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All, Arts & Heritage, Community
How Creators Create: A Q&A With Abstract Artist Shelley Thornton
Attracted by the vibrant light and beauty of St Ives, Shelley Thornton moved down to the Cornish coast to raise her children and pursue her passion for painting. Today she is known for her abstract and geometric style along with the use of bold colours and textured paste.
Recently, we had the privilege to sit down with Shelley at her Artlantic studio in St Ives and hear about her personal journey with art and abstract painting. Join us in conversation as she talks about what inspires her, how her painting style has evolved and the women she admires and thinks should be more prominent in the history and future of art.
Celeste and Shelley at her studio in St Ives.
Celeste: You were born in Yorkshire but have made St Ives your home – what is it about this place that you find particularly stimulating and inspiring?
Shelley: It's true what they say about the purity of the light and the way it bounces off colours and makes everything very bright and vibrant. St Ives is beautiful, very idyllic, and quite versatile. It's got different little features that all have their own characteristics. Porthminster is quite gentile, Porthmeor is wild, and then there's the countryside as well the seascape – it's just a beautiful, magical place.
Celeste: Porthminster, Porthmeor, they do have their own personalities. Do you have any favourite places that you tend to return to for inspiration?
Shelley: Those two beaches, I've got series on both of those: Porthminster which was my first love, then Porthmeor where I went with my kids to surf – they're both very different and I love them for that. I also like a very sweet little cove called Porthgwidden Beach.
Celeste: Can you remember the first time you felt inspired by art? Or the moment you decided that it was going to be your life path?
Shelley: There were two key things. As a young child, I used to see birds in the garden and draw them. They were really good, intricate, and quite accurate drawings with all the birds' colours. I liked colour. I turned to really bright red bits or really bright yellow bits, not just brown birds. That was when I realised that I liked drawing, painting, and colouring. Sadly, I can't find any of those drawings now.
I returned to art as a young teenager. As we went on occasional school trips to London galleries, I discovered the surrealists, (Salvador) Dali and (René) Magritte. I thought wow, how interesting, to paint recognisable objects and people in unrecognisable situations. That was my first love of artists but I soon moved away from them and started liking (Wassily) Kandinsky, (Mark) Rothko, then (Pablo) Picasso, and the cubists. From there, from painting still life, I went more abstract. But I didn't really properly come to abstraction until I started coming to St Ives regularly.
Celeste: I've seen some hints of your more realistic paintings; you weren't always an abstract artist. Did coming to St Ives influence the change in style?
Shelley: Yes, it was slightly before I had had my first child. We were spending a lot of time in St Ives before we bought a house here in 2003. It was then that I began abstracting a bit more, my colour palettes changed, but it really clicked into place after Scarlett was born. I would escape down here for a week or so with her as a baby and worked around her sleep patterns.
Celeste: Oh, I am impressed with your multitasking skills!
Shelley: She was a very good baby. When she stayed asleep for an hour or two, I needed to work in a way that I could pick it up and put it down as needed, so I wanted something that would dry quickly. I used to use oils but they're quite noxious. I love the smell but it's not a very good thing for your baby.
So its quick-drying nature (acrylic paint) and Scarlett, that's why I came to abstraction and that's why I started my more "bounded" style. My work was more organic before, then I was suddenly bounded by all these responsibilities, by time. But within those boundaries I was free. I think that's why I started painting in a very geometric style.
Sanctuary 1 from Shelley Thornton's Vessels Series (2020).
Celeste: At this time, were you also in your corporate lifestyle? Have you always balanced art with work?
Shelley: Yes. I've always painted, though there were some years when I didn't do that many pieces. But from 2004 onwards, I've been quite prolific. I really love creating art and I'm determined to make it work. I set up my own company in 2002, which gave me freedom. When you work for yourself rather than in a corporate job, suddenly you can take a week to focus on your art. So starting my business, moving to St Ives, having my first child, and changing my style were my watershed moments.
Celeste: There's always a sense of place and the passing of time touched upon in your paintings – can you tell us about your creative process and how you represent these motifs in your artwork?
Shelley: Whether it's London, a beach, a harbour, or a boat – it always starts from a place. Then, I try to strip that place down to its essence and make it simple, minimalist, to highlight bits of that particular landscape or architecture that spoke to me. I also try to convey the feelings I have in that place.
The Vessels Series, which started in the first lockdown, was based on boats in St Ives Harbour. It was weird, seeing St Ives so quiet and eerie. This is why those early vessels (paintings) are quite calm, serene, and very still. The later ones, from when things got back to normal, are busier.
A series of seagulls grace the ceiling of Shelley's studio at Whites Old Workshops.
Celeste: I love paintings with texture and notice that you put grains of sand onto your artwork. Is the sand in your paintings a result of St Ives being near the beach?
Shelley: Yes, I started by putting sand in paint and mixing it together. The first artwork with sand on it is from around 2004, after I moved here. I cannot swear that I haven't used it like that before coming here but I definitely used it mixed in.
I also care about sustainability, especially living in a beautiful place like this, so at home, I have a big tray in the shower. Mine and the kids' wetsuits have lots of sand when we come off the beach so I collect it and then I dry it out in the sun to reuse it.
Celeste: In addition to sand, I also know that you like to incorporate song lyrics into some of your artwork – could you tell us about your relationship with music?
Shelley: I love music. If I hadn't been an artist, I would've loved to be a rockstar. Sadly, I have no musical talents.
Celeste: Maybe one day!
Shelley: Yeah, one day! I love music, I particularly love lyrics. Sometimes I've used poetry or pieces of literature, but I always listen to music when I'm painting. It's the place that drives my emotions so if I find a lyric that suits that place, I incorporate it into the artwork. But sometimes, when the songs tell me something, that can change the nature of the painting. It becomes more about the song than where it started.
Celeste: While promoting your Through Dark series on social media recently you also posted a Carl Yung quote:
"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness."
― Carl Jung
Celeste: Would you mind talking a little bit about how you channel those darker, less positive emotions into your artwork which, for the most part, happens to be very bright and colourful?
Shelley: In dark times it becomes less about the place and more about how I'm feeling. I usually have good mental health, I'm quite positive and optimistic, but in that winter lockdown, in November and beyond Christmas, I just thought oh, wow, this is awful.
Through Dark was about recognising that it was a dark time for everybody but there could also be light at the end of the tunnel. It's called Through Dark because it was about getting through all that.
Some of the art pieces in this series are quite personal. They're probably not very commercial but I did include them in my show. People enjoy going on emotional journeys. I hadn't realised, before I put that exhibition on, that it did exactly that, it catalogued the emotional journey we had all been on in our own personal ways.
A post shared by Shelley Thornton @ Artlantic (@artlanticartworks)
Celeste: We're in Women's History Month and you painted a beautiful tribute to Barbara Hepworth, I know she's a huge inspiration! Feel free to talk more about her or if there were other inspirational women you tend to look up to or admire?
Shelley: I saw on LinkedIn that somebody's sort of rewritten The Story of Art by E. H. Gombrich from a woman's perspective. That was a book that was really important to me as a child and a teenager, and I hadn't realised that there were so few women in it, I think there was only one. This new version of the book comes out this September, I've already ordered it. But this is just not enough. Probably most of the artists I would quote are men and that's really sad in a way. I want to do more to bring women's stories to light.
I really like Sonia Delaunay. She was a great colourist, quite geometric as well, but she was also a fashion and interior designer. If you look at the Bauhaus Movement, some women did very interesting things with their craft, knocking down that line between craft and art.
I like the American abstract expressionists like Joan Mitchell. She's never spoken about so I'm going to make it my mission to look more into female artists because I just don't think they're put out there enough. I also like Maggi Hambling's sculptures. She's very feisty, I'd like to meet her, I bet she's ferocious.
Then, Margaret Mellis, I like her work in wood with direct references to boats. There are others but there are not enough of us, that's been my overwhelming thought. We are too few and far between in art history.
Celeste: I agree. I believe the book you're referring to, The Story of Art without Men, is written by Katy Hessel. She announced it on Women's Day. Apparently, she also conducted a survey that the Guardian newspaper published. The question she posed was to name female artists, as many as you can, and the consensus was that the vast majority of people in the UK cannot name more than three. Katy Hessel is a huge advocate for women in the arts, everyone can benefit from learning from those female artists.
Shelley: It's multitasking that women have to do and most men don't. My friends' dads have been artists and done reasonably well. But they sound like they're very focused in their studio doing their thing, there are no distractions. They didn't really get involved with family life, kids weren't allowed in their studio, whereas I've always included my kids in here.
Celeste: It's been a pleasure chatting with you today. You are making history with your art – what a privilege to help shine a light on your personal journey so far. Before we go, what advice would you give to someone who would like to pick up a paintbrush for the first time, or be more creative?
Shelley: Just go for it! What have you got to lose? Do it for yourself – you don't have to share it with anyone. We've all got creativity in us. You don't have to necessarily be able to draw or paint, but there might be something else – just find it. Then, if you enjoy it, you'll also find that it's great for your mental health. Bake a cake or do whatever floats your boat. There's nothing better than having created something.
Shelley's Artlantic studio at Whites Old Workshops in St Ives.
Are you an artist or creative based in Cornwall and interested in sharing your story on CBA Content's blog? If so, we'd love to hear from you. To get in touch, drop us a line here.


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Nate Silver is a really boring drunk and might be a witch but only on his off days when he's not feeling quite like himself. At least that's what he said in a new interview where he debunked some of the fun memes that popped up after the election.
I'm sure you've heard of the Twitter trend #DrunkNateSilver. What does drunk Nate Silver actually do?
I do what everyone else does, which is argue about stupid things with my friends. I don't become dark and ironically evil.
One of the other great Silver-inspired jokes was the single serving site that dared to ask the question everyone was thinking: Is Nate Silver a Witch? His scary accurate predictions could not be the work of a normal man born of normal human parents. The only logical conclusion, then, is that Nate Silver can probably do magic. Butta brought this one up, too. Silver denied it, which is totally what a real witch would do, and then commented on the speed with which these witch-y jokes can take off in the Internet age.
You've been characterized as a wizard or a witch—what's your reaction to that?
I'm trying to maintain some form of detachment from it, almost like it's happening to another person or another character. But it's weird, and goes to show you what can happen in the Internet age, where things can take off really, really fast.
For the record, that site has been stuck on Silver "is probably a witch" for days now.


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Q: NSProgressIndicator not showing during app start up This must be super simple, but I cannot find it.
I want to show an NSProgressIndicator indeterminite spinner style to my NSViewController to show in the middle of the view while the app starts up (similar to Xcode). Once all data is loaded (on a background thread), I return to the main thread and hide the spinner and show the contents.
Everything works as expected, except, I don't see the spinner.
In the storyboard I added the spinner as a sub view of the main view, and the added the centerX and centerY constraints, also in the storyboard.

Then in viewDidLoad:
override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    progressSpinner.isHidden = false
    progressSpinner.startAnimation(self) // <-- do I use self here?
}

and once the data is loaded:
func didFinishLoading() {
    progressSpinner.stopAnimation(self) // <-- do I use self here?
    progressSpinner.isHidden = true

    showData()
}

What am I missing here?

A: Ok, I found the problem. The "Hidden" checkbox in the storyboard was checked.
Even with progressSpinner.isHidden = false in viewDidLoad, the spinner remained invisible. Unchecking that box solved it.

EDIT
The underlying problem I think now is that spinner was obscured by the scrollView in the same window. Changing the order in the storyboard did not help, so I ended up removing and re-adding the spinner as shown below. And now it works independent of the Hidden checkbox setting.
override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    progressSpinner.removeFromSuperview()
    view.addSubview(progressSpinner, positioned: .above, relativeTo: nil)

    progressSpinner.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
    progressSpinner.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor).isActive = true

    progressSpinner.isHidden = false
    progressSpinner.isDisplayedWhenStopped = false

    progressSpinner.startAnimation(self)
}

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text:
Plot and Theme
Long-Form Reviews and Essays on Film
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Tag: Denis Villeneuve
"Blade Runner 2049" is a Spellbinding Sci-Fi Sequel
The moments of Blade Runner 2049 pass by too quickly, lost in the next gorgeous shot, meticulous special effect, or confounding mystery. Fluorescent advertisements reflect off of murky puddles at the street level, while the higher classes enjoy the seemingly infinite refraction of a glorious light off of crystalline indoor pools. It's evident immediately: the world of Blade Runner 2049 is complex, dark, and fascinating – a finely-crafted melding of science fiction and noir filmmaking.
In "Arrival", Denis Villeneuve Delivers a New Hard Science Fiction Touchstone
In Denis Villeneuve's high-concept science fiction film Arrival, the expert director deftly explores a profoundly different view of reality – all in the guise of an alien invasion story. Based on the novella Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, the story is hard science fiction at its greatest, and ponders the challenge and ramifications of communicating with an alien species during first contact. In what has become a hallmark of Villeneuve's style, the film boasts a fascinating non-linear storytelling technique that factors heavily into the plot. Though there are really only four characters of note, each is ably performed by an outstanding actor, with Amy Adams's performance shining through as something special. This film takes advantage of its genre perfectly, altering a single idea about language and contemplating the potential ramifications. It seems as though Denis Villeneuve has been working in science fiction for his entire career; his treatment of Arrival is a deft exploration of the nature of time, language, and communication – both between humans and aliens, and humans and each other.
Continue reading "In "Arrival", Denis Villeneuve Delivers a New Hard Science Fiction Touchstone" →
"Sicario" is a Tense and Grim Look at the Futility of the Drug War
Last week on Plot and Theme we had an entire week devoted to the feature films of Denis Villeneuve, and now we get a nice cherry on top: Sicario. Villeneuve's seventh feature film stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro, and tells the story of a FBI SWAT agent Kate Macer (Blunt) who is whisked away on a special task force dedicated to hunting down the head of a Mexican drug cartel. The film is comfortable exploring gray areas and dwelling in the nooks and crannies of the legal justice system, but ultimately cannot find any effective answers.
Continue reading ""Sicario" is a Tense and Grim Look at the Futility of the Drug War" →
Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 5: "Prisoners" (USA, 2013)
Denis Villeneuve week nears its end with his only true American film, and the largest budget he's had to work with to date: the kidnapping mystery/thriller Prisoners. Of all of Villeneuve's films, this may be the most uneasy, the most challenging to watch, and the one film that is truly unafraid of exploring the depths that humanity can reach at the intersection of desperation and good intention. Its subject matter is particularly challenging for parents, as it primarily deals with the disappearance of a pair of young girls.
Continue reading "Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 5: "Prisoners" (USA, 2013)" →
Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 4: "Enemy" (Canada / Spain, 2013)
Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 4: "Enemy" (Canada / Spain 2013)
Another day, another crazy Denis Villeneuve film to review. This time it is his first true English-language film, Enemy (as previously mentioned, Polytechnique was filmed in both French and English). Enemy feels most similar to Villeneuve's early feature Maelström in that it has some amazing peculiarities but overall deals with a very human problem. In this case, it is the duality of man and his struggle to choose between two very different alternatives – both in his life, and his mind.
Continue reading "Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 4: "Enemy" (Canada / Spain, 2013)" →
Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 3: "Incendies" (Canada, 2010)
Denis Villeneuve Week continues here on Plot and Theme with Incendies, the final foreign language film from the director, and his only film to receive an Oscar nod (Best Foreign Language film in 2010). The film tells the story of twins who receive a cryptic message in their mother's will: their father and brother are still alive, and the twins must seek them out and deliver letters to them. A circuitous journey through an unnamed Middle Eastern country commences, and as the twins untangle myth from fact amid civil and religious war, the truth of their mother's life is beyond their wildest dreams – and nightmares.
Continue reading "Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 3: "Incendies" (Canada, 2010)" →
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Human-Centric Intelligent Systems
Next Article In Issue>
Volume 1, Issue 1-2, June 2021, Pages 1 - 2
Human-Centric Intelligent Systems: A Welcome Note from Editor(s)-in-Chief
Tianrui Li1, Guandong Xu2, *
1School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
2School of Computer Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
*Corresponding author. Email: Guandong.Xu@uts.edu.au
Guandong Xu
Available Online 8 July 2021.
https://doi.org/10.2991/hcis.k.210624.001How to use a DOI?
© 2021 The Authors. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
The Human-Centric Intelligent Systems journal is dedicated to publishing latest research concerning theoretical and practical aspects of the healthy, responsible, and positive relation between intelligent technology and humans. Human-centric intelligence is becoming significant because various digital systems surrounding humans are increasingly upgrading because of human input while presenting an effective experience between humans and digital systems. By developing machine intelligence and systems with a goal of understanding human language, emotion and behavior, and interactions between humans and technological systems, human-centric intelligent systems push the boundaries of previously limited artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to bridge the gap between machine and human.
In past decades, the trajectory of human daily activities among human being and interacted with cyber space has led to a large amount of human-centric digital information in an unprecedented scale, depth and breadth, which presents urgent challenges of studying effective methodologies, techniques and technical tools for capturing, representing, modeling, analyzing, understanding and managing human behaviors, social and cultural phenomenon and dynamics both in physical and cyber world. Multiple categories of information sources, digital behavior trajectories within communities, and advancements in behavioral and social computing have the potential to address these challenges such as information diffusion, community dynamics, trust, privacy, and security issues, and open-up a new multidisciplinary research field of human-centric intelligence to better serve the humanity, make the technology more humane and rightful.
The importance of Human-Centric Intelligent Systems is not to replace humans entirely but to enhance our capabilities by way of intelligence. Although the current advanced techniques such as machine learning, deep learning, and AI are being widely explored for enhancing the scalability, reliability, responsibility, and capability, new extensions are required that will allow researchers and developers to conceive and design novel applications to take advantage of the new paradigms and technologies. However, these challenges are prompting researchers to create knowledge that requires new avenues of publishing, sharing, and dissemination. Therefore, we proudly launch a new journal, Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, to the scientific community and would like to warmly welcome our readers, contributors, scientific editors and editorial board members of the Human-Centric Intelligent Systems journal. At insights into Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, we aim to solicit the latest research findings and practical experiences of various theories and practical applications in human-centric intelligent systems and provide theoretical and algorithmic insights in human-centric computing and analytics frontier.
Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, encourages topics related but are not limited to the followings topics, which cover the current key research interest in managing the interactions between users, organizations, communities, and computing systems, and modeling and governance of social and organizational concepts, e.g., community, trust, credibility, and privacy:
Human-Centric Data and Management
Information Diffusion and Modeling
Diffusion Source Identification and Network Analysis
Classification, Ranking, Summarization, and Recommendation
Social Influence Analysis
Community Detection and Dynamics
Disinformation and Misinformation
Network Structure and Community Evolution Analysis
User Modeling, Personalization, and Recommendation
Responsible AI, Fairness, and Explainability
Behavioral/Choice Modeling
Behavioral Dynamics and Simulation
User Behavior and Influence Analysis
Community/Crowd Behavioral Analysis
Event Tracking and Detection
Trust Computing and Privacy Preserving
Social and Ethical Issue Analysis
Intelligent System Design and Evaluation
Mobile, Ubiquitous, and Pervasive Sensing
Data Mining in Mobile and Social Sensing
Robust Visual Encoding Methods
Robust Visual Interactive System Design and Evaluation for Data Visualization
Healthcare, Mobility, Economics and Society, etc.
These are the hot topics that will satisfy the ever-changing needs of a world-wide audience. With the development of computing and AI technology, and interdisciplinary movement between science, technology, and social science, new emerging topics will be added to the journal scope, to reflect future trends of human-centric intelligent systems.
We welcome four types of submissions reporting latest research findings of all theoretical and practical applications in human-centric intelligent systems, and cutting-edge theoretical and algorithmic insights in human-centric computing and analytics, which include
Research Article. A research article describes an original study which is of interest to the readership of the journal.
Review Article. A review article is a comprehensive and balanced survey of recent developments in a given field which is of interest to the readership of the journal.
Perspective. A perspective is intended to provide a forward-looking and/or speculative approach to a given research topic which is of interest to the readership of the journal. Perspectives should always remain balanced and aim to stimulate discussion within the relevant research community.
Correspondence. A correspondence is a concise communication which provides a forum to address new or hot issues which are relevant to the readership of the journal.
We are pleased to state that Human-Centric Intelligent Systems has gathered a very prestigious editorial board members hailing from around the world from backgrounds of Data Science, AI, Machine Learning, Information Systems, Behavior Science, and Applied Psychology, who form a spectrum of complementary knowledge covering relevant topics. We are thankful to all editorial board members for their willingness and commitment to serve the editorial mission of Human-Centric Intelligent Systems. The list of members who have joined us in this endeavor is available at https://www.atlantis-press.com/journals/hcis/editorial-board. In addition, we are honored to have an advisory board, which comprises of highly respected researchers and academicians from around the world. They are:
Masaru Kitsuregawa, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Philip S. Yu, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States
Human-Centric Intelligent Systems is an open access journal, i.e. all articles are immediately and permanently free to read, download, copy & distribute. The journal is published under the CC BY-NC 4.0 user license which defines the permitted third-party reuse of its articles. Publication in this journal is free of charge for Authors. All open access publication fees are subsidized by KEO (Henan) Education Technology Co. Ltd (KEO). Note that this is a promotional offer which applies to all papers submitted before December 31, 2022.
With Best Regards from Managing Editors, the whole Editorial Board and Editor(s)-in-Chief.
Peer review under responsibility of KEO (Henan) Education Technology Co. Ltd
Volume-Issue
1 - 1-2
AU  - Tianrui Li
AU  - Guandong Xu
TI  - Human-Centric Intelligent Systems: A Welcome Note from Editor(s)-in-Chief
JO  - Human-Centric Intelligent Systems
EP  - 2
IS  - 1-2
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/hcis.k.210624.001
DO  - https://doi.org/10.2991/hcis.k.210624.001
ID  - Li2021


Out of approx 8 to 10 Ratio shirts I own, this is my least favourite. I was looking for a mid-weight casual shirt for cold winters but the weight was a little less than I expected (which I should have known prior to purchasing). This is a fall/spring weight.
Shrinkage was a definitely a little more than I expected, also, and the material tends to crease easily.
Looks great in person, vibrant colors, though do wish it were a little thicker. Not a dead-of-winter flannel, but a good looking shirt when you don't need lots of warmth.
My favourite flannel shirt, not too heavy, but soft and warm. Fantastic colours, which have not at all faded after many washes.
As a Colorado-based company, we like to say we know our flannels. Named for one of the state's 50 14ers (those are mountains over 14K feet, for non-locals), the Pikes Peak Plaid is our softest option, with a bold, but traditional, red-white-and-blue watch check.


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Germany: Last chance for boy who wants to be a bus driver
Boy, 11, steals a bus and takes it on a joyride through German city
Nicely done! The passengers thought he was the consummate professional, or something.
More after the break.
Denver has been saved from the scourges of clean air, lower taxes, good bus service, revitalized neighborhoods, and fat wallet chiropractic issues!
The Monster That Devoured Denver | The Antiplanner
Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah, to the great light rail god!
More beyond the cut.
Here in Portlandia, corrupt politicians are addicted to money, and transit kickbacks, er, "campaign donations" . . .
Portland Metro: More Lies Per Capita | The Antiplanner
. . . which leads them to lie about every single thing involved in a new rail transit project.
Read more below the fold!
Public transit ridership in America, going down!
Public Transportation Ridership: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back? | Newgeography.com
For most all it takes is a single ride on public transit to realize anything else would be better.
"The Bureau of Transportation Statistics recently released preliminary data summarizing public transportation ridership in the United States for the calendar year 2015. The preliminary data from the National Transit Data program showed transit ridership in 2015 of 10.4 billion annual riders approximately 2.5% below the 2014 count and also smaller than the 2013 count. The American Public Transit Association using a slightly different methodology released data showing 10.6 billion annual riders versus 10.7 billion in calendar year 2014, a 1.26% year-over-year decline. Such differences between sources are common, resulting from differences in methodology and definitions, and unsurprising, given that data is preliminary and national data is dependent upon reporting from hundreds of different agencies.
It is important to recognize that it's extraordinarily difficult to consistently grow transit ridership. We have had growing population, a rebounding economy, growing total employment, and an aggressively argued hypothesis that the millennial generation is meaningfully different than their forefathers—with urban centric aspirations and indifference toward auto ownership and use. Yet, transit ridership has remained stubbornly modest."
The surprise in not that ridership is modest, but that it is as high as it is today. This is a testament to the problems our cities have created for commuters.
The gold standard is prompt, safe, quick, on demand, door-to-door transportation. The transportation modes which fit this best are automobile, and aircraft. public transit, rail, and other modes do not even come close. Here in Portlandia, transit is difficult, slow, and unpleasant. The more one rides public transit, the less one likes to ride public transit. Add to that the fact that the Portlandia light rail is cannibalizing the bus system, which causes longer waits for fewer buses, and eliminated bus lines. The system is ripe for an Uber like door-to-door carpool service, which would charge low rates for routine scheduled pickup service of multiple riders. And, of course, the coming self drive auto carpool service.
Transit is doomed by the fact that better, closer to gold standard, and truly low cost services are coming. Good thing we are spending billions on long term money wasters like new light rail lines! It would be terrible not to allow government to waste all that money.
Washington's Metro is in crisis, and will sink further, worse it is just the tip of the iceberg . . .
Metro sank into crisis despite decades of warnings
. . . nearly every other light rail, and heavy rail system is at or soon will be at the same place.
More after the fold!
Portland wants a bigger choo-choo train set . . .
Surprise! TriMet Wants More Light Rail | The Antiplanner
. . . even though it can't maintain its current train set.
"In a move that surprised no one, the staff of TriMet, Portland's transit agency, wants to build light rail instead of bus-rapid transit between Portland and Sherwood."
Brilliant! Build a low capacity, high cost rail line to a place with few commuters.
"TriMet's last light-rail line cost about $168 million per mile. This proposal is for an 11.5-mile line that will cost at least $2 billion, or $174 million per mile. Of course, that cost is likely to go up. By comparison, Portland's first light-rail line cost only about $28 million per mile in today's dollars.
A state auditor says TriMet, Portland's transit agency, is falling behind on light-rail maintenance. TriMet's general manager says that the agency's pension and health-care obligations are so great that it will have to cut all transit service by 70 percent by 2025 to meet those obligations. So naturally, it makes perfect sense to talk about spending $2 billion that the agency doesn't have on another low-capacity rail line."
The delusion of light rail grandeur runs deep.
"Of course, TriMet's staff memo about the project repeatedly calls light rail "high-capacity transit." But light-rail transit can be no longer than a city block or they'll block traffic every time they stop for passengers. Since downtown Portland has some of the smallest city blocks in the country, TriMet can only run two-car trains, making it one of the lowest-capacity light-rail systems in the country. And since the "light" in light rail is short for "light capacity transit," Portland's is low-low capacity transit."
The MAX rail cars are more like articulated buses than rail cars they are so short. Building a light rail line here is like building a bus-rapid transit lanes but at 10 or 20 times the cost.
Best yet, these rail cars are pretty much empty except for a few hours each day, and then usually only in one direction. Portland (not all metro area) commuters total transit use is 11.9% for all modes, breaking that down, about half of transit commuters use rail, and half use bus (and a small number of other modes), or about 6% each. In Portland, bicycle commuters account for 6.1% of all commuters. For all trips the total transit share is minuscule at about 2.3% of all daily trips in the Portland metro area.
"The memo also claims that light rail has a lower operating cost per passenger than buses. But that's only true if you don't count maintenance costs, which might be appropriate considering TriMet's apparent policy of letting trains break down rather than spending money on maintaining the infrastructure. The memo frequently uses the term "cost effective" but never performs an analysis to prove whether rail is actually more cost effective than buses."
Remember, he is discussing operating costs per passenger, not total amortized costs per passenger. Rail transit never charges the passenger for the initial up front capital costs, here estimated to be $2 billion, or the 40 year capital maintenance cost which will be nearly an identical $2 billion. Amortizing these costs would obviously blow the costs per ride sky high, even if we consider the initial construction costs to be a "freebee" that would still drive the costs through the roof. Depending on actual ridership it would likely increase the per trip cost by at least $10-20. TriMet also receives very little from the fare box, commonly 20%, or so, of operating costs. Taxpayers pay for nearly the entire cost of TriMet.
The Antiplanner ends, "In short, the memo is filled with the same old specious ideas that led TriMet to blow $1.5 billion on the Milwaukie light-rail line and other boondoggles. Portland doesn't need to blow another $2 billion building more light-rail miles that TriMet can't afford to maintain."
While sage, this advice will never be followed. Portland will extract about $1.5 billion from federal coffers, match that with another $500 million that Oregonians don't have, and build the light rail line incurring 50% cost overruns, finagle the additional costs with the feds, and open the line to great fan fare, but ultimately few riders. Then in 2025, TriMet will run out of other peoples money to pay some of the most lavish public employee benefits in America, and the wheels will begin to fall off this buggy.
TriMet under pressure to reduce generous health benefits
"TriMet pays 100 percent of health premiums -- among the most expensive for U.S. transit agencies -- for union workers and retirees 55 or older who leave the agency with 10 years of experience or more. The workers, retirees and their dependents pay no deductibles. A doctor visit typically costs $5 or less."
Benefits so lavish they are forcing the agency to cut bus routes, and raise fares. Although to be fair, the agency has had to cut bus routes to make the budget work for a very long time. Rail is much more expensive then TriMet lets on, and to keep the trains running, it takes loads of money, money which increasingly comes from closing bus routes or reducing bus service, injuring the poor who ride buses more than the middle class who ride trains. The Portland to Sherwood line would be an attempt to collect mostly upper middle class commuters driving in from the wine country southwest of Portland.
The Antiplanner continues, "The memo also claims that light rail would attract more riders than buses. This isn't at all clear from TriMet's experience. TriMet's transit ridership peaked in 2009 and has since declined despite opening several new miles of light rail in 2010 and the city's rapid recovery following the 2008 recession. The Portland Business Alliance's annual census of jobs in the downtown area, where most transit riders commute to, says that the area had 16 percent more jobs in 2014 than 2009. The census found that transit carried about 1,000 more people to work in 2014 than 2009, but TriMet carried 8 percent fewer riders in 2014 than 2009."
The agency is slowly dying, while the Portland metro area is growing, and the non-urban counties within the TriMet service area, are rapidly growing.
The gig economy, ride share programs like Uber and Lyft, and the self drive car will all deal transit serious blows. Fixed rail lines will be unlikely to survive these changes. Some bus transit will be able to survive for a while due to flexibility but even these will likely fail.
The gold standard for all personal transportation should be door to door transportation. The public's cost in this should be limited to an antipoverty assistance amount, and should only be accessible by the actually poor. Today we pay for the middle class and the wealthy transportation when they choose public transportation. There is no reason to subsidized these transportation costs, much of which comes from the poor themselves!
If we assume the 15% of the US population who are poor drive only 10% of the miles, and pay only 10% of the gas tax, it means of the $2 billion or so TriMet will receive from the feds ($1.5 billion plus more for the cost overruns or about $2 billion), $200 million will come from the poor. This money will go for a light rail line to transport the wealthier, in class, and comfort, leaving the poor to ride the bus.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a solid article supporting plain bus transit . . .
In Praise of Plain Old Bus Service | Newgeography.com
. . . and specifically discussing Portland's, pre-Portlandia, bus system, and why it was so great. Sadly, the author did not interview Maddogsson about how the current Portlandia bus system is no longer like the wonderful bus system Portland had in its pre-Portlandia days.
Today the bus system is demarcated by long wait time outside of rush hour, and spotty on-time service. This means the poor have a much harder time with transit than they should.
Read the whole article it is very good.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
You Want to Spend How Much on a Low-Capacity Rail Tunnel? | The Antiplanner
Sigh! This really is not difficult, but we make it impossible by allowing yammerheads to have control over public funds.
Public rail transit was a great idea during the 19th century. It remained a good idea during the first few decades of the 20th century, but it ran its course well before mid-century. Its revival today is like a bad joke, funny but ridiculous.
Rail uses up lots of land, costs a gargantuan amount of money, moves few people, but is retro-steam-punk-cool! So, we buy it. Then we have to cannibalize the functioning bus system to pay for the retro-steam-punk-cool crap. This hurts the poor the most, and "helps" the upper middle class the most. Why would any sane society subsidize its upper middle class transportation?
Here in Portlandia, the urban, and transit planners are incapable of seeing or understanding changes like the self drive auto. They live in a linear, zero sum world. This mindset is very difficult to understand since it is seldom replicated in nature. It seems to be a function of government employment, and is likely driven by the zero sum nature of government budgeting.
Portlandia just finished a $1.4 billion, 7 mile long light rail line, which will never move more than an insignificant number of people. Burned money, doesn't move people - win/win!
The lede comes from the first comment.
Portland needs to watch the slow failure of Washington Metro . . .
Questions on cables' safety demand 24-hour Metro shutdown, Wiedefeld says
. . . Metro is 40 years old, and the lack of a complete system rebuild from ground up is leaving Metro a dangerous, unsafe, "national embarrassment."
Electric rail transit requires full tear down and replacement of nearly everything but the ground every thirty to forty years. But the cost of this is horrendous, and none of the transit providers charges a sufficient fare to even approach paying for daily operations, let alone this massive additional cost. Just to be clear, this full tear down and replacement cost is usually about equal to the initial build cost, which for most locations was paid for with majority assistants from the federal government. But the feds don't pay for this, only the original capital construction. So, cash strapped by the shockingly high operating costs, the agencies simply dither, hoping the problem will go away, or succumb to the point source repairs which Metro performs.
Obviously that does not work.
The Portlandia East Side light rail is now 30 years old, and past the point where it needs a full tear down and replacement. TriMet is not performing, nor does it have scheduled anything similar. TriMet riders should begin to plan appropriately. The East Side trains will begin having more and more problems, there will be increasing shutdowns, and disrupted service.
It is time for a conversation about whether performing this retrofit, which will likely cost $500 million dollars, or more, would be worth it, or whether Portlandia would be better off replacing this with a bus service which could span the short time until the share ride self drive car obliterates transit completely.
Or, more likely, TriMet can dither, allowing fires, track breakages, electrical failures, computer failures, and collisions to mount. Then the people will vote with their feet, and bikes, and cars, until there is nothing left.
More lunacy from the Portland Clown College: Smart Growth: Driving up housing prices, and increasing congestion! Twofer!!!
Trouble In Smart Growth's Nirvana
"Recent developments in Portland and Oregon suggest that smart growth is having only a modest effect, while driving down housing affordability, increasing traffic congestion and losing popularity in neighborhoods."
Hold on! Smart Growth is supposed to make housing affordable, not unaffordable, and all those billion dollar light rail projects are supposed to decrease traffic congestion. It's almost like it's some sort of bait and switch scheme. Hold on . . . Maddogswif is speaking to me sotto vocce . . . She says it is a bait and switch scheme. Mon Dieu! Who would have guessed? Government lying to the taxpayers, what's the world coming to?
Answer: Expensive bullshit, that's what the world is coming to.
"Despite the claims of the transit-media complex, Portland's anti-highway policies are failing. The 2000 Census shows that transit's work trip market share remains 20 percent below the 1980 Census rate, which preceded opening of the first light rail line. And, Portland's highway congestion has become the worst of any metropolitan area of its size."
Great, we are in reverse and accelerating!
"The most destructive result has been Portland's "green-lining" of housing opportunity by the urban growth boundary. According to the National Association of Homebuilders, Portland's housing affordability declined at a far greater rate in the last decade than in any other major metropolitan area. At the same time, housing affordability improved in faster growing areas, such as Atlanta, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Raleigh-Durham."
The verdict is in, Urban Planners are imbeciles. The whole Smart Growth thing is nothing but one of those Gorian secular religions, similar to the great gorical's Gaiastic Apocalyptic Global Warming religion. And Smart Growth comes with the same outcomes, the opposite of the prophecies. This is like a 3rd rate SciFi POC (piece of crap). Luckily, I live mid stream of the River Effluent, er, Portlandia, or ground zero as it is known by those remaining rational in the area.
So Where Should People Live in the Future?
Probably exactly where they want to live, because from what I can see, that's where they end up living.
Sorry, time for a detour . . .
"What was perhaps most intriguing was that the top ranked city for unhappiness is Portland, Oregon, the city that many planners hold up as Nirvana." Well, only for the Smart Growth Urban Planners, and people who believe the press tongue bathings, er, news. For us who live here, especially those of us who have lived here for a long time (1972 for me), this is OBVIOUS, TANGIBLE, AND PALPABLE. Loud enough? Terrible traffic, unaffordable housing, idiotic transit which mangles everything from roadways, to bicycle riders.
Will Portland Streetcar ever find a way to prevent bike-rail crashes? - BikePortland.org
"Twelve years after Portland Streetcar added its rails to city streets, it's still a Portland rite of passage to crash your bike on its tracks — and it's still a maddening problem for the handful of people trying to solve it.
"'I just can't believe that in a place like Amsterdam or any number of European cities where they have had girder rail — I can't believe that somebody hasn't figured this out,' Portland Streetcar consultant Carter MacNichol said in an interview Wednesday. 'But apparently they haven't.'"
Said the Portland Streetcar Consultant, excuse me, idiot. The Antiplanner is not as uninformed as this idiot Portland Streetcar Consultant, there is a fix: "There's one good thing about the streetcar, at least if you are a Portland auto driver annoyed by the city's aggressive cyclists. More than two-thirds of Portland cyclists surveyed in 2008 said they've crashed on the streetcar tracks. There's an engineering fix–putting rubber flaps on the rails that are flexible enough for the streetcars to push out of the way but too stiff for bicycles to sink into. But Portland Streetcar doesn't want to install them because it's too expensive and they'd have to replace them every two or three years."
Why is government so willing to hire know-nothing consultants, when a bit of perusing around the Internet would answer most of their questions? Yeah I know, they hire them because the politician want a cushy job once they fail out of "public service" and nothing is as cushy as a job which requires not one whit of knowledge, like Portland Streetcar Consultant! It's the old I'll scratch your back two step.
The cure is simple, get rid of the streetcar, and light rail. I can already hear the shrieks from the transit Mafia. But as the Antiplanner observes, "[c]onsidering that the 2013 American Community Survey found that more than 18,000 workers living in the city of Portland bicycle to work while only 7,800 take some form of rail transit–including both streetcars and light rail–it seems like the city has its priorities exactly backwards. I hope officials from other cities who look to Portland as a model for transportation planning take the time to read these audits."
So, rail transit in Portlandia, which carries about one half of all transit riders, only takes 7,800 workers each day? Jesus H. Tap-dancing Christ! We spent billions on this crap, and it carries less than 8,000 people to work? Taxis would have been cheaper, and with those impossibly low ridership numbers the roadways wouldn't notice the increased carriage.
Sorry for the detour, back to the question of where people want to live. Portlandia's Smart Growth Urban Planners know exactly where people want to live, in the city, in a high density environment. You know like rats in a packed maze.
This was confirmed by the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project's national survey assessing where people would like to live:
"A new national survey by the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project finds that nearly half (46%) of the public would rather live in a different type of community from the one they're living in now- a sentiment that is most prevalent among city dwellers. When asked about specific metropolitan areas where they would like to live, respondents rank Denver, San Diego and Seattle at the top of a list of 30 cities, and Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati at the bottom. Other survey findings include:
• Americans are all over the map in their views about their ideal community type: 30% say they would most like to live in a small town, 25% in a suburb, 23% in a city and 21% in a rural area.
• By a ratio of more than three-to-one, Americans prefer living where the pace of life is slow, not fast. A similarly lopsided majority prefer a place where neighbors know each other well to one where neighbors don't generally know each other's business."
Ok, so the Portlandia Smart Growth Urban Planners lied, through their teeth. People want to live in lower density, with a slower pace, and where neighbors know each other. That pretty much redlines cities, where no one knows, or cares about the neighbors.
Ironically, we have had a number of friends who became enamored with the Pearl District a trendy urban neighborhood in Portlandia. The ones who moved to the Pearl all followed the same pattern, point by point, it was like a comedy bit their behavior was so predictable. They would first become enamored, then they would watch the Pearl's housing prices, and notice the housing prices were going up, up, up. So, they would buy in, and instantly become wildly excited about The Pearl. They would throw 6 or more parties the first year, where before they might have thrown a single holiday party. The second year they would remain enthusiastic, but the parties would fall to perhaps three. The third year they might throw a holiday party, but no more. The fourth year we would meet them at someone elses party, and they would have moved back to the suburbs. They weren't talking about the Pearl. It was a comedy bit!
Some did well with home prices, especially the early adopters, but the latecomers, I suspect got burned. While I asked softly about why, I could only get something along the lines of, "we missed our neighbors in [the suburbs]." Well, yes, and all the concrete, and hard surfaces of the city would get old, as would being trapped with only one car. Plus, we would only go to one party per couple, per year. Parking was a bitch, and I was not about to prostrate myself on the altar of Smart Growth. I suspect they found that with time fewer, and fewer people would trek down to parking hell to visit, which meant they were always doing the driving.
If hell is other people, the city is surely hell. Leave it for the young to populate, and with experience, realize they don't like the city as much as they thought they would.
Remember, Portlandia is a cautionary tale.


Cryptocurrencies as an asset class are here to stay.
Efforts are in progress to integrate cryptocurrencies into the mainstream economy.
A few of the top cryptocurrencies are showing signs of bottoming out.
We suggest long positions on a close above $0.02815521, with a stop loss just below $0.021.Conversely, if the cryptocurrency fails to sustain the breakout and drops below $0.02815521 once again, it will remain range bound between $0.0183 and $0.02815521.
Will the new vision help change the fortunes for the struggling cryptocurrency? Let's find out.
We will get a confirmation if the price breaks out of the downtrend line and the previous swing high of $40.784.Long-term investors can expect the cryptocurrency to start a new uptrend if the price sustains above $40.784.
The company has rebranded its Trust Wallet as a multi cryptocurrency wallet, adding support to a larger number of blockchains and has improved its various features.
The cryptocurrency is already quite popular in Venezuela with over 2,600 merchants accepting it.
If the bears sink the cryptocurrency below $56.214, the downtrend will resume.
The crypto exchange Gemini chose to list Dash instead of Monero because its founders, the Winklevoss Twins believe that the regulators would be more favorable to Dash.


Okay, has anybody out there actually done this successfully? I intend to anneal my brass first, but how much expansion can that case take at a time?
I haven't tried it with .348, tried fire forming some PRVI 8mm Lebel cases, with no success, even after annealing.
I'm guessing its just too much to expand at one time. .323 to something like .430 is literally a stretch. A case conversion book suggests expanding in .020 intervals to avoid splits. That seems harsh if the brass is already annealed. Five expansions also take some time.


The APPMA is made up of businesses, small and large, includes importers, distributor, stockiest, supplier, wholesaler, retailer, broker and indenters of Paper and Paper Board. The members work collectively to accomplish that which none could undertake alone. The present APPMA was formed in 1993 through the amalgamation of THREE trade bodies in Pakistan at that time, namely, the KARACHI PAPER MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION (KPMA), LAHORE PAPER MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION (LPMA) AND RAWALPINDI PAPER MERCHANTS ASSOCIAION (RPMA). It was LICENCED under the Trade Organizations Ordinance 1961 on 20th October 1993 and incorporated under section 32 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984 which regulates the working of the Trade Bodies in the country. It incorporated under section 32 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984 by joint Registrar of the Companies, Government of Pakistan on 20th November 1993.
The promulgation of Trade Organization Ordinance 2007, APPMA is the only Association of the Paper Business sector who has been granted license under new Ordinance and has the privilege to be the only recognized Trade Body in Pakistan on Paper Trade, Printing, publishing and packaging industries. The new license is granted by Director General Trade Organization on 1st November 2008, vide license no. 109. The DGTO, renewed its license up to 31.10.2014 and further renewed up to 31-10-2019.
The APPMA is affiliated with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It has two classes of membership, namely, Associates and Corporate. Details can be had from the Membership list of the APPMA. This Association has currently around 1800 direct members both importers and traders all over Pakistan.
The Association has two Zonal Offices, one at Karachi for Southern Zone (i.e. Provinces of Sindh and Balochistan) and another at Lahore for Northern Zone (i.e. Provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally administered Areas. The Association can open Regional offices in any Municipal Limit where 30 or more valid members for last two consecutive years are available.
The organization's policies and programs are deter-mined by the Central Executive Committee which are elected by the members, out of which 1/2 retire every year and in their place, new members are inducted through election. The Executive Committee every year elects Chairman, Senior Vice Chairman and Vice-Chairman, one from each zone.
The Zonal offices dealt with the Provincial and Municipal matters, administered by the President, nominated by the Central Executive Committee. The President form its own cabinet to run the zonal matters.
Programs are carried out by Standing Committees. The Executive Committee every year nominates the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Standing Committees on various subjects, relating to trade and other allied matters. The Standing Committees formulates their recommendations for the consideration and approval of the Executive Committee. The major Standing Committees are: Sales Tax, Budget and Taxation, Customs and Valuation, Local Trade and Banking and Dry Ports.
This premier trade body has been given due representation in every important Advisory meetings held, time to time, in Customs, Income Tax, Sales Tax departments, Ministries of Commerce, Finance, Interior and others trade related Ministries and Government Departments etc. Those who are nominated by the APPMA on these meetings are senior and prominent businessmen of trade with long experience and deep insight in specific fields. While the APPMA participation in various Departments meetings keeps it posted with up-to-date information on various government policies and measures, the APPMA also utilizes these forums to influence the policies and perception of the Government through personal discussion as well as through submission of representations/memorandum and studies. For example, comprehensive memoranda, giving considered recommendations and policy-proposals are submitted to the federal government well in advance before the announcement of the Federal Budget. The Provincial Government and local authorities concerned are also time to time approached and provided with necessary memoranda/representations. They are followed-up with personal meetings and discussions, it is against such an exercise and experience that problems both of individual or collective nature, whether they are concerned to trade, imports, retail or taxation or shipping or telephones, electricity are dealt with and pursued till such problems are resolved. In fact the APPMA acts as a catalyst and work as a bridge between the government and the members of the business community.
To endeavor to improve the working conditions and facilitate effective input for achievement of objects for which the Association have been established.
To take such steps as the Association considers desirable towards the promotion of the interest of Paper trade and allied services in Pakistan or outside Pakistan, specifically related to paper trade.
To place before Government and other public and official bodies the views of Members on matters affecting the interests of paper trade and services in specified field of activities.
To attempt to adopt unified approach in matters of policy on all matters affecting the interest of paper merchants and services in Pakistan.
To seek representations on various bodies dealing with issues of common interests of members.
To do such other things as are necessary in the general interest of its Members including holding or participation in exhibitions within or outside the Country.
To urge, support or oppose legislative or other measures and procure change of law or Practice affecting the interest of Commerce, Industry and services or adversely affecting the common interests of business community.
To secure adequate representation of the Association on Government, public or statutory bodies and on trade and business delegations.
To accept any bequest, gift, donation or subscription towards or to accumulate and Fund or Endowment or Waqf or sponsorships for events and to invest the same and apply the income arising therefrom or to resort to the capital thereof for any objects of the Association and to hold events from such accumulated funds towards achieving the objects of the Association.
To subscribe to and become and continue to remain member of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and to procure from and communicate to any organization of Trade and Industry in Pakistan or abroad such information as maybe conducive to the attainment of the objects of the Association.
To communicate with Federal and Provincial Governments, Chambers of Commerce and Industry or trade bodies or other commercial and public bodies and to concert and promote measures for the protection of the aforesaid interests.
To file, prosecute, defend or contest, join or aid in filing, prosecuting and defending any such actions, suits, applications, appeals or other proceedings as the Association may think proper o-r which may be conducive to the attainment of the objects of the Association.
And generally to do alt acts, deeds, and things which may be incidental or conducive to the attainment of all or any of the objects stated herein above.
To protect and promote the trade and to secure cooperation among Members in general and those dealing in these lines in particular.
To arranges and convenes conferences, lectures, shows, meetings on the subject affecting interest of the members of the Association.
Torun sections or departments including those relating to exports, imports, statistics, publicity and publications as may be determined from time to time.
To arrange international Exhibitions in Pakistan or abroad or to participate in International Exhibitions or Forum in accordance with the aims and objectives of the Association.
To canvass, publicize, propagate and take all steps in the interest of the Association and for protection of the interests of the members and to consider, recommend and support all actions directed towards improvement in the conditions of the trade.
To enter into any arrangements with Government and public authorities Municipal, Port, Railways, local or otherwise which may foster and consolidate the objectives of the Association or any of them whether individually or collectively for advancement of the interests of the trade.
To lend, advance or borrow or raise monies or secure the payment of such monies in such manner as the Association may think fit and in particular manner by creation and issue of debenture or debenture stocks, perpetual or otherwise, charged upon all or any of the properties of the Association, present or future and to purchase redeem or Pay such security or securities. AND it is hereby declared that the objects set forth in any sub clauses of this clause shall not, except, where the expressly so requires be in any way limited or restricted by reference to or inference from terms of any other sub-clauses or by the name of the Association.


text:
Andrew York
A Minor Duet - Single
Sunday Morning Overcast
Guitar Lullaby 2000
Andecy
Perfect Sky 1986
Yamour
La guitare au Sud
By Candlelight
Linus and Lucy - Single
Archimedes - Single
Broken Sky - Single
Song for Susan - Single
Ind'd - Single
Baby Needs Guitar
A Day in the Life of Leo: Classical Music for You and Your Cat
The Best of Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Classical Princess - Music for Dress-Up
Culture of Revival: A Revivalist Field Manual
Three Dimensions for Solo Guitar
About Andrew York
Andrew York has had equal success as a composer and concert guitarist. In both realms he has deftly straddled two worlds: classical and crossover. His compositions typically mix classical music with folk and rock elements and have attracted some of the foremost classical guitarists in the world, including John Williams, Christopher Parkening, and David Brandon. As a performer York became well known as a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, a group for which he wrote many compositions and arrangements, a fair number of which were recorded. But even for the decade-and-a-half that he was a member of the LAGQ, York also appeared as a soloist in concert, typically drawing positive critical notice both at home and at international venues. York's works and performances are available on a variety of major labels, including EMI, Telarc, Sony, and Delos.
Andrew York was born in Atlanta, GA, in 1958. His father was a folk guitarist and his mother a singer. Young Andrew began playing the guitar at an early age, focusing on both classical and folk music.
York earned a bachelor's degree in music at James Madison University in Virginia and a master's at the University of Southern California. He had further advanced studies in Spain. In his student years he had developed interest in both rock and jazz styles, but without ever abandoning classical.
York met guitarist John Williams at a 1986 concert in Spain given by York, and Williams was impressed with York's composition Sunburst. Williams played it in concert and eventually recorded it. Later on, Williams also played and recorded York's Lullaby.
York's first solo album, Perfect Sky, was issued in 1989 on the Timeless Records label. The following year he joined the LAGQ, remaining with the group until 2006. During that time he made a half-dozen or so recordings with the ensemble, most achieving good sales and critical plaudits.
Meanwhile, he continued to both write music and appear in solo concerts. The duets Virtu and Evening Dance, both from the early '90s, became quite popular, the latter reaching disc via the performance of Christopher Parkening and David Brandon.
York also enjoyed considerable success as a solo recording artist during his LAGQ years. Since 2006 York has focused on composition and his solo career. Among his later recordings is the 2006 Majian Music CD Hauser Sessions, which contains a collection of 16 works by York.
Frank Gambale


text:
Economy & Economic Justice
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Sanders Institute
Opinion: Tax Reform that Works for All
by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs
This article originally appeared in The Boston Globe on June 27th, 2017.
THE REPUBLICANS are trying to jam a reckless health care bill through Congress so that they can move on to their real objective: another round of deep tax cuts for the rich, paid for by deep cuts in public services, more debt on the backs of the young, and reckless disregard for the environment. We need tax reform, but of a very different kind.
A real tax reform would address four problems. First, it would raise total revenues as a share of GDP, in order to cut the chronic budget deficit. Second, it would address the crisis of falling wages and disappearing jobs facing working-class America. Third, it would curb carbon pollution, which is dangerously warming the planet. Fourth, to spur saving and investment, it would shift taxes toward consumption rather than income.
To keep public debt from soaring, we will need to cut the deficit. Republican leaders dream of cutting the deficit by slashing Medicaid, education, science, and other vital programs. Yet the public is aghast at such proposals. There are no realistic prospects for major budgetary savings, because we have so many pent-up needs for new infrastructure, expanded higher education, and other public investments. At best, we could cut wasteful areas of federal spending (for example, the military and over-priced drugs) and increase spending for infrastructure, education, R&D, and other public investments.
Tax policy should also help to address the crisis facing low-skilled workers. Technology continues to eliminate low-skilled jobs as workers are replaced by smart machines. The workers are forced to shift to even lower-paying jobs. To boost the take-home pay of low earners, we should expand the highly successful earned-income tax credit.
Tax policy should help to solve global warming by putting a new tax on carbon pollution. A reasonable approach would be to introduce a gradually rising tax on CO2 emission, accelerating the shift to wind, solar, nuclear, and other low-carbon sources of energy. Since the US economy emits around 5 billion tons of CO2 each year, a tax of $40 per ton of CO2 emitted would raise around 1 percent of GDP in revenues.
Finally, tax reform should shift taxation from income toward consumption, to spur higher saving and investment. A smart policy would be to reduce the marginal tax rate on new business investments by allowing companies to expense some or all of their new investments.
We would need new government revenues to cut the budget deficit and offset revenue losses from an expanded EITC and a cut in the marginal tax on new business investments. A new tax on carbon pollution would provide some new revenues but more will be needed.
The best candidate for higher revenues would be a value-added tax, or VAT, essentially a tax on consumption rather than investment income. Liberals traditionally object to a VAT because they say it's regressive, but its overall effect can be progressive when it finances progressive spending on health, education, job training, science, and an expanded EITC. That's why the social democracies of Northern Europe have long embraced the VAT. Conservatives, on the other hand, object to the VAT because they dream of slashing the deficit by deep cuts in social programs, against the will of the people.
Therein lies the compromise. Liberals should accept the VAT as the price to pay for properly funding the government, including highly progressive objectives such as health, education, and infrastructure. Conservatives should accept the VAT as the way to fund the cuts in the marginal tax rate on business investment and as the effective answer to the already high and rising budget deficits.
Consider the test of pragmatism. How are the world's most successful economies funding government? Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden all have lower deficits, better health care, lower tuitions, lower inequality, and less poverty than the United States. All of these countries raise more tax revenues, and offer more generous social policies, than the United States, in part through the VAT. It's time the United States undertake a tax reform that is truly for the common good.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is University Professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and author of "The Age of Sustainable Development."


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Q: How do I page.click an ember.js computed element? I have an ember.js front end app that I'm trying to create an E2E test using cucumber.js / puppeteer.  I'm using html data- properties for selectors.  I'm having a problem when I have a computed element:

Drag and Drop Files or
    {{#file-upload
        name="transactions"
        class="ao-file-uploader__file"
        multiple=false
        onfileadd=(action "validateFile")
        accept=allowFileTypeString
        data-test-upload2="true"
    }}
Click to Browse

and I attempt to page.click it:
async selectLinkToImportPaymentFile() {
    await this.page.click('[test-selector-upload1="true"]');
}

I get the following error:

Error: No node found for selector: [test-selector-upload1="true"]

I tried test-selector-upload1, test-selector-upload2, and test-selector-upload3.
I can do it on other elements, such as this one (I can page.click):
<button class="ao-login__button" data-test-selector="buttonSignIn" type="submit">
    Sign in
</button>

Can someone please give me some guidance?


Me (left) and Ms Cupcake Mellissa Morgan.
Ms. Cupcake is a south-London based vegan baker, originally from Canada. Her real name is Mellissa Morgan and her first recipe book, called "The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town", has just been published by Random House. Ms. Cupcake started selling her cakes on a market stall in Greenwich and now has her own shop in Brixton, but I first discovered her at the annual environmental fair in the south London village where I live. Her cake stall looked so tempting and as I was there with a vegan friend we decided to try one of her bakes- it was awesome!
I somehow came across a group called the London Vegan Meetup - given I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan I'm not actually sure how I originally found out about it. I saw that they were holding a potluck dinner one evening in London, and advertised that Mellissa would be attending and holding a book signing. My vegan friend was actually on holiday so I decided to venture along by myself - hoping desperately that nobody would find out or mind that I am a very happy meat eater! But I thought it would be a good way for me to find out more about vegan food and try some dishes - and I learnt that not all wine is vegan which had never occured to me before. As it was a potluck, the idea was that everyone would bring a vegan dish to share - and to me the obvious choice was to make a cake from Ms. Cupcake's book.
The carrot cake Ms. Cupcake made for the potluck. I had a slice and it was delicious!
so taking cakes along to an event where other people would eat them was ideal!
When I arrived one of the organisers came over to say hello and I told her what I'd made and that it was from Ms. Cupcake's book, and she immediately went and got Mellissa who came over for a chat. We spoke for several minutes and then I was staggered when Mellissa said she'd never actually eaten a cake someone else had made from one of her recipes.
That put me under quite a lot of pressure and I was really nervous! Luckily, Mellissa really liked the cake and said it had an "excellent crumb". She was lovely and I was really pleased to have had the chance to speak to her - and her mum who was also there - and I'm thrilled to be able to say mine was the first cake she had tasted made by someone who had bought the Ms. Cupcake recipe book!
She even signed my book and wrote that my cupcakes were divine, which is pretty cool and very kind of Mellissa to say so.
I also met some guys from a vegan bakery called the Vegan Tart, who made this awesome cake. They also have a stall in Brixton, where Ms. Cupcake is based, so I think I'll need to make a trip there soon!
Here's an overview of how I made the cupcakes; I made some small adaptions and I'm not giving you the whole recipe here, you will just have to buy the book!
Mix soya milk and vinegar and leave for ten minutes - it will start to bubble a little. Preheat oven to 180C.
Mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, bicarb of soda and baking powder.
Add the milk and vinegar, oil, vanilla and mint flavour and mix well.
Some of mine sank a little in the middle; I discovered from the troubleshooting section of the recipe book that I had probably been too heavy-handed with the baking powder as this can cause cakes to sink.
In the end this actually helped when I was piling the filling onto the cakes anyway!
The book also has a recipe for the most amazing vegan chocolate spread which I've never come across before but it tasted fantastic. It only has three ingredients but I'm not telling you what they are, you'll have to buy the book!
I spread the chocolate icing onto the cakes, taking advantage of those which had sunk a little in the middle so I could pile in the filling but keep the top fairly level.
I then made some vegan buttercream using Vitalite which is vegan, though I didn't have as much left as I thought so I was unable to follow the exact quantities in the recipe. I flavoured it with peppermint and added a little mint green gel food colour.
I piped swirls of the buttercream on top of the cakes, though it was a little softer than I would have liked, which I'm sure is because I didn't follow the recipe exactly.
Ms. Cupcake's recipe uses vegan chocolate chips which don't seem to be that easy to get hold of - she suggested Wholefoods when we were chatting at the potluck. You could grate a bar of plain vegan chocolate over the cakes, or get these dairy-free chocolate buttons which are easier to find in supermarkets than the chocolate chips.
I decorated the cupcakes with chocolate chips; they went down very well at the potluck and disappeared very quickly!
I'm sending these to We Should Cocoa as the ingredient this month is mint. Victoria from A Kick at the Pantry Door is the guest host for June, on behalf of Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog and Chele of Chocolate Teapot.
I'm also sending this to the Four Seasons Food challenge, hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Chez Foti. Their theme this month is picnic food and outdoor nibbles, and cupcakes are perfect for a picnic.
Thanks Mellissa, you're too kind! It was great to meet you too.
It sounds like you had fun. I am going to try these out on Graham. He is going to love them, bless his vegan socks! better pin it so I don't forget!
Sorry I couldn't post the full recipe, I couldn't get permission from the publisher to print it all. You can always email/tweet me if you have any more questions about how I made them.
lovely colour icing,they look really good.


You would think that because summer is the time to sport our swimsuits and let down our inhibitions with shorts and tank tops that it would be easy to lose weight and have enough willpower and motivation to watch what we eat, and better yet, maintain our waistline.
Even though I myself am a leading Fitness Guru and know exactly what I need to do to lose weight, build muscle or simply maintain my body weight, I have found over the years that summer is an extremely hard time to shed pounds.
Furthermore, working with so many clients over the years and seeing the statistics of them has proven that I am not alone and that for many, summertime is an extremely difficult time to beat the bulge. Aside from January and the New Year, September is my busiest time with new clients.
I personally find the summer months difficult because my schedule is completely off. I work on my own and don't have to report in anywhere. The kids are not in school, sleeping schedules are non existent for everyone, there simply is NO schedule. Kids are going in every direction beating to their own drums and family dinnertime is not a thing.
I also travel a lot in the summer which means many meals are eaten out and unplanned. Unplanned meals and restaurants means much more fat then I would normally incorporate into my meals.
It also means a cocktail or a glass of wine which not only adds calories but sometimes leads to poorer decisions at the table as inhibitions are down.
It also means I'm away from the gym, not adhering to my normal workout routine, and cannot always get a workout in altogether.
When you combine all of these things together it adds up to less movement and less control over my food choices which in turn leads to a caloric increase which yes, leads to weight gain.
Summer is also a time for many barbecues and fun times with family and friends. While there is nothing wrong with the occasional hotdog, cheeseburger and ice cream, eating them along with coleslaw, potato and macaroni salad more frequently does make the calories add up in a big way.
Keep in mind that weight gain and fat loss are cumulative. We don't gain weight from one meal and we don't get thin from a few days of eating clean and healthy and on point.
Summer is three months. If you overeat by 200 calories every day for a total of 18,000 calories over the course of the duration, it adds up to a total of 5 pounds. As you can see, it's easy to go overboard as 200 calories is in one1 cocktail alone.
I know it's easier said than done, but try not to beat yourself up over it. Summer is a time for relaxation for many. Kids are not in school, many family vacations are taken, and sitting on a beach or by a pool for endless hours doing nothing simply feels good! It's a time when we take a step back from the hustle and bustle.
While I can assure you that it is not easy to lose weight over the summer, here are some useful tips to try and get through without packing on the pounds.
Try to drink a lot of water. Water does flush you out and cut the bloat. Seeing less bloat will make you feel better automatically and put you in a better frame of mind.
Forgo the cocktails for a few days if you can. If you must, try to have just one and keep it lower calorie. Stay away from the mixers, fruit juices and the sugary frozen drinks. Try to stick to wine or a liquor mixed with club soda and lime.
Incorporate a large salad with a colorful array of fresh vegetables along with a lean grilled protein such as chicken breast, shrimp or fish for at least one meal. Stay away from creamy and oily fattening dressings, bacon, croutons and ask for cheese on the side or omit it altogether.
Load up on fresh vegetables, berries and whole grains. These types of foods have fiber in them which will keep you fulller longer feeling more satisfied. When you eat well you feel better.
Try to exercise earlier in the day if you can. You are more likely to eat better and make wiser decisions for the duration of the day as it puts you in a better, more healthy, frame of mind.
Focus on filling up on lean protein at each meal. Protein is very satisfying, keeps you full and preserves muscle mass. Some examples of lean protein (protein with little fat) are egg whites, grilled chicken, shrimp, fish, 93% lean beef, cottage cheese, tuna fish and Greek yogurt. You can also supplement with a delicious protein shake. Another reason to load up on protein during the day is it will allow you to splurge a bit on carbs and fat later on in the day.
Go outside, take a walk, and enjoy the nature around you. Keep moving. You'll feel better mentally and burn some calories while doing so.
There is a common saying that summer bodies are made in the winter. While the thought comes from not rushing the weight loss, that slow and steady truly wins the race, the reality is that fat loss should eventually become a lifestyle for you to succeed at it. You need to work on being healthy and fit each day upon waking. It is then that you'll see that a few days off will not deter progress and that if you can maintain your physique instead of trying to change it, harder times like summer will become a bit easier.
My best advice is to learn about flexible dieting. Budgeting your macros – your proteins, fats and carbs – allows you to eat anything you wish as long as it fits into your daily budget. You'll need to weigh and log your food initially to educate yourself on the value of each food, but overtime you'll learn what your "sweet spot" of calories is and be able to eat intuitively for whatever goal you have in mind. And that, is what turns a diet into a lifestyle, in which you'll be able to know how to properly feed your body long term all the while eating foods you enjoy, whether it is summertime or any other season. Grab your own customized nutrition plan and 12 week muscle building workout at https://pancakesandpushups.com/kickstarter-plans/.


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Special pliers which forms the component wire at 90°. With adjustable stop to adjust the forming distance (A). Max forming width 16mm to allow TO220 and TO247 forming components. This item combines both PN5040 and PN5040/5 articles. Steel thickness 5.0mm. Tool length 158mm.


Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Drop the eggs carefully into the water and cook for 7-8 minutes at a rapid simmer.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan set over a moderate heat. Add the prawns and some seasoning, and saute for 2-3 minutes until golden.
Adjust the seasoning to taste with paprika, cayenne, and more salt and pepper.
Drain the eggs when ready and refresh immediately in a bowl of cold water. Drain and pat dry before removing the tops carefully with a knife.
Place in egg cups and spoon the prawns on top before serving.


The Alachua County Library District invites the community to celebrate 150 years of freedom and enjoy fellowship with neighbors and friends at the 8th Annual Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 20, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, a day of recognition and celebration of the end of African-American slavery in the United States. This spirited community event features music, exhibits, food, refreshments and door prizes.
The celebration shares the history of Juneteenth from June 19, 1865, when the news that the Civil War had ended and all slaves were free finally reached Galveston, Texas. That was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Annual Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas and slowly spread across the country. In 1980, Texas became the first state to establish Juneteenth as an official state holiday. Currently, 36 states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or day of special observance.