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Pension reform is political dynamite, but Macron's attempt should be commended
Blog, Economy, Pensions
Comments Off on Pension reform is political dynamite, but Macron's attempt should be commended
It would take a heart of stone not to be amused by Emmanuel Macron's current predicament.
The French President is trying to position himself as the leader of Europe. But at the same time, the streets of the major cities in France are, quite literally, ablaze. France's public services are crippled by the biggest strike in decades.
The reason is the massive unpopularity of Macron's proposed reforms to public sector pensions.
The retirement age in France is still only 62, compared to 66 in the UK. In general, the proposal is not to increase the age, but to pay slightly reduced benefits before the age of 64. However, the most contentious part is to modify or even scrap completely the scams under which many public sector workers get to retire much earlier on full pension.
France faces a serious pension funding problem. Spending on pensions costs no less than 14 per cent of the country's GDP. Only Greece and Italy are higher in the entire developed world.
That is probably why opinion polls put support for these reforms among the population as a whole at around 70 per cent, with even greater support among the young, even if many from the minority directly impacted have taken angrily to the streets.
Still, pension reform is known to be potential political dynamite — and not just in France. Raising the pension age for women has become an issue in the current General Election here.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign argues that when the retirement age was raised for UK women in a series of reforms, the 3.8m affected women, born in the 1950s, did not have enough time to adjust.
Despite that fact that this is not mentioned in Labour's manifesto, John McDonnell has pledged to compensate these women. The cost is a mere £58bn — around three per cent of GDP — almost all of which would need to be borrowed.
As it happens, considered purely in isolation, a reasonable case can be made for increasing the general level of the basic state pension in the UK. Pension costs here are below the OECD average as a percentage of GDP, at only half the level of France. But this would not be a free lunch. Other aspects of public spending would have to be correspondingly reduced.
The myth persists that people are investing in a funded scheme with their taxes. They pay the money in when they are working, the investments grow, and there is a pot earmarked for them at their retirement. In reality, the cost of paying an individual's pension falls entirely on those who are working during his or her retirement.
For anyone in work, the government's promise of a pension in the future is rather like a slightly dodgy IOU. The amount you will end up getting depends upon how fast the economy grows over the coming decades, how long people live, and ultimately on the generosity of those in employment when you retire.
Political debates on pensions are usually rather depressing for economists because of either the inability or the reluctance to understand this point.
Much as it sticks in the throat to say so, President Macron is to be admired for the stance he is taking.
As published in City AM Wednesday 11th December 2019
Image: President Macron protests by Jeanne Menjoulet via Wikimedia licensed for use CC BY-2.0
The economic impact of Brexit tariffs only tells us half the story
Blog, Brexit, Economy
Comments Off on The economic impact of Brexit tariffs only tells us half the story
Brexit is about much more than the economic costs and benefits, but the idea that the former dramatically outweigh the latter has become the received wisdom in much of the media.
Report after report emerges which purports to show that, under any of the various trade arrangements envisaged, the UK will be worse off as a result of Brexit.
These studies are not wrong. They all use perfectly standard economic theory to arrive at their conclusions. But they are misleading.
The real problem is that they miss out key bits of the story. We can think of the classic tale of the person dropping his car keys in the street at night. He only looks for them under the street lamp, where the light is.
In the same way, standard economic analysis of Brexit only illuminates part of the landscape.
The explanation of why trade occurs between countries was given 200 years ago by the great English economist David Ricardo. It is still the basis of the modern economist's understanding of trade.
Ricardo imagined, to illustrate his theory, a world with just two countries and two products. His examples were England and Portugal, and cloth and wine – but they could have been any countries and any products.
Ricardo asked a simple but profound question. If England could produce both cloth and wine more efficiently than Portugal, why would trade take place at all? How could the more efficient country, England, benefit from trade?
His answer introduced the fundamental concept of comparative advantage. England had an absolute advantage in producing both cloth and wine, but the country should choose to specialise in producing the one in which its advantage compared to Portugal was bigger. Both would benefit if England produced only cloth and Portugal only wine, and they traded.
Economics has moved on in the past two centuries, but the concept of comparative advantage, modified by factors such as the distance between countries, is still seen as a key determinant of trade patterns.
In terms of Brexit, introducing complexities like tariffs into the picture essentially affects the amount which is traded, and not the structure of trade in terms of who sells what to who.
If the basic pattern of trade is fixed by comparative advantage, then if Brexit means higher tariffs for the UK, as a country we will lose out. In a nutshell, this is what lies behind all the negative assessments of the impact of Brexit.
However, the key word in the last paragraph is "if". Like almost all economic theory, these models are static. They assume that the network of trade is fixed, and analyse the consequences of changing prices through tariffs.
The EU has become mired in regulation and the level of innovation is low. Outside the EU, the UK could alter the patterns of trade by innovating in, say, biotech or AI-related products and services. It is this dynamic response, and not the static one, which will determine whether or not Brexit is a success.
Economic models which claim to analyse the impact of Brexit are true – but only up to a point, Lord Copper, as the saying goes.
As published in City AM Wednesday 30th October 2019
Image: Dover by Oast House Archive via Geograph licensed for use CC BY-SA 2.0
Until Scotland's currency puzzle is solved, independence is economically delusional
Blog, Economy, Scotland
Comments Off on Until Scotland's currency puzzle is solved, independence is economically delusional
The possibility of Scottish independence is back on the political agenda once again. And one question – which currency would an independent Scotland use? – that was crucial in the 2014 referendum has still not been resolved.
The informal use of the pound is a very risky option.
To see why, the Scottish National Party (SNP) might look at the problems which Facebook is having in getting its proposed digital currency libra off the ground. Already, companies like PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and Ebay have withdrawn as potential sponsors.
While Facebook is a company and Scotland is a country, the issue is how the currencies are backed.
Facebook proposes to back the libra by its accumulated profits held in a portfolio of "low volatility assets". But as Barry Eichengreen of the University of California points out, "anyone who lived through the 2008 global financial crisis will know that low volatility is more a state of mind than an intrinsic attribute of an asset".
In the face of an unexpected adverse shock to the values of these assets, Eichengreen notes that these will be subject to the equivalent of a bank run. But there is no lender of last resort able to simply print money.
By simply using sterling, as many Latin American countries do with the US dollar, the Scots would have no means of printing money if their banks were attacked in a financial crisis. Taxes would have to rise massively to support the banks.
The Scots could instead apply to join the euro. An immediate problem with this would be the rule in the Stability and Growth pact that countries in the Eurozone should keep their budget deficits below three per cent of GDP.
The UK spends only 1.1 per cent of GDP more than it raises in taxes. Ironically, this would make us a shoo-in for euro membership, if Britain as a whole wanted to join.
In contrast, the latest figures produced for Government Expenditure and Revenue for Scotland show the nation running a public sector deficit of seven per cent of GDP.
This is obviously much higher than would be allowed in terms of membership of the euro. It is, in fact, the highest in the whole of Europe, the next highest being Cyprus at 4.8 per cent. So to join the euro, the Scots would have to make large cuts in public spending.
If instead they decided to set up their own currency, the markets would almost certainly force similar public spending reductions on them. After all, small countries running large public deficits tend not to be viewed kindly.
This problem has been magnified dramatically by the statement by Derek Mackay, the Scottish government finance secretary, that an SNP government in an independent Scotland would refuse to repay its share of outstanding UK debt.
A massive public sector deficit and defaulting on government debt is hardly a very sound basis on which to launch any new currency.
The desire for independence is often driven by emotion rather than rational calculation. But unless the currency question is addressed and solved, an independent Scotland would live to rue the day.
As published in City AM Wednesday 23rd October 2019
Image: Scottish Independence March by Christine McIntosh via Flickr licensed CC BY-ND 2.0
Forget 'reparations', scrapping subsidies is the way to help get Wales back on its feet
Behavioural Economics, Blog, Economy, Wales
Comments Off on Forget 'reparations', scrapping subsidies is the way to help get Wales back on its feet
Get ready to put your hands deep into your pockets for the boyos and girlos of the Welsh Valleys. Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, called last week for the UK to pay "reparations" to Wales for the crime of reducing the country to poverty. For centuries, Wales has (apparently) been stripped of its natural resources and "deprived of its inheritance".
Price's demands are almost beyond parody. But they could become a frightening reality if a coalition government led by Jeremy Corbyn and various nationalist and green parties wins the next election.
The then-Labour leader of the Welsh Assembly, Carwyn Jones, set the new tone of Welsh whingeing the day after the Brexit vote in 2016. "Wales," he declared, "must not lose a penny of subsidy". Wales, of course, had voted Leave.
There, in a sentence, was the economic policy of the Welsh government: hold out the begging bowl.
Wales is the poorest of the economic regions of the UK. Household income per head in 2017 – the latest date for which figures are available – was only £15,754, compared to the UK average of £19,514. The gap with the wealthiest regions is massive – the south east has an income per head 43 per cent higher, and London is no less than 77 per cent ahead.
It has not always been like this. In the early decades of the Industrial Revolution, the valley towns were probably the richest in the world.
Merthyr Tydfil, now a byword for poverty even by the standards of Wales, led the way. It was the first genuinely industrialised town in the history of humanity. In 1831, 96 per cent of its labour force worked in manufacturing and mining.
Many forces are at work in the story of Wales' decline, but in modern times, it has often not exactly helped itself. The key to a successful economy is a skilled labour force, but in 2001, the Welsh government scrapped the publication of league tables for the performance of schools. This both deprived parents of information, and reduced the incentive for poor schools to improve.
The outcome was predictable. A Bristol University study estimated that it led to a fall of 1.92 GCSE grades per pupil. In 2015, the Welsh Assembly reversed the decision, but a lot of damage had been done to the human capital of Wales. For over a decade, students were less well educated than they could have been.
This lack of a skilled talent base inevitably holds back enterprise. This, along with other counter-productive decisions, may be why Wales is increasingly dependent on public sector jobs. Overall, Wales raises £14bn a year less in taxes than it spends on public services.
Might Wales be able to turn its fortunes around if it were forced to consider its economic decisions more carefully? After all, the policy of subsidising underperforming regions has been tried for decades. It has made no difference.
So instead of paying reparations, perhaps we should consider withdrawing subsides, as New Zealand did with great effect. By removing the handouts which are distorting Welsh decision-making and causing a vicious cycle of subsidy demands, we can give Wales the chance to restore the enterprise which used to flourish in the nation.
As published in City AM Wednesday 9th October 2019
Image: Welsh Assembly by Anne Siegel via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0
Relax, the UK (probably) isn't heading for recession
Blog, Economy
Comments Off on Relax, the UK (probably) isn't heading for recession
Immediate fears of a recession in the UK economy were eased last week with the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate of monthly GDP.
The economy had shrunk in April, but growth resumed in May.
This has not prevented widespread conjecture that a recession is imminent. The Resolution Foundation claimed last weekend that the risk of a recession is at its highest since 2007, the year immediately before the financial crisis.
The most serious recessions are caused by the debts of the private sector – households and firms – growing too big. Repayments become challenging, and fears grow among lenders that the debt will not be repaid.
At the end of 2007, for example, household debt in the UK was 93 per cent of GDP. Two decades previously, in 1987, the ratio of debt to GDP was only 49 per cent. This crept up to 57 per cent at the end of 1997. But the opening years of the twenty-first century saw a surge in debt levels.
The same is true of corporate debt. This was 95 per cent of GDP at the end of 2007, having been only 39 per cent 20 years previously.
Debt remained high at the end of 2018, the latest date for which the Bank for International Settlements data is available. Household debt was 87 per cent of GDP and corporate debt 84 per cent.
But the ratios are lower than they were at the start of the financial crisis of the late 2000s. The trend over the past five years is broadly flat. There is no sign of the rapid accumulation of debt which characterised the 2000s.
With my UCL colleague Rickard Nyman, I have been using artificial intelligence techniques to measure daily levels of sentiment on social media in the Greater London area since June 2016, and the general level of sentiment among individuals shows no sign of collapse either.
Official forecasts insisted that a sharp recession would take place in the UK in the second half of 2016 if the electorate voted to leave the EU. But the social media based sentiment measure showed no signs at all of collapse at the time.
We could see in real time that it became more positive after the referendum, even in the Remain stronghold of London. And, of course, there was no recession.
Over the past three months, sentiment shows no change on its level in the same period in 2018. Admittedly, the latter was definitely lower than in 2017, a slowdown which ONS data, appearing several months later, confirmed.
None of this means that the economy is roaring away. Growth has been modest, and while debt levels are being controlled, their height from a historical perspective means that they act as a constraint on spending plans.
Ironically, perhaps the biggest threat of a recession comes the EU, and specifically from Germany, the Remainers' paradise. It is much more dependent on manufacturing than the UK, and these exports have been hit by US-China trade tensions. The warnings from economists in Germany are not about a mere recession, but of a potentially severe one.
As published in City AM Wednesday 17th July 2019
Image: Shopping Max Pixel licensed under CC0 1.0
From taxes to cats, May's government has been an affront to Tory ideology
Blog, Economy, Politics
Comments Off on From taxes to cats, May's government has been an affront to Tory ideology
Theresa May has finally announced her resignation. How can we capture the flavour of her tenure in office?
This can be found in the dry and measured content of the Economic and Fiscal Outlook from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The OBR stated in its latest publication in March 2019 that: "the tax receipts-to-GDP ratio ends the forecast in 2023-24 slightly higher than its 2018-19 level".
Of course, this is a forecast, and all the usual caveats need to be attached. But, remarkably, it was the intention of a Conservative government for taxation to be higher in five years' time than it is now.
Already, taxes are high. Taxes as a percentage of GDP in 2018/19 were higher than at any time since 1979, the first year with Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister.
Gordon Brown effectively ran economic policy from 1997 until 2010. Even at the time, he was satirically referred to as the Great Helmsman, a name bestowed upon leaders of centrally-planned economies such as Joseph Stalin.
Brown could not resist detailed meddling of the most microscopic variety, exactly as if he were in charge of a Five Year Plan in the old Soviet Union. But during his long reign, taxes as a percentage of GDP remained lower than they are now.
And it's not just taxes but regulation too where the government under May is behaving in a decidedly un-Conservative manner.
Despite what the Tories like to say, the culture of interference seems to have got even worse under May.
A rather minor issue symbolises the mentality of the May regime. This is the Cats' Bill, a private member's bill sponsored by Rehman Chishti, Tory MP for Gillingham and Rainham. Michael Gove has described the bill as an "inspiration".
There is undoubtedly a problem with cats being hit by motor vehicles. Campaigners estimate that 250,000 are either killed or injured every year in this way. These incidents create a great deal of stress and unhappiness for the owners. It would obviously be good if the number could be reduced.
The bill would force owners to microchip their cats so that they could be identified. This seems reasonable. But Chishti proposes that a motorist hitting a cat should be required not just to stop, but to report the incident to a vet, on pain of a fine of up to £20,000.
The bill is brought in with the very best of intentions. But it will simply create another regulated industry.
Vets will demand that the motorist pay a fee for their effort in making a record of the accident – even better, that they get a special subsidy from the taxpayer.
Civil servants will be recruited to check that the vets' forms are correctly filled in. There will be demands for new regulations on vets to ensure that they are trained to comply with the new law, and a way to enforce these rules for drivers.
None of this seems to have occurred to Chishti. For him, a problem exists, and the way you solve it is by state intervention.
Another way, of course, is for owners to take more personal responsibility for their cats, but that doesn't seem to occur to politicians.
From cats to taxes, May essentially created a social democratic government, not a Conservative one.
As published in City AM Wednesday 29th May 2019
Image: British Cat by Colicaranica via Wikimedia is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
▼Economy (29)
Act now, think later: Card surcharge ban is typical of myopic soundbite politics
Britain is more optimistic about Brexit than gloomy forecasts suggest
Britain's stagnant regions are stuck in a monetary union trap
Brussels elites who fiddled while Rome burned may soon get their comeuppance
Carillion shouldn't be brought under state control, but maybe central banks should be
Catalonia tries to avoid repeating history, but Spain has economic reality on its side
Cautious corporates sitting on hoards of cash are to blame for our slow recovery
Doublethinking or dim? Why the Labour party can't be trusted with the economy
Full employment in Britain has lowered productivity instead of increasing wages
Investors should intervene to stop high executive pay, before the regulator does
It's time to question the macroeconomic orthodoxy on interest rates and inflation
John McDonnell's ideology won't lead Britain to a bright new future, but to the dismal 1970s
Let's join the IFS in acknowledging our misplaced fetishisation of economic data
Mark Carney has bigger things to worry about than meaningless Brexit forecasts
No matter how we measure inflation, politics will forever trump economics
Our automated future is brighter than Karl Marx or Mark Carney would ever suggest
The chancellor should heed Keynes – and keep public spending down
The evidence is in from across the Atlantic, and tax cuts benefit everyone
The OBR's forecasts should be taken not just with a pinch of salt, but with the contents of an entire mine
The UK's capacity to innovate matters far more than panic over consumer spending
Trump's tariffs are unlikely to plunge the global economy into a Great Depression
Unemployment down, GDP up – there's no logic for a public spending boost now


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The Rudolf Hearing
by Alan Ditmore
Asheville Federal Courthouse on Otis St., Asheville, North Carolina
Neighborhood: Across the River
Our Asheville, North Carolina, correspondent went down to witness the hearing of Eric Rudolph, suspected of bombing abortion clinics and the Atlanta Olympics, who was finally caught after being on the FBI's most wanted list for five years. This is what he saw.
The courhouse building was light granite, grey. The scene was dominated by media and security. About 40 large satellite trucks formed walls on both sides of the street. The sidewalks were a tangle of cables and video equipment, making them impassable. The courthouse was surrounded by about 50 guards with M-16 and Mac-10 machine guns, plus about 20 police with ordinary pistols.
I was the only visibly pro-choice person there. I had two signs. One said "Long live Roe vs Wade." The other said "Only birth control can save the world."
Three anti-choice picketers showed up for a while. The anti- choice signs said, "save the pre-born children" and "this is 'choice'"
The crowd of spectators reached about 50 at its peak around 11am, but they never outnumbered the reporters or guards. It was fairly calm throughout.
Near the tail end a young woman held one of my signs for a time. I informed her that if she held a sign the press would count 2 pro-choice people instead of one. She agreed and held a sign for a few minutes.
I was interviewed about 10 times and commented that if half this security had been devoted to the clinics, the entire scenario would have been prevented.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Bundesliga: RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann to practise coaching in face mask
RB Leipzig's Julian Nagelsmann, whose side will be chasing a first Bundesliga title when the German league resumes next weekend, is to practise coaching while wearing a face mask in order to be ready for a return to action.
Reuters May 09, 2020 11:08:40 IST
File image of Julian Nagelsmann. Image Courtesy: Twitter @RBLeipzig_EN
The 32-year-old, known in his early coaching days as the 'Baby Mourinho', has a well-earned reputation for attention to detail and will use practice games this weekend to get used to the peculiarities of coaching amid the coronavirus health crisis.
Among the rules for the Bundesliga's return — the first major league to resume their programme after suspending play in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic — are detailed instructions for coaches, including wearing a protective mask over their face as they work from the dugouts.
Nagelsmann told a virtual news conference on Friday that he expected it would prove difficult to shout instructions to his players, even though they will be playing in empty stadiums where his voice will easily carry.
The new rules allow coaches to remove their mask to shout instructions, but only if a minimum distance of 1.5 metres away from others.
"I'll have to pull the mask off my face to scream and then put it back on again when I stop. That's not going to be easy to co-ordinate," he said.
Ever the perfectionist, he will trial wearing a mask when his team practise over the next few days ahead of their match at home to Freiburg next Saturday, their first competitive game back.
"I'm going to have to train a little," he said.
"I reckon it will have to be a face mask with extra strength elastic bands. Maybe I can get one with a large expansion joint," he joked with reporters.
RB Leipzig, who eliminated Tottenham Hotspur in March to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, sit third in the Bundesliga, five points behind leaders Bayern Munich with nine games to play.
Updated Date: May 09, 2020 11:08:40 IST
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Discussion on malt whisky seems to appear most frequently on rec.food.drink.
This list contains a mixture of links to personal and commercial Web pages so it seems a good moment to reiterate that this site in no way endorses any particular commercial product.
Please note that Ulf Buxrud's list of links is much better than mine..
Keith Edwards, Georgia Tech JK's WoWoWhiskyweb: "More links & information"
The relevant section of the Yahoo index leading to pages on Red Rose Lancashire whisky, Sam's warehouse and others.
This page would not be complete without a big "thank-you" to David Woolf, Søren Pingel Dalsgaard, Iain Russell and others whose assiduous searching has found URLs in odd nooks and crannies of the net that I would never have spotted..


Mark Mobius, an investment guru and ex- executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group at Franklin Templeton Investments has expressed very positive views on the Indian market. He hailed the Indian reforms and growth and has proposed 20% allocation in India in his new venture. His conclusions are based on the strong macro foundation laid down years ago which has yielded 7.5% GDP, maintained fiscal deficit under control, inflation around 4 to 6% and ensured a reasonable currency performance.
Experts believe India has good long term prospects but in the short term may see some volatility due to the upcoming elections, interest rate rise leading to increase in inflation.
Traditional sectors like agriculture and software will continue to play a vital role. However, to become leaders it is essential to concentrate on the research and innovation in emerging technologies like AI. With a large customer base wanting to go digital, there is good opportunity to lead the global digital revolution by tapping this sector.
Consumer tech is an upcoming space where HNIs should bet on as there is software everywhere from cars to food delivery.
Banks should look at sound business path and asset light model without involving too much capital. They should have a core investment portfolio for secured returns and satellite portfolio to invest in upcoming areas to boost their income.
PEs have done very well in both entry and exits. In 2017, they grew 60% year on year over 2016. PE's in India have invested about $26 billion. In exits also they have had the best ever year with handsome returns of $16 billion as compared to $10 billion the previous year. They are set to attain highs in the coming years.
As opposed to previous years, markets are seeing a lot of volatility due to liquidity tightening. Therefore, right asset allocation matching to the risk appetite is becoming important.
With the next generation stepping into much family run organization, there is need for unbiased advices from private banking professionals to allocate their resources appropriately.
Banks have their own philanthropic goals like Standard Chartered Bank has "Seeing is Believing" which is to tackle avoidable blindness. The HNIs support the banks to fulfill these causes or goals.
Private banking can reap best returns if they continue to be an independent advisor, client centric and give genuine advices with the interest of clients in the forefront. They have a potential to not only make the rich Indians richer but also the many millionaire NRIs wanting to invest in India with varied investment opportunities.


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Virginia: In a nutshell, I'm a 30-something woman who thinks that women* should endeavor to treat themselves a little better; by choosing the comfortable outfit, leaving work on time to grab happy hour with friends, or staying in to read a book on Friday night if that's what makes you feel good. But, of course, not at the cost of doing harm to our sisters around the globe.
I'm passionate about comfort, especially in women's clothing! For a long time, 'comfort' felt like a dirty word in fashion. We all know that, 'Oh, you look comfortable.' can be a not-so-subtly shady remark. I work hard, I try to be a good person who's well-rounded and has hobbies, friends and interests. Why would I want to do all of that in clothes that pinch, squeeze, or feel bad against my skin? That's not right! The best I feel all day shouldn't be when I'm taking my bra and jeans off when I get home. I want to feel good in the clothes I'm wearing. And I've never felt better than I do in a kaftan!
Jarryd and I have a lot of the same interests that basically boil down to joie de vivre -- travel, good food, good drinks, good friends. We keep forgetting to tell people this, but we're also in a relationship! We just got engaged in November in Amsterdam and Brussels (he proposed to me in Amsterdam, I proposed back in Brussels). Something else we have in common is that we're true Millennials in the sense that if we don't like the way something works we endeavor to change it. That attitude helps us to work well together.
Jarryd: We're also driven by the desire to address what we consider to be some of the 'big issues' in the way consumer brands operate. We all need and buy clothes, yet most of the biggest brands in this industry are notorious for under-compensating workers, shirking safety standards, wasting resources, and polluting the environment.
We want to add our voice to the many consumers and smaller brands who are pushing for a paradigm shift away from the fashion industry's current business model. We want to offer consumers purchase options that they can feel good about, while offering products that are unique, fun, and have a positive message.
In 2018, we left our jobs in Denver and moved to Franklin County, Virginia to begin our journey. It just wasn't feasible for us to stay in a high-cost city like Denver and make sound long-term decisions for our startup. We've been working full-time on this venture for 11 months now, spending most of that time getting the product perfect, and we're excited to finally be sharing it with our first customers! We opened for pre-sales on February 1, began fulfilling orders March 14, and are now building out our boutique and event sales channels.
Virginia: The kaftan is a garment that has traveled around the globe over centuries, across cultures and is even gender-fluid. So I try to be cautious about defining what it means to be living the "kaftan life" for everyone. For me, the term came about organically with my group of girlfriends and it became shorthand for treating yourself well and unapologetically 'doing you' typically in the company of other supportive, badass women. So our version of living the kaftan life means that we promote women having a healthy relationship with themselves.
Jarryd: Our first line of products consists of 4 meticulously designed, 100% cotton voile women's kaftans in short and long styles that are perfect for travel, the beach or pool, happy hour, and the weekend. As we grow, we look forward to adding a wider variety of ethically made and sustainable apparel that help everyone look and feel their best.
Virginia: In the early 2010s, we were living in New York City. We have one mutual friend who frequently traveled to India to visit her family, who always brought back these really nice women's kaftans as travel souvenirs for her girl friends. This whole group of women fell in love with these kaftans, and would wear them during weekend get-togethers. "Kaftan life!" (and #kaftanlife) became kind of a mantra for the group.
When I moved to Denver and lost my kaftan connection, I tried to find high quality cotton kaftans like these in the U.S. I couldn't! I found lots of cheap rayon options that were super sheer, a cotton kaftan or two that weren't thoughtfully constructed so they didn't hold up for long (such a waste!), and a few options that were made of good materials but those materials either didn't match my lifestyle (silk is lovely but I get sunscreen on my kaftans!) or the kaftans were just outrageously expensive.
Jarryd: For years, we sat on this idea, mainly because of our high student debt obligations. During this time, U.S. appreciation for kaftans (as well as our own appreciation for them) continued to grow. We finally decided to take the plunge in early 2018. By then, our idea had expanded to include other apparel that's comfortable, body-positive, ethically made, and internationally inspired. We ultimately decided to focus 100% on kaftans for our launch and to do that product justice before branching out into other offerings in the future.
Jarryd: Kaftan Life is a unique company in that we started out with love for a single product and the desire to share that product with others. When you're motivated by the desire to share something, you don't cut corners or compromise on your values to develop your products; you want your products to bring the same joy that inspired you to make them in the first place.
When we say our kaftans are made with care to help our customers feel great inside and out, we mean it. Flexible sizing, an adjustable drawstring, supremely soft and practical cotton voile, fun and luxurious prints, and ethical manufacturing all play a part in that.
Virginia: My favorite product is the Debut Dabu Long Kaftan. We travel a lot and I've found that it's the most versatile. It's very comfortable in most climates: the light material keeps me from getting too hot, but the length provides enough warmth if it starts to get chilly. I love to wear it as loungewear around our Airbnb, I'll throw it on to head down to the (complimentary!) hotel breakfast or pool, or add some jewelry and wear it out. It's the first thing that I pack for a trip.
Virginia: Kaftan Life was a no-go if we couldn't work with (or afford to work with) an ethical manufacturer. We didn't want to put our hearts and souls into something that did harm to others, directly or indirectly. After much research, we chose a WRAP Platinum Certified manufacturer in Jaipur. Our relationship isn't just transactional, our manufacturing partner collaborates with us and works with us to make sure that we are informed. We visited the factory ourselves to conduct a full production audit. We toured the facilities and spent two full days working on the factory floor, auditing our launch line. The whole team was involved, from the sales rep we first contacted, to the design and auditing teams and the company executives.
Even though we're brand new, we wanted to share our financial success (whatever that may be) with a cause that's important to us. We give 1% of net revenue to Commit2Change, a nonprofit that empowers abandoned and impoverished girls in India by helping them to develop life skills, pursue higher education, and forge a path to financial independence.
Jarryd: Ethical production was top of mind when we got started. 'Sustainable' fashion was a new concept to us and something that we started coming across a few months into this business. Transport is a big chunk of the carbon footprint of an apparel company, especially when international shipping is involved. Our products are shipped by sea, which we've been advised is the most eco-friendly way to import in bulk. Our manufacturing partner utilizes water reclamation and treatment processes, and we're working on plans to introduce sustainable fabrics and inks in future lines.
Creating Kaftan Life and developing apparel for the first time has come with a huge learning curve, so as we continue to learn about how we can reduce our environmental impact, having that close relationship with our manufacturer helps us to work together to make adjustments and be a better brand.
We consider ourselves an ethical brand. The sustainability portion of our brand is still a work in progress, which we expand upon in the final question. It's something that we're actively working on, consulting with experts on, and incorporating into our everyday choices for our business. We just know that there's more we want to tackle before we call ourselves a sustainable brand; and we want to be honest with ourselves and our customers about where we are in the process.
* When we say 'women' we are referring to female identifying individuals, but we welcome every kaftan lover across the spectrum.


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Artillery: Lightweight 155mm Howitzers in Afghanistan
May 15, 2006: Last year, Canada bought six M777 155mm towed artillery pieces in a hurry, when it discovered that the older 105mm guns would not be adequate to support Canadian troops being sent to join the NATO force in Afghanistan. The older 105mm howitzers lacked the accuracy and firepower needed. The 105mm shells weighed 33 pounds, versus the 90 pound 155mm ones. The M777s were needed in a hurry, so Canada got them from the U.S. Marine Corps, which is a major user of the weapon (since 2000). Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan earlier this year, and the four M777s they took with them performed as expected. Canada is also getting the new GPS guided 155mm Excalibur shell later this year. Excalibur makes 155mm shells as accurate as smart bombs, and is considered necessary when artillery is used in proximity to civilians. Excalibur also reduces the number of shells used. The Excalibur also doubles the M777 range, to 40 kilometers, without losing any accuracy.
The M777 is a British design and, at four tons, is the lightest 155mm towed howitzer ever fielded. A lightweight 105mm howitzer weighs about two tons. M777 Fire control is handled by computerized system that allows faster response time and more accurate shooting. The Canadians have not had to use their new guns (four were sent to Afghanistan) much, but have found them accurate and reliable. In addition to hitting enemy troops, the Canadians have also found the M777 an effective negotiating tool. When discussing relationships with local tribal leaders, Canadian commanders have sometimes had an M777 put a shell in a nearby field or hill side, on command, to demonstrate what the Canadians have at their disposal. Afghans understand that sort of thing.
U.S. Marines and British troops have also used the M777 in Afghanistan.
Artillery: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999


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Developing innovative visual systems. Making best possible use of sensors and interconnecting them. Processing and evaluating the resulting data flows. Using this data to efficiently support humans in making sound decisions, improving processes and controlling autonomous systems in an intelligent way. This complete process and value chain is our domain. It combines the three core competences that are reflected in our name – optronics, system technologies and image exploitation.
Optronics is concerned with the generation of light, its beam shaping, propagation and transformation into electronic signals - i.e. in particular with technical processes to generate images (in the broadest sense) of the world around us.
Image exploitation investigates methods and algorithms to obtain information and ultimately relevant insights from the images.
System technologies ensure a holistic approach: We not only develop components and algorithms, but also complex hardware and software architectures. The resulting information technology systems support people on the basis of sensor data, automate certain tasks and/or open up new paths in human-machine interaction. We set the highest standards in terms of interoperability, IT security and data protection/privacy.
sites of Fraunhofer IOSB. The main sites are located in Karlsruhe and Ettlingen, further branches are in Ilmenau, Lemgo and Görlitz. A contact office is in China in Beijing.
million euro was the amount of our investment and operating budget in 2018.
men and women form part of our regular staff. In addition to our permanent staff we also engaged 170 student assistants and interns.
this is when the history of our institute began, at that time still in Tübingen. Under its current name "Fraunhofer IOSB", however, the institute has only existed since a merger in 2010.
Just like Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as a whole, we stand for application-oriented research for the benefit of our society and a stronger economy. We are active in research and development and put the findings into practice, turning state-of-the-art scientific insights into technological innovations. We shape the future.
In this process, scientific and technological excellence form part of our DNA, and so do customer orientation and reliability. Issues such as open standards, interoperability, IT security and data protection/privacy are our passion.
Structure and networking
Fraunhofer IOSB's five business units bundle the institute's portfolio with regard to specific application areas and markets. The central competence carriers and organizational units are the 15 scientific departments. Six of them are based in Karlsruhe, five in Ettlingen. Two departments each are located at the Fraunhofer IOSB-AST in Ilmenau and the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA in Lemgo.
At all sites, our institute is closely networked with the local universities and colleges: Staff at Fraunhofer IOSB hold professorships and teaching positions, and professors are engaged as external advisors of the institute.
Within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Fraunhofer IOSB is a member of the Fraunhofer ICT Group and the Fraunhofer Group for Defense and Security VVS. In addition, the institute and some of its departments are members of the following Fraunhofer Alliances: AutoMOBILE Production Alliance, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Food Chain Management, Space, Water Systems (SysWasser), Transport and Vision (Image Processing). In addition, we work in concrete projects with those partner institutes that complement our competencies with regard to the task in hand.
The Advisory Board advises Fraunhofer IOSB in questions relating to professional orientation and structural change within the institute. The board comprises representatives from science, business, politics and administration.
Get to know the Fraunhofer IOSB management here, including its Director and the Site Managers of the institute branches.
Find here the directions to the various Fraunhofer IOSB locations in Karlsruhe, Ettlingen, Ilmenau and Lemgo.
IES chair
Institute for Anthropomatics at the Department of Informatics of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Dipl.-Phys. Ulrich Pontes
Head of Press and Communications
Dr. Sabine Sickinger


How did Mad Paws Build a brand around digital marketing?
Building a brand with digital marketing is the future of everything now, everything is digital. Your brand doesn't just exist in one static place, whether it be university on campus, it is not only on campus anymore. You need to have the DNA of your brand in all the different touch points where your consumers may be. Whether that be for your consumers or potential students, going digital will help you always learn as much as possible in regards to their journey that somebody takes within that funnel.
What are some tips that you suggest for an optimised digital marketing strategy?
At Mad Paws we track everything, but we track everything down to the finest detail. Whether it be a user or a market that we are testing, we are a marketplace, so we try to understand and create compatibility between the supply and the demand. So if we know that people have got experience with pets and pet owners in a specific demographic, we try to do our best to apply learnings from previous bookings with similar characteristics with those users to find a pet owner or a pet sitter a perfect match so they have the best experience tailored to them.
At Mads Paws we have a lot of raw data and a lot of different technical tracking tools. One of them is inSegment to segment our data into different sections and we have also recently been using Redshift and pushing our data into Tableau for a more detailed customer journey. We also use a software called Mixpanel which really visualises our data in an actionable way which is extremely important.
How did Mad Paws scale so quickly, share your secrets?
Well it's all about finding a product market fit, we found product market fit a little while ago and we have implemented best practices and we are always trying to build on those best practices whether that be changes in our products, changes in our day to day business operations or changes in our marketing acquisition strategy.
I do know one thing, anything that happens in a startup that happens in one week would generally take anywhere from 6 months to a year in a university. So what can be transformed could definitely be the methodology around testing and giving things a go. You don't need to switch your entire strategy and digital paradigm to try to move the needle. I think its understanding what the KPI's are of what you are trying to move and knowing what you can possibly do to optimise those KPI performance.
If you have an optimised funnel and optimised methodology around your digital marketing strategy, then you should be in a position where you are scaling at all times, and with scaling comes positive ROI. So budget cuts shouldn't actually be a downfall, it should be an opportunity for universities to spend money on digital to get a better return on investment. If there are budget cuts then the traditional way of doing business has not necessarily scaled in the way that it always has. So they can use more digital marketing strategies to increase their ROI.
Learn transferable skills and insights on establishing one of Australia's most exciting online startups by enhancing user experience from Karim Mouhabi, Head of Marketing at Mad Paws at the 4th annual Digital Marketing for Higher Education Conference, 19th & 20th March 2019, Sydney.


| Tips For Trips - Mosel-Campingplatz "Ferieninsel Winningen"
Not only is Koblenz one of the oldest cities in Germany, it is also one of the most diverse: Churches, castles, palaces and historic townhouses tell of times gone by, winding streets and squares invite you to take a stroll and stay a while.
Germany's first tri-cable car promises a breathtaking trip over the Rhine and up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, the second largest intact fortress in Europe, and also offers an incomparable view of the UNESCO "Upper Middle Rhine Valley" world heritage site.
Discover all the facets of the city on the Rhine and Moselle!
It's raining cats and dogs on the Holiday-Island? Then is the public indoor water park "Tauris" in Muelheim-Kaerlich a really good day trip adress. Funny watergames, an outdoorpool, sauna and more you'll find here!
Opposite the mouth of the Lahn-River you can see the castle Stolzenfels in the high of the Rine. Unbelievable beautiful is this masterpiece of prussian romantic.
The Ehrenburg is known as "the living castle", because on Sunday and public holidays you live to see adventure castle-lifes, old craftmanships and games of the middleage also music from this century. It's an especially adventure for young and old.
The architecture is the castle's main attraction: its eight towers, soaring up to 35 metres high, its oriels, roofs, timber frame structures and turrets make it the "knights castle par excellence" (Georg Dehio), a picture book castle. The castle is located in a unique setting: Hidden in a side valley of the Moselle, erected on a 70 m high rock, surrounded on three sides by the Eltzbach and set in the midst of a natural paradise, it is the only castle to evoke a true medieval vision.
Visiting the Geyser Centre you are going on an expedition which offers you the opportunity to inform yourself about the natural phenomenon of the higherst cold water geyser worldwide. After them you will go on a boat trip to the Namedyer Werth. Soon you will be able to view the Geyser Andernach.
Visit the biggerst Zoo in Rhineland-Pfalz!
You'll see Monkeys, Lions, Crokodiles, Sea dogs, Penguins, Camels and many many more. Children have fun in the petting zoo.
Lava-Dome in Mendig – an extraordinary world of experiences.
The Lava Dome´s exhibition area has a size of 700m². Immediately entering the visitor sees an impressing variety of colours which refer to the world of the volcanoes. "The world of the volcanoes", "The volcano-studio" and "The time of the volcanoes" are the three main areas into which the Lava Dome is split up.
Attractons, Emotions, Nature and Thrills for the whole Family. Enjoy an exiting day in free nature with fun and wellness on more than 300.000 m² for young and old. You will find a lot of wildlife animals and action attractions.
Ihr Restaurant auf der Ferieninsel.
In unserem Angebot finden Sie eine reichhaltige Auswahl an hochwertigen Speisen.
Achten Sie auch auf unsere Spezialangebote an den "Inseltagen"!
Dann ist das Hotel Nora Emmerich eine freundliche Alternative und unsere Empfehlung.
Obwohl die Untermosel zu den sonnigsten Gegenden Deutschlands zählt, können wir leider für nichts garantieren.


When designing an SEO strategy, it is common to either consider all search engines the same or only focus on one. It is easy to disregard Bing and other Google competitors since Google is the most-used search engine in the US with 64.0% market share, but Bing and Yahoo still compose 28% of the search market. At the same time, you can't treat all search engines the same because there are significant differences between Google and Bing. By comparing Bing vs Google, you can build a developed SEO strategy that will optimize for both.
It should be noted that Bing and Yahoo have an alliance in which Bing powers the majority of Yahoo Search. In July 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo announced that Bing would power Yahoo Search. This means that their search engines behave the same way and all of the guidelines for one apply to the other. Google, Bing and Yahoo comprise 97.6% of the search market based on average monthly searches.
By learning the differences between Bing vs Google, you can create a fully optimized SEO strategy.
Google has recently announced that they are beginning to rank mobile websites before the desktop version. This is a unique stance ahead of other search engines where mobile use is becoming the priority.
Bing tends to favor old, reputable pages whereas Google prefers fresh, regularly engaged content.
Google is more prone to ranking an internal page such as blogs and services, whereas Bing is more likely to rank the home page.
Since Google Analytics and Google Search are two elements of the same company, many actions are automated. One clear example is campaign tagging. The 'term' section of a campaign URL is automatically tracked on Google paid search campaigns, but the section is left empty unless manually entered when tracking Bing and Yahoo! campaigns.
Bing and Yahoo do not discern between hidden and non-hidden text. Google may devalue this, and using hidden content could damage rankings and visiblity.
Bing will pay more attention to exact-match keywords, where the specfic words are showing up in the meta data and the text on the page. Google, on the other hand, pays attention to concepts and focal points over specific phrasing.
Social signals for a brand are valuable for all search engines, but Bing has publicly stated that social signals are a strong ranking factor whereas Google claims to value them less.
Bing can read flash websites well, and could potentially favor a site that has very engaging flash content.
Across all search engines, bigger brands will rank higher automatically. This is a combination of domain authority, high-quality backlinks and the daily visitors to a site. The general assumption is that the more popular site will be the more attractive option for users.
All search engines value backlinks. If trusted sites are linking to your site, then your credibility is raised. The emphasis on this point is high-quality. Search engines value the backlink directly based on the value of the site that is backlinking.
Local results are highly valued on Google and Bing, so a targeted local SEO strategy will be valuable on all search engines.
Bing and Google both have a form of webmaster tools, where important search information can be accessed. The debate between tools is just as large as this debate, luckily we have a blog on Bing Webmaster Tools vs. Google Search Console.
With the similarities and differences in mind for Bing vs Google, there are some optimization techniques that will yield the highest benefit and minimal deduction across all search engines.
Title tags that feature keywords will rank very well on Bing, but make sure to use keywords wisely so Google does not suspect keyword stuffing.
Bing will most likely rank the home page, so there should be optimized content valuable to the user opposed to a simple hub. Internal pages such as services should be optimized as well because Google is most likely to rank those.
Bing may claim to prefer social media more than Google claims to, but all search engines consider social signals when ranking pages.
All search engines value local services in search, so a strong local SEO strategy should be implemented.
Google and Bing both value mobile sites highly, so a site optimized for mobile use is very important to an SEO strategy.
Google does not read Flash websites well, so you should convert from Flash to HTML as soon as possible. Though Bing may still be able to read it, losing ranking on Google is not worth small growth on Bing.
With a better understanding of Bing vs Google, you can optimize your website so it performs better on every search engine. How do you think Bing and Google compare? Let me know if there is anything I missed below.
Why is Bing is not user-friendly than google? Why Bing follows a different strategy to provide results.


Wallis Lynch is working with our Coventry based client in their quest to appoint a Accounts Payable Manager to join their UK Finance function. Our client is currently going through an exciting period of change and are keen to appoint an experienced AP professional who can play a pivotal role in supporting the Finance Director in delivering a 1st class Accounts Payable function and driving significant improvements to processes and controls.
This is a great opportunity for an experienced Accounts Payable leader but will require more than just ability to succeed. It really is the perfect platform for you if you have drive and desire to deliver the best possible Accounts Payable function to the business. Ability alone will not get you there, you will need to demonstrate great pride and passion for the discipline and be the type of character who thrives and embraces challenge. Previous experience of ERP systems such as Oracle or SAP would be highly advantageous. Your experience of driving improvements and operating within tight controls will be put to great use and of course it goes without saying communication with a broad range of stakeholders (internal and external) will be key.
This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a fast paced, fast moving and fast growing organisation. Having gone through significant changes in their recent history this is now an opportunity to be part of the team who shape the future of the finance function going forward. The Finance Director is keen for you to take the bull by the horns and make this position your own.
In addition to the competitive salary they offer company pension, Bonus, Free parking and an earlier finish on Fridays...what's not to like !
Our client is ready to interview immediately and is reacting to suitable candidates very quickly, please do not delay in expressing your interest if the above appeals.


Stunning natural stone finca with private pool in Santanyí. Price down from 4250.000 Euros to 3.950.000 Euros.
This magnificent country house is about 300 years old and impresses every visitor with its own unique charm. This spacious property consists of a main building and several outbuildings. The extremely tasteful main house is accessed via an inviting foyer that leads into the large and cozy living room with fireplace. This mansion consists of two wings that are connected by a light-flooded gallery. Here are various spacious bedrooms with dressing areas, three luxury bathrooms, 1 guest toilet and cozy lounge areas. A stunning rooftop terrace with spectacular views to the steeple of Santanyí and the sea in the distance completes the overall very successful ambience. A fully equipped country kitchen with a cooking isle, pantry and laundry room is conveniently directly connected to the dining area and invites you to a cozy evening with guests.
The private and peaceful outdoor area attracts sun worshipers and swimming fans alike. The park-like grounds feature a large swimming pool (approx. 20x4m) with sun terrace, several shady terraces, outdoor kitchen with oven, chicken coop and a covered, charming courtyard. Plenty of room for you to really relax!
Special features: terracotta tiles, natural stones from Binissalem, Wrought iron banisters, wood stove, windows and doors made of fine teak, fruit and palm trees.
This great finca is situated only about 2 km from the village of Santanyí, where you will find several bars, cafes and restaurants. The famous natural beach of Mallorca Es Trenc is very close as well as the bays Mondrago and Cala Santanyí.
For additional information contact BALEARIC PROPERTIES MALLORCA by email or call the Pollença Office (+34) 971 53 22 21 - See more details about other houses for sale in Santanyi or find out more about buying a property in Santanyi.


Claims of malpractice have been leveled at physicians for millennia, but it was not until the 1970's that insurance companies began offering policies to protect medical practitioners from litigation. In the almost five decades since medical malpractice has become a necessity for physicians and other clinicians, but the importance of this coverage has varied due to major changes in the healthcare and insurance industries as well as governmental regulatory regime.
Despite a decline in the number of malpractice lawsuits against physicians in recent years and a decline in malpractice insurance premiums, these legal actions have helped push healthcare costs up considerably. In 2003, there were almost 17,000 paid malpractice claims totaling almost $4.5 billion. By 2011, the number of claims dropped to less than 10,000 and producing almost $3.2 billion in payouts. This trend has helped lower the premiums for many hospitals; a recent study of almost 387 California hospitals found that their premium in 2003 was only one percent of their operational budget, but had declined to 0.6% by 2011.
For most physicians in the U.S., these declining costs have likely saved them a few dollars in recent years. Medical Economics reported that the average annual malpractice insurance premium for family doctors was$12,600 in 2009 and $12,100 in 2010, but shrank to $11,900 in 2011. For internal medicine doctors, it was $14,100 in 2009, $13,100 in 2010 and $12,900 in 2011. Other specialties also generally saw a declining rate in this time period.
Unfortunately, there are some areas of the country that experienced significantly higher rates of malpractice claims and payouts. These were New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey. The malpractice claims in these six states produced almost $1.71 billion in payouts in 2010, while all of the other states' malpractice awards only totaled $1.609 billion in 2010.
In some of these states, physicians have actually chosen to forgo acquiring malpractice insurance. Florida is one of the few states that do not require physicians to obtain coverage; however, they must possess at least $250,000 in assets to cover at least part of a judgment. According to the American Medical Association, the insurance premiums in 20 states has risen to the point that many of the practicing physicians in those states do not get coverage. These physicians are usually in private practice as most hospitals require at least minimum coverage.
For the physicians in these unfortunate parts of the country, there is also the added challenge of finding a carrier. The courts in these states have been extremely generous to litigants, often producing multi-million dollar awards to supported claims. This has scared off many insurance companies from offering policies or offering only policies for exorbitant rates. For example, a malpractice policy for an orthopedic surgeon in Florida provides $250,000 in protection for almost $95,000 in annual premiums.
There are some potential solutions on the horizon, however. In some states like Florida, there are tort reform measures on the ballot which could help rein in frivolous lawsuits. Some physicians have also implemented independent measures to limit their exposure to litigation. Many of these risk-averse doctors refuse to perform high risk surgeries or see patients with traumatic injuries. To mitigate the risk themselves, many private practice physicians have also joined Accountable Care Organizations where they can obtain additional insurance protection.
Finally, there is the option of obtaining work through a medical staffing agency. These locum tenens assignments may be in any part of the country, but the firm typically provides malpractice insurance for the client, along with housing, transportation and licensure assistance. The industry standard is a $1 million per incident and $3 million per year policy, but it is wise to discuss the specifics before entering into a contract.


The GCEA had booth #4170 at PRINT 17, September 10–14, at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Members, that signed up to help work the booth were: Lexa Browning-Needham, Tony Cimaglia, Don Cook, Dan McCluskey, and Mike Stinnett. Trade Show Committee Chair Tom Loch, helped coordinate the booth this year.


1. Arrange tiles/beads on the surface of the letter (mosaic base).
2. Open container of Aileen's Tacky Glue, cut tip of dispenser cap off. Glue tiles in place. Make sure tiles do not hang over the edges of your letter. Use enough glue to hold tiles in place, a small pea size amount of glue should do the trick. Use toothpick to remove excess glue.
3. Allow glue to dry.
4. Fill a bin or bowl with a quart of water to use when you grout.This will be your rinse water. Drop the pop up sponge in the bin of water.
5. Open the grout container and add the suggested amount of water. Use the clean end of the wood stick to stir. The grout should be moist, like peanut butter, moist enough to spread without crumbling. If grout needs more water, add a drop of two at a time until it is moist and thick.
*RINSE GROUT OFF YOUR HANDS IN THE BIN OR BOWL OF WATER. DO NOT POUR THE GROUT WATER DOWN THE DRAIN. DUMP OUTDOORS ON THE GRASS OR SOIL WHEN YOU CLEAN UP.
6. Load grout on top of the tiles and smear to fill in all gaps between tiles and along the edges of your letter.
7. Skim excess grout off of the mosaic by moving your index finger across the tiled surface. You should be able to feel and see the tiles. Place excess grout back into mixing container.
8. Use the mix stick to empty excess grout into the garbage and throw away container or rinse container out in bin of water to recycle.
9. Allow grout to firm up for 15 minutes.
10. When the grout has firmed up a bit, clean the surface of your mosaic with a damp, but dripping wet, sponge. The idea is to clear away the grout without adding more water to it! After you wipe away the grout, the tiles may look a little dusty. Wait an hour or more, then wipe dust away with your finger or a dry towel.


CP+ is one of those times when we get updated lens road maps from camera companies. I've updated the main page for each brand of lens in the lens database with any new knowledge about upcoming lenses (e.g. Fujifilm).
Canon — Nothing new to talk about.
Fujifilm — A 35mm f/2 R and 120mm f/2.8 Macro lens were added to the known road map.
Nikon — Nothing new to talk about.
Olympus — An 8mm f/1.8 Pro fisheye was added to the road map. 300mm f/4 seems to have been delayed a bit.
Panasonic — 30mm f/2.8 Macro was shown in prototype.
Pentax — Added a ~90mm (equivalent) macro lens to their road map.
Sony — The Sony 24-240mm, 28mm f/2, 35mm f/1.4, and 90mm f/2.8 almost showed up, though Sony seems to have slipped back on the actual delivery schedule and no new lenses were announced.
It's possible that conferences, executives, and booth discussions may disclose more information about future lenses during the show, and I'll add them to this page as I discover them.


Published on political affairs pa, by John Pietaro, Sept 1, 2009.
The art of rebellion is a tradition as old as dissent itself. Radical writers, musicians, painters, actors, dancers and other creative activists have long used their artwork as a tool in the fight for social justice. If the very nature of expressive freedom lends itself toward a revolutionary voice, then it is arguable that the arts gave birth to radicalism, or in the least offered a vision toward its path.
One can easily look to the works and dreams of revolutionary artists of every stripe to see the connection with the Left in general – and the arts programs of the Communist Party USA in particular. The artists who have specifically focused their repertoire on progressive struggles, people's stories and real-time issues, move into a specific realm, one which pulls them far from the art-for-art's-sake idiom. These artist-activists extend the possibilities of the dissident's pamphlet by leaps and bounds.
It has been well-documented that the Communist Party USA actually began life in 1919 as two different organizations. What has been rarely noted, however is that both of the original parties featured known cultural workers in prominent founding roles. The Communist Labor Party was led by Benjamin Gitlow and writer/activist John Reed, and the Communist Party of America by Charles Ruthenberg and writer/activist Louis Fraina. Even after the parties would unify in 1920, the groundwork laid by these two stalwart champions of radical arts would remain.
While the Party, during its history, has largely focused on wide issues of racial equality, militant labor unionism and establishing peace, via revolutionary socialism, it quickly came to establish a vital and proud history of cultural work, probably rooted in the dissident arts of Reed and Fraina. That both of these historic figures were writers was not lost in the milieu of Party cultural work. This influence was but one of several reasons that the CPUSA realized the prominence of literary arts in their cultural programming.
The proletarian novel, the radical drama, revolutionary poetry and the progressive screenplay all came of age in the hands of Communist Party authors – or at least those that were close fellow travelers. The other influencing factors included the place of esteem held by writers in the Soviet Union and Comintern, as well as the pre-exiting tradition of progressive literary figures in this nation, many of which had been developed by the Socialist Party and the IWW in the years and decades before 1919. Furthering this argument, most Party cultural workers who are musicians, painters, actors or dancers, have also offered poignant pieces of writing in the journals and other organs of the Party. Thus, the weight of Communist cultural work has most often been carried by revolutionary writers.
Presented here are some of the most well-known cultural workers affiliated with the Communist Party … (full long text).


text:
Shine, New Regency Pact for Digital Partnership
12:45 PM PDT 6/14/2012 by Lesley Goldberg
Under the deal with EMJAG Digital Productions, the companies will provide production financing opportunities for projects across multiple platforms including domestic and international television and theatrical releases.
Shine America has partnered with EMJAG Digital Productions and New Regency to create and distribute digital content.
Under the pact, New Regency executive vp and EMJAG digital principal and CEO Alexandra Milchan, along with EMJAG president Jamie Boscardin Martin will lead the development and production joint venture.
The duo, following a previous joint venture -- Paramount's Circle of Eight that wrapped in 2011 -- will transition their content partnership to Shine America, with New Regency on board to co-produce and co-finance select digital properties through a first-look deal with Shine.
The distribution model will vary based on the individual digital project, which will see projects run on various platforms including as webisodes, VOD and potentially landing domestic and international television and theatrical release.
"Shine Group is always seeking to partner with great content creators, whether in scripted or unscripted television, the digital space and now supporting projects that might otherwise compete in the feature film world," Shine senior vp and head of digital David Anderson said in a statement announcing the news.


always nice to see new stuff, but i aint a fan of how it looks.
100% sure the US will ban them.
It's a damn tech demo, not how they would apply it to a road going vehicle. Cmon people.
Imagine having some random person allow a shopping cart roll through the parking lot and hit you vehicle just enough to cause a ding where the taillight is located or the front quarter panel. A$$ whippings shall be handed out to the first joker that looks like they did it!
It doesn't take a genius to realize that tech demos are inherently and purposefully impractical because they're used to wow viewers. They don't intend to utilize the technology in that exact fashion for road going vehicles.
It's not street legal anywhere because that's not the intention of a tech demo. It simply a showcase of new technology.
What do you mean by "illuminated front"?
You mind typing a coherent sentence my guy?
It doesn't matter where you live dipsh*t, this TECH DEMO is not intended for street use...ANYWHERE.
I want these mfs pronto!


text:
SEPECAT JAGUAR. Tactical Support & Maritime Strike Fighter.
- This versatile, rugged aircraft was a joint Anglo/French project and first flew in September 1968, becoming operational with both the RAF and Armée del'Air in 1972/3. The Jaguar's multi-role design made it easy to adapt for the ground-attack, reconnaissance, interceptor and maritime strike roles. It has a top speed of Mach 0 .9 and a combat radius of 875 miles and is powered by two Rolls-Royce/Turboméca Adour reheated turbojets. A total of 325 single-seat and 75 two-seat trainer aircraft were produced for the RAF and French air forces and a few Jaguars were still in RAF service in the early part of the 21st Century pending replacement by the Eurofighter Typhoon. Many of the Jaguar pilot's first hand accounts recall their involvement in war and peace. The aircraft was used extensively by both the RAF and French air forces in the Gulf War in 1991 and in eastern European conflicts where the aircraft distinguished itself as reliable and potent. Jaguar Internationals have been exported to Ecuador, Nigeria and Oman and also India, which continues indigenous production. Jaguars continue to serve with the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force of Oman.
Brand Pen & Sword Books Limited
1976-1990: Guerra Iran-Irak
Martin W. Bowman


Apart from the obvious, defending people who have been accused of violating the criminal code, conducting research, writing briefs and memos and litigating on our clients' behalf, as lawyer's we are called upon to wear many hats.
We concurrently perform a variety of functions, including (but not ,limited to) serving as advisors, advocates, negotiators, intermediaries, spokespersons, evaluators, counselors and legal representatives, but we also serve as choreographers, producers of sorts, considering and then taking the myriad of components of a given case and figuring out the most effective way to manipulate them into a working model for success.
To me, trial theme and strategy are the most interesting aspects of the criminal defense practice. In many ways this is also the most important component of a given case. It is not until a theme has been developed that a viable strategy can be implemented, and no matter where the case may end up (in a plea, a dispositive motion or a trial) that theme (and strategy) will resonate throughout and right up until the very end.
While some lawyers focus on specific areas (for instance I am a criminal defense litigator) we must always keep an eye on the larger picture.
At Michael A. Haber, PA "it's all about reasonable doubt"!