A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. and continued on Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at 9:00 a.m.
In the agenda for this meeting, it was reported that Loretta J. Mester had been elected a member of the Federal Open Market Committee and that she had executed her oath of office.
In a joint session of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the deputy manager of the System Open Market Account (SOMA) reported on developments in domestic and foreign financial markets. The SOMA manager reported on the System open market operations during the period since the Committee met on April 29-30, 2014, outlined the testing of the Term Deposit Facility, described the results from the fixed-rate overnight reverse repurchase agreement (ON RRP) operational exercise, and provided some possible options for adjusting the list of counterparties eligible to participate in ON RRP operations. The manager also noted the effects of recent foreign central bank policy actions on the yields on the international portion of the SOMA portfolio and discussed ongoing staff work on improving data collections regarding bank funding markets. By unanimous vote, the Committee ratified the Open Market Desk's domestic transactions over the intermeeting period. There were no intervention operations in foreign currencies for the System's account over the intermeeting period.
Meeting participants continued their discussion of issues associated with the eventual normalization of the stance and conduct of monetary policy. The Committee's consideration of this topic was undertaken as part of prudent planning and did not imply that normalization would necessarily begin sometime soon. A staff presentation included some possible strategies for implementing and communicating monetary policy during a period when the Federal Reserve will have a very large balance sheet. In addition, the presentation outlined design features of a potential ON RRP facility and discussed options for the Committee's policy of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction and reinvesting principal payments on all agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in agency MBS.
Most participants agreed that adjustments in the rate of interest on excess reserves (IOER) should play a central role during the normalization process. It was generally agreed that an ON RRP facility with an interest rate set below the IOER rate could play a useful supporting role by helping to firm the floor under money market interest rates. One participant thought that the ON RRP rate would be the more effective policy tool during normalization in light of the wider variety of counterparties eligible to participate in ON RRP operations. The appropriate size of the spread between the IOER and ON RRP rates was discussed, with many participants judging that a relatively wide spread--perhaps near or above the current level of 20 basis points--would support trading in the federal funds market and provide adequate control over market interest rates. Several participants noted that the spread might be adjusted during the normalization process. A couple of participants suggested that adequate control of short-term rates might be accomplished with a very wide spread or even without an ON RRP facility. A few participants commented that the Committee should also be prepared to use its other policy tools, including term deposits and term reverse repurchase agreements, if necessary. Most participants thought that the federal funds rate should continue to play a role in the Committee's operating framework and communications during normalization, with many of them indicating a preference for continuing to announce a target range. However, a few participants thought that, given the degree of uncertainty about the effects of the Committee's tools on market rates, it might be preferable to focus on an administered rate in communicating the stance of policy during the normalization period. In addition, participants examined possibilities for changing the calculation of the effective federal funds rate in order to obtain a more robust measure of overnight bank funding rates and to apply lessons from international efforts to develop improved standards for benchmark interest rates.
While generally agreeing that an ON RRP facility could play an important role in the policy normalization process, participants discussed several potential unintended consequences of using such a facility and design features that could help to mitigate these consequences. Most participants expressed concerns that in times of financial stress, the facility's counterparties could shift investments toward the facility and away from financial and nonfinancial corporations, possibly causing disruptions in funding that could magnify the stress. In addition, a number of participants noted that a relatively large ON RRP facility had the potential to expand the Federal Reserve's role in financial intermediation and reshape the financial industry in ways that were difficult to anticipate. Participants discussed design features that could address these concerns, including constraints on usage either in the aggregate or by counterparty and a relatively wide spread between the ON RRP rate and the IOER rate that would help limit the facility's size. Several participants emphasized that, although the ON RRP rate would be useful in controlling short-term interest rates during normalization, they did not anticipate that such a facility would be a permanent part of the Committee's longer-run operating framework. Finally, a number of participants expressed concern about conducting monetary policy operations with nontraditional counterparties.
Participants also discussed the appropriate time for making a change to the Committee's policy of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction and reinvesting principal payments on all agency debt and agency MBS in agency MBS. It was noted that, in the staff's models, making a change to the Committee's reinvestment policy prior to the liftoff of the federal funds rate, at the time of liftoff, or sometime thereafter would be expected to have only limited implications for macroeconomic outcomes, the Committee's statutory objectives, or remittances to the Treasury. Many participants agreed that ending reinvestments at or after the time of liftoff would be best, with most of these participants preferring to end them after liftoff. These participants thought that an earlier change to the reinvestment policy would involve risks to the economic outlook if it was seen as suggesting that the Committee was likely to tighten policy more rapidly than currently anticipated or if it had unexpectedly large effects in MBS markets; moreover, an early change could add complexity to the Committee's communications at a time when it would be clearer to signal changes in policy through interest rates alone. However, some participants favored ending reinvestments prior to the first firming in policy interest rates, as stated in the Committee's exit strategy principles announced in June 2011. Those participants thought that such an approach would avoid weakening the credibility of the Committee's communications regarding normalization, would act to modestly reduce the size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, or would help prepare the public for the eventual rise in short-term interest rates. Regardless of whether they preferred to introduce a change to the Committee's reinvestment policy before or after the initial tightening in short-term interest rates, a number of participants thought that it might be best to follow a graduated approach with respect to winding down reinvestments or to manage reinvestments in a manner that would smooth the decline in the balance sheet. Some stressed that the details should depend on financial and economic conditions.
Overall, participants generally expressed a preference for a simple and clear approach to normalization that would facilitate communication to the public and enhance the credibility of monetary policy. It was observed that it would be useful for the Committee to develop and communicate its plans to the public later this year, well before the first steps in normalizing policy become appropriate. Most participants indicated that they expected to learn more about the effects of the Committee's various policy tools as normalization proceeds, and many favored maintaining flexibility about the evolution of the normalization process as well as the Committee's longer-run operating framework. Participants requested additional analysis from the staff on issues related to normalization and agreed that it would be helpful to continue to review these issues at upcoming meetings. The Board meeting concluded at the end of the discussion.
The information reviewed for the June 17-18 meeting indicated that real gross domestic product (GDP) had dropped significantly early in the year but that economic growth had bounced back in recent months. The average pace of employment gains stepped up, and the unemployment rate declined markedly in April and held steady in May, although it was still elevated. Consumer price inflation picked up in recent months, while measures of longer-run inflation expectations remained stable.
Most measures of labor market conditions improved in recent months. Total nonfarm payroll employment expanded in April and May at a faster rate than the average monthly pace during the previous two quarters. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in April and remained at that level in May. However, the labor force participation rate also declined in April and then held steady in May, while the employment-to-population ratio remained flat. Both the share of workers employed part time for economic reasons and the rate of long-duration unemployment edged down in recent months, although both measures were still high. Initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased slightly, on net, over the intermeeting period, and the rate of job openings stepped up in April; nevertheless, the rate of hiring was unchanged and remained at a modest level.
Industrial production increased, on balance, in April and May, as manufacturing output and production in the mining sector expanded and more than offset a further decline in the output of utilities from the elevated levels recorded during the unusually cold winter months. As a result, the rate of industrial capacity utilization rose in recent months. Automakers' schedules indicated that the pace of light motor vehicle assemblies would step up in the coming months, and broader indicators of manufacturing production, such as the readings on new orders from national manufacturing surveys, were consistent with moderate increases in factory output in the near term.
Real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) declined a little in April following strong gains in February and March. The component of the nominal retail sales data used by the Bureau of Economic Analysis to construct its estimate of PCE edged down in May, but light motor vehicle sales moved up briskly. Recent information about key factors that influence household spending mostly pointed to gains in PCE in the coming months. Real disposable income continued to rise in April, and households' net worth likely increased as equity prices and home values advanced further; however, consumer sentiment in the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers moved down somewhat in May and early June.
The pace of activity in the housing sector remained subdued. Starts of new single-family homes declined slightly, on net, in April and May, although starts of multifamily units increased. Permits for single-family homes, which are usually a better indicator of the underlying pace of residential construction, increased only a little on balance. Sales of new homes rose in April but remained near their average monthly level last year. Existing home sales only edged up in April and were still below last year's average level, while pending home sales were little changed.
Real private expenditures for business equipment and intellectual property products were estimated to have increased slowly in the first quarter as a whole. In April, nominal orders and shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft decreased a little after rising briskly in March. However, the level of new orders for these capital goods remained above the level of shipments in April, pointing to increases in shipments in subsequent months. Other forward-looking indicators, such as surveys of business conditions, were also generally consistent with modest increases in business equipment spending in the near term. Nominal business spending for nonresidential structures was essentially unchanged in April. Recent data on the book value of inventories, along with readings on inventories from national and regional manufacturing surveys, did not point to significant inventory imbalances in most industries except in the energy sector, where inventories appeared unusually low after having been drawn down during the winter.
Federal spending data for April and May pointed toward only a small decline in real federal government purchases in the second quarter, as the pace of decreases in defense expenditures seemed to ease. Real state and local government purchases appeared to edge up going into the second quarter. The payrolls of these governments expanded in April and May, and nominal state and local construction expenditures increased a little in April.
The U.S. international trade deficit widened in March and in April. Both imports and exports recovered from weak readings in February, with imports of consumer goods, automotive products, and capital goods rising significantly and exports of capital goods and industrial supplies showing particular strength.
U.S. consumer price inflation, as measured by the PCE price index, was about 1-1/2 percent over the 12 months ending in April, below the Committee's longer-run objective of 2 percent. Over the same 12-month period, consumer energy prices rose faster than total consumer prices, while consumer food prices climbed more slowly than overall prices; core PCE inflation--which excludes food and energy prices--was also around 1-1/2 percent. In May, the consumer price index (CPI) increased at a faster pace than in the preceding few months; both food and energy prices rose more briskly, and core CPI inflation also stepped up. Over the 12 months ending in May, both total and core CPI inflation were about 2 percent. Near-term inflation expectations from the Michigan survey declined slightly, on balance, in May and early June, while longer-term inflation expectations from the survey were little changed.
Increases in measures of labor compensation remained modest. Compensation per hour in the nonfarm business sector rose about 2-1/4 percent over the year ending in the first quarter; with small gains in labor productivity, unit labor costs advanced more slowly than compensation per hour. Over the year ending in May, average hourly earnings for all employees increased around 2 percent.
Foreign real GDP growth slowed in the first quarter, especially in China and some other emerging market economies. Real GDP also increased more slowly in Canada, in part because of severe winter weather, and the pace of economic activity remained weak in the euro area. Economic growth continued to be strong in the United Kingdom, and economic activity jumped in Japan as household spending surged in advance of April's consumption tax hike. Indicators for the second quarter generally suggested that foreign economic growth picked up from the first quarter. In some advanced foreign economies, inflation moved up recently from earlier low readings. Inflation continued to be low, however, in the euro area, and the European Central Bank (ECB) announced additional stimulus measures.
On balance, financial conditions in the United States remained supportive of growth in economic activity and employment: The expected path of the federal funds rate was slightly lower in the long run, yields on longer-term Treasury securities moved down modestly, equity prices rose, corporate bond spreads narrowed, and the foreign exchange value of the dollar was little changed.
Federal Reserve communications over the intermeeting period had limited effects in financial markets. The April FOMC statement and minutes appeared to be generally in line with expectations, while the Chair's congressional testimony before the Joint Economic Committee in early May and the subsequent question-and-answer session were viewed by market participants as suggesting marginally more accommodative policy than expected.
Results from the Desk's June Survey of Primary Dealers indicated no change in the dealers' consensus expectation about the most likely timing of the first increase in the federal funds rate target but showed a lower median longer-run level of the federal funds rate relative to the April survey. Expectations for Federal Reserve asset purchases were largely unchanged. In addition, although there was significant dispersion among dealer responses, the median dealer expected the FOMC to end its reinvestment of principal payments on Treasury securities, agency debt, and agency MBS sometime after the first increase in the federal funds rate target; in the April survey, the median dealer had expected reinvestments to end before liftoff.
Yields on short- and medium-term nominal Treasury securities increased slightly, on balance, over the intermeeting period. In contrast, yields at the long end of the curve edged lower, continuing a downward trend evident over much of this year. Market participants continued to discuss the decreases in long forward rates since the beginning of the year and pointed to a variety of domestic and global factors possibly contributing to this trend, including lower expectations for potential growth and policy rates in the longer run, a decline in inflation risk premiums, purchases of longer-term securities by price-insensitive investors, unwinding of short Treasury positions, and falling interest rate uncertainty. Measures of longer-horizon inflation compensation based on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities remained about steady.
Conditions in unsecured short-term dollar funding markets remained stable over the intermeeting period. The Federal Reserve continued its ON RRP exercise. Total take-up in the ON RRP exercise rose in April and May before falling back in June. Much of the transitory increase in take-up occurred in response to a large seasonal reduction in outstanding Treasury debt and an associated drop in the rates on Treasury repurchase agreements during the first half of the second quarter that were reversed during the second half. In May, the Federal Reserve began an eight-week series of test auctions of seven-day term deposits. The number of participants and the total amount awarded increased over the course of the first five operations.
Broad stock price indexes rose over the intermeeting period, apparently boosted by a more optimistic assessment of near-term economic prospects and likely supported by continued low interest rates. Despite generally lackluster results for first-quarter earnings, corporate guidance for profits in coming quarters led to upward revisions in analysts' forecasts of year-ahead earnings per share for S&P 500 firms. The VIX, an index of option-implied volatility for one-month returns on the S&P 500 index, continued to decline and ended the period near its historical lows. Measures of uncertainty in other financial markets also declined; results from the Desk's primary dealer survey suggested this development might have reflected low realized volatilities, generally favorable economic news, less uncertainty for the path of monetary policy, and complacency on the part of market participants about potential risks.
Credit flows to nonfinancial corporations remained strong. Amid low yields and reduced market volatility, gross issuance of investment- and speculative-grade bonds rebounded in May. Commercial and industrial (C&I) loans on banks' balance sheets increased and issuance of leveraged loans remained strong. Responses to the June Senior Credit Officer Opinion Survey on Dealer Financing Terms indicated that investor demand for financing to fund purchases of collateralized loan obligations rose somewhat since the beginning of the year.
Commercial real estate loans continued to increase amid some further easing of underwriting standards for commercial mortgages. While issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities started the year a bit slow relative to 2013, it has picked up recently. Bank and insurance company originations of commercial mortgages expanded in the first quarter.
Mortgage credit conditions generally remained tight, though further incremental signs of easing emerged amid continued gains in house prices. Mortgage interest rates declined somewhat more than long-term Treasury yields over the intermeeting period, while option-adjusted spreads on production-coupon MBS narrowed. Both mortgage applications for home purchases and refinancing applications remained at very low levels.
Conditions in consumer credit markets were solid in recent months. Credit card loan balances increased. Growth in student loans moderated further but remained solid, and outstanding auto loans continued to pick up. Issuance of auto and credit card asset-backed securities was again robust.
The expected path of ECB policy rates implied by market quotes for short-term interest rates fell over the intermeeting period, as investors anticipated the easing of policy announced by the ECB at its June meeting. By contrast, late in the period, market participants interpreted statements by Bank of England Governor Carney as signaling an earlier tightening of policy than had been anticipated, and near-term policy rate expectations moved higher in response. Benchmark sovereign bond yields declined modestly in most countries, but U.K. gilt yields rose. The foreign exchange value of the dollar was little changed, on balance, over the period, as the dollar appreciated against the euro but declined against the Canadian dollar and many emerging market currencies. Consistent with some improvement in investor sentiment toward risky assets, foreign equity prices generally rose over the intermeeting period, and foreign sovereign and corporate bond spreads narrowed. In addition, both bond and equity emerging market mutual funds saw net inflows over the period.
In the economic forecast prepared by the staff for the June FOMC meeting, real GDP growth in the first half of this year as a whole was lower, on net, than in the projection for the April meeting. In particular, the available readings on exports, inventory investment, outlays for health-care services, and construction pointed to much weaker real GDP in the first quarter than the staff had expected. However, the staff still anticipated that real GDP growth would rebound briskly in the second quarter, consistent with recent indicators for consumer spending and business investment, along with the expectation that exports and inventory investment would return to more normal levels and that economic activity that had been restrained by the severe winter weather would bounce back. Primarily because of the combination of recent downward surprises in the unemployment rate and weaker-than-expected real GDP, the staff slightly lowered its assumed pace of potential output growth this year and next and slightly decreased its assumption for the natural rate of unemployment over this same period. As a result, the staff's medium-term forecast for real GDP growth was revised down a little on balance. Nevertheless, the staff continued to project that real GDP would expand at a faster pace in the second half of this year and over the next two years than it did last year and that it would rise more quickly than potential output. The faster pace of real GDP growth was expected to be supported by diminishing drag on spending from changes in fiscal policy, increases in consumer and business confidence, further improvements in credit availability, and a pickup in the rate of foreign economic growth. The expansion in economic activity was anticipated to slowly reduce resource slack over the projection period, and the unemployment rate was expected to decline gradually to the staff's estimate of its longer-run natural rate in the medium term. In the longer-run outlook, the staff slightly lowered its assumptions for real GDP growth and the level of equilibrium real interest rates.
The staff's forecast for inflation in the near term was revised up a little as recent data showed somewhat faster increases in consumer prices than anticipated. However, the medium-term projection for inflation was revised down slightly, reflecting a reassessment by the staff of the underlying trend in inflation. The staff continued to forecast that inflation would remain below the Committee's longer-run objective of 2 percent over the next few years. With longer-run inflation expectations assumed to remain stable, changes in commodity and import prices expected to be subdued, and slack in labor and product markets anticipated to diminish slowly, inflation was projected to rise gradually toward the Committee's objective. The staff continued to project that inflation would reach the Committee's objective in the longer run.
The staff's economic projections for the June meeting were somewhat different from the forecasts presented at the March meeting, when the FOMC last prepared a Summary of Economic Projections (SEP). The staff's June projections for the unemployment rate, real GDP growth, and inflation over the next few years were all a little lower, on balance, than those in its March forecast.
The staff viewed the extent of uncertainty around its June projections for real GDP growth and the unemployment rate as roughly in line with the average over the past 20 years. Nonetheless, the risks to the forecast for real GDP growth were viewed as tilted a little to the downside, as neither monetary policy nor fiscal policy was seen as being well positioned to help the economy withstand adverse shocks. At the same time, the staff viewed the risks around its outlook for the unemployment rate and for inflation as roughly balanced.
In conjunction with this FOMC meeting, the meeting participants submitted their assessments of real output growth, the unemployment rate, inflation, and the target federal funds rate for each year from 2014 through 2016 and over the longer run, under each participant's judgment of appropriate monetary policy.3 The longer-run projections represent each participant's assessment of the rate to which each variable would be expected to converge, over time, under appropriate monetary policy and in the absence of further shocks to the economy. These economic projections and policy assessments are described in the SEP, which is attached as an addendum to these minutes.
In their discussion of the economic situation and the outlook, meeting participants viewed the information received over the intermeeting period as suggesting that economic activity was rebounding in the second quarter following a surprisingly large decline in real GDP in the first quarter of the year. Labor market conditions generally improved further. Although participants marked down their expectations for average growth of real GDP over the first half of 2014, their projections beginning in the second half of 2014 changed little. Over the next two and a half years, they continued to expect economic activity to expand at a rate sufficient to lead to a further decline in the unemployment rate to levels close to their current assessments of its longer-run normal value. Among the factors anticipated to support the sustained economic expansion were accommodative monetary policy, diminished drag from fiscal restraint, further gains in household net worth, improving credit conditions for households and businesses, and rising employment and wages. While inflation was still seen as running below the Committee's longer-run objective, longer-run inflation expectations remained stable and the Committee anticipated that inflation would move back toward its 2 percent objective over the forecast period. Most participants viewed the risks to the outlook for the economy, the labor market, and inflation as broadly balanced.
Household spending appeared to have risen moderately, on balance, in recent months, with sales of motor vehicles, in particular, rising strongly. However, several participants read the recent soft information on retail sales and health-care spending as raising some concern about the underlying strength in consumer spending. A couple of participants noted that, to date, consumer spending had been supported importantly by gains in household net worth while income gains had been held back by only modest increases in wages. In their view, an important element in the economic outlook was a pickup in income, from higher wages as well as ongoing employment gains, that would be expected to support a sustained rise in consumer spending.
The recovery in the housing sector was reported to have remained slow in all but a few areas of the country. Many participants expressed concern about the still-soft indicators of residential construction, and they discussed a range of factors that might be contributing to either a temporary delay in the housing recovery or a persistently lower level of homebuilding than previously anticipated. Despite attractive mortgage rates, housing demand was seen as being damped by such factors as restrictive credit conditions, particularly for households with low credit scores; high down payments; or low demand among younger homebuyers, due in part to the burden of student loan debt. Others noted supply constraints, pointing to shortages of lots, low inventories of desirable homes for sale, an overhang of homes associated with foreclosures or seriously delinquent mortgages, or rising construction costs. Several other participants suggested the possibility that more persistent structural changes in housing demand associated with an aging population and evolving lifestyle preferences were boosting demand for multifamily units at the expense of single-family homes.
Information from participants' business contacts suggested capital spending was likely to increase going forward. Contacts in a number of Districts reported that they were generally optimistic about the business outlook, although in a couple of regions respondents remained cautious about prospects for stronger economic growth or worried about a renewal of federal fiscal restraint after the current congressional budget agreement expires. Among the industries cited as relatively strong in recent months were transportation, energy, telecommunications, and manufacturing, particularly motor vehicles. Some participants commented that their contacts in small and medium-sized businesses reported an improved outlook for sales, and several heard businesses more generally discuss plans to increase capital expenditures. One participant noted that District businesses were investing largely to meet replacement needs, while another suggested that the backlog of such needs would likely provide some impetus to business investment.
Favorable financial conditions appeared be supporting economic activity. While information about mortgage lending was mixed, a number of participants reported increases in C&I lending by banks in their Districts, a pickup in loan demand at banks, or better credit quality for borrowers. In addition, small businesses reported improvements in credit availability. However, participants also discussed whether some recent trends in financial markets might suggest that investors were not appropriately taking account of risks in their investment decisions. In particular, low implied volatility in equity, currency, and fixed-income markets as well as signs of increased risk-taking were viewed by some participants as an indication that market participants were not factoring in sufficient uncertainty about the path of the economy and monetary policy. They agreed that the Committee should continue to carefully monitor financial conditions and to emphasize in its communications the dependence of its policy decisions on the evolution of the economic outlook; it was also pointed out that, where appropriate, supervisory measures should be applied to address excessive risk-taking and associated financial imbalances. At the same time, it was noted that monetary policy needed to continue to promote the favorable financial conditions required to support the economic expansion.
In discussing economic developments abroad, a couple of participants noted that recent monetary policy actions by the ECB and the Bank of Japan had improved the outlook for economic activity in those areas and could help return inflation to target. Several others, however, remained concerned that persistent low inflation in Europe and Japan could eventually erode inflation expectations more broadly. And a couple of participants expressed uncertainty about the outlook for economic growth in Japan and China. In addition, several saw developments in Iraq and Ukraine as posing possible downside risks to global economic activity or potential upside risks to world oil prices.
Labor market conditions generally continued to improve over the intermeeting period. That improvement was evidenced by the decline in the unemployment rate as well as by changes in other indicators, such as solid gains in nonfarm payrolls, a low level of new claims for unemployment insurance, uptrends in quits and job openings, and more positive views of job availability by households. In assessing labor market conditions, participants again offered a range of views on how far conditions in the labor market were from those associated with maximum employment. Many judged that slack remained elevated, and a number of them thought it was greater than measured by the official unemployment rate, citing, in particular, the still-high level of workers employed part time for economic reasons or the depressed labor force participation rate. Even so, several participants pointed out that both long- and short-term unemployment and measures that include marginally attached workers had declined. Most participants projected the improvement in labor market conditions to continue, with the unemployment rate moving down gradually over the medium term. However, a couple of participants anticipated that the decline in unemployment would be damped as part-time workers shift to full-time jobs and as nonparticipants rejoin the labor force, while a few others commented that they expected no lasting reversal of the decline in labor force participation.
Aggregate wage measures continued to rise at only a modest rate, and reports on wages from business contacts and surveys in a number of Districts were mixed. Several of those reports pointed to an absence of wage pressures, while some others indicated that tight labor markets or shortages of skilled workers were leading to upward pressure on wages in some areas or occupations and that an increasing proportion of small businesses were planning to raise wages. Participants discussed the prospects for wage increases to pick up as slack in the labor market diminishes. Several noted that a return to growth in real wages in line with productivity growth would provide welcome support for household spending.
Readings on a range of price measures--including the PCE price index, the CPI, and a number of the analytical measures developed at the Reserve Banks--appeared to provide evidence that inflation had moved up recently from low levels earlier in the year, consistent with the Committee's forecast of a gradual increase in inflation over the medium term. Reports from business contacts were mixed, spanning an absence of price pressures in some Districts and rising input costs in others. Some participants expressed concern about the persistence of below-trend inflation, and a couple of them suggested that the Committee may need to allow the unemployment rate to move below its longer-run normal level for a time in order keep inflation expectations anchored and return inflation to its 2 percent target, though one participant emphasized the risks of doing so. In contrast, some others expected a faster pickup in inflation or saw upside risks to inflation and inflation expectations because they anticipated a more rapid decline in economic slack.
During their consideration of issues related to monetary policy over the medium term, participants generally supported the Committee's current guidance about the likely path of its asset purchases and about its approach to determining the timing of the first increase in the federal funds rate and the path of the policy rate thereafter. Participants offered views on a range of issues related to policy communications. Some participants suggested that the Committee's communications about its forward guidance should emphasize more strongly that its policy decisions would depend on its ongoing assessment across a range of indicators of economic activity, labor market conditions, inflation and inflation expectations, and financial market developments. In that regard, circumstances that might entail either a slower or a more rapid removal of policy accommodation were cited. For example, a number of participants noted their concern that a more gradual approach might be appropriate if forecasts of above-trend economic growth later this year were not realized. And a couple suggested that the Committee might need to strengthen its commitment to maintain sufficient policy accommodation to return inflation to its target over the medium term in order to prevent an undesirable decline in inflation expectations. Alternatively, some other participants expressed concern that economic growth over the medium run might be faster than currently expected or that the rate of growth of potential output might be lower than currently expected, calling for a more rapid move to begin raising the federal funds rate in order to avoid significantly overshooting the Committee's unemployment and inflation objectives.
While the current asset purchase program is not on a preset course, participants generally agreed that if the economy evolved as they anticipated, the program would likely be completed later this year. Some committee members had been asked by members of the public whether, if tapering in the pace of purchases continues as expected, the final reduction would come in a single $15 billion per month reduction or in a $10 billion reduction followed by a $5 billion reduction. Most participants viewed this as a technical issue with no substantive macroeconomic consequences and no consequences for the eventual decision about the timing of the first increase in the federal funds rate--a decision that will depend on the Committee's evolving assessments of actual and expected progress toward its objectives. In light of these considerations, participants generally agreed that if incoming information continued to support its expectation of improvement in labor market conditions and a return of inflation toward its longer-run objective, it would be appropriate to complete asset purchases with a $15 billion reduction in the pace of purchases in order to avoid having the small, remaining level of purchases receive undue focus among investors. If the economy progresses about as the Committee expects, warranting reductions in the pace of purchases at each upcoming meeting, this final reduction would occur following the October meeting.
In their discussion of monetary policy in the period ahead, members judged that information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicated that economic activity was rebounding from the decline in the first quarter of the year. Labor market indicators generally showed further improvement. The unemployment rate, though lower, remained elevated. Household spending appeared to be rising moderately and business fixed investment resumed its advance, while the recovery in the housing sector remained slow. Fiscal policy was restraining economic growth, although the extent of restraint was diminishing. The Committee expected that, with appropriate policy accommodation, economic activity would expand at a moderate pace and labor market conditions would continue to improve gradually, moving toward those the Committee judges consistent with its dual mandate. Members saw the risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as nearly balanced. Inflation was running below the Committee's longer-run objective, but the Committee anticipated that with stable inflation expectations and strengthening economic activity, inflation would, over time, return to the Committee's 2 percent objective. However, members continued to recognize that inflation persistently below its longer-run objective could pose risks to economic performance and agreed to monitor inflation developments closely for evidence that inflation was moving back toward its objective over the medium term.
Members judged that the economy had sufficient underlying strength to support ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and a return of inflation toward the Committee's longer-run 2 percent objective, and thus agreed that a further measured reduction in the pace of the Committee's asset purchases was appropriate at this meeting. Accordingly, the Committee agreed that beginning in July, it would add to its holdings of agency MBS at a pace of $15 billion per month rather than $20 billion per month, and it would add to its holdings of Treasury securities at a pace of $20 billion per month rather than $25 billion per month. Members again judged that, if incoming information broadly supported the Committee's expectations for ongoing progress toward meeting its dual objectives of maximum employment and inflation of 2 percent, the Committee would likely reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings. The Committee reiterated, however, that purchases were not on a preset course, and that its decisions about the pace of purchases would remain contingent on its outlook for the labor market and inflation as well as its assessment of the likely efficacy and costs of such purchases.
The Committee agreed to maintain its target range for the federal funds rate and to reiterate its forward guidance about how it would assess the appropriate timing of the first increase in the target rate and the anticipated behavior of the federal funds rate after it is raised. The guidance continued to emphasize that the Committee's decisions about how long to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate would depend on its assessment of actual and expected progress toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation. The Committee again stated that it currently anticipated that it likely would be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends, especially if projected inflation continued to run below the Committee's 2 percent longer-run goal, and provided that longer-term inflation expectations remained well anchored. The forward guidance also reiterated the Committee's expectation that even after employment and inflation are near mandate-consistent levels, economic conditions may, for some time, warrant keeping the target federal funds rate below levels the Committee views as normal in the longer run.
"Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Federal Open Market Committee seeks monetary and financial conditions that will foster maximum employment and price stability. In particular, the Committee seeks conditions in reserve markets consistent with federal funds trading in a range from 0 to 1/4 percent. The Committee directs the Desk to undertake open market operations as necessary to maintain such conditions. Beginning in July, the Desk is directed to purchase longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of about $20 billion per month and to purchase agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of about $15 billion per month. The Committee also directs the Desk to engage in dollar roll and coupon swap transactions as necessary to facilitate settlement of the Federal Reserve's agency mortgage-backed securities transactions. The Committee directs the Desk to maintain its policy of rolling over maturing Treasury securities into new issues and its policy of reinvesting principal payments on all agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities. The System Open Market Account manager and the secretary will keep the Committee informed of ongoing developments regarding the System's balance sheet that could affect the attainment over time of the Committee's objectives of maximum employment and price stability."
"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that growth in economic activity has rebounded in recent months. Labor market indicators generally showed further improvement. The unemployment rate, though lower, remains elevated. Household spending appears to be rising moderately and business fixed investment resumed its advance, while the recovery in the housing sector remained slow. Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth, although the extent of restraint is diminishing. Inflation has been running below the Committee's longer-run objective, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Voting for this action: Janet L. Yellen, William C. Dudley, Lael Brainard, Stanley Fischer, Richard W. Fisher, Narayana Kocherlakota, Loretta J. Mester, Charles I. Plosser, Jerome H. Powell, and Daniel K. Tarullo.
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday-Wednesday, July 29-30. The meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m. on June 18, 2014.
By notation vote completed on May 19, 2014, the Committee unanimously approved the minutes of the Committee meeting held on April 29-30, 2014.


The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) is to hold a conference on 21-22 March for leading organisations of the container industry engaged in design, manufacture, testing, transportation and operation. Entitled 'Containers and container transportation. Problems, solutions, perspectives', the event will cover advantages and obstacles to developing the container transportation market, as well as technical issues, and normative base status.
One key topic to be presented in the reports is the application of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) in container manufacture. Based on the results of recent research activity, a new section will be introduced to the RS Rules, 'Tank containers with shells made of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP)'. Besides, the amendments to the RS Rules for Technical Supervision of the Manufacture of Tank Containers with shells made of FRP, RS Rules for the Technical Supervision of the Tank Containers with FRP shells in Service, as well as the proposals on updating the Methodology Instructions on design, manufacture, operation and repair of the pressure vessels for the storage and carriage of dangerous cargoes have been developed.
This is driven by the introduction of the first Russian container tank with shells made of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) intended for multimodal transportation of deleterious substances, chemicals and petrochemicals, and the assumed organisation of the serial manufacture of such equipment in Russia.


For several years, Jens Krogh Petersen has been involved in the sale and purchase of enterprises (M&A), including for private equity funds, for Danish as well as international clients. In this connection, he has also assisted a number of Danish and international enterprises and banks in the financing of transfers and other kinds of financing. Jens has vast experience in managing and driving major transactions forward, including mergers and acquisitions, large investments in enterprises and restructurings. In addition, he has, for a number of years, advised Danish and international clients on agreements relating to assignment of rights, in particular within the music, film and TV industry (media and entertainment). Jens is ranked with a number of ranking institutions, including Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal, and is also in charge of LETT's international desk.


Don't forget that your child was asked to complete 8 assignments in ALEKs this summer. The assignments have been uploaded and are ready for your child to begin. Some assignments are staggered throughout the month of June. If your child receives a 90% or above on each assignment, they will be eligible to attend the pancake breakfast hosted by the math department in the fall.
Ms. Griffin also emailed and asked for your child to read a historical fiction book this summer. Please contact Ms. Griffin if you have questions about this assignment.
Have a wonderful summer. See you on August 29th!


text:
Washington Sources
Daily Health Resource
The Entire NCIS Timeline Explained
In January 2023, the franchise released its first three-part crossover, featuring episodes Too Many Cooks, Deep Fake, and A Long Time Coming from NCIS, Hawaii, and Los Angeles. The crossover begins when the DC and Hawaii agents gather for a party to celebrate a FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers) professor, only for him to die by suicide before making it to the shindig. Of course, this is going to be a cross-location case, and we can see the crews bouncing around in new locations as they try to make sense of what happened to the Professor, in true procedural fashion, adding a slew of new clues and exciting action sequences along the way.
Although the story is a classic NCIS crime drama, the best thing for many fans of the franchise is definitely the nerdy joy that comes from seeing all of these characters, some of whom have met before and others who haven't all met together yet the small screen. Though first brought together by a shared fondness for a former professor who has influenced their entire lives, the camaraderie between these agents is evident even as they argue over who's in charge and whose job it is, what to do with the characterization, the witty dialogue and human connections that have made "NCIS" and its many offshoots the success they are.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or calling 988g 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
https://washingtonsources.org
Attack On Titan Season 4 Realease Date The Season 4 Finale Episode 87 Has Been Postponed
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Let Me Know If You Need Help With How To Watch The Seven Deadly Sins. We'll Take Care Of You!
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After Their Breakup A Week Ago, Chris Pine's New look Still Astounds The Media, Who Are Unsure Of The Actor's Intentions.
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Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: Snowboarder Taylor Gold Of Team USA Takes The Fifth Position In Halfpipe Taylor Gold Biography, Career, Relationship, Net Worth, Height And Weight, Social Media

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to subtract an item from a stack in offhand slot and then add the remainder back to the inventory? I'm in Java 1.14.4, and I'm trying to detect if the player has dragon breath in their offhand slot.  If they do, then I want to subtract 1 from that stack and then add the remaining parts of the stack back into the inventory.
execute as @a[nbt={Inventory:[{id:"minecraft:dragon_breath",Slot:-106b}]} store result score @s offHandCount run data get entity @s Inventory[-1].Count 1 won't work because only tag items cannot have their data modified, so when I subtract from the count nothing would happen.
Clearing the player of all dragon breath in their inventory, and then using give to give the player back the dragon breath with the original count, minus 1 works.  However, this can be very distracting, especially if the player has a large amount of that item.
My question is unique in that I am looking to remove the item from the offhand slot as mentioned in the title and post.

A: Here's a bit of a wacky workaround that I think does what you want.
To start, there's no way to guarantee you'll be removing one item from a player's main-hand / off-hand slot if they might have the same item in other parts of their inventory.
Solution? Make them not the same item.
Whenever a player puts dragon breath bottles in their hotbar, clear them and replace them with dragon's breath bottles with a custom nbt tag specific to that hotbar slot (there may be some scoreboard math involved in this). This should only happen once as a setup step when they "equip" the dragon's breath to their hotbar. You'll get that annoying "redrop" thing once initially from the clear and regive, but not during active gameplay. This means the dragon's breath bottles in the player's hotbar are different than the ones in the rest of their inventory.
Now, whenever you detect that a dragon's breath with a custom tag (hotbarSlotNumber:X) is in their offhand slot (when a player puts it there), you can clear the player of 1 dragon breath bottle (with custom tag hotbarSlotNumber:X). That will remove one dragon breath bottle from their offhand. We need to specify the hotbar slot so that we don't clear any dragon breath bottles that might be in other locations in the hotbar.
You can simplify a lot of this by adding the restriction that the dragon's breath can only be in a specific hotbar slot, or the hotbar will have a maximum of one stack dragon's breath bottles. That way you don't need to keep track of nine tags.
You say in comments that you want the items to bounce back into the player's mainhand slot afterwards, which doesn't really make sense to me because at that point you'll have to do the "redrop" thing every time anyway.
All this said, using a retextured carrot on a stick would probably be much easier. You could use the xp bar or the title command with a score to represent how many usages of the item you have left.

A: I ended up just deciding to hardcode the count of dragon_breath in the player's inventory with replaceitem.
execute as @a[nbt={Inventory:[{id:"minecraft:dragon_breath",Count:2b,Slot:-106b}]}] unless data entity @s SelectedItem run replaceitem entity @s weapon.mainhand dragon_breath 1
execute as @a[nbt={SelectedItem:{id:"minecraft:dragon_breath"},Inventory:[{id:"minecraft:dragon_breath",Slot:-106b}]}] run replaceitem entity @s weapon.offhand air
Of course, the count has to be increased for both the Count and the amount that has been given until I reach the max stack size.
I decided to just write a simple program to generate these commands for me and then I just copy-pasted the output into an mcfunction, since writing the commands for each slot manually would be very tedious.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
#ifndef AudioDestinationNode_h
#define AudioDestinationNode_h

#include "modules/webaudio/AudioBuffer.h"
#include "modules/webaudio/AudioNode.h"
#include "platform/audio/AudioBus.h"
#include "platform/audio/AudioIOCallback.h"
#include "platform/audio/AudioSourceProvider.h"

namespace blink {

class AudioBus;
class BaseAudioContext;

class AudioDestinationHandler : public AudioHandler, public AudioIOCallback {
 public:
  AudioDestinationHandler(AudioNode&, float sampleRate);
  ~AudioDestinationHandler() override;

  // AudioHandler
  void process(size_t) final {
  }  // we're pulled by hardware so this is never called

  // The audio hardware calls render() to get the next render quantum of audio
  // into destinationBus.  It will optionally give us local/live audio input in
  // sourceBus (if it's not 0).
  void render(AudioBus* sourceBus,
              AudioBus* destinationBus,
              size_t numberOfFrames,
              const AudioIOPosition& outputPosition) final;

  size_t currentSampleFrame() const {
    return acquireLoad(&m_currentSampleFrame);
  }
  double currentTime() const {
    return currentSampleFrame() / static_cast<double>(sampleRate());
  }

  virtual unsigned long maxChannelCount() const { return 0; }

  virtual void startRendering() = 0;
  virtual void stopRendering() = 0;

  // Returns the rendering callback buffer size.
  virtual size_t callbackBufferSize() const = 0;

 protected:
  // LocalAudioInputProvider allows us to expose an AudioSourceProvider for
  // local/live audio input.  If there is local/live audio input, we call set()
  // with the audio input data every render quantum.
  class LocalAudioInputProvider final : public AudioSourceProvider {
   public:
    LocalAudioInputProvider()
        : m_sourceBus(AudioBus::create(
              2,
              AudioUtilities::kRenderQuantumFrames))  // FIXME: handle
                                                      // non-stereo local input.
    {}

    void set(AudioBus* bus) {
      if (bus)
        m_sourceBus->copyFrom(*bus);
    }

    // AudioSourceProvider.
    void provideInput(AudioBus* destinationBus,
                      size_t numberOfFrames) override {
      bool isGood = destinationBus &&
                    destinationBus->length() == numberOfFrames &&
                    m_sourceBus->length() == numberOfFrames;
      DCHECK(isGood);
      if (isGood)
        destinationBus->copyFrom(*m_sourceBus);
    }

   private:
    RefPtr<AudioBus> m_sourceBus;
  };

  // Counts the number of sample-frames processed by the destination.
  size_t m_currentSampleFrame;

  LocalAudioInputProvider m_localAudioInputProvider;
};

class AudioDestinationNode : public AudioNode {
  DEFINE_WRAPPERTYPEINFO();

 public:
  AudioDestinationHandler& audioDestinationHandler() const;

  unsigned long maxChannelCount() const;
  size_t callbackBufferSize() const { return handler().callbackBufferSize(); }

 protected:
  AudioDestinationNode(BaseAudioContext&);
};

}  // namespace blink

#endif  // AudioDestinationNode_h

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Aidan Rocha (born December 25, 2000) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the USL Championship club Loudoun United FC.

Career

Youth
Rocha attended St. John's College High School. Rocha also played club soccer with Bethesda Soccer Club up until 2019, where he was a four-year starter serving as a captain his junior and senior years.

College
In 2019, Rocha attended Georgetown University to play college soccer. In four seasons with the Hoyas, Rocha made 69 appearances, scoring five goals and tallying six assists. During his time at college, Rocha was named the Big East Midfielder of the Year and named First Team All-Big East.

Professional
In December 2022, Rocha entered the 2023 MLS SuperDraft as one of the 367 eligible players. On December 21, 2023, Rocha was drafted 60th overall by D.C. United Rocha signed with USL Championship club Loudoun United on March 10, 2023. He made his professional debut the following day, starting in a 3–1 away victory over Memphis 901.

References

2000 births
Living people
American soccer players
Association football midfielders
D.C. United draft picks
Georgetown Hoyas men's soccer players
Loudoun United FC players
People from Brookeville, Maryland
Soccer players from Maryland
USL Championship players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


CORGON 8 is a two-component mixture comprising 92% argon and 8% carbon dioxide. This is a good general-purpose shielding gas for MAG welding of carbon and steel alloys. The amount of spatter and slag islands produced by CORGON 8 are low, making it ideal for applications where post-weld cleaning must be kept to a minimum. By saving time, it cuts manufacturing costs. Low surface oxidation also makes it suitable for applications that require post-weld painting.
CORGON 8 can be used manually or with robotic or automatic equipment and is best suited to material thicknesses between 1 and 8mm, although it can be used successfully outside this band.


text:
socialventurers
Catalyzing social change
Social Venturers
About Anika
Cartography: London
Cartography [n.]: Mapping, review
London was an incredible experience. I met with eight Social Venturers in only three days and spent another two days running across town and filming expert interviews for one of my clients. And I actually need to consult my notebook schedule to recall all the people, organizations, locations and contexts of these terrific encounters.
Why is the #UK ahead in driving #SocEnt? Click To Tweet
I ask all Social Venturers which countries they consider ahead in the field of social entrepreneurship, and most of them reply "the UK". When I met with Stephen Miller, back then evaluation manager at Unltd, he had some explanation: "I think the UK is ahead for two reasons: Firstly, the government has been very committed to supporting social entrepreneurship and, secondly, we had some very strong actors who have pioneered research and programs the field such as Unltd and Nesta." I buy that. And still I wonder how come that the UK government saw the potential in social entrepreneurship as early as in the nineties and early 2000's while countries like Germany and France seem to have ignored it. Do the British have more pioneering spirit? The European Union has jumped on the bandwagon of social innovation (better late than never?!) and are investing in research and competitions on European level (BENISI, TRANSITION, European Social Innovation Competition to name just a few initiatives). yet I can't shake the feeling that other national governments are waiting to see what happens – failing to understand that this is not the way innovation works.
Thames stroll
I asked Paul Miller at Bethnal Green Ventures the same question and received a similar answer: "The Cabinet Office and Nesta have been very supportive in driving the social innovation space. The enthusiasm of the government to create a market for social investment has been a great driver for researching and trialing different social enterprise support mechanisms. At the same time, I believe that technology has made a difference: If social enterprises were only about brick and mortar, they would be very cost-intensive. Thanks to the growth and access to tech, however, prototyping social ventures has become a lot cheaper and faster. It opens more opportunities to develop a product or service, go to market, test, and refine or start again without the high up-front investment that is required without the use of technology."
Thanks to technology prototyping social ventures has become a lot cheaper and faster. Click To Tweet
Richard Brownsdon at Impact Hub Westminster adds: "The social enterprise sector is growing both in terms of social enterprises and support organizations thanks to a shift in this generation's work-life culture. In today's purpose economy, younger generations work in dynamic ways; they want jobs with purpose and if they can't find them, they will create them."
Calling it a night
I spent my third day in London at an event called Business for Good – Good for Business. I interviewed and filmed (social) entrepreneurs and business leaders who are striving for more ethical/sustainable/responsible business in the UK and Europe – broadly speaking. One of my interviewees spoke about the role of digital skills for social start-ups and similar to Richard and Paul, he explained to me what great opportunities the internet and related products and services offer to this generation of emerging entrepreneurs. Being able to write code, or work with programmers, enables tech-related startups to develop and test their business ideas at relatively low cost thanks to agile development. Social entrepreneurs, in particular, can benefit from this development through reaching their target markets and campaigning for their cause, spreading the word about their solution and activating supporters beyond a local level. I am not saying that this holds for all social entrepreneurs working in any field, but I have come to understand that we experience a wealth of knowledge and resources that was simply not available five or ten years ago; let alone the opportunities of gaining technical skills even through distance learning at low or no cost (Code Academy, DECODED, various MOOCs).
Nesta HQ
Another day of my London trip was devoted to meeting with professionals whom I met with simply to hear what they were working on and talk through some of the questions that had bubbled to the top over the past months. With Jessica Stacey I spoke about her experience in impact acceleration, and finding the balance between research and policy, and working in the field. Lily Bowles shared some insights into her time at Village Capital and why she had opted for a masters at London School of Economics. Madeleine Gabriel and Lou-Davina Stouffs at Nesta introduced me to TRANSITION and the Innovation Growth Lab – both aimed at exploring common and best practices in scaling (social) entrepreneurship and trialing support practices, respectively.
All in all, London was a great mix of meeting with Social Venturers who work in support programs, and meeting like-minded people with similar research interests. London is vibrant with social entrepreneurship support and related research, I have only just dipped a toe into the scene and look forward to coming back and meet more Social Venturers!
Posted by horn.social.ventures Leave a Comment
Filed Under: News Tagged: Bethnal Green Ventures, Impact Hub Westminster, London, Nesta, UK
Spotlight: Jessica Stacey
What drives you?
At Bethnal Green Ventures I can add up all the parts of what I have done before. I am not following a clearly defined career path. To me, social values and doing something that is interesting and has a positive impact are my biggest drivers. I love being surrounded by people who have have a drive and ambition to make a difference in the world.
Biggest SocEnt trend you have seen in the last 5 years?
Advances in technology have resulted in new solutions to big social and environmental problems. We're seeing a new breed of social entrepreneurs thinking about digital tools and services that tackle big problems at scale. These tools and services can be prototyped quickly and relatively cheaply, making it easier and quicker to get something off the ground and into the hands of people whose lives it will change.
Tech For Good Global blog posts and videos, and I'm making my way through the back catalogue of Radiolab podcasts
Jess worked in PR and marketing for an investment firm before getting involved with Social Entrepreneurship through Matter&Co. In September 2012, she joined Nesta to spearhead their policy and research efforts in the field of acceleration. "Our report 'Startup Factories' looked at how accelerators work and how they spread around Europe. It was a big success. We wanted to build a research project that was directed towards practitioners, and entrepreneurship academics got interested. We started collecting data from different organizations for a longitudinal study. Along with Good Incubation, we published some other reports on accelerators (conventional and impact-focused). Working at Nesta was a great experience because I was able to work on what I was interested in. It was almost like university. When it was time for a change, I joined Bethnal Green Ventures."
@JessStacey
Filed Under: Social Venturers Tagged: Bethnal Green Ventures, London, UK
Spotlight: Paul Miller
I want to see really talented tech people working on stuff that matters.
For one, the Cabinet Office and Nesta have been very supportive. I feel there is lots of enthusiasm in the government to create a market for social investment in the UK. At the same time, technology has made a huge difference: prototyping social ventures has become cheaper and faster. If social entrepreneurship were only about brick and mortar, it would be very cost-intensive but going down the tech road makes it easier and opens more opportunities.
'Holacracy: The Revolutionary Management System that Abolishes Hierarchy' by Brian Robertson which outlines an alternative to more conventional ways to manage and structure organisations – we're trying it out at BGV.
"I used to work in a political think tank, but you could say that I got bored by trying to change things through writing. I realized that for the same price of writing a report, we could prototype a startup! So I went on to launch School of Everything for continuous adult learning. It was lonely and difficult to build a for-profit startup in adult education; definitely not a very glamorous topic at the time. Then came the 2008 crisis which derailed everything just as we needed the next round of investment. As part of that process, I realized that I could have done a lot better if I had had someone who had done this stuff before. You really don't need much for your first venture, so we (me and Anna Maybank) designed Bethnal Green Ventures to help in that situation."
@Rellimluap
Filed Under: Social Venturers Tagged: Bethnal Green Ventures, London, Nesta, UK
Bethnal Green Ventures
On a very sunny morning in London (never take these for granted in London!) I strolled into along the Thames to meet with Bethnal Green Ventures hosted at Makerversity within Somerset House. I had come across BGV quite a bit over the last years and was surprised they have only been operational since 2012 (the predecessor – Social Innovation Camps – started in 2008). Paul Miller picked me up personally and after a labyrinth tour of Somerset house (up the stairs, round the corner, down the stairs, repeat, reverse.), we found ourselves in the basement overlooking the Thames. BGV works alongside with their startup founders and Alumni all sharing a large space full of desks, prototypes of fashion items next to yellow robotic parts spread out in the communal area.
'You don't need much for your 1st social venture, that's what we designed the program for.' Click To Tweet
Bethnal Green Ventures started out as a hack-weekend that was geared towards developing technical solutions to societal challenges, called social innovation camps. More and more professionals participated who started wondering how they could turn these weekend-gigs into their career. "You don't need a lot of things for your first social venture, so we designed a program to help in this situation." Paul and his team started out in 2011 with no money. "Over half the teams we worked with in the first round were able to successfully raise investment. Then Nesta got interested in working with us because they wanted to build a pipeline for their investment fund in 2012." It went from there.
Bethnal Green Ventures space within Somerset House
In July 2012, the Cabinet Office launched the Social Incubator Fund with the objective to support ten social incubators in the UK to "strengthen the growing social investment market by providing startups with intensive support to enable them to take advantage of social investment opportunities so they better serve communities and people most in need."1)https://www.gov.uk/government/news/10-million-social-incubator-fund-launches The Social Incubator Fund (Cabinet Office), together with Nesta and Nominettrust backed Bethnal Green Ventures for four years, and BGV ran with it. They received £1.8m investment to invest up to 80 early stage technology startups tackling social and environmental problems over the next four years2)http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/news-events/news/accelerator-tech-based-social-ventures-receives-cabinet-office-backing.
'We invest in teams at the beginning rather than giving out prize-money at the end.' says Paul Click To Tweet
BGV was the first accelerator for social entrepreneurs that I had come across. They run an intense three-months program designed for tech-based startups that meet the criteria of
solving an important problem through
an ingenious approach working in
a strong team.
Participants receive 15,000 pounds as a living stipend and business investment for the months within the program. Paul explains "We believe in investing in teams at the beginning as a sign of our trust and belief in their business rather than treating it as some kind of prize-money at the end."
Along with all the expertise they receive during regular workshops, office hours with the BGV team, and pitch practice, being part of BGV also means free office space for six months, legal support, free web-hosting, and Founder Confidential – a Wednesday lunchtime event with invited speakers. That the program works show Alumni such GoodGym, Fairphone and DrDoctor.
Demo Day on 17 September, 2015
I got the impression that the social mission was intrinsic to BGV's ventures, yet not the label of their entrepreneurs who are first and foremost tech-savvy entrepreneurs. When I asked Paul about the unique features of BGV's program I was surprised to hear him say:"The entrepreneurs we work with are very comfortable doing it for a social purpose." It was here that I understood their distinctiveness not to the social but the tech startup world: "BGV entrepreneurs don't have to hide their social purpose when developing an app or some tech-based service. They understand money as a means to an end compared to a straight-forward tech program." Amen.
'We look for ventures that go through the roof. There is little room to worry about the risk.' Click To Tweet
Investment such as from the Social Incubator Fund is a great starting point to design an impact accelerator model. Taking equity in return for the up-front investment is one promising approach to becoming financially sustainable as a support organization. But then, why don't more support organizations do it? I assume equity is less attractive in ventures that do not primarily – or at all – pursue profits. I would imagine it to be a more attractive option for startups with better (economic) growth potential, such as in the tech industry. Paul adds "We can't invest by trying to limit our downside risk, we have to look at the possibilities. We look for ventures with great potential to go through the roof. There is little room to worry about the risk."
I personally am a great fan of Bethnal Green Ventures and I love seeing support organizations like them operating on a financially sound basis. The coming years will have to show whether this model will sustain itself and if it is replicable in countries with less government support.
@bg_ventures
bethnalgreenventures.com
1. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/10-million-social-incubator-fund-launches
2. ↑ http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/news-events/news/accelerator-tech-based-social-ventures-receives-cabinet-office-backing
Filed Under: Organizations Tagged: Bethnal Green Ventures, London, UK
Amsterdam Australia Belgium Berlin Bethnal Green Ventures Brisbane Brussels co-creation Consulting Copenhagen Denmark Discovered Enviu Frankfurt Germany GSEN Hamburg Heldenrat Impact Hub Impact Hub Amsterdam Impact Hub Westminster Kennisland Log London Melbourne Netherlands New York Oksigen Lab Outside Inc. Rotterdam Social Enterprise NL social entrepreneur Social Entrepreneurship Akademie Social Impact Lab social innovation Social Innovation Factory Stockholm Sweden The DO School U.S. UK US Village Capital Washington D.C. Yunus Social Business
Spotlight: Tom Allen
Spotlight: Peter Ball
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text:
/ Africa
Ethiopia's Abiy replaces army chief as casualties mount in Tigray conflict
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attends a signing ceremony with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on December 7, 2019. © Tiksa Negeri, REUTERS
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed replaced his army chief on Sunday, as reports of wounded soldiers continued to rise in a five-day-old conflict in the country's northern Tigray region.
Deputy army chief Berhanu Jula will take over the Ethiopian National Defence Force, a statement from Abiy's office said, without giving a reason or specifying the fate of Berhanu's predecessor, General Adem Mohammed.
The announcement came as a medical official told AFP that nearly 100 government soldiers had been treated for gunshot wounds at a hospital in the northern Amhara region, the latest indication that fighting has been intense.
Abiy and military leaders have touted Ethiopian soldiers' successes against forces loyal to the Tigray ruling party, but a communications blackout in the region has made their accounts difficult to verify.
On roads in the northern part of Ethiopia's Amhara region, ambulances can frequently be seen ferrying wounded combatants to hospitals.
In the town of Sanja, 98 government soldiers have been treated for "gunfire" injuries, a doctor told AFP.
"We have had 98 cases. All of them are soldiers from the national army," said the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said there were no fatalities at the hospital, but noted more serious cases have been transported to larger hospitals in the city of Gondar and elsewhere.
Reports of dead and wounded soldiers have mounted in recent days in Amhara, where a humanitarian aid worker said three died and 35 were treated on Saturday. On Friday 105 were reported injured and five killed in the region.
They coincide with growing fears of civil war after Abiy, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, on Wednesday sent federal troops and aircraft into Tigray in a major escalation of a long-running feud.
Sunday's reshuffle also saw new appointments for deputy army chief, foreign minister and federal police commissioner, while the president of Amhara was transferred to head Ethiopia's intelligence service.
No reason was given for those changes either.
Abiy ordered airstrikes on military assets in the Tigrayan regional capital, Mekele, last week, while warning more would be on the way and urging civilians to avoid gatherings to limit "collateral damage."
A UN advisory distributed Sunday morning reported an "ongoing air strike in Mekele" close to the airport, with an update specifying "there was only one strike heard and the related ripost [sic] from the ground."
Hours before he was named the new army chief, a state media report quoted Berhanu saying federal forces had "fully destroyed the heavy weaponries of the traitorous clique", a reference to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the regional ruling party.
Berhanu also said federal forces had "completely captured" four towns in western Tigray, where much of the fighting has reportedly been concentrated.
But a UN source told AFP Saturday that an internal security report said Tigrayan forces held Ethiopia's Northern Command headquarters in Mekele.
The key base is one of the most heavily armoured in the country, a legacy of Ethiopia's war with neighbouring Eritrea which borders the Tigray region.
Humanitarian concerns
A UN report dated Saturday called on "all warring parties, at all levels, to grant uninterrupted humanitarian access to [the] affected population" in Tigray, warning that conflict-related disruptions were "contributing to the worsening of the humanitarian context".
It noted that the region houses 100,000 displaced Ethiopians, nearly 100,000 refugees and "approximately 600,000 people dependent on food relief assistance".
All told, nearly nine million people near Tigray's borders are "at high risk due to this conflict", the report said, raising the possibility of "massive displacements within and outside of Ethiopia."
Lawmakers on Saturday voted to suspend Tigray's current leaders and install a caretaker administration.
In the capital, Addis Ababa, the mayor announced Sunday that 10 TPLF members who were high-ranking city officials had been arrested, accusing them of "betraying the people" and working "to destabilise the peace in our city and engage in cruel and terroristic motives."
The mayor, Adenech Abebe, said city officials were also investigating "other tipoffs", praising city residents for being "our eyes and ears."
Yet in a Twitter post Sunday, Abiy called on Ethiopians to avoid discriminating against Tigrayans, who make up roughly six percent of the country's 110 million people.
"I would like to reiterate that no Tigrayan brother or sister should be a victim of identity-based illegal acts, and this responsibility lies on all Ethiopians," Abiy said.
The TPLF dominated politics in Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018 on the back of anti-government protests.
Under Abiy, Tigray's leaders have complained of being unfairly targeted in corruption prosecutions, removed from top positions and broadly scapegoated for the country's woes.
The long-running feud became more intense after Tigray held its own elections in September, defying Abiy's government which had decided to postpone national polls due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Abiy Ahmed
Tigray
Ethiopia takes steps to remove leadership of defiant Tigray region
'The last red line': Ethiopia nears civil war as PM orders military into restive Tigray region
Fighting escalates in Ethiopia's Tigray region
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All make up products are pricey. No matter whether you use them on regular basis or on rare occasions, you must have noticed that cosmetics are too dear to be wasted. You should be utilizing them to the last bit and here are some useful tips to look after your make up products.
The majority of the lipsticks that you buy can be used for as long as Two years. But, you must be careful about its smell. Even the last leavings of a lipstick can often be used to create a newer one. All you have to do is put the remnants of your various lipsticks in an eye shade pot and blend them together to create a new shade of lipstick.
This unique shade is bound to take away attention even from the unwished-for acne. However if you really wish to find a permanent solution to this problem, it's miles better that you look for effective medical solutions such as Clearpores Skin Cleansing System.
The place of storage is another important factor that would decide the lifespan of your make-up products. See that the place that you store your make-up in isn't under the exposure of full-on daylight. It is not only the make-up products but your skin too is at the mercy of rash, burns or acne in direct sunlight. Therefore especially the ones afflicted with acne must not come in the exposure of direct daylight. For a total cure, you should try the products from Exposed Skin Care. And the make-up products must be kept in a cool and a dry place.
Rather frequently, it gets hard to use the face powder that keeps on sticking to the corners. Many people just throw off this powder. What can be done is scrape off all the powder with a little help from a toothpick and keep it in a little pot. Over a period of time, you will be left with enough powder. Now, you can simply utilize a makeup brush and apply this powder on areas aside from face such as back and neck. Now, isn't that what we call value for money?
Yes, it definitely does require some effort to make frugal use of your cosmetics. But isn't the effort worthwhile, when you get to save a whole lot of cash at the end of the day. Hence what are you waiting for? Get started to make smart use of your products and save your cash, which can later be put to use for other productive purposes.
Here is some more information on Clearpores Skin Cleansing System and Save Your Money.


text:
Zhang Jianhong (張建紅) (March 6, 1958  – December 31, 2010), pen name Li Hong (力虹), was a freelance writer, playwright, poet, democracy and human rights activist in China. He was born on March 6, 1958, in Ningbo city of Zhejiang Province.

Zhang was sentenced to "re-education through labor" (RTL) from 1989 to 1991 on charges of "counter-revolutionary propaganda" for his pro-democracy activities.

Journalism
In August 2005 Zhang and his friends founded the literary, news, and poem website Aegean Sea, Aiqinhai.net, of which he was the editor-in-chief. Aegean Sea was renowned for its daring articles but was shut down by the authorities on March 9, 2006. After, that Zhang became a regular contributor to the overseas Chinese Epoch Times and often published articles depicting current fraud and corruption and criticizing the China Communist Party (CCP).

Articles considered slander by Chinese government
Zhang was accused of writing 60 articles that "slandered the government and China's socialist system" and "inciting subversion of state power." His articles written in 2006 include:

 The Stolen Organs are Screaming
 Olympic Games will start while Organ Harvest is still increasing
 Facing Organ Harvest, Laws Are Going to Be Legislated''
 Facing Investigation Report, What Will Bush Say?
 Willing to Participate This Historic Investigation
 What Does Wu Hongda Want to Do?
 Spreading Nine-Commentaries & Promoting Quitting-CCP-System are the Barriers that CCP can not Pass
 Return Me Gao Zhisheng, Return Me The Conscience of China

Arrest
Days after Zhang posted an essay online about China's human rights record and, in particular, the treatment of journalists and their sources in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic games, on the evening of September 6, 2006  over 20 CCP policemen raided Zhang's home in Ningbo and arrested him, according to his wife Dong Min.

Sentencing and detainment
On March 19, 2007, Zhang was sentenced for six years in prison plus one year's deprivation of political rights by the Senior People's Court of Zhejiang Province that was controlled by CCP Central Political and Law Commission.

Illness
After that, Zhang was immediately transferred to Huzhou Changhu prison. In Changhu prison Zhang was reportedly suffering from muscle necrosis, a condition that was made worse due to lack of adequate medical care in jail. A medical evaluation determined that he suffered from a rare nerve disorder that could lead to permanent paralysis if not treated. On his doctor's advice, he applied for medical parole on 31 May 2007. There was no response to his application; he was instead transferred to Zhejiang Prison.

As Zhang's health was turning worse in Zhejiang Prison, he was sent to Hangzhou Qingchun Hospital (or Zhengjian Central Prison Hospital). It was reported that Zhang's neuron disease is considered incurable. The illness led to his partial paralysis and continued to deteriorate despite transfer to the General Hospital of Zhejiang Prison in Hangzhou City. He could not eat and was on an IV drip. His life was at stake.

Dong Min repeatedly applied medical parole for him, but CCP rejected the appeal.

Support from abroad
Since Zhang was arrested, many overseas human rights supporters appealed for him.

Medical parole and death
On June 5, 2010, at 5pm, Lihong was released on medical parole and was sent to a hospital in Ningbo, Lihong's hometown. Lihong was in critical condition, and his family could not afford the huge medical cost. On June 9 it was confirmed that the Chinese authority had blocked two donation accounts for accepting overseas funds. He died on New Year's Eve 2010. His body was quickly cremated by the authorities, and 10 of his friends were put under house arrest to prevent them from holding a memorial for him.

References

External links

 Open letter to Hillary Clinton on eve of human rights dialogue with China (en.rsf.org)
 cpj.org
 Cyber-dissident Zhang Jianhong's condition worsening (rfaunplugged.wordpress.com)
 China: Concerns for Zhang Jianhong's health (englishpen.org)

1958 births
2010 deaths
Chinese dramatists and playwrights
People's Republic of China poets
Writers from Ningbo
Poets from Zhejiang
20th-century Chinese poets
20th-century Chinese dramatists and playwrights


Sounds like you are up for some New Years Partying! I would get to the Magic Kingdom as early as possible if that is the park you would like to go to. From what I have been told, it's the busiest day of the year and the park fills to capacity early! We were at the Forty years celebration and asked if that was a busy day and they said that it wasn't as bad as New Years. The park was full by 11:30am! So definitely, get there early! I hope this information helps you with your planning and if you have more questions, please ask away, we are always here to help! Have a Magical Time at the Walt Disney World Resort! Thanks so much for asking the Moms Panel!


15 years in medical translation. Professor in Preventative Medicine at the University of Alcala. Investigator and physician. Director of Health in Henares, Spain. Medical Manager responsible for clinical trials for Boehringer Ingelheim for six years.


There's a very good choice for a 16 party — a masquerade ball. It is usually regarded as an upscale kind of party.
Your teenage girl must need an unforgettable sweet 16 birthday party that she and her friends will always remember. Once she recall it, she knows it's always a special day that she can be proud of.
Guests enter the house with different fancy dresses, masks already worn on their faces. Finding out who is behind these mysterious masks is only a small part of the whole alluring cake. You really need some great ideas to make every detail of the party unforgettable and exciting.
Maybe your girl will like to tell her friends in a direct way by her voice about the masquerade party. But it will be nicer and more irresistible if you give your invitations to your guests. This way everyone that you invite will know clearly what is expected and what they should do. You want to go ahead of time upon a fancy dress party, just write that formal wears are expected on every invitation. Then you will get the result you want.
Make sure you remind guests that they'd already put makes on their faces when they enter the ball. Also you need to make sure that you have some substitutes that are cheap in case they forget or somehow couldn't get one before the party.
Try to make the invitations shaped like as possible as masks. Also you can use some feathers and rhinestones to decorate some cheap masks you buy. Write down all the party details on the back side of these masks, then they become perfect invitations.
To keep your hostess style and distinguish yourself from the guests, you need to pay much attention to your dressing. An elegant or glittery glow that shows your curves is good as it increases the dominating style.
But to add the hostess feeling to your daughter is not as easy as yours. Here we can choose a bling party dress for her. It doesn't need to be long as your glow for she is only 16 and needs something more about her age. A white strapless dress with lace around the edges is a good choice. For the shiny decoration, you can apply rhinestone transfer patterns to the dress.
Rhinestone iron-on transfers are also fashionable as they are made of shiny iron-on materials like glitters, studs, rhinestones, etc. And some online shops provide custom designing for free. You can choose the perfect ones to match the style she likes! A good idea is to add a princess crown with custom letters relevant to the ball theme. These bling transfers are both pretty in fashion and cheap in cost. After you buy these iron on rhinestone transfers, you'll only need to iron them onto her dress and let her shine on that day!
A chic, classy ball room always needs elaborate decoration. Satin pieces or some other silky fabrics are good choices as coverings of the tables.
You can use top hats as great centerpieces. Turn them upside down, put some fresh flowers in them, then they become what you want.
Feathers and glitters are best friends for masks. Buy some cheap masks and use these materials to decorate them, you will find them amazing on the walls. The table also needs some glitter, you can spray some on each table. This way tables will look elegant as they catch the light.
Use some small candles to keep in same atmosphere as the theme of the party.
If you want it a mysterious masquerade ball party, the food must be in the same rhythm. If you don't want the party detracted, you have to make sure the food shouldn't be something kids eat every day and night.
A buffet table is a good choice to locate food as well as the dinnerware, like small plates, toothpicks, napkins and plastic wine glasses. Make another table of cold food, like cheeses, desert and fruit and vegetables.


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Susan Rice, the national security advisor for President Obama, made dozens of requests to unmask the identities of Donald Trump associates identified in raw intelligence reports. If she did it, Obama was behind it.
Bloomberg View's Eli Lake reported her involvement on Monday and Michael Cernovich, publisher of Cernovich Media, first identified Rice in a report on Sunday night.
Lake's sources told him that Rice's requests to unmask Trump advisers was discovered by Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the National Security Council's senior director for intelligence. He is also the man accused of being one of Nunes' leaks by the NY Times.
The pattern of Rice's requests was discovered in a National Security Council review of the government's policy on "unmasking" the identities of individuals in the U.S. who are not targets of electronic eavesdropping, but whose communications are collected incidentally.
Lake's report also says: The intelligence reports were summaries of monitored conversations — primarily between foreign officials discussing the Trump transition, but also in some cases direct contact between members of the Trump team and monitored foreign officials. One U.S. official familiar with the reports said they contained valuable political information on the Trump transition such as whom the Trump team was meeting, the views of Trump associates on foreign policy matters and plans for the incoming administration.
This revelation comes 12 days after Susan Rice said "Nothing of the sort occurred" in referring to unmasking.
Judy Woodruff asked Rice about allegations by House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes that Trump associates and possibly Trump were swept up in surveillance of foreigners. Her response was less than truthful.
"I know nothing about this. I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today.
Woodruff also asked about The New York Times report that in the final days of the Obama administration, individuals went out of their way to spread information throughout the government about what they knew about intelligence that the Russians had interfered in the election last year, and that there may have been a connection with Trump campaign officials.
How can one believe anything that comes from the former administration?
Rice even expressed shock that Trump would accuse Obama of surveillance of his team and wondered why there is no apology.
We have an updated video from Adam Housley. Devin Nunes had the information for weeks before he gave the presser informing the American people.
Once a stooge, always a stooge.
It wasn't Obama and company, it was a youtube video that's to blame.
It seems that Obama wrote the order to greatly increase sharing intelligence across agencies. Then Rice started passing the information around. This was a setup, there is likely much more to it.