text:
Person:Lula Hutchinson (1)
in Tennessee
in South America
in Sulphur Well
Lula B. Hutcherson
b.Aug. 1866 Kentucky, United States
d. Tennessee, United States
H. Frank Ferguson
W. Lula B. Hutcherson1866 -
Name[2][3] Lula B. Hutcherson
Unknown[1] Lula Buford Hutchinson
Birth[3] Aug. 1866 Kentucky, United States
Occupation[4] 1885 Sulphur Well, Metcalfe, Kentucky, United StatesTeacher
Occupation[2] ABT 1912 South AmericaMissionary
Death[5][6] Tennessee, United StatesBreast Cancer
Inscription in Book
↑ 1.0 1.1 United States Census, 1880, Lula Buford Hutchinson, in FamilySearch.org.
↑ 2.0 2.1 Johnson, E. Polk. A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians: the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities. Lewis Publishing Company, 1912, Vol. 3, 1535-1537.
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census, 1900, Lula B. Hutcherson, in FamilySearch.org.
↑ Sulphur Well, in Metcalfe County Genealogy.
... After Mr. Neal's death, his hotel was used as a combined dwelling and school house. The first school of which there is record was taught in 1878 to 1880 by Mr. and Mrs. Leonard. Soon after the building burned, but it was replaced by the community and referred to as a "college". The official personnel of this school consisted of Professor John Grove, principal; Professor Fitzer, Professor Ellison and a Mrs. Smith, assistants. Sometime later, Mr. Joe Ray and daughter, Annie, of Edmonton taught school in the building. To the college came students not only from this county, but adjoining counties, living in boarding houses or in various homes. About 1885 this school house was destroyed by fire, and a ten pin alley near the Sulphur Well became the pedagogue's domain. Here Miss Lula Hutcherson, sister of the late J. C. Hutcherson of Glasgow, was one of the teachers. The main room of the present school house was built about 1887.
-from a pamphlet published by the Metcalfe Co Homemakers Clubs in the early 1940s.
http://www.kykinfolk.com/metcalfe/sulphurwell.html
↑ Family Records.
Retrieved from "http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Lula_Hutchinson_%281%29"


text:
(function() {
  'use strict';

  var module = angular.module('singApp.extra.calendar', [
    'ui.router',
    'ui.bootstrap',
    'ui.calendar'
  ]);

  module.config(appConfig);

  appConfig.$inject = ['$stateProvider'];

  function appConfig($stateProvider) {
    $stateProvider
      .state('app.extra-calendar', {
        url: '/extra/calendar',
        templateUrl: 'app/modules/extra-calendar/extra-calendar.html',
        controller: 'CalendarAppController'
      })
  }
})();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: How I can draw a semitransparent gray sphere shell with a hole using TikZ? I need to represent a gray sphere of radius R with a hollow circle defined by a cone of angle alpha, and I have the cone part but I do not know how to draw the sphere ....
I Have this:
\documentclass[10pt, letterpaper]{article}%tipo
\usepackage{amsmath, amsthm, amssymb}
    \usepackage{etex, tikz, tikz-3dplot, xcolor}
        \usetikzlibrary{
                    arrows,
                    fadings,
                    calc}
\newcommand\pgfmathsinandcos[3]{%
  \pgfmathsetmacro#1{sin(#3)}%
  \pgfmathsetmacro#2{cos(#3)}%
}
        \definecolor{miverde}{RGB}{44,162,67}
\begin{document}
\begin{center}\pgfmathsetmacro{\phivec}{135}
\tdplotsetmaincoords{70}{\phivec}
\tdplotsetthetaplanecoords{\phivec}
\begin{tikzpicture}[tdplot_main_coords,scale=4]
\pgfmathsetmacro{\Rvec}{1.4}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\alphavec}{20}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\dc}{cos(\phivec)}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\ds}{sin(\phivec)}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\dd}{sin(\alphavec)}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\df}{cos(\alphavec)}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\rvec}{\Rvec*\dd}
%
\draw[dashed](0,0,0)--(\rvec*\dc,\rvec*\ds,\Rvec*\df);
\draw[dashed](0,0,0)--(-\rvec*\dc,-\rvec*\ds,\Rvec*\df);
\draw[miverde] (-\rvec,0,\Rvec*\df) arc (180:360:\rvec);
%
\tdplotdrawarc[tdplot_rotated_coords]{(0,0,0)}{.7}{0}%
{\alphavec}{anchor=south}{$\alpha$}
%====Ejes====
\draw[red,line width=0.7pt,-latex](0,0,0)--(2,0,0)node[left]{$x$};
\draw[red,line width=0.7pt,-latex](0,0,0)--(0,2,0)node[right]{$y$};
\draw[red,line width=0.7pt,-latex](0,0,0)--(0,0,2)node[left]{$z$};
\draw[miverde] (\rvec,0,\Rvec*\df) arc (0:180:\rvec);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{center}
\end{document}

it's produced:

I'd like it to look:

but centered at the origin, radio \Rvec and grayish, thanks in advance.

A: I didn't exactly understand how the end result should look like so kind of freestyled. The axes and the tick labels can be adjusted later but keep the sample numbers low when you are tweaking stuff. Otherwise it is really not fun waiting for compilation.
Basically what I tried is to draw a half sphere then the cone and then the remaining slice such that the z order is not killing the mood. Asymptote/MetaPost guys will spoil it anyways :)
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.12}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[view={35}{20},
axis lines=center,
axis on top,axis equal,
xlabel={$x$}, ylabel={$y$}, zlabel={$z$},
domain=0:0.8,
y domain=0:2*pi,
xmin=-1.5, xmax=1.5,
ymin=-1.5, ymax=1.5, zmin=-1,
samples=20,
samples y=20,
z buffer=sort,
colormap/blackwhite,point meta rel=per plot
]
\addplot3[surf,domain=-1:0.8,y domain=0:pi, colormap/hot,mesh/interior colormap name=blackwhite,opacity=0.8]({sqrt(1-x^2)*cos(deg(y))},{sqrt(1-x^2)*sin(deg(y))},x);
\addplot3[surf,colormap/blackwhite,mesh/interior colormap name=hot]({6/8*x*cos(deg(y))},{6/8*x*sin(deg(y))},{x});
\addplot3[surf,colormap/hot,domain=-1:0.8,opacity=0.8,y domain=-pi:-pi/2.5,mesh/interior colormap name=blackwhite]({sqrt(1-x^2)*cos(deg(y))},{sqrt(1-x^2)*sin(deg(y))},x);
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
import micropython

# create tuple
x = 1
micropython.heap_lock()
try:
    (x,)
except MemoryError:
    print('MemoryError: tuple create')
micropython.heap_unlock()


National buildings construction corporation Ltd, (NBCC) Indian Navy and NBCC Services Ltd (NSL) have inked an agreement to build a Sahara Widows Hostel at Vasant Kunj in New Delhi for Indian Navy under CSR initiative.
The MOU was signed by Sanjay Nirmal, Commodore Indian Navy, R Wanchoo, CGM (CSR), NBCC (India) Ltd. and A Sabeena, chief executive officer, NBCC Services Ltd. on behalf of their respective companies.
The hostel would be constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 13.50 crores and will be shared by NBCC (India) Ltd. and Indian Navy equally. The project is a first of its kind in north India for the welfare of soldiers' widows and is slated to be completed by December, 2017.


text:
How Do You Block Someone on LinkedIn?
ByGeek Insider Staff December 10, 2021 January 30, 2022
Read More How Do You Block Someone on LinkedIn?Continue
Microsoft Buys LinkedIn for $26 Billion
ByKevin Krotz June 14, 2016 June 3, 2017
Microsoft has announced that it will be acquiring professional social network LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The acquisition marks one of the largest technology-industry deals in history. Microsoft will pay $196 per share in an all-cash transaction. LinkedIn will still continue to operate as an independent company, retaining its branding, but with the backing of one…
Read More Microsoft Buys LinkedIn for $26 BillionContinue
Social Media for business – Get Noticed
ByHenry McIntosh February 18, 2013 July 13, 2018
Social Media has been taking over the world for a good 8 years now; but it is only within the last 2 to 3 years that the business world has caught on. Create a Social Buzz Facebook has been the stronghold of the social media world and can perhaps be credited with kick starting the…
Read More Social Media for business – Get NoticedContinue

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Today morning, human resources and social security ministry held a press conference in 2018 three quarter. The reporter was informed that the three quarter of this year, China has been completed ahead of the annual goal of employment. Pension insurance fund has 416 billion 650 million yuan of funds to the account and start investing.
Department spokesman Lu Aihong introduced, the comprehensive employment statistics monitoring and research situation, the first three quarters of China's employment situation is generally stable. The main performance of the steady growth of new jobs in cities and towns, from January to September a total urban employment reached 11 million 70 thousand people, an increase of 100 thousand over the same period last year, a quarter ahead of the completion of the annual task; the end of the three quarter of the registered urban unemployment rate fell to 3.82%, years of low. Although there are 8 million 200 thousand college graduates this year, but the overall stability of employment. The steady progress of employment of rural labor transfer, employment assistance to disadvantaged groups intensified, the first 9 months of employment difficulties in employment of 1 million 360 thousand people, an increase of 30 thousand people. Human resources market supply and demand basically stable. The 100 city public employment services market supply and demand data analysis shows that the three quarter of the opening rate of the human resources market is 1.25, the chain, an increased, which indicates that the recruitment number greater than the number of job seekers, and increase the chain, had an increased. From the recent investigation and monitoring the situation, but also the overall stability of the enterprise employment.
In addition, China's social security fund overall smooth operation. From January to September, the basic pension insurance and inductrial injury unemployment insurance fund total revenue of 3 trillion and 930 billion yuan, an increase of 18.2%, the total expenditure of funds 3 trillion and 450 billion yuan, an increase of 16.5%. The basic old-age insurance fund investment operation of enterprise employees steadily. At the end of September, Beijing, Shanxi, the government and the Social Security Fund Council signed entrusted investment contract, the total contract amount of 715 billion yuan, of which 416 billion 650 million yuan of funds have been credited into account and start investment.


For patients with early to mid-stage osteoarthritis, partial knee replacement spares the healthy bone and ligaments, replacing only the diseased portion. This procedure is performed using a robotic arm system known as the MAKOplasty partial knee resurfacing procedure, and is an advanced treatment option that enables the surgeon to optimize through greater accuracy. Typical manual procedures require larger incisions that present more challenges, especially in terms of implant placement, which is a key factor in the life expectancy of knee implants.
Prior to undergoing the MAKOplasty procedure, a 3D model is created from a CT scan of the knee. This image allows the surgeon to develop the best plan for positioning the implant in each patient. Using a specialized software program, the surgeon can test the plan and make adjustments as needed. The final plan is then programmed into the system, and a safe zone for bone removal is created. During the procedure, the surgeon remains in control of the robotic arm, but the system software ensures that the safety zone is maintained and implants are placed accurately and safely.
Beyond increased consistency and optimized surgical results during the partial knee replacement procedure, MAKOplasty leads to less pain, a more natural feeling knee, and shorter recovery times than total knee resurfacing.
MAKOplasty's robotic arm system for total hip replacement is a good option for patients with inflammatory or non-inflammatory degenerative joint disease – especially those who do not respond to medications and other non-surgical treatments. This hyper-accurate implant placement can reduce wear and dislocation of the implant, and ensures a much greater level of accuracy than manual procedures.
To prepare for the surgery, a CT scan of the hip is used to create a 3D model of the patient's unique hip structure. The surgeon then uses this model to develop and test a plan for the hip replacement. While remaining in control of the robotic arm throughout the procedure, the surgeon is able to position the implants with increased accuracy and optimize results.
When hip implants are placed accurately, patients have more consistency in leg length and experience decreased risk of impingement and dislocation, while the life expectancy of the hip replacement is improved.
For partial knee replacement and total hip replacement procedures, MAKOplasty leads to optimized surgical results and improved outcomes for patients suffering from degenerative joint disease and early to mid-stage osteoarthritis. This breakthrough solution greatly improves the accuracy of surgical procedures and is a treatment option that addresses the pain, stiffness, and other complications associated with knee and hip conditions.
It all Starts with a CT scan of your joint. Then 3D virtual model is generated a 3D of your unique anatomy. The virtual model is loaded into the Mako software and then used to create a personalized pre-operative plan.
During surgery, the surgeon guides the robotic-arm while preparing the hip socket and positioning the implant based on your personalized pre-operative plan. The Mako system also allows your surgeon to make adjustments to your plan during surgery as needed. When the surgeon prepares the bone for the implant, the Mako system guides the surgeon within the pre-defined area and helps prevent the surgeon from moving outside the planned boundaries. This helps provide more accurate placement and alignment of your implant.
After surgery, your surgeon, nurses and physical therapists will set goals with you to get you back on the move. They will closely monitor your condition and progress. Your surgeon may review an x-ray of your new hip replacement with you.


text:
Support Jamestown
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Beijing Wraps Up Forum on China-Africa Cooperation with Pledges of Aid and Cooperation
By: Joseph E. Lin
October 17, 2007 07:06 PM Age: 12 years
The two-day Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) concluded with additional pledges of support from China in the form of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, loans and lucrative contracts. Among the various infrastructure development projects that were discussed between Beijing and its African counterparts were a number of undertakings focused upon the development of transportation links that would facilitate in the transfer of oil and other natural resources. In his meeting with President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, President Hu Jintao agreed to continue supporting the construction of the Kima-Chemasuru Road as well as the Kipsagak-Serem-Shamakhokho Road, both of which run through western Kenya (KBC Online, November 4). Beijing also agreed to assist a massive housing and roads project in Equatorial Guinea in conjunction with the granting of a US$2 billion interest-free loan to the central African state (AFP, November 8).
In addition, as part of its soft power campaign in Africa, Beijing agreed to establish Confucius Institutes throughout additional countries. China's Confucius Institutes, the first of which were established at the University of Nairobi in Kenya last December, are organizations that focus upon Chinese language and cultural instruction and have become immensely popular. According to China's Ministry of Education, some 8,000 African students are studying Chinese at Confucius Institutes as well as at other language centers. On the sidelines of the summit, the second conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs was also held and ended with a total of $1.9 billion in private contracts being signed (Ghanaweb, November 5). In addition, the business communities of each side agreed to establish a China-Africa Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry to facilitate the exponentially increasing trade relationship. Just days after the conclusion of the FOCAC meeting, Nigeria announced that its second satellite, the Chinese manufactured NigCom Sat I, would be launched on March 13, 2007.
Jamestown intern Alexandra Frasca provided research assistance.
Sino-African Relations Hailed as Summit ..Next
Beijing Sponsors Human Rights Exhibition
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Jamestown Foundation Non-Resident Senior Fellow Pavel Felgenhauer and Analyst Aleksander Golts were interviewed by Meduza in a recent article on the Russian submarine fire, Losharik. In... MORE
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MNS leader Amey Khophar advised the Pakistani Actor and Actress, who reside in Mumbai and signed a film, to leave the Mumbai in 48 hours. This is the deadline set by MNS chief. This announcement is flashed due to URI attack from Pakistan. Deadline issued on Friday.
MNS worker announced that they will not be released the upcoming film of Pakistani actor and actress. The film 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and SRK 'Raees' release will be affected because Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan are worked with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan respectively.
MNS worker clearly told that "Pakistan actor and actress will be beaten by them with producer and director of the film too after ending of 48 hours ultimatum.
They were very annoyed on the attack in URI in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, the state government confirmed the safety of all of them from MNS.
This is the first time; MNS worker targeted the Pakistani film artist by using the party platform. Party worker has also opposed the release of Mahira Khan star 'Bin Roye' in Maharashtra last year.


text:
Q: Can I make the same laravel web app online and local too? I am trying to design a web app that should function both locally and online, so if the internet is down people on the local network can still use it to display and update data. Then when the internet is back users can access it online once again...

A: You have more than one approaches. I could only speak of those I know.

*

*You develop on your company/house server, and make your local network/server available on the Internet. When the internet is down, users on local network can still access it. There are some resources explaining how to do that online, e.g: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/accessible-local-web-server/

*Use a Javascript frontend (AngularJS, ReactJS, etc.) and make use of LocalStorage to save everything people do when offline. These people make good use of it: https://en.todoist.com/. You can create an account, sign in and then go offline. You will still be able to use it offline and it will sync when your connection comes back.
Those are the 2 I am aware of. Now it's entirely up to you to research their advantages and drawbacks and make your own decision.


Seen in a Silicon Valley parking lot.
This is a large apartment construction in progress from North First Street.
We are looking at dawn in Silicon Valley from the foot of Mission Peak. It is about 7:20 AM, and we are in the shadow of the peak and its foothills.
The sign at the entry to Ultratech Stepper is a sculpture too.
Oranges grow in Silicon Valley. Here we see a portion of the orchard, and the orchard warehouse building.
This series has been taken from the center of Saratoga Ave. at about 8 AM. We are in San Jose, and from top to bottom we get closer to Saratoga, CA.
Construction is progressing on Stevens Creek Blvd. near Winchester. This is an improvement over last week!


Now is the time to secure your spot on the new Silver Muse, by luxury cruise line Silversea. On January 3, 2018, the ship will embark on a 69-day voyage from Ft. Lauderdale, circling South America and including a 3-day stopover in RIO. Don't miss this first look!


If you were to consolidate all of your debts into one loan, what would the monthly payments be? If you can only afford a certain payment each month, how big would your loan be? Give this calculator a try and see how quickly you may be able to get out of debt.
Once you enter some numbers into this online calculator it will show you your loan balance on a chart as a declining dark blue graph (the balance is of course declining as you slowly pay it off). Below that, if you click the plus sign in the bottom right hand corner of the graph window, you will see a bar graph that shows the amount of each of your payments that goes to pay off your loan (the dark blue lines labeled "principal") and the amount of each payment that goes to paying the interest on the loan (the light blue lines).
Once you've entered all your loan details, click on "View Report" (at the very top of the calculator window) and you can see the amount of interest that you will pay over the life of the loan. It will also generate a payment schedule or amortization table for the loan so you can see how much of each payment goes toward repayment of the the loan's principal and how much goes to paying interest. The payment / amortization table also shows you what your loan balance will be after each payment. You can also print the amortization schedule to keep track of your payments as you work at paying down your debt.
Loan Amount - Total amount of money you are looking at borrowing.
Payment - The amount of money you have to pay each month (or every week or every two weeks depending on the payment frequency you choose) to pay off the loan.
Interest Rate - The annual interest rate for this personal loan. The interest is calculated for each period (every month, every two weeks, or weekly depending on the payment frequency you've chosen) on the remaining balance of the loan.
Number of Payments - The number of times you will need to make a payment on this loan.
Payment Frequency - You select how often payments are made. The options you can choose are monthly (12 payments per year), bi-weekly (26 payments each year), or weekly (52 payments every year). Note: if you play with the numbers, you'll see that bi-weekly or weekly payments will pay off your loan more quickly than monthly payments.
Total Interest Paid - This is the full amount of interest you will pay on this loan as long as you make all your payments on time, as scheduled, and you don't prepay any of the principal (like with a down payment on a vehicle. We have a separate car and vehicle loan calculator for that).
Total Payments - The total amount of all payments on this loan including all interest and principal payments. This amount also assumes that all payments are made as scheduled and no prepayments are made on the principal amount of the loan.


I entered one fabric design into the contest that Connecting Threads is running this week (well, it is actually running for the next two and a half weeks).
Not a haunting moon, but a haughty moon.
Do I have a story behind this? Not really, more of a feeling. It's been a less than awesome summer, actually, we've been unable to take a vacation, and I've had some health unhappiness (nothing major - the worst was a sinus infection, but sometimes it feels like constant small irritations - though most of that is just allergies) and of course the weather has been crummy... And finally I just thought, I haven't drawn in *ages* and that's probably what the issue is. I only draw when I am happy, you see, so I decided that if that was true, maybe drawing makes me happier? So when I started sketching everything that day came out moons, and I drew a few, then made this design, and when the contest came along... Well, I entered it because it was recent, and a stand alone design.
And now I am trying to draw everyday! And the drawing from last week came out of it. I am also trying to blog more, but we'll see how that shakes out, won't we?
And speaking of voting, it's the last full day to vote for my firefly design on Spoonflower!
Well, they're spooky fireflies, then.


text:
Catholic leaders speak out about policy toward migrant kids, families
Protesters Mark Connors and Nancy Greyson wave flags and signs saying "Stop Obama's Invasion" July 19 as motorists go by on a highway overpass in Murrieta, Calif. Catholic leaders are speaking out about U.S. policy involving the influx of child migrants and their families from Central America into the U.S. (CNS photo/Sandy Huffaker, Reuters
by Patricia ZaporCatholic News Service
Jul. 21, 2014 in
Washington, D.C. »
A Latin America expert for Catholic Relief Services, the head of the bishops' migration committee and the president of a Catholic college in Michigan were among those urging the government toward humanitarian responses to a surge of children and families crossing the U.S. border from Central America.
Among their recommendations were: fully funding a requested federal appropriation for services to deal with the influx of people; investigating and working to address the root causes of emigration from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala; and creating a program so people may seek permission to come to the United States without having to make the treacherous and illegal journey. Such programs have been successful in Iraq, Vietnam and the former Soviet Union.
In testimony to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs July 16, Richard Jones, the CRS deputy regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said his agency has seen the numbers of unaccompanied youth fleeing Central America double yearly since 2011.
"We have seen the homicide rates grow, forced displacement increase and Mexican and Colombian drug cartels battle over who controls the routes through Central America," he said in written testimony. "In El Salvador and Honduras, there are more gang members than police.
He gave the example of four boys who were killed and dismembered in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, last month because they refused to be drug couriers.
"Two of the four were brothers, one age 10, the other age 6," Jones said.
Violence in El Salvador also has increased since March 2013, when a truce negotiated between gangs unraveled, Jones said. And since the election of President Salvador Sanchez Ceren earlier this year, he said, "violent deaths have risen to 13 per day or over 70 homicides (per) 100,000 people – nearly double what they were at the same time the previous year."
In Guatemala City, that nation's capital, the homicide rate is 116 per 100,000 people, he said, noting that, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, in just the past six months, more than 600 unaccompanied children from that city were apprehended in the United States.
He went on to discuss the various social factors complicating the raw violence, and to describe some of the programs CRS and other organizations are providing to try to address the problems at the core and keep families intact in their home countries, with education, skills and ways of improving their situations.
He mentioned various ways the governments of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are trying to address their problems, including how to protect people who are returned there after being deported by the United States and Mexico. The efforts are inadequate, he said.
Jones gave several specific recommendations for ways the U.S. can best direct resources to the countries.
Among them, investing in community-based programs focused on security, job creation and violence prevention; including trying to better understand the local conditions causing people to flee.
In a July 17 letter to members of Congress, Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo, who heads the U.S. bishops' migration committee, said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly support supplemental funding requested by President Barack Obama to take care of the more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors and 36,000 families that have come into the country since October.
He said they also oppose changes to current laws "that would roll back protections for these children that were enacted as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008."
Bishop Elizondo said that "this vulnerable group is fleeing violence from organized criminal networks. Many are likely to be eligible for a variety of forms of immigration relief, including asylum and various visas. Sending these vulnerable children back to their persecutors without a meaningful immigration hearing would severely decrease their opportunity for legal protection and possibly lead to their bodily harm or even death. We would oppose the repeal of key provisions of these laws in the supplemental appropriations bill or any other legislative vehicle."
He also opposed placing families into detention facilities, and encouraged increasing funding for community-based alternatives to detention, as well as increased funding for legal representation and for the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is charged with caring for the children.
Bishop Elizondo also asked for funding to address the reasons why people flee their homelands and to support a program for orderly departure in the region.
"Such programs have worked successfully in Iraq, Vietnam, the former Soviet Union and other locations around the globe," he said. "The United States and countries in the region could accept a number of children and youth each year, consistent with the 'best interest of the child' standard. Such a program would ensure that children are protected and our international obligations are met while sparing children the dangers of a migration journey."
And at Marygrove College in Detroit, President David J. Fike called the situation a humanitarian refugee crisis that warrants a different kind of response than has been happening.
"This shouldn't be a debate," he said July 17. "The fleeing of vulnerable women, children, and young adults we are witnessing has all of the classic markings of what the world has seen in war-torn regions over and over again, war-torn regions in which unprotected, threatened civilians will take extreme measures to reach a safe haven.
"The only difference in this instance," he said, "is that the threat to vulnerable civilians is not from standing armies engaged in traditional combat or even organized guerrilla warfare. In this instance, the threat is from brutally violent gangs, extortionists, and narco-traffickers operating with impunity in widespread areas of extreme lawlessness."
Fike said at a news conference at the Catholic college that the situation calls for a charitable and humanitarian response, yet political leaders and news media debate whether to do that.
"Our elected leaders are all-too-frequently characterizing this situation as being the result of our broken immigration system, or as being the result of our lack of comprehensive immigration reform, or as being the result of some sort of mass psychosis afflicting mothers in specific parts of this hemisphere who are spontaneously deciding to send their children on extraordinarily life-threatening journeys to far off lands," he said. "That doesn't make any sense."
Fike, said his personal passion on the topic comes from his time spent in Central America and his friendship with some of the University of Central America faculty and staff who were murdered during the El Salvador civil war.
"I've seen and understand the results of dehumanization and I don't like it . . . it's painful, it denies our better selves, it makes us smaller and meaner as a country," he said.
He said he is frustrated by the lack of moral leadership and called on Obama to recognize the migrants as refugees. He said he would marshal the resources of Marygrove to help in any way possible, and encouraged other higher education administrators to do the same.
Related - Catholics respond to migrants' humanitarian crisis by Dan Stockman and
Organizations suggest ways to help unaccompanied minor migrants by Patricia Zapor, CNS
Also in Migration:
Across US, sisters among those in solidarity with immigrants at Lights for Liberty events
NCR Staff (Jul 15, 2019)
Sr. Norma Pimentel shares stories from the border with US priests
Catholic News Service (Jul 12, 2019)


This assessment is to help you determine if you may need Nexecute® in taking the next step towards your business goals. If your answers are no, you may want to consider starting that important conversation by contacting Nexecute® to schedule an Elephant Conversation™.
All employees are aligned around the #1 thing that needs to be accomplished this quarter with ranked priorities, defined executable processes and appropriate dashboards to which everyone is held accountable.
Our organization has a clearly defined process that moves the right people to the right seats on the bus as well as provides impactful leadership development that is measurable and assures the organization's success.
Core Ideologies are "alive" in the organization. They are discovered, defined, and clearly understood by sharing stories of those who represent the Core Values, aligning behavior to them, and are included in the appraisal and recognition processes.
For every facet of the organization there is a person with clear accountability for ensuring goals are met, including ongoing employee feedback and a systematized approach to remove obstacles and identify opportunities.
Our organization has a systematic approach to train our employees to "play to their strengths" by linking them to achieving specified results as well as help them learn the skill of how to appropriately manage their weaknesses.
Employees throughout the organization believe that success is achieved when individual needs are secondary to collective goals of the team and organization at large.
Everyone trusts each other and demonstrates by being honest, transparent, and operating with a clearly understood definition of trust.
Everyone embraces conflict by seeking to understand each other and participating in unfiltered and passionate debating of ideas.
Everyone has a unified commitment to one another and honestly buys-in to decisions; seeking to eliminate politics.
Everyone is mutually accountable to each other by applauding success and bravely calling-out issues and behavior that is counterproductive to the team.
There is a "situation room" for the executive team, leaders, and managers to regularly measure results and identify obstacles where Smart Numbers and Critical Numbers are clearly posted and data is graphically displayed to visualize trends, Core Values, priorities, market maps, etc.
The Senior Leadership Team meets "off-site" quarterly to identify, measure, and drive these priorities to the overall plan of the organization while also having fun together.


text:
Q: Cpanel Cron job not executing code in .php file I need to run a specific url on my domain

http://domain.com/?action=update_feed

, so I made a cron-file.php file, which contains the below code:
<?php
header("Location: http://domain.com/?action=update_feed"); /* Redirect browser */
exit;
?>

In Cpanel's cron manager, i added this to run each minute:
php -q /home/public_html/domain/wp-content/themes/theme/cron-file.php
However, nothing is happening. I also tried using wget instead of php but get the same results.

A: You can directly access you site without cron-file.php
    wget -qO /dev/null 'http://domain.com/?action=update_feed'


text:
STORY IDEAS & FAQ
FACEBOOK -|- TWITTER -|- INSTAGRAM -|- PINTEREST
EMAIL – info (at) tiaraking.com.au
Welcome to the insanely sparkly world of Tiara King, Author & Publisher, Jewellery Designer & Wardrobe Stylist, Star!
Tiara burst into the publishing world in 2011 with her second and third novels under the pseudonym, L.J. Diva. She started producing non-fiction, and wrote and released books under her own name, then started writing teen and young adult stories as T.K. Wrathbone. In 2017 she set up her own publishing house, Royal Star Publishing to accommodate all of her books and multiple personalities.
Tiara has also been creating jewellery and accessories since 1990 and turned her obsessive love for it into her jewellery and accessories label, Jewel Divas. She creates amazing one of a kind jewelled pieces of couture clothing, plus jewellery to sell and wear. She also blogs and sells clothing and accessories at her style site, Jewel Divas Style, a one stop blog for sparkling jewels, style, and dancing under disco balls.
Tiara is a tech-savvy business owner with a huge online presence and electronic footprint covering an overwhelming set of online personas across many social media pages. Tiara lives in Australia and blogs about many things under many names. She's a sparkle addict and music lover.
MEDIUM BIO
Tiara burst into the publishing world in 2011 with her second and third novels under her first pseudonym, L.J. Diva. She started producing non-fiction, and wrote and released books under her own name in 2013, producing How To Be A Jewel Diva: Tips And Tricks To Buying, Wearing And Caring For Your Costume Jewellery.
In 2015 she released Closet Confidential: How to Audit Your Wardrobe And Update Your Style. These books are based on her expertise as a jewellery and accessory designer, collector, consultant and wardrobe stylist. She also started writing teen and young adult stories. T.K. Wrathbone was born from an exhausted and overactive imagination that cannot and will not stop exuding ideas, and she released her first set of short stories and an anthology.
In 2016, under her own name, she released teen fiction book, #teenblogger: To Follow or Not To Follow?, about the trials and tribulations teenagers and adults face every time they go online, with trolling, bullying and the pressure to be yourself.
In 2017 Tiara released the song lyrics she wrote from 1989 to 2002 in book version. Titled Poems Of A Musical Flavour, there are six volumes plus a special deluxe edition paperback and two boxed sets. She also set up her own publishing house, Royal Star Publishing to accommodate all of her books and multiple personalities.
On the jewellery and accessories front, Tiara has been creating since 1990 and turned her obsessive love for all things sparkling into the jewellery and accessories label, Jewel Divas, in 2008 to sell her creations online. She creates amazing one of a kind jewelled pieces of couture clothing plus jewellery to sell and wear, and is amassing her own huge personal collection. She added styling to her repertoire through the Academy of Professional Image, choosing to go with wardrobe and accessory styling as she loves to organise and colour co-ordinate.
Tiara writes at her style site, Jewel Divas Style, a one stop blog for sparkling jewels, style, and dancing under disco balls. It also has its very own Style Store where Tiara sells sparkling pre-owned clothing and accessories straight from her wardrobe. JDS is all about living life to the fullest when it comes to your funky clothing and sparkling accessories. The more the merrier, the bigger the better! "BE YOURSELF and wear as much jewellery as possible" is her philosophy!
Tiara is a tech-savvy business owner with a huge online presence and electronic footprint covering an overwhelming set of online personas across many social media pages and websites. Tiara lives in Australia and blogs about many things under many names. She's a sparkle addict and music lover.
Tiara is the owner of publishing company, Royal Star Publishing, where she promotes her books under all of her personalities, Tiara King, L.J. Diva and T.K. Wrathbone. She is also the owner and designer of the jewellery label, Jewel Divas, lifestyle blogger at Jewel Divas Style, and a wardrobe stylist.
Raised in the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, Tiara King never imagined owning and running a jewellery company and style blog, let alone having a split personality writing and publishing novels, non-fictions, and short stories under her own name as well as two non de plumes, and creating and writing author blogs. On top of all of that, she set up her own publishing house and has the overwhelming full-time job of caring for her mother.
From the tender age of seven, Tiara was obsessed with jewellery, and at sixteen, made her first pieces. But the thought of being a designer and selling her wares didn't occur to her. Finding inexpensive and unusual jewellery through markets and variety or discount stores, her small collection grew, but it wasn't until her mid-twenties that her personal collection really took off.
But come 2006, her life path took a detour. Having never dreamed of being a writer, even though she had received good grades in high school English, and scored top marks on many book assignments for her storytelling ability, it wasn't until Tiara scoured a Jackie Collins novel in a local Target store that she found a character she wanted to write about. One particular scene stuck in her mind, staying there until she found the inspiration for her characters in NCIS star Michael Weatherly, and CSI New York stud Carmine Giovinazzo after seeing them in the June edition of America's TV Guide. Her first novel, The Road to Vegas was born. So was her writing career.
Or so she thought. "When I actually stopped to think about it, I remembered I had first written and self-published way back in 1986 in year seven at primary school. It was a class project and we wrote, illustrated and made books to go into the school library. I did it again in high school in German class for another school or something. I had been, and already was, a published author from the age of 12. Weird!"
When it came to sending out submissions for The Road to Vegas, Tiara came up against the one problem facing new writers every single day of their writing career…rejection. She faced two years of it, but didn't let that stop her.
In 2008, with two gorgeous men in her head, and finally finding her "voice", she wrote the comedy, How I Won Lotto, Moved To L.A. & Married A Really Huge TV Star!, ten months after Michael's visit to Australia and all the publicity it heralded. The book is dedicated to Michael and Carmine and shows how quirky her book titles can be. She's also not afraid to freshen up her author brand. The book was given a title makeover and re-released as Hollywood Dreams: A Karmic Tale of Money, Love and Bitchy TV Drama Queens! in 2019.
2008 also saw the birth of something else, a desire to make and sell jewellery as a career. After selling a few handmade pieces on eBay, jewellery and business courses and much researching and reading later, her jewellery company was born. Deciding not to use her own name for her business, the process of coming up with a jewellery name, Jewel Divas, was fairly quick and easy. But when it came to figuring out an author name it was a bit harder, her alter ego was screaming and dying to get out of her head and kept bringing her back to Jewels Diva.
Tiara started branding the first incarnation of her author name, Jewels Diva, for its debut on January 1st 2009. She knew a website was needed for her future publishing career, and after three years of growth, turned it into her author site on January 1st 2012. She trademarked the name as part of her personal branding image and gained a legal royal title to add to the uniqueness, making her Lady Jewels Diva.
The year also saw Tiara open her online store, Jewel Divas, and begin her career on social media, starting the companion blog, Jewel Divas Jewellery, as her brand new store's namesake.
In 2010, Tiara wrote her third book, a dramedy with a quirky name, Life And Death Adventures In London. And, like with Lotto, London, features cameos from some of Britain's biggest stars. It was given a title makeover and re-released as Falling for London to favour the romantic element in 2019.
Late in 2010, she got a call. The call. The call all authors dream of. The one from a publishing house telling her they wanted to publish Lotto. After many talks and much thinking, she decided she couldn't wait the two years the publishing house wanted to take to release her book, and since she didn't have the money to pay for it to be published within 6-8 months, she kindly thanked them for their offer and declined it.
But that was not the end for Tiara. In 2011, the universe gave her the way early in the year. "I found a blog post by Nathan Bransford, an agent I followed, about self-publishing millionaire Amanda Hocking. All of a sudden I found this thing called self-publishing existed. I read Amanda's blog, tracked down author Joe Konrath and decided then and there to do it as well." And after running the gamut of rejections from traditional publishing houses and agents, Tiara took her publishing career into her own hands and set about making it happen herself. After much researching she debuted two of her novels, Life and Death Adventures in London and How I Won Lotto, Moved To L.A. & Married A Really Huge TV Star!, under the name Jewels Diva, first with a company called Smashwords, and then with Amazon for her print books.
Tiara also revamped her jewellery blog into a style site, renaming it Jewel Divas Style, which made sense being the second tier of the Jewel Divas business. A change was just what she needed, and she saw in the New Year as a self-published author, jewellery designer, and lifestyle blogger. And come 2012, she edited and published The Road to Vegas as her third novel.
In 2013 she wrote a novel, Her Secret Island of Sex And Torment, another quirky title, written longhand in A4 spiral bound notebooks. It was given a title makeover and re-released as The Billionaire's Dirty Little Secret in 2019. And two e-books, Why Positivity Can Be A Bad Thing! and Dream It, Think It, Write It, Publish It! An Australian Guide To All The Hard Parts No One Tells You About Self-Publishing, a guide to self-publishing for struggling potential authors and their first time on the merry go round that is the indie literary world. And wrote her fourth novel.
Tiara also decided to take her jewellery business to another level by adding wardrobe styling to her repertoire through Academy of Professional Image, choosing to go with wardrobe and accessory styling as she loves to organise and colour co-ordinate.
2014 was always going to be a big year for Tiara. Not only did she turn 40, but she decided to go public about writing under a pen name after 5 and a half years. Tiara had wanted the two businesses to strive and achieve on their own, but now she was ready to bring them together as they were the two public fronts of the one woman. A way to do that was to set up her website www.tiaraking.com.au as an information page bringing all of her businesses together in the one place.
That year, Tiara released her fourth novel and two non-fiction e-books as Lady Jewels Diva, as well as three jewellery collections at Jewel Divas, plus a non-fiction e-book of her own, How To Be A Jewel Diva: Tips And Tricks To Buying, Wearing And Caring For Your Costume Jewellery. Tiara maintained a broad online presence as well as kept her extremely hyperactive imagination and highly creative brain busy, all while caring for her mother full-time while both suffered serious health issues.
In 2015, Lady Jewels decided to adultify her name, making it L.J. Diva. Under Tiara King, she wrote and released a style guide, Closet Confidential: How To Audit Your Wardrobe And Update Your Style, and started writing children's stories under another pseudonym. T.K. Wrathbone was born from an exhausted and overactive imagination that cannot and will not stop exuding ideas, and she released her first set of short stories and an anthology.
2016 was an incredibly busy year for Tiara. She not only looked after her chronically ill mother, becoming mentally and physically drained and exhausted, but she wrote and released three novellas under the Porn Star Brothers series as L.J. Diva, and wrote three lengthy novels. As Tiara King, she wrote and released teen fiction book, #teenblogger: To Follow or Not To Follow?, about the trials and tribulations teenagers and adults face every time they go online, with trolling, bullying and the pressure to be yourself and not what others want you to be. As T.K. Wrathbone, she released three short stories, an anthology, and two paperbacks.
In 2017, Tiara released the series Poems Of A Musical Flavour. The six volume set chronicles her life experiences as a teen and young adult in song lyrics from 1989 to 2002. She released How To Be A Jewel Diva and Closet Confidential in paperback, another three short stories and an anthology as T.K. Wrathbone, plus the fourth instalment novella of the Porn Star Brothers series as well as the next novel, Forever,. She set up websites for L.J. Diva and the Porn Star Brothers book series, as well as her own publishing house, Royal Star Publishing, which she set up to print her books.
In 2018, Tiara released all six of her Poems Of A Musical Flavour series, and an omnibus deluxe edition in paperback as well as two e-book boxed sets, plus the reprint of #teenblogger: To Follow Not to Follow?. She released two new Porn Star Brothers novels in e-book format, and paperbacks of all seven books in the series. She released her yearly short story e-books under T.K. Wrathbone and all three sets of anthologies in paperback as well. That's eighteen books in paperback, and all were released under her publishing house, Royal Star Publishing. Plus, she sent #teenblogger to Ellen DeGeneres.
Regardless of what name she's currently using, Tiara King has refreshingly honest opinions on everything. She asks the questions no one else will, and speaks the truth others are too scared to.
Tiara understands the enormity of being consistent across her brand's websites, keeping the brands even and recognisable. All of this has given her the online knowledge to be a tech-savvy author, jewellery designer and stylist, plus a life & style blogger in this madly insane social networking obsessed world.
For more, click below
Story Ideas for Articles and FAQ
Copyright © 2019 and beyond, Tiara King, All rights reserved. Jewel Divas®, Jewel Divas Style®, L.J. Diva®, T.K. Wrathbone®, and Royal Star Publishing® are trademarked by Tiara King.


text:
John Fury is an Irish boxing cornerman and former professional boxer and bare-knuckle fighter. He is best known for  being the father of two-time heavyweight boxing world champion Tyson Fury, as well as professional boxer Tommy Fury. He is also uncle to heavyweight boxer Hughie Fury.

Background

Fury was born in Tuam, Galway, Ireland into a family of Irish Traveller heritage. He moved to Manchester, England at the age of 4 due to his father not being able to find work in his native Ireland. Fury claims descent from a long line of bare-knuckle fighters.

Boxing career

Fury's professional boxing career spanned eight years, beginning in April 1987 and ending in June 1995. In total, he was involved in 13 bouts.

He made his professional debut on 28 April 1987 when he lost to rugby league player Adam Fogerty in Halifax, West Yorkshire. From there Fury went on to win his next six fights until a draw with David Hopkins in Helsinki on 13 February 1989.

He was rewarded by a shot at the vacant Central Area title against Neil Malpass but lost on points.

After that he rebounded with wins against Michael Murray, a future British title challenger and Cesare Di Benedetto, a future Italian title challenger.

However in his next fight Fury suffered a KO loss against future WBO champion Henry Akinwande.

This loss was followed by a four year absence from the ring until Fury returned against former opponent Steve Garber in Manchester in 1995; he was knocked out again inside four rounds.

Fury finished his career with the record of 8–4–1.

Public image
Fury has been involved in many high-profile situations whilst supporting his son Tyson. After Tyson Fury defeated reigning 11-year champion Wladimir Klitschko in Düsseldorf on 27 November 2015, John Fury criticised the media for their lack of faith, exhorted them to "stop being yes men" then ordered everybody in the room to give his son a standing ovation for his achievement.

In the build-up to Tyson's rematch with Deontay Wilder, Fury was involved in a heated dispute with former heavyweight boxer David Haye over his son's chances before the fight. Fury stated that Wilder would 'crack' given that Tyson was no longer "as weak as a kitten" unlike in their previous controversial draw. He told BT Sport, "A man when he's pressured and he's in a hard time, he'll crack at the seams", before offering Haye a £1,000,000 bet on whether he would be proven correct, which he was. Fury's verbal tirades often verge on the obscene when, for example, he publicly belittled Deontay Wilder stating that he "is not fit to carry Anthony Joshua's jockstrap".

More recently, Fury appeared in the ITV documentary series Tyson Fury: The Gypsy King detailing the road to his son's rematch with Wilder. Fury appears many times but most notably in one of the final scenes showing his live reaction to the fight as he watched on a television at the BT Studios.

In March 2022, John Fury was confirmed as a brand ambassador for the sports betting website, Freebets.com.

Criminal conviction

In 2011, Fury was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for gouging a man's eye out in a brawl in 2010. He was handed an 11-year sentence. The victim was left half-blind after a 12-year dispute erupted in violence at a car auction in 2010, with Fury getting the victim in a headlock and forcing his fingers into the victim's eyes. He was released from prison in February 2015.

Media appearances

Fury has appeared on many British television broadcasts, including live shows, pre-recorded programmes and documentaries.

Professional boxing record

References

Date of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Irish male boxers
People from Tuam
Fury family

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Compare category features Actions that conditionally execute one branch of the workflow or another, depending on context. The context is determined by what system state is compared against what criteria. Due to universal design with variable support, it is possible to virtually anything from the output of finished Actions to file contents to system state and more. If they match the predefined criteria, the Task executes one branch of predefined Actions. If they do not match, another branch of Actions is performed.
The Compare category consists of multiple Actions that each performs its own role. While If is most universal and can work with any variables from any Trigger, Action or operating system, If File and If Folder is particularly tuned for file and folder operations. The Else Action is used to introduce the alternative branch of workflow which is conditionally executed when the comparison criteria do not match.
If allows comparing two variables or, optionally, even two pairs of variables to determine whether they match or not. The variables can be retrieved from activated Trigger, finished Action, system state or other source. If the variables match, the If Action conditionally runs a branch of predefined Actions. If the variables do not match, the If Action can run an alternative branch of Actions.
If file verifies whether the specified file exists or not, and depending on the results, conditionally launches one branch of workflow or another. The verified file could be a concrete file on disk, a file with particular naming scheme or a file returned by any preceding Trigger or Action.
If folder verifies whether the specified folder exists or not and, optionally, whether it is empty. Depending on the results, i.e. if folder exists or not, it decides to run one branch of workflow or another. It is possible to verify both concrete folders at fixed path and folders detected and returned by previous Triggers and Actions.
Else introduces the alternate branch of workflow which is executed if comparison criteria do not match. When no Else command is used and conditions do not match, the Task just skips the conditional branching and continues with next Action outside conditional scope.
If · introduces conditional branching which allows building context-sensitive workflows.
If file · verifies the existence of file on disk and branches the Task accordingly.
If folder · verifies the existence of folder on disk and whether it is empty.
Else · precedes the branch of workflow that is executed when conditions are not met.
The easiest automation software product I have ever used. It is so stable and easy to use. —William G.


>I *might* give a blog update sometime in the middle of the week… no promises though ;)!
We are heading out to Austin and meeting up with Lindsey and Landrie there then catching a flight out on Sunday morning to ORLANDO! So stay tuned for some Disney pictures and I'm sure funny stories about the girls.
Oh, and I am working on posting the video of Jayda as the BIG BAD WOLF at school… it is HILARIOUS and I can't wait to share it with you guys. It was something that I am glad I didn't miss and I am totally bummed that Michael DID miss it… and don't get me started on that one… it wasn't Michael's fault and it just totally confirms my feelings about a certain thing that I will just keep to myself at this moment. But yeah, the grudge thing I mentioned on a previouse post — THIS definitely applies!
ANYHOO… Have a GREAT Spring Break and I'll be back to post soon!


We are wrapping up a wonderful third quarter tomorrow with large US stocks up over 16% YTD. Sure, Europe and Emerging Markets were not as stellar, but diversification is as important as ever. Tech stocks are leading the way which should be no surprise–the bull market is getting long in the tooth and dividend tax rates could jump come 2013.
Why should we expect a great Q4? There are as many dour econo-headlines as upside surprises coming at us, you say. We agree. But look no further than 2004 as your guide. A controversial President went up against a lackluster opponent and won. The status quo brought positive market returns before and after the election. 2008 reared its ugly head a lot later. Obama is a different case study compared to Bush. The current President may try to sunset the 2003 tax cuts depending on how the Senate race turns out. That's probably the more exciting election to watch. Stocks won't like that, plain and simple. We look forward to the debates to prove Romney isn't Kerry, but we are not holding our breath. Meanwhile, remember that Obama has the Fed at his disposal to juice economic indicators long enough to at least last through the November vote.
We should see large US stocks return over 20% as a group this year. The prospect of hitting 1560-1570 on the S&P 500 is very real simply through peer pressure alone. The 2007 high is on every trader's radar and the technical picture is all clear for stocks to at least touch these levels soon. This is a bit like reading tea leaves, but psychology is an important component of short-term market returns. Bringing the market back to pre-recession levels is a wonderful story I see grabbing headlines as the election approaches. Maybe Obama will then release a secret tape where he says "You're welcome one percenters, now go home, pretend you have a fever and forget to vote.". The reality is that managers will be chasing returns as Q3 comes to a close and that is powerful stimulus in itself to give this rally afterburners. Anybody who thinks 20%+ returns are unicorns forgot the 1990s.
Don't expect an October without some bumps in the road, but a bountiful harvest awaits investors when all is said and done.
We wrote in January "any material pullback that could make 2012′s chart look like a V or W on renewed European default or earnings concerns is a buying opportunity." The correction is here, live and in person with global markets retracing 2012's gains to date. The V can certainly deepen further, but this is the time to begin putting some of the cash you have on the sidelines to work.
The timing of the bottom of this correction is irrelevant and don't expect to get it right. Just start putting 10-20% of your cash to work on days when the market is down over 2%. If we fall just another 5-7% from here, I will advise swapping out your boring, broad ETFs for something more fun like 2x or 3x leveraged ETFs and emerging markets exposure with more upside.
Corrections are psychological animals and we are definitely in the midst of a Euro-led psychosis. The faster Greece is resolved (stay with Germany's austerity plan or leave the Euro) and Spain performs an Italian-esque political and economic turnabout, the better. But since the timing of this correction is identical to those we saw in 2010 and 2011, we are in no big hurry to get overexcited that the worst is behind us. The US economy is in a rough patch driven by the confidence-killing psychosis across the Atlantic. Notice nobody is worried about France's new left-leaning leader or the actual Euro currency which is still far from parity with the US Dollar. All this negativity will pass and the stock market will show its strong hand again as we get closer to the Presidential election. Markets cheer political deadlock so bet on Republican gains in Congress and another four years for President Obama.
The broad market has yet to go really parabolic which makes me think this rally hasn't fully run out of steam, but it's also no prerequisite to get a good 5%+ correction going. We don't want to be reactive when a sell-off takes hold, so let's mentally prepare to deal with this eventuality.
Whether you're up 10% or 25% so far this year, it's now time to play defense for a bit to protect those gains. Please eliminate any and all leverage. Maintain exposure to core broad market ETFs like SPY, RSP, IWM, and EFA. If you have extreme exposure to a single sector ETF like QQQ, XLF or XLE, tone it down. Emerging markets bets like VWO or EEM can remain, but take them down to a maximum total of 10% of your portfolio. Raise 5-15% cash if you feel the need now and we will add exposure to some leveraged ETFs like UPRO, TQQQ and EDC as opportunities present themselves during any correction. Once a correction is underway, we will discuss how investors with higher risk profiles can use a very small short-term volatility ETF position in TVIX to enhance returns.
My ETF portfolio is up 18.4% year-to-date thanks to some well-timed leverage, exposure to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index and emerging markets bets. Sure individual stocks like Bank of America, Caterpillar and Apple have posted 20-45% returns, but don't get green with envy. They come with stock specific risk trumped by the diversification most ETFs offer. Want to analyze your performance year-to-date like the pros? Comparing your % return to the S&P 500 Index or your next door neighbor is a good start, but you should learn to measure your risk-adjusted return like an institutional investor.
Let's start with the basic Sharpe Ratio: (rp – rf ) / sp:: In this equation, rp = the average return on the portfolio; rf = the risk-free rate; and sp = the standard deviation of portfolio return. The Sharpe measure is found by dividing the portfolio risk premium, or the return on the portfolio minus the risk-free rate, by the standard deviation of the portfolio. Compare that to the market's ratio or those of your friends. You will need daily values for your portfolio to do this in excel – it's very simple, just make one of your financier or engineer friends dinner and force them to help you with the calculations. Once you figure out Sharpe ratios, look up Treynor and Jensen ratios – these are other ways to measure risk-adjusted returns. Big returns aren't very useful if they fall flat on a risk-adjusted basis.
Enjoy the long weekend and remember to protect the hard-earned gains achieved during this wonderful rally.
I have a wealthy friend who asked the following question today: What are the odds of Google and Apple hitting $1,000/share, respectively, in the coming 18-30 months?
I don't have a clue, but it doesn't seem too far fetched. Which stock will get there first? No idea. This is a great topic to remind ourselves about luxury goods from Econ 101. Between Google's IPO in 2004 until 2007, investors couldn't get enough – it outpaced the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 index by 3-4x over that period. The higher the price went, the more investors demanded shares of GOOG.
This price action was no different than what you see with Louis Vuitton purses, Rolex watches, Ferraris, and trendy art. But in 2008, GOOG changed its behavior and began trading like a technology stock rather than a sought-after purse. Over the past three years, AAPL has traded in similar fashion with similar results. This week even as Eurozone worries returned to the forefront of market action, AAPL seemed to defy gravity.
High net worth folks (politicians call them the 1%) around the globe flaunt their Apple shares at parties like a gold Rolex or red Ferrari. Look at me, look at me. The more AAPL stock makes up of your liquid net worth, the cooler you feel now. This has nothing to do with ratios or earnings or any fundamentals at all since these folks could care less about them – this is about being cool and envied. I don't know how to time when AAPL stops acting like a luxury good, but I bet it will someday sooner than later. Sadly, there just isn't any reason to bet against it for now. When it stops acting special, you will know.
Meanwhile, I take the road less traveled. So long as the bull market is in place for 2012, I choose to own QLD or TQQQ which offer 2x or 3x the daily return of the tech-heavy QQQ ETF, respectively. Because AAPL is the single most influential stock inside the QQQ ETF now, these leveraged ETFs will better mimic its potential for continued ascent. If it loses its luxury luster along the way, even better.
If you're optimistic that stocks will rise this year like I am and you believe some money will FINALLY rotate out of bonds into stocks to boot, buy asset management stocks. It's a great way to play the financials sector if you dislike banks for what they did to your fellow Americans and still feel gun-shy about a real estate comeback over the next 1-3 years.
1. AllianceBernstein Holding LP (NYSE: AB). This is a great way to play a unque, independent asset manager that might get gobbled up by a big firm like Morgan Stanley or UBS as markets improve. This is also a baby boomer play since their market is older, high net worth individuals. The stock is down 82% in five years to a market capitalization of $1.7 billion with a very cheap P/E of 11.
2. Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM). This company provides services through a number of asset managers, each of which generally markets its products and services under its own brand name and, in many cases, distributes retail products and services through a centralized retail distribution network. They employ great people and manage tons of retail and institutional money. The stock trades at 19x earnings and has lost 74% over the past five years down to market capitalization of $3.8 billion.
3. Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE:JNS). Janus is a household name born out of the technology bubble. The firm survived and now thrives with a market cap of $1.6 billion even after a 59% haircut over the past five years. It trades at an attractive P/E of 11.
Buy all three proportionally for your portfolio's financials exposure or pick one or two. I left the nitty gritty details out so you can do your own reading about them online and see if you find one more attractive than the other. It's best to diversify within a specific sector in my view, but you make your own call.
It's February and the weather in Southern California is reminiscent of spring. Birds are singing, the ocean is glassy, and the sky is blue – it's a nice feeling. This is appropriate given the spring awakening stocks enjoyed so far in 2012. Luckily there remain many negative headlines and bearish doubters out there, so we may have some room to run with this rally before an inevitable correction a.k.a gut check.
My timing isn't always great, so if you're just now diving into stocks, it may be wise to hold off for a meaningful correction. The fears that caused me to reduce equity exposure last fall perfectly coincided with the bottom in global equities so I still feel a little pain from that error. But I followed my gut that if things didn't play out as I expected by the end of 2011, I had to admit error and return to a more bullish positioning. Now 2011's tiny gain in the S&P 500 Index is followed up so far year-to-date with a 7% pop , but beaten-down European shares are up a few extra percentage points over US stocks, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is up 11% along with small cap US stocks (Russell 2000 Index), and risky emerging markets are up over 15% (MSCI Emerging Markets Index). Gold is mostly keeping up with the broad stock indices much to my chagrin.
The news is chalk full of headlines about individual investors sitting on the sidelines, waiting. I love that. If you wait for your neighbor to tell you how great his portfolio is doing, you missed the boat or at least part of it. I also enjoy reading about how February is a bad month for stocks over 50% of the time. Pay no mind – this is no different than the sucker bet on black in a game of roulette after three or four red bets pay off. Summer of 2011 is starting to fade into history much like the summer of 2010's 20% drop. That one took six months to fade from memory and make new highs. This time shouldn't be much different from the smell of it.
Is a Eurozone financial panic and debt default still a risk? Sure and it's enough to keep my nose mostly out of their stock market. But the economic picture is getting brighter in the US with steadily rising output and employment. A slowdown in corporate earnings may well be in effect, but the powerful leverage achieved via massive layoffs during the recession can only last so long.
Stay the course with your equity investments. When meaningful pullbacks occur, I use leveraged ETFs (exchange traded funds) to add a little pop to the portfolio. I like TQQQ (3x leveraged daily Nasdaq 100) and EDC (3x leveraged daily Emerging Markets). These 3x ETFs should not be used as the basis of a portfolio, but rather to add some juice to returns after a 4-5%+ pullback occurs at any given time. When this happens you can swap out a 10-15% position in a boring index fund like SPY or IWM for one of these little rockets and see how you do. Don't hold them over 30-60 days as leverage can be very painful when the index moves in the opposite direction of where you need it to go. These ETFs even have inverse brethren so you can profit when markets slide. I am a terrible short seller and I avoid these like the plague. Use them at your own risk.
Republican primary coverage is constantly on television. Obama was smiling during the debates, but now has reason to giggle a little. The financial wizards at the Fed are helping make sure he wins a fresh 48 months in the White House. The Fed is helping Europe push off implosion to never or at least 2013 with quasi-QE3. Don't worry about what that means, just know they are pumping tons of liquidity to European banks. Employment and GDP numbers smell like roses and Bernanke promised Wall Street near-zero interest rates through 2014. Love or hate Newt and Mitt, their whining about the economy may start to sound like a broken record in a little bit. Is all this action artificially inflating stock prices? Let's not worry about that and enjoy the ride. We can revisit this issue at year-end.
Obama's dinner buddy Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO worth $20+ billion) is about to make thousands of new millionaires via their IPO. They will buy toys, homes and pay taxes on their very public earnings. That's great. Should you buy the stock when it finally trades? Sure, why not, just don't go crazy with the actual amount of stock you buy relative to your net worth. A more interesting play is to figure out what public firms Facebook will buy after it gets that multi-billion-dollar cash infusion. Zynga is an obvious choice and its stock is already shooting higher. I like LinkedIn (LNKD) as a takeover idea. I'm not crazy about the site and its business model, but I have an account and I don't belong to the cult of Facebook. Mark will have to buy me and my ilk to earn our eye balls and dollars. And I think he will do just that.
All that glittered before darkness hit last August is shining again in the new year. Technology stocks up 6%, emerging markets up over 8%, even gold up over 6%. All the hot stuff from the rally off the 2009 bear market bottom is sizzling and that gives off a warm and fuzzy feeling like the sun is out and flowers are in bloom. Don't get sell-trigger happy. The volatility of 2011 makes you want to sell this rally and that would be a mistake. As we move higher, any material pullback that could make 2012's chart look like a V or W on renewed European default or earnings concerns is a buying opportunity. Reread our 2012 outlook below for more ammo on staying invested.
I wish our small gold short position would drop some more, but we remain confident this will break our way as 2012 develops and the dollar gains traction along with the broad US stock market. Foreign developed markets are lagging US stocks which is a positive for our US-centric portfolio at the moment. Our small emerging markets position added a little juice to year-to-date performance, which is a nice bonus.
Despite so much negative punditry on the topic, Eurozone stocks are positive for the year so far and climbing a wall of worry as tall as the empire state building. I am not a buyer yet to be clear, but it's a good sign for the global stock market looking forward. If you have a lot of time on your hands to watch CNBC or read WSJ, you probably see home builders rocketing higher with no remorse. Wow, what a move! Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) up 15%, Lennar (NYSE: LEN) up 17% and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) up almost 26%. That doesn't even cover the fact that most of these stocks were up over 50% from October through the end of 2011. Our instinct as humans is to jump on this bandwagon. Some of you want to dive head first with all your money. Dip your toe to the tune of 3-5% of your portfolio if you can't help yourself, but know that the reversal may be very fast and very violent… you will feel immense pain that will make you forget the ride to the top.
D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is the largest home builder in the US with a market capitalization of over $4 billion. It has a trailing P/E ratio of 62. The hedge funds that got in early on this rally have now shared some profits with news reporters and TV talking heads who carried the torch to you, the individual investor. Who will get stuck holding the bag after buying high and selling low? I am going to guess it's not SAC Capital, but rather average Joe investor. Act accordingly. Accredited, seasoned investors with a strong risk appetite can start looking at long-term puts on some of the biggest gainers.
I know, I know, I have been quiet. But for good reason. The market is behaving like a roller coaster and investors have indigestion from the volatility. Talking heads only add to it. My September 12, 2011 call for a significant easing off the investment accelerator pedal has felt right, wrong and anywhere in-between so many times I should feel dizzy. That day I said "The market may be giving a signal that a sharp drop is ahead and risky assets could drop 1.5-3x more than the broad market." We have had three valleys, two peaks and lots of up and down in little more than three months. Europe and the global banks underperformed at first, but are now outperforming other sectors and countries. One bright spot has been my gold call: "Another theory is that gold is reflecting future relative dollar strength to a basket of global currencies. Either way, it probably makes sense to get out of its way." Avoiding it or being short one of the gold ETFs has been profitable and offset pain elsewhere. The issue at hand is what to do now and we shall get to that.
While the broad US stock market will end 2011 darn near flat to up a little, most investments that outperformed in the bounce since the bear market bottom performed poorly. Emerging markets and developed markets outside the US fell 15-20%. Europe and its euro currency were the worst offenders. Technology stocks lagged the broad market. The volatility since August has been so potent I heard a man in his sixties complain about it to a clerk at my local grocery store. Buy and hold investors with a mostly US-focused portfolio have done just fine so far, but the traders among us are just about ready to throw up. Hedge funds are feeling the pain the most as they are whipsawed from low to high, to subsequent low, to the next high. They are at the mercy of psychology and trend-following no less than the average investor/trader.
If you followed my advice, you should have ~25% cash to burn at this point. Stop day trading (you know who you are) and add a bit to those broad, large and small cap US index funds you own and keep your now reduced exposure to emerging markets and non-US developed markets in case a bounce happens. As I said in September, "Poor stock market performance in the fourth year of a President's term is rare as can be." Please don't think for a second the volatility is over. A plausible scenario for 2012 is a W shaped year with one or two shocks causing steep drops in the first and second quarters, followed by a nice rally into the election and an overall 10-20% S&P 500 return. I expect the market to trick us into believing 2012 is like awful 2008, an anomaly for a fourth year in the election cycle, at least a few times in the near future. But 2012 will buck the trend because stocks hate the uncertainty that goes along with legislation which creates winners and losers. Losers hate losing more than winners like winning – this keeps stocks from rising when the prospect of big legislative change is at hand. Election years like 2012 yield little in the way of change and President Obama has no real competition at this point. Regardless of your political leanings, Romney is no more a contender for President than John Kerry two elections ago. Fourth years for lame ducks are even better historically. There is good reason to believe Obama is essentially a lame duck to his own second term, especially if you watched the Republican debates so far.
Europe could throw a monkey wrench into our plans for a good year and help create a W chart, but the US should continue to do better than foreign markets if for no other reason than the strength of the US Dollar. Our economy is also recovering nicely from the recession, but not fantastically. Beating expectations is a win even if your wallet doesn't feel as high and mighty as it did in 2005-06. Hedge funders like SAC Capital are even betting on a real estate stock rebound in 2012 which seems a tad premature. Tech stocks should gain leadership once again as risk appetites return, but don't bet on that in the first half of next year. A strengthening USD should keep gold prices falling as speculators exit their long-held positions to lock in profits. If some brainy solution to European banks' sovereign debt problems arises out of the blue, we could see things reverse with the US lagging again and gold moving up. Until then, maintain an 80-90% allocation to stocks with the remainder short gold or in cash.
Good Luck and Happy New Year!!!
Watching stocks daily is a loser's game, but as we come to the end of September, it's high time to pay attention. Study after study shows individual investors time their buy and sell decisions poorly, buying high and selling low. There are, however, those moments when a decision can change the long-term course of portfolios.
Equities and commodities may be sending a signal not to be ignored for the rest of 2011. Recession fears are the wrong reason to sell any portfolio holding now – this is the oldest news around. The US was somewhat insulated from declines in Europe and emerging markets so far this month, but we are retesting August's lows. Even gold is making new lows. The market may be giving a signal that a sharp drop is ahead and risky assets could drop 1.5-3x more than the broad market.
US stocks, especially our favorite technology names, enjoyed some level of insulation this month from worries over the health of the Euro currency and the survival of European banks. Investors may be concerned about US banks now too after the Fed shared its innermost thoughts with us common folk today. Bernanke's crew fears it has no more tools left to fix the economy aside from long-term bond purchases. Such purchases mean lower long-term bond yields and that can mean a heap of trouble for banks. Banks make money by borrowing near zero now at the short end of the yield curve and lending at the long end. When the long end falls, so do banks' profit margins. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats are very publicly fighting over tax increases and markets hate that regardless of the eventual outcome. Whether taxes on millionaires and government program cuts matter or not, nobody wants to go out and spend while their income and benefits sit on a giant chopping block.
Should't gold be going up now? Investors who profited from gold's rise may be freeing up cash to meet future potential margin calls or make quick investments as a rare opportunity presents itself at some point in the intermediate future. Another theory is that gold is reflecting future relative dollar strength to a basket of global currencies. Either way, it probably makes sense ot get out of its way.
Poor stock market performance in the fourth year of a President's term is rare as can be. And there is no reason to panic over 2012 just yet. But it's time to make prudent decisions about the remainder of 2011. Taking 25-50% of your risky assets (financials sector, non-US equities, gold, commodities) off the table is probably wise. This may be accomplished with inverse ETFs that go up when markets drop, index put options, or simply holding more cash.


The warm breeze on my face, the sound of birds and cicada overhead, dappled sunlight through the trees; and the earthy smell of pine needles radiating from underfoot. As we gather at the trailhead of Springdale Park in Markham, our therapeutic guide, Ben Porchuk invites us to reconnect to the natural world using both body and mind. We're about to embark on a 3 hour Forest Bathing or Shinrin Yoku session, tapping into the therapeutic benefits of being completely immersed in nature.
With the support of the Greenbelt River Valley Connector Program, the City of Markham is working with the Global Institute of Forest Therapy (GIFT) to enhance a series of trail systems across the municipality with the goal to create places that people can connect to nature, their local urban river valley systems and engage in passive recreational activities, such as forest bathing.
"The health of the watershed is directly linked to the health of the community. We need to experience joy in nature so that we willingly and enthusiastically direct ourselves towards sustainable living", Marlise Eguchi, Parks Renaissance Planner with the City shares as we meander slowly along the narrow forested path.
Her words resonate as Ben invites us to stop and 'talk with the trees'. Shinrin Yoku gives us permission to playfully reconnect to nature. Any self judgement dissipates as you observe those around you sharing a quiet word with a neighbouring tree. Over the course of the session I could feel the layers of inner tension washing away, I could breathe a little deeper (oh the divine smell of earth) and I truly felt the biological need to be connected to the natural world. It was empowering and extremely humbling.
With the expansion of the Greenbelt to include the protection of 21 urban river valley systems across the Greater Toronto Area, people now have more opportunities to directly connect, celebrate and care for special places such as Springdale Park.
Click here to learn more about the City of Markham's Forest Therapy program or register for a session.
Watch City TV's news segment on the opening of Markham's Forest Bathing Trail.


Once you begin observing, you notice the crisis of convenience trash everywhere around you. Stand outside any office buildings in downtown San Francisco, LA and New York and observe first hand how many disposable coffee cups, to-go containers, plastic forks, straws, and plastic bags are used and tossed every day, all day. We had to ask ourselves the hard question: who is going to fix this?
We could wait for a politician to pass an ordinance, or we can just solve the problem ourselves in our own environment. Zoetica provides the products that free us from convenience trash, every day, all day.
Is your Valentine committed to reducing waste?