinson
euradio · La chronique de Quentin Dickinson
La semaine de Quentin Dickinson
Des citoyens qui font davantage confiance aux entreprises qu'aux gouvernements 24 janvier 2023
Des alliances stratégiques - Quentin Dickinson 17 janvier 2023
Des valeurs démocratiques à la mort de Dolly. 10 janvier 2023
Coup de filet au Parlement Européen - Quentin Dickinson 13 décembre 2022
Décisions industrielles majeures - Quentin Dickinson 6 décembre 2022
The bottom line is that we have no choice but to move from separate industrial sectors for defense and commercial markets to an integrated national industrial base. Leveraging commercial technological advances to create military advantage [...]


This is a placeholder page for Alyssa Biard, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Alyssa Biard.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Alyssa Biard. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Alyssa Biard. We created this page automatically in hopes Alyssa Biard would find it. If you are not Alyssa Biard, but are an alumni of Scappoose High School, register on this site for free now.


Should I bring anything with me to the table?
Sunscreen, bug repellant, a hat, water, a snack, and optimism!
What types of questions do you usually get during the market?
In the corner of the pavilion.
There is an ATM at the Foster Street entrance of the Pavilion. There are also ATMs at the Latino Cooperativo near the McDonald's, the Triangle Food Mart (Trinity and Foster Streets) and the Courtyard Mariott lobby.
Where can I find a map of the trucks?
What is Durham Central Park?
Visit our website or contact Ann Alexander.
A calendar of events is on the website.
Fill out volunteer sign-up sheet or go to durhamcentralpark.org/volunteer.
T-shirts are gifted to those who make a donation of $15 or more.
Durham Central Park, Inc. is the organization that maintains and develops Durham Central Park as well as managing all of the public and private events that are held in The Park—Farmer's Market, Food Truck Rodeos, etc. We have an agreement with the City to manage all of the space and we have a corps of volunteers to keep things nice, fun and interesting.
In short, we are a park created and maintained by volunteers.
To have a booth at the park on Saturday mornings in the Sister Cities Grove, the cost per week will be $25 per organization per table.
Where and how can you set up a booth?
You can setup your booth or table anywhere between the sandbox and Foster street. DO NOT drive on the Park's grass. Unload by parking at Foster Street, or unload quickly at Roney Street (the little service street that runs behind the Pavilion) and move your car when you're done uploading.
Sorry, no refunds are available for Meals from the Market tickets.
Can individuals use the park for health/wellness classes like yoga?
Durham Central Park partners with Blue Point Yoga to offer free yoga classes on Saturday mornings in the spring and summer. As a public park, groups are welcome to come to the park and use the space for a class. If you want to reserve space to hold a class, please fill out this form. If you are interested using the park for a health/wellness class, please send us a note.


text:
Rhantus rohani är en skalbaggsart som beskrevs av Peschet 1924. Rhantus rohani ingår i släktet Rhantus och familjen dykare. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Dykare
rohani

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


If you participated in last year's program and were selected to be a Semifinalist or Honorable Mention in January 2018, you will bypass the Preliminary 1 video audition and advance to Preliminary 2 to schedule your live audition.
One of your pieces must be from the Baroque or Classical periods (1650-1820 Example: Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Haydn, etc.) If no Baroque or Classical music is available for your instrument, please emails us at spotlight@musiccenter.org.
Your recording device can be a cell phone, tablet, camera, etc. You do NOT have to rent fancy recording equipment. We will refer to the recording devices as "cameras"
Please be sure you follow all requirements related to your application. Failure to comply with any of the requirements listed below may result in disqualification during the review process and/or make your application ineligible for an award.
Click here to open the Guidelines in another tab where a printable version is available.
TO START YOUR SPOTLIGHT APPLICATION, CLICK HERE.
If your application is already open, simply click on the Acceptd tab on your computer to return to it.


text:
Cristiano Ronaldo Has Left Real Madrid Training Ground After Just Two Days
Sofoluwe Mayowa / December 17, 2022 / News
Cristiano Ronaldo has already departed Real Madrid's training ground after just two days, According to reports.
Ronaldo was in Real Madrid training
And to further his search for a new club, he has jetted off to Dubai.
Since Portugal's World Cup elimination last weekend, Ronaldo, 37, has made a surprise return to the Spanish capital and has spent the previous two days at Real Madrid's training facility.
The seasoned attacker only managed to score one goal throughout Portugal's time in Qatar, a penalty in a 3-2 victory over Ghana.
The former Manchester United player's Old Trafford contract was terminated by mutual interest, leaving him without a team.
Ronaldo was welcomed back at Real Madrid after Four and a half years after moving to Juventus in a deal estimated to be worth £80 million, Ronaldo was allowed to use Real's Valdebebas training facility by the club's management.
Then, it was confirmed that Real Madrid have little or no interest in signing their top scorer of all time even though he was using the club's training facility to keep fit.
See also Nicolas Pepe says he would like to play a little more to find a smile again
Ronaldo warming up for a match
Ronaldo requested permission from Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, to practice in Valdebebas for a few days after his nation's World Cup quarterfinal loss to Morocco to keep his body fit.
After a turbulent year since leaving Real Madrid for Juventus in 2018, it was expected that it would be difficult for Ronaldo to return to the team's training facility anytime soon.
However, he had the chance to train apart from the team that Carlo Ancelotti, the club's current manager, is in charge of.
And according to DAZN, Ronaldo has reportedly stepped up his search for a new club by flying to Dubai on a private plane.
According to reports, the veteran is looking to sign with a Champions League team as he pursues more success at Europe's top level.
But despite having connections to Chelsea and Bayern Munich, Ronaldo has not yet received a bid from a major European club.
Instead, the most specific offer for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is from the Middle East.
See also Georgina Rodriguez earns £83,000 per month as Cristiano Ronaldo's lover, see why
Ronaldo in action for Portugal during their time at Qatar
Ronaldo is rumored to have received a whopping £173 million-per-year contract offer from the Saudi Arabian team Al Nassr.
Although Mendes, Ronaldo's agent, is reportedly working on a separate plan, AS believes that he is hopeful that the Portuguese icon will sign with a Qatari team.
There have been rumours that Cristiano Ronaldo may be planning a mouthwatering transfer to join Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia in January 2023.
Should a deal be reached, he would also surpass all other athletes to become the highest paid athlete in the world.
Meanwhile, amid the uncertainty in his club career, Ronaldo has informed Portugal's management that he has no plans to retire from the national team, which means that his future as a member of the national team is much clearer.
After benching Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal's last two World Cup games, and crashing out of the Qatar World Cup in the quarter-finals stage, Portuguese manager Fernando Santos was fired.
See also Latest Transfer News Across Europe
And a prospective reunion with Jose Mourinho may now be in the works, with the Roma manager attracted by the idea of leading both his nation and the Italian club at the same time.
What's next for Ronaldo?
Ronaldo on the ground after Portugal suffers a shock elimination from World Cup
As he (Ronaldo) is keen on playing at the European top flight, he might make a permanent shock return to Santiago Bernabeu, if the club president (Florentino Perez) is willing to make the deal materialize.
A post shared by Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid:
During his nine-year stay at the Santiago Bernabeu after moving to Spain in 2009 in a then-world-record £80 million move from Manchester United, Ronaldo solidified his reputation as one of football's all-time great players.
He won two La Liga championships, four Champions League trophies, and four of his five Ballon d'Or trophies while playing for Real Madrid.
Category News Tag Portugal Ronaldo
← Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate Of France Down With A Virus Ahead Of The Qatar World Cup Final Against Argentina
Morocco Set To Host The 2022 Club World Cup From February 1st - 11th →
Lionel Messi is without a club as his deal with Barcelona officially expires
Video – PSG player Neymar Jr was stretchered off after a bad foul while playing against Lyon
Lionel Messi leads Barcelona to the next round of Champions League with a win against Napoli
Everton didn't care that Cristiano Ronaldo was in the game as they earned 1 point from Old Trafford – Match highlights
Chelsea VS AC Milan: Chelsea Beat Italian Champions To Give Coach Graham Potter His First Champions League Win
Dean Henderson is better than David DeGea of Manchester United in penalties, see proof


Stating life is a journey, this is truthful and the end is not known. For this reason, we pick up our bags daily, moment by moment, and choose to travel no matter where the path stops.
The only real danger is when we choose not to pick up the bags or perhaps drop them and refuse the roads that lay in front of our voyages/journeys/pilgrimages.
We are our master's, who need guidance from the forces found in prayers or meditations everyday.
But ~ What about those who lost the lives of family and self in The Holocaust and other horrific tragedies?
Did they feel so positive? Did they say, I am just a pilgrim?


Rivers United defeat Rayon Sport two-nil in CAFCC Playoff first Leg – Royal Times of Nigeria.
defetRivers United defeated Rayon Sport of Rwanda two-nil in their first leg CAF Confederation Cup playoff in Port Harcourt on Sunday. Goals from Emeka Atuloma and Guy Kuemian gave Rivers United the win.
Atuloma gave Rivers United the lead in the 29th after volleying in Ifeanyi Nweke's cross.
Rivers United continued to press the visitors for more goals but couldn't add to their solitary lead in the first half.
But in the 51st minute, Guy Kuemian scored what proved to be the winning goal as he volleyed home from 25 yards to seal the win for Rivers United.
The return leg will take place on Saturday, the twenty-second of April 2017 in Kigali. Nigeria's other representative in the CAF Confederation Cup Enugu Rangers crashed out of the competition after losing three-nil in their second leg tie against Zesco United of Zambia on Saturday. Zesco progressed into the group stage five-two on aggregate.


Our Webinar is live now ... We hope you can join us!
Recommended for new Canvas admins, taking the reins from a previous admin: Learn the things you need (and want) to know about managing your instance of Canvas, and to facilitate a smooth transition into your new role. We expect this Webinar will last 30-60 minutes, including time for questions at the end.
Other key topics, and your questions!


The first building, Castelvecchio, has an extraordinary history and is known as the most important military construction of the Scalinger dynasty. Originally it was built within a Roman fortress and moat to deter attacks from powerful neighbours. Over time the building has had a number of renovations and adaptations to cater for its changing occupation and use. As it stands it tells an extraordinary story through its built fabric which is a collection of moments in time.
Part of the magic is the journey and arrival to the building which is approached from a grand bridge allowing a vantage across the museum and courtyard. Castelveccio now takes the form of a museum with restorative work completed by Carlo Scarpa between 1959 and 1973. Upon beginning the work Scarpa identified the buildings significant changing past and its 700 year history of alterations and modifications. Scarpa recognised the extent of these changes rendered the front facade as 'false'. This drove the approach to the renovations which conceives the entry as a stage set. Careful layering of doorways and windows paired with deep reveals to the facade give the impression of a backdrop to the courtyard. The means of entering the museum intentionally succumbs to this approach and is partially concealed through a number of stone screens.
The real delight is understood upon entering the space. The interior coveys a great understanding of Scarpas revolutionary display approach. Many of the objects which form the exhibition are destroyed and salvaged building relics from past earthquakes and floods. These objects sit independently in the space carefully and craft-fully hung, supported and mounted in a range of different ways with each method giving the artefact great importance. As you move through the building it is delightful as you pass through crafted archways, up and down staircases, through grand and intimate steel and timber doorways and across bridges. All the while windows with deep reveals carefully frame familiar sculptures constantly reorienting one within the space. The group agreed the museum was one of the trips highlights providing a wonderful intimacy and human scale through placing great importance on those objects being exhibited.
The second stop saw the group travel to the Villa Rotunda by Andrea Palladio – following the theme of exploring Italian masters work. The building sits on a hilltop just outside the city of Vicenza. It is elevated on a podium to gain prospect out across the rolling hills – a position which caught the cool breeze on our Sunday afternoon visit. Architect Andrea Palladio was approached in 1565 by priest Paulo America on his retirement from the Vatican to build a country house. Completed in 1592 the building is known to imbue Palladio's fundamental design principles and has since become one of the best known Italian architectural legacies.
The group surveyed the building from the exterior and admired it from the grassy grounds. The plan of the villa is perfectly square and has four completely symmetrical facades, each oriented to a compass point. The building combines a cube (the villa) and a sphere (the rotunda). Members of the group were speculating on how these volumes might translate spatially and expected the dome would create an amazing internal space.
The final project visited was the Olympico theatre retrofitted in 1580 by Andrea Palladio. The design of the theatre is inspired by the Roman theatres, as described by Vitruvius – An elliptical terraced theatre framed by a colonnade, with a frieze topped by statues. The theatres first show had a temporary stage set designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. It was considered so beautiful it has remained to this day. The set reproduces seven streets from the city of Thebes and is animated by forced perspective which frames each of the streets. The theatres elliptical terraced design works beautifully with the set work creating a unique view from every audience seat. The group enjoyed traversing up and down the stairs and around the eclipse to capture framed views of the incredibly detailed set. Day 4 was indeed a treat with the group sharing a common feeling of privilege in getting to see and experience the work of two true Italian masters.


The history behind the founding of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) almost always begins with the case of Edward A. Ross. A prominent economist and sociologist in his day, Ross was forced to resign from his faculty position at Stanford University in November 1900 after running afoul of the political views of the university's surviving namesake, Jane Stanford. Ross's dismissal set into motion the events that culminated in the founding of the AAUP, some fifteen years later.
The incident prompted John Dewey to compose a formal defense of academic freedom in the January 1902 issue of Educational Review, which later served as the basis for the AAUP's own founding principles. The American Economic Association also conducted an investigation into the episode under the charge of Columbia University's Edwin R.A. Seligman, severely chastising Stanford's actions. Ross's dismissal even precipitated a wave of faculty resignations from Stanford in protest, starting with his philosophy department colleague Arthur Lovejoy. Dewey, Seligman, and Lovejoy would all go on to become the principal charter members of the AAUP, as well as early presidents of the organization. Lovejoy would later identify the Ross case as a crucial precipitating event in the formation of the organization. Seligman took charge of organizing what became the organization's main investigative body, the Committee A on Academic Freedom. And Ross himself would later go on to hold several positions within the leadership ranks of the AAUP.
While political events certainly precipitated Ross's forced resignation, a fair amount of confusion and mythology have come to characterize the exact nature of his disagreement with Mrs. Stanford. Ross and Stanford had previously clashed over the former's support for William Jennings Bryan and the free silver movement during the 1896 election. He also allegedly criticized Jane Stanford's late husband, California railroad baron and politician Leland Stanford, and further irritated her by advocating for municipal ownership of street railroads and utilities. The most immediate source of their tension though was a speech that Ross gave a few months prior to his dismissal in which the professor argued for the strengthening of immigration restrictions on Chinese and other Asian laborers.
While acknowledging that Ross's position on Chinese labor displayed a number of ugly racial undertones, the cause of the dispute itself is normally presented as a political struggle between Ross's own strident progressivism and the politically conservative, moneyed interests of Mrs. Stanford and the railroad industry. The Stanford fortune, after all, came from a company that widely utilized Chinese laborers to construct its railroad lines. One version of the episode on the AAUP website even portrays Ross's comments as "statements about railroad monopolies" – a substantially more innocuous cause than barring immigrants from entering the country. Another AAUP account states that Ross was dismissed for speaking out "against privately owned railroads and Chinese immigration" and heavily implies that the latter issue was only a derivative of the former, on account of the railroad tycoons habits of using Asian labor.
The framing of the case as a battle between labor and the capitalist classes owes much to Ross's own publicity campaign after his resignation, including a vocal self-portrayal as a martyr to free speech and to the values of the progressive political left. Ross organized an effective PR campaign by taking his case to the newspapers and enlisting other prominent academics from around the country to speak out on his behalf. In doing so he painted himself as a defender of the white working class against railroad industrialists and robber barons.
Somewhere along the way, the retelling of this storied episode became separated from the immediate events that precipitated it. The earlier dispute over Bryan, the fight against railroad monopolies, and Ross's progressive criticisms of the Stanford family fortune rose in prominence as secondary or even co-equal causes for his forced resignation. Ross's remarks on Chinese immigration, while still acknowledged as a cause and condemned for taking a position that we now recognize today as racist, have lost their original specificity. His original remarks do not appear to have been reprinted in full since the San Francisco newspapers covered the story shortly after Ross's resignation.
This missing context is crucial, as they show that Ross went well beyond simply advancing a general economic argument against Chinese immigration, or expressing concern for worker conditions against the anti-labor antics of the railroad industry. Rather, his comments included an elaborate endorsement of racial eugenics and concluded on a bombastic appeal to Aryan nationalism.
While we should recognize that Ross's comments reflected a racial sentiment that was more common in his time than our own, Mrs. Stanford's objections to them were also directly rooted in an objection to their prejudices and a belief that Ross intended them to inflame racial animosity against persons of Asian descent. They were also the unambiguous and immediate instigator of Ross's dismissal. Other disputes such as the Bryan campaign and general labor agitation only reflect an ongoing history of tensions between Ross and Mrs. Stanford.
Ross noted that he was timing the announcement so as to "make a sensation on the Pacific slope" with the press. Other correspondence uncovered by Mohr suggests that Ross intentionally coordinated his public departure for November so as to generate publicity for the release of his forthcoming book, Social Control.
The severity of these remarks alone is cause to revisit Jane Stanford's stated concerns with Professor Ross's activities. While her objection was political in nature, the character of Ross's statements involved a grossly inflammatory racial appeal – even by the standards of the day. Her concern that this appeal could instigate racial violence was not unfounded.
That much acknowledged, cases such as the Ross episode are noteworthy precisely because they test the limits of academic freedom. While irresponsible, demagogic, and undeniably made in appeal to the basest racial prejudices of his day, the question of whether Ross's comments warranted the protections of free speech also directly led to the formalization of academic freedom by Dewey, Seligman, Lovejoy and others under the auspices of a new organization, the AAUP.
It is important to remember this early precedent, as the cause célèbre that birthed the AAUP involved an incident of extremely offensive speech in support of a cause that we may rightly condemn as not only racist but maliciously so. To put it bluntly, Ross advanced an argument for racial eugenics amidst a call to arms on behalf of Aryan nationalism at a populist labor rally in a city with a very recent history of racial violence. The founding members of the AAUP believed that argument was nonetheless a protected exercise of academic freedom, and subsequently built their organization upon its direct fallout. What that entails for the modern AAUP is necessarily a matter of retrospection, albeit one that should be engaged on account of the organization's own modern relationship to the ongoing academic freedom debate.
This entry was posted by Phillip W. Magness on Saturday, January 13th, 2018 at 2:01 pm	and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


When Labor Day weekend comes, teams will be opening the 2015 college football season. In the meantime, though, some interesting stories have been spilling off college campuses. Let's take a look at some of the most important stories that will be affecting college football betting around the nation.
The Big 12 only has ten teams right now – not enough to qualify for a championship game, and they are the only power conference not to have a title game. This is what probably kept Baylor or TCU from advancing to the College Football Playoff, as the conference ended up having a bizarre co-champions ceremony for TCU after the last game of the season – when there was still another conference game to play down in Waco. The conference's desire to get TCU (and maybe Baylor too) some positive press going into the College Football Playoff selection became embarrassing. This year, the conference is likely to ask the NCAA for a waiver and hold a championship game anyway. But if the conference could add just two teams, it could get back to a dozen and have a game either way. While one of the more commonly cited possibilities is BYU, the fact that this team has its own network (just like the University of Texas) means that it wouldn't be sharing as much revenue with the other teams in the conference – and expansion is just as much about money as it is about anything else. But what about SMU? It's true that adding the Mustangs to the Big 12 would be just as much about renewing the tradition of the old Southwest Conference as anything else, but Dallas is also a huge media market. Back when SMU was regularly a contender on the national stage, they packed Texas Stadium on Saturdays. Of course, that team did unravel under a host of recruiting violations before receiving the "death penalty," but what if they could finally return to more consistent play? June Jones coached the team to multiple bowl wins, but once his bid to move to Arizona State fell apart under mysterious circumstances, it looked like he lost the will to recruit, and SMU withered once again. The arrival of Chad Morris – the wizard behind the tremendous offense at Clemson – should mean sustained improvement at SMU. Morris has considerable ties with Texas high school coaches, so recruiting should be the best it's been in decades. The fact that SMU already has an elite basketball program, thanks to the coaching of Larry Brown, means that SMU would contribute heavily to conference press in hoops at first. So it's definitely something for the Big 12 to consider, especially if SMU can win five or six games in the American Athletic Conference this year.


The Turner group is interested in examining how viruses evolutionarily adapt to overcome new challenges, such as emergence on novel host species, transmission via new arthropod vectors, survival at elevated temperatures, or changes in host immunity. Their work also examines how viruses can be used in phage therapy as an alternative to traditional antibiotics, and in oncolytic therapy against cancers. They employ a wide variety of study systems, including bacteria-bacteriophage studies, and tissue culture experiments using molecular virology models such as vesicular stomatitis virus and Sindbis virus, and disease pathogens such as dengue virus.
Professor Turner works with colleagues at VECTOR (Novosibirsk, Siberian Russia) to study the natural history and evolution of pathogenic RNA viruses such as Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.
With colleagues at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Professor Turner is examining the importance of molecular changes to the virus genome in determining the adaptation of RNA viruses to different hosts.
Professor Turner collaborates with researchers at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM Mexico City), examining the importance of genetic exchange in the evolution of viruses.


Taking proper care of your vehicle involves a lot more than routine maintenance services. An often overlooked aspect of your vehicle maintenance procedures revolves around how you store your favorite car, boat, or RV. If you need a place to store your vehicle, Price Self Storage's vehicle storage can be just the solution you've been looking for. Price Self Storage's vehicle self storage facilities allow you to protect your cars, boats, or RVs by storing them somewhere you can count on. With spacious dedicated storage spaces, you can rest assured knowing that you'll find a conveniently placed Price Self Storage facility to protect your most valuable vehicles.


share results with other broadcasters.
coverage possible to our viewers."
done using professional and consumer receivers from Kenwood and LG.
technologies and demonstrate the great opportunity they offer to broadcasters,"
said Axcera President David Neff in a statement.