Since February 2009, there are continuous data of an automatic weather station around 300 m east of PE station. A general description of the instrumentation and results can be found on the HYDRANT website. At Utsteinen, there are two predominant meteorological regimes: cold catabatic (air masses from Antarctic interior) and synoptic (extratropical cyclones, frontal systems). The station and its activities are situated in the sector SSW-N, and as the main wind directions are confined to the sector NE-S, the aerosol measurement container is most of the time exposed to non-contaminated upwind air. Any contamination can further be detected and excluded by the signals of the ultra-fine condensation particle counter and of the aethalometer. Time periods of very low wind speed (<4m/s) are in addition carefully looked at .
The Brewer ozone spectrophotometer on the northern roof of the station takes measurements of the incoming UV radiation between 286 to 363 nm. These measurements are used to derive the total amount of atmospheric ozone in the atmosphere. Ozone is a strong absorbing gas in the UV-B region. The largest amount of ozone is found in the middle stratosphere and through its interaction with UV-B radiation ozone protects us from this hazardous radiation potentially causing skin cancer. By combining ozone and UV measurements, the UV index can be calculated, a measure how fast skin is burned by the radiation. In Antarctica the so-called ozone hole appears for almost 25 years now each austral spring, destroying ozone almost completely in altitudes between 15 to 20 km, and reducing total ozone by a third or even more. This large reduction of total ozone increases the UV-B radiation at the surface. E.g., on 14 December 2011, a remainder of the ozone hole moved above Dronning Maud Land, reducing total ozone distinctly and increasing the UV index to nearly 10. This extreme value meant that unprotected skin would have been burned within minutes.
The situation was different in summer 2012/13. Total ozone recovered rather fast and the total ozone map over Antarctica showed no particular region of reduced ozone. The measurements of the Brewer spectrophotometer were in line with it. In November and during the first half of December total ozone values were rather high with values above 320 DU. Afterwards, total ozone values (direct sun observations) fluctuated around 270 to 310 DU. Overall, the calculated UV index indicated moderate levels of potentially hazardous UV-B radiation. However, due to the high albedo of the Antarctic landscape, the time span to be burned, indicated by the UV index, might be distinctly reduced. It is therefore strongly recommended to always use sunscreen.
The permanent measurements of the pyranometer and UV-A and UV-B sensors allow in addition to follow in near-real time the evolution of the UV index also during winter. However, for the winter period, no direct simultaneous total ozone measurements are available. Climatological ozone values are used then.
UV index for 14 December 2011. Total ozone was only 230 DU around that day.
Time series of total ozone (both from direct sun and zenith sky observations) and of the calculated UV index for the summer season 2012/13 at Utsteinen.
The sunphotometer measures sun radiances (direct and sky) at eigth wavelengths (340, 380, 440, 500, 675, 870, 936, 1020 nm). One result is the aerosol optical depth (AOD) for the total atmospheric column. The AOD is a proxy for the aerosol amount in the atmosphere. The spectral dependency of the AOD gives further information on the size of the aerosol. Smaller particles scatter light more efficiently at shorter wavelengths and when small particles dominate, the AOD increases thus with decreasing wavelength. From the spectral AOD dependence, the so-called Angstrom exponent can be derived, describing the exponential curve of AOD with wavelength. If this exponent is distinctly above 1 (>1.5), this is an indication that submicron particles dominate. An Angstrom exponent below 1 indicates the presence of coarse particles. Exponents below 0.5, or even negative ones, are signs of cloud contamination or very coarse particles (e.g., during a dust storm, what is not happening in Antarctica). The sunphotometer needs an unobstructed view of the sun for its measurements, so care is taken to exclude cloudy periods. The instrument does also almucantar and principal plane sky radiances observations, and from these further parameters (e.g., single scattering albedo, size distribution) are calculated with a special algorithm (see the AERONET webpage for more information). The data shown below belong to quality level 1.5 (automatically cloud-cleared). In addition, some cloud-contaminated data not detected by the algorithm were manually excluded. The figure below shows the average AOD values from the sunphotometer for all summer seasons since February 2009 to February 2014. The average Angstrom exponent (calclulated between 440-870 nm) was 2.0 +/- 0.6, indicating a dominance of sub-micron particles.
The Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance with Filter Dynamic Measurement System is operated with a bulk inlet on top of the aerosol shelter and an averaging time of 1 hour. The total aerosol mass concentrations (from 24hour running means) are around 1.5 ± 0.8 μg/m3. These values are at the detection limit of the instrument, indicating also that there are not many coarse particles in the atmosphere around Princess Elisabeth.
The aethalometer is operated at a nominal flow of 5.5 liter/min and an integration time of 60 min, with the bulk inlet on top of the aerosol shelter. The mean mass concentration of light-absorbing particles was 9.2 ± 6.7 ng/m3 during austral summers (4 seasons measured), 5.8 ± 4.6 ng/m3 during autumn (4 seasons), and 4.0 ± 3.9 ng/m3 during winter (2 seasons). The mean absorption Angström exponent (370 to 880 nm; derived from calculated absorption coefficients) was 1.5 ± 1.0 during summer, 1.7 ± 1.3 during autumn and 0.8 ± 0.7 during winter. These values of the Absorption Angstrom exponent indicate that several absorbing aerosol types were present, as, e.g., pure soot has an absorption Angström exponent around 1. Some organic carbon compounds ('brown carbon') absorb stronger at shorter wavelength. However, to give more conclusive answers to this, chemical analysis of aerosol filter samples would be necessary.
The nephelometer is operated at a nominal flow of 5 liter/min and an averaging time of 5 min with the bulk inlet on top of the aerosol shelter. The single scattering albedo (SSA) could be derived from simultaneous aethalometer and nephelometer measurements (SSA= scattering / (scattering + absorption ) ). SSA values are around 0.9 ± 0.7. They showed high uncertainty, mainly due to low aerosol concentrations and the uncertainties of the absorption coefficient determination. For Antarctica, values of SSA around 0.98 and higher are expected, however, due to the high standard deviation of the data, we could not give more precise SSA values.
The Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS) measures the number of particles in different size classes. In our set-up, the LAS detects particles between 90 and 7000 nm.. The 100 size bins have been chosen to be in logarithmic scale. In the figure below, a typcial mean size distribution is shown, for 10 January 2014. From the size distribution, the count median diameter was calculated to be 122 nm. This typical size distribution shows that (i) there are hardly any particles larger than 1000 nm and (ii) that the lower detection limit of the LAS around 100 nm corresponds to a peak in number concentration. In lower latitudes or for Europe, in the accumulation size range (100 to 1000 nm) a peak is expected at around several hundreds of nm. That the Antarctic aerosol did show a peak at smaller sizes indicated that there was a lack of precursor gases, necessary for condensational growth of particles in(to) the accumulation size range.
normalised size distribution measured by the LAS integrated for 10 January 2014. Count median diameter was 122 nm.
The UCPC detects all particles between a size diameter of 3 to 3000 nm. The first figure below shows the time series measured by the U-CPC at Utsteinen from November 2013 until end of August 2014. It can be seen that from November to March the mean concentration was around some hundreds of particles per cm3. The number concentration decreased during autumn and winter to reach a minimum in June, July. In August, number concentrations started to increase again. There were also several periods when the number concentrations increased distinctly. These periods have been further investigated, together with the data of the Laser Aerosol Spectrometer and the cloud condensation nuclei counter (see further below). The second image below shows the mean (blue + red column) and median (blue column part) number concentrations for November 2013 ('1') to August 2014 ('10'). During November to March there was a rather high variability, reflecting the influence of air masses transported to Princess Elisabeth station via synoptic scale events (cyclones, transporting air masses from easterly directions, including maritime origin). During the autumn and winter months, the number concentration fell to some tens of particles per cm3. During Antarctic winter, the Antarctic vortex, the atmospheric circulation, forms a barrier for air masses from lower latitude (which could transport more particles). Also during winter, there is hardly any sunlight for driving photooxidative aerosol chemistry and also there is a general lack of precursor gases for condensational growth of particles.
The finding that the concentration of larger particles (> 3000 nm) was apparently negligible enabled us to combine the measurements of the CPC and the LAS (the CPC's upper detection limit is 3000 nm). The combination of the CPC (3 - 3000 nm) and LAS (90 - 7000 nm) observations of the particle number enables us to derive the particle number in the size range 3 - 90 nm. This size range includes the nucleation mode (< 10 nm) and the Aitken size mode (some tens of nm). These size modes are important because increases of them indicate recent new particle formation events (nucleaton mode) or growth of recently formed particles (Aitken mode). Distinct increases mean that the measured aerosol is of rather local origin or has breen recently formed. Aerosol that has been long-range transported over many days would be depleted of these size ranges (due to growth) and would have a dominant accumulation size range(100 to 1000 nm).
The figure below shows such an increase of particle concentration within the period 25 - 27 February 2014. During the morning of 27 February the number concentration increased from around 200 /cm3 to around 600 / cm3. The total aerosol number is given in blue, the size range > 90 nm in green and the nucleation + Aitken mode size range in red (3 - 90 nm). It clearly can be seen that the particle number in the nucleation and Aitken mode was always the predominant size range and that it was distintly increased over a short time on 27 February. The question is what caused that distinct increase. This is subject to further, ongoing investigations. For this purpose, we look additionally into the data of the Cloud Condensation Nuclei counter and into the meteorological conditions.


text:
Безхребетна оксамитова акула азорська (Scymnodalatias garricki) — акула з роду Безхребетна оксамитова акула родини Полярні акули.

Опис
Загальна довжина досягає 1 м. Голова середнього розміру, має конічну форму. Морда коротка. Очі великі, овальні, горизонтальної форми. Вони розташовані у верхній частині голови. За ними розташовані бризкальця. Рот помірного розміру. Тулуб кремезний, гладкий, важкий, потовщене в області черева. Грудні плавці мають трикутну форму. Має 2 невеликих спинних плавця з маленькими шипами. Хвостовий плавець гетероцеркальний, нижня лопать слабко розвинена. Анальний плавець відсутній.

Забарвлення однотонне, сіро-темно-коричневе.

Спосіб життя
Тримається на глибині від 300 до 1500 м. Діяльність слабко вивчено. Активна біля дна, бентофаг. Полює, переслідуючи здобич, проте не здатна здійснювати швидкі та стрімкі атаки. Живиться дрібною костистою рибою, ракоподібними, головоногими молюсками та морськими черв'яками.

Це яйцеживородна акула. Стосовно процесу парування та розмноження немає відомостей.

Розповсюдження
Мешкає біля Азорських островів — у центральній Атлантиці, на Північно-Атлантиному хребті, в акваторії Португалії. Звідси походить назва цієї акули.

Джерела

Scymnodalatias
Риби Атлантики
Фауна Азорських островів
Тварини, описані 1988

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Software made by Roykore, Inc.
ABC Flowcharter, from Roykore is a flow chart diagramming utility for Windows 2.x. It features the ability to link multiple charts together, and easily break procedures in to multiple steps. Includes program disk, and Windows run-time disks.


Please join us an exhibition of local art students, showcasing works of emerging art students throughout the city of Hammond from elementary school through high school.
Fresh locally grown produce plus unique crafts made by local artisans.
train station and we can pick you up. When you call us for a reservations, just let us know; we will pick you up & drop you off when leaving.


In order to ensure safety of this product and the user, please follow these instructions carefully. Authorized personnel should be the only individuals using this product.
The handle is supplied non-sterile. We recommend sterilizing before use.
Note: The cautery tips have been cleaned of residues – any residue that remains on the tips can brand into the tips, making the cleaning process significantly difficult. Cautery tips can be cleaned with disinfectants as well as by an autoclave. The platinum tip itself is sterile, which is indicated by illumination.


We are very proud to announce that we have been invited by BMW UK to visit their UK Headquarters in Farnborough on 31 July at 10am and to celebrate 100 years of BMW we want to get there at least 100 e39s, even more but 100 is the target.
They will put on display for us a lot of new cars including I8 and the new M4 GTS or the new M2 and will provide food.
This event is free and all members are welcome to come with friends in their e39s! e39s are a must!
I'm interested but the FB link does not work.
Link doesn't work + I tried to join several times over the last few weeks but no reply?
I do apologise for my slow replies as I don't stay too much on the forum. If I click it works. It must be because you're not on the group and the event is private for club members so here is the link to join the FB group and after you will see the events also. Admin hope it.s ok to post the link with my group.
Hope everyone had a good day. We believe 90 was the final count of E39s for the day.


What the hell is this strange UFO ejecting an orb filmed in California?
This unidentified flying object was captured on video over Southern California. The UFO—which is producing a corkscrew tail that seems to indicate rotational movement—ejects some round thing that flies into another direction at a faster speed than the object itself. What can it all be?
Meteors often experiment explosions as they enter the atmosphere, but they don't look like the UFO captured in California. The trajectory and the speed of the ball ejected from this object seem completely off. It's unlikely but the explanation for this anomaly could be the camera angle, but it still seems really weird.
Judging by its speed, this can also be an unknown satellite or a spacecraft entering the atmosphere. There have been no official reports at this time and there may never be one because it could be a military satellite or some secret experimental spacecraft. The ball may be a piece of the object ejected in a violent explosion. However, if you look at this video of the Columbia accident, that's not how pieces from explosions act.
Perhaps, however, this unidentified object was supposed to eject something on re-entry, much like spy satellites used to eject film canisters until the 1980s. If it's something experimental, we may never learn about what the hell it can be.
This is may be a possibility, as the US announced last month that they were going to start testing anti-ICBM system. It's definitely not an ICBM, however, as the warheads wouldn't be ejected in that way, as shown in this video of a recent Russian test.
This is the most obvious explanation—it could all be a prank carefully crafted in a computer.


text:
Get access to Prior family records.Start a free trial
Prior Family History
Prior Name Meaning
Southern English, Scottish, Dutch, and German: ultimately from Latin prior 'superior', used to denote a prior, a monastic official immediately subordinate to an abbot, hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble a prior or, more often, an occupational name for a servant of a prior. Irish: Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Mac an Phríora 'son of the prior' (this is the usual origin in Counties Cavan and Leitrim). Some examples may be Anglo-Norman, the same name as in 1. Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan: from prior, probably denoting someone in the service of a prior or a nickname for someone who behaved in a pompous way.
Similar surnames: Priore, Priolo, Prime, Oriol, Prim, Brier, Price, Pritz, Prier, Rio
868 thousand record(s) for Prior
246K Birth, Marriage, and Deaths
24K Military Records
211K Census and Voter Lists
366K Member Trees
Where is the Prior family from?
You can see how Prior families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Prior family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Prior families were found in the UK in 1891. In 1840 there were 45 Prior families living in Ohio. This was about 18% of all the recorded Prior's in the USA. Ohio had the highest population of Prior families in 1840.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Prior surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
View Census Data for Prior
What did your Prior ancestors do for a living?
In 1940, Farmer and Clerk were the top reported jobs for men and women in the US named Prior. 17% of Prior men worked as a Farmer and 8% of Prior women worked as a Clerk. Some less common occupations for Americans named Prior were Clerk and Maid.
View Census data for Prior | Data not to scale
What Prior family records will you find?
There are 211,000 census records available for the last name Prior. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Prior census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.
Search US census records for Prior
There are 18,000 immigration records available for the last name Prior. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.
View all Prior immigration records
There are 24,000 military records available for the last name Prior. For the veterans among your Prior ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.
View all Prior military records
You've only scratched the surface of Prior family history.
What is the average Prior lifespan?
Between 1944 and 2004, in the United States, Prior life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1944, and highest in 1945. The average life expectancy for Prior in 1944 was 26, and 76 in 2004.
View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Prior
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Prior ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.
Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in the Prior family tree

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: JTable column labels not printing I have a JTable that I am using to display data from my database as a print preview. I can get it to print how I want except that the column headers wont print no matter what I try. I add my JTable to a JScrollPane, I have even gone so far as to add my JScrollPane to another JPanel which gets added to another JPanel with everything .setVisible(true).
After extensively traversing the Google-verse, the only solution I have found was here but I am already doing what they said. Here is my code so far:
public class PrintPreview extends JDialog implements ActionListener
{
private JTable infoTable;

private boolean printed;
private int windowWidth;
private int windowHeight;

JPanel scrollerPanel;
JPanel dataPanel;

private int[] idList;
private Connection conn;

private JScrollPane scroller;
private JButton printButton;

public PrintPreview(int[] tIds, Connection tConn)
{
    printed = false;

    idList = tIds;
    conn = tConn;

    setupFrame();
    setupScroller();
    setupButtons();

    this.pack();
    this.setVisible (true);
}

//returns true if printed, false otherwise
public boolean getCloseValue()
{
    return printed;
}

private void setupFrame()
{
    this.setTitle("Edit Data");
    this.setSize (800, 700); //Width, Height
    this.setLocationRelativeTo(null); //Centers the JFrame on the screen
    this.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this.getContentPane(), BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
    this.setResizable(false);
    this.setModalityType(APPLICATION_MODAL);
    this.setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

    //Gets the size of the contentPanel of the frame
    Insets inset = this.getInsets();
    windowWidth  = this.getSize().width  - (inset.left + inset.right);
    windowHeight = this.getSize().height - (inset.top  + inset.bottom);
}

private void setupScroller()
{
    scrollerPanel = new JPanel();

    scroller = new JScrollPane (setupTable(), JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS,
                                JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER);

    infoTable.setFillsViewportHeight(true);

    scroller.setSize(windowWidth, windowHeight - 120);
    scroller.setMinimumSize(new Dimension (windowWidth, windowHeight - 120));
    scroller.setMaximumSize(new Dimension (windowWidth, windowHeight - 120));
    scroller.setPreferredSize(new Dimension (windowWidth, windowHeight - 120));

    scroller.setVisible(true);//*********************************************************
    scroller.add (setupTable());

    this.add (scroller);
}

private void setupButtons()
{
    JPanel spacer1 = new JPanel();
    spacer1.setSize(100, 20);
    spacer1.setMaximumSize(new Dimension (100, 20));
    spacer1.setMinimumSize(new Dimension (100, 20));
    spacer1.setPreferredSize(new Dimension (100, 20));

    JPanel spacer2 = new JPanel();
    spacer2.setSize(100, 20);
    spacer2.setMaximumSize(new Dimension (100, 20));
    spacer2.setMinimumSize(new Dimension (100, 20));
    spacer2.setPreferredSize(new Dimension (100, 20));

    printButton = new JButton ("Print");
    printButton.setFont((new Font("", Font.BOLD, 14)));
    printButton.setSize(new Dimension (130, 35));
    printButton.setMaximumSize(new Dimension (130, 35));
    printButton.setMinimumSize(new Dimension (130, 35));
    printButton.setPreferredSize(new Dimension (130, 35));
    printButton.addActionListener(this);

    spacer1.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
    printButton.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);

    this.add (spacer1);
    this.add (printButton);
    this.add (spacer2);
}

private JTable setupTable()
{
    infoTable = new JTable();

    DefaultTableModel dm = new DefaultTableModel(0, 0);
    String header[] = new String[] {"Case #", "Date", "Officer #", "Offence",
                                    "Description", "Report"};
    dm.setColumnIdentifiers(header);
    infoTable.setModel(dm);
    infoTable.setRowHeight(26);
    infoTable.setFocusable(false);//display only

    //Adds everything to the table
    int idSize = idList.length;
    for (int x = 0; x < idSize; x++)
    {
        try
        {
            String[] values = getInfo(idList[x]);
            values[4] = values[4].trim();
            values[4] = values[4].replaceAll("<html>", "");

            dm.addRow(values);
        }
        catch (SQLException e)
        {
            System.out.println ("Error: " + e);
            System.out.println ("Event-addObjects(): Problem with getting event info");
        }

        infoTable.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 10));
    }

    //Centers the values on the smaller columns
    DefaultTableCellRenderer centerRenderer = new DefaultTableCellRenderer();
    centerRenderer.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(1).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(2).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(3).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(5).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);

    //Sets the sizes of the columns
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setMinWidth(40);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(1).setMinWidth(65);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(2).setMinWidth(40);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(3).setMinWidth(80);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(4).setMinWidth(250);
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(5).setMinWidth(50);

    //Makes the Description column cells JTextFields
    infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(4).setCellRenderer(new VariableRowHeightRenderer());

    //Looks at the size each JTextField would like to be and changes the rows to accomidate
    int column = 4;
    for (int row = 0; row < infoTable.getRowCount(); row++)
    {
        int rowHeight = 26;

        Component comp = infoTable.prepareRenderer(infoTable.getCellRenderer(row, column), row, column);
        rowHeight = Math.max(rowHeight, comp.getPreferredSize().height);

        if(rowHeight != infoTable.getRowHeight(row))
        {
            infoTable.setRowHeight(row, rowHeight);
        }
    }
    infoTable.setVisible(true);//***********************************************************************
    return infoTable;
}

private String[] getInfo(int id) throws SQLException
{
    String result[];
    ResultSet rs;
    String command = "SELECT * FROM Logs_Table where id = " + id;
    Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();

    rs = stmt.executeQuery(command);

    result = new String[] {rs.getString("Case_Num"), rs.getString("Event_Date"),
                           rs.getString("Officer_Num"), rs.getString("Offence"),
                           ("<html>" + rs.getString("Description") + "<html>"),
                           rs.getString("Report")};

    return result;
}

@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
    String cmd = e.getActionCommand();

    switch (cmd)
    {
        case "Print":
            printed = true;

            try
            {

                infoTable.setSize(infoTable.getPreferredSize());

                //Makes the margins smaller
                PrintRequestAttributeSet aset = new HashPrintRequestAttributeSet();
                aset.add (new MediaPrintableArea((float)8.25, (float)10.0, (float)8.5, (float)11.0, MediaPrintableArea.INCH));

                MessageFormat empty = new MessageFormat ("");
                MessageFormat footerFormat = new MessageFormat("- {0} -");

                infoTable.print (PrintMode.FIT_WIDTH, empty, footerFormat, true, aset, false);
            }
            catch (PrinterException ex)
            {
                System.out.println ("Error: " + ex);
                System.out.println ("Built in table print didnt work");
            }

            //this.dispose();
            break;

        default:
            break;
    }
}

private class VariableRowHeightRenderer extends JTextArea implements TableCellRenderer
{
    public VariableRowHeightRenderer()
    {
        super();
        this.setEditable(false);
        this.setLineWrap(true);
        this.setWrapStyleWord(true);
        this.setWrapStyleWord(true);
    }

    @Override
    public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected,
                                                   boolean hasFocus, int row, int column)
    {
        this.setBackground(Color.WHITE);

        this.setText((String) (value));
        this.setSize(table.getColumnModel().getColumn(column).getWidth(),
                     Short.MAX_VALUE);

        return this;
    }
}
}

Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong?

A: Okay, after much screwing around, I got "something" to work.  The "core" problems seem to come down to

*

*Creating multiple instance of the JTable

*"add" the JTable to the JScrollPane (scroller.add(setupTable());), as apposed to setting it as the screen pane's viewport's view

*Addition, unnecessary UI elements which just made it more difficult to understand the code then was required

This example just dumps the output to a file, but it should work just fine for printing.

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import static java.awt.Dialog.ModalityType.APPLICATION_MODAL;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.Insets;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.awt.print.PageFormat;
import java.awt.print.Paper;
import java.awt.print.Printable;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.sql.Connection;
import java.text.MessageFormat;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.print.attribute.HashPrintRequestAttributeSet;
import javax.print.attribute.PrintRequestAttributeSet;
import javax.print.attribute.standard.MediaPrintableArea;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JDialog;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import static javax.swing.WindowConstants.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableCellRenderer;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;

public class PrintPreview extends JDialog implements ActionListener {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new PrintPreview(new int[]{1, 2, 3, 4}, null);
    }

    private JTable infoTable;

    private boolean printed;
    private int windowWidth;
    private int windowHeight;
    JPanel container;
//    JPanel scrollerPanel;
    JPanel dataPanel;

    private int[] idList;
    private Connection conn;

    private JScrollPane scroller;
    private JButton printButton;

    JTable printable;

    public PrintPreview(int[] tIds, Connection tConn) {
        container = new JPanel();
        container.setLayout(new BoxLayout(container, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
        printed = false;

        idList = tIds;
        conn = tConn;

        setupFrame();
        setupScroller();
        setupButtons();

        this.setContentPane(container);
        this.pack();
        this.setVisible(true);
    }

//returns true if printed, false otherwise
    public boolean getCloseValue() {
        return printed;
    }

    private void setupFrame() {
        this.setTitle("Edit Data");
        this.setSize(800, 700); //Width, Height
        this.setLocationRelativeTo(null); //Centers the JFrame on the screen
        this.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this.getContentPane(), BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
//        this.setResizable(false);
        this.setModalityType(APPLICATION_MODAL);
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        //Gets the size of the contentPanel of the frame
        Insets inset = this.getInsets();
        windowWidth = this.getSize().width - (inset.left + inset.right);
        windowHeight = this.getSize().height - (inset.top + inset.bottom);
    }

    private void setupScroller() {
//        scrollerPanel = new JPanel();

        scroller = new JScrollPane(setupTable());

//        scroller = new JScrollPane(setupTable(), JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS,
//                JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER);

//        infoTable.setFillsViewportHeight(true);

//        scroller.setSize(windowWidth, windowHeight - 120);
//        scroller.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(windowWidth, windowHeight - 120));
//        scroller.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(windowWidth, windowHeight - 120));
//        scroller.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(windowWidth, windowHeight - 120));

//        scroller.setVisible(true);//*********************************************************
//        scroller.add(setupTable());
//        scrollerPanel.add(scroller);
//        scrollerPanel.setVisible(true);//******************************************************
//        scrollerPanel.setOpaque(true);//*************************************************************

        container.add(scroller);
    }

    private void setupButtons() {
        JPanel spacer1 = new JPanel();
        spacer1.setSize(100, 20);
        spacer1.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(100, 20));
        spacer1.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(100, 20));
        spacer1.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 20));

        JPanel spacer2 = new JPanel();
        spacer2.setSize(100, 20);
        spacer2.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(100, 20));
        spacer2.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(100, 20));
        spacer2.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 20));

        printButton = new JButton("Print");
        printButton.setFont((new Font("", Font.BOLD, 14)));
        printButton.setSize(new Dimension(130, 35));
        printButton.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(130, 35));
        printButton.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(130, 35));
        printButton.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(130, 35));
        printButton.addActionListener(this);

        spacer1.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
        printButton.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);

        container.add(spacer1);
        container.add(printButton);
        container.add(spacer2);
    }

    private JTable setupTable() {
        infoTable = new JTable();

        DefaultTableModel dm = new DefaultTableModel(0, 0);
        String header[] = new String[]{"Case #", "Date", "Officer #", "Offence",
            "Description", "Report"};
        dm.setColumnIdentifiers(header);
        infoTable.setModel(dm);
        infoTable.setRowHeight(26);
        infoTable.setFocusable(false);//display only

        //Adds everything to the table
        int idSize = idList.length;
        for (int row = 0; row < 10; row++) {
            String value = Integer.toString(row);
            String[] values = new String[]{value, value, value, value, value, value};
            dm.addRow(values);
        }

//        for (int x = 0; x < idSize; x++) {
//            try {
//                String[] values = getInfo(idList[x]);
//                values[4] = values[4].trim();
//                values[4] = values[4].replaceAll("<html>", "");
//
//                dm.addRow(values);
//            } catch (SQLException e) {
//                System.out.println("Error: " + e);
//                System.out.println("Event-addObjects(): Problem with getting event info");
//            }
//
//            infoTable.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 10));
//        }
        //Centers the values on the smaller columns
//        DefaultTableCellRenderer centerRenderer = new DefaultTableCellRenderer();
//        centerRenderer.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(1).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(2).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(3).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(5).setCellRenderer(centerRenderer);
//
//        //Sets the sizes of the columns
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setMinWidth(40);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(1).setMinWidth(65);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(2).setMinWidth(40);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(3).setMinWidth(80);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(4).setMinWidth(250);
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(5).setMinWidth(50);

        //Makes the Description column cells JTextFields
//        infoTable.getColumnModel().getColumn(4).setCellRenderer(new VariableRowHeightRenderer());
        //Looks at the size each JTextField would like to be and changes the rows to accomidate
//        int column = 4;
//        for (int row = 0; row < infoTable.getRowCount(); row++) {
//            int rowHeight = 26;
//
//            Component comp = infoTable.prepareRenderer(infoTable.getCellRenderer(row, column), row, column);
//            rowHeight = Math.max(rowHeight, comp.getPreferredSize().height);
//
//            if (rowHeight != infoTable.getRowHeight(row)) {
//                infoTable.setRowHeight(row, rowHeight);
//            }
//        }
//        infoTable.setVisible(true);//***********************************************************************
        return infoTable;
    }

    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        String cmd = e.getActionCommand();

        switch (cmd) {
            case "Print":
                printed = true;

                //Makes the margins smaller
                PrintRequestAttributeSet aset = new HashPrintRequestAttributeSet();
                aset.add(new MediaPrintableArea((float) 8.25, (float) 10.0, (float) 8.5, (float) 11.0, MediaPrintableArea.INCH));

                MessageFormat empty = new MessageFormat("");
                MessageFormat footerFormat = new MessageFormat("- {0} -");

//                    printable.print(PrintMode.FIT_WIDTH, empty, footerFormat, true, aset, false);
                Paper paper = new Paper();
                paper.setImageableArea(0, 0, 700, 890);
                paper.setSize(700, 890);

                PageFormat format = new PageFormat();
                format.setPaper(paper);
                format.setOrientation(PageFormat.PORTRAIT);

//        printjob.setPrintable(printable, format);
                BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(700, 890, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
                Graphics2D g2d = img.createGraphics();
                g2d.setColor(Color.WHITE);
                g2d.fill(new Rectangle(0, 0, 890, 700));

                Printable printable = infoTable.getPrintable(JTable.PrintMode.FIT_WIDTH, null, null);
                try {
                    printable.print(g2d, format, 0);
                } catch (Exception exp) {
                    exp.printStackTrace();
                }
                g2d.dispose();

                try {
                    ImageIO.write(img, "png", new File("Print.png"));
                } catch (IOException ex) {
                    ex.printStackTrace();
                }

                //this.dispose();
                break;

            default:
                break;
        }

    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The Glenrothes distillery is quite substantial; its ten stills have a capacity of over 5.6 million litres annually. The distillery runs at 90% of this and stores the maturing single malt whisky in the sixteen onsite warehouses. Despite this, Glenrothes preserves a rather artisan identity and have shied away from producing a traditional range. Perhaps it is down to current licensees, Berry Brothers and Rudd, the famed London wine merchants. Glenrothes single malt whiskies are offered as a range of vintages.
The ties with Berry Bros run deep, for during the 1920s they released Cutty Sark, the number one top-selling blended Scotch in America, in which Glenrothes is a major component. The Glenrothes distillery was founded in 1878 by James Stuart and Co. The group had licensed Macallan a decade prior. James Stuart, a principle of the group, left to focus his efforts on the Macallan distillery and three remaining members of the syndicate; William Grant, Robert Dick and John Cruickshank, formed William Grant and Co. Production commenced in 1879.
In 1887, William Grant and Co merged with Islay Distillery Co to form Highland Distillers Company. This included the Glenrothes distillery, as well as the Northern Ìleach distillery, Bunnahabhain. The capacity was increased with the addition of further stills in 1898. A year prior to this, the distillery had suffered a devastating conflagration.
In 1922, Glenrothes experienced another disastrous fire; the No 1 bonded warehouse was destroyed and with it, 2,500 casks of Scotch whisky was set ablaze. During the latter part of the 20th century the Glenrothes distillery was gradually extended until the final two stills were installed in 1989. The official range is good and there have been several independent releases to boot.
Glenrothes 10 Year Old 2007 (cask 10235) (Adelphi)
A tasty Glenrothes, drawn from a single cask and bottled by Adelphi! This was distilled in 2007 and bottled at cask strength in 2017, with a small outturn of 238 bottles. More info
Glenrothes 19 Year Old 1997 (cask L1097) - The Single Cask
Independently bottled single malt from the Glenrothes distillery, aged in a single cask for 19 years - from October 1997 to January 2017. This was bottled by The Single Cask with an outturn of only… More info
Glenrothes 26 Year Old 1990 (cask 19017) - Cask Strength Collection (Signatory)
26 year old Glenrothes single malt, aged in a hogshead cask from September 1990 to January 2017. This was bottled by Signatory for the Cask Strength Collection with an outturn of 179 bottles. More info
Glenrothes 43 Year Old 1970 (cask 10578) - Tantalus (Duncan Taylor)
43 year old Glenrothes single malt Scotch whisky? Good Heavens, who could say no to that? Distilled in 1970, this whisky has had an incredibly long maturation, so it's only fair that it's been… More info
Glenrothes 19 Year Old 1997 (cask 9248) - Ibisco Decanter (Signatory)
A handsome Ibisco decanter filled with 19 year old Glenrothes! This is an independent bottling of single cask single malt from the Speyside-based distilled from Signatory. More info
26 year old Glenrothes single malt, distilled in September 1990 and aged in a hogshead until May 2017. It was then bottled by Signatory for the Cask Strength Collection with an outturn of just 197… More info
Glenrothes 14 Year Old 2002 - Small Batch (WM Cadenhead)
Independently bottled Glenrothes single malt, distilled in 2002 and matured for 14 years until 2016, when it was bottled by WM Cadenhead. 516 bottles were produced. More info
The Glenrothes 2000 (bottled 2017)
A 2000 vintage single malt from Glenrothes, released exclusively for the UK! This was aged in a Sherry butt until 2017, when it was bottled at cask strength - a generous 58.7% ABV. More info
A 1988 vintage single malt Scotch whisky from the Glenrothes distillery in Speyside. Matured in a mixture of Spanish Sherry oak and American oak casks, this whisky has developed a great deal of… More info
Glenrothes 25 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
A 25 year old single malt from the Glenrothes distillery, independently bottled by That Boutique-y Whisky Company! This'll be perfect for raising a toast to ghost with - it's a tradition to toast to… More info
Glenrothes 9 Year Old 2007 (cask 1929) - The Cooper's Choice (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co.)
Independently bottled single malt from Glenrothes, aged for 9 years from October 2017. After a finishing period in a Port cask, this was bottled for The Cooper's Choice range with an outturn of 420… More info
Glenrothes 25 Year Old 1990 (cask 10784) - Xtra Old Particular (Douglas Laing)
25 year old Glenrothes single malt Scotch whisky, matured in a single Sherry butt. This was distilled back in June 1990 and bottled in June 2015 with an outturn of 285 bottles. This comes to us via… More info
A single cask bottling of Glenrothes, distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2017 with an outturn of just 636 bottles. It's a UK exclusive release, which is rather exciting indeed! More info
Hedgerow Berries 1996 (bottled 2016) - Wemyss Malts (Glenrothes)
An appetising Glenrothes single cask, independently bottled by Wemyss Malts. This was distilled in 1996 and set aside to age in a hogshead cask until 2016, when Wemyss bottled it up with an outturn… More info
Glenrothes 19 Year Old 1997 (cask T497) - The Single Cask
19 year old Glenrothes single malt - with a particularly dark hue! This was distilled in April 1997 and bottled in January 2017 by The Single Cask with a very small outturn of only 86 bottles. More info
23 year old single malt from the Glenrothes distillery in Speyside, independently bottled by That Boutique-y Whisky Company. The label features a reference to Biawa 'Byeway' Makalaga, whose ghost was… More info
Glenrothes 20 Year Old 1996 (cask 16) - Cask Collection (A. D. Rattray)
For two decades, this Glenrothes single malt Scotch whisky aged in a single bourbon cask before being bottled by the fantastic A.D. Rattray. A release of 359 bottles. More info
Orange and Gooseberry Harvest 1997 (bottled 2016) - Wemyss Malts (Glenrothes)
A single cask bottling of yummy Glenrothes single malt, independently bottled by Wemyss Malts. This was distilled in 1997 and allowed to matured in a hogshead cask until 2016, when it was bottled at… More info
Glenrothes 12 Year Old 2005 (cask 11601) - Old Particular (Douglas Laing)
Sherried Glenrothes independently bottled by Douglas Laing! This is a single cask single malt from the Speyside-based distillery, aged in a Sherry butt from February 2005 to March 2017, before being… More info
Darkness! Glenrothes 26 Year Old Oloroso Cask Finish
Having spent 26 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, the Darkness! team didn't hesitate to move this whisky into a single rebuilt 50 litre Oloroso cask for the final months of its maturation. It's what… More info
Glenrothes 20 Year Old 1996 - North Star Spirits
20 year old single malt Scotch whisky from the Glenrothes distillery, independently bottled by Glasgow's North Star Spirits. It was distilled in October 1996 and set aside until October 2016, when it… More info
Glenrothes 23 Year Old 1993 - Single Cask (Master of Malt)
Another one of our wonderful Single Cask Series independent bottlings - this time featuring whisky from Speyside's excellent Glenrothes distillery! It was distilled in July 1993 and matured in a… More info
Glenrothes 19 Year Old 1997 (cask 91821) - Chieftain's (Ian Macleod)
19 year old single malt from the Glenrothes distillery, which has been finished in a Pedro Ximénez cask. It was distilled back in January 1997 and bottled in June 2016 by Ian Macleod for their… More info
The Glenrothes distillery in Speyside filled hogshead #19019 in September 1990 and left it to mature for 26 years (until January 2017). After that, Signatory got their hands on the cask and bottled… More info
Glenrothes 1988 (bottled 2011)
Described by Glenrothes' Brand Heritage Director, Ronnie Cox as "a fantastic reminder of how beautifully The Glenrothes ripens from vibrant, zesty youth to rich, full-bodied maturity." This is a… More info
About Glenrothes
Rothes, Moray
www.glenrotheswhisky.com
James Stuart & Co., licensees of Macallan since 1868, begins planning a new distillery in Rothes. Robert Dick and William Grant, both from Caledonian Bank and the lawyer John Cruickshank are partners in the company. Stuart has financial problems so Dick, Grant and Cruickshank terminate the partnership and form William Grant & Co. while James Stuart focuses on Macallan. William Grant & Co. takes over the building of the distillery in Rothes.
Production starts in May.
The distillery changes name to Glenrothes-Glenlivet.
William Grant & Co. joins forces with Islay Distillery Co. (owners of Bunnahabhain Distillery) and forms Highland Distillers Company.
A fire ravages the distillery in December.
Capacity doubles.
An explosion causes substantial damage.
A fire breaks out in one of the warehouses.
Expansion from four to six stills.
Expansion from six to eight stills.
Expansion from eight to ten stills.
Edrington and William Grant & Sons buy Highland Distillers.
Four single cask malts from 1966 and 1967 are launched.
A 30 year old is launched together with Select Reserve and Vintage 1985.
1994 and 1975 Vintage are launched.
A 25 year old is released as a duty free item.
1978 Vintage and Robur Reserve are launched.


text:
Florence Bancaud, née en 1967, est une germaniste française, spécialiste de l'œuvre de Franz Kafka.

Biographie
Ancienne élève de l'École normale supérieure (promotion L1989), agrégée d'allemand, docteur ès études germaniques (1997) elle est professeur de littérature allemande à l'université Aix-Marseille I.

Son habilitation à diriger des recherches portait sur l'esthétique du laid en Allemagne de 1750 à 1914.

Ouvrages
 Le Roman de formation au  en Europe, Nathan, coll. « 128 », 1998.
 Le Journal de Franz Kafka ou l'écriture en procès, CNRS Éditions, coll. « CNRS-littérature », 2002.
 Franz Kafka, Belin, coll. « Voix allemandes », 2006.
 Elfriede Jelinek, Belin, coll. « Voix allemandes », 2010.
 L'Image trompeuse (sous sa dir.), Aix en Provence, Presses universitaires de Provence, 2016.
 Kafka, Die Erzählungen, Atlande, coll. « Clefs concours », à paraitre en 2022.

Notes et références

Liens externes

Élève de l'École normale supérieure
Agrégé d'allemand
Enseignant à l'université de Provence
Naissance en 1967


text:
Obwód chersoński () – jeden z 24 obwodów Ukrainy ze stolicą w Chersoniu. Leży w południowej części Ukrainy, nad Dnieprem, na Nizinie Czarnomorskiej. Od 2 marca 2022 całkowicie lub częściowo okupowany przez Federację Rosyjską, która ogłosiła aneksję obwodu, nieuznawaną międzynarodowo.

Obwód na północnym zachodzie graniczy z obwodem mikołajowskim, na północy z dniepropietrowskim, na wschodzie z zaporoskim, a na południu z Autonomiczną Republiką Krymu.

Geografia
Obwód chersoński położony jest na Nizinie Czarnomorskiej nad dolnym odcinkiem Dniepru przy jego ujściu do Morza Czarnego, u nasady półwyspu Krym. Graniczy z obwodami: mikołajowskim, dniepropietrowskim, zaporoskim i Republiką Autonomiczną Krymu oraz z Morzem Czarnym i Morzem Azowskim. Na terenie obwodu znajduje się Zbiornik Kachowski na Dnieprze, stepowy rezerwat Askania Nowa i częściowo zalesiony, rozległy półpustynny obszar zwany Dolnodnieprowskie Piaski.

Ludność
Według ukraińskiego spisu powszechnego 1 stycznia 2021 roku obwód liczył 1 016 707 mieszkańców. W tym 624 661 w to ludność miejska, 392 046 – mieszkańcy wsi.

Skład narodowościowy obwodu w 2001 roku:

Historia
Obwód utworzono 30 marca 1944 z połączenia części obwodów mikołajowskiego i zaporoskiego. W latach 1802–1921 istniała gubernia chersońska z centrum w Chersoniu.

W początkowej fazie inwazji Rosji na Ukrainę, począwszy od 24 lutego 2022 cały obwód wraz z Chersoniem został zajęty przez wojska rosyjskie i znalazł się pod okupacją. 30 września prezydent Rosji Władimir Putin, po pseudoreferendum, ogłosił włączenie do Rosji obwodu chersońskiego, nieuznane przez społeczność międzynarodową. Po wyparciu Rosjan z Chersonia, od 12 listopada 2022 rosyjską siedzibą władz obwodu został ogłoszony Geniczesk.

Miasta
Największe miasta obwodu według danych z 2016 roku:

Zabytki
 Zabytki Chersonia z XVIII-XIX w., m.in.: Arsenał, cerkiew grecka Mądrości Bożej, Bramy Oczakowska i Moskiewska, sobór św. Katarzyny, sobór Zaśnięcia Matki Bożej, sobór św. Ducha
 Cerkiew Ofiarowania Matki Bożej w Berysławiu z XVIII w.
 Dawne szwedzkie kościoły protestanckie w Staroszwedzkiem z 1885 r. i w Zmijiwce z 1886 r.

Przypisy


The mainstream media and government are communicating that the economy is on a positive track toward recovery while downplaying the likelihood of another economic catastrophe similar or worse than that experienced in the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009. In actuality, there is a significant chance that the U.S. will experience a severe economic collapse, beyond what has already been experienced, either this year or within the next few years. If there is a perceived, sustainable economic rebound before this happens, do not be fooled - the underlying economic problems still exist and will likely eventually surface in economic collapse.
The U.S. has unprecedented, massive amounts of current and coming debt.
Foreign countries have experienced their own crises, and they cannot offer added levels of debt funding for the U.S. Even if they could, they are unlikely to do so.
Productivity is declining, and everything the government is doing is further hurting productivity.
The U.S. is printing unprecedented, massive amounts of money and no longer has an ability to control inflation and deflation.
1. The U.S. has unprecedented, massive amounts of current and coming debt.
U.S. federal debt is now over $11.4 trillion. As this graph is slightly outdated, you can imagine how far off the graph the line will need to go to chart the increase.
The $3.6 trillion budget most recently passed is estimated to incur a $1.8 trillion deficit. The deficit is estimated to add up to $9.3 trillion over next decade. These are estimates by the government, but they include economic assumptions that have already been exceeded.
For example, the budget assumes a max of 8.1% unemployment. We are now at 9.4% unemployment. This means the deficit will most likely be larger than projected.
Even with the current estimates, the deficit line on the outdated graph below will go far off the chart. Also, the federal debt discussed above (bullet "A") will increase over time by the amount of the deficit.
The U.S. has made long-term commitments to fund Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Because of the increase in the retiring Baby Boomer population and the continuing increase in medical costs in the U.S., the demand on these payments is also increasing. Additionally, the U.S. government borrows from already-collected funds to undertake additional spending, adding to the entitlement funding problem.
The coming added debt estimates from entitlements are as low as $43 trillion and as high as $102 trillion. To put these debt levels in context, total U.S. Gross Domestic Product (NYSEMKT:GDP) is about $14.1 trillion and falling.
The graphed values are based on the $43 trillion low-end estimate as of 2008. There are several other estimates all the way up to $102 trillion.
Since this graph was created, there are already significant increases required given the recently reported acceleration of the social security shortfall.
Increasing interest rates beyond 2008 projected levels are likely to add to the debt beyond what is stated here.
Likely slower GDP growth will increase the percentage of GDP stated here.
Healthcare reform is an attempt to ease the blow of the coming Medicare debt tsunami. While it is possible that this will have some medium-term effect on the debt outlay (to the detriment of healthcare quality, of course), on the contrary it is also quite possible that it will quickly add cost/debt, and regardless, the timing for these changes to take effect will have little impact for several years.
Below is a government-created graph of U.S. public debt (i.e. not including intragovernmental holdings, which bring the current debt total to $11.4 trillion) projections as a percent of GDP through the coming decades.
We have already exceeded debt that is 50% of GDP and we are moving quickly past this level given our unexpectedly large current and projected budget deficits.
The data line must be shifted significantly to the left given the recently reported acceleration of the social security shortfall.
Likely slower GDP growth will increase the debt percentage of GDP stated here.
2. Foreign countries have experienced their own crises, and they cannot offer added levels of debt funding for the U.S. Even if they could, they are unlikely to do so.
The issuance of U.S. Treasury securities is how the government gets loans to fund its spending activity beyond what it collects in taxes. If you buy a Treasury, you are giving the government a loan, which it has to pay back to you with interest. About half of public-owned government debt is held by foreign creditors.
The 3 most significant U.S. debt holders are Europe (European Union and UK), Japan, and China. Japan and China make-up almost 50% of foreign held U.S. Treasurys at 21% and 24% respectively. It is unlikely that these lenders will continue funding U.S. debt to its requirements.
Countries do not like our currency devaluation as it hurts the value of the return on their U.S. Treasury investments.
Several EU countries and Russia are significant holders of U.S. debt. All of these countries have their hands full with economic problems in their own countries and with countries for which they are responsible within the EU. Take a look at the current landscape in Europe.
In recent time as Eastern European countries have attempted to emerge as viable economies they have become significant borrowers from Western Europe. As Eastern Europe feels pain, the banks and economies of Western Europe feel pain as well.
China is the largest creditor for the U.S. The country is currently growing at close to half the projected pace before the crisis. The lifeblood of their economy (exports) is declining rapidly, and unemployment is rising quickly.
China is making loud signals about the declining value of their U.S. Treasury holdings, and backing up their words with consistent moves from long-term treasury holdings to short-term treasury holdings. They are also quite vocal about the need for the world to move away from the U.S. dollar to a new global currency.
China is quickly diversifying their investments away from the U.S. so that they do not have so much dependence on exports to the U.S. and the declining value of their U.S. Treasury holdings. They are doing this by investing in other country's tangibles and through focusing more on growing their own domestic economy.
Most recent statistics show China's holdings of U.S. Treasurys now likely at nearly half of China's GDP. Given the country's troubled economic situation in the crisis, signals of looking for a U.S. dollar alternative, and the diversification of their investments into other country's tangibles and their own domestic economy, China is not a reliable source for ongoing elevating levels of U.S. debt.
3. Productivity is declining, and everything the government is doing is further hurting productivity.
Economic productivity is were value is created, which enables the government to collect the money it requires (i.e. in the form of taxes) to pay for its spending and debt. Additionally, productivity enables U.S. citizens to grow their savings and makes them more likely to invest the savings in U.S. Treasurys (i.e. debt). In our current situation, not only is productivity declining, but the government is overwhelmingly hurting the ability for productivity to grow at a pace that would allow our debt to be managed.
-Tax structure hurts productivity - corp taxes, increases on cap gains, talk of national sales tax, etc.
4. The U.S. is printing unprecedented, massive amounts of money and no longer has an ability to control inflation and deflation.
Products and services become more expensive before incomes can rise to afford them.
Dilution of the value of the dollar.
$1.2 trillion Fed balance sheet expansion - expected to expand to $4.5 trillion by September '09. Much of the purchases for this expansion are illiquid, long-term assets that are not easily sold when the money supply needs to be reined in as inflation escalates.
Included is $300 billion dollars for Treasury bond purchases (i.e. quantitative easing) expected to expand to $1 trillion in purchases, especially since interest rates are quickly becoming uncontrollable.
You may ask yourself why we haven't yet experienced inflation given all this money printing. What is actually happening is we are experiencing less deflation (contraction of the money supply, and appreciation of the dollar) than we otherwise would have without the money printing. Any kind of economic stabilization in the near future would cause the excess reserves (held-back credit) now in the banking system to quickly infiltrate throughout the economy and inflation would ensue. However, it's important to note that economic stabilization is not a requirement for inflation to surface and we could see inflation before any kind of recovery.
Imagine if a guy named John took on a bunch of debt above the level of income and potential income that would allow the debt to be paid off. John then tries to float the debt by taking on new debt to pay off old loans hoping eventually he would make enough income to pay off all of the debt - except his income continues to decline. Eventually creditors would not be willing to lend to him and he would default and need to start over.
This is the state of the U.S. government, except for one difference; the government's ability to print money to eventually pay off the debt at a diluted value. However, this makes the government's economic situation worse off than John, who would have defaulted. The below information more directly outlines the current U.S. situation.
Because of the government's bailout philosophy and long-term policy plans, U.S. debt will continue to grow larger. Eventual rising interest rates will add to this debt load.
The debt has to be paid off - If it is not paid off, we will default and collapse.
Productivity and taxes normally pay off debt, but we are becoming less productive and tax revenues are declining rapidly. Also, dramatic tax increases to cover debt are counterproductive to the economy. Even a good case turnaround in productivity is not likely to be enough to service the rapid debt growth.
We are resorting to printing money to pay off the debt, but this devalues the dollar, which hurts our creditors when they are paid back with money of less value than they lent out.
Major creditors, such as China and Russia, are swiftly switching their policies to have less dependence on the U.S. dollar.
On top of these factors and despite what the mass media is communicating about "green shoots" and economic recovery, the U.S. economic situation is not getting better. There are several economic factors existing and forming that could cause an exacerbation of the current situation to trigger a full breakdown of our economic system.
1. The government's bank stress test results were not good, but still depicted U.S. banks as much healthier than they actually are.
a. The criteria used for the worst case economic scenario was about as bad as the current economic situation, and will most likely be surpassed within the year.
b. Recently changed accounting rules propped up the financial condition of the banks to favor better test results.
c. The banks argued aggressively with the government to release better than actual results so that shareholders and customers would not lose faith.
d. The tests were performed in a short period of time. Past bank stress tests have historically been quite inaccurate, and that is under testing processes performed over significantly longer time periods.
e. The tests focused on 19 banks making up about 70% of the banking industry. The other 30%, which are smaller more localized banks, face different kinds of current and approaching problems.
a. Residential Mortgages - estimated $1.1 trillion to $2.6 trillion in losses approaching from non-subprime Alt-A and Option ARM mortgages. Take a look at the below Credit Suisse graph to see the magnitude of resets approaching.
f. Interest rate swaps (NYSE:IRS) - these derivatives add several trillion dollars of exposure in the event of volatile and/or rising interest rates.
Note: The TALF and other government programs are supposed to help stifle the blows from the coming residential and commercial real estate losses. However, so far the TALF has been extremely ineffective. Less than $20 billion out of $1 trillion has been activated because the associated underlying assets are not deemed as good investments. Additionally, most of the key approach through these programs is to support the asset-backed securities and to refinance risky loans. The ability to refinance is highly problematic with dramatically declining residential and commercial real estate values, let alone rising interest rates.
The diagram below depicts how the underlying problems are likely to play out within the banking sector, a current linchpin to the U.S. economy.
Given the banks current conditions and coming wave of losses (residential real estate, commercial real estate, LBOs, etc) described above the diagram, the banks will likely need to be nationalized as the government will not allow them to collapse.
This will be done by converting bank debt to equity and diluting non-government shareholders.
This does not remove the underlying asset and capitalization problems. Instead, the government will print money and take on more debt to cover the losses.
The money printing and increased debt supply will cause a natural rise in interest rates (i.e. to drive demand to buy U.S. debt) and decline of the dollar. If higher interest rates stifle the ensuing inflation, they will also further hurt the economy (e.g. causes more defaults, harder for lending, etc). If inflation continues despite higher interest rates, hyper-inflation is likely to ensue causing an economic collapse.
California (13% of U.S. GDP), New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and other states are having multi-billion dollar budget deficit problems because of rapidly declining tax revenue and over-spending. If this doesn't lead to further bailouts (and therefore more money printing and/or debt), their infrastructures and economies will further breakdown before a leaner spending structure can emerge.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has a $33.5 billion dollar deficit (tripled in the last six months). They also estimate that the auto sector has $77 billion in underfunded liabilities, with $42 billion not funded at all. Pension breakdown is likely to continue to rise with state pension stress rising and as the auto sector triggers additional pension cancellation in other sectors.
Obviously rising unemployment, expiring unemployment benefits, prematurely rising interest rates, rising oil prices, and a weakening stock market will only exacerbate and add to the banking and broader economic problems outlined.
The banking and economic conditions, combined with the U.S. debt situation and money-printing practices, can lead to economic breakdown or more money printing to stave off the economic breakdown. The latter is the more likely case given the government's economic philosophy and direction during the crisis. However, this strategy only delays the inevitable as the underlying problems still exist. The resulting catch-22 of inflation and rising interest rates are what can cause catastrophe.
Loans (personal and business) based on adjustable rates are more likely to default or become more difficult to service.
People and businesses are less likely to borrow or be able to borrow, which can actually be a good thing, but slows the economy in the short-term.
The interest on budget deficits and the national debt increases, adding significantly to the country's debt load.
Interest rate swaps (i.e. hundreds of trillions of dollars in derivatives) run risk of default.
The U.S. interest rate and inflation conundrum is unavoidable as debt is too large, productivity is too low, and money printing is our way of remedying the situation. The U.S. is vulnerable to an economic collapse through spiking interest rates, extremely high inflation (i.e. hyperinflation), or both spiking interest rates and extremely high inflation. The below diagram depicts the dangerous spiral.
Because of America's great history and foundations of patriotism, many have said that we've been through this before, the country is resilient, we've always figured it out, and we will again. Positive thinking can certainly work wonders, but it is also important to not let it cloud the logic behind the critical nature of the current U.S. situation. The U.S. has been a great country, but history shows that even great countries can fail.
As the first several graphs on this page depict, the U.S. is in a situation of unprecedented debt, deficits, and money printing. Additionally, the recent economic crisis has triggered problems in several sectors, and there are new, large problems on the horizon. All of this while policy direction shows little sign of an ability to fuel significant economic growth that might solve U.S. debt problems and cushion the coming economic blows.
Japan had high savings rates and high demand for their exports (core to their economy) from healthy countries elsewhere. Although Japan did not experience a severe collapse, 20 years later their stock market is still around 80% lower than its peak before their crisis and they are experiencing continued economic stagnation.
The conditions described to this point are enough to cause a severe economic catastrophe. However, the recent crisis combined with the current monetary policy direction, add extra elements to the equation that make catastrophe more likely.
Even if they could sell off significant enough levels of balance sheet assets and increase interest rates to rein in money, an economic breakdown would follow because of the newly removed support of the latest grown asset bubbles within the economy.
Hyperinflation is the dramatic devaluing of the currency in the case of a mishandled money supply increases by the central bank. This has happened many times in many countries in recent and distant history, and is most likely when a country has a fiat money system (currency backed by no assets), a lack of confidence in the government, and significant national debt that the country cannot manage to service. To understand the conditions that lead to hyperinflation and the results that stem from it take a look at the hyperinflation periods experienced by Zimbabwe, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and others. Once hyperinflation begins, government tools used to fight it may stop the process, but deep economic pain is not avoided. As outlined at the beginning of this section, the Fed has put itself in a unique situation in which these tools are unlikely to be effective.
The government's bailout and money printing policies distort pricing, hinder economic calculation, perpetually increase interest rates, cause fascist corruption, and leave no ability for genuine economic productivity to increase as entrepreneurs and businesses are discouraged from participating in the economy. Ultimately this is likely to create an environment that makes one of the above collapse scenarios more likely, but stagnation and slow decline can last for many years if not decades.
In the unlikely event that the Federal Reserve succeeds at credit expansion to turn the economy back to significant growth, the new growth will be based on the same artificial fundamentals as our recent two bubbles - the dot com bubble and the housing bubble. A new bubble would be larger and more far reaching than ever and would burst harder than ever, sure to break what should have been allowed to break during the last two bursts, but with added problems from the most recent government remedies.
The worst case scenario, and hopefully the least likely, is war. Throughout history times of economic stress have spurred on wars for various reasons (protectionism, government breakdown and disorder, desperation, the belief that it is an economic net positive, etc).
All of the above scenarios are doom and gloom scenarios. Unfortunately that is the reality of the situation. However, there is a reason for hope no matter how unlikely this scenario may be to transpire. A revolutionary breakthrough, similar in economic magnitude to the industrial revolution or the information revolution, could ignite powerful, genuine growth that would allow the U.S. to grow its way out of its dire circumstances. We have no way of knowing if this will take place, but a couple possibilities might be an artificial intelligence revolution or a breakthrough in a ubiquitous energy source, such as cold fusion.
An strong increase of treasury yields/interest rates - 10-year bonds are used to set mortgage rates. The Fed has tried to suppress these rates through expanding the Fed balance sheet and quantitative easing. Rates dropped shortly after announcing their plans, but have risen against their will since. A strong move above 4 or 5% on the 10-year yield could signal the abandonment of faith in U.S. Treasurys, or the ability for the U.S. to pay back the loans with money of held value. A spike in this rate can trigger a run on treasuries and a stifling of the economy. Additionally, the 1-month T-bill spiking above the current 0-.25% level could have a harmful effect.
A failed treasury auction - Throughout the year, the Fed holds auctions to sell Treasurys so that it may borrow money to fund the budget deficit. There can come a time when the supply of those Treasurys is so high and demand for them so low that not all treasuries offered are sold. This is a failed auction. We have already had a few auctions this year that did not fail, but interest rates on the treasuries had to be raised to entice people to participate, which sends signals that U.S. debt is not very attractive. If an auction were to fail, the consequences could be a run on the U.S. dollar.
A U.S. debt rating downgrade - The credit ratings agencies (Moody's, S&P, Fitch) rate U.S. treasurys just as they would any loan. The U.S. has long held a AAA rating on its debt. A downgrade of the U.S. credit rating would send a loss of confidence to its creditors and potential creditors which could cause rates to rise and an abandonment of the dollar.
A strong drop in the U.S. dollar index - A declining value of the U.S. dollar is a sign that inflation (the increase in the supply of money) is increasing and confidence is being lost in the currency. A strong dip in value could cause an abandonment of the dollar.
A bank holiday - Although unlikely given the potential for bank nationalization, a bank holiday could be ordered if the government believes the public has lost confidence in the banks and fears a run on the bank deposits. Bank business would be halted for a day or so to allow the government to absorb or prepare for potential losses.
Bank nationalization - Given the high probability of U.S. banks experiencing losses beyond existing losses and those projected through the stress tests, the government has put in place triggers to convert bank debt to equity. This is the technical way of saying that the government is taking increased ownership in the banks under the premise that it will instill confidence and health in the banking system. This process will be accompanied with the announcement that the ownership will only be temporary, but the magnitude of the situation makes this highly unlikely. As Diagram 1 above depicts, nationalization does not solve the underlying problems and can lead to a worsened economic situation.
Another economic boom - If a collapse does not happen first, eventually the Fed's massive money printing and credit expansion could artificially boost economic indicators and GDP. Given the likelihood that this would reach all parts of the economy (i.e. rather than just housing or a given sector) the size of the unjustified over-investment could lead to a much more powerful and deep economic bust.
What Can Result From an Economic Collapse?
Imagine if the money you have in your savings account, checking account, or U.S. treasurys, which you thought were all safe places save your hard-earned money, lost half or even 90% of their value overnight. This is exactly what can happen in our current situation. This can have a catastrophic effect on the economy and social well-being.
Further economic deterioration leads to rising unemployment. Unemployment benefits eventually run out. The government has added an extension to unemployment benefits, but hundreds of thousands of people are passing the time limit of the extension. People will have devalued dollars and in many cases no income or hope of income at all.
Racial tensions because Obama ratings may drop and blame could be placed – Various races may attempt to place blame on one another.
Class tension because of a large percentage of the population receiving entitlements and bailouts (handouts) while producing nothing. Entitlement and bailout outlays are increasing while ability to produce/create is decreasing.
With so many possibilities of how the U.S. economic situation can play out, it is difficult to know exactly how to prepare. Below are some ideas that may be helpful as you evaluate your own personal situation.
Don't play the stock market unless you are intimately familiar with the economic situation and investing. There will be continued extreme volatility in the markets and a lot of known and unknown triggers for industries to collapse, while very few winners will emerge. PE ratios are still quite high. The stock market will rise if there is inflation, but the business and currency values won't. For example, Zimbabwe had the greatest performing stock market in the world during their hyperinflation, yet their economy was in complete collapse.
Diversify your investments. Precious metals such as gold and silver are strong with uncertainties in inflation, government, and currencies. Have at least a little gold and silver in your house as a safety fund. Also various other commodities do well in economic crises. Food/agriculture commodities could be a nice idea as they usually do quite well in inflationary environments, and food shortages are likely to be prevalent in the near future as recent major droughts and population growth are effecting food supply and demand.
Minimize your fixed income investment exposure, such as money markets, CD's, savings accounts, or U.S. Treasurys. The amount of money you have in cash should be minimal and as liquid as possible so that you can move money to safer places in anticipation of a crisis. Note that you want to try to figure out where to put your money before the crisis happens, as once it happens, it will be too late as your money will have already lost its value.
If you have significant debt, there are two sides to the payoff argument. One side says pay off debt as quickly as possible so that you don't run the risk of it becoming more expensive in a deflationary environment or with rising interest rates. The other side says don't feel the need to pay off quickly as debt becomes cheaper for you as inflation kicks in; plus the government's policy moves are likely to eventually give your debt relief anyway. Evaluate your unique personal situation and come to the best conclusion for yourself.
If relevant, get pension dollars as quickly as possible, or at least a strong understanding of your pension's status and funding source. Pensions are extremely pained and may not be reliable sources of income.
If relevant, accelerate receiving social security payments. Social security is extremely pained and a run can be made on it. Additionally, the government is likely to decrease payment amount and extend the point at which benefits may be claimed. Aside from the payment amount decreasing, the value of the dollar amount will decrease because of inflation.
Another heavy wave of defaults is on the way from non-subprime Option ARM and Alt-A mortgages.
In many cases where the Option ARM and Alt-A problems don't cause foreclosure, they will cause early sales that will add to inventory and/or push prices down further.
Many are leaving major residential real-estate states such as California, Florida, Michigan, New York, etc adding to inventory and/or hurting prices in those areas.
Loans are harder to get considering interest rates and bank reluctance.
The government's activity is artificially propping up housing prices (even though prices are still declining).
The banks will eventually have to start moving foreclosed assets off of their books at lower prices or they will face bankruptcy/nationalization. Both scenarios are not good for housing prices.
This means lowered demand and excess and increasing supply. This translates to falling prices that will take a long time to bottom with a slow turnaround after the bottom. Keep in mind that after Japan's housing bubble and bust in the 80's, housing prices are still about 80% lower than they were at their peak.
This does not mean there aren't still a few decent buys out there. Be sure people are moving to and not away from the area where you are buying, and viewing the purchase as a long-term living investment (as opposed to a 2 or 3 year flip) will likely be your best bet. After all, houses are real and valuable assets that act as shelter and will still be standing even if the surrounding economy takes an unprecedented dive.
Evaluate your city or region and its demographics, government, and economic situation. An accessible second home or family/friend home as a retreat may be valuable depending on where you live. Additionally, it may make sense to begin evaluating your country in a similar manner. Aside from the potential future safety issues in the U.S., you may be surprised to hear that the country ranks 6th on The Heritage Foundation & Wall Street Journal's Index of Economic Freedom and 36th on the Reporters Without Borders' 2008 Press Freedom Index.
Educate yourself - Understanding the situation and the potential outcomes is a major step toward proper preparation. Don't take this website's word for it. Compare mainstream and non-mainstream media and information sources and look at the facts yourself. Investigate economics, political, and financial books, blogs, and websites. A few suggestions are: Meltdown by Tom Woods, Peter Schiff books and blogs, Jim Rogers books and blogs, Ron Paul books and blogs, Mises.org, etc.
Some of these measures may sound extreme. All of it may not be necessary. However, in this environment, being mentally and physically prepared for the worst case scenario is a wise strategy as anything less, but potentially still harmful, will be easier to deal with.
Note: All of the graphs within this report are cited. In the interest of time, much of the other statistics are not. Arbitrary Vote is happy to provide citations and background information on any of this information at your request.
The content on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied. All opinions expressed on this site are those of the author and may contain errors or omissions. No material here constitutes investment advice nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument. The author may have a position in any company or security mentioned herein. Actions you undertake as a consequence of any analysis, opinion or advertisement on this site are solely your responsibility.


text:
Sarah Hall may refer to:

 Sarah Hall (glass artist) (born 1951), Canadian stained glass artist
 Sarah Hall (writer) (born 1974), English author
Sarah Hall (born 1972)  British journalist, best known as a novelist under the name Sarah Vaughan (writer)
 Sarah Hall Boardman (1803–1845), American born missionary who spent 20 years in Burma
 Sarah Ladd (1860–1927), née Hall, American pictorial and landscape photographer
 Sarah Ewing Hall (1761–1830), American educator, poet, and essayist of Christian literature
 Sara Hall (born 1983), American distance runner


Send fresh flowers and gifts to Yallambie, Melbourne VIC.
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"As Proverbs instructs us to ponder the behavior of animals-including ants, lions, oxen, and even dogs-so Rhonda McRae has closely observed the ways of Sadie, her golden retriever; and in that light she offers wise counsel concerning believers' relationship to God. In prose that is clear, engaging, and humorous, the author evidences her love for Sadie and her yet deeper love for her just, merciful, and loving God."
Product Description: A heart-warming collection of reflections that enable us to renew our relationship with God, our father.
Rhonda muses on personal stories, supported by Scripture, to show how a relationship with an animal can help illustrate how the Creator loves, and finds pleasure, in His creatures.
She explains the freedom believers have in approaching and trusting God; how God's law, and obedience to it, creates freedom to enjoy life and that sin has consequences, but doesn t remove us from the family of God.
This book makes a great gift to anyone wanting to deepen their relationship with God - especially if they own a dog!


Poor folks were the punching bag for frustrated Republicans all session. When they needed cash to make up for their proposed (and ultimately, failed) school finance/tax restructuring plan, they raised taxes on poor and middle class Texans. The less you made, the larger the tax increase so the Republican plan would have raised taxes a staggering 5-6%. And poor schools would have seen less money under the "equity" proposals than wealthy schools-- not just in dollars, but in percentage increase. This session could have been a disaster for the poor, but since the Republicans failed miserably in virtually all of their efforts they ended up coming out just beaten and not bludgeoned to death.


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Q: How do we augment a NNF to satisfy smoothness In one of the exercise in the book Modeling and Reasoning with Bayesian Networks, by Adnan Darwiche.
He stated that an NNF circuit that satisfies decomposability and determinism can be
augmented with additional nodes so it also satisfies smoothness.
Does anyone have any insights on how this can be done ?


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Pietrastornina ist eine italienische Gemeinde mit  Einwohnern (Stand ) in der Provinz Avellino in der Region Kampanien. Sie ist Teil der Bergkomune Comunità Montana Partenio - Vallo di Lauro.

Geografie
Die Nachbargemeinden sind Altavilla Irpina, Arpaise (BN), Pannarano (BN), Roccabascerana, Sant'Angelo a Scala und Summonte.

Weblinks

 Gemeinde Pietrastornina

Einzelnachweise

Ort in Kampanien


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By Michael Malakata
Uganda's speaker of the National Assembly Rebecca Kadaga says she will block any attempt by lawmakers to use taxpayers' money to pay for internet data and Over the Top (OTT) services.
This follows a report by the Contracts Committee which recommends that parliament provide at least 5GB monthly data bundles valued at Shs-30 000 for 458 lawmakers and a further Shs-6000 monthly to cover social media tax for OTT services.
Kadaga said lawmakers were capable of paying for the services as part of their legislative duties and warned if there was a contract with a service provider with regards to online and OTT services, it would have to be scrutinised.
"I have seen the document (recommendations) by the Contracts Committee but I don't agree with it. I'm therefore going to investigate.... I don't believe taxpayers should pay members of parliament's taxes."
Robina Nabanja, a member of the Contracts Committee, was quoted by Uganda's Daily monitor newspaper as defending the decision.
He said: "This is purely work ...we are working for Ugandans. For access to social media for parliament business, lawmakers are not supposed to inject their own money since they are doing people's work using iPads bought with taxpayers' money."
In May last year, Uganda approved the social media tax that requires all social media users to pay Shs-200 (US$0.50c) daily to access social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram among others.


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Meet SpringCoin — A Debt Management Tool With A Focus On Learning
DebtEye announced Wednesday it is now SpringCoin, a learning-focused financial planning website that gets more intuitive as you use it.
John Sun, CEO of San Francisco-based SpringCoin, started the business under the name DebtEye in February 2011. It was one of the start-ups at the notable Y Combinator start-up incubator. SpringCoin helps customers meet financial needs and figure out how to pay off their debts by improving their financial literacy and by creating goals.
"There's a mentality that this stuff (finance) is above them and that's just not true," Sun says.
The integrated features and financial education aspect of SpringCoin is what differentiates it from DebtEye.
SpringCoin features adaptive bill setting and financial budgeting plans that change the more you use it.
"Kind of like how Netflix figures out what type of movies you like to watch, the site will pick up where you spend your money," Sun explains. "We can actually get extremely targeted and say, 'Last week you spent $30 at Starbucks. This week we recommend you spend $20."
This is made possible by significant improvements to the software algorithms, he says.
To create SpringCoin, Sun and his team surveyed consumers to get feedback and find out what parts of the original site worked and what could stand to change. Sun says DebtEye engaged customers, but they wanted the name to focus more on the positive aspects of managing your finances. Rather than watching debt, focus on growing your coin. Probably the most important part of SpringCoin that could make it stand out from other debt management sites is its financial education element.
Financial education is integrated into users' financial goals — "we really put that part at the heart of SpringCoin," he says.
Sun and his team gathered content by speaking with financial bloggers, finance experts and using their own internal knowledge — Sun and his team are credit counselors.
SpringCoin also features automated budget alerts and bill reminders that can pull information directly from users' bank transactions.
"It uses financial forecasting methods — the same methods that Fortune 500 companies use — to project and warn customers about future cash flow problems that could occur," he says.
When users meet financial goals they are rewarded with points that measure their progress and entered into a weekly raffle to win Amazon gift cards or other prizes.
"If you just want a place to look at all your accounts in one place, we recommend something like Mint or Ready For Zero," notes the website FAQ's.
SpringCoin will not be free — but don't fret, it's a nominal fee at $8 per month for the basic plan, which includes spending monitoring, bill reminders, basic financial education tools and rewards. However, the premium plan is $35 per month, which tacks-on negotiation tools for lower payments, automatic bill payments, a complete set of financial education tools, and round-the-clock financial advice. Sun has a noble reason for shunning advertising. He didn't want to create a conflict of interest that might arise if financial or credit companies that Sun didn't approve of wanted to advertise, so he decided to forgo ads entirely. Some companies he stands behind, Sun says, but rather than going down that potentially precarious path, they went with a paid price model.
Every user gets a one month free trial before the monthly fee kicks-in. As a "limited time" promotion, Sun says, if you submit the email addresses of three friends (Sun promises not to spam them) even if your friends don't respond, you can get three months free.
Sun says they plan to release an app in the future, but probably not until next year.
What do you think about SpringCoin? Will you use it? Do you use any other debt management websites? Tell us in the comments.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kizilkayaphotos
Topics: Apps and Software, Business, debt, debt management, Dev & Design, finance, personal finance, Small Business, Startups, y combinator