I have from an early age had the urge to be creative. The format I have used as an outlet for my creativity have differed from time to time, touching on drawing, painting, writing, photographing and photo editing. From the very beginning drawing and painting was my passion, and for my age I was quite good. I have been told that the kindergarten teachers had to watch me draw at one point, because they couldn't believe that someone my age could draw that well. I personally think that probably is a bit of an exaggeration, but hey - that's what I am told.
As I grew older I got more interested in writing and photographing and stopped drawing all together. Which is probably why I still draw like I did age 10. Needless to say my drawing skills no longer impress anyone. I would always write the weirdest and most imaginative short stories (in school that is), and was always awarded good grades for the words put to paper. The jante law screams at me now, I feel as though I am not allowed to say that, but it is true.
I once wrote a story about a green tomato that was so sad and a proper outcast because only the red tomatoes were allowed to become ketchup. Another time I wrote a lovely Christmas story about a house elf in charge of looking after the barn and the animals on the farm. It ended with the barn burning down on Christmas Eve and the last thing we saw of the house elf was him sitting on the ground, ready to die, as heavy snow were falling from the sky down upon him. I also wrote a short novel about a girl being raped in a forest. I am starting to see a red line here. This was in my early teens, when I was a proper WannabEmo.
I was good at writing. I still think I am, I just feel like I somewhere along the way lost all my inspiration. I hope one day I can get it back, so that these pages can be filled with things worth reading.
Mid-teens I developed a keen interest i photography. When I told my parents that I wanted to start photographing, my dad got way more excited than I would've thought. It turned out that when he was my age he had also been quite into photography, something I never knew. He actually got so excited that he one day came home with a surprise for me; my very first SLR camera! That was the same camera I moved to England with in 2008 to do a bachelor in photography. So thank you dad, I owe you one.
After graduating in 2011 I found a job within digital marketing and kind of forgot about writing and photography for years. I spent my time being with my nearest and dearest and focusing on job. I had no extra time or energy to really put inte my creativity and so it slowly died out. After agreeing to photograph my friend Natalie's wedding in May 2016, I remembered how fun it was to produce images and kinda got back into it again. After that I made sure to have my camera with me more often and during the last couple years I have taken more images that I did during the period of 2011 - 2016.
2018 was the year I decided to try out being a full-time photographer professionally. Although, I do believe I have the skills needed to be a good photographer, I did not enjoy running my own business. This due to the aspect of chasing new clients and "selling myself", something that lies is so far away from my nature to do. I started missing the 9-5 routine, colleagues and office coffee. Not to mention the pay slip at the end of each month. So after 10 months of giving it a shot, I came to the conclusion that that particular lifestyle and work situation just wasn't for me. I have at least tried it so I don't need to wonder what if.
With that said, I am absolutely open to photography jobs and doing collaborations, so if you like my work and fancy creating some magic together, do feel free to get in touch!


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Home > Fashion Police > Mariah Carey
The Sexiest Bikini Babes With Stars On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame
May 28 2018, Updated 10:10 a.m. ET
By Leah Ornstein,
RadarOnline.com Style & Beauty Editor
Kristen Stewart and her Twilight hunks Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner were honored with a handprint and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Thursday, but the Breaking Dawn stars still don't have a covetable star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
Although more than 2,400 stars speckle the Hollywood Walk of Fame, only 20 lucky ladies scored slots on our sizzling hot list! RadarOnline.com has photos of the twenty sexiest bikini babes who have been honored with stars at the world famous tourist attraction.
Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock and Halle Berry have a lot more in common than Academy Awards on their bookshelves and sizzling hot bikini bodies they also have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Which one of these superstars has the most fantastic figure? You be the judge.
Britney Spears soared to international superstardom in the late 1990's for her Billboard chart-topping hits and her abfab figure. One of the scandalous star's favorite pastimes is stripping off her sexy costumes and hitting the beach in skimpy bikinis!
Nick Cannon Reunites With Twins In Rare TikToks After Ex Mariah Carey's Plea For Him To 'Carve' Out More Time With Them
Custody Battle: Mariah Carey Wants 'Primary Custody' Of Twins With Ex-Husband Nick Cannon After He Welcomed Baby #12
Mariah Carey Takes Twins To Aspen For Christmas After Begging Ex Nick Cannon To 'Carve Out' More Time For Their Kids
No Doubt, Gwen Stefani earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Orange County native has been belting out hits since the mid 1990's and continues to bust her fanny on the stage and on the beach.
What other babes on the Hollywood Walk of Fame also have to-die-for bikini bodies? Find out by clicking here.
Bikini Babes Who Have Stars On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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32 military operation within a week, The Global Coalition stated
Shafaq News / The US-led Coalition announced on Friday that 32 military operations carried out against Daesh within a week.
The official military Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) tweeted, "This week Iraqi and Syrian partners did 32 "defeat Daesh" operations, saving local communities from 41 terrorists".
"We will continue to pursue Daesh wherever they hide and remain committed to "defeat Daesh" operations. He added.
According to the global coalition website, "The Global Coalition is assisting the Iraqi government as it stabilizes areas liberated from Daesh's control and provides governance, security, and essential services to people in need. Ensuring that citizens who have fled areas previously controlled by Daesh can voluntarily return home in safety to rebuild their communities is essential to reconciliation and inclusive governance in Iraq".
As for Syria, the website said," Operating under recognized international authorities, the Coalition will continue to support local partner forces in Syria to stabilize liberated territory. Stabilization includes the restoration of basic essential services, de-mining and the removal of explosive materials, and enabling the free distribution of humanitarian aid. This will also set the conditions for internally displaced people and refugees to return safely".
"ISIS Prince in Turkey" arrested
Abdollahian: Iraq plays a major role in facilitating initiatives in the region
US units patrol in northeastern Syria
The Guardian: Interpol faces criticism for allowing Syria to rejoin its network
New movie 'Cherry' tells a story of an Iraq War vet who became a bank robber
Top White House Official Went to Syria for Hostage Talks
The Global Coalition confirms the attack on U.S. forces in Syria
A Russian Patrol in northeastern Syria


The Adirondack Canoe Route is part of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) (leaves DEC website) which links the waterways of New York, Vermont, Québec, New Hampshire and Maine.
The Blue Mountain Wild Forest web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.
Logging equipment will be crossing the Northville-Placid Trail at one location.
Please be attentive for logging activity when on that section of trail.
Logging is a normal activity on conservation easement lands.
The Blue Ridge Wilderness and Wakely Mountain Primitive Area web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.
The Cedarlands Conservation Easement Tract web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.
The Moose River Plains Complex web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.
Dunning Lean-to located on the northern shore of the lake has been completely rehabilitated. Volunteers with the organization replaced the roof, the floor, and select logs that were in poor condition. They also stained the lean-to.
The "Double-wide Lean-to" on the western shore of Eighth Lake has been completely rehabilitated. The four base logs, the floor, and the roof were all replaced and the lean-to was stained.
Earlier this summer the lean-to located on a small island near the western shore of Eighth Lake was removed. Due to the small size of the island it cannot sustain camping. The site has been converted into a day use site.
Access to Colvin Brook Lean-to and the Northville Placid Trail may be gained from the Moose River Plains trailhead off Limekiln Lake - Cedar River Road.
The Northville-Placid Trail Chapter (leaves DEC website) of the Adirondack Mountain Club provides the latest trail conditions and information for planning a hike on the trail - whether a through-hike, section-hike or weekend-hike.
State Police Aviation and DEC Forest Rangers transported materials for the bridge to the remote stream crossing by helicopter in Spring of 2018.
A Student Conservation Association Adirondack Corps crew completed the bridge replacement this Fall.
The bridge was fully replaced using treated poles and lumber for strength and longevity.
Beyond the height of ground blowdown, wet stretches of trail, and beaver activity make the trail difficult to follow.
There is a 100-foot buffer on either side of the trail outside of that crossing.
The Perkins Clearing/Speculator Tree Farm Conservation Easement Lands web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.
The Sargent Ponds Wild Forest web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.
The West Canada Lakes Wilderness web page provides information about the unit and its recreational opportunities, and a map of the unit.


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Taiwan's reclusive policy banks break new ground
By Elliot Wilson
The state's policy banks have a low profile, both at home and abroad, but a loan scandal has forced Taipei to shake up leadership and make the banks more international. The chair of Taiwan Business Bank discusses the industry's future.
Policy banks are strange breeds.
Little known and rarely mentioned, they tend to edge into the public consciousness only when something, somewhere, has gone awry. Then they step in, guaranteeing projects or rolling over loans to systemically important but struggling corporates.
No two policy banks are the same. They differ according to the prevailing needs of the sovereign that formed and owns them, often adapting to suit the local financial climate.
KfW, founded in 1948 to help rebuild war-torn West Germany and now a diversified institution, engages in everything from development aid to microfinance. China Development Bank, one of Beijing's three big policy lenders, has shifted gears at least three times. It started life underwriting construction projects at home (airports, highways, dams), and later financed commodities-related projects in the developing world. Now it is focused on the Belt and Road Initiative, president Xi Jinping's plan to redraw the trade map in China's image.
Then there's Taiwan, where the policy banks are unlike any of their international peers, a result of the unique nature and state of the economy.
Take Taiwan Business Bank (TBB), with its stated aim of supporting the capital needs of local small and medium-sized enterprises. Its glass-and-steel headquarters on Ta Cheng Street to the east of the Tamsui River in Taipei are utterly nondescript, the clothing of a lender that is keen to go unseen. When Asiamoney visits on a muggy afternoon, the building is doubly invisible, clad in a shroud of scaffolding that prevents anyone from seeing in or out.
Bor-Yi Huang,
Inside, everything is quiet and calm; the silence on the executive floor, where the bank's chairman, Bor-Yi Huang, is waiting in a natty dark suit with a bright yellow tie and slip-on shoes adorned by shiny gold buckles is, if anything, even more intense. But the welcome is generous, particularly given how rarely Huang speaks to the local media, let alone a foreign journalist.
In keeping with its architectural façade, TBB is all but unknown to the island's 23.4 million people; a vox pop conducted afterwards on the streets of Taipei about the bank's identity and objectives elicits shrugs and raised eyebrows.
Perhaps that explains the chairman's determination to start the conversation by dispelling a few of the myths that have grown up around the lender.
"A lot of policy banks might be seen as old-fashioned and plodding and staid, but we are the opposite – nimble, creative, innovative and forward-looking," he says in a gentle voice. "We are constantly evolving, investing in our digital services and in new IT systems. We might be called a policy bank, and we are proud of the designation, but we have learned from the best private-sector banks, and we know how to reach and service our customers."
Fortunately for TBB, tracking down buzzing young Taiwanese enterprises with an eye on the export market is never going to be hard. The island is chock-full of multinationals widely viewed as global leaders in their field, from cycle manufacturer Giant to chip-maker Taiwan Semiconductor and electronics firm Foxconn.
But it is also crammed with SMEs.
Despite being Asia's sixth-largest economy, Taiwan boasts 1.28 million of them, according to the SME Finance Forum, an industry platform overseen by the IFC. That's more than Japan, with 1.12 million at the end of 2016, and indeed everywhere else in Asia, with the exception of China. An estimated 86% of Taiwan's adults work for smaller enterprises, more than any large economy in Asia, Europe or the Americas.
This army of bite-sized firms – some on the way up, others content to peak long before reaching global status – need financial help, and they often find it on Ta Cheng Street, or in one of the bank's 125 domestic branches. TBB's foreign network includes full bank branches in Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong, a representative office in Myanmar, and two microfinance divisions in Cambodia.
Huang is keen to underline the fact his employer has an unusually narrow aim in life.
"Our primary objective is to support government SME policy and to assist our customers when they expand into international markets," he says. "We aren't just a medium-sized commercial bank. At our heart, we are an SME-focused bank with a special mission. We've been helping Taiwan's best and super-competitive firms take on the world for more than 100 years, and we aren't going to change."
That doesn't mean it's a one-trick pony unable or unwilling to provide capital to individuals in search of a loan and a simple bank account. At the end of March, the bank says its 29,566 SME customers accounted for 45% of TBB's entire loan book, followed by consumers (24% of its loan book), state-linked firms and agencies (17%) and large corporates (10%).
Total outstanding lending to SMEs rose 11.5% in 2017, to $15.7 billion.
Nor is it a bare-bones institution that simply lends to smaller firms and waits for the profits to stack up. Huang says the bank supports SMEs "any way it can", providing mezzanine finance, backing venture-capital firms, and providing everything from letters of credit and project finance to M&A advice.
He points to the specific needs of firms involved in the export of frozen meat, a fast-growing export sector: "We have big food producers, but they cannot enter markets in southeast or south Asia without the right halal certificates. We can help them there, and with outsourcing finance. We have strategic partners across the region that help our customers break into new markets. With our help, our Taiwan clients can thrive."
Stellar year
TBB is unusual in other ways, from its ownership structure to its adherence to the profit motive. Unlike many policy lenders, it is publicly traded, having been privatized and listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) in 1998. Its stock, as reliably unexciting as they come, has spent the last decade very slowly inching higher.
But its shares have enjoyed, by their standards, a stellar year, rising 15% over the 12 months to late May. That puts it ahead of another policy bank, First Financial Holding (controller of First Commercial Bank), up 9.75%, as well as commercial lender Fubon Financial Holding (controller of Taipei Fubon Bank), up 12.56%, but behind E.Sun Financial Holding (controller of E.Sun Commercial Bank), up 21.5%, and Taishin Financial Holding (controller of Taishin International Bank), which is up 18.3%.
TBB shares performed well in part thanks to the bank's more cash-heavy dividend policy. It paid a dividend of NT$0.69 (2.3 US cents) a share in the full year 2017, 40% of which was paid out in cash, an all-time high; based on the share price in late May, that means a dividend yield of 7.4%.
A diverse range of institutions own shares in TBB, including the Bank of Taiwan (17.2% of the issued equity), the ministry of finance (2.21%) and Citi's Taiwan office (just under 1%). In all, foreign institutional investors own just over 21% of a lender viewed by Taipei as essential to the stability of one of the region's richest economies.
The Chinese government restricts our overseas activities and affairs, so we must try our best to help promote our customers in other [overseas] markets - Bor-Yi Huang
Even by the standards of the past decade, this is an institution that faces a gamut of challenges, any of which might dispirit a lesser lender. Like all banks here, it is all but shut out of the enormous market across the Taiwan Strait. TBB has two fully operational bank branches in China – one in Shanghai (where it also part-owns a leasing company), and another a few hundred miles up the Yangtze River in Wuhan, and can provide renminbi services to its customers on the mainland.
But with decades-old divisions between Beijing and Taipei showing no signs of being resolved, TBB is prevented from expanding its remit in a market awash with many of Taiwan's best and most globally minded corporates.
"This is the main challenge to our ability to be bigger and more competitive," says Huang. "The Chinese government restricts our overseas activities and affairs, so we must try our best to help promote our customers in other [overseas] markets."
That's an interesting statement in itself. His meaning is slightly lost in translation: Beijing cannot after all exert total control over Taiwan's lenders. But there is an element of truth at work here. China's re-emergence as a global power has come at Taiwan's expense, including at the financial level. Compare TBB's two mainland branches, with Citi's 42, or Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia's 89. HSBC has full-service branches in 33 mainland cities.
Taipei's inability to break bread with China does not hurt its global corporates, whose capital and knowhow Beijing is still happy to accommodate. But the island's lenders suffer. They have minimal presence in the market, and thus little or no contact with corporates working there, whatever their nationality.
"Even if a Taiwan bank opens a branch in a second- or third-tier Chinese city, I'd question their ability to make the most of the opportunity," says a foreign banker based in Taipei. "Who are they going to hire? What resources can they bring to the table? What know how would they lean on?"
And the impasse adds to a growing sense of isolation. Every year, the island's drifts a little further from global affairs. Taipei's reaction has been a mix of patient rationalism and sudden rushes of blood, interspersed with long, frozen periods of inactivity.
When Taiwan was supplanted at the United Nations by mainland China in 1971, it reacted by transforming the nature and focus of several of its medium-sized commercial lenders.
First Commercial Bank was converted into a policy lender with a remit to serve the island's larger corporates. Also listed on the TSE, it had 208 branches at the end of 2017, including 19 in Asia, Europe and North America.
In 1976, TBB underwent its own seismic shift. That year, it was converted from a normal medium-sized commercial lender into an institution whose stated aim was, the bank says, to provide specialist financial assistance and guidance to "millions of SMEs".
Export-Import Bank, set up in 1979, is mandated to provide export finance and insurance to local exporters.
But for too long, the government's reaction to China's grindingly effective isolation strategy has been to bury its head in the sand and assume that a solution would present itself. That changed in 2016 with the election of a new president, Tsai Ing-wen, whose New Southbound Policy was designed to boost the island's connections with nations in south and southeast Asia, while transforming the banking sector's regional prospects.
Commercial banks such as Taishin Financial Holding and CTBC Financial Holding reacted with vigour, opening offices from India to Singapore and Australia, while TBB actively eyed new opportunities in south and southeast Asia.
"We want to put our resources to work where our customers are, in fast-growing markets with good demographic dividends, rising incomes and a growing middle class," Huang says. "That could mean buying opportunities, opening local branches, setting up joint ventures, or just supporting our clients with our loan book."
So far, that approach is working. TBB generated 25% of group-wide net income from its overseas operations in 2016; by 2017, that share had jumped to 37%. Australia, a key target market, accounted for NT$23.9 billion ($800 million) of loans disbursed by the bank in 2017, or 22% of all new lending, against NT$15.8 billion and a 16% market share the previous year.
But how much impact the likes of TBB can have in Asia in the long term remains to be seen. Their loan book is growing, but their international resources will remain limited unless they start to buy up regional banking assets – an unlikely strategy shift for a policy lender.
"They're a worthy outfit to be sure, but they lack the knowhow and the expertise to do business outside Taiwan," says the foreign banker. "They have a branch here and there, but really, why bother? It's not just them. Their problem, and this applies to commercial banks too, is they don't know how to run an international operation, let alone a global operation. Honestly, it's over their heads."
Harsh words indeed. To be fair, there is a growing realization at the highest levels in Taipei that none of its policy lenders are really up to the task. So decisions have been made and, unusually for an industry used to plodding along at a glacial pace, action has been taken.
These things happen, and in the future, even with instructions from government, we will be more careful before going ahead with any kind of loan - Bor-Yi Huang
In November 2017, the ministry of finance sacked the chairmen of three leading policy lenders. In came new faces: Huang at TBB, Ray Dawn at First Commercial Bank and Lei Chung-dar at Taiwan Cooperative Bank, an institution that supports farmers, fishermen and credit unions. Given that the upper echelons of policy banks tend to be positions reserved for veteran civil servants on the brink of retirement, the choices were surprisingly suitable.
All of the new hires were economists with doctorates and years of experience in the financial and corporate sectors – a point the finance ministry was desperately keen to emphasize.
Dawn was a former chief executive of Taiwan's third-largest commercial lender, Mega Financial, while Lei was previously head of finance for Kaohsiung, Taiwan's third-largest city.
Huang's resumé, probably the most diverse and peripatetic of the trio, included stints at leading lenders E.Sun and Bank of Kaohsiung, as well as at a handful of brokerages. He was working as president of the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance when the knock came on the door.
"He joined because he had no choice," says a good friend of Huang's. "The government called him in and told him to inject more atmosphere and soul into TBB, to transform its finances, and to strengthen the quality and international experience of its senior management."
Analysts say the finance ministry had long been waiting for a cast-iron excuse to shake up the island's policy banks. When the opportunity came in August 2017, it was a shock to everyone.
Ching Fu Shipbuilding, hired to build six minesweeper ships for the ministry of defence, had, it transpired, been falsifying its progress reports for years. When it defaulted on a NT$20.5 billion syndicated loan that month, the 14 banks that underwrote the facility were censured and fined by government.
All of Taiwan's handful of policy lenders, including TBB and First Commercial Bank, as well as Bank of Taiwan, Hua Nan Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan and Chang Hwa Bank, had participated in the facility; all took a financial hit. FCB, which led the syndication, took a NT$4.8 billion write down in the fourth quarter, attributing a 10.7% fall in net income in 2017 to the default. TBB reported an 8.5% fall in net income.
When the topic is raised in TBB's boardroom, Huang shifts in his seat and sighs. That the default happened on someone else's watch, and led to his appointment, is clearly cold comfort.
"With Ching Fu, this kind of loan is a policy loan, and we have already changed our loan policy," he says, looking deeply uncomfortable. "We are improving our KYC [know your customer] systems, reinforcing our risk-management systems. We had a very stable and loyal relationship with this customer."
That's not all.
"To prevent another Ching Fu case from happening, we have informed all of our local and foreign branches to exercise extra caution, to strengthen loan evaluation, and to review procedures when handling similar cases in the future," he says.
And therein lies the quandary facing TBB and its peers. If a long-standing client comes calling in search of fresh capital, does the bank acquiesce, even if it harbours suspicions about the firm's financial stability? What happens if the same government that penalised half the banking sector, and which ultimately controls all of the island's policy lenders, comes calling a few months from now, urging them to prop up an important corporate, or to channel capital to a key project? It's not impossible to envisage.
A parliamentary investigation is under way in Taipei to determine whether or not the former president, Ma Ying-jeou, personally interfered to convince lenders to raise capital for Ching Fu. In the wake of the scandal, the government introduced an additional safety measure: thoroughly vetting any project loan, policy loan or syndicated loan of more than NT$2 billion.
Huang tilts his head and thinks.
"We can say no to the government and to clients," he says finally. But the Ching Fu debacle clearly still grates.
"We had to write off the entire bad debt," he adds. "It was supposed to be a good deal, as they had a strong trading record and a good relationship with the department of defence. But these things happen, and in the future, even with instructions from government, we will be more careful before going ahead with any kind of loan."
There's another factor to consider. TBB, ranked the country's 15th largest lender by assets, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements, has a decent financial record. It reported net income before tax of NT$5.8 billion in 2017, on revenues of NT$20.4 billion. Its return on equity and assets could be better, coming in lower-than-expected at 7.9% and 0.38% respectively in 2017 – more collateral fallout from Ching Fu. But it is financially sound, with a capital ratio of 12.3% at the end of last year, and a bad-loan ratio of 0.3%, according to BIS.
But this also belies the bank's biggest systemic weakness, one shared by all policy lenders. It may be superficially beholden to the profit motive, but its big decisions – notably who it lends to and who it does not – can reverberate for years to come. "We emphasize long-term relationships that run and run, lasting 20 years, 30 years, even longer," says Huang, meaning that TBB might sign off on a loan today that is still being extended and rolled over and repaid in the 2040s.
"If the economy suffers from a downturn, and our clients get into trouble, we help enterprises get through difficulties, while ordinary commercial banks tend to withdraw funds quickly," he adds.
Huang points to the bank's SME Disaster Recovery Project, launched in 2006, which financially supports SMEs whose operations were dented or destroyed as a result of earthquakes, fires, floods and typhoons (all are a dispiritingly regular occurrence here).
"We provided strong support to SME customers through the 2016 Tainan and 2018 Hualien earthquakes," he notes.
So as patient and courteous as he is, there is clearly immense pressure on Huang and his employer to make good lending decisions that last the test of time. That sensitivity emerges when he compares the island's surfeit of commercial lenders (38) unfavourably with its cluster of policy banks.
"Taiwan is overbanked," he says. It's a view shared by most people here, but he builds up a head of steam. "The commercial banking system is too crowded, too competitive."
But when it comes to policy banks, he says, there "aren't enough to support government policies or the needs of every corporation. To strengthen our position as a specialized SME bank, we need greater financial support from the government, to differentiate us from ordinary commercial banks."
Many would disagree: to have several policy lenders in one wealthy, developed, medium-sized Asian economy sure seems a lot. But it underlines the burden the chairman feels to fund as many of Taiwan's better SMEs as possible. He would, one feels, like just a little more help.
Northeast Asia Asia PacificBankingTaiwanFeaturesAsiamoney
Elliot Wilson
Elliot Wilson is Greater China Editor and Private Banking and Wealth Management Editor. He joined the magazine in 2020 having been a regular contributor focusing on China and the Indian subcontinent, Russia and Eastern Europe/the CIS. He is based in Hong Kong.


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[INTERVIEW] The Covasettes
Posted by Rhona Murphy on September 29, 2019
The Covasettes - Chris
Manchester based band The Covasettes have just concluded their first UK headline tour venturing to previously uncharted areas of the UK and winning new fans everywhere they play. There's a real energy about this band and a growing vibe that something special is building at every show. It's All Indie spoke to Chris Buxton, Matt Hewlett, Jamie McIntyre, Matt Buckley and sound man Dec Smith in their tour van ahead of the first show on the tour in Portsmouth.
Hey guys welcome to Portsmouth and the first date of your tour. Why have you chosen Portsmouth?
Well London was originally going the be the first one and then this one came up and we quite like it round here.
Matt H – It reminds me a lot of Sunderland but less bird poo and more sun.
The Covasettes - Matt H
Have you played London before?
Yes loads of times most recently at The Finsbury and Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen. That last gig in Hoxton was a nightmare, we were stuck in traffic, got to the venue late, got all of our stuff loaded onto the stage, soundchecked, played and left! But we actually played really well even though we rushed onto the stage. It was a weird feeling. Similar vibes to today because we drove 5 hours, jumped out of the van and straight into soundcheck.
When you're rushing about do you get time to enjoy it and assimilate it?
I think the hard bits are kinda like the good bits really when we're like sat in the van. We saw a band we like do a documentary who said they hated their time in the tour bus and never got to enjoy it but we really enjoy those bits. Although we never get to enjoy the city we're playing in. Today is a rare day when we haven't just gone for a Subway and got back in the van. The only place we've ever even slightly explored was Nottingham town centre because we tried to get a photoshoot there that was literally it in all our three years.
Bands go on about how it's so hard and it's not. You drive to your place, you do your soundcheck etc but my best memories of us are when we're together even like in the pub earlier this tonight. It is tiring but you choose it. You get the odd time when everyone's just making tired comments at each other but most of the time we're just in the van and asking each other stupid quiz questions and having a laugh. And it's about realising where we've come. We started off doing gigs in Glossop to no-one, so to come to Portsmouth and sell some tickets and to play to a packed out room down in London it's like yeah! That's so fun and I'll drive forever to do that. It's what we want to do. And if you're complaining at the first hurdle about driving a few hours down to London….!
We're playing Friday and Saturday this week so Monday to Thursday has been spent purely focused on this weekend and everybody looking forward to the gigs.
So doing something you love basically?
Yeah it's not a chore. So that's the answer to the question yes we definitely get time to enjoy it, even the bad bits. We always find the best of a bad situation so even when we're sat at home together emailing or something we're having a good laugh. Even 5 hours in a van together we're still making jokes and having a good laugh so you've just got to make the best of it.
Chris to Matt B - Didn't you literally sleep for five hours?
Matt B - To be fair I have an excuse I normally drive so if we're on the road for five hours and I'm not driving of course I'm gonna get my pillow out and sleep!
The Covasettes - Chris & Jamie
Do you have any choice in which venues to play on tour?
Matt and Chris picked the venues mainly the Northern shows. We played Café Totem in Sheffield last time and we wanted to play there again and we picked Lending Rooms in Leeds so it was mainly the Northern shows we picked. Scotland and the Southern shows we don't know so much about because we don't gig there so much. Also we're limited to capacity restrictions. We're not gonna play a 1000 cap room yet, we're looking for small rooms otherwise you look lost in them. We wanna build each time. So it's choosing from the possible options the venues that tick the boxes with the right size and a decent curfew so they're not going to kick us out at 9pm.
We played Manchester for the EP show and we wanted to play Deaf Institute but the date wasn't available so we picked a more intimate venue and filled it out. The biggest venue on the tour is London, it's the big one. It's like our second city. Every time we go back there are more people there. When we come so far away from home and can still pull in the numbers it means so much.
Why do you think that is? Why are people coming to see you?
We get called fun and charismatic but I try and think a lot about why I would come and see us and I don't know yet but I think it's because we're quite good. We try and think everything from a fan's perspective. We are a small, unsigned band so if I'm going to support a small unsigned band what would I want to see them doing. It's daft blogs on YouTube and as much content as we can and as many gigs as we can.
Jamie - Whenever I hear from a schoolmate the comment is almost always that our socials are so good which is fully on Chris. It's gotta be partly that.
We present an image of a bigger organisation. The socials are so important. We put out tour videos and blogs and we don't try and be something we're not. We always said that if we fail, we fail our way.
The Covasettes - Matt B
You're supporting Oddity Road in Manchester in November, how did that relationship come about?
It was genuine luck. We were tagged in a post when they were looking for a support band. I'd seen Oddity Road at YNOT Festival before we were a band and I remember thinking that is all I want to do. So we met them and started talking and we've been huge friends since them. We're a little bit older than them but they're more experienced musically so it was like we'll show you Manchester and you take us on tour. They're probably one of our favourite bands at the minute. Jack's voice is so good, he hits notes and I don't know how he gets them, he must be pinching somewhere because he gets so high! He's unreal.
The first time I saw you play was in Leeds with The Sherlocks, it was a sold-out show at Leeds Uni (Stylus) so how did that feel to be looking out on all of those people? It was packed out for your set.
That's one of best gigs we've done although not for Matt H!
Matt H - That was one of the worst gigs of my life for some reason, I had the worst sound ever. For some reason the monitor wasn't on and I couldn't get it sorted until about six songs into the set. I still enjoyed the crowd and being there of course.
Now you have your own sound man as well?
Dec is good because he's like spiritual in the way he does stuff. He'll only do sound for bands he likes. So that means he really digs us. I thought at the start he was lying! He's honest with us as well.
Dec - The thing is before I first started doing it, I'd messaged and emailed them asking if they wanted a soundman and they never got back to me!
At our first ever Manchester gig Dec was the sound guy and then he kept messaging us! We realised Dec made the difference at that gig. After that it was like a date. Now he's the 5th member. In truth he gives us stability and consistency. We can go anywhere and we know he'll get everything right because he knows what the songs should sound like and he mixes him live.
Is there a venue anywhere in the UK you'd like to play?
Matt B - Wembley with everybody singing back our songs
Chris - and Leeds Arena too.
Matt H - Deaf Institute in Manchester that's our mecca at the moment if we can sell that out that would be making it (at the moment)
Jamie - As long as there's a big crowd all there to hear our music I'd be perfectly happy anywhere.
We said we'd love to go back to the little venues we've ever played around Manchester for example our first gig was at a club in Glossop so to go back there and sell it out and do it properly that would mean a lot to us.
People singing back your songs what's it like?
That's the best thing ever. I never knew if it would work, now when they sing back you know it works, we've got the formula right. At Manchester we opened up with 'Twit Twoo' which is the new one and a couple of people were singing it and then we went onto 'Wild' and honestly you couldn't hear the drums for people singing. I hope we never get used to that feeling because it was unreal.
Check out The Covasettes for dates including Oddity Road's upcoming show at GORILLA, Manchester on 29 November 19.
The Covasettes are:
Chris Buxton - Lead Vocals & Guitar
Matt Hewlett - Lead Guitar & Vocals
Jamie McIntyre - Bass & Vocals
Matt Buckley - Drums/Percussion
Words and photographs by Rhona Murphy
Headline Indie Manchester Oddity Road The Covasettes Tour


To enhance your stay at The Havelock Motel we offer in room and on site dining options.
The Captains daughter is just a short stroll along the main road. Bar, Bistro style food with a great beer and wine menu as well. open 8am till late 7 days.
The Slip Inn, café, bar and restaurant is situated just a short walk away from the Motel on the waterfront in the Havelock Marina. Open 7 days from 8 a.m. for breakfast until late it offers a full menu no matter what time you choose to visit. You can also charge back your meals at the Slip Inn to your Havelock Motel account.
The Mussel Pot, located on the main road, you might remember this as the Mussel Boys. This is the perfect place for the mussel lovers but don't worry if there is one person in your party that does not like mussels as they have other options as well.
The Havelock Hotel, located right beside the motels this is a great place for a pub meal or just a drink with the local. You can also charge back your meals at the Havelock Hotel to your Havelock Motel account.


text:
Johannes Steininger steht für folgende Personen:

* Johannes Steininger (Künstler) (* 1977), österreichischer Objektkünstler
 Johannes Steininger (Geologe) (1794–1874), deutscher Gymnasiallehrer und Geologe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Farmers & Merchants Bank celebrated the grand opening in Redondo Beach of its 25th branch on Saturday. Joining Farmers & Merchant staff and city officials was Redondo's grand dame Pat Dreizler (foreground), former Redondo Beach Woman of the Year and former Community Services Director. The opening included In-N-Out burgers, and a $5,000 sweepstakes. The new branch is at 1333 S. Pacific Coast Highway (at Avenue F).


Argo caused much consternation among fans for her apparent color changes. Seen here in the first episode, the palomino playing her is quite pale, and is probably shedding a winter coat. © Renaissance Pictures.


Due to the commencement of a new contract Linfox is looking for energetic and experienced Shift Supervisors to join the team.
You will be required to work closely with the Contract Manager to ensure all site operations are completed in a safe and timely manner, in line with customer requirements.
This is an ideal opportunity to be a part of this new contract from the very beginning and make your mark by driving operational excellence. You will need to be able to demonstrate highly developed skills with time management and prioritisation, with exceptional problem-solving skills. Your strong customer service focus, ability to lead by example and the ability to make decisions in a concise and timely manner will ensure success in this role.
You will be required to meet Linfox's employment criteria which will include but not be limited to a criminal history check and full medical with a drug and alcohol test.


text:
Q: Client connectivity issue (SERVER\Instance) while attempting to access SQL Server 2005 named instance. Background:
There is a custom java application specified to connect localhost database User-PC\MSSQL to work with. This machine need to be replaced with another new PC with better hardware.
Issue:
As the custom java application is created by someone long time ago, I cannot track back who is the developer and ask him to update the database path. I installed SQL Server 2005 on the new PC, renamed the machine name to User-PC then use sp_addserver and sp_dropserver to rename the SQL server name to MSSQL  (Reference link for the sp_addserver and sp_dropserver tutorial that I followed). However, I still cannot the database by connecting to User-PC\MSSQL via SQL server management studio or HeidiSQL or the custom java application. I can still only connect the new PC database by localhost.

A: Sounds like you're almost there..
However, this is potentially one of those issues that could have multiple causes. So first and foremost you'll need to verify that SQL Server configuration manager has SQL Server configured to listen on the correct interfaces (the external one too if needed)
Due to firewalls, you may want to consider statically setting the listener port to ensure that the next time the server starts it doesn't potentially listen on different one and register itself with SQL Server browser with new port information (which will potentially be firewalled too =) ).
You'll need to also verify that SQL server browser service IS RUNNING and its listener ports ARE ALSO not firewalled or SERVER\Instance will not work within connection strings. The purpose of this service is to resolve named instances to their respective listening ports for incoming client connections that use server\instance within their connection strings (Kind of like a "DNS server" in a way but mapping named instances with their port numbers instead) since you can have multiple named instances running on one machine.
Anyhow, let me know if this helps . Thanks for posting.
Reference: SQL Server TCP and UDP Ports

A: What I would suggest if applicable is to change the order of things. On a brand new system without SQL installed:

*

*Change the name of the computer to User-PC

*Install SQL and during the installation it will ask for the instance name and you can specify it to be MSSQL

Check to see if you can connect. We do those setup commonly and I know this is a reliable method.
If that doesn't work, it may be a good idea to try to find out what the actual instance stored in sql is by running a query. The query will tell you what the database server name should be when you try to connect
SELECT CONVERT(sysname, SERVERPROPERTY('servername'))

This returns what you actually need to use. This may still be the old value in your case since server name is actually different. See this question.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


CHICAGO – May 14, 2014 – Navigant (NYSE: NCI) announced today that it has acquired Cymetrix Corporation, a privately held revenue cycle management firm that specializes in providing outsourcing services to hospital and healthcare networks. The addition of Cymetrix's approximately 600 business process outsourcing employees significantly enhances Navigant Healthcare's existing physician revenue cycle outsourcing capabilities, which are offered through Navigant's Alleviant subsidiary, and establishes Navigant Healthcare as a leading provider of end-to-end revenue cycle management services. The newly acquired company will operate as Navigant Healthcare Cymetrix.
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Navigant paid approximately $75 million in cash at closing to acquire 100% of the stock of Cymetrix and may pay up to an additional $25 million to the selling stockholders based on the acquired company's achievement of certain post-closing performance targets.
Founded in 2001, Cymetrix is a national leader in providing healthcare organizations and hospital-affiliated physician practices with end-to-end revenue cycle outsourcing solutions. Cymetrix creates custom solutions that are designed to deliver sustained improvement in performance and profitability while ensuring the patient experience and hospital mission are served. Cymetrix Chief Executive Officer, Michael Halberda, will continue to lead the company's day-to-day operations as part of Navigant Healthcare.
Cymetrix has received many industry accolades for its solutions including the highest score in the "Best in KLAS Awards" for Software & Services and #1 for its extended business office services for the second year in a row. It is one of only three U.S. firms certified as "MAP Keys Compliant" by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).
Navigant updated its 2014 financial outlook to include the acquisition of Cymetrix and expected impact of the post-acquisition integration of the acquired business. Full year 2014 revenues before reimbursements (RBR) are expected to range between $772 and $816 million including $37 – $41 million from Cymetrix over the remainder of 2014 with total revenues for 2014 estimated in the range of $848 and $892 million including $38 – $42 million from Cymetrix. Adjusted earnings per share for full year 2014 is estimated to be between $0.94 and $1.06 reflecting Cymetrix acquisition-related dilution of $0.07 to $0.09 per share which is in addition to the previously disclosed first quarter due diligence costs that had already been reflected into the Company's outlook for full year 2014. Adjusted EBITDA for full year 2014 is expected to remain in a range between $120 and $130 million.
Navigant Healthcare, a business segment of Navigant, works collaboratively across a spectrum of clients in the payer, provider and life sciences space. Its professionals consist of industry thought leaders, healthcare executives, clinicians, physicians and seasoned consultants who assist health systems, physician organizations, payers and life sciences companies in designing, developing and implementing integrated, technology-enabled solutions that create high-performing healthcare organizations. Through a unique interdisciplinary approach leveraging the depth and breadth of experience, Navigant Healthcare enables clients to build their capabilities and achieve sustainable peak performance around quality of care, cost, leadership, and culture in today's changing healthcare environment.
Navigant (NYSE: NCI) is a specialized, global expert services firm dedicated to assisting clients in creating and protecting value in the face of critical business risks and opportunities. Through senior level engagement with clients, Navigant professionals combine technical expertise in Disputes and Investigations, Economics, Financial Advisory and Management Consulting, with business pragmatism in the highly regulated Construction, Energy, Financial Services and Healthcare industries to support clients in addressing their most critical business needs. More information about Navigant can be found at www.navigant.com.


Below you will find a list of Mississippi oil and gas companies as well as the Mississippi operators directory for Mississippi Oil and Gas Operators. If you would like to add additional information about your company or would like to add your company to the directory listing, please visit the Oil and Gas Company information page.
Below you will find a list of Texas oil and gas companies as well as the Texas operators directory for Texas Oil and Gas Operators. If you would like to add additional information about your company or would like to add your company to the directory listing, please visit the Oil and Gas Company information page.


text:
Boss Mum
She once thought she had to forgo her career ambitions to start a family. Now IBM chief and mother of four Janet Ang is proof you can have both
By Alicia Wong, TODAY, 19 Jan 2013
It is a somewhat incredible revelation, but Janet Ang stresses that it is no joke: Every time she gave birth (four in all), she got a promotion at work.
"So much so, after my fourth (child), people ask me: 'So how, are you going to have another one?'" the IBM Singapore boss says, laughing loudly. "I say: 'I certainly hope after my track record I don't need to have another child to get promoted!'"
Indeed, the vivacious, straight-talking tech veteran has stamped her mark on the company, rising from a systems engineer post when she joined in 1982 to Managing Director in 2001. After a stint at Lenovo, she was re-appointed MD of IBM Singapore in 2011.
But as we chat over lunch at The St Regis Singapore, it is apparent that Ms Ang — who is 53 but actually "forever 39" — is more than just a career mum. She sits on several boards, including the Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China. As part of her community involvement, the Catholic keeps her Sundays busy with church work.
At a time when young couples debate the feasibility of work-life balance and the merits of starting a family while building their career, the ambitious Ms Ang stands as a role model for those who want to "have it all".
MAKING CHOICES
The high-flyer — who on Thursday shared her experiences at the National Family Council's CEO Breakfast Roundtable on embracing families in business — is quick to point out that her journey has not been "a piece of cake". With an end goal in mind (to be a "good mother, a good wife, a good IBM-er"), one has to be disciplined and make choices, she outlines.
Unexpectedly, one of her earlier choices had been to forego climbing the corporate ladder for her family. Believing she could only "do well in one or the other", the National University of Singapore business administration graduate had told her boss: "Don't promote me, I am getting married."
He laughed it off and congratulated her. Later when she was on honeymoon, a fax came in: She had been promoted from systems engineer to manager.
"I chose marriage — I want to have a family. But fortunately, IBM is enlightened," she laughs. It then boiled down to making choices, such that her time was used most effectively.
EVERY IMPORTANT MOMENT
"I don't hang around with my kids doing nothing, but I don't miss their important moments in school," says Ms Ang. She prides herself on having attended her four daughters' most important concerts and parent-teacher conferences. When she has to miss out on the "not so important" events — as we speak, her youngest daughter is giving a poetry recital in class — she relies on photographs or videos.
"Having more kids will not hold you back. It does mean we have to be more disciplined," she says. "In those early days, would I be wrong to say I have to sacrifice by not always having my hair tip-top, not going for a manicure, pedicure any time I like?"
Another sacrifice: Sleep. "I thrive on five hours of sleep. Good enough," she says. "You've got to be able to make those choices. When people talk about work-life balance … I don't think it's a reasonable thing to expect balance. It's really (about) effectiveness."
She adds: "Sometimes, at home, I will say: 'Okay, come, lets go do this and this and this,' and they will say: 'Oh, mum, don't run IBM at home!'."
5AM WORK DAYS
Still, if not for Ms Ang's stellar time management skills, she may not have even got married. Recounting the long hours she used to put in at the office, Ms Ang asked rhetorically: "How are you going to get married if you don't have time to 'pak-tor' (date)?"
So she made a choice. Regardless of whether she had completed her work, come 6.30pm, she would shut down the computer, pack up and leave for dinner with her then-boyfriend.
What he did not know was that the next morning, Ms Ang would wake up before the crack of dawn and be at work by 5am. After a year of courtship, the couple married in 1989. "I was thinking, gosh he has proposed, I'm getting married, how am I going to do this?"
Thankfully, IBM soon introduced the home terminal programme, which allowed her to install a modem and computer to work at home.
MR MUM
After tying the knot, her husband, Mr Anthony Cheah, played a crucial role in supporting her decision to be a working mum. He gave up his job when Ms Ang received her first international assignment and the family moved to Tokyo in 1998.
"Since then, he has been Mr Mum. So I must say I could not have done this without him. Tony has been super," she enthuses. "He cooks very well, he likes hotel management, so you can imagine … (he) organised all of us!"
She adds: "One must admit, if my husband had not been supportive, what would have been my choice? I think you know my answer lah."
Deviating from the traditional family set-up of the man as primary breadwinner came with its challenges."My eldest daughter, then four or five years old, would ask, 'Daddy, why are you at home'? So I think it was a little bit uncomfortable for my husband at the time."
People were also calling her husband "Mr Anthony Ang". To which she would retort: "Hello, hello, I am Mrs Janet Cheah!" She tried to change her surname but she was already known as Janet Ang professionally. "Then double barrel: Ang-Cheah. Mrs Janet Ang-Cheah (red car, in dialect), no way!" she chortles.
On a slightly more serious note, she adds: "Was my dad or mother-in-law a bit more worried? Definitely." But they were also supportive, she states.
THE CASE FOR FAMILY
Ms Ang is also thankful for the support she gets at work. "At every step of the way, the organisation had a part to play," she says.
"If it did not let me have flexi-time to take off, take my kids to the doctors, or for parent-teacher conferences, would I have chosen to stay with this company? Maybe not."
And that is exactly the message the MD, who sits on the executive committee of The Employer Alliance, tries to tell companies — that there is a business case for offering family-friendly policies, namely the war for talent.
To attract good employees, companies must be able to support their work-life integration, she stresses. "If a family is broken down, they (the employees) take their problems to work."
Among IBM's pro-family initiatives are activities organised for employees' children and take-the-kids-to-work days. "It's really an exciting time for HR now," Ms Ang notes, citing options such as job rotation opportunities to suit employees at different life stages.
Quoting from organisational guru Charles Handy's The Empty Raincoat, she notes how companies can also tap the growing pool of part-time professionals when employees are on leave.
The key challenge to implementing work-life balance measures is that a "whole systemic change" is needed. Leaders need to "walk the talk", she says.
This means not asking employees where they are if they are telecommuting; or pulling a face (jokingly or not) when an employee reveals she is pregnant.
To provide employees with flexibility, bosses must move away from a "time-based expectation" of having employees at their desk nine to five, and focus instead on "outcomes".
At the same time, employees have to be responsible in behaviour and output. "Don't go AWOL," instructs Ms Ang. Ultimately, it boils down to mutual trust; a "compact" between manager and employee.
What of smaller firms, where an employee going on leave means more work for everyone else, fuelling potential unhappiness? Sharing what some SMEs have told her, Ms Ang agrees with them on creating an "environment where employees feel part of the family".
Then, instead of being resentful, they celebrate for one another if, say, a colleague is going to have a baby. Studies show higher rates of productivity if colleagues are friends. "That's called team building," she says.
The down-to-earth Ms Ang is, at the same time, a self-confessed optimist — "I always see everything as doable" — and appreciative, stressing repeatedly that she is "blessed".
An engaging conversationalist who needs little prodding, she expounds on diverse topics, including advice on domestic help (which she believes is "another relationship that has got to be nurtured").
Asked if there is anything she would have done differently, she takes some time to ponder before concluding: No regrets, but she is still contemplating if she has "put my family traditions all in place". They are "one way to keep the family together," says Ms Ang, whose two elder daughters, aged 21 and 18, are now studying in the United States
One of the Cheah family traditions: Every child who turns 12 gets a holiday with her parents. This year, their youngest turns 12 on Valentine's Day.
Says Mum: "She has decided — somewhere in Scandinavia."
Labels: Economics, Gender, Interview, People, Population, Work-Life Balance
Population White Paper - January 2013
HDB offers over 3,300 new flats under 6 BTO projects
'Cash for commercial clunkers' proposal
S'pore rebuts 'D+' grade in defence anti-graft index
Singapore Perspectives 2013
S'pore draws record $16b in investments
More jobs vacant for longer time
Why Scandinavian model is not ideal
Childcare subsidies: Larger families can get more ...
Revisiting co-payments
Maid agency hiring male caregivers
Punggol East By-election: Analysis & Reactions
Why fertility measures matter to all
Welcome to godPAPa's budding welfare state
Really, must parents act so entitled?
Shifting focus from money to family
VWOs speak up at S'pore dialogue
Workers' Party wins Punggol East by-election 2013
Climate change: What do we owe the future?
Halimah Yacob: Soft heart, strong will
Cobbler square
End of love affair with property?
Govt to spend S$700 million to boost MRT access an...
Punggol East By-election: PAP Rally, 24 Jan
Punggol East By-election: RP Rally, 24 Jan
Punggol East By-election campaign - 23 Jan
Punggol East By-election: WP Rally, 23 Jan
Higher subsidies for child, infant care for lower ...
Why my wife is a stay-home mum
New Medifund Junior scheme set up
Marriage & Parenthood Package 2013
Punggol East By-election: SDA Online Rally
Coping in the face of adversity: Tan Swie Hian
Making sure worker training pays off
NTUC and LawSoc to help educate workers on legal r...
Our 'Green' SG Conversation: Let's talk about gree...
Chance to see S'pore without its make-up
200,000 new homes by 2016 to meet pent-up demand: ...
More than S$2.3b disbursed under Baby Bonus scheme...
Law Minister Shanmugam to meet church group over g...
'First-gen' hawkers worry about their future
MOM's response to media queries on Yawning Bread's...
MRT network size to double by 2030
Housing tops concerns in PM Lee's weekly Meet-the-...
Khaw pushes for three constructive ideas
The productive shall inherit the Earth
China bets billions on human capital
SG Gives website gets record $8.5 million in 2012 ...
Singapore 'not ripe' for fee-based finance advice
How do untruths serve discussion?
Making ends meet: Financing the future of Singapore
Madrasahs' new teaching model
Four-cornered fight in Punggol East by-election
9 in 10 first-timers opt for new HDB flats
Will firms heed productivity call or go?
Parliament Highlights - 14 Jan 2013
WP fields Lee Li Lian as its candidate for Punggol...
PAP man's campaign message: This is me
Residents show kampung spirit by helping needy nei...
Society and Politics 2030
Resilience: Do we have what it takes?
Getting more companies to set up childcare centres...
More seeking social assistance at CDCs
Time for reunion dinner, but where are the waiters?
Bye Raddy Avramovic, see you soon
Calling it a day after 60 years in orthopaedics
Different strokes for different students
New property cooling measures announced - 11 Jan 2013
WP rebuffs SDP's joint campaign proposal
Smoking ban to cover 5 more areas
Key issues in review of town council ops
Forget First World hype says Ngiam Tong Dow
Finding the true riches in work
The gift of Bs and Cs (v straight As)
81.3% score at least five passes in 2012 GCE O-Lev...
'Starting and ending well'
Helping kids relate to family members who have dem...
Rethinking excesses of meritocracy
Strike balance between car ownership and use: Lui
Heftier fines for serious train disruptions; LTA T...
The facts and figures about bus ops
Seek not more, but better growth
Restore discipline in social media
PAP fields Koh Poh Koon as its candidate for the P...
Punggol East by-election on 26 Jan
Sex, lies, leadership: An inevitable threesome?
Halimah Yacob to be nominated as next Speaker of P...
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Joined 10 years ago from So Cal Girl in the Midwest!
What an honor to participate on a web site with such wonderful writers. Like others, I am always learning...always hoping. I am merely someone who loves to write about things I experience and things I know.
My ultimate life experience is being the mom to two beautiful girls, one in her twenties, and my oldest just turned 30. Even more awesome, is to be the grandmother to a 3 year old sweet little boy.
I believe myself to be young in heart and mind...and my philosophy on writing mirrors the great Ernest Hemingway, who said, "my aim is to put down what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way I can tell it."
My favorite things to do are to be with my family, to cook for family and friends, read cooking magazines, novels by James Patterson and Michael Connelly, do home improvement projects, and, of course, write articles on HubPages.
Right now, I think my best hubs are about a trip to Vegas, my run-in with a possum, and people watching in the airport.
While I love to travel, and Vegas won a "hub", my true vacation heart belongs to Catalina Island.
I believe in God, my country, work-life balance, the generations of the future, and doing the right thing - as opposed to simply doing things right. I am no expert in any one thing, but I hope to tell my story, "simply, and in the best way that I feel."
I hope you will enjoy my hubs, and I hope that you will take the time to post a comment. Thanks for visiting!
How I miss the beautiful wild (and noisy) parrots who flew around my old neighborhood in California.


text:
Q: how to filter an array with contains property in swift the (commented lines) works but it only filters the products that initiates with the word im writing
what im trying to do if filtering if the name contains whatever im writing in the search bar
the while method is how im trying to solve it but is not working at all
I've tried using the contains method of the function but it shows me tons of results it duplicates the results
// productosBuscados=productos.filter{$0.Descripcion.lowercased().prefix(searchText.count)==searchText.lowercased()}//

        var contador=0
        while contador<productos.count-1{
            if(productos[contador].Descripcion.contains(buscador.text!)){
                productosBuscados.append(productos[contador])
                print(productos[contador].Descripcion+" este producto concuerda")
            }
            contador+=1
        }
        buscando = true
        tabla.reloadData()

A: you can try using searchBar for solving this kind of problems. Here is an example of how you use the searchBar;
import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController,UISearchBarDelegate {

    //MARK: - IBOutlets
    @IBOutlet weak var serachBar: UISearchBar!

    //MARK: - Variables
    var rawData:[String] = ["Taha","Yasin","Samet","Sumeyye","Seda","Esra","Muhammet","Zeynep","Ishak","Fatma"]
    var filteredData:[String]!

    override func viewDidLoad() {

        super.viewDidLoad()

        serachBar.delegate = self
        filteredData = rawData
    }

    func searchBar(_ searchBar: UISearchBar, textDidChange searchText: String) {
        filteredData = searchText.isEmpty ? rawData : rawData.filter {
            $0.contains(searchText)
        }
        //It prints the data from the filtered array contains the text that you searched from the search bar and the print method will be called after every caracter that you add the search bar.
        print(filteredData)
    }
}

A: Just write it as you say it:
let result = products.filter { $0.Descripcion.contains("whatever im writing in the search bar") }

A: thanks a lot for all that replied the solution was this one
productosBuscados = buscador.text!.isEmpty ? productos : productos.filter {
            $0.Descripcion.lowercased().contains(buscador.text!.lowercased())
        }


« Not Enough Time In Your Day?
What a blessing you are to your family and your church. Jared, Ethan and Bryson are a reflection of you. I was deeply touched by your blog today.
Thanks Olga! You are always an encouragement to my family and me!


text:
Fri 31st Jan
We cannot afford an anti-business agenda
This article is an excerpt from our Growth Bulletin, written by Adam Memon, Brian Sturgess and Tim Knox. To read the full article, click here. To sign up for our mailings, use the form on the left of our newsletter page.
GDP AND EMPLOYMENT ACCELERATE
Recently released data on GDP and employment continue to show improvements in economic conditions. The preliminary estimate for Q4 2013 released by the Office of National Statisticsshows that GDP rose in volume by 0.7% over the previous quarter. This translates into:
a 1.9% increase for 2013 over 2012
an acceleration of year on year quarterly growth to 2.8% in Q4 2013.
Output increased in three of the four main industrial groupings within the economy in Q4 2013 compared with Q3 2013.
Agriculture: 0.5% increase
Production: 0.7% increase
Services: 0.8% increase
Construction: 0.3% decrease
However, in Q4 2013 GDP was estimated to be still 1.3% below the peak in Q1 2008. Labour market conditions have continued to improve with a fall in the unemployment rate to 7.1% and a very strong increase in employment of 280,000 in the three months to November.
RECOVERY STILL HAS FAR TO GO
Yet despite the good news how fragile is the recovery? We can get an indication of this by looking at the relative performance of the main components of output – such as production and services – over time in previous economic downturns. This analysis shows that despite the encouraging news from the latest GDP estimates, there is more work to be done to secure the recovery. Moreover, productivity remains a source of concern and is underperforming internationally. What the economy needs is a series of pro-productivity measures rather than the uncertainty arising from the anti-business agenda currently espoused by Ed Miliband's Labour party.
The UK has experienced at least four recessions over the last forty years. The path of real chained output shows that the period 1973-75 witnessed a double-dip recession. This experience has been averted in the latest downturn but what is clear from the data and the subsequent quarters of GDP volume following the recessions is that not only was the 2008-09 downturn deeper than the others, but the recovery has been the weakest of all in comparison.
In fact after 24 quarters real GDP as of Q4 2013 still remains 1.3% below its pre-crisis peak in Q1 2008. Even after the double-dip recession of the mid 1970s, real GDP was 8% above its level in Q1 1973 after an equivalent six year period.
This picture of a slow recovery is confirmed by looking at movements in the index of production. It is also possible from this data to identify the quarters when industrial production reached its nadir in each recession, Q3 in 1975, Q1 in 1981, Q1 in 1991 and Q3 in 2009. Rebasing the production index to 100 using this level as a floor permits the measurement of the path of an economic recovery at a more disaggregated level than shown by total GDP.
This production data is more volatile than GDP data but in the case of the most recent downturn the index of production rose for four quarters and then stalled in Q1 2011. Although the UK avoided a double dip recession, in terms of the volume of production the evidence is that production fell again after an initial recovery starting from Q3 2009 and did not begin to rise again on a sustained basis until Q3 2012.
Since there was an election broadly separating these two periods we can split the current weak recovery in GDP from the time of the financial crisis into two parts to consider the impact of the change in the administration of the economy and the public sector in 2010. Using monthly production statistics it is only possible to compare four output recoveries: from May 1981, April 1991, September 2009 and October 2012.
The evidence this time shows that the current recovery is weaker than the growth in output after the trough of September 2009 and of May 1981. However, the production recovery is certainly not the weakest in recent history and is stronger than that starting after April 1991.
Production and services constitute currently around 93% of GDP. While in Q4 the volatile construction sector actually fell by 0.3%, this activity accounts for only 6.3% of GDP. Applying the same split period analysis to the important services sector which has a 77.8% weight in GDP volume shows that the economic recovery in this sector has been consistently stronger under the current Government than during the Labour recovery period. This is based on the monthly index of services volume data, although using the production recession trough periods September 2009 and October 2012 as the base months for comparative purposes.
The services index figures for November 2013 show a 2.6% increase over the year.
The relative strength in the volume of services output growth under this Government compared to under Labour must be partly due to the necessary rebalancing of the economy between the public and private sectors that has happened since the election. During the financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, public sector employment rose 5% from 5.99 million in March 2008 to 6.31 million by March 2010 which would have produced an unsustainable rise in the public sector wage bill. In sharp contrast, the number of employees in the public sector was down to 5.67 million as of September 2013. At the same time the rate of unemployment stayed stubbornly high at 7.9% through the first twelve months of the first recovery period while during the second it has fallen from 7.7% to 7.1% for September to November 2013.
PRODUCTIVITY STILL WEAK
A return to long-term growth in the British economy and future rises in living standards depends ultimately on rising productivity. It is well documented that while unemployment has been falling and output rising in the current economic recovery, labour productivity has not improved and it remains 4% less than the pre-crisis peak in Q1 2008. In 2013, productivity seems to have edged up slightly but it fell again in Q3 2013.
But there is more to productivity than output per hours worked which will rise or fall in any industry as a consequence of the quantity and efficiency of capital employed per worker. A Bank of England paper has demonstrated that future low inflationary growth requires more of the 'secret sauce' that fuels growth, a rise in the effectiveness with which all factors of production are utilised. The amount of this sauce, known as Multi-Factor Productivity (MFP) or Total Factor Productivity (TFP), in an economy is complex to estimate, but there is an extensive international effort to calculate it across countries and over time. The concept is based on the work of Nobel Laureate Robert Solow who showed that the growth in economic output can be decomposed into contributions from growth in labour inputs (in terms of both its quantity and composition) and from growth in capital services. The residual output growth remaining unaccounted for by growth in labour and capital inputs is an estimate of MFP or the 'Solow residual'. This residual can be thought of as capturing technological progress, including the effect of changes in management, business processes and the impact of supply-side reforms.
The bad news from the perspective of the UK economy is that the most recent evidence up to the end of 2012 suggests that the contribution of MFP to output growth has been negligible or negative since 2007. This is the conclusion of the latest growth accounting exercise carried out by the ONS for the years between 1998 and 2012.
Moreover, since 2007 the UK's productivity has performed particularly badly compared to the other G7 countries. Labour productivity has performed worse than every other country in the G7 apart from Italy.
In order to return to more robust productivity growth, we need a series of supply side reforms to boost competition, encourage investment and reskill our workforce. However, policy announcements from the Labour party to increase regulation and taxes have developed into an anti-business agenda. Not only does this agenda pose a risk to the recovery if they were enacted but it is creating difficulties for businesses now which need certainty to make long term investment decisions.
SEVEN PLEDGES LABOUR SHOULD MAKE
As CPS author Tim Morgan has written in a recent blog, "It's worth remembering quite how wrong Labour has been about the economy". The danger now is that its anti-business rhetoric could, by undermining business confidence, cause real damage to the recovery. So here are seven non-ideological pledges which the Labour party could make to show that it is fully behind a sustainable recovery.
Promise to match the Government's plans to achieve a balanced budget by 2018-19 without making exceptions for "borrowing for investment". This will give greater confidence that the party won't embark on a debt fuelled spending binge.
Promise that it will introduce no further business taxes. Labour should say that in order to boost investment, it would keep the corporation tax rate at 20%.
Pledge its complete support for the extraction of shale gas. There are no ideological or practical reasons for the party not to support fracking and doing so will encourage more energy investment now.
Openly declare its position on key infrastructure projects. In particular, whatever the actual merits of HS2, the clumsy attempt by Ed Balls to look like a fiscal hawk may well have caused delays in investment. Labour should end this prevarication now.
Pledge not to add any new costs or regulations to the Government's planning reforms. Building houses requires a long time horizon and pledging to keep slimmed down regulations will provide greater confidence to builders right now.
Guarantee that free schools and academies would be allowed to continue functioning without harassment and categorically rule out sacking teachers without the PGCE. Rule out forcing teachers who are already good to take the PGCE. This is important for the quality of current and future education.
Commit to outlining its vision for the UK's relationship with the EU. Whilst the party may not support letting voters decide in a referendum, consumers and businesses need to know if and how Labour plans to bring about EU-wide reform as well as reform of the UK's relationship with it.
Labour's agenda has also covered many other areas such as transport and banking as well as support for higher income taxes. However, by committing to these seven pledges Labour might go some way to reducing the potential harm of these policies. The party might also provide confidence to business and consumers that it will not damage some of the longer term reforms made by the current Government.
This article is an excerpt from our Growth Bulletin, written by Ryan Bourne and Tim Knox. To read the full article, click here. To sign up for our mailings, use the form on the left of our newsletter page.
Tim Knox
Tim Knox was Director of the CPS from 2011-2017. Before he was Director, Tim was the Editor at the CPS - a position in which he was responsible for publishing papers by every Conservative leader since Mrs Thatcher as well as by hundreds of leading academics and opinion formers.
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NewsSocial Impact Advisors2018-11-01T16:35:47-04:00
Impact and Strategic Clarity Community of Practice: Covid-19 Notes from the field
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Challenge 2025, with Jim Vanderveken of Mohawk College: Building community and opportunity through workforce development
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Nord Stream 2 would increase dependence of Europe on Russian natural gas
The proposal to increase the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline faces several obstacles.
Russia has been recently trying to push through a project of a new gas pipeline which would help Russia to avoid politically complicated transit through Ukraine. After the failure of the South Stream project, Russia's attention is on the project of the new pipeline going through Turkey, as well as on the possible increase of the capacity of the existing Nord Stream gas pipeline. The Nord Stream was finished in 2012 and it transmits natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. From Germany, the gas is transmitted to the rest of Europe. The Nord Stream extension would face criticism especially from the states of Central and Eastern Europe that warned against increasing dependence on Russian gas. Signing the shareholders' agreement has brought on a new wave of criticism from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. The United States also expressed concern over increasing capacity of the Nord Stream, the so-called Nord Stream 2 project. The shareholders' agreement currently exists between Gazprom and several European companies – BASF, Engie, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV and E.ON.
Similarly to other gas pipeline projects proposed by Russia, the Nord Stream 2 would have to be in adherence to European legislation. In practice, that would mean an obligation to give the competition partial access to the pipeline's capacity, which Gazprom refuses to do. Even though the rule does not apply to the Nord Stream, it limits by half the capacity of OPAL gas pipeline which transfers gas to the Czech Republic. As a result, it also limits the usable capacity of the Nord Stream itself. The European Committee stated that it will insist on compliance with the European legislation even in the case of the extension of the Nord Stream. The company's decision to start auctions of natural gas in Europe is worth noting as well because it would make prices across the region less varied than in the past. However, the auctions announced so far concerned only small amounts of gas.
The deal between Gazprom and its partners sparked criticism in the states of Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine, in particular, is worried about its own energetic security and expressed concern over Gazprom's attention. Although Ukraine still receives Russian natural gas through Slovakia, Russia remains its important supplier. Other states of Central and Eastern Europe are in a similar situation. Criticism was joined by Czech premier Sobotka who, as his counterparts in the region, pointed out the contrast between the official European politics of sanctions and the deal between the Russian and German companies. According to Slovakian premier Fico, the Western European companies betrayed the Eastern Europe. Even the United States expressed concern over possible consequences of the energetic security plan in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine also fears losing transit fees that currently bring the state almost 2 billion dollars a year. Poland and Slovakia would lose money as well since the natural gas is transmitted through them.
Russia's intention to deprive Ukraine of its position as a transit country manifested again in Russia's effort to double the capacity of the Nord Stream. Similarly to other gas pipelines proposed by Russia in the last few years, this case causes worry over increasing dependence on Russia as an important natural gas supplier and its subsequent political influence. This is joined by the fear of Central and Eastern Europe for their security if the project should be realised. The question remains whether it is really going to happen, or it will share the South Stream's fate.
How will the European Commission address Gazprom's Nord Stream 2?
Gazprom settles gas dispute with EC, launches cooperation with Eni
EU seeks Russia for Nord Stream negotiation talks


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Democrats showcase Biden's personal tragedies and political experience
Democratic 2020 presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden is seen in a video feed from Delaware being applauded by his wife Jill and his grandchildren after winning the votes to become the Democratic Party?s 2020 nominee for president during the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention as seen at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/Pool TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Plasma treatments for COVID-19 halted until more data collected
Published on 19 August 2020
Democrats presented their nomination of Joe Biden as a return to normal by showcasing his instincts on national security and health care and offering him as a calm (even boring), compassionate man who's overcome relatable hardship and heartache.
Biden's wife, Jill, a teacher with a doctorate degree, shared some painful moments the couple has overcome in a classroom talk praised by many including Republican opponent Sen. Lindsey Graham. Biden's first wife and infant son were killed in a car crash, and after he married Jill four years later, their son died of a brain tumor in 2015.
Biden collected endorsements from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said Biden would help bolster alliances that frayed under President Donald Trump, and an unlikely nod from Cindy McCain, whose husband, former Sen. John, was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. One of the sharpest jabs at Trump came from Sen. John Kerry, who ran and lost against George W. Bush in 2004. "When this president goes overseas, it isn't a goodwill mission, it's a blooper reel," Kerry said. "He breaks up with our allies and writes love letters to dictators. America deserves a president who is looked up to, not laughed at."
Other notes from the convention:
• Stacy Abrams, a front-runner for the vice-presidential nomination, led a hodge-podge of 17 keynote speakers.
• Though the virtual convention format has had mixed reviews, last night's roll call was praised as a delightful tour of the diversity of the U.S. There's some talk about keeping that format for the next convention.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (nicknamed AOC) followed procedural standards in seconding a nomination for Sen. Bernie Sanders, the former frontrunner, but that didn't stop both parties from criticizing what they thought was a divisive play. NBC tweeted that the outspoken representative "didn't endorse Joe Biden" (but later corrected it), and Fox News called it "one of the biggest stories" of the convention. Ocasio-Cortez later blasted NBC for creating a "false and divisive" narrative by waiting hours to issue the correction.
Liz Cheney slams John Kerry's DNC remarks: Surprising to see Dems 'highlight so many failed leaders' – Fox News – 8/19/2020
It is surprising that the Democratic National Convention highlighted "so many failed leaders," Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said on Wednesday, pushing back on former Secretary of State John Kerry's speech that touted the Obama administration's foreign policy achievements.
Jill Biden Is Not Melania Trump – The New York Times – 8/19/2020
As the Democratic Party's experiment in remote conventioning continued with Day 2 on Tuesday, Jill Biden brought the effort to present her husband, Joseph R. Biden Jr., as the anti-Trump in character and conviction to a personal close, and played her part in the drama. After all, if he is the presidential alternative, so she, too, is the current first lady's.
Democrats spurn AOC and uplift Bill Clinton at the party's own risk – the Guardian – 8/19/2020
Embarrassed in 2016, the Democratic National Committee is trying once more to defeat Donald Trump and is proving, at least so far, it has learned nothing from its catastrophic failure.
The world as Democrats wish it to be – Politico – 8/19/2020
It seems as if Democrats are intent on presenting the political climate as they wish it to be, not as it is. In this world, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is the lawmaker who seconds the perfunctory nomination of the loser, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). In reality, AOC is driving the policy conversation among the Democratic base, and helped knock a few members of the House off their powerful perches.
While Nominating Biden In Virtual Rollcall, Democrats Showcase America's Beauty – National Memo – 8/19/2020
The 2020 Democratic convention's roll call vote for its presidential nominee was an entirely new experience. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, states got to nominate Vice President Joe Biden from their home turf, and it was an opportunity to see the best of the country.
DNC gives Colin Powell more air time than AOC and millions of other people who didn't help start the Iraq War https://t.co/RFawpPSYaI pic.twitter.com/djshHGGTr1
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) August 19, 2020
If Joe Biden is elected, taxes are going to go up. It will cost more to drive a car and heat your house.
His embrace of Hollywood and the far left will come at the expense of the American economy, and we must defeat him in November! pic.twitter.com/3bLoUcb7xe
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) August 19, 2020
The Democratic National Convention is an unwatchable mess. The GOP must do better.https://t.co/4ApmZzpJcT
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) August 19, 2020
He hugs. He smiles. He cries. He cares. He listens. He feels. He embraces. He reads. He suffers. He understands.
Joe Biden does all those good, normal human things that Donald Trump is incapable of doing.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 19, 2020
Jacquelyn Asbie was working as an elevator operator when she met Joe Biden and couldn't help but blurt out "I love you!"
Last night she nominated him for President at the #DemConvention. THAT is the power of the people. pic.twitter.com/Hvg3vi85FD
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) August 19, 2020


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