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Tag Archives: truck
Videos: Vote on wood pellet farm –Adel City Council 2020-09-21
The Adel, Georgia, City Council passed the two ordinances for the wood pellet plant with no discussion, yet with some votes against, and protestors outside and inside, on September 21, 2020. There are still things you can do to stop this polluting project that would export our trees from throughout the Suwannee River Basin and beyond, to Europe to burn, producing yet more CO2.
Protesters outside and in, and the Adel City Council split vote for the wood pellet plant
Below are links to each LAKE video of those agenda items, with a few notes.
See also Vicki Weeks, Dogwood Alliance, 16 October 2020, Industrial Logging and the Wood Pellet Industry Hurt Us All.
And Dogwood Alliance's petition to call on Georgia leaders to protect our forests.
https://www.dogwoodalliance.org/actions/stop-the-destruction-of-georgia-forests/
You can also ask GA-EPD to reject the air permit application. Probably more on that later.
For background, see: Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Agriculture, Economy, Forestry, Transportation and tagged Adel, Adel City Council, Adel Industrial Development Authority, agricultural, agriculture, AIDA, air permit, Buddy Duke, budget, CCEDC, City Manager, Cook County, Cook County Economic Development Commission, Craig Whitlock, Economy, environmental injustice, forestry, Georgia, Greater Cook County Planning and Zoning Commission, Greg Paige, Heavy Industry, Howard McClain, jobs, Jody Greene, John Flythe, LAKE, Lisa Collins, Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, mayor, Miriam Jones, noise, Ordinance 20-07, Phil Morris, pollution, Renewable Biomass, rezoning, Roland Tiveron, Sparks, Terry McClain, traffic, train, Transparency, transportation, Treva Gear, truck, Vivian Sharpe, Walter Stewart, whole trees, wood pellet plant on October 22, 2020 by jsq.
Wood pellet plant: speakers and documents @ Adel City Council 2020-09-08
Update 2020-09-11: fixed document and map links and added form for comments.
The Adel City Council had no questions after their Public Hearing on annexation and rezoning for a wood pellet plant, Tuesday, September 9, 2020, after thirty minutes of speakers for and against.
That was just the first reading. The second reading will be 5:30 PM, Monday, September 21, 2020, at Adel City Hall.
Maps and speakers, wood pellet plant, Adel City Council 2020-09-08
After the meeting I asked the City Manager, the City Clerk, and a couple of City Council members what maps and plans they had looked at. They all said they hadn't seen any, and maybe I should talk to Economic Development. So I asked her, and she didn't seem to indicate she'd seen any.
Yet there are maps and plans in the air permit application to GA-EPD, and others reviewed by the Planning Commission, which, as the City Manager pointed out during the meeting, issued a Public Notice of its public hearing on July 6, 2020. I don't know why these state and county agencies have not published these documents, nor why the City of Adel has not. But those are public documents, so here they are (see Air Quality Permit maps and Planning Commission maps).
Below are videos by Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE) of the pellet plant part of the Adel City Council meeting. See also the agenda and the WWALS letter to the Adel City Council. See also some helpful documents by the Dogwood Alliance
And this handy Dogwood Alliance form to send a comment to the Adel City Counci l.
By the way, this kind of work does take time and effort, so feel free to contribute to WWALS. . Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Biomass, creeks, Economy, Forestry, Law, Quality, Quantity, River, Swamp and tagged ad valorem, Adel, Adel City Council, Adel Industrial Development Authority, agricultural, agriculture, AIDA, air quality permit, Alapaha River, Albany, Altamaha River, Altheia Paige, annexation, Aucilla River, biomass, Buddy Duke, budget, CCEDC, City Manager, conservation, Cook County, Cook County Economic Development Commission, Cordele, Craig Whitlock, creeks, Dogwood Alliance, Economy, environmental injustice, Flint River, forestry, Georgia, Greater Cook County Planning and Zoning Commission, hardwoods, Heavy Industry, Howard McClain, jobs, John Flythe, LAKE, Law, Lisa Collins, Little River, longleaf, Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, mayor, Miriam Jones, Moultrie, noise, north Florida, Ochlockonee River, Okapilco Creek, Okapilco River, Okefenokee Swamp, Ordinance 20-07, Phil Morris, pine, pollution, quality, Quantity, Renewable Biomass, rezoning, river, Roland Tiveron, Satilla River, Sharon Locklear, south Georgia, Sparks, Suwannee River, Suwannee Riverkeeper, swamp, Tallahassee, tax, traffic, train, Transparency, transportation, Treva Gear, truck, Valdosta, watershed, Waycross, whole trees, Withlacoochee River, wood pellet plant, WWALS, WWALS Watershed Coalition on September 11, 2020 by jsq.
The illusion of pipeline invincibility is shattered –WWALS Brief to FERC in Sabal Trail Rehearing
Let's cut to the chase in the letter we filed with FERC yesterday:
11. Historic new circumstances add up
The sun never set on the British Empire. Until it did.
No one circumstance ended that Empire, but it is easy to point at major events that accelerated its demise, such as the independence of India and the Suez Incident. Its fall started after the illusion of its invincibility was shattered by Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience and other events such as World War II.
The illusion of invincibility of the inland colonial empire of pipelines has been shattered by recent court orders about the ACP, DAPL, and others, and especially by the shut down of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the shuttering of the Constitution Pipeline and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. All of those pipelines were expected to be built, and DAPL actually was built before being ordered to shut down and empty. Now the world knows that pipelines are not inevitable.
All these pipeline projects, like Sabal Trail, were opposed by nonviolent protests and political and legal actions. All those methods of opposition, combined with the sea-change in progress to renewable energy, eventually added up to a new and significantly different world than that in which Sabal Trail was permitted or re-permitted.
The shut down of DAPL and the abandonment of ACP as well as the court rejection of tolling orders make it a new world even since FERC's June 19, 2020, Order granting a rehearing on Sierra Club's motion.
FERC should initiate a new [Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement] EIS that should take into account Sabal Trail's own track record of leaks and sinkholes, as well as leaks and accidents from [Liquid Natural Gas] LNG export and LNG transport in rail cars, the speeding demise of fossil fuels as evidenced by record low LNG export prices and bankruptcies of frackers, the court rejections of DAPL, ACP, and tolling orders and how much of Sabal Trail could never have been built through environmental justice communities without tolling orders, the coronavirus pandemic, and the rapid rise of renewable solar, wind, and battery power as evidenced by FPL and Sabal Trail partners Duke and NextEra, as well as by FERC's own numbers. All of those new and significant circumstances make pipelines such as Sabal Trail toxic stranded assets, dangerous to the bank accounts of their investors, as well as to the environment, justice, and human health.
For the reasons stated above, WWALS asks FERC to grant Sierra Club's motion for stay of the Commission's letter order of April 22, 2020, to halt Sabal Trail Phase II, and to commence a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) taking into account all of the above new and significant circumstances.
Third-party inspection, recission, stay, SEIS
For those who are not familiar with tolling orders, they are basically how, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gives federal eminent domain to a private pipeline company, FERC lets that pipeline company take land before any payment to the landowner or even any agreement is reached. Without tolling orders, it's not clear the FERC will ever get another pipeline built.
Here's a longer explanation. Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Economy, FERC, Fracking, Health, Law, LNG, Pipeline, River, Safety, Solar, Weather and tagged accident, ACP, Advanced Energy Solutions, AES, Alabama, Allegheny Defense Project, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, bankruptcies, batteries, brief, British Empire, Carib Energy, Chesapeake Energy, civil disobedience, compressor stations, conservation, Constitution Pipeline, Coronavirus, COVID 19, Credit Suisse, Crowley Maritime, Crystal River, Dakota Access Pipeline, DAPL, demand, Department of Energy, Dominion Energy, Doughterty County, Duke Energy, Dunnellon, Eagle LNG, Economy, Emergency Response Plan, Enbridge Inc., environmental justice, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Power Act, FERC, FGT, Flint River, Florida, Florida Gas Transmission, Florida Power and Light, fossil fuels, FPA, FPL, FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center, frackers, fracking, Georgia, Georgia House of Representatives, Health, Hialeah, Hillabee Expansion Project, India, invicibility, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Expansion Project, James L. Robo, JEP, John W. Ketchum, Jon Wellinghoff, Law, lawsuit, litigation, LNG, Lynn Good, Marion County, Michael Weinstein, Mohandas K. Gandhi, National Environmental Policy Act, Natural Gas Act, Neil Chatterjee, NEPA, New York, NextEra Energy, NGA, north Florida, OEP, Office of Energy Projects, Office of Fossil Energy, pandemic, Phase II, PHMSA, pipeline, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Quintana Island, rail, rail tank cars, Rebecca J. Kukawa, rehearing, renewable energy, Richard Glitch, river, river crossings, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sabl Permian, Safety, Santa Fe River, sea change, SEIS, shale drilling, shale gas, shattered, shut down, shuttering, Sierra Club, sinkhole, solar, south Georgia, Strom, Suez Incident, sunset, Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Suwannee River, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Texas, Titusville, tolling orders, Transco Pipeline, truck, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, water permit, watershed, Weather, Williams Company, wind, Withlacoochee River, Withlacoochee south River, WWALS, WWALS Watershed Coalition on July 21, 2020 by jsq.
How Florida can pick up slack from FERC shirking its LNG oversight duties –Cecile Scofield in TCPalm 2020-01-15
Longtime WWALS member Cecile Scofield in TCPalm, January 15, 2020, Liquified natural gas needs regulation in Florida,
You and a friend decide to go into business together. You draft your business plan and delineate each person's responsibilities for the operation. But what happens if one of you decides to shirk your assigned duties? Your business venture will be doomed to failure.
WWALS LNG Export Map
This is exactly what has happened with regulating a new breed of inland Liquefied Natural Gas export facilities in Florida. A Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) outlines each agency's role in exercising regulatory authority over the siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and expansion of LNG facilities. See https://tinyurl.com/tdhxazn.
LNG facilities are regulated, in part, by Continue reading →
This entry was posted in FDACS, FERC, Law, LNG, PHMSA, Politics, Safety and tagged business plan, Cecile Scofield, conservation, containment, explosion, export, FDACS, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Florida, Florida Department of Agriculture and Community Services, Law, leak, liquefaction, Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, Martin County, Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, Natural Gas Act, NGA, north Florida, Palm City, PHMSA, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Politics, rail, responsibility, river, Safety, south Georgia, Suwannee Riverkeeper, tank, truck, watershed, WWALS, WWALS Watershed Coalition on January 16, 2020 by jsq.
Facebook group: Dangerous Liquified Natural Gas trains and trucks
For discussion and getting the word out, there's a new facebook group, Dangerous Liquefied Natural Gas on Trains/Trucks.
In a March 3, 2016, letter, the Federal Railroad Administration warned Florida East Coast Railway of the danger of transporting Liquefied Natural Gas on the same tracks as high-speed passenger rail. What could go wrong? Do the math…. If an LNG container is breached, accidentally or intentionally, the liquid begins to warm, resulting in a Flammable Vapor-Cloud that can be blown around by the wind, igniting everything in its path. In Fernley, Nevada, the Flammable Vapor-Cloud fire from a tanker truck loaded with 10,000 gallons of LNG appeared to have been caused by static electricity. Flames shot 40 feet into the air and fire officials evacuated the area. The fire burned for a couple of days, before eventually burning itself out.
Photo: Howard Salmon, for Tahoe Daily Tribune, of Fernley, NV, LNG tanker truck fire, 2005-09-14
As that facebook group says, if you want to help stop fires like that from happening in Florida or Georgia, you can contribute to the WWALS legal fund for the pending case against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for shirking its inland LNG oversight duty.
Thanks to Continue reading →
This entry was posted in Fire, LNG, PR, Safety and tagged Cecile Scofield, conservation, Crystal River, explosion, Federal Railroad Administration, Fernley, fire, Florida, Florida East Coast Railway, Gayle Ryan, I-10, I-275, I-75, I-80, I-95, Jacksonville, liquified natural gas, LNG, Nevada, north Florida, PR, river, south Georgia, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Tampa, tanker, train, truck, watershed, WWALS, WWALS Watershed Coalition on October 26, 2018 by jsq.
LNG export through Tampa from Strom in Crystal River
Crystal River, Florida, October 18, 2018 — Strom, Inc. now proposes exporting liquid natural gas (LNG) by tanker ship through the port of Tampa. That explosive cargo would get there by land from Crystal River through densely populated areas. LNG tanker ships would go out right by downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg, and under the I-275 bridge. Strom has always said some of this fracked methane would likely come from the Sabal Trail pipeline. Getting on with solar power for the Sunshine state makes a lot more sense than shipping gas under our rivers, through private property, and by major cities for corporate export profit. Clean energy for Florida and beyond is an issue in this election year.
Map: by WWALS, from federal and state filings of LNG export operations.
Strom "may elect to file an amendment to our application to allow transportation of LNG by LNG tanker," according to its latest semi-annual report to the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) (see https://wwals.net/?p=46497), According to Strom's website it means LNG tanker ships, like this one: Continue reading →
This entry was posted in LNG, Pipeline, Solar and tagged Citrus County, conservation, Crystal River, Department of Energy, DOE, Duke Energy, FE, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Florida, Hillsborough County, lawsuit, LNG, north Florida, Office of Fossil Energy, pipeline, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, ship, solar, south Georgia, Strom Inc., Suwannee Riverkeeper, Tampa, tanker, truck, watershed, WWALS, WWALS Watershed Coalition on October 18, 2018 by jsq.
Strom, Inc. LNG export quarterly report to DOE FE 2018-10-01
What's this about LNG tanker, in Strom, Inc's latest LNG export planning report?
Strom has insisted on liquid natural gas (LNG) in shipping containers since 2014, back when it tried to get FERC to state it wasn't overseeing small-export LNG. Strom still aims to export through the Port of Tampa, and maybe other ports.
"As a direct result of recent Offtake and LNG supply requests, Strom may elect to file an amendment to our application to allow transportation of LNG by LNG tanker."
Does that mean LNG tanker truck, such as I photographed rolling down I-75, and turning onto I-10 for Jacksonville, probably from Pivotal LNG in Georgia?
Or does it mean LNG tanker ship, like this one? Continue reading →
This entry was posted in LNG, Pipeline and tagged Citrus County, conservation, Crystal River, Department of Energy, DOE, Duke Energy, FE, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Florida, Hillsborough County, lawsuit, LNG, north Florida, Office of Fossil Energy, pipeline, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, ship, south Georgia, Strom Inc., Suwannee Riverkeeper, Tampa, tanker, truck, watershed, WWALS, WWALS Watershed Coalition on October 16, 2018 by jsq.
Paddle Outings
$10 per person ($11 online)
Free to WWALS members.
Membership Levels:
Individual $25.00 USD Student $15.00 USD Family $40.00 USD Supporting $100.00 USD Sustaining $250.00 USD Tributary $500.00 USD River $1,000.00 USD Watershed $2,500.00 USD Aquifer $5,000.00 USD
WWALS General Fund
Solstice Light Parade
Decorate your boat with lights
at Banks Lake, December 19, 2020
Tickets $10 per person.
Water Trail Signs
Lawsuit: LNG export
WWALS Online Store
Notecards, hats, stickers, and more!
Buy some stickers:
Alapaha River Water Trail $2.50 Withlacoochee & Little R. WT $2.50 Rainbow Sturgeon $5.00 Water is Life $5.00 Life is Better on the Suwannee $5
WWALS
Z: Facebook Group for WWALS members
Z: Google Groups
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jsq on Please stop a strip mine near the Okefenokee Swamp that threatens both Florida and Georgia –WKFL 2020-12-11
Bill Lefevre on Please stop a strip mine near the Okefenokee Swamp that threatens both Florida and Georgia –WKFL 2020-12-11
Victor Hubbard on WWALS asks GA Gov. Kemp to stop strip mine near Okefenokee Swamp 2020-11-30
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text:
After Liverpool snapped up Sepp van den Berg, who are the Premier League wonderkids aged 18 and under looking to stake a claim this season?
Liverpool snapped up promising Dutch 17-year-old Sepp van den Berg
He is among a host of teenagers pushing for first team action in Premier League
Callum Hudson-Odoi will have to shoulder more responsibility at Chelsea
Tottenham midfielder Oliver Skipp is in Mauricio Pochettino's plans for future
By Will Griffee For Mailonline
With pre-season rapidly approaching, there is a host of teenage talent with a golden chance to make an impression ahead of the Premier League season.
Liverpool fans will be eager to see new boy Sepp van den Berg in action and he'll be among those under 18s desperate to make a breakthrough.
Callum Hudson-Odoi will shoulder plenty of responsibility at Chelsea, Oliver Skipp is expected to be a part of Mauricio Pochettino's plans and Southampton's Kayne Ramsey is another to keep a close eye on.
Here, Sportsmail takes a look at 10 players aged 18 and under who could make a name for themselves.
Sepp van den Berg is one of a number of teenagers looking to make their mark this season
Mason Greenwood - Manchester United (striker)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is more than willing to give youth a chance and Greenwood has long been touted as a future star.
The striker played in three Premier League games last season and already has a taste of top flight action. Rather than swan off on holiday this summer, the two-footed 17-year-old has embarked on an individualised training programme, no doubt music to the ears of his manager.
Clearly there is a strong hunger to mirror his ability. He was top scorer at under 18 level at the age of 16 and continues to rapidly progress. If Romelu Lukaku heads off to Inter Milan, there could be plenty of opportunity for Greenwood at Old Trafford.
Mason Greenwood is regarded as one of the brightest academy talents at Manchester United
Sepp van den Berg - Liverpool (centre back)
The Dutchman is regarded as one for the future after Liverpool snapped him up from Zwolle and saw off competition from Bayern Munich.
But Jurgen Klopp has shown a willingness to throw young talent in should injuries or fixture congestion become a problem.
The pacey, confident defender could target Carabao Cup games for possible opportunities and no doubt he'd relish the chance to play alongside his hero and Dutch compatriot Virgil van Dijk should the chance arise.
Liverpool's new signing Sepp van den Berg is a relatively unknown quantity to many fans
Adam Idah - Norwich (striker)
The Norwich hitman has consistently found the net at age group levels and scored a brace for the Republic of Ireland Under 21s on debut.
Teemu Pukki, the Championship's top scorer last season, has a place in the first team nailed down but if Idah can force his way onto the bench he'll be one to look out for.
At one point last season Idah scored ten goals in 15 games and he went on to win Academy Player of the Year, even signing a boot deal with adidas.
Norwich youngster Adam Idah has an eye for goal and could play a part for the Canaries
Callum Hudson-Odoi - Chelsea (winger)
The England international has made startling strides already and given the departure of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid, will have to shoulder a great deal more responsibility now.
He threatened a move to Bayern Munich last term if he wasn't afforded more minutes but the 18-year-old will be granted his wish now.
With Frank Lampard's appointment imminent, and a transfer ban imposed, there could be a youthful feel to the Blues this season and Hudson-Odoi will spearhead the charge.
Callum Hudson-Odoi is regarded as one of the brightest teenage talents in world football
Kayne Ramsay - Southampton (right back)
The Southampton defender was given a baptism of fire against Manchester City last season but came through with flying colours and has the admiration of Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Saints are renowned for producing quality youngsters and Ramsay looks like the next off the production line.
If he impresses during pre-season he'll give Jan Valery a run for his money at right-back.
Kayne Ramsay (left) made his debut last season against Raheem Sterling and Co
Eric Garcia - Manchester City (centre back)
Any wonderkid would struggle to break into Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side but Garcia has been in and around the City squad for a while now and has a great chance.
Still just 18, the Spanish centre back could have a real part to play next season, particularly if the champions fail to fill the void left by Vincent Kompany.
John Stones' form has been patchy at best and Nicolas Otamendi seems to be sliding towards the exit so Garcia will sniff an opportunity.
Eric Garcia is still just 18-years-old but has been around the first team squad for some time
Lewis Gibson - Everton (centre back)
An Under 17 World Cup winner, Gibson left Newcastle for Everton last year and came on leaps and bounds in the last year.
He has great composure on the ball at centre back and won Premier League 2 player of the month for March.
The Toffees splashed out £6million to recruit Gibson and there has been talk of a loan move to continue his development. That said, he might be a useful option for Marco Silva to have snapping at the first teamer's heels.
Lewis Gibson (right) has impressed for Everton since moving from Newcastle
Oliver Skipp - Tottenham (midfielder)
Mauricio Pochettino has been singing the praises of the midfielder for a while now and the Englishman made 12 appearances for Tottenham last season.
The manager has a brilliant record with young domestic talent and Skipp could well be the next beneficiary of his trust.
This will be Skipp's second pre-season with the first team and he'll be desperate to stake a claim, particularly with Tanguy Ndombele reportedly close to joining.
Oliver Skipp (right) played 12 times for Tottenham last season and will hope for more action
Lewis Richards - Wolves (centre back)
The defender won Wolves' Academy player of the season and will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of other former recipient Morgan Gibbs-White.
Nuno Espirito Santo likes to promote from within and Richards has already turned out for the club's Under-23 side.
He may not be likely to challenge the first team quite yet but has time on the ball and is regarded as one of the club's hottest prospects in recent years.
Wolves youngster Lewis Richards won Academy Player of the Season for the club last term
Yannick Toure - Newcastle (forward)
Toure came to Newcastle from Young Boys in Switzerland with plenty of promise.
He scored 23 goals in 23 games for the academy side in his homeland and was scouted by the likes of Arsenal and Juventus before opting for Tyneside.
The forward struggled slightly with niggling injuries and a period of adaptation last season but may well go on to recapture his previous form and develop into a serious option for whoever takes over at St James' Park.
Yannick Toure was scouted by a host of top clubs but chose Newcastle as his new home
Bayern Munich 'meet with Ousmane Dembele's representatives'... Leeds ready to make loan move for Wolves' Helder Costa as... Another Chelsea youngster set to come back into the fold... 'Raheem is a role model... he gives me little messages on...
Premier League top ten wonderkids U18 looking to make their mark this season

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Featuring Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Tim Buckley, and Iron Claw.
kind.fm was able to populate 7 songs out of the 12 spun on this playlist.
This is a playlist from The Space-Mind Continuum, aired on April 5th, 2017.


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So, how would you feel if I yoinked this idea and did my own 30 days mem when this one is over?
A new(er) version of Flash Fiction meme?
Decided to give this a go as well after following a link to one of algersprig's 30 Days entries.
Day 1 is up at my LJ.


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Hong Kong Customs detects two suspected methamphetamine cases (with photos)
Hong Kong Customs seized about 1.5 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine with a total estimated market value of about $810,000 in two cases at Hong Kong International Airport and Lok Ma Chau Control Point on March 17 and 27 respectively.
In the first case, Customs officers inspected an air postal parcel that arrived from Malaysia at Hong Kong International Airport on March 17 and seized about 1kg of suspected methamphetamine with an estimated market value of about $540,000 concealed under coffee powder packages.
Subsequent to follow-up investigations, Customs officers arrested a 26-year-old man suspected to be connected with the case on April 2 in Ap Lei Chau. The man has been released on bail pending investigation.
In the second case, Customs officers found a Malaysian parcel on board an in-bound lorry at Lok Ma Chau Control Point on March 27. About 500 grams of suspected methamphetamine with an estimated market value of about $270,000 was seized inside the carton box interlining of the parcel.
Follow-up investigations led to the arrest of a 38-year-old man suspected to be connected with the case on April 3 in Lai Chi Kok. The man has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The case will be brought up at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on April 6.
Customs will maintain close contact with Hongkong Post and the logistics industries to step up action against drug trafficking through postal parcel or express courier channels.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to the Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Saturday, April 4, 2020


text:
8 1/2 (1963): Fellini's Oscar-Winning Masterpiece, Starring Mastroianni–Scene By Scene
History of Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, 1956-present.
Year 8: Italian Film
81/2 (Italian title: Otto E Mezzo)
Federico Fellini's 1963 masterpiece 81/2 is a playful, self-reflexive film about the creative process in general and the filmmaking world in particular.
The great Marcello Mastroianni stars as a film director named Guido, who is having a mid-life crisis while in the process of making a new film. His fantasies and memories keep intruding on his work.
8 1⁄2
Original theatrical poster
Our Grade: A (***** out of *****)
Narrative Structure (Scene by Scene)
Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni), a famous Italian filmmaker, is suffering from a director creative block. In the first scene, he is stuck in his car amidst a huge traffic jam.
Stalled on his new sci-fi movie, which is to include autobiographical references, he seems to have lost interest in work and life, due to all kinds of artistic, marital, and personal problems.
While attempting to recover from his anxieties at a luxurious spa, Guido hires a well-known critic (Jean Rougeul) to review his ideas for his film, but the critic rejects them as weak, spineless, and confusing.
Meanwhile, Guido has recurring visions of an Ideal Woman (Caludia Cardinale), young, "pure," naturally smiling woman, who is contrasted with Guido's voluptuous mistress Carla (Sandra Milo). When Carla visits him from Rome, the disinterested Guido puts her in a separate hotel.
The film's crew relocates to Guido's hotel, but he evades his staff, ignores journalists, and refuses to make any creative decisions.
With pressures and anxieties mounting, Guido retreats into childhood memories, spending the night at his grandmother's villa, dancing with a prostitute (Eddra Gale) on the beach as a schoolboy, and subsequently being punished by his strict Catholic school.
The film critic claims that these memories are too sentimental and ambiguous to be used in Guido's movie.
He plans to meet a Cardinal in a steam bath (a scene which Guido plans to replicate in his movie), Guido admits that he isn't happy. The Cardinal responds with quotes from the catechism and offers little insight into his condition.
Guido invites his estranged wife Luisa (Anouk Aimee) and her friends to join him. For a while, it seems the couple will reconcile, but Guido abandons her for his crew.
The crew tours a life-sized rocket ship set built on the beach, and Guido confesses to his wife's best friend Rosella (Rossella Falk) that he wanted to make a movie that was pure and honest, but he can't bring himself to say anything honest.
Carla surprises Guido, Luisa, and Rosella outside the hotel, and Guido claims that he and Carla ended their affair years ago. Luisa and Rosella call him on the lie, and Guido slips into a fantasy world where he is the master in a harem of women from his life. They bathe him and spray him with powder, but a rejected showgirl starts a rebellion. The fantasy women attack Guido with harsh truths about his sex life, forcing Guido to whip them back into shape.
The impatient producer (Guido Alberti) forces Guido to review his screen tests, but Guido still can't make any decisions. The screen tests are for roles portrayed earlier in 8 1⁄2, such as Carla, the prostitute, the Cardinal, etc. When Luisa sees how harshly Guido represents her in the movie, she flees and declares their marriage is over as Guido is unable to deal with the truth.
Guido's Ideal Woman arrives in the form of an actress named Claudia, and Guido takes her to visit a proposed set, explaining that his movie is about a burned-out man who finds salvation in an Ideal Woman. Claudia listens before remarking that the protagonist is unsympathetic because he is incapable of love.
Guido calls off the film, but the producer and the staff announce a press conference at the rocket ship set. Guido attempts to escape from the frenzied journalists, and when pressed for a statement, he crawls under a table and shoots himself in the head.
The crew begins to disassemble the rocket ship, and the critic praises Guido for making a smart decision. Guido then has a moment of revelation, he was trying to solve his personal confusion by creating a film to help others. He now realizes that he needs now is to accept himself and his life for what they really are, and asks Luisa to do the same.
Some musical clowns, led by a young Guido, transform the rocket ship set into a circus, leading all the men and women of Guido's life down the steps of the set. Using a megaphone, Guido directs them into a circus ring. It is Carla who opens his eyes, claiming that Guido can't do without the people in his life. In the end, after doubts and hesitations, Guido and Louisa join the men and women, who hold hands and run around the circle.
Film's Conception
The film was conceived in the summer of 1960, when Fellini and his wife-actress Guilietta Masina visited the island of Ischia, near Naples. Fellini later said: "I went for a rest cure, at a moment when things were at a low ebb. I was in limbo, taking stock of myself. I needed to reconcile my fears. I asked myself the usual questions: `Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I going?'"
Having starred in Fellini's previous film, the smash hit "La Dolce Vita," the great Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, Fellini's alter-ego, a director coming off a huge hit. Desperately needing rest, he goes to a spa to regain his strength, clear his mind, and recharge his batteries. But peace of mind and relaxation are not in his cards, and he is constantly interrupted by his producer, screenwriter, his frustrated wife (Anouk Aimee), his mistress (Sandra Milo), and others, all of whom want something from him–more details about his new project, more attention, more love, and so on.
Facing a creative block, Guido spends his time fending off all those who harass hi, including collaborators, fan audiences, and reporters, while hovering between past, present, and future to the point where all time frames blur in a fusion of fantasy and reality.
Production values are seductive in each department, cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo, music by the great composer Nino Rota, production numbers and costume design. The Oscar-nominated and winning movie is a treat to the eyes and to the ears.
Fellini might have been influenced by Jungian thought during the production of 8 1/2. He once claimed that reading Jung "encouraged and favored the contact with deeper and more stimulating areas, and provoked fantasy in me."
Fellini also once said that 8 1/2 was an attempt to explore these deeper areas of himself, "to throw off my back the upbringing I have had; that is, to try to uneducate myself, to recapture a virginal unavailability and a new type of person with an individual education."
Critical acclaim for the film was universal, and many reviewers compared Fellini to Proust, Joyce, and Bergman. For example, Dwight Macdonald called 8 1/2 "the most brilliant, varied, and entertaining movie since Citizen Kane."
Fellini was born to a farming and trading family in the coastal town of Rimini in 1920. As a young man, he wound up in Rome and tried to become a journalist. Fellini began his film career in the Italian neo-realist movement, which started at the end of World War II. He collaborated with Roberto Rossellini on the screenplays for the classic neo-realistic films "Open City" (1946) and "Paisan" (1946). Eventually, Fellini was to become the best-known Italian filmmaker outside of the country.
Though nominated multiple times for the Best Director Oscar, Fellini had never won a legit, competitive award. He was finally given an Honorary Oscar in 1993, just a few months before he died.
Oscar Awards: 2
Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi
Anouk Aimée as Luisa Anselmi, Guido's wife
Rossella Falk as Rossella, Luisa's friend and Guido's confidante
Sandra Milo as Carla, Guido's mistress
Claudia Cardinale as Claudia, movie star cast as Ideal Woman
Simonetta Simeoni as young girl
Guido Alberti as Pace, a film producer
Mario Conocchia as Mario Conocchia, Guido's assistant
Bruno Agostini as Bruno Agostini, the production director
Cesarino Miceli Picardi as Cesarino, the production supervisor
Jean Rougeul as Carini Daumier, a film critic
Mario Pisu as Mario Mezzabotta, Guido's friend
Barbara Steele as Gloria Morin, Mezzabotta's new girlfriend
Madeleine Lebeau as Madeleine, a French actress
Caterina Boratto as a mysterious lady in the hotel
Eddra Gale as La Saraghina, a prostitute
Eugene Walter as an American journalist
Mary Indovino as Maya, the clairvoyant
Ian Dallas as Maurice, Maya's assistant
Giuditta Rissone as Guido's mother
Produced by Angelo Rizzoli
Screenplay by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rondi, story by Fellini and Flaiano
Music by Nino Rota
Cinematography Gianni Di Venanzo
Edited by Leo Catozzo
Production company: Cineriz, Francinex
Box office $3.5 million (rentals)
Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK


In my opinion, his best explanation for most inexplicable events is "masking phenomena." That is, SOMEthing is going on, but we don't know what we are seeing and have no language to describe it, so we "mask" it in terms with which we are familiar. Hence, "elves," or maybe, "aliens," depending on your culture.
My favorite book by Jerome Clark is UNEXPLAINED!, containing capsule summaries (and commentary) about many different kinds of paranormal phenomena.
BTW, documented UFO sightings have included airships (dirigibles and blimps, from long before such were practical), sailing ships (fully rigged and sailing in the air), and flying humanoids (some really creepy descriptions there). There is a small subset of unidentified underwater vehicles (from the time before submarines were invented), and even a few sightings of unidentified vehicles that could do both (fly and dive).


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Mike Delguidice & Big Shot
https://bigshottributeband.com/
Mike DelGuidice
"They had a hard time convincing me it wasn't me. It's uncanny."
– BILLY JOEL in the New York Times
Mike DelGuidice, one of Long Island's most celebrated performers. After 18 years of playing Billy Joel's music in his band Big Shot, Mike DelGuidice now lives a dream come true. In October of 2013, Billy Joel heard Mike sing, and personally hired Mike to join his band. Mike's encyclopedic knowledge of the Billy Joel catalog made him a perfect fit as background vocalist and guitarist for BILLY JOEL. And now you can see Mike on tour with Billy Joel all over the US & world in major arenas and stadiums including every month at the iconic Madison Square Garden.
Mike is a brilliant vocalist and composer and a master of several instruments including bass guitar, guitar, piano and drums.
He is the author of two albums "My Street" and "Miller Place" and several of his new songs are currently under favored consideration for film soundtracks, including Mike's song, "Ordinary Guy" which is the theme song for the Keven James sitcom, "Kevin Can Wait".
Mike now juggles his busy schedule with his band Big Shot along with weekly shows around the USA and abroad with Billy Joel.


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Love Island twins John and Tony: 'Guys are always jealous of us'
John and Tony promise that they'll spice things up in the Love Island villa.
By Catriona Wightman
The 12 Love Island contestants got a surprise on Sunday's launch show when twins John and Tony Alberti arrived at the villa as late entrants.
Speaking to Digital Spy and others in Mallorca last week, the 29-year-old brothers promised that they would be a "massive shock" for the group.
"They're never going to expect twins!" Tony said. "So it's going to be a lot of fun."
He added: "Going in there our plan is to choose the two prettiest girls and just go for them. As soon as the guys see us they're going to know it's game over and the girls will know it's game on."
John agreed: "I think we'll have the pick of the bunch when we go in there. The guys are going to hate it, it's going to be brilliant."
The brothers promised that they will "play a lot of games" with the men and added that their Italian heritage means that they're very romantic.
"I love the whole fairytale and things like that, romancing girls, sweeping them off their feet," John said, while Tony added: "We've watched every romcom going so we know all the moves, all the lines. None of the guys will be able to flirt or romance like we do."
The duo promised to "spice things up a bit" but admitted that they won't be having sex on camera, as John said: "All the other guys are a dime a dozen so they're all going to be trying to do that. We want to be classy, we want those kind of moments to be private."
The twins - who vowed to share everything fifty fifty if one of them wins ("We'll be the last two," Tony predicted) - also revealed that they have a "massive advantage" over the other contestants.
"Because there's two of us, we're already a step ahead of them," Tony said. "Two heads are better than one so we're just going to go in there and smash it."
And they admitted that they're used to men being jealous of them, as Tony revealed: "They hate on us all the time so we thrive on it. We'll definitely fight our corner and speak our minds."
John explained that men always think they're chatting up their girlfriends, while Tony added: "Or they think their girlfriends like us. But it's not our fault. 99% of the time they do. Guys are jealous anyway regardless of that. You know you're doing something right if they're jealous of you."
The brothers added that they will go in "all guns blazing" and wouldn't have any qualms about breaking up a couple, admitting that they thought they might end up on their own... with the girls.
"All the girls on one side with us and all the guys on the other side," Tony joked. "But I'm sure there'll be some nice guys in there we'll make friends with. We want to have a good time and have fun but we are competitive and we are going in to win – we're not going in there to make friends."
Love Island airs on ITV2.
More From Love Island
Love Islander poses with Too Hot to Handle star
Love Island star opens up about gambling addiction
Love Island's Olivia puts baby plans on hold
Love Island's Tom Walker weds in secret ceremony
Love Island US stars confirm split on social media
Laura Whitmore reveals who saved her relationship
Love Island stars introduce cute new puppy
Zara Holland fined after breaking isolation rules
Love Island's Shaughna clears up romance confusion
Love Island's Zara Holland apologises to Barbados


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Insights / September 24, 2019
Japan's positive direction is leading to attractive investment opportunities.
In the post-World War II period from 1960 through 1990, Japan enjoyed exponential economic growth. By 1989, following 10% average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth throughout the 1960s and 5% growth throughout most of the 1970s, Japan was the second-largest global economy.
The economic boom spilled into homes around the world. Even as (Yokohama-based) JVC pitted its VHS recorders against (Tokyo-based) Sony's Betamax format, new Japanese products like the Sony Walkman and the Nintendo Entertainment System became revolutionary global icons. Meanwhile, Japan saw its overall manufacturing base rise to dominant levels, becoming the world's largest automotive manufacturer in 1980, thanks to the efforts of companies like Nissan, Honda and Toyota. As the 1980s concluded, eight of the top 10 global companies by market capitalization were Japanese, with Japan astonishingly accounting for 45% of all global market capitalization.
But 1991 would prove the asset-price bubble that had developed over five years unsustainable as Japan dramatically entered a prolonged period of halted economic growth. By 2009, what had been dubbed "the lost decade" that began in 1991 had stretched into the "lost score" or "lost 20 years," as Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped nearly 80% below its 1989 high.
Unsurprisingly, this dramatic reversal of fortunes during the 1990s and 2000s presented a very tough backdrop for investors to make money and no doubt continues to give some investors pause. When we raise the topic of investing in Japan, we typically receive comments like "Japan's population is shrinking," "the economy isn't growing" and "Japan has been in deflation for two decades." While these comments are true, they miss a big part of the real picture regarding what's happening in Japan.
Fortunately, since 2012, we've identified a number of positive changes—many of which have been sparked by policies introduced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, collectively known as "Abenomics." Not only is Japan the largest country allocation in the international developed market universe, based on the MSCI EAFE Index, but in our view it also remains one of the most misunderstood. In this paper, we discuss some of our reasons for being optimistic regarding Japan and highlight some of the sustainable improvements we've been seeing in Japan's market environment.
INEFFICIENT MARKET WITH ABUNDANT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
In Japan, there's long been a tradition of incremental innovation. This tradition is embodied in the Japanese word kaizen, which literally means to "make better." The kaizen philosophy was first used to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process. Today, kaizen is broadly applied in business and is the process of making continual improvements in managing all aspects of a company's operations—from inventory and production to marketing and administration. Over time, the cumulative effect of small, innovative changes can be significant. The benefits of practicing kaizen may include increasing sales, reducing costs, improving supply chains, gaining market share and providing additional cash to invest in growing the business.
Following the December 2012 Japanese general election, newly elected Prime Minister Abe introduced an economic framework based on "three arrows"—economic policy, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms. The first two arrows were aimed at fighting deflation and providing a more immediate boost to the economy. The third arrow of Abenomics is intended to have a medium- to long-term impact with initiatives aimed at goals such as improving corporate governance, encouraging companies to have more independent directors, boosting business competitiveness, increasing productivity and obtaining better mobility in the labor force.
The broad array of initiatives comprising this third arrow makes it more complex and harder to understand. Similar to the kaizen notion of slow, incremental change, we've even heard the third arrow referred to as "one thousand needles" given the sheer number of policies and initiatives. In addition to those mentioned above, other initiatives are targeted at specific industries or segments of the economy and are intended to stimulate changes in business and consumer behavior. The changes we've seen occurring as a result of third-arrow initiatives have opened up more interesting and attractive investment opportunities and are part of our growing optimism for investing in Japan.
Many of Prime Minister Abe's initiatives are aimed at addressing the challenges Japan faces. For example, Japan has a labor shortage—which is depicted by the following graph. From May 2018 to June 2019, the job openings-to-applicants ratio rose above 1.60, which was the highest level seen for decades. With an aging population, Japan is extending the retirement age. We witnessed this during a recent research trip when an 80-year-old man drove us in a taxi. Another Abe initiative dubbed "womenomics" seeks to encourage women to enter the workforce with policies aimed at improving the childcare-support system, creating a more women-friendly work environment, and bolstering cooperation between the government and companies to facilitate better work/life balance. It's also a great time to be a young person in Japan. We regularly hear from management teams that they're hiring students right out of college, hiring more part-time employees and even starting to embrace the concept of outsourcing.
With unemployment near multi-decade lows at 2.3%, this is leading to modest wage inflation in some parts of the economy—but isn't obvious when looking at overall economic statistics given the structure of the labor market. In 2018, the official part-time employee ratio was nearly 24%, which is up from 19.6% a decade ago. And although Japan's wages have been rising, part-time employees earn much less than full-time equivalents. This spread is even more dramatic when including employee benefits such as health care. A more vibrant employment picture is typically a positive indicator for increased consumer spending and economic activity. The quagmire in Japan's case is that consumers are saving instead of spending. In Japan, the gross household savings rate as a percentage of GDP increased from 23.5% in 2012 to 27% in 2018. Our research indicates incremental saving is going into areas like health care, due to an aging society and a desire by young people to assist their parents during the golden years. In our opinion, this is one issue Prime Minister Abe needs to address.
IMPROVING CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
One of Abenomics' more important reform initiatives focuses on improving corporate governance. Adam Smith once wrote that obtaining "rank among our equals is perhaps the strongest of all our desires." Japan has taken this approach to heart in addressing a corporate culture that traditionally placed the priorities of internal stakeholders over those of investors.
In 2014, "after decades of de-prioritizing shareholders' economic interests and low corporate profitability, Japan introduced the JPX-Nikkei400," a new Index that "highlighted the country's 'best-run' companies by annually selecting the 400 most profitable of its large and liquid firms," according to a study published in 2017 by Harvard Business School's Journal of Financial Economics. Shortly after the unveiling of the JPX-Nikkei400, and in keeping with Abenomics' third arrow, the Japanese state-run Government Pension Investment Fund (the world's largest pension fund) expressed formal endorsement of the Index, simultaneously lending greater consequence to well-run corporate cultures among Japanese companies.
Since its inception, some have dubbed the JPX-Nikkei400 the "shame index," with the same researchers noting that the effort is the "first instance of a central government deploying a stock index as a primary policy tool to change a persistent behavioral outcome." In short, the experiment appears to have worked, with firms vying for inclusion in the exclusive group. "Many excluded firms aspired to gain entry; many included firms feared future expulsion," the researchers wrote. The direct impact of such changes are difficult to directly quantify, but high-end estimates suggest the novel use of corporate peer pressure may have impacted the valuation of as much as 13% of Japan's total market capitalization in 2014.
Moreover, since these reforms were undertaken, we've seen shareholders demand better performance and corporate directors and management teams become more focused on shareholders. This trend has been evident in improving financial metrics such as return on equity (ROE). One reason ROE had been historically low in Japan was because corporations held excess cash on their balance sheets. Over the past few years, companies have been starting to deploy this excess cash, using it either to grow their businesses or to return cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and/or share buybacks. Indicating the improvements in Japan, the following chart shows the ROE—along with other portfolio metrics—for the Japanese holdings in the Wasatch International Small Cap Growth strategy versus the benchmark MSCI All Country (AC) World ex-USA Small Cap Index.
Corporate Japan is embracing initiatives such as the stewardship code and the corporate governance code. And there's a welcome trend toward more independent directors. In 2014, 21.5% of the companies in the TOPIX—which tracks the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)—had two or more independent directors. Now, as shown in the chart below, more than 93% of those companies do.
More and more Japanese companies are embracing shareholder-friendly practices, which has led to an increasing subset of companies that meet Wasatch's strict quality standards. At Wasatch, we focus on small-cap, high-quality, long-duration growth companies. And we now have a bigger universe of stocks to choose from in Japan. During the past five years, we've seen the number of companies in the small-cap quality universe increase by more than 50%. In 2012, there were fewer than 300 Japanese listed companies with market capitalizations between US$250 million and US$5 billion and ROEs greater than 10%. Now, there are more than 500 companies with that profile.
Not only is the universe of high-quality companies increasing, but Japan also remains an inefficient and misunderstood market—which provides ample opportunities for investors willing to dig in and do the work. Beyond the obvious language barrier, obtaining information on Japanese companies is more challenging than in many of the other countries in which we invest. Many financial reports and presentations are released only in Japanese. This requires us to travel to the country to meet management teams in person in order to understand their business and strategy. On a recent research trip to Japan, we met a company's executives who told us we were the first foreign investors to meet with them. Add to that a culture unlike any other, and we can see why many investors become frustrated too early in the process. Investing in Japan does require hard work, but we believe the potential rewards are worth the effort.
JAPANESE COMPANIES ARE UNDERFOLLOWED
There's also a lack of sell-side or broker coverage on Japanese companies. Nearly three-fourths of the listed companies in Japan have just two or fewer analysts researching them. Many of these are small- or micro-cap companies. The following pie chart shows the breakdown of analyst recommendations per Japanese company. We believe the fact that Japanese companies are underfollowed is one reason for the relatively low correlations in the performance of Japanese stocks compared to those in other countries.
The chart below shows the correlation coefficients of stocks in Japan versus four other developed markets and two emerging markets. Notice that the large/mid-cap stocks are not highly correlated, and that the small-cap stocks have even lower correlations.
Next consider the chart below, which shows the correlation coefficients of stocks in several other countries. Notice that developed markets are typically more highly correlated with each other and that correlations tend to fall when emerging markets are included. Also notice that the country correlations with Japan in the chart below are generally lower than the correlations in the first chart above. In fact, correlations with Japan are at levels that are more typical of emerging-market correlations. What conclusions can we draw from these correlation charts? First, because Japan is generally less correlated with other countries, Japanese stocks can provide a strategy with attractive diversification characteristics. Second, small-cap stocks—which are the ones we tend to find most attractive—generally have even lower correlations and therefore offer even better diversification benefits.
VIBRANT SMALL-CAP MARKET
We believe Japan has one of the most interesting small-cap markets in the world. A vibrant small-cap market is a sign of an entrepreneurial and innovative environment where investors can plant seeds and watch them grow into tall trees over the long term. Within the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index, more than 85% of the stocks are below a market capitalization of US$3 billion. This compares to the MSCI USA Small Cap Index, where just 42% are below a market capitalization of US$3 billion. A more detailed comparison is provided by the table below. In Japan, we've been finding a lot of interesting companies in sectors like information technology and health care, and also companies that are disrupting traditional business practices. Some of our best investments in Japan have been in very small companies that have grown to boast multi-billion-dollar market caps.
Two examples of interesting Japanese companies we've found are GMO Payment Gateway, Inc. and M3, Inc. GMO Payment Gateway is one of more than 100 subsidiaries of GMO Internet, Inc., the largest conglomerate of internet companies within Japan. GMO Payment Gateway provides payment processing services for credit cards, convenience stores, and online shopping, as well as for sales through catalogs and TV. Currently, the company's payment services are used by nearly 106,000 vendors. The success of the company's offerings saw its revenue grow by more than 25% year-over-year, while its online payments business increased by just over 32%.
M3 is a health-technology company that's flourished by helping pharmaceutical companies more effectively deliver drug information to doctors online. Leveraging its doctor network and technology platform, M3 entered the contract research organization (CRO) space a few years ago and has become one of the top CRO companies in Japan. M3's platform automates and optimizes portions of the clinical-trial process to help bring drugs to market faster and less expensively.
Another sign of a healthy business environment is the number of initial public offerings (IPOs). In the five years ended December 31, 2018, Japan led the number of IPOs at 458 versus other developed international countries like the United Kingdom at 386, Australia at 428 and Sweden at 253. A robust IPO market means that entrepreneurs are able to access an efficient way to capitalize their businesses and grow. We see Japan's IPO market as providing a more dynamic small-cap universe and future investment opportunities.
The following graph shows the performance of Japanese markets versus U.S. markets over the past 10 years. While all of these markets suffered during the global financial crisis, they have since recovered—with U.S. markets having risen the most, potentially to the point of reaching some of the higher valuations in the world. Japanese markets, we believe, have greater upside potential. And Japanese small caps, even considering their outperformance of large/mid caps since the global financial crisis, have the most headroom for further growth. The table below shows the average annual total returns and the annualized standard deviations of the MSCI Japan Index (large/mid caps) versus the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index. What's interesting to note is that the standard deviation—one measure of risk—is lower for the Japan Small Cap Index over five years and 10 years despite small caps having better returns than large/mid caps during these periods.
GLOBAL LEADER IN INNOVATION
When it comes to innovation, Japan is a global leader. Here, again, the assimilation of the kaizen concept into the corporate culture shines through. Japanese research and development spending as a percentage of nominal GDP is the fourth highest in the world and has been increasing over the last two decades as shown in the graph below. In 2018, a Japanese scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, which was the 19th Nobel Prize for Japan since 2000, making it the third-largest recipient of Nobel Prizes this century—trailing only the United States and the U.K. (among whose cumulative winners are an additional five Nobel laureates either born in or claiming citizenship in Japan). And in early 2019, Japan led the list of Derwent (formerly Clarivate Analytics) Top 100 Global Innovators with a total of 39 companies.
MISUMI Group, Inc., a current Wasatch holding, was established in 1963 and has grown to become a leading manufacturer of dies and factory items such as nuts and bolts. MISUMI's corporate mission statement and history shows a commitment to kaizen. In 2014, the company won the "innovations in manufacturing processes" award from the Japan Management Association. The company is an industry leader in logistics, where scale and speed are important metrics. With a heavy investment in rapid logistics between Japan, China and Vietnam, MISUMI has also entered the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) business. Combine the radical innovation of big ideas being brought to market by Japan's entrepreneurs and the incremental innovations of practicing kaizen, and you get a dynamic business culture that can hold its own on the world stage and provide attractive opportunities for investors.
WILLINGNESS TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY
We're witnessing a generational change unfold in Japan. There's a wave of younger and more vibrant CEOs leading Japan's companies of the future. We look for CEOs who understand Japan's economic landscape but bring a different perspective, perhaps having worked or been educated abroad. When SoftBank Group Corp. listed in 1994, it was a small-cap stock. But the company now boasts a US$90 billion-plus market cap. SoftBank's founder and now Chairman, Masayoshi Son, was educated in the United States. His vision and ability to adapt the business over the years led to the company's success.
Another important change we're seeing in Japan is management teams' willingness to do things differently. Despite Japan's reputation as a technological leader, its online sector has been slower to develop than one might expect. But this is changing. We've been finding many interesting Japanese companies where management teams understand what makes a successful business model or what are the best practices being used by companies globally, and seek to replicate them in their own businesses. Given the social and cultural barriers, it's very difficult for large global companies to penetrate the Japanese market—leaving a lot of opportunities for local entrepreneurial companies to more fully develop their industries.
The level of patent applications is one measure of a country's willingness to try new things. By this measure, as indicated in the chart below, Japan is a global leader. In many of Japan's industries, traditional distribution channels had been entrenched. But now we see more companies willing to disrupt those channels, and they often use technology to enable this. A good example is Wasatch holding MonotaRO Co. Ltd. The company created an online distribution channel for the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) industry. MonotaRO provides customers with a solution that is less expensive, is delivered faster and provides outstanding customer service compared to traditional-channel rivals. Furthermore, we believe MonotaRO is building a sustainable competitive advantage with a strong infrastructure in the form of technology (including integration with customers' systems) and a physical warehouse presence nationwide. MonotaRO is a leading online player in the MRO industry, yet controls just 2% of the industry in Japan. That figure could go much higher, in our view. We see tremendous potential for Japanese companies willing to do things differently, especially as market reforms take place.
CONSOLIDATION OF FRAGMENTED INDUSTRIES
Japan is home to many fragmented industries. In much of the developed world, a few large companies generally come to dominate some 60% to 70% of a given industry. That figure is approximately 40% in Japan, but is moving toward the global average with factors like wage and cost inflation acting as catalysts for change. We're drawn to companies that can capitalize on this opportunity by consolidating their industries and gaining market share from their competitors. Japan's pharmacy industry is a good example. Wasatch investment Ain Holdings, Inc. is one of the largest pharmacy operators in Japan with over 1,000 locations out of a total of more than 50,000 locations for the industry as a whole. Ain has doubled in size over the last five years, yet the company still has less than 2% market share. In the U.S., the four top pharmacy companies (Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart) control the majority of the retail pharmacy industry. Over time, we believe the consolidation trends that have happened elsewhere will also occur in Japan. In our opinion, the economics are clearly aligned with that trend, especially given the shareholder-
friendly reforms being enacted by many companies.
One cannot rely solely on current economic data to gauge the success of these initiatives. But our on-the-ground research in Japan tells us that changes happening at the micro level are real, and being in the country helps us understand these more subtle changes. Members of the Wasatch research team travel regularly to Japan and have a firsthand account of how the business environment has evolved over time. Our firsthand knowledge combined with our analysis of corporate and country-level financial data have prompted us to significantly increase our allocation to Japanese stocks. Most importantly, we believe Japan provides ample opportunities for investors willing to commit the time and resources to understand the environment and the companies.
Our optimism for investing in Japan is supported by Abenomics, and particularly by third-arrow initiatives that are being embraced by corporations. The adoption of many of these initiatives has helped to broaden the universe of attractive small-cap companies available to investors in Japan. Improving corporate governance has led to improving financial metrics for many companies.
Despite being one of the largest developed economies in the world, Japan's market is still inefficient and misunderstood by many investors, which provides opportunities for hands-on investors like Wasatch to find companies with outstanding investment potential. Being on the ground in Japan, we've uncovered a wealth of innovative small companies that are ripe for investment. We believe Japan is headed in a positive direction. We're seeing this from the bottom up by analyzing the investment potential of individual companies.
We see a vibrant culture of innovation and entrepreneurship giving rise to exciting small companies that have significant headroom for growth by consolidating their industries, expanding their geographic reach and using technology to take market share from their competitors. At Wasatch, we're committed to investing in small-cap, high-quality, long-duration growth companies. In Japan, we're seeing sustainable improvements in the market environment that are supportive of the kinds of small companies in which we like to invest.
THE WASATCH ADVANTAGE
We believe Wasatch is uniquely positioned to exploit present and future opportunities in developed, emerging and frontier markets. We're willing to dig deep to find these opportunities. And we have a proven track record of doing so. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Wasatch Global Investors was founded in 1975 as a small cap growth investment boutique. The firm has spent over 40 years developing unique expertise in the small- and micro-cap space. We launched our first international product in 2000 and have continued to build our international team since then.
DEEP DUE DILIGENCE
To take full advantage of the inefficiencies and opportunities available internationally, portfolio managers and analysts must be willing to do on-the-ground research in order to gain a true understanding of the companies and their markets. A Wasatch cornerstone has always been the deep due diligence applied to each investment we make. Our portfolio managers and analysts regularly travel the world to meet with management teams, who sometimes mention just how rare it is for them to actually get a visit from an investor.
Wasatch believes its deep due diligence can better determine a company's growth potential, financial stability and management quality. The Wasatch heritage is "bottom-up," which means analyzing the investment potential of individual companies.
Another key element of Wasatch's approach is cross-team collaboration. For example, we don't send one person to Japan to determine the best companies in that country. We send a team of members with different backgrounds in order to get a more robust understanding of each company. This team gets together with portfolio managers and analysts who have been trekking through other parts of the world, as well as with the U.S. team, to compare companies from around the globe to help select investments that appear to have the best potential.
Wasatch's research team consists of 34 portfolio managers and securities analysts. Each team member is dedicated to the collaborative, hands-on research process the firm employs in managing its mutual funds and institutional separate accounts.
ABOUT WASATCH GLOBAL INVESTORS
Wasatch Global Investors pursues a disciplined approach to investing, focused on bottom-up, fundamental analysis to develop a deep understanding of the investment potential of individual companies. In making investment decisions, the portfolio managers employ a uniquely collaborative process to leverage the knowledge and skill of the entire Wasatch research team.
Wasatch Global Investors is an employee-owned investment advisor founded in 1975 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The firm had $18.5 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2019. Wasatch Global Investors is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
RISKS AND DISCLOSURES
Investing in foreign securities entails special risks, such as currency fluctuations and political uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the prospectus. Investing in small- and micro-cap funds will be more volatile and loss of principal could be greater than investing in large cap or more diversified funds.
Diversification does not eliminate the risk of experiencing investment losses.
Information in this document regarding market or economic trends or the factors influencing historical or future performance reflects the opinions of management as of the date of this document. These statements should not be relied upon for any other purpose. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and there is no guarantee that the market forecasts discussed will be realized.
The investment objective of the Wasatch International Growth Fund is long-term growth of capital.
Portfolio holdings are subject to change at any time. References to specific securities should not be construed as recommendations by Wasatch Global Investors. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
As of June 30, 2019, the percentage of shares outstanding held by the Wasatch International Small Cap Growth strategy (representative account) in the following companies was: GMO Payment Gateway, Inc. 1.0%; M3, Inc. 1.1%; MISUMI Group, Inc. 1.8%; Ain Holdings, Inc. 0.9% and MonotaRO Co. Ltd. 1.1%.
As of June 30, 2019, the Wasatch International Small Cap Growth strategy (representative account) did not hold SoftBank Group Corp., CVS Health Corp., Rite Aid Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. or Walmart Stores, Inc.
Abenomics refers to the economic policies advocated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his December 2012 re-election to the post he last held in 2007. His aim was to revive the sluggish economy with "three arrows"—a massive fiscal stimulus, more aggressive monetary easing from the Bank of Japan, and structural reforms to boost Japan's competitiveness.
The Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators (formerly Clarivate Analytics) methodology is based on four principal criteria: overall patent volume, patent application-to-grant success rate, global reach of the portfolio and patent influence as evidenced by citations. The peer-reviewed methodology was executed using Clarivate solutions including Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) and Derwent Patent Citations Index (DPCI). The index provides editorially enhanced, authoritative and accurate patent data, and is trusted by more than 40 patent offices worldwide.
Correlation, in the financial world, is a statistical measure of how asset classes, securities, markets, or countries move in relation to each other. The correlation coefficient is a number between -1.0 and 1.0. If there were no relationship between two variables, the correlation coefficient would be 0. As the strength of the relationship between the two variables increases, so does the correlation coefficient. A perfect positive fit gives a coefficient of 1.0. A perfect negative fit gives a coefficient of -1.0.
Earnings-per-share or EPS is the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. EPS growth rates help investors identify companies that are increasing or decreasing in profitability.
EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) is a measure of a firm's profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses. EBIT is also called "operating earnings," "operating profit," or "operating income."
EBIT ROA is the ratio of EBIT to the total capital invested in operating assets.
The global financial crisis, also known as the financial crisis of 2007-09 and 2008 financial crisis, is considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year.
An initial public offering (IPO) is a company's first sale of stock to the public.
The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 is a capitalization-weighted index of 400 companies from the First Section, Second Section, JASDAQ and Mothers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
Long-Term Debt-to-Capital is a company's debt as a percentage of its total capital. Debt includes all short-term and long-term obligations. Total capital includes the company's debt and shareholders' equity, which includes common stock, preferred stock, minority interest and net debt.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Index is a price-weighted index of the 225 top Japanese companies (called the First Section) that are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
Return on Assets (ROA) measures a company's profitability by showing how many dollars of earnings a company derives from each dollar of assets it controls.
Return on Equity (ROE) measures a company's efficiency at generating profits from shareholders' equity.
Standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. In finance, standard deviation is applied to the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investment's volatility. Standard deviation is also known as historical volatility and is used by investors as a gauge for the amount of expected volatility.
The Tokyo Stock Price Index, commonly known as TOPIX, is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is calculated based on all the domestic common stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) First Section. It is calculated and published by the TSE.
Valuation is the process of determining the current worth of an asset or company.
Correlation coefficients are based on the following MSCI country indexes and MSCI country small cap indexes. The MSCI Japan Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Japanese market. With 323 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Japan. The MSCI France Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the French market. With 79 constituents, the index covers about 85% of the equity universe in France. The MSCI Germany Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the German market. With 64 constituents, the index covers about 85% of the equity universe in Germany. The MSCI USA Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the U.S. market. With 639 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the U.S. The MSCI United Kingdom Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the U.K. market. With 97 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the U.K. The MSCI India Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Indian market. With 78 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the Indian equity universe. The MSCI China Index captures large and mid cap representation across China H shares, B shares, Red chips, P chips and foreign listings (e.g. ADRs). With 491 constituents, the index covers about 85% of this China equity universe. Currently, the index also includes large cap A shares represented at 10% of their free float adjusted market capitalization. The MSCI Japan Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the Japanese market. With 973 constituents, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the Japan equity universe. The MSCI France Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the French equity market. With 78 constituents, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in France. The MSCI Germany Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the German market. With 111 constituents, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the Germany equity universe. The MSCI USA Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the U.S. market. With 1,804 constituents, the index covers approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the U.S. The MSCI UK Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the U.K. equity market. With 269 constituents, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the U.K. The MSCI India Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the Indian market. With 261 constituents, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the India equity universe. The MSCI China Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the China market. With 237 constituents, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the China equity universe. The MSCI All Country (AC) World ex USA Small Cap Index is an unmanaged index and includes reinvestment of all dividends of issuers located in countries throughout the world representing developed and emerging markets, excluding securities of U.S. issuers. This index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the performance of small capitalization securities. The MSCI EAFE Index is an equity index that captures large and mid cap representation across developed market countries around the world, excluding the U.S. and Canada. With 923 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country. You cannot invest in these or any indexes.
Source: MSCI. The MSCI information may only be used for your internal use, may not be reproduced or redisseminated in any form and may not be used as a basis for or a component of any financial instruments or products or indices. None of the MSCI information is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Historical data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. The MSCI information is provided on an "as is" basis and the user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of this information. MSCI, each of its affiliates and each other person involved in or related to compiling, computing or creating any MSCI information (collectively, the "MSCI Parties") expressly disclaims all warranties (including, without limitation, any warranties or originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose) with respect to this information. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall any MSCI Party have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential (including, without limitation, lost profits) or any other damages. (www.msci.com)
The Russell 2000 Index is an unmanaged total return index of the smallest 2,000 companies in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 is widely used in the industry to measure the performance of small company stocks. You cannot invest directly in this or any index.
The Wasatch International Small Cap Growth strategy has been developed solely by Wasatch Global Investors. The Wasatch International Small Cap Growth strategy is not in any way connected to or sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by the London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the "LSE Group"). FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies.
All rights in the Russell 2000 Index vest in the relevant LSE Group company, which owns the Index. Russell® is a trademark of the relevant LSE Group company and is used by any other LSE Group company under license.
The Index is calculated by or on behalf of FTSE International Limited or its affiliate, agent or partner. The LSE Group does not accept any liability whatsoever to any person arising out of (a) the use of, reliance on or any error in the Index or (b) investment in or operation of the Wasatch International Small Cap Growth strategy or the suitability of the Index for the purpose to which it is being put by Wasatch Global Investors.
The S&P 500 Index includes 500 of the United States' largest stocks from a broad variety of industries. The Index is unmanaged and is a commonly used measure of common stock total return performance. You cannot invest directly in this or any index.


Health insurance in Japan is generally provided through their universal health care system. Medical insurance in Japan is free, and all Japanese citizens and non-citizens staying in Japan longer than a year are required to enroll in the health insurance plan. Health insurance in Japan covers roughly 70% of medical costs, but students studying in Japan will have to pay about 30% of their healthcare costs out of their own pockets.
Medical insurance in Japan varies according to several variables; these include whether the person in question is visiting, working, or studying, their age, and other important factors. Medical insurance in Japan is divided into two categories: the Employees' Health Insurance and the National Health Insurance, a community-based system. Japanese citizens and non-citizens residing in Japan for longer than a year are required to be enrolled in one of these schemes. Monthly costs are generally based on salaries, and coverage for medical costs varies with each scheme.
This scheme generally applies to people who work in private schools, in the national and local government, and in medium or large companies. According to this scheme, employers provide their employees with health insurance in Japan, and the premiums are based upon the monthly salary of the person in question. The monthly premium is taken directly out of the person's salary.
Non-Japanese citizens staying in Japan for over a year but who are not covered by Employees' Health Insurance are required by law to apply for National Health Insurance, or NHI. This applies to the self-employed and the unemployed.
Non-Japanese citizens applying for National Health Insurance in Japan must produce their Alien Registration Card. They must also do this when joining an employees' insurance scheme, going back to the country of their birth, moving to another town or city, or changing their name or address.
Non-Japanese citizens are required by law to apply for medical insurance in Japan upon their arrival. If there is a delay in their application, they may have to make payments for past insurance fees due. To apply for health insurance in Japan, registered aliens should put in their application at the National Health Insurance section of the municipal office in their area of residency.
Some medical treatments are not covered by National Health Insurance or Employees' Health Insurance. These treatments include some pre-natal care, deliveries and pregnancy terminations, voluntary vaccinations, orthodontics, and health check-up exams. For this reason, many non-Japanese citizens choose to take out private health insurance in Japan from a private provider. Those staying for fewer than twelve months may also need to apply for private health insurance in Japan. The Atlas Travel plan is a popular private health insurance option that can be purchased for the exact length of time in Japan.
The cost of the National Health Insurance varies according to the insured person's area of residency. In the 23 wards within Tokyo, the monthly fee in 2010 for people who did not need to pay a metropolitan residents tax was 3,325 yen. People with an annual income less than a certain amount may get a 70% or 50% or 20% reduction on their insurance fee.


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We think you're the coolest. So much so that we want you to wear it -- this is the simplest message to full of peace and a subtle reminder to not sweat the small stuff.
An off-white, natural colored shirt. We are calling it putty.


Running Has Become The Most Popular Sport In The United States Mainly Because Of The Small Start Up Costs Associated With The Sport. Becoming An Endurance Athlete Is Becoming More And More Popular As People Try To Push Their Bodies To Do More. A Whole-body Vibration Machine Offers An Opportunity To Boost Fitness, Increase Bone Mineral Density, Increase Range Of Motion, And Overall Flexibility.
The whole-body vibration machine works by creating an unstable surface. The exerciser stands on the platform with their knees bent around 30-dress and the platform surface vibrates up to 30 times per second. The unstable surface convinces your body that it is falling and the brain responses by sending signals to the body to start the stress reflex. The stress reflex is an extremely rapid muscle contraction, which is the action that is responsible for the main benefits of the whole-body vibration machine. Your body acts as form of resistance training and the vibration of the machine acts as a form of acceleration that you would receive the same effects of running or walking by standing on the platform.
For athletes, both professional and the weekend warrior, they can see the benefits of the whole-body vibration machine which causes a reduction of the stress hormone called cortisol and an increase of the human growth hormone. This benefit alone will help reduce the time it takes to heal from an injury as well as the human growth hormone is well known for increasing overall muscle repair especially after a hard workout as well as new muscle growth. The whole-body vibration machine also increases range of motion and flexibility, when these abilities are increased they will decrease your chance of becoming injured.
According to a study completed by the Journal of Bone and Mineral Researchin 2004 found that using a whole-body vibration machine for 30 minutes three times a week increased overall bone density in hips. Increasing the bone density in the hips is extremely helpful for the overall health of any athlete that either runs, has running part of their sport, or experiences impacts in their chosen sport.
The whole-body vibration machine also increases the circulation of its user. For athletes increases in circulation helps with oxygen delivery to all the muscles of the body. Increasing in oxygen keeps lactic acid in the muscles from building up and allowing the athlete to compete longer and at a higher performance level.
When the platform vibrates and the stress reflex is started it activates muscles in the athletes core. The core muscles are the foundation of all activity and when the core muscles are strengthen then there is an increase in overall performance level. A study has found that standing on a platform that vibrates while still eating the same or smaller amount of daily calories will decrease the size of the torso. Whether you are looking for a way to decrease injuries or you are looking for a way to increase your overall performance level then a whole-body vibration machine should be something you should add to your gym.


November 2011 is shaping up to be quite a memorable month of reading! To begin, it is the inaugural year for Picture Book Month. The daily posts from authors and illustrators have been very inspiring. My family once again made pancakes while reading Nate the Great to celebrate Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's birthday on November 12. Secondly, we discovered that Marc Simont, the illustrator of many books in the series, also celebrates a November birthday which gave us an excuse to read Nate the Great all month long!
Marc Simont, also a well-known political cartoonist, was asked in an interview with WritersCast, which children's book in his amazing 70 year career did he love working on the most. He responded, "Nate the Great is a good series because of the author, Sharmat. She took the staccato language -- way of speaking like a detective -- short sentences which is ideal for that age group. They want to get involved and lose themselves. I was very fortunate in doing those. They have sold very well."
A tree is nice to plant. You dig the biggest hole you can and put the little tree in. Then you pour in lots of water and then the dirt. You hang the shovel back in the garage. Every day for years and YEARS you watch the little tree grow. You say to people, "I planted that tree."
This reminded me of a sapling that my son found, a few weeks ago, in a flower bed in the front yard. He thought it was strange that is was growing there. I suggested that we transplant it in the backyard. We placed bricks around it to protect it from the lawn mower. However, it was certainly missing something. Something to let everyone know that it was an important tree -- one that we planted. We decided to find a way to let everyone know this tree was special to us.
My son gathered sticks from the backyard and he found quite a few in his fort.
We then mixed some concrete in a bucket.
It was chilly outside so we took our project inside. We covered the kitchen counter with newspaper and readied a rectangular baking tin.
My son evenly spread the concrete throughout the tin.
I broke the sticks that he gathered into small pieces. Then, my son formed letters by pushing sticks into the concrete. He used the book cover as a guide. He said when I handed him one stick to make the letter I, "I need two more small sticks for the top and bottom of the I."
Once the sticks were in place we added the year in which we planted our tree. I used a stick to make the 2 - 0 and he used a butter knife for the 1-1.
The concrete hardened overnight and we took our tree marker to our special tree. We read A Tree is Nice as we blew into our frozen hands before my son headed off to preschool.
We looked up as we read the first line of the book, "Trees are very nice. They fill up the sky." We are so thankful for our trees in our backyard.
I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! I am very thankful for everyone that has supported me in the making of this blog over the past year. The positive comments really keep me going. Enjoy your time with your family this week.
Your purchases on Amazon.com for Holidays can benefit Happy Birthday Author! Just click on the advertisement below or use the search bar in the upper left hand corner. Thank you so much!